President Approves New Anti-Cheating Law for Public Exams

 On February 15 2024, President Droupadi Murmu granted her assent to the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024, clearing the legislation for implementation after passage by both houses of Parliament in the recently concluded Budget session.

Public examinations refer to examinations conducted by the Union Public Service Commission, Staff Selection Commission, Railway Recruitment Board, National Testing Agency, and Departments of the central government.

Unfair means include, unauthorised access or leakage of question paper or answer key, assisting a candidate during a public examination, tampering with computer networks, conducting fake examination, issuing fake admit cards and offer letters.

Key Provisions

Punishment for Cheating

The new law stipulates a jail sentence ranging from six months up to two years along with fines between Rs 10,000 to Rs 5 lakh for students caught attempting to cheat in public exams conducted by designated testing bodies.

Ban from Taking Any Tests

Those found guilty of using unfair practices during examinations face a ban from appearing for any national or state level examination for six months to lifetime depending on severity of ethical misconduct. This includes professional course entrance tests too.

Applicability to Exam Officials & Coaches

In addition to students, chief invigilators, independent representatives, paper setters and solution providers also face up to two years prison time and fines for abetting cheating through leaks of question papers, answer keys or via other illegal collusions.

Authorized Test Conducting Entities

All examinations held in physical mode by the National Testing Agency and various other testing bodies operating state and national level eligibility tests fall under purview of the stringent legislation.

Current Realities

Addressing Digital Age Grey Areas

The anti-cheating regulatory framework aims to address ethical misconduct grey areas which emerged from proliferation of technologies like spy cameras, ear pieces and online remote assistance which enable large scale leaks discrediting academic credibility.

Curbing Coaching Mafia Menace

It also aims to deter the parallel cottage industry of coaching mafias specializing in facilitating cheating either through imposters, solvers or by compromising processes in connivance with corrupt insiders.

Challenges in Implementation

Monitoring Infrastructure Overhaul Needed

While the legislation sets strong deterrence, experiencing agencies have flagged need to exponentially upgrade monitoring infrastructure and protocols through surveillance analytics, data mining, biometrics and forensics for robust nationwide implementation.

Concerns Over Ambiguous Provisions

Educational experts contend some provisions like imprisonment for minors, applicability on teachers are somewhat ambiguous requiring clarifications while expressing concerns over possibilities of over-policing impacting student welfare.

Cheating eye: Editorial on challenges involving online education

 The ethical crisis — parents are complicit in helping their wards to cheat — is, of course, a manifestation of the spirit of unhealthy competition that is the bane of modernity

There seems to be an element of permanence about online education. In higher education, the enrolment for online education grew by 170% between 2021 and 2022 and by 41.7% for open and distance learning. But this medium comes with attendant — emerging — challenges. For instance, the mental and physical health of teachers has deteriorated with the rise of the digital classroom. Initially, teachers ill-equipped to handle technology found it difficult to use online platforms like Zoom and Google Meet to impart knowledge while keeping their students engaged. More recently, a study published in the peer-reviewed journal, PLOS One, has revealed that a staggering 55% of teachers who were forced to work online for more than six hours a day suffered physical discomforts such as headaches, eye strain, back pain and neck pain. A majority of the respondents also admitted that they experienced a range of mental health conditions, including anxiety, mood swings, along with feelings of restlessness, hopelessness, and loneliness. These, however, are not the only problems associated with online education. Almost two-thirds of the teachers administering tests are reported to be sceptical about the quality of the answer scripts owing to the adoption of dishonest means by examinees. The culture of cheating in academia is, admittedly, not new. What is worrying though is that traditional deterrents — invigilation, for instance — are proving to be ineffective in the online mode. In fact, students have come up with ingenious means to escape scrutiny, taking refuge in the excuse of poor connectivity during online tests to dodge measures taken by invigilators like asking examinees to install a mirror behind them while the test is on. 

This only goes to show that the erosion of ethics remains persistent even as education evolves. The ethical crisis — parents are complicit in helping their wards to cheat — is, of course, a manifestation of the spirit of unhealthy competition that is the bane of modernity. If traditional deterrents are not working in the online system, pedagogical and evaluation techniques need to change. Instead of being asked to memorise facts and spill them onto the answer sheet, students should be taught to think critically and apply that subjective knowledge in their examination. This would not only discourage learners from adopting unfair means — the latter would become redundant — but also sharpen their analytical skills, which are mandatory for education and future employment.

Source: The Telegraph, 8/03/23

Passive consumption: The growing commodification of education

 When the idea of inviting foreign universities was mooted in 2010, the then minister for human resource development had said that his objective was “to provide a Harvard Education” within India at a fraction of the cost. Implicit in this remark was the view that ‘Harvard Education’, hence by implication education itself, was a commodity; indeed his remark was of the same form as saying that he wanted ‘to provide a kilo of fish at one’s doorstep at a fraction of the cost’. This idea of providing ‘Harvard Education’, of course, was patently unrealistic, for no off-shoot of Harvard in India can ever be a clone of the original: if local academics are recruited as faculty, then they would forever be seeking to migrate from the off-shoot to the original, and if academics come to the off-shoot on a temporary basis from the original, then they would be more concerned with sight-seeing than with any serious academic activity. But the commodification of education that the proposal entailed was an assault on the very concept of education as an activity; the University Grants Commission is now taking this idea of inviting foreign universities and commodifying education much further.

