MES-104

Ans 1: There is a popular impression that in many countries higher education sector is relatively self-
sufficient, that is, it does not have to depend on either the state support or support from outside
funding agencies. This, however, is not borne out, by actual situation as prevailing in various parts of the
world today. Higher education institutions depend on public funds and other outside incomes to a much
large extent. Even in the well-known private universities and institutions in the United States, the share
of fees is less than 40% and in public institutions it is around 15%. In British universities it is less than
14% and in France the corresponding figure is less than 5% of the total income of the institutions.
However, global trend is increasingly to make institutions of higher education be dependent on a larger
share from fees and sales of services both to students and to other users, such as industry and
government.

All over the world the state makes substantial funding for higher education. But the states
increasingly feel that equity and social justice can be ensured better through direct support of
students through scholarships and grants. Similarly, accountability and pursuit of national
priorities in higher education and research are seen to be secured more through contractual
agreements with institutions and through selected programmes and specific projects rather than
through open-ended subsidies to institutions.

The Indian attitude towards educational development has been influenced by our perception of
the role of higher education. The establishment of the Banaras Hindu and Aligarh Muslim
Universities has a national significance which has been influenced by our freedom struggle to
establish an Indian identity in the sphere of higher education. The establishment of the central
universities is unique Indian experiment influenced by the federal character of the state polity
emphasising regional linkages, the need to preserve and promote national integration and
achievement of quality performance comparable to international standards.

In the past, we viewed the development of each sector of education in parts, but after the
Education Commission (1964-66) we began to view education in totality, the different sectors
fitting into a common pattern. This holistic view is duly reflected in the National Policy on
Education (1986).

The growth and development of higher education sector has been viewed by Indian policy
makers and planners from the very early times as not merely an effort to establish India's cultural
identity on the international scene but also as a means to enhance the quality and productive
capacity of our manpower. It is perceived also as a crucial input in our efforts to achieve self
reliance and autonomy in many frontal areas of strategic activity. The success of these are seen
to-day in the advancements made in many areas, such as: Food and Agriculture, Nuclear
Science, Space Science and Technology, Computer Development, etc., which are of vital
importance for the scientific and technological development of the country. It would be
unfortunate if in the present debate on allocation of resources between sectors of education, this
perception of the crucial role and importance of higher education is lost sight of. There is no
denying, that while primary education is fundamental to the nation, higher education determines
its economic and technological progress. While it is mandatory that the nation achieves universal
elementary education and total literacy, at the same time.

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It cannot afford to neglect and relegate to a neglected position our quest to achieve global
standards in higher education. The Committee deprecates the tendency which views education in
a truncated fashion and sets one sector against another. The advancement of quality primary and
secondary education itself depends upon the quality of higher education. Equity and social
justice demand that the newly emerging beneficiaries from the secondary education sector, who
increasingly represent vulnerable groups, are able to afford an access to higher education. In a
democracy broad based education will promote expectations and ambitions which must be
supported by access to higher education.

All central universities have certain common features of being centres of excellence and
promoters of national integration- They all strive to maintain an all-India character in regard to
recruitment of' staff and admission of students. They are all expected to function as centres of
innovation for programmes and courses which may be beyond the reach of state universities. The
Committee would like to refer to the reports of the various committees in the past in regard to the
central universities, but restrict to giving only the following extract from the Report of Banaras
Hindu University Enquiry Committee, 1969.

"Central universities should not be regarded as central Merely because the Central Government
finance them. They should have distinguished character of their own. They should seek to
supplement and not always duplicate the facilities and achievement of the state universities. In
the case of central universities, their role and responsibility is clear-it is to function effectively
and vigorously on an all India basis to help build up a corporate intellectual life in the country to
further national integration. Broadly speaking the central universities should provide courses
which need facilities on demands beyond the reach of the state universities or for which the
demands would be too small if limited only to the requirement. of an individual state. The central
universities should regard it as a part of their special function to contribute towards the removal
of imbalances from the academic life of our country, and take suitable action to help deserving
students from the educationally backward areas. In order to achieve this object. such facilities as
may be necessary should be made available to the central universities."

Ans 2: Six Straightforward Steps for Curriculum Development

Curriculum development comes from the latin word meaning race course Developing a curriculum for a
can seem like a daunting task, but it doesnt have to be! Following these steps will ensure a successful
curriculum design.

Fun Fact: the first use of the word curriculum was early in the seventeenth century at the University of
Glasgow here in Scotland! The word curriculum comes from the Latin word which means a race or
the course of the race. By following six steps for curriculum development, youll be sure your students
can follow the course you plot for them.

Determine Your Target Audience

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It is important to know who your audience will be so you can plan accordingly. The content of your
seminar will most likely change depending on your audience. If you are training managers, the
information presented will be different than if you are training hourly employees. The content of your
seminar will vary depending on your audience so keep your audience in mind as you go through the
following steps.

