India Attracts Universities from the U.S.,New York Times, March 26,2007.
The New York Times publishes once in a while reports about the Indian University education.The following two columns that appeared in the paper at differnt times show the new enthusiasm that has gripped the Indian Univeristy system to update itself and make it competititve with the best in the U.S.
But it is difficult to make changes when the University Education system is governed by many rules and regulations.The State governments under whose jurisdiction are many of the public universities do not want to lose their control over them.What is experienced is a great amount of stagnation.
There are many factors playing in this field that it is difficult to envision any rapid changes in the system.The University Education in Kerala , in particualr, is affected by affected by unbelievable stagnation and apathy.The political parties that control the government are reluctant to allow the system to grow and devlop.Many good colleges with great reputation for excellence are under the Universities of Kerala.As they are affiliated to the State Universities, the State Governemnt is reluctant to allow autonomy for these colleges. Hence, these colleges are never rated for excellence by various accrediting agencies. The only way to help colleges to develop is to grant them autonomy.
The New York Times:
"Some 40 percent of population(in India) is under 18,and a scarcity of higher education opportunities is frequently cited as a potential hurdle to economic progress."
"The growing American interest in Indian education reflects a confluence of trends.It comes as American Universities are trying to expand their global reach in general, and discovering India's economic rise in particualr.It also reflects the need for India to close its gaping demand for higher education."
"Among Indians ages 18 to 24, only 7 percent enter a University, according to the National Knowledge Commission.To roughly double the precentage--effectively bringing it up to par with the rest of Asia--the commission recmmends the creation of 1500 colleges and Universities over the next several years."
"The commission estimates that 160,000 Indians are studying abroad, spending an estimated $4 billion a year."
Madeleine Green, vice president for international initiatives at the American Council on Education, calls India"the next frontier" for American institutions...Most American institutions are opting to join hands with existing Indian institutions...Columbia is the latest of several foreign business schools to tie up with the Ahmedbad campus...the Americanization of Indian education is following a variety of approaches."
Champlain college, based in Burlington,VT. runs a satellte campus in Mumbai.California state university, Long Beach, has agreed to help start Americn -style, four year degree programs at state-run Lucknow University...Cornell University is seeking to expand research collaborations.Rice university envisions faculty and student exchanges....Carneggie Mellon offers its degree in partenrship with Shri Shiv Shankar Nadar College of Engineering.Most of the course work is done at relatively inexpensive rates here in India, followed by six months in Pittsburgh, at the end of which students graduate with a Carneggie Mellon degree."(Somini Sengupta)
India Students Wield Tests and Tutorials,NYtimes,March 24,10
"Higher Education presents a problem of quantity and quality.Even as India's students are world class,most Indian universities are not...In 2008, 320,000 students took the school(IIT) entrance exams for 8000 vacancies.(Jim Yardley)
"Education presents such a stubborn problem, especially access to quality education, that experts warn that the future advantages of India's youthful population could become a disadvantage if the governement cannot improve the system rapidly enough to provide more students a chance at college.Of the 186 million students in India, only 12.4 percent are enrolled in higher education, one of the lowest ratios in the world.
"India has one of the world's youngest populations, often called its "demographic dividend,"yet as the middle class has steadily grown, so has the cutthroat competition for the limited slots in the country's system of higher education."
"If you have 150 million or 160 million children who don't go to college, what is going to happen to them 10 or 15 years from now?", asked Kapil Sibil, the Minister of Education."The demographic dividend will become a demographic disaster."
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Catholic Schools in the U.S.
In this section, I am going to write about some of the important ideas on the Catholic School system expressed by Abp.Timothy Dolan of New York which were published in the magazine,"America"(Sept.13-20,2010.)
The followng are some of his important reflections:
'"By Jan.1939 nearly,10,000 German Catholic schools had been closed or taken over by the Nazi party.Tyrants know and fear the true strength of a Catholic education:what parents begin in the home, Catholic schools extend to a society at large."
"The reasons for the decline are familiar: the steady drop in vocations to the religious teaching orders who were the greatest single work force in the church's modern period;the drastic drift in immigration,the rising cost of living...and the crumbling of an intact neigborhood-based Catholic culture..."
"The most crippling reason, howver, may rest in an enormous shift in the thinking of many American Catholics,namely,that the responsibility for Catholic schools belongs only to the parents of students who attend them, not to the entire Church.Catholics as a whole have disowned their school system, excusng themselves...from any further involvement simply because their own children are not enroled there..."
