Sikkim in a need of Research Wing in Each and Every Government Departments

As we all know that Sikkim is among the best performing states in India. Our Government is undertaking the paramount assignment for the all round development of our state. The dedication of each and every department is, in fact, praiseworthy. We have touched all the indicators of Development. Now, what I personally feel is that there should a Research & Analysis (RA) wing in each and every Department. This Research & Analysis (RA) wing should focus on issues of National and International importance related to the concerned department. It should offer help to solve practical problems faced by administrators, bureaucrats, industries & enable the integration of innovative need-based technologies and other holistic interventions. It should offer short & long term academic programs to develop the skilled workforce. It should provide expert consultancy services. This Research wing should generate insights that lead to integrated benefits for multiple stakeholder groups, including industry, policy and decision makers in the government, bi-and-multilateral institutions, and communities. It is my humble request to our concerned authorities to think over this matter and come with a proposal to set up research wing in each and every department for greater benefits of our Sikkimese community.

Fallacy of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) System in India

In the year 2010, Human Resource Development Ministry under Government of India introduced Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) Education System in CBSE affiliated school all over the country for classes 6th to 10th. This CCE becomes one of the important features of Right to Education Act (RTE). CCE is a holistic assessment system aiming to develop skills of students in all areas in order to make children stress-free. The system is designed to assess students from various perspectives, intending eventually to eliminate rote-learning and cramming. According to the Central Board of Secondary Education which introduced the CCE system, this includes all relevant aspects of personality development of a student. It further elaborated, education is meant to bring the best out of a learner. Since this is a continuous process, therefore a continuous evaluation system is adopted to check the effectiveness of learning process. This evaluation system includes both the scholastic and co-scholastic aspect of a learner’s growth. The idea was to reduce the undue stress of competitiveness among students, parents and the educational institutions. According to this system, the marks traditionally allotted to students will be replaced by grades. Each number division is allotted a grade like 90-95 – A1 and all. Nothing is perfect, everything has its pros and cons and the same is with this system. This concept of CCE imported from the West is certainly laudable. But CCE is not new to India. This has been in vogue from time immemorial – say Ramayana, Mahabharata periods – which included all aspects of personality development of a student. Though this system has a lot of benefits however I believe that this system refuses students to transfer to other schools after 10th grade because if we take the case of a school which has a very good reputation and is very good overall, why will they take in a student who is from an unknown place and has been educated in a completely different environment as each student is being educated in a different manner now according to the new system? 10th CBSE board examinations assured that the marks/grades students got were uniformly understandable across the country. The new grading system overlooks the real potential of a student. For example – a student has got 60 marks while another student has got 69 marks, they both will be falling in the same category of grade which is a very big conflict of hard work and luck. It has created an equal level between those who work hard for academics and those who don't. This system also includes the clause of ‘No Fail’ policy under which no student falling in the range of classes will be failed by any educational organization affiliated to CBSE. Now, the thing to notice is that if a student is not prepared enough then also he’ll have to go to next class and study, which will deteriorate his overall performance because his basics of the previous class will still not be clear. The students have a casual approach towards exam as the options of re-evaluation are readily available for them. The sense of competition has vanished. The impact of CCE system is clearly seen in our colleges. Hardly students read and write the proper answers. The critical and analytical thinking has almost vanished. One of the significant aims of education should be to produce learners who are well informed, that is to say, learners should understand ideas that are important, useful, beautiful and powerful. Another is to create learners who have the appetite, the appetite to think analytically and critically, to use what they know to enhance their own lives and also to contribute to their society, culture, and civilization. The sense of creativity and responsibility is vanishing from our system. Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) Education System in India is good in concept but lacks practicability. A student must undergo a series of forced upon procedure most of which lacks clear instructions and then are judged in accordance to the yardstick prepared by the system. This method lacks uniformity. It might act as an aid to slow learners but the curious hardworking efficient learners are the sufferers. The role of the teacher is crucial but it has just ended up becoming a formality. Without a commitment from teachers, without proper teacher training and evaluation, with no stipulation of a code of conduct for students and teachers, this scheme may be a damp squib. (The writer is Assistant Professor at Department of Sociology, Sikkim Government College, Gyalshing, West Sikkim and can be contacted at bhattaraibinod3@gmail.com)

Sikkim in a need of Entrance Centre of each Premier Institutes/Universities of India

I want to bring the kind attention of the concerned citizens of Sikkim towards the fact that our state Sikkim lag behind to show its representation in almost all the Central Universities or the Institute of National Importance in India. Hardly have we found any Sikkimese students in these reputed institutes. The main reason for the same which I analyzed from my own experience is that we do not have entrance centers of these reputed institutes. For the higher education, none of the central universities or the institutions of national importance apart from Jawaharlal Nehru University and Sikkim University has its entrance centre in Sikkim. For the entrance, students have to go either Guwahati or Kolkata. It is very much difficult for a student especially of lower or middle class those who do not have enough money and where there is no surety of cent percent successful result to go 600 Km and write entrance examination of one university. And moreover, we don’t have that resources or channel to proceed for the same. It is my humble request to the concerned authorities of Sikkim those who are dealing with the matter of higher education to write or request a written memorandum to all most all the important Central Universities or the institutions of national importance to provide at least one entrance centre in Sikkim or at Siliguri for the benefits of our Sikkimese students as well as the other adjacent states of India.