Inviting foreign universities to set up off-shoots in India presumes two things: first, that education is a homogeneous activity which involves imparting an identical set of ideas no matter where such imparting occurs; second, that this imparting, which is the essence of education, occurs in a better manner at Harvard than at any Indian university, which is why creating such an off-shoot of Harvard and other well-known foreign universities is beneficial for Indian students.

Both these presumptions are wrong. Education does not entail imparting an identical set of ideas. For instance, an Indian student should have an awareness of the impact of colonialism on the Indian economy, for which he or she must have some exposure to the work of Dadabhai Naoroji, Romesh Chunder Dutt and other, recent, scholars; he or she, in short, must have some exposure to the view that underdevelopment is linked to the phenomenon of imperialism. But in Harvard and other such foreign universities, the faculty teaching development economics would scarcely have heard of Naoroji or Dutt, and colonialism would scarcely ever figure in the curriculum. A homogenisation of the curriculum, therefore, necessarily means imparting to Indian students an understanding of underdevelopment that is favoured by imperialism, and that institutions like Harvard typically advance, perhaps unwittingly.

In the social sciences, inviting foreign universities is thus tantamount to buying wholesale the imperialist obfuscations about slavery, colonial exploitation, economic ‘drain’ and the recurrent famines under colonial rule. Even as regards the natural sciences, the eminent British scientist, J.D. Bernal, was of the view that the course contents and curricula in universities in countries like India had to be different from those in British and American universities since our problems were so different. The presumption of homogeneity, in short, is completely incorrect.

Second, education is concerned not just with imparting a set of ideas to students; its objective, above all, must be to arouse questioning among students, for critical questioning is the source of creativity. The commodification of education — of which the invitation to foreign universities is an obvious manifestation — far from creating any questioning, actually destroys it. A commodity, after all, is a well-packaged entity that is supposed to be consumed; it is not supposed to agitate or disturb the consumer’s mind. When education gets commodified, it becomes synonymous with the imparting of ‘skills’, not with the application of creative minds to a set of ideas not limited by imperialist perceptions or prejudices.

The destruction of creativity is the hallmark of the education system being developed now. Three factors contribute towards making it so. The first is the discomfort of the ruling Hindutva elements with questioning minds; such minds become much more difficult to manipulate into accepting a discourse that generates hatred against hapless minorities. The second is the eagerness of globalised capital to homogenise course contents and curricula across the world so that wherever capital relocates, it finds potential employees of equal levels of training and docility. The third is the desperate need of middle-class youth to secure employment: questioning minds are unnecessary, even a handicap, for securing such employment, while degrees from European or American universities are far more valued by selection committees both at home and abroad than degrees from Indian universities.

This last point suggests that we cannot build a proper education system in the country, creating questioning and interested students who go on to become “organic intellectuals” — to borrow a Gramscian concept — of the people of free India, unless we simultaneously build a welfare State that guarantees employment to all.

But one should not despair. An Indian academic who teaches in a top Ivy League university in the United States of America was visiting India recently and gave a lecture at the Jawaharlal Nehru University. He was impressed because the students’ discussion with him was so intense and prolonged that the event had to be ultimately cut short after four hours. This is a university that has been under massive and continuous attack from the Hindutva elements for over seven years now. And, yet, they have not been able to destroy the institution, as is evident from the overwhelming intellectual engagement and passion among the students. Many such institutions in India still remain which the Hindutva elements have not succeeded in destroying. The hope for the country’s future lies in them.

Prabhat Patnaik is Professor Emeritus, Centre for Economic Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Source: the Telegraph, 15/02/23

ASER report has significant pointers on reversing post-pandemic educational losses

 

The report, along with others, underlines the significance of empowering teachers and reaching out to students in their homes. A system that synergises the roles of the home and classroom is the way to go

The findings of the first nationwide ASER survey in four years offer significant takeaways. Covering nearly seven lakh children in the age group of 6 to 16 in 616 districts, it frames the impact of the pandemic on learning outcomes. As expected, the report card in this respect is not too good. But ASER 2022 also belies fears that the prolonged closure of schools — amongst the longest in the world — would set back the steady rise in enrollment over the past 10 years. More than 98 per cent of 6-16 year-olds are in school. It’s heartening that the proportion of out-of-school girls has fallen to 2 per cent. The uncertainties and exigencies of the pandemic years do not seem to have diminished the importance that parents, across social groups, attach to sending children to school.

ASER recorded a steady rise in learning outcomes between 2014 and 2018. But the lack of classroom interaction with the teacher seems to have reversed these incremental gains. The percentage of Class 3 students who can read a Class 2 book has fallen by nearly 7 percentage points since the last nationwide ASER survey in 2018. The loss in numerical skills is less steep — about 2.3 per cent. But these figures seem less grim when seen from another perspective — 2022 was the first year in a physical classroom for these students. The report suggests that despite wide variations in how children accessed technology during the pandemic years, most schools — even in rural areas — “attempted to keep learning going with digital resources”. Here, too, a significant contribution seems to have been made by mothers and fathers. The percentage of young parents who have been to school has gone up appreciably in the past 10 years and they may have actively participated in overcoming some of the challenges caused by the pandemic-induced disruption, the report suggests. In the coming months and years, as states try to find different pathways to reach NEP 2020’s goal of achieving universal foundational literacy and numeracy, they would do well to work ASER 2022’s hypothesis on the role of parents into their plans.

