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Moral Of The Story
By INDIA TODAY Principal Correspondent Farah Baria.

The boys gingerly grasp needles at Cathedral School, Mumbai

You think all they do is play video games, watch MTV and drool over Mc Donalds. But at Cathedral School, Mumbai's Eton, 30 teenage boys gingerly grasp needles with hammy fingers, and sheepishly struggle to sew on shirt buttons. In another room, a gaggle of girls learns the basics of carpentry. "We try to emphasise gender equality," says principal Meera Isaacs firmly.
"After all, it's an important value."

Value. That archaic little term in a world of gang lords and match fixers. Yet, all of a sudden, morality is becoming the cornerstone of modern education. Recently, the Maharashtra Government's State Department of Education made Moral Science a compulsory subject. Schools were sent an exhaustive list of 83 exalted 'values' --- including tolerance, gender equality and dignity of labour --- along with peremptory instructions that they were to be imparted everyday.

Both parents and teachers are delighted. "Slowly the idea is dawning that children need much more than high grades and expensive toys to be good human beings," says Shirin Darashaw, principal of the J.B. Petit Girls' School, and an ardent proponent of value education.

Children chanting shlokas from all religions

The most fundamental precept seems to be divine aspiration, tempered of course, by a politically correct respect for all religions. In Mumbai, institutes like the Sri Sathya Sai Bal Vikas and the Chinmaya Mission organise dozens of shloka classes across the city. Here children from six to 15 years chant verses in praise of Saraswati, the Goddess of learning. Shlokas from Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism as well as prayers from Islam and Zorastrianism plus hymns from the Bible are taught. Class concludes with meditation or 'silent sitting' to still the chattering monkey within. The idea, elaborates Bal Vikas teacher Kasturi Rao, is to inculcate the five major values: satya (truth), dharma (duty), shanti (peace), prem (love ) and ahimsa (non-violence). "I sent my seven-year-old daughter Arya simply because I didn't want her to spend the holidays watching cartoons," shrugs interior designer Sonia Mehta. "Now I find she's less self-centred and more sensitive to the world around her."

At Vidyanidhi Balkunj in suburban Juhu, kindergarten kids invite their grandparents to school for tea, an exercise that 'instills respect for elders'. Birthdays of all national leaders are likewise routinely celebrated to 'instill a sense of national pride.' And the Art of Living Foundation --- a celeb-infested spiritual club led by Bangalore-based guru Shri Shri Ravi Shankar --- runs the vastly popular Art Excel courses for kids. On the curriculum: yoga asanas, breathing exercises and 'awareness' to enhance a
child's creativity and 'release subconscious blocks that may lead to problems in later life.

It's Utopia Where Daddies Cook Dinner and ...

It's not just about inner growth; it's also about developing a social conscience, learning to bridge those uniquely Indian chasms of class and caste. That's why Meljhol, an NGO that aims to "nurture a generation that believes in responsible citizenship and positive social change" brings kids from snobby private schools and modest municipal institutions together for
'icebreaking' fun and games. "We also attempt to bust gender stereotypes," explains director Pearl Tiwari.

The messages are mostly subliminal, addressed through the organisation's specially designed 'Twinkle Star Series'. It portrays a utopian world---where daddies cook dinner while mamas sift through the newspaper, the cleaning woman is respectfully treated, and the handicapped little boy next door is a family friend. Illustrated by the Social Marketing and Ad Cell (SOMAC) of Lintas Limited, the books come with a teachers' manual that
suggests how the lessons can be made more interactive and interesting.

Responding to thousands of mailers sent by Meljhol, orders are pouring in from places as far flung as Dehra Dun, Jalandhar, Kochi and even Barauni, Bihar. Apart from this passive indoctrinisation, social activism is also encouraged. Recently Meljhol initiated a citywide campaign against gutkha, a prime juvenile addiction; crusading kids from over a dozen municipal schools beseiged offending paanwallahs and took to the streets demanding that the stuff be banned.

But while gender stereotypes are gradually changing, communal ones run deeper, believes social activist Teesta Setalvad who was invited to do a series of workshops on religious prejudice at the prestigious Bombay International School. At first, 10-year-olds were casually asked to use word association with various communities: Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Parsees. "When their subconscious biases showed up through play, the kids
suddenly became aware of how many racial prejudices they were unconsciously imbibing." says Setalvad. "It's important to confront and overcome these at an early age."

But by far the most fashionable cause celebre is environmental protection. Spearheaded by organisations like the World Wildlife Fund and Sanctuary magazine, the green revolution is taking classrooms by storm. Last year, students at Fort Convent School observed their taps closely and found they were wasting 1.76 lakh litres of water a year. A similar exercise at the Sulochana Singhania School showed that the institute's power auditing was
abysmal. "Each study becomes a little crusade and helps spread environmental awareness," says naturalist Ranjan Biswas who organises nature rambles for kids through his educational organisation called 'Trailblazers'.

Today even two-year-olds are going green. The Play House Nursery in Juhu, for example, also houses another kind of nursery: over 5,500 plants in its 4,500 sq ft backyard. Toddlers --- who know their cacti from their crotons --- are encouraged to play with manure, help in potting and watering the flower beds. Penny Bajaj , an educationist who runs this 'environmental
playgroup', feels these activities are important because there is more to learning than the Three Rs. "Kids must be taught to repay their social debt," she says.

Not all teachers, however, are equipped to impart such lessons. So the K.J. Somaya Bharati Sanskriti Peetham is offering a nine-month course on 'Indian Culture and Moral Rearmament' to 300 instructors from rural and metropolitan schools. "I always felt our education system was incomplete," shrugs Dhirendra Singh, a school teacher from Bhopal who signed up for the course.
Now he says the time has come to focus on bringing up mature citizens instead of rote machines.

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