A Progressive Syllabus

The post electoral debate on the implementation of the “statewide uniform syllabus” for schools has come to a positive end. From now on, all the students in the state, excepting the ones studying in IB, ICSE and CBSE schools, will study a common syllabus. This is a good and progressive sign.  I personally vouch for the idea of uniform syllabus and wish that in the near future, we should be able to have a “nationwide uniform syllabus”.  Ever since my visit to Finland in 2006, where I was oriented to the benefits of pursuing a common syllabus, I was fascinated by the idea and was wishfully hoping that it comes to our country soon. To me, it is a dream come true.

There has been mixed responses from parents on this new syllabus. Some say the new sylabbus is excellent and some say it is sub standard. Is it really sub standard or is it just a borrowed perception, is a big question mark.  There is also an apprehension among parents, whether their children will be able to cope up with the new syllabus. I think it is not the problem of the student rather it is the responsibilty of the teacher. It does not matter how easy or tough the new syllabus is. What matters more is, how good is the teacher in delivering the content to the student. I again wish to draw the example of Finland.  Finland ranks No: 1, in the world in the quality of education. It is not just because, education has been their nation’s priority, but even more because of the quality of its teachers. In Finland, the job of a teacher is considered as one of the most respectable one, because the teacher takes an active part in the child’s progress. They are so involved, committed and take personal responsibilty for the student to learn, understand and enjoy his studies.

So, what does a common syllabus mean to our children’s future? What are its advantages? 

A common syllabus means each student of the state willl pursue a equal standard of education and qualify on a equal platform. Before, we had a State Board, Anglo Indian Board and Matriculation Board. The quality of education, were of different levels in each board and it was difficult to compare the grade of Std X student of a State board school, with another student from a Matriculation board school.

The newly introduced common syllabus serves as an education leveller, which means a student studying Xth Std in one school will have the same knowledge as any other student in the state, who is studying Xth Std. So when you say, someone is an Xth Std Student, you are able to guage his knowledge level, instanty. You don’t have to ask a second question, from which board, to ascertain the credibility.

The second advantage is migration from one school to another school becomes easy. You don’t have to be bothered about the availabilty of a same type of schooling board, when you get transferred from one place to another place, within the state.

The third and most important advantage is the confidence level of the student. He does not need to feel inferior to anyone in terms of education.

In the days to come, we are not just looking at making our children competitive at the statelevel, or national level, we are trying to make them competitive in the global level. Therefore holding on to baseless dogmatic principles, does not help. It is time to move on.

In the school my children study, students from Std III to Std XII, are given an opportunity to take a, “International Assesment for Indian Schools” administered by University of New South Wales, Australia. The student can take this objective type assesment test on four subjects namely Science, Maths, English and Computer Skills.  By taking this test, the students is graded and ranked on the National level.  I encourage my children to take this test, so that they can be aware of where they stand at a National  level.  A similar test is administed by www.assetonline.in

The challenge that lies before is not, how to make life easy for our children, but it is about how to make them competitive enough to thrive in the global playing field. 

Happy Reading,

D. Senthil Kannan

Article dated Oct'11

Increasing Consumerism Leads to Increasing Junk

A definition of consumerism states, “the belief that the buying and selling of large quantities of consumer goods is beneficial to an economy or a sign of economic strength”. Well, the very definition starts with a hypothesis that it is a belief. So what is the real thing?  Is increased consumerism, really doing good for the economy. Let us consider this in the light of the following facts.

In olden days, a product that was bought usually lasted for a very long time. Anything for that matter, be it clothes, cutlery, furniture, electronic appliances or whatsover, the durabilty of the product was a very important criteria in the buying decision. However, today things have changed. We are looking at fashion, trend, the latest in lifestyle, and other external parameters rather than the inside stuff. So, the concept of longevity of a product is not of vital importance, anymore.

This inturn has encouraged the manufacturer to make products of inferior quality, because he knows that the consumer is not going to use it for long. By doing so, the manufacturer gets a twin benefit.  The first benefit is; he is able to reduce the cost of production and is in a position to offer the product to the customer at a very cheap price. For example, in case of a mobile phone, the manufacturer is aware that the person is not going to use the same phone for more than 3 years. So he decides the components to be used for this product based on this criterion and thereby is able to produce the product at a much cheaper price. From the point of the consumer, the consumer is happy that he has got a product with maximum features, for a minimum price. The second benefit is;  as the manufacturer uses inferior quality components, the product becomes non functional in a few days. Nowadays you cannot find anyone to get it repaired, so you are forced to go for a new purchase. This means added business volume for the manufacturer.

