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Charged up at more fee Some notes on better lectures Mumbai police educates slum-dwellers
Students to get nailcutters CAMPUS NOTE:
GND University, Amritsar
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Charged up at more fee SOME
time back, all universities in Punjab had drastically raised college fees and funds, but hastily withdrawn the hike when various sections of society opposed it. This is a general tendency in the country. Many states have unsuccessfully tried the idea from time to time. Despite a persistently reviewed National Education Policy of 1986, the largest democracy of the world does not keep in mind the emerging needs of the country. The policy has not been revised after 1992, so the youth frequently do not know what they do; they often drift and, for even a marginal fee hike, tend to involve them in protests. Students in India, in general, don’t want to ever leave the campus (in the US, in contrast, they are usually keen, if not in a hurry, to complete their education and get a job; and while in college, they have to partially support their studies). India has a huge higher-education network (nearly 350 universities and 15,000 colleges) and whatever be its quality, higher education is, perhaps, the cheapest in India. Under these conditions, it looks strange that students, not parents, in general resent tuition-fee hike in India. We don’t have private universities and the autonomous college scheme, too, has few takers here. Although the scheme was introduced over three decades ago and the University Grants Commission (UGC) is keen on making it popular, it is unpopular, nonetheless. Also, the cost-effective open-distance education mode is not able to attract more than 15 per cent of the student population. As the vote bank considerations colour numerous academic issues, the governments try to take hard decisions only when elections are not around. “Every child is gifted differently,” goes a German adage. There, one doesn’t hear about teachers’ positions in thousands, kept vacant to save money, or students agitating to get teachers. In India, though teachers’ salaries are raised every decade, there is no significant qualitative improvement in the instruction work, rather, a continuous fall in standards. Free or highly subsidised education without reasonable quality is a waste of the time and energy of students. The reason given for fee hike is generally that the infrastructure and other costs have risen and financial grants have been cut. As to money, it must come from somewhere. There is no doing without it. If we want to have first-rate education, why not pay for it, particularly when many of us can afford it. The poor or deserving could be assisted financially. Rabindranath Tagore said: “Help must come from man when it is denied by God.” However, it should not be done at the cost of others or by compromising standards. The recent decision of the Supreme Court, taken about fees in six Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) is relevant to education in general. The apex court asserts: “Charge what’s spent on students; students could only be charged the revenue expenditure incurred on them, not the capital expenses of the institute.” About 94 per cent of the budget is spent on paying teachers’ salaries and education institutions in rural areas go famished. The National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NMC) finding that about 60 per cent of the colleges are substandard comes at the back of some serious charges of corruption in the process of awarding stars to institutions. It is enviable the way the students affected by the fee hike usually agitate and register their protest in the USA. Their protests do not disturb others and their reactions are meaningful. “We’re kids. We deserve what’s right,” 16-year-old Kathleen Coyne candidly tells the Pittsburgh City Council members, “If you can give money to the Pirates and Steelers, you can give it to us.” No political group steps in to confound the situation. The American mode should perhaps also embody, in greater measure, deep concern for education of the poor. We are to do what benefits the student community. Let us consolidate our gains, make for quality and relevance. The most workable formula: charge money, but provide students with worthwhile education. — The writer is former Adviser (Education), Himachal
Pradesh.
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Some notes on better lectures FOR
successful teaching, there are certain goals that need to be followed. First of all, one should thoroughly prepare with the lesson plan before entering the lecture room. Teachers usually don’t know very well what is to be taught. Without adequate preparation, the teacher might feel uncomfortable, miss the basic points or even dabble in irrelevant issues.
