My schooling started in an affordable primary school, where medium of instruction was Hindi/Bengalee.  It was in 1950s that my family members decided to shift me to a good Public School so that I could be fluent in English unlike most of my siblings. Studying in a public school like St Joseph’ Academy, Dehra Dun, those days was considered prestigious as few could afford to bear the expenses. Sensing the added burden, Dad’s strong initial reluctance was swayed by persistence of my elder sister, in particular.

Being totally tongue tied with conversational English, I walked into the classroom full of complexes and apprehensions.  After admission, repeated adulatory comments of others impacted me in that I too felt elated for going to an illustrious school managed by ‘Irish Brothers’.   Although the choice increased financial burden, my dear ones were prepared to cut corners for me.     Thus started my selfish yet fortunate journey of school life!

Until Pre-senior Cambridge (equivalent of class X now), I had no understanding of anything known as ‘tuitions’, meaning ‘teaching instruction, especially when given individually or in a small group’ for a reasonable amount over and above school fees. Over the years tuition fee has been rising arbitrarily on the competitive principle of ‘demand and supply’ governed by the reputation of institutions/individuals. Pertinently, increasing number of such ‘reputed tuition centres’ are running parallel classes like schools with over 40 students in each batch. Ironically, these money spinning centers are thriving, promoted and patronized by willing parents.

Many of my classmates were taking tuitions in science subjects from a teacher, reputed more for discouraging students from taking tuitions as he did not wish to fleece parents of disinterested students.  In fact few of them were forced to discontinue as they were found wanting in their focus and efforts. Perhaps such ethical attitude of teachers has become a part of history.

I for one could not even think of going for tuitions as my Dad was unable to bear the additional burden of Rs 40/- per month, a substantial amount those days. To be honest I was more than tempted to join the tuition classes to improve my performance but financial constraint was something that I chose to accept willingly. In retrospect, not only I have no regrets I am happy that the circumstantial compulsions enabled me to be more confident and empowered in resolving difficulties on my own.

Until joining Doon Youth Center (DYC), I was unable to perceive the seriousness of the issues relating to the ubiquitous ‘tuition culture’. At DYC I was made aware of ground realities by forthright inputs from the school students interacting in a friendly and non-judgmental environment. Without awareness of such real life feed back, the question ‘Tuitions are Bane or Boon’ may sound blasphemous in a  growing ‘culture of tuitions’ and invite the wrath of parents and adults.   Therefore in all fairness, adults need to be made aware of ground realities as narrated by kids.   Thus providing opportunity to them to evaluate whether their skewed perception needs correction!

Ground Realities.

1. Affected by hormonal changes attraction for the opposite sex is normal during teenage years. Due to cultural mindsets and lack of knowledge in parenting, most parents shy away from addressing this reality of life. Bombarded by unfiltered inputs on sexuality, stormy teenage years cause a lot of confusion and frustration. Most teenagers, for want of healthy parental support flow along the ‘stream of unhealthy sexuality’.  Therefore, their emotional vulnerability index remains high. Unless teenagers are empowered, would they be able to benefit from tuitions?
2. Soon after I joined DYC in 2000 after undergoing training in counseling, the first telephone call on helpline was from a girl of grade VIII. Haltingly she narrated her struggle-“there is one boy in my tuition class. I like him a lot but he is ignoring me. What should I do?”  My conditioned response to advise her, being a novice counselor, boomeranged. I failed her miserably for which I still feel uncomfortable. The point is whether tuition culture renders most teenagers vulnerable to such episodes!
3. During Parents-Teachers meeting in one of the reputed schools, the principal advised parents not to send their daughters for tuitions as it was meeting place for boy/girl friends.
4. When students know that doubts can be clarified during tuition, will he make any genuine effort to solve any problem? Being so dependant it is likely that tuition would act as a crutch rather than support for becoming independent.
5. One can imagine the intensity of pressure on poor parents pandering to the demands of kids for tuitions. I know of the struggle one such lady, ailing from cancer but working as ayah in hospital because her husband is unfit to work.
6. Seldom do we hear of philanthropic venture into tuitions like the one in Bihar  doing yeomen service in grooming IIT aspirants from poor families.

