Whistle Podu!

The Beginning

With T20 gaining popularity, the loud cheering and whistling too is now mainstream - so mainstream that there is actually requirement for Whistling officers, Whistling executives and Chief Whistle Officers. The demand is so much that Chennai Super Kings with the slogan "whistle podu' alone requires more than 100 whistling officers.

The Whistle Curriculum

Govt of Tamil Nadu has taken note of this surge in whistling interest that it decided to introduce "Whistling" as a Subject in the University Curriculum. A think tank was formed at the very top level to frame a curriculum with CSK as their advisers. The whistle curriculum committee came up with the following core topics to teach whistling as a subject in colleges:

1. Defintion of Whistle / whistling

2. Who invented Whistle /whistling

3. In which year whistle was invented

4. Main types of whistles 

The committee also recommended the following as the answers that need to be further elaborated through power point presentations:

1. Whistle is the sound made by humans and animals especially birds when they are happy and extremely excited

2. Whistle was invented by Capt. Vizlosky of Serbia during the cold war

3. It was invented in the year 1642

4. There are more than 100 types of whistles, but the main 5 types are:

a. Silent Whistle b. Violent Whistle c. Screaming Whistle  d. Soft Whistle  and e. Melody Whistle.

Students Feedback

The brand new curriculum has been approved in record time and now there are full time students specializing in Whistling. According to reliable sources, the students found the subject interesting and the practical’s which involves measuring and recording the dimensions of different types of whistles and drawing a picture of the whistle -very stimulating. In the 1st semester, students have scored 100% in whistle subject. Recently, a student Vizilmani has submitted a thesis for his P.hd on the topic "Comparative study of whistling behaviour of CSK & RCB fans"

The Interview

On the insistence of CSK, a campus recruitment was organized for the sole purpose of recruiting various levels of whistling trainees, officers and executives. On D day or shall we say W day, the students in their interview attire lined up. Vizilmani was the first to be interviewed. He entered the room with confidence, shook hands and sat down with great expectations.

Interviewer:

Thanks for coming for the interview. Please can you whistle for me?

Vizilmani: Sir? What sir?

Interviewer: Whistle? thambi, whistle podu! Please whistle loudly!!

Vizilmani: (wiping sweat from his brow) Sorry sir..OUT OF SYLLABUS!!

....................

Bottomline: 

I narrated this "Whistle" Story at a recent seminar for College students. I gave them a short “lecture’ on Whistle and also asked them to write down answers to the 3 questions. 90% of the students had written verbatim what I just spoke to them. Then I called a boy and a girl who had scored “100%” in the exam on stage. Everyone applauded on their ‘achievement”. I gave the mike to them and said, “Please whistle for me” They remained silent. The dean and vice principal sitting in the front rows, nodded knowingly. Some students applauded and even whistled (from the back benches of course) to show their understanding.  

I was shocked and surprised when at the end of the seminar, one student walked up to me to ask. Sir, you told about the CSK job offer. Can you tell me when is the interview? 

Mr. MBA, Data Entry operator. Mr. B.Tech Office Assistant

 

Last week, we had advertised for "Data Entry Operator" the minimum qualification required was +2 or fresh graduates. Salary range starting from Rs. 6000/- p.m.

Not surprisingly we received over 40 responses. Surprisingly, over 35 of the candidates are B.E /B.Tech / MBA / M.Com / M.Phil. We did not get any PhD (saving grace !) More than the degree, the applying candidates should be well versed in English typing and should be able to enter data within a given time without error.

I will not be writing about it if it were an isolated incident, this is now become a regular feature. When we had earlier advertised for student counselors, we were flooded with B.E /B.Tech applicants. A recent article shared by my friend in Economic Times: MBA Degree losing its sheen?  highlights this scenario - which we are witnessing almost on a daily basis. We also get hundreds of CVs applying with the subject line "I want Job" and invariably all of them are either Engineering graduates or MBA graduates.

This brings us back to the original question, Why are these graduates not able to get employment? The writing quite literally is on the wall. All you have to do is ask any of these 'so called' MBA or B.Tech graduates to write 4 lines of complete sentences in English. You will be surprised at the errors that creep in almost each word, each sentence and each line.

One can go on and on about the various reasons, but the bottom line is, young people blindly follow what their peers or parents ask them to do. After they enroll they struggle and study various theoretical subjects which has no relevance to the job market. Pathetically, students who score 90% and above fail miserably when they were asked to solve simple mathematical problems or write a meaningful sentence. I had seen MCA graduates not able to create a separate folder and save email attachments!

Unless, the colleges give impetus to developing skills in basic communication, IT skills, analytic skills and English -spoken and written, the students face a grim future. Without any employable skills, their degree is not even worth the paper it is printed on.

With these kind of fancy qualifications, they live in a fantasy world till reality strikes them.
Then they start applying for "data entry job'. 

Skill Development of youth - a viable CSR option

In recent times, I made a whirlwind tour of Colleges - both Arts& Science and Professional Colleges in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry.

The idea is to interact with the final year students and gauge how prepared they are for the life ahead in the Corporate sector. After a short presentation on "Employability and Job Skills" I introduced them to sample aptitude test - basic questions covering English, Logical Reasoning and Numerical Ability.

The results are startling and very disturbing. Sample this: A student of final year B.Sc Maths could not find the "average" for a simple sum. A final year B.A. English student could not write 100 words in English without making a mistake. Across the board, the situation was the same. The students in the city or so called Elite pvt. colleges also did not score more than 14 out of 20 in the test.

