On May 8th 2007, NDA MPs from Orissa brought a call attention notice in the Lok Sabha about an IIT in Orissa and dissatisfied with response walked out of the parliament and were supported by other NDA MPs in this walkout. Speaking about this MP Baijayanta Panda of BJD is reported to have said, “Orissa is being continuously neglected by the Centre, especially by the ministry of HRD.” Is Mr. Panda right? Or is this a typical whining allegation that opposition parties from various states regularly throw at the government.
Continue Reading May 9th, 2007
During this UPA rule MHRD has announced and started several top-notch institutions across India; some are mentioned in a recent PIB press release. Following is a list of them:
- IISER Kolkata, West Bengal (1)
- IISER Pune, Maharashtra (1)
- IISER Mohali, Punjab (1)
- IISER in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh (1)
- IISER in Thiruvanthapuram, Kerala (1)
- IIT in Andhra Pradesh (1)
- IIT in Rajasthan (1)
- IIT in Bihar (1)
- IIM at Shillong, Meghalaya (1)
- SPA in Vijaywada, Andhra Pradesh (2)
- SPA in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh (2)
- Upgradation of Bengal Engineering and Sc U to an IIT clone (IIEST), West Bengal (2)
- Upgradation of Andhra Univ Engineering College to IIT clone (IIEST), Andhra Pradesh (3)
- Upgradation of Osmania Univ Engg College to IIT clone (IIEST), Andhra Pradesh (4)
- Upgradation of IT BHU to IIT clone (IIEST), Uttar Pradesh (1)
- Upgradation of Cochin Univ of Sc and Tech to IIT clone (IIEST), Kerala (2)
- IIIT Kanchipuram, Tamilnadu (1)
- Allahbad University made to a Central University, Uttar Pradesh (2)
- Manipur University made to a Central University, Manipur (1)
- Arunachal Pradesh university made to a Central University, Arunachal Pradesh (1)
- Tripura university made to a Central University, Tripura (1)
- New Central University in Sikkim, Sikkim (1)
- CIEFL Hyderabad made to a central university, Andhra Pradesh (5)
Orissa is among the bottom three (and now at the bottom) in terms of per-capita spending by MHRD in fully funded higher education institutions and it does not have an IIT, IIM, Central university, Institutes of National Importance, IIIT etc.
If so many new institutes are being made by MHRD, and Orissa did not have any of the above kinds of top-notch institutions to begin with, why a single one of the new ones fully funded by MHRD are not in Orissa.
May 9th, 2007
Dear Friends:
Its time to convey to the Orissa government that they need to look out for all of Orissa and not just BBSR/CTC/Puri areas.
Following is a draft letter that one can send to the CM (cmo at ori.nic.in) about developing higher education and medical opportunities outside of the BBSR/CTC/Puri area. This is a draft. Please make changes to your liking.
If I missed your favorite location, please add them in your letter.
best regards
Chitta
Continue Reading April 11th, 2007
Dear Honorable Union HRD Minister, Government of India, Mr Singh,
With reference to the news report published in Hindustan Times on 26th Feb 2007,
Reference:
http://digpatra.googlepages.com/20070227_HT_IIT.pdf
…
The argument made by HRD ministry saying “presence of 12 centrally funded educational institutes and announced NISER forbid Orissa to get a new IIT†is also equally baseless. If it would have been the case than Andhra Pradesh has 31 such centrally funded institutions including HRD ministry sponsored central university Hyderabad and beside many DRDO
laboratories, still the HRD ministry has proposed new IIT and is also considering for two new IIEST in the state. Additionally other central institutes like IIPH and NIPER are being established in Andhra Pradesh.
Reference:
http://digpatra.googlepages.com/20070227_state_wise_national_lab_ins.pdf
Continue Reading February 28th, 2007
Pioneer reports that referring to Vedanta University’s land requirement union minister of state for HRD Mr. Fatmi said:
He commented that at a time when the Orissa Government is unable to provide only 500 acres of land for establishment of a new Indian Institute of Technology in the State, it is going ahead with a proposal for setting up of a university on 8,000 acres of land.
