Perspectives in Education and Education Policy · Chapter 6

Contemporary Concerns II

What to remember

Life skills and values prepare the adolescent for real life. WHO lists ten core life skills; adolescence is a period of rapid change that needs guidance, not punishment.
Health, physical education and inclusion belong to every school. Each child, including a child with a disability, has the right to learn in the regular classroom with support.
The 1991 reforms (LPG) and NEP 2020 changed the landscape of education. Privatisation, globalisation and technology now shape what schools teach and how.

Life skills

Life skills are abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that help a person deal with the demands and challenges of daily life. The World Health Organization (WHO) listed ten core life skills, in five pairs.

Area	Skills
Thinking	Critical thinking and creative thinking
Decision	Decision making and problem solving
Social	Effective communication and interpersonal relationship
Personal	Self-awareness and empathy
Coping	Coping with stress and coping with emotions

Self-awareness: knowing one's strengths, weaknesses, feelings and values.
Empathy: understanding another person's feelings and viewpoint.
Critical thinking: analysing information and experience objectively.
Coping with stress: recognising the source of stress and managing it by relaxation, play, talk and time planning.
Life skills are taught by participatory methods: role play, group discussion, case studies, brainstorming, games and stories. They are best built into all subjects, not only taught as a separate paper.
The Delors Report (UNESCO, 1996) described the four pillars of education: learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together and learning to be. Life skills link closely with these pillars.

Adolescence

Adolescence is the stage between childhood and adulthood. WHO describes it as the age of 10 to 19 years. It starts with puberty.

G. Stanley Hall called it a period of "storm and stress".
Erikson called its crisis "identity versus role confusion".
Piaget: the formal operational stage appears, with abstract and hypothetical thinking.
Changes: physical growth and sexual maturity, emotional ups and downs, interest in peers, search for independence, concern for body image and identity.
Problems: peer pressure, stress over examinations, risk-taking, substance use, bullying, online risks, early relationships and low self-esteem.
Role of the teacher: be a friend and guide, listen without judging, give correct information, create a safe space, work with parents, and refer serious cases to a counsellor.
Adolescence Education Programme (AEP) was introduced around 2005 by the then Ministry of Human Resource Development with NCERT and the National AIDS Control Organisation, to give accurate information on growing up, reproductive health, HIV and life skills in upper secondary classes.
Guidance and counselling help adolescents with personal, educational and career choices. Counselling should be private and non-directive.

Value education

Values are lasting beliefs about what is good and worth doing. Value education develops moral, social, spiritual and civic values.

Types of values: personal, social, moral, spiritual, democratic, aesthetic and environmental.
Examples: truth, honesty, non-violence, respect, tolerance, cooperation, responsibility, scientific temper, national integration.
Moral development: Piaget described two stages (heteronomous morality and autonomous morality). Kohlberg proposed three levels (pre-conventional, conventional, post-conventional) with six stages.
Methods: teacher as role model, stories and biographies, group work, community service, assembly, discussion of moral dilemmas, and a value-rich school climate.
Approaches: values are best developed in the daily life of the school and in all subjects, not only in a moral science period. NCF 2005 and NEP 2020 both support values through activities, ethics, and constitutional values.
The Fundamental Duties (Article 51A) are a good base for value education.

Health and physical education

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being (WHO), not only absence of disease.

School health programme: health check-ups, immunisation, deworming, iron and folic acid supplements, clean drinking water, toilets, hand washing, and first aid.
Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) screens children from birth to 18 years for defects, deficiencies, diseases and developmental delays.
Weekly Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation (WIFS) is for adolescents to prevent anaemia.
Mid-day meal / PM POSHAN gives nutrition, and school health and wellness ambassadors are encouraged under newer plans.
Physical education: develops the body, fitness, teamwork, discipline and sportsmanship. It includes games, athletics, yoga, drill and gymnastics.
National programmes: Khelo India (2018) to build a sports culture; Fit India Movement (2019) to promote fitness. International Yoga Day is 21 June.
Teacher's duty: plan games for all children (including girls and children with disabilities), ensure safety, and treat physical education as a regular subject, not a free period.
Health education topics: hygiene, nutrition, first aid, communicable diseases, substance abuse, mental health, road safety, and personal safety.

Inclusive education

Inclusive education means that all children, whatever their ability, background or language, learn together in the same neighbourhood school with suitable support.