The saddest part is, the students do not even realize this. They have a false sense of entitlement and refuse to accept their weakness. They believe that they are entitled to a high paying job - simply because they had completed a B.E, or MBA or just a degree. These kids live in a fools paradise and wait for the elusive pot of gold!

On one hand, I have employers - leading Banks /Insurance companies asking for 100 - 200 candidates per month! on the other hand, I could hardly screen and present 5 - 10 students in say 3 months.

We have a gigantic task ahead in training these kids and bringing them up to the level where they could be even considered for an entry level job. We in our small way are doing our bit to help them understand their areas of improvement and suggest ways to improve through our EZ Spark Program

I know many progressive companies, especially in the IT sector in India have launched Campus To Corporate events and many training institutes like Learn N Shine have initiated "Finishing Schools" but still we have a long way to go in improving the attitude, skills and knowledge of our young people.

In the new Financial year, when Corporates are planning their CSR projects, a Skill Development Initiative should receive top priority.

Soft Skill or Soft Kill?

Image from the internet for illustration purposes only

Reams of research findings are put out every day that emphasize and overemphasize the need for Soft Skills. Morphed into Life Skills these days, these set of intangible skills  apparently provides the passport to a better job and brighter future.

Professional Colleges are urged to integrate soft skills training to all their students. Recently, when I visited a professional (technical) college in Tamil Nadu to talk about the Life Skills training that we offer, I was stumped when the College Training and Placement officer reached inside his desk and pulled out hard bound tomes: Soft skills Vol. I, Soft skills Vol. II and Soft skills Vol III.

A quick glimpse into the manuals had these classic gems of questions that we have all grown up with right from our school days :

What is Soft Skills?

How many Soft skills are there?

What are the top ten soft skills?

When was Soft skills introduced in India?????

As I silently mourned the death of soft skills at the altar of rote learning, the beaming Placement

Officer said, All our students have cleared all the volumes and have scored 100%. We are now going to print Vol IV !?

If this is the kind of response by some Professional Colleges to “Teach” soft skills to their students,

when will they ever learn that soft skills is a “Skill” and need to be applied in real world settings. Soon these colleges will be proudly declaring: 100% placement and 100% pass in Soft skills. 

I walked away wondering, after all the massive efforts to bring out bulky Volumes and reducing Soft skills to just another subject, whatever I wanted to passionately convey to the students is “Out of Syllabus”

Social Workers in the Corporate World - Clash of Cultures?

Image courtesy:http://cas.umkc.edu/socialwork

 

A recent article in Business Line stated that if the Companies Bill is to be passed in the winter session of Parliament, nearly 8500 Companies in India will come under the compulsory CSR spend category. This translates into roughly 60,000 jobs for CSR Professionals. It is also anticipated that this will be a bonanza for Social Work professionals and professionals from the NGO sector.

The article also speculated that Companies in their eagerness to comply with the many CSR related provisions, may poach jobs from leading NGOs. While rejoicing at the prospect of new opportunities for many of my Social Work colleagues, I also wonder what challenges that this opportunity may throw up. The first thing that comes to my mind is the perceived clash of cultures and the transition that the Professional Social Workers have to make to the so called Corporate Culture.

Till recently and even now in some Companies, CSR functions are handled by Corporate Communications team. Therefore these “CSR professionals” mostly have a Communications, Marketing, PR background - and not Social Work background. Recently, some MNCs started recruiting “Specialists” or “Subject Matter Experts” - in the field of education, environment and community development. Indian companies too followed suit and this created a trend and a wave of migration already started from many large NGOs to the Corporate Sector. Going by the Business Line report, this “migration” will increase or even be forced when Corporates and Head Hunting firms spread their nets to NGO /non-profit sector.

Interestingly, during the late '90s, few young professionals from corporate world made a dramatic shift to the NGO sector. It was indeed dramatic because: those days you either worked with a NGO or with a Corporate. Nobody will even think of crossing each other's domains. It was also logical as you could very well argue: Corporates Make Profits and Non-profits -do not make any..(silly)– so it's a no brainer actually – the twain shall never meet ..scenario. Many hailed this move from the Corproate to the Non-Profit sector, rightly so. However some went overboard and also said that with this shift, NGOs will function “more professional” and actually prescribed this as a panacea to all ailing NGOs!

So, when professionals from Corporate world made a successful transition into the NGO sector – why can't the Social Work Professionals do the same? Will eye brows be raised when a qualified Social Worker walks in with confidence in the hallow corridors of Corporate power? I think, the answer lies in the initial perception of Corporates being more professional and NGOs as not being professional and lacking in management systems etc.

I am sure the debates will continue on this perceived shift /transition and resultant clash of cultures.

Eventually, clarity will emerge. The nay sayers or those who decried NGOs for their lack of professionalism and systems, will have nowhere to hide when you point out to them that the Companies Act itself came about because of some rather shocking or shall we say “unprofessional behaviour” of some highly acclaimed Corporates.

The irony is now NGOs pilloried for not having any Governance are going to contribute in a large scale to the growth and development of Governance and Professionalism in Corporates!

 

 

Rediscover the Joys of Reading

In this fast paced, wired world, is there still space for good old reading? Reading for the sheer joy of it. Do children love to read as much as they love to chat and post on facebook? To answer these questions, we have to move out of our comfort zone and take a peep into rural India. In places where children are deprived of their basic right to read.

In India, even in the remotest corner you can find a school, but that's the end of the story. There may be students, but no teachers. There may be classrooms, but no benches. Children in these schools have never come across good books that they can read and cherish. Even text books are not available to these kids.