When exactly did the central government asked Orissa for 500 acres and Orissa said No? In contrast the news items regarding the CM writing to PM about IITs suggest that the state voluntered land for the IIT extension campus and I am sure they would volunteer land for a greenfield IIT.
But more importantly, one should note that Mr. Fatmi did not say that he was misquoted in the Times of India. That means, indeed on Aug 28 2006, Orissa was one of the locations for a greenfield IIT as well as for a branch campus of IIT Kharagpur. Mr. Fatmi being a union minister, his pronouncement on this issue, makes it a formal announcement. Backing away from a formal announcement is cheating and discriminatory.
February 2nd, 2007
Update2: I am told by people from Bhubaneswar that New indian Express and Dharitri also published this news. (I have not yet found those news items in the Internet editions.)
Update1: Sambada also has a news item on this.
Pioneer, Tathya and Odisha.com have news items regarding how Orissa was in the original list of locations for the new IITs; so much so that TOI reported that Union minister of state for HRD MAA Fatmi on 28-8-06 said, “The proposal for one IIT for Bihar and two for Orissa and one Western Indian state besides one IIIT to Bihar will be included in 11th Five Year Plan.” With respect to Orissa he probably referred to one of the 3 new IITs proposed to be in the 11th plan and a branch campus of IIT KGP in BBSR. However, later news reports say that the 3 new IITs will be in Bihar, Rajasthan and AP. Yet again, Orissa has been sidelined by MHRD.
This is explosive news. Yet again Orissa has been sidelined by the HRD ministry. Like the NIS case, all Orissans should protest this (non-violently and without disruptive methods such as Rasta Roko etc.) by writing letters to the PM, Sonia Gandhi, Planning Commission, various newspapers etc. and contacting the MPs, MLAs and political leaders of all parties of Orissa and urging them to bring this up in the Orissa assembly, in Indian Parliament, with the Planning Commission, with Mrs. Sonia Gandhi and with the PM. Orissa should not tolerate such repeated slights by the MHRD.
We will be assembling documents and pointers with respect to this injustice towards Orissa and collecting all relevant information in a blog specifically made for this.
January 29th, 2007
Education in general and higher education in particular seems to be one of the focus items, and rightly so, for the 11th five year plan. The approach paper to the 11th plan says: “Only about 8% of the relevant age group (of Indians) go to university whereas in many developing countries, the figure is between 20 and 25%. There is a clear need to undertake major expansion. … New colleges and universities must be set up, to provide easier access to students in educationally backward districts.†Similar sentiment was recently expressed by the planning commission deputy Chairman Mr. Ahluwalia when he agreed with Shekhar Gupta that higher education is a problem and went on to say, “What has happened is we suddenly realized that if the economy is now growing at 8 per cent, and could grow at 9 per cent, the skills the economy needs will become a constraint.†The Finance minister in his recent convocation address at Symbiosis International University also echoed similar sentiments.
Continue Reading January 21st, 2007
To:
Dr. Manmohan Singh
South Block, Raisina Hill,
New Delhi, India-110011.
Telephone: 91-11-23012312.
Fax: 91-11-23019545/91-11-23016857.
email: pmosb@pmo.nic.in
http://pmindia.nic.in/write.htm
Mr. Arjun Singh
Ministry of Human Resource Development
Government of India Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi-110001
arjuns@sansad.nic.in
Mr. P. R. Kyndiah
Ministry of Tribal Affairs
Shastri Bhavan,
New Delhi-110001, India.
dirit@tribal.nic.in
cc: Smt. Sonia Gandhi
President: INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS
24, Akbar Road, New Delhi 110011 ,
INDIA
TEL : 91-11-23019080
FAX : 91-11-23017047
10janpath@vsnl.net aicc@congress.org.in
Continue Reading December 1st, 2006
Update: Following is an excerpt from a PTI report in Zeenews.