Feedback from Students.

1. Teachers pressurize us to take tuitions threatening to deduct marks otherwise.   Students taking tuitions become teachers pet.
2. Teacher of so and so subject teaches nothing in the class but is a very good tuition teacher.
3. Tuitions are a waste of time as environment there is very distracting. If I do not want to study, no one can make me do so.
4. I go for tuitions because of parental pressure. Tuitions cause so much stress that I have stopped enjoying my childhood.
5. Tuitions are a place more for social life than studies. Those who have less freedom at home misuse this opportunity and make wrong choices. They are not in minority for sure.
6. Tuition is a lucrative business especially for those without any purpose of life and their insatiable greed for lucre.

Do I need to conclude whether ‘Tuition is Bane or Boon’?

Related posts:

1. Why Should I go to School?
2. Cycle of good health

To climb down from a self-imposed pedestal of ‘elders’, by virtue of biological age, was not very comfortable. The choice was either to hold on to that ‘cultural pedestal of elders’ to demand respect or earn it by creating a student-friendly environment. To say the least, my journey has been gratifyingly enriching and humbling. Hardly a day goes by when I am not challenged to think before responding to thought-provoking questions from students.

Contrary to general belief that teenagers are too young to think of anything other than academics, their incredible perceptive ability finds expression in a friendly and non-judgmental environment free of unsolicited advice. Consequently, students being assured of that environment at DYC, feel comfortable asking questions regarding issues having bearing on life.
One evening a class VIII student walked in to DYC and challenged me with the question ‘why should I go to school’? It was evident from his body language that he had been thinking about it for sometime. Prompted by conditioning, I was tempted to lecture him on the relevance of education to acquire knowledge, learn manners, graduate from a reputed college and settle down well in life having secured a financially sound job. Having learnt from students that they, irrespective of age, dislike advice, I decided to think of a different response. While doing so I was also guided by the teaching of another student of class XI. According to him never give perspectives to students. Instead help them to work it out without being judgmental of their perspective.
Interestingly, this poser in several forums of adults left them dumb-founded as they were too tongue-tied with conditioned learning to think of a response other than advice. Intriguingly, look of bewilderment while framing a logical response revealed their sense of helplessness. Understandably so because most us are not equipped to think ‘out of the box’.
The student, on being asked as to what made him ask that question, replied “all students in my class including girls use bad words. I do not like to do that. In the process I have no friends. And the worse is that I have started using those bad words which makes me feel angry and even worse. I am unable to concentrate on studies. Hence why should I go to school?” One may trivialize the child’s struggle thus ‘you should avoid/ignore them and focus on studies; this is a part of growing up; no other students complain why should you be so fussy; be practical’ and so forth. Will this response be helpful for an innocent teenager who is trying to learn the dynamics of life logically with a clear understanding of rights and wrongs? As adults we may gloss over this huge struggle of a teenager as a non-issue. In the process, has that child been empowered to make choices and deal with consequences, both short and long term? In other words, have we been able to respond convincingly to his question as to why should he go to school! I don’t think so!
To most of us as also the prevailing environment, schooling followed by vocational degrees in world Class Colleges signifies academic excellence and pursuit of knowledge. When an educationist like Dr Peter Mclaughlin, Head Master, Doon School says “too much emphasis on knowledge not good; A good school is not just about grades, but development of character, values, moral courage, physical strength and a sense of serving society” (Garhwal Post dated 21 Aug 09), we need to do a recheck on the validity of our perception.

