EDUCATION TRIBUNE

Malpractices taint the system
D. S. Cheema
C
ORRUPTION is widely seen as having seeped into the entire administrative fabric of the Indian society. It is estimated that the Indians pay a whopping Rs 26,728 crore as bribes every year. According to a survey of the Transparency International, education is the third most corrupt public service, and corruption plagues the academics around the world in all nations alike. Corruption in education in India is estimated at Rs 4,137 crores per year.

In being sensitive lies the skill
Rakesh Bharti
M
ANKIND’s greatest problems come from its own uncontrolled emotions of selfishness, passiveness, jealousy, fear, apathy and hate. Internal strife, a conflicting moral compass, and a lack of choice in emotional responses to every day relationships are the greatest problem. Today, science has discovered a tremendous amount about the role emotions play in our lives.

CAMPUS NOTES
Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar
Varsity dispatches admit cards for UGC-NET
T
HE university has dispatched the admission cards (roll numbers) to all the eligible candidates appearing in the University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) to be held on December 27. Seven centers have been created on the university campus and the remaining 11 in the affiliated colleges.

ADMISSION DEADLINE





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Malpractices taint the system
D. S. Cheema

CORRUPTION is widely seen as having seeped into the entire administrative fabric of the Indian society. It is estimated that the Indians pay a whopping Rs 26,728 crore as bribes every year. According to a survey of the Transparency International, education is the third most corrupt public service, and corruption plagues the academics around the world in all nations alike. Corruption in education in India is estimated at Rs 4,137 crores per year.

While everyone accepts commercialisation of unfair practice in education as a national shame, not much has been done to control the situation. The Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal has got “Prevention and Prohibition of Unfair Practice in Technical and Medical Education Institutions and Universities Bill-2009” prepared as part of his 100-day programme after taking over. To act against corruption is a stupendous task, but let’s make a beginning.

The roots of corruption in the education system lie in the attitude of most people that education is a business. Our system, though designed very well, leaves a lot of scope for corrupt practices to creep in and the individuals in position of authority use such loop-holes to their benefits. Central agencies like the All-India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), which grants approvals for medical/engineering institutions, are not clean as their chairmen and directors get political patronage from powerful politicians-cum-businessmen. People who pay whooping fee and bribes to operate such institutions find ways and means of recovering that money in as short a time as possible by resorting to unethical and unfair means.

Absenteeism is major problem in educational institutes. A UNESCO study report reveals that teacher absenteeism in India is 25 per cent only after Uganda. Private tutoring, which is identified as an unethical practice by UNESCO, is another problem. Exploitation by tuition shops of various types has been accepted by most of the parents and students as their fate. Class teachers encouraging and coercing students to attend tuitions after classes is widely practiced.

Another well-established practice is cheating by students in examinations. It is understood that examinations are “fixed” in many states, not to talk of leaking of question papers by teachers for a few silver coins. No wonder, such a large percentage of students score ridiculously high marks, which have no relation with their knowledge and skill.

It is not only the secondary and the higher education system in which corruption is rampant, primary education is also ridden with many unfair practices. The management of primary schools charging fee to fill their deep pockets, creating artificial scarcity of seats and keeping the “right of admission” with them and not allotting prescribed seats to economically weaker sections of society makes a mockery of the entire system. It is easy to understand why even in small towns where primary schools are dime a dozen, teachers are exploited with rock-bottom salaries. To fool the system, such teachers are paid less but made to sign against higher amount. In government primary schools, especially the rural schools, absenteeism is very high, while many a teacher takes turn to go to school. Centre sponsored schemes like midday meal are misused in connivance with higher-ups as every one gets the agreed share.

Universities (and deemed universities) and colleges with none or fake recognition go unchecked even while they play with the career of thousands of students. The issue of politics in teacher appointment, promotion and transfer is yet another problem. Institutions conducting self-financing programmes appoint casual/part-time/ guest faculty only for part of the academic session at negotiable low rates. The absence of any rational and well-established criteria for appointment of teaching and non-teaching staff and a uniform policy for promotion and transfers leave a lot of scope for bribing the management.

