MODULE 5 - Issues in contemporary Education

MODULE 5 - Issues in contemporary Education

Prepared by

SABARISH-P

M.Sc., M.Ed., JRF & NET

Assistant Professor in Physical Science, Arafa Institute for Teacher Education

Attur, Thrissur.

Contact me : pklsabarish@gmail.com

Gender Issues

·        India is reputed to have a progressive education policy with regard to the focus on gender.

·        Despite over three decades of commitment to gender equality and the universalisation of education, the ground realities are still grim, especially in the context of girls from marginalised groups and rural areas.

·        National-level surveys and data also show that nine out of every ten girls ever enrolled in school could not complete schooling; and, only one out of every 100 girls enrolled in Class I reaches Class XII in rural areas and 14 out of every 100 girls enrolled in Class I reach Class XII in urban areas.

·        The likelihood of an urban girl continuing in school is low, and of a rural girl reaching Class XII very unlikely. In real terms then, what matters is not just access or enrolment but retention.

·        One of the major reasons why children, both boys and girls, in both rural and urban areas drop out is lack of interest in studies, hostile environments, poor teaching, non-comprehension and difficulties of coping.

·        The values, norms, social practices, customs and rituals that underlie the connection between gender socialisation and formal process of education at school need to be understood.

·        Once girls are given access to schools, the assumption is that as girls and women have entered the public sphere, empowerment will follow implicitly.

·        The content, language, images in texts, the curricula, and the perceptions of teachers and facilitators have the power to strengthen the hold of patriarchy.

·        The school becomes an enclosed space, like the domestic sphere where discriminations and violations are not talked about or questioned.

·        The issues of gender equality constantly take on new configurations specially in the context of the challenges brought on by changes in the economy in the last 15 years.

Cultural Issues

·        The term, “issues” refers to the conflicts, misinterpretations and/or miscommunications that take place in the classroom.

·        Culture is a broad and comprehensive concept that includes all the ways of being. Culture is learned throughout life as one participates in family and social networks.

·        Cultures have several components, including values and behaviour styles; language and dialects; non-verbal communications; and perspectives, worldviews, and frames of reference.

·        Cultural practices are shared within a specific group and may or may not be shared across groups. It is important to recognize that cultures are always changing because individuals, groups, and the surrounding environment are always changing.

·        In every culture, subgroups may form. Subgroups can differ by any of the components of culture, including ethnicity, language, class, religion, and geography.

·        All students are culturally diverse regardless of their ethnicity, race, or socioeconomic status.

·        Multicultural and multilingual classrooms have become the norm in many educational  settings due to changing immigration patterns caused by globalization.

·        Analyzing cultural issues can shed light on some of the unconscious processes that shape individuals’ perceptions of reality as well as patterns of interaction, including language use and communication.

·        The analysis of cultural issues may benefit teachers as well as learners by raising awareness of the hidden cultural assumptions and biases that they bring to the classroom.

·        It is not unusual to find classrooms where three or four different languages and cultures are represented.

·        In order to educate the future generations of our society effectively, the education system must be successful teaching all children to communicate and interact with people from different backgrounds and with different abilities.

·        Educators must find ways to offer an excellent education to all students regardless of their background.

·        For culturally and linguistically diverse students, issues of diversity, difference, and disability can be quite complex and challenging for classroom teachers.

·        Understanding the role that culture plays in the classroom is essential to effective teaching, learning and communicative interaction in general.

·        Designing programs for diverse audiences is not an easy process. It involves much more than mere linguistic translation, although language is important.

·        Moreover, programs must be designed to be sustainable within the communities they seek to involve.

Social and Economic Issues

·        Socio-economic status (SES) is often measured as a combination of education, income and occupation. It is commonly conceptualized as the social standing or class of an individual or group. When viewed through a social class lens, privilege, power, and control are emphasized.

·        SES is relevant to all realms of behavioural and social science, including research, practice, education and advocacy.

·        Low SES and its correlates, such as lower education, poverty and poor health, ultimately affect the society as a whole.

·        Research indicates that children from low-SES households and communities develop academic skills more slowly compared to children from higher SES groups.

·        Initial academic skills are correlated with the home environment, where low literacy environments and chronic stress negatively affect a child’s pre-academic skills.

·        The school systems in low-SES communities are often under-resourced, negatively affecting students’ academic progress.

·        Inadequate education and increased dropout rates affect children’s academic achievement, perpetuating the low-SES status of the community.

·        Improving school systems and early intervention programs may help to reduce these risk factors, and thus increased research on the correlation between SES and education is essential.

·        Families from low-SES communities are less likely to have the financial resources or time availability to provide children with academic support.

·        Children’s initial reading competence is correlated with the home literacy environment, number of books owned and parent distress.

·        However, parents from low-SES communities may be unable to afford resources such as books, computers, or tutors to create this positive literacy environment.

·        Research indicates that school conditions contribute more to SES differences in learning rates.

·        Schools in low-SES communities suffer from high levels of unemployment, migration of the best qualified teachers and low educational achievement.

·        A teacher’s years of experience and quality of training is correlated with children’s academic achievement.

·        Children in low income schools are less likely to have well-qualified teachers.

·        The following factors have been found to improve the quality of schools in low-SES neighborhoods:

§  A focus on improving teaching and learning.

§  Creation of an information-rich environment.

§  Building of a learning community.

§  Continuous professional development.

§  Involvement of parents and increased funding and resources.

Environmental Issues in Education

·        A healthy environment needs well-trained leaders capable of executing creative solutions to future challenges.

·        Environmental education build awareness of the way of life that conserves resources for future generations.

·        Educational programs aimed at children and adults are critical in fostering a healthier and safer planet.

·        If the youth don’t have a basic understanding of science and ethics, they will not be able to handle the environmental challenges that they may face at some stage of their lives.

·        Environmental education programs reconnect children to nature and foster an appreciation of the earth.

·        Environmental education, a vital component of efforts to solve environmental problems, must stay relevant to the needs and interests of the community and yet constantly adapt to the rapidly changing social and technological landscape

·        Environmental educators must come up with new knowledge and techniques that address the demands of a constantly evolving social and technological landscape, while ensuring that environmental education stays relevant to the needs and interests of the community.

·        These challenges to environmental education require that we reexamine the way we do research and train environmental professionals and educators, as well as the way we communicate environmental information to the general public.

·        Effective and meaningful environmental education is a challenge that needs to be taken seriously if the future generations are to enjoy the benefits of the natural heritage.

·        Environmental problems have become increasingly difficult to understand and to evaluate.

·        Reasonable treatment of environmental concerns often falls prey to the political agendas of those who have a vested interest in an unsustainable, resource-extractive approach to economic development.

·        Environmental education must teach about science itself and about the use of the scientific methodto help evaluate and respond to environmental threats.

·        Educational materials that omit the important role of science and the general rules of scientific inquiry are damaging to the field of environmental education.

·        The need to include science in educational efforts does not, however, excuse educators from the obligation to communicate in an understandable way that invites further inquiry from those who might be intimidated by scientifically complex subjects.

·        Environmental education need to keep pace with changing audience, as the overall environmental movement will benefit by staying relevant to future generations and by inspiring individuals to take action to conserve natural resources and protect the environment.

·        To become involved in respecting nature and protecting the environment over the long term, people need to have a sense of hope and gratification from environmental education.

·        Building programs that merely catalog harm without advancing the sense that accomplishments can be made will not offer the kind of fun and enriching learning environment that creates a sustainable commitment to environmental protection.

·        While the study of nature would be incomplete without discussing the threats to the natural world, an appreciation of nature should not be lacking in environmental education programs.

·         It is teaching about the miracles of the natural world, more than anything else, that will engender a sustainable and creative learning environment.

·        Although great strides have been made in protecting aquatic resources, human population growth and industrial use will continue to pose significant challenges to the protection of these basic resources.

·        While environmental education is sometimes characterized as soft and gets less attention than other aspects of environmental protection, it is through environmental education that future environmental advocates and problem solvers are created.

·        To generate new leaders in the environmental field over the new century, and to foster the general public's knowledge and concern for the environment, environmental education should recognize and begin responding effectively to several major challenges.

·        These include changes in demographics and experience, effective integration of newer sources of information with experiential learning opportunities, the effective communication of environmental issues to the public, and the avoidance of the psychology of despair.

Education for Sustainable Development

·        Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is about the learning needed to maintain and improve the quality of life and the quality of life of generations to come.

·        ESD is about equipping individuals, communities, groups, businesses and government to live and act sustainably; as well as giving them an understanding of the environmental, social and economic issues involved.

·        ESD is a lifelong process from early childhood to higher and adult education and goes beyond formal education.

·        As values, lifestyles and attitudes are established from an early age, the role of education is of particular importance for children.

·        Since learning takes place at different stages in people’s lives, ESD has to be considered as a life-wide process.

·        ESD should permeate learning programmes at all levels, including vocational education, training for educators, and continuing education for professionals and decision makers.

·        ESD has become an important element of environmental policy making and sustainable development strategies.

·        The four thrusts of ESD are as stated below:

§  Improving access to quality basic education.

§  Reorienting existing education to address sustainability.

§  Increasing public understanding and awareness of sustainability.

§  Providing training for all sectors of the economy.

·        Learning to live more sustainably is perhaps the major challenge facing advanced industrialised societies.

·        To realise sustainable development, ESD needs to reorient radically by shifting the emphasis from the past, industrialism, modernity and the nation state, to the future, post-industrialism, post-modernity, and global society.