A comparative analysis of learning outcomes during the pandemic and post-pandemic years in West Bengal, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh — states where the ASER was conducted during the health crisis — also offers hope. It shows that these states have reversed their losses significantly in 2022. Other studies, including that by the University of California’s Karthik Muralidharan on Tamil Nadu’s recovery, underline the significance of empowering teachers and reaching out to students in their homes. A system that synergises the roles of the home and classroom is the way to go.

Source: Indian Express, 20/01/23

India@75, Looking@100: An education system that fosters fraternity and humility

 

India at 100 in my imagination will evolve from the certitudes of a Vishwaguru to the resilience of a ‘Shreshta Shishya’, with the humility of the eternal seeker, ever learning, ever flowing, malleable enough to put her own truths to stringent scrutiny.

Anniversaries invariably evoke expectations. To set out a vision for India at 100 from where we are today at 75 is daunting, given the bewildering pace at which the world is changing. Yet, having spent most of my working life in the higher education space, I have learnt the value of the audacity of hope.

Maria Montessori said, “establishing lasting peace is the work of education; all politics can do is to keep us out of war”. The need for education to play an effective role in nurturing “cultures of peace” is internationally acknowledged. Change, complexity, fragility and uncertainty define the world today, with Covid reminding us of the need for leveraging cooperation, collective action and an ethic of care for a sustainable planet.

In multi-ethnic, multi-religious societies like India, which are fractured along the lines of class, caste, region, religion and gender, the transformative potential of education to play a peace-sustaining role faces challenges. Populism and jingoism the world over have deepened divisions, triggered sectarian violence and reinforced prejudices. Indian education must set itself the task to provide effective antidotes to the “militarisation” of the mind and proactively nurture the canvas of coexistence. Critical thinking, dialogue, civic participation, community engagement and non-violent action are integral to this moment. In 1995, UNESCO endorsed a declaration on the Integrated Framework of Action on Education for peace, human rights and democracy. It was the first international instrument that established the link between the practice of democracy and learning about diversity and “the wealth of cultural identities”. Education can provide the conceptual alphabets for a vocabulary of peace, only through the consistent interrogation of pedagogical frames that overtly — or even subliminally — transmit prejudice and intolerance. The implementation of the new National Curriculum Framework (NCF) must provide the context to not only mould “global citizens” but also “intelligent patriots” with the courage to hold up the mirror and question the shibboleths we live by.

Critical thinking, beyond “proscribed texts” and “prescribed” curricula, is needed to propel education towards nourishing predispositions and an inclination for peace in societies. Education must be open to the not-always harmonious reverberations of learning. The pluriverse of the global Learning Commons can potentially arrest our cartographic anxieties and processes of “othering”. Its sheer diversity can inure education from proselytising tendencies, sectarian impulses and partisan agendas. (The contestations over the writing of history are all too familiar to us). History is replete with examples of “heretical” interrogations within “dissenting traditions,” opening new continents of thought. The contributions of an Aryabhata, Buddha, Copernicus, Galileo, Al-Zahrawi, Descartes, Newton, Marx and Einstein were built on paradigm shifts that disrupted settled comfort zones. The oft-invoked Nalanda tradition too excelled in pushing the Sutras to evoke new voices through reasoned debate — from “safe spaces” to “brave spaces”.

In the Preamble, our Constitution foregrounds justice, liberty, equality and fraternity as interlinked foundational principles. The one value, however, that has received the least attention both in policy and legislation is fraternity. It is time to address that lacuna, with education playing a decisive role.

I imagine an India at 100, that inscribes the spirit of sa vidya ya vimuktaye (that alone is knowledge which leads to liberation) into its educational initiatives. I imagine pedagogical practices imbued with a social purpose to remove all forms of discrimination. I imagine an India at 100 that provides a hospitable space for pedagogies that cultivate the intellect and also integrate body, mind and spirit to balance our ecological, ethical, emotional, creative and spiritual needs — emphasising what makes us human — not merely our global competitiveness. The emphasis on self-knowledge with the recognition of the interconnectedness of all sentient beings and context sensitivity has been integral to our traditions of learning. How well can we retrieve these values?

Civic responsibility in an interdependent world requires perspectives on how every considered action can potentially impact multiple lives across time and geography. This to me appears as fundamental to the spirit of “Vasudhaiva kutumbakam”.

I dream of an India where institutes of learning will cease to be domesticating spaces and will reconstruct themselves as transformative, and above all, engendered spaces. These spaces do more than assure mere numeric representation for women. They ensure substantive equality to counter the violence and exclusions of class, caste and patriarchy. For instance, although women constitute an unprecedented 49.3 per cent in the higher education space in India, they still face several obstacles to the full and equal participation guaranteed by our Constitution.

At 100, women will not remain the hugely underutilised resource they are today. They will drive and helm processes of change for a more inclusive, humane world, crafting a new social compact that fulfils the emancipatory potential of education. This calls for opening up more spaces to converse in the metaphoric mother tongue (the potent utterance of the sacred Vac) the language of empathy in which maps can change and scripts be rewritten to include invisibilised histories and that can speak truth to power.

With 100 per cent substantive literacy, India at 100 will be home to the finest citadels of learning that mould sensitive, global citizens who make their voice count in world affairs, providing ethical and intellectual leadership in every field of human endeavour. India at 100 in my imagination will evolve from the certitudes of a Vishwaguru to the resilience of a “Shreshta Shishya”, with the humility of the eternal seeker, ever learning, ever flowing, malleable enough to put her own truths to stringent scrutiny.

