Primary Education

1. Introduction         

When there was no university elsewhere in the Europe; Takshasila, Vikramshila, Pallavi, and Nalanda were the centers of Global Education and attracting learners from all around the globe. The development of modern education in India started with the establishment of Hindu College in Calcutta in 1817. During British reign, Calcutta University was the first to confer the bachelor degree on women in 1883.

After independence various universities have been opened both by the government as well as private sector. The main motive behind opening these universities were not to earn profit but to serve the society by imparting higher education and conducting researches related to pure and social sciences. The fees charged from the students were minimum, hence these institutions were generating deficit so there was a need to go for the donations and aids to cover its fixed and running expenses. But gradually there was a drastic change in the scene .The education sector emerges as one of the most profitable business opportunity. The increase in the number of private schools and institutions supports the fact. Higher education is not an exception to this. Gradually most of the corporate entities have also entered into the picture.

2. Corporatisation of Higher Education

Now a days education sector is a trillion dollar industry. It is a service sector industry in the area of education as service with a huge global market in which students, teachers and non- teaching employee constitute resources for profit generation. So the concepts of marketing are also applicable. The organizations have to market their product and themselves in order to survive. In this industry the students are the customers, the teachers are the service providers and the institutions are organizers or marketers and teaching-learning process is no longer for the building of a nation but a business for profit making. Education at all levels, will continue to grow, because it cultivates the human mind and makes people important and useful in the all round development of a country, however for the corporate sector it will grow as a big service industry. Predatory and powerful MNCs are targeting public education, particularly higher education, for profit- making. Though predominantly a government supported service most governments are as consequences of neo-liberal economic reforms, withdrawing from it. The government of India through extensive privatization, commercialization and deregulation is encouraging this process.

3.  Education under GATS umbrella

In 1996, the United States provided exports of education and training services had reached 8.2 billion dollars, and its trade surplus in education amounted to 7 billion dollars. Higher education was the fifth largest service exported by the US. Therefore, the pressure of the United States on WTO member countries in relation to trade in education service is clearly understandable.

The US, the European Union (EU), Japan and Canada are the main powers behind the GATS. Though WTO membership consists of nation states, the transnational corporations of these countries that sit on all the important "advisory" committees and determine detailed policy shape its agenda. While denying access to decent healthcare, education housing and long term care to millions of workers and their families the world over, the agreement will confer ever greater political power on these corporations as they control and dictate public policy.

GATS have two components: (i) the framework agreement containing 29 articles, and (ii) a number of Annexes, Ministerial decisions etc. as well as the schedules of commitments by each member government, which bind them to allow market access, and /or remove existing restrictions to market access. This agreement covers all services, including education 

When the services are entirely provided by the government, they do not fall within the GATS rule. For a service to be out of the purview of the GATS rule it has to be entirely free. However, when the service have been provided either by the government partially or some prices are charged (as happens in education where some fees is charged) , or provided by the private providers , they shall fall under the GATS rule.

The informal WTO classification List (W/120) divides educational services into five parts: (a) Primary education (b) secondary education (c) higher education (d) adult education (e) other education.

The idea behind this is the creation of an open, global marketplace where services like education can be traded to the highest bidder. GATS cover the educational services of all the countries whose educational system are not exclusively provided by the public sector, or those educational systems that have commercial purposes. In India, we cannot get exemption in education from the application of GATS because education at all levels, particularly at higher education level is not entirely free (i.e. some fees has to be paid)

Corporate because of their huge financial resources are able to attract the best talent available in the country and hence they are providing the quality service to their customers (students). They have the access to the new sources of finances .In India also the issuing of shares by the schools and educational institution and its trading in the stock exchange will be a reality. Then the quality of the institute may be judged by looking at the share prices in the stock market and like any other business enterprises the wealth maximization will be the main goal of the institute and their entire effort will be to increase their market share and ultimately to increase the market capitalization. The government is reducing the grants given to the universities and colleges and these institutes are asked to arrange their own sources of finance .In that scenario those educational institution who will not be earning surplus will die like any other seek industrial unit. So it is the high time for those institutes to think for earning surplus and make themselves competitive for survival.

But when these institutions will be running on absolutely business principles for earning profit obviously the fees charged from the students will be higher. The application of some unethical and unfair practices for attracting the students and earning higher profit cannot be overlooked in that scenario.

4. Indian reality

In a country like India where a large section of our population is living below the poverty line, almost 35% of the population is still illiterate and we are talking about removing poverty and illiteracy, in that situation they will be the most mistreated people. So it is the government and its institutions, which will have to look at this aspect. Hence imparting higher education by charging high fees by the government run universities and college will not be desirable and the government has to look at the welfare aspect of its people. But before coming to any conclusion we have to consider the following two ground and hard realities in this respect: -

1.      India being the member country of WTO, must abide by the decisions and regulations of WTO. So it cannot stop the foreign universities and institutes to operate in India, which are having ample financial, physical and intellectual resources and are running on absolutely business principles for earning profit.

2.      The government of India is reducing the grants and aids given to the government universities and colleges and these institutes are called to mobilize resources from their internal sources as well as external sources. They are also asked by the UGC and NAAC to become more competitive.

So it is the time as well as the opportunity for our Government funded institutions/universities/colleges to make themselves competitive and to go for globalization. This can be only possible when they will stand on their own feet by earning surplus and are effectively and efficiently run. But at the same time we have to think for the weaker sections of the society who could not afford a high expenditure on the study.

Therefore it is very high time for educational institutes to build a business model, which will be able to compete with the foreign universities and also the weaker sections of the society will also be taken care of.

5. The model of Arvindo Eye Hospital, Madurai

The Arvindo Eye Hospital of Madurai has set an outstanding business model showing how an organisation can serve the society at large on one hand and can also earn profitable surplus on the other hand. At Arvindo Eye Hospital, economically poor people are provided treatment at free of cost and the patients who can afford are charged the requisite treatment charges. More than two-third of the patients treated in the hospital fall under the former economically unprivileged category and yet he hospital earns substantial profits. But a remarkable policy to be noticed is that the service provided to both categories of rich and poor patients are exactly same and no compromise of any sort is done with regard to the quality of treatment and service provided. The secret behind the success of the hospital is the volume of patients giving business and fact that hospital does not spend money on conspicuous consumptions. Promotion is through word of mouth and mass print media.

Similar model can be adopted by our government run and universities, whereby the required fees can be charged from students whose parents can afford the same, and concessions to be provided to the economically deprived students. With the globalization, liberation, privatization and economic growth more and more people are finding occupations in private sector leading to an increase in the purchasing power at the hands of the middle and upper class of the society who has become conscious of and can afford quality education at higher prices. This is a positive factor which the universities can cash upon and which further supports the above model.

Notes and References

1.      http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/soe/cihe/newsletter/news23/text001.htm

2.      Www.education. nic.in/htmlweb/iperposch.htm

3.      Www.pd.cpim.org/2002/feb17/02172002_wto_educ_2.htm_2000

4.      A Case study on Arbind Eye Hospital, Madurai, IIMB Review, September,2005.

5.      Kumar R; World Trade Organisation, Structure, Functions, Tasks, Challenges, Deep and Deep Publications, 2004.

Sexual education should begin at home parents and care givers should be the primary educators of their children. Sexual issues should occur on a daily basis with parents discussing with the children. From birth children learn about love, touch and relationships while at toddler age these children will learn about sexual life through the way their parents talk to them, show affection, dress them and they need to be taught the names of their body parts. When these children continue growing up to adolescents they will keep on learning sexual behaviors attitudes and values from the family. They will also learn from friends, internet, books, television, music and advertisements from the media. The importance of school based education is to help young people build a strong foundation as they grow into mature healthy adults. They are meant just to add up on what they receive from their families to be able to understand a positive view of sexuality, get information and gain skills that will help them in taking care of their sexual health life and make sound decision in future.

A lot has changed in the couple of generation, from the early age the children are surrounded with sexual images. All children whether male or female should receive same sex education at primary and secondary level. Reproduction is mandatory element of science and taught from stage one onwards. When teaching the children about sex being honest and open is important from the earliest age. You need to learn the best approach to the matter avoid formal sex talk. Your attitude is as important as your answer, the way you respond to questions they ask even though they can be as young as two will set a pattern. Try by all means to keep the atmosphere receptive, warm and relaxed this environment makes you discuss the issues openly.

