We Create Our Own Troubles!

Self Created Troubles
Most of our so called troubles are self created ones.  In other words we trouble ourselves with our weird imaginations.  We presume that things will surely go wrong.  We remain scared and perplexed that the plans will not work the way we have planned or the way we intend them to be like.  For example yesterday I wore a new woolen vest.  It was I think of a smaller size.  Somehow with great difficult I was able to pull it down.  the whole day as well as last night I remained worried that in the morning I won’t be able to remove it without my wife’s help.  I even told her before sleeping last night that in the morning I may need her help.  But then this morning before taking bath when I tried to remove my vest it came off effortlessly. All my worries were just in vain.
This is exactly what we do with our life’s issues. 

Report of ELT Workshop Held in DPS Noida from 2nd to 7th May 1994

Sukhwant Singh Thaper        Date :01.07.1994
PGT-English, Delhi Public School Korba

The Principal
Delhi Public School Korba

Sub : Report regarding ELT Workshop-cum-Seminar held at DPS Noida from 2nd May to 7th May 1994.

Sir,

With due regards I would like to bring to your kind knowledge that as per your office order……………… dated ……………… I had gone to Delhi and have attended the CLT Workshop-cum-Seminar at DPS Noida from 2nd May to 7th May 1994.

Our resource persons were Dr. Kumar and Mrs. Karuna Sharma.  Both of them were from CIEFL, Hyderabad and were coincidently husband wife.  The coordinator of the Workshop-cum-Seminar was Mrs. Renu Chaturvedi who is PGT in English at DPS Noida.

As this time the Workshop-cum-Seminar was held at Noida we were fortunate enough to have come in contact along with the Resource Persons and many other personalities who are directly  associated with the Interact in English Project.  These persons took up several sessions and through their demonstrations helped the participants to get familiarized with the new methodology adopted for the teaching of English at Classes IX & X.  Some of these persons were as follows :

Mrs. Kiran Bhatt (Modern School, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi) who is associated with the Materials Production Group of Interact in English.
Mrs. Kiran Kashyap (K.V.No. II, Delhi Cantt)
Mrs. Reinu Nagarkar (DPS, R.K. Puram,Sect. XII, N.D.)
Mrs. Urmila Guliani (K.V., N.M. Road, JNU, N.D.)
Mr. S.K. Gangal (CBSE) who is associated with Testing and Evaluation Group of Interact in English.
Mrs. Meera Balachandran (Ramjas School, R.K. Puram, N.D.) who is associated with the In-service Teacher Training Group of Interact in English.  And-
Mr. Prem Mathur (CBSE)

Besides these persons we also got the opportunity of meeting Mr. S.L. Dhawan (Principal, DPS Noida), Dr. B.N. Kripal, Justice Dalbir Bhandari of Delhi High Court and Mr. Taneja (Vice-Principal, DPS Noida), during the Inaugural Function, Lunch Sessions and Valedictory Function.

There were nearly 42 participants from other Delhi Public Schools of different places like, Delhi, Ranipur, Haridwar, Bhilai, Bokaro, Ongul, Dhanbad, Damanjodi etc., as well as from some other well to do English Medium Schools of New Delhi like the Modern School of Bara Khambha, etc.
In all it can be said that this Workshop proved to be of great help in meeting number of different persons associated with the changes brought in the English curriculum at Class XI and X level, as well as for interacting with many English Teachers and sharing our experiences.

Including me there were quite a few number of participants who had had the experience of having attended the ELT Workshop conducted by CBSE.  The Resource Persons considered it to be a kind of blessing in disguise for they kept us involved with number of questions, both from their side as well as from the other participants, regarding our experiences of having dealt with the Interact in English.

I was asked to convey my experiences of having dealt with the Group Discussions. This was appreciated by Dr. Sunil Kumar, who advised me to write about my experiences to the CENBOSEC magazine.

There were many notes and handouts provided to us during the workshop.  most of these notes are similar to the ones which were provided during the ELT Workshop held at the Daly College Indore last summer.  These circulars have already been circulated to all the members of our English Faculty for their references and implementations.

