Education TBC

Surely be correct to say, Education is the chief defense of nations. The foundation of every state is the education of the youth. Only the educated are free. In the present competitive era, one can notice that education has become a necessity. It uplifts the person moral ethical and spiritual values. Illiteracy is a curse on mankind. An illiterate person does not appreciate the proper values of life. He/she is unaware of the modern day developments-both national and international.
The parliament has passed the constitution amendment act in 2002. This act has made elementary education a fundamental right for children in the age groups of 6 to14years. The sarva shiksha abhiyan covers the entire country.
Children are the asset of the nation. They are the citizens of tomorrow. If they remain illiterate, nothing good cab is expected from them in the future. Educated people have a rational mind to think. They can choose a career. They have more employment opportunities as compared to the illiterates.

Education accelerates economic and social development in the country. The main object of education is the establishment of a two fold harmony in every individual harmony with its own self and harmony with the other living beings in the whole world. It is rightly said – “The root of education is bitter, but the fruit is sweet.
Education has played a vital role not only in ancient times but will continue from generation to generation. Whatever it is a rich human or a poor the need of education is equal for each one.
It is the matter of great sorrow to know that India is lacking behind in the population as well as in education with comparison to the other countries. Child labor is the biggest problem due to which the population of uneducated children is increasing in our country.
In this new era, everybody wants to give international level education to their children. And it is absolutely right. Nowadays lots of international school India facilitate with such kind of education.

Education plays a very vital role in shaping one’s life and career by developing the capacities latent in human nature to the expression of progress and enrichment of society.
Every country requires educated and learned citizens. Unless people are educated they can not help the nation nor can they grow, so, for overall development education is a pre-requisite. Thus, education is a factor in nation building.
Without education one can not think of surviving in this world because for proper survival one should be educated then it may be in the form of boosting human capital, social capital of earnings.

Every member of a county should must be educated and move on the right path. Education not only means that getting degrees and being a topper but also having manners, good habits, confident and also being a good person to live in the society.
One must be good in studies, co-curricular activities and other fields. But he must also take care of his personality. Personality is the main thing that shows the background, society, and also how educated a person is. But studying is equally important along with personality to get jobs, be capable to match with other people, be equally participating and confident.
People along with their subject must be aware about the world and their surroundings. They must have social values and moral values too. Education is something that an educated person must have like know, how to talk, walk, behave with woman and elders and also know to learn. The education system of India is not correct, as the teachers emphasize only on the burden of studies. Correct education can lead to a growth of a good person and can also lead to success.
Correct education is the only way of living a comfortable and happy life. Be calm, be cheerful, be strong and you can surely receive a good education and good personality

The business definition of earning potential, according to bnet.com, is the amount of money an individual will be able to earn in his professional capacity.

One of the biggest expectations that everyone has always had from education is to increase earning potential. However, this has taken a whole new meaning post recession. It wont be an exaggeration to say that for many, the only reason to invest time and money on college education is to increase their capacity to earn.

What lends credibility to the phrase “the more you learn, the more you earn” is the data for median annual earnings by educational attainment released by the U.S. Census Bureau. According to the bureau, the annual income of high school graduates or equivalent is $27,448. The earnings start rising as the level of education increases, with those who have some college or an Associates degree making $33,838 per year and those with a Bachelors degree earning $47,853. The income of graduate or Masters degree holders is the highest at $63,174.* If there was ever a doubt in your mind about the significance of college education in increasing your earning potential, then surely these numbers should clear it.

Yes, college is probably going to eat up a considerable chunk of your parents savings or you might have to fund it by taking a student loan, but its an investment that is likely to bear rich dividends through your life. And there are several options available to suit everyones goals.

If academics are not your forte, it doesnt mean you have to rule out college altogether. You can still increase your earning potential by pursuing a two-year Associates degree in fields like healthcare or computers where there is a huge demand for trained workers. For example, an Associates degree in respiratory therapy will qualify you for entry-level positions as a respiratory therapist, whose average annual income is $52,200.** Now thats a fair deal in return for two years of education, wouldnt you say?

