MESSAGE OF SHRI C. SUBRAMANIAM,
PRESIDENT, BHARATIYA VIDYA BHAVAN, BOMBAY
 

It is heartening that a national Seminar-cum-Workshop on Value Education in the CBSE Schools has been conceived and organised by the Central Board of Secondary Education in co-operation with the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.

This is a commendable and long overdue initiative. -As President of Bharatiya Vidya bhavan, I heartily congratulate Shri Madhava Rao Scindia, our young and dynamic HRD Minister and his colleagues as also the Chairman and Members of the Central board of Secondary Education on this basic nation building foundational effort. This is a constructive, "lily occurance" in the midst of a plethora of "dragon-occurances" plaguing the nation. It is most appropriate that my good friend and Union Finance Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, himself an embodiment of rectitude and value-based life and work is inaugurating this Seminar.

The term "value" means that which is intrinsically, valuable in itself, unlike a commodity or a product which gains value only through exchange. In Indian tradition the I/value" is expressed in three simple and meaningful words Satyam - Shivam - Sundaram. Truth - Love - Beauty. All the "values" are derived from these basic concepts.

Undoubtedly, Free India has made rapid strides in the educational and industrial fields. We can boast of having produced a reservoir of distinguished scientists, economists, educationists, engineers, masters of business administration and administrators. Yet the overall national situation is bleak and is rapidly deteriorating.

Why? Because, as the Bhavan's Founder, Kulapati Munshi was never tired of stressing, "Education would fail ignominiously in its objective if it manufactured only a robot and called him an economic man forgetting the substantive man. A doctor has not merely to cure the sick, an engineer has not merely to build houses, factories bridges etc., but he has to be a dutiful son, a devoted spouse, an understanding parent, friendly neighbour, a patriotic citizen and a person true to his conscience."

National character which is the by-product of value-based national education is the keystone on which rests the fate and future of our Republic, not this or that "ism".

I hope and pray that this three-day National Seminar-cum Workshop will turnout to be a success in evolving a vigorous and effective national action plan for imparting value based education and provide a model for other educational institutions also.

C. Subramaniam

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