Deconstructing Dyslexia

Understanding Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a type of learning disability. A person with a learning disability has trouble processing words or numbers. There are several kinds of learning disabilities; dyslexia is the term used when people have difficulty learning to read, even though they are smart enough and are motivated to learn. The word dyslexia comes from two Greek words: dys, which means abnormal or impaired, and lexis, which refers to language or words.

Dyslexia is not a disease. It's a condition that you are born with, and it often runs in families. People with dyslexia are not stupid or lazy. Most have average or above-average intelligence, and they work very hard to overcome their learning problems.

Educators have not been able to agree on what dyslexia really is. Some authorities believe that is strictly a language processing problem that involves the distinguishing of sounds of letters—this is why the struggling reader cannot remember phonics sounds to decode a word. Others believe that it is a visual/perceptual problem since these children reverse words laterally (b/d) and vertically (m/w) as well as scrambling letters (“the” = “het”) when they read and write. They are both correct.

Dyslexia is an auditory/language problem, visual/perceptual problem, and often also a visual/motor (eye/hand) problem. My 30 years of experience working with these bright, yet struggling learners has taught me that it is essentially a midline problem. Our brain is divided into two main hemispheres: the right, our “automatic” hemisphere, and the left, our “thinking” hemisphere. When children are suffering from dyslexia the processes that should have been taken over by the right hemisphere (such as eye tracking, writing, and letter identification) are still in the left brain. This means that the child has to think about the processes. The learning processes can be likened to the driving process. If you had to think about how to turn the signals and when to brake and accelerate while you were driving, it would be a very difficult procedure. While reading, recognition of letters, sight words, and letter combinations need to be retrieved from the right hemisphere where our long-term memory is stored. This is not happening with dyslexics.

You can suspect dyslexia in your child if all three of these processing areas are impacted and your child is past the first grade. If your child has only a minor problem in the areas it can be considered a learning glitch. If the problem presents itself more frequently and your child is older, it would be considered a dysfunction. If the symptoms are much more frequent, your child is above first grade, and two years behind in reading or writing, it would be considered dyslexia. The degree of the problem and age of the child are major considerations in the determination of dyslexia. Many times these children are not reading or reading at least two years behind grade level. They write almost no sentences from memory since their right, visual hemisphere is not storing words efficiently (copying a sentence is not considered writing). Transposing numbers (19/91) is not considered dyslexia. When a child reverses letters or numbers, even if only once in a while, you know that there is stress in the writing system—the child has to think about the direction of the letters rather than the content of the writing. I always take reversals (reading and writing) seriously past the first grade. One way to eliminate them is with Brain Integration Therapy exercises.

 
The following items should provide useful guidelines for teachers and parents to follow and support:

In the class:

• Of value to all children in the class is an outline of what is going to be taught in the lesson, ending the lesson with a resume of what has been taught. In this way information is more likely to go from short term memory to long term memory.
• When homework is set, it is important to check that the child correctly writes down exactly what is required. Try to ensure that the appropriate worksheets and books are with the child to take home.
• In the front of the pupils' homework book get them to write down the telephone numbers of a couple of friends. Then, if there is any doubt over homework, they can ring up and check, rather than worry or spend time doing the wrong work.
• Make sure that messages and day to day classroom activities are written down, and never sent verbally. i.e. music, P. E. swimming etc.
• Make a daily check list for the pupil to refer to each evening. Encourage a daily routine to help develop the child's own self-reliance and responsibilities.
• Encourage good organizational skills by the use of folders and dividers to keep work easily accessible and in an orderly fashion.
• Break tasks down into small easily remembered pieces of information.
• If visual memory is poor, copying must be kept to a minimum. Notes or handouts are far more useful.
• Seat the child fairly near the class teacher so that the teacher is available to help if necessary, or he can be supported by a well-motivated and sympathetic classmate.

Copying from the blackboard:

• Use different colour chalks for each line if there is a lot of written information on the board, or underline every second line with a different coloured chalk.
• Ensure that the writing is well spaced.
• Leave the writing on the blackboard long enough to ensure the child doesn't rush, or that the work is not erased from the board before the child has finished copying.

Reading:

• A structured reading scheme that involves repetition and introduces new words slowly is extremely important. This allows the child to develop confidence and self esteem when reading.
• Don't ask pupils to read a book at a level beyond their current skills, this will instantly demotivate them. Motivation is far better when demands are not too high, and the child can actually enjoy the book. If he has to labour over every word he will forget the meaning of what he is reading.
• Save the dyslexic child the ordeal of having to 'read aloud in class'. Reserve this for a quiet time with the class teacher. Alternatively, perhaps give the child advanced time to read pre-selected reading material, to be practiced at home the day before. This will help ensure that the child is seen to be able to read out loud, along with other children
• Real books should also be available for paired reading with an adult, which will often generate enthusiasm for books. Story tapes can be of great benefit for the enjoyment and enhancement of vocabulary. No child should be denied the pleasure of gaining access to the meaning of print even if he cannot decode it fully.
• Remember reading should be fun.

Spelling:

• Many of the normal classroom techniques used to teach spellings do not help the dyslexic child. All pupils in the class can benefit from structured and systematic exposure to rules and patterns that underpin a language.
• Spelling rules can be given to the whole class. Words for class spelling tests are often topic based rather than grouped for structure. If there are one or two dyslexics in the class, a short list of structure-based words for their weekly spelling test, will be far more helpful than random words. Three or four irregular words can be included each week, eventually this should be seen to improve their free-writing skills.
• All children should be encouraged to proof read, which can be useful for initial correction of spellings. Dyslexics seem to be unable to correct their spellings spontaneously as they write, but they can be trained to look out for errors that are particular to them.
• Remember, poor spelling is not an indication of low intelligence.

