Monday, March 11, 2013

Schools finding difficult to breath without English and Computers



Yet again, I visited 5 schools wherein the needs assessment was done in terms of what facilities they require may be in person or infrastructure wise. There's so much of requirement in terms of books, textbooks, school bags, uniforms, shoes, toilets, water, computers, etc. In fact, there's dearth for teachers even for the general subjects. I understand government alone cannot take the responsibility to fulfill all the needs but then at least they can definitely work on and make arrangements of what they are capable of. The government has to appoint teachers to these government schools on a regular basis and though they call up for a job for the B.Ed candidates, they do not actually place them. I mean, how can a system be so meaningless when it's not able to fulfill the very purpose of the project. This seems to be widening the gap and I appreciate the NGOs who are making efforts and trying to bridge the gap. One way they are trying to fill this gap is by appointing a sponsored teacher through Corporate/Companies. On the other hand it's providing a job opportunity. It was surprising to know that 200 kids are handled by only 5 teachers who try to teach all the 5 subjects. It's beyond imagination and a salute to them for having patience and more importantly, for not giving up the work in spite of the pressure. Oh, how lucky are we to have had a separate teacher for each of the subjects. How lucky we were to have got drinking water at school. How lucky we were to afford a school bag, books and a pair of shoes. How lucky we were to have a restroom. All these seems to be basic and essential facilities at school but then not everyone are blessed to have this experienced without making any efforts to get them. In spite of not having any of the facilities I could still see a smile on the face and interest in the kids to come to school and study without any complaints and making the best out of nothing available. 

I was wondering why is that each school when asked for any requirement or support in teaching required they say only two things - Spoken English and Computers. I'm actually trying to answer them in depth as to why only English and Computers. Why not Maths, Science, Arts, Sports.

English

The importance of English as a spoken language began as a result of the colonial era, when European powers took to the seas in order to find new lands and natural resources. The effects of that time can still be felt in the number of English speakers in India, select parts of Asia and Africa, and North America. The influence of English grew stronger in the 20th century, with the increased mobility of populations, the growth of the United States as an economic power, and the presence of international media in everyday life.

English as a universal language has become the key tool of globalization.English is the perfect verbal communication medium for many governments around the world, and it is also well known in business, education, world news, health sector and communication. In many places such as Asia, Africa, and South America, the ability to learn English will determine who will increase their living standards, and who will remain in poverty.

Aside from the United Nations, many other international organizations operate in English. After World War II, key financial institutions were created in English, including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The World Trade Organization and a variety of other UN affiliates such the World Food Program and the World Health Organization use English in spoken and written communication.

The English language has shaped modern India's development in many ways, here are a few... First, it helped establish a link with the West in the post colonial era whereby ideas and information could be exchanged easily, especially in the realm of higher education . Subsequently this enabled members of successive generations to emigrate to developed English speaking nations as professionals thereby helping India establish a people to people link with the West which has come in very handy after the economic liberalization. Despite the inward and myopic outlook of less than stellar post- independence governments for decades on end and the political barriers of the cold war, India's fortunes changed radically in a very short period of time after it liberalized. This would not have been possible without the English language skills (as minimal as they might be) and the people to people link I mentioned. The fact of the matter is that possessing English skills as a young Indian today opens up a greater number of opportunities. 

The amount of influence a language has depends on the number of native and secondary speakers, as well as the population and economic power of the countries in which it is spoken. 

Computers

As we hurtle towards the 21st century, we must accept the inevitability of a computer revolution in the near future. It is an-inseparable part of development, as demonstrated by other countries. Computers are no longer luxury or the sole property of the advanced countries. Their appropriate uses in India can help us solve the unique problems of a developing country and bring about the desired changes in increasing literacy, optimizing resources, increasing efficiency, productivity and quality.

Already computers have become such an important part of our lives—in airports, banks, railway stations and every well-equipped modern office. As computer continues to proliferate in ever increasing numbers across large segments of Government, business and industry, the common man is beginning to believe hesitantly that computers can actually deliver a good part of the promise that they had offered. Society is gradually accepting the fact that computers will indeed change the manner in which the things are done,

Computers can substantially save valuable man-hours by helping people through communication to make reservation of tickets, operate their bank accounts, to pay for electricity water and telephone bills, insurance premium and also do routine shopping. Trains can be operated automatically by computers and traffic signals be computer co-ordinate to produce best traffic patterns, increase reliability and safety and generally provide for more efficient services.

In our country there are over 5,00,000 primary schools of which l/3rd are single-teacher schools. 64% of total population of our country is illiterate. The number of illiterates at present is higher than that at independence. To tackle a problem of such gigantic proportions, it is essential that a modern aids offered by Information Technology are made use of to spread education to the rural areas where most of the illiteracy is concentrated. Computer based lessons developed in various subjects by experts in that area could be used to educate the masses. The computer is a rapidly evolving tool that can now deal quite effectively with all fine forms of information that man deals with for better education are —data, text, image, graphics and voice.

Finally, convinced as to the growing need to learn these subjects.

Today, I came across a new volunteering opportunity at a Primary Health Care Center -They require volunteer to mentor the staff who are engaged in data entry on the particular software. This will help the process of communication between mother and the sister in charge pre and post delivery of a baby. As time plays crucial role in the medical industry and also for the very reason being is dissemination of information like the update on the next check up and the follow up on the medicinal part has to be reached at the appropriate time else has an impact on the lives of the mother and the baby. They work 24x7 on all days. An hour or two of volunteer helping them understand the process which is very simple and enabling them to speed up the process can make a difference to many lives by reaching out the information at the required time. 

Working on meeting the needs through various collaborations in men, material and machines.

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