Branding Your Company: How To Choose The Right Business Name

January 18th, 2010 admin

It’s surprising that a lot of business owners have never had proper branding done for their businesses. Starting with their company name. Many simply name their companies after themselves (ex. John’s Accounting Service, THM Enterprises, etc.) or just a name that they pull out of the air. What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet. Right?…Wrong! Not if we called it a stinkweed!

Your company name is everything. It’s a crucial part of your marketing and your brand. At the mere mention of your business’s name, clients and prospective clients should experience an emotional reaction. Your business name serves as an emotional anchor for your brand. So it should not be taken lightly. It’s ideal if your company name tells people what you do. Unlike the home improvement company that we came across named XRM Technologies. They actually install gutters, windows and vinyl siding believe it or not.

So how do you come up with the right name for your company? For our clients, we use an exercise that we call the ‘name game’. Here’s how you “play it”. On a piece of paper, draw a line down the middle of the page, dividing the page into two columns. On the left side of the page, write down all of the problems or “pain points” that your prospect feels. I mean everything (ex. They have bad credit, can’t get credit cards, can’t get loans, have to pay higher interest rates, can’t get a mortgage or car loan, have to pay cash for everything, are embarrassed by their bad credit, etc.). Be very thorough and leave nothing out.

Next, on the right side of the page, write all of the solutions to the problems and “pain points”. For example: problem – they have bad credit; solution– raise their credit score to a good score; problem – they are embarrassed by their bad credit; solution – instill in them a sense of pride from having an improved credit score. After you finish listing all of the solutions to the problems, look at all of your solution words and phrases and then piece them together to come up different names for your business.

So, a real estate management company could be ‘Worry Free Property Management”. A florist could be ‘Last Minute Florists’. A dentist could be ‘Your Beautiful Smile Dental’. An insurance agency could be ‘Peace Of Mind Financial Services’. A fitness center could be “New You Fitness’. A green janitorial company could be ‘Clean, Quick & Green Janitorial’. A home improvement company could be ‘24 Hour Windows & Doors’. You get the idea. From your list, choose 6 – 10 of your best choices. Write them down on a piece of paper in column formation.

Lastly, you want to do some surveys. Go to the local mall, bookstore or whatever place your industry prospects gather (the business district at lunchtime, supermarkets, seminars, hardware stores, hospitals, etc.) and get their input on your name selections. Perform at least 10 – 20 surveys. Tell them what you want your prospective customers to feel and think when they hear your company name (ex. trust your company, be relaxed, be excited, laugh, want to make money, become hungry, want to eat healthily, etc.). Ask them to listen to your choices and rank them each from 1 to 10 (1 being the worst and 10 being the best). Lastly, ask them if they didn’t like your name selections, are there any names that they’d recommend. This is powerful because your actual market tells you the name that appeals to them the most.

The outcome of the ‘name game’ is a business name that appeals directly to your market. You effectively eliminate the possibility of having a non-compelling name that simply sounds catchy or flashy. Instead, you get a name that when your prospective and existing clients speak it, it instantly solves their problems.

Direct Mail Marketing for Your Miami FL Business

January 15th, 2010 admin

direct mailDirect mail marketing can do a lot to expand the customer base and increase the profits of your Miami FL business. Direct mail advertising is very popular among businesses today because it has been proven to be very effective in putting a message across to a target audience and getting results. It is both versatile and measurable, with a higher return on investment (ROI) as compared to other advertising methods.

Before you start your direct mail advertising and marketing campaign, identify your business objective clearly. Is your main goal to attract more new customers, or are you more interested in making your existing customers buy more of your products? Knowing your target will streamline your campaign design and will make it more effective. It will also make the campaign more measurable. Having such focused campaigns also mean more savings since results are more defined and attainable.

Campaign messages that are more personal have been found to be much more effective among consumers and are less likely to be perceived as junk mail. Personalize your letters to reduce the chances of having them thrown away as garbage.

Let your audience know why you are better than all your competitors. Clearly state the benefits they can get from your products or services, and why these are superior. Do not, however, sound pompous.

Give incentives to your target audience in the form of a discount or a free item as a gift. This is effective in attracting new customers to give your products or services a try. It is also a good way to reward existing customers for their loyalty and reinforce their support for your business.

Finally, do not forget to put in all your contact numbers by phone, fax or email, as well as your physical business address. Not only does this show credibility but you also need to provide all possible means for your target market to get in touch with you in order to convert all that interest into actual sales.

To be effective, a direct mail marketing campaign needs repetition. You do not just send one batch of mail and expect instant results. You need to design a sustained mailing campaign, with each batch having a specific goal. Because of this, a direct mail marketing campaign can be very labor intensive even if it just covers the Miami FL area. You will definitely need the help of a professional mailing services company and not just postal services. Remember that you will be doing business mailings by bulk mail. Simple addressing and envelope stuffing can take expensive man hours when they need to be done by the hundreds or thousands. It would be much more cost effective to hire a mail house with complete mailing services, including presort services and other fulfillment services.DirectMail

Mailing services may include catalog mailing; addressing envelopes or other mail material by ink jet printing or by affixing address labels by hand; collating and folding material and stuffing them into envelopes, plastic bags or boxes; sealing envelopes, plastic bags or boxes; and presorting them into bundles before delivery to the post office. Presort services are necessary for volume mailings as presorting is then required by the post office.

Other fulfillment services would include affixing additional business cards, labels, magnets, stickers, seals or notes to mail; more complicated manual assembly involving hand folding, gluing and rubber stamping; hand-sorting; and handling irregular packaging. It could also cover individualized check distribution;  customized shipping; inventory management with customized reporting; and personalized attention for special projects.

To ensure the success of your direct mail marketing campaign for your Miami FL business, make sure you get the right mail house company as your partner.

International Virtual Office: Grow Your Business Globally

January 13th, 2010 admin

GlobalbusinessA virtual office can be stated as a blend of both off-site live communication and address services that permit the users to reduce the cost of traditional office while maintaining business professionalism at the same time. A virtual office can escape all expenses of a traditional office. The concept of virtual office evolved from the old maildrop and executive suites industry, but due to its inflexibility it did not work well with various business models. This has actually spurred various companies to offer international virtual office services that maintain the image of a traditional, expensive office.

An international virtual office may actually facilitate your business to grow and by establishing such a presence you will cherish a physical office address containing an international flavor. It is to be kept in mind that you can be located anywhere in the world, own a citizenship of any country, and yet enjoy having an office anywhere in the world. An international virtual office will not only create an effective presence in the professional environment but will also add credibility to your business.

While selecting a service provider you need to be very careful as it plays an integral role in the progress and development of the business. With a professional virtual office you can easily manage your emails, meetings contacts; documents, etc form any computer over an internet connection and a web browser. Some types of virtual offices help you to share your data efficiently in the context of work and provides all the facility to run a home based business or a company wanting to achieve business goals. Virtual offices offer offices and suites of varying sizes and combinations that are suitable accordingly to your business needs and have the flexibility of expanding the base when required. A perfectly located virtual office can provide you with all amenities that an actual office will provide you.

A virtual office is equipped with all the modern business amenities that offer a flexible and attractive office accommodation to add a professional look to your business. International virtual office service providers enable you to be perceived to be an established and large organization that can do business globally.

Steps in Setting-Up a Home-Based Business and Using Small Business Loans from Credit Card Services

January 12th, 2010 admin

Setting up a home-based business may be a more cost-effective alternative to setting up a major company, but it may still drain the limited home businessresources of a small business owner. To keep the business going, small business loans will definitely be necessary. These can be availed of through credit card services. This article will show you how.

First, you need to set up your home based business. Do your research on the type of business you want to establish. Find out what licensing and zoning requirements you need to meet and ensure that you meet them all. Do not attempt to cut corners here.

Get the services of an accountant, even if only on a consultancy basis, to help you set up your books and records correctly from the start. Ask for help in determining deductions so that you can plan on your business expenses. Establish a routine for keeping strict records of all income and expenses right from day one. Keep all business related receipts, invoices, client records, bank statements, bank deposit slips and canceled checks.

Being home-based, you need to set aside a particular place in your home just for your business. Make sure it can accommodate all the necessary equipment. Check that you have the appropriate electrical outlets and have them installed if needed to avoid overloading your system. Set up rules to keep the area insulated from household noise and disturbances.

Have a business phone installed that is separate from your residential line. Avoid having your children answer the business line. Install an answering machine to take calls when you are out or occupied.

Get a post office box so that you can use that address in your official stationery and other documents, keeping your business profile professional. Hold client meetings in rented conference rooms or set business meetings in good restaurants.

One of the most important steps in setting up your home-based business is to acquire credit card services that will enable you to accept credit card payments and debit card payments. These credit card services provide all the necessary software and hardware for you to be able to process payments in person, online or by phone. This step alone already expands the customer base that you can access.

