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Supervision, the weakest link
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Supervision, the weakest link
The number of schools with imposing buildings and spacious grounds, libraries stacked with new and unread books, laboratories properly equipped, and qualified and trained staff is huge. Five years ago, the scene was dismal. Now there are more facilities than were ever available to schoolchildren. Yet the standard of education has gone down. The so-called progressive schools are also in this league. They who promise quality education dish out a poor quality of students, who have also been put on heavy doses of alien culture and alien social mores, cutting at the very roots of Indianness. Imposing such a system on the hapless child is a cruel joke on him or her. This cannot be dismissed lightly, as a reflection of socio-economic conditions of present day life. The system is being encouraged and strengthened by vested interests that want more robots than thinking humans. The low quality of education that our children get in schools, both private and public, is due to a chain of weak links in the system. When I met some of the school heads recently, they identified these weak links as ineffective teaching, non-teaching, incompetent teachers who have inadequate knowledge of the subject, sub-standard textbooks, parallel textbooks and relying on poorly prepared guides, heavy curriculum, difficult syllabi, examination-ridden system, use of unfair means gaining acceptance, parents and society who want marks even at the cost of fairness, and an indifferent, irresponsible and unaccountable administration. They counted everything except what could have reflected on their own functioning. They all agreed that the main task of the school head was to supervise the academic work of teachers and students, improve teaching and learning, coordinate efforts of the teacher to achieve this end, make the best use of resources and evaluate the performance of teachers and students. Someone also suggested that a head was also supposed to act as a link between teachers and the administration, community and society. No one said sustaining excellence was also one of his or her objectives. When asked how much time did they spend on educational supervision for which they were paid, most had no answer. The maximum one devoted was 20 per cent of the time. The remaining time was spent on non-academic or superfluous matters. Some of them rued that they had been reduced to the level of dignified clerks alone. The NCERT and National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA) could have undertaken some studies on the time devoted to educational supervision. Supervision is since long missing from schools and is the weakest link in the education system today. Only a month ago, this writer asked a group of block education and district education officers how many of them had studied or even seen the prescribed curriculum and the syllabi published by their own department. Only 3 out of 50 had read the document. These were the officials who would supervise the performance of primary and secondary school teachers. Teaching and learning cannot be improved upon without effective supervision, for which the prescribed curriculum is a basic document which a school head or supervisor should always carry. This writer has yet to come across a brilliant student aspiring to become an engineer or doctor who does not go for private tuition or extra coaching outside the school. Recently, engineering aspirants and their parents raised a ruckus in the media when colleges laid a condition that 60 per cent marks in the basic qualifying examination were essential to be eligible for admission to the IITs. This amply proves the ineffectiveness of classroom teaching in schools. Educational supervision is lacking all around, but it is almost non-existent in schools. To make the national system of education work, the National Policy on Education, 1986, as modified in 1992, gave a slogan that read: “All teachers should teach and all students study.” Have we done anything in the past 13 years to ensure it? The heads should have the courage to appraise the performance of teachers with a positive attitude towards solving academic and administrative problems. The machinery for supervision is there, but it now needs an overhaul.
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Punjabi University, Patiala Lamenting that religion had started playing an increasing role in politics even in nation states with a history of liberal democratic and socialist ideologies, Air Commodore Jasjit Singh, said “expansion of war and violent conflict is one of the most serious challenges to democratic principle and peace, progress and prosperity of society”. The former Director of Defence Strategy and Analysis delivered the Col Harpartap Singh Memorial Lecture, organised by the Department of Encyclopaedia of Sikhism, Punjabi University, Patiala, on Wednesday. Presenting his paper on “Clash of civilisations, religious terrorism and Sikh values”, he said during the past three decades religious groups had come to constitute about two-third of the militant/terrorist entities in the world. Presiding over the lecture, Maj-Gen Himmat Singh Gill condemned the abuse of religion for creating conflict. PAU, Ludhiana Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) has submitted to the state government the proposal for a Rs 20-crore multi-disciplinary research project for scientist-industry-farmer linkages aimed at national food security, state farmers nutritional and economic security and environmental conservation. The five-year project profile has 10-key research components with an outlay of Rs 6.62 crore. These projects relate to developing ethanol-producing sugarcane and maize varieties, pilot plant for bio-diesel production, research on aromatic, medicinal and spices, pilot facilities for fruit and vegetable processing, cultivation of durum wheat for export and pasta making, development of health foods and drinks, research on fruits and vegetables for processing and rearing of buffaloes for meat processing. The Director of Research, Dr B. S. Dhillon, said: “There are 60-odd strategic research projects for which PAU has sought the state’s financial intervention. — Contributed by Rubinder Gill and Amarjit Thind
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04, R.K. Puram P.O. (Main), New Delhi 110066 SSC Officers in
Naval Architecture Cadre - August 2006 Eligibility: Unmarried Indian men; BE / BTech (Naval Architecture / Mechanical / Aeronautical / Civil / Metallurgy, 60%); DoB: 02 August ’81 – 01 August ’85. Selection: SSB Interviews & Medical exam. Application Form: Apply in prescribed format & and send through ordinary mail to the above address. Superscribe "Application for SSC NA Cadre – Aug 2006 Course. Qualification`85`85 Stream`85`85`85 Percentage % `85`85" Details: Employment News (17-23 December 2005) / website. Application Deadline: 16 January 2006 Indian Air Force, No 1
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