Indian Education System

[vishvak]

..
DMK/AIDMK are nothing. messers seeman, nedumaran, sathyaraj et al, are the ig kahunas in this space. that level of day-to-day hate mongering, and not just on srilankan issues, even on internal TN issues, anybody else in india would have been hauled on coals. not these guys. kettale shudder-uvom. more shocking is that there are people standing and egging on these idiots. its a good thing rest of the country does not understand these guys. bala saheb, owaisi et al are kittens in front of these guys. how much bile, how much venom and what language in public speaking!!

" kettale shudder-uvom" - saar could you throw some light on this please, including bile and venom and language in public speaking. Seem to be classic case of secularism.

[Bade]

I have seen the so called rioters at close quarters during my days. This was at a premier college in Irinjalakuda which attracts the best students from the southern part of the district. It is a x'tian run college to boot with many state/univ rank holders too. The rioters usually are from the arts and to a lesser degree from the commerce stream. There used to be a few from the science stream, but hardly anyone who called shots.

The arts courses are the hotbeds for these worthless dolts even in good colleges. Very good talkers and dealers. No wonder they also have ready lower IQ dolts as followers too to do their job at beck and call. The situation was infinitely worse in other colleges which ranked at the bottom. This college I attended had both SFI and KSU very active in almost equal strength and they would always be at loggerheads, never in direct fist fights like I did hear stories from other places in the early 80s. ABVP hardly had a presence in Kerala, maybe it is different now and I do not keep track that much. I knew some who went to the local KKTM college in my hometown and most were KSU sympathizers with upper class backgrounds. The SFI ones were usually from lower class backgrounds predominantly. Religion, caste were equally represented in both groups. The SFI leaders were X'tians in my college, though at times hard to say from name alone. But the upper and lower class by income or wealth was a better indicator of where sympathies fell usually.

So in the end a university/college is already a polarized place and some people carry their baggage to the campus to mete out what is justice in their eyes, using their new found acceptance in society...admission to a college being that to many. Yes as Sachin said they do not go there to study, but primarily for social reasons and stare at the girls and more. That is why I said the 15-20 age group in India is not mature enough to discuss politics or for that matter anything in a civilized manner.

[SwamyG]

An unfulfilled search for a Ph.D in Hinduism

A woman’s quest to conduct research in Hinduism has remained in limbo as there is no university in the country that offers such a study.

Subadra Muthuswami, who has a master’s degree in public health from Columbia University, hoped to pursue her interest in Hinduism when she returned to India.

“In my undergraduate programme in St. John’s University, it was a must that we do nine credits each of theology and philosophy for an arts degree. I ended up doing Hinduism studies. Then in my master’s programme, I opted to do a few courses in Hinduism. Since I am in India, I decided to do research to understand why we practice rituals and rites in Hinduism. But I understand that no university offers a comprehensive course in Hinduism studies,” she said.

She discovered that the University of Madras has programmes in vaishnavism and Indian philosophy. She enquired with universities such as Madurai Kamaraj, Annamalai and Sastra, but without success. Finally, she went to Madras Sanskrit College in Mylapore, where she was informed that she could register as an independent research candidate or seek help from the University of Madras.

“While you may study Indian philosophy in the philosophy department or vaishnavism or saiva siddhanta, which is in Tamil medium only, you cannot study the religion in all its constituent parts in India,” she said. She learnt that even Banaras Hindu University has a department in philosophy and religion but nothing specific to Hinduism.

According to Siniruddha Dash, head of Sanskrit department at University of Madras, there are six different philosophies in Hinduism and to master each of them, one may need 10 to 20 years. All philosophies are studied separately, just as in the learning of languages. Vaishnavism is a widely-practised aspect of Hinduism, one of the reasons the University offers the programme, Dr. Dash added.

The University’s department of philosophy allows a student to appreciate Indian philosophy, which professors say is about Hinduism.

S. Panneerselvam, head of the department of philosophy said it is only a matter of nomenclature. “We offer 12 papers at the master’s level including Advaita and Hindu social philosophy.

Senior professors say universities are secular places where Hinduism as a religion cannot be taught. Sources in the University said when the department wanted to offer a paper in yoga (which is also a shastra) last year, the move was opposed on the grounds that it was endorsed by a political party.

The University has separate departments for Christian and Islamic studies.

100-year-old college has no women students now

The Madras Sanskrit College, which has entered its 108th year, has over 150 students enrolled for various programmes.

Set up in 1906, the college was the first to be affiliated to the University of Madras in 1911 and was run with funds from local philanthropists. In 1977, it was brought under the ministry of human resources devolpment.

Principal N.V. Deviprasad says, “This institution is meant for those who want to study the traditional shastras or sciences. We offer a seven-year course for which a student can register after class X. He will graduate as a ‘siromani’, with a master’s in Sanskrit.”

The college used to admit women. “We had women students 12 to 15 years ago, but now, only men join,” Dr. Deviprasad said. Though the course is designated as an M.A. degree in Sanskrit, students learn the various ancient sciences.