Teaching professionals in institutions like IITs and IIMs provide consultancy for a fee. What part of the fee goes to the parent organisation as per rules is conveniently left to the discretion and honesty of the teachers concerned. The practice of inviting retired bureaucrats as guest faculty or appointing them in plum positions in educational institutions for reasons other then merit also needs to be condemned.

We score very low on the Human Development Index (HDI) since there is heavy correlation between corruption and HDI, as corrupt nations don’t develop their human resources. The teacher is always looked up as custodian of the moral fibre of society. However, degeneration of the value system of teachers of today is most unfortunate.

According to a Latin phrase, “corrupti optimi passima”, meaning that the corruption of the best is the worst. It can be easily concluded that Indian education system is in distress. But what is shocking is that there is a lack of courage to speak out. It needs to be understood that corruption in education is not a petty crime, as it is destroying the very foundation on which we wish to build a great nation.
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In being sensitive lies the skill
Rakesh Bharti

MANKIND’s greatest problems come from its own uncontrolled emotions of selfishness, passiveness, jealousy, fear, apathy and hate. Internal strife, a conflicting moral compass, and a lack of choice in emotional responses to every day relationships are the greatest problem. Today, science has discovered a tremendous amount about the role emotions play in our lives. Researchers have found that even more than IQ, your emotional awareness and abilities to handle feelings will determine your success and happiness in all walks of life, including family relationships.

Emotions and feelings are the prime movers of human activity. They are connected with the specific modes of activity important for the development of the individual and his relationship with society. Proper emotional training of the young, growing child—often called the little savage—is highly desirable to fit him to hold a place in the civilised society. Thus, emotional training is very important for a teacher if he values physical, mental and social health of his pupils.

Educators, long disturbed by schoolchildren’s lacking progress in maths and reading, are realising that there is a different and more alarming deficiency: emotional illiteracy. While laudable efforts are being made to raise academic standards, this new and troubling deficiency is not being addressed in the school curriculum.

If kids grow up in a kind of sanitised world, they’ll never develop real emotional intelligence because they’ll never be trained to deal with hot emotions. Negative emotional experiences for a long period disturb the total personality of an individual and lead to neuroticism. If such individuals are not taken care of properly, they may lose equilibrium of the self with their environment. One reason they are so poor at this basic life skill, of course, is that as a society we have not bothered to make sure that every child is taught the essentials of handling anger or resolving conflicts positively, nor have we bothered to teach empathy, impulse control, or any of the other fundamentals of emotional competence.

Emotions are an integral part of human nature. Through emotions, we respond to life in many different ways—with anger, happiness, fear, love and loneliness. Emotions influence our thoughts and actions; they inspire our needs; they affect our bodies and have impact on our relationships. Many of the problems in modern society are due, at least in part, to people being unable to understand and appropriately express emotions. On the other hand, people who deal with emotions in a positive way find tremendous benefit. Emotional literacy can contribute to health, positive relationships, success, and quality of life. It is a preventive tool, which properly understood, can help solve many social ills—violence, illness, drug abuse, dysfunctional relationships, and global societal conflicts.

Emotional literacy is the ability to recognise, understand and appropriately express our emotions. Just as verbal literacy is the basic building block for reading and writing, emotional literacy is the basis for perceiving and communicating emotions. Becoming emotionally literate is learning the alphabet, grammar and vocabulary of our emotional lives.

Being emotionally literate is universally relevant. It can benefit every individual as well as organisation. It has the capacity to transform each person and their relationships. Thus, emotional literacy is the key to living a full rich life. It can be implemented rapidly, safely, and with lasting effect. Learning how to become emotionally literate is one of the best investments that human beings can make for themselves and their children for a better future.

It is an essential life skill that must be a core part of every child’s education. Therefore, we may say emotional literacy is the momentum of life. It is time now to unshackle ourselves from the constraining bonds of “intelligence only matters, everything else is a waste” as grasped from learning hard facts, to let it encompass finer feelings of life with all its emotions. Shouldn’t we be teaching these most essential life skills to every child? If not now, then when?
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CAMPUS NOTES

Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar
Varsity dispatches admit cards for UGC-NET

THE university has dispatched the admission cards (roll numbers) to all the eligible candidates appearing in the University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) to be held on December 27. Seven centers have been created on the university campus and the remaining 11 in the affiliated colleges.

