tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29841739428650439002024-03-16T14:47:42.180+05:30My experiments with education!Notes based on my experiments and experiences in working with various facets of Indian education sectorB Ganeshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12095980545963361797noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2984173942865043900.post-82911274260538769292012-04-14T22:57:00.001+05:302012-04-14T23:30:48.707+05:30The Polytechnic Saga - Part 3: Challenges of discipline & ethics amongst Polytechnic students<div><p>One of the shocking realisations that I had during my trips to Polytechnics was the overwhelming presence of discipline and ethical issues amongst Polytechnic students. Most polytechnics were grappling with a high level of student indiscipline and unruly behaviour. More than the academic and operational challenges, the student discipline issues pose the biggest challenge to the faculty, management and the institutions.</p>
<p>Sample some of the issues that I noticed during my visits. One of the colleges in Tamil Nadu had this notice on their notice board:</p>
<p>"This student has been dismissed from the institution since he was found in a fully drunken state in the classroom on ..........".</p>
<p>On further speaking to the Principals, this seems to be a major issue across many Polytechnics. The Principals and faculty attribute this to the family background. Most of these students take up drinking seeing their father. In most cases these students come from families where the father happens to be a habitual drinker.</p>
<p>The second major issue noted amongst Polytechnic students is the unruly nature of many students. Sometimes such unruly behaviour also results in violence. Cases of one student beating up the other seem to be common amongst several Polytechnics in the country. In some colleges, I came across teams of Police personnel investigating a violent incidence involving either individual or groups of students. Such behaviour is most often attributed to broken families of the students. In many cases the father might be a violent person, thanks to his drinking habits and the student learns from his behaviour. </p>
<p>Whatever be the issue, the challenge of discipline and violent behaviour can not be addressed without the active involvement of the parents of such students. However Polytechnics do not seem to address this issue other than just by admonition or punishment. In one of the colleges that I visited, one of the students who had hit another student was being admonished by a group of 5 people without even listening to the student's feelings. This admonition session went on for nearly 3 hours. If colleges believe that they can change students for the better with such measures, they are badly mistaken. </p>
<p>Surprisingly, none of the Polytechnics that I visited had a Psychological Counsellor! Knowing well that these students come from challenging family backgrounds, the colleges must be focusing on offering counselling services to these students. All the student needs is somebody who will listen to them patiently, support them through their difficult times and provide them the much needed direction. </p>
<p>It is not sufficient that these colleges provide only technical education. They must also rise to these challenges and ensure that their students pass out as technicians with a strong value system. Ultimately, a value driven work force can make a world of difference to not just the individuals but to the nation and its development too!</p>
</div>B Ganeshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12095980545963361797noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2984173942865043900.post-1662170567019603372012-04-02T23:38:00.000+05:302012-04-02T23:51:35.833+05:30The untapped resource pool for software companies: The Polytechnic Education Saga!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>Part 2: The class differentiators within Polytechnics / The untapped resource pool for software companies</b><br />
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It is a common knowledge that there are huge class differentiators across the Indian education system. The class differentiators that I am referring to are the ones that are created by the student's examination scores. For example, it is a common belief in Tamil Nadu that a student has to secure a high percentage score in his 10th standard to join the Science stream in 11th standard. In engineering colleges, computer science stream has the highest cut-off and is the most sought-after. Hence only the top-scorers in 12th standard or the entrance examination gets to join computer science engineering. Similarly, the Polytechnics too have their own class divide.<br />
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While computer science is the much sought after branch in engineering colleges, it is also the least in demand across polytechnic colleges. Althought it is heart-warming to see that the mechanical and automobile branches are the most sought-after in polytechnic colleges, it is also disappointing to see the low interest and enrolment levels in the computer science branch. Most polytechnics across the states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have seen declining interest in enrolling in the computer science branch - this despite a comparatively low fees vis-a-vis mechanical or automobile branches and a vibrant IT industry existing in both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. However, a little more probing reveals much more and throws up a few interesting questions.<br />
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Traditionally, old economy sectors such as manufacturing, automobile and electrical have been ably supported by the talent pool that emerges out of polytechnic colleges. The demand for such talent continues to exist and polytechnics manage to groom their students ably to meet this demand. With immense placement opportunities across these sectors, it is no surprise that polytechnic students make a bee-line for a Diploma in these branches.<br />
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However, the new age sectors such as electronics, IT and computer science have been depending heavily on the engineering colleges for their talent requirements. While the electronics and the IT hardware sectors have started exploring the polytechnic talent pool, the software sector continues to be hesitant in recruiting polytechnic diploma holders. Since placement opportunities for polytechnic diploma holders in the software industry are very limited, students do not find it lucrative to pursue a Diploma in Computer Science. In the absence of placement opportunities, the only other option for such students is to pursue an engineering degree in computer science. However, the prohibitive costs of an engineering education (especially in the most sought after branch of computer science) forces polytechnic computer science diploma holders to drop out of the education system itself. These students end up doing data entry and DTP work in smaller towns and cities without much scope for a software career they dreamt of.<br />
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On the other hand, the reasons for software companies to be hesitant in recruiting polytechnic diploma holders are many. One of the prominent reasons is the limited exposure that a computer science polytechnic student has. For all practical purposes, what a polytechnic student covers is equivalent to just the first year of engineering. Although they may have a higher level of practical exposure in polytechnics, the limited breadth of exposure acts as a major deterrent. Secondly, polytechnic students' communication skills (particularly spoken and written English) or lack of it also acts as a major deterrent. Thirdly, the maturity level of polytechnic diploma students are perceived to be much lesser than engineering graduates and hence unsuitable in this knowledge based industry.<br />
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In response, many polytechnics have already started addressing these issues through continuous training programmes on both technical and soft skills areas. The polytechnic diploma holders may lack the breadth of knowledge but are traditionally considered to possess a better hands-on knowledge of the domain. I am sure the IT industry can learn to utilise this hands-on knowledge for their benefit. With the IT industry constantly lamenting about the poor quality of engineering graduates, it might be the right time for software companies to seriously consider recruiting from the diploma talent pool.While being young can mean a higher level of immaturity, it can also indicate a higher level of mould-ability, unlike engineering graduates who come with a heavy 'baggage' and are reluctant to 'unlearn' and 'learn'.<br />
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It is time that the software industry starts expanding its talent sources to include this young and untouched resource pool. A handful of companies have already started tapping it but the roles they offer are largely tech-support or customer service. It is only fair on the industry to start inducting the diploma holders into full-fledged coding and programming roles.A hands-on training programme as part of the induction process will ensure that these diploma holders are as good as the engineering graduates. Apart from looking at this resource pool from a business productivity perspective, companies must see the social perspective of such a move. Considering the poor economic background of many of the polytechnic diploma holders, such a move by software companies can have a strong positive impact on not just the life of the student but also the entire societal system surrounding him/her.<br />
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<span style="color: red;"><b>Will software companies start seeing sense in tapping this resource pool? Will there be a positive change in the lives of many polytechnic diploma holders who pursue their education with nothing but just a dream in their mind? </b></span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"><b>Only time will tell!</b></span><br />
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<b><span style="color: blue;">Coming up next: Part 3: The difficult life of a diploma student</span></b><br />
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<br /></div>B Ganeshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12095980545963361797noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2984173942865043900.post-22372148629289333342012-03-28T21:32:00.003+05:302012-04-02T23:39:52.548+05:30The Polytechnic Education Saga!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Over the last few days I have been travelling extensively to a lot of Polytechnic colleges across the country. I have been trying to introduce a radically different career opportunity for the Diploma Holders who wish to join the Indian IT industry. These visits are an eye-opener for me as many of my long-held beliefs about the state of Polytechnic education have been changed. This series of notes that I am posting here are entirely based on my true experiences. I have tried to raise a few questions and I do hope we see answers to these in years to come.<br />
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<b>Part 1: The motivators</b><br />
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I have visited nearly 35 polytechnics in Tamil Nadu last week, a few of them are Government run and many of them private / self-financing. I had the opportunity to interact with several categories of people including the Principals, Head of the Departments, Placement Officers and students themselves. While it is heartening to see so many polytechnic colleges across the state, the reality that exists within takes different hues.<br />
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One of the fundamental questions for which I was looking for an answer was - "Why do students join Polytechnic colleges?". As an outsider, I have always thought that Polytechnics provide a lot of hands-on training to students thereby preparing them for a strong technical career in the engineering sector. They also take a student to the employment market much faster then any other course. I also believed that students who do their Polytechnic Diploma perform better when they join the undergraduate degree in engineering due to their increased exposure to practical training. Hence, my curiosity was to understand if these are the true motivators for students while they are enrolling in Polytechnic colleges.<br />
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Unfortunately, the motivation behind enrolling in Polytechnic colleges are nowhere near my beliefs. Broadly, there are two categories of students - the haves and the have-nots. The '<b>haves</b>' come from middle or higher income families while the '<b>have-nots</b>' come from lower middle, lower income or sometimes even from BPL families. The motivators for each of these categories are different.<br />
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For the 'haves', Polytechnics serve as an easier and cost-effective route to Engineering colleges while also addressing the issue of low scores in their 10th standard.<br />
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<i>A Polytechnic is an easier way to join an Engineering College: A lot of students who do not want to be in the rat race for an engineering college seat after their 12th standard, opt for the Polytechnic route. The pressures are lesser since the competition is also much lesser. The possibility of lateral entry into 2nd year engineering is much higher since most private colleges admit based on the amount of donation one can give. The donations to be given to engineering colleges is much lower at the lateral entry level when compared to first year engineering seat admissions. Plus they save a year's engineering college fees which is sometimes 10 times as much as a Polytechnic College's fees. </i></blockquote>
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<i>Lower score in 10th standard: Students who score less than 50% in their 10th standard do not usually get science stream in their 11th & 12th. Without science in 11th & 12th, they cannot apply for an engineering seat. Polytechnics are the next best option since admission to most private Polytechnics is not based on merit but largely based on the ability to pay a higher fees and donation.</i></blockquote>
