What does \’taking pride in being an Indian\’ mean?

Anyone working on curriculum or materials or education in general, ends up wanting children to take pride in being an Indian. But what does \’taking pride in being an Indian\’ mean? Though the idea of \’taking pride\’ can be questioned, here are some things a person \’proud of being an Indian\’ would do / not do (not in any particular order):

celebrate the uniqueness and successes of those who are \’different\’ from us – whether belonging to different religion, ethnicity, language, region, profession…
not spit out in the open anywhere (surprised? well, this is a leading cause of diseases like TB still being active and killing people)
stop complaining about what is wrong (hoping someone else will do something about it) and start taking small steps to make things better, and also urging others to do the same (there\’s power in numbers!)
not restrict their sense of identity to a state or a region or a sub-set of India…
taking the responsibility of being at one\’s best (whether in health, or talent or work or socializing) so that one can ADD to what is already good in India
taking responsibility of keeping one\’s immediate surroundings at the best we can (in terms of things being well-organized and clean/hygienic as well as in an \’ecological\’ sense)
not simply keep harping on the \’golden days\’ of India\’s past but be aware of what we are at present… and hence
not be afraid to face what is really wrong, accept it and work to changing it (e.g. recognize the \’ugly Indian\’ who jumps lines, is rude and selfish, flouts rules and grins when he gets away with it. Or, of course, the bigger issues of poverty, security, discrimination…)

So what does it mean for you, to be a \’proud Indian\’?

And once we\’ve sorted it out, how should it reflect in our curriculum, materials, textbooks and classroom processes?

What does \’taking pride in being an Indian\’ mean?

celebrate the uniqueness and successes of those who are \’different\’ from us – whether belonging to different religion, ethnicity, language, region, profession…
not spit out in the open anywhere (surprised? well, this is a leading cause of diseases like TB still being active and killing people)
stop complaining about what is wrong (hoping someone else will do something about it) and start taking small steps to make things better, and also urging others to do the same (there\’s power in numbers!)
not restrict their sense of identity to a state or a region or a sub-set of India…
taking the responsibility of being at one\’s best (whether in health, or talent or work or socializing) so that one can ADD to what is already good in India
taking responsibility of keeping one\’s immediate surroundings at the best we can (in terms of things being well-organized and clean/hygienic as well as in an \’ecological\’ sense)
not simply keep harping on the \’golden days\’ of India\’s past but be aware of what we are at present… and hence
not be afraid to face what is really wrong, accept it and work to changing it (e.g. recognize the \’ugly Indian\’ who jumps lines, is rude and selfish, flouts rules and grins when he gets away with it. Or, of course, the bigger issues of poverty, security, discrimination…)

So what does it mean for you, to be a \’proud Indian\’?

And once we\’ve sorted it out, how should it reflect in our curriculum, materials, textbooks and classroom processes?

The Poor Make an Educational Choice

Though it had been around for a long time, in 2003-04, a disturbing trend began to be dramatically visible in the government school system: a large number of districts began to report a decrease in the number of children enrolled. However, this decrease was not due to any slowing down in the growth rate of child population. Nor was it because accurate data was now available in place of the earlier inflated numbers. And since the number of children reported to be out of school was not increasing either, what accounted for the children missing from government schools? Yes, you guessed it – they were shifting to the ever-spreading network of the low-fee private schools.

The number of districts reporting such decreased enrolment stood at 180 or nearly one-third the number of districts in the country. Nor was this confined to the so-called ‘backward’ states – for Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu also reported the phenomenon. In the year 2005-06, six new states reported districts with decreasing enrolment in government schools. And the situation hasn\’t really improved since.

The private schools that children migrate to come under the ‘unrecognized’ category, hence few government records are available on their numbers or growth. However, it is apparent that the increase in their numbers is astonishing. A World Bank study estimated that 28% of the rural population in the area studied had access to private schools in their own villages, and nearly half the private schools were established after 2000. Studies in Punjab showed that around 27% children studied in such schools and a similar picture obtained in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa.

