102 notes

Q 1: What is Informal Education? Explain the factors of informal education in detail.

Ans no 1: Informal Learning

Informal Learning takes place wherever people have the need, motivation, or opportunity for
learning. Informal learning is intentional, but not highly structured. Examples of informal
learning include self-directed learning, networking, coaching, mentoring, and performance
planning. Informal learning is relevant in many cultures and contexts such as private/public
sectors, hospitals/healthcare, colleges/universities, schools, professional associations,
museums, religions, families, and communities. According to Marsick and Volpe Informal
Learning is characterized by the following. Informal learning must be integrated into daily
routines, be triggered by an internal or external jolt, is not highly conscious, is influenced by
chance, requires an inductive process of reflection and action, and is linked to the learning of
others.
 
Three Types of Informal Learning
There are three types of informal learning: self-directed, incidental, and socialization. Self-
directed is learning undertaken by an individual without the assistance of an educator but can
include the presence of a “resource person. ” Examples of self-directed informal learning would
be a toddler learning how to put on their socks or friends cooking with the help of a recipe and
their grandmother. Incidental learning takes place when an individual did not have a previous
intention of learning something out of the experience, but after the experience, the individual
becomes aware that learning has taken place. An example of incidental learning is a toddler
touching a hot stove. Socialization is the internalization of values, attitudes, behaviors, and skills
that occur during everyday life. Examples of socialization include toddlers learning to speak a
language or what to eat/not eat.
 

10 Characteristics of Informal Learning

Before you ever go to school or take part in a Mom-and-tot program, informal learning starts
the day you are born and continues on until the day you die. Here are the characteristics of
informal learning:

1. Informal learning is never organized.

There are no set formulas or guidelines. Examples of informal learning include activities such as
teaching your child the alphabet, or how to brush his or her teeth. There is no prescriptive
program of study for this.
2. Informal learners are often highly motivated to learn.

Unlike the formal learning environment of school, informal learners are often eager and
attentive. A teenager showing a friend how to find an “Easter egg” in a video game is an
example of informal learning. The gamer really wants to find out how to achieve his goal, so he
embarks on a journey to figure out how. His friend becomes his teacher.

3. Informal learning is often spontaneous.

Learning happens anywhere, any time. The learner is inspired to learn because of an immediate
desire to know how to do something or understand a topic. Or an informal “teacher” sees an
opportunity to share their knowledge or wisdom with someone else. For example, we were
recently standing in line at the airport waiting to go through security. There was a family in
front of us. The father, who was holding the hand of his young son, who was about seven or
eight, used the posters on the wall of the security area to teach the boy to read new words. The
boy sounded out the words and they talked about the content of the poster. This not only
helped to pass the time during a long wait, it was a great example of spontaneous informal
learning.

4. There is no formal curriculum.

There is no program of study or prescriptive methods. Whatever methods used are the one that
the person teaching knows how to teach… often based on their own experience.

5. The “teacher” is someone who cares – and who has more experience than the learner.

Even the word “teacher” here is a bit of a misnomer because professional teachers all have
credentials, certificates or a teaching license. In the informal learning context, those leading the
learning are likely to be emotionally close to the person who is learning, such as a mother,
father, grandparent or other caregiver. An adult child teaching an older parent how to use new
technology is an example.

6. The world is your classroom

It is a myth that learning happens in a school or in a classroom. With informal learning, there is
no classroom. Your home, the neighborhood park, the community and the world are the
classroom.
7. Informal learning is difficult to quantify.

There are no exams and informal learning is difficult to quantify.

8. Often dismissed by academics and skeptics as being worthless.

Informal learning is often overlooked and not regarded as particularly valid learning. Some

researchers and academics (though not all of us!) have the opinion that informal learning is less
valuable than formal, prescriptive learning (due, in part, to the fact that it is difficult to
quantify… and they believe that if it can not be quantified, it has no value).

9. Essential to a child’s early development.

Learning your mother tongue is an excellent example of informal learning. Imagine if a child
were not exposed to any language for the first 5 years. How difficult would that child’s
development become? It is an experiment that, as far as I know, has never been done. It would
be considered too risky and unethical. Everything a young child learns at home is informal
learning, from how to brush their teeth to how to say the alphabet to good manners. Without
informal learning, we would never be able to cope in a formal learning environment.

10. Essential to an adult’s lifelong learning.

Informal learning is a lifelong process. It does not end when a child enters school and the
formal system “takes over”. On the contrary, children continue to learn at home. As we get
older, we learn from our friends. As we enter the workforce, we learn from our co-workers. Into
retirement, we still learn from friends and also from those younger than us. An adult learning to
read and write from a volunteer literacy tutor is one example. A retired office worker learning
from her grandson how to use an iPad is another example.