Term	Meaning
Segregation	Children with disabilities taught in separate special schools
Integration	Child is placed in regular school but must adapt to it
Inclusion	The school changes to fit the child's needs

Salamanca Statement (1994) by UNESCO gave world support to inclusive education and "schools for all".
IEDC (Integrated Education for Disabled Children, 1974) was an early scheme; IEDSS was for the secondary stage. Inclusive education is now part of Samagra Shiksha.
Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 replaced the 1995 Act, recognises 21 types of disability and requires inclusive education. The RPwD Act also reserves seats in higher education for persons with benchmark disability.
RTE Act includes children with disability; the 2012 amendment treats them as "children belonging to disadvantaged groups" and makes room for home-based education for severe disability.
Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI), 1992 trains and registers special educators.
Classroom strategies: differentiated instruction, Universal Design for Learning, peer tutoring, resource room, assistive devices, adapted tests, ramps and barrier-free access, and remedial support.
Gifted children, slow learners, children from marginalised groups, and children with language difficulty are also part of inclusion, not only disability.
Attitude: inclusive education begins with the teacher's belief that every child can learn.

LPG and education

LPG stands for Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation, the economic reforms started in India in 1991.

Liberalisation: reduces government controls and licences.
Privatisation: more private participation in schools and colleges, and in services.
Globalisation: free flow of goods, capital, services, ideas and people across the world; the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) include education as a tradable service.

Positive effects	Negative effects
More schools and colleges, more choice	Rising fees and commercialisation
Use of ICT and global knowledge	Gap between rich and poor schools
Skill-based and job-oriented courses	Neglect of values, humanities and local languages
Exchange of students and teachers; foreign collaborations	Brain drain and loss of cultural identity
Competition raises standards in some places	Pressure of marks and coaching culture

The teacher's role is to help children use the benefits (skills, technology, English and other languages) while protecting equity, values and local culture.

Current trends in education

NEP 2020 (released in July 2020) replaces the 1986 policy (as revised in 1992). Key points: a 5+3+3+4 structure in place of 10+2; foundational stage from age 3; mother tongue or home language as the medium at least up to Grade 5 and preferably up to Grade 8; no rigid separation of arts, science and commerce; flexible, competency-based assessment; the Ministry of Human Resource Development renamed Ministry of Education; Higher Education Commission of India as a single regulator; multidisciplinary universities; and an aim of high enrolment in school and higher education.
NIPUN Bharat Mission (2021) gives priority to foundational literacy and numeracy by Grade 3.
Digital learning: DIKSHA, SWAYAM, PM eVidya, and the use of tablets and smartboards in classrooms.
Competency-based education, holistic report cards, and multiple assessment instead of rote learning.
Vocational education from the middle stage and internships.
PARAKH is a national assessment centre under NEP 2020; APAAR is an academic ID for students.
Other trends: artificial intelligence in learning, blended learning, lifelong learning, learning with joy (play-based and activity-based approaches), bag-less days and focus on mental health.
Challenges: digital divide, teacher preparation, language issues and uneven quality. In AP, schemes for school infrastructure, language labs and digital classrooms have been introduced by successive governments; the names change, so check the latest official list.

Exam traps

1. WHO's ten life skills include empathy and coping with stress; they do not include "leadership" or "memory".
2. Hall: storm and stress; Erikson: identity versus role confusion; do not mix them.
3. Integration means the child adapts; inclusion means the school adapts.
4. RPwD Act 2016 lists 21 disabilities; the earlier 1995 Act listed fewer.
5. Salamanca Statement is 1994; the Delors Report is 1996.
6. LPG here means economic reforms of 1991, not cooking gas.
7. NEP 2020 gives 5+3+3+4; the older pattern was 10+2.
8. Khelo India is about sports; Fit India is about fitness for all; RBSK is about health screening.

One-liners

1. WHO has described ten core life skills.
2. Adolescence is the age of about 10 to 19 years.
3. Stanley Hall called adolescence a period of storm and stress.
4. Kohlberg's theory has three levels and six stages of moral development.
5. The Salamanca Statement supports inclusive education.
6. RPwD Act 2016 recognises 21 disabilities.
7. RCI was set up under an Act of 1992.
8. LPG reforms in India began in 1991.
9. NEP 2020 introduced the 5+3+3+4 structure.
10. NIPUN Bharat targets foundational literacy and numeracy.
11. International Yoga Day is 21 June.
12. RBSK screens children from birth to 18 years.