The different specialisations offered here are vedanta (philosophy), vyakarana (grammar), sahithya (includes literary criticism), alankara (study of poetry and its nuances), jyotisha, nyaya (ancient science of logic, useful to understand making of laws and punishments) and mimamsa (vedic mantras and rituals, the meaning of words, their derivates and use).

Each of these streams may take at least 10 years to master, Dr. Deviprasad said.

[Sachin]

The arts courses are the hotbeds for these worthless dolts even in good colleges. Very good talkers and dealers.

I am an Arts graduate myself, and I would agree with you. To be very honest when I took up this course my only aim was to join the Police or the Army. For many Arts graduate this was one among the options available. Never a good public speaker, Law & Politics etc. was ruled out for me. But in my college the folks with maximum free time available were the Arts students (B.A Economics, B.A English, B.A History, B.A Philosophy, B.A Politcal Science etc.). The B.Com folks were there too, but with many of them trying the C.A route generally kept away from politics. The B.Sc graduates were more of the wanna-be Doctors & Engineers who missed the boat that year, and now preparing for the next year's Entrance examinations.

So in the end a university/college is already a polarized place and some people carry their baggage to the campus to mete out what is justice in their eyes, using their new found acceptance in society...admission to a college being that to many

Brilliantly put. The worst bigots I have seen in my life, unfortunately were found in the college campus I studied. To be very frank I found people with all sorts of "inferiority complexes". The kind of of caste based bigotry some of them had (they were from the so called lower caste), it pretty much convinced me that the so called "reservation" is nothing but "reverse discrimination". I actually left the college with a mixed feeling. I understood that there are very many people who come from much more in-secure (economical, family) backgrounds than me. But the other part was that many of these very people were absolutely clue-less on how to improve themselves, using the benefits given to them. To be very honest, I am yet to find any "new leader" from my college who has some thing new to offer. BTW, this was one college which had produced at least two student union leaders who were Speakers in the State legislative assembly. But for the last 10-12 years, the output is a big zero.

[chaanakya]

SC quashes common entrance test for admission in medical colleges

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday quashed the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admission in medical colleges.

The NEET is a single entrance-cum-eligibility-test for admission in all medical colleges in India.

By a two to one majority, the apex court held that the Medical Council of India had no powers to conduct single entrance examination and force it on government and private medical colleges.

The admission already made through NEET this year will not be disturbed, said Chief Justice Altamash Kabir and justice Vikramjit Sen, who formed majority in a 3-judge bench.

Justice A R Dave dissented, saying the NEET was valid and it was good for the students and society at large.

The court's decision came on 115 petitions challenging the MCI notification on NEET for admission to MBBS and post-graduate medical courses conducted in colleges across the country.

On May 13, the court had lifted the bar on declaration of results of examinations that had already been conducted and said the admission process could go ahead.

It had modified its December 13, 2012 order by which it had stated that MCI, Dental Council of India, as well as the states, universities and other institutions, will be entitled to conduct their respective examinations for MBBS, BDS and post-graduate courses but shall not declare their results until further orders.

The bench had earlier directed transfer of all petitions pending in various courts to it by January 15, this year.

The funniest part of this drama was that the whole judgement was stated to be available on some website ( obviously not that of SC) at 8.30 AM few hours before actual delivery of the judgement in the Open court. CJI Mr Kabir said it is kept confidential till the delivery and would not be able to say how it happened. He could have ordered CBI inquiry into this. But leaking of judgement is least of our concern.

Sad day for Majority of students who have to not only appear in multiple exams but pay through noses to get admitted into private colleges. Commercialization of education is well on its way without any regard to quality.

[chaanakya]

And Kabir retires next day , a very happy man indeed , leaving education sharks happy students stricken.

[chetak]

And Kabir retires next day , a very happy man indeed , leaving education sharks happy students stricken.

Of such wonderful creatures is our judicial firmament adorned with.

In any other democracy the creep would have landed in the clinker.

Every @#$% is on the make.

[Virupaksha]

Posting without comments on why the goondaism of the communists are the highest among student unions. It is a deliberate strategy.

In 1971, she decided to leave her job and return to Calcutta, where she joined the Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI (M) in 1971.She started her political work as a student activist since under the guidance of the Party she enrolled as a student in Calcutta University.]]On the suggestion of the party to understand practical politics, she joined the Calcutta University.[6] Initially she worked with students in the college campus and later during the Bangladesh war at refugee camps in the State.She was also writing for the Party weekly and later became a full time worker there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brinda_Karat

[nawabs]

SC’s NEET logic contrary to constitution bench rulings

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 228499.cms

The Supreme Court quashed the single-window admission system for all medical colleges by faulting the Medical Council of India-prescribed National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Examination (NEET) on three grounds.

