Include ethics in school curriculums

The prime ministers televised press conference of February 16, during which he fielded a volley of questions from editors of the countrys plethora of television news channels on the spate of scams involving defalcation of unprecedented sums — actual or accruing — from the public exchequer, failed to quell public appreh-ension about the tidal wave of corruption within government and industry which threatens to overwhelm public and government institutions within this benighted republic. His assurance that none guilty of wrong-doing would escape punishment was nullified by his statement that corruption is the price of politics in the era of coalition governments.Unfortunately the dominant sentiment within the public seems to be — as surprisingly argued by legal eagle and Union HRD minister Kapil Sibal — that the financial loss suffered by the exchequer in the 2G spectrum allocation scandal is notional and hypothetical, particularly if funding never accrued to government. At best this is a marginally more sophisticated rationalisation of the popular belief that defalcation or misuse of government funds is harmless as money siphoned out of government coffers belongs to nobody in particular. Such perverse rationalisation of corruption is the outcome of Left-inspired gobbledygook ‘Indian economics which continues to be taught and propagated in the countrys crumbling higher education institutions. In particular, this brand of suspect economics tends to be completely unaware of the concept of opportunity cost of resources. Following presentation of the Union Budget 2010-11 to the nation on February 26 last year in which finance minister Pranab Mukherjee allocated a measly Rs.42,036 crore as the Centres contribution to the education of Indias 450 million children — equivalent to 0.68 percent of GDP — on the invitation of EducationWorld, Dr. A.S. Seetharamu presented a detailed calculus estimating the cost of equipping every government elementary (primary and upper primary) school countrywide with lib-lab-lav (library, laboratory and lavatory) facilities, at Rs.99,908 crore. Against this, the loss of revenue estimated by the comptroller and accountant general of India from sale of underpriced 2G spectrum to suspect mobile telephony shell companies is Rs.176,000 crore — a sum large enough to have fulfilled the lib-lab-lav dream of over 150 million children enroled in decrepit government primaries. Thats a live example of the opportunity cost of (lost) capital. Yet if the national debate on the causes, effects and cures of corruption is stuck in shallows and misery even as scams and scandals involving ever-increasing amounts multiply exponentially, the failure and neglect to rigorously teach ethics and morality in K-12 education is the root cause. Moreover its important that these subjects are taught rigorously, detailing the socio-economic causes and effects — including the opportunity cost of capital — of corruption. Theres a direct connection between ballooning corruption in New Delhi and state capitals and 46 percent of Indias children under five years suffering severe malnutrition. This connection needs to be made plainly manifest. Arab youth need political and religious freedom The momentous ouster of Egypts dictator-president Hosni Mubarak from office on February 11 following an…