Credit card services will also serve you well once your home-based business begins to feel the need for additional capital. When you need to get small business loans, you will not have to approach banks which are most likely not sympathetic to small home-based businesses.

home-businessThe need for small business loans usually comes when the home-based business is already at least a year old. At such time, your home-based business would have created an average monthly credit card sales record with your credit card services company. You can refer to that when you approach your credit card services company for small business loans, sometimes called cash advances.

Credit card services do offer small business loans to their clients based on average monthly credit card sales, without the need for any collateral. The aforementioned average monthly credit card sales guarantee your company’s capability to pay the small business loans. Payments will be automatically deducted as a percentage of future credit card sales. This arrangement frees you from worrying about the amortization for your small business loans, too.

As soon as you pay up your small business loans completely, you are automatically eligible for new small business loans for as long as your home-based business is getting a good monthly average in credit card sales. With the help of credit card services, you can continue to expand and grow your home-based business.

Scs and Sts: Educational Realization

January 12th, 2010 admin

The world of today, by and large, is comparatively a rapidly changing one and the changes have been in a variety of directions. Not long ago society was through of as a reality sub-generis far beyond the control of individuals to change it –and education as a process of inducting new entrants into society. The idea that societies can be changed and, that too, education can be vital instrument of social transformation is increasingly felt. Geared to the preservation and perpetuation of tradition in the past, education is now being used to bring about social transformation in a large scale. This represents a kind of dilemma in respect of the social role of education in traditional societies.

Ignoring this dilemma, many social scientists today re inclined to believe that education is a powerful instrument of social transformation. The prevailing opinion in circles of social science is that education is an agency of modernization. It is argued that education promotes modernity in many ways but chiefly in two: (i) by sharpening the “critical awareness” of the people about the social structure in which they are placed, and (ii) by changing the consciousness of the people in a direction congruent with the dominant value of our age-rationality-which is also the mainspring of modernity. Following this reasoning, there has come up an impressive body of literature in recent years of documenting the impact of schooling on individual modernity in developing societies. The profound social changes that India has witnessed in the last few decades or so have affected its entire population, yet in some sections of its society their impact has been much more marked than in others.

Education is the key to development of any community. It can broaden the world view of the people, equipping them to meet the present day challenges. Education can be an input to their development. It can also build up inner strength of the people. Almost all studies have emphasized the importance of education in the development of the people. Ignorance is the biggest reason for weakness and knowledge is power. In the development effort, education has a pride of place in the priorities of the people. This is particularly so when the two systems of unequal strength come in contact. Education brings knowledge to he community and keeps in acquiring a new strength to enable it to face the new challenges which naturally come by when the process of change unfold unforeseen forces.

The role of education as an investment in human resources has been increasingly recognized all over the underdeveloped and developed countries. Education has special significance for the weaker sections of society, which are facing a new situation in the development process to adjust themselves properly to the changing circumstances. For them, education is an input not only for their economic development, but also for promoting in them self-confidence and inner strength to face the new challenges.

This position SC/ST education critically examines the contemporary reality of schooling of children belonging to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities who have been historically excluded from formal education – the former due to their oppression under caste feudal society and the latter due to their spatial isolation and cultural difference and subsequent marginalization by dominant society. There are thus sharp differences between these two categories of population in terms of socio-economic location and the nature of disabilities. However, there is also growing common ground today in terms of conditions of economic exploitation and social discrimination that arise out of the impact of iniquitous development process. Concomitantly, the categories themselves are far from homogenous in terms of class, region, religion and gender and what we face today is an intricately complex reality. Bearing this in mind this paper attempts to provide a contextualized understanding of the field situation of the education of SC/ST children and issues and problems that directly or indirectly have a bearing on their future educational prospects.

The educational effort so far as the SC and ST communities are concerned has to be somewhat different than for the general areas. In case of advanced groups and areas, demand for education is already there. Establishment of an educational institution itself is sufficient to attract the children from the advanced communities because their parents are interested in their education. This is not the case with the poorer section of the community. The message has as yet not reached the more backward rural and tribal areas where the citizen is still not very much aware about the practical utility of education. Thus, a number of socio-economic factors are coming in the way of members of SC and STs in sending their children to schools. In many cases, it is sheer economic hardship. Therefore, the universal educational programmes at the elementary stage in the case of these communities have to be much more than mere opening up of educational institutions. The students belonging to these communities may have to be provided with free textbooks, mid-day meals, and in the case of girls, even a pair of uniform. As the children grow, they become economic assets to the family. It may be necessary, therefore, that they are provided suitable scholarships and stipends in higher classes. It has to be ensured that if we cannot compensate the family, at least education should not be a burden on a poor family. In the case of tribal areas, it may be necessary that at middle school and high school levels adequate hostel facilities are also provided, as an institutional network itself will not be of much help. It is commonly observed that in some tribal areas much of the institutional capacity remains under-utilized.

Special state institutions were set up for the advancement of SC/ST and various legislations, social policies and programmes were drafted which were geared to their economic and political development and achievement of equal social status. It has been difficult however, to identify these categories in terms of criteria laid down by the state. The ‘problem’ of the scheduled tribes has been a vexed one, given the various levels of social and cultural distance and varying degrees of voluntary or forced assimilation exploitation and/or displacement. In fact, it has been pointed out by Galanter that just where the line between Scheduled Tribes and non-Scheduled Tribes is to be drawn has not been clear. There are problems of overlap with caste and controversy whether a specific group is more appropriately classified as a ST or SC. Policy however treats the SC and ST groups homogenously. Moreover it rests largely on the assumption that mainstreaming is progress, while paying lip service to preserve distinctive cultures, especially of tribals who are coerced into assimilation.

Education was perceived as crucial to processes of planned change. It was seen as the key instrument for bringing about a social order based on value of equality and social justice. Expansion and democratization of the education system was sought, the two primary egalitarian goals of which were the universalisation of elementary education and the educational “upliftment” of disadvantaged groups. The State’s special promotional efforts have undoubtedly resulted in educational progress for the SC/ST especially in regions where policy implementation combined with the dynamism of reform, and most crucially with anticaste, dalit, tribal and religious conversion movements.

The last two decades have spelt the decline of the Welfare State under the powerful impact of global economic forces and neo-liberal economic policies. The egalitarian ethic underlying planned change and development is being rapidly decimated. The ideology of the Indian State’s New Economic Policy emphasizes the pre-eminence of markets and profits. In the context of an elite directed consensus on the inevitability of liberalization and structural adjustment, the predominant problems and debates of education have undergone major shifts. Structural adjustment have provided the legitimacy and impetus for a number of educational reforms that pose a direct threat to the mission of universalizing elementary education and equalizing educational opportunity for SC/ST, especially those left behind. The state is withdrawing from social sectors of education and health and delegating its social commitments and responsibilities to private agencies and non-governmental organizations. There is already enough indication that basic educational needs of the SC and ST are getting seriously undermined under the new dispensation adversely affecting life chances of vast sections of those who have yet to make the shift to first generation learning.

Urban migration, education, occupational change and religious conversion have been pursued by the scheduled castes as key strategies of socio-economic emancipation, status change and acquisition of a new social identity. They have achieved varying degrees of success. Anti caste and dalit movements have provided the bases for political consciousness and assertions of new self-consciousness and new self-respecting collective identities grounded in both moderate-reformist and radical ideologies. Contemporarily, the rigours of pollution, social practices of untouchability and social relations of servility vary greatly in different parts of the country. The widespread upsurge of atrocity signifies continued caste based oppression. Caste and occupation were closely interlinked in the traditional socio-economic order, and the lowest manual and menial occupations were reserved for the SC. The link has gradually been broken but not completely. There have been shifts to caste free occupations. Changes took place with the arrival of new opportunities in rural employment and petty business as well as through education based occupational and social mobility in rural and urban contexts. However, economic exploitation and economic disadvantage and continued concentration in menial occupations continue to sustain and reinforce the degraded social position of the majority of the SC. Rural SC are predominantly landless and impoverished agricultural labour. Women are multiply subordinated.

By modernization is meant a process of long range social and cultural change, often regarded as leading to the progressive development of society. It is a multifaceted development specifically leading to the industrialization of economy, and increase in the geographic and social mobility and, the secularization of ideas, which give rise to secular, scientific and technical education. It also means a change from ascribed to achieved status and a higher standard of living. Thus, modernization is a question of changes in the social structure, norms and value orientations, and as such it demands certain norms and value orientations, and as such it demands certain adoptive devices. As a consequent of this modernization SC and STs are egger to adopt the new trends of modern culture which is possible only by the modern education.

State Provision for Education of SC and ST and Recent Trends in Their Educational Progress

State commitment to the education of SC/ST children is contained in Articles 15(4), 45 and 46 of the Indian Constitution. Article 15(4) underscores the state’s basic commitment to positive discrimination in favour of the socially and educationally backward classes and/or the SC and ST. Article 45 declares the state’s endeavour to provide free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of 14 years. Article 46 expresses the specific aim to promote with special care the educational and economic interests of SC/ST.

