Indo-China relations

By Arun Nehru

The Olympic torch episode passed off peacefully after the deployment of 15,000 security personnel and whilst there was chaos and delay of many hours to the citizens of New Delhi it was a politically correct decision after the fiasco we have seen in the torch relays in the USA, UK and in France where a handful of protesters staged a revolt manufactured as a 'media' event and no surprise that many Western leaders have declared their intention to boycott the opening ceremony of the Olympics in support of the Tibetan refugees. The political reality is that India accepted Tibet as a part of China in 1951 but provided refuge to the Dalai Lama and to 10,000 of his supporters in Dharamsala who had waged war on China. The Dalai Lama is respected and revered but sadly on this occasion his message of peace was largely ignored by his supporters and if the security was not provided we would have seen a great deal of violence and this is not acceptable by any sovereign government. India is by Western standards a poor country but we provided sanctuary to the Dalai Lama [also many thousands of supporters] and I wonder if any of the Western nations agitating with China were willing to offer this facility to the Tibetan's in the past or in the future? We in India have seen a great deal of violence in the past and many countries in the West had given sanctuary as 'political refugees' to terrorists and those who had indulged in violence and this has only stopped after many a Nation were affected by similar issues and can ill afford to encourage these activities in the name of democracy and human rights. The past [Colonial rule and exploitation] is the past and we live in the present and the future and both India and China are economic and political super powers and have made rapid economic strides over the past two decades and the global community recognize this reality and incidents of this nature inhibit good relations for the future. India and China have excellent relations based on the reality of the political situation and need not respond to motivated lobbies [vested interests to create divisions and conflicts] in the West or pressure groups within India.
The Karnataka situation is developing on expected lines and dissension in the Congress and the BJP with the declaration of candidates will generate complications and in all this confusion the gainer may well be the JD[S] and HD Deve Gowda. The Congress have their own problems but the BJP fail to maintain their agreement with the JD[U] and this will have a 'marginal' effect on their seats and as things stand the Congress can win 75=90 seats [hold 65 seats] and the BJP estimate will be 75-85 seats and the JD[S] can win 35-40 seats and as things stand the position may be very similar to the last election as little could happen without HD Deve Gowda and the JD[S]. Things can change and one can only hope that Karnataka will head for a stable majority but both the Congress/BJP do not seem to reflect the confidence necessary to project this reality. The last Lok Sabha election had seen the BJP [18 seats] emerging ahead of the Congress [8 seats] and it would be interesting to see if this balance will change for the future. Mayawati and the BSP continue to cause headaches for the SP and for both the Congress/BJP and win important by elections to the Lok Sabha [Azamgarh and Khalilabad] and the Assembly elections in the state and there is no sign of a anti incumbency factor. The last Lok Sabha election gave the SP 35 seats followed by the BSP with 19 seats whilst the BJP won 10 seats and the Congress 9 seats. The BSP on current trends can win 40-45 seats whilst the SP can drop to 20-25 seats and the BJP/Congress will be lucky to win 5 seats each! We still have just under a year for elections and much can happen but as things stand the advantage is clearly with Mayawati and the BSP.
May will also witness by elections in Andhra Pradesh to 4 Lok Sabha and 18 Assembly seats and it would be interesting to see the results from these area's which will reflect either the progress made by the TDP and Chandrababu Naidu or if the anti incumbency factor has affected the government of YS Rajashekhara Reddy.
Inflation continues to torment the government and the Finance Minister initiates a probe against the steel and cement cartels and we may see a temporary drop in prices as industry and government co operate to ease the weekly inflation figure but this will have no impact in the long term as 'consolidation' globally is a polite word for monopoly formation and the market principal of supply and demand determines price fixation. The real culprit if there is one for global inflation is the escalating cost of 'oil' and the huge extortion by the oil rich countries [many hundreds of billions] and I cannot understand why super power's and others are unable to deal with the 'oil' cartels who have held the global economy to ransom.
We are heading for a 'conflict' situation and many poor countries who do not produce their own food requirements or have the resources to buy at inflated levels can develop a famine like situation and food riots in Haiti and many parts of Africa are inevitable in the short term.
We are reacting in 'panic' to food prices in April and the 'panic' is justified as basic food constitutes 75% of the available income with 50% of the population and even if prices drop in May and June it is not a solution for the immediate future. The UPA have Lok Sabha elections and food rather than cement or steel will be the crucial issue as we look to the future. .