With age there isn't a magic age; time comes naturally when the child starts asking questions about their bodies, noticing difference between themselves and other people's body. In most cases starting school is when they come home with new words and questions. Use this as an opportunity to discuss whatever new things they would want to know. Teenage is a more difficult stage for most parents. Teenagers tend to think that they know everything. Yes they can be having facts but they do not understand relationship issues so education should be an ongoing process. As children grow, girls will tend to be more knowledgeable than boys. This is because girls do have more sources of information than boys do.

The best way to proceed on is to have a sound relationship in which the children can feel free to ask a question or raise an issue even when they have grown up. In countries like Netherlands the families regard it as an important responsibility to talk openly with the children about sex life. It contributes to cultural openness about sex and improves sexual health among young people.

Anne Frank. Gabriel Garcia Marquez. P. Diddy. At first glance, these three personalities do not have anything in common. Frank was a young Jewish girl who kept a diary while hiding from Hitler's forces, Marquez is a best-selling author and Nobel laureate in Literature while Diddy is a rapper turned business mogul. But they do share one thing: they are all products of a Montessori school.

The fact that Montessori has produced many famous and celebrated individuals speaks for the efficacy of its advocated method in educating children. In fact, there is nearly no primary school in America that does not include a Montessori technique in its program in one way or another.

The roots of Montessori
Montessori was founded by an Italian physician and educator named Maria Montessori. She was the first woman recipient of a medical degree in Italy and started her career as medical staff in a psychiatric clinic at the University of Rome. This experience with mentally retarded children inspired her to start the State Orthophrenic School of Rome, which was previously an asylum.

Montessori drew heavily on the methods and philosophies of Edouard Seguin and Jean Itard, two French educators she admired, to teach mentally retarded children. Convinced that her methods would have better results with normally intelligent children, Montessori opened the Casa de Bambini or Children's House in 1907 where she practiced her methods extensively.

While initially an experimental school, The Children's House became a very successful showcase of the Montessori Method and became famous throughout the world. In 1912, Montessori published the book 'The Montessori Method' where she detailed her system and criticized traditional techniques. The book became instrumental in reforming primary education worldwide.

The Montessori Method.
Older systems of education emphasized learning through physical compulsion to attract and maintain the attention of the child which Maria Montessori opposed. She instead pushed for using didactic materials to stimulate the child's interest while learning at the same time. This method allows the child to naturally concentrate on a task willingly, allowing him to gain knowledge without the usual stress or annoyance that older, more traditional methods produced.

Teaching a child using the Montessori Method involves providing children with enough freedom to discover new knowledge and skills within the confines of an environment that is specially prepared for this purpose. Each child is encouraged to work at his own pace and begin activities by themselves. Children may shift from one series of learning materials to another freely.

The method stresses the early learning of writing and reading, usually before the age of five. By training the senses and physical abilities, children become involved in a series of guided tasks involving manipulation of objects and discovering the association between them. By developing confidence and discipline in children, the Montessori Method promotes self-motivated learning.

When a child becomes ready for new and more complex tasks, the teacher, called the director in a Montessori school, then acts as a guide to lead the child to the next level, preventing the waste of effort and the accumulation of useless habits. Teachers are trained to recognize that learning is a cooperative undertaking and children can best learn in an environment that guides and directs them and avoids blame or long lectures.

The core of the Montessori Method.
The method recognizes that children learn differently from adults and that they are not helpless beings but quite capable to learn on their own. The method also acknowledges that children from age 6 and younger have an unlimited motivation to learn competence and skills within an environment that is comfortable, reasonably free and academic.

Learning through discovery is encouraged through self-correcting learning materials that children manipulate on their own. Independent problem-solving is also promoted and recognized.

How children's progress is measured.
While conventional methods of measurements are discouraged, children's educational progress is tracked through a series of qualitative analysis and feedback regarding a child's performance. This is made based on critical points, a list of skills, activities and an achievement narrative including the child's strengths, weaknesses and areas of improvement. The word 'failure' is never used even when a child needs a lot of room for improvement in a certain area.

Proof of the Montessori Method Efficacy.
Contemporary education for children owes a lot to Maria Montessori's methods. She was the one who initiated providing young students with games stressing developmental learning, colorful materials and child-sized tables and chairs. Even today, scientists continually discover new evidence that proves how effective her methods are.

Homeschooling is a special type of education, a do it yourself education, if you will. So, if it is a do it yourself education, just who is the "you?" Parents have hectic lives with work and other pursuits that benefit their children and family. It is somewhat of a challenge for many parents, particularly single parents, to find the time to devote to giving their children a full time education. So, what is the answer?

There I good news. Parents have a wide variety of homeschooling options. More than a million children are home schooled every year so it is obvious that parents are finding ways to make it work for them and their families. Those ways are as diverse as the parents themselves.

Often, in the case of a traditional, two parent family, they have an arrangement where one parent works outside of the home and the other works in the home. The one who works in the home also assumes the primary responsibility for homeschooling the children.

Many parents choose homeschooling for their children because they are dissatisfied with the quality of education as well as the values that are taught, implicitly or otherwise, in public schools.

However such traditional arrangements, one parent, usually the man, works, the other, usually the woman, cares for the home, is not the only option and certainly not the only choice that parents can make. The options have expanded exponentially since the 1960s. With the introduction of role reversals, same sex couples, extended families and many other less conventional families are emerging; alternatives in homeschooling education are presenting many more choices.

Many families, regardless of family structure, are making creative choices in selecting someone to educate their children. Some may invite an older relative or a friend into the home. This is an arrangement that actually goes back to a much older tradition. Whether it is an older aunt or uncle, a grandparent or a friend, that person can bring to the table valuable experiences and can often be exceptional homeschool education providers.

As the homeschooling movement has come to a point where second generation education is possible, children who were homeschooled are often homeschooling their own children. They are also often the best choices in providing homeschool education.

On the other hand, those who endured public school education also have many valuable contributions. They have many valuable life lessons to impart but they should take care to avoid falling back on public school methods.

Neighbors can provide homeschooling as can stay at home moms. These moms provide childcare services as well as incorporating homeschooling. Another option is to find a family who is already homeschooling their own children and have them take on your children as well.

Busy parents also have a somewhat newer facet to homeschooling but is centuries old and that is finding a tutor. In many other countries, tutors are often the primary education giver. In fact, the public school system which is modeled after the Prussian system of the 1800s is a relatively recent endeavor which has, for the most part, failed.

Tutors come is all varieties with a wide range of backgrounds. Some may specialize in a certain area such as music or languages while others have a broad background. Some are even former public or private school teachers who were unhappy with the system, yet love teaching.

Parents often mistakenly believe that they can not afford a private tutor to homeschool their children. However, they soon realize after research that this is simply not so. The cost of a tutor is somewhat nominal when the quality of the education is considered. They may even elect to start a home based business so that they can still be a part of their children's lives while the tutor carries the bulk of the educational load.

Often parents will discover that children who are fairly motivated and independent thrive well in a homeschooling environment and the time required for schooling is actually less than anticipated. When a parent or tutor provides a child with guidance and resources the children largely teach themselves. This in itself makes tutoring far less expensive. One of the greatest benefits of homeschooling is that homeschooled children are usually at the top of their classes in college because their love for learning is self generated.

Before discounting homeschooling as a venture that will not work for you, take some time to explore all of your options.

There is common saying that goes.."The roots of education are bitter but the fruit is sweet." The roots in our country is the system. Being the world's largest democracy the educated youth of the country has had to pay the price. The price being to forgo their entry into professional colleges, thanks to the quota system. In some states with quotas upto 70% of the seats the youth belonging to the so called "upper castes" do not find a place in Government colleges/institutions.

 

 

This gave rise to the opening up private educational institutions across India.

 

Private Educational Institutions in India could be classified into the following categories:
(a) Aided Colleges these are colleges that are privately managed but aided by the government.

(b)Unaided colleges these are colleges that are privately managed and also raise their own funds.

 

Professional colleges across India have sprung up in such large numbers making it into an industry of sorts. We are calling this "Industry" because of the employment and the revenues that these institutions generate.

 

 

 

Private spending on education in India in $US

 

Schooling (tuition fee, tutoring, textbooks, preschool etc.)

29413 million

Professional Courses (engineering, medical, MBA)

7054 million

Test Preparation (engineering, UPSC, medical test prep, GRE/GMAT etc.)

1664 million

Skill development (vocational training, child skill enhancement for mental arithmetic etc. IT training, teacher training etc….)

2436 million

Estimated total market size in private sector

40,565 million

 

 

There are institutions often funded by rich individuals or even by organizations. The market for these private institutions has survived and indeed blooming by the day although new colleges come across high legal barriers to enter.

 

Many of these institutions cannot confer degrees on their students unless they meet set guidelines that have been set by the government body the AICTE and the UGC. This growth can be attributed to the phenomenal growth of the IT industry the country has witnessed. As a country we also have to use the huge educated population to our advantage.

