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| EDUCATION TRIBUNE |
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Punjab’s education far from green
Special schools not
as per guidelines |
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Punjab’s education far from green Books don’t make you environmentally literate. Anupreet Singh Tiwana assesses the failures of the environmental education programmes, which he says have given the schoolchildren no direct exposure to the natural wonders around them. Not only is this innocent chap short of wits in a quiz on nature, but also like him, a myriad of men are ignorant of the environmental treasure around them. So much for the hype around the environmental education programmes, which have made the schoolchildren content with just having a mere tete-a-tete with rigid terminology. No direct exposure to environment is given to the students. A smart 14-year-old may proudly “identify” a calendula as a marigold, but he or she may be perfectly familiar with terms like eco-sabotage or eco-equilibrium (from watching too much of Discovery channel, I suppose). A thought about our green education in schools in yet a trifle, an unripe theoretical effort going on in the mind. We are smug in the knowledge that since our children could parrot all environment-related terms and disasters, their future and that of the planet were safe. We expect them to learn the solutions as they grow up; we presume they know the problem and will find a solution on their own. A mere glance at the textbooks prescribed by the Punjab School Education Board for classes VI to X will reveal that the syllabi don’t fully cover all environmental issues, and whatever little is covered, is spread unevenly over social sciences and geography chapters. The approach at all levels is theoretical and the young minds are force-fed botanical nomenclature without any introduction to the applied aspects or environment education. Most of the talk centres on pollution, ozone hole, CFC’s, soil erosion, vital cycles, biomes, the food chain and components of ecology. Textbook designers make hardly any effort to inspire kids to venture out of their classrooms to have direct contact with plants and wildlife. The ultimate practical touch in the textbooks is a passing reference to Vanamahotsavas, where saplings planted by one set of the VIPs and their entourage are promptly forgotten till the next set of the VIPs arrives. There is no place in books for local environmental problems and possible solutions. Rather students are made to study big national and international problems. Soil-induced salinity and the dropping groundwater level in Punjab are pushed out of the book by Tehri Dam, Himalayan bio-diversity or the damage done by the Konkan Railway on the west coast of India. The CHIPKO movement is in the forefront everywhere, as if there is no silting of Sukhna Lake and all is fine with Harike Lake. The pitiable 6 per cent forest cover of Punjab has not been highlighted anywhere. In these environmentally stressed times, green education in schools in not an option, it is a compulsion. The young minds are impressionable; they will take up the challenge, if we prepare them in time. We always thought that the Earth would never run out of stream, but the 20th century made us realise how we had brought the ecosystem to the brink of a collapse. Students take up environmental projects with more zeal and sincerity than adults. Tell a child not to use plastic bags and no power can make him violate the rule. Teach a child to preserve water and he will never waste even a drop. Teachers never take environmental education seriously. They want their students to concentrate on terminology and definitions and forget the opportunities to explore. The quality and quantity of environmental education are both dismal. Has the decline not begun with us, when we have forsaken natural tastes and ethics? Even the canteens in schools offer soft drinks and glutamated processed food items rather than eco-friendly sharbats and seasonal fruits. The need of the hour is bring environmental education into all subjects and give students practical insights into issues, like they can be shown in the classroom the side effects of applying pesticides on vegetables. Gardening as a hobby should be taken up on a large scale. This would not only improve their aesthetic sense, but also make them aware of the treasures lying around. Talking about environmental problems has become a fashion. This pseudo approach will lead us nowhere. Environmental education in schools is one way to impress upon the young minds the need to conserve, preserve and protect the life on this planet. Positive outcomes can be envisaged through corporate efforts led by teachers, executed by students and sponsored by society.
