Educational Aspiration of Primary School Child Essay

The topic Educational aspirations of rural India deals with studying the aspirations of the rural children and trying to focus on the various factors that affect the aspirations of the children in some way or the other. Five of us had gone to five different states in India with the aim of studying the aspirations of the rural children of that region and then trying to find out the factors that really contribute towards them. The reason for selecting this particular topic was that we were given a choice of our own to explore any field we want. We were all interested in knowing more about the rural youths and their aspirations. To try to know what is the difference between the kids from a rural India and since we some of us had lived and had our education in rural India we wanted to go back and explore the changes that have come in the society if any. Our curiousness towards the education system and to know where the future of India sees itself made us choose this topic. Initially we all were thinking individually on the topic but once we knew about our similar interest, we tried coming up with a topic in the field that excites us all and finally we chose this topic. Also one more reason for choosing this topic was that few of us were going to really backward states and some of us were going to the states with the best educational services. So in a way we were getting the opportunity to study across states and come up with our findings of the reasons of particular aspirations in particular regions and how these are affected in different societies. The topic in our view holds quite an importance in today’s time as learning about the primary kids of the rural India gives us a glimpse into what the future might hold in for them and also for the nation. Since children of today are the future of tomorrow so knowing their aspirations, factors affecting them can certainly help in making changes that can lead the society and the nation towards a better future. The five of us had gone to five different states namely Bihar, Odisha, Haryana, Kerala and Uttarakhand. The comparative study in the later part of the report talks about the status of primary education across these states along with the factors affecting them. 2. OBJECTIVES * To develop an understanding of the educational aspirations of the primary level children in rural India. * Trying to understand the various factors that play an important role in affecting the aspirations of the primary level children. * To do the comparative analysis across 5 different states under a common platform and identify common issues and problems. 3. STATUS OF PRIMARY EDUCATION IN INDIA Education is important not only for the growth of an individual but also for the nation as a whole. Primary education has been the foundation on which the development of every individual as well as the nation depends. But making primary education available to everyone has been a major issue and along with this making quality primary education available has all been more problematic for the state. But in the past few years, India has shown tremendous growth in the literacy levels and achievements in providing successfully education to all at the primary level. Various govt. schemes are being implemented in different states that have resulted in providing assistance as well as incentives to the children to come to school and study. Right of children to free and compulsory education bill was passed in 2008. Special schemes for the underprivileged sections of the society are being implemented. 3. 1 Govt. schemes Different govt. schemes are being implemented in various states across India at the primary level. Some of them are: * Mid Day Meal Scheme (MDMS): MDMS is a scheme that was launched as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in 1995. This programme ensures provision of cooked mid day meal to children studying at elementary level at govt. , local body or govt. aided schools. * Cycle distribution: Another scheme in Bihar where a cycle is distributed to the children†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. * Scholarships for EWS: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. * SSA: Sarva Siksha Abhiyan meaning education for all is another one of the many govt. schemes that aims at providing education to all. This program aims to universalize elementary education by community ownership of the school system. This program also provides an opportunity for improving human capabilities to all children. * Education Guarantee Scheme: This is one of the components of SSA aimed at providing education to the children. 3. 2 Literacy level The literacy level has been on a rise in India with the latest census report stating the literacy rate of our country to be 68% in 2007. This is a substantial increase from 12% at the time of independence and is commendable since the population is also growing at an abrupt pace. Among the Indian states Kerala holds the highest literacy level where Bihar is the lowest. This also accounted for an interesting study as these were the 2 of 5 states being covered. The adult literacy rate was 66% in 2007 whereas the youth literacy rate was 82% in 2001. 4. METHOD OF STUDY * Structured and unstructured interviews: One of the techniques used by us for getting information was structured and unstructured interviews. Many a times, going with questionnaires in our hands raised doubts in the minds of the people, so to avoid that we started with informal chats and then went on with the topic. * Questionnaires: Questionnaires were a means of getting information especially from the primary teachers and the village level authorities. Household interviews were also conducted based on the questionnaires. * Emoticon analysis: For the children of primary level it is many a time difficult to ask questions and get the answers. Also they identify more easily with the visual aids rather than talking, so for a part of our questions to the primary children, we had a set of emoticons for them and they had to choose the answer based on the emoticons. These emoticons basically expressed their feelings and moods at different points of time. * FGDs: FGDs were conducted among teachers so that we can come to know their view points on the current education system and the factors affecting the level of primary education. * Observations: Also observing was one of our main methods of studying about the village and also what the kids do in the school during their breaks and the classes. 5. CHALLENGES FACED There were many challenges faced by us during the work we were carrying out on the theme paper. Many a times the teachers were suspicious as to why we are doing this work and why do we want to know about them and the education there from the kids? Initially most of our time went in explaining our field work objectives and our reasons to be there. Getting information from the kids was one major challenging task as most of them were very shy and it really took great effort to get things out of them and that too correct information. Also a major challenge faced was that many lower caste families who didn’t send their children to primary schools showed no interest in talking on this topic to us. It was hard for us to convince them to talk to us. Language was one more challenge that was faced especially in Odisha. Few of the people in Uttarakhand too, especially women talked in the local Jaunsar language that made things difficult to interpret. 6. STATEWISE DATA All of us had gone to different states viz. Bihar, Odisha, Haryana, Kerala and Uttarakhand. Following is a brief description of the villages that we had gone to along with some of the information about our villages and the level of primary education there, along with the factors affecting them in our respective villages. The comparative analysis across states shows the factors affecting the aspirations of the primary level children and how they differ in different societies. 