my thoughts

While attending a conference yesterday, I came across a statement from one of the speakers that as he studied in a village school where there was no concept of PTMs so his father or mother did not even know how was he performing and what was he learning.This was many years back and now the situation has changed  at least in the cities and towns.This was alright in those days because thirty years ago learning was considered to be taking place in the schools naturally and there was no need of the parents to get involved in the school affairs.The teachers were considered to be the one responsible enough to look after the learning of the children on their own. One of the important features of the right to education act is that all schools should have school managing committee. The independent schools had this system earlier also in which there is representation of the parents and teachers as well.The government schools also had such committees but now...

I had shared with you all the pain and the difficulties of the children of the higher classes in the schools specially the ones who have opted for science stream and want to become engineers, doctors, lawyers or charted accountants either because of their own interest or to fulfill the wishes of their parents. Given an opportunity, these children do share their problems with adults, specially the teachers and family members other than the parents, because parents tend to ignore this particular problem, though otherwise they are very concerned about the well being of the children.Those children who are able to take the pressure of managing two centers which are helping them in shaping-up their future or securing it, are not complaining much, but this number is very less.The other group which is in majority finds it very difficult to manage at both the places.The parents know it well, but either it is the societal pressure or their own unfulfilled desires which make th...

Every individual has the potential of doing something good in life and if the potential is understood well by him/her then the task to exploit that becomes quite easy.Those people who believe in themselves could perform much beyond their capacity. The belief in self is the key to success and the lack of it will make the difference between success and failure.I read a story somewhere(it may not be a true story but gives wonderful message) in which a person with a very low self esteem goes to a saint and asks him for help so that he also becomes as confident as the saint .The saint allowed him to stay with other disciples.This person observed that the other disciples were able to perform any task given by the saint very easily. One day, he also asked the saint to give him some task which he thought could be performed by him. The saint told him that you are capable of walking on the water and if you have confidence in my observation and your capability then try it. The man h...

Everyone of us is in pursuit of happiness and joy, and work very hard to achieve that.The meaning of joy is different for different people.Though it is not possible for everyone to reach to the ultimate state of blissfulness but we can manage to remain happy and enjoy life.The nature has organised everything  in such a wonderful and disciplined way that if respected and followed in the same manner, there should be no unhappiness in this world. But the problem is the greed and unlimited desire of achieving more,that  hinders the path to real happiness.Everyone thinks and this is true also that the parents do everything possible for their children. In the last twenty years, the parents in rural as well as urban areas are spending much more than what they used to spend before(mostly for the future of their children).As per the report in one of the newspapers the expenditure on education has gone up by approximately 150%(this figure is after taki...

The school education in India is undergoing many changes and reforms and this is a positive sign for the children of the country.The government is making all possible efforts so that all children get education and are able to contribute in the development of the country in an effective way. Our country is full of diversity which exists in almost every walk of life.On one hand, we have the rich people whose names appear in the list of the richest people of the world and on the other hand, there are large number of  people who do not have access to two square meals in a day. On one hand, people have large bungalows, big farm houses,lavish lifestyles and on the other hand,there are many people who sleep on the roads under the roof of stars.If I mention all, it will take a lot of time and space. Hence my thoughts will be confined to one of the most important issues and that is education; and here also you find such a disparity that the meaning of all the reform...

It has been heard many-a-times from many new and old teachers that the children in the class do not let them teach or create one or the other disturbance and this phenomenon is across the globe and not only in our country and it has been there for centuries. But at the same time, there are many teachers who never have any such problem in managing their class and have always enjoyed being with their students.Everybody will agree that  one of the most important qualities of a teacher is to first create an environment of learning in the class and then only learning can take place. There may be different reasons for negative behaviour of the students and it is the responsibility of an intelligent teacher to analyse and understand the cause and take corrective measures.I would like to mention a few reasons because of which there can be disturbances in the class.There are different kinds of disturbances reported from the classrooms, the children not listening to the teachers, t...

