The Value Education that the Centre is implementing will focus on values that the constitution has and general compassion and respect for all people.
The BJP government at the Centre is planning to implement a "uniform" and "Common Minimum Program for Value" across India’s schools in the academic session of 2019-20, The Economic Times has reported.
The government wants to ensure there is uniformity in value education imparted to the students across the country. The focus of this new module would be core constitutional values including equality, justice, fraternity and liberty.
The paper quoted sources as saying the value education that the Centre is implementing, will focus on values that the constitution has and general compassion and respect for all people. A non-marks based approach will be used to assess students and teachers.
These modules are not a mandate that all schools must follow, but the government expects voluntary participation. The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) will be preparing the Common Minimum Programme by August 2018. A pilot test of the course will happen in September. A significant number of schools follow the NCERT textbooks, hence this will offer maximum access.
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The Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry wants moral/value education to be incorporated into all subjects that students study, as opposed to one class for moral science. It is called a Whole School Approach (WSA).
There will also be modules on Life Skills Education linked with government’s Ayushman Bharat scheme and Experiential Learning.
Value Education
The government has posed this concept as “a planned effort by schools to nurture the core universal values help upmost by our Constitution”.
The plan’s roadmap says, “It would provide the required uniformity across the country and at the same time would be flexible enough to provide scope for variations for different types of schools.”
Teachers’ appraisal and student’s report card will be a factor in value education and the result would be measured through a compulsory assessment design. Schools will also be graded on the basis of the implementation of this government scheme. The National Council of Teachers Education (NCTE) will train teachers in value education components.
Life Skills Education
Health and wellness for school-going children will be rolled out under the Ayushman Bharat mission in the 115 aspirational districts in the first phase. Nine life skills have been identified under this programme—self-awareness, problem-solving, decision making, critical thinking, creative thinking, empathy, communication, interpersonal relationships and managing emotions.
This module will not be graded in a student’s report card, there will be narration of a student’s progress in it. The programme will try to incorporate prevention and management of abuse, sexual health, gender equality, social media behaviour and use of the internet and security against violence in the courses.
Experiential Learning
This is also not a subject but will be taught from Class 1 onwards, to teach practical knowledge to students. This will be imparted through group discussions, role play, lab experiments, internships, field trips to museums, factories, farms etc., and practice of sports and yoga.