Impact of Foreign Education

In a changing global scenario, Third World countries are accelerating efforts to achieve recognizable success in the field of education. Pakistan has also taken measures to this effect. These efforts, though laudable, are debated by some academics as non-sustainable and thus non-productive. Notwithstanding these objections, over 2,000 students have been able to avail scholarships advertised by the Higher Education Commission (HEC). These scholarships in the field of science and technology are expected to bring expertise to the country and set it on the path of progress. The experience also aims to give individuals a global perspective, hence contributing towards the making of ‘global’ citizens. On the economic and employment front, it offers a great advantage to graduates of prestigious international universities in gaining employment within the country and abroad. In the job market, preference is given to fresh graduates!

This fact was highlighted when a respected teacher and faculty member of the Punjab University visited the student advising office at the US Consulate Lahore to inquire about Graduate Degree Programs in the US for his son. He explained that despite the fact that his son had a record of outstanding academic credentials, he lost out to foreign, especially US educated candidates, in the job market. Unfortunate though the situation may appear for the local graduates, it is a fact that the international education experience, especially at renowned educational institutions, does often give an advantage to students who are applying for jobs.

This understanding has led to an increase in study abroad plans in almost all countries, especially in those countries where the local education industry is still evolving. UNESCO records a 56 percent increase in international student enrollment from 1999-2004. Six countries host 69 percent of the world’s mobile students. They are: USA (22 percent); UK 14 percent; Germany 10 percent; France 10 percent; Australia seven percent and China five percent (UNESCO, and Open Doors 2006). Currently there are 2.5 million international students worldwide and according to forecasts there will be 7.2 million international students (worldwide) in 2025 (Boehm, Davis, Meares and Pearce, 2002).

What is important here is to understand the reasons for this increased demand, apart from the fact that it is perceived as a key to better employability. The American Council on Education enumerates the following factors which have led to an increase in ‘internationally mobile students,’ a term coined by UNESCO:



* Projected growth in household wealth

* Increased demand for higher education

* Lack of capacity in some countries to meet this demand

* Growing interest in studying overseas

(Boehm, Davis, Meares and Pearce, 2002).

The last factor enumerated above can be better explored when seen in the context of the changing global scenario. It is no longer a world where countries or economies function in semi-isolation. Today’s world is an interdependent and fiercely competitive entity; multinationals are erasing geographical boundaries in the context of business/industrial investment and opportunities. To be able to compete successfully, they look for local human resources in countries where they are investing. These employers have the advantage of selecting the best and the brightest because of attractive employment benefits. One endearing element in candidate selection seems to be the ‘study abroad’ experience. Notwithstanding the academic value of a ‘foreign’ degree, what really attracts the employer is the ‘global experience’. This experience or exposure in the case of international students provides an opportunity to interact with teachers and students from different countries, stimulates learning and allows insights into different points of view. It also helps in creating an international network of contacts.

By way of example it is interesting to note some similarities between experiences looked forward to by Freshmen at four-year colleges in the US (Chronicle of Higher Education August ’05) and employers rating of the importance of candidates qualities/skills (10 Things employers want you to learn in college, Bill Coplin, Ten Speed Press, 2003). Among the 13 objectives listed by students, five in the top bracket deal with communication and interaction with people of diverse racial or cultural backgrounds. In the rating provided by employers the majority of the desired qualities involve communication and interpersonal skills. On a five-point scale the top four most important skills rated by employers are:

It is interesting to note that the Grade Point Average (GPA) gets a rating of 3.68 in comparison! This is not to undermine the importance of the GPA since it is an indicator of skills and reveals how good the student is at “figuring out what the professors want and then delivering the goods” (Bill Coplin”).

What stands out is the significance of and focus on communication or interpersonal skills; these are the qualities that an international learning environment provides and these are skills that employers and big businesses are looking for. Because of the diverse multicultural environment in colleges and universities in the US and because the US is host to the largest international student population worldwide. American colleges and universities provide the most conducive environment for acquiring effective people-dealing skills, this is why “over 565,000 international students are enrolled in the US Higher Education – more than twice as many as any other leading host” (American Council on Education).