The letter ……………. dated ……………. sent to the parents of Class IX & X was appreciated by the Resource Persons as well as other participants.  In this context I would also like to bring to your notice that I’m preparing a ‘Questionnaire’ for the parents of Class XI & X in order to know / understand our students in a better way.

Some of the points highlighted in this Workshop were as follows :

English teaching should be skill based instead of content base.
Classroom teaching should be child-centered instead of being teacher centered.
Teacher of language should act as a Manager / Felicitator inside the classroom rather than acting as an informer.
Learners should be encouraged to improve their spoken English by seeing to it that they are not intimidated every now and then by constant correction, i.e., by laying emphasis on accuracy at the initial level itself.
Grammar should be taught in a context and not in isolated sentences.  Moreover Grammar exercises should be taken up regularly for a little time instead of teaching Grammar on only some fixed day, i.e., once in a week and teaching it for the whole period.  In other words Grammar should be integrated with MCB and Literature Book.
Teacher’s Diary should be written exercise-wise.  That is, they should mention that how a particular exercise will be taken up.
Poems should be read out in the class once or twice and instead of explaining the poem line-wise or word-wise, as used to be done in the traditional method, questions giving an insight into the poem should be asked to the students and answers elicited from them.
In order to increase the interaction among the students they should be encouraged to give answers and others should be asked either to agree or disagree with the answers and give their suggestions if any.
Similarly students should be asked to comprehend the meaning of difficult words from the given context themselves or in peer groups.  This kind of process is called as ‘Word Attack’.
We shouldn’t tell the students what they can find out for themselves. This way learning becomes interesting and at the same time lasting.
Students should be made aware of different text-types and their important features.  For example while making them write on some ‘Process’ they should be made aware of its features that (i) we should make use of Sequence Markers (first, next, then, before, after, simultaneously, alternatively, etc.) (ii) we should write in Active Voice if the doer is important and should write in Passive Voice if the action is to be emphasized and (iii) we should make use of Simple Present Tense.
Exercises given to the students should be scientific in approach.  That is they should proceed from Controlled to Guided to free expressions.
Language learners should be made aware of appropriacy of the language.  That is, use of language in different situations.
Dramas should be first read out by different students in the class and then enacted also.


Best Speech / Debate prepared inside the class should be taken up in the Morning Assembly also.  This would act as a very good incentive for the students.
Similarly Notices / Posters / Graphs prepared by the students should be highlighted on the School Notice Board / Students Notice Board /  Class Notice Board.
To involve the students in the correction work.  For without involving the learners in the correction work, checking work done separately will be pedagogically speaking of very little use.
To encourage the students to watch / listen / read English articles, Novels / News / Serials , on / in TV / Radio, Newspapers.
We should inculcate reading habit among the students.  They should be asked to write a Book Review at least one per month.
We should test what is taught and check what is tested.  That is, our objectives should be very clear-cut.
Our Question Papers should test all the skills.
Ambiguity should be avoided in the questions.
Rubrics in the question paper should be clear enough to be understood by the students.
Questions should be of all the levels.
Marks allotted should be clear.
Finally in this new approach more emphasis is to be paid on Learn, Learner and Learning than on Teach, Teacher and Teaching.

In the end I would say that this Workshop-cum-Seminar proved to be really a nice one.
On interacting with other participants I have felt that we are proceeding with the right approach as far as English teaching is concerned.

You will be also glad to know that after returning from Delhi I was given an opportunity of taking many sessions regarding teaching of English from Primary classes to Senior classes for the Workshop which was organized by the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan for the Teachers of Jabalpur Zone at K.V. KSTPP Jamnipali.

In the end I thank you for the opportunity given to me for attending the seminar.

Thanking you,

yours sincerely,

Sukhwant Singh Thaper
PGT-English

DPS Korba

Staying Positive is Always Good

“Competence, Sincerity & Diligence is the Key to Success.”
It is undoubtedly disappointing when we don’t get what we desire.  Especially when we don’t get a higher post in an organization where in we have put in many years of service. It becomes all the more painful when someone who had joined the organization later than us or was working at the same level gets a higher post.  It is a human nature to feel so.  There is nothing wrong in feeling upset about it.  But along with feeling upset and disappointed about the whole thing one should also have the talent or skill to objectively review the situation as to why the others have got into higher posts.
One thing needs to be always kept in mind is the fact that posts are never given away,  as few employees believe, they are rather earned.  Earned with competence, sincerity and diligence.
And the one needs to stay positive and work himself towards attaining his set goals either in the ame organization or in a similar one whenever and wherever the opportunity arises first.

