It is raining scams in Madhya Pradesh

Geri Halliwell famously sang "It's raining men", the people of Madhya Pradesh are singing "It's Raining Scams". In the past couple of months every day the paper reports a new scam especially in the field of education. The incumbent government has made tall claims regarding education and working for the youth of the state. The facts being unraveled  by the investigating agencies are pointing out towards a nexus between the administration and minister and people belonging to the higher echelons  of the society. The claims of the government have fallen flat. Youth is disgruntled and cynical about the entire good governance argument.

Medicine has always been considered to be a very noble profession, however the VYAPAM scam shows that people are right to question the sanctity of this profession. Students without caliber are giving huge amounts of money to get admitted to prestigious medical colleges. The same has happened in BDS also where students of Barkatullah University Bhopal have been caught mass cheating and others writing papers for the students. The exam superintendent has failed to give satisfactory answers. In open schooling also a similar incidence has been brought to light. Another scam in education itself is that teacher training is going on without any books though lakhs of books were issued for the training. The higher authorities are again feigning ignorance. 

In these entire scams, apart from financial misappropriation, the biggest question that it raises is moral bankruptcy of the society as a whole. Mr. Trivedi, Dr. Sagar and the entire team which is involved in the medical exam scam of VYAPAM belong to the well respected, well paid section of the society. Their involvement shows pure, naked greed and the confidence that the entire system will back them. It also shows the morality of the parents who gave such huge amounts to get their kids into medicine science by illegal ways. What lesson do they want to give to the next generation? Why cant parents accept the fact that their child is not meant for these professional courses? In this entire narrative,we are missing out the story of the meritorious students who got left out because of these cheats. We are also not discussing the compromise that we are making with such a noble profession.

These scams put the focus on the standard of education in the state of Madhya Pradesh. I have been constantly advocating that research needs to be promoted and syllabus has to be integrated with the demand of the industry. If we continue to teach students about New Economic Policy of 1991 without talking about the 2007 depression, then we cannot expect our students to be world class. There are up-teem examples to show that Universities are teaching redundant syllabus. 

The time has come when politicians, academicians, administrators, industrialists, all have to come together and take responsibility of education. We cannot just have rules to regulate fees, admissions, physical infrastructure and other less important things. The public vs private education debate needs to get realistic. There cannot be a inbuilt bias favoring public institutions in spite of their pathetic standard of education. On the other hand their infrastructure needs to be better used and teachers need to be under scanner.

What we today require in the state of Madhya Pradesh is an over hauling of the entire education system. Hope our policy makers are listening.

Walk the Talk

Has the time come when politicians belonging to any party cannot give any off the cuff remarks? The past few days have seen an onslaught of political rallies and sabhas, as elections are scheduled at 5 states, which are also being seen as a semi final before the Lok Sabha polls of 2014. As the number of rallies are getting more, leaders are exposed more to the media glare and also to the common man. With the advent of technology everything is on your face and with internet becoming accessible to such a huge population, nothing remains hidden or confined to an area.
At such a stage when we hear somebody talking about 6 months work and 6 months rest model or of Pandit ji not attending Sardar Vallabh Patel's funeral, chances are that the speaker will have egg on his face. And that is what is exactly happening. But the real issue here is not that somebody who is aspirant to the post of Prime Minister tells blatant lies, but that the narrative that gets changed. Instead of discussing real issues, the entire debate gets centered on discussing moronic statements.

India is changing and changing fast, therefore it is imperative that politicians also change. Whenever they come to speak they need to have well researched speeches. Also they have to speak more on local issues and ways of finding a way out of the quagmire. Common man cannot be taken for granted. They understand issues and with the help of internet can find the truth in minutes. Aspirations have changed, so have the dreams.

Let us talk about young, energetic, equal India where even the child of an auto driver can think of becoming a billionaire in a decade. Let us respect wisdom and intelligence. Let us respect our glorious history and not tarnish it with earning momentary gratification.
Let us walk the talk!

