ESSAY WRITING ON ETHICS AND HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE CHANGING SCENARIO OF INDIA. WRITTEN BY JINCY.J 1 B.Ed HTCE MELPALAI.

Transcription

1 ESSAY WRITING ON ETHICS AND HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE CHANGING SCENARIO OF INDIA WRITTEN BY JINCY.J 1 B.Ed HTCE MELPALAI. 1

2 CONTENT INTRODUCTION DEFINITION OF ETHICS MEANING OF ETHICS HISTORY OF ENGLISH IN INDIA THE BHAKTI MOVEMENT INFLUENCE OF INDIAN CULTURE ON ETHICAL VALUES ETHICS IN THE CONTEMPORARY INDIA HIGHER EDUCATION INDIA UNIVERSITIES RASHTRIYAS UCHATTAR SHIKSHA ABHIYAN RANKING CONCLUSION 2

3 ETHICS AND HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE CHANGING SCENARIO OF INDIA INTRODUCTION Ethics is a branch of philosophy that deals with moral values religious group or an individual. It studies human character and conduct in terms of good and bad, right and wrong. The moral code of the people is an indicator of their social and spiritual ways of life. The true essence of human life is to live amidst worldly joys and sorrows. Ethics is primarily concerned with the moral issues of the world. People are required to discharge their duties according to the moral code of ethics. Ethics is of two kinds, individual and social. Individual ethics is indicative of the good qualities that are essential for individual well-being and happiness. Social ethics represents the values that are needed for social order and harmony. In the knowledge tradition of India, ethics has its religious and philosophical thinking. Every religious and every philosophical system of India has a prominent ethical component here. Ethics is the core of all these systems. DEFINTION OF ETHICS Ethics involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior. Ethics are moral principles that govern a person s behavior conducting of an activity. or the Ethics are a branch of knowledge that deals with moral principles. 3

4 MEANING OF ETHICS Ethics is also known as moral philosophy, is the branch of philosophy that involves the concepts of right and wrong conduct. The term ethics derives from the Ancient Greek word ethos which means habit or custom. Ethics in the broadest sense alludes to the worry that people have dependably had for making sense of how best to live. The logician Socrates is cited as saying in 399 B.C., the most essential thing is not life, but rather the great life. What is ethics? Ethics is two things. To begin with, ethics alludes to very much established guidelines of good and bad that endorse what people should do, as a rule regarding rights, commitments, advantages to society, decency, or particular ideals. Ethics for instance, alludes to those measures that force the sensible commitments to shun assault, taking, homicide, ambush, criticism, and misrepresentation. Moral guidelines likewise incorporate those that charge ethics of genuineness, sympathy, and reliability. Ethics additionally implies, the ceaseless exertion of examining our own ethical convictions and our ethical lead and endeavoring to guarantee that we, and the foundations we help to shape, satisfy benchmarks that are sensible and emphatically based. HISTORY OF ETHICS IN INDIA India has a very ancient history of thinking about ethics. Its central concepts are represented in Rgveda, One of the oldest knowledge texts not only of India but of the entire world. In Rgveda, we came across the idea of an all pervading cosmic order(rta) which stands for harmony and balance in nature and in human society. Here rta is described as a power of force which is the controller f the forces of 4

5 nature and of moral values in human society. In human society, when this harmony and balance are disturbed, there is disorder and suffering. This is the power or force that lies behind nature and keeps everything in balance. In Indian tradition, the concept of rta gave rise to the idea of dharma. The term dharma here does not mean mere religion; it stands for duty, obligation and righteousness. It is a whole way of life in which ethical values are considered supreme and everyone is expected to perform his or her duty according to his or her social position and station in life. The concept of right and wrong is the core of the Mahabharata which emphasizes, among others, the values of non violence, truthfulness, absence of anger, charity, forgiveness, and self realization. It is only by performing one s righteous duties or dharma that one can hope to attain the supreme path to the highest good. It is dharma alone that gives both prosperity and the supreme spiritual god. Similarly the importance of ethics and ethical values is highlighted in epics and philosophical texts like, Upanisads, Ramayana, Darsana sastras and Dharma sastras. The Darsana sastras are philosophical texts, which provide rational explanations of the ethical issues; the universal moral problems faced by man in daily life are placed in a philosophical context. In the dharma sastras, emphasis is one of the social ethics. In these texts the inter-personal and social relations are placed in an ethical framework for guidance. In these texts the ethical problems are discussed in an indirect manner. THE BHAKTI MOVEMENT During the middle ages, the Bhakti movement arose in India. It was an all India movement of social reform and spiritual awakening. It played a very important part in reawakening moral consciousness in India. Jayadeva, Namdev,Tulsidas, Kabir, Ravidas, and Mira are some of the prominent saints of 5

