ACTIVITY BASED EDUCATION – A TEACHER’S VIEWS

    Time has made us to refer aspects of Teaching Learning processes under two eras; Before Covid (BC) and After Covid (AC). The AC era forced both Teachers and Students to make use of technical tools to a great extent. Teachers resisting to adapting themselves to technology have become minority in numbers and the band of students not having access to digital devices has also thinned. At the same time, people witness the education system of our country undergoing a revolution by the introduction of the NEP 2020. Overhauling of our education system was a long-standing due and almost everyone in the system recognizes that implementing NEP 2020 in true spirit would change the way children are prepared for life.

    Even though the broader aim of education has been preparing children to become successful citizens since centuries back, we must accept that our education system failed to achieve this. It is true that lessons learnt in Schools have least impact in practical life and what many people have been doing in their careers have the least connection with their academic achievements. The gap between academic learning and practical life is so wide and I truly believe that the NEP 2020 addresses this issue with due care. The NEP 2020 brings paradigm shifts in the aspects of Teaching Learning processes. Contrary to the previous educational policies, the NEP 2020 emphasizes more on practically achievable objects and is more connected to the demands of the real-life outside school premises.

    It will take time to train teachers to adapt to the needs of the day and they too will find it a bit difficult to re-orient themselves to the new environment. Teachers are made to get involved in too many activities in addition to their normal academic duties which are focused towards making students achieve better scores in Terminal/Board Examinations and hence they feel that additional burdens have been imposed on them.

    Annual Planning is a crucial factor in School Administration and schools generally carry out their daily activities as per plans made at least ahead of a year. Directing Schools to conduct different activities through executive orders within short periods only make them to oblige namesake compliance and does not yield the real outcomes expected from observing/conducting those activities. Almost all School Heads and Teachers I have interacted on various occasions expressed their unhappiness over the chain of activities being conducted through these kinds of frequent directives issued by the Department.

    On one side they are answerable to the expectations of Parents who are from the society which still gives more importance to grades than developing life skills and on the other side fulfilling the demands of the new era Education System. We must also take into consideration the service conditions of Teachers serving in the private sector. In our country nearly 40 % students are studying in private schools and ignoring these underpaid teachers while implementing new policies may lead to their over exploitation by managements.

    I sincerely believe that the intentions behind the directives issued for carrying out various activities and observing different events of national importance are noble and with the sole major objective of preparing our young children for a successful life. All we need to do is plan for the events/activities to be conducted well in advance with active participation of all the stakeholders so that everyone take part in the execution wholeheartedly.

 

Oh Lord ! Bless Us, Be Kind!

It' a Monday morning though

Things are altogether tough

Streets are barren and silent

Did the nature go violent?

No children out in play

No people on their way

No horns of vehicles heard

Which used to be so hard.

Everyone thinks, “Is it my turn next?”

Prays, "Save me from this net".

Wash your hands is what all say

Now that's the only hopeful ray.

When will we back from this?

No one has an answer to this

Oh Lord ! Bless Us, Be Kind,

Be Merciful, Give us a strong Mind.

-          By Smt. Sheeja Nellayappan

Principal shot dead by a student; where do we proceed?

You might have come across the shocking news of a school Principal at Haryana shot dead by her own class 12 student inside her office room on 20^th January 2018. The sad news brought shivering in my blood cells and I am unable to comprehend the gravity of the sense of fear this incident may instill in the minds of the teaching community. I do understand that isolated incidents cannot be considered as generalized affairs of a community. But we need to accept that the ripples of conflicts between teachers and students occupying headlines in the media become more frequent than ever.

As per media reports the boy had a grudge against his principal for punishing him few times over his poor performance and low attendance in front of his class mates. He was earlier warned thrice that he won’t be able to write his pre-board examination because of low attendance. On the fateful day he went to the office room of the Principal who also taught economics to him and asked her to accept his project report. He allegedly opened fire when the principal refused to accept the report.

In my opinion, his parents are the primary reason behind the gruesome incident. It is reported that the boy broke open an almirah in his home and took the registered revolver of his businessman father. The father told police that he didn’t know anything about his son’s performance in school. How will he know? Today many parents neglect their primary duties of parenting and even they do not have time to listen to their children. Today’s children are exposed to too much of unregulated media and more shockingly many of the parents never know that most of the online games their children play in mobiles and computers gradually instill sense of violence in the minds of the young children. When parents tend to substitute money for love and parental care, what else can be expected from the children?

The School Management and the Teachers of the school also are equally responsible for the tragic incident. The violent and cruel behavior exhibited by the student might have not been developed in a day or weeks. The violent characters might have been exhibited by him in many occasions from the childhood and unfortunately no one had time to take remedial measures before it reaches the critical stage. Just imagine how the boy who had resorted to murdering his Principal who enforced the rules of the institution might have behaved with his fellow classmates. 

 

Handling today’s children is not an easy task. Today’s economically oriented nuclear families have changed the entire concept of life. Attitudes of everyone in the society have changed and children too are not exempted. Unfortunately majority of the Teachers and Head of Institutions are poorly equipped to handle the challenges faced by today’s Education sector. In the present case when the boy was asked why he shot the principal, he said “she tortured me”. I am sad to say that this is a consequence of our failure to train the Teachers and the Head of Institutions in Positive Discipline techniques. Moreover, educating parents about their duties and responsibilities also now becomes the responsibility of schools and we have completely neglected this aspect.

Both the Private sector and the Govt. sector should immediately initiate steps to train all the Teachers and Head of Institutions on the latest trends and strategies in dealing with students before another such unfortunate incident occurs. Expenditures made in these training programmes are investments made on the future of our country and I hope the school managements would not hesitate to empower their teachers for a better tomorrow.

Time to Educate the Educators

Educational institutions throughout our country now pass through a critical phase in their journey of educating children. Ripples of conflicts between teachers and students occupying headlines in the media become more frequent than ever and many people get confused to understand the facts behind the conflicts. The teachers’ community pleads helplessness while the public criticize the teachers for the untoward incidents.

Recently the news of group suicide of four adolescent girls of a school in Tamilnadu shattered the minds of many educationists in our country and it was revealed during the investigation that many students from that school have suicidal tendencies. As expected, police have arrested a teacher and the head of the institution on charges of abetting suicide and the case is closed without going in to the roots of the issues. We mostly tends to give temporary relieves to diseases without treating the cause of the disease and the same thing happens in this case as well. I have been coming across demoralizing messages circulated among teachers’ community after few such incidents and I am afraid that this may lead to far reaching consequences. In fact this issue is a multidimensional one that needs to be analyzed in depth by all stake holders of school education.

Today we live in a society where majority of its members no more consider moral values as an essential factor to lead a successful life. The nuclear families we have today do not practically teach our children about the concepts of sharing and tolerance. Excessive caring parents immediately satisfy even the unnecessary needs of the children and they seldom get opportunities to learn that disappointments are essential parts of practical life. Many parents even substitute money for love and parental care. Children are exposed to too much of unregulated media and more shockingly many of the parents never know that most of the online games their children play in mobiles and computers gradually instill sense of violence in the minds of the young children. Above all many parents neglect their primary duties of parenting and even they do not have time to listen to their children.                      