 

 

Today, four out of five engineering students attend private colleges, even though those institutions charge five to 10 times more in tuition than government colleges. The private schools also demand an upfront entry or "capitation" fee in a range of anything between 20 lakhs to 50 lakhs—which is in many cases a small fortune for middle-class families. One has to remember that the returns on these investments are also high.

 

The Planning Commission reports that in the period 2002-2007, the share of private institutions in higher education increased from a third to over half of all enrolment. And this trend, by all accounts, will continue into the future. Engineering, Medical and Management are the favorite streams for most of these private institutions. Over sixty percent of private engineering and medical colleges are located in the 4 southern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. These states account for 25 % of the population but house more than half of the number of engineering and medical colleges. The central government too encourages these private institutions as it takes the pressure off its own self and ensures availability of skilled manpower, the main requirement for a growing economy.

 

 

Another measure adopted by the government to ensure students are able to pay the high fees is by persuading Public Sector banks in providing education loans to the students. The student loan disbursement of Public sector banks stood at a whopping Rs. 20,000 crores till the end of the financial year 2007-08.

 

The education market is leaning on the back of the workforce proving itself equal to their counterparts elsewhere in the world in productivity. The Indian workforce is the much sought after lot by global giants across the world. Hence it is safe to say that the education system and the industry behind this workforce is witnessing a boom time.

 

 India's youth, often referred to as its demographic dividend, accounts for over 50 per cent of its total population, with 367 universities and 18,000 colleges with half-a-million teachers and about 11 million students on the rolls. As mentioned earlier as a country we must use this demographic dividend to our advantage. In the last five years there are about 1,500 management colleges, close to about 3,500 engineering colleges and about 1,200 medical colleges.Besides these private engineering and medical colleges the state has also witnessed investments from private equity players in the education segment.

Below are mentioned a few of such ventures:

 

India-focused PE firm Gaja Capital Partners invested 8.25 million dollars in Career Launcher. SAIF Partners invested 10 million dollars in the English training academy Veta and ICA Infotech. Some of the other listed companies in the education segment are Educomp Solutions, which posted a return of 374 per cent. Everonn Systems, which got listed in August 2007, gave a return of 130 per cent in just five months. The older names like Aptech and NIIT, fetched returns of 162 per cent and 124 per cent in 2007. This market also runs into crores of rupees.

 

It is believed that based on the current and future manpower requirements of the various sectors, there is a huge demand-supply gap in the education space. The education sector has opened up to brand new areas and subjects. Whoever thought of taking up courses like graghic designing or retail management and going on to make a successful career out of it. This has attracted many players to invest in education and training institutions.

 

In conclusion:

 

Although the primary education scenario in the country is not very glossy one can paint a very rosy picture of higher education in the country. One can only hope for that much concern in  primary education which still remains very illusive for many.

The basic tenant of education encompasses more than just the teaching of what we know to our young. As well as passing on essential skills like language and the basic functions of living, education passes on the culture of a society. These are the intangible patterns of behavior that distinguish each group of people as a unique set. Education is designed to show how the information learned can be used to make judgment decisions and thereby construct new ways of combining that information into a basis of wisdom.

Education of the young begins at infancy with the teaching of basic activity. Most early education involved physical activity and coordination. With time, language skills are added and the beginnings of socialization take place as the toddler is instructed on what is considered proper behavior for their society. This early, at-home, education may include not only the practical aspects of life but religious or spiritual instruction as well.

Since the education of the young is of utmost importance to the continued health of a society, most governing bodies have a schooling system in place where a standardized series of instruction can be presented. In the formal educational system teaching is the primary form of delivering the instruction to the students. Specific skills and knowledge are passed on in the form of lectures, work sessions and reading material. The hands-on approach to learning is a very effective form of education. By performing the selected task themselves, students are more likely to gain a deeper understanding of how the instruction they have been given actually relates to the task.

The cultures of the modern industrialized world generally divide the levels of education for their young into several specific groupings. Primary education deals with the more fundamental knowledge topics. Here language skills of reading and writing are supplemented with mathematics, science and history. Once the student has obtained a firm base of information they are promoted to a secondary level where more individualized or specialized skills are acquired. Mathematics will be extended to geometry and calculus. General science will branch out to separate fields of biology, health and chemistry. In the United States particularly, these first two levels of education are required of all citizens as a base education to be a functioning member of society.

Beyond the initial required educational levels are the university levels of education. These institutions provide voluntary education in which it is the student's responsibility to further their education in the specific fields of knowledge they require finding their selected occupation in life. Many skilled occupations require at least one degree from an institution of higher learning and some will demand even longer periods of educational study.

Besides the academic fields of education, there are numerous trade schools that are designed to train individuals in the intricacies of a specific trade or occupation. These schools are not designed for general educational pursuits but focus directly on one area or career. With the availability of scholarships and student loans, a solid education is within the range of most citizens.

The increased focus on re-training has opened up the opportunities for even older people to start a new series of educational studies for more flexibility in their career choices. Truly education is a process that the active mind will continue throughout their entire life as new experiences daily add to the wealth of knowledge that can be obtained.

EDUCATION IN INDIA
India has an ancient tradition of education.The world's first university was established in
Tashkila in 700 B.C. Indian mathematicians introduced the zero, the decimal system and the
method of multiplication.

PRIMARY EDUCATION

India has made huge progress in terms of increasing primary education attendance rate andexpanding literacy to approximately two thirds of the population..The National Council ofEducational Research and Training (NCERT) is the apex body for school education in India.

SECONDARY EDUCATION
The National Policy on Education (NPE), 1986, has provided for environment awarenes,science
and technology education, and introduction of traditional elements such as Yoga into the Indian secondary school system.Another feature of India's secondary school system is its emphasis on profession based vocational training to help students attain skills for finding a vocation of his/her choosing.
Tertiary education
India's higher education system is the third largest in the world, after China and the United States..Some institutions of India, such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), have been globally acclaimed for their standard of education.
Women's Education
Women have much lower literacy rate.The number of literate women among the female population of India was between 2-6% from the British Raj onwards to the formation of the Republic of India in 1947.the Indian government has tried to provide incentives for girls' school attendance through programs for midday meals, free books, and uniforms.Private education Because of poor quality of public education, 27% of Indian children are privately educated.Private schools cover the entire curriculum and offer extra-curricular activities such as science fairs, general knowledge, sports, music and dramaMost teachers in private schools are female, graduates and reasonably experienced..
ONLINE DEGREES
Online degrees courses in business, education, information technology, real estate and even healthcare allow you to advance your career without disrupting your life. You can study at home, on your own time, at your own pace. A perfect choice for the working professional, online courses are practical, focused, and relevant to your career.Electroniclearningis a type of Technology supported education/learning (TSL) where the medium of instruction is through computer technology, particularly involving digital technologies..E-learning is naturally suited to distance learning and flexible learning, but can also be used in conjunction with face-to-face teaching, in which case the term Blended learning is commonly used.
Goals of e-learning
E-Learning lessons are generally designed to guide students through information or to help
students perform in specific tasks. Information based e-Learning content communicatesinformation to the student

Communication technologies used in e-learning Communication technologies are generally categorized as asynchronous or synchronousAsynchronous activities use technologies such as blogs, wikis, and discussion boards.Synchronous activities involve the exchange of ideas and information with one or more
participants during the same period of time.

Benefits of eLearning versus traditional classroom settings
eLearning allows people to avoid travel, thus reducing the overall carbon output.eLearningis
a more environmentally friendly solution. 2.Quality education, made affordable...3.Convenience and flexibility to learners:

ONLINE EDUCATION IN INDIA
online learning programs are gaining popularity day by day.In other words, online learning programs are premium education programs that are aimed to enhance the knowledge of students as well as individuals by using modern technologies and guidelines of skilled teachers.

Added Benefits of Online Learning Program In India
Online learning programs are different from traditional education systems and there is no need of a classroom and face-to-face interaction with teachers.
1    No need to actually live on campus or near the university
2.    Great flexibility in the type of course you choose to study
3.    A wide range of online programs to choose from.