In its effort to offset educational and socio-historical disadvantage, the Indian state conceived a range of enabling provisions that would facilitate access to and ensure retention of SC and ST children in school. In the initial Five Year Plans, the focus was on making available basic educational facilities such as schools especially in remote areas and providing scholarships and books. Both Central and State governments took up the responsibility of special educational provision. The scope of enabling interventions expanded considerably after the Fourth Five Year Plan.

Special schemes pertaining to school education of SC/ST children currently include: i) free supply of textbooks and stationery at all stages of school education ii) free uniforms to children in govt. approved hostels and Ashrams schools, and in some states also for children in regular schools; iii) free education at all levels; iv) pre-matric stipends and scholarships to students at middle and/or high school stage; v) special scheme of pre-matric scholarships for children of castes and families engaged in unclean occupations like scavenging, tanning and flaying of animal skin; vi) girls and boys hostels for SC/ST students and lodging facilities in hostels of backward classes including SC/ST; vii) ashram schools for tribal children started with the intention of overcoming the difficulties of provision in remote regions and also rather patronizingly to provide an environment “educationally more conducive” than the tribal habitat. In addition, several states have instituted schemes such as scholarships to SC students studying in private schools, merit scholarships, attendance scholarships for girls, special school attendance prizes, remedial coaching classes, reimbursement of excursion expenses and provision of mid-day meals. The last has been recommended as an integral element in schooling by the Working group on Development and Welfare of the Scheduled Castes.

Conclusion:

Education has always been considered an instrument of social change. In present day society education has been considered a sound economic investment and that is the reason why in all the developed and developing societies greater attention is being paid to education. The role of education is to transform a static society into one vibrant with a commitment to development and change.

In out national perception, education is essential for all. This is fundamental to our all round development such as material, psychological, spiritual and so on. Obviously, it implies that education of the Scheduled Tribes is fundamental to the development of the people of this area, and hence, it is essential for them also. Education is a potent agent not only for the social and psychological changes but it may influence productivity and economic development also, and, that is the reason why, for the last few years in the literature on development there has been much talk about the relationship between education and economic development and about education as investment. Educational will also help in the socialization of a child, and the development of the human personality, social mobility, occupational change, and the rise of professions. Education is not only a means of adjustment into the society and all round development, but it is also an end in itself. Education affords protection of life. In addition to its relation with moral values, it is closely associated with socio-economic development. Education is, therefore, very significant for the development of a country and in spite of having many severe problems, the developing countries provide high priority to education. India is, undoubtedly, one among them.

Revolution and Evolution in Educational System

January 11th, 2010 admin

revolutionWHAT IS EDUCATION AND SOCIETY:

Education provides the man with information, imagination, knowledge, ideas, values, ethics, reasoning and over all makes the man complete man. Education brings refinement, adds to intelligence, and makes independent and confident man. It is only the human beings who can get armed and equipped with education, which is missing in animals. Education does not mean only reading and writing but also thinking, learning, reasoning, practical experiences and so on. Education is a learning process from cradle to grave. It is education that has brought out many changes in this world and transformed the entire civilization since time immemorial. Ariel and Will Durant quoted, “Education is the transmission of civilization”.

The growth of society solely depends on the type of educational system adopted. Education makes tremendous impact on the society. The quality of the society depends on the quality of educational system implemented. Some one correctly said, “Better institutions are essential if we are to lead better lives”. Right education makes the people build character, values, ethics, and prepares the society and country as a whole to catch up with the rest of the world. Right education is the legacy or the gift, which we pass on to our next generations. George Peabody said, “Education: a debt due from present to future generations”.

EFFECTS OF EDUCATION ON SOCIETY:

Kerala is the first state in India, which attained cent per cent literacy. It encouraged other states to contribute their best so as to attain total literacy. Rather Kerala has become a model state and ideal state to be emulated by the rest of the country in providing importance to education.

No nation can develop without proper education. And India too developed as a society and as a nation for the last 60 years. India has now vast human resources and it has the thirst highest technical manpower in the world. Although the effects of education in the society are tremendous, yet there are grey areas, which needs to be addressed. India as a nation has developed politically, culturally, economically and socially but yet much needs to be focussed in a right direction.

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”, said Nelson Mandela. It is very obvious that no weapon is superior to education. Apart from education, the influence of technology has brought out significant changes in the society. If technology is used in the right direction and if it is coupled with education, we can expect miracles in the society as a whole.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

“Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if you don’t”, said Pete Seeger. All human beings make many mistakes resulting in bitter and, of course, experience. If an individual is educated, he knows the things because he reads the fine print. He tends to make a few mistakes in his life. Where as if an individual is not educated he tends to make more mistakes because he does not know the fine print. An uneducated individual believes in trial or error method. If he succeeds in his trial, he pursues or else he drops. The uneducated man mostly believes in observation and practical knowledge. The success rate is far higher in educated man rather in an uneducated man. Education brings down the complexities in one’s life thereby making life easier, simpler and comfortable. John Dewey rightly said, “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself”.

PROBLEMS IN PRESENT EDUCATION:

India is the second largest populated country in the world and unfortunately it is nowhere near in number qualitatively. It may be again due to huge population and the type of administrative and political system we have. There is stress on cramming, memory and mugging up. One who mugs up and puts in examination paper is treated as a meritorious candidate. It does not encourage imagination, creativity and originality. There is no effective emphasis on practical aspects of life. It is mostly beset with theoretical aspects and concepts, which any one can read even without going to institutions.

School children are loaded with many books and they find it highly stressful. Education, in fact, should be filled with entertainment and fun so that student can discover the joy of learning, which is missing now. Children find it horrible to go to schools because of too much of study. Even at home children engage themselves so much on school homework. Such things do not promote the relations between parent and child at home. Inadequate infrastructure and inexperienced teaching staff are another bane. Unfortunately, in India, both the primary and secondary level education is still struggling to survive qualitatively. The views and opinions of the students are not being respected. Students are always imposed whatever is there in the textbooks resulting in lack of imagination and innovation. R W Emerson rightly said, “The secret in education lies in respecting the student”. Only when students are respected and valued, they will try to think creatively, innovatively and out of the box. Students should be provided with more freedom of thought.

It is very unfortunate that the teachers are not paid handsomely. Best brains are pursuing other careers for monetary benefits and for better prospectus. It is a pity that those who stick to teaching profession either due to their aptitude and taste and temperament towards teaching or because there is no other alternative (TINA factor) career.

Pandit Nehru’s policies and Kothari commission have brought some significant changes in the education but still there is no healthy and constructive impact. There is commercialization of education, and a few fly by night operators entered into this sacred field and spoiled the standards.

TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES TO OVERCOME:

Teaching faculty must undergo regular training to update and upgrade their skills and abilities. Encouraging regular workshops or seminars or evolutioncourses related to teaching methodologies can enhance and sharpen their skills. Such seminars will encourage the teaching faculty to exchange and gather more information.

“He who opens a school door, closes a prison”, Victor Hugo. Children from the age of 6 to 14 are to be admitted in schools to provide education, as this is the best age to tune them for creating interest in education. Child labor has been abolished but unfortunately it is not enforced effectively. Children should be encouraged by various innovative ways and means to get into educational institutions.

Content and curriculum in the educational system needs to be addressed. Streamlining the educational system on national basis from Kashmir to Kanyakumari will raise the educational standards. There are disparities in the educational system in various states and efforts must be made to fill those gaps.

Govt. levies 2 per cent educational cess and authorities must ensure that the funds go in a right direction to create strong educational infrastructure. Nobody is against the levy of 2 per cent cess but the right application and mobilization of the resources will bring right results rapidly.

Focussing more on vocational education is the need of the hour. Presently there is a vast gap between industry and academics. Infosys has come out with ‘Campus Connect’ initiative to bridge the gap between the industry and academics and it is a step in right direction. The corporate leaders have a vital role in funding the educational system. They make money for themselves, pay handsome salaries to their employees and paying dividends to their shareholders and all the people who are involved in the business are earning one way or the other. But what are they contributing for the education and society? It is a well admitted fact that the helping hands are far better than praying lips. Corporate, whether big or small, can wholeheartedly come forward to contribute their best for bringing Indian educational system on par with global standards.

It is essential to bring reforms in education from time to time as the tools and techniques involved in teaching are changing rapidly due to the influence of technology.

For professional qualifications like engineering, management, medicine, computers etc., the students should be engaged in the practical education and project works from the first year itself. Such activities will build more confidence in the minds of the students as they grasp the needs of the industry and thereby fine-tuning as per the industry expectations. Fee structure needs to be rationalized and the deserving students should be provided with scholarships.

