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TEACHING, TRAINING,edit KNOWLEDGE, CAREER, PLACEMENT, JOB, Editor in chief Bijay Kumar Agarwal Consultant and Managing Editor Pradeep Gooptu Senior Editor Abhinaba Chatterjee
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Visit us at : www.educationaffairs.in Also follow us on: www.facebook.com/educationaffairs www.twitter.com/educationaffair All rights reserved. Reproduction in any manner is prohibited. Printed and Published by Bijay Kumar Agarwal on behalf of the owner, GPF Trading Pvt Ltd. Printed at Satyajug Employees Co-operative Industrial Society Ltd, 13 & 13/1A, Prafulla Sarkar Street Kolkata – 700072. Published from 34/1Q Ballygunge Circular Road, Kolkata – 700019 Ph : (91) 33 – 40229000, Fax : (91) 33 -24755324 Volume 1 Issue 1 for the month of September 2013 DL No- 39 dated 28/02/2013
Give a human being food and you will feed the fellow for a day. Impart education and the family will live, eat, work and earn for life. This venture — a magazine devoted to all affairs and matters related to education — is the product of the philosophy that is contained in this simple retelling of an ancient Oriental anecdote. Our country has been, through thousands of years of its tradition and history, a global centre of education and intellectual progress. Our monasteries and universities, gurukuls and madrasas, produced outstanding scholars who lived and worked in our land and also travelled far and wide to spread the message of humanity and science, compassion and logic, all over the world. Yet when we attained independence, the vast majority of our population was unlettered and illiterate, unable to write or calculate. As we seek to deliver the light of education through sound secondary education for one and all, and quality, affordable higher education to all those who seek it, we have to remember that our numbers are astronomical. Today, the challenge is therefore to educate all alike — the infant, the youth and every Indian citizen at large. With technology, professions and business evolving at a speed faster than ever before in human history, education is today an ongoing affair, a process that does not end with a degree. From vocational education to training suitable for soft sectors of the economy, from re-skilling of the existing brick-and-mortar workforce to continuing education for white collar professionals — education today is a universal, all-encompassing presence in our lives. We have attempted to cover as many aspects as we could in this inaugural issue of 64 pages and promise to keep our minds open. And alongside this, we need to hear from you, dear reader. We value your thoughts and analysis on the sector and would be happy to get your suggestions, through letters and emails. Do write and let us know how we can enrich our content, make it more relevant, and make this magazine a productive asset for both you and us.
Bijay Kumar Agarwal Editor in chief
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TEACHING, TRAINING, KNOWLEDGE, CAREER, PLACEMENT, JOB content THE FAMED INSTITUTE HAS GRAND PLANS TO COMPLETE ITS 200 YEARS OF EXISTENCE IN 2017
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JADAVPUR UNIVERSITY RUNS A COMMUNITY RADIO STATION WHICH GROOMS STUDENT REPORTERS TO COVER LOCAL ISSUES. IT ALSO USES PROGRAMMES AS EDUCATIONAL TOOLS
JU on the
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SPANISH EDUCATIONIST FEELS TAGORE’S PEDAGOGICAL SYSTEM WHEN PUT INTO PRACTICE CAN BE A MIRACLE FOR WESTERN SCHOOLS AND SOCIETY
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Tagore’s teaching
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9 A memorable convocation I 12 Rupee fall threatens foreign admissions I 14 Innovative art education I 18 Removing education poverty line I 21 Hangouts I 22 Coping with data deluge I 26 Stepping stone I 27 The future of learning I 28 Quality teaching I 31 Malnutrition affects learning abilities I 39 Mid-day meal in schools I 42 Many seats, few takers I 44 Tempting ‘temping’ I 45 Book gallery I 46 Score with music is the new mantra I 49 Gadgets I 50 LPU prepares for tram yatra I 54 Image of success I 58-59 Events I 60 Hospitals need more managers, but where are the seats? I 62 Interview: Bikash Sinha I 64 Are examinations a waste of time? 2 education affairs
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BE WHERE IT MATTERS.. Education Affairs is a platform for eminent educators, practitioners, students and researchers from across the country, with specific focus on Eastern India, to come together and share their knowledge, experiences, innovations and the latest trends in education. It engages with its audience on pressing and relevant issue pertaining to education. If you want to address aspirants and thought leaders in the education fraternity, this is the place to be.
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TEACHING, TRAINING, KNOWLEDGE, cover story CAREER, PLACEMENT, JOB
Presiden
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IF ALL GOES WELL, THE NEW UNIVERSITY WILL GET A SECOND CAMPUS WHEN IT TURNS 200, WRITES PRADEEP GOOPTU
ncy @ 200 Big plans for 2017 Presidency University is aiming to transform itself into a world—class research and teaching institution by the time of its 200th anniversary in 2017, says the University’s mentor group in its latest report and we examine what it means for the world of education and to students.
Plans for 2017 The College Street campus is expected to buzz with activity. The second campus of Presidency University will come up in parallel with 2017 as the target year. The new facility will have infrastructure like research labs, classrooms, lecture theaters, faculty housing, PhD student housing, a
conference center and an administrative complex. According to the mentor group, “We had envisioned the recreation of the College Street atmosphere in one quarter of the second campus, albeit without the clanking and clattering of trams and other vehicular traffic. This would be a pedestrian zone with lively and well-designed cafes and bookshops. We would like this part of the campus to be open to the public.” The new complex would include separate zones for infrastructure like academic facilities and residences. These areas would be private and with separate security. The mentor group used the expertise of a firm of architectural consultants to come up with a grand plan for the second campus. The group has recommended, on the basis of the views of the architectural consultant, that the new
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TEACHING, TRAINING, KNOWLEDGE, CAREER, PLACEMENT, JOB,
campus be constructed in three phases. “It would be feasible to fully construct Phase 1A and a good part of Phase 1B to make the second campus functional by the time of the bicentennial in 2017.” According to the plan submitted for adoption, the second campus will have in Phase 1A, a total usable floor area of 2,55,088 square feet at a total cost including construction and interior fitment of Rs 84 crore. This sum would be needed over two years, i.e a sum of Rs 42 crore would be needed in 2014-2015 and another Rs 42 crore in 2015-2016. The mentor group would like the foundation stone of the second campus to be laid on Foundation Day, i.e January 20, 2014. Phase 1B will have a total usable floor area of 88,176 square feet at a total cost of Rs 30 crore, of which Rs 15 crore is to be spent in 2016-2017 and Rs 15 crore in 2017-18. Phase 1C will have a total usable floor area of 2,01,436 square feet at a total cost of Rs 67 crore, of which Rs 33.5 crore would be used in 2018-2019 and Rs 33.5 crore in 2019-2020. Phase 2 will have a total usable floor area of 3,90,888 square feet plus landscaping and site development for a total cost of Rs 152 crore to be spent on projects worth Rs 76 crore in 2020-2021 and the balance Rs 76 crore in 2021-22. Phase 3 will have a total usable floor area of 2,60,091 square feet and an open air theater at a total cost of Rs 135 crore — Rs 70 crore for 2022-23 and Rs 65 crore for 2023-24. 6 education affairs
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The progress so far Before we wrap up, let us see what has been accomplished in the last two years. If the Mentor group is to be believed, vice chancellor Malabika Sarkar has played an exceptional leadership role in the last two years, which has won her praise. The group has just presented its outline and roadmap on what needs to be done (in stages) to sustain the momentum towards reaching the goal of creating a global centre of academic excellence to train the best students. This task is to be completed in about 42 months, by 2017. A massive challenge, no doubt! Excellent progress has been made in recruiting diverse and outstanding faculty believed to be capable of guiding the best students to a bright future and reviving programmes on cutting-edge research. The top priority remains highquality teaching and this has been identified as the top priority. This aim seems to be on the mind of the state government too, as it has approved the plan of the university authorities to adopt a transparent and rigorous selection process for the new teachers as suggested by the Mentor group.
Teachers’ selection process Around 140 outstanding scholars have joined Presidency as subject experts and this has enhanced the chances and opportunities for students joining from 2013. At the same time, the University’s reputation throughout India and
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The total cost for construction and internal fitment over 10 years will be Rs 468 crore.
At the same time, the University’s reputation throughout India and beyond have been greatly enhanced by the success recruitment process
beyond have been greatly enhanced by the success recruitment process, a subject to which I will return later. The scholars who conducted the selection process for so many new staff members were themselves the best names in their respective fields. The selectors were brought in from around the world and they invested much of their time and energy to participate in the Presidency selection process. Many candidates who could not attend in person were interviewed using video conferencing facilities education affairs 7
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installed in the room of vice-chancellor Malabika Sarkar. Most of the applicants though appeared in person to take part in the unparalleled gigantic and complex faculty recruitment process at the highest level. For the record, more than 7,000 applications were received. The first selection committee met on April 11, 2012. At last count, more than 140 new faculty members joined Presidency University after having been selected over a period of 15 months. Most of those selected accepted the offer made by Presidency and thereafter joined. What is noteworthy is that the acceptance rate of offers was very 8 education affairs
high as only nine selected candidates sent in their regret in response to the 160-odd offers extended. However, eight faculty members put in their resignations after joining, citing various reasons. Of the eight, two cited dissatisfaction with the salary level, though the salary issued had been outlined and specified well in advance for joining faculty members. To sum up, as of July 14, 2013, Presidency could boast of 14 professors and 107 associate and assistant professors in its classrooms and lecture theatres while another professor and 21 associate and assistant professors had sent acceptances, making for a total strength of 143 faculty members.
This accounted for 43% of the total sanctioned faculty positions filled in a period of 15 months. The average age of the professors who have joined is 53.2 years and the average age of the associate and assistant professors who have joined is 36.5 years. According to the Mentor group, and its chairman prof Sugata Bose, “A talented faculty with an average age of below 40 years bodes well for the future. We, therefore, have every reason to applaud both the process and the outcome of faculty recruitment conducted over the last 15 months.� For the record, on July 15, 2013, the University Council ratified the appointment of 12 more faculties.
OB, BOOKS, GADGETS, GROOMING, freshSPORTS, start FINE ARTS, MUSIC
A memorable convocation
PRESIDENCY MARKS A BEGINNING WITH NEW FACULTY, TWO YEARS AFTER THE BILL MAKING IT A UNIVERSITY WAS PASSED For Presidency University, August 22, 2013, will remain a special day. The 340 students of the university who received their degrees on the day would remember it as a Red Letter Day too. After all, they were the first batch of students to pass out of the newly-formed university. Sure, their names will be ever etched in the records of the University. Special honours were presented as well, a D.Litt.
to eminent social scientist Ranajit Guha and a D.Sc. to the famous scientist Mihir Chowdhury. The first ever convocation of PU, held at the Derozio Hall, was graced by the Governor of West Bengal M K Narayanan, state education minister Bratya Basu and eminent technocrat Sam Pitroda, advisor to the Prime Minister on public information infrastructure and innovation. Presiding over the event was Malabika Sarkar, the vice-chancellor, assisted by the education affairs 9
TEACHING, TRAINING, KNOWLEDGE, CAREER, PLACEMENT, JOB, 140-odd professors, most of them new. The excitement among the students was palpable and they looked happy to get their graduation robes and caps. The students waited eagerly for the event to get over for their celebrations outside and the convocation picture which they will no doubt preserve in their albums. Speaking on the occasion, Governor, M K Narayanan said it was an honour for him to be a part of history. He said, “The country expects the Presidency University to be the best and that must be fulfilled. There is great deal of expectation about Presidency's future.” He hoped the university would become a centre of excellence and centre of national eminence. He encouraged the students by saying that they are the best and the “standard bearers of new India.” The governor talked about “unparalleled opportunities" and “seizing these opportunities”. The former chairman of the Na-
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tional Knowledge Commission (NKC), Sam Pitroda, highlighted the need for restructuring the Indian education system. “Universities train students to go out and find jobs. Instead, they should train students to create jobs. We need to create 50 million jobs every year. This can’t come from the government, or from industries. We need to create more entrepreneurs,” said Pitroda. He lamented that the best brains were busy solving the problems of the rich. He urged for overhauling of the old system and also called for a change in in the mindset of the government, the various ministries and the University Grants Commission. He added, “When we talk of excellence in higher education, other than the top 5% universities in India, the condition of the rest is pretty bad. The NKC gave several suggestions for improving higher education, but, unfortunately, we haven’t been able to implement them. We have only 350 universities and the NKC suggested
OB, BOOKS, GADGETS, GROOMING, SPORTS, FINE ARTS, MUSIC 1,500. We suggested separating colleges from universities to focus on research and development. Eight bills in this regard are languishing in Parliament.” On his part, the education minister said, “Presidency has rapidly grown since the transformation from a college to a university. In 2012, the CM, Mamata Banerjee set up the Presidency University mentor group on the lines of Nalanda University with Harvard professor Sugata Bose as the chairman to enable the university to become a centre of excellence in respect of teaching and research". Vice-chancellor Malabika Sarkar thanked everyone on behalf of the university and looked forward to the governor and minister’s guidance in future as well. Sreenanda Ghoshal, MSc Economics students, who was in the list of passouts recounting her experience of the day said, “It is a great feeling to be the first batch of Presidency University but honestly, I did not expect
such a grand convocation. It was larger than life and the memories will be etched throughout my life. I am indebted to the V-C and also to our HoD, Amitava Chatterjee, who will be retiring soon.” Sreenanda, who plans to pursue higher studies, feels the global image and the success of PU is something to be proud of, but insists of having more research facilities from her department. “I would like to remain attached with the University through research,” added Sreenanda. “What I liked from the speech by both the governor and Sam Piroda was the emphasis they laid on brushing up of our capabilities and research work. They asked us to stay here and do research,” said Suchismta Ghosh, a student of MA, Bengali. Suchismita added, “Studying at PU was really an exceptional experience. The faculty here not only enlightened us with their knowledge but also taught us the right way to learn a subject. They supported us whenever we needed them.
