tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212356.post113685896343905865..comments2023-11-19T00:42:48.156-08:00Comments on balancing life: And how do teachers become accountable?Sunilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07776658071546232685noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212356.post-69102668691274722032008-02-14T04:15:00.000-08:002008-02-14T04:15:00.000-08:00I had my first headhunt in the curikudos job fair ...I had my first <A HREF="http://www.jobbi.com/zip_search.php" REL="nofollow">headhunt</A> in the curikudos job fair held in 2006. And now i think its time to switch over. Can some one let me know when the job fair starts againAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212356.post-1137821421847714812006-01-20T21:30:00.000-08:002006-01-20T21:30:00.000-08:00Arnab, yes I think Sunil is quite right about the ...Arnab, yes I think Sunil is quite right about the salaries govt teachers are paid, especially those with some seniority. My mother is a retired teacher. There are smaller, primary schools that pay less, and this is where most of the problems seem to lie. I don't have any proof of this, but I think the job markets really opening up in many sectors has left the education in a really unenviable position w.r.t attracting sincere, let alone talented, people. Teaching is often the last career option. <BR/><BR/>I would still say though, given what I have seen, that urban and semi-urban areas are still okay - not to say they're great. The remote areas are altogether different. I've heard from people I know quite well, that people actually pay bribes to get a job in such schools (I'm talking about southern Orissa specifically). They do little or no teaching, in fact hardly go to the school and so have free time to pursue other things.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212356.post-1137337205141886252006-01-15T07:00:00.000-08:002006-01-15T07:00:00.000-08:00Give the responsibility of the school to the villa...Give the responsibility of the school to the village, not to some state bureaucrat sitting in the state capital.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212356.post-1137171388190285162006-01-13T08:56:00.000-08:002006-01-13T08:56:00.000-08:00Thanks for the comments, all.Bombayite.....the que...Thanks for the comments, all.<BR/><BR/>Bombayite.....the question is....why should the role of the government in education be completely superseded by private institutions or private charity? There is a role for charity in this world. And private institutions should be free to ply their trade. But there's no guarantee that their schools will support the education of all, especially the poor. There should be at least a decently good education for all, especially the poor (who cannot afford it). And every "developed" country in the world (the US included) has managed that with decent public schools. <BR/><BR/>Frog....you ask "How does their being election poll officials help them wield power". <BR/>In three ways. 1) Since they control the booth, if they are aligned with any particular party, they allow "booth capturing" by that party. 2) They can enable "vote stuffing", of voters absent. 3) They can actively prevent voters of known ideology (if against the party of their own choice) from voting. There are other ways too when they can influence elections. Because of this they are heavily courted by grassroots politicians. They're also important people in village politics because of this.<BR/>At the college level....you're sometimes right. There are many good teachers in govt colleges (i went to one myself).....but the system has been changed substantially there.<BR/><BR/>Michael.......i liked the way you put the comment through. But about apathetic parents.....sometimes, it cant be helped. The parents often are themselves illiterate, and have never even been inside a school. They have no idea what an education is. So, how do you think they can all be involved, and helpful? You're bang on target about local control. True for many things......a big top-down approach rarely works.<BR/><BR/>Srikanth......Digvijay Singh had many merits as well as demerits. But he did try to reform the educational sector. During his time, the teacher absentee rate in MP dropped (from being amongst the worst in the country, to actually the best in the country, with a 10-12% absentee rate). But his measures were extremely unpopular with the teachers. The MP teachers union directly opposed him. Singh blames them for his loss in the elections. <BR/><BR/>I don't know how much of that is true.Sunilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07776658071546232685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212356.post-1137113141704309372006-01-12T16:45:00.000-08:002006-01-12T16:45:00.000-08:00Sunil,A few years back, the Digvijay Singh governm...Sunil,<BR/><BR/>A few years back, the Digvijay Singh government in MP introduced an innovative schooling policy called <A HREF="http://www.fundaschool.org/html/toi_oct25.html" REL="nofollow">Education Guarantee System</A>. This seems to try to address the concerns you have brought up.