·        ESD may need to embrace new forms of knowledge, new ways of organising knowledge, and new ways of teaching and learning.

·        The core themes of education for sustainability include lifelong learning, interdisciplinary education partnerships, multicultural education and empowerment.

·        Special attention should be paid to the training of teachers, youth leaders and other educators.

·        Even in countries with strong education systems, there is a need to reorient education awareness and training so as to promote widespread public understanding, critical analysis and support for sustainable development

·        The authority of the teacher who seeks to instill basic human and environmental values, such as respect and care for the community of life, in pupils rests on the wide acceptance of those values and the fact that they can be rationally defended.

·        Classroom talk plays a key role in ESD for it is through dialogue that pupils, with guidance, can decide what is technically possible, culturally appropriate, and morally and politically right.

·        Language enables students to critically evaluate discourse, judge knowledge claims, and arrive at consensus about those forms of technology and governance that may enable people to realise their common interests in sustainability.

·        ESD requires that the ground rules for classroom talk are made visible; and ultimately the discourse of citizenship education (ESD) itself needs to be made visible to pupils so that they can critique its underpinning social values and beliefs in order that they may become active transformed citizens.

·        Such ideas are indeed challenging for curriculum developers and for teachers in school, for it would entail developing articulate, well-informed pupils who would be able to critique any curriculum on offer.

·        In order to critically evaluate discourses of sustainability, and thereby further develop sustainability as a frame of mind, pupils require a considerable amount of knowledge and understanding from the natural and social sciences, the arts and humanities.

·        Academic knowledge should be selected, classified and taught in ways that enable pupils to gain integrated or holistic perspectives on the environment and development, although the possibility of one single ‘true’ or ‘right’ perspective should be viewed with extreme caution.

·        The philosophy of knowledge is a key consideration in the construction of ESD as a theme across the curriculum and this section reviews insights that academics provide.

Value Crisis

·        Values constitute an ethical skeleton only when an individual integrates these standards into everything he does to such an extent that he feels consciously able to actively govern his own life.

·        The projection of these values in society, to greater extent, relies upon their having been acquired in the schools.

·        It is always believed that schools are the first and foremost abodes to inculcate the values in the children which they exercise in society afterwards. Hence, the education system plays an indispensable role in this respect.

·        The solidarity of the education system insures the solidarity in the fostering of certain values in a child.

·        Whatever a child learns at the school becomes his life’s determining factor.

·        Though home is the very preliminary place to nurture certain values in a child but it is the school where a child is exposed to a virtual society or a society in miniature giving him encouraging ambiance to learn and experiment simultaneously.

·        The education system is facing value crisis due to the following reasons:

§  Rate of illiteracy.

§  Less numbers of teachers.

§  Higher drop-out rate of pupils.

§  Lower education spend by the concerned authorities.

·        Education for the youth has a very limited purpose, as their priority is to score good marks in the examinations and to utilize their mark sheets for insuring lucrative jobs.

·        Students are content with bookish knowledge only required for passing and do not bother to nurture any value for the upliftment of the society.

·        The status of morality among pupils is deplorable and complexities of their age also leaves a question on the kind of education they are imparted.

·        As the students lose all their faith in the school system and in teachers, they get more conscious about their individuality.

·        Students get swayed by modern ways, caring little to the means to attain their ends as they aim only at the results.

·        With the rapid increase of globalization and modernization the teacher-student relation has also reached a level of professionalism.

·        The students hardly bother to pay their teachers any respect. Actually gone are the days when there used to be a kind of rapport between them.

·        Students reflected the strong relationship cherished with their teachers. The way they executed their lives manifested clearly the inculcation of values during their learning process.

·        The teachers used to be the guide, friends, anchors and inspirational sources for students. But in the resent scenario there has been a breach between them which keeps on widening.

·        Students have so much exposure to the information of the world and an easy access to internet because of which they possess prior knowledge of anything they are going to be taught.

·        If teachers fail to establish a rapport with the students, they are responsible for the degradation of values.

·        The other major degradation in values is evident in the way the school, particularly public schools, are run.

·        Majority of the schools are run in the form of autonomous body with a separate management. They frame their own set of rules, code of conducts, norms to be followed and a separate philosophy to work with.

·        Unfortunately, their philosophy is to run these schools to serve their monetary purpose or to turn their black money into white. Their criterion to admit the students reveals that they themselves lack values.

·        Child’s financial status is preferred to his caliber and capabilities. Even in many cases a child fails to get admission in a good school only because his parents are less educated or illiterate.

·        Moreover, running after money becomes so much important for the school that everybody who can afford the school fee is given admission irrespective of his temperament and attitude.

·        The classes are so over-crowded that imparting value education and inculcating values in students becomes quite difficult.

·        The inculcation of values in the youth is the end product of value education which builds character, influences their decision making in life, and helps them grow by building healthy relationships in society.

·        The school curriculum has to contain components that communicate essential values in their totality.

·        Ethical and psychological principles can aid the school in the greatest of all reconstruction, the building of a free and powerful character. Only knowledge of the order of connection of the stages in psychological development can ensure this.

·        Education is the work of supplying the conditions, which will ensure the psychological function to mature in the finest and fullest manner.

·        Education must teach a person what life is and what its goal is. It must purify the heart and clarify the vision. It must promote virtues to raise the moral, spiritual and social standards of the educated.

Education for Peace

·        Education for peace acknowledges the goal of promoting a culture of peace as the purpose shaping the enterprise of education.

·        If implemented with vigour and vision, education for peace can make learning a joyful and meaningful experience.

·        Education for Peace requires a reduction in curriculum load.

·        Peace offers a contextually appropriate and pedagogically gainful point of coherence for all values.

·        The need to do justice to teachers is also argued and the setting up of Teachers’ Tribunals is proposed to address this basic need.

·        The major frontiers of education for peace are:

§  Bringing about peace-orientation in individuals through education;

§  Nurturing in students the social skills and outlook needed to live together in harmony;

§  Reinforcing social justice, as envisaged in the Constitution;

§  The need and duty to propagate a secular culture;

§  Education as a catalyst for activating a democratic culture;

§  The scope for promoting national integration through education; and

§  Education for peace as a lifestyle movement.

·        The major issues and concerns needed for an effective implementation of education for peace include:

§  Teacher education

§  Textbook writing

§  School setting

§  Evaluation

§  Media literacy

§  Parent-teacher partnership

§  The need to address the practical implications of integration as the preferred strategy.

·        A teacher’s prime responsibility is to help students become good human beings, motivated to fulfill their true potential not only for their own benefit but also for the betterment of the society as a whole.

·        Good teachers are models of peace values, such as, the art of listening, the humility to acknowledge and correct one’s mistakes, assuming responsibility for one’s actions, sharing concerns, and helping each other to solve problems transcending differences, even if they do not preach peace.

·        A teacher who, from a peace perspective, can critically evaluate his/her attitudes, habitual modes of thinking, and approach to teachingis an asset for education for peace.

·        In peace-oriented pedagogy, the focus is not merely on retention of concepts, memorisation of texts, or achieving individual goals and excellence but on learning to reflect, share, care, and collaborate with each other.

·        The methods of teaching should be creative, child-centred, largely experiential, and participatory.

·        The teaching methods may include creation of appropriate learning experiences, discussion, debates, presentation, and group and cooperative projects, depending on students’ maturity levels and the subject content.

·        The teacher and school may devise other context-specific strategies to develop among students a sense of openness and comprehension about diverse cultures, histories, and fundamental shared values.

·        Some peace values may be more appropriately inculcated while teaching a particular subject at a particular stage or grade, while others are better integrated with other subjects in a different grade.

·        For education for peace, a great deal depends on the peace-motivation of teachers, especially in the integrated approach.

·        Teachers have to be alert to peace opportunities and creative in appropriating them in respect of the curriculum as a whole.

Value Education

·        From a historical viewpoint, a value may be defined as a thing that is good. Operationally the concept of values may be defined as ‘factors which affect human behavior’ intellectually, value may be defined as a concept which is accepted· by the sub-conscious mind, is understood by all and perceived by the individual.

·        Categories of Values

§  Personal Values: Personal values mean the desires of individual whatever they are in the social relationship. Some of the personal values are excellence, honesty, self-confidence, self-motivation, punctuality, ambition, courage, creativity, imagination etc.

§  Social Values: Individual cannot live in the world without having interaction with others. People want social values like love, affection, friendship, peer group, reference group, imparity, hospitality, courageous, service, justice, freedom, patience, forgiveness, coordination, sympathy, tolerance etc. Social values are more important for healthy, good environment for every organization.

§  Moral Values: Moral values impart respecting others and ourselves, respecting the right of others, keeping promises avoiding unnecessary problems with others avoiding cheating and dishonesty, showing gratitude to others and encourage them to work.

§  Spiritual values: The ultimate ethical value is called spiritual value. Spiritual values are piety, meditation, yoga, self-discipline, control, purity, and devotion to God etc. Spiritual values highlight the principles of self-restraint, self-discipline, contentment, reduction of wants, freedom from general greed and austerity.

§  Universal Values: It is universal values that indicate the essence of the human condition. It is through Universal Values that we link ourselves with humanity and the cosmos. Universal Values can be experienced as life, joy, brotherhood, love, compassion, service, bliss, truth and eternity.

