Connecting the dots (Janadas Devan, SunTimes Think, 28/3, p34)
SunTimes carried a commentary by Janadas Devan on the fundamental questionsthat needed to be asked in the quest for a ‘holistic education’. Hecommented that all modern systems of knowledge were the product of intensespecialisation, which produced a tendency of the mind thinking in“hermetically sealed silos, among which there was little or nocommunication”. He noted there was little progress from the past attemptsof solving the problem of integrated education, by basing education onscience or alternatively on the humanities. He suggested adopting apragmatic approach in the quest for holistic education by asking questionswhich would require the coordination of different knowledge to answer andwhy we needed to know them.
I love knowing things. The more bizarre the fact, the more surprising thehistorical event, the more unusual the feeling or thought, the moreavariciously I collect them.
How do spiders make love? Well, there at the centre of her web, sits thefemale of the species, two or three times the size of her male lovers. Themale approaches the centre, drawn by the delicious perfume. At the heightof passion, after the male has deposited all its semen, the giant femaleturns around, and promptly devours the male.
What was James I's official title? Well, in 1616, after the English woncontrol of two spice islands in the Banda Sea, it was announced that JamesI, 'by the grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, isalso now by the mercy of God, King of Poolaway and Poolaroone' - Poolawayand Poolaroone being what the English then called Pulau Ai and Pulau Run,two tiny atolls in what is today Indonesia's Maluku Islands. The Englishfought many wars with the Dutch for control of the atolls, once consideredto be worth more than all of Scotland because of the nutmeg that grew onthem. The English finally renounced control of the islands in 1667, when,in the Treaty of Breda, they exchanged them, most unhappily andreluctantly, for New Amsterdam - which, of course, later became New York!
What is the most truthful thing that's been said about the relationsbetween the sexes? Well, plenty, no doubt, but consider this, a poementitled Bloody Men by Wendy Cope:
'Bloody men are like bloody buses -/ You wait for about a year/ And as soonas one approaches your stop/ Two or three others appear.'You look at them flashing their indicators,/ Offering you a ride./ You'retrying to read the destinations,/ You haven't much time to decide.'If you make a mistake, there is no turning back./ Jump off, and you'llstand there and gaze/ While the cars and the taxis and lorries go by/ Andthe minutes, the hours, the days.'
Science, history, literature - does knowing bits and pieces about these andmany other subjects make me a renaissance man, a polymath?
Well, if the criterion is sheer quantity, I might qualify as a polymath. Mymind is filled with loose intellectual change - pocketfuls of five-centbits of science, 10-cent bits of history and politics, 20-cent bits ofmusic and poetry.
But if the criterion is wisdom - the ability to build bridges amongdisparate fields of knowledge to arrive at an intellectually, emotionallyand spiritually adequate view of life and society - I'm most certainly nota renaissance man. I am, I suppose, capable, on my best days, of evokingthe odd 50-cent bit of insight - and once in a blue moon, perhaps even adollar-coin's worth. But whole bills of wisdom, alas, have always eludedme.
And this is not solely due to my personal inadequacies. All modern systemsof knowledge are the product of intense specialisation. We have noalternative but to specialise in order to acquire an adequate command ofparticular subjects. But the problem is, as necessary as specialisation is,it has produced what the mathematician and philosopher A.N. Whitehead oncereferred to as a 'celibacy of the intellect' - the tendency of the modernmind to exist in a series of hermetically sealed silos, among which thereis little or no communication.
Both scientists and men of letters have been aware since the 19th centuryof the difficulty of connecting the silos. T.H. Huxley, the biologist andeducator, called for a broad-based integrated education, but believedscience should provide the basis of its organisation. Matthew Arnold, thepoet and critic, called for the inclusion of science in education, butargued that only the humanities could provide the basis of integrating allknow-ledge, including science.
This famous argument between Huxley and Arnold 130 years ago was repeated50 years ago when C.P. Snow, a scientist as well as novelist, coined theconcept of the 'two cultures': one, scientific and technical, and theother, literary and traditional. Snow blamed both scientists and literarypeople for the 'gulf of mutual incomprehension' separating them, butsuggested that scientists were on the whole morally superior. They 'havethe future in their bones', he wrote, and were more concerned aboutimproving material life than literary people, who seemed content just tocontemplate human tragedy.
