Schools, hire counsellors! Save childhoods

Counsellors can make a difference to students and teachers. Education is incomplete without sound mental health

Harassment in schools may not always be physical, and God forbid, sexual. There is a domain which many tend to neglect — mental harassment. In school, I have had teachers grumbling that corporal punishments are no longer “allowed”. Many ignore the law and continue with their daily dose of beatings. These ‘indispensable’ techniques are necessary, they say, to ‘correct’ the students. “We had caning in our school days. Nothing happened to us because of that”, pat comes the justification. Certainly, nothing much happened to them, except it made them more violent and aggressive towards younger minds, turned them intolerant to mistakes, and probably led to a few personal issues here and there, which they effectively hid, much like open secrets. We need to be perfect after all. Yet, lest all the blame solely lie on the teachers; peer pressure, too, is not an unknown phenomenon anymore. How would the children cope with all these without a counsellor in schools?

Now, many of the schools do have a counsellor, if records are to be believed. But some issues arise here — one being that most counsellors are also teachers in the same school. If at all they have the necessary qualifications, would they have enough time? Consequently, focus on the mental wellness of students takes a back seat. Given how mental health was always ignored in educational settings, hiring specialised counsellors would be a paradigm shift. This would create an arrangement to look after the well-being of children, rather than allowing the problem to arise before being taken seriously.

Yet another question: would counsellors advise teachers about their methods? This gets dicey. Firstly, teachers are supposed to be respected. Pulling them into counselling for just one or a few students, may not be a feasible option. Secondly, sensitive teachers, who would voluntarily meet the counsellor for the sake of students, are not really the ones because of whom the problems arise. Occasionally, the source of a student’s problems stem from teachers who do not understand the situation. If so, how would they be convinced that their methods are the problem rather than the child’s drawbacks? This is not to corner such teachers. Often, teachers themselves do not realise that their upbringing did not allow for sensitivity to flourish. As much as we would like to believe that teachers are gods, the truth is, they too are not free from their early childhood conditioning. And rarely do they encounter counter-conditioning to erase childhood experiences. So is it solely students who require counselling? Students will graduate but the teachers are going to stay. If corrective measures are not introduced, successive batches of students will live with the trauma before authorities realise the importance of appointing a good counsellor.

Coming to bullying and peer pressure, there is data, loads of data, on how this destroys students. It was not until one social psychology class, that I learned how bullying is a two-way problem. Imagine a situation where a bully snatches the lunchbox away from a classmate. The immediate, and possibly the only solution, would be to reprimand the bully and punish him or her. But hardly anyone looks into what turned the particular student into a bully in the first place. Majority of the bullies have some personal issues themselves — family problems in the form of verbally or physically abusive parents, inferiority complex, or a hidden but legitimate reason like a retaliation to an offence caused to him/her. If these issues go amiss, and they usually do happen so, how can any long-term change in the bully take place? Are we destroying the life of one student in our bid to “protect” the victims? Who is really a victim in the case? Just the receiver of the aggressive act or even the aggressor himself or herself?

I am in no position to direct the more learned individuals in their dealings with the students. However, as a third party, these gruesome facts are appalling. Much as it may anger us as to why such a situation exists, we must not neglect the fact that there is a lack of properly trained, and more importantly, ethical school counsellors in educational institutions. We complain about what others lack, but are we doing enough to protect our children? They are the country’s and our future support systems too. In our eagerness to make them educated — perfectly educated — are we draining their beautiful minds of their health?

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Source: DNA, 5-02-2017

Health Budget: Reality Check

Its traditional approach to public investment is out of step with changing needs

The health budget this year has made special provisions for elimination of five infectious diseases, strengthening of rural sub-centres, recruitment of specialist doctors in government hospitals, increased allocation for programmes for women and children, and free treatment for the elderly poor. Missing in this list is a mention of increased budgetary support for the prevention, control and care for non-communicable diseases like cancer, diabetes, hypertension and heart diseases — the major causes of ill health, disability and death in the country today.