World View of Few Icons.
• According To Nr Narayan Murthy, Mentor Infosys, the man whose ‘byte is better than his bark’ tells what it takes to be a good citizen: You have to put the interests of the communities above your own; education is about assuming responsibility in society, fulfilling the promise that freedom has brought to us; the first step towards being a better citizen is reaching out to the less fortunate.
• Thomas Edison never had formal education in a school. He failed around 10,000 times while working on the electric bulb;
• One may not be a super hero or a whiz kid. But nor were Walt Disney who was fired by a newspaper editor for lack of ideas; Henry Ford who was broke at the age of 40; worlds two richest men Bill Gates and Larry Ellison are college dropouts.
• Ratan Tata’s words of inspiration to students: “I would hope that you would go in to the world — whichever area you are in — first and foremost, driven by a sense of integrity. . . I would hope that you also have a sense of social responsibility, so that you give back to the people and build the country on the basis of your skills”.
• India’s best known poet and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore was an utter failure in school and an inattentive student to boot. He was home tutored. He was a genius who didn’t need the confines of a school for his education. TOI 8 May 2009.
• On Albert Einstein. He was average at best in his school years. He shunned certain classes for the mediocrity of education. His Greek grammar teacher, Joseph Degenhart, said “nothing would ever become of you. Your presence in the class destroys the respect of the students.” Disgusted by the rote teaching, he quit high school at the age of fifteen. Rest is history. Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school; Personally, I have learned the lessons of life only after I left the school; Try not to become a man of success but become a man of value.

Coming back to my dilemma of how to respond to the question “Why Should I Go to School?” another relevant aspect to consider is unless a student is emotionally healthy, will it be possible for that student to concentrate and excel in academics?
In the ultimate analysis, I need to confess my inability to give a convincing reply to the class VIII student. I am appealing to the readers for help.

Related posts:

1. A Good College Vs Inner Values
2. Cycle of good health

UNETHICAL CHOICES & CONSEQUENCES

BBC News reports dated 12 & 13 March have profiled modus-operandi of two renowned swindlers Bernard Madoff (1990 – 2009), US Financier and Ivar Kreuger (1880-1932), Swedish Businessman. Both have been clubbed together because of striking similarities in their operation and impact; ‘genius application of mind for fraud, enraged investors, phantom profits, weak auditing, and a clamour for tighter regulatory control’.

Blatant violation of laws for nearly two decades by Bernard Madoff, while enjoying enviable social status (former chairman of the Nasdaq stock market and a Wall Street figure for more than 40 years) highlights the oft-repeated statement that human beings never learn from history. Both Ivar & Bernard, though separated by more than 60 years, seem like comrade in arms in defrauding hard earned money of innocent investors.

Instances of greed for money in the corporate sector have been surfacing with alarming regularity. Flashback since 1980s brings to mind collapse of corporate giants like Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) built around a web of deceit and fraud followed by Enron, WorldCom, Xerox, Tyco, Bearing Bank, Anderson Brothers, Satyam Computers to name major ones.

World economy has nose-dived in 2008 due to the financial mismanagement of Lehman Brothers and a few more conglomerates. Despite speculations it is anyone’s guess as to when the economy would recover. Suffering has been heaped on innocents; ironically their only fault lay in reposing trust on scoundrels, whose survival depends on public money, masquerading as competent Captains of industry & Government Regulatory Agencies comprising supposedly committed public servants.

Evidently, humanity is paying a huge price globally due to unethical choices of high & mighty. Worst hit are those who have been retrenched and suffering from job insecurity. Cascading effect of it on the poor is bound to cause more social disturbances.

Excerpts of the two reports:

MADOFF ADMITS $50BN FRAUD SCHEME

BBC NEWS 12 MARCH 2009

My Comments in Italics

1. Disgraced US financier Bernard Madoff has been jailed after pleading guilty to all 11 charges surrounding an estimated $50bn (£35bn) fraud. The 70-year-old defrauded thousands of investors in a fraud he admitted had been running since the early 1990s. “I cannot adequately express how sorry I am for what I have done,” Madoff told the court (what a meaningless confession). He said that when he started the fraud, he had hoped it would only be for a limited time.

