Friday, January 19, 2024

How smartphones can make education inclusive

Doing well in examinations and getting jobs will continue to be a goal for a good proportion of youth but life goals that are not connected with academics are also becoming popular. Our system has to evolve to support them. Technology can assist

Two decades ago, there was much hope that computers with the Internet would revolutionise education. A decade later, mobile technology led to the belief that education anytime anywhere was possible. From one laptop per child, we started thinking of mobile devices replacing books. Now we are about to reach a situation when there will be a mobile phone in every home. In its survey of 14-18-year-olds across the country, the recently released Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2023 shows that about 89 per cent youth in the surveyed age group of 14-18, said they have a smartphone at home. An even higher proportion — 92 per cent — said that they can use a smartphone.

Of those who reported knowing how to use a smartphone, two-thirds said that they had used mobile phones for their studies, the week before the survey. This is a large proportion, but it’s smaller than the population who reported using smartphones for entertainment. The market has many products from for-profit and not-for-profit companies for education but they are generally focused on preparing for examinations. AI-based tutoring programs are growing. As technology advances, making such programs in local languages will be easily possible. There is reason to believe that costs will keep falling. But their focus is still on preparation for exams because that is what the market demands.

Technology barriers to the availability of knowledge are falling but the transfer of this knowledge and certification is still a restricted process. These processes need to be opened up.

The idea of education anytime anywhere is now being put to test. Universal elementary school enrollment has been achieved in India and we are on our way to achieving universal secondary and higher secondary enrollment. But, as ASER first reported in 2005, enrollment or schooling is not the same as learning. Also, the 2023 report points out, half of these adolescents start working part time after completing Class X or the age of 15-16. Although the education policy talks about greater flexibility in entering and re-entering the formal education process, the need really is for the underprivileged to be able to study while working to earn a living. Open schooling and digital technology is a powerful combination. The open school and open university processes need to be decentralised and strengthened. Rapidly developing technology is going to make it easy not only to teach and learn anywhere-anytime but testing anytime-anywhere should be possible as well.

The need for many more universities in India is much talked about. This is directly linked to the fact that the population is going to continue growing for the next 40 years or so. But there is also a need for non-formal education to supplement the formal processes of education or fulfil other needs. Widespread smartphone ownership combined with cheap data presents a huge challenge because of the risks of distortion of information. But it is also an opportunity for education of the kind that is not offered in schools and colleges. For example, agriculture, or broadly natural resource management, is a subject that is not offered in rural schools and colleges, at least on the scale it should be. The ASER 2023 survey found that while 56.4 per cent and 31.3 per cent rural students respectively were studying Humanities and Science beyond Class X, only 0.7 per cent reported they were studying agriculture. Agriculture employs over 50 per cent of India’s workforce and ASER 2023 shows that nearly a quarter of all adolescents in the 14-18 age group also work in agriculture while being enrolled in schools or colleges. The need to formally train our youth in advanced skills and knowledge of agriculture, fisheries and forestry, traditionally handed down in families, should be obvious. This is not a matter of skilling for jobs or livelihoods alone.

Issues of natural resource management are the issues of environment and climate. They have always been interconnected. The difference now is that there is a growing awareness about the linkages. Therefore, there is all the more reason for the entire population to learn about agriculture and the environment — not just agrarian communities. Each home has a laboratory around it for experimentation and learning. Knowledge and information can be accessed using digital technology wherever people are. So, the way to do it probably is not through rigid structures of classrooms, departments and universities run by governments or for-profit private players although these will continue to thrive for much of the foreseeable future.

Our education system has grown to train students to aim at one purpose — do well in examinations and get jobs. Times are changing. Doing well in examinations and getting jobs will continue to be a goal for a good proportion of youth but life goals that are not connected with academics are also becoming popular. Our system has to evolve to support them. Technology can assist but our mindsets have to change.

Written by Madhav Chavan

Source: Indian Express, 18/01/24

Wednesday, January 10, 2024

Quote of the Day January 10, 2024

“Let us be grateful to people who makes us happy.”
Marcel Proust

“आइये उन व्यक्तियों के प्रति आभार व्यक्त करें जो हमें प्रसन्न बनाते हैं।”
मार्सल प्रोसाउट

Economic and Political Weekly: Table of Contents

Vol. 59, Issue No. 1, 06 Jan, 2024

Editorials

An Elusive Take-off

Illegal Immigration and Institutional Failures

From 25 Years Ago

From 25 Years Ago: Urdu in India since Independence

From 50 Years Ago

From 50 Years Ago: Vietnam: Ugly Silence

Alternative Standpoint

Rebranding Bengaluru - Embracing Eco-socialism to Unveil the City’s Soul

Debswapan Chatterjee, Prakhar Borgaonkar, Roopa Patavardhan

Commentary

Digitising Justice - The Potential of Case Management Systems for State Governments

Varda Mone, Abhishek T

Book Reviews

Liberal Democracies and Market Capitalism - Is a Remarriage Possible?