Providing interest free educational loans will help the deserving and poor students. Also, it is desirable to encourage non-professional degree holders to get vocationalized. “Education is not filling a pail, but the lighting of a fire”, said William Butler Yeats. Education must ignite the minds of the students and it must move the students from comfort zone to effective zone. The students in the comfort zone will not achieve as much as that of in effective zone.

CONCLUSION:

There is a strong need to streamline the present educational system. The problems in the educational system need to be addressed immediately. Education should focus on ethical, social, vocational and academic aspects. Education builds man and man in turn builds nation. A strong nation can be built only when there is a strong character education. Abraham Lincoln aptly said, “Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing”. Hence the essence of any education is the strong character. The evolutionary approaches and revolutionary changes in the present educational system are the need of the hour. We must build a nation where youngsters have a vision to think beyond their geographical boundaries. There should be scope for the students to expand intellect, reinforce mind and make them to stand on their own feet.

Curricular Changes in Teacher Education

January 11th, 2010 admin

Curricular Changes in Teacher Education

India is a developing country. We have thousand years of Tradition and Culture. Different types of people are living in India. In olden days the educational institutions were called as ‘Ashramam’ and teacher was called as ‘Guru’. Guru is a respectable person in the society after mother and father. According to our Vedas Guru is a third God. In olden days they were given importance for shravana, Dhyana and Asana. All types of information are there in Vedas. Yoga is a greatest gift of India to the world. Yoga has its origin in the Vedas, texts that were heard by ancient sages in their state of meditation, and hence are known as srutis. The great sage Vyasa organized the Vedas in a systematic manner. Hence he is known as Veda Vyasa.

Now we are living in the technological world. Vast changes are occurring in day to day life of human being. The effect of Television, Telephone, Radio, Computer, Internet and Mobile is very much in our daily life. Even today also teacher is a role model for the students in the society. Teaching profession is a respectable job in the society. But there are enormous changes were occurred in the system of education.

Western culture is increased. Because of globalization we see everything in the form of commercial. But it is not good. Teacher is a nation builder. The development of any country depends upon its educational system. Any type of development is possible through education.

The concept of curriculum can be perceived as a connective link between teacher and student, organized in such a way to achieve goals previously set by the teacher, the learning organization or by the curriculum specialists.

Curriculum is a means to the education. While education is learning, curriculum signifies situations for learning. While education deals with ‘how’ and ‘when’, Curriculum deals with ‘what’ education is a product, curriculum is the plan.

Teacher Education

Teacher education is an integral component of the educational system. It is intimately connected with society and is conditioned by the ethos, culture and character of a nation. The constitutional goals, the directive principles of the state policy, the socio-economic problems and the growth of knowledge, the emerging expectations and the changes operating in education, etc. call for an appropriate response from a futuristic education system and provide the perspective within which teacher education programmes need to be viewed.

When India attained freedom, the then existing educational system was accepted as such because it was thought that an abrupt departure from the same would be disturbing and destabilizing. Thus a predisposition to retain the system acquired preponderance and all that was envisaged by way of changes was its rearrangement. Consequently, education including teacher education largely remained isolated from the needs and aspirations of the people. During the last five decades certain efforts have been made to indigenize the system. The gaps, however, are still wide and visible. The imperatives for building the bridges may be as follows:

- To build a national system of teacher education based on India’s cultural ethos, its unity and diversity synchronizing with change and continuity.

- To facilitate the realization of the constitutional goals and emergence of the new social order.

- To prepare professionally competent teachers to perform their roles effectively as per needs of the society.

- To upgrade the standard of teacher education, enhance the professional and social status of teachers and develop amongst them a sense of commitment.

Scenario of Teacher Education

The need for improved levels of educational participation for overall progress is well recognised. The key role of educational institutions in realising it is reflected in a variety of initiatives taken to transform the nature and function of education — both formal as well as non-formal. Universal accessibility to quality education is considered essential for development. This has necessitated improvement in the system of teacher education so as to prepare quality teachers.

Various Commissions and Committees, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Commission (1948), Secondary Education Commission (1953), Kothari Commission (1964-66) etc., are appointed by the Central and the State Governments in recent decades have invariably emphasised the need for quality teacher education suited to the needs of the educational system. The Secondary Education Commission (1953) observed that a major factor responsible for the educational reconstruction at the secondary stage is teachers’ professional training. The Education Commission (1964-66) stressed that ‘in a world based on science and technology it is education that determines the level of prosperity, welfare and security of the people’ and that ‘a sound programme of professional education of teachers is essential for the qualitative improvement of education.’

India has a large system of education. There are nearly 5.98 lakh Primary Schools, 1.76 lakh Elementary Schools and 98 thousand High / Higher Secondary Schools in the country, about 1300 teacher education institutions for elementary teachers and nearly 700 colleges of education / university departments preparing teachers for secondary and higher secondary schools. Out of about 4.52 million teachers in the country nearly 3 million are teaching at the primary/ elementary level. A sizeable number of them are untrained or under-trained. In certain regions, like the North-East, there are even under- qualified teachers. As far as in-service education is concerned the situation is not very encouraging. It is estimated that on an average 40% of the teachers are provided in-service teacher education once over a period of five years. Regarding non-formal education, though a number of models are in vogue in various states in the country, much more needs to be done to prepare teachers and other functionaries for the system.

The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) as a non-statutory body (1973-1993) took several steps as regards quality improvement in teacher education. Its major contribution was to prepare Teacher Education Curriculum Framework in 1978. Consequently, teacher education curricula witnessed changes in teacher preparation programmes in various universities and boards in the country. A similar effort was made in 1988.

During the last decade, new thrusts have been posed due to rapid changes in the educational, political, social and economic contexts at the national and international levels. Curriculum reconstruction has also become imperative in the light of some perceptible gaps in teacher education. Teacher education by and large, is conventional in its nature and purpose. The integration of theory and practice and consequent curricular response to the requirements of the school system still remains inadequate. Teachers are prepared in competencies and skills which do not necessarily equip them for becoming professionally effective. Their familiarity with latest educational developments remains insufficient. Organised and stipulatory learning experiences whenever available, rarely contribute to enhancing teachers’ capacities for self-directed life long learning. The system still prepares teachers who do not necessarily become professionally competent and committed at the completion of initial teacher preparation programmes. A large number of teacher training institutions do not practice what they preach. Several of the skills acquired and methodologies learnt are seldom.

Definitions of curriculum, from Oliva (1997).

Curriculum is:

That which is taught in schools

A set of subjects.

Content

A program of studies.

A set of materials

A sequence of courses.

A set of performance objectives

A course of study

Is everything that goes on within the school, including extra-class activities, guidance, and interpersonal relationships.

Everything that is planned by school personnel.

A series of experiences undergone by learners in a school.

That which an individual learner experiences as a result of schooling.

Flexibility of the Curriculum

In India there are large number of communities living in the hilly area, the plateau area, the dessert area, plain area and costal area all having their own peculiar individuality, environment customs and needs. There fore, the same curriculum can’t be forced upon all, irrespective of their needs and environment. It must differ from locality to locality and from society to society.

“The destiny of India now being shaped in her class rooms”. In the world based on science and technology it is education that determines the level of prosperity, security and welfare of the people (Education Commission 1964-66).

Different types of Curricula

There are eleven types of curricula

1.      Overt, explicit, or written curriculum

2.      Societal curriculum

3.      The hidden or covert curriculum

4.      The null curriculum

5.      Phantom curriculum

6.      Concomitant curriculum

7.      Rhetorical curriculum

8.      Curriculum-in-use

9.      Received curriculum

10.  The internal curriculum

11.  The electronic curriculum

Teacher Education Curriculum at Different Stages – NCTE

Teacher Education at the Pre-Primary Stage

Objectives

·         Enabling student teachers to inculcate among children a desire to know their immediate natural environment, to love and respect it;

·         Preparing student teachers to use local resources and local contexts. 

Curriculum Content and Transaction

Teacher education curriculum at this stage need to develop awareness about literacy programmes, community dynamics, national and local customs, fairs and festivals and community mode of social living. It may also develop awareness of forces affecting environment including pollution, appreciation of places of historical and cultural significance and special educational features and developmental tasks contained in policies and programmes.

Teacher Education at the Primary Stage

Objectives

·         Developing among student teachers skills for teaching integrated environmental studies, integrated social sciences and integrated science and technology;

·         Enabling student teachers to inculcate among children a desire to know their immediate natural environment, to love and respect it;

Implications for Pre-service Teacher Education

Curriculum Content and Transaction

It is necessary that student teachers be sensitised to the need for reducing curriculum load, organise appropriate learning experiences which are joyful in nature and related to immediate environment of the learner and help them develop and imbibe desirable values.

Teacher education programmes at this stage shall have to provide subject based orientation. Teaching and learning of mathematics would be woven around the environment of the learners so that environmental concerns are properly integrated. The activities would focus on local culture and environment using the local specific contexts and resources. Student teachers shall have to be provided with experiences to help children develop socio-emotional and cultural aspects. A realistic awareness and perspective of the phenomena occurring in the environment will have to be linked with social or scientific events. This may be accomplished by emphasizing observation, classification, comparison and drawing of inferences, conducted within and outside the classroom. 

