Volume : 4 | Issue : 9 | Sept 2015 ISSN - 2250-1991

Research Paper Education

Contribution of Swami Vivekananda for

Imparting Value Education in Present Scenario

Assistant Professor, Maharshi Dayanand [Link]. College, Jaipur

Rashi Gupta
(Rajasthan)
In present scenario, the upcoming new generation influenced with fashionable lifestyle, has discarded our values in one way
ABSTRACT

or the other. In such a situation it is very important for someone to lay down basic principles for us so that we may lead a
brightened life. No matter the stepping stones of success hit us hard, we on the basis of these principles can guide our life.
The present paper is an attempt to state the importance of value education for the present as well as future generations so
that they can contribute in the development of the society.

KEYWORDS Values, Value Education

INTRODUCTION tion has never been out of style. It is very relevant in almost
Everyone knows that life is precious – that life is important. all the fields concerning human activity. We have outstanding
We all protect our life because we care for it more than an- doctors who are in to organ robbery, brilliant engineers whose
ything else. If life is so important, the values of life are even bridges collapses soon after their bills are passed, accountants
more important. Values are guiding principles, or standards who rob government treasury by manipulation, civil servants
of behavior which are regarded desirable, important and held who rule as emperors, politicians with fake promises. All of
in high esteem by a particular society in which a person lives. them are the best educated and trained but their intellectual
The Importance of Values and Morals are the code we live by dishonesty is horrifying. Hence, the need of development of
in a civilized society. They are what we use to guide our inter- moral values is very significant. Some important needs have
actions with others, with our friends and family, in our busi- been mentioned below:
nesses and professional behavior. Our values and morals are a
reflection of our spirituality; our character. They are what we Preparing Our Children for Future Roles in Society:
hope to model for our children and the children around us, Knowledge gained in school is only one goal of education.
because children do watch us as they develop their own sense The primary goals of education should be enabling students
of right and wrong. to gain knowledge and moral values. Our kids will need both
in preparing themselves to be good parents and citizens in so-
CONCEPT OF VALUES & VALUE EDUCATION ciety.
Values are set of principles or standard behavioral patterns.
The word value is derived from the Latin root, “Valerie” Many Parents Aren’t Teaching Moral Values:
meaning to be strong and vigorous. ‘To be of value’ is to have If all parents were teaching their children moral values in the
a certain virtue. Thus, the literary meaning of value is some- home, it would not be necessary for the schools to do this
thing that has a price, something that is precious, dear and work. The sad fact is that a lot of kids are not learning from
worthwhile; something one is ready to suffer for and sacrifice their parents the difference between right and wrong. This
for. Values give meaning and strength to the person’s char- is because most mothers and fathers in their busy work days
acter by occupying centre space in his life. They are guiding spend only a few hours with their children. In many families
principles to life and are conducive to all round development. there is only one parent and no other role models for kids to
Values permeate the whole of human existence and are a follow.
major factor in determining what sort of human beings they
are and how they will behave. Values in their nascent stage There is Too Much Violence and Dishonesty in Society:
appear as needs, emotions and interests varying in specificity, Every day students’ are exposed to violence, dishonesty, and
intensity and depth. When these acquire certain definiteness, other social problems in the media and the real world. How
intensity and stability in the affective life of the individual and many times have we heard about school shootings? What
at the same time obtain objective social approval and valida- about other times when students are caught cheating on ex-
tion these comprise the nuclei of value formation. ams? Then, too, we read about bullying in school and fights
between gangs. If moral values were taught in schools, we
Value education means inculcating in students’ a sense of hu- would have fewer of these problems.
manism, a deep concern of well-being of individuals and soci-
ety as a whole. This task can be accomplished only when in- To Counter Bad Influences in Society:
culcation of students at school and higher levels of education Unfortunately, many of the role models of young people are
towards commitment of values is undertaken. Value education setting bad examples. These bad examples range from sexual
aims at teaching students preserve whatever worthwhile we promiscuity, degrading of women, advocacy of violence, and
have inherited from our culture and develop social, moral aes- the condoning of dishonesty in order to succeed.
thetic values, which are often overlooked in formal education.
Value education discards imposition and indoctrination. Value Moral Values Will Stick with You for Life:
education aims at transformation of corrupted mind to posi- The significance of moral values in our life is very important.
tive thinking individuals, a mind with higher capacity to per- Moral values teach us what is right or wrong. Thus, we can
ceive dynamism and capable of higher level of sensitivity. conduct our life in a right direction. We can understand what
is good or evil. This type of learning helps us to conduct our
VALUE EDUCATION: NEED OF THE HOUR life morally in this world.
Due to dearth of values in the present generation the curric-
ulum must give prominence to value education. Value educa-

