Credit Based Fee structure

 The National Credit Framework (NCrF) standardizes and organizes the academic credits earned by students in higher education institutions (HEIs) across the country. It provides a framework for the recognition, transfer, and accumulation of credits earned by students during their academic pursuits. For a student, to complete a certain degree, s/he needs to complete and stack at least the minimum number of credits prescribed for that degree under different baskets. The UGC allows students to earn up to 40 percent of their credits through online MOOC courses offered by the Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds (SWAYAM) platform. This initiative aims to promote online learning and provide students with the flexibility to supplement their traditional classroom education with online courses. It also aligns with the broader goals of educational accessibility. Emphasis of National Education Policy (NEP 2020) on student mobility, Multiple exit and Entry, Skill development, Ability Enhancement, Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) and Multi Disciplinary approach of education  un-doubtly  holds lot of merits for students. Above mentioned initiatives  supported by  Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) and  National Academic Depository (NAD) makes the whole system operationally possible.  Today a long awaited “Design your degree”, which allows for customization of degree has become a reality, even in this part of the world.  However, there are certain areas where HEIs need to work out the mechanism for effective implementation of these policies . One such area is the fee collected from the students. Flat fee structures does not seem fair and will seize to work soon. If a student is given freedom to earn credits from multiple sources online and offline, accordingly dynamic fee structures need to be devised to align with the evolving educational landscape where students have more options to earn credits from diverse sources. Introducing credit based fee structure is therefore need of an hour. Student will only pay for those credits which s/he registers in the Institute. For those courses which s/he has registered on SWAYAM or in some other institute, s/he does not need to pay. What about the courses within the institute? How much does one credit cost within the institute? Higher Educational Institutions offer various programmes which can be broadly categorized in General, Professional, Technical and vocational education.  Existing fee structures in HEIs are different for different programmes falling under different educational categories mentioned above. Under CBCS if a student registers certain credits from other programme belonging to different educational category, s/he has to pay a per credit fee of the offering department. Cost-per-credit has to be another attribute of a course in addition to its syllabus, credits, level etc. Fee to be paid by the student in a certain semester will be the sum total of  cost of credits registered by him in that semester, in which some credits may be expensive and some credits may be economical depending on the Department offering the course. Credit based fee structure will give rise to a scenario where students of same programme in same semester may be charged different fee. This poses a challenge, which ofcourse, can be resolved by implementing a proper IT solution. However, this may make certain economical courses more popular among the students.  Regulations addressing the issues like refund, backlog and withdrawal of credits are also required to be formulated for effective implementation of the system.

Use of Technology in Language Learning

 It is the ability to speak and use of language to communicate, that makes humans superior to all others. Language is the cornerstone of human society and civilization. It facilitates communication, education, culture, innovation, and virtually every aspect of our lives. Recognizing the importance of language, helps us appreciate its role in shaping our world and promoting cooperation among people of diverse backgrounds and cultures. Both, learning a new language or efforts to gain deeper understanding of one’s own mother tongue have always been rewarding. It broadens the horizons; enhance the cultural understanding and opens up new opportunities.  In fact, people who know more than one language have more cognitive capabilities like improved problem solving skills, better memory, enhanced multitasking abilities etc. In addition to being rewarding, learning of a new language is also a requirement and sometimes obligation.  In such a situation, we are required to find the ways and methods which help us to learn a language. As India is celebrating 75 days of “Bharatiya Bhasha Utsav” from 28th September to 11th December, 2023, the birthday of the poet Subramania Bharati, a freedom fighter and a social reformer in Tamil Nadu, it will not be out of context to discuss about the role of technology in learning of a language. Language learning through technology has seen significant advancements and innovations in recent years. Technology has made language learning more accessible, interactive, and effective. Today we see various Language Learning Apps which offer structured lessons, interactive exercises, and progress tracking features. Many institutions and websites offer online language courses. These courses often include video lectures, assignments, and assessments. Language Exchange Platforms like Tandem and HelloTalk and Online Language Tutor like Pre-Ply connect language learners with native speakers for language exchange. This enables learners to practice with real people. Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) on the other hand, can immerse learners in real-life language scenarios. For example, learners can explore a virtual market where they need to communicate in the target language. Language Learning Software like Rosetta Stone offer comprehensive language learning programs that focus on listening and speaking skills. Speech Recognition and Pronunciation Tools  help learners practice pronunciation and improve their accent. Machine Translation and Language Learning tools like Google Translate, and ANUVADINI can assist learners in understanding and translating text. Reading E-books and listening to Audio-books in the target language help learners build vocabulary and improve comprehension skills. In addition to these, there are countless YouTube channels and podcasts dedicated to language learning. These are often created by native speakers and cover various aspects of language, including pronunciation, grammar, and culture. Language Learning Games, make learning fun and engaging. Social Media and Language Communities allow learners to interact with native speakers, ask questions, and share their progress. In Short, Technology has not only made language learning more accessible but also personalized the learning experience. Learners can choose the resources and methods that suit their learning style and goals, whether they want to improve their conversational skills, business communication, or fluency in a new language. Additionally, the gamification of language learning and the ability to interact with native speakers online have made the process more engaging and enjoyable. While technology has undoubtedly made language learning more accessible and convenient, it also presents some concerns: The availability of AI-based instant language translators can lead to an overreliance on these tools, potentially discouraging people from making the effort to learn a new language. This could result in missed opportunities for cultural immersion and deeper understanding. The use of automatic grammar correction tools can be a double-edged sword. While they can help users avoid grammar errors, they may also hinder the development of strong grammar skills. Over time, people may become dependent on these tools, making it challenging to write correctly without them. Auto spell checkers are indeed valuable for catching spelling errors, but they can also prevent users from developing strong spelling skills. Relying on spell checkers too heavily may lead to a decline in spelling proficiency. Overreliance on technology for language correction and translation can depersonalize communication as Automated tools lack the human element that makes language learning and communication more engaging and meaningful. Instant translators and correction tools may not always understand the context and nuances of language. This can result in translations or corrections that lack cultural sensitivity and may not capture the full meaning of a conversation. It is therefore better to use technology as a supplementary tool rather than the sole means of language learning. Combining technology with traditional methods, such as speaking with native speakers, joining language classes, or traveling to countries where the language is spoken, can provide a more comprehensive language learning experience.

