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Make social work mandatory
Education is an end in itself Campus Notes
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Make social work mandatory A much-needed and much-neglected aspect of education has so far not figured on the list of reforms initiated by the Ministry of Human Resource Development—Community service programmes in schools. One would have thought that in a country like ours with the ever-widening gap between the haves and the have-nots and the overwhelming need to bring about social justice, schools would be the ideal place to start the onus of social responsibility.
In the US, many school districts have made community service mandatory for students from sixth grade onwards with hours ranging from 20 to 100 in the year. Many private schools in India and abroad have aligned with NGOs to give their students an experience in social service. Some schools have even gone so far ahead to have student bodies running their own community welfare programmes successfully. The concept of making social responsibility a part of the school curriculum is perhaps misunderstood by school administrators and policy makers. It is much more than just taking part in rallies or marches or having special assemblies in schools to mark special days or fund-raising. In the larger and more meaningful spectrum, it means to engage children proactively in projects designed to be advantageous to those lesser privileged than them. It should mean a hands-on experience with the target beneficiaries of the programme and for them to have a deeper understanding of the model of community welfare. The benefits that emerge from having an inclusive community welfare progamme for school students are many. Active involvement at the most basic level of community welfare and interaction with those less fortunate than themselves has a deeply sensitising effect on students, especially those of public schools. Ankita, a Class IX student of a local school, says, “I got involved with an NGO working for street children in Chandigarh, thanks to my school which has adopted a school in the slum. Every summer I volunteer at their school for about 2 hours three times a week. I cannot even explain what a humbling experience it is. The kids look forward to my visits and are so friendly and excited to have me there. I feel I am a better person now with more regard for what I have and what my parents do for me. I motivate my friends and cousins to give a part of their pocket money for books and stationary for these kids. Some even celebrate their birthdays at this slum school.” Community welfare programmes involving schoolchildren can effectively help in character building. Instead of ruing the decadence of values in the young generation, it might be a good idea to create opportunities that support the awareness of civic responsibility, social responsibility and above all personal responsibility in young children. The dual benefits—individual and societal—can have a really positive impact in times to come. Imagine a country where young people understand that they must contribute their bit in meaningful ways to uplift their less advantaged brethren! Most parents are very supportive and proud when their children engage themselves in social service projects. Mini Gandhok, a proud parent of 17 year old Jaimeet Gandhok, an 12th grader in Vivek High School says” My son was recently awarded with the Global Scholar Education World Young Achievers award in Mumbai in recognition of his social service endeavours. He has also been a part of an international service project in South Africa.” Most foreign universities give additional points to student applying for admissions and scholarships if they have community welfare work experience. Involvement in such programmes looks good on college applications and resumes. It shows up a mature, confident, dynamic, socially responsible and humane individual. This is the personality profile most colleges and universities find most appealing. It also opens doors to exciting and hugely satisfying career opportunities in India and abroad. Most people who have been active as volunteers in social welfare programmes as children continue to devote themselves to them through most of their adult life as well. The need of the hour is to inculcate the spirit of selfless service in children as early as possible. In the rat race for academic achievement and material pursuits, orientation to the greater and more meaningful joys of life is imperative. Having community service as part of the academic curriculum provides many solutions to the emotional and spiritual needs of our young generation.
