02

Although value education consists of only two words, the concept and purpose of value education, made of these two words, is very broad. Value guides one to indulge in sadachar or righteous acts. When people start following a value guided path it leads them to a state of large-scaled welfare. Along with elevating the lives of individuals, eventually large-scaled welfare is the objective of all values. Large-scaled progress and upliftment of people is the basic spirit of human values. The second word is education - a process that continues throughout life. It is dedicated to all-round development of man and takes one to the door of liberation.

Due to their basic spirit of encompassing all-round development of the individual, value and education are inextricably linked to each other. The sole objective of both of these is to achieve greater human welfare. Value education therefore paves the way for all-round development of everyone – woman and man - without any kind of discrimination. Value education connects human beings with moral, developmental, social and cultural values. It awakens in man a sense of desired duty. It wakes up a human being to discharge responsibilities and is indispensable for the smooth functioning of the system. Value education is, in its true sense, a symbol of real education. In other words, it is a manifestation of the basic spirit of education. It is indeed a reconfirmation of the ancient and veritable Indian proclamation of “Sa Vidya Ya Vimuktaye.”

The importance, prestige and pride of value education is centuries old in India - a country having its identity as a spiritual-educational Vishwaguru since ancient times and also a nurturer of a rich culture for thousands of years. The concept of value education may be new to the world. We know that many concepts related to this such as the comprehensive value education plan announced in the year 1995 by the Human Values Foundation have emerged in modern times. But, along with physical labour, exercises and Yoga, teachings for indulging in righteous acts and imparting concrete knowledge under the patronship of Rishis-Maharishis and learned women, with the purpose of making one empowered and self-reliant has been inextricably linked to the process of education in India since ancient times. All these aspects of education were naturally associated with the ashrams of the ancient Maharishis-Rishis. In the Indian context, women were as much known for their wisdom as men, which, in itself is a living example of gender equality. From the debates and discourses related to the teachings of our spiritual leaders, exemplary aspects of value education came out. In short, it can be said with certainty that value education has been complementary of India's educational process since ancient times and the contribution of women in it remained important and remarkable from the very beginning.

The concept of value education may relate to the ancient Indian context or it may be associated to any of the theories of the modern times related with the Western world but the aspects which are essentially associated with it have generally remained the same. Even today, they are the same and reflect the basic spirit, purpose and goal of value education. Along with moral-character development, perfection in behaviours and efficiency, one’s conduct and productivity are associated with value education. These pave way for all-round development of the individual, which is the basic spirit and purpose of education. Keeping the value education at the centre, when we talk about moral-character development, we must, nevertheless understand that its purpose is always to create awareness in the person about the realization of his/her responsibilities and discharge of duties. In general, the acid test of morality is, eventually, one’s carrying out his/her duties appropriately and in a righteous way. In this regard, I reiterate my stated conviction with commitment, “The morality of a person can be assessed only by her/his discharging responsibilities; the person who realizes and discharges her/his responsibilities properly, in fact, she/he only follows morality in life. Only such a person can claim to be a moral one.”

With the purpose of filling one with morality and ethics, developing skill and efficiency and getting himself self-reliant, family works as the basic – the first school imparting value education. The first teacher, of course, is the mother. From this, it is clear that the role of women, being the basic source and center of value education is the most important.

The contemporary-modern concepts related to value education despite the fundamental changes in social structure – even after the domination of institutions - recognise the role of families in spreading value education. When there is talk about the role of families, the decisive contribution of women in imparting value education automatically becomes apparent.

It is the reality that women are the basic source of value education. The role of women in its spread at family and social levels is very important. Along with this, the contribution of women, in this direction, through educational institutions is commendable, remarkable and worth-mentioning. Undoubtedly, women can make an unprecedented contribution towards the spread of value education in this era when they are continuously stepping forward in the field of education and the level of their empowerment is also increasing. Women constitute half of the total population of the world. They are about 3. 82 billion in number in which there are also about one billion adolescent girls and young women. If we talk about women less than fifty years of age, the number will be little less than two billion. Hence, women are fully capable of being the change in imparting value education. They should come forward to provide leadership in the work of promoting value education and through that mammoth task, raise humanity to its desired level.

*A Padma Shri and Sardar Patel National Awardee Indologist Dr. Ravindra Kumar is a Former Vice Chancellor of CCS University, Meerut; he is also the Editor-in-Chief of Global Peace International Journal.