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IN 2013-14, THE COST OF STUDYING OVERSEAS HAS GONE UP BY AT LEAST 12%
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Rupee fall threatens foreign admissions Bijay Kumar Agarwal The rising value of the dollar against the rupee is making some students reconsider plans to study overseas in view of the higher initial outgo and apprehension that costs of studying overseas will continue to rise in the months and years ahead. Education sector intermediaries said this trend was now noticeable. For the record, the Indian rupee (INR) has lost around 11% against the US dollar in the first six months of 2013, from approximately INR 53.01 to a US dollar to INR 64-plus in the last week of August 2013. If remittance charges are added on, one dollar today costs well over INR 65 in exchange. Students aiming to study abroad have to pay fees and living expenses generally pegged to the US dollar even if they are going to study to locations like UK, Singapore, China or Australia dollars. Education sector sources claimed that overseas admission this session have dipped by 20 per cent. Sanjoy Rai, director, Zetasoft Educational Services, says, “On the first hand, due to rupee depreciation, students are reconsidering their decision to head for foreign destinations, especially the US, to study as both tuition fees and cost of living there will rise.” Students and their guardians are in a soup, because there is no indication that the fall of the rupee will stop, he added. Students will have to shell out much more to meet the costs. The problem is that if a student cancels plans of going overseas, admission session in India is almost over with very
few seats left in some places, and no seats left in some premier institutes to accommodate new candidates. Dr Partha Sarathi Ganguly of Sarawati Online, another education sector consultancy, pointed out that students traveling abroad on loans to fund their foreign degree were going through a huge problem. “Education loans are usually in rupees, but as students pay their expenses in a foreign currency, the cost of education and stay has increased,” he cautioned.
OB, BOOKS, GADGETS, GROOMING, SPORTS, FINE ARTS, MUSIC This disruption in academic costs on account of the fall of the rupee will make life difficult as students will have to manage on smaller budgets and adjust in the new environment in a foreign land. According to Ganguly, many students, while studying abroad, follow the mode of ‘earn while you learn’ to partly bring down the financial burden on parents. This
recession, may gain from the rupee depreciation. Having completed their studies, they are about to begin repaying their loan and for them the depreciation of rupee means fewer dollars to be paid back to banks. According to Dilip Rai, director, Overseas Education Services of Bangalore, students, who are determined to obtain a foreign degree
funded by “personal or family” sources. Shelling out more and more funds out from family coffers will no doubt rattle dreams for those staying behind in India. “The decline in the value of the rupee has a huge impact on education abroad and is specifically impacting those going at bachelor’s level,” says Sanjoy Rai. Many of his clients are now looking for options
PRIMARY SOURCE OF FUNDING OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN USA, 2008-2009
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS l l l l
problem in the midst of their studies may compel them to concentrate on earning more and thus they may get de-focused. That may impact the very purpose of going abroad i.e. to gain in terms of quality of education received. Now, if this were to happen, the damage caused by fall of the rupee will be of a fundamental nature, he cautioned. Some students, who have passed out and have been lucky enough to find jobs overseas despite the global
GO IN FOR ONE-TIME PAYMENT IF ITS PERMITTED IF YOU HAVE CORPORATE BACKING, TRY HEDGING NEGOTIATE WITH FOREIGN SCHOOL EXPLAINING THE PROBLEM & SEEKING RELIEF NEGOTIATE USING AN EXISTING LOAN WITH YOUR BANK TO GET SOME RELIEF
and do not have fixed priorities are looking a lot more at Australia, New Zealand and Canada, which have easier post-course work options and regulations. This is a better option for them since candidates have a better opportunity to repay the loan at the first opportunity. Data compiled by the Institute of International Education for the annual Open Doors Report, states that the education of over 64% foreign students in US universities is
within India. Scholarships, he says, have shrunk considerably the world over and funds still available are being assigned into graduate-level education. He says clients are now postponing their plans for postgraduatelevel studies or going for “twinning programmes”. According to him “Only those who are very serious and going to top universities are still going, and those who were going because their friends were going, are opting out.”
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Innovative Art Education Visual Art, Fine Art, Environmental Art, Industrial Art, Option Art, these are all now related to the echnology and Application from smaller space to larger space in our society. From ancient Chinese vessels to modern vessels, furniture, daily base utensils in all these cases, art is all around us. Besides that, application of art is also big business. From Urban Planning to Architecture, Landscaping to Road ways, from Bridge to Fly — all these improve when art is blended with technology and its application in a broader spectrum. Reflecting this, contemporary art education combines and covers animation, media, films, performing arts and games, using art and technology to widen the scope of innovation and application. So contemporary art is not limited to painting, sculpture, printmaking & photography but applications in diverse fields. The prospect of visual art is enormous as it is a common language for all and universally accepted across borders and cultures. The University Grants Commission (UGC) has directed institutions to implement professional and application related curriculum. Sadly, poor infrastructure is
hurting most government art institutions. Alternative professional institutions appear to be playing a more significant role and have risen to the challenge in today’s globalised market. The main drivers in the field are innovative ideas, efficiency and application. We look for inspiration to world class institutions which appear to be meeting today’s challenges to build up new generations of creators. In Europe, the leaders include Ecole des Beaux Arts of Paris, Ecole Superieure des Beaux Arts at Le Mans in France, Royal College of Art and Goldsmith College of Art at London, The University of Art of Hamburg, The Glasgow School of Art in Scotland and the Kyoto Seika University School of Art in Japan. All these institutions have developed industrial need based curriculum which are versatile. Visual Art & Fine Art are now blended with Applied Art. The vitality of art education lies here. To implement this, they have developed infrastructure facility. In addition, courses are multidisciplinary. Contemporary life in the age of globalisation is completely based on e–information and urban reality. In the Indian context, few institutions have dared to introduce new curriculum in art
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education beyond traditional form of art application. Some degree of course modification has been achieved by some premier art institutions alongside revised curriculum. The list includes M S University of Baroda, Kala Bhavan at Visva Bharati at Santiniketan, College of Art in Delhi, J J College of Art in Mumbai, College of Art in Hyderabad, Faculty of Visual Art of Rabindra Bharati University in Kolkata, the Government College of Art & Craft in Kolkata and College of Art & Design (affiliated to the University of Burdwan). Similar work is being done at institutions like NID of Ahmedabad, and the NIIFTs and Srishti of Bangalore. Diverse courses are offered for students. Popular courses include the Master of Fine Art (MFA) & Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), the Master of Visual Art (MVA) & Bachelor of Visual Art (BVA) course programme related to the subjects like — Art History (Theory). The practical base subjects include Painting (2D & 3D), Mural (2D & 3D ), Sculpture, Printmaking (2D & 3D), Ceramics and Applied Art & Graphic Design (2D & 3D). The Post Graduate & Graduate Diploma Programmes in Design include M.Sc in Garment Manufacturing Technology, M.Sc in Fashion Marketing and Merchandising, B.Sc in Fashion Design and B.Sc in Textile Design. Professional courses include Photography and Video making courses, Visual Communication and Communication Design, B.Sc in Multimedia Animation, Design Innovation, Architectural studies & Design and Digital Film making and Sound Design. Other popular course pursued include Installation Art & Book Art (3D), Project work, Art through paper-making and these are interdisciplinary subjects. The nomenclature of the subject as well as course design is changing rapidly driven by demand from businesses and urbanisation as well as migrating art practices in different cultural situations.
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Visual Art in post modern era Some courses are subject specific and these are taught in the leading art institutions in Europe. Professional courses are taught in the professional institutions in India while Post Graduate and undergraduate courses are taught in government and semi-government institutions in India and abroad. Apart these, several art, craft and design (traditional and modern) production houses impart training directly or through medium and small scale industries. Artists and designers nonetheless face challenges and lack opportunities. There is a huge need to exhibit and sell art works and creations through exhibitions and
other platforms. Many artists, designers, animators, visual artists and artistseducators have the skills to work with businesses and development agencies linked to industry. Clearly, there is a need to revise our modes of interaction and art practices so that art becomes more public and co-exists with society aesthetically at every level. Author: Abesh Bivore Mitra; Option Art (4eme)Ecole Superieure des Beaux-Arts, Le Mans France; MFA — MS University of Baroda; BFA — Kala Bhavan, Visva Bharati, Santiniketan; Currently Teacher in-Charge of the College of Art & Design affiliated to the University of Burdwan)
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TEACHING, TRAINING, KNOWLEDGE, special story CAREER, PLACEMENT, JOB
BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN HAVES AND HAVE NOTS IN THE REALM OF LEARNING IS A MATTER OF GREAT POLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Removing
Education Buddhadeb Ghosh H G Wells was not probably exaggerating when he said “human history becomes more of a race between education and catastrophe”. The great element of truth contained in this rather striking statement was apparent to many of our national leaders also, such as, Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi among others. That may be the reason why one of the directive principles of state policy of our Constitution talked about the state’s duty to provide ‘free and compulsory’ education to all children. Despite this pious wish of our Constitution-makers, there remained and still remains a wide gap between people and education in India. 18 education affairs
Doing away with ‘primary’ flaws The linkage between universal education and development has been established in various ways. When development is perceived as improving quality of life and expansion of freedom of a person, education has an intrinsic value. It enhances the ability of a person to lead the kind of life he or she wants and values, and removes the barrier that prevents him or her from participation in the kind of activities that requires certain minimum skills of reading, writing and basic numeracy. And in this age of knowledge explosion, such activities dominate our social, economic and political environment. Education also has an
OB, BOOKS, GADGETS, GROOMING, SPORTS, FINE ARTS, MUSIC
poverty line instrumental value when it is seen as a requirement for economic development. For, it improves human capital by enhancing a person’s capacity to acquire knowledge and skill necessary for increasing productivity. One of the universally accepted criteria of distinguishing between an educated and an uneducated person is ‘literacy’. Literacy may be defined in various ways. The Indian census has adopted a minimum standard to count ‘literate’ people, which is their capacity to ‘read and write’ with understanding in any language. In terms of this measure, we have, no doubt, covered a wide ground by pushing the literacy level upwards from 18% in 1951 to 74% in 2011. But the gap between the existing level of literacy and universal literacy still remains
intolerably high, particularly in respect of female literacy, which stands at a little less than 64.5%. Besides, the census definition of literacy is too narrow. What is today regarded as the minimum level of educational achievement that every citizen of a country must attain is ‘elementary education’, which means education up to the upper primary level or up to the level of Standard VIII. Creating social opportunities to enable all children of the country to access elementary education is therefore a task that cannot be denied by any democratic state. The 2011 census showed that out of 105 crores of population above seven years of age (generally children below seven years of age are not expected to be literate) as many as 27 crores were illiterate. They, along
with many others who are literate according to census definition but do not have education that is provided in the period of 8 years schooling, have to be considered ‘education poor’. Closing the wide gap between those living below the ‘education poverty line’ and those above it could have been a political issue of great importance. But we do not have the example of any political party — national or regional — making universal elementary education an election issue or an issue of long-drawn political agitation. To them, it does not have more than marginal importance. That is the reason why not many of us are fully aware of the implications of the 86th constitutional amendment of 2002, which transformed a toothless provision in the directive principles into a education affairs 19
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fundamental right of providing ‘free and compulsory education to all children of the age of 6 to 14 years’ by the state. Implementation of this right of the Constitution needed an Act of Parliament. The country had to wait for a long time to get this Act passed. That Act, namely the Right to Education Act (RTE Act), finally came into being in 2009 and was made operational from April 2010. Three years have passed after that. Can we say now that after a long wait we are now on the right track for eliminating education poverty in near future?
States and RTE By all accounts, most states are yet to take up the task of implementing the Act with earnestness. The position of course varies from state to state, but the overall picture is still not only unsatisfactory but worrisome. Let us look at some indicators. According to the RTE Act, all schools were to have been provided with a set of basic facilities like following a norm of teacher-pupil ratio, teacher-classroom ratio, provision of toilets with separate toilets for girls, libraries, improved building infrastructure etc. As far as these indicators are concerned, there has been little 20 education affairs
improvement in the position between 2010 and 2012. For example, the number of schools in rural areas following the norm of teacher-pupil ratio (1:30 in the primary level and 1:35 in the upper primary level) rose from about 39% in 2010 to 43% only in 2012. In some states the achievement in this field is abysmal. For example, in WB, only one-third schools are following this norm. Similarly, only 56.5% of schools had useable toilets in 2012 and the number of schools with useable girls’ toilets was less than 50%. What about the outcome? The provisional Annual Status of Education Report 2012 of PRATHAM, the most well-known NGO working in this field, released in January 2013, reports the following in respect of the situation in rural India. Enrolment in the 6-14 age group is increasing, but the number of dropouts is also rising, especially among girls in the age group of 11–14. (According to the chief of Unicef India, 80 million children drop out without completing their basic schooling.) The level of learning by students is deteriorating continuously. This is a cause of serious concern. In 2012, more than half of all children
in Standard V were unable to read a Standard II level text. The percentage of all children enrolled in Standard III, who could not read a Standard I level text, had increased steadily from 54% in 2010 to 61% in 2012. More than 46% of all children in Standard V could not solve a two-digit subtraction problem. Three out of four students enrolled in Standard V could not do division problems. The decline in learning cannot happen in one year. Learning decline is the cumulative effect of past neglect. But what is a cause of concern is that the rate of decline, according to the ASER report, is increasing since 2010, that is, after the introduction of RTE Act. Probably ‘quality’ is being sacrificed in order to win the race for ‘quantity’. This may be one of the reasons for an increase in the dropout rate of children who seem to have realised that they gain nothing valuable by attending school. The report has also noted that every year more and more children are going to private schools even in rural areas. It also finds that “the learning outcomes in government schools in many states (are declining) rapidly, (while) the private school performance in most states has remained steady”. If the ‘right to education’ is something more than a mere rhetoric, then most of the state governments will have to put in a lot more effort not only to create the infrastructure of elementary schools, but also improves the quality of teaching in their own schools as well in the schools set up in the private sector. But the problem is that the subject of education, particularly elementary education, is still believed to be a stuff that is devoid of substance for being fed into the political mill for generating electoral dividends. So long as our political leaders persist with such a perception, we cannot expect too much from the RTE Act. (The author is a retired bureaucrat and a keen observer of development in education.)