Practice questions

How many core life skills were listed by the WHO?
1. Five
2. Seven
3. Twelve
4. Ten
Answer
D. Ten
WHO listed ten core life skills in five pairs.
Which pair is part of the WHO core life skills?
1. Wealth and fame
2. Empathy and self-awareness
3. Memory and speed
4. Leadership and obedience
Answer
B. Empathy and self-awareness
Empathy and self-awareness form one of the five pairs.
Understanding another person's feelings and viewpoint is
1. assertion
2. self-awareness
3. stress
4. empathy
Answer
D. empathy
Empathy is putting oneself in another's place.
Recognising one's strengths, weaknesses and feelings is
1. self-awareness
2. problem solving
3. empathy
4. peer pressure
Answer
A. self-awareness
This is the life skill of self-awareness.
The best method to teach life skills is
1. memorising definitions
2. role play and group discussion
3. dictation
4. copying notes
Answer
B. role play and group discussion
Life skills need participatory methods.
According to WHO, adolescence covers the age group of
1. 14 to 25 years
2. 20 to 30 years
3. 10 to 19 years
4. 5 to 10 years
Answer
C. 10 to 19 years
WHO defines adolescence as 10-19 years.
Who described adolescence as a period of 'storm and stress'?
1. Piaget
2. Erikson
3. Kohlberg
4. G. Stanley Hall
Answer
D. G. Stanley Hall
Hall used the term storm and stress.
Erikson's crisis for the adolescent stage is
1. identity versus role confusion
2. initiative versus guilt
3. industry versus inferiority
4. trust versus mistrust
Answer
A. identity versus role confusion
Adolescents search for who they are.
Abstract and hypothetical thinking begins in the stage called
1. pre-operational
2. concrete operational
3. formal operational
4. sensorimotor
Answer
C. formal operational
Piaget's formal operational stage starts around adolescence.
A teacher notices a Class 9 student is anxious and withdrawn. The best first step is to
1. punish the student for silence
2. listen to the student privately and refer to a counsellor if needed
3. announce it before the class
4. ignore it until exams end
Answer
B. listen to the student privately and refer to a counsellor if needed
A supportive, private approach is recommended.
The Adolescence Education Programme gives information about
1. sports rules
2. tax and banking
3. computer languages
4. growing up, reproductive health and life skills
Answer
D. growing up, reproductive health and life skills
AEP is a school programme for adolescents.
Kohlberg's theory of moral development has
1. four levels and eight stages
2. five levels and ten stages
3. two levels and four stages
4. three levels and six stages
Answer
D. three levels and six stages
Pre-conventional, conventional and post-conventional levels.
Piaget's two stages of moral development are
1. heteronomous and autonomous morality
2. trust and mistrust
3. pre-conventional and conventional
4. sensory and motor
Answer
A. heteronomous and autonomous morality
Piaget described moral realism and moral relativism.
Which is the strongest method of building values in children?
1. Copying slogans
2. Teacher as a role model
3. Long lectures on morals
4. Threat of punishment
Answer
B. Teacher as a role model
Children imitate what teachers practise.
The Fundamental Duties of citizens are given in Article
1. 45
2. 32
3. 51A
4. 21A
Answer
C. 51A
Article 51A lists Fundamental Duties and is a base for value education.
The four pillars of education in the Delors Report include
1. learning to earn
2. learning to live together
3. learning to compete
4. learning to obey
Answer
B. learning to live together
The four pillars are to know, to do, to live together and to be.
RBSK screens children from birth to
1. 6 years
2. 10 years
3. 25 years
4. 18 years
Answer
D. 18 years
Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram screens for 4 Ds: defects, diseases, deficiencies, developmental delays.
Weekly Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation is meant to prevent
1. anaemia
2. rickets
3. goitre
4. night blindness
Answer
A. anaemia
It targets anaemia in adolescents.
The Fit India Movement was launched in
1. 1986
2. 2022
3. 2019
4. 2005
Answer
C. 2019
Fit India started in 2019; Khelo India in 2018.
International Yoga Day is observed on
1. 2 October
2. 21 June
3. 5 June
4. 21 March
Answer
B. 21 June
It is celebrated every year on 21 June.
The World Health Organization defines health as
1. complete physical, mental and social well-being
2. absence of disease only
3. good appetite
4. ability to run fast
Answer
A. complete physical, mental and social well-being
WHO's definition covers physical, mental and social aspects.
The Salamanca Statement of 1994 supports
1. adult education
2. inclusive education
3. vocational schools only
4. private tuition
Answer
B. inclusive education
It promotes 'schools for all'.
In inclusive education the
1. child must adapt to the school
2. child is sent to a separate school