Challenge of teacher education

By Dr (Mrs) Vishiesh Verma

Teacher Education system in India is one of the biggest systems globally and is expanding. There are 57.10 lakh teachers working from primary schools to higher secondary level. According to Ministry of Education (HRD 2005-06 report) nearly 28 percent teachers across the country are untrained. In UP there 90 percent and in Karnataka 40 percent teachers are untrained.
An educational system can be as good as its teachers. The teachers training institutions are the key institutions which determine level and quality of teacher education. If these institutions function at a high level of efficacy the multiplier effect would reach every school in the county. One teacher reshapes the life of thousands of young persons during the career of 30 to 40 years. Any lacunae in preparation of these individuals in training institutions would cost the country dearly.
Since independence (1947), within education, teacher education has been most neglected. That is why, perhaps, it is said, "Teacher education is a slum in the city of higher education." Central Govt. spends too little for its qualitative improvement, for example the total outlay on teacher education in 10th Five Year Plan was 950 crores.
District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs) prepare teachers for elementary education. In 2002 there were 599 districts, 500 DIETs were approved out of which 466 were operational.
At present B.Ed. (Bachelor of Education) is the most popular course to adopt teaching profession. Technically all B.Eds are at par irrespective of the institutions where they have studied. In fact B.Ed. degree has become a kind of driving licence and it matters a little how a person acquires it. The four regional colleges of education, established under the aegis of NCERT in 1960s, 31 Institutes of Advanced studies in Education IASE are at the top in providing quality teacher education. The Govt. colleges of education established by the states(leaving a few states) and some of the universities too prepare teachers for schools. But all these institutions produce only a few thousand teachers when the country needs more than a lakh of teachers annually. The largest number of teachers are prepared by self financing private colleges. Since the last decade of 20th century teacher education has become a roaring profit making business of many private entrepreneurs in most of the states including J&K State. No doubt every B.Ed. college is affiliated to one or the other University but these Universities give least attention to them, while the colleges have proved milch cows to these Universities.
As one looks at the state of teacher education in India today, one gets an impression that those responsible for running and supervising the show give two hoots for its health and well being. There is hardly any area or stage of teacher education, which happens to be guided either by vision or concern.
The curriculum of teacher education is under constant criticism. The present rate of explosion of scientific and technological knowledge demands a dynamic and continuously evolving curriculum of teacher education. The changes likely to occur in the twenty first century need to be incorporated in the curriculum. Unfortunately modifications in the curriculum are based more on the judgement of some experts regarding what a teacher should know and practice rather than on any empirical and systematic analysis of the tasks a teacher has to perform. The curriculum followed by Jammu University for teacher education is an example of this sort.
Another area of criticism is that the contemporary model of teacher education has failed to reflect the changes taking place in other sphere of our national life. The system has suffered due to its immobility and will to keep pace with the times and to ensure necessary modifications in conceptual basis of theory and practice.
It is said that knowledge doubles every three years in all fields. We have come a long way from the times of agricultural revolution through industrial revolution to the age of information technology. The changing world requires new kind of teachers and a new kind of education moving away from the current art of imparting and acquiring bits and pieces of information and knowledge. The meaning and concept of teaching has changed. Now the stress is on self learning, the teachers colleges have to elaborate the skill of self learning.
The international Commission for education in twenty first century(1996) predicted:
"Tomorrow's illiterate will not be the man who can't read, he will be the man who has not learnt how to learn." The idea of 'learning to learn', has implications for teacher educators and pupil teachers, who have to train their students in this skill. The introduction of information technology in teacher education is must.
One of the important characteristics of information technology is that; it saves times, efforts and increases the efficiency. The advent of internet has opened the facilities for web-based training and hence necessitates a fundamental change in the mode of education and training. The teacher educators may be brought 'live' from different locations through a network of computers in order to arrange effective interactions, which would be similar to the ones occurring in the face to face mode. The interaction of the trainees with the best available faculty may be arranged by creating virtual classrooms at the minimum cost. It is no use continuing with ritualistic practice teaching in its meaningless and anachronistic form, instead series of video films of successful teaching in various subjects followed by discussion can be arranged.
The basic problem with our system is the lack of skills among the faculty in accessing internet. A survey among the teaching community indicated that about 95 percent of the members surveyed had no knowledge of computers and had never used the internet. This deficiency is to be understood in the context that the possibility of superficial technological training poses the problem of rapid technological obsolesce.
Every pupil teacher is to be taught not only basic computer operation but also basic net browsing and to open e-mail id. Very few faculty members actually continue to use their email ids. This means that one of the primary tasks of teacher education is to instil and constantly upgrade these skills.
Compulsory introduction of information technology paper in 70 plus colleges of education working under the aegis of University of Jammu will provide opportunities to about 20 thousand pupil teachers to acquire knowledge in any area of their interest. A professionally well equipped teacher requires a prolonged period of preparation alongwith sizable body of specialized knowledge and observation of professionalized ethics by its members. The credibility of teacher education system like the legal and medical profession can't be established unless the rigour, skills and adequate duration become integral part of teacher preparation system.
The country wants to have quality education in every part of the country. The education commission (1964-66) suggested "Investment in teacher education can yield very rich dividends, because the financial resources required are small when measured against the resulting improvements in the education of millions. First rate teacher training institutions can thus play a crucial role in the development of education."

(The writer is a former Reader Co-ordinator of University of Jammu)