1.3.

2 Statement of the Problem To evaluate differences related to gender and type of school on

Internet use in high school students from co-educational and same gender schools, and also to

examine the relationship between Internet use and Aggression, Depression, Coping Strategies

and Interpersonal Relationships.

1.3.3 Objectives of the study To study the difference in Internet usage among high school

students studying in same gender and co-educational schools.

To study the difference in Internet use among male and female high school students.

To study the relationship between Internet use and each of the criterion variables of

Aggression, Depression, Coping Strategies and Interpersonal Relationships, in high school

students.

To study the content of online activities of high school students.

World Health Organization (WHO) in 1948

when it stated: "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not

merely the absence of disease or infirmity 

The medical view of health, ‘being without disease or illness’ is purely focused on the biological

functions of a disease or illness and does not consider mental or social aspects of the individual’s

disease or illness.

1
The work of Oliver Sack(1973) introduced him to defining ‘Health as personal strength or ability‘

this idea comes mostly from his work with sufferers of encephalitis”

Suresh Vatsyayann 1995"Health is an ever evolving state of mind, body and relationships

perceived by an individual, a family, a group or a community for self in a particular time, space

and context"

Positive definition of health and well- being is where an individual is achieving and maintaining

a  healthy lifestyle by being physically fit and having good mental health.  The individual regards

the things they  can do well such as walking, running, having an active life and feeling well as an

indicator of good health and well-being .  

Holistic definition of health and well-being is  looking at an individual’s health and lifestyle

considering all four factors, physical, intellectual, emotional and social.  It focuses on the whole

body and mind not just a part of the body and the symptoms of the problem. It will look at the

lifestyle of the individual such as nutritional deficiencies, causes of stress and why there is a lack

of good health and well-being. A holistic approach will involve the individual taking

responsibility for their health and well-being.  They do this  by educating themselves and being

active in maintaining and improving their health and well-being.

Why health is Important

Women in the Indian society have been considered as inferior than men for many years. Because
of such type of inferiority they have to face various issues and problems in their life. They have
to go extra miles than men to prove themselves equivalent to men. People in the middle age were
considering women as key to destruction so they never allowed women to go outside and
participate in the social activities like men. Still in the modern age, women have to face many

2
more problems in their daily life and struggle a lot to establish their career. Still there are many
parents who prefer to have only boy baby and allow education to boys only. Women for them are
only medium to keep family happy and healthy.

A woman is seen in the society with more intense ridicule sight and become at higher risk of
honor killing if she is involved in the love marriage or inter caste love marriage. Women face a
lot of challenges because of the existence of patriarchal society, child bearing and family care
roles, deep rooted cultural norms, etc in the Indian society. Women in India do not have equal
access to autonomy, mobility to outside the home, social freedom, etc than men. Some of the
problems faced by the women are because of their domestic responsibilities, cultural and social
specified roles, etc.

All modern concepts of health recognize health as more than the absence of disease, implying a

maximum capacity of the individual for self-realization and self-fulfillment. This should

equilibrate the human inner forces and possibilities with the feeling of pleasure or dissatisfaction

in their relations with the environment . Social medicine and public health approach to health

advocate that we should not only observe the health of the individuals, but also the health of the

groups and the community, as a result of the interaction of the individuals with the social

environment.

The holistic concept of health is contained in the expression of wholeness. Health is a relative

state in which one is able to function well physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually to

express the full range of one’s unique potentialities within the environment in which one lives.

Both health and illness are dynamic processes and each person is located on a graduated scale or

continuous spectrum (continuum) ranging from wellness and optimal functioning in every aspect

of one’s life, at one end, to illness culminating in death, at the other

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The theory of salutogenesis takes a different view of what creates health and what factors

support health, as opposed to the conventional approach of pathogenesis to study the factors that

cause disease . To find the “origins of health”, one needs to search for factors that support the

human health and welfare.

To establish social welfare and to facilitate, encourage, and secure individual autonomy and

dignity are key challenges in the present time and society. The modern understanding of health

became official when the World Health Organization (WHO), at the time of its establishment in

1948, included the definition of health in its Constitution. The definition was proposed by Dr

Andrija Štampar, a prominent scholar from Croatia in the field of social medicine and public

health and one of the founders of the WHO. This generally accepted definition states that “health

is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of

disease or infirmity”This definition promoted for the first time that, in addition to physical and

mental health, social welfare is an integral component of the overall health, because health is

closely linked to the social environment and living and working conditions.

Respecting this definition as a global concept, many researchers and theorists subsequently

advocated for adoption of working, practical, and operational definitions of health. In 1977, with

the adoption of the WHO Global Strategy “Health for All by the Year 2000”, a pragmatic

concept of health – the ability to conduct a socially and economically productive life – was

accepted indirectly, which was an essential goal of this Strategy

To define health in operational and working terms was vital for creating policies and programs

for maintaining and improving health, and it considerably managed to exceed the widely rooted

notion that health simply means the absence of disease. The Ottawa Charter from the 1st

International Conference on Health Promotion, held in Ottawa, Canada, in 1986, says that health

4
is created in the context of everyday life and environment, where people live, love, work, and

play. Thus, active and interactive understanding of health was introduced. The goal of health

promotion is to combine the approach for addressing the social determinants with the resolution

and commitment to motivate and encourage the individuals and the community for their active

approach toward health and embracing healthy lifestyles .

Within the last few decades, the WHO definition of health has been increasingly amended and

supplemented by the fourth dimension – spiritual health. Generally speaking, spiritual health

involves a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction with our own lives, system of values, self-

confidence and self-esteem, self-awareness and presence, peacefulness and tranquility with

dynamic emotional balance, both internal and toward the environment, morality and truthfulness,

selflessness, positive emotions, compassion and willingness to help and support others,

responsibility and contribution to the common good, and successful management of everyday

life problems and demands as well as social stress .

