A moving article from Times of India and my views on it - TOI - 28/12/07

My Views:

Spare a thought for the generation which is constantly mesmerized by these so termed 3c's - Cricket, Cinema and Computers. It's really sad that the article tends a bit towards negative criticism of the issue. I agree to the fact that students need to sideline their passion of these three C's for a while during the exams. But on second thought, why should one sideline passion for anything in life?

Its really hard not to loose respect for the CBSE chief when he says - "overindulgence in the 3Cs not only cost students their valuable time but could also be of such an influence to hamper their growth and stunt them in achieving 3As—aptitude, attitude and altitude—in their personal life and professional career".

The article talks about the so called three A's of life - Apptitude, Attitude and Altitude; which stand a chance of being unachieved if time is devoted to these 3 C's.

If this is true, will someone tell me then,

• why the hell is the entire nation inspired when a cricket team wins a crucial series or a world cup?
• Why are the team members showered with diamonds and jewels?
  
• Why is Shahrukh Khan followed religiously? Why are their temple named after Sachin Tendulkar or Amitabh Bachchan?
  
• Why is Bill Gates considered to be a genius or just why is he the richest guy? Why are Apple Computers founders thought of highly? Why is IT industry termed as hot and happening? Why is Animation industry said to be the next big thing for India?

If devoting time to these three C's is so bad then why the hell do we have a cricket team? Why do we make movies and why do parents buy computer? Are they dumb?

I don't doubt your intelligence Mr. Chief but please get this right - Your three A's exist in this nation with the help of these three C's.

This generation has a positive attitude towards things in life. We are the future and we love the three C's - you have no choice but to agree with this fact.

• The ever improving young Indian Cricket Team inspires us to aim high in life, keep striving for success and take failure with a strong heart without diminishing your positivism.
  
• Cinema inspires us in every aspect of life. Yes, I agree to the fact that sometime the scenes are just unbearable and unwatchable with family. But movies like Swades, Iqbal, Yuva, Chak De India, Lagaan, Rang De Basanti, Taare Zameen Par, both the Munna Bhai's keep us up on our toes to do something good, to strive for something better, to give back more than what you take, to improve the system by taking active part rather than staying out and criticize, to do our part in building the nation.
• To be true, I have learned more about physics, maths and chemistry through websites such as Google, YouTube, Metacafe, howstuffworks, wikipedia, teachertube, expertvillage, 5min, videojug, physicstutor just to name a few out of the thousands of websites filled with educational content. Yes I agree that inappropriate content exists from students point of view and they can loose their focus. But that's just the other side of the coin. Instead of spending our energy negatively in criticizing the bad things about the system why not spend some good amount of energy together in make the good side of the coin more prominent, attractive, known, accessible and affordable?

If students love PC games then each them through games, if they love sports, teach them through sports, if they love movies, show them high quality educational movies with mind-blowing story lines filed with rich content.

The process never matters, the end result does.

We don't have the skill to teach - it is they who have the power to learn!

I teach students various topics on physics, and many other subjects, and I strongly believe one can teach some of the best topics in physics through games and sports like cricket, football, billiards, boomerangs, kite flying competition and a hell lot of other crazy things.

There's a difference between a good teacher and a great teacher. A good teacher teaches the subject with accuracy and perfection and his/her students score well. A great teacher however makes the students fall in love with the subject and allows them to think!

Get out of your skin Mr. Chief, tune up yourself for the new generation. Please don't prepare Indian students for the big rat race. Let them play and discover the Genius within. Prepare them for a beautiful life and not a mundane job. You have the power of decision, please utilize it to the full potential. Start imagining like a kid again and please go and watch Taare Zameen Par!

SandeepRajSharma
sandeeprajsharma@gmail.com

My apologies if my thoughts hurt you in any way. Take it in good spirits - all for the sake of Education! Have a Good Life!