Snow's views inevitably instigated a response - including a famouslyviolent one from literary critic F.R. Leavis, who called Snow 'portentouslyignorant', and another more temperate reaction from another critic LionelTrilling, who suggested a disinterested mind might be able to bridge the'two cultures'.
What is remarkable is how little progress we have made in solving theproblem of integrated education. One can revisit the Huxley-Arnold debateof 130 years ago, or the Snow-Leavis dust-up 80 years later, and get thefeeling that one is reading about current controversies.
The choice, now as before, seems to be between the Huxley-Snow position - aprimarily scientific education, with some loose change from the humanitiesto provide imaginative variety - and the Arnold-Leavis position - aprimarily humanistic education, with some loose change from the sciencesbecause they are unavoidable. But whether the stress is on science or thehumanities, the assumption is that one can adopt a smorgasbord, or dim sum,approach to education: a little of this, a little of that - and hopefully,the combination will add up to a balanced diet. The end result is not somuch the integration of knowledge but a sampling of its variety. The corecurriculum programmes of both Chicago and Harvard universities, despitetheir undoubted intellectual rigour, suffer from this limitation.
Can anything be done? As it so happens, there is one person who intervenedin the Snow-Leavis debate - Aldous Huxley, the grandson of T.H. Huxley andthe grand-nephew of Matthew Arnold, interestingly - who did have a valuablesuggestion: Instead of trying to devise an integrated education fromtheoretical first principles, why not begin with questions which wouldrequire the coordination of different knowledges to answer?
'Who are we? What is the nature of human nature? How should we be relatedto the planet on which we live? How are we to live together satisfactorily?What is the relationship between nature and nurture? If we start with theseproblems..., we can bring together information from a great number of atpresent completely isolated disciplines.'
Such a pragmatic approach might be something we might adopt in our questfor a 'holistic' education - an approach that begins with the questions: Sowhy do you want to know different things? What for?
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Sheik Mohammad Sayed Tantawi - modeate Islm
Egypt's top Muslim cleric dies of heart attack
By SALAH NASRAWI (AP) – 3 days ago
CAIRO — Top Egyptian cleric Sheik Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, whose moderate views angered conservative Muslims, died of a heart attack Wednesday during a visit to Saudi Arabia, the state-owned news agency reported. He was 81.
Tantawi was the grand sheik of Cairo's Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's pre-eminent theological institute. Sunni Islam is the faith's mainstream sect, to which the majority of Egypt's 80 million people adhere.
Tantawi was a moderate scholar and supporter of women's rights whose views made him a frequent target of criticism from fundamentalist Muslims.
Most recently, he infuriated conservatives late last year by barring women from wearing the full face veil known as the niqab at Al-Azhar University. That step was part of the intensifying struggle between the moderate Islam championed by the state and a populace that is turning to a stricter version of the faith.
The Middle East News Agency said Tantawi died Wednesday in Saudi Arabia, where he attended a religious ceremony. Saudi officials said he will be buried in the Baqee cemetery in the Saudi holy city of Medina near the shrine of Prophet Muhammad.
The sheik, who was appointed in March 1996 by President Hosni Mubarak, was a revered figure among many of the world's 1.4 billion Muslims. His rulings carried great influence, particularly in Egypt, although they did not carry the force of law.
His teachings and rulings won him wide acclaim among moderates in the Muslim world, but they were also controversial. Fundamentalist Muslims considered them against Islamic teachings.
He angered radicals by supporting organ transplants, denouncing female circumcision and by ruling that women should be appointed to top government judicial and administrative positions. He also supported interest in commercial banking, unlike many Islamic scholars who condemn the paying of interest on bank deposits.
In January 2000, amid growing public debate on legislation easing divorce procedures for women in Egypt, Tantawi ruled that there is nothing in Islam that bars women from getting a divorce easily.
He told Egypt's male-dominated parliament: "Men are not made of gold and women from silver."
Tantawi, whose moderate views have always rankled hard-liners, has been blasted by critics several times. His meeting in 1997 with Israel's Chief Rabbi Yisrael Lau led to charges he wanted to normalize ties with Israel, something many Egyptians oppose despite their government's 1979 peace treaty with Israel.
In 2008 he came under pressure to resign from politicians and newspapers for shaking the hand of Israeli President Shimon Peres at U.N. headquarters during an interfaith conference.
Tantawi has supported the peace process with Israel, although he also has condoned attacks by Islamic radicals against the Jewish state. In March 1997, he called for a holy war to take back Jerusalem.
The sheik also promoted Christian-Muslim dialogue.