Read more

Read more...

To educate or be educated

Teaching is an honorable profession. No doubt, it is. Teachers have to lead and educate a nation as much as they can. Holy Prophet (PBUH) was a great reformer, messenger as well as a great teacher for us, in fact for every man of this world. I sometimes think, being a teacher, what should be the properties in a good teacher. To have enough knowledge, enough experience, patience, regularity and be principled and sometimes even tolerance too or what else…

Unfortunately, when I analyzed myself including my colleagues, that whether we deserve teaching profession or not. A lot of things are missing, if we are having enough knowledge, we become weak in explanation. If we are having talent then sometimes we lose our patience. And even if we are having patience then we become so much lenient that our students start losing moral values. So what to do and what should be a change in our teaching methodology. The need is to rethink and evaluate ourselves whether we deserve this noble profession or we should say good bye to teaching. But saying Good bye to teaching ’is not a solution; we should also have to take some steps. The major objective of education is to develop a responsible, active and educated citizenship. Think about it today and now.

Education / talent

After visiting too many schools, and having detailed talk with students, one important thing that I felt missing there is the Respect of teachers. Almost 80% students of every class don’t respect their teachers. The reason, the teachers are not well educated and even if they are educated, they have not learnt the teaching skills. So as they enter in the classrooms, just pick up the chalks or markers and start writing on the board. They just bother to complete their so called prepared lectures and even don’t have time to see at the pupils that what they are doing. This situation leads to a disturbance in the classrooms as only front row of students can hardly see teacher s writing on the board. And rest of the students, would be laughing, playing, and nobody to see nobody to control. Now what the teacher is doing after all that situation, just shouting and passing unpleasant remarks. The result is No respect for teachers. Teaching doesn’t only mean that you must have to complete a topic but the purpose should be that your pupils must have to understand the topic. For this, you have to engage each and every student of the class in your lecture by giving examples, key points, questions and the list should goes on. There should be encouragement for students for their participation in class activities.

Moral Values

The Government of Pakistan is spending money and trying a lot to improve the standard of education, as they have increased the salary package of teachers. HEC is also bringing a huge change in the higher education sector. NGO s and several other private educational institutions are doing their best to maintain the education standards and to increase the literacy rate. However, when I look at the education institutes and the behavior of the student, I felt one thing badly that is lost in the students. That obsolete thing is Moral values. Students don’t know what is right and what is wrong. I think, it must be the foremost duty of teachers to give them the concept of right and wrong things.

That true, before it is said that children learn from their homes and now it is said they learn from their schools. Obviously, it is true to some extent, because schools are said to be great Alma mater for the growing kids. I have experienced that pupils will follow you and if fortunately you are a good teacher, then they would start obeying you in a good sense. Believe me, if you are a talented and educated teacher, your students would give you good results. If you are a regular and confident person then your pupils would be like you. If you are a responsible and sensible teacher then your pupils would be the same. You have to create all those abilities in yourselves that you think your pupils should have to be called a proper educated person.

Teaching Skills

Pupils are now fed up form the same old ABC of every subject. Now, it’s the 21st century, and our pupils want a change in teaching methodology. Teachers should have to be well known of modern ways of teaching. The objective of lectures should be based on creativity and observation. It should be like that the students have learnt something new today. Students learn better in stimulating environment. So depending on the subject, teachers should have to create novelty and inspiration for the pupils. This will lead to the production of researchers, mathematicians and technologist.

These major points a teacher should have to remember.

Ability to convey the competence in subject matter so that concept would be clear.
Must have confidence in one’s ability to teach
Ability to develop course curriculum and individual lessons
Awareness of effective use of common instructional aids, including audiovisual techniques
Ability to help students to understand the general principles and concepts underlying a particular lesson
Ability to explain both basic and difficult concepts clearly
Ability to ask good questions (testing, study, case histories)
Ability to provide feedback to students
Awareness of the strengths and limitations of various means for evaluating teaching performance
Ability to adjust lesson plan based on information garnered from student questions
Ability to foster an effective learning environment including showing respect for the student, encouraging their intellectual growth and providing a role model for scholarship and intellectual vigor
At the end, I must say, we have to teach student carefully. Not because of that we are paid of it but because of that the whole nation would have to pay at the end, if we are simply failed to make them an educated and responsible citizen.

