Ethics, morality and the objectives of education
Md. Anwarul Kabir | Tuesday, 19 August 2008
THERE is a strong correlation between institutional education and all pervasive corruption in our country. This perception, indeed, becomes true if we objectively analyse the prevailing corruption in the society. Who are the main actors in corruption? Put on a scanner, the involvement of the so-called educated people will be exposed in most of the big corruption cases. The change of 1/11 has revealed many corruption cases. On the surface, we have seen the faces of many 'half educated' politicians as the major actors of corruption. If we dig deeper, the involvement of government high officials in most of these corruption cases, no doubt, will surface. And these high officials have the highest academic degrees from universities. Not only the government officials, but educated professionals in general, be it doctors, engineers, teachers, and others who have the opportunity to be involved in corruption for materialistic gains in general, except a few individuals, do not hesitate to do so.
Oriental values suggests that education should illuminate a person eliminating darkness and all evils in mind. Education is expected to enlighten the inner mind and lead one towards honesty and morality and develop social responsibility of individuals. But contemporary trends indicates that institutional education of our society totally fails in this respect. Rather, for many, education has become a tool for exploiting people and indulging in corruption. So, in essence, it may be argued that the education system of our country has totally failed in raising the ethical and moral standards of individuals.
The deviation of our education system from ethics and morality has not occurred in a day. In fact, if we shed light on history, it will reveal that since the introduction of colonial education system in the sub-continent, the era of decay in ethics and morality began, contradicting the very objective of education. The British Raj introduced their education system in the sub-continent for its own interest-not for the interest of the native Indians. The driving force behind introduction of the newly formulated education system in the subcontinent was to establish British hegemony and perpetrate its rule. In support of this assertion, Lord Macaulay, founder of the English education system, can be quoted. Macaulay, in the context of framing colonial education policy explicitly stated that, " In India, English is the language spoken by the ruling class. Those Indians of the high class, who are in the government, also speak it
Oriental values suggests that education should illuminate a person eliminating darkness and all evils in mind. Education is expected to enlighten the inner mind and lead one towards honesty and morality and develop social responsibility of individuals. But contemporary trends indicates that institutional education of our society totally fails in this respect. Rather, for many, education has become a tool for exploiting people and indulging in corruption. So, in essence, it may be argued that the education system of our country has totally failed in raising the ethical and moral standards of individuals.
The deviation of our education system from ethics and morality has not occurred in a day. In fact, if we shed light on history, it will reveal that since the introduction of colonial education system in the sub-continent, the era of decay in ethics and morality began, contradicting the very objective of education. The British Raj introduced their education system in the sub-continent for its own interest-not for the interest of the native Indians. The driving force behind introduction of the newly formulated education system in the subcontinent was to establish British hegemony and perpetrate its rule. In support of this assertion, Lord Macaulay, founder of the English education system, can be quoted. Macaulay, in the context of framing colonial education policy explicitly stated that, " In India, English is the language spoken by the ruling class. Those Indians of the high class, who are in the government, also speak it