Vimarsh :: View topic

Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2008 5:58 pm

I visited the premises of this society, in Udaipur, a couple of months ago. I went there to attend an International conference on School Libraries and Reading, organised at VBS in collaboration with CSEC. The present Organizing Secretary of this institution, Dr Hriday Kant Dewan, is an alumus of DU. He in fact was a student of the Physics Department which in fact explains the close relations CSEC is maintaining with VBS for past very many years.

The Society is active in the field of education as would be evident from the following report of its organizing Secretary:

H. K. Deawan wrote:

Vidya Bhawan has been and is on a journey of rediscovery- the rediscovery of its vision in the context of the day. And while it slowly regains its vitality, there are horizons ahead that it has to discover. A great thing about this institution of over 75 years is that it is, and can be, still more vibrant. It is clear that the foundation of ideas that Vidya Bhawan was based on has remained strong and is as relevant for today’s context as it was many decades ago. The challenge of education and development in India has been of providing workable ideas that can help build a democratic and just society. The belief that this cannot happen unless we are able to reach everyone has been the corner stone of our work since inception. We have attempted to address this in a small way and build possibilities for this to happen. These possibilities exist in all our institutions and as an institution we can touch many aspects of the lives of the people.

The fact that Vidya Bhawan started as a school implies that the primary focus for us remains education. As it has been slowly become evident to us and to the wider world school education does not remain limited to schools. The concepts of education and knowledge as well its relationship to power, and systems for its access, have considerably changed since we were set up as an organization. The world is different and the concepts of citizenship, although incorporating some principles that were a part of our initial strategy, have considerably altered.

The meaning of what constitutes access has changed as it is recognized that the reasons for children not reaching school are more complex than a lack of educational structures. Education is dependent on the ability of children to come to school, the nature and relevance of the transacted knowledge, and the manner the educational structures deal with them. Access is also not linked to mere presence of an educational structure but also includes the ability of children and parents to make school possible. Vidya Bhawan has a role to play in all these aspects. Increasing opportunity for occupation, economic resources and recognition of the need and benefits of education, need to reach deeper in society to more people. In quality aspects it includes not just the building but the processes and relationships within. It also includes how it is related to the community around it and the parents, and the realization that education is not merely having knowledge. Education also means a sense of positive well being and connectedness with the society. Responsible citizenship means being educated in a manner that makes you respect others (their social and economic situation, their culture, their language and viewpoint) and be keen to learn about others and be sympathetic to their needs.

Access to quality education requires educational structures and that is what Vidya Bhawan started with. Schools that were progressive, contextually relevant and pragmatic yet with radical view point. However there are many more schools and school like structures available today. Our role therefore has to be redefined and widened as we have the capability to not just provide alternative examples of common good schools but also to reach to a wider audience in multiple ways to influence all the aspects that relate to quality education, including the sociological and the economic.

We know that teachers who teach in the schools need to be provided with all kind of capacities and need to feel refreshed, re-energized and equipped. Their preparation and understanding of children and why the human society educates itself is as important as their understanding of the subjects that they teach. They need to be aware of the different points of view existing about these and from that be able to identify the most appropriate one in the context of today. All of us need to be able to place ourselves in the current need for the society and use whatever is currently understood about the processes of human development and learning. One major agenda for us, of course, remains pedagogical renewal and teacher preparation from multiple forums and in multiple ways.

As we say this we need to re-emphasize that it is evident that education is more than just being able to get good teachers and a good school. It is also about economic sustenance and cultural and social dignity. It also requires better systems and people managing their decision-making and choices better. The extent of the scope of work of the Vidya Bhawan institutions encompasses most areas of human social development. The presence of institutions of research, higher education, agricultural research and dissemination, empowerment of the local governance system as well as all schools covering all aspects of child learning and development in Vidya Bhawan provide a scope for a wide area of intervention. The existence of these institutions under one umbrella has advantages and disadvantages.