Maths:

• Maths has its own language, and this can be the root of many problems. Whilst some dyslexic students are good at maths, it has been estimated that around 90% of dyslexic children have problems in at least some areas of maths. General mathematical terminology words need to be clearly understood before they can be used in calculations, e.g. add, plus, sum of, increase and total, all describe a single mathematical process. Other related difficulties could be with visual/perceptual skills, directional confusion, sequencing, word skills and memory. Dyslexic students may have special difficulties with aspects of maths that require many steps or place a heavy load on the short-term memory, e.g. long division or algebra.
• The value of learning the skills of estimation cannot be too strongly stressed for the dyslexic child. Use and encourage the use of estimation. The child should be taught to form the habit of checking his answers against the question when he has finished the calculation, i.e. is the answer possible, sensible or ludicrous?
• When using mental arithmetic allow the dyslexic child to jot down the key number and the appropriate mathematical sign from the question.
• Encourage pupils to verbalize and to talk their way through each step of the problem. Many children find this very helpful.
• Teach the pupil how to use the times table square and encourage him to say his workings out as he uses it.
• Encourage a dyslexic child to use a calculator. Make sure he fully understand how to use it. Ensure that he has been taught to estimate to check his calculations. This is a way of 'proof reading' what he does.
• Put key words on a card index system or on the inside cover of the pupils maths book so it can be used for reference and revision.
• Rehearse mathematical vocabulary constantly, using multi sensory/kinesthetic methods.
• Put the decimal point in red ink. It helps visual perception with the dyslexic child.

Handwriting:

• Reasons for poor handwriting at any age can be poor motor control, tension, badly formed letters, speed etc. A cursive joined style is most helpful to children with dyslexic problems. Encourage the children to study their writing and be self-critical. Get them to decide for themselves where faults lie and what improvements can be made, so that no resentment is built up at yet another person complaining about their written work.
• Discuss the advantages of good handwriting and the goals to be achieved with the class. Analyze common faults in writing, by writing a few well chosen words on the board for class comment.
• Make sure a small reference chart is available to serve as a constant reminder for the cursive script in upper and lower case.
• If handwriting practice is needed it is essential to use words that present no problem to the dyslexic child in terms of meaning or spelling.
• Improvement in handwriting skills can improve self confidence, which in turn reflects favorably throughout a pupil's work.

Marking of work:

• Credit for effort as well as achievement are both essential. This gives the pupil a better chance of getting a balanced mark. Creative writing should be marked on context.
• Spelling mistakes pinpointed should be those appropriate to the child's level of spelling. Marking should be done in pencil and have positive comments.
• Try not to use red pens to mark the dyslexic child's work. There's nothing more disheartening for the child than to have work returned covered in red ink, when they've inevitably tried harder than their peers to produce the work.
• Only ask a pupil to rewrite a piece of work that is going to be displayed. Rewriting pages for no reason at all is soul destroying as usually much effort will have already been put into the original piece of work.

Homework:

• By the end of a school day a dyslexic child is generally more tired than his peers because everything requires more thought, tasks take longer and nothing comes easily. More errors are likely to be made. Only set homework that will be of real benefit to the child.
• In allocating homework and exercises that may be a little different or less demanding, it is important to use tact. Self-esteem is rapidly undermined if a teacher is underlining the differences between those with difficulties and their peers. However, it should also be remembered that far more effort may be needed for a dyslexic child to complete the assignment than for their peers.
• Set a limit on time spent on homework, as often a dyslexic child will take a lot longer to produce the same work that another child with good literacy skills may produce easily.

Integration:

• A dyslexic child's ability to write down thoughts and ideas will be quite different from the level of information the child can give verbally. For successful integration, the pupil must be able to demonstrate to the teacher that he knows the information and where he is in each subject. Be prepared to accept verbal descriptions as an alternative to written descriptions if appropriate.
  
  Alternative ways of recording should be looked at, such as :
  • The use of computers for word processing.
  • Audio tapes for recording lessons that can then be written up at a later stage.
  • Written record of the pupil's verbal account, or voice activated software can be used.
• More time should be allocated for completion of work because of the extra time a dyslexic child needs for reading, planning, rewriting and proofreading their work.
• For a dyslexic child the feeling of being 'different' can be acute when faced with the obvious and very important need of 'specialist' help for his literacy and possibly mathematical skills. Some specialist methods can be incorporated into the classroom so all children can benefit from them, thus reducing the feeling of 'difference'.

Right to Learn the best way to go: MIT prof

The fear among educationists over how private tuitions are deteriorating the standard of education in the state just came true with the Annual Status Education report of 2012 pointing that nearly 73% students in Bengal take recourse to tuitions while less than a quarter of them (23.3%) in rural areas countrywide take tuitions to supplement what is taught in schools.

"The dependence on tuitions stems from the fact that schools focus on completing the syllabi instead of giving attention to students. Most of the teachers are not concerned about what the students are learning," said Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee, Ford Foundation International professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the director of Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab.

Speaking at an interactive session organized by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Banerjee on Monday argued in favour of a Right to Learn instead of the Right to Education (RTE) as the latter had hijacked all other issues in the education sphere and led to decline in teaching standards. While 50% students in Class III could read Class-I level texts in schools, just over 40% were able to do so in 2012. In mathematics, it was worse. While 40% Class III students could do subtraction in 2009, around 25% students could manage to do it in 2012.

"Prior to 2009, the education level was flat. But there has been a perceptible decline after the RTE came into force. While it could be coincidental, replacing examination till Class XII with continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) hasn't helped. The teaching process becomes meaningless without some way to monitor learning. CCE takes away the accountability of the teachers," the professor reasoned.

The study also revealed that over 60% of students who took tuitions could read as well as do mathematics, pointing to the lacunae in school education.