In my earlier days when I worked in a non-formal education project, I have seen the thirst for knowledge among the kids of very poor families. They may not know how to read, but still they adore the pictures, they could relate to them and when the teacher narrates the stories from the book, she is a heaven sent blessing to the children. Whenever I used to visit the NFE centres in the fishing hamlets, I used to take Tamil books, comics, translated stories of Leo Tolstoy, Charles Dickens and leave it with the learners. The books became very popular that the adult learners in our centres started to fight with their kids to get hold of them!

I often marvelled at this thirst for knowlege, and wondered how we could ever quench this thirst.Recently, I came across an initiative with a very challenging title: "A Book in Every Child's Hand" now that is a gigantic vision, given the staggering size of India. However, when I heard Rohini Nilekani speak at the TEDx Gateway Mumbai 2012  partnered by Franklin Templeton Investments, I was inspired to note that in this day and age there are still few souls who want Every Child to enjoy the joys and experience the thrill of the winged words.

 "A Book in Every Child's Hand" has succeeded to a great extent in putting several million books in the hands of children who otherwise would never have the opportunity. The books are translated into most of the Indian languages. By putting the books on the open platform of Creative Commons, the organizers have literally opened up the flood gates of "Creative Collaboration" so much so that many of the Indian language books were translated into French, Spanish, German and other foreign languages! This highlights the universal appeal of this project.

You can listen to the inspiring story of putting books in the tender hands of every child and opening up a new world of hope and joy at this link: Rohini Nilekani. I am going to start digging out my books, fill up my backpack and visit the schools that I work with. I am sure you'd like to join as well. Believe me, the joy and satisfaction you get when a child comes in contact with her first book is unparalleled.

Essential Skills for CSR Manager

As in any Managerial position, interpersonal skills or people skills are very important in the professional life of CSR Managers. However there are certain skill-sets unique to the CSR Profession itself. As a CSR Manager, you are expected to work with two categories of people:

Managing People who have Passion and Managing People who have Power.

Managing People who have Passion:

As a CSR manager you will often interact with people who have passion, people who are not just doing a job, but doing something that they are passionate about. Volunteers, NGOs and other groups of people who are dedicated to a cause will come under this category. Their motivation is not money or power, but satisfaction and self-actualization and a deep sense of contributing to sustainable development.

I have come across, volunteers who with their sheer passion and dedication have really made my work all the more satisfying and fulfilling. These volunteers have night shifts (mostly in IT sector) sometimes stretching into the wee hours of next morning 3 or 4am. Still at 8 am sharp they will promptly turn up at a village 50 kms from the city! Their energy and passion is so powerful that to manage such energy levels you as a CSR Manager should share the same enthusiasm and motivation. In my experience, volunteers are mostly young people and unless you share the same vibes and passion as they do, you will not be able to 'connect'. Therefore, do equip yourself with the same vibes that moves generation Y in order to be their effective manager.

Secondly, you need to manage their enormous surge of enthusiasm, energy and motivation. Some of them could get emotionally charged up or some of them could just be frustrated because they are not getting the results as fast as they expected. The key here is to provide some sense of organization and streamline their enthusiasm so that their energies are channeled meaningully. I usually encourage them to take up small projects or break down major themes into “week sized” projects that they can tackle and contribute as per their skills.

Another important “Passion” sub-category are the NGO Partners. In your work as CSR Manager you have to explore, identify, nurture and develop Partnerships. NGOs with their work in the communities become a natural choice. Many of the NGOs have great passion for their work and take pride in what they do. You should respect that and tactfully work on that premise. For me working with NGOs gives me as much or even more satisfaction as working with volunteers. While volunteers with their raw passion just blow me away with their energy, I find the NGOs temper their passion with a deeper understanding of the communities they work with. It helps me to constantly update on the trends in community development and make me put the work I do in the proper perspective.

Naturally, a CSR manager who needs to earn their support must have the same knowledge (if not the experience) as the NGOs. This will make your interactions meaningful. In most cases, NGOs with their years of experience in the 'Field' try to look down on Corporates that undertake CSR activities. They sometimes feel that Corporates are trying to enter their domain without much understanding. Therefore, you as a CSR manager should equip yourself with the domain knowledge as the NGOs are working in. NGOs will then listen to you and lend their support. Otherwise, they tend to “hijack' the programs and run away with their agenda with the corporates not having any say in their choice of interventions.

Managing People who have Power

The other category of people are People who weild tremendous Power and Influence. They could be Government Officials, CEOs, Senior Executives in your own officee, Commissioners, Department Heads, Bureaucrats and even senior NGO Leaders.

While working with these “Influencers” a CSR Manager has to be constantly on their feet. First thing to understand is: these people in power are Resource rich and Time poor. While you may get a whole day to spend with your volunteers and NGO partners, you may hardly get 10 minutes or maximum 30 minutes with them. Even in this extremely short time, they will have other phone calls, VIP visitors and other interupptions. The key here is short precise communication. You won't have time for elaborate presentations or case studies. Another trait is the Power category people are more concerned about results, outcomes and deliverables. While your NGO partners may be interested in the process, your bosses and bureaucrats would like you to jump directly to what results your CSR project has achieved or what it is expected to achieve.

You have to also learn to be calm, patient at the same time firm otherwise you risk intimidation by their powerful presence, body language and sheer speed in their thought process. I want to recall here an incident to emphasize my point. In one of my early assignments when I represented a German Small Business Association , I was to meet the Board Members – President, Vice President and Chairmen of various committies of a prominent Business Association in Tamil Nadu. After duly fixing up an appointment I waited my turn in the imposing Board Room, mentally rehearsing my presentation and what I need to say etc. I had done a bit of homework as preparation and knew that the President and other Board members are mostly Engineers and are leaders in their respective fields and also politically well connected. However, still as it was my first meeting with them, I was very anxious.