Sukhwant Singh Thaper
Principal
DPS Nigahi
20th Nov 2017

An Opportunity to Listen to Shivani ji Live

On 11th September 2017 I was standing outside the shop ‘Ibadat’ in Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi.  It was around 7:00 pm.  My wife Rina and daughter Navleen Kaur had gone inside ‘Ibadat’ for buying few dresses for themselves.  As it was a ladies shop I had preferred to stay outside for the shop was crowded with ladies.
While standing outside I had the opportunity of both reciting my evening prayer ‘Rehras’ and also watching families from various parts of the country as well as from neighbouring countries thronging into the market for purchasing clothes, shoes and various other household items.
As soon as I had finished my ‘Rehras Sahib’ path and had done my ‘Ardaas’ (Prayer after the path) two middle aged ladies draped in beautiful and elegant sarees had come and stood in front of me.  One of them had asked me if I was aware of who ‘Shivani’ was.  She had said, “Have you heard of Shivaniji who is a Brahmakumari ?”  My immediate response was, “Not just heard about her but I have heard her also several times.”  On hearing this she had smiled at me and then had taken out a flyer and had given it to me which was an invitation to listen to her in New Delhi on 12th September 2017.  I had thanked both the ladies for the invitation before they had left.
When my wife  and daughter had come out of the shop I shared the information with them.  We regretted the fact, that we had to leave New Delhi the next day.  We missed the opportunity of listening to ‘Shivaniji’ live.
It is a well known fact that when one longs for something from the core of ones heart the Universe conspires to enable the person to get what he had desired for.
Yesterday  when I was about to leave my office at around 2:30 pm a group of Brahmakumari devotees from Waidhan had dropped in to invite me to Vewa Club, Vindhyanagar this evening from 7:00 to 9:00 pm to listen to Shivaniji.
We all look forward to this opportunity.

S.S. Thaper
26th Oct. 2017

Functioning Under the Three Modes of Nature

Goodness (Satvic), Passion (Rajasvik) & Ignorance (Taamsic)

Depending on the kind of life we lead we get either elevated, remain at the same level or get into a  degraded life in our next birth. 

Whatever we do, we do it under three modes of nature as per what Gita says. 

The three modes of nature are mode of Goodness (Sativc), move of Passion (Rajasvik) and mode of Ignorance (Taamsic). 

The more we function under the mode of Goodness more the chances will become of taking birth as a human being in families that are better than the present ones as far as social position, wealth, health and knowledge is concerned.

This is the only mode which will ultimately lead us towards salvation when we will learn to function in this very mode even at our sub conscious level. 

Functioning in the mode of passion will give rise to a status quo.  We shall get our rebirth in families, backgrounds of the same level.

Those who degrade themselves by intentionally functioning in the mode of ignorance will not get born as humans in their next birth.  This is for certain.

Sukhwant Singh Thaper
17.10.2017

All that Glitters is not Gold!

All that Glitters is Not Gold !
Staying at one place has given me the opportunity to observe the behavior of students, parents, society at large for almost two decades.
I have been in touch with mothers whose children (especially girls) have been studying in the school right from Nursery class and are now in senior classes, i.e., from IX to XII.
This is the time when the children, as teenagers, do things that need parental and teachers control & guidance.
Two of the teenagers were caught in the last two weeks bunking their classes / activities and spending the time with the boys of senior classes.
After reprimanding / counseling the children couple of the mothers from among the group mentioned above, were summoned to the school for being briefed regarding their daughter’s misdeed so that they could be guided properly.  Initially they heard about the whole story and felt bad about it.  but then spilled the beans of all daughters of other friends in their group.  Not only about the daughter but also revealed the wrong doings of their mothers who were their own friends.
All these years I had been observing very good bonding between these very ladies at various social gatherings.
On interacting with couple of other mothers I got the impression that all were bent upon to spoil the image of other ladies in their group.
I really felt bad at how it didn’t take much time for the ladies to spill beans about each other.  Specially after having spent time of two decades of social friendship. This was odd and painful.
Each one is of the opinion that their families are of high moral values so their daughter can’t walk the wrong path.  And each one of them revealed to me that their friend’s daughters were emulating their mothers in befriending boys.
All that glitters is not gold!
What appeared to me outwardly for two long decades as great friendship was built on walls of jealousy and hatred for each other.  The smiles and laughter with which they greeted and interacted with each other were all false and fickle.
More than the mothers I am worried about the daughters who are my students. 
What kind of ladies they will grow into with such mothers around them ?
Sukhwant Singh Thaper
Principal
DPS Nigahi 16th Oct 17

