School environment should be free from fear: PM

NEW DELHI: With some incidents of harsh punishments meted out to children apparently weighing heavy on his mind, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said the school environment should be "free from fear, trauma and anxiety" to make the Right to Education (RTE) a grand national movement.

"The RTE Act bans corporal punishment and mental harassment. It also bans detention and expulsion. These provisions have led many teachers to question how discipline will be maintained in the classroom," he said.

Addressing the National Award winning teachers at his residence on the eve of Teacher's Day, Singh said that no child, irrespective of caste, gender or community should dread the thought of going to school.

Every year September 5, the birth anniversary of former President Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, is celebrated as Teacher's Day.

He said that the answer to the issue of maintaining discipline was given by philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti who said, "Discipline is an easy way to control a child, but it does not help him to understand the problems involved in living...If the teacher can give full attention to each child, observing and helping him, then compulsion or domination or discipline in any form may be unnecessary".

Noting that the government was committed to providing quality education to all, Singh said that time has come to ensure that every child in the country has the opportunity to exercise his or her right to an education of equitable quality and making the RTE a "grand national movement".

"The educational system in our country is at a very critical juncture," the Prime Minister said stressing the need to maintain the fine balance between tradition and continuity between tradition and modernity on the one hand, and innovation and change on the other.

Observing that teachers as front-line participants in educational reforms and nation's "most precious national resource", he said, "Sadly, teachers are often excluded from policy-making, governance and management of our educational system as also from day-to-day instructional strategies and decision making.

Over 3,800 engineers join SBI as clerks

This may surprise those aspiring to be engineers, and may even cause a rethink among job seekers: Over 3,800 graduate and 200 postgraduate are set to join State Bank of India (SBI) in the clerical cadre.

The SBI had a year ago advertized for over 27,000 posts in the clerical cadre. While 38 lakh aspirants from across the country applied for the jobs online, 28 lakh of them appeared for the written exam. There were 88,000 successful candidates and 27,000 were finally selected after personal interviews. "It was the biggest such exercise for us," a senior SBI official said.


Out of the 27000, 3,800 are graduate engineers, 200 are postgraduates in different branches of engineering, 8,200 are women and 2,000 are ex-servicemen. "The response to our advertisement was huge. It took a little longer to complete the selection process," said the official.


"I come from a leading engineering college. When I applied for the SBI job, there were virtually no vacancies in the manufacturing or IT sector due to recession. I had to seriously look at other options. After all, SBI offers a safe job," said a graduate engineer on Saturday. SBI officials expressed surprise over so many engineers and postgraduate engineers joining the bank. "The management never expected such a response from technically qualified candidates," said an official.


According to a senior HRD professional, it is difficult to believe that engineering graduates are taking up clerical assignments. "The country boasts of having a large number of engineering colleges. However, it does appear that we are producing engineers without accessing the manpower requirement," he said.
Keywords:SBI,Engineer

India Shifts Policy, Adding Caste Query to 2011 Census

The Indian government decided to poll all of its citizens on their caste for the first time in 80 years in a major policy shift on the controversial issue.

Caste—in effect a person's standing in the hierarchy of Hinduism—continues to define many aspects of Indian society, such as marriage and appealing to voters especially in rural areas.

Yet, amid a growing and modernizing economy and a young population, caste's significance has waned, and the government since independence in 1947 has resisted emphasizing caste for fear of creating divisions and tensions between the various caste levels.

The Indian Constitution bans discrimination on the basis of race and caste.

The Indian government didn't provide a specific rationale for polling people on their caste—nor did it specifically say it would poll people of other religions such as Christians or Muslims. But supporters of the move say it will help the government better target welfare programs and other services aimed at those in the lower castes, who tend to also be on the lower rungs of the socioeconomic ladder.

Though it hasn't polled for all castes, India does count those on the lowest rung—known as Dalits—for special programs and quotas in government jobs and education.

Those programs have been expanded over the years, and gaining an updated look at the caste population could lead to a more-efficient provision of services. Critics fear, however, that defining the caste population could exacerbate intercaste tensions and discrimination.