The concept of repair and mending is slowly moving out of our culture. Just the same way it happened to advanced countries some years back. So there is no much option except to “use and throw”.

Look at the ways our lives have evolved. Not very long back, we had coblers who could mend our shoes, tailors who could alter our dress that did not fit, mechanics who would repair our Radio or TV. But today, when you take a product for repair, one of the common responses you could hear is, “You could get a new one for the cost of the repair”. If you ask, “So what do I do with this?” you will get an instant reply, “Just throw it as junk.”

The market for second hand products is drastically reducing. If you wish to sell your Old Computer monitor or Old TV, you will find absolutely nobody to buy. With technolgical updation taking place in every sphere, there is no preference for old technology products, and ultimately you have no option except to dump it as junk. Thanks to the discount offers, intelligently disguised as “exchange mela”, by retailers who want to woo customers to buy their latest products. The junk in your house now becomes the junk in the retailer’s godown, which goes on to become metal and plastic scrap.

What is the bottom line? It is a huge waste on natural resources and manpower of the country, which are our core assets.  We deplete the natural resources and waste human labour, unprudently. The consumer ends up spending more for less value, leading to depletion of his savings. The junk disposed becomes a major environmental hazard. Now tell me, is this beneficial to the economy?

The answer is a definite NO. Just because we have an increased affordabilty does not mean we should have a careless attitude, towards buying. Next time before you buy, ask yourself do I really need it. Don’t buy something, just because it is available cheap. Don’t be carried away with free offers. Nothing is offered free. The cost of the free has been built in the product price. Think twice before you buy.

Happy Reading,

D. Senthil Kannan

Articale dated Sep'2011

Smaller in Size, Bigger in Performance

I am someone who is fond of techno gadgets. I have never had enough patience to wait and buy the tried and tested ones.  Once my mind gets fascinated by a new gadget that has hit the market, I rush to buy it and most often,  end up repenting that I could have waited a little longer, to get a better model.  I assume, this is quiet common among most of us. Technology gets updated so fast, that even before you could learn and understand a new technology, there is a newer technology that has arrived and you feel outdated, all over again.

I still remember my first office desktop computer, which I bought in 1993. It was a HP Vectra PC with a 386 processor, a  80MB Hard disk and a 2MB RAM. (There is no typographical error. It is MB, not GB). It occupied a sizeable portion of my office space. I paid a fancy price of Rs.1,40,000/- for the machine. 18 years down the lane, we are talking about high end Laptops, Netbooks, Tablet PC’s, which is much ahead in terms of speed, storage capacity and functionality and at a price which is hardly 1/3^rd this price.

What is really amazing about the technology transitiion is the shrinking of size. Much more gets packed in much less space.  Look at the way the memory devices have evolved. The size of the memory chip has been significantly reduced, but the storage capacity has been incredibly increased.  We have seen the transition happening from 5.25” floppy disk which could hardly store 1.2MB of data to USB pendrive that could store upto 128GB data. That is the hardware part. Now for the software, with every enhanced software we can see that the file size of a Office document or a Audio Video file can be reduced, without compromising on the quality.

Computer was basically a data processing and storage device.  Mobile phone was basically a communication device. The advent of internet has brought a necessity to merge the computer and the phone, together to create a new segment of devices, which we call as Tablet PC or the Smart phones. These handy electronic devices have not only created a sensation,  but has also greatly altered the lifestyle of a business executive. The need to stay at office, to be connected is no more a necessity.

I have heard that in earlier days, Germans where the masters in product innovation and they came out with highly durable innovative products. However their product design and size, were never so appealing. The Japanese would take these products, dismantle it and look for ways of making it cheaper. They removed the unwanted elements or the not so important elements, try to replace the material used with cheaper material and were ulitmately able to arrive at smaller and more attractive products, which were commercially viable. This was how Japan became a leader in consumer electronics.

Japanese are the best in the world, in terms of optimum usage of resources. It is because they had very limited resources, in terms of material and manpower, they were very prudent in using them. Whether it is factory space, office space or manpower requirement, they planned it so well, that they were able to get the maximum out of the availabe resources. Japanese always believed that “Small is beautiful”. This seems to be true in the current context of the world.  Today, we are facing shortage of manpower and resources, and it is wise for us to adapt the policy, “Smaller in Size, Bigger in Performance”.

