The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

EDUCATION

Education system “crumbling”
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, July 4 — The education system is crumbling amidst crumbling values all around, said Mr P.S. Sangha, Principal of SGGS College in Sector 26 here, during an interface of principals of Panjab University with Master Mohan Lal, Minister of Higher Education, Punjab, today.

Increasing tuitions, falling attendance, the row over fee and vocational courses and specific problems of rural colleges were among the prominent issues at the conference.

Mr Sangha pointed out that institutions managed only about 99 days of actual teaching work. Examinations, student elections, holidays, casual and earned leave, besides other activities, consumed about 256 days. This led to the strengthening of the tuition business.

Preparation for regular classes and competitive examinations differed a lot. Competitive examinations held the key to the future. The normal courses naturally suffered due to a lack of attention. Attendance and response in classes should account for at least 50 per cent marks out of the total evaluation, Mr Sangha added.

Principal H.R. Gandhar said the link between universities and industry should be strengthened. Institutions should have optional courses. A small committee should be constituted on the issue.

Mr Gandhar said greater emphasis should be laid on evolving a work culture suited to the changing times. Issues like proxy admissions (in private schools which allow relaxations in lectures) and the drawing up of a framework to ensure greater accountability needed immediate attention.

Principal Jaswant Gill said there should be facilities for providing more than one option in vocational courses in colleges. She also said that at least a one-hour class in moral science should be made compulsory.

Ms Satinder Dhillon, Principal of Dev Samaj College of Education, Sector 36 here, said the university should avoid entrance tests of Bachelor of Education courses.

The principal of a Talwara college said educational problems in the state had increased over the past two decades.

A principal from Doraha said the university needed to study the reasons why courses like BBA and BCA failed to be really popular in the rural belts.

One might not earn as much as one paid for education, the principal said, opposing fee hike. There was a general agreement that a hike should be introduced if necessary, but the limits should be reduced.

The DPI (Punjab), however, defended the decision on fee hike. The government had a liability of nearly Rs 110 crore as payments of colleges, he said.

Master Mohan Lal, however, said the government was compelled to ensure revenue generation.

Principal S.P. Dhawan said nearly 400 students were admitted to science graduation courses in a college. On an average, 200 attended classes. Only 100 appeared in the examinations. This was a sorry state of affairs.

An important issue was the banning of tuitions. It was generally observed that tuitions had contributed to the deteriorating classroom scenario. Principals had been asked to send notices and teachers asked to give affidavits that they would not take tuitions.

Various aspects related to vocational education were brought up.

The speakers included Principal B.D. Bhdhiraja, Principal Jaspal Brar, Principal Sooch, Dr A.C. Vaid, Principal Khatda and Principal Inderjeet Vashisth.

Master Mohan Lal said there was a suggestion to concentrate more on Sanskrit as a subject which was being increasingly ignored. He said a Sanskrit scholarship could be introduced.

Prof M.M. Puri, Vice-Chancellor, said it was pointless to discuss work culture without personal ethics.

'Skills help, but ethics make a person'
By Monica Sharma

CHANDIGARH, July 4 — ''Inculcation of ethics is central to the overall academic curricula of the institute," says Ms Promila Verma, Principal of Tribune Model School.

"Knowledge and computation skills give material returns, but, ethics are key to the good life which parents want their wards to have."

"It is a school with a difference where students from all walks of life come. The varied family backgrounds of students do not prevent the school from achieving 100 per cent results, besides a good number of first divisions, every year," the Principal says.

"The school was established in 1950s at Ambala and was shifted to Chandigarh in 1986. There are about 30 students in each section of the school. This way, teachers are able to pay personal attention to each student. Stress is laid on helping children strengthen their basics in all subjects. Children are made to attend extra classes if they find a subject difficult. Self study and not tuition culture is encouraged among students here. Teachers consider it their responsibility to see that students score well in examinations," the Principal says.

"Education and books are provided free of cost to students and the expenses are borne by the management. The management takes decisions keeping in mind the needs of the students and the staff. It is basically a school for wards of employees of The Tribune. Weak students are given more attention than the rest," says the Principal.

This year, Awasthi Wretvic topped the school with 87.2 per cent marks and Vaibhav Malik scored the highest marks in English (97 per cent) in the Class X CBSE Examination.

Ms Vijay Awasthi, mother of Awasthi Wretvic, said, "Till Class VIII, my son studied in another school. When I shifted him to this school after that, his performance improved a lot in no time. It was due to the extra effort which teachers here put in for good results. Regular attendance and self study, which are encouraged in the school, have brought success to my son. Proper revision of all subjects in the school made him confident and prepared.''

Mr Jatinder Awasthi, father of Awasthi Wretvic, said hard work brought his son good results. He also said all teachers of the school took good care of students and brought the best out of them. He said interaction between teachers and parents was regular and good. Teachers kept parents well-informed about the progress of their children.

Mr Manjeet Singh Sabharwal, a former member of the PTA, said school did a commendable job every year. "Even though the school does not screen students during admissions, it always achieves 100 per cent results in board examinations.

