A Powerpoint Presentation on Organ Donation- by Mr. K P John
Wednesday 27 February 2013
Monday 25 February 2013
Scholarship for Higher Education is the Dire Need of the Time
Scholarship for Higher Education is
the Dire Need of the Time
Nowadays parents are fully aware
of the education of their wards and in the beginning they are willing to spend
any amount of money for them especially when they have one or two children. The
parents feel constrain when the number of children increases and expenses get
escalated. Most often the parents end up in heavy debts as the children reach
the final stages of secondary education and they withdraw from their
responsibility of providing higher education to their dear ones when actual
support is expected from them. This mishap happens because parents think of
providing expensive schooling to their children in the preliminary stage when
inexpensive public education is available and get their back bone broken and
harm the future of the hapless children. A way to save the children and the
parents altogether is the participatory scholarship project proposed by
Vijayapuram Social Service Society.
People always lament that diocese
of Vijayapuram has no institution offering higher education for our
children. Even if we have, our people
must have the capacity to meet the expenses for higher education. At the time
of admission to institutions offering higher studies, the parents are running
about laboring to amass initial amount required for ensuring the hard fought
seat procured. We have the habit of thinking of tomorrow in twilight of
previous day. This must be changed. Plan the education of our children in a
meticulous way, spend minimum amount in the preliminary stages and save the
rest for time when actual investment is required.
The participatory project for
Higher Education Scholarship is envisaged in the following manner. A buffer
amount of 2 crore (20 million) or more must be collected initially from various
sources. The profit generated from this buffer amount can be dispersed annually
to needy members of the participatory project. How can one participate in this
programme.
Parents must be conscious of
their children’s marriage and higher education even from the birth of the
child. They must prepare a family budget
and in it provisions must be made for current expenses and expenses which are
inevitable in the future. The amount
thus set apart for future needs must include the provision for the higher
education of children and marriage of girl child. Here we concentrate on higher education only.
From very early years of the
child the parent must remit monthly an amount say Rs. 500/ 0r 1000/- to an
account with P D C without failure. P D Cs will collect all such monthly
remittance and credit it to an account in bank operated by V S S S. V S S S in turn would invest the amount in
profit generating schemes and get benefit for the children. Suppose a child
participate in this programme for twelve years remitting Rs. 1000/- per month,
the principle amount alone would be Rs. 144 000/- This amount along with the
interest generated coupled with the support provided by V S S S would be a
significant amount for the child to pursue higher education in line with
his/her desire.
The snag to launch this project
immediately is the inadequate buffer amount at the disposal of V S S S. Any how
this is to be augmented and modes operand established so that this project
would turn out to be a boon for our people.
Michael D’Cruz C D O (Education)
Thursday 7 February 2013
Learn English, But need not learn in English
Learn English, But need not learn in English
Michael D’Cruz
CDO Education
From the caption it is
clear that the writer is not against the international language English. I am
not even hiding the fact that the writer got a chance to go abroad and pursue
the teaching profession just because of the limited knowledge in English. Even
after drinking a chalice full of benefits of English, I have the opinion that
one must learn only in the language in which one thinks.
In Kerala and elsewhere
people have the notion that the quality of education is good if the medium
through which one does the learning is English. The question of medium
instruction does not arise at all, if the instruction is carried out in the
same language, which the child uses for thinking. Unfortunately, in Kerala most
of the children in English medium haven’t got this opportunity. These poor
children think in their mother tongue but learn in English. The so-called
English medium teachers are also doing the same thing ie, they are thinking in
mother tongue and teaching in English.
Understanding the
significance of language in education, one must know what is meant by education
and what the aims of education are. Education aims at the over all development of
the thinking capacity of the child. I am talking about the intellectual
processes or the thinking processes like analysis, synthesis, problem solving,
creative thinking, critical thinking, evaluation and application of knowledge.
As a result of this process the child does the cognitive construction or creates
knowledge. This brings out what is in the child, the true ingenuity of the
child which when nurtured; the child comes up to the potential level of achievement.
This process fulfills the ultimate aim of education; drawing out what is in the
child.
Construction of knowledge
results in neuron bindings in the brain and they set in the life long. It is
not like filling the memory with alien knowledge and it goes to oblivion as the
time lapses. Memory capacity is to be developed. The whole aim of education is not
to develop memory alone. How many children in English medium have this ability
to think in English and construct knowledge in that language? As we know that
the thought predominates language and language predominated thoughts. In both
cases the English medium children are deterred by the language factor. They
have restrains in carrying out thoughts in alien language as the genetically triggered
mother tongue comes in between. On the other hand the outcome of the thought
processes cannot be wholly expressed in any form because of the inadequacy of
the language compelled to use. This is a dangerous situation leading to many
undesirable traits in the person. Language is for communication and the
language one opted is not serving the purpose. This results in a lot of stress
and strains in the child. Imagine of a small tot having this pent up emotion in
him and year after the discontentment brews up, the child is not growing up
with a balanced mental set up. In the learning process the child resort to
memorization as the construction of knowledge is beyond his capacity and thus
endangering the natural intellectual growth. Majority of English medium
children lack the capacity of free and spontaneous expression of their ideas.
