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5-day week: Challenges ahead Private schools in UK turn to foreign pupils as recession bites Studyscape Campus Notes
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5-day week: Challenges ahead IN alignment with the Panjab University work schedule, its affiliated colleges are set to have a five-day work schedule. If it is appropriate for the university to function for five days a week, it should be perfectly logical for the affiliated colleges to follow the same pattern.
Undoubtedly, the argument is valid but there may be practical difficulties in the implementation of five-day work schedule. The switch over to the new module will necessitate changes in timetable of the college teachers as well as the students so as to compress six days workload into five days, either by increasing the duration of periods or by increasing the number of periods. In both the cases, the timetable will be stretched, resulting into longer time span in the college. But the question arises, will all the stakeholders, who are used to a short and comfortable time schedule, be happy to accept a longer time span in the college? Will they be prepared for the trade off? What about the infrastructure — the rooms and laboratories? Are there enough labs available so that practicals, which are otherwise distributed in six days of the week, could be adjusted in five days? By making adjustments in the timetable, the colleges may be able to compensate for the loss in teaching days, but what about the extra time which will be required in conducting exams and admissions? With the new module, every activity, from admission process to exams, will have to be adjusted within the five-day framework. Hence it will consume more days, making further dent into the already depleted teaching days. Whatever exaggerated claims may be made regarding the number of teaching days in colleges, 180 teaching days in an academic year remains a distant, elusive number. The fact is that actual number of teaching days grossly falls short of the number mandated by UGC. The five-day module is a good idea, provided there are a limited number of holidays. But in our system, where there is a plethora of holidays, scheduled and unscheduled, very often the two-day weekend will get stretched into extended weekend. With five-day schedule, there are greater chances of a working day getting sandwiched between holidays. Needless to say, these sandwiched working days are virtually ‘no teaching days’. We must not forget that the five-day module will not only further shrink the number of effective teaching days but may leave less time for co-curricular activities. The argument that the attendance is lean on Saturdays and hence the five-day module will not entail any actual loss in teaching is misplaced. Where is the guarantee that the attendance does not fall on Friday when the weekend gets preponed? It is quite possible that the holiday mood sets into motion on Friday itself. Another argument is that the five-day schedule will give more time to teachers for research and study. This, I treat as a forbidden territory into which I would not like to venture. I hope all these aspects pertaining to the five-day module in colleges are thoroughly examined, so that the transition to the new schedule proves beneficial for all the stakeholders without compromising on the quality of education. Here, I may add that the Delhi University model of a five-day week in colleges is worth considering. In Delhi colleges, the timetable of the faculty is adjusted in five days but the colleges function for all the six days, so that the problem of infrastructure in colleges is taken care of. The writer is an Associate Professor
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Private schools in UK turn to foreign pupils as recession bites INDEPENDENT schools are relying on a surge in applications from foreign students as they try to beat the recession, according to the annual census of the Independent Schools Council (ISC). Official figures show the number of foreign students has risen by 1.4 per to 25, 912, while the number of home-grown students has stagnated. The figures also show a growing number of independent schools — in total 29 — have set up overseas campuses which educate a further 19,000 foreign students — swelling their coffers and helping pay for more bursaries to help pupils from poor backgrounds. The rise comes mainly from Russia, China and Nigeria — up 27.4 per cent, 5.4 per cent and 16.3 per cent respectively. By far the largest number of students come from Hong Kong (5,732) and China ((3,891) In the meantime, a like-with-like comparison of the 1,204 schools that completed the census in both years reveals a 0.3 per cent overall drop in pupil numbers to 5,03,132. However, overall pupil numbers have risen to 5,08, 601 as some larger schools have joined the organisation in the past year. The drop is most marked in secondary schools and sixth forms (down 0.8 per cent and 1.2 per cent respectively, whereas prep school numbers are rising (up 0.6 per cent). The ISC said this reflected a drop in the age cohort at secondary school level and an increase in those of primary school age. Regionally, recruitment in London is improving (by 1.1 per cent), whereas it is tailing off elsewhere (0.6 per cent down). The biggest drop is in Wales (2.7 per cent). Barnaby Lenon, chairman of the ISC and former headmaster of Harrow, acknowledged the drive to improve recruitment internationally was “partly to provide a source of revenue for UK schools in order to hold down fee increases and fund bursaries”. The Census also discloses that fee rises were the lowest for almost 20 years at 3.9 per cent with schools recognising parents are struggling as a result of the recession. Growing numbers of independent school pupils are also seeking university places abroad following the rise in UK fees levels, it adds, with 38 per cent of schools reporting increases in those seeking to leave these shores to study. Only 9 per cent reported a drop in demand for overseas university places.