The majority judgment, authored by former CJI Altamas Kabir and agreed to by Justice Vikramjit Sen, held that NEET violated Articles 19(1)(g), 25, 26 and 30 of the Constitution, which guarantees a citizen freedom to practice any profession and gives freedom to religious and linguistic minority groups to manage their religious affairs as well as educational institutions.

The bench said neither the Medical Council Act, 1956 nor the regulations framed thereunder empowered the MCI to formulate and enforce a single-window admission process for medical colleges. The court also said NEET could not ensure a level playing field given the disparity in educational standards in different parts of the country.

Since the Unnikrishnan judgment [1993 (1) SCC 645], the Supreme Court has been peppered with petitions by private medical colleges whose counsel look for interim orders just before admission time every year either for grant of permission from MCI to admit students or to step around the rules.

The issues dealt by Justices Kabir and Sen were touched upon by larger benches which decided important questions of law.

In the Unnikrishnan case, a constitution bench had said education could never be considered trade or commerce under Article 19(1)(g). "We are certainly of the opinion that such activity can neither be a trade or business nor can it be a profession within the meaning of Article 19(1)(g). Trade or business normally connotes an activity carried on with a profit motive. Education has never been commerce in this country," it had said.

A decade later, a 11-judge bench in T M A Pai [2002 (8) SCC 481] dealt with the subject of 'capitation fee' and whether imparting education could be a trade or business.

It had said, "We, however, wish to emphasize one point, and that is that inasmuch as the occupation of education is, in a sense, regarded as charitable, the government can provide regulations that will ensure excellence in education, while forbidding the charging of capitation fee and profiteering by the institution. Since the object of setting up an educational institution is by definition 'charitable', it is clear that an educational institution cannot charge such a fee as is not required for the purpose of fulfilling that object."

It also had hinted about regulating admissions to private colleges. "Excellence in professional education would require that greater emphasis be laid on the merit of a student seeking admission. Appropriate regulations for this purpose may be made keeping in view the other observations made in this judgment in the context of admissions to unaided institutions," it said.

In the Inamdar case [2005 (6) SCC 637], a seven-judge bench had said a common entrance test (CET) for admissions to medical colleges, including minority institutions, would be ideal and should be conducted by a credible agency, preferably the state machinery. It had also said that a test of this nature, akin to the quashed NEET, would not violate Article 19(1)(g) or the religious rights conferred in the fundamental rights chapter of the Constitution.

"CET is necessary in the interest of achieving the said objectives and also for saving the student community from harassment and exploitation. Holding of such common entrance test followed by centralized counseling or, in other words, single window system regulating admissions does not cause any dent in the right of minority unaided educational institutions to admit students of their choice. Such choice can be exercised from out of list of successful candidates prepared at the CET without altering the order of merit inter se of the students so chosen," it had said, articulating a vision for transparency sans profiteering in medical education.

It had said that despite repeated rulings of the apex court against capitation fee, private colleges were indulging in it with impunity and felt that CET could curb this evil.

"If capitation fee and profiteering is to be checked, the method of admission has to be regulated so that the admissions are based on merit and transparency and the students are not exploited. It is permissible to regulate admission and fee structure for achieving the purpose just stated," it had said.

If that is the position of law crystallized by the seven-judge bench, then how could Justices Kabir and Sen ask, "But where does it take us as far as those cases concerned which derive their right and status under Articles 19(1)(g), 25, 26, 29(1) and 30 of Constitution? Can rights guaranteed to individuals and also religious and linguistic minorities under the said provisions of the Constitution be interfered with by legislation and that too by way of delegated legislation?"

The majority judgment's view that MCI had no jurisdiction to devise and enforce NEET also stands on doubtful legal grounds as a five-judge constitution bench in Dr Preeti Srivastava case [1999 (7) SCC 120] had clearly held that regulations framed by the council were binding on states.

Can it be said that MCI, set up to ensure excellence in medical education, is barred from infusing transparency and merit into the process for intake of students?

Lastly, the majority judgment in the NEET case said, "In a single-window competition, the disparity in educational standards in different parts of the country cannot ensure a level playing field."

Well, if that is the logic, then the court must consider scrapping the Civil Services Examination which through a single-window test chooses officers for IAS, IPS, IFS and other central services.

[nawabs]

RUSA Proposes to put a Ceiling of Maximum Number of Colleges to be Affiliated at Two Hundred

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=98301

The Rashtriya Uchattar Shiksha Abhiyan proposes to put a ceiling of maximum number of colleges to be affiliated to any university at two hundred. The proposal has been submitted following several State Universities having a large number of colleges affiliated to a single university. For example Osmania University has 901 colleges affiliated to it while 811 colleges are attached Pune to University. Rashtrusant Tukadoji Maharaj University Nagpur has 800 colleges with it and Rajasthan as well as Mumbai University have 735 and 711 colleges attached to them. The average number of affiliated colleges per university is 300. This phenomenon negatively affects the academic quality of the University. It is imperative that States create more universities so that affiliation does not result in large number of colleges being tied academically to one university.

