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.

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 !!

The Dangers of Relying on Testing as a Means of Improving Quality of Education

Over the last two decades, if there\’s one thing we\’ve learnt it is that testable results alone do not account for educational quality or the quality of educational experience. The processes and relationships are as important (if not more) than what gets tested. Using test results as a proxy for quality, and hoping that an emphasis on testing will lead to improvement, is a managerial rather than educational approach (this sounds a little screechy, I know, but I feel screechy looking at the kind of damage this naive assumption is doing all around).

Take a look (link below) at emerging fallouts of one such large-scale testing based improvement programme, enacted through the No Child Left Behind law in the US.

82 percent of US schools may be labeled \’failing\’

Admittedly, this is only a news report, and there are also defenders, but the difficulties being faced by schools are real. There is also no evidence that whatever improvements that might have been brought about are long lasting, or that the nature of classroom processes and relationships has improved, or that children and teachers both find the school more worth coming to.

If you\’re an administrator or accountability activist or from an organisation that funds educational efforts – do consider that you might be doing yourself a disservice by insisting on testing as the means of assessing impact or of ensuring improvement. There\’s a lot more to education in the 21st century, and it does not lend itself to such simplistic frames!

Job losses in India too ?

My good friend who goes by the moniker of Vaingluory, at least on my travel blog, messaged me drawing attention to this story . The opinion piece from a headhunter is titled ‘Expect 100,000 to 200,000 Jobs to be Lost Every Year For The Next Three Years’ .

There is a lot of hyperbole in this – I don’t think India is going to lose jobs at that rate. Certainly not from the IT industry . But there is an undercurrent of truth , and there is a chill wind coming.

In the last 10-15 years, India, especially in the IT and BPO sectors has seen a pace of job creation that has been unmatched in its history. The impact this has had on people’s lives is very visible in India’s cities. In any other country, these job numbers would have been a spectacular miracle that would have transformed the country. India has a huge population and hence this is only a small wave in the ocean.

The young have come to believe that this scorching pace is the natural order of things and that anybody can get a job for the asking. Of course, this can’t last for ever. The IT industry has matured and the rate of job growth has slowed down. That is only to be expected. The days of “Tresspassers will be recruited” are long gone ! Companies are not recruiting in the same numbers. They are asking some underperformers to leave. Some have to cut their costs and so some layoffs have happened too. I do not see any evidence that there is going to be a large shrinkage of jobs ; there will be a much slower rate of growth and there will be some layoffs. But the overall numbers is not going to shrink in a short span of time.

But some global trends are inevitable and they will have a big impact. The most important of them is automation. This is an inexorable trend and will affect all industries including IT. This is going to be the single largest impact on jobs. It’s a global problem without any easy answers.

The second problem in India, is agriculture. Agriculture has always been the sponge – the vast majority of the Indian population is employed (more accurately underemployed) here. This sector is increasingly becoming financially strained, for reasons that are peculiar to India . Small land holdings, a major water crisis, inability to make significant profits, and the extent of risks for which there are no commensurate rewards. All these make agriculture likely to shed jobs on a scale that will be gargantuan. This has profound consequences for India. Manufacturing or services simply cannot absorb this load and even if they could, there is a massive skill gap for agricultural workers to migrate to other sectors.

India has one big advantage – an already strong services sector which will keep growing. This has the capacity to absorb skilled manpower. Touch any area and India has actually a huge potential for job creation. Judges, policemen, health care workers, retail industry workers, logistics industry workers, even professions like carpenters, plumbers, electricians – everywhere we have a shortage of qualified people even today. Jobs will keep getting created in each of these trades. Many of them will be self employed . Many of them may be in the government ; for example if we have to have a policemen to population ratio that is even remotely comparable to other countries, we will need to add millions of policemen. Ditto judges. Ditto nurses.

The issue is skills. India has a young population that is extremely keen on education and willing to work hard. It lacks a real effective skill building initiative. The National Skills Development Corporation, if it really does its job, can transform India.