"That there is no mention of 'learning' in RTE is a pointer to what is wrong with the legislation. In RTE, there is a lot of emphasis on teacher-student ratio, teacher salary and physical infrastructure. Studies have shown no correlation between these factors and improvement in learning. On the other hand, it may force many schools to shut down as they cannot afford high salaries or huge infrastructure," he said.

Also, vernacular medium schools in rural areas seemed to deliver higher quality of education at lower cost per pupil. "A popular notion that private schools, particularly English medium, offer better education was proved wrong in the study. Private schools only deliver small gains. In test score results, there is little difference between public and private schools," Banerjee said.

West Bengal Human Rights Commission chairman Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly, who was the chief guest at the interaction, was scathing of the government's attempt to withdraw itself from education and pass it on to private sector. "Look at the government schools. Many are on the verge of closure as everyone runs to privately operated English medium schools. Education is the safest business. Today you have AC classrooms, AC buses and inordinately high fees. Private education has taken away access to education from a large section of the population," Justice Ganguly said.

Terming it a deliberate ploy by the state to encourage the spawning of a society that was not literate, and hence, unable to raise its voice and protest against injustice, Ganguly said private education was being deliberately pumped into the sector to make it expensive and inaccessible. "The results are for all to see: there is no discipline in schools, there is mass copying and teachers are being assaulted by students. The withering away of the state from education pains me everyday," he said.

India needs to redefine education strategy: President

The time has come to "redefine" the way education is imparted in India as it is "simply unacceptable" that no Indian university finds a place amongst top global institutions, President Pranab Mukherjee said on Tuesday.

Addressing the 90th Convocation of Delhi University, Mukherjee also stressed on the need for enhancing enrolments and improvising modules that can enable better learning and bringing higher education closer to remote corners of the country to remove imbalances.

"The education sector is today confronted by problems relating to both quantity and quality...If we are to redefine the way education is imparted by our educational institutions, the time is now," Mukherjee said.

According to an international ranking of universities, he said, no Indian varsity finds a place amongst the global top 200.

"This you would agree, is simply unacceptable. We must develop our universities into global leaders, and for that, the best practices in other countries should be carefully studied and adopted with necessary changes to suit our conditions," he said.

There is now at least one Central University in every state but the question that one should ask is whether we are satisfied with the progress that we are making in the educational sector.

"An honest answer would reveal that we have miles and miles to go before we can say that we have arrived," he said.

Noting that the education sector is confronted by problems relating to both quantity and quality, he said it is "disheartening" that many places in the country do not have a higher educational institution that are within the practical reach of aspiring students.

On the brain-drain issue, Mukherjee was of the view that our systems were not "conducive to retaining talents", and hence, lose many of them to organisations within and outside the country.

In the convocation, 400 students were awarded doctoral, 6,500 post graduate and 65,000 graduate degrees.

This school teaches students how to fail

Schools are stepping stones to success. But this school teaches you to fail in order to succeed in life.

This may come as a surprise for many. But in this school, many high scoring students who join class XI are often made to face failure. "Students are taught to accept failure and then they are taught how to succeed. Our school's philosophy is that failure is part of success and students must learn to accept both as part of life," said Mohan Kumar, principal, senior secondary, The School of the Good Shepherd, Thiruvananthapuram.

"They score high marks and have never seen failure. We have many students who can't accept failure, rejection or defeat. In most cases, even parents find it difficult to accept a situation when their child scores less, though they are not really bothered about how little they gain in terms of knowledge", added Kumar.

To test the student's true potential and knowledge, the school sets a question paper focusing on the prescribed textbooks. Not a single question is taken from the previous years' question papers. "Often students who have grown up reading reference books and tuition material find it difficult to answer until they read the textbook thoroughly. Due to this, initially lots of students fail," said Kumar.

According to the school authorities, the textbooks prepared by NCERT is complete and a student who reads, grasps and understands the content in the textbooks can not only score high marks in the Board exams but easily clear entrance exams for medicine and engineering without any extra coaching. So the school asks students to reading their textbooks thoroughly from standard VIII.

"Preparing for competitive exams is not different from what you learn in the Board exams. Time and again it has been proved that 90% of the questions asked in competitive exams are from textbooks," said Kumar. However, to achieve this each student has to strictly follow the timetable and revise whatever they learn in the class within 24 hours.

The school has a master-timetable from Monday to Saturday for senior students, according to which the students should sleep for seven hours, watch TV or read newspaper for an hour, take care of personal matters within two hours, attend seven hours of school and study from the textbooks for eight hours.

"We also encourage the students to scribble on the textbooks itself so that they don't feel the need to refer to any other book or material," added Kumar.

TIPS to beat EXAM Stress

Sleep well. A good sleep of six to seven hours will consolidate memory and will enhance it automatically

Proper diet and workout on a daily basis can work wonders. A balanced diet is essential

Get rid of anxiety and frustration

Meditation is a sure-shot way to improve concentration levels and thus memory

Get outdoors. Students must have at least 15 minutes of outdoor activity even during exams. It helps relax

If stress really gets to you, talk to your parents or teachers.

Never forget that there is life after exams.

Exam blues are here

It's that time of the year when stress levels are heightened in families with school-going kids. Stress during exams is common. But the key is to see that it does not spiral out of control. Students preparing for SSLC and PU exams have started consulting psychiatrists and counsellors unable to cope with the stress. Sleeplessness, headaches, anxiety and poor memory are some of the symptoms associated with exam stress students as final examinations near. To beat the stress, many students in this education hub in the state, have started approaching psychiatrists here. The practice of students consulting psychiatrists on the eve of examinations has increased over the years in this region.