OB, BOOKS, GADGETS, GROOMING, SPORTS, FINE ARTS, MUSIC hangout
Paris CafĂŠ Popular dishes: Chocolate Pistachio Surprise, Panini, Crepes, Mushroom Salad With Olives & Capers Cost for two: Rs 500 Cuisine: Desserts, Cakes Address: Shop No. 1/1, Ground Floor, Rishikesh Apartment, Ashutosh Chowdhury Avenue, Ballygunge, Kolkata - 19 Landmark: Opposite Ice Skating Rink
Cafela Popular dishes: Panini, Crepes, Mushroom Salad with olives and capers Food: Sandwiches, Pasta, beverages Cost for two: Rs 350 Address: 56, Jatin Das Road
Landmark: Near Desapriya Park and Triangular Park, Kolkata - 29
Aqua Java Cuisine: Mexican/Tex-Mex, Italian, Fast Food Cost for two: Rs 450 Address: 6, Russel Street, Kolkata - 71 Landmark: Near Maidan Metro Station
Cheeni Kum Cuisine : Chinese, Indian, Multi Cuisine, Bengali, European/ Continental Cost for two: Rs 500 Address : Hotel Narayani Enclave, Plot No. 1744, Rajdanga Main Road, Kasba, Kolkata - 107 Landmark: In Hotel Narayan Enclave
Kafe Bindass Cuisine: Tea/ Coffee, Snacks, Desserts Cost for two: Rs 250 Address: 42A, Shakespeare Sarani, Kolkata - 17 Landmark: Near Bangaladesh High Commission
Afraa Deli Popular dishes: Grilled Chicken, Mushroom with Roasted Garlic, Creamy Mushroom with Parmesan, Mexican Chicken Wrap, Spinach and Corn Wrap, Grilled Chicken Sandwich, European/ Continental Cost for two: Rs 400 Address: Ecospace Business Park, Plot No. 2/F/11, Block 3B, New Town, Rajarhat, Kolkata - 156 Landmark: Near Tata Eden Court building education affairs 21
TEACHING, TRAINING, analysis KNOWLEDGE, CAREER, PLACEMENT, JOB
Coping with Data deluge NUMBER CRUNCHING IS BECOMING A MUCH SOUGHT-AFTER SPECIALISATION WITH NEW TECHNOLOGIES CREATING PILES OF STATISTICAL INFORMATION By Susmit Barman A recent issue of the Harvard Business Review magazine — the leading source of ideas, insight, and inspiration for business leaders worldwide — termed it as the “the sexiest job in the 21st century”. The hot new field, called Data Science, Data Mining or Data Analytics, promises to revolutionise industries from business to government, to health care to academia and movie-making to social media. The field came into being fairly recently with the data deluge spawned by new technologies capable of capturing and storing the statistical details of purchasing habits of consumers, medical history of patients, online behaviour of social media fans and even crime patterns 22 education affairs
of metropolises. Data Scientists, who make sense of Big Data, have turned number crunching into big business. They try to find patterns in data using mathematical models to analyse it, create narratives and then suggest how to make the best use of the data for better business or stay ahead in competition. Take for instance, Bhamidipati Narayan, a data scientist working with Yahoo Labs (research wing of the search engine) at Bangalore. His work is called computational advertising — figuring out the best advertisement to present to every Yahoo user. And how do they find out what might interest one among 600 million faceless users? They analyse behaviour patterns of users tracking the terms in the search engine (say, if you type the name of a hill station you are likely to receive ads of some hotels at the tourist spot
OB, BOOKS, GADGETS, GROOMING, SPORTS, FINE ARTS, MUSIC
in your mail box) “Our goal is to find the ad you are most likely to click on,” says Bhamidipati, a Phd in data science, recently told a leading English daily. “By mining terabytes of data culled out of a zillion ‘search’ terms we try to track probable consumers of a particular product so that the company can reach out to them with pinpoint precision,” says Narayan, who enjoys his work as it helps him make a “tiny impact” on the lives of internet users. In other words, the approach maximises the impact of advertisement spiking up sales figures and also spares unsuspecting viewers or readers from getting bombarded with irrelevant ads. Online advertising is just one of the sectors in his kitty. Industries like banking, insurance and even movie productions are competing on the back of predictive models of consumer behaviour built through mined data. “Big data is big business. It’s a virtual goldmine, the biggest industry that people have started talking about,” says C A Murthy of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI). As a veteran data scientist, he’s been involved with several central government projects like the decennial Census and the Five Year Plans, but storage of collected data had been a problem until recently. But today supercomputers and connected networks have made storage easier. Yesterday's storage problem is today's strategic asset, he says. Storage of such huge datasets have been possible because of the emergence of cloud computing which enables people to use the power of other computers (located somewhere else) and their software, via the internet, without the need to own them. Cloud computing has spawned several data centres which need professionals such as network specialists in great numbers. So apart from scientists, the data deluge has opened up other career avenues emerging as one of the most lucrative job destinations in the industry. Piyush Somani, the CEO of ESDS
Software Solutions, has been running a big data centre at Nashik since 2011. “More and more fresh engineering graduates are choosing to join data centres which offer them a far more innovative work environment compared to usual coding,”
Money on offer Data Science involves three phases: Extract-Transform-Load (ETL) programming (organising data), statistical analysis (finding useful patterns), interpretation (visualisation and reporting) ETL programmer Statistical Analyst Interpretor
Freshers(0-3) 2 – 5L 4 – 6L 5 – 7L
Mid-level(3-8) 5 – 10L 6 – 12L 7 – 12L
Senior level (8+) 10L12L15L-
says Somani. “Many see at as a challenge. For instance, protecting the data from frequent network attacks needs some creativity,” he adds. Rishikesh Jadhav is one such engineer who got disillusioned by a routine job in an Information Iechnology (IT) company in Pune, and joined ESDS as a data centre manager and data analyst. "I was a small fish in a big pond — doing a monotonous nine-to-six job. I was not happy," recalls Jadhav, who quit a job in three months. According to experts in the field, the next outsourcing boom in India is going to be spearheaded by firms like ESDS. Even top Indian IT companies are now in a mad rush to recruit data analysts and data managers. Although people with experience of statistical modelling have an advantage in the field, they are not the only one who can delve into the data mine. “A solid background in math, soft computing or a penchant for working with huge data sets is an advantage,” says Narayan. Mousum Dutta, who works as a education affairs 23
TEACHING, TRAINING, KNOWLEDGE, CAREER, PLACEMENT, JOB, senior software specialist at SAS, a leading data analysis firm, also believes a data scientist should have a solid background in math. “Mathematics is used to break down voluminous data and images generated in fields ranging from retail to health. Traditional maths theories, such as coding, are deployed by telecom companies to maximise the number of signals in a small bandwidth, while the traditional number theory is used to protect financial transac-
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GOOD DATA SCIENTISTS HAVE TO LEARN TO ANALYSE THE DATA, DRESS THEM UP
tions using credit cards,” he says. According to Dutta, a mid-level data scientist, cleaning up the raw data like looking for a needle in a digital haystack — is not an easy task. This surely is tedious — the downside of the profession. The basic mining (extraction, transformation and loading or ETL) or dressing up the data involves 70 % of the task. “It’s like harvesting the raw ore from the mine. A good software programmer with a graduate degree in engineering, technology or computer applications can do this.” But finding patterns needs a higher degree in statistics, mathematics, physics, economics, computer science or bioinformatics. The final task is presentation of the data analysing the bits and pieces of information, accomplished by user interface programmers with impeccable communication skills. So, in essence, good data scientists have to learn to analyse the data, dress them up and learn to communicate their findings, visually as well as orally. And they also need business acumen, perhaps to develop new products. “To be successful, one needs to have a wide range of skills that doesn’t fit in one department,” 24 education affairs
says Dutta. But it’s not easy to instill all the skills — from statistics to predictive modelling to business strategy — in a single person. Those who can, should try their hands at building start-ups, says Dutta. He says, “It needs a little investment (around 10-15 lakh) and a few good professionals to create a start-up. I have seen hundreds of such firms grow in India in the last five years. Most of these clean up basic data sets (ETL phase) for foreign firms.” Even though data mining is finding diverse applications (ranging from prevention of disease to gauging gambler satisfaction in casinos) there are not enough qualified people in the field. Neither are there enough schools or training academies for budding data scientists. “There’s a huge dearth of big data skills in the country. A McKinsey report suggests, as organisations are increasingly depending on data crunching, the demand will shoot up,” says Gautam Munshi who’s been running G&K Analytics Training Insitute in Bangalore since 2007. Jigsaw Academy, another Bangalore-based training institute, also trains students to be data scientists. “Our instructors use their real-world experiences to turn you from a novice analyst to a certified data scientist,” claims the institute in its website. They train professionals looking to learn big data analytics skills and also students looking to pursue data sciences a career. The online course module — conducted by instructors in a virtual classroom through video lectures — has students from across India and abroad. The placement list of Jigsaw reads like a who’s who in the field of IT with names like IBM, Cognizant, Genpact, Accenture, Dell, Citibank, TCS, Infosys and so on. Those who wish to have a basic idea of this emerging field can go for a free online course at Coursera (an open online course platform). The University of Washington offers this eight-week course called ‘Introduction to Data Science’. Even B-schools are introducing
OB, BOOKS, GADGETS, GROOMING, SPORTS, FINE ARTS, MUSIC specialist courses with a focus on data analytics. A Kolkata-based management institute stepped into the field of business analytics a couple of years ago. The postgraduate programme in business analytics (PGPBA), in collaboration with consulting company PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), has been drawing a number of students. “Data analytics offers immense opportunities in the current business environment. To stay ahead in the stiff competition, one has to build a strategy based on analytics,” says Chaitali Basu Mukherjee, a faculty member. Adds Jaydeep Mukherjee, a faculty member specialising in statistical modelling, “There’s been a virtual boom in the field. You need data analysts in Medicine, retail, finance, telecom, web applications, human resource and so on. Since the field is evolving fast, the first movers will certainly have an advantage.” While Munshi’s G&K Analytics Training Insitute Pvt. Ltd is attracting more and more students vice presidents and product managers of top companies, he’s recently teamed up with specialist analyst Pavan Bhat to found a research and analytical firm called Redwood Associates. Among other jobs, the firm helps companies hire recruits who are ‘best-fit’ in an organisation as consultants. “We are using data mining techniques to enable employers pick and choose the best of the lot among job seekers.” As data science — as a concept, and a marketing tool — gets out of the confines of technology into the mainstream, privacy issues over a Web user’s data has come to the forefront. Free web-based mail providers routinely analyse user’s mail exchange and search terms to cull data on his/her personal choice. Using data to decide someone’s credit eligibility or health insurance, or recommending who they mingle with in Facebook or Twitter, can intrude on privacy.
Data scientists need to address these ethical issues. People who pursue a career in data science should also keep in mind that as the field evolves, number crunching jobs currently done manually will get automated in the future (e.g. data cleansing). More and more automated algorithms are being built in the hope that they will eliminate the need for a data scientist. However, data scientists like Datta and Narayan believe that,
Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think whether the move to data-driven decision-making guarantees success for businesses and industry? Or, will it put an end to gut instinct or intelligent guesswork? Citing the example of the mega success of Apple and Steve Jobs who relied on his sixth sense rather than market research or data analytics, the authors write that brilliance doesn’t depend on data. They write, “Big data is not
SKILLS REQUIRED ETL: Good knowledge of database and database programming is required. Qualification: BE/MSc in any quantitative field with above mentioned skills. Statistical Analyst: Background in math, stats or computer science. Qualification: MSc or higher degree in statistics, mathematics, economics, computer Science etc. Interpreter: Basic knowledge of statistics, ability to handle user interface programmes (such as Flex, Java, Silverlight) and good communication skills. Qualification: Any of above the degrees.
SECTORS OF EMPLOYMENT 1. Marketing: applied to identify potential customers of a product or service, the size of the market, the profitability of the market 2. Finance: designed to help banks in their operational activities like customer acquisition, operations and minimising default risks 3. Human Resource Management: to predict the effectiveness of hiring, performance of employees and attrition decisions 4. Manufacturing industry: for continuous process improvement, quick detection of defects, identifying customer trends early 5. Pharmaceutical industry: measurement of effectiveness of strategies, picking up of customer trends immediately, cutting down time of clinical trials.
even with the most sophisticated algorithms, there will still be a huge demand for sound judgment, domain expertise and hard work. In other words, data scientists are here to stay. Viktor Mayer-Schonberger (Data Editor of The Economist magazine) and Kenneth Cukier (Professor of Data Science at the Oxford University) ask in their landmark book Big Data: A
an ice-cold world of algorithms and automatons. What is greatest about human beings is precisely what the algorithms and silicon chips don’t reveal, what they can’t reveal because it can’t be captured in data. There is an essential role for people, with all our foibles, misperceptions and mistakes, since these traits walk hand in hand with human creativity, instinct, and genius.” education affairs 25
TEACHING, TRAINING,looking KNOWLEDGE, CAREER, PLACEMENT, JOB, ahead
stepping stone Shaheryar Hossain
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For the first time, the institute is offering free coaching. The service will be for both men and women Mukhtar Ali
26 education affairs
The West Bengal State Urdu Academy is ready to break new ground. It has decided to offer free coaching to prepare Urdu-speaking minority students in Bengal for next year’s West Bengal Civil Service (WBCS) examination. This is a pioneering programme which no other Urdu Academy elsewhere in India has taken up. “For the first time, Urdu Academy is offering free coaching. The service will be for both men and women aspirants,” said Muktar Ali, a member of the academy’s education sub-committee. Aspiring graduate students aged between 21 and 30 years can avail this programme. “The last date of applying was June 10. There was a huge response from students,” added Ali. The academy will not directly conduct the course. It has appointed an agency for that. “It will hold a screening test based on graduatelevel English, arithmetic and general studies. The top 30 students will get admission,” Ali added. The classes, twice a week, will be conducted at the Urdu Academy building on saturdays and sundays. The course which began before Ramzan this year comprised of teachers from Hamdard, RICE, Pathfinder and other institutes, according to Ali. The training is free but students would have to partly pay the course fee. The Urdu Academy will refund the sum at the end of the training period. “The total course expense is
Rs 20,000,” Ali said. As an added incentive, the students were be encouraged to attend the classes for the full eight-months. The academy would charge Rs 500 per month for this extra coaching but would not refund the fee if a student drops out without completing it. But those completing it would be refunded the entire Rs 4,000 they pay over the eight months,” Ali explained. Only those who notch up at least 80% attendance will be eligible to get the money back. Ali explained the reason for the monetary arrangement. “Last year (2012), we offered free training to minority students for jobs in the Kolkata police. Eighty students had initially enrolled. There was cent per cent attendance during the first week. But the number began to dwindle as days passed. Many dropped out at their own free will as the course was being offered free,” Ali said. Hence the decision to ask for fee as security. “We are grateful to the vice chairman of the Urdu Academy Manal Shah Al-Qadri, who allowed the Education Sub-Committee to offer the free WBCS coaching course,” Ali said. The course expenditure would be borne by the Urdu Academy from funds allotted by the state government. Course : West Bengal Civil Service (WBCS) free coaching Venue: West Bengal Urdu Academy at Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road Number of seats: 30 Number of classes per week : Two days.
