Turn it upside down-Revolution not Reform

We should think of revamping the subjects which we teach to the children now in schools.It doesn't have much relevance to the day to day life.Basic skills are ignored and alien ideas are pushed  into the minds.The ultimate purpose of exams are not achieved,evaluation should be stressed instead of exams.A boy of Class IX should know how to fill the Draft form in a Bank and be able to calculate the volume of wooden planks.Our system doesn't build confidence in our children, instead creates passive listeners who never ask questions.This is a generalized idea of our educational system.Applicability of knowledge is always ignored.We cannot think beyond the values created by our own system .

 Our generation is the product of the same old values which still believes in sending the children to school for a better earning.The so called educated people are often we find cheated by the socially deviated people.We never taught the children to discriminate between genuine and fakes,never ever taught them to free themselves from greed,fear,anger etc.and left this to Religions.Quest or Curiosity is not awakened in them.Narrowness or living in tight compartments in life is more convenient for many who never think out of the box and allow the coming generation to do so.Justifying their actions and acting with a preconceived notion with their conditioned mind is a Crime and not a Sin.

  What is right yesterday no more hold any ground today,except certain time tested moral values.Even moral codes may vary from society to society.All this I learned when I taught and thought in the school,but  I learn when I teach my children at home and observe their actions."Child is the father of Man".We should groom the children to adopt and practice healthy attitudes so that they become a balanced individuals.

MAKE THE GRADE - By Jug Suraiya (TOI)

The class struggle in India is about to get a little easier: students in Class X will not have to take board exams but will be subject to a grading system based on term papers, quizzes, group discussions and other activities. This long-awaited measure will liberate these students from the cruel tyranny of the dreaded board exams, which exact a frightful toll of panic and despair, leading in extreme cases to suicide.

The HRD ministry deserves two cheers for this. The third cheer must remain reserved until further reform of our oppressively antiquated educational system, which still remains obsessed with 'marksism': academic success or failure is determined by the number of marks a student gets for spewing out undigested information which has been learnt by rote, and which will be forgotten as soon as the results are out, if not sooner.

While the new measure will, it is hoped, free Class X students from despotic 'marksism' and inculcate in them a sense of inquiry which is the foundation of all true education it only defers the ordeal of the exams they will eventually have to face to pass out of school. Why not carry the grading system right through Class XII?

A more serious shortcoming of the new system is that it addresses only one side of a multifaceted problem: it seeks to grade only students, and not those who teach them or those who monitor and supervise their schoolwork, like parents. Why is it that only students must pass tests? Or, as will now be the case for Class X students, learn to make the grade? What about teachers? Isn't it equally important that they too should be regularly tested to see if they pass muster?

Having got their qualifying degrees by the same system of 'marksism' that they will perpetuate throughout their professional careers the great majority of teachers don't trouble themselves with keeping abreast in this ever-changing world with the latest developments in their supposed expertise, be it in science subjects or the humanities. In short, the moment they start teaching, they stop learning. Which is a contradiction in terms. Or ought to be. For learning and teaching are two sides of the same two-way street. Even as they test, or grade, those whom they teach, teachers should also be regularly tested, or graded, in a process which includes input from their students. (On a scale of 1 to 10, rate your teacher on the following counts: Grasp of Subject Matter, Clarity, Communication Skills, etc.)

But if teachers are to make the grade, it has to be made worth their while. Barring a handful of so-called 'elitist' institutions whose faculty members are reasonably well paid, most schoolteachers in India receive a derogatory pittance by way of salary, with government schoolteachers probably at the bottom of the heap. (So where does that 3 per cent education cess that is added onto your tax go? Don't ask.)

Indian schoolteachers' salaries are so poor, for the most part, that teachers have been described as the white-collar 'shudras' of the country. How do we upgrade our teachers who supposedly are the moulders and shapers of young minds, who in turn will shape the future of the country not just economically, but also socially?

