Young Learner News Magazine January 2019

January 2019

YOUNG LEARNER News Magazine on School Education

UNESCO Right to Education Campaign

Main Stories in This Issue - Right to Education Campaign - Role of Teachers - Petition to Protect Rights of Children - Constructive Education Framework - Pariksha Pe Charcha with PM Modi

- Education and Joblessness in India - Entrepreneurship Curriculum for Schools - द ल के कूल म श ा का गरता हुआ तर - Knowledge Stories for Children - SWAYAM Online Education

UNESCO Launched Right to Education Campaign The Right to Education campaign aims to bring global awareness of this crucial human right.

As the Universal Declaration of Human Rights marks its 70th year, UNESCO has launched a digital campaign on the #RightToEducation, a right that is at the core of its global mission to ensure equal access to quality education.

Through a series of videos, animations, visuals, interviews, and stories, the UNESCO campaign - from 15 October to 18 December 2018 - revealed the legal significance of the right to education and the major challenges that are blocking its path.

The #RightToEducation campaign aims to bring global awareness of this crucial human right, which is still not a reality for millions, and empower young people and adults to bring about change in their communities.

Teachers Can Make Education More Relevant The scheme of National Awards for Innovation in Educational Administration is one of the important initiative of NIEPA. India’s Minister for Human Resource Development (HRD), Prakash Javadekar, said that innovation in teaching is very important and only teachers of this country have the capabilities to change education scenario of the nation.

He also said that only teachers can make education more relevant by their innovative teaching methods. The Union Minister was speaking on the occasion of National Awards for Innovation in Educational Administration (NIEPA) in New Delhi on January 4, 2019. Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Dr Satya Pal Singh was also present on the occasion.

Javadekar congratulated all the awardees and said that a country grows with innovation, and sustainable growth can be achieved only through innovation. He said that this is the

YOUNG LEARNER News Magazine on School Education by RMN Foundation

January 2019

2

time for the new slogan ​‘Jai Anusandhan​’ which was given by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently and we have to work upon it seriously.

A School Building in New Delhi The scheme of National Awards for Innovation in Educational Administration is one of the important initiative of National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA).

Launched in 2014, the scheme aims to reach out to the grassroots educational functionaries at District and Block level for recognizing the contribution of the field level educational administrators in improving and strengthening the functioning of public education system.

NIEPA organized the program on 3rd - 4th January, 2019 in which 34 participants have been awarded and 12 participants have been given Appreciation Certificates for the year 2017-18 from different States and UTs. Secretary, School Education and Literacy Ms. Rina Ray and Prof. N.V. Varghese Vice Chancellor, NIEPA were also present during the award ceremony.

YOUNG LEARNER News Magazine on School Education by RMN Foundation

January 2019

3

Sign the Petition to Protect the Rights of Children #GoBlue UNICEF invites people to sign a petition and #GoBlue to call on world leaders to commit to fulfilling the rights of every child.

According to UNICEF, children have their rights denied every single day. UNICEF says it wants to build a world where every child is in school and learning, safe from harm, and able to fulfill their potential.

Time to Go Blue: UNICEF It invites people to sign a petition and #GoBlue to call on world leaders to commit to fulfilling the rights of every child and acknowledge that these rights are non-negotiable.

Your ​signature will be handed over to world leaders on 20 November 2019 – the 30th Anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child – calling on them to commit to fulfilling the rights of every child now and for future generations.

YOUNG LEARNER News Magazine on School Education by RMN Foundation

January 2019

4

Govt Adds 5000 More Seats to Navodaya Vidyalayas Navodaya is the only education system in the country where students give entrance examination for admission into Class 6.

The Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister of India, Prakash Javadekar, has announced the approval of an increase of 5000 seats in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV) for the Academic Year 2019-20.

At present the number of seats in JNVs, residential schools for talented rural children, are 46600. The addition of 5000 seats will mean availability of over 51000 seats from AY 2019-20.

Union Minister for HRD Prakash Javadekar (file photo) In the past four years there had been an addition of 9000 seats and with the addition of 5000 seats the total number of seats added to JNVs by the government in five years, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will be 14000 seats. In the next four years, the government is likely to add 32000 more seats.

