M.U.R.D.E.R. – A Specialized System Of Study

March 24, 2022 by Dipak Singh

The M.U.R.D.E.R. System of Study has been designed by expert educationists to help students world over who struggle day in day out with their huge pile of books and course material. It aims to lighten the heavy burden on their shoulders and make education a simplified process, less toiling, and more enjoyable and burdensome. The steps suggested are simple to follow and have proven to be quite effective. So here we list the ingredients of the perfect M.U.R.D.E.R.

M for Mood :

The mood has to be right an apt to be able to study. You cannot study when you are either upset, or irritated or want to do something else. Only when you get the feeling of wanting to study, can the books and the black letters register in your brain. So the exercise is to develop a positive mood for study – which is a result of your mood, appropriate ambiance and timing, and your willingness to study.

U for Understand :

The key to learning is to understand every word that you read and write. The tip here is to not mug up anything. Learn only that which you can completely understand and interpret. If you cannot, then note it down and have it cleared.

R for Recall :

Recall value of what has been studied should be determined always, before jumping to the next chapter or subject. After you read through a chapter, learn the facts and memorize definitions, close the books and try to recall all that you have just studied. Interpreting in your own words, as is mentioned in the previous point, is the most effective way of improving recall and maximizing the time of it.

D for Digest :

Education can best be related to food. As digesting food is essential to get the nutrients out of it to benefit ourselves, so is digesting the written word significant for intellectual well being. Reconsider what has not been understood or imbibed.

E for Expand :

Studying should be a process of self enlightenment and not mere for the sake of some instant goal. Your learning should be such that it satisfies three vital criteria – what you have learnt should apply to what you are interested in and you should wonder every time if it can be applied; if you ever meet the one who has penned the material you should be able to question him, have doubts to be addressed by him, and you should be able to offer positive criticism; finally if you were to teach the same to a group of students, it should be understandable and intelligible.

R for Review :

The final step is to review the studied material. You should go over it, so that a clear perspective and understanding is developed. You should thus try out methods to retain it, and be able to apply it in future.

Top 10 Habits That Help Effective Study

January 21, 2022 by Dipak Singh

Cleanliness

To start with studies, the first step is a eat and tidy ambiance and surroundings. Keep your study area as clean as possible and away from noises.

Schedule

Make a schedule – a study time, that should be religiously followed every day. This will help in keeping up with studying at school and make preparation for exams a less tedious process. Also, keep you updated and make studies not so grilling.

Intervals

Take regular intervals between studies. Ideally, study for around 45 minutes and then take a 15-minute break to munch, a walk or just chat with family. It is better to avoid watching television during this break.

Achievable Goals

Know your capacity to study and your intake power. Do not set the goal of completing four chapters if you can do only three comfortably. This way you achieve realistic goals which do not build stress. And devote time accordingly without rushing it.

Revision

Prepare questions about the chapter that will be discussed in the following class. This will help you identify areas that you don’t understand.

Practical Application

Put to practical usage any new concept that you learn. This can be specially done with science experiments and languages which are easy to perform at home. Doing so will help you understand the concept with clarity and also help you remember it for the rest of your life as you have witnessed it. This is a great learning kit. More you put to use any information, the more likely is that you will never forget it.

Don’t Procrastinate

This is one habit that sticks to you for your whole life if not corrected in childhood. Putting off things of importance not only is harmful, but is also a vital reason for lethargy, lack of success in life, and fall in academic records.

Highlight

Highlighting helps in easy revisions and to noting down the important definitions, formulas, etc. Sincere students typically always have a pencil in hand or a marker while studying, and underline or bracket the important areas. During exams, just one glance and you know which are the essential parts. Later on, when you go through your books a few years later, these highlights help your memory.

Put to Paper

Write down answers, solve maths and science problems, and write down all you study. When you just read, half of the things do not register, but when you attempt to write, you know which piece of information you have missed. Your speed also increases. The mistakes thus stand corrected and you are in a better position to answer the exam and perform well in class and elsewhere. The written word comes from the mind and is an accumulation of all that you have been able to get inside it.

