FreeDom of Speach !

Mohammed Younus 

Freedom of speech has once again got the prominence globally ever since some alleged 'terrorists' have carried out a daring attack on a satirical tabloid of France Charlie Hebdo recently, though many questions have been raising on the authenticity of the claims of French agencies about the identity of attackers.

Let me put the discussion on the identity of attackers off and express few words pertaining to the freedom of expression. Some of the experts dealing with the social rights of people across the globe compare Freedom of speech with right to live.

Snatching away this freedom would be like killing a person or a group of person, according to these experts. I also support this idea to a larger extent. But as we travel from Japan, one tip of the global map, to Europe and then US we can find different standards of freedom. In China the people are allowed to speak what the government wants them to speak. In Russia we have almost the same standards.

Coming to India we have a larger freedom but this is used only to benefit few 'strong' people. It has been observed that freedom of speech in India has got many different faces. In the name of freedom you cannot go to extreme. In India we have certain restrictions. Some lines have been drawn.

In Arabian countries, Gulf and Iran we have more restrictions on free speech. Despite such sanctions the social media has played a vital role in devastating the status quo that has been there for several decades and it brought the people there some respite from the dictatorship.

In Europe and US the freedom of speech is limitless or extreme. Generally the West including the media uses this freedom across the globe. As the west has its own standards for freedom it goes wrong in Asian, Central Asian and Latin American countries if practiced with the same standards. 

Charlie Hebdo episode is the clear example of miscarriage of freedom of speech across the globe. Though it is true that if something is sacred for someone it could not be possible sacred for others but there is a need to have an overlook on the whole concept of freedom. Because we have to reconcile for peaceful co existence rather to fend conflict in the name of Freedom.

A Unique Oral Course

Mohammed Younus 
Hyderabad: A Professor from Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) has designed a unique course to teach the basics of Urdu language without requiring the learners to use a pen or paper. The course is completely based on oral teaching and examination for the six months certificate course is also conducted orally. This course has come into existence following the immense demand from Urdu lovers from different walks of life who wanted to enjoy the beauty of the language.


Centre for Urdu Language Literature and Culture (CULLC) Dean and Professor Khaled Sayeed has designed the course and introduced it in the year 2009-10 for the first time. The name of the course is ‘Tahseen-e-Ghazal’ which means appreciating the Ghazal. He said that several language enthusiasts in programmes like Mushairas and other literary events felt uncomfortable as it was Greek and Latin for them. They lament that they were not enjoying the events as those who knew the language. 

Hence they have requested him to design a course that non-Urdu people could pursue and understand the language without the pain of writing and reading. Sayeed said that each language has its own community. Ghazals can be understood better by those who knew Urdu and those who don’t will have to look sideways clueless. He said, “Ghazals have some particular vocabulary and usage that need to be deciphered properly if a person wants to understand the correct meaning.” 

He said that during the six months course, the students are taught to learn the simple phrases, words and basic structure of the language. He explains, “The syllabus of this course is based on three components that are Pronunciation, Communication Skills and Vocabulary of Ghazals. We have conventional things in Ghazals that need to be deciphered.”

Boon For Coaching Academies

Mohammed Younus 
Hyderabad : Jumping at the opportunity being offered in the form of change of syllabus for Group-I and Group-II exams, coaching centers are minting money from job aspirants by offering their ‘own syllabus’ for the prestigious exams, though the government is yet to take a call on the issue. Taking advantage of vague announcements by the government and TSPSC members, the coaching centre have started preparing material for the ‘changed’ syllabus and are selling them at exorbitant prices.

Soon after the government announced that the syllabus would be changed, some of the academies imparting training for competitive examinations started promising that they would circulate study material on Telangana History, culture, art, architecture and literature, gleaned from local history books and as suggested by experts. Actually the changes announced by the government in syllabus are not big as only the Cultural History of the State would be incorporated in it. However, coaching academies are promising students material with substantial changes in syllabus. 

A student, K Venkat Yadav, who has been preparing for the Groups examination, said that he had paid Rs 5,000 for the material promised to be provided by the academy where he is being tutored. He said that at least hundred students had paid money for the material. TSPSC has constituted a committee, headed by Prof G Haragopal, to design the basic structure of the new syllabus. However, the commission has clearly stated that there would be not much change in the syllabus.