For the 'have-nots', the need for quicker employability and inability to afford higher education are the key reasons to join a Polytechnic.<br />
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<i>The need to start earning: A lot of students in this category come from needy families and there is tremendous pressure on them to start earning. Hence, they cannot afford to wait for 5 to 6 years (to complete a graduation) to become employable. Polytechnics make them employable in 3 years and hence are best suited for this category of students.</i></blockquote>
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<i>Low affordability of higher education (BE / B.Tech): An Engineering education is an expensive proposition. For those who cannot afford an Engineering education, Polytechnic is the next best option to prepare them for an employment.</i></blockquote>
While the original objectives of setting up Polytechnics would have been to prepare a skilled workforce for Indian industries, sadly only a handful of students join Polytechnic with an objective of learning those skills.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">The reality: </span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: red;">Unfortunately, Polytechnics in India are chosen by students out of compulsion, not out of passion; and this reflects on the poor quality of output from Polytechnic colleges. Until a Polytechnic course becomes a study of choice, it is left to the industry to train them and employ them.</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Coming up next: Part 2 - The class differentiators within Polytechnics</span></b></div>B Ganeshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12095980545963361797noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2984173942865043900.post-55173699052054610592012-01-03T22:47:00.000+05:302012-01-03T22:48:27.379+05:30Essentials for career success in a digital age<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The last decade has been a decade of unprecedented change; change that was never imagined; change that made us realise our limits of imagination. This move towards a digital era has some important lessons for each student, job seeker and working professional. Read more at: <a href="http://skilltrain.blogspot.com/2012/01/imagine-unimaginable-essentials-for.html?spref=bl">Skill Train India</a></div>B Ganeshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12095980545963361797noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2984173942865043900.post-48628726810063074832011-12-23T22:27:00.001+05:302011-12-23T22:27:49.999+05:30Announcing the launch of Skill Train India in Hindi<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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With nearly 70% of the Indian population speaking Hindi, our national language it was only imperative that a blog in Hindi would reach out to a larger population and benefit an even larger number of people than an English blog. So, I am glad to announce the launch of the Hindi version of the Skill Train India blog. This blog can be accessed at <a href="http://skilltrain.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Skill Train India Hindi</a><br />
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Do share it with all your friends and spread the word around!<br />
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Merry Christmas!<br />
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</div>B Ganeshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12095980545963361797noreply@blogger.com60tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2984173942865043900.post-13171123803073296342011-12-20T10:21:00.001+05:302011-12-20T10:30:34.199+05:30Announcing my new blog: Skill Train India<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I am glad to announce the launch of my new blog titled: <a href="http://skilltrain.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Skill Train India</a><br />
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I have been thinking about starting this blog for a long time. After closely working with learners ranging from school dropouts to working professionals, I felt that there is a strong need for a guiding light that could help learners from all walks of life clear the dense fog of the career maze. I am starting this blog today, to purely address this need.<br />
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Do I know enough to offer career guidance? I don't claim to know it all! But, I am going to count on many of you - my mentors, my teachers, my colleagues (and ex-colleagues), my batch-mates, my friends, my family and my students - to make this blog a meaningful one for those who need career guidance. I envision this blog to be a dialogue of sorts between those who have 'been there, done that' and those who 'want to be there and do that'! For all those who wanted to contribute towards helping me in my educational social entrepreneurship assignments, I appeal to you to share your thoughts on this blog. You never know - <span style="color: blue;"><b>one statement of yours on this blog can probably have a profound life-changing impact on some student somewhere in the world. </b></span><br />
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<a href="http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/77400/77437/77437_lamp_lg.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/77400/77437/77437_lamp_lg.gif" width="62" /></a>Every day, I intend to post a guidance note. I would like to call each one a lamp post! I intend each lamp post to dispel some darkness related to career. Initially, I would keep them focused on undergraduate & post graduate students but subsequently, I intend to include early career guidance to working professionals too. If you find the lamp posts useful or if you feel that these lamp posts can dispel the darkness caused by career confusion in somebody's life, I earnestly urge you to share them freely. You never know - <b><span style="color: blue;">one 'share' (be it facebook, linkedin, google + or digg) from you can make a world of difference to some student.</span></b><br />
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Comments and feedback are always welcome. But what I would like to see more of is contradicting view points. There are no right or wrong answers in this world. Everything depends on the perspective in which you see an incidence. I am not here to claim what I know or profess to be the only solution. What I am writing here is based purely on my personal experiences and hence based on a particular perspective. I firmly believe that there are other perspectives too and I urge you to share these contradictions openly. You never know - <b><span style="color: blue;">one contradicting view point from you can offer a better choice to some student.</span></b><br />
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I dedicate this blog as a step towards achieving one of my dreams - a dream to see a truly skilled India where everyone chooses a career out of passion rather than of compulsion; because only then can excellence become a habit in this truly disruptive age! I dedicate this blog to building a skilled nation!<br />
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Are you with me in this nation building exercise? <br />
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Click here to visit the <a href="http://skilltrain.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Skill Train India Blog</a><br />
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<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></div>B Ganeshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12095980545963361797noreply@blogger.com106tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2984173942865043900.post-44773988180359864952011-12-14T10:52:00.002+05:302011-12-15T10:33:16.905+05:30Where the mind is without fear…<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Rabindranath Tagore</span></td></tr>
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I bet you must have thought about <a href="http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=rabindranath%20tagore&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDUQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nobelprize.org%2Fnobel_prizes%2Fliterature%2Flaureates%2F1913%2Ftagore-bio.html&ei=izHoTtvVG8LprAfgkqjCBw&usg=AFQjCNFiPLCTODyKuWd0ho07sfrDatBB7A&sig2=pQdUh22TTHPI5FvdgNrRCg" target="_blank">Rabindranath Tagore</a> when you read the title of this post! If you did not, then you probably did not attend a school in India! I am indeed referring to the famous poem by Rabindranath Tagore from his most famous work 'Gitanjali' published in 1912. This is more a prayer than a poem to me and this has been playing in my mind for the past few days. With my limited memory power, I could only remember the first two lines and the last line (which is what most people remember). Hence, today, I decided to read through the entire poem to see if there is a new meaning in it; if there is a different perspective to the whole poem. The poem was no doubt a vision for the India that Tagore envisioned and it was quite apt during the pre-independence circumstances. Reading through the poem now, I see an even higher degree of relevance of the poem today. I tried looking at it from an education perspective in today’s new digital world and I am amazed at how relevant this poem is even today. Take a look!</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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One of the most important success factors for life is to not have a fear of failure. If you look at any great achiever, every one of them has tried many things before becoming successful; every one of them has gone through failures before they tasted success. Trials and tribulations are part of life and only they can lead to success. As Edison said after inventing the light bulb – “I did not fail – I just learned 999 ways on how not to make a light bulb!”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/files/u45/failure_text.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://www.psychologytoday.com/files/u45/failure_text.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="200" /></a>However, the Indian education system instills exactly the opposite in every Indian student – a fear of failure. I am amazed at how the fear of failure is religiously taught to every child right since the kindergarten. As a child, most of us are born fearless; we do not mind trying out something new; we try and experiment with anything that ignites our curiosity; we do not know whether it is useful or harmful but we still try it. In short, as children, we are not afraid of failures.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The problem begins when we start schooling! The school and even the family system instills this fear of failure in every one of us; we are afraid of failure in our school exams; we are afraid of failures in entrance examinations; we are afraid of failures in assignments, projects, activities; the list is endless. More than fear of failure, we develop an even worse fear – the fear of being wrong. By admonishing any failure, the education system further alienates us from any creativity. Because you are afraid of failures, you progressively stop doing things differently; you stop trying new things; you inhibit your creativity! As a result, most of us end up as average employees all our life, afraid to take risks and afraid to go that extra mile that can differentiate us from mediocrity to excellence. I am sure many of you can relate to what I am writing about!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Now, the first statement of Tagore’s poem sounds so relevant! As long as our minds are with fear, our heads can never be held high. This is a clarion call to ensure that we do not let our kids go through the same. Encourage them to experiment; let them end in failures; do not punish them or ridicule them; do not force your ideas and thoughts on them; let them develop their own view of the world; let them try and be what THEY want and not what YOU want them to be! India will then definitely be a better place.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Where knowledge is free</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ed/10_sharing_book_cover.pdf/page1-400px-10_sharing_book_cover.pdf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="154" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ed/10_sharing_book_cover.pdf/page1-400px-10_sharing_book_cover.pdf.jpg" width="200" /></a>Knowledge must be affordable; much better if it is free. Thanks to the internet technologies, the world is increasingly moving towards an open knowledge society. Google and Wikipedia must have educated more people than the combined number of people all the world’s Universities educate. Knowledge is no more measured by the number of books you have read but by the amount of gigabytes of data you have browsed on your computer. We are in the midst of an unprecedented digital revolution and this is just the beginning.</div>