COURTS

Remove jail court’s grill, orders Judge
From Our Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, July 4 — The District and Sessions Judge, Mr H. S. Bhalla, has ordered the removal of the barricades consisting of iron grills and barbed wire in the court room in the Model Jail, Burail, within one month.

The judge directed the CBI’s public prosecutor and the Jail Superintendent-cum-Deputy Inspector-General of Prisons to bring to the notice of the Chandigarh Administration the removal of barricades in the court room where the trial of the accused in the Beant Singh’s assassination case was being held.

Passing the order, the judge observed that such barricades segregated the accused from defence counsel, thereby obstructing the communication between them. The judge further observed that court rooms having such barricades were not in line with the judicial system and may impede the trial, amounting to the denial of the defence itself.

An application in this regard was moved by Gurmeet Singh and others involved in the assassination case.

Asia TV directed to return Rs 10,000
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, July 4 — Taking up a complaint filed by a Panchkula resident against Asia Television Network, the UT District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum II directed the network to return the initial deposit of Rs 10,000 to her. The direction was passed keeping in view the inability of the network to pay back the maturity amount to the complainant despite repeated promises to do that.

Ms Reeta Verma in her complaint before the forum bench consisting of the President, Mr R.P. Bajaj, and member, Mr H.S. Walia, stated that she had deposited Rs 10,000 with Asia Television Network for a period of one year. The said deposit carried 15 per cent rate of interest per annum and it was to mature on February 2, 1999.

She alleged that even while the date of maturity lapsed, the company failed to respond to her letters. She said that no maturity amount was paid to her and she thus lost precious interest on her money. The complainant also served a legal notice upon the company to which the company replied, requesting her to extend the deposit for another six months. The company also promised to pay interest to the complainant at the time of maturity.

Ms Verma alleged that despite these assurances, nothing concrete came through and no money was paid to her.

The bench, after going through the documents on record, including the receipt of the initial deposit of Rs 10,000, concluded that the complainant had been unfairly deprived of the monetary benefit. The bench directed the network to return the money along with interest at the rate of 15 per cent. Apart from this, costs of Rs 500 were also slapped on the respondent.

Consumer forum orders relief
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, July 4 — The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum ordered Ranauq Finance and the State Bank of Patiala, New Delhi, to pay Rs 10,000 to each of the two complainants, Mr Satya Pal Duggal and Ms Prakash Vati Duggal, on account of 10 debentures, pay the amount of debentures with stipulated interest till maturity and with interest at 15 per cent till actual payment, in addition to Rs 1,000 for mental agony.

In their complaint, the two had stated that they purchased 10 debentures each valuing Rs 10,000 which were allotted to them for 17 months and 29 days in July, 1997, and were due for redemption in January, 1999.

In March, 1999, the opposite party asked for option for rescheduling of repayment, but the complainants did not exercise the option and desired the payment of debentures. However, in spite of repeated reminders the payment of debentures after redemption had not been received by them.

Upon notice, the opposite parties did not put in appearance and were proceeded against ex parte. The Bench observed that after going through the file and hearing the arguments put forward, it was clear that the opposite parties had not paid the redemption amount despite issuance of legal notice, thereby indulging in deficient service.

In another case, the forum ordered Marigold Leasing, Chandigarh, to pay the four complainants, Ms Iswar Devi Wadhwa, Ms Rashmi, Mr Akshay Wadhwa and Ms Sangeeta, the matured amount, pay Rs 18 per cent interest from the date of maturity till realisation to each complainant and Rs 1,000 as cost of the proceedings.

In their complaint, they had stated that each of them deposited an amount for a term deposit for four years and were issued cheques to be encashed after four years.

After expiry of four years, the complainants approached the opposite party which directed them not to produce these and assured them that their payment would be given soon. However, these cheques were presented in the bank in May, 1999, but were returned unpaid for being out of date.

Upon notice, the opposite party did not put in an appearance and was proceeded against ex parte. After going through evidence produced by the complainants which went unchallenged, the Bench observed that the opposite party had indulged in deficient service by not paying the stipulated amount.

Sodhi Ram denied bail
From Our Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, July 4 — The bail application of Dr Sodhi Ram, former Controller of Examination, Panjab University, was rejected by the Special Judge for the CBI cases-cum Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mr Lakhbir Singh, for his alleged involvement in the question paper leakage case.

Contesting the bail plea, the CBI counsel argued that the applicant is the main accused in the case. The investigations in the case have reached a crucial stage and releasing the accused could hamper the probe.

The defence counsel argued that the accused had joined the university in January, 1998 and if the practice of leaking the question papers was prevalent, as claimed by the CBI, then why did it take them two years to book him for the crime? The defence counsel also argued that the investigation had mentioned ‘specfic seals’, which were to be recovered from the accused, don’t exist as any coin or a button can be used by the question paper setters to seal the paper packets.

Hearing the arguments from both sides, the judge dismissed the bail plea of the accused.

Dr Sodhi Ram, arrested on June 9, is at present in judicial custody along with four others for allegedly operating as a gang in the leakage of question papers B.Sc (III)-Honours, Department of Mathematics, in May, 1998.