A bill which seeks to provide for establishment of universities focussed on innovation and research was introduced in Parliament on Monday.
The Universities for Research and Innovation Bill, 2012 was tabled in the Lok Sabha by HRD Minister Kapil Sibal.
The Bill seeks to set up the universities both in the public as well as the private sectors.
Each university on research and innovation would provide for the knowledge and economic needs of the country by creating professionals, specialists, scientists and researchers and generate new knowledge to support the national innovation system.
According to the provisions of the Bill, each of these universities would offer exposure to an international classroom environment, with a minimum of 50 per cent of the students being Indian.
The hallmark of the legislation is that each university would focus on one area or problem of significance to India and build an eco-system of research and training around different related disciplines.
These universities would have autonomy in matters of academics, faculty, personnel and finances administration.
The President would be the visitor of the publicly funded universities.
The Bill, which was cleared by the Union Cabinet early this month, does not specify the target of 14 such universities as was proposed earlier.
Following is from a report by Basant Kumar Mohanty in Telegraph.
The Union cabinet today cleared a proposed “omnibus law” under which central or private theme-based universities can be set up with Parliament’s approval without enacting a separate law for each institution as is the rule now.
The Universities for Research and Innovation Bill, 2012, does not apply to general universities but only to “innovation universities” — those where teaching and research will focus on specific areas such as environment, astrophysics, urban planning or the liberal arts.
Universities are now set up individually through legislation by Parliament or a state’s Assembly. Once Parliament passes the new bill, which could be introduced in the current budget session, innovation universities can be established through an executive order followed by parliamentary approval, which will make the process faster.
It will also allow the establishment of as many theme-based universities as the Centre wants as long as they fulfil the set requirements. They can be set up in the public, private or public-private partnership (PPP) mode.
The government plans to set up a few such universities on its own. The bill allows internationally acclaimed foreign universities with at least 50 years of standing in their countries to collaborate with Indian entities to set up innovation universities.
Private bodies such as registered societies, trusts or companies registered under Section 25 of the Companies Act and foreign institutions will be termed “promoters” and will have to sign a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with the government to set up innovation universities, either through collaboration or independently.
The promoter will apply to the government and send a detailed project proposal carrying information such as the vision plan, areas of focus, and how the land and funds will be mobilised.
If the proposal is found acceptable, the government will sign an MoA with the promoter, notify it and place it before Parliament, which will have the right to reject or amend it. The promoter cannot take away the profits from education activities but must plough them back into the institution for its development.
These universities can appoint by invitation anyone with academic distinction and professional achievements as professor or assistant professor. They can also appoint by invitation, as assistant professor, any graduate student with academic distinction and exceptional talent for research.
May 11th, 2012
The 12th plan working group report on Sports and Physical Education recommends the establishment of four regional centres of LNUPE and 5 new sports and physical education universities or physical education colleges. Odisha must vigorously pursue the central government and the planning commission to get one of the proposed 5 sports and physical education universities.
In this regard, please send an email to the Odisha CM at cmo@ori.nic.in with content such as given below:
Dear Esteemed CM:
The 12th plan working group on Sports and Physical Education has recommended in their report at http://planningcommission.nic.in/aboutus/committee/wrkgrp12/hrd/wg_repsports.pdf that "for meeting the increasing demand of Physical Education Teachers and producing quality PETs, at least four regional centres of LNUPE and 5 new sports and physical education universities or physical education colleges should be opened during 12th
Plan. "
Kindly pursue with the central government regarding having one of these universities in Odisha.
Sincerely,
Following are some rationale behind pursuing a Sports and Physical Education University. Please have a look at it at your leisure.