OB, BOOKS, GADGETS, GROOMING, SPORTS, FINE ARTS, MUSIC school view
The future of learning South City International School had a special guest, Dr Saugata Mitra, who inspired city students and teachers alike with his lecture on Hole in the Wall experiment and his journey that earned him $1 million TED prize money. Dr Mitra has won international awards for his innovation that helped convey the benefits of modern technology to the remotest part of India and the lowest strata of society. Mitra’s audience consisted of students from different city schools. He spoke in detail about the concept of learning without teachers with his Hole in the Wall experiment which was conducted in a remote village in South India.
It was interesting to see Mitra getting stumped by some questions posed by his young audience. Mitra emphasised on the fact that learning is possible without a teacher, but he pointed out that the role of a teacher though cannot be replaced. He further highlighted at the power of technology — mobile phones, tabs and internet — which is changing the face of education. “The transition of learning from oral to paper was inevitable and so is from paper to tablet. Though I won’t be able to comment whether it is good or bad,” said Mitra, whose latest experiment Granny Cloud will be implemented in Sundarbans, West Midnapur, Delhi, Pune and England with the prize money.
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The transition to digital education is inevitable education affairs 27
TEACHING, TRAINING, postKNOWLEDGE, mortem CAREER, PLACEMENT, JOB, NEED FOR GOOD SCHOOLTEACHERS, WHO ARE AT EASE BOTH IN URBAN AND RURAL SETTINGS, IS BEING INCREASINGLY FELT
Quality
teaching Basab Chowdhury
Our society is continuously evolving; newer challenges are making yesterday’s skills out-dated. We have mindboggling numbers of children needing primary and secondary education today and the numbers are swelling. The majority of such children are coming from poor families who still do not know the value of education. Motivating such students to stay in 28 education affairs
the classroom and convincing the parents to send their children to school regularly are Herculean tasks. Schools in villages often suffer from inadequate infrastructure. Natural calamities force students and teachers to stay away from classrooms for months together. We are all familiar with such problems, which at times appear to be insurmountable. Parallel to this, the cities of our country are growing rapidly with shopping malls and new gadgets turning society consumptionoriented. Children going to city
OB, BOOKS, GADGETS, GROOMING, SPORTS, FINE ARTS, MUSIC
(
While eternal values remain unchanged, skills necessary to deal with a changing world need continuous sharpening
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schools, therefore, have a completely different mind-set, not quite comparable with the mind-set of village boys and girls. Schools following the same curriculum pattern, but one located in a village and the other in a city, appear completely different institutions. In such circumstances, the question that comes to mind is: can a teacher successful in a village school be equally effective in a city school, or vice versa? An explicit answer is not required simply because most of us know what the answer is. Teachers may have the same academic qualifications and distinctions, but to be successful as a “quality” and humane teacher as has been proposed in the National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education conceived by the National Council of Teacher Education in 2009 is a different ball game. ‘Quality teacher’ is a concept difficult to define. By quality, we mean certain attributes. For a quality teacher, these attributes are not confined to his/her testimonials, but they are much more than the measurable or quantifiable, and expand beyond the domain of marksheets and certificates. Attributes like dedication, devotion, compassion etc, so necessary for being quality teachers cannot be quantified. Instead, they are felt or perceived. A quality teacher is a judicious combination of head and heart, and a fine balance of the two makes a teacher quality and humane teacher. While eternal values remain unchanged, skills necessary to deal with a changing world need continuous sharpening. Innovation is the key here and the MCFTE lays stress on this aspect. A good teacher must be innovative. Sometimes he/she will encounter problems which will not have text-book solutions. In such cases, a teacher has to find an “outof-the-box” solution. It has to be kept in mind that the same size will not fit all. What will work for a city school may have a disastrous outcome for a village school. This is not because city children are more gifted than village kids. A quality and humane teacher will quickly understand and
assess the needs of the children, and accordingly impart education that will be effective. Being effective here means having some tools that work. It is to be kept in mind that the hammer and spanner are both useful. Using a hammer where a spanner is necessary will have disastrous results. A quality and humane teacher is endowed with the skill of identifying the tool and using it effectively so that the desired results are easily obtained. This is a great ability, and through training and practice, an ordinary teacher may become a quality teacher. In recent times, institutions across the country are regularly organising seminars and workshops with the objective of exposing future teachers to the challenges that they will face and giving them ideas they may find useful (it is difficult to comment on education affairs 29
TEACHING, TRAINING, KNOWLEDGE, CAREER, PLACEMENT, JOB, the efficacy of such seminars/workshops). The word ‘may’ is consciously being used because to be a quality teacher needs practice and continuous innovation. For meeting the challenges of imparting education to a large number of children, information and communication technology has to be judiciously used. Children need to use computers and read e-books along with conventional books through the internet. But for teachers to make this possible, adequate infrastructure must be put in place. This is easier said than done. For village schools, more demonstration of available technologies to children and how they are helping professionals to meet newer challenges may be effective. In our education system, children often get the feeling that education is being thrust upon them. Whenever something from outside is thrust on
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Swami Vivekananda said, education is the manifestation of the perfection already in man
children, they tend to reject it. Perhaps, Newtons’s Third Law: “To every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction,” works here. Education should be a process that will help children bloom like flowers. The attributes of education that lead to emancipation are all present in children. They remain dormant; a teacher has to catalyse them to develop, to come out. When education is thrust from outside, children have to carry on their shoulder a burden called education, as Rabindranath had pointed out in a different context. If education is seen as a load, children will not be able to move freely. Swami Vivekananda had, likewise, said, “Education is the manifestation of the perfection already in man.” A quality and humane teacher succeeds in convincing a child of having in him already the bud that is waiting to 30 education affairs
bloom into a full flower with all its beauty and fragrance. Once a child feels that he/she has it in him/her, it feels powerful. Education then flows like a river, removing barriers of a thousand stones. Human dwellings grow and swell on the banks of such rivers, getting life and sustenance from the river. Swamiji perhaps terms this as “man-making education”. While education is a move towards empowerment, it is at the same time making people selfish and self-centred. A sense of competition is being nurtured in impressionable minds of children in such a way that all cooperative feelings are withering away. Teachers need to remain always vigilant so that this undesirable trend can be thwarted. Even after 66 years of independence, we have not been able to put in place an acceptable system of education that will create a right blend of head and heart. This is a challenge for all teachers, from schools to universities. In 1947, there were about 500 colleges and 20 universities in the country. Today the figures are more than 32,000 colleges and 530 universities. Even with such a big increase in the number of institutions, the student enrolment in higher education has not crossed 15%. This means, roughly 85 out of 100 students, who started education at the primary level are being lost midway. This is a huge loss from the point of view of human resource development. We need to improve the enrolment ratio, and at the same time we need to remove the gender gap in education. Access, equity and quality are the need of the hour. India needs a revolution in the area of education and we need dedicated teachers who can bring about that revolution. Therefore, the whole country depends a great deal on teachers. If teachers succeed, the country is bound to succeed was well. The opposite is equally true, however. I hope the country will choose the right course and move forward. The sky is the limit. And where there is a will, there is a way. (A PhD (Tech) in chemical engineering from the University of Bombay. He is at present Registrar, University of Calcutta. Email: basabc@vsnl.net)
OB, BOOKS, GADGETS, GROOMING, SPORTS, FINE ARTS, MUSIC health matters
Malnutrition affects learning abilities is 19% more likely to make a mistake reading a simple sentence such as ‘I like dogs’ than a well-nourished child of the same age. Chronically, malnourished children are also 7% less likely to answer simple maths questions like ‘What is 8 minus 3?’
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Poor nutrition can badly impair a child’s learning abilities, a study by Save the Children has found and nearly a quarter of a world’s children are believed to be malnourished. The report — Food for Thought — recently made public by the International Child Welfare Organisation says malnutrition during the first two years can permanently damage a child’s ability to read and write and do simple arithmetic. The impairment, according to the findings, leaves affected children at least 20% deficient compared to better nourished babies when it comes to learning. No amount of schooling and teaching aids can effectively bridge the gap. “They grow up weaker and their brains may not develop fully: a condition known as stunting,” the report states. The findings were published days ahead of a G8 summit in London, obviously to draw world attention to the plight of children plagued by hunger. The conclusions were based on studies done in Ethiopia, Peru and India. “It found that a stunted 8-year-old
CHRONIC HUNGER CAN HARM A CHILD’S READING AND WRITING SKILLS
correctly,” the release said. Save the Children chief executive, Justin Forsyth said: “These findings confirm our very worst fears — that poor nutrition is capable of seriously damaging a child's life chances before he or she even sets foot in a classroom. We’ve made huge progress in tackling child deaths, but having a quarter of the world's children at risk of under-performing at school will have grave consequences for the fight to end global poverty.” education affairs 31
TEACHING, TRAINING, KNOWLEDGE, teaching tool CAREER, PLACEMENT, JOB
JU on the JADAVPUR UNIVERSITY RUNS A COMMUNITY RADIO STATION WHICH GROOMS STUDENT REPORTERS TO COVER LOCAL ISSUES. IT ALSO USES PROGRAMMES AS EDUCATIONAL TOOLS, AMBARISH MUKHERJEE REPORTS 32 education affairs
OB, BOOKS, GADGETS, GROOMING, SPORTS, FINE ARTS, MUSIC
radio! An Indian Air Force pilot probably had the shock of his lifetime. He had just moved the aircraft carrying the then President Pratibha Patil from the parking bay to the runway of the Netaji Subhash International Airport at Dum Dum in Kolkata. As he was preparing to fly and tried to communicate with air traffic control (ATC), all he could hear were certain
Bengali words that he was not able to understand. It was around the end of November 2011. Assuming serious security lapses the pilot took the plane back to the parking bay. The incident rippled across the National Security Guard (NSG) in charge of the President’s security. The intruding frequency was identified as 90.8MHz and the point of origin was traced to a spot nine nautical miles or 15km from the airport. education affairs 33
TEACHING, TRAINING, KNOWLEDGE, CAREER, PLACEMENT, JOB, It was Radio JU, the community radio station run by the School of Media Communication and Culture of the Jadavpur University, the first of its kind in eastern India. The convener of Radio JU and professor of English at Jadavpur University, Nilanjana Gupta, said the pilot had probably heard the recipe for making fish curry. Following the incident, officials from the telecommunications department visited the radio station on the university campus and tested the equipment. Some of gadgets were taken away for a detailed probe. Webel was asked to make certain changes to prevent the intrusion of the radio channel into ATC’s signals. The radio station had to shut down for two months. In December 2002 the Government of India had approved a policy of granting licenses for setting up
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Radio JU has to do a lot of hand holding at the initial stage. Regular workshops are held in which experts give technical training
of community radio stations for educational institution of repute. The policy aimed at increasing the participation of non-profit and voluntary organisations in developmental and social issues as the mainstream media was driven by profit motive. Jadavpur University’s radio journey took off on April 14, 2008, Bengali New Year’s day. Initially, the radio station broadcast only two hours of programme, which was increased in phases and now the station broadcasts eight and a half hours programme from 11 am to 7.30 pm daily. Aired through a 50-watt transmitter, the community channel is available to listeners over a 10 km radius from the university campus 34 education affairs
and is hugely popular in the locality. Among the most popular projects undertaken by the channel is the Child Radio Reporter project funded by Unicef. According to Tania Roy, project coordinator of the child reporter project, the focus is on training school students in radio production and radio reporting. “We conduct auditions in schools in the locality that are run by either the government or some NGO. Students are mostly from socially under-privileged sections of the society who often come up with certain ideas that surprise us. They also become aware of various issues and spread the message in their community,” she said. Citing certain examples Roy said, a girl in a local school was beaten up by the teacher. One of the students in the class was a Radio JU reporter. She protested and said she would report the incident on the radio. The result was amazing. The teacher was summoned by the school principal and apologised to the student. The convener Nilanjana Gupta recalled another incident in which another girl, also a Radio JU trained reporter, was able to prevent an underage girl’s marriage. But how do they train the students, who are selected by holding auditions in the local government and NGO-run schools? Radio JU has to do a lot of hand holding at the initial stage. Regular workshops are held in which experts give technical training. The boys and girls are helped to overcome their initial fear of speaking into a microphone. Once that is achieved, they perform well. Children are habitual copycats, they like to imitate. Once they get comfortable with the experts, who may be a playwright, a journalist, a singer, or a musician, children feel encouraged to imitate them and that’s how they learn, Roy said. The senior students have also learnt to guide the new ones. There is a significant involvement of retired people living in the area.
OB, BOOKS, GADGETS, GROOMING, SPORTS, FINE ARTS, MUSIC Ms Gupta, who is associated with the radio station right from the day of filing application for the license said that it was the University Grant Commission that made it possible. Initially, for two years, the UGC provided the infrastructure and other necessary support. Now, it is a UGC approved certificate course. The course fee is Rs 7,500, and duration six months. “Many people after doing this certificate course are employed with various FM channels,” Gupta said. A pioneering venture of its kind, Radio JU’s training is not restricted to students and youths only. It has been the incubator of many other community radio channel launched by other academic institutions including IIT Kharagpur. Two years ago the Bangladesh Government had introduced community radio in certain academic institutions.
