Founder Chancellor, Akal University
Founder Chancellor, Eternal University
Founder President, Kalgidhar Trust, Baru Sahib, India
Shiromani Panth Rattan by Takhat Sri Harmandir Sahib, Patna
Vidya Martand award by Sri Akal Takht Sahib
Sikh Lifetime Achievement Award (London) -2012
Former Director, Agriculture (Government of HP, INDIA)
Excerpts from a discussion with revered Baba lqbal Singh, President of the Kalgidhar Trust, India at Berkley Center, USA.
The Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University, created within the Office of the President in 2006, is dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of religion, ethics, and public life. Through research, teaching, and service, the Center explores global challenges of democracy and human rights; economic and social development; international diplomacy; and interreligious understanding.
Please expand on value-based education, and what it means to you and to your work?
Broadly speaking, there are three types of education. The first type focuses only on literacy without any moral content. I believe the merely literate person is the most egoistic and selfish because he is taught no moral values and thinks only about himself. Most schools, colleges, and universities around the world, impart literacy and not value-based education.
The second type of education is value-based, where you combine literacy with moral, ethical, and religious instructions & which is far more holistic. An individual who has gone through this type of scholastic career starts to think about the needs of others and begins to see himself connected to them and has a very broad outlook.
The third type of education is the spiritualized education with divine wisdom for which you have no need to go to any school, because the divine knowledge of the universe springs from within. None of the prophets or the founders of the great world religions went to any university to learn the lessons about the Divine. One only needs to delve into the scriptures of the great religions for this type of education.
Our organization combines spirituality with literacy (basic education) to impart value-based education to students. As a result, our students are free from drug/substance abuse and the use of alcohol. They are thus able to focus their minds on study, sports, and the well-being of others around them. Value-based education is the real need of the day to produce good upright human being, who can inspire others to tread on the divine path and serve mankind selflessly. The effects of Value Based education has been far-reaching. Our students have helped reduce tension in their homes by counseling their own parents. In some cases, they have succeeded to keep their parents from divorcing. We are convinced that Value Based education is the best way to enable society to move forward and to bring about sustainable development in the world. Through such education, we will be able to harness the energy of the youth and persuade them to work for the betterment of the world, which is now in turmoil.