Should not just schools, but also individual teachers, be graded by a star system awarded by an autonomous body comprising eminent educationists the way hotels and restaurants are rated?

If we really want our schoolchildren to make the grade in all senses of that term then we have to ensure that their teachers are sufficiently motivated to themselves make the grade. And in order to do that, we as a society parents, taxpayers, policymakers also have to make the grade in the common project of redefining the content and purpose of education. What is the purpose of education? Is there any purpose beyond the obvious one of getting a job and making money? How our school kids make the grade will depend on how we make the grade in answering that question.

source:TIMES OF INDIA

secondopinion@timesgroup.com

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/jugglebandhi/

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READ AN OLD NEWS ITEM from INDIAN EXPRESS

Sep 19, 2003

NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 18: Union Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi today reversed the decision of the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) to allow students to evaluate their teachers.Though some private schools do allow such internal assessments, this was the first time that such a measure was being introduced in a nationwide network like the Kendriya Vidyalaya system.

Joshi’s decision evoked a positive response from the large constituency of teachers but some of them like Arjun Dev, formerly with the NCERT, felt that such a system would have to be incorporated in the long run. However, he added that emphasis given to such assessment should not result in teachers being penalised in any way.

HONESTY IS STILL THE BEST POLICY FOR SOME

Do you think honesty is still the best policy?If your answer is Yes,then you are in the Minority list!
If you say NO,then you are in .........! Honesty takes a backseat when money is in the front seat.
Everything is possible for some..nothing is possible for the honest and modest .You should be manipulative,diplomatic& mean minded for success-this is the new mantra of the screen age generation.Talent is- hunted and killed..."Send a SMS to decide whether viewers should be empowered to select(elect) a contestant"shouts a News Channel-again SMS -fooling who?Don't get desperate . Negativity attracts because it comes in attractive colours & variety and fascinates the majority.Without this Negative ,Positive will not have any value.Be in the Minotity List and be UNIQUE! a rare gem,precious stone! HAPPY TEACHERS DAY.

FIRST TEACHER IN TO SPACE

CAPE CANAVERAL: NASA's space shuttle Endeavour blasted off on Wednesday sending the first teacher into space 21 years after the Challenger explosion tragically ended the dream of another pioneering teacher. Teacher-turned-astronaut Barbara Morgan, 55, has become the star of the second shuttle mission to the International Space Station this year, which has otherwise been marked by embarrassing stories of drunken and love-crazed astronauts. Her chance to fly into space finally came with Endeavour's launch at 6:36 pm (2236 GMT) on Wednesday from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.

The booster rockets separated about two minutes after the shuttle lifted off, and Endeavour was hurtling toward space at a speed of 15,000 miles per hour (24,000 kilometers per hour), a NASA official said.

"Class is in session," a NASA spokesman said after the external fuel tank separated from the shuttle and the Endeavour entered its preliminary orbit less than nine minutes into the flight.

First Lady Laura Bush, a former teacher herself, called Morgan on Tuesday to offer congratulations from "one school teacher to another."

Morgan had trained alongside fellow teacher Christa McAuliffe in the 1980s as a backup for the Challenger shuttle mission. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration had hoped that sending a teacher into space would fire the imaginations of millions and keep up support for its shuttle program. But on January 28, 1986, Challenger exploded and broke up 73 seconds after blastoff, killing all seven aboard, and delaying for two decades Morgan's own aspirations to join the elite astronaut corps. "Christa was, is, and always will be our 'Teacher in Space,' our first teacher to fly" in a shuttle, Morgan said in an interview released by NASA.

"She truly knew what this was all about -- not just bringing the world to her classroom, but also helping ... to show the world what teachers do," she said.

After the Challenger disaster Morgan went back to teaching, and then rejoined the astronaut corps in 1998.

Once in space she will operate robotic arms on the ISS and the shuttle to unload and install new equipment and supplies on the space station.

