Chandigarh, Monday, August 31, 1998
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Chandigarh, Monday, August 31, 1998 |
Counselling in schools is must By Prabhjot Singh Is corporal punishment in schools justified? If yes, to what extent? If no, what are the ways to correct habitual offenders? Should teenagers be given corporal punishment? Vested interests behind academic
mess Scheme
for the underprivileged |
| Campus
scene: Session begins with strike From Manjeet Sehgal Solan: The new academic session of Dr Y.S. Parmar university commenced with students’ agitation on August 1. It is for the first time since this university was founded in 1986 that the undergraduate forestry students threatened to launch an indefinite stir if the university authorities did not initiate talks with the state government to draft a concrete recruitment policy in the state Forest Department. Youth & Career |
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Counselling in schools is must Is corporal punishment in schools justified? If yes, to what extent? If no, what are the ways to correct habitual offenders? Should teenagers be given corporal punishment? Three schoolgoing teenage students in Chandigarh committed suicide during the past one year. The students were from Sector 35 Guru Gobind Singh School, Sector 23 Government School and Sector 38 Government School. Could these have been prevented?
Some of these complaints are of a serious nature and others frivolous. In an age of information explosion and freedom, disciplining school-going students has become a tricky matter. Neither the conventional method of corporal punishment nor the modern approach of absolute freedom to students has achieved the desired results. The Tribune interviewed a cross-section of academicians, sociologists, psychologists, parents, administrators and students on the issue. Mr Brahmjit Kalia, District Education Officer, says corporal punishment is banned in schools. “In the past 50 years,” he says, “there is a complete collapse of the value system. The present generation of schoolgoers want to live an open life on the lines of their western counterparts at the cost of their parents. School is the only institution which has some control over the students. Personally, I support some sort of corporal punishment to exercise control over the students, especially those in higher classes.” He says during the past one year, there have been three cases of suicide by students. In one case, a student was refused roll number at the time of examinations and he committed suicide. In another case, a student had failed and he committed suicide. The third case is the one in which a student of the Sector 38 Government School committed suicide recently. “There is a reason for the growing suicide tendencies among students. We start sending our children to pre-nursery classes when they are only two. As a result, by the time they are in their teens, their mental faculties develop more than their physical development. At the stage they do not reconcile to failures. Besides, imbalances in society and our failure to reform our education system also makes them suffer from depression. About 10 to 15 years ago, a study by American educationists said that there has been a 200 per cent increase in suicidal tendencies among schoolgoing children. This is true of our present generation,” adds Mr Kalia. “Corporal punishment is strictly prohibited in our school. If you have to spoil the students, then subject them to corporal punishment. But if you want them to be good human beings, counselling is the only way to keep them on the right track,” says Mr D. S. Bedi, Principal, Shivalik Public School. Ms Paramjit Kaur of SAS Nagar says instead of corporal punishment, each school should have a counsellor. Students with problems, including those pertaining to their behaviour and studies, should be advised to have a session with the counsellor during his or her free time. “With the passage of time, there are several changes in our society. The joint family has gradually given way to nuclear families. The size of a family, too, has shrunk. Parents do not want their children to be beaten or even scolded for their mistakes or failures. The change in the outlook of children may be attributed to the information explosion or their addiction to the small screen. Whatever it is, the best way is to involve parents than taking out the wrath on the children,” she adds. Her views are shared by teachers and academicians. The concept of “counselling”, they say, must be given a shape. Many parents, however, do not want “to much freedom with no control on their schoolgoing children”. They say that schoolgoing children see teachers more of authority figures than their parents. Dr Pam Rajput, Director of the Centre for Women Studies and Development, distinguishes between the traditional “danda” (rod) way of punishment and the present concept of “ignoring” the misdeeds of the students. “A student should not fear a teacher because of his or her “danda” but out of respect for him or her. Teachers must have a good rapport with their students so that they do not fear them but respect them. No one can approve of inhuman torture of a child. Each child has the right to self-respect. No one should take that away from him.” “The suicidal
tendencies among schoolgoing students is an accumulative
effect and not because of immediate provocation. There is
no proper counselling in any school. There has to be
periodic counselling so as to establish a rapport between
a student and the school. A teacher can draw a line as
and when he or she finds a behaviourial change in a
student. Such a change should lead him to a counsellor in
the school. The child must be drawn out of that
behaviour,” she adds. |
Vested interests behind academic
