by admin | May 25, 2021 | News
for representational purpose only (google search)
By Saket Suman,
New Delhi : About a decade ago, when Latika Gupta began her teaching career at a reputed Delhi University college, she became curious about “the interplay of religion and gender in the lives of girls” and thus set out on a journey to explore this rather untouched facet. The result? Her just-released book, “Education, Poverty and Gender: Schooling Muslim Girls in India”, focuses on how the academic life of its students is affected by their religion and culture by examining the interplay between “home” and “school”.
Gupta, now an Assistant Professor at the University’s Central Institute of Education, was then teaching a course which offered opportunities to young girls to reflect on their own socialisation. Barring one or two of her students, she noticed among the rest an attitude of indifference towards their individual development and determination to adhere to the cultural norms.
“I often wondered why my students did not feel embarrassed when they missed classes on account of their participation in religious rituals at home or for household chores. What stopped them from developing a sense of stake in themselves and investing more energy in their education? It became my personal agenda to locate the forces which shape girls’ life and self-identity,” Gupta told IANS in an interview.
Her book attempts to explore the intertwining between the religio-cultural framework of a community and life at school. The study also serves as a means of grasping the complex phenomenology of the educational experience of Muslim girls growing up in a lower socio-economic setting. It identifies the milieux which are formed when religion and gender combine to make a social force in a specific socio-economic context.
Gupta studied the identity of girls enrolled at a minority school, which is governed by the provisions of Articles 29 and 30 of the constitution that allow religious minorities to run their own educational institutions to preserve and promote their culture, language and faith.
She said that she gathered the life experiences of girls studying at the school with the help of free-hand narratives they wrote about their life and aspirations and their responses to items about different dimensions of identity. She then hermeneutically situated their narratives and responses in their everyday ethos which she accessed by experiencing it consistently over a period of one year and by interviewing their parents.
“The school does not interfere in their gendering and thus does not break the sharp binary of home-outside in the life of girls. It does not enable its learners to develop their potential to avail opportunities for economic and intellectual growth in later life. In fact, it certifies the community’s model by not serving as an intellectual space and encouragement for rational inquiry on what one sees around and for critical reflection on one’s own life experiences,” she maintained.
Gupta’s book is based on a study carried out in a school in Daryaganj. However, throughout the book, the school is referred to simply as MGS (Muslim Girls School) in order to maintain its privacy.
“For Muslim girls, there is continuity between home and school in appreciable values and behaviour. There is no alternative frame of conduct available to Muslim girls of Daryaganj. What they learn at home is consistent with what they learn at school as far as personal conduct is concerned. In a matter of immediate and intimate significance, the teacher and the mother provide similar values even though the former is educated and professionally qualified.
“In the life of MGS girls, the school figures in the middle of well-established traits of gender socialisation and a pre-destined as well as explicitly articulated purpose of female life. The cushioning from both sides leaves a very narrow space for the school to allow and encourage any critical engagement with the various fields of knowledge and their own life experiences. Nevertheless, most of the girls have an informed and tolerant outlook towards Hindus, and a few of them have the potential of evolving into a tolerant individual. By asserting their aspiration to study beyond school and thereby becoming teachers, some of them have stretched the discourse of the community slightly which otherwise maintains a predetermined purpose for the life of girls. However, the number of such girls is very limited,” she contended.
Gupta also mentioned that the girls of the given school consider it “important for a wife” to serve her in-laws, husband and children; and from the husband they expect a smooth financial provision and fulfillment of needs. No girl, she said, considers it viable for a woman to be a good wife to contribute financially to the family’s maintenance. “Apparently, they have internalised the gendered male-female division in all spheres of activities. My respondents have accepted and internalised the model of dependence on the man for fulfilling all kinds of needs. The girls thought that motherhood is the aim of a woman’s life,” she recalled.
(Saket Suman can be contacted at saket.s@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : The number of students enrolling for higher education in India saw a marginal 0.7 per cent increase in 2016-17, an indication that the government’s ambitious target to enrol 30 per cent of youth between 18-23 by 2020 may be difficult to achieve.