This large-scale exodus has been occurring at a time when the government is spending an unprecedented amount of money and effort on education. Since 2000, tens of thousands of new schools have been opened in underserved areas and the infrastructure of existing schools boosted. Around 8.5 lakh teachers have been appointed and around 87% teachers in place provided 20 days of in-service training every year over the last few years.

Despite such efforts, anybody with any means whatever is choosing to walk across to a (usually) nearby school and pay for what they consider good education. This is in a context where education is available free in government schools, along with other incentives such as free textbooks and mid-day meals.

Like mobile phones, private education is no more the preserve of the elite. Surveys have found that 20% students in such schools are first-generation school-goers, with another 14% having parents with four (or less) years of education. Visits to such schools in the poorer regions of a state like UP put all doubts to rest. Without fail, it is the poor who are sending their children to schools that charge fees in the range of Rs. 30-100 a month. Schools manage this by paying teachers Rs. 1000-1200 per month – well below the minimum wage for unskilled labour. It is usually the educated unemployed who take this up as a means to gain experience while being on the lookout for other jobs. Therefore, teacher turnover is high, but there is a continuous stream of cheap labour available. The result is a commercially viable venture that provides subsistence level education.

In the meantime, who remains in the government system? For those hovering around the poverty line or below, there is no other recourse. Over 80% of SC and ST children in school are in government schools, which also have a higher proportion of girls and children with disabilities. In a telling comment, it is common for families with meagre resources to educate their sons in private schools and daughters in government schools. Indeed children are often enrolled in the government schools (for entitlements such as mid-day meals or uniforms) but actually attend the nearby private schools (for education)!

Unfortunately, the exodus of the more powerful and influential families has led to a greatly reduced sense of accountability in government schools. Those who are ‘left behind’ are usually the more disadvantaged groups, already disempowered due to economic and social reasons. Teachers, school heads and education officials tend to feel that it is almost ‘pointless’ to serve ‘these people’. In fact, a common refrain across the country is to complain of the ‘poor stuff we get to teach’ (and by \’poor stuff\’ they mean children!). There is an increasing tendency to blame the poor for not being able to support their wards at home or provide educational resource and the like. What is forgotten in all this is that education is not a favour being done to the poor – it is their right!

This is perhaps one of the reasons why the dramatic increase in inputs into the education system has not led to outcomes in terms of children’s learning levels, which continue to remain abysmal. Surveys by the NCERT and the NGO sector have repeatedly brought out how only half the children seem to learn half of what they should! During field visits to government schools, it is very common to come across children sitting unattended in class, with the teacher either absent or simply not teaching. Often, of course, the teacher has more than one class to handle and is therefore unable to teach. However, it is the sheer lack of concern for children that strikes any observer the most.

Many take the view that the expanding number of private schools is contributing to universalisation of elementary education in the country. While that is certainly true to an extent, a greater impact seems to be that in leading to reduced accountability, private schools are also contributing to a reduction in the government’s ability to universalise education in its own schools.

FORMAL EDUCATION AND ALTERNATIVES OF FORMAL EDUCATION

The word education is derived from the Latin word Educatum which means the act of teaching or training. There is another word in Latin that is Educare which means to bring up or to raise. The word Educare means to lead forth or to come out. All these meanings indicate that education seeks to nourish the good qualities in man and draw out the best in man.Education helps to develop the inner capacities of man.

By educating an individual we attempt to give him some desirable knowledge, understanding, skills, interests, attitude and critical thinking. That is he acquires knowledge of history, geography, arithmetic, languages and other sciences. By education people develops some understandings about the deeper things in life, complex human relations and cause and effect of relationships etc. The person gets some skillsinwriting, speaking, calculating, drawing, operating some equipments etc.

Education is necessary for the survival of the society. It is a purposeful activity. The aims of education will vary from time to time and from people to people. Educational aims can be immediate and ultimate. Immediate aims are those which fulfill the immediate needs. The ultimate aim of education is the perfect happiness.

Education has been classified into three types,

1. Formal education

2. Informal education

3. Non-formal education

FORMAL EDUCATION

Formal education refers to the hierarchically structured and chronologically graded system of education. It is consciously and deliberately planned system of education to bring about specific behavioral changes in the educand. It is preplanned by the society with definite aims and is imparted in schools, colleges and universities, which are established for systematic education.