He had a controversial side, in particular his bad temper in dealing with his critics. He sometimes yelled at reporters for questioning him about his controversial ideas.
At one religious gathering, he attacked what he called the "mob mentality" among Arabs and Muslims.
Before being named to the post at Al-Azhar, Tantawi had served as Egypt's official mufti. He is considered close to the government in his religious opinions.
Tantawi received a doctorate in interpretation of the Quran and Sunna, Prophet Muhammad's teachings, from Al-Azhar University in 1966. He was a religious teacher until 1986, when he was appointed mufti.
He is survived by two sons and a daughter.
By SALAH NASRAWI (AP) – 3 days ago
CAIRO — Top Egyptian cleric Sheik Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, whose moderate views angered conservative Muslims, died of a heart attack Wednesday during a visit to Saudi Arabia, the state-owned news agency reported. He was 81.
Tantawi was the grand sheik of Cairo's Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's pre-eminent theological institute. Sunni Islam is the faith's mainstream sect, to which the majority of Egypt's 80 million people adhere.
Tantawi was a moderate scholar and supporter of women's rights whose views made him a frequent target of criticism from fundamentalist Muslims.
Most recently, he infuriated conservatives late last year by barring women from wearing the full face veil known as the niqab at Al-Azhar University. That step was part of the intensifying struggle between the moderate Islam championed by the state and a populace that is turning to a stricter version of the faith.
The Middle East News Agency said Tantawi died Wednesday in Saudi Arabia, where he attended a religious ceremony. Saudi officials said he will be buried in the Baqee cemetery in the Saudi holy city of Medina near the shrine of Prophet Muhammad.
The sheik, who was appointed in March 1996 by President Hosni Mubarak, was a revered figure among many of the world's 1.4 billion Muslims. His rulings carried great influence, particularly in Egypt, although they did not carry the force of law.
His teachings and rulings won him wide acclaim among moderates in the Muslim world, but they were also controversial. Fundamentalist Muslims considered them against Islamic teachings.
He angered radicals by supporting organ transplants, denouncing female circumcision and by ruling that women should be appointed to top government judicial and administrative positions. He also supported interest in commercial banking, unlike many Islamic scholars who condemn the paying of interest on bank deposits.
In January 2000, amid growing public debate on legislation easing divorce procedures for women in Egypt, Tantawi ruled that there is nothing in Islam that bars women from getting a divorce easily.
He told Egypt's male-dominated parliament: "Men are not made of gold and women from silver."
Tantawi, whose moderate views have always rankled hard-liners, has been blasted by critics several times. His meeting in 1997 with Israel's Chief Rabbi Yisrael Lau led to charges he wanted to normalize ties with Israel, something many Egyptians oppose despite their government's 1979 peace treaty with Israel.
In 2008 he came under pressure to resign from politicians and newspapers for shaking the hand of Israeli President Shimon Peres at U.N. headquarters during an interfaith conference.
Tantawi has supported the peace process with Israel, although he also has condoned attacks by Islamic radicals against the Jewish state. In March 1997, he called for a holy war to take back Jerusalem.
The sheik also promoted Christian-Muslim dialogue.
He had a controversial side, in particular his bad temper in dealing with his critics. He sometimes yelled at reporters for questioning him about his controversial ideas.
At one religious gathering, he attacked what he called the "mob mentality" among Arabs and Muslims.
Before being named to the post at Al-Azhar, Tantawi had served as Egypt's official mufti. He is considered close to the government in his religious opinions.
Tantawi received a doctorate in interpretation of the Quran and Sunna, Prophet Muhammad's teachings, from Al-Azhar University in 1966. He was a religious teacher until 1986, when he was appointed mufti.
He is survived by two sons and a daughter.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
LONDON (AFP) - Former Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan said human nature made another global financial crisis inevitable
LONDON (AFP) - - Former Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan said human nature made another global financial crisis inevitable, in an interview with BBC television on Wednesday.
;
"They (financial crises) are all different, but they have one fundamental source," Greenspan said.
"That is the unquenchable capability of human beings when confronted with long periods of prosperity to presume that it will continue."
The belief that markets would continue to rise led people "to take speculative excesses with the consequences that have dotted the history of the globe basically since the beginning of the 18th or 19th century."
He added: "No two crises have anything in common except human nature."
Speaking as the global economy is showing signs of recovery a year after the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers, Greenspan predicted the world would also "get through" the next crisis.