The Article

Cricket, cinema and computers affecting students: CBSE chief

Dhananjay Mahapatra | TNN

New Delhi: Expressing grave concern over the growing negative impact of cinema, cricket and computer on the student community, CBSE chairman Ashok Ganguly has sought active parental guidance and control to moderate children’s indulgence in these 3Cs. He would not term any of the 3Cs as a vice or bad per se in this era of globalization where sources of information were varied and even agreed with parents the impossibility of shutting students from these three.

“However, overindulgence in the 3Cs not only cost students their valuable time but could also be of such an influence to hamper their growth and stunt them in achieving 3As—aptitude, attitude and altitude—in their personal life and professional career,” he said at a function on Wednesday. To drive home the point, he recalled that when the cricket World Cup matches clashed with the CBSE examinations, a student had telephoned him and bluntly said that he was a heartless person.

“He said the CBSE chairman was heartless as students were being deprived of watching the matches due to the exams. He went on to request postponement of the examinations. I told him that the World Cup comes once every four years, but the CBSE exams will come only once in his lifetime. Hence, I advised him to devote adequate time for preparations,” Ganguly said.
Three months later, after the declaration of results, the same student again telephoned and thanked him profusely for giving him the “correct” advice, he said.

The Good and Bad of Education - A Times of India artice - 27/12/2007

STATE BOARD MAY BE LESS STINGY WITH MARKS

New Rules Make It Difficult For Schools To Hold Back Students In Class IX

Anahita Mukherji | TNN

School education in Mumbai is all set to witness dramatic changes in the new year, both in terms of the quality of institutions on offer as well as the assessment scheme in board examinations.
NEW RULES IN LANGUAGE
PAPER
Passing the language paper in the SSC and HSC exams may get a little more difficult next year. It’s no longer just about mugging up grammar and syntax. In 2008, for the first time, the state board will test children on their ability to speak the language. Twenty per cent of the marks for the language examination will be reserved for internal assessment that will include an oral examination. There will also be an internal assessment for mathematics worth 20 per cent of the marks.
MORE LIBERAL MARKING IN THE OFFING
The sky-high marks scored by ICSE and CBSE students have been giving SSC students sleepless nights for the last few years but there is a chance that the state board will attempt to level the playing field and give out marks more liberally in 2008. 2007 saw a dramatic increase in the SSC pass percentage; students got 30 “free’’ marks, thanks to a goof-up in the mathematics paper. But, despite that, ICSE, CBSE and International Baccalaureate (IB) students had an upper hand when it came to college merit lists.
NO HOLDING BACK STUDENTS IN CLASS IX
Schools are known to fail a high number of class-IX students in order to get cent per cent results in the class-X exams. But fresh guidelines from the state board will make it virtually impossible for schools to hold back students a year before the big exam. A student now needs to get only an average of 35 per cent in all three languages instead of getting 35 per cent in each subject. Similarly, instead of having to pass in both mathematics and science papers individually with 35 per cent in each, students now need to only get 35 per cent of the total marks for science and maths.
BIRDS AND BEES IN SYLLABUS
Studies may no longer be all about history and mathematics. Birds and bees may make their way into the curriculum. However, after the uproar over the teachers’ manual for sex education which forced the government to backtrack and pull the subject out of the curriculum, the state may act with a little more caution this time. The State Council of Education, Research and Training is working on a new curriculum that “will not hurt Indian sensibilities’’.
EASIER FOR LD STUDENTS
English-medium students have access to Learning Disability tests to detect the condition but the disorder often goes unnoticed in students from Indian-language schools. All that, however, is set to change next year, thanks to a series of newly-released standardised LD tests in Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati.
