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Red Bengal turns to religious value edu

Govt Colleges Invite Gurus For Lectures On Ethics

Jhimli Mukherjee Pandey | TNN

Kolkata: In Marxist Bengal, it’s monks—and not cadres—who are shaping young minds now.
Many government colleges in the city have started inviting religious figures to lecture students on morals and ethics. And, if things go according to plan, value education will become a permanent fixture of college curricula.
“Students these days think only about their careers and care too little for their surroundings and society. They don’t have a sense of belonging either. This is a dangerous trend as they will go on to become leaders in the future,” said Sanghamitra Mukherjee, principal of Lady Brabourne College.
It is to address these concerns that the authorities have decided to introduce value education in colleges. They feel it is not enough to just study, pass exams and bag jobs. It is equally important for students to have a firm grounding in ethics.
The move has quietly buried the age-old tradition of having strictly non-religious curricula in government colleges. For instance, Lady Brabourne is getting monks from the Ramakrishna Mission on Mondays to speak on Swami Vivekananda’s teachings. Swami Suparnananda, principal of RKM Narendrapur, will tell students how Swami Vivekananda wanted traditional values—correct behaviour and the codes of duty towards others and the nation—to be deeply entrenched in the youth, especially students. Some lectures will be delivered by Swami Chitropananda of the RKM Institute of Culture.
“We have to teach students about responsible behaviour. Hence the move to organize value education sessions,” said Mukherjee.
Bethune College, too, has started value education classes. These sessions are part of the college’s quarterly routine and it is mandatory for every first-year student, irrespective of her subject, to attend them.
Already, 22 such lectures have been held. The most important of these—the Bethune College lecture—was delivered by Swami Atmapriyananda, principal of RKM Belur University. He spoke on ethics and values.
Presidency College has just received Rs 1,00,000 to organize seminars and lectures on topics that interest students. The college administration has decided to have quite a few of these on value education. “While we all know the difference between good and evil, it helps if experts come and talk to us and remind us about our responsibilities. There is tremendous pressure on each student to perform and this, some times, affects their ethical judgement. Value education would be of great help to them,” said principal Sanjib Ghosh.