According to the latest All India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE) report released on Friday, the gross enrolment ratio (GER) in higher education has gone up 25.2 per cent in 2016-17 from 24.5 per cent in 2015-16.
The increase is lesser than previous four years’ average, during which the GER — calculated for youth between 18-23 years of age — increased by 0.75 per cent.
The government has set a target of enrolling 30 per cent of youth between 18-23 by 2020. But an average of 0.75 per cent in the last five years including this year, the GER after two years is likely to miss the target.
As per the report, the GER for the country during previous four years was: 21.5, 23.0, 24.3, and 24.5 per cent.
But Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar said the target was still achievable.
“In GER, we have seen a growth of approximately 2.25 per cent in the last three years. This is a major growth. Therefore, I have full confidence that… we will achieve 30 per cent GER, which is also a goal set by Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) and his dream,” Javadekar said at the launch of the annual report.
According to the survey, the number of universities in the country rose to 864 last year as compared to 799 in 2015-16.
Tamil Nadu had the highest GER in the country at 46.9 per cent. Bihar is at the bottom with 14.9 per cent of its youth in the age group of 18 to 23 enrolling for higher education.
The Gross Enrolment Ratio for the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe remained below the national average at 21.1 per cent and 15.4 per cent, respectively.
Responding to a query, the minister said the government was trying to bring the marginalised section at par with the rest and that the ministry was “planning to introduce more programmes” in this direction, which will be launched from the next academic session.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Buzz, Corporate Governance, News, Politics
Ian Jacobs
By Sarwar Kashani,
New Delhi : India has an ambitious target of providing higher education to 40 million students by 2020 and to achieve the goal it should allow foreign universities to operate in the country — either through partnerships or letting them open their own campuses, says the Vice Chancellor of a top-rated Australian university.
Ian Jacobs, a surgeon-turned-academician heading the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, is exploring how his institution can cater to the enormous demand and avail the massive opportunities in India’s education sector, one of the world’s largest.
But the environment around and the structure of India’s education system is challenging amid tight regulations even as reforms planned in the sector are exciting for international institutions and education businesses.
“The structure of higher education and regulations around it in India make that quite challenging. We are looking at how to do that and exploring innovations to do that,” Jacobs told IANS during a trip to India.
“At the moment, it is not possible for an international university to open its own campus in India. But it may be possible for us to partner with an Indian university so that we can bring to India the depth of experience that we have in quality higher education at a very large scale. That is what we are exploring. It is quite a complicated environment to do that.”
India has set an aggressive target of achieving 30 per cent gross enrolment ratio (GER) in higher education by 2020. GER is the total enrolment in higher education among the population in the age group of 18-23.
According to the Ministry of Human Resource Development, India’s GER was 24.5 per cent in 2015-16, a quantum jump over the last decade when it was a mere 10 per cent in 2004-05. But the enrolment ratio is still low compared to China’s 26 per cent and Brazil’s 36 per cent.
To achieve the 2020 target and allow more and more young men and women access to higher education, Jacobs said, his university was ready “to contribute and create opportunities for new jobs and play a role in opening up the young people’s eyes to the opportunities for their life.
“We provide higher education of quality on a large scale. And that is something India very badly needs. The ambition in India is to educate many millions of young people to degree level.”
UNSW offers courses in art and design, arts and social sciences, environment, business, engineering, law, medicine and science and has a range of scholarships for international students.
Jacobs said India also needed foreign university collaborations because the scale of operations of high-quality educational institutions in the country would not be able to deliver on the government’s target and the country’s need.
“India, of course, needs high quality (education), but it also needs scale and UNSW can contribute to expand that scale. We can provide it partly by students from India coming to UNSW.
“But the real exciting thing would be to be involved in India — providing higher education to Indians in India. We are looking to partner with existing universities. We are looking how to do that. We are at a very exploratory stage.”
UNSW’s Pro Vice Chancellor Laurie Pearcey said the Indian government’s Institutions of Eminence or the 10+10 initiative — to give 10 public and 10 private institutions unprecedented administrative and financial autonomy — has thrown up possibilities for partnering with foreign universities.