2. Madoff is said to have run a Ponzi scheme, whereby early investors were paid off with the money of new clients. He pleaded guilty to money laundering, making false statements, perjury, making a false filing to the US financial watchdog and theft from an employee benefit plan.

3. Greatest con artist probably in the history of the world. He could receive up to 150 years when he is sentenced in June.

4. Evil incarnate. A number of Madoff’s victims attended the hearing. Speaking outside the courtroom, Cynthia Friedman told the BBC Madoff was “evil incarnate”. She and her husband lost $3m with Madoff. “He has no remorse. He’s a horrible man,” she said. “He stole from charities; he’s just an awful man.”

5. Many of his victims told the court they opposed his guilty plea, because they wanted the case to go to full jury trial so they could find out exactly what he had done with the money. Yet most clapped when he was handcuffed.

6. What is a Ponzi Scheme? A fraudulent investment scheme paying investors from money paid in by other investors rather than real profits. Named after Charles Ponzi who notoriously used the technique in the United States in the 1920s‘

7. A Genius. One of Madoff”s victims, Burt Ross, a former mayor of New Jersey town Fort Lee, told the BBC he did not expect to recover a single cent of the $5m he invested.

8. Despite widespread press coverage of famous names and a wealthy elite, Mr Raymond, of law firm Broad and Cassel, said many were normal working people, including a retired couple from Atlanta. “He’s 82, she’s 78, and they are both looking for work because they have lost everything,” he said. Mr Raymond said another victim was a plumber who earned no more than $60,000 a year (how can a human being be so insensitively cruel.)

IVAR KREUGER 1920 – 1932:

THE ORIGINAL BERNARD MADOFF?

BBC NEWS 13 MAR 09

1. Swedish business genius and swindler Ivar Kreuger, had the fantastic idea of turning his family’s matchmaking industry, based in provincial Sweden, into the leading provider of loans to the shattered economies of post-war nations during the 1920s. He raised cash through a number of share and bond issues in the US, and then loaned the money to national governments in exchange for matchmaking monopolies in those countries.

2. Like Madoff he promised fantastic rates of returns to investors, as high as 25%, but the loans he provided to countries such as Germany were returning only 6% to him. Money was shuffled between dozens of subsidiaries to provide the illusion of profits, while Kreuger speculated with other people’s cash in an attempt to fill the interest rate gap. But the stock market crash of 1929 delivered a mortal blow to his speculations, and the whole house of cards came crashing down in 1932.

3. Over the period of seven years from 1922 to 1929, as share-buying and investment mania hit the US, things went well, but then disaster struck. “In October 1929 he made his massive $125m loan to Germany, just days before the stock market crash of Black Monday and Black Tuesday, and it was about that time that his troubles really began,” says Professor Partnoy. But, ironically, in 1929 at the height of the great stock market crash, confidence in his firms grew even more, as they continued to return large dividend payments, even though Kreuger’s ability to generate speculative returns was being squeezed.

4. Kreuger’s “great aversion to divulging information, especially if accurate, had kept even his most intimate acquaintances ignorant of the greatest fraud in history”.

5. Meanwhile, Kreuger’s financial methods were becoming increasingly devious. He had always sailed close to the edge of legitimacy; keeping liabilities “off balance sheet”, establishing a network of more than 200 firms that bamboozled his auditors and bankers, and inventing non-voting shares.

6. He then began Enron-style financial engineering, reporting profits when there were none, and paying his generous dividends by attracting new investment or plundering existing ones.

7. Meanwhile, Kreuger was seen as a business titan of the times, with his firms seemingly triumphing during the crash. President Herbert Hoover regularly sought his advice about the problems affecting the global economy. He was hailed on the cover of Time magazine, and was seen as a hero in countries such as France, which he had bailed out with a huge loan.

8. In March 1932 Kreuger shot himself in a hotel room in Paris, just before a meeting with bankers, at which he would have faced some extremely tricky questioning. At the time of his death his Swedish bankers estimated he was third-richest man in the world. The recriminations began once the extent of his deception became known and investors were hit by what was known as the “Kreuger Crash”.

