The Universal Solidarity Movement (USM) has been involved in value education, especially among high school students, for 30 years. One of the value education programmes is a one-week Enlightened Leadership Training at USM’s head office in Indore. 9042 students in 438 groups from 22 states in India have participated in the USM leadership training till December 8, 2023. 

On November 30 2023, the USM team visited Carmel Convent Senior Secondary School, Neemuch, Madhya Pradesh and interacted with 27 parents whose children participated in the USM leadership training. These included parents of children who have been coming to USM for leadership training since 2018. Still, most were the children’s parents who participated in the leadership training in August 2023. 16 parents got the chance to explain briefly what changes they have observed in their children due to the training. The principal, Sr. Jaya CTC, and the school manager attended the interactive session. 

Out of the 17 parents who spoke, 15 acknowledged that remarkable changes have occurred in their children due to the training, and the changes are sustainable. The changes include a drastic reduction in the use of mobile phones, an increase in self-discipline, especially following a time schedule, becoming sensitive to others, especially to those who are underprivileged, doing one’s personal work, respecting all religions and increasing self-confidence. Some of the sharing by the parents is very striking.   

“My son’s self-confidence increased remarkably. Now, he can interact with anyone and make friends with others. His behaviour has become very friendly. His curiosity to learn has increased. He has become humble, and his ego has decreased.” said the father of Shreyanse Jain, who participated in the leadership training at the end of 2021.   

Nafisa Rassivala, the mother of Nama Rassivala, said, “My daughter doesn’t complain about food. She has controlled her anger. Whenever she cannot control her anger, she reads a chapter from the autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi, which she brought from the USM.”

The mother of Ashvi Mittal, Arpita Mittal, appreciated the increase in her daughter’s decision-making capacity. “The Capacity to make decisions increased with my daughter Ashvi Mittal, and she has become an excellent counsellor for me. Earlier, she used to depend on the mobile phone for preparing her projects; now she is creative”, she said. 

The mother of Lavanya and Vaidish expressed happiness about the changes that have taken place in her two children who participated in the leadership training. “My daughter Lavanya took part in the leadership training at USM five years ago. She used to spend a lot of money on junk food. After interacting with working children during the leadership training, she became sensitive to the poor and gave up eating junk food. She is still continuing the practice of avoiding junk food. Two of my children increased their self-confidence, and both have become very responsible after taking part in the leadership training”. 

Some mothers are delighted because their children, including boys, are helping them in doing household chores. “After attending USM training, Manjeet started helping me in household work. He irons his clothes as well as the clothes of his father,” said the mother of Manjeeth. Rudra Pratap Singh’s mother said, “My son has become very cooperative. He helps me with household work. He has reduced unnecessary expenses.” 

The mother of Navya Dhanthwala appreciated an attitudinal change in her daughter. “My daughter learned to adjust with others after the leadership training. Before the training, she was not ready to share a room with others. Now, she has received the spirit of sharing.” 

It is said that values are not taught but caught. If we look at our own lives, we realise that most core values like honesty, sensitivity, compassion, respecting other persons, etc., have been learned chiefly from our families and teachers during the early years of our lives. While practising these values, we often remember the persons from whom we caught these values. 

Value education is part of the school curriculum, and value education textbooks proliferate. Sometimes, exams are conducted in schools on value education based on these textbooks. Many students often score good marks in the examinations, too. However, it is indeterminable whether they will imbibe these values and integrate them into their personality. Value education that doesn’t affect a person’s character is unproductive. 

Of course, imparting values through telling stories and giving examples of great personalities is very important, especially during childhood. Still, they are to be followed by the examples of the people who tell these stories. If a father and mother teach their children to be honest and not to tell lies, and if they do not practice them in their own lives, the children will not be convinced of their teaching. On the contrary, they may lose faith in the honesty and integrity of their parents. 

One of the methods used in the USM for imparting values is showing students selected movies, especially biopics, and holding discussions with them regarding the insights they caught and the lessons they learned from the film. Movies also help them analyse society and find the root causes of the evils that prevail in society. In this process, there is no lecturing about values; the students catch the values by employing critical thinking. 

While the students are in the USM for leadership training or any other value education programme, the members of the USM community interact with them, and the students also learn from the USM environment and the community. The whole team participates in activities like prayer, meals, and listening to the presentation of their personal reports. Thus, along with those who take sessions for the students, all members of the USM community are partners in the training process. The students often write in their personal reports presented at the end of the training, “There are no workers in the USM; all are partners”.

“After participating in the leadership training, I realised that life is not a career; a career is only a part of life. The atmosphere and the community of the USM made me realise the importance of self-dependence and respecting everyone irrespective of caste, religion, etc.,” wrote Rajshree Rathore of Sophia School, Mount Abu, Rajasthan, who participated in the leadership training from May 25 to 31, 2023. Deepika Jahar of the same group wrote, “My life in USM is really nice; it feels like my second home. All live like a family here, and they do not judge anyone based on their religion or caste”. A third student of the same group, Ridhvika Deora, said, “It is more than leadership training; it teaches life values. USM is a place where I got many of my life values.” 

Education becomes a mission when those involved in education and the whole environment of educational institutions can influence students positively and touch their hearts and minds by imparting core ethical and human values. Education has two main components or dimensions: building character and competence. Character building is a process through which children assimilate core moral and human values, making them part and parcel of their personality. Competence refers to acquiring knowledge and learning various skills. A good human being, a responsible citizen and an enlightened leader should grow in these two dimensions. It is an ongoing process whose foundations are laid in childhood, both at home and school. 

According to Mahatma Gandhi, education has to lead to the development of 3 Hs: Head, Hand and Heart. The head symbolises intellect, the hand stands for skills, and the heart stands for emotions and values. The present education system in India gives disproportionate importance to the head, some significance to the hand, and neglects the heart. The consequences of this negligence are reflected in increasing corruption in public life, a rise in crime, especially against women and children, and insensitivity of the rich towards the poor. 

An education that ignores character-building is harmful. In one of his quotes, John Sloan Dickey points out the danger of neglecting character formation. “The end of education is to see man, made whole, both in competence and in conscience (character). For, to create the power of competence without creating a corresponding direction to guide the use of that power is bad education. Furthermore, competence will finally disintegrate apart from conscience”. 

The world has seen leaders who, though highly competent, proved to be disasters for the world. Among them was Adolf Hitler, who massacred more than 9 million people, including 6 million Jews. The following words of Dr Haim Ginot, an educationist and a child psychologist who was a survivor of the concentration camp of Hitler, expose the dangers of making people competent through education without building their character. 

“I am a survivor of a concentration camp. My eyes saw what no person should witness. Gas chambers built by the learned engineers. Children poisoned by educated physicians. Infants killed by trained nurses. Women and babies shot by high school and college graduates. So, I am suspicious of education. My request is: Help your children become human. Your efforts must never produce learned monsters or skilled psychopaths. Reading, writing and arithmetic are important only if they serve to make our children more human”. 

India is passing through a critical period when hatred, revenge, exclusion, division and discrimination are plaguing not only the body politics but also many other aspects of social life. Value-based education is the need of the hour. The method of value education evolved by USM can make value education effective from the perspective of building the character of children and young people.