FEATURES OF FORMAL EDUCATION

v Planned education keeping in keeping in view some definite plan.

v Education imparted through well planned means.

v Education starting and ending at particular age.

v A teaching learning process with which the teacher and learner are acquainted.

v Education organised by some agency.

AGENCIES OF FORMAL EDUCATION

Formal agencies are those institutions and organizations which are systematically organized. In these institutions the process of education is deliberately planned. There is a definite curriculum. The whole process is manipulated with a definite objective for the fulfillment of the needs of the society. The schools, colleges, universities etc are the important agencies of formal education.

1. SCHOOLS

The term school denotes a particular place, where education is imparted in a definite way. The school goes a long way in reforming the individual and society. So the school is considered not merely a creature of the society, but it is the creator of the society. In modern age the role of school is very important. The main functions of schools are;

a) School is the savior of culture traditions.

b) School helps to achieve the ideal of the nation.

c) School can give a glimpse of practical democracy.

d) School provides an opportunity for the development of individual powers and abilities.

e) School takes the responsibility of social reconstruction.

f) School tries to make us ideal citizens.

2. COLLEGES

College is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree awarding tertiary educational institutions, a part of collegiate university, or an institution offering vocational education. In India the term college is commonly reserved for institutions that offer degrees at year 12 and those that offer the bachelors degree. The colleges offer programmes under that university. Examinations are conducted by the university at the same time for all colleges under its affiliation.

3. UNIVERSITY

A university is an institution of higher education and research which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects and provides both undergraduate education and post graduate education. Universities are generally composed of several colleges.

FUNCTIONS OF FORMAL EDUCATION

1. Character formation of children

2. Development of values in children

3. Helps the children in development and transmission of knowledge

4. Helps in skill and emotional development

5. Children get the capacity to adjust

6. Formal education helps in cultural development

7. It gives spiritual as well as moral development

NON-FORMAL EDUCATION

A large proportion of India’s population is poor and live in pathetic conditions. Education, in any form needs improve their quality of life and help them participate productively in the national development. A large proportion of children dropout from the formal system .The non formal educational system has been introduced to bring the un-enrolled and dropout children of age group 9-14 into the fold of primary education.

For Coombs non-formal education means, any organized systematic, educational activity outside the framework of the formal system to provide selective types of learning to particular sub-groups in the population, adults as well as children”. In other words it is an alternative to the formal education.

Unlike the formal education, non-formal education has no predetermined time table or the pace of academic progress. The non-formal education is basically non-competitive and open ended. It has limited purposes and goals..

FEATURES OF NON-FORMAL EDUCATION

1. Flexibility in regard to admission requirements,duration,timing etc

2. Flexibility in various aspects of education.ie.,admission,place,curriculum,age,co-curricular activities,modes of teaching,evaluation etc

3. Diversification of curriculum and instructional methods;in the type of course to be offered and their supplimetation by vocational education.

4. Decentralization in management structure and financial powers.

5. Covering life span of an individual.

6. Guided by motivation of the individual for self growth,self renewal.

MAJOR NON-FORMAL SCHEMES

1.OPEN SYSTEM

A.DISTANCE EDUCATION

Distance education can be defined as the system of education in which education is imparted to students from a distance. It contains two physical elements (a) physical separation of the teacher and the student (b)changed role of the teacher. Distance education methods can be successfully used for relating to groups who, for geographical, economic or social reasons are unable or unwilling to make use of traditional or conventional provision of education. Distance education can never be formal as it is a nontraditional innovative method of education, employing a multimedia approach including human contact. In fact the distance mode allows the educational system to be open and the educational openness of the systems suits the promotion of distance education.

BENEFITS OF DISTANCE MODE OF EDUCATION

v It increases access to higher education, especially for women, working population, the deprived groups and those living in remote areas.

v It provides a second chance to those who could not make it when young.

v It offers course with ample options of subjects and electives.

v It helps in phasing out the study as per changes in official, family or personal situations in one’s life.

v It provides tenability of accumulating credits by successfully completing one or more subjects of a course.