YOUNG LEARNER News Magazine on School Education by RMN Foundation

January 2019

5

“This is a step in the right direction. This is the biggest-ever expansion of quality education for rural students. This unprecedented expansion of JNVs, nearly free of cost residential schools, will provide more opportunity for talented children from rural areas to get quality education,” HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said.

Navodaya is the only education system in the country where students give entrance examination for admission into Class 6. In 2001, 5.50 lakh aspirants appeared for the entrance examination for Class 6.

Over the years the number of aspirants appearing for the entrance examination has increased considerably. For the 2019 entrance test, 31.10 lakh students have registered for the entrance examination.

In the past five years, according to the government, Navodaya Vidyalaya have consistently recorded a pass percentage of over 97 per cent in Class 10 and Class 12, of which 86% securing first division, which is far better than private schools and CBSE’s (Central Board of Secondary Education) national average.

Irrelevant Education Causing Joblessness in India As the education quality is very poor in India, the degree holders do not learn skills that are required in the modern job market.

As joblessness is spreading like a dreaded disease in India, new ​reports suggest that a large number of professional degree holders are ready to take low-level jobs meant for uneducated people.

Thousands of applicants with B.Tech., MBA, and Postgraduate degrees were appearing in a written test that happened during December 17, 2018 – January 9, 2019 for Delhi Police jobs such as cobblers, gardeners, barbers, cooks, tailors, and sweepers. The eligibility for these jobs was only 10th class qualification.

Delhi is not the only place in India where unemployment is poised to cause social unrest.

Google ​search reveals that there is no value of educational degrees as the crowds of unemployed degree holders are increasing all across the country.

YOUNG LEARNER News Magazine on School Education by RMN Foundation

January 2019

6

While the school as well as college education quality is very poor in India, the degree holders do not learn skills that are required in the modern job market. As a result, the employment situation is equally bad in all parts of the country. It is reflected in the worsening Human Development Index (​HDI​) of India.

Published by the United Nations Development Programme, HDI indicates the level of skills in a country and lets you know if people in that country are able to achieve their goals.

Unfortunately, India falls at No. 130 in the global list of countries ranked on the basis of their HDI. The HDI rank of war-torn countries such as Iraq, Palestine, and also Sri Lanka, China, Namibia, Vietnam, and Guyana are better than that of India.

That means, despite all the loud claims by the Indian governments about the education standards in the country, the school and college education in India is not producing skilled workforce. The so-called educated people in India are not employable in any modern field.

Worse, most of them are not even trainable.

Consequently, out of nearly 500 million workers in India, over 94% work in unorganized sector as pushcart vendors, street hawkers, domestic servants, and so on. This means the education standards in India are so poor that schools and colleges are not producing workforce employable for respectable jobs in the organized enterprises.

YOUNG LEARNER News Magazine on School Education by RMN Foundation

January 2019

7

Plus, the ​web is replete with facts and figures that reveal the irrelevance of Indian education systems and how they are wasting students’ time and parents’ money.

Govt Plans Entrepreneurship Curriculum for Delhi Schools The objective is to encourage students to become entrepreneurs and provide jobs to others instead of simply running around as jobseekers.

Delhi

Government

has

planned

to

introduce

entrepreneurship curriculum for classes 9 – 12 in the government schools. The syllabus - which is supposed to be finalized by April 2019 – aims to educate students to run their own enterprises after their studies.

According to the government, it is in the process of creating an activity-based curriculum which will also be based on local community involvement.

The objective is to encourage students to become entrepreneurs and provide jobs to others instead of simply running around as jobseekers.

The government also invited suggestions by January 15, 2019 from civil society organizations and experts who can help design the entrepreneurship curriculum.

