Education of the heart

Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all…. (Aristotle)

This approach to education is being neglected today. As we see that the main objective of the education now a days is just making children learn and remember the sallybus of text books. Education, right now, is like a race. It has been confined to grades and scores. One who has excellent score and greater degrees, is considered intelligent. The purpose of education today is somewhat different than true education.

The definition of education is to make a person learn the lesson, norms and values in such a way that they become a part of his life. The purpose of the education is to make a person learn the difference between right and wrong. A human with a pure heart will never ever try to hurt anyone or involve in wrong doings. Because he knows the true meaning of education. He will never allow himself to go against his teachings.

Educational institutions should pay more attention towards the moral education and upbringing of kids. The technology is taking over day by day which is a blessing but don’t forget that it has a dark side too. To stay away from that dark side, it is extremely important to educate the hearts. Teach the hearts not to accept evil. Make your children sharp at minds but pure at hearts.

Education means inspiring someone’s mind, not just filling their head. (Katie Lusk)

Pakistan Scholarships 2019-2020

  

By this time of the year, students are looking for scholarships. This article is about foreign scholarships for academically excellent students. These merit based scholarships are excellent opportunities for students who are looking forward to outstanding educational career.Do as much research as you can and earn more and more about schoarships.You come to know about scholarship that exacty fits your criteria.You must be very careful while choosing because you have many options.The best thing is research about that university,country and culture. Develope a check list and if it fits in your agenda then you are good to go.
For your ease we have provised a list of foreign universities offering a number of scholarships.

Higher Education Commission of Pakistan Hungary Scholarships for Pakistani Students, 2019-20

Western Sydney International Bursary for Undergraduate or Postgraduate Courses in Australia, 2019

SCUT Chinese Government Scholarship for Chinese University Program and Silk Road Program, 2019

Full VUB B-PHOT Excellence Master Scholarships for International Students in Belgium, 2019

Fully Funded Shaanxi Normal University International Student Scholarship Program in China, 2019-20

Full Tuition Islamic Development Bank Scholarship (IsDB) Programme in Saudi Arabia, 2019-2020

ECNU Full and Partial Confucius Institute Scholarship for Non-Chinese Students in China, 2019

What are you waiting for? This is the perfect opportunity for you to grasp and gain maximum out of it.

Women's Education

Today more girls than ever go to school. However, despite progress, women and girls continue to face multiple barriers based on gender and its intersections with other factors, such as age, ethnicity, poverty, and disability, in the equal enjoyment of the right to quality education. This includes barriers, at all levels, to access quality education and within education systems, institutions, and classrooms, such as:

• Harmful gender stereotypes

• Poverty

• Child marriage

• Inadequate and unsafe education infrastructure

• Gender based violence against women and girls

Gender stereotyping is one of the most harmful and problematic  barriers women have to face and overcome when it comes to education even in today’s day and age, In some cases, the education system, and particularly the curriculum, textbooks and teachers play a role in keeping alive harmful gender stereotypes, which has wide ranging and long lasting effects on girls throughout their lives from the course options and subjects they take, which influences their employment prospects, to their ability to make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health.

A child learns from home, school and the environment. Hence, an educated mother has a great responsibility to educate her child properly. This is much more so in a developing nation like Pakistan

Education has no age limits

Education and learning has no age limit. This is not just a saying. This is in fact a motivation to challenge yourself. Before going into details, the very first thing that one human being should realize and keep in mind is that you are never too old to learn. Wherever you live, whatever age group to lie in, you should always be ready to learn. There is no shame in learning and educating yourself.

The importance of education in today’s world cannot be ignored. To survive in today’s world meaningfully is a bit impossible without attaining education. In Pakistan we have several barriers that deprive individuals from attaining education. Gender discrimination, poverty, lack of proper institutes and terrorism are among the main hindrances. But, despite the fact, the situation does not remain same all the time. It does change after a certain time. But it might get too late for individual to avail the opportunities which he could have done before. Age is one of those factors which makes human realize that he is now too late to get education.