"The truth is that the entire parish, the whole diocese and the universal Church benefit from Catholic schools in ways that keep communities strong.Reawkening a sense of common ownership of Catholc schools may be the biggest challenge..
"Much of the research on Catholic education conducted over the last five decades...has answered with a unanimous voice that Catholc schools are an unquestioned success in every way:spiritually, academically and communally."
"The graduates of Cathoic schools show: 1) fidelity to sunday mass and a keener sense of prayer ; 2)mantaining pro-life attitudes;3)the personal consdieration of a religious vocation and 4) continued support for the local church and the community."
"The Catholic Church is now confronted by a new secualrization asserting that a person of faith can hardly be expected to be a tolerant and enlightened American...Under this new scheme, to take one's faith serioulsy and bring it to the public square somehow implies being unAmerican.To combat this notion, an equally energetic evangelization ---is all the more necessary."
"The current hospice mentality--watching our schools slowly die---must give way to a renewd confidence.American Catholic schools need to be unabashedly proud of their proven gritty ability to transmit faith and values to all their students..."
Catholic education is a communal,eccelesial duty, not just for parents of school children or for parishes blessed to have their own school."
"We cannot succumb to the petty turf wars that pit Catholic schools against relgious education programs and other parish ministries.Pope Benedict XVl reminds us that the Church is all about both/and , and not either/or.Strong Catholic schools strenthen all other programs of evangelization, service, catechesis and sanctification."
The followng are some of his important reflections:
'"By Jan.1939 nearly,10,000 German Catholic schools had been closed or taken over by the Nazi party.Tyrants know and fear the true strength of a Catholic education:what parents begin in the home, Catholic schools extend to a society at large."
"The reasons for the decline are familiar: the steady drop in vocations to the religious teaching orders who were the greatest single work force in the church's modern period;the drastic drift in immigration,the rising cost of living...and the crumbling of an intact neigborhood-based Catholic culture..."
"The most crippling reason, howver, may rest in an enormous shift in the thinking of many American Catholics,namely,that the responsibility for Catholic schools belongs only to the parents of students who attend them, not to the entire Church.Catholics as a whole have disowned their school system, excusng themselves...from any further involvement simply because their own children are not enroled there..."
"The truth is that the entire parish, the whole diocese and the universal Church benefit from Catholic schools in ways that keep communities strong.Reawkening a sense of common ownership of Catholc schools may be the biggest challenge..
"Much of the research on Catholic education conducted over the last five decades...has answered with a unanimous voice that Catholc schools are an unquestioned success in every way:spiritually, academically and communally."
"The graduates of Cathoic schools show: 1) fidelity to sunday mass and a keener sense of prayer ; 2)mantaining pro-life attitudes;3)the personal consdieration of a religious vocation and 4) continued support for the local church and the community."
"The Catholic Church is now confronted by a new secualrization asserting that a person of faith can hardly be expected to be a tolerant and enlightened American...Under this new scheme, to take one's faith serioulsy and bring it to the public square somehow implies being unAmerican.To combat this notion, an equally energetic evangelization ---is all the more necessary."
"The current hospice mentality--watching our schools slowly die---must give way to a renewd confidence.American Catholic schools need to be unabashedly proud of their proven gritty ability to transmit faith and values to all their students..."
Catholic education is a communal,eccelesial duty, not just for parents of school children or for parishes blessed to have their own school."
"We cannot succumb to the petty turf wars that pit Catholic schools against relgious education programs and other parish ministries.Pope Benedict XVl reminds us that the Church is all about both/and , and not either/or.Strong Catholic schools strenthen all other programs of evangelization, service, catechesis and sanctification."
Friday, December 16, 2011
Praise of the Catholic School system in the U.S.
The New York Times in its Religion section by Samuel G.Freedman reviewing the book "The Death and Life of the Great American School System" by Diane Ravitch quotes some of the very admiring statements of Diane on the great service given to the American society by the Catholic Church.Freedman says: "What one might call the Catholic -school model is perhaps the most unappreciated influence on the nation's public-education debate." Joseph P.Vitteriti, a co-edtor with Ravitch adds: "The fact of the nmatter is that they have been educating urban kids better than they are being educated elsewhere."
"When Ms.Ravitch assails the emphasis on standardized testing,particalrly under the No child Left Behaind law, and when she exhorts schools to use a content-rich core curriculum and emphasize character and build ties to parents and neighborhoods, she is , without overtly saying so,extolling the essential traits of Catholic education."