MORE IGCSE SCHOOLS
The other bit of good news is that the city will witness a host of new IB schools entering the market; along with that, a number of existing ICSE and SSC schools also plan to switch over to the Cambridge curriculum (IGCSE).
CONVENT REVAMP
It’s not just international schools that plan to effect a slew of changes. Convent schools, too, are all set to get a facelift.
Recognising the need to keep up with the times, the Archdiocesan Board of Education (ABE) that runs the 150-odd convents in and around Mumbai is going all out to revamp its schools in 2008. Don’t be surprised if you drop in at your neighbourhood convent and find some exciting, innovative methods of education replacing the traditional chalkand-blackboard method. ABE will also set up a system of assessment for the headmasters of its schools.
Those schools that are doing well will be asked to mentor other convents that need a leg up.
CHANGES IN BMC SCHOOLS
It’s not just private education that’s set to witness a number of changes next year. While free-of-cost civic schools — that cater largely to the poor — have seen a tremendous decline in student strength, there may be a reverse trend in 2008. The BMC is going all out to woo children, providing students with freebies like schools bags and milk to starting English-medium schools.
BATTERED KIDS
But the big worry is that, despite the blanket ban on corporal punishment, there is little hope of a decrease in the number of incidents of kids being battered in the classroom.
School authorities rarely take such instances seriously and are known to brush them aside. In the last one year, there has been a spate of such incidents (including one in which a child partially lost his hearing after being hit on the ear and a four-year-old saying he never wanted to go to school after being hit on the head with a duster).
WISH FOR 2008
TAKE IT EASY
Mumbai witnessed a spate of teenage suicides this year. Despite a slew of changes in the school education system, there’s little hope of any letting up in study-related pressure. Mental health experts warn of an increase in depression and suicidal tendencies. Hiring full-time counsellors is an option schools must consider seriously. If there’s one wish that we at TOI have for 2008, it is that parents and teachers go easy on their expectations and concentrate more on the child than his/her marks so that no more lives are lost.
THE 2007
REPORT CARD
WE STILL KNEW THE TOPPERS
The state board had announced, with great fanfare, that it wanted to do away with merit lists like the ICSE/CBSE boards. But it ended up releasing the names of the students with the highest scores in each category this year.
MARKED IMBALANCE
ICSE and CBSE students continued to get phenomenally high marks in the board exams, giving SSC students the jitters, as these marks were important in deciding who got into which junior college.
SSC GOOF-UP
SSC students got 30 “free’’ marks in mathematics thanks to a goof-up in the paper.
NO SEX EDUCATION PLEASE
The teacher’s manual for sex education in schools caused a huge furore early in 2007. The State Council of Education, Training and Research now plans to introduce sex education in the classroom after modifying the manual.
SPIRIT OF GIVING
BMC decided in May to allot over Rs 200 crore to provide free uniforms, shoes, school bags and other accessories — in addition to flavoured milk and sports gear — for its 4 lakh students.
DEATH BY WATER
A seven-year-old student drowned in the swimming pool of Janakidevi Public School (Four Bungalows) in July 2007.
WAKE-UP CALL
The Archbishop of Mumbai was forced to lament the dip in standards at convent schools.
HELP FOR STUDENTS WITH LD
Two SNDT teachers designed standardised tests in Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati to detect Learning Disability. The tests took the teachers two years to develop and standardise and the final product was ready in September.
FROM BMC TO IB
An RTI application by Simprit Singh of the National Alliance of People’s Movements in October revealed details of how the Walpakhadi Municipal School — a BMC school at Mazgaon that closed down four years ago — was converted into an International Baccalaureate School, violating the law.
A SAFER JOURNEY
Traffic cops said in October they wanted all kids to go to school on school-buses for a safer journey.