Exactly on time, the Secretary walked in and announced that the President and his team will be joing soon. After few minutes they walked in and the President took his position at the head of the table. I introduced myself and requested that I make a presentation of the German Organization that I represent and how we could work together. Even before I could start the presentation, I was faced with a barrage of questions. Sample this: “Do you speak German? ( apparently many of them could) Have you visited Germany? (at that time I had not visited Germany) Are you an Engineer (I am not)

These questions at once put me on the back foot, as I had to answer in the negative to all of them. But I was honest, If I had tried to bluff my way through, I would have been sorted out by the experienced men there and none of my presentation that followed would have mattered.

After this initial hiccup, I composed myself and gave a short,crisp presentation. I could immediately feel that I had made a good impression. They were very appreciative of the work I (my organization) was doing and wanted to know how we could work together. Thus started one of my first induction into the world of Small Business Associations. Over the years the same President and other Office bearers became my friends for life.

The lesson learnt here is, be truthful, be straight forward. It took only few minutes for me to prove that I don't need to speak German or be an Engineer to work with Germans or Engineers. You must learn to organize your thoughts calmly and present them firmly. You have to radiate confidence – not over confidence though - and your actions and communication should express it. You really get only one opportunity to make an impression with these influencers and you have to make it count. Once they are convinced and agree upon your line of thought and action, the rest of your work is a walk in the park.

Amber Forever – A Precious Lesson on Business Ethics

In the summer of 2003, I led a business delegation from Chambers of Commerce to Copenhagen Denmark. The entrepreneurs and small business owners enjoyed the interactions with their counterparts in Copenhagen. We also had regular orientation workshops, industry visits and other opportunities to understand doing business in Denmark.

During the weekends, the delegation also had an opportunity to explore Copenhagen and soak in the local culture, do a bit of sight seeing and shopping. During one of these explorations, our business people came across stores selling “Amber” stones. Amber is actually fossilized resin from ancient forests. During this process, it traps debris like seeds, leaves and insects. Amber stones with insects are considered very valuable. Amber sold in Denmark is considered highest quality and is approximately 30 – 90 million years old (source: internet)

All of them were naturally fascinated by its honey and bright orange (amber) colour and also curious about the insects trapped inside (see inset picture: Source: Wikipedia) Some of them wanted to buy and even enquired the price. Strangely, even after visiting several stores selling Amber, nobody actually purchased any thing. I thought to myself, maybe the price put them off.

On monday morning, when our host for the day wanted to know the experience of shopping in Copenhagen, few of the 'shoppers' were excited about the Amber shops. Our host acknowledged their excitement and wanted to know if any of the curious shoppers brought any Amber. The response came as a chorus from our delegation: “We did not buy, as we are not sure if the Amber sold in these shops are genuine” The host seemed to be taken aback by this 'genuine' question. He took his time to gain his composure then asked them another question: Where did you see the amber stones? The response was in “Amber Stores” Then the host shot back: “If the shop says it is selling Amber, it is selling Amber” From his Danish perspective, he could not even understand the reason behind such a question from our Indian guests. For us fakeness, corruption and mediocrity being the order of the day, it seemed a reasonable question. Whereas in the Nordic Countries that enjoy high level of integrity and transparency in all aspects of life, the question itself struck a jarring note.

Let's pause here a bit while I want to take you back to an incident that occured in “namma' Chennai during the famous Mango Season. Few of my German colleagues were visiting Chennai on a business trip and on their way to airport, asked me if I could get them some mangoes to take with them. I jumped at the opportunity to showcase our King of fruits and went to a fruit seller who had neatly packed “Export Only” cartons of Alphonso Mangoes. After usual haggling on the price, I chose a carton which had “Genuine Alphonso Mangoes” Export quality etc colourfully marked on the sides. I could not resist the temptation to take one more box of this export quality for my own consumption – after all why should only foreigners eat export quality mangoes?

After dropping them at the airport with the neatly packed mangoes duly delivered, I smiled all the way back impressed with my alacrity. My happiness was short lived. When I went home and unpacked the “Genuine Alphonso” cartons, there were only few rotten mangoes and the rest of the package was only paper stuffed in the shape of mangoes. Even the rotten mangoes looked like the local variety and not the colourful Alphonso mangoes advertised on the sides of the carton.

I felt terrible not just for the fact that I had been cheated by “genuine” mangoes but felt sorry for our German guests and what impression they would have when they discover the truth. Later I wrote an email apologizing for the incident.

To get back to the Amber story. It taught all of us a lesson that day of what it means to be truthful and genuine in business and in other walks of life. Of course, the delegates went back to the Amber stores and purchased them – a precious acquisiton - not just because it was 90 million years old, but because it taught them the importance of being genuine in transacting business.

Testing Time for Teachers

Teachers in Tamil Nadu and across India are waking up to a new reality. In a role-reversal of sorts, it is the turn of the teachers now to face "exam tensions". I am talking about Teacher Eligibility Test which has landed many a teacher ironically in a situation that they used to face with their wards. Major Newspapers had a field day in presenting the same news with different twists: "Less than one Per cent teachers pass the TET"...read one. Another headline dramatised it by announcing "99% teachers failed in TET"

What is clear is however, the Indian exam system that is the bane of analytical thinking and creative expression has come to haunt the teachers themselves. The poor results in the TET also points out to the malady in our Teacher Training System itself. As a recent article in the Hindu noted, "there are 600 teacher training institutes in Tamil Nadu alone" These institutions apparently produce 'Teachers' who could not clear a Teacher Eligibility Test.