Go Sanctions Go

Go Sanctions Go

Rate of increase in the number of Covid-19 positive cases and huge number of deaths in the whole world and our inability to contain it, speaks about the fragility of humans and at the same time poses a question on the mere existence of human race. Virus has trigged unprecedented crises in human history. In these tough times, lucky are those who have only this particular issue to fight with. Country like Iran, which is among one of the worst hit regions, has to fight with the pandemic on one hand and has to deal with the stubbornness of the Trump and his allies on the other. US, first of all pulled out from a UN endorsed nuclear deal between Iran and P5+1 nations and later continued to impose more sanctions on Iran, thereby proved that they are not reliable partners, exactly what Iran’s supreme leader Ayatullah Ali Khamanai has called them several times so far.  As the virus spread over Iran and started to show its aggression, those, whose conscience is still live, raised voice and urged the world community to ease the sanctions on Iran. Some sections of the media also played its role and showed their concern. Now that Corona Virus has spread into West and US, global media has shifted its focus to western world. It has resulted in US escaping the criticism for continuing its deadly sanctions against Iran and its people at this crucial time. United Nations leadership recently called for rolling back of sanctions, declaring sanctions as counterproductive for  containing the spread of the corona virus. “I am encouraging the waiving of sanctions imposed on countries to ensure access to food, essential health supplies, and COVID-19 medical support. This is the time for solidarity not exclusion,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres wrote in a letter to the G-20 economic powers. “Let us remember that we are only as strong as the weakest health system in our interconnected world”, said Guterres.  Iran‘s foreign minister, Mr. Zarif, in his letter to UN urged an end to illegal sanctions. Zarif said, “despite Iran’s scientific capabilities and the commitment that the country’s health system has shown to the fight against the coronavirus outbreak, the U.S. sanctions on the sale of medicine, medical equipment and humanitarian supplies is a serious obstacle to the efforts to control the spread of COVID-19 in the country”. US, however, has claimed that humanitarian aid including food and medicine has been exempted from sanctions. But the fact is that companies have been unwilling to do business with Iran, and banks have not been able or willing to process payments fearing to face secondary sanctions from US. China has also urged the United States to lift sanctions on Iran immediately amid the country’s response to the corona virus outbreak. Michelle Bachelet, the UN high commissioner for human rights, also said  “in a context of global pandemic, impeding medical efforts in one country heightens the risk for all of us.” She further added, “At this crucial time, both for global public health reasons, and to support the rights and lives of millions of people in these countries, sanctions should be eased or suspended”. In addition to above, Russia, Pakistan and various other medical organizations and rights groups urged the Trump administration to lift sanctions against the Islamic Republic.  Unmoved by the all-round condemnation and outcry, US instead responded with a message to Iran saying “Corona virus won’t save you from sanctions”. No wonder Zarif described this uncivilized behavior of United States as an act of “medical terrorism”. As expected Iran, inspite of all odds has again demonstrated it's ability and resolve to withstand the challenge. Even under pressing sanctions, Iran has been able to develop rapid test kits, increase its face mask production by many folds, conduct successful stem cell research to counter coronavirus and more recently on 4^th April, 2020, unveiled its indigenous and state of art Artificial Intelligence based corona virus diagnosis system, thereby proved its metal again. US and it's allies need to see the writing on the wall and cash on the opportunity created by COVID-19 and ease sanctions which have already proved futile in cowing down Iran. It is high time to engage with Iran rather than pushing it to wall. Hope the sanity prevails and COVID-19 threat paves way for new world order based on Sincerity, equality and compassion.

Afaq Alam Khan

Learning: The MOOCs Way

Learning: The MOOCs Way

Online education has been there for a long time now. But since the day it took the shape in the form of MOOCs, it has started gaining acceptance everywhere like never before and is fast engulfing every country in the world. This trend which took birth at MIT, in United States and is already on the way to become mainstream in that part of the world has hit our shores as well and is all set to have direct effect on the lives of those working in higher education sector. MOOC stands for Massive Open Online Courses and are usually aimed at large scale participation, either free or at subsidised costs. Features of MOOC course like Anytime, Anyone, Anywhere has made these courses the preferred choice of learners. Today thousands of MOOC courses designed by top most universities and educational institutes of the world, hosted on the platforms like CourseEra, Edx, Udacity etc are challenging universities in their ability to sustain themselves through traditional classroom system; particularly when government policies favour "staking" of MOOC courses into a Degree.

