EducationWorld December 08

Im in the final year of a hotel management degree programme. Is it worthwhile to press on for an MBA in marketing/finance to better my career prospects?Naresh Rao, Bangalore An MBA degree will multiply your options for employment across all industries including hospitality, media, banking and finance. If a hospitality industry job is under consideration, you will have an edge because of your prior training in hotel management. You should study diligently to secure admission into one of the premier business schools. Im a final year B.Tech student and want to write the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE). Please advise. Suresh Patil, Pune Admission into postgraduate degree programmes which offer scholarships/ assistantships in engineering/technology/architecture and pharmacy is open only to students who clear GATE. However some colleges/institutes specify GATE as a mandatory qualification for admission into self-financing courses as well. GATE qualified candidates are also eligible for the award of junior research fellowships in CSIR laboratories. Your GATE score is valid for two years. The exam notification appears in major newspapers in September and the exam is usually scheduled for the second Sunday of February. For further details visit www.iitkgp.ernet.in/-gate. Whats the eligibility criteria/admission procedure for the MCA programme offered by Mumbai and Pune universities? Since I havent studied maths in Plus Two, do I qualify for admission into an MCA programme? Ravi Bajaj, Mumbai Pune University and JNU, Delhi offer the most reputed MCA (Master of computer applications) study progra-mmes to those who havent studied maths at the Plus Two level. Admission into the Mumbai University MCA programme offered at VJTI is on the basis of performance in the CST examination conducted by NCST in January every year. To qualify to write this exam you need to be a graduate who has cleared Plus Two maths. Pune University announces its new admissions in November-December and usually conducts the entrance examination in February. After graduating next year, I want to qualify as a feature films director. Please suggest some government approved courses in this field, the names and addresses of reputed film institutes and their admission procedures. Sreenivas Iyer, Chennai The best reputed institutions are the Film and Television Institute of India, Law College Road, Pune 411004; Xaviers Institute of Communications, St. Xaviers College, Mumbai 400001; Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, EM By Pass Road, Kolkata 700004; Film and TV Institute of Tamil Nadu, Chennai 600113; Asian Academy of Film and Television, Marwah Studios Complex, FC-14/15, Film City, Sector 16A, Noida 201301. Check with each institute about its application process and admission deadline. The selection process usually involves a written test followed by personal interview/workshops on campus. There is also the option of training under a reputed film director and acquiring on-the-job practical work experience. However, a career in films is full of uncertainties, and you must ready yourself for good times and bad. After completing my B.Sc next year, I want a career in hospital administration. Please advise on courses in India and abroad and their admission…

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Sixty years after independence, the 4,000 members of the elite IAS continue to exercise power out of all proportion to their number, as they preside over the countrys massive bureaucracyThe Indian Civil Service, the elite governing corps which was the ‘steel frame of the British Raj for almost a century (1857-1957), transformed into the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) after independence on August 15, 1947. Sixty years later the 4,000 members of the ‘twice-born IAS continue to exercise power out of all proportion to their number, as they preside over the countrys massive 18-million strong (Centre plus states) bureaucracy. Despite charges of corruption, politicisation, red tapism and falling standards, for millions of youth across the country the appeal of the power, prestige and social status associated with the IAS has not waned. In May this year 200,000 wrote the Civil Services Examination conducted by the Union Public Services Commission (UPSC) for entry into the IAS, IFS, IPS and the Central Services Group A and B (Indian Revenue Service, Indian Economic Service etc). The Civil Services Examination is held in two parts, the first being a preliminary objective questions-type which is for elimination and shortlisting candidates for the main exam. The notification for the exam citing the venues is published in newspapers every December, and the exam is held every summer. The second or main exam is held in the month of November, with those who have cleared the preliminary exam entitled to write the nine essay papers consisting of Indian language, English, general essay, general studies (two papers) and four papers in optional subjects. Candidates who obtain minimum qualifying marks in this exam are summoned for interview by a UPSC board panel, with the objective of assessing his/her suitability for a career in public service. The personal interview is designed to judge the intellectual qualities, social traits and interest in current affairs of candidates. Marks obtained by candidates in the main examination (written as well as interview) determine their final ranking. The selection process is spread over 12 months. Of the over 200,000 who write the preliminary exam, only 400-500 are selected annually. Of those selected the toppers have the option to choose their service between the IAS, IPS, IFS etc. Graduates with a degree from an Indian university or possessing an equivalent qualification, between 21 and 30 years of age, and citizens of India, are eligible to write the Civil Services Exam, with each candidate allowed a maximum of four attempts to clear it. Once selected, those inducted into the civil service have to undergo a years training at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie. After completing this training stint, IAS recruits are sent to districts in their allotted states on one years probation as supernumerary assistant collectors. Subsequently they move upwards through a series of time-bound promotions until they reach the rank of joint secretary at the Centre, after which theres an element of selectivity in promotions. Most IAS officers, however, rise to the rank of…

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The global financial crisis is taking its toll on the employment market in the UK. The jobless total rose by 164,000 in the three months to September, the biggest rise for 17 years, and the number claiming jobseekers allowance jumped again in September. Much of the pain is being felt near the bottom of the jobs ladder, as house-building grinds to a halt. But well-paid work is scarcer too. According to Morgan McKinley, a recruitment specialist, vacancies in the city of London are 40 percent lower than last year, with a 42 percent rise in the numbers looking for work in financial services.The class of 2008 is probably safe; recruiters decided how many of them to take on before the recent turmoil, and most honoured their promises. But what of the class of 2009? Weve had five years of continuous growth in the graduate-jobs market, says Carl Gilleard of the Association of Graduate Recruiters. I cant see that growth continuing. In July a survey of its members showed graduate recruitment holding steady. But even then, confidence was waning: it found the lowest increase in starting pay in recent years, and most employers said there would be at best a cost-of-living rise next year. The consensus, it seems, is that graduates in 2009 will emerge from their studies into a world that is chillier, rather than utterly changed. Some would-be high-fliers will simply switch from one A-list career to another; there are early signs of a surge of interest in postgraduate training for law; management consultancy will attract some who might previously have gone into banking or finance. Even in fields directly affected by the downturn, hiring has slowed, not stopped. There are still new jobs in finance, says Kevin Green of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, although they are fewer and are now more likely to be in risk management and IT than in sales. Most graduate employers will keep hiring at least a few bright young things, says John Philpott of the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development: During the recession of the 1990s many didnt, and suffered later. Global businesses will still hire too, but may ask their graduate recruits to work abroad at first, he thinks. The most profound effect of the downturn may be not on employers thinking, but on graduates. Unlike their elders, they have no memories of previous recessions, and no experience of gritting their teeth and waiting for better times. One beneficiary is likely to be the public sector, as job security and final-salary pensions look particularly appealing right now. I used to recruit for the public sector, says Gilleard, and whenever there was a mini-recession we got the sort of high-fliers applying that we wouldnt normally see. Other graduates will decide to put off the day of reckoning: post-university gap years may become more popular, says Green (although he warns that 2010 could prove just as tough a time to look for work, so gappers had better do something suitably CV-enhancing). And…