Health definitions in the digital society

The digital society allows different perspectives to co-exist and dynamically evolve in the

different forms of online environment. Subsequently, the different views on health are present

online in the same time, competing for attention of the visitors, users, and creators of the digital

content. Some of these ideas, although seemingly new and appealing, frequently represent

refurbished historical concepts. Moreover, every public health-related intervention should

consider its online context. To be able to identify and recognize the individual understanding of

health is important, in particular when this conception of health contradicts recommendations for

diseases that need medical intervention.

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The plurality of health definitions reflects the variety of contexts in which health is elaborated. A

concept ‘home context’ is the context in which the concept originates. It makes sense

predominantly inside but not necessarily outside its home context. Conceptualizing is a verbal

act that sets out to identify and shape phenomena’s border and content. The conceptualization

localizes and attributes identity, content, or meaning. The definitions of health obviously reflect

socially and culturally constructed and tentative categories. The relation between an individual

and society is implied in most concepts of health. In particular, in the digital environment,

critical analysis of health concepts helps us to understand better health policies and politics and

their consequences. As they frequently represent societal powers rather than phenomenological

differences, they are accordingly accepted, criticized, or even rejected.

Today’s society is a complex, high-cost, high-tech society where citizens constantly need to

learn and update their knowledge and skills to be able to manage their own lives. As digital

society is built on software that is constantly renewed or replaced by new software, navigation

has become a new ‘skill of hunting and gathering’. To appreciate concepts and

conceptualizations, knowledge has become a key quality in digital society. The health concepts –

particularly concepts we use to explain, treat, heal or cope with disease – are words we also use

as search tools. A feature of digital society is that past and present categories and understandings

are available at the same time, undermining the traditional western schooling system, where

accumulation of past knowledge is understood and acknowledged as predecessor to present,

updated knowledge. We refer to this syncreticity, co-existence of different views without

hierarchy and without precedence, as “digital anachronism”. Subsequently, public information

and public interventions in regard to health should consider this variety of approaches online and

thus themselves be explicit and also argue for why and how a particular approach to health is

6
chosen. The definitions of health presented here are also understood as navigation-tools to be

applied within online environment. Being aware of them can help the navigator to understand

and interpret the information, texts, or documents that occur in online encounters of the health

related issues.

1. Physical health
Physical health refers to the state of your physical body and how well it is operating. It is

influenced by levels of physical activity, adequate nutrition, rest, environments etc.

Physical health promotes proper care of our bodies for optimal health and functioning. Obtaining

an optimal level of physical wellness allows you to nurture personal responsibility for your own

7
health. As you become conscious of your physical health, you are able to identify elements you

are successful in as well as elements you would like to improve.

Physical health consists of many components, but a brief list of the key areas is given below:

1.

1. Physical activity – includes strength, flexibility, and endurance

2. Nutrition and diet – includes nutrient intake, fluid intake, and healthy digestion

3. Alcohol and drugs – includes the abstinence from or reduced consumption of

these substances

4. Medical self-care – includes addressing minor ailments or injuries and seeking

emergency care as necessary

5. Rest and sleep – includes periodic rest and relaxation, along with high quality

sleep

2. Mental health

Mental health is a level of psychological well-being, or an absence of mental illness.It is the

“psychological state of someone who is functioning at a satisfactory level of emotional and

behavioral adjustment”.

Good mental health doesn’t just mean if you don’t have a mental illness. It’s about having a

sense of purpose, getting involved with things, coping with stress and setbacks, forming close

relationships and being in touch with your own thoughts and emotions. To maintain mental

8
health we have to be confident and accept ourselves. In this case, yoga and breathing exercises

help us to focus and keep negative thoughts out of our mind.

3. Emotional health

Emotional health refers to a person’s feelings which encompasses everything about you. It

actually governs all of your decisions, your mood and who you are. Every single aspect of you is

determinant of how you feel about something, what is actually going on in your heart not in your

head.

Basically, from your relationships, to your mindset, to your personality, to how you want to

show up in the world; all of these are run by your emotional health.And if you’re feeling

thoughts of overwhelm, anxiety, stress, worthlessness, these are all common negative emotions

that can have a huge detrimental effect to your emotional health. But if you can rightly

understand yourself, and find out from where these negative emotions are coming, then you

actually be setting yourself up for a lifetime of consistent success.

4. Social health

Social health is how you get along with other people, which involves your ability to form

satisfying interpersonal relationships with others.It also relates to your ability to adapt

comfortably to different social situations and act appropriately in a variety of settings.

9
If you want to really optimize your health, you need to go beyond physical and mental strength

and actually look at the strength of your close social relationships. Research now showing that,

lack of strong social ties puts you at a greater health risk than obesity.

If we really want to understand human thriving, the social component is essential. There is an 80

years long Harvard study done on individuals which showed the quality of close social

relationships was actually the best victor of health and happiness.  So not only it’s important to

consider the health of our bodies but we need to consider the health of our communities.

5. Environmental health
Environmental Health is the field of science that studies how the environment influences human

health and disease. “Environment,” in this context, means things in the natural environment like

air, water and soil, and also all the physical, chemical, biological and social features of our

surroundings. According to National Institute of Environmental Health Science, The social

environment encompasses lifestyle factors like diet and exercise, socioeconomic status, and other

societal influences that may affect health.

We need to be aware of the impact of changing environment of our health, how it can be

influenced and what can cause the complex diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease,

metabolic syndrome within malaria, TB, AIDS etc. and how our environment influenced to

contract these diseases.

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6. Spiritual health
Spiritual health refers to possessing, meaning and purpose in life; having a clear set of beliefs

and living in accordance to your morals, values and ethics. Essentially it means understanding

and having a clear definition of what is right and wrong and living according to this

understanding.

The National Wellness Institute says spiritual wellness follows the following tenets:

o It is better to ponder the meaning of life for ourselves and to be tolerant of the

beliefs of others than to close our minds and become intolerant.

o It is better to live each day in a way that is consistent with our values and beliefs

than to do otherwise and feel untrue to ourselves.