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Thanks to advancing mobile technology and the reducing costs, I will not be surprised if 5 to 7 years down the line people learn primarily through mobiles, anytime anywhere. In fact, such a possibility already exists in several developed countries. Several such initiatives are already underway in India too. With so much information and knowledge available in the digital world, Tagore’s vision of knowledge being free is closer to reality than ever before. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Where the world has not been broken up into fragments<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">By narrow domestic walls</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://lassalle-tech.wikispaces.com/file/view/global_education.jpg/195300716/global_education.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://lassalle-tech.wikispaces.com/file/view/global_education.jpg/195300716/global_education.jpg" width="200" /></a>The internet and other media technologies have made nation’s borders irrelevant. We are living in a borderless world where exchange of information and knowledge is much easier and faster than ever before. Global research projects that transgress multiple national borders are the order of the day. Student and faculty exchanges across various Universities around the globe happen regularly. Thanks to advancing telecommunication and educational technology, a professor sitting in his house anywhere in the world can address students simultaneously across all 7 continents. Education has truly become global and soon learning too will become universal.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Where words come out from the depth of truth</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Free and true knowledge must also lead to greater transparency. Today’s world is obsessed with transparency and demands it from every aspect of public service. In the absence of transparency, we have a Wikileaks to source and publish this information. If such free knowledge and transparency helps in improving processes and public services, then they must be welcomed. Truth, however bitter, must be welcomed and accepted. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The world is undoubtedly worried about the growing number of scandals that have happened due to unethical practices. In response, educational institutions, especially b-schools are taking a deeper look at their curriculum to incorporate better business ethics components. It is not just business schools, but the entire education system across the globe that must delve into its teaching curriculum and methodology to ensure that ethics is not just taught as a drab subject named “Moral Science” or “Business Ethics” but is actively practiced by the students. Only then can ‘words come out from the depth of truth’! <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection</span></div>
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The word ‘perfection’ reminds me about the 1986 Ron Howard Movie - “<a href="http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=gung%20ho&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CDkQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.imdb.com%2Ftitle%2Ftt0091159%2F&ei=oTDoToP6NYTXrQfXj62wBw&usg=AFQjCNE_VxIvsnnuSl5JJNUZJd0XES131w&sig2=RMFC1mFQ38KOcWlxnmZZXw" target="_blank">Gung Ho</a>”. It is a must-watch movie for business school students and people who work across cultures. The movie vividly portrays the challenges of cross-cultural communication through interactions between a Japanese management and an American work force. One of the highlights of Japanese culture is their willingness and ability to strive for perfection in whatever they produce. They will never give up until they have the perfect product and that is precisely why Japanese products are much superior world over. <o:p></o:p></div>
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It is ideally this level of perfection that Indian educational institutions must strive for. Educational institutions have a direct role to play in nation building. If Indian educational institutions strive tirelessly to shape each student to become a world class product, then excellence becomes a habit and not an exception. <o:p></o:p></div>
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For the younger generation, aiming for perfection must be a skill that must be taught at home and at school. The infamously Indian “chalta hai” attitude will not “chalega anymore”! Work with your kids to teach them perfection in whatever they do. This has to be imbibed right since early childhood if we intend to prepare India to lead the world. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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I recently read a note on the management guru <a href="http://www.tompeters.com/dispatches/009132.php" target="_blank">Tom Peters' blog</a> about the inability of Asians to develop creativity in their kids whereas the Americans find it difficult to suppress their child's creativity. He also goes on to mention this as the reason why America has produced so many entrepreneurs and Nobel Prize winners compared to Asia. I am not sure if he includes India in his reference to Asians but I was surely shocked! Keeping all subjectivity aside, I wondered if there is an iota of truth in his statement. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In India, learning by rote (also called learning by heart, mugging up, memorizing etc.) is a very common practice with schools and children. Even now my Mom ridicules me about my habit of memorizing solutions to Mathematics problems during my school days. Honestly, our school system encouraged rote learning and left very little for application and creativity. <o:p></o:p></div>
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You disagree? Let me test you! <o:p></o:p></div>
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Answer the following question. You have 30 seconds. You are driving down the road. At a traffic signal, the red light blinks once in every 2 seconds; the yellow light blinks once in every 3 seconds and the green light blinks once in every 5 seconds. The question: In a minute, how many times will they blink together? If you have the answer, post it in the comments section first. Then, come back to read the rest of this post. If you don’t have the answer, continue reading. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Now let me ask you another question. What is the Lowest Common Multiple (LCM) of 2, 3 and 5? <o:p></o:p></div>
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Between these two questions, I bet most of you answered the second question easily. Some of you may also have realized that the first question and the second question are similar except that the first one is application based whereas the second one is concept based. You may also treat this as a logical googly question: how can all three lights in a traffic signal glow together? <o:p></o:p></div>
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Unfortunately, many graduate students in India can neither solve it right nor figure out the googly in this question. Our schools have taught them the concepts well but have not trained them enough on applications. In other words, they have all learnt something that they neither know how to use nor where to use! This is possibly a reason why many students do not do well in research and business. Research and business, as you would agree, requires enormous amount of application of concepts and that ability is unfortunately missing in many of India’s graduate students. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Institutions must review their curriculum and explore possibilities of incorporating a great deal of application orientation. For the number of PhDs that India produces, we must be developing enormous research insights that can have a phenomenal impact on several sectors. The absence of such an impact only confirms the poor quality of PhD research that is currently underway in Indian Universities. Such a system does not augur well for the development of Indian academia. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Tagore’s statement is a warning bell for educational institutions. Such focus on rote learning without any application orientation across educational institutions will only bury the future generations in the dreary desert sand of dead habits. As parents, we must strive to keep our kids away from rote learning. Allow them to learn by doing and experimenting – you will be doing a great service to future generations. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Where the mind is led forward by thee<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Into ever-widening thought and action<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Education must always strive to expand the horizons for every student both in thought and action. Only such an education can lead us to our next freedom – a freedom that will make the whole world a single classroom and every student a global citizen. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Tagore’s words are not just relevant in education. These words will have a strong relevance across all domains, be it business, politics, society or family. In fact, this poem is has eternal relevance. Such is the beauty of this masterpiece! I now see the true meaning of this poem and it will forever be etched in my memory. <o:p></o:p></div>
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What does the poem mean to you? Read it in silence and you will be able to see the relevance. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;">Where the mind is without fear and the head held high<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;">Where knowledge is free<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;">Where the world has not been broken up into fragments<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;">By narrow domestic walls<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;">Where words come out from the depth of truth<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;">Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;">Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;">Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;">Where the mind is led forward by thee<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;">Into ever-widening thought and action<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;">Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Now, do you relate to the poem? What do you see in it? Let me know!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>B Ganeshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12095980545963361797noreply@blogger.com45tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2984173942865043900.post-50907893499672315032011-12-10T10:16:00.000+05:302011-12-10T10:16:07.803+05:30Don't Let What You Know Limit What You Imagine - Bill Taylor - Harvard Business Review<a href="http://blogs.hbr.org/taylor/2011/11/dont_let_what_you_know_limit_w.html?cm_mmc=email-_-newsletter-_-leadership-_-leadership120911&referral=00206&utm_source=newsletter_leadership&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=leadership120911#.TuLjtXNqQmA.blogger">Don't Let What You Know Limit What You Imagine - Bill Taylor - Harvard Business Review</a><div><br /></div><div>Wonderful article especially for those who have immense experience in a particular industry and may not realise the blind spot they have developed towards innovation owing to their experience. </div>B Ganeshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12095980545963361797noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2984173942865043900.post-61723915426534857042011-12-05T13:54:00.000+05:302011-12-15T10:32:37.915+05:30India’s education blues!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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While searching for some old files on my computer, I stumbled upon this letter that I had written to the then Indian President, Dr. Abdul Kalam, in the year 2007. I had written about three areas that the Government must focus on for India to become a developed nation by 2020 – Education, Health & Oil! Today, I tried re-visiting my suggestions, particularly related to education, and decided to evaluate where the country stands on these parameters.</div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">My latest comments are added in <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">blue.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Dear Dr. Kalam,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">As the time of completion of your Presidential term draws closer, I would like to bring to your notice, some of the pressing issues that need your immediate attention. Your vision of transforming <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> into a developed nation by 2020 holds immense value to me. I think there are certain key areas that require immediate focus in the process of achieving the goals set as part of Vision 2020. I wish to highlight the importance and potential of these areas to aid in the nation’s development. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC_11vByy_XmSwOS2pCDUuLcJfRez0nppOc7RssI4nFzMzRXD4baxCk438_T5h73k4bvWl-hXNvYOCcEIWBRvcpRLFZvVzCxWIqwzDI_0wdLB24fCaLyePo75gD03UgI5vHSPTOyn-tPt2/s1600/DSC02942.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC_11vByy_XmSwOS2pCDUuLcJfRez0nppOc7RssI4nFzMzRXD4baxCk438_T5h73k4bvWl-hXNvYOCcEIWBRvcpRLFZvVzCxWIqwzDI_0wdLB24fCaLyePo75gD03UgI5vHSPTOyn-tPt2/s400/DSC02942.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Uncle.. Do I have a right to education?</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-GB">You will agree that lack of education is the biggest hindrance to the development of the country. There is a huge imbalance in the Indian education system since it does very little to improve primary education situation in the country. I would like to bring to your notice a few statistics on the status of government schools in the country. <b>The primary education system in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> is still strongly dominated by government schools with nearly 85% of the total enrolments happening in government primary schools. </b>While this fact needs to be appreciated, it also makes immense sense to understand the status of these primary schools and the quality of teaching in these schools. The following data pertains to the year 2005 and is picked up from the report published by the Department of Education. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<li>Nearly 18% of the primary schools in the country are single teacher schools which cater to approximately 12.5% of the total primary school </li>
<li>Only 40% of the teachers of primary schools are graduates or more. The rest of the teachers have not even completed their graduation. The statistics goes to about 50% when we include all the government and private schools in the country.</li>
<li>About 4% of the primary schools do not have a building and these schools cater to nearly 2.7% of the total primary school enrolments.</li>
<li>Nearly 20% of the primary schools do not have drinking water facility in the school.</li>
<li>Of the primary schools that have drinking water facility, more than 50% of the primary schools have only a hand pump to provide water.</li>
<li>Only 17% of the primary schools have electricity connection in the school. </li>
