A Parliamentary panel that went through National Council Of Educational Research And Training (NCERT) books and those prescribed by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has found them glaringly lacking in lessons that would inculcate “moral values” especially those related to empowering women and making all sensitive to the violence against them. The panel has recommended that the HRD ministry look into these key aspects.
The Standing Committee on HRD headed by member of parliament(MP) Satyanarain Jatiya, laid its report on issues related to women’s safety in Parliament last week, observed that the ministry of human resource development(HRD) is the only ministry that can help inculcate the values of respect and dignity towards women to the next generation which will lead to change of mindset and eventually lead to the safety of women.
The committee is of the opinion that violence against women indicates “degrading moral values” of the society arising out of deep rooted patriarchal mindset and feels that the steps taken by the ministry to incorporate moral values in the school text books are insufficient, the report which was tabled in the Parliament on March 19, said.
Significantly, the report comes at a time when the punishment to the accused in the December 16 Delhi gang-rape case has once again brought issues related to women’s safety to the centre stage. The report also comes at a time when the HRD ministry is giving final touches to the New Education Policy (NEP) and bring it to the Union Cabinet. The NCERT will review the National Curricullum Framework (NCF) in line with the new policy.
In its report, the committee however, felt the NCERT’s present role left much to be desired.
“On one hand, we are trying to empower girls and, on the other hand, we are failing to teach the values of respect and dignity towards women in the boys. The Committee examined the school books of NCERT and prescribed books of CBSE and noticed that they do not have enough chapters expressly inculcating moral values,” the panel said.
The Committee recommended inclusion of chapters on moral values in the school curriculum and textbooks. For this purpose, the ministry should also hold regular workshops and organise participatory discussion with the students to inculcate the correct values in them and also make them aware about the institutional framework available in case of any gender-based violence and crime.
The committee also urged the HRD ministry to make universities and colleges more proactive to generate awareness about the responsibility of the citizen to make our cities safe for women.
The committee impresses upon the ministry to urge more universities and colleges to open department of women studies so that the students of these departments can form groups to counsel and support distressed women, the report stated.
