Obnoxious demand by schools !

this is a letter from a frustrated parent to the school which has tested their patients for years. sigh!!

Sub: Ill treatment of children, unconscionable tuition fees, transaction fees, late fees etc.

1. We the undersigned parents of Class XII of Bala Vidya Mandir are deeply disturbed by the events of 30th March, 2015 wherein several students were sent out of the school abruptly and without intimation to the parents for the reason that the term fees were not paid. The children were asked to leave the school premises and come back only after paying the fees.

2. We are pained to state that one such girl student who was asked to leave was found standing outside the gate crying. When another parent who happened to know the child enquired with her as to why she was out and crying , she explained that she was asked to go home because her fees were not paid. She informed that her father who had recently under gone a heart surgery was abroad at work and suffered some post operative complications as a result of which her mother joined him and both her parents were away and she was staying with her aunt who was also a teacher. She had nowhere to go and had no transport. She called her brother who incidentally is an old student of this school. The girl student herself has been in this school from LKG. The parents who saw the child took her to the Vice Principal who was courteous but said that she was helpless as it was a ‘management’ decision. The parents wanted to meet the Principal but he was not available. When the parents insisted that they would then meet the ‘management’ they were guided to the ‘corporate office’ located in the school premises. After waiting for a while they were asked to once again meet the Vice Principal. On meeting the Vice Principal, they were asked to come back in the evening to meet the Principal and the school would call and intimate the time of the appointment. A request was made once again at this juncture that the child may be permitted to attend the class as she was in XII std. The request was refused saying that it was ‘management’ decision and they were helpless.

3. Yet another student who was sent out had to frantically call his mother, who had to rush to school dropping everything and who to her deep distress found her son standing outside the office room as if he was an accused. The father of the student rushed from the airport and literally spent four hours in the school office trying to explain the problem he faced in making online payment. The parents paid the fees for their daughter who is in the same school but the NEFT transaction was not going through for the second payment for their son due to some technical glitch. Repeated emails to the school about the problem met with no response. When these parents met the Vice Principal, they were promised the help of the technical man to sort out the glitch but at the same time it was insisted that they pay the entire annual school fees (though generally one has the option to pay the first term fees alone) along with a late fee of Rs. 4000 at the rate of Rs. 500 for everyday’s delay.

4. Many of us have been associated with this school for several years and are really dismayed at this ill treatment of children. The children have been traumatized and humiliated for no fault of theirs. The school has the addresses, email ids and phone numbers of all parents. Any issue with regard to fees etc could have easily been sorted out by directly contacting the parents. Penalizing the children for this is simply not acceptable and we would like to express our deepest anguish and strong disapproval about the manner in which the school treated the students and parents.

5. In this context we would like to point out our deep disappointment at the manner in which the teachers caved in and failed to stand by the students who look up to them for succor and support next only to their parents. While we are conscious of the fact that teachers are paid employees and have their limitations and may have to abide by the orders of the management but when it comes to issues of the basic physical and emotional health and safety of the child we do expect them to stand by the children and protect them, no matter what the pressure or demands. Even if the management were insensitive, the teacher concerned could have been firm and refused to send the child out and could have easily called the parents and informed them. How will the children respect teachers who do not have the courage and conviction to stand by what is right?

6. There is another troubling aspect about the changed culture in the school. Earlier in respect of all issues concerning the child the class teacher always played a pivotal role. Class teachers generally could take decisions on many issues and the school generally respected the decision of the class teacher. Students also enjoyed good rapport with class teachers. By and large there was a very egalitarian and a student friendly atmosphere in the school. But in the recent past the children are constantly faced with the refrain “we are helpless, it is the decision of ‘higher ups’ or decision of the ‘management’ and we cannot do anything.” So from small issues such as segregation of boys and girls during picnics to larger issues of fee hikes students and parents are constantly hearing this refrain. There is an all pervading sense of fear and undercurrent running among the teachers. This is communicating to the students. Further, when the teachers and sometimes even the Principal tell us it is decision of ‘management’ and they are helpless, it undermines the authority of both the teachers and the office of the Principal. Children also feel insecure and rudderless as teachers whom they look up to tell them they are helpless. In this school it has always been the culture where all decision making was based entirely on the decision of the Principal, who in turn generally went by the advice of the teachers concerned. But today there is a predominant feeling that there is no point discussing or bringing any issue to the teachers or principal as they have no decision making powers. We as parents have noticed a palpable change in the priorities and culture of the school which is disturbing to say the least and does not augur well for continuity of the reputation and what the institution is known to stand for and for the well being of the children. Fees far in excess of the amount legally stipulated.