Develop Goals and Objectives

Goals and objectives are the heart of your content. Goals are broad statements describing what the
learner should be able to do once instruction is complete. Objectives are more specific and outline how
each goal will be met. Here is an example:

Goal: Students will be able to use Microsoft Word.

Objective: Students will create a document including columns.

Objective: Students will format document according to specific directions about font, spacing, etc.

Both the goals and the objectives should be measurable so you can assess student mastery of the
subject being taught (step 6). When writing goals and objectives you are doing backwards planning-
thinking about the desired end result and then working backwards, creating steps to achieve that result.

Choose Your Instructional Strategy

There are many types of instruction to use beyond simple lecturing, for example:

the Socratic method

demonstration

brainstorming

group discussion

cooperative learning

role play

independent study

The key is to pick an instructional method that best suits your content. For example, a CPR or First Aid
workshop will rely heavily on demonstration and role play as opposed to brainstorming.

Consider Logistics

Although this sounds like the step where you would actually teach, youre still in the planning stages!
Before you set foot into a classroom youll need to consider all the logistics. Things to think about
include where and when your training will be held, what pieces of technology will be used, who will

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present, what materials are necessary and so on. Avoid common pitfalls such as not having the correct
technology or having insufficient space by planning ahead.

Develop Assessments

If you have designed measurable goals and objectives the assessment piece should be fairly simple.
Keeping in line with the previous example, an assessment for the students who learn how to use
Microsoft Word would be to show you their document with the necessary requirements. Assessing your
students in a CPR workshop may include demonstration of the proper techniques as well as a written
exam. Your assessments dont need to be long or complex but do need to demonstrate that your
students learned what you wanted them to.

Evaluate Effectiveness

It is essential to gather feedback from your students so make sure you have an evaluation tool. Hearing
their opinions of your training will help you to know ways to adjust or improve for next time if
necessary. Beyond student evaluations, take time to think about what worked and what didnt. Make a
list of pros and cons once the training is finished. This information will enable you to make changes to
aspects that did not go as smoothly and will better prepare you for teaching your curriculum again.

Ans 3 a): The University Grants Commission (UGC) which came into existence on 28 December 1953
became a statutory organisation by an Act of Parliament in 1956. It is a national body for the
coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of university education. It serves as a
coordinating body between the Union and State Governments and the institutions of higher learning. It
also acts as an advisory body to these Governments and institutions on issues relating to higher
education.

Section 12 of the UGC Act provides that the Commission shall, in consultation with the universities
concerned, take all such steps as it may think fit for the promotion and coordination of university
education and for the maintenance of standards in teaching, examination and research. To teaching and
research, extension was added as the third dimension of education by the Commission.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has its Regional Offices at Hyderabad, Pune, Bhopal, Kolkata,
Guwahati and Bangalore. The Northern Regional Office which was earlier located at Ghaziabad has now
been functioning from the UGC Head Quarters as Northern Regional Colleges Bureau (NRCB). The UGC
has taken up some new initiatives, viz.

Promotion of Entrepreneurship and knowledge based enterprises.

Protection of Intellectual Property Rights.

Promotion of Indian Higher Education abroad.

Training and development of Academic Administrators.

Comprehensive Computerisation Initiative.

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Ans 3 b): Possible Roles for Teachers In A Personalized Learning Environment

1. Facilitator/Learning Manager: If instructional materials really become individualized to the

extent that the video describes, there will need to be someone present to help students navigate
the technical aspects of performing the work that the system pushes to them.

2. Remediator: When students fail to achieve the learning objectives outlined by the automated
system, the instructor will need to step in to troubleshoot the learning disconnect and either
provide alternative instruction or adjust the learning system through some sort of control
interface.

3. Enricher: Playing off the flipped classroom model, the teachers role could shift to providing
enrichment activities beyond the scope of the automated system. If adaptive content is provided
that helps students master basic concepts and learn background information, teachers can focus
on helping students use the information that they have gained in authentic ways to help turn it
into knowledge.

4. Collaborator/Mentor: One intriguing possibility in a technology-facilitated education future

is for teachers to serve as collaborators and mentors with students engaging in real world,
possibly entrepreneurial, activities. Such activities would help students develop actual
marketable skills and could potentially provide a new and much needed revenue stream for
schools and universities.

Ans 3 e): Heres an overview of the seven principles of time management:

1. Have a clear vision

Ask yourself "What am I actually trying to achieve?"

The clearer you are about your vision, the more likely you are to achieve it.

2. Do one thing at a time

Successful people dont take on too much. They concentrate on doing and finishing one thing
at a time as far as possible.

Little and often -- the human mind works best when we apply this principle.

3. Define your limits

The best way to be creative is not to try to think without limits, but to carefully define what
those limits should be. Limitations actually encourage creativity.

4. Isolate your backlog dont add to it

Get the system for new stuff right. You need to be able to process a days work.

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5. Commitment v Interest

If youre considering a commitment, ask yourself three questions: What would I need to start
doing in order to commit myself fully to this? What would I need to stop doing in order to
commit myself fully to this? Would I be prepared to pay the price for full commitment to this?