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Education is an end in itself THE word university comes from the same root as universe and universal. But universities have never been universal, nor were they intended to be, distinctions. They confer degrees, and grades, they discriminate, in the old sense of the word: they make judgements in the aim of identifying excellence. If this doesn’t sound very democratic, that’s because it isn’t. But that doesn’t make universities inherently elitist—if that word means the protection and justification of class privilege by the unfair exclusion of others—only historically. The problem British universities face is how to balance a principle of fairness against a principle of excellence. Oh, yes, and how to pay for it. The situation now is rather as if for centuries the coaches of Britain’s Olympic squads had selected the sons of their mates to play on their teams; eventually they reluctantly allowed the daughters of their mates; and for a long time, no matter how fast or strong you were, you weren’t allowed in. Furthermore, you weren’t offered the training from the beginning that would enable you to develop your natural talents. Now, everyone else is suspicious and resentful of what clearly seems a rigged game, and arguing that everyone should be allowed to compete in the Olympics. But that defeats the purpose of the Olympics, which is to promote excellence. Everyone should be allowed to play the game, but not everyone can be an Olympic athlete. Not everyone is suited for higher education as it is currently practised in the UK. That’s because higher education in this country was never designed for a broad spectrum of society. Britain’s university system currently operates under the following principles: 50 per cent of students have the right to higher education at elite universities: this is a little like saying that 50 per cent of footballers have the right to play for Chelsea. It also presumes that this 50 per cent needs to know at the age of 15 what they want to do for the rest of their lives, because that is what they should study at university, as vocational training. When they finish their degree, they are entitled to a job in that subject. If any of these implicit promises are broken, they are entitled to feel very aggrieved; and they are always already entitled to be aggrieved about paying for any of it. The question is this: what is higher education for? I know a lot of angry parents and employers who would like a straight answer to this question. Is it vocational training, to get a better job? Is it training to become an academic? Is it a glorified party and arrested adolescence, the chance to defer adult responsibilities a little longer? Is it to provide access to power and privilege? Is it a pernicious defense of a two-tier society, in which the rich get richer and the poor get poorer? Or is it a resource for business, science, and industry, an accumulation of intellectual and research capital for the nation to exploit? Currently it can be any and all of these things. But these definitions are part of the problem, because they all put education at the service of industry. Current educational policy is compounding this by insisting that maths and science, to promote industry, should be funded at the expense of the humanities: as Einstein is supposed to have said, not everything that counts can be counted. Money is not the only measure of value. Education is not merely a means to an instrumentalist end: it is an end in itself. Education is beneficial for the same reasons that ignorance is dangerous. Britain now needs to choose education in a different way: it needs to accept the value of advanced education for all, figure out an equitable way of paying for it, which probably includes individuals paying for what will, in the end, generally improve their opportunities in life, and it needs to broaden its definition of higher education, to be inclusive enough, paradoxically, to tolerate excellence, and not confuse it with elitism. —
By arrangement with The Independent
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Campus Notes IN a two-day training camp organised at Bhaloth village in Rohtak district recently, Punjab farmers were of the view that in natural farming, weeds were not a major problem. When the crop didn't get glucose like readymade food in the form of urea, there were not many weeds, they said. Citing the example of 'mandusi'(gullidanda), which has been a big nuisance for wheat farmers of Haryana, they said it had slowly been vanishing from their farms. The camp saw the participation of nearly 125 farmers from Haryana and Punjab. Sharing his experience, Amarjit Sharma of Chaina village of Faridkot district, said after being tired of rising input costs and a fall in earnings, he had quit farming a few years ago and started a small grocery shop in his village. Though he had been earning about Rs 250-300 per day, he decided to switch over again to farming recently for his love for this profession. He said now he had started natural farming in the larger interests of society. Another farmer Harjant Singh said initially they could not market their produce at remunerative prices but as their credibility built up, whole of their produce was picked up at the farm gate itself and now marketing had become quite easy. "However, it is vital to carefully choose variety suitable to their environment," said S. Hartej Mehta of Mehta village in Bhatinda district. Mahavir Tyagi from Panipat said objective of natural farming should be two fold. While on the one hand, income of farmer should not come down and on the other, total production of the country should not go down. Dalip Singh from Titolli village of Rohtak district claimed that a rice straw-wrapped rope and small pieces of coloured fabric are tied on it could be used in place of an iron fence to fend off the neelagai menace.
Admission notice
Maharshi Dayanand University has issued the admission notice for the MBA two-year course, UG/PG courses in hotel & tourism management and M.Pharmacy course for the session 2010-2011.While details of these course(s) are available on the university website www.mdurohtak.com, application forms can also be downloaded from the website. The last date for the submission of application form in respect of the MBA (2year) programme is June 10. For UG/diploma courses in hotel & tourism management, the last date is June 14, while for the PG Courses in Hotel & Tourism Management it is June 23 and for the M. Pharmacy course it is July 5. The university has also notified the admission dates for the various PG courses/diploma and certificate courses for the session 2010-2011. These courses are based on the main campus of the university as well as at PG Regional Centre, Mirpur (Rewari). The last date for submission of application forms will be June 14.
Exam schedule
The university has issued the examination schedule for B.Ed (annual examinations) and D.Ed (first year). While the B.Ed examination will commence from June 10 and will conclude by July 2, the D.Ed examination will be held between June 11 and July 3. Both these examinations will be conducted from 2.30 to 5.30 p.m. on the dates issued by the university. — Contributed by Bijendra Ahlawat
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A much-needed and much-neglected aspect of education has so far not figured on the list of reforms initiated by the Ministry of Human Resource Development—Community service programmes in schools. One would have thought that in a country like ours with the ever-widening gap between the haves and the have-nots and the overwhelming need to bring about social justice, schools would be the ideal place to start the onus of social responsibility.