<li>Nearly 7% of the primary schools do not have a blackboard and these schools cater to nearly 5.28% of total primary school enrolments.</li>
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<span lang="EN-GB">The first two points clearly showcase the paucity of quality teachers in the schools. Having done my entire schooling in private schools, I can appreciate the need for the basic necessities in a school. If minimum necessities of the students are not met it would be very difficult for a student to concentrate on his studies. <b>Eventually, poor teaching and insufficient facilities result in higher dropout rates ranging from 30% during primary schooling to 62% during higher secondary schooling (data pertains to 2003-2004). </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><b>The government spends nearly 50% of the total education expenditure (nearly 1.8% of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s GDP) on primary education. </b>However, this is not sufficient to bridge the gaps in the system. The education cess levied by the government adds a little more fund to be spent on education. However, at a larger context, a series of drastic policy changes need to be done to address some part of the issue. The Right to Education Act will do a lot of good to the infrastructure woes mentioned above.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGQ4RbFvxnYNeOx6xp-Qb_6S3dDY4BrWI3bvOOA6hDfMtpkm4dy6JJcE-XkjApJ-rJEkk-iMSw4osbu7H0bWmmgQYA4Wmvs42kFq9Ss9dbjG4TblaeDkLlJO4g7NXZEEnwR8BxzePC2L4t/s1600/DSC02792.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGQ4RbFvxnYNeOx6xp-Qb_6S3dDY4BrWI3bvOOA6hDfMtpkm4dy6JJcE-XkjApJ-rJEkk-iMSw4osbu7H0bWmmgQYA4Wmvs42kFq9Ss9dbjG4TblaeDkLlJO4g7NXZEEnwR8BxzePC2L4t/s400/DSC02792.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Right to Education Act can make a positive difference <br />
to the infrastructure of such schools.<br />
Photograph taken at<br />
Patan, Jabalpur Dist., Madhya Pradesh on 24th June 2009.</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">[The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) that came into effect in 2010 is a laudable effort. However, this Act stresses much more on the infrastructure requirements for a school than on the learning itself. <b>I firmly believe that for learning to be effective, attention has to be given to three aspects: content, pedagogy and infrastructure.</b> Content refers to the syllabus, text books and other learning resources that are fundamental requirements of the learning process. Pedagogy includes the teaching methodology, quality of teachers, teaching and learning aids etc. These two components are the true learning enablers for every student. If adequate attention is not given to these two factors, nothing much can be done to improve the student’s learning. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">More than just being an eye-wash to set minimum standards, the RTE must aim to boldly tackle the issues of learning and retention. Strict performance measures must be implemented to ensure that teachers focus on learning. Better pedagogical methods must be implemented; teachers must be trained to use such methods thereby enabling them to consciously move away from advocating the rote learning methodology. Such a stronger learning-focused system can ensure that the products of this educational system are better prepared to meet the challenges of the nation and the world.]</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">First and foremost, the government has to address the need for quality teachers across the schooling system in the country. While we have some of the best institutions in the country for technology, management and science, it is unfortunate that we do not have a similar institution for teaching and education. <b>The conventional Bachelor of Education programme offered by Universities has its own limitations in terms of content and pedagogy. </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">[Unfortunately, in states like MP & UP, admission to B.Ed is a huge money making racket in itself. Students who have the least interest and capability to become good teachers get into B.Ed. since it offers an assured employment in a government school. Hefty bribes are paid to the selection committee members and school principals to ensure a confirmed admission. With the sixth pay commission revising the pay grades, there is an even larger group of people wanting to become teachers since it assures them of a permanent job with good salary. Ultimately, teaching takes a back seat, resulting in disappointing standards of education. The Pratham ASER (Annual Status of Education Report published by a leading NGO, Pratham) 2010 report states that less than 30% of Standard III students in Tamil Nadu and less than 40% of Standard III students in UP, Rajasthan and Bihar can read a Standard I text. (</span></span><span lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.pratham.org/aser08/ASER_2010_Report.pdf">http://www.pratham.org/aser08/ASER_2010_Report.pdf</a>). Not a very rosy situation, to say the least!]</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><b>The government must start an Indian Institute of Education to train students who wish to make a career in teaching.</b> There is a pressing need to revamp the B. Ed syllabus and methodology. It is necessary to incorporate hands-on training in the area of teaching and training. The programme must admit students who have a passion for teaching and not students who take up teaching out of compulsion. As part of the programme, students will be required to teach at various schooling levels to ensure that they gain complete exposure to teaching at various levels. On completion of the programme, they can be placed at various government or private schools across the country, thus providing a guaranteed employment. Some of the students can be persuaded to start their own schools to address the educational needs of needy areas. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">The government must also explore possibilities of public private partnerships to enhance the primary education levels in the country. The government can look at creating special education zones where private sector can set up educational institutions. However, the education departments must start quicker processing of private sector requests for clearances to start educational institutions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">The government’s decision to permit foreign universities and institutions to start their campus in India is a laudable one. This will ensure that some more needy students get admissions to the top Indian institutions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">[The foreign universities bill was approved by the Union Cabinet in March 2010. However, the bill has still not been brought into force. Once done, it can have the same impact that economic liberalisation had on the Indian industry in the 90s. However, the efficacy of such a bill entirely rests on the Indian bureaucracy’s willingness and ability to implement it.]</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Another aspect of educational reforms revolves around the faculty. Despite increasing demand for quality teachers, the salaries tend to remain much lower compared to what other professions pay. This is ironical since the students whom these teachers prepare get paid much more than what these teachers earn. Invariably, many of the good teachers quit teaching to pursue other professions. Since many of the teacher’s salaries are dictated by the government bodies, I would urge you to re-look at the same. This will ensure that we have some more talented people taking up a career in teaching. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">The sixth pay commission has brought a sigh of relief to many central government staff including the teachers. Compensation levels have doubled and are a cause of jubilation among the staff. This has also increased the number of people applying for a teacher’s position thus increasing the choice of candidates available for selection. This can only be effective if proper selection methodologies, purely based on merit and capability, are employed by the selection committee.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">One of the other areas that the government must focus on is the use of technology for taking education to the remotest parts of the country. <b>India is the only country in the world that has a dedicated satellite for education. The Edusat was launched in September 2004 and has a life span on 7 years which has already ended in September 2011. Unfortunately, what could have potentially changed the face of the technology enabled education system in India has lived an under-utilised life thanks to the lack of clear vision and cumbersome bureaucracy.</b> While majority of the access was provided by ISRO to government bodies and agencies, the private players were kept away from utilizing the services of Edusat. On hindsight, opening up Edusat to private players would have helped the government recover some cost while also ensuring that the satellite is used to its full capacity.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">With internet and mobile penetration moving up drastically in India, the country must now plan to utilise these media to enhance the reach of education. A clear plan of action in this direction is the need of the hour. No longer can universities depend only on correspondence programmes. They must find ways to use technology to enhance the learning in these programmes. No longer can universities continue the archaic paper based examination formats. They must evolve to incorporate online and mobile testing methodologies in their curriculum. Technology is here to stay and it is upto the educational institutions and government to figure out how best they can utilise it for the benefit of the population. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Note: I do not claim to have influenced the government's decisions or to have played any role in the government’s implementation of new schemes. The letter drafted to be sent to Dr. Kalam was NEVER sent! </span></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>B Ganeshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12095980545963361797noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2984173942865043900.post-85414117247339052842011-12-02T09:09:00.002+05:302011-12-15T10:33:55.646+05:30Is there an age to study?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">My GRE starts in the next one hour and what better way to relax than to type in a quick blog post!<br />
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My test was scheduled to start at 9:00 AM but was rescheduled to 10:00 AM to suit the convenience of the test centre staff. I did not mind it. The security guard at the test centre looked at me curiously and then asked me if I am the test taker. When I concurred, he asked, with a very dismissive attitude, "Why do you want to write this at THIS age?" I did not expect such a question, to say the least!<br />
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Although I have quite a lot of white hair on my head, I have never visualised me as an "old" man yet. Brushing aside his sarcastic question as a meaningless comment, I started wondering if there is any age at all to study? Should education be restricted only to one's early years of life? Or should it be lifelong? <br />
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I think education should be lifelong but has to necessarily tie-in with your skill sets. In today's dynamic and globalised scenario, skills become obsolete so quickly that a person who is not re-skilling himself will necessarily fall out. Take the case of a computer. The configuration that you have today may become archaic two years from now and it is necessary to upgrade your system to function effectively. The same is true for human beings too.<br />
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While your early education (including your post graduation) decisions were influenced by many people including your parents, re-skilling decisions can be independently taken.Working professionals and entrepreneurs are better equipped to understand the employment and business scenario and hence will be able to make an informed choice on the skills that they would like to re-tool themselves with.<br />
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The learning while going through such re-skilling programmes can also be immense since you can bring in enormous value addition to the class based on your real-life experiences. Most re-skilling programmes also let you interact with a highly experienced peer group resulting in a much higher usable learning. The networking that you build at this stage will help make a huge difference to the rest of your career.<br />
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India, unfortunately, does not have enough re-skilling programmes for experienced professionals in different domains. While there are many business management programmes that exist, there are hardly any for the other areas such as education, technology, economics etc. While that gives me a business idea, for now, I am going to focus on getting myself re-skilled and be relevant to the market place. As far as I am concerned, my age will never be a deterrent to learning. As an old tamil saying goes, "What I have learnt is the size of a stone and what remains to be learnt is the size of the world!"<br />
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GRE.. here I come!</div>
<div class="fb-like" data-href="http://www.myexperimentswitheducation.com/2011/12/is-there-age-to-study.html" data-send="true" data-width="450" data-show-faces="true"></div>B Ganeshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12095980545963361797noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2984173942865043900.post-46648219533834577702011-12-01T08:26:00.000+05:302011-12-15T10:34:15.780+05:30Why this Kolaveri?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Alright! I know this song is a rage across audiences and I am no exception to that! But what prompted me to write a post is the use of this song for education!<br />