Chandrahas Deshpande

Independence for French India or the Freedom to Live as Franco-Indian

Priya Ange

Perspectives

Simultaneous Elections in Plural Societies - Overlapping Social Cleavages and Democratic Stability in India

Aejaz Ahmad Wani, Rouf Ahmad Dar

Special Articles

Understanding Migration Behaviour in India from PLFS Data - Post-lockdown and Future Perspective

Arup Mitra, Puneet Kumar Shrivastav

To Link or Not to Link - How Aadhaar Impacts the Delivery of Welfare

Anjor Bhaskar, Arpita Sarkar, Preeti Singh

Discussion

Reliability of Our Statistical System  - A Rejoinder to G Raveendran 

Sanjay Kumar, N K Sharma

Current Statistics

Letters

On the Proposed Digital India Act, 2023

Tania Chatterjee, Agam Gupta, Pradip Thomas

Digital Twins and Smart Farming

Kushankur Dey, Aashi Jain

Engage Articles

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act: Lessons from Odisha

Geetanjoy Sahu and Aaishwarya Jadhav

Constructive Engagement with Russia: Why Does It Matter for Asian Nations and How to Do It?

Poowin Bunyavejchewin

Leap Year 2024

February 29th only comes once every four years – but what exactly is a leap year and why was an extra calendar day needed?

Accounting for Earth’s True Revolution

A solar year equals one full revolution of Earth around the sun. This takes 365 days plus 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds.
Early calendars just approximated 365 days. But the extra hours aggregated over centuries. To compensate, an extra day is added to February every four years.
This realigns the calendar with Earth’s rotation and prevents seasons drifting. The day is in February as it’s the shortest month.

When Was the Concept Introduced?

The leap year was conceived in 46 BC under Julius Caesar’s scholars. The Julian calendar added a 366th day to every fourth year.
But 6 hours used for calculations still differed from the actual 5 hours 48 minutes extra time. Small errors crept in over the ages.
By 1500s, dates had shifted 10 days ahead of Earth’s revolution. So 10 days were cut in 1582 to reset the correlation.

The Gregorian Fix

Pope Gregory XIII also devised a long term solution – dropping leap years for most years ending in double zeroes.
This prevented excess day buildup from too many quadrennial additions. However, exceptions were 400-divisible years like 2000.
The refinement finally aligned the Gregorian calendar with Earth’s tropical orbit to within 26 seconds.

Draft Press and Periodicals Rules 2024

Seeking public comments, India’s I&B Ministry issued draft rules for implementing the Press and Periodicals Registration Act 2023 passed recently. The rules outline the powers and processes for the Press Registrar.

Inspection Triggers for Media Houses

As per the draft, physical inspection of a publisher’s business premises can be taken up if annual statements are not submitted regularly or a desk audit flags issues requiring further verification.

Press Registrar’s Discretionary Powers

The Registrar can also initiate inspection after receiving complaints about a publication or if deemed necessary for other exceptional reasons. Justification for the same has to be recorded in writing.

Verification of Circulation Claims

Another provision enables verifying circulation numbers if a newspaper seeks central government ads or is subjected to complaints. Initial checking has to be via desk audit of submitted information.

Concerns Around Sweeping Powers

Some experts have criticized the discretionary physical inspection clauses as giving sweeping powers to the authorities with possibilities of misuse to harass media outlets.

About Press and Registration of Periodicals Act

The Press and Registration of Periodicals Act enacted by the Indian Parliament in 2023 aims to replace the archaic 1867 Press and Registration of Books legislation instituted during colonial rule. It was formally implemented from December 29 after getting legislative approval and presidential assent.

The 156-year-old Press Act was criticized as an obsolete legislation lacking required oversight mechanisms for digital age media platforms. By repealing and introducing updated provisions governing registration of publishers and norms compliance, the 2023 Act seeks to catalyze responsible journalism and curb misinformation proliferation enabled via modern technologies.

The framework for a dysfunctional world

The revolutionary changes that are impacting humankind with such bewildering ferocity are mind-boggling, to say the least. Surely there must be some larger purpose, a trajectory for the march of civilization towards its collective destiny. The current trend of upheavals and chaos are sweeping away barriers and pulling down structures that stymie humanity’s acceptance of its interdependence and oneness as One Planet, One People, and One Future.

