Education has been termed as the Necessary Utopia. Every sector of human activity looks towards education to clear the hindrances and bottlenecks which creep in at practically each and every stage of human development due to human infallibility.In a world besieged by all sorts of differences and violent conflicts, achieving social cohesion and imbibing the spirit of ‘learning to live together’ becomes the paramount challenge. The first step is to inculcate, nurture and develop the elusive value and universally felt need for the attitude of ‘tolerance’. Education, once again, is perceived as the most effective means of preventing intolerance.The 50th anniversary of both the UNESCO and the UN in 1995 was declared the International Year of Tolerance. The member-states of the UNESCO ‘Proclaimed and Signed’ the ‘Declaration of Principles on Tolerance’ on November 16 that year which recognised that the first step identified in tolerance education was ‘to teach people what their shared rights and freedoms are, so that they may be respected, and to promote the will to protect those of others’. Tolerance education can counter influences that lead to ‘fear and exclusion of others’ and it should help young persons to develop capabilities and competence for ‘independent judgment, critical thinking and ethical reasoning’. Accordingly, those entrusted with the responsibility of perceiving and implementing responsive educational changes need to give adequate emphasis in policies and programmes to ensure the ‘development of understanding, solidarity and tolerance amongst individuals as well as among ethnic, social, cultural, religious and linguistic groups’ and, in the present context, among nations.The erosion of values is a global phenomenon that is of concern to every one. Tolerance, too, is an endangered virtue. Intolerance is a major threat to the initiatives towards peace, progress and prosperity. It destroys developmental efforts. Its presence is evident in religious persecution. The Report of the Commission appointed by UNESCO to visualise the shape of education in 21st century, identifies learning to live together and achieve ‘social cohesion’ as the most outstanding objectives of education for the present century. Very rightly, it presents a great challenge before education systems, world-wide.The battle against intolerance is to be fought throughout one’s life. The preparation for this must begin in the classrooms. Group awareness and its significance in life could be imparted in schools by activities and participation in well-designed programmes. Real life situations like floods, drought and disasters often present an opportunity for the young to work together and express a common humanity. These can, in turn, change attitudes and usher in the spirit of tolerance at a mass level. Education, then, is the key.