Increasing pressure to score good marks in exams, parental and peer pressure to excel has increased stress levels among students, says Anil Kakunje, associate professor in psychiatry, Yenepoya Medical College. Anil, also the secretary of Mangalore Psychiatrists Society, says five years ago on an average around two students would approach him between January and March, the exam time. "But for the past few years, I have been counselling at least six students every day, during January-March," he adds. Most students today, he explains, are unable to concentrate on studies due to mobiles, computers and their obsession with social networking sites,

There are nearly around 30 psychiatrists in the city. PUC and SSLC students are so much involved in preparing for exams and many a times they are not seen out on play grounds, like undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Children today don't have time for extracurricular activities which decreases stress levels tremendously, said Dr Safeek AT, professor in psychiatrics of Father Muller Medical College.

On Monday, Dr KS Madhava Rao, a psychiatrist, got a call informing him of a II PU science student attempting suicide unable to cope with exam pressure. Madhava, also the president of Karnataka State Psychiatrists Association, said that the student had consumed tablets in a bid to end her life.

He says most PU students who approach him are from science stream. "Parents fail to gauge the aptitude of their children. The pressure to perform well weighs heavily on them. During counselling many science students who are depressed tell me that they will not take the exams. The next year, they will shift to arts or commerce," he adds.

During exam period, Rao has at least three students who consult him every week. The rest of the year, he sees just about two students a month.

Psychiatrists have another piece of advice for troubled students. Consult them at the earliest. Don't leave it for the nth hour. "Many students approach us just a few days prior to the exams," says Dr Satheesh Rao, Department of Psychiatry, KS Hegde Medical Academy. "We provide medication to them as they come very late. It's not easy to cure their disorders within a short period of time. If students come earlier, instead of medication, we can do psychotherapy and counselling," he explains.

Shrinivasa Bhat, another psychiatrist, says his clients approach him to enhance their memory and concentration. "Most students, who consult me are academically good. They want to improve their memory. But most students suffer from insomnia and headaches during exam," he adds.

One in ten students visits school medical room every month

Schools are more than just temples of learning. They are also an overactive arena for both physical and mental injuries. A unique attempt to map how injurious schools and their grounds can be showed that every month, almost one in 10 students of a suburban co-educational school made a trip to the medical room.

They were seeking attention for visible wounds (cuts, bruises, sprains) and not-so-obvious issues such as headaches or nausea, found a five-month survey of the 7,000-plus students of the school. "One in 10 is a big number," said Dr Vijay Shetty, an orthopedic surgeon with L H Hiranandani Hospital, Powai, who conducted the survey. "It shows there is an aspect of childhood we are not looking at. We need to understand the problem of injuries at school and take steps to improve the situation."

The survey identified a most innocuous object that could be quite a pain, literally: the all-important identity card. The school recorded 13 minor injuries caused by the cards that needed medical attention among children younger than 10 years. "The survey shows we need to put more thought into our I-cards . May be, schools need to use a rubber cover or innovate with I-cards for younger children," said the doctor.

The data, being analyzed by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, shows almost 56% of the children who go to the medical room need first aid. "The remaining 44% come with complaints of abdominal pain or headache," said Shetty, adding that many of these kids, especially those who return with the same complaints, could be victims of stress.

Injuries cannot be avoided at school or any other place, said orthopedic surgeon Sanjay Agarwala from Hinduja Hospital, but society can try to minimize them at schools. The US has an elaborate programme to do so. The US National SAFE KIDS Campaign has found that 25% of the 14 million unintentional injuries to children under 14 occur at school. "Annually, one in 14 students suffers a medically attended or temporarily disabling injury at school... studies indicate school-age children are nine times more likely to sustain an unintentional injury than be the victim of an intentional injury while at school," said US government data.

Dr Agarwala believes schools could make a beginning at the planning stage by taking away sharp edges in classrooms . "Children, as a function of their age and immaturity, will get injured, but furniture with rounded edges would help. Schools could also cut down on injuries in sports if they invested in protective gear,'' he said.

A senior doctor pointed out that Mumbai's schools with tiny playgrounds and narrow corridors are a hotbed for injuries. "Children will run wildly as is their nature. Yet, in Mumbai , school administration usually focuses on having more buildings, often at the cost of grounds," he said.

Physical injuries are not the only aspect that needs attention. The survey shows that 44% of the 3,285 visits to the medical room pertained to non-so-obvious complaints like abdominal cramps and headaches. "Other most common medical problems for which students sought medical attention were headache and abdominal pain. These are often signs of stress," said Dr Shetty.

Psychiatrist Harish Shetty concurred. "Medical rooms are neutral rooms in schools. There is no fear or anxiety of meeting a teacher there. They want to miss a period because they haven't studied or they are worried about their parents' reaction to their marks in class tests.''

Revolutionising trends in Indian system of education

The coming decade will see a 'phenomenal evolution in the school education landscape', say experts. While some opine that higher education needs to be defined by quality, others say that technology will further percolate into classrooms.

Syed Sultan Ahmed, Managing Director of Edumedia India Pvt Ltd, said, "One clear area of evolution I see for schools will be a shift of focus from 'marks based' academic curriculum to 'life based' overall development. Schools talk a lot about it these days but do very little. In the coming years, colleges and universities will start enrolling students on the basis of their overall development and not just grades. This will change the obsession of schools towards exams and marks".

Ahmed opined that, schools in general care very little about standards and quality. "In the coming years, with increasing competition and expectations from parents, they will be forced to deliver better quality education at competitive fees," he added.

Ahmed also observed that, at present there is a huge disconnect between what children study and what the industry and the world require from them. "In the future, there will be a larger say of the industry in the curriculum that schools teach. Several skill based learning modules will be introduced by schools, making education a lot more relevant to the world. Creativity and innovation will be one of the most priced qualities in the future, and schools will have to gear up to create thinking individuals with a capacity to make sense of the abundant information that they are exposed to," he said.