§  Cultural Values: Cultural values are concerned with right and wrong, good and bad, customs and behavior. Cultural values are reflected in language, ethics, social hierarchy, aesthetics, education, law, economics, philosophy and social institutions of every kind.

·        Value education is preferred to the traditional approaches such as moral education, religious education, social and character education, moral and spiritual education.

·        Good education and environment acts simply as catalysts of value development.

·        Environmental stimulation and opportunities to learn and interaction with human beings are the essential requirements in the development of capacity for moral or value judgment which is the main aim of value education.

·        Value development is not a sudden transformation of personality of the individual. Values are not only caught but should also be developed systematically through planned efforts.

·        Values are not just about one’s general obligations; they are an intrinsic part of one’s relationship with oneself, with others and with one’s surroundings.

·        It is an imperative need in the present context of things that the whole of educational system should be restructured to include value education in the process of education.

·        Value education, both formal and informal, may encourage students to:

§  Develop their own personal moral codes and have a concern for others.

§  Reflect on experiences and search for meaning and patterns in their experiences.

§  Have self-respect and respect for commonly held values such as honesty, truthfulness and justice.

§  Make socially responsible judgments and to be able to provide justification of decision and actions.

·        With regard to teachers:

§  Teachers are predominant in theoretical, social, religious and economic values.

§  Gender, educational training, and experience do not influence teachers’ values.

§  Teachers of urban schools have higher moral and economic values than the rural schools. So, location of the school influences teachers’ values.

§  Teachers differ in their values because of the type of schools and as such it influences the students’ values also.

§  The age influences the teachers’ aesthetic values.

§  Co-curricular activities provided and the practice followed in inculcating values to students influence students’ value.

·        Teaching Values – An Experiment in Education

·        Education is a process that develops the personality of a student to make him/her an ideal citizen.

·        The different aims of education can be listed as follows:

§  To impart the practical knowledge, necessary to level a useful life.

§  To preserve, transmit and enhance the values from one generation to another.

§  To create new values.

§  To boost self-expression, self-preservation and. self-confidence.

§  To help individual to adjust physically and mentally.

§  To enable individuals to control environment and fulfil responsibilities.

§  To eradicate communal and social disharmony

§  To develop problem solving abilities and positive approaches to life

§  To utilize limited resource effectively for better achievements.

·        Education should train the student to recognize moral values.

·        Teachers, leaders and the society should bet samples before students and should join their hands in creating suitable atmosphere for practicing moral qualities.

·        Teacher should protect the students from the evil influence of the society.

·        Evaluation of the value attainment is a more complex phenomenon than it appears.

·        Education for human values should be considered as a central core in the entire life of the school and outside school also.

·        All teachers are teachers of human values at all times of school like, practicing what they teach or preach.

·        Guidelines for proper value orientation

§  Perceive student’s role as an agent of change in the community.

§  Perceive student’s role not only as a leader of children but also that of a guide to the community.

§  Make students act as a link between the school and the community.

§  Possess warm and positive attitude towards growing children and their academic, social-emotional and personal problems.

§  The preservation of environmental resources and preservation of historical monuments and other cultural heritage.

§  Develop understanding of the objective school education in the Indian context and awareness of the role of school in achieving the goals of building up a democratic secular and socialist society.

§  Develop understanding interests, attitudes and skills that would enable him to foster all round growth and development of the children under his care.

§  Develop competence to teach on the basis of the accepted principles of teaching and learning.

§  The teacher should be a mediator in the encounter between the individual and the mass of information.

Life Skill Education

·        Skills are abilities. Hence it should be possible to practise life skills as abilities.

·        Self-esteem, sociability and tolerance are not taught as abilities: rather, learning such qualities is facilitated by learning and practising life skills, such as self-awareness, problem-solving, critical thinking, and interpersonal skills.

·        Life skills education is designed to facilitate the practice and reinforcement of psychosocial skills in a culturally and developmentally appropriate way.

·        Life skills education contributes to the promotion of personal and social development, the prevention of health and social problems, and the protection of human rights.

·        Following the study of many different life skills programmes, the WHO Department of Mental Health identified five basic areas of life skills that are relevant across cultures:

§  Decision-making and problem-solving.

§  Creative thinking and critical thinking.

§  Communication and interpersonal skills.

§  Self-awareness and empathy.

§  Coping with emotions and coping with stress.

·        Life skills education contributes to:

§  Basic education.

§  Gender equality.

§  Democracy.

§  Good citizenship.

§  Child care and protection.

§  Quality and efficiency of the education system.

§  The promotion of lifelong learning.

§  Quality of life.

§  The promotion of peace.

·        Many countries are now considering the development of life skills education in response to the need to reform traditional education systems, which appear to be out of step with the realities of modern social and economic life.

·        The successful implementation of a life skills programme depends on:

§  The development of training materials for teacher trainers.

§  A teaching manual, to provide lesson plans and a framework for a sequential, developmentally appropriate programme.

§  Teacher training and continuing support in the use of the programme materials.

·        In addition to its wide-ranging applications in primary prevention and the advantages that it can bring for education systems, life skills education lays the foundation for learning skills that are in great demand in today’s job markets.

Inclusive Education

·        Inclusive education happens when children with and without disabilities participate and learn together in the same classes. Research shows that things definitely change when a child with disabilities attends classes alongside peers who do not have disabilities.

·        For a long time, children with disabilities were educated in separate classes or in separate schools. People got used to the idea that special education meant separate education.

·        When children are educated together, positive academic and social outcomes occur for all the children involved.

·        Placing children with and without disabilities together does not produce positive outcomes. Inclusive education occurs when there is ongoing advocacy, planning, support and commitment.

·        These are the principles that guide quality inclusive education:

§  All children belong.

§  All children learn in different ways.

§  It is every child’s right to be included.

·        Inclusive education is based on the simple idea that every child and family is valued equally and deserves the same opportunities and experiences.

·        Inclusive education is about children with disabilities – whether the disability is mild or severe, hidden or obvious – participating in everyday activities, just like they would if their disability were not present.

·        Inclusion is about providing the help children need to learn and participate in meaningful ways.

·        Sometimes, help from friends or teachers works best. Other times, specially designed materials or technology can help. The key is to give only as much help as needed.

·        Inclusive education is a child’s right, not a privilege. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act clearly states that all children with disabilities should be educated with non-disabled children their own age and have access to the general education curriculum.

·        The benefits of inclusive education are :

§  Develop individual strengths and gifts, with high and appropriate expectations for each child.

§  Work on individual goals while participating in the life of the classroom with other students their own age.

§  Involve their parents in their education and in the activities of their local schools.

§  Foster a school culture of respect and belonging. Inclusive education provides opportunities to learn about and accept individual differences, lessening the impact of harassment and bullying.

§  Develop friendships with a wide variety of other children, each with their own individual needs and abilities.

§  Positively affect both their school and community to appreciate diversity and inclusion on a broader level.

Joyful Learning

·        Joyful learning is a kind of experience in which students find pleasure in the learning process.

·        A suitable learning environment with proper learning sequence is essential for learning, especially for children who are still in the early development period.

·        Teachers use strategies to reduce stress and build a positive emotional environment, which help students to gain emotional resilience and learn more efficiently.

·        Psychologists emphasize that teaching should take place at a level that is neither too difficult and stressful nor too easy and boring for the age of the child.

·        Teachers primarily make the journey of sharing and construction of knowledge joyful.

·        When students are engaged and motivated and feel minimal stress, information flows freely and they achieve higher levels of cognition and make connections.

·        The joy of learning does not come from quiet classrooms and directed lectures, but from classrooms with an atmosphere of exuberant discovery.

·        Classrooms can be the safe refuge where academic practices and classroom strategies provide students with emotional comfort and pleasure as well as knowledge.

·        When teachers use strategies to reduce stress and build a positive emotional environment, students gain emotional resilience and learn more efficiently.

·        The classroom environment, lessons, materials should be developed and teaching strategies and techniques should be used accordingly to respond to learner's characteristics.

·        It is the responsibility of the teacher to make the journey of sharing and construction of knowledge joyful by creating appropriate environment.

Issues related with Professional Updation

·        Professional Updation is the payment of fees paid by a student or a business executive to professional bodies like Institution of Engineers or Chartered Accountants etc.

·        Professional Updation can also be the fees paid by a student or a business executive to study educational courses like Business Management, Information Technology, etc. in an institution or university.

·        A company pays professional update allowance for scientists and/or engineers in the grade of SO/C and above every year from the year 1998-1999 as per the DAE order dated 3rd February, 1999 to enable them to keep themselves up-dated in the field of Nuclear Science and Technology and related fields and widen their horizon.

·        This was further extended with effect from 2002-2003 to the other categories of personnel in the department who render support functions, for carrying out their role in an effective manner and thereby supporting the sustained excellence of DAE in its science and technological activities. 

·        Some professionsare dynamic and ever changing and need continuous changes in tax laws, commercial laws, accounting practices, new concepts in management and other disciplines which a new age professional shall keep himself updated to be in tune with times.

·        In the wake of the changing times and countering the obsolescence of the professional, continuous professional updationprogrammesare undertaken by educational institutions and companies.

·        A suggested professional updationprogramme may be conducted on the lines given below:

§  Professional updationshould be conducted at specially identified nodal-chapters.

§  Professional updationshould be conducted for weekends of every month all around the year so that members in the nodal-chapter geographic area will attend and then get themselves updated on the developments.

§  Every member shall attend such professional updation at least once in a year.

§  A detailed timetable for the registration should be updated by the educational institute.

