Free Residential Schools for Deserving Children Concept Note and Proposal By Rakesh Raman
I am a national award winning journalist and technology management professional. Earlier, I had been associated with the United Nations (UN) through the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as a digital media expert to help businesses use technology for brand marketing and business development.
I run various field campaigns to spread education awareness among people. I have also written technology and academic books for children and run a comprehensive information web portal for students, teachers, parents, and education policy makers.
I plan to open free residential schools to provide the best possible education to poor children particularly from the “totally abandoned” or “economically weaker” sections of society. The objective of the education will be to suitably empower the students so that they could progress in their lives and careers
Students at RMN Foundation Free School in New Delhi Introduction
I have managed one such school for about 5 years (2015 2019) to impart free modern education to poor children in a temporary location at J.J. Colony of Dwarka, Sector 3, New Delhi. I had left my job to start and run this school mainly with my own salary that I had saved But after 5 years, I had to close the school because of resource crunch and lack of funds. Although I had formed RMN Foundation (an NGO) to run such schools, I could not get funds in this humanitarian organization.
Now, once again, I want to make an attempt to start and run such schools at a bigger scale for the deserving children. I need your help in this endeavor aimed to build an empowered society
Need for Modern Education
As India’s 2020 human development index (HDI) which indicates the level of education and skills in a country staggers at a dismal rank of 131 in 189 countries, there is hardly any workforce in the country that is employable in any professional job.
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Out of nearly 500 million workers in India, over 94% work in the unorganized sector as pushcart vendors, street hawkers, domestic servants, and so on. This means the education standards in India are so irrelevant that they are not producing a workforce employable for respectable jobs in the organized enterprises Even people with top education degrees do not get proper jobs
Moreover, the web is replete with facts and figures that reveal the harsh realities of the job market and the irrelevance of Indian education systems which cannot produce a workforce for the emerging fields of economic activity.
Since the last national education policy was released in 1986, the current education system in India is based on archaic syllabuses and obsolete pedagogy which cannot make students employable in the contemporary job market. The National Education Policy 2020 is so crude and complex that it cannot be implemented.
As a result, the joblessness is spreading like a pandemic disease and the students taught under this stale system cannot be called educated, as they never get ready for any work that can give them proper employment The governments in different states of India are blindly using the obsolete school education and pedagogical models. Therefore, they fail to produce students who are ready to pursue meaningful higher education required for the emerging job market in which the workers are supposed to possess hybrid skills
Constructive Education Framework
The schools that I propose aim to overcome this problem by producing an employable workforce The education will be based on a dynamic “Constructive Education Framework” that has been developed as an alternative education model. It connects education with employability and aims to produce morally sound and honest people with a view to build a clean and prosperous society
The education model suggested to be used in the proposed modern schools can also be integrated with the state education policy to improve the education standards as well as the employment levels in different Indian states.
Besides using the Constructive Education Framework in the residential schools for deserving children, this curriculum can also be used in the existing schools. It is developed for those forward looking schools and parents who believe that the current education system in India is not quite helpful to ensure the right career for their children in the modern knowledge driven world.
It is a dynamic curriculum which will keep changing with the change in job market requirements. In the initial phase, the education will be imparted in the Management
stream. In the next phase when requisite resources are available, the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) stream will be covered.
Objectives of Constructive Education Framework
● To connect education with employability
● To focus on skills development rather than on plain theory
● To teach students the hybrid job skills required in the future job markets
● To teach with the principle of “Learning for Earning”
● To produce morally sound and honest people
● To build a clean and prosperous society
Features of Education
● Technology integration for the entire learning lifecycle
● Use of advanced English language with focus on language application
● Coverage of relevant subjects to meet the always changing job market demand
● Modular form of education
● Focus on reading, writing, speaking, debating, and problem solving
● Self learning form of education
Modular Curriculum
The Constructive Education Framework curriculum will follow a modular, unconventional approach. It will comprise Primary and Secondary modules. The Primary module (1 5 years of education) will cover fundamental, foundational subjects such as Arithmetic, English, Information Technology (IT), Moral Education, and a local language (such as Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi, etc )
The Secondary module (6 12 years of education) will cover contemporary subjects that are relevant during a particular time period of schooling. The subjects in this module will include enterprise resource planning (ERP), financial management, technology management, environment, commerce, economics, marketing & sales, local and international law, public affairs, current affairs, human rights, content development, and communications. All these subjects are supposed to make students immediately employable in the corresponding jobs.
The total education period for each student will be 14 years (12 years of classroom education and 2 years of on the job training). After successfully completing the 14 years of education in the current phase covering Management studies, students can either become part of an in house subsistence based “Enterprise Clustering Model” or can get a respectable job in the open market. In the “Enterprise Clustering Model,” students will create and manage their own enterprises.
Note: The Constructive Education Framework can also be integrated with the education systems of existing schools.
Infrastructure Requirements
The first school can be started from an unoccupied school building or some other vacant building where nearly 100 students could be accommodated in 4 different classes Subsequently, after about a year, similar schools with more students can be established in independent buildings.
The government, leading organizations, and independent people are requested to provide complete infrastructure including the school building(s), residential accommodation for students / teachers, furniture, day to day recurring expenses, etc
These schools can also provide education to local students who live in a particular area around the school. In order to make the schools sustainable, some locals can be asked to pay a fee for education depending on their financial capacity for payment.
About Me (Rakesh Raman)
I am a national award winning journalist and founder of the humanitarian organization RMN Foundation Besides working at senior editorial positions with leading media companies, I was writing an exclusive edit-page column regularly for The Financial Express (a daily business newspaper of The Indian Express Group).
Nowadays, for the past more than 10 years, I have been running my own global news services on different subjects I also run various environment protection, education awareness, and anti corruption campaigns, and publish research reports on different subjects.
I also have written and produced a book series under the banner “Knowledge Stories for Children. ” This is an innovative storybook concept aimed at educating children in the high tech area of information and communications technology (ICT) or computers through interesting stories. Also, I have been running a comprehensive edutainment site named “RMN Kids” for children, parents, and teachers
I also offer technology management support and training to Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) which are experiencing reduced business activity after the coronavirus outbreak.
I have created a new governance model for various state governments in India to help them introduce “Open Government” in their states by publicly disclosing and updating the personal, performance, financial, and crime details of their MLAs (Members of the Legislative Assembly). I also run “Catch Your MLA” citizen service for the people of Delhi. It aims to help Delhi citizens hold their MLAs accountable for their dereliction of duty.
I run an exclusive anti corruption social service “Clean House” to help the suffering residents of Delhi raise their voice against the growing corruption and injustice in
housing societies where millions of people live. I also have formed an environment protection group called Green Group in Delhi.
Earlier, I had been associated with the United Nations (UN) through the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as a digital media expert to help businesses use technology for brand marketing and business development
Contact
Rakesh Raman
Editor, RMN News Service [ Website ]
Founder, RMN Foundation [ Website ]
463, DPS Apts., Plot No. 16, Sector 4
Dwarka, Phase I, New Delhi 110 078, India
Mobile: 9810319059 | Contact by Email