Written by Meenakshi Gopinath

Source: Indian Express, 18/01/23

India@75, Looking at 100: The new teacher – beyond a knowledge provider

 

Educators play a key role as nation builders and today more than ever we need to provide learning opportunities to our students that will not just educate them but also skill them. We can no longer just don the role of knowledge providers — rather we need to rewrite the paradigms of conventional curricula and imbue learning with vocational and skill development opportunities.

A glorious future beckons our country, home to one of the oldest civilisations. Carrying immense wisdom, fortitude and resilience, owing to centuries of hardship, India today stands at a critical juncture. We can no longer rest on the laurels of an illustrious era and be complacent about the many noteworthy inventions and discoveries bestowed on the world by our resolute forefathers. To be the global vanguards, our youth need to unshackle themselves from casteism, inequality, hatred and discrimination that remain in the contemporary social fabric.

Our mythological stories abound with lessons in compassion, cooperation and unity paving the way for inclusive success. We as educators need to delve deeper into this very wisdom and sensitise our children. Educators play a key role as nation builders and today more than ever we need to provide learning opportunities to our students that will not just educate them but also skill them. We can no longer just don the role of knowledge providers — we need to rewrite the paradigms of conventional curricula and imbue learning with skill development opportunities.

India continues to contribute the largest number of qualified engineers and technologists to the global workforce even today. It is at the forefront of new technologies and will soon become the cradle of innovation. New ventures by Indian entrepreneurs are already making a mark in the global economy.However, many children still do not have access to quality education that will harness their inherent abilities and talent. We need to ensure that our children, growing up in villages and Tier-2 and 3 cities, do not lag behind and have the same access to opportunities as their counterparts in urban areas do. We need to develop digital models, consisting of apps, digital tutorial content and virtual teachers to ensure that no child is left behind. Our children also need vital lessons in wealth management, financial literacy and entrepreneurship to succeed in life.

Providing contemporary and relevant vocational learning opportunities to our children will motivate them to innovate. At our school, we have envisioned a perfect amalgamation of curricular and co-curricular pursuits along with an emphasis on vocational education and life skills. Experiential learning is facilitated through workshops and infrastructural adaptations, with provision for sensorial and medicinal gardens, learning centres and interactive walls. Research and project-based learning inculcate essential life skills. Integrated learning is implemented by incorporating art, music, dance and drama in curriculum transactions.

The vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat is shaped in the well-furnished Atal Tinkering Lab, where budding scientists design mobile and AI applications, drone technology and Arduino-programmed robotics applications using 3D design. Technology-integrated learning is enabled through wi-fi-enabled zones, Hi-Tech Interactive Panels, Digital Library and Microsoft education tools. Environmental conscientiousness is instilled through initiatives like Mission SDGs, tree plantation drives and paper recycling projects.

I envision an India where all children can grow up in an environment that fosters their holistic well-being and development, irrespective of their socio-economic status. A country where each child is safe from the many evils that still mar our society. Our nation stands at a pivotal point, buoyed by the aspirations of one of the largest youth populations, yet it could all go awry if we don’t effectively harness the passion, dreams and strength of our young citizens. What we do today as educators can just make all the difference.

The writer is principal, Bal Bharati Public School Dwarka and winner of the National Award for Teachers, 2021. This article is part of an ongoing series, which began on August 15, by women who have made a mark, across sectors

ricula and imbue learning with vocational and skill development opportunities.

Written by Suruchi Gandhi

Source: Indian Express, 9/11/22

Education 4.0 Report: Digitally Bridging the Learning Gap

 Technology has profoundly changed education. It has not only expanded access to education but also made information available at one’s fingertips. It has grown into a powerful tool that has transformed education in several ways, from increasing student engagement, collaboration and interactivity to improving overall comprehension, time management and student-centred teaching. With the worldwide reach of the Internet, it has created a new environment of ‘anytime anywhere education’.

Digital teaching and learning – a concept that was still considered ‘futuristic’ a little while ago have also become customary in the fast-evolving post-pandemic world. During the pandemic, it proved to be the only feasible way to keep the education system going but at the same time, it also highlighted some issues, including digital inequality and learning gaps.

With the aim of addressing these issues through digital learning, the World Economic Forum collaborated with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and YuWaah (Generation Unlimited India) to launch the Education 4.0 India initiative. Under four themes – foundational literacy and numeracy, teacher professional development, school-to-work transition and connecting the unconnected –, the report aims to address the disparities in the country’s education system by exploring its challenges and identifying solutions that can be realised as scalable interventions. It complements India's National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020) by providing a framework for the development of scalable pilots that can be implemented by state governments and other stakeholders.

It proposes a roadmap to improve the country’s education system and urges all stakeholders in the EdTech space to work together and help this overarching transformation along. It encourages interactive teaching and learning and the integration of collaborative and skill-based education. It advocates the increased use of storytelling, interactive content, read-aloud games, quizzes and flip books (to name only a few) to make the learning process more interesting, individualised and engaging for students. It also highlights the importance of digitalising the country’s education system to become future-ready.

Digital Tools Can Reduce Learning Gaps

While the digital learning gap has been widening over the last few decades and spreading throughout the schools of India, it took COVID-19 to truly understand the magnitude of these inequalities. Closing this divide in education will take time, effort and commitment not only from the part of government but also from the part of schools, parents and students.

