Role of Ethics and Values in Higher education

M.Ayesha Anjum

Assistant professor of English, RUCE-Knl

Abstract

In today’s era where every sphere of life is bound by a goal, the education sector where much
of the youth ponder intellectually in pursuit of achieving their dreams, values and ethics play
an important role in moulding their generosity, solidarity and loyalty. Present day youth are
less socially inferred and highly individualistic with their own ideas and values. They face
numerous issues like unemployment, psychological instability and numerous life problems.
Hence, to overcome these discrepancies, a proper code of ethics should be addressed to the
youth by creating awareness through education system. Experts from academics and
industries state that students should be trained regularly on ethical values to ensure their
confidence levels and the ability to face every situation of life. Teachers with a high level of
moral professionalism are bound to have a deep obligation to help them have a sustained
growth in their life. This paper attempts to analyse the need and awareness of value education
for students in higher education, by the perception of a teacher.

Introduction

The word ethics is derived from the Greek word “ethos’ which means character and from
Latin word “Mores” meaning customs. Ethical values can be defined as a set of rules or
standards governing the conduct of a particular group, profession or culture. It has been
quoted that the true philosophy of education lies in the combination of its three components:
information, knowledge and wisdom. It implies that there is need to understand the criteria
behind quality education. Education is not merely imparting knowledge in a particular subject
or making one fit for securing jobs, but it should be training in logical thinking and should
help the coming generations to be compatible with the changing environment.The big
Missions and Visions of institutions should enable students to become a contributing
member of the society, by providing knowledge, skills and character development. An
education that teaches moral ethics and values is a license to a good, comfortable and
secured life of a student.
What are Ethics and Values

Ethics is branch of philosophy that deals with the morality. Aristotle was one of the first great
philosophers to define ethics. To him, Ethics was more moral than a religious or a legal
concept.

According to the new Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, ethics is defined as the moral
principles that control or influence a person’s behavior.

Ethics are well-founded standards that make the actions right and wrong. It helps categorize
different values such as integrity, discipline and haste among others and apply them in daily
lives. Ethics influences behavior and allows an individual to make the right choices. Without
ethics, it will be very difficult to regulate life and act responsibly. The importance of ethics
can’t be ignored in any walk of life as it sets the standards of what’s acceptable and what’s
not.

Role of Ethics and Values in higher education:

Ethics in education has been given a lot of importance over the years and institutions are
designing courses that help the students understand these ethics. Ethics in education are
applicable on both the instructors as well as the students. While it does not allow the teachers
to treat the students unfairly, it teaches to respect the instructor and abide by the rules set by
them. Issue of values and ethics in the education system needs to be resolved if we want to
deal with the greater challenges we face today in the education sector like better quality of
education, total literacy rate and so on. .Many ethical issues come into consideration when we
discuss about quality education being taught to students like; how far the college education
gets succeeded in moulding the students to become integral part of society, how far has the
education changed the life of students? , Why does the institutions fail to bring in the
desired change in the value standards of students? etc..

The big ethical challenge lies with the universities where degrees are awarded without
assuring anything related to quality. People should pursue a degree for the status it carries,
but not for its commercial usage. In education system, Curriculum design has become a mere
collection of topics but this accumulation of data alone cannot become the criteria for quality
education. Does Higher education just cater to the needs of the subject or even include
acquisition of sustainable life skills still remains a big question?
Causes for Ethical deterioration of education:

The role of ethical values within Indian higher education and society is declining and requires
a new way of thinking based on Indian ethos. Education opens the doors of the mind,
cleanses the soul and helps in self realization. Colleges and universities are the custodians of
knowledge. Institutions create and disseminate knowledge within a particular society and
they are the gateway to power, therefore affecting the quality of social life. Hence, they have
moral responsibility to maintain the well-being of society. Majority of the crimes are
committed by the students coming out of schools and colleges and by well educated people.
In majority of the education, there is a significant lapse on the concept of human development
and nation building process. This lapse has resulted in the decline of values among students.
In the process of identifying the reasons of this decline, many issues come into limelight: one
such reason is the privatization of educational institutes which is a major cause of ethical
deteriorization in education. With the mushrooming of these private institutes in the modern
era, the education has acquired the status of a marketable commodity , producing several
students as unskilled professionals.

This kind of ethical deterioration will have social impact on society. In the recent times,
many Indian educational institutes are under the clutches of corruption cases. According to
recent government report, two third of India’s colleges and universities are below standard.
Educator’s pedagogy does not properly engage teaching stress on rote learning. Dr K. ,
Charabarty, Deputy governor , RBI has done enough research on Indian education system
and pointed the importance of ethics in education.

Hence , it’s a pathetic yet grave truth to state that the Indian Education system is not
fulfilling its desired need and aspirations.

CONCLUSION: It has been quoted that the true philosophy of education lies in the
combination of Virtues, Values and Validity of human life. It implies that there is need to
understand the criteria that can help in development of human beings. Education is not
merely imparting knowledge in a particular faculty or subject or making one fit for securing
jobs or fare well in exams, it should be training in logical thinking and should help the
coming generations adjust to the available changing environment.
 References:
 Abhinav Singh and BharathiPurohit (2011): Fracas over Privatisation, Quality
Assurance and Corruption inIndian higher education, Journal of Education and
Practice, Vol 2, No 11&12
 www.iiste.org Abhinav Singh and BharathiPurohit (2011): Reconsidering
privatisation for corruption free
administration.http://www.ukessays.com/essays/education/ethics-in-the-indian-
higher-educationsystem-education-essay.php
 http://knowledge-cess.com/a-bird-eye-on-education-system/http://knowledge-
cess.com/guru/ Ethics In The Indian Higher Education System Education Essay
 XVII Annual International Seminar Proceedings; January, 2016 ISBN no. 978-81-
923211-8-9 http://www.internationalseminar.in

M.Ayesha Anjum

Assistant professor of English

Rayalaseema University College of Engineering

Kurnool

Mobile: 9703979050

Email id: ayeshaanjum.english@gmail.com