New Education Policy: Backward or Forward

1st appeared in the HERALD

The shifting out of Former Education Minister Smriti Irani was probably the best thing that could have happened for education. Among the first things the new Education Minister Prakash Javadekar’s did was extend the deadline for seeking public opinion.

Not known to many, the NDA II government is currently drafting a new education policy “to meet the changing dynamics of the population’s requirement with regards to quality education, innovation and research”. This would be a perfect starting point for a noble cause given India’s push to become an intellectual super power on the back of an IT boom.

However, some things were just not right, why was this path breaking initiative kept under wraps, in fact only 43 pages of the entire report were circulated. Surely anyone studying such a condensed version would have more questions than clarity. Considering the report is in two volumes. The first, in 230 pages, contains nearly 90 suggestions; the second has over 100 pages of annexures, these suggestions supposedly evolved out of extensive grassroot study.

The panel has recommended significant interventions such as amending the Right to Education (RTE) Act to bring back detention of students after Class V, elimination of unviable schools and making minority schools reserve 25% seats for candidates of economically weaker sections (EWS). The last provision tramples the rights of the minority institutions (linguistic and religious) which is enshrined in the Constitution.

Thankfully this has been corrected with the release of the complete version and extension of the date. However, no visible effort is seen to make the policy widely available to schools, colleges etc for allowing proper debate.

We have had two NEP’s, 1968 and 1986, under Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. The National Education Policy (NEP) of 1986 was revised in 1992 when P V Narasimha Rao was PM. So it not something that is not or cannot be changed. What would be watched is the process and that has ruffled some feathers, especially the minority institutions who run many educational institutions and whose views should be considered given their experience. Hopefully under the new Minister this too will be considered.

From the official website, the NEP was formulated with a time bound BOTTOM UP approach and different from previous exercises which were supposedly TOP DOWN. Also rather than have experts this time the ministry opted for discussion village education committees across all 2.5 lacs Grampanchayats. Was Goa left out as nothing was reported or maybe Goa does not count. Not many in the education sector have heard of this new policy, which would mean the fault of the sector or the ministry?

The Ministry feels that previous policy consultations took between 3 months (really) to 6 years, hence this policy is going to be time bound. However time bound does not mean not doing things as planned in the “Consultative Framework”. The consultations with National education bodies was done over one day each. Considering the themes listed out in the Consultation document, it is too little time given the importance of the subject.

The themes are no doubt very good, especially focus on teacher training and quality.

Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai raised the issue of “neighbourhood school” as envisaged under the RTE Act, it was not being implemented, kids travel more than 1 km to get to school. Under the NEP this will be done away with. Schools which are small or are not viable will be consolidated. MLA Vijai is unaware that the NEP is already proposing to do away with what he is asking to be implemented.

Education is a State subject and the NEP will provide broad guidelines for the States to follow, should not the States be well aware and contributing so that the States plans and the National Policy do not oppose each other?

The current Minister is a product of student politics. Will he agree to the view that student politics is a distraction that should be eliminated from every campus. Will it be possible to prevent as envisaged, formation of student groups on the lines of religion or caste or politics, would it not violate the fundamental right of a student. Did the recent unrest or rather ham handed handling in the JNU campus have an effect on getting this issue included in the policy?

The most important issue to my mind that needs to be discussed is this. The guiding principle for the recommendations made in the NEP ….more than economic objectives, education should aim to “develop pride in India and in being Indian / with roots embedded in Indian culture etc”. So did the panel findings include the fact that those produced by the current education system are less nationalist or cultural misfits and hence this problem has to be addressed. Then contrast it with an objective of NEP, make student more employable, do corporates employ students who are culturally sound or those who have the necessary skill sets to do the required job. Where is the focus?

The NEP has raised more questions than provided solutions. The method of discussion or dissemination or consultations have left mush to be desired. There seems to be a knee jerk reaction to various happening and above all a scant regard for constitutional rights. It appears that the current draft policy has hidden agendas.