Teacher Education at the Secondary Stage& Higher Secondary Stage

Objectives

·         Developing among student teachers awareness and sensitivity towards environment concern and promoting skills for meeting environmental challenges;

Implications for Pre-service Teacher Education

Academic Stream

In addition, concerns like ecological imbalances, environmental degradation also have to be studied in their socio-cultural-economic context.

Addressing Special Educational Needs of Learners

Education of the Gifted and Talented: Major Thrusts

Objectives

·         Enabling student teachers to develop among the gifted and talented students social responsibility and commitment to the society and the environment; 

In-Service Education of Teachers

Objectives

·         Enabling teachers to be sensitive to gender and environment-related issues.

Need of Curriculum Changes in Teacher Education

India has thousand years of tradition and culture. Educational institutions were called as Ashramam and teacher was called as Guru. A tremendous change was occurred in our daily life. Due to globalization now the educational system is affected totally. Now the educational institutions give importance for technical education. Teacher is a national builder. He has a capacity to change the society. By knowing the importance of technology, communication skills, National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE) introduced a separate subject on technology known as ‘Educational Technology’ at both B.Ed and M.Ed levels. Computer Education, Communicative English, Personality Development are also introduced at B.Ed. level. Now we are facing so many problems like terrorism, poverty and high-population. We want such type of curriculum which improves peace, non-violence, positive attitude and values in the society. By inculcating these things in teacher education curriculum, we will get positive change in the society. Our National Education Policy (1986) and other Education Committees and Commissions were also given importance for quality teacher education. But it is our duty that to follow such type of curriculum. By conducting national seminars, workshops and conferences it is important to collect eminent scholars attitude towards importance of curricular change in the present scenario. There are many recommendations about curriculum change, but they are not in practice.

Guidelines/Suggestions

Ø      The present curriculum format of teacher education at different levels, pre-primary, elementary and secondary education is generally based, apart from others on Foundation Courses, which includes philosophical, sociological and psychological perspectives of education. The intention is that the teacher must have a conceptual understanding of the field of education, its significant concerns which are relevant for political, social and cultural development of the nation so that the teacher is just not responsible only for performing “knick knacks” of the task of teaching but is also imbued with the perspectives of creating individuals who can apply their minds to the diverse situations that obtain in the field of education. It is the Foundation Courses which provide a lot of scope for being recast to lay focus on discussion on the issues listed in the preceding chapters. Apart from others, it can re-look at the existing curriculum and divide it into appropriate cluster of topics which include the core elements of the NPE and the Constitutional concerns related to non-discrimination. Other areas of equal relevance for development of the ideas are the internship in teaching and working with the community.

Ø      The type of exercises for developing the values related to non-discrimination as given in the chapters on sex/gender, caste/tribe, disability, etc. could become the central themes of co-curricular and extra-curricular activities of the teacher education institutions. It is not the intention to repeat the listing of those activities here in this chapter; a reference can be made to these activities in the appropriate chapters in which they have been listed.

Ø      It could also be helpful to plan orientation programme on teacher education on this theme. The seminars could familiarize the teacher educators with strategies for operationalizing the teaching-learning dimensions relevant to the theme. An effective way to institutionalize the concept is to incorporate it in the elementary and secondary pre-service teacher education curriculum. This could be supplemented by a suitable co-curricular programme which should aim at offsetting some of the shortcomings in the curricular approach especially in terms of attitude and value development.

Ø      What is needed is a vigorous advocacy with state educational agencies, teacher education institutions and university departments of education for conscious inclusion of such components in the curricula.

Ø      In order to overcome the disadvantage of fragmented treatment of the theme, it is suggested that an independent comprehensive unit comprising familiarization with the Constitution of India and its concerns as impinge on education should be incorporated in the elementary and secondary teacher education courses.

Ø      In India, evaluation system influences the educational process especially the quality of classroom teaching significantly, and as such a separate unit of educational imperatives of Constitution will ensure due importance and weightage to the theme in the classroom teaching.

Ø      A great deal depends on the ingenuity and dedication of teachers and teacher educators in achieving anything substantial through education. If the concerns are handled with sincerity and purpose, they could definitely bring about the desired transformation in the educational system through teacher education.

Conclusion

Today we are in a technological world where things are happening fast. Parents and teachers would like to be getting results fast. India has kept pace in science and technology with forward nations but we have shown slower pace in our value system even when we have a strong heritage of human values.

An overview of the context and concerns as discussed earlier, teacher’s profile and general and specific objectives would define the boundaries of a curriculum framework. The perceived characteristics of the envisaged curriculum framework would include the following:

- Reflects the Indian heritage, acts as an instrument in the realization of national goals and fulfills aspirations of people.

- Responds to the latest developments in the field of education.

- Establishes integration of theory and practice of education.

- Provides multiple educational experiences to teachers.

- Enables teachers to experiment with new ideas.

- Ensures inseparability of pre-service and in-service education of teachers.

- Sets achievable goals for various stages of teacher education.

According to Swami Vivekananda Teacher gives knowledge and bright future to his students. He always trying to help students and encourages good habits not only in the students but also in the society. Teacher is a backbone for country’s development. The influence of teacher is more in the student life. Any type of social development depends upon its educational system. So it is very important to give prime priority for Teacher Education Curriculum. It is very important to give place to science and technology in Teacher Education Curriculum. Then surely India will become powerful and rich country in the world.

Educational/school Psychology in the Pursuit of Human Well-being

January 10th, 2010 admin

Educational/School Psychology in the Pursuit of Human Well-Being

Now we are living in the technological modern world. With the help of science and technology we have developed in all fields. India is a developing country. We have lot of human resources after China. But the literacy rate is very low when compared to other developed and developing countries in the world. India is a rich country, but Indians are poor. With the help of science and technology and by utilizing all sources in the proper way it is possible to India to become a developed country in the world. In the modern world people living with high tension. The student in schools and colleges are also living with high tension because of heavy competitions. It is necessary to introduce psychology as a general subject in all the classes both at school and college levels. Yoga and meditation is also necessary for each and every one in the world.

Definition of Education

Ø      Education is the learning of human souls to what is best, and making what is best out of them?

–        John Ruskin

Ø      Education is a weapon, whose effect depends on who holds it is his hands and at whom it is aimed.

– Joseph Stalin

The word education is derived from the Latin educare, meaning “to raise”, “to bring up”, “to train”, “to rear”. Education means the gradual process of acquiring knowledge. Education is a preparation for life. Education is also defined as the profession of teaching (especially at a school or college or university).

Importance of Education

India is a union comprised of twenty eight states and seven Territories. The Constitution provides directives regarding the development of education throughout the country. The areas in which the respective central and state governments have domain have been identified in the Constitution as the central list, state list and concurrent list. Until the late 1970s, school education had been on the state list, which meant that states had the final say in the management of their respective school systems. However, in 1976, education was transferred to the concurrent list through a constitutional amendment, the objective being to promote meaningful educational partnerships between the central and state governments. Today, the central government establishes broad education policies for school curricula development and management practices. These serve as guidelines for the states.

Generally, at the start of a very young age, children learn to develop and use their mental, moral and physical powers, which they acquire through various types of education. Education is commonly referred to as the process of learning and obtaining knowledge at school, in a form of formal education. However, the process of education does not only start when a child first attends school. Education begins at home. One does not only acquire knowledge from a teacher; one can learn and receive knowledge from a parent, family member and even an acquaintance. In almost all societies, attending school and receiving an education is extremely vital and necessary if one wants to achieve success.

Educational Psychology

Educational psychology is the study of how humans learn in educational settings, the effectiveness of educational interventions, the psychology of teaching, and the social psychology of schools as organizations. Although the terms “educational psychology” and “school psychology” are often used interchangeably, researchers and theorists are likely to be identified as educational psychologists, whereas practitioners in schools or school-related settings are identified as school psychologists. Educational psychology is concerned with the processes of educational attainment among the general population and sub-populations such as gifted children and those subject to specific disabilities

Educational psychology can in part be understood through its relationship with other disciplines. It is informed primarily by psychology, bearing a relationship to that discipline analogous to the relationship between medicine and biology. Educational psychology in turn informs a wide range of specialities within educational studies, including instructional design, educational technology, curriculum development, organizational learning, special education and classroom management. Educational psychology both draws from and contributes to cognitive science and the learning sciences. In universities, departments of educational psychology are usually housed within faculties of education, possibly accounting for the lack of representation of educational psychology content in introductory psychology textbooks.