Handling today’s techno savvy children is not an easy task. Attitudes of everyone in the society have changed and children too are not exempted. Unfortunately majority of our teachers are not equipped to deal with students in the present scenario. They tend to practice the same ways and means with which they were treated by their teachers. I was subjected to corporal punishment many a times during my student life at school but till today I remember all my teachers with love and gratitude only. But, now I cannot justify imposing corporal punishment on students because time has changed everything. Let us not forget that on those days’ parents and elders were imposing corporal punishment at home and we accepted the same as normal practice at school. But, today’s economically oriented nuclear families have changed the entire concept of life.  So, equipping teachers with modern techniques to face the challenges of today’s teaching career is very much essential at this juncture.

To be honest most of today’s teachers are in a pitiful situation. Everyone needs results; the corporate private school managements need results to multiply their admissions and admission fee, the Govt. sector need results to prove that their officers discharge their duties sincerely and almost every parent wants their sons and daughters to become doctors and technocrats.  It is completely forgotten that Education is a journey and not a race. Here most of the students are forced to run in the race blindfolded, without taking their interest and attitudes in to consideration. Ultimately, the teachers are made to behave like animal trainers.

Few months back I attended a 3 days training programme on Prevention of Child Abuse organized by the National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development, Guwahati and also a 3 days National Conference on Education organized by the Don Bosco Institute , Guwahti. I had the privilege of learning lot of new aspects of teaching learning from few of the finest brains in the industry and both the programmes made me to realize that majority of us (Teachers and Head of Institutions) are poorly equipped to handle the challenges face by today’s Education sector. Most of the conflicts between teachers and students arise in schools because teachers are not trained in Positive Discipline techniques and they tend to employ the out dated correction techniques. Moreover, educating parents about their duties and responsibilities also now becomes the responsibility of schools and we have completely neglected this aspect. I intensely feel that both the Private sector and the Govt. sector should immediately initiate steps to train all the Teachers and Head of Institutions on the latest trends and strategies in dealing with students before the commencement of the new academic sessions. Expenditures made in these training programmes are investments made on the future of our country and I hope school managements would not hesitate to empower their teachers without further delay.

A Teacher’s thoughts on Teachers’ Day

Today our nation celebrates Teachers’ Day with pride and on this auspicious day I convey my sincere greetings to all the dedicated teachers who strive hard to uplift the life of students through their tireless devotion to duty. Teachers are called the builders of nation and the prosperity and culture of a nation reflects the attitude and the way of functioning of its teachers.  Even though majority of the educational institutions in our country do not have the state of the art infrastructure and human resources as available in the developed countries, professionals from our country are occupying respectable key positions in various prestigious organizations throughout the world and the achievements made by our country in the fields of Medicine, Science & Technology etc makes our country as an emerging super power in the world. This would not have been made possible without the dedicated contributions of teachers in all levels. Next to parents, teachers might be the only one who always looks at the progress of their children with pride and not with jealousy. Teachers always share the success stories of their students with pride to others and rarely one may come across teachers sharing the shortcomings of their students with others.

Unfortunately most of the teachers in our country are underpaid and do not get recognized for their selfless services. Many leaders greet teachers on Teachers’ Day and most of them conveniently forget it from the very next day. They not only forget about the teachers but also about the impact this selective memory would have on the society. Majority of us send our children to private schools as we want quality education for our children but we seldom think about the miserable life of the underpaid and ill-treated private school teachers who contribute their best towards the wellbeing of their students in spite of the hardships they face. I sincerely pray that leaders and officers who are in the position of brining changes in the life of people stop the practice of turning blind eye to these helpless private school teachers and exercise  their authority to ensure a decent life to them.

The lives of Govt. school teachers are also not free from struggles. Various agitations and demonstrations being held by sections of Govt. school teachers  time to time exhibits the state of affairs existing in the Govt. sector. What pride do we have when a section of our teachers are not paid continuously for many months? Analyzing about issues concerned with Centre-State share is not the duty of teachers; all they need is timely release of their salaries so that their family members need not suffer in starvation. Another distressing fact about Govt. school teachers is subjecting them to mental torture by depriving them of their genuine service benefits. Every Govt. servant is entitled to certain service benefits and forcing them to land at the corridors of Courts for getting justice is not expected to happen in the education department which is supposed to serve as a model department to others.            

   

Now, let me come to the other side of the coin. When we happily accept the pride of being called as the builders of nation, we must also accept responsibility for the anarchies prevailing in our society. Incidents of persons having authority behaving in arrogant manner could be witnessed in many offices in our country. Majority of Govt. employees develops a feeling that they are the masters of public and never realize that they are appointed to serve the public. Where from these people acquired this mindset?  I would say that we inherit these characteristics from our parents and teachers from childhood onwards. Many teachers instill fear psychosis in the minds of children and never allow freedom of expression in class rooms. Students are forced to write only the answers given by the teachers, creative ideas and answers are mostly discouraged, Questioning is never encouraged and even those raising questions are branded as rebels. All these acts gradually inculcate the characteristics of authoritarian approach in us and we exhibit them when power comes to our hands.

Every one of us talks about having a corruption free society and many organizations have been sphere Today our nation celebrates Teachers’ Day with pride and on this auspicious day I convey my sincere greetings to all the dedicated teachers who strive hard to uplift the life of students through their tireless devotion to duty. Teachers are called the builders of nation and the prosperity and culture of a nation reflects the attitude and the way of functioning of its teachers.  Even though majority of the educational institutions in our country do not have the state of the art infrastructure and human resources as available in the developed countries, professionals from our country are occupying respectable key positions in various prestigious organizations throughout the world and the achievements made by our country in the fields of Medicine, Science & Technology etc makes our country as an emerging super power in the world. This would not have been made possible without the dedicated contributions of teachers in all levels. Next to parents, teachers might be the only one who always looks at the progress of their children with pride and not with jealousy. Teachers always share the success stories of their students with pride to others and rarely one may come across teachers sharing the shortcomings of their students with others.

Unfortunately most of the teachers in our country are underpaid and do not get recognized for their selfless services. Many leaders greet teachers on Teachers’ Day and most of them conveniently forget it from the very next day. They not only forget about the teachers but also about the impact this selective memory would have on the society. Majority of us send our children to private schools as we want quality education for our children but we seldom think about the miserable life of the underpaid and ill-treated private school teachers who contribute their best towards the wellbeing of their students in spite of the hardships they face. I sincerely pray that leaders and officers who are in the position of brining changes in the life of people stop the practice of turning blind eye to these helpless private school teachers and exercise  their authority to ensure a decent life to them.