How can one be so Dumb?

Scoring  above 90% & less than 33% in all subjects is both amazing and shocking to me.
As a Principal when I go through the answers sheets of all subjects of students of both bright and slow learners I always get impressed as well as disappointed and shocked.
Impressed to see students scoring above 90% marks and disappointed to see students scoring less than 40% and shocked to notice students scoring even less than 33%.  Few even score less than 10 and 5 or even 0 !
I often wonder that how one could score above 90% as well as below 33%.
Upto some extent we can comprehend the reasons behind students doing well and scoring above 90%.  Like their intelligence, parental / teachers, guidance, good books, resources available online.
But scoring less than 33% and 10% is beyond my comprehension.
How can one be so dumb?

“Teacher is the most ignored part in India’s private Educational Sector.”

Guru Brahma Guru Vishnu
Guru Devo Maheshwaraha
Guru saakshaat ParaBrahma
Tasmai Sri Guruve Namaha
This means,
Guru is the Creator (Brahma)
Guru is the Preserver (Vishnu)
Guru is the Destroyer (Maheshwara)
Guru is the absolute (Singular) Lord Himself.

Salutations to that Guru.

A teacher in India is still looked upon with utmost respect by the parents and students as far as his knowledge, integrity and talent is concerned but unfortunately his knowledge, integrity and talent doesn’t get the same respect from the people who are running the Educational shows in the country under the private sector.

Big schools, small schools irrespective of the brands under which they are functioning / prospering inspite of spending huge amount for developing their 3 star, 5 star rated infrastructures, don’t pay their teachers what they deserve.

Boards, like CBSE & ICSE, have it in their affiliation bye-laws that the salaries paid to the staff need to be at least at par with the states in which the schools are located. But, this is seldom followed by any of the schools across the nation.  During the time of inspections all papers related to the salaries, including acquaintance roll, salary slips, bank documents are made available to the inspectors assigned by the Boards which show that proper salaries are being paid to all staff members but the ground realities remains dismal.






More than the rules the ethics of school promoters needs to be changed in order to enable the teachers to get their dues. This doesn’t seem to be happening.  Couple of my ex-colleagues who always stood by great idealism when they were teachers have ventured into establishing great learning institutes which get categorized under K schools are also not doing justice with their staff as far as their salaries are concerned.

Hence, I have formed a negative opinion about the fact that the situation will ever stand a chance to improve. It’s high time that the Indian Govt. needs to take cognizance  of the prevailing situation and bring about a revolutionary change in the field of education at all levels, i.e., schools, undergraduate institutes and post graduate institutes.  The sooner it is done the better it will be for the country.

When Government / PSUs can run various schools, JNVs, BHUs, IITs, IIMs, AFMCs, AIIMs kind of educational bodies then with their forevision and good intentions can change the prevailing circumstances and save not only the parents from being cheated by the so called Educational Mafia but also help to provide to the students of the country nothing but the best that is available and also raise the standards of the teachers who are treated to be higher than the God,

“Guru Govind dou Khadhe Ka Ke Lagu Pai
Balehari Guru Apne, Gobind Diyo Batay.”

Both Guru and God stand before me, whose feet do I touch first ? I bow down to my Guru first because without him I would have never been able to recognize God.


S.S. Thaper
Principal
Delhi Public School Nigahi

6.10.2017-6:00 pm

Blue Whale Game!

