Necessity of Integrating Indian Knowledge Systems in Value Education: A Pedagogical Study for the Primary School Students in Tripura

Abstract

There was a time when the Western world was enveloped in a dark age, but Bharat, our motherland, held her head high across every sector, from business to education to science and technology. Nevertheless, those thousand-year-old knowledge systems gradually fell into disrepair for many reasons, particularly during the medieval invasion. Whatever was left behind, the British looted and indirectly imposed their culture and traditions on us, and, in many cases, by copying original texts and inventions, they renamed them. This study will illustrate how the teachings and messages of the Great Indian Epics and folklore can help young pupils build inclusive knowledge for a better future, in which Western and Indigenous knowledge systems are synchronised. Both qualitative and quantitative methods, along with a child-centric approach, have been adopted for the study. It has been observed that students are more interested in the Moral and Value Courses than the Language Groups. Even outside their class, they motivate others to embrace ethical standards. Furthermore, those who scored highly in the Value Education Course exhibit greater social adaptability and are more polite and cooperative than others. However, in the modern educational system, language-learning groups are equally important. Hence, a balanced integration of Eastern and Western knowledge is necessary for holistic educational development.