The lives of Govt. school teachers are also not free from struggles. Various agitations and demonstrations being held by sections of Govt. school teachers  time to time exhibits the state of affairs existing in the Govt. sector. What pride do we have when a section of our teachers are not paid continuously for many months? Analyzing about issues concerned with Centre-State share is not the duty of teachers; all they need is timely release of their salaries so that their family members need not suffer in starvation. Another distressing fact about Govt. school teachers is subjecting them to mental torture by depriving them of their genuine service benefits. Every Govt. servant is entitled to certain service benefits and forcing them to land at the corridors of Courts for getting justice is not expected to happen in the education department which is supposed to serve as a model department to others.            

Now, let me come to the other side of the coin. When we happily accept the pride of being called as the builders of nation, we must also accept responsibility for the anarchies prevailing in our society. Incidents of persons having authority behaving in arrogant manner could be witnessed in many offices in our country. Majority of Govt. employees develops a feeling that they are the masters of public and never realize that they are appointed to serve the public. Where from these people acquired this mindset?  I would say that we inherit these characteristics from our parents and teachers from childhood onwards. Many teachers instill fear psychosis in the minds of children and never allow freedom of expression in class rooms. Students are forced to write only the answers given by the teachers, creative ideas and answers are mostly discouraged, Questioning is never encouraged and even those raising questions are branded as rebels. All these acts gradually inculcate the characteristics of authoritarian approach in us and we exhibit them when power comes to our hands.

Every one of us talks about having a corruption free society and many organizations have been sphere heading towards achieving this. In my opinion such sanitization processes should begin from the schools. A school is a miniature society and most of the characteristics and habits in a person’s life are formed during the school days. Are we in a position to say honestly that we as teachers exhibit a model life to them? What habits will children learn from teachers who keep proxies and indulge in practices of absenteeism? What characteristics will they learn from the functioning of Govt. schools whose average daily working hours and average yearly working days are far less than those of private schools?

Teachers are expected to treat their students the same way they treat their own children. But the reality we witness seems to be different. A recent study conducted in a south Indian State reveals that at the Primary & Middle School level 73 % children of Govt. School teachers study at private schools and that at High & Higher Secondary level is 87%. This clearly shows that we want our own children get quality education from the private schools as we do not have trust in the quality of education being provided in the Govt. schools. I am sure that not even 1% of children of bureaucrats and higher officials will be studying in Govt. schools in any of the States.

The world now passes through a very difficult phase and the responsibility of teachers thus has increased many folds. Children are exposed to too much of electronic media and the expansion of knowledge goes at very high rate. The dangers of misusing technology also increase with these developments. Teachers have equal responsibility as that of parents in protecting children from the evil clutches of antisocial elements. Teachers thus should keep themselves updated with the latest developments and should lead their students towards growth. On this auspicious day I earnestly request all the teachers to teach their students with love and dedication and at the same time request my beloved students to learn with love and regards for your teachers.heading towards achieving this. In my opinion such sanitization processes should begin from the schools. A school is a miniature society and most of the characteristics and habits in a person’s life are formed during the school days. Are we in a position to say honestly that we as teachers exhibit a model life to them? What habits will children learn from teachers who keep proxies and indulge in practices of absenteeism? What characteristics will they learn from the functioning of Govt. schools whose average daily working hours and average yearly working days are far less than those of private schools?

Teachers are expected to treat their students the same way they treat their own children. But the reality we witness seems to be different. A recent study conducted in a south Indian State reveals that at the Primary & Middle School level 73 % children of Govt. School teachers study at private schools and that at High & Higher Secondary level is 87%. This clearly shows that we want our own children get quality education from the private schools as we do not have trust in the quality of education being provided in the Govt. schools. I am sure that not even 1% of children of bureaucrats and higher officials will be studying in Govt. schools in any of the States.

The world now passes through a very difficult phase and the responsibility of teachers thus has increased many folds. Children are exposed to too much of electronic media and the expansion of knowledge goes at very high rate. The dangers of misusing technology also increase with these developments. Teachers have equal responsibility as that of parents in protecting children from the evil clutches of antisocial elements. Teachers thus should keep themselves updated with the latest developments and should lead their students towards growth. On this auspicious day I earnestly request all the teachers to teach their students with love and dedication and at the same time request my beloved students to learn with love and regards for your teachers.

An employee’s views on Demonetization

At the outset let me make one thing clear here. I am not writing this from the prospective of an economist or a political analyst. I am simply sharing my own experiences as a common man of this country. The demonetization move made by the Prime Minister has brought almost all the political rivals our country together and all of a sudden made them to realize the hardships faced by the public. It is true that public are put to face hardships and even the country has witnessed few unfortunate deaths because of demonetization. At the same time we should not forget that many of those deaths occurred due to inhuman acts of few organizations and individuals. Govt. has given enough time to make deposits in bank accounts and private hospitals and other essential service providers allowing people to die at the emergency situation was fully unethical.

Many people accept demonetization as a good measure but blame the Govt. for the poor preparedness. The present move of demonetization is a war on black money and utmost secrecy was required. Any hint leaked out to the corrupt officers would have jeopardized the very basic intention of the act. We all know that today many corrupt bureaucrats are guiding the politicians in corrupt practices. The number of Vigilance Enquiries going on against senior officers in our country will make it clear in what dangerous situation our country is. Just go through an official report given by the Govt. of India in 2013.

“ As per information provided by the CBI, 65 cases (RCs & PEs) are pending under investigation/enquiries against 19 IAS, 01 IPS & 67 other Allied Central services personnel as on 31.10.2013. Besides the above, 180 cases are pending under trial against 154 IAS, 15 IPS & 102 other Allied Central services personnel. 24 IAS, 07 IPS & 16 other Allied Central services personnel have been convicted during the last three years i.e. 2010, 2011, 2012 & 2013 (upto 31.10.2013). ”

Do you think the Govt. could make a perfect plane to avoid inconveniences to the people when such type of people runs the day to day affairs of the Govt.? The inconveniences and hardships faced due to poor preparations of the Govt. were unavoidable as the entire plane was kept within very few at the top level of the Govt.

People ask about nearly one hundred deaths occurred due to demonetization. Why do we forget about thousands and thousands of farmers committing suicides and at the same time the rulers of the states constructing 1 lakh sq feet homes spending more than 38 crores and undertaking foreign trips in charted flights? Should we forget about ministers responsible to look after the famers were busy with looking after Cricket affairs when thousands of farmers were committing suicide? Should we forget about the number of poor people killed by the WB police while trying to acquire land for a private concern during the Communist regime? The present WB Chief Minister is too much worried about the inconveniences caused by the people standing in ATM ques. Does she remember the number of Bandhs she called during her political career and about the sufferings faced my lakhs and lakhs of long distance train commuters because her bandh calls?           

Let me now come to few issue related to of black money and the common man. There are nearly 184 Private medical colleges in India and each college has an average intake of 100 seats. So there are nearly 18400 MBBS seats are at the desecration of the managements. I personally know that the rate of one MBBS seat in a particular medical college at Chennai is 80 lakhs and the minimum rate at many other colleges is 50 – 60 lakhs. Not single rupees of this capitation fee are accountable; neither at the receiving end nor at the giving end. Do you think a person spending such huge amount of money for his education will do social service when he comes to practice? He will definitely recover the amount with interest from the common man by prescribing Ultra Scan, Doppler Scan etc for common headache and also performing unnecessary surgeries. The above is only about Medical Colleges. You can think of the same about other types of higher institutions as well.     

