The Significance of Social Work Education in India

Introduction

Social work is a very vast discipline that covers variety of aspects in life. So it is very difficult to get a concrete definition of social work. It is a subject that is based on 2 things: theory and practice. Basically it is not just helping people but it is actually working with people, making them self-independent so that they can live a healthy and a quality life. This is importance of social work essay where this topic will be discussed. 

How Social Work Education Came Into Limelight?

Social Work Education witnessing successions underwent metamorphic changes in different parts of the world. During the last part of the nineteenth century, social work education in the United States emerged from the development of the social sciences. Tremendous pressure was put forth by various philanthropic organizations to develop educational courses in colleges and universities for women and other disadvantages sections of society. The quest for evidence based practice knowledge continues today in India and other parts of the world. However peep into the literature throwing light on social work education unearths that on the one hand, social work education focuses on professional socialization that, in part, consists of teaching the underlying values and ethics of the profession. This is the heart of the profession; whereas, knowledge and skills are taught that increasingly are supported by empirically-based research. Social work education has also strived to teach about ways of knowing that are specific to particular cultures. The challenge in developing global standards for social work education rests with balancing these components.

The recognition of social work as a profession was accepted after many years. Earlier it was mixed with charity and volunteerism which are entirely different.

• charity: giving help in form of money, food shelter etc.
• volunteerism: giving time, offering your services according to your own will without expecting anything in return.

Social work has its roots from charity and volunteerism only. Often we get confused with terms like social welfare, social work and social service. Of course they are interrelated but are entirely different concepts. Overall it is revolved around human rights and social justice.

What Need Was Felt for Social Work Education in India?

The spread of social work in India has its roots from west i.e. from both USA and UK. Simultaneously social work approach was developed in India according to its own cultures, values, beliefs and customs. Not only this, various social reformers and reform movements like INDIGO REVOLT OF 1860, CHIPKO MOVEMENT and YOUNG BENGAL MOVEMENT reflected the true essence of human rights realization relating to liberty, equality and dignity of an individual.

In west many charity based organizations provided training to volunteers. Most of the volunteers which came forward were women and later in 1890’s volunteers started to join training schools which were basically social work education schools. Formal courses in social sciences came up that were based on scientific approach and need was felt for paid jobs in social work.

Social Work Education in Commercial Enterprises 

Due to the advancement in technology and globalization the effective streaming of resources, equitable distribution is becoming very tiresome. In the context of gaining power, becoming rich and profitable, business houses do not realize what adverse consequences would come up in near future. For this according to company’s act of 2013, there is a binding on every corporate house to invest 2% of their average income (of last 3 years) into the societal benefits. These benefits can be ensuring parks, dispensaries, drinking water facilities, counselling to the employees etc. taking into consideration both ecological and social factors. This is called corporate social responsibility in which there is a key position of social workers in every corporate house.

Conclusion

To sum up why is social work important essay, merely commitment, good intensions and good feelings are not sufficient. The bottom line is the professional approach to social work. But somewhere we are lagging behind to visualise the concept of social work education and practice. Even though social workers are improving the gaps amongst varied religions, cultures, societies but big picture of considering social work practice as a profession is yet to be realized. Social work need could be felt in a true sense, when in covid times the lives of people was affected, there was despair amongst people covering Tran’s boundaries. It is important to realize that we need social work practice in every sphere of life because along with development coping up with emotional stress, mutual understanding , making connections, fighting for rights , developing a feeling of empathy and making people realize that how important is life , how they can become self – reliant. No matter how big or small an individual is ,humans are beautiful creation of god and each and every individual has right to live their lives with dignity.