Uses of Educational Psychology

For finding Individual differences and Disabilities

Each person has an individual profile of characteristics, abilities and challenges that result from learning and development. These manifest as individual differences in intelligence, creativity, cognitive style, motivation, and the capacity to process information, communicate, and relate to others. The most prevalent disabilities found among school age children are attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), learning disability, dyslexia, and speech disorder. Less common disabilities include mental retardation, hearing impairment, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and blindness.

Although theories of intelligence have been discussed by philosophers since Plato, intelligence testing is an invention of educational psychology, and is coincident with the development of that discipline. Continuing debates about the nature of intelligence revolve on whether intelligence can be characterized by a single, scalar factor (Spearman’s general intelligence), multiple factors (as in Sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence and Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences), or whether it can be measured at all. In practice, standardized instruments such as the Stanford-Binet IQ test and the WISC are widely used in economically developed countries to identify children in need of individualized educational treatment. Children classified as gifted are often provided with accelerated or enriched programs. Children with identified deficits may be provided with enhanced education in specific skills such as phonological awareness.

For Social, Moral and Cognitive Developemnt

To understand the characteristics of learners in childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age, educational psychology develops and applies theories of human development. Often cast as stages through which people pass as they mature, developmental theories describe changes in mental abilities (cognition), social roles, moral reasoning, and beliefs about the nature of knowledge.

For example, educational psychologists have researched the instructional applicability of Jean Piaget’s theory of development, according to which children mature through four stages of cognitive capability. Piaget hypothesized that children are not capable of abstract logical thought until they are older than about 11 years, and therefore younger children need to be taught using concrete objects and examples. Researchers have found that transitions, such as from concrete to abstract logical thought, do not occur at the same time in all domains. A child may be able to think abstractly about mathematics, but remain limited to concrete thought when reasoning about human relationships. Perhaps Piaget’s most enduring contribution is his insight that people actively construct their understanding through a self-regulatory process.

Piaget proposed a developmental theory of moral reasoning in which children progress from a naive understanding of morality based on behavior and outcomes to a more advanced understanding based on intentions. Piaget’s views of moral development were elaborated by Kohlberg into a stage theory of moral development. There is evidence that the moral reasoning described in stage theories is not sufficient to account for moral behavior. For example, other factors such as modeling (as described by the social cognitive theory of morality) are required to explain bullying.

Developmental theories are sometimes presented not as shifts between qualitatively different stages, but as gradual increments on separate dimensions. Development of epistemological beliefs (beliefs about knowledge) have been described in terms of gradual changes in people’s belief in: certainty and permanence of knowledge, fixedness of ability, and credibility of authorities such as teachers and experts. People develop more sophisticated beliefs about knowledge as they gain in education and maturity.

Psychology and Teacher

Teacher is a national builder. He has a power to change the world through education. According to our Indians teacher is a third god. Teacher plays a prominet role in the development of society. Educational Psychology is a main subject in  teacher education at D.Ed., B.Ed., and M.Ed. levels. It is necessary for each and every teacher to know about psychology. Becausse it is necessary to know the behaviour of the students in the class. Teacher has different roles  like father, advisor, councellor, administrator and well wisher. The future of any country is in the hands of teachers. So it is necessary to give importance for teacher education. So our government introduced psychology subject in teacher education curriculum.

After undergoing the course, the student teacher

1)      Explains psychology and its relationship with Education.

2)      Classifies different branches of psychology and explains their significance.

3)      Explains the importance of heredity and environment and its influences in educational process.

4)      Explains the different aspects of the development of the child.

5)      Explains the growth and human beings and their behaviour.

6)      Describes the individual aspects of the development of the child.

7)      Explains the primary needs of the children.

8)      Explains the secondary needs of the children.

9)      Explains the theories of learning and the factors influencing learning.

10)  Explains the concept of socialization.

11)  Explains the different types of learning.

12)  Understands the concept of motivation and the steps to be taken to motivate the children.

13)  Explains attention and its uses.

14)  Develops skill of observation, listening, responding and understanding.

15)  Describes memory, remembering and forgetting and identifies conditions of good memory.

16)  Describes the effects of different methods used for learning process.

17)  Explains thinking process and its uses-perception, conception, apperception for different ages.

18)  Explains the role of creativity and its development.

19)  Explains the meaning of intelligence and understands the changing concept of intelligence.

20)  Enhances personality development of pupils.

21)  Describes the mental hygiene and mental health.

22)  Understands exceptional children and their significance.

23)  Practices guidance and counseling for school pupils.

Conclusion

Educational psychology is an application of the principles of psychology for effective learning and modification of behaviour on desirable dimensions.  Knowledge of educational psychology makes a teacher effective in motivating the pupils in their learning.  In short it is an inseparable part of strategy in education. Education gives knowledge, wealth and health. Education is a solution for all types of problems in the society. Through education only it is possible overall development of a person in the society. Through education it is easy to know about behavour of the students and persons in the society with the help of psychology. So it is necessary to study psychology all persons in the society in the modern world. Educational Psychology helps the overall development of the student.

Hiv/aids and Education

January 10th, 2010 admin

HIV/AIDS is the global issue of new era of science and technology and we should know that the problem of widespread AIDS is challenge for human survival. Children and young people need to be equipped with the knowledge, attitudes, values and skills that will help them face these challenges and assist them in making healthy life-style choices as they grow. Education delivered through schools is one of the ways through which children can be helped to face these challenges and make such choices.

Providing information about HIV (transmission, risk factors, how to avoid infection) is necessary, but not sufficient, to lead to healthy behavioral change. Programs that provide accurate information, to counteract the myths and misinformation, frequently report improvements in knowledge and attitudes, but this is poorly correlated with behavioral change related to risk taking and desirable behavioral outcomes. Education can be effective in the more difficult task of achieving and sustaining behavior change about HIV/AIDS. The schools can either be a place that practices discrimination, prejudice and undue fear or one that demonstrates society’s commitment to equity.School policies need to ensure that every child and adolescent has the right to life education; particularly when that education is necessary for survival and avoidance of HIV infection.

HIV infection is one of the major problems facing school-age children today. They face fear if they are ignorant, discrimination if they or a family member or friend is infected, and suffering and death if they are not able to protect themselves from this preventable disease.

It is estimated that 40 million people, worldwide, are living with HIV or have AIDS, at least a third of these are young people aged 15-24. In 1998 more than 3 million young people worldwide became infected including 590,000 children under 15. More than 8,500 children and young people become infected with HIV each day. In many countries over 50% of all infections are among 15-24 years old, who will likely develop AIDS in a period ranging from several months to more than 10 years.

Studies have shown the enormous impact HIV and AIDS have on the education sector and the quality of education provided, particularly in certain regions of the world such as Sub Saharan Africa. Consequences of the AIDS epidemic include a probable decrease in the demand for education, coupled with absenteeism and an increase in the number of orphans and school drop out, especially among girls. Girls are socially and economically more vulnerable to conditions that force people to accept risk of HIV infection in order to survive. A decrease in education for girls will have serious negative effects on progress made over the past decade toward providing an adequate education for girls and women. Reduced numbers of classes or schools, a shortage of teachers and other personnel, and shrinking resources for educational systems all impair the prospects for education.

Effective HIV/AIDS education and prevention is needed in all schools for all children so that no one is left ignorant. Yet in many places schools are apprehensive about providing sex education or discussions of sexuality because of cultural demands to protect adolescents from sexual experience. Women often lack skills needed to communicate their concerns with their sexual partners and to practice behaviors that reduce their risk of infection, such as condom use, which is often controlled by men.

The school can either be a place that practices discrimination, prejudice and undue fear or one that demonstrates society’s commitment to equity. School policies need to ensure that every child and adolescent has the right to HIV/AIDS education; particularly when that education is necessary for survival and avoidance of HIV infection.

A UNAIDS review (1997) of 53 studies which assessed the effectiveness of programs to prevent HIV infection and related health problems among young people concluded that sex education programs do not lead to earlier or increased sexual activity among young people, in fact the opposite seems to be true. 22 reported that HIV and/or sexual health education either delayed the onset of sexual activity, reduced the number of sexual partners or reduced unplanned pregnancies and STD rates. 27 studies reported that HIV/AIDS and sexual health neither increased nor decreased sexual activity, pregnancy or STD.

The review concluded that school based interventions are an effective way to reduce risk behaviors associated with HIV/AIDS/STD among children and adolescents.

There are three main objectives for this paper to integrate the education effectively with the HIV/AIDS preventions and other health aspects related with it.

These are as follows:

Objectives:

1) Health education focusing on HIV/AIDS prevention.

2) Raising awareness about HIV/AIDS among educators and learners.

3) Stimulate peer support and HIV/AIDS counseling in schools.

The main focus of the paper is to give the importance to the HIV/AIDS precaution with the health education raising the awareness about it among all the students as well as their teachers also and provide the supportive environment for the HIV/AIDS education for all.

