“I’m constantly bewildered and frightened by the industriousness of dangerous viciousness on the planet. Humankind is by all accounts caught in a developing twisting of scorn, retribution, and militarism that will eventually prompt the awful obliteration of life on this planet. For quite a long time, our most noteworthy educators, from Jesus to Gandhi, from St. Francis to the Dalai Lama, from the Buddha to Martin Luther King Jr., have insisted that peace, not violence, is the path to genuine salvation.” These words from Dr. Varun Gupta, Peace Ambassador to UNSDG ignited the gathering at Cyber City Hub while we had met for a coffee last weekend.
Education bestows information, abilities, values and attitudes that are significant for the social, financial and political advancement of any country. This role is all around expressed in Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4), which tries to guarantee comprehensive and equitable quality education for all and promote lifelong learning is what he further added when asked about his takeaways from being associated with the Global Peace Ambassador’s ecosystem.
Education can prompt peace and be a piece of ‘building back better’ by supporting the transformation of the security circumstance, political foundations, financial recovery and social turn of developments. Education empowers a person to obtain significant arrangements and information to acknowledge that it is so indispensable to keep up with peace and destroy a wide range of conflicting circumstances and questions to carry on with a healthy, tranquil and a valuable life.
Current changes in the landmass that upgrade peace and global citizenship incorporate adopting curriculum models that accommodate all learners’ abilities and talents; improve efficiency in provision of education and reduce wastage at all levels.
Dr. Varun Gupta added that to inculcate peace amidst the voyage of education for an Indian student start by defining the word “PEACE”. Teachers/Assigned staff can ask students what they think PEACE means; their answers will probably be very enlightening. Also, schools and colleges or even coaching institutes can have children participate in the care of their environment, showing respect for the materials, pets, plants, and fellow students.
There is a need to shift from content-based to competency-based, from more summative assessments and less formative assessments. There is also a need to shift focus from content-based teaching and learning resources to activity-based, interactive workbooks.
Peace education exercises advance the information, abilities and perspectives that will help individuals either to forestall the event of contention, resolve clashes calmly, or make social circumstances helpful for peace. Core upsides of peacefulness and civil rights are integral to peace education. Peacefulness appears through values like regard for basic liberties, opportunity and trust. Social justice acknowledged by standards of fairness, obligation, and fortitude. Let’s redouble our efforts to put in place necessary policies and strategies to maximize the positive effects of education on peace.
The conventional courses which are being taken on by colleges, schools and establishments ought to be changed and updated by the current requirements of COVID 19 pandemic. There should also be emphasis on practical knowledge along with theoretical knowledge of the present world. New and creative courses ought to be sent off and the educational program should be created in a joint effort with various higher instructive organizations and examination focuses concerning issues of peace, world citizenship, social obligation to advance peace and culture among the students. These will create passionate prosperity and all encompassing advancement among students.
In this regard, Governance of Higher Education might assume critical part in directing the point of view of education in the country in two significant viewpoints:
- Determination of key systems, plans, projects, purposes and strategies of advanced education in the country.
- Execution of techniques, plans, projects, purposes and strategies of advanced education at institutional level for working on quality in advanced education, explicitly, as for peace education, world citizenship, social obligation when the world is experiencing COVID 19 pandemic.
Peace education and peace building are subsequently characteristically connected. The UN’s activities for peace building incorporate training as one of its essential parts. For peace building drives to stay supportable, it is essential that mentalities towards war and savagery are changed and converted into long haul social change which looks for elective answers for outfitted struggle.