While promoting sports, besides providing good facilities (hostels, stadiums, turfs), what is most important is that the athletes are provided with opportunities to pursue some recognized degree/diploma/certificate of study so that they have alternate avenues of employment. For example, consider the story in http://www.indiablooms.com/SportsVideoDetails/sportsVideoDetails180312f.php.
Following is an excerpt from that story.
Renowned national woman footballer Jhilli Munda, who has represented India at international and national events in several tournaments, is bearing the brunt of acute poverty and she is forced to roll beedis to earn her bread and butter.
It is well known that among the athletes that join the sports hostels, only a few make it to the state and national teams and of them only a few get appropriate jobs. What happens to the rest? It is sad to read about Jhili Munda’s story above. The point is until and unless we make sure that kids pursuing a career as an athlete have a way to make a living we can not significantly improve the sports scenario in Odisha and India. Now how do we make sure that *all* kids pursuing a career as an athlete have a way to make a living.
The way to do that is to provide them with some *relevant education* in parallel with their athletics training such that even if they do not make it to the top in sports, they can get a good job and make a living. What are some of the relevant educational avenues and programs?
Some of them are:
- Physical training
- Coaching in various sports
- Physiotherapy
- Sports medicine
- Exercise Physiology
- Sports Psychology
- Sports Biomechanics
- Sports Management and Mass Communication
- Health Sciences & Yoga
- Sports Massage
- Grounds Management
- Health and fitness management
- Sports journalism
- Sports photography and
- Sports commentary.
Some of these courses are offered at the three established institutions in India:
In the 2011-12 budget there was mention of the following *new* initiatives:
- Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development in Tamil Nadu: With a 2011-12 budget allocation of 10.8 crores (2010-11: 9.9 crores)
- Laxmibai National Institute of Physical Education – NE area and Sikkim Initiative: With a 2011-12 budget allocation of 15 crores (2010-11: 3 crores)
In the 2012-13 budget (
http://indiabudget.nic.in/ub2012-13/eb/sbe106.pdf ) there was the mention of the following *new* initiatives:
- 7. Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Developmentin Tamil Nadu has a budget of 18.9 crores.
- 28. National Institute of Sports Science and Sports Medicine 5 crores
- 29. National Institute of Coaching Education 5 crores
Note that none of the above are in the eastern part of India and none are in the traditional tribal areas of India.
The 12th plan has a working group on Sports and Physical Education. They have a report at http://planningcommission.nic.in/aboutus/committee/wrkgrp12/hrd/wg_repsports.pdf . In that report the following is mentioned.
5.15 It has been recommended that for meeting the increasing demand of Physical Education Teachers and producing quality PETs, at least four regional centres of LNUPE and 5 new sports and physical education universities or physical education colleges should be opened during 12th Plan. An outlay of Rs. 900 crore on this account during 12th Plan is projected.
Thus we should vigorously pursue the establishment of a National Sports Institute/University in Odisha that not only offers training in the sports Odisha excels in (Hockey – mens and womens, Football, Rowing, etc.) but also offers the above mentioned programs so that every athlete of Odisha is able to simultaneously pursue a certificate/diploma/degree in one of the above disciplines and is able to make a decent living.
Considering that Sundergarh and Rourkela area is the hotbed of Odisha athletics (mainly Hockey) and it is a tribal district, it would be good to locate the proposed National Sports Institute/University in Sundergarh/Rourkela. It may have branches in Kendrapada and Bhubaneswar to cater to the women footballers of Kendrapada and other sports persons in Bhubaneswar/Cuttack. Moreover the university in Sundergarh/Rourkela can also cater to athletes in Jharkhand.
The recent election of Mr. Dilip Tirkey as a Rajya Sabha MP can be seen/argued as an indication that the Odisha government is serious about promoting sports in a wholesome way, with particular attention to adivasis.
May 1st, 2012
Following is an excerpt from a report in Hindustan Times.