7. The school is well aware that the fees stipulated by the Schools Fee Determination Committee under the Tamilnadu Schools (Regulation of Collection of Fee) Act, 2009, are equally applicable to CBSE schools. As per the information on the website of the school department the stipulated fee for 2014-15 was approximately Rs. 28,000. The school is collecting fees far in excess of the stipulated amounts. Periodically the burden on the parent is being increased at an alarming rate. There is no explanation or rational for this hike except for vague reasons such as VI pay commission and service tax. Even if the school were implementing the VI pay commission the figures add up to much more. The fees in our school are the highest among all comparable schools. There is an opaqueness about the process and the attitude of either take it or leave the school is again not something that we expect from any school and more so a school like BVM.

8. Compulsory online payment of fees is also causing a lot of hardships to parents. Not all parents may have such facilities. Moreover many parents found the website hanging or the transactions not going through or being told that fees was not paid when at their end they received notice that the transaction was through. When emails were sent to the school or phone calls made, the school staff were most unhelpful and unresponsive. Parents who opt to pay through credit card are having to pay an additional Rs. 400 as transaction fees and so online payment is in fact adding an additional financial burden on the parents. We request that online payments be made optional. Payments by cheques/ DD should also be accepted.

9.We are also shocked to learn that parents who have already been harassed on account of this issue are now being told that it is not sufficient to pay the first semester fees with fine but have to pay the entire years fees. This is amounts to further victimization and harassment.

10. The school has offered a separate stream called Meritus where coaching for IIT and other competitive exams is also supposed to be given. The fees for Meritus students is an additional Rs. 90,000 annually. The students who opted for Meritus in class XI have found that the teaching in Meritus classes is not up to the mark. These students are all once again having to avail of tuition s / private coaching outside. In the light of the poor quality of teaching and since there is no value addition in Meritus classes many students wanted to opt out of Meritus stream and join the regular stream in class XII. The school insisted that even if they opt out of the Meritus stream the annual fee of Rs. 90,000/- will have to be paid. In fact one of the students who has been prevented from attending classes is one such student who paid the Meritus fee of Rs. 90,000. So the student who paid Rs. 90,000 is now being asked to pay the total annual school fees of another Rs. 68,000 and a late fee of Rs. 4000 and is also being prevented from attending classes!

11. Many parents who faced problems in making the online payments were also faced with having to shell out several thousand rupees by way of late payment fee of Rs. 500 per day. Firstly, it is not fair that parents be penalized for the inefficiency of the service provider. Secondly, the late fee is more onerous than the penal interest imposed by credit card companies!

12. We are constrained to point out that with every passing year the teaching standards have been falling. Every child is forced to attend tuition classes for literally every subject on account of the fact that the school teachers are not able to communicate effectively the concepts or cover portions in time. Though the school says that it is sufficient if the child pays attention in class and tuition s are not required, in actuality the child cannot be prepared for Board exams without private coaching. We find that parents who took that advice had to quickly change their mind as children invariably complained that the teaching in the school is not effective. The special classes held after school hours are no different. We as parents are not opting for tuition s because it is a fad but because we are left with no options. It is proving to be a great burden on the child as well as on the parents.