Majority of the private educational institutions, hospitals, business establishments etc  in our country maintain multiple account books and software’s. One for the customers and one for the Govt. Few years back I visited a medical specialist in Chennai. He charged Rs.1000/-(one thousand) as consultation fee’ but No receipts & No records. He sees nearly 30 to 60 patients in a day. Just calculate his unaccounted income. The worst part in the above case is that those serving in the above organizations are always underpaid and treated as slaves. Another issue in this aspect is private institutions paying less than half of the amount to the employees they show as salary to the Govt. The helpless employees simply obey their masters and sign at the dotted lines. Now the employees can no more do it because they will have to be accountable to the Govt once the entire money transactions comes under scrutiny. How will an employee pay tax for the amount he doesn’t receive?      

I am not saying that demonetization will completely wipe out black money. But Our PM has made it clear that basic idea behind the Govt.’s move is to bring the entire money flow accountable. I am confident that digital money will solve many such issues. We could feel the change in the life of people when that takes place. Govt. has nothing against those earning legally and paying taxes honestly. So I don’t think there is a need for the common man to get panic. We are enjoying the fruits of sacrifices made by millions of patriotic people but unfortunately we have become too much self-centered. We do not wish to think beyond our today’s life. Let us be ready to do few sacrifices for the betterment of our future generation. 

Impact Of Child Abuse Including Corporal Punishment

Few months back I met few of my former students after a long gap of 21 years whom I taught in class 8 when I worked in a private school. Now they are proprietors of big business establishments at Delhi and responsible parents of lovely school going children. We had rekindled memories of their high school days nearly for two hours over dinner at a restaurant and I practically realized the extent to which acts of mental harassment committed by few teachers affect children throughout their life. They narrated how a particular teacher branded them unfit to study Advanced Mathematics at class 9 merely for the reason that they were not taking private tuition from him and how the school authorities blindly believed the words of the teacher without any concern for the feelings of the students. I really felt sad from the depth of my heart when they said, “Sir, the feeling of shame we underwent when we were kicked out from the Mathematics class still haunt us time to time. Even though we try to forget it, the mathematics books of our children provoke the pain of insults we underwent in front of our friends and make us depressed even today.” I could sense the feelings of anger, agony and depression in their words and facial expressions even after a span of 20 years of occurrence of the incident. While we were parting ways they requested me to ensure that such things never happen to any student under my care. In this article I would like to enlighten the readers about different types of child abuses existing in our schools and homes and also about the ways and means of protecting children from the ill effects of these cruel acts.            

It is now globally recognized that punishment in any form or kind in school comes in the way of the development of the full potential of children. But in our society punishing children is regarded as normal and acceptable in all settings-whether in the family or in institutions. It is often considered necessary in order that children grow up to be competent and responsible individuals. It is widely used by teachers and parents regardless of its evident lack of effectiveness and potentially harmful side-effects. Its very ineffectiveness tends to result in an escalation spiral which then leads to both a culture of rationalization by those in authority and passive acceptance of the situation as evidence of ‘caring’ by children. So pervasive is the justification of corporal punishment that a child may not think her / his rights have been infringed upon. Even if the punishment hurts, the child does not feel the importance of reporting the incident. There are layers of beliefs and practices that cloak corporal punishment under guise of love, care and protection, when it is actually an abuse of authority that harms the child. This notion needs to be reviewed in the light of the widespread violence that exists in all institutions occupied by children. 

Now let us see the meaning and different types of child abuses existing in homes and institutions. Any Act that may cause harm to a child's health, survival, dignity and development is termed as Child Abuse. It has many forms: Physical, Emotional, Sexual, Neglect, and Exploitation.

Physical Abuse: Deliberately hurting a child causing injuries is called Physical Abuse. Children who are physically abused suffer violence such as being hit, kicked, burned, and slapped or having objects thrown at them. 

Emotional Abuse: Emotional abuse is the emotional maltreatment or emotional neglect of a child. It’s sometimes called psychological abuse and can seriously damage a child’s emotional health and development.

Sexual Abuse: Sexual abuse is engaging a child in any sexual activity that may be touching or non-touching. Abuse may be conducted by an adult or another child who is developmentally superior to the victim.

Neglect: Neglect or negligent treatment is purposeful omission of some or all developmental needs of the child by a caregiver with the intention of harming the child. This includes the failure of protecting the child from a harmful situation or environment when feasible.

Exploitation: Exploitation can be commercial or otherwise, where by the child is used for some form of labour, or other activity that is beneficial for others. Example: child labour or child prostitution. 

Corporal Punishment: Currently there is no statutory definition of corporal punishment of children in Indian law. Definition of corporal punishment can at best only be indicative. Any punishment imposed on children with the intention of causing physical hurt or discomfort may be called as corporal punishment. In keeping with the provisions of RTE Act, 2009, corporal punishment could be classified as physical punishment, mental harassment and discrimination.

Physical punishment: Any action that causes pain, hurt/injury and discomfort to a child, however light comes under physical punishment. Acts of making children assume uncomfortable position (Standing on bench, kneeling etc), detention in the class room, library etc also fall under the definition of physical punishment.

Mental harassment: Any non-physical treatment that is detrimental to the academic and psychological well-being of a child is called mental harassment. Few examples of these acts are humiliating or constantly criticizing a child, threatening, shouting at a child or calling them names, making the child the subject of jokes, or using sarcasm to hurt a child, pushing a child too hard or not recognizing their limitations, persistently ignoring them, never saying anything kind, never expressing positive feelings or congratulating a child on successes, never showing any emotions in interactions with a child etc.

Discrimination: It is understood as prejudiced views and behavior towards any child because of her / his caste/gender, occupation or religion and non-payment of fees or for being a student admitted under the 25 % reservation to disadvantaged groups or weaker sections of the society under the RTE Act, 2009.

Few examples of these acts are assigning different duties and seating in schools based on caste, community or gender, commenting on academic ability based on caste or community prejudices, deliberate / wanton neglect etc.       

Long –term consequences of corporal punishment:

1.   When adults use corporal punishment it teaches their children that hitting is an acceptable means of dealing with conflict. The more children are hit, the more is the anger they resort as adults and consequently the more they hit their own children when they become parents and more likely they are to approve of hitting.

2.  Corporal punishment leads to adverse physical, psychological and educational outcomes- including increased aggressive and destructive behavior, increased disruptive behavior in the class room, vandalism, poor school achievement, poor attention span, increased drop-out rate, school avoidance and school phobia, low self esteem, anxiety, somatic complaints, depression, suicide and retaliation against teachers that emotionally scar the children for life.

3.    Children subjected to punishment prefer aggressive conflict resolution strategies with peers and siblings and they do not consider it a violation of their rights.

4.     There is an association between corporal punishment meted out to children and maladaptive behavior patterns in later life, such as aggression and delinquency.