Bonding with Seniors and Teachers

Being in constant consultation and guidance of those who are experienced is an activity that makes for a better education process. In a classroom, a teacher’s attention is divided innumerably. It is when a student takes the effort to individually meet the teacher with queries, doubts, and problems, are needs and questions answered. Your seniors have passed a similar stage that you are in, thus talking to them will only provide you with tips and tricks, answers, and the dos.

Matching The Right Books To The Right Exams

January 18, 2022January 14, 2022 by Dipak Singh

Choosing the right book for an exam is a skill for which students need to become smart readers. Students who are able to find the right book for exams can score well without being mired by difficult words or concepts. If you need to appear in an exam, choosing the right one from a series of different books might be confusing due to the vast amount of preparatory material out there. This article shares some tips that will help you to choose the right book for the right exam. Before you come to ‘Which one’, you should try getting the answer to how many types of books are there are what the differences among them are.

Textbooks (Self-Study): These are the books that help in providing learning and technical material for the examination. Well-structured books are closely aligned with the prescribed syllabus and updated regularly as per the changing examination patterns. These textbooks are mainly written by qualified and experienced authors. Furthermore, these books possess high-quality material which is bound to help readers in cracking the examination.

Exam-Cram Books: Once you are finished with self-study books, start looking for the exam cram books for better results. These exam cram books can help you with the last minute revision which facilitates memorizing the essential concepts that are required to clear the exam. These exam cram books play an important role in boosting your ability to recall the facts.

Practice books: Once you have acquired all the necessary knowledge and facts as well as a good understanding of the subject, you should try out practice books that will help you in answering test questions in a simulated test environment. Generally, these books come in the form of test papers to cover all the sections of the prescribed syllabus. Apart from these practice books, there are also several computerized test programs these days through which you can simulate a real test. You will surely have a good feel for the exam if you go through these practice books.

Make use of the Internet: Try to make the best possible use of the internet while selecting the right book for the exam. Just search Google for the prescribed syllabus for the exam and follow the links that are shown by it. You can even purchase online books at pocket-friendly prices. The Internet can even help you find the posts and blogs of different writers containing quality material. By making use of the Internet, you can get in touch with the latest exam patterns and styles which is perhaps an effective approach to achieve success in exams.

Guess papers and sure shots: With the increasing competition in the field of academics, nowadays, books containing guess papers are widely available in the market. These books are designed as per the latest syllabus and exam style. Guess papers contain a list of questions in a prepared format that helps students to get through the exam with the best possible scores.

Exams give you an opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge, your speaking and writing skills. Exams are held in almost every field of knowledge and have a set of guidelines that each of the students must strictly adhere to. Students must be very conscious and alert while making the selection of the right book for the right exam. Carelessness in choosing books can take a big toll, affect your future and most of the individuals would surely not appreciate that.

Options To Continue Studying After PhD

January 14, 2022 by Saral Study

The study is one such thing that has no end. Despite the fact that we all think that getting a Masters degree or a PHD is good enough and is the end of studies, this does not hold true all the time. Gaining knowledge is a never-ending process. What is the proper way of gaining good knowledge? It is not just the basic schooling and colleges. In fact, it is about gaining knowledge to the maximum.
It is a misconception that PHD is the last step of one’s career. People believe that if anyone has done a PHD, then no further studies are required but that is not correct to some extent because there are some different courses that can be pursued even after this degree. Here are some good career options after a PhD:
Further research studies
Further research can be undertaken after the completion of a PhD. It is true that PhD is the highest level of research work but there is also one year advanced research program in specific areas where candidates can dig even deeper into a certain subject and come out with something really valuable. This course is the best choice for candidates who feel like they can find something distinctive in their field of excellence if they have more time to devote to their research.
Postdoctoral Program
This is quite a common and a popular program after PHD because earning a Doctorate degree is a big thing. Some exclusive features of this program are as mentioned below:
A postdoctoral program is quite an effective career option after a PhD because it is the one thing that is likely to make your research more lucid. It is a step ahead of my PhD. After completion of the program, one will feel more independent in taking up a project as he or she will be able to take the whole responsibility of the project.
The responsibilities are increased and even the workload increases at this level but your position will also upgrade and a number of students will work under you. Managerial skills are developed because managing a whole team and the entire project requires a lot of skills. This also involves handling of quite a prestigious work i.e. representing the University’s research or various research papers at the National and International committees.
Professional Training
Another option for studying after PHD is to opt for some professional training that can give you a chance to go for some other career option like any postgraduate degree in any subject or the subject that is related to your PhD as it will increase your knowledge. This option is however suitable when a change in the career stream is desired.
One can also take a degree in Law because knowledge of Law will make you aware of your rights and can be helpful in taking various part-time job opportunities. It is the only field that does not require a specific subject in school and is also a good career option. Accounts or finance are other options that can be taken up at this stage as these are essential requirements for a good business. If you are a master of finances along with strong knowledge and practical experience in your domain, you can also start your own business.
Other options
You can also go for some vocational training in social work or can join an NGO or any social work organization along with their work. This is an amazing option because you will learn new things daily and can also continue with your PhD career option. This is will give an opportunity to learn about the people of various cultures and how social problems can be tackled.

