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| EDUCATION TRIBUNE |
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Building good character
Intelligent mums creating ‘dumb’ stay-at-home dads |
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Building good character EDUCATION is perhaps the most crucial factor in today’s knowledge economy. The centrality of education for economic progress and better governance is, therefore, obvious. It is also well known that innumerable problems that we face as a nation are directly related to the quality of human resources we have. And this has direct relationship with quality of education, particularly at the primary and secondary levels. It is rightly said that good human beings are created first at homes and then at schools. As a child, a person imbibes certain habits either observed or taught by the parents and as such parents have a major responsibility towards their children. It is expected that foundation of knowledge, skills and character will be laid by the primary school, which is the first formal interaction of a child with the outside world. School has major impact on the personality development of a child. Unfortunately, in the present scenario, both parents as well as the teacher seem to have abdicated their fundamental duty. Most of the parents have almost lost interest in raising children. It is very sad to note that the spread of education has created more drug addicts and criminals as compared to the pre-Independence days, when the number of educated was far less. A lot of people, including the teachers and parents, are afraid of the kind of society we are becoming. We are all often startled by the world we see. Most of the senior citizens think that there is a lot of difference between the children of today and the children “like we were”. An educated person is expected to imbibe certain core universal human values like truth, justice, righteous conduct, peace, love, compassion and non-violence etc., which are directly linked to different aspects of one’s personality and are essentially acquired during childhood, though an innate judgment of what is good or bad is a product of long term social and professional interaction, as experience and maturity are great teachers. Such qualities also represent the quintessence of the Eastern and Western ethics consistent with secularism. All governments have been aware of the dismal state of affairs as far as the deterioration in the character of the youth is concerned and the 1986 National Education Policy recommended the inclusion of such virtues in school curriculum. That not much has been done to implement this important aspect, speaks volumes about the commitment of politicians and babus towards nation building. Any one can store up a vast quantity of facts and figures in a relatively short time. However, converting this information into knowledge and wisdom is time consuming and cumbersome process. Our education expects the student to mug up some facts and reproduce them in the examination to make them eligible for a certificate, a diploma or graduate/postgraduate degree. Where is the input to make him a good human being? Any knowledge which does not make a student a well integrated human being by developing him physically, intellectually and spiritually is useless. The education system that independent India inherited from its alien rulers was closely observed, studied and analysed by Mahatma Gandhi. He gave a new insight into developing such an education system that would respond to the requirements of free India. We, however, persisted with the alien model of education that lacked any emphasis on values and ethics. There is a definite need to focus on heritage, values, awareness of religions and socio-cultural and economic contents. It is essential to ensure social cohesion, removal of obscurantism and provide opportunities for the inculcation of sublime human qualities. In fact, school should provide the right environment for the child to develop the qualities of truth, empathy courage, virtue of sharing, righteous conduct, ability to question the “wrong” and so on. Many schools till a couple of decades back had activities and programmes of value education, of course, without right processes and suitable involvement of all the teachers and students. Even the young children recognise the importance of values, ethics and character and want to become good human beings. Unfortunately, they don’t get the right inputs in a suitable environment (where a person with good character is respected) to become good sons and daughters, good neighbours, good classmates, good students and good citizens. A student who cheats and scores higher marks is more valuable to the teacher, school and parents as compared to the one who does not adopt unfair means and hence scores lesser marks. Certain mass activities like morning assembly, morning prayers, observing important national and international days and festivals in appropriate manner, storytelling, music and group singing, sports, dramatics, exhibitions and NCC/NSS activities, etc., can leave lasting impression on the young minds. Unfortunately, pressure of syllabus and performance in examination leaves no time for the teachers and students to take these activities seriously and they remain mere rituals in schools where they are still in practice. Thanks to technology, there are endless innovative opportunities of integrating character into the school teaching and learning process. Educators have always supported to produce positive productive citizens, however, the will of the governments to honestly implement such policies, has always been a roadblock. Education policy makers must acknowlede that all is not well with the teaching of ethics and values and there is a need to find a pragmatic solution to the problem. Most of the policy makers, including bureaucrats and academics, adopt an approach which compartmentalises the problem, splitting it into several separate parts and studying each in isolation rather than adopting a holistic approach which looks at the problem as a whole, with all its aspects and parts and their cross connections. Such an approach can give rise to fresh thinking and more effective policies. |
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Intelligent mums creating ‘dumb’ stay-at-home dads
LONDON: A senior British government minister has warned that a new generation of stay-at-home fathers may arise soon with women increasingly overtaking men in education and in the workplace. The new trend will see successful women force to “marry down” by choosing partners less qualified than them — and select men based on how supportive they might be to their careers, rather than whether they can support them financially, said Universities Minister David Willetts. Willetts said there was clear evidence from schools that boys are “lagging behind”, and are being overtaken by female students at university. Speaking to Dermot Murnaghan on Sky News, Universities Minister said the trend might lead to a change in household living. “I am not against women having those advantages but there is now a rather striking gap, if you look at the statistics, where it looks as if approximately 50 per cent of women are graduating from university by the time they’re 30 and perhaps about 40 per cent of men,” the Daily Mail quoted him as saying. “It may lead to changes in the patterns of household living. So there are some deep questions here,” he added. Many educated British women believe there is already a dearth of traditional husbands.