Recently I saw PG students, conducting comparing in an international conference
venue with prepares scripts. This sort of incapacitated state of mind
reverberates with a sense of rebellious attitude: rebellion against what;
nothing in particular but to everything in general.
Do you think that the
above stated remarks have crossed the limits of exaggeration? Then try to find
the reason for the following observation. In majority of college unions and
university unions, the leaders elected are from student organizations having
allegiance towards leftist ideologies. The NRIs and other aspirants who get into
these institutes of higher studies, professional and non-professional courses,
are from affluent families and products of English medium schools. Yet these
budding personals joints hands with organizations alien to their faith,
ideology, custom and culture. What is the reason? I don’t give much heed to irresistible
love they have for socialism or like factors but a vent for release for the suppressed
emotions accumulated by the years of strain education through restrained
medium. When they are free from institutes with enforced discipline and start
enjoying relaxed state of discipline, this is what they feel to do in the new
atmosphere.
I dream of children in
my beautiful state receiving quality education in the language in which they do
their thought processes and acquiring efficient working knowledge in English
for deep study and communication. I am inviting you to dream of this situation.
An in your dream, if language used were Engligh, I would presume that you are
the right person to do your education in English
Friday 1 February 2013
Post Golden Jubilee towards a new future in Development
Mr. K P John
Co-ordinator Idea Programme
Co-ordinator Idea Programme
As the time and tide swivel and wait for none Vijayapuram Social Service Society continues its journey, ever since its inception in 1961, committed to the cause of the poor and the marginalized, whoever leads it and whoever works for it.
As we retreat through the roads of development journey of Vijayapuram
Social Service Society the annals give an account of multifarious interventions
among people for their integral development.
The past years have witnessed paradigm shifts in strategies and
approaches to promote services to the cause of rural development and
empowerment of the powerless and the deprived sections of the community. Began with charity and welfare providing
food, shelter and cloth, the Society has passed through institutional,
developmental and organizational to Participatory and partnership strategies
reading the signs of time and as the faces of poverty change, looking at
ourselves and the poor who occupy the centre-stage of our development concerns
and action. We have contributed
significantly to the people of our operational area through innovative
solutions to poverty, deprivation, discrimination and exclusion by way of
service delivery, awareness raising, social mobilization, training, research
and advocacy. Every step taken during the 50 years has been an expression of
the concern of the Diocese for the poor. Now Vijayapuram Social Service Society
is at a strategic position of strength and credibility to take up any ventures
for the community.
VSSS is presently in the search of maximizing output with low external
input. It is about the technical and
social options open to people in their own respective community. It is about the empowerment of all categories
of the community, male and female, children, youth and elders, who seek to
build their future on the bases of their own knowledge, skills, values, culture
and institutions. VSSS seeks to combine
indigenous and scientific knowledge and to influence policy formulation to
create a conducive environment for the development of the people.
Development is fundamentally an empowering process. We have moved from sympathy to empathy, from
compassion to justice, from an attitude of receiving to positioning on the
basis of rights. But sinister forces are
active with little concerns on ethics or human values. We have to initiate struggle against this
vituperated situation.
We have been witnessing a transition in the 50 year history of VSSS. Now,
I should suggest a new motto for the post jubilee VSSS, service, faith and
excellence. As a Diocesan organization, we are brought together for something
extra ordinary. Each of us is involved in “transforming lives”, i.e. making
possible the aspirations and dreams of thousands of our people. Together, we
will continue to make great things happen.
We look beyond the horizon of the present to that of the future. This is
a time for serious planning for the days ahead. Our development concern should transcend
projects to building fellowships among men and women, which in turn build a
culture of love, equality and freedom.
We had very
serious deliberations during this year on post Jubilee focus of VSSS. We
proposed paradigm shifts in strategies and approaches to promote services to
the cause of rural development and empowerment of the powerless and the
deprived sections of the community who occupy the centre of our development
concerns and action.
The major
shifts proposed were
- From
dependency to self-reliance
- From
beneficiary to benefactor
- From
charity to empowerment
- From
project to process
- From
isolation to community
- From
sense of nothingness to the sense of fullness
- From
Centralization to decentralization
These
positive changes are definitely possible only through hard work and dedication
of all stakeholders, the community Based Organizations, the staff, the Bishop
and priests, the collaborators.
Mr. K. P. John
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