The recession of 2008, was a blessing in disguise for it woke up the entrepreneurs, to a reality check.  It helped the entrepreneurs to take a relook at their organisations on a functional perspective. Many companies, not only considered downzing of people, but a few departments as well. We need to train our people on multiple roles and see the possiblity of eliminating unnecessary manpower. For example; instead of employing 3 unskilled workers at a pay of Rs.4000/-, it is better to employ one skilled worker at Rs.10,000/- and still be able to achieve more. This calls for a change in our mindset, from THINK BIG to              THINK WISE.

                                                                         
Happy Reading,

D.Senthil Kannan

Article dated Aug'11

Trainning Aid, Not Trainer's Aid

The school in which my children study, have taken up the Educomp – Smart Class programme which is an audio- visual educational support programme.

  

Research states that learning happens through dfferent sensory organ and the most dominant is the through visual which contributes to 75%, listening contributes to 12% and the balance 13% through, touch, taste and smell. Therefore when multiple sensory organs are engaged in the learning progress, learning is enhanced and better retainedin a child’s memory. I therefore, think it is a wonderful idea, to introduce such innovative ideas to classroom learning. Classroom becomes more fun and interesting.

So far the children have only used the listening to lectures, which certainly has a limitation for them to understand difficult and complex concepts. Now with this media, the students can see the process in wide detail, which helps them to understand better, ‘how things work’. For example, when they talk about digestive system, earlier the teachers would have found it difficult to explain, where each part of the digestion process takes place. But now a video can pictorially explain how the food travels in the digestive system and what function, each internal organ functions in aiding the digestion process.

My point of concern is that, these innovation learning systems should only work as a support to the student’s learning process and not a support to the teacher.  In other words, these system are primarily aimed at making learning easy and not teaching easy. Teachers cannot therefore afford to totally rely on these fancy systems and go unprepared to class. These systems cannot be a replacement to the teachers, basic teaching skills.  You cannot assume that with so much of clarity in the teaching process, there can be no questions from the students. Infact, with more understanding comes more questions and the teacher has to be a level above to clarify the doubts, of the students.

Why am I saying this? It is because, one of the major problems a number of schools are facing today, is lack of quality teachers. When I say quality teachers, I mean the teachers who are 100% committed to their students progress. There are teachers who have taken up this profession, just for a livelihood, without actuallyunderstanding the important role they play in the lives of youg children. A school cannot get away with the idea, that they can mask the inefficiency of their teachers, by using such novel systems.

Mr.Ratnam, Past National President and a leading trainer of JCI India, used to often mention in his ‘Train the trainers’ workshop, that LCD projector or any Audio Visual medium should be used as a training aid and not a trainers aid.

Now what is the difference? There is a tendency of trainers to heavily rely on power point slides either created by themselves, borrowed from someone or downloaded from the internet. Without any preparation they come and present these programmes. They run the powerpoint slides and just read the text from the screen, and give a translation of each word (as if the one’s listening are language illiterate). Just in case there is no power supply, they feel stalled. They are unable to proceed further, because all the preparation is only in the PPT slides and not in the mind. Such unprepared trainers face embarassing situations, specifically when they have a questioning person among the audience. They are unable to give the participant a satisfying answer. This is the reason, Corporate training sounds so boring in the present context and people have developed a aversion to it. Infact, training could be made very interesting by right usage of audio-visuals. There is a saying which says, ‘a picture can say a 100 words’. The trainer should take this clue. The picture or audio visual used should aid the training process and not serve as an aid to the trainer, himself.

Teachers and Trainers, please be aware that in this internet age, knowledge is in abundance. Every piece of information you provide is already available on Wikepedia or Encarta or Youtube. What should really matter is how well you are able to present the available knowledge, which is your valuable skill.

Happy Reading,

D.Senthil Kannan

Article dated July 2011

Say “NO” to Plastic Bags

Does this sight, disturb you? As you open the gate of your home to go out, you will probably step over used plastic bags, empty biscuit wrappers or even empty pan masala pouches. All over the street, in the drains and on the pavements there are discarded plastic packets and bottles, making the whole place filthy.  Is it not? If yes, this message is a call for action.