Informal learning is what keeps us vibrant, mentally active and interested in the world around
us, as well as our own development. Just because informal learning can not be quantified easily
does not mean that it is not worthwhile – or even essential to our development and growth as
human beings.
Q2. Discuss the following concepts and their significance in detail: (10 Marks)

a) Mid-Day Meal

b) Schemes of Girls, SC, ST and Marginalized Group

Mid Day Meal:

The Mid-day Meal Scheme is a school meal programme of the Government of India designed to

better the nutritional standing of school-age children nationwide.[1] The programme supplies
free lunches on working days for children in primary and upper primary classes in government,
government aided, local body, Education Guarantee Scheme, and alternate innovative
education centres, Madarsa and Maqtabs supported under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, and National
Child Labour Project schools run by the ministry of labour, serving 120,000,000 children in over
1,265,000 schools and Education Guarantee Scheme centres, it is the largest of its kind in the
world.
Under article 24, paragraph 2c of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which India is a
party, India has committed to yielding "adequate nutritious food" for children. The programme
has undergone many changes since its launch in 1995. The Midday Meal Scheme is covered by
the National Food Security Act, 2013. The legal backing to the Indian school meal programme is
akin to the legal backing provided in the US through the National School Lunch Act.

The central and state governments share the cost of the Midday Meal Scheme, with the centre
providing 60 percent and the States 40 percent.

Implementation Models:

De-centralized
This is the most widespread practice. In the decentralized model, meals are cooked on-site by
local cooks and helpers or self-help groups. This system has the advantage of being able to
serve local cuisine, providing jobs in the area, and minimizing waste. It also allows for better
monitoring (e.g., by parents and teachers).

Centralized
In the centralized model, an external organization cooks and delivers the meal to schools,
mostly through public-private partnerships. Centralised kitchens are seen more in urban areas,
where density of schools is high so that transporting food is a financially viable option.
Advantages of centralised kitchens include ensuring better hygienic as large scale cooking is
done through largely automated processes. Various NGOs such as the Akshaya Patra
Foundation, Ekta Shakti Foundation, Naandi Foundation, and Jay Gee Humanitarian Society &
People's Forum provides mid-day meals

Entitlement norm per child per day under MDM

Item Primary (class one to five) Upper primary (class six to eight)

Calories 450 700

Protein (in grams ) 12 20

Rice / wheat (in grams ) 100 150

Dal (in grams ) 20 30

Vegetables (in grams ) 50 75

Oil and fat (in grams ) 5 7.5

Schemes of Girls, SC, ST and Marginalized Group

There are certain disadvantaged groups that need to be addressed to solve issues of equity.
They are (i) girls, (ii) children belonging to various socio-economically backward communities
and (iii) ethnic and religious minorities, (iv) migrants (v) differently able people.

Secondary education has not equally benefited all. As expansion reaches an initial threshold,
gender differences begin to emerge. Cultural factors that favour sending boys to school while
keeping girls at home to look after younger siblings, combined with low expectations that girls
will enter the job market, are often cited as the primary reasons for gender differentials in
secondary school enrolments. In the planning of RMSA programmes for girls, every activity
under the programme will be judged in terms of its gender component.
The educational development of children belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes,
Other Backward Classes and Educationally Backward Minorities is special focus in the Rashtriya
Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan. Every activity under the programme must identify the benefit that
will accrue to children from these communities. The interventions for children belonging to
SC/ST communities have to be based on the intensive micro-planning addressing the needs of
every child. Such micro-plans should be approved by respective Block Panchayat or appropriate
Committee of the BP. The RMSA provides flexibility to local units to develop a context specific
intervention.

While addressing issues of parity for SC/ST/Minority/Girls, the plan will have to look at
strategies for access, retention, and quality under each of the group targeted at.

The various strategies that may be planned under Equity:

Access

• Up-gradation and strengthening of Ashram schools. % of new schools proposed in SC/ST

concentrated area

• Engagement of community organizers from SC/ST communities.

• Extensive publicity about availability of educational provision in the identified pocket.

• Regular enrolment drives.

• Conducting special camps and bridge courses

• Open and Distance learning.

• Ensuring safety and security of girl child while commuting to the school

• Exclusive Secondary and Higher Secondary schools for Girls should be set up. This would
facilitate higher participation of girls from minority community in school education

Retention

• Monitoring attendance in pockets identified for intensive activities.

