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| EDUCATION TRIBUNE |
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Does education make you a better entrepreneur?
Video games can make children more morally aware: Study
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Does education make you a better entrepreneur? I have been within the four walls of school and I have been on the street. I can confidently tell you that street is tougher, challenging, daring, exciting and more rewarding. In school, you play alone. But on the street, you play with the big boys. — Ajaero Tony Martins
THE debate whether college degrees or academics help one to become more successful in life has been going on forever. Anyone who cares to share his views would say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ when confronted with this question. But all agree on one issue, that success is generally measured in terms of millions or billions one makes, and it may not be related to satisfaction or happiness one gets out of life. There are many examples of men who took the bull by the horns and built successful business enterprises despite having dropped out of school or college. They could not be held back because of a lack of formal education; they found their entrepreneurial spirit and surmounted the toughest of business challenges to succeed and build business empires which are the envy of pass-outs from Harvard, Oxford, Massachusetts Institute of Technology or Cambridge. Some business tycoons dropped out of school or college at the age of 16, made their own rules of the game of entrepreneurship, made billions and became legends in their own life times. Larry Ellison, co-founder and chief executive of Oracle Corporation, says, “I have had all the disadvantages required for success”. Thomas Edison, the greatest inventor who was labelled dumb and scatterbrain by his school teachers, went ahead and founded Generic Electric, one of the most powerful companies in the world. Steve Jobs, the technology pioneer who co-founded Apple Inc., had dropped out of Reed College. The legendry Bill Gates of Microsoft and Marc Zuckerberg were Harvard dropouts. Walt Disney who created the Disneyland dropped out of the school at the age of 16. Similarly, billionaire Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Atlantic Airways, dropped out of school at the age of 16 and Michael Dell of Dell Computer Inc. dropped out of college at 19. We can talk about Ted Turner, the founder of CNN, Giorgio Armani of fashion brand Armani, John D. Rockefeller, the American oil magnate, Dale Carnegie, Ford, and so on. Of course, our own greats like Sir JJ, Gujarmal Modi, Dhirubhai Ambani, the founder of Reliance and father of Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani, Subhash Chandra of Zee, Gautam Adani of Adani Group, etc., who created history, have one thing in common — they lacked any formal education or training. The point is, whether education should be acquired for knowledge sake to become a better person who can enjoy the luxury of learning, reading, writing, calculating, evaluating analysing. Entrepreneurship should not be used an excuse for not going to school or college. There are unfortunate people who may not be able to attend school or college due to circumstances beyond their control, but those who can, must attend. There is a general rule that anyone equipped with education is more likely to succeed than the one who is not. Gone are the days when only ‘half-educated’ persons took up a business activity. Also, who knows these greats could have touched greater heights in business had they been better equipped with education, more knowledge and better skills. However, the problem with our education system is that it does not attempt to develop the spirit of inquiry in the learner and then allow him to learn more about the specific area of his/her interest from parents, teachers, books, Internet, friends or any other source of knowledge. If this loophole is plugged, we can definitely produce world-class entrepreneurs. No doubt, our education system does not provide all that may be required by any individual to become a successful businessman, but the fact is that no school or college can do that. What the college can do is to provide the vision and the ability to integrate acquired knowledge with skills one needs in business, and many good institutions do that. This is also a fact that school/college teaching and any formal training can never replace the inherent genius of individual learning from their grooming and from the ‘operating environment’. It is quite likely that the great names in business world across the globe could have reduced their ‘hit and trial’ learning period and could have achieved what they did in the same or lesser time, if they had had the advantage of education. An entrepreneur is not a unique and rare character, and entrepreneurship is not restricted to those who are gifted with certain qualities. But entrepreneurship can always be learned; all one needs is to have basic education. |
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Video games can make children more morally aware: Study NEW research conducted at the University of Victoria, Canada, suggests that playing video games can make children more ethically and morally aware. The five-year study was conducted by Education Professor Dr Kathy Sanford, and focused on young people aged 13 to 17, analysing what lessons, if any, games were teaching children. “What we found was that what they were learning was a whole lot deeper and more profound than we had imagined,” said Dr Sanford, speaking to The Globe and Mail. “They are doing a lot of problem solving and strategising. They are learning collaboration and leadership skills.” “But the most profound thing that got me really thinking about their civic engagement is that they are actively making ethical and moral decisions all the time. They are trying out roles through the characters in the stories. If they act badly, if they choose to be evil, they see the significant results of each of the decisions they make.” Sanford says although she recognises that parents are often sceptical about their children playing videogames she believes that “balance is critical”: “People criticise gaming because it is sedentary. But we wouldn’t be upset if those kids were reading a book.” The research also highlighted that as well as teaching children to recognise the cause and effect reality of their actions, the focus of games on winning actually encouraged cooperation, rather the self-interest. “In online games, they don’t necessarily choose their teammates, so they have to negotiate whose strengths are used at what time,” says Sanford. “These are not one-off strategies. Some of the participants have talked about the usefulness of their leadership skills in running a guild in a game, and then going into a high-school classroom and navigating that structure.” The research flies in the face of popular opinion on videogames, which usually provide a handy conduit for pundits trying to create moral panics. However, Sanford stresses that worried parents should “talk to [their] kids about what they are doing in an interested and genuine way.” “Some of the characters are problematic to me, there is a lot of sexism, but we need to talk to kids about [videogames], not just ban them.”