द ल के कूल म श ा का गरता हुआ तर और उसम सध ु ार का यास

ऐसी पढ़ाई का कोई फायदा नह ं जो हम अ छ नौकर न दे सके आओ मल कर शु कर – श ा लाओ, कूल बचाओ – आंदोलन

RMN Foundation is running an education awareness campaign in New Delhi to inform students, parents, and teachers about the problems in school education. The following literature is being distributed in Delhi. आज द ल के लोग कूल म पढ़ाई क बगड़ती हालत से इतने चं तत ह क रात–रात भर सो नह ं

सकते। कूल क पढ़ाई इतनी बेकार है क भ व य म कसी काम नह ं आएगी। कूल का पा य म इतना YOUNG LEARNER News Magazine on School Education by RMN Foundation

January 2019

8

परु ाना और घसा– पटा है क उसे पढ़ने के बाद भी टूडट अनपढ़ ह माना जाता है । कूल ट चर लास म

पढ़ाने क बजाए ब च को ाइवेट यश ू न के दलदल म धकेल रहे ह। ाइवेट यश ू न लेना या दे ना एक अपराध और सामािजक बरु ाई है । कूल और यश ू न के बाद भी जो टूडट दसवीं (10th) या बारहवीं

(12th) लास भी पास कर लेता है उसे पहल लास क पढ़ाई भी नह ं आती। ऐसे दसवीं और बारहवीं तक

के टूडट न तो अ छ तरह हंद भाषा जानते ह न ग णत। और इंि लश भाषा म तो बहुत ह बरु ा हाल है । कुछ तो ठ क तरह से बोल भी नह ं पाते। या यह है पढ़ाई?

RMN Foundation education awareness campaign in New Delhi कूल क पढ़ाई के बाद अ छे कॉलेज म दा खला बहुत मिु कल या असंभव है । कॉलेज क पढ़ाई ख म

करने के बाद भी नौकर नह ं है य क कूल और कॉलेज क पढ़ाई इतनी दशाह न है क यह आपको एक अ छ नौकर करने के यो य नह ं बना सकती। इसका प रणाम यह है क आज ड ी वाले बेरोजगार क सं या बढ़ती जा रह है और बेरोज़गार एक ख़तरनाक बीमार क तरह फैल हुई है । ऐसे बेरोज़गार लड़के और लड़ कयां नशे का शकार हो रहे ह या जम ु और अपराध करने लगे ह। इससे उनका जीवन शु होने से पहले ह ख़ म होता जा रहा है । इसका सबसे बड़ा कारण है कूल म श ा का गरता हुआ तर। यहाँ तक क भारत सरकार ने अपनी रा

य श ा नी त के ा प 2016 (Draft

National Education Policy, 2016) म भारत क श ा यव था म इतनी क मयाँ बताई ह क कुछ लोग तो अपने ब च को कूल या कॉलेज म भेजना ह बंद कर रहे ह।

YOUNG LEARNER News Magazine on School Education by RMN Foundation

January 2019

9

जो वषय कूल म पढ़ाए जाते ह, वे नौकर लेने म सहायक नह ं ह। सरकार नौक रयाँ न के बराबर ह।

बढ़ कंप नय म नौक रयाँ ह ले कन उन नौक रय के लए आधु नक पढ़ाई चा हए जो आम कूल और कॉलेज नह ं दे रहे । कूल म ट चर भी आधु नक पढ़ाई के बारे म नह ं जानते और वे इस यो य नह ं क ब च को उ च श ा और कसी अ छ नौकर या अ छे काम के लए तैयार कर सक। सरकार और ाइवेट कूल का एक सा ह बरु ा हाल है ।

आज के आधु नक यग ु म नौकर के लए ड ी से यादा कौशल और यो यता क ज रत है । ले कन ऐसा

कौशल और यो यता आज क पढ़ाई का ह सा नह ं है । इसका प रणाम यह है क िजसके पास ड ी है ,

उसके पास नौकर नह ं और िजसने नौकर दे नी है उसे यो य लोग नह ं मल रहे । आज क पढ़ाई का यवसाय म कोई उपयोग नह ं है । इससे उ योग और यापार धीरे चल रहे ह या बंद हो रहे ह। इसके

फल व प कंप नयां लोग को नौकर दे ने क बजाय उ ह नौकर से नकाल रह ह। हालात बगड़ते ह जा रहे ह।

