With NGO help,lessons on value in classroom

The Indian Express had reported last year how Kendriya Vidyalayas were tying up with neighbourhood Brahma Kumari centres for value education lessons. The Human Resource Development department has now set out to correct this and roped in the NCERT to fill the vacuum in the curriculum.

The NCERT will anchor a Scheme for Strengthening Education in Values that proposes to provide financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh per year to institutions and organisations that help promote programmes to teach values approved by the government.

The NCERT says schools offer a limited environment,and interaction with the non-formal sector will expand the horizons of the childs mind and help integrate him with the social environment outside the schools boundaries.

Education for values cannot be done by the school all by itself; it is a shared responsibility of the other stakeholders too. Learning of the child is not limited to the classroom and school. Slow and covert learning takes place from what children see on the streets,in movies and news8230; Since the school with its limited resources and broader goals cannot alone take up the entire responsibility 8230; utilisation of the non-formal sector,therefore,can go a long way in creating awareness and sensitisation about human and constitutional values, says an NCERT vision document.

NGOs and other applicants under the scheme will,however,have to undergo government scrutiny before they can enter the classroom. This will range from determination of their legal status to ensuring the groups have no political or religious affiliation or bias. Their suitability will ultimately depend on the strength,methodology and effectiveness of the proposals they make.

The projects,says NCERT,should be woven around the themes of peace in various philosophical perspectives,justice and cultural diversity,a comparative analysis of value-based teachings of different religions and prevention of violence and corporal punishment in schools.