When TSPSC chairman Ghanta Chakrapani announced the decision relating to change in syllabus, he had specifically advised the students not to fall prey to the tactics of coaching academies. He said that the changes would be only in respect of material carrying only a few marks and would be announced by the commission itself soon. He said, “We would not allow any coaching academy to exploit the situation by predicting syllabus.”

Despite this warning, many academies have already started luring students and aspirants with their own syllabus. Students who have been waiting for the notifications have become scapegoats for the coaching centers. A major worry for the students now is the time that would be taken by the commission to release the notification.

Choice Based Education, Challenges Ahead

Mohammed Younus

 Even as the central government has asked all the universities to follow and implement the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS), educationists from different varsities say that until a composite framework is not prepared it cannot be implemented properly. After the UGC issued directives asking varsities to adopt grading system, challenges in the implementation of this scheme has become a matter of debate among academics.

Though they welcomed the Ministry of Human Resource Development’s move, they also stressed on the need to evolve a comprehensive framework to deal with it. Political Science Professor at University of Hyderabad Prof K C Suri said that the education system in India was not tuned to this flexible system, but changes have to come. He said that it would give a lot of freedom for the students to learn from their topics of interests from the pool of choices.

Aims of CBCS
-To provide flexible education system
-To develop multiple skills among students
-To provide multiple exposure to the students
-To increase employability
-Questions and Challenges
-Universities and higher education not in tune with such a flexible education
-No clarity on the future of amalgamated degree courses
-Lack of proper training to the teachers
-Lack of proper mechanism to implement
the scheme
-Needs a complete overhaul of the higher education system

He said, “It’s a welcome decision but for its best implementation teachers must be prepared in such a way that it gives good results. This system cannot be imposed by administrative authority.” He said that with this kind of education a student would acquire a varied knowledge of different subjects besides core subject. The credit transfer system was, according to the experts who designed it, intended to develop skills among the students. However at UG level it would be a new experiment as such.

So far it has been implemented in few universities at PG level with great difficulty, but implementing it at the UG level would be a challenge for the varsities. Osmania University Faculty of Commerce Dean Prof Mohammed Akbar Ali Khan said that there was a need for a well-designed mechanism to properly suit the needs of students in this system. He agreed that there have been problems in the implementation of such a program in OU at PG level and that the approach was having several deficiencies.

He said that for the CBCS to be implemented with accuracy, the system of schools should be adopted rather than department system. “The school system would facilitate the affairs of students and help academics to run it smoothly, rather than the existing administrative set up of departments,” he opined. He said that in European universities, the CBCS was successful for the fact that they practiced the school system. Academics also believe that the choice based education system would help students of higher education to develop skills, but it needed lot of training for the teachers to successfully implement it.

Choice Based Education Now

Mohammed Younus
Students of higher education institutions of the State can now pursue different courses simultaneously and carry credits to another institution. Though this system is already being implemented in certain courses at post-graduate level in some universities, the Centre wants it to be extended at undergraduate level from next academic year.

Human Resource Ministry had recently announced that the higher education will be made flexible with the implementation of Choice-Based Credit System (CBCS) across all the universities in the country. To this end, the Centre had asked States to implement the scheme from next academic year. It also asked the education ministers of all States to constitute committees to study the challenges and hurdles in the implementation.

This system will allow a student of under graduation to attend one more or extra course of his/her choice apart from that s/he is engaged in. This is a student-friendly measure that allows greater flexibility and helps them to earn credits from the extra course which can be transferred if they move to another institution. In the present conventional system, both marks and grades are used. The effectiveness of the same scheme at PG level, however, has not been assessed yet it is implemented in some State universities of Telangana, including Osmania University.

Moving ahead with the scheme, the Centre wants the same to be followed in the UG programmes. In this case, a student of Science can now choose a certain subject of his/her choice from any other stream. Telangana Higher Education Council chairman T Papi Reddy said that the intention of this scheme was to enhance the multi-faceted learning among students at higher levels. He said that this would give students the exposure of various topics during the course time.

He said, “This is already being implemented in some universities and after thorough assessment a framework would be formed for implementing it in all the universities in the State.” State Education Minister G Jagadish Reddy also conducted a meeting with experts and higher education council officials recently. He said that the Centre’s move was intended to strengthen the higher education in the country with flexible methods.

Salient points
- Student can select a wide range of subjects apart from basic course offered by university.
- Facilitates inter-disciplinary approach.
- Credits obtained by students are movable from one university to other.
- Credit is a kind of weightage given to the hours of learning in the prescribed syllabus, which is in a segmented form. Normally one credit is allocated to 15 hours of learning. 
- In each of the courses, credits will be assigned on the basis of the number of lectures/tutorials/laboratory work and other forms of learning required for completing the course contents in maximum 18 week schedule.

