Friday, February 24, 2012
"Nuclear technology has several distinct advantages it is compact and highly manageable in terms of handling, transportation and storage of the fuel,"
Energy Resources
India to push ahead with nuclear power
Published: Feb. 23, 2012 at 11:14 AM
NEW DELHI, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- India needs nuclear energy to sustain its economic growth, a government official said.
Speaking in New Delhi Wednesday at the International Nuclear Symposium, Indian Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Srikumar Banerjee said, "Without nuclear energy, the economic growth of the country would be slowed down."
While acknowledging concerns regarding the safety of nuclear power in the wake of Japan's magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami last March 11 that led to a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, Banerjee said India can't renounce nuclear power.
"There is no point in avoiding the questions that have come up in people's minds -- we need to address them head-on," Banerjee said. "It is important for the public to understand India cannot renounce nuclear power," he said.
"There is a fear that accidents will have extensive consequences on human population and the environment. It is important to drive home the point that technology will not allow that to happen."
Banerjee has insisted that India's existing nuclear power facilities are safe.
Speaking Monday in advance of the symposium, he said: "All atomic energy plants in the country are totally secured as per the international standards and are also capable of dealing with natural calamities like (a) tsunami or earthquake."
Meanwhile, anti-nuclear protesters this week announced a 72-hour hunger strike against the commissioning of two reactors at the Kudankulam nuclear power project site in Tamil Nadu.
India's energy consumption -- fueled mostly by coal -- continues to grow about 6 percent annually, yet nearly 40 percent of households have no access to electricity.
Banerjee cited a study by the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay that says India's renewable energy sources would yield less than half the anticipated electricity demand by 2070, when sources of fossil fuels become scarce.
Also speaking Wednesday at the symposium, organized by the World Nuclear Association, Indian Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said India aims to have 63,000 megawatts of installed nuclear capacity by 2032.
India has 20 nuclear power plants in operation with an installed capacity of 4,780 megawatts, and another seven reactors under construction.
The increase in nuclear power generation, Shinde said, would come from both domestic technology and imported reactors."Nuclear te
"Nuclear technology has several distinct advantages it is compact and highly manageable in terms of handling, transportation and storage of the fuel," he said, adding that it is greener than all other power generation technologies.
India to push ahead with nuclear power
Published: Feb. 23, 2012 at 11:14 AM
NEW DELHI, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- India needs nuclear energy to sustain its economic growth, a government official said.
Speaking in New Delhi Wednesday at the International Nuclear Symposium, Indian Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Srikumar Banerjee said, "Without nuclear energy, the economic growth of the country would be slowed down."
While acknowledging concerns regarding the safety of nuclear power in the wake of Japan's magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami last March 11 that led to a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, Banerjee said India can't renounce nuclear power.
"There is no point in avoiding the questions that have come up in people's minds -- we need to address them head-on," Banerjee said. "It is important for the public to understand India cannot renounce nuclear power," he said.
"There is a fear that accidents will have extensive consequences on human population and the environment. It is important to drive home the point that technology will not allow that to happen."
Banerjee has insisted that India's existing nuclear power facilities are safe.
Speaking Monday in advance of the symposium, he said: "All atomic energy plants in the country are totally secured as per the international standards and are also capable of dealing with natural calamities like (a) tsunami or earthquake."
Meanwhile, anti-nuclear protesters this week announced a 72-hour hunger strike against the commissioning of two reactors at the Kudankulam nuclear power project site in Tamil Nadu.
India's energy consumption -- fueled mostly by coal -- continues to grow about 6 percent annually, yet nearly 40 percent of households have no access to electricity.
Banerjee cited a study by the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay that says India's renewable energy sources would yield less than half the anticipated electricity demand by 2070, when sources of fossil fuels become scarce.
Also speaking Wednesday at the symposium, organized by the World Nuclear Association, Indian Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said India aims to have 63,000 megawatts of installed nuclear capacity by 2032.
India has 20 nuclear power plants in operation with an installed capacity of 4,780 megawatts, and another seven reactors under construction.
The increase in nuclear power generation, Shinde said, would come from both domestic technology and imported reactors."Nuclear te
"Nuclear technology has several distinct advantages it is compact and highly manageable in terms of handling, transportation and storage of the fuel," he said, adding that it is greener than all other power generation technologies.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
The civil disorder/With the CBI investiations into various scams gaining momentum in Andhra Pradesh,a number of businessmen,politicians n civil servan
The civil disorder
February 20, 2012
By Anjaneya Reddy
With the CBI investiations into various scams gaining momentum in Andhra Pradesh, a number of businessmen, politicians and civil servants, more of the last category, are being questioned.
So far, apart from some high-profile businessmen, four officers of the rank of principal secretary have been indicted and two of them are under arrest. It would appear that in the present set of cases i.e. cases involving illegal mining, squandering thousands of acres of semi-urban land to private enterprise etc at least 16 other bureaucrats are likely to be questioned and some more indicted for facilitating these brazenly motivated deals.
While the businessmen and politicians seem to have taken it all in their stride, civil servants are a worried lot and are visibly rattled. A large delegation of IAS officers met Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy recently to protest against the alleged harassment. While they do not deny wrong-doing by their troubled colleagues, the grievance seems to be that the CBI is singling them out for harsh treatment while dealing with the ministers rather gently. While it is too early to say if the CBI will go soft on the ministers, civil servants would do well to contemplate why things have come to such a pass. What is happening in Hyderabad is symptomatic of what is happening elsewhere in the country.
In the 2G spectrum scam or the land scam of Hyderabad, what is it that compelled officers who belong to the constitutionally secured all-India services to do what they did? Could the politicians have given away the public largesse worth billions of rupees without the connivance of the civil servants?
Emergency of the ’70s was a watershed in the evolution of the civil services. Before Emergency, the politician would leave the civil servant alone and not make him/her a party to their actions. It was during the Emergency that the politician in power learnt to throw his weight around and reduced the administrator to an executive at his disposal.
Post-Emergency, one would have expected the civil services leadership to sit up, take notice and make a concerted effort to remedy the situation and define the space of the administrator vis-à-vis the politician in the overall scheme of governance. It has not happened. Not much has been done since to impress on the new entrants to the civil services that they are the custodians of public interest in an administration presided over by the politician of the day, with his eye on immediate gains, political or personal.
While retired civilians spend their time writing memoirs in the dated colonial style, appropriating credit for real or imaginary achievements and taking a potshot or two at politicians, those still serving in the top echelons are busy doing things that please their political bosses in the hope of securing post-retirement sinecures.
The all-India services are not self-governing institutions. At the middle and senior levels, officers depend on the political executive for posting, transfer, promotion, etc.
Unlike in the pre-Emergency days, their own senior officers have very little say in these matters now. Of late, it has become common practice that those who are found unsuitable for senior positions in the Central government come back to home cadres and secure promotions to comparable ranks with the help of those in power.
Most All-India Services (AIS) officers manage to reach the top of the ladder. Hardly anyone is sent packing midway for incompetence or even lack of integrity. Of late, some feeble efforts are being made at mid-career appraisal of civil servants. Experience shows one need not be very optimistic about the outcome.
We still do not have rational procedures to match the talent available to the jobs on hand. Postings abroad or to the more-important offices at home or selections to post-retirement situations largely depend on the patronage of the politician. It is, therefore, natural that an AIS officer realises by the end of the first decade of service that s/he cannot prosper in service without the “blessings” of the political executive. The nexus that starts about this time continues till superannuation and beyond.
How do we stem the rot before it is too late? We have to remedy the present situation where the civil services are dominated by the political executive. But that does not mean the services, being part of the executive of the state, can be totally independent of political control. A “middle path”, which ensures both functional independence of the services and accountability to the political executive, has to be evolved.
A plausible solution, perhaps, would be to create a three-member autonomous Civil Services Commission both at the Centre and in the states with representatives from the three all-India Services — IAS, IPS and IFS — to supervise and monitor the performance of officers.
The commissioners will have tenures of five years or retire at 65 years of age, whichever is earlier. They would be selected for the job by both the ruling and the Opposition party representatives, as is done in the selection of the Chief Vigilance Commissioner, but with a significant difference: the selection would be by consensus and not majority vote.
The commission would be the receiving authority of the annual performance reports of civil servants and replace the present system of the politicians assessing them. It would also take over the functions of empanelling and identifying officers for senior situations.
In respect of the later function, it would prepare panels of not more than three people for each situation, keeping in mind their suitability, and the political executive would be obliged to pick one of them. The commission would also take note of serious complaints against civil servants, initiate inquiries and recommend disciplinary action. They would advise the government on transfers pending inquiries and punishments; this advice would be binding on the political executive.
In short the cadre management of the civil services would vest in the commission and not the government. The new system shall be secured by a statute and not an executive order of the state or Central government.
The present system of managing all-India services in Independent India is 65 years old. It is time to retire it!
The writer is a former IPS officer
February 20, 2012
By Anjaneya Reddy
With the CBI investiations into various scams gaining momentum in Andhra Pradesh, a number of businessmen, politicians and civil servants, more of the last category, are being questioned.
So far, apart from some high-profile businessmen, four officers of the rank of principal secretary have been indicted and two of them are under arrest. It would appear that in the present set of cases i.e. cases involving illegal mining, squandering thousands of acres of semi-urban land to private enterprise etc at least 16 other bureaucrats are likely to be questioned and some more indicted for facilitating these brazenly motivated deals.
While the businessmen and politicians seem to have taken it all in their stride, civil servants are a worried lot and are visibly rattled. A large delegation of IAS officers met Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy recently to protest against the alleged harassment. While they do not deny wrong-doing by their troubled colleagues, the grievance seems to be that the CBI is singling them out for harsh treatment while dealing with the ministers rather gently. While it is too early to say if the CBI will go soft on the ministers, civil servants would do well to contemplate why things have come to such a pass. What is happening in Hyderabad is symptomatic of what is happening elsewhere in the country.
In the 2G spectrum scam or the land scam of Hyderabad, what is it that compelled officers who belong to the constitutionally secured all-India services to do what they did? Could the politicians have given away the public largesse worth billions of rupees without the connivance of the civil servants?
Emergency of the ’70s was a watershed in the evolution of the civil services. Before Emergency, the politician would leave the civil servant alone and not make him/her a party to their actions. It was during the Emergency that the politician in power learnt to throw his weight around and reduced the administrator to an executive at his disposal.
Post-Emergency, one would have expected the civil services leadership to sit up, take notice and make a concerted effort to remedy the situation and define the space of the administrator vis-à-vis the politician in the overall scheme of governance. It has not happened. Not much has been done since to impress on the new entrants to the civil services that they are the custodians of public interest in an administration presided over by the politician of the day, with his eye on immediate gains, political or personal.
While retired civilians spend their time writing memoirs in the dated colonial style, appropriating credit for real or imaginary achievements and taking a potshot or two at politicians, those still serving in the top echelons are busy doing things that please their political bosses in the hope of securing post-retirement sinecures.
The all-India services are not self-governing institutions. At the middle and senior levels, officers depend on the political executive for posting, transfer, promotion, etc.
Unlike in the pre-Emergency days, their own senior officers have very little say in these matters now. Of late, it has become common practice that those who are found unsuitable for senior positions in the Central government come back to home cadres and secure promotions to comparable ranks with the help of those in power.
Most All-India Services (AIS) officers manage to reach the top of the ladder. Hardly anyone is sent packing midway for incompetence or even lack of integrity. Of late, some feeble efforts are being made at mid-career appraisal of civil servants. Experience shows one need not be very optimistic about the outcome.
We still do not have rational procedures to match the talent available to the jobs on hand. Postings abroad or to the more-important offices at home or selections to post-retirement situations largely depend on the patronage of the politician. It is, therefore, natural that an AIS officer realises by the end of the first decade of service that s/he cannot prosper in service without the “blessings” of the political executive. The nexus that starts about this time continues till superannuation and beyond.
How do we stem the rot before it is too late? We have to remedy the present situation where the civil services are dominated by the political executive. But that does not mean the services, being part of the executive of the state, can be totally independent of political control. A “middle path”, which ensures both functional independence of the services and accountability to the political executive, has to be evolved.
A plausible solution, perhaps, would be to create a three-member autonomous Civil Services Commission both at the Centre and in the states with representatives from the three all-India Services — IAS, IPS and IFS — to supervise and monitor the performance of officers.
The commissioners will have tenures of five years or retire at 65 years of age, whichever is earlier. They would be selected for the job by both the ruling and the Opposition party representatives, as is done in the selection of the Chief Vigilance Commissioner, but with a significant difference: the selection would be by consensus and not majority vote.
The commission would be the receiving authority of the annual performance reports of civil servants and replace the present system of the politicians assessing them. It would also take over the functions of empanelling and identifying officers for senior situations.
In respect of the later function, it would prepare panels of not more than three people for each situation, keeping in mind their suitability, and the political executive would be obliged to pick one of them. The commission would also take note of serious complaints against civil servants, initiate inquiries and recommend disciplinary action. They would advise the government on transfers pending inquiries and punishments; this advice would be binding on the political executive.
In short the cadre management of the civil services would vest in the commission and not the government. The new system shall be secured by a statute and not an executive order of the state or Central government.
The present system of managing all-India services in Independent India is 65 years old. It is time to retire it!
The writer is a former IPS officer
Monday, February 20, 2012
Heralding a health revolution: female Community Health Workers in rural Rajasthan
Heralding a health revolution: female Community Health Workers in rural Rajasthan
Author: State ASHA Resource Centre and State health system resource centre
Country: India
The ‘communitization’ of health services may require the recruitment of community workers at multiple levels and in various capacities. As multiple ministries/ departments may be involved in the delivery of health services at the community level, care must be taken to ensure that there is no duplication of efforts. The case of appointing health worker assistants/ sahyoginis in Rajasthan provides an interesting example of doing this, as these workers are appointed to support community outreach for the activities of the Ministries of Health, and Women and Child Development.
ASHA in NRHM
(c) NRHM, Rajasthan, Jaipur
ASHA in NRHM
Challenges
Rajasthan is India’s second largest state and has a poor record for several health and human development indicators. Morbidity due to communicable diseases is high; the infant mortality rate in the state is 63, against the average of 53 at the national level; the maternal mortality rate is 388 against the national average of 254, and the birth rate is 27.5/1000, compared to the national average of 22.8/1000. This underscores the need to involve the community more effectively in this state to expedite health improvements.
Policy description
The National Rural Health Mission of the Government of India has specifically sought to increase the level of “communitization”, as a necessary complement to the country’s health systems edifice. A critical aspect of this was the appointment of community-based female health workers known as Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs). ASHAs typically have secondary schooling-level education, are between 25 and 45 years of age, and belong to the local communities. They provide a wider range of services including information, counseling, community mobilization and escorting women to health centres for pre-natal and ante-natal services. In addition to this, the Ministry of Women and Child Development run “Aanganwadi” centres, where care services are provided for young children. In Rajasthan, the state government recruited additional women health workers, known as “Sahyoginis” to assist the Ministry of Health’s ASHA workers, as well as the Aanganwadi workers.
Sahyoginis were oriented to the role of ASHA to avoid duplicating the field work done by the Ministry of Health. Eventually, in Rajasthan, these volunteers were designated as ASHA-Sahyogini workers. They work on providing information, as well as assisting the delivery of a number of health-related services including for pregnancy and childbirth, infertility, adolescent health, immunization, nutrition, hygiene and sanitation.
Training of ASHA Sahyoginis is a critical component for their effective functioning, and is a continuous process. An initial training of about 23 days is provided over 4 rounds. 7 modules of training have been developed for this purpose. These include:
Overview of health and medical care
Maternal and Child Health
Family Planning, RTI/STIs, HIV/AIDS and Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health
National Health Program, AYUSH (traditional medicine) and management of minor ailments
Personal development
Skills that save life in Maternal and Newborn Health
Skills that save life in Child Health and Nutrition
To provide further support to the health workers, the Government of Rajasthan has set up a State ASHA Resource Center and State ASHA Mentoring Group. The former provides technical support and inputs, while the latter acts as a think-tank for the programme.
Outcomes
43,789 ASHAs have been appointed in the last three years. Out these 40,361 have been oriented using the first two training modules; 33,811 have been oriented on the third module; and 32,652 on the fourth module. While training is yet to be conducted for most ASHAs for the other modules, the existing ASHAs, along with sahyoginis, are playing a critical role in providing essential information and services across rural Rajasthan. They serve as a bridge between people and health facilities to ensure that the goals of National Rural Health Mission are met.
Conclusions
The ‘communitization’ of health services may require the recruitment of community workers at multiple levels and in various capacities. As multiple ministries/ departments may be involved in the delivery of health services at the community level, care must be taken to ensure that there is no duplication of efforts. The case of appointing health worker assistants/ sahyoginis in Rajasthan provides an interesting example of doing this, as these workers are appointed to support community outreach for the activities of the Ministries of Health, and Women and Child Development.
Author: State ASHA Resource Centre and State health system resource centre
Country: India
The ‘communitization’ of health services may require the recruitment of community workers at multiple levels and in various capacities. As multiple ministries/ departments may be involved in the delivery of health services at the community level, care must be taken to ensure that there is no duplication of efforts. The case of appointing health worker assistants/ sahyoginis in Rajasthan provides an interesting example of doing this, as these workers are appointed to support community outreach for the activities of the Ministries of Health, and Women and Child Development.
ASHA in NRHM
(c) NRHM, Rajasthan, Jaipur
ASHA in NRHM
Challenges
Rajasthan is India’s second largest state and has a poor record for several health and human development indicators. Morbidity due to communicable diseases is high; the infant mortality rate in the state is 63, against the average of 53 at the national level; the maternal mortality rate is 388 against the national average of 254, and the birth rate is 27.5/1000, compared to the national average of 22.8/1000. This underscores the need to involve the community more effectively in this state to expedite health improvements.
