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| EDUCATION TRIBUNE |
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Need to
upgrade professional skills of teachers India
has a lot to learn from varsities in the West Grammar
stops monkeys from talking like us!
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Need to upgrade professional skills of teachers There has been, no doubt, vast expansion of educational facilities by way of opening and upgrading schools, but it has left behind the qualitative aspect, resulting in deterioration in academic standards. The result of the public examination conducted by the Haryana Board of School Education are indicative of where Haryana figures in the field of education. No effort is made to take note of what goes on in the classroom. Reform in education must emanate from the grassroots level and classroom is the only proper place for this. It can be possible only if we strengthen school-based management. For this, the department shall have to strengthen the inspection and supervision of schools. The number of schools, being so large, all schools cannot be inspected/supervised. Schools may, therefore, be categorised into A, B and C. Schools with good performance and better management/administration could be left out and those falling in category B & C could be inspected/supervised with the purpose of bringing about improvement in their functioning. To make the system work, there is an imperative need to introduce accountability, so as to make not only the teachers but also all those involved in the educational process accountable for their performance. To update and upgrade professional skills of teachers, there should be a regular system of pre-induction and in-service education. One of the main irritants having deleterious effect on the efforts to improve the image of education in Haryana has been frequent transfer of teachers, heads of institutions and education officers without any set policy. The worst part is that even the Directors are transferred frequently. By the time they understand the department and its working, they are shifted. Monthly class tests, besides terminal examinations, during an academic session, if conducted regularly, will be helpful to both students and teachers. Parents should be kept informed of the progress of their wards in studies. At present, the State Board of School Education conduct three public examinations and remains occupied with exam-related work throughout the year. The National Policy on Education, 1986, modified in 1992, is against the middle standard examination, being conducted centrally by a few State School Education Boards. Only 3 or 4 state boards in the country are conducting the middle standard examination. There is no rationale or justification in doing so. Class VIII is not a terminal stage nor is the certificate helpful to an individual in getting a job. This examination can be better managed at the institutional level. The board has been conducting the middle standard examination for the past three decades. Pass percentage of the matriculation examination in all these years reveals that Class VIII examination has not in any way helped in raising the pass percentages at the matriculation level. When all other states, can do without it, why not Punjab, HP and Haryana? Abolition of this examination will enable the board to concentrate attention on the remaining two examinations. The writer is former Director,
Primary Education, Haryana. |
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India has a lot to learn from varsities in the West Most schools and colleges in India depend on the financial aid from the state or Central Government. With a national consensus emerging in favour of more funds for primary and elementary education, budgetary allocations for higher education are dismal. There is also greater misuse of funding for pure research as compared to applied sciences. The main reason for the rising expenditure is over-employment in terms of teaching and non-teaching staff in universities and colleges. Planners of education and management bodies have seldom used their authority to establish high-powered subject committees to evaluate degree and postgraduate programmes. Indian educationists are not pragmatic in their approach which can be proven by the fact that most teaching in colleges is based on rote learning. As a result, higher education system encourages a policy where there is plagiarism in higher studies and research. As an attempt to make amends, education has to be restructured by revising the syllabi in schools and colleges. India should follow the liberal arts tradition of education. Early specialisation or choice of streams like medical, non-medical, commerce and humanities is detrimental to the system in the long run. Enrolment in such colleges should be on the basis of merit. India should also make efforts to provide international-level infrastructure and equipment in schools and colleges. Although India cannot afford total commercialisation of education, the government and the private sector must provide financial aid in the form of loans or scholarships to the deserving and economically weaker students. Many opportunities have opened up for the youth at the international level due to the breakthrough in the information technology. The recent IT revolution has proven to be a boon to the IIT graduates. The standards of IITs are regarded high. However, an average graduate from Indian professional and technical colleges does not stand much of a chance. Apart from this, the role of the college management should be streamlined i.e. to assume greater responsibility in order to avoid academic confusion. Unless accountability in education is considered a respectable word, India’s higher education system will remain an exercise in futility. It will remain a constant burden on the exchequer and its poor. The average college graduate of India can be considered on a par with his counterparts in Europe and North America only if quality and merit are the considerations. Indian students will continue to go abroad for expensive higher education if India does not improve its education system. Indians cannot afford huge sums of foreign exchange to other countries. Student evaluation and the system of examination also requires a complete overhaul. A balance between objectivity and subjectivity is a must. A student securing 33 per cent marks can no longer be considered a graduate. No progressive country, whether in Asia or in the West, will allow this kind of mediocrity in its education system. India will have to show greater concern and a sense of urgency to change its higher education system. The writer is an English language consultant and is doing her diploma in Journalism from the Writer’s Bureau in Manchester, England. |
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Grammar stops monkeys from talking like us! Researchers
have claimed to have come closer than ever to figure out why humans can string sentences together, while monkeys fail to do that. The results of the study appearing in the January 16 issue of the journal 'Science', observes that one of the major barriers to monkeys mastering grammar is due to the inability of primates to comprehend anything other than the simplest rules of grammar. According to the study, monkeys who listened to alternating male and female voices could not pick up on complex patterns designed to mimic those of human speech and the lack of understanding could be a fundamental bottleneck on animal thought. Study co-author Marc Hauser, a professor of psychology at Harvard University opined that while monkey grammar skills may seem like a pretty arcane topic dating back to diagrammed sentences on chalkboards, it is actually at the centre of a major mystery. The unsolved mysteries include the evolution of human speech and the way in which humans talk to each other as opposed to the way animals communicate. Keith Kluender, a professor of psychology who studies speech perception at the University of Wis consin in the US believes that grammar may be the defining feature of human language and makes the language different from other forms of animal communication. The top number of words they have learned is in the 300-to-400 range, which doesn't even compare to the 60 000-word vocabulary of a typical high school graduate, he said. Hauser and a British colleague developed a way to analyse grammar abilities in cotton-top tamarins, an endangered monkey found in South America. Using male and female voices, the researchers let the monkeys listen to specific orders of several syllable-type sounds. In the most simple test, the monkeys looked at the loudspeaker whenever the voices broke the patterns. The researchers increased the complexity of the patterns, using a system similar to that used by scientists who study the language development of human infants. But the monkeys failed to keep up. Hauser believes that this suggests the monkeys could possibly understand a simple pattern of grammar that an adjective typically precedes a noun, for example. The paradox is that many animals have rich conceptual systems and ways of thinking about the world, and rich social relationships. What they lack is a system that can convey that to each other, he says.