Many factors play a part in defining spirituality – religious faith, beliefs, values, ethics,

principles and morals. Some gain spirituality by growing in their personal relationships with

others, or through being at peace with nature. Spirituality allows us to find the inner calm and

peace needed to get through whatever life brings, no matter what one’s beliefs are or where they

may be on your spiritual journey.

The human spirit is the most neglected aspect of our selves. Just as we exercise to condition our

bodies, a healthy spirit is nurtured by purposeful practice. The spirit is the aspect of ourselves

that can carry us through anything. If we take care of our spirit, we will be able to experience a

11
sense of peace and purpose even when life deals us a severe blow. A strong spirit helps us to

survive and thrive with grace, even in the face of difficulty.[7]

Growing urbanization affects women and men in fundamentally different ways, but the

relationship between gender and city environments has been ignored or misunderstood. Women

and men play different roles, frequent different public areas, and face different health risks.

Women suffer disproportionately from disease, injury, and violence because their access to

resources is often more limited than that of their male counterparts. Yet, when women are

healthy and safe, so are their families and communities. Urban policy makers and public health

professionals need to understand how conditions in densely populated places can help or harm

the well-being of women in order to serve this large segment of humanity.

Women's Health and the World's Cities illuminates the intersection of gender, health, and urban

environments. This collection of essays examines the impact of urban living on the physical and

psychological states of women and girls in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the United States.

Urban planners, scholars, medical practitioners, and activists present original research and

compelling ideas. They consider the specific needs of subpopulations of urban women and

evaluate strategies for designing spaces, services, and infrastructure in ways that promote

women's health. Women's Health and the World's Cities provides urban planners and public

health care providers with on-the-ground examples of projects and policies that have changed

women's lives for the better.

Amy Gutmann

The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured
for all of us and incorporated into our common life.

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—Jane Addams

Women empowerment has been a driving force to challenge the disadvantages that women have
been facing for a long time in different areas of their lives. Among the different areas that are
being improved upon are women's health issues.

When it comes to women's health issues, it affects their lives, their families, their work, and their
finances. Even though women have a long life expectancy compared to men in the majority of
the countries, it does not mean that they don't face struggles. In fact, WHO (World Health
Organization) indicated that women suffer from different kinds of health issues all year round
compared to men.

To help counter the different women's health issues, there are a lot of charities, nonprofits, and
projects that are dedicated to helping women's health issues. But what are the main women's
health issues today? Below are some of the top 10 major health facing women today.

 Cardiovascular Disease

You might think that heart disease is a man’s problem, but you might be shocked to know that it
is the number one cause of death among women around the world. This statistics is high in low-
income countries where women die from heart diseases. For instance, women in South Africa
have a higher chance (150%) of dying from heart disease than women in the United States; it is
one of the leading women's health issues that need to be addressed.

2. Sexual Violence

Sexual violence is a term that covers sexual assault, rape, coerced marriage and other types of
sexual abuse. Sexual violence is one of the most troubling human rights issues that live in this
world. Though it is hard to identify the right statistics because of unreported cases, the UN
undertook a survey where they discovered that millions of women end up as victims of sexual
violence every year; and most of the sex violence incidences stem from romantic relationships
and rape.

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3. Domestic Violence

The World Health Organization states that approximately 35% of women around the world are
victims of domestic violence. Sadly, the health ramifications do not stop even after the abuse has
stopped. Domestic violence has the risk of taking a woman to a state of depression that can span
a long time.

Additionally, there are still more health issues like HIV infection, pregnancies that are
unintended, suicide, alcohol abuse, physical injury that is long-term and even death at the
partner's hands. To paint the picture more clearly for you, an estimated 37% of all women who
are murdered have been killed by their partners.

4. Pregnancy And Childbirth

According to Feminist Majority Foundation, 529,000 women die every year in developing

countries because of complications in their pregnancy. In politically conflict-ridden countries,
the statistics are shocking. For instance, if you check on Afghanistan, around 70 women die on a
daily basis due to childbirth complication. In the U.S.A, approximately two to three women die
on a daily basis due to pregnancy complications; this number continues to grow.

5. Contraception And Abortion

Approximately 70,000 women die on a yearly basis because of improperly executed abortions
out of desperation. Most of the numbers come from countries where abortion is illegal or very
difficult to be done. These regions are places where women have poor access to the right
contraceptive. Some abortion cases are done in places where the doctors have no clue of what
they are doing.

6. Breast Cancer

Cancer is a dangerous disease, and in women, the most lethal cancer is witnessed between the
ages of 20-59. In developing countries, breast cancer is on the rise, and it is diagnosed much later
in the advanced stage where not much can be done in a medical perspective.

14
7. HIV/AIDS

Women are half of the 36.7 million people living with HIV/AIDS according to HIV.org. But
regions such as sub-Saharan Africa, the percentage of women with HIV/AIDS is 61% of the
afflicted population. The spread of HIV is also dependent on gender.

Women don’t usually have the chance to refuse sex from their partners in some countries, and
they don’t have the right medical resources for treatment in case they think they have been
infected. Shockingly, this does not apply to the developing countries alone, because 20% of the
new infections in the United States are contracted each year by women through heterosexual
contact.

8. Mental Health

Mental issues like depression affect women, even though it is perceived as though women are
invisible to depression. In essence, women are more likely to develop anxiety disorder and
depression than men. Women are also more likely to go through circumstances that give them
PTSD like a disaster or domestic violence, and they still survive.

9. Malnutrition

Since malnutrition affects two billion people globally, women are the ones who feel the impact.
Women who have vitamin deficiencies are more likely to die while giving birth. Now, since half
of the pregnant women who live in developing countries suffer from anemia, malnutrition causes
approximately 110,000 deaths each year.

10. Stroke

Stroke is the leading cause of disability in the World , and it is also responsible for
approximately 8% of all the female deaths in the world. Women are also more prone to stroke
than women since 60% of all the stroke deaths each year are incurred by women. Women's
health issues like stroke need very great care. 