It would be therefore imperative for the Minister Mr. Prakash Javadekar to review the process and once again go back to having proper nationwide consultations with actual stakeholders so that the revised draft meets the minimum expectation of improving the quality of education and enhancing the employability, and in his own words, A STUDENT CENTRIC POLICY.

Taken for a ride: by a taxi

1st appeared in the Goan Everyday"

The literal meaning of “taken for a ride” is cheated. In Goa, that is happening day in and day out, if you take a taxi, you are going to be taken for a jolly good ride. The worst part is, this happens with the blessings of the administration. The solution is blowing in the wind but the will is missing as votes are more important.

The taxi drivers know that they are on the wrong side of the law. But with political patronage they stand nose to nose with any authority and demand brazenly that they will install GPS meters only if illegal taxis are stopped and two, hotels and airlines do not charge high fares. This amounts to saying, I as a citizen will follow the laws provided there are no murders in Goa. Can such conditional acceptance of the law of the land be allowed, and should the authorities be mute spectators to such an audacious demand?

There are three types of taxis that operate in Goa, Black and Yellow: Usually found at prepaid stands at airport and stations. That is there domain. The private taxi is next, usually white cars. They operate from home ie anywhere or hotel gate (their turf) or important corner in village or town. The last is the illegal or unauthorised taxi. They are basically private cars on hire. The owners are usually Government servants and this is their extra income. One can now understand the blind eye by officials to this activity.

The taxi trade has to be counseled to realise that they cannot compare themselves to the hotel or airline industry. There is no alternative to taxis, a pity but if there is no public transport the only other options is your own vehicle and it shows in the growing no of registrations. Hotels, each offers different rooms, amenities and service levels, if one hotel prices itself above its level it will loose customers to another Hotel, in case of airlines many choose not to fly if the fare are too high.

The average profile of a taxi driver is school drop out and usually it is owner driven. Some owners do have drivers or more than one taxi, but all the drivers move on to becoming owner drivers sooner than later. The taxi business is usually operated from the house or nearby hotel or tinto. Most airport taxis owners are usually from around the area, radius of 10-15 kms. There are a few biggies who have a fleet of cars and they usually do not operate from the airport or station.

Now, with the above profile and collectively having associations based on North and South. One will not expect too much in terms of understanding either business, operating policy or expanding customer base. This lack of knowledge drives the taxi stake holders to the worst possible mediators, the politicians. The politicians is usually a long term player, but the term he is considering is his own reelection. So the focus is on short term decisions which do not need any thinking and definitely will not take the politicians time.

Thought must be given to the following and educating taxi drives about their impact and benefit must be part of the process. First and foremost is to pick low handing fruit, ie illegal operators. That ofcourse is the most difficult as it would mean authorities have to take action against themselves.

The next is the fact that taxi owners/drivers have to embrace technology. Today, there are customers waiting for taxis and taxis waiting for customers and the twain do not meet. Technology can change that and once the taxi trade accepts this, business will explode. But the Government should not wait, they should implement, it is good for taxis and customers. That is the mandate of Governance, see all sides.

This brings us to the root cause, one can argue which comes first, the customer or the price, in this case both have to be addressed simultaneously or it will not work and that is “GPS with meters”. The conventional meters are easy to fiddle with, lower air pressure increases mileage done or the tax can make unnecessary loops. GPS based system cannot be tampered and extra loops can be eliminated.

The Meter, eliminates the need for using the current area wise charts, eg: if there are two passengers headed for Verna, one going to industrial estate (11 km) and other to the Udear spring, (17km), both are charged the same Rs 530/-. While both 48/km or 32/km resp., is exorbitant, it is good for neither the passenger or the driver. For passenger one is paying more and for the driver he is getting less every time he drives deep into the area. Most times this results in arguments as the driver feels the customer has mentioned a closer destination to get the benefit of a lower fare.

They drive back empty and rashly just to get back into the queue again. Had they been using an “app”, it is possible that there is another passenger who wishes to go to the airport or in that direction, rather than empty and haggling, the driver can first become aware of such a customer and two, because of the meter a fair charge is payable.