mess PANJAB University is named after the state of Punjab. But neither the Punjab Governor is Chancellor of the university, nor is the state government consulted when it comes to appointment of Vice-Chancellors. But for some financial commitments, Punjab has quarantined itself from the functioning of the university. The Vice-President of India is Chancellor of the university. Either by design or due to sheer societal transition, over the decades the jurisdiction of the university has shrivelled. At present, out of Punjab’s 17 districts, Panjab University has affiliated colleges in only four districts — Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Moga and Muktsar. It partly covers Faridkot and Ferozepore. There is talk of re-marking the jurisdiction to ensure greater contiguity. Set-up in 1882 at Lahore, the university has had Chandigarh as its permanent home since 1956. Traversing through the corridor of time, one finds the university has had a chequered graph. Within a span of 42 years, when a “young” institution should be showing signs of maturity one finds, instead, the university is becoming a victim of cretinism. This development cannot be viewed in isolation. The “power centres” and “lobbies” trying to “remote-control” are to be blamed. Despite the good intentions of Vice-Chancellors, these “vested interests” cause academic paralysis. The common grievance heard on the sprawling, unkempt campus pertains to “promotions, appointments and backdoor selections”. It must be mentioned here that through the years each sitting of the Senate supreme decision-making body has become more depressing. The Syndicate (cabinet of the senate) meetings are no better. One sees more acrimony than harmony expected at such important fora, so sharp is the political clevage among its members. The present Vice-Chancellor, Prof.M.M. Puri, took over on July 23, 1997. His one year in office has quietly gone by. Unfortunately, even the positive actions initiated by Mr Puri have acquired a negative streak, thanks to a coterie of power-brokers, their proteges and opportunists. Some of his achievements which even his detectors are forced to acknowledge are acquisition of 12 acres to complete the campus area; initiating construction activity and taking up with the Chandigarh Administration the issue of removing encroachers from the university land to enable it to launch deferred projects; restoring academic activity through efficient and blemish-free conduct of examinations, filling of over 40 per cent faculty and other posts; installation of super computers and putting the university on the internet; starting new courses — such as M.Tech (Polymers), diploma courses in vocational agriculture, Bachelor in Business Administration and Bachelor in Computer Application. His decision to include Fellows on various selection committees has opened a new window for teachers. The Dean, College Development Council, Dr Deepak Manmohan Singh, has been able to secure UGC funds for affiliated colleges to be used for academic activity and development of infrastructure. Student elections is another hallmark. But while pursuing the
policy to appease his detractors, Prof Puri has stumbled.
At the same time he has not gained much from his
“well-wishers”, who have only insulated him
from the ground realities. |
Scheme for the underprivileged THE United Nations has agreed to grant an assistance of Rs 85 crore for a period of five years to a special government programme designed to develop community schools, providing childfriendly education to the underprivileged, especially girls. This will be achieved by focussing on three key players in elementary education — children, teachers and communities. An agreement on the programme was recently signed in New Delhi, reflecting the spirit of coordination among UN organisations under the current UN reforms. The programme, which is unprecedented in having evolved through micro planning at the block and village levels, will be implemented in 100 blocks, small towns and urban slums in eight states — Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The blocks have been selected because of a high concentration of tribal population, low female literacy and educational backwardness. The programme will target girls and marginalised children to improve their attendance and performance in primary schools. It will also work to enhance the capacity for community participation in effective school management. The goal is to inculcate
motivation and self-esteem in students and improve the
performance of teachers through interactive,
child-centred and gender-sensitive methods of teaching in
multi-grade classrooms. |
Campus scene Solan: The new academic session of Dr Y.S. Parmar university commenced with students’ agitation on August 1. It is for the first time since this university was founded in 1986 that the undergraduate forestry students threatened to launch an indefinite stir if the university authorities did not initiate talks with the state government to draft a concrete recruitment policy in the state Forest Department. The August 4 incident further fuelled the agitation when two prominent student leaders were not allowed to meet Forest Minister Roop Singh. The Vice-Chancellor and the Registrar were gheraoed by the students who demanded action against the employees responsible for “manhandling” student leaders. The students of the university will now be able to avail the external evaluation facility. As per the ICAR guidelines, 50 per cent external evaluation will be done from this academic year. But this facility can only be availed by students admitted this year. Despite a complete ban on ragging on the campus, the menace has resurfaced. Girl students in particular are being teased under the pretext of ragging. The worst sufferers are hostellers. The university boasts of a sizeable security machinery which virtually does not work. Academicians are worried at the rise of political activity on the campus not only among students but also teachers. Some employees and teachers have made the university a den of politics. A tussele is on between the university teachers and the state forest officers. The decision to appoint senior IFS officers as Dean, College of Forestry, in place of direct recruitment of forestry graduates as range officers is not acceptable to the teachers. Three scientists of a particular discipline allegedly met the Forest Minister on August 4 to convey their stand. Teachers and scientists of
this university, including those posted at the four
regional and five sub research stations, have rejected
the pay scales released by the Ministry of Human Resource
Development. The teachers association (UHFTA) by sending
its two representatives on a hunger strike in Delhi on
August 21 joined the nationwide stir launched by the
Federation of Central Universities Teachers Association
(FEDCUTA). |
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