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| Sunday,
June 24, 2001, Chandigarh, India
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STATE OF EDUCATION Chandigarh, June 23 ‘‘Frankly, the state of college education is dismal. And the main reason for this condition is the dilution of norms and rules laid down for the system, by those who are supposed to follow them. Starting from the management to the administration, each one of us, including the teachers, students, their parents, is responsible for this degeneration.’’ says Prof Jeevan. ‘‘For example, there is a rule which says that students with only 66 per cent attendance through the year should be allowed to appear in the final examination, but then many of us, if not all, try to get as many of our students to appear in the examinations misusing rules, using our discretion etc. Is this not a dilution of rules? Then, there is such a large amount of choice given to the students in the examinations that they leave out half the syllabus. This has made education, marks oriented and not knowledge oriented. MBD culture is rampant which is not just producing unemployed youth but unemployable youth.’’ Are there any remedies? ‘‘Yes the remedy lies in making sure that all those rules which have been laid down are followed ruthlessly without compromise of any variety. It is a simple solution, follow the rules you have made for yourself and mark my words the system will respond positively.’’ But don’t you think that some of these rules are now outdated and need to be changed? ‘‘No, it is the other way around. The rules which the system follows are time tested. Only some of the recent changes, which have been made, are popular measures and should be undone.’’ Is the problem of discipline among students becoming endemic? ‘‘There is a discipline problem which has come up in the last few years but it is basically because of affluence and so it is a problem of colleges in big cities, not the rural colleges. As far as students are concerned, I always say, children are not careless, they are cared less.’’ Prof Jeevan’s concern regarding the failing standards of education at the level of colleges in the country is shared by Dr A.C. Vaid. ‘‘There is a growing need for diversification of the old system of education. Today is the age of biotechnology, information technology and management. The courses, which the system offers to the students, should be devised to keep in tune with times so that the usefulness of this education continues.’’ But is a change in the course content enough to re-vitalise the whole system? ‘‘It will take care of a lot of things. The colleges should, in fact, take an initiative and propose new courses which cater to the needs of society which will give jobs to the students.’’ What role can a head of institution play in this kind of mire? ‘‘Look, the progress of any institution depends on the head of the institution ensuring a proper coordination between the faculty, students, the management. It is team work and this coordination can be achieved. Inspite of this mire, if an institution is doing well then there are certain positive aspects of development which are being implemented and the credit for that goes to the head of the institution.’’ How is the system going to change? ‘‘The transformation is going to be a slow and steady one and it has started. As far as the discipline problem is concerned, I believe that students are always disciplined, it is how we tackle them. Initiative lies with the head of the Institution and faculty members.’’ ‘‘Colleges are key institution which are the bridge between higher secondary learning and university learning. The quality of education depends mainly on the individual teacher. There are many who try and keep themselves abreast of all that is new in the field but many also encourage the guide system which can be detrimental to the system. The head of the institution should take a very strict stand on this account.’’  |
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‘Focus on college education’ Chandigarh, June 23 The point of more autonomy for colleges was also raised by Prof K.N. Pathak, Vice-Chancellor of the PU, in his presidential address. Prof Sharma said some colleges could become centres of excellence, but for that, the government expenditure on education needed to be increased. He praised the IITs and the IIMs for their success stories and talked about recommendations of the NIEPA to the Commission for the 10th Five Year Plan. Prof Sharma stressed the need for refocussing attention on college education as the stress had been on primary education since 1960s. “The current world order demands knowledge of intensive industries which even the developed countries know,” he said. Prof Sharma said UNESCO, World Bank and the IMF had also stressed the need for remoulding education for the IT age and the heads of the local colleges should realise this. He said the expenditure on the college education was not enough and the existing administrative structure was rigid. “Colleges have become political hotbeds. A teacher should have his own room and workshop. With the opening of the world market, Indian education needs to be upto the international standards or the colleges will lose a significant number of students, he said. Prof Pathak said, “Colleges are teaching a number of course of the colonial era that are not relevant today. Colleges should be enterprising enough to introduce new courses on their own.” Prof Pathak said the university had improved its examination system, but it was not enough. The question-paper setting and the
evaluation process needed to be more justified. The university planned to introduce the provision of showing answer-books to students. Prof S.L. Sharma, director of the course, said the management aspect needed to be incorporated along with the administration aspect in colleges for better results. Principals needed to be more familiar with the university’s way of functioning, research councils and the University Grants Commission and the workshop would help them in this. Prof Ramesh Kapoor, Dean, College Development Council, proposed the vote of thanks. |