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Special schools not as per guidelines THE major activity undertaken under the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) was the establishment of special schools to provide non-formal education, vocational training, supplementary nutrition, stipend, health, etc. to the children withdrawn from employment. These schools were to run in a manner so as to effectively prevent children from working, especially in prohibited employment, and to mainstream them in the regular educational system. Although the Child Labour (prohibition and regulation) Act was passed in 1986 and the related child labour (prohibition and regulation) rules were framed by the central government in 1988, the Punjab government took nine years to notify these rules in January 1997. Further, no action plan was drawn up by the state for the elimination of child labour up to August 2000. The NCLP schools under the national policy on child labour were opened in the state in September 2000. The delays in notification and non-drawing of the action plan are indicative of the state government’s inadequate sensitisation and awareness for tackling this problem. Of the 107 total special schools, the functioning of only 70 schools was checked. The review revealed the funding of ineligible schools and deficiencies in their functioning. During September-October 2000, the Labour Department opened 27 special schools at Jalandhar for 1,350 child labourers who were not withdrawn from any hazardous occupation processes but were working in home-based occupations mainly relating to the sports goods industry. According to the directions of the Supreme Court and NCLP guidelines, these schools were meant for the rehabilitation of child labourers withdrawn from the hazardous occupation/processes. As the opening of such schools in Jalandhar did not fulfil the criteria, the schools were not eligible for funding under the NCLP. The expenditure incurred on these schools amounted to Rs 1.78 crore up to March 2004. Similarly, in Amritsar and Ludhiana, neither any welfare fund was raised (except for Rs 1.20 lakh in six cases in Amritsar) nor any recovery of cost of education was made in respect of 4,000 child labourers enrolled in 80 schools, i.e., 50 children per school. Although an expenditure of Rs 3.17 crore (Amritsar Rs 1.51 crore and Ludhiana Rs 1.66 crore) had been incurred during September 2001 to March 2004 on the functioning of these schools, the expenditure so incurred was injudicious to the extent that: There was no linkage of the actual children detected during survey with those who were enrolled subsequently after a time gap of one year or even more since most of the children in Punjab were the wards of migrant labourers whose location kept on changing. The address of employers was not forthcoming on the lists/profiles of children enrolled. There were no cases of self-employment, viz. rag picking, shoe polishing, fruit selling, selling of miscellaneous tiny items, domestic servants, etc. The following deficiencies or irregularities were also noticed in the functioning of schools checked: The programme lacked building and infrastructure of its own as out of 107 schools, 69 schools (Amritsar 32, Ludhiana 11 and Jalandhar 26) were accommodated in government school buildings and were functioning after the normal school hours. Contrary to the directions of the Government of India to run the special schools for at least five to six hours a day, the school hours limited to two to three hours. Out of 51 schools checked in Amritsar and Ludhiana, health check-up camps were conducted in only 14 schools but dates of such camps were not furnished. The national policy of child labour, 1987, prescribes the norms for the deployment of staff for schools with 50 children and 100 children. It was, however, noticed that instead of opening 24 schools each for 100 children, 48 schools with 50 children each were opened in the same premises, which resulted in additional establishment on 24 schools involving an extra avoidable expenditure of Rs 29.30 lakh up to March 2004. As per guidelines of NCLP, nutritious diet at the rate of Rs 2.50 (enhanced to Rs 5 in December 2003) per child per day was to be provided to the child labourers enrolled in 25 schools. In 42 schools, out of 70 school checked, expenditure of Rs 30.52 lakh was incurred for supplying samosas, badana, kulche-chhole, mathie, toffee, fruits, etc., but no supporting vouchers of expenditure incurred were maintained/shown for auditing. The project director, Jalandhar, stated that there was no requirement to maintain vouchers. However, this was considered to be misleading.