The biggest educational challenge in India, is the failure of the government to provide good quality primary and secondary education through government schools, he said. "Privatization of government schools through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model, seems like a possibility in the coming years. India’s dream of becoming a developed nation, depends a lot on its school education," he said.

He added that another trend that seems like a real possibility, is personalised distance learning, enabled by technology and home schooling.

According to K S Badarinarayan, principal of MVJ College of Engineering, the education sector is something that is constantly evolving. By 2020, education will be more or less virtual in nature. "What we have right now, is a classroom culture. But, the growing presence of internet means that students in Bangalore will be able to choose subjects and courses from across the world. Imagine being able to take one course from America and another from Europe," he said.

However, the decline of classroom culture can also have its set of disadvantages. Nevertheless, if employed the right way, expertise from across the world can be mobilised. "I also think that, the future will have students being more competitive and creative. The education sector should also ensure that students are industry ready. Right now, only 25% of all students graduating from engineering colleges are really employable. What happens to the rest? By 2020, hopefully colleges will be able to provide multi-skill development for its students, like technical skills and soft skills put together," he said.

Anitha Kurup, a professor at School of Social Sciences and anchor of the education programme at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), felt that the primary education in the country has grown tremendously in the past decade, which means the higher education has to grow to meet the needs of the primary education. "What the higher education needs to do in the next few years, is to define itself by quality. We need to look at the kind of skills that need to be developed, and the kind of courses you provide to the students. We also need to learn from other countries that have expanded their higher education and gain lessons from their experiences," she said.

There is a need for giving importance to basic sciences, socials science and humanities. In her opinion, the reason these fields are suffering right now as opposed to engineering and professional courses, is because these courses are not linked to the kind of job options people are looking for. "Ultimately, private players will be have a big role in the growth of higher education.

We need to work out models that are feasible. The government should find a way to engage with the private players, without completely withdrawing, to realise the kind of growth we are looking for," she added.

Collaboration, key to change

Strong collaborations are often the source of best ideas, but can they actually inspire effective and long-term innovations in education ? With this in mind, the fourth edition of the World Innovation Summit for Education 2012 (WISE) brought together more than 1,000 academic , corporate, political and social leaders from over 100 countries at the Qatar National Convention Centre in Doha to explore the theme, 'Collaborating for Change.'

How can the world, through newage education, address the complexities and interrelated challenges facing the world today? What are the creative solutions to access, financing and teaching? How do we improve strategies to share success and enhance institutional processes? These and several other questions were discussed and deliberated upon by participants during the three-day summit (November 13-15).

His Excellency Abdulla bin Ali Al-Thani , chairman of WISE, in his welcome address said, "WISE is an ideal platform for multi-sectoral collaboration in building the future of education . We have to consider how education can be re-shaped to meet the major challenges of modern life, against the backdrop of globalisation, and despite stark inequalities among and within societies."

According to Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, chairperson, Qatar Foundation, organisers of the summit , WISE, it is through education that a collective mind of communities is formed that helps in building a future , which is innovative.

The summit offered interactive discussions with speakers, experts and members from the WISE community. Attendees got an opportunity to collaborate , interact and share best practices during the several plenary sessions and debates. Also, some of the other sessions focused on innovations and projects, along with workshops to facilitate collaboration on specific issues.

Education must be more goal-oriented

What do Indian parents want? Indian parents want their children to get a ‘good’ education. Given their resources and their understanding of education, they look for the best school their money can buy. They send their children to tuition or coaching classes and they buy other school materials.

The assumption is that ‘more is better’ — more years of schooling, more supplemental inputs into schooling and more expenditure. For most parents, whether rural or urban, high income or low income, ‘success’ means doing well in exams. Exam performance is the only way to get to the next stage, whether it is to further education or into the workplace.

What does the government want? The Right to Education law requires government to ensure that every school in the country has a specified set of inputs and processes.

Here the belief is that once these are in place, ‘education’ will be guaranteed. Underlying the government’s push to provide inputs is the assumption that more is better but appropriate number of qualified teachers, classrooms, days of teaching are needed. Going by what is stated in the RTE document, ‘success’ means that all schools have all the mandated inputs and processes, all children in India in the age group 6 to 14 are enrolled in school and all children complete eight years of schooling.

What does the evidence say? Data from all sources in India point to enrollment levels that are well above 96%. Putting both centre and state together, expenditures on elementary education in India have risen from Rs. 62,000 crores in 2006-7 to an estimated figure of Rs. 112,000 crores in 2010-11.

While there are still input gaps, the number of teachers and basic facilities is rising consistently each year.

What is stuck is what children are learning in school. Regardless of what you feel about learning outcome measurements done by Assessment Survey Evaluation Research (ASER) or by Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the evidence points to the fact that the value added for every year spent in school in India, is low and unchanging.

ASER uses basic reading and arithmetic tasks for assessment; the same set of tasks are given to all surveyed children from age 5 to 16. The exercise is carried out in every rural district in India every year.

While there could be discussion on the measures and methods, the fact remains that without basic reading, and arithmetic skills, children will not go far in school or in life. PISA is a more sophisticated international effort which measures what 15 year-olds can do. Again, there can be debate on how or what PISA does but the message from both exercises (as well as from any recent empirical evidence on student outcomes in India) is clear.

There is a crisis. The crisis is about the capabilities that every child in India should have by the time she or he finishes each stage of schooling. This crisis cannot be tackled simply by believing that more is better or proceeding as if it is business as usual. Concrete, clear, new pathways connecting inputs and processes to outcomes have to be built.

These pathways must be understood and must be implementable by schools, parents and teachers.

