Game of Words: View vs. Counter View 1.41

SHOULD CBSE BOARD CONTINUE WITH ITS MODERATION POLICY?

Moderation has been acting as a prominent role in provision of marks during the last couple of years due to which the grades of students were seen soaring high up. The idea took a new turn in the present year when the policy was scrapped and was re- introduced creating a lot of confusion about the same. The policy created a flurry all over social media and among students who were anxiously awaiting their board exam result.

VIEW

 - By Keerthi PS

Moderating marks during exams has its own advantage and disadvantage. Moderation at an individual level is considered essential so that all students pass the exam and are entitled to take up further studies. It ensures that no one is under a disadvantage of scoring bad marks or failing which can risk their future. Everyone is ensured an opportunity.

Also with the cut -offs of universities soaring up high every year, in order to make it to a decent college, it is essential that students score above the cut- offs.

But with difficult question papers focussing more on application based content than pure theory , students often find it tough to meet up to the level of expectation . Therefore, such activities can boost the confidence of students and can motivate them.

Moderation policy also calms you down during examinations avoiding unnecessary worries causing excess stress and breakdown, thinking about your future and at the same time it does not make things seem very casual as well and places importance of scoring well by studying hard.

Therefore, I would like to conclude by saying that scoring well in an examination depends completely on your hard work whereas moderation just acts as an additional incentive to boost up the results.

COUNTERVIEW:

    - By Navya R

Quality education is one of the biggest challenges and if we don’t attend to it now, we will have to deal with the damage in future.

While the idea was to maintain parity in the pass percentage across years, the practice has been misused to artificially inflate board marks. If the policy is not scrapped, the CBSE results could witness an increase in student performance.

The number of students scoring 90-95 percent is expected to increase. If CBSE decides to follow the moderation policy, then students from the state boards will suffer in undergraduate admissions as they will not meet the cut offs.

The policy is unjust to the truly distinguished students but it can hurt more average students as well, by giving them false sense of academic worth. The students daydreams of college admission or performance are shattered that can be traumatic.  Artificially spiked marks can also make students opt for courses for which they have no aptitude.

Meanwhile the deluge of 90-plus scores makes it difficult to judge students, and hurts the truly deserving ones.

Grade inflation, like regular inflation is, when the same marks are worth less because more people are given. It is problematic because the maximum marks you can achieve is capped at 100.

Thus I would conclude by saying that the CBSE Moderation Policy will have a negative impact on the students.

Game of Words: View vs. Counter View 1.40

SINGLE PARENTS AND ADOPTION

VIEW:  RICHITA KUDLAMATH

Love, affection, care, understanding, discipline are all attributes that describe a parent, apart from the fact that they can ground you. Well… parents will be parents. The question here is should single parents be allowed to adopt. I think that they should be allowed to adopt. They all are very capable of giving love and showing love to children. I think a parent should just be of a mature age. They should have the willingness to show the kids the right way in life.

The concerns that stop us from making single’s a parent, is usually the fact that they won’t be able to give the fathers love or a mother’s love and maybe their single income won’t be able to suffice the needs of a child and the adult.  But that’s a completely wrong notion, an example of a single parent adopting a child, In India is one of Aditya who adopted Binny and named him Avnish.  

Avnish was a child who was affected by Down syndrome and had a hole in his heart and his vision was also affected because of this. In India, the legal age to adopt a child is 30 years and the person had to be married as well, but Aditya was only 27 and he was not married. He was in fact the youngest male to adopt a child in India. The story of Aditya and Avnish is such a soul touching heart wrenching story, it’s a pure story of love and determination. He’s an example of how money or other material things don’t determine the love and affection that single parents can give. Although he was just a middle-class software engineer, he still managed to pay for Avnish’s medical treatments,that is what a parent is, a person who goes beyond expectations and beyond ever circumstance to provide for their son or daughter. Also, now, because of this the new adoption guidelines were being discussed in Parliament to be implemented in the Juvenile Justice Act. Aditya wrote a letter to the honourable Speaker of Lok Sabha, Mrs. Sumitra Mahajan, requesting her to pass the Bill, which had a clause in which the age limit of the Prospective Adoptive Parent (PAP) was lowered to 25. The bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on 9th may, 2015, but was pending in the Rajya Sabha. It was eventually passed on the 1st of august. Apart from him, Sushmita Sen, who is an actor in the Bollywood industry is another example of a single parent.