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</div>Frankly speaking, I wouldn't have imagined anything distantly educative about this song. Incidentally, I am taking my GRE tomorrow and was browsing through websites that could help build my vocabulary, albeit temporarily for a day and I landed on this video link through one of the online learning sites. Take a look!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/O1fNxJYaTvk?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">For those who are now keen on taking the test to see if you have learnt any of the words flashed in-between, please visit <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=O1fNxJYaTvk">http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=O1fNxJYaTvk</a>. I took the test and did pretty well and I am sure most of you would score well too.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">What impressed me about this was the ability of a seemingly simple song to make a deep impact on one's learning. This way of learning is much more immersive and interesting thereby ensuring higher retention. It is not just about the song but also about the creativity of the person who was able to visualize an educative way to use this song. Hats off to this effort! </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">For now, let me enjoy the learning and the music! Going forward, let there be more educative and immersive kolaveris!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Note: The videos, songs, lyrics are the respective copyrights of the respective parties. I do not claim any copyright over any of these!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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<div class="fb-like" data-href="http://www.myexperimentswitheducation.com/2011/12/why-this-kolaveri.html" data-send="true" data-width="450" data-show-faces="true"></div>B Ganeshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12095980545963361797noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2984173942865043900.post-45426129511703466502011-11-24T08:56:00.001+05:302011-12-15T10:34:36.899+05:30Does free education have value?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Over the last few months, I have been helping an education company expand its offerings to students and working professionals across the country. One of the ingenious ideas that we wanted to experiment was to offer a couple of courses absolutely free to learners. Our assumption was that these free courses would encourage trials and then we could go ahead and convert them into paid students for various advanced programmes that we have. While experimenting with this idea, I was curious to understand if an education programme offered free has any value at all in the mind of the student. I decided to delve into my experiences in education to see if there is an answer.<br />
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My own personal experiences could be a good starting point to understand the value proposition of free programmes in the minds of students. Since I was the State Topper in the higher secondary examinations in Tamil Nadu, the Tamil Nadu Government offered me a financial scholarship to cover my graduation expenses. Since I decided to pursue my graduation in commerce and the college expenses for the same were meagre (my annual college fees was around Rs. 1000/- while I studied at a college in Maharashtra), I did not put a heavy burden on the TN exchequer. The expenses of my college education were paid for by the Government of Tamil Nadu which meant that my education was "free". That did not in anyway reduce my seriousness to the programme. The education being free was immaterial to me since a graduation is an essential requisite in any education system. I therefore could not see a direct link between free education and seriousness in my case.<br />
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Interestingly, I also noticed that higher education was totally free for girls in Maharashtra. However, that did not have any impact on the attendance of girl students in my class. In fact, most days I used to be the only boy in the class attending classes with 120 girls! Although the girls' attendance dwindled as we moved to the second and final year, girls would still outnumber the boys in the class. The sincere and studious ones would always be there in every class and that number was almost half of the class size. In this case, while free education did increase the number of students enrolling in the programme, I am not sure if it reduced the seriousness or perceived value in the minds of students. This could again be due to the essential requirement for a basic graduation among the Indian population.<br />
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Later during my career, I have dabbled with the idea of free education across different sectors with varying responses. Noteworthy are the ones that I have tried with technology enabled finishing school programmes for engineering graduates. We have tried offering programmes on communication skills, Spoken English and aptitude training to prepare undergraduate students for a career. We have experimented with offering a few complimentary sessions to students to give them an overview of the challenges they may face during placements and to provide basic inputs to prepare themselves for placements. These were not received very well. The interest levels of students attending these programmes were low and the drop out rates were very high. One of the fundamental observations that we noticed was that these students have still not realised the need to prepare themselves for placements. Surprisingly, many students do not realise their lacunae even after they complete their graduation. When there is no realisation of need, no product can service these customers, even if offered free.<br />
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Another interesting response to free education is worth mentioning here. Over the last two years, I have set up 7 vocational training institutes for school dropouts in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh & Rajasthan. In order to promote our training programmes, we did extensive rural marketing activities in the interiors of these states. One such area is the Bundelkhand region, which always looks to the Central Government's assistance due to its highly drought prone nature. During visits to villages in this region, we have faced stiff resistance from the villagers for any paid programmes. During one of my first visits, a few villagers rounded me up and were keen to know how much WE WILL PAY THEM to undergo the programme! Unfortunately, a flurry of NGOs have made it a habit to pay the villagers and conduct programmes as an eyewash. While these NGOs go back and claim these as genuine rural vocational training programmes, the truth is far from reality. The villagers are happy because they get paid for doing nothing and the NGO is happy since they can claim to have run a successful programme and pocket more funds. No education happens at the end of the day!<br />
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This culture of giving it free had spoiled the mindsets of people across these areas. We struggled hard to educate them that real learning can pay them forever as income. We also resorted to conducting some free sessions, albeit with an objective of generating interest in the subject. These free workshops were conducted across all our 7 branches and they elicited a very good response. Students eager to learn a skill spent nearly 3 days with our faculty to learn something they can go back and use in their day-to-day lives. We did see a glimmer of hope when students diligently worked to learn the skill despite it being a free programme. Here too, the need was too strong for them to learn a skill since they lived in one of the so-called "poorly industrialized" and "backward" states of the country.<br />
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I could see a common line of reasoning behind the success of some of these experiments. If there exists a strong need for a skill, a student may see value and show sincerity even to free programmes. However, if there is an iota of doubt on the usefulness of a programme, free programmes will only be a waste of time and resources. Given the skill shortages that exist in India, the Government must consider setting up Skill colleges that focus on ensuring skill training rather than just be a degree mill. If such skill college programmes are offered free, I can see a different India, adequately skilled and ready to take on the world!</div>
<div class="fb-like" data-href="http://www.myexperimentswitheducation.com/2011/11/does-free-education-have-value.html" data-send="true" data-width="450" data-show-faces="true"></div>B Ganeshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12095980545963361797noreply@blogger.com3National Highway 4, Chetpet, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India13.078140609755359 80.24173736572265613.070407109755358 80.231866865722651 13.085874109755359 80.251607865722661tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2984173942865043900.post-56367040228398256362011-02-23T11:49:00.005+05:302011-12-15T10:35:02.462+05:30Notes from an Outlaw!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Imagine waking up one morning to find that you have just been declared an outlaw by virtue of misinterpretation of an archaic law by some bureaucrat of the Government! Now that I have experienced this, I felt compelled to share my extra-ordinary experience. In my case, it was the vocational training institution that we have been operating in Madhya Pradesh that was made an outlaw. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It all began with a write-up in a not-so-widely-read newspaper in Jabalpur (a city in Eastern Madhya Pradesh) about the Madhya Pradesh Government's decision to clamp down on "farji" ("fraud" in English) institutions that are operating in Madhya Pradesh. A chill ran down my spine when I saw the name of our institution in the list of these so-called "farji" institutes. The only consolation was the presence of larger institutions such as Aptech and NIIT also in the list. I dismissed this as a gimmick by the newspaper to garner some advertisement revenues from the educational institutions that do not favor this newspaper in their marketing budgets. I also noticed an error in the way our name was mentioned and convinced my team - "This is not us!" </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA-k4DXn_PuFvuildrU_NjtacZKYD5FS8OOBtIJoRIxa08OkdY-dwNYTi2FJkmX6auUmnnfOdbMSlNZZrnp3TOawjUjGxIHRBB_t2pW4GziWkRsY7zNQlJRBrSkPRYGNzOuHsaueojiwy7/s1600/paper+news+about+notice.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA-k4DXn_PuFvuildrU_NjtacZKYD5FS8OOBtIJoRIxa08OkdY-dwNYTi2FJkmX6auUmnnfOdbMSlNZZrnp3TOawjUjGxIHRBB_t2pW4GziWkRsY7zNQlJRBrSkPRYGNzOuHsaueojiwy7/s400/paper+news+about+notice.JPG" width="315" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">A day or two later, we realized that it was really "US"! We received a show-cause notice from the Higher Education Department of Government of Madhya Pradesh asking us as to why our institution should not be shut down since it contravenes the section 7 (2) of The MP Universities Act 1973. This section specifies that no other state or national University has a right to offer any courses within the jurisdiction of the local or regional university and if they wish to do so they need to procure a no-objection certificate from the Commissioner of Higher Education of Government of Madhya Pradesh. Simply put, any other University headquartered outside Madhya Pradesh cannot offer any courses in Madhya Pradesh without the express permission of the Government of Madhya Pradesh. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1rKY4tY6v07evndhX5teP7pY-C2ewwVC4qv-T6Y-Jsayo-NQ4VBDppjK1uTddDITV-jlb8YZeWoH8Vsa-D-EXs1e2rkrIG7j0p5cUWw6oMAJpWuFm8VsfqA9Aav3Wj-ACCaO40Un9LoPo/s1600/image3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="26" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1rKY4tY6v07evndhX5teP7pY-C2ewwVC4qv-T6Y-Jsayo-NQ4VBDppjK1uTddDITV-jlb8YZeWoH8Vsa-D-EXs1e2rkrIG7j0p5cUWw6oMAJpWuFm8VsfqA9Aav3Wj-ACCaO40Un9LoPo/s400/image3.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We retorted explaining that we are not a college and we do not offer any programmes of other Universities. More importantly, we are not higher education providers; instead we are a vocational skill development institution preparing school dropouts for employability or self-employment. So, technically, we should not be covered in the ambit of this clause and must be allowed to pursue our activities. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In order to clarify issues, I had the opportunity to meet a few bureaucrats over the last few days. These meetings have given me a whole new perspective of the complete absence of "mind" or "matter" amongst a few bureaucrats of the Government of Madhya Pradesh. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The bureaucrat who had issued the notice refused to divulge any precedence or explanation for the notice. On insistence he curtly replied, "I am not here to answer your questions. You are supposed to answer my questions and you better do that!" These were his introductory lines when I walked in to his crumbling room.<br />