13. The issues raised here are reflecting the angst of most parents and we hope that it is received in the spirit it is being told. The intention is not to ‘confront’ but to highlight issues which are being discussed and debated by parents and teachers alike. Very often there is hesitation on the part of every parent to state all this upfront for fear of their children being victimized or earning the displeasure of the ‘management’. However we felt that things were going too far and if we as parents do not voice our concern we will be failing in our duty as parents and as responsible citizens

The Edu-Gap

The education to employment gap is the most prominent and highly spoken about throughout the world. The journey of a student is not as easy as it seems and surely does not go as planned. The journey is filled with speed breakers in a marshy terrain with swamps and dead ends. At every such dead ends there is an opportunity to build a bridge and continue the journey. To get the metaphor in context, when a student finishes 10th, he builds a bridge with his capabilities(marks) and goes into higher secondary. He then finishes 12th and again builds a bridge to get into graduation. He then finishes his graduation and tries to build a bridge and invariably fails and either settles with a low profile post graduation or ends up with a struggling/not so satisfied/different domain/different location job. This is largely the cause for unemployment in our country. How do we stop this? there are 2 possible solutions that i reckon in my popular consciousness. One, develop a curriculum that will teach you to bridge the gap. Two, increase the possible ways the gap could be filled. The former way is a damn! hard way to go about, changing the curriculum. The latter solution seems more plausible and interesting. What more jobs can be opened up for the people? which is satisfying, enriching and valuable. Being an Entrepreneur and all the Entrepreneurs i dealt with, feel a sense of responsibility towards the society we live in, and contribute to fill this gap which affects a large part of our population. 

A lot of attention and  importance is given to the corporate and government jobs and we have no knowledge nor inclination to do anything other than that. Partly this is because we have been taught to save our future and gain financial security. We really do not understand the value of a human skill. We have no idea about our own potential. Noble professions like teachers are taken as a part-time or a substitute job(internship) till one finds a traditional job. This paradigm needs to transform. Every profession should be equally regarded, financially teachers are on par with any other profession. Mentality should change. In the early 2000's the start-up culture did not accelerate as it has today. People have slowly witnessed the value of starting a company and living their dream. Likewise more opportunities and avenues should be open to professions like teachers to find its way to be popular in this world of conventions.

Teacher in You

I have been teaching for more than 4 years now. The teachers in today's world go through a lot of training and concentrate more on the content and acquiring knowledge rather than IMPARTING knowledge. There is no training which teaches you how to impart knowledge. Imparting knowledge is not a content based learning but comes through practice and lot of practice. We would notice that the best of the teachers we know are not the best because they know a lot about their subject but they know to shove the little knowledge down our throat well. Most usually this quality is the product of a lot of practice or it is genetic. I know for sure that i have improved a lot since my first lecture and still have a long way to go. 

Along with the above information I also have come across an observation. I really believe there is a Teacher in all of us. We use this part of us to solve a lot of problem and use it with various other roles we play in our life. Teacher is simply a person who imparts the little knowledge he possesses. One need not be a Phd to teach. A 10th std student teaches his brother who is in 8th and he actually does a better job. An uneducated mother teaches her son. An hour before the exam your friend teaches you a concept which the prof. took a month to teach and you write the exam to perfection. Everyday we come across someone who tells something and that gets etched in your system. You walk on the road and you see someone who picks up the garbage and puts it into the dustbin and at that very moment you learn to do the same. And these learning are for life and has a mark on you throughout. These are actual learning. 

In conclusion, to get optimum efficiency the teacher has to spill out the correct words and the student should be in the correct frame of mind to gulp all the words. Usually a student only grasps 30 percent of what the teacher imparts. The numbers go up when the teacher and the student are in complete harmony of their selves. We all come across this zone more often than ever in our day to day lives. As individuals we do have that instincts to teach and be a student and create that harmony. That authentic zone which belongs to us and which would have an effect on many. Please do meet the teacher in you once in your day and help make a difference. 

The wayne dyer way

It was last year when i came across this book called WISDOM of the Ages by Wayne Dyer. It was the time when i was very confused about life in general. I was finishing my education. I did not like my education. I wanted to do something big. I did not know how. I wanted to make a difference to the world. I did not know if i had the potential and the ability to pull it off. Whenever i wished something i always had a doubt whether i could do it. It was annihilating. It was that feeling where you suddenly feel a lot restless and you don't know why. It is also that time when the whole world showers you advises for free and that only increases your depression. Free advises never does anything good.