I was involved in training teachers in Govt. schools for more than 5 years and to me the poor results are not surprising. First of all, what is the "Eligibility' that they are being evaluated for? is it subject knowledge, ability to produce charts and PPTs? the whole system of teacher education itself is a mirror of our education system. Driven by blind focus on numbers and percentages, these tests do not really evaluate a teacher's eligibility to teach but their ability to memorize and reproduce. Same medicine, which the teachers have been prescribing to their students all along.

Most disturbing aspect of these low scores is the excuses that the teachers are ready to give. There seems to be a negative attitue towards learning and to teaching itself. Many teachers that I had interacted with have a low self esteem and expressed very little motivation to excel in their profession. They would rather give excuses than use the opportunity for personal and professional development. TET is an opportunity that should enable teachers take a hard look at what they have been practising and re-assess it.

A complete overhaul of the Teacher Training system is called for. Inservice training that focusses on teaching skills, leadership and facilitation skills must be conducted. Peer learning, opportunity to collaborate with other teachers, should be provided for them to expand their horizons. Continuous professional development and assessment instead of one time evaluation is the need of the hour to make teachers realize their potential. Only attitude change will lead to behavioural change and the Teacher Eligibility Test has exposed only the proverbial tip of the ice berg. It is time for Teachers and educationists to ponder. 

CSR - Old School

The year was 1991, that was the time when Corporate Social Responsibility was unheard of. Life was simple, Corporates did just their business and made profits and Charity Organizations did not do any business but doling out welfare and feeding the poor and did not make any profit. The two entities functioned in their own spheres and nobody bothered or even thought that Business should engage with Community Organizations or vice versa. 

In that period, I was working in an International Aid Agency's Non Formal Adult Education for Fishing Communities in Coastal Tamil Nadu. Total Literacy was the all encompassing Mantra and every district in Tamil Nadu was busy declaring themselves "100% Literate". In this backdrop, we got zero support from the Govt. when we said we wanted to educate the fisherfolk

I was joined in this mission impossible by a Catholic Priest, and a fiery character who had strong communist idealogies. We soldiered on against all odds and went about setting up non-formal education centres in fishing hamlets - where we also taught them to read and write. Predominantly, though the NFE centres were more a platform to discuss the aspirations, the joys and sorrows of the younger generation of the fishing community. We also were privy to the ocean like wisdom of the village heads who extended their full support and wanted their wards to be 'educated' not just literate. 

It was no coincidence that the fishermen /women were as broad minded as the ocean itself. They had their priorities right and their approach to life was to face it with all its struggles and never back down or complain. They believed that the Ocean with its abundant treasures will take care of them – come what may. They also understood, that education is not just knowing to write down your name. They did not go to any classroom, but even a 5 year old in that village will tell the time by just looking at the position of the sun. They know when to venture out into the sea and when not to. They knew how to calculate the “profit -loss' for the day, and the women could make accurate guess on the weight of the fish caught even while it is being offloaded onto the shore. 

Enthused by their active participation, the NFE centres became a centre of intense discussion on issues of community development like creating jobs, income generation, mainstream or formal education etc. Government meanwhile got wind of the happenings in these centres that they finally decided to close down all centres. The foreign Nation which was generously funding this activity was told rather bluntly that they cannot continue with a "literacy' program in a 100% literate State. The Development Counsellor fought valiantly, but had to succumb to bureucratic pressure and finally the project was abruptly shut down.

Back then there was no Govt. backing, no corporate funding, no fancy Public Private Partnership or fancier Citizenship Initiatives - but it was purely, unadulterated People's Participation that kept the project going. The fishing community supported the project not because it will help them write their names on a piece of paper, they understood that it will help build their community stronger. 

The project also me a new perspective to life, They helped define my approach to life. Till this date, this conviction has helped me to work towards bringing out the true meaning of education and unearth the treasures of knowledge buried deep under the recess of rote learning and discover the joy of learning – something that the humble fisherfolk realized from day one.

Technology in classrooms - old wine in new bottles?

 Technology penetration in educational institutes is rapidly gaining ground. In India, many private schools now proudly display their "smart classroom' status. In remote villages, Government Schools have computer labs. There is now talk about using Tablets, iPads and smart phones to make education interactive and meaningful.

However, in this race to embrace technology, are we forgetting the good old pedagogy - the foundation for any education program to succeed . Noted ICT in Education expert Shelley Pasnik cautions educators about this gap -"is Pedagogy keeping up with technology" he asks.  Let us examine this question in Indian context.

I was addressing a group of faculty members in a leading Arts and Science College in Chennai as part of a faculty development program. Since the session was on e Learning and ICT usage in classrooms, I asked them how many of them are on Facebook, about 10 - 12 hands went up. Then I asked them how many of them have a blog of their own. There was complete silence, until one young lecturer rose up and asked "Sir what is a blog?"  

Another day, another place, this time it was a Government School. In my interaction with school teachers on use of computers and ICT in education, many teachers proudly declared that they have attended Computer Training during summer holidays. Some teachers even displayed their certificates to me. At the end, I wrote my email ID on the blackboard and asked them to send me emails if they needed any information or wanted to share any information. The teachers exchanged quick glances and finally one teacher confessed, sir we do not have email ID and another teacher said, I have email ID, but internet connection in this school does not work. This particular Government school has a well equipped Computer Lab - computers with LCD monitors and names of prominent IT companies listed as 'sponsors'.