How would YOU implement the RTE?

Here\’s an exchange that started in Facebook.
If YOU were in charge of implementing RTE in a district / block, exactly WHAT would you do? Could I have step by step suggestions please. That\’s because all of us have by now said all that is wrong with RTE implementation, but this is not equal to knowing what to do. I come across many district and block functionaries who are seriously looking for suggestions (they also welcome critique, but find that it doesn\’t help them decide what to do – at best they only see they\’re doing something wrong).

It would be a great contribution. I promise I\’ll share the suggestions with at least 10 \’serious\’ functionaries who have asked for support and will try to impact 300 to 3000 schools each. As they start implementing, we\’ll create a facebook page where they can record their progress and impact. But could we have specific suggestions please, maybe even a framework or a detailed note?

One response I received was from Anjela Taneja:
Gave this some thought overnight. Basically, one immediate suggestion is to put this question onto a website (read you blog atleast) so you can get a larger pool of responses. Personally, I added the question onto the RTE India page I moderate as well. However, a more user friendly interface of responding would help instead of trying to type everything on FB. In response to the actual question, I see two sets of responses- universal recommendations (only a few), but a lot of questions related to specific geographies. The solutions need to emerge from the local problems, so it would help to know where the functionaries in question are actually stuck and atleast what states one is talking about.

In response, here are some details.
As for geographies… Specific ones include: the block of Fatehpur, near Kanpur; the training coordinator of Bareilly; an informal govt school teachers\’ collective (who want things to impove) in Varanasi; in terms of states, Bihar and Gujarat to start with.

Some of the comments received:

Naaz Khair
Where there is a will there is a way! Government is running the central schools par excellence. If it wants it can change things for its other set of schools as well. The RTE Act itself is very explicit in terms of who is supposed to do what i.e. the duties that need to be performed so that educational rights of children are upheld. The RTE Act almost reads like a program and contains step by step measures to taken at different levels to ensure its implementation. This forum, along-side raising its voice whenever RTE violations took place, has also been proposing possible solutions. It is more than time now for the people in the system to make decisions given the resources in hand.

Janmejoy Patel
Yes, it is basically a question of how serious the govts are regarding implementation of RTE. Do they have required amount of political will or commitment? Are they willing to allocate adequate funds & invest in education? Once these factors are settled, there is no private school good enough to rival our schools in quality. But will the politicos do so on their own? No hope since none of them has any stake involved. Unless forced to.

Anjela Taneja there are two levels of issues here- what should be done to improve the policy and practice, and another is what can a government official do immediately within the constraints of the system

Subir Shukla
‎@Janmejoy If you take a look at the amounts released, you will find that the country as a whole is not really able to use more than 70% of the funds made available…

There\’s a need to understand the nature of social \’filters\’ involved. Things such as buildings, textbooks – concrete things that can be touched, inaugurated or \’released\’ and credit taken for – tend to get done. But a child\’s right to learn is a lot more than that, and needs a new set of relationships and processes in order to be attained. It\’s common to have \’disco bhajans\’ (i.e. allowing a western \’pollution\’ of a cultural aspect) but more difficult to implement the notion that a child does not need to be beaten in order to learn (in fact, while teachers are responsible, many parents also insist that their children be kept in discipline through corporal punishment; similarly, look at the response to CCE…). It\’s like trying to ban spitting or dowry (for which a law exists…).

Similarly, the notion that you do not need to memorize or be given explanation – instead you should learn through activity, exploration and projects (which is what the RTE provides for) – is not the easiest to implement even for those who are seriously trying, including in the NGO sector, including in the organizations that are seen as the \’teerth sthal\’ of education. Another crisis – and this is a professional, considered opinion of a curriculum/textbook/materials developer after closely examining materials from all over the country for 20 years – is that the NGO \’products\’ in terms of curricula / materials / pedagogy / teacher development are also fairly weak when it comes to the kind of quality desired, the constructivism to be implemented, the kind of equity-oriented and diversity based classroom that is now needed. Indeed the textbooks of several states would rate much higher.