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When it comes to a question of survival or passion, you tend to ignore negativity and are prepared to tolerate a certain amount of humiliation. So, ignoring his opening remarks, I informed him that we are registered with IGNOU which is a mandated University of the Government of India and has jurisdiction across the entire country. He answered - "It does not matter! Even if God wants to teach something in MP, he cannot do so without our permission!"I did not expect such a response from one of the senior bureaucrats of the Higher Education department. Here is a person charged with one of the most important duties of the Government – that of ensuring quality higher education across the state of MP – making inane statements that only ruins education further rather than improvising it.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We were also told to either submit our no-objection certificate before 4 PM or submit an affidavit from the court mentioning that we have shut down our institution. While I was not sure if he was serious about filing an FIR with the police for non-compliance, we were still under tremendous stress. All our struggle to set up an institution suddenly coming to a naught and a deadline given to close 'everything' that we believed will provide a new future for the school dropouts of MP. So much for choosing to make a difference in MP! So much for wishing to help in the development of MP!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">While we were trying to find a solution to this issue, I came across the case of another large private institute that had recently shut down 24 of its branches in MP. In a similar case, they had been asked to shut down by the Government of MP after a short confrontation at the High Court of MP. Keen to know the details of the case, I fetched out the same through a dubious advocate. Their case history was similar to ours – starting with a notice from the Government to shut down their institution. The institution had filed a writ petition in the Jabalpur High Court to restrain the Government from taking any punitive action since the institute was well within the law to offer these courses in MP. The High Court gave a fortnight's time to the Government of MP to file a response. The Government's response confirmed my assumptions that there is more than one dim-wit in the corridors of bureaucracy. <br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The Government in its response has stated that any Private company cannot be an institution. It also reiterates that, in India, education is done as a "charity" and not as a "company" or "business". Well, if that is the case, let the Government provide education free of cost to every individual in the country. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Let the IIMs not charge a six figure fee from the students. Let the Government ban all the private Engineering and </span>Management Colleges which not only charge a hefty fee for their regular students but also charge a higher fees for "management quota" seats. Let the Government stop the sale of engineering, medical and ITI seats in Government colleges by the corrupt Principals and management of these institutions. Let the Government abolish the quota raj and make higher education available to one and all. If such a situation emerges, then education will truly be a charity and not a business.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZRheBGlXjPh7zmqAlye93qZH-tZKKjLPwydj4v9kGy7YXCkoGkGl6mWbQsN7DVfeVsuuVjsPmE9REVj-683ohjK_TvZ6I6ZmDyTPOx1fVyKvtkvZejJFOhM6kisItAPLDxNdTejreyMCu/s1600/letter1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZRheBGlXjPh7zmqAlye93qZH-tZKKjLPwydj4v9kGy7YXCkoGkGl6mWbQsN7DVfeVsuuVjsPmE9REVj-683ohjK_TvZ6I6ZmDyTPOx1fVyKvtkvZejJFOhM6kisItAPLDxNdTejreyMCu/s400/letter1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Another statement of the Government raised a much more fundamental issue of employability of the students. The Government insists that students who undergo training from private institutions gain nothing during such training conveniently ignoring the knowledge and value addition part. The response categorically states that the certificates and diplomas issued by the private institutions have no meaning since they are neither accepted by Government organizations nor by private organizations. The Government further states that since it does not lead to any meaningful employment, these institutions should be banned! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLDeoY3ZPfqbY3NVrjETWXC9M0g9dUCJnVy9MzWq3OsutjoCj4nWxLMLpeo9UjlaE2e0Wmg-n_0R5Hxqn5rXLJ04iPy6f5R2C82XXpJYdP7M8VZdFMWQMgiJL9afflODda_vXFWlHXEP31/s1600/letter2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLDeoY3ZPfqbY3NVrjETWXC9M0g9dUCJnVy9MzWq3OsutjoCj4nWxLMLpeo9UjlaE2e0Wmg-n_0R5Hxqn5rXLJ04iPy6f5R2C82XXpJYdP7M8VZdFMWQMgiJL9afflODda_vXFWlHXEP31/s400/letter2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">There are two facets of this response. One – the Government seems to have done very little or no research before categorically stating that students of these institutions do not get any employment in the private sector. Wouldn't it have made more sense for the bureaucrats to do a detailed study of students passing out of these institutions before making such a strong statement? </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxkBRo2RsU_R-HmhP5ZFsnKYXMv4KWM1umnIt4vZHB-MWG8pwZKavT2ttY2NnCW4Ik3UzU0uAT7GpyrFApTXjvTO9ozbJJacVrBKQDzrOLEMF3Cz4zvm-WXmU3jO-8XCH5P9Wd6fwKUykq/s1600/letter3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxkBRo2RsU_R-HmhP5ZFsnKYXMv4KWM1umnIt4vZHB-MWG8pwZKavT2ttY2NnCW4Ik3UzU0uAT7GpyrFApTXjvTO9ozbJJacVrBKQDzrOLEMF3Cz4zvm-WXmU3jO-8XCH5P9Wd6fwKUykq/s400/letter3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><shape id="Picture_x0020_4" o:spid="_x0000_i1025" style="height: 387pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 468pt;" type="#_x0000_t75"><imagedata o:title="letter3" src="file:///C:\DOCUME~1\ganesh\LOCALS~1\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image007.jpg"></imagedata></shape></div><div class="MsoNormal">The other facet is that of employability. Does every student who has undergone a higher education programme gain meaningful employment? If everybody who goes through a higher education programme needs to be gainfully employed, how do you justify the scores of students who pass out of all the government and private degree colleges across the country are still unemployed? Should we then ban all these institutions too in an effort to clamp down on spurious institutions?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In today's competitive job market, a degree does not guarantee a job. Hence students need additional skills that can help them compete in the job market. Institutions such as ours work towards bridging the skill gap between what the companies look for and what the education system provides. Before issuing a blanket ban on these institutions, the government must make sure that these skill sets are included in the curriculum of higher education institutions. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">While this will address the issue of students capable of pursuing higher education, what happens to students who drop out of schools at the high or higher secondary level? These students cannot look for any education in the conventional higher education system since they do not meet the eligibility criteria. The Government does not have an alternative vocational training system that takes care of this category of students. If institutions such as ours are banned, it will only lead to higher unemployment among this population. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Most importantly, in this globalised world, we need newer skill sets across all sectors. If the Government is not quick enough to train students on these newer skill sets and if private sector participation is not allowed in such areas, development will take a beating. Even now, there is a huge dearth of talent in the state of MP across all sectors. If the Government decides to implement a blanket ban, this dearth will only worsen and lead to unbridled opportunism. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I strongly subscribe to the view that the Government must act as a regulator and guide for all such private institutions in the interest of students. Just a no-objection certificate issued by the Government has no meaning. Instead, the Government should provide guidelines for such private vocational institutes and only those institutes that meet these guidelines should be permitted to operate in the state. The Government should also bear in mind that these are not full-fledged colleges and hence standards applicable to colleges will not be applicable here. The Government must exercise a certain amount of leniency in framing guidelines for these private skill development institutions.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I have personally felt that MP is a fantastic state with rich natural resources and a great potential to become one of the best states in the country. For me, MP is more like a child that needs to be disciplined while being guided if it wishes to excel as one of the best among its peers. Education is the very foundation of any state's excellence and if the Government is lackadaisical or arrogant towards this sector, excellence may never see the light of day.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">While the Honorable CM of MP, Mr. Shivraj Singh Chouhan dreams of making MP as the "No. 1" state in the country, I will not be surprised if the 'babus' in his Government drive it to the other extreme. If such an attitude towards education exists in the corridors of power, trust me, 'even God can't save this state!'</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><u>Epilogue</u>: While I write this, we are still an "illegal" institution as deemed by the Government of Madhya Pradesh. Nevertheless, we are determined to establish ourselves as a legal entity and continue our mission of making a change in the lives of school dropouts in MP. While our travails and tribulations will continue for some more time, you are welcome to come back here for more updates.</div></div>
<div class="fb-like" data-href="http://www.myexperimentswitheducation.com/2011/02/notes-from-outlaw.html" data-send="true" data-width="450" data-show-faces="true"></div>B Ganeshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12095980545963361797noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2984173942865043900.post-54806455885950903082010-11-25T17:07:00.000+05:302010-11-25T17:07:20.094+05:30Education & Social EntrepreneurshipOne of my articles on Social Entrepreneurship Opportunities in Education has been published by <a href="http://www.chillibreeze.com/">Chilli-breeze</a>. You can access the article at "<a href="http://www.chillibreeze.com/articles_various/education-and-social-entrepreneurship-1011.asp">Education & Social Entrepreneurship</a>"B Ganeshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12095980545963361797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2984173942865043900.post-36236332776115715412010-10-02T19:22:00.000+05:302011-12-15T10:35:25.202+05:30Mom, Dad! Listen to me for once!<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">Dear Mom & Dad!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Another year has passed! I am seventeen years old now! These seventeen years have brought about tremendous changes in me! I’ve learnt a lot in these years and I am a lot wiser than I was ten years ago! I have grown up listening to every word of what you say. Whatever I am today is because of you. But today, I want you to listen to me!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Today, I have completed my schooling and I am looking forward to my graduation. You are aware of my interest in painting & drawing. You probably acknowledge that I am creative. You do not know that I can excel these areas. Your definition of a career ends with engineering, medicine or an MBA. But today, the world has many more options than these. And I want to choose a different path – I want to be a painter! Will you listen to me this one time?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Mom, do you remember the day when I was five years old and I wrote the alphabets in a haphazard manner? I thought it looked artistic but you termed it as illegible. You compared me with the next door kid and expected me to be as good as him. You misunderstood my ability and pressurized me to write properly. It hurt; but it did not matter to you! Such comparisons continued all through my schooling and ended up stressing me throughout. You may not have realised the impact. But I will feel it!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Because your definition of achievement ends with my scoring more than the others, I have become a rote learner. Conceptually, I am very strong; but can I apply my learning anywhere? I doubt! I know <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Newton</st1:place></st1:city>’s first law of motion by heart but I do not know where to use it! I can blurt out HCF and LCM of numbers like the back of my hand but I do not know where I can apply them! This stress has affected my learning apart from taking a toll on my health. Physics states that everything has a breaking point under pressure. This is true of human beings too. I am thankful that I did not hit one ever!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Dad, you are the wisest in the family! I believe every word of what you say! I trust your capabilities to manage the household, to take care of every one of our needs. Why don’t you believe in me and my capabilities? You have taught us the value of trusting people. But, it’s disheartening that you don’t trust me and my judgement or choice? If, as parents, you don’t believe in me, nobody will! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">You keep telling me that I cannot succeed in life taking up something like painting. But that depends on how you define success, Dad! For you, success could mean wealth. For me, success could mean being happy and making others happy with what I do! Why can’t I work towards my success on my own terms?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Mom, you advise me everyday that if I need to succeed in life, I should work hard like Dad. Why then are you keen on giving me the easier options of engineering or medicine which have a sure shot career? Why can’t I choose something different and work hard to succeed in it?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">I have never compared both of you to anyone else in the world. I have always believed that you are unique and I am proud of you. But why do you compare me with other kids most of the time? If other kids chose engineering, why do you insist that I choose the same? Please understand that I am unique with capabilities far different from anyone else. Try to understand that and help me grow with them rather than stifling them and making me a clone of your friend’s son!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Dad, I am aware that you wanted to be a doctor but could not make it to a medical school. But imposing your ambitions on me is not fair. It is a question of my life and I do not want to risk choosing something that does not interest me. You have taught me that to be best in something, I have to like it, love it and enjoy it! I am sure that I will not enjoy being a doctor! I agree that choosing medicine will give me a successful career. I am also aware that not choosing medicine will not result in a failed career. I have an example in you Dad!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">It is not a question of engineering or medicine for me! It is a question of a cause or career! Most people do not understand the difference between a cause and a career. If Bill Gates had chosen a career in computers, he would have been working with IBM or Apple. If Richard Branson had taken to a career in engineering, he would have been an average middle class British citizen. These people committed themselves to a cause. Bill Gates wanted to make the Personal Computer truly personal. Richard Branson wanted to make flying across the <st1:place w:st="on">Atlantic</st1:place> far cheaper than anything available. I can give you many more such examples. These people were successful because they committed themselves to a cause. I would like to do the same. Will you listen to me?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">If you still feel that I must commit myself to a career, I will! I may not be happy about your choice but I will live with it. I may become materialistic but I will have a great career. You may feel proud that your son is a doctor or an engineer; I will be ashamed for sacrificing my interest! You will be happy that I am successful; I will regret that I lost my cause and happiness! Most importantly, you would have cloned your son to lead a life like your friend’s son; I would have lost my individuality! I am asking you one last time… Will you let me be myself?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Whatever your choice may be, I love both of you a lot!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Your loving son!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">(Written on behalf of all those who wish to choose the untrodden path.) </span></div>