• Provision of some token awards, grades or incentives, if possible for better attendance.

• Publicly facilitation of children with good academic/ attendance records.

• Community involvement in mobilizing parents for regular attendance of their children.

• Organization of retention drives.

• Providing scholarships.

Quality

• Contextualization of pedagogic processes

• Development of local specific teaching-learning material.

• Special teaching support as per need.

• Provision of one additional language teacher (tribal languages) at least TGT level (per school).

• Provision for scholarships.

• Special coaching classes/remedial classes especially for Educationally Backward

Minority girls and the children who are not doing academically well.

• Creation of a congenial learning environment in the classroom where they are given the
opportunity to learn.

• Urdu as a medium of instruction may be facilitated in schools having adequate demand for
the same and deployment of Urdu teachers for the same

• Teacher sensitization programmes.

• Deployment of more female teachers in schools. To increase the participation of educationally

backward communities, more women teachers need to be appointed.

• Residential scheme for women teachers

Q3. Elaborate the concept of Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation? Explain the
impact of Globalisation on contemporary Indian Society.

Liberalization

The basic aim of liberalization was to put an end to those restrictions which became hindrances in
the development and growth of the nation. The loosening of government control in a country and
when private sector companies’ start working without or with fewer restrictions and government
allow private players to expand for the growth of the country depicts liberalization in a country.

Objectives of Liberalization Policy

 To increase competition amongst domestic industries.

 To encourage foreign trade with other countries with regulated imports and exports.

 Enhancement of foreign capital and technology.

 To expand global market frontiers of the country.

 To diminish the debt burden of the country.

Privatization

This is the second of the three policies of LPG. It is the increment of the dominating role of private
sector companies and the reduced role of public sector companies. In other words, it is the
reduction of ownership of the management of a government-owned enterprise. Government
companies can be converted into private companies in two ways:

 By disinvestment

 By withdrawal of governmental ownership and management of public sector companies.

Forms of Privatization

 Denationalization or Strategic Sale: When 100% government ownership of productive

assets is transferred to the private sector players, the act is called denationalization.

 Partial Privatization or Partial Sale: When private sector owns more than 50% but less
than 100% ownership in a previously construed public sector company by transfer of shares,
it is called partial privatization. Here the private sector owns the majority of shares.
 Consequently, the private sector possesses substantial control in the functioning and
autonomy of the company.

 Deficit Privatization or Token Privatization: When the government disinvests its share

capital to an extent of 5-10% to meet the deficit in the budget is termed as deficit
privatization.
Crisis of 1991 and Indian Economic Reforms

Objectives of Privatization

 Improve the financial situation of the government.

 Reduce the workload of public sector companies.

 Raise funds from disinvestment.

 Increase the efficiency of government organizations.

 Provide better and improved goods and services to the consumer.

 Create healthy competition in the society.

 Encouraging foreign direct investments (FDI) in India.

Globalization

It means to integrate the economy of one country with the global economy. During Globalization
the main focus is on foreign trade & private and institutional foreign investment. It is the last policy
of LPG to be implemented.

Globalization as a term has a very complex phenomenon. The main aim is to transform the world
towards independence and integration of the world as a whole by setting various strategic policies.
Globalization is attempting to create a borderless world, wherein the need of one country can be
driven from across the globe and turning into one large economy.

Outsourcing as an Outcome of Globalization

The most important outcome of the globalization process is Outsourcing. During the outsourcing
model, a company of a country hires a professional from some other country to get their work
done, which was earlier conducted by their internal resource of their own country.

The best part of outsourcing is that the work can be done at a lower rate and from the superior
source available anywhere in the world. Services like legal advice, marketing, technical support,
etc. As Information Technology has grown in the past few years, the outsourcing of contractual
work from one country to another has grown tremendously. As a mode of communication has
widened their reach, all economic activities have expanded globally.

Various Business Process Outsourcing companies or call centres, which have their model of a
voice-based business process have developed in India. Activities like accounting and book-keeping
services, clinical advice, banking services or even education are been outsourced from developed
countries to India.

The most important advantage of outsourcing is that big multi-national corporate or even small
enterprises can avail good services at a cheaper rate as compared to their country’s standards. The
skill set in India is considered most dynamic and effective across the world. Indian professionals
are best at their work. The low wage rate and specialized personnel with high skills have made
India the most favourable destination for global outsourcing in the later stage of reformation.

Effect of Globalization on India.

