Chandigarh, Tuesday, December 14, 1999
Chandigarh, Tuesday, December 14, 1999 |
Two Punjab universities sans VCs Piece of legislation much to blame From K.S. Chawla DR LIVTAR SINGH CHAWLA has resigned as Vice-Chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences without completing his term of three years. Dr Chawla who has relinquished the charge was the first and the founder Vice-Chancellor of this university. He served the university for about a year and a half. Does
formal schooling crush creativity ? Leave
it to bureaucracy |
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Two Punjab universities sans
VCs DR LIVTAR SINGH CHAWLA has resigned as Vice-Chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences without completing his term of three years. Dr Chawla who has relinquished the charge was the first and the founder Vice-Chancellor of this university. He served the university for about a year and a half. Although Dr Chawla has cited personal reasons for resigning from vice-chancellorship, but the real reason seems to be an Act passed by the Punjab Government. Under the Act, the Vice-Chancellor has not been made Chairman of the Board of Management unlike the universities in the country,when the Vice-Chancellor is the Chairman of the Board of Management or the Syndicate and the Senate. Baba Farid University of Health Sciences is the second in Punjab where the Vice-Chancellor is not the Chairman of the Board of Management. Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor of Punjab Technical University was not made Chairman of the Board of Management. A provision has been made for having made a leading industrialist of Punjab as Chairman of the Board of Management. It was because of this reason that the Vice-Chancellor of Punjab Technical University, Dr Anoop Singh, also quit the post without completing his term. The Act for the establishment of Punjab Technical University was passed during the tenure of Beant Singh while the Act for the establishment of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences at Faridkot was taken by the present SAD-BJP government. The Punjab Government has not been able to find a suitable Vice-Chancellor for Punjab Technical University so far. Now it will have to search for two Vice-Chancellors. The decision of the Punjab Government to have Chairman of the Board of Management of these universities other than the Vice-Chancellor was also opposed by the Association of Indian Universities at its annual general meeting at Indore on December 19, 1998 and the same was conveyed to the Punjab Government. A resolution passed by the association observed: “It has been observed that in some universities, Vice-Chancellors do not happen to chair important bodies and competent authorities of the university. This hampers effective decision-making, whether academic, administrative or financial. It is, therefore, resolved that the acts and statutes of universities should be in consonance with the model code of the UGC, particularly in terms of requirements like the Vice-Chancellor as Chairman of all competent authorities and bodies such as Syndicate, Academic Council, Board of Management and the like”. Even the Medical Council of India (MCI) wrote to the Chancellor of Baba Farid University and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, seeking amendment in the Act and making Vice-Chancellor as the Chairman of the Board of Management. But the state government did not take any step to rectify the situation. Dr Chawla, too, had opposed the decision of the state government to have Chairman of the Board of Management other than him and wrote to the state government on September 3, 1998, saying: “The chairmanship of all Syndicates/Board of Management of all universities in Punjab and the whole country is held by the Vice-Chancellor of the particular university. I do not know why are we deviating from this tradition in case of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot. I fear this will slow down the progress of this university.” The Punjab Government not only appointed Dr J.S. Bajaj, a former member of the Planning Commission, as Chairman of the Board of Management of Baba Farid University, but also got him a palatial accommodation in Delhi, notwithstanding the fact that he is working in Kuwait on an assignment. The Punjab Government is paying very heavy rent for the bungalow which he occupied as member of the Planning Commission. The Punjab Government has also to meet his expenses whenever he comes to preside over a meeting of the Board of Management. He has presided over four meetings so far. Besides, the State Government has allocated a sum of Rs 6 lakh for his office in Delhi. Although Dr Chawla was at the helm of affairs of Baba Farid University for a brief period, yet his achievements were significant. Despite financial constraints, he was able to generate university funds and has left Rs 60 lakh in the coffers of the university. The university was able to earn a revenue of Rs 85 lakh and is not depending on the state government for day-to-day functioning. The state government has provided only Rs 3 crore for the purchase of 155 acres for the university. The second instalment of Rs 3 crore has to be paid by December 31 to the owners of the land. Dr Chawla was keen