Problems and challenges faced by Indian teachers in the classroom and

outside

15
 Each year as India celebrates Teacher’s day with fanfare and epiphany by glorifying this noble

profession with expressions of gratitude, I simply wonder why this admiration dies down for the

rest of the year.

Poet Kabir narrated the importance of teachers in his couplet:

Guru gobind dou khade, kaake lagoon pay. Balihari guru aapne gobind diyo batay

(Guru and God both are here to whom should I first bow? All glory be unto the guru, path to

God who did bestow).

Unfortunately these gurus have become the scapegoat for all lacunas that our education system is

plagued with. This brings to an important question as to why teachers are not respected in India

and what daily battles they wage for survival irrespective of whether they are working in a

government school or an international curriculum school.

Professional status of teaching

Teaching is not considered as one of the most sought after career in India; hence the primary

challenge is to raise the status of teaching as a career choice. This stems from the general

perception that people harbor about this profession which is, that anyone can become a teacher as

it takes minimal skill and is nothing but glorified baby–sitting.

Well, to some extent it is true as a non competitive teacher really has minimal skills whereas a

good teacher has leadership skills which can even challenge a senior manager of a company..

In fact in South Korea and Finland teachers are selected from the top 10 per cent which means in

such countries competition for entry to teacher education program is intense. Only one in 10

applicants is accepted to study to become a primary teacher in Finland.

16
This shows the respect that teachers possess in these countries as only the best and the brightest

of the lot are in this profession, naturally conferring it to be one of the most highly regarded

professions.

In India this tradition of hiring the best is practiced by Teach for India, Gandhi fellowship etc by

recruiting the best college graduates or even corporate honchos with exemplary leadership skills

as teaching fellows in their fellowship programme.

In my social circle whenever I mention my profession, my friends respect me not because of my

profession but because I chose to be a teacher instead of what my fancy college degree expected

me to become. My degree made me a good teacher by default.

This feel is the greatest disrespect to the profession and to all those teachers out there who are

there by choice and are doing a great job. The day when everyone understands that a good

teacher is one who is not only a fountain of knowledge but also an agent of change and leader,

would lead to a breakthrough in this existing perception.

Financial compensation
As mentioned in my previous article teaching is one of the most underpaid jobs barring some
schools which strictly adhere to pay commission of scales. Even appreciation in form of financial
incentive is not a very popular culture.

These problems are not restricted to government or low cost private schools but also to posh
international schools were the average annual fee structure of a student ranges from Rs.6 Lakhs
to 10 Lakhs. The school management and board of directors mostly prefer cheap labour.

Again this is because of the low professional status of teachers in our society. The teaching
profession is dominated by women and we see very less men who prefer being a teacher. Women
are not considered as the primary breadwinner of a family and hence their compensation is
abysmally poor compared to the fee structure that these international school charge.

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The biggest irony lies in the fact that these schools celebrate Women’s day with great pomp and
splendor even though more than 90% of the women workforce in these schools are financially
dependent on their husband for expenditure like car loan, education loan etc as their salary is
almost one tenth of what their husbands earn in MNC. The school salary is just like pocket
money for them.

It’s high time that teachers need to value their self esteem and take control of their situation
rather than contributing to this vicious circle. One should always update their networking skills
to be placed in the best of the organization rather than compromising on self respect and
injustice.
 

Lack of motivation and support

Teachers don’t have a voice and have no say about educational policy. The concept of motivated
teacher is also a flawed one because most of them feel that a motivated teacher is one who is
regular to school every day, follows official protocols blindly without questioning and if
necessary provide information that management team wants!

The real focus shifts from student learning outcomes to complying orders as fount fit by the
administrative department relegating teachers to a mere stature of puppets who have no voice.

Ms. Seema Bansal of Boston Consulting Group mentioned in TED Talk that one of the issues
faced by teachers in Haryana is not that they are incompetent but they were expected by
supervisors to supervise the construction of classrooms, toilet, mid day meal or depositing
scholarship money in students account etc.

Hence teachers were in schools but not in classrooms. The same can be extrapolated to private
schools where a lot of instructional time is lost to rehearse high profile school events like annual
day, sports day etc and with the time that is left over teachers are expected to finish the
curriculum with finesse.

By the way an important observation, in all these high profile events the chief guests generally
happens to be a politician, sport star or someone glamorous who holds a position of power. I still
need to come across school functions who have invited prominent educationists or senior
teachers in these school functions.

As teachers have to comply rather than pitching in their ideas, the whole process seems like a
mundane task leading to disheartened and demotivated teachers. The issue of teacher motivation
also lies in the labyrinth of our complex education system where steep growth rate in student
enrolment has not kept in pace with growth rate in number of teachers.

To cope up with this teachers end up teaching a class of say 40 to 80 students in government
schools. Of course, international schools can boast about a harmonious teacher student ratio, not
because they really care about healthy student – teacher ratio but because the vast majority of
Indian population cannot afford the overpriced fee structure.

18
Sometimes teachers are thrust with grades and subjects that a teacher is not equipped to handle or
interested to teach. Most of all the blame game that teachers have to suffer when management
and even parents question them if a student’s result is not up to the mark, even though the results
are based on an archaic examination system which stresses importance on textbook learning with
little to no scope of critical thinking.

Hence teachers are not motivated because they are not empowered and there is no support for
them.
 

Professional development and teacher’s needs

Education sector is a very dynamic industry. A good teacher needs to be constantly updated with
the best practices practiced across the world. This means reevaluating and reflecting one’s
pedagogical skills by adopting rigorous study, practice and self – improvement.

The high performing countries keep professional development and training as the top most
priority and they conduct in-house trainings every month in addition to regular classroom
observations and feedback by peers and line managers.

Observation is considered as an instrument of development by scaffolding and developing the

teachers and not as a weapon to terminate their services which nowadays schools are adept in
doing.

Unfortunately professional development and R&D cell in these elite private schools is starkly
absent and even if there are such workshops they are numbered to say 10 or 15 PD sessions per
year, leaving teachers unequipped to manage the rapidly changing milieu of education section.