The disadvantages are and have been obvious. The large bureaucratic structure, diffused focus and lack of concrete assessment criteria, the extremely varied profile of the members working and resulting varied expectations and aspirations etc are all issues that we confront and struggle with. Unhappiness, purpose-lessness, lack of energy or laziness in one part of the Society leads to a resonance among those who do not feel excited about their work and take pride in the goal of the Society. As in all large systems, it is difficult to deal with the issues of morale and to accommodate the energy of every individual constructively and positively. We have been aware of all this for a long time and have been working towards a building collective structures and opportunities that has the ability to provide a sense of purpose. In the years since Mr. Jagat Mehta took over as President, the continuing leadership from Mr. AC Wadhawan and Mr. Riaz Tehsin has provided the organization with a confidence in systems and transparency. There has been space to explore, support to tide over difficulties and encouragement to promote new ideas and redefine the work in today’s context. The extraordinary opportunity that this affords the organization is something we have just begun to perceive, appreciate and use.

The institutions of the Society have in the last few years begun to function with respect for each other and have also initiated shared events and programs. There is yet not full exploitation of the possible collaborative potential that is available, and the efforts need to be consolidated. While the institutions also have a greater knowledge each other and where they can benefit from sharing each others work, the systems to make that happen are not in operation. Our challenge has been to create systems that would be able to not only help institutions to recognise their role and their potential, but to also enable them to build themselves a path to a position of strength, stability and leadership in their field. While we consider the systems that we would need, and for that apart from the ideas provided by Prof Pankaj Jain, we are being advised by some of the most concerned and capable people as a part of the VBS restructuring committee. The personal interest of these very capable and busy individuals stems from a deep respect for the potential that Vidya Bhawan has.

For many the interest is also institutional. Recognizing the strategic importance of Vidya Bhawan and the possibilities it can offer, the Azim Premji Foundation has promised to support us with Fellows, people who will be a part of the Vidya Bhawan organisation and facilitate this process. This support is because of the confidence they have in the nature of contribution Vidya Bhawan has the potential to make. The fellowship for the positions has been advertised widely, and we already have one person who has joined in Dec 2007. The fellowship would be advertised again to identify the remaining fellows.

The nature and structure of the Society has been one that works in a small area but has the potential to influence the wider context. It not only attempts to educate itself with the available knowledge but also helps create new knowledge and experiment and explore new ideas. Creating new knowledge and exploring ideas requires all academic personnel in the Society to be continuously learning. The effort in this direction has to be more seriously made and the intellectual resources and experience that is available to Vidya Bhawan has to be sharpened and made available to the challenges before Indian education. With the limited resources of the Society we have made an effort to participate in this exercise, and the early results show the potential. With the exposure and the external now support available to us, the nature of responsibilities that we can take up and the challenges we can handle improves.

In the last year we helped four State Governments and the NCERT in production of materials for the student across their states; course for NFE instructors was developed; and, work books and materials for computer learning and a series of books for English teaching useful for rural children were developed. We can do much more and much better.

The technical diplomas that we offer and the agricultural research and outreach potential that is available to us have many more possibilities. We have been contemplating enriching the diplomas and adding other courses that make our engineering graduates more attuned to the needs of the industry today. We wish to add current safety and environment concerns to the preparation of engineers, in addition to exposing them to current machinery. One major gap in the preparation of the graduates of all kinds in India is the lack of preparation for designing and creating new solutions. The technical persons learn to cope and adjust with short-cuts and cutting corners, but are not equipped to create new ideas and to work in a team. While we already have programs for some kind of entrepreneur skill development there is a need to have programs that require students to work on a project where they design, formulate and create prototypes. We are exploring possibilities within Rajasthan as well at national levels. Our discussions with STRIVE are steps in that direction.

The Rural Institute is also searching for alternative roads that move it from being just another institution of higher education to one that is helping the rural and small town students to excel and reach better options- an institution that can provide education of high quality to change the academic standards and discourse in this area. This institution in collaboration with other Vidya Bhawan institutions can conduct quality research and strengthen the work of reaching stronger academic discussions to schools and other institutions. The possibility of collaborating and supporting educational renewal process across elementary schools different States of India would become stronger if the Rural Institute, the Teachers’ Training College and the Education Resource Center would work on it together. ..............................

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I really liked the institution, and have no reservations for recommending to our student community to consider it for a project etc. if they are inclined to take education as a career Smile