Sibal bats for democracy in classrooms
The Union HRD minister, Mr Kapil Sibal, on Monday batted for "democracy" in the classrooms and said students should be allowed to follow their aspirations.
"Democracy has always been associated with politics... we never think of democracy in classrooms," he said wondering why the concept was so "far removed" from classes.
Mr Sibal made these remarks at the launch of two secondary level courses — Mass Media Studies and Geospatial Technologies (GT) — by CBSE in collaboration with the industries concerned.
He said while parents and teachers try to "discipline" a child through courses and personality, his aspirations remain ignored. "That I think is anti-democratic," he added.
The two courses have already been introduced in some schools from the ongoing academic session. While the GT course has been introduced in 19 schools, the mass media course has commenced in 14 schools.
The GT vocational course has been launched keeping in mind the growth expected in the Indian geospatial market. A market report estimates requirement of 30,000 professionals in the Indian geospatial industry by 2013.
As part of the certification scheme, CBSE students will have to compulsorily pass two modules of GT in class XI and XII.
Rolta India Ltd has been nominated as the resource institution for the GT course and will provide assistance in various technical aspects, including teachers' training and availability of the software.
For the course in Mass Media, the CBSE has entered into an agreement with noted film maker Subhash Ghai's 'Whistling Woods International'.
The course will introduce students of class XI and XII to five principal mass media — Film, TV, print, radio and the internet.
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