The children in today`s world have many sources to get information and are not solely dependent upon the teachers and the parents or the family as they used to be before. In earlier times the food outlets and the entertainment opportunities were also very limited and the children used to have food and go to watch films etc, with the family members and that was the reason there was a lot of interaction which would take place between the parents and the children.Not only this, in the schools, the students were dependent more on their school teachers and even if they needed some extra help the teachers were available to them after school hours also.The "Guru-Shishaya parampara" as we know it, was an immaculate system of education. The teachers were completely devoted and dedicated to their students and anchored them for nearly everything under the sun.The students who were seeking tuition were limited in number and they were even shy of letting anybody know about that because th...

I happened to read a statement given by somebody that human kind does not learn by experience, which was something new to me because this is what we have been  told that the experience teaches human being more than anything else.But the next sentence cleared my doubt and the confusion and the sentence was that the human kind learn not only by experience but by reflection upon the experience.And this made me to realise that some people who have vast experience in one or the other area, do not perform any better over the years what they have been doing and there may be others who do not have that long an experience  but still do better than what they had done previously.Though this is applicable to all the professions and the people, but will be more relevant in case of teachers, parents and the students. Many examples can be taken from the day to day life. There is a farmer who does the same work all through the life but if he reflects upon the reasons regarding the crops ...

This is a common problem with many teachers that though they work very hard with the students but  the students neither learn it well nor perform up to the mark in the test/examination.There is other side of the coin where the students say they had tried their level best but could not do that well as expected. Now the question is why is it so, that despite the efforts of the teachers as well as students the learning is not taking place? If the students were learning, then they should have performed better than what they did.This brings in focus a very important point and that is, are we teaching our students learn to learn or they are just being flooded with a lot of information in the name of teaching -learning? Every one should understand that learning is not the storage of the information in the brain but it is the churning of information that makes the learning happen. The more children think and analyse and try to apply the knowledge gained, more they will ...

This topic was discussed before also though in a different context but the incident which took place a few days ago in an educated and respected family of Jodhpur city( which is considered the cultural capital of the state) has disturbed everyone and forcing them to think about the negativity and intolerant human nature.This is not an isolated incident rather has become very common particularly in bigger cities.If it (intolerance) is allowed to grow at such a rapid pace then there will be no system in place and all relationships will be in danger.The major repercussion is that nobody is helped in this situation and the whole family and the fabric of the society is at stake.Now the question that arises is, why is it happening and what can be done to control this? There are many reasons for the same and one of them is the lack of understanding each other and the second is that people have become more self centered. The slogan given by the government "Hum do h...

Everyone is aware of the changes happening in our society which is not a new phenomenon but the pace of changes nowadays is really fast.  People move from their native place to some other location and the children also accompany them. This may be due to the transfer of the parents or better business facility elsewhere.Earlier if a person joined some company or other organisation he/she used to retire from there only but now even the change of the jobs take place very frequently. In this transition, the parents adjust to the new situation within no time, but the children may not be able to do so easily because they are very possessive about their teachers and the friends whom they are forced to leave due to the reasons not known to them.Though the parents want to do everything possible for their children but due to the lack of time on their part they are  unable to fill the space which is meant for the parents in the life of the children.The p...

The education system of the country is undergoing a sea change as policies are being devised to make it child friendly and also the emphasis is on providing education to all the children of the country, which is a welcome step in the direction of inclusive approach towards all, irrespective of the social and economical background.The education policy of the country decides the direction in which the country will be moving.In the last few years the country has seen growth of the private schools and the colleges and is enrolling large number of the students in them. This has brought the change in the quality of the education provided and along with that, the competition among the institutions and also the students has increased. A healthy competition is good for the improvement and the growth of the country but competition of proving one better than the other in education may not always yield positive results. Education is mainly responsible for the development of the thoug...