9. Regulators were lambasted by Congress for their light-touch approach, and in the fallout a raft of new laws and regulatory bodies were created, including the Securities and Exchange Commission.

10. “A generation of people have forgotten Ivar”, says Professor Partnoy. “But if they look back they can see he was arguably the Madoff of his day. It is going to take years to get to the bottom of the Madoff case, as it did with Ivar’s empire too.”

Lessons.

A typical response could be ‘Oh! Things have degenerated beyond redemption. What can I do as an ordinary citizen? Given an opportunity may be I’ll do the same because what matters in life today are money, power & status’.

The all important question is do I need to become a part of the problem or can I be different? Fact is that either of the two choices have consequences affecting one’s own life! Kreugar committed suicide and Madoff, 72 years old, is heading for 150 years in prison.

It would be interesting to know from Madoff as to his feelings for the old couple, who having lost investment of 3m dollars, are now looking for job to survive!

Ineffective governance due to unethical attitude of functionaries at all levels be it the State/Corporate sectors or Audit Firms is, perhaps, the root cause of such blatant frauds. How to identify and induct ethical functionaries for effective governance is the challenging issue?

Related posts:

1. Is It Possible to be Ethical in an Unethical Environment?
2. Who is the real me ?

Attraction , Infatuation or Love’?

Is Boy-Girl Relationship an Issue?

1.  According to students’ feedback from single gender as well as co-ed Schools, most of them are affected by it from as early as junior classes and that the bar is getting lower.  Intensity of it continues even during college life.

2.  Essence of the issue boils down to developing a clear perspective on  attraction, infatuation & love viewed through the Prism of Values.

3.  Prism of Values: What is it? This prism helps one to understand the difference between Rights & Wrongs and develop the ability to follow the path of righteousness having objectively evaluated the consequences of choices.  It has to be self-implanted after working thru the maze of self doubts. Fact is that those without the prism in place are likely to be misguided by feelings and feel like helpless losers.

4.  Why is it an Issue?

• In this competing world of materialism, parents have very little time to interact with children to provide them emotional support. Thus most children with empty love tank remain vulnerable to peer pressure and develop immature understanding of relationship.
• Parents with conservative and traditional mind sets adopt an ostrich approach on the issue of sexuality and B-G relationship. Result, kids grow up with unhealthy attitude towards such relationship.
• In absence of credible source to clarify doubts, youth rely on unfiltered inputs from peers and media.
• Media influence (TV, internet, pornography) is so powerful that most teenagers learn to make choices without thinking of consequences be it violence, substance abuse and physical relationship. Intriguingly, they fail to realize that media never addresses negative consequences of choices.
• Warped value consensus of Money, Power & Status prevalent all around.
• With confusing inputs from elders (parents, relatives & teachers), kids grow up without a clear understanding whether it is good or bad to talk with the opposite sex?

Real Life Examples.

1.  Three class IX students were extremely worried about their performance in the ensuing annual examination. Distracted by girls and their revealing clothes, they were unable to concentrate on studies.  Was it attraction or infatuation or love?

2.  One late evening, a class VIII boy arrives at Doon Youth Center (DYC) seeking an urgent counseling session. While sitting down, he shared his ‘bhayankar’ depression.  His recent proposal was not only rejected by her, she has also snapped their friendship of 8 months.  The boy was planning to commit suicide if she did not speak to him by a certain date. Was it attraction or infatuation or love?

3.  One 17 year old girl was into relationship with a guy for few years. During this time she could sense that he was using her emotionally and financially by cooking up stories. Somehow she was unable to say NO to his frequent demands for money. Suddenly he started ignoring her. Unable to deal with her emotional struggle, she sought help at DYC. Was it attraction or infatuation or love?

4.  A class XII girl was asked to have sexual contact as a birthday gift to her boy friend. Was it attraction or infatuation or love?

Factors Affecting B/G Relationship.

