College Students to Learn Morals Again

BANGALORE, 11 Dec 2008 : Higher education minister Aravind Limbavali on Thursday said moral education will be introduced as a subject from the next academic year. A committee will be constituted to work out the modalities.

This was the outcome of a discussion on the issue between the minister, educationists, representatives from spiritual organizations, colleges and student organizations.

The minister said January 12 is observed as International Youth Day. "Starting from this day, a month-long campaign will be taken up to create awareness among college students on terrorism. State-level and division-level committees have been constituted to work on the campaign, he said.

The participants came up with various suggestions. Many said moral education should not be restricted to the primary level. Other suggestions included introducing yoga, lessons on history of India and lives of great leaders, etc.

Chanchalapati Das of Iskcon said it's important to have value education in the present context. "There is a difference between school and college-going students. College students are less disciplined and more concerned about job prospects," he said. He added that self-development is important. "Imparting life skills and multiple intelligence is important. Value education should be an accredited course, otherwise it will not be taken seriously," he added.

Nagendra H R, vice-chancellor, Vivekananda Yoga University, stressed on the importance of introducing yoga in colleges. "It can help build overall personality of an individual. There is a lack of discipline and confidence among students. Introducing yoga everyday should help overcome this," he said.

Another participant said chapters from epics like the Bhagvad Gita and Ramayana should be introduced in the curriculum. Some participants said teachers should also be given proper guidance on developing values.

Educationist Geetha Ramanujam said: "Self-management is the first step to being efficient managers. Students should be allowed to express their opinions," she said.

Times News Network

VADODARA, 23 Jun 2004: Government employees across Gujarat should not be surprised if their district collectors and district development officers (DDOs) suddenly start talking to them in Japanese, using words like 'Kaizen', 'Muda' and 'Teian'. Or if they are found meditating in between important meetings to relieve stress.

By the time they come out of the quiet Gujarat State Fertilisers and Chemicals (GSFC) campus on Saturday after a three-day 'chintan shibir', they will have acquainted themselves with Kaizen form of Japanese management and learnt Yoga from H R Nagendra of the Swami Vivekananda Yoga Research Foundation (SVYRF).Apart from, of course, a session on human resource management by a former IIM-A don.

It is a different matter that their Kaizen faculty, Jayanth Murthy of Ahmedabad who is associated with Kaizen Institute of Japan, is in Mauritius at present and is expected to return by Saturday.

For the uninitiated, Kaizen means using "common sense" to bring in better managerial practices and involving everyone, from managers to workers. But before these bureaucrats went into the realm of the exotic, they were made to worry about the mundane.

Chief Minister Narendra Modi, accompanied by his entire Cabinet and entourage of secretaries, is expected to turn up on Thursday for the formal inauguration. However, till late evening no one had received the itinerary as Modi was still caught up with political problems at the BJP national executive in Mumbai.

Officials confirmed that Modi was coming on Thursday, but were not sure when, because Atal Bihari Vajpayee was scheduled to address the valedictory session of the BJP meet during the day and, given the present relations between Modi and Vajpaye, it would be considered a snub to skip it.

That, however, did not stop the collectors and DDOs to get down to the nitty-gritty on Wednesday as they made presentations and shared information on work done so far.

They were divided in two groups, officials said — the Vivekananda Kaksh for the collectors and the Chanakya Kaksh for the DDOs. Some of them even seemed to have done their homework. One of the collectors had even read up on Kaizen on the internet.

He told TNN, "It is supposed to be a continuous process of taking small steps every day, as opposed to the Western method of breaking down a failed system and starting from a scratch." For the record, 'Muda' means waste, and 'Teian' is a classless, rank-less group of employees who are encouraged to give suggestions for improvement.

If common sense and the small steps strategy fails and produces stress in some of the bureaucrats, then they can always fall back on Dr Nagendra's advice. The bureaucrats will also get a lesson or two from former IIM-A don T V Rao,who is now a well-known management consultant.

Kaizen means using 'common sense' to bring in better managerial practices and involving managers and workers.

Times News Network