INFORMAL EDUCATION

INFORMAL EDUCATION Role of a Good Home P EOPLE often enquire about the role of education in the promotion of moral values. To understand this one needs to differentiate between formal and informal education. Formal education is basically meant for acquiring a job, with emphasis on the profession. A person preoccupied with developing or acquiring professional skills and knowledge will be completely job-oriented. Even if moral values are added to the syllabus, it will not have the desired impact. Moral values are imperative for developing a better society. It makes one duty-conscious, develops a predictable character and helps imbibe social ethics. This is the task of informal education. The Spirit of Islam magazine is a part of this informal education. Informal education begins from home and covers all aspects of life. The means of this education can be varied—journalism, literature, intellectual exchange, meetings and libraries. Just as formal education aims to impart quality education, the focus of informal education is to develop quality character in people, to give rise to simple living and high thinking, to help them realise the importance of peaceful behaviour, to make every individual live as a giver member of society and not merely as a taker and to engender civic sense. Today formal education is part of people’s economic lives. There is nothing wrong with this, but it should be accompanied by informal education. Youth should be trained for professional jobs within the campus, while, at home and in institutions, they should be given informal education. This is the only way to make our society better. Outside the campus, the student meets a variety of people and has varied experiences. These experiences serve as a teacher. With a well prepared mind, a student can benefit a great deal from such experiences. These two processes—formal and informal education—if, they work in parallel, will lead to a better family and society as well as better professional life for the student. Moral values are imperative for developing a better society. It makes one dutyconscious, develops a predictable character and helps imbibe social ethics.