Sensing the urgency in the matter, Ministry of Human Resource & Development, Government of India launched an indigenous platform SWAYAM to host MOOC courses designed and developed within the country. SWAYAM is an acronym for Study Webs of Active learning for Young Aspiring Minds. As per MHRD report published in December, 2018; One thousand six hundred MOOC courses developed by different National Coordinators have already been hosted on SWAYAM platform, 90 universities in the country have already agreed to transfer the credits for the course done through SWAYAM, more than 39 Lakh have enrolled themselves in different courses and 60000 students have completed the course on SWAYAM.

 As per UGC Credit Transfer Framework for online learning through SWAYAM- 2016, a student pursuing a programme in a university can earn up to 20% credits through MOOC courses hosted on SWAYAM, thereby reserving 80% weightage to the traditional student-teacher classroom interaction and no university shall refuse any student for credit mobility for the course earned through SWAYAM. UGC has also come up with " Annual Refresher Programme in Teaching" (ARPIT), through which Refresher courses are offered through a MOOC course hosted on SWAYAM. UGC has decided to treat MOOC  course under ARPIT program as equivalent to one refresher course. Now a faculty member need not to travel a long distances to undergo a refresher program if he finds one suitable to him on ARPIT. In addition to the financial support to the faculty members who are involved in design and development of MOOC courses, an attractive score in API has also been approved. Needless to mention that universities encouraging MOOC courses earn more points in NIRF rankings. 

To get benefited from this initiative of MHRD, a university can contribute in two ways firstly as a Parent Institute and secondly as a Host Institute. As a Parent institute, University has to encourage  students to register for the free courses hosted on SWAYAM, particularly those courses for which there is a dearth of faculty. The SWAYAM platform is accompanied by a mobile application for easier access to the courses. At the end of the course, examinations are conducted by National Testing Agency (NTA) either online or through pen & paper mode. As a Host institute, faculty members need to come forward and take an initiative to design and develop a quality  MOOC course on varied subjects  in a four quadrant format which can be hosted on SWAYAM platform. Courses hosted on SWAYAM are not real time which makes it suitable for this place where internet connectivity is not guaranteed all the time. 

With a futuristic schemes in higher education like National Academic Credit Bank (NACB), which UGC envisions to rollout by 2021, a student will be will able to join in one university , pursue the courses in different universities and earn a degree from another university. In this scenario credits earned through MOOC courses hosted on SWAYAM become more meaningful and have the highest  potential to integrate with the scheme. 

Why make teacher a scapegoat?!

With the declaration of results for 10th and 12th class, once again started the ritual of trolling of teachers working in government schools. A friend posted a message on a social networking site. "To improve the education in Govt schools , all government teachers should be asked to admit their children in government run schools". The post was liked by few other friends followed by comments from several others putting the blame of poor condition of government schools wholly and solely on teachers. In my reaction to the post I wrote, "Why only teachers, Why not all non teaching staff starting from director education, CEOs, ZEOs, and other officials including supporting staff". Condition of Government schools is what it is, not because of teachers only but non teaching factors are equally responsible. Does anybody deny the fact that there is an elaborate and transparent selection procedure in place and most qualified and best among the lot are selected as teachers?. Even private school teachers long to get the job in Government schools. The series of quality trainings on varied subjects which a government teacher is put through year after year, most of the private school teachers cannot even dream of. Number of reputed organizations under various schemes are roped-in and trainings are provided to government teachers. Targeting only the teachers and putting the blame of underperformance of government schools on teachers only is no less than a conspiracy of directing the discourse towards finding and suggesting the appropriate punishment for under performer, and under this garb non teaching players succeed in diverting the attention from other possible reasons which are equally responsible for poor results of government schools and with the result these non teaching factors remain unaddressed.

               Take for example the quality of students. Does quality of students have nothing to do  with the results? As they say, you can take horse to the pond but you cannot make it drink water. Before making any judgements, one should first visit few primary  and/or middle schools, talk to the students and teachers there, do a  bit of survey on the background of students, find out the socio economic class to which they belong, the families where from these children come, figure out the educational background of parents/guardians, reason and expectation of parents from sending their wards to schools. These are the students who later on form the input and it will be on the basis of them that authorities will be suggesting rewards or punishments without realizing that it was their own non detention policy that a student have reached up to present stage.  I know a government school student who never talks in a class. She does not respond to the queries, all of the efforts of the teacher failed. Same student behaves normally at home. There is a student who is a son of a beggar on the bridge outside school. Is there any need to explain the blown up self-confidence of this student?. There are students who are victims of family disputes and domestic violence. Some others are mentally challenged. Private schools will never admit such students but government schools cannot deny admission. These are only few examples. Government schools house lot of such heartbreaking stories.

               Among various other reasons which lead to the poor performance of government schools is the inadequate infrastructure. At some places three government schools function from same building and in some other schools a teacher has to take three or four classes in a single room. In Srinagar itself there are schools which are running from dilapidated buildings without any furniture not to talk of rural areas where students are made to sit on bare floor. Hygiene is the last thing, if at all, it comes to the mind of authorities. This is the area where a teacher cannot do anything and blaming a teacher will be very unfair.

