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Developing generic skills Spending more time at school may boost IQ Campus
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Developing generic skills HUNDREDS of postgraduate colleges and professional institutions have mushroomed in the region in recent years. However, the number is hardly an indicator of development and growth, as more than 80 per cent of the pass-outs are unsuitable for employment related with their fields of study. This has increased the already widening gap between education and employment and added to the problems of state governments with lakhs of educated unemployed youth. The Centre and state governments have failed to take steps to empower students to become employable by initiating suitable changes in curriculum and the education system. However, it should be understood that in our system, the primary responsibility of using knowledge and wisdom acquired from academic institutions and developing abilities and skills to get suitable employment rests with the student (and parents). Today, the first major concern of any employer is “to place the right people with the right skills in the right jobs for the right cost at the right time”. Generic skills, also called employability skills, of potential employees, help the employer to achieve this very ambitious aim. Generic skills are such skills which are not specific, like skills of repairing a computer or skills of a mason, carpenter or electrician. Put simply, generic skills are those that apply across a variety of jobs and life concept over and above the job-specific skills. Generic skills include all aspects of self-development which contribute to one’s functional or hard skills. In fact, any skill which helps a person lead a meaningful and successful life may be included in the category of generic skills. Skills are generally classified as functional skills or hard skills and soft skills or generic skills. Functional or hard skills provide the basic knowledge of a discipline of study and are very important for finding a job in that discipline. However, only functional skills are not enough. Generic skills or soft skills, which are related with one’s perceptions and attitude, communication, decision-making, problem solving, manners and etiquette, dealing with the outside world and so on, are equally important. Experts estimate that 70 per cent of the jobs are procured and retained due to good quality of generic skills and not because of the hard or functional skills. Even in certain jobs like research and development , where many tend to relegate generic skill to a lower priority, such skills support a person’s growth in the organisation. In addition to learning specific technical or other functional skills, which help a student in taking up a particular profession, say engineering, medicine, management, science, commerce, education or elsewhere, learning of generic skills as a complementary and supplementary subject is of utmost importance. Since generic skills are not taught as part of syllabus of regular courses, these have to be acquired by the student by himself. It is essential that a student knows what the employers look for in potential employees. An appropriate integration of different skills makes an ideal employee. The skills which the employers value the most include reading and writing skills, knowledge of basic mathematics, oral as well as written communication skills, logical reasoning, problem solving, decision making, negotiation skills, teamwork, etc. Today, one of the greatest concerns of an organisation is to fill the gaps required in the job and those possessed by the applicants. Hundreds may apply for a particular job and yet it may be difficult to pick up one candidate. Job description gives the details of what is expected to be done in a particular job, whereas job specification is the qualifications and skill sets which a potential employee must possess to become a perfect fit. Employers today don’t just look for a degree and technical skills, they look far beyond and select the candidates based on their overall suitability. They value special generic skill traits like communication, teamwork and problem-solving ability. Applicants who can demonstrate these have a definite edge over others. While most jobs require occupation-specific skills to do them, generic skills support a person to do that job more effectively and efficiently. For example, a doctor is expected to be equipped with appropriate medical profession knowledge and expertise, which is the functional or hard skill. A doctor is not only expected to prescribe medicines but he must also empathise with the patient by explaining the ideas of treatment and listen carefully to what the patient has to say. Therefore, even doctors are trained to develop good communication skills and companies organise specific training programmes for this purpose. The jobs today are not narrowly defined as in the past and require flexibility, initiative and the ability to undertake different tasks. In today’s world of specialisation, generic skills, which are applicable cutting across the specific disciplines, to every job, are becoming more and more important. A person with multi-task ability has more opportunities for employment than one with only a specific skill. Therefore, students must appreciate that learning is not confined to childhood or classroom but takes place throughout life in different situations. It is also called the “lifelong, life-wide, voluntary and self-motivated” pursuit of knowledge for either personal or professional reasons. If there is a quest for knowledge, there is no age for learning. One remains a student throughout one’s life and can continue learning till the very end. It is said that “the more one knows, the more one realises how little one knows”. In India, we have a paradoxical situation of limited opportunities for students to develop skills, which has resulted in accumulation of large pool of unemployable educated. Our education system does not develop the competencies required for the world of work. It is but natural to expect a set of usable competencies as outcome of any good education system. The UNESCO document, “Thematic Debate: The Requirements of the World of Work”, lists a number of competencies which are a must for a student. Unfortunately, in India, none of such skills are either included as part of regular syllabus or are taught as a special subject. But the importance and requirement of generic skills for getting and retaining a job cannot be
overemphasised.