on establishing five important centres of the university centre for population control, centre for informatics human resource development, distant education and continuing medical education and paramedics centre. The Central Government gave a grant of Rs 1 crore for the informatic centre but the state government has released only a sum of Rs 25 lakh. The masterplan of the university could not be taken up because of lack of funds. The biggest achievement of the university was admission to undergraduate and postgraduate courses for the first time without any litigation or dispute. The admissions were completed within 11 days. Dr Chawla says the university has started internet services with 25 institutions and the office of the Vice-Chancellor is fully computerised. He maintains they did not hike the fee to raise funds, but collected the fee in one go for five years. He says: “I was
very keen on establishing the centres but due to lack of
funds, the same could not be taken up.” Dr Chawla
emphasises that the government must change the Act to
make the Vice-Chancellor as the Chairman of the Board of
Management. The Vice-Chancellor has his own vision. The
government should not lower the position of the
Vice-Chancellor, he pleads |
Does formal schooling crush
creativity ? OF the host of questions that confront today’s formal school education, the most nagging of all is “what kind of schooling is it that crushes creativity and individuality and promotes uniformity and conformity”. Given the present-day schooling scenario, this question is a pertinent one, yet the answer is elusive. With most, if not all, learning taking place outside the school, the rudimentary question that calls for an honest answer is: are we sending our children to school simply because we are driven by a desire for formal education or because it is a convention we dare not defy? Or simply because we have a hang over of our children being tagged as a particular school-type? History reveals that many who had no formal education turned out to be the greatest contributors to mankind, the greatest known personalities. Thomas Edison had an unusual academic career. He started school when he was seven. Three months later, the school master expelled him. “Retarded” was the chilling diagnosis. Edison’s tutor, his mother, gave to this “failure” what the school could not, the love for learning. There is ample evidence that learning can and has been taking place outside school. Abraham Lincoln studied law while reading by the lamplight. Mark Twain said he did not allow school to interfere with his education. Michael Faraday’s parents withdrew him from school. Somewhere these schools had failed these students. Why are millions of students like Edison, Faraday and Twain unable to master skills at school when subsequent results prove otherwise? The example of these great men are brushed off. Everyone can’t be a Faraday or Twain, it is said. Breaking free from convention is never easy but it seems the truth is harsher. Are we refusing to accept or let these children discover the Mark Twain, Edison in them? Reject schooling and do what? Good or bad, schools are schools, an absolute must or so says tradition. A colossal danger is perceived in tinkering with formal school education. Deviation from the globally accepted convention of school cannot even be dreamt of by the majority. Society believes that while education can be provided in a variety of forms — at home, in temples, churches and mosques, in formal centres, night schools or literacy centres, it has to be realised that in the long run there is no good substitute to “good quality formal education”. Schools have consequently emerged as commercial centres vying for larger enrolments. What exactly is a school? To define it broadly, a school is an institution established by a community for the purpose of imparting knowledge and skills that are used effectively for the betterment of one’s personality and society at large. Schools are also the forum where education involves transfer of knowledge and values accumulated by humans with the advancement of civilisation, the quantum of knowledge and diversification of skills increased, thereby necessitating the establishment of institutions to provide assistance. In the recent past the appetite for education has shot up dramatically. There has been a massive boom in the expansion of educational facilities. As a result, quite a cataclysmic change has overpowered schools. A school today has come to mean a spectrum of houses ranging from multi-storeyed structures — some veritable five-star hotels making the term ‘school’ a misnomer — to ramshackled buildings, besides being recognised or unrecognised, aided or unaided, public and government, secular or missionary et al. Unfortunately, a reverse relationship between quality and quantity stands out like a sore thumb. The autonomy granted to schools has degenerated to arbitrariness and somewhere in the din of commercial viability the dispensation of true education has taken a backseat. The purpose of school and, thus, education as envisaged by thinkers like Vivekanand and Aristotle has long been driven out of the window. Earlier, formal education was not considered the only solution to a career. Those who found instructions in the class a