ROLE OF SCHOOLING IN FOSTERING COMMUNAL HARMONY AND PEACEFUL CO-EXISTENCE

It is important to delve into the role of education in contributing towards communal harmony and peaceful co-existence in society looking at the growing intolerance .It is indisputable that education needs to play a very crucial role in terms of making students learn and accept diversity in all it's manifestations .It is high time that students are introduced to values in different religions in the schools itself such that they are able to appreciate the commonality of all religions in totality .A large number of children and adults fall prey to the onslaught of propaganda owing to lack of any discourse in classrooms or at homes that provides them with factual information on religion. On the other hand the curricula taught in schools is far from being multicultural in letter and spirit. Multicultural curricula need to be there at all levels of school education in order to understand the mosaic of different cultures that exist in India since ages. Apart from this it is important that in a vibrant democracy principles of democratic citizenship are also taught such that students understand the fundamental rights and duties of a citizen. This paper is an attempt to look at the strategies and practices that should be a part of school education to inculcate the spirit of communal harmony and peaceful existence in students.