Indian Education System – Indian Teachers Need Urgent Upskilling

December 2, 2020December 2, 2020 by Saral Study

The history of Indian Education has its sources in the ancient ages where they followed the Gurukul system – a system where the students lived in the house of their teacher until the teacher felt that he had given all that he could. The subjects taught were modified from Sanskrit to Scriptures to Mathematics to Metaphysics and the knowledge attained would be passed on to the future generations. All learning was closely associated with nature and life, and not confined to memorizing some information. But, this system was altered during the Colonial era when the British set up schools. The modern school system was taken to India, including the English language, formerly by Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay in the 1830s. The close link between the teacher and the student was broken after the introduction of schools.

The Uttar Pradesh Board of High School and Intermediate Education was the first Board introduced in India in the year 1921 with jurisdiction over Rajputana, Central India, and Gwalior. The Board of High School and Intermediate Education, Rajputana, was established, in 1929. After that, boards were placed in some of the states. But finally, in 1952, the constitution of the board was amended and it was renamed Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). According to the constitution of India, school education was originally a state subject —that is, the states had entire authority on deciding policies and implementing them. The role of the GOI (Government of India) was confined to coordination and deciding on the standards of higher education. That was modified with a constitutional amendment in 1976 so that education now comes in the so-called concurrent list. This is, school education policies and programs are proposed at the national level by the Government of India through the state governments have a lot of freedom in executing programs. Policies are stated at the national level periodically. The Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), set up in 1935, resumes playing a lead role in the evolution and monitoring of educational policies and programs.

Reason behind the change required in Indian Education System

India’s global education ranking slipped to 93, in the year 2014. That, together with a series of scams covered by the Indian education sector calls for an urgent need to bring changes in our education system. Indian Education System has been called as examinations’, ‘Board Exams’, ‘Entrance Exams’, ‘Marks’, etc. A student in India is left with the option of choosing from Science, Art, or Commerce. After he/she completes his tenth grade. Still, the trend shows that more and more students are opting to go abroad for besides studies after finishing their post-graduation in India. According to the statistics of The U.S. Council of Graduate Schools’ offers of admission to Indian post-graduate students, the admissions are up 25% for 2013-14 from the previous year, compared to a 9% raise for all countries.

Reasons for the soaring number of students not opting India to continue their further education are:

Lack of top-quality programs given by Indian colleges.
Poor quality of teachers. Teaching is not regarded as a productive career option in India.
Most of them finish up in this career as they couldn’t get jobs elsewhere.
Outdated syllabus taught in most of the schools/colleges.
Lack of state-of-art infrastructure in the schools/colleges.

Need of Indian teachers upskilling

Teaching as a profession in India is deeply rooted in the ancient scriptures that determine that a relationship between a ‘guru’ and a ‘Shishya’ is sacred. And that the end must always pay gratitude towards the rich knowledge that the former holds.

In the 21st century, teachers have become a catalyst in guiding social changes in our society. It is their wisdom and understanding that shapes every child’s future, thus, changing the fate of the country.

Part of these exceptional teaching skills is expanded by training in academics and achieving various degrees, while a significant portion of it comes with experience and training.

One of the best recent examples of why it is important to focus on enhancing teacher’s education is the impact of the Covid-19 situation on the teaching industry.

Impacted of Digitization Teaching

Digitization in the education industry has made technology more accessible to students. As a result, they have become more conscious of the data available on the internet, even more than what is necessary.

