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Encourage the student who
questions Students should be encouraged to come up with novel ideas and questions. ‘Market-based’ reforms take their toll on UK varsities Campus Notes
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Encourage the student who
questions THE Indian education system has always demanded hard work from students since the very beginning. Earlier, the education system laid stress on bookish knowledge, whereas in the recent times, with the implementation of CCE (Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation), a lot of practical work is being encouraged and imparted to students. Also, children are more confident and practical nowadays. However, there are some flaws within our education system that need to be rectified. A lot of students experience difficulty in understanding concepts, which is however normal. What is not normal is the fact that some of the teachers do not really encourage students to question whatever is being taught. Anyone who questions is expected to get the following responses: “You should pay attention when am teaching… I can’t repeat it again”, “What kind of question is this?”, “You can’t question everything”, and so on. Also, a lot of students cram their topics through repetitive, maintenance learning rather than understanding the deeper meaning of a concept. They have been taught to pay attention in class and not to question, or not to disturb the class, or not to ask ‘irrelevant’ questions. Even if a student wants to ask a valid question, he/she is always scared to speak up because in our education system, reasoning and questioning critically have never been considered imperative. Students should be encouraged to come up with novel ideas and questions, as has been encouraged by a famous psychologist Lev Vygotsky, who stressed upon the development of critical thinking, peer collaboration and reciprocal learning. Students grasp the concept the best when they are questioned, prompted and encouraged to find solutions on their own. I believe every teacher should go through the Vygotsky’s educational concept of scaffolding in which an expert assists a novice, or an apprentice. The following is an example of scaffolding: Sammy: I can’t get this one in. Mother: Which piece might go down there? (Points to the bottom of the puzzle). Sammy: His shoes (looks for a piece resembling the clown’s shoes). Mother: Well, what piece looks like that shape? Sammy: The brown one. Mother: Try turning it a little. Sammy: There! It fits. By questioning, prompting, and suggesting strategies, Sammy’s mother keeps the puzzle within his level of difficulty, which is quiet manageable. This is the concept of scaffolding. I’m not denying the fact that there aren’t many teachers who encourage reasoning in their students. I’ve come across both the categories. Elementary schoolchildren exposed to peer learning and reciprocal teaching (wherein two-four students form a collaborative group and take turns to study a concept) show impressive gains. Therefore, the concept of emotional intelligence should be taught to our students. Though we have always laid emphasis on IQ (Intelligence Quotient), EQ (Emotional Quotient) is equally important for students. Teachers can play a pivotal role in helping children regulate and understand their emotions, reason with them, understand other’s emotions and thereby, gain emotional intelligence. An emotionally intelligent child will be more successful in life, more balanced and a well-integrated personality than those who lack. Schools should have at least a 20-minute session of inculcating emotional intelligence in children. Teachers or counsellors can be trained for the
same.
The writer is a school principal in Chandigarh
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‘Market-based’ reforms take their toll on UK varsities MANY middle-ranking universities in the UK have suffered a drop in new student numbers as a result of controversial “market-based” government reforms to admissions, an Independent survey reveals today. A cut in student numbers at the likes of Oxford Brookes and Brunel comes as several of the UK’s elite universities exploit reforms allowing them to expand to take more of the best pupils — defined as those who score a miniumum of AAB at A-level. Hull University said its intake would be 500 fewer this year — and acknowledged that interest in snapping up places through the clearing system had not been as high as 2011. “We didn’t receive contact from many students with AAB or above through clearing,” a spokesman for the university said. “We sense that students are taking longer than last year to make their decision — which we feel is a good thing and we always encourage them to do that.” Brunel University is expecting a shortfall of around 200 applicants this year. This is despite the fact that it cut its maximum intake by 175 places from last year. Other universities to confirm cuts in intake were the University of Chichester and Oxford Brookes. Chichester, which is one of the smaller universities in Britain, has reduced its intake by about 30. On AAB students, it said: “They do not form a significant part of our strategy this year and our intake is broadly the same.” Academics believe higher education could be witnessing the beginnings of a long-term trend in declining numbers for non-elite universities, as the country’s best instutions expand. Bristol, one of the Russell Group — which includes the UK’s 24 leading research universities — increased its intake by 600 this year in taking advantage of the opportunity to recruit more AAB students. Next year the squeeze is expected to be even tighter on middle-ranking universities with Universities Minister David Willetts increasing the marketplace competition for university places by allowing any institution to expand if they take in candidates with an A and two B grades. In the long run, some observers believe institutions may have to merge to remain viable. Cuts by universities in their intake also became inevitable this year as a result of the government withdrawing more than 15,000 places that had been given the green light in past years to cope with a student influx as a result of the recession and lack of jobs for young people. The latest figures from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service show there are still 1,57,480 students eligible to seek a place through the clearing system. In all, 35,501 clearing places have been snapped up already this year — making it likely there are less than 20,000 still available. Overall, 4,25,858 candidates have secured a place – 30,723 fewer than at this time last year. There are 51,718 fewer applicants, though. The figures show more students have withdrawn from the race — 10,729 compared to 9, 152 — possibly because students are less prepared to accept a “second choice” university this year.