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With a population of 1.3 billion and an economic miracle giving it the financial muscle it has lacked in the past, China is already a major world player in higher education. But although it has more than 2,000 higher education institutions, only nine made it into the top 200 in the 2008 Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings. This is one fewer than 2007, and of these, five slipped down the table and four moved up. So while China remains well represented in the top 200, it is a long way from challenging the dominance of the US and UK.Over the past decade, China has taken huge strides to strengthen its university sector. The UK Higher Education International Unit says China has more than 21 million students and that 13 percent of total government spending goes into education. Christine Ennew, pro vice-chancellor (international) at the University of Nottingham which has a campus in China, says there is no doubt that the countrys higher education is on an upward trajectory. Im confident that the sector is actually much better than the rankings suggest, but I suspect there is a substantial legacy from Chinas disengagement with academic networks across the rest of the world. Although weve seen 20 to 30 years of opening up and reform there, re-engaging with a global academic community takes a lot longer, she says. William Mitchell, director of education at the British Council in China, says that Hong Kong institutions have punched above their weight for some time. But China has more recently been building up its institutions on the mainland. There has been an explicit focus on prioritising funding for the best universities. While the variety of disciplines offered by Chinese universities has grown, the focus remains on science and technology. One modernisation programme made $20 billion (Rs.100,000 crore) available to 100 select institutions, mainly for engineering, technological and natural sciences. Another funnelled funding for international activity with the aim of developing a handful of world-class research universities. But Dr. Mitchell says China struggles to lure expertise from overseas: Theres a real push through scholarship programmes to get Ph D students to spend time at top universities overseas to build capacity back in China (on their return). Professor Ennew believes the competition from China at the top of league tables will increase, warning that it could start to rival the dominance of the UK and US. However, Dr. Mitchell is less sanguine. There has been a very rapid expansion of student numbers and… questions have been asked about… whether there is the right balance of spending between infrastructure and staff, he says. (Excerpted and adapted from Times Higher Education Supplement)

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If we managed to deal with communism, nothing can stop us. So says Alina Kozinska-Baldyga, director of the Warsaw-based Federation of Educational Initiatives, of her campaign to open hundreds of small rural schools throughout Poland following government closures.In mid-October, a contingent of Polish headteachers, led by Kozinska-Baldyga, arrived in Britain and threw their support behind campaigners currently battling to save rural schools, warning that plans to close or merge them are misguided and should be reversed. Schools are at the heart of village life in Poland — 38 percent of the population lives in rural areas. But over the past decade the government has closed thousands of kindergartens and primaries. In protest, the federation has set up 130 community-run kindergartens and over 300 small schools. The schools are run by associations and parents are very involved. Their efforts have since gained government recognition and funding. Of course small schools are more expensive than larger ones, says Kozinska-Baldyga. But she strongly believes that they are worthwhile investments. The liquidation of small rural schools is a problem in every country. But you can see how this kind of education is changing rural society in Poland where rural communities are almost always poor, and they are the ones who have been most active in schools — it is a revolution in the countryside. In one new school, teachers and parents worked for a year with no funding. Staff had to raise money to heat the building. Now the school receives a grant from the state. Although most of Polands new small schools are in rural areas, they have also been established in cities where a traditional sense of community has vanished. Anna Florek, head and founder of a civic kindergarten in Warsaw, says the school has made a huge difference to the lives of children and their parents. The federation plans to seek further recognition from the Polish government and aims to make rural schools a key issue during Polands 2011 EU presidency. (Excerpted and adapted from Times Higher Education Supplement)

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Italy may be facing recession, but for Siggi, a textile firm near Civenza in the north-east of the country, 2009 offers the promise of unprecedented growth. Siggi is the biggest producer of grembiuli or school smocks. Once universal in Italian primary schools, they were becoming as outdated as ink-wells. But in July the education minister Mariastella Gelmini, backed the reintroduction of grembiuli to combat brand and class-consciousness among school children. Siggis output this year has almost sold out and its chairman Gino Marta says that next year could see an out-and-out boom.The decision on whether pupils should wear the grembiule has been left to head teachers. It does not figure in either of the two education Bills that have been introduced by Ms. Gelmini. But it has become a symbol of her efforts to shake up Italian education. Her critics argue that these are a vain attempt to turn back the clock; her supporters see them as a necessary first step to a more equitable, efficient system. On October 30, the opposition she has aroused culminated in a one-day teachers strike. The unions main complaint is a programme of cuts aimed at saving almost €8 billion (Rs.50,400 crore). It includes the loss by natural wastage of 87,000 teachers jobs over the three academic years to 2012, and the return to a system in which just one teacher is allotted to each year of elementary school. If this is all the reforms do, they could prove as disastrous as union and opposition leaders predict (international studies find primary schools are the only part of Italys education that does well). But it is also planned that 30 percent of the money saved will be reinvested in schools. Gelminis supporters hope that she will use it to redress the crippling imbalances in education, which is one of Italys biggest structural economic weaknesses. One problem is lots of badly paid teachers, says Roger Abravanel, author of a recent book on meritocracy. The number of teachers per 100 students is one of the highest in the OECD. Education, particularly in the south has often been abused by politicians for patronage and job creation. This may explain why despite studying for longer and in smaller classes, Italian secondary pupils do badly in international comparisons. The north is around the OECD average but the south (of Italy) is on a par with Uruguay and Thailand, says Abravanel. Giacomo Vaciago, an economics professor at the Catholic University of Milan, says that although for the time being the debate is about cuts, the big problem is quality which is random. Presenting the latest reforms alongside Gelmini, Italys prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi promised that by 2012 the best teachers would be getting a €7,000 (Rs.4.4 lakh) bonus. But Vaciago is unconvinced by the plans. The present government is making cuts and hoping that the quality comes through as a result. There is no obvious guarantee it will, he comments. (Excerpted and adapted from The Economist)