Policy description
The National Rural Health Mission of the Government of India has specifically sought to increase the level of “communitization”, as a necessary complement to the country’s health systems edifice. A critical aspect of this was the appointment of community-based female health workers known as Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs). ASHAs typically have secondary schooling-level education, are between 25 and 45 years of age, and belong to the local communities. They provide a wider range of services including information, counseling, community mobilization and escorting women to health centres for pre-natal and ante-natal services. In addition to this, the Ministry of Women and Child Development run “Aanganwadi” centres, where care services are provided for young children. In Rajasthan, the state government recruited additional women health workers, known as “Sahyoginis” to assist the Ministry of Health’s ASHA workers, as well as the Aanganwadi workers.
Sahyoginis were oriented to the role of ASHA to avoid duplicating the field work done by the Ministry of Health. Eventually, in Rajasthan, these volunteers were designated as ASHA-Sahyogini workers. They work on providing information, as well as assisting the delivery of a number of health-related services including for pregnancy and childbirth, infertility, adolescent health, immunization, nutrition, hygiene and sanitation.
Training of ASHA Sahyoginis is a critical component for their effective functioning, and is a continuous process. An initial training of about 23 days is provided over 4 rounds. 7 modules of training have been developed for this purpose. These include:
Overview of health and medical care
Maternal and Child Health
Family Planning, RTI/STIs, HIV/AIDS and Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health
National Health Program, AYUSH (traditional medicine) and management of minor ailments
Personal development
Skills that save life in Maternal and Newborn Health
Skills that save life in Child Health and Nutrition
To provide further support to the health workers, the Government of Rajasthan has set up a State ASHA Resource Center and State ASHA Mentoring Group. The former provides technical support and inputs, while the latter acts as a think-tank for the programme.
Outcomes
43,789 ASHAs have been appointed in the last three years. Out these 40,361 have been oriented using the first two training modules; 33,811 have been oriented on the third module; and 32,652 on the fourth module. While training is yet to be conducted for most ASHAs for the other modules, the existing ASHAs, along with sahyoginis, are playing a critical role in providing essential information and services across rural Rajasthan. They serve as a bridge between people and health facilities to ensure that the goals of National Rural Health Mission are met.
Conclusions
The ‘communitization’ of health services may require the recruitment of community workers at multiple levels and in various capacities. As multiple ministries/ departments may be involved in the delivery of health services at the community level, care must be taken to ensure that there is no duplication of efforts. The case of appointing health worker assistants/ sahyoginis in Rajasthan provides an interesting example of doing this, as these workers are appointed to support community outreach for the activities of the Ministries of Health, and Women and Child Development.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Losing sleep over subsidy leakage, not subsidy itself: FM
Losing sleep over subsidy leakage, not subsidy itself: FM
Published on Sun, Feb 19, 2012 at 22:09 | Source : PTI
Updated at Sun, Feb 19, 2012 at 22:49
Losing sleep over subsidy leakage, not subsidy itself: FM
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said it is the subsidy leakage that makes him lose his "sleep", and not the quantum of subsidy itself.
"I lose my sleep not when I look at the volume of quantum of subsidy, but because it is not reaching to the poor and needy and targetted group," Mukherjee said, while talking about subsidy leakages.
Speaking at an event organised by Oriental Bank of Commerce today, Mukherjee said that various financial inclusion programmes for extending banking facility to rural population and the Aadhaar project (of providing an unique ID to all citizens) would help in tackling the problem of leakage in the government subsidy for the poor section.
"Banks can play a major role through inclusive programmes like Swabhimaan, and by extending banking facility to a large number of rural population," he said.
"If these subsidies are provided through the banking network, institutional financial networks, the leakage will be reduced substantially," he added.
Earlier this month, Mukherjee had said he was "losing sleep" over mounting subsidy bill, but clarified a few days later that his remarks were made in a lighter vein and Indian economy has the "resilience" to meet any challenge.
"As Finance Minister when I think of the enormity of the subsidies to be provided, I lose my sleep. There is no doubt," he had said at a conference in New Delhi on February 8.
The government had earlier said that its subsidy bill is likely to increase by over Rs 1 lakh crore, over and above the original estimate of Rs 1.34 lakh crore, mainly on account of higher outlay towards fertiliser, food and oil.
Published on Sun, Feb 19, 2012 at 22:09 | Source : PTI
Updated at Sun, Feb 19, 2012 at 22:49
Losing sleep over subsidy leakage, not subsidy itself: FM
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said it is the subsidy leakage that makes him lose his "sleep", and not the quantum of subsidy itself.
"I lose my sleep not when I look at the volume of quantum of subsidy, but because it is not reaching to the poor and needy and targetted group," Mukherjee said, while talking about subsidy leakages.
Speaking at an event organised by Oriental Bank of Commerce today, Mukherjee said that various financial inclusion programmes for extending banking facility to rural population and the Aadhaar project (of providing an unique ID to all citizens) would help in tackling the problem of leakage in the government subsidy for the poor section.
"Banks can play a major role through inclusive programmes like Swabhimaan, and by extending banking facility to a large number of rural population," he said.
"If these subsidies are provided through the banking network, institutional financial networks, the leakage will be reduced substantially," he added.
Earlier this month, Mukherjee had said he was "losing sleep" over mounting subsidy bill, but clarified a few days later that his remarks were made in a lighter vein and Indian economy has the "resilience" to meet any challenge.
"As Finance Minister when I think of the enormity of the subsidies to be provided, I lose my sleep. There is no doubt," he had said at a conference in New Delhi on February 8.
The government had earlier said that its subsidy bill is likely to increase by over Rs 1 lakh crore, over and above the original estimate of Rs 1.34 lakh crore, mainly on account of higher outlay towards fertiliser, food and oil.
My guess is that large segments of the public have already written her off as a bit of a flake. Dat doesn't bode well for d future of d B.C. Liberals
My guess is that large segments of the public have already written her off as a bit of a flake. That doesn't bode well for the future of the B.C. Liberals.
Now, Clark's biggest challenge is convincing voters that she has sufficient intellectual firepower and gravitas to be premier of the province.
Now, Clark's biggest challenge is convincing voters that she has sufficient intellectual firepower and gravitas to be premier of the province. My guess is that large segments of the public have already written her off as a bit of a flake. That doesn't bode well for the future of the B.C. Liberals.
At other times, Clark has hid behind spin doctors.N she appears to b imploding politically as her office has became a revolving door of advisers/fixer
At other times, Clark has hid behind spin doctors. And she appears to be imploding politically as her office has became a revolving door of advisers and fixers.
Now, Clark's biggest challenge is convincing voters that she has sufficient intellectual firepower and gravitas to be premier of the province. My guess is that large segments of the public have already written her off as a bit of a flake. That doesn't bode well for the future of the B.C. Liberals.
Now, Clark's biggest challenge is convincing voters that she has sufficient intellectual firepower and gravitas to be premier of the province. My guess is that large segments of the public have already written her off as a bit of a flake. That doesn't bode well for the future of the B.C. Liberals.
Does Christy Clark lack the intellectual gravitas to be premier?February 16, 2012
Does Christy Clark lack the intellectual gravitas to be premier?
Sometimes, a picture is all you need to tell a story.
By Charlie Smith, February 16, 2012
This week, the Vancouver Sun carried an article by retired senior bureaucrat Bob Plecas under the headline: "A winning game plan for Clark".
The piece urged B.C. Liberal premier Christy Clark to take a right-wing turn if she wants to stay in power. The accompanying photograph showed her sitting beside Prime Minister Stephen Harper at her son's hockey game, with the two of them sharing a somewhat creepy, adoring look at each other.
I would suggest that images like this are one of the reasons why Clark is in such serious trouble with voters.
After winning the B.C. Liberal leadership a year ago, Clark had an opportunity to succeed. All she had to do was to model herself on some of the most successful female politicians in the world.
The one thing they all share is a certain level of gravitas.
That's especially important for female government leaders, who risk being dismissed more easily than their male colleagues because of sexism.
Hillary Clinton's serious demeanour and obvious intellect almost won her the U.S. presidency. Israel's Golda Meir was elected prime minister because she was tough, smart, and serious.
Britain's Margaret Thatcher caused untold havoc during her time as prime minister, but nobody questioned her spine and serious intention to change her country. India's Indira Gandhi was no dummy, and she was similarly feared and respected.
Female politicians are at an inherent disadvantage once they become party leaders. It's a sad fact of life that they aren't given the benefit of the doubt nearly as often as male politicians, so they have to work even harder to demonstrate that they're serious and smart enough to be trusted with the reins of power.
That may explain why the most successful female government leaders sometimes come across as more austere and dignified than their male counterparts.
Just look at Liberian president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who recently won the Nobel Peace Prize for advancing women's equality and promoting nonviolence.
Australian prime minister Julia Gillard is a lawyer, policy wonk, and even a bit of a punctuation freak. You would never hear her dropping the "g" like Clark does to prove she's one of the regular folks.
Alberta's new premier Alison Redford is a good example of this type of female government leader in Canada. She's riding high in the polls in her province, because she's seen as serious about the job, and not prone to indulging in gimmicks to get voters' attention.
Clark, on the other hand, thought that she could succeed with gimmicks, starting with her campaign slogan, which purported to put families first on her agenda.
Since then, Clark eagerly donned jerseys of the local sports teams (no dignity there—can you imagine Thatcher, Johnson-Sirleaf, or Gandhi doing that?), called for televised trials of Stanley Cup rioters, offered up a goofy constitutional proposal, performed the equivalent of a throne speech on CKNW Radio, and milked her kid's hockey game for public-relations purposes with the prime minister in tow.
At other times, Clark has hid behind spin doctors. And she appears to be imploding politically as her office has became a revolving door of advisers and fixers.
Now, Clark's biggest challenge is convincing voters that she has sufficient intellectual firepower and gravitas to be premier of the province. My guess is that large segments of the public have already written her off as a bit of a flake. That doesn't bode well for the future of the B.C. Liberals.
Follow Charlie Smith on Twitter at twitter.com/csmithstraight.
Sometimes, a picture is all you need to tell a story.
By Charlie Smith, February 16, 2012
This week, the Vancouver Sun carried an article by retired senior bureaucrat Bob Plecas under the headline: "A winning game plan for Clark".
The piece urged B.C. Liberal premier Christy Clark to take a right-wing turn if she wants to stay in power. The accompanying photograph showed her sitting beside Prime Minister Stephen Harper at her son's hockey game, with the two of them sharing a somewhat creepy, adoring look at each other.
I would suggest that images like this are one of the reasons why Clark is in such serious trouble with voters.
After winning the B.C. Liberal leadership a year ago, Clark had an opportunity to succeed. All she had to do was to model herself on some of the most successful female politicians in the world.
The one thing they all share is a certain level of gravitas.
That's especially important for female government leaders, who risk being dismissed more easily than their male colleagues because of sexism.
Hillary Clinton's serious demeanour and obvious intellect almost won her the U.S. presidency. Israel's Golda Meir was elected prime minister because she was tough, smart, and serious.
Britain's Margaret Thatcher caused untold havoc during her time as prime minister, but nobody questioned her spine and serious intention to change her country. India's Indira Gandhi was no dummy, and she was similarly feared and respected.
Female politicians are at an inherent disadvantage once they become party leaders. It's a sad fact of life that they aren't given the benefit of the doubt nearly as often as male politicians, so they have to work even harder to demonstrate that they're serious and smart enough to be trusted with the reins of power.
That may explain why the most successful female government leaders sometimes come across as more austere and dignified than their male counterparts.
Just look at Liberian president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who recently won the Nobel Peace Prize for advancing women's equality and promoting nonviolence.
Australian prime minister Julia Gillard is a lawyer, policy wonk, and even a bit of a punctuation freak. You would never hear her dropping the "g" like Clark does to prove she's one of the regular folks.
Alberta's new premier Alison Redford is a good example of this type of female government leader in Canada. She's riding high in the polls in her province, because she's seen as serious about the job, and not prone to indulging in gimmicks to get voters' attention.
Clark, on the other hand, thought that she could succeed with gimmicks, starting with her campaign slogan, which purported to put families first on her agenda.
Since then, Clark eagerly donned jerseys of the local sports teams (no dignity there—can you imagine Thatcher, Johnson-Sirleaf, or Gandhi doing that?), called for televised trials of Stanley Cup rioters, offered up a goofy constitutional proposal, performed the equivalent of a throne speech on CKNW Radio, and milked her kid's hockey game for public-relations purposes with the prime minister in tow.
At other times, Clark has hid behind spin doctors. And she appears to be imploding politically as her office has became a revolving door of advisers and fixers.
Now, Clark's biggest challenge is convincing voters that she has sufficient intellectual firepower and gravitas to be premier of the province. My guess is that large segments of the public have already written her off as a bit of a flake. That doesn't bode well for the future of the B.C. Liberals.
Follow Charlie Smith on Twitter at twitter.com/csmithstraight.
Panchayat Yuva Krida aur Khel Abhiyaan: towards Making a ‘Sporting’ India
Panchayat Yuva Krida aur Khel Abhiyaan: towards Making a ‘Sporting’ India
Posted on February 13, 2012 by iSikkim | Category: Featured Post Slider Post Sports | 68 views | 0 Comments
Anurag Jain*
Sport is an inherent aspect of social and cultural life of a country. Sport is also an integral component of education and human personality development. To make sporting culture as a way of life of people, there is a need for adequate sports infrastructure facilities. Around 770 million population in our country are children, adolescents and youth. Hardly, 50 million of them have access to organized sports facilities that too concentrated in urban areas. Around 75% population, living largely in rural areas, are deprived of rudimentary sports facilities. Severe inadequacy of sports infrastructure and community coaching facilities are the constraints for promotion and development of sports in the country.
As an endeavour to address the issue, Government of India introduced a nation-wide rural sports programme called ‘Panchayat Yuva Krida Aur Khel Abhiyaan’. PYKKA was conceived by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in 2008-09 by creating a network of basic infrastructure and equipment throughout the rural India for promoting excellent sports culture among both boys and girls. The underlying motive behind PYKKA is to universalise the Sports culture across India so that it not only becomes a part of formal curriculum, but also a dominant part of our lifestyle.
Presently, PYKKA covers 20 Sporting disciplines, namely Athletics, Gymnastics, Swimming, Badminton, Table Tennis, Archery, Wushu, Taekwando, Weightlifting, Cycling, Boxing, Judo, Wrestling, Kabaddi, Kho-kho, Hockey, Football, Volleyball, Basketball and Handball. These are the key Sports that have the potential because of their popularity. This potential needs to be tapped so that people start to see sport as something worthy.
PYKKA is being implemented on a Mission Mode with clearly spelt out Mission statement, objectives, implementing agency at Panchayat level, campaign and financing pattern. With this clear demarcation of goals PYKKA has been able to identify the right way to improve the Sports infrastructure across India. PYKKA has on its part been aiming to provide a “level playing field” to all. Since talent knows no bounds, no one should be deprived of participation- and excellence- merely because of lack of resources.
PYKKA has three major components: Infrastructure Component, Competition Component and Capacity-building Component. Infrastructure component aims at providing basic Sports infrastructure in rural areas so that rural populace, which forms the bulk of our population, does not remain deprived of exposure to sports despite having plentiful talent. Infrastructure component has three elements: One Time Capital grant, Annual Acquisition Grant and Annual Operational Grant. Under One Time Capital grant, Village Panchayats having a minimum population of 4600 receive Rs. One lac while block level PYKKA centres receive Rs. 5 lacs on 75: 25 percent basis between Central Government and State Government. Special attention is envisaged to give priority to the border areas where rural youths are misguided and weaned away by anti-social and anti-national elements.
Annual Acquisition Grant is provided to each PYKKA centre at Panchayat/Block level for a period of five years to acquire sports equipments, accessories, first aid and other medicinal facilities, and the like. The amount of grant is limited to Rs. 10 thousand and Rs. 20 thousand for Panchayats and Blocks respectively. On completion of five years it will be the responsibility of Sate/UT to provide for heads under this grant.
Annual Operational Grant is also for a period of five years for the purpose of honorarium to Coaches/Staff. The amounts earmarked for Panchayat and Block level are Rs. 12000 and Rs. 24000 respectively.
The second component, i.e. Competition component is concerned with organising PYKKA competitions across country at block, district, state, and national level. Competitions are important in their own right: they motivate others for success besides unleashing individual brilliance. PYKKA has rightly identified the lacunae in exposure to sports at grass-root level thereby organising the three different types of competitions regularly: Rural Competitions, Women’s Championships and Games/ Sports for North-eastern states.
There is the provision of Annual Competition Grant in PYKKA under which grants are released for organising competitions and distributing prizes to the winners. The amounts earmarked for organising competitions and for distribution of prizes at different levels are as follows:
Moreover competitions are organised based on spatial trends: that is, the sports which are more popular locally out of 20 sports under PYKKA are given priorities. In this way at Block and District levels, events comprising of 5 sports are organised while at the State/UT level 10 sports are included in the competition. At the national level, all 20 sports are included in the competition.
The third component under PYKKA is capacity building. With a view to update knowledge of the Sports administrators, coaches, instructors, et al, who are engaged in the field of sports at the State/ UT level for development of Sports, a two-week programme is being regularly organised under PYKKA to meet the training needs of ‘Master Trainers’ at PYKKA Resource Centre (PRC) set up for this purpose at Laxmibai National University of Physical Education, Gwalior, Madhya Pardesh. These ‘Master Trainers’, in turn, train the ‘Kridashrees’- the trainers who work at the grass-root level. This circulation of skills is important in a vast country like ours where it might not be feasible to hold centralised programmes for everyone.
