Education and Ethics

Many advocate that ethics should be part of education. They see it as a valuable or necessary addition to the education process. They call it ethical education and its obvious implication is that moral education is a specialised and neglected stream of education.

This is a grossly mistaken perspective. Ethics is the sine qua non of education, not an addition. It is the core of education. Even imparting basic skills should not be without inculcating related values. Everything we do should be in service to others and one must do that honestly and with empathy. People are educated to be morally capable of doing things. At the same time, the claim of a fair reward for doing the service is equally moral.

A moral society is a progressive society. A decline in any society and civilization begins with moral degeneration. 

Educational institutions are meant to uphold and infuse morality in society. Their institutionalisation and working demand the utmost care. 

Niraj Kumar Jha 

Ethical Lapses

    Generally, a gap exists between what a person professes and what he practices. How moral is speaking of ethics without being ethical personally? I think a person can and should speak for moral values even if he does not practise them. A person being duplicitous is a better person than one being a blatant violator. It means the person has not lost faith in the norms and knows in his heart that he has deviated.

    Nonetheless, the mismatch between speech and conduct is a serious social and civilizational issue. I think that the normative part is our civilizational and social legacy, but the practice part is political, a tragic effect of prolonged physical occupation and of ideological occupation of the country after that.

Niraj Kumar Jha