               Officials in school education department while sitting in their cosy office rooms with couple of gas heaters  take decisions for teachers and students who are in school without any heating arrangement even without proper place to sit.  Most of the times those  people  are placed at the helm of affairs in the school education department  who have never been teachers  nor have ever worked in a school environment. There are black sheep in every department and so are among teachers. But at the same time there are teachers who are in grief because of the situation of students, because of the disgusting condition of workplace, because of the discourteous behaviour of officers with them. Winter or summer vacations, which form the part of package for teachers, have become thorn in the eye of certain elements who are not entitled for the same. They leave no stone unturned to discourage the practice. Somebody please tell them that teaching job demands vacations and the practice is followed throughout world, not only in kashmir.

               One can very easily find a "supporting" staff member in education department who is at much lower grade in terms of rank and pay scale then a teacher but have an audacity to talk with arrogance to the teachers as they enjoy the patronage of high-ups and/or have not been provided proper orientation. There are officials who visit schools sometimes not to access the condition of schools or redress the problems which a school may be facing but only to harass teachers so as to make their authority felt and satisfy themselves. To some, these things may seem trivial  but repetition of these things make teachers to loose their will and receiving pay-cheque at the end of the month remains the only motivation left for them to stay in job. Contrary to a common perception, In government schools a teacher has to look after so many things other than teaching like  supervision and arrangement of mid day meals which includes arranging ration, gas, vegetables etc; arrangement of uniform, preparing scholarship data, handling multiple bank accounts, maintaining of accounts and formats like UDISE, Red account, SSA fund and what not. Conducting various surveys, Examination duties, election duties, accompanying students to various competitions, etc are among other duties which are assigned to a government school teacher.

               Coming back to our social networking conversation, another friend joined and I think without following the discussion going on and responding only to the original post, added "All govt teachers should be deputed to private schools for a year so that they get proper orientation". This is absurd. My simple question to this friend of mine and to those who hold the same opinion is to consider two cases, the one suggested by a friend that all government school teachers are send to private schools and another case where private school teachers are send to govt schools with existing infrastructure and hygienic condition, where would you like to send your kids now? Try to respond to this question and you will find where the problem lies.

Inside Qatar Fall-out and beyond

One phone call of Emir of Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani to Iranian President to congratulate him for his re-election as president of Iran and subsequent official publication  of Qatar  stating "Iran is a regional and Islamic Power that cannot be ignored",  which later Qatar disowned and claimed to be the handiwork of hackers, was enough for Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Nations, Egypt and Libya to sever ties with Qatar which was followed by land, sea and air blockade. It was on June 5 that the embargo started and is still going on with both the parties holding on to their stand. Showing support to Iran was only a last straw to break the camel's back . Tensions have been building for years.

Qatar is a small country with a population of less than 3 million people.  But her abundant wealth prompted Doha to pursue some misadventures in Syria to become relevant in the regional politics and expected her Imaginary "Qatar- Turkey-Europe" gas pipeline project to turn into reality through regime change in Syria. It is also the big reason for Turkey to side with Qatar in this crisis. Denouncing  Saudi Arabia 's move towards Qatar, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week termed the blockade as unislamic and equated it with the "Death penalty" for the people of Qatar. Like that of other anti Assad players, Qatar's objectives in Syria were severely undermined. What Qatar rightly deserved and earned from her role is Syria is the blame and shame of funding extremist forces. Ironically, blame comes from the nations and regimes who themselves are the biggest supporters and promoters of extremism. Qatar's support to Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas is being exploited by media and offered as a proof of Qatar's support to terrorism.  World seems to have forgotten that  Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas are both democratically elected entities, the idea (Democracy)  about which US is bragging all around all the time. In recent past when all of them were backing what they called rebels in Syria then there seemed to be no problem  with Qatar but when it came to Muslim Brotherhood which Egypt and even Saudi Arabia recognizes as a potential threat to their setup, suddenly Qatar becomes a bad guy. Fact of the matter is that the decision of  Gulf states to isolate Qatar  has not to do much with terrorism as it does with Qatar's relationship with Iran.

Iran and Qatar have little in common in terms of geography,  politics, and ideology. During Iran-Iraq war, Saddam Hussain enjoyed full support of Qatar, In Syria and Iraq, Qatar is part of US led coalition forces fighting Asad and even in Yemen Qatar till recently was part of Saudi-led Arab coalition fighting Houthi rebels- dubbed as Iranian allies.

It is only by the force of circumstances on one hand and the strategic and policy preferences of their leaders on the other hand that Iran and Qatar have been drawn together. Tehran and Doha share the world’s largest natural gas structure (called North Field in Qatar and South Pars in Iran) which serves as a major area of mutual interest between the two Persian Gulf states. The full utilization of hydrocarbon resources requires a high level of cooperation between Tehran and Doha for which Qatar needs to maintain cordial relations with Iran which is not acceptable to US and Saudi Arabia.

Another reason for Qatar not to fall inline with GCC in confronting Iran is the strait of Hormuz in Persian gulf which is largely controlled by Iran and in case of any eventuality, its closure  by Iran cannot be overruled. As Qatar is fully dependent on strait of Hormuz for her oil and gas exports, Doha cannot afford its closure.

Qatar being the member Nation of GCC, Saudi Arabia expects Qatar to place her individual and national interests after the bigger cause of GCC which is to counter ever increasing influence of Iran in the region, thereby safeguarding the interests of Zionist regime of Israel so that they continue to remain in good books of US . The crisis came to surface after US President Donald Trump’s visit to the region last month that was marked by signing of a record $110-billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was quoted as saying "The visit was aimed at getting Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations in the region to stand in unity with Israel and confront Iran".  Incidentally, United States after putting all the blame of  funding the extremists in Syria on Qatar, has at the same time signed with her a deal for the purchase of F-15 fighter jets with an initial cost of $12bn.