He said that while the current crisis was triggered by the trade in US sub-prime mortgages, any factor could have been the catalyst.
If it were not the problem of these toxic debts caused by people's failure to repay the loans that were granted to homebuyers with bad credit histories, "something sooner or later would have emerged," Greenspan said.
He added that the world's financial institutions should have seen the looming crisis.
"The bankers knew that they were involved in an under-pricing of risk and that at some point a correction would be made," Greenspan said.
"I fear too many of them thought they would be able to spot the actual trigger point of the crisis in time to get out."
Greenspan has been blamed by some for failing to do more to prevent the crisis, but he denied any responsibility for the problems gripping the economy.
"It's human nature, unless somebody can find a way to change human nature, we will have more crises and none of them will look like this because no two crises have anything in common, except human nature," he told the BBC.
To avoid a repeat of the situation, financiers and governments should look to clamp down on fraud and force banks to hold more capital to cushion themselves against financial shocks, the former central bank chief said.
But he urged governments to steer clear of protectionism because applying strict regulations could hamper global trade.
"The most recent endeavour to re-regulate is a reaction to the crisis. The extraordinary impact of these global markets is making a lot of financial people feeling they have lost control.
"The problem is you cannot have free global trade with highly restrictive, regulated domestic markets."
;
"They (financial crises) are all different, but they have one fundamental source," Greenspan said.
"That is the unquenchable capability of human beings when confronted with long periods of prosperity to presume that it will continue."
The belief that markets would continue to rise led people "to take speculative excesses with the consequences that have dotted the history of the globe basically since the beginning of the 18th or 19th century."
He added: "No two crises have anything in common except human nature."
Speaking as the global economy is showing signs of recovery a year after the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers, Greenspan predicted the world would also "get through" the next crisis.
He said that while the current crisis was triggered by the trade in US sub-prime mortgages, any factor could have been the catalyst.
If it were not the problem of these toxic debts caused by people's failure to repay the loans that were granted to homebuyers with bad credit histories, "something sooner or later would have emerged," Greenspan said.
He added that the world's financial institutions should have seen the looming crisis.
"The bankers knew that they were involved in an under-pricing of risk and that at some point a correction would be made," Greenspan said.
"I fear too many of them thought they would be able to spot the actual trigger point of the crisis in time to get out."
Greenspan has been blamed by some for failing to do more to prevent the crisis, but he denied any responsibility for the problems gripping the economy.
"It's human nature, unless somebody can find a way to change human nature, we will have more crises and none of them will look like this because no two crises have anything in common, except human nature," he told the BBC.
To avoid a repeat of the situation, financiers and governments should look to clamp down on fraud and force banks to hold more capital to cushion themselves against financial shocks, the former central bank chief said.
But he urged governments to steer clear of protectionism because applying strict regulations could hamper global trade.
"The most recent endeavour to re-regulate is a reaction to the crisis. The extraordinary impact of these global markets is making a lot of financial people feeling they have lost control.
"The problem is you cannot have free global trade with highly restrictive, regulated domestic markets."
Monday, May 11, 2009
Religion a force for unity - ST May 10
Religion a force for unity, Pope tells Muslims
Pontiff urges Muslims and Christians to come together as 'worshippers of God'
Amman - Pope Benedict XVI yesterday condemned the 'ideological manipulation of religion' in a speech to Muslim leaders in Jordan, as he pressed for inter-faith reconciliation.
Religion should be a force for unity, not division, he told his audience, which included Christian prelates, in Amman's huge Al-Hussein Mosque on the second day of his tour of the Holy Land.
On his first visit to an Arab country as pontiff, he urged Muslims and Christians to unite as faithful 'worshippers of God' because of 'the burden of our common history' that has often been marked by misunderstanding.
The Pope was eager to mend ties with the Muslim world after a 2006 address in Regensburg, Germany, in which he quoted a mediaeval Christian emperor who criticised some teachings of Prophet Muhammad as 'evil and inhuman'.
In his speech, the Pope acknowledged that 'tensions and divisions' between followers of different faiths exist.
He noted, however, that it is often the 'ideological manipulation of religion, sometimes for political ends, that is the real catalyst for tensions and divisions - and at times even violence - in society'.
The Pope, who expressed his 'deep respect' for Islam on Friday, fell short of a full apology yesterday. But Prince Ghazni bin Mohammed, the top religious adviser and cousin to Jordan's King Abdullah II, said the Muslim world 'appreciated' the Vatican's clarification and accepted that the Pope was not expressing his own opinion in 2006 but making a historical citation.