Very few schools like Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad, Indus school Bangalore, TISB etc have
their in-house professional development cell.

At the end of the day a teacher is just a human being who herself has studied in the same
dysfunctional system which means most of her teaching practices stems from the belief and
experiences acquired during her school days.

To change or even transform her belief system requires redesigning of professional development
modules to a cutting age quality.

For example, after the implementation of RTE (Right to education), which again many private
schools have not wholeheartedly accepted, the classrooms have become more diverse and multi
ethnic and multi lingual.

Teachers lack the skills to manage such diversity in class. Training programmes are designed
keeping in view the situation existing in urban schools and problems faced by teachers like high
teacher student ratio or multi grade teaching are hardly discussed.

19
An elementary school teacher attends the same training programme as that of a senior school
teacher leaving no scope for differentiation and discussion on age specific issues. Most of the
sessions are nothing but heavy dose of theory with zero planning to implement those ideas.

Sessions like joyful learning and student-centric learning sounds hollow to teachers who have to
deal with social diversity, different levels of students and most importantly, children who belong
to the bottom level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs which means children who have low self-
esteem as they are hungry for love and a sense of belonging.

In general there is no subject specific training for multi grade situations as most training
programmes focus on generic skills. Hence there is a complete mismatch between the problems
faced by teachers inside the classroom and training programmes designed by administrators who
have very little idea of challenges of a multi-grade class.

Even if a teacher takes the whole pain to educate herself, at the end she is supervised by
department head or principal who themselves have stereotypes and mindset that are even more
outdated.

For example, if a language teacher is doing a listening task then she would be questioned by her
coordinator as to why there is focus on listening and speaking skills rather than writing skills.

For the coordinator it is a Eureka moment if the teacher writes something on the board and
students copy them like mute sheep increasing the volume of pages filled in the notebook which
is a tangible product that can be shown to parents. 

Or let’s say a Maths teacher, who wants to implement an activity that she has learned from one
of the workshop session by asking the students to sing a rap while teaching statistics, would be
promptly intervened by the management by scolding her in front of the students for not
maintaining discipline.

Lack of intellectual liberty and academic freedom is what teachers miss in this profession and
this failure of implementing something new curtails their motivation to learn, innovate and
update their practices.
 

Finding the Holy Grail: Work life balance

As mentioned earlier teaching can be demoralizing for many reasons — demotivated students,
helicopter parents, disorganized administration, lack of financial incentive, lack of prestige in our
society for teachers, etc.

Add to it the fact that most teachers return back home and spend their quality personal time and
weekends marking notebooks, planning lessons, grading answer scripts etc. This means by the
end of the day a teacher is mentally and physically exhausted leaving neither any time to pursue
a hobby nor any time to socialise with friends except to recharge themselves during summer
holidays I presume.

20
A person who is physically and psychically drained has no time to even enjoy the little pleasures
of life, forget about imagining how to upgrade one’s career skills.

If a teacher is smart enough to strike the right cord of work life balance , that teacher is branded
as lazy and not hardworking as the myopic thought process of most of the coordinators make
them feel that a good teacher is one who carries work at home.

I feel that teachers should consider themselves as master of their trade and not a slave of their
trade. One should not forget that apart from being a teacher, one is also a member of the society
as a mother, wife, girl-friend, daughter, sister and most important as a friend.

There is no secret recipe to achieve eternal bliss of work life balance. It can only be achieved by
rigorous time management and making it a daily habit otherwise one should be prepared to feel
burnt out which will cause frustration, helplessness and worst professional dissatisfaction.
 

Personal image and society’s expectations

A teacher is expected to project a ‘perfect teacher’ image. She is required to epitomize calmness
and behave like a conservative moral police. Society puts this immense pressure on teachers as if
their every decision, act, and word can inspire or devastate students.

So if a parent, student or God forbid the school coordinator spots a teacher having a quiet
romantic dinner with her partner, then it won’t be accepted as decent behavior as per the moral
code of conduct that teachers are expected to follow.

Well, one can try their luck by quoting Amol Palekar’s dialogue in Golmaal that the person in
question happened to be the twin sibling, but rest assured that teacher will become the talk of the
town.

Think of the curious kids that we teach. If one of them wants to write an open petition to the
school authorities asking why RTE has not been implemented as per Government norms then it
would boomerang the teacher for not curbing free thinking and inciting students.  

If a student fails, it is the teacher’s fault. If a student succeeds, then it is the achievement of the
student alone. Teachers shoulder all the responsibility, but get little recognition or appreciation
for their students’ achievement.
 
To conclude most of us enter this profession as a new leaf: bright and starry eyed, idealist and
ready to inspire the leaders of tomorrow. Once in the profession the reality of teaching hits us,
draining the passion and ‘joie de vivre’ of this noble profession.
Even if a teacher tries to maintain their grounds by shielding their students from the problems
that plague our system, it seems vain as teachers have no power to solve them and become
cogwheels to the entire system and even contributing to the system.

The feeling is like the first job a teenager gets in his or her favorite restaurant. Instead of eating
what she loves to eat every day, she prefers not to eat it again after seeing how it was prepared.

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I feel rather than finding imperfections, the choice lies in one’s hand. It is the personal choice of
the teacher to find gratitude in staying with students and enjoying the heat of the classroom.

It is the choice of the teacher to find pleasure in one’s threads of work, connection with families
of strangers, appreciating the craft of an educator as the rhythm of the years pass by. Above all it
is the choice of the teacher to find the purpose of teaching which is to teach children not to seek
the best but to seek the deepest, the most varied, the fullest, the calmest and the truest. 
When teachers would learn to appreciate their choices, battling the Goliaths would seem less
overwhelming.

one of the biggest concerns of educators across the world, and especially in India, is
making the present generation learners future-ready. India is relatively young as a nation
with around 28 million youth population being added every year. More than 50 per cent
of its population is below the age of 25 and more than 65 per cent are aged below 35. In
2020, the average age of an Indian is expected to be 29 years, while it will be 37 for
China and 48 for Japan. However, India's high youth population won't be of help to the
economy if universal education is not achieved all over India.
The main problem India now faces is that all the pedagogical innovations are fit to
improve the quality of urban education while the rural learners and their education
remain largely neglected. With 65 per cent of the population residing in rural India,
education there truly deserves much more attention, especially when it is plagued with so
many problems - dearth of teachers, teacher absenteeism and poor quality of teachers.

