Moral education in schools

In today’s rat race, values are fast eroding. There is a total decadence in social and moral values. Children go to school thinking about how to scale heights and how rich education can make them. In the age of cut-throat competition even parents instruct their wards to top the class. They only look for good returns for the fees they pay. The criteria for promotion is marks in science and social sciences, and not in moral education. Childhood is a very impressionable age and that is the right time to impart the values of life. Moral education, in fact, helps inculcate values in mankind and it is important to impart this education while young. Children spend so much time in school and hence schools should take the responsibility to impart moral values.

People should understand that moral education is not a religion-based subject. Rather it eliminates fanaticism, superstition and violence. It preaches ‘Love all, serve all’, a value lacking in today’s generation. It helps a child to pay heed to his conscience. Theoretical knowledge is not enough. Teachers should make their life exemplary to their students. The lives of great patriots or spiritual leaders must be brought to the forefront. Only moral education can stem the tide of value erosion and motivate students towards a healthier life. A child can then be trained emotionally, mentally and physically to become a responsible citizen, and a good son or daughter. They will thus learn to resist wrong peer pressure and intolerance and through right conduct move forward. Let the light of spirituality shine through the eyes of these little ones. This is precisely the reason why the UAE has made moral education compulsory for all levels in schools. —Ajithkumar TV, Dubai