My mom was reading this book and one night she jumped out and urged me to read a chapter in that book by William Blake. I took it and kept it aside. I did not want to read something and not understand. That was my first impression of the book. That would only add up to my misery i thought. Knowing very well i would have not picked up the book, my mom handed me over the book and sat beside till i finished that chapter. Initially i was disinterested and started skipping lines. Soon as i started reading, i was blown away. I got so engrossed that i almost forgot myself and finished the book in less than a week. That was it, i became an ardent fan and revered him with at most adulation. Every book of his is as if he is talking through the book. I started reading more regularly and intensively about him and his books that i almost got aligned to his theories and philosophies which was so simple and easily neglected by any common man. 

I love his theories on self actualization and being a part of the larger self. We always doubt our capability, be it anything. The biggest road block in our life is our own mind which says we are not enough. But the truth of the fact is we are whole and complete and there is no shortcoming in us. We are humans, the most intelligent specie on the planet. We are an eternal manifestation. We are meant to touch the sky. It is all about time. Who knew we would reach mars 50 years back. Who knew there would be a man who runs 100m in less than 10 secs. Who knew there would be software which eases communication. All these seemed impossible one day and jump cut it is all there today. It just requires a shift in the way one thinks and beliefs. I used to always argue that every one is inherently equipped with all the skills and brains and features and training the only that is missing is attitude. The one who wins does not win on skill but only on attitude. This attitude is the key to almost everything.

If skills are not used on the bed of right attitude then the tools at his disposal turns into weapons. Deluded constructive progress eventually turns into Real destruction. Talent and ability just fall apart in the face of bad attitude and we have innumerable examples to that right from Ravana to Lance Armstrong. Self Actualization has no talent or ability involved in its growth. It is only the attitude that would determine ones inner growth. 

We only lack attitude. There is no point of its accomplishment as well. One can never say he has top notch attitude. It is subjective and open ended. As wayne Dyer himself says ' i am still learning to have the right attitude at everything at every moment and sometimes i go wrong and i learn. Its ok to fail'. Attitude is a very sensitive and a very personal. A person picks up the dirt and puts it in the dustbin saying he is responsible for the cleanliness and that's humility. Another person also sees the dirt and does not pick up only to show that it is the work of the janitor and it is his responsibility and not his. See it is subjective and no black or white distinction there. Attitude alone leads to self Actualization and that is what Wayne Dyer always preached and inspired millions. Change the mind and you change the man. 

Success is lonely

First i would like to believe that "success" is a very subjective term which is used completely in context with any socially recognized accomplishment. I truly believe success is subjective but having said that let me try to make some sense to the topic. I would first want to draw boundaries to the word success. Success is when you are rich, that is when you have a lot more money than you need. I think this governs a large part of success, in fact for the majority this is all success means. I would say success is also when you are famous and well known for a particular thing. Success is also when happiness hits resonance.

I was reading Steve jobs the other day and was just amazed to know how lonely he was, that was the same case with Shah Rukh Khan as well. They slept merely for 3-4 hours and SRK says the more the number of people he is with at a particular time more he is lonely. This is the case with almost all the billionaires in the world. I now know the science behind this loneliness. It is the whole point followed by any accomplishment. The question to be answered is "what would i do after i achieve all the money and fame ?" if you dont find an answer to it, then success is no more relevant in your life. Because you have found a dead end in your life and once you reach there you have nothing to do. I know an Entrepreneur who sold his business for 15 million, Which is a sum he never dreamt of in his life, he has stopped working ever since, he says he has never felt this lonely because even though he has all the money he still has to party during the weekend because that's when his friends are free. He says he could not find any way to use his money and then eventually started another company and got himself busy and slowly his loneliness faded away. 

Sir Ken Robinson says when he had all the money and fame,big house and everything in abundance he said nothing about this ever completed him. He was still in search for some thing more. He beautifully says the less you have the more you connect. Abundance a toxic which will eventually leave you in a dark room which is decorated from the outside with probably gold or even diamonds, yet the inner darkness is does not get a ray of light.

Education 'mis'guided

Since childhood i was fond of many things and everything i was fond of was restricted in school. Obviously !!. I always wondered why, because school gulped a large part of the day and other part of the day was consumed in school related activity like homework and tuition.  We were barely left with few hours to switch off our minds from school and its education. Ostensibly those were the best time of the day. We all knew there was this problem, but no one dared to against the system and be the odd one out, neither did i. It was too big a risk to take practically. The education is a large part of our culture even now and it seems almost mandatory for a person to go through the same boring stuff for 16 years and end up doing something they never liked or something they liked but obviously parallel to their educated mind. 