Only in its fourth year, PYKKA has several achievements to its credit. PYKKA has already extended its reach to all 28 states and 5 UT’s (rest 2 UT’s, i.e. Delhi and Chandigarh, have no Panchayats). As many as 20,000 playing-fields have been constructed under PYKKA at rural level. PYKKA competitions have noted huge levels of participation which run into several thousands. The North- Eastern states’ competitions have started to restore the feelings of integration amongst the people from those regions. The Women’s Competitions are acting as vehicles of self-confidence for women who deserve at least as much spotlight and focus as their male counterparts. Thus, in a way, PYKKA has caused a “paradigm shift” across different strata of society.
Moreover, PYKKA’s ability to integrate with other Government schemes has been immense. For instance, the constructive work under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) may, and has begun to, involve the construction and maintenance of playing fields under PYKKA scheme. Also PYKKA volunteers can, in future, draw people’s attention towards several serious issues such as illiteracy and malnutrition. Thus PYKKA has the potential to become a wave that informs every aspect of society. Maybe, in due course, the Scheme will have instigated a Sporting Revolution of sorts across India, thereby replacing the popular, though specious, notion that “Sport ruins”, by a unanimous conception that “Sport provides a way to well-being.”
*IIS Probationer, With inputs from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
PIB Feature
Posted on February 13, 2012 by iSikkim | Category: Featured Post Slider Post Sports | 68 views | 0 Comments
Anurag Jain*
Sport is an inherent aspect of social and cultural life of a country. Sport is also an integral component of education and human personality development. To make sporting culture as a way of life of people, there is a need for adequate sports infrastructure facilities. Around 770 million population in our country are children, adolescents and youth. Hardly, 50 million of them have access to organized sports facilities that too concentrated in urban areas. Around 75% population, living largely in rural areas, are deprived of rudimentary sports facilities. Severe inadequacy of sports infrastructure and community coaching facilities are the constraints for promotion and development of sports in the country.
As an endeavour to address the issue, Government of India introduced a nation-wide rural sports programme called ‘Panchayat Yuva Krida Aur Khel Abhiyaan’. PYKKA was conceived by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in 2008-09 by creating a network of basic infrastructure and equipment throughout the rural India for promoting excellent sports culture among both boys and girls. The underlying motive behind PYKKA is to universalise the Sports culture across India so that it not only becomes a part of formal curriculum, but also a dominant part of our lifestyle.
Presently, PYKKA covers 20 Sporting disciplines, namely Athletics, Gymnastics, Swimming, Badminton, Table Tennis, Archery, Wushu, Taekwando, Weightlifting, Cycling, Boxing, Judo, Wrestling, Kabaddi, Kho-kho, Hockey, Football, Volleyball, Basketball and Handball. These are the key Sports that have the potential because of their popularity. This potential needs to be tapped so that people start to see sport as something worthy.
PYKKA is being implemented on a Mission Mode with clearly spelt out Mission statement, objectives, implementing agency at Panchayat level, campaign and financing pattern. With this clear demarcation of goals PYKKA has been able to identify the right way to improve the Sports infrastructure across India. PYKKA has on its part been aiming to provide a “level playing field” to all. Since talent knows no bounds, no one should be deprived of participation- and excellence- merely because of lack of resources.
PYKKA has three major components: Infrastructure Component, Competition Component and Capacity-building Component. Infrastructure component aims at providing basic Sports infrastructure in rural areas so that rural populace, which forms the bulk of our population, does not remain deprived of exposure to sports despite having plentiful talent. Infrastructure component has three elements: One Time Capital grant, Annual Acquisition Grant and Annual Operational Grant. Under One Time Capital grant, Village Panchayats having a minimum population of 4600 receive Rs. One lac while block level PYKKA centres receive Rs. 5 lacs on 75: 25 percent basis between Central Government and State Government. Special attention is envisaged to give priority to the border areas where rural youths are misguided and weaned away by anti-social and anti-national elements.
Annual Acquisition Grant is provided to each PYKKA centre at Panchayat/Block level for a period of five years to acquire sports equipments, accessories, first aid and other medicinal facilities, and the like. The amount of grant is limited to Rs. 10 thousand and Rs. 20 thousand for Panchayats and Blocks respectively. On completion of five years it will be the responsibility of Sate/UT to provide for heads under this grant.
Annual Operational Grant is also for a period of five years for the purpose of honorarium to Coaches/Staff. The amounts earmarked for Panchayat and Block level are Rs. 12000 and Rs. 24000 respectively.
The second component, i.e. Competition component is concerned with organising PYKKA competitions across country at block, district, state, and national level. Competitions are important in their own right: they motivate others for success besides unleashing individual brilliance. PYKKA has rightly identified the lacunae in exposure to sports at grass-root level thereby organising the three different types of competitions regularly: Rural Competitions, Women’s Championships and Games/ Sports for North-eastern states.
There is the provision of Annual Competition Grant in PYKKA under which grants are released for organising competitions and distributing prizes to the winners. The amounts earmarked for organising competitions and for distribution of prizes at different levels are as follows:
Moreover competitions are organised based on spatial trends: that is, the sports which are more popular locally out of 20 sports under PYKKA are given priorities. In this way at Block and District levels, events comprising of 5 sports are organised while at the State/UT level 10 sports are included in the competition. At the national level, all 20 sports are included in the competition.
The third component under PYKKA is capacity building. With a view to update knowledge of the Sports administrators, coaches, instructors, et al, who are engaged in the field of sports at the State/ UT level for development of Sports, a two-week programme is being regularly organised under PYKKA to meet the training needs of ‘Master Trainers’ at PYKKA Resource Centre (PRC) set up for this purpose at Laxmibai National University of Physical Education, Gwalior, Madhya Pardesh. These ‘Master Trainers’, in turn, train the ‘Kridashrees’- the trainers who work at the grass-root level. This circulation of skills is important in a vast country like ours where it might not be feasible to hold centralised programmes for everyone.
Only in its fourth year, PYKKA has several achievements to its credit. PYKKA has already extended its reach to all 28 states and 5 UT’s (rest 2 UT’s, i.e. Delhi and Chandigarh, have no Panchayats). As many as 20,000 playing-fields have been constructed under PYKKA at rural level. PYKKA competitions have noted huge levels of participation which run into several thousands. The North- Eastern states’ competitions have started to restore the feelings of integration amongst the people from those regions. The Women’s Competitions are acting as vehicles of self-confidence for women who deserve at least as much spotlight and focus as their male counterparts. Thus, in a way, PYKKA has caused a “paradigm shift” across different strata of society.
Moreover, PYKKA’s ability to integrate with other Government schemes has been immense. For instance, the constructive work under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) may, and has begun to, involve the construction and maintenance of playing fields under PYKKA scheme. Also PYKKA volunteers can, in future, draw people’s attention towards several serious issues such as illiteracy and malnutrition. Thus PYKKA has the potential to become a wave that informs every aspect of society. Maybe, in due course, the Scheme will have instigated a Sporting Revolution of sorts across India, thereby replacing the popular, though specious, notion that “Sport ruins”, by a unanimous conception that “Sport provides a way to well-being.”
*IIS Probationer, With inputs from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
PIB Feature
Q+A - The complex interplay of social media and privacy
Q+A - The complex interplay of social media and privacy
Sarah Hostetler looks out from her home in Buena Park, California February 11, 2012. REUTERS/Josh Edelson
By Alexei Oreskovic and Gerry Shih
SAN FRANCISCO | Sun Feb 19, 2012 8:03pm IST
(Reuters) - Living in the world of social networking and mobile smartphones means trading away some of your personal information.
But assessing the price of admission to join the super-networked, digital class is not so simple; even experts on the issue admit that they don't have a full picture of the way personal information is collected and used on the Internet. But here are some basic guidelines to keep in mind.
Q. What information do you have to give up to participate in social media?
A. Social networks such as Facebook and Google+ require at a minimum that you provide them with your name, gender and date of birth. Many people provide additional profile information, and the act of using the services - writing comments or uploading photos or "friending" people - creates additional information about you. Most of that information can be kept hidden from the public if you choose, though the companies themselves have access to it.
If you use your Facebook credentials to log-on to other Web sites, or if you use Facebook apps, you might be granting access to parts of your profile that would otherwise be hidden. Quora, for example, a popular online Q&A site, requires that Facebook users provide it access to their photos, their "Likes" and information that their friends share with them. TripAdvisor, by contrast, requires only access to "basic information" including gender and lists of friends.
Social media apps on smartphones, which have access to personal phone call information and physical location, put even more information at play.
On Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) iPhone, apps must get user permission to access GPS location coordinates, a procedure that will now be applied to address book access as well after companies including Twitter were found to be downloading iPhone address book information. Beyond those two types of data, Apple locks away personal data stored in other applications, such as notepad and calendar apps, according to Michael Sutton, the vice president of security research at email security service ZScaler.
Google Inc's (GOOG.O) Android smartphone operating system allows third-party apps to tap into a bonanza of personal data, though only if they get permission. In order to download an app from the Android Market, users must click 'OK' on a pop-up list that catalogues the specific types of information that each particular app has access to.
With both mobile and Facebook apps, often the choice is to provide access to a personal information or not use the app at all.
Q. Should I worry about how my information is being used?
A. Personal information is the basic currency of an Internet economy built around marketing and advertising. Hundreds of companies collect personal information about Web users, slice it up, combine it with other information, and then resell it.
Facebook doesn't provide personal information to outside marketers, but other websites, including sites that access Facebook profile data, may have different policies. Last year, a study by Stanford University graduate student found that profile information on an online dating site, including ethnicity, income and drug use frequency, was somehow being tramsitted to a third-party data firm.
The data that third-parties collect is used mainly by advertisers, but there are concerns that these profiles could be used by insurance companies or banks to help them make decisions about who to do business with.
Q. Are there any restrictions on what information companies can collect from Internet users or what they can do with it?
A. In the United States, the federal law requires websites that know they are being visited by children under 13 to post a privacy policy, get parental approval before collecting personal information on children, and allow parents to bar the spread of that information or demand its deletion. The site operators are not allowed to require more information from the children than is "reasonably necessary" for participating in its activities.
For those who are 13 or older, the United States has no overarching restrictions. Websites are free to collect personal information including real names and addresses, credit card numbers, Internet addresses, the type of software installed, and even what other websites people have visited. Sites can keep the information indefinitely and share most of what they get with just about anyone.
Websites are not required to have privacy policies. Companies have most often been tripped up by saying things in their privacy policies - such as promising that data is kept secure - and then not living up to them. That can get them in trouble under the federal laws against unfair and deceptive practices.
Sites that accept payment card information have to follow industry standards for encrypting and protecting that data. Medical records and some financial information, such as that compiled by rating agencies, are subject to stricter rules.
European privacy laws are more stringent and the European Union is moving to establish a universal right to have personal data removed from a company's database-informally known as the "right to be forgotten." That approach is fervently opposed by companies dependent on Internet advertising.
Q. Is there likely to be new privacy legislation in the United States?
A. The year 2011 saw a flurry of activity on Capitol Hill as U.S. lawmakers introduced a handful of do-not-track bills with even the Obama White House calling for a "privacy bill of rights."
Leading the charge on do-not-track legislation are the unlikely pair of Reps. Edward J. Markey, a Massachussetts Democrat, and Joseph Barton, a Republican from Texas, who have jointly led a "Bipartisan Congressional Privacy Caucus."
Still, with half a dozen privacy laws meandering through Congress, most observers expect it could take a long time before any are passed-and not before they are significantly watered down in the legislative process.
Sarah Hostetler looks out from her home in Buena Park, California February 11, 2012. REUTERS/Josh Edelson
By Alexei Oreskovic and Gerry Shih
SAN FRANCISCO | Sun Feb 19, 2012 8:03pm IST
(Reuters) - Living in the world of social networking and mobile smartphones means trading away some of your personal information.
But assessing the price of admission to join the super-networked, digital class is not so simple; even experts on the issue admit that they don't have a full picture of the way personal information is collected and used on the Internet. But here are some basic guidelines to keep in mind.
Q. What information do you have to give up to participate in social media?
A. Social networks such as Facebook and Google+ require at a minimum that you provide them with your name, gender and date of birth. Many people provide additional profile information, and the act of using the services - writing comments or uploading photos or "friending" people - creates additional information about you. Most of that information can be kept hidden from the public if you choose, though the companies themselves have access to it.
If you use your Facebook credentials to log-on to other Web sites, or if you use Facebook apps, you might be granting access to parts of your profile that would otherwise be hidden. Quora, for example, a popular online Q&A site, requires that Facebook users provide it access to their photos, their "Likes" and information that their friends share with them. TripAdvisor, by contrast, requires only access to "basic information" including gender and lists of friends.
Social media apps on smartphones, which have access to personal phone call information and physical location, put even more information at play.
On Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) iPhone, apps must get user permission to access GPS location coordinates, a procedure that will now be applied to address book access as well after companies including Twitter were found to be downloading iPhone address book information. Beyond those two types of data, Apple locks away personal data stored in other applications, such as notepad and calendar apps, according to Michael Sutton, the vice president of security research at email security service ZScaler.
Google Inc's (GOOG.O) Android smartphone operating system allows third-party apps to tap into a bonanza of personal data, though only if they get permission. In order to download an app from the Android Market, users must click 'OK' on a pop-up list that catalogues the specific types of information that each particular app has access to.
With both mobile and Facebook apps, often the choice is to provide access to a personal information or not use the app at all.
Q. Should I worry about how my information is being used?
A. Personal information is the basic currency of an Internet economy built around marketing and advertising. Hundreds of companies collect personal information about Web users, slice it up, combine it with other information, and then resell it.
Facebook doesn't provide personal information to outside marketers, but other websites, including sites that access Facebook profile data, may have different policies. Last year, a study by Stanford University graduate student found that profile information on an online dating site, including ethnicity, income and drug use frequency, was somehow being tramsitted to a third-party data firm.
The data that third-parties collect is used mainly by advertisers, but there are concerns that these profiles could be used by insurance companies or banks to help them make decisions about who to do business with.
Q. Are there any restrictions on what information companies can collect from Internet users or what they can do with it?
A. In the United States, the federal law requires websites that know they are being visited by children under 13 to post a privacy policy, get parental approval before collecting personal information on children, and allow parents to bar the spread of that information or demand its deletion. The site operators are not allowed to require more information from the children than is "reasonably necessary" for participating in its activities.
For those who are 13 or older, the United States has no overarching restrictions. Websites are free to collect personal information including real names and addresses, credit card numbers, Internet addresses, the type of software installed, and even what other websites people have visited. Sites can keep the information indefinitely and share most of what they get with just about anyone.
Websites are not required to have privacy policies. Companies have most often been tripped up by saying things in their privacy policies - such as promising that data is kept secure - and then not living up to them. That can get them in trouble under the federal laws against unfair and deceptive practices.
Sites that accept payment card information have to follow industry standards for encrypting and protecting that data. Medical records and some financial information, such as that compiled by rating agencies, are subject to stricter rules.
European privacy laws are more stringent and the European Union is moving to establish a universal right to have personal data removed from a company's database-informally known as the "right to be forgotten." That approach is fervently opposed by companies dependent on Internet advertising.
Q. Is there likely to be new privacy legislation in the United States?
A. The year 2011 saw a flurry of activity on Capitol Hill as U.S. lawmakers introduced a handful of do-not-track bills with even the Obama White House calling for a "privacy bill of rights."
Leading the charge on do-not-track legislation are the unlikely pair of Reps. Edward J. Markey, a Massachussetts Democrat, and Joseph Barton, a Republican from Texas, who have jointly led a "Bipartisan Congressional Privacy Caucus."
Still, with half a dozen privacy laws meandering through Congress, most observers expect it could take a long time before any are passed-and not before they are significantly watered down in the legislative process.
Having the largest number of citizens in the 25-35 age category should generally augur well for the future of any Nation.
Having the largest number of citizens in the 25-35 age category should generally augur well for the future of any Nation. Being an Indian, I would love to belive this to be true
The debate is open.The largest young population of India - a peforming asset or more investment needed?
The largest young population of India - a peforming asset or more investment needed?
Having the largest number of citizens in the 25-35 age category should generally augur well for the future of any Nation. Being an Indian, I would love to belive this to be true. But there are questions that linger within for over 5-7 years in the ineer reccesses of the mind.
Since the late '50s, the Indian rich and Middle Income Groups have voluntarily restricted their family size to 2-3. On the other hand, it is the poor, both rural and urban, who have continued unabated with large families. It appears logical that most of the numbers belonging to the targetted age group may belong to the poor segment.
We are aware that India ranks among the lowest interms of HDI among the Developing Nations - even within BRIC. Therefore, the issues to be considered are
1. Distribution across the income stratification?
2. Literacy - distribution across Primary, Secondary and Tertiary levels of education.
3. Food - It is a fact that most of the landless rural poor go without 2 square meals a day.
4. Housing - The urban poor cannot afford anything more than dwelling on platforms or in hutments. The ruarl poor do live in huts that are not all-weather proof.
5. Healthcare - When it comes to health, the poor have two to contend with two issues - one the cost of quality health care (non-existent for them) and the second, the distance to ravel to the nearest Hospital in case of emergencies.
We have more issues like spending on infrastructure, affordable health insurance, social security, etc.,
Reverting to HDI, the Indian Government and the State Governments have spent collossal sums in creating infrastructure like roads, elctricity, transport, primary health centers, schools, etc., not to mention the plethora of subsidies and directed lendings for the less privileged.
It is a known fact that not even 25% of govt. spending has percolated down.
Which means that we may have Primary Schools, Primary Health Centers and subsidized distribution of foodgrains to through the Public Distribution systems.
The word "Quality" is a point of debate. And "two square meals a day" still remains a pipedream.
Having set the parameters, let me also look at the flip side of keeping the vast majority of the young population in the category of "the poor".