Endeavour is taking seven astronauts, including a Canadian, on an 11-day mission to continue the expansion of the ISS, an orbiting laboratory that NASA considers a key part of its space exploration ambitions.

The mission will carry a truss section about the size of a small car to extend the space station to a length of 108 meters (354 feet), about the size of a football pitch.

The astronauts will also replace a defective gyroscope, one of four keeping the space station on an even keel, and install an exterior stowage platform. Astronauts will venture out of the ISS on three spacewalks to complete assembly and repair tasks. NASA could prolong the mission by three days to include a fourth space walk, to prepare for installation of a boom that will allow crews to inspect for potential damage to the shuttle's heat shield. NASA has been leery of damage to shuttle heat shields since February 2003, when a broken thermal tile led to the disintegration of shuttle Columbia on re-entry, killing all seven aboard and putting the shuttle program on hold for two-and-a-half years.

NASA finally resumed ISS construction missions last year after conducting two missions aimed at improving safety, but the space agency has been hit by earthly scandals ever since.

Earlier this year, astronaut Lisa Nowak was arrested and charged with attempting to kidnap a woman dating another married astronaut. She has since been fired from NASA.

The incident prompted NASA to set up an internal panel to review astronauts' health. The panel recently issued a report saying astronauts had been allowed to fly into space while drunk, sparking worry in Congress about NASA management.

The space agency avoided yet another black eye with this mission, by repairing in time for lift-off a computer that had been sabotaged while in the care of a NASA contractor.

LEARNING TO THINK

"God ,why don't you help me !"- this is a common frown of many,but God symbolize compassion,love,patience etc., then why he don't look in to our troubles? Did we ever realized ,what God has given us.

Now read this story...Once a teacher asked a student to name all the seven wonders of the world.The child was not able to answer this question.Then the teacher asked to think and answer the question.The girl started telling"The Seven wonders of the world are...our eyes which can see,the ears which can hear,nose which can smell things,tongue having taste buds,hands which can work hard, legs having the ability to run,mind which enjoys everything in life, all these are the seven wonders of the world."The teacher was unable to accept this answer as wrong.The pyramid or the Great Wall of china is not above these wonders-thought the teacher.

When we are going to understand this? We never allow the child to create a new answer for an unknown question.Our system of education kills creativity.Walt Disney got the remark of not having Creative thinking when he was in school.We keep safely and appreciate the gifts,greeting cards given by our beloved ones and cherish the memories,but forget to appreciate the gift of God ,who gave a lot to us.Let us learn to love our life and our gifts.Thank daily God(Nature ,if you are not a believer) for the uncountable bliss showered on us.Common be serious!

ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S FAMOUS LETTER

A letter written by Abraham Lincoln to the Headmaster of a school in which his son was studying. It contains an advice, which is still relevant today for executives, workers, teachers, parents and students.
A WORD TO TEACHERS
"He will have to learn, I know, that all men are not just and are not true. But teach him if you can, the wonder of books.. but also give him quiet time to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun and flowers on a green hillside.
In school, teach him it is far more honorable to fall than to cheat.....
Teach to have faith in his own ideas, even if everyone tells him he is wrong.
Teach him to be gentle with gentlepeople and tough with the tough.
Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd when everyone getting on the bandwagon...
Teach him to listen to all men; but teach him also to filter all he hears on a screen of truth, and take only the good that comes through.
Teach him, if you can, how to laugh when he is sad... Teach him there is no shame in tears.
Teach him to scoff at cynics and to be beware of too much sweetness.. Teach him to sell his brawn and brain to highest bidders, but never to put a price on his heart and soul. Teach him to close his ears to a howling mob.. and stand and fight if thinks he is right.
Treat him gently, but do not cuddle him, because only the test of fire makes fine steel. Let him have the courage to be impatient.. Let him have the patience to be brave. Teach him always to have sublime faith in himself, because then he will have faith in humankind.
This is a big order, but see what you can do. . He is such a fine little fellow my son!
- Abraham Lincoln"