Philosophy of Value-Oriented Education

VIII ANNEXURE IV

THE RESOLUTION ADOPTED UNANIMOUSLY

AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE SEMINAR

The National Seminar organized by the Indian Council of Philosophical Research on "Philosophy of Value-Oriented Education" was inaugurated by the Inaugural Address of the Hon'ble Minister of Human Resource Development on January 18, 2002. The Valedictory Address was delivered by Shri T.N. Chaturvedi, Member of Parliament and Member of the Executive Board of UNESCO on January 20, 2002.

The Seminar was held at the Jamia Hamdard at New Delhi. During the course of the Seminar, eminent philosophers, educationists, education administrators, and teachers from various parts of India participated and discussed various issues connected with the Philosophy of Value-Oriented Education, innovative pratices being experimented upon in different parts of the country, and the contributions that literature can make to the promotion of Value-Oriented Education.

As a result of this wide-ranging participation and discussion, it was felt that there is a need in our country to set up a number of task forces under the active guidance of a Coordinating Committee. Considering that this Committee should be high-powered and should have autonomous character, it was felt that the Committee should be set up under the auspices of the University Grants Commission (UGC), which is the' highest educational body with statutory autonomy.

It was, therefore, unanimously recommended as follows:

Considering the importance of Value-Oriented Education as a means of creating a new climate in the country that would be conducive to the promotion of the highest ideals and values it is recommended that the UGC may take the necessaray steps to constitute a number of task forces under the continuous guidance and supervision of the Coordinating Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr. Hari Gautam, who is at present the Chairman of the UGC, who will also nominate suitable personalities, including the heads of the NCERT, NIEPA, NCTE, CBSE, ISCE and other educational bodies as also eminent educationists. This Committee will ensure the fulfilment of the following urgent needs:

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* Continual assessment of the normative role of education in the rapidly changing societal set-up;

* Evolution of programmes of value-oriented education and their implementation with particular reference to values cherished as a part of the Indian heritage and those contained in the Declaration of Human

Rights and Declaration of the Human Responsibilities, as also those enunciated in the Fundamental Duties in the Constitution of India and the highest value of Goodwill for the Highest Good of All;

* Design and development of tools and infrastructure to build up and sustain a suitable environment for value education in our educational institutions;

* Evolution and continual upgrading of suitable educational models, by defining their parameters, particularly the relationship between skills, knowledge, wisdom and values; and

* An effective monitoring system to evaluate results of plans of action.

This Seminar also expresses its appreciation of the work initiated by the Indian Council of Philosophical Research in regard to the Philosophy of Value-Oriented Education, and it recommends that the Council organizes a series of Seminars, Workshops and Conferences and also extends financial assistance to the publication of literature and teaching/learning material with the aim to promote higher levels of thought and practice of Value-Oriented Education.

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