Withdrawal of EMA – Education Maintenance Allowance

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Admin

EMA is a conditional cash transfer and its aim is to decrease the dropout rates of 16-18 year olds from compulsory to post-compulsory education in the UK. It is targeted at individuals who have completed their GCSEs. If they choose to undertake any academic or vocational course that involves at least 12 hours of guided learning per week, and if their household income is below £30,000 per year, they are eligible for the programme. The payments consist of a weekly allowance of £10, £20 or £30 paid according to household income during term time and termly retention bonuses, both obtainable for up to two years. The money is intended to help with course related costs such as travel, books and equipment. To qualify a Learning Agreement is under-taken with a school or college which has achievements targets which have to be met in order to stay on the EMA scheme, and get your weekly awards and bonus payments.

It was piloted in ten Local Education Authorities in England in September 1999, with the piloting further extended in September of the following year and has been on offer nationwide since September 2004. This provided the basis for a large-scale evaluation at the IFS (Institute of Fiscal Studies), in collaboration with the CRSP (Centre for Research in Social Policy), which has pointed to the subsidy having increased participation in post-compulsory education, particularly amongst males. The increase in post-compulsory stay-on rates is in the region of 6 percentage points. It also shows that attainment in GCSEs and A-level by recipients of the EMA has risen by 40 per cent. since its introduction. That figure is even greater for those living in the most deprived neighbourhoods.

A report by CfBT Education Trust claims that there is “robust evidence” that EMAs have increased participation and achievement among 16 and 17 year olds, and contributed to improved motivation and performance. The report also states there is good evidence that those who are encouraged to stay on by EMAs achieve results that are at least as good as others. So this is not participation for its own sake but participation that has the effect of increasing skill levels and thereby life chances.

In addition, RCU (Research & Consultancy in UK education, training and skills sector) carried out research on the national scheme and in a report concluded “that EMA has had a positive impact on the retention, achievement and success of certain groups of learners…traditionally associated with lower levels of achievement such as: male learners; learners from minority ethnic groups; those with backgrounds of high deprivation and learners on lower level and vocational courses.”

The coalition government has announced that Education Maintenance Allowance will be abolished in order to fund the compulsory education and training of all under-19s. A replacement programme of targeted support for those most in need is likely to have a budget just a fraction of the size of EMA, as the Government seeks to save £500 million of the total £574 million budget. George Osborne, the chancellor, told the House of Commons: “We will fund an increase in places for 16 to 19-year-olds, and raise the participation age to 18 by the end of the Parliament – and that enables us to replace education maintenance allowances with more targeted support.” It is also not clear if the £500 million saving will be enough to fund full participation by under-19s by 2015, as the Government has promised. The former Department for Children, Schools and Families estimated the cost would be £774 million, while Professor Alison Wolf, now recruited by the Government to review vocational education, estimated that the real figure could be double that, at £1.5 billion.

This decision has created much public anger, not only because it is unclear what will be actually replacing EMA but also due to various comments by coalition MPs prior to the election:

Toni Pearce, 20, Student Union president at Cornwall College said: “When David Cameron visited our college just before the election, he promised me personally, in front of a group of students, that he would not scrap the EMA. So it was a bit of a kick in the face to hear that’s exactly what has happened. They are excluding a lot of young people from further education. In rural areas, like Cornwall, travel can be a real barrier to participation in education and training, but cuts to local authority funding may also threaten travel subsidies for FE students.” (Apr 2010)

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Michael Gove, the then Shadow Education Secretary said: “We’re committed to doing everything we can to close the gap in achievement between the poorest and the wealthiest at school. Ed Balls keeps saying that we are committed to scrapping the EMA. I have never said this. We won’t.” (Oct 2009)

David Laws (the then Lib Dem education spokesman) said “The Liberal Democrats don’t plan to scrap the allowance” (Oct 2008)

In 2008/9 the Labour government came under fire because the company responsible for processing the payments did not deliver on its commitments and EMA payments were delayed for many months. During this period the Conservative shadows minister, Nick Gibb said: “Thousands of the most deprived teenagers are missing out and may drop out of college altogether because of the chaos surrounding this year’s payments. We urgently need to make sure every eligible teenager receives their EMA payment before financial hardship forces them out of education.” This was a fair criticism but now reeks of hypocrisy considering only months after coming to power, his party announced the EMA was to be abolished.

Future students, teachers and parents are concerned about the effects of scrapping EMA which is being compounded by the government’s failure to announce full details of any schemes to replace it and what levels of funding they would receive.

John Stone, chief executive of the LSN (Learning and Skills Network) said: “The biggest question is whether colleges will be covered by the same funding guarantees as schools, but early signs suggest funding will go down. The challenge for the sector will be finding ways to protect learners, and to make sure teaching and learning is not affected.”

Julian Gravatt, assistant chief executive of the AoC (Association of Colleges) said: “We are concerned about the prospects of students from poorer families following the announcement of the withdrawal of the educational maintenance allowance and would like to see more detail about what is meant by ‘more targeted support’ for these young people. The AoC suggests the Government should protect education maintenance allowances for young people from the most disadvantaged backgrounds by tackling inefficiency in small school sixth forms and closing the funding gap between schools and colleges.”

Sally Hunt, general secretary of the UCU (University and College Union) said: “We are appalled to learn that education maintenance allowances are at risk. The simple message here seems to be: ‘Don’t be poor’.”

Lynne Sedgmore CBE, executive director of the 157 Group said: “Colleges will have to work hard to minimise the effect of the cuts on learners and, despite a couple of positive surprises in the review, it will just not be possible to protect the front line. We welcome the introduction of income-contingent student loans in further education, akin to those available in higher education. In relation to 16 to 19-year-olds, it is good news that the government is planning for an increase in participation, although wrong to assume that this will make greater efficiencies possible. Those learners who do not currently stay on in education will require different and usually more expensive provision than traditional learners. We believe that greater efficiencies could be made in the 16-19 phase if the government tackled the anomaly of small sixth forms or asked the Young People’s Learning Agency to fund school provision at the same rate as colleges. We hope that it will have the courage to do so.”

She also said: “It is disappointing that there was no reference to Further Education, the sector that has the highest proportion of disadvantaged learners. If plans to remove child benefit for those over 16 and to cut back on EMAs are pushed through, the impact of the premium in improving school and early years provision could be undone. The EMA has made a real difference to the participation and achievement of young people from poorer households, and we sincerely hope that it will be retained in these difficult times. If these cuts were to happen at the same time as parents lost their jobs or had to cut their hours, we could see increased drop-out rates for 16 and 17-year-olds, reversing years of progress against our skills ambitions. Members of the 157 Group know how important financial support can be in helping those from disadvantaged backgrounds to persevere and succeed. Further thought should be given to rolling up the EMA, child benefit and other forms of support into a well-targeted youth allowance that ensures no-one is prevented from getting on in education because of financial hardship.”