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Technology forces old laws to contort themselves in new ways. The phonograph and radio threatened to wreck the idea of music copyright — then embodied in sheet music. But lawyers struck novel compromises between new media and old laws; collection societies were set up to pay composers and performers, and the market grew. On October 28 a similar breakthrough was announced for accessing books online.Google has reached a settlement with groups representing authors and publishers who had sued the worlds biggest internet company in 2005 for copyright infringement. Google has been scanning millions of books into digital form and making the text available online in small snippets, to answer users search queries. The company said this constituted fair use of copyrighted material since only a small part of the work was accessible. The Association of American Publishers and the Authors Guild disagreed. The resulting legal fight was widely expected to end in a settlement, but it took a while to agree on the terms. Under the deal, Google will pay $125 million (Rs.622 crore) to compensate copyright holders, and will set up a Book Rights Registry to pay authors and publishers for the digital use and sale of works — akin to collection societies that send royalty cheques to musicians and songwriters. People will be able to buy digital books outright or pay to access them by the page. A small part of each book will be free to consult. Google will take 37 percent of the revenue and 63 percent will go to copyright holders. Publishers and authors can opt out of the programme. Books no longer covered by copyright will be free. The settlement, which must still be approved by the court, may encounter problems. Collection societies often fall foul of anti-trust laws and require special exemptions from legislators. And Google has in effect been granted a licence over almost all copyrighted works represented in the suit, giving it an overwhelming advantage in online-book indexing and retrieval, says Jennifer Urban, a copyright expert at the University of Southern California. That may increase competition concerns that are haunting the firm. The agreement will apply only in America, but is likely to serve as a model for other countries. If successful, it will open up a new realm of knowledge online — and a new market. (Excerpted and adapted from The Economist)

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On October 22 chancellor (prime minister) Angela Merkel summoned the premiers from all of Germanys 16 states for an ‘education summit in Dresden. Its vaunted aim was to transform Germany from a mediocre performer into a dazzling education republic. Yet the chancellors powers to achieve this goal are limited.Nobody thinks that Germany can afford mediocrity. If its performance on international tests improved from average to excellent, annual GDP growth would rise by 0.5-0.8 percentage points in the long run, says Ludger Wossmann, an economist at Ifo, a research institute in Munich. But the real stakes are higher. Almost half the children in some cities come from immigrant families; many speak mainly their mother tongue. In Germany parents social status plays a bigger role in childrens fates than in most other rich countries. As many as 8 percent of 15-17-year-olds are school dropouts; unemployment among them is three times higher than among university graduates. Yet, with Germanys population ageing, who will pay our pensions, if not the migrants? asks Jorg Drager, head of education at the Bertelsmann Foundation. Schools need to teach conduct as well as calculus, ensuring that minorities (and poor Germans) become fully functioning members of society. They are ill-equipped to do it. Germany is one of the few European countries that still divides children up at the age of ten. The cleverest go to gymnasien, the main route to university; the ordinary are sent to realschulen; and the dullards attend hauptschulen, often breeding-grounds for disaffection. Teaching methods have not changed since the days of the Kaiser, says Ties Rabe, a teacher and Social Democratic member of Hamburgs legislature. Most children leave school before lunch, which is awkward for families with two working parents. Germany has enough child-care places for just 17 percent of children under three. Ideology has often thwarted reform. Social Democrats and others on the left want students of different abilities to spend more time in the same school. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Ms. Merkels party, has long championed the three-tier system, partly because the tier-less alternative smelled to many of East German egalitarianism. Yet Merkel must keep her distance. Under Germanys federal system, education is mainly the responsibility of the states. Premiers have no intension of yielding authority. Tinkering with education is a risky political business. The CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, have been punished in state elections this year by parents angry over their handling of school reforms. Success, if it comes, is often apparent only after decades. But state governments are finding they have no choice. Dwindling numbers of children, especially in eastern Germany, troubled immigrants in the cities and a flight from hauptschulen are forcing them to rethink how they organise schools. Fortunately a demographic dividend from fewer children will free some €8-9 billion (Rs.50,400-56,700 crore) a year by 2015 to help pay for change. Hamburg is more than usually chaotic, with eight types of school at secondary level. A third of its children are from…

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Cool, exotic, affordable and renowned for superlative service, the land of smiles, which attracted a record 14 million tourists last year (2007), is of special interest to discerning Indian tourists. Ayutthaya, the earlier capital of the Thai kingdom founded by King U-Thong, was named after the sacred city of Ayodhya in IndiaThe south-east Asian kingdom of Thailand (pop. 63 million) is among the worlds most popular tourism destinations because of its unique environment, which combines an experience ranging from the culinary to the esoteric. Last year (2007) a record 14.46 million tourists including 500,000 from India visited Thailand. Cool, exotic and affordable, and matched by superlative service, this land of smiles beckons and welcomes visitors perennially. Bounded by Myanmar to the north, Laos in the east, Cambodia to the south-east and the Andaman Sea on its western seaboard, Thailand is a constitutional monarchy with His Majesty King Rama IX serving as the incumbent (ceremonial) ruler. Earlier known as Siam, the kingdom is a functional democracy spread over 513,000 sq. km in south-east Asia, with its southern peninsula jutting into the south China Sea. Historical evidence indicates that humans have inhabited this nation since the Paleolithic period (about 10,000 years ago). Excavations in the village of Ban Chiang in north-east Thailand have uncovered architectural evidence of a Bronze Age dating back to 3600 B.C. Subsequently, from 800-1200 A.D, the Khmer people of contemporary Cambodia occupied the central and eastern regions of Thailand, leaving behind their architecturally distinct stone temples of Phimai and Phanom Rung. In 1238, the Sukhothai Kingdom wrested independence from the Khmer rulers. In 1279, King Ramkhanhaeng united the regions and ascended the throne, bequeathing the legacy of the Thai alphabet. After his death the Sukothai Kingdom fell into decline, and thereafter was born the Ayutthaya Kingdom (1351-1767), which dominated southern and central Thailand until the 18th century. Contemporary Thailand is of special interest to the more selective Indian tourists, because the country has an ancient linkage with India. Ayutthaya, the earlier capital of the Thai Kingdom, was founded by King U-Thong (later known as King Ramathibodi I), who named it after the sacred city of Ayodhya in India. He imported Theravada Buddhism from India and decreed it as the official religion. Ramathibodi I also adopted the Dharmashastra — a legal code of Hindu origin — and blended it with traditional Thai customs to establish a legal system which was in force until the late 19th century. However in 1767, a Burmese expeditionary force destroyed Ayutthaya, leaving it in ruins, which is now a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. European traders arrived in Thailand in the 16th century, led by the Portuguese. Portuguese traders were followed by the French, Dutch and the British, who through their trademark artifices transformed it into a British protectorate for over 300 years (1600-1900s). Nevertheless as in India, British influence in the kingdom was not an unmixed blessing and resulted in the construction of a national railway, waterways and roads, schools and the countrys…