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A pioneering venture of its kind, Radio JU’s training is not restricted to students and youths only
making use of music and songs to help student listeners learn mathematics. For example, she said, algebra begins with the unknown character ‘x’. So a song has been composed making use of the famous Bengali detective character Feluda and Topse created by Satyajit Ray. One person calls up Feluda. Topse picks up the phone and asks his name. The man says ‘Aami Mr X, an abong aditiyo’. The song then deals with how Feluda uses logic to deduce the figure 4, which is chaar in Bengali, and Feluda’s conclusion is that the name is Charubabu. Along with free training to school children in radio production, Radio JU also conducts a certificate course on radio production.
“Then people from Bangladesh had come here for attending workshops. Our people had also visited Bangladesh and conducted workshops there,” said a happy Ms Gupta who described her involvement with the radio station as “a very satisfying journey”. But this radio station is yet to develop a proper revenue model. “We cannot take advertisements from commercial companies. We had been approached by Pepsi and Vodafone but could not take their advertisements. Now we’ve applied for DAVP enlistment. But that too will take time,” she said. Though it is run with Jadavpur University’s funds, the revenue model is something that the authorities are quite concerned about.
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“From time to time, we keep appealing to local people to take part in music and songs, radio drama, discussions on education, health, sports and also announce our phone number. Apart from holding auditions in schools, sometimes elders also come with their children to participate. “We make programmes for all age groups. For kids there is a daily programme like Sishutirtha and for students, Sahaj Path. Interestingly, a programme has been launched recently aimed at bringing down the fear of mathematics among students,” Gupta said. The project is sponsored by the National Council for Science and Technology Communications (NCSTC) under the Department of Science & Technology of the Government of India. Program manager of Radio JU, Shrabani Roy said the radio is also
Nilanjana Gupta, Convener, JU Radio
education affairs 35
TEACHING, TRAINING,focus KNOWLEDGE, CAREER, PLACEMENT, JOB,
Tagore’s teaching
model A SPANISH EDUCATIONIST FELT TAGORE’S PEDAGOGICAL SYSTEM WHEN PUT INTO PRACTICE COULD BE A MIRACLE FOR WESTERN SCHOOLS AND SOCIETY Nityapriya Ghosh
(Nityapriya Ghosh is a wellknown Tagore scholar) 36 education affairs
When Rabindranath Tagore is talked about these days, more often than not it is his educational principles and philosophical deeds which are discussed than his literary works. That is understandable. Only a small fragment of Tagore’s vast literary output is known to readers who do not know the Bengali language but Tagore’s educational philosophy has been stated by
Tagore himself in English, through essays, talks, lectures and letters. Moreover, Visva-Bharati is still there, though significantly changed since Tagore’s time, to look around and try and get Tagore’s objectives. To have an idea of what Tagore wanted to achieve through his Shantiniketan School and Visva-Bharati, we shall confine ourselves within what a foreign admirer states about the pedagogical model of Tagore. The name of the admirer is Jose’ Paz Rodriguez (JPR), a Spanish educationist. He is now the professor of Didactics at Vigo University in Spain.
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He has contributed an article to Rabindranath Tagore: A Timeless Mind, an anthology published by The Tagore Centre UK in 2011. The antology was brought out to commemorate the 150th birthday of Tagore. But the anthology was printed in a very limited number and it will not be inappropriate if we sum up what JPR stated in his article. JPR has been reading and researching Tagore since 1964, ever since he read My Reminiscences, Gora and The Wreck in Zenobia Camprubi’s Spanish translations. What made JPR realise that Tagore was the greatest educator in history was his study of Shantiniketan: The Bolpur School of Rabindranath Tagore written by WW Pearson and translated by Camprubi in Sapnish. Pearson came to Shantiniketan in 1913 and narrated in his book how overwhelmed he was to see the school at work. JPR first came to Shantiniketan in 2001 and ever since he has been coming there for two three months every winter as a pedagogical pilgrim. He has learnt Bengali and researched at Rabindranath Bhavana library. He
has since published many papers on Tagore’s educational model in specialist publications in Spain, Portugal, the UK and India. In the educational institutions he has taught, JPR uses Tagore’s educational texts, poetry, excerpts from his work, aphorism and sits together with his pupils to discuss the text. He is among those in the West who believe that the schools, education and the whole society are going through a deep crisis: values like solidarity, respect for other political, ideological and religious values, ethical conduct, respect for nature and the environment, peaceful co existence, friendship and cooperation, help for immigrants — all these are threatened. JPR believes that Tagore’s pedagogical model when put into practice can be a miracle for Western schools and society.
JPR enumerates Tagorean educational principles 1 Passion for Life 2 Education towards Harmony 3 Education towards goodwill and generosity education affairs 37
TEACHING, TRAINING, KNOWLEDGE, CAREER, PLACEMENT, JOB,
4 5 6 7 8 9
10
Ethical Education: Teaching the Truth, from Truth Aesthetical Education Education towards peace Co-education Environmental Education Education in Human Rights, understanding between Communities and Social Development Appreciation of childhood
The basic and organisational principles n Lessons are given outdoors under the trees n The school is under a committee board chosen by teachers — one elected as head every year and is in charge of the administrative work. n Every education area has a teacher-in-charge. Text books and methods are discussed with everybody n Students are organised in
38 education affairs
n Field trips to study nature, environment. Pedagogic mission in neighbourhood n Night meetings for creative activities — singing, storytelling, lectures, astronomy lessons. n In moonlit nights older students go biking in nearby forests n Festival at year-end with active student participation JPR plans to create a Tagore Centre at Galiza in his hometown of Ourense or in Santiago de Compostela. He intends to promote a coordination of Tagore Centres that exist in the world to organise activities and events working as cultural tours. His ambition is to edit a book that compiles all the educational works of Tagore. He has built a personal library dedicated to Tagore. It is a matter of regret for JPR that some of the staff in Shantiniketan, Sriniketan and Visva-Bharati are not Tagoreans themselves and many of the buildings associated with Rabindranath are abandoned these days. He intends a total recovery of Tagore’s ideals in collaboration with other Tagoreans of the world. It is his endeavour along with others’ to work towards Shantiniketan being declared Unesco World Heritage site.
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Only a small fragment of Tagore’s vast literary output is known to readers who do not know the Bengali language
committees by each section of the ashram school and they hold meetings to discuss matters n Discipline is controlled by students, organised in boards, keeping a friendly atmosphere n Students are on their own during examinations. Trust gives confidence. Relationship between teachers and students is familiar and respectful n Mutual teaching in groups, following the old system of Indian schools, encouraging team work and socialisation n Fostering of meditation and reflection. Morning and afternoon silent prayer under trees. Meditation in free and spontaneous and not directed n Artistic activities: singing, music audition, storytelling, poetry reading, painting, instrument learning, drama, etc n Participation in games and sports
OB, BOOKS, GADGETS, GROOMING, SPORTS, FINEreport ARTS, MUSIC special
Mismanagement could sour KMC mid-day meal dream
The mid-day Meal Programme (MDMP) — the world’s largest scheme of serving food to millions of children —served the last meal for 23 children in Bihar recently. The tragedy was followed by a chain of headlines from different states, all exposing how the meal designed to provide nutrition to children was being mismanaged and endangering the life of children. While India as a whole is gearing up to avoid repeating the Bihar tragedy, desperately fixing all the loopholes, Kolkata too was not far behind. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) shoulders the responsibility of implementing mid-day meal scheme
in 253 primary schools, 104 Sishu Siksha Kendras. A workshop was organised by the Education department of KMC for the heads of institutions to improve the working of the scheme at the Institute of Urban Management. Alongside KMC, the KPSC shares the responsibility of implementing the mid-day meal scheme under National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education, launched in Kolkata in 2005. While the officials of the mid-day meal department of the KMC urged that revised and renewed guidelines be followed, the delegates revealed loopholes in the system and the running of the scheme. They felt that while the government was focusing on the nitty-gritty of the meal, institutions suffered from lack of teachers — a basic necessity
WHILE THE HULLABALOO IS ABOUT THE MID-DAY MEAL THE MAIN MECHANISM TO EXECUTE THE SCHEME IN SCHOOLS, THE TEACHERS ARE SCARCE education affairs 39
TEACHING, TRAINING, KNOWLEDGE, CAREER, PLACEMENT, JOB, and principal component as they supervised the running of the scheme. Pramod Kumar Roy, head teacher of the KMC School at Mominpur, highlighted the lack of teachers in his school. “We have only four teachers against 150 students. It is difficult for us to manage a primary school which also has a Montessori level,” said Roy. The situation is worse in Hindi and Urdu-medium KMC schools, he claimed. Kinsuk Halder, head of the Alipur Road school, supported Roy. Acknowledging the problem Mitali Banerjee, Member Mayor in Council, said the advertisement for recruiting teachers had been issued by the Municipal Service Commission. Banerjee refused to accept the teacher’s argument that work related to the mid day meal scheme was affecting classes. “I believe mid-day meal helps in the teaching learning process rather than being a hindrance. Total involvement of a teacher is not required in supervising the scheme. They just need to dedicate few hours of their time. Managing accounts of the mid-day meal every day hardly takes half hour. Everyone needs to understand it is a collective effort,” reasoned Banerjee. At the workshop, new guidelines for maintaining records of the necessary expenses made and the amount of food grain consumed by attending students were spelt out. On their part, attending school representatives voiced grievances related to non-payment of bills. One head teacher expressed his disgust over not getting a requisition for a utensil for over three months. Bills connected to the scheme — like oven repair, construction of kitchen, water filters and others — were unpaid. In reply, Banerjee said, “Financial assistance is designed by the Central Government and KMC cannot take any responsibility apart from implementing it. Data capturing by teachers needs to be done in a proper manner but teachers are not giving data properly and on time. However, things will improve now as every grievance will be dealt with proper attention.” Held in the wake of the Bihar tragedy and the recent report of rice for mid-day meal being sold to feed cattle owing to the bad quality in the city, the four-day workshop raised hope for the improved efficiency of the scheme. One risk remains: unhappy teachers who claim KMC follows a policy of ‘Circular raaj and showcase raaj’ while implementing the mid-day meal scheme.
40 education affairs
OB, BOOKS, GADGETS, GROOMING, SPORTS, FINE ARTS, MUSIC
education affairs 41
TEACHING, TRAINING, KNOWLEDGE, CAREER, PLACEMENT, JOB, focus
Many seats, few takers Ambarish Mukherjee
Prof Samir Kumar Bandopadhyay, VC WBUT
BECAUSE THE INDUSTRIAL JOB MARKET IS DOWN NOW, GRADUATE STUDENTS ARE GOING IN FOR THEIR MASTER’S DEGREE
42 education affairs
It is a clear case of too much for too few. The Bengal West of University Technology (WBUT) has 220 private technical colleges, 90 of them engineering institutes, affiliated to it, offering around 33,000 seats that rarely fill up. And this story of overabundance, an inverse musical chair so to say in which far too many chairs vie for too few takers, is being repeated each year. According to university insiders, more than a thousand seats lie vacant across the colleges every year despite repeated counseling, and a trend reversal is not yet in sight. This is paradoxical for a country experiencing a market boom and being seen as one of the world’s future economic power houses. And this is doubly surprising for a state like West Bengal, which is apparently trying to regain its lost economic pre-eminence and is reputed to produce high-quality technical manpower.
Yet, it is industrial inertia that is said to be at the heart of WBUT’s seat glut. According to WBUT vice chancellor Dr Samir Kumar Bandyopadhyay, industrial recession and the state’s inability to prevent the outflow of students are leaving hundreds of seats unoccupied. Agrees Dhurjoti Bannerjee, general secretary of the Association of Professional Academic Institutes, West Bengal (APAI WB). Students opting for technical studies in WB, feel that getting a degree from a college in Bangalore or Hyderabad or some place outside the state will brighten their job chances. They are driven by the belief that industries in economically more vibrant places prefer students from local institutions, says Bannerjee. “Where are the industries in this state?” he asks. An engineer recruited by a company will probably work there for several years, maybe for 20 to 30, with an exception in the IT segment where employee turnover is high. “Where is the scope for new recruitments?” While WBUT vice chancellor says
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tent teachers. But with the depressed industrial job market in the state, teaching jobs in these technical and professional institutions are increasingly becoming attractive to many young professionals. Bannerjee of the APAI, who is also the chairman of the Gargi Memorial Institute of Technology, said, “Because the industrial job market is down now, graduate students are going in for their master’s degree. An MTech degree is required for teaching in an engineering college according to the All India Council for Technical Education’s (AICTE) rules.” Many of these professionals are also proceeding to do their PhD
UNIVERSITY-CORPORATE RELATION APAI general secretary Bannerjee expressed his concern over a mismatch in the university’s curriculum and industry requirements. All university committees are set up by the government, leaving the affiliated institutions with hardly any role in their formation. The committee preparing the curriculum has no industry representation, although business houses are among future employers. As a result, the syllabus is not quite industryoriented, Bannerjee said. Individual colleges try to send their students on training to industries with which they have tie-ups but Banerjee suggests that the initiative is best taken by the university and government. “While the university should set up a model, the industry should come forward and accept certain of social responsibilities,” he said.
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that, last year, around 1,900 seats remained vacant after three rounds of counseling, the APAI thinks the figure was much higher. Bannerjee, however, says that in the absence of any centralised data, it is difficult to give the exact figures. “It is difficult to write to each college and ask for their figures. We had asked the joint entrance board that runs the engineering and medical entrance examination for decades,” he said. The apprehension in some quarters is that only about 20,000 seats will be filled up this year, Bannerjee said. The university too is worried. But it has launched a publicity campaign this year to discourage students from leaving the state.