bitter pill to swallow or non-utilitarian were not compelled to receive those instructions within the four walls of a classroom. Their energies and talents were channelised to what has now come to be known as vocational courses. Complexes such as being side-lined or being pushed out of the mainstream never tormented them. Despite all woes, schools have remained, to whatever extent, a part of education for hundreds or even thousands of years. The irony is that learning, too, continues to take place. Alright, but why not in schools? The alarming rate of drop-outs and low enrolment figures is no surprise. It has roused the conscience of educators who have time and again worked to put school back on the rails. But their endeavours do have a seamy side. The measures deployed to woo the renegades to rejoin schools and gather the much too evasive wisdom could be a hundred percentage effective if some deliberations on curriculum analysis are inducted. This will, needless to say, remove the dead wood and education can hope to become functional and utilitarian. With the modern teaching aids, that entail self-study, being available at the drop of a hat, will it be any exaggeration to say that schools will sooner or later become redundant? That is, if they have not already. If society must retain the concept of formal education through schooling certain changes are imperative and much in the immediate asking. Let us face a few realities. How many of those emerging out of schools, after a 12-year stint can write lucidly, speak fluently, communicate effectively or for that matter compute correctly. Building ‘self-confidence’ a concept that is virtually placed on a pulpit as far as imbibing personality traits are concerned, meets much the same fate at schools. How many students can face real-life situations with self-confidence? Quite the contrary one does get to see this trait in those who have had to jump into the whirlpool of real life. Coming up the hard way, they venture to take manageable risks, face failures and brave the harsh realities of life. Their forceful writing, elegant speech and immaculate calculations are amazing. It is not that those who gave up schooling were left in the lurch. If anything is at stake it is the success of obedient, loyal and exemplary learners of formal schooling. Have they contributed a great deal to society or at the least carved a decent career for themselves? Why should the youth, after being equipped with formal school education settle down for, and in some cases seek desperately, jobs in government or semi-government sectors? Or for that matter do sub-standard clerical jobs only remotely connected to their hard-earned degrees? To salvage education
schools need to be geared-up. Do we reject schooling? Do
we re-vamp curriculum? The options are varied. The bottom
line however is that schools should be life-oriented and
schooling learner-based. The present-day crises should
serve as an eye-opener. The fear of schooling becoming
redundant should galvanise educators into immediate
action and a start can be made only when we get out our
fixation for thriving on spurious statistics and shift
focus on utilitarian schools. |
Leave it to bureaucracy EDUCATION in Punjab villages has been the privilege of the rich. In the pre-Independence era when schools were far and few, the rich could send their wards to schools by tongas and cycles. The poor either considered schooling beyond their means or was satisfied with the education imparted to their children by village granthis. Things have not changed much in the past 50 years except vans have replaced tongas and village gurdwaras have been replaced by government schools, most of these in a shambles. The teachers are either absent and if physically present, are mentally absent. Families in villages cope up with the problem in their own way. Some pool their resources and hire an accommodation in the town and house their wards. The women come and look after the wards in turns. Provisions are stored and milk is usually supplied from the village through a family jeep. There are a number of such families in Chandigarh. The educated women next door give them tuition and make good money. School hostels in the towns are full of children of affluent families from villages. These children are at a disadvantage because no one helps them in their home work. They, by and large, drop out. Some get into family business and others into serious problems. Many schemes and remedial measures have been announced and implemented to improve the lot of village schools. These have unfortunately not been successful. The reasons are obvious and well-known. Basic reforms needed in the system are not initiated. Political parties cannot be unaware of the consequences. It is the bureaucracy
that can set things right. The politicians must hand over
complete control of education to the bureaucrats with
well-defined objectives. There is no reason why things
cannot be improved. |