Clarity is key
Both in policy and in practice, our education system needs at least three fundamental and urgent shifts. First, capabilities and learning goals need to be articulated for each stage of the education system. These goals need to be clearly stated and be understood by ordinary people. Goals need to be such that most children can achieve them at each stage.

Clear articulation of goals will help everyone to understand that simply knowing textbook content or doing well in exams is not the objective of the education system. Parents and communities must understand what the school system is supposed to achieve. This understanding can lead to local accountability and also to support for schools.

Second, all elements in the school system need to be aligned in both design and implementation to maximise the possibility of reaching the goals.

These elements include appropriate allocation of funds, teacher preparation, curriculum, textbooks, methods of teaching, materials, organisation of schools and monitoring. A continuous system of field support and review will allow refinements and changes to be made to figure out what works.

Third, in a country with a weak culture and appetite for measurement, simple methods have to be used on scale to gauge the progress being made every year. Such measurements need to be carried out by both the government and citizens.

The measurements should help school systems internally to refine and review their procedures and enable parents to pressurise schools to do better.

Measurement also means engagement — in understanding the situation and figuring out what to do next.

India has almost reached universal enrollment. This is an impressive achievement. This happened because everyone understood the goal. Policymakers, planners, practitioners and parents all understood what had to be done: get every child in school. To have every child in school and learning well, we need a similar clarity, priority and alignment for a new set of goals and figure out new effective pathways for achieving them soon.

Draft of ECCE policy gives primacy to early childhood learning

The Centre has batted for evolving a national policy aimed at promoting optimal development and active learning capacity of all children below the age of six years in the country.

The draft of the proposed Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Policy came up for discussion here at a gathering of eminent child experts, policy makers, senior government officials from Child Development and Education departments and representatives from non-government sector.

Addressing the gathering, Woman and Child Development minister Krishna Tirath said the major planks of the draft policy are universal access, equity and quality and strengthening capacity building.

She emphasised that the provisions of the policy will be governed by a strong quality framework.

The policy seeks to universalise the provisions of ECCE for all children mainly through Integrated Child Development Services, which has a network in all nooks and corners of the country.

Special plans will be developed for the most marginalised and vulnerable groups besides repositioning of anganwadi centre (AWC) as a vibrant child-friendly centre with adequate infrastructure, financial and human resources.

The recommendations of the day-long consultation included creation of a conducive environment for private sector involvement to achieve access, quality and equity, espousing an approach of convergence between policy, curriculum, training and other relevant standards and strengthening of institutional capacity building.

It also called for closely working with the Human Resource Development Ministry to address the specific problems of the disabled and linking of early childhood education with Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

Re-examination for '08-09 B Ed students

The department of higher education (DHE) is mulling to conduct examination for the B Ed students of session 2008 and 2009 whose admission process had come under dispute due to recognition status of colleges. Only those students, who were allotted counselling date and time, will be allowed to take the exam.

The decision was made in a meeting of DHE officials with the registrars in the state capital on Tuesday. "We had a meeting and we have decided to conduct examination for candidates who were called for counselling. Dates will be announced once we get a written consent from the government," R D Musalgaonkar, registrar, Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, said.

The admission process had run into dispute when DHE had stopped the process due to controversies related to recognition of B Ed colleges. Following the DHE action, the colleges had moved court for its opinion as they had started taking admission in colleges. The court had constituted a team to find out the status of counselling in colleges. The team had found that few colleges had started taking admission. The court had then directed to conduct re-examination of the aspirants and declare the results. Relating to it a meeting was held on Tuesday, which decided to conduct examination for those students who had been called for counselling.

Class 12 boards to have questions on values in 2013

Don't be surprised next year if during your Class XI final and XII board exams you find a question which does not strictly adhere to the subject. The Central Board of Secondary Education has decided to introduce 'value-based questions' of three to five marks in all the major subjects. Value-based questions will be introduced in 15 subjects.

'Aditya participated in a group discussion in his school on the ill effects of tobacco on human health. In the evening he goes with his family for dinner and insists on sitting in the 'non-smoking area' to which his father (who is a heavy smoker) objects . In this situation, who wins your support — Aditya's concern for health and environment, or his father's objection? Justify giving two reasons. Also, suggest any three effective propaganda campaigns for anti-tobacco awareness' . The aforementioned lines is actually a question sample that a biology student of Class XII can expect next year.

The chairman of CBSE, Vineet Joshi, said, "CBSE has decided to follow an interdisciplinary approach in value education where values are intermingled with the content of all the major subjects in Classes XI and XII . The Board has also decided to add 5% weightage in the major subjects (English, Hindi, mathematics, biology , physics, chemistry, accountancy , history, geography , business studies, entrepreneurship and economics ) in Classes XI and XII through questions which will be integrated with the content of the subject and analysed on the basis of the values it reflects."

The questions will be for five marks in a paper of 100 marks and three to four marks in a question paper of 70-90 marks, which will "come into effect from next year" .

According to the document announcing the introduction of the value-based questions, it has been widely felt that the existing educational ecosystem needs to be further strengthened to deliver values enshrined in the Constitution of India. The curricula cutting across all subjects need to articulate values in explicit terms and the assessment schemes, but at the same time must reciprocate by assigning weightage to value-based items.

Posts for SC and STs lie vacant in central universities

Even as the government is pushing for affirmative action for the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and the Scheduled Tribes (STs) in the field of education, most of the posts reserved for teachers from these categories are lying vacant in 40 central universities across the country.

Figures from the ministry of human resource development (HRD) show that less than a third (29 per cent) of the total sanctioned posts for SCs have been filled in 40 central universities. Of the total of 2,521 sanctioned SC posts, only 742 have been filled. For STs, out of 1,265 sanctioned posts, only 331 (26 per cent) have been filled.

Take the case of Delhi University. It has 255 posts for SCs and 128 for STs, but appointments have been made for only 44 SC and 14 ST seats.