The point is on one hand our schools have computers and they also have 'computer classes' and training, but the teachers are still not oriented to make the best use of it or they are hindered by infrastructure barriers like lack of internet connection. You may think this is common in Government schools, but it is similar in so called elite 'Smart Schools'. Once, when I asked my daughter how is her 'smart classroom' functioning as I see that board everytime I drop her to school. She said, oh, that my teacher switches it on shows some slides, then fumbles with the controls and then switches it off. It is back to the good old blackboard and lecture.

When the college lecturer asked me about blogs and the school teacher asked me about creating email ID, I really felt that our teachers, administrators and educators simply do not understand the real power of technology. Mere placing of computers, gadgets, interactive white boards without training the teachers in their proper usage will not change anything. Teachers will brush aside the technology as simple waste of time if they are not properly trained.

Administrators and educators should realize that just buying all sorts of new technology does not make learning meaningful, it is about how you use them. Even with latest technology teachers still struggle to retain students interest. New technology to be effective must be backed up by innovative pedagogy. Pedagogy should dictate how the devices, tools should be used. As Shelley Pasnik says, "it is what you do with (technology & devices) and how teachers and students use those tools"

While developed countries are leapfrogging to digital devices of all shapes and sizes, our education system is caught in a time warp.Teachers and students  are mere onlookers as other Countries, even countries like Bangaladesh and Sri Lanka are overtaking us in terms of technology usage in education.

Traditonal pedagogy practices must evolve to match the growing technology, if the investment in Computers and other technology has to start bringing in rich dividends. Teachers must be sensitized and oriented to new technology and its usage. Otherwise it will be the classic case of old wine in new bottles, or its digital equivalent : PDF and powerpoint slides of traditional textbooks on computers and iPads.


 

Initiatives in Classroom Transformation – ICT

17^th March was a red letter day for many people involved in education reforms. For on that day, a middle school teacher from the Chennai (corporation) School, made history when she stepped up to the podium at the NGO 2012 seminar – a prestigious gathering of NGOs from across the Country - and declared to the world that she is a Champion Teacher.

The people, who had gathered to hear a teacher speak, ended up listening to the inner voice of a life changing experience. The teacher’s voice trembled with emotion and she could barely string together meaningful words in English, but she communicated in the universal language of love –straight from the heart and with passion. 

Yes, Sridevi is a not just a Champion Teacher, but a real champion in life who surmounted many challenges and today she could face the world with enormous confidence. “Sridevi Miss” as she is affectionately called by her children (she always refers to her students as ‘my children”) is part of the Reinventing Education Program – an education partnership program conceived by IBM and driven by Govt. school teachers in two southern states of India – Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnadu.

As I watched Sridevi articulate the transformation that she helped shape in her classroom through the Reinventing Education program, my mind raced back to 2007 when it all started. The setting was the Andhra Pradesh Residential School.  There were a group of noticeably bored set of teachers, head masters (HMs)   and education officials.  Apparently, they did not relish the idea of spending a Saturday afternoon listening to someone who wanted to for some reason –to build a smarter planet

 Anticipating a ‘techie’ to walk into the classroom with a laptop in tow, they were a tad disappointed to see me with no such gadgets. They had set up an LCD projector, again anticipating the inevitable powerpoint presentation and had closed all the windows rendering it dark and gloomy.

I walked in, and asked them to open the windows so that I could see their faces. I told them to switch off the LCD projector too. Now I could clearly see and sense that I had certainly created some curiosity and wee bit of attention. I introduced myself and my company IBM. I explained to them that I wanted to discuss with them about an education reform initiative proposed by IBM and asked them to list out their expectations. Now the audience’s curiosity turned into déjà vu. With practiced ease, much like a student reciting memorized lessons, the teachers and HMs started to narrate a ‘shopping list’. They said, computers are very good and their school needed more computers. Some of them wanted CDs for all lessons from 1- 10^th grade. The more adventurous demanded that all teachers be given laptops! I only wondered if it were that simple, IBM could have just completed a one day laptop mela and sent me home without a job!

I realized that the teachers are so conditioned by the onslaught of technology companies on their sensibilities that they equated technology with gadgets and stuff. Wanting to shake them up from their techno – gadget fantasy, I gave them a simple exercise.

Requested all of them to forget about computers, technology and gadgets for a moment close their eyes briefly and reflect on their school days – when there were no such ‘distractions’.  They obediently closed their eyes and soon they were travelling back in time. After few minutes when they ‘got down’ from their time capsules, I asked them to narrate a few things they remembered about their school days.  

Now the narration was different, they are no longer producing a shopping list but articulating their experiences. Many said corporal punishment, strict teachers, lots of homework, exams all the time, too many books (heavy), memorizing tables and formulae etc. Some of the ‘enlightened’ teachers also said only boring lectures and no computers (sigh!)

I grabbed half a chalk that had been thrown on the floor by an exasperated teacher and made a list of things they told about their school days in a column on the not so black board. Quickly I had run down the length of the board and also had difficulty holding on to the remnant of the half chalk, I barely managed to scribble on the top of the column “Education in 1970s” – I could have as well named it ‘education woes’ – then I stopped.

Turned around facing the audience again, I asked them to close their eyes one more time and this time I wanted them to ruminate on education today, in the present, in the 21^st century. They closed their eyes but quickly opened them with an understanding smirk and smiling eyes when they discerned the irony. Nodding in agreement to their dignified silence, I rubbed out 1970 from top of the list and replaced it with 2007.

