Social Issues in the SNS Curriculum
The SNS curriculum also attempts to address some of the social issues confronting our rural and urban underprivileged. As these are relevant to the day to day circumstances of their life, incorporating these as case studies within the curriculum presents an opportunity to make education more relevant to their needs. Education in the past has been removed from a discussion of these social issues. Instead of teaching about how "Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water", we can talk about instead of the caste system and why Ramu and Shyamu cannot drink from the same well, or should they be able to. This also develops critical thinking and problem solving skills on many fronts.
Though not all of the issues can be discussed in all age groups within a class (since SNS curriculum can be used for a variety of age groups), here is a list of many of the social issues that can be discussed with some age group or another.
Caste system, sati, poverty, population, illiteracy, lack of resources, lack of proper sanitation and hygienic conditions, environmental degradation and pollution, superstitions, child/early marriage, inequalities (e.g. financial or male/female), child labor, land and property dispute, religious issues such as practice of rituals, communal riots, bribery and corruption, adultery, rape, blind following of leaders or selecting them for wrong reasons (what should be right reasons?), smuggling, lack of electricity or water resources, communication, productive land, divorce, bonded laborers, ignorance and blind faith, narrow mindedness, interference, adverse climatic conditions, lack of interest in work, exploitation, lack of initiative, lack of accountability for one’s wrong actions, lack of prompt social justice, reservation,
In addition, the SNS curriculum will also integrate a discussion of problems at the national and international level such as national security, terrorism, drug abuse, continuance of war, younger and more kids getting into violence, communal harmony, need for peaceful solutions, emerging global economy, etc.