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In any other country the startling data released recently by the 63rd round survey of the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), indicating that over 300 million citizens of India are obliged to make do with 60 sq. ft housing space per capita — equivalent to the size of an American jail cell — and that the majority of the population has only 100 sq. ft for living, cooking, sleeping and toilet needs, would perhaps have toppled the government, or at least provoked great anguish and soul-searching. But in resurgent India, which the Congress partys dream team of ministers assures us has marvellously strong fundamentals, this shocking statistic hasnt provoked a murmur of protest.Against the backdrop of the countrys housing shortage accentuating after independence and the percentage of population with less than 100 sq.ft lebensraum in urban India having risen from 46 to 55, in Bangalore, a woman government minister, her generous heart bleeding for her colleagues, has proposed greenfield construction of 30 new 10,000 sq.ft state-of-the-art bungalows for them, within convenient distance of the citys new international airport. Behind the pathetic quality of the nations housing stock, is a story of chronic neglect and callousness of the neta-babu conspiracy of the past half century rooted in a reported statement of the patrician original Great Socialist, to the effect that the climate of India is so warm that (poor) people can comfortably sleep under open skies. Unsurprisingly, the abysmal quality of its housing stock apart, the countrys housing shortage is estimated at 25 million dwelling units. Therefore centrally planned socialist India presents the curious paradox of a subcontinent-sized nation (3.28 million sq. km) living in unbelievably cramped conditions, in an economy of chronic shortages. The inevitable outcome of small minds undertaking great enterprises.

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Despite the over-blown rhetoric about Indias independent judiciary, and the undeserved halo conferred upon the countrys 13,000 judges great and small (who for all their supposed wisdom, havent been able to resolve the problem of a staggering 30 million cases backlog for over six decades), there is something rotten about this self-righteous institution. How else would one explain the Bombay high courts order dated November 20 upholding the ban imposed on the brave and timely Bhojpuri language feature film Deshdrohi (translation: anti-national), which tackles head-on the issue of the Shiv Sena and its dissident leader Raj Thackeray unleashing parochial violence against north Indian migrants in Mumbai?The Constitution of India is very clear on the issue of intra-country migration. It unambiguously confers a fundamental right on all citizens to work, trade or practice a profession in any part of the territory of India (Article 19 (1) (g)). Moreover it stipulates that freedom of speech and expression (i.e to write and depict through the audio-visual medium) is also a fundamental right (Article 19 (1) (a)). Admittedly, even these fundamental rights are subject to reasonable restrictions in the public interest. Yet surely its strained judicial interpretation to rule that exhibiting a film in the exercise of the fundamental right to free expression, which overtly preaches national integration and roundly condemns violations of the constitutional rights of citizens by myopic sub-nationalist leaders, is against the public interest? Nor is this the first instance of the Bombay high courts timidity in dealing with the sawdust sub-nationalists, who have bedevilled Maharashtra, and particularly Mumbai politics. Over a decade ago, your editor together with the late distinguished bureaucrat J.B. DSouza fielded a writ petition in the Bombay high court for a judicial directive to the state government to prosecute Shiv Sena rabble-rouser-in-chief Bal Thackeray, for endangering the public peace by making inflammatory anti-Muslim statements following the Dawood Ibrahim bomb blasts in the city (1992-93). Admission of the petition was unduly delayed, and when it was admitted it was dismissed peremptorily, without any reasons being assigned. Ditto the appeal in the Supreme Court. If the writ had been heard in the first instance with the patient merit it deserved, and the rabble-rouser-in-chief put away in prison where he belongs, Mumbai would have been spared a lot of the pain it has suffered subsequently. So much for the countrys reportedly vigilant and over-hyped judiciary.

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Government is omnipresent and we all have to learn to live and work with it, is a typical statement of advice from well-wishers of my various enterprises. Yet despite best efforts to follow this advice and minor successes, I must confess failure to work with government.The sticking point has always been the lack of elementary good manners and accountability. For instance, despite sending a complimentary copy of EW — a periodical admired around the world — every month for the past four years, with grovelling handwritten notes soliciting an interview with Union HRD minister Arjun Singh to discuss national education policies — I have never received a reply. Likewise on one occasion when I wrote, faxed and phoned World Bank pensioner and deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, nearly a dozen times for a five minute phone interview, he never responded. Ditto the education ministers of several state governments. All this confirms a hypothesis developed during my three decades in Indian journalism, viz, that every elected and/or appointed representative of the people is moonlighting to create secondary or multiple income streams. Thats why they are never in their seats, or able to discharge their duties to the satisfaction of any of their publics. Secure in their protected jobs, the concept of accountability has become alien to the countrys 18 million public servants. This prologue is crucial to being able to explain the failure of numerous government agencies to prevent the terror attacks on Mumbais top two show-piece hotels, and other contiguous targets on November 26. In September, October and as late as November 19, the National Security Agency, the Indian Navy and the coast guards had been tipped off that a terrorist attack from the sea on Mumbai was imminent. But it can be safely assumed that because public servants who should have been doing their jobs were preoccupied with creating additional income streams, they didnt have the time or inclination to process and act on the information. Think about it; itll come to you.