1.  Clear understanding of the dynamics of boy-girl relationship needs to be worked out by each individual based on certain real life parameters having bearing on relationship. Once the factual aspects crystalise, a teenager is likely to be better equipped to deal with this crucial struggle of adolescence.  Obvious question, therefore, would be what are the factors that affect relationship?

2.  Few basic factors are:

a.   Do we respect each other? In other words do we respect perspective/choice of each other?

b.  Do we trust each other?

c.   Do we understand each other?

d.  Are we transparent in sharing feelings?

e.   Are we possessive of each other? In other words am I comfortable when my friend interacts with others irrespective of gender?

f.   Do we spend long hours in person or on telephone?

g.  Do I feel insecure when I am unable to keep contact with my partner?

h.  Am I able to disagree with my partner without hesitation?

i.    Are parents aware of our relationship?

j.    Do I feel weak while interacting with my partner?

Check List as a Ready Reckoner

By making use of the ready reckoner  it should be possible to identify the type of relationship in each case.

Conclusion.

1.  Whereas it is a natural phenomenon to feel attracted for the opposite sex, remaining distracted by it should raise alarm bells.  By inserting the prism of values in one’s thinking would enable an adolescent to manage his/her feelings to maintain a healthy relationship without getting distracted.

2.  In the existing circumstances, youth have no option but to empower themselves by raising their awareness level on issues that parents and teachers are not comfortable talking. They need to interact on such issues with someone of their choice so that they are equipped to deal with real life situations comfortably.

P.S. : A big hug and much thanks go out to Sushant who put this article together !

"This article is an original production of the Doon Youth Centre.
You may use it only for non-commercial purposes.
You may not edit the article.
The article must always be displayed as is,
wherever and whenever copied and/or used"

Related posts:

1. Was it love? Or was it the idea of being in love?
2. The Cash & Love Theory

BEYOND BOARD EXAMS:

SUCCESS IN LIFE DOESN’T HINGE ON YOUR MARKSHEET

That is how essence of the special report on page 8 of TOI of 1 March 09 appears on the front page. How can such an insensitive blurb appear on front page  just before the start of the Class X & XII Board exams? Such an article is likely to act as a dampener to the students who have been conditioned since childhood to learn that ‘marks’ are the indices of success. This understanding is ubiquitous amongst all and sundry be it heads of institutions, teachers, parents, relatives, ever inquisitive neighbors, cousins including country cousins, shop keepers, Vikramwallas, maids, friends and anyone else within or outside the country.

Having been a part of the society and the system for decades, I was unable to understand the logic of putting such an objectionable headline on front page of a famous paper like TOI. In fact it is nothing short of an act of blasphemy with serious consequences as it would create a lot of confusion amongst students just before the exams. How to undo the damage so that students remain focused got me thinking.

Flipping through the pages I opened page 8 to pick holes on the Special Report to seek heavy compensation through legal action. While reading the report realization dawned that my perception, shaped over so many years of experience, needed correction as it was not based on facts. Points that impacted me to do a paradigm shift are reproduced as excerpts of that well researched article.

Excerpts. “You don’t need the calendar to flip from February into March to tell you it’s board exam time. Newspaper headlines are enough. CBSE help lines ring off the hook; parents report panic attacks. The worst stories are the suicides. In Junagadh district, two seventeen-year-olds decided to end it all rather than face Class XII exams. A Jharkhand girl set herself on fire after she failed to clear her Class X pre-board exams. These young people were so scared of exam failure they didn’t give life a chance. They were so worried about numbers on a mark sheet; they reduced themselves to a suicide statistic. It is an alarming statistic. More than 5,857 students killed themselves in 2006-2007, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), which is yet to release figures for 2008. That boils down to a whopping 16 suicides a day, most of them caused by exam stress and inability to cope with disappointment.

“The sense of failure comes from the perception that success in exams is the key to success in life,” says Geetanjali Kumar, a CBSE counselor. “The burden of expectations — their own and their parents — makes them feel that only coming first is good enough.” Failure can even spur success. Thomas Edison famously told a reporter who asked him how it felt to have failed 700 times to invent the electric light. “I have not failed 700 times…I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not work.”