Where are the industries in this state, Where is the scope for new recruitments? Dhurjoti Bannerjee, Gen Secy, APAI
It has started using radio and television advertisements extensively for the 2013-14 academic session. The advertisements provide every details of its recognised courses and institutions. This exercise is aimed at creating awareness among the students about the facilities and prospects that exist in West Bengal. The cost of this campaign, estimated at Rs 50 lakh, is being shared by the university and the affiliated colleges, Bandyopadhyay said. The publicity drive was initiated earlier this year because 1,900 engineering seats had remained vacant in the last academic session. Initially, around 3,000 seats were without students; the number later came down to 1,900 after three rounds of counseling, he said.
FACULTY STANDARD Another problem plaguing the institutions is a shortage of compe-
because, again, according to the AICTE norms, a doctoral degree is essential to ensure promotions. Though faculty availability is improving off late, the WBUT is banking on the technology it has to make quality teachers available to students in its colleges. The university VC says: “The central Government has given us the EduSAT satellite. We have already completed the basic work of linking all the colleges with us. We are now planning to use the best quality faculty for conducting video classes through the satellite link. This way, several colleges can have the same classes at the same time and benefit a larger number of students.” This satellite link with all its affiliated institutions is also helping the WBUT monitor the colleges. “It enables us to keep track of the number of classes being held by each college,” Bandyopadhyay said.
EDUCATION AND WORLD BANK
The WBUT makes use of the World Bank’s Technical Education Quality Improvement Programmes (TEQIP) for e-governance and for scholarship programmes of the ME, M Tech and PhD students enrolled in its affiliated colleges. In 2012, it resumed it PhD programme after a gap of four years. “The PhD programme was suspended because the rules framed by the university did not match with that of the University Grants Commission (UGC). It was resumed last year following a number of changes in the university’s internal rules,” Bandyopadhyay said. Under the first phase of the TEQIP, WBUT had got Rs 50 crore out of a total allocation of Rs 170 crore for Indian universities. In the second phase, Rs 250 crore has been offered to Indian universities, of which WBUT sought Rs 60 crore. “Till now, we have received only Rs 10 crore. It’s ok since it is normal for funds to arrive in phases,” Bandyopadhyay said.
education affairs 43
TEACHING, TRAINING,staffing KNOWLEDGE, CAREER, PLACEMENT, JOB,
Tempting ‘temping’ The HR fraternity in India is undergoing a massive transformation with impending trends like e-recruitments, outsourcing HR functions, and the like. Temporary Staffing, too, is gaining recognition across industries.
New staffing option Benefits to the Associates • • • • • • •
Induction programme, company manual, policy, guidelines. Appointment letters, zero-balance salary accounts, ID cards for all associates. Single window contact for all associates deputed at a location. Local ESI sub-codes and ESI cards ensuring full benefits. Personal records for individual associate. Loans & advances - in case of emergency. Insurance coverage – Mediclaim / Personal Accident.
Benefits to the Clients • • • • • • • •
Single-window contact. Implementation of minimum wages. Manpower availability at all times. Helps client to concentrate on core areas. Reducing internal hiring cost. Staffing eliminates the liabilities and efforts involved in the maintenance of the statutory issues like PF, ESI, PT, IT and TDS. Issue appointment letters AOP - Associate Orientation Programme. Temping is around a five billion-dollar industry. The approximate number of temps in India would be around 100.45 million out of which 5% is in the organised sector and the balance 95% in the unorganised sector. Temporary staffing involves the placement of human resources for non-permanent employment needs. The duration of the placement may have specific parameters or be undefined. Temping is the process of hiring temporary workers or temps, for a shorter
44 education affairs
duration for a particular project and remain in the company till the project lasts. The temps work for one client company while being on the rolls of a third party. A temp is a contract worker, who is being hired for a short stint, typically till a project lasts. The contract ranges from a period of three to 18 months. A temp staffing company provides a wide range of temporary staffing solutions including temporary-to-permanent services, where the company hires an employee on trial and absorbs him on the basis on his performance; and long-term contracts where temps are hired for a longer period, which may be two years and above.
Why Temping? Temping can happen across the industry but temping jobs are increasing in human capital-intensive business like banking, financial services, insurances, FMCG and fast moving consumer durables. Much of temping happens at the base level of the skill spectrum such as data operations, accounts, sales, back-end operations and marketing. Temping trend is slowly catching on in the middle level too. The primary reasons are: Financial advantage, quality improvement, market benefits, reducing internal hiring costs, Proven retention methods, reducing overall time to hire, networking to provide fast replacement, converting fixed cost to variable cost, supplier & associate alignment, partner with client on best practices, Few of the other added advantages which too count are: Staggered payment mode, release HR managers from daily process, ensure legal & statutory management, filling positions at a total lower cost, performance improvement and proper orientation to new hires. R P Yadav is the Chairman & Managing Director, Genius Consultants Ltd
OB, BOOKS, GADGETS, GROOMING, SPORTS, FINE ARTS, MUSIC library
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finds a link between the incident here and the tragedy back home. Price : Rs 299 Availability: Oxford Book Store, Starmark and Flipcart.com A Fort of Nine Towers Author: Qais Akbar Omar Description: The story revolves around the Omar’s own family life. The story depicts the pains and sufferings of the child who witnesses the Afghan civil war. Price : Rs 599 Availability : Oxford Book Store, Starmark and Flipcart.com The Sea of Innocence Author: Kishwar Desai
Description: The story is related to a missing girl who is in a race against time to uncover the truth. Price: Rs 350 Availability: Oxford Book Store, Starmark and Flipcart.com Voices from Chernobyl Author: Ingrid Storholmen Description: The story is about the victims of Chernobyl nuclear disaster at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine occurred on April 26, 1986. Price: Rs 250 Availability: Oxford Book Store, Starmark and Flipcart.com
education affairs 45
TEACHING, TRAINING,insight KNOWLEDGE, CAREER, PLACEMENT, JOB,
Score with music is the new mantra WITH MORE RESEARCH ON THE RELATION OF MUSIC WITH STUDIES, THERE IS A CHANGE IN THE WAY STUDENTS ARE TUNING INTO THE POWER OF MELODY 46 education affairs
Ashok Chatterjee It’s won’t be out of place if we refer to the famous lines Listen to the music by Dobbie Brothers (1972) or for that matter Nat King Cole’s You don’t learn that in school! Music has been an intrinsic part of our lives and it impacts everyone. Its effect on education is now being greatly acknowledged abroad as well as in India. The US House of Representatives recently expressed their unanimous support for the value of school-based music education. The House also passed a concurrent resolution stating that music instruction is an important component of a well-rounded academic curriculum and should be available to every student in every school. The US may be the place for research on the
subject, but the world is slowly warming up to the idea. India too is not far behind. Many schools and teachers feel that music can help us a lot in teaching. For this, India certainly doesn’t have to look outward for inspiration. Weren’t our mythological tales remembered and passed on through generations, through chowpaies (couplets)? And rhythm was the key to the couplets. Circa 2013! Radio JU (Jadavpur University), has incorporated a programme, sponsored by the National Council of Science and Technology Communications, Government of India, where they are teaching mathematics to students through popular songs. The lyrics for these songs are the various problems in geometry, algebra and arithmetic. The immense popularity of the
OB, BOOKS, GADGETS, GROOMING, SPORTS, FINE ARTS, MUSIC
programme amongst JU community radio listeners is another indication how intricate equations can be made interesting for the maths-phobic students. Academicians in America too are following the same principle to devise an innovative curriculum that uses rhythm to teach fractions at a California school. Research has also revealed that listening to music during maths classes can dramatically improve children’s ability in a subject and help score up to 40% higher. Research in labs have shown music training does for the brain what physical exercise does to the body. Richard Gasper, Headmaster, St. Augustine’s Day School, Barrackpore, argues that music has been part of the Indian education system since 2000 BC. “It’s student friendly too. When students learn a poem by singing it aloud, they remember it faster. Students from standards six to eight have high energy levels and they need to channelise it. Since music can be an audio-visual format, it can also be part of entertainment. Howard Gardner too talked about the power of musical intelligence in his Multiple Intelligence theory. According to him,
every child has 4-5 intelligence out of the eight multiple intelligence,” says Gasper. Maybe that is a pointer to why nursery rhymes are so popular amongst kindergarten students. Gasper continues, “Students from three till 14 years are most adaptable to music and that is the time they should be encouraged to take it along with studies. In our school too, music is part of curriculum till Class VIII and we have our own music book.” The headmaster, who himself was exposed to music at a very young age since his sister was a pianist, is convinced that students, who are musically inclined, do better in academics. “Music has its impact on education and I have no doubt about it. I too understood subjects better when classical music played in the background while studying,” he concludes. Agrees his counterpart, Sunita Sen, principal, Ballygunge Siksha Sadan (The BSS). She says, “Music is a stressbuster. I do believe that it helps in concentration while studying subjects like mathematics. It helps a lot when lilting music is playing in the background.” Sen is of the view that education affairs 47
TEACHING, TRAINING, KNOWLEDGE, CAREER, PLACEMENT, JOB,
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seriously only after 25. While interacting with musicians I observed that people, who are intelligent and good at studies, grasp musical notes better. Also the fact that taal (rhythm) is all about counting. It is very much part of mathematics. Even for my studies I used to memorise rhythmically. With my level of intelligence I will always understand things better. I have the confidence in my abilities.” Ditto for Siddhartha Ray, vocalist, Cactus and a doctor! Sidhu, as he is popularly known, observes, “In Hindu philosophy we know the importance of sadhna (meditation) and music is one of the ways to
The importance of sadhna (meditation) and music is one of the ways to meditate
students who are into music are generally academically good too.” If there is a relation between music and studies then it is all the more evident in the case of lyricist-singercomposer Anupam Roy, who shot to fame with Amake amar moto from Autograph. An electronics and telecommunication engineer from JU, he worked as circuit design engineer in Bangalore before setting his foot in Tinseltown. The celebrated singer, on the contrary, thinks an intelligent person will excel in everything he does. “Music has been part of our system since the beginning and it has helped us concentrate better. As a musician we have to learn notes which one cannot do without paying absolute attention to. It is also important to balance both music and studies, and one who does that better succeeds in life. Isn’t life all about multitasking?” he asks. Talking from his own experience, he says, “I was musically inclined from a very young age but took it up 48 education affairs
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children today are subjected to a lot of stress starting from the pre-nursery days. That is why she always advocates a parallel activity along with studies. “There is a major sense of well-being and when there is appreciation of what one is doing, it gives a certain sense of confidence in the child,” says Sen, adding, “In our school a major thrust is given to music be it eastern, western or instrumental. We also have regular counselling sessions where we encourage students to take up music. For students with an inclination for music I suggest them subjects which will not hinder their interest in music. I’ve seen that
meditate. When I compose or sing, I’m in a different state of mind where I cut off the world around me. Music also has a soothing effect on me. Students from very young age should be taught to learn or appreciate music, which will help them keep their tension in check and not be restless.” Recollecting his college days, while studying medicine, he took recourse to singing his lessons aloud. He explains, “I used to record my own voice when I read. But I did it with a difference. A lot of times I would rhyme the difficult medical terminology with guitar as accompaniment. That way I could memorise the names like the names of tendons of the feet much faster than others. Still later, in my course, I was greatly benefited by playing music in the background while I studied.” Chirashree Banerjee, student of Class XII, The BSS, who has already cut two discs on Rabindrasangeet, believes music has helped her secure more marks. “I have been
exposed to music since a very young age since my mother is also into singing. And I definitely feel that my exposure to music has helped me immensely in my concentration, which in turn has resulted in better marks in my report card.” Ask her if she finds it difficult balancing between the two and she says, “Fortunately, both my school and home have been very supportive in this regard, especially my principal.” But Pt. Amiya Ranjan Bandopadhyay, one of the foremost khayal singers in India, disagrees that students who are musically inclined score better in academics. He asks, “What about the dhakis and Baul singers? How would you describe them – educated or uneducated? If they are uneducated, then are they intelligent?” He, however, acknowledges the importance of music in our lives. “It is true that music works as a therapy and it sooths our nerves when we are exposed to it. It is unique in this his regard compared to other art forms. It is a musical organisation which has harmony. When it enters our ears it synchronises with harmony within our body (read nervous system) and we are at peace as a result.” Music’s co-relation with studies is better explained by psychologists. Dola Majumder, clinical psychologist, feels music is therapeutic, just like meditation is. “We use light music to bring a person out of depression. It also lessens anxieties. Since it cuts diversions, it helps students to concentrate better,” she feels. But she is critical of students playing music in the background while studying. “In the examination hall students will not get to play music hence will find it difficult to concentrate.” Ishita Sanyal, consultant psychologist, talks about one of her autistic patient for whom music worked well as therapy. “I had an autistic student who was not able to communicate before but after being introduced to music, she managed to communicate, which helped her go back to school, ” Ishita says.
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microSD card. The Celkon A107 Signature One supports a range of connectivity features like 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth,
media players, FM radio and 2G etc. longer periods of time by carring the whole music collection. Nokia Asha 201 can record FM radio and users can playback or pin your favorites into ringtones. The device features a 2 megapixel camera without LED flash. Nokia Asha 201 runs on Nokia OS and supports Adobe Flash and Java. The device supports Bluetooth, USB, GPRS and other classic range of connectivity options.