He also praised the Pope for his 'friendly gestures and kindly actions towards Muslims' since then.
In one section of his address at the mosque, Pope Benedict referred to God as 'merciful and compassionate', using the formula Muslims use when speaking of God.
Mr Ibrahim Kalin, a spokesman for Common Word, a group of Muslim scholars promoting dialogue with Christians, said the Pope's speech yesterday would not erase his Regensburg address from popular memory.
But he noted with approval that Pope Benedict had stressed that Muslims and Christians worshipped the same God.
Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said yesterday that the Pope did not remove his shoes or pray while in the mosque, as he did during his first visit to a mosque in Turkey in 2006.
Instead, he paused for 'a respectful moment of reflection'.
The Pope did not remove his shoes as his hosts did not ask him to, the spokesman explained.
Catholic conservatives criticised the Pope in 2006 after he prayed towards Mecca with the imam of a mosque in Istanbul.
The Pope arrived here on Friday on a Holy Land tour that will also take him to Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Earlier yesterday, he called for reconciliation between Christians and Jews during a speech at Mount Nebo, where the Bible says God showed the Promised Land to Moses.
'The ancient tradition of pilgrimage to the holy places also reminds us of the inseparable bond between the Church and the Jewish people,' he said.
'May of our encounters today inspire in us a renewed love for the canon of sacred scripture and a desire to overcome all obstacles to the reconciliation of Christians and Jews in mutual respect and cooperation.'
Israel and the Vatican have clashed recently over the papal decision to lift the excommunication of a Holocaust-denying bishop and over moves to beatify Pope Pius XII.
AFP, AP, Reuters
Pontiff urges Muslims and Christians to come together as 'worshippers of God'
Amman - Pope Benedict XVI yesterday condemned the 'ideological manipulation of religion' in a speech to Muslim leaders in Jordan, as he pressed for inter-faith reconciliation.
Religion should be a force for unity, not division, he told his audience, which included Christian prelates, in Amman's huge Al-Hussein Mosque on the second day of his tour of the Holy Land.
On his first visit to an Arab country as pontiff, he urged Muslims and Christians to unite as faithful 'worshippers of God' because of 'the burden of our common history' that has often been marked by misunderstanding.
The Pope was eager to mend ties with the Muslim world after a 2006 address in Regensburg, Germany, in which he quoted a mediaeval Christian emperor who criticised some teachings of Prophet Muhammad as 'evil and inhuman'.
In his speech, the Pope acknowledged that 'tensions and divisions' between followers of different faiths exist.
He noted, however, that it is often the 'ideological manipulation of religion, sometimes for political ends, that is the real catalyst for tensions and divisions - and at times even violence - in society'.
The Pope, who expressed his 'deep respect' for Islam on Friday, fell short of a full apology yesterday. But Prince Ghazni bin Mohammed, the top religious adviser and cousin to Jordan's King Abdullah II, said the Muslim world 'appreciated' the Vatican's clarification and accepted that the Pope was not expressing his own opinion in 2006 but making a historical citation.
He also praised the Pope for his 'friendly gestures and kindly actions towards Muslims' since then.
In one section of his address at the mosque, Pope Benedict referred to God as 'merciful and compassionate', using the formula Muslims use when speaking of God.
Mr Ibrahim Kalin, a spokesman for Common Word, a group of Muslim scholars promoting dialogue with Christians, said the Pope's speech yesterday would not erase his Regensburg address from popular memory.
But he noted with approval that Pope Benedict had stressed that Muslims and Christians worshipped the same God.
Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said yesterday that the Pope did not remove his shoes or pray while in the mosque, as he did during his first visit to a mosque in Turkey in 2006.
Instead, he paused for 'a respectful moment of reflection'.
The Pope did not remove his shoes as his hosts did not ask him to, the spokesman explained.
Catholic conservatives criticised the Pope in 2006 after he prayed towards Mecca with the imam of a mosque in Istanbul.
The Pope arrived here on Friday on a Holy Land tour that will also take him to Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Earlier yesterday, he called for reconciliation between Christians and Jews during a speech at Mount Nebo, where the Bible says God showed the Promised Land to Moses.
'The ancient tradition of pilgrimage to the holy places also reminds us of the inseparable bond between the Church and the Jewish people,' he said.