A Bachelors degree can boost these earnings further, especially if you are smart about the major you pick. There are some rewarding careers like accounting, computer science, and healthcare administration for which a Bachelors degree is the minimum qualification. A Bachelors degree will not just increase your earning potential, but also provide you a wider base of quality jobs from which to choose.

Needless to say, with professional and graduate degree programs like MBA, law, or medicine, the sky is the limit as far as earning potential is concerned. However, you should go down that road only if you have the inclination and the resources for extensive schooling that these professions require.

Taking a cue from students who are in a rush to join the workforce, many universities and colleges have also introduced accelerated degree programs that allow students to complete their post-secondary education in a shorter span of time than that afforded through traditional colleges and universities. Such degrees are a brilliant idea because the sooner you finish school, the sooner you can start making a living.

Whichever field you choose to enter, college degree programs can help you reach the next level not just in terms of a paycheck, but also the quality of your life!

*U.S. Census Bureau, 2006-2008 American Community Survey **Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition, Respiratory Therapists

A recent survey conducted by Join Together a program of the Boston University School of Public Health shows that few teachers believe that alcohol and other drug prevention programs work. Only 2 percent of more than 3,700 respondents felt that their school-based prevention program is effective. The report says that teachers are skeptical of the prevention programs they deliver. It goes on to say that teachers cite the need more relevant study materials, more time to do prevention, more support, and more training.

Although more training and enhanced study materials would certainly do no harm, how does this change the current destructive belief permeating our schools and our culture that drug prevention doesnt work? It is not a matter of more time, more study materials, or more training, but a need for a fundamental change in how we define prevention, set prevention goals, and understand how children adopt and reinforce healthy and unhealthy behaviors.

For three decades the United States has been waging an expensive and ineffective drug war a war more political than practical. In 1993 the federal government spent $1.7 billion on the drug war and in 1999 17.9 billion. The most ubiquitous of drug education programs DARE (Drug Awareness Resistance Education) which was started in Los Angeles in 1983 is plagued by research showing its lack of effectiveness. DARE currently costs taxpayers between 1 and 1.3 billion dollars a year. In addition, the DARE programs premise that early drug education inoculates kids from future drug use in high school is both nave and lacking a fundamental understanding of child development. In the most recent survey of adolescent drug trends conducted by Monitoring the Future, 48% of 12th graders had a drink within the last thirty days and by the time a student graduates from high school nearly half have tried an illicit drug – most likely marijuana. While recent trends in drinking and drug use show decreases in most categories, underage drinking and most notably marijuana use remain a regular experience of teenage life. What have we gotten for our money? And how does the current drug education approach reflect the reality that most teenagers face every weekend?

Teenage drug use is normalized in our culture. By the time most teens reach high school, they accept alcohol and some drug use by their peers as a common social activity. The popular notion that drinkers and drug users are outcasts and deviants conveniently ignores the reality that many teens drink including student leadership, athletes, active and involved good students. Scare tactics and exaggerated drug effects only work when your audience does not have access to other information. This generation of students has more access to information than any other generation in time. This will most likely be the case for subsequent generations. Manipulation, coercion, and exaggerated claims are not tolerated by students.

Prevention programs need to support and validate those students who choose to delay their drinking and abstain from other drugs. Programs need to help students effectively communicate concerns to friends who may be experiencing problems with their drinking and drug use and to connect those friends to helping resources in the community. Finally, prevention programs need to offer suggestions to students to minimize the risks associated with drinking and drug use such as frequency and quantity of use. Promoting risk reduction strategies no more condones drinking than the suggestion of wearing a seat belt condones speeding.

We are in a crisis right now. It is not a drug crisis, but a crisis of belief and faith. We are loosing faith in the idea that we can be effective. We are giving in to the fear that any deviation from the path of abstinence-based zero tolerance education is an endorsement of drinking. The results of giving in to fear are the growing popularity of random drug testing programs, locker searches and drug sniffing dogs. We dont need to catch more kids, but to connect with more kids. We dont need to make an example of a student, but be examples for students of healthy living and compassionate care.

