WORLD OF EDUCATION

  COVID 19 AND HAIR CUTS Covid19 brought in unprecedented problems and their solutions too. During its first wave there was a nation wide lockdown. It was a unique experience for all of us. Both of my sons had overgrown hair on their heads as well as beards. All saloons were shut. They started imploring me to give them hair cut. I ignored it for 2-3 times. But their requests became more persistent in the next couple of days. I had never done it earlier. But in my childhood I had harvested wheat in scorching heat. And to my credit was also my experience of cutting branches of dry trees for firewood in the nearby jungle of our village. If I could do that why can’t I do this? My confidence further grew as I had a good quality trimmers, pair of scissors and couple of combs. I had a long experience of getting my own hair cuts from different barbers. My trimmer boosted my confidence as it was newly procured online. Unlike scissors-it at least does not make cuts. In Iran I had seen that b...

  Yesterday, I watched a TV correspondent in one of the cities of Punjab, appealing people to wear masks. He in fact was doing a great job. He went inside a bus and met two middle aged women who were huddling together along with their two children. None of them had masks on their faces. When the correspondent asked them to wear Masks-they apparently got perturbed. One of the children sitting in lap, reminded his mother that she had the one in her purse. So hurriedly she pulled it on her face. The other woman also followed the suit by covering her face with her chunni. An old man with a flowing white beard and a turban loosely tied on his head turned around from the corner of a street to encounter the correspondent. He, on an indication, slowed down and inquiringly looked at the correspondent. Then he put his one foot on the ground and listened to his question. “Why don’t you wear a mask?” asked the correspondent, “Don’t you know how is corona   killing people?” To this he si...

Soon after getting up at about 5:00 am every day, I sit in my balcony for some time. Crimson sky from behind the Kasouli range of mountains greets me. Meandering thoughts start emerging. Mountains are wherever they were. Rivulets also continue to gurgle. Today I heard a Koel (Indian Nightingale) sing from the branches of a nearby mango tree. This was season’s first hearing. This melodious voice filled my mind with joy. I also see black winged birds fly over my head.  But what has happened to the one who considers himself at the top of the creation? He who created wonders with his intelligence appears to have been petrified. Fear of the unknown looms everyone’s mind. Fading sounds of the hooters of the ambulances, especially in the cities, instill fears. Life in villages still seems to be normal. But if proper precautionary measures are not taken now-it will be too late.   He has treaded the Moon and now is hectically busy in finding ways to settle on Mars! With his creati...

          CORONA PHOBIA                                                                                                                                    Jugal Kishore, Principal Open any news channel these days, you will see visuals of hospitals & their collapsed health infrastructure, doctors and supporting staff in PPE kits,   crying and helpless relatives of patients, moaning and restless patients waiting in queues to be admitted in hospitals, some even lying on the stretchers and others even on floors, patients waiting in auto rickshaws with oxygen masks on their faces, acute dearth of oxygen and   ventilators……… are s...

  Corona Impact By: Jugal Kishore                                                                                                                                                  COVID-19 has given a 360 degree turn to the meaning of some terms and expressions. The moment you find your Covid report “ Neg...

When my school could not Produce 100% Pass percentage  in Class X ! __________________________________________________                                                                    By: Jugal Kishore Students, parents and teachers -all eagerly wait for the declaration of result of class X and XII as they open channels for children to opt for different streams in Class XI and opportunities to join Higher Institutions of learning after Class XII. Teachers also eagerly wait to know the outcome of their efforts done on their students  during the academic session.   In Class XII, we not only produced 100% but also added 10 % increase in th...

MY VILLAGE AND  ITS PRIMARY SCHOOL Hoshiarpur   of Punjab( India) used to be a backward   district   during seventies and eighties of the last century but educationally it has always been   always a front runner. Even today, though it is not fully developed yet a lot has changed. My village, Ramtatwali, where I was born in late sixtees, was extremely backward and situated in the foothills of   Shivalik   range of mountains. It had no Post Office. The adjoining village-DHOLBAHA-was our Post office and had a High School also   where I later on joined in Class VI. My village   had hundreds of mango trees, that too, of different hues and tastes. We would carry razors in our pockets or sometimes hidden   in our books to eat raw mangoes with a pinch of salt.   Salt was also carried in a piece of paper which was unevenly folded and kept in our pockets/bags. When mangoes would start ripening-we would collect some and keep in our bags ...

