GOALS, ROLES AND VALUES
 

Shri Chitta Basu, MP, General Secretary, All India Forward Block, 28, Gurudwara Rakabganj Road, New Delhi (15.10.90)

- Education should aim at necessary social changes in the country. It must motivate our students to work for socialist reorientation of our society.

- Education can definitely play a very important role in maintaining national integration. Students should be motivated from the very beginning of their studies in the ideals of national unity.

- Education should be totally scientific in its outlook. At all levels of education, from primary to the higher stage, only what is scientifically established should be the subject-matter of studies.

- Education should be secular in its approach.

- Education should be democratic in its approach and in its management too. Students of all disciplines should be taught the basic principles of democracy.

Shri S.P. Patil, Headmaster, Z.P. Primary School, Pune (30.9.90)

- Human, social, cultural and spiritual values should be incorporated in the curriculum.

- Basic values should be imparted through education.

25

Swami Sanatan Shri, Shri Sanatan Ashram, Kursi Road, Lucknow.

- Education should be more humane and nationalist. Materialistic achievement should not be the main objective of education. Courses should include responsibility towards family, society, natural environment and nation. Younger generation should be taught about morality, justice, love for humanity and nature. For balanced physical and mental growth a child should not be over burdened with books upto the age of 12 years.

Shri Ram Krishan Shastri, Lecturer, Shri Hari Ramram Gopal Sanatan Dharam Sanskrit College, 216 Uncha Mandi, Illahabad.

- Corruption is prevalent in every sphere of life including the education system. Only spiritual, moral and artistic education can eliminate these evils.

Dr. B.D. Swami, 62/4, Shivpuri, Meerut City-250001 (26th October, 1990)

- What we need is creative education which will mean full development of the capabilities and capacities of the individual in relation to his duties towards the nation.

Mrs. Shanti Bhatnagar, Principal, R.M.M. Inter College, Railway Road, Modinagar (24th September, 1990)

- The aim of education should be the harmonious development of human personality. It should develop the qualities of 'head', 'heart' and 'hand'. The practical aim of education should never be neglected in any section of- society, and society as a whole should be given equal chances of progress and development. Education must provide full knowledge of human rights and their protection. It should also

26

enhance the sense of duty and responsibility as well as a high moral sense among individuals.

Dr. S.N. Saraf, Vice-Chancellor, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Presanthinilayam-515134 Anantapur Dt (A.P.) (29th October, 1990)

- Specific steps should be suggested for value orientation of higher education.

Prof. B.R.K. Raju, Programme Adviser, Department of Youth Affairs & Sports, Ministry of HRD, New Delhi (22nd October, 1990)

- During the VIII Five Year Plan all efforts should be made to make every student at the under-graduate level opt for either NSS/NCC or sports to inculcate values of service, discipline and sportsmanship. 'Hand' and 'heart' could be integrated with 'head' only through this. This involves the deployment of a number of teachers at under-graduate level in these efforts. Serving in these organisations should be treated as part of the normal duties of teachers.

Dr. Aster Patel, C/o Sri Aurobindo International Institute of Educational Research, Auroville (9th October, 1990)

- Reality is of the nature of an organic whole, a whole of consciousness and energy; man himself is an integral part of this total reality. A consciously pursued process of the integration of personality is the avowed and only aim of education. Life and education are necessarily co-terminous in the organic `whole' of reality.

27

Justice C.S. Dharmadhikari (Retd.), 343 `Gharkul' West Park Road., Dhantoli, Nagpur-12 (6th October, 1990)

- The education should be such that it will enable the student to seek the meaning and purpose of life and not merely, the means of livelihood.

- The whole pattern of education should be Swadeshi oriented. It should be national in the true sense of the term.

Shri Ashok K. Angurana, Director School Education, J&K State, Jammu (25th October, 1990)

- The basic moral values should be integrated into the entire educational process and more stress should be laid on the inculcation of these high values. But it should not be forgotten that our institutions operate in a large social milieu. The influence of family and society at large on the impressionable young minds in equally great. What is required is the creation of a moral climate and moral regeneration not only in our educational institutions but also in the family and society at large. For this, our opinion makers must take the lead.

Dr. R. Bandyopadhyay, Director, Centre for Applied Systems Analysis in Development, D-5/8, Salunke Vihar, Pune-411022 (19.10.90)

- `Catalytic role' concept is elitist. It suggests that education helps the change process but is not affected or changed in the process. This `neutrality of role' of education has to be properly dissected. Education is an organic part of the process of social change. The word 'Catalytic' may be replaced by a suitable substitute. Change agent' may be a better word.

28

- In transmitting right sort of value,, environment, family (parents particularly) and teachers are important agents. Efforts must be made to ensure that conflicting basic values are not propogated by these agents. This will call for reorienting social priorities, media behaviour, adult education and, of course, teachers training.

Prof. Hira Adyanthaya, Dean, Tilak Maharashtra Vidya-peeth, Vidyapeeth Bhavan, Gultekadi, Pune 411037 (16.10.90)

- Education is an individual and social undertaking in which conditions of a particular 'time and 'place' are very important. There had to be a constant responsiveness to actual developing requirements of people. Education should be related to life. It should equip people for performing their roles as good citizens.