5.    The effects of various forms mental harassment or psychological maltreatment have shown that:

(a)    Combination of verbal abuse and emotional neglect tend to produce the most powerfully negative outcomes (b) psychological maltreatment is a better predictor of detrimental developmental outcomes for young children than the severity of physical injury experienced by them(c) it is the indicator most related to behavior problems for children and adolescents and (d) psychological abuse is a stronger predictor of both depression and low self – esteem than physical abuse.

6.      A chronic pattern of psychological maltreatment destroys a child’s self and personal safety.

7.   Subtle and overt forms of discrimination are also known to have a negative effect on the emotional and intellectual health of children.

In recognition of the harmful consequences of corporal punishment on the child, The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child stated that, “There is no ambiguity: ‘all forms of physical or mental violence’ does not leave room for any level of legalized violence against children. Corporal punishment and other cruel or degrading forms of punishment are forms of violence and States must take all legislative, administrative, social and educational measure to eliminate them.”

In the next issue we shall discuss about the Constitutional and Legal provisions made available in our country to protect children from corporal punishment.

Prevention of Child Abuse

Few weeks back I had the privilege of attending three days Sensitization Programme on Child Abuse organized by the National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development Regional Centre at Guwahati for the Principals & Vice Principals of Govt. Schools of Arunachal Pradesh & Nagaland. Even though I was forced to cut short my summer vacation and attend the programme, I have no regrets for sacrificing my holidays because the programme was well designed and was effectively executed to derive maximum benefit within the limited time.

I have been in the teaching field for nearly 25 years and have developed a feeling that I am discharging my duties sincerely towards the cause of children. But the facts and figures we got exposed at the program made me feel guilty for being ignorant about an important issue concerning children over these many years. I am afraid that many teachers, school administrators and officials dealing with children may be in the same state of mind as I am. As practically it will not be possible for the Govt. to depute all the Principals and Teachers in the state to such training programmes, I wish to share the knowledge gained from the Sensitization programme with the readers in the coming days. I hope it may help to increase awareness among the public and would ultimately help the helpless children. Kindly remember that I am not an expert in this subject matter and my main intention is to arouse curiosity among the readers for further exploration of knowledge.

Child abuse starts from home:

Child abuse in India is often a hidden phenomenon especially when it happens in the home or by family members. Numbers of cases of child abuse in the home are hard to ascertain because most of these crimes go unreported. Focus with regards to abuse has generally been in the more public domain such as child labour, prostitution, marriage, etc. Intra-family abuse or abuse that takes place in institutions such as schools or government homes has received minimal attention. Societal abuses that are a result of poverty such as malnutrition, lack of education, poor health, neglect, etc are recognised in various forms by the Indian legal system. But India does not have a law that protects children against abuse in the home.

In 2007, the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) released a study report on child abuse. The report discusses incidence of child abuse nationwide. The study of the MWCD found a wide spread incidence of child abuse. Children between the ages of 5-12 are at the highest risk for abuse and exploitation. The study found that 69% of children reported to have been physically abused. Out of these 54.68% were boys. 52.91% of boys and 47.09 % of girls reported having been abused in their family environment. Of the children who were abused in family situations 88.6% were abused by their parents. Every two out of three school children reported facing corporal punishment. In juvenile justice institutions 70.21 % of children in conflict with law and 52.86% of children in need of care and protection reported having been physically abused. With regard to child labour 50.2% of children work all seven days of the week. 81.16% of the girl child labourers work in domestic households, while 84% of the boy child labourers worked in tea stalls or kiosks. 65.99 % of boys and 67.92% of girls living on the street reported being physically abused by their family members and other people.

The study also examined emotional abuse and girl child neglect. It examined two forms of emotional abuse: humiliation and comparison. Half the children reported facing emotional abuse with 83% of that abuse begin conducted by parents. Girl child neglect was assessed girls comparing themselves to their brothers on factors like attention, food, recreation time, household work, taking care of siblings, etc. 70.57% of girls reported having been neglected by family members. 48.4% of girls wished they were boys. 27.33% of girls reported getting less food then their brothers. Of the young adults (ages 18-24) interviewed, almost half of them reported having been physically or sexually abused as children. In the next discussion we shall see about Impact Of Child Abuse Including Corporal Punishment.

Are We Role Models To Our Children?

Today our life is greatly influenced by technology and almost everyone from children to old age people could not imagine spending a day without a mobile phone at hand. Even though the advantages of the latest mobile technology outshine the disadvantages caused by it in our life, the tendency of excessive dependence on mobile gadgets may cause irreparable damages to humanity in long run. I am sure that the shortcomings described below would be applicable to most of us.

We adults try to restrict use of mobile phones by children but many of us set ourselves as worst examples in front of them. Whether it is at home or at office we never part ourselves away from the gadget. Many schools have banned the use of mobile phones by students inside the school campuses but very few schools could effectively restrict its teachers from using the same during school hours. Even many teachers use mobiles inside class rooms. If we check the Facebook and WhatsApp status of many of us during the school and office hours, definitely majority of us will be available online and one could get instant responses. The free periods of teachers are meant for utilizing in preparatory works, evaluation works etc and being engaged with mobile phones during the school hours would definitely divert our attention away from such works. Moreover, when students observe us using mobile phones during school hours we forgo our moral right to prevent them from using the same. Recently a State Govt. has banned teachers carrying mobile phones during training sessions as many were found busy using social media during such training sessions. This is not the case with teachers alone. We often come across instances of officials spending much time over mobiles on casual talk while we wait in front of them for few minutes of works.

The worst scenario is people using mobile phones while driving. What discipline will our children who sit besides us in the car learn if we practice this dangerous habit? Has anyone ever heard about the traffic police charge sheeting people for this offence? When a person is penalized for not wearing helmet which is meant for the safety of his own life, an act that may endanger the life of others is simply overlooked by the law enforcing agencies.

The situation is not different at homes. Many of us are active members in various Facebook and WhatsApp groups and the game starts in the early morning itself. We may not exchange a smile with the family members at home but would be so prompt in posting good morning and good night messages in the social media. I have come across many parents depriving their own children of quality time and at the same time getting busy in the social media with their concerns and care for the society. Even some parents get irritated when children interrupt them while they are occupied with important (?) interactions in the social media. If we parents behave in this manner, what will our children learn from us?

I accept that parents do have friends and feelings and I am not against them using the social media at home. At this age of smart phones it is not at all possible for anyone to be away from them. All we need to do is to have distinct time schedule for every activity. In that way we can easily come out of the addictive habits of mobile use. Initially our friends may feel bad for the delayed responses but in course of time they will understand us and would also change themselves. Thus we can balance between friends and family and could also make our children follow systematic life style.  

Finally, let me say few words of caution to employers and officers. Today most of the working people find it difficult to balance between work and family. An employer/officer has every right to get the maximum work from his employees. But he must remember an important fact that he is boss to his employees and subordinates and not to their family members. Employees should be trained to complete their office works during the working hours and carrying office works to home should be discouraged. Calling employees over phone beyond the office hours should be avoided unless there is some emergency. After all every one work for the well being of their family and do deserve a peaceful and joyful family life after the office hours.

