Re: [Assam] ToI Blog

Sat, 04 Feb 2006 12:36:54 -0800

Rajen-da,
 
I had listed out some standards which are currently used in Jan 20, 2006 post: http://www.mail-archive.com/assam%40assamnet.org/msg03113.html .
 
Here is the history and context of 1840s-50s system in USA which became a model for other nations-and what was the purpose of schooling then.
 
Umesh 
 
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_1741500823_15/United_States_(History).html
 
"The most pervasive and enduring result of these movements was a system of tax–supported public schools. The great school reformers were Northern Whigs such as Horace Mann of Massachusetts and Calvin Stowe of Ohio (husband of novelist Harriet Beecher Stowe). They proposed public school systems that were centralized at the state level and that made attendance mandatory. These schools were geared to teaching patriotism, manners, and civility, along with reading, writing, and arithmetic.
Among Whig reformers, the goal of public schools was to build character in individual students. Ultimately, reformers wished to make a perfect society by filling it with perfect individuals. Democrats supported the schools, but saw them as a means of providing equal opportunity to all whites. Democrats, and Southerners from both parties, also tended to support local control over schools, to favor shorter school years, and to make efforts to keep taxes low."
 
"By the 1850s, before we had compulsory, government-controlled public schools, child and adult literacy rates averaged over 90 percent, making illiteracy rates less than 10 percent. By 1850, literacy rates in Massachusetts and other New England States, for both men and women, was close to 97 percent. This was before Massachusetts created the first compulsory public-school system in America in 1852. " http://www.newswithviews.com/Turtel/joel4.htm
 
 
Horace Mann: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace_Mann 

Barua25 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Umesh:
Can you throw more light on the "introduction of public education system in 1840s in Boston -- aimed at mainly teaching democratic values and practices to strengthen the nation - was instrumental in USA's surviving the civil war in 1860s and emerging stronger"
How can you start the same thing in India?
Can you dig out some model of this education system, how they did it?
Any text material that we can adopt?
Rajenda
.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, February 04, 2006 1:14 PM
Subject: Re: [Assam] ToI Blog

I would add that in USA the introduction of public education system in 1840s in Boston -- aimed at mainly teaching democratic values and practices to strengthen the nation - was instrumental in USA's surviving the civil war in 1860s and emerging stronger.
 
India has a third of world's entire adult illiterate population (who go on to vote without knowing anything) and a third of entire world's children out of school. India's public education system is rotten (though in last year's seminar at Harvard - Ms Wolfenson wife of World Bank pres. then - was all praise for Indian initiatives) and is key to its emergence as a proper democracy.
 
Umesh

Barua25 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
I hope people will see what the article is trying to say. Basically it says that 'People get the govt it deserves" . And that speaks very poorly about us all Indians, about all Assamese, if we really belive that we have an elected dictatorship..
 
To be a strong democracy, people will have to be courageous. The democracy in the west is strong is exactly for this reason. They love freedom and have to couurage to fight and die for their freedom. Compared to that Indians as depicted by the article are cowards. They are afraid of their MLAs and MPs and they cannot say anything against them.
 
Now some will argue that no, it is the system. not the people. I say to them that it is the people who made the system.
RB 
----------------------

India is an Elected Dictatorship

Is India a democratic nation? Everyone says so. “India is the largest democracy in the world”. Really? Yes, we do have by-and-large free elections (except in Goonda areas, ask Taslumuddin, Shibu Soren….). Yes, we have never had a military coup. But does that mean we have democracy? This question has puzzled me for a while as I have never felt India practices democracy. Whenever I am in India, I am scared of police while here in USA I feel absolutely safe. While thinking a bit today I finally discovered the answer I was looking for: India is an “elected dictatorship”. Think about it: can you ever conceive going against a local MLA or MP? Have you read any newspaper ever criticizing any MLA, MP, Minister……? What happened to Tehelka.com when they took on some members of the Govt? They were lucky they took on the modest Vajpayee Govt; had they gone against Indira Gandhi or Rajeev Gandhi…..Tehelka.com would have been closed and Tehelka journalists would be behind bars on some trumped up charges. How come no FIR was ever filed for several years against Rajeev Gandhi when he was alive? (An FIR was filed after Rajeev Gandhi was murdered and Congress Govt. lost power). In a democracy with people on top, an FIR would have been filed immediately; however Rajeev Gandhi being a dictator no one dared touch him. Rajeev was an elected dictator. Everyone knows that in Delhi every day there must be happening hundreds of thousands of big bribe transactions. One million Govt. folks there X one big bribe transaction minimum every tenth day (more likely every day) = 100,000 bribe transactions every day. How many of these do you see reported in newspapers every day? If you are lucky, may be one in a month. How come so few ever get reported? Answer: Because our journalists are afraid of their life. If this were happening in USA, the journalists would be having a field day.
 
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chan Mahanta" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Friday, February 03, 2006 9:46 PM
Subject: [Assam] ToI Blog

> http://o3.indiatimes.com/devi_gowda_and_infosys/archive/2006/02/03/449137.aspx#Comments
>
> _______________________________________________
> assam mailing list
> [email protected]
> http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
> _______________________________________________
assam mailing list
[email protected]
http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org



Umesh Sharma
5121 Lackawanna ST
College Park, MD 20740

1-202-215-4328 [Cell Phone]

Ed.M. - International Education Policy
Harvard Graduate School of Education,
Harvard University,
Class of 2005
Can't remember an address in your address book? Enter the first few letters and Address AutoComplete will automatically finish it. Get Yahoo! Mail



Umesh Sharma
5121 Lackawanna ST
College Park, MD 20740

1-202-215-4328 [Cell Phone]

Ed.M. - International Education Policy
Harvard Graduate School of Education,
Harvard University,
Class of 2005

Yahoo! Cars NEW - sell your car and browse thousands of new and used cars online search now 
_______________________________________________
assam mailing list
[email protected]
http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org

Reply via email to