The recent elections have shown that moneypower has come to play the most predominant role for wannabe politicians.
And musclepower is a subset of moneypower.
When we talk of musclepower, brushes with the criminal side of the society is inevitable.
The young population is the hiring ground - for those seeking to augment muscle power. There is quick money and the poor are most vulnerable.
India has the largest number of young population in the world. But where are they headed?
The debate is open.
Having the largest number of citizens in the 25-35 age category should generally augur well for the future of any Nation. Being an Indian, I would love to belive this to be true. But there are questions that linger within for over 5-7 years in the ineer reccesses of the mind.
Since the late '50s, the Indian rich and Middle Income Groups have voluntarily restricted their family size to 2-3. On the other hand, it is the poor, both rural and urban, who have continued unabated with large families. It appears logical that most of the numbers belonging to the targetted age group may belong to the poor segment.
We are aware that India ranks among the lowest interms of HDI among the Developing Nations - even within BRIC. Therefore, the issues to be considered are
1. Distribution across the income stratification?
2. Literacy - distribution across Primary, Secondary and Tertiary levels of education.
3. Food - It is a fact that most of the landless rural poor go without 2 square meals a day.
4. Housing - The urban poor cannot afford anything more than dwelling on platforms or in hutments. The ruarl poor do live in huts that are not all-weather proof.
5. Healthcare - When it comes to health, the poor have two to contend with two issues - one the cost of quality health care (non-existent for them) and the second, the distance to ravel to the nearest Hospital in case of emergencies.
We have more issues like spending on infrastructure, affordable health insurance, social security, etc.,
Reverting to HDI, the Indian Government and the State Governments have spent collossal sums in creating infrastructure like roads, elctricity, transport, primary health centers, schools, etc., not to mention the plethora of subsidies and directed lendings for the less privileged.
It is a known fact that not even 25% of govt. spending has percolated down.
Which means that we may have Primary Schools, Primary Health Centers and subsidized distribution of foodgrains to through the Public Distribution systems.
The word "Quality" is a point of debate. And "two square meals a day" still remains a pipedream.
Having set the parameters, let me also look at the flip side of keeping the vast majority of the young population in the category of "the poor".
The recent elections have shown that moneypower has come to play the most predominant role for wannabe politicians.
And musclepower is a subset of moneypower.
When we talk of musclepower, brushes with the criminal side of the society is inevitable.
The young population is the hiring ground - for those seeking to augment muscle power. There is quick money and the poor are most vulnerable.
India has the largest number of young population in the world. But where are they headed?
The debate is open.
how countries in transition will cope with a population explosion of young people, who have increasing demands and expectations.
how countries in transition will cope with a population explosion of young people, who have increasing demands and expectations.
the future of the next generation greatly depends on how countries in transition will cope with a population explosion of young people,
the future of the next generation greatly depends on how countries in transition will cope with a population explosion of young people, who have increasing demands and expectations.
contribute to their societies, and will see them swell the ranks of the low-paid. In this context,
contribute to their societies, and will see them swell the ranks of the low-paid. In this context, the future of the next generation greatly depends on how countries in transition will cope with a population explosion of young people, who have increasing demands and expectations.
or become drawn into sexual exploitation. Even if they escape the pull of vice or crime, most will have few skills or training to help them
or become drawn into sexual exploitation. Even if they escape the pull of vice or crime, most will have few skills or training to help them contribute to their societies, and will see them swell the ranks of the low-paid. In this context, the future of the next generation greatly depends on how countries in transition will cope with a population explosion of young people, who have increasing demands and expectations.
Rampant poverty and the lack of alternatives make them all the more prone to fill the economic vacuum by enlisting in armed factions or street gangs,
Rampant poverty and the lack of alternatives make them all the more prone to fill the economic vacuum by enlisting in armed factions or street gangs, or become drawn into sexual exploitation. Even if they escape the pull of vice or crime, most will have few skills or training to help them contribute to their societies, and will see them swell the ranks of the low-paid. In this context, the future of the next generation greatly depends on how countries in transition will cope with a population explosion of young people, who have increasing demands and expectations.
These children will become the next generation of illiterate youth, replacing the current group of an estimated 130 million."
These children will become the next generation of illiterate youth, replacing the current group of an estimated 130 million."
According to the World Youth Report 2003, "113 million primary school-age children were not in school in 2000.
According to the World Youth Report 2003, "113 million primary school-age children were not in school in 2000. These children will become the next generation of illiterate youth, replacing the current group of an estimated 130 million."
At the root of youth unemployment lie serious problems related to illiteracy and the lack of technical skills.
At the root of youth unemployment lie serious problems related to illiteracy and the lack of technical skills. According to the World Youth Report 2003, "113 million primary school-age children were not in school in 2000. These children will become the next generation of illiterate youth, replacing the current group of an estimated 130 million."
Violence faced by youth/* Youth at risk: The link between youth violence and urbanisation
Violence faced by youth
* Youth at risk: The link between youth violence and urbanisation
* Youth at risk: The link between youth violence and urbanisation
Youth and migration/Youth and HIV/AIDS: The most vulnerable face the toughest challenges
Youth and migration
* Youth and HIV/AIDS: The most vulnerable face the toughest challenges
* Violence faced by youth
* Youth at risk: The link between youth violence and urbanisation
* Youth and HIV/AIDS: The most vulnerable face the toughest challenges
* Violence faced by youth
* Youth at risk: The link between youth violence and urbanisation
Youth at war: dealing with a generation of young soldiers
* Youth at war: dealing with a generation of young soldiers
* Youth and migration
* Youth and HIV/AIDS: The most vulnerable face the toughest challenges
* Violence faced by youth
* Youth at risk: The link between youth violence and urbanisation
* Youth and migration
* Youth and HIV/AIDS: The most vulnerable face the toughest challenges
* Violence faced by youth
* Youth at risk: The link between youth violence and urbanisation
The disinherited: the scourge of youth unemployment and failed education/
* The disinherited: the scourge of youth unemployment and failed education
* Youth at war: dealing with a generation of young soldiers
* Youth and migration
* Youth and HIV/AIDS: The most vulnerable face the toughest challenges
* Violence faced by youth
* Youth at risk: The link between youth violence and urbanisation
* Youth at war: dealing with a generation of young soldiers
* Youth and migration
* Youth and HIV/AIDS: The most vulnerable face the toughest challenges
* Violence faced by youth
* Youth at risk: The link between youth violence and urbanisation
Youth in crisis(in brief): Coming of age in the 21st century(old clipping from my blog..VT)
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Youth in crisis: Coming of age in the 21st century
In-Depth: Youth in crisis: Coming of age in the 21st century
Youth in crisis
Coming of age in the 21st century
* Youth in crisis: Coming of age in the 21st century
* The disinherited: the scourge of youth unemployment and failed education
* Youth at war: dealing with a generation of young soldiers
* Youth and migration
* Youth and HIV/AIDS: The most vulnerable face the toughest challenges
* Violence faced by youth
* Youth at risk: The link between youth violence and urbanisation
Frontlines
* AFGHANISTAN: Child forced marriages, still a common tradition
* AFGHANISTAN: Economy, violence hit prospects for youth
* AFGHANISTAN: Girls miss out on full education
* CHAD: Youth and armed violence in Chad
* COTE D'IVOIRE: Violence in University campus
* CONGO: Despite end of civil war, youth still suffer violence
* North-Kivu, DRC: Living on the fringes of society: what future for young ex-combatants?
* ETHIOPIA: Surviving forced marriage
* GUINEA: “If you don’t have courage, you can’t study”
* GUINEA: Hope but no job for unemployed youth
* IRAQ: Youth involved in anti-US attacks and kidnappings
* KENYA: Nairobi’s Street Children: Hope for Kenya’s future generation
* KENYA: Which way out of the camps for Somalia's young refugees?
* KENYA: Bangaisha na Mzungus - Youth Sex and Tourism on the Kenyan Coast
* KYRGYZSTAN: Youth poverty fuels radicalism
* LEBANON: Born in the line of fire, Shi’a youth politicised early
* NIGERIA: Gangs sowing terror on campus
* OPT/Israel: Child fighters are defending their people, Palestinians say
* PAKISTAN: No help for addicted women
* PAKISTAN: Caught in the extremist web
* PAKISTAN: Wealth gap blamed for surge in crime
* RWANDA: Twelve years on: The post-genocide youth
* SOUTH AFRICA: Gang culture in Cape Town
* NORTH UGANDA: Youth in IDP camps: The challenges of displacement, the challenges of return
* ZIMBABWE: Poor economy deprives youth of an education
A boy member of a street gang sleeps in a basket which is used for collecting garbage in the market in Managua, Nicaragua
The largest-ever generation of young people is now entering the transition from childhood to adulthood. According to UN statistics, up to 48 percent of the world population is under the age of 24 and 86 percent of 10-to-24-year-olds live in less developed countries.
However, one can hardly speak about youth as a uniform category when across the world the disparity of access to resources and lifestyles between different groups of youths is so different. In many parts of the world, young people are still suffering from hunger, lack of access to education, health services and job opportunities, and are exposed to insecurity and violence.
According to the UN Programme on Youth (UN-DESA, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs): "The challenges are clear: 200 million youth live on less than US $1 a day, 130 million are illiterate, 10 million live with HIV, and 88 million young people are unemployed."
What future for the new generation?
To a large extent, the quality of life for the next generation and society will depend on how today's young people manage their transition to economic independence in difficult environments, such as countries hit by economic recession, or war or famine, or in areas plagued by HIV/AIDS, particularly sub-Saharan Africa.
While most acknowledge the tremendous progress that has been achieved to improve young peoples' lives and ability to become catalysts for change, there remain many obstacles to overcome for the next generation.
How to address the plight of the estimated 14 million children orphaned by AIDS? UNICEF estimates that, with global infection rates still rising, this number will exceed 25 million by 2010. HIV/AIDS is increasingly a disease of the young and takes a heavy toll on the youth, especially girls living in sub-Saharan Africa (see HIV/AIDS feature).
Women are also particularly targeted by the thriving trafficking business worldwide; with an estimated 700,000 to two million women trafficked across international borders annually: girls are lured into subjugation by false employment promises, daughters are sold by their impoverished families, or forced into marriage or the sex trade, or forced to become bonded labourers or domestic servants.
According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, (UNODC): "[Human trafficking] is believed to be growing fastest in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. In Asia, girls from villages in Nepal and Bangladesh - the majority of whom are under 18 - are sold to brothels in India for $1,000."
One other area of concern is the growing urbanisation rate that is taking place, mostly in developing nations, that is predicted to peak in the years to come (see Urban Youth feature). As youth migrate to towns in search of a better life, their future might be compromised by the limited opportunities they find once there, as urban settings offer insufficient infrastructures and school and health facilities for all.
Today, UN-HABITAT estimates the proportion of slum-dwellers is 72 and 60 percent of the urban population in Africa and South Central Asia respectively, the majority of whom are young people. As young people gather in overcrowded shantytowns, with water and housing shortages, their susceptibility to crime is likely to increase.
Photo: Population Action International
Young adults (aged 15 - 29) as a proportion of all adults (aged 15 and older)
Violence remains one of the leading causes of death for youth and young adults. In many parts of the world, the loss of life in countries affected by armed conflict is high, particularly for the youth (see Youth and War feature). Two million children have been killed in conflicts in the last decade, one million orphaned, and six million wounded. Three-hundred thousand youths are serving as child soldiers, with many girls forced into sexual slavery.
The situation of young people caught in protracted humanitarian crises, abducted by rebel groups at war, or forced to flee conflict is particularly worrisome. In Northern Uganda, one of the countries with the highest number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the world, nearly one million young people have fled their homes and the fighting. This means a great deal in terms of lost opportunities and uncertainty about the future.
"We don't know what we would like to be when we get older. We haven't thought about it, because we haven't been to school," a group of young people in Uganda's Arum camp told IRIN.
The frustration of youth is all the more poignant when it comes to migration opportunities - or the lack of them - which greatly affects thousands of young people in developing nations who are denied upward socio-economic mobility.
Current news reports give almost daily examples of young African migrants wishing to escape poverty, risking their lives en route to Europe in search of jobs.
According to the Spanish Red Cross, more than 1,000 migrants drowned off the coast of the Canary Islands in the first three months of 2006. They had been attempting to reach Europe from Senegal (see Migration feature).
While globalisation and greater access to media tend to create a new global culture shared by youth all over the world, some young people, especially in less developed countries, become more aware of the benefits they could have if they lived in Western countries.
The experience of being young therefore sharply differs from the relative luxury of developed countries to poorer countries in transition.
Poverty reduction Vs rising population
Statistics vary across countries and continents, with Asia hosting the majority of the world's youth. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), there are 850 million people aged between 10 and 24 living in Asia and the Pacific region.
Photo: IRIN
A young member of the Mouride brotherhood prays in front of an image of the Khalif in Touba, Senegal. Definitions of youth vary widely across countries and cultures, making the concept difficult to define using age groups alone
However, while east and southeast Asia have shown a strong performance in terms of poverty reduction and economic growth, sub-Saharan Africa remains a region of special concern because of the scale of the AIDS pandemic, natural disasters, and devastating conflicts affecting its population. Demographic experts are particularly worried by the region's population rates, which have grown faster than any region of the world in recent decades. Africa is a continent of young people, with over 60 percent of people aged under 25 (see map).
According to a study by the US National Research Council, "Growing Up Global: the Changing Transitions to Adulthood in Developing Countries (2005)", while standards of living have improved for many of the current generation, changing demographic patterns have become a special area of concern: "…because of rapid population growth, young people who are poor are about as numerous today as they were in the past despite declining poverty rates."
What is youth?
"Youth" is hard to define. While UN legal standards consider individuals under 18 as children, youth is usually understood as a much 'looser' concept, generally encompassing the age group 15 to 24. Individuals aged 15 to 18 are thus included in the legal definition of children.
However, others consider age-based definitions arbitrary due to culture differences. Some argue that Western definitions of age do not align with non-Western definitions of childhood and youth.
In traditional African societies for instance, youth includes younger ages such as 12, and older ages up to 35. Attaining adulthood can mean the ability to support a household, or for males, the capacity to fight. Girls are considered adult after they reach sexual maturity
According to Bilal al-Naaim, deputy head of the Lebanon-based Shia Muslim armed group Hezbollah, involving young people in military activities is not wrong.
"In Islam, a 15-year-old is considered a responsible adult," he told IRIN.
Although adolescence is not recognised in all cultures, some United Nations bodies, such as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), have defined "youth" as 10- to 19-years-old.
A 'protracted' transition
The roles young people are forced to assume in countries affected by war or poverty greatly affects the transitional phase to adulthood, which takes place at an earlier stage than their Western counterparts.
The lack of economic opportunities in less developed countries makes young people more dependent on their parents. This places them in a situation where they are no longer children, but where they are also deprived of the independence they seek.
Photo: Derk Segaar/IRIN
Armed men from the Sudan Liberation Movement Army (SLM/A) in Gereida town, south Darfur, Sudan, 24 February 2006
Without the opportunity to become productive, young people find themselves in a permanent limbo, waiting for a chance to gain economic independence and psychological maturity.
When lacking opportunities and means of expression, young people become susceptible to violence, a display of their wish to become more powerful, and have access to the material goods they crave.
Dunia Bakuluea, youth official in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), told IRIN: "The erosion of traditional values among the youth is strongly related to the collapse of the economy. As a result, many young people can't afford to settle and are still not married even though they have reached their thirties.
"Many boys hang out in bands and organise themselves in armed clandestine networks, making a living out of illegal trading and as "coupeurs de route" (road bandits). Some come from the militias where they acquired the knowledge of warfare and a tendency to violence," he added.
While wide-scale youth movements were considered an exciting and dynamic medium of political change in the past, most notably during the independence struggles of the 1960s, young people are now increasingly perceived as threats to the societies in which they live.
Youth in crisis
In the 1990s, armed violence notched up a gear with an alarming increase in civil unrest in which young people played a crucial role, particularly in sub-Saharan African countries such as Angola, Liberia, Sierra Leone and DRC (see Youth and War section). This phenomenon, associated with a growing number of failed states and collapsed economies, led some analysts such as anthropologist Paul Richards to speak about a 'crisis of youth', or the emergence of a 'lost generation'.
As violence and armed conflict continue unabated in many areas of the world - Afghanistan, Columbia, Iraq, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Uganda, and in the Palestinian territories - there is growing concern for young people who were born and who are growing up in environments fraught with difficulty.
In 2005, children were involved in 54 conflicts in 11 different countries, according to the Office of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.
Reflecting on the protracted conflict between Israel and Palestine, the Palestinian father of a suicide-bomber told IRIN: "This generation has grown up with explosions, shootings, violence, demolitions … so what can you expect?"
The main threat to youth is demographic. According to the World Development Report 2007, the number of young people will dramatically increase in the next 20 years in sub-Saharan Africa and in the Middle-East (Gaza, Iraq, Yemen).
Having too many young people in one area is conflict-conducive according to Harvard political scientist, Samuel Huntington, in his book "The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order".
Photo: Mathilde Guntzberger
Young metal worker in Don Bosco Centre, Goma, DRC. Young people are driven into violence not because it is attractive, but, for the hordes of unemployed and unskilled, violence is the only 'career' option
In a recent interview, he said: "The key factor is the demographic factor. Generally speaking, the people who go out and kill other people are males between the ages of 16 and 30. During the 1960s, '70s and '80s there were high birth rates in the Muslim world, and this has given rise to a huge youth bulge."
This rationale has been used in US foreign politics to explain current political instability and the growth of terrorism networks in the Arab world.
Out of work…
It is generally thought that the main factor driving young people to violence is not the attraction of violence itself, or their interest in radical politics, but the lack of socio-economic alternatives. According to political scientist, Henrik Urdal: "For large youth groups, the economic climate at the time they enter the labour market is particularly crucial."