Are our Educational Authorities sleeping? - TOI - 25/12/2007

A LESSON IN REGULATION: LESS IS MORE

SP Jain college bigger abroad than in India

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: It was in 2004 that the S P Jain Institute of Management Studies decided to head for Singapore and by the time the next academic session started, the college was ready with the approvals and accreditation.
Unlike in India, the paperwork was quick: S P Jain had to coordinate with just one agency. “It is a single window system, we merely had to approach the Economic Development Board (EDB), which in turn co-ordinated with all the other ministries,’’ said Suresh Advani, a professor with the Mumbai-based institution who spearheaded the Singapore initiative.
“Once we had submitted all the documents, a delegation came to inspect our campus in Mumbai. Even the Singapore embassy collected some of our details
like courses we offer, placement records, our standing in the industry, faculty quality, etc,’’ added Advani.
After all the checks yielded positive results, S P Jain was asked to discuss their curriculum and submit a copy of it for clearance from the ministry of education. The EDB even sent S P Jain a list of the plots available in the Singapore, where they could set up base. “There was a one point-person we were co-ordinating with,’’ recalled Advani.
Today, there are 450 students studying on this campus, far more than the 180 students this institute has on its Mumbai campus, which has been in existence since 1981.
The situation is a result of a liberal policy under which there is no cap on student intake if you have requisite facilities. Secondly, the government there has also allowed S P Jain to fix its own fee structure. “We were given a broad idea of what other B-schools were charging. But there is no cap on the fees we can charge. We were merely told that our institution should be self sustaining,’’ added Advani.
Under the laws, the S P Jain Institute cannot remit a penny from what they earn for nine years. But they are not complaining. They are investing the money in upgrading and expanding their facilities in Singapore.

Red Tape in Indian Education - TOI - 25/12/2007

GIVING EDUCATION THE RUN-AROUND

Red Tape And Corruption Have Led To Bottlenecks In Quality Higher Education. Govt Needs To Loosen Up To Improve Supply

Hemali Chhapia | TNN

The Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, may boast of a sprawling campus and students who bag lucrative offers every year through campus recruitments, but so far as the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is concerned, it’s an “unrecognised” college.

In 2001, the S P Jain Institute of Management Studies applied to the AICTE to increase its intake from 150 to 180 seats. It took six years for the approval to come through. Compare that with S P Jain’s setups in Dubai and Singapore — they are less than five years old, but their total student intake is 900, which is five times the capacity on the 26-year-old Mumbai campus.
Post-reforms, the time to get an industrial licence in the country has reduced drastically. But the institutions that supply manpower to these business houses, it seems, are still under the licence raj.

Academicians point out that the only ones getting into the education sector are those who can circumvent archaic rules through political connections or the ones who have enough capital to pay for clearances.

“A group of scholars from Oxford could go and set up the Cambridge University. In India, that is surely not possible because of the huge black and white investments involved,’’ mocked a senior faculty member associated with the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies.
Clearly, the multiplicity of governing agencies at the local, state and central level forces institutions to go through a maze of bureaucratic and time-consuming procedures. In Maharashtra, for instance, to start a Bschool, an institute first needs a noobjection certificate from the government. Then it needs to apply to AICTE for recognition and then a local university for affiliation. For funds, the institute needs to send an application to University Grants Commission (UGC) and for accreditation (not mandatory) to NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council). And finally, the college needs to send its approval letters and brochures to the state government’s admission committee and fee fixation committee, the Pravesh Niyantran Samiti and Shikshan Shulka Samiti.

Unlike in the US, UK, Singapore or Australia, where an institution has to merely undergo two to three levels of clearance (see box: How Colleges Abroad Skirt Red Tape Get Recognition), professional institutions here need a nod from six to seven agencies before enrolling or adding more students.

Given such concerns, the Planning Commission, in a proposal approved by the Cabinet in early-December, had announced the setting up of a panel to suggest reforms in all regulatory bodies for education including the AICTE.

“It is imperative to review the role these organisations are expected to perform in the context of global change, with a view to enable them to reach out, regulate and maintain standards,’’ the Planning panel document read. The document included the recommendations of the National Knowledge Commission (NKC) on restricting the role of regulatory bodies.

“The existing regulatory framework constrains supply of good institutions, excessively regulates existing institutions in the wrong places and is not conducive to innovation or creativity in higher education,’’ NKC chairman Sam Pitroda had said in his report submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last year.

Not only is the list of approving agencies long, but Indian institutions can begin negotiating stage two of clearances only after they sort out paperwork at stage one. What this means is the institute cannot simultaneously process papers with different departments in order to save time.
On the other hand, governments across the developed world emphasise on single-window clearance — accreditation or recognition is handed out by one single body based on quality of facilities and curriculum. This body or agency makes a recommendation to the government, based on which the final decision is taken. And it’s a completely transparent process — assessment reports and rankings published by the accrediting agencies are put out on websites. “The reports are used as guides by students to find the university which best meets their needs and interests,’’ said Anu Jain, adviser-education, science and training at the Australian High Commission in Delhi. So, is India capable of adopting similar processes and does it have the will to do it?