In a statement announcing its decision, the cabinet of the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the caste "of all persons as returned by them would be canvassed" in a special census in mid-2011.

India's Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner will first measure people on their caste and tribes and the information then will be classified by an expert group that the Indian government will form at a later date, the government said.

The last time a full caste census was conducted was under British rule in 1931. The government acknowledged it was changing a practice that "had been given up as a matter of policy after independence."

It said it made the move "in response to the demands for enumerating castes." India's regulardecennial census started in April and will conclude in March 2011.

The government currently reserves 22.5% of all jobs in its offices and seats in government colleges and universities for Dalits and students from India's indigenous tribes, who also receive special benefits under the constitution. The percentage is based on 1961 census data.

In the early 1990s, the government decided to put aside a further 27% of government jobs for people socially and economically marginalized due to the caste system, known in demographic parlance as "other backward classes."

That policy concession was forced by the political momentum built on the claim that these groups constituted 52% of India's total population based on the 1931 census data. That government move met with number of violent protests around the country mainly by upper-caste youths who saw it as limiting their career prospects.

Though often attributed to Hinduism's classification of people into four categories according to their work and religious duties, the caste distinctions in India have spilled over to converts to other religions, too, so it isn't uncommon to find someone defining himself as a Dalit Christian.

In a debate in Parliament in May, parties across the political spectrum united in the view that caste should be included in the continuing census to bring clarity to the government's affirmative-action policies and make them more reflective of the social and economic backwardness that persists due to the caste system.

Bhakta Charan Das, a Congress party member in the lower house and the only member during the May Parliament debate to strongly oppose the inclusion of caste in the census, said the government decision on the caste census comes at a time when the country should have "legally abolished the caste system."

Mr. Das added that "it's time to abolish the caste system and let the Indian nation live in dignity."

Mr. Das, who represents a constituency from the eastern Indian state of Orissa, says he is a Dalit himself and "the caste census will disturb the peace and progress in India's villages where people were slowly coming out of the caste prison and over 70% of India's youth whose liberal minds will now get imprisoned in the petty caste issues."

Final year CA students may get to see answer sheets

Final year Chartered Accountancy students should be able to see copy of their answer sheets after May 2011, subject to approval by Central Council members, said Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) president Amarjit Chopra on Monday.

Delivering the special address at ‘Convocation 2010', he said the performance of students was dismal, despite all the coaching classes, and this had to improve. They need to go back to text books and reference books and apply the concepts to the given problems. The Common Proficiency Test needs to be strengthened by bringing in appropriate changes.

To allay the apprehension that ICAI was failing students, it was proposed to allow them to see their answer sheets. The comments of the head examiner on every question would be hosted on the web. Besides, it was decided to host suggested answers for the November exam, one month before the declaration of the result, he said.

According to Mr. Chopra, the ICAI has signed Mutual Recognition Agreements with many nations; it will be signing one with Ireland next month, negotiations were on with New Zealand and Singapore and new initiatives were planned in the African region.

He also said that for the next two years, there would not be any change in the curriculum or in fee structure. It was also proposed to start a virtual classroom by December, which would be cheaper than attending the coaching classes. Distributing the convocation credentials to top nine rank holders from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, G. Thiruvasagam, Vice-Chancellor, University of Madras, said, “the higher education system faced an alarming situation due to a mismatch in demand and supply. Though the University gives results of 75 per cent, the employability ratio is only nine per cent, while ICAI gives results of four per cent and the employability is 100 per cent. This is due to good syllabus, effective delivery system, effective examination system, research programmes and global education.”

He asked the students to update their knowledge on a regular basis, act as the conscience of corporate companies and remind them of their corporate social responsibility and be the guardian angels of shareholders.

V. Murali, vice-chairman, Board of Studies said that Chartered Accountants should have focus, work with responsibility, play their role to perfection and render value addition to society.