भारत क आज़ाद के पछले 70 साल म कसी भी नेता या राज न तक दल ने भारत क श ा णाल म सध ु ार का यास नह ं कया य क अ धकतर नेता जानते ह क हरे क चन ु ाव म यादातर अनपढ़ और ग़र ब लोग ह वोट डालते ह। य द लोग पढ़े - लखे ह गे तो उ ह नेता झठ ू े चन ु ावी वाद से धोखा नह ं दे सकगे। पढ़े - लखे लोग वोट डालने से पहले दस बार सोचगे और इन सभी बेकार नेताओं को वोट डालना बंद कर दगे जो पछले 70 साल से मल कर आम लोग को दबा रहे ह।

नेता आपको अ छ श ा नह ं दे रहे ता क आप अनपढ़ रह कर उनके झठ ू को सच मानते रह और उन पर

नभर रह कर उ ह वोट डालते रह। आपको अ छ श ा से सश त करने क बजाय सरकार मह ु ताज या

गुलाम बना कर रखा हुआ है । भारत के दस ू रे नेताओं क तरह द ल के नेता भी आप से धोखा कर रहे ह और ख़राब पढ़ाई को अ छा कह कर बता रहे ह ता क आप उ ह वोट डालते रह।

ले कन अब हम सब को मल कर आवाज़ उठानी है ता क ज द से कूल का सारा पा य म और पढ़ाई का तर का इस तरह बदला जाए क यह नौकर लेने म सहायक हो। इसी तरह कूल म ट चर भी वे रखे

जाएं जो आधु नक श ा के बारे म परू तरह से जानते ह और वैसा ह पढ़ाएं जो लोग को अ छ नौकर लेने या अ छा काम करने म सहायक हो। इस लए हमारा आप से अनरु ोध है क आप ​ श ा लाओ, कूल बचाओ – आंदोलन म शा मल होकर श ा

णाल म सध ु ार के लए परू ा सहयोग द। हम आपके सहयोग से इस आंदोलन क आवाज़ परू द ल म

YOUNG LEARNER News Magazine on School Education by RMN Foundation

January 2019

10

पहुंचायगे। द ल के सभी टूडट, माता- पता, ट चर, और आम नाग रक इस आंदोलन म शा मल हो सकते ह। ध यवाद।

This education awareness campaign is being managed by Rakesh Raman, who is a government’s national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of the humanitarian organization ​RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society.

Raman’s Tech Tale Series: Knowledge Stories for Children A hallmark of the books in this series is that they can be adapted for stage shows by children, TV programmes for children, and short-format movies.

Raman’s Tech Tale Series is an innovative storybook concept that aims to educate children in the high-tech area of information and communications technology (ICT) through interesting stories.

Keeping in view today’s need to give technology orientation to children, a little technology element is introduced in the stories.

These books not only help children, but they also make it simpler for parents and teachers to impart tech education to the young learners.

These are normal stories originally written for children’s edutainment (education and entertainment). Without confusing the child, the technology element is kept in the background.

The idea is to make the children curious to learn more about the tech aspects of life as they grow. Since the content mainly targets children in the age group of 6 – 12 years, the language used is quite simple to understand. Also, with a view to make the stories exciting, the environment in each story is presented through colourful illustrations.

Each book in the series will also act as a catalyst to achieve the larger objective of ‘bridging the digital divide.’ As efforts are being made all over the world to take the technology benefits to the masses or the underprivileged sections of society, these books will empower YOUNG LEARNER News Magazine on School Education by RMN Foundation

January 2019

11

people to take a step in that direction. The books will also supplement the conventional technology education in various schools.

At present, the books are being published in the English language. However, depending on the demand, they will be translated in other languages also. (Hindi translation is available for online readers.) A hallmark of the books in this series is that they can be adapted for stage shows by children, TV programmes for children, and short-format movies.

The present ​book covers technology applications such as satellite communications, electronic mail, computer-based surveillance, video conferencing, computer simulation, digital walk-through, video-on-demand, Internet chat, robotics, and e-learning.

We hope that our pioneering attempt to produce this educative literature for children will be suitably encouraged by teachers as well as parents. And our books in this series will be introduced in schools as an important knowledge resource for children. All books in the Raman’s Tech Tale Series are equally useful for children in all parts of the world.

Pariksha Pe Charcha with PM Narendra Modi Selected participants will have an opportunity to attend an interaction with PM Modi.