Former secretary (education) of the Planning Commission B S Baswan points out that there is an urgent need to look at the demand-supply equation and not put barriers to entry for quality institutions. “If there is a demand supply mismatch, it will lead to rent seeking,’’ he added.

hemali.chhapia@timesgroup.com

HOW FOREIGN COLLEGES SKIRT RED TAPE AND GET RECOGNITION
In most countries, setting up a professional institute requires going through 2-3 levels of clearance. In India, on the other hand, the process of getting approvals and recognition is a long drawn-out process which involves a gamut of agencies at the local, state and central level

United States
The US Department of Education (USDE) publishes a list of accrediting agencies, which have powers to recommend institutes of higher education. All accrediting agencies are private bodies, which charge fees for evaluating colleges and giving them a certain ranking. Their credibility depends on how accurately they rank a college.

After setting up a professional institute like an engg college, the institute applies to an accreditation agency as well as a private body known as Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). The accreditation agency assesses facilities while CHEA evaluates courses.

After assessment, the agency submits a report to a National Advisory Committee, which then makes a recommendation to the US Secretary of Education. The Secretary, after considering the report, takes a final decision.

Australia For an educational institute to operate in Australia, it has to get accreditation from a regulatory body and seek approval from the state.

Professional courses need to be accredited by the relevant professional regulatory body. For engineering, the body is Engineers Australia; for accounting, it is CPA Australia; for MBA, it is the Graduate Management Association Australia — which does not accredit the program but rates the university’s MBA course.

Apart from the state and the accrediting agency, there is the AUQA which is an independent, national quality assurance body that audits key activities such as teaching, learning, research and management in Australian varsities every five years. AUQA reports are available to the public on their website.

United Kingdom
To award a higher education degree in UK, an organisation needs to be authorised by a Royal Charter or Act of Parliament.

Applications by an institute for powers to award degrees or carry out research must be made to the govt’s Privy Council. The Council forwards the application to a minister.

Permission is granted by the Privy Council on the basis of background checks on the group interested in setting up the institution as well as the people associated with it.

After getting permission from the Council, the institute has to seek accreditation from the Quality Assurance Agency, an independent body funded by subscriptions from UK universities and colleges of higher education, which reviews standards of infrastructure, admission processes, academic programmes, placement records, etc.

Times of India Article - 24/12/2007 - About a Child's Self Esteem

Children should look to keep their esteem engines going

Meher Marfatia

Sandwiched between ‘self-employed’ and ‘self-evident’ in dictionaries is ‘self-esteem’: a good opinion of oneself. It’s something children can do with, considering the increasing number of student suicides and campus shootouts. But, what seems such a free and easy state of being could actually be the trickiest to achieve.

Pegged at Number 4 in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, self-esteem precedes self-actualisation which sits at the apex of this pyramidal theory of human motivation. Inadequate esteem results in discouragement and feelings of inferiority, he explained.

Although poor self-esteem lies at the core of much social turmoil, from inner angst expressed as aggression to communication breakdown on the personal front and at the workplace, it’s still an underrated quality, agree mental health experts. “Self-esteem is equally vital in the corporate world. A person’s state of well-being definitely sends positive motivation down the line,’’ says Mehul Kuwadia, CEO of Grey Cells, a training consultancy. While self-esteem generates a ripple effect and develops mutual respect in an office, Kuwadia warns, “A fine line divides esteem from ego. False pride shouldn’t block progress.’’

If low self-esteem triggers the classic superiority complex, there are tougher things to come to terms with. The strangest syndromes, apparently unconnected with esteem, very often are. Take the case of a man whose fear of flying is extended to sick reactions like extreme acidity each time he has to board a flight. While it obviously made him an infrequent traveller, his psychoanalyst discovered he was not only frustrated at this “failing’’ but also resented a wealthier wife. As she dug deeper, the the rapist unravelled self-esteem disturbances dating back to childhood insecurity and envy of a younger brother suddenly becoming the centre of attraction for his family, a problem that made her patient’s own sense of worth plummet.