The use of plastic seems to have grown to alarming proportions and seems to keep growing. There is a need to put an end to it, as it is a major threat for our environment. First let us try to find out why plastic is an environmental hazard .

·         Polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, and polystyrene are the composition base in the manufacture of plastics and these materials are not bio-degradable in nature.

·         Over 4 trillion plastic bags are manufactured each year, of which hardly,  1%  is recycled

• It takes 1000 years for polyethylene bags to break down.
• As polyethylene breaks down, toxic substances leach into the soil and enter the food chain.
• Plastic bags are carried by the wind into forests, ponds, rivers, and lakes
• More than 1 million birds and I lakh marine mammals perish each year by either eating plastic waste or becoming trapped in it. These animals suffer a painful death, the plastic wraps around their intestines or they choke to death.
• Plastic waste in India is about 4.5 million tons a year. The average human in India uses 3 kg of plastic per person per year.

Countries all over the world are slowly becoming aware of the threat plastic bags present to our world. Many have enacted laws aimed to decrease the use of plastic bags, while others have, or are, planning to impose taxes on the use of plastic bags.

A ban on plastic may be the right answer.  Take for example, a place like Ooty. Earlier, owing to tourist crowd there was enormous amount of plastic waste which was spoiling the beauty of this nice hill station. Today, they have a very strict ban on plastic and the results are clearly obvious. Ooty has stylish-looking newspaper bags in which your tea, chocolates and spices will be handed over. These forward thinking, socially conscious corporations should be commended, but the reality is, we do not have to wait for such laws to be enforced. If each one of us make a commitment, and take responsibility for this pollution which threatens to overwhelm the city, we can make a change.

There is one simple action we can all take that will have an enormous impact on the health of our planet and its inhabitants. The next time you shop, don't forget to carry your own shopping bag. If everyone did this, one of the most lethal polluters created by man would be removed from circulation. Carry a shopping bag like we did in the old days or put a basket into the dickey of your car into which you can fill a whole shopping cart. We can lessen our environmental footprint by minimizing our use of plastic shopping bags.  If we do so, our world will become a cleaner, safer place for all living things.

If each of us cut back on our consumption of plastic responsibly, there will be much less floating around the garbage dumps in the city. It might take a little planning and a little more time to say no to plastic bags, but by putting life ahead of inconvenience, each and everyone of us can make a difference to the health of our planet and to all of those living things that have no choice but to live or to die because of the decisions we make.

On this ENVIRONMENT DAY, let us take a vow to curtail the usage of plasic bags and make the city we live in, a better a place.

Happy Reading,

D.Senthil Kannan

Article dated June 2011

Corruption Free India, Not a Distant Dream

I am some one who skims the daily newspaper in less than 10minutes, just browsing the headlines. However, with my limited reading and by real time observation, I could sense a positive transformation happening in our country. Though India has made rapid strides in the areas of industrialisation and service sector, there has been one area of concern, which every Indian has been unhappy about. Yes, it is the governance. Well, all the while a common man has felt that he had no say in what is going on, excepting for once when he could cast his vote, to a party who he felt was better  among the bad.

Of late, the media seems to have unleashed itself with a killer instinct of the wrong doers, by bringing to question many decisions made by the Governement. The country is witnessing an unprecedent social awareness and this in turn is creating so much of questions amidst the public. This trend, I hope would help the country to get into a fast track revival mode.

There is so much of questioning going on, and it is pathetic to see the political leaders, breathless for justifiable answers. We are evidencing a classical case of “What literacy can do to a country?” It is the growing literacy that has unblinded the Indian, from accepting the state of being, to questioning the wrong. What was once a topic of discussion among an elite few, is a news that even a lay man is talking about it. No matter how much he understands it, he atleast knows that somewhere, somethig is going wrong. All this has been possible owing to the boldness of the information media, right from the newspapers, TV news channels, internet, mobile, social network like face book and twitter. News spread like a blaze so quickly not just nationwide, but world wide.

We are no more a nation by ourselvees. We are watched by the whole world. We are commented upon. Every micro issue has a macro implication.

Soon, after the Japanese episode of the Tsunami, there has been much concern on the safety issues of nuclear based power. This has given rise to many questions, in the light of wikileak cables, exposing a debate on Cash for Vote.

Mr.Julian Assange, Founder of Wikileaks is undoubtedly creating a sensation, by bringing to open many issues, which has brought the political leaders to shivers.

