Page:The Message and Ministrations of Dewan Bahadur R. Venkata Ratnam, volume 3.djvu/63

 justify itself to, and command the co-operation of, all sections of the great community, amidst which it exists.—4. The last of the subjects to be considered here is that of Moral Instruction. This subject has, a short while ago, been distinctly integrated into our educational courses. A certain class of educational institutions has always been alive to this responsibility. But the community as a whole has been rather torpid as regards this duty. Our system of education has, there-fore, been almost completely secular in aims and methods. But if ‘the formation and development of character is the central function’ of sound education, too much stress cannot be laid on the moral responsibilities of life. The promises demanded as a condition precedent to graduation are a testimony to the importance of this aspect of education. That all well-directed study has certain ethical tendencies may be granted. Yet, if the distinguishing mark of man is his moral sense—his susceptibility to ‘the three reverences’, direct, active, moral instruction should be a notable and noble feature of our educational system. I believe the best sec-