For Saudi Arabia, Qatar's crime is that she is not sufficiently opposed to  Iran and because of this Qatar does not qualify to be the part of any  of the alliance and even may be punished further. With Turkey  performing joint military drills with Qatar and  with the presence of US Airbase in Qatar, it remains to be seen whether the diplomacy prevails or God forbid world may have to witness another blood bath like the one in Yemen

Of Specially-Abled Persons and National Science Day

Every year since 1987, National Science Day is celebrated on February 28. On this day in 1928, C.V. Raman discovered the famous ‘Raman Effect’, about the scattering of light. He was awarded Nobel Prize in physics for this discovery in 1930. The day is commemorated to uphold the significance of scientific applications in our daily lives, to display all the activities, efforts and achievements in the field of science for human welfare and to inculcate scientific temper. Schools, colleges and universities throughout the country organise events and exhibitions that showcase their respective researches and discoveries in the field. National Science day was observed across Kashmir also with the Central University of Kashmir, University of Kashmir and Islamic University of Science and Technology holding functions and competitions.

Every year the day is assigned a theme. For 2017 the theme was "Science and Technology for Specially-abled Persons". A person is said to be specially-abled if he or she has a physical or mental impairment that has a significant impact on his or her daily life. This encompasses a wide range of impairments: from physical impairments like partial or total loss of sight, difficulty in hearing, inability to speak, various forms of immobility involving arms, legs or spine, to mental impairments like autism and dyslexia.

For the country where 2.21 % population is estimated to be specially-abled, the theme "Science & Technology for Specially-abled" for celebrating National Science Day is completely justified. Talking of J&K state, as per census 2011 our state has around 3.61 lakh, specially-abled persons. Another study places the number of disabled persons as high as 6 lakh out of which 1.2 lakh have some sort of orthopaedic disability and around 0.9 lakh suffer from mild to severe type of mental illness.
In today's world when science and technology have penetrated into every sphere of life, how can lives of specially-abled persons remain untouched? The severity of many of the impairments mentioned above can be reduced by technology. Innovations in technology can help the specially-abled person to lead an independent and near normal life.

In the area of prosthetics, for example, advances in material science, electronics and neuroscience have resulted in creation of prosthetic limbs that are controlled directly by the brain. From self-balancing and stair climbing wheelchairs to cars which replace driver seat with wheel chair, technology has promised it all. For visually impaired refreshable Braille displays, wearable finger reader for reading books, position sensing wrist bands with the capability of speech providing assistance in navigation, electric lollipop providing optical sensation enabling the user to taste the light and thousands of other products have come to the rescue of those who suffer visual impairment. A large number of assistive technologies including hearing aids, Cochlear implants are available for persons with hearing impairments.

Science may have done wonders and tonnes of gadgets and applications may be available for specially-abled people but we are still lacking and there is still a lot of scope in this area. If science and technology cannot provide relief to the specially-abled people then it is of little use. The fact is that it is not enough to innovate, design, produce and market the products for specially-abled, the products should be affordable to them as well, especially in Kashmir where the population of specially-abled particularly those with visual impairments has increased over the last year or so. It should be a matter of concern that research and innovation in this direction in our otherwise efficient educational and research institutes is negligible. The only possible reason for this neglect is a lack of sensitization towards the issues related to specially-abled people.

The roadmap to address the issues of specially-abled people starts with sensitising academia and industry by highlighting the never-ending scope in this area. Adequate funding needs to be made available for R&D. Making the latest gadgets and applications accessible and affordable is the step which is followed by providing education and training for specially-abled persons for which necessary infrastructure needs to be developed. Assistance in the placement and any entrepreneurial endeavour needs to be facilitated. Last but not the least, specially-abled friendly public amenities need to be created.

Defiling Art & Artist

Rising Kashmir, February 28^th, 2015.

It was year 2010 when a world renowned  cardiologist  tried to setup a healthcare facility in Srinagar but because of unnecessary bureaucratic hassles, he abandoned his proposal. Five years later we did it again. This time an enthusiastic  artist, a young entrepreneur is at receiving end. On 23rd February, 2015 Department of Tourism,  without any notice forcibly took over the kashmir's sole art  gallery "Gallerie One" which housed the artwork of about thirty leading and emerging artists worth millions at Tourist Reception Center and shut it down. If sources are to be believed some art work was also mishandled and damaged.

Such intolerance  towards  art and artists has been reported from every corner of the world in all times.  Damaging an artwork or silencing an artist has been associated with some motives. Blowing- off the statues of Buddah in Bamiyan, incineration of some of the paintings of Piccaso in Romania, forcing Hussain to live in exile; all such incidents have clear motives behind them. Sometimes it is the content and the expression itself which scares off the state and sometimes it is for the apprehension of  collective feeling of a particular sect getting hurt and sometimes just because of the verdicts passed by someone who claims to be the protector of faiths of whole nation that artwork and other form of expression is targeted.(Judgement to remain with reader's perceptive)

Having visited the "Gallerie One" few times, none of the issues discussed above seems to be the reason behind shutting down of art gallery and  If mere expiration of lease period, as claimed by the authorities of Tourism department (though no such clause can be found in the official document), is the only reason for the  shutting down of art gallery that too in such an unprofessional way, then this is again very unfortunate and calls for condemnation.

