What is Value-based Education Programme?
Imagine a classroom of students learning the importance of
love, peace, respect and other values. Now imagine a classroom looking into
their textbooks to understand Newton’s Prism Experiment and moving on to the
next subject. If you look at the larger picture – by combining both of these –
you will be able to imagine a classroom full of students who are not only
learning enthusiasts but also leaders of the future who will be able to spread
love and kindness.
Embedding moral values in a student’s daily life brings happiness
in school as well as at home. Building relationships through these values
becomes easy. Often, students begin to learn values at home and then carry it
to their work atmosphere. However, if we have to teach the students, it is the
teachers who must be trained first. Many organisations including UNESCO, ACTS
and others, have created training material that highlights the importance of
value education and how it can be developed as part of syllabus.
What are the values?
According to the framework created by NCERT (National Council
of Educational Research and Training), values are defined as something that ‘regulate
and guide human behaviour and action in our day to daily life.’
We would like to highlight 3 values that are important for
every child:
1. Peace
One of the main values is creating peace amongst us. When we
build peace within our environment, there is a greater opportunity to foster
other values as well because all other values are rooted in peace. Akshaya
Patra, a charity for children, supports peace by providing access
to healthy food. Lack of food may cause insecurity and therefore, contribute to
a hostile environment. By providing food with help from charity fundraising,
Akshaya Patra promotes peace.
2. Trust
Believing in someone does not come easy. For you trust
someone, that person must have built this value through actions and words. Similarly,
for someone to trust you, your actions and words must speak. This value,
unfortunately, is most difficult when tried to inculcate among the elders.
3. Respect
How often have we heard or said ‘Give respect and take
respect’? Maybe it’s a line that never gets old but the message it has will
always stay strong. Respect is a universal human value towards not just our
race but to nature, planet and everything that surrounds us.
The NCERT report says, ‘If we try noticing what a person does
in spare time when he or she is not being coaxed or threatened to do a
particular activity, we may get some ideas about what he/she values.’ Let’s
bring value education into the classroom and fill the student’s mind with
values – values that will help protect the planet, values that will help in spreading
joy and values that will help in respecting the elders.
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