Types of Degrees Available
1.Associate Degree   
2.Bachelor's Degree    
3.Master's Degree
4.Doctorate Degree
5.Degree Resources

ONLINE UNIVERSITY
we provide information on various career courses, important  educational institutes like IITs, IIMs, JNU, DU and other MBA colleges.we have details on online education and different distance-learning courses andspreading numerous opportunities available to the Indian students already pursuing education in India...here some top 10 online university
1.Nalanda Open University (Patna     Bihar)
2.All India Institute of Medical Sciences (Delhi     Delhi)
3.Indira Gandhi National Open University (Delhi     Delhi)
4.Guru Jambheshwar University (Hisar     Haryana)
5.Maharshi Dayanand University (Rohtak     Haryana )
6.Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (Jammu Tawi Jammu & Kashmir)
7.Manipal Academy Of Higher Education (Manipal     Karnataka)
8.University Of Mumbai (Mumbai     Maharashtra )
9.Birla Institute Of Technology & Scinece (Pilani     Rajasthan )

10.University Of Lucknow (Lucknow     Uttar Pradesh).

Primary teachers are teachers who teach the primary levels, which include preschool, kindergarten, and elementary. The job responsibilities of primary teachers differ depending on the particular level a primary teacher is teaching. However, their task mostly involves the development and implementation of lessons presented in such a way that is understandable and relatable to the developmental stages of the students.

Teaching young students can be quite challenging than teaching older ones. There are just some concepts that can be a bit hard to explain to kids for them to understand clearly. The primary teacher's main job is to plan and develop lessons, and make it understandable depending on the level that he or she is teaching. The primary teacher should also do more than just teach or discuss. The primary classroom should be a mix of discussion and activities that can help the children understand concepts better. For this reason, a primary teacher has to be enthusiastic and creative.

It's a good thing, then, that there are now a lot of learning materials that range from books, flash cards, to interactive materials that can also amuse and fascinate the younger kids. They can also catch and retain the attention of the kids. Using such learning resources can be very helpful for primary teachers. These learning resources and materials are also helpful for the students, because they facilitate learning and are adaptable for various ages.

The additional challenge, despite having learning resources, lies in the fact that the primary education stage is very important because it is the foundation of the students' education. Primary teachers face the extra challenge to be able to make good use of the opportunity to send the children off with a good start. They should know how to optimize the rich developmental stages of children during the primary levels.

The responsibility of primary teachers reaches far and wide primarily because they handle all the subject areas. A primary teacher should have enough knowledge about the major subjects to be able to teach the basics. Aside from subject knowledge, they also need to have a lot of patience, and motivational skills, since it is very important to observe positive progress to further encourage children to learn. They should also be able to maintain discipline and adapt to various needs of students.

Although primary teacher jobs can be challenging, it is a good career choice. Primary teachers have access to a lot of opportunities for career advancement. They have the opportunity to move up to a higher level once they've obtained more expertise and experience. When they move up to a higher level, naturally, their value and financial benefits also increase. They can move on to management roles, and their pay scale will be reviewed annually in terms of their performance and progress. They can also move on to become advanced skills teachers or ASTs or chartered teachers.

A primary teacher job is a good way to jumpstart a teaching career. There are part-time or temporary posts, as well as full-time posts.

EDUCATION in Africa has a history reaching back many centuries. Certainly the achievements of the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Ethiopia are well known. Then, early in the first millennium of the Common Era, the Moors and other peoples on the northern fringe of Africa made notable contributions to world education and culture. And during the past 1,000 years the Saharan and sub-Saharan peoples had several centers of learning—Timbuktu, Agadez, Gao, Katsina and Borno, where books written in Arabic were in great demand.

More than 800 years ago at Timbuktu, in Mali, colleges provided advanced education. Katsina, in northern Nigeria, has been a center of learning since before the sixteenth century. It was there that, about 200 years ago, Muhammed ibn Muhammed became noted as a specialist in numerology.

The aforementioned cities were dominated by Moslem culture, and mosques were the centers of learning. However, the cost of learning under the tutorship of the mallams was very high and so few persons could afford it. The educated minority exercised tremendous influence, and were the key administrators, lawyers and clerks. But the majority remained illiterate.

In the non-Moslem, sub-Saharan cultures, education was largely nonliterate, by oral instruction rather than by use of reading material. Educational systems varied from tribe to tribe, and there were different degrees and levels of training, depending on the social and cultural development of a particular tribe. The training covered a fairly wide range, with specialized instruction at different age levels. Each educational system had specific forms of preparation for the roles of individuals in society. A look at the system of education among the Yorubas in precolonial Nigeria illustrates this.

The Yoruba System

Among the Yorubas, training in obedience, etiquette, speech and counting came early in the child's life and was given within the family circle. Children quickly learned to express themselves in their language. Progressively, they mastered the proverbs, poetry and folklore of the community or tribe. In this way they learned the history and the moral and philosophical attitudes of their people. They had to learn a variety of greetings, recognition of levels of social seniority and the proper etiquette in connection with these. Religious education included training in rituals, sacred festivals and the roles of diviners.

At an early age, children were taught to count up to 20 on their fingers and toes and to do simple addition and subtraction with the aid of stones. As they progressed in knowledge, they were taught weights and measures, the use of cowrie shells (which served as money) and the art of bargaining.

Specialized training for boys focused on farming, working in metals and wood, hunting and the use of herbs and drugs in medicine. Skills were passed on from father to son. Inclination and natural abilities also were considered, and children were encouraged to develop their aptitudes. Therefore, many were apprenticed to artisans outside the family clan.

Girls received training in weaving and dyeing cloth. They learned to make pottery, to plait mats and baskets and to produce cosmetics for use in beauty treatments and hairdressing. They were taught the art of cooking, of brewing beer and of extracting oil from the kernels of the palm nuts. Thus they were prepared for their role as women in the family and the community.

The tribes that had a rural, pastoral or bush culture concentrated more on farming, herding and hunting or fishing. Some educational systems restricted progress into new fields of knowledge by preserving a closed society. Membership usually was restricted to those of certain ethnic origins or religious beliefs. This circumstance contributed toward a stagnation of knowledge. Nevertheless, the education that was provided amply served the needs of those societies.

The Colonial Era

In the wake of the missionary explorer David Livingstone, European missionaries began to increase their activities in Africa in the second half of the nineteenth century. Mission schools started to be set up in towns and villages, and right out in the bush, where students attended in simple loincloths or were completely naked.

These schools were set up on sectarian lines, with Catholics having their own schools and the Protestant religions theirs. This tended to segment the people religiously, and whole areas came to be regarded as the province of a particular religion. Divisions in social levels developed between the literate and the nonliterate segments of each community, and there was a gradual undermining of family influence. Other imbalances were created because traditional patterns of education were being uprooted and were not replaced by any uniform standard.

Still, a start had been made toward widening the horizons of knowledge in Africa. As more people learned to read and write, the knowledge of the world, contained in books, became available even to the remotest tribes. The literate history of non-Moslem, sub-Saharan Africa began to be revived.

Although the people showed aptitude in learning, there were obstacles to overcome. The missionaries usually had to learn the local languages first. Then they had to teach the children in their own European languages, in which books were available. Some did good work in formulating alphabet systems and compiling dictionaries so that many of the local languages could be put into writing. This provided the basis for translating the Bible into many African languages.

In some areas an obstacle was posed by the custom of barring girls from institutional education. When, over 40 years ago, one of the emirs from northern Nigeria visited England, he was impressed at seeing a large girls' school. He desired a similar provision for the girls of his people. Since the custom was to keep women away from public life, he realized that this would be opposed. So he told his council that he was opening a school in his palace for educating the girls in his household. Within a year the school had 30 pupils, and many of the leading citizens were petitioning the emir to allow their children to attend. A year later, on the pretext that he could no longer tolerate the noise of a school in his palace, he "turned the pupils, teachers, and equipment out into the open town and lodged them in a house adjoining the boys' school." (African Challenge, p. 63) Now every primary school in that section of the country is coeducational.

Since children were part of the labor force in each farm family, there was reluctance to lose them to the schools. Gradually, however, as the people recognized the value of the printed page and the advantages of reading and writing, more children were sent to school. So it was in mission schools that many of the outstanding educators and leaders throughout Africa got their early training.

The colonial governments, and the later sovereign governments of each independent state, encouraged the establishment of mission schools, giving financial and administrative help. Provisions were made for more uniform systems of schooling, and additional public and secondary schools and universities were established.

New Education Policies

Since 1970, in a further effort to ensure a more uniform standard of education, the Nigerian government has taken over control of private schools, including mission schools. This has given rise to the problem of adequate moral education in a totally secular school system. Therefore, the authorities have encouraged parents and teachers to provide moral guidance. Efforts have also been made to coordinate the Moslem and indigenous traditional systems of education with modern methods. It is hoped that this will stem the growing tide of unrest, immorality and drug abuse among youths.