The one lakh crore rupees scheme when implemented will lead to setting up and upgradation of new colleges and universities. The scheme may also facilitate increased number of students from secondary to higher education.

The Rashtriya Uchchatar Flagship Abhiyan is a new centrally sponsored flagship umbrella scheme aimed at providing strategic funding to State higher and technical institutions. States will develop comprehensive state higher education plans that utilize an interconnected strategy to address issues of expansion, equity and excellence together. Central funding will be linked to academic, administrative and financial reforms of state higher education.

Also NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) rating has been made mandatory (it was voluntary earlier).

Centre asks states to get higher educational institutions accredited

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/346 ... igher.html

[SriKumar]

Posting a study on immigrant-based start-ups in the US by Vivek Wadhawa, Duke University on Indian and Chinese immigrants. It is relevant to the desi education thread.....they tie the start-up Indian (and Chinese ) entrepreneurs with their under-graduate universities in India (and China). Full report here.

http://www.kauffman.org/uploadedfiles/e ... _61207.pdf

Study seems comprehensive. Lots of good figures (of the statistical kind ). Study is a bit dated, though....2007, but still.

[Abhijeet]

Vivek Wadhwa has written a number of articles on smaller pieces of the study. I remember he had a series of guest posts on Techcrunch which should still be searchable.

[Vayutuvan]

Recycling to increase paper (post ?) count, I guess.

[RamaY]

Thanks to YSR the education system is ruined.

He helped MLAs, MLCs, MPs and every recognizable congress leader with engineering and medical colleges. Due to this in AP alone more than 250,000 engineering seats are available.

This year, after 1st round of counseling, only 100k seats are filled.

There are 13 colleges with not a single seat filled, 144 colleges with less than 50 seats filled and 256 colleges with less than 100 seats filled.

[Bade]

Is it due to questionable quality? If so then they need to wind up. OTOH, if they are reasonably good why not try to woo students from other poorer countries lacking similar colleges, say in Africa or rest of Asia.

[Theo_Fidel]

I don't think its is a bad thing at all. Colleges have to start somewhere, even IIT's began in little sheds. Give them time. Back in the day Sathybama and HEC in Chennai were these pointless shed like colleges. Today they are wealthy well endowed and competing in supplying engineers for all the factories around Chennai. Is there waste, absolutely, but better to have a graduate educated population doing work in all fields than a non-graduate population. It will pay off long term.

[Rahul Mehta]

I am hearing that now many boards, such as central board, have made policy not to fail students till 8th class. So everyone passes, even if they leave answer paper blank.

The teachers are asked to ask questions in exams ONLY from the book.

And 10th board exams are being scrapped. The school takes 10th exams and give 10th pass certificate. The central board has made 10th board exam optional. And Kapil Sibal is forcing all State Boards to adopt same system.

The 12th exams across India are being made easy to pass. The questions are coming from textbooks mostly.

Can anyone verify if this tread is true?

====

Do we have any information on whether maths\science levels in 10th pass and 12th pass students is improving or worsening?

[Bade]

Nothing we did not know already, but shows how pitiable the conditions are in the education sector. Posting in full as this has lots of info hard to find in one piece for this critical sector.

Indian higher education: 40% of college teachers temporary, quality of learning badly hit

There are four members in the economics faculty of Khaira College near Balasore in Odisha. Two of them get salaries of over Rs 1 lakh, one gets around Rs 45,000 and the fourth just Rs 11,139. All of them take 30 to 33 lectures a month.

Although a UGC-recognized college, only the two top-earners get UGC prescribed pay scales. One is getting the state scale, and the lowest earning lecturer is under a contract covered by a 'block grant'. In many other Odisha colleges, there are lecturers working for as little as Rs 5,000 per month, says Pravas Chandra Mohapatra, a professor at Khaira.

This story is repeated across the country. Colleges and universities are not appointing teachers on regular posts. Instead they hire non-regular or contractual teachers at a pittance, many of whom are not fully qualified. It is an unacknowledged crisis swamping the higher education system in India, which otherwise tom-toms its rapid expansion.

Neither the department of higher education nor the University Grants Commission (UGC) has a complete picture about vacancies in universities and colleges, and the contractual non-regular teachers appointed to tide over these vacancies. A parliamentary standing committee in its report in May this year recorded only partial figures. Against 16,324 sanctioned teaching posts in central universities, 6,254 posts — 38% — were vacant. Information for only 47 state universities (out of a total of 297) was available showing that out of 11,645 sanctioned posts, 4,710 or 40% posts were lying vacant.

"A critical patient has to be given emergency treatment under close monitoring," the standing committee wrote in anguish.

TOI collected information on pay scales of contractual teachers and their numbers from regional teachers' associations and federations across the country. The findings are shocking, and indicate a crumbling higher education setup in the country. An estimated 40% of college teachers are non-regular, designated variously as temporary, contractual, ad hoc, guest or self-financing. They usually get anything between Rs 4,000 and Rs 20,000 per month, and work for about six months in a year on contractual basis. They get no other benefits.