Covid-19 and My School ________________________________________________________________ By: Jugal Kishore,Principal This is the time when invisible becomes so visible, so horrifying that we even dread going near to our dear ones. We ostensibly doubt every other person to be the carrier of deadly Corona Virus. We fear to touch the surfaces which we involuntarily used to touch. Lifts and   table tops, latches of washrooms, mouse of your laptop and handles of   doors appear to be one’s deadly enemies. Sometimes when I see doctors and nurses in their PPEs, I feel as if some biological warfare is going on. This sends shivers down to the spine. What if you turn out to be Covid positive? Low death rate in India is the only relief one could get. The world, indeed, is passing through an unprecedented testing time. Villages appear to be safe havens whereas    cities appear to be unsafe. Though the skies appear to be more cleaner and rivers more transparent yet the...

MY FIRST DAY IN A SCHOOL It was September 2007. I was transferred from Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir   where I had served for 4 years   as a Principal of a Senior Secondary school. I had to occupy a position which my predecessor had occupied for 8 long years in   this reputed school located in central Punjab. He was a very senior   and effective Principal. Staff was quite curious to know about me. At least they were expecting a change in the administration. Some teachers who were very close to my predecessor were ostensibly upset. Some others were excited to see a new face. There was eagerness on the faces of students too. After addressing Morning Assembly of nearly 1500 students and 60 teachers I entered my office. I was accorded a warm welcome by staff. On my first day I thought to remain confined to my office. I avoided moving out to maintain a low profile.   After doing some routine signatures on handing over/taking over of     files I foun...

INTER PERSONAL RELATIONS OF ADOLESCENTS IN SCHOOLS Adolescents live in a world of their own. Whatever time they spend in school leaves an indelible impression on their growth. They undergo a lot of stress and strain due to biological and environmental factors as they restrain to share their feelings with their parents and teachers. They remain in the strong grip of powerful emotions of love, hatred and jealousy. They want to experiment the adult behavior. Most of school going adolescents keep some friends in their own school and also a few from other neighbouring schools with whom they come in contact during their tuition or coaching classes. And at times they also develop enmity with each other. By and large their behaviour remains under watch in schools. If they are involved in any indiscipline activity-schools try to discipline them through counselling and by   some other administrative measures. But when they attend coaching classes where students from different schools ...

A couple of days back, it was at about 9.00 pm, when I got a telephonic call from a teacher of my school that a girl from Class IX had not reached her home after school hours. My school closes at 1.40 pm. I was on an official tour to some schools of Himachal Pradesh and returned home. Where had she gone? What might have happened to her? Such questions started haunting me. I got disturbed. I got the telephone of her parents and spoke to them. They were also ostensibly perturbed. My phone was picked by a lady who said that she was an army officer. I inquired about the whereabouts of the girl. She told me that an FIR had been lodged in local police station and they were trying to talk to their relatives and friends. But there was no clue. This girl is a distant relative of this army officer who along with her mother stays with her. Throughout night there was no clue.   Next day one of my teachers sent me an SMS that she has been found   in the house of a student of class X ...

TEACHERS ARE LIKE ROADS... Morning Assembly of a school is an extremely important time. Students and teachers are in the receptive mode. Among various items presented in it is: the thought for the day. Sometimes the thoughts are really thought provoking. One day a primary class student presented a thought. He said,” Teachers are like roads. They take us to our destinations .” In the beginning I thought it to be an ordinary thought. But then in my mind I started visualizing roads. I started thinking of roads which are narrow and the others which are wide. I also imagined bumpy roads with pot holes in them. I thought of roads which are super highways. During my service as a teacher for almost 15 years and then as a Principal for 16 years I must have interacted with thousands of teachers. I started finding similarities between the roads I visualized above and my teacher colleagues. I felt that all of my colleagues were not super highways but some of them surely were. They rais...