Ms.Ravitch prefers Catholic schools to charter schools with regard to educating kids coming from low-income black and Hispanic students.""But charter schools can't do the same things.The Catholic schools have a well-established record of being effective, and they are being replaced by schools that have no track record."
"When Ms.Ravitch assails the emphasis on standardized testing,particalrly under the No child Left Behaind law, and when she exhorts schools to use a content-rich core curriculum and emphasize character and build ties to parents and neighborhoods, she is , without overtly saying so,extolling the essential traits of Catholic education."
Ms.Ravitch prefers Catholic schools to charter schools with regard to educating kids coming from low-income black and Hispanic students.""But charter schools can't do the same things.The Catholic schools have a well-established record of being effective, and they are being replaced by schools that have no track record."
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Students --Motivations and Distractions
A (Dec.2005) study titled "Scholarly Culture and Educational Success in 27 Nations" has this to say about the children growing up in homes with their own libraries:"Children growing up in homes with many books get 3 years more schooling than children from bookless homes, independent of their parents' education, occupation, and class.("That Used to be Us, p.127)
With regard to the distractions caused by technology,the following study by the Kaiser Family Foundation "Daily Media Use among Children and Teens" gives the following details:
"Today 8-18 year olds devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes to using entertainment media across a typical day.And because they spend so uch of that time"media multitasking"(using more than ne medium at a time), they actually manage to pack a total of 10 hrs and 45 minutes worth of media content inot 71/2 hours...About half o heavy media users say they usually get fair or poor grades. The proportion of young people who read a newspaper in a typical day dropped from 42% in 1999 to 23% in 2009."
"Half ofAmerican teenagers(ages 12 through 17) send 50 or more text messages a day, and one third more than a hundred a day.
In 1960,students at four-year colleges in the U.S. studied 24 hours per week.Today,the average is 14 hours per week,42% less."(Friedman,p.129).
Friedman very regretfully observes that "our students are spending more time texting and gaming and less time than ever studying and doing homework." He further adds that "unless we get them to spend the time needed to master a subject, all the teacher training in the world will go for naught."
All these observations warn us of the dangers lurking in the big business of education.The schools cannot do their work so long as the students are not motivated and focused.We need to reorient our mind-sets and come back to the basics of teaching and learning. It is good that the students become familiar wth the uses of modern technology. But when these technological tools take their valuable away from their studies, we are losing them.
With regard to the distractions caused by technology,the following study by the Kaiser Family Foundation "Daily Media Use among Children and Teens" gives the following details:
"Today 8-18 year olds devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes to using entertainment media across a typical day.And because they spend so uch of that time"media multitasking"(using more than ne medium at a time), they actually manage to pack a total of 10 hrs and 45 minutes worth of media content inot 71/2 hours...About half o heavy media users say they usually get fair or poor grades. The proportion of young people who read a newspaper in a typical day dropped from 42% in 1999 to 23% in 2009."
"Half ofAmerican teenagers(ages 12 through 17) send 50 or more text messages a day, and one third more than a hundred a day.
In 1960,students at four-year colleges in the U.S. studied 24 hours per week.Today,the average is 14 hours per week,42% less."(Friedman,p.129).
Friedman very regretfully observes that "our students are spending more time texting and gaming and less time than ever studying and doing homework." He further adds that "unless we get them to spend the time needed to master a subject, all the teacher training in the world will go for naught."
All these observations warn us of the dangers lurking in the big business of education.The schools cannot do their work so long as the students are not motivated and focused.We need to reorient our mind-sets and come back to the basics of teaching and learning. It is good that the students become familiar wth the uses of modern technology. But when these technological tools take their valuable away from their studies, we are losing them.
Discipline in American Schools
Often , people from the President onwards are bemoaning the lower standards in American schools.They often point out that some countries in Asia and Europe are doing better the U.S. with regard to the raising of educational standards at schools.In the PISA(Program for International Student Assessment) tests, American students do not perform as good a s the students from China, Singapore, Hongkong,Finland or Korea.
According to the Department of Education, about a third of first year students entering college had taken at least one remedial course in reading, writing, or math.
