About ICSE Syllabus in India...

[lordstanher]

Personally, I will NOT put "my" children in a co-ed either for school or even college if the city in question is Bangalore, knowing about student lifestyles there and the influence of the callcenter boom

Um......pardon my ignorance but how wud the call centre boom influence schoolkids?? Surely kids tat young don't work in them?? The min. age I heard was 12th/plus 2 pass......
Neways, I do agree w/ u abt the youth lifestyle in B'lore.......but I thot tat Del/Bbay r the same.....even more cosmo. in fact??
As for me, it depends on wat kids I hav! If I've a daughter, I wudn't mind her attending co-ed until say 6th or 7th (b4 teenage), which shud be safe enuff...... after which I'd put her in a girls' only school & of course college......

I'd prefer to have the intermingling of sexes in a familial/friends' circle environment. But thats only me

Nope, tats me too!

[rajraj]

hehehewalrus/lordstanher,

Are there schools that promote/develop individual thinking and creativity? Most of the schools seem to promote 'rote learning' to do well in examinations!

[hehehewalrus]

Um......pardon my ignorance but how wud the call centre boom influence schoolkids?? Surely kids tat young don't work in them?? The min. age I heard was 12th/plus 2 pass......

I mentioned the callcenter industry for the foll reasons:
1) During my time in school, most of us were unsure of a future in engineering, so we slogged like hell. There were no time for fooling around. No, the number of colleges have multiplied 10 fold and everyone who leaves school can take for granted that he will be an engineer. The seriousness of school life is lost.
2) Secondly, callcenters provide employment for all graduates. Gone are the days when a commerce/arts student dreaded his lack of opportunities for employment. So basically, one can be a smooth-talking Casanova in his college days and still strike it rich in the callcenter industry

Neways, I do agree w/ u abt the youth lifestyle in B'lore.......but I thot tat Del/Bbay r the same.....even more cosmo. in fact??

Though Del/Bbay are wilder, they are not cash-rich cities like Bangalore and IT jobs are tough. Besides the exhorbitant cost of living means that youngsters there have to sweat to survive. You dont get that many opportunities to fool around, because getting a job and buying a 1 bedroom house will be a great achievement in itself.

As for me, it depends on wat kids I hav! If I've a daughter, I wudn't mind her attending co-ed until say 6th or 7th (b4 teenage), which shud be safe enuff...... after which I'd put her in a girls' only school & of course college......

As for me, if i've a daughter, all her schooling will be in one of the Ramakrishna Mutt schools and college in Meenakshi College only
Not even thinking of the women's colleges like Vaishnav, Stella Maris, Queen Marys...I heard reliable insider info that there is increasing lesbianism catching on in Stella and other unisex colls of conservative chennai.

[Thiru]

well, both my sister and BIL are working and have a tight schedule and they have 2 daughters (one 10 years old and the other 4 years old)..my sis comes home from office at 6 pm and my BIL is always late (anytime between 7.30 to 10)..and he cant give up his TV watching europen soccer.. now my sister wants her elder daughter to be a jack of all trades.. she has enrolled her for music class, dance class, swimming, abacus (some maths class) etc... she also wants her to play and therefore lets her play badminton.... and ofcourse being 10 years old, my neice wants to watch cartoon network and play games on the PC as well.. With all these things, my sister is worried about her daughter's grades... I've told her several times that she has to draw a line on what she can do and what she cant.. if she spends the rest of the evening with her elder kid, then the second kid feels left out... and ofcourse there are household duties like cooking, cleaning and shopping... Either she has to quit her job (a bank job which is tough to get) or cut some of my neice's activities... Its easily said than done.. every parents aspiration is for their kids to be good in everything... Parents in the US are good in this aspect that they dont put the kid through everything... They tend to judge by the kids interest and involvment and go with that.. People in India have to realize that.... They have to make the kids realize that there is a future in everything.. The problem in India is that there is a such a gap in salary between the professionals(doctors, s/w people, Chartered accounts) and the non-professionals (clerks, officers) that people tend to enforce that the only way to make money is to be a professional... There is a similar gap here in the US too but thats not noticeable when you are respected and paid enough for that profession...

[hehehewalrus]

Well, sorry if I'd gone a bit overboard/carried away into the 'moral policing' bit there!

No I didnt hint that you went overboard. I was just taking an insurance helmet for myself so that no one accuses me of straying from the topic

Are there schools that promote/develop individual thinking and creativity? Most of the schools seem to promote 'rote learning' to do well in examinations!