Higher education in the country is set to get a boost with the HRD ministry finalising plans worth Rs. 80,000 crore inorder to improve access to colleges and universities.
The UPA government has embarked upon an ambitious plan to double the gross enrollment ratio (GER), from present around 17% to 30% by the year 2020. For this, there would be a need of several new universities and colleges across the country.
HRD minister Kapil Sibal on Wednesday told Lok Sabha that 200 new universities and a degree college in each district of India will be opened in the next five years. “We have asked for Rs. 20,000 crore for opening new universities in the 12th plan,” he said.
In addition to new institutions, many of the existing colleges will be upgraded either into universities or autonomous colleges having powers to award degrees.
The budget for revitalising the higher education will be Rs. 80,000 crore, the biggest ever allocation for higher education.
A large amount of this money will be awarded to state governments to improve higher education in rural areas. This, by increasing the Central government share in higher education funding to the states.
As of now, the Centre shares just 35% of the cost of starting a new higher education institution. In the 12th plan (2012-17), Sibal said, the government proposes to increase the Central share to 65% and 90% for the north-eastern states.
This, according to the ministry, will give an incentive to the state governments to submit proposals for starting new higher education institutes. Many state governments have been reluctant to seek funds from the Centre because they had to assure 65% funds to start the project.
April 26th, 2012
Following are recent news snippets on this.
From http://www.igovernment.in/site/14-world-class-varsities-now-12th-plan dated 30th March 2012.
The proposal for setting up of world class universities in 14 states is awaiting clearance by the Law Ministry, Minister of State for Human Resource Development D Purandeswari said.
Replying to questions in the Rajya Sabha, Purandeswari said the government is also planning to set up higher educational institutions in the 374 educationally backward blocks in the country.
The National Development Council had approved setting up of 14 world-class universities for innovation across the 11th and 12th plan periods on the public private partnership model.
The innovation universities are part of the Ministry of Human Resource Development’s (MHRD) "brain gain" policy to attract global.
The proposed universities will be set up in Bhubaneswar, Kochi, Amritsar, Greater Noida, Patna, Guwahati, Kolkata, Bhopal, Gandhinagar, Coimbatore, Mysore, Pune, Visakhapatnam and Jaipur.
From http://twocircles.net/2012apr10/14_innovation_universities_be_set_india.html dated April 10th 2012.
Fourteen innovation universities would be set up in the country during the 12th Five Year Plan, Union Minister of State for Planning, Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Ashwani Kumar said here Tuesday.
From http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/govt-to-set-up-14-innovation-universities/984605.html dated April 10th 2012.
Chandigarh, Apr 10 (PTI) The government today said it will set up 14 innovation universities during the 12th five- year plan. "We are going to open 14 innovation universities," Union Minister of State for Planning Ashwani Kumar told reporters here. Kumar was in the city to review the flagship programmes of the state. The innovation universities are aimed at making India a global knowledge hub. Each one to be built around a theme or subject, these unique universities will enjoy total autonomy with regard to appointments, collaborations, resource generation and nomenclature of degrees awarded by it.
From http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/chennai/innovation-varsity-kovai-soon-066 dated April 2nd 2012.
The Union government has added another feather to Tamil Nadu’s cap by proposing to set up a university of innovation at Coimbatore.
This will be one of the 14 universities to be set up in the country.
The Centre will table Universities for Innovations Bill, 2011, in Parliament soon.
The Bill will provide an in-principle approval for establishing universities for innovation. Some of the innovation universities will be in partnership with private players also and they will be made eligible for the government’s funding for research activities and student scholarships.
The Union HRD minister will discuss the proposal with education secretaries of all state governments on April 13 in New Delhi.
April 10th, 2012
Following is an excerpt from a report in Hindu.