These diseases do not only afflict urban residents. They are the major cause of death and ill health in rural areas, where incomes are lower, and medical services are more difficult to reach. A small part of this distress could have been addressed through additional budgetary provisions. This would also have reflected an acknowledgement on the part of policymakers, that these conditions, and not infectious diseases, are now the major cause of ill health in the country.

Since Independence, a significant portion of the health budget has been channelised into infectious disease control programmes, so that these diseases now account for less than 10 per cent of deaths and only 15 per cent of ill health in the country. The intention to eliminate five infectious diseases can be debated, especially as disease elimination is an unpredictable public health investment. The prolonged expenditure to eradicate polio is a recent example. India eradicated guinea worm, yaws and maternal and neonatal tetanus, without the hullabaloo associated with the much-hyped programmes that eradicated smallpox and polio. Eliminating kala-azar and filariasis, now restricted to a few areas in the country, may be feasible. The epidemiology of leprosy and tuberculosis are so different that financial investment for their elimination warrants caution.

India has, in fact, burnt its fingers once by declaring that leprosy was not a public health problem, only to realise that leprosy cases were increasing. The goal of tuberculosis elimination highlights another public health issue that has not received mention in the budget. Investments are needed for strengthening health services for the urban poor. The unhealthy, over-crowded and impoverished living conditions of urban slums provide the ideal environment for proliferation of infectious diseases, and could easily undo targets of eliminating tuberculosis and leprosy.

Even as the health budget has announced increased provisions for government programmes for women and children, it is time to re-examine the increased prioritisation of care for pregnant women. For over a decade now, institutional deliveries and immunisation have been incentivised. Perhaps it is time to taper off this programme that pays women across India to deliver at hospitals, some of which may not necessarily be up to required healthcare standards.

With reducing fertility, women experience two to three pregnancies. Maternal deaths have reduced significantly across the country and are now the 10th largest cause of death among women. At this time, investing in the creation of clean, accessible, and supportive mother and child clinics might be more cost effective.

True, planning to address the health problems of India is a daunting task especially as health priorities vary widely across the country, and India has to combat both infectious and non-communicable diseases. While the health budget has retained a rather traditional approach, more innovative allocations, like the budgetary provision for the elderly poor, were required.

This latter allocation reassures people that public health investments acknowledge the reality of the changing demographics and health status of the country. They reflect the fact that policymakers are preparing for the changing health status of the population that accompanies the economic progress of the country.

The writer heads the public health school at Pune University

Source: 6-02-2017

Kohima violence: It was a problem in the making

It was a crisis in the making, and so it is hardly surprising that violence has broken out in Kohima, Nagaland’s capital over local body polls. While there could be many deep-seated political and social crises triggering the violence, on the surface it seems to be a battle that has got gender rights, politics and tribal anger pitted against one another in the elections, which was scheduled in the state after more than 10 years and in which for the first time 33% seats were reserved for women. But the reservation part, which has been pushed by the women’s groups and supported by the government, did not go down well with several tribal councils and they accused the government of not respecting Naga customary laws. The other bone of contention: The Nagaland Municipal Act of 2001 also empowers municipal bodies to collect land and building taxes. In November, the apex tribal organisation in the state, Naga Hoho, had sent out a warning: It urged the assembly to ensure that the reservation in Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) does not bring divisions among the people of the state resulting in creation of an unmanageable situation and that both decisions will create chaos.On the customary law part, the Naga tribal groups are right when they say that such laws are protected under Article 371 (A) of the Constitution. Under this provision, no Act that interfered with Naga laws or social and religious practices would apply to the state unless the assembly passed a resolution allowing it. In an interview to Scroll.in a senior Naga leader summed up their opposition: “Women should participate in polls, not through reservation but through nominations. The percentage of women could be even higher. We are saying why give reservation when there is no discrimination against women?” It would only create a rift between Naga men and women, he felt. The women’s groups, however, think otherwise.On Monday, the state government signed a deal with tribal bodies to postpone elections by two months. But with Gauhati high court directing the state government on Tuesday to hold ULBs polls, the state government decided to go ahead with polling in 12 of the 32 municipal bodies. But that did not calm the tribal groups and the government was forced to scrap the polls.