Ruta Vyas, who conducts self-esteem workshops for children and corporate groups, blames the patriarchal structure of society where a woman’s worth is defined by prescribed standards and expectations. “A woman’s life is seldom hers, claimed by those who ‘depend’ on her. To fulfil these roles, she does not see herself as an individual with her choices but, unhappily, as an enabler of other people’s priorities,’’ says Vyas.

An alarming aspect is that selfworth can be synonymous with warped body image perception. Calories count as they mount in weightconscious urban India. The thin-is-in craze can assume severe delusional aspects if personal dissatisfaction with physical size and shape becomes obsessive. Women tend to bite this bait easier. Susie Orbach’s argument in her anti-diet guide Fat is a Feminist Issue—that women’s relationships with their bodies mould complex psychological patterns—couldn’t be truer than in these dangerous days of eating disorders, with anorexia and bulimia claiming younger girls than ever before.

Thanks to the women’s movement, attention has been paid in recent years to the need to nurture self-esteem among girls. Journalist Ammu Joseph points out, “These efforts are necessary and should be widespread. But it’s as important to address selfesteem issues among men, in the interests of society as a whole. No man with genuine self-esteem would ever beat or rape a woman. The high prevalence of gender violence indicates a low prevalence of self-esteem among men.’’

Shoring Up Self-esteem

Know that life is not a contest where some win and others must lose. Each person has a unique designated place in the world. Be yourself. Self-esteem is not how people feel about you but how worthy you feel you are.

Filter feedback. Don’t accept everything coming your way with blind faith, from significant others too; our closest ones too have the power to make or break us.

Get a life and be busy, don’t keep the spotlight on thoughts of yourself. An idle mind gets into a negative spin.

Exercise and care for your body, it goes with a healthy mind. Generally, people who think they look good, feel good as well.

Become financially independent, even in a small way. It certainly does boost self-worth.
Help out. Teach a skill, assist the elderly or volunteer for a social event. Anything that helps someone else will also leave you feeling good.

Keep all promises, even the smallest ones—this makes you confident of being dependable and trustworthy.

Finish things you start. Achieve modest milestones set and you’ll believe yourself capable of bigger things.

Have a sense of humour. Laugh a lot, mostly at yourself! Don’t get all selfreprimanding when you make a mistake. Laugh at it, learn from it and move on...

(Source: From Ruta Vyas who runs I Love Me workshops for youngsters)

TOI Article - 24/12/2007 - The brilliant couple behind 'Taare Zamen Par'