My dear fellows, let me correct you here. Age is a state of mind. Age is just a number. It should never stop you from fulfilling your dreams. Whenever in your life you get an opportunity to learn something please do avail it because it is no less than a blessing. Knowledge always has a beginning but no end. One can never get enough of knowledge and education, so he must keep on learning at every stage of life.

Studying Abroad; An opportunity to get exposure

Stand out from the crowd! This is one of the most common sentences which one student comes across during his college or university life. The market is more than full of people like you, who are in search of job or are willing to start a new business .But market out there, is in search of people who are somewhat different from ordinary people, something more than usual qualified students. That something, which is missing, might be the exposure or it can be the experience which one gains in order to be highlighted.

Now the question is, How to stand out from the crowd? Well one of the relevant answers to this question is “gaining exposure by studying abroad”. Getting education abroad from a reputable institute makes you unique and adaptive to multicultural settings. You get to learn values, cultures, ethics and principles from that environment which ultimately broadens your thoughts .It diversifies your level of understanding and transforms the way you look at things. When you get a degree from foreign institution and mention it on your resume, you somehow become more attractive to employers. Corporate world looks upon you as a polished, competitive and an energetic savant ready to take over the market.

  

Coming to the hitch,

 “How can I study abroad when I don’t have enough resources”?

Well people say that it is not as simple as it seems, but I say that it is not as difficult as people say. It merely depends upon how intelligently you grasp and avail an opportunity. Undoubtedly this world is full of opportunities and we have thousands of opportunities in front of us every day but we are unable to see them. There are countless number of scholarships out there which most of the students are not aware of .It requires some research or maybe some discussion with authentic focal person.  All we need is to change our vision. If you believe opportunities are not straight in front of you, then turning upside down is not a bad option. Just start looking at the things other way round. If you are ready to do so, Congratulations! You already stand out from the crowd.

Blended Education

Blended learning, as the name indicates is a blend of learning styles. It involves classroom and online learning which diversifies the education system. This is done in order to create a hybrid teaching method by combining traditional classroom methods with e-learning. Blended education is a mixture of components like classroom activities facilitated by the instructor, online learning material (prerecorded lectures, visuals and other course related online stuff) and independent study time supported by guidance through study material provided in class.

The main purpose of this type of learning is to bring revolution in education system. It gives us opportunity to make learning better by bringing in new technologies. Students now, do not have to rely upon the traditional classroom learning. It increases flexibility as you can access your study material anytime, anywhere. It provides you access to global data related to your course that can be beneficial for you. You can save a lot of money that you spend on buying books, copying notes and printing stuff. Everything is available online which you can read, download and even edit. Thus blended learning has made our life easier by making the education system more effective and efficient.

One of the greatest benefit for some students is tracking progress online by tutors. I have mentioned the word “some students”, you might be thinking why not all students? So the reason is that there are some free riders in each group, who are on the mercy of other group members. So this is something that may disturb those kind of people because progress of each group member is tracked on online portals and is being viewed by the instructor. Thanks to e-learning system for creating the environment of equality.

Environmental Education

We have been talking about different types of education and their significance in previous articles, but today we will talk about environmental education. Environmental education basically makes you familiar with current situation and issues of the environment. It provides you with the information to take action and improve the environmental condition as much as possible.

We come across the news in our televisions and social media about how our environmental conditions are changing day by day. The environmental education in today’s world is extremely necessary because human actions are destroying the nature day by day without even realizing. It has now become very important to teach people how to make the environment better. For this we have to stop a lot of actions that we usually do without thinking about the consequences. The depletion of ozone layer, noise, air and water pollution, smog etc. are different results of human activities that are destroying nature and environment day by day. This needs to be stopped because by doing this we are just creating a hazardous world for our future generations.