As students in India are getting ready to appear for board examinations and other entrance examinations, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi will interact with a cross section of students, teachers, and parents.

YOUNG LEARNER News Magazine on School Education by RMN Foundation

January 2019

12

Pariksha Pe Charcha with PM Narendra Modi The event - ​Pariksha Pe Charcha (discussion on exams) - will be held on 29 January, 2019 in New Delhi. You can also​ participate​ in the ​Pariksha Pe Charcha​ 2.0 Contest.

The competition is open only for students studying from classes 9 to 12, graduate and undergraduate college students, their parents, and teachers.

Selected participants will have an opportunity to attend an interaction with PM Modi. The best responses will be featured in PM Modi's interactive session with students scheduled on 29 January.

SWAYAM Delivers Online Education Free of Charge Steps have been taken to enrich the learning experience by using audio-video and multimedia content.

SWAYAM interactive program - initiated by the Government of India - is designed to deliver education to all, including the most disadvantaged. The program aims to bridge the digital divide for students who could not leverage digital technology for their learning.

Photo: Ministry of HRD SWAYAM offers its education services through an online platform that facilitates hosting of all the courses taught in classrooms from 9th class to post-graduation. All the courses are

YOUNG LEARNER News Magazine on School Education by RMN Foundation

January 2019

13

interactive, prepared by specialized teachers, and are offered free of charge to the residents in India.

According to the government, more than 1,000 specially chosen teachers from across the country have participated in preparing these courses.

The courses hosted on​ SWAYAM​ are in 4 quadrants: 1. Video lecture 2. Specially prepared reading material that can be downloaded / printed

3. Self-assessment tests through tests and quizzes 4. Online discussion forum Government says steps have been taken to enrich the learning experience by using audio-video and multimedia content and the latest pedagogy and technology.

Constructive Education Framework for Modern Education Schools and parents who want to adopt this modern system for the education of their children can contact RMN Foundation.

In order to help schools revamp their educational and pedagogical systems, RMN Foundation has developed a curriculum: Constructive Education Framework.

YOUNG LEARNER News Magazine on School Education by RMN Foundation

January 2019

14

It will help 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.

Objectives of Constructive Education Framework ●

To connect education with employability

●

To focus on skills development rather than on plain theory

●

To teach with the principle of “Learning for Earning”

●

To produce morally sound and honest people

●

To build a clean and prosperous society

Schools and parents who want to adopt this modern system for the education of their children can ​contact​ Rakesh Raman, founder of RMN Foundation.

Meet the Editor The editor of ​Young Learner news magazine ​Rakesh Raman is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. Besides working at senior editorial positions with leading media companies, he 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 about 8 years, he has been running his own global news services on different subjects. He also has formed a free Education and Career Counselling Center for deserving children at a poor J.J. Colony in Dwarka, New Delhi under his ​NGO – RMN Foundation. He also runs a global edutainment site ​RMN Kids for children, their parents, and teachers.

He runs an exclusive community-driven anti-corruption social service “​Clean House​” to help the suffering residents of Delhi raise their voice against the growing corruption and injustice.

He also creates and distributes a number of ​digital publications that cover areas such as technology, law, environment, corruption and transparency.

YOUNG LEARNER News Magazine on School Education by RMN Foundation

January 2019

15

He has created a comprehensive online information service to educate the Indian voters for the upcoming ​Lok Sabha election​ scheduled to happen in 2019.

Earlier, he had been associated with the United Nations (UN) through United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as a digital media expert to help businesses use technology for brand marketing and business development.

Collaboration for School Education Content Project The ​Young Learner news magazine is being published by RMN Foundation. It is being circulated among the top UN agencies, education departments, policymakers, schools, civil society organizations, social activists, and others in India and abroad.

RMN Foundation is looking for sponsors and collaborators across the world who can join hands with us to expand the school education content activity with the objective to improve the quality of school education in a holistic manner.

Contact

Rakesh Raman Founder RMN Foundation

463, DPS Apts., Plot No. 16, Sector 4, Dwarka, Phase I New Delhi 110 078, INDIA

Contact by email

YOUNG LEARNER News Magazine on School Education by RMN Foundation

January 2019

16