The School: A Nurturing PLACE for Inefficient Work Force

The health of various social institutions is based on their value system. Some values (truth, justice, equality, humanism, tolerance, peace, etc.) are necessary for the survival of the social institutions and other are desirable (excellence, commitment, studiousness, honesty, empathy, industriousness etc.). According to Emile Durkheim, the value system is passed across generation in the school and the agent of the society for this job is the school teacher. For that he/she should be in the possession of various values. Numerous reports and studies have highlighted the prevalence of undesirable values among the school teachers. Transmission of undesirable values to the generations could lead to inefficient work force. This paper is based on a preliminary study conducted to investigate the prevalence of undesirable values among the school teachers of Roopnagar district of the state of Punjab in India.  Six undesirable values investigated in the study were absenteeism, dereliction of duty, lack of responsibility, discrimination, authoritarianism and commercial venality. A comparative appraisal of undesirable values was also made between male and female teachers.