In 1976 the Universal Primary Education scheme (UPE) was introduced to provide for free universal education throughout Nigeria. This will give children the opportunity to receive free primary schooling for six years, as well as junior secondary and senior secondary schooling for three years respectively. More schools are, therefore, being provided, and immediate plans are afoot to increase the number of universities to 13.

Adult Education

Because the majority of the adult population is illiterate, the various governments are giving increased attention to adult education. In Nigeria, where the literacy rate is 20 percent for a population of 70 million, the government has established adult education centers in most villages and towns. Many men and women are availing themselves of this opportunity to learn to read and write.

Much progress also is being made in adult literacy programs operating in Kingdom Halls of Jehovah's Witnesses. By means of such classes, between 1962 and 1976, in Nigeria alone, 15,156 persons have been taught to read and write. Many of these were elderly and thought that they no longer had the ability to learn. They were mostly people from rural areas—farmers, hunters, fishermen, housewives. Their determination to obtain Bible knowledge and to be able to impart Scriptural instruction reawakened their desire to learn. Now they can read and write, and can help in teaching God's Word to others in their own language and also often in English.

For example, Ezekiel Ovbiagele was trained according to the traditional system of education, but was not taught to read and write. After he received oral Biblical instruction from Jehovah's Witnesses and was baptized in 1940, he saw the value of learning to read. He enrolled in one of the literacy classes and soon was reading the Bible to others. With further specialized training, he was qualified in 1953 to serve as a traveling overseer, having the responsibility to instruct many congregations in the territory assigned to him. Many others have made similar advancement.

When Jackson Iheanacho first attended meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses, he was literate only in Efik, his native language. He saw the need to learn to read in English, too, since the meetings were conducted in that tongue. With the aid of the congregation's literacy class, he achieved this and went on to learn other languages as well. He is now able to read and write seven languages!

The literacy rate among Jehovah's Witnesses is better than 77 percent. Most of the remaining 23 percent are attending literacy classes, either at their Kingdom Halls or at government centers, and so are in various stages of learning to read and write. They appreciate this program, which is reaching out to more and more people.

Purposeful Education

The value and necessity of education cannot be denied. An editorial in the Daily Times of December 29, 1976, spoke of education as "the greatest investment . . . for the quick development of . . . economic, political, sociological and human resources." However, not just education, but purposeful education is essential. Modern methods have tended to establish materialistic goals, rather than productive ones. To many youths, the purpose of schooling is to obtain a certificate that will guarantee a prestige job and great financial reward. Parents should guide youths in carefully evaluating the purpose of their schooling. The goal should be to acquire real skills and thinking ability so as to ensure productivity in their adult careers.

It should be remembered, however, that the period of formal schooling is not all there is to the process of education. Parents can make use of preschool and out-of-school periods to instruct their children morally and in other ways that will build their personalities along wholesome lines. Much good can be achieved by using the Bible in inculcating decency, honesty and loyalty in the children.

 

It is a wellknown fact that women in India are the victims of various multi dimensional problems and also the most vulnerable group because of the social structure and at present scenario there is an urgent need for concrete efforts. Indian women has been one of the major impediments in the way of womens empowerments. Illiteracy and semi- Illiteracy keep women in perpetual state of assettleness. Even for effective implementation of innumerable development programmes sponsored by the government and non-government sector the educated women in the work force are a must.

 

India has a high number of highly disciplined educated and professionally competent pool of women and has a law of universal primary education, if focus is given to higher education especially of women will surely give India a bright future. An educational institution has to face global competitions and inter national collaborations.

 

Education should look into physical, mental, intellectual, emotional spiritual values for growth and development. Though the primary stakeholders are teachers and students, there is an influence on them from the secondary stakeholders they are parents, society, management, government, employers etc

 

Three important aspects in the quality enhancement of education for women is

1. Confirm to requirements

2. Requirements keep on increasing

3. Quality enhancement is continuous

 

The education should focus to raise consciousness, motivate, articulate and make women self-reliant to participate. For effective educational work, the teacher and learner should be involved in policy planning and effective execution of development. Gender blindness of most of the decision-making institutions and professional bodies demand intervention, without adequate teaching material has caused lot of inconveniences to teachers and students.

 

Teachers accompanying learners in their growth and development:

The art and science of teaching should include a worldview and vision of the ideal human person to be educated. The teacher's primary role to facilitate the growing relationship of the learner to truth, particularly in the matter of the subject being studied. The teacher creates the conditions, lays the foundations and provides the opportunities for the continual interplay of the students' experience, reflection and action to occur.

 

A challenge to a teacher is to formulate questions that will broaden students' awareness and impel them to consider view –points of others. To make teaching learner centered the learning process must include a pre-learning element, that of context, and a post learning element, that of evaluation. Personal knowledge and care of the student by the teacher is equally important as it is the hallmark of good education. A conducive environment and commitment to values, from the learner's point of view- readiness to learn and readiness to grow should be taken into consideration.

 

Learning experience should be the development of the more complex learning skills of understanding, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

 

Reflection is the process where by the learner makes he learning experiences her own, gets the meaning of the learning experience for self and for others. A thoughtful reconsideration of some subject matter, experience, idea, purpose reaction, in order to grasp its significance more fully is essential.

 

If learning were to stop at experience, it would not be integral for it would lack the component of reflection where in the learner are impelled to consider the human meaning and significance of what they study and to integrate that meaning as responsible learners who grow as persons of competence, conscience and compassion.

 

The term action refers to internal human growth based upon experience that has been reflected upon as well as its manifestation externally. Involving interiorized choices and choices externally manifested. The student's attitude, priorities, commitments, habits, values, ideals, internal human growth flowing out into action for others is most essential.

 

Periodic evaluation of a student's growth in attitudes, priorities and actions consistent with being a person for others is essential.

 

Thus to conclude the basic elements of cooperative learning are:

·        Positive interdependence

·        Face to face interaction

·        Individual accountability

·        Interpersonal and small group skills

·        Group processing

 

Revitalizing secondary education

By Sadaket Malik

With the central government lobbing its ball to the state governments for the implementation of the several schemes  for the revitalization of the system of the secondary education in the country, the schemes of the access, equity, Mahila Samakhya, and quality in the field of secondary education has lost its very essence. Basic issues of quality, equity and access to secondary education in India still unresolved besides the central legislations by the Ministry of Human Resource development Govt of India. The expert committees were formulated by the Govt. to gauge the system and suggest the measures to universalize the whole system. The central governments own figures indicate that many as two-thirds of those eligible for secondary education remain outside the school system today. A Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) committee estimates that 88,562 additional classrooms will be required in 2007-08 and over 1.3 lakh additional teachers. The CABE is the highest advisory body relating to policy making in education in India. Figures put out by the Ministry of Human Resource Development's Department of School Education and Literacy indicate that as many as two-thirds of those eligible for secondary and senior secondary education remain outside the school system today. While noting that adequate number of elementary schools is to be found at a reasonable distance from habitations, the ministry admits in its website that this is not the case with regard to secondary schools and colleges. The gross enrolment rate for elementary education in 2003-04 was 85 percent, but for secondary education, the enrolment figure stood at 39 percent.

Pertinently, the CABE report also notes that the benefits of India's reservation policy in higher education are unlikely to reach those it's intended for in the absence of a strong secondary education system. A large majority of children and youth belonging to SC and ST community  do not have access to secondary education; less than 10 percent of the girls among SCs and STs have access to the plus two stage. Without secondary or senior secondary education, benefits of reservation to SCs/STs will remain elusive," the report says. These are questions that the CABE report tries to address. School systems, the report says, should strive for equality and social justice, transcending discrimination that may arise because of gender, economic disparity, societal norms on caste and community, location (urban area or rural), disabilities (physical and mental) and cultural or linguistic differences. However, these inequities seem bound to remain given the current circumstances, where the government involvement in secondary education is much less than what is expected of it. The Committee report says that almost 25 percent of the secondary schools today are private, unaided schools whose clientele comes only from the privileged sections of society. Expert opines that Private education has always played an important role we have different types of private secondary schools, such as private unrecognized, private recognized but unaided schools, and private, recognized and aided schools. In Kerala and West Bengal, it's common to see private aided schools, which are schools run by private managements that receive government grants. Going by the Sixth All India Survey Data, the CABE report notes that private aided schools account for over 46 percent of all secondary school students. The overwhelming participation of the private sector in secondary education, however, in no way absolves the government of its many responsibilities. To improve access to secondary education, experts agree that the government should invest more money. Unfortunately, the Centre has baulked at involving itself even in primary education, more so when it has to be on a collision. course with private schools.