The point to ponder upon is, How to save nature and environment? This is not easy, as we know that we have done drastic destructions to environment .There is always supposed to be a solution for every problem, so will be for this too. Little actions can contribute towards change in existing condition. Educate your children to keep this environment clean. Teach them to plant trees, dispose trash properly, recycle and reuse the products .These little deeds can make a lot of difference.

Value Education begins at home

“A child’s first teacher is its mother” (Peng liyuan).

This is a renowned quote, which everyone is well aware of. Mother is said to be an institution for kids that is responsible for providing the basic education to the children. The child’s ability to learn, perceive and understand a particular phenomenon, starts from home. From day one, when child comes into this world, he starts learning and adapting things from his environment. He is just like a green, fresh and flexible stem and you shape him the way you want. It now depends upon the parents and most importantly the mother with whom he spends most of his time, that how they shape their child. Beside the academic education, the necessary does and don’ts of life are taught to the children by their parents.

The system for value education is established by parent, grandparents and elders at home. The role of this education is to make children aware of sincerity, discipline, manners, respect of elders, sense of responsibility, punctuality and traditional values. It does not include imposing your thoughts and orders on children because this has never been an effective way of teaching something. The best way of teaching your children is the practical demonstration of what you want your children to learn. It is said that children close their ears to advice and open their eyes to examples. So the parents have to teach children not only by preaching but also by practicing.

Education at home is necessary because it is the first step that shapes the future of children. A person’s habits are a reflection of values passed onto him by his parents. People judge others level of discipline and manners through their activities. So in order to make children better human beings and citizen, parents must play their role in building up good habits and educating them the right values.

Parental Participation in education

Besides getting the children admitted in well reputable schools, parents do have another important role that is their active participation in the academic activities of their children. No surprise, some parents may arise questions like “Why do we have to put effort if we pay for the same thing at school? But according to my opinion parental participation is the only way to get maximum profit out of what you spend on your children’s education.

Parental participation in education proves to be very beneficial as parents are involved in day to day tasks of kids. They have a knowhow of weaknesses of their children and the areas where they need improvement. Parental involvement provides support to the children when they face any difficulties and hurdles in education. This helps to make children know the importance of education and to help them understand the sense and meaning of what they are learning. Parents who show interest in helping out their kids with homework, are aware of the interests that their children have and can guide them regarding their future and career decisions more wisely.

Schools should ensure active participation of parents in academic activities. Frequent parent-teacher meetings should be arranged to make sure that parents are fully aware of performance of their children. Research says that teachers believe that parental involvement in education results in better performance of children at school. Children become more responsible and focused in their studies when they are aware of the fact that their performance is being monitored by their parents. Parents must take time out of their busy schedule for their children, because they are the most valuable assets of their lives.

Pressure of Education is ruining Children

Education, no doubt is the most powerful instrument that designs the future of children in best possible way. It gives them confidence to flourish in every walk of life. But have you ever noticed that sometimes education becomes a pressure for the child due to which he loses his confidence in himself and ultimately fails to perform the way he or his parents and teachers want. As far as I have witnessed there are two major reasons for failure of students. Firstly burden of education and secondly pressure from the parents.

If we talk about the academic pressure that the children face, I feel that children are being overburdened. The education system is getting tougher day by day which in one sense is a good thing because you have to compete up with rest of the world but at the same time it is getting difficult for children. Facing a tough time to get good grades and to participate actively in extracurricular activities as well creates problems for students .It may also result in mental sickness, stress and anxiety.

The second pressure, which I guess is the biggest one is “comparison with other children’ Almost every child faces this situation when his parents start comparing him with children of same age group, class and mostly with the relatives. According to the parents, this is to make children realize that how other children with same resources and capabilities are doing better than them. This is probably the worst thing you can do to kill the confidence of your child. By doing this you are just making him believe that he will never be able to perform well because he is not smart enough. Using another technique which is called ‘’Appreciation’’ might be helpful. Children will start believing in themselves, they will try their best to meet your expectations, not because that it will make you happy but it will make them happy as well. Stop degrading children and start appreciating them, for who they are and what they can be.