India was main mover of globalization. The government of India made major modifications in its
economic policy in 1991 by which it allowed direct foreign investments in the country. As a result
of this, globalization of the Indian Industry occurred at large scale. In India, economic expansion
was observed in nineteenth century due to major crisis led by foreign exchange. The liberalization
of the domestic economy and enhanced incorporation of India with the global economy helped to
step up gross domestic product (GDP) growth rates which made good position in global scale.
Effects of globalization in Indian Industry are observed as this process brought in large amounts of
foreign investments into the industry especially in the BPO, pharmaceutical, petroleum, and
manufacturing industries. As a result, they boosted the Indian economy quite significantly. The
benefits of the effects of globalization in the Indian Industry are that many foreign companies set
up industries in India, especially in the pharmaceutical, BPO, petroleum, manufacturing, and
chemical sectors and this helped to offer great opportunities for employment to Indian people.
Also this helped to reduce the level of unemployment and poverty in the country. It is observed
that the major forces of globalization in India has been in the development of outsourced IT and
business process outsourcing services. Since last many years, there is an increase of skilled
professionals in India employed by both local and foreign companies to service customers in the
US and Europe. These countries take advantage of India's lower cost but highly talented and
English-speaking work force, and utilizes global communications technologies such as voice-
over IP (VOIP), email and the internet, international enterprises have been able to lower their
cost base by establishing outsourced knowledge-worker operations in India. The foreign
companies brought in highly advanced technology with them and this made the Indian Industry
more technologically advanced. Globalization in India has been beneficial for companies that
have ventured in the Indian market. It is recommended by researchers that India has to focus
on five important areas to enhance its economic status. The areas include technological
entrepreneurship, new business openings for small and medium enterprises, the importance of
quality management, new prospects in rural areas and privatization of financial institutions.

In terms of export and import activities, Many Indian companies have expanded their business
and became famous at global level such as fast food, beverages, and sportswear and garment
industries. Records indicated that Agriculture exports account for about 13 to 18% of total
annual export of the country. In 2000-01, agricultural products valued at more than US$6
million were exported from the country of which 23% was contributed to the marine products
alone. Marine products in recent years have emerged as the single largest contributor to the
total agricultural export form the country accounting for over one fifth of the total agricultural
exports. Cereals (mostly basmati rice and non-basmati rice), oil seeds, tea and coffee are the
other prominent products each of which accounts for nearly 5 to 10% of the countries' total
agricultural exports. Globalization speeded export of food items in India in the form of
increased consumption of meat, western fast food, sodas and cool drinks, which may result in
public health crisis. The rich biodiversity of India has yielded many healthy foods prepared from
locally available entities.

There is immense effects observed in educational sector due to globalization such as literacy
rate become high and Foreign Universities are collaborating with different Indian Universities.
The Indian educational system faces challenges of globalization through Information technology
and it offers opportunities to evolve new paradigms shifts in developmental education. The
distinction between formal, non-formal and informal education will vanish when move from
industrial society to information society takes place. Globalization promotes new tools and
techniques such as E-learning, Flexible learning, Distance Education Programs and Overseas
training.

There are some negative impact of globalization such as this process made disparity between
rural and urban Indian joblessness, growth of slum capitals and threat of terrorist activities.
Globalization increased competition in the Indian market between the foreign companies and
domestic companies. With the foreign goods being better than the Indian goods, the consumer
preferred to buy the foreign goods. This reduced the amount of profit of the Indian Industry
companies. This happened mainly in the pharmaceutical, manufacturing, chemical, and steel
industries. The negative Effects of Globalization on Indian Industry are that with the coming of
technology the number of labour required are decreased and this resulted increasing
unemployment especially in the arena of the pharmaceutical, chemical, manufacturing, and
cement industries. Some section of people in India that are poor do not get benefit of
globalization. There is an increased gap between rich and poor that lead to some criminal
activities. Ethical responsibility of business has been reduced. Another major negative effect of
globalization in India is that youngsters of India leaving their studies very early and joining Call
centres to earn fast money reducing their social life after getting habituated with monotonous
work. There is an increase of every daily usable commodities. This has an adverse effect on
cultural aspect. The institution of marriage is breaking down at fast rate. There are more people
approaching divorce courts instead of maintaining marital life. Globalization has considerable
impact on the religious situation of India. Globalization has brought about raising a population
who is agnostic and atheist. People visiting places of worship are reducing with time.
Globalization has reduced nationalism and patriotism in country.

Q 2: Define the term Equality. Elaborate the constitutional provision regarding gender
equality.