John Stone, chief executive of LSN said: “Getting the same results from a reduced central fund won’t happen overnight. Government has made one right move by devolving the power of distribution to those closest to the frontline, but schools and colleges urgently need to know how much money will be available and the details around how it will be regulated. Institutions are in the process of planning for a period of dramatic change, no matter where they sit in the education world. This work needs to be planned for if they are to make it a success.”

Graham Hoyle, chief executive of

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Necessity of Childhood Education

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Admin

1. What does stand for?

Emerge  Different Unique  Capable  Active Talent  In OurNature

Education is the knowledge which is to be distributed among every one. Education doesn’t matter with respect to place. Education must be mandatory for every citizen. As we the people say that the present youngster or the children who are going to be the youngster of the country will be the future of our country. So if they are educated then only the country will be known as educated country. As education leads to every success so child education is the first step to success.

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2. Is Education ?

Education is not yet mandatory but it should be. There are various villages in India. The people of village are not allowing or are not capable of educating their children. It lead to illiteracy. Thus the illiteracy rate goes on increasing. If education will be made mandatory then the people of village will have to permit the education to their children. But the question arises is no economy, no money so how the education is feasible? So the solution to this is that if there parents were educated so this was not a time that can come on their children.

3. Is it feasible for a child to study in such a ?

The child always follows the path their parents shows them. The child always starts learning from their parents or the elders who are belonging to their surroundings. So if a child has given a teaching of education so it is possible. If the environment is educated the children will be given the teaching of education. So it is feasible for a children to study in such a small age also. Children are the future of our country.

4. Is education really ?

Ya. Education is quite important. As we say that “”. So to educate a women education is needed. So education is important. If she is educated she will know the importance of education. And mainly the child learns more lessons from mother any one else. So education is really important.

5. Why education is the

As generally defined food,cloth & shelter are the basic need of day to day life. But for food, cloth & shelter money is needed. To get money some work is to be done. To be capable of doing work knowledge is needed. To get knowledge Education is needed. Thus Education is really the Basic Need of the people.

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Environmental Education for Sustainable Future: Towards 21stCentury

Posted on October 18, 2011 by Admin

We have built a society, which is violent & explosive .We are living in extremely explosive times the world is in confusion and human beings are driven by the power of egocentric behavior. The large scale exploitation of nature, population growth, accelerated development of productive forces, the ever increasing destruction of natural resources for human comfort has lead to depletion and degradation of natural environment bringing in a dangerous ecological imbalance in the man environment system.

The ecological crisis and increasing poverty, hunger and violence are forcing man inevitably to face the realities of the human situation. The whole human life – politically, economically, socially, environmentally and even culturally – appears to be in a state of turmoil and seems to be going through a very grave crisis.

Human values (cultural, moral & spiritual values) are eroding at very fast rate resulting in declining the quality of life of the people. At the dawn of the new millennium, what is required most is . Environmental Education for sustainability plays an important role in building peace & harmony and developing nonviolent global sustainable society

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According to the 1989 Brundtland Commission Report, sustainability refers to meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

“It encompasses economic, social, institutional and environmental dimensions of society and stresses the ways educational and academic institutions can be adapted to provide a more collaborative and supportive role to enable sustainability.” Thus when we talk about

What is Sustainable Development?

Sustainable development has been defined in many ways, but the most frequently quoted definition is from Our Common Future, also known as the Brundtland Report. “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It contains within it two key concepts:

The concept of needs, in particular the essential needs of the world’s poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and
The idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment’s ability to meet present and future needs.”

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“Education is a key and vital element in moving sustainability forward…” as per the Report of the UN Secretary General

Agenda 21(Rio)
UN Millennium Goals
Earth Charter
UN Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD)
WSSD (Johannesburg)

Education as the foundation of sustainable development was reaffirmed at the WSSD. The Plan of Implementation recognized education as critical for sustainable development in its own right, but also saw education as a key agent for change and a tool for addressing such questions as gender equality, rural development, health care, HIV/AIDS and consumption patterns. The Plan also called for synergy among global initiatives in education, specifically mentioning theDakra Framework for Action on Education for All (EFA)  , in which literacy, gender issues, and quality education play central roles and are essential for sustainable development and the Millennium Development Goals   on universal primary education. Finally, the Plan recommended that the UN General Assembly consider adopting a Decade of Education for Sustainable Development starting in 2005.

“Education for Life
Education through Life
Education throughout Life”- Said Mahatma Gandhi

“Education is a human right. Education is the primary agent of transformation towards sustainable development, increasing people’s capacities to transform their visions for society into reality.”

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It identifies four major thrusts of Education for Sustainable Development:

1.       Promotion and Improvement of Basic Education;

2.       Reorienting Existing Education at all Levels to Address Sustainable Development;

3.       Developing Public Understanding and Awareness of Sustainability;&

4.       Training –  Training the workforce with knowledge and skills to perform their work in a sustainable manner

“Education at all levels can shape the world of tomorrow…”  UNESCO. The UN Decade on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is an international recognition of the key role that Education and Communication can play in enabling and enhancing sustainable development efforts, and processes leading towards these. “Our biggest challenge in this new century is to take an idea that seems abstract — sustainable development — and turn it into a reality for all the world’s people.” Kofi Annan, UNSG, 2001

Originally perceived as education about sustainability, it is being increasingly recognized, through the influence of Agenda 21 and the World Summit on Sustainable Development, as more than the dissemination of knowledge.

Education at all levels can shape the world of tomorrow, equipping individuals and societies with the skills, perspectives, knowledge and values to live and work in a sustainable manner.
Education for sustainable development (ESD) is a dynamic concept “that utilizes all aspects of public awareness, education and training to create or enhance an understanding of the linkages among the issues of sustainable development.
Education for sustainable development is a vision of education “that seeks to balance human and economic well-being with cultural traditions and respect for the earth’s natural resources.”

teaches people to be better individuals, family members, community members and citizens. Education not only provides scientific and technical skills, it also provides the motivation, justification, and social support for pursuing and applying them. The international community now strongly believes that we need to foster — through education — the values, behaviour and lifestyles required for a sustainable future.

United Nations Millennium Development Goals   http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/
Education for Sustainable Development      http://www.ceeindia.org/esf/esd.asp
UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development http://www.unesco.org/en/esd/decade-of-esd/

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Elementary Education in Orissa

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Admin

This is the part of the speech of Dr Abdul Kalam in Hyderabad. Whenever we are talking about Developed nation, suddenly education comes to picture with other major indicators like the growth rate of the economy, birth rate, death rate, infant mortality rate (IMR), and literacy rate. These indicators are all interconnected with each other and the literacy rate has been the major determinant of the rise or fall in the other indicators. There is enough evidence even in Orissa to show that a low literacy rate correlates with high birth rate, high IMR, and decrease in the rate of life expectancy. The recognition of this fact has created awareness on the need to focus upon literacy and elementary education programmes, not simply as a matter of social justice but more to foster economic growth, social well-being, and social stability.