According to the Education 4.0 Report, one way of achieving equity could be through the digital transformation of the Indian schooling system. Fortunately, the pandemic didn’t only reveal the digital divide but also the benefits of distance teaching and learning.

Many believe that digitalising the country’s education system would help reduce the country’s learning inequalities by making education accessible to a large number of students. In addition to making it possible for students to access learning anytime and from anywhere, digital education would also enable them to learn at their own pace.

Digital Education: Reaching the Unreachable

One of the significant advantages of digital learning is that it is accessible at all times, anywhere and everywhere. It can be conducted online and offline and can be successfully used to deliver synchronous and asynchronous education.

Due to its very nature – provided via digital technology – this type of education can accommodate larger class sizes and bridge geographical gaps between teachers and students. As a result, it can provide everyone, including students attending schools in remote areas, with access to education.

Aarul Malviya

Source: The Telegraph, 31/10/22

Learning machines

 The economic downturn caused by Covid-19 was the making of one class of business: the edutech industry. The closedown of schools created a need to teach students remotely. The electronic mode was the only possible means. But the way it was adopted prompts deep misgivings.

I am actively involved with computer applications in teaching and research. The promise held out by digital learning excites me. Its progress in India fills me with alarm.

The dismal backdrop to my discussion is the digital divide. We are content that for the poor, a single smartphone should be considered a sufficient educational tool for all students in a household. Even that, a parliamentary committee found last year, eluded 77 per cent of the nation’s children.

But today, let us think about the fortunate ones with laptops and smartphones for their sole use. When the pandemic broke, their schools soon switched to online classes. But online teaching implies more than a Zoom meeting. It calls for audio-visual techniques for which most schools had neither expertise nor infrastructure. Plain vanilla classroom teaching falters without a classroom. 

That is where edutech companies saw their chance. They applied digital technology expertly and intensively to the curricular content. Their instructors exuded a compelling onscreen presence, as conventional teachers had never learnt to do. The result was a package that captivated both children and parents footing the bill. Both parties were connoisseurs of onscreen content: the children from computer games, the parents from infotainment channels. The superstition is rife anyway that anything emerging from a computer is a superior option. In two short years, hitherto uncontested schooling methods acquired the negative label of ‘offline teaching’.

But might not the new technology truly be superior? The digital revolution has transformed our lives. In intellectual and cultural matters, however, it has generally modified older practices instead of dislodging them altogether. More books are printed today than ever before, alongside the electronic text and the internet. Live performances flourish despite staggering advances in audio-visual recording. The equation between ageless human practice and digital innovation is subtle and complex. With education, the pandemic drastically short-circuited this adjustment.

Throughout history, teaching has implied an interaction between teacher and student. A child learns letters and numbers under a teacher’s care among a group of peers. Every primary-school teacher I have asked agrees that small children cannot be taught online to read, write and count. If some learn to do so, it is because an adult is present to guide the process.

With older children, the challenge is subtler. Edutech planners will tell you that they allow for individual attention and interaction. Learners can follow their own pace, assess themselves by self-testing, and even ask questions. The interaction is largely through precoded exercises and bots, but the best (and costliest) courses find slots for human mentors. Yet all these features are worked into a pre-set, one-way system: an extended IT program, ‘remote’ in every sense.

To be sure, there are physical schools so ill-run that online instruction is a better alternative. But even a halfway decent institution offers the imperative human exchange. A lecturer in a classroom subconsciously attunes herself to the faces in front of her. Students’ queries cover a range that artificial intelligence cannot tackle — above all because it ignores individual psychology, the personal factors impacting a student’s development. A packaged online program can never overstep its boundaries, never warm to a bold question or an out-of-the-box suggestion. At most, it fosters a competent mediocrity. Hence the best students benefit the least from online courses,  which stunt their potential.

Edutech is the white flour and refined sugar of learning. To consume it is better than to starve, but it is no substitute for a wholesome home diet, even if indifferently cooked. (That is no excuse not to improve the cooking.) To vary the image, the stuff of digital learning is both literally and metaphorically behind a screen: you see it, but you can’t reach through and grasp it.

Such charges are customarily made against private coaching. Coaching centres are reviled on principle but rife in practice. Edutech providers profess the same adjunct role. But given their reach, glamour and opulence, they play a much more visible and increasingly central role in India’s education system.

This is because they blend with the current ecology of public services, cutting down State forests and planting corporate groves. Online teaching is vastly cheaper to provide: it does not need a standing army of teachers. The high demand is fanned by both commercial and official publicity. The Union government has perfected a new rhetoric extolling online teaching, never mind the digital divide. PM eVidya, the grandest of many schemes, aims to provide online education to every student in India. This may or may not be the same as the ‘digital university’ promised in this year’s budget, while actual universities languish for want of funds.

Education is following the path of our healthcare services, with an endlessly expanding role for the private sector. The economics drives the technology. State agencies have their own e-learning platforms: Diksha, ePathshala and Swayam, among others. Yet our rulers are warming more and more to private operators. Universities can outsource 40 per cent of course content for online degrees (themselves a recent innovation) and engage edutech companies to ‘assist’ even with the rest. There is even talk of such companies carrying out evaluation.

In today’s India, practices once thought harmful or illicit are routinely legitimised and then made standard. Not so long ago, we deplored the possibility of commercial coaching empires influencing exam results and curricula. This might soon become normative and organic to the system.