'May of our encounters today inspire in us a renewed love for the canon of sacred scripture and a desire to overcome all obstacles to the reconciliation of Christians and Jews in mutual respect and cooperation.'
Israel and the Vatican have clashed recently over the papal decision to lift the excommunication of a Holocaust-denying bishop and over moves to beatify Pope Pius XII.
AFP, AP, Reuters
Monday, March 2, 2009
Spare the rod, spoil the child - ST 28 Feb 2009
Spare the rod, spoil the child
British parents cite reasons for lack of discipline in schools
LONDON: - Parents in Britain believe that corporal punishment was an 'effective method of control' when they were at school, says new government research.
The parents said the decision to outlaw physical chastisement contributed to a fall in discipline, The Telegraph has reported.
The study, backed by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, comes just months after a fifth of teachers in the country called for the cane to be reintroduced to restore order in the classroom.
It follows another report published earlier this week by Ofsted which suggested that traditional discipline methods such as suspending hundreds of troublemakers at a time and banning children with shaven heads and designer trainers were good deterrent measures.
Britain abolished corporal punishment including the use of the cane and rule in state schools in 1987. In the fee-paying sector, it was abolished in 1998.
In the latest study, the Department for Children, Schools and Families held in-depth interviews with 48 adults to gauge their perception of behaviour among young people.
When asked to describe what they felt was behind a decline in discipline, they made a series of observations.
These included the 'increasing demands on teachers - paperwork, planning, etc - leaving them less effective to teach and discipline effectively'.
The group, which included 32 parents, also cited the 'suitability of some teachers to the profession', suggesting that some lacked an ability to 'instil respect and good behaviour amongst teenage students'.
They added that 'the removal of corporal punishment in schools, which many felt had been an effective method of control in their day', also affected discipline standards.
Ms Margaret Morrissey, from the campaign group Parents Outloud, said: 'I really do believe that the problem for the deteriorating behaviour is the political correctness of the last 10 years that has told children to stand up and complain the moment someone tries to tell them off.'
In the study, parents also blamed the fact that 'children and young people (were) becoming more vocal and demanding and at the same time less afraid of authority'.
Increasing pressure on children to be academically successful was also cited, The Telegraph said.
A survey of more than 6,000 teachers last year found more than a fifth believed the cane should be brought back.
One supply teacher told researchers: 'Children's behaviour is now absolutely outrageous in the majority of schools. I am a supply teacher, so I see very many schools and there are no sanctions.'
But Ms Morrissey said she was not convinced that corporal punishment will make a comeback in the present climate. 'Can you imagine the number of compensation claims it would lead to?' she pointed out.
Mr John Dunford, of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: 'Thankfully, corporal punishment is no longer on the agenda, except in the most uncivilised countries. I am sure that this barbaric punishment has disappeared forever.'
British parents cite reasons for lack of discipline in schools
LONDON: - Parents in Britain believe that corporal punishment was an 'effective method of control' when they were at school, says new government research.
The parents said the decision to outlaw physical chastisement contributed to a fall in discipline, The Telegraph has reported.
The study, backed by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, comes just months after a fifth of teachers in the country called for the cane to be reintroduced to restore order in the classroom.
It follows another report published earlier this week by Ofsted which suggested that traditional discipline methods such as suspending hundreds of troublemakers at a time and banning children with shaven heads and designer trainers were good deterrent measures.
Britain abolished corporal punishment including the use of the cane and rule in state schools in 1987. In the fee-paying sector, it was abolished in 1998.
In the latest study, the Department for Children, Schools and Families held in-depth interviews with 48 adults to gauge their perception of behaviour among young people.
When asked to describe what they felt was behind a decline in discipline, they made a series of observations.
These included the 'increasing demands on teachers - paperwork, planning, etc - leaving them less effective to teach and discipline effectively'.
The group, which included 32 parents, also cited the 'suitability of some teachers to the profession', suggesting that some lacked an ability to 'instil respect and good behaviour amongst teenage students'.
They added that 'the removal of corporal punishment in schools, which many felt had been an effective method of control in their day', also affected discipline standards.
Ms Margaret Morrissey, from the campaign group Parents Outloud, said: 'I really do believe that the problem for the deteriorating behaviour is the political correctness of the last 10 years that has told children to stand up and complain the moment someone tries to tell them off.'
In the study, parents also blamed the fact that 'children and young people (were) becoming more vocal and demanding and at the same time less afraid of authority'.