Let Children Select Their Course Of Study

Results of the HSLC & HSSLC exams have been declared and many parents and children are busy discussing about their future course of action. Few of them might be having clear ambitions and many may prefer to go along the flow. There are many avenues available for our children to pursue for a bright future and I wish to highlight few areas of study here so that parents and children can explore more choices depending on their own interest.

I wish to caution the parents about an important factor at this moment. Parents and Teachers should identify the interests and likes of the children and then guide them to select the best course for them. But imposing choices made by parents on children against their wishes would make them run blind folded in the race of life without realizing the purpose of running and may end counterproductive.

Following are few important areas of study and you may take the help of teachers, career counselors and Google to know more about the scope of different courses as well as information regarding the institutions offering them.      

1.      Medicine – Competing against the best.

Courses Available: M. B. B.S / B.D.S / B.A.M.S / B.H.M.S / B.V.Sc

2.      Paramedical Courses – Helping Hands.

Courses Available: B.Sc. (Perfusion Technology, Op. Theatre Technology,  Anesthesia Technology, Respiratory Care Technology, Cardiac Care  Technology, Renal Dialysis Technology, Radiotherapy, Speech & Language Therapy), B.P.T, B. Pharm , D. Pharm,

3.      Agriculture – New Opportunities.

Courses Available: B.Sc.( Agriculture , Horticulture, Forestry, Agribusiness Management ,Sericulture, Food Technology)

4.      Engineering – Multiple Options.

Courses Available: B.E, B.Tech.( Civil ,Mechanical, Electrical & Electronics Computer Science, Chemical Engineering, Electronics & Communication, Aerospace Engineering, Automobile Engineering, Mining Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, Petroleum Engineering, Telecom Engineering, Textile Engineering, Power / Energy Engineering, Ceramic Engineering, Polymer Engineering, Plastics Engineering, Optical Engineering, Biotechnology Engineering, Bio- Medical Engineering, Bio- Molecular Engineering, Robotics Engineering & Artificial Intelligence , Nanotechnology, Superconductivity , Geo- technical Engineering).

5.      Energy & Environment- Skill Diversity.

Courses Available: B.Sc. (Env. Sc, Forestry, Geology), B.Tech(Env. Engineering, Mining)

6.      Corporate and Financial – A Calculated Choice.

Courses Available: B. Com, Charted Accountancy (CA), Cost Accountancy, Company Secretaryship

7.      Education – Nation Building.

Courses Available: Pre- School / Nursery Teacher Training, Primary School Teacher Training, B.Ed( After Graduation)

8.      Media – Dramatic Success.

Courses Available: Journalism – BJMC, Advertising & Public Relations – PGDAPR, PGCAPR, M.A(After Graduation).

Film & Television – Film & Television Institute of India and Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute offer varieties of Certificate, Diploma & PG Diploma courses. 

9.      Tourism and Hospitality – Go the Distance.

Courses Available: BTA, BTS, BTM, BBA(TM), PGDTM, Dip in Hotel Op., Dip. in Airport Op., Dip in Air Cargo Op., Dip in Spa Therapies & Management, B.Sc in Hospitality Administration.

10.  Civil Transportation – On the Move.

Courses Available: Commercial Pilot, Cabin Crew, Aviation- Ground Staff, Merchant Navy.

11.  Law – In Pursuit of Justice.

Courses Available: LLB – 5 Year Integrated Course for +2 Passed students, LLB – 3 Year Course for Graduates.

12.   Conventional Degree Courses .B.A / B.Sc.

In the present situation, the conventional degree courses stand as one of the best options for many talented students. Varieties of courses are available in the fields of Arts, Science, Commerce, Humanity, etc and there is good demand for research scholars in all the subjects.

You might be aware that the minimum qualification required for appearing the coveted All India Civil Services Exams (IAS, IPS, IFS, IFoS) and many other Central and State Civil Services is Graduation and candidates possessing Post Gradation could win the glorious posts if they study their courses with in-depth understanding and determination. Please remember one thing in mind; every field of study offers good scope for those who excel in whatever they study.

Proud Moments Of A Govt. School Teacher

Whenever names of Govt. schools appear in news papers people begin to read it with a prejudiced mindset that it might be related to some disappointments. There is no denial that the states of affairs in Govt. schools are not so encouraging and there are lots of things to be done to go in phase with the developed states of our country. In spite of the shortcomings existing in the system, few Govt. schools have been contributing their best to the society and they should be encouraged to continue their efforts for the betterment of the society. One such Govt. school that comes under the above category is Govt. Higher Secondary School, Dimapur which is one among the oldest pioneer schools in Nagaland.

I was privileged to serve at GHSS, Dimapur as P. G. Teacher (Physics) nearly for 16 years and I had witnessed many students from the underprivileged sections of the society rising to higher positions in life utilizing the limited facilities available in the school. Many of my students from GHSS, Dimapur are now occupying higher positions in the Govt. sector as well as in the highly competitive private sector both in India and in the developed countries such as USA.

A teacher’s real moments of pride comes when he sees his students becoming successful citizens and words could not easily describe the happiness he gets while hearing news of their progress in life. Few days back I had such a pride moment in my life. Lieutenant Bikram Sigh, one of my former students from Govt. Hr Sec School, Dimapur (2005-2007) happily informed me that he has successfully completed his officers training at the National Defense Academy and got Commissioned in the Indian Army. I was so excited to see his photo in Officers Uniform and felt as if my own son has achieved the glory. My memories went back to the year 2005 and recalled the days of his school days. He was a member of the team that secured the State First Position in the Physics Quiz and I accompanied them to represent Nagaland at the Eastern India Physics Quiz held at Kolkata in the year 2005.     

Born to poor parents, Lieutenant Bikram Singh has proved that limitations could never stand as obstacles to success if one has strong determination. He has risen to today’s position through his hard work with the support of parents, teachers and friends. After completing his graduation, he had worked in the private sector for some time but never gave up his ambition of becoming an officer in the Indian Army. I pray to the almighty to bless him to climb more heights in his career and bring glorifying successes to his motherland!

Let me take this opportunity to congratulate Smt R Amongla Jamir the then Principal of GHSS, Dimapur, and all my former colleagues who contributed their best to the well being of hundreds of students every year through their dedicated services. Let us continue our service to the society and prepare our children to face the challenges of life and overcome the obstacles through sincerity and hard work.

The Women I Admire

On this International Women’s Day, I first salute all those women who make a livelihood by selling fruits, vegetables, fish etc at the streets and those rushing to their offices, schools, hospitals etc after completing the normal duties of a house wife at home. Millions and millions of children in our country continue their studies and reach respectable positions in life because of the silent sacrifices made by the above category of women whose role are seldom recognized by the society. So, my first respects goes to them.

Today, the role of women in our society has changed a lot comparative to the olden days. Many women officers have been imprinting their talents in the history of our country as administrators in various elite services and now we witness induction of women officers in combat roles in the male dominated Armed Forces. Recently a women IPS Officer, Smt. Archana Ramasundaram made history when she assumed charge as the Director General of SSB, a paramilitary force.

