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CATCH THEM YOUNG
An astounding
70% of kids aged 13-18 think it’s fine to be dishonest in order to succeed.
This is one among the key findings of a HT—C fore moral health survey
With the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) announcing
plans to integrate value education into its curriculum, HT commissioned a
survey carried out by C fore in major metropolitan cities to gauge moral
proclivities of young people. One thousand students, between the ages of 13 and
18, were surveyed. The psychological profile that emerges is both worrying and
encouraging.
Consider
this: when asked if dishonesty was acceptable for success, 70% said yes. The
response to whether it is fine to cheat one friend for another was split almost
midway — 43% said ‘yes’ or ‘sometimes’, while 43% said ‘no’. The rest were
unsure. Consumerism also seems entrenched within this group and causes
competition among peers. Another place where competition shows up is popularity
on social networks, considered overwhelmingly important.
On the
positive side though, youngsters come across as confident with a high degree of
self-belief. They are aware, sensitive and determined. “However, it appears
that as they grow into adults, a lot of the positive values get sidelined,”
says senior psychiatrist Dr Sanjay Chugh, who helped HT formulate the survey.
Between 2001
and 2010, the number of juvenile crimes rose from 16,509 to 22,740, a 37.7%
increase, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. This is reflected in
many recent incidents of violent crimes ( seebox). Dr Shyama Chona, an
educationist and member of the CBSE says, “We’ve seen too many instances of
children acting out. Value education used to be informal and expected. Now,
formalisation in the syllabus will make it more serious. Righteousness will
only emerge when you turn it to marks.”
Earlier this
month, CBSE announced a first-of-its-kind system to connect academics with
ethics. But measuring values education through marks is debatable, say experts.
An official at the National Council for Educational Research and Training
(NCERT) who requested anonymity, says, “You can’t assess values through exams.
Evaluation has to be of processes, not the product. If you want to teach
sanitary habits, create a sanitary environment at school. So if you want to
teach integrity, display the same attitude in the classroom.”
Another
concern is that values in the education system lack a societal connect. Dr
Samir Parikh, director, mental health at Fortis agrees. “Merely making it a
subject in a curriculum is not going to inculcate values,” he says. “We have
become socially apathetic towards each other. Adults are struggling with moral
ambiguity and teenagers are simply mirroring their behaviour,” he adds.
Character
education is being debated across the world. In China, the government’s
attempts to introduce moral education are being protested by the opposition on
the claim that it will ‘brainwash’ students. In Australia and Singapore, value
education models are funded by the state. In Australia, the local school
community — teachers, parents and students — is involved in framing the
programme. In the West, the issue is more complicated. The American system was
earlier rooted in Christian fundamentals. During the Bush administration,
attempts were made to equate moral education with conservative and Republican
beliefs.
The Indian
context gives moral education an added hue due to diversity in Indian society,
says Chona. “We have to teach secularism, tolerance and an acceptance of
multiculturalism,” she says.
Widening
economic differences are also adding complexity. When respondents were asked
about their attitude towards less-privileged students (after implementation of
the Right To Education), 8% felt they should be taught separately while 37%,
said ‘they can study in the same class but I wouldn’t hang out with them’. Such
an outlook is being created and reinforced by adults. In Bangalore recently, a
school’s indifference was put on display when a news report said that students
admitted under RTE had been forced to sit in the back of the class, stand
separately during assemblies and that a tuft of their hair was cut off by
school authorities to distinguish them from other students.
Thus, while
values education is required, experts say the approach could be better.
“Introducing moral education through the curriculum is ambitious,” says Dr
Sarada Balagopalan, a fellow at the Delhi-based Centre for the Study of
Developing Societies and chief advisor to NCERT on Social and Political Life
textbooks. She says, “We imbibe values from instruction, example, watching,
seeing, and influences too numerous to be contained in a curriculum.”
CBSE’s move
has begun for classes IX and X, and will be expanded in months to come.
Subjects across the syllabus will contain moral lessons. For instance, in
geography, teachers can stress on interdependence of countries, environmental
responsibility and global unity. The results would then be judged in value-based
questions in examinations.
CBSE is not
the only one to focus on character education. In the International
Baccalaureate (IB) schema, “Integrity lies at the centre of the learner’s
profile,” says education consultant Abha Adams. In IB schools, 150 hours of
community service is compulsory, and involves discussion and application of
values.
Unfortunately,
a 2010 study by the US department of education stated that value education
programmes do not improve behaviour or performance of students. Perhaps then,
India’s troubles are far worse than they seem.
JUVENILE DELINQUENCY: ON THE RISE? Compiled
by Neyaz Farooquee
LOCKING
UP TEACHERS
April 2012 When their demand to
be promoted to Class 12 failed, the 90-odd students of Class 11 in West
Midnapore in West Bengal locked up 52 school staff members.
THE OTHER
EXTREME
February 2012 A Chennai student
stabbed his teacher because he found him ‘too strict’. The 15-year-old boy
rushed in to the classroom, slashed her throat and stabbed her in the abdomen
and chest. When students raised an alarm, other teachers overpowered him. He
didn’t try to flee. The teacher died on the way to hospital.
MISUSING
POWER
March 2011 A Class 8 student
attacked his teacher in Delhi’s Sarvodya (govt) school. Other teachers tried to
rescue him but the boy refused to let go, saying that he was a ‘ sarkari ’
student and nobody dare touch him. Police was called who take the teacher to a
hospital. Later the student was suspended when the teacher alleged he was a
habitual trouble-maker.
WAR OF WORDS
October 2010 A Chandigarh school
suspended 16 students for posting rude remarks about a female teacher on
Facebook. A student posted pictures of his test scores with abusive words. The
school management responded with suspension, saying the comments were obscene,
rude and abusive. Suspended students said the school was infringing on their
privacy.
INTERNATIONAL VALUE EDUCATION
AMERICA Character education was
originally rooted in Christianity. It has changed over time, with the
Republicans and Democrats holding different ideas — the former stress on
Christian values while the latter are more secular.
AUSTRALIA The government funds
value education programmes laid down under the National Framework for Values
Education. Under this, individual schools develop their approaches in
partnership with local communities.
CHINA China faces a controversy over
the implementation of the new Moral and National Education programme announced
in April. The subject looks at issues concerning personal life, family,
society, world. There are no conventional exams. Opposition members even
accused officials of brainwashing the new generation through this programme. A
protest likely on Sunday.
SINGAPORE Students are taught to make responsible decisions based on
moral reasoning, recognise signs of addictions and skills to manage them. Since
2006, social-emotional learning has been made integral to the curriculum.
Students learn self-management — how to weigh options, think through
consequences and arrive at decisions. They’re also developing a Character and
Citizenship Education syllabus.
Courtesy (visited 30.7.12) http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx
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