Jiban: Kanda Ki Phool? An inspiring story of Jhamak Ghimire

Whenever someone comes to me with the words like ‘I am worthless and I cannot do anything in my life’, I calmly open my Laptop and show a documentary of Jhamak Kumari Ghimire to them. For people like us Jhamak is an absolute slap to the so called ‘abled society’ who preaches the glory of goddesses (says one thing) but in reality subordinate women (does another thing). Born with several physical disabilities and cerebral palsy, she writes with her left foot. She can hear but cannot speak and has never obtained any formal education. Despite these challenges, she has written several collections of poems, songs, stories and was awarded with the most prestigious literary award in Nepal, the Madan Puraskar for her autobiographical essay, ‘Jiban Kanda Ki Phool’ (Is life a thorn or a flower?). Acknowledged nationally and internationally not just because she writes with her feet but because of her effective and efficient writing, she provides the insight that you can change your biggest weakness into your strength and achieve your dreams. For me, she is a paradigm of ‘impossible is nothing’. She makes me believe - Yes I can and will live my dreams! In our society the discourse of disability is built on the social and cultural environments. They shape our understanding and perception of what it means to be disabled and how it is different from the concept of able body. The idea of disability is gendered, and it clashes with cultural ideas about gender in specific ways. Particularly, in the case of women, as they are already considered ‘the second sex’ or ‘the other’, female disability is even more prevalent and transparent. This ideology of disability regarding ability preserves and authenticates what it means to be normal and this definition limits women to certain ‘normal’ standards. No matter the type of person, there are lessons to be learned from them. People with disabilities are especially influential, as our hardships in life aren’t easily forgotten. We go through every day with determination and strength, which many people are bowled over by, with many secretly wondering if they could do the same thing. People with disabilities learn so much throughout their lives; life lessons that able-bodied people rarely get to experience. Having a disability is definitely difficult, but it’s also one of the richest classrooms a human can experience, too. While these learning experiences are more profound experienced directly, there are some special tokens of wisdom we can pass along. This is the story of Jhamak Ghimire, a girl who was born disabled three decades ago. She could not move her limbs, both hands and feet, she could not speak either. It was in a poor family of eastern Nepal that lived in a village full of superstition, which did not consider girl child and women as human beings. Jhamak’s story of suffering and struggle for freeing herself from the status of an animal is very vividly recorded in her autobiography ‘Jiban: Kanda Ki Phool’ (Is life a thorn or a flower?). In her book she depicts of how a child suffering from cerebral palsy by birth managed to fight to free herself from a state of sheer ignorance and hatred and could attract the attention of the world through literature, how she learned to read and write and what message she has given to parents, educators, society, medical practitioners of world. Jhamak’s autobiography reveals the story of her struggle so poignantly and so boldly that one is shocked to read. Jiwan Kada ki Phool describes her life and her struggle since her childhood. It starts with her early memories of childhood. The care and support she received from her grandmother contrary to the bitter way the society treated her. The feelings of an innocent child growing up amidst the hatred of the society, her feelings and emotions she could never utter a word of. Her anger towards the discrimination she faced from the society for being born physically disabled. Her silent reactions to all those bitter things the society said to her and her struggle for existence and acknowledgement after the death of her grandmother is expressed beautifully in the book. The words and sentences used are quite similar to the day-to-day language used in the villages of Nepal. Jhamak Ghimire is considered Nepali equivalent of Hellen Keller as both of them suffered from the same disease cerebral palsy. But Ghimire, unlike Keller, belonged to a poor family in a poor country where the parents wished their physically disabled children were rather dead than suffering. She did not receive encouragement or support from her family for learning to read and write. However, she proved herself as one of the most aspiring and promising Nepali authors. Although her life had always been full of struggle and hardship, it never deterred her from her desire to learn. Her determination and strong will-power resulted in giving birth to an aspiring author and one of the most inspirational books of all times. Jiwan Kada ki Phool is a must read book. It is an inspiring book which teaches us that if we are determined to go after something and truly work hard for it, nothing is impossible. The book is a master piece by the author and is the most popular book of Nepal on disabilities studies. It has been printed seven times within two years making it the Nepali best seller of all times. It has also received many awards. The book is inspirational and encouraging and has something for everyone to learn from. Thus, the book is an eye opener and a must read for all women and humankind.