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The Punjab government signed a tripartite agreement with Indian School of Business (ISB) Hyderabad, and four Indian business leaders on November 4, to establish a second ISB campus at the Knowledge City, Mohali (Punjab). Signatories to the agreement were chief minister Prakash Singh Badal, Rajat Gupta (chairman ISB) and four ‘founder supporters — Analjit Singh (chairman Max India Ltd); Rakesh Bharti Mittal (vice-chairman & managing director of Bharti Telecom), Sunil Kant Munjal (managing director Hero Honda) and Atul Punj (chairman Punj Lloyd Group).A 70-acre site in Mohali has been allotted by the Punjab government on a 99-year lease at Rs.99 per annum, for construction of the second ISB campus. The first academic session of ISB Mohali is scheduled to commence in 2012. Under the terms of the tripartite agreement, ISB Hyderabad with the support of the US-based Wharton School and Kellogg School of Management will construct the Mohali campus to enable it to provide world class postgraduate programmes in business management, and short duration executive education programmes. ISB Mohali will host four centres of excellence, for promoting research and offering additional specialisation in its postgraduate programme — Max India Institute of Healthcare Management; Bharti Institute of Public Policy; BML Munjal Institute of Manufacturing and Operation Excellence; and Punj Lloyd Institute of Physical Infrastructure Management. ISB Mohali will admit 280 graduates into its 12-month postgraduate business management programme, and offer several short duration executive education programmes to 750 business professionals annually.

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Its an indicator of the depths to which the quality of debate in public life has sunk, that the patently anti- national proposition that north Indians should be discouraged from migrating to metropolitan Mumbai in search of employment and livelihood, has prompted the Congress-led Maharashtra government to pass an order reserving 80 percent of jobs in industry (public and private) for sons-of-the-soil, defined as people with 15 years of domicile in the state (pop. 98 million). This pernicious order is the outcome of an array of leaders and intellectuals in Maharashtra tacitly endorsing the hooliganism and illegal violence that stormtroopers of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) party led by Raj Thackeray, have mounted against citizens from other parts of the country migrating to Indias most industrialised state.Although the history of the Partition of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan clearly demonstrates the danger of identity politics based on religion, language or other particularisms, its an indicator of the intellectual poverty and self-serving myopia of this states opinion leaders, that they seem to harbour few compunctions about endorsing the pretentious sub-nationalism of Raj Thackeray, a common rabble-rouser who has amassed a vast fortune without any visible sources of income. Thus recently columnist-novelist Shobhaa De who for mysterious reasons is accorded the status of a sentient intellectual by the establishment, proclaimed on national television that she discerns considerable merit in Thackerays sub-nationalist particularism, although she doesnt approve of his strong-arm methods of articulating it. Likewise Praful Patel, a moneyed scion of dubious antecedents and whom compulsions of coalition politics has thrust into the position of Union minister for civil aviation, expressed the viewpoint that it is understandable that Maharashtrians should feel short-changed and deprived by the influx of people from other parts of the country. Yet the point to be noted by the academic and student communities is that the professed ability to see both sides of a contentious issue is not necessarily an intellectual achievement. Quite obviously, there is some merit in even the most retrograde and anti-national proposal — in this case alleged deprivation of sons-of-the-soil of employment and cultural assertion opportunities. Thus for the gullible it is possible to detect an iota of justification in the late and unlamented Adolf Hitlers rationale for the conquest of Europe and persecution of Jews, or in Stalins deadly paranoia as he built the new Soviet society. Yet the intellectuals duty to the public is not to see both sides of every issue and confer respectability to patently anti-national and illegal activities of self-serving thugs and crooks, but to unequivocally speak up for the greater good of nation and society. The shallow musings and self-serving desire of faux intellectuals to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds, must not be allowed to pass for wisdom. It should be roundly condemned as subversive and anti-national.

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Following close on the heels of prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singhs confession at the recently held (November 21-22) HT Leadership Summit in New Delhi, that his greatest ambition is to witness India trans-forming into a fully-educated country, has come Unescos Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2009, slamming governments around the world for their failure to tackle deep and persistent inequalities in education, and consigning millions of children to a life of poverty and diminished opportunity.The report, which was released on November 25 in Paris and world capitals, blames a combination of factors — political indifference, weak domestic policies, and the failure of aid donors to deliver commitments. It warns that unacceptable national and global education disparities are undermining efforts to achieve the United Nations millennium development goals (MDGs). When financial systems fail, the consequences are highly visible and governments act. When education systems fail, the consequences are less visible but no less real. Unequal opportunities in education fuel poverty, hunger and child mortality, and reduce prospects for economic growth. That is why governments must act with a greater sense of urgency, commented Unescos D.G. Koichiro Matsuura while releasing the EFA Global Monitoring Report 2009. The report says that the world is far removed from achieving the MDG of universal primary education by 2015, with 75 million children of primary school age out of school, and 29 million likely to remain out of school even in 2015. Kailash Satyarthi of the Delhi-based Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Save the Childhood Movement), and member of Unescos international review committee on EFA goals, says that if the MDG goal of every child completing primary education by 2015 is to be attained, they should all be enrolled in school by next year (2009) — an impossibility given current trends. Launching a frontal attack on the Union government, Satyarthi says: The government failure to pass the Right to Education Bill 2008 after so many years of deliberation, and the failure to abolish child labour after 40 years of promises, indicates its lack of seriousness. Likewise Unescos EFA Global Monitoring Report 2009 is critical of government effort on the issues of high drop-out rates and quality. One assessment in India found that just under half of grade III pupils could read a text of grade I pupils. The report is also critical of Indias child healthcare record stating that one in three children in developing countries, i.e. 193 million children, suffer brain development and education impairment because of malnutrition, and that high annual rates of economic growth have made minimal impact in abating child malnutrition. Moreover commenting on the plight of the girl child, the report says there are huge gaps in enrollments across much of south Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Yogender Bhushan, founder-director of the Jaipur-based Bodh Shiksha Samiti and national convener of the core group of education NGOs active in 11 states, says that the criticism made by EFA Global Monitoring Report 2009 is justified. The tall claims of 97 percent enrollment made by the…