— ANI |
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Campus NoteS
Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak THE Department of Chemistry, MDU, recently organised a three-day-long "6th National Conference on Thermodynamics of Chemical and Biological Systems" under the auspices of the Indian thermodynamic Society. The conference was inaugurated by Dr Krishan Lal, President, Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi. In the inaugural address, he explained the role of thermodynamics in crystal growth. The conference was presided by Prof. Ishwar Singh, Director Research, MDU, Rohtak. According to Prof. V. K. Sharma, more than 250 delegates from 18 states attended the conference. Out of nine technical sessions, three sessions were conducted on the first day of the conference. Five plenary lectures were delivered by the eminent scientist, including Prof. S. L. Oswal, Span Diagnostic Ltd., Gujarat; Prof. Renu Chadha, Panjab University, Chandigarh; Prof. Rajiv Bhat, JNU, New Delhi; and Prof. Pannuru Venkatesu, Delhi University. Besides, 22 oral and 52 poster presentations were also made.
Career counselling session
A one-day career counselling session on "Event Organising and Management for Hospitality and Tourism" under the aegis of the Career Counselling and Placement Cell of MDU was held recently. Anoop Kumar, Assistant Professor, IHTM, MDU, delivered the opening speech at the session. He also apprised the students of various activities of the placement cell. While talking about the concept of event management, Saket Sharma shared his experiences about events held in China, Oman and Germany. He also focused on the current events happening in the hotel and tourism industry.
Focus on molecular techniques
Molecular biological tools have an important role to play in medical diagnostics. Further, the sustenance of human race and livestock is facilitated by advancement in biological and medical sciences, where molecular bio-techniques have a crucial role to play. This was stated by Director, National Centre on Equines, Dr R.K. Singh, in his address at a seminar on "Molecular Techniques: The Face of Modern Sciences" organised by the Department of Biochemistry of the university. Meanwhile, the Department of Education of the university will organise a seven-day basic training workshop on "Research Methodology in Social Sciences" from November 7. According to Dean, Faculty of Education, the workshop is being organised in collaboration with the ICSSR (North Western Regional Centre, Punjab University, Chandigarh).
Last date extended
The university has extended the last date for the submission of application forms for the award of stipends to SC/BC students for the session 2011-2012. According to a press release, the last date for the submission of application form will be November 15. Application forms will have to be submitted through Heads of Department concerned, it stated. The Indian Institute of Management, Rohtak The Indian Institute of Management, Rohtak, under the leadership of the Director, Prof. P. Rameshan, organised its first management conclave, "Mission India", here recently. The event brought together luminaries from across industry to discuss and determine strategies that would enable India to overcome these obstacles and lay claim to the destiny. According to a spokesperson, the conclave drew the participation of various stalwarts of industries as diverse as banking, financial services, media, consumer goods, real estate, and telecommunications. The keynote address was delivered by C.M. Vasudev, Chairman, HDFC Bank, on the financial sector reforms. He drew upon his vast experience in governance and policy making to throw some light on the obstacles India faced before the 1991 economic liberalisation. He briefly highlighted the major issues currently impeding India's growth and touched upon various possible solutions from a governance perspective. The first panel discussion on "Talent Management: An Indian Perspective", which was chaired by D. Bhattacharya, Senior Executive Director (HR), IFFCO, including P. Dwarakanath, Director, Group Human Capital, Max India; Gagan Bakshi, Director (M&A), Interglobe Enterprises; and Nawalji Sahay, Vice President, IARC, analysed key issues related to strategic talent acquisition and retention in India Inc, especially in the face of aggressive hiring practises and the constant threat of the best and brightest leaving for foreign lands. Touching upon the brain drain aspect, the speakers said many people going abroad return with ideas, some of which have the potential to precipitate changes in organisations. This inflow of ideas was important for Indian companies expanding their global presence, they said, adding that in order to successfully assimilate an acquired company, it was important to retain its people.
— Contributed by Bijendra Ahlawat |
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