Educationists say that most children struggle to cope with parental pressure. The phrase coined by psychologists is helicopter parents — hovering busily over every aspect of their kids’ lives, doing their homework and absorbing their every achievement as their own.

Pervin Sharma, whose career counseling sessions are very popular in Delhi, says it is the adults who need the most counseling. “Parents come and say that ‘mera bachcha to bada average hai’. This sort of statement can do a lot of damage since an adolescent’s sense of self worth is very fragile.”

Mahesh Murthy, who dropped out of engineering college in Hyderabad after three semesters because “it wasn’t remotely interesting.” Today, the 43-year-old says, “I was brought up to believe that there was a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I now believe that the rainbow is the pot of gold. All that we have is the journey.” It’s been an interesting one for Murthy who went from selling vacuum cleaners door to door to the successful venture capitalist that he is today. His advice to students: “Forget about topping class. Toppers don’t end up anywhere important in life.” If Murthy dropped out of the education system, Rajat Banerji and his wife Dola decided they wanted schooling without its pressures for their daughter. “The school system treats all kids uniformly regardless of their inclinations,” says Banerji who, along with his wife, home schools their seven-year-old”.
Examples of Famous Personlities without any Academic Profile as Modified by me

1. Spiritual Leaders. Jesus Christ, Guru Nanak, 1^st Guru of Sikhs; Kabir, famous sage; Ramkrishna Paramahans, Guru of Swami Vivekananda…..

2. Akbar the Great. Greatest of the great Moghuls couldn’t even write his name. And the empire was none the worse for it.

3. Abraham Lincoln. Born in Kentucky log cabin to impoverished parents, his formal schooling lasted 18 months. “When I came of age I did not know much. Still somehow, I could read, write and cipher….. but that was all,” he wrote of his early days. Largely self-taught, he joined politics before becoming a lawyer.

4. Gabriel ‘Coco’ Chanel. Brought up in an orphanage, she trained as a seamstress. The only fashion designer to be named Time magazine’s 100 most influential people of the 20^th century.

5. Thomas Edison. His official schooling ended when the teacher described him as addled; was home-schooled by his mother.

6. Walt Disney. Dropped out of high school at 16 to join army, but was rejected for being under-age. Began his artistic career after stint with Red Cross; won 26 Oscars and 7 Emmys.

7. The Geeks. Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Michael Dell, Steve Jobs….

8. The Writers. Charles Dickens, Jane Austin, Mark Twain, George Bernard Shaw…

9. AR Rehman. Studied till class XI; later took his Trinity School of Music exams and went on fellowship to Cambridge.

10. Sachin Tendulkar. He scraped through Class X but left Class XI halfway as the runs piled up. Do you really want to know his math score? 

Liz Beattle, retired Primary School Teacher after serving for 37 years in UK, feels convinced that the word ‘Failure’ should be replaced with ‘deferred success’ as children’s aspirations to learn are crushed as soon as they are deemed failures (TOI  01 Mar 2009). Although this has generated controversy since 2005, the perception has merit as many world renowned personalities have made historical contribution despite repeated failures .

It is, therefore, for each one of us to think whether one needs to go by majority perception or facts regarding the relevance of marks as the index of success!

Related posts:

1. Why Should I go to School?
2. Tuitions Bane or Boon ?

Leading By Example

Across all religion in the world, there is this strong and true belief that children have divinity in them and that they are God’s most beautiful creation. There is symbiotic connect between children and teachers. They are blessed and truly in a position to mould the lives of so many children. They are like potters and children, like the clay. Teaching is huge responsibility and should be a calling.

Education, in my dictionary, far transcends academic excellence. It is not running a race with your classmates and topping the list…

…it is about soaking in all the knowledge gained during the process, it is about translating that knowledge into wisdom and about applying that wisdom. It is about excellence. It is about running a race and emerging a winner in your own eyes.