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REMINISCENCES Chandigarh Things have changed indeed, this time for good, she tells herself as she thinks of the conversation between the three girls about the Army being better — “more adventurous, more exciting” — than the Air Force. She remembers the days when the girls would talk about cooking, needlework, or the married life of a friend, but not jobs in any case. For a majority of the students, marriage immediately after college was the ultimate reality. The idea was to study in a good college to procure a good match. After marriage, the farthest they would go was to teach nursery classes. Further education to become a civil servant or to take up other challenging careers was the privilege of only a fortunate few. “I know of girls in small towns who could not continue with their studies because their parents would not allow them to stay in hostels”, she recalls. Today, she is glad that the winds of change blowing across the country have altered not only the socio-economic conditions, but also the attitude of the people. “Parents these days are more trusting, have more faith in their daughters. Girls are allowed to be on their own, take up careers of their choice, no matter how tough or challenging these may be”, she asserts. The girls are eager too. They want to learn more and more — from operating computers to driving cars. They want to utilise their spare time in such activities. They have more confidence in themselves, and are willing to talk to strangers to project their point of view. They do not hesitate to discuss business over dinner and work till late in the evening, day after day. “It is good they are not confined to the kitchen 24 hours a day anymore”, she says. But are they ignoring their family lives in the process? “No, it is not true. The girls today know the art of striking a balance between their family and their professional lives. They work throughout the day and also take care of their husbands and children”, she insists. She adds that today’s children too have an edge over the “kids 10-15 years ago, thanks to their working mothers”. Today, they go for skating in the morning, computers in the afternoon and tuitions in the evening as working couples can afford such facilities,” she concludes. |
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Physics refresher
course begins Chandigarh, June 23 Professor Pathak underlined the importance of these courses in the context of internal brain drain from basic sciences to IT and management sciences. He stressed that the physics curriculum should be revised so as to keep pace with the changing times. Prof Ramesh Kapoor, Dean, College Development Council, mentioned the role played by the PU academic staff college since December 1988. |
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PU to introduce 5-year law course Chandigarh, June 23 The proposed course will concentrate on English language, economics and history of legislature in first two years. The course proposes to have 60 seats. It will be self-financing. The three-year course and the new five-year course will run parallel for some time before the three-year course is phased out. A committee will shortly finalise the syllabus, sources said here today. |
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Summer workshop concludes Chandigarh, June 23 The function started with the inauguration of exhibition displaying the creations made by the tiny tots during “Kidz 2001” computer workshop and “Kalakriti” art and craft workshop. The computer wizkids had put on display the school’s website. In the art and craft workshop the kids had displayed hand and finger puppets, decorated pots, screen paintings, batik paintings, glass painting and eye masks. Participants of the “Jhankar” music and dance workshop and “Boogie Woogie” theatre and dance workshop presented an entertaining cultural show. The cultural evening started with a Saraswati Vandana. The students of the skating workshop presented a musical item. Kids also danced to the tunes of famous number “Dil Tote Tote Ho Gya”, and English numbers, including Boom-Boom and Brazil. There were many other exciting items including a play enacted by the
children. The dances were choreographed by Siddharth Sharma and Rahul Sharma. The chief guest, Mr D.A.V. Sehgal, presented the award of honours to students who had excelled in these workshops . He applauded the performance of kids and the creative items made by the students during the summer workshop . The Chairman of the school, Mr B.S Bahl, was also present on the occasion. |
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CAMPUS
ROUND-UP Chandigarh This makes this library one of the six centres in the country with the capacity to provide such service to other libraries. The PU library will serve libraries in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Chandigarh. Document delivery will be done through the electronic process as well as the traditional mode of sending photocopies of documents to the library concerned. The library has already acquired the necessary infrastructure for this purpose. This resource sharing by the libraries will save a lot of time and energy of material seekers. The PU library has a collection that ranges from manuscripts to CD-ROMs from periodicals dating back to the 19th century to reference material in the multimedia form; from textual and bibliographical material of the pre-Independence period to Internet connectivity. One of the problems faced by the library has been the removal of pages from books by the students. The problem relates more to topics suggested by teachers or generally identified as important. There are hundreds of volumes in this library with vital pages missing. Harvinder Pal Singh, a student, says that this is the students’ fault. They ought to remember that the book has to be used by several persons, maybe generations. The library has a collection of 6,20,000 publications consisting of general books, text-books, reference books, periodicals, dissertation and theses, newspapers, maps, atlases, manuscripts and rare books. The library is the proud owner of a national heritage — 1500 manuscripts in languages as diverse as Sanskrit, Sharda, Arabic, Persian, Punjabi and Hindi. The library subscribes to over 600 current periodicals. E-mail and Internet facilities are available in the library. However, work-stations for these ‘paid facilities’ are not enough in number. More computers should be provided in the reference section and the reading room. This is a necessity in the changed times with the spread of information technology, says Rakesh Singh, a student. |
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IT for library
services stressed Chandigarh, June 23 Prof H.R. Chopra of the Department of Library and Information Science, Panjab University, and the course co-ordinator, in his keynote address, stressed the need for automating library and information services without any further delay in order to serve the library users.