If university and college teachers are being paid such low salaries, and with many not even fully qualified, to expect good quality teaching from them is unreasonable, says Vijendra Sharma, former president of Delhi University Teachers' Association.

Even Ved Prakash, chairman of the powerful UGC that controls the purse strings of higher education in India, admits that "some sub-standard" teachers have been roped in at the college level, although he insists that measures are being taken to appoint qualified faculty.

In the Mother Teresa Women's University, Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, one of the constituent colleges pays just Rs 4,000 per month to many of its lecturers. Manoharan, who retired after 33 years of teaching English at a Dindigul college, says you can find colleges paying Rs 2,000 to 2,500 in the district. He estimates that about 40% of teachers in southern states are non-regular.

In Manipur University, run by the central government, so called part-time or guest lecturers — numbering some 600 out of total faculty of about 1,600 — were being paid Rs 8,000 per month according to Laishram Randhoni Devi, president of the teachers association. She says about a third of faculty in the north-eastern colleges is contractual.

Tapati Mukhopadhyaya, general secretary of western zone federation of teachers and recently retired from Mumbai University, says that the going rate for ad hoc teachers is Rs 8,000-10,000 in Maharashtra, although it may vary with colleges. She said that in Maharashtra, Gujarat, AP and Goa, about 40% teachers are temporary.

In the northern states of Punjab, Haryana, HP and J&K, the salaries of these non-regular teachers are between Rs 6,000 and Rs 15,000, says Attar Singh, a professor of physics in Hissar. In these states, Singh says, proportion of non-regular teachers varies between 40-60%.

Asok Barman, general secretary of the All-India Federation of University and College Teachers, says that while student intake has rapidly grown, a resource crunch, especially with state governments, has led to over 40% of regular teaching posts being filled up by low-paid contractual teachers.

"Instead of filling up these vacancies, colleges and universities appoint non-regular teachers at a quarter of the salary for regular teachers. In private colleges in remote areas, fresh post graduates are paid peanuts to teach under-graduate classes," Barman says.

"We are aware of the faculty shortages and we are trying to fill vacancies with well qualified teachers through various initiatives like faculty recharge program, appointment of non-NET qualified scholars, etc. A centrally sponsored scheme - Rashtriya Uchhatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) costing Rs 25,000 crore has been launched with matching grants from states," Ved Prakash explains.

In private universities, teachers report that there is hardly any monitoring, and arbitrary salaries are paid. The parliamentary committee noted that just 53 private universities have been visited by the UGC expert committees since 2004, and just 8 had completed their compliance actions.

Ved Prakash agrees that "not all private universities have turned out to be good". UGC was going to concentrate on monitoring in the coming days, he said.

[Bade]

China has done a lot better than India when it comes to the PhD count. In 2002, India (11,974) and China (14,706) stood close producing a similar number of PhDs. America held the pole position producing a total of 40,024 PhDs. Within a span of merely five years, a comparative study by Sunder S of Yale University, showed India producing 20,131 PhDs. China leaped up and in 2007, stood close to the USA with 41,464 PhDs. The USA accounted for 48,112 PHDs that year. In 2010, as per data put out by the China's ministry of education, China outnumbered America in the number of PhDs produced with 48,978 students being awarded the degree as compared to 48,069 in the US.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home ... 528928.cms

[Agnimitra]

Does the Karnataka govt. want to destroy all notions of brotherhood and friendship within classrooms itself?

Karnataka: Free excursion for OBC, minority students

The State government has decided to introduce a free four-day excursion for backward classes and minority students studying in VIII, IX and X standards in government high schools across the State from this academic year.

[alexis]

http://articles.economictimes.indiatime ... m-super-30

India allows poor people to get education freely or subsidised but quality is a question mark

[ramana]

India is wasting its demographic dividend

India is wasting its demographic dividend
Ashish DhawanNovember 25, 2013 Email to Author

First Published: 00:47 IST(25/11/2013)
Last Updated: 00:53 IST(25/11/2013)

We are a nation of 350 million children aged 4 to 17, many of whom although enrolled in school will never get past Class 8. A new book by Harvard economist Lant Pritchett reveals that an average Class 8 student in India would be learning what students learn in Class 1 or 2 in the United
States. Is this the future we are preparing them for?

Research suggests that 80% of brain development takes place by the time a child turns five. And yet the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE) applies only to children from six to 14 years. As a country we need to expand this right to include children below the age of six years. In developing countries, such as Mexico, the free and compulsory education is offered to children at the age of three. To give this critical pre-primary intervention due focus, the government must mandate two years of pre-primary education within the current schooling system with a well-designed curriculum to provide a strong foundation for all children. We should also establish an early childhood education (ECE) accreditation agency for setting standards and quality assurance of pre-schools. We must also address the fact that nearly three-fourth of teachers engaged in ECE today lack adequate professional qualification.