“Once these 20 universities are identified, they will operate with a high level of autonomy and international partnerships through joint degrees, through articulation agreements, through large international research collaborations… All of that would be made possible on a scale that is currently not really accessible for foreign universities in India,” Pearcey said.
He said the proposed Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations) Bill that seeks to permit foreign players into the higher education system could make things better for the country.
The Institutions of Eminence initiative “is really exciting… that is going to give India a chance to develop autonomous institutions which can do great research and will give the great education”, he added.
He also felt tight regulations in the education sector in India come at the expense of collaborations with world-class institutions.
“Regulation is a good thing but at the end of the day the government is interested in quality and at the same time that does come at the expense of collaboration.”
Former Indian diplomat Amit Dasgupta, UNSW’s Country Head in India, said besides the 10+10 initiative India needed 400 new universities and 40,000 new colleges to achieve a 30 per cent GER by 2020.
“If you need to upgrade, if you need to have quality faculty, one has to ask what is the purpose of higher education.
“And that purpose will determine the kind of collaboration. If the purpose is only employability, that is one approach. If the purpose is innovation and research, that is another approach. But I think all of this gets combined somewhere and I think this upgrading is going to only happen through collaboration with world-class foreign universities.”
(Sarwar Kashani can be contactedl at sarwar.k@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
72 students from 11th grade and 87 students from 12th qualify for Olympiad, 2 KVPY, 54 Pre-RMO and 2 RMO from Patna, Hyderabad & Aurangabad.
By Maeeshat News,
Patna : Students from Rahmani-30 a manifestation of Rahmani Program of Excellence have once again demonstrated an exceptional performance in the Olympiad and the Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY) – the international and national talent search examination. In 2015, 95 and in 2016, 61 students qualified whereas this year in 2017, 72 students from 11th grade and 87 students from 12th grade qualified in IAPT, 50 Pre-RMO & 2 RMO and 2 in KVPY from Patna, Hyderabad & Aurangabad.
This year 75 students of Rahmani-30 qualified at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology and 22/31 students in the Medical stream scored above 90 percentile at the NEET. This year all of its commerce stream 12th grade students successfully completed the prestigious Stock Exchange Fundamental certification. Rahmani Program of Excellence attributes this continued trajectory of success to its evolving learning model which is producing stronger students. In addition, given the historical success, more students both from 11th and 12th grade are choosing to take these tests.
The Mathematics and Science educational Olympiad is an international talent search competition in which more than 100 countries participate in order to identify and nurture the best minds. Selection in the Olympiads is considered an epitome of achievements in the field of sciences. In India, this competition is conducted under the auspices of Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education.
The Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY) is an on-going National Program of Fellowship in Basic Sciences, initiated and funded by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. The objective of the program is to identify exceptionally highly motivated students with talent and aptitude for research; help them realize their academic potential; encourage them to take up research careers in Science, and ensure the growth of the best scientific minds for research and development in the country.
Since its inception in 2008, Rahmani Program of Excellence through the success of Rahmani-30 has reached millions of students and has been instrumental in changing their mindset towards education. The organization has been serving as the primary vehicle of information about various national examinations and opportunities that demonstrates the ability of the students. This institution has also served as a major incubator to develop and showcase these talents in form of qualifications at the IIT-JEE, NEET, Olympiad, KVPY and other national competitive examinations.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Opinions
IIM Bangalore (Representative image)
By P.D. Rai,
The struggle for autonomy has been going on within the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) from inception.
Initially, this was addressed by just staying away from the main system and awarding Post-Graduate Diplomas in Business Management (PGDMs). Registered as societies and not coming under the purview of any of the controlling institutions like the University Grants Commission (UGC) or the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) helped in this process.
The pull and push from the Ministry of Human Resources Development (HRD) was to bring it comprehensively under its umbrella, especially in the first IIM Bill draft brought in by the then minister. However, an about-turn happened with Prakash Javadekar taking over as HRD Minister. He and the Prime Minister’s Office ensured a draft Bill that had “autonomy” at its centre.