3. school adapts to meet the needs of every child
4. child is held back
Answer
C. school adapts to meet the needs of every child
This differs from integration, where the child adapts.
Placing a child with disability in a regular school without changing the school is
1. inclusion
2. segregation
3. exclusion
4. integration
Answer
D. integration
Integration needs the child to adapt.
Teaching children with disabilities in separate special schools is
1. integration
2. inclusion
3. mainstreaming
4. segregation
Answer
D. segregation
Segregation means separate institutions.
The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 recognises how many types of disability?
1. 21
2. 7
3. 14
4. 30
Answer
A. 21
The 2016 Act replaced the 1995 Act and lists 21 types.
The Rehabilitation Council of India was set up under an Act of
1. 1975
2. 2009
3. 1992
4. 1950
Answer
C. 1992
RCI trains and registers special educators.
Which scheme was an early centrally sponsored scheme for disabled children in regular schools?
1. NMMSS
2. PM POSHAN
3. IEDC
4. RAA
Answer
C. IEDC
Integrated Education for Disabled Children began in 1974.
A teacher uses large print, ramps and extra time for a student with low vision. This is
1. tracking
2. differentiated, inclusive practice
3. punishment
4. segregation
Answer
B. differentiated, inclusive practice
These are adaptations in a regular class.
LPG in the context of Indian economic reforms stands for
1. Literacy, Planning, Growth
2. Law, Policy, Governance
3. Labour, Production, Gain
4. Liberalisation, Privatisation, Globalisation
Answer
D. Liberalisation, Privatisation, Globalisation
The reforms began in 1991.
Economic reforms of LPG began in India in
1. 1991
2. 1947
3. 2005
4. 1965
Answer
A. 1991
The 1991 reforms opened the economy.
Education is treated as a tradable service under
1. SAARC treaty
2. UNICEF charter
3. GATS of the WTO
4. Kyoto protocol
Answer
C. GATS of the WTO
The General Agreement on Trade in Services covers education services.
Which is a negative effect of privatisation of education?
1. More use of ICT
2. Rising fees and commercialisation
3. Exchange of ideas
4. More skill courses
Answer
B. Rising fees and commercialisation
Commercialisation widens gaps.
NEP 2020 replaced the 10+2 structure with
1. 5+3+3+4
2. 8+4
3. 6+3+3
4. 10+3+3
Answer
A. 5+3+3+4
NEP 2020 introduced the 5+3+3+4 structure.
NEP 2020 prefers the medium of instruction up to at least Grade 5 to be
1. English only
2. Sanskrit only
3. the home language or mother tongue
4. any foreign language
Answer
C. the home language or mother tongue
Learning in the mother tongue is the policy aim.
NIPUN Bharat Mission focuses on
1. sports training
2. college admissions
3. teacher transfers
4. foundational literacy and numeracy
Answer
D. foundational literacy and numeracy
It aims at foundational learning by Grade 3.
PARAKH under NEP 2020 is a
1. hostel programme
2. sports award
3. girls' scheme
4. national assessment centre
Answer
D. national assessment centre
PARAKH deals with assessment and evaluation.
Khelo India was launched in
1. 2011
2. 2018
3. 2005
4. 2023
Answer
B. 2018
It promotes a sports culture.
Which life skill helps a student handle examination anxiety?
1. Coping with stress
2. Interpersonal relationship
3. Creative thinking
4. Empathy
Answer
A. Coping with stress
Coping with stress helps manage pressure and anxiety.
Consider the statements: 1. Inclusion means the child must adapt to the school. 2. Integration means the school changes for the child. Which is/are correct?
1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2
Answer
D. Neither 1 nor 2
The definitions are reversed.
Consider the statements: 1. WHO lists coping with stress as a life skill. 2. WHO lists critical thinking as a life skill. Which is/are correct?
1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2
Answer
C. Both 1 and 2
Both are among the ten core life skills.
Consider the statements: 1. Stanley Hall called adolescence a time of storm and stress. 2. Erikson's adolescent crisis is trust versus mistrust. Which is/are correct?
1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2
Answer
A. 1 only
Erikson's adolescent crisis is identity versus role confusion.
Consider the statements: 1. NEP 2020 proposes a 5+3+3+4 school structure. 2. LPG reforms were introduced in 2020. Which is/are correct?
1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2
Answer
A. 1 only
LPG reforms began in 1991.
Consider the statements: 1. Kohlberg proposed six stages of moral development. 2. Physical education includes games, yoga and athletics. Which is/are correct?
1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2
Answer
C. Both 1 and 2
Both are correct.

Page 1 of 1

Finished reading?

Test yourself in 10 minutes

A free 10-question mini-mock on your exam's real pattern, with negative marking and an instant score. अपनी तैयारी 10 मिनट में जाँचें।

Take a free mini-mock →Topic-wise practice