The process of recruiting individuals in Distance Education situation is different from that of other educational institutions, as the individuals joining have an extremely blurred idea of their profile. Most Distance Education seeks quality education, but is unable to meet their expectations when compared to direct teaching knowledge acquisition should be a transparent process.

B. CORRESPONDENCE COURSE

It was in the third five year plan (GOI 1961-1966) that the planning commission took serious note of such a need and referred to the need for correspondence education. The commission was stressed that if deterioration in quality was to be avoided, an increase in the number of students should be accompanied by a corresponding expansion of physical and other leading facilities. It was in this context that proposals for evening colleges, correspondence courses and award of external degrees were considered.

The Kothari commission recommended the institutions of correspondence course in view of the greater flexibility, economic viability and the innovative method of imparting education through well prepared, pre-tested and constantly revised course materials. In ordrer to maintain the educational standards, It also felt that some training and continuing guidance should be provided to prepare self instructional study materials. There should be personal contact between the teacher and the student for about three weeks in a year.

Improvement of qualifications and the desire to continue with higher education were identified as major motivating factors for joining the correspondence course. Non-availability of time, mental maturity, and non-existence of colleges in the locality, heavy, age, employment, paucity of time, poor financial conditions and poor performance in the last qualifying exams were found to be some other additional reasons.

Some of the limitations which contributed to the ineffectiveness of correspondence education in India are:

a) Most of the correspondence institutions do not have competent and adequate staff. As a result they have low motivation.

b) Lessons are prepared with a hurry with no regard to quality

c) Not much attention is paid to the assignments; they are not evaluated, corrected and returned to the students in time.

D) Most of the correspondence courses do not have study centers and personal contact programmes are organized by only a few institutions.

e) Too much reliance is placed on the printed material and latest communication technology is hardly used.

f) There is considerable delay in the dispatch of lessons to the students.

C. OPEN UNIVERSITY

In view of the deficiencies of correspondence education, the open education system was introduced in the country. In fact it may be said that the introduction of the Open University system is a direct outcome of the conventional system and of the correspondence course institutions to deliver the goods. Another important concern was the improvement of the quality of higher education. The first Open University established on 26 August 1982 and now it is known as Dr.Ambedkar Open University.

THE MAIN OBJECTIVES OF OPEN UNIVERSITY

1. To reverse the tide of admission in formal institutions.

2. To offer education to people in their own homes and at their own jobs.

3. To enable the students to earn while they learn.

4. To provide counseling and guidance to people.

5. To take education to the remotest villages, through radio, television and correspondence courses.

FEATURES OF OPEN UNIVERSITY

v Relaxed entry requirements

v Flexibility in course combination

v Use of multimedia communication teconology for furthering learning objective

v Provision of support services to medicate the learning process

v Individualised study; flexibility of pace, place of study etc.

Open universities have made a beginning in democratizing higher educational opportunities for large segment of population and also for those who have been denied education through conventional education system.

2. LITERACY PROGRAMMES

Literacy is the conventional sense of being able to read and write. In essence, literacy is the facility of using in all its forms like reading, writing and oral communication, besides some basics of arithmetic. The lowest limit of literacy is the ability to read and write one’s own name and a few other words.

MASS LITERACY PROGRAMME

Mass literacy programme is an intentionally initiated movement by the government of India to make literate, the masses of Indian population. It was an attempt to make 80 million people literate between the age group of 15-35 by the year 1995.The main target areas and groups were rural people, women, SCs, STs and who left out of the formal systems.

NATIONAL LITERACY MISSION

National Literacy Mission was set up by the government of India on 5 May 1988 with an aim to eradicate illiteracy in the country by imparting functional literacy to non-literates. Thus, National Literacy Mission was established not only to make everybody just reliant in the 3R’s-reading,writing,arithmetic-but also to make them aware of the development issues affecting the society. The target group of National Literacy Mission is people between the age of 15 and 35.

The National Literacy Mission initiated its first successful literacy campaign in Kottayam city followed by Ernakulam district.