The Constitution of India casts an obligation on the State to provide free and compulsory education to all children up to the age of 14. The literacy rate in Orissa during 1951 was 15.8% against the all India average of 18.3%, which increased to 63.6% in 2001 against the all India average of 65.4%. While the male literacy rate of 63.1% in the State in 1991 increased to 75.9% in 2001, the female literacy rate increased from 34.7% to 51.0%. There has been a steady improvement in the literacy rates of the State over successive decades, which is a result of expansion of educational infrastructure both quantitative and qualitative.

In 1950-51, there were 9,801 Primary Schools with 16,525 teachers and 3.15 lakh students. There were 501 Upper Primary Schools with 2,569 teachers and 40,000 students. Also there were 172 High Schools with 2,247 teachers and 16,000 students. Since 1950-51, there has been a considerable expansion in the number of educational institutions, enrollment and number of teachers at all levels during successive plan periods. In 2003-2004, there are 44,416 Primary Schools with 52.54 lakh enrollment and 97 lakh teachers in the State. There is one Primary School for every 3.5 Sq.Km area. The state government has established 14, 233 Upper Primary Schools for each 10.94 km area in the State.

Issues of Concern

Education is the key to social & economic development of any society. It encompasses every sphere of human life. Level of literacy has a profound bearing on the level of human development. There are major issues, which are directly or indirectly concerned with the education in Orissa. First, the dropout rate in primary and upper primary schools is become a major issue of concern. In the same time dropout rate become a major setback in the increasing literacy rate which was at the primary stage 33.6%. But if you compare girls dropout rate with boys, the dropout rate for girls was 35.4% and for boys 31.9%. Dropout rate at upper primary stage was 57.5% in 2003-04. Out of them 56.5% boys dropped out in upper primary stage while 58.6% girls dropped out in the same year. Second issue is infrastructure of school buildings, which are in bad conditions. And the old or unsafe school buildings of our state are inadequate to meet the needs of school children. Many of them one-room (or even open-air) operations with poorly paid teachers.

Steps taken by the State Government

Orissa government has always made concerted efforts to provide education to all. Some major initiatives were taken to offer quality education for a brighter future not only for Oriyas but also for the state, at last for the nation. Some steps were directed towards the reform and renewal of state’s education system. In the same time there has been a considerable expansion in the number of educational institutions, enrolment and number of teachers at all levels during successive plan periods.

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The central and state governments have been expanding the provision of primary formal and non-formal education to realise the goal of Universilisation of Elementary Education (UEE). Elementary education is recognised as a fundamental right of all citizens in India. The directive principles of state policy envisage UEE as one of the major goals to be achieved and mandated in a timeframe. As per guidelines adopted at the national level, the State aims at providing access to Primary Schools within one kilometer and Upper Primary Schools within three kilometers from habitations having 300 or more and 500 or more respectively. In order to achieve the goal of Universalisation of Elementary Education and to improve the quality, steps have been initiated to engage more 9,563 para teachers under State Plan.

Government of India’s flagship programme ‘Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan’ was launched on nation-wide scale to universalize elementary education by providing for community ownership and monitoring of the school system. The objectives of the programme are compulsory Education to all the Children of 6-14 years age group by 2007. Under the programme, there were 780 new primary schools, 2,771 new upper primary schools were opened and. 25,594 Swechasevi Sikhshya Sahayaks were appointed in 2003-04. The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan programme calls for community participation through effective decentralisation – involvement of Village Education Committee (VEC), Members of Panchayat Raj institutions and Womens’ group. It ensures transparency and accountability of the school system to the community. To lesson the burden of Directorate of Higher Education, the state government has been established three regional Directorates in Bhubaneswar, Berhampur and Sambalpur. Regional Directors of these Directorates have been vested with similar powers of Director of Higher Education. Today, access to the qualitative education is reducing in Orissa. The reason is a lack of budget, weak governance and decline of physical infrastructure, shortage of teachers and their low salary, obsolete teaching plans, poverty and malnutrition, and absence of parents and society participation.

Hurdles to achieve the Goal

Funds become major hurdle for every developmental programme in Orissa. In some cases, it is surplus and government cannot utilize the fund within the required timeframe. In the other side, it is deficit. In every step and in every stage, we extend our hand in front of the Central government, financial institutions for funds. How do you education keep the education aside? The government does not have money for primary education. Well, the fiscal deficit is surely a problem, but that could not be excused during a downturn if it is used for opening up the way to developed nation. The Government of Orissa fully endorses the approach on universalisation of elementary education and the scheme ‘Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan’ should be given the highest priority. But when we are heading towards success of the programme, we do not have fund to provide the study materials to the students. With the assistance from Central Government, the Orissa Government has been providing the study materials every year. For a state like Orissa, the government needs 3.5 crores books for the students up to VII class.

Generally, the government was sanctioned eight crores every year. In the current year budget, only four crores has sanctioned, whereas approximately 30 crores required for the printing of study materials. Now, It is become routine issue for the government to sanction inadequate fund and demand more money at the neck of the moment when the books should reach at the end user. This is not only creating an obstacle in the time bound programme but also spoil the valuable time of the students for struggling with the course without courseware. Here I have highlighted one issue, which is occurred in every year at the beginning of academic year. Government has been compromising the issue without thinking the future of the small kids.

Though it is a routine issue, then why Government is not considering this issue seriously?

Some other issues like educational infrastructure and appoint good teachers with good salary are also taken into consideration. When we are appointing good teachers for this programme, we should think about the other side of the coin (i.e good remuneration). The state government appointed 40,846 Shiksha Sahayaks under several schemes including District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) and Sarba Siksha Abhijan (SSA). Due to deficit budget the Shiksha Sahayaks are compromising with the situation and ready to work in less salary (i.e. Rs 1500 per month), which is less than the wage of a bonded labour. In spite of that the State Government is unable to provide their share at least in time to the Shiksha Sahayaks. How would we expect quality education from a teacher who is struggling to survive in this expensive society? Recently, the State Government has decided to hike the monthly honorarium of the Siksha Sahayaks from Rs 1500 to Rs 2000. This decision was taken at a high-level meeting presided over by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on October 20. This will cost the State Exchequer an additional Rs 25 crore per year. Obviously, zero percent credit goes to the State Government. Though Central Government is supporting 75 percent of the estimated expenditure, this additional hike will be added to the aided account. If Sarba Siksha Abhijan is become a flop programme, then the credit goes to the state government. The major barrier is deficiency of fund.

Conclusion

We are compromising in every step of our life. How many days will we live with ‘compromise’? Let us stop compromising with our future and with our future generation. At least the State Government should give up elementary education. Education makes man a right thinker. It tells man how to think and how to make decision. When the absolute number of literate people in the state is steadily rising year after

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Observations of Primary School Teachers on the Minority Education Programmes

Posted on October 11, 2011 by Admin

Dr.P.K. Abdul Gafoor, Asst. Professor ,

Govt. IASE ,  Thrissur, Kerala

    

                 Several commissions have made various observations regarding the educational status of minorities in India.