A critical dimension of our education crisis is that even those children who are in school often do not acquire foundation skills —including literacy and numeracy — that enable them to successfully continue in school. The Annual Status of Education Report is a testimony to the fact that we are failing to help millions of children make the crucial transition from ‘learning to read’ to ‘reading to learn’.

We need a nation-wide literacy and numeracy drive to ensure that all children master basic reading and numeracy skills by Class 2, a goal defined clearly in our Twelfth Plan. Under Tony Blair’s regime, Britain introduced a ‘national literacy hour’ that required teachers to devote at least one hour a day to improving children’s reading standards, through carefully structured daily lessons. This policy had a lasting effect on reading levels — the percentage of 11 year olds reaching the required reading standards increased from 57% to 75% in the first four years.

For effective implementation, all primary teachers must be trained on building early literacy and numeracy skills among first generation learners and provided with teaching-learning aids such as Math manipulatives and levelled reading materials in regional languages. We should also consider specialised summer remedial camps. To provide personalised attention to children, tutor volunteers should be made available round the year.

Although enrollment in Class 1 is 97%, only 40% of our children reach Class 12 today. More shockingly, only 47% of college graduates are employable in any sector of the economy, according to the National Employability Report, by Aspiring Minds. If we do not gear our educational system towards every student’s preparedness for college, career and life, our demographic dividend will turn into a demographic disaster.

The Chinese government, for instance, subsidises workplace training programmes and requires students in vocational tracks to spend a year on workplace training during their upper secondary programme. A similar emphasis in India will also make vocational tracks more aspirational for students. Investing in our children’s future requires adequate preparation at every stage of their educational journey.

Ashish Dhawan is founder and CEO, Central Square Foundation
The views expressed by the author are personal

[SwamyG]

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp ... 714717.ece

On Kerala's pallikoodams....

The other sciences and branches of learning taught to the Indian youth are: Poetry, Fencing, Botany and medicine (Vaydyassastra or Bheszagiashastra), navigation, the use of the spear, the art of playing at ball (Padacali), Chess (Chadurangam), Tennis (Goladi), Logic (Tarkashastra), Astrology (Giodisha), Law (Svadhyaya and, Silence (Mauna) . Silence is, of course, not a taught as a subject anymore, but, it is amusing to note that many school classes may even now begin with the teacher beating the cane on the desk and uttering the cry “silence, silence”!

The Ezhuthupalli schools obviously were Brahmanical schools, as Bartholomew mentions about other castes thus: The Vayshya instruct youth in agriculture, the Kshetria in the science of Government and the military arts, the Shudra, in mechanics, the Mucaver, in fishing, Ciana, in gardening; and the Banyen, in commerce .

[prahaar]

I have a newbie question related to India's government school system: it has become a no-go for anyone who can afford to pay the fees in a private school. From the anecdotal evidence from my parents' generation, from different cities like (Indore, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Sangli, Vadodara, etc.), all of them studied in sarkaari schools, no, not the KVs but municipality schools. Municipality School No. 5, etc. and they talk about good and committed faculty, who based on their description were no less in capability as well as commitment compared to top (in a given city) private schools, where I studied.

When asked about why I was not put into one of the municipal schools, pat came the reply, they were not good anymore. Many of them blame the poor work ethic of the faculty that was replacing the previous generation. I find it strange that municipal schools that worked well pre-Independence or initial part of post-Independence, suddenly degraded, when education would have got greater impetus, sounds counter-intuitive.

Is there some study which discusses the fall of sarkaari schools from the choice of schools, except for those who cannot manage a private education?

[Singha]

an interesting topic. maybe in past generation there was less opportunity both in teaching or anywhere else, and some really good and talented teachers were going into the profession..you either worked in teaching or govt dept job mostly. university and college profs were deeply respected (still are). however my recollections of Ma and Pa talking about their schools is that while some teachers were good, some were really bad. sometimes inspectors used to come and the bad ones would try to cover up. so for every success story there would be umpteen kids who were not given good eduction. I tend to think there was wide variations and many kids excelled due to their own drive, not just the system. there was also a tradition of wealthy in villages sponsoring the education of poor but hard working kids from the village.

from the bare bones village school if I look at my mamas, #1 did engg in civil from BHU, #2 did engg in elec from BHU, #3 became a doc and moved to UK, #4 became a literature prof and #5 after be in elec had a long career in IA. even when I was a kid that school was nothing more than a few rooms and blackboards.

[Bade]

Almost all my class mates from my home town during plus2 years (PreDegree in those days) in Kerala studied at the local govt high school. There were a gang of 10 students, each one of them did engineering when there were only a countable few engineering colleges in the state. I was the only one who opted for the Sciences, the default option was REC Elec in my case. So govt schools did well even up until the early 80s at least. While in college in Bengal, again 80% of my batch mates were from rural areas or tier-3 towns of the state and did their schooling in govt schools. Only the city kids came from the private schools. Things are different now for sure at least in Kerala.

[Theo_Fidel]

Actually I was meaning to post on this. I went to government school for my elementary. If you include college, 11 years of government school. My parents, aunts, uncles, all went to government school. Government schools in Chennai are actually quite good.

