Value crisis and value education

Introduction

Our Upanishads and Veda‟s teach us „”Matrudevobhava, Pitrudevobhava and Acharyadevobhava‟This means that you revere mother, father and teacher as god. Parents are god  because they have given us life in this world and instrumental in our growth. Teacher is god  because he has given us education, knowledge to lead our life. We need to revere them and value their selfless contributions in our life. Moral education is must in schools. These days schools and colleges have become a factory which produces doctors, engineers etc.,. Schools and colleges are boosting of their results. But how many schools and colleges take interest in making a student a good human being along with the education?. Does scoring high  percentage in the examination makes a person successful?.

In the present scenario, our culture and social concern are subjecting to a drastic change. During present decades, the magazines, newspapers, online resources and other medias continuously reporting the recent newses about crimes,murder,robbery, terrorism,rape,corruption,cyber-crime and several other illegal activities. At present the meaning of good morals have been questioned. Everyone reads such occurrences which have adversely affected the development of knowledge, creative attitude, positive thinking, literature, culture and formation of well- balanced personality of the future generation.

“The growing concern over the erosion of essential values and an increasing cynicism in society has brought to focus the need for readjustment in the curriculum in order to make education a forceful tool for the cultivation of social and moral values. In our culturally  plural society education should foster universal and eternal values, oriented towards the unity and integration of our people. Such value education should help eliminate obscurantism, religious fanaticism, violence, superstition and fatalism.”

                                   -National Policy on Education 1986

Here comes the importance of value education among pupils. If the proper value education is given to the younger generation, we can generate a new society having values. This will help to cultivate the peace in society. This values will automatically transferred to the next generation. So value education is a very important tool, which we can use to bring peace in world.

Value crisis

Before examining the term ‘value crisis’, we have to be aware about the moral values in life. Values are the milestones, which brings harmony and peace in our society. Values are nothing but principle or standard behaviour: one’s judgement of what is important in life. some of the core values of life are,loyality, passion, honesty, efficiency, reliability, dependability, optimism, positivity, commitment. ..etc.there are 60 0r more than 60 value are associated in ones life.

So the erosion of the above mensionedsocial,spiritual and moral values from the society is called value crisis. By definition,

“Value crisis is when the practice of members of the society starts deviating from the values we hold dear. When there is a general acceptance of corrupt practices and unethical activities, then the society as a whole is in value crisis. It creates a new normal of acceptance of dishonesty, lies and immoral behaviour.”

1. VALUE CRISIS AT THE INDIVIDUAL LEVEL

The sole aim of all the strivings at the individual level has become attainment of personal success. It is a worldly success, defined in purely materialistic terms as acquisition of money,  power and prestige. The rat race to this success commands enthusiastic support of the  powerful middle and elite classes. Their upbringing and enculturation have tuned them for single minded pursuit of career growth and economic success. All other life values which give meaning, worth and fullness to human existence, are seen as roadblocks and unnecessary diversions from the high road to material success.

2. INTELLECTUAL LEVEL

The value climate of a society is closely linked to its intellectual temper. Its tone is set by writers, academicians, philosophers and other intellectuals. They do so by their critical examination of social and human situations, and through their creative efforts of generating new ideas and new solutions to human problems. The record of such intellectual efforts in the last fifty years is hardly inspiring. The contemporary intellectual temper is mainly critical, imitative and reactive rather than creative and proactive.

3. CULTURAL LEVEL

In the words of Professor Devaraja, “All values pursued by man are comprehensible under terms culture and civilization” . The contemporary value crisis in the Indian society can therefore be best understood as a cultural crisis. This crisis is reflected in the confusing, ambivalent attitude of the educated Indians towards their culture. Indian culture is an unbroken living tradition spanning several millennia. In its evolution over this long span, with many ups and downs, it has generated a variety of ideas, philosophies, religious beliefs and social customs. One of the peculiar characteristics of this cultural tradition is its tolerance of these varieties. The newer strands of ideas over-layer the older ones without smothering them. 

Value education

The educational perspective of this has a philosophical overtone of the ethical, moral,social& spiritual. dimensio.n. Hence there is need for considering value education in a broader and more comprehensive way. NCERT Curriculum framework(2000) have explicitly mentioned that --:"Value education and education about religions would not form a separate subject of study or examination at any stage of the curriculum. These would be so judiciously integrated with all the subjects of study in the scholastic areas and all the activities and programmes in the co-scholastic areas to achieve the objectives ."

Committees and Commissions towards Values in India

The importance of value education has been duly recognized by different education commissions and committees appointed by the government.

The Hartog Committee of (1929)felt that religious instruction can be given in common schools outside the school hours.

The Central Advisory Board of education felt in (1946) that religious and moral instruction was important and that it should be left to the community to which the pupils  belong. Ø TheRadhakrishnan Commission (1948) felt that "if we exclude spiritual training in our institutions we would be untrue to our whole historical development".

The Secondary Education Commission's report in (1953) favored that religious and moral instruction should be given in schools outside the school hours on voluntary basis. Ø The Sri Prakasa Commission of Religious and Moral instruction (1959) had recommended that moral education should be imparted in all educational institutions.

Kothari Commission (1964-66) felt that "a serious defect in the school system is the absence of provision for education in social, moral and spiritual values. A national system of education that is related to life, needs and aspirations of the people cannot afford to ignore this purposeful force".

National Policy on Education (1986) felt that "the growing concern over the erosion of essential values and an increasing cynicism in society has brought to focus the need for readjustments in the curriculum in order to make education a forceful tool for the cultivation of social and moral values".

Programme of Action (NPE) (1992) recommended that "the framework emphasized value education as an integral part of school curriculum. It highlighted the values drawn from national goals, universal perception, ethical considerations and character building. It stressed the role of education in combating obscurantism, religious fanaticism, exploitation and injustice as well as the inculcation of values". The main function of education is to produce citizens with sound character and a healthy personality. Good citizens are the only hope for the progress and prosperity of the country. Inspiring values, ideals, proper moral conduct, life  based upon good principles is an essential requisite. The ideals of virtue, goodness, true manliness from the very essence of real dignified living.

Education for Peace

Education for Peace (EFP) is an innovative whole school program that creates violence-free and peaceful school environments conducive to meeting the emotional, social, and intellectual needs of diverse school populations. Through creating a peaceful school environment characterized by unity in diversity, EFP harnesses the freeing and healing properties of unity to meet the manifold needs of the increasingly diverse populations in different cultural settings. The emphasis on peace is based on the fact that peace and education are inseparable aspects of civilization. No civilization is truly progressive without education and no education system is truly civilizing unless it is based on the universal principles of peace.