6 this movement. Most of these saints came from the downtrodden sections of society. Rejecting the distinctions of caste, color, and creed, they spread the message of human equality. They were saint poets. In their poetic compositions they propagate the ideals of love, compassion, justice, and selfless service. These are the ethical values which we need even today. INFLUENCE OF INDIAN CULTURE ON ETHICAL VALUES Indian culture plays an important role in inculcating ethical values. Indian values gave prime importance to right to happiness for all human beings. Indian culture is complex in nature and with diversity in religion and their customs we live with unity. The two most important tenets of Indian culture are human values and Holism. Human values refer to moral, spiritual, and ethical values while Holism means oneness or unity. Indian Culture is very rich and diverse and teaches us to be tolerant to others. Human values are inculcated from the Vedic teachings to lead a peaceful integrated life. Indian culture shows us evidences of development of values in life by training and experience. The Bhagawad Gita is considered as the essence of the Vedas and Upanishads. Important values that are ever relevant and unchanging are found in the form of scriptural texts in the Indian culture. ETHICS IN THE CONTEMPORARY INDIA The fruitfulness of ethics in the ancient India is faded in the 21 st century. We all know the fact that contemporary India is filled with corruption, rapes, possessive minds. The only goal of people is to attain positions and earn money.for that they can do anything without having a little bit of guilt. This is the condition of today s India. There is no place for ethical values in the present changing scenario of India. 6

7 We proudly saying that India is known for its social diversity. But the fact is the contemporary India is known for its competitions for positions and corruption. The reason behind these things is the disappearance of ethical and moral values within the mind of the people. If we choose medical science just for analyze the value of ethics, we will clearly understand that there is no place for ethics in any field. This can be clearly understand when we will read the newspaper. Even our educational system doesn t possess any ethical values. Indian ethical traditions have been one of the great repositories of moral thought in world philosophy whose insights have influenced early Greece, Europe, Asia, and the New world. The business people and the companies don t possess any moral and ethical values. The unethical base in business management education is responsible for most of hitches faced in society and environment prominent to the physical and passionate pain of manhood. The trend in management education is now moving to a holistic approach that not just focuses on profit maximization but has emphasis to locate business with a larger societal context with myriad stakeholder perspectives to be taken into consideration. HIGHER EDUCATION IN INDIA India s higher education system is the third largest in the world, next to the United States and China. The main governing body at the tertiary level is the University Grants Commission, which enforces its standards, advises the government, and helps coordinate between the centre and the state. Accreditation for higher learning is overseen by 15 autonomous institutions established by the University Grants Commission(UGC).As per the latest 2011 census, about 8.15% (68 millions) of Indians are graduates, with Union Territories of Chandigarh and Delhi topping the list with 25.65% and 22.56% of their population being graduates respectively. 7