Similarly, though the CABE committee report advocates a common school system, the government seems to have already shown its disinterest.The CABE report was accepted in principle, but soon after, the Planning Commission diluted our recommendation that the typical secondary school should be like a Kendriya Vidyalaya. The Commission started saying that instead of Kendriya Vidyalaya norms, SSA norms could be extended to secondary schools. Such a move would result in parallel streams of education with poor quality being accepted as a part of secondary education. The CABE committee, incidentally, had worked out the expenditure that will be incurred if all secondary schools are managed like Kendriya Vidyalayas. The total costs in such a scenario do not exceed six percent of the GDP but that does not seem to have been enough to convince the government. The report does not mention how many additional schools will be needed to meet the future demand. However, it presents two estimates, one projection based on the 100 percent success of SSA and the other, the 75 percent success of the programme. In the case of the former, the report estimates that 88,562 additional classrooms will be required in 2007-08 and over 1.3 lakh additional teachers

A worrisome trend in government schools, undoubtedly a factor contributing to their poor performance, is the fact that almost 95 percent of the government grants go into paying staff salaries. There is no money for buying teaching learning materials, for cleaning or blackboards," he explains. The ratio should be at least 80:20, with 20 percent of the grant being used for improving or creating infrastructure, he adds. To ensure that government schools are more efficiently managed, a committee comprising members from the neighborhood could be asked to take decisions concerning the school, suggests several experts  of CABE Committee. Experts opines that there are several examples of successful private-public partnerships. "There have been initiatives like DPS Delhi Public School being given the responsibility to run two-three government schools in Gurgaon in Haryana In this way, the private schools can manage the schools for a while and use their expertise to train teachers.

The educationists have a consensus that the children are actually walking out because there is no quality education. Poor children can ill-afford to spend their time in classes that are taken badly, or in schools that have no infrastructure or teachers. Instead of looking for the reasons that are behind the problem, the government appears to be trying to implicate parents or children for the 'drop-out' rates. The CABE committee report has already set down comprehensive norms that secondary schools should follow, ranging from having one classroom for 30 students, ensuring safe drinking water facilities and separate toilets for girls and boys to computer labs. Experts also suggest granting free ships or scholarships to those from disadvantaged backgrounds to encourage enrolment in secondary and senior secondary schools. The CABE report notes that expansion of secondary education can be achieved by setting up new schools, upgrading existing elementary schools into high schools by providing more infrastructure and adding to the facilities in existing secondary schools to accommodate more students.

In view of this, the Central and the State/UT governments must jointly initiate planning to implement the agenda of universal and free secondary education in the first phase by the year 2015 and then extend it to senior secondary education in the second phase by the year 2020. The conventional expectation from secondary/senior secondary education lies in its role in creating the necessary base for generating technical person power, raising the potential of a society in contributing to the growth of knowledge and skills and thereby enhancing the nation's capacity to face the challenge of global competitiveness.

The no of  higher secondary schools has been raised to 50,273 with  1000112 teachers, and figure of secondary schools is 101,777 with 1082878 teachers. Official statistics reveal that the enrolment of secondary and higher secondary school level is  3.70  crore and the gross enrolment ratio is 39.91. The total dropout rate up to matric is 61.92 as on September 2004. The population of children in this age group has been estimated to be 88.5 million as per Census, 2001.Enrolment figures show that only 31 million of these children were attending schools in 2001-02,

However, Para 5.13 –5.15 of the National Policy on Education (NPE), 1986 (as modified in 1992) deal with Secondary Education. Para 5.13. of the NPE, inter alia states that access to Secondary Education will be widened with emphasis on enrolment of girls, SCs and STs, particularly in science, commerce and vocational streams. The disparity between boys' and girls' enrollment is particularly marked at the secondary stage. As per the latest data available, out of the total enrollment of 21.2 millions n 1991-92 (as on 30.9.91) at the secondary stage (Classes IX and above), the girls account for 7 millions only, i.e. mere 33 per cent of the total enrollment, whereas boy's enrollment at this stage of education is 67 per cent of the total enrollment.

            Nevertheless, a significant progress is also made in all spheres of secondary education. More than 84 per cent habitations in 1993-94 had a secondary school/section within a distance of 8 km as compared to 70 per cent within 5 km.  The number of unserved habitations declined from 21 per cent in 1986-87 to 15 per cent in 1993-94.  During 1950-51 to 1999-2000, number of secondary & higher secondary schools increased from 7 thousand to 117 thousand.  The increase (16 times) is much more rapid than the corresponding increase in primary (3 times) and upper primary (14 times) schools.   In the latest decade (1990 to 99), more than 37 thousand secondary & higher secondary schools were opened. The ratio of upper primary to secondary schools also improved from 1.83 in 1950-51 to 1.69 in 1999-2000.

Keeping in view the dismal statistics of secondary education in the country, Ministry of HRD launched several schemes, like scheme for strengthening of boarding and hostel facilities for girl students of secondary and higher secondary schools. The scheme is being implemented by NGOs and of the state governments. A one-time grant non recurring  grant @Rs.1500/- per girl boarder for purchase of furniture (including beds)and utensils and provision of basic recreational aids, particularly material for sports and games, reading room equipments and books. And recurring Rs.5000/- per annum per girl boarder for food and salary of cook. Finally, The CABE Committee in June 2005 recommended that "there is no alternative acceptable to regular schooling of good quality to all the girls". The Committee also felt that "incentives offered for promotion of girls education need to be revisited and measures taken need to be of such nature, force and magnitude that they are able to overcome the obstacles posed by factors such as poverty, domestic/sibling responsibilities, girl child labour, low preference to girl's education, preference to marriage over the education of girl child, etc." The key issues relating to secondary education highlighted in the Tenth Plan are: greater focus on improving access; reducing disparities by emphasizing the Common School System; renewal of curricula with emphasis on vocationalisation and employment-oriented courses; expansion and diversification of the Open Learning System; reorganization of teacher training and greater use of ICT. After merging several schemes like ET & CLASS scheme, a new Scheme called ICT Schools was launched for which the Annual Plan Outlay for 2006-07 was Rs. 67 crore. The intervention of the Central Government in Secondary Education has primarily been in two areas, (i) through apex level bodies and (ii) through various Centrally Sponsored Schemes. Central Government supports autonomous organizations like NCERT, CBSE, KVS and NVS and CTSA, the first named body for providing research and policy support to the Central and State Governments; CBSE for affiliating Secondary Schools and the remaining three for their own school systems. There are 929 Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVS) and 507 Navodaya Vidyalayas (NVS), and 69 Central Schools for Tibetans (CTSA).  Scheme of Vocationalistion of Secondary Education at secondary level to enhance individual Employability. Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) launched in 2007 is a mission-mode exercise to universalize secondary education in which the centre is all set to universalize the secondary education till 2020.

The irony is that the arguments on the part of HRD ministry on community participation in implementing such schemes are not encouraging. Government should initiate evaluation mechanism and core commission to evaluate the progress of the schemes and policies to support the education sector by community mobilization to revitalize the schemes and put the policies into practice.

The author can be contacted at sadaketmalik@rediffmail.com

Education for All: Trend and out reach at Tamilnadu in India

The world convention on to Meet fundamental Learning requirements was adopted by the World Conference on Education for All at Jomtien, Thailand, in March 1990. The meeting design comprehensive review of policies concerning basic education. The Education for All (EFA) 2000 appraisal is a major global attempt that aims to enable the participating countries to
(i) Construct a comprehensive picture of their progress towards their own Education for All goals since the 1990 Jomtien Conference,
(ii) Identify priorities and promising strategies for overcoming obstacles and accelerating progress, and
(iii) Revise national plans of action accordingly.
EFA indicators which are grouped according to the following six 'Intention Magnitude':-
1. Expansion of early childhood care and development;
2. Universal access to and completion of primary education;
3. Improvement in learning achievement;
4. Reduction of adult illiteracy rate;
5. Expansion of provision of basic education and training in essential skills required by
Youth and adults; and
6. Increased acquisition by individuals and families of the knowledge, skills and values
organized for better living.
For this purpose a National Assessment Group was constituted in the Department of Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development consisting of senior officials of the Department concerned with EFA and representatives of specialized national institutions, like NCERT, NIEPA and NCTE. During its deliberations, the Group felt that the Indian exercise should be carried out in a larger perspective which takes into account the following important developments:
 The wide range of programmes initiated for achieving Universalisation of Elementary Education after formulation of National Policy of Education, 1986;
 The massive effort made in the form of literacy campaigns to reach education to the masses; and
 Enormous amount of activities in the field of primary education witnessed in the country on an unprecedented scale in the 1990s through projects and programmes specifically focused on EFA.
The EFA 2000 exercise is, therefore, seen not merely as a stock taking exercise but also as an effort to review and fine-tune strategies and programmes of basic education.
It is with this dual perspective in view that it has been planned
(1) to make the exercise quite comprehensive covering every dimension of basic education;
(2) to get the various component areas reviewed by independent experts from across the country; and
(3) to evolve a plan of action for the next phase, probably the final phase, of the national effort to reach the goal of EFA.
India's EFA Assessment 2000 Country Report draws upon the following three documents:
i. Report of progress made with respect to the 18 EFA Indicators as identified in the General and Technical Guidelines given by the EFA Forum Secretariat;
ii. The State of the Art Review (Synthesis) on Learning Achievements; and
iii. The State of the Art Review on Learning Conditions.
The Department of Education in the Ministry of Human Resource Development has taken the initiative to commission twenty-four sub-sectoral studies on various aspects of EFA in India which seek to capture the varied experiences that have emerged from the projects, programmes and schemes undertaken during the last decade. The findings of these studies are proposed to be disseminated widely in India and abroad with a view to enrich the EFA 2000 Assessment exercise and provide useful inputs for policy makers, planners and administrators who are working towards achieving the goals of EFA.