Out of work and out of school, many young people have to cope with their lives in environments that offer insufficient incentives for them to feel their future is secure (see Employment and Education section).
According to the 2006 International Labour Organisation (ILO) report on Global Employment Trends for Youth, most regions saw increases in the number of unemployed youth between 1995 and 2005, with youth in the Middle East and North Africa hardest hit with an unemployment rate of more than 25 percent.
These figures are exacerbated by the fact that millions of young people are forced to find work in the informal economy, where wages are barely enough for subsistence. According to the report: "Almost 23 percent of young people are extremely poor (living on US $1 a day) despite the fact that they work."
Sayed, 16, had to leave high school in Kabul, Afghanistan, in order to support his family by working in a tiny workshop repairing tyres.
I abandoned my school because there is no one in my house to work and support my family after the death of my father," he told IRIN.
Sayed is one of millions of young people who, being at a critical stage in their lives, have struggled to get proper education and make ends meet.
"I have to work hard, otherwise I am afraid we will be obliged to beg for our survival in the bazaar because there is no assistance from anywhere," added Sayed.
The ILO warns that "at least 400 million decent employment opportunities are needed in order to reach the full productive potential of today's youth". As this is an almost certainly unattainable target in the short term, negative political, social and humanitarian repercussions seem inevitable.
As Khalid, 13, a young Iraqi explained to IRIN: "My family needs money and we cannot find a job anywhere, so I decided to help a gang specialised in kidnapping. For each kidnap I get $100 and it is enough to help my family with food for the whole month."
Photo: Sarah Mace/IRIN
A woman holding a banner in the city centre of Nairobi protests at a proposed amendment that could increase the price of ARVs and other life-saving drugs, 25 July 2006
...and out of school
At the root of youth unemployment lie serious problems related to illiteracy and the lack of technical skills. According to the World Youth Report 2003, "113 million primary school-age children were not in school in 2000. These children will become the next generation of illiterate youth, replacing the current group of an estimated 130 million."
However, research shows that there has been overall progress in the number of young people attending school worldwide, although the gains are uneven across regions and gender.
Of particular concern is the increasing gap between male and female literacy rates in Asia and Africa, which puts poor young girls at a particular disadvantage in comparison with their male counterparts.
However, evidence suggests that education is not a panacea per se, and "labour markets in many countries are presently unable to accommodate the expanding pools of skilled young graduates," according to the 2005 World Youth Report.
Also, it is now acknowledged that more attention should be given to the quality and relevancy of education itself. A recent report by the International Crisis Group (ICG) on youth in Central Asia, stressed the extent to which young people are dissatisfied with their education system, thus considerably limiting enrolment, and encouraging dropout.
"I study computers, and we have no textbook in our class. So I have to buy a textbook in the market at 800 soms (US $20) which represents more than my father's monthly salary," a student in Kyrgyztan told ICG researchers.
Decimated by HIV/AIDS
Another factor affecting school attendance in developing countries is the devastating HIV/AIDS epidemic, which is the leading cause of death among young people in sub-Saharan Africa.
According to the US-based NGO, Advocate for Youth, "Young people infected with or affected by HIV or AIDS often face disrupted schooling due to demands at home for their help, the inability of sick or stressed parents to pay school fees, and stigma and discrimination."
Conversely, many analysts argue that adequate education can lead to substantial progress in halting the pandemic and improving the general wellbeing of the younger generation. According to the 2001 UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, illiteracy is among the "principal contributing factors to the spread of HIV/AIDS".
In Mozambique, 62 percent of young women, and 74 percent of young men, could not name a single method of protecting themselves against HIV/AIDS. Moreover, most young people living with HIV/AIDS do not know that they have the disease, according to a 2004 report by the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS.
Photo: Manoocher Deghati/IRIN
A young boy peers through a gate in Korogocho slums, Nairobi
All experts acknowledge that efficient measures to tackle HIV/AIDS should target youth, specifically young women: "More than a third of all people living with HIV/AIDS are under the age of 25, and almost two-thirds of them are women according to UNICEF."
The way ahead
How can young people become dynamic contributors and participators in the society they are born in? How is it possible to harness the tremendous power of inventiveness of the developing countries' populous new generation?
In 1995, the UN World Programme of Action for Youth, WPAY, established 10 priority areas for action, comprising: education, employment, hunger and poverty, health, environment, drug abuse, juvenile delinquency, leisure-time activities, girls and young women, and full and effective participation of youth in society and decision-making.
This programme was renewed by the UN General Assembly in 2005 to include five new priority areas: mixed impact of globalisation on young women and men; use of and access to information and technologies; dramatic increase in the incidence of HIV infection among young people and the impact of the epidemic on their lives; active involvement of young people in armed conflict, both as victims and as perpetrators; and increased importance of addressing intergenerational issues in an ageing society.
As the international community becomes more aware of the challenges youth face all over the world, there is an urgent need to better understand the factors that lead youth to "crisis" and which push them towards despair and violence. How can we help the next generation of young people in fast-growing sub-Saharan Africa if poverty rates increase?
Being at a critical stage in their lives, young people are vulnerable to a wide range of abuses and are far more exposed to risky behaviour than their elders as they strive to emerge in societies that give them little outlet for their talents and energy.
The predicament of disenchanted youth is particularly striking in the developing world, where millions have difficulty making ends meet. Living on the fringe of society, eking out a living on the black market, they are at an added risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and other diseases.
Rampant poverty and the lack of alternatives make them all the more prone to fill the economic vacuum by enlisting in armed factions or street gangs, or become drawn into sexual exploitation. Even if they escape the pull of vice or crime, most will have few skills or training to help them contribute to their societies, and will see them swell the ranks of the low-paid. In this context, the future of the next generation greatly depends on how countries in transition will cope with a population explosion of young people, who have increasing demands and expectations.
Posted by vibha tailang at 10:51 AM
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Youth in crisis: Coming of age in the 21st century
In-Depth: Youth in crisis: Coming of age in the 21st century
Youth in crisis
Coming of age in the 21st century
* Youth in crisis: Coming of age in the 21st century
* The disinherited: the scourge of youth unemployment and failed education
* Youth at war: dealing with a generation of young soldiers
* Youth and migration
* Youth and HIV/AIDS: The most vulnerable face the toughest challenges
* Violence faced by youth
* Youth at risk: The link between youth violence and urbanisation
Frontlines
* AFGHANISTAN: Child forced marriages, still a common tradition
* AFGHANISTAN: Economy, violence hit prospects for youth
* AFGHANISTAN: Girls miss out on full education
* CHAD: Youth and armed violence in Chad
* COTE D'IVOIRE: Violence in University campus
* CONGO: Despite end of civil war, youth still suffer violence
* North-Kivu, DRC: Living on the fringes of society: what future for young ex-combatants?
* ETHIOPIA: Surviving forced marriage
* GUINEA: “If you don’t have courage, you can’t study”
* GUINEA: Hope but no job for unemployed youth
* IRAQ: Youth involved in anti-US attacks and kidnappings
* KENYA: Nairobi’s Street Children: Hope for Kenya’s future generation
* KENYA: Which way out of the camps for Somalia's young refugees?
* KENYA: Bangaisha na Mzungus - Youth Sex and Tourism on the Kenyan Coast
* KYRGYZSTAN: Youth poverty fuels radicalism
* LEBANON: Born in the line of fire, Shi’a youth politicised early
* NIGERIA: Gangs sowing terror on campus
* OPT/Israel: Child fighters are defending their people, Palestinians say
* PAKISTAN: No help for addicted women
* PAKISTAN: Caught in the extremist web
* PAKISTAN: Wealth gap blamed for surge in crime
* RWANDA: Twelve years on: The post-genocide youth
* SOUTH AFRICA: Gang culture in Cape Town
* NORTH UGANDA: Youth in IDP camps: The challenges of displacement, the challenges of return
* ZIMBABWE: Poor economy deprives youth of an education
A boy member of a street gang sleeps in a basket which is used for collecting garbage in the market in Managua, Nicaragua
The largest-ever generation of young people is now entering the transition from childhood to adulthood. According to UN statistics, up to 48 percent of the world population is under the age of 24 and 86 percent of 10-to-24-year-olds live in less developed countries.
However, one can hardly speak about youth as a uniform category when across the world the disparity of access to resources and lifestyles between different groups of youths is so different. In many parts of the world, young people are still suffering from hunger, lack of access to education, health services and job opportunities, and are exposed to insecurity and violence.
According to the UN Programme on Youth (UN-DESA, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs): "The challenges are clear: 200 million youth live on less than US $1 a day, 130 million are illiterate, 10 million live with HIV, and 88 million young people are unemployed."
What future for the new generation?
To a large extent, the quality of life for the next generation and society will depend on how today's young people manage their transition to economic independence in difficult environments, such as countries hit by economic recession, or war or famine, or in areas plagued by HIV/AIDS, particularly sub-Saharan Africa.
While most acknowledge the tremendous progress that has been achieved to improve young peoples' lives and ability to become catalysts for change, there remain many obstacles to overcome for the next generation.
How to address the plight of the estimated 14 million children orphaned by AIDS? UNICEF estimates that, with global infection rates still rising, this number will exceed 25 million by 2010. HIV/AIDS is increasingly a disease of the young and takes a heavy toll on the youth, especially girls living in sub-Saharan Africa (see HIV/AIDS feature).
Women are also particularly targeted by the thriving trafficking business worldwide; with an estimated 700,000 to two million women trafficked across international borders annually: girls are lured into subjugation by false employment promises, daughters are sold by their impoverished families, or forced into marriage or the sex trade, or forced to become bonded labourers or domestic servants.
According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, (UNODC): "[Human trafficking] is believed to be growing fastest in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. In Asia, girls from villages in Nepal and Bangladesh - the majority of whom are under 18 - are sold to brothels in India for $1,000."
One other area of concern is the growing urbanisation rate that is taking place, mostly in developing nations, that is predicted to peak in the years to come (see Urban Youth feature). As youth migrate to towns in search of a better life, their future might be compromised by the limited opportunities they find once there, as urban settings offer insufficient infrastructures and school and health facilities for all.
Today, UN-HABITAT estimates the proportion of slum-dwellers is 72 and 60 percent of the urban population in Africa and South Central Asia respectively, the majority of whom are young people. As young people gather in overcrowded shantytowns, with water and housing shortages, their susceptibility to crime is likely to increase.
Photo: Population Action International
Young adults (aged 15 - 29) as a proportion of all adults (aged 15 and older)
Violence remains one of the leading causes of death for youth and young adults. In many parts of the world, the loss of life in countries affected by armed conflict is high, particularly for the youth (see Youth and War feature). Two million children have been killed in conflicts in the last decade, one million orphaned, and six million wounded. Three-hundred thousand youths are serving as child soldiers, with many girls forced into sexual slavery.
The situation of young people caught in protracted humanitarian crises, abducted by rebel groups at war, or forced to flee conflict is particularly worrisome. In Northern Uganda, one of the countries with the highest number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the world, nearly one million young people have fled their homes and the fighting. This means a great deal in terms of lost opportunities and uncertainty about the future.
"We don't know what we would like to be when we get older. We haven't thought about it, because we haven't been to school," a group of young people in Uganda's Arum camp told IRIN.
The frustration of youth is all the more poignant when it comes to migration opportunities - or the lack of them - which greatly affects thousands of young people in developing nations who are denied upward socio-economic mobility.
Current news reports give almost daily examples of young African migrants wishing to escape poverty, risking their lives en route to Europe in search of jobs.
According to the Spanish Red Cross, more than 1,000 migrants drowned off the coast of the Canary Islands in the first three months of 2006. They had been attempting to reach Europe from Senegal (see Migration feature).
While globalisation and greater access to media tend to create a new global culture shared by youth all over the world, some young people, especially in less developed countries, become more aware of the benefits they could have if they lived in Western countries.
The experience of being young therefore sharply differs from the relative luxury of developed countries to poorer countries in transition.
Poverty reduction Vs rising population
Statistics vary across countries and continents, with Asia hosting the majority of the world's youth. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), there are 850 million people aged between 10 and 24 living in Asia and the Pacific region.
Photo: IRIN
A young member of the Mouride brotherhood prays in front of an image of the Khalif in Touba, Senegal. Definitions of youth vary widely across countries and cultures, making the concept difficult to define using age groups alone
However, while east and southeast Asia have shown a strong performance in terms of poverty reduction and economic growth, sub-Saharan Africa remains a region of special concern because of the scale of the AIDS pandemic, natural disasters, and devastating conflicts affecting its population. Demographic experts are particularly worried by the region's population rates, which have grown faster than any region of the world in recent decades. Africa is a continent of young people, with over 60 percent of people aged under 25 (see map).
According to a study by the US National Research Council, "Growing Up Global: the Changing Transitions to Adulthood in Developing Countries (2005)", while standards of living have improved for many of the current generation, changing demographic patterns have become a special area of concern: "…because of rapid population growth, young people who are poor are about as numerous today as they were in the past despite declining poverty rates."
What is youth?
"Youth" is hard to define. While UN legal standards consider individuals under 18 as children, youth is usually understood as a much 'looser' concept, generally encompassing the age group 15 to 24. Individuals aged 15 to 18 are thus included in the legal definition of children.
However, others consider age-based definitions arbitrary due to culture differences. Some argue that Western definitions of age do not align with non-Western definitions of childhood and youth.
In traditional African societies for instance, youth includes younger ages such as 12, and older ages up to 35. Attaining adulthood can mean the ability to support a household, or for males, the capacity to fight. Girls are considered adult after they reach sexual maturity
According to Bilal al-Naaim, deputy head of the Lebanon-based Shia Muslim armed group Hezbollah, involving young people in military activities is not wrong.
"In Islam, a 15-year-old is considered a responsible adult," he told IRIN.
Although adolescence is not recognised in all cultures, some United Nations bodies, such as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), have defined "youth" as 10- to 19-years-old.
A 'protracted' transition
The roles young people are forced to assume in countries affected by war or poverty greatly affects the transitional phase to adulthood, which takes place at an earlier stage than their Western counterparts.
The lack of economic opportunities in less developed countries makes young people more dependent on their parents. This places them in a situation where they are no longer children, but where they are also deprived of the independence they seek.
Photo: Derk Segaar/IRIN
Armed men from the Sudan Liberation Movement Army (SLM/A) in Gereida town, south Darfur, Sudan, 24 February 2006
Without the opportunity to become productive, young people find themselves in a permanent limbo, waiting for a chance to gain economic independence and psychological maturity.
When lacking opportunities and means of expression, young people become susceptible to violence, a display of their wish to become more powerful, and have access to the material goods they crave.
Dunia Bakuluea, youth official in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), told IRIN: "The erosion of traditional values among the youth is strongly related to the collapse of the economy. As a result, many young people can't afford to settle and are still not married even though they have reached their thirties.
"Many boys hang out in bands and organise themselves in armed clandestine networks, making a living out of illegal trading and as "coupeurs de route" (road bandits). Some come from the militias where they acquired the knowledge of warfare and a tendency to violence," he added.
While wide-scale youth movements were considered an exciting and dynamic medium of political change in the past, most notably during the independence struggles of the 1960s, young people are now increasingly perceived as threats to the societies in which they live.
Youth in crisis
In the 1990s, armed violence notched up a gear with an alarming increase in civil unrest in which young people played a crucial role, particularly in sub-Saharan African countries such as Angola, Liberia, Sierra Leone and DRC (see Youth and War section). This phenomenon, associated with a growing number of failed states and collapsed economies, led some analysts such as anthropologist Paul Richards to speak about a 'crisis of youth', or the emergence of a 'lost generation'.
As violence and armed conflict continue unabated in many areas of the world - Afghanistan, Columbia, Iraq, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Uganda, and in the Palestinian territories - there is growing concern for young people who were born and who are growing up in environments fraught with difficulty.
In 2005, children were involved in 54 conflicts in 11 different countries, according to the Office of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.
Reflecting on the protracted conflict between Israel and Palestine, the Palestinian father of a suicide-bomber told IRIN: "This generation has grown up with explosions, shootings, violence, demolitions … so what can you expect?"
The main threat to youth is demographic. According to the World Development Report 2007, the number of young people will dramatically increase in the next 20 years in sub-Saharan Africa and in the Middle-East (Gaza, Iraq, Yemen).
Having too many young people in one area is conflict-conducive according to Harvard political scientist, Samuel Huntington, in his book "The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order".
Photo: Mathilde Guntzberger
Young metal worker in Don Bosco Centre, Goma, DRC. Young people are driven into violence not because it is attractive, but, for the hordes of unemployed and unskilled, violence is the only 'career' option
In a recent interview, he said: "The key factor is the demographic factor. Generally speaking, the people who go out and kill other people are males between the ages of 16 and 30. During the 1960s, '70s and '80s there were high birth rates in the Muslim world, and this has given rise to a huge youth bulge."
This rationale has been used in US foreign politics to explain current political instability and the growth of terrorism networks in the Arab world.
Out of work…
It is generally thought that the main factor driving young people to violence is not the attraction of violence itself, or their interest in radical politics, but the lack of socio-economic alternatives. According to political scientist, Henrik Urdal: "For large youth groups, the economic climate at the time they enter the labour market is particularly crucial."
Out of work and out of school, many young people have to cope with their lives in environments that offer insufficient incentives for them to feel their future is secure (see Employment and Education section).
According to the 2006 International Labour Organisation (ILO) report on Global Employment Trends for Youth, most regions saw increases in the number of unemployed youth between 1995 and 2005, with youth in the Middle East and North Africa hardest hit with an unemployment rate of more than 25 percent.