The Indian Institutes of Management Bill, 2017, stands passed by both houses of Parliament as on December 19, 2017. The Bill witnessed unanimous support across the political spectrum. It is the element of “increased autonomy” that swung the majority opinion in its favour. The Bill recognises IIMs as Institutions of National Importance and aims to provide them an independent statutory status to ensure uniform governance. And, yes, the IIMs will be able to award an MBA degree.
Now, all IIMs have been instituted as body corporates. The autonomy to take administrative decisions, approve development plans and grant degrees now lies with the Board of Governors. The importance accorded to the alumni in matters of governance is evident from the provision that up to five members of the Board will be from amongst the alumni. The power to appoint the Director and the Registrar of the Institute also solely rests with the Board. This is a significant step towards establishing independence in the functioning of the IIMs.
The passage of this bill will also stimulate India’s research ecosystem. It is hoped that this legislation will play a pivotal role in improving the ranking of Indian educational institutions among higher education institutions globally. The IIMs must capitalise on this reform as it also gives individual IIMs primacy over their curriculum design.
As the only representative of the IIM community in the Lok Sabha, I understand it as a great privilege to be part of this landmark legislation. I salute my political mentor, Pawan Chamling, the Chief Minister of Sikkim, who sent me to represent my state in Parliament.
This huge systemic reform will propel our premier management institutions nationally and, indeed, globally. These institutions, including the IITs, have served our country well. They now deserve to be promoted through such legislation which will allow them to innovate and re-think and rebuild their institutional capacity. The 21st century demands such landmark ideas and those can only happen if we allow many more heads to grapple with the issues rather than being directed from Shastri Bhawan (where the HRD Ministry is located).
The IIMs are built on the solid foundation of knowledge garnered through teaching, consulting and research. Faculty thus impart cutting-edge curriculum to young minds who are the leaders of tomorrow. One important outcome of increased autonomy would be that, like the Ivy League institutions and other universities that offer management courses abroad, the IIMs will be able to propel themselves forward. This will also ensure that there are innovative means by which no student who is worthy of an IIM admission would be left behind.
Speaking on the bill in parliament, I responded to the questions raised by fellow members on elitism and the need to respond through service to society. I understand where my colleagues are coming from and that is certainly a genuine concern. I listed out instances where the alumni of IIMs have contributed to development in great measure, within and outside India.
The IIM alumni who have become entrepreneurs in diverse streams are today giving back to the society and India. They are doing this through building angel funds and by being a medium for more start-ups to thrive and succeed. Let us also consider the Jawaja experiment of Ravi Matthai, the first full-time Director of IIM-A, after he stepped down. It is an example of how a project on educational innovation went on to become a successful rural development initiative and resulted in the formation of the Institute of Rural Management, Anand.
Another example is the launch of incubation centres that give the required fillip to start-ups. The incubation centre of IIM-Calcutta boosts start-ups in Odisha, West Bengal and the entire northeastern region.
Today, the IITs are body corporates and are recognised as Institutions of National Importance. However, they are still governed by the IIT Council at the Central level of which the UGC Chairman forms a part. With the successful passage of the IIM Bill, devolution of greater autonomy to these premier technical education institutions will surely be addressed soon. The new act is, no doubt, seen as the harbinger for the next generation of IIMs and IITs.
In the present educational ecosystem, the next challenge would be knowledge generation for India by Indians. Investment on infrastructure and human capital to encourage research and development is essential to steer our technical education in the right direction. Keeping ahead in this global race is crucial for India strategically as also to solve the burden of poverty and disease in the long run.
This is truly the first significant reform in the higher education space that the NDA Government has ushered in with the full and unstinting support of all the parties represented in Parliament. It is a fine example of bipartisanship.
Now the ball is in the court of the IIMs to use this as a pivot to attain the glorious heights the nation expects of them.
(P.D. Rai, an IIT and IIM alumnus, represents Sikkim as MP in the Lok Sabha. The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at pdrai8@gmail.com)
—IANS