As Sir Ken Robinson says, You go to anywhere around the world the educational hierarchy is the same with  Maths and languages at the top followed by humanities and then arts and creativity. WHY?. Creativity should be given the same status as literacy or probably even more. Why cant one spend equal amount of time to dance or paint as one spends on maths and science. One research says every human before the age 10 is capable  of learning 12 languages. I truly believe everybody is creative and have a core competency that no other person on earth has. Education should be guiding us towards this competency and creativity but sadly it guides us out of it. Rather we are educated out of it. Education teaches us to get accustomed to this boredom in the name of hard work and perseverance. If i do not find an answer in an exam i look ahead, in education that is called cheating but outside it is called collaboration. Education makes us believe that it is a bad thing to not know the answer and say I DON'T KNOW.  Education demotivates us if we do not know but rather creativity and passion is all about 'i don't know, so let me find it, let me improve'. 

Creativity is about doing something new and innovative which adds value. Our education to make us more creative and innovative in our thoughts but sadly doesn't. I came across this school in Rajasthan which calls itself alternate education where the education is more personalized, interactive, where one can choose any combination of subjects they want and no grading system thus no discrimination of inferior and superior. Sadly it is called alternate education!. This should rather be the regular one i think. Our system misguides every child in every possible way. I heard a story of a child who was asked for his ambition and he drew a 4000 sq ft house and the teacher gave F grade and told him it was not realistic and asked him to re-do the assignment. He came back with the same one and asked the teacher to keep her grades and he keep his dreams and finally he go his house and met his teacher after years. The teacher finally accepted that she has destroyed a lot of dreams and he was the one who endured. Imagine, Like most of us, if the child had redone his assignment with a realistic dream as the teacher wanted. Paul McCartney and his 2 fellow musicians from the Beatles were in the same music school and got an F and saw themselves drop out from school to be the BEATLES. Imagine if Paul said, lets just go and get some normal job and survive. 

What am trying to point out is there is one resistance creativity and innovation, that is Education which eventually molds the matrix of our brain. Our education pushes you out of thinking creatively. It forces you to think in some standard way. That is wrong. Some still prosper but majority don't and that's a very big number and is the important part to be solved. 

Perhaps that was the whole motive of the British, they were actually very jealous of our tradition and the enormous progress in all fields without ANY resources. They desperately wanted to take control of everything that is why perhaps they had to wait for more than 150 years here to demolish everything especially the education as they knew it was the root to all progress. They standardized all parts of education and distorted the whole purpose of education. The worst part is we are still not able to change it or do anything about it. We still learn PT and not yoga. Technology still is selling hot and farmers commit suicide. The system is terrible. Please find your way or some one will impose a way on you. Then you are no more a human but a programmed robot. 

Education- A dream Revolution !

What is the total population of the world? about 7 and a half billion? probably more than that. Can you guess the total number of people who have walked this planet since its inception ? not the monkeys and the apes but evolved beings, humans like you and me. Google says it is about 108 billion. That means 7 percent of all the people who were ever born are living at present. It is soon going to increase up to 10 % by 2020. We are the biggest generation living today. I can still bet you that no 2 people are the same. Not even the identical twins. Humans have this inherent property of DIVERSITY. Studies say we all are different from each other in a minimum of 50 parameters both mental and behavioral. The very nature of humans include diversity and the power of imagination. We all aim to find our own way in life, with education as our guide i doubt if we ever will. Sadly our education system is standardized, i don't say standardizing is wrong, few things like medical test and has to be standardized. But we are not mechanism, we are organism. Human imagination and potential cannot be standardized but be personalized. Like Einstein says " You cannot judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree" 

Our education system, in fact any education system in the world follows the principle of linearity. If one goes through the process with the right spirit and get the right grades, then one is sorted for life. I remember Sir Ken Robinson saying we have built our education model on Fast Food. In the food industry there are fast food where everything is standardized and other food sold in good restaurants where everything is not standardized but are customized according to ones need and taste. We have sold ourselves in to the fast food model and that is suppressing our spirits and potential as the fast food depletes our physical bodies. 