The expanding openness of change additionally allows students to take more than what is allowed in school.

Consequently, teachers should consistently keep themselves one step forward of their students, given schools enlist, and constantly train their teachers to be up-to-date and give more to their students than simply textbook knowledge.

While teachers realize the requirement for this and continuously upskill themselves. It is the responsibility of schools and instructive organizations to routinely give direct learning exercises for educators to learn new techniques.

Teacher training programs are required to give teachers life-long education support and allow them to follow this support after graduation in all areas of their lives. In that way, teachers can undergo adequate pre-service training by the concept of life-long learning will shape the education system as their practices will renew themselves, and they will train future generations accordingly. But, at the point at which these expectations are performed, the extent to which these teacher training programs are effective in upskilling life-long learning competence is unclear. The aspects of the members of the Faculty of Education on this topic, for, are necessary, as they are the programs’ practitioners.

The objective of the Study: This study was carried to prepare faculty members’ views on the effectiveness of teacher training programs (TTP) to upskill life-long learning competence.
Method: The study was taken out with phenomenological design qualitative analysis methods. The study’s working group consists of seven faculty members defined by the sampling method. The data were assembled through in- depth interviews using semi-structured interview methods developed by the researchers. In examining the data, the content analysis method was adopted.
Findings: The faculty members’ opinions on the effectiveness of teacher training programs to upskill life-long learning support were obtained under four themes. The themes consist of ‘pre-service teachers’ hold of the features of life-long learners, how TTP reflects the Bologna Process, whether life-long learning competence is upskilled via TTP, the expectations that TTP will upskill life-long learning competence, and suggestions for those programs.
Conclusions and References: The faculty members’ aspects show that the Bologna Process is in practice partly reflected in the academic activities of faculties of education. The study also assumes that teacher training programs are insufficient to upskill life-long learning competence, to improve pre-service teachers self-improvement; the study also assumes that the faculties of education neglect the need to upskill life-long learning competence in the current programs. To equip pre-service teachers with life-long learning provision, the faculty members suggest that the programs be updated, be equipped with more basic skills, and prioritize practicing during the learning process. To accomplish all these purposes, they recommend reducing the programs’ quota and establishing quality standards by assessing faculty members competencies.

What can be done about it?

There are many educational institutions for teachers around the world and many in India also. However, most teacher training programs are adapted towards K-12 education covering a range of areas from educational psychology, curriculum development to policy making.

There is a need for the way the teacher teaches. So, the traditional roles of teachers need to change drastically to adjust to the modern education system because we are still the old methods of teaching and that’s why we are lagging behind other developing countries. If they made some changes in the teaching method then we can see changes in a student’s ability to learn and understand. If in the following 3 sections we concentrate then we can develop the skills in teaching for teachers.

Compassion: A student-centric approach is required in teaching as there are a variety of students in a class. It means that teachers should be more compassionate about the student’s situation, and should be active in students’ involvement in-class activities.
Communication: The ability to clear and abridge thoughts into consumable bits is a key skill that will help the teachers effectively to support a diverse set of students.
Digital comfort: With the help of technology tools such as anti-plagiarism software, use of whiteboards like solutions which can be delivered via LMSs, etc. Will help teachers to teach them properly and innovatively and can also prevent the misuse of online resources.

Higher education institutions and regulators need to distinguish the importance of hiring for and providing prescribed training for their teachers. As a great work of research doesn’t make one a teacher and vice-versa.

However, institutions hire or appoint teachers/professors according to their academic qualifications but not according to the ability to teach the students. So, to change this system there should be the establishment of recognized training programs that would focus on specific skills that will help teachers to adapt and ease into today’s classroom or education system.