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In his last year as chairman of the National Knowledge Commission, US-based switching systems millionaire and architect of Indias astonishing telecom revolution of the 1990s, Sam Pitroda —whose three-year term was extended to March 2009 in October — has fired a broadside at the market economy. In a trademark letter dated November 6 to prime minister Manmohan Singh, he says the market economy is adversely affecting Indian education, particularly higher education.There is already a severe shortage of well-trained young doctorates to fill existing posts in research institutes and universities. This problem is likely to be even more acute in the envisaged elite new universities, says Pitroda in an apparent reference to the six new IITs and 30 Central universities proposed to be established during the Eleventh Plan (2007-12). In academic circles in the national capital, this broadside is being interpreted as veiled criticism of the pro-liberalisation lobby which is in favour of easy entry of foreign universities and institutes of profess-ional education into India. One of the casualties of the expanding market economy has been devaluation of the academic profession, and this is now seriously affecting the desirability of this profession, warns Pitroda. According to Pitroda, professional education institutions tend to be vocationally oriented and therefore research and development — typically conducted by traditional government-funded univer-sities — is likely to suffer. The growth in the number of doctorates has only been 20 percent in India in the period 1991-2001 compared to 85 percent in China. Not more than one percent of those completing undergraduate degrees currently opt for doctoral studies in India, and a substantial number of students prefer to go abroad, he informed the prime minister, who at the recent Hindustan Times Leadership Summit held in Delhi declared that his greatest ambition is to transform India into a fully-educated country. Well, that ambition is likely to remain unrealised unless there are urgent government policy interventions, including high priority initiatives to attract and retain the countrys best minds in academia and research, says Pitroda. His prescription: better pay for academics and researchers and easy technology access to bridge the language gap in knowledge dissemination. Pitrodas warning letter to the prime minister (posted on the NKC website) has been warmly received in Indian academia. Pitrodas demand for higher education policy reform and better pay for academics/researchers is overdue. Increasingly, graduates are avoiding the academic profession as its not well paid and the working environment is not conducive, says Mohammed Ishtiaq, former head of the geography department in Delhis Jamia Milia Islamia University. Adds Nileash Kumar Singh, director of the NAM Institute of Professional Studies, Delhi: Very few students in collegiate education aspire to create new knowledge or contribute to society. They tend to look for returns on their investment in education. Thats why private professional institutes are mushrooming. Unless government pump primes the education sector, this situation will persist. In the final few months of his term in office as chairman of NKC, there are traces of exasperation in the tone…

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Anywhere in the world, the 150th — or sesquicentennial — anniversary of a greatly respected academic institution would be celebrated with acclamatory cheers, pomp and circumstance. Except in West Bengal, whose 31-year-old CPM (Communist Party of India-Marxist)-led Left Front governments priority is to maintain rigid control over the education system, from primary to doctoral. Quite clearly it has no time for bourgeois emotions like pride and glory.Kolkatas highly respected Bengal Engineering College — promoted on November 15, 1858 and affectionately known as B.E. College in West Bengal — which proclaims itself as Asias first tech school of its genre, suffered a severe loss of morale when 184 clerical, non-technical, non-teaching staff affiliated with the CPM-run Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) launched an agitation that led to an indefinite college shut-down on and from November 13, forcing postponement if not cancellation, of its sesquicentennial celebrations. The story of this agitation demonstrates how in the pursuit of trivial political objectives, the Left Front government has destroyed — and continues to destroy — education in West Bengal, the epicentre of Indias academic renaissance of the 19th century. On March 13, 1993 B.E. College was awarded deemed university status in recognition of its outstanding contribution to the nation. On October 1, 2004 it was further upgraded to the rank of university and christened the Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU). Moreover on January 1 this year, at the start of its 150th year, BESU was conferred the honorific of Institute of National Importance (INI) — only the seventh engineering education institution in India awarded this accolade. Consequently, the National Institutes of Technology Act 2007 was amended and BESU was anointed the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST), placing it on a par with Indias seven globally renowned IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology). As an INI, IIEST qualifies for a handsome grant of Rs.450 crore from the Central government to fund its upgradation. Exults vice-chancellor N.R. Banerjea: We will take the institute to new heights. But with BESU now transformed into a Central university wholly funded and answerable to the Union HRD ministry in Delhi, the CPM-led state government has lost little time in raising questions regarding governance and admission of students. The states higher education minister, Sudarshan Ray Choudhury recently expressed appre-hension that students of the state will fail to compete at a national level for admission and raised a demand for region-specific reservation of seats. Comments an IIEST professor who requested anonymity: If the state government expects farmers in Singur to give up their two-crop land for the sake of industrial growth, why is it so difficult to give up its control over IIEST for the sake of better education? The consensus of opinion within Kolkatas academic community is that the CPM leadership is apprehensive about the example IIEST will set for the 19 state government-run engineering colleges in West Bengal. The centrally run and funded IIEST, modeled after IITs with complete academic autonomy, is bad news for 6, Alimuddin…

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A high decibel marathi versus English debate is being conducted in Maharashtra on the eve of the winter session (postponed to the first week of December) of the state legislative assembly. It features Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and a minister of his own cabinet — school education minister Vasant Purake — for and against the compulsory teaching of Marathi in all 86,429 primary and secondary schools in the state (pop. 97 million). While the chief minister is in favour of the motion, Purake intends making it compulsory for all education officers, schoolteachers, students and their parents to communicate only in English one day per week.In Maharashtra, there cannot be an option to Marathi. German or French cannot be an option. The option for Marathi is Marathi, says Deshmukh. On the other hand Purake has reportedly said that unless English is made compulsory, Maharashtra will lose its pre-eminent position as Indias most industrialised state. Politicking over the status of Marathi is not new to Maharashtra. The debate has been given a new impetus by the rise of Raj Thackerays (Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackerays estranged nephew) Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), launched two years ago. With an eye on the Marathi vote bank, he propagated a new son-of-the-soil or the Marathi manoos campaign to reserve seats in academic institutions, and demand job quotas in industry. Not to be outdone, his uncle Bal Thackeray has also intensified the compulsory Marathi campaign reminding the public through the Shiv Sena newspaper Saamna, that Raj had stolen this campaign plank from him. The ruling Congress-NCP coalition, headed by Deshmukh, is running hard not to be left behind, given the perceived emotive appeal of the Marathi language learning issue. Unable to resolve the major problems confronting Indias most industrialised state — food, clothing, housing, education, healthcare, law and order — the states politicians naively believe theres an electoral dividend in sub-nationalism and the language issue. They hope to cash in on the growing resentment against Hindi-speaking people by Maharashtrians for ‘encroaching on their land and jobs. But in this contest of electoral one-upmanship, school children have become hapless victims. Raj Thackeray has warned all English medium schools in the state that if they dont introduce Marathi as a compulsory language from class I-X, they will be denied access to state resources including electricity and water. I am writing letters to the authorities concerned in all English medium schools, appealing to introduce Marathi as a compulsory subject, as has been done in many southern states, he said, citing a Madras high court judgement upholding the Tamil Nadu governments decision to make Tamil compulsory in all schools in the southern state. Not to be left behind, chief minister Deshmukh told a meeting of education officers in Amravati last month: Knowledge of Marathi is essential in the state and one cannot accept that someone does not know Marathi. Unsurprisingly Purake, who believes that the choice of second language should be left to school managements and parents, and who ironically…