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smartphone sports a 5 MP primary camera in it. The primary camera has many supporting features to enhance the image quality. A 2 MP front facing camera is also available in this device. The Blackberry Q5 has 8 GB onboard memory capability. education affairs 49
TEACHING, TRAINING,off KNOWLEDGE, CAREER, PLACEMENT, JOB track
LPU prepares for
Tram Yatra 50 education affairs
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IN AN ATTEMPT TO INSTALL AN ECO-FRIENDLY TRANSIT SYSTEM IN THE 600 ACRES CAMPUS, THE LPU IS THE FIRST UNIVERSITY IN INDIA WHICH HAS TAPPED THE CALCUTTA TRAMWAYS COMPANY TO SUPPLY THREE TRAMS
Shaheryar Hossain Lovely Professional University (LPU) gets moving on eco-friendly lines as they deploy tramcars to commute within the campus. The Punjab-based university is all set to introduce the British legacy for their intra-university communication. In an attempt to install the ecofriendly transit system on the 600acre campus, LPU is the first university in India that has urged the Calcutta Tramways Company (CTC) to supply three trams. “The memorandum of understanding (MoU) regarding the installation of tram tracks was signed between the Calcutta Tramways and LPU in 2012. All the legal procedure is complete,” said Calcutta Tramways Company chairman Shantilal Jain. “A special team from LPU has already surveyed the Nonapukur tram
workshop. We have already selected the three trams which we will sell to the university,” explained Jain. The Lovely Professional University, having 25, 000 students, will purchase three trams at an estimated cost of Rs 50 lakh each. According to sources, the CTC will send the frame, iron beams, where the wheels of the trams are attached, traction motors, brakes, lever kits and all other necessary equipments to run the trams. In consultation with the university, the CTC technicians will lay the tramlines in a circular way inside the campus. After the installation of tram lines, the CTC will assemble the trams. A senior official of the tram company said that it will take nearly a year to lay the tram lines. “It is expected that by the end of next year we will be able to give finishing touches to the project,” the official added. “The paperwork is in the final stages. We are waiting for the green signal from the CTC to start the installation of tram lines,” said Bikash Kant, assistant professor, LPU. Education Affairs in conversation education affairs 51
TEACHING, TRAINING, KNOWLEDGE, CAREER, PLACEMENT, JOB
with Bikash Kant: In the era of advanced and fastpaced transport system, why did LPU select a slower mode of transport for mass transport within the campus? The tram transport system at LPU is for intra-campus operations with multiple halts at short distances. High speed transit system would not have fitted into such a scheme of things. Hence, we opted for a slow-speed transport system. The biggest plus to emerge from the initiative is its eco-friendly aspect. Hence, we are going for trams. How did you hit upon the idea of 52 education affairs
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Across 600 acres of land in the campus there is a need to introduce mass transportation system
having trams on the campus? The campus is spread across 600 acres and to ease the movement on the campus there is a need to introduce a mass transport system. It was the students of the university, who floated the idea of an intracampus transportation system, which after deliberations zeroed in on a Tram Transit System. What is the total cost involved in the installation of this Tram Transit System? Factoring in the technological aspects the budget of the project is being worked out. As per preliminary estimates, the transit system at
LPU will cost around Rs 20 crore approximately. How far has the work progressed? When is it scheduled to finish? We have completed the in-house feasibility study, the route of the line to be laid and the modified design conforming to the needs of the university. We are in the process of getting the technical study done by CTC, after which the initial work will be started at ground zero. The structure of the three trams will be provided by the Calcutta Tramways Company and the outer shape will be designed by your university. What will be look of the trams – will the trams be a replica of Indian Metro trains? The exterior of the trams will be refurbished to give them a sleeker look. The interiors of the coaches will be redesigned for optimum carrying capacity, taking the convenience factor in mind. On the technological front, LPU will be bringing in modern automatic systems to make operations automatic in nature as much as possible.
OB, BOOKS, GADGETS, GROOMING, SPORTS, FINE ARTS, MUSIC Is LPU also planning to install air condition in the trams? Yes, a few compartments, meant to ferry VIPs, will have air conditioning facility. But, in general, the tramcars will not be featuring AC coaches. Give us a brief idea of how the campus will look like after the installation of the tramlines? The LPU campus will get a pattern with tram lanes, and boarding points will come up at various nook and corner of the university. As a result, the roads will be de-congested and the campus will give a sparse, lighter feel than now. How will tram transit system benefit the 25,000 students and the faculty of your university? It will ensure efficient movement of students and faculty along with staff members. All corners of the university will get connected, resulting in easier and faster transit across the campus. The tram services will function at a frequency of seven minute interval and the
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farthest ends of the LPU would be reached within 10 minutes, at the most. Will a tram ride be free for the students and the faculty members? The matter is still under deliberation. But we can assure you that the prices will be subsidised for the students and staff. By a rough estimate, a double-bogie tram can accommodate 60 passen-
gers at a time. How will it cater to 25,000 students of the university? This is just the beginning. As per requirements we will increase the number of trams and lay more lines. LPU has a track record of excellent student services and this project will also be a repeat of the university’s tradition of according maximum facilities to all its students.
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TEACHING, TRAINING, KNOWLEDGE, CAREER, PLACEMENT, JOB careers
Image of Success WITH STARS, CORPORATE HOUSES AND GOVERNMENT BECOMING CONSCIOUS ABOUT THEIR IMPRESSION, IMAGE CONSULTING IS EMERGING AS A CAREER OPTION Remember the blurb ‘First impression is the last impression’ — a common mantra for students to impress teachers in school, or wooing a potential date or cracking a job interview? This familiar blurb has outgrown and metamorphosed into Image Consulting, which is catching on in India. Creating the right impression is no longer a soft skill — its a viable profession. 54 education affairs
Image Consulting is about understanding one’s image and enhancing it for improved branding. The urge to look good and make a lasting impression on the people we meet is a normal human behaviour. This has become a necessity for one and all now. According to Nidhi Sharma, founder of Bon Impressions, an image consulting firm in Mumbai, “India has become a global village and Indians are slowly becoming global citizens. From colleges to the corporate world, everyone is now aware that we need to appear, behave and
OB, BOOKS, GADGETS, GROOMING, SPORTS, FINE ARTS, MUSIC communicate in a manner that leaves lasting impression on people. Exposure and intense competition has brought in the desire, not only to excel, but also add the “X” factor to our personality.” India is the youngest country in the world today. Statistics indicate that the average age of an Indian will be 29 by 2020. The result is stiff competition, forcing candidates who face campus placements, job interviews or promotions to project an image that exudes competence, capability and confidence. This competition is leading more and more people to image consultants to help enhance their image. Rakesh Agarwal of Image Consulting Business Institute (ICBI), believes that presenting oneself the right way has made Image Consulting relevant. “With competition increasing by the day it is important to present oneself better in order to get more out of opportunities in life. Everyone realises this today and Image Consulting is the only solution available. More than 80% of any communication, any message is visual and although all of us carry certain skills, ability and experience but the people we meet often judge us by what meets the eye,” said Agarwal. ICBI claims to be a pioneering venture in the image consulting space in India and in three years has become a big player in the field. Worldwide, its a 40 year old multibillion dollar industry. In the last ten years, the sector has grown fast. Agarwal says, “This is probably one of the fastest growing industry and in another couple of years it will become a need. Even in recession, it does better; when things are tough and people realise that the only thing that will save them is to become even better.” This has boosted Image Consulting and transformed the concept of personal grooming into a phenomenon. From an individual to a corporate, every players seek to project itself the best way. The industry is big in Mumbai and Delhi. Individual image correction is prominent in Mumbai with celebrities
taking the help of image consultants for a successful career. Mansi Kapadia, owner of fashion image consultant studio. Ra-The styling studio, in Mumbai has a clientele which includes Asha Bhosle, Sameera Reddy, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Ustad Amjad Ali & Sons, Mona Singh, Rashmi Desai, Ajay Jadeja and Shekhar Suman among others. She has also done styling for shows like Nach Baliye 4, Comedy Circus 20-20, Indian Idol, Boggie Woggie, Master Chef Kitchen India, and Dance India Dance. “Personal grooming is very important now as an image consultant gives a third person perspective about your personality which helps in the overall grooming thereby exuding authority through your personality,” said Kapadia. She has seven years of experience in styling and believes in refining a personality rather than changing it. The corporate world - retail industry, airline and hospitality industry as well fashion and styling industry is well aware of projecting a positive image. This consciousness is leading companies to groom employees in soft skills to create the right image on clients. British Academy for English Language (BAFEL) founded by Alka Gupta in 2001, is one such organisation which is working on a large scale in Delhi. Gupta says her firm offers customised training for Team Building, Conflict Management, Crisis handling, communication skills, business communication, public speaking and presentation skills, personal effectiveness, coaching and mentoring, personality development and grooming, positive attitude, leadership skills, interpersonal skills and motivational workshops to clients. Her clientele includes companies and some foreign embassies and high commissions. BAFEL recently worked with Delhi Police and Delhi Metro to organise a stress management workshop and communication skill programme for them respectively. Talking about image consulting at
KNOW MORE What is image consulting? Image consulting is a training programme that helps in improving one’s image for better branding. Who can opt for it? Anyone, whether a student or a working professional, who has a knack towards image correction. How rewarding is the career? An image consultant one can earn from two services; personal coaching and corporate workshops. This can vary anywhere from Rs 30,000 to Rs 2,00,000 per month, depending on the career stage. Why do you need image consultant? If you want your image or the image of your company to create the right impression.
education affairs 55
TEACHING, TRAINING, KNOWLEDGE, CAREER, PLACEMENT, JOB
and its need in the corporate world, Gupta said, “Everybody in any capacity needs to interact with people and that person carries an image of the company. Image consulting can help in creating a good impact. Companies when hiring often compromise on the soft skills aspect but the need remains. Image correcting is what everybody needs whether it is public or private, individual or group.” Gupta has been in this industry for 11 years and informs that directors and CEOs of big companies come for consulting as well. BAFEL has already opened one centre at 56 education affairs
Dhaka in Bangladesh. Image consulting experts feel it is both an art and science. Alka Gupta believes it to be a science as it involves the psychology of each client. “We need to work on the psychology of people; the family background and potential are to be kept in mind. We deal with people and not machines,” says Gupta. Nidhi Sharma believes it is a combination of both a science and art. “It’s an art and a science. Art because it gives us space to be creative, be authentic and present ourselves in the style best representative of our personality, goals and
aims. And science because there is logical and researched reasons why we need to manage our conduct and the impact our non-verbal communication has on others,” said Sharma. Demand is huge, feels Gupta. The demand requires adequate supply of trained professionals who could help in enhancing image of an individual as well as a company. This demand leaves a lot of scope for students to explore a profession in image consulting. Reiterating the surging demand for image consulting, Nidhi Sharma said, “It’s a budding industry and
OB, BOOKS, GADGETS, GROOMING, SPORTS, FINE ARTS, MUSIC second career but lately there is a huge surge of youngsters coming forward. Today, increasingly, youngsters are looking for the freedom to do something on their own rather than doing a 9 to 5 job.” While it is a phenomenon in Delhi and Mumbai, experts believe Kolkata still has a long way to go. “Kolkata has huge potential but it is untapped. It’s a big business in Mumbai thanks to Bollywood but Tollywood is hesitant to hire a stylist. I think the sense of styling and the entire idea of Image building needs to be sold properly to Kolkatans. It’s about time corporates in Kolkata should realise that undergoing training is an essential investment and not an unnecessary expenditure,” says Halim, who believes individual and brand management will take some time to
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growing at a fast pace, for those who are interested in wanting to have a career; working with people and making a difference, image management is a very fulfilling option. Image Management can take candidates into various aspects of personal development and can be an added advantage for those working in HR field. Candidates can choose to work with various age groups of people from children to professionals, from corporate to fashion, from housewives to politicians, the segments are varied and can be adapted according to interest.” Experts point out that not everybody can be an image consultant. Saira Shah Halim, co-founder and principal consultant of Attitude Learning System, says certain skills are required to be an image consultant. “To be an image consultant one needs to have a knack for it. An additional knowledge in communication is essential,” said Halim, who has been in communication, soft skills and voice and accent training for nine years. However Mansi Kapadia of ‘Ra-The styling Studio’ believes image consulting is a good option for working professionals or ones looking for an alternative. It is a viable option for women and image consulting to an extent is a womens’ bastion. Nidhi Sharma of Bon Impressions says, “For a professional this can be a great alternative option, I myself, was an advertising professional for 15 years and switched to Image consulting and have been working in the field for the past 3 years. I have never regretted the decision. It’s not only fulfilling, it gives you an opportunity to become an entrepreneur. For those in HR and training field, Image Consulting is an added advantage that can propel their career growth. For others its can be a great part time option for added income in spare time.” Commenting on the sector, Rajesh Agarwal of ICBI said, “Till six months back, it was more of women looking at this profession as a
Exposure and intense competition has brought in the desire, not only to excel, but also add the “X” factor to our personality
flourish in the Kolkata market. Rakesh Agarwal of ICBI disagrees. He says eastern India is the biggest market for any educational or training school. “Earlier, we were promoting it as a secondary career but very soon it will be a mainstream career. The average age earlier was 35 but now even 19-year olds enrol for the course,” said Agarwal. His institute offers a range of courses along with support system for aspiring image consultants. If you have it in you to make a brand out of any individual and are confident to be a catalyst in a brand’s successful image then Image Consulting is the right career for you. education affairs 57
TEACHING, TRAINING,events KNOWLEDGE, CAREER, PLACEMENT, JOB
All Bengal Chess bridges vision gap Visually impaired students across West Bengal got a chance to showcase their talent in chess at the second All Bengal Chess Competition for Blind (ABCCB), held recently at Bengal Chess Association (BCA) premises on Park Street. All 77 participants played on specially designed chess boards. While all black and white pieces had a downward projection at the base, the white piece had a pin fixed on their heads to help players distinguish between black and white pieces. “When chess player Dibyendu Barua shared the chess board at the inaugural session, I realised that I am at par with others,” said Naresh Pramanik, a visually challenged second year BA student. Yudhajeet De was the winner, while Surajit Roy and Madan Jana were the first and second runners up. “We are thankful to the National Institute of Professionals (NIP) for organising the competition. We are just supporting its effort,” said Atanu Lahiri, Bengal Chess Association secretary.