The TAXI which is an asset is used more, the price comes down, the reputation goes up and the customers increase. The ordinary TAXI METER with GPS backed by a taxi hailing “app” will change the way Goa sees taxis, everyone will happily go for a ride.

Where is the “ease” in doing business?

Goa is in the news again and for the wrong reasons. It is ranked 21 among all the States and Union territories. The ASSOCHAM report which similarly stated that Goa needed to do a lot more was brushed aside by the Government and an Industry body came to the Governments rescue. The Industry reaction was viewed with suspicion as it did not reflect the ground realities but pandered to the Governments need for support. This report prepared by the Center in conjunction with the World Bank cannot be brushed aside and only highlights the fact that “all is not well” when it comes to helping business function easily.

The much touted IPB (Investment Promotion Board) formed under the Investment Promotion Act, lost it legs a few days ago when the Chief Minister declared it was not a single window for investment in the State as was given to believe. The statement coming on the heels of questions raised by the High Court only proves that acting in haste and trying bulldoze the opposition to accept projects without thinking, ends up in actually delaying projects and increasing the tension of doing business in Goa.

The statement by the Chief Minister is also surprising. If this was the case why was the “in principle” approval assumed to be fait accompli and why was the impression that IPB subsumed every other statutory body eg: TCP, GSPCB etc given. Why was this clarification not issued earlier. Actually, the reason real reason for creating the impression that it was a single window was to convey to the other arms of governance that there should be no questions asked and the applications have to be fast tracked irrespective of the situation, the IPB has seen the power point presentation and approved.

The IPB drafting committee did not have a single hotel industy expert, after its formation it was decided that the “investment’ in IPB would include hotel projects, originally it meant manufacturing and services. Hotels, are an investment, question is what prompted their inclusion.

If one studies the hotel projects approved (now reverted to in principle approval) by the IPB and study the details of when the properties were purchased, one will surprisingly note that the properties were purchased before 2012, however none of these properties could have seen the light of day as hotels because they were all either Kazan, orchards, fields or no development zones as per the Regional plan. Once the IPB came into existence, all these properties immediately submitted their plans for hotels and were immediately approved. Now we will have to wait and watch what happens in court as other than TCP, IPB cannot make a zone change.

The IPB has to follow the IP Act which lists thrust areas. It was surprising to note and see that an alcohol manufacturing unit was accorded approval in an orchard. Alcohol is not a thrust area, new alcohol manufacturing projects are banned in the industrial estates. One Government, two rules. Should alcohol manufacturing be allowed or not is not part of the discussion, why different interpretation by different arms of the same Government. This project also had the distinction of needing support of a notification which classified all the toddy tappers in the State as grasshoppers by declaring coconut trees were not trees.

The IPB has many mandates, approve projects is one, what about others. The IPB is supposed to recommend or decide how business can be facilitated. These has two aspects, infrastructure building and administrative reform. It is not only land that is scarce and needs to be provided, what about electricity and water.

The IPB in its wisdom actually rejected a project of a steel processor, this decision was over ruled by a cabinet decision despite a cabinet decision banning new steel mills. The electricity department assured the project 10MW of power, yet industry is crying for power for expansion and there is none. Should the IPB not be studying the power and water scenario and recommending to the Government ways to augment the same.

Administrative reforms are what industry has been harping on and this was just the right place to make a difference. The IPB application could have been designed so that when one applies to the IPB all information required for other departments concerned in also included and any department can process the same applicaion. The investor makes only one application to the IPB and the IPB passes it on to the respective departments and gets their approval or objections based on which the IPB gives its own in principle approval. The difference here is the investor is not following up with the departments but the IPB. This way post the in principle approval, departments cannot raise any new issues or decide against the project.

The “Ease of doing Business” ranking is very objective with 325 plus issues that need to be reformed by a State, these could have been discussed by the IPB and recommendations made to Government to reform areas like, inspection, online submission, multiple applications, increased use of IT for uploading returns etc. The IPB did nothing of this and the result is clear to see. RANK 21.

