INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HUMANITIES,
ENGINEERING & PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES

Manisha Rani Verma

Delhi University

Concept of God having various aspects like faith , beliefs, spirituality , religion, family rituals, religious practices, prayer , religious books, mythological stories , religious teachers and so more, is a part of children’s daily life common everyday experiences. Role of school in the formation of concept amongst children is ,undoubtedly , very significant as school works as an agent of the socialization process. Studies say that children may have different types of learning experiences in different types of schools. This present paper tries to make a comparative analysis of Indian children’s conception of God on the basis of schools i.e. government and private schools to explore if there exists any pattern amongst children’s conception of God on the basis of types of schools. The present study is qualitative and exploratory in nature. The sample taken for the data consisted of class I-VIII from Delhi and NCR. The number of children taken as sample was 420 out of which 210 children from government and 210 children from private schools were selected. From each category of schools 70 children from different groups I-III, IV-V, VI-VIII were selected. Three different types of self constructed tools were used for the children of three different groups .The findings of the study suggest that there was no major difference amongst the conception of children about God on the basis of types of schools i.e. government and private schools except that more number of children of private schools shared their experiences of celebrating different festivals at schools and having more activities at morning assembly than the children of government schools. It might be the result of different environment of government and private schools as there is generally a difference of pupil teacher ratio and other facilities in government and private schools. However, the study showed that children could think over such abstract conceptions through their everyday experiences. School is expected to provide best opportunities for all round development of the children by providing them such an atmosphere where they can explore and examine issues that deal with ethics and values , ponder over them, make a comparative analysis and then can decide what they want to believe.