Moral values and hygiene in education

The school bag is becoming heavier with the increase in the number of subjects, so also of books. This load has much to do with the kid. The contents of the books in the school bag are meant to be learnt by the kid. In the past few decades, school curricula have had a paradigm shift with the inclusion of more subjects. Educationists say that the new subjects are a must if India is to keep pace with rest of the world. However, in the inclusion of the new subjects, a few of the important existing subjects like moral studies and domestic hygiene have failed to make any room for themselves in the school curricula. The exclusion of these two subjects from the curricula gives an impression that 'to modern educationists these two subjects are not as important as the other ones'. Against such a backdrop, a few important questions that should make everybody rack his/her brains are: can education be complete without moral and hygienic values? Will education without moral and hygienic values do any good for a student or society? Will education without morality and hygiene strike the perfect balance between individual and social aims of education?

Let's go back to basics. What will society look like in the absence of moral values? In essence, moral is concerned with principles of right or wrong behaviour. A peep into the present society in Assam will suffice its moral standard. Many youths do not respect their elders or seniors. Even there are instances of young couples not looking after their ageing parents. There are aged people languishing in old-age homes simply because their children are not ready to shoulder their 'burden'. Respects for elders or seniors come from within. Sitting in a correct posture in front of a senior is both professional and social etiquette, so is leaving a sit for an ailing or elderly person while travelling in public transportation. The sort of education received by an able-bodied youth, who doesn't feel like helping out an old person crossing a busy road with his/her wobbly footsteps risking life and limb, essentially comes under question. Without moral values education being imparted to the students is not going to form a morally high society. Rather such education is fraught with the risk of creating a large number of literate youths who will only run after money, putting the social goal of education on the back burner. The case is no different for adults as well. The rising number of corruption cases involving officials and bureaucrats swindling funds meant for the public is indicative of the standard of moral education in society. If such a situation is allowed to linger long the disparity between haves and have-nots will be wider, leading to social unrest. Bystanders' apathy – sensible adults playing the role of mute spectators when some unruly young ones indulge in antisocial activities – in the present society speaks volumes of the gravity of the situation. Nowadays most of the sensible adults daren't interfere when young ones do something unacceptable. The root cause of such a non-interfering attitude is that neither the young ones nor their guardians approve such interference from a neighbour. If this is not social decadence, what else is? "The destiny of India is being shaped in her classroom," Kothari Commission (1964-66), the first Education Commission of independent India, said. Gandhiji said, "Education means all-round drawing out of the best in child and man-body, mind, and spirit." Can such a sacrosanct goal of education be achieved without moral enlightenment? The very essence of Indian culture is moral value. Namaskar – the way of greeting somebody with both hands placed together and the head bent forward – that was inherent in our society is now a dying culture in India. The irony, however, is that the monks took this culture from India to the South-East Asian countries where Namaskar is a thriving culture. In February 2015 the Supreme Court of India sought responses from the Centre and the CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) on a plea to make 'Moral Science' a compulsory subject from Class I to XII in schools across the country. Won't it be wise to make Moral Science a compulsory subject at least up to Class VIII, if not up to Class XII? Perhaps, any teacher worth his/her salt will accept it.

Hygiene, be it personal or public, needs absolute attention and its importance in a country like India is always of greater importance. Educationists say that 'a sound mind resides only in a sound body'. If this statement has anything to go by, hygiene is an indispensable subject in school curricula. To ensure a hygienic environment in society every citizen is expected to be hygienic, both personally and publicly. Domestic hygiene and public hygiene are inter-dependent, and if something goes wrong with one of them the other feels the spillover effects. Gandhiji makes it amply clear when he says 'cleanliness is next to godliness'. If education is all-round development of an individual, how can those at the helm of affairs neglect the importance of hygiene in education?