(a) whether the Government proposes to make moral education compulsory in the
curriculum from nursery to university level in the country;
(b) if so,the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
(c) the steps taken by the Government to devise appropriate syllabus on the subject in
order to inculcate moral values in students in the country?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
(SHRI UPENDRA KUSHWAHA)
(a) to (c) Education is a subject on the Concurrent List of the Constitution and a
majority of schools are under the purview of the State Governments. The National
Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) textbooks prescribe themes
and examples related to moral conduct across the subject areas and across the various
stages of school education in the syllabi and textbooks for classes I-XII as a followup
of the National Curriculum Framework – 2005. NCERT has also brought out a
Value Education Framework entitled “Education for values in schools – A
framework” which provides guidelines to schools to identify their priorities of values
and plan their actions accordingly. NCERT has also developed a Resource Book for
teachers called ‘Ways to Peace”.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has made moral
education compulsory in the curriculum offered to the schools affiliated to it. It has
published source books for classes VI-VIII and a Teacher’s Manual on Life Skills for
Classes IX-X and also on Environmental Education and Adolescent Education which
help to foster values in children. It has also introduced value-based questions from the
prescribed books in the Summative Assessment II in classes IX-X and in the final
examination in classes XI-XII from the year 2012-13. CBSE has also launched a value
education kit comprising of a Hand Book for Teachers, Values Cards and a CD on
songs on the theme of Duty, Solidarity and Respect for Nature.
Universities, being autonomous in academic matters, are free to revise the
syllabi and curricula. However, the University Grant Commission (UGC) is funding
various programmers at the Under-Graduate and Post-Graduate levels concerning
Human Rights and Values Education in the universities and colleges. The
Commission has also been implementing the scheme of Human Rights Education with
a focus on values education and providing financial assistance to the eligible
Universities/ Colleges under this scheme. The objectives of this scheme, inter-alia,
include the creation of awareness and commitment to values where the individualistic
self-interest is reconciled with the collective and common good.
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