Value-based Education in Strengthening Students’ Moral Awareness and Social Responsibility among Secondary School Students

Abstract

Values plays fundamental role in enhancing the personality and social behaviour of individuals. An attempt made to investigate the attitude of secondary school students towards values with reference to selected demographic variables such as gender, locality, parents’ occupation, and standard of study. The study adopted the normative survey method to explore the attitude of students. The sample consisted of 100 secondary school students studying in IX and X standards, including 50 males and 50 female students. The sample was selected using a simple random sampling technique from a government co-educational secondary school. A self-constructed Attitude towards Values Scale consisting of 20 statements based on a five-point Likert format was used to collect data. The responses ranged from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Statistical techniques such as mean, standard deviation, and the independent sample t-test were used for data analysis. The findings revealed that secondary students possess a moderate to high level of attitude towards values. Further analysis indicated that there was no significant difference in students’ attitudes towards values with respect to gender, locality, parents’ occupation, and standard of study. The results highlight the importance of value-based education in strengthening students’ moral awareness and social responsibility. The study suggests that schools should continue to emphasise value education as part of holistic student development.