According to Dr N.S. Tung, coordinator, UGC-NET examination, the admission cards have already been dispatched to all the eligible candidates. However, the candidates who have not received their admit cards should contact the office of coordinator situated on the ground floor of the Administrative Block of the university from December 23 to 25. The candidates must bring two passport-size photographs duly attested by a gazetted officer. He, however, clarified that no admit card would be issued on the day of the test under any circumstances.

Refresher course on environment

A three-week refresher course in environmental studies was inaugurated by Prof. Inderjit Singh, registrar of Guru Nanak Dev University. The refresher course is being organised by the Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences under the aegis of Academic Staff College (ASC) of the university, on the theme of "Holistic Approach to Environment".

Earlier, Dr Amarjit Singh Soodan, the course coordinator, said keeping in view the importance of the subject, the thrust area had been chosen and experts, eminent scholars and scientists had been invited to deliver lectures. While delivering the keynote address, Prof. Shashi Kant, Department of Botany, Jammu University, Jammu, pointed out that the world community was not able to reach a consensus on environmental issues like climate change and global warming because of inflexible attitude of the developed countries. He emphasised two points to remember—-"Think globally and act locally" and eco(logy) and eco(nomics) must echo together to achieve the desired objectives.

Dr H.S. Bhatia, director, ASC, said environment had become a global issue today and it should be addressed from multiple angles, while Dr V.K. Garg of Guru Jambeshwar University focused on acqa-scams.

Rs 37.5 lakh grant for Punjab School of Economics

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has approved the Punjab School of Economics of the university for the continuation of the Special Assistance Programme (SAP) for the next five years and sanctioned a grant of Rs 37.5 lakh to the department to uplift infrastructure for research work, including maintenance, modernisation and upgradation of the equipment. Dr Parminder Singh, head, Punjab School of Economics, said Prof. R.S. Bawa and Prof. Satish Verma had been appointed as coordinator and deputy coordinator, respectively, under the SAP by the UGC for this purpose. Besides these appointments, an additional project fellow has also been sanctioned by the commission for a same period to carry out the research in identified thrust areas viz. employment generation in Punjab with special reference to rural sector and social infrastructure on which the data bank would be generated, he added.

— Contributed by P.K. Jaiswar
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ADMISSION DEADLINE

Engineering

National Fire Service College, Civil Lines, Nagpur 440001 (Mah)
www.nfscadmission.com

All India Entrance Examination for Sub-Officers Course (33 weeks)

Eligibility: 10+2.
Age: 18-23 years (On 01 July ‘10)

Physical Standard: Vision: 6/6, no colour blindness.
Boys: Height: 165 cm (For Gurkhas, Assamese, Garhwalis, Nagaland Tribes: 160 cms), Weight: 50 kg, Chest: Unexpanded: 81 cm, Expanded: 86 cm
Girls: Height: 157 cm, Weight: 46 kg

Test: 28 February 2010 (at Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, New Delhi & Nagpur).

Selection: Written test; Medical Fitness

Application Form: Send in prescribed format Rs 100/- by IPO favouring "Director, National Fire Service College, Nagpur" & specified enclosures to the Director at the above address. Superscribe "Application for Entrance Examination for 36th Sub-Officers Course- 2009" on envelope / Download from website.

Details: Employment News (12 -18 December 2009) / Website

Application Deadline: 11 January 2010

Amrita School of Engineering, Ettimadai PO, Coimbatore 641105 (TN) (Deemed University)
www.amrita.edu

BTech (Electronics & Comm Engg / Computer Sc & Engg / Electronics & Electrical Engg / Electronics & Instrumentation Engg / Mechanical Engg / Aerospace Engg / Chemical Engg / Civil Engg / IT)
(At Amrita School of Engineering, Coimbatore, Amritapuri and Bangalore)

Eligibility: 10+2 (60% in Maths, Physics and Chemistry) / Diploma in Engg (60%)
Age Limit: Born on or after 01 July 1989

Selection: Entrance Test: 02 May 2010

Application: Send Rs 850/- by DD favouring "Amrita School of Engineering" payable at Coimbatore to the Admissions Coordinator at the above address by 27 March 2010 / Download from website.