Education is not a Business!

Education is the most pious profession all over the world. For humans of entire world it holds special respect and massive importance because without education our existence is a question mark. But today shamefully education itself has become a question mark. Now a days it is difficult to decide whether education is a profession or a business.

Drawing your kind attention towards The Private Education system!

 Well, we are not going to mention any specific name here because there are a lot many and you all are well aware of that. For such institutes if we look at the relationship of fee they charge versus education they deliver, no surprise it would definitely be a inverse relation. The standard of education has shifted from meaningful and productive learning to easy and massive earning.

Not only institutions but parents are equally responsible for this .For us, the standard of education has been confined to fluent English language.  The core values, the learnings, and the true sense of education are no more meaningful. We have lost our standards somewhere while running after comparisons with other cultures .We feel pride in adopting the foreign culture and shame in owning our tradition. If you are not able to speak Urdu properly that is considered COOL, but you are bad at English pronunciation, oh don’t you even dare! Such institutions charge the desired fee which is not affordable by everyone. Their primary purpose is to earn money while they don’t care for the teachings and values they are passing onto the children. Education seems to be converting into revenue generating business more than a teaching profession.

Role of rural education in national developement

Education, no doubt holds equal significance for every community of a nation but today we will emphasize upon the condition of education in rural sector. Rural sector generally lags behind the urban community in terms of facilities, technology, health, recreation, entertainment and sadly education too. If we go deep down into the matter we will somehow be able to understand that this dawdling education system might be the reason.

All of us might have visited villages, seen the educational institutions, if not visited would at least have heard about the condition of schools and colleges in rural areas. I feel very downhearted to state that this poor education system is one big hindrance in development of our nation. First of all there are a very few educational institutions whether government or private and those institutions are miserable. They do not have well trained faculty and no proper agenda to work upon. The children when not provided with basic education will never have any motive to get higher education or even strive for it.

Government needs to improve the education system in rural areas by keeping a strict check and balance on the institutions. If the literacy rate in rural area goes up, it definitely will have a very positive effect on economy. More educated people in backward areas will try their best to bring some change for betterment of their own people and area. That includes the utilization of natural resources available in rural areas to earn decent income on national as international level as well. They will work upon infrastructure, small businesses, health and educational facilities and will try to find out and fill the gaps which in long run will improve the overall economy of country. If it does not impact people on large scale, it would at least change their way of thinking. It can ultimately be a first step towards awareness and change.

Special Education

The universe we live in, is an emblem of versatility, so are the creatures existing within its boundaries. God has created each and every individual unique and different in terms of appearance, characteristics and abilities. The fact being that not all human beings are alike, some are slightly different in terms of abilities which are regarded as disabilities. But I think using the term “differently abled’’ instead of disabled would be more appropriate. For such individuals special institutions with special education are available which play their part in educating such individuals as much as possible.

Special education is designed in a way to ensure that special people are provided with the environment that helps them to get education, learn skills and grow effectively in society.

Under IDEA, fallowing are the categories under which students are considered eligible to get education according to law;

1.  Autism
2.  Emotional disturbance
3. Hearing impairments
4. Deafness
5. Deaf-Blindness
6.  Intellectual disability
7. Specific learning disability
8. Traumatic brain injury
9. Orthopedic impairment
10. Speech or language impairment
11.  Multiple disabilities
12. Health impairments
13.  Visual impairments

Special education is basically helpful in improving or eliminating the problems that cause hindrance in education of disabled people. This education helps to prevent any problem that might become a disability in future. Special education institutions are designed in such a way that they remove the effects of disabilities and teach the skills that allow individuals to function successfully. Improving functioning and learning through aid of devices is also included in this.

Parents have the most effective part in this situation as they must be aware of disabilities of their children. They can either leave their children the way they or can contribute to make them better human beings. They must know and avail the opportunities through which they can provide education or any kind of skill to their children which in turn will be help them to become better individuals and perform in a better way.