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I am a commerce graduate with 43% marks. I am keen on pursuing a career in the banking sector. Could you tell me whether bad performance in graduation will affect my selection in bank P.O. exams. — Shelly, Kohima Your selection in Bank P.O. exams will entirely depend on your performance in the two-part written test and interview as eligibility for these exams is graduation in any discipline with no specific aggregate requirement. I am a poor student keen on doing MBBS. I have heard that AFMC, Pune, offers this course free of cost with free board and lodging. Could you tell me more about this course? — Subhash Kashyap, Delhi The Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) conducts an entrance exam for admission to its MBBS course in May/June. The notification for the exam which is held at 34 centres is issued in the month of January. Eligibility is Class XII with 60% aggregate in PCB (atleast 50% marks in each of the science subjects) and 50% marks in English. Age: 17-22 years. On qualifying the written exam, you will be called for an interview. If you are selected, you have to execute a bond to serve as a Commissioned Officer in the Armed Forces Medical Services after graduation. Only 50% medical cadets will be granted Permanent Commission and remaining 50% will be granted Short Service Commission (SSC) after final MBBS examination. The choice of commission will be according to merit-cum-option based on the merit at final MBBS examination. The liability of the SSC officers passing out of AFMC to serve the Armed Forces Medical Services would be 7 years. All candidates admitted to the college are required to execute a bond to this effect for an amount of Rs 15 lakh at the time of joining the college. Students removed from service liability due to any reason will have to pay the bond money as per conditions laid down by Govt of India. I am doing Mechanical Engineering and am interested in specialising in the field of Robotics. Could you tell me about the institutes offering courses in this discipline. — Anshul Agarwal, Faridabad Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute offers 1-year Post Diploma in Robotics and Automation. For further information you may contact the institute at HR Mahajani Marg, Matunga, Mumbai 400019. The Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Post Box No 12, Pilani 333031, also offers MS in Robotics & Intelligent Systems as an off-campus distance learning programme. I am interested in doing LLB from Delhi University. Could you tell me about the entrance exam conducted by the university. — M. Kamala, Minto Road, New Delhi The University of Delhi conducts an entrance test to qualify for its LLB course which is offered at three centres: the Campus Law Centre (DU) where classes are held between 8 a.m. -2 p.m.; Law Centre-1, again on the campus, where the timings for classes are 3 p.m.-9 p.m., and Law Centre-II housed in ARSD College, Dhaula Kuan, New Delhi — which holds evening classes from 6 p.m.-9 p.m. Eligibility is graduation/postgraduation with 50% aggregate (pass marks for SC/ST). The test comprises objective-type questions on general awareness and legal aptitude, besides general knowledge in law, analytical reasoning, current events of national and international importance with special reference to law, general sciences, history of India, geography, Indian polity and economy. For further information, you may contact:
I have passed Class XII with 78% aggregate in the horticulture (vocational) stream with English and Maths. Now I wish to opt for BA (Vocational) in the College of Vocational Studies. Could you please tell me about the various courses. — Mayank Sharma, New Delhi Vocationalised restructuring of first-degree courses is a major educational reform undertaken by the University Grants Commission (UGC) in order to prepare graduates for the job market in terms of their employability skills. Accordingly, the UGC has identified 35 vocational subjects to be offered at the undergraduate-level and also replaced nearly one-third of the subject content of these first-degree courses with a vocational component to strengthen the work-orientation of the course. In Delhi, the College of Vocational Studies (affiliated to the University of Delhi) offers BA (Voc Studies) in the following subjects: Tourism, Book Publishing, Office Management & Secretarial Practice, Retailing & Trade, Store Management, Insurance, Industrial Relations & Personnel Management and Entrepreneurship & Small Business. Besides these, undergraduates courses in Business Administration, Business Economics, Financial & Investment Analysis, Computer Applications, Tourism & Travel Management, Journalism, Mass Media & Mass Communication, Information Technology, Elementary Education, Advertising, Sales Promotion & Sales Management, Functional Hindi, Foreign Trade Practice, Tax Procedure & Practice and Apparel Design & Construction are also offered by several colleges affiliated to Delhi University. At the BA (Pass) level, you can also opt for the following subjects: Family & Child Welfare, Food Technology, Nutrition & Health Education, Industrial Relations & Personnel Management, Entreneurship & Small Business, Office Management & Secretarial Practice, Insurance and Business Data Processing. Besides these, you could
also check out the courses offered by the Indira Gandhi
National Open University (IGNOU) and the GGS Indraprastha
University, Delhi. |
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Armed Forces Jan 03 Union Public Service Commission, Dholpur House, New Delhi 110011.