§  A member training committee should be formed.

§  Only members who have attended training will be eligible to membership and cost of training shall be borne by the member - alternatively sponsored by the employer - but it shall be nominal.

§  After the end of the training of 2 days i.e. Saturday and Sunday - on the second day evening, the event can be signed off with a questionnaire on the training.

·        Such initiatives make the life of the professional and the educational institutes fighting fit and will inculcate the sense of participation amongst members and heighten the level of seriousness amongst them.

Infrastructural Deficiency

·        Although schools in India are required to maintain a good infrastructure of facilities, many of the school lack the infrastructure.

·        Some of the basic infrastructure that a school must possess are :

§  The schools need to have concrete buildings with proper ventilation.

§  Drinking water facility is absolutely necessary in all schools.

§  Proper facilities for toilet and sanitation are a must.

§  A very positive atmosphere conducive for learning.

·        The main hindrance to proper school infrastructure is shortage of educational funds.

·        The issue of financing is of utmost importance to the growth and development of education in India.

·        The relative share of the government has shown remarkable increase since the time of independence to the recent years.

·        India has witnessed a massive expansion of its educational infrastructure and today it has one of the largest education networks, and third largest reservoir of science and technology manpower in the world.

·        To accommodate the large school going population, the educational system of Indian requires a strong educational infrastructure in order to keep pace with the developing economy and provide it with quality manpower.

·        Education can accelerate economic growth and investment is a key indicator to expand and improve quality of education.

·        Thus Indian education requires more investment, which can lead to good quality education.

·        While the expenditure on higher education has gone up over the years, the major expenditure has mostly been on the non-plan side covering the wage bill of the teaching and non-teaching staff.

·        The improvement of infrastructure etc. remains largely deficient.

·        The capital or development expenditure has not been found to be commensurate with the non-plan expenditure.

·        Considering the inadequacy of financing of higher education and the rising demands, the role of private resources in higher education has often been discussed and recommended.

·        It is clear that the government has to play an important role in the Indian education system in general and in higher education system in particular :

§  In view of India’s growing need for skilled manpower which can be met only by strengthening the higher education system.

§  To have an edge in knowledge generation in a global economy.

§  To achieve a developed socio-economic structure / for societal transformation.

§  To ensure access, equity and excellence.

·        The govern­ment, as well as non-governmental and other social wings of the society, has to strengthen the extant resources and also explore the feasibility of alternate sources of financing education, including higher education.

·        To accommodate the increasing number of students at all levels it is indispensable to have more educational institutes.

·        Both public and private agencies manage educational institutes. However, the government agencies manage more institution than private agencies.

·        There has been a structural change in the education sector after allowing private partnership, at higher levels in particular.

·        This has led to private investment not only in school education but also in tertiary education.

·        Consequently several private universities and colleges are opening in general education, engineering and medical education.

·        A lot of improvement with regards to the infrastructure in Indian schools is very much necessary.

Dropout

·        The dropout problem is pervasive in the Indian education system. Many children, who enter school, are unable to complete secondary education and multiple factors are responsible for children dropping out of school.

·        Risk factors begin to add up even before students enroll in school that includes:

§  Poverty.

§  Low educational level of parents.

§  The weak family structure.

§  Pattern of schooling of sibling.

§  Lack of pre-school experiences.

·        Family background and domestic problems create an environment which negatively affects the value of education.

·        Students could drop out as a result of a multitude of school factors such as uncongenial atmosphere, poor comprehension, absenteeism, attitude and behaviour of the teachers, and failure or repetition in the same grade, etc.

·        When students experience school failure, they become frustrated with lack of achievement and end up alienated and experience exclusion leading to eventual dropout.

·        It is important to carefully design preventive measures and intervention strategies that could be adopted in order to help all adolescent dropouts.

·        Child related factors such as disinterest in studies and poor comprehension are one of the significant causes for dropping out which is very closely related to school quality measured in terms of infrastructural facilities, teacher preparedness and curriculum relevance.

·        The consequences for youngsters who drop-out before finishing secondary education is dramatic, in terms of high unemployment and low lifelong earnings.

·        Completing secondary education does not guarantee access to high paying job; it represents a promise of greater access to further opportunities and is fast becoming a prerequisite to remain employable and re-trainable, the highly valued qualities in today’s labour market.

Stagnation

·        The students at every stage of education are expected to pass the examination after finishing the whole course.

·        It has been found that in general practice many students are not able to pass the examinations in one class or in more than one class within the prescribed period. Thus, they fail and remain in the same class.

·        The failed students repeat the same class and course whereas their other colleagues pass that class and study in the next upper class. This process has been called the process of stagnation.

·        Stagnation in education means the detention of a student in a class for more than one year on account of his unsatisfactory progress.

·        Probably, the problems of dropout and stagnation exist in a greater degree at the university stage of education.

·        It has been regretted that there is some indifference towards the serious loss of public money.

·        No less indifference is shown for the wastage of time, money and energy of the students, their parents or guardians and their ambitions and aspirations in life.

·        The causes of stagnation are of three categories namely economic, educational and social.

·        Economic Causes:

§  A child is probably sent to school because he is a nuisance at home rather than a help.

§  At the age of nine or ten, the child becomes an economic asset, because he can work at home or earn something outside. This is especially true of girls who have to assist the over-worked mother at home.

§  The child is withdrawn from the school and thus he becomes a dropout case.

§  Parents mostly involve their children in domestic work and this leaves no time to child for study.

§  Financial handicap is responsible for dropout and stagnation. Out of poverty some parents utilize the service of their children to supplement earning.

·        Social Causes:

§  Class and caste distinctions prevail in India, the former in urban areas and the latter in rural areas.

§  Especially in the case of girls custom of early marriages or betrothals stands a bar. There is an opposition to send grown-up girls to schools especially to the mixed schools without women teachers.

§  Co­education of boys and girls in some places is looked with suspicion. And as there is no separate provision of education for girls, deprivation of girls from schools leads to much dropout.

·        Educational Causes:

§  Many educational institutions are ill-equipped, poorly housed and with dull and depressing environment.

§  Uncontrolled fresh admissions without consideration of age or time i.e. under-aged and over-aged children.

§  Admissions are done throughout the year resulting in more dropout and stagnation, because under-aged children lose interest in classes, whereas over-aged children remain away from school out of shame.

§  Lack of adequate accommodation, over-crowding of schools with a high pupil-teacher ratio becomes the main causes of dropout and stagnation.

§  Increased number of single-teacher schools, inefficient teaching, lack of teacher-pupil contact, frequent transfer of teachers and plural class-teaching disturbs the quality of instruction which ultimately cause much dropout and stagnation.

·        In short, dull and unattractive schools, incomplete schools, inefficient and poor quality of teachers, defective examinations, uninteresting curricula, lack of proper parental attitude, absence of school health services and school mid-day meals are responsible for much of dropout and stagnation in schools.

·        Dropout and stagnation can be reduced by concentrating on quantitative improvement by (a) Universal provisional and (b) Universal retention. Attempts should be made for qualitative improvement of pupils.

·        Qualified teachers should be appointed to create better quality in the instructional programme to attract children.

·        Fresh admissions should be made at the beginning of the school session within two months from the date of commencement of school year. And it should not be done throughout the year.

·        As far as possible provision should be made for starting of Pre-Primary Schools to admit children below six years of age as it will avoid the enrolment of under-aged and over-aged children.

·        The curriculum may be made modest, simple and interesting so that it can be implemented most efficiently.

·        Improvement of the professional competence of teachers may be made by providing training facilities, both pre-service and in-service.

·        Necessary guide books for teachers and work books for students and other literature should also be provided.

·        Adequate and attractive school buildings should be provided. Necessary equipment and teaching aids should be supplied for making education more interesting and effective.

·        Teacher-pupil ratio may be maintained at such a level as to ensure adequate individual attention to be paid to each individual in every class.

·        Provision of part-time schooling may be made for the benefit of children who cannot attend the school during regular hours on account of domestic and economic disabilities.

·        Effective supervision and inspection may be provided in schools.

·        Best possible use may be made of the existing resources, both human and material. The schools may be graded according to efficiency and standards.

·        The grading of the schools will provide ground for qualitative improvement of schools, which ultimately will go to reduce dropout and stagnation.

·        Special provision should be made for educating the mentally retarded children by opening special institutions in each State or district level.

·        To reduce dropout and stagnation in a bigger way, pupils may be given nutritious diet by introduction of mid-day meals under the School Health Service Programme.

·        Existing mid-day meals system should be carefully regulated.

Teacher Absenteeism

·        Inadequacy of teachers coupled with high rate of teacher absenteeism renders the learning conditions in schools from bad to worse.

·        Teachers remain absent/are not able to attend school for a number of reasons.

·        Teachers are deployed for certain non-professional duties such as :

§  Participation in elections to local bodies.

§  State Legislatures and Parliament, decennial population Census.

§  Disaster relief duties.

§  Polio drop campaigns.

§  Preparing voters’ list.

§  Animal and bird surveys.

§  Below poverty line survey.

§  Ration card verification.

§  Generating awareness among people about leprosy.

§  Preparing project activities to be conducted by different panchayats.

§  Literacy campaigns, etc.

·        Further teachers have to go to their Education Department for getting their leave sanctioned, GPF Advance, seeking release of their dues, annual increment, transfer, to participate in meetings and departmental functions, etc.

·        The situation in the education department is generally so bad that teachers feel that unless they go personally, their case would not move.

