The need for value based education in India: A critical synopsis

India in the past five decades has witnessed a constant erosion of the essential social, moral and spiritual values and an increase in cynicism at all levels. Today as science and technology have made many seemingly impossible things possible. Schools are not isolated islands untouched by indifference and disregard for the entire value system, their potential and role in guiding the national psyche cannot be underestimated. Schools can and must strive to restore and sustain the universal and eternal values oriented towards the unity and integration of the people, enabling them to realize the treasure within. People must realize who they are and what the ultimate purpose of human life is. Value-based education would help the nation fight against all kinds of fanaticism, ill will, violence, fatalism, dishonesty, avarice, corruption, exploitation, drug abuse, etc,. Therefore, curriculum, both explicit and hidden, should transmit values through school subjects, textbooks and transaction of the subject matter. The teaching of different school subjects, therefore, should stir the processes involved in the value development. The curriculum in school must stand on the three pillars of relevance, equity and excellence. The committed and inspiring teachers and school personnel should march ahead with force and enthusiasm to implement this important curriculum intervention for the cause of value oriented education. This paper will discuss the role of curriculum, books and teachers in transmitting values through school subjects and deliberates upon the need to find the potential of curricular experiences selected for developing the cognitive abilities and various non-cognitive characteristics in the children.