Fake Faculty in Engineering Colleges

Mohammed Younus / Hyderabad : Police have speeded up investigation in the alleged fraud roster system for maintaining faculty members by minimum 16 engineering colleges in Rangareddy, Nalgonda and Khammam districts. The police raided these colleges after a formal complaint was lodged by the Registrar of the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Hyderabad stating that several engineering colleges were running with the same faculty members. 

These 16 engineering colleges are among the 174 colleges that were debarred from taking part in the Eamcet 2014 counseling last year by JNTU for failing to fulfil the mandatory AICTE norms

These 16 engineering colleges are among the 174 colleges that were debarred from taking part in the Eamcet 2014 counseling last year by JNTU for failing to fulfil the mandatory AICTE norms. It has come to light that during the second round of inspection by officials, these colleges were indulging in dubious practices by showing ‘fake’ faculty members. The registrar of the varsity complained that the colleges have taken the services of middle men for recruiting temporary faculty only for the period of inspection. 

However, no arrests have been made in this regard. The police have slapped cases against the college managements under Section 420 and 109 of CrPC. The complaint also states that these colleges were fooling officials and inspection teams by presenting fake student list for the sake of claiming fee reimbursement from the government. Responding to the development, Telangana Engineering and Professional College Managements Association chairman N Goutham Rao said that due to lack of faculty at the time of inspection, the managements of some colleges might have appointed lecturers in hurry without verifying their teaching details. 

He said that this could be the mischief of some teachers working as Assistant Professors and Associate Professors in different colleges. He however denied any role of managements and said that proper scrutiny by police officials will clarify the matter. JNTUH authorities have informed that complaints would be filed against several other colleges which have committed a similar mistake. “Presently, the complaints have been lodged only against colleges with concrete evidence,” said an official from the university. However, no arrest has been made in this issue so far by the police.

Fake Certificates For Schools

Mohammed Younus / Hyderabad : An alleged foul play in the issuance of Extension for Temporary Registrations (ETRs) by the staff of the Hyderabad District Education Officer and Regional Joint Director has come to light. Information obtained under the RTI Act reportedly shows that dubious sanitation certificates for private schools that are issued by the GHMC are being validated by the DEO and RJD office staff to issue false ETRs to certain private schools in the city.

Availing of an ETR requires nine documents including safety, sanitation, and transport certificates generated by the GHMC. Every school is issued these certificates from its respective municipal circle office. But this is not the case with some private schools. According to RTI activist Matam Mallesham, “Sanitary certificates issued to the schools in question were not matching with their respective area of operation or GHMC circle. Instead, those certificates have been issued by the circles other than that of the schools located.”

Information obtained reveals that many schools do not possess certificates issued from their respective municipal circles.

He added that, “ETR is issued by the DEO after verifying the documents produced by the managements of schools. However, it has been observed that mandatory documents have been generated by the staff of DEO and RJD for procuring ETRs.” The information obtained reveals that many schools do not possess certificates issued from their respective municipal circles. For example, Ravindra Bharathi School from Santhosh Nagar comes under Circle No 1, but was issued the sanitary certificate issued from Khairatabad Circle number 4. 

Similarly, Narayana E-Techno School from Saidabad was granted the certificate by municipal authorities in Khairatabad. It is alleged that Khairatabad’s municipal office is a hub for issuing these false sanitary certificates. Other such schools that have obtained certificates from Khairatabad are Jyothi Bala Mandir High School in Moosarambagh and Krishnaveni Talent High School in Madannapet that belong to Kapra. Complaints had been made to higher authorities with regard to these false Sanitary Certificates but no action has been taken so far.

The RTI reply also shows that several schools have produced certificates with improper seals and signatures though issued by the same circle. Chaitanya Techno School in Nallakunta and Blue Birds High School in Musheerabad have been issued certificates from GHMC Abids circle authorities, but the seals look completely different. Mallesham points out that it is the handiwork of employees working with DEO and RJD office who are involved in this racket.

The applicant Mallesham has submitted a complaint to the School Education Commissioner and sought action against the responsible persons behind this whole episode. He sought a complete enquiry into this matter and alleged that officers in the DEO and RJD were involved in generating fake certificates to facilitate the illegal practices of private school managements.