·        Teachers are also required to undergo mandatory 20 days in-service education and training every year.

·        It has been observed that teachers and students are also required to receive high officials and VIPs.

·        Teachers are also required to participate in various awareness programmes.

·        All of the above-mentioned reasons coupled with teachers’ illness, and to discharge their family responsibilities and social obligations, etc. increase teacher absence rate.

·        Further absence rates are higher during rainy season, extreme weather conditions, festivals, towards the end of the calendar year, harvesting period, festivals, etc.

Teacher Shortage

·        With a rapidly increasing youth population and swift increases in the proportion of children attending school, many developing countries are facing serious difficulties in recruiting and financing qualified teachers.

·        Teacher shortage is a market determined quantity, reflecting the mismatch between the supply and demand for faculty resources in the academic market.

·        Since teacher resource is a key input in the production of higher education services, the demand for teacher resource is derived from the underlying demand for higher education services from students.

·        Hence the economic response to market conditions of academic institutions providing higher education is a crucial determinant of both teacher shortage and quality of education.

·        Several factors like government policies, regulatory norms and requirements, the revenue generation possibilities, other non-revenue sources of funds, institutional capacity and reputations define the operating environment of education institutions.

·        Decisions concerning recruitment, deployment and nurturing of teacher resources are all made by academic institutions. Hence, the effective impact of any policy depends on how this affects the decisions of academic institutions.

·        Teacher shortage represents a mismatch between the demand and supply of teacher resources. Teacher resources are required only as one of several inputs in the production of higher education services.

·        Monetary incentives are not the only, nor perhaps the most significant influence on the decision to take up an academic career of a teacher.

·        Apart from salaries, other important structural determinants of the supply of teacher resources include:

§  Service conditions like teaching work load, opportunities for research, administrative facilitation, etc.

§  Salaries obtainable in other professions and employment with comparable qualifications

§  Career advancement prospects like promotion, skill upgradationprogrammes, possibilities for external recognition of research, etc.

§  Institutional reputation i.e. faculty resources would tend to shift to an institution with a better reputation, and there would be less attrition

§  Better post-retirement benefits

§  Providing prestigious fellowships for inducting talented scholars towards PhD work and academic careers.

·        The above key steps would improve the attractiveness of academic careers and enhance the long run supply of teacher resources.

·        In addition, the supply of teacher resources may be enhanced in the short to medium term by certain other measures. Several of them would have a one-time impact of the supply of faculty resources. These include:

§  Increasing the opportunities for participation in academic work by other potential teachers and researchers.

§  Relaxation of the age of retirement of faculty.

§  Creation of posts such as emeritus professor/fellow.

§  Creating policies that attract NRIs and other international academic personnel.

·        The problem of teacher shortage is generally recognized as a key problem confronting the education sector.

·        It is necessary for policy makers and regulators to keep in view the close connection of teacher shortage with other problems and features of education.

Student–Teacher Ratio

·        Teaching staff constitutes a vital aspect of education. Student-teacher ratio is one of the critical indicators of education as it provides insight to measure the quality of education.

·        Sufficient number of teachers is required at all levels to impart good quality education.

·        The student-teacher ratio in India is quite low and needs improvement. Thus it is imperative to improve the student-teacher ratio to enhance the quality of education and to make human resource globally competitive.

·        Shortage of faculty is felt in institutions for higher education as well as many positions are lying vacant.

·        Faculty crunch is felt even at the prestigious institutes of learning with their elaborate funding and infrastructure.

·        A report by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) also confirms the shortage of the teaching staff.

·        Professors and readers constitute more than the teaching strength. Hence, more lecturers are needed to infuse fresh blood in the educational system.

Uneconomic Schools

·        Schools with insufficient strength of pupils are termed as uneconomic schools, as the strength of students in a school is the criterion for determining continuance of the schools.

·        Many government and aided schools have been found uneconomic as per a survey.

·        The increase in number of uneconomic schools has serious repercussions for the public education system at large and the number of teaching posts, which have been affected by a steady decline in student strength in government schools over the years.

·        Unprotected teachers of aided schools stand to lose their jobs because of the drop in the student strength and division fall.

·        Teachers of aided schools may lose their jobs if they do not fall in the protected teachers' category.

·        It becomes the responsibility of the local bodies, the local community and also people working in the education sphere at large to bring uneconomic schools back on track.

·        Uneconomic schools can come up with better governmental and administrative intervention.

Quality Deterioration

·        Education determines the role and approach for the modernisation of society and the nation at large.

·        The quality of education is of paramount importance along with access and equity to tap rich dividends from the demographic capital.

·        The contents of the educational system, the quality of curriculum transaction, research and development need to be revamped to enhance the quality of education through an effective quality management system.

·        It is commonly observed that on an average, Indian colleges and universities do not perform a commendable job and are definitely not world class.

·        An analysis of institutions reveals that only a fraction of them are accredited during a span of 20 years. There is no program accreditation except for the technical institutions.

·        The mind set of most of the higher education institutions is to adopt an approach without any aspiration or motivation to assume additional responsibilities for quality improvement.

·        There are many quality gaps with respect to curriculum design and development, teaching, learning and evaluation, research consultancy and extension, infrastructure and learning resources, student support and progression, governance, management and leadership.

·        Research and Development is the weakest link in the higher education system.

·        In spite of the large number of higher education institutions in the country, India does not figure in the first 200 world class institutions by the expert ranking agencies. 

·        The Indian higher education system needs reforms in many aspects:

§  The enrollment rates have to be significantly improved to reach the status of a developed nation (30-50%).

§  Financial resources have to be enhanced for the large number of state establishments.

§  Teacher quality needs to be enhanced through multiple training options.

§  Appropriate vocational education programs relevant to the needs of the society have to be identified and implemented to enhance employability of graduates.

§  Optimal utilisation of resources for academic growth and excellence.

§  Fortification of existing institutions to make them more productive enterprises with reference to a student’s academic growth and career advancement.

§  Better utilisation of ICT infrastructure in academics and administration.

§  Designing of a suitable curriculum to meet the global challenges through the competencies and skills developed among the students.

·        The higher education system needs to increasingly focus on the importance of quality assessment, assurance and enhancement.

·        The changes in higher education should be much more accountable to all their stakeholders, not least to the students.

·        Higher education institutions should have an effective management information system to enable them to make quick and relevant decisions.

·        Students must be encouraged to be active participants in the learning process and there should be more student focus in the curriculum, curriculum transaction and other management aspects.

·        Students need to develop critical reflective thinking skills, the ability to make one’s own informed judgments where multiple educational outcomes like complex cognitive skills, ability to apply acquired knowledge of complex life problems, appreciation of human differences, practical competence skills, a coherent integrated sense of identity, etc. exists.

·        Promoting employability of graduates is very important as work experience can be very valuable in helping students to obtain the right orientation and would enhance the marketability of the educational programmes.

·        Prospective students differ in terms of their financial capabilities. Therefore differential fee structure and availability of assistantship/scholarship/loan etc. should be very useful.

·        The adoption of information technology both in academics and administration is a must.

·        Information and communication technologies through the internet and satellite transmission have opened up avenues of development in educational delivery modes which should be engaged by all institutions.

·        The role of the teacher will change to a facilitator asonly a facilitator would be able to improve a student’s receptivity to knowledge, by influencing their perception of nature, limits, certainty and utility of knowledge.

·        The universities have to become manageable in size and the span of control has to be reduced with more and more decentralisation.

·        With decentralisation, autonomy of the colleges, and even departments of universities, will have to be promoted while ensuring accountability, thereby paving the way for an effective system in all respects. 

·        New patterns of governance and leadership capable of responding to the changing scenario and emerging challenges have to be evolved.

·        The academic programmesneed to be oriented to help students develop necessary skills and expertise to function effectively in a technologically enabled work place.

Massification of Higher Education

·        Higher education institutions experience a rapid increase in student enrolment, being regarded as ‘institutional’ massification.

·        Massification has a direct impact on the physical infrastructure, the quality of teaching and learning, research, quality of life of the students, etc.

·        While the use of national enrolment ratios or participation rates may be appropriate to define massification of higher education in industrialised countries, this may not necessarily be the case for developing countries.

·        In order to accommodate the large numbers of students wishing to access higher education in a country, the higher education institutions in that country also experience huge increases in student enrolment.

·        Institutional massification is often without adequate planning and with no proportionate, accompanying increase in resources - human, financial, physical - to cope with the situation.

·        A number of strategies have been adopted to cope with massification at national level, which include diversification of higher education institutions, setting up of private institutions, use of distance education and virtual learning, introduction of cost-sharing and student loan scheme in public universities, etc.

·        At institutional level, the strategies include setting up of institutional quality assurance system, training of staff to deal with large cohorts of students, greater use of ICT in management and teaching, innovative approaches to generate more funds and improving the quality of life of the students.

Quality Concerns

·        Quality of education plays pivotal role in the process of development of nations.

·        Quality concerns in education are national priorities for all nations.

·        Quality is of multiple perspectives and is not a unitary concept.

·        The dimensions of quality in education include achieving pre-determined targets and objectives.

·        Concerns for ensuring quality level has arisen out of factors such as:

§  Decline in percentage of grants from the government sources due to sharp rise in number of institutions, students and teachers.

§  Dilution in quality of post graduate courses that produce higher education teachers.

§  Dilution in intake standards in post graduate courses, as talented ones join professional courses.