@Naaz, steps about how to make \’special training\’ or create a differential classroom which must necessarily result, are not really spelt out in RTE documents. (This is just an example, and there are several more such aspects, esp about how to help those in the system realize that post-RTE, it is THEY who are the \’beneficiaries\’ and children / parents / community are the REASON for the system to exist.)

I\’m afraid the real import of many of the RTE provisions have not really been understood and a whole lot of \”why aren\’t you doing your job\” kind of comments are being passed around. While these will help in situations such as getting children admitted, other aspects such as getting discrimination (subtle and overt) to reduce, community to be empowered, teachers to be enabled to create vibrant and equity-oriented classrooms, in 1500000+ schools, (including private schools), are something else altogether. \’Protesting\’ or \’raising\’ voice may curb something negative, but doesn\’t necessarily make something positive (e.g. teaching better) happen. I\’ve written about \’preventive power\’ vs \’generative power\’ elsewhere in this blog.

The perspective changes when you\’re someone who has to actually deliver the RTE, and I haven\’t found much in the various fora that is dramatically helpful, or not known or not being tried out. A lot of the suggestions are very vague (ideas such as \’involve the community\’, \’empower the teacher\’ are outcomes of steps, which themselves are not always spelt out, or examples given of a very preliminary level..). Many of the issues (such as teacher attendance and accountability) are larger governance issues and need a larger strategy, some of which is indeed being thought about at different levels. I still believe that people thinking and working on these issues have a great deal to contribute – both within the government set up and outside. Hence my request for the kind of engagement that foregrounds concrete actions.

Naval Exercise off the East Coast

Naval Exercise MILAN 2020 is scheduled to be held at Vishakhapatnam in March, 2020 in which 41 countries have been invited. The list of countries has been given are as under:

1. Indonesia	8. France	15. Mozambique	22. Sudan	29. Israel	36. Qatar
2. Thailand	9. Malaysia	16. Australia	23. Somalia	30. Kenya	37. Egypt
3. Sri Lanka	10. Vietnam	17. Myanmar	24. New Zealand	31. USA	38. Tanzania
4. Comoros	11. Maldives	18. Brunei	25. Philippines	32. Japan	39. UK
5. Saudi Arabia	12. Oman	19. Mauritius	26. Cambodia	33. Singapore	40. South Korea
6. South Africa	13. Kuwait	20. Iran	27. Madagascar	34. Bangladesh	41. Russia
7. Djibouti	14. Eritrea	21. Bahrain	28. UAE	35. Seychelles

The Government pursues cooperation initiatives with friendly foreign countries including in Indian Ocean Region through structured interactions like Staff Talks, Empowered Steering Group etc. The areas of cooperation include Capacity Building, Marine Domain Awareness, Training, Hydrography, Technical Assistance, Operational Exercise etc.

This information was given by Raksha Rajya Mantri Shri Shripad Naik in a written reply to Shri A. K. Selvaraj in Rajya Sabha today.

ABB/Nampi/DK/Savvy/MTJ/ADA

Why Corruption Is An Easy Issue To Raise

It\’s interesting to observe why the issue of \’corruption\’ seems to attract attention. Right now, across the country (and the world), a huge majority of people are oppressed by the accepted notion that it is OK for some to be considered \’above\’ others. That is why it is OK for some of \’us\’

to go to high fee private schools (we have \’earned\’ it),
to sit in AC coaches in the train (we paid for it after all, never mind that the others\’ capacity to pay for the same is hampered by systemic and systematic obstacles),
to feel that we belong to \’big\’ or \’important\’ families…

Such societal hierarchies have a far greater impact and preserve disadvantage.

