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| EDUCATION TRIBUNE |
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Bright but less privileged Campus Notes
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Bright but less privileged ALL through the 70s and the 80s, the Centre had put a brilliant scheme into operation called the Government of India Scholarship Scheme. Under this scheme, state governments would conduct an examination at the Grade VI level and recommend suitable candidates for Government of India (GoI) scholarships to the top residential schools in India. I remember in Sanawar, we would get 10 to 20 children from far-flung areas like Manipur, Bihar, Kashmir and Ladakh from the less-privileged sections of society, coming to us at the start of Class VII.
With the arrogance of affluence, the full fee paying students tended to be cynical about school activities and to lack motivation. The coming of the GoI scholars and their achievement in all school activities shook them out of this attitude and they threw themselves wholeheartedly into academics and sports. As a result, not only did the GoI scholarship scheme provide an opportunity for quality education to less affluent children, but these children, in turn, provided the impetus to spur the more fortunate children to make the most of what the school had to offer. Against this background, I welcomed the provision of the Act which read that schools belonging to a specified category and unaided schools would, at their levels of initial admission, provide admission to the weaker section and disadvantaged groups, to the extent of up to 25 per cent of the total strength of the class. But the provision, unlike the GoI scheme, comes with a catch. The catch lies in the financial implications of this provision. According to the provision of the Act, schools which have not received any benefit by way of a grant of land at a concessional rate or building grants of any kind, will receive a subsidy from the government towards the fees of these children “to the extent of per child expenditure incurred by the state, or the actual amount charged from the child, whichever is less... .” The question arises as to what parameters will be adopted to calculate the per child expenditure incurred by the state. It is clear that whatever the parameters adopted, the final figure will be considerably less than the fees charged by the school. This is what gives this provision a totally different colouring from the GoI scholarship scheme where every expense incurred by the child in connection with his education, was reimbursed by the government. There is bitter irony in the provision in the Act which says, “The Central Government and the State Government shall have concurrent responsibility for providing funds for carrying out the provisions of the Act.” There are states where the government has no resources to pay the salaries of teachers for months on end, where government schools are perennially under staffed because the state government does not have the resources to pay the salaries for a full component of teachers. Against this background, one is wryly amused at the unrealistic expectation that these state governments will be able to find the resources for this additional financial burden. There are two types of private schools in operation in the country today. There are the schools which run on the old public school pattern where every penny that might be saved at the end of the year is pledged to improve the infrastructure and make additions to the facilities that are provided to the children. These schools, obviously, will not have any extra funds to cope with this shortfall. There is the other group of private schools, most of them excellent schools, which are run as commercial ventures. They do make a handsome profit at the end of the year on their investment, but it is a profit that they will be loath to cut into to meet the shortfall. Schools which have been granted land at a concessional rate, or who received any kind of grant towards the buildings, will not receive any subsidy and will have to make up the entire fees of this 25 per cent from their resources. The immediate and most obvious solution to this problem would be for the schools to raise the class strength at the admission level without, in any way, having to add to the infrastructure or increase the strength of the staff. This solution is workable in schools like YPS, Mohali, where the strength at the nursery level is 20 per section and at Class I, 25 per section. But here, too, an increase of even five per section would definitely impact on the quality of education being imparted. In schools, where the strength already stands at 40 or more per section, this solution is not viable. The other possible solution to the problem, and one that most schools will, eventually, be forced to take, is to raise the fees of the full fee paying students to meet the shortfall created by the government-sponsored students. In other words, the government is shirking its duty to provide quality education to the less privileged sections of society and is passing on the responsibility to private schools, who in turn will be passing on the burden to the fee paying students. I find an irony in this situation, too: the very parents who are being asked to pay for the government’s failure are the ones who have already paid an education cess along with their income tax. There will also be a section of parents who will not be able to cope with this increase in fees and will be forced to withdraw their children. So, we will end up creating the paradoxical situation of extending the benefit of quality education to a section of society who would otherwise not have enjoyed this benefit, but, in doing so, we will be excluding another section of society from this benefit—a benefit which they presently enjoy. But even the remedy of an increase in fee will not be available to all schools. Already in some states, legislature is in operation which makes it mandatory for schools to seek government approval before raising the fees. Experience shows that this approval is not always forthcoming. To make matters worse, some states are proposing to introduce laws which will make it mandatory for schools to get approval of their parents’ body before raising fees. We all know what this will mean. These schools, faced with an inability to meet the financial burden imposed upon them, will be forced to dilute the facilities that they provide for their children and put a stop to development of any kind. Gradually, they will deteriorate from centres of excellence to institutions of mediocrity and the very purpose for which this provision has been made—providing quality education to the under privileged, will be defeated. As if this was not a grim enough scenario, the Act makes everything darker by once again remaining silent as to what will happen to these children when they complete their elementary education. Perhaps the government feels that the private schools, having carried the children from nursery and Class I onward, will feel morally bound to see them, at least, through Class X. A few schools might feel that way, but I suspect, a far larger number of schools will gladly show these children the door at the end of Class VIII and they will be forced to drop out of the school. Considering that the number of children ‘benefiting’ from the reservation is so small when compared to the total population of school-going children in India, it would not require any fantastic outlay of resources by the government to meet all their school expenses. If this were done, I am sure every school would welcome the reservations and we would end up reaping the same benefits from it as we did from the Government of India Scholarship
Scheme. An eminent educationist and author, the writer is Principal, Yadavindra Public School, Mohali
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Campus Notes A three-day visit of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) peer team concluded here recently. The team assessed the existing facilities and standards of staff and infrastructure in order to recommend the grade to be allotted to MDU. The seven-member team was headed by a former Vice-Chancellor of Goa University, Prof. P. S. Zacharias. Other members of the team were Dr Mamta Satpathy, former Prof., Utkal University; Prof. B.V. Babu, Dean, EHD, BITS- Pilani; Dr Yoginder Verma, former Director, Academic Staff College, HP University, Shimla; Dr Jacob John Kattakayam, Director, UGC-Academic Staff College, University of Kerala; Prof. V. Vijay Kumar of the National Law School of India University and Prof. Sher Ali of the National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi. Dr Sujata P. Shanbagh, Assistant Advisor, NAAC, accompanied the team. Speaking at the exit meeting, Dr P. S. Zacharias, chairperson of the team, said though the university had adequate infrastructure and student support services, the scope and potential had always been there as developing effective teaching-learning process, ensuring extensive e-governance, developing evolved internal quality mechanism, evolving effective research plan and collaborative academic tie-ups helped in qualitative growth of educational institutions.