Details: Website

Admission Deadline: 30 March 2010

VIT University, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore 632014 (TN)
www.vit.ac.in

VIT Engineering Entrance Exam (VITEEE) – 2010
For admission to BTech (Bioinformatics / Bio-Medical / Biotechnology / Chemical / Civil / Computer Sc & Engg / Electronics & Electrical / Electronics & Communication / Electronics & Instrumentation / IT / Mechanical / Mechanical with specialization in Chemical Process Engg / Mechanical with specialization in Energy Engg) at Vellore Campus
BTech (Civil / Computer Sc & Engg / Electronics & Electrical / Electronics & Communication / Mechanical), at Chennai campus

Eligibility: 10+2 (PCM / PCB; 60%) For Biotechnology, Bio-Medical & Bioinformatics: PCB, 60%.

Age: Born on or after 01 July 1988

Exam: 17 April 2010

Application Form: Send Rs 750/- by DD favouring "VIT University," payable at Vellore, to Admissions Officer at the above address with a request letter mentioning your address / Download from website.

Details: Website

Application Deadline: 20 February 2010

Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur 440011 (Mah) (Deemed University)
www.vnit.ac.in

MTech (all) / MArch (By Research)

PhD (Full Time / Part time / Sponsored)

Application Form & Details: Website

Application Deadline: 06 January 2010

IT

University of Pune, VLSI Design & Research Centre, D/o Electronic Science, Pune 411007 (Mah)
www.icitonline.org

Certificate course in Embedded System Design (6 months, Full Time)
(Embedded Systems Programming Languages / Operating Systems & RTOS / Embedded Systems Development Tools / DSP / Telecommunications / Embedded Systems Hardware / Microprocessor / Micro Controller / 8051 / ARM / AVR / Sensors & Control System / Case Study & Industry Standard Project)

Eligibility: BE / BTech in (Electronics / Electronics & Telecomm) / MSc (Electronics)

Selection: Entrance Test: 17 January 2010

Application Form: Download from website.

Details: Employment News (12 – 18 December 2009) / Website

Application Deadline: 15 January 2010

Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC), Gulmohar Cross Road No 9, Juhu, Mumbai 400049 (Mah) (D/o IT, M/o Communication & IT, GoI)
http://cst.cdacmumbai.in

Competence in Software Technology Exam (CST) - 2010
Levels of Exam: ‘E’ (Entry Level), I (Intermediate Level, ‘D’ (Diploma Level & ‘G’ (Graduate).

Eligibility: Bachelors degree (any) / Engg Diploma / Software Competence:

Test: 24 January 2010

Application Form & Details: Website

Application Deadline: 12 January 2010

Law

Symbiosis Centre for Distance Learning (SCDL), Symbiosis Bhavan, 1065 B, Gokhale Cross Road, Model Colony, Pune 411016 (Mah)
www.scdl.net

Certificate Programs in Social Laws (6 months):
Cyber Laws
Right to Information Act
Consumer Protection Act
Application Form & Details:
Website.

Management

National Institute of Financial Management, Sector 48, Pali Road, Faridabad 121001 (Har) (Autonomous Institute of M/o Finance, GoI)
www.nifm.ac.in

PG Diploma in Management (Financial Mgt)

Eligibility: Bachelors degree (50%) with minimum 3 years work-ex
Age: 50 years (01 May 2010)

Selection: GD; Interview

Application Form & Details: Employment News (12 – 18 December 2009) / Website

Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Centre for Distance & Learning, A 16, Site 3, UPSIDC Industrial Area, Meerut Road, Ghaziabad (UP)
www.imtcdl.ac.in

