On education

Pearl

When I was born, a tiny grain was I

I fell in love with a million colors

I wanted to know them all, be them all
***

To school I went

They said: “The world ain’t your oyster

There are SEVEN colors true

You must choose red, white or blue.”

***

I chose blue, I went to tech school

They said: “The world ain’t your oyster

There are just TWO colors: black & white

The colors choose you, you follow.”

***

Follow I did, off to b-school

They said: “The world ain’t your oyster

There are only shades of grey

You win some, you lose some, don’t ask why”

***

That, my friend, is how I embarked

On this journey to the end of the rainbow

With every passing day, Those voices grow fainter

Colors grow brighter, a billion shimmering dots

***

The world is my oyster

I AM HOME

∏Π≡

Notion #8: Travel in style – Trains

A couple of weeks back, a very good friend of mine from the marketing fraternity and a regular train traveler had blogged a thought provoking post on some measures to improve the sad state of Indian railways.

Her innovative suggestions ranged from opening counseling centers at prime railway stations to reduce suicide rates, introduction of value added services such as board games in AC coaches to common sense customer friendly reforms such as making vague announcements more specific. Read her complete post here.

These, in addition to my own experiences with the railways and casual chats with a very knowledgeable train loving cousin, have finally nudged me to pen down my thoughts.

To revive the ailing Indian Railways, the mantra is Customer Focus – Efficiency – Profitability.

To improve Customer Focus:

• Separate lavatories for men & women: Can allot one end to men and the other end to women in each coach. This way both the Indian style and western style commodes are available to both.
• Printed menu card: Must have prices for items from pantry and railway cafeterias. Also must have a toll free number for customer feedback on quality as well as a channel for registering malpractices on both menu card and food packets/packaging.
• Curb begging menace
• Periodic pest control and cleaning
• Self service luggage pulling trolleys. Luggage friendly slant elevations connecting platforms with over-head bridges.
• Charging points for laptops. Currently points only available for mobile phones on most trains.

To improve Efficiency/Effectiveness:

• Reduce manual scavenging in lavatories & rail tracks in stations: Centralized remote locking override on lavatory doors when train runs below a threshold speed indicating nearing of a halting point with the doors unlocking automatically when train crosses the threshold speed. This would help in inculcating a civic behavior in the apathetic public.
• Introduce green toilets: This is a very good revenue generating suggestion already under consideration by the Indian railways. The biomass thus recycled could be used to power the train lighting systems. A further step would be to leverage the train as a delivery system for biomass to remote places.
• Reduce littering: Heavily fine those caught red handed throwing away waste through train windows, on platforms, etc. Penalize spitting in public spaces. Conduct surprise checks on board trains and on platforms. Make reporting such acts simpler, say via sms or mms. Use public disapproval as a tool to discourage littering. eg: random clips on youtube of people caught in the act of littering mentioning the exact time and place contrasting these with clips of concerned citizens with model behavior with the time and place.
• Re-route travel traffic to underutilized trains: For wait-listed travelers on trains running at full capacity between to points, if there are underutilized trains (either direct or connecting) running between those points, provide option to consider switching to them.

To improve Profitability:

• Curb ticket-less traveling menace
• Make fine payment accountable. Systemic discouragement of bribery.
• Introduce 24X7 security guard posting option at an additional cost on selective coaches of all classes.
• Introduce optional travel insurance and advertise the same
• Lease out space for privately run waiting rooms, public urinals: Outsource these in a build-operate-transfer (BOT) model to ensure profitability & efficiency while not forgoing ownership.
• Per per hour on-board library facility managed by the railway staff with a security deposit of Rs. 100 per book borrowed.

Evolution

Out to change the world

Late night assignments, senseless chats, utopian days

Last minute submissions, secret confessions, surprising declarations

Mass class bunking, epic clique wars, impromptu adventure trips

Parting friends, departing naivety, taking responsibility

Graduation day: The end of an era as we knew it

Time now for milky dependence to

make way for intoxicating independence

***

Out to conquer the world

Late night shifts, team meets, cafes and pizzas one too many

11th hour vacation cancellation, workaholic days, ambitious career plans

Late Sunday brunches, weekend laundry, impromptu shopping sprees

Parting PG buddies, departing individuality, accepting community

Wedding day: The end of yet another era as we know it

Time now for intoxicating independence to

make way for wholesome inter-dependence

***

The end of an era is but the beginning of a new epoch

The wheel of life is its own price, its own prize

ΦØΘ

Bodhi

I read to know

I speak to understand

I listen to learn

I write to discover

***

I experiment to experience

∞∞∞

Notion #3: Education needn’t be boring, it can and should be fun

  Imagine what we can achieve if we could combine the cerebral stimuli of learning and the adrenaline rush of sports!

  It would not only keep kids craving for new knowledge but also rekindle the excitement of learning in adults. We would all remain eager, life-long students. Education would become truly democratized and not be a dictatorship as in the current times.   People would learn because they want to and not because they have to.

  Earning grades or scoring a 1st class with distinction would be incidental than an end in itself. The journey and not the  destination would become the essence of the education experience. As a consequence, malpractices during exams, favoritism in class etc would become irrelevant if not non-existent.

  Most importantly, it would cease to be learning for the sake of learning and start being a practical guide for organized thinking and civilized behavior. This new paradigm in education could, thus, help build a nation of enlightened minds and  chivalrous hearts!

Below are a few of my thoughts on how we can go about making education fun:

• Individual Simulation Games complementing theoretical learning
• Team Simulation Games emphasizing importance of synergy
• Limited Resource Sharing with large number of tiny resource owners
• Visual accompaniments for elementary mathematical and engineering problems
• Student directed/written/enacted plays for language learning at end of every term
• Poetry writing & oration in language learning
• Recreating historical events through students enacting different historical figures
• Contextualizing science and discoveries and the lives of great minds
• Annual mock parliamentary elections/UN  sessions on current socioeconomic issues
• Creation of Student Discretion Fund and call for suggestions the optimal use of the fund with the best three suggestions winning

Notion #1: Education – fundamental right of every human

My ideas to improve literacy rate as well as depth of education.

Inclusive growth is the goal, Public private participation is the means.

• Individual Level Initiatives
• Each one Teach one
• God-parent an orphaned child
• Voluntary vocational training by IT community and other specialized groups
• Special weekly teaching sessions organized by residents of societies for the domestic help and other support staff and their families
• Donation of used books, study materials, uniforms etc to underprivileged student community
• Weekly voluntary coaching by teachers and academically inclined students for poorer students who cant afford private tuition
  

• Corporate Level Initiatives
• CSR by coaching classes: accommodating 1 deserving student for every 3 paid admissions
• Free online/mobile based spoken English, basic maths and science, computer basics self-learning modules
• Corporate sponsored education for underprivileged rural students
• Creative 2-hour educational TV programming weekly. eg: making maths interesting, spoken English fun learning, game shows in the lines of KBC etc
  
• Mandatory party sponsored elementary education for political party workers within 5 years of  induction into party

• Government level initiatives
• Free education for the girl child till std 12
• Mandatory state sponsored college level education for winning candidates on various elections
• Tax relief on corporate spending on elementary education of support staff of corporates
• Free online/mobile based spoken English, basic maths and science, computer basics self-learning modules
•  Subsidized dinners for evening/night school goers
• Awareness creation of existing as well as the newly introduced programs on mass media
• Mandatory weekly 2-hour educational TV programming during prime time in all GEC channels