Going forward the IPB has to sit back and take stock of the situation...THINK. The best place to start is the ranking report. Being objective it gives clear guidelines as to where and what has to be done, let the IPB start doing this, forget giving rushed and dubious clearances, they will anyway get delayed when aggrieved citizens approach the court. Keep politicians out, bring in domain experts, clean up the business environment and the good projects will come. Goa is a great State and if the system supports, it will be a great State to do business.

The Reluctant Entrepreneur: Travel

Today, a budding entrepreneur came to me for some advice. She felt that because she was starting small she did not have to think ahead. It is at the start up stage that she has more time to think, once the project is rolling there will be less time. By sheer chance when I started I got a chance to travel abroad for a conference. There was no doubt that in my mind thoughts that this was wasteful expenditure were flying all over.

Once in Singapore during the conference breaks, I contacted various moulders listed in the yellow pages and got myself three invitations to visit their factories. The visits were learning experiences. Consider this example. Back in India, I had seen moulding machines set up each with individual spaces and possible its own overhead crane. Here in a place where space was a premium, they were laid out side by side, just a meter gap between each, one crane serviced all 25 machines, similarly they was a another line on the other side. The corridor in the middle was used to service each machine, supply new moulds or take away ready parts, above the corridor was a platform with the RM feeders. In a space where in India I would have seen 6 to 8 machines, 50 were operational.

We used this thinking to good effect as we added machines in our factory. One vendor assuming we had no space refused to quote when asked. Later, he came to see how we had installed the machine we purchased from his competitor. The initial expenditure considered wasteful was actually an investment.

Over the years, this has become apart of my training. Visiting factories in different parts of the world and even India. India is also up there with the best compared to 20 years ago. When buying a large machine my french counter parts felt that we would have to also buy an automatic platform to load unload the moulding arm as was done in Europe. These systems are known to cost as much as the machine. A visit down under changed that perception. Australians seem to be more like Indians, have a jugaad mentality...they like us make it work with the most inexpensive means. In Australia they ran even bigger machines without the platforms, rather that climb up and work on an arm at a height, they inverted the arm and worked on it from the ground, brilliant. So my new machine does not have a fancy unloading station, we just work from the ground.

On the same trip, I noticed that after using a pneumatic gun to loosen the bolts, the nuts did not fall to the ground on the other side. Curious, since I had worked on retaining the nut in place without success earlier. These guys had over come my problem, I had tried to hold the nut in place by welding, however when the nut got damaged it was difficult to replace. They welded a sleeve instead and put the nut inside the sleeve, once damaged only the nut was replaced. Eureka.

Before I left for the Philippines to study, to me a factory had to be dirty, wires hanging grease on the walls floors, if there were pipes they had to leak and if there were oil sumps it had to drip. During the course I had an opportunity to visit factories practicing the concept of Kaizen. That was my moment of enlightenment, and I have never been the same again. I saw factories which were as clean as hospitals workers in white overalls. The advantage of white overalls was that if your overall got dirty it was a sign that there was a part of the factory that was not clean. I came back to India with a different perception, “FACTORIES CAN BE CLEAN”

The point I am trying to make to budding or seasoned entrepreneurs is travel and when I say travel I do not mean to sight see only, but travel to get a feel of how others do it and adapt accordingly. Get to a new place and thumb the yellow pages, there are always a few fellow entrepreneurs willing to host you, all you need to do is ask. The moral of the story travel is a great teacher. Bon Voyage

NOT JUST INTROSPECTION, ACTION REQUIRED,

• A variation to the same concept articulated earlier

Fr Savio's “Need for Introspection” in the Herald dated August 23 2013 makes interesting reading. I agree our education system needs some serious work, he highlights important issues but no solutions. The Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) has brought out an “Education Policy” which the Bishop is struggling to implement. The policy is aimed at delivering good quality education.