The unearthing of multiple scams has caused a tremor amidst the people. People want justice and are looking for a solution. The voice of Mr.Anna Hazare, to enact the Lokpal bill to combat corruption, has won wide support of people across the country. It looks like people, have lost trust in the existing judiciary system, which is supposed to take care of these issues. They are looking at a better alternative. There has been so much of inner cry, which is now finding a vent. Let the voices unite and get so loud, that corruption comes down on its knees.

One more noteworthy observation was the state recording a polling of 78% which is a very healthy trend. It just shows that everyone from the cross section of this society, illiterate and literate, poor and rich, rural and urban, feel a need for the voice to be heard. They are no longer willing to remain as silent spectators

With all the good things happening, I only wish the government is quick to move over its multiple operations, of its wide array of departments to the e-governance platform. E- Governance gives minimum scope for human intrusion, in the effective functioning of the systems layed.  E- Governance is the best way forward plan for this country. Just like how automation has done much good for the industry, eliminating the need for low skilled manpower, so can e-governance bring about he most sought after change, of eliminating the need for corrupt bureaucrats.

Happy Reading

D.Senthil Kannan.

Artical dated May 2011

What is in a WORD?

The language we speak is made up of words. Each word has a specific meaning and the appropriate usage of a combination of words helps us to convey a message, either orally or in writing, to others. Our thoughts become words, and our words become action.  So our words have the power to inspire someone or hurt someone. That is why it is said, “Words have so much power, that they can either make or break, a relationship.”

We cannot neglect the importance of right usage of our words, because it is not only an integral part of our communication process, but it also carries an emotional dimension.

Take for example; we generally call a person who cannot see, as a blind person a person who cannot hear as deaf, a person who cannot walk properly as lame, so on and so forth. The dictionary meaning of the word would be undoubtedly right, but on an emotional level, it sounds a little harsh.  There is a better way of saying it. You can call the person as a “physically challenged” person. The same goes for words such as “insane” or “mad”. The better word that could be used is “mentally challenged”. I am aware that by changing the word the status of the person does not change, but it gives an implication that he is one among us , who has a specific challenge to face in his life. This puts him on an equal status or may be in a priority status.

Recently there are more welcome developments on this aspect. The terminology “differently abled” has now come to replace the terminology, “physically challenged” and is widely used in Govt.offices and newspapers. When you call some one as “differently abled”, it means that, though they have a challenge or a difficulty in one aspect, they have a special ability in some other aspect, which helps them to cope up with their inadequacy, to some level.

If you would have noticed the physically challenged people closely, you would accept it is true.When I was doing my schooling, I used to visit a school of visually challenged people, as a part of the Interact Club service project, to help the inmates write letters to their relatives, as they dicate them. I noticed that they were very creative with poetry and with singing.  There is an organisation in Mumbai called the “mouth and foot painting artists” www.imfpa.co.in. Though they are physically challenged, they are differently abed in the sense that they can paint wonderful painting, using their mouth and foot, which a normal person cannot do. Their paintings are printed and sold as post cards and calendars. The money generated by the sale of these items, goes to support their life and help them live a dignified life. 

It is said, “When God closes one door he opens the other”. I have found it is true, when I relate this quote with these people, who form a minority in the world we live, but very much a part of us.

Similarly, we find the usage of words like “Orphanages” and “Oldage homes” which gives the inmates of these centres, an isolated feel. The better choices could be “Children Rehabilitation Centre” instead of Orphanages and “Retirement homes” instead of Oldage home.

It is also noteworthy, that in the recent usage of English, a child with inborn intelligence is called a “Gifted Child” and the child who has a learning difficulty is called a “Special Child”. This means a special child is one who needs special care; someone who needs extra effort on the part of the parent and teachers, to make him understand concepts that are easy for a gifted child to understand. We cannot condemn a child as a dunce or academically poor, without taking an initiative or extra effort from our side.

These words enable a change in our mindset and ultimately the way we treat them. It helps us to shift the focus from condemning someone to taking social responsibilty. Just the change of words has the magic and power to change our perception of a particular situation. So, let us be sensitive to the feelings of others and be sensible in the choice of right words. Let us choose empowering words in place of condemning words, for it is the mark of a progressive civilisation.

Happy Reading,

D.Senthil Kannan

Artical dated April 2011