The Tagore University for the Liberal Arts, first institution to be established under the Human Resource Development Ministry’s once ambitious Universities for Innovation programme, will be set up in Pune. But, ironically, the word ‘innovation’ will be missing from the nomenclature of the institution. For, the group of experts, which was asked to draft a concept for such institutions, fears that such an emphasis is likely to inhibit its creative potential.
The task of such an “institution should be, not to presume an elite status for itself, but to create excellence by drawing freely upon the best talent from all sections of the populace, and fostering it to the furthest extent possible in a climate of international exchange and awareness. Ultimately, such an institution might be the first of many, and it might also provide a model for other existing universities,” the group said in its report submitted to the Ministry.
On its part, the Ministry is finalising the concept paper so that it can send the toned down version of the Universities for Innovation Bill, 2011 for Cabinet clearance.
The proposal to set up 14 such world-class universities was made during the tenure of the former HRD Minister, Arjun Singh, and even the locations were finalised with the Planning Commission. Under the new regime, it was decided to convert these universities into institutions of innovation in different areas of societal concerns. They were then named Universities for Innovation, each expected to focus on its theme in an interdisciplinary manner. However, the revised draft Bill does not give any number for such universities.
… The experts include theatre personality Girish Karnad, academics Supriya Chaudhuri and Sunil Khilnani, and writer Ramachandra Guha.
According to the group’s note, the task of the Tagore University for the Liberal Arts should be to promote both arts and science under the rubric of liberal arts, in an interdisciplinary environment which allows creative interchange of scholars from different fields. The university will have five schools: School of Humanities for teaching languages, literature, philosophy, cultural studies and creative writing; School of Social Sciences for teaching history, politics, sociology, economics and human sciences; School of Sciences for mathematical studies, biological sciences, physical sciences and environmental science; School of Performing Arts for dance, theatre, music, film and sports; and School of Visual and Applied Arts for painting, sculpture, graphic, arts, textile arts, crafts, design and photography.
The experts group has recommended that the university should have a Research Fund with an annual corpus of Rs 200 crore, administered by a Research Council with both internal and external members. ….
The university can invite applications for a proportion of its posts from non-Indian citizens who are outstanding scholars, artists, writers and scientists so as to promote international cooperation and exchange of ideas. The guests will be entitled to special salary provisions, in excess of the pay scales stipulated by the University Grants Commission or other such regulatory body.
March 12th, 2012
I have been thinking of this issue since December when I interacted with a niece and nephew of mine (see below). Today I came across a TOI report on Indian students being at the bottom (2nd from bottom), which made me reflect further and write this post. Following are some excerpts from that report.
Fifteen-year-old Indians who were put, for the first time, on a global stage stood second to last, only beating Kyrgyzstan when tested on their reading, math and science abilities.
India ranked second last among the 73 countries that participated in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), conducted annually to evaluate education systems worldwide by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) Secretariat. The survey is based on two-hour tests that half a million students are put through.
… The states of Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh, showpieces for education and development, were selected by the central government to participate in PISA, but their test results were damning.
15-yr-old Indians 200 points behind global topper
Tamil Nadu and Himachal, showpieces of India’s education and development, fared miserably at the Programme for International Student Asssment, conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Secretariat.
An analysis of the performance of the two states showed:
In math, considered India’s strong point, they finished second and third to last, beating only Kyrgyzstan
When the Indian students were asked to read English text, again Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh were better than only Kyrgyzstan. Girls were better than boys
The science results were the worst. Himachal Pradesh stood last, this time behind Kyrgyzstan. Tamil Nadu was slightly better and finished third from the bottom
The average 15-year-old Indian is over 200 points behind the global topper. Comparing scores, experts estimate that an Indian eighth grader is at the level of a South Korean third grader in math abilities or a second-year student from Shanghai when it comes to reading skills.
The report said: "In Himachal, 11% of students are estimated to have a proficiency in reading literacy that is at or above the baseline level needed to participate effectively and productively in life. It follows that 89% of students in Himachal are estimated to be below that baseline level."