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Chasing new horizons Promita Giri (name changed) used to be a domestic help in Kolkata earning a meager income which made her rue her fate every passing day. Six months later she is earning a better living as a beautician popular with customers. Twenty five years old Giri came to Kolkata from her village in Basirhat in search of a better living after her husband deserted her. She worked as a domestic help in Lake Gardens for nine years. Her life improved when she met a Save the Children representative a year ago. “Didi informed me that I can have a better life and that sowed the seed of hope in me. And as I followed my heart my fate changed, something I had not even thought about,” said Giri who underwent three months of training in beautician and is now employed in a beauty parlour at Geetanjali Park. But the transformation to a better life wasn’t easy, admits Giri. “For three months while I was doing the course, I had no time to eat lunch as I had to juggle between my work and my training. But I am glad my hard work has paid off and I am leading a better life,” she says with tears in her eyes. Training has changed her personality and also her life. Imran Alam (name changed) shares a similar story. A resident of Bihar, he was sent to Kolkata to earn a living under his father’s friend who owned a factory making paper plates. From a labourer, Alam is now in the hospitality industry. Alam fondly recalls the fate-
ful day when a representative of Save the Children met him by chance and convinced him to undergo a training in house-keeping. Life has been kind to him. “My father and my employer were very cooperative. They never discouraged me and the five hour training that I underwent each day for three months changed my life forever,” says Alam. He lives in Rajabazar and helps his father who is ailing now. Stories similar to Promita and Imran’s were ubiquitous at Melan, the annual function of Save the Children’s New Horizon programme which has been working from 2009. In session 2012-2013, it had 13 batches and certified 145 candidates, all now eligible to work in hospitality and wellness industry. The New Horizon programme has transformed around 700 lives till now. The programme is empowering hundreds of individuals and started with a course on beauticians. Talking about the programme and the change it is bringing, Manabendranath Ray, deputy programme director of Save the Children. says, “New Horizon has tried to hit the class structure. It helped in breaking the vicious cycle of poverty.” Ray adds, “Social and economic transformation is happening through the skilled training and soft skills programmes. They are transforming from inside out.” Melan felicitated successful candidates with a memento. education affairs 59
TEACHING, TRAINING, KNOWLEDGE, news analysisCAREER, PLACEMENT, JOB
Hospitals need more managers, but where are the seats? HEALTHCARE TODAY NEEDS MANAGEMENT SKILLS, SAYS SHAHERYAR HOSSAIN There will be a need of 100 million hospital management professionals by 2020 in India but there is a doubt that demand of these hospital management pass outs will be met with fewer-than-needed institutes offering the course. According to latest RNCOS report titled ‘Indian Pharma Sector Forecast 2014', the Indian pharmaceutical industry is expected to shift to double-digit growth in near future due to a rise in pharmaceutical outsourcing and rising investments by multinational companies. The report highlighted that focus of the industry will shift towards capitalising the potential of tier 3 cities and rural areas. Emerging sectors, such as bio-generics and pharma packaging will also pave way for the pharmaceutical market to continue its upward trend by 2014. In India, there are around 18 colleges offering bachelor and master degree in hospital management. In West Bengal, hospital management PG diploma course was introduced at IISWBM a few years ago. At present, under West Bengal University of Technology (WBUT), 14 colleges offer the course. These include, Techno India (Salt Lake campus), Pailan, George College (both Mahestala & Sealdah branch), DSMS (Durgapur), Durgapur Paramedical, NSHM (Kolkata and Durgapur branch), Swami Vivekanada College for Management and 60 education affairs
Technology, Gurunanak Institute of Technology, Seacom Management College, Haldia Institute of Management, Institute of Science and Technology, Bengal College of Engineering and Technology, Durgapur, Gitaram Institute of Management, Behrampore confer graduate degree in hospital management (Bachelor of Hospital Management). In addition, Techno India, NSHM, DSMS and B K Roy Research Post Graduate College of Hospital Management under Peerless Hospital, offers masters in hospital administration under WBUT. Under West Bengal Health University, Charnock Hospital confers Master of Hospital Management and under Calcutta University IISWBM provides masters in same discipline. “The healthcare industry in India, which comprises hospital and allied sectors, is projected to grow 23% per annum. India is one of the top three countries where companies plan to spend the most R&D dollars over the next 3 years. The sector has registered a growth of 9.3% between 2000-2009, comparable to the sectoral growth rate of other emerging economies such as China, Brazil and Mexico,” said Anis Chattopadhyay, assistant professor, at department of Management Science and in charge of Hospital Management department at Techno India College. “The concept of hospital management was not clearly understood by the common people of the state. Common people have a misconcep-
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tion regarding hospital management. A portion of the society thinks the subject is not a dignified one. But in reality it is white-collar job and is at par with any other management,� added Chattopadhyay. Gone are the days when hospital was considered as a place for only doctors and nurses. Health sector professional and experts say that medicine has transformed into a booming sector. The interesting fact about hospital management is that it is one of the few recession-free sectors in our economy. While in India only one hospital bed is available for every 1400 patients, whereas WHO stipulates only one bed for 350 people. New hospital projects are coming across the country and several existing ones are expanding their services. Several corporate houses such as Fortis, Wockhardt, and Reliance are entering into the industry. While intricacy in the administration of the hospital management has made it one of the
challenging and sought after course, at present hospital industry is seen as a sunrise industry. Hospital management has enormous job opportunities in India and abroad. A hospital management professional is recruited in various managerial posts in a hospital. Today a large number of consultancies have opened, who recruit hospital management graduates for their consultancy work. Another opportunity for hospital management graduates is in the health insurance organisations and third party administrators. Many of the IT firms also recruit students for their hospital information system projects. State governments are appointing postgraduates in hospital management from the level of district hospitals. Increasing competition, more demanding patients, legal hurdles, medical tourism, and consumerism in health care has made profession of hospital management highly demanding. The reason behind the fast growth of hospital industry is that
the health system in our country is different from other countries. The health sector is not just restricted to allopathy, ayurveda, homeopathy and nature cure is also included in this sector. As per data released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), the drugs and pharmaceuticals sector has attracted FDI worth US$ 1.66 billion between April 2000 and January 2010. Hospitals and diagnostic centres have received FDI worth US$ 761.18 million in the same period. In a broader view, a hospital is divided into three main divisions — clinical, technical and administration. For patients or victims taken to a hospital, it is not the doctors who cater the patient but it is the hospital management professionals, who make arrangements for the admission of the patient in the hospital. Starting from the outdoor section to the pharmacy and to pathology, it’s the hospital management professionals who take care of the patient in the hospital. education affairs 61
TEACHING, TRAINING,interview KNOWLEDGE, CAREER, PLACEMENT, JOB,
I am dead against e-education EMINENT PHYSICIST BIKASH SINHA, SPEAKS TO ASHOK CHATTERJEE ON EDUCATION AND REFORMS How much has science made a difference at the grassroots level? Travelling within the country to the remotest of places, I get the feeling that we have not been able to disseminate education anywhere near our target. Most educated people, in both urban and rural areas, are scared of science for reasons better known to them. It might be difficult in the beginning but is much easier to understand or digest later in life. But tomorrow’s India does not need only scientists, science should not be left only to scientists. That’s a wrong notion. In every sphere of life, whether academic, domestic or commercial, science has a role to play. The best example is the cell phone. A common man may not know what a cell phone is but he knows how to operate. Hundred years ago there were no motor cars, now everyone operates a car. The point I’m making is that scientific rationale is a must for education. A scientific background is
Q
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necessary for tomorrow’s India. If a bulb goes wrong at your home, you ask for the electrician, whereas if you are scientifically oriented you could fix it yourself. The caste system of work load and work partition still exists. We consider workmanship or a workshop below our dignity. This notion has to be broken. Would you say we have failed in that respect? In terms of the rural sector, I will give you some startling statistics, courtesy Prof Amartya Sen. One in five males is illiterate, one in seven females is illiterate and after four years of education in primary schools, few can divide 25 by five. Government of India spends one per cent of GDP on education, whereas China spends three. There is expansion in higher education but my concern is that primary education in our country is poor. Without sound primary education, India will never progress. This is a
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key issue. There should be quality education at least till class VIII.
Q
Where have we gone wrong?
Unfortunately, higher education has become a source of employment. I have run organizations and am sorry to say that 70 per cent come there treating it as a job. But science is tapasya (meditation). You have to be committed to science. For the colossal amount of money being spent by the government in the name of science, there is no accountability. Over the years, universities have become degree-givers. The research done in universities - during the time of Meghnad Saha, Satyendra Nath Bose, CV Raman - is missing. University life has changed. The degree is pretty useless - I know from my experience. It is bookish education which is completely out of date.
Are you in favour of e-education? I’m dead against it. For me, the teacher has to be physically present. E-education would lead to a zombie of facts and figures. The connect between the teacher and the student is essential to maintain
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the fabric of society. Education space at home is non-existent. How many parents teach their children about Rabindranath Tagore, William Shakespeare, Sarat Chandra Chatterjee, apart from getting their homework done? What is the role of vernacular in science education? It is very important, at least till class V. In Bengal, I have been to remote places and found children extremely keen on science. Parents somehow think that science is not going to be useful for their career, which is not true anymore. Dr Manmohan Singh has performed a miracle with respect to pay packages of teachers. A teacher in a school or college earns quite bit of money now. It is a breakthrough. So, if you use the standard measure of earning capacity and the value of the groom in the market, then a teacher is good value now. That’s a happy situation. Many who moved out of science to marketing and commerce are coming back.
Q
Once a nursery for research, where does Bengal stand now? I was recently at international conference in Simla on cosmology and my heart was filled with joy when I saw three quarters of people there were from Bengal. There is still an inclination for fundamental research. It hardly exists in other states.
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So you are happy with Bengal’s presence in research? I’m not happy as we are not doing anywhere as well as we should. Researchers are moving away from
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the state. No one stays in Bengal. The best students have migrated to either US or Bangalore or Delhi. Tell me one good reason why they should stay here. I have an attachment with my birthplace, so I stay here. If I had been born in a family with no sense of roots, I would have also gone long time ago. No good amenities, no good hospitals, no educational values. Everyone wants to be taught in Englishmedium schools. The best students are pushed by their parents to go to the United States. Parents today invest resources and time on their children and see them as their insurance policy – when they are old, their children will look after them. In educational institutions in US, in the physics department, there is always one or two from here. But it is not heartening for me as they are reluctant to come back to India and certainly not to Bengal, where I was brought up! How much excited are you about the invention of the God particle? I’m very excited. I’m very proud that institutes from Bengal have done enormous amount of work in the Large Hadron Collider. We may not be directly involved with the Boson but with related exciting things like the Alice Detector, we are actually mimicking the state of the universe immediately after its creation. This excitement keeps me going. Science should be fun, it should be exciting, stimulating and not ritualistic. You revel in it, you should dream and sleep science.
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What do you have to say about the new-look
Presidency University? I’m attached with it as it is my Alma mater. So, obviously I’m very excited. But years of neglect and political interference, both left and right, have almost killed it. At one point of time, at the college, education was the last criterion. The fundamental problem is that the quality of teachers in past few years became very poor. The effort to improve quality of teachers will stimulate students greatly. But like at all state universities, the disparity in salary between a state university and a central university is huge. I’ve been crying hoarse that we have to do something about it. There has to be some measure to reduce the gap in salaries. Some are leaving because of that. I am hopeful but being part of the council, I would say that the idea of some of my distinguished colleagues, that getting teachers from abroad will lead to a miracle, is complete nonsense. The situation here is very different from Sheffield or Birmingham or Harvard. But since we have to make the university a seat of excellence, I’ve tried to persuade my council members that we go to the Centre and ask for ad-hoc grant and ensure a component of research funding.
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Any unfulfilled desire?
I dream of building up a center which reflects Tagore’s synthesis of science and philosophy. I hope to fulfill it before I call it a day. Isn’t it very sad that Tagore’s first writing was on science and the last one too was on science (1937) but we are only interested in Rabindrasangeet. education affairs 63
TEACHING, TRAINING,last KNOWLEDGE, page CAREER, PLACEMENT, JOB,
Are examinations a waste of time? Pradeep Gooptu Students the world over, irrespective of age, discipline or course, dread one word: examinations. Exam phobia is seen in many families as a genuine problem that appears to affect the children at the most crucial of all times. If anything, some parents are convinced that exam phobia should be recognised as an authentic medical condition comparable to so many others for which medical professionals write out a solemn prescription! But jokes apart, we all recognise that there has been a near-total transformation of the education sector in terms of its operational dynamics, its targets and modalities and in respect of the role of stakeholders in the sector. However, in all this, one thing has not changed: the British, Victorian system of examinations and marking. The current structure of examinations in the existing format does not reflect the changed scenario and outlook of the education sector. Science, humanities, social sciences, medical, engineering, information technology, vocational, management, overseas admissions — in each and every sector, the tyranny
64 education affairs
of traditional exam structures still rules. In addition, in each segment, most students pay the greatest attention not to the acquisition of knowledge but to the sector-specific publication that analyses the question setting pattern of years gone by and indicates the questions likely to be faced in the next semester or year ending examination. In this game of hide and seek between examiner and examinee, knowledge is the casualty. The student masters and focuses on questions likely to set in the next exam and not on the subject. Education goes for a six and exam preparedness is everything. Besides this quality aspect, there is a second dimension: time. Each set of examination is split up into segments. There is the preparation time, the actual exam sessions and finally the marking, evaluation and result tabulation process. Even by the most modest estimate, this means a loss of 20 to 25 days per semester or examination session. By this same conservative calculation, this adds up to 45-50 days a year lost every calendar year to the process of examinations. In a three-year (in West Bengal for example) or four-year education process (for example, under Delhi University or for specialised qualifications like engineering and medical), this means an enormous loss in terms of teaching days. The basic purpose of any course – imparting education through teach-
ing in the classroom or in an external environment — is therefore undermined by the huge loss of teaching days. In the case of prolonged examination processes, the loss of teaching days adds up to working days equivalent to one full academic year! This is a loss that takes a heavy toll on the student in terms of acquisition of knowledge, and in my estimate, leaves the student insufficiently equipped to face a normal, productive working life. What are the alternatives? The first aim should be to bring down the loss of teaching hours to barest minimum so that the entire syllabus is covered and the student is saved from the predicament of receiving only partial education because of lack of hours and because questions on syllabus topics had been asked in the last examination. In parallel, examination models should be reformed so that the evaluation process covers all the syllabus chapters (and not just the questions for that year) but as an ongoing process. Short-duration, teaching linked, instant evaluation based on analysis and problem solving will produce a much more intelligent, informed and productive degree holder than at present. We will produce educated students, not mere exam wizards. Education Affairs would welcome discussion and feedback on this suggestion by email in the months to come.
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