COMPASSION
EDUCATION
Mulyavardhan: A Values Education Program By Shantilal Muttha
Shantilal Gulabchand Muttha, the founder of Bharatiya Jain Sanghatana and Shantilal Muttha Foundation, is a distinguished social entrepreneur and strategic philanthropist. Rising from humble origins, he established a flourishing enterprise with the noble intent of becoming selfsufficient in pursuing his dream of contributing to social welfare. He is a recipient of many awards such as the Ahimsa Award in 2018 at House of Commons, United Kingdom; the Rajiv Gandhi Manav Seva Award by the Government of India in 2017; the Jeevan Sadhna Gaurav Puraskar in 2016 and several other national and international recognitions. Mulyavardhan is a path-breaking values education program that aims to nurture caring, responsible, and democratic citizens. It has been developed based on fundamental human values such as liberty, equality, fraternity, justice, care and compassion, trust and respect, responsibility and peace that are universal in nature. Mulyavardhan was launched in India in 2009 by Bharatiya Jain Sanghatana, a non-profit organization based in Pune. It has since been expanded to cover more than 4.5 million children in the country. Mulyavardhan’s learnings are relevant to audiences across the world as they offer valuable insights and lessons on how to promote values-based education in a diverse, democratic, and pluralistic society. It also addresses some of the common challenges and opportunities that educators face in the 21st Century such as fostering critical thinking, social-emotional learning, civic engagement, and global citizenship among children.
problem solving, communication, collaboration, leadership, empathy, self-regulation, and resilience. These skills enable them to participate actively and responsibly in democratic processes at the community and the larger societal levels.
Developing Children as Caring, Productive, Democratic Citizens Mulyavardhan was developed and piloted in 2009, after Dr. Prem Gada from JAINA visited Bharatiya Jain Sanghatana in Pune to jointly develop a curriculum on Jainism for children of the Jain community in America. This experience encouraged Bharatiya Jain Sanghatana to develop Mulyavardhan, which can be considered as a natural extension of the Jainism course, helping our children become caring, productive, and democratic citizens.
Values and Competencies Framework Mulyavardhan is an innovative program. As values cannot be taught or imposed but can only be inculcated in children during their formative age, Mulyavardhan creates situations that present children with opportunities to practice values-based competencies, attitudes, and life skills. It engages with stakeholders involved in child’s education, including parents and community, in implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of program activities and their outcomes. It also builds their capacity and empowers them to take ownership of the program. Mulyavardhan provides structured learning activities specific to children from different age groups. These include behavioral exercises, discussions, role plays, games, stories, songs, artwork, projects, and field visits. They are designed to stimulate the cognitive, affective, and behavioral domains of learning and foster positive attitudes and values among children. This helps children develop a deeper understanding of human values and their relevance in everyday life. It helps them acquire skills such as critical thinking,
Mulyavardhan was piloted in 2009 among 35,000 children. This first program model was evaluated twice by academic experts from the Cambridge University Technical Services in 2011 and 2013. Later, experts from Oregon State University conducted a detailed study of the program to understand its impact on children, parents, and teachers. Based on results and learnings from the pilot implementation and recommendations of the evaluation studies carried out by global experts, Mulyavardhan was redesigned to scale its impact. 17