Brushing up before delivering the lecture ensures that it goes straight to the heart. It is particularly the beginners who have to be extra careful, for the students are always looking for an opportunity to make fun of the rookie teacher. If they deliver their lectures in coolly, they would emerge successful. Junior teachers should be exposed to delivering classroom lectures by making them practice before a small audience of senior teachers. This will build their confidence and enable them to learn from their mistakes. However, if the lecture lacks good delivery, in spite of being well prepared, the teacher would have no success. How one delivers the lecture varies from person to person. Some may try expressions before the mirror, while others may learn through extempore speaking, attending seminars and watching others. Only a few teachers are naturally gifted. The others have to acquire this gift through practice. A lecture is delivered and not dictated. It may be easy to just cram, but this would be like hiding your weakness; this is the most unprofessional way of teaching. Students should be exposed to interesting and stimulating lectures; it is their right. A lecture should arouse interest in new areas and build up the art of thinking. Lectures have to be personalised. The habit of consulting books in the library should be encouraged; you could give the students a list of articles to read and tell them to write a few words on the lessons gleaned from these. The habit of giving assignments is, however, gradually on the way out, which is an unfortunate. Tutorial system should be encouraged to build writing confidence among students for the examination. I have often rewritten my own lectures delivered in the classroom and discovered new ideas for further study. Teachers should not discourage queries from students, as this would be hard on the honest student. Confess to your students, if a lecture has not been delivered perfectly. Encourage intervention, but don’t get them into lengthy arguments. If they insist, call them your chamber office. Most of the students still would not be able to write good answers in the examination just by listening to classroom lectures or taking down notes. They would have to be actually taught to write. Sharpen their wits and help them face practical life better. Encourage good social life among students and urge them to participate in outdoor activities. Excursions and educational trips should be arranged so that they have a happy and productive time out. This would narrow the distance between teachers and students. Finally, while in the academic profession, one cannot be a successful teacher unless he or she is actively into research. I have often wondered why teachers, when they have enough time, do not spare it on research activity, maybe writing a paper for an academic journal or even a book. Certainly, a teacher is expected to come out with academic writing. A teacher without spark and is certainly not successful.
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Mumbai police educates slum-dwellers Mumbai: The Mumbai Police have embarked upon a mission to make at least 50,000 slum-dwellers literate by August 2007. The project, a brainchild of Mumbai Police Commissioner A. K. Roy, is part of the department’s slum improvement
programme. ”We are targeting seven slums. The 10-week programme, developed by software developers, will give the learners an option to choose out of nine languages,” Roy said. Jobless computer-literate youths will be appointed as teachers, he added. “We have already selected 20 youths who have undergone a special training at the police cyber lab at
Worli,” he said. ”It will be a part-time course with a two-hour class daily. The software is available on a CD and it uses a plethora of audiovisuals to teach alphabets and vocabulary of various languages, including Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Bengali. The entire project is funded by Mumbai Police.” Illiterate slum-dwellers are often duped, as they have no option but to give their thumb impressions on documents they cannot read. ”The programme will empower the slum-dwellers and help them to read documents, letters, prices on products and bus numbers. They will no longer have to depend on others to read for them,” the Police Commissioner said. ”Moreover, the literacy programmes will offer earning opportunity to unemployed computer literate youths, who are being paid a monthly honorarium by us.” The
programme, launched Saturday, has already received a good response, especially from the women applicants. The programme will operate in about 132 slums. Roy said he also wanted to introduce computer-based education for adults over the age of 30 and living in slums so that they would at least be able to read a newspaper in their own language.
— IANS
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Jaipur: Nearly eight million students of government schools in Rajasthan will get free “education kits”, which will include nail cutters. The government will distribute the kits under the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (Programme for Universal Education). These kits will include textbooks, geometry boxes, erasers, pencils, note books and nail cutters. Education Minister Ghanshyam Tiwari said nail cutters had been included because long and dirty nails of students could lead to diseases. He said students in remote areas did not have access to nail cutters. —IANS
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CAMPUS NOTES A three-week Refresher Course, “Emerging Trends in Biosciences”, commenced here at the Academic Staff College of Guru Nanak Dev University. Prof R. C. Sobti, Director, Academic Staff College and Professor, Department of Biotechnology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, inaugurated this course. Prof Sobti, in his keynote address, acquainted the participants about the development and importance of biotechnology, which is considered to be the science of the 21st century. He highlighted the uses of biotechnology in Indian scenario in the context of increasing population, biodiversity and English-based education in our country. Earlier, Dr S. K. Bhatia, Director, Academic Staff College of Guru Nanak Dev University, welcomed Dr Sobti and also the teacher participants. Nearly 35 teachers from Punjab, Jammu and Haryana are participating in this course. Prof Gurcharan Kaur, Coordinator, apprised them of the course contents. —Contributed by Pawan Kumar
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