AFS revival
In August this year, 40 higher secondary (class XI) students from across the country emplaned for several foreign destinations including Norway, Japan, Switzerland, Italy, Ireland and the US to study for 11 months in comparable grade in schools in those countries. Currently they are living with their host families abroad and attending class as they would be doing if they had never left.  |
| Khokar (centre): growing culrural interest |
This inter-cultural exchange programme for high/ higher secondary school students in the age group 15-18, is sponsored by AFS (originally American Field Service), a New York-based NGO (non-government organisation) with 53 member countries and 350,000 host families around the world registered with it. "Although this is the first batch of students sent abroad under the inter-cultural exchange programme of AFS in a long while, it is not an entirely unknown organisation in India. Until its activities were proscribed by the Morarji Desai-led Janata government in 1977, AFS ran an active student exchange programme in India. Among those who were sent for a year’s higher secondary study abroad by AFS in the 1960-70s were Dileep Padgaonkar (incumbent editor of the Times of India); Dina Vakil (resident editor, ToI, Mumbai) and actress Zeenat Amman. Now in the more liberal socio-economic environment which coincides with a huge and growing global interest in Indian culture, AFS has been revived," says Ashish Khokar, director of AFS (India).
A history graduate of Delhi’s blue-chip St. Stephen’s College and former Woodrow Wilson scholar at Princeton University where he acquired a diploma in culture management, the Bangalore-based Khokar seems to have all the qualifications for infusing new life into the moribund AFS. During the Rajiv Gandhi era he helped organise four Festivals of India abroad (1984-88); served as director of INTACH (India Trust for Architectural and Cultural Heritage, 1989-92); was the dance critic of the Times of India for over a decade, and is the publisher-editor of Attendance — India’s sole classical dance (annual) magazine. In addition he has authored over 30 books on Indian arts and spirituality including Indian Textiles (1997), Classical Dance (1999) and Eternal Bharat Natyam (2001) prior to taking charge as director of AFS last year. "AFS’ student exchange programme is open to all students including those in rural India, from minority communities and with physical disabilities. Indeed, some member countries give preference to hosting physically challenged students. Applications can be made online from our website www. afs.org/India," says Khokar.
Back on track after a three decade interregnum, AFS will not only expand the number of students it will send abroad, it will also encourage a reverse flow of foreign students into India who will reside with the 500 Indian families which have already signed up as host parents. "There is renewed interest the world over in India’s ancient history and cultural heritage. Therefore the inflow of foreign students under the aegis of AFS is certain to increase substantially. And though the Janata government didn’t think so three decades ago, nothing but good can flow from this student exchange programme. I intend not only to revive it, but also to widen its activities to include teacher exchange programmes," says Khokar.
Fair winds.
Dilip Thakore (Bangalore)
G Ed+ gets going
Meet Sarojini Vittachi, former regional director (Middle East and North Africa) of the United Nations and Neeraja Raghavan, former principal of the Rajghat Besant School, Varanasi (promoted by the Krishnamurthy Foundation). They are the founder director and senior project officer respectively of G Ed+, an NGO registered in 2003 to promote the education of girl children and enhance the debate and discussion on gender disparities in education. Today this Bangalore-based organisation has positioned itself as a networking agency for NGOs and funding agencies. It proposes to build a corpus for the education of needy girl children, to conduct teacher training workshops and provide consultancy services.  |
| Vittachi: overwelming case |
"There is an urgent need to focus on educating girl children. Out of the 300 million children of all ages worldwide without access to education, two-thirds are girls. In India, of the 40 million children out of primary school, 67 percent are girls. At the upper primary level only 40 percent of girls attend school. The main factors influencing this disparity include poverty and the continuing hold of social and cultural beliefs that discriminate against girls," says Vittachi.
According to Raghavan the case for a national focus on educating the girl child is overwhelming. "A girl who is literate and educated is better nourished and healthier, grows up to be empowered and is less likely to be exploited, has children who are better nourished and educated, has fewer unwanted pregnancies, is likely to live longer, and has a better chance in life," says Raghavan. "While most NGOs have their heart in the right place they are faced with paucity of resources. This is where G Ed+ can help to make a difference," she adds.
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| Neerja Raghavan |
In pursuit of its girl child centric objectives, G Ed+ has emerged as a resource centre for NGOs, donors, educationists and lay persons interested in the cause of girls’ education. It has compiled a database of over 250 national and international funding agencies, of which 142 focus on girls’ education and 52 focus on education and women’s issues. Simultaneously G Ed+ has compiled a database of over 600 girl-child centric NGOs classified according to geography and specialisation. Apart from providing information and networking services G Ed+ also helps NGOs to complete application forms and proposals for funding.
Long term plans include constructing a resource centre, developing customised learning aids, notching up advocacy efforts to raise public awareness and exerting influence at the policy making level in favour of the girl child and publishing a series of language learning books to generate income. "Our website www.girl deducationplus.org is nodal to our work and we encourage people to visit us there," says Raghavan.
Sandhya Gandhi (Bangalore)
Gunning for glory
With a trove of national and international medals, sharp shooter Arti Singh Rao (27) is one of India’s most promising shooting stars. Recently she bagged a gold in the skeet event at the Asian Clay Pigeon Shooting Championship in Bangkok, Thailand. Earlier in 2003 Rao bagged a gold and silver in the World Cup and Asian Shooting championships, both held in Delhi. The killer instinct which Indian sportsperson reputedly lack, has distinguished this gutsy sportswoman ever since she began competitive shooting at age eight. Despite the fact that her gun was then bigger than her, little Rao still accompanied her father — Rao Inderjeet Singh, a national level shooter in his own right — to the Karni Shooting Range in Tughlakabad on the outskirts of Delhi. "The skeet event attracts very few women participants in India. It’s tougher than the other shooting events and necessitates long hours of practice," explains Rao who practises for five to six hours daily under the guidance of her father and foreign coaches.
