Nearly 25 years ago, I was complaining to the late FC Kohli, a pioneer who put India on the software map of the world; and was vice-chairman of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), about the lack of social skills among many of our people in India. There is spitting on roads, on the pavement, at stairway corners in buildings and in washbasins in toilets. Over a period of time, the once white-washed basins take on a mild pink colour. There are children and even adults, lining the main roads of Mumbai (even the highway leading from the airport to downtown) and they are comfortable using the pavement kerb as a public toilet.
There are adolescents and even adults who take great pleasure in throwing stones at passing trains (happened to my daughter). And they secretly hope that some of those who travel may get seriously injured so that they can join their own ranks of the unemployed or unemployable.
And there is nearly everyone who will litter the streets, the building compounds and the buses and trains and railway platforms and the railway tracks. They will refuse to use the waste basket. And if a socially concerned citizen complains, the prompt will be the reply: ‘‘Aap ka baap ka hai kya?’ and in those few words, there is both a question and a threat!
Mr Kohli’s response to my question—Why is this so?—was short and to the point. He said that until we invest in reorienting our primary education in municipal and government schools, social norms in this country will not change. The private schools will have the wherewithal to impart social skills to their students. They will grow up as socially conscious and well-behaved citizens (generally). But those who have attended the municipal schools have not had a chance to know better. The foundation is weak and not aligned with what we have in mind as community-centred behaviour.
How will this be done? Who will invest in bringing about this change? How long will this take? These are difficult questions to which there are no ready answers—neither by the government nor by the citizens.
Therefore, for me, it was very heartening to remember a headline from December 2001 which said, ‘
Big leap forward: Municipal students are college bound’. This quantum leap was all thanks to a municipal school project taken up by the Times Foundation, under which 1,000 municipal school students get to make use of college campuses as much-needed finishing schools.
The project had kicked off a month earlier at Sophia College on Bhulabhai Desai Road, Mumbai - aiming to improve the learning and communication skills of municipal school children.
As part of the project, colleges would provide space, facilities, teachers and NSS volunteers to students in nearby municipal schools. The aim was to enable school students to communicate well in English and help them grasp various subjects, including computers, while also working on their personality development. There were also plans to train teachers at municipal schools.
“This is a movement and we are expecting it to grow,” said Ashoke K Maitra, director, Times Foundation. “We want donors, volunteers, and more college principals to undertake this cause.”
Spurred by the success of the Sophia College pilot project, many principals and college officials were offering to pitch in. As many as 10 colleges had pledged their support. The project, however, was not just banking on NSS workers to do the job. Plans were also afoot to train these volunteers to ensure that they are adept in the role of teachers. Sophia College and British Institutes Pvt Ltd offered to train NSS volunteers.
Educationists pointed out that municipal school teachers needed to be trained as well, considering that they would be reaching out to a larger student body. In their case, there needs to be an attitude change as well, a participant stated. At least four colleges offered help. St John’s School, Goregaon, St. Xaviers Institute of Education, New Marine Lines, and Khalsa College agreed to train municipal school teachers. ‘‘The foundation’s efforts need to be supplemented with policy changes as well’’ an educationist pointed out. There is a municipal school adoption programme, but not many private trusts and industries are coming forward due to various restrictions, said the director of St John’s School. ‘‘Deregulation was needed to make the adoption programme more effective’’, he added.
Ram Keswani, a trustee of Vivekanand Education Society, said, “In my time, Municipal schools were the only places where you got a credible form of education. To bring back lost glory, the government would have to be motivated to introduce policy changes.”
These are all right changes, coming, perhaps at a late stage. But it’s better late than never. If this philosophy is implemented in municipal schools in Mumbai and in government and municipal schools all over the country, the face of India will change considerably—and all for the better.
All these are notes of nearly 25 years ago, based on newspaper reports. Has all this happened? We are still a long way from China’s literacy level of 98%! We have thus lost a long period of time, with small allocations in the Budget for education, combined with poor administration of the system. Over a 75-year period since independence, we have come to a situation where political parties are shifting to an electoral model that prioritises private benefit over-delivering public good.
The recent Delhi elections’ campaigning saw various political parties offering the following: autowallahs’ wards’ tuition fees for civil service aspirants; money for daughters’ weddings; monthly dole to women, temple priests, and Gurdwara granthis; to the elderly; pregnant women and jobless youth for one year. Where will the funds for this largesse come from when we never seem to have enough for the national and state education budget?
In this context, it is heartening to read about
KPR Mill Ltd, a large company from Coimbatore, where the owner and chairman took the initiative to open the doors for women. They were hired as workers in his factories and given the offer to work four hours more after an eight-hour work schedule. During the additional four hours, they attend classes organised by the company, from high school to professional (all paid for by the company). They have trained over 27,000 women who have graduated, and the company has helped them find appropriate jobs with their new qualifications! Twenty-seven of KPR’s employees went on to join the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).
And to read that Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai were named the most influential global Indians!
All is not lost! It’s only that it could have been better!
(Walter Vieira is a Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants of India - FIMC. He was a successful corporate executive for 14 years, capping his career as Head of marketing for a Pharma multinational, for India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka- and then pioneered marketing consulting in India in 1975. As a consultant, he has worked across four continents. He was the first Asian elected Chairman of ICMCI, the world apex body of consultants in 45 countries, in 1997. He is the author of 16 books, a business columnist, international conference speaker and has been visiting professor in Marketing in the US, Europe, and Asia for over 40 years. He was awarded Lifetime Achievement Award for Consulting in 2005, and for Marketing in 2009. He now spends much of his time in NGO work - Consumer Education and Research Centre, IDOBRO, and some others.)