Read more

Read more...

Astonishing Facts!

FABULOUS & ASTONISHING FACTS OF NATURE & CREATION

1) LONGEST ENGLISH WORD: Praetertranssubstantiationalistically --> has 37 letters.

2) BOOK WITHOUT LETTER 'e':
GADFY,written by Earnest Wright in 1939 is a 50,000+ word book, which doesn't contain a single word with ' e ' in it

3) WORD WITHOUT VOWEL:
RHYTHM

4) BRAIN: Organ of body which has no sensation when cut .

5) CROCODILE: Only animal & reptile which sheds tear while eating .

6) No of Alphabets, which SOUND AS WORDS: 10, They are

B Bee
C Sea
z Zee
I Eye
Q Queue
R Are
S Yes
T Tea
U You
Y Why



FASCINATING ANIMALS, BIRDS, TREES :

1) SNAILS have 14175 teeth laid along 135 rows on their tongue.

2) A BUTTERFLY has 12,000 eyes.

3) DOLPHINS sleep with 1 eye open.

4) A BLUE WHALE can eat as much as 3 tonnes of food everyday, but at the same time can live without food for 6 months.

5) The EARTH has over 12,00,000 species of animals, 3,00,000 species of plants & 1,00,000 other species.

6) The fiercest DINOSAUR was TRYNOSAURS which has sixty long & sharp teeth, used to attack & eat other dinosaurs.

7) DIMETRODON was a mammal like REPTILE with a snail on its back. This acted as a radiator to cool the body of the animal.

CASSOWARY is one of the dangerous BIRD, that can kill a man or animal by tearing off with its dagger like claw.
9) The SWAN has over 25,000 feathers in its body.

10) OSTRICH eats pebbles to help digestion by grinding up the ingested food.

11) POLAR BEAR can look clumsy & slow but during chase on ice, can reach 25 miles / hr of speed.

12) KIWIS are the only birds, which hunt by sense of smell.

13) ELEPHANT teeth can weigh as much as 9 pounds.

14) OWL is the only bird, which can rotate its head to 270 degrees.

15) An oyster can change its sex a number of times during its life.

16) It takes more calories to eat a piece of celery than the celery has in it to begin with.

17) A bean has more DNA per cell than a human cell.


WHAT ARE THEY :

1) If we say 'MUMMY', they come together & go apart when we say 'DADDY'

2) What goes up & never comes down:AGE

3) Patches over patches but no stitches:CABBAGE

4) What is that we cannot see, but is always before you: FUTURE

5) What goes up & down a hill, but never moves:ROAD

6) You can never wet it:SHADOW

7) What belongs to to You, but used by your friends more often you do:YOUR NAME.



IN 24 HOURS AVERAGE HUMAN:

1) HEART beats 1,03,689 times.

2) LUNGS respire 23,045 times.

3) BLOOD flows 16,80,000 miles.

4) NAILS grow 0.00007 inches

5) HAIR grows 0.01715 inches

6) Take 2.9 pounds WATER (including all liquids)

7) Take of 3.25 pounds FOOD

Breathe 438 cubic feet AIR.

9) Lose 85.60, BODY TEMPERATURE.

10) Produce 1.43 pints SWEAT.

11) Speak 4,800 WORDS.

12) During SLEEP move 25.4 times

Kofi Annan's Astonishing Facts!
By BARBARA CROSSETTE


Every year, the United Nations Human Development Report looks for a new way to measure the
lives of people. Putting aside faceless statistics like per capita gross domestic product or export-import figures, the report burrows into the facts about what children eat, who goes to school,
whether there is clean water to drink, how women share in the economy or who doesn't get
vaccinations against diseases that go on killing even though they are preventable. This year, the
report takes its first look at what people have -- from simple toilets to family cars -- and what
proportion of the world's goods and services are consumed, comparatively, by the rich and by the
poor. The pie is huge -- the world's consumption bill is $24 trillion a year -- but some servings
are very small indeed.