These examples only show that single parents who adopt children run with the same enthusiasm and determination as the other parents. So why should they be judged for wanting to care for someone?

COUNTER VIEW: TRESA ALEX

   I believe that to adopt a child and take the responsibility of an individual who may or may not have gone through trauma, must have the love and support of parents, both the mother and father.  

     A single parent may or may not be able to give her/his all and this would affect the wellbeing of the child as an adopted child needs the extra bit of love and affection which may lack from a single parent. A single parent also needs to be emotionally stable and see to that the child does not feel left out.

     Every child needs a mother and father, as they pick up traits and characteristics from both which help with an overall development of personality and character. It’s also hard for a single parent to commit to a child as he/she may lack the emotional or physical support which one usually requires from their spouse in order to raise a child. It’s the little things that matter and if they lack in these, it can cause a huge problem in the outcome.   

    In conclusion, it is best for a couple to adopt rather than a single individual as this benefits both the parent, and the distressed child.

Game of Words: View vs. Counter View 1.39

IS INDIA READY TO HAVE A CASHLESS ECONOMY?

VIEW: KASHISH JAIN

India is ready to have a cashless currency. Since it is a developing country, people will adopt the changes very quickly. This step will help reduce the illiteracy in India. Cashless currency will be a comfortable and simple way to carry out money transactions.

Demonetization helped individuals to realize the necessity of cashless currency. People had to wait in queues to withdraw money. This caused a lot of discomfort. During this time there were various mobile apps which played a very vital role, without these apps there would be a lot of confusion and chaos.

Various companies are working on the betterment of network services. This will help the apps to work effectively. This in turn will help in carrying out all the transactions efficiently.

If India has a cashless currency, corruption will come to an end and black money will stop flowing out. It would bring transparency in the Indian system.

India is ready to adopt such changes.

A cashless economy will definitely help India to develop at a rapid rate.

COUNTER VIEW: NAVANEETA BARAD

Well, my opinion is that, India is not yet ready to go cashless. It requires time to go cashless. India lacks literacy. There are a number of people who still don't know how to use credit and debit cards and don't have access to the internet. It is not possible for the people to change immediately.

It requires time to make people understand and help them flow according to the situation. India lacks infrastructure, which is a major drawback for it to go cashless. Banking facilities have not yet reached to its interior parts. Thus the government should play a vital role in providing literacy to the people, provide banking facilities and also direct them as to how the  transactions have to be done.

After demonetization, the number of bank accounts has been increased, but there is no guarantee that all these accounts will be used. A cashless system requires a well-built online network to operate effectively and efficiently. As we have seen, there are many drawbacks of a cashless system.

Adding to it, people fear online transactions because they think their accounts may get hacked. There also chances of losing internet connection while a transaction is in progress.

Game of Words: View vs. Counter View 1.38

View v/s Counterview: Usage of cell phones and laptops in class

View-

-Sathvik Srinath

I strongly believe that we should be allowed to use laptops and cell phones in class. Going by the opinion that by virtue of having access to a larger database of information via our devices, we are aided in learning more about what is being taught and presented in class. It acts as a platform where we can clear our doubts and also helps us understand furthermore information related to the concerned topics. Apart from the additional information that it provides us with, we are also able to store information. Now the argument may be that if allowed to use them, most of us wouldn’t pay attention to what the lecturer is trying to get across or even that the whole point of having a lecturer becomes redundant. I disagree, because I don’t think that we doubt the capability of the lecturer or their knowledge so much that we would pull out our phones just to check if they are accurate in what they are saying. In fact, it is an advantage, like all of us, our lecturers too are human and are prone to make an error, be it factual or what not, and if so, students can always check up on it right away and point it out to him/her. This ensures that no one goes home with the wrong idea in their mind and the lecturer rests assured that his mistake has no ramifications. Slowly but surely, schools and colleges are becoming a lot more technology oriented and thus, the usage of cell phones and laptops only aids this revolution.  With this, I would like to conclude by saying that while students might be prone to distraction at times, we cannot avoid that even if we are not allowed to use cell phones/laptops, so it cannot be directly attributed to that.