§  Low standard of members of teaching profession as non-teaching jobs fetch more income.

·        Quality criteria must reflect the overall objectives of higher education, notably the aim of cultivating in students critical and independent thought and the capacity of learning throughout life.

·        Quality of an institution or a programme is generally considered on the basis of placement of its products and is ascertained from quality of material and human resources.

·        Factors that affect quality of higher education are: finance, sincerity of faculty and students and management, skills of management, skills of teaching of faculty members, and quality of brain of students.

·        Finance is a serious concern asrapid growth rate of higher education has created problems in acquiring appropriate infrastructure.

·        Although national governments fail to provide adequate amount of funds, private initiatives have made education a huge industry.

·        Profit from educational institutions in certain cases is much higher than one can expect from a small scale industry.

·        Concern for making quality education available to their children has made parents go for private and high fee charging institutions, expected to be of high quality.

·        The students go to next level institutions on the basis of their capacity to pay. Some of them also go abroad.

·        Search for quality in higher education has caused the rising of the concept of world class universities.

·        Quality assurance is a vital function in contemporary higher education and must involve all stakeholders.

·        Quality requires both establishing quality assurance systems and patterns of evaluation as well as promoting a quality culture within institutions.

·        Regulatory and quality assurance mechanisms that promote access and create conditions for the completion of studies should be put in place for the entire higher education sector.

·        Efforts to improve quality have resulted in establishment of agencies at national, regional and global level for assuring quality.

·        Concern for high quality in higher education programmes has given rise to new bodies.

·        In India, the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (1994) of the University Grants Commission accredits institutions in general higher education.

·        National Board of Accreditation (1994) of the AICTE accredits programmes related to Applied Arts & Crafts, Architecture, Hotel Management & Catering Technology (HMCT), Engineering & Technology, Master in Business Administration (MBA), Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM), Pharmacy, Master in Computer Application (MCA).

·        There are a number of Government controlled / created organisations for taking care of quality in education.

·        National level organisations are:

§  Indian Council for Agricultural Research (1929),

§  Medical Council of India (1933),

§  All India Council of Technical Education (1945),

§  Dental Council of India (1948),

§  Pharmacy Council of India (1948),

§  Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (1949),

§  University Grants Commission (1956),

§  Institute of Costs and Works Accountants of India (1959),

§  Bar Council of India (1961),

§  Central Council of Indian Medicine (1970),

§  Council of Architecture (1972),

§  Central Council of Homoeopathy (1973),

§  Institute of Company Secretaries of India (1981),

§  Veterinary Council of India (1984),

§  Distance Education Council (1992),

§  Rehabilitation Council of India (1992), and

§  National Council for Teacher Education (1995).

·        Government departments also control quality in education.

·        At the State level, there are State Government Departments which take care of quality.

·        State Councils of Higher Education cover higher education and State Councils for Educational Research and Training cover education of school teachers.

·        SarvaShikshaAviyan scheme takes care of quality of school education.

·        In order to accelerate qualitative improvement in higher education, National Knowledge Commission recommended establishment of 30 new Central universities, 16 in States where they do not exist and 14 as World class universities (all India admissions, course credits, regular syllabi revision, incentives for faculty, strong linkage with industry and research institutions, no affiliated colleges, outsource nonteaching functions.

·        The Central Government has started the process of establishment of central Universities.

·        NKC also recommended increase in number of high quality institutions.

Political Interference in Education

·        The interdependence of educational institutions and their academic freedom are essential to the quality and integrity of all education.

·        Teaching and learning require free and full exposure to information and ideas, the right to question or dissent, and opportunities to study, research, and debate, free of political pressure.

·        The academy requires that inquiry and analysis must be guided by evidence and ethics, unconstrained by political intervention.

·        A college or university must be sensitive to the conditions of the society in which it exists, but it must also be free to determine how to be most responsive and responsible.

·        Political interference in the affairs of an educational institution presents a threat to its freedom and effectiveness.

·        Direct intervention by elected or appointed officials, political parties, or pressure groups in the selection of faculty, the determination of curricula, textbooks, course content, or in admissions or retention policies, injects factors which are often inimical to the fulfillment of an institution’s mission.

·        In the matter of appointments, for example, political control at any level results in divided loyalty and weakened authority.

·        To impose political considerations upon faculty selection and retention harms an institution intellectually and educationally, not only by reducing its options in the recruitment of talent, but also by creating pressures against dissent on important policy issues.

·        When political considerations irrelevant to the functions of the office determine the selection of trustees or similar officers, they impose restrictions on choice.

·        Moreover, appointments based on political grounds entail external liaisons which may contravene the educational purposes of the institution.

·        If the tenure of an educational administrator is subject to political partisanship, or if appointments to the board of trustees or the faculty are made only with regard to their political implications, the institution may be weakened and its prospects for excellence seriously diminished.

Child Labour

·        Child labour refers to the employment of children in any work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful.

·        Childhood is an important and impressionable stage of human development as it holds the potential to the future development of any society.

·        Children who are brought up in an environment, which is conducive to their intellectual, physical and social health, grow up to be responsible and productive members of society.

·        By performing work when they are too young for the task, children unduly reduce their present welfare or their future income earning capabilities, either by shrinking their future external choice sets or by reducing their own future individual productive capabilities.

·        Under extreme economic distress, children are forced to forego educational opportunities and take up jobs which are mostly exploitative as they are usually underpaid and engaged in hazardous conditions.

·        Parents decide to send their child for engaging in a job as a desperate measure due to poor economic conditions.

·        One of the disconcerting aspects of child labour is that children are sent to work at the expense of education.

·        There is a strong effect of child labour on school attendance rates and the length of a child’s work day is negatively associated with his or her capacity to attend school.

·        Child labour restricts the right of children to access and benefit from education and denies the fundamental opportunity to attend school.

·        Child labour prejudices children’s education and adversely affects their health and safety.

·        Government has accordingly been taking proactive steps to tackle the problem of child labour through strict enforcement of legislative provisions along with simultaneous rehabilitative measures.

·        State Governments, which are the appropriate implementing authorities, have been conducting regular inspections and raids to detect cases of violations.

·        Since poverty is the root cause of this problem, and enforcement alone cannot help solve it, Government has been laying a lot of emphasis on the rehabilitation of children and on improving the economic conditions of their families.

Corporal Punishment

·        Corporal punishment can be defined as any punishment in which physical force is used and intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort and all other acts leading to insult, humiliation, physical and mental injury, and in rare cases, even death.

·        Corporal punishment involves hitting children, with the hand or with an implement and is invariably degrading.

·        In addition, there are other non-physical forms of punishment that are also cruel and degrading and include punishment which belittles, humiliates, denigrates, scapegoats, threatens, scares or ridicules the child.

·        Every two out of three school going children in India are physically abused as per the national report on child abuse by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in 2007.

·        Corporal punishment is rampant in every single district of the country.

·        Corporal punishment in both government as well as private schools is deeply ingrained as a tool to discipline children and as a normal action.

·        Most children do not report or confide about the matter to anyone and suffer silently.

·        Children due to fear are often silent and submit to violence without questioning. They sometimes show signs of deep hurt in their behaviour but this often goes unnoticed, perpetuating further violence on them.

·        More often than not, when a teacher uses violence on children it is an outburst of his/her personal frustration.

·        Corporal punishment not only affects the emotional behaviour and academic performance of a child, but also leads to reduction in self-esteem and dignity of child. 

·        Corporal Punishment in schools is prohibited in nearly half of the world’s countries.

·        Many countries have enacted laws prohibiting corporal punishment in all settings, namely in the home, in schools, alternative care and in the judicial system.

·        Legal protections against corporal punishment are important to safeguard the rights of a child. However, in practice, legal options are usually resorted to only in case of extreme corporal punishment. They are nevertheless important measures of deterrence.

·        It is very important that teachers should know that by assaulting children they risk not only dismissal but also prosecution by criminal law.

·        Simultaneously, public education is crucial to accompany law reform. The process of law reform and enactment of the Right to Education Bill with provisions on corporal punishment itself has the potential to be educational if properly disseminated.

·        Teacher training and sensitisation, public interest programmes, community mobilization, educating children on their rights etc. can additionally play an important role to change attitudes.

·        The work conditions of school teachers in most government schools are undoubtedly adverse.

·        There are over-crowded classes, not enough text books, first-generation learners etc.

·        This is not to say that there is no violence or corporal punishment on children in well-to do schools.

School Violence

·        School violence is widely held to have become a serious problem in recent decades in many countries, especially where weapons such as guns or knives are involved.

·        School violence includes violence between school students as well as physical attacks by students on school staff.

·        Schools are in a unique position to identify violent behaviour among students early and to implement prevention strategies that affect the entire community.

·        Creating safe supportive schools is essential to ensuring students’ academic and social success.

·        There are multiple elements to establishing environments in which youth feel safe, connected, valued, and responsible for their behaviour and learning.

·        A very important measure to be taken by schools is to prevent violence in all forms whether bullying, aggressive classroom behavior, gun use, or organized gang activity.

·        In recent years, school administrators have worked hard to ensure safety at school and it is encouraging to know that their efforts are making a big difference.

·        The basic principles that underlie effective strategies to reduce violent behavior are the same as those that underlie strategies that promote healthy development and learning for all students.

·        Effective approaches balance security measures and discipline with positive supports, skill building, parent and community involvement, and improved school climate.

·        Successfully incorporating these principles as foundations of school policy and procedure will not only reduce violence but also improve academic and social outcomes for all students.