These figures are exacerbated by the fact that millions of young people are forced to find work in the informal economy, where wages are barely enough for subsistence. According to the report: "Almost 23 percent of young people are extremely poor (living on US $1 a day) despite the fact that they work."
Sayed, 16, had to leave high school in Kabul, Afghanistan, in order to support his family by working in a tiny workshop repairing tyres.
I abandoned my school because there is no one in my house to work and support my family after the death of my father," he told IRIN.
Sayed is one of millions of young people who, being at a critical stage in their lives, have struggled to get proper education and make ends meet.
"I have to work hard, otherwise I am afraid we will be obliged to beg for our survival in the bazaar because there is no assistance from anywhere," added Sayed.
The ILO warns that "at least 400 million decent employment opportunities are needed in order to reach the full productive potential of today's youth". As this is an almost certainly unattainable target in the short term, negative political, social and humanitarian repercussions seem inevitable.
As Khalid, 13, a young Iraqi explained to IRIN: "My family needs money and we cannot find a job anywhere, so I decided to help a gang specialised in kidnapping. For each kidnap I get $100 and it is enough to help my family with food for the whole month."
Photo: Sarah Mace/IRIN
A woman holding a banner in the city centre of Nairobi protests at a proposed amendment that could increase the price of ARVs and other life-saving drugs, 25 July 2006
...and out of school
At the root of youth unemployment lie serious problems related to illiteracy and the lack of technical skills. According to the World Youth Report 2003, "113 million primary school-age children were not in school in 2000. These children will become the next generation of illiterate youth, replacing the current group of an estimated 130 million."
However, research shows that there has been overall progress in the number of young people attending school worldwide, although the gains are uneven across regions and gender.
Of particular concern is the increasing gap between male and female literacy rates in Asia and Africa, which puts poor young girls at a particular disadvantage in comparison with their male counterparts.
However, evidence suggests that education is not a panacea per se, and "labour markets in many countries are presently unable to accommodate the expanding pools of skilled young graduates," according to the 2005 World Youth Report.
Also, it is now acknowledged that more attention should be given to the quality and relevancy of education itself. A recent report by the International Crisis Group (ICG) on youth in Central Asia, stressed the extent to which young people are dissatisfied with their education system, thus considerably limiting enrolment, and encouraging dropout.
"I study computers, and we have no textbook in our class. So I have to buy a textbook in the market at 800 soms (US $20) which represents more than my father's monthly salary," a student in Kyrgyztan told ICG researchers.
Decimated by HIV/AIDS
Another factor affecting school attendance in developing countries is the devastating HIV/AIDS epidemic, which is the leading cause of death among young people in sub-Saharan Africa.
According to the US-based NGO, Advocate for Youth, "Young people infected with or affected by HIV or AIDS often face disrupted schooling due to demands at home for their help, the inability of sick or stressed parents to pay school fees, and stigma and discrimination."
Conversely, many analysts argue that adequate education can lead to substantial progress in halting the pandemic and improving the general wellbeing of the younger generation. According to the 2001 UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, illiteracy is among the "principal contributing factors to the spread of HIV/AIDS".
In Mozambique, 62 percent of young women, and 74 percent of young men, could not name a single method of protecting themselves against HIV/AIDS. Moreover, most young people living with HIV/AIDS do not know that they have the disease, according to a 2004 report by the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS.
Photo: Manoocher Deghati/IRIN
A young boy peers through a gate in Korogocho slums, Nairobi
All experts acknowledge that efficient measures to tackle HIV/AIDS should target youth, specifically young women: "More than a third of all people living with HIV/AIDS are under the age of 25, and almost two-thirds of them are women according to UNICEF."
The way ahead
How can young people become dynamic contributors and participators in the society they are born in? How is it possible to harness the tremendous power of inventiveness of the developing countries' populous new generation?
In 1995, the UN World Programme of Action for Youth, WPAY, established 10 priority areas for action, comprising: education, employment, hunger and poverty, health, environment, drug abuse, juvenile delinquency, leisure-time activities, girls and young women, and full and effective participation of youth in society and decision-making.
This programme was renewed by the UN General Assembly in 2005 to include five new priority areas: mixed impact of globalisation on young women and men; use of and access to information and technologies; dramatic increase in the incidence of HIV infection among young people and the impact of the epidemic on their lives; active involvement of young people in armed conflict, both as victims and as perpetrators; and increased importance of addressing intergenerational issues in an ageing society.
As the international community becomes more aware of the challenges youth face all over the world, there is an urgent need to better understand the factors that lead youth to "crisis" and which push them towards despair and violence. How can we help the next generation of young people in fast-growing sub-Saharan Africa if poverty rates increase?
Being at a critical stage in their lives, young people are vulnerable to a wide range of abuses and are far more exposed to risky behaviour than their elders as they strive to emerge in societies that give them little outlet for their talents and energy.
The predicament of disenchanted youth is particularly striking in the developing world, where millions have difficulty making ends meet. Living on the fringe of society, eking out a living on the black market, they are at an added risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and other diseases.
Rampant poverty and the lack of alternatives make them all the more prone to fill the economic vacuum by enlisting in armed factions or street gangs, or become drawn into sexual exploitation. Even if they escape the pull of vice or crime, most will have few skills or training to help them contribute to their societies, and will see them swell the ranks of the low-paid. In this context, the future of the next generation greatly depends on how countries in transition will cope with a population explosion of young people, who have increasing demands and expectations.
Posted by vibha tailang at 10:51 AM
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international year marks youth inclusion- The energy of youth can ignite faltering economies-14/8/10
Saturday, August 14, 2010
international year marks youth inclusion- The energy of youth can ignite faltering economies-14/8/10
International year marks youth inclusion
13 August 2010
The International Year of Youth which kicked off on August 12, will witness UN and its youth organisation partners encouraging dialogues and ensuring the inclusion of young people constituting 18% of thtree world population, in policy matters and decision making.
international youth.jpg
The energy of youth can ignite faltering economies/ Photo credit: UN News Centre
The International Year of Youth kicked off on August 12 with calls from United Nations officials to harness the talents and energy of the world’s young people to promote better understanding and dialogue between different generations, cultures and religions.
Dialogue and mutual understanding is the theme of the Year, which was formally launched yesterday – to coincide with International Youth Day being observed every 12 August – in the General Assembly Hall at UN Headquarters in New York.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon used his message for the Day to urge UN Member States to boost their investment in social and economic programmes that benefit the estimated 1.2 billion people worldwide aged between 15 and 24.
“The energy of youth can ignite faltering economies,” he said. “I am regularly inspired by the goodwill, talent and idealism of the young people I meet across the world. They are making important contributions to our work to eradicate poverty, contain the spread of disease, combat climate change and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).”
In the course of the International Year, the UN and its youth organisation partners will focus on the need to encourage dialogue and ensure that young people are included in important policies and decision-making processes.
“In a world which different people and traditions are coming closer, more frequent contact than ever before, it is crucial that young people learn how to listen intently, empathise with others, acknowledge divergent opinions, and be able to resolve conflicts,” Ban Ki-moon said.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO unveiled a report yesterday showing that global youth unemployment has reached an all-time high). According to the report, of the world’s 620 million economically active youth, 81 million were out of work at the end of last year.
“The global economic crisis has had a disproportionate impact on young people; they have lost jobs, struggled to find even low-wage employment and seen access to education curtailed,” the Secretary-General noted in his message.
The UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), meanwhile, announced that it will make grants to 51 projects proposed by youth people from 31 countries. The grants will be drawn from the Programme’s Urban Youth Fund, which awards funding amounting to $1 million each year.
Today’s launch of the International Year is being marked with speeches, musical performances, video screenings and poetry recitals at UN Headquarters.
Sha Zukang, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, discussed the UN Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development, while the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) Executive Director, Thoraya Obaid, delivered a joint statement of the heads of UN entities demonstrating the support of the UN system for issues related to youth development.
The world’s youth account for about 18% of the world’s population. Some 87% of them live in developing countries, where they face the challenges of limited access to resources, health care, education, training, employment and other economic opportunities.
During the International Year, the UN will focus on three overarching objectives – increasing commitment and investment in youth; raising youth participation and partnerships; and boosting inter-cultural understanding among youth.
The UN first marked the International Year of Youth in 1985. A decade later, the General Assembly adopted the World Programme of Action for Youth, setting a policy framework and guidelines for national action and international support to improve the situation of young people.
Source : UN News Centre
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international year marks youth inclusion- The energy of youth can ignite faltering economies-14/8/10
International year marks youth inclusion
13 August 2010
The International Year of Youth which kicked off on August 12, will witness UN and its youth organisation partners encouraging dialogues and ensuring the inclusion of young people constituting 18% of thtree world population, in policy matters and decision making.
international youth.jpg
The energy of youth can ignite faltering economies/ Photo credit: UN News Centre
The International Year of Youth kicked off on August 12 with calls from United Nations officials to harness the talents and energy of the world’s young people to promote better understanding and dialogue between different generations, cultures and religions.
Dialogue and mutual understanding is the theme of the Year, which was formally launched yesterday – to coincide with International Youth Day being observed every 12 August – in the General Assembly Hall at UN Headquarters in New York.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon used his message for the Day to urge UN Member States to boost their investment in social and economic programmes that benefit the estimated 1.2 billion people worldwide aged between 15 and 24.
“The energy of youth can ignite faltering economies,” he said. “I am regularly inspired by the goodwill, talent and idealism of the young people I meet across the world. They are making important contributions to our work to eradicate poverty, contain the spread of disease, combat climate change and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).”
In the course of the International Year, the UN and its youth organisation partners will focus on the need to encourage dialogue and ensure that young people are included in important policies and decision-making processes.
“In a world which different people and traditions are coming closer, more frequent contact than ever before, it is crucial that young people learn how to listen intently, empathise with others, acknowledge divergent opinions, and be able to resolve conflicts,” Ban Ki-moon said.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO unveiled a report yesterday showing that global youth unemployment has reached an all-time high). According to the report, of the world’s 620 million economically active youth, 81 million were out of work at the end of last year.
“The global economic crisis has had a disproportionate impact on young people; they have lost jobs, struggled to find even low-wage employment and seen access to education curtailed,” the Secretary-General noted in his message.
The UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), meanwhile, announced that it will make grants to 51 projects proposed by youth people from 31 countries. The grants will be drawn from the Programme’s Urban Youth Fund, which awards funding amounting to $1 million each year.
Today’s launch of the International Year is being marked with speeches, musical performances, video screenings and poetry recitals at UN Headquarters.
Sha Zukang, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, discussed the UN Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development, while the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) Executive Director, Thoraya Obaid, delivered a joint statement of the heads of UN entities demonstrating the support of the UN system for issues related to youth development.
The world’s youth account for about 18% of the world’s population. Some 87% of them live in developing countries, where they face the challenges of limited access to resources, health care, education, training, employment and other economic opportunities.
During the International Year, the UN will focus on three overarching objectives – increasing commitment and investment in youth; raising youth participation and partnerships; and boosting inter-cultural understanding among youth.
The UN first marked the International Year of Youth in 1985. A decade later, the General Assembly adopted the World Programme of Action for Youth, setting a policy framework and guidelines for national action and international support to improve the situation of young people.
Source : UN News Centre
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Posted by vibha tailang at 9:50 AM
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India will reach working age, which will be the largest in the world.
India will reach working age, which will be the largest in the world.
Today, over 35% of our population is below the age of 20. By 2020, it is expected that 325 million people in India
Today, over 35% of our population is below the age of 20. By 2020, it is expected that 325 million people in India will reach working age, which will be the largest in the world.
Youngistan - Will it mean a boon or a bane for us?The Truth about India’s Young Population
The Truth about India’s Young Population, and how it can be a boon or a bane?
Written by Sumit Gupta Society Apr 25, 2011
Today, over 35% of our population is below the age of 20. By 2020, it is expected that 325 million people in India will reach working age, which will be the largest in the world. This will come at a time when the rest of the developed world will be faced with an ageing population. It is estimated that by 2020, US will be short of 17 million people of working age, China by 10 million, Japan by 9 million and Russia by 6 million. At the same time, India will have a surplus of 47 million working people. Even when compared to developing countries, Brazil’s working population is set to grow by 12%, China’s by 1%, Russia’s will decline by 18%, while ours will grow by 30%. This is the reason Goldman Sachs predicted that only India can maintain a 5% growth rate until 2050.
But are our youth unemployable?
Economic growth require not just a large working population, but people who are trained and skilled to work in different industries. Many industries have remarked that people coming out of colleges and universities in India are not employable and they have to give them skills training before they start their work. This adds strain on the industry. Our adult illiteracy levels are also a big concern, which stands at 39%. 25 million children are out of school in India, out of a total of 100 million out of school children in the world. We need to work on our policies to make sure those who are still in school and colleges get the best education and be ready for their opportunity when it arrives.
Youngistan - Will it mean a boon or a bane for us?
Demands of this population
With a huge working population will also come a huge consumption boom, as it has happened in China. China accounts for 20% of world’s consumption of aluminum, 35% of the global demand of steel and coal, and 45% of the worldwide cement purchase. The future demands of China and India’s population will put a lot of burden to the resources of these two countries. How these two countries manage resources like water, cultivable land, oil and energy needs will be critical. The demands on the environment cannot be overlooked either. If we follow the same model as followed by American and European development, environmental deterioration will end up destroying the whole planet. Global Warming is already a big problem. The challenge for India will not only be economic growth, but also make it sustainable and bearable for the environment.
Taking care of our population
Our infrastructure today is no way capable of taking proper care of our ever increasing population. Human development must go hand in hand with population growth. More than 25% of our urban population lives without sanitation and 24% lives without access to tap water. We need 66,000 primary schools and 3000 new health centres every year to cater to our population growth. Food production also has to be increased by 3% every year to meet their needs.
We can’t ignore the ill-effects of population growth
India cannot afford to ignore what will happen with unsustainable economic and population growth. We need to use our technological skills and replace our age-old systems with innovations to reduce the resource burden. We need innovative and sustainable solutions in energy, transportation, sanitation, manufacturing, and agriculture. We are a nation of great talent, and we stand before times which might be our big opportunity to take the leap in the world order but we also face significant challenges. If we take all this into consideration NOW, and frame policies and act responsibly, I am sure we are capable of transforming this huge young population into a boon rather than a bane.
Download article as PDF
Written by Sumit Gupta Society Apr 25, 2011
Today, over 35% of our population is below the age of 20. By 2020, it is expected that 325 million people in India will reach working age, which will be the largest in the world. This will come at a time when the rest of the developed world will be faced with an ageing population. It is estimated that by 2020, US will be short of 17 million people of working age, China by 10 million, Japan by 9 million and Russia by 6 million. At the same time, India will have a surplus of 47 million working people. Even when compared to developing countries, Brazil’s working population is set to grow by 12%, China’s by 1%, Russia’s will decline by 18%, while ours will grow by 30%. This is the reason Goldman Sachs predicted that only India can maintain a 5% growth rate until 2050.
But are our youth unemployable?
Economic growth require not just a large working population, but people who are trained and skilled to work in different industries. Many industries have remarked that people coming out of colleges and universities in India are not employable and they have to give them skills training before they start their work. This adds strain on the industry. Our adult illiteracy levels are also a big concern, which stands at 39%. 25 million children are out of school in India, out of a total of 100 million out of school children in the world. We need to work on our policies to make sure those who are still in school and colleges get the best education and be ready for their opportunity when it arrives.
Youngistan - Will it mean a boon or a bane for us?
Demands of this population
With a huge working population will also come a huge consumption boom, as it has happened in China. China accounts for 20% of world’s consumption of aluminum, 35% of the global demand of steel and coal, and 45% of the worldwide cement purchase. The future demands of China and India’s population will put a lot of burden to the resources of these two countries. How these two countries manage resources like water, cultivable land, oil and energy needs will be critical. The demands on the environment cannot be overlooked either. If we follow the same model as followed by American and European development, environmental deterioration will end up destroying the whole planet. Global Warming is already a big problem. The challenge for India will not only be economic growth, but also make it sustainable and bearable for the environment.
Taking care of our population
Our infrastructure today is no way capable of taking proper care of our ever increasing population. Human development must go hand in hand with population growth. More than 25% of our urban population lives without sanitation and 24% lives without access to tap water. We need 66,000 primary schools and 3000 new health centres every year to cater to our population growth. Food production also has to be increased by 3% every year to meet their needs.
We can’t ignore the ill-effects of population growth
India cannot afford to ignore what will happen with unsustainable economic and population growth. We need to use our technological skills and replace our age-old systems with innovations to reduce the resource burden. We need innovative and sustainable solutions in energy, transportation, sanitation, manufacturing, and agriculture. We are a nation of great talent, and we stand before times which might be our big opportunity to take the leap in the world order but we also face significant challenges. If we take all this into consideration NOW, and frame policies and act responsibly, I am sure we are capable of transforming this huge young population into a boon rather than a bane.
Download article as PDF
“Rid education of political interference”-Education Minister for increasing higher education enrollment to 30% and common syllabus for commerce 1/8/10
Sunday, August 1, 2010
“Rid education of political interference”-Education Minister for increasing higher education enrollment to 30% and common syllabus for commerce 1/8/10
01/08/2010
“Rid education of political interference”
Education Minister for increasing higher education enrollment to 30% and common syllabus for commerce
Mumbai: Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said on Saturday said universities should be given more freedom to function independently without any political interference.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Indo-US Summit on Higher Education by the Indo-American Society, Sibal said politicians always tried to control everything. "We want to control everything... who will be appointed the Vice-Chancellor, for how long will he stay there. The universities should be given freedom to function and make choices in teaching or functioning."
Sibal refused to elaborate on the issue of inevitable political interference in educational institutions run by politicians. He said his comment should not be misconstrued. "Politics could be in the form of outside forces like industry/business house controlled also." He slammed college unions, which, he said, formed 'the bedrock' of political and other forces. "They have to be constructive rather than obstructive."