Thomas Friedman in speaking about the reforms needed in American education says the following in his book,"That Used to be US:"We believe that six things are necessary: better teachers and better principals;parents who are more involved in and demanding of their children's education;politicians who push to raise educational standards, not dumb them down;neighbors who are ready to invest in schools even though their children do not attend them;business leaders committed to raising educational standards in their communities; and --last but certainly not least--students who come to schools prepared to learn , and not to text."(p.109)
Often the teachers are blamed.At other times, it is mentioned that it is the lack of funds that is responsible for the lower standards. Millions of dollars are pumped into the school system to make it better. What often is forgotten is that no one is interested in enforcing discipline at school,in telling the students what is right and wrong and making them do home work. If you allow the students to behave and act unchecked , give the impression that anything is permissible and that there should be no punishmnet for gross acts of misbehavior then, we cannot expect that any improvement will take place in our schools. The Principal should be more than an administrator .He or she should be a motivator. Greater attention should be paid at home by the parents to the life and studies of their children.The lesson from the book "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" is that there is more work to do on the part of parents for the education of the children.They cannot just be bystanders.The following quote from the book by the Yale Universit Professor ,Amy Chua, shows the commitment of Chinese parents:"Well, I can tell them, because I have done it.Here are some things my daughters,Sophia and Louisa, were never allowed to do: attend a sleepover, have a playdate, be in a school play, complain about not being in a school play, watch TV or play computer games,choose their extracurricualar activities, get any grade less than A, not be the No.1 student....the Chinese believe that the best way to protect their children is by preparing them for the future...and arming them with skills..that no one can take away."
According to the Department of Education, about a third of first year students entering college had taken at least one remedial course in reading, writing, or math.
Thomas Friedman in speaking about the reforms needed in American education says the following in his book,"That Used to be US:"We believe that six things are necessary: better teachers and better principals;parents who are more involved in and demanding of their children's education;politicians who push to raise educational standards, not dumb them down;neighbors who are ready to invest in schools even though their children do not attend them;business leaders committed to raising educational standards in their communities; and --last but certainly not least--students who come to schools prepared to learn , and not to text."(p.109)
Often the teachers are blamed.At other times, it is mentioned that it is the lack of funds that is responsible for the lower standards. Millions of dollars are pumped into the school system to make it better. What often is forgotten is that no one is interested in enforcing discipline at school,in telling the students what is right and wrong and making them do home work. If you allow the students to behave and act unchecked , give the impression that anything is permissible and that there should be no punishmnet for gross acts of misbehavior then, we cannot expect that any improvement will take place in our schools. The Principal should be more than an administrator .He or she should be a motivator. Greater attention should be paid at home by the parents to the life and studies of their children.The lesson from the book "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" is that there is more work to do on the part of parents for the education of the children.They cannot just be bystanders.The following quote from the book by the Yale Universit Professor ,Amy Chua, shows the commitment of Chinese parents:"Well, I can tell them, because I have done it.Here are some things my daughters,Sophia and Louisa, were never allowed to do: attend a sleepover, have a playdate, be in a school play, complain about not being in a school play, watch TV or play computer games,choose their extracurricualar activities, get any grade less than A, not be the No.1 student....the Chinese believe that the best way to protect their children is by preparing them for the future...and arming them with skills..that no one can take away."
Thursday, December 8, 2011
The Three Cs--Creation,Communication and Collaboration
Thomas Friedman in his book,"That Used to be Us" introduced a new concept in the place of the Three Rs. In the past , people often thought that the three Rs were essential for education.Friedman is saying that the three Rs are not enough.What is needed now for one to have a job in the modern market is to have three Cs.One should be innovative and be be able to create new ideas and programs.One should have , along with creativity, the ability to communicate with other people as well as to collaborate with them.Only those who have the three Cs will be able to hold down a job in this highly competitive world.
He attributes the development of this idea to Tony Wagner who has in his book"The Global Achievement Gap and learning to Innovate" expressed the need to have three Cs:"Critical thinking,Effective oral and written communication, and Collaboration".The schools must find ways to "inspire the three Cs while teaching the three Rs."
The nature of the world of education is changing fast because of the merging of globalization and IT revolution.The old categories of the developed and developing world are fading.The time of the "average " is over , according to Friedman.
One has to ask oneself:"What is it about how I do my job that is going to differentiate me?" This kind of "extra" is what "better"education has to achieve and to inspire.
"The hyper-connected world is demanding another leap."Friedman quotes Mark Rosenberg,the President of Florida international University:"It is imperative that we become much better in educating students not just to take good jobs but to create good jobs."
One has to be a creative creator or a creative server.Even if many cannot be creative creators, they can be creative servers."For many others it will mean becoming a creative server and bringing a special passion or human touch to a job in a way that truly enriches the experience for the person paying for it."