·        Foundation Safe schools are built by developing through purposeful planning and organization and the process begins with the formation of a safety team whose role is to develop a comprehensive violence prevention plan.

·        The safety team leads efforts to identify needs, choose options, garner support from school and community stakeholders, and coordinate various services.

·        The school safety team should include a broad range of stakeholders, including administrators, faculty and staff members, parents, students, and community members who:

§  Implement systematic and recurrent assessment of the school’s needs through regular data collection.

§  Create a comprehensive plan based on a multilevel strategy that seeks to build and maintain a peaceful school campus by implementing prevention activities.

·        The school safety plan should include strategies at the building, classroom, and individual student levels.

Child Abuse

·        Child abuse is the mistreatment by an adult of a child or young person that harms or endangers that child or young person's physical or emotional health, development or wellbeing.

·        Child abuse is when a parent or caregiver, whether through action or failing to act, causes injury, death, emotional harm or risk of serious harm to a child.

·        There are many forms of child maltreatment, including neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, exploitation, and emotional abuse.

·        Child abuse can be a single incident, or can be a number of different incidents that take place over time.

·        Under the Child Protection Act 1999, it does not matter how much a child is harmed, but whether a child:

§  has suffered harm, is suffering harm, or is at risk of suffering harm.

§  does not have a parent able and willing to protect them from harm.

·        Harm is defined as any detrimental effect of a significant nature on the child's physical, psychological or emotional well-being.

·        For harm to be significant, the detrimental effect on a child's well-being must be substantial or serious, more than transitory and must be demonstrable in the child's presentation, functioning or behaviour.

·        Physical abuse occurs when a child has suffered, or is at risk of suffering, non-accidental physical trauma or injury. Physical abuse can include hitting, shaking, throwing, burning, biting, poisoning, etc.

·        Physical abuse does not always leave visible marks or injuries. It is not how bad the mark or injury is, but rather the act itself that causes injury or trauma to the child.

·        Sexual abuse occurs when an adult, stronger child or adolescent uses their power or authority to involve a child in sexual activity.

·        Sexual abuse can be physical, verbal or emotional and can include:

§  Kissing or holding a child in a sexual manner.

§  Exposing a sexual body part to a child.

§  Having sexual relations with a child under 16 years of age.

§  Talking in a sexually explicit way that is not age or developmentally appropriate.

§  Making obscene phone calls or remarks to a child.

§  Sending obscene mobile text messages or emails to a child.

§  Fondling a child in a sexual manner.

§  Persistently intruding on a child's privacy.

§  Penetrating the child's vagina or anus by penis, finger or any other object.

§  Oral sex.

§  Rape.

§  Incest.

§  Showing pornographic films, magazines or photographs to a child.

§  Having a child pose or perform in a sexual manner.

§  Forcing a child to watch a sexual act.

§  Child prostitution.

·        Emotional abuse occurs when a child's social, emotional, cognitive or intellectual development is impaired or threatened.

·        Emotional abuse can include emotional deprivation due to persistent rejection, hostility, teasing/bullying, yelling, criticism and exposure of a child to domestic and family violence.

·        Neglect occurs when a child's basic necessities of life are not met, and their health and development are affected. Basic needs include food, housing, health care, adequate clothing, personal hygiene, hygienic living conditions, timely provision of medical treatment, adequate supervision, etc.

Use of Drugs and Intoxicants Among Students

·        Drug and alcohol use and abuse among school and college students is a major concern.

·        Misuse of alcohol and other drugs by youth is considered a major societal problem.

·        Research has demonstrated that campus-wide prevention campaigns focusing on information or awareness tend to have minimal effect on actual alcohol or drug use behaviors.

·        Several studies have even demonstrated an increase in maladaptive drug-related attitudes and/or drug use with non- classroom prevention programming.

·        While it is hoped that academic health courses increase knowledge, awareness, and interest in these topics among undergraduates, little research has been conducted to examine the effects of academic substance use courses on college student attitudes and actual health behaviours.

·        Adolescent use of alcohol and other drugs has presented researchers and professionals with major conceptual and definitional problems.

·        Construction of instruments in the field of adolescent alcohol assessment has traditionally relied on two fundamental assumptions: that adult models are applicable to the adolescent, and that psychological, sociological and alcoholism theories could describe and explain the behaviour.

·        Studies that have attempted to understand the nature and extent of adolescent drinking and drug use patterns raise questions, both methodologically and conceptually.

·        Several national and regional studies have attempted to identify frequency, quantity, and type of drug use.

·        It has been difficult for individual campuses to assess their own usage patterns and to compare patterns with those of other institutions of higher education.

·        The drug and alcohol use patterns of today must he identified so that the related problems for our youth, their families, their community, and society may be addressed in an informed and systematic manner.

Stress and Examination Anxiety

·        Under the stress of study and examinations, students often neglect their health.

·        It is a common belief that in order to cope with the workload and pack in as much information as possible, it is necessary to make temporary changes to, and sacrifices in, students’ lifestyle.

·        Students do not make time to prepare and eat proper meals, do not stick to their usual exercise routines and leisure activities and alter sleeping patterns.

·        Many students find that they become drained, run-down, or ill, right in the middle of the exam period, precisely when they need to be at their best.

·        It is not events themselves that create anxiety or stress, but it is the reaction of students to the events.

·        Most students experience some degree of stress and anxiety when they enter an examination room.

·        In most cases this is quite positive as too little anxiety prevents students from performing at their best. Too much anxiety, however can interfere with performance.

·        Thoughts or perceptions about a situation and students’ ability to handle it trigger responses in their body, responses which lead students to feel anxious and stressed.

·        Students can reduce their stress and anxiety either by addressing the situation or event that the stress is a response to, or by dealing with the symptoms of stress directly.

Strategies for Coping

·        Coping strategies refer to the specific efforts, both behavioral and psychological, that people employ to master, tolerate, reduce, or minimize stressful events.

·        Two general coping strategies have been distinguished:

§  Problem-solving strategies are efforts to do something active to alleviate stressful circumstances.

§  Emotion-focused coping strategies involve efforts to regulate the emotional consequences of stressful or potentially stressful events.

·        Some people cope more actively than others and also by the type of stressful event.

·        People typically employ problem-focused coping to deal with potential controllable problems such as work-related problems and family-related problems

·        Stressors perceived as less controllable, such as certain kinds of physical health problems, prompt more emotion-focused coping.

·        Active coping strategies are either behavioral or psychological responses designed to change the nature of the stressor itself or how one thinks about it

·        Avoidant coping strategies lead people into activities, such as alcohol use,or mental states, such as withdrawal, that keep them from directly addressing stressful events.

·        Generally speaking, active coping strategies, whether behavioral or emotional, are thought to be better ways to deal with stressful events, and avoidant coping strategies appear to be a psychological risk factor or marker for adverse responses to stressful life events.

·        Broad distinctions, such as problem-solving versus emotion-focused, or active versus avoidant, have only limited utility for understanding coping.

·        Eight distinct coping strategies have emerged: Confrontative Coping, Seeking Social Support, Planful Problem-Solving, Self-Control, Distancing, Positive Appraisal, Accepting Responsibility, and Escape/Avoidance.

Effective Parenting

·        Raising children is one of the toughest and most fulfilling jobs in the world and the one for which many people are not prepared.

·        Children start developing their sense of self as babies when they see themselves through their parents’ eyes.

·        The tone of voice, body language, and every expression of parents is absorbed by the child.

·        Words and actions of parents affect the child’s developing self-image more than anything else in his world.

·        Consequently, praising the child for his/her accomplishment, however small, will make him/her feel proud; letting him/her to do things for himself/herself will make him/her feel capable and independent.

·        By contrast, belittling thechild or comparing him unfavorably to another will make him feel worthless.

·        Parents need to choose their words carefully, as their comments may bruise the inner feelings of a child.

·        Parents should be compassionate and let their child know that they love him/her, irrespective of the perception of others.

·        Parents should not react negatively to a child’s behaviour.

·        Parents should more be complimenting rather than criticising.

·        The more effective approach is to catch the child doing something right, and praise him/her.

·        Encouraging statements from parents will do more to encourage children’s good behaviour over the long run than repeated scolding.

·        Parents need to praise children and be generous with rewards like love, hugs and compliments, etc.

·        Such parental attitudes can work wonders for both the parents and the children.

·        Discipline is necessary in every household and the goal of discipline is to help children choose acceptable behaviors.

·        Parents should also devote their time to spend with their children, like sitting down for a family meal, going for a walk, etc.

·        Children who are not getting the attention they want from their parents often act out or misbehave because they are assured of being noticed.

·        Many parents find it mutually rewarding to have prescheduled time with their child on a regular basis.

·        Adolescents seem to need the undivided attention of their parents less than younger children.

·        Since there are fewer windows of opportunity for parents and teen to get together, parents should do their best to be available when their teen does express a desire to talk or participate in family activities.

·        Parents should be a good role model as young children learn a great deal by observing the actions of their parents.

·        Parents should communicate in a proper manner and make their expectations very clearly.

·        Parents should describe problems to the child, express their feelings about it and invite their child to work on a solution.

·        Parents should make suggestions and offer choice.

·        Parents should be open to their child’s suggestions as well.

·        Mutual discussions and participations help children to be motivated to carry the decisions out.

·        Parenting style should be flexible.

·        Parents should correct and guide their children and also make sure that the children are picking up on their advices.