Ans 3 b): PLAN AND NON PLAN

Budgeting in India distinguishes two sets of activities, one as non-plan or non-development or

maintenance budget, and the other as plan or development budget. In actual practice, the
difference is more procedural than real, although conceptually the plan budget provides for
growth, diversification and innovation while the non-plan takes care of sustenance of the
ongoing system. All activities of recurring nature taken up during a five year plan period are
classified as non-plan or maintenance activities after the plan is over. Thus the non-plan or
maintenance budgets grow in size after successive five year plans are completed the commitment
is transferred to non-plan part of the budget. The funding of central universities also reflects this
practice. Support to the universities is classified separately as maintenance or non-plan, and
development or plan grants.

(a) The opening balance of a university out of the block grant fixed for a particular year would be
carried forward to the succeeding year, which would however be adjusted by the end of the third
year.

(b) To ensure that expenditure is incurred within the total resources available, in the best interest
of its academic function, the following guidelines were prescribed for reappropriation within the
Budget Estimates prepared on the basis of the grant payable and the resources generated from its
own income:

(i) No appropriations may be made which would have the effect of augmenting the provision for
salaries and allowances.

(ii) The provision made in the estimates for scholarships and fellowships should not be
reapropriated to any other head, and

(iii) If there are any savings in Non-Plan recurring budget, they could be utilised for meeting
critical academic non- recurring requirements.

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Ans 4: Teaching Speaking is a Core Skill

I am concerned about student oral communication. Students dont generally speak well and
almost all of them fear or hate presenting. I also think about the speaking and listening standard
of the Common Core State Standards. I realize that so far I am alone in focusing on this standard
but I truly believe that all students will be more successful in life professionally and socially if
they speak well, and I wish we paid more attention to teaching speaking.

I often ask, What are you doing to teach speaking? I get answers like these:

Every year from grades 7 to 12, we require our students to give a major presentation about a
historical figure.

My students made a podcast about bike safety.

We have Show and Share weekly where kids get up and talk.

All of these responses answer a question I didnt ask. They all answer, What speaking activity
do you make kids do? I didnt ask whether or not you make students talk. All teachers at all
grade levels in all subjects have students speaking informally (discussions, answering questions,
sharing solutions) and almost all have some more formal speaking like the three examples above.
That is not the issue. The problem is that teachers do not see how those responses dont answer
the question.

Try these:

Assigning a speech does not equal teaching speaking.

Just because you made kids get up in front of the class does not mean you taught oral
communication.

Giving students a chance to present does not mean that you prepared them to present.

Lets look at this differently. Suppose I asked, How do you teach writing? You answer, Once
a year, I make all students write a big essay. Thats it? No, I give them feedback and write
comments on the paper when I give it back. Thats it? Well, yeah, what else is there? We
could agree that this is a poor excuse for writing instruction.

In fact, what we usually do with writing instruction is quite complex. In early grades we teach
capital letters and punctuation. We have lessons and even units on these with lots of specific
instruction and lots of worksheets and practice activities just on capitalization and punctuation.
At some point we teach fragments and run-ons and complete sentences, with specific lessons and
worksheets and practice activities just on sentence structure. We teach paragraphs and topic
sentences and have a paragraph unit with lots of paragraph examples and lessons and with lots of
paragraph writing practice. And there are many other lessons as well. By the time we assign an

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essay, students have had many specific lessons and lots of practice with all of the pieces needed
to compose and essay.

We do none of this for speaking. Yes, you make every seventh grader give a talk about a
historical figure and you made a podcast. But you are seriously kidding yourself if you believe
you are teaching speaking (If anything, by putting high stakes on a project you never adequately
prepared them for, you are adding to the fear of speaking that is so prevalent.)

In third grade, did students get a gesture unit? Did you teach them about hand gestures, body
gestures, facial gestures and give them lots of practice activities to work on gestures? Did you
have lots of little speeches with high gesture potential to practice with? In fifth grade, did you
have a pacing/speed unit with lots of lessons and examples of how speeding up sometimes works
well and slowing down is sometimes better and pausing can add dramatic effect? Did you have
lots of little speeches to practice with? In any grade, did you have an eye contact unit, an
inflection unit, a voice unit, an effective visual aid unit, or any kind of lessons at all on any of the
pieces of effective oral communication? Let me add: Giving kids comments after they speak
does not equal teaching speaking.

Of course, few teachers actually know how to teach speaking and there are no teacher
preparation courses on the topic. Odds are that oral communication is not on the agenda for next
years in-service days either.

So how do we solve the problem? Heres a start:

Realize that you need to teach speaking, not just assign speeches.

Understand the incredible gift you would be giving students if you truly made them effective oral
communicators.

Tell people that if I ever ask, How do you teach speaking? and they give me an example of
some assignment, I will get really angry. I have gotten really cranky about this but I wont
apologize for that. Oral communication is too important.

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