Recently in January 2004, an orientation programme for Principals of Kendriya Vidyalayas was held at the International School. Based on the discussions, we have drafted the following action plan for schools generally:

1. Personal example: Inculcation of human values among students takes place primarily through emulation of the personal examples set by the Principal and teachers of their school. Students do not act so much on the verbal advice tendered by them as imitate their actions. If the teachers have to make a positive impact on students, they have to become role models.
2. Verbal advice: This does not mean that the Principal and teachers can afford to make loose statements, hoping that no one will take notice. If a teacher is truthful, honest and an idealist and is happy about it, he transmits his enthusiasm. If a teacher flouts all the rules and sheepishly admits to his class that values are bookish concepts, which do not work in “real” life, that cynicism also percolates.
3. Interaction with parents: A teacher should know more about a student than his parents do and should care as much. To achieve this, she has to have constant, continuous and personal interaction with the parents. This should not surface as a matter of form on special occasions or on fixed days, but should be substantive and serious throughout the course. If there is a deviation in the student’s behaviour or a dip in his academic credits or if he is involved with a shady crowd, the alarm bells should ring. The teacher should counsel the parents effectively where it is found that parental love, care and attention is missing. Attention should be focused on children coming from problem family backgrounds.
   Where a problem persists, a special report on the concerned student should be mailed to his parents and the Principal should call them to the school for a frank discussion.
   
   Meetings of the parents’ teachers associations should be held regularly, with the agenda circulated in advance so as to secure meaningful participation by the parents and teachers alike. These should be used for exchange of notes generally on the situations of value conflict observed among the students. There can be a discussion of the Action Plan for inculcation of human values. Parents should be frankly told about the deficiencies in home upbringing that might have come to the notice of the teachers. The school management can also circulate a pamphlet on “The Ideal Parent”, which can be written in the regional and socio-economic context of that particular school.

4. Slogans: At the entrance of the school the motto of the school should be prominently displayed. The motto should be fully explained in the school prospectus as also in the main lobby. Suitable sayings and quotations should be culled out from the world religions and from the speeches and writings of great men and women who have made a mark in the world. These could focus on simple values like punctuality, courtesy, patience, perseverance, compassion, love, respect for elders, patriotism, faith, truth, righteous conduct, non-violence, peace and facing adversity with a smile.
5. Morning assembly: The morning assembly should be fully utilized for inculcation of values. This can be achieved through the following activities:

• The assembly should take place in a quick, silent and orderly manner. Students should be instructed in the art of silence. One should speak only when the speech improves on the silence.
• There should be silent sitting or meditation for a few minutes. Even two minutes are enough. Students should be instructed on the methodology of meditation. Options should be provided, so that no one carries the impression that the meditational practice of a particular faith is being imposed. Students may concentrate in order to watch the mind or make it empty of thought or visualize a pleasant scenery or focus on their chosen personal example and so on.
• Yogasana can follow. Qualified yoga teachers should do these, so that they do not lead to problems. The benefit expected from each asana should be explained.
• There should be community singing of songs and bhajans. These should be chosen carefully. The subject matter should be edifying, patriotic, based on harmony among different faiths, the essential unity of all religions and sarvadharmasambhava.
• Moral and spiritual talks by students, teachers, outside guest teachers, including the clergy and laity, should be encouraged. Lecturers should be chosen carefully. They should speak about human values that are common to all the world faiths. They should not run down people belonging to other faithsand ideologies. They should not emphasize their differences nor dilate on their past conflicts and wars. They should not seek to convert the children to a faith other than their own. They should try to make a Muslim a better Muslim, a Christian a better Christian, a Buddhist a better Buddhist and a Hindu a better Hindu.
• “ A thought for today” should be chosen by a group of faculty members. It should be morally elevating and spiritually uplifting. A teacher and a student should elaborate the meaning an ramifications of the thought, so that the idea sinks into the subconscious mind of the students.
• The Principal should advise the students about the posture they have to maintain during morning assembly, especially at the time of the national anthem.
• The students should be given one minute at the end for a bit of self – appraisal and introspection. They can quickly recapitulate mentally as to what they did or did not do during the previous day. Such periodic self – audit is invaluable for keeping to the straight and narrow path.
• At the end, the students should disperse to the tune of a dispersal song and move silently and methodically to their classes.

6. Classroom transactions: Each class should start with the teacher talking about one particular value. He can make it interesting by narrating a story that exemplifies that particular value.
   
   There should be an attempt to integrate the transmission of values with subject matter teaching. Research on how this is to be achieved should be conducted in the academic institutions serving each school system. Workshops of teachers of each subject should be periodically held to pool their experiences and build lesson plans, which subserve this objective.

7. Teacher – student interaction: The teachers should treat the students like their own children. They should spend time with  them trying to understand their problems and helping them with advice.
   
   There are many problems children face in their teens. Some of these cannot be shared with their parents. They may be prepared to unburden themselves before their teachers. Teachers should indicate their general availability for such mentoring.
   
   Some students, especially those drawn from economically or socially disadvantaged sections of society may feel diffidence in everything they do. Teachers should try to build their self-confidence by helping the overcome a defeatist mind – set.
   
   There are also problems faced by students due to various kinds of stress. These may be due to tension of an impending examination, the result of physical ailment or malnutrition, the effect of a broken home, peer group pressures or some such reason. Teachers should be able to help them overcome such stress.

Ø      The students can go to a neighboring slum area and help the residents in cleaning up their surroundings. They can share their knowledge about littering, garbage disposal, personal hygiene, etc.

Ø      They can be asked to visit a nearby hospital, home for the aged, lepers’ home or institution for physically and mentally challenged people, so as to share their life experience and lend a helping hand by giving them food packets, sweets, clothes or celebrating festivals in their company or writing letters for them or relieving their tedium by reading stories to them.

Ø      They can be asked to look after the cleanliness, maintenance and upkeep of the school premises or residential hostel.

Ø      They may be encouraged to plant trees in the school or hostel area and tend the trees.

Ø      They may be entrusted with the responsibility of running institutions like the school canteen, first aid center, dispensary, bookshop, provision store etc.

Ø      The school should be quick to send a group of students whenever there is a natural calamity like drought, flood, fire or earthquake.

Ø      Adult education or teaching of servants or children belonging to poor families is another fertile area. Students can feel enormously fulfilled if they are able to make even one person literate.

ü      In debates and declamation contests, the choice of topics should be such as to debate some major value conflict that confronts us in the current situation.

ü      While holding cultural activities like plays, dance, music, etc, we should select meaningful themes, which have a lasting impact on the impressionable minds of children. Gandhiji’s entire life was transformed because he saw a play on Raja Harish Chandra.

ü      Each occasion should be used to instill love for our own country, art, culture, music, dance, drama, literature, religion, dress, deportment and milieu. Any attempt to ape or imitate foreign culture merely because that is the current fashion should be nipped in the bud.

ü      A very important aspect that should always be borne in mind is to set the examples of our national and world heroes and recreate scenes from their lives, so as to make it abundantly clear how they overcame tremendous obstacles and achieved greatness by honesty, truth, patience, hard work, perseverance and single-minded devotion.