The silence was broken when one teacher said ‘nothing has changed sir’ same boring lectures, more homework, more books and more memorizing. Then I asked them can IBM bring in the change? Can supplying 100 computers and 1000 CDs change the situation? Almost the entire classroom joined in unison and said No - We will have to bring in the change. I then said, IBM will join hands with them and we will make the change.

Thus began the long journey of Reinventing Education that had transcended the narrow understanding of technology, broke the barriers of attitude and years of conditioned behavior and transformed ‘boring’ teachers into bold Champion Teachers and insipid classrooms into thinking Transformed Classrooms. Presently there are more than 400 teachers who are touched by the Reinventing Education Program.

The significant change was, the teachers never again asked for computers, laptops and CDs. Instead they had asked me – teach us how to use them in my classroom, teach us how to open an email account. Show us how to download pictures and information from the internet and how to convert them into interesting lesson plans.

We listened, started training the teachers in pedagogical tools, ICT and together we created a Reinventing Education portal for the teachers to collaborate, share and learn. Today teachers like Sridevi for whom computers were once associated with computer labs and boring administrative work, are using it as a powerful learning tool.  For her presentation at the NGO 2012, she had downloaded education quotations from the internet, created a PPT, loaded it on a pen drive and made a wonderful presentation.  Today she proudly says: “ because of Reinventing Education, I have become a leader in my school, the commissioner and education officers invite me and ask my views on bringing in any changes in curriculum. I take pride in sharing my experiences with other teachers. My students find that I am a completely different person now and they say I smile more often. In my classroom even the quietest child will boldly answer any questions or even better ask me more questions”

The rousing applause that marked the end of Sridevi Miss’s presentation woke me up from my reverie. As people gathered around congratulating her, IBM’s tag line of let’s build a Smarter Planet – suddenly rang very true.

Corporate Philanthropy: Where We Stand

In one of my previous blogs on "Partnerships" I have highlighted how Indian companies have forged successful partnerships with community organizations to leverage their respective core strengths. In this recent article, Ann Cramer talks about public-private partnership as an innovative approach. You can go through the full article and see many good examples.

Corporate Philanthropy: Where We Stand

CSR and Social Impact

At the beginning of the year, it is customary to make a list of top 5s or top 10s of several global events. I thought of delving into the top 5 reasons for companies to invest in CSR as well as key success factors. Weber Shandwick and KRC Research did in fact conduct a research in October 2010 and surveyed 200 CSR executives and have come up with the following 5 reasons/ success factors:
1. Having an Impact on critical issues in society and seeing an organization's value in action
2. Non-profits as partners are vital to the success of CSR
3. Almost 90% of the executives said that Senior Leadership Support drives CSR success
4. Companies prefer to tackle multiple issues as part of their CSR (environment, education, global development etc)
5. Employee engagement and Community Engagement are equally important factors for the success of CSR efforts.

The implications of the study is immense as it reiterates several beliefs that drives CSR initiatives as well as underline the importance of stakeholder engagement - both internal and external. The fact that companies are looking beyond checkbook philanthropy  to actually making a social impact and actively engaging in societal issues is very heartening. It is also great news for Non-profit organizations as the large corporations view them as "valuable partners'  who bring in the necessary expertise. It is also good to hear that companies are concerned about a variety of critical issues spanning education, environment and many other issues aligned to their core competencies and business objectives.

Overall, the  outlook for CSR and corporates engagement with society looks positive and CSR investments are all set to increase in 2012 and beyond.

The know more about the study and its findings do visit:  impact.webershandwick.com

Corporate Volunteering

Corporate Volunteering is the buzz word in CSR. Many companies already have an employee volunteer program in place and many other companies are contemplating. As part of my research for this article I found that NASSCOM foundation has come up with a booklet on corporate volunteerism titled: "Volunteer in Action".  This booklet provides the 'do's and don'ts of volunteering as well as testimonials from many volunteers. The booklet only skims the surface of what is a very popular  but underutilized medium of employee motivation.

In fact, world wide there is a shift from traditional volunteering (e.g cleaning up the neighborhood, painting school walls, tree planting etc) to more technical form of volunteering aligned to Company's business vision and objectives. This is called "High Impact Volunteering". This trend to move up the corporate volunteering value chain to High Impact Volunteering include: International Employee Volunteering as well as Skill Based Volunteering.

International employee volunteering is when companies send employees from one country to work in another. This corporate citizenship strategy may be an aspect of a company’s global volunteering program in that employees from one region or market travel internationally to volunteer alongside employees in another region or market. 

Currently, only a few companies have employee volunteer programs that include opportunities to go abroad. The recent report “Global Companies Volunteering Globally” noted five large multinational firms that have publicly committed to expanding their international employee volunteer programs; BD, Dow, GSK, IBM and Pfizer. Besides the five noted in the report, a number of other companies are currently investigating or enlarging their international employee volunteering programs.

Skill based volunteering aligns employee volunteering to the strategic business motivations and leverage the corporate assets and expertise to raise the bar and result in high impact. Employee volunteering that is aligned to corporate strategy like stakeholder relations, customer focus, competitive context and leadership development have more chances of drawing on the workplace skills of employees and the company’s distinct corporate resources.

IBM’s Corporate Social Corps  is another classic example of skill based volunteering. According to Stanley Litow, the VP of  IBM Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs as of February 2011, in just three years  IBM sent a total of 100 teams  to 20 countries around the world. These teams were made up of 1000 employees from 50 countries in which IBM works. Stanley Litow, views these ‘citizen-diplomats’ as something more than a means to making IBM more productive and profitable. These programs work towards a more civil society on a global scale, to the benefit of all. 