Source: Hindustan Times, 5-02-2017

After Making a Mistake...

MAULANA WAHIDUDDIN KHAN





Often, people make a mistake and then add to it by making yet another mistake: by trying to justify their mistake. But what they should actually do on making a mistake is reflect on and seek to discover why they made that mistake in the first place. If you don't do that and, instead, you seek to justify your mistake after committing it, you remain just where you were before. On the other hand, if you seek to find out why you made that mistake, you will save yourself from repeating it.This is a natural fact. It is reflected in a hadith, narrated from Anasibn Malik, according to which the Prophet said, “Every person commits sin, and the best of those who commit sin are those who repent.“
(IbnMajah, hadith no. 4251) The fact is that no human being possesses total knowledge.Because of this, people often adopt wrong views and opinions. There are often errors in their plans. The virtue of human beings is not that they are immune from making mistakes. Rather, their virtue lies in their being willing to acknowledge their mistakes and to bring their actions into conformity with reality .
A person who does not acknowledge his mistakes has to pay the price of continuing to remain stuck in his wrong approach. Accordingly , he deprives himself of confidence, because he chooses to remain in that groove even though he recognises that it is wrong.Moreover, his actions cannot produce meaningful results, and his plans will fail to produce the results that he seeks.

Northeast Fires





Frequent subversion of law and order is preventing the region's development

The violence in Nagaland last week that saw the torching of at least 20 government buildings by tribal organisations once again highlights the weak law and order infrastructure in the country's Northeast. The agitators were protesting against 33% reservation for women in urban local body elections. They felt that such quotas violated traditional Naga customary rights that are guaranteed by the Constitution. The violence forced the state government to cancel the polls. However, the agitators are now demanding that chief minister TR Zeliang and his entire cabinet step down.In the same vein, the three-month-old economic blockade in Manipur by Naga groups to protest against the state government's decision to carve new districts out of Naga-dominated hill areas has caused severe hardship. National Highway-2 is a lifeline of landlocked Manipur, and its frequent blockade by agitating groups creates a massive shortage of essentials in the Imphal Valley region. Although tripartite talks between the Manipur government, Nagas and the Centre have recently yielded a deal to lift the blockade, such pressure tactics that hold the livelihood of ordinary people to ransom are condemnable.
Both the above incidents highlight a fundamental problem with the North east that is preventing the region from realising its true development potential.
For long stakeholders in the Northeast have complained about being neglected by the rest of India. However, it's also true that Northeast communities want to preserve their culture and traditional way of life. While this is already guaranteed by the Constitution, using identity as a weapon to attack the state is unacceptable. The Northeast can't have it both ways ­ Manipur can't demand better integration with the rest of India and yet try to prevent outsiders; the Nagas can't ask for development and yet violently subvert state institutions at the drop of a hat.
Plus, law and order is the basic enabler of development. And only the state can have a monopoly over violence. The refusal of Northeast tribal groups to accept this is at the heart of the problem. Protests should be carried out peacefully . Agitators can seek legal remedies. If law and order is continually subverted, neither will the Northeast attract investments nor will it benefit from serving as a bridge between India and Southeast Asia. Development of the Northeast is crucial for India's Act East policy . But frequent violence in the region will keep it trapped in backwardness.

Source: Times of India, 6-02-3017

The final test: Will National Testing Agency see the light of the day?