Isn\’t it corruption too to believe that one belongs to a \’better\’ or \’purer\’ religion / caste / class / background / family than others. Yet Anna and co don\’t raise issues of social fracture (conveniently forgetting that Gandhi spent far more of his life on these issues, and regarded true independence as one from social oppression too). It\’s worth thinking on why the issue of corruption really suits the middle class – it\’s so neutral and harmless, and avoids the really frightening ones. It\’s also something where you can blame \’others\’ without feeling that you are part of the problem…

As an educator, therefore, if I had to teach children any value, it would not be an ordinary thing like \’do not be corrupt\’ but the more difficult concept of \’though you are unique and deserve the best, do not think you are more important than others or have a birthright to more than they do\’.

Five Ideas for Teachers\’ Day

Teachers\’ Day is round the corner. Once again, we\’ll have the same old speeches, boring comments and everyone showing so-called \’respect\’ for teachers for one day – then it will all be forgotten till the next year comes around again!

For those of us who feel we need to go beyond the usual platitudes, here are a few straightforward suggestions. As always, your responses and further suggestions would be very welcome indeed!

1. Prepare a \’Teacher Strength Chart\’

On a chart, put a photo of the teacher (could even be children\’s drawing) and write down 5 things that you like about the teacher or 5 good qualities the teacher has. (Every teacher has these, just that some of them may not know they have them.) Who should do this? Students / SMC or parents / CRCC or fellow teachers. Keep the chart up for as long as you want.

2. Invite the teachers\’ families and honour them

Host a function where teachers\’ parents / spouses / children are invited and honour them along with the teacher. Why? Firstly because if a teacher teaches well, gives a lot of time, and lives up to professional standards, the family has to support the teacher and sometimes even make sacrifices. On the other hand if a teacher doesn\’t live up to professional standards, the family will… you get the picture! The SMC or the CRCC would obviously have to take the lead in organizing this, with students\’ help.

3. A special \’sports\’ session for teachers

Teachers have to be so responsible that they sometimes forget what it is to be a teacher. So how about something that helps them recall the time when they themselves were young. So you could organise a kabaddi or cricket match for teachers, or even races. Other possibilities include a Talent Show (whether teachers get to display their skills such as singing or mimicry) or even a picnic. Once again, the SMC with the students\’ help and the CRCC\’s support can easily organize this.

4. Stock the school library with books bought especially for teachers

Ask the teachers what they would like to read – and buy as many of those books for your school library as the budget permits. The CRCC would need to take active lead in this, with guidance from BRC and DIETs/

5. Launch a year-long \’Search for Greatness\’

This is a difficult idea, so read carefully! Every teacher and every school can improve and reach a level far better than what it is today. In honour of teachers on Teachers\’ Day, the SMC and students as well as the CRCC can get together, promise their support and work out how they will improve the school in the year ahead. Together they will discuss what it means for their school to be \’great\’ (and will not focus on infrastructure but learning processes), identify concrete steps to attain this greatness (see suggestions separately in my blog), and work out a phased implementation plan (see ADEPTS). Teachers will naturally be part of this discussion.

You can build on the School Development Plan and dedicate the effort to teachers (of course, they too would take active part in implementing the plan). Inform the teachers that the successes will be because of them, and shortcomings because they would not have got enough support from us (that is our Teachers\’ Day gift to teachers). So this would be a year long effort to show our respect to teachers while also working with them to bring about actual improvement. Neat, no?

Five Ideas for Teachers\’ Day

For those of us who feel we need to go beyond the usual platitudes, here are a few straightforward suggestions. As always, your responses and further suggestions would be very welcome indeed!

1. Prepare a \’Teacher Strength Chart\’

2. Invite the teachers\’ families and honour them

3. A special \’sports\’ session for teachers

4. Stock the school library with books bought especially for teachers

5. Launch a year-long \’Search for Greatness\’

Five Ideas for Teachers\’ Day

For those of us who feel we need to go beyond the usual platitudes, here are a few straightforward suggestions. As always, your responses and further suggestions would be very welcome indeed!