New courses
The university will introduce three new courses from the academic session 2010-2011. This decision was taken at the 158th meeting of the Academic Council held here recently. The new courses are MTech (Computer Science) in the Department of Computer Science & Applications, MSc (Fermentation & Microbial Technology) in the Department of Genetics, and MSc (Environmental Biotechnology) in the Department of Environmental Sciences. The Academic Council also approved registration of 34 students in the PhD programme in different faculties.
Roy is IMSAR Director
Dr H. J. Ghosh Roy, a senior Professor of Management, has been appointed Director, Institute of Management Studies and Research (IMSAR), with effect from April 27, 2010. He will work as Director, IMSAR, till February 28, 2013, i.e., date of his superannuation. An alumnus of BHU, Varanasi, Prof. Roy is BBM, MBA, MCom from that University. He has done MSc (Computer Science) and PhD from MDU, Rohtak. He has been the founding Director of IMSAR as well as SBMNIMSAR, Asthal Bohar, Rohtak. He has also served as Director of the Centre for Management Development, Modinagar.
Admission notice
The university has issued the admission notice for the MBA (5-year integrated) programme in the Institute of Management Studies & Research (IMSAR) for the session 2010-2011. According to officials concerned, the entrance test for the MBA (5-year integrated) programme will be conducted on July 4, 2010 from 11 a.m. to 12 noon at Rohtak. Prospectus will be available for sale from May 10. Admission form can also be downloaded from the university website www.mdurohtak.com. All details about the programme are available on the website. The last date for the submission of application form is June 4. — Contributed by Bijendra Ahlawat
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ADMISSION DEADLINE The
Apparel Training & Design Centre (ATDC), A 223, Okhla Industrial
Area, Phase I, New Delhi 110020 (M/o Textiles, GoI) 1) Diploma in Apparel Manufacturing Technology (1 year) 2) Diploma in Knitwear Manufacturing Technology (1 year) 3) Diploma in Fashion Design Technology (1 year) 4)
Diploma in Apparel Information Technology (1 year) 6) Diploma in Advanced Pattern Making& CAD (1 year) 7) Diploma in Advanced Apparel Manufacturing Technology (2 years) 8)
Diploma in Advance Fashion Design Technology (2 year) 10) Certificate in Production Supervision & Quality Control (6 months) 11)
Certificate in Apparel Pattern Making (6 months) 13) Certificate in Garment Construction Techniques (4 months) 14) Certificate in Industrial Sewing Machine Operation Basic (150 – 200 hrs) 15)
Certificate in Industrial Sewing Machine Operation Advance (250
– 300 hrs) Eligibility: For 1-10 & 15:
Class 12. Selection: Aptitude Test / Interview. Application Form: Send Rs 200/ - by DD favouring "Apparel Training & Design Centre," payable at New Delhi at the above address / In cash : Rs 150/- from designated centres / Download from website. Details: Employment News (24 – 30 April 2010) / Website Application Deadline: 28 May 2010 Arts Performing Film
& Television Institute of India, Law College Road, Pune 411004 (Mah) A)
Courses in Film & Television B) Courses
in Television Eligibility:
Bachelors Degree +: Selection: Admission
Test: 01 August 2010 Details: Employment News (24 – 30 April 2010) / Website Application Deadline: 15 June 2010 Engineering Central
Tool Room & Training Centre, B 36, Chandaka Industrial Area,
Bhubaneswar 751024 (Ori) (M/o MSME, GoI) Diploma in Tool & Die Making (4 years) Eligibility:
Matriculation with Maths & Science (Physics &/ or Chemistry,
50%). Selection: Preliminary Test: 04 July ’10; Final Written Test: 05 July ‘10 Application Form: Send Rs 550/- by DD favouring "Central Tool Room & Training Centre", Bhubaneshwar with self-addressed envelope (20 cm x 25 cm) to the Administrative Office at above address by 05 June ’10 / Download from website. Details: Employment News (24 – 30 April 2010) / Website Application Deadline: 12 June 2010 Vellore
University, Vellore 632014 (TN) (Deemed University) MSc (Biotech / Comp Science / Applied Microbiology / Electronics / Bio-Medical Genetics / Pharmaceutical Chemistry / Chemistry) Selection: Bachelors
degree Details: Website. Application Deadline: 29 May 2010 Indian