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Armed Forces Feb 20 Indian Air Force www.careerairforce.nic.in Aeronautical Engg Course 1) Electronics Br 2) Mechanical Br Elig: Unmarried Indian males, (DoB: 2 Jan ’77 – 1 Jan ’87) or married (above 25-yrs). For 1: BE/ BTech (55%) in Electron/ Telecom/Electl/ Electl Comm/ Electron & Comm/ Instru/ Comp Sc & Engg or combo of these subjs OR BTech: Radio Phys & Electron/ Optics & Opto Electron/ MSc Phys (Electron)/ Elect/ Comp Sc/ Comp Appln/ MCA/MSc Tech (Electron & Radio Engg)/AMIE/ AMIETE/ AASI. For 2: BE/BTech (55%) in Aero/Mech/Prodn/Indl Prodn or combo of these subjs OR AMIE or Associate Membership of ASI with Gr I (Des & Prodn) or Gr II (Maint Repair & Overhaul) subjs. Selctn: Engg Knowledge Test, Psychol Tests, Group Tests & Interview. Appln F: Website. Civil Services Feb 9 Union Public Service Commission, Dholpur House, New Delhi 110001 www.upsc.gov.in Engineering Services Exam, 2004 (Civil/ Mech/ Elect/ Electron & Telecomm Engg) Elig: BE/ BTech. Age: 21-30 yrs. Exam: 12 June (at various centres). Appln F: Available at designated HPOs/ POs all over India for Rs.20/- (cash). Details: Employment News (Jan 10-16)/ website Engineering Jan 28 Indo-Danish Tool Room, M-4 (Part), Phase-VI, Tata Kandra Road, Gamharia, Jamshedpur-832108 www.idtrjamshedpur.com Adv Machinist Course (Turning) (1-yr) Adv Machinist Course (Milling) (1-yr) Elig: ITI in relev trade (50%); Age: 16-19 yrs Selectn: All-India admission test (Feb 1) Appln F: Employment News (Jan 10-16)/ website. Technology Apr 30 Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Solan (HP)/ Noida; Jaypee Institute of Engineering &Technology, Guna (MP) www.jiitindia.org BTech (4-yr) IT, Comp Sc & Engg, Electron & Comm Engg, Biotech, Bioinfo, Civil Infrastructure Engg, Chem Engg Elig: 10+2 (Not before ‘01), DoB: After 1 Oct 1983. Selectn: AIEEE 2004 (May 9 &10). 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Appln F: Send Rs 500/- by crossed DD fvg "Registrar, ISM" payable at SBI, Dhanbad (code: 1641) with unstamped, self-add env (25 x 12.5 cms) to Asst Registrar (Acad), at above add by 26 Mar/ download from website. Mar 31 Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Jakkur PO, Bangalore 560064 www.jncasr.ac.in PhD Programmes Molec Biol & Genetic, Evolutionary & Organismal Biol, Chem & Phys of Materials, Engg Mechanics, Theoretical Sc. MS Evolutionary & Organismal Biol, Molec Biol & Genetic MS (Engg) Chem & Phys of Materials, Engg Mechanics Integrated PhD Programme Chem & Phys of Materials Details: Website (by 26 Mar). Travel Jan 24 Institute of Tourism Management (D/o Tourism), MMS Hostel, Moti Mahal, 2, Rana Pratap Marg, Lucknow 226001 PG Diploma in Nature Cure & Health Tourism (Yoga, Naturopathy & Herbal remedies; 6-mth) Elig: Bachelor’s deg/ Dip in Yoga/ Naturopathy/ Herbal Remedies/ Ayurveda. Appln F: Send Rs. 250/- by DD fvg "Institute of Tourism Management", payable at Lucknow to above add. Recruitment Jan 26 Alliance Air, Domestic Terminal-1, IGI Airport, Palam, New Delhi 110037 Airhostess Elig: Unmarried Indian females, Bachelor’s Deg (Dip in Catering & Tourism/ aviation wk -ex prfed), Fluency in Eng/ Hin & another Indian lang. Ht: 154.5 cms. Age: 19-24 yrs (on 1 Jan). Selectn: GD, Written Test, Interview. Appln F: Send appln with Rs 200/- by DD fvg "Airline Allied Services Ltd, New Delhi" to Chief of Personnel, at above add. Details: Leading newspapers. Jan 30 Air India Ltd, Recruitment Section, HRD Deptt, Kalina, Mumbai 400029 Airline Hostesses/ Flight Pursers (400 posts) Elig: Bachelor’s deg/ 10+2 with 3-yr dip in Hotel Mgt & Catering (NCHM affiliated), Age: Below 24 yrs. Selectn: Written Test, Interview & Med exam. Appln F: Send Rs 300/- by DD favouring "Air India Ltd", payable at Mumbai to above add. Details: Employment News (Jan 10 – 16). — Pervin Malhotra, Director, CARING (www.careerguidanceindia.com), New Delhi |
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