 INAUGURATION

Dr. Manmohan Singh, Union Minister of Finance inaugurated the Seminar on 7th September 1995 at 10.00 A.M. at the India International Centre, Shri S.V. Giri, Education Secretary, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Education also addressed the opening Seminar and Shri S.L. Shakdher, Chairman, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Delhi presided over.

Prof. B.P. Khandelwal, Chairman, CBSE, welcomed the Chief Guest and participants and stressed the need for including programmes on Value Education in the school curriculum and emphasised that various Commissions and Committees on education appointed by the Government of India at different levels have time and again recommended that the school curriculum should emphasise the inculcation of values in the pupil,

Prof. B.P. Khandelwal mentioned that as an outcome of deliberations of the Seminar, the CBSE proposes to bring out some guidelines to the teachers for taking up minimum programme of action for promoting Value Education in schools.

After the Welcome Address of Chairman, CBSE, a message from Shri C. Subramaniam, President, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay was read out.

Shri C. Subramaniam in his message on the occasion said that the term "Value" was intrinsically valuable unlike a commodity or a product which gained in value through exchange. In Indian tradition, "value" was expressed in three simple and meaningful words, Sathyam, Shivam, Sundaram (Truth - Love - Beauty).

Mr. Subramaniam hoped that the three day National Seminar-cum-Workshop would turnout to be a success in evolving a vigorous and effective national action plan for imparting Value based Education.

Earlier Shri S.V. Giri, Secretary, Department of Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development in his opening remark quoted from the National Policy of Education that education should foster universal and eternal values. In our culturally plural society the good education should be oriented towards the unity and integration of our people. This has brought in focus the need for readjustments in the curriculum to make education a forceful tool for the cultivation of social and moral values.

Value Education he emphasised, should be based on Indian heritage and universal perception. It should be humanistic and an integral part of the core curriculum, hence the need for this workshop.

Shri S.L. Shakdher in his president's observations mentioned that Kulapati K.M. Munshi founder of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan always emphasised that Bharatiya Vidya

Bhavan is not just an institution but a movement to inculcate the values which are essential for mankind to emulate and are the cornerstones of Indian tradition. So he appealed to the teachers that this message should be carried forward and inculcated and taught so that we will be able to preserve our great tradition and carry forward the Nation to great achievements.

Dr. Manmohan Singh in his inaugural address brought into focus the essential need for reorganisation of Value Education.

He said that even after 47 years of independence India still faces great challenges merely to abolish the scourge of poverty, face monsters of violence, terrorism, the threat of environmental degradation and the curse of social inequalities. It is imperative that we Indians develop our capabilities such that India is second to none on the world map and acquires economic, political and moral clout. And the best place to make a new beginning is the school where teacher has a crucial role to provide our young ones a training for life of dignity and self respect, a training for character building. For this we need to evolve a core system of values including commitments to secularism, respect for multilingual and multireligious diversity and celebration of the same, commitment to excellence and social equity and peaceful resolution of social and economic tensions.

Our students need to be told that howsoever noble their ends the unfair means will negate them. Our children must grow up self confident and aware of their responsibility to the country.

He concluded by saying that this workshop should turn out to be successfully fruit baring.

Shri J. Veeraraghavan, Former Secretary, Department of Culture, Ministry of Human Resource Development and presently Director, Bharatiya. Vidya Bhavan, New Delhi while proposing Vote of Thanks assured the teaching community that Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan will always be ready to join hands in preserving the values and associating itself with programmes on Value Education so that we can create a congenial atmosphere to build up a glorious nation. He specifically thanked Prof. B.P. Khandelwal, Chairman, CBSE, for organising the National Seminar on such an important topic and considered Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan as their collaborators. He conveyed the gratitude on behalf of the CBSE and Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan to Dr. Manmohan Singh, Union Minister of Finance, for sparing his valuable time for inaugurating the Seminar even at a short notice.