Increasing pressure on children to be academically successful was also cited, The Telegraph said.
A survey of more than 6,000 teachers last year found more than a fifth believed the cane should be brought back.
One supply teacher told researchers: 'Children's behaviour is now absolutely outrageous in the majority of schools. I am a supply teacher, so I see very many schools and there are no sanctions.'
But Ms Morrissey said she was not convinced that corporal punishment will make a comeback in the present climate. 'Can you imagine the number of compensation claims it would lead to?' she pointed out.
Mr John Dunford, of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: 'Thankfully, corporal punishment is no longer on the agenda, except in the most uncivilised countries. I am sure that this barbaric punishment has disappeared forever.'
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
IRO Turns 60 - ST 12 Jan 2009
Inter-faith NGO turns 60
By Goh Chin Lian
NEW immigrants and the young generation can take a leaf from the founders of the Inter-Religious Organisation (IRO) 60 years ago.
They knew the importance of dialogue and face to face interaction in building trust in a diverse society, and on Monday night they were praised by Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng for their 'wise foresight' in founding Singapore's only inter-faith non-government organisation.
Mr Wong, who is also Home Affairs Minister, reminded more than 280 representatives of religious groups and members of the diplomatic corps that the ability of different religious communities to live peacefully together in Singapore did not happen by chance.
'This is not something in the DNA of Singapore. It is the effort of purposive and determined cultivation and is maintained by disciplined vigilance against anything that threatens it,' he said at a dinner reception at the Raffles Town Club to mark the IRO's 60th anniversary.
He called the Government a 'worrier' who takes nothing for granted when it comes to matters of race and religion.
This is why it started the Community Engagement Programme in 2006 to build up ties among leaders across various communities such as schools, businesses, unions and arts groups to reduce tension in case of a crisis.
This is also seen in the Government taking a serious stand on all who purvey extremist or seditious views, or actions.
He said: 'The robustness of the Government's response and its clear message that we will not extremism from any group is the reason why groups exercise restraint even when they encounter provocation, often from occurrences outside Singapore or on the Internet.'
Mr Wong also paid tribute to the IRO, which represents 10 different religions: Hinduism, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Taoism, Jainism, Christianity, Islam, Skihism and the Baha'i Faith.
He put on record its work in promoting inter-religious understanding and goodwill through seminars and public talks, as well as publishing books on religious customs and practices.
The IRO and its members who are leaders in their own communities, he said, also 'set a bold and powerful example for others to follow in inter-faith dialogue and mutual understanding'.
On Monday night, he presented the IRO Award to one of its longest serving member, Venerable Chao Khun.
The Chief Abbot of the Wat Ananda Temple has been involved in the IRO for more than 20 years, providing guidance for key IRO events and being a regular member of its prayer team.
Mr Wong said the IRO has become 'both a symbol and a working reality of religious harmony'.
'I would like to place on record the Government's appreciation of the contributions of the IRO and its members over the many years.
'They have helped to preserve and enhance the ethnic harmony which Singapore has come to showcase as one of its most valuable and precious feature.'
By Goh Chin Lian
NEW immigrants and the young generation can take a leaf from the founders of the Inter-Religious Organisation (IRO) 60 years ago.
They knew the importance of dialogue and face to face interaction in building trust in a diverse society, and on Monday night they were praised by Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng for their 'wise foresight' in founding Singapore's only inter-faith non-government organisation.
Mr Wong, who is also Home Affairs Minister, reminded more than 280 representatives of religious groups and members of the diplomatic corps that the ability of different religious communities to live peacefully together in Singapore did not happen by chance.
'This is not something in the DNA of Singapore. It is the effort of purposive and determined cultivation and is maintained by disciplined vigilance against anything that threatens it,' he said at a dinner reception at the Raffles Town Club to mark the IRO's 60th anniversary.
He called the Government a 'worrier' who takes nothing for granted when it comes to matters of race and religion.
This is why it started the Community Engagement Programme in 2006 to build up ties among leaders across various communities such as schools, businesses, unions and arts groups to reduce tension in case of a crisis.
This is also seen in the Government taking a serious stand on all who purvey extremist or seditious views, or actions.
He said: 'The robustness of the Government's response and its clear message that we will not extremism from any group is the reason why groups exercise restraint even when they encounter provocation, often from occurrences outside Singapore or on the Internet.'
Mr Wong also paid tribute to the IRO, which represents 10 different religions: Hinduism, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Taoism, Jainism, Christianity, Islam, Skihism and the Baha'i Faith.
