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Arts or science?
Bringing dead facts to life Campus Notes
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Arts or science?
UNDENIABLY, both arts and science are windows to the world steeped in knowledge and imagination. However, in Indian academic structure, not only a firm line has been etched between the two but also we have created a hierarchy of subjects, a pyramid in which science continues to reign supreme. “Rubbish,” fumes Dr Richa Puri, reader, Department of Botany, Panjab University, Chandigarh. She says: “Science is a bent of mind. In some students, logical skills are more pronounced and while others could be artistically inclined. But to measure brain power on the basis of which subject one chooses in life is preposterous.” Dr Karan Vasisht, chairperson and professor, University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Panjab University Chandigarh, remarks: “It is fallacious to assume that science is more important than, say, history. Even the Vice-Chancellor has often suggested an open credit system so that if a science student desires to study ancient history or say French, he or she should be allowed to do so”. The CBSE, in its bid to be in step with changing times from time to time, has been introducing new subjects to facilitate newer permutations and combinations. Though it is unanimously agreed that science does require more discipline and hard work, the mad scramble for science subjects in Class XI is a pattern that can be discerned almost all over India. “Invariably,” quips Priyanka Batra, an English teacher at Sardar Teja Singh Kandhari School, Patiala, “Even today when more and more career choices in arts are opening up, the first preference of most students in Class XI is science”. The reasons are not far to find. Educationists in India opine that education for the sake of education is a rare phenomenon rather it is invariably related with job markets. To be “suitably employed” is the rasion d’etre of the student community and the thrust of India’s education system that explains the mushrooming of engineering and medical colleges. In fact, what to talk of arts even pure science is no longer a favoured choice for over 60 per cent of science graduates according to a survey were found unemployed. Ironically, despite science being the natural choice, a large majority of students don’t seem to have a natural aptitude for it. Any wonder, tuitions in science subjects are a foregone conclusion. Anju Talwar a chemistry teacher at St. Joseph Convent School, Jalandhar, reasons, “Sadly, our syllabus is so designed that application abilities do not find enough representation and do not enable children to tackle questions posed in examination on their own.” Indeed, science teaching in schools needs a radical overhaul to stop students losing interest, according to India’s first national science survey. Precisely, this is the reason why a lesser number of students opt for pure sciences and why research in India is lagging. A study “Engineering Education in India” highlighted that, in 2006, about 2.3 lakh students graduated in engineering but only 20,000 master degrees and 1,000 PhDs were awarded in the same year. It also found that only 1 per cent of students graduating in B.Tech opt for an M.Tech and only 2 per cent of M.Tech students opt for a PhD. Ironically, while the science students are considered brainy, they are also assumed to be less imaginative, a trifle less creative than their art counter parts. Dr Neevi Kumar, a senior lecturer in English, DAV College, Sector 10, Chandigarh, busts this myth, too, “Perhaps in language one needs to be more creative, but subjects like psychology and economics are as much about facts and theories as any science subject.” Dr Richa adds, “Science calls for an imaginative mind. After all, what is a hypothesis but a scientist’s imagination?” Certainly, science too emanates from creativity. If it didn’t, so many scientific inventions wouldn’t have been made. Great art often requires mathematical precision and proportion. In the final analysis, perhaps what Indians needs is a clear departure from a compartmentalised approach. As Dr Vasisht points out, “What kind of a scientist are you if you don’t know how India’s President is elected?” The holistic way of looking at things by realising that the two disciplines are intertwined alone can ensure that our children acquire knowledge not just degrees. After all, one of the greatest scientists Albert Einstein did say, “I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”
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Bringing dead facts to life SOCIAL studies is a very wide subject and a major part of the school curriculum is devoted to the teaching of this subject. It is also an established fact that a social studies teacher needs to acquire a background of various related subjects of political science, geography, history, sociology, psychology, economics, etc. History forms a major part of the social studies taught at school. History is an intricately woven tapestry of human experiences, a recording of the past events arranged in chronological order dating from the earliest times to the present. The subject is so vast that only a dedicated teacher can make the subject really interesting. It can be a killjoy in the hands of a teacher who is teaching just for the heck of it. History with its vast panorama of people and civilisations pinpoints towards the accomplishments of culture. It is an art that brings dead facts to life. A history teacher has to be an excellent actor, a performer par excellence who can put life into dead emperors and generals. The new millennium child with the bombardment of information is already aware of many facts; he wants to know something more than the textbooks. Thus, the teacher has to go beyond the realms of the textbook. The history teacher has to be a spellbinding narrator who does not distort the facts and still captures the interest of the child. The teacher does not have to make the characters larger than life. The greatness of Akbar does not have to blown out of proportion, telling the students that he was illiterate will make him appear more human. It is difficult for students to relate to unknown lands, civilisations and cultures. A good history teacher has to be resourceful. He has to