THE HAVES The richest fifth of the world's people consumes 86 percent of all goods and
services while the poorest fifth consumes just 1.3 percent. Indeed, the richest fifth consumes 45
percent of all meat and fish, 58 percent of all energy used and 84 percent of all paper, has 74
percent of all telephone lines and owns 87 percent of all vehicles.



NATURAL RESOURCES Since 1970, the world's forests have declined from 4.4 square miles
per 1,000 people to 2.8 square miles per 1,000 people. In addition, a quarter of the world's fish
stocks have been depleted or are in danger of being depleted and another 44 percent are being
fished at their biological limit.



THE GANGES The Ganges River symbolizes purification to Hindus, who believe drinking or
bathing in its waters will lead to salvation. But 29 cities, 70 towns and countless villages deposit
about 345 million gallons of raw sewage a day directly into the river. Factories add 70 million
gallons of industrial waste and farmers are responsible for another 6 million tons of chemical
fertilizer and 9,000 tons of pesticides.



THE ULTRA RICH The three richest people in the world have assets that exceed the combined
gross domestic product of the 48 least developed countries.



AFRICA The average African household today consumes 20 percent less than it did 25 years
ago.



THE SUPER RICH The world's 225 richest individuals, of whom 60 are Americans with total
assets of $311 billion, have a combined wealth of over $1 trillion -- equal to the annual income
of the poorest 47 percent of the entire world's population.



COSMETICS AND EDUCATION Americans spend $8 billion a year on cosmetics -- $2 billion
more than the estimated annual total needed to provide basic education for everyone in the
world.



THE HAVE NOTS Of the 4.4 billion people in developing countries,nearly three-fifths lack access to safe sewers, a third have no access to clean water, a quarter do not have adequate
housing and a fifth have no access to modern health services of any kind.



MEAT Americans each consume an average of 260 pounds of meat a year. In Bangladesh, the
average is six and a half pounds.



THE FUTURE By 2050, 8 billion of the world's projected 9.5 billion people -- up from about 6
billion today -- will be living in developing countries.



SMOKE Of the estimated 2.7 million annual deaths from air pollution, 2.2 million are from
indoor pollution -- including smoke from dung and wood burned as fuel which is more harmful
than tobacco smoke. 80 percent of the victims are rural poor in developing countries.



WRISTWATCHES AND RADIOS Two thirds of India's 90 million lowest-income households
live below the poverty line -- but more than 50 percent of these impoverished people own
wristwatches, 41 percent own bicycles, 31 percent own radios and 13 percent own fans.



TELEPHONE LINES Sweden and the United States have 681 and 626 telephone lines per 1,000
people, respectively. Afghanistan, Cambodia, Chad and the Democratic Republic of the Congo
have only one line per 1,000 people.



ICE CREAM AND WATER Europeans spend $11 billion a year on ice cream -- $2 billion more
than the estimated annual total needed to provide clean water and safe sewers for the world's
population.



LANDMINES More than 110 million active landmines are scattered in 68 countries, with an
equal number stockpiled around the world. Every month more than 2,000 people are killed or
maimed by mine explosions.



PET FOOD AND HEALTH Americans and Europeans spend $17 billion a year on pet food -- $4
billion more than the estimated annual additional total needed to provide basic health and
nutrition for everyone in the world. $



40 BILLION A YEAR It is estimated that the additional cost of achieving and maintaining
universal access to basic education for all, basic health care for all, reproductive health care for
all women, adequate food for all and clean water and safe sewers for all is roughly $40 billion a
year -- or less than 4 percent of the combined wealth of the 225 richest people in the world.

Read more

Read more...