Distance Learning Programmes:
1) PG Programme in Mgmt: Finance / Marketing / Systems / Operations / HR Mgmt / International Business (3 years)
2) PG Diploma in Mgmt (2 years)
3) PG Diploma Courses: Business Mgmt / Financial Mgmt / Marketing Mgmt / Export Mgmt / Retail Mgmt / Insurance / Materials & Supply Chain / Taxation / Material / HR Mgmt (1 year)
4) PhD in collaboration with National Law University, Jodhpur ( Management / Science and Technology / Law / Humanities / IPR / Cyber Law / Security)
5) MS in Cyber Law and Security in collaboration with National Law University, Jodhpur (2 years)

Eligibility: For 1 & 3: Bachelors degree
For 2:
Bachelors degree with 3 years work-ex
For 4: PG (55%)
For 5: Bachelors degree (50%)

Application Form: Send Rs 1000/- by DD favouring "IMT-CDL," payable at Ghaziabad at the above address / Download from website.

Details: Website

Application Deadline: 07 January 2010

All India Management Association (AIMA), Management House, 14 Institutional Area, Lodhi Road, New Delhi 110003
www.aima-ind.org/matfeb10

Management Aptitude Test (MAT) February 2010

Eligibility: Bachelors degree

Test: Paper Based Test: 07 February 2010; Computer Based Test: 13 February 2010

Application Form: Send Rs. 1050/ - by DD favouring "All India Management Association-CMS," payable at New Delhi to the above address by 22 January 2010 / Download from website / Obtain from select branches of Bank of Baroda.

Details: Website

Application Deadline: 25 January 2010

Jaipuria Institute of Management, Vineet Khand, Gomtinagar, Lucknow 226010 (UP)
www.jiml.ac.in / www.jimnoida.ac.in / www.jimj.ac.in

PGDM (2 years, FT)
PGDM (Retail Mgmt) (2 years, FT)
PGDM (Financial Services) (2 years, FT)

Eligibility: Bachelors degree (50%)

Selection: CAT 2009 scores / MAT / XAT; GD & PI

Application Form & Details: Website

Application Deadline: 11 January 2010

Association of Indian Management Schools, House No 8-3 677/57 A, Plot No 57, Sri Krishnadevarayanagar, Street No 6, Yellareddiguda, Hyderabad 500073 (AP)
www.atma-aims.org

AIMS Test for Management Admissions (ATMA)
(For admission to 131 institutes)

Eligibility: Bachelors degree.

Test: 14 February ’09

Application Form: Send Rs 950/- by DD favouring "Association of Indian Management Schools," payable at Hyderabad to the above address by 25 January 2010.

Application Deadline: 25 January 2010

Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, B 21, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi 110016 (D/o Commerce, GoI)
www.iift.edu / www.hnge.in

1) Certificate Programme in Export Management (4 months)

2) Certificate Programme in Capital & Financial Markets (4 months)
3) MDP on Impact of IFRS on International Business (20-22 Jan 2010)

Application Form & Details: Website

Application Deadline: 18 January 2010

Medicine

University of Delhi, Faculty of Ayurvedic & Unani Medicines, 6th Floor, VP Chest Institute Building, Delhi 110007
www.du.ac.in

PG degree courses in Ayurveda & Unani Medicines (Mahir-e-Tibb: Moalejat)

Eligibility: BUMS (with 1 year compulsory internship completed by 31 December ’09)

Selection: Written Test: 16 January 2010

Application Form: Send Rs 750/- by DD favouring the "Registrar, University of Delhi", along with a self addressed (10" x 8") envelope payable at Delhi to the Deputy Registrar at the above address by 29 December 2009. In cash at Counter: Rs 700/-.

Details: Employment News (12 – 18 December 2009) / Website

Application Deadline: 07 January 2010

Manipal University, Manipal 576104 (Kar) (Deemed University)
www.manipal.edu

PG Programmes in Medicine / Dentistry:
(at Kasturba Medical College, Manipal & Mangalore campus / Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Manipal & Mangalore)

Selection: Online Entrance Test (ENAT ’10): 17 – 26 February 2010

Application Form & Details: Website.