Need of HIV/AIDS education:

In area such as HIV/AIDS prevention individual behavior, social and peer pressure, cultural norms and abusive relationships may all contribute to the health and lifestyle problems of children and adolescents. There is now increasing evidence that in tackling these issues and health problems, a healthy approach to HIV/AIDS and sex education works, and is more effective than teaching knowledge alone. T

here are numerous studies indicating that providing information about issues such as sex, STDs (Sexually Transmitted Diseases) and HIV (transmission, risk factors, how to avoid infection) is necessary, but not sufficient, to lead to healthy behavioral change (Hubley, 2000). Programs that provide accurate information, to counteract the myths and misinformation, frequently report improvements in knowledge and attitudes, but this is poorly correlated with behavioral change related to risk taking and desirable behavioral outcomes (Gatawa 1995, UNAIDS 1997a). HIV/AIDS with health education can be effective in the more difficult task of achieving and sustaining behavior change.

Health education with HIV/AIDS is widely applicable:

This problems largely affecting men and women as well as older children and adolescents, both this age group and younger children also face a wider range of health problems where education can play a vital role in sustainable prevention and management. Health education with HIV/AIDS programs plays a vital role in preventing infections. This is done through promoting knowledge of areas such as symptoms, transmission, and behaviors that are specifically relevant to many infection in each community; attitudes such as responsibility for personal, family and community health, confidence to change unhealthy habits; skills such as avoiding behaviors that are likely to cause infection, encourage others to change unhealthy habits, communicate messages about infection to families, peers and members of the community (WHO, 1996).

This kind of health education with HIV/AIDS prevention focuses upon the development of Knowledge, Attitudes, Values, and Skills (including life skills such as inter-personal skills, critical and creative thinking, decision making and self awareness) needed to make and act on the most appropriate and positive health-related decisions. Health in this context extends beyond physical health to include psycho-social and environmental health issues.

This approach utilizes student centered and participatory methodologies, giving participants the opportunity to explore and acquire health promoting knowledge, attitudes and values and to practice the skills they need to avoid risky and unhealthy situations and adopt and sustain healthier life styles.

HIV/AIDS – a critical need for health education:

HIV/AIDS is an area where the scale and impact of the problem is such that the urgency of implementing preventative measures, including health education, is critical. Health education programs are being increasingly adopted as means of reaching children and young people to help halt the spread of this crippling epidemic. Studies from African countries show that children between the ages of 5 and 14 have the lowest prevalence of HIV infection. Below the age of 5 they are susceptible to mother to child transmission and after they become sexually active, the rate of infection increases rapidly – especially for girls (Kelly, 2000). Children aged 5-14 need to be reached at this critical stage in their lives and offer the ‘window of hope’ in stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Health Education with HIV/AIDS prevention Does Change Behavior:

There is now strong evidence from an increasing number of studies that health education HIV/AIDS prevention applied in an appropriate context, changes behavior – including behavior in sensitive and difficult areas where knowledge based health education has failed.

For example: Sexuality and HIV education –USA:

This study was implemented in 4 schools in New York City with 9th and 11th grade students (867 students), in intervention (AIDS prevention program) and control classes (no AIDS prevention program). The program focused on correcting facts about AIDS, teaching cognitive skills to appraise risk of transmission, increasing knowledge of AIDS-prevention resources, changing perceptions of risk-taking behavior, clarifying personal values, understanding external influences and teaching skills to delay intercourse and/or consistently use condoms. An evaluation carried out three months after the end of the program found that the intervention group showed the following positive behavioral outcomes when compared with the control group: decrease in intercourse with high risk partners, increase in monogamous relationships and an increase in consistent condom use. (Walter & Vaughan, 1993).

HIV/AIDS prevention-Nigeria:

Health education programs are being implemented in many schools in Nigeria to increase levels of knowledge, influence attitudes and encourage safe sexual practices among secondary school students. A study to evaluate one such program was conducted comparing 223 students who received comprehensive sexual health education with 217 controls. Students in the intervention group received 6 weekly sessions lasting 2-6 hours, with activities including lectures, film shows, role-play stories, songs, debates, essays and a demonstration of the correct use of condoms. Following the intervention, students in the intervention group showed a greater knowledge and increased tolerance of people with AIDS compared to the control. The mean number of sexual partners also decreased in the intervention group, while the control group showed a slight increase. The program was also successful in increasing condom use (Fawole et al., 1999) Above mentioned studies shows that health education with HIV/AIDS prevention does change the behavior of students especially adolescents.

Method for implementing Health Education with HIV/AIDS prevention:

Although there is strong evidence that HIV/AIDS prevention is effective when properly applied and supported, implementing this approach and achieving this success on a larger, countrywide scale is one of the greatest challenges to be faced.

To be effective, HIV/AIDS prevention programs must address the following areas:

•Reassure stakeholders that these messages are beneficial:

Talking and teaching about reproductive health and HIV/AIDS issues does not result in earlier initiation of sex or promiscuity. The evidence suggests that well implemented skills-based programs, conducted in an atmosphere of free discussion of all the issues, is likely to lead to young people delaying the initiation of intercourse and reducing the frequency of intercourse and number of sexual partners (Kirby et al. 1994, UNAIDS 1997a).

•Provide support to teachers: The lack of support for implementation of new programs is one of the most important factors affecting success. For most teachers both the content and methods of HIV/AIDS prevention programs are new and perhaps sensitive, and yet the approach has great potential to assist teachers both in their work and also their personal lives since HIV/AIDS is, of course, also affecting teachers. Sufficient support, training, practice and time needs to be available to teachers, in both pre- and in-service training sessions and workshops, to facilitate reflection and development of their own attitudes, and to motivate them to apply their new knowledge and skills, rather than continue with the more didactic, traditional teaching methods, which are often focused on information alone (Gatawa 1995, Gachuhi 1999). In addition, sufficient time and an appropriate place must also be given in the curriculum so that all students have access to HIV/AIDS prevention.

•Start early: As well as targeting adolescents, programs need to be targeted at children at an early age, with developmentally appropriate messages, before they leave school (Gachuhi 1999, Partnership for Child Development 1998). Because younger children are generally not sexually active, these programs will address the building blocks for healthy living and avoiding risk, rather than the very specific issues related to sexual relationships and HIV/AIDS which are progressively introduced to programs for older ages. However, the large number and diverse age range of children within primary schools is an enduring challenge, especially when addressing sensitive issues. Active and self-directed learning methods which are commonly used in education can be helpful in overcoming these classroom management issues to some extent.

•Provide a supportive environment: Schools need to have strong policies and a healthy supportive environment in terms of behavior of students towards each other, teachers and school personnel. Sexual abuse can occur in schools, with both boys and girls reporting abuse by school staff (Kinsman et al. 1999, Lowensen et al. 1996). Programs need to address this potential problem by training and supporting teachers, so that they can become role models rather than neutral or adverse figures in relation to sexual behavior.

•Respond to local needs: Many of the models for HIV/AIDS prevention have been developed in western, developed countries. The available evidence from developing countries, although more limited in scope than the studies from non-developing countries, supports skills-based health education for HIV/AIDS and reproductive health (Hubley, 2000). The main issue is that wherever programs are to be implemented they must be shaped to meet the local socio-cultural norms, values and religious beliefs, and need to include ongoing monitoring (Kirby et al 1994, UNAIDS 1999, Kinsman et al.1999).

Elements of a Health Education for HIV/AIDS prevention:

Reviews of school-based HIV/AIDS prevention programs (23 studies in the USA (Kirby et al. 1994), 37 other countries (reported in UNAIDS 1999) and 53 studies in USA, Europe and elsewhere (UNAIDS 1997a) have identified the following common characteristics of successful programs:

1.Focus on a few specific behavioral goals, (such as delaying initiation of intercourse or using protection), which requires knowledge, attitude and skill objectives.

2.Provision of basic, accurate information that is relevant to behavior change, especially the risks of unprotected intercourse and methods of avoiding unprotected intercourse. 3.Reinforcement of clear and appropriate values to strengthen individual values and group norms against unprotected sex.

4.Modeling and practice in communication and negotiation skills particularly, as well as other related “life skills”.

5.Use of Social Learning theories as a foundation for program development.

6.Addressing social influences on sexual behaviors, including the important role of media and peers.

7.Use of participatory activities (games, role playing, group discussions etc.) to achieve the objectives of personalizing information, exploring attitudes and values, and practicing skills.

8.Extensive training for teachers/implementers to allow them to master the basic information about HIV/AIDS and to practice and become confident with life skills training methods.

9.Support for reproductive health and HIV/STD prevention programs by school authorities, decision and policy makers, as well as the wider community.

10.Evaluation (e.g. of outcomes, design, implementation, sustainability, school, student and community support) so that programs can be improved and successful practices encouraged.

11.Age-appropriateness, targeting students in different age groups and developmental stages with appropriate messages that are relevant to young people. For example one goal of targeting younger students, who are not yet sexually active, might be to delay the initiation of intercourse, whereas for sexually active students the emphasis might be to reduce the number of sexual partners and use condoms.