No academically respectable country has surrendered its education sector to profit-seeking interests in this way. When all is said, Indian education has an honourable place in the world’s eyes. We denigrate our public education system, but its alumni win success and acclaim everywhere. Let us not sell out on that legacy. 

Sukanta Chaudhuri is Professor Emeritus, Jadavpur University

Source: The Telegraph, 8/08/22

Initiatives taken to improve digital divide across country in education sector

 The majority of the schools are within the jurisdiction of the individual State and UT Governments, and education is listed in the concurrent list of the Constitution. However, the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education, has implemented a multi-pronged strategy to ensure that every student, especially those living in rural and educationally underdeveloped parts of the country, obtains uninterrupted access to education.

As a component of the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, PM e-Vidya, a comprehensive project that combines all activities connected to digital, online, and on-air education to offer multi-mode access to education, was launched on May 17, 2020. The project consists of the following elements:

• DIKSHA, the country’s digital infrastructure, provides high-quality e-content for classroom instruction in states and UTs, as well as QR-coded Energized Textbooks for all grades (one nation, one digital platform)
• Each class from 1 to 12 has one Swayam Prabha TV channel set aside for it (one class, one channel)
• Extensive use of Radio, Community radio and CBSE Podcast- Shiksha Vani
• On the NIOS website and YouTube, special e-content for the deaf and hard-of-hearing has been created using the Digitally Accessible Information System (DAISY)

Where the digital facility (Mobile Device/DTH television) is not available, the Ministry of Education has taken numerous initiatives, such as organising community/mohalla classes, community radio stations, and a podcast called Shiksha Vani of CBSE. It has also provided textbooks and worksheets to students’ homes.

The Samagra Shiksha, an Integrated Scheme for School Education, was introduced by the Department of School Education and Literacy in 2018–19. It sees the “school” as a progression from early childhood education through upper primary, secondary education, and senior secondary education.

It is a comprehensive programme for the school education industry that covers pre-kindergarten through class XII with the goal of ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education at all levels of schooling.

Samagra Shiksha is carried out in collaboration with all of the States and UTs, and financial aid is given to all of them for a number of components, including the improvement of the ICT infrastructure in schools.

Subject to budgetary constraints, the ICT component of Samagra Shiksha plans to include all Government and Aided classes VI through XII schools as well as Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs).

ICT resources will be accessible to students in lower grades in Government and Aided Schools with classes from VI to XII. 120614 schools have ICT labs approved, while 82120 schools have smart classroom approval. The elementary school instructors have been granted a total of 1482565 TABs.

The Department’s Innovation Funds are utilised to put up virtual studios, mobile classrooms, and online classrooms in schools. All states and UTs have started a Continuous Learning Plan (CLP), and in some states and UTs, pre-loaded tablets are being used successfully in remote rural locations where online classes are challenging.

Source: The Statesman, 25/07/22

Why mentorship is required for students

 

Mentorship helps students choose a career path, and also supports them by connecting them with the right people

Namratha P., an MBA student, wanted to understand career opportunities in Finance. With so many job roles available, she was unable to decide. She decided to speak to a professional mentor, and got in touch with a senior and experienced finance professional who spoke to her about opportunities, the skills she needed to develop, the pros and cons of various options and more. Based on his inputs, Namratha decided to take up a career in corporate finance. But why did she need to consult a mentor? This is where the role of mentorship during higher education comes in.

Why it’s needed

A college education grounds students in the knowledge they need in their future careers and helps build the skills to succeed in the job market. Mentorship builds on this foundation and guides students in their choice of careers. It helps them prepare for a job suitable to their aspirations. Mentors also help their mentees understand the nuances of the corporate world. While internships give much-needed exposure, a mentoring session allows students get to interact with people from different industries. In addition, students get to understand the do’s and don’ts of working in a structured organisation.

Mentorship aims to address the questions that students face while planning their careers. With the plethora of choices today, students want to understand the demand for their skills in the future, the scope for work, how workforce norms are changing, and so on. Mentorship gives direction, helps students choose a career path, and also supports them by connecting them with the right people.

There is also the ever-important campus recruitment process that worries students. Mentors give them clarity and address this uncertainty about cracking their first job. They encourage students by getting them interview-ready. Students are generally aware of the companies that come for placements. They can benefit from sessions with a mentor who is an industry expert, and is working/has worked in any of these companies.

New career profiles

Take the case of engineering graduate Jovita Devaraj. While doing her MBA, she realised that she was interested in many areas — Analytics, HR, Supply Chain Management, and Business Management. Her professional mentor helped her understand how she could combine her engineering background and analytical aptitude with her management education.

Meaningful mentor relationships in college are crucial. Each mentor-mentee partnership is unique since it is based on a student's circumstances, field of study, and career goals. If students have mentors in college, they are equipped with the confidence and the knowledge, support, connections, and skills to achieve their career dreams.

Arunabh Verma

This writer is CEO, Intercell Virtual Mentor Network.

Source: The Hindu, 14/05/22

What makes a happy student?

 

With the World Happiness Report released recently, perhaps we should look at compiling a World Student Happiness Report

According to the World Happiness Report (WHR) 2022, prepared by United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), India is in the 136th position among 146 nations surveyed. This makes it the 11th least happy nation in the world. Finland, known for its extraordinary education system and excellent work-life balance, is first for the fifth year in a row. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the WHR. Ever since WHR was published, India has been in the category of least happy nations in the world. India is far behind Nepal (84), Bangladesh (94), Pakistan (121) and Sri Lanka (127).