Rajraj, i dont know about other states, but in TN parents and educators follow the safety-first approach which is to seek out an admission into a professional course. As you may be aware of the Landmark decision of the TN CM to do away with the Entrance Exam in Tamil Nadu - the people most affected are the 50 crore worth "teaching shops" which run rigourous crash courses for the entrance tests. [In AP too, there are these IIT prep trainers like Narayana Institute which are into this industry. Atleast they are much much better than their TN counterparts ]. There is really no time to 'experiment'.

The other thing is that, the responsibility of teaching is solely left to the educators, parents absolve themselves of all responsibilities and no one looks at the home as a stage for learning. Personality development and cultural values are given the short shrift and as a result youngsters learn values only from their peers. There was a phase during my time that it was 'uncool' to be seen shopping/outing around with one's parents, dont know if that idea still holds today!

[rajraj]

Thanks hehehewalrus! I asked that question because I have been asked many times why India has not produced more Nobel prize winners. I think it has to do with the school system that relies on rote learning. The number of bright children who go for pure sciences is also dwindling. Even though India has a large talent pool it does not show up in prestigious awards and patent filing.
I think it is about time people thought about revising the system drastically.

[lordstanher]

Are there schools that promote/develop individual thinking and creativity?

A very thought-provoking qsn. indeed! And I now rem. asking myself this qsn. too, partic. when I was in Inter/Jr. college.....
And to this day I havn't found a definite answer so far.......?
Even in most of the reputed schools I can think of, they seem to encourage individual thinking & creativity only in the KG/primary students (w/ all the play/activity tat goes on in their classes)......!

Most of the schools seem to promote 'rote learning' to do well in examinations!

And most parents, as I said, go hand-in-hand w/ them in this!

[napolims445]

walrus,
no i'm not from dharwad...

[hehehewalrus]

The number of bright children who go for pure sciences is also dwindling. Even though India has a large talent pool it does not show up in prestigious awards and patent filing.

Rajraj, here is a telling example of what you pointed out:
http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems...%20Nadu&Page=T

2 girls wrote this award winning Botany paper in their XI std. Currently they are pursuing IT.

[lordstanher]

1) During my time in school, most of us were unsure of a future in engineering, so we slogged like hell. There were no time for fooling around. No, the number of colleges have multiplied 10 fold and everyone who leaves school can take for granted that he will be an engineer. The seriousness of school life is lost.

This is very much true.......aside, many who take it for granted tat they'll become an engineer don't even really seem to hav a clear idea of the field w/ respect to their own interests/likes......ie, every tom/dick/harry (even among girls) today just automatically say they r going to do engg......they're just like blindly running the rat race (at the end of which one remains a rat!)....

Secondly, callcenters provide employment for all graduates. Gone are the days when a commerce/arts student dreaded his lack of opportunities for employment. So basically, one can be a smooth-talking Casanova in his college days and still strike it rich in the callcenter industry

Hmm.....well, I'm currently pursuing B.A. in English (tat too via IGNOU) and yes, ppl. did suggest tat I work for a call centre, citing my proficency in English......but I was reluctant, despite the fact tat I cud've made a lot of money in this job, mainly 'cos in my heart of hearts, I wasn't int'd in the nature of work in ccs....(also heard from reliable sources abt the um- happenings inside most call centres.....esp. during night shifts! )....
Nevertheless I've been able to apply for a part-time job teaching spoken English here, alongside completing my grad.
Of course the pay is low but the imp. thing is its a job tat I like doing & am capable of doing on my own.....besides, I still hav 50+ yrs to build up on the money issue......so I don't want to blindly chase cash w/out even liking wat I'm doing.......but tats me!

Though Del/Bbay are wilder, they are not cash-rich cities like Bangalore and IT jobs are tough. Besides the exhorbitant cost of living means that youngsters there have to sweat to survive. You dont get that many opportunities to fool around, because getting a job and buying a 1 bedroom house will be a great achievement in itself.

Hmm......so, sweet r the uses of adversity?? ('rem. this from my Eng. lit. text book of Shakespeare's in 9th class )

Not even thinking of the women's colleges like Vaishnav, Stella Maris, Queen Marys...I heard reliable insider info that there is increasing lesbianism catching on in Stella and other unisex colls of conservative chennai.

Ohhh dear........'donno wat to say abt tat.......