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“There will never be a real estate asset bubble in India because the (revenue from) taxes are so depressed to the real price.” Finance minister P. Chidambaram in The Hindu (November 1) “America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.” Barrack Obama, US president-elect, in his winners speech in Chicago (November 4) “Why should people not know about what we are doing in the judiciary? Why cant there be more transparency? Internal infirmities about judiciary and judges are far more dangerous than external infirmities. Administrative functions of judges should be as open as the judicial functions of judges.” Former chief justice of India J.S. Verma at a book release in Delhi (November 11) “It was during Jawaharlal Nehrus time that the nucleus for a space programme started. It is befitting that on Childrens Day, celebrated in his honour, India should plant its flag on the lunar surface.” G. Madhavan Nair, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, celebrating the successful landing of Chandrayaan-I, Indias first unmanned moon mission satellite vehicle (November 14) “They attacked the luxury businessmens hotels. They attacked the open-air Cafe Leopold, where backpackers of the world refresh themselves with cheap beer out of three-foot-high towers before heading out into India. Their drunken revelry, their shameless flirting, must have offended the righteous believers in the jihad.” Suketu Mehta, author of Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found, on the November 26 terrorist attacks in Mumbai in The New York Times (November 29) “Where is Raj Thackeray and his brave Sena? Tell him that 200 NSG commandos from Delhi — no Marathi manoos, all south and north Indians — have been sent to Mumbai to fight the terrorists so that he can sleep peacefully. Please forward this so that it finally reaches the coward bully!” Mass circulated SMS on November 29

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The fifth India International Premiere Schools Conference (IIPSE) was staged at the ITC Sonar Bangla hotel in Kolkata on November 8. IIPSE mega school conferences are organised by the Kolkata-based Afairs Exhibitions and Media Pvt. Ltd, Indias leading organiser of education exhibitions and conventions.The full-day conference on the theme ‘Perceptions, Aspirations and Challenges in School Education, attracted over 250 trustees, principals, heads of schools, and teachers in Kolkata. Among the galaxy of educationists and institutional leaders who addressed the conference were: Ronny Gulati, co-founder of iDiscoveri Education; Mrs. Gowri Ishwaran, chief executive of Global Education and Leadership Foundation; Dr. Abhimanyu Acharya, renowned corporate trainer and education consultant; Sudhir Godke, director of Education Initiatives; Dr. Sunita Gandhi of City Montessori International School, Lucknow; Br. T.V. Mathew of Don Bosco Vocational Institute, Howrah and a member of National Council of Vocational Training, and Binita Sarkar, HRD director of the Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations, Delhi. This year the 5th IIPSE has already visited two prominent cities of India — Patna (November 15-16); Kolkata (November 22-25); and is scheduled to visit Ludhiana (December 13-14); Ahmedabad (February 14-15); Surat (February 21-22). An impressive line-up of day and boarding schools from across the country — Dehradun, Bangalore, New Delhi, Kolkata, Maharashtra, Jamshedpur, Rajasthan, Panipat, Madhupur, Udaipur, Kerala, Bhopal, Ranchi will be showcased at these venues, says Sanjiv Bolia, the Kolkata-based founder CEO of Afairs Exhibitions and Media Pvt. Ltd.

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Although meant to be a festive communication which celebrates Indias most inventive and innovative teachers, this end-of-the-year letter to EW readers is being written under the shadow of the terrorist outrage of November 26-28 in Mumbai, which claimed over 195 valuable lives and injured 295.Like many corporates, firms and families across the country, EducationWorld and your editor personally were not unaffected by this unimaginable tragedy. We suffered the loss of Rohinton Maloo, a member of our Board of Advisors and one of the most fervent supporters ab initio, of this publication. Low-profiled and understated, Rohinton (48) was a rare entrepreneur with many unheralded accomplishments. Apart from promoting a medium-sized advertising agency, he was the co-promoter of Media Scope, perhaps the largest media marketing company in the Middle East, which sells advertising space for most Indian newspapers and periodicals in that region, and also for several western media including Forbes and the Financial Times. Moreover it is arguable that he introduced Star TV and cable television to India. An information technology and communications wizard who was on the threshold of launching a television division for the holding company of this publication, this productive visionary was cruelly felled by assassins bullets at the Oberoi Trident on November 26 in the prime of his life — a great loss not only to his wife Nikki and children Nairaka (19) and Arshaan (13), but also to the Indian economy and society. The craft and role in society of teachers is not unconnected with such and other grim tragedies that millions of people across the country suffer on a daily basis, in a social order defined by deep inequalities and ubiquitous socio-economic injustice. Clearly, teachers play a crucial role in shaping the character of societies. Theirs is the onus of moulding and nurturing children and youth who will transform into values-driven, caring and compassionate citizens, committed to building an equitable society. But a pre-condition of such transformation is for the teachers community to inculcate the love of learning and creation of new knowledge in their students. In this issue we present the winners of the Tata Consultancy Services-EducationWorld Teachers Awards 2008 — the countrys most innovative teachers who are carving new paths to attain these objectives. And conversely, in our special report feature, we present a grim picture of the chronic and unconscionable neglect of vitally important primary education. Its a roadmap identifying the many hurdles and obstacles we have to cross and negotiate to provide a fair deal to the worlds largest child population.

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At an impressive ceremony staged at the Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Mumbai (DAIS) on November 7, University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) felicitated students of DAIS who topped CIEs IGCSE (class X) examinations in 2008. Jesika Haria achieved five ‘top in India subject awards plus a special award for scoring the highest marks in India in six IGCSE papers. Another DAIS student, Gaurang Vimal Poddar, was awarded the highest marks worldwide in CIEs physical education and mathematics papers.The success of DAIS students in the latest IGCSE examination is exceptional. The Cambridge IGCSE is Indias, and the worlds, most popular international examination for 14-16 year olds. The Cambridge philosophy is to develop syllabuses which allow students to become independent learners, and equip them with the skills to continue learning throughout their education and working life, said Ian Chambers, regional manager CIE, speaking on the occasion. Added Nita M. Ambani, chairperson of DAIS: Over the last three years our IGCSE students have delivered outstanding results. This year we have the distinction of a world topper in two subjects, four students scoring the highest aggregate across nine subjects nationally, and one adjudged the best student in India. At the heart of this remarkable feat is the exemplary devotion of our teachers, and the pivotal role that parents have played in contributing to the achievements of our children.