 I hear a lot that the education system is getting reformed but i feel that is not enough. Reformation is mending the broken pieces. We need a REVOLUTION. Erasing the previous system and cultivating a new one. And it is possible. I came across various articles regarding climate control for resources and that is absolutely right. We do need climate control for resources but we also need climate control for human resources which also has the same origin and should be treated with the same urgency. Sir Ken also says the human resource are like natural resource. It is often buried deep under and not lying on the surface. One has to go looking for them with a lot of efforts. They do not appear and no method is common for everyone. Every resource needs a different extraction procedure. We have to create circumstances where they show up themselves. Our education system should be that system which basically creates that climate and the circumstance where an individual is exposed to his core competency and eventually finds his true potential and more over finds the true inner peace. This can only be done with a personalized model of learning. 

Abraham Lincoln on December 1862 at the National congress meet said "The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise WITH the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must dis-enthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country". I like the way he says we must rise WITH the occasion and not TO the occasion. I also like the last statement that we must dis-enthrall ourselves. We are enslaved or rather enthralled to the education system so much that we believe it to be true and carry on not knowing our true selves and educate ourselves to find true purpose and peace. The fundamental element in a revolution is this Dis-enthrallment among the people and hence we can save the country, perhaps the world.   

Obscurity outcasts the obvious !

With Wayne Dyer passing away, i have been glued back to all the books written by him and the videos and the talks that i had collected over a period of time. And i loved the way he said "obscurity outcasts the obvious". He said that over and over again for a reason. This is a line from Tao's philosophy and makes a lot of sense once you put some thought to it. The essence of the line basically directs us to the light which is invisible and cant be seen and does nothing and still leaves nothing undone. This light is the essence of each one of us and nothing else actually exists. Tao says, to which i agree completely is that you are water and water is you.   Think about the first nine months of your life after conception: You lived in, and were nourished by, amniotic fluid, which is truly unconditional love flowing into you . . . flowing as you. You are now 75 percent water (and your brain is 85 percent), and the rest is simply muscled water. Think about the mysterious magical nature of this liquid energy that we take for granted. Try to squeeze it, and it eludes us; relax our hands into it, and we experience it readily. If it stays stationary, it will become stagnant; if it is allowed to flow, it will stay pure. It does not seek the high spots to be above it all, but settles for the lowest places. That is what i essentially talking about! 

The inherent problem with mankind is that every soul of his body screams "notice me" and one leads his life craving for it. When attention feeds it one feels good and craves for more. Everybody, i mean everybody has this inner longing to be looked at. As Helen Keller also rightly says seeking attention is the only nature of man. It is so difficult to not seek attention or not wanting to get noticed. The very thought about it leaves us with a lot of emptiness and sense of void. It is very difficult but that is the nature of obscurity. The sea and the ocean always stays low so that it can take the flow of the rivers, streams and lakes. This again gets evaporated and comes back to them as rain. It maps out nothing and plays not favorites. It doesn’t intend to provide sustenance to the animals and plants. It has no plans to irrigate the fields; to slake our thirst; or to provide the opportunity to swim, sail, ski, and scuba dive. These are some of the benefits that come naturally from water simply doing what it does and being what it is. We actually tend to absorb the inherent wisdom of the universe which finally gives us a sense of peace and fulfillment. The whole process is to not do anything and "just be" and still you will see nothing is undone. 

 Live as water lives, since you are water. Become as contented as is the fluid that animates and supports you. Let your thoughts and behaviors move smoothly in alignment with the nature. It is natural for you to be gentle, and low and oblivious to allow others to be free, and to be as they need to be without interference from you. It is natural to trust in the eternal flow, be true to your inner inclinations, and stick to your word. It is natural to treat everyone as an equal. All of these lessons can be derived by observing how water, which sustains all life, behaves. It simply moves, and the benefits it provides occur from it being what it is, in harmony with the present moment and knowing the truth of precisely how to behave. Be true to only your intuition, they somehow already know what you want to get that sense of fulfillment. At the same time be humble, let the physical being be low while your inner self seek the universe.