One has to think like an immigrant, think like an artisan or think like a waitress in order to develop a mind-set that is helpful to become creative.
Friedman offers the above new insights for the renovation and development of Higher Education in the U.S.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Christian Leadership,Dec.5,11
I am going to discuss here some of the ideas of John C.Maxwell who has written an excellent book called " Christian Leadership" where he highlights some of the qualities needed for a good Christian leader.He mentions the following qualities as necessar for a good leader : "Integrity, Nurturing other people, Having faith in other people,Understanding other people,Enlarging other people, Navigating for other people and Empowering other people." Of course, these qualities come from one's deep-rooted faith in Christ.
He explains integrity as commitment of oneself to character over personal gain and showing preference to people and not to things.
Nurturing , according to Maxwell, involves showing genuine concern for others."People are influenced most by those who make them feel the best about themselves....Your goal is others' growth and independence."He asks the aspiring leaders " to take time to express your love and appreciation for the people close to you."He adds further in this matter: "Make other people a priority in your life over every other thing.Give others recognition at every opportunity...Instead of thinking of yourself, put others first....The length and breadth of our influence on others are directly related to the depth of our concern for them."
In this regard,Maxwell quotes the following words of Mark Twain: "Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions.Small people always do that , but really great make you feel that you too can become great."
He prescribes the following steps in order to become a nururing leader:
1.Commit to people.2.Believe in them.3.Be accessible to them. 4.Give with no strings attached. 5.Give them opportunities.6.Lift them to a t higher level.
"The best way to motivate is to focus your attention on their strengths.Show them that success is a journey, a process, and not a destination."
"Instead of focusing on weaknesses, pay attention to people's strength.Compliment postive qualities.Bring out the gifts inherent in them."
"If you want to help others and become a person of influence, keep smiling, sharing, giving,and turning the other cheek.That is the right way to treat people.Besides, you never know which people in your sphere of influence are going to rise up and make a difference in your life and the lives of others."
The above ideas of Maxwell are just an elaboration of the Gospel mesage: "Love your neighbor as you love yourself." Real leadership consists in putting into practice the teachings of the Gospel.Jesus has asked us specifically to show love, regard and respect for others. By washing the feet of the apostles, he tells them that leadership consists in service.He asks them not to lord it over others as the Jewish leaders of their time did. He wants his disciples to do a s he did: :" I came not to be served but to serve others."
If those in authroity in the Church would listen to these words of Jesus and followed in their lives what He did, the changes that would take place in the world would be immeasurable.
Christian leader, hence , is a Servant Leader.
He explains integrity as commitment of oneself to character over personal gain and showing preference to people and not to things.
Nurturing , according to Maxwell, involves showing genuine concern for others."People are influenced most by those who make them feel the best about themselves....Your goal is others' growth and independence."He asks the aspiring leaders " to take time to express your love and appreciation for the people close to you."He adds further in this matter: "Make other people a priority in your life over every other thing.Give others recognition at every opportunity...Instead of thinking of yourself, put others first....The length and breadth of our influence on others are directly related to the depth of our concern for them."
In this regard,Maxwell quotes the following words of Mark Twain: "Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions.Small people always do that , but really great make you feel that you too can become great."
He prescribes the following steps in order to become a nururing leader:
1.Commit to people.2.Believe in them.3.Be accessible to them. 4.Give with no strings attached. 5.Give them opportunities.6.Lift them to a t higher level.
"The best way to motivate is to focus your attention on their strengths.Show them that success is a journey, a process, and not a destination."
"Instead of focusing on weaknesses, pay attention to people's strength.Compliment postive qualities.Bring out the gifts inherent in them."
"If you want to help others and become a person of influence, keep smiling, sharing, giving,and turning the other cheek.That is the right way to treat people.Besides, you never know which people in your sphere of influence are going to rise up and make a difference in your life and the lives of others."
The above ideas of Maxwell are just an elaboration of the Gospel mesage: "Love your neighbor as you love yourself." Real leadership consists in putting into practice the teachings of the Gospel.Jesus has asked us specifically to show love, regard and respect for others. By washing the feet of the apostles, he tells them that leadership consists in service.He asks them not to lord it over others as the Jewish leaders of their time did. He wants his disciples to do a s he did: :" I came not to be served but to serve others."
If those in authroity in the Church would listen to these words of Jesus and followed in their lives what He did, the changes that would take place in the world would be immeasurable.
Christian leader, hence , is a Servant Leader.
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