On this day of Guru Purnima  when many people are wishing their teachers and convey their gratitude, I also join them to convey my sincere gratitude for what all Gurus have done for  me  and many other children of the country who are now contributing to nation building.This article is dedicated to all the Gurus and also to the ones who will be working for this noble cause in future. Everyone in the society is trying to attain happiness by different means and ways. Some people feel they will be happy if they earn a lot of money and others are seeking happiness in the power and the prestige. For a teacher there is no bigger happiness then seeing his/her students doing well in life.Though the things are changing little bit now but the teachers cannot afford to seek happiness anywhere else but in the progress and well being of their students.A real teacher was always respected,is being respected and will be respected in future also, so we as teachers should stop complaining ...

It is well known fact to all that the role of the family is very important in the upbringing of the child. In that the importance of the role played by the mother and the father is considered to be more effective and long lasting because the mother and the father have an impact on the life of the child in both situations, that is before and after the child is born.A lot has been written(and rightly so) about the importance of the mother in the life of a child but not much credit is given to the part played by the father.There may be different reasons for that but one reason might be because the mother remains closer to the child than the father and due to which most of the daily needs are taken care of by her. Also in the earlier days, the father used to be out to earn for the family and had little time to be with family which created the perception that the mother is more important than the father in the upbringing of  a child. The fact is that both, the mother and the father...

It is said and believed that schooling is very important in the life period of a child and this seems to be true also because schools have been the most important place for the children to be sent to learn the lessons of  life.Though the concept and the objectives have undergone changes as per the change of the time but basic objective remains the same.But in the last few years there has been change in the mindset of some parents who feel that their child was not benefitted in anyway in the school. They have got strong reasons behind this thought. If analysed in proper context then schooling is considered to develop the thinking process of the child and make him/her a creative person, full of positive energy. If it is so, then why some people are disillusioned by the present schooling system? There must be some reason  for that too and if seen critically we tend to agree with such parents. The educationists and the psychologists have tried to understand the impact of the schoo...

The problems being faced by today`s children have been disturbing, but all find themselves in a situation of helplessness.I have known many parents who have sacrificed their own career in the name of making the future of their children.To be concerned for the children is the paramount responsibility of the parent but too much of interference in their life is not good and this has been happening in the name of making the future of the child secure. Some may not agree but the facts cannot be denied.If you have wish to confirm, then meet the children of the age group 10 to 16 years and you will realise the stress and the pressure they are going through.There are many children who do not express their problems and bear the same for the sake of making their parents and family members feel happy and in the process forget to live their childhood.Those who try to express are snubbed by the elders as they do not want the name of the family to be spoiled because of the re...

Sometimes we make promises to the people without realising whether it will be possible to keep them or not. But at times we promise certain things to the other people knowingly with an intention to deceive them due to some vested self interest. Neither it is a good habit nor is it acceptable. Take a real example in which a parent promised something to his son which he knew was not possible in the name asking the child to study hard and if the child got some particular percentage  or more then that the child was offered something of his choice. The child worked hard and got the marks more than what the father had asked for. Now the father went back on his words and told everybody that this was to make the child work hard and achieve good result. The intention of the father may be all right of motivating the child to perform well but the promise made should have also been kept. Now the child is so much disturbed that he does not want to believe any statement given by his father...

Education is one such concept that opens the vistas of mind of an individual. Systems of education might differ from one country to the other country but the goals remain the same. On my recent visit to Australia, I discovered that school education there focuses not only on completing the last year i.e; Year 12 obtaining knowledge and perfection in the choice streams but also takes into consideration the higher education or college education.The targets of school education are not confined to the boundaries of school but go beyond to give a direction to the students to exploit their potential to the optimum. Using technology in the form of smart boards and projectors,use of teaching aids and projects,make the teaching faculty well-equipped to teach the learners with all their enthusiasm.Even the government schools are equipped with sufficient number of laptops which the students use during their school hours. The different states have their own educational system and hav...