I disagree with his criticism of the no fail policy. It is a good system badly implemented. Fr. Savio actually provides the solution when he states that our “one size fits all” policy is the culprit. Unfortunately it contradicts his earlier position that allowing a student to drop an uncomfortable subject will hamper his growth later. The reason kids are not interested is because they have no interest in what is being taught. He asks, why are right brain subject being marginalised.

The only reason we have Apple and it famous “I” products is because Jobs took a course in calligraphy, the rest is history. Mr. Newman, the former Principal, famously said that he has no interest in maths and only uses it to ensure that he gets the correct change back after he has paid for his goods. So learning compound interest, constructions in geometry etc were water on a ducks back.

The Goa Board has addressed this issue through circular no 55. Only one school to my knowledge, Regina Mundi has actually implemented it. So far, three students have been allowed to drop an inconvenient subject and take another. How many Principals are willing to adopt this system which allows for tailoring of the course to fit the child.? How many are aware it exists.?

This is the basis of the National Open School where they offer both right brain and left brain subjects. The reason for Principals or Head masters shying away from tailoring is also mentioned by Fr, Savio. The school has to many administrative jobs, bal rath, midday meal, election duty and the like. This surely takes away the academic focus. Why not sub contract these jobs to an outside agency. Each school complex can be managed by one set in a centralised manner which is not impossible with mobiles, internet and computers.

Once the children begin to enjoy school they will stop misbehaving and labeling of “useless or duffer” will stop and along with it the rebelling. I recall when there was a “fail policy” coming to a new class and being joined by a few kids who had failed once or twice before and actually had no hope of ever clearing. It was a matter of time before they dropped out either because they began bullying and were rusticated or because they just grew old.

Now rustication is not an option and it is frowned on by Fr Savio. When it was available did it stop misbehaviour. We have laws, jails and courts do we have less crime. Bad behaviour is a symptom and not the cause. The cause is clearly wrong fit or choice of subjects offered. So we need rules and calendars just as we cannot do away with laws because there is crime.

What we as a society should be focused on is ensuring that the child is sufficiently trained to face life. Not all want or can become Doctors and Engineers. So if a child cannot or does not want say maths or language, so be it. Let him choose something else. Without maths he cannot choose engineering later, but surely such a student is sure he does not want that career choice, he may just want to become a good Principal, let him.

The Government needs to support Circular No 55 with options for courses in lieu of the standard menu. Once this is done, drop outs will reduce and smiles will be back.

The Reluctant Entrepreneur: What’s in a name

First published in The Business Goa

At the recently concluded Konkan Fruit Fest we tested our new positioning of placing many products using the brand name SHAKTI under a single umbrella. “SHAKTI for your home”. With this positioning many hitherto disparate products were aligned for the first time. While SHAKTI water tanks had a very high recognition and association with the brands values, viz: good quality, right price and timely delivery. Other products within the SHAKTI stable derived no such benefit. Infact feedback indicated that customers did not even associate the Brand with any product except tanks.

The concept trial was very successful and we learned that just using a well known brand name without a plan, even if it is your own does not guarantee transfer of brand value automatically. What we did essentially was point to the fact that SHAKTI also makes tanks, and emphasised the other products placing them around a home with the tank on the top as it is usually placed. In this way we were able to link the septic tank, the compost bins, dust bins, grease trap and planters using the line “SHAKTI for your Home”.

Before we did this we had decided to split our website into two websites, linked internally. While one set of customers know SHAKTI, they rarely relate to the Company name GMI Zarhak Moulders. On the other hand our OEM (original equipment manufacturer) customers viz:John Deere, VOLVO, Putzmiester, Atlas Copco, Godrej etc never refer to our brand and know only the Company name.

Earlier searching for our website shaktiindia.com was easy for our home products customers but the website made no sense to our OEM customers. This obviously led to confusion. Another aspect kicked in once a person reached our website, difficult to separate custom moulded parts which cannot be sold or specifications cannot be given due to restrictions on one hand and regular products on the other. Here again we see the complexity caused by brand and company name. We have decided to address this issue going forward by having two websites shaktiindia.com and GMIZarhak.com, both linked internally but each having information relevant to the customer segment it addresses.