Application Deadline: 31 January 2010

Banaras Hindu University, Institute of Medical Sciences, Varanasi 221010 (UP)
www.bhu.ac.in / www.imsbhu.nic.in

MD/MS (3 years)

Eligibility: MBBS with 1 year Rotating Internship completed by 30 April 2010.

Selection: Entrance Test: 21 February 2010

Application Form: Send Rs. 100/- by DD favouring "Director, IMS, BHU" payable at Varanasi with a self-addressed unstamped envelope (24 x 30 cm) to the Director at the above address by 31 December 2009. Superscribe "MD/MS Form Request" on envelope / Download from website.

Details: Website

Application Deadline: 09 January 2010

Scholarships

Lalit Kala Akademi, Rabindra Bhavan, 35 Ferozeshah Road, New Delhi 110001
www.lalitkala.gov.in

Scholarship for 2009-10

Eligibility: Artists / Art-Critics / Art-Historians in the field of Visual Arts
Age: 35 years (on 01 January ‘10)

Scholarship: Rs. 4,000/- pm for 12 months

Application Form & Details: Website.

Application Deadline: 31 December 2009

University

Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), Maidan Garhi, New Delhi 110068
www.ignou.ac.in

A) Management Programmes:
1) Master of Business Administration (MBA)
2) Diploma in Management (DIM)
3) PG Diploma (Mgmt / Human Resource Mgmt / Financial Mgmt / Operations Mgmt / Marketing Mgmt)
B) Dentistry
4) PG Certificate in (Oral Implantology / Endodontics) (1 year)

Eligibility: For 1: Bachelors degree (50%) / Bachelors degree with 3 years of supervisory / managerial / professional experience / BE / BTech / MBBS / BArch / LLB / BPharm / CA / ICWA / CS / Masters degree
For 2: 10+2 with six years of supervisory / managerial / professional experience (Clearance of Entrance Test mandatory)

For 3: Appear OPENMAT / CAT / MAT with 40%
For 4: BDS (DCI Recognized) after completion of internship
Selection: For 1, 2 & 3: OPENMAT-XXVII: 07 February 2010
For 4: OPENDEN-II
Application Form: Download from website.

Details: Website

Application Deadline: 10 January 2010

Kurukshetra University, Directorate of Distance Education, Kurukshetra 136119 (Har)
www.kukinfo.com

Traditional Courses
(BA / BCom / Certificate Course in Urdu / MA (Hindi / English / Sanskrit / Punjabi / Political Sci / Education / Philosophy / Public Administration / History / Economics) / MSc (Maths / Geography) / Mcom)
Professional Courses
(Certificate in Comp Application / Diploma in Lib & Info Sci / BA (Lib & Info Sci / Comp Application / Information & Management) / PG Diploma (Export Marketing Mgt / Journalism & Mass Comm / Environmental Education / Computer Application / Translation (Hindi / English) / MA (Lib & Info Sci / mass Comm / Comp Application / Education / Environmental Education) / MSc Comp Science / MBA / MBA Hospitality Mgt / LLM / BEd )
Lateral Entry Courses
(MCA, Part II & Part III / MSc Computer Science / MA Mass Communication / MBA, Part III / MBA Hospitality Mgmt, Part II & Part III)

Application Form: Send Rs. 270/- by DD favouring "Registrar, Kurukshetra University," payable at Kurukshetra / Thanesar with two self-addressed slips to the above address / Download from website.

Details: Website

Application Deadline: 31 December 2009

Vocational

Micro Small & Medium Enterprises Development Institute Extension Centre, Connaught Circus, New Delhi 110001 (M/o MSME, GoI)
www.msmedinewdelhi.gov.in

Entrepreneurship cum Skill Development Programmes on: "Manufacture of Cosmetics & Chemical Products" (23 December 2009 – 03 February 2010)

Eligibility: Class 10
Age: 18 - 45 years.

Selection: First-cum-first-serve basis

Application Form & Details: Website

Registration Deadline: 22 December 2009

Pervin Malhotra, Director, Career Guidance India (CARING) (www.careerguidanceindia.com)
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