Secret Codes You Aren’t Meant To Know

The use of codes is intended to convey essential information quickly and with a minimum of misunderstanding to staff. Some places use secret codes to pass information between store employees. These are meant to be a secret as they don’t want to alarm the non-staff members or alert someone like a thief to the fact that they have been noticed.

Name Codes



Code Oscar: On a ship, a code oscar means someone has gone overboard. If the ship has to maneuver erratically to handle the situation, it must also send out blasts on the signal so that other ships nearby are aware of the fact that it is about to change its course. It should be noted that ships don’t have an internationally standardized set of PA signals and they can differ from place to place, but this is a fairly commonly used one.

Code delta: can mean that there is a biological hazard - though who knows what that might be on a passenger ship.

Code Alpha: often means “medical emergency”.

Code Adam: was invented by Walmart but it is now an internationally recognized alert. It means “missing child”. The code was first coined in 1994 in memory of Adam Walsh, a six-year old, who went missing in a Sears department store in Florida in 1981. Adam was later found murdered. The person making the announcement will state “we have a code Adam,” followed by a description of the missing child. As soon as the alert is heard, security staff will begin to monitor the doors and other exits. If the child is not found within 10 minutes, the police are alerted and a store search begins. Also, if the child is found in the first 10 minutes in the company of an unknown adult, the police must be called and the person detained if it is safe to do so.

Computer Support Codes



In computer support, a variety of codes can be used when referring to a customer

PEBKAC: Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair

PICNIC: Problem in chair - not in computer

ID 10 T Error: ID 10 T is, of course, IDIOT

“Doctor” Codes


“Doctor” codes are often used in hospital settings for announcements over a general loudspeaker or paging system that might cause panic or endanger a patient’s privacy. Most often, “Doctor” codes take the form of “Paging Dr. _____”, where the doctor’s “name” is a codeword for a dangerous situation or a patient in crisis.

Doctor Brown: is a code word often used in hospitals to alert security staff to a threat to personnel. If a nurse or doctor is in danger from a violent patient or non-staff member, they can page Doctor Brown to their location and the security staff will rush to their aid. In some hospitals

Dr. Allcome: Serious emergency. “Doctor Allcome to Ward 5.” would indicate that all medical staff not presently occupied are needed. (The Med, Memphis Tennessee)

Dr. Firestone: Fire in the hospital. If a fire’s location can be isolated, the location of the fire is included in the page, e.g. “Paging Dr. Firestone to 3 West” indicates “Fire in or near west stairwell/wing on third floor” (William Beaumont Hospitals, Royal Oak and Troy, MI).

Dr. Pyro: Fire in the hospital/healthcare facility. “Paging Dr. Pyro on ____” indicates a fire and its origin or current location, e.g. “Paging Dr. Pyro on 3? means “Fire on third floor” (Kaiser Permanente, system-wide).

Dr. Strong: Patient needing either physical assistance or physical restraint. “Paging Dr. Strong …” indicates that any physically capable personnel (orderlies, police or security officers, EMTs or firemen, etc.) in the proximity should report and be prepared either to move a patient who “fell down” and cannot get back up or to “capture and restrain” an uncooperative patient.



“Colour” Codes



Code Black:

- In Australia code black is a personal threat. This incorporates a diverse range of situations including assaults, confrontations, hostage situations and threats of personal injury or attack

- Bomb Threat (Ontario, Manitoba)

- In the military code black is bomb threat or discovery of suspicious package.

Code Gray/Grey

- A combative person with no weapon under HASC suggestions.

- Severe Weather (Cook Children’s Medical Center, Fort Worth, TX)

Code Green

-A combative person using physical force, especially weapons. (some American hospitals)

-Used to indicate an evacuation situation, and can refer to the evacuation of a ward/floor/wing or the entire hospital (Code Green - Stat) depending on the call (Ontario Hospital Emergency Codes, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority)

Code Pink

- Biohazardous contamination of a patient or staff. (Heartland Regional Medical Center)

- Patient is under influence of illegal substances (UK First Aid organisations)

Code Purple

- Australian Standard for Bomb or Substance alert

- Hostage situation or patient abduction (Ontario Hospital Association)

- Emergency department can no longer accept patients; divert incoming cases to other hospitals if at all possible (Canada, also Wellstar Health Group)

Code Silver

- Combative person with a Lethal Weapon (HASC recommendations).