8 Indian higher education has expanded at a fast pace by adding nearly 20,000 colleges and more than 8 million students in a decade from to As of 2016, India has 799 universities, with a break up of 44 central universities, 122 deemed universities, 90 private universities, 5 institutions established and functioning under the State Act, and 75 Institutes of National Importance which include AIIMS, IIT s among others. Other institutions include 39,071 colleges as Government Degree Colleges, including 1800 exclusive women s colleges, functioning under these universities and institutions as reported by the UGC in Colleges may be Autonomous, i.e. empowered to examine their own degrees, up to PhD level in some cases, or non autonomous, in which case their examinations are under the supervision of the university to which they are affiliated; in either case, however, degrees are awarded in the name of the university rather than the college. The emphasis in the tertiary level of education lies on science and technology. Indian educational institutions by 2004 consisted of a large number of technology institutes. Distance learning and open education is also a feature of the Indian higher education system, and is looked after by the Distance Education Council. Indira Gandhi National Open University is the largest university in the world by number of students, having approximately 3.5 million students across the globe. Some institutions of India, such as the Indian Institutes of Technology(IITs), National Institute of Technology(NITs), Indian Institute Of Science(IIS), Indian Institute Of Science Education And Research(IISERS), Indian Institute of Information Technology(IITS), Indian Institute Of Management(IIMS), International Institute of Information Technology(IIIT), University Of Mumbai And Jawaharlal Nehru University have been globally acclaimed for their standard of education. The IITs enroll about 8000 students 8

9 annually and the alumni have contributed to both the growth of the private sector and the public sector of India. However, India still lacks internationally behind universities such as Harvard, Cambridge, and Oxford. Indian higher education is in need of radical reforms. A focus on enforcing higher standards of transparency, strengthening of the vocational and doctoral education pipeline, and professionalization of the sector through stronger institutional responsibility would help in reprioritizing efforts and working around the complexities. The rise of IT sector and engineering education in India gas boxed students into linear path without giving them a chance to explore and discover their passions. Concreted and collaborative efforts are needed in broaden student choices through liberal arts education. UNIVERSITIES Universities in India gave evolved in divergent streams with each stream monitored by an apex body, indirectly controlled by the Ministry of Human Resource Development and funded jointly by the state governments. There are most universities are administrated by the states, however, there are 18 important universities called Central Universities, which are maintained by the Union Government. The increased funding of the central universities give them an advantage over their state competitors. The University Grants Commission estimated that in , an estimated PhDs and M Phil degrees were awarded. Over half of these were in the fields of science, engineering/technology, medicine and agriculture. As of over 178,000 students were enrolled in research programs. 9

10 Rashtriya Uchattar Shiksha Abhiyan A total of 316 state public universities and 13,024 college will be covered under the Rashtriya Uchattar Shiksha Abhiyan, a plan to manage funding for higher education. This is a scheme to develop state university by central government funding (65%). Rankings The university of Mumbai was ranked 41 among the Top 50 Engineering Schools of the world by America s news broadcasting firm Business Insider in 2012 and was the only university in the list from the five emerging BRICS nations viz Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.It was ranked at 62 in the QS BRICS University rankings for 2013 and was India s 3 rd best Multi Disciplinary University ranking of Indian Universities after University of Calcutta and Delhi University. Three Indian universities were listed in the Times Higher Education list of the world s top 200 universities-indian Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes of Management, and Jawaharlal Nehru University in 2005 and Six Indian Institutes of Technology and the Birla Institute of Technology and Science-Pilani were listed among the top 20 science and technology schools in Asia by Asiaweek. The Indian School of Business situated in Hyderabad was ranked number 12 in global MBA rankings by the Financial Times of London in 2010 while the All India Institute of Medical Sciences has been recognized as a global leader in medical research and treatment. The Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings published in 2013 ranked IIT Bombay at 233, and IIT Kanpur at 295. No 10

11 Indian universities appear in the top 200 worldwide except IISC Bangalore which is ranked at 147. There is no domestic ranking system for India. However, the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) has developed, after wide consultations, 50 indicators, assimilated into seven criteria, as Quality Benchmarks for accreditation of universities. The Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET), an Inter University Centre (IUC) under the UGC, has reported that there are 150 areas in which research has been undertaken in 37 Central Universities. Conclusion Once our country India is known for its ethics and moral values. As years passing, those ethical values disappeared from the scenario of Indian society. This can be evidenced in every newspaper. As a student teachers it is our responsibility to mould the younger generation with a clear understanding about the moral ethical value which were once considered as great virtues. But in case of higher education, we are enough blessed. Because India has as many educational institutions as to give education to all. So we proudly saying that our country is well developing in higher education even though there is illiteracy in our country. 11