— The Independent |
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Pre-departure orientation
programme for Indian students
NEW DELHI: The French Embassy will organise a pre-departure orientation programme to make Indian students leaving for France for higher studies aware of the country’s administrative procedure, teaching methods and inter-cultural aspects. French Ambassador Francois Richier will inaugurate the French Scholarship Award ceremony and the pre-departure session on July 4. “The students leaving for higher education in France for the academic year 2013-14 would be counselled on administrative procedures to be completed on their arrival in France, teaching methods used in French educational institutions, inter-cultural aspects, and other relevant matters,” a statement from the Embassy said. France has opened its frontiers wider for Indian students. Last year, around 2,600 Indian students opted for higher education in France, a jump of 50 per cent over the past five years. This year, French Embassy, along with its corporate partners, including Michelin India, would award scholarships worth Rs 7.1 crore to 235 meritorious Indian students who wish to pursue higher education in France.
Delhi branch of KISS to start
functioning from this year
BHUBANESWAR: The Delhi branch of Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), a free residential institute for underprivileged children, will start functioning from this academic session. A memorandum of understanding to this effect was signed between Lalmalsawma, Principal Secretary, Welfare of SC/ST/OBC/ Minorities, Government of Delhi, and R. N. Dash, Secretary, KISS, in New Delhi recently, according to a press release issued by the institute. The school will impart education to 1,200 children, belonging to SC, ST, minorities, orphans and other underprivileged sections of society, as per the CBSE syllabus. The Delhi Government has allotted about 20 acres of land in Najafgarh for the purpose, the release said.
— PTI |
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CAMPUS
NOTES
Maharshi Dayanand
University, Rohtak THE university has set up grievance redressal cells at various levels. According to Vice-Chancellor H.S. Chahal, these cells have been constituted to take swift action on the grievances of students. He said while the complaints related to registration and scholarship, academic, general administration, and security office branches will be handled by a grievance cell headed by the Registrar, complaints related to the examination wing, secrecy, re-evaluation and result branches will be handled by a cell headed by the Controller of Examinations. The issues related to boys’ hostels will be looked into by a grievance cell headed by Professor S.S. Chahar, Provost, Boys’ Hostel, while the complaints related to girls’ hostels will be taken care of by a grievance cell headed by Professor Indira Dhull, Provost, Girls’ Hostel, he said.
Common herbs
Extracts and bioactive compounds from common herbs Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) and Oscimicm sanctum (Tulsi) can be helpful in combating joint pain and reducing inflammations. This was claimed by Dr Munish Garg and his team of research scholars Parul Garg and Monika Joon of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the university. Dr Garg said their research was based on modifying the delivery system and developing gel for local application extracted from these medicinal plants, which can be useful in the treatment of joint pain and arthritis. Based on this research work, patent applications have been filed by Dr Garg, which has been accepted by the Indian Patent Office. Notably, Dr Garg has working on quality and efficacy of herbal drugs for the past several years.
Electronic bulletin board
The Institute of Hotel and Tourism Management, MDU, Rohtak, plans to provide Hospitality and Tourism Research Information Network (HTRIN) services on the university portal http://www.mdurohtak.ac.in/htrin. HTRIN would be an electronic bulletin board with an aim to serve as a tool to connect the hospitality and tourism research and education community. The idea is to create a platform for exchange of information pertaining to hospitality and tourism research and to create a forum for open debate on issues related to hospitality, tourism research and education. Profesor Daleep Singh, Dean of Colleges, MDU, said an advisory board comprising IHTM faculty members would also be set up to make it more interactive.
B.Tech course
The university has invited applications for admission to the B.Tech. (Biotechnology) course in its University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET) for the session 2013-14. According to Professor S.P. Khatkar, Director, UIET, details of the admission process are available on the university website www.mdurohtak.ac.in. The last date for the submission of duly filled forms is July 12, he said.
— Contributed by Bijendra Ahlawat |
