INSIGHT INTO AMERICA

INSIGHT INTO AMERICA

INTRODUCTION

It was April 2001. I got a call from my daughter from America- conveying that I am going to be Grand Father again. We were very glad about this news. At the same time my daughter wanted us to be there for her delivery. It was not an invitation but order from her.

At the age of 70- American visit. It gave us a pleasant surprise. Foreign travels are not new to us. I have served in Malaysia for more than 10-years. But all these were when I was young. The delivery will be only in November and we were little bit relaxed.

The time moved very fast and we have to make arrangements for the travel. The home front was looked after by my wife while I was busy with outside work. I started to refresh myself by reading many travel books particularly about America and collecting the experiences of my friends.

Our stay in America will not be less than 6-months-we were told. How to adjust ourselves for such a long stay? That was the question on my mind. I decided that I should utilize this opportunity to collect all the details about America in all fields so that they can be useful to us as Bharathiar said:

Chendruduveer Ettudesiayum Noki
Kalaiselvangal yavum Konarthingu Cherpeer //

I am a writer and Author of many books in English and Tamil. I wanted to follow the advice given by Bharathi. The coming blogs will deal America from many Angles. They will be very useful in taking us forward towards more prosperity.

R.Jagannathan.

AMERICA- EDUCATION

I came across my friend in Bangalore. He is a merchant dealing with Plantain leaves. We together started a petty shop side by side at a temple at Rajajinagar-Bangalore way back in 1967-68. I left that field later while this man continued and landed in a lucrative business of supplying Plantain leaves for marriages and other functions.

I enquired him about the welfare of his family-particularly about the education of his children. I was surprised to learn that his children are all with him and helping him in his business. They were not much interested in studies and hence I have put them in my business –he said.

This is not surprising and the same can be heard in most of the rural areas. In spite of efforts by the Government to bring as many children as possible from villages the progress made by India is very negligible.

As against this background in America people who studied up to 12Th grade constitute 96% How this is possible? It is entirely due to the environment in which children are brought up and the incentive and encouragement given by the Government. From the very beginning Americans are involved in the whole system.

They have cultivated a habit that they must go on educate themselves irrespective of their ages. It is no wonder that a Doctor qualifies himself as lawyer and vice-versa. For example my relative who retired from Boeing took up the job of purohit after retirement and later at the age 0f 65 studied and passed Real Estate Valuer examination.

Consecutive Presidents in America consider their foremost duty to America to provide top class education to their children. Every household take this as their top priority and provide education from 3-years on wards. Government has provided free facilities including buildings, books, toys, food and all other essentials to the children and it is no wonder that parents involves themselves in the school activities.

I used to go along with my daughter to the school where her child was studying. While she gets engaged with school activities, I studied the system.

American Education is built up on 4-tiers. Up to 12Th Grade the Government provides finance and other infrastructures including salaries for the teachers.

The first tier is Pre-K-12: Before the elementary school- Equal to our nursery school but totally different from that. The age limit is 3-4. The teachers here should have passed Nursery training. Parents compulsorily admit their children in these schools. There is no distinction between rural and urban.

The Second Tier-Elementary: This school is from first to 12Th grade divided into Junior and Senior Schools. Through out America the subjects and lessons are the same up to 12Th grade. After this a certificate will be issued.

The Third Tier-College education or graduate grade. The first 2-years will be called Fresher, then Junior. At this stage the student can opt any branch called field of study. Each student will be allotted to an Expert in that field and he will take the student forward till his graduation.

Final and Fourth Tier: advanced degree course- the field open to the students are Science, Law, Medical etc and then Post Graduate or PhD or Doctorate.

There are separate Professional Colleges for Music, Drama, Commerce, mathematics.

Science and Technology and Industrial education are called Institute of Technology.

There are separate colleges for medical technology and Industrial Engineering.

Apart from the above Masters Degree in Library Science, Social works, Journalism, Business Administration are also offered.

When we compare the system with ours-it is more or less the same-but why then we are not able to reach their standard?

The reason is very simple. India’s rural folk are not serious that their 3-year old children should be admitted to Schools so also the Government. There should be a school where 200-children are there. Every panchayat should have a school and the Government should provide land, building, teachers and other infrastructure facilities and bear the entire expenditure till 12th grade.

You will be surprised to know that American Government spends up to 5000 dollars for a student every year till 12Th grade which includes teacher’s fees, books, midday meals etc.

Is it possible to achieve the above standard in India? Yes provided the public and Politicians take a challenge.

America is 3-times bigger than India in size but the population is one third of India-yet there are 91000 schools, 16000 district level schools catering to the children.

Here every one believes that to sustain the democracy and progress of the Nation-this free education and standard of education is vital and say:-

1.Both the parents and the Schools should strive to bring out the talents of the children.
2.All the teachers should in unison work hard to give top class education to the children.
3.They must up-date the methods and knowledge and encourage the children to involve themselves in learning the latest.
4.Both the Public and the Government should come together to inject fresh blood into the system.
5.Parents and Teachers relationships should be cemented to offer the best to their children

(For further details visit the website- nea.org national educational association)

Education free, books free, food free up to 12Th grade - if all the three available to the rural India-then the villager is relieved of a big burden and he will certainly take interest in his children education.

America consists of Asians, Mexicans, Chinese, Japanese, Indians and all are given equal opportunities in education. The bridge that unites them from KG to Doctorate is English.

Bharathiar said that in free India- there will be no caste. We have failed to achieve the same but America has achieved it-you can see the children coming to elementary schools- Indians, Koreans, Chinese, Mexicans, Afro Americans, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists and so on.

Let us the structure of an elementary school:

Some Schools are up to 6Th grade, some up to 12Th grade. In Each grade there are 5-sections and each section only 20 students. Each day the teacher will give the lessons individually to each student. They need not carry heavy baggage. They link the parents into system. Children are encouraged to learn themselves. Since the Parents are part of the curriculum- they take natural interest in the school activities.

There is no dress code in the Schools and you are free to wear a decent dress.

There are plenty of facilities available-books, computers, and play fields to each student to develop their skill.

In order to cement the bond between different communities-English is taught free to all and English is the only one official language but you are free to develop your language outside among your community

A Student can study free till 12Th grade. Thereafter the education is not free. And he has to spend very heavily for example: For Ordinary degree courses like BA, B.Sc- the fee collected by a University is 33,000 dollars which includes tuition fees, boarding and lodging expenses ( equal to Rs.15-lakhs )

To those who can not afford to pay this sum-the University helps him in various ways. They can join part time or full time courses, they can get various scholarships and many industrial houses come forward to pay the fees etc and you can work and learn.

Let us see how a University functions:

Example-Houston University: Texas:
Students admitted in this falls- 32000. There are 104- degree courses, 126-Master degree courses, 53- Doctorate course, 3- Professional Degrees.

Students admitted belonged to: 41% Americans-whites, 13% Afro Americans, 17%-Hispanics, 18% Asia-Pacific, 7% rest of the world.

Americans take deep interest in research of any thing they take for study and the University gives full facility to peruse the subject... For example in Harvard University-Research are undertaken in the following categories-1. Mind, 2. Body. 3. Society. 4. Earth. 5. Space. Technology

R.Jagannathan.