About nine million people, surveyed in over 150 countries, were asked to rate their well-being on a scale of 0 (worst possible life) to 10 (best possible life). The report deals with issues relating to happiness, importance of ethics, policy implications, and so on.. Though the methodology has been questioned by critics in India, it is good to ask these questions — what makes a nation a happy/unhappy? Why is India far behind many developing nations in the happiness index? Is there any link between education and happiness?

Many do not know that March 20 is the International Happiness Day. Sonja Lyubomirsky, professor in the department of Psychology at the University of California and author of The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want, defines happiness as “the experience of joy, contentment, or positive well-being, combined with a sense that one's life is good, meaningful, and worthwhile.”

A report for students

Let us assume that a global organisation conducted a similar survey to assess the happiness quotient of students across the globe and published a report (let us call it “World Student Happiness Report”), what would be the position of Indian students in the ranking? Would it not be a great service to the student community if such a report was published every year?

Do you feel good about yourself? Do you enjoy going to school/college? Do you have freedom to choose the subjects you like? Are you happy interacting with your teachers? Do you have the freedom to express your opinions on various issues in the classroom? Do your teachers consider your opinions? Are you treated well? Are you happy with the education system? Do you lead a stress-free life as a student? Do you enjoy taking exams? Are you confident that you will get a good job?

If we asked such questions to students in India, what would be their responses? How many would say that they have good mental health and enjoy their student life?

Need for stress-free education

On the International Day of Happiness, I had asked on social media if our country’s students are happy and whether the education system and educational institutions make them happy. Suganth Ram, a former student, wrote, “A big NO is my answer. Educational institutions are being run by people of previous generations who haven’t faced happiness themselves. Their stringent and dictatorial methods are being encouraged by parents who haven’t faced happiness themselves. Their toxicity and negativity is being carried over to the next generation. I too was a victim of that and I swore long back that this ends with me and I will do everything in my power to protect my kids from the toxicity in future.”

It is true there are many things that make students feel stressed. Educational institutions focus more on academic success than on their well-being, which includes “mental and physical health, physical and emotional safety, and a feeling of belonging, sense of purpose, achievement and success”. Commercialisation of education, lack of academic freedom, institutionalised religious/caste discrimination, and threatening school/college environment are some of the factors that affect student well-being at primary, secondary and tertiary levels.

Countless meaningless rules and regulations also make students’ lives miserable. The recent ban on the hijab in Karnataka is an example of meaningless rules that affect the mental health of Muslim girls.. Which is more important: uniform or mental health/education? Any right-thinking person would say that mental health and education is the answer.

For decades, the term “successful schools/colleges” have been defined as those that produce students who excel in exams. In other words, those that focus on scholastic achievements and neglect non-scholastic aspects such as mental, physical and emotional well-being. We need to re-define this. A successful school/college is one that focuses on the holistic development of students, prepares them to face challenges in life confidently, and helps them achieve true happiness. The need of the hour is a World Student Happiness Report. Will any organisation come forward to do research on this?

Albert P’ Rayan is an English Language Teaching (ELT) resource person and education columnist. rayanal@yahoo.co.uk

Source: The Hindu, 26/03/22

Boys at greater risk of repeating grades, failing to complete education than girls: UNESCO

 Boys are more likely than girls to repeat primary grades in 130 out of 142 countries, with data indicating their poorer progression through school, according to a new Global Education report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

The report titled ‘Leave no child behind: Global report on boys’ disengagement from education’ pointed out that no less than 132 million boys of primary and secondary school age are out of school.

It said boys are more likely than girls to experience physical bullying and are often targeted because of their real or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity or expression (SOGIE).

“Boys are more likely than girls to repeat primary grades in 130 out of 142 countries, with data indicating their poorer progression through school. In 57 countries, with data on learning poverty, 10-year-old boys fare worse than girls in mastering reading skills and adolescent boys continue to fall behind girls at the secondary level.

“While girls are more likely than boys to never attend school, boys in many countries are at higher risk of failing to advance and complete their education. As it stands, 132 million boys are currently out of school,” the report stated.

Shedding light on the factors driving boys’ disengagement from education, the UN report attributed the trend to harsh discipline, corporal punishment, gendered norms, poverty and the need to work, among major reasons.

“Poverty and the need to work, for instance, can lead boys to drop out. Gendered norms and expectations can also affect their desire to learn. In particular, certain subjects can run counter to traditional expressions of masculinity, making them unpopular with boys. Harsh discipline, corporal punishment and other forms of violence at school also negatively impact boys’ academic achievement, while increasing absenteeism and dropouts.

“In many countries, boys are at greater risk than girls of repeating grades, failing to complete different education levels and having poorer learning outcomes in school. Where previously boys’ disadvantage seemed most notable in high- or upper-middle-income contexts at the beginning of the millennium, this has shifted and now includes several low- and lower-middle-income countries,” it said.

The report noted that secondary education is where boys’ disadvantage is most prevalent.

“The right to education remains unfulfilled for many boys. Far too many children and youth of primary and secondary school age are out of school. Just over half of them are boys. It has been a concern that COVID-19 pandemic would lead to an increase in school dropouts. In 2020, the last school year before the pandemic, an estimated 259 million children and youth of primary and secondary school age were out of school, 132 million of whom were boys.