                      The fact of educational backwardness of Muslims has been conclusively established in several reports and surveys. The Gopal Singh Report  (1983), Report of 43rd round 55th round of National sample survey and programme of Action and National Policy on Education (1986) reiterates that Muslims are most educationally backward.

 

NPE (1992), recommends large number of short term, medium term and long term measures to promote the education of Muslims, technical skill and for their integration in the main stream through measures such as systematic evaluation of Text books, etc.

                      Accordance to the suggestion of various commissions, Government of India, launched various programmes to uplift the Muslims especially in education. Programmes like DPEP in which the education of the minorities had given due importance is one among them. Besides, National literacy Mission (NLM) also conducted various awareness programmes in this  regard.

                                              Based on the 2001 Census Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) implemented various programmes for the education of girls at elementary stage like Kasturba Balika Vidyalayas. These programmes were implemented in educationally backward blocks of 20 states where female literacy was too low.

                      Besides SSA has identified 93 district in 16 states to give focused attention to the education of the minorities.

                      During 2005-09, 2643 primary schools, 1978 upper primary schools and 2900 EGS centres have been sanctioned in minority concentrated areas.

                      In addition SSA has given special emphasis to the modernization of Madrassa Education . Accordingly SSA provided the necessary supports in this direction.

                      Despite the constitutional declarations the condition of the minorities, especially Muslims in India is not up to the expected level. Sachar Committee Report (2006) put forth certain observations regarding the conditions of Muslims, especially in the educational scenario.

Report of National Commission for Religion and Linguistic minorities by Rangnath Misra ( May, 2007 ) suggests that; the educational programmes need to be continued with redoubled vigor among all other backward sections including Muslims, who have fallen far behind in the national average in all aspects, especially in Education. It is also suggests to explore the ways to provide financial assistance to the poor students among Muslims.

                            ” There is higher rate of literacy among Kerala Muslims than other States” ( Asgar Ali Engineer).          

                                  As per the report of the  Mr. Paloli Mohammed Committee , the educational status of Muslims in  Kerala are  not as backward as Muslims in other states of India. Yet there are certain backward pockets and people among Muslims in Kerala. The 11 member committee under the chairmanship of Mr. Paloli Mohammed Kutty, Minister of Local Affairs found out that, backwardness among Muslims is conspicuous in Education.

                                  So the Govt. of Kerala has undertaken certain measures to redress  various issues related to Muslim minorities.

                                  So tackling the backwardness in education is to give first priority in Kerala, that will enhance their social status too. SSA in Kerala has launched various activities in the state, especially up lifting the Muslim minorities through programmes like girls education, parental orientation, renovation of Madrassa education, etc. Besides specific programmes were  also implemented in various districts for the same.

                                  Hence by considering the importance of Minority Education, it is the time to evaluate the efficiency of the programmes launched by SSA in Kerala. So a study has been under taken in this dimension and other details are provided below.

             i. To know the opinion of the teachers on success of  various programmes that are implemented by SSA for the  minority Education in Kerala .

            ii. To know the problems in the implementation  and to suggest the remedial measures for the improvement of minority Education in Kerala.

                       The study has been designed, the necessary tools were prepared, data collected and analysed. Accordingly the findings were generated and suggestions were evolved.

                       

                   The study has been conducted in three districts of Kerala. They are ;

1.     Malappuram
2.     Kozhikode
3.     Kasargod

The 100 teachers from these districts were selected as samples .

Various tools were developed to collect data from the teachers , the tools are the following

                             This questionnaire includes a number of statements with the open and closed types. It collects the following details General Nature of the programmes.

                                    It includes 15 items, with three options to be rated by the selected teachers. It intended to collect data on the level of effectiveness of the parental orientation programme. (

                                    This questionnaire developed to collect the specific details on the programmes implemented in the districts .

4.

                                    This is developed for collecting specific data on the implemented programmes like, dictionary distribution in schools.

                                   The collected data were analysed and interpreted through the following ways.

          i.    Percentage analysis.

        ii.    Qualitative Interpretations.

                                          So the collected data were analysed the interpretations and conclusions were also generated

                                    The programmes conducted on Minority Education by SSA and relevant opinions of the teachers were gathered. SSA Kerala has introduced various programmes in the three selected districts .

                                      The teachers from the Malappuram District responded on it. Teachers opined well on the usefulness of the dictionary distribution in the schools  ( Table -2).

«   Helped it in finding meaning.

«   Students learned to use dictionary well.

«   Very useful in the class room activities for referencing.

«   Helped it much in writing meaningful sentences.

«   Used it as a pronunciation tool.

«   English learning became meaningful

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«   Used as a tool to find out English terms for the Malayalam Words.

«   Used it as tool of thesaurus.

«   Students started to prepare their own dictionary.

«   It enhanced reading Competence.

14

 8

8

4

2

2

2

 

2

2

2

 

                                      Teachers played varied roles in this programme, such as;

o     Make aware of  the students the importance of dictionary in class room learning.
o     Parents were farniliarised well on the dictionary related activities

               through PTA ( Parent Teacher Association) meeting

o     Prepared unique classroom activities by utilizing it.
o     Conducted campaigns to gather more dictionaries and books locally. o     Helped students in developing their own dictionary entitled  ‘

c)           

                                               The following problems were put forth by  teachers on the dictionary distribution and related activities in the schools.

«   Shortage of Dictionary.

«   Lack of proper planning.

«   Unawareness of the teachers in the Programme.

«   Lack of time in utilizing it well in the class room.

«   Most of the students do not have personal dictionary at home.

«   Lack of other reading materials in the schools.

«   Could  not cater the needs of all targeted students.

Supply more Dictionaries and other reading materials.
Implement programmes like this with proper vision and planning.
Monitoring should be strengthened.
Supply certain other materials like softwares and other  electronics gadgets.
Necessary directions are to be given to ensure the utilization of the

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Scs and Sts: Educational Realization

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Admin

SCs and STs: Educational Realization

- Ramaiah Bheenaveni*

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The world of today, by and large, is comparatively a rapidly changing one and the changes have been in a variety of directions. Not long ago society was through of as a reality sub-generis far beyond the control of individuals to change it –and education as a process of inducting new entrants into society. The idea that societies can be changed and, that too, education can be vital instrument of social transformation is increasingly felt. Geared to the preservation and perpetuation of tradition in the past, education is now being used to bring about social transformation in a large scale. This represents a kind of dilemma in respect of the social role of education in traditional societies.

Ignoring this dilemma, many social scientists today re inclined to believe that education is a powerful instrument of social transformation. The prevailing opinion in circles of social science is that education is an agency of modernization. It is argued that education promotes modernity in many ways but chiefly in two: (i) by sharpening the “critical awareness” of the people about the social structure in which they are placed, and (ii) by changing the consciousness of the people in a direction congruent with the dominant value of our age-rationality-which is also the mainspring of modernity. Following this reasoning, there has come up an impressive body of literature in recent years of documenting the impact of schooling on individual modernity in developing societies. The profound social changes that India has witnessed in the last few decades or so have affected its entire population, yet in some sections of its society their impact has been much more marked than in others.