1. Non-permanence of teachers is demotivating

Most of the schools in rural areas are run by the government. They appoint ad hoc
teachers, instead of permanent ones, who are poorly paid as compared to the huge
remuneration of a full-time Trained Graduate Teacher (TGT).
Moreover, promising career prospects, which is quite a motivation booster, is almost nil
for the non-permanent teachers.  This leads to dissatisfaction, eventually resulting in a
dearth of teachers because they move away to more permanent jobs.

2. Late or blatantly absent

Lack of accountability of teachers and school authorities has raised the rate of
absenteeism. School Development and Management Committees (SDMCs), comprising
parents and members of the local community, have been entrusted with the responsibility
of overseeing teachers and their duties. However, research suggests that the committee
has hardly seen success.

3. Non-teaching duties
Moreover, non-teaching duties like election invigilation often keep teachers away from
schools. Furthermore, teachers often have to report for duty far away from their home.

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 With an inadequate transport system in rural India, the distance only adds to their woes
and often results in absenteeism.

4. Exemption from TET

Several states have exempted candidates from Teachers' Eligibility Test (TET) as only 20
per cent of the aspirants clear it. This wrong move, in an attempt to quickly fix the issue
of dearth of teachers, has deteriorated the quality of education in the states even further.
However, quality of teachers is a major concern not only in these states, but across the
entire country.

5. Lack of quality teacher training

There are many private teacher-training institutes in India, but the quality of the training
they provide is unsatisfactory. Continuous professional development is a motivator for
teachers, and enough attention is needed in this regard.

Digital aids to the rescue

Many remedies such as surprise school inspections, teacher-training courses etc. have
been attempted to salvage the rural education scenario. Without being dismissive of any
of these, I would like to point out the effectiveness of digital aids in battling the
challenges plaguing our education system. This front has benefited, and gained visibility,
thanks to some potential ventures by both government and non-government initiatives
alike.

Government initiatives
Attuned to the Modi government's Digital India initiative, a couple of projects have been
introduced in the school education segment.

 For instance, E-basta aims to make digital education via tablets and computers
accessible to learners in rural areas. Digital learning can help develop critical thinking
skills. The project aims not only to benefit learners in learning concepts, but also to make
them comfortable with technology.  
Steps are already being taken to introduce digital aids in preschools. Though digital aids
can never really replace teachers, initiatives of these kinds can make quality content
available to them.

 Again, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), in partnership with state

governments, is dedicated to enhance the capacity of all teachers in Information and
Communications Technology (ICT).
Many teachers are not tech-savvy, and the teacher-training courses never really prepare
them to handle digital aids in classrooms. Such schemes can go a long way in keeping
them motivated besides improving their competence.
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Non-government initiatives
eVidyaloka, a non-profit organisation, connects rural learners and teaching volunteers
through digital classrooms. The passionate teachers are a varied bunch, consisting of
housewives, IT professionals and retired defence personnel. The eVidyaloka team
organises Skype classes according to the availability of volunteers and batch sizes.
Although there is a shortage of teachers in our country, a huge number of college pass-
outs remain unemployed. The organisation tries to properly channelise the supply in the
sector where there is a demand. However, frequent power cuts and poor internet
connectivity in rural areas affect the productivity of the classrooms

 Manodhairya Scheme for Rape victims, Children who are victims of Sexual
Offences and Acid Attack Victims (Women and Children)
It is of utmost importance to ensure the victims of Rape and Acid Attacks (Women and Children) are
brought out from the psychological shock that they suffer. It is also equally important to provide them
Shelter, Financial Assistance, Medical and Legal Aid and Counselling Services.

As per the directions of the Hon. Bombay High Court, the State has now revised the Financial Norms and
Revised Manodhairya Scheme has been launched

Govt. of Maharashtra has been implementing Manodhairya Scheme for rehabilitation of victims of Rape
and Acid Attacks (women and children) by providing them Financial Assistance

With this in mind, the WCD Dept. is implementing Manodhairya Scheme in the State. Financial
Assistance of Rs.1 Lakhs and in special cases Rs. 10 Lakhs. is provided to the victims. Based on the
requirement, Rehabilitation of victims and their dependents by way of shelter, counselling, medical and
legal support, Education and Vocational Education is carried out.

Single Window System: Complete process starting from accepting the forms to providing financial
assistance have been handed over to District Level/ State Level Legal Services Authority

Inclusion of minor Girls under ITPA Act: The revised Act also covers Minor Girls rescued under The
Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956

  Manjhi Kanya Bhagyashree Scheme

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  From 1st August 2017, WCD Dept. Govt. of Maharashtra has started implementation of
First-of-its-Kind scheme “Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree”.
 Under this scheme, Govt. shall provide Financial Assistance as follows:
o One Girl Child: Rs.50,000 for a period of 18 years
o Two Girl Children: Rs. 25,000 each on the name of both the Girls
o Benefits applicable only to the Families having monthly income upto 7.5 Lakhs
and only after submission of Family Planning Certificate
o The families can withdraw accumulated interest after every six years.
 Funds worth Rs. 20 Crores (FY 2017-18) and Rs. 14 Crores (FY 2018-19) have been
distributed for creation of Fixed Deposit

 Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme

 With a core objective of increasing the Child Sex ratio in the State, the WCD Department
has started implementation of Beti Bachao and Beti Padhao Scheme of the Central Govt.
in 10 Districts i.e. Beed, Jalgaon, Ahmednagar, Buldhana, Aurangabad, Washim,
Kolhapur, Osmanabad, Sangli and Jalna.
 The overarching goals of this scheme are to:
o Prevent Gender biased sex selective elimination
o Ensure survival& protection of the girl child
o Ensure education & participation of the girl child

