 |
|
| EDUCATION TRIBUNE |
|
The malady ain’t within Don’t kill the artist’s spirit CAMPUS NOTES
|
|
|
The malady ain’t within No doubt, the number of universities and medical, engineering and law colleges in our country is large. Still, all of them do not have the congenial climate for proper education and professional competence of our youth. They have scholars in their teaching staff. Good libraries and modern laboratories too are available. We are not short of brilliant students aspiring to have excellent education. These boys and girls have a passion for knowledge and occupational expertise. But, there is tension on the campus of almost every institution. Unruly outsiders (with pistols) enter professional colleges and murders take place in hostels. How can students there have the best of education and international reputation? Politicians do not permit administration of these institutions to work independently. They want them to follow their diktat without bothering about the standards of education. When they can force the Vice-Chancellor to resign at will, the country cannot have brilliant graduates and postgraduates. Do degrees speak of the qualification of all educated persons? Four Vice-Chancellors of Uttar Pradesh have been sacked for their involvement in fake degree scandals. It sounds difficult for the nation to have doctors and engineers with rich occupational expertise. We cannot have good administration in our offices and legal luminaries as judges in our courts when the meritorious and the mediocre are bracketed together in the selection of various candidates for their jobs. Earlier, we had a genuine competition of meritorious candidates in entrance tests for admission to medical and engineering colleges. But, now, we have question paper for admission to these courses leaked almost every year. One is shocked to know that question papers of PMT and CAT too are stolen. All tall claims of fair evaluation and selection of brilliant examinees sound hollow. What about jobs? Our meritorious boys and girls feel depressed when they are not selected for jobs they deserve. Commissions and boards select candidates only when they offer a huge amount of money. How can we have good officers when we cannot purge interview boards of corruption? Our educated youth must be laborious and should devote themselves to their duties wholeheartedly. They should also try to improve their competence when they are employed and not think of changing profession as all professions are equally dignified. The heavy expenditure on institutions of higher education will be justified only if the well educated are experts in their subjects or courses. Political interference in the appointment of Vice-Chancellors and Principals of professional colleges must be stopped. We have reputed scholars in the teaching staff of these institutions, but they can do justice only if there is no tension in or around their classes. We are very fond of sermons on honesty. They can be useful only if we follow them in life. If monetary temptations do not reflect on the admission of students and the selection of employees for jobs in government offices, our educated citizens will be competent. |
|
|
Don’t kill the artist’s spirit Art is like poetry, which has to be highly expressive. A child has to use his visual observation, expression, perception and imagination to create art A
child scribbles on the freshly painted walls of the house and gets scolded by his mother. To grown-ups, this may be a mess and indicates the lack of understanding. No one has watched the concentration with which the child worked and realised that this is his first creative expression. The ability to draw exists in a person since birth. It has to be nurtured so that it becomes refined in order to qualify as art. With muscular coordination, a child learns to hold a pencil and on a surface he draws a dot. He likes the dot and extends it to a line. The line may break, curve or go zigzag. He learns to make strokes and attempts to draw a circle. With age, the muscular and visual coordination of the child improves and his drawings become clearer. Geometrical symbols are used for drawing and the child uses the circle very often. Two circles intertwined represent a cat, the sun is round as are the flowers and the trees are lollypop shaped. The student will give the figures he draws human features-a sun with a bright face or a cat with a broad smile. The house will generally be of the boxlike type in the middle of the page. As the child grows he uses colours more naturally though he makes use of only a single hue-one blue signifies the sky and all water bodies. As he observes all his surroundings, he learns to create space, depth and develops colour awareness. Then comes the curiosity to experiment with different material and patterns using the perspective principals of art. Art is like poetry which has to be highly expressive. A child has to use his visual observation, expression, perception and