The detailed and insightful blog posts here, here, here, here and here have more details on this PISA test and MHRD’s reaction to India’s performance.
So here are my personal thoughts on this.
As I mentioned earlier, this December I interacted with a nephew and a niece in India. This niece lives in a small town (Vyasanagar) and had 85%+ in her class ten exam and was preparing for her +2 Science exams. She was very good at solving math problems on topics that she had already learned. For some reason I asked her to read a new section in the book and solve the problems at the end of the section. She could not do it. She asked me to explain that section. Upon further inquiry I found that her studying pattern was to attend "tuition" where the tuition master would explain a particular section of a book and then give problems. In other words she was lacking in "reading comprehension". The same story with respect to my nephew, an engineering student. He could not read a section on his own and understand it well enough to solve the problems at the end of the chapter.
Considering the prevalance of "tuition" in India the above are not isolated cases. I think the "epidemic" of tuition is due to the fact that most school students in India have not developed the "reading comprehension" skills. That is because developing the "reading comprehension" is neither emphasized nor tested and this is especially true with respect to "Reading comprehension in English".
Starting from the very beginning, English text books have a series of chapters with stories, essays or poems and at the end of it there are questions with respect to them. This seemingly suggests that students using those text books are being taught "Reading comprehension in English".
That is not the case.
Most often, the teachers or the tutors read the text and explain the students those chapters. At times they may ask the students to read the text aloud. But that does not automatically develop the "reading comprehension" skills.
I am surprised that the neglect of the development of "reading comprehension" skills has not been widely noticed and acted upon. Following are pointers to some places where they have been noticed. But I am not sure they have been properly addressed.
The wonderful organization Pratham has a "Read India" program. Following is an excerpt from their main page:
Read India was therefore launched on a national scale in 2007 to help achieve the following objectives:
* All Std I children know at least alphabets & numbers.
* All Std II children can read at least words & do simple sums.
* All Std III-V children can at least read simple texts fluently & confidently solve arithmetic problems.
Later in that page they have:
In 2009-10 Read India moved to the next level, Read India II, focuses on higher grade-specific learning competencies, where basics have been achieved.2010 onwards, Read India II moved from our previously used model of short-term large-scale learning campaign mode to a longer, more sustained presence in the villages that we work in, in order to bring about a deeper more permanent impact.
However, no where in that page "Reading Comprehension" is mentioned. But by googling the phrase "Reading to Learn R2L methodologies Pratham" I was able to reach the page http://www.prathamusa.org/programs/learning-support-classes where "reading comprehension" is mentioned in the following context.
Read to learn (R2L) picks up where Learn to Read leaves off. Out-of-school children are the priority of the program. Once children have built their basic reading skills, they are taught how to read with comprehension and express what they have learned. R2L classes have two phases:
- Phase 1 (R2L1) strengthens reading, comprehension of school and other texts, and independent writing.
- Phase 2 (R2L2) ensures that the children complete the basic curriculum for Grade III as prescribed by the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT).
The 2006 NCERT document at http://www.ncert.nic.in/new_ncert/ncert/rightside/links/pdf/focus_group/english.pdf makes the following point.
3.5 Text Books
All this implies much more teacher and learner control over the texts used in class, including textbooks. Curricular freedom cannot exist in the presence of a single prescribed text. Earlier practices of choosing from a range of available texts can be revived; some states like Orissa have come up with innovative textbooks with short units that can be “covered” within a single class (Sunwani 2005), incorporating the idea of a reading card. Language should be seen as a “dynamic” text, i.e. exposure should be to new occurrences of comparable language samples everyday, rather than repeatedly to a single text
that is mastered (Amritavalli (1999) makes an analogy with the learning of a raga in Indian classical music). This will prepare the child for tests of “unseen” comprehension passages. Teachers and learners need to evolve for themselves a balance in the use of predictable and unpredictable texts that suits their individual levels of comfort.