 Since 15th June 2016, additional six districts Hingoli, Solapur, Pune , Parbhani , Nashik ,
Latur were also added into the scheme
 The G.R. Dated 6th August 2018 issued for implementation of said scheme  in  remaining
19 districts
 Maharashtra State is the only State in the country where it’s two districts Jalgaon &
Osmanabad were felicitated with special award by Hon’ble Minister WCD, GOI, on
National Girl Child Day, 24th January 2017. This districts were recognized for
contribution “effective community engagement, enforcement of the Pre-Conception and
Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act and enabling girl child education

Counselling Centre for Women

 Counselling support is provided to victims of atrocities (Women and Children) to help

them get rid of the psychological stress

SavitribaiPhule Multipurpose Women's Centre for victims of atrocities

 Consulting and Guidance is provided to women who are victims of atrocities.

 These centers are hubs for these victim where they can seek guidance and counselling on
Legal Support, Employment and Vocational Training.

 Indira Gandhi MatritvaShayogYojna (IGSMY)

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The main objective the scheme is to provide cash incentive as compensation of wage loss to
women during pregnant and lactating period as well as upgrade their health status and get
nutritious food.

After Enrolment Pregnant women can avail the financial benefits provided by the government.
Government provides total Rs.6,000 in two installments. One at the time of child birth (Rs.3,000)
and after child completes 6 months. (Rs.3,000).

Currently scheme is applicable in Amravati and Buldhana Districts

Kishori Shakti Yojana

The following are the key objectives of this scheme:

Impart health and hygiene education & training to adolescent girls regarding on bad effects of
early marriage to avoid frequent child births need for balanced diet, consumption of green
vegetables etc.

Under this scheme various programs are organized such as kishori Melawa Kishori Arogya Shibir
etc. at AWC level. Adolescent girls which are found anemic special care has been taken through,
IFA tablets with special training for self-hygiene.

Currently, scheme is applicable in the Districts of Ahmednagar, Akola, Aurangabad, Bhandara,

Chandrapur, Dhule, Hingoli, Jalgain, Jalna, Latur, Nandurbar, Osmanabad, Parbhani, Pune,
Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sangli, Sindhudurg, Solapur, Thane, Wardha, Washim, Yavatmal, below
mentioned districts only (23)

 Shubh Mangal Samuhik Vivah Scheme

Grant in Aid per marrying couple is provided for daughters of Widows and Destitute Women

Daughters of Widows and Destitute Women who have completed 18 years of age are applicable for this
scheme

The grant is not applicable if the girl has received any funding for her marriage from any other source

SCHEME: Rajiv Gandhi Jeevandayee Arogya Yojana (RGJAY) has been implemented throughout the state
of Maharashtra in a phased manner over a period of 4 years. Government resolution issued on 13th April
2017 regarding the change into the name of Rajiv Gandhi Jeevandayee Arogya Yojana (RGJAY) to Mahatma
Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana (MJPJAY) and continuation of the same from 1st April 2017.

26
 The insurance policy/coverage under the MJPJAY can be availed by eligible beneficiary families residing in
all the 36 districts of Maharashtra viz. Gadchiroli, Amravati, Nanded, Sholapur, Dhule, Raigad, Mumbai and
Mumbai Suburban, Akola, Buldhana, Yavatmal, Washim, Aurangabad, Beed, Hingoli, Jalna, Latur,
Osmanabad, Parbhani, Thane, Palghar, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurga, Bhandara, Chandrapur, Gondia, Nagpur,
Wardha, Ahmednagar, Jalgaon, Nadurbar, Nashik, Kolhapur, Pune, Sangli, Satara.

 A)    Schemes of Women and Child Welfare Department dirtrict wardha

1. Runing of the Counselling Centre for women.

2. Providing medical care to the sevarely malnourished children. 

3. Proving on 100% subsidy cycles for the girls going to classes 5 to 9 grade and belong to BPL.
4. Providing vocational and techanical training to womens and girls .
5. Providing supplementry the needs of aganwadi .
6. Providing supplementry nutrition to the malnourished children .
7. Providing 100% subsidy sewing machine to women belonging to financially backword family
8. Awarding the nodel aganwadi prize .

    B)   Integrated Child Development Scheme

1. Running of anganwadi.
2. Providing nutrition to children in anganwadi.
3. Vaccination 
4. 100 %  medidal examination of children between the age group 0-6 yrs
5. Curative care of required. 
6. Informal teaching .
7. Balika Samrudhi Yojna

Maternal and newborn health

62
Proportion of women aged 15-49 who received postnatal care within 2 days
after giving birth (%)

Antenatal care coverage for at least four visits (%) 51

81
Proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel (%)

17
Caesarean section (%)

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 Number of women age 15-49 years with a live birth delivered in a health
facility 79

Proportion of women 20-24 years old who gave birth before age 18 (%)22

Births who had their first postnatal checkup within the first two days after 24
birth (%)