Singapores education system has been described as “world-leading” and was among those picked out for commendation by British education minister, Michael Gove, last year. Perhaps, the governments efforts in providing each child with schooling opportunities are indeed laudable, but still, parents complain of the rigid and competitive nature of this very system. So maybe, the most nerve-wrecking, mind-boggling issue on every Singaporean parents mind is how can my child be one of the best? Surely, the recent implementation of Teach Less, Learn More does nothing to ease this tension, and to study independently seems not to be the nature of our law-abiding kids, whom our Western counterparts tend to dismiss as lacking the inquisitive spirit and/or innovation. But it seems our parents have found an alternative to induce this spirit through intensive tuition.

H2 Mathematics Tuition and H2 Physics Tuition are two of the most common subjects being sort after by Singapores high school students to be tutored. A Sunday Times poll conducted by the Straits Times found that out of 100 students, 97 students are attending tuition. Singaporean parents are enrolling their children in multiple tuition centers, many willing to pay up to S$3000 a month engaging multiple Top Tutors especially for higher level education, e.g., Junior College and/or higher. With the aim of establishing a robust Science Hub, Singaporean parents see the need for their child to be equipped with the necessary, and hence are willing to pay, regardless the price, for crucial science stream subjects, investing in H2 Mathematics Tuition and H2 Physics Tuition.

There are parents who prefer to engage Top Tutors for private home tuition, which are especially common for high school students dealing with more complex and difficult subjects. The rates for Top Tutors can range from S$35/hr to S$80/hr depending on the popularity and level of the tutor. Group or class tuition is also increasingly available in Singapore. Not only is it a cheaper alternative, they also feel that their child will benefit and learn more from interacting with others while asking questions during tuition a form of inducing an inquisitive spirit. The class size of a typical H2 Physics Tuition or H2 Mathematics Tuition classes are often small for effective teaching and learning.

It may be true that many successful people come from well-off family background, and indeed, their parents may have the capital to equip them with the necessary, but how many outlier cases have we heard, where children from working class families still made their way to the top, for instance, 42nd US President Bill Clinton. Perhaps, who makes it out successful and who does not, depends again largely on the individual.

The mystery of this Trinity is for me solved. It simply does not work!

In England, there are a plethora of poets, all tweeting away and posting poems online. This must certainly be a good thing, one should think. So, where’s the rub? In this land from where no traveller ever returns, the social media, appreciation of poetry is reduced to -likes’ smiley faces and stars. There should be much more to it, and there is. I will not mention who, but I can say where, to give an example, I saw a poet with about 7,000 (!!!) online followers; a beautiful man, with many women singing his praise online every time he posts one of his, yes, appallingly badly written poems, that could as well have been written by a five-year-old: we are at the level of -your eyes are as beautiful as the stars’ and -I love you more than the whole world’ in a never-ending series of poems that only serves to increase the sales of sodium bicarbonate. Despite having so many fans and poems, this poet has never published a single book, which is a relief.

Similarly, I have seen an acclaimed poet post an impressive poem on a website that prides itself on having millions of poems on it, mostly of the kind one reads on toilet walls, and guess what, the readers gave it 3.5 stars. If only they knew that the poet in question is regarded as one of the best living poets, and maybe one day will even win a Nobel. How will they feel when they realise they gave the poem a low rating because they are not capable of reading poetry? The poem was soon removed.

Here comes in the third entity of our Trinity, the one that lets the other two down: education. Speaking from a British perspective, poetry is basically taught as a hobby over here. No reference to teachers, but to the approach that forgets that poetry should be an exceptional use of language, and that is what makes it poetry, not the theme. A poem can be about toe nails, or nothing at all, a poem is a poem if it uses language in a way that creates an effect that is beyond language itself. Poetry is Art, dear readers, not a tweet. But in today’s world, where everything is fast and the reader is egocentric, some of us forget that if we don’t understand a poem, then it’s because it is a good one, but we have lost the patience to dwell on a few words for a long time that poetry requires, and prefer to look for the easy, the plain, the platitude that gives us a split second of selfish gratification.

It is time education stepped in and taught poetry for what it is, not what we want it to be.