<div class="fb-like" data-href="http://www.myexperimentswitheducation.com/2010/10/mom-dad-listen-to-me-for-once.html" data-send="true" data-width="450" data-show-faces="true"></div>B Ganeshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12095980545963361797noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2984173942865043900.post-28732188476658462662010-06-26T12:14:00.008+05:302011-12-15T10:35:45.247+05:30Let the mismatch grow!Over the past few days I have been conducting job interviews at Jaipur for the vocational training institute that we have newly started here. The institute trains school drop-outs to become electricians, TV repair mechanics, mobile repairers, AC & Fridge mechanics, 2 wheeler & 4 wheeler mechanics etc. We are currently recruiting faculty who can teach these subjects - both theoretically as well as practically with a lot more emphasis on hands-on training. However, my experience in these interviews has left with me with a lot of startling thoughts.<br />
<div><br />
</div><div>We had given an advertisement in a leading daily in Jaipur (shelling out a fortune from a vocational training institute standards) asking interested, eligible candidates to walk-in for the interview. There were 4 people who turned up for the interview. Out of these one was working currently in the industry, one has been a faculty for many years and the other two were people looking for a stop-gap arrangement until their endless wait for a government job comes to a happy ending. I was shocked, to say the least! I have had similar experiences in interviews conducted across MP & UP as well.</div><div><br />
</div><div>I have always thought that Jaipur is one of the larger metros in the country, more developed than at least its other BIMARU counterparts - Bhopal, Lucknow or Patna. I assumed that getting qualified faculty would not be a problem in such a large city. Add to it, the number of Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in the state of Rajasthan - a staggering 729 (Source: NCVT Website); the third highest number of ITIs in India. On an average, each ITI has 2 trades with around 21 students in each trade summing up to 30,618 students graduating each year. Jaipur district alone has nearly 110 ITCs (Private ITIs) which has an approximate throughput of nearly 3000 students each year. These numbers would make anyone vouch for the availability of skilled manpower but sadly the reality states otherwise. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Almost all the 110 ITCs in Jaipur offers the Electrician trade. However, out of the four candidates who came for the interview, just one was from the Electrician trade. Happy to have got at least one, I questioned him on the basics of electricity and was keen to know if he can install a fan or a tube light. He drew a blank mentioning that it was not part of the "practical" syllabus. I cornered him saying that if even an untrained person could install it, why not him. He admitted that he has learnt it theoretically but never did it practically and hence lacked the confidence to do the same. That's appalling! I never imagined in my wildest of dreams that such would be the state of trained technical manpower in Jaipur. I shudder when I think of these candidates joining electricity boards and managing our power lines. The only consolation - this could be a one-off case - one candidate is not a sizeable sample to arrive at conclusions!</div><div><br />
</div><div>I have seen that most people who pursue an ITI course do so purely for a government job. In Rajasthan, the major employer is the Rajasthan State Electricity Board. In MP & UP, it is the Indian Railways. A job in the government gives them the job security for lifetime and the possibility of earning much more through other unethical means. The competition to join these departments is tough but some of the 'financially abled' make it through, thanks to corruption spread across all levels. The recent question paper leakage of railway examinations is just one case. Having spent a lot of money, time and effort in getting a government job, these people have tremendous pressure to recover their 'investment' as soon as they get the job. Bribe, otherwise called "Bhent", "Pet Pooja" or "Kharcha Paani", is such an addiction that can never stop until you quit or get caught! Even after you get caught, you can bribe your way out!</div><div><br />
</div><div>On the one hand, we have a huge population which only wants a government job and on the other hand we have a large number of students who go to the ITIs but never learn the skill-sets. The first question most students pose to our counsellors is if the course is government certified and if they can get a government job post course completion. When we reply in the negative, they are just not interested in learning anything. When we counsel them that we prepare them for self-employment, so they do not need to depend on the government, they are not very keen. Entrepreneurship is not something they wish to take up mainly because of the risks involved in it. But more importantly, for them, a government job means no risk, less work and more money!</div><div><br />
</div><div>Unfortunately, industries too suffer because of the non-availability of trained manpower. A lot of industries spend time and money in retraining these candidates to make them productive. Training institutions such as ours struggle hard to bridge the gap between the demand and supply of training technical manpower. However, while being a supplier of talent we also have a demand for skilled manpower which remains un-fulfilled many a times. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Most importantly, it is the common man who suffers because of non-availability of such trained manpower. There are not enough electricians in the market; not enough plumbers in the market; not enough AC repair mechanics; not enough Refrigerator mechanics; just not enough! The well-to-do families do not want their children to become an electrician - they would rather do an MBA and be a "Manager" or a "Businessman". The middle class families aspire their children to become "Engineers" & "Doctors". The lower-middle income families aspire their children to get into a government jobs. The lower income families are happy even if they could afford some schooling for their children. If this situation continues, 10 to 15 years from now, there will be a huge dearth of electricians, plumbers, mechanics etc. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Simple economics states that when demand increases and supply remains constant, the price is likely to go up - a situation where an electrician will make more money than the MBA. I truly hope that one such day dawns. May be then, people & government will start thinking about some serious vocational education to be included in our school syllabus. May be then, kids will also start aspiring to be electricians and plumbers. May be then, vocational education would not be only for the underprivileged or the poor. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Until that day dawns, my good lord - let the mismatch grow!</div><div><br />
</div>
<div class="fb-like" data-href="http://www.myexperimentswitheducation.com/2010/06/let-mismatch-grow.html" data-send="true" data-width="450" data-show-faces="true"></div>B Ganeshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12095980545963361797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2984173942865043900.post-10380754048506593482009-06-21T21:59:00.004+05:302011-12-15T10:36:02.870+05:30Quality standardization - the McDonald's way!I was at Gwalior in Northern Madhya Pradesh last week and was pleasantly surprised to see a shopping mall and a McDonald's outlet there. The city of Gwalior has surpassed Madhya Pradesh's capital city - Bhopal atleast in two aspects - one of being a better tourist destination thanks to the fabulous Gwalior fort and the other of having a better mall culture with big brands establishing an outlet there. (A third and irrelevant aspect where Gwalior surpasses Bhopal is in the prevalance of gun toting culture across the district and nearby areas.)<br /><br />I have been an ardent McDonald's customer, never missing a chance to walk in to a McDonald's outlet if I pass by one. I have always been impressed by the level of standardization that works across all McDonald's outlets - standardization of not just the burgers but of the processes as well as of people. On seeing a McDonald's outlet in Gwalior, I decided to walk in and have a taste of my favorite Veggie Meal. It had been almost 6 months since I ate at a McDonald's outlet; the last was at the outlet in Navi Mumbai just before the Mumbai Pune Expressway commences. I was also curious to see if they have the same level of standardization and quality as a McDonald's outlet in Mumbai.<br /><br />Over the last 3 months, I have been trying to identify and recruit good quality people for the various vocational technical education centres that we are setting up in Madhya Pradesh & Uttar Pradesh. However, our search has been very painful, to say the least. We just could not get the quality of people that we expected and hence had to compromise on a few counts in order to fill up our positions. We believed that we could possibly train them and make them as good as what we expect them to be. When I saw the McDonald's outlet, I was curious to see if they have the same quality of people that I have seen in their outlets in Mumbai and elsewhere. I was wondering if they have been able to standardize their processes and people here too to the same extent as their other outlets.<br /><br />When I walked to the counter to place my order, an old lady was standing ahead of me in the queue and was having a conversation with the person at the order counter. She apparently seemed to have ordered for something which was not available in the outlet at the moment and she was upset about the same. The McDonald's service guy at the counter was very polite and was extremely apologetic about the same. His English was amazingly good (it has been a long long time since I heard anyone speak good English in Madhya Pradesh!) and his mannerisims mirrored that of any good service personnel in any other McDonald's outlet elsewhere. When the lady demanded to see the Shift supervisor, the service personnel called a petite lady to talk to her. The shift supervisor too was very polite, spoke good English and tried to reason with the lady. Somehow the matter was resolved and the lady walked over to take her seat. I was impressed by the extent of professionalism shown by the service personnel and the shift supervisor in meeting the customer's expectations and handling a customer complaint.<br /><br />While I placed my order, I received the same level of promptness from the entire service team. I have always seen people in Madhya Pradesh to have a laid back and lazy attitude. However, I found the contrary in the entire service team at McDonald's. I noticed the surnames in the name badges of the service personnel and was re-assured that all of them were localites. I was thoroughly impressed by the service culture and mannerisms exhibited by the entire team. I am sure there must have been a lot of effort gone in training this entire team to change them from being a motley group of youngsters from a small city in Madhya Pradesh to a world class service focused team.<br /><br />This experience gave me a few insights. Here was a team of highly motivated individuals trying to provide customer satisfaction to the best possible extent. I am sure they were all born and brought up in the same culture as the other people of Pradesh. However, what differentiates them was possibly the grooming that they got from McDonald's. If there was some way we could aim to groom youngsters in the state of Madhya Pradesh similar to a McDonald's way, I am sure the state would possibly have a much better work force.<br /><br />More importantly, if a McDonald's can train and groom these youngsters to such high professional standards, I am sure any other organization working in the state of Madhya Pradesh too can do the same, provided they have the desire to make a difference. Unless organizations working in Madhya Pradesh take an active interest in enhancing the quality of the work force in Madhya Pradesh, they will never find good quality people in the state. With no effort to train and groom their workforce, organizations can only lament about the non-availability of good quality people in the state. For me, I have my task cutout. Invest in training my people and stop worrying about non-availability of good talent! Way to go!