Equity, access and quality

·        Equity refers to the equal oppourtunity for all sections of society to participate in higher education.

·        Access refers to the availability of suitable number of educational institutions across a region to fulfill the demand.

·        Quality refers to the provision of suitable infrastructure, trained faculty and effective pedagogy in higher education institutions aimed at delivering expected outcomes.

·        The Indian government has made ambitious plans to place an effective monitoring system to ensure foolproof results in its endeavour to make quality higher education within the reach of all and more so to the under-represented communities.

·        While urban infrastructure has definitely seen progress, the rural sector still lies in dismal neglect over a larger proportion.

·        The government must ensure proper physical access to these communities and emphasize on construction of higher education institutions in closer proximity to villages.

·        Further ample focus must be given to development of technology to enable education through Information Technology.

·        Provision of adequately trained and qualified faculty.

·        Student-teacher ratio must be brought up to an ideal level and all faculties must possess adequate qualifications and training before taking up education.

·        Periodical refresher training is an indubitable necessity to ensure adherence to performance standards.

·        While updating curricula the faculty must be acquainted with the newer studies and technologies to keep them abreast and conduct proper delivery.

·        Ethnic inequalities need to be eliminated and caste must be removed from focus and only economic backwardness must be made criteria for extending government support to all communities.

·        Several individuals from the traditionally downtrodden groups, even after having richly benefitted from government support continue to exploit the opportunities provided, preventing the real oppressed groups from any significant benefits.

·        Adequate emphasis must be placed on improvement of internet and communication technology as it enables easier access to information and educational content and facilitates better education than traditional methods.

·        Government must provide sufficient autonomy and funding for all institutions with an effective monitoring mechanism to ensure appropriate infrastructure, facilities and aids to impart quality education.

·        Traditionally backward sections have shirked away from higher education owing to their inability to bear the costs of higher education. But with genuine and easily available government financial aid, education becomes much more accessible across communities.

·        Though there is ample funding on the government agenda, the complexities involved in obtaining finances makes them inaccessible to most lower groups.

·        Regulatory bodies function across parameters often overlapping authority, affecting the delivery of quality education.

·        Since education is a subject of both the central and the state governments, there are frequent conflicts in several areas of education.

·        The government must resolve such complexities and ensure proper delegation of authority for smoother functioning.

·        The higher education system must provide for updating of curriculum over regular frequencies to help learning match industry requirement.

·        This way employability skill would be better and so do the prospects.

·        In addition to these, governments must encourage Public Private Partnerships in higher education and also involve the industry actively through comprehensive CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activities.

·        The role of civil society in widening access to higher education may also be an area of thrust.

·        A comprehensive study on access to under-represented communities may be conducted every alternate year and progress recorded for comparative references.

·        Exhaustive studies also are required on higher education programmes of developed countries and their systems replicated to the Indian context.

Women Education

·        Women and girls in the developing world are often denied opportunities for education.

·        Lack of education limits prospects, decreases family income, reduces health, puts women and girls at risk of trafficking and exploitation, and limits the economic advancement of entire countries.

·        Education for girls and women is the single most effective way to improve the lives of individual families as well as to bring economic development to poor communities worldwide. 

·        Getting education is the fundamental human right of every individual irrespective of gender.

·        Educating a woman means educating the family and the nation.

·        Education for all is one of the major tasks being carried out by the Indian government but still we have the lowest female literacy rate in Asia.

·        Sex based discrimination is prevalent in India. This is one problem where parents do not send their daughters to school.

·        It is also common to see that parents especially in urban areas often send their male child to better schools.

·        Even if girls are enrolled, their dropout rate is very high.

·        When a woman is not educated then it not only affects her but the entire family as well as the nation.

·        In many studies it has been found out that illiterate women have high fertility as well as mortality rate.

·        It has been seen that infant mortality rate reduces to half in case women have received primary education as compared to illiterate female.

·        Apart from this, children of illiterate woman are malnourished. Illiteracy also reduces the overall earning potential of the family.

·        Women must be educated for a healthy and a happy life.

·        An educated woman can be a better human being, successful mother and a responsible citizen.

·        Educating women will definitely increase the living standard both at and outside home.

·        An educated woman will force her kids to study further and wish them to live a better life than hers.

·         Educating women results in promoting self-respect and also helps in raising the status of women.

·        An educated woman will be aware of her rights. She can fight against social evils such as domestic violence, dowry demand, low wages etc.

·        Programmes need to be developed to enable girls enroll and stay in school and help women gain access to or create new educational, financial, and social resources in their communities.

·        Such programmes should also help girls and women improve their own lives, the lives of their families and the conditions in their communities.

·        For parents—and especially mothers—this means creating conditions that ensure their daughters have equal access to basic education, are able to make informed decisions about their futures, and are able to protect themselves.

·        By improving educational opportunities for girls and women, educational institutions must help women develop skills that allow them to make decisions and influence community change.

Women Empowerment

·        The subject of empowerment of women has becoming a major issue all over the world including India since last few decades.

·        Many agencies of United Nations in their reports have emphasized that gender issue is to be given utmost priority. It is held that women now cannot be asked to wait for any more for equality.

·        Women want to have for themselves the same strategies of change which menfolk have had over the centuries such as equal pay for equal work.

·        Women’s quest for equality has given birth to the formation of many women’s associations and launching of movements.

·        The position and status of women all over the world has risen incredibly.

·        For a long time women in India remained within the four walls of their household andthey totally depended on their menfolk.

·        A long struggle going back over a century has brought women the property rights, voting rights, an equality in civil rights before the law in matters of marriage and employment.

·        In addition to the above rights, in India, the customs of veil system, female infanticide, child marriage, self-immolation by the women with their dead husbands, dowry system and the state of permanent widowhood were either totally removed or checked to an appreciable extent after independence through legislative measures.

·        Two Acts have also been enacted to emancipate women in India.These are:

§  Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 and

§  Compulsory Registration of Marriage Act, 2006.

·        Anything that makes a woman feel inferior and takes away her self-respect is abuse.

·        Compulsory Registration of Marriage Act can be beneficial in preventing the abuse of insti­tution of marriage and hindering social justice especially in relation to women.

·        It would help the innumerable women in the country who get abandoned by their husbands and have no means of proving their marital status.

·        It would also help check child marriages, bigamy and polygamy, enable women to seek maintenance and custody of their children and widows can claim inheritance rights.

·        The Act is applicable on all women irrespective of caste, creed or religion. It would truly empower Indian women to exercise their rights.

·        There was a time when women’s education was not a priority even among the elite.

·        More women are getting degrees than men, and are filling most new jobs in every field.

·        A growing number of women have been entering into the economic field, seeking paid work, remunerative jobs, outside the family.

·        Women are playing bigger and bigger role in economic field: as workers, consumers, entrepreneurs, managers and investors.

·        More women are employedalmost everywhere, including India, though their share is still very low.

·        Women can be seen in almost every field: architecture, lawyers, financial services, engineering, medical and IT jobs.

·        Women have also entered service occupations such as a nurse, a beautician, a sales worker, a waitress, etc.

·        Women are increasingly and gradually seen marching into domains which were previously reserved for males (e.g. police, driver’s army, pilots, chartered accoun­tants, commandos).

·        In spite of their increasing number in every field, women still remain perhaps the world’s most underutilised resources. Many are still excluded from paid work and many do not make best use of their skills.

Education for Socially, Economically and Culturally Deprived

·        Education is universally recognized as a central component of human capital.

·        The role of education as a contributor to economic growth and its impact on population control, life expectancy, infant mortality, improving nutritional status and strengthening civil institutions is well recognized.

·        Moreover, the social rates of return on investments in all levels of education much exceed the long-term opportunity cost of capital.

·        In normal course educated parents would send their children to schools. But where parents are not educated they may send their children to schools if there are enough incentives to attract and retain the children in schools.

·        However it has been seen that as the child grows, the opportunity cost of sending the child to schools increases and incentives become less important.

·        It has also been observed that socio-economic factors often come in the way of educating children beyond a certain class.

·        The reasons observed forsocially, economically and culturally deprivedchildren not being in school extend from non-availability of schools, poor quality of education, including irregular opening of schools, poor learning environment etc.

·        The relationship between deprivation and education is crucial for understanding the significant impact deprivation has on later outcomes in adulthood.

·        Deprivation of education has a negative impact on educational attainment, leaving young people with fewer qualifications and skills, affecting future employment.

·        Poor educational attainment has short‐term as well as longer‐term consequences.

·        There are direct effects on health and indirect effects, for example, lower skilled people are more likely to find employment in hazardous occupations where they are at greater risk of accidents.

·        Indeed, education has an impact on life expectancy.

·        There is evidence that lower levels of educational achievement can have a negative impact on an individual’s engagement with society, for example, in the increased likelihood that an individual will engage in criminal activity.

·        Education, thus for the weaker sections of the society needs to become the panacea and an inclusive growth strategy for their economic and social up-liftment.

·        Education has special significance for the socially, economically and culturally deprived, who are facing a new situation in the development process to admit themselves properly in the changing circumstances.

·        Education not only helps children from weaker sections of society to promote their economic development but also helps to build their self-confidence and inner strength to face new challenges.

·        The socially, economically and culturally deprived children have been the targets of economic exploitation, harassment, atrocities, injustice, etc. due to their illiteracy linked to their poverty.

·        The government of India has made special provisions in the constitution through various articles to promote education among the socially, economically and culturally deprived children.