1. Prepare a \’Teacher Strength Chart\’

2. Invite the teachers\’ families and honour them

3. A special \’sports\’ session for teachers

4. Stock the school library with books bought especially for teachers

5. Launch a year-long \’Search for Greatness\’

Listening Workshops – Or the Simplest Step to Educational Reform

Is \’bottom up\’ change really possible?
If you are an educational functionary, by now you must be fed up of hearing how planning and change have to be \’bottom up\’. By which is usually meant that those who are \’under\’ you must somehow begin to contribute, own and implement a range of actions. And you inwardly wonder if this is ever going to happen!

It was during a discussion on precisely such views that the idea of a listening workshop emerged. Colleagues in the Institute of Educational Development (IED) in BRAC University, Bangladesh felt that a \’listening workshop\’ might help them understand teachers and grassroots functionaries better.

Listening workshop – a straightforward structure
It was agreed that before forming any views, it is critical to simply listen to teachers and head teachers. Hence a straightforward meeting / interaction / workshop was designed around the following three questions that would be asked of teachers and head teachers:

What do you really do? Exactly what does your work involve?
What do you like doing?
What do you find difficult or dislike doing?

It was also agreed that IED colleagues initiating the discussion would only listen, and not prompt or provide leading questions or offer any comment from their side. In other words, they really had to listen rather than talk!

So why is all this worth writing about? Because around ten such listen workshops were actually conducted, and most turned out to have a very interesting pattern, followed by an unexpected twist.

What teachers felt
The listening workshops, it transpired, tended to proceed in the following stages.

Teachers found it really difficult to believe that anyone could come down from the capital only to listen to them! There had to be a \’hidden conspiracy\’ or an \’agenda\’ they were not aware of… It would take anywhere from 40-60 minutes to convince the participants that the intention really was to listen to them. (What do you think this tells us about the functionaries that teachers usually deal with?)
Once teachers believed the above, their initial reaction was that of giving vent to all their frustration and anger at \’you people who sit up there and form all kinds of views about us without ever visiting the field and observing the realities for yourself.\’
Finally, teachers would pour their hearts out on the three questions given above.

The teachers\’ replies have of course begun to inform the work of the institute in many ways. However, it was the completely unanticipated outcome below that left everyone (cautiously) elated.

The unexpected \’reform\’
In the case of a large number of teachers who participated, a few days after the listening workshop it was found that they were implementing many new pedagogical actions in their classrooms! In the entire discussion, at no point had they been asked to make any improvement in their classrooms. So it was not as if teachers did not know improved methods – a large number of in-service interactions had ensured that they had had exposure. It\’s just that they were not using them. But for some reason the listening workshops triggered a change process in the classrooms!

What do you think this tells us about teachers, about their motivations, and about the kind of relationships they experience? If you can bear the initial first hour, isn\’t holding a listening workshop the simplest way to initiate educational reform at the local level?

AIMS OF EDUCATION

The aims of education serve as broad guidelines to

align educational processes to chosen ideals and

accepted principles. The aims of education

simultaneously reflect the current needs and aspirations

of a society as well as its lasting values, and the

immediate concerns of a community as well as broadhuman ideals. At any given time and place they can be

called the contemporary and contextual articulations

of broad and lasting human aspirations and values.

Educational aims turn the different activities

undertaken in schools and other educational institutions

into a creative pattern and give them the distinctive

character of being ‘educational’. An educational aim

helps the teacher connect her present classroom activity

to a cherished future outcome without making it

instrumental, and therefore give it direction without

divorcing it from current concerns. Thus, an aim is a

foreseen end: it is not an idle view of a mere spectator;

rather, it influences the steps taken to reach the end. An

aim must provide foresight. It can do this in three ways:

First, it involves careful observation of the given

conditions to see what means are available for reaching

the end, and to discover the hindrances in the way.

