Realizations of discrepancies
A few days ago me and my husband (and now that I'm married we'll be hearing that a lot won't we? :P) were out getting a watch fixed. An expensive watch that was given to him as a gift. In fact, there were two of them but we only had on of them on us. Now, this watch was complicated and it took the guy almost 30 minutes to fix it after which he didn't ask for any money. But that's not the point. During the 30 minutes, another fellow came along and gave a watch to have the strap replaced. He pulled a couple out and asked the price: Rs. 100 and Rs. 50 (roughly $1.60 and $0.83). The poor man was so confused...He wanted the more 'expensive' one but he ultimately settled for the 'cheaper' one.
It got me thinking...wow, I and most of us spend money like it was flowing water (speaking of which there isn't much of that left either). But Rs. 100? NOTHING! It means nothing to us, but it means a week of food to someone else.
A new phrase I recently heard from my CEO:
'Perceived Level of disparity'
The more expensive cars you see on the road the more this perceived level rises, and is it perceived or is it for real? I believe that all over the world a small portion of the population is getting richer and richer while most of the others are getting poorer and poorer. Where will this lead?
Protests?
Battles?
Wars?
All of the above probably. In fact, if you look for it you'll already be able to see it.
Another Curve in the Road - or the Blog!
So its time to change angles yet once again. Why is that? Perhaps because I got married or perhaps because my job changed or perhaps simply because that's what life is, a bunch of turns and dips just like a rollarcoaster. Whatever the reason may be, I realize 2 things,
1. I've ignored my blogs too long and
2. I have more to say than just what I see regarding the children in our schools
That's not to say that I won't be unloading my abstract understanding of education onto this website - and by the way, has anyone thought why people actually listen to my views regarding the topic especially considering that I have no formal education in the topic - GASP, did we just realize that formal education is not necessarily the only measurement to ones understanding of a topic?? *GASP*
So coming to the point, basically this blog will now be more generic, and sadly more like other blogs out there. Random blabbering. I'd like to identify a focus, but we've seen that really doesn't stick. But does that really matter? I suppose not, mostly because not many read this.
So the new focus?
An inside panorama - to Education, Human Resource, Development, and IT .... what a focus!
Judging People by Their Cover
Today, a strange guy walked into the office. Never saw him before. He had the scruffy look of a loner on the roads, the sort that would make you bow your head and walk by as quickly as possible if he were to ever cross you on the streets. He was dressed relatively fine, but was unshaved, dark, intense yellowish eyes that made you want to hide under your desk just to get away from his gaze. The only reason I didn't, was because he walked in with a manager of ours. I figured he was an accountant or driver who got into trouble. But surprise surprise they walked up to our communications department and the guy ended up talking to two of our leading ladies in the department.
Now, they're sitting right across me, the scruffy guy and the two good looking girls, and I'm trying not to think, man...he must be enjoying this. Every now and then I'd look up over my monitor to see what was going on. And through these sly observations of mine I started to notice a kind of glow enter the guys face, and he slowly started to look a little less scruffy.
So now I was really curious as to who this fellow was (no longer was he just some other 'guy' I would've liked to avoid). I started thinking, is he some simpleton donor or a volunteer or something else? Finally one of the girls came to ask me for a camera, so I HAD to know who is he?? Turned out, he was a student of our system, a product of our work, the fruit of our labor. He was being interviewed and being featured in one of our newsletters, showing how through the school system lives have been changed for the better. He actually is currently doing his B.Com. and has been hired as an accounts assistant in one of our own schools.
After knowing all this information I kept looking over my monitor again, only this time I didn't see the scary guy, instead I saw a person, an ex-student, someone for all of us to be proud of. And I realized, the change in his appearance was due to two reasons:
1. Having a chance to talk to someone in a positive manner
2. The clearing in my mind about the baised thoughts I immediately assumed when seeing him
And then I realized the hypocrisy of my own thinking. Out on the streets I see people, and a great deal of them who looked like this fellow who causeed a warning signal to go off in my head. I never stop to realize that they might be of a similar nature, background, or have similar achievements. I'm not saying I'd now like to go and smile to all the men out there, if I did, we'd have a very happy male population ;), however halo effects and stereotyping tend to cloud all our judgments in some fashion or another. With the world spirling downwards with the various riots, wars, and racism, It may just be the time that restoration in the faith for humanity is required. Though one must play it safe for themselves, one should also consider giving the other the benefit of the doubt.
Fluctuations in the Educated Niche
Bryan Adams was in Karachi!!!LOL....Wow, was it absolutely amazing! I promise I'll get to the relation to education in this post very soon, but it was so good to see an international musician in a country which is supposedly a high danger zone. The beauty of this is that he arrived on the same day a warning was issued to Americans against traveling to Pakistan! Three cheers to Mr. Adams for breaking the chains of taboo and acknowledging that music is the universal language!
Now, the tickets were expensive...they had to be, it was a charity concert, and inevitably it attracted an educated niche of Karachiites...those who could afford to pay the odd Rs. 3000 for a few hours. And wow, were they all well behaved! That's a rare sight for our country! No fights with each other or the guards. The security was great - it
didn't feel like we were entering a war zone. It was very difficult to believe that we were still in Karachi...we just might have been in Kansas! And the crowd was responding brilliantly to him...singing right on time and on key.