Institute of Information Technology Design & Manufacturing (IIITD&M),
Kancheepuram, IIT Madras Campus, Chennai 600036 (TN) 1) MDes
(Mechanical / Electronic Systems), 2 years Eligibility: For 1: BE / BTech / BArch / associate membership holders from AMIE / AMIETE with valid GATE score Graduates from IIT/IIIT: BTech (CGPA 7.5) For 2: refer website (different for each course) Application Form & Details: Website Application Deadline: 28 May 2010
Centre
for Development Studies, Ulloor, Thiruvananthapuram 695011 (Ker) MPhil (Applied Economics) Eligibility: MA in Economics with 50% / MA in Social Sciences / Humanities / Law with 55%, or Sciences / Technology / Life Sciences with 60%. Fellowship: CDS
MPhil: Rs 3,000/- pm; JET fellowship for journalists Details: Employment News (24 – 30 April 2010) / Website. Application Deadline: 27 May 2010 IT Centre
for Development of Advance Computing (C-DAC), Advanced Computing
Training School (ACTS) HQ, 5th Floor, NSG IT Park, Aundh, Pune 411007
(Mah) 1) PG
Diploma in Advanced Computing Eligibility: Selection:
Common Entrance Test: For 1: 29 – 30 May 2010 CET
II: 19-21 June ’10 Application Deadline: 25 May 2010 Protective Services Delhi
Police, Recruitment Cell, New Police Lines, Kingsway Camp, Delhi
110009 Recruitment
of: Eligibility: For
1: Bachelors degree / Shorthand (English / Hindi, 80 WPM) / Typing
(English, 40 WPM / Hindi, 30 WPM) / working knowledge of accounts
& office procedure / drafting & office procedure preferred. Application Form & Details: Employment News (24 – 30 April 2010) / Website Application Deadline: 14 May 2010 Sciences Social International
Institute for Population Sciences, Govandi Station Road, Deonar,
Mumbai 400088 (Mah) (Deemed University) 1)
Diploma in Population Studies Regular (1 year) / Correspondence
(1-3 years) 4) Master
of Population Studies (Correspondence, 2 – 4 years) Eligibility: For
1: Bachelors degree For 4: Masters
Degree in (Social Science Subject / Health / Maths / Economics /
Statistics or allied subjects) Fellowship: For
3: Rs 2,500/- pm Details: Employment News (24 – 30 April 2010) / Website Application Deadline: For
1, 4 & 5: 30 July 2010 Travel & Transportation Indian
Maritime University, Mumbai Campus, Karave, Nerul, Navi Mumbai 400706 BSc
Nautical Science Eligibility: 10+2
(PCME) Selection: Interview: July/August 2010 Application Form: Send Rs 800/- by DD drawn favouring "Indian Maritime University," payable at Chennai with a stamped (Rs. 85/-) self addressed envelope (12" x 10") at the above address / Download from website. Details: Website. Application Deadline: 04 June 2010 University Doon
University, Mothrowala Road, PO Ajabpur, Dehradun 248001 (Utt) Joint Entrance Exam-2010 In School of: Environment and Natural Resources / Communication / Mgt / Social Sciences / Languages Exam: 13 June 2010 Application Form: Send Rs 650/- by DD favouring "Doon University, Dehrsdun", payable on a nationalized bank at Dehradun at the above address / Download from website. Details: Website Application Deadline: 15 May 2010 Vocational Security
Skills Council of India, A 28 & 29, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase
I, New Delhi 110020 1) PG
Certificate in Security Operations Programme (6 months) Eligibility:
Bachelors degree; Good English and computer proficiency skills;
Holders of NCC ‘C’ certificate ad outstanding sports achievers
preferred. Application Form & Details: Employment News (24 – 30 April 2010) / Website. Application Deadline: 15 May 2010 Pervin Malhotra, Director, Career Guidance India (CARING) (www.careerguidanceindia.com)
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All of them had two things in common — they were all exceptionally bright and they were all highly motivated. They knew it was the chance of a lifetime, a chance they might never get again and so, they were determined to make the most of it. Once they had got over their initial fear, hesitation and their awkwardness with spoken English, there was no holding them back. Barring a very few exceptions, they were always at the forefront in both academics and sports. It was heartening to see the son of a village potter rubbing shoulders with the son of a Chief Minister and the scion of one of the leading industrial houses in the country, without the slightest inhibition, and trumping each of their achievements.