Wardha district is located along the western side of the Wardha-Vainganga valley in
Maharashtra. The existing Wardha district was part of Nagpur district till 1862. It was
separated for convenient administrative purposes, and Kawatha near Pulgaon was the district
headquarters. In the year 1866, the district headquarters was shifted to Palakwadi village.
Wardha District has three divisions and eight Talukas. The district is covered with the Satpura
mountain range in the north whereas the western side is occupied by the valley of the Purna
River. The plain plateau of the Nagpur district is on the eastern side, whereas the Wardha
River flows from the boundaries of the north, west and south. The maximum temperature in
the district reaches 46 degree Celsius whereas the minimum temperatures hit around 9.4
degree Celsius. The district is primarily agricultural, and among the major crops grown here
are soyabean, cotton, jowar, wheat, pulses, groundnut, chana etc.
LOCATION OF WARDHA DISTRICT
Wardha district is located on the north-eastern side of the state of Maharashtra. The district
formed part of the Nagpur district till 1962. Subsequently it was made into a separate district.
Wardha district lies between 20 degrees 18 minutes north and 21 degrees 21 minutes north
latitudes and 78 degrees 4 minutes east to 79 degrees 15 minutes east longitudes. It is bounded
on the west and north by the Amravati district on the south by Yavatmal district, on the south
east by the Chandrapur district and on the east by Nagpur district. The boundaries with the
Amravati and Yavatmal districts are identified by the Wardha River. Wardha district is a part
of the Nagpur Revenue division along with Bhandara district, Gadchiroli district, Chandrapur
and Nagpur districts.
DEMOGRAPHY OF WARDHA DISTRICT
As per the 2001 Census, the population of Wardha district is 12, 36,736. The male population
is 638990 whereas the female population is 597776. From the total population, 20.40 percent
population is of the urban area and 73.60 are of the rural area. The population of the urban and
rural areas are 3, 25,041 and 9, 11,695 respectively. The density of the population is 196
persons per square kilometre. The ratio of men to women is 935 women for 1000 men. The

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 population of Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribes is 1, 58,630 and 1, 54,415 respectively. It is
12.83 percent and 12.49 percent for SC and ST respectively for the total population.
ADMINISTRATION OF WARDHA DISTRICT
The Collectorate is headed by the District Collector / Magistrate who is in charge of Revenue
Administration within the district and coordinates the functioning of all other state
Government departments within the district. The Collector has different branches or
departments which are headed by various officers of the rank of Deputy-Collector or
Tahasildar. District Collector is supported by the Additional Collector who looks after a few
branches of the office.
EDUCATION IN WARDHA DISTRICT
The literacy rates in the district are quite commendable. According to the last Census reports,
there are a total of 8, 65,556 literates in the district. This accounts for 80.06 percent of the
total population of the district. There are 739 upper primary, 310 primary, 168 secondary, 75
higher secondary schools and 9 Degree Colleges in district. Facilities for technical education
are also available in the district. There are two Medical Colleges, two technical schools, eight
Industrial Training Institutes (I.T.I.), and one Engineering College in the district.
ADULT EDUCATION
In order to increase literacy and spread awareness about the same, Adult Education programs
are regularly arranged by the District Adult Education Officer. In 1992-93, Wardha district
was declared as a 100 percent literate district. Therefore to maintain the literacy of the newly
literate peoples, the post literacy programs had been initiated from the year 1995-96. As such,
there are 571 literacy centres working in the district in which around 32,208 adults have taken
the admission.
Wardha District, in the Nagpur region is a district of Maharashtra with its administrative
headquarters located at Wardha city. According to 2011 census, the district encompasses a
geographical area of 6309 sq km and has a population of 13,00,774 (persons) including
6,68,385 (males) and 6,32,389 (females). The district has a sex ratio of 946 (females for every
1000 males. The major religions in the district are Hindu (81.27%) and Buddhist (13.49%) of
the total population respectively. The literacy rate in the district is 86.99% (persons), 91.92%
(males) and 81.81% (females). Main spoken languages are Marathi (87.78%), Hindi (8.13%),
Urdu (1.26%). Labour Force Participation Rate is 50.10%. Main source of income in the
district is from the agriculture sector and per capita income is Rs. 86949. The crime rate in the
district is 380.39 for the year 2016. Total cropped area is 4,70,900 in hectares and the forest
area is 863 in sq km (2017).

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https://www.onefivenine.com/india/villag/Wardha

Health Day Name Health Day Start Date Health Day End Date

World Cancer Day 04 February 2019 04 February 2019

International Epilepsy Day 11 February 2019 11 February 2019

International Childhood Cancer Day 15 February 2019 15 February 2019

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Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month 01 March 2019 01 March 2019

World Hearing Day 03 March 2019 03 March 2019

World Kidney Day 14 March 2019 14 March 2019

World Oral Health Day 20 March 2019 20 March 2019

World Down Syndrome Day 21 March 2019 21 March 2019

World Tuberculosis (TB) Day 24 March 2019 24 March 2019

World Autism Awareness Day 02 April 2019 02 April 2019

World Health Day 07 April 2019 07 April 2019

World Immunization Week 24 April 2019 24 April 2019

World Asthma Day 07 May 2019 07 May 2019

World Thalassemia Day 08 May 2019 08 May 2019

World Hypertension Day 17 May 2019 17 May 2019

World MS Day 30 May 2019 30 May 2019

World No Tobacco Day 31 May 2019 31 May 2019

World Blood Donor Day 14 June 2019 14 June 2019

World Sickle Cell Day 19 June 2019 19 June 2019

World Hepatitis Day 28 July 2019 28 July 2019

World Breastfeeding Week 01 August 2019 01 August 2019

World First Aid Day 14 September 2019 14 September 2019

World Alzheimer's Day 21 September 2019 21 September 2019

World Heart Day 29 September 2019 29 September 2019

Breast Cancer Awareness Month 01 October 2019 31 October 2019

International Day of Older Persons 01 October 2019 01 October 2019

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World Sight Day 10 October 2019 10 October 2019

World Mental Health Day 10 October 2019 10 October 2019

World Obesity Day 11 October 2019 11 October 2019

World Arthritis Day 12 October 2019 12 October 2019

Global Handwashing Day 15 October 2019 15 October 2019

International Infection Prevention Week 16 October 2019 16 October 2019

World Osteoporosis Day 20 October 2019 20 October 2019

Lung Cancer Awareness Month 01 November 2019 30 November 2019

World Antibiotic Awareness Week 13 November 2019 19 November 2019

World Diabetes Day 14 November 2019 14 November 2019

World Prematurity Day 17 November 2019 17 November 2019

World COPD Day 20 November 2019 20 November 2019

World Children's Day 20 November 2019 20 November 2019

World AIDS Day 01 December 2019 01 December 2019

International Day of Persons with Disabilities 03 December 2019 03 December 2019

https://www.moh.gov.sa/en/HealthAwareness/HealthDay/2019/Pages/default.aspx

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