At the time when some countries are justifying their offensive, insulting and provocative art work in the name of satire and freedom of expression, our own people are mishandling the decent and justified artwork which was put to exhibition just to portray and promote our culture and heritage.

Instead of shutting down the art gallery in an uncivilized way and shrinking the space of our own artists, concerned authorities are expected to extend more support and let this sole art gallery of Kashmir to emerge as a huge platform for artists which can inturn attract tourists from all over the world. We have already lost a lot of artifacts to the recent floods, authorities at the department of tourism can grab this opportunity and if needed relax the regulations and accommodate the art gallery in their premises.

This fact is hidden to no one that kashmiri art is dying at alarming rate, we should be thinking of protecting and preserving even the graffiti on the walls of our streets not to talk of sophisticated artwork which "Gallerie One" is housing. Protection and promotion of art is need of an hour especially when we want ourselves to be heard for one reason or the other. An artist posses soft and fragile soul, who deserves to be respected and given due value. At the same time an action should be taken against the official who forcibly evacuated the gallery without any written orders. 

Afaq Alam Khan

afaqalamkhan@gmail.com

Note: Views expressed are those of Author's and do not in any way represent the views of the organization he works for.

Haider*: The story of Love and Revenge

* A film directed by Vishal Bharadwaj and co-written by Basharat Peer and Bhardwaj, released on 2nd Oct.,  2014.

As they say  "Wronged by someone close- hurts you the most". Same is the story of Haider, a youth of kashmir who has returned from Aligarh only to find out the fate, his father has just met. He was sent to Aligarh by his parents for studies; actually to protect him from the turmoil of early 90's in kashmir.  Haider is grief-stricken by the forced disappearance of his father from the custody  of security forces and at the same time he is angry and frustrated with his real uncle who betrayed his brother  to win over Haider's beautiful mother.

The story is about a boy who is caught in the  conflict  and  fight between two ideologies; the one for which his father gave his life and another one of his uncle's who can do anything to come to the power. First he conspires against his brother, marries his widow, gets a sympathy vote by exploiting the disappearance of his brother and wins an election, following the guidelines of security forces forms "Ikhwan-ul-Mukhbireen" and use them to crush everyone who is not aligned with his ideology.

This film may not do that well in terms of business as it has left certain things  unresolved and vague as the things are in kashmir. But this film has certainly hit some strings of an instrument, the music of which must have reached the sensitive  ears all over.

Although not new to Bollywood movies, this film has also made references to the promise of plebiscite made by J. L. Nehru, Demilitarization,  UN Resolutions, Geneva convention, Article 370, AFSPA albeit in a different way and deeper feel.

The film showcases the ordeal a kashmiri in general and children of a militant in particular is facing. Curfew, crackdown, frisking and ID checking by security forces have made every kashmiri a refugee   in his own land. Militant outfits supported by Pakistan and their version of truth and audacity  on one hand and Indian security forces assisted by some local elements with their claims and "chutzpah"  on the other hand have sandwiched a common kashmiri.  All this has resulted in identity crises which Haider conveys in this film from Ghantaghar in lalchowk.

For the first time in the history of Indian cinema, this film tried to show the double standard of  security forces from  the worst ever torture done inside the camps in the name of interrogation and   cool face shown to media. To escape the wrath of sensor board and other fanatic groups, due care has been taken and the character namely "Ruhdar" a militant, resembling the ghost  of Shakespeare's Hamlet, is made to narrate all the happenings within the camps. The authenticity of events is left to the audience to believe or not.

Though the movie has targeted a serious and sensitive issue and there is no place for songs and other typical  bollywood like stuff, but for a film to do the business particularly in the country where even courts keep the taste of people in consideration, few songs and couple of obscene shots have been added to the film to spice it up.

In an attempt to create down-town of 1995 in one of its scenes, the film maker seems to have met success to some extent but actually not much has changed in down-down since then. When it comes to the use of actual videos of that era, the film lags way behind when compared with movies like "Pearl Harbour"  and  "Argo" in which similar attempts were made. Some research  done by film makers in terms of accent, culture etc can also be noticed but one cannot miss the stereotyping in various scenes of the film.

Revenge takes the central stage in the film.  Brainwashed and encouraged by militants, Haider plots  to avenge the death of his father. On seeing this, Haider's mother fears that she may loose her son, She tries to stop her son and exchanges a dialogue with Haider which seems to be a massage, the film maker intends to send to the Haider-like audience and that is "Jab Tak Tum apany Itiqam say aazad nahi ho javo gay tab tak koyi azadi tumhay aazad nahi kar payay gee".

Afaq Alam Khan

afaqalamkhan@gmail.com

Note: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of author's and not the organization he works for.