So why the
fluctuation of the educated niche? If you've had the pleasure of attending other concerts in Karachi know that a
smooth event is a rarity...educated niche or not. One
expects the privileged educated to be setting a model for others, however this is rarely the case. The educated ones are often those who possess the most ego, who will be the first to protest if searched because no one has 'the right' to question them. Not to say that they are the
only ones who act this way, but a great deal of them do.
However, this was not the case at the Bryan Adams concert. Everyone was so well behaved. My only question to all of us out there...why must we be on our best behavior
only for others and not ourselves? Do we as a city not deserve a night as good as the Rock for a Cause? We've proven ourselves to be a great city full of beautiful people...Please, lets do this for our own benefit as well.
Intellectual Ignorance
I was enlightened by a wise man in class yesterday that there are 4 assets any country possess, the development of which is safeguarded by the respective authorities:
1. Geographical - Protected by the armed forces
2. Economic - Protected by the bankers
3. Political - Protected by the government
2. Intellectual - Protected by the teachers
Think that teachers would ever come in the same sentence as armed forces, bankers, and government? Not Often. But really, think about it. The strength of any organization lies within the employees and their commitment to work; the strength of any country lies within the people and their commitment to a better life. The knowledge of what that better life is and how to get their is disseminated by who? The teachers!
But that's not really the scenario right now. Within the schools of most countries students are encouraged about one thing: GRADES. Most third world countries are better than they were 20 years ago, by way of infrastructure. But the intellect of the people...the public....has gone down. Many may beg to differ to this statement. But then we must delve into the meaning of
intellect. What does intellect mean? The most straight forward definition is:
The capacity for rational or intelligent thought
Simple enough. So, does that mean that rational or intelligent thought is proven by getting an A in various subjects? To a certain extent. But what about something like intelligently realizing that littering is wrong because rationally it will be bad for you and those around you? Or that intelligently understanding that crossing a red light is dangerous because rationally nothings going to happen if you get somewhere a minute late and that you might die or be seriously injured in the process?
Simply concepts. Hardly followed. Rarely taught.
So when one says that developing the intellectual resource of a country helps in the country advancing to a better state, one must realize that this also realize that this involves good civic sense and developing a student as a whole, well rounded person.
Children are the hopes and future of a country. Hopes and futures are not built upon A grades. It takes a lot more than that.
Bored Teachers
Other than all the various 'teaching methodologies' available to both rich and poor countries, there's a key to making students understand what's being taught: Excitement!
How does excitement penetrate through a classroom full of sleepy, bored students? Through the teacher obviously. And surprisingly, most teachers are able to convey the thought that what they're studying is not the latest form of torture. However, when a teacher goes into the same classroom with the same subject year after year after year...after year....is he/she not bound to get bored? After 2 or 3 years you know the subject like the back of your hand, how can you be excited about it? And so many teachers do this. I know teachers who have been exactly that 'Teachers' for 25+ years. Now, there
are three kinds of teachers I've run into:
1. Those who are passionate about teaching
2. Those who teacher for the money
3. Those girls who are teaching to pass time before they get married
Given, that the passionate ones will never get bored, and the passing time ones won't have the time to get bored. But the greatest percentage of teachers are the second category - those in it for the money. A great number of them will also not have the skills to move beyond being a teacher - so is it not the responsibility of the schools to ensure that the stagnant phase in any teachers life is not reached? And if it is, what can be done to change the status quo? There's nothing worse than having a boring subject (in the eyes of children, ALL of them) taught by a bored teacher.
Trapping Students
This is a story of my university, a story which I'm sure stands true for many other 'Education Institutes' out there. Education Institutes which should actually be termed as 'Education for Business' - those institutes that would do anything to trap students like fishermen trap fish for a living.
I initially joined to do an MIT, only to find out later that it was not going to be offered due to the low number of students who enrolled in the program (Maybe if they used lappy's for bait they would've been more successful? :P) Anyways, I then transferred into the MBA program, and was told I could chose my major in the last semester, nothing new in that. So I continued taking courses like a fish swimming towards a juicy worm only to find out that the worm was made out of rubber with a sharp hook right at the center. In my last semester I was informed that my major, HRM was not being offered (due to too few students - *surprise surprise*) and that I had actually been given Marketing courses instead. Yay! I've been studying something that has nothing to do with my professional experience - I had been hooked like a fish - doing what was convenient and cost efficient for the university. NOT what was beneficial for me.
So the story continues, for myself and many other students out there - who have been trapped by the education system; trapped to 'make a living', rather lavishly for most of them.
Whatever happened to educating a person for the right reasons? Why and when did this become such a lucrative business? When the US started using its university as a trade resource? When rich parents were willing to pay anything to have their children go to a foreign university and poor parents were willing to sacrifice anything for the same privilege? When primary schools realized there's money in it for them and it no longer mattered how much you charge whether the child is in pre-nursery or secondary school?
So long as the money is raked in, nothing else matters.