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Volume : 4 | Issue : 9 | Sept 2015 ISSN - 2250-1991

SUGGESTIONS BY SWAMI VIVEKANANDA FOR INCULCAT- CONCLUSION

ING VALUES Human Values cannot be forced, even if conveyed with good
intentions. Education is the deliberate and systematic in-
“We need man making and nation building education” fluence exerted by the mature person upon the immature,
Swami Vivekananda through instruction, discipline, and harmonious development
of physical, intellectual, aesthetic, social and spiritual powers
The present education system is highly mechanical. It is a race of the human beings. An Education provides and develops
for both parents and students and the educators further add Human values in the Society. Therefore, to fortify the values in
fuel to fire. Most of the educational institution are the prof- education through the Value Education. Swami Vivekananda’s
it making concern with pompous classroom and decked up words should not be forgotten - “Arise, Awake and Stop not
teachers. These structures can hardly impart knowledge to till the goal are achieved”.
students that makes him or her self sufficient enough to iden-
tify his or her place in the community. Students are by and
large depriving of the root that makes them strong individual
and responsible citizens. The dismal condition of education in-
stitution makes it obligatory to redefine their role and employ
it to build the values, attitude and moral standards. The role
of the school and then the colleges is not merely teaching and
learning the textbook but understanding between each line of
the text book. Our educational system should focus moral and
spiritual foundation of students which alone can mould the
future of the nation.

According to Swami Vivekananda, if we want to make our

students as a moral human being, school curriculum is one
of the best ways to serve this purpose. Because he think that
moral values can be inculcated among our students through
a value based school curriculum. Therefore, Vivekananda sug-
gested some important moral values which should be included
in our school curriculum:

• Unconditional Love and Kindness: In most cases, if

you love someone, he or she will love you back in re-
turn. This, however, is not the real meaning of love. Love
should be unconditional. With more love in the world,
kindness will follow and replace cruelty.
• Honesty: Students must be taught that dishonesty and
cheating is wrong, and will get you nowhere in the fu-
ture. As a student, one is only hurting himself or herself
by cheating, because this action will eventually catch up
to you in the end with bad consequences.
• Hard Work: Nowadays, so many students want to cheat
and cut corners in their studies, because they are lazy
and don’t place any value on hard word. This thinking
must change.
• Respect for Others: Unfortunately, in our highly com-
petitive dog eat dog society; many people will tread on
others to get ahead in life. Respect for others should in-
clude respecting different religions, races, sexes, ideas,
and life styles.
• Co-operation: To achieve a common goal, it is necessary
for all people to work together. If this is not done, a few
people may profit, but the end result for everyone will
be a failure. I still believe in the motto, “united we stand
and divided we fall.”
• Compassion: Compassion is defined as being sensitive
to the needs of people. If there were more compassion
in the world, there would be less homeless, hunger,
wars, and unhappiness.
• Forgiveness: Anger in most cases is caused by unwill-
ingness to forgive. There would be less violence and
fighting in school if students could learn this moral vir-
tue.

REFERENCES

• Aneja, N. (2014). The Importance of Value Education in the Present Education System & Role of Teacher, International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research,
2(3), pp: 230-233. • Badrinath, C. & Chaturvedi, B. (2006). Swami Vivekananda: The Living Vedanta. New York: Penguin. • Dense, V. & Christian, D. (1999), Philosophers
and Religious Leaders. Greenwood Publishing. • Rolland, R. & Sharma, A. (2008). The Life of Vivekananda and the Universal Gospel (24 ed.), pp. 326-328. • Sharma, M.
(2015), Is our Present Education System Values driven? Global Journal of Research Analyses, 4(8) pp 37-42. • Swami Rmayananda, J. (2000). Vivekananda: His Gospel of
Man-Making with a garland of tributes and a chronicle of his life and times, with pictures (4thed.). Chennai, India • Swami Prabhananda, (2003), Profiles of famous edu-
cators: Swami Vivekananda, 33 (2), pp.231–245. • Venu, C. (2011), Views of Swami Vivekananda on human values in modern education, Indian Journal of Science and
Technology, 4 (3), pp 46-51.

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