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Strengthening values in Educations
 

The call for values is currently echoing throughout every land, as the societies are increasingly concerned about and affected by uncontrolled proliferation of corruption, violence, intolerance, and other social evils. and the lack of social cohesion.

Economic growth, over mechanization, rapid urbanization has increased the materialistic cravings in individuals, which in turn has influenced the loss of values in them.   Materialistic needs and never ending lust to earn more and more by putting in less and less effort, therefore, have to be balanced by a value-based life and by inculcation of an attitude that earning money is for leading a respectable life and for helping others who are disadvantaged.

Educators, reformers of the society, and other intellectual bodies are, once again, asked to address problems which have arisen within the society. Education plays a vital role in developing the morals and values as it teaches humans to use their mental, moral and physical powers in proper way.

 

		What is Value Education? The main objective of the value education is to mold the students to be an agent of positive change and transformation of the society. Its objective is to cater to the need of the student body as well as the society as a whole.  The values, judgments and the ability to apply those in life come in and individual through formal and non-formal education. Whatever parents teach their children in homes or instructors in formal institutes as schools, colleges and universities convey to their students, and whatever the influences of the environment that lead into cognitive learning - such as talk they hear at home and in educational institutions, people’s behavior and reactions to events and incidents, the newspapers and books they read, or the programs they watch on television and media infuse the morals, beliefs and characters in children and youth. Value education aims to focus on developing the values in individuals and directing their thoughts in the right direction to appreciate the good and reject the bad.
What lead us to think of Value Education? To address the exponentially increasing threats of corruption and devaluation of the judgments of right and wrong, the leverage point of intervention would be to improve the morals and values of humankind.  ChangeMaker, along with its partners initiated a project in Bishnudi Government Primary School in Chandpur, under ‘Truth Education’. The project was taken up to encourage children to practice good values and behaviors, and to reward the ones who practiced them.  Through a ranking system 3 children were identified who had the virtue of practicing honesty, truthfulness, good behavior and manners, cooperative attitude, tolerance etc. This program was highly appreciated by the entire community especially the school teachers and school committee members, parents, and other members of the society. This was the first research project of its kind in the country. And many have recommended to replicate the program in other parts of the country and to include the program in the primary education curriculum. Short Term Objectives:  Encourage children to practice truthfulness from early age Improve the quality of education through practice of truthfulness Rewarding children to encourage them Encouraging public representatives, government and social elites to practice truthfulness through setting examples in children Recognizing the superiority in children through award giving Advocacy of better values in society by the awarded children Perform researches for development of the morals and values Long Term Objectives:  Incorporating Value Education in mainstream curriculum Decline corruption, crime, and injustice in society Establish  better and peaceful social condition		What would be our intervention? Our main focus of the project is to appreciate and encourage the practice of superior qualities in children for who awaits the leadership of the country. The reason we have chosen the children (class I to class V) as our focus group is primarily because this population group are at the peak of the learning process where they develop their values, morals and the practice of it. Secondly, a child plays a vital role in influencing parents as well. Parents, whose children have been recognized and rewarded for their honesty, are more likely to adapt the virtue themselves as well. The recognition adds up responsibility to keep up the practice and the fame of it.   Our objectives toward achievement for this project have been divided in two categories – short term and long term objectives.

What activities will be done?

The major project activities will be focused on children and teachers.

Teachers’ orientation to value education

Value education for children

·         Programs will be taken out at school level to give children orientation to different virtues.

·         Active participation of the students will be initiated.

·         Recognition of good deeds will be encouraged through rewards.

·         Parents counseling will be carried out through interactive Parents-Teacher-Children meetings.

·         A curriculum will be developed to incorporate value education in the education system.

·         Through lobbying the curriculum will be included in the mainstream education system.

What do we expect out of the project?

Individuals’ values, thoughts and behaviors cumulatively compose the overall social conditions.  Therefore moral development of an individual contributes directly to the social development. The following diagram reflects the expected outcome of the project.