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Armed Forces Jul 25 Indian Navy,
Recruitment Cell, DMPR, Naval Headquarters, Sena Bhawan, DHQ (PO), New
Delhi 110029 Matric Entry Recruit (MER)-Jan ‘06 Batch Eligibility: Unmarried Indian males Cl 10 (55% with Sc, Maths)/10+2 (50% withPhy, Maths) DoB: 01 Feb ’86 - 31 Jan ’89. Details: Employment News (2-8 Jul)/Website Aug 5 Indian Navy, Po Bag
No. 04, R K Puram P.O. (Main), New Delhi 110066 Officer in Tech Br (SSC-UES) Aug ’06 Batch Eligibility:
Unmarried Indian males, Final year BE/BTech (60%). For Engg Br: Mech,
Prodn, Aero, Marine, Control, Aeronautical, Metallurgy, Civil, Naval
Arch. Selection: SSB Interview, Medical Exam Details: Employment News (25 Jun -1 Jul)/ Website Civil Service - Coaching Jul 8 IAS & Allied Services Training Centre, Punjabi University, Patiala (Punj) IAS Mains Coaching Eligibility: SC/ST/OBC/ Minority Communities & General Community Selection: Interview (11 Jul) Application: Sent Application on plain paper with 3 pp photos & required docs to the above add. Details: Contact the Director at (0175) 2283245/ 3046351 Sept 30 All India Services Pre Examination Training Centre, University of Allahabad, Pant Hostel, Allahabad (UP) IAS Main-‘05/Prelim-‘06 Coaching Programme Eligibility: Students belonging to SC/ST/OBC/ Minority Communities & disabled students. Family income: Below 1 lakh Selctn: Interview. Application: For IAS Main ‘05: Rs 100/- at office counter For IAS Prelim ’06: Send Rs 140/- by DD fvg "Principal, PETC, Pant Hostel, State Bank of India, Allahabad University" with 2 stamped & 1 unstamped self-add env to the above add. Details: Employment News (25 Jun -1 Jul) Engineering Jul 1 Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Kashmere Gate, Delhi- 110006 http://ipu.ac.in M Tech IT/IT (for wkg
profs & eachers)/Chem Engg. M Tech: Comp Sc &
Engg/VLSI Des/IT Eligibility, Application Form & Details: Website. Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur 440011 (Mah) (Deemed Univ) www.vnitnagpur.ac.in Jul 05 MTech (2-yr) Jul 15 PhD (3-yr) Eligibility, Application Form, Details: Website Jul 30 Biju Patnaik University of Technology, Rourkela 769004 (Ori) MTech/ MPharm: 2005-06 (At various govt & pvt colleges) Eligibility: BE/ BTech/ BPharm (60%). GATE qualified cands prefd. Selection: Career/ GATE scores/ Interview (16-18 Jul) Application Form: Send Application with Rs 500/- by DD fvg "Biju Patnaik University of Technology," payable at Bhubaneswar and your biodata, a passport size photograph and reqd docs to the University at Techno Campus, Ghatikia, Bhubaneshwar 751003. Apeejay College of Engineering, Vill Silani, (Sohna Palwal Rd) Sohna 122103, Distt Gurgaon (Har) (affltd to MDU) http://aces.apeejay.edu BE (Electron & Comm Engg, Comp Sc & Engg, Electron & Instru Engg, IT, Electric Engg) Eligibility: 10+2 (Phy, Math +Chem/ Comp Sc/ Bio/ Biotech)/ 3-yr Dip (Engg/ Tech) Application: Free at counter/ d’load from website Finance The Institute of
Company Secretaries of India, "ICSI House", 22,
Institutional Area, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, 110003 Aug 31 1) CS Intermediate Courses Sep 30 2) CS Foundation Courses Eligibility: For 1: BA/ BSc/ BCom except Fine Arts. For 2: 10+2 (any disp except Fine Arts) Application Form: Send Rs. 150/- For 1, Rs 110 For 2 by DD fvg "The Institute of Company Secretaries of India," payable at New Delhi to above add Details: Website IT Centre for