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Local kids feature in quiz today Panchkula, June 23 The two students, Bharat Jakati and Aditya Singh of Class VII, competed with 64 teams from seven countries to reach this stage in the contest. The team was selected following a written contest held by the organisers in the entire country. |
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PU MA (dance),
BA results Chandigarh June 23 The result gazette can be seen at the Panjab University Enquiry Counter from Monday or the following telephone numbers: 784869/534818 may be contacted from 7.30am to 1.30pm to know the result. |
Two granted bail Chandigarh, June 23 The complainant, Mr Prem Nath, manager of a Ludhiana-based Company, had complained that the two shops in the Badheri village possessed pirated cassettes of the newlyreleased Hindi movies, Jodi No 1, Fiza, Gadar, Kurukshetra. Bail plea dismissed: The UT Judicial Magistrate (First Class) today dismissed the anticipatory bail plea moved by Gaya Parsad, for his alleged involvement in a fraud regarding the allotment of plots in Mauli Jagran on the basis of fake slips issued on behalf of a tehsildar. The UT Vigilance Department had booked several persons under Sections 419, 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120- B of the IPC. Meanwhile, the magistrate had granted bail to Domi in the same case. Bail granted: Harjit Singh, a resident of Sector 61, was today granted bail by the UT Judicial Magistrate (First Class) in several cases registered against him. The accused was arrested by the police, along with others, in a chain snatching and theft cases on June 19. The accused was granted bail on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 10, 000 in two cases and on Rs 7,000 in three other cases. |
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BHATNAGAR
CASE Chandigarh, June 23 The court also declined the defence any further opportunity to address questions to the witness, thereby bringing the examination of witness to an end. The prosecution will now give its closing address on June 27. At the start of the proceedings, the defence submitted that as the court records had been tampered with, and permission to inspect the records was not being granted, it should be allowed to lodge an FIR against the Judge Advocate, Maj Vipin Chakraborty, who is responsible for the custody of proceedings. The defence also demanded that the court record be brought before the court for members to see for themselves whether the proceedings had been tampered with. The defence maintained that it had managed to see a page of the record where certain words had been added to the statement of the witness. After the submission was disallowed following the JA’s advice, the defence contended that since it does not expect justice from this court, it would move the Punjab and Haryana High Court, seeking immediate sealing of the court record and a stay on further proceedings, to which the JA responded that he did not care for the High Court. The defence added that it would also send copies of the petition to the Army Chief and the Northern Army Commander to highlight the conduct of the JA and illegalities being committed by the court. Major Bhatnagar raised objections and lost his cool after the court disallowed a question addressed to the witness, Maj-Gen V S Budhwar by the defence counsel, Capt Rajneesh Bansal, to verify the discrepancy regarding the General’s statement about meeting two JCOs of Bhatnagar’s company at Ganasok. General Budhwar, in a reply to a question had stated before the court that he had spoken to only one JCO and the defence had wanted him to clarify whether his earlier statement at the summary of evidence, where he stated that he had spoken to both JCOs was wrong. The accused shouted at the court and asked the presiding officer he had any conscience. The presiding officer, Col Vinod Malik ordered that Bhatnagar leave the court room. When Bhatnagar did not budge, maintaining that he would not leave without his counsel, two armed guards were called to take him out. Even outside the courtroom, he kept shouting and venting his ire. He warned the guards not to touch him and said that they could shoot him he so desired. Later, on coming out, his counsel pacified him. Later, after the court re-opened, the accused was warned of his conduct and the court directed that since the defence was making infructuous submissions and addressing irrelevant questions, the case was being closed and directed the prosecution to present its closing address. |