बापू की शिक्षा नीति आज भी प्रसांगिक हैं

    आज पूरा विश्व  महात्मा गांधी जी का जन्मदिन मना रहा है। पूरा विश्व उनके अहिंसा नीति का पूजारी है। वे केवल देश  को आजादी दिलाने में ही सक्षम नही रहे अपितु उन्होने अपने कर्मो, अपने आचरण से लोगो को यह भी बताया की सार्वजनिक जीवन में एक नेता को किस प्रकार रहना चाहिये। उन्होंने अपने अनशन, मौन व्रत, अनुषासन से उस वक्त के युवाओं को एक नई राह दिखाई।  अपने संपूर्ण जीवन में बापू ने  शिक्षा किस प्रकार दी जानी चाहिये, शिक्षक का आचरण कैसा होना चाहिये, मौलिक शिक्षा  की आवष्यकता आदि पर काफी काम किया जो आज भी प्रासंगिक है।
    महात्मा जब दक्षिण अफ्रिका में थे तो उन्होने अपने बच्चो को स्कूल नही भेजा, उन्होने घर पर ही स्वंय ने पढ़ाया।  अंग्रेजी के लिये अलग से शिक्षक रखा। जब उन्होने टालस्टाअ आश्रम बनाया तो वहां भी सभी बच्चो को स्वंय ने पढ़ाया। बच्चे अनुशासित हो इसके लिये उन्होंने स्वंय को अधिक अनुशासित किया। गांधीजी का मानना था कि छात्र का आचरण, प्रतिबिम्ब होता है शिक्षक के आचरण का। शिक्षक के प्रति आदर और सममान तभी छात्र के मन में आता है ज बवहशिक्षक वही करे जो वह कहें। बापू ने मूल्य शिक्षा पर भी बहुत ध्यान दिया। खेल-कूद से जैसे शरीर बनता है, विचारों और मस्तिषक के वरजिष से आचरण बनता है।
    हम यदि इन सभी बातो को आज की परिस्थिति में देखे तो हम पाते है कि वर्तमान शिक्षा के पतन का बहुत बढ़ा कारण यही है कि माता -पिता शिक्षा पर ध्यान नही देते, मातृभाषा का उपयोग बहुत कम हो गया है,शिक्षक के लिये शिक्षा देना उसके रोजी-रोटी का एक जरिया मात्र है। मूल्य शिक्षा पर ध्यान नही दिया जा रहा है। पर्सनेलिटी डेवलेपमेंट का व्यक्तित्व विकास की कक्षायें गली-गली में हो रही है जहां भाषा, कपड़े पहनना, साक्षात्कार आदि की टेªनिंग दी जा रही है परन्तु छात्रो के दिमाग की वरजिष नही कराई जा रही है। बच्चा पहली कक्षा से 12 वीं कक्षा तक माॅरल साइंस पढ़ता जरूर है परन्तु आत्मसात नही करता है उन मूल्यो को, यही कारण है कि आज समाज में भ्रष्टाचार, दुराचार, वैमन्स्यता इतनी बढ़ गयी है। मानवीय मूल्यो का पतन हुआ है।
    यदि हम जिम्मेदारी की बात करे तो माता-पिता,शिक्षक, समाज सभी जिम्मेदासर है। सभी ने अपनी जिम्मेदारियों से मुंह फेरा है। आज माता-पिता के पास समय नही है इसलिये पैसे से वह समय की पूर्ति करना चाहते है, शिक्षक के उपर दबाव इतना है  िकवह इसे केवल अपना दायित्व मानता है, समाज इतने भागो में बट गया है कि वह हर बात को जाति, धर्म के चश्मे से देखता है।
    आज यदि बापू जीवित होते तो उन्हें बहुत कष्ट होता। हमारे विकास को देखकर वह खुश भी होते परन्तु कही ना कही वह युवा पीढी मूल्यो के हनन को देखकर आहत होते। आज का हमारा युवा पहले की तुलना में अधिक पढ़ा-लिखा, तर्क संगत, तकनीक से लैस है पर मूल्यो मैं वह पिछड रहा है।
    क्यो ना आज के दिन हम -आप यह प्रण ले के घर के बच्चो की शिक्षा का केवल फीस ही नही देगे, अपितु उसकी जिम्मेदारी भी  लेगे। मैं एक शिक्षक और समाज सेवी के रूप  में यह संकल्प लेती हूं कि छात्रो से उतना ही अपेक्षा करूगीं जितना मैं अपने आप से अपेक्षा करती हूं। साथ ही मूल्यो कि शिक्षा देते हुये उन्हें और आत्मसात करूँगी।