This may require a careful study of children, and an

understanding of what they are capable of learning at

different ages. Second, this foresight suggests the proper

order or sequence that would be effective. Third, it

makes the choice of alternatives possible. Therefore,

acting with an aim allows us to act intelligently. The

school, the classroom, and related learning sites are

spaces where the core of educational activity takes

place. These must become spaces where learners have

experiences that help them achieve the desired curricular

objectives. An understanding of learners, educational

aims, the nature of knowledge, and the nature of the

school as a social space can help us arrive at principles

to guide classroom practices.

The guiding principles discussed earlier provide

the landscape of social values within which we locate

our educational aims. The first is a commitment to

democracy and the values of equality, justice, freedom,

concern for others’ well-being, secularism, respect for

human dignity and rights. Education should aim to build

a commitment to these values, which are based on

reason and understanding. The curriculum, therefore,

should provide adequate experience and space for

dialogue and discourse in the school to build such a

commitment in children.

Independence of thought and action points to a

capacity of carefully considered, value-based decision

making, both independently and collectively.

A sensitivity to others’ well-being and feelings,

together with knowledge and understanding of the

world, should form the basis of a rational commitment

to values.

Learning to learn and the willingness to unlearn

and relearn are important as means of responding to

new situations in a f lexible and creative manner. The

curriculum needs to emphasise the processes of

constructing knowledge.

Choices in life and the ability to participate in

democratic processes depend on the ability to

contribute to society in various ways. This is why

education must develop the ability to work and

participate in economic processes and social change.

This necessitates the integration of work with education.

We must ensure that work-related experiences are

sufficient and broadbased in terms of skills and

attitudes,that they foster an understanding of

socio-economic processes, and help inculcate a mental

frame that encourages working with others in a spirit

of cooperation. Work alone can create a social temper.

Appreciation of beauty and art forms is an

integral part of human life. Creativity in arts, literature

and other domains of knowledge is closely linked.

Education must provide the means and opportunities

to enhance the child’s creative expression and the

capacity for aesthetic appreciation. Education for

aesthetic appreciation and creativity is even more

important today when aesthetic gullibility allows for

opinion and taste to be manufactured and manipulated

by market forces. The effort should be to enable the

learner to appreciate beauty in its several forms.

However, we must ensure that we do not promote

stereotypes of beauty and forms of entertainment, that

might constitute an affront to women and persons with

disabilities.

CONSTRUCTIVIST MODEL OF EDUCATION

In the constructivist perspective, learning is a process

of the construction of knowledge. Learners actively

construct their own knowledge by connecting new ideas

to existing ideas on the basis of materials/activities

presented to them (experience). For example, using a

text or a set of pictures/visuals on a transport system

coupled with discussions will allow young learners to

be facilitated to construct the idea of a transport system.

Initial construction (mental representation) may be

based on the idea of the road transport system, and a

child from a remote rural setting may form the idea

centred around the bullock cart. Learners construct

mental representations (images) of external reality

(transport system) through a given set of acti vities

(experiences). The structuring and restructuring of

ideas are essential features as the learners progress in

learning. For instance, the initial idea of a transport

system built around road transport will be reconstructed

to accommodate other types of transport

systems—sea and air—using appropriate activities.
The

engagement of learners, through relevant activities, can

further facilitate in the construction of mental images

of the relationships (cause-effect) between a transport

system and human life/economy. However, there is a

social aspect in the construction process in the sense

that knowledge needed for a complex task can reside

in a group situation. In this context, collaborative

learning provides room for negotiation of meaning,

sharing of multiple views and changing the internal

representation of the external reality. Construction

indicates that each learner individually and socially

constructs meaning as he/she learns. Constructing

meaning is learning. The constructivist perspective

provides strategies for promoting learning by all.

The teacher\’s own role in children’s cognition

could be enhanced if they assume a more active role in

relation to the process of knowledge construction in

which children are engaged. A child constructs her/his

knowledge while engaged in the process of learning.

Allowing children to ask questions that require them to

relate what they are learning in school to things

happening outside, encouraging children to answer in

their own words and from their own experiences,

rather than simply memorising and getting answers right

in just one way — all these are small but important

steps in helping children develop their understanding.