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| Rao: killer instinct |
An arts graduate of Delhi University, Rao was 19 when her career as a shotgun shooter in the skeet event took off. She worked hard under her late Georgian coach, Teimuraz Matoian, to prepare for the World Championships held at Lonato, Italy, in 1999. Though Rao didn’t win a medal there, the experience stood her in good stead and boosted her confidence.
In the year 2000 Rao participated in the World Championships in Finland. She not only won a bronze in the under-21 category but also received reams of press coverage. "In a country of a billion plus, it’s a shame that so few are of international standard. This is largely because sports — other than cricket — are not accorded sufficient importance in our country. Parents, teachers and schools ought to be a lot more sports-oriented to produce sportsperson capable of competing with the world’s best," she says.
With considerable international experience behind her, Rao has set her sights on the Commonwealth and Asian Games next year. "In India regional championships carry a lot of weightage. Of course competition will be intense as usual, but I’m confident of bagging a medal in both these events," she says confidently.
Stand by for this sharp shooter to hit bull’s eye again.
Neeta Lal (Delhi)
Committed polymath
Entrepreneur, writer, publisher, teacher, software professional and multimedia expert, Bhuvaneswari Krishnamurthy (33) wears many hats. A postgraduate in computer science from Bharathidasan University, Tamil Nadu, she turned down several lucrative offers of employment from IT companies in India and abroad to promote Compcare Software Pvt Ltd, a software, hardware development, training and placement company in 1992. The promotion of her own IT company paved the way for turning her childhood interest — writing — into a profession and signalled her transition from writer to publisher, web designer and multimedia specialist.  |
| Krishnamurthy: presidential imposition |
"I wanted to break the myth that English language fluency is a must for computer education. So I decided to introduce computer education in Tamil at Compcare Software and bring technology within the reach of people in villages, housewives and mentally and physically challenged children between six-60 years," says Krishnamurthy who gives credit to her parents for supporting all her ventures.
To enable the state’s Tamil-speaking majority to understand computers better, Krishnamurthy, who has been contributing short stories, poems and essays in various Tamil magazines since 1980, started writing a series of computer-related articles in Tamil which were greatly appreciated. She then progressed to writing computer familiarisation guides in 1999 and buoyed by the success of her first book (in English) An Easy Way To Learn C language, she pressed on to write 30 IT-learning books in Tamil. In October 2004, she turned publisher and under the banner of her publishing division, Compcare Arriveial Pathippagam, published the Evvaluvuthan Computer series of three books which are now part of the syllabus for postgraduate students of Presidency College, Chennai.
Moreover she has conducted computer awareness programmes for Madras University faculty members, programmes on Doordarshan television and a workshop for visually impaired children in 2003. "The objective of the workshop for the visually impaired was to enable them to use computers confidently with the help of a special software. I plan to create software in Braille very soon," says Krishnamurthy who is inspired by the nation’s technocrat-president. "The words of President Abdul Kalam ring in my ears: ‘Dream… Dream’ I will continue to dream up novel, educative projects for children," she says.
It certainly seems Krishnamurthy’s dreams are coming to fruition. In October this year three of her book titles were published by the Centre for Empowerment of Women, Anna University and Tamil Nadu Corporation for Development of Women Ltd.
Hemalatha Raghupathi (Chennai)
Plug-in entrepreneur
Swimming against the IT tide when learning computer languages and applications for software development was the fashion, in 1997 Ravinder Goyal, a science graduate of Delhi University ventured into hardware management and networking by promoting the Institute of Advanced Computing Management (IACM). "It was a neglected area in the 1990s although the IT industry needed standardisation and international certification for the computer revolution to advance across the country," says Goyal.
Since then over the past eight years or so, Goyal has established IACM as one of India’s most respected IT education and training institutes. India Today gave it number one ranking in network training in 2004 and Mircosoft’s resource directory (2004) features IACM among the top ranked training institutes. "From the beginning my objective has been to be industry-friendly and today we have industry oriented programmes leading to various international certifications," says Goyal.
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| Goyal: neglected area |
A seasoned entrepreneur, Goyal believes in leading from the front. He is fully involved in academics in his capacity as a trained systems engineer and database administrator. Ab initio he has been lecturing IACM students, particularly during weekend seminars held regularly in the institute’s eight centres in Delhi. "We are in the process of expansion and next year we will establish teaching centres in other parts of the country through a carefully monitored franchising system," he says.
Though a 10-15 percent demand slump for IT hardware in the past couple of years has forced several hardware maintenance training institutes to down shutters, Goyal is confident that the long term trend is positive. "The real PC boom is yet to arrive because a majority of urban and rural households are without computers. With cheaper versions becoming available, effective demand for PCs is certain to rise. With an engineer needed for every PC purchased, jobs in networking, maintenance and hardware will be created at a frantic pace," predicts Goyal whose institute has thus far trained more than 10,000 students.
A resource provider of IT education programmes to Sikkim Manipal University, Goyal is seized of the challenges ahead. "My priority is to retain and strengthen our leadership position in hardware maintenance training. We will enter the online education services business and by 2006 we’ll be launching online testing and certification for about 120 skills. Also come December, we’ll have model online tests for students from classes X-XII. This is an institute whose growth and search for new service opportunities is an on-going process," enthuses Goyal.
Autar Nehru
(Delhi)