The report presents a mixed picture. Over the past 25 years, there have been notable improvements in child well-being in the group of countries examined in this report: steady decline in child mortality, overall reduction in adolescent suicide and increase in school completion rates. But the last five years have …
INFUSING public interest messages into soap operas, television's most popular programmes, requires a delicate balance between entertainment and education. The telenovellas of Mexico's Televisa and Brazil's Globe TV are regarded by communication specialists as models for development-oriented soap operas. Extending this approach, 3 of Sri Lanka's top cinematic storytellers have …
Villages around Calcutta are possibly the safest place in the country for toads. Villagers have virtually paralysed biology practical tests in several schools and colleges in the city by blockading toad-catching. With the board examinations coming up, educational authorities are panicking. Apparently the villagers have taken the government's recent ban …
ALL White student bodies in the state schools of South Africa are now liberally punctuated with Blacks. Starting January 11-17, these institutions opened their gates to Black children in their vicinity. A bitter controversy had marred the first "registration days" in model-c schools around Johannesburg, set up by the erstwhile …
Education in Bangladesh seems to be heading for a disaster because of a severe paper shortage. Irked by the crisis, students have taken to rallies and demonstrations. Given that the country, with a literacy rate of 23 per cent, can hardly afford this, the government's responses have been inadequate. Although …
IT IS 10.30 in the night and every villager from Kaphlana is all rapt attention on, say forest protection or alcoholism, legal rights or the drudgery of women. They have heard all this before, so why are they listening so eagerly and even shouting occasional comments? Is it some brilliant …
THE National Joy of Learning Festival for children opened on November 7, 1994, at New Delhi amidst much fanfare. The festival was jointly organised by the All India People's Science Network and the Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti (BGVS). Inaugurating the festival, Yashpal, former chairperson of the University Grants Commission, stressed, …
COMMENTS on the funding of education in India that feature in the Human Development Report 1994, prepared by the United- Nations Development Project (UNDP), have triggered a fracas between the Union ministry of external affairs (MEA) and the ministry of human resource development (MHRD). The UNDP report had mentioned that …
Under a project expected to commence later this year, the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) will utilise a permanent satellite facility for beaming programmes and lectures to students throughout the country. This project, which follows a successful experiment conducted in October 1993 by the Staff Training and Research Institute …
How did you become interested in the development of low-cost laboratory equipment for universities? Over the last 20 to 30 years, there has been a growing emphasis in both the fields of research and industry on the use of sophisticated instrumentation. Yet there has been hardly any progress in teaching …
Indian industries have begun to step up AIDS-awareness measures for their estimated 60 million strong workforce. A study by the Punjab, Haryana and Delhi Chambers of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) reveals that only 1 person in 100 among industrial workers are aware of AIDS. Worse, many north Indian workers even …
Nishat Farooq Director State Resources Centre Jamia Millia Islamia New Delhi -110025 Om Srivastava 39, Kharol Colony Udaipur Rajasthan Thinlay Wangdi Department of Education Ministry of Health and Education Thimphu Bhutan Habibur Rahman Campaign for Popular Education Gono shakkharata Abhiyan 416, Block-D, Lalmatia Dhaka - 1207 Bangladesh Ms shaheen Ahmed …
MODERN-day teaching and learning are complementary processes. And it was to learn and share experiences that people from South Asia involved in literacy met in New Delhi on July 19. Says Cut Srivastava, coordinator, Asian South Pacific Bureau of Adult Education (ASPBAE), who organised this meeting: "The workshop produced a …
SCHOOLCHILDREN will have to wait a while before their abominable load is lightened. In a sudden paedophobic turn, the human resources development ministry has rejected the recommendations of the National Advisory Committee (NAC), set up in 1992, to redress the problem of overburdened children. The committee, headed by Yashpal, former …
INDIA has 12 million blind people and about 8 million people who are sightless in one eye. The main causes of this disability are nutritional deficiency and lack of health education -- blindness can be prevented and cured. "Eye diseases associated with malnutrition are more common in the south than …
What is the origin of the Pondicherry Science Forum? Inspired by the experiences of the Kerala Shastra Sahitya Parishat, we set up PSF in December 1985 for the popularisation of science. We organised quiz contests and various programmes for schoolchildren. We used folk art and culture to discuss a number …
COMMUNICATING with children is no easy task -- writing books for them is even harder. In a conversation with a child, there is scope to answer the hundreds of questions that are asked. But a story book must be able to get its message across clearly. There are no second …
A GROUP of adivasis in Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, are confident that they will no longer be cheated by the patwari. Shedding centuries of mathematical ignorance, the tribals have grasped the concepts of the weights and measures, with the help of origami -- traditionally associated with creating beautiful figures by folding …
AS PART of an unique attempt to educate nomads, when the restive Van Gujjars of Uttar Pradesh"s Dehra Dun and Saharanpur districts and Himachal Pradesh"s Sirmaur district move in summer to hill pastures near Shimla with their cattle, their teachers will tag along. Naya Safar (New Journey), a 3-part primer, …
DAY after day last February, scores of students in an Uttar Pradesh village spent hours outside their classrooms. They were not playing truant -- they were in the fields collecting leaves and plants for a biodiversity competition. The contest at the secondary school in Gangagarh village in Bulandshahr district was …
How do you know the uses of these ? Did you take help? I am from this area and know about these plants -- I see them being used everyday. I also asked my father and brothers and the elders in my neighbourhood. Even though my brothers don't go to …