 

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his budget speech on Wednesday announced setting up an autonomous and self-sustainable "National Testing Agency" for conducting entrance exams to higher education institutions in a "professional way".
The National Testing Service (NTS), a nodal agency, aims to free up institutions such as the CBSE, IITs, IIMs, and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) that are currently tasked to conduct national-level exams for admission to medical, engineering and business schools.This would free the CBSE and the AICTE from administrative responsibility, so that they can focus more on academics," Jaitley said without mentioning the deadline to establish this body.
What Jaitely didn't share in his speech was that several governments in the past have proposed and, subsequently, shelved the NTS for reasons best known to them.
The Programme of Action, 1992 for implementation of the National Policy on Education (1986) first advocated the setting up of a national level body for entrance exams. Almost 15 years later, the National Knowledge Commission (2006-2009) also proposed National Talent Service for conducting independent test.
Most recently, the Ashok Misra Committee of Eminent Persons which was formed to review the JEE system (2015) also recommended constituting an independent body for conducting these exams.
"Nothing moved even when the CBSE had to conduct All India Pre Medical Test examination twice in 2015 because of paper leak," says a medical student.
More than 40 lakh students appear for seven tests — CAT, JEE (Main), JEE (Advanced), GATE, CMAT, NEET, NET — conducted by the CBSE, IITs, IIMs and AICTE every year.
However, it was part of the Central Advisory Board of Education agenda last year, following which the MHRD readied the Cabinet note on the National Testing Service (NTS) in December 2016.
"The NTS is expected to be on the lines of the Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the United States. It would be registered as a society under the Indian Societies Act by June 2017. It will conduct the UGC-NET exam by 2017 end followed by NEET and JEE from 2018," said an MHRD official.
Initially, the government will provide a corpus of Rs 50 crore to NTS. Thereafter, examination fee paid by 40 lakh students should make it fully self-reliant to meet all operational expenses, says the official.

Source: DNA, 2-02-2017

Spreading cheer: A new lesson in empowering youth

Empowering the youth through education and jobs will be the key focus

Reforms in Higher Education, regulation of the University Grants Commission (UGC) to provide more autonomy to education institutions and setting up of a body that conducts entrance tests, are some of the key highlights of this year's budget for the education sector, which was a part of the Finance Minister's 10-point agenda speech.
The Finance Minister Arun Jaitley while presenting the budget said that "empowering the youth through education and jobs" is one of the highlights of the government this year. However, the budget allocated for education is still among the lowest of all crucial ministries.
There has been an eight per cent increase in the overall allocation to Ministry of Human Resource Development for 2017-18 as compared to 2016-17, with major increase for IITs. The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) have been allocated Rs. 7.8 thousand crore, around 2.5 thousand crore more than last year. According to sources in the ministry, the increased budget for support to IITs has been allotted for the project Vishwajeet, under which the government plans to develop seven old IITs and catapult them to world class institutions. A good amount of money has been allotted for autonomous institutions as well. Allocation for other major heads like Sarva Shikha Abhiyan and teacher's training has also seen an increase as compared to last year.
Reacting to the allocation for education sector, Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar said, "Government's thrust for improving the overall quality of education is reflected in the budget."There has been emphasis on science education by giving more importance to research and innovation and providing the right kinds of skills so that everyone becomes employable," he adds.
Talking about reforms in higher education, the minister said, "Regulation of UGC is something that has been long overdue and we are dutybound. By doing this, we will be able to give more autonomy to institutes that perform well. Institutes that perform good will be given complete autonomy, average performers will get fifty per cent autonomy and those not performing well will have a greater say by the government."
"It's good that the new budget has underlined reforming UGC. Improving quality of research and teaching in universities should be top priority. To improve quality of higher education, it's a good move that institutions will get autonomy based on accreditation and ranking," shared Vice Chancellor Jawaharlal Nehru University, M Jagadesh Kumar.
"The budget has some exciting proposals for the higher education sector. Hopefully the reforms of UGC will see it pass on some of its multiple responsibilities to the Higher Education Financing Agency and focus on regulation," says Rudra Sensarma, Professor of Economics, IIM Kozhikode.

Source: DNA, 2-02-2017