- Student must learn the best and the noblest of the Indian heritage in terms of the Indian social institutions and organisations and the psychology underlying the same.

- Human education should be so designed as to enable man to utilise his culture and to `culturise' his utility. If education is concerned with 'life in all its manifestations' then we should not draw a sharp line of demarcation between liberal and technological or scientific and humanistic education. One is as useful as the other.

29

Shri P.D. Sachdeva, General Secretary, Government School Teachers' Association, Delhi, Govt. Co-ed Sr. See. School, Kitchner Road, New Delhi (20th October, 1990)

- Purpose of education should be to increase the individual's capability to adapt himself with speed and economy to continual change.

Dr. C.M. Bhatia, Ex-Vice-Chancellor, University of Allahabad, 8-Vijay Nagar Colony, Agra (19.10.90)

- Character building must form an integral part of the school system. Individuals must learn to do their duty and be disciplined.

Prof. Ali Ashraf, Director, Gandhian Institute of Studies, P.B.No. 1116, Rajghat, Varanasi (13th October, 1990)

- Education is much more than a passport for employment; it is also formation of individual character. It must perform the function of training for citizenship.

- It is not enough that reference has been made to democracy, secularism, socialism etc.; the participative aspects of these values will have to be emphasised.

Shri B.L. Seth, President, Rajasthan Shikshak Sangh, 45, Ganesh Nagar, University Road, Udaipur (22.10.1990)

- The purpose of education is to enable a man or a women to earn his or her living, keeping away from the dangers of world and seek happiness. To achieve these purposes, at the school stage, every child must learn language (mother tongue), Mathematics, Science., Computer Programming etc. Besides mother tongue, one other language (English) also be learned.

30

Shri V.S. Jotheeswaran, 7, Pillayar Kovil Street, Extn-Tirupattur (27.10.1990)

- Education roast be oriented towards the attainment of a moral character. Teachers should play the role-model.

Shri D.J.K. Cornelius, A-916, Poonamalle High Road, Madras (24th October, 1990)

- Education is the process by which man is assisted to adjust to his environment and includes his adaption to and reconstruction of the same to the end that the most enduring satisfactions may accrue to the individual and to society.

Dr. S. Unnikrishna Pillai, Principal, Regionl Engineering College, Calicut, Kerala-673601 (18.10.90)

- There cannot be islands of morality and idealism in a sea of greed, selfishness, violence, and immorality. To ennoble the inner man, the public life has to be cleansed of all these evils and education can do only a minor part.

Sh. Poromesh Acharya, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta Joka, Diamond Harbour Road, Calcutta-700027 (12.10.90)

- Denial of the utilitarian objective of education altogether may lead us to another blind alley. On the otherhand, we need to be clear about the Ideological objective of our education.

Shri K.S. Acharlu, Gandhi Vigyan, 80, Temple Road, I Main, Malleswaram, Bangalore-560 003 (8.10.90)

- If education is to bring into being a humane and enlighened society, the first and foremost condition is that it should be

31

founded on human values. An educational system which is not based on spiritual values is of no intrinsic worth.

- Education should be conceived as the spearhead of a silent revolution. It should provide a healthy and moral basis of relationship between the classes. It should check the progressive decay of our villages and lay the foundation of a just social order in which there is no unnatural division between the haves and havenots and everybody is assured of a living wage and right to freedom.

- The spiritual values should find expression in the entire education process - not only in the content and curriculum but in every educational activity. Education must be ultimately concerned with values which are independent of time and place or a particular environment.

Shri D.K. Oza, Vice-Chancellor, Gandhigram Rural Institute, Gandhigram (Dindigul Distt.), Tamilnadu-624302 (20.10.90)

- The education must be a movement with emphasis on literacy at micro levels, non-formal education also at micro levels, scientifically oriented distance education and proper maintenance of standards of education. Basic education system of Gandhiji should from an integral part of the educational concept. Community colleges should also be encouraged. Environment education should be given emphasis. Social work. and involvement of local community should from due emphasis in the education process. Women education should get a prominent place at all levels.

32

Prof. B.S. Sonde, Prof. S.V. Subramanyam and others, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (18.10.90)

- The present system of education called the `Banking System' by Paulo Freiere has completely outlived its usefulness. Here we find a situation wherein we have teachers as teaching subjects and students as learning objects. Information transfer from the teacher to the student seems to be akin to the banking concept. The student Is declared better If he can have a higher depository of information as reflected in more marks in an examination. Education is a process of learning and not passing an examination. We have to have an alternative educational process. One good alternative is to switch the objective of education from teaching to learning process. The student becomes the centre of learning process and the whole educational activity is built around him. The teacher only becomes a catalyst in the activity. The geographical centre of learning for the student will not be a fixed point such as a University department, but will be floating over the university, the industry and the society. This will enable him to stand on his feet he wants so or join the mainstream of industrial activity if he so desires. The present practice of 'training' fresh employees in industries, which in essence means 'de-educating' them shows the level to which our present educational system has fallen.

Shri Rajesh Kumar Jain, 330 Income Tax Colony, Uttari Pitam Pura, Delhi (23rd October, 1990)

- More emphasis must be given on moral education. Religious education should be made an integral part of education.

33