Education for All – frame work

The goal of EFA in India are to be viewed in relation to the stage of education development that obtained on 1990 ¾ the year of world declaration on EFA. By then, fairly large expansion of in all parts of the country. Other sectors of education like adult education Non – formal education had also developed fairly well. Therefore, the main challenges in education in 1990s related to EFA have been the following: Access to basic education for the unreached segments and uncovered habitations

Qualitative improvement in content and processes of education; to make them more responsive to learning needs of individuals-children, youth and adults, families, community and development in different sectors of social and economic life. Consolidation and newer orientation wherever required in different areas of education through innovative programmes and changed role of educational personnel. Community participation in education; making education a people's movement. Evolving effective and efficient management structures in education.

All goals and targets of EFA to be fulfilled in 1990's have to be assessed in terms of the nature of the programmes, the degree to which they have led to achievement of the goals of EFA, and the promise they hold for making the processes and supportive structure sustainable. Thus, when EFA programmes were implemented in 1990's,a new framework for development of basic education in the country was emerging which had the following broad features.

Holistic Approach
The holistic approach adopted for planning and implementation of EFA programmes is characterized by:
- A holistic view of basic education with grater linkages and integration between pre – school, primary education, non – formal education and adult education;
- Relating programmes of education with national concerns such as nutrition and health care, environment, small family norm and life skills education.
- Collaboration of different departments and sectors of development with primary education.

Education Grantee Scheme

The EGS centers in Tamil Nadu deserves special mention as an important new initiative in the 1990s.the remarkable success of EGS drawn the attention of planners and policy maker. The EGS centers covered 6-11 age groups who did not battened school. The key factors on which EGS hinges are community demand and government guarantee. By projecting community demand as a start-up point, EGS addresses the issue of enrollment and retention. The EGS is seen as successful mode of reaching the unreached or 'Hard to reach'.

Education Grantee Scheme in Tamil Nadu (2004-2005)

ACTIVITIES
Administration arrangement: The coordinator have appointed.
Capacity building All the staff/ teachers have completed the strategy planning work shop.
Equivalence strategy The special effort is being taken to enroll the school drop out children.
Duration The short duration of the programme is 60-75 days.
School hours Two to three hours
Number of children per class 25 – 40 is high and low is 10-20
Teacher qualifications, Training and honorarium As per the government norm
Academic support and supervision The separate supervisors for every eight to ten schools
Teaching – Learning Materials The material prepared separately
Collaboration with NGOs Many EGS centers running by NGOs

A PROGRAMME FOR UNIVERSAL ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN INDIA
In accordance with the constitutional commitment to ensure free and compulsory education for all children up to the age of 14 years, provision of universal elementary education has been a salient feature of national policy since independence. This resolve has been spelt out emphatically in the National Policy since independence (NPE), 1986 and the Programme of Action (POA) 1992. A number of schemes and programmes were launched in pursuance of the emphasis embodied in the NPE and the POA. These included the scheme of Operation Blackboard (OB); Non Formal Education (NFE); Teacher Education (TE); Mahila Samakhya (MS); State specific Basic Education Projects like the Andhra Pradesh Primary Education Project (APPEP); Bihar Education Project (BEP), Lok Jumbish (LJP) in Rajasthan; National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (MDM); District Primary Education Programme (DPEP).

Why Elementary Education
Social justice and equity are by themselves a strong argument for providing basic education for all. It is an established fact that basic education improves the level of human well – being especially with regard to life expectancy, infant mortality, nutritional status of children, etc. Studies have shown that universal basic education significantly contributes to economic growth.
Constitutional, Legal and National Statements for UEE
The Constitutional, legal, and national policies and statements have time and again upheld the cause of universal elementary education.
Constitutional mandate 1950 – "The state shall Endeavour to provide, within a period of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution, for free and compulsory education to all children until they complete the age of 14 years."
National Policy of Education 1986 – "It shall be ensured that free and compulsory education of satisfactory quality is provided to all children up to 14 years of age before we enter the twenty first century."
Unnikrishnan judgment 1993 – "Every child/citizen of this country has a right to free
education till he completes the age of fourteen years."
Education Ministers" resolve 1998 – "Universal elementary education should be pursued in the mission mode. It emphasized the need to pursue a holistic and convergent
approach towards UEE."

National Committee's Report on UEE in the mission mode 1999 – UEE should be pursued in a mission mode with a holistic and convergent approach with emphasis on preparation of District Elementary Education Plans for UEE. It supported the fundamental right to education and desired quick action towards operationalization of the mission mode towards UEE.

The Scenario so Far
Consequent to several efforts, India has made enormous progress in terms of increase in institution, teachers, and students in elementary education. The number of schools in the country increased four fold – from 2, 31, 000 in 1950-51 to 9, 30,000 in 1988-99, while enrolment in the primary cycle jumped by about six times from 19.2 million to 110 million. At the upper Primary stage, the increase of enrolment during the period was 13 times, while enrolment of girls recorded a huge rise of 32 times. The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) at the Primary stage has exceeded 100 percent. Access to schools is no longer a major problem. At the primary stage, 94 percent of the country's rural population has schooling facilities within one kilometer and at the upper primary stage it is 84 percent.
The country has made impressive achievement in the elementary education sector. But the flip side is that out of the 200 million children in the age group of 6 -14 years, 59million children are not attending school. Of this, 35 million are girls and 24 million are boys. There are problems relations to drop – out rate, low levels of learning achievement and low participation of girls, tribal and other disadvantaged groups. There are still at least one lakh habitations in the country without schooling facility within a kilometer. Coupled with it are various systemic issues like inadequate school infrastructure, poorly functioning schools, high teacher absenteeism, large number of teacher vacancies, poor quality of education and inadequate funds.
In short, the country is yet to achieve the elusive goal of Universalisation of Elementary education (UEE), which means 100 percent enrolment and retention of children with schooling facilities in all habitations. It is to fill this gap that the government has launched the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA)
The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is a historic stride towards achieving the long cherished goal
of Universalisation of Elementary Education (UEE) through a time bound integrated approach, in partnership with States. SSA, which promises to change the face of the elementary education sector of the country, aims to provide useful and quality elementary
Education to all children in the 6-14 age groups by 2010.
The SSA is an effort to recognize the need for improving the performance of the school system and to provide community owned quality elementary education in the mission mode. It also envisages bridging of gender and social gaps.

OBJECTIVES OF SARVA SHIKSHA ABHIYAN
 All children in school, Education Guarantee Centre, Alternative School, 'Back to School' camp by 2003;
 All children complete five years of primary schooling by 2007;
 All children complete eight years of schooling by 2010;
 Focus on elementary education of satisfactory quality with emphasis on education for life;
 Bridge all gender and social category gaps at primary stage by 2007 and at
Elementary education level by 2010;
 Universal retention by 2010.

Structure for Implementation
The Central and State governments will together implement the SA in partnership with the local governments and the community. To signify the national priority for elementary education, a National Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Mission is being established with the Prime Minister as the Chairperson and the Union Minister of Human Resource Development as the Vice Chairperson. States have been requested to establish State level Implementation Society for UEE under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister Education Minister. This has already been done in many States.
The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan will not disturb existing structures in States and districts but would only try to bring convergence in all these efforts. Efforts will be made to ensure that there is functional decentralization down to the school level in order to improve community participation. Besides recognizing PRIs / Tribal Councils in Scheduled Areas, including the Gram Sabha, the States would be encouraged to enlarge the accountability framework by involving NGOs, teacher, activists, women's organizations etc.
Coverage and Period
The SSA will cover the entire expanse of the country before March 2002 and the duration of the Programme in every district will depend upon the District Elementary Education Plan (DPEP) Prepared by it as per its specific needs. However, the upper limit for the programme period has been fixed as ten years, i.e., up to 2010.