According to the teachings of the Bahá’i Faith the process of globalization coupled with spiritual awakening of the masses as a counter to materialism and consumerism would signal the emergence of a new World Order and collective maturity of the entire human race. However, to reach such a lofty state of civilization, there is a need for an evolving frame for collective education in all spheres of human existence. Sadly, due to a distorted perception of human history, nations and peoples have been locked in a struggle for power and domination throughout time.

To this end, the assumption that relations among the three protagonists of society – the individual, the community and the institution – have to conform to the dictates of competition and self-aggrandizement must be replaced by the premise that harmonious interactions can foster a civilization befitting mature humanity. Such a shift in mindset calls for internalising the concept of the dynamic coherence between the practical and spiritual requirements of life.

“Be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in, and centre your deliberations on its exigencies and requirements,” wrote Bahá’u’lláh. Although, the principle of unity in diversity, an oft-repeated phrase in the development discourse, is now widely accepted as one step in the movement toward society’s collective maturity, there are many obstacles that have to be surmounted. For, the finite resources of the planet are the birthright of all its inhabitants.

The growing disparity between the rich and the poor cannot be permitted to persist; the senseless polarization of sections of populations in the name of race, nation, caste, religion, class and what-have-you is unacceptable. The principles of justice and the rule of law should be the basis for the relationships that sustain society. It is quite evident that materialistic ideals have failed to satisfy the needs of humankind. Therefore, fresh efforts must be made to find solutions to the agonizing crises of the planet. Achieving unity of thought and unity of action for building a peaceful and prosperous civilization requires farreaching changes and greater coherence in the relationships that bind individuals, communities, and the institutions.

Every people and every nation has a part to play in the next stage in the fundamental reconstruction of human society.’ The Bahá’i writings state that while “material civilization is one of the means for the progress of the world of mankind,” until it is “combined with Divine civilization, the desired result, which is the felicity of mankind, will not be attained.” It is further stated: “Material civilization is like a lamp-glass, Divine civilization is the lamp itself and the glass without the light is dark. Material civilization is like the body.

No matter how infinitely graceful, elegant and beautiful it may be, it is dead. Divine civilization is like the spirit, and the body gets its life from the spirit.” The series of summit level conferences in the 1990s convened by the United Nations, the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals (2000-2015) and then the Sustainable Development Goals (2015-2030) are all highly laudable evidences that governments can work together to address issues that are crucial for the survival of humankind. At the same time many of the dominant currents in societies everywhere are pushing people apart, not drawing them together. Religious fundamentalism is warping the character of communities, even nations, fueling fresh conflicts and wars. Certain shared ethical principles as incorporated in UNESCO’s curriculum framework on education for the 21st century such as “Learning – The Treasure Within” (1996), and “Education futures: conservation and change” (2020) were widely disseminated and accepted by the majority of the member-states of the United Nations.

And yet, there is massive trust deficit, and utter confusion about right and wrong, undermining the credibility of all sources of knowledge. Instead, our world is being assailed by resurgent forces of racism, nationalism, factionalism and in India casteism. The tumult raised by the contending peoples of the world threatens to drown out the voices of those noble-minded souls in every society who call for an end to conflicts and struggle. As long as that call goes unheeded, there is no reason to doubt that the current state of disorder and confusion will worsen resulting in even more catastrophic devastations. The recent global health pandemic caused by the Covid-19 virus is but one such challenge, the ultimate severity of whose cost, both to lives and livelihoods, is yet to be fully estimated.

The human race, as a distinct, organic unit, Bahá’is believe, has passed through evolutionary stages analogous to the stages of infancy and childhood in the lives of its individual members, and is now in the culminating period of its turbulent adolescence approaching its long-awaited coming of age. This will not come about simply through the efforts exerted by a select group of nations or even a network of national and international agencies. Rather, the challenge must be faced by all who inhabit the earth.

A global order that unifies the nations with the assent of humanity is the only adequate answer to the destabilizing forces that threaten the world. In their search for a tangible pattern of how an evolving framework for collective education is taking shape, peoples everywhere can benefit from the experiences of the seven-million strong Bahá’i community representing the entire cross-section of humanity, operating in some 235 countries and dependent territories in 6,000 geographic clusters worldwide. The efforts of Bahá’is to build communities, to engage in social action, and to contribute to the prevalent discourses of society in tandem with enhancing the capacities of both the young and the old have cohered into one global enterprise. They are bound together by a common framework for education and action, focused on helping humanity to establish its affairs on a foundation of universal human values. In every cluster where the process of collective education is gaining momentum, whether it be rural or urban neighbourhoods, a visible pattern of a harmonious community life is discernible quite in contrast to the dysfunctional state of present-day society.