Education is the key to development of any community. It can broaden the world view of the people, equipping them to meet the present day challenges. Education can be an input to their development. It can also build up inner strength of the people. Almost all studies have emphasized the importance of education in the development of the people. Ignorance is the biggest reason for weakness and knowledge is power. In the development effort, education has a pride of place in the priorities of the people. This is particularly so when the two systems of unequal strength come in contact. Education brings knowledge to he community and keeps in acquiring a new strength to enable it to face the new challenges which naturally come by when the process of change unfold unforeseen forces.

The role of education as an investment in human resources has been increasingly recognized all over the underdeveloped and developed countries. Education has special significance for the weaker sections of society, which are facing a new situation in the development process to adjust themselves properly to the changing circumstances. For them, education is an input not only for their economic development, but also for promoting in them self-confidence and inner strength to face the new challenges.

This position SC/ST education critically examines the contemporary reality of schooling of children belonging to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities who have been historically excluded from formal education – the former due to their oppression under caste feudal society and the latter due to their spatial isolation and cultural difference and subsequent marginalization by dominant society. There are thus sharp differences between these two categories of population in terms of socio-economic location and the nature of disabilities. However, there is also growing common ground today in terms of conditions of economic exploitation and social discrimination that arise out of the impact of iniquitous development process. Concomitantly, the categories themselves are far from homogenous in terms of class, region, religion and gender and what we face today is an intricately complex reality. Bearing this in mind this paper attempts to provide a contextualized understanding of the field situation of the education of SC/ST children and issues and problems that directly or indirectly have a bearing on their future educational prospects.

The educational effort so far as the SC and ST communities are concerned has to be somewhat different than for the general areas. In case of advanced groups and areas, demand for education is already there. Establishment of an educational institution itself is sufficient to attract the children from the advanced communities because their parents are interested in their education. This is not the case with the poorer section of the community. The message has as yet not reached the more backward rural and tribal areas where the citizen is still not very much aware about the practical utility of education. Thus, a number of socio-economic factors are coming in the way of members of SC and STs in sending their children to schools. In many cases, it is sheer economic hardship. Therefore, the universal educational programmes at the elementary stage in the case of these communities have to be much more than mere opening up of educational institutions. The students belonging to these communities may have to be provided with free textbooks, mid-day meals, and in the case of girls, even a pair of uniform. As the children grow, they become economic assets to the family. It may be necessary, therefore, that they are provided suitable scholarships and stipends in higher classes. It has to be ensured that if we cannot compensate the family, at least education should not be a burden on a poor family. In the case of tribal areas, it may be necessary that at middle school and high school levels adequate hostel facilities are also provided, as an institutional network itself will not be of much help. It is commonly observed that in some tribal areas much of the institutional capacity remains under-utilized.

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Special state institutions were set up for the advancement of SC/ST and various legislations, social policies and programmes were drafted which were geared to their economic and political development and achievement of equal social status. It has been difficult however, to identify these categories in terms of criteria laid down by the state. The ‘problem’ of the scheduled tribes has been a vexed one, given the various levels of social and cultural distance and varying degrees of voluntary or forced assimilation exploitation and/or displacement. In fact, it has been pointed out by Galanter that just where the line between Scheduled Tribes and non-Scheduled Tribes is to be drawn has not been clear. There are problems of overlap with caste and controversy whether a specific group is more appropriately classified as a ST or SC. Policy however treats the SC and ST groups homogenously. Moreover it rests largely on the assumption that mainstreaming is progress, while paying lip service to preserve distinctive cultures, especially of tribals who are coerced into assimilation.

Education was perceived as crucial to processes of planned change. It was seen as the key instrument for bringing about a social order based on value of equality and social justice. Expansion and democratization of the education system was sought, the two primary egalitarian goals of which were the universalisation of elementary education and the educational “upliftment” of disadvantaged groups. The State’s special promotional efforts have undoubtedly resulted in educational progress for the SC/ST especially in regions where policy implementation combined with the dynamism of reform, and most crucially with anticaste, dalit, tribal and religious conversion movements.

The last two decades have spelt the decline of the Welfare State under the powerful impact of global economic forces and neo-liberal economic policies. The egalitarian ethic underlying planned change and development is being rapidly decimated. The ideology of the Indian State’s New Economic Policy emphasizes the pre-eminence of markets and profits. In the context of an elite directed consensus on the inevitability of liberalization and structural adjustment, the predominant problems and debates of education have undergone major shifts. Structural adjustment have provided the legitimacy and impetus for a number of educational reforms that pose a direct threat to the mission of universalizing elementary education and equalizing educational opportunity for SC/ST, especially those left behind. The state is withdrawing from social sectors of education and health and delegating its social commitments and responsibilities to private agencies and non-governmental organizations. There is already enough indication that basic educational needs of the SC and ST are getting seriously undermined under the new dispensation adversely affecting life chances of vast sections of those who have yet to make the shift to first generation learning.

Urban migration, education, occupational change and religious conversion have been pursued by the scheduled castes as key strategies of socio-economic emancipation, status change and acquisition of a new social identity. They have achieved varying degrees of success. Anti caste and dalit movements have provided the bases for political consciousness and assertions of new self-consciousness and new self-respecting collective identities grounded in both moderate-reformist and radical ideologies. Contemporarily, the rigours of pollution, social practices of untouchability and social relations of servility vary greatly in different parts of the country. The widespread upsurge of atrocity

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Continuing Education for Nurses

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Admin

When you begin working as a nurse in a hospital or any other health care center, it does not mean that you will have to discontinue further education. It does not mean that you will have to stop pursuing academics. There are many seminars and classes for nurses who want to continue with their nursing education. There are many universities and institutes that offer for working nurses to enhance their education.

 

 

refers to courses taken by nurses after completing a nursing program and getting a license. The courses that you choose can be either general or specific subjects. There are a wide range of nursing courses offered by different universities. The availability of specific courses is purely dependent upon the institution or university that you choose to attend. Every institution or university has its own specialized courses and its own curriculum. Some of the subjects covered by are Personal Development, Biological and Physical Sciences, Behavioral and Social Sciences, Nursing Administration, Legal Issues relating to Health Care and many other such courses.

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There are many nurses who prefer to enroll themselves into different nursing education courses so as to further their knowledge in a specific area of medicine. For instance there are many nurses who enroll themselves into a midwifery course so as to understand the various aspects of prenatal care.  Nurses can also opt for courses that will help them to develop their nursing careers or help them to prepare for a higher degree. There are many nurses who enroll into advanced nursing courses in order to become professional nursing practitioners. A licensed and certified Nursing practitioner can examine patients and recommend treatments. Nurses who are already working can attend or attend classroom training programs to enhance their skills. In some instances, the employers may prefer nurses continue their education even while practicing the profession.