Strategies central to SSA programme
 Institutional reforms – As part of the SSA, institutional reforms in the States will be carried out. The state will have to make an objective assessment of their prevalent education system including educational administration, achievement levels in schools, financial issues, decentralization and community ownership, review of state Education Act, rationalization of teacher deployment and recruitment of teachers, monitoring and evaluation, education of girls, SC/ST and disadvantaged groups, policy regarding private schools and ECCE. Many States have already affected institutional reforms to improve the delivery system for elementary education.
 Sustainable Financing – The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is based on the premise that financing of elementary education interventions has to sustainable. This calls for a long – term perspective on financial partnership between the Central and the State governments.
 Community ownership – The programme calls for community ownership of school based interventions through effective decentralisation. This will be augmented by involvement of women's groups, VEC members and members of Panchayati Raj institutions.
 Institutional capacity building – The SSA conceives a major capacity building role for national and state level institution like NIEPA/NCERT/NCTE/SCERT/SIEMAT. Improvement in quality requires a sustainable support system of resource persons.
 Improving mainstream educational administration – The Programme will have a community based monitoring system. The Educational Management Information System (EMSI) will correlate school level data with community based information from micro planning and surveys. Besides this, every school will have a notice board showing all the grants received by the school and other details.
 Habitation as a unit of planning – The SSA works on a community based approach to planning with habitation as a unit of planning. Habitation plans will be the basis for formulating district plans.
 Accountability to community – SSA envisages cooperation between teachers, parents and PRIs, as well as accountability and transparency.
 Education of girls – Education of girls, especially those belonging to the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, will be one of the principal concerns in Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.
 Focus on special groups – There will be a focus on the education participation of children form SC/ST, religious and linguistic minorities, disadvantaged groups and the disabled children.
 Pre Project phase – SSA will commence throughout the country with a well planned pre project phase that provides for a large number of interventions for capacity development to improve the delivery and monitoring system.
 Thrust on quality – SSA lays a special thrust on making education at elementary level useful and relevant for children by improving the curriculum, child centered activities and effective teaching methods.
 Role of teachers – SSA recognizes the critical role of teachers and advocates a focus on their development needs. Setting up of BRC/CRC, recruitment of qualified teachers, opportunities for teacher development through participation in curriculum related material development, focus on classroom process and exposure visits for teachers are all designed to develop the human resource among teachers.
 District Elementary Education Plans – As per the SSA framework, each district will prepare a District Elementary Education Plan reflection all the investments being made in the education sector, with a holistic and convergent approach.

Components of SSA
The components of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan includes appointment of teachers, teacher training, qualitative improvement of elementary education, provision of teaching learning materials, establishment of Block and Cluster Resource Centers for academic support, construction of Classrooms and school buildings, establishment of education guarantee centers, integrated education of the disabled and distance education.
Conclusion
Non-government Organization
Non – government organizations, commonly referred to as voluntary agencies in India, also participate in EFA programmes. For instance, a large number of voluntary agencies are implementing non – formal education programmes to meet the educational needs of out of school children. Many of them focus on socially and economically back ward areas and marginalized sections of the society and on education of girls. The current decade has seen the emergence of a number of EFA programmes supported by international agencies. These include support multi – lateral agencies including UN bodies, the World Bank and the ADB. Five UN agencies have supported the development of a joint initiative with the government of India and state governments on community based primary education. Assistance from UN agencies and bilateral dononars is in the form of grants, while the World Bank provides concessional loan assistance through IDA. Matching contributions in cash and kind are provided by central and state governments for such projects. The last three five year plans have witnessed significant shift in the expenditure of the department of education in the central government towards primary and adult education and away from tertiary education. That the central government is paying serious attention towards achievement of the goal of EFA is brought out by these actions of government.

E-learning and online education system is taking a lead over traditional mode of education in the recent times. A probability is also being drawn that this might become the most dominant system of imparting education. The growth rate of the E-learning process has brought forward the view among the curriculum directors of the online education that by the year 2010 nearly one-fifth among the student category will shift to this system of learning and education across the globe.

The online education is not just limited to the school level of primary education. It is gradually taking the shape of a colleges and universities. Why is E-learning gaining such great popularity? Can it become the part and parcel of our daily living? Actually the way technology is developing drastically the day is not far when everything can be done in terms of a technological system. What's wrong if education also picks up the same device for its advancement and betterment!

Scopes for better learning

Keeping with the time trend when everyone is in the race to achieve more you need the fastest possible way in everything. Education and learning process are no exceptional. The concept thrives upon making everything global and to a great extent equal for everyone who can basically avail the facility.

E-learning knows no geographical barrier. Flexibility of temporal order is inherent to the system. Online education provides the students with the broader choice of subjects and the learning process can be exercised as per the wish of the student. Here a note must be given that online education is best for those who have reached the secondary level of education. At this stage a direct guidance from a live teacher in front is not that required. A virtual format is much better where the student can act and react, as he or she would like to.

Though online education is in fact a form of distance education but the distance can never be felt because you don't have to waste any time and energy. On the above you can avail the education within your budget. Self-supportive and self-directed may be the keywords that form the basis of online education. But without interaction even in this system nothing takes place. The Interactive Learning Guide is always there for your support to help you in every step wherever you require. With so much flexibility in the approach why won't more and more students prefer to opt for this system of education? Isn't this quite natural?

(CHICAGO - September 6, 2005) Argosy University announced today that it will assist students from universities in New Orleans, southern Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama universities, which have been closed for the foreseeable future due to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.

Argosy University will make available both on-campus and online courses that might be able to permit dislocated students to progress in their academic careers during this semester of disruption. Students at a university forced to close by Hurricane Katrina may register at any of Argosy University's 13 campuses across the nation for courses, on a space-available basis, for the fall terms.

Argosy University will waive tuition for dislocated students who have already registered and paid tuition at their home institution for the fall 2005 semester. If dislocated students have not yet paid their tuition at their home institution, they will be assessed the lesser of the current published tuition and fees at the home institution, or Argosy University's published tuition and fees, as determined by the Argosy University campus president.

"Argosy University acted today by offering educational assistance to college students impacted by Hurricane Katrina," says Dr. Gregory O'Brien, president of Argosy University. "Argosy University is concerned for the well-being of these students, and this initiative is our way of reaching out with compassion and benevolence to those affected. We pledge to do all that we can to assist college students in the Gulf Coast region to continue their education and continue in their lives."

According to the American Council on Education, more than 30 colleges and universities in the Gulf Coast region have been severely damaged by the hurricane, and possibly 100,000 students have been displaced from their schools.

Argosy University offers doctoral, masters, and undergraduate degree programs in psychology, counseling, education, business, information technology, and organizational leadership. Doctoral degree programs in clinical psychology (accredited by the American Psychological Association), are available at several Argosy University's campuses. Argosy University will assist dislocated Ph.D. and Psy.D. students on an individual basis. Select associate's degree programs in several health sciences fields are available at Argosy University/Twin Cities, located in Eagan, MN.

Argosy University has campuses in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Honolulu, Orange County (Santa Ana, CA), Phoenix, San Francisco Bay Area (Port Richmond, CA), Sarasota, Schaumburg (IL), Seattle, Tampa, Twin Cities (Eagan, MN), and Washington DC (Arlington, VA).

Students seeking information about Argosy University's initiative can visit the university's website (www.argosyu.edu) or call National Admissions Information at 1-800-377-0617.

With 13 campuses across the nation, Argosy University (www.argosyu.edu) offers undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate degrees in the disciplines of business, education, health sciences, and psychology and behavioral sciences. Argosy University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association (NCA) (30 North LaSalle Street, Suite 2400, Chicago, IL 60602, 1.312.263.0456, www.ncahlc.org). The parent company of Argosy University, Education Management Corporation (www.edmc.com), is among the largest providers of private post-secondary education in North America, based on student enrollment and revenue. Student enrollment exceeded 66,000 as of fall 2004. EDMC has 71 primary campus locations in 24 states and two Canadian provinces. EDMC's education institutions offer a broad range of academic programs concentrated in the media arts, design, fashion, culinary arts, behavioral sciences, health sciences, education, information technology, legal studies, and business fields, culminating in the award of associate's through doctoral degrees. EDMC has provided career-oriented education for over 40 years. ###