Equality means "the state of being equal." It's one of the ideals a democratic society, and so the
fight to attain different kinds of equality, like racial equality, gender equality, or equality of
opportunity between rich and poor, is often associated with progress toward that ideal of
everyone being truly equal. Equality doesn't have to be used only for social ideals, though. There
can be equality in weight between two barrels of apples, or between two molecules. Problems of
Equality of Educational Opportunity:
In-equalisation arises in various ways.
They are as follows:
(i) Non-existence of educati6nal institutions where there is no institutions.
(ii) Difference in economic status of the people.
(iii) Gender disparities.
(iv) Difference in the standards of educational institutions.
(v) Difference on home environment of the children.
(vi) Disparity between rural and urban, backward and advanced classes.
(vii) Non-availability of adequate opportunities.
(viii) Social and Psychological restraints.
(ix) Lack of motivation towards education.
(x) Low self-concept of parents.

In spite of women contribution in all spheres of life and they enjoy a unique position in every
society and country of the world, but they suffer in silence and belong to a class which is in a
disadvantaged position on account of several barriers and impediments. India, being a country of
paradoxes, is no exception. Here too, women, a personification of Shakti, once given a dignified
status, are in need of empowerment. Women’s empowerment in legal, social, political and
economic requires to be enhanced. However, empowerment and equality are based on the gender
sensitivity of society towards their problems. The intensification of women's issues and rights
movement all over the world is reflected in the form of various Conventions passed by the
United Nations. Gender equality is always escaped the constitutional provisions of equality
before the law or the equal protection of law. This is because equality is always supposed to be
between equals and since the judges did not concede that men and women were equal. Gender
equality did not seem to them to be a legally forbidden inequality.
Preamble:
The Preamble contains the essence of the Constitution and reflects the ideals and aims of the
people. The Preamble starts by saying that we, the people of India, give to ourselves the
Constitution. The source of the Constitution is thus traced to the people, i.e. men and women of
India, irrespective of caste, community, religion or sex. The makers of the Constitution were not
satisfied with mere territorial unity and integrity.
Political Rights
Even though the fact that women participated equally in the freedom struggle and, under the
Constitution and law, have equal political rights as men, enabling them to take part effectively in
the administration of the country has had little effect as they are negligibly represented in
politics. There were only seven women members in the Constituent Assembly and the number
later decreased further.
Economic Rights
At hand there has been series of legislation conferring equal rights for women and men. These
legislations have been guided by the provisions of the fundamental rights and Directive
Principles of State Policy.
Social justice
For providing social justice to women, the most important step has been codification of some of
the personal laws in our country which pose the biggest challenge in this context. In the area of
criminal justice, the gender neutrality of law worked to the disadvantage of a woman accused
because in some of the cases it imposed a heavy burden on the prosecutor, for e.g. in cases of
rape and dowry.
Fundamental rights
Article: 15 Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, cast, sex, or place of
birth

Accordingly Article 15(1) prohibits gender discrimination and Article 15(3) lifts that rigour and permits
the State to positively discriminate in favour of women to make special provisions to ameliorate their
social condition and provide political, economic and social justice. The State in the field of Criminal Law,
Service Law, Labour Law, etc. has resorted to Article 15(3) and the Courts, too, have upheld the validity
of these protective discriminatory provisions on the basis of constitutional mandate,

Article 16 provides for equality of opportunity in matter of public employment’

The Constitution, therefore, provides equal opportunities for women implicitly as they are applicable to
all persons irrespective of sex. However, the Courts realize that these Articles reflect only de jure
equality to women. They have not been able to accelerate de facto equality to the extent the
Constitution intended. There is still a considerable gap between constitutional rights and their
application in the day-to-day lives of most women. At the same time it is true that women are working
in jobs which were hitherto exclusively masculine domains. But there are still instances which exhibit
lack of confidence their capability and efficiency. There remains a long and lingering suspicion regarding
their capacities to meet the challenges of the job assigned

Gender equality becomes elusive in the absence of right to live with dignity.

"Gender equality includes protection from sexual harassment and right to work with dignity which is a
universally recognised basic human right. The common minimum requirement of this right has received
global acceptance. In the absence of domestic law occupying the field, to formulate effective measures
to check the evil of sexual harassment of working women at all workplaces, the contents of international
conventions and norms are significant for the purpose of interpretation of the guarantee of gender
equality, right to work with human dignity in articles 14, 15, 19(1}(g) and 21 of the Constitution and the
safeguards against sexual harassment implicit therein and for the formulation of guidelines to achieve
this purpose."

Article 23 prohibits trafficking in human beings and forced labour; Article 23 of the
Constitution specifically prohibits traffic in human beings. Trafficking in human beings has
been prevalent in India for a long time in the form of prostitution and selling and purchasing
of human beings.