imagination to create art. His sensitivity and emotions are reflected in his creation. He has to be interested in order to create art. When I was a student, my drawings were the stereotype stick figures, curved lines to draw grass and triangular mountains. The drawings were merely a visual statement. A qualified art teacher with her expertise and organisational skills can teach art classes with success. Ask any child his favourite subject, “Art”, pat comes the reply. A good art teacher will encourage the children to observe more, use the right strokes, distinguish between various shades and produce excellent works. She will teach the young artists the basic concepts of art which include the medium, design, subject matter and style of art. The fundamentals of art are also used to teach simple counting and alphabets to the young scholars. Ms Jaskanwaljit Kaur of Goverment Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 16, Chandigarh, has been teaching art for 25 years. She says, "I have found my calling in teaching art. When the children are introduced to art, they draw modifications of the circle-an apple, an orange, a brinjal and a turnip. They also do thumb painting, leaf painting, etc. They observe and draw fruits, vegetables and then the scenery. As they go a class higher they learn to organise fruit in a fruit basket and vegetables in a vegetable basket. In the next class, they draw scenes from daily life situations-a birthday party, a balloon seller. In the fifth standard, I introduce them to stencil cutting and in the sixth they can do still life with ease. Crayons, soft colours and watercolours are used often. They learn to work with oil paints in the senior classes." Rajesh Siwach employed at Goverment Model High School, Bapu Dham Colony, Chandigarh, teaches students who are not that well off, though they are highly motivated. The dedicated and resourceful Siwach ensures that they participate in all competitions and bag prizes. So, look carefully at your child's drawings, encourage him and don't kill the artist's spirit. You never know you may have Picasso or an M. F. Hussain at home.
|
|
|
Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar A lecture on cancer biology organised by the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry of Guru Nanak Dev University was held on the campus recently. Dr Sanjeev Shangary, noted scientist and research investigator in the Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, USA, delivered the lecture. Speaking on the occasion, he said P53 (Protein 53) was one of the key molecules involved in cancer treatment. The molecule is found in normal cells at very low levels and works as transcription factor for the synthesis of a number of important molecules. Dr Shangary said P53 (Protein 53) was related to the suppression of cancer cells. However, in cancerous cells this expression of P53 (Protein 53) was inhibited by another molecule known as 'MDM2', involving binding of these two molecules. The distinguished international researcher said one of the major mechanisms involved in the cancer progression was inhibition of apoptosis of cancerous cells. Over expression and accumulation of P53 (Protein 53) thus could act as one of the major approaches to eliminate these cells by apoptosis. The present investigation describes the synthesis of analogues of P53 (Protein 53) that fits well with MDM2 and makes free p53 to increase its level which ultimately leads to clearance of cells by apoptosis, Dr Shangary said, adding that out of various analogues tested, MI-219 has shown promising results in in-vitro and in-vivo studies and its clinical trials are under way. Infosys selects
95 students The IT company Infosys has selected 95 students through campus placement. This is the highest number of students ever selected by any company from the university. The students have been offered an annual salary package of Rs 2.70 lakh. Dr Rajneesh Arora, Director Placements, said the selected 2008 batch students belonged to the departments of B.Tech (Computer Science) 44, B.Tech (Electronics) 33, B.Tech (Food Technology) 5, B.Tech (Textile Chemistry) 2, MCA 7, M.Tech (IT) 1 and M.Sc (Physics) 3. These students would join Infosys, Mysore, in June 2008. He said many national and international companies like TCS, Wipro, Accenture, Tech Mohindra, Cognizant, HCL, Satyam, Newgen, Flex, Amdocs, L&T, Tata Alixi, IBM, Sapient, Microsoft, HP, Oracle, Birla Soft, Google, Patni, Kanbay, Keane, Avaya and CSC would be visiting the university for campus placements. — Contributed by P. K. Jaiswar |
AgricultureCentral
Institute of Fisheries Education, Fisheries University Road, 7,
Bungalows, Versova, Andheri (W), Mumbai
400061 (Mah)
(Deemed University ICAR)
|
||
| HOME PAGE |
|
OUR nation is legitimately proud of its reputed scientists, scholars and surgeons. They should inspire all students of our country to be meritorious. Why can our colleges and universities not ensure good standards of education?