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A.M. Thimmiya has signed up with the Bangalore-based 24×7 Learning Solutions Pvt. Ltd, Indias premier talent lifecycle management company, as chief operating officer. In particular, he will head SkillBridge — the employability enhancement program, and AVAGMAH — the continuous learning initiative of the company. Thimmiya will also be involved with developing new growth strategies, and overall execution and delivery of the companys programmes.Prior to coming aboard 24×7 Learning, Thimmiya served as the senior vice president and global head of distance education at Manipal Education and held senior positions at Aptech Ltd, Modi Xerox and Microland. Thimmiyas addition to our management team will provide us the expertise to achieve superlative growth. His domain knowledge of the education sector and his successful track record of developing strong franchisee networks will play a key role in new strategic initiatives of 24×7 Learning, says K.S. Karthik, chief executive of the company. With its headquarters in Bangalore, 24×7 Learning has regional offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Pune. Among the companys marquee clients are: Aditya Birla Group, Accenture, Samsung, Larsen and Toubro, ONGC India, Barclays Bank, Dell, and Pepsico.

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Regrettably, the answer is no. Indian politics is feudal, driven by divisive agendas of caste, ethnicity and religion. It is also nepotistic, fuelled by ties of kinship. The political class has no ideology, except knee-jerk responses evoked by flawed and leftover notions of socialism, secularism and nonalignment. The system that has grown out of the cloud of an opaque democracy is chaotic and plutocratic. It exploits the twin sores of poverty and disparity. Politicians tend to be kleptomaniacs, who seek rents for providing governance by exception. Their supporters are primarily favour seekers, and in this ethical morass, conformity and sycophancy are valued over innovation and competence.The amorphous world of Indian politics is currently in focus because state elections are at hand. Driving around my assembly district, I see newly established offices of the Congress, the BJP and the BSP. Just one look into them and it becomes evident that they serve as hangouts for unemployed, uneducated youth, who sit around hoping for a handout of a few rupees to get them through the day. In sharp contrast, American campaign offices are a productive buzz of volunteers and party staffers, churning out voter lists, poll data and demographic profiles. Thus, Barack Obama came out of nowhere, a young mixed-race individual from a broken home, the son of an immigrant Kenyan father and a peripatetic white mother from Kansas. He has lived in Hawaii, Indonesia and midwest USA; attended the finest universities on the east coast and graduated with high honours in political science and law. He taught at the University of Chicago Law School and then spurned an academic career to become a community organiser in the citys impoverished and mostly black South Side. Over the years, he rose through the ranks of city and state politics to be elected a US senator in 2004. In 2007, he announced his candidacy for the presidency of the United States and launched a superb campaign focused on a message of change. He used information technology to build a network of support groups across the country and to raise funds in small denominations, accumulating the largest ever campaign treasury in the history of American presidential elections. He exudes coolness, compassion and an intellectual brilliance that won him not just votes but the deep admiration of youth, Latinos, women and black voters. Indeed Obama has fired the imagination of the whole world. As such, when he is sworn in on January 20, he will become Americas first global president. The stark contrast between the grass-roots operations and the political aspirations of the worlds two largest democracies speaks volumes of the difference in governance. In the US, governance tends to be positive and enlightened. Roads are well maintained; there is round-the-clock power and water (that you can drink straight from the tap). There are excellent government schools and well-stocked community libraries. Local governments operate and maintain parks and recreation services. They also provide a variety of social services for the aged and the handicapped, as also…

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If your child has high self-esteem, he has it made. Self-esteem is the mainspring that slates every child for success or failure as a human being — Dorothy BriggsNobody doubts that confidence is the prerequisite of success, especially in the sports world. The best physique and all the talent in the world wont do a sportsperson much good if she doesnt have confidence. Conversely, there are many examples of athletes with average physique and talent, whose self-confidence vaulted them into the halls of fame of their chosen sport. Self-confidence is the vital quality that all top sportspeople must possess. It is a reflection of our self-worth, and plays a large role in determining progress, success and happiness through life. A diffident individual suffers fear of failure, self doubt and poor concentration. Little wonder in parenting workshops all over the country, most parents ask me, How can I help my kid become a more confident player? My reply to them is that children dont acquire self-confidence from fancy pep talks, psychological string-pulling, or even from positive-thinking manuals. The flow of confidence comes from many tributaries. Three of the most important are competence, connect-edness, and control. Competence. Competence comes from developing and mastering skills. Sports and games offer great opportunities for developing life skills. Children involved with sports develop early self-esteem, interpersonal and intrapersonal skills, and usually, excellent leadership qualities. How can we help a child develop her competence? Children who actively and enthusiastically participate in track and field sports can quickly transform into leaders if they are: • Provided step-by-step learning for essential skills; • Advised to focus on ‘do-able parts of any challenge; • Encouraged to set personal goals; • Taught to motivate themselves; • Helped to value life skills; • Taught to appreciate and praise the performance of others. Connectedness. Every time your child successfully interacts with others, her confidence grows. Sports and games offer myriad opportunities to form groups and teams, develop leadership and team-building skills, and nurture team spirit. However, kids are often hesitant to reach out. You can help by suggesting non-threatening ways for your child to interact with others — such as offering to take the team out for ice cream or pizzas after a game, or car-pooling with team members for practice. Control. It is generally accepted that thinking and sentiment influence performance and behaviour on games fields and sports arenas. Positive thinking leads to better performance while negativity can adversely impact performance outcomes. It is hard, however, for a child to feel confident and positive when she has little or no control over whats happening around her. Its natural for children to experience anxiety or anger in tense situations and lose self-control. You need to help your child understand that while she cant always control situations, she can exercise control over her reactions in complex or difficult situations. Self-control is the best control. Therefore parents must consciously teach children to manage their emotions. How do you teach children self-control? one way is to…

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