G. Ramaswamy, vice-president, ICAI, said that a few more international chapters would be opened soon.

Keywords: Chartered Accountancy, ICAI

Number of students from India in UK increasing: Mills

The downturn caused by economic slowdown in United Kingdom has started showing signs of recovery as the number of students from India for education in that country has started picking up this year, Principal of Northam College, UK, Michael Mills said on Saturday.

“There was a lull for the past two years. But now many students especially from Indian subcontinent are keen to pursue their education in UK,” Mr. Mills told PTI.

He said with a bit flexibility, students from India would be able to get at least 14-hours a week jobs in and around London during their education.

The London-based college aims to educate students with a view to careers for lifetime, transforming potentiality into venerable achievements, he added.

Keywords: United Kingdom, education

Indian scientist proposes solution to math problem

A mathematics problem with a $1-million prize attached to it and one which has major implications in computer applications, like security and machine intelligence, is claimed to have been solved by an Indian working in the United States.

Vinay Deolalikar, a scientist working at HP Labs in California, has proposed a solution to the problem, commonly called by mathematicians as ‘Is P=NP?,' in a paper he has published online. The problem is one of the seven listed by the Clay Mathematics Institute for the Millennium Prize worth $1 million, which will be awarded to the successful solver of each problem.

The problem refers to the possible equivalence of two classes of problems. ‘NP' problems refer to those that may take different amounts of time to solve, based on the size of the data. But each solution suggested can be checked easily. An example given on www.nature.com is the solution of jigsaw puzzles — it is easy to verify if a solution is correct but to solve the jigsaw puzzle itself may be very difficult.

‘P' problems are those that scale in polynomial time with the size of the data. An example is the problem of alphabetically sorting a list of names. A computer can be programmed to sort the names very fast; and adding many more names will make the task difficult only to an extent and it will still be possible for the computer to handle it.

Mr. Deolalikar's solution, a 100-page proof published online, says ‘P' is in fact not the same as ‘NP.' This means computer security systems in their current form may be pretty robust to conventional computer-based attacks, but this also means some problems cannot be solved by simply throwing a lot of computer power at them.

The proof has generated a lot of interest among mathematicians, and some have started looking at the proof to see whether it will hold. But as Richard Lipton points out, quoting mathematician Yuri Manin, on his blog rjlipton.wordpress.com: “A proof becomes a proof after the social act of accepting it as a proof,” and Mr. Deolalikar has to wait for the paper to be published in a refereed journal after mathematicians vet it.

Interestingly, in March this year, another of the problems — the Poincare conjecture — was declared solved by Grigoriy Perelman, but the mathematician refused to accept the $1-million award.

Mathematics and dyslexia

Shweta is a bubby girl, well mannered and articulate. The only time she is not so cheerful is when she gets her grades in school which invariably is low and does not match her usual spirit. She scores low due to her inability to read and spell well. This is a common disability called “Dyslexia”

'Unseen' problem

Dyslexia is often referred to as “the hidden handicap”. Children with this difficulty exhibit no physical symptoms, thereby evoking little sympathy. Many of them are simply branded as lazy and are constantly criticized for being underachievers. Literally dyslexia means difficulty in reading. It is derived from the conjunction of “dys” (difficulty) and” lexia ( reading) Extensive research has been conducted, yet there is no clear, singly identifiable biological cause for it occurrence.

Hereditary, neurological and faulty genes have been singled out as particularly important. New research also underlines environmental factors such as parenting which may play a contributing role. It follows therefore as no surprise that “dyslexia” has become a convenient term for reading difficulties in general.

While Dyslexia is associated with reading and writing, Dyscalculia is the term coined for characterizing the difficulty encountered in conducting mathematical operations. It too originates from the Greek word meaning “counting badly”. Many so called normal people are not very comfortable dealing with simple mathematical operations.

This can take the form of an anxiety which grips those who may well be outstanding in other fields.

Dyscalculia is very widespread in dyslexic children. Since simple calculations as basic as buying provisions for the house or buying a book is a integral part of our daily life, it is imperative that we have a basic idea of math and its simple operations.