I believe that most critical task today is that of building a character. For teachers, it entails veering teaching in a manner that you are actually engaging in character education. As we are, our children too face tremendous pressure in their own lives. They have to cope with expectation of their teachers, meet the standards of their parents, and also conform to the peer group pressure and habits. These are virtually three different worlds and they constantly straddle between these worlds. They have to make hundreds of choices, from thousands of options in millions of areas everyday.

These pressures manifest themselves in different forms….. early drugs addiction, childhood pregnancies, killings on the campus, internet hacking and such many form of self stress buster. Teachers spend lot of time with children. They must keep their antennas up to recognize sensitive signals of stress that children undergo. The better they are at this, the greater and the best they can do for them. Teachers remain clued into the state of mind of children by picking up their behavioral signals.

One might argue that the parents should be the bedrock of values, but today, both parents working, and families being nuclear, unfortunately the focus is not these softer and key aspects but rather on studies and grades. Sometime parents feel that values are given. But these need to be explicit. Values give meaning to life. They give a person his identity and character. Since a child spends a large part of his time at school, the responsibility of nurture holistically and building his character rests equally with his teachers who are his mentors.

Teacher should instill some values in children such as honesty and integrity, a sense of self worth, and taking responsibility, tolerant, compassion, respecting divergent opinions, humility and of course, self discipline. Only then a child grows up to be a caring and a well balance human-being. At the end of the day, as Ralph Waldo Emerson put it, “character is everything”. If we have to teach values to children, we must realize that we ourselves- as educators, as teachers have to be role models. As the old adage goes, we have to practice what we preach. So teachers have to lead by examples.

Teachers are the sailors who points out the lighthouse. It is up to teachers to think beyond themselves. Teach them that on the contrary there is far greater joy in giving than receiving and caring for others. It does help to give a spiritual tenor to your teaching. Teaching children to recognize spiritual values from their infancy provides a bridge of well balanced life as they grow up.

What else can we, as educators, teach that will stand our student in good stead through their lives? As education is also about equipping student with life-management skills…….to focus on their goals and live      value-centered lives…….we must give a sharper focus.

Impress upon them that all of us….. children, parents, teachers……do not exist in isolation; we live in an interdependent society. Teach them to recognize this and have respect for others. Only if they learn to respect themselves, they will respect others. They must be taught to respect divergent views. Not having this perspective of respect is the bane of today’s society, where we see so many warring factions.

Most important is to make a student believe in himself. If he has faith in the pillar of faith, in himself you can embed in students “ the can-do” attitude. The ultimate objective of all this is to instill in children a deep sense of self-belief that comes through deeply instilled values and a spirit that seeks excellence. Give them wings and empowerment.

I remember an evening that I spent with some of my friends. One of them was discussing her 12 year old son’s report . His physics report card read “8%, effortlessly achieved”! Can you imagine how such a remark from a teacher would lower a child’s self esteem?

Another area of concern is discipline. Today, unfortunately discipline is synonymous with punishment. Punishment can only lead anger in the child, defiance and sometime fear. Let us replace punishment with love and kindness, by teaching children about the consequences and owning responsibility of consequences.

Taking responsibility for the consequences will enhance the understanding of the child without causing any negative emotions and will seek to resolve the problems immediately. It is important to impress upon children the need to learn from mistakes as those very mistakes are stepping stone to success. A story that always inspires me, which I tell my children so often, is about Edison who failed 99 times before he invented the bulb. With each attempt, he learnt something about what not to do which is what made him succeed in his hundredth attempt.

Let us nurture our children into well rounded individuals and leaders, who excel in whatever they choose to do, with great sense of values. It is important for all of us to look together at the opportunity that the road to holistic education provides. Let us go ahead, firm in our resolve and steadfast in our commitment to make a difference.

Neerja Birla, Vice Chairperson, Education Projects, Adiya Birla Group

Times of India, 1st Feb 09

Related posts:

1. Why Should I go to School?
2. Parents’ Workshop | December 2009