To ensure a steady and focused forward movement, Bahá’is remind themselves and their fellow-citizens to draw on the two basic knowledge systems that have propelled humanity’s progress over the centuries: science and religion. The harmony of science and religion teaches that religion without science soon degenerates into superstition and fanaticism, while science without religion becomes merely the instrument of crude materialism and destruction. Viewed positively through these two agencies, the human race’s experience has been organized, its environment interpreted, its latent powers explored, and its moral and intellectual life disciplined.

Together, they have acted as the real progenitors of civilization. At whatever level the Bahá’is operate, the central theme of all their service is systematic learning. As members of a religious community, they hold to a common set of beliefs and fundamental principles. For, the qualities of resilience and rationality; adherence to justice, commitment to compassion, detachment, forbearance and many more inculcate in every man, woman, youth, and child an optimistic and practical vision of the way ahead to a truly sustainable future – the surest way to hasten the fulfilment of the promise of world peace.

A. K. MERCHANT

Source: The statesman, 10/01/24

Global warming, sea level rise, ageing flood defence systems: Why European countries have been flooded

While rain this time of year isn’t unusual, it’s the intensity of the downpour that has set off alarm bells among experts. They suggest a combination of factors has led to the deluge in the countries. Here is a look.

Heavy rains have hit France, England, Netherlands and Germany for more than two weeks, causing rivers to burst their banks in many areas, flooding homes and prompting evacuations.

While rain this time of year in these regions isn’t unusual, it’s the intensity of the downpour that has set off alarm bells among experts. They suggest a combination of factors, including global warming, rising sea levels, and ageing flood defence systems have led to the deluge in the countries.

Here is a look at the situation.

What is happening?

In France, the northern region has been the worst affected as 189 municipalities of the Pas de Calais department witnessed flooding. Till January 4, at least 1,299 homes had been damaged and a total of 371 people had been evacuated by the local authorities.

Widespread deluge has impacted central England — in Nottinghamshire County, officials declared a “major incident” due to flooding along the Trent River last week. In London, a landslide and flood waters disrupted train travel and around 50 people had to be evacuated because of rising water in the eastern part of the city. The flooding has come just days after the country’s large areas were battered by Storm Henk.

Meanwhile, in Germany, officials declared emergencies in several regions as high-running rivers flooded villages and farmland. In the Netherlands, flood plains were inundated and residents in some towns around the Ijsselmeer inland sea near Amsterdam used sandbags to protect their homes, according to a report by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).

Why is it happening?

There are three factors at play here: rising global temperature, sea level rise, and outdated flood defence systems. Let’s look at each of them.

First, global warming. Scientists have known that as the planet gets warmer, there will be more frequent extreme rainfall. With higher temperatures, there is more evaporation from land, oceans and water bodies, which means a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture — experts suggest for every 1 degree Celsius rise in average temperature, the atmosphere can hold about 7% more moisture. This makes storms more dangerous as it leads to an increase in precipitation intensity, duration and/or frequency, which ultimately can cause severe flooding.

El Nino — a weather pattern that refers to an abnormal warming of surface waters in the equatorial Pacific Ocean — also partly contributed to increasing the temperatures of oceans, causing more evaporation and ultimately, more rain.

The second factor is sea level rise due to which rivers frequently breach their banks to flood the adjacent areas. Take the example of northern France, where rising sea levels likely led to the recent deluge — between 1966 and 2018, sea levels at Pas de Calais rose by 4.4 cm, according to a report by Euro News.

Lastly, ageing flood defence systems have exacerbated the situation. The Euro News report noted that the outdated water management systems of France failed to tackle the large volumes of water that had entered the affected regions. Authorities had to get water pumps from the Netherlands to combat flooding.

Moreover, people, both in France and England, have built infrastructure like roads and buildings on floodplains, restricting the natural routes the water would have taken to get drained into the floodplain soils. As a result, the water ends up flooding certain areas.

What happens next?

The situation is bound to get worse. Studies have shown that as the planet gets warmer, storms would get more intense, causing heavier rainfall. The frequency of extreme weather events like floods is also expected to go up.

Steve Turner, a hydrologist at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, in an interview on Friday told Science Media Centre: “Future projections suggest the UK overall may experience wetter winters as well as summers that are hotter and drier than at present but with periods of more intense rainfall. Continued human-induced climate warming in future is likely to result in further increases in peak river flows, which will cause more severe flooding and impacts on people, property and public services.”

Therefore, there is an urgent need to improve flood defences, early warning systems and resilience measures to tackle the fallout of heavy rain.

Written by Alind Chauhan

Source: The Indian Express, 9/01/24

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