Stigma

So people who have difficulty in simple calculations are often humiliated and stigmatized. which in turn makes them frustrated ending up with them having all sorts of behavioral problems. Some of us quite pass the responsibility entirely to teachers and say that they are responsible for making the subject uninspiring and dull.

Number crunch

As stated, Math has always been an area of difficulty for most dyslexics. In its basic level it also involves concepts like direction, sequencing and symbols.

Take for example a simple sum 20 +90. A child with dyscalculia might not be able to distinguish the columns of units and tens and hence start adding the tens first. Some symbols are difficult to comprehend like the symbols of addition,+ and multiplication x .So when a child is given a sum he may well be mystified as to what the symbols signify. One typical example would be when one is doing a drill practice.

Many children find it extremely difficult to distinguish between the left and right arm or leg. Some of them have difficulty in conceptualizing time and so are never sure of dates or terms like” tomorrow “and “today.” Another classic example is sequencing. They find it extremely hard to remember the order of steps required for the operation.

Behaviour patterns

So in conclusion one can say that dyslexia is the general/common term for learning difficulty.

But Dyscalculia is equally prevalent in dyslexic students. It is then but a small step for these children to have a consequent string of behavioral problems such as temper tantrums. This is so since they are constantly being humiliated and labelled.

Research has proved that it is vital for parents, teachers and well-wishers to know the learning styles of children—whether the child involved learns and absorbs better, while listening (auditory) or seeing (visual) or learning with the help of all these senses called multi-sensory. One must build up the child's self confidence and self esteem which will diminish their inhibition as well as make them willing to take up the challenge of their difficulties and over time contribute to society in meaningful ways— while also finding the whole experience refreshing and joyful.

The mind of a leader

Darkness has descended at the residence of former President APJ Abdul Kalam. A local short circuit has left all of us in darkness. Facing an emergency light sits Kalam in his study, his silver eyebrows gleaming, his face retaining its familiar spark. As he winds up a chat with his publishers, Rajpal, there is divine justice. The lights are back. This time he opens up to talk about his latest book, “Spirit of India”, a book that encapsulates the soul of the youth of the country with a selection of questions, many of them irreverent, that Kalam had to field in his interaction with youngsters over the past decade or so. “I have interacted with 9.5 million youth of this country,” the former President says. His modesty prevents him from adding that his latest book is being translated into four languages, including Marathi, Gujarati, Assamese and Hindi, while his earlier venture, “Indomitable Spirit”, went into 11 translations. He is known for his love for students and youth, he travels widely; but how does he manage to write so much? “Spirit of India” is his 30th book, and seventh with Rajpal publishers. “Writing is my love. If you love something you find a lot of time,” he says with a glint in his eye. As he surveys his aesthetically maintained study which has room for a handful of mementos and thousands of books, he adds, “I write for two hours a day, usually starting at midnight; at times I start at 11.” Much of the research for his latest book came via his interaction with millions of youngsters aged below 17. So, what did he notice in his talks with students? “They are very open to discussion, very free with their opinions. One of the very important characteristics of a student is to question. Let the students ask questions. A teacher should have a creative mind. He or she should encourage questions. At times I find teachers are in a hurry to finish the syllabus. But discussion should always be there. Let the students ask questions, even if some of them are obvious.” Creative classrooms The man who distributed newspapers in Rameswaram during World War-II — back then, as he writes in the book, as a little boy he used to get up at four in the morning, go for his tuitions, perform his Namaaz, learn the Quran Sharif, then go to the railway station to collect the newspapers — feels strongly that the future of the country is in the hands of its teachers. “Teachers are the driving force of change. We need creative classrooms. The classrooms should be rooms for discussion and debate. Every subject is important for studies. Science has its place, just as there have to be specialists of finance, commerce. We cannot have everybody as a scientist. We need to make teaching interesting.” He provides an example in the book. On page 72, while answering a question from a student in Aligarh, he writes, “Science has revealed that the human body is made up of millions and millions of atoms….For example I am made up of 5.8x10{+2}{+7} atoms.” Then he calls for an Indian Science Service on the lines of Indian Administrative Service. “Scientists should be in a cadre, like the IAS.” However, before all that we need a healthy primary education system. “Before higher studies we have to think of primary education. We need more reforms in primary education. There are many good recommendations in the Prof. Yashpal Committee report. Classrooms should not be structured, they should be creative. Our literacy rate is 66 per cent. Education is a must for 100 per cent literacy. Seven million students do 10+2. Three million go for higher studies. We need to address the skills of the dropouts.” Complete literacy, he feels, can be attained with the Right to Education Act, which is “going to change the education profile of the youth because it is free and compulsory”. He, however, cautions, “To complete the success of achieving universal education, it is also essential that the programme of PURA (Providing the Urban Amenities in Rural Areas) should be in position throughout the country.” That is certainly the way ahead. But how do you explain the disparity in English language skills between those from city-bred and urban education and those whose medium of instruction is an Indian language? “I studied in a regional language too as a young boy. Everything is fine till one comes to class 10. In places like Delhi where we have a large number of people from smaller towns and villages, we need special classes for such students. A student who goes up to 10+2 spends roughly 25,000 hours in the classroom. It gives one plenty of time for attaining knowledge, to gauge one's learning capacity.” Kalam feels it is important for a teacher to read in order to teach. “A teacher should not go by notes in the classroom. To teach for an hour, a teacher should prepare for three hours.”

