Media: losing focus

In India, media is losing focus. They come up with all unwanted stuffs which are in no way connected or are bothered by the common people. Is it right to discuss what Aishwarya Rai is wearing, where more than 30% people are starving? Think!

News Channels

 

 

Useless analysis

One of the majour nuisance in the TV News Channels is the ‘unwanted, useless analysis’ by the so called experts in a particular area.

‘Why MSD(M.S.Dhoni, Captain, Indian Cricket Team) lose his cool?’ This was the topic for yesterday’s discussion on a prominent news channel in India. And there were two or three people analysing this issue-the cold war between MSD and Viru(Virendra Sehwag, cricketer, Indian Team), who was injured. Only Dhoni and Viru know what is happening between them and what is the need for analysing those silly things? It is not even an issue between the U.S and the Russia!! It is shame that these type of analysis happened when the Indian students in Australia are facing racial abuse.

One thing is clear: Either there are not much news happening in India or the journalists are not searching for REAL news. And I don’t agree with the first.

Gossips

Some other channels focus mainly on GOSSIPS. ‘What was Aishwarya Rai’s dress in that event?’, Who’s the best in comdey-Sunil Shetty or Salman Khan?’, ‘How many teeth are there in the mouth of the dog of local general secretary of XYZ party?’ It’s hillarious that these are the type of news coming in that channel. They may argue that they positioned the channel in such a way. But the question is: Are these the REAL news?? They need to define what news is.

Dragging the news

Some channels drag the news so as to ‘fit’ all the news contents into a half an hour program. This is done in such a way that the same news content which is for a couple of minutes is asked to same/different person in two or three times where the answer for all the questions are the same. The audience are not supposed to by heart the news, but to be aware of what’s happening around.

If some majour events happen, then the news channels are like testing the elasticity of a chewing gum. They go on with that news for three or four days- Analysing the event and analysis on the analysis, expert discussions, the dissent, what had happened wrong? if it had not been happen, then what might have occur? 

I wonder how these people are making money without doing anything! Simply blah-blah-blah and get paid for their so-called ‘expert opinions’. Who is there to report the problems of a common (wo)man in India?

(Note: There are news channels and programs that deliver quality analysis, expert opinions and discussions. No offence made to any news channels.)

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Stop ‘Booker’ing India

Article by: K.P. Praveen Nair

Now a days, literary circles in India are pretty much contented as two prestigious and much coveted awards for the literature came India’s way. As an Indian I feel overwhelmingly honoured and privileged and it is an encouragement for all the young and emerging talents of India who want to step into the art of literature, especially English literature. But the question that bothers me is what exactly we will have to write to get these awards?

My advice would be, writing something nasty about your own country would be a nice option like what Aravind adiga did in his first book The White tiger. Or make a movie that shows how nasty and pathetic things are in India and how people in India suffer under draught and penury. I can assure you that you will walk away with your head high with the awards bestowed upon you by white people.

This is not the first time India has bagged the man booker prize. Before Aravind Adiga, there were Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy and Kiran desai who managed a booker prize, adding gloss to their resume. Initially I thought of reading all the booker prize winning novels written by Indian authors and I started off with our latest one which deals with the story a chauffeur turned business man. The story nicely segued from one incident to the other constantly and uninterruptedly blaming the Indian system. It discussed poverty, corruption, deceit, political sleaziness, infidelity and treachery in the best possible way right through the book. Â I leafed each and every page with a sigh and desperately hoping to read at least one good sentence about my own country on whose behalf he proudly received the honour.

After reading the whole story, I wondered, was he talking about the same India in which I live? Â It needs a lot of guts to call ones own birthplace darkness, which he uses proudly through out the book as if he had invented the best metonymy possible. Our author seems very keen on degenerating himself when he brazenly puts it,… south is full of tamilians and you know who tamilians are? They are Negroes… (One should not forget he is Chennai born) The whites would definitely have enjoyed it, wonâ they? Who was he trying to please? ?

Aravind Adiga holds dual nationality, half Indian and half Australian (I guess, before writing such (so-called) big truths about India, at least he should have decided on his Nationality). Kiran desai, another Booker prize winner, interestingly, is an Indian citizen living in America and writes about India. I would not mind if she were an American citizen living in India and writing about India. Â Salman rushdie lives in London writes about India (Unfortunately I have not read any of their books and I dont intend to) the only exception is Arundathi Roy. And these people walk away with honours for maligning and defaming India.

The same thing holds true to the much hailed English movie The Slum dog Millionaire, the golden globe winning movie of 2008. A Film directed by Danny Boyle, an English director on Indian slums. (Apparently) It tells the story of a boy born and brought up in Mumbai slums. Is this the only slum in the world? Does not he have a slum in England? He could also have tarnished the image of his home town. Why did he choose an Indian slum casting Indian actors, and an Indian music director? Are Indian slums more real than theirs? Too many questions creep into my mind. !!!!

Tired of all this reading, my initial desire to read all the booker prize winning novels drowsed. Then I switched to R.K.Narayan’s Malgudi days. (Purely because, my professor had once told me to read his novels if I wanted to improve my English.) He tells the stories of Negroes in India as he himself is a Negro (according to Aravind Adiga). But here I saw my real India. The India where I live. The India where most of the people in India live. He talked about the ever-tolerant people of India who despite all the wickedness and flaw of the society lived a contented life. He tells the stories of a true democratic country.