The Peace Pact

This world has become treacherous. Here values have become meaningless, rules and laws are made to be violated, everyone from an individual to a state seems to be concerned about their own interests only. Hunger to come to the power and stay there on the top has become such an addiction that people can go to any extend to protect their position and anything which they find comes in their way is uprooted ruthlessly. Petty issues are turned into point of prestige so much so that later on it becomes difficult for them to get over it, given the environment created by media and pressure from oppositions. In this hostile, turbulent and jungle like situation, if we see some responsible people representing their respective countries sitting and talking in civilized way to resolve the difference and misunderstanding between them and some conclusion is also drawn then it is something that needs to be appreciated. Yes, I am talking about the recent deal which took place between Iran and P5+1 nations (Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States) on 24th of November, 2013 at Geneva. The deal which started with a presentation prepared by Iranians under the title “Closing Unnecessary Crises, Opening New Horizons” and was termed “very useful” by EU foreign policy Chief Catherine Ashton. Every rational mind will agree with the fact that this interim deal will help in building confidence and increase transparency, but at the same time some paranoids, losers and warmongers will try to be-little the efforts of negotiators and will term the deal as “historical mistake”. Such elements and voices need to be ignored and moved on. If one tries to analyze the deal through the lense of profit and loss, he gets disappointed, as this deal has created win like situation for all the genuine stake holders. A) Stopping the enrichment of Uranium beyond 5% may give some relief to “world powers” who suspect Iran’s nuclear programme is aiming at developing a nuclear bomb, but at the same time for Iran who has consistently denied the charge, the deal has earned them the license for enrichment of Uranium to be used for power production which they have been saying all these years and which is their right. That is what Iranian president Dr. Ruhani must have meant when he said “ No matter what interpretation is given, Iran’s right to enrichment has been recognized” B) No more economic sanctions on Iran and grant of $7Bn will relieve Iranian common people from economic crunch and may improve the situation of Iranian markets but by the end it is the world’s major producers who will get benefited, be it through the import of medicine into Iran or the spare parts for airplanes etc. C) Granting access to IAEA inspectors is not new for Iran. Being a signatory to NPT, Iran has been open to such inspections in past also. This time granting access to inspectors to Natanz and Fordo will renew Iran’s commitment to NPT and will earn her the trust of “world powers”, thereby ease the tension which seems to be completely logical and fair. It is perhaps because of this win – win nature of deal that UK Foreign Secretary William Hague termed the deal as “good news for the whole world" and Mohammad Javed Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister was given a title of “Ambassador of peace” back home in Iran.

Credit Based Reservation System

The issue of reservation is really a serious matter and needs a timely attention otherwise we will be having difficult times in future. No one denies the fact that there are people who actually live in far flung areas and need to be given special treatment. There are people who actually are socially backward and underprivileged and need to be taken care of. The problem has been identified, discussed and system devised and put in place long back. But from quite some time it is felt that the current system has got loopholes which need to be fixed as soon as possible. 
Practically, we see people living in cities and enjoying the benefits of RBA category generation after generation. We see people living luxurious and dignified life and holding SC category at the same time. As the number of such cases increases, so does the voice against reservation system in print and electronic media. But is it enough to curse the system all the time? Or should we come up with a solution? Our state is full of intellectuals and policy makers. It must not be that difficult to devise a system in which people from reserved categories will get benefitted without trespassing into the territory and hurting the interests of those belonging to unreserved or general category. 
Let us move towards a credit based reservation system, in which a person (say Mr. Shabir) belonging to some reserved category will be having number of credits N associated with his category. When he gets a job or is promoted due to the fact that he belongs to the reserved category, his credits may be reduced by a number M, depending upon the pay scale of his post or the hike in the pay due to promotion. If Mr. Shabir is blessed with a child (Say Asim), then Asim will obviously belong to same reserved category as that of his father but he will have only N-M credits associated with his category. This way those reserved category people who get jobs with lucrative salary will be left with less credits to pass to the next generation and those reserved category people who only hold class 4th jobs will be left with more credits for themselves and their children. A day will come when all credits of reserved category people will be exhausted and their children will be treated as unreserved which seems reasonable and justified.

De-Listen

Whenever someone gets exposed to hazardous radiations, in addition to proper medication he is advised some other treatment as well and may be quarantined for some time to get de-toxed. I wish there exist some medicine for the detoxification of the affects which the words of people, media,.. etc put on our body. I would love to take that medicine every night before going to sleep, so that my body gets De-listened. Although God has gifted us with the power of hearing but sometimes I wish I was deaf or don’t understand the words to which I am being exposed like a hazardous radiation. I can close my eyes or turn my head to avoid some scene but it is difficult to avoid listening or even hearing in normal situation. I am in need of a medicine to De-Listen myself.