What’s wrong in asking a Question to students of Class IX regarding ‘BWG’ ?
Is it possible to both highlight an issue and also to keep the same issue wrapped under covers and treat it as a taboo ? Well the school administration, Principals and teachers are exactly being asked to do this as far as the ‘Blue Whale Game’ is concerned.
The very idea of highlighting the harmful effects of ‘BWG’ in schools was itself debatable.
We all know child’s psychology.  Whatever we tell the child not to do he gets more interested in it and his natural curiosity tempts him to explore the same.  Inspite of this the educationists, political leaders, bureaucrats and media decided to highlight ‘BWG’ among the school and college students of our country.
In order to raise awareness among students regarding any leader(s) of the past ; cleanliness; disaster; pollution; road safety; water conservation; empowerment of women etc., social issue, normal activities that we take the students through are : Debates, Extempores, Speeches,  Declamations, Drawing / Painting competitions, Essay writing competitions, Skits, Plays, Road Side Plays etc.
If we can make children do all these activities for raising awareness then one fails to understand what can be wrong with one of the teachers asking a question to Class IX students in the term based exam of a school in Chattisgarh wherein the students w ere asked to write a 50 words conversation between two friends on the topic ‘BWG’ ?

S.S. Thaper
20.09.2017

Unruly at Home But Disciplined in School

“Class III Boy” “Unruly at Home but Disciplined in School”
Couple of weeks before a mother of Class III student came down to meet me. Her grievance was that her son remained unruly at home.  He refuses to carry tiffin to this school frequently because of which she has to come to the school to deliver it to him.  He also removes his school uniform just before leaving the home and runs around the house without clothes and refuses to come to school.  She also said that he threatens them that he will commit suicide by jumping from the roof of their house.
On hearing her grievances I immediately summoned the boy to my chamber.  I had presumed that he would be a pretty strong character and will be a robust boy with a notorious appearance.  But was surprised to see a meekish boy entering my chamber.  He was pretty thin.  He looked very disciplined.  He wished me and didn’t show any signs of anger on seeing his mother in my room.  I made him sit comfortably on a chair beside his mother and asked him, “How are you ?” to which he answered ‘I’m good sir’, and smiled at me. I asked him, “Why didn’t you eat your breakfast and why didn’t you carry your tiffin to school for which your mother had to come to school ? See how much she loves you.” He replied by saying, “I was not hungry so I didn’t take my breakfast and I’m sorry for not having brought my tiffin.”
I was surprised to note his frank nature and also his confidence.  I also noticed that he was unable to articulate words properly and was also stammering but this short coming was not bothering him at all.
I then dared to venture into the difficult zone and asked him, “Tell me my boy, do you threaten your parents that you will commit suicide by jumping from top of your house ?” He just smiled at me and felt embarrassed. Then I counseled him by saying, “Suppose if you jump off what will happen you know? Either you will break your bones or you will die. Who will be at a loss ?”  To this he promptly replied by saying, “My loss sir”: I said, ‘Good you understand this.  Your parents will cry over your death for a week or two or maximum for a month.  Ultimately you will be at a loss.  So never try to get these weird ideas into your head ever and be sincere.”
He said, “Yes sir, I’m sorry for this.”

During this time his mother was observing the proceedings and I could see that she was much relaxed.
I told the boy, “See I’m going to ask your mother to keep informing me about your behavior at home on regular basis.”
He smiled and said, “Ok sir.”  Then I sent him to his class.
Now-a-days he makes eye contacts with me during assemblies and when I look at him he smiles back in assurance.
Mother also conveys over phone that he is behaving well at home.
Sukhwant Singh Thaper
Principal
DPS School Nigahi

“Ghalle aave Nanaka Sadhe uthi jai”.

Nanak says ‘Once the call comes from the Almighty one gets up and departs.’

We all know that death is an inevitable truth.

Yet when someone passes away we mourn for him.

We constantly remain in fear of death whether we are old or young or sick or healthy.

Death due to old age and sickness is painful but still acceptable.  But when death strikes someone at a very young age or due to any untoward incident like an accident or at the war front or murder it becomes very painful and unacceptable.