All these are not to say that one has to be on sided in their approach. Address the issues that are a bane on us. Write with an intention to change the system for the better. If you are hurt by the system try to mend for the better and stop fussing and whining. Bring out or suggest a solution in the end. Individuals make the society; society is not corrupt per se. It is we, the individuals as a group who make the society corrupt. And in our story our white tiger adapts himself to the flawed society with a little bit of qualm which is not convincing at all.

“Society does not consist of individuals but expresses the sum of interrelations, the relations within which these individuals stand.”
A famous quote by Karl Marx rightly puts it. The stress should be on improving relationship and not on the individual. If our country is darkness at least make an attempt to light a lamp to show the right way, and stop moaning. It will enlighten the lives of many around you.

Fussing in the darkness for the literatures sake would have made Aravind Adiga the new face of Indian literature, but his work will never be recognized by the complete Indians (who lives, works and dies in India), unless he lights at least a candle to brighten the darkness.

(Source: http://www.globalvisiononline.net/a4.html)

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Good quality faculty in higher education: a myth in the future?

Think about the situation where the student gradutes from an institution with a salary higher than its director’s; that is what happening in Indian Institute of Management (IIM). The student is offered a lucrative pay package and looks forward to annual promotions and increments. Now turn your focus to the teacher who moulds those students. Are the teachers satisfied with what they are? What is going to be the future of teaching profession in graduation and post graduation levels?

Quality faculty is an asset for the nation

Importance of teachers

On an average, a student in high school or in graduation spends about 6.5 hours with the teachers. This reduces to 5 hours in post graduation level. This itself explains how much a teacher can influence the student. The future of every country depends on its young generation who are moulded by the teachers. Even though factors like Television and Internet are having a great (positive/ negative) impact on youngsters, the teachers can direct the young potential of India to the economic development and welfare. Teachers are the key for national development. The students believe their teachers much more than their parents!

Teaching profession

We (Indians) are having a very great history in teaching profession, which goes back to the old guru-shishya days of teaching methodology. Those days, the teachers were the epitome of knowledge and wisdom. They shared their knowledge to those who seek; not because of any resultant benefits, but out of passion to make the world rich in knowledge. Coming to 2008; what is happening over here? There are only a few, very few who shares their knowledge out of passion. The majority of teachers consider teaching as a ‘job’ or a ‘profession’.

We are having a great number of teachers. But how many of them are competent enough and have the real ‘thrill’ in sharing knowledge? We are lacking quality faculty, especially in graduation and post graduation levels. It is a hard fact that India is a lagging indicator of U.S in different aspects. 60% of IT jobs in U.S are outsourced to India. So atleast a part of India is also turning to U.S lifestyle. What is happening in U.S may reflect in India in the near future. Like U.S, India may face a crunch in quality faculty in higher education in the coming years, unless necessary actions are taken. There are many foreign firms who are ready to pay lucrative salary even for those who are not as competent as teachers. Then why should the teachers stick to their profession?

Challenges

According to UGC report(2007), the total number of teachers in India is 4.88 lakhs. Out of which almost one-fourth positions are vacant. There is no proper mechanism to evaluate the number of faculty available in colleges and are required in colleges. Measurement is the key towards achieving quality. But what if there are no accurate figures?

The ratio of teacher to students is increasing. This is either due to the increase in number of students for a particular course, keeping a less increase in number of teachers or due to the decrease in number of teachers keeping the student numbers as constant. Most of the business schools are having a faculty to student ratio of greater than 1:50. A teacher is handling a class of 60 sutdents in a post graduation level. How feasible is this while considering the real learning? I am wondering whether the b-schools are business schools or schools for business! In a PG class, the teacher to student should be around 1:30 for better discussion and interaction.

Another problem is lack in competency among teachers. Those who are doing quality research work are not getting much recognition. This results in decrease in number of teachers doing research work. Also the UGC’s policy of promotion is an obstacle. A person is automatically promoted to the next higher position after the completion of a fixed number of years. These factors results in less competency among teachers.

And obviously the pay package. The salary package of teachers are not attracting much talented people into the teaching profession. Most of the students opt for a management education after their graduation rather than pursue a PhD. What is the use of spending years pursuing PhD when the students can earn more after an MBA? ( Here only salary factor has been considered. But there are more factors like technological addiction, work life balance etc. play a crucial role in pursuing a PhD and a career thereafter)

Solutions

It is time to come up with innovative approaches in enhancing the quality of faculty in graduation and post graduation(PG) levels- in IITs, IIMs, other higher education institution etc. Otherwise the losers are none other than ourselves. India is going to loose in the long run.

Below points focus on some of the basic suggestions:

Most of the teachers who start their career in PG level teaching are in their middle age(for statisticians: they follow a normal distribution with 2sigma). So the importance should be given to salary and work-life balance.

1. Provide reasonable and better pay package.
2. Enhance a work culture than balances work and personal life.
3. Promotion and Increments should be given on a competency basis.
4. Due recognition and incentives for those who are doing quality research work and there by promoting research work.
5. International exposure through foreign University tie ups- atleast six months to one year teaching in a foreign University during a period of 5-7 years.
6. No compromise on quality. Compromise on anything leads to degradation of quality.
7. The most important is continuous evaluation of teachers. It should be a 360 degree evaluation. How many schools/colleges are evaluating the teaching methodology of a teacher in a class? Are they bringing any new and innovative changes in the teaching methodology according to current situations?

You can also contribute some innovative ideas. Please comment your ideas/suggestions to improve the faculty quality in higher education.

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