He reiterated the need for expanding educational system, particularly at the higher level. "Only 12.4 per cent students are enrolled for higher studies... it needs to be increased to 30 per cent by 2020. We will need collaborations, joint ventures and public private partnership to fill the enormous space of educational institutes."
Core curriculum for commerce
After announcing a core curriculum for science and mathematics at the higher secondary Sibal said there would be a similar effort in commerce, wherein the core of the curriculum would be set as per national standards giving students across the country a level playing field. The new curriculum along with physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics will come into effect from 2011-'12 academic year.
Source: Indian Express
Posted by vibha tailang at 10:07 AM
“Rid education of political interference”-Education Minister for increasing higher education enrollment to 30% and common syllabus for commerce 1/8/10
01/08/2010
“Rid education of political interference”
Education Minister for increasing higher education enrollment to 30% and common syllabus for commerce
Mumbai: Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said on Saturday said universities should be given more freedom to function independently without any political interference.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Indo-US Summit on Higher Education by the Indo-American Society, Sibal said politicians always tried to control everything. "We want to control everything... who will be appointed the Vice-Chancellor, for how long will he stay there. The universities should be given freedom to function and make choices in teaching or functioning."
Sibal refused to elaborate on the issue of inevitable political interference in educational institutions run by politicians. He said his comment should not be misconstrued. "Politics could be in the form of outside forces like industry/business house controlled also." He slammed college unions, which, he said, formed 'the bedrock' of political and other forces. "They have to be constructive rather than obstructive."
He reiterated the need for expanding educational system, particularly at the higher level. "Only 12.4 per cent students are enrolled for higher studies... it needs to be increased to 30 per cent by 2020. We will need collaborations, joint ventures and public private partnership to fill the enormous space of educational institutes."
Core curriculum for commerce
After announcing a core curriculum for science and mathematics at the higher secondary Sibal said there would be a similar effort in commerce, wherein the core of the curriculum would be set as per national standards giving students across the country a level playing field. The new curriculum along with physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics will come into effect from 2011-'12 academic year.
Source: Indian Express
Posted by vibha tailang at 10:07 AM
create choices for parents, improving access and quality for all. The government can then focus its limited education budget on the neediest sections
create choices for parents, improving access and quality for all. The government can then focus its limited education budget on the neediest sections of society.
the establishment and operation of schools in the primary, secondary and higher secondary areas of education. Competing schools will create choices fo
the establishment and operation of schools in the primary, secondary and higher secondary areas of education. Competing schools will create choices for parents, improving access and quality for all. The government can then focus its limited education budget on the neediest sections of society.
There are important lessons here for education policymakers in India. Education entrepreneurs need to be encouraged by removing rules that hinder
There are important lessons here for education policymakers in India. Education entrepreneurs need to be encouraged by removing rules that hinder the establishment and operation of schools in the primary, secondary and higher secondary areas of education. Competing schools will create choices for parents, improving access and quality for all. The government can then focus its limited education budget on the neediest sections of society.
Inadequate education in India is not only a funding problem but also a result of over-regulation of the school market.
Inadequate education in India is not only a funding problem but also a result of over-regulation of the school market. The burgeoning market of low-budget private schools has enormous potential to do public good.
send their own children to a private school. [4] When government teachers don’t trust government schools with their own children,it’s time to sit up
send their own children to a private school. [4] When government teachers don’t trust government schools with their own children, it’s time to sit up and take notice.
Schooling across India is a harbinger of the Unknown Indian Education Revolution. The survey found that more than 80% of government-school teachers se
Schooling across India is a harbinger of the Unknown Indian Education Revolution. The survey found that more than 80% of government-school teachers send their own children to a private school. [4] When government teachers don’t trust government schools with their own children, it’s time to sit up and take notice.
So what is fuelling this extraordinary surge and what is the quality of education being imparted? The key to understanding this surge lies in the low entry barriers.
Schools need a “recognition” status so that they can issue valid “transfer certificates” to students leaving the school. But what the recognition status primarily ensures is that teachers are paid according to relatively high government salary scales.
In reality, a primary school doesn’t strictly need “recognition” from the state to start business. Also, rural schools don’t read too much into the transfer certificate. So the rural market for primary education is comparatively unregulated vis-à-vis to secondary education. This is similar to the software industry in India. The government’s light regulation of the sector helped it become an engine of growth.
It is not just the rural rich who are moving to private schools. Studies have found that a large mass of parents are shifting because of the low quality of government education, and concern for their children’s future.
Regulatory gaps and dissatisfaction with government schools are the key factors driving the demand for private schooling. There is already evidence of such a surge in Punjab [5], Haryana [6], Uttar Pradesh [7], Andhra Pradesh [8], West Bengal, Karnataka, Meghalaya and Delhi. In seven districts of Punjab, 86% of the private schools are unrecognized. [9]
A majority of these private unrecognized schools are operating outside the scope of policymakers’ radars. It is a “don’t ask, don’t tell” situation. Officials think of it as a fringe phenomenon. Consequently, these schools do not make it into any of the education statistics compiled by education departments.
Private schools benefit from being “unrecognized” because they save on labour costs. Teacher costs are the largest expense in the schooling sector. State governments easily spend 90% of their total budget on teachers. In contrast, private-school teachers are paid one-fifth to one-tenth of government salary levels and have more flexibility to innovate and improve learning outcomes. [10]
Studies carried out in India all share the common conclusion that private-school students outperform their government-school counterparts. For example, in a 2005 Delhi study [11], James Tooley found that children in low-budget unrecognized private schools did 246% better than government school children on a standardized English test, with around 80% higher average marks in mathematics and Hindi.
There are important lessons here for education policymakers in India. Education entrepreneurs need to be encouraged by removing rules that hinder the establishment and operation of schools in the primary, secondary and higher secondary areas of education. Competing schools will create choices for parents, improving access and quality for all. The government can then focus its limited education budget on the neediest sections of society.
Inadequate education in India is not only a funding problem but also a result of over-regulation of the school market. The burgeoning market of low-budget private schools has enormous potential to do public good.
Naveen Mandava is a doctoral fellow in Public Policy Analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School in the US. The school is part of the RAND Corporation, a non-profit research organization.
Other related and interesting studies are the following:
The regulation of private schools serving low income families in Hyderabad, India: An Austrian economic perspective
An overview of primary education in an unauthorised colony of Govindpuri, Delhi
Teacher absence in India: A snapshot
Footnotes
[1], [2], [3], [4], [10] : Public and private schools in rural India
[5], [9]: Elementary education in unrecognised schools in India: A study of Punjab
[6]: A study of unrecognised schools in Haryana
[7]: Private and public schooling: The Indian experience
[8]: Private schools for the poor: A case study from India
[11]: Private schools serving the poor: A study from Delhi, India
Distrust in the Private Sector is deeply ingrained in the Indian Bureaucratic system.
However. time and again the Private sector has proven that it can deliver and that too efficiently. The Telecom revolution is the best example. I would also like to point out the efficiently of Courier system that has mostly replaced the postal service and the Airline industry which is developing as we speak. The Private Sector also provides employment for the bulk of the population and not the government.
The Indian consumer cannot and should not be taken for granted. It demands quality and is willing to pay for the same.
The Government must realize its job is to promote and regulate. Due to its nature and manner of function it is a very poor deliverer of goods and services. It must realize the potential of the Private sector and has to encourage it beyond the normal lip service it does.
Comment by Tushar — March 9, 2007 @ 12:50 pm
Private school teachers also benefit from having students whose parents are involved in their education, arguably the most import ingredient in a child’s education.
Simply citing how much better students from private schools do on tests than students educated in public schools is like comparing apples to oranges.
Surely there is a better, more scientific method to compare the performance of public and private schools.
Comment by alphie — March 9, 2007 @ 3:24 pm
Alphie, one answer might be that school quality itself might be contributing to parental involvement. But let me pursue your true question further.
What you are talking about is selection bias. That a difference in the motivation of parents may be contributing to the learning outcomes. That would imply we are looking for a randomised experiment in India to compare the two. I dont think there are any. But let me look up and I will let you know. In any case, I would be participating in such an experiment soon and I personally am interested in the learning outcome controlling for selection bias.
Another way to think about it is to compare two samples of parents/ kids. One, who applied for government school and got through them. Two, those who applied for government school but couldnt get through because of capacity constraints of the school. One can assume both parents had similar motivation of sending their children to a government school. Now we look at the learning outcomes. That would be considering apples to nearly-apples.
Anecdotally speaking, quite a few kids in urban slums and rural areas are often the ones who applied for a government school but did not get through because of capacity constraints or went to a private school for the only reason like english medium langauge or distance factor. Going by that and the evidence collected so far, I understand that if a parent puts his child in a private school instead of a government school, learning outcomes improve. Of course, if further research proves otherwise we revise our policy prescriptions.
Comment by Naveen Mandava — March 9, 2007 @ 9:45 pm
Don’t forget that the money factor comes into play. Parents and children who don’t pay a single cent for their children’s education tend to value it less.
Make them(the parents and students) pay for it though, and the students suddenly start to pay more attention.
Singapore, where I teach, is an interesting case in point. Students in government/state schools sleep in class, don’t hand in homework etc. But put the same students in expensive private tuition centers where they have to pay for every single minute of the tutor’s time, or give them private tutors and they suddenly become paragons of industry.
Comment by The Wobbly Guy — March 10, 2007 @ 4:01 pm
I know for a fact in Bangalore, a lot of disillusioned Government school teachers and principals are taking initiative to contact private indusrialists to provide them with chairs and tables and computers. It’s good that some level of responsibility is being generated at that level. The families in my locality send their maids children to school, and all demand to be sent to private schools. However, the day the system of educational vounchers are introduced, will be a great day. Until then, we can hope emergence of civil society makes a change.
I was also considering a sort of movement where all families be encouraged and send their maids childrens to schools. Especially the girl child.
Comment by Anusha — March 11, 2007 @ 8:49 am
even though such unregulated educational cafes cater to selfish motives of their founders, we’d prefer to ignore them for the benefits they accrue to the economically lower strata of the society.
Comment by tejbir — March 11, 2007 @ 4:46 pm
Oye :)
Can you link to the study itself? (the Harvard one, and any others you’ve referred to?)
It’s too easy to play around with statistics otherwise.
But good article! I wasn’t aware of this at all…
Comment by Perakath — March 11, 2007 @ 9:02 pm
Perakath, I have provided the links. Good that you are skeptical of statistics, keep it up!
Comment by Naveen Mandava — March 12, 2007 @ 12:35 am
The Goal of all this “help” from Western organisations is to keep Indian down. Do you know what the RAND corporation is? It is an American military think tank! Even before Haliberton there was the RAND Corporation. Do you really think those American scoundrels want Indian children to be even as educated as their fat lazy children?
There are many ways that Western Organisations are working to ensure that India remains underdeveloped.
Take Global Warming for example.
Global Warming is just a lie invented by the developed Western counties out of fear of counties like India rising to economic prominence. It is the lie that the western countries have created to keep India underdeveloped.
See the truth yourself. Warn fellow Indians of what is really going on!
This video will open your eyes to the “Great White Lie” of the 21st Century to keep the world’s underdeveloped nations permanently underdeveloped and permanently a source of cheap labour.
http://greatwhitelie.notlong.com
Indians need to find out about this “Great White Lie” promoted by organisations such as the American Military Think Tank RAND Corporation. It is obvious that an American Military Think Tank has only one goal in mind when it comes to India and to the extent it is using its influence to promote the Great White Lie of why India can’t develop it needs to stop!
Anusha, China’s private schools (particularly in urban areas) are very poor in quality. The reason they are increasing at a great pace is because many children of migrant workers are not eligible to attend public schools. Also people who perform poorly in entrance exams and get placed to lower tier public schools may be forced to attend private schools to increase their chances of getting into college. There are required entrance exams for public middle schools, high schools and colleges; and placement is dependent on those scores. This makes the competition in public schools much higher than that of private schools.
The best schools in China are all public. Chinese people in the Mainland trust public schools for K-12 education, much like Jewish Americans in the US.
Wobbly Guy, Hong Kong and Singapore are poor examples. If you go visit a good public school in China, you will find no one sleeps in class. Just because the school is free doesn’t mean the students will work any less hard. Reputation of school and desire are the true motivations for working hard. The reason people sleep in Singapore’s public schools is because these people are of lower academic quality to begin with. In China, however, the most reputable schools are public, and so the incentive to work hard is just as strong as expensive private schools. Future dividend is the real incentive for working hard in school, not the current cost of education.
Comment by J. Yin — March 15, 2007 @ 1:12 am
It is good to hear of the proliferation of schools. Its high time the government get out of this school business and instead give vouchers to the poor and use its machinery for overseeing & enforcing quality in the schools. Government is good in regulating and not in running things, as we see from the poor quality of teachers we have in them. And the poor have to pay for private schools anyway and they are put in a tough situation of either not sending kids to good school or spending family fortunes on basic education.
So, the government should partner with a few identified private organizations and start pilot projects in urban areas atleast for giving free vouchers for the poor to study in the designated schools and pay the private manangement the fees. This new budget cess of few thousand crores can pay the education of millions of urban poor who spend so much for their children’s education and last but not least, it can win some votes for the government too from the urban poor. Eventually, all those fat government budget can entirely be moved to private management and the government can just focus on standard enforement.
For example, the only good thing Indian govt. does to higher education is running good examination systems like CAT, GATE & JEE and the rest is taken care by itself. So, if the government sticks to where it is good at, India can prosper to great heights.
Comment by Balaji Viswanathan — March 17, 2007 @ 12:29 pm
India should restructure the education system. The education should standardised in whole India. The examination body should be centralised so equal potential of brain will comke out.
Comment by Apnaavenue — March 29, 2007 @ 1:45 pm
[...] Michelle Boule wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptThis massive expansion of private primary schooling across India is a harbinger of the Unknown Indian Education Revolution. The survey found that more than 80% of government-school teachers send their own children to a private school. … [...]
Pingback by online » The Unknown Education Revolution in India — April 1, 2007 @ 8:53 pm
Hi Naveen,
This article is really good. Some of the comments made the discussion interesting. Prima facie, irrespective of the motivations behind, these private elementary schools for the poor seem to be doing good and have the potential to do contribute to a great degree. However, I’ve always felt that what’s done and already set-up by the governing agencies of the country can’t be ignored. Introduction private players in the market improves the quality of government owned companies too, as witnessed in various sectors. Therefore, there could be an improvement in government run schools too; what’s required perhaps is a different (innovative) approach. I wrote an article some time back on how quality of teaching/teachers can be improved in government-run schools. Would appreciate if you can go through that article.
http://profss.blogspot.com/2007/04/problem-afflicting-indian-education.html
Thanks. Hope to keep reading your posts.
Comment by Siddharth — April 20, 2007 @ 10:02 pm
I think there is more motivation for a private school to provide a quality of education that is at a higher level than that obtained at a government school full of apathy and bureaucracy.
Comment by private schools — June 15, 2007 @ 10:24 am
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So what is fuelling this extraordinary surge and what is the quality of education being imparted? The key to understanding this surge lies in the low entry barriers.
Schools need a “recognition” status so that they can issue valid “transfer certificates” to students leaving the school. But what the recognition status primarily ensures is that teachers are paid according to relatively high government salary scales.
In reality, a primary school doesn’t strictly need “recognition” from the state to start business. Also, rural schools don’t read too much into the transfer certificate. So the rural market for primary education is comparatively unregulated vis-à-vis to secondary education. This is similar to the software industry in India. The government’s light regulation of the sector helped it become an engine of growth.
It is not just the rural rich who are moving to private schools. Studies have found that a large mass of parents are shifting because of the low quality of government education, and concern for their children’s future.
Regulatory gaps and dissatisfaction with government schools are the key factors driving the demand for private schooling. There is already evidence of such a surge in Punjab [5], Haryana [6], Uttar Pradesh [7], Andhra Pradesh [8], West Bengal, Karnataka, Meghalaya and Delhi. In seven districts of Punjab, 86% of the private schools are unrecognized. [9]
A majority of these private unrecognized schools are operating outside the scope of policymakers’ radars. It is a “don’t ask, don’t tell” situation. Officials think of it as a fringe phenomenon. Consequently, these schools do not make it into any of the education statistics compiled by education departments.
Private schools benefit from being “unrecognized” because they save on labour costs. Teacher costs are the largest expense in the schooling sector. State governments easily spend 90% of their total budget on teachers. In contrast, private-school teachers are paid one-fifth to one-tenth of government salary levels and have more flexibility to innovate and improve learning outcomes. [10]
Studies carried out in India all share the common conclusion that private-school students outperform their government-school counterparts. For example, in a 2005 Delhi study [11], James Tooley found that children in low-budget unrecognized private schools did 246% better than government school children on a standardized English test, with around 80% higher average marks in mathematics and Hindi.
There are important lessons here for education policymakers in India. Education entrepreneurs need to be encouraged by removing rules that hinder the establishment and operation of schools in the primary, secondary and higher secondary areas of education. Competing schools will create choices for parents, improving access and quality for all. The government can then focus its limited education budget on the neediest sections of society.
Inadequate education in India is not only a funding problem but also a result of over-regulation of the school market. The burgeoning market of low-budget private schools has enormous potential to do public good.
Naveen Mandava is a doctoral fellow in Public Policy Analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School in the US. The school is part of the RAND Corporation, a non-profit research organization.