New Education Policy

Some significant Highlights of the New National Education Policy are given below:

According to the revised policy, the existing 10 + 2 structure of the school curriculum will be replaced by a 5 + 3 + 3 + 4 curricular structure matching the ages of 3 – 8, 8 – 11, 11 – 14, 14 -18 years respectively. With the new curricular structure, there will also be an expansion in the age group of mandatory schooling from 6-14 years to 3-18 years (new). It will also include 12 years of schooling with three years of Anganwadi / Pre-Schooling which will be a must.
The new policy indicates that wherever the medium of instruction may be in the mother tongue/local or regional language till at least grade 5, but optionally till class 8 and beyond in both private and public schools and both types of school has to follow this norm. Further, no language should be imposed on anyone whether it is teachers or students.
A single overarching umbrella body will be set up by The Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) for entire higher education, excluding medical and legal education. Both public and private higher secondary institutions have to follow. A stage-wise mechanism is to be established for granting graded independence to colleges as the Government aims to stage out the affiliation of colleges in 15 years.
As per New education Policy 2020, the unyielding separations between subjects’ the stream will be done away with. Thus, students will have the freedom to pick subjects they would like to study across streams. Additionally, vocational education will also be introduced from class 6 in schools which will also include internship programs as well.
The undergraduate degree duration will be either 3 or 4 years. Within this period the student will be given several exit options whichever they prefer. For example, if a college student would like to leave after 1 year or after 2 years of study, or after completing a 3-year program, the college will have to grant them a certificate in a discipline or field including vocational and professional, diploma or a bachelor’s degree respectively. The government will establish an Academic Bank of Credit for digitally storing academic credits received from different Higher Educational Institutions so that these can be relocated and calculated towards the final degree received.
National education policy has succeeded to touch the intact part of the education system in India. One of the bold proposals of this policy, states that either stand-alone institutions should change themselves into a multidisciplinary mode or they will have to close. Under this policy comprehensive freedom has been granted to the state in numerous domains.
There has always been a bone of disagreement between the state and center over the dominion. Thus, the National Education Policy has taken measures to have a general outlook in this respect. It is important to note that education is a constant process, and that is why it is essential to put more importance on connecting education to the environment. But now, the NEP has given more attention to developing life skills in the educational process as the acknowledgment of the importance of life skills was long unsettled.
Students belonging to socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds will be provided with free boarding facilities and it will be built according to the standard of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas.
A new and inclusive National Curriculum Outline for Teacher Education, NCFTE 2021, will be formulated by the NCTE in consultation with NCERT. The minimum degree qualification for teaching will be a 4-year cohesive B.Ed. degree and will be implemented by 2030. Strict action will be taken against inferior stand-alone Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs).
Throughout the year various types of enrichment activities involving arts, quizzes, sports, and vocational crafts will be included to encourage the bagless days.
Children with disabilities will be allowed to fully participate in regular schooling from the initial stage to higher education. And every state/district will be encouraged to set up ‘Bal Bhavans’ as a special daytime boarding school, to participate in art, or play-related activities.
Lastly, the policy will provide a lot of flexibility in the Indian education system. This is an important step even for the institutions to place them at balance with the International Higher Education Institutions.

Conclusion

The Indian Education system follows the old education system which was earlier set up by the British. Although we can brag about having a large number of the IITs, IIMs, and some of the best law and medical colleges, but still India’s contribution to the world of change is close to none. Therefore, our education system’s main focus should be on bringing out not just engineers, but also entrepreneurs, artists, scientists, writers, etc. as all of them are important for the development of an economy. Hence, with the new educational system, we all are looking forward to the changes made in the new education policy. Thus, the National Education Policy 2020, is an attempt to address most of the objections of the education system, which have been pending for decades. This is certainly a historic moment for all the stakeholders included, be it the teachers, students, or parents. It is interesting to see how the patterns of this policy will be executed, but we can be sure that this is a new age for the Indian Education aspect.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) regarding Indian Education System

Q1. What are the reasons for poor education in India?

Ans. The reasons for the poor quality include the absence of around 25% of teachers every day. The states of India have introduced tests and education assessment systems to identify and improve such schools.

Q2. Why is the change required?

Ans. Reason behind the changes required in the Indian education system.

Lack of top-quality programs given by Indian colleges.
Poor quality of teachers. Teaching is not regarded as a productive career option in India.
Most of them finish up in this career as they couldn’t get jobs elsewhere.
Outdated syllabus taught in most of the schools/colleges.
Lack of state-of-art infrastructure in the schools/colleges.

Q3. Why Indian teachers need upskilling?

Ans. Exceptional teaching skills are expanded by training in academics and achieving various degrees, while a significant portion of it comes with experience and training.