Women should never give up their identities irrespective of the position they occupy in life.  Few women of our country have shown the world that women could contribute their best to the society without giving up their identities and without taking shelter under the VVIP status of their husbands. You might be aware that Smt. Elizabeth , wife of Former Defense Minister of India Shri A K Antony and Smt. Panchali Sarkar, wife of Chief Minister of Tripura had worked as Bank Officer and a School Teacher respectively till their retirements. A recent example in this category is Smt. Amrutha, wife of present CM of Maharashtra Shri  Devendra Fadnavis who continue her service as Associate Vice- President at the Axis Bank. Let me take this opportunity to request all the talented women who got confined behind their VVIP and VIP husbands to take the leading role towards the development of women and act as role models to the young generation.

Let us not forget that our women folk are not walking over rose petals in their journey, whether it is professional or personal.  Instances of sexual assault against women have been increasing and our law enforcing agencies and society could not ensure security to our women and children.  Above all, the Indian society always blames the women victims for the offences committed against them. So, women should learn to protect themselves from the evils existing in the society and should assertion their rights without waiting for others to grant them freedom.

On this auspicious day, I wish all my sisters a Happy Women’s Day and at the same time request all men to regard each and every woman as their own family member and ensure a safe world for them to live happily and peacefully.

Selection Test Menace in Nagaland

When the whole education department of Nagaland is actively involved in proposing suggestions for the proposed new education policy of Govt. of India, I would like to draw the attention of the readers to an unhealthy practice being followed by many schools in Nagaland. The Nagaland Board of School Education had introduced the practice of conducting Selection Test for the students of permitted schools (schools under observation before granting recognition) with a view to ensure proper transaction of curriculum to its students. But this evaluation tool of NBSE was misused my majority of the recognized schools in the state. The selection test was used as a tool to screen out the weak students in classes 10 and 12 so that the schools could boost of better results in the HSLC / HSSLC examinations.

Last year NBSE has abolished the practice of conducting selection test to screen out the weak students and introduced the concept of conducting Model Test compulsorily at the end of the academic year so as to update and improve the performance of students. But many schools still continue to screen out weak students with least concern for the rules laid down by the highest academic authority (School Education) of the state.The high dropout ratio(30%) in class X is definitely a matter of great concern for all of us. Interestingly, school authorities are taking shelter under a provision provided by the NBSE which states that registered schools (recognized or permitted) may debar a student from appearing at the final examination if there is no sign of academic improvement or if the student has a deteriorating performance in the weekly/monthly tests and terminal examination. But unfortunately this provision which has to be invoked very cautiously by the school authorities is being misused casually. If a student declared Qualified at class IX promotion examination shows no sign of academic improvement or has a deteriorating performance in class X, it may be due to some serious adverse situations at home or school. Therefore, concerned school authorities should analyze such cases and initiate appropriate remedial measures before resorting to the extreme step of debarring students from appearing final examinations. Moreover, we should also keep in mind the financial burdens that would be imposed on parents while debarring students from appearing final examinations.

I remember an incident happened nearly some 20 years ago in South India. A student who was not allowed to appear the HSLC examination by the school authorities approached the concerned state High Court seeking justice. The HC had asked the school authorities only 2 questions. Whether the student had passed the class 9 promotion examination and had secured the required attendance in class 10?  When the school authorities answered ‘Yes’, the High Court had ruled that the school has No authority to debar the student from appearing the board exam unless serious disciplinary issues are involved. Comparatively the people of Nagaland have more respects and regards for teachers and that is why such court cases are not common in our state.

When NBSE is marching ahead with the developed states by introducing many pupil friendly measures such as conduct of immediate HSLC Compartmental Examination, providing Photostat Copies of HSLC/ HSSLC Exam answers scripts etc, the school authorities should explore all possible means to help children to come out of their struggles and resorting to the extreme steps should be considered only when all possible efforts are exhausted.

Tribute To All Dedicated Teachers

Today our country celebrates Teachers’ Day which commemorates the birthday of great scholar, philosopher and former President of India Dr S Radhakrishnan. When few friends and students of Dr S Radhakrishnan requested him to allow them to celebrate his birthday, he preferred the day to be observed as Teachers Day and thus every teacher of our country gets the privilege of being honoured on 5^th September since 1962. India has held teachers in high esteem from the ancient times and we could understand the importance of teachers from an Indian proverb that describes the hierarchy of respect to be accorded to different personalities in one’s life; Mother, Father, Teacher & God.

Teachers are the builders of nation and are entrusted with the task of shaping the future of our country. Every school is a miniature society comprising of pupils from different sections of the community. Today’s children will rule tomorrow’s world and the prosperity of our nation would ultimately depend on the quality of education being imparted to them in the schools. Today, our country is emerging as a major stakeholder in the world affairs and talents of Indian professionals are globally recognized in every field of development. This would not have been made possible without the support of dedicated teachers. Dr A P J Abdul Kalam who had won the hearts of millions of peoples always held his teachers in high esteem and this is more than enough to tell our young children that whoever respects their teachers would definitely excel in whatever field of study they undertake and will always be a treasure to the society. Let me also remind my teacher friends an important factor here; teachers who were revered most had always taught their children with love and dedication to their profession.   

Now a question may be raised; are teachers responsible for today’s chaos existing in our society? Even though teachers alone are not responsible for the anarchies, they are also accountable to some extend because they are the one who connect children and their education. Let me state an important drawback of our present education system here. We are caught between the fine heritage of our Indian education system and the deliberately imposed Western education system. The conflicts are made more complicated by the commercialization of education in the private sector and the deep rooted corruption afflicting the Govt. sector. Adding fuel to fire is the implementation of major educational policies without taking the ground realities and feasibility constraints in to consideration. Finally the poor teachers are at the receiving end. I hope we could gradually come out of the shortcomings through our dedication and love for the children.

On this Teachers Day, I salute all the teachers who contribute their best to the children in spite of the hardships they face and pray to the almighty to bless them with the strength and wisdom to serve the needy children more efficiently in the coming days.

Weapons of Destruction or Tools of Development?

Few months back I had visited one of my friends from my native village after a gap of 5 years along with my son. It was a festival day and I had fixed an appointment with my friend before few days of the proposed visit. We reached his home at the fixed time and he and his family members warmly welcomed us. His old parents and wife fondly enquired about my family, job etc and were very happy with our visit. His wife offered us delicious sweets and went to the kitchen to make tea. My friend and I started sharing about developments of our lives and there started the continuous interruption of mobile calls from his friends and colleagues. All were conveying festival greetings and somehow I got nearly 10 minutes to talk to him out of my one hour presence in his home. While returning, with a disappointed face I said to my son, “Now I realize the other side of conveying festival greetings over mobile” .To this my son said, “You are not much different from your friend; It’s good you have realized it now.”            

