Moral Education Essay

566 Words3 Pages
MORAL EDUCATION: To fully understand the scope, nature and essence of moral education, it is very essential to understand foremost the meaning and definition of ‘Moral Education’. Loosely, one may say that moral education is a study/ understanding of what is right, moral, fair and ethical. However, the meaning runs deeper. So what exactly is moral education? What is moral? What is ethical? Morality is not simply about righteousness. It is not simply about truth and fairness. The understanding of ethics, morality and fairness is meaningless if one is not aware of what is unethical, or immoral or unfair. You cannot realize and appreciate ‘the good’ if you are not aware of ‘the bad’. Further, in several situations the line between right and wrong could be extremely thin and relative. Let us take an example: Is dowry system ethical? Most of us may say a thumping “No”. However, for several people it is a way of life, it is a culture and norm that is passed on from one generation to another. The Parliament has enacted a legislation prohibiting the giving or the taking of dowry. Inspite of this, we know that the system of dowry is deeply entrenched in Indian society and the law is toothless and has failed miserably to prohibit the evil of dowry. But it is not simply a failure of law and government but rather an utter failure of our understanding of what is right and wrong. The moment we realize that that the practice of dowry is evil, the dowry system stops and one does not need the law enforcers to make us realize this. It is a matter of collective responsibility and consciousness and not simply a matter of following the law. It is in arousing this ‘collective responsibility and consciousness’ that the importance of ‘Moral Education’ is realized. But can Moral Education be taught in schools and colleges just like one teaches mathematics, science etc.? Can there be a
Open Document