The aspect of choosing a brand name was peculiar for us as it will be for everyone who chooses a brand name. We could have used some name associated with Goa, eg coconut or Maad or Talav or even SEATEX for that matter but we choose SHAKTI keeping in mind that the name implies strength/long lasting and is easily recognisable pan India which would be our long term goal. At the fruit fest there were many selling wines and pickles without a brand name, how does a customer who wants a repeat experience find the product later or recognise it in a shop. One brand name seemed to be associated with a famous cartoonist given the name and typeface, is there a connection?

For a start up it would be good if they can consider these lessons right at the beginning so that like us they do not waste valuable time before they figure out through experience. The first thing is to choose a brand name, better in my opinion if the name has some relevance to the values the brand wants to inculcate. These days it is advisable to use the internet to ensure your chosen brand name does not infringe on anyone else’s rights. Decide early if the brand and company name have to be linked, then design brand communication accordingly. When launching new products, decide early if you need new brand name or you will use the existing name and then tailor brand communication early, biscuit companies are a good example of using a different brand name for each category of product.

The bottom line is there is a lot of value in names brand as well as company, think hard and long early on, so that you enjoy the fruits for a long time.

NOT JUST INTROSPECTION, ACTION REQUIRED

• This was written in response to a comment by an educationist.

I agree our education system needs some serious work. I disagree that the no fail policy under RTE is suspect. It is a good system badly implemented. The “one size fits all” policy is the culprit. So allowing a student to drop an uncomfortable subject will not hamper the students future growth. The reason kids are not interested is because they have no liking for what is being taught. Why are right brain subjects marginalised in this day and age.

The only reason we have Apple and it famous “I” products is because Jobs took a course in calligraphy, the rest is history. Mr. Newman, the former Principal, famously said that he has no interest in maths and only uses it to ensure that he gets the correct change back after he has paid for his goods. So learning compound interest, constructions in geometry etc were water on a ducks back.

The Goa Board has addressed this issue by allowing students to take alternative subjects if the student cannot cope with a regular subject. A path breaking initiative. This is really the basis of the National Open School system, where they offer both right brain and left brain subjects. How many Principals are willing to adopt this system which allows for tailoring of the course to fit the child.? How many are aware it exists.? Only one school, Regina Mundi has actually implemented it. So far, three students have been allowed to drop an uninteresting subject and take another. The drawback is lack of study and testing centers approved by the Goa Board. The reason for Principals or Head masters shying away from tailoring is the fact that the school has to many administrative jobs, bal rath, midday meal, election duty and the like. This surely takes away the academic focus. Why not sub contract these jobs to an outside agency. Each school complex can be managed by one set in a centralised manner which is not impossible with mobiles, internet and computers.

Once the children begin to enjoy school they will stop misbehaving and labeling of “useless or duffer” will stop and along with it the rebelling. I recall when there was a “fail policy” coming to a new class and being joined by a few kids who had failed once or twice before and actually had no hope of ever clearing. It was a matter of time before they dropped out either because they began bullying and were rusticated or because they just grew old.

Under RTE, rustication is not an option and it is frowned on by all. When it was available did it stop misbehaviour. We have laws, jails and courts do we have less crime. Bad behaviour is a symptom and not the cause. The cause is clearly wrong fit or choice of subjects offered. So we need rules and calendars just as we cannot do away with laws because there is crime.

What we as a society should be focused on is ensuring that the child is sufficiently trained to face life. Not all want or can become Doctors and Engineers. So if a child cannot or does not want say maths or language, so be it. Let him choose something else. Without maths he cannot choose engineering later, but surely such a student is sure he does not want that career choice, he may just want to become a good Principal, let him.

The Government needs to support the Board in implementing its decision to “tailor” courses as per the students likes and dislikes, with options for courses in lieu of those on standard menu. Rather than duplicate effort, the Goa Government can allow students to pick subjects from the Open School Menu. Once this is done, drop outs will reduce and smiles will be back.