- Violent Situation - Lockdown (Cook Children’s Medical Center, Fort Worth, TX)

Code Yellow

- Missing patient (Ontario Hospital Emergency Codes).

Code Orange

- Used in Ontario hospitals to indicate an external disaster with mass casualties. Lockdown or controlled facility access is often used as part of the response. Volunteers, Families and Students were denied access during SARS Outbreak of 2003.

Code Brown

- Missing Adult (University of Toledo Medical Center) (University of Cincinnati Medical Center)

Read more

Read more...

Simple Tips on How to Motivate Yourself

Figuring out how to motivate yourself can be hard. There is always that little voice that says, ?you can?t do it? no matter if you are trying to find the motivation to lose weight, save money, spend more time with the kids, or any other goal. Everyone deals with this little voice; you are not alone. The key is to learn how to motivate yourself in the most effective ways. Here are some tips to help you figure out just what is the best way to motivate yourself.

Shut Out the Voice

One important way how to motivate yourself and to stay that way is to start shutting out that negative little voice in the back of your head. You can do this by simply combating it with positive voices. For example, if you are trying to lose weight and the voice is saying stuff like, ?You?ll never be able to resist the cake at the birthday party,? combat it by telling yourself: ?Even if I do eat a piece of cake that doesn?t mean I have to give up. I?ve done really well so far and I?m going to keep at it!?

Bribe Yourself

Sometimes you have to feed the child inside of you to stay motivated. Just like when motivating a child to do something by promising a treat, you can do the same to reach your own goals. This is How to Motivate Yourself 101. For example, if you did bypass the cake at the birthday party you could reward yourself by indulging in a new pair of shoes. This is called positive reinforcement, and it really does work. If you do challenge yourself and then get positive results when you complete the task then you will keep challenging yourself.

Here?s how it works. The next time you find your motivation for a task or goal failing, tell yourself that you will get a reward after it is done. This reward can be as simple as taking your dog for a walk in the park, or something as lavish as a trip to the day spa to get a massage. Whatever the treat, make sure that it is one that gives you that extra boost to finish the task.

Get Others to Help

One of the biggest motivators of all is pride. If you tell others about your goal then you are bound by your pride to finish it. So, next time you have an important task to complete tell everyone. The every need not to fall on your face in front of others is the perfect way how to motivate yourself.

Read more

Read more...

Genius IQ in Law Of Reflection

Genius IQ today let you all know about Law of reflection. The Law Of Reflection states that whatever you do, think or feel will be reflected back to you. The reflection is of greater quantity, focus and power. It is a law which is not apparent to most people and so they continue to experience problems in their life, so it is necessary to clarify the principles of this law so that you can complement and respect it to further your goals.

1. You should always speak, act and do things in the way that you would ideally want the world and your life to be. For example, if someone were to speak ill of you, you should ignore it completely and speak highly of them. They will then, almost miraculously end up speaking highly of you too.

2. You should be mindful of the fact that everything you do, think or feel will have a physical effect. No matter how small it may be, the cumulative effect over a period of time can be quite large. For example, if i continued to collect 1 cents coins, i would eventually have a dollar and this same principle applies in this case too, in that small changes will eventually make a big difference.

3. We should valid lengthen to make steps to improve ourselves. This will mean the world will always persist to improve for us..

What To Expect From The Law Of Reflection

A. People will become a reflection of what we want them to be, from the way we speak to them. They will speak highly of us, if we do that to them.

B. Increased clarity and focus in our lives if we give ourselves focus. When we know that what we do will be reflected back on us with greater power, we will continue to remain focused to help ourselves.

C. Increased insight into lifes situations. It no longer becomes a mystery why the same situation continues to crop up time and again. We are creating it from what we are giving out.

Read more

Read more...