Yesterday I came across two such deaths which has disturbed the peace of my mind.  One was that of a policeman (Mr. Mishra) at Waidhan.  He was only 35 years old. While crossing the school of Excellence near Chunkumari Stadium he suffered a stroke and when he was taken to the Govt. Hospital which is situated around 200 meters from the spot he was declared dead by the Doctors.

Second death news that disturbed me was that of an old sevadhar (volunteer) at one of the most religious places of the world, i.e.,    ‘The Golden Temple’.  Day before Bhai Charanjit Singh fell in to the couldron in which ‘chasni’ (water mixed with sugar) was being boiled for preparing ‘kheer’ (a sweet dish) for the free kitchen.  He was rushed to the hospital with 80%burns but ultimately he succumbed to death last evening.

I got to see the pics. of both Mr. Mishra and S. Charanjeet Singh.  Mr. Mishra was lying on the stretcher and his face looked so peaceful as if he was having a little nap and will wake up soon.  There were no signs on his face of severe stroke that took away his life so suddenly.  His face neither reflected pain nor fear.  He was lying there as if he would wake up at one call of his child or wife.

The disturbing factor of S. Charanjeet Singh’s death is the fact that he met with the fatal accident of falling into the cauldron of boiling water with sugar at a place which is known for having blessed innumerable people both in the past and present. It is a place which has miraculously cured people of their ailments like blindness, cancer and lameness.  How trouble can befall on an and old person who had been working in the place for so long ?

I know such places can’t become foolproof from death but still being the mortal that we are these doubts come to our minds.

May the Lord bless the souls of both Mr. Mishra and S. Charanjeet Singh and provide us with more understanding.

S.S. Thaper

06/07/2017

NCERT Vs Private Publishers

NCERT Vs Private Publishers

“This article is NOT written to favour Private Publishers.”

We often read in the newspapers and on social sites that schools are implementing text books other than NCERT for making a good earning out of them. Socially active men and women make the accusation that the schools want to earn commissions from the Private Publishers so they go in for their text books.  Few of them have even claimed that Private Publishers provide discount ranging from 50% to 60% upon the printed prizes.  It would be a great idea if anyone of these socially active people join hands and open up their outlets and make these books available to the parents every year by extending 40% to 50% discount on printed rates directly to the parents. (And thereby still make a profit of 20% to 10% for themselves.)

We need to come out of these narrow accusations of earning profits through commissions, by selling Private Publishers text books etc., by the school Principals and Sponsors and look at the issue in a broader perspective as to the relevance or irrelevance of implementing text books published by Private Publishers.

The following are a few advantages & disadvantages of NCERT & Private Publishers books :

NCERT Advantages        -              ·         They are written by panel of expert subject teachers. ·         They are precise. ·         They are available at very low cost. ·         They are light in weight & hence easy to carry. Disadvantages   - ·         Their preciseness creates problem for the slow learners. ·         They contain very less illustrations and samples and exercises. ·         Availability has always been an issue for the past 2 to 3 decades. Hope, according to the new provisions made by CBSE things will improve in the coming years. Private Publishers Text Books Advantages -     ·         They are also written by expert subject teachers. ·         They are full of illustrations, samples, exercises, which prove to be both helpful to the slow learners as well as challenging for the bright ones. ·         They are readily available. Disadvantages – ·         They are heavy in weight and difficult to carry. ·         Due to more number of pages their cost is high.

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Implementation of only NCERT books has been experimented by various schools which had resulted into the following situations :

a)      Books were not available in the market till August and lot many children had to get the Xerox copies which proved to be a great disadvantage and led to a situation of becoming penny wise but pound foolish.

b)      Inspite of the school following NCERT books it is seen that children inarbitarily buy Private Publishers text books from the market which results into variety of text books.

c)      Teachers also tend to give questions and assignments from various other resources and thereby utilize huge amount of stationery for doing so.

By keeping the above factors schools implement Private Publishers text books which helps students in understanding the concepts better and thereby succeed in their pursuits of higher studies. 

Private Schools are able to start their new session from 1^st of April with all the required text books.

Sukhwant Singh Thaper

 28th Feb 2017

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