Monday, June 18, 2012

All India Conference on Abolishing Commercialisation of Education and Building Common School system

Please see the following link on the Conference to be held at Chennai on 30th of June and 1st of July 2012.

http://www.thisconference.com/index.php?option=com_sobi2&sobi2Task=sobi2Details&sobi2Id=8946&Itemid=63

Saturday, June 16, 2012

OH LORD! PLEASE SAVE OUR CHILDREN


“Probably the principles and the elements, on which the regular gravitations of the moral, as of the material, world depend, had complained.  Smoking blood, over-filled cemeteries, mothers in tears, - these are formidable pleaders.  When the earth is suffering from too heavy a burden, there are mysterious groanings of the shades, to which the abyss lends an ear.”

These prophetic words are not by any Indian mythological author, justifying any Avathar.   

They are from Victor Hugo. 

Let us read a little more to get to the context.

“It was time that this vast man should fall.

The excessive weight of this man in human destiny disturbed the balance.  This individual alone counted for more than a universal group.  These plethoras of all human vitality concentrated in a single head; the world mounting to the brain of one man,- this would be mortal to civilization were to last.  The moment had arrived for the incorruptible and supreme equity to alter its plan.”

Was he talking about Ravana?

No, but of a similar superior being – Napoleon Bonaparte.

He himself explains it: 

“Was it possible that Napoleon should have won that battle?  We answer No.  Why? Because of Wellington?  Because of Blucher? No.  Because of God.”

These words have become true again and again in history whenever some power becomes too much intoxicated, self-indulgent and merciless towards other living beings. 

Rabindranath Tagore states:  

“Power can be measured.  Its volume, its weight, its momentum can all be brought within the purview of mathematics  So it is the endeavour of those who hold Power to be supreme, to increase in bulk.  They would repeatedly multiply numbers, - the number of men, the number of coins, the number of appliances.  When they strive for success they sacrifice others’ wealth, others’ rights, others’ lives; for sacrifice is the essence of the cult of Power; and the earth is running red with the blood of that sacrifice.

.....
 
But when engaged in adding up the quantities of these forces and facts of Power, we do not find them to be an ever-increasing series.  In our pursuit of the principle of accumulation we are all of a sudden held up by stumbling upon the principle of check which bars the way.  We discover that there is not only onward motion, but there are also pauses.  And we repeatedly find in history that whenever the blindness of Power has tried to overrule this rule of rhythm, it has committed suicide.  And that is why man still remembers the story of the toppling over the Tower of Babel.”

But unfortunately these words of wisdom do not appear to have dawned on the community of ‘Private Educational Institutions’ in our Country (particularly in the state and Coimbatore).

If endowed even with a bit of this elementary knowledge, a great school of the city running under the banner of ‘Universal Compassion’ would not have failed to admit into the 11th Standard, its own student who has passed out of Matriculation with 455 marks out of 500 and who had been studying in their own school for the past 12 years (from LKG).  Though students with lesser marks have been admitted, the reason for not granting a seat for their own student, orally told by them is ‘the father of the student is a member of the Parents’ Association’.

Is forming a Parents’ Association bad? Is it unlawful?  Is the fundamental right enshrined in the Constitution as Right to form associations subject to scrutiny and denial by these powers that be?

Even if in their opinion, the Parent has committed a heinous crime by becoming a member of the Parents’ Association (which is again because there is no official PTA constituted by the school itself) is the student to be abused like this?  What care these people of ‘education’ have for the mental trauma that the student will face (barely 14 years).  What cruel mind set can bring upon such a situation where the student has to remain at home without knowing his future and fate, when his friends have started attending classes for the past one week.  And what respect do these SELF-PROCLAIMED- philanthropists and educationists expect from the students and society at large?

That they have displayed utter disregard for Government authority and public authority is another matter.

How much more does the society have to endure to save its children from such mindless madness of ‘power-intoxicated-money-laundering-menace’ called private education?

Thursday, June 7, 2012

After effects of the Demonstration on 1.6.12

The Demonstration of 1.6.12 could not be called massive numerically, since only about 500 parents of the city participated.  But it was solid, considering that even during school holidays so many got to know of the event and participated.  It also exhibited character in so far as the parents including ladies were not inclined to get up from the road and leave even after the Vote of Thanks had been delivered.

This rally, its participation and more so the support lent by the M.P of Coimbatore Shri. P.R.Natarajan, MLA of Valparai Shri. M. Arumugam and many other leaders from various political parties and outfits and also from organisations representing the Central Government Employees, State Government Employees, Bank Officials, Insurance Employees and Student Organisations have given a clear message.

The effect was multi-pronged : 
(1) There is a noticeable change in the attitude of the approach by the District Administration/Educational Offials in tackling the issues raised by the Parents.

(2) Police Officials have become sensitive to the issues raised by the Parents and have started appreciating the genuineness of the same, instead of blocking their way into the school premises as it used to be done earlier at the behest of requests by the school managements.

(3) The school managements also thought it fit to settle the issue within their campuses regarding non-issue of text books and note books to a select few (for targeting) on 4.6.12 when the schools re-opened.

(4) The earlier attitude of school managements of open defiance of Government and its orders by saying, 'no body can do anything to us, we will do as we wish' was absent.

But there are also indications that the schools have not yet realised their error in treating the parents as door mats.  Here are a few examples:

(1) A particular school has been refusing to grant admission to 11th for a student who passed out of 10th standard from the very same school, getting 455 /500. The reason stated orally by the school management is that the student's parent is in the association of Parents.

(2) A particular school has been refusing admission for a child into LKG though the elder sibling of the same child is in the same school.  The reason stated by the school orally in this case also is that the parent is in the association.

(3)  A particular school has not yet granted admission to their own student from 10th to 11th though other students with lesser marks have been admitted. 

(4)  A particular school has withdrawn the bus facility to its students stating that they have taken a policy decision not to provide transport.

All the above methods are apparently to intimidate the parents and force them into submission.

The schools want to arm-twist the parents to make them pay whatever is demanded by the schools irrespective of what is determined by  the Govt.

So their apparent climb down in in-house settlement like approach on 4.6.12 obviously should have been due to pressure from the Government authorities.

Now we have to sit up and think of how to handle the intimidation of individual students and parents by singling them out/hounding them out, by school managements.

On the sidelines there are also reports that there is considerable resentment among the teaching staff of these schools that their dignity is unnecessarily being eroded by the school managements by engaging them in these non-teaching and non-academic activities.

At Delhi the All India Parents Association has organised a meet for all parents and teachers of all private schools.  

We welcome suggestions on the above.