Walking down ramp mindless: Kittu Chandigarh, June 23 “Walking down the ramp is the most mindless thing to do” says Kittu, who started her career with modeling for Mafatlal Company during her college days. Kittu became synonymous with beauty products like Lactocalamine, Halo shampoo and Charmos. “Modeling is fun but when it comes to satisfy one’s creativity there is nothing like stage plays,” says this versatile actress. Kittu, who has been experimenting with radical theatre since her college days is still very much into plays. “Rehearsal for plays is a beautiful process which has given me the most pleasurable moments of my life,” she says.”Working in front of the camera is a controlled process, while theatre gives the total freedom to an artist,” she adds. Kittu has already worked with big names like Naseeruddin Shah, Anahita Oberoi and Vikram Kapadia. “At present I am working with Quashar who is Alok Padamsee’s son on a project about women,” says Kittu. “After working in a number of plays written by foreign authors, I would like to work more on Indian scripts,” says Kittu Kittu, who is taking a break from TV serials , is concentrating more on meaningful movies and theatres. “I have just finished shooting for Kamal Hassan’s ‘Abhay’ a bilingual feature film in Hindi and Tamil and also Govind Nihalini’s ‘Dehan’, “ says the actress. What type of roles attract this versatile actress? “Any meaningful role with well written dialogues,” says Kittu. At present she is working on a monologue that explores the conflicts in a relationships of a young mother with her son. Talking about her dream projects,Kittu says she would have loved to work with Satyajit Ray, Kundan Shah and Steven Sodervergh. An avid lover of comedy she would also like to play the role of a comedian on screen. |
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Models take ramp, Shan
takes mike Chandigarh, June 23 Though the show started quite late, the quality of the show was further enhanced by superb compering by Martin d’ Souza. The tastefully done ambience also kept the audience spellbound throughout the show. The major attraction, however, was the performance by well known singer Shan who entertained the audience with Steve Wonder’s ‘Overjoy’ and his own famous song ‘Tanha Dil’. Nina Manual, Dipanita Sharma, Joey Mathew, Tupen Chaterjee and Sapna Kumar show cased the latest trends in casual, semi formal and formal wears available with the Wills Sport range and in the men’s section, Inder Sudan, Tarun Arora, Rajat Raina , Aditya Bal and Sachin Khurana exhibited the latest trends in both formal and casual wear. |
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Mime artistes captivate Chandigarh, June 23 The show had six items. Comedy was the underlining feature. Naskar’s wife Dr Subhra Sanyal collaborated with him in other items. Both belong to the Modern Mime Centre, Kolkota. The evening began with a solo performance by Naskar. Titled ‘ The Thief’, the comic piece had a thief breaking into a house via the glass panes. He is caught while he has the entire loot in his pocket. The sketch on a broken down scooter had the crowd in splits as it showed agony of a couple stranded on road. Facial expressions were impressive in the mime titled ‘Kite’. A sculptor designs a beautiful female. The girl has stone has shown good body control. The artist moans after he has sold the ‘beauty’. The lighting on stage was done by Harshdas while the music was operated by Chanda Ozha. Naskar is a graduate from Calcutta University. He has a film on mime titled’ Events of triangle’ to his credit. |
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No barrier between actors, audience Chandigarh, June 23 The festival that
entered the third day today staged “Do Ekant Aur Do” by a troupe from Indraprastha College, New Delhi. Written by Nirmal Verma, the play narrated the life of a woman. The whole play was enacted by gestures with a background voice making the interpretation. Neha Chawla was on mime and Nandini Arora spoke the dialogues. |
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Summer brings in ‘garden theatre’ Chandigarh, June 23 In a lush garden in a residence in sector 10, a small crowd gathered today evening to watch the two one act plays. An English adaptation of Spanish playwright Serafin Joaquim Alvarez Quintero titled “A Sunny Morning” and another called “The Twelve Pound Look” by James M. Barrie was what the young actors staged for the audience. The performance was given by first timers or comparitively fresh newcomers under the
direction of Mr Kanwljeet, the idea being to give them exposure during the ‘lethargic’ summer season. Amit Thakral, Piya and Shina were a few of the characters, who gave a good performance with fine acting. Convincing roles which received quite a few laughs with the satirical one liners was the highlight of the day. The CADS is an old society established in the early 60s by Eulie Chowdhary, which was revived two to three years ago by a bunch of enthusiasts. The 20 odd active members include people ranging from 20 to 40 years of age, each sharing a common passion for acting. They’ve already put up three plays in the Tagore theatre — Birthday Honors, Mousetrap and Black Comedy. |
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