A couple inspired by lives of little stars

Anahita Mukherji I TNN

Mumbai: In 1999, Amole Gupte and his wife Deepa Bhatia wrote a one-page story about a boy who does badly at studies and is sent to boarding-school as punishment, where he meets his saviour, a teacher who turns his life around. Over the next nine years, they dived into the lives of hundreds of children in order to explore their world first hand. Almost a decade of research and adventure went into Taare Zameen Par (TZP), a film on childhood.
Amole’s connection with children has been almost umbilical. “I started taking care of my neighbour’s children while growing up. Later, when my friends got married, I would babysit their children when they were out partying,’’ he says. In fact, the lead character in TZP, Ishaan, is named after his best friend’s son.
He does not believe in talking down to children. There’s no “Sir’’ or “Uncle’’ for Amole. The children call him ‘Mendhak Chacha’ or ‘Amole frog’, a character he created.
After writing the story, the duo began what has now become a lifelong association with several city schools, including Tulip and Saraswati Mandir that are meant for children with multiple disabilities. It’s at these special schools that they witnessed miracles.
Once, at Tulips, they saw a seven-year-old with her head between her legs, shrieking continuously for an hour. They were a little sceptical when the school’s principal and trustee, Medha Lotlikar, said that all children were ‘normal’ and should study together. To their astonishment, a year later, they found the same girl holding the railing and walking down the staircase with the other children. Though the girl had initially been diagnosed with a number of disabilities, visual impairment turned out to be the only one she had.
Amole-himself an actor, writer, painter and directorhas conducted countless workshops in numerous schools, where children were exposed to just about everything from Tagore’s poetry to Renaissance paintings and theatre. It’s here that he chose the actors for the film. He never called children to the studio or asked them to audition for him. “I would tell them bits and pieces from the story and all of us (the children and Amole) would take turns acting the scenes out. The children never knew they were rehearsing for the film,’’ he says.
Although the film revolves around a dyslexic child, the incidents could be about any child. A scene where Ishaan bunks school and gets his brother to write a note saying he was sick, is similar to the time Amole himself bunked in Class III and got a neighbourhood ‘auntie’ to write the note for him.
Another scene, where Ishaan gets a stray dog to eat his report card is inspired by a number of children who hide their report cards from their parents. The art teacher in the film—Nikumbh Sir—is named after Amole’s own art teacher at school “who was like a breathe of fresh air in an otherwise structured system of education’’. For Amole and Deepa, inclusive education is not about adding “four bad mangoes to ten good ones, but realising that all the mangoes are from the same tree’’.
Says Amole, “Inclusion is not an act of charity towards the ‘slow ones’ but an attempt at creating a more caring society. After all, the speed of a herd of animals is determined, not by the fastest in the pack, but by the slowest. They don’t create a separate division for the ‘slow ones’.’’
anahita.mukherji@timesgroup.com

HAPPY FAMILY: Deepa Bhatia and Amole Gupte, who spent a decade researching for TZP, with son Partho at their Khar home

'To Children, Childhood and Learning'

"I am ready to learn, but please don't teach me!" - Sandeep Raj Sharma

We all are learners by nature. We all have immense curiosity within which itself is a sign of intelligence. It is sad that children are subjected to rote learning in many parts of the world even today.

We need to realize three very important things.

1. Every child learns by his/her method and at his/her pace. We need to stop imposing obsolete methods and treat every child uniquely.

2. If a child doesn't understand or learn something then the fault lies with the system of education NOT the child.

These thoughts were stimulated while I watched 'Taare Zameen Par' - the movie, today. It has to be one of the best performances by a child actor in mainstream bollywood till date. I just can't recollect any other performance - as natural and brilliant, by a child. Hat's off to the Genius called Aamir Khan, and great work done by - Deepa Bhatia The conceptulizer, Amol Gupte The writer and much more, Prasoon Joshi The lyricist and Shankar Ehsaan and Loy The musicians.

The movie deals with sensitive issues in education and childhood. Its a story of a 8 year old boy - Ishaan N. Awasthi [Darsheel Safary] who just can't get the reading and writing right. His parents send him off to a boarding school. This breaks his heart and he almost kills the real genius inside him - the painter. Enters Ram Shankar Nikumbh [Aamir Khan] who understands the child's problem and helps him overcome it.



Brilliant performances, beautiful direction and colourful imagination - a great movie indeed.

Understanding Education

A few quotes that I absolutely believe in and stand by:

"Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play." - Anon

"The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled." - John Holt

"What children need is not new and better curricula but access to more and more of the real world; plenty of time and space to think over their experiences, and to use fantasy and play to make meaning out of them; and advice, road maps, guidebooks, to make it easier for them to get where they want to go (not where we think they ought to go), and to find out what they want to find out." - John Holt

"Every child is special, each one has a different personality, different skill set, different strengths and different interests! Sadly we have a generalized education system instead of a customized one. A ring that fits the index finger doesn't fit the little finger. Yet we are adamant on fitting it on by stretching, twisting and torturing the little finger, and when we fail we blame the little finger and deem it as unfit and unintelligent! Let's stop this non-sense. Intelligence doesn't mean being good at science and maths. One who's good at any one thing is intelligent! It may be music, sports, painting, cooking, writing, traveling, caring, as small a thing as observing ants, dreaming and sharing. Let us make the children realize how intelligent they are. I believe and truly I do, that Every Child is a Genius" - Sandeep Raj Sharma