A new curriculum to gauge self

By Javid Hassan

In a trail-blazing move, the National Council of Education, Research and Training (NCERT) will introduce in the next academic year a textbook on Human Ecology and Family Sciences (HEFS) as part of an educational drive to enable students to understand the meaning of life through a holistic approach.

The book, which has already been approved by NCERT’s National Monitoring Committee, will be launched from the new academic session for classes XI-XII, according to Sushma Jaireth, programme co-ordinator for HEFS.

The inclusion of human ecology in the curriculum is a major step in bringing about a qualitative change in the student community. “Human Ecology,” according to the University of Alberta (Canada), Dept. of Human Ecology, “ is an interdisciplinary applied field that relies on a holistic approach to help people solve problems and enhance human potential within their near environments. This includes their clothing, family, home, and community. Human ecologists promote the well-being of individuals, families, and communities through education, prevention, and empowerment.”

The objective of the book, according to NCERT, is to broaden the scope of the curriculum, so that students could understand `self' vis-à-vis family and the society. Further, they will have a better perception of their role as a responsible and productive member of their family, community and the society at large.

To this end, the curriculum will lay greater emphasis on the practical aspects of a subject so as to promote critical thinking, Jaireth explains. In line with this approach, practical training will be integrated within the framework of the textbook in the ratio of 70:30. The practical course will have an innovative and contemporary relevance in the context of the deployment of new technology for improving the living standards of the people.

In this respect, it marks a radical departure from the stereotyped textbook approach that emphasizes theory at the expense of the practical aspects of life. NCERT should be commended for this novel initiative at a time when the stresses and strains of economic recession have dictated the need for such a curriculum. In the process, it could turn a student into an entrepreneur by making his skills marketable.

The textbook for class XI will focus on two aspects of society — `self and family' and `community and society.' This is intended to help students understand the dynamics of life at the individual level and in terms of social interaction. The class XII curriculum, however, will shift the focus on job-oriented courses. Here students will learn the importance of work ethic, the need for a career and their interrelationship, so that they look at the broader picture of human dynamics.

They will also be taught critical skills within the framework of HEFS curriculum, which will teach them the basics prior to honing professional skills in various fields discussed in the course.

The content has been developed in line with the objectives of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2005. It addresses the strategic principles of equity, equality and inclusiveness; gender sensitivity as well as respect for diversity across the broad spectrum of society and the need for plurality in relation to rural-urban- tribal spread, dispersion of caste and class in a geographical setting, and other aspects of the ecological scale.

Besides implanting practical skills among the students, the curriculum will stress the humanistic aspect of the learning process. Education that emphasizes technical aspects without a moral code of professional conduct will graduate a student into an evil genius. The Rs.7,000-crore Satyam scandal underscores this point in bold print. It shows the massive scale of fraud that a highly skilled but morally bankrupt individual could unleash on the society when his lust for power and greed will propel him to any extent towards that goal.

Another ugly aspect of education gone wild stared us in the face last month when a gang of ten students waylaid a 21-year-old MBA student on the Noida-Delhi road and raped her by turns in a deadly blow to humanity. This happens when education without moral filters turns man into a Frankenstein monster and destroys his creator, as the Satyam and gang rape episodes illustrate. The new HEFS course will, hopefully, address both aspects of life, so that the alumni of the course graduate into productive and responsible members of the society contributing to its growth and development with none of the ugly spectacle that will haunt the Indian society as a dark chapter in its history.