TOTAL LITERACY CAMPAIGN

Total Literacy Campaign is now accepted as the dominant strategy for eradication of adult illiteracy in India. These campaigns are area-specific, time bound, volunteer-based, cost-effective and outcome-oriented. The thrust is on the attainment of functional literacy through the prescribed norms of literacy and numeracy. The learner is the focal point in the entire process. Through Total Literacy Campaign is meant to impart functional literacy .It also disseminates a basket of other socially relevant messages such as enrolment and retention of children in schools, immunisation, propagation of small family norms, women’s equality and empowerment.

ADULT EDUCATION

For very large number of adults in the world today,adult education is a substitute for the basic education they missed.For the many individuals they received only a very incomplete education,it is the complement to elementary or professional education.It offers further education to those who have already received high level training and it is a means for the individual development for everybody.

NEEDS AND IMPORTANCE OF ADULT EDUCATION

v To widen the intellectual horizon of the illiterate adult,who are partially illiterate.

v It gives new hopes to illiterate.

v It can help the adult in co-operative living.

v Continuing education

v The adult education programme can help for the progress of compulsory primary education.

SOME PROBLEMS OF ADULT EDUCATION

v Defective policy of adult education

v Want of proper planning

v Problem of curriculum

v Problem of method of teaching

v Problem of administration

3. EXTENSION EDUCATION

Extension education is an out-of-school process which aims at helping people to help themselves in solving their problems. The gramasevak teaches people how to solve their problems. Gramasevak is a teacher of people. Extension education helps people to help them in solving their present and future economic, social and cultural problems. It helps both adult and youth. The ultimate aim of the help through extension education is a greater satisfaction in life.

1. AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION

Agricultural extension is a general term meaning the application of scientific research and new knowledge to agricultural practices through farmer education.

2. INDUSTRY EXTENSION

It is extending the knowledge on managing and running industries.

3. VETERINARY AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY EXTENSION

It is extending knowledge about breeding, managing, feeding and care of animals and birds.

4. HOME SCIENCE EXTENSION

Special programmes normally given to girls related to home management, home arrangement including interior decoration.

5. SOCIAL EDUCATION

Social education is the education of society or community

FUNCTIONS OF NON-FORMAL EDUCATION

1. Eradicate illiteracy and poverty

2. Development of technical skills

3. Chear the educational needs of the drop-outs

4. Development of social responsibility

5. Empowerment of women

6. Social uplift

7. Economic development

8. Universal education

9. Upliftment of marginalized and special care to weaker groups

10. Development of vocational competencies

CONCLUSION

Formal education is a systematic, pre-planned and chronologically graded system and is offered through schools, colleges, universities; independent research organizations or any other definite institutions. Non-formal education mainly aims the out-of-school children, unemployed youth and illiterates. There are many schemes for non-formal education. Non-formal educational system is helpful for those who cannot make use of the conservative system of formal education. Non-formal education has a major role in moulding the society.

&quot;It’s the result of foreign policy&quot;

The blame-America first crowd claims that Islamic terrorism is the result of America’s foreign policy. However, the jihadists have been waging a religious war around the world and they have for some time. It’s with good reason that Samuel Huntington says that Islam has “bloody borders.” This website documents the daily killings motivated and underwritten by Islam. Is this the “blowback” of a foreign policy? Whose? Are Muslims the aggrieved victims of the foreign policy of Indians, Filipinos, Siamese, Nigerians, Jews, Americans, Spanish, Australians, Buddhists, Dutch, Greeks, Russians, etc?

Actually, foreign policy is the problem – it’s the foreign policy of Islam that seeks to conquer and oppress others. This has been the founding ethos of this political religious ideology. Islam is a worldly religion, imperialist in nature, and warrior-like. It is simply a supremacist movement. Once again, I suggest everyone should read about this ideology. It’s a religion but it’s not like contemporary Christianity or Judaism. It’s very different from religions familiar to people in the West.

"It’s the result of foreign policy"

On Friday, the world shook

Last Friday, the world shook. You can be forgiven for not noticing, for, it was the business world that shook. GE announced it was going to virtually sell all of GE Capital.