   

Counterview-

Anush Jain

According to me, the use of all the electric gadgets such as cell phones, laptops should not be permitted in the classroom during lectures because class is a place where one gains knowledge and has more value and importance if it’s passed on directly from a teacher to a student rather than bringing in technology assuming it can create history. Let’s be real, knowledge is only truly earned when shared, discussed and thought about with reference to books. Cell phones should not be permitted or used in a class because they are a great source of distraction and the students generally tend to fall for these temptations and try to dodge the teachers during the class hours and tests. As schools are supposed to be a safe place for all the kids, these educational institutions pledge to make sure that the campus is bully free. Rumors and news spread quicker because the kids have social media at their fingertips, some students may take advantage to cyber bully via cell phones by clicking pictures of other students and later blackmailing them. Cell phones set a wrong tone for learning. It’s almost impossible to completely ban the usage of cell phones, but it’s possible to make the students aware about its pros and cons.

Game of Words: View vs. Counter View 1.37

INSUFFICIENCY OF SUBJECTS IN SCHOOL

                           

VIEW

 - Vikram Garla

In this dynamic word of ours i feel it is important that we are introduced, at a younger age to a variety of diverse subject areas. This is why i am for the topic and i do feel that there is a lack of subject lines in our education system. We all know very well of the 4 usual subjects in an Indian students life for his first ten years of studying Science, Math, Social studies and English. Even though these are important and noble subjects it is not sufficient. In my opinion we require a few more mind broadening and informative subjects. A lack of a creative atmosphere in a students life results in narrow minded students who sometimes fail to see the world in any other way than a black & white perspective of everything. Addition of subjects which provide a basis on topics like Film making, Culinary, Design, Photography and possibly even music could spark an interest in a child that he may never have gotten otherwise. It allows children to introspect on their options and realise their hidden talents before its too late for them to build on them. An important area of education that i’ve always found lacking in our youth is current affairs. Very few schools take that extra effort to make sure that their students are up to date with what is going on around the world. Schools value marks more than learning and that creates a satisfaction with ‘the 4’ usual subjects. These subjects, informative as they may be, do not provide children with a holistic education when they are taught alone. 

                       

COUNTER VIEW

 - Saksham Messey

 In my opinion, there is no insufficiency of subjects in primary school as the science subjects along with two languages are more than enough to build a strong foundation for any child. Math, physics and chemistry form the basis of the world around us. Biology gives us a rather indepth understanding of our bodies and the way they function and this keeps the children aware of how to stay healthy. History and geography keep us well informed about our past and the past of the world we live in and also about our environment on the whole. Lastly, English and the second language offered to us gives us a good sense of comprehension and enables kids to understand the world around them on a societal level. Children at that age are very indecisive and hence offering them a variety of subjects may cause confusion and mayhem in their heads. And most importantly a fair competitive examination for all the children will be near impossible if a wide variety of subjects are offered and this will cause colleges to have their own entrance exams for the pre university courses thereby putting young adolescents under immense and unnecessary pressure. 

Game of Words: View vs. Counter View 1.36

DO INTERNSHIPS TEND TO EXPLOIT YOUNG INTERNS ?

VIEW:

 -  Sejal Lobo

As Young Interns, all we care for is getting exposure and learning more,but at what cost . Internship is a budding trend, nowadays where colleges make it mandatory to have certain hours of work before you appear for an exam. But I believe that we are being exploited because a lot of these firms do not even provide a stipend to these students but sill make them work overtime and sometimes do not even provide basic needs like sick leaves.

Since the certificates that they provide hold such weightage students bear with the situations and anything that they are put through . It is a very debatable topic since we do become more industry oriented and well equipped to face real situations but that doesn’t mean that basic needs of interns are compromised on.

This issue is not addressed because most of us are just grateful that we got an internship and wouldn’t in any circumstance question the authority. This issue should be considered to reduce the burden of students.

COUNTER-VIEW:

- Shivani Bhatia

Internships are highly beneficial to a student, it gives them a workplace experience and prepares them to face the challenges they might experience once they start working full time. The students who have a lot of internship experience are more confident and avoid making initial mistakes in their workplace. Internships give an opportunity to a student to earn and be independent.Internships help a student to make connections in their field, which is important. They can learn a lot from their superiors and fellow colleagues, which will help them sharpen their skills. Students learn hard work and also learn how to balance their workload and personal life. By contributing to the economy, they also become more confident and interested in the future development of the economy. I cannot think of a better way a student can spend his leisure time and also grow at the same time. 

