Rethinking education: Instilling justice, peace and environmental ethics from the ground up

By Bharat Dogra 

In schools and colleges, students are typically conditioned to do "well" in life — a term often interpreted narrowly as securing a high-paying job, accumulating wealth, and climbing the ladder of power or fame. Yet, globally, many individuals who have risen to such positions of privilege have failed to contribute to a more humane or sustainable world. In fact, many have left behind a legacy of promoting injustice, inequality, war, environmental degradation, and violence.

This stark contradiction raises serious questions — not only about such individuals, but also about the education they received and the life values they acquired. Why is it that so many among the highly educated elites remain either unable or unwilling to respond meaningfully to today’s most urgent crises: from wars and humanitarian emergencies to the climate crisis and loss of biodiversity?

If we are truly seeking lasting solutions, we must revisit the value systems that take root during the formative years — in schools, families, and communities. What has gone wrong? What’s missing? And what corrective steps are necessary?

One of the most overlooked elements in our education system is the simple yet profound act of reflection: nurturing the ability to observe the world around us with empathy and a deep curiosity. We must teach children and young adults not just to absorb facts or pass exams, but to engage with the world creatively and conscientiously — with a view to building a society rooted in justice, peace, non-violence, equality, and environmental care.

Take, for instance, a sensitive young boy who notices his sister being denied something he takes for granted and is stirred by the injustice of gender discrimination. Or his sister, disturbed by the unfair treatment of the domestic maid. Or both children pained by the cutting down of beloved neighborhood trees to make way for a new apartment block. These are natural instincts — signs of empathy and awareness that are present in most children. But the real question is: do our educational institutions nurture these instincts, or do they suppress them?

Despite the efforts of some outstanding educators working against the odds, the broader system has largely failed to prioritize these values. Instead of deepening children's moral imagination and capacity for empathy, many institutions end up cultivating narrow competitiveness, individualism, and passive acceptance of systemic inequalities.

To put it plainly, the capacity to observe and improve one’s surroundings through a lens of justice, non-violence, and ecological harmony is one of the most essential life learnings — and yet it is being neglected to a troubling degree

Sometimes these values are superficially included in curricula — made to seem attractive on the surface — but upon closer examination, such efforts are often tokenistic and lack depth. Worse, in some of the world’s most prestigious institutions, contrary values are sometimes promoted, even deliberately. This may partly explain why some of the most powerful global actors — trained in elite universities — continue to advocate policies that fuel wars, inequality, and ecological devastation with brazen confidence. Their actions reflect what they have learned: how to win, not how to care.

But there is another path — one of hope. If we can realign our priorities and reshape our educational practices, teaching children and youth to critically and compassionately engage with the world around them, we can foster a generation capable of transformative change. This kind of learning — participatory, reflective, grounded in real-life concerns — can be among the most beautiful and creative experiences in human development.

This applies not only to children or students, but to education at all levels and for all ages. In a world at risk, there is no greater priority than nurturing the values that can help sustain life — in all its diversity and dignity.

---

The writer is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include Saving Earth for Children, Planet in Peril, A Day in 2071, and Man Over Machine—A Path to Peace