 

Every institute or university has a that they follow strictly. This calendar comprises of the entire curriculum for the year which is then scheduled on a calendar basis. Further, most institutes, colleges and universities offer nursing education by way of online programs. These programs are perfect for working nursing professionals who find it difficult to attend classroom programs. These courses allow registered nurses to develop sufficient knowledge and skills in order to meet their licensing requirements. The online course are designed keeping in mind those registered nurses who just want to enhance their skills and at the same time also designed to meet the expectations of those nurses seeking management roles.

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Online Education: Challenges of Being Employable in a “Traditional” Global Economy

Posted on September 29, 2011 by Admin

It stands out online degrees even from legitimately accredited universities are treated as a novelty or a contradiction. Online degrees may be gaining acceptance today, (again, depending on the university), but the trend to online learning does follow that of “online dating” – i.e., it still remains to be questioned, because it isn’t real life and people can lie on the Internet with ease: false personas and plagiarized data created with just a few taps on the keypad. Online education is yet to be fully integrated into the traditional global economy. Dan Carnevale did make a point of this in an article posted in the Chronicle of Higher Education that ‘employers often distrust online degrees’, preferring applicants who earned diplomas the old-fashioned way. Here is the reasoning: a degree from online institutions like DeVry or University of Phoenix which pay their sales representatives and advisors top dollars to sell the school, do not conform to the more stringent standards of a traditional university, give the impression that the candidate who received the degree did not work as hard for that education. (This may not be true in reality, but perception is everything when you are trying to get a coveted job in a highly competitive job market). But online education is hardly novel these days. In any case, most traditional universities (the bricks and mortar themselves) today are offering online degrees (though often not identified as such on students’ final transcripts).

The recent surge in online education is undeniably the expediency and flexibility of schedule that these programs offer.  Some online degree programs, for example, are 100% online, allowing the freedom and ease to take classes from learners’ own living rooms, allowing learners to maintain their current employment status.  With online-enable education programs, learners are able to participate in lectures anytime that is convenient, or there might be scheduled lectures that require learners to tune in.  A number of other online degree programs are hybrid programs, which comprise of a blend of online learning and designated on-campus days, where learners have the occasion to convene with instructors and classmates face-to-face. Online educationis now an integral module of higher education in the United States and the world in general.

Yet, some principled, absolutist opponents of online education argue there is no way one can do a Ph.D. online, for instance, working on the program hundreds of miles away from one’s major professors and dissertation chair as well as committee members and have the same quality of education as a traditional Ph.D. student working on campus. Monte Johnson, a philosophy professor at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) whose field is Aristotle, and one of those principled, absolutist opponents of online education maintains while “he could abide the use of hybrid models and online resources to supplement the classroom experience, he thought it was “absurd” to pretend that a degree granted entirely online could possibly approach the quality of one in the traditional classroom. Opponents like Monte Johnson trivialize and dismiss “education by CD-ROM and Internet” out of motives that include inherent conservativism and fear of losing one’s own job and respected position in society. For them open educational resources don’t equal education. Access to a video of a lecture is not the same as access to a class. Rather, content is infrastructure—the first step”. Having covered that, the few online graduates with teaching jobs in universities are often derided to have acquired “poor education” meaning “poor job performance”. Wrong! And, the fact that many traditional institutions take great care to hide whether the awarded degree was obtained online or traditionally, by ensuring that the transcript of an online graduate could not be discerned form a traditional student transcript—because of the possible employer—traditional/online graduate prejudice, should also speak to the inadequacies of an online degree, which, again, is simply unwarranted and naive. 

While varied caliber of online graduates from known providers of online education such as Capella, Walden, and University of Phoenix are an enduring testament to how common such graduates of higher learning were; the farce of employers being distrustful of online degrees was necessary to keep the lie of the traditional supremacy of the “bricks and mortar university” alive. What’s novel are the growing number of online graduates trained in reputable providers of education online, where the caliber of graduates are seen no more contradictory to the stringent quality control and academic standards these institutions submit these graduates to.

Not sounding like too much of an advocate of online education, it can be explained that people just are not very well grounded in the history of the modern university.  Scholarship has existed for thousands of years, and universities have existed for hundreds.  But people who see themselves as custodians of an ostentatious and glorious intellectual tradition enduring thousands of years, and as people whose sacrosanct obligation is to espouse the highest values of civilization, make the mistake in assuming that the way universities are structured today are the way people have always taught things, and by implication the way people will always teach things.

In fact, most of the elements of today’s universities are very recent. The design of a professional non-denominational establishment of learning started in the mid 19th Century. If the Enlightenment was a movement which began among a small elite of scholars and gradually broaden to make its influence felt throughout society, Romanticism was more pervasive both in its origins and influence. No other intellectual/artistic movement has had such an analogous variety, reach, and resilience since the end of the Middle Ages. Beginning in the last decades of the 18th century, Romanticism had transformed poetry, the novel, drama, painting, sculpture, all forms of concert music (especially opera), and ballet. It was profoundly associated with the politics of the time, echoing people’s fears, hopes, and aspirations. It was the voice of revolution at the beginning of the 19th century and the voice of the Establishment at the end of it.

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The elective system in collegiate education started in the late 19th or early 20th with Charles William Elliot who traced the inspiration for his elective system to the essayist and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson; as was John Dewey with his progressive education. The current admissions system first emerged in the 1920s as an academic innovation designed to protect White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) privilege against the claims of the bright but socially marginal children of Jewish immigrants. By the time these anti-Semitic admissions policies ended, administrators had discovered the institutional efficacy of non-academic admissions standards. Jerome Karabel shows in provocative and confrontational detail in his stimulating study, “The Chosen: The Hidden History of Admission and Exclusion at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton” how for decades the very university executives who have moralized about equal opportunity have extended special advantages to the children of wealthy alumni.

Karabel also speaks to the first major endeavor to diversify student bodies in the 1960s and appraise the multifarious effects of affirmative-action policies. The preponderance in college applications on balancing grades and extracurricular activities appears tolerantly positive at first peek. Yet, as Karabel explains, the top Ivy League schools engendered this formula in the 1920s because they were uneasy with the number of Jewish students accepted when applicants were judged solely on their grades. The search for prospective freshmen with “character” was, with anecdotal perceptibility, an effort to maintain the slowly declining Protestant establishment. As such, the phenomenal surge in enrollment in which people were projected to go to university is a product of World War II and the Cold War.

What’s astonishingly liberalizing is to reflect on the mid-19th century and read works by the highly regarded gurus of the time, such as William Barton Rogers and Charles William Elliot, and to reflect on how they were taking the remarkable novel technologies of their day—the steam engine, the telegraph, the factory—and trying to apply those technologies to build on educational systems that meet the social challenges of their time; and the possibilities brought about by massive immigration and the transformation of the United States from a rural and agronomical nation to an urban industrial one. “The New England colonists were the most urban and educated of all the colonists and had many skilled farmers as well as tradesmen and skilled craftsmen among them. They started the first English colonial university in the Americas, Harvard, in 1635 to train their ministers. They mostly settled in small villages for mutual support (nearly all had their own militias) and common religious activity. Shipbuilding, commerce, agriculture and fisheries were their main income sources”.