Game of Words: View vs. Counter View 1.35

THE BASHAR AL ASSAD GOVERNMENT

              

VIEW

Hriday Patel

1 BBA ‘D’

Born on September 11, 1965, Bashar Al-Assad had no intention of entering political life, let alone becoming president of Syria. But a tragic death and a calculating father saw to it that he would. Though promising to be a transformational figure that would propel Syria into the 21st century, Al-Assad has instead followed in the footsteps of his father, leading to demands for reform and the launch of a deadly civil war. After this, Bashar al-Assad has been a major cause of mass killings and denial of human rights to his own people.

The above paragraph is the lie that the western media has spread to form a negative mass opinion about the very able and strong headed President of the Syrian Arab Republic, Mr. Bashar al-Assad. I have a few facts to support my argument. Some of them being, when Bashar took the reins of the government, Syria's economy was in terrible shape. Lost were the decades of support from the Soviet Union after its collapse in 1991. A serious recession in the mid-1990s was exacerbated by Syria squandering its oil revenues on its second-rate army. However, by 2001, Syria was showed many of the signs of a modern society—cell phones, satellite television, trendy restaurants and Internet cafes. Bashar al-Assad won Syria’s first multi-candidate democratic election in July 2014. No leader can win such an election if he is not loved and looked up to by his people. Bashar took office when Syria was at its worst, after his father Hafez al-Assad, who had taken Syria from bad to worse. Bashar al-Assad brought a lot of changes in policy and governance which led to the ultimate upliftment of the Syrian economy and nation as a whole.

To sum up, all that I would like to say is, Bashar al-Assad’s story of governance is an accurate example of the lies that are feeding general opinion both by the media and by the “powerful” nations.

                                

COUNTER VIEW

Pranav Suneil Menon

1 BBA ‘D’

Some men are born evil, some achieve evil, and some have evil thrust upon them. Bashar al-Assad of Syria falls into the third category; but from the point of view of his victims, it hardly matters. For them, evil is evil and death is death. The psychological origins of a man’s crimes don’t make them less real or horrible to those who suffer from them.

Bashar al-Assad was considered a younger-generation Arab leader, who would bring change to Syria, a region long filled with aging dictators. He was well-educated, and many believed he would be capable of transforming his father's iron-rule regime into a modern state. Influenced by his western education and urban upbringing, Bashar initially seemed eager to implement a cultural revolution in Syria. He stated early on that democracy was "a tool to a better life," though he added that democracy couldn't be rushed in Syria. In his first year as president, he promised to reform the corruption in the government, and spoke of moving Syria toward the computer technology, internet and cell phones of the 21st century.

Like any type-cast leader, he promised a great deal of improvements and change but unlike other leaders who don’t fulfill their promises, Bashar al-Assad caused even bigger problems over the problems which Syria was already facing. In 2006, Syria expanded its use of travel bans against dissidents, preventing many from entering or leaving the country.

In 2007, the Syrian Parliament passed a law requiring all comments on chat forums to be posted publicly. In 2008, and again in 2011, social media sites such as YouTube and Facebook were blocked.

Human rights groups have reported that political opponents of Bashar al-Assad are routinely tortured, imprisoned and killed so the people of Syria live under a false veil of democracy. In January 2012, the Reuters News Agency reported that more than 5,000 civilians had been killed by the Syrian militia (Shabeeha), and that 1,000 people had been killed by anti-regime forces which was the start of a failed coup. All of these horrendous and graphic violence could have been averted had he been the leader he promised he was.

In August 2013, al-Assad came under fire from leaders around the world, including U.S. president Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron, for using chemical weapons against civilians, but he managed to remain unscathed due to a strong strategic partnership he solidified with Russia and due to this, they came to Syria’s aid.

For the lack of depth, I have mentioned only his well-known discrepancies when it comes to leading his country but if I had to, the list could go on for longer. It is for these reasons which I have mentioned above and many more unnoticed crimes that I strongly believe that the Bashar al-Assad government is a governance style which should never be emulated or implemented anywhere else.