— The Independent
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Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, Hisar Refresher course concludes THE Academic Staff College of Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and technology organised a refresher course for teachers of social sciences. As many as 29 teachers participated in the three-week-long course. Inaugurating the course, Ramesh Dhadich, a member of the Indian Council for Social Sciences Research, said social sciences were coming to the fore again after several decades of dominance of science and technology. The next three decades would belong to the social sciences because of the changing social mores. He said beginning with the 1980s, science and technology became the choice of youth pushing social sciences to the background. However, due to rapid changes in the social perspective, the social sciences had become very relevant again. He asked social scientists not to limit their academic pursuit to the minimum required. They must go beyond that and push research. He said the council was willing to assist them in every possible way. Vice-Chancellor M. L. Ranga expressed concerns over the falling standards of moral values in recent times. He said social scientists had a responsibility to study such changes in society and suggest ways and means to arrest the decline. He said the college had set new standards in updating the skills of teachers in its brief existence. He lauded the faculty for setting high standards which helped it secure the highest ranking by the NAAC. B. K. Punia, director of the college, said well-known experts had been invited to interact with the participants. Van Mahotsava launched Vice-Chancellor M. L. Ranga planted a sapling on the campus to mark the launching of Van Mahotsava. Speaking on the occasion, he said every single individual on the planet was equally responsible for preserving environment and trees were the most important element of the environment. He said the deteriorating environment was threatening the existence of the human race and it was time everyone contributed towards arresting the decline. Ranga said the campus was one of the most environment-friendly campuses in the country and thousands of trees were being planted every year. Meanwhile, the Vice-Chancellor lauded the devotees of Dera Sacha Sauda who launched a cleanliness campaign on the campus as part of the Clean Hisar drive of the dera. Ranga said the campaign should inspire residents of the campus and the students to maintain cleanliness in their surroundings. CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar Meet on PPP mode State Agricultural Universities (SAUs), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) will organise jointly a meet on partnership between public research institutions and private sector as an important initiative to revamp the Indian agriculture to make it globally competitive. The SAU-ICAR-CII Northern Region Meet will be organised at CCS Haryana Agricultural University (CCS HAU) on September 4. Dr M. K. Garg, Director, Human Resource Management, CCS HAU, said Dr K. S. Khokhar, Vice-Chancellor of the university, would be the chief guest on this occasion. Dr S. Mauria, Assistant Director-General, ICAR, Dr Arvind Kapur, member, CII National Council on Agriculture, and Vice-Chancellors of SAUs, officers of nine departments of northern states and about 150 agri-business industries would participate in the meet. He said technical sessions on seed and biotechnology, farm machinery and dairy and food sectors would be held on the occasion to discuss potential areas of collaboration with industry and expectations of research institutions. An exhibition would also be organised to display the commercially viable technologies developed by agricultural research institutions. — Contributed by Raman Mohan
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THE Indian education system has always demanded hard work from students since the very beginning. Earlier, the education system laid stress on bookish knowledge, whereas in the recent times, with the implementation of CCE (Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation), a lot of practical work is being encouraged and imparted to students.