To summarize, Corporate Volunteering is seen as a great tool to motivate employees as well as align the Company's goals and employee skills to the needs in the community. 

Techno Pedagogy -what it means

Information Communication Technology (ICT) programs in development field including Education has been around for many years now. Primarily these were driven by Technology companies or 'IT Vendors' with educationists and as a result education itself taking a back seat.
However, the encouraging news is finally teachers (other than computer teachers) are getting involved in ICT programs in schools. While the technology driven programs of earlier days was mainly confined to computer literacy, recent programs have evolved making subject teachers as the centre in designing the curriculum and integrating technology.
This approach known as Techno Pedagogy which implies the blending of technology with solid pedagogical principles is the way forward for new generation of education reforms. In this approach, ICT will not bypass the regular teaching staff in schools. Techno Pedagogy approach will continue to focus on technology but will have deeper and wider pedagogical relevance.
The University of Lethbridge, Faculty of Education prescribe 3 components to develop techno pedagogy skills among teachers. They are: 1. meta-teaching, 2. technology exposure and 3. critical reflection. In Indian context, I find that teachers get to stage 2 without going through stage 1 and get struck there! Also their technology exposure is limited to "operating systems' or "office suite' that does not have any pedagogical relevance. Critical reflection is what is missing.
Thankfully, many organizations in India have realized this gap and are advocating for a more rigorous action, reflection process in the ICT initiatives in schools. This trend should be encouraged and teachers and educationists should come forward to evaluate, reflect and start teaching with technology rather than making technology an end by itself

Business and Professional Ethics

Last week I was in Madurai as a panelist in a Seminar on Business and Professional Ethics. It was organized by the Dept of Management Studies, Fatima College. This timely theme highlighted many facets of business and ethics. Inevitably, it gravitated towards a discussion on Corporate Social Responsibility . What intrigued me was the speakers invariably gave examples from Western countries. While there are many large and even smaller companies in India which has done work at the grassroots level, none of it was presented. It somehow gave the impression that CSR is the exclusive purview of MNCs working in India.

Finally, one speaker stood up and said what is lacking in India is Self Esteem. We tend to be very negative when it comes to our own people and over enthusiastic when it comes to foreigners. Though India needs to catch up on lot of fronts compared to the advanced countries, if we continue to run down our own people, we will not reach anywhere.

My only prayer at the end of the seminar was: "Where the mind is without fear and the head held high...into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my Country Awake!

CSR Practitioners -some insights

As more and more Companies embrace CSR there is a corresponding demand for competent professionals in the field. On the supply side, many young management and development professionals are keen to take up a career in corporate affairs. However, after joining they find the tasks ahead daunting and more so when their peers and managers do not recognize the work they do in the communities.The young CSR professionals in large MNCs /corporates do not have anyone to turn to. Sometimes even their reporting managers with a Communications or Marketing background may not understand what exactly they do.This makes them wonder what went wrong. They think they may be a complete misfit.

I find many development professionals who have built up a good career in NGOs coming to me and asking about switching to a career in CSR. Without trying to sound like I am putting them off, I often urge them to study the company that they plan to join and understand the CSR traditions within the company. Another suggestion is to network with CSR professionals, read CSR articles and develop their understanding of the challenges and constraints before venturing into CSR as a profession. If you are attracted only by the 'corporate tag' then you will not be ready to face the challenges ahead.

A recent article in CSR Asia - confessions of a CSR Practitioner brought out this very succintly. The author - a CSR manager - says: "I think one of the most challenging parts of my job is internal misunderstanding of what I do".  My thoughts are resonated exactly in the above quote. It is a fact that CSR practitioners do not do enough internal stakeholder engagement.

Aspiring CSR professionals must be prepared to engage with internal stakeholders, top management in the long haul for their own good. If they are not prepared to take the initiative in educating their peers and managers within their respective companies  -  they may have to re-assess their decision.

NEN -1st Dot showcase for Student Startups

The other day I was at the National Entrepreneurship Network's first dot showcase for student start ups. Sponsored by IBM and The Wadhwani foundation, the showcase provided a forum for student start ups to well, showcase their business model and interact with mentors and experts.

I had the daunting task of mentoring 2 student start ups. Mentoring techno-savvy youngsters of the digital generation should be challenging and I geared up by brushing up my 'techno-skills' by interacting with my son and daughter - who are way ahead and up to date on matters technical. Brimming with giga-bits of information disdainfully fed by my "i kids'  I felt confident of not getting stumped by my prospective 'mentees' (whoever invented this word needs mentoring!)

After few minutes into the mentoring session, I realized I need not have gone through the troubles of 'updating' my technical knowledge. The 'studentrepreneurs' are very clear that technology is important, but they are not going to 'depend' on it. They were more concerned with how their technology will actually benefit the people.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that both the teams expressed genuine concern for the country, its youth and how their venture could play a part in improving lives of people through technology.

These young start ups are not chasing dollars blindly or just geeks fanatic about their gadgets. These are real social entrepreneurs who wanted to make a difference in society. I liked their motive and conceptual clarity. I returned from the mentoring session with the reassurance that the future of India has its mind and heart in the right place!

CSR -The Game Changer - Workshop by NASSCOM Foundation

With more and more IT companies operating in India taking the CSR route, it is imperative to strengthen these efforts and provide a forum for sharing practices. NASSCOM foundation did just this on July 21st when they organized a workshop "CSR - The Game Changer" in Bangalore for its member companies.

The participants were given useful inputs on CSR strategy development and alignment with business goals. Participants also involved in 'developing CSR strategies' as part of a case study to get a hands on feel for coming up with sustainable CSR strategies.