The key problem as I understand it is English. Parent these days want their kids to learn and speak hoity-toity English and the government school syllabus prevents this. Hence the bail by the middle class. In some areas government schools do teach in English. For instance all my cousins went to government school near T-Veli. Head master was my uncle who ran a tight ship. Every year they get state rankings and a nice chunk go to medical & engineering, etc.

Other than a few convent schools, most private schools also are cement boxes with desks. Teacher droning on in front, kids dozing off in the heat, figuring out ways to jump compound wall, etc. Its all a big dhandha to separate parents from their cash. Most mugging up goes on at the tuition class after school. In any case none of it matters till the 2 month before the final 12th board exam. Till then all is maya, just scrape by.

My own view is save your money and buy your kid a seat in one of the excellent private colleges. Back then we had no options. These day private colleges are excellent and probably better than most government colleges. Even the IIT’s are a pale shadow of the past. Park you kid in front of the discovery channel, he will probably learn more! Teach him/her drive, confidence, ambition and a little fear of the future/failure and things will be fine.

[Sachin]

Almost all my class mates from my home town during plus2 years (PreDegree in those days) in Kerala studied at the local govt high school.

The trend these days are even folks who did their schooling in govt. schools, now send their kids to English Medium schools most probably following CBSE or ICSE. Off course the minority establishment managed convent schools are also popular. I know folks who teach in govt. schools, but send their kids to CBSE or ICSE schools. A generation back it was not uncommon to see students studying in the same school, their parents taught .

So govt schools did well even up until the early 80s at least.

A common whine I have heard is that govt. schools lost its sheen due to the student union politics. Perhaps during 1970s etc. there was some meaning to it. But in 1980s things got bad and strikes etc. were just every day affairs. All political parties used the schools as the recruitment ground to ready their cannon fodders. So much so that many average people who really wished to see their kids land up in good jobs or "in good position" ensured that they were sent to schools which did not have student union politics. It is not that every kid in a govt. school did bad. But in many cases these kids were bright fellows who managed to come up even after studying in a govt.school .

[Bade]

I belong to the school of thought which says politics should be kept out of schools and even colleges or universities. Recently, I read IIT-Kgp had students doing internship for TMC and BJP and doing active campaign work in the community. This should not be allowed. The tax payers money should not be used for this purpose and has to be nipped in the bud.

[Vayutuvan]

What about PolSci students? Public Policy? Economics? Business majors? Social work? sociology?
Universities and colleges are there to teach theory and practice as well, no?

[Bade]

Well, they can practice all they can once they get out, no ?

[Rahul M]

doing proper internship might not be a bad thing. what should be banned is entry of political parties in student unions.
there are enough colleges where this is not allowed at all e.g St Xaviers, RKM colleges, certain engineering colleges. AFAIK even IIT's don't have a politically coloured student union.

[Bade]

Internship is just a 'bahana' since IITs ban such activities, or used to unlike at the Univs. We know the sorry state of the Univs these days in India...why turn IITs into such sob stories. It all begins with good intentions, but always end badly.

[Vayutuvan]

IMHO, student unions themselves should be banned. There should be no budget for cultural activities but special interest clubs can be organized with a small fee levied if students want to participate in any of these extracurricular clubs. The clubs themselves can have a small fee as well. No big money in the hands of a few student union leaders, not much power to the students, but professors also need a change in their behavior of control freakiness. By the way they also have unions don't they?

[SRoy]

I am hearing that now many boards, such as central board, have made policy not to fail students till 8th class. So everyone passes, even if they leave answer paper blank.

The teachers are asked to ask questions in exams ONLY from the book.

And 10th board exams are being scrapped. The school takes 10th exams and give 10th pass certificate. The central board has made 10th board exam optional. And Kapil Sibal is forcing all State Boards to adopt same system.

The 12th exams across India are being made easy to pass. The questions are coming from textbooks mostly.

Can anyone verify if this tread is true?

====

Do we have any information on whether maths\science levels in 10th pass and 12th pass students is improving or worsening?

Yes, all these are true.

My daughter is in CBSE board (that too a KV i.e. Central School), so you have it from the horses mouth.

The full picture is like this.

There is no exam till class 2. Only from class 3 kids appear in exams. Of course, they cannot be failed.

However the old practice of year around tests (during my times in KV they were called unit tests), half yearly and annual exams are still there. The only difference is instead of marks (as during my times) now they get grades from A to E. At the end of the year all unit tests, half yearly and annual exams are weighed and put in the report card.

Kids scoring C and above are considered pass material even if there is no formal pass / fail. The teachers are monitoring these on regular basis.

About 10th board exam, even if optional, I've not heard anyone opting out. People are not stupid. Competition is fierce as ever.

Despite what Kongis have done to destroy the education system in last few years, schools have devised ways to maintain standards. For example after every unit tests the results are handed over only in parent teacher meetings. So lapses are sought to be addressed immediately.