Information Technology, SISI Ext Centre (II Fl) Connaught Circus New
Delhi 110001(jointly set up by SISI M/o SSI & C-DAC, M/o Comm
& IT, GoI) Comp Training Courses: 1) Diploma in: Comp Hardware & Netwkg (4 ½ -mth, PT) 2) Certificate in: Java, Comp Hardware & Assembly (6-wk/ PT)/ Comp Application (4 mth/ PT) Jul 7 3) DOEACC ‘O’ Level Course (1-yr) Eligibility: For 3: 10+2 Details: Website. Jul 25 International
Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), P-14, Pune Infotech Park,
Hinjawadi, Pune 411057 (Mah) 1) MS Programme in Adv IT (18-mth; FT; Resid) 2) MBA Programme in Adv IT (20-mth; FT; Resid) Eligibility: For 1: Bachelor’s Deg (50%) For 2: Bachelor’s Deg (50%) Maths in 10+2. Details: Website. Management MP Bhoj (Open) University, Bhopal (MP) MBA (Materials Mgt) (Dist; 3-yr) Selection: Aptitude Test (3 Jul). Details: Employment News (25 Jun-1 Jul) Sep 5 Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, School of International Business, B-21, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi-110016 (Deemed Univ) www.iift.edu MBA - Intnl Business (2006-08). Selection: Written Test (27 Nov) Application Form: Available at the above add. Apply by 22 Aug/ d’load from website. Apeejay Institute of Management & IT, Sec-8, Institutional Area, Dwarka, New Delhi 110075 Email: aimit@apj.edu PG Diploma in Customer Relationship Mgt (2-yr) Eligibility: Bachelor’s deg Selection: GD & Interview (30 Jun) Application Form: Send Rs 550/- by DD fvg "Apeejay Institute of Management & IT", payable at New Delhi to above add. Languages Jul 15 Jamia Millia Islamia,
Jamia Nagar, New Delhi- 110025 Diploma & Cert Course in Uzbek Diploma in Italian Cert in Spanish/ Portuguese Application Form: Send Rs 100/- by DD with a stamped (Rs 77/-) self-add env (9" x 12") to the above add. At counter: Rs 100/- Details: Website Mass Comm Jul 20 Biju Pattanaik Film & Television Institute of Orissa, Engineering School Campus, Medical Road, Cuttack 753007 (Ori) (Autonm Instt of Orissa Govt) Diploma Courses (3-yr): Cinematography, Sound & TV Engg Film & Video Editing Eligibility: For 1:
10+2 (Sc) Application Form: Send Rs. 300/- by DD fvg "Principal, BPFTIO, Cuttack", with a stamped (Rs 50/-) self-add env (22 x 30 cms) to above add. Details: Employment News (25 Jun-1 Jul) Jagran Institute of Management & Mass Communication, Noida Campus, F-33, Sec 6, Noida (UP) PG Diploma in: Advt & PR/ Print Journalism (Eng/ Hin)/ Broadcast Journalism (1-yr) Diploma in Journalism (2-yr) Eligibility: For 1: Bachelors Deg For 2: 10+2 Selection: For 1: Written Test, GD & Interview. Application: Send Rs 500/- by DD fvg "JIMMC," payable at Noida/ Kanpur to above add. Medicine Jul 18 Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga , 68, Ashok Road, Near Gole Dak Khana, New Delhi (Under D/o AYUSH, M/o H & F W, GoI). Dip in Yoga (1-yr) Eligibility: Bachelor’s deg, Age Limit: 25 yrs Application Form: Send Rs 120/- by DD fvg "Director, Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga", payable at any Natnl Bank, New Delhi to above add. Aug 5 National Institute of