Other related and interesting studies are the following:
The regulation of private schools serving low income families in Hyderabad, India: An Austrian economic perspective
An overview of primary education in an unauthorised colony of Govindpuri, Delhi
Teacher absence in India: A snapshot
Footnotes
[1], [2], [3], [4], [10] : Public and private schools in rural India
[5], [9]: Elementary education in unrecognised schools in India: A study of Punjab
[6]: A study of unrecognised schools in Haryana
[7]: Private and public schooling: The Indian experience
[8]: Private schools for the poor: A case study from India
[11]: Private schools serving the poor: A study from Delhi, India
Distrust in the Private Sector is deeply ingrained in the Indian Bureaucratic system.
However. time and again the Private sector has proven that it can deliver and that too efficiently. The Telecom revolution is the best example. I would also like to point out the efficiently of Courier system that has mostly replaced the postal service and the Airline industry which is developing as we speak. The Private Sector also provides employment for the bulk of the population and not the government.
The Indian consumer cannot and should not be taken for granted. It demands quality and is willing to pay for the same.
The Government must realize its job is to promote and regulate. Due to its nature and manner of function it is a very poor deliverer of goods and services. It must realize the potential of the Private sector and has to encourage it beyond the normal lip service it does.
Comment by Tushar — March 9, 2007 @ 12:50 pm
Private school teachers also benefit from having students whose parents are involved in their education, arguably the most import ingredient in a child’s education.
Simply citing how much better students from private schools do on tests than students educated in public schools is like comparing apples to oranges.
Surely there is a better, more scientific method to compare the performance of public and private schools.
Comment by alphie — March 9, 2007 @ 3:24 pm
Alphie, one answer might be that school quality itself might be contributing to parental involvement. But let me pursue your true question further.
What you are talking about is selection bias. That a difference in the motivation of parents may be contributing to the learning outcomes. That would imply we are looking for a randomised experiment in India to compare the two. I dont think there are any. But let me look up and I will let you know. In any case, I would be participating in such an experiment soon and I personally am interested in the learning outcome controlling for selection bias.
Another way to think about it is to compare two samples of parents/ kids. One, who applied for government school and got through them. Two, those who applied for government school but couldnt get through because of capacity constraints of the school. One can assume both parents had similar motivation of sending their children to a government school. Now we look at the learning outcomes. That would be considering apples to nearly-apples.
Anecdotally speaking, quite a few kids in urban slums and rural areas are often the ones who applied for a government school but did not get through because of capacity constraints or went to a private school for the only reason like english medium langauge or distance factor. Going by that and the evidence collected so far, I understand that if a parent puts his child in a private school instead of a government school, learning outcomes improve. Of course, if further research proves otherwise we revise our policy prescriptions.
Comment by Naveen Mandava — March 9, 2007 @ 9:45 pm
Don’t forget that the money factor comes into play. Parents and children who don’t pay a single cent for their children’s education tend to value it less.
Make them(the parents and students) pay for it though, and the students suddenly start to pay more attention.
Singapore, where I teach, is an interesting case in point. Students in government/state schools sleep in class, don’t hand in homework etc. But put the same students in expensive private tuition centers where they have to pay for every single minute of the tutor’s time, or give them private tutors and they suddenly become paragons of industry.
Comment by The Wobbly Guy — March 10, 2007 @ 4:01 pm
I know for a fact in Bangalore, a lot of disillusioned Government school teachers and principals are taking initiative to contact private indusrialists to provide them with chairs and tables and computers. It’s good that some level of responsibility is being generated at that level. The families in my locality send their maids children to school, and all demand to be sent to private schools. However, the day the system of educational vounchers are introduced, will be a great day. Until then, we can hope emergence of civil society makes a change.
I was also considering a sort of movement where all families be encouraged and send their maids childrens to schools. Especially the girl child.
Comment by Anusha — March 11, 2007 @ 8:49 am
even though such unregulated educational cafes cater to selfish motives of their founders, we’d prefer to ignore them for the benefits they accrue to the economically lower strata of the society.
Comment by tejbir — March 11, 2007 @ 4:46 pm
Oye :)
Can you link to the study itself? (the Harvard one, and any others you’ve referred to?)
It’s too easy to play around with statistics otherwise.
But good article! I wasn’t aware of this at all…
Comment by Perakath — March 11, 2007 @ 9:02 pm
Perakath, I have provided the links. Good that you are skeptical of statistics, keep it up!
Comment by Naveen Mandava — March 12, 2007 @ 12:35 am
The Goal of all this “help” from Western organisations is to keep Indian down. Do you know what the RAND corporation is? It is an American military think tank! Even before Haliberton there was the RAND Corporation. Do you really think those American scoundrels want Indian children to be even as educated as their fat lazy children?
There are many ways that Western Organisations are working to ensure that India remains underdeveloped.
Take Global Warming for example.
Global Warming is just a lie invented by the developed Western counties out of fear of counties like India rising to economic prominence. It is the lie that the western countries have created to keep India underdeveloped.
See the truth yourself. Warn fellow Indians of what is really going on!
This video will open your eyes to the “Great White Lie” of the 21st Century to keep the world’s underdeveloped nations permanently underdeveloped and permanently a source of cheap labour.
http://greatwhitelie.notlong.com
Indians need to find out about this “Great White Lie” promoted by organisations such as the American Military Think Tank RAND Corporation. It is obvious that an American Military Think Tank has only one goal in mind when it comes to India and to the extent it is using its influence to promote the Great White Lie of why India can’t develop it needs to stop!
Anusha, China’s private schools (particularly in urban areas) are very poor in quality. The reason they are increasing at a great pace is because many children of migrant workers are not eligible to attend public schools. Also people who perform poorly in entrance exams and get placed to lower tier public schools may be forced to attend private schools to increase their chances of getting into college. There are required entrance exams for public middle schools, high schools and colleges; and placement is dependent on those scores. This makes the competition in public schools much higher than that of private schools.
The best schools in China are all public. Chinese people in the Mainland trust public schools for K-12 education, much like Jewish Americans in the US.
Wobbly Guy, Hong Kong and Singapore are poor examples. If you go visit a good public school in China, you will find no one sleeps in class. Just because the school is free doesn’t mean the students will work any less hard. Reputation of school and desire are the true motivations for working hard. The reason people sleep in Singapore’s public schools is because these people are of lower academic quality to begin with. In China, however, the most reputable schools are public, and so the incentive to work hard is just as strong as expensive private schools. Future dividend is the real incentive for working hard in school, not the current cost of education.
Comment by J. Yin — March 15, 2007 @ 1:12 am
It is good to hear of the proliferation of schools. Its high time the government get out of this school business and instead give vouchers to the poor and use its machinery for overseeing & enforcing quality in the schools. Government is good in regulating and not in running things, as we see from the poor quality of teachers we have in them. And the poor have to pay for private schools anyway and they are put in a tough situation of either not sending kids to good school or spending family fortunes on basic education.
So, the government should partner with a few identified private organizations and start pilot projects in urban areas atleast for giving free vouchers for the poor to study in the designated schools and pay the private manangement the fees. This new budget cess of few thousand crores can pay the education of millions of urban poor who spend so much for their children’s education and last but not least, it can win some votes for the government too from the urban poor. Eventually, all those fat government budget can entirely be moved to private management and the government can just focus on standard enforement.
For example, the only good thing Indian govt. does to higher education is running good examination systems like CAT, GATE & JEE and the rest is taken care by itself. So, if the government sticks to where it is good at, India can prosper to great heights.
Comment by Balaji Viswanathan — March 17, 2007 @ 12:29 pm
India should restructure the education system. The education should standardised in whole India. The examination body should be centralised so equal potential of brain will comke out.
Comment by Apnaavenue — March 29, 2007 @ 1:45 pm
[...] Michelle Boule wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptThis massive expansion of private primary schooling across India is a harbinger of the Unknown Indian Education Revolution. The survey found that more than 80% of government-school teachers send their own children to a private school. … [...]
Pingback by online » The Unknown Education Revolution in India — April 1, 2007 @ 8:53 pm
Hi Naveen,
This article is really good. Some of the comments made the discussion interesting. Prima facie, irrespective of the motivations behind, these private elementary schools for the poor seem to be doing good and have the potential to do contribute to a great degree. However, I’ve always felt that what’s done and already set-up by the governing agencies of the country can’t be ignored. Introduction private players in the market improves the quality of government owned companies too, as witnessed in various sectors. Therefore, there could be an improvement in government run schools too; what’s required perhaps is a different (innovative) approach. I wrote an article some time back on how quality of teaching/teachers can be improved in government-run schools. Would appreciate if you can go through that article.
http://profss.blogspot.com/2007/04/problem-afflicting-indian-education.html
Thanks. Hope to keep reading your posts.
Comment by Siddharth — April 20, 2007 @ 10:02 pm
I think there is more motivation for a private school to provide a quality of education that is at a higher level than that obtained at a government school full of apathy and bureaucracy.
Comment by private schools — June 15, 2007 @ 10:24 am
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL
join hands with us in all possible ways.Experience this educational revolution in India with National Network of Education’s Mission Education.
join hands with us in all possible ways. While the information seekers may freely use the services of NNE – we welcome everyone, particularly the Academicians, to contribute their works and creations through NNE’s platform so that everyone can make effective use of them.
Experience this educational revolution in India with National Network of Education’s Mission Education.
Experience this educational revolution in India with National Network of Education’s Mission Education.
A titanic mission like this can never be accomplished single-handedly. To be able to achieve this dream we invite everyone to join hands with us in al
A titanic mission like this can never be accomplished single-handedly. To be able to achieve this dream we invite everyone to join hands with us in all possible ways. While the information seekers may freely use the services of NNE – we welcome everyone, particularly the Academicians, to contribute their works and creations through NNE’s platform so that everyone can make effective use of them.
Experience this educational revolution in India with National Network of Education’s Mission Education.
Experience this educational revolution in India with National Network of Education’s Mission Education.
and thereby realizing the dream of India as the jewel in the crown of developed countries.
and thereby realizing the dream of India as the jewel in the crown of developed countries.
A titanic mission like this can never be accomplished single-handedly. To be able to achieve this dream we invite everyone to join hands with us in all possible ways. While the information seekers may freely use the services of NNE – we welcome everyone, particularly the Academicians, to contribute their works and creations through NNE’s platform so that everyone can make effective use of them.
Experience this educational revolution in India with National Network of Education’s Mission Education.
A titanic mission like this can never be accomplished single-handedly. To be able to achieve this dream we invite everyone to join hands with us in all possible ways. While the information seekers may freely use the services of NNE – we welcome everyone, particularly the Academicians, to contribute their works and creations through NNE’s platform so that everyone can make effective use of them.
Experience this educational revolution in India with National Network of Education’s Mission Education.
National Network of Education’s Mission Education is solely dedicated to this cause of human capital development
National Network of Education’s Mission Education is solely dedicated to this cause of human capital development and thereby realizing the dream of India as the jewel in the crown of developed countries.
A titanic mission like this can never be accomplished single-handedly. To be able to achieve this dream we invite everyone to join hands with us in all possible ways. While the information seekers may freely use the services of NNE – we welcome everyone, particularly the Academicians, to contribute their works and creations through NNE’s platform so that everyone can make effective use of them.
Experience this educational revolution in India with National Network of Education’s Mission Education.
A titanic mission like this can never be accomplished single-handedly. To be able to achieve this dream we invite everyone to join hands with us in all possible ways. While the information seekers may freely use the services of NNE – we welcome everyone, particularly the Academicians, to contribute their works and creations through NNE’s platform so that everyone can make effective use of them.
Experience this educational revolution in India with National Network of Education’s Mission Education.
The core question for India is how to cultivate human capital needed for its overall development.
The core question for India is how to cultivate human capital needed for its overall development. National Network of Education’s Mission Education is solely dedicated to this cause of human capital development and thereby realizing the dream of India as the jewel in the crown of developed countries.
A titanic mission like this can never be accomplished single-handedly. To be able to achieve this dream we invite everyone to join hands with us in all possible ways. While the information seekers may freely use the services of NNE – we welcome everyone, particularly the Academicians, to contribute their works and creations through NNE’s platform so that everyone can make effective use of them.
Experience this educational revolution in India with National Network of Education’s Mission Education.
A titanic mission like this can never be accomplished single-handedly. To be able to achieve this dream we invite everyone to join hands with us in all possible ways. While the information seekers may freely use the services of NNE – we welcome everyone, particularly the Academicians, to contribute their works and creations through NNE’s platform so that everyone can make effective use of them.
Experience this educational revolution in India with National Network of Education’s Mission Education.
India – with its strong intellectual capital base- has been able to make its presence felt in the modern Information Technology age.
India – with its strong intellectual capital base- has been able to make its presence felt in the modern Information Technology age. But this 1 billion plus population country still has a long way to go to be aligned with the Developed Nations.
Mission Education/Advent of Internet n other technological advancements have opened up a whole new world of economies in d 20th Century Global Village
Mission Education
Advent of Internet and other technological advancements have opened up a whole new world of economies in the 20th Century Global Village. India – with its strong intellectual capital base- has been able to make its presence felt in the modern Information Technology age. But this 1 billion plus population country still has a long way to go to be aligned with the Developed Nations.
Development of a Nation is intrinsically related with its Technological growth and an educated and healthy human capital. To excel and meet the challenges in the knowledge-based economy of the twenty-first century global village, India, too, needs to develop its Human Capital. Alongside infrastructural development, Indian Human Capital has to be nurtured and developed to achieve a sustainable competitive edge.
Education and training are the most important investments in human capital. However, imparting the right kind of education – for a vast, varied and densely populated country like India - definitely poses a serious challenge. In this Information Society, educational uses of the Internet are burgeoning as it is overcoming the barriers of time and space in teaching and learning. Innumerable portals and sites are coming up with the claim of providing educational support and information. However, no concerted effort was ever taken up by any one to provide complete educational solution for the total academic gamut of the country.
This challenge has been taken up by National Network of Education (NNE), a project of Pragati Infosoft Pvt. Ltd. NNE’s Mission Education is spearheading a major educational revolution in India. NNE brings with it 46 Educational Portals to cover every facet of education in the entire country with a dedicated portal for every state, union territory, and all metro and major cities. This is the only network of its kind in India offering both generic and specific information related to the entire gamut of educational system in the country. It brings within its purview each and every aspect of the Indian educational community i.e. students, teachers, parents, guardians, schools, colleges, institutions, Government and corporate houses. The primary objective of the entire network is to provide free access to the latest, updated educational information and academic solutions to everyone at the mere click of a mouse.
Besides being equipped with the latest and all-inclusive educational information base, NNE also provides unparallel academic solutions through its exclusive interactive services like Career Counselling, Career Quest and Forums etc. NNE’s Mission Education pioneered the launch of www.indiaedunews.net - a dedicated News portal providing latest updates about the world of education. NNE endeavours to provide all possible informative and interactive educational help and solutions to catalyse our national quest of education and development.
The core question for India is how to cultivate human capital needed for its overall development. National Network of Education’s Mission Education is solely dedicated to this cause of human capital development and thereby realizing the dream of India as the jewel in the crown of developed countries.
A titanic mission like this can never be accomplished single-handedly. To be able to achieve this dream we invite everyone to join hands with us in all possible ways. While the information seekers may freely use the services of NNE – we welcome everyone, particularly the Academicians, to contribute their works and creations through NNE’s platform so that everyone can make effective use of them.
Experience this educational revolution in India with National Network of Education’s Mission Education.
Please visit our Important Sections’ Sitemap to see NNE’s coverage
Advent of Internet and other technological advancements have opened up a whole new world of economies in the 20th Century Global Village. India – with its strong intellectual capital base- has been able to make its presence felt in the modern Information Technology age. But this 1 billion plus population country still has a long way to go to be aligned with the Developed Nations.
Development of a Nation is intrinsically related with its Technological growth and an educated and healthy human capital. To excel and meet the challenges in the knowledge-based economy of the twenty-first century global village, India, too, needs to develop its Human Capital. Alongside infrastructural development, Indian Human Capital has to be nurtured and developed to achieve a sustainable competitive edge.
Education and training are the most important investments in human capital. However, imparting the right kind of education – for a vast, varied and densely populated country like India - definitely poses a serious challenge. In this Information Society, educational uses of the Internet are burgeoning as it is overcoming the barriers of time and space in teaching and learning. Innumerable portals and sites are coming up with the claim of providing educational support and information. However, no concerted effort was ever taken up by any one to provide complete educational solution for the total academic gamut of the country.
This challenge has been taken up by National Network of Education (NNE), a project of Pragati Infosoft Pvt. Ltd. NNE’s Mission Education is spearheading a major educational revolution in India. NNE brings with it 46 Educational Portals to cover every facet of education in the entire country with a dedicated portal for every state, union territory, and all metro and major cities. This is the only network of its kind in India offering both generic and specific information related to the entire gamut of educational system in the country. It brings within its purview each and every aspect of the Indian educational community i.e. students, teachers, parents, guardians, schools, colleges, institutions, Government and corporate houses. The primary objective of the entire network is to provide free access to the latest, updated educational information and academic solutions to everyone at the mere click of a mouse.
Besides being equipped with the latest and all-inclusive educational information base, NNE also provides unparallel academic solutions through its exclusive interactive services like Career Counselling, Career Quest and Forums etc. NNE’s Mission Education pioneered the launch of www.indiaedunews.net - a dedicated News portal providing latest updates about the world of education. NNE endeavours to provide all possible informative and interactive educational help and solutions to catalyse our national quest of education and development.
The core question for India is how to cultivate human capital needed for its overall development. National Network of Education’s Mission Education is solely dedicated to this cause of human capital development and thereby realizing the dream of India as the jewel in the crown of developed countries.
A titanic mission like this can never be accomplished single-handedly. To be able to achieve this dream we invite everyone to join hands with us in all possible ways. While the information seekers may freely use the services of NNE – we welcome everyone, particularly the Academicians, to contribute their works and creations through NNE’s platform so that everyone can make effective use of them.
Experience this educational revolution in India with National Network of Education’s Mission Education.
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