GE is one of the, if not THE greatest company on earth. It is the old fashioned industrial conglomerate making everything from aircraft engines to medical equipment. It is known for its legendary business leaders, Reginald Jones, then Jack Welch and then Jeff Immelt. It is known for its excellence in management – it is really the business school where America\’s future CEOs are produced. It is the leader of many management trends of the future – Six Sigma, Outsourcing to India ……. you name it and GE was probably the first mover.

All that is fine, but in reality, GE was what it was because of GE Capital. For a long time it contributed 50% of the group profits. Although technically not a bank, GE Capital is one of America\’s largest \”banks\”. Just before the financial crisis, you would have had to question whether GE was really an industrial company – a full 60% of its profits came from GE Capital.

And then the financial crisis hit. GE, yes even GE, had to resort to a government \”bailout\” in form of $130 bn of loan guarantees. Suddenly, being a big financial institution was bad news. GE\’s share price tanked and it lost its coveted AAA rating which it had had for 40 years. The jewel in the crown was sudenly turned into a lump of coal.

GE Capital turned around. Of course it would, given the outstanding management talent at its disposal. It is back to being very profitable and last year contributed more than 40% to GE\’s profits. But there are two lasting legacies – one is that GE became a SIFI\” , the dreaded tag of a \”Systematically Important Financial Institution\” , which essentially is a sticker from the US government that it was too big to fail. SIFIs are subject to incredibly strict government requirements, tight regulation and surveillance post the financial crisis. The second legacy was GE\’s share price. In 2007 it was $42. Today, despite the resurrection of GE Capital, it is $25 or so. The market is simply scared of large financial institutions and the risks they pose.

GE did what it does best – take a hard decision. It has been announcing its intention to trim down GE Capital for quite a while. It had started to spin off bits and pieces. But on Friday, it announced a virtual disposal of GE Capital. It would sell off almost everything over two years and hold only the parts of GE Capital that were intimately tied to its industrial business – like aircraft leasing. The mighty GE is shrinking. It will become a smaller conglomerate. And it will become an industrial group once again.

This is a big big move in the world of business and finance. But you may not have read about it at all in the papers. Its not as exciting as Justin Bieber\’s latest antics, or if you live in my country, Anushka Sharma !!

Beggars in Nigeria will start paying tax !

So says the Finance Minister of Nigeria. Beggars will have to pay taxes. Apparently some beggars are earning millions in Nigeria. Perhaps its fair enough that Mrs Adeosun , the Finance Minster said “proceeds from begging are taxable. You are supposed to pay taxes even if your means of income is begging”.

Nigeria is a notoriously corrupt country and tax evasion is blatant and has been elevated to a fine art. Hence the startling \”fact\” that beggars are earning millions. Nigeria should, by all rights, should be a very prosperous country. It has oil wealth and is a net oil exporter. It has a young , bright and growing population. It has a decent education system and some of the ablest people in the African continent. It is a large economy – second largest after South Africa. And yet, it is a huge underperformer economically.

Periodically the Nigerian government tries to tackle corruption and the also shore up the country\’s finances. Bolstering tax revenue by cracking down on rampant tax evasion keeps getting tried periodically, but with not much success. The latest is the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme ( with the unfortunate acronym – VAIDS) . Good luck for the latest attempt.

India suffers from similar evasion, with its own home grown quirks. Agricultural income is not taxed , but much of what is claimed as agricultural income has nothing to do with farming. Similarly the tax entity called Hindu Undivided Family is nothing but an institutionalised way to manage taxes. The irony that \”Undivided\” and \”Family\” cannot be put adjacent to each other when it comes to money matters is completely lost on Ramamritham !

The United States being the leader of the world in all matters offers a rich variety of such dodges in the law. Walt Disney in Florida and other big landowners collectively dodged $950 m in taxes by renting a few cows to graze on their large land holdings and thereby qualified as agricultural land inviting lower taxes. And since two of my usual commenters are from the great state of Oregon, they may wish to declare that two of their limbs are useless and thereby earn a tax credit of $50 !

Back to begging. Actually no country exempts the proceeds of begging from taxation. If your earnings from begging exceed the minimum threshold, you have to pay tax on it anywhere in the world. Mrs Adeosun was only stating an universal truth ! Beggars of the world, beware !!

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