<div class="fb-like" data-href="http://www.myexperimentswitheducation.com/2009/06/quality-standardization-mcdonalds-way.html" data-send="true" data-width="450" data-show-faces="true"></div>B Ganeshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12095980545963361797noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2984173942865043900.post-46496668972255590422009-06-21T18:47:00.003+05:302011-12-15T10:36:17.679+05:30Change syllabus every year to earn more!Yesterday, I was travelling by train from Jhansi to Bhopal. There were two other co-passengers in my coupe and I happened to eavesdrop on their conversation. Normally, I would not prefer to do such eavesdropping but being seated opposite to each other and they having a very loud voice, I couldn't stop myself from listening to their conversation. One of the gentleman was the owner of a prominent newspaper in Uttar Pradesh and the other was a prominent surgeon based in Jhansi. Both of them were travelling to Jabalpur to attend a religious discourse.<br /><br />The newspaper owner was talking about his family and the businesses that the family owns. One of the major businesses the family owns, apart from the newspaper, was a book publishing business. The family owns two printing presses - one in a place near Jhansi and the other in Raipur. The newspaper owner was mentioning that he was not fit to run the publishing business because he was a straight forward person and was incapable of running any business by feeding government officials under the table. Hence, the printing presses were run by his younger and elder brother respectively.<br /><br />What caught my attention was the modus operandi of these presses. He mentioned that both the presses publish school text books for the government of UP & Chhatisgarh respectively. The value of the government order for each press runs into around 8 to 10 Crore Rupees every year. However, this deal can be secured only if the publisher is willing to give adequate kickbacks to the government officials responsible for clearing the order. Education, which is supposed to eradicate all evils, is actually the starting point of all evils in governance.<br /><br />The orders are given out in the nth hour and the publishers have very little time, actually less than a month's time, to publish lakhs of books. In case the publisher fails to deliver on time, there is a huge penalty on the publisher. In order to deliver contracts on time, the publishers tend to compromise on the quality of the books thereby rendering the book unusable for more than a year.<br /><br />What was more shocking was the way in which the entire education system was being taken for a ride to satisfy the interests of a few petty politicians and their loyal bureaucrats. In their greed to make more money for themselves, the politicians and bureaucrats change the syllabus every year forcing publication of new books. Thus, they make hefty kickbacks every year and grow richer than ever!<br /><br />In all this bargain, the common man suffers the most! With the low income levels in Uttar Pradesh, not every family has the capacity to buy books every year. In earlier days, books used to be passed on from elder brothers to younger brothers since the syllabus used to change once in 5 years. Now, the poor man's family is forced to buy new books every year thereby stressing him even more. Many a times, kids are put out of school simply because they cannot afford education anymore, thanks to these money minded politicians and bureaucrats!<br /><br />This conversation left me contemplating; does education pull people out of poverty or forces them deeper down the chasm?
<div class="fb-like" data-href="http://www.myexperimentswitheducation.com/2009/06/change-syllabus-every-year-to-earn-more.html" data-send="true" data-width="450" data-show-faces="true"></div>B Ganeshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12095980545963361797noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2984173942865043900.post-75023091491626248342009-06-21T16:48:00.000+05:302011-12-15T10:36:50.487+05:30Weak Foundations! Great Expectations!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhROQYXfjRFk9DrMlbTpEzpPRd-t92_yaplxEvg5EU4TQ1KkGm7VGu3lNgYlZD-GcUQq0TtLFIAGU75bQ5JoxtM4zkEeV1jyKwbajmcdTICdKG73sTdr89H9PmIhZwtXek7n6p52dv2jzgi/s1600-h/DSC02040.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhROQYXfjRFk9DrMlbTpEzpPRd-t92_yaplxEvg5EU4TQ1KkGm7VGu3lNgYlZD-GcUQq0TtLFIAGU75bQ5JoxtM4zkEeV1jyKwbajmcdTICdKG73sTdr89H9PmIhZwtXek7n6p52dv2jzgi/s400/DSC02040.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5349750944949368994" border="0" /></a><br />About a month ago, the results of high school (10th standard) examinations were declared in the state of Madhya Pradesh. The results were nothing but shocking! Having lived in states like Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra where the high schools have nearly 70 to 80% students passing, the Madhya Pradesh state results came a big shock. <span style="font-weight: bold;">The number of students who had cleared their high school exams was an abysmal 36%. </span>Of the 7.5 lakh students who appeared for the high school exams, a mere one third have passed and another 1 lakh students have been permitted to appear for supplementary exams. The government of Madhya Pradesh convened a meeting of the district education officers on a fact finding mission to unearth the reasons for poor performance. Two of the prominent reasons were:<br /><ul><li>The government changed the syllabus but failed to train the teachers adequately on the new syllabus.</li><li>Books for new syllabus were not available in the market and hence students could not prepare adequately</li></ul>The reason seemed to squarely blame the debacle on the syllabus. I too believed that the excuse was reasonable until I met a school administrator in Sagar, a town in central Madhya Pradesh last week. My discussion with this administrator was a revelation of sorts and I wish the Madhya Pradesh Education Department does some more fact finding before they come to blame the syllabus.<br /><br />This school has been in existence for more than a decade in Sagar. The school has a Principal, who happens to the administrator's wife. The administrator is a high school pass and the Principal is a graduate. The school employs about 8 to 10 teachers who are mostly higher secondary pass and a few are graduates. My discussion with the administrator made me realise that such schools are one of the fundamental reasons for the poor results in high school exams since they lack quality in every aspect, be it operations, academics or accountability.<br /><br />According to the administrator, the procedure to start a school is very easy. If you are willing to grease a few palms in the education department, you will have the licence to start a school. When asked if the education department prescribes any minimum standards or regulations in terms of the infrastructure or faculty, the administrator mentioned that there was no such thing as regulations or standards. Once you got the permission, every school was free to operate the school as per their wishes and charge fees as per their discretion. This school, for the record, has been functioning in a 1000 sqft. house of the administrator. Most importantly, the education department never inspects the functioning of the school. In the last decade, since its inception, nobody from the education department has ever come to inspect the functioning of this administrator's school.<br /><br />If running the school has no rules and regulations, the academic component also takes a huge beating. None of the school teachers or the Principal have a Bachelor's in Education degree, which I have always thought was essential to be a school teacher. The administrator mentioned that there was no such requirement to run a school in Madhya Pradesh. The school management is free to decide on who teaches in the school. In fact, the administrator feels that a high school pass teacher is qualified enough to teach students upto 8th standard! A shocking revelation, to say the least!<br /><br />The school administrator also mentioned that the school, in its decade old existence, has never failed any student. I was impressed, assuming that the teachers must be doing a very good job. However, the administrator clarified that the school never fails anybody since there is huge parental pressure to pass all the students. Since the exams are conducted by the school itself, nobody verifies the credentials of the exams or the students. Moreover, if the school fails any of its students, they may face problems with the education department during renewal of licence and hence to maintain a clean slate, they never fail any student.<br /><br />Such schools, however, conduct classes only till the 8th standard since running classes for 10th standard poses a huge risk. Because they have compromised on the quality of education, they are definitely not sure if their students would pass high school exams and hence stay shy of commencing high school classes.<br /><br />Having had this conversation with the school administrator, some stark realisation dawned upon me. If the quality of education has been so poor at the primary and secondary education level, there is no doubt that majority of these students would fail at the high school level. Since the foundations are weak, these students are bound to fail in a state-wide competitive exam such as the high school examination. Change in syllabus or inadequately trained faculty only complicate things much further.<br /><br />Unless the state government actively takes interest in enhancing quality at the primary and secondary level and brings in strong accountability in primary and secondary schools, I do not see any improvement happening in the education scenario of the state.
<div class="fb-like" data-href="http://www.myexperimentswitheducation.com/2009/06/about-month-ago-results-of-high-school.html" data-send="true" data-width="450" data-show-faces="true"></div>B Ganeshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12095980545963361797noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2984173942865043900.post-36581453991072092942009-06-21T16:30:00.000+05:302011-12-15T10:37:30.162+05:30Welcome to 'My experiments with education!'<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzp1cJzG9i65yMreYma0_v6FOkiyEbdQ1GtbqCzeioWGtaWSRijVbaJOl1prX2RJTD9cYRUvHYaLmNuzT-sYeZtuy-8I-n6a-M9hCJxaEVRGNcP_aZ2A20C_b1nhl7ActD5KucVklPCI-d/s1600-h/DSC02178.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzp1cJzG9i65yMreYma0_v6FOkiyEbdQ1GtbqCzeioWGtaWSRijVbaJOl1prX2RJTD9cYRUvHYaLmNuzT-sYeZtuy-8I-n6a-M9hCJxaEVRGNcP_aZ2A20C_b1nhl7ActD5KucVklPCI-d/s320/DSC02178.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5349737792393672370" border="0" /></a><br />Hi,<br /><br />Let me start my bloggin with a small introduction about myself!<br /><br />My name is Ganesh. A teacher by passion and an educationist by profession, I have been successful on both counts during my corporate career spanning more than 8 years. Academically, I am a commerce graduate with an MBA in Finance and Marketing from XIM Bhubaneswar. I have been a successful educational projects manager with organizations such as Reliance Webstores, Everonn Systems and my almamater XIM Bhubaneswar where I have worked towards launching innovative technology enabled educational models. In my last assignment with CRISIL, I have been awarded and recognized globally for creating an innovative talent augmentation pipeline through a unique work and study programme. I am also an expert in managing both small and large educational institution operations and have successfully managed the operations of IMS Learning Centre in Chennai. A brief research stint with McKinsey Knowledge Centre and a sales stint with Johnson & Johnson have provided me with a strong research and marketing orientation in all my assignments till date. I am an avid reader and a guest faculty on marketing and finance to some of the business schools across the country.<br /><br />In the last few months I have been working on setting up vocational technical education centres across Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh in Central India. This required me to travel the length and breadh of these two states and put me face to face with many interesting, intriguing, shocking revelations that I have ever faced in my life. These revelations are not just related to education but with life, morality, ethics, systems, culture, people and so on. After a couple of perspective changing instances, I now have the urge to share my thoughts on these revelations with the world at large. The result is this blog.<br /><br />I decided to call my blog as '<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">My experiments with education</span>' since I always consider myself a researcher trying out new experiments in education with the hope that one day I would scream out 'Eureka!' loudly on having changed something or having discovered something in education, that can have a lasting impact on not just education, but humanity as a whole!<br /><br />The thoughts I have posted here are purely personal and are based on my experiences. I look forward to your feedback, comments, suggestions on all my experiments!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Welcome, once again, to 'My experiments with education'!</span> I trust you will enjoy this journey as much as I enjoy!
<div class="fb-like" data-href="http://www.myexperimentswitheducation.com/2009/06/welcome-to-my-experiments-with.html" data-send="true" data-width="450" data-show-faces="true"></div>B Ganeshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12095980545963361797noreply@blogger.com0