‘Intelligent guessing’ must be encouraged as a valid

pedagogic tool. Quite often, children have an idea

arising from their everyday experiences, or because of

their exposure to the media, but they are not quite ready

to articulate it in ways that a teacher might appreciate.

It is in this ‘zone’ between what you know and what

you almost know that new knowledge is constructed.

Such knowledge often takes the form of skills, which

are cultivated outside the school, at home or in the

community. All such forms of knowledge and skills

must be respected. A sensitive and informed teacher is

aware of this and is able to engage children through

well-chosen tasks and questions, so that they are able

to realise their developmental potential.

Active engagement involves enquiry, exploration,

questioning, debates, application and reflection, leading

to theory building and the creation of ideas/positions.

Schools must provide opportunities to question,

enquire, debate, reflect, and arrive at concepts or create

new ideas. An element of challenge is critical for the

process of active engagement and learning various

concepts, skills and positions through the process. What

is challenging for a particular age group becomes easy

and uninteresting for the other age group, and may be

remote and uninteresting at another stage.

So often, in the name of ‘objectivity’, teachers

sacrifice f lexibility and creativity. Very often teachers, in

government as well as private schools, insist that all

children must give identical answers to questions. The

argument given for not accepting other answers is that,

“They cannot give answers that are not there in the

textbook.” “We discussed it in the staffroom and

decided that we will only accept this answer as right!”,

or that “There will be too many types of answers.

Then should we accept them all?” Such arguments

make a travesty of the meaning of learning and only

serve to convince children and parents that schools are

irrationall y rigid. We must ask ourselves why we only

ask children to give answers to questions. Even the

ability to make a set of questions for given answers is

a valid test of learning.

Really Walmart ? Plumbing ??

Walmart closed down five stores in the US. What\’s new ? This happens all the time – stores are closed and stores are opened. So what ? What is strange is the reason it was done and the manner in which it was done.

Walmart announced to its employees two hours before store closing time on Monday last week that the stores were closing from the next day. The reason stated was plumbing problems !! That is the most unusual reason you might have heard for stores to close.

Walmart has a history of treating its workers, shall we say, a little less generously than most other businesses. But , even by their standards, this closure is curious. One of the stores that was closed was at the forefront of a strike a couple of years ago. The whiff, that this was retaliation against the workers is strong. But the other four stores weren\’t the leaders of the strike – so why these five ? Where the four simply lumped together to deflect the real intention to get at those b%^&*s who dared go on strike ?

Telling people two hours before shift ends that they don\’t have to come tomorrow does not appear to be a humanly good thing to do. But there is no place for human feelings in the business world it seems, at least in Walmart. To be fair Walmart is saying that all employees would be paid two months paid leave when they can apply for jobs in other Walmart stores and that if they didn\’t succeed in two months, the permanent employees would be paid some severance pay.

The ostensible logic for the short notice to employees is that apparently if you give them a longer notice, they would all steal the store blind ! A more \”acceptable\” reason is that they don\’t have to legally do any better. Is this what employee relations in Walmart have come to ?

The stated reason for closure is urgent and pressing plumbing problems that have to be fixed. Really ??? Nobody the city or amongst the employees seem to have heard of the \”ongoing and pervasive\” sewer problems before. No permissions have been sought from city councils for any repairs. Its difficult to believe that the emergency closure of stores is really because the loo is leaking.

Even the most charitable view of the issue has to concede that Walmart could have handled the whole thing better. But this is probably a symptom of the real problem – Walmart management does not rank handling employees with care and concern very highly amongst its business priorities. That\’s a sad commentary on the business world. If one of the largest corporations and employers in the world, treats its employees as impersonally as a pallet of stock, then it is no wonder that they are hated as viciously as they are. The very word corporation has become a four letter word. And by their actions, corporations are doing their very best to justify that tag.

What a stink !

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