Foreign degrees, right here?

Dreaming of acquiring a foreign degree right here in India, and not spending thousands of dollars travelling overseas? You might have your way soon. Kapil Sibal, Union Minister of Human Resource Development, has recently introduced the Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations) Bill, 2010, in Parliament in order to allow foreign universities to operate in the country. He said: “I do not expect Harvard and Stanford universities to set up shop here (but others will).” The fact remains that about 1,80,000 Indian students go abroad every year to study and spend billions of dollars, and this results in heavy foreign exchange outflow from the country. How to stem the outflow, and ensure that the populace is educated and skilled? “Education has been a great equalizer in Europe,” said Sukhadeo Thorat, chairman, University Grants Commission, at a recent seminar in New Delhi. Perhaps, the Union HRD Minister is expecting to kill two birds with one stone — educate the populace and, prevent outflow of students and capital. Only about seven per cent of all Indians enter the higher education sector. Currently, India has about 350 universities. The National Knowledge Commission, constituted in 2005, has recommended that about 1,500 universities “should be opened nationwide” so that India is able to attain a gross enrolment ratio (GER) of at least 15 per cent by 2015. Crucially, where will the money come from? One of the steps envisaged by the government has been to open up the higher education sector to foreign varsities. The Foreign Educational Institutions Bill is expected to open up the education sector further, and help the government achieve its target in terms of GER. There are, however, a few riders. One is that the foreign varsities are not expected to remit back to the host country the earnings that have been made in the education field here. The Bill says, “The foreign educational institutions have to maintain a corpus fund of a minimum of Rs. 50 crore. Maximum of 75 per cent of any income generated from the fund shall be utilized for developing its institution in India, and rest should be put back in the fund.” The Bill is very categorical on this issue. “This implies that they cannot repatriate any surplus,” says M.R. Madhavan of PRS Legislative Research, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi. The foreign education institution that wishes to come into India is expected to have been in the field of providing education services for a minimum of 20 years.
Crucially, the foreign varsities cannot impose their own independent curriculum. The Bill says, “The programme of study offered by the foreign education provider has to conform to standards laid down by the statutory authority (such as the UGC, AICTE, BCI and MCI).” So, are we telling them to come in, or discouraging them? The signals are mixed. However, there is no cap on fees, or number of students. Considering the requirement of skills in India, those universities that want to focus on offering specialised skills are likely to be the first ones to come in. The application by the foreign education institution that seeks to enter India has to be endorsed by the High Commission of that country in India. That is expected to filter out the fly-by-night operators. Still we need to be on our toes, considering in India “anything foreign”, has a certain brand value. India may have been the colony that got away from the British crown, but colonial mindsets have yet to change in many ways, even six decades after Independence.