But I wonder if anything has been done about it.
What needs to be done is from the very beginning "Reading comprehension" should be emphasized and tested. How? As suggested in the above mentioned NCERT document, students should be trained to read passages on their own and answer questions about them. They should be tested with respect to passages they have not seen before. This needs to happen in every class starting from the class where they learn the language.
The site http://www.nclrc.org/essentials/reading/reindex.htm makes a good case of the importance of "Reading Comprehension" and how should it be approached differently from the traditional approach. (The traditional approach is followed in India with additional drawbacks of the teachers and tutors doing the comprehension.) Following is from that page:
Teaching Reading
Traditionally, the purpose of learning to read in a language has been to have access to the literature written in that language. In language instruction, reading materials have traditionally been chosen from literary texts that represent "higher" forms of culture.
This approach assumes that students learn to read a language by studying its vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structure, not by actually reading it. In this approach, lower level learners read only sentences and paragraphs generated by textbook writers and instructors. The reading of authentic materials is limited to the works of great authors and reserved for upper level students who have developed the language skills needed to read them.
The communicative approach to language teaching has given instructors a different understanding of the role of reading in the language classroom and the types of texts that can be used in instruction. When the goal of instruction is communicative competence, everyday materials such as train schedules, newspaper articles, and travel and tourism Web sites become appropriate classroom materials, because reading them is one way communicative competence is developed. Instruction in reading and reading practice thus become essential parts of language teaching at every level.
Reading Purpose and Reading Comprehension
Reading is an activity with a purpose. A person may read in order to gain information or verify existing knowledge, or in order to critique a writer’s ideas or writing style. A person may also read for enjoyment, or to enhance knowledge of the language being read. The purpose(s) for reading guide the reader’s selection of texts.
The purpose for reading also determines the appropriate approach to reading comprehension. A person who needs to know whether she can afford to eat at a particular restaurant needs to comprehend the pricing information provided on the menu, but does not need to recognize the name of every appetizer listed. A person reading poetry for enjoyment needs to recognize the words the poet uses and the ways they are put together, but does not need to identify main idea and supporting details. However, a person using a scientific article to support an opinion needs to know the vocabulary that is used, understand the facts and cause-effect sequences that are presented, and recognize ideas that are presented as hypotheses and givens.
Reading research shows that good readers
- Read extensively
- Integrate information in the text with existing knowledge
- Have a flexible reading style, depending on what they are reading
- Are motivated
- Rely on different skills interacting: perceptual processing, phonemic processing, recall
- Read for a purpose; reading serves a function
Reading as a Process
Reading is an interactive process that goes on between the reader and the text, resulting in comprehension. The text presents letters, words, sentences, and paragraphs that encode meaning. The reader uses knowledge, skills, and strategies to determine what that meaning is.
Reader knowledge, skills, and strategies include
- Linguistic competence: the ability to recognize the elements of the writing system; knowledge of vocabulary; knowledge of how words are structured into sentences
- Discourse competence: knowledge of discourse markers and how they connect parts of the text to one another
- Sociolinguistic competence: knowledge about different types of texts and their usual structure and content
- Strategic competence: the ability to use top-down strategies (see Strategies for Developing Reading Skills for descriptions), as well as knowledge of the language (a bottom-up strategy)
The purpose(s) for reading and the type of text determine the specific knowledge, skills, and strategies that readers need to apply to achieve comprehension. Reading comprehension is thus much more than decoding. Reading comprehension results when the reader knows which skills and strategies are appropriate for the type of text, and understands how to apply them to accomplish the reading purpose.
Section Contents
Goals and Techniques for Teaching Reading
Strategies for Developing Reading Skills
Developing Reading Activities
Using Textbook Reading Activities
Assessing Reading Proficiency
Resources
One should read the above pointers to get the whole picture of how to do it right.
January 15th, 2012