Page 76 - Synergy 17-18

MINDSPACE

W O RD FA CT O R Y

us decide between good and bad, Right or wrong. Until two decades ago, classes in moral science at
the primary level in schools laid the foundation of this consciousness early on in life. These classes
have sadly disappeared from the timetables in schools. First as the hour for games and music!!

Higher education institutes need to address this. The learners in the age bracket between adolescence
and early adulthood could do well with training of the mind as well!! Classes for the ‘soul’ could give
voice to the values approach in colleges and other educational institutions. This approach would teach
the young how to learn, how to think and how to adapt. Soft skills will help the students to thrive in this
ever-changing world. We, in college, must understand that universities and colleges are no longer the
only institutions that hold information. Students are subconsciously challenging traditional education
and using the Internet to supplement their college education. The value of a lone degree is therefore
decreasing and the candidates capabilities developed outside the school are given weight-age too.
Experience that build adaptability, resilience and cultural understanding are fundamental to survival in
uncertain world that we live in.

The task of any system must be to transmit knowledge with values.
Anyone without the other would be incomplete.

Value

Education

Very recently, a newspaper report read about a young man with a resume most Indian parents dream of Dr. Pushpinder G. Bhatia
for their children, an IIT from Delhi, to the University of Pennsylvania and finally Harvard!! He returned Vice Principal
to his homeland to join politics and was often seen sharing platform in ‘anti-social’ regressive company.

Instances of alumni from the best business schools serving jail sentences in the US for ethical
transgressions are a many. Students resorting to suicide is a proof of raging minds; what with the
pressure of peers and social media!! What has gone wrong? Has education which merely trains failed
us?

The system which encourages learning by rote emphasizes only on cracking exams. If education does
not prepare one to be compassionate and to learn right from wrong, more harm than good will befall
the society!!

The learning outcomes of our academic programs are sadly lopsided. Learning outcomes of Engineering
and science programs train the learner to apply basis of science and technology to solve problems and
create efficient systems. An MBA can analyses problems in an organization and resolve them. ‘Ethics’
and ‘values’ that need to be guarded are rarely focused upon!

Rampant corruption and justification of the means by the end alone are accepted as a norm. When
we speak of a ‘skilled’ human resource, the word ‘human’ is sadly silent. It is only values which make
humans valuable in comparison to all other creations in the Universe. Values are the criteria which help

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