<BR/><BR/>I do not know what has come of this scheme, now that the government has changed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212356.post-1137101194673778362006-01-12T13:26:00.000-08:002006-01-12T13:26:00.000-08:00Hi SunilI the Indian education system is what ever...Hi Sunil<BR/>I the Indian education system is what every conservative dreams of and every liberal dreads. It is a system where there are lots of excellent private schools competing for the opportunity to teach the children of the most motivated parents. <BR/><BR/>But it is also a place where public schooling has more or less collapsed. Support from the middle and upper classes is poor because they send their children to the private schools. <BR/><BR/>I believe schools tend to reflect the preferences of the parents of the children. If the parents are somewhat apathetic, the school will get fat and lazy. If the parents are very concerned, the school has to respond to that concern. But that does not mean that if the school is fat and lazy that there are no concerned parents. There are always some concerned parents.<BR/><BR/>I believe that public schooling works best when the funding and the control is local. Then the parents get more involved and they have the power to get rid of a lazy school administration. But if most parents send their kids to private schools, it will be hard to muster public support for change.Michael Higginshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05034249281790021336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212356.post-1137033227074270682006-01-11T18:33:00.000-08:002006-01-11T18:33:00.000-08:00How does their being election poll officials help ...How does their being election poll officials help them wield power?<BR/><BR/> Now I think the government college faculty members often do a much better job than private school teachers at least in the plus two/pre-degree level. The fact that parents who are pushy about their children send their children to private schools, the fact that private schools being result oriented insist on homeworks ( something American schools are quite strict in implementing ) etc. might contribute to private schools faring better.froginthewellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13065929662806737682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212356.post-1137021605647154292006-01-11T15:20:00.000-08:002006-01-11T15:20:00.000-08:00Hi Sunil, Have been a regular lurker here for a ...Hi Sunil,<BR/> Have been a regular lurker here for a while, love your blog. Education is the one thing which can, I believe, save India. You raise important points and to my mind the PTA option is one way to improve public schools. The other thing is as the middle-class grows and more and more private schools are opened - due to increasing buying power, the reliance on public schools will hopefully come down. Also I think, the big business houses in India, Tata, Birla, Ambanis etc. should do their charity in this sector and open free schools for poor & unpriveleged children. Actually it would be both enlightened and selfish charity because by giving a good education you are ensuring that these kids become productive members of society and thus hopefully more consumers for your goods. It is my dream to back home and open at least one free school. :)Bombayitehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04438522075510424968noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212356.post-1136908576574665232006-01-10T07:56:00.000-08:002006-01-10T07:56:00.000-08:00Arnab.....if i have time this evening, i'll dig up...Arnab.....if i have time this evening, i'll dig up some refs. But i've met many many govt teachers on site visits (and also know some directly through family) and the starting salary is ~Rs 7000, which becomes Rs 10000 pretty quickly.<BR/><BR/>Also, <A HREF="http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=6&tid=18238" REL="nofollow">here's</A> a link to the report on teacher absenteeism in India.<BR/><BR/>Apu....yes....there are many little pockets where such schemes have been implemented. But there's a fair bit of resistance to implement this elsewhere.Sunilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07776658071546232685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212356.post-1136866042558450192006-01-09T20:07:00.000-08:002006-01-09T20:07:00.000-08:00I know government school teachers in TN get paid a...I know government school teachers in TN get paid atleast that much. Plus factor in a lifetime pension, and you know why a teacher's job in the government is so attractive. <BR/><BR/>Sunil, I saw a programme on NDTV which featured something similar to what you mentioned - a vilage in Nagaland PTA that has got together to monitor the school, with the involvement going to the extent of the more educated parents even volunteering teaching/helping time...Apparently its working very well. The question is, how well can such things be replicated on a larger scale....apuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07806361192017548240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212356.post-1136864974035711292006-01-09T19:49:00.000-08:002006-01-09T19:49:00.000-08:00Sunil,As far as the third goes, actually governmen...Sunil,<BR/><I><BR/>As far as the third goes, actually government teachers are rather well paid. A teacher can expect to earn about Rs. 10000 a month, with some additional perks. <BR/></I><BR/>I was rather surprised.Govt school teachers getting 10,000 a month ? I would think that school teachers (and I know only of West Bengal) get far less. But since you say so, I am not sure. Do you have any source for this figure?greatbonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05095742894399841700noreply@blogger.com