So whatever the cynics are doing, they are not rationalizing for quality and they certainly are not sticking up for tradition. It is therefore not clear what these prophets of doom against online education are doing. And it is hard to imagine in this age of technological supremacy of a world where people are judged by the method of delivery of their education rather than the strengths of their academic competence drawing employers into a daily pathological ritual in which online graduates are treated with distrust. It is not clear

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Corruption in indian education system

Posted on September 27, 2011 by Admin

 

India is a country where education is considered as scared. It is in India were all religion has its own belief in education. As India is a multicultural country with a number of religion present and number of languages spoken education is given importance in every religion. In ancient India informal education was given by sadhus, saints, maulvis, popes, fathers, and the most important place from where one still gets informal education is from home but this education was mostly and purely religious. The believers of Hindu religion called it Vidya. It was named the goddess Vidya as she was a goddess of education. The believers of Muslim religion called it Islam as Islam for them was learning and understanding their religion. As India moved forward from ancient period and reached the modern period formal education started becoming more important. Formal education was started so that people learn common things about the world and stay united because the same thing could not take place in only taking informal education. Formal education was not only started so that the world stays united but also people become knowledgeable. Formal education helped India to progress as it enlightened the people and improve the standard of living. It also helped in invention of new things and made life much easier. Formal education rises not only in cities but also in villages. India has given birth to many scholars which took the country India to a different height in the world. Primary Education also had been made compulsory. Education is free of cost up to a certain grade for girls as girls help their families grow which will lead to a successful and bright future.

Many schools, colleges, universities, etc have been started so that no one is deprived of education. Formal education has become a must. But is the formal education still works the same way as it was started during the British rule. Is the education still on the same level as it was started by Mahatma Phule. Although the quality of education has increased, the system has started getting bad. Indian religion has always considered education as sacred, but does the sacredness still exist? All in India citizen has the right to education but is that norm of Indian democracy actually practised? Does India treats all students equal and gives them equal education? Is the Indian education system corrupted? Let’s find the answer to these questions.

 

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MBBS seats sold for between Rs 12 lakh and Rs 40 lakh by two private colleges in Chennai barely exposes the tip of the iceberg. The scam gets bigger, more brazen as medical graduates embark on specializations that are necessary for a successful career. The price this year for a post-graduate seat in radiology in most leading private colleges across the country is Rs 2 crore while in cardiology, gynaecology and orthopaedics are priced around Rs 1.5 crore

 

This is an example of clear corruption in Indian Education System.

Middle caste students and poor students who have brains can never get into these colleges although they have the ability to perform. Marks, grades, percentages hardly matters to these institutions. Is this the sacredness these medical colleges are showing?

Other educational institutions like schools and colleges also have started taking bribes on the name of donation which costs up to 10 to 15 lakhs. Where do the middle class people go for educating their child? The Indian democracy says Every Citizen Have a Right to Education. But this is not practised. The education system is not directly depriving the child from taking education but indirectly it is saying that marks and intelligence have no value in front of money today.

 

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There is no need of Entrance Test in India. But this is another way of getting money. This system has also started in India to a very large extent. Making money is very famous through entrance exams. Just pay Lakhs and crores of rupees for the entrance exam in different fields like science, MBA, and many other major degrees is a must. All corrupt educational institutes have started making money through this source also. Some private educational companies in India has started a business of entrance exams. Not only these companies but also the educational institutes earns crores of hard money. Educational institutes enjoy the money which they have earned on the name of entrance exams.

 

This corrupted way of earning money leads some of the students who cannot pays the money no where. Talented middle class or poor people try to take loans which again creates a problem for them. Some who do not find a way out of this problem often ends their life. The suicide rates have increases every year of students who cannot get into their desired colleges.

 

 

 

 

 

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The third major problem in Indian education system is the marks allocation system.

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Who will study when students can get 60% marks through copy paste?

 

Some institutes have started to give 60% marks for internal assessment. Internal assessment are easy but are made more easy by these institution by just letting the students to copy paste the stuffs from various sources especially internet. Mostly internal assessment works includes projects, researches on different topics which can be easily available. This does not only make the students lazy but also kills the talent in them. The hidden talent in them is also not discovered by the students by this systems.

 

No need to work hard, no need to study. No need to be awake nights and days for the remaining 40% marks when you are getting 60% marks.

 

This system has also been introduce by these institutions as it not only lessen the work but also becomes a medium of earning. Students bribe the teachers and other authority but giving big fat donations and get the degree from these corrupted educational institutes.

 

 

 

 

 

India is a vast country with the second highest population in the world. As there is more population there are more students in India looking for schools, colleges, etc. Government is taking measures to built up more schools and colleges as there is limitation of seats in the existing ones.

 

During this process of building institutions some private institutions starts doing business without any recognition. These education institutions are totally fake with nothing in it. These education institutions are eating crores of rupees by providing zero education to students. The degree of these colleges are useless. These degrees have no value anywhere. After these education no student can stand con their feet.

 

There are various ways of finding these fake institutions.

 

People should keep their eyes and ears open to the surrounding happenings and report to police or government authority if they come across such institutions.

 

Government should take enough measures to find them. This business should be immediately stopped as it spoils the life of students for their own selfish motives. Just for money these institutions are built up which leads the students nowhere. The builders of such institution should be punished severely so that people do not try to cheat our present generation and future of India.

 

 

 

 

Indian education system is also in corruption because of high rate of teacher absenteeism in the country was a key factor in education system in India according to the new global study.

 

The UNESCO’s International Institute of Educational Planning study on corruption in education released recently says that 25% teacher absenteeism in India is among the highest in the world, second only after Uganda that has a higher rate. The global average of teacher absenteeism is about 20%.

 

 

Politics in teacher appointments and transfers is a major reason for teacher absenteeism according to a professor at National University for Education Planning and Administration.

 

 

 

The study also says – Teacher absenteeism does not just affect quality of education it is also a huge drain on resources resulting in the wastage of 22.5%  of education funds in India.

 

 

 

The study identifies the absence of well established criteria for teacher recruitment a uniform policy on promotion, remuneration and deployment as some of the main reasons identified for teacher absenteeism. However the report found married teachers to be more regular at job than unmarried teachers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Bihar two of every five teachers were reported absent the figure in UP was reported to be one-third of the total teachers. However in states like Gujarat and Kerala the figure was lower than 15% the report based on several small studies.

 

 

 

Teachers also believe highly in private tutoring a practice identified by UNESCO as unethical. It does not complement learning at school and leads to corruption the report said. The teachers starts taking big sum of money for their private coaching’s and pays less attention to schooling. They  avoid teaching in schools with good explanations and start giving more attention to students who take private tuitions.