In my times again, parents bothered to visit schools only over serious matter.
My father visited a total of 6 times. Once I was bashed up, 3 times I bashed others, once when I and a desk mate lit crackers in gent teachers toilet and one time when I was bunking morning assembly with my buddies.
Good many of back bench crowd actually had pretty good expertise in forging their dad's (and dad's of their friends) signatures for unit test score counter signatures. It must be tough for these kind of kids nowadays when their parents are handed over the score sheets in person.

[Singha]

many schools also have online a/c for parents to check grades, attendance, exchange mails with teacher and get exam portions.

[Sachin]

not much power to the students, but professors also need a change in their behavior of control freakiness. By the way they also have unions don't they?

Don't know if they have unions. But these professors/lecturers are another set of loony characters I have seen. During my college days there was a rule* that the state's police force could only enter a college campus after the college principal sanctions it. So all it required for the "students" was to create all ruckus outside, and then run inside the campus. The police barge in even to private homes if they feel there is some one holed up there. What is so special about a college campus? It is these kind of silly rules which need to be discarded.

* I really don't know if this was a rule or a matter of courtesy. But in a recently held "revolution" in Thiruvananthapuram, I remember the police clearly giving warnings to college authorities (of University College?) that they would book the great teachers for abettment if the students are allowed to run riot inside the campus.

[Singha]

in extreme situations like naxals seeking shelter inside REC warangal campus hostels during 70s and 80s, this unspoken rule was discarded and a police outpost was setup inside , manned by a couple cops to keep an eye on things. but even then, other police never came inside campus unless requested by the principal.

in the mid 80s a student of bihar was stabbed to death by naxalite elements as he sat having dinner at a hostel mess.

[arshyam]

I am hearing that now many boards, such as central board, have made policy not to fail students till 8th class. So everyone passes, even if they leave answer paper blank.

Yes, all these are true.

My daughter is in CBSE board (that too a KV i.e. Central School), so you have it from the horses mouth.

The full picture is like this.

There is no exam till class 2. Only from class 3 kids appear in exams. Of course, they cannot be failed.

However the old practice of year around tests (during my times in KV they were called unit tests), half yearly and annual exams are still there. The only difference is instead of marks (as during my times) now they get grades from A to E. At the end of the year all unit tests, half yearly and annual exams are weighed and put in the report card.

Kids scoring C and above are considered pass material even if there is no formal pass / fail. The teachers are monitoring these on regular basis.

I will try to add another perspective. I went to a private school, CBSE, English medium, etc. We had no exams till class V. Only class tests, with grades. Plus some moderate homework, which wasn't close to some other competing schools in the city (Back then, DAV was notorious for heavy homework). Most of us passed to the next class without issues. I think the standards were quite lenient, unless one failed in a lot of subjects. In my class of 72 (split into 2 sections), I recollect only 1 student held back to repeat the year in primary school. The school had PTA meetings regularly, and at least one parent was required to attend in person, accompanied by the student, and we had to talk to each of my teachers. So little chance of fooling with report cards.

At the end of class V, we had the first exam of our lives: even then, it was not called as such. But it gave a taste of things to come. From Class VI onwards, we had the regular end of term exams 3 times a year, culminating in the boards.

All of the above was in the nineties.

I really enjoyed primary school, and one of the biggest reasons I think was the lack of exams. We had time to learn and play, and the lack of exams didn't hold us back. I do remember toiling over algebraic equations and such in homework, but the pressure of exams was absent, which led to a better schooling experience. Today, everyone I know who studied there are doing very well in life, so the lack of exams in primary school is not such a bad thing (from my perspective, of course).

[SaiK]

"For four years, from classes IX to XII, kids are made to go to coaching centres and tutors like machines so they are able to crack IIT-JEE. They slog for more than 16 hours a day. When we get these students in the first year of BTech, they are completely drained and are not in a mental state to absorb any of the intensive teaching that happens in a specialized campus like IIT-Kgp. Their grades fall. In any given year, at least 30% of the students report failing grades and 10% drop out of the system. Naturally, they are depressed," said a senior teacher of the material science department.

Personal problems like relationship issues do crop up at times, but they are not the primary reason for depression on campus. "Almost every child is mechanically coached to crack IIT-JEE even if s/he does not have the aptitude for it. Naturally, fear and disinterest grows. Unless you are cut out for engineering, you will find focusing on such coaching extremely difficult," said dean of students N R Mondal.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 221818.cms

Though the institute administration is ruling out depression, boys in his hostel said he had gone off Facebook a year ago. "He was a regular on Facebook but suddenly he had taken himself off and had even stopped interacting on other social networking sites or via email," said a hostel mate.

not sure how these 16 hours per day slogging students get time to be regular on kitab-e-chehares?

of course measures don't match to this kid.. he was brilliant and good.. dunno if this was his first year, and his grades fell into those 30% category who generally get poor score. well, 10% drop out on IITs after passing GATE is naaat gooooood.