In Jawaharlal Nehru University, 109 posts have been sanctioned for SCs and 62 for STs. The university has, however, hired only 24 SC and 46 ST teachers for these posts.

In Jamia Millia Islamia, only 58 of the 124 sanctioned posts for SCs have been filled. For STs, the university has 62 sanctioned posts, of which only 17 have been filled.

The situation is worse in the Aligarh Muslim University. It has only one SC teacher, and not a single ST teacher - against the sanctioned number of 283 for SC and 142 for STs.

The Indira Gandhi National Open University has filled up only 28 of the 67 sanctioned posts for SCs and 13 of the 33 posts for STs.

The situation is however better in the central universities in Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, with the institutions filling up more than 90 percent of the vacancies for SCs and STs.

The National Commission for Scheduled Castes says the issue has been taken up several times, but nothing has happened so far.

"We have taken up this issue, but so far nothing has happened," T. Theethan, joint secretary of the commission, told IANS.

"The SCs and other such groups can be empowered only through education, but they are being discriminated against in this very field," he said.

Theethan added that a committee was being formed to fill up the vacant posts in the Banaras Hindu University (BHU).

"We have formed a committee. First we will look into the vacant posts in the BHU, and then we will look at other central as well as other universities," he said.

The HRD ministry however says sanctioning of new posts has added to the numbers.

"In view of the expansion in the 11th plan period and increase in the intake capacity of students, central universities have been sanctioned additional teaching posts," HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

A ministry official said it had written to the central universities to launch a special drive to fill the vacancies for SCs and STs.

"The HRD minister has written to the UGC (University Grants Commission) chairman to ensure filling up of the backlog vacancies," the official said.

The official said the UGC, while approving the budget for central universities for 2011-12, had directed the universities to fill up the vacant posts. This was followed by communications in January and March.

A Delhi University professor, not wanting to be named, told IANS that the posts were not getting filled because there were not enough qualified candidates.

"There are some basic qualification requirements, which we need to maintain for quality in the central universities," the professor said.

Asked if the seats could be converted to general, the HRD ministry official says "there have been such proposals, but there is a big question mark on the constitutionality of such a step. We have not taken any decision on it".

Shortage of teachers hits Std X students

Governmental mismanagement has yet again taken a crippling toll on schools in Maharashtra, reports Hemali Chhapia. Many state-aided institutions are grappling with teaching vacancies, forcing them to fall behind schedule. The disarray has affected all students but particularly of class X, who are gearing up for their first external examination.

The crisis has roots in a student census the state conducted last October in which it found lakhs of "bogus" pupils on schools' rolls. P 4

Reasoning that the survey showed many schools had surplus teachers, it stopped new appointments. Fresh hirings are used every year to fill 10,000 vacancies left behind by schoolteachers exiting the system. At the same time, it decided to take stock of additional teachers and move them to schools with a shortage. The process is a work in progress.

With no new appointments, many state-aided schools have been forced to use their existing staff to take additional lectures for no extra pay. In some schools, teachers have been urged to handle extra subjects. The worst affected have been students from higher classes.

State-wide, schools schedule their class X timetable in such a way that the syllabus gets completed by December or January, thereby giving students enough time to prepare for the board examinations. "But with insufficient teachers, the schedule is difficult to keep up with," confessed a principal of a Mumbai school.

School education director Sridhar Salunkhe insisted the state will "soon start the process of transferring surplus teachers to the schools that need them". The process was stayed because of a petition filed before the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay high court. Earlier this week, the court directed the state to present its plan of action within a month.

For schools wrestling with staff crunch, testing times may not end very soon. "The state will have to first draw up a list of surplus teachers and then assign them to the schools that need them based on qualifications. This is going to take a couple of months," admitted an official.

Aruna Galgali, principal of Poorna Pragnya High School, said the institution has been forced to cancel several classes because of lack of teachers. "I am facing a dharam sankat (moral dilemma). I feel guilty because we are not doing justice to the children. A few new teachers who have been appointed are working without a salary."

Sanjay Patil, treasurer of headmasters' association, too said several schools have cancelled classes or have asked teachers to shoulder additional workload. "I wish the government had managed this situation differently," he said.

P M Raut, president of the Mahamumbai School Teachers' Association, concluded, "Although the government wants quality education, it is not filling up teaching vacancies. How then do we provide good education?"

IIT Bombay starts training 10,000 teachers

The training programme for 10,000 teachers was inaugurated on Monday by human resource development minister Kapil Sibal at the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay.

Under the 'Talk to a Teacher' project of the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology ( NME-ICT) of his ministry, training for 10,000 engineering college teachers from across the country is conducted by leveraging broadband network and ICT tools.

The programme is being conducted through 168 remote centres across India. The lectures are delivered from IIT Bombay by professors of the institute and IIT Madras.

Through the software A-VIEW, audio-video connectivity is provided between all the centres and IIT Bombay. The course consists of lectures, live interactions and lab sessions.

"This method of synchronous education has been developed at IIT Bombay, under the leadership of D.B. Phatak. This method of education allows participation of a large number of women teachers, who normally are unable to join contact programmes at distant locations, owing to family commitments," an IIT official said.

Kapil Sibal interacted with the remote centres from Kanyakumari, Rajkot, Srinagar and Nagpur.

A representative of IIT Bombay presented an Aakash Tablet to the minister.

Unlike other tablet devices, Aakash could also be used to create computer programmes in Python, C, C++ and Scilab, he said.

Teachers’ association to approach governor over fraud in Bharathiyar University polls

The war of words between the Association of University Teachers (AUT) and vice-chancellor of Bharathiyar University C Swaminathan rose to fever pitch on Wednesday, with the AUT choosing to write to the governor claiming that the recent election to the senate search committee was fixed.