12.Gender sensitive, for both boys and girls.

Conclusions:

Health Education with HIV/AIDS prevention offers an effective approach to equipping children and young people with the knowledge, attitudes and skills that they need to help them avoid risk taking behavior and adopt healthier life styles. The scope of health education means that it can be applied to a wide range of areas, especially STDs and HIV/AIDS prevention, but also including violence, substance abuse, unwanted situations such as early pregnancy and all areas where knowledge and attitudes play a critical role in promoting a healthy lifestyle for children and young people growing up in the 21st century. We can sum it in following points- •The constitutional rights of learners and educators must be protected equally.

•There should not be compulsory disclosure of HIV/AIDS status.

•No HIV positive learner or educator may be discriminated against.

•Learners must receive education about HIV/AIDS and abstinence in the context of life- skills education as part of the integrated curriculum.

•Educational institutions should ensure that learners acquire age and context appropriate knowledge and skills to enable them to behave in ways that will protect them from infection.

•Educators need more knowledge of, and skills to deal with HIV/AIDS and should be trained to give guidance on HIV/AIDS.

Suggestions for implications for policies and programmes:

•Male and female condom promotion efforts need to recognize, identify and address gender issues including sexual and other forms of violence, that inhibit condom use.

•HIV/AIDS, peer education, and sex education programmes for adolescents that incorporate gender equality issues into their framework should be fostered. Such programmes should enable a better understanding of how norms related to masculinity and femininity may increase risky sexual behaviour, and help young people begin thinking about how to work towards equal and responsible relationships.

•Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) services should take into account the risk of violence and other adverse consequences when evaluating different approaches to disclosure. For example, patients can be given the choice of counsellor-mediated disclosure if that would help minimise adverse consequences.

•Both men and women should be involved in Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMtCT) programmes. Antenatal services can educate men about sexuality, fertility and HIV prevalence to raise their awareness and sense of responsibility. This would avoid reinforcing the belief that women alone are responsible for pregnancy and for HIV transmission to the infant.

•Community Home Based Care (CBBC) approaches need to include a special effort to promote the role of men as care-givers in the family and community, and to provide adequate support and guidance to enable male participation. At the very least, such programmes should acknowledge that reliance on “home care” is, at present, largely reliance on “women’s care”.

Womens Higher Education in India

January 9th, 2010 admin

Education is the nourishment of the mind with knowledge this is practiced purposefully and productively.

Education disciplines the mind, sharpens the intellect and refines the spirit.  It shapes and polishes a rough unknown diamond into a multifaceted kohinoor  sparkling with scintillating brilliance.  Its the development of integrated personality that unfolds itself to the highest wisdom.  Its a continuous process.

The philosopher President Dr.Radhakrishnan (1948) said, “There cannot be educated people without educated women.  If general education has to be limited to men or women, that opportunity should be given to women from them it would most surely be passed on to the next generation”.

HIGHER EDUCATION OF WOMEN :-

Higher education is defined as the education attained after the completion of 12 years of schooling.  Higher education for women has gained a wider role and responsibility all over the world.  Today, in the 21st century, we cannot afford to ignore the importance of higher education for women any longer.  The reason for its need and urgency is that there is no biological difference in the systems of males and females.  Unfortunately, this important task of higher education of women has remain neglected for centuries.  Need for higher education among women assumes all the more importance or the 3rd world countries, where colonialism has remained a great force hindering education for the general masses and for the women in particular.

OBJECTIVES OF HIGHER EDUCATION FOR WOMEN:-

To provide society with competent men and women trained in agriculture, arts, medicine, science and technology and various other professions, who will also be cultivated individuals in built with a sense of social purpose.

To strive to promote equality an social justice and to reduce social and cultural differences through diffusion of education.

NEED FOR HIGHER EDUCATION FOR WOMEN : MALE AND FEMALE :-

Higher Education may also be viewed in terms of the needs of its consumers.  The term consumer is very wide and heterogeneous.  It includes young and old of both sexes.  Theoretically the need for Higher Education for both males and females is the same.  But its sometime argued that males and females are different in their social and cultural needs.

The basic argument which is given for women Higher Education is not that Higher Education for women is different from that of men.  Our main thrust is that in the field of Higher Education, women should also be equal partners.  Our past experience shows that so far Higher Education has remained restricted only to men.  It should now widen its horizon and include women also.  The commission on the Higher Education for women, University of Madras in 1979 rightly observed: “for Women and men college education is necessary for character formation, ability to earn, creative self expression and personal development”.

MAIN FACTORS INFLUENCING WOMEN’S SUCCESS / FAILURE IN COMPLETING HIGHER EDUCATION :-

Success :

a)                  Women are strongly motivated to succeed in the education stream.

b)                  The merit basis of the education system permits females to excel.

c)                  Prejudice against women’s education has been reduced. Higher Education has come to be considered equivalent to a bride’s “dowry”.

d)                  Women’s universities promote women’s Higher Education.

e)                  Women’s expectations for education based employment are high.

f)                    Some Higher Education courses provide scholarship facilities for women.

g)                  Female students have been provided with residential facilities in some areas.

Failure :

a)                  Female students have difficulties in access to transport facilities in general.

b)                  Sexual harassment as well as occasional student violence hinder female students completion of higher education.

c)                  Marriage in many cases leads to early withdraw.

d)                  Gender stereotyping inhibits completion of studies.

e)                  Financial constraints can cause withdrawal from the education stream.

f)                    Part-time work to earn living interferes with studies.

SIGNIFICANCE OF PRESENT STUDY :-

The objective of the Indian Society as has been laid down in the constitution is to achieve a democratic, socialistic and egalitarian society.  In such a society women are supposed to perform their roles at par with men.  Their status structurally needs to be equal with men.

Broadly speaking, knowledge which is imparted through Higher Education provides skills to its practitioners.  Our understanding is that by acquiring skills the women raise their status in comparison with men and also the status of the group to which they belong.

In order to understand the status of women, or for that matter to understand any social issues, it is necessary to combine at least 3 perspectives viz. the perspective from policy, the perspective  from statistics and the perspective from culture.

·              The present study is aimed at finding the various reasons for women seeking entry into higher education.

·              It aims at looking at the reasons for seeking entry into higher education by women from the perspective of men, teachers, parents and the women themselves.

·              It bring about an awareness among women as to the various avenues open to them in Higher Education and thus mark the beginning of a major process of empowering women.

·              To find out the problems hindering the pursuit of Higher Education by women.

·              Make suggestions for finding solutions to the above problems in a rational and free manner.

·              To suggest ways  of enhancing women’s entry into colleges, including professional course.

·              To explore areas of Higher Education where women have not yet stepped in or are a monopoly of men.

·               To suggest suitable measures to make higher education for women universal i.e. free of cost, time and distance effective.

PROMOTING HIGHER EDUCATION FOR WOMEN

The social context of educational policy has to be improved.

Family and personal counseling at the secondary education stage can be provided.

Higher education can be made skill oriented.

Nontraditional curricula for women can be established.

Recent declines in state support for non-traditional higher education has to be reversed.

Institutions can be made physically accessible i.e. Locate them near the potential clientele, improve transport system etc.

Higher Education  Institutions have to be made more women-friendly i.e. Physical Changes, curricula changes, social changes.

Women’s representation on institutions decision-making bodies can be increased.

Equal opportunity commissions for higher education institutions should be established.

The number of women teachers in co-educational institutions of higher education should be increased.

Stipends, Scholarships and fellowships can be linked to affirmative action programmes.

Women need to be recruited into administrative training programmes for institutions of higher education.

A large role for women’s study centres can be provided.

Institutions of higher education should provide placement services.

Barriers to women’s career entry should be removed, example: employers should be sensitized to the value of flexitime, day-care centres etc.

Sexual harassment in the educational environment should be addressed.

A large number of female secondary education graduates usually are not able to enter university.  To accommodate that population it would be benefited to strengthen the role of vocational training institutions.  Post secondary vocational training institutions should take action to promote entry of women into vocational training lines traditionally considered male preserves.

Affirmative action quotas has to be provided to promote women’s admission into higher institutions, where such quotas exist, should be reviewed periodically to ensure their continuing relevance.

Where quotas are provides for specific disadvantaged groups like disabled persons, people from remote or rural areas, members of indigenous minorities, a minimum share should be reserved for female members of those groups.

Distance education and open learning institutions and techniques should be promoted, particularly to extend higher education opportunities to women in rural and remote areas, which will take into account their needs.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH :-

The present study is limited only to women students seeking higher education up to undergraduate level in a few professional and non-professional colleges of Chennai city.  The following suggestions are given for further investigation.

1.                  A similar study may be conducted among the postgraduate level or research level students.

2.                  A similar study may be undertaken throughout Tamil Nadu State.

3.                  A comparative study of factors influencing entry of women in higher education can be made between a developing and developed country.

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