Choice-based Credit System- Another UGC experiment

The UGC wants the Universities to implement Choice-based Credit System. In their guidelines, they clearly state Choice-based Credit System  provides a "Cafeteria" approach to education. In one swoop they have turned education into something completely irrelevant.  The guideline is absolutely vague- a bureaucrat's vision.  So let us go through it:

1. The student will learn at their own pace. 
What does this mean?  Can a student graduate in four years instead of three?  Or maybe graduate in two years instead of three? Will all these students be considered on par?The document is silent on these aspects.

2. There are going to be three kinds of courses- Core, Elective, and Foundation.  Students have to take core courses every semester for certain credits and then choose their electives.  The foundation courses are mandatory.
This smacks of the Four Year Undergraduate program that was rolled back from DU last year.  Why was FYUP rolled back if the same thing was going to implemented this year in a different guise?  Further, do all the Universities and Colleges in the country have adequate faculty who can offer core and electives?  Take a college where a department has only 1 teacher- I came across this case when I was conducting the refresher course at the Academic staff college earlier this year.  This teacher has to teach all the subjects to all the students and also do the laboratory practicals with all the students.  Where does she/he have time to design an elective course? Or is it that the same course will be offered as core subject to some students and elective to others? What would be the class strength under this scenario? How is the teacher supposed to grade them?

3. The foundation course will be of two kinds-Compulsory and Elective.  Compulsory foundation course is going to lead to knowledge enhancement and is mandatory for all students.  Elective foundation course are value-based and aimed at man-making education.
I give up!  What does man-making education mean?

4. Finally, though this is not stated in the guidelines explicitly, one of the advantages of CBCS is that students can transfer credits to another University or take credits in another University/college- essentially offering student mobility.
However, here is the caveat. In the same breath the UGC/HRD wants us to standardize all the course so that at least all the Central Universities offer the same courses. If they do, then what is the need for student mobility?

If I am not mistaken, this entire approach is taken from the way American Education is designed. What our decision making members forget is that the American Education is a 4 year program.  At the beginning the student does not declare his/her major subject. For the first two years they take a variety of subjects- what in a sense would be the foundation courses suggested by UGC.  The 101 courses but at a level higher than what they would have learnt in High School.  At the end of the second year they declare their major and, if they want, minor subjects. The next two years they spend acquiring knowledge in these subjects.  The system offers great flexibility because the student has time to figure out what they are interested in. A relative of mine started University with the aim of become a doctor (they have to do 4 year Undergraduate program before applying to Med School), found that it was music that moved him, and ended up becoming a musician. That is the flexibility and greatness of the system. It is not all hunky-dory but it does offer you time to figure out your mojo.

Now what we do is to, of course, take the best practices of the best Universities in the world and then make a kichidi out of it so that it becomes incomprehensible, impractical and doomed for failure.

Escaping to Munsyiari

Delhi is extremely hot and I am always on the lookout for an escape.  So when my colleague said that she was planning to go to Munsiyari for two weeks and was I interested, I jumped at the opportunity. The only problem was that I could spare just 5 days.  On 20th of this month, Nanku Ram, the gardener, went on his annual leave, which meant that I had to get back to Delhi by 20th to take care of the garden.  Five days is better than none was my philosophy when I accepted her offer.
The cheaper way to get to Munsiyari from Delhi is to take the train to Kathgodam.  From Kathgodam, you get jeeps going up to Munsiyari.  However, given the time constraints and the fact that train tickets were not available, we decided to drive up there.  Fortunately, my maid's husband is a good driver (that is to say my parents trust him) and he has a car. 
We left Delhi on 15th around 4.30 am and promptly got stuck in Ghaziabad/Sahibabad area. I got a nice view of the apartment complexes being built around this area. I do not know who likes to have addresses as VVIP Address Towers but yes, one of the apartment complex is named as VVIP Addresses.
Once we got onto National Highway, the ride was smooth till we hit Rampur.  From Rampur to Rudrapur, the road is horrible and filled with potholes.  From Rudrapur onwards, the roads improved and we very much enjoyed the drive.  The best thing was we could tell Rajinder, our driver, to stop because we wanted to take a picture of the view or to take a closer look at the bird.  The other important thing, from my perspective, was that Rajinder drove slowly so that I did not get nauseous.  
We stopped at Jageshwar at a resort that belonged to my colleague's friend who is a tour operator.  The resort, Van Serai, was awesome. The rooms were comfortable and completely insulated so that we did not feel the cold seeping through the walls as it happens in Delhi.  Next morning, we went around Jageshwar.  The place is famous for its temples which are under ASI protection though puja is performed.  The main deity is Shiva in the form of Jageshwar and Mritunjaya.  These temples are believed to have been built in 12-13th century and are grouped together in one complex.

We left Jageshwar around 8.30 am and started our journey towards Munsiyari. 

As we reached DhaulChinna we realized that we might not have enough petrol to get back.  At the next stop, Sheraghat, we enquired about petrol and were told nothing is available.  We started panicking but a helpful hitchhiker told us that we will get it at the next stop- Berinag.  We did not believe him but when we reached Berinag and saw a Maruti outlet, we knew we would get petrol.  Which we did both at Berinag and at the next stop-Thal.
The immediate worry over, we sat back to enjoy the remaining drive. Now we could see the snow-capped peaks.  We could also hear the blue whistling thrush, and see the Himalayan Bulbul along with the red-capped bulbul.

And a rainbow:

Munsiyari is at 2250 meters above the sea level and the road winds through the mountains. Truthfully, my heart hit the shoes every time we went around the bend which was every few seconds.  This is not a road to be ventured on after dusk.
From Munsiyari we could see the Panchchauli peaks beyond which is the Tibet border.  In the morning, when I woke up, I pulled aside the curtain to take a peak.  We were lucky. It was one of those perfect days, cloudless, and we drank the sight of those mountains.

At Munsiyari, we stayed with a family who does Home Stay.  The room allotted to us was comfortable and again well-insulated with all the facilities. 
The next day, 17th, a mela had been organized and we climbed up the mountain to reach the venue. The mela was fun, and who knew that the Kumoani men play bagpipes?

My colleague and I were able to do a little bit of bird-watching. We had planned to put in an entire day, 18th, of bird watching but the weather played spoil sport. We woke to the sound of rains and foolishly having left the shoes outside faced wet shoes and socks.  The rain did stop but the clouds were there throughout putting nix to our plans.  The snowy peaks disappeared as though they had been nothing but a mirage.
Coming back I stopped at Chaukori, about 4 hours drive from Munsiyari, famous for its tea gardens.
And then it was a non-stop drive back to Delhi and the heat.

Writing a professional letter

When I was in school we had compulsory letter writing sessions both in English and Hindi.  The subjects were mundane but they the exercise emphasized that we should be careful about spelling, about salutations, about formatting...endless details that I, regretfully, forgot all about as soon as the exercise was over.  When I had to apply to graduate schools, I had to start all over again.
Now that I am a faculty, I receive many letters from students requesting for positions.  Most of the letters are written in poor English.  Many of them are addressed to Dear Sir.  Usually I respond back to these letters with a gentle reminder that not all teachers are males.  Sometimes the student will write back apologizing for his/her mistake.  I do not know whether the student learnt from the lesson though I would like to believe that he/she did.  But then I do like to live in an imaginary world.
My brother tells me that he too receives such letter.  And then today, I noticed this advice in the Science Magazine on How to Write e-mails when applying for graduate school.  It is worth reading as it provides many helpful pointers not only for undergraduate students but also for Ph.D. scholars about to apply for a post-doc position.