Ayurveda, Madhav Vilas Palace, Amer Rd, Jaipur 302002 (Raj) (GoI) Ayurveda Vachaspati (MD Ay; 3-yr) Research Fellowship for PhD (PhD Ay) Eligibility: For 1: BAMS (Raj Univ or equiv), 6-12 mths rotating internship/ House job. For 2: MD (Ayu) (BAMS, 55 %, Raj Univ or equiv). Age Limit: M (35 yrs); F (45 yrs) on 1 Jan ‘05. Selection: For 1: Admission Test (11 Sept). Application Form: Send Rs 1050/- (For 1)/ Rs 550/- (For 2) fvg "Director, National Institute of Ayurveda, Jaipur" to the Director at above add/ d’load from website. (For 1: Send by 25 Jul). Recruitment Jul 14 State Bank of India Recruitment of Probationary Officers in SBI (509 posts) Eligibility: Bachelor’s deg (65%)/ CA/ CS/ ICWA/ MBA/ PGDBM. DoB: 01.Jul ’84 – 02 Jul ‘75 Selection: Written Test: 11 Sept (At 75 Centres incldg Del, Kolkata, Ch’garh), GD & Interview. Details: Employment News (25 Jun - 1 Jul)/ Website. Jul 14 State Bank of India Recruitment of Probationary Officers in Associate Banks of SBI (737 posts) Eligibility: Bachelor’s deg (65%) CA/ CS/ ICWA/ MBA/ PGDBM. DoB: 01.Jan ’84 – 02 Jan ‘75 Selection: Written Test: 25 Sept (At 72 Centres incldg Del, Kolkata, Ch’garh), GD & Interview. Details: Employment News (25 Jun - 1 Jul)/ Website. Jul 30 Office of the Inspector General of Police, Northern Sector, CRPF, West Blk, No –8, Level-3, RK Puram, New Delhi 110066 Recruitment of Constables in CRPF (Gen Duty) Eligibility: Cl 10, Rajasthan/ Delhi/ Haryana domicile. Age: 18-23 yrs (on 1 Aug ’05). Physical & Med Stds Selection: Physical Measurement, Physical Efficiency Test, Written Exam, Interview, Spl Qual and Medical Exam. Application Form: Send in prescribed format and reqd doc with Rs 50/- by DD payable to the concerned Addl DIsGP of state with a stamped (Rs.5/-) self-add (4" x 9") env. Superscribe in bold "Application for the Post of CT/ GD in CRPF". Mention your name and add on env Social Sciences Jun 30 Jamia Millia Islamia,
Jamia Nagar, New Delhi 110025 PG Diploma in Conflict Analysis & Peace Building Eligibility: Bachelor’s deg. Application Form: Send Rs 100/- by DD with a stamped (Rs 30/-) self-add env (9" x 12") to Nelson Mandela Centre for peace & Conflict Resolution at above add /d’load from website Scholarships Jul 31 Him-Jyoti Foundations, Raj Bhawan, Dehradun 248001 (Utt) Him-Jyoti Scholarships Eligibility: 10+2 (60%), Uttaranchal domicile, admission in prof course, parents annual income: below Rs. 75,000/-. Age: Below 22 yrs (1 Jul ‘05). Application Form: Send Application on plain paper with reqd docs & foll details: Name, DoB, Parent/ Guardians name, Add, Parents’ income, % in 10+2, Prof course for which admission obtained, Name of Coll, course duration etc to above add. Superscribe "Him-Jyoti Scholarships" on Application Formorm. Jul 18 A* STAR India Youth Scholarships, C/o M/o Educn, School Placement & Scholarships Branch, 3rd Floor Podium Block, 1 North Buona Vista Drive, Singapore 138675 (Republic of Singapore) www.a-star.edu.sg/ www.moe.gov.sg/a-starindiayouthscholarships A* STAR India Youth Scholarship (Scholarships for Pre-Univ Courses in Schools of Singapore) Eligibility: Indian nationals; Cl.8 with Eng and good acad recrd (85%) throughout Selection: Test: Sep ’05, Interview: Nov ’05 (in India). AppIn F: Send in prescribed format with reqd docs to above add Details: Website Art & Design Apeejay College of Fine Arts, Mahavir Marg, Jalandhar (Punj) www.apeejaycollegeoffinearts.org Bachelor of Multimedia (4-yr) (Affltd to GNDU, Amritsar) Eligibility: 10+2 Details: Website — Pervin Malhotra |
THE amaltas are in full bloom. You turn a bit and the yellow brazenness of its flower overwhelms the senses. On a walk in the company of a novice, a query about the basic acquaintance to amaltas irritated me.