Exam: Exam on 7 May, 2000, at Agartala, Ahmedabad, Aizawl, Allahabad, Bangalore, Bareilly, Bhopal, Calcutta, Chandigarh, Chennai, Cuttack, Delhi, Dharwar, Dispur, Gangtok, Hyderabad, Imphal, Itanagar, Jaipur, Jammu, Jorhat, Kavaratti, Kochi, Kohima, Lucknow, Madurai, Mumbai, Nagpur, Panaji, Panta, Port Blair, Raipur, Sambalpur, Shillong, Shimla, Srinagar, Thiruvananthapuram, Tirupati, Udaipur and Vishakhapatnam. Elig: Unmarried males. Age: Born not earlier than 2 Jan., ‘82 and not later than 1 July, ‘84. For Army wing of NDA: Pass in 10+2. For Air Force and Naval wings of NDA and for 10+2 (Executive Branch) course at Naval Academy: Pass in 10+2 with Physics and Mathematics as subjects. Those appearing in Class XII examination may also apply. Appln Form: See Employment News dated 4-10 Dec. Art & Design Dec 20 National Instt. of Fashion Technology, Gol M/o Textiles, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016. Ph: 011-6965080/6964771, Fax: 3114536, E-mail: nift_admissions2000@rediffmail.com,wedsite:www.niftindia.com * Certificate in fashion Design & Clothing Technology (1 yr) Elig & Fee: 10+2. Rs 60,000 (Rs 2000/- payable along with application). Appln Form: Available at CE Deptt on payment of Rs 100/- in cash or by DD favouring “NIFT, New Delhi. Dec 27 National Instt. of Fashion Technology, Gol M/o Textiles, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016. Ph: 011-6965080/6964771, Fax: 3114536, E-mail: nift_admission2000@rediffmail.com.website:www.niftindia.com * Comprehensive Leather Apparel Design Technology Programme (6 months) Elig & Fee: 10+2. Rs 30,000/- Appln Form: Available at CE Deptt. on payment of Rs 100/- in cash or by DD favouring “NIFT, New Delhi. Dec 20 The Apparel Training & Design Centre, D-8/2, Okhla Indl. Area, Phase-I, New Delhi 110020. Ph: 6814251 1. Diploma in Apparel Manufacturing Technology (1 yr) 2. Diploma in Fashion Sampling/Co-ordination (1 yr) 3. Production Supervision & Quality Control Course (6 months) 4. Pattern/Cutting Master Course (6-months) Elig & Fee: (1) Class XII Rs. 15,000/- For (2): Class XII Rs. 15,000/- For (3): Class XII Rs. 7,500/- For (2): Class XII Rs. 7,500/- Selection Procedure: Oral aptitude test/interview. Appln Form: Available at counter on payment of Rs 50/- in cash or DD favouring “Apparel Training & Design Centre” payable at New Delhi. Hotel Management Jan 31 National Council for Hotel Management & Catering Techonolgy, Library Avenue, Pusa Complex, New Delhi-110012 Ph: 011-5782799, Fax: 5717411,e-mail: nchm@ndf.vsnl.net.in * Joint Entrance Examination for 3-yr Dip in Hotel Management Elig: 10+2. Selection Procedure: Entrance exam to be held on April 16 at 36 centres including Bangalore, Delhi and Chandigarh. Appln Fromat: See Employment News dated Dec. 25. Management Jan 15 The Association of Indian Management Schools (AIMS), Post Box No. 6075, # 30, Kothari Road, Nungambakkam, Chennai 600034. Ph: 044-8236411 * AIMS Test for Management Admissions - ATMA Elig: Bachelor’s degree in any discipline (50% agg). Test: On 20 Feb., at: Bangalore, Baroda, Bhubaneswar, Calcutta, Chandigarh, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Lucknow, Madurai, Mangalore, Mumbai, Nagpur, Patna, Puna, Visakhapatnam. Appln Form: Send Rs 450/- by DD favouring “Association of India Management Schools” payable at Chennai or in cash/DD at following Centres: * The Dean, Xavier Institute of Management & Entrepreneurship, Seva Sadan Campus, III Block, Koramangala, Bangalore 560034. Ph: 080-5522787. * The Registrar, FORE School of Management, “Adhyatam Kendra - The Centre for Self Growth”, B-18, Qutab Institution Area, New Delhi 110016. Ph: 011-6524013. * Last date of obtaining forms: 31 Dec. Dec 30 Hindu Institute of Management, Sonepat-131001. * PG Diploma in Business Administration (PGDBA) (2-yrs F/T) Elig: Bachelor’s degree (50% agg). Selection Procedure: Scores in MAT to be held on Jan 23 or ATMA to be held on Feb 20. Interview & GD. Appln Form: Send Rs 400/- by crossed DD favouring “Hindu Institute of Management” payable at Sonepat or Rs 350/- in cash at counter. Jan 20 Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Senapati Bapat Road, Pune-411004. Ph: 020-5654626, 5655978, Fax: 5659499 * Master’s in Personnel Management (MPM) (2-yrs, F/T). * Postgraduate Diploma in Advertising & Communications Management (PGDACM) (2-yrs, F/T). Elig: Graduation with 50% aggregate. Selection: Written test, group discussion and interview. Test on 6 Feb., 2000, at Mumbai, Pune, Calcutta, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Allahabad, Bhopal and Patna. Appln Form: Send Rs 800/- by DD favouring “The Director, Symbiosis Institute of Business Management” drawn on SBI, Pune or Bank of Maharashtra, Pune, or Rs 700/- in cash at counter. CARING (Career
Information & Guidance), New Delhi |
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