Mobiles phone have revolutionized the life style in the 21^st century and plays a crucial role in bringing developments in the life of people in many ways. But at the same time, the recent trend in using smart phones by the common man and the so called educated persons is a matter of grave concern for the society. Gradually, most of the members of the society are becoming too much self- centered and characters of togetherness and humankind is disappearing from many people. With the excessive use of the device of communication, the communication within the family members at home has been decreasing drastically. Even family lunch and dinner hours witness members engaged to mobile phones at one hand and food at the other hand. The concepts of family tours and vacation trips have also changed. Instead of having interaction and good time with the group members; everyone gets engaged with their smart phones. Whenever persons visit a new place, the first thing they do is clicking of their ‘selfies’ and uploading them immediately in the social media. Enjoying the beauty of the places and learning about the people, cultures etc of the place are completely forgotten concepts now.

The inappropriate use of smart phones also affects the work culture in offices. Many employees are getting addicted to the use of online games and social networks such as WhatsApp, Facebook etc during office hours and their attention gets distracted away from the works. Even many officers keep snooping on their smart phones during public interviews & official discussions. Situations in schools where values are inculcated on children are no different. Students found using mobile phones inside the school campus are punished but many teachers continue to use their mobiles even inside the class rooms without any guilty.

The adverse effects of the excess and unsystematic use of smart phones and the social media would bring great harm to the society as it would gradually change the attitude of people towards life and the fellow human beings. We may not realize the impacts of it immediately but within a decade we may be living in a virtual world which is far away from reality. I am not saying that one should completely keep away from the use of smart phones and the social media. All we need to do is use them with proper schedule without affecting our commitments to family, employers and the society. 

History of Higher Secondary Education: A Flashback

The present system of Higher Secondary Education is the outcome of intensive researches made by numerous Education Commissions and Eminent Educationists, brainstorming deliberations and discussions by different Committees and Conferences during the last 100 years. Prior to the introduction of the Higher Secondary Education, the duration of the school course was 11 years and the 2 years Intermediate Education was exclusively a part of collegiate education that offered 2 years degree course. Thus the dividing line between the School and University courses was drawn at Matriculation. The journey of the Higher Secondary Education started way back in 1917 with the appointment of the Calcutta University Commission popularly known as the Saddler Commission. It was the first Commission that suggested to make the duration of school education to 12 years and to put forward the idea of restructuring of education in the shape of 10 + 2+ 3.

The University Education Commission (1948-49) also known as the Radhakrishnan Commission under the Chairmanship of Dr S Radhakrishnan also recommended for adoption of a uniform pattern of 10 + 2 + 3 for the entire country. The Secondary Education Commission (1952-53) popularly known as the Mudaliar Commission recommended adding the first year of the Intermediate course to the Schools and the second year to the 2 year under graduate degree course so as to create the 3 year degree course.

The Planning Commission Panel (1960), the third conference of the Vice-Chancellors of Indian Universities (1961), The Central Advisory Board of Education Meeting (1962), The Conference of the State Education Ministers, Vice – Chancellors and Eminent Educationists (1963) had all recommended the same 12 years of school education up to the Higher Secondary level and 3 years of first degree course. The Education Commission or the Kothari Commission (1964-66) also recommended the present structure of 10+2+3 pattern of education.

After long years of deliberations and recommendations of different Education Commissions, the Government of India had notified the National Policy on Education 1968 and the National Structure of Education (10 + 2 + 3) came in to existence. Thus the process of upgrading of High Schools into Higher Secondary schools began from the implementation of NPE 1968. But, the two year Higher Secondary course at the beginning was conducted both at the schools and the colleges.  Later, the objectives of the school education covering the +2 stage of last two years were redrafted under the National Policy on Education 1986. The new policy of 1986 clearly recommended the +2 stage or the senior secondary education to be properly belongs to the school education and the colleges offering +2 stage of education were asked to transfer those classes to the schools.

The history of Higher Secondary Education described above makes it crystal clear that the higher secondary classes 11 & 12 are integral part of the school education and I need not explain why the finest brains of our country had brought this system into existence. The higher secondary stage of education is a crucial stage in the academic career of children as diversion of professional selection takes place during this stage. The educational administrators and teachers should remember one thing at this juncture. Even though the diversification of course of studies starts after passing of class 10, children should be helped to identify their natural aptitude and inclination towards the different courses when they are in classes 9 and 10.

New Staffing Pattern in Nagaland Govt. Higher Secondary Schools

A debate has been initiated in the media about the proposed implementation of the new staffing pattern in the Govt. Higher Secondary Schools of Nagaland. A section of the employees of the education department opposes the new pattern and threaten with agitations while another section appreciates the department for the initiation. I would like to share my views about the new staffing pattern here in the interest of thousands of rural Govt. school students who suffer due to acute shortage of teachers. I would confidently say that the proposed new staffing pattern of education department would stand as a milestone in the history of the department and is really a bold step taken by the policy makers towards correcting the mistakes committed for more than few decades.

Of course the new staffing pattern is not free from lapses; but one should understand that occurrence of few lapses is quite common with implementation of any innovative idea. The drawbacks of the system could be brought to the notice of the Government and I am sure that the concerned authorities would definitely look in to the genuine concerns of the employees. But opposing a novel initiation of the Govt. with utter selfishness is nothing but committing a sin against the poor people of Nagaland.

People may cite many reasons for opposing the new staffing pattern. But the real fact hidden behind the opposition is very simple. A section of the influential officers who ‘managed’ to get posted in the district headquarters doesn't like to move away from their comfortable posting places. We all know that most of the Govt. Higher Secondary Schools are situated in district and subdivision headquarters. If the HMs, AHMs and few Graduate Teachers from the GHSSs are redeployed to other High schools, they will have to give away few comforts and this is the major reason for their opposition. Here an important fact has been conveniently hidden by the associations which oppose the new pattern. They propagate that the Govt. has ordered redeployment of all the Graduate Teachers from the GHSSs. But this is not true. Few Graduate and Under Graduate teachers would be retained in the GHSSs and we could always demand more teachers depending on the strength of students.

Let me present a factual figure about a particular GHSS in Nagaland as a sample for your understanding of  the financial implications of the new pattern. A GHSS having 35 teaching staff now would have 24 teaching staff under the new staffing pattern and the affairs of the school could still be managed comfortably within the prescribed workload of the teachers. With the implementation of the new pattern, approximately Rs.5,20,000/-(Rupees five lakh twenty thousand) per month would be saved from this single school. Please take the trouble of calculating the amount spent unnecessarily for a period of 10 years in one school itself where as hundreds of schools are suffering without teachers in the rural areas.

The opposing associations has stated that the ‘Junior Post Graduate Teachers’ will not be able to manage the disciplinary issues arising in the secondary section of the schools without the Senior Graduate Teachers. Dear friends, where you all got posted initially as Senior Graduate Teachers? Let us not forget that most of the Post Graduate Teachers are trained (Possesses B.Ed degree) and been selected through tough competitive exams conducted by NPSC. Instead of opposing the novel initiative of the department for the convenient of few individuals, why don’t we have a healthy competition in improving the quality of education in the Govt. High Schools managed by the Headmasters and the Govt. Higher Secondary Schools managed by the Principals?