He put on record its work in promoting inter-religious understanding and goodwill through seminars and public talks, as well as publishing books on religious customs and practices.
The IRO and its members who are leaders in their own communities, he said, also 'set a bold and powerful example for others to follow in inter-faith dialogue and mutual understanding'.
On Monday night, he presented the IRO Award to one of its longest serving member, Venerable Chao Khun.
The Chief Abbot of the Wat Ananda Temple has been involved in the IRO for more than 20 years, providing guidance for key IRO events and being a regular member of its prayer team.
Mr Wong said the IRO has become 'both a symbol and a working reality of religious harmony'.
'I would like to place on record the Government's appreciation of the contributions of the IRO and its members over the many years.
'They have helped to preserve and enhance the ethnic harmony which Singapore has come to showcase as one of its most valuable and precious feature.'
The Catholic High Story - ST 12 Jan 2009
Curriculum change helped
Student-focused system is more flexible, caters to interest
By Cheryl Ong
OF THE 35 top Secondary 4 Chinese students in last year's GCE O-level examination, about one-third came from Catholic High School.
All 12 of them scored nine A1s, a jump from last year, when only three Catholic High students made it to the list of top Secondary 4 Chinese students.
Catholic High's principal Lee Hak Boon attributed the marked improvement partly to a new curriculum the school adopted in 2006.
It allows students to take subjects they want to study rather than choose from fixed subject combinations.
'What we've done here is open up a lot of options and give students leeway to do what they are interested in.'
He added that the teachers' commitment to their pupils also contributed greatly to the good results this year.
O-level students need to take a predetermined number of subjects in language, science and the humanities.
Students at Catholic High were able to take any combination they liked as long as they met the requirements.
The resulting total number of combinations came to nearly a hundred, according to the Head of Department (English) Mr Edwin Heng, and the school coped with this by 'banding' subjects in the timetable together.
For instance, during two hours of humanities subjects in a timetable, students attend the respective classes of whatever subjects they signed up for.
'I think the school programme has certainly helped,' said Chan Hua Peng, 17, one of the top students at Catholic High. 'If you study what you like you'll naturally want to do well.'
Interests aside, the flexible system also let students like fellow top-scorer Chua Kah Hoe, 17, take subjects they can ace.
'I chose mainly the subjects I would do well at,' he said of his combination of three science subjects, two maths, geography, social studies and a history elective.
'But it all depends on how much hard work you put in, and the teachers, of course.'
Bolstered by the school's achievements, Mr Lee aims to raise the number of distinctions for English from 65.4 per cent this year to 70 per cent.
'We are looking for new breakthroughs next year,' he said.
Student-focused system is more flexible, caters to interest
By Cheryl Ong
OF THE 35 top Secondary 4 Chinese students in last year's GCE O-level examination, about one-third came from Catholic High School.
All 12 of them scored nine A1s, a jump from last year, when only three Catholic High students made it to the list of top Secondary 4 Chinese students.
Catholic High's principal Lee Hak Boon attributed the marked improvement partly to a new curriculum the school adopted in 2006.
It allows students to take subjects they want to study rather than choose from fixed subject combinations.
'What we've done here is open up a lot of options and give students leeway to do what they are interested in.'
He added that the teachers' commitment to their pupils also contributed greatly to the good results this year.
O-level students need to take a predetermined number of subjects in language, science and the humanities.
Students at Catholic High were able to take any combination they liked as long as they met the requirements.
The resulting total number of combinations came to nearly a hundred, according to the Head of Department (English) Mr Edwin Heng, and the school coped with this by 'banding' subjects in the timetable together.
For instance, during two hours of humanities subjects in a timetable, students attend the respective classes of whatever subjects they signed up for.
'I think the school programme has certainly helped,' said Chan Hua Peng, 17, one of the top students at Catholic High. 'If you study what you like you'll naturally want to do well.'
Interests aside, the flexible system also let students like fellow top-scorer Chua Kah Hoe, 17, take subjects they can ace.
'I chose mainly the subjects I would do well at,' he said of his combination of three science subjects, two maths, geography, social studies and a history elective.
'But it all depends on how much hard work you put in, and the teachers, of course.'
Bolstered by the school's achievements, Mr Lee aims to raise the number of distinctions for English from 65.4 per cent this year to 70 per cent.
'We are looking for new breakthroughs next year,' he said.
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