I agree with you Ram-da whole-heartedly. Anyway I wonder why English literacy is any indicator of Indian's development thru education --when the whole world is merely content with learning their own language.
Umesh --- Ram Sarangapani <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > C'da, > > This is a little worrying. One would have expected > the big K to be far > better than the Bimaru states. > > >According to the report, Karnataka ranks much below > even >'Bimaru' states > like Bihar and Chhattisgarh on the learning >index. > > I sincerely want to believe this story, but > unfortuantely, I also seriously > doubt anything fruitful comes out of state like > Bihar. Been to the > Godforsaken place a couple of times, and I would > find it difficult to > believe that stuff like "stats" are not actually > made up or at the very > least accurate. > > Writing or speaking English is just not there. They > my know Hindi and > Bojhpuri very well, but without an iota of English, > we all know, there would > be serious limitations. > > I am not saying Karnataka doesn't have problems in > education (or in other > areas) - but if I were a betting man, I would place > my bets on the Big K any > day over Bihar. > > --Ram > > On 9/22/06, Chan Mahanta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > > > This in the land of Bangalore? > > > > cm > > > > > > > > > > > > The A,B,C Abyss > > > > Karnataka's primary school education has bottomed > out > > > > SUGATA SRINIVASARAJU > > K For Can't > > * Karnataka ranks below Bimaru states > on learning index > > * Ranks fourth from bottom in reading > abilities, and is > > at the bottom in math skills > > * 52.9% kids in 7-10 age group can't > read a simple paragraph > > * The problem is common to > government/private schools > > Following the International Literacy Day jamboree > on September 8, the > > coalition government here has been taking out huge > ads trumpeting its > > achievements in the area of primary and secondary > education. If the > > propaganda machine is to be believed, the > JD(S)-BJP coalition has > > released Rs 5,103 crore for the education sector. > > > > The funding and intentions seem impressive. But > data thrown up in the > > latest Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) > India for rural > > Karnataka tells a rather different, grim story. A > survey covering > > 15,628 children in 540 villages and 534 schools > across the state's 27 > > districts found that 52.9 per cent of the children > in the 7-10 age > > group can't read even a simple small paragraph > (Level 1) and 72.5 per > > cent cannot read a story (Level 2). And 59.7 per > cent cannot solve > > numerical sums of subtraction and 90.6 per cent > cannot do simple > > division. > > > > While the all-India statistics spelled out in the > ASER India report > > is itself worrisome, the Karnataka data is > shocking. The report is a > > coordinated effort of Pratham Resource Centre with > hundreds of ngos > > working in the education sector across the nation. > In Karnataka, the > > survey was supported by 18 organisations, > including the Azim Premji > > Foundation. > > > > According to the report, Karnataka ranks much > below even 'Bimaru' > > states like Bihar and Chhattisgarh on the learning > index. Bihar fares > > badly when it comes to school infrastructure, > out-of-school-children > > percentage and access to learning material, but > its children manage > > to top the nation's list when it comes to learning > abilities. This > > when out-of-school-children percentage was highest > in the country at > > 13.5 per cent, while Karnataka's was just 1.9 per > cent. Only about > > 52.4 per cent had access to textbooks in the > eastern state's primary > > schools, but in Karnataka nearly 90 per cent had > access. Yet, when it > > came to learning skills, Bihar's children came in > fifth in the > > country for reading skills and third for their > arithmetic skills. > > Karnataka occupied fourth place from the bottom > when it came to > > reading and took the last place in the country > when it came to > > arithmetic skills! > > > > "The huge surprise is that the situation in > Karnataka, TN and Gujarat > > is far worse than Bihar and Chhattisgarh.... The > situation with > > respect to mathematics is also alarming. IT hub > Karnataka needs to > > seriously think about the way mathematics is > taught in > > schools-government as well as private...," says > the report. > > > > The ASER data makes the feelgood nature of the > state propaganda on > > school education seem a bit bizarre. The > government has declared its > > intention to achieve 85 per cent literacy in the > state by 2007. But > > what about the quality of education imparted? If > schoolkids at > > primary level are not picking up basic reading or > math skills, what > > hope for the future when the syllabus gets > tougher? > > > > So is all the money the government is spending > going down the drain? > > Bhamy Shenoy, trustee of Pratham (Mysore) who > helped put the ASER > > report together, isn't optimistic: "This data > would've made headlines > > in any civilised country. Surprisingly, there is > neither a mention > > nor a statement by our state leadership." > Karnataka education > > minister Basavaraj Horatti, busy attending > literacy rallies in rural > > areas, was unavailable for comment. > > > > _______________________________________________ > > 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 USA Current temp. address: 5649 Yalta Place , Vancouver, Canada 1-202-215-4328 [Cell Phone] Canada # (607) 221-9433 Ed.M. - International Education Policy Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, Class of 2005 weblog: http://jaipurschool.bihu.in/ ___________________________________________________________ Win tickets to the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany with Yahoo! 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