 

 

 

 

Another major problem of Indian education was the view of students towards the activity of copying in exams. Students say that copying and cheating in exam

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Challenges in Education in Today’s Society – Globalization and Changes in Education

Posted on September 25, 2011 by Admin

The so-called “demographic winter” phenomenon, which reveals the dramatic consequences of the “modern” life, marked by familial and moral decline, by miscarriage, vulgarization and the homosexuality “normalization”, by the poisoning influence of the majority of mass-media and the “Hollywood culture” are inoculating egocentrism, frivolity and irresponsibility. Considering this demographical trend offers a new dimension to the way in which abundance and resource of the world are distributed and also gives a new vision on elementary educational issues.

The globalization of education is reflecting itself in the extension and unification of educational practices, used by all those public or private entities, involved as active social educators. Over time, the public education systems in developed or emerging countries, which promote formal education, are illustrating with consistency the practice of a classical education system. In the field of non-formal education there are used more innovating and diverse methods of education, but unfortunately few of this are oriented upon individual behaviour reshaping in the global context, and they are looking only to proliferate consumerist habits, by preparing youngsters for a successful professional career start. The presence of NGO’s with international coverage and professional training companies has fixed the currently understood “development in education” in comfortable limits. This makes room for a reshape of educational fundamentals and, more obvious, for the ultimate purpose of learning.

Most people think that education should equip them with the proper exploitation instruments so that they can forever trample over the masses. Still other thinks that education should furnish them with noble ends rather than means to an end. The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. But education which stops with efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society. The most dangerous criminal may be the man gifted with reason, but with no morals.

Socially speacking, the technological revolution, the broaden access to information and the modern lifestyle facilities have made possible the appearance of an irreversible phenomenon in the conflict between generations. In our present times, the children, “sons of globalization” have access to multiple sources of information, with the internet being most of the time an instrument of self-education. The balance is leaning in the favour of the power of informed youth, who become “the teachers”, explaining the new world order to the eldest. This theory takes into consideration the acceleration of technology and the way of our lifestyle, but, beyond its observational character, it does not bring up the discussion on the relevance of educational systems, visible outmoded, which attempts to destroy the moral and statutory principles. The wisdom is transmitted from the old generation to the youth, and not backward.

Therefore we are raising the question regarding the way organisms responsible for educational issues should reconsider the basic fundamentals of this basic activity, which clearly has guided the evolution of our world so far. It isn’t enough for organizations like U.N.E.S.C.O or U.N.D.P. to confront the absence of primary education and the discrimination regarding access to education in underdeveloped countries, to avoid resettling the educational needs inside an inappropriate system. It is necessary to deal with these aspects in proper time, because we consider education the key-element which can slow down the process of planet and people self destruction.

The proposal regarding fundamentals reshaping and reviewing the individual education, approached in all stages and cycles of life, starts with the assumption that “Man has to be educated to act responsible towards the environment and civilization, and not interfere in the harmony and balanced world development with his behaviour”. This observation, not exactly recent, triggered a chain of initiatives in the educational system in countries like France, Italy, Germany, including Romania, but I consider that implementing a discipline of Civic Education, in the gymnasium module is not enough, neither convincing.

We feel that the new fundamentals and principals of education, which must be known, understood and applied by every teacher, through all the range of educational processes in the long life learning of individuals, and also in the non formal educational process, whereat people have access during existence are:

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1. Self-consciousness – is essential because it allows every individual to find his role in society, to know his weak points and to develop them according to his unique talents genetically inherited. A person aware of his/her self can easily act in choosing the occupation or the carrier to practice that he or she will be able to direct his energies to and recognize the real problems that the world and society faces. Consciousness-based education, introduced in 1971 by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, is unique in its ability to effectively develop the total brain potential of every student.

2. Stimulating creativity – this special quality is reflected in the mental and social process of generating new ideas, concepts, associations, and permits individual adaptation to unpredictable contexts and situations. There are simple techniques, associated to lateral thinking that can promote this capacity, for example: improvisation, fiction as imaginary product, (Randomness, Improvisation, P.S.).

3. Communication – in the actual forms and methods used as learning practices, communication is not capitalized at being the supreme value, because mostly individual activity it’s encouraged, which promotes inappropriate values like egoism, indifference, self-interest. Without communicating problems and discussing difficult situations, there is no way to claim solving the issues in optimal parameters of time, quality and accuracy. The man can not act in terms of social responsibility, as a “macro attitude”, which I consider as being shallowly approached, especially in the economical environment.

4. Promoting a responsible role in society – education must train one for quick, resolute and effective thinking. To think incisively and to think for one’s self is very difficult. We are prone to let our mental life become invaded by legions of half truths, prejudices, and propaganda. At this point, I often wonder whether or not education is fulfilling its purpose. A great majority of the so-called educated people do not think logically and scientifically. Even the press, the classroom, the platform, and the pulpit in many instances do not give us objective and unbiased truths. To save man from the morass of propaganda, in my opinion, is one of the chief aims of education. Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction. This is the way in which he or she could develop and exercise an active role in society.

5. Changing opening – in order to be able to intervene in the actual course of the life circle, accepting and promoting the changes is considered a healthy habit, which stimulates the flexibility and the disruption of existing corporately stereotypes, which are heading humanity to destruction, because of the ignorance or simply because of unknown problems that Terra is facing. From this perspective, the change tackling implies a real transformation at psychological level and of human behaviour, therefore to satisfy those priorities needed to be handled immediately. Here we refer to: the necessity of a re-conversion of world economy from a military economy to civil one, immediate solutions for energetic and environmental problems, as well as for the underdevelopment and poverty aspects propagated into the world.

6. Global vision upon world – the actual educational system, as a whole, is constituted by a sum of operations (method -> evaluation -> communication), whose final objective must reflect a pragmatic and global view on the world. At present, the youth is informed regarding global problems through sources like mass media, not making possible a healthy analysis, not making possible a debate and a thoroughness facilitation that could lead to the understanding and building-up personal opinions regarding aspects like underdevelopment, global economical relations, international monetary system, etc.

7. The ability of solving problems – solving problems is the easiest way to re-create conditions and actions in an artificial manner, experience which allows pupils and students to deal with in a constructive way and to develop solutions for different problems. Learning systems which are basically constructed like this are superior because it helps individuals to recognise and adapt to specific economic, social, psychological, spiritual context and to detect real problems in any form, associating optimal alternatives of decision. For example, simulating a complex economical context for a start-up enterprise leads to the stimulation of individual creativeness and decision-making abilities.

8. Multidisciplinary teams – to permit the reshaping and the restructuring of scholar curricular in the needed form in order to develop these abilities and capacities, we are suggesting even some changes in the study of discipline, considering the logical and contextual relations between them, providing an understanding of all existing correlations at a certain point. For example, Public Finances should be studied in the International Monetary System context and not separately. At the same time this characteristic involves, according to those said

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