The AUT has alleged fraud in the search for the new VC to Bharathiyar University. It said that the election to the senate search committee was flawed. The allegation has serious implications as it affects the entire process undertaken to elect a new vice-chancellor for the university.

"The VC ensured that his own man was elected as the search panel member of the senate," said C Pitchandy, general secretary, AUT. However, when contacted, Swaminathan said all due democratic process was followed in the elections to the search panel of both the senate and the syndicate.

In a press release, the AUT said it will write to the governor, who is the chancellor of the university, to reorganise the election process. The allegations and counter-allegations are being made against the backdrop of the election of S Saravanakumar, owner of Cumbum College of Arts and Science, as the senate search committee member.

The election was hotly contested by the AUT, whose candidate N Chenthamarai took only 65 votes while the candidate allegedly put up by the VC won 114 votes.

The AUT argues that the senate elections were fixed to favour the VC after the syndicate elections were decided unanimously. The higher education secretary had nominated the syndicate candidate to the search panel for choosing the VC and he had been elected unopposed.

According to the AUT, Saravanakumar is too inexperienced to be the senate search committee member, but the VC sees it as a pure battle of ballots. "In a democracy, the losing party should not grumble. I don't understand what the hue and cry is about. I know both candidates - Chenthamarai and Saravanakumar - very well. How can they say only Saravanakumar will propose my name when he hasn't even done so?" asked the VC.

The AUT also accused the VC of destroying the moral fibre of the senate and mobilising voters to win a numbers game.

Tagore's texts made into pictorial editions

Three children's texts written by Rabindranath Tagore have been produced in pictorial editions in Hindi, English and Bengali by the traditional "pata chitra" painters of West Bengal.

The project "Tagore Tells and the Patua Paints" sponsored by the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT) will unveil May 31 at the Triveni Kala Sangam.

Tagore, who pioneered children's education in India created one of the most innovative alphabet and language primers, "Sahaj Paath" (Easy Lesson).

The project is a tribute to Tagore's creativity and contribution to children's literature, SAHMAT said in a release.

The poems "The Parrot's Tale (Tota-Kahini)", a tale in prose, "Birpurush (The Hero)" and "Diner Alo Nibhe Elo (Daylight is Fading)" have been composed in picture verses by 11 young "pata chitra" painters or "patua".

The "patua", a community of nomadic painters, were from Medinipore, a traditional stronghold of "pata chitra" painters in West Bengal.

The poems comment on the contemporary school education system in India and teach children the importance of being courageous and honest.

The scrolls were designed at a workshop in Kolkata between May 11 to 18. Two of the 11 "pata chitra" painters - who pictorially narrate stories in scrolls - were familiar with the works of Tagore while the rest were ignorant about his literature.

The painters created 32 art works based on three of his poems at the workshop.

And now, schools to teach about birds & bees

The internet and television are fast becoming a major source of knowledge for children. But when a wrong message goes to them, it sends a worrying signal to parents and society. Among serious studies on the computer, children are also taking a peek into the secret world of adults.

Many children have been caught watching pornography while parents thought they were surfing the net for their school projects. No wonder, schools are seriously contemplating sex education in the classroom to assuage their curiosity and to forestall occurrences of teen pregnancy and abortions.

"It's a very good idea because children are getting wrong information. So schools have to take up the responsibility. We need to handle the psychology of the child as well," said A K Singh, vice-principal, DAV Shyamli. Singh added, "It should be implemented properly. Children are at an impressionable age. The education is best imparted to them in the presence of child psychologists to make them understand better."

Lack of communication from either teachers and parents is perhaps pushing children to the cyber world to find their answers, felt experts. While teachers feel parents are teaching them the basics at home, parents feel teachers are doing the same in school. Actually, it's the duty of both. Since parents shy away from answering some of their embarrassing questions, they get more curious. And when there's no information coming from the teachers either, they become restless and click the mouse, said psychologists.

Sharmistha Kumar, who teaches accountancy and business at DAV Shyamli, said, "Sex education should start from Class IX because by that age students become mature and they can understand better. It's a basic fact of life which should be told to them." She said first the teachers need to be trained as students ask uncomfortable questions. Later on, parents can also be roped in for such sessions.

"It is also important to know how much the child should be told, and so it is best to involve the students, teachers and parents," she said. Students welcomed the idea. "Yes awareness is important. Without any hesitation we need to be told," said Sweety Pandey of DAV Shyamli. Aradhana Tiwary, from the same school, said, "We don't want details, but the fundamentals should be told so that we can learn to protect ourselves."

Upto 7-yr jail proposed for teachers committing corporal punishment

Taking a tough stand on corporal punishment and ragging, the government has proposed changes in the law that would send offenders to up to seven years in jail. The changes will be made to the Juvenile Justice Act, which is being renamed as the Child Justice (Care, Protection and Rehabilitation of Children) Act.

This is the first time the government has defined corporal punishment and ragging in the proposed changes. For corporal punishment, a jail term of up to a year is being proposed in cases of simple injury and emotional distress to the child. For subsequent offences, it would be three years. A second conviction would also mean dismissal from service.

A five-year imprisonment has been proposed if a child is grievously hurt or subjected to severe mental trauma. A repeat of such an offence would invite a seven-year term.

There have been many cases of Corporal punishment in the country. To put things in perspective, a 2009-10 survey by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights among 6,700 students in seven states saw around 99% of them confirming punishment at the hands of their teachers.

Tough measures have also been proposed to check severe ragging — up to two years’ imprisonment, a fine of Rs. 10,000 or both. Ragging by an institution’s staff would put them at the risk of dismissal and a bar on working with children in the future.

The jail terms proposed are higher than those under the Indian Penal Code.

[Source: Hindustan Times]