Feedback

No one can deny the merits of taking feedback from the students about the courses being taught to them, about their teachers, about the facilities being provided to them by different departments, examination system, cultural and sports activities and all those things in which students are involved. There are large number of institutes in the world who already use this mechanism to bring improvement in the procedures, in teaching, in rectifying the dysfunctions of the organization. Yes, first and foremost thing in dealing with this issue is the intension of authorities to perform this exhaustive exercise at the end of every semester. Taking feedback from the students merely for the purpose of checking the credibility of a teacher without taking in consideration, for example, the complexity of the subject being taught by the teacher, clearly speaks about the wrong intension of authorities and other governing bodies who propose to allocate points to students’ feedback while calculating the score of a teacher for yearly increment. Here the intension is to bring the teachers under axe, which is not acceptable to the teachers and has already resulted in criticism in the academic fraternity. Before making the exercise of taking feedback mandatory, there is a question which needs to be answered. Is it sufficient to ask a student whether he/she is satisfied from the subjects being taught to him/her? Obviously no, because there are number of variables which lead to the satisfaction of a student. So what comes after Intension of authorities is the properly designed questionnaire. Formulating a questionnaire requires lots of efforts, review of literature and finally approval of an expert. If students are not satisfied in some subject, that does not mean that teacher is incompetent, for, there may be lot of other reasons for the dissatisfaction of students which should be apparent from the questionnaire. Some of the reasons of dissatisfaction of students may be the syllabus itself, timing of the class, location and construct of classroom, lack of teaching aids, complexity of a subject, incorrect procedures, non availability of a book in library, and need for prerequisite etc. Incompetence of teacher being one of factors discussed above does not always mean that teacher is short of knowledge and expertise. The problem may lie in his expression, continuous evaluation, regularity, controlling classroom, conduct and etiquettes of a teacher. Another factor which has got a lot of weight and is nearly impossible to check is the bias of a student. In countries like ours, where students come from different religious/regional/cast backgrounds and particularly these days when the hatred for a particular community in a particular region is touching heights, it is very difficult (if not impossible) to measure the affect of bias on students’ feedback.
What comes after designing a proper questionnaire is, when and how to conduct the feedback session? Conducting feedback sessions by the end of each semester for each subject seems appropriate. It can be done by filling up questionnaire by each student either on paper or online. Whatever the medium may be, it should ensure the anonymity of student and should be filled up thoughtfully. Most important thing, lack of which, can lead to the failure of whole feedback system is the confidentiality. If the intension of taking feedback from students is to bring improvement and not to target a teacher, then confidentiality plays the role of foundation stone for the whole system. Whatever a report of a feedback maybe, only the concerned teacher should come to know about the result. So what is required to be done is that whole procedure, be it the collection of data, analysis of data, storage of documents and sending a report to a concerned teacher, should be confidential.
Last thing which I would like to add here is that the comparison of teachers on the basis of single feedback would be a disaster, so it is better not to disclose the results after every single feedback. If a particular teacher in a particular subject scores low consecutively for 2 to 3 times, then only report should be forwarded to him and the corrective measures in consultation with that teacher should be taken.

Position Certificate

Muskan is the student of 4th semester of our department. She came to my office and complained that I have given her low marks in the very subject which I used to teach them. I showed her the break up of marks scored by her including tests, assignments and project work etc. what she told me gave me the reason to pen down these few lines. She said that she knows what she has written in the tests and how she performed in other activities and that she does not expect extra marks through rechecking; she was rather expecting sort of favour from all the teachers to add up the marks so that her aggregate percentage of the course remains higher then that of the students of the same course in all other institutions. What she was trying to say that was that the examinations taken by our institute are tough and marking is strict which leads to low percentage. As an example, she says, our topper stands at 75% while as topper of such and such institute stands at 85%. Later, few other students complained of the same problem and added that when ever any advertisement for jobs (particularly govt jobs) comes out, the only thing they take in consideration is the %age of the marks scored by the student. Institution from which an applicant has graduated is not taken in consideration. Recruiters are not aware of the examination system and the marks culture of the institute. So if our institute takes it tough and keeps the marks low, that means we are making our own students to suffer.
Being a teacher I can listen to the students But I can’t find any reason to be lenient while checking papers or give some grace marks because, first of all what students are saying may not be true, secondly, even if that is true and other institutes are keeping their marks higher, it is very complicated (if not impossible) to prove it.. Plus I am sure that the students of other institutes may be complaining the same to their teacher.
I was myself a student of an institute which was known for its tough exams and strict marking all over the country. Percentage of our topper was much less then the topper of other institutes but we never complained. The reason was that our certificate (the marks certificate) showed some statistics of the whole batch in addition to the marks obtained by a particular student. Some of that statistics include the average score of the batch, student’s position in a batch, and number of students having same position in a batch. Total number of students in a batch.
This information on the marks sheet gives any recruiter whether govt or private an insight of where the student stands in his institute and this problem of inter university competition was solved.
If the problem of students can be solved with such a simple move, why don’t all the institutions follow this and include this little piece of information to the marks sheet or make some separate certificate like “Position certificate”

Credit System

Although the reason behind the credit system is quite clear and now a days almost all the universities follow this system but I was surprised to know that there are quite a large number of academicians and authorities who don’t know the real meaning of this system, not to talk of students. There are institutions who have adopted this system and have assigned a number of credits to all the subjects they offer. But when it comes to marks, they don’t differentiate between 2 credit subject and 4 credit subject, all are treated same. These institutions use the credit information of the subject only for the time it needs for the class.
With apologizes from all those who know and have grown up with credit system, I would like to through little light on this system. Credit system has actually been designed to increase the affect of core subjects and to decrease the influence of non core subjects on aggregate %age of the semester. As an example, suppose in a certain semester of BE/BCA course, five subjects namely “operating system”, “Networking”, “Database management system”, “Environmental Science” and “English” are offered. First three subjects, being core subjects of the said course are assigned 4 credits each and environmental science and English are assigned 2 credits each. Exams are held from 100 marks in each subject. Suppose Mr. Haseeb scores 80, 80, 80, 40, 40 respectively and Mr. Vinod scores 80, 40, 40, 80, 80 respectively. Although both of them scored 320/500 (i.e. 64%) but this is not what the credit system is all about. Unfortunately some of the institutions calculate in this way which is wrong. Actually score of each subject is multiplied by the number of credits assigned to it , this way Haseeb’s overall score will be [(80* 4) + (80* 4) + (80* 4) + (40* 2) + (40 * 2)] / [(100 * 4) + (100 * 4) +(100 * 4) + (100 * 2) + (100 * 2)] which is 1120/1600 (i.e. 70 %) and Vinod’s score will be 960 / 1600 (i.e. 60 %). So the student who has performed better in his core subjects gets better results.