Social Values and Students Holistic Education among Selected Secondary Schools in Mbale District, Uganda
Authors: Michael Tatyabala , Musa Matovu , Bisaso Ssali Muhammad , Madinah Nabukeera 
Published: September 2024

In many of the secondary schools today, much attention is put on achieving grades and numbers in the schools. There is little attention put to in the building of value-based learners and the environments that are materialistic and place a high value on the material world has taken precedence over the humanistic world. There is little emphasis on the advancement of children's ethical and spiritual growth, favoring individualism that stresses egoism, worldly success, and the pursuit of pleasure via lifestyle. This has led to the dehumanization process, in which material qualities are exalted while human values—such as moral, ethical, and religious—are diminished and abandoned. Unconsciously, educators give up on moral and spiritual principles since they are seen as antiquated, outmoded, not modern, and unsatisfactory. Instead, they are supplanted by the dominance of materialistic principles, which are ranked higher. Contrary to those views, a good and comprehensive education system creates the necessary human capital and knowledgeable workers to take our societies to greater heights. Holistic education focuses on representing core ideals for a more just world for people and other living things. It offers a means of advancing the discussion of resource distribution beyond the financial to include the philosophical significance of love in creating a more just society. It draws attention to the need for and change toward a more spiritual and holistic strategy for developing empathy and kindness. It offers forums for conversations about eschewing the competitive mindset fostering an inward journey of learning, kindness, compassion, and empathy. These days, the focus of the educational system is mostly on gaining a lot of knowledge, passing tests, and getting credentials for jobs in the future. A comprehensive education program is essential in the educational system to give students the human values and the hard and soft skills they need. This essay examines the types of values that serve as a potent stimulant for excellent teaching practices and, consequently, support learning that is holistic. It examines rationalizations and describes how values can be used to strengthen beneficial student outcomes in all 1 RODRIGUES, Zuleide Blanco. Education: A study based on the UNESCO report on the four pillars of knowledge domains of growth on all levels—intellectual, moral, social, emotional, and spiritual. The research design for the study was mixed methods, utilizing combines quantitative and qualitative methods. We as well utilized Questionnaires for collection views plus statistics from head teachers, facilitators (teachers), parents and other school stakeholders. Literature of published and unpublished works on social values and students’ holistic learning in Uganda and other countries was reviewed. In data analysis, both both numerical and qualitative data analysis methods were applied. The investigation drew upon collected superior data which focused on individual discourses regarding Students are taught moral and religious principles as part of the process of developing their character in school and how these values influenced them for social transformation into individuals with the ability to face obstacles in life with morality and direction. It was framed in the 4 foundations of learning according towards UNESCO's Knowledge: Jacques Delors in the Delors Commission Report (1966), wherein this report, Education is viewed as one of the main tools available to promote a deeper and more harmonious form of human development and, in turn, to lessen poverty, exclusion, ignorance, oppression, and war, rather than as a miraculous remedy or a magic formula that will open the door to a world in which all ideals will be realized. This lifelong education is built on the following principles: Learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together and learning to be1