He pointed out that as such, they could be moulded by their school teachers as well as their parents, of whom the latter played a more significant role. He deplored the screening of mindless murders and rapes on television and cinema in this context, which may make a child follow the wrong path. But the real challenge lies in inspiring those children to seek education whose guardians don't have enough to feed and dress them, he said.

Prof Mukesh Williams of St. Stephen's College stressed on ``value creation'' being the need of the hour. ``Teachers should be seen as mentors and not as an authority,'' he said. Citing the example of the Japanese education system, he said that the Soka University in Japan aid a special emphasis on the guru-shishya relationship following the ideas of the well-known Japanese educationist Makiguchi.

He said that Makiguchi wanted schools only till noon so that students could go home and learn from the society for the rest of the day. That ensured that students could practically relate to subjects like mathematics, science and geography that may otherwise appear boring and formidable to them. That's why, Williams said, after school hours Japanese students are encouraged to work in factories, offices and other places so that they recognise the importance of working and are able to choose a field they would want to specialise in later in life.

Other speakers at the seminar called for laying emphasis on community education and total student participation in their institutions in day-today activities like cleaning play grounds along with their teachers, and participating actively in administrative decision-making. This way the students would feel ``belonged'' to the school and a sense of camaraderie would replace the ``corporal-sergeant'' relationship that generally exist in Indian schools and colleges, they said.

Bringing up the issue of the changing value systems in the society, Prof Ravindra Kumar, chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research said that a holistic approach in education was important and that that was possible only when the teachers were able to promote knowledge with values. For, knowledge that divides the person is not knowledge, he said. Prof M. Mukhopadhyay from the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration on his part reminded participants that the future world was not going to live on competition since values are the deciding factor.

Teachers themselves should be living examples, he said, adding that the final goal of education is self-actualization, that is improving one's own self and emancipation at different levels - nationalist, linguistic identity, customs, gender, class and religion. ``Though we talk of emancipation of all spheres it hardly exists. There are only six per cent women who are vice chancellors,'' he concluded. Prof R.P. Sharma, dean and head of Delhi University's education department spoke at length on `value resonance and human personality'. He said that education has to be a process for autonomy in the individual. ``Knowledge must bring out the freedom within.'' He agreed that education had to be a participatory approach.

Speaking on the occasion, Namrata Sharma, research scholar at the Suko University compared Makiguchi with Mahatma Gandhi. ``Makiguchi's `character value' is Gandhi's `swaraj', victory over self. To nurture this then is the goal of education.'' Other speakers included Lokesh Chandra, director, International Academy of Indian Culture, Prof K.D. Gangarade, former pro-vice chancellor of the Delhi University and Prof Yogendra Singh of JNU.