“There will not be a clear picture of Covid-19 effects on enrolments before the end of 2022,” it said.

At the global level, almost no country with data has achieved gender parity at the tertiary level.

The gender parity index data in 2019 for tertiary enrolment showed 88 men for every 100 women enrolled at tertiary level. While previously boys’ disengagement and dropout was a concern mainly in high-income countries, several low- and middle-income countries have seen a reversal in gender gaps, with boys now lagging behind girls in enrolment and completion.

“In 73 countries, less boys than girls are enrolled in upper-secondary education. In Mathematics, on the other hand, the gender gap that once worked against girls at the start of the millennium has narrowed or equalised with boys in half of all countries with data.

“Practices such as streaming of classes and gender segregation contribute to boys’ low motivation, underachievement and disengagement from education. Conflict and forced migration exacerbate challenges in accessing and completing education. Language barriers, mobility and discrimination contribute to educational exclusion,” the UNESCO report mentioned.

Experts pointed out that prolonged school closures and longer-term impact of COVID-19 on learning loss and school dropout are likely to exacerbate existing gender disparities unless steps are taken to address the learning needs of all.

“Despite boys’ clear disengagement from and disadvantage in education in certain contexts, there are few programmes and initiatives addressing this phenomenon holistically, with system-level, gender-specific policies even more rare. Scarce policy attention has been given to gender disparities in education that disadvantage boys. Existing policies are predominantly in high-income countries. Few low- or middle-income countries have specific policies to improve boys’ enrolment,” it said.

Advance equal access to education and preventing boys’ drop out, reform traditional practices or adapt their timing, such as initiation ceremonies, which pull boys and young men out of school, building on lessons of the extensive work identifying and addressing barriers to girls’ education, making learning gender-transformative, safe and inclusive for all learners and create gender-transformative and inclusive learning environments that address all learners’ needs, are among the recommendations made in the report.

Source: Indian Express, 11/04/22

In 2022, let’s create gender-positive learning spaces

 In 2008, when I (Aqsa) had to pick my medical specialisation, I chose a subject that could be pursued without staying in a hostel. As a transgender woman, only a men’s hostel was on offer to me, which was not acceptable. I was fortunate that I could complete my post-graduation but not everyone is. A decade later, Nivedhiya Anand, a tribal, intersex, and transgender student from Kerala dropped out of school, where she was put up in a boy’s hostel, due to mental harassment.

The recent announcement by NALSAR University, Hyderabad, on the creation of a gender-neutral space in its hostel has generated a buzz for the right reasons. This, along with gender-neutral washrooms and a proposed policy on inclusive education for gender and sexual minorities, is the outcome of honest conversations with the students. Two recent cases need focus when talking about accommodation for transgender students in hostels at universities. Yashika, an MA student at Panjab University, frustrated with the university for not being able to provide her hostel accommodation, had to approach the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which issued a notice to the university. In another PIL, filed before the Karnataka High Court, Trinetra Haldar Gummaraju, a medical student from Manipal University, has filed a case against the state government after being denied accommodation in the girls’ hostel even when she had changed her sex legally to female on her ID card. The university insisted that she get a sex reassignment surgery done before she is allowed in the girl’s hostel, denying her the right to self-determination, as provided by the 2014 NALSA judgment of the Supreme Court.

Even as inclusive spaces are created, we should be mindful of the intersectionality within queer communities. One, the presence of such facilities should not curtail the legal right of transgender men and women to get accommodation in men’s or women’s hostels, just like the presence of gender-neutral toilets should not be used to stop transgender men and women from using men’s or women’s washrooms. Secondly, such spaces should be accessible to persons with disabilities. Additionally, while such facilities give much-needed visibility to queer people and their issues, it can also expose the community to queerphobic attacks. University administration must pay special attention to the security of queer students on campus.

While infrastructure is essential for creating safe and inclusive places, we cannot underplay the importance of changing mindsets. There is a need for the sensitisation of students, teachers, and staff in all educational institutions, from primary schools to universities, on understanding and accepting queer and transgender folks. India has taken a step in the right direction by enacting the Transgender Persons Act, which speaks of a trans-inclusive education system wherein transgender students learn with other students without fear of discrimination, neglect, or harassment.

The National Education Policy 2020 speaks about providing equitable and quality education to transgender students. While that’s a progressive vision, it misses out on students from other queer identities. Such an omission is not just dangerous but can also be fatal, as in the case of a teenage student from DPS, Faridabad, who died by suicide, after being bullied by other students for his sexuality.

Creating safe educational spaces also demands that we change queerphobic curricula. It took a reprimand from the Madras High Court for National Medical Commission to issue a directive to medical colleges, faculty, and authors of textbooks to eliminate queerphobic content from books and pedagogy.

The step taken by NALSAR should nudge other educational institutes to consult stakeholders, especially queer-identifying students and staff, to undertake holistic changes for creating queer-affirmative campuses. Infrastructure, policies, and curricula need a thorough revision for creating not just gender-neutral but gender-positive learning spaces. In 2022, we owe this to our sexual and gender minorities.

Written by Aqsa Shaikh , Raghav Shukla

Shaikh is Associate Professor, Community Medicine, Jamia Hamdard, Delhi and Shukla studies at the Campus Law Centre, University of Delhi

Source: Indian Express, 5/04/22