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Studyscape NEW DELHI: There is a need to introduce mental health programmes and improve the existing ones in schools, so that behavioural and other mental problems can be kept at bay among children, experts said. “We have to have improved standards of mental health programmes in our school, because it not only identifies the symptom in a child which can develop at later stage but it helps assess the behavioural problem in a child,” N.K. Chaddha, Head of Department of Psychology at Delhi University, said here recently. He said themental health programme in schools can improve a child's performance and his relationship with peers and family. Chaddha was speaking at a national seminar on "Mental Health Care Programme for School Children: Beyond Learning Disability". The seminar was organised by O.P. Jindal Global University and Institute of Human Behaviour Allied Sciences.
Row over Singapore varsity’s denial of tenure to Prof
SINGAPORE: One of Singapore’s largest public universities has rejected an appeal by an Indian-origin Associate Professor of Journalism for tenure, triggering a row. Nanyang Technological University decided to turn down the appeal of Cherian George, Associate Professor in its Wee Kim Wee School of Communication, despite opposition, media reported. Four of the university’s most senior faculty members, including two ex-Deans — Ang Peng Hua and Eddie Kuo — have written to the university, saying that denial of tenure to George would cause “serious damage to our academic reputation and professional integrity” and NTU’s ability to attract top communication scholars, according to the Straits Times. A former journalist, George has written several books and articles on censorship in Singapore. According to Theodore Glasser, George’s dissertation adviser in Stanford University in the US, there is no reason not to grant tenure to George and that the decision was taken for George “offending the political powers in Singapore”. George has been denied tenure twice within three years. — IANS
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Campus Notes THE Haryana Governor and Chancellor of Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), exercising powers under section 9-A of the MDU Act, has entrusted the duties of Vice-Chancellor of MDU to H.S. Chahal, Vice-Chancellor of Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology (DCRUST), Murthal. Chahal will discharge the duties of Vice-Chancellor of MDU in addition to his present assignment till the appointment of a regular Vice-Chancellor here. Chahal has been the Vice-Chancellor of DCRUST since 2008. The tenure of Dr R.P. Hooda concluded on May 3. He was given a formal send-off by the staff and employees after the completion of his tenure as Vice-Chancellor of MDU, which saw an unprecedented construction activity on the campus during the period.
Seminar on tourism
Developing curriculum as per emerging requirements of the hospitality and tourism industry was emphasised by experts at a one-day national-level seminar on "Hospitality and Tourism Education in India: Issues and Challenges", organised recently at the Institute of Hotel and Tourism Management (IHTM) of the varsity. The global economic trends indicate expanding horizons of world tourism, and there is need for qualitative expansion of hospitality and tourism education, underlined the experts. Dr Swarup Sinha, Principal, ITC Welcome Group HMI, Gurgaon, emphasised upon the importance of quality service in hospitality industry. He called for dedication and innovation to succeed in this career. Dr Vinnie Jauhari, Principal, IIMT, Gurgaon, said hospitality and tourism education must keep pace with the new opportunities in this sector. Prabhjot Bedi, Director, Elicate Hospitality, Chandigarh, talked about honing of communication and operational skills in students. Earlier, IHTM Director Professor Daleep Singh welcomed the guest speakers and delegates. He highlighted the global hospitality and tourism sector growth trends. Noted academicians form Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, and IGNOU, Delhi, were among others who took part in the seminar and chaired technical sessions.
Natural farming
Dr Rajinder Chaudhary of the Ecomonics Department of the university has been making efforts to popularise the concept of natural farming in the region. He is coordinator for a programme to be held at Lakhanmajra town on May 12, where a get-together of farmers and experts has been proposed to be held. He revealed that this was another event in the chain of the drive that was launched almost four years back in the region to promote natural farming and help the farmers to shun the use of pesticides and chemicals in farming. He said while main purpose of this seasonal get-together is to exchange experiences of the current season and plan for the upcoming crop season, training in grafting technique will also be provided. An experienced horticulturist and Convenor of "Kudarti Kheti Abhiyan", Narayan Singh will be the resource person for the grafting technique. The programme will be held at Sheetal School, Laknmajra. Farmers from Rohtak, Jhajjar, Jind, Hisar, Bhiwani, Kaithal, Rewari, Panipat, Mewat, Sonipat districts are expected to participate. Professor Chaudhary said the purpose of this meet is to share such experiences, so that farmers ploughing lonely furrow learn from each other. —
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