Ethics for the new millenium

In my mother tongue, there is a very apt expression for education. It is “obrazovanje,” which means to form a child into an adult. It is clear that the focus of this shaping is “face,” which means the values that will make him or her respected in the eyes of others. So the key notion here is “face,” which means character. Our ancestors, wise blacksmiths of language and specialists in concepts, when faced with the notion of “education” knew very well what it was about. That it was about one’s “face.” We, the later generations, do not know this anymore. Today times are such that we should never stop speaking about this former, clearly set goal of education.
There is another good word in my language. It is “prosvjeta,” a general term relating to the area of education and teachers. It means to “enlighten” and it reminds us of how much darkness we have allowed to remain in ourselves. It is very clear what the people who applied the word “prosvjeta” to education and schooling had in mind. “Prosvjeta“ is derived from “svjetlost” which means light and comes from “enlightenment.” We know that to “enlighten” means to shine through, to shed light on, and light is man’s most tangible natural symbol of vision and wisdom. This is just a reminder that our ancestors knew much better than we do today what upbringing and education were about.

VESNA’S SPECIAL CONCERNS AND PROPOSALS FOR THE PURPOSE OF “FACE” EDUCATION
Promoting education the aim of which is “face” or character has been conceived and started by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. It has already been successfully implemented in schools in 46 countries around the world, such as the United Emirates, Zambia, Japan, and England. For use in this “face” education, Vesna has compiled about 4000 pages of textbooks that provide suitable material, instruction, and application of the five key human values and the accompanying virtues. Many schools in Croatia already use these texts. This philosophy of education has been promoted in around 13 towns in Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro and has been accepted as an alternative teaching approach at the Pedagogic Academy in Zagreb.