bring the world to the classroom. If the school has a multi-media room, a PowerPoint presentation is an excellent way of teaching a lesson that is totally foreign to the learners. If the school is not technology savvy, as is the case in many government schools, the teacher can carry encyclopaedias and pictures downloaded from the Internet to class to acquaint the children with certain aspects of history. How can a child understand about the land of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs if he does not know what a pyramid is or what does the Sphinx of Giza look like? The social studies teacher has to put in a lot of time for self-study and in preplanning a lesson, so that correct information reaches the students. The history teacher has to be a specialist who can guide the students into critical thinking. He has to take the students beyond bookish knowledge and allow them to perceive more as they grow. History is not merely feeding facts to the learners, it is also about speculation, co-relation, critical and creative thinking. The teacher has to be a magician who can turn a ‘dry subject’ into an interesting one. Film strips, comics, pictures, maps, charts, time lines, role-playing, Internet, etc., are a few tools at the disposal of the teacher who has to be innovative to put them to the best of use. The teacher has to simplify the facts and make her charges thinking students. He has to take them from the lower-order thinking to the higher-order thinking. Rajinder Kumar Sharma, an ex-sergeant and a social studies teacher, uses his vast experience working with the defence establishment to teach history. “My postings in places like Rajasthan and the South prove handy when I have to teach topics like the Rajputs, Sangam literature, Chola period, etc. I ask questions like if there was no Khyber pass what would have been the course of history. This gets all the students thinking and imagining.” Let history be taught as a fun subject and not merely as a factual one.
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Campus Notes The university is once again emerging as the most-preferred destination in the state for campus placements. Recently, as many as 33 students were offered jobs with pay packages ranging from Rs 3.6 lakh per annum by Bharti Retail Walmart to Rs 1.75 lakh per annum by Integral Biosciences. The companies, which visited the campus and recruited the students in the last two weeks, are IDBI Bank (14), HDFC Insurance (5), Jubilant Chemsys (5), Integral Biosciences (7), Sonalika International Tractors (2) and Bharti Retail (2). Dr Sukhdev Singh, director placement, said apart from Guru Nanak Dev University, Bharti Retail had also invited few B-schools from Punjab to participate in the final selection at Gurgaon. He said Jubliant Chemsys, Noida, and HDFC Standard Life Insurance had selected 10 students with a salary package of Rs 1.80 lakh and Rs 2.2 lakh per annum, respectively. He said many more companies would visit the campus to recruit the students and it was expected that more than 500 students would be placed by June-end. He said 422 students of the 2009 batch had been placed in 31 different national and multinational companies by mid of this month. These students would join their jobs in June this year after their final examinations, he added.
Pharma students shine
As many as 10 students of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences have cleared the GATE examination during the 2008-09 session while a number of students have been recruited in various reputed pharmaceutical companies. Revealing this, Dr Preet Mohinder Singh Bedi, professor and head of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, said a senior research student of the department had received the Young Scientist Award and Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship, while one of its final year students of B-Pharmacy participated in the USA summer training programme for a period of three months. He said department was well equipped with modern facilities for effective practical training of the students and had been recognised by the Pharmacy Council of India and the All-India Council for Technical Education.
Refresher course in Punjabi
The university has invited applications on prescribed proforma for a three-week refresher course in Punjabi to be held from May 20 to June 9 under its Academic Staff College in collaboration with the School of Punjabi Studies. Dr H. S. Bhatia, director, ASC, said Dr Kawaljeet Kaur Jassal, professor in the School of Punjabi Studies, had been appointed as the course coordinator. He said college and university lecturers in the discipline of Punjabi may apply immediately for the course on the prescribed form available at the Academic Staff College or can be downloaded from the university website www.gndu.ac.in. —
Contributed by P. K. Jaiswar
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ADMISSION
DEADLINE Apeejay College of Fine
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BA / BSc (45%) Details: Employment News (02 – 08 May 2009) / Website Application Deadline: 11 June 2009 Pervin Malhotra, Director, Career Guidance India (CARING) (www.careerguidanceindia.com)
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Science vs arts is not merely a subject at school debates but a tangible reality that first manifests itself soon after the Class X examinations. So, come Class X board results and academic lines are drawn. Students are segregated and the best (read those securing higher percentage) walk away with the honour and the privilege of studying exalted science subjects. The assumption behind the prevalent norm (higher cut-off percentage for science students) is implied and also obvious—you need more brains to pursue science.
As the new session began, I met my new seventh class students and asked them about their favourite subject. “I like geography and civics, but history is so boring because you have to remember so many dates,” said one of the students, Richa Rattan. “During the examinations I attempt the geography and the civics sections and leave out history because the answers are so long that I cannot learn them,” chipped in another student. This got me thinking—Are we just asking the students to mug up facts without explaining or is the teaching so inadequate that the students do not even attempt the subject?