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Spending more time at school may boost IQ LONDON: An increase in the number of years spent in school may boost intelligence, a study of Norwegian men has revealed. The research suggested that an extra year in the classroom could increase IQ by nearly four points. But they do not know if this applies to all children, or just those in the study. Researchers from Statistics Norway, which publishes official government data, and the University of Oslo took advantage of a natural experiment in the Norwegian education system and its effect on 107,223 pupils. Between 1955 and 1972 regional governments in Norway increased compulsory schooling from seven to nine years. It meant pupils left school at 16 instead of 14. The effect of this forced increase in schooling was measured at the age of 19, when the military gave all men eligible for drafting an IQ test. “An unusually large increase in both average education and average IQ is apparent at the same time as the reform was introduced,” BBC quoted the researchers as saying. However, determining whether spending more time in school actually improves IQ is more difficult, as it is possible that children with a naturally higher IQ are those who choose to spend more time in the education system. The statisticians involved in the study also cautioned against drawing too many conclusions, as they admit that the effect may only apply to Norwegian society or its education system at the time. The study was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. — ANI
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Campus Notes A study conducted by the Centre for Haryana Studies, MDU, has revealed that only around 34.11 per cent of the respondents were aware of the terms of “service” as defined in the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, and a majority of respondents (65.88 per cent) had not even heard about the Act. Financed by the Consumer Affairs Ministry of the Union Government, the study found that the customers of some of the private sector banks, including the ICICI, had more knowledge of the term and service (27.77 per cent) than the government-owned banks’ consumers (SBI (6.33 per cent). According to Dr S. S. Chahar, Director, Centre for Haryana Studies, nearly 42.22 per cent respondents faced problem during the opening of account in public banks, while only 3.88 per cent of the respondents faced problem in private banks. The attitude of bank staff towards the respondents had been very good for only 19.66 per cent in all type of cases. More than 66.77 per cent respondents faced difficulties while getting the cheque book issued from the bank. The study showed a high rate of customer satisfaction level in private banks.
Deans appointed The Vice-Chancellor has appointed three Deans of Faculties under the provisions of Statute-19 of the MDU Act. The appointees include Dr Sunita Malhotra, Professor, Department of Psychology, as Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences; Dr. S.D.Vashishta, Professor, Commerce Department, as Dean, Faculty of Commerce; and Dr Arun Nanda, Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, as Dean, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Alumni meet The alumni office of MDU has initiated the online registration process for the second alumni meet to be held on February 12, 2012. According to officials, the process of the life membership drive for alumni registration is also in progress. Alumni registration form and alumni meet registration form have been made available on the university website www.mdurohtak.ac.in. Duly filled in forms can be sent via e-mail at mdu.alumni@gmail.com or be submitted at the alumni office.
Results declared The university has declared the results of BA/B.Sc/B.Com (annual scheme) examinations held in October, 2011. The results are available on the university website www.mdurohtak.ac.in. The candidates who wish to appear in the March/April examinations on the basis of these results may submit their examination forms online up to January 12 without late fee. The university has also announced to hold the B.Ed, M.Ed and D.Ed examinations from January 5, 2012. Examination date sheet and admit cards of all eligible candidates have been uploaded on the university website, said an official. Pt. B. D. Sharma University of
Health Sciences, Rohtak Dr Dipti Aggarwal, Assistant Professor, Physiology, PGIMS, Rohtak, has been awarded the Best Research Paper Award at the 45th Allergy, Asthma and Applied Immunology National Conference-2011 held at Aurangabad in Maharastra recently. International faculty from several countries, including the US, Japan, Korea and Sri Lanka, took part in the conference. The award-winning paper analysed the efficacy of breathing exercises (pranayama) for improving the quality of life of asthma patients. Asthma is a chronic airway disease which significantly decreases the quality of life of affected persons. The usual treatment of asthma requires the long-term intake of medications (usually through inhalers). The paper observed that pranayama significantly increased the health-related quality of life in asthma patients. The paper was co-authored by Dr Sushma Sood, Senior Professor, Physiology, and Dr Prem Parkash Gupta, Professor, Respiratory Medicine.
New OPD block The new centrally air-conditioned OPD (out patient department) block of the PGIMS is ready for functioning. The new block is likely to be formally inaugurated by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda soon. According to university officials, besides being air-conditioned, which includes a waiting hall for patients, the new high-tech block will be providing various OPDs under one roof. — Contributed by Bijendra Ahlawat
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ADMISSION DEADLINE Indian
Air Force, Command Education Officer, HQ Western Air Command, IAF,
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HUNDREDS of postgraduate colleges and professional institutions have mushroomed in the region in recent years. However, the number is hardly an indicator of development and growth, as more than 80 per cent of the pass-outs are unsuitable for employment related with their fields of study. This has increased the already widening gap between education and employment and added to the problems of state governments with lakhs of educated unemployed youth.