6. 1 BIHAR Literacy rate of Bihar: 47. 53% Literacy rate of Samastipur: 45. 76% Male: 57. 83%. Female: 32. 69% Educational programmes going in Bihar: 1). Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) 2). National programme for Education of Girls at Primary Level (NPEGEL) 3). Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) 4). School Sanitation and Hygiene Education Programme (SSHE) Literacy rate of Muhammadpur Kowari village: 42% Population of Muhammadpur Kowari village: 11,500 Income sources: Agriculture Laborer Business Rickshaw pulling Government and private service. Income level: Annual income ranged from Rs. 20,000 – 1, 50,000 per annum of the respondents. Education Infrastructure: 1) Anganwadis- 11 in no. 2) Government School- 5 in no. Primary-4 Middle- 1 High– Nil 3) Private School- 1 ( upto class 8) 4) LSC runned by AKRSP-22 Village had eleven Anganwadi centres which would impart learning to toddlers and preschoolers. There were five government primary schools out of which one was upgraded to the middle school. In addition to this there was one private school in village upto class 8th. For higher studies students had to go to Tajpur for class eighth upwards. Apart from this there were private schools at Pusa Road and Tajpur where students of better off families used to study. Muslim families preferred Madarasa education for their children in adjoining village Shahpur Baghauni. One can also find coaching centres mushrooming in and around the village where unemployed college graduates were taking classes and also private tuitions. We came to know that this mushrooming was due to ‘Haushla Afjaaayi Sceme’ of state government who would reward students promoted from class ninth to tenth and those who passed tenth board examination with first division marks. Parent would supplement government school education with private tuitions (Rs.50-100 per student) and coaching for class eighth upwards. But this was not the case for poor who had higher dropout rates. Regarding this the role of AKRSP is worthwhile to mention that it ran Learning and Support Centre (LSC) in minority and dalit tolas which imparted free education at nominal fee of Rs. 10 per child per month for two hours in the morning at 22 centres. It was not considered as substitute for schools rather a complement to emphasize role and awareness regarding education. It attracted students from muslim community and dalits who could not afford high cost otherwise. Here education was more fun rather than drudgery unlike government schools. 6. 1. 1 Factors affecting primary education: a). Parents- Parents attitude and perception regarding the education determines the education and aspiration of children. This attitude and perception in turn is decided by the education of the parents, environment they live in, earnings, some past experiences and interest in child development. Muhammadpur Kowari village had 58% muslim population and 42% hindus of lower castes and their education level and income was very low. Mostly worked as farmers, laborers, and rickshaw pullers and migrated to other states and cities as land holding was less while family size was quite large. So they had a pressure to earn from the very beginning and hardly anyone was matriculate except few. Given the constraints they could not afford good education or think big and were reluctant as many had daughters to marry. Though fathers were not so optimistic regarding education of the child but mothers were very conscious and enthusiastic. Mostly the reply came they don’t want their children to suffer hardships as they had and education was the way to end misery by getting better jobs and lifestyle. Migrant workers that returned on Chhath and BakrId had exposure to outside world and emphasized the need of education and it was evident in their family. However there existed a disparity between spending on education of male and female child in financially sound or medium families whereas there was slight or no difference in poor families as both sexes went to same school and no access to tuitions or coachings or private school. The difference was owing to notion that male child would support family while girls are a liability. b). Teachers- Their qualification, training, apathy, absenteeism or engagement in other works( e. g. election duty, vaccination drives etc. ) proves to be a deciding factor in shaping the minds and thus aspirations of the children. The differentiation on basis of caste, religion or gender has very deleterious effect emotionally and psychologically. Such children develop low self esteem, unwantedness and develop bitterness. In this village when the teachers were interviewed regarding this topic they agreed the lack of staff s (4 teachers were for a middle school upto 8th standard) and hampering of studies due to other official works. Also, the teachers arrived late for the duty and could be seen chatting on the verandah and had no concerns what was going inside the classroom. The lack of trained teachers was felt as para teachers appointed to take classes were not qualified enough to take classes off higher standards. In 2 schools it was found that more than 1 class was going on in a single classroom and in 1 school had 2 rooms only so the classes were conducted under a thatched roof. It was common in many schools the student of class 6 had less learning what would have been otherwise obvious for class 4 reasons being the quality of teaching in government school. An incident was there when a teacher was asked in an informal conversation about aforesaid e. g. he told parents would come and quarrel that my child knows less than the ‘Y’ child and create nuisance so they had to pass all. As a result of this child would fare badly in high classes. Moreover the mismanagement of funds in midday meal scheme was brought in a notice in panchayat meeting. In another example when an Anganwadi staff was asked about the afternoon meal offered at anganwadi she told that out of Rs. 10,000 allocated Rs. 6000 would be shared among officer issuing the fund and the rest would serve the purpose naturally the quality will decline. c). Students- When the students were interviewed along with emoticons it was a real fun for them. However it was tried best to interview them post school so in front of teachers they would hesitate and could not express freely. Female students were interviewed in school only because of the conservative nature of the households and they used to come from far places. In schools as well as at LSCs the performance of girls was better than that of boys. The students had interest and had better result in mathematics but had poor performance in language paper. According to the survey it s because of 2 reasons- teaching was boring and teacher was usually absent, secondly many students had been taught in urdu at home and thus had difficulty in writing in hindi. When boys were asked about being absent from school they gave following reasons- going to relatives house ( as it was a festival time), helping father in fields( sowing time for tobacco and cauliflower), no teaching in school as many teachers were either absent or had taken leave after the election duty. Also, there were boys who came to school but did not attend classes as their peers were playing. However girls had a different reason as some of them had to look after their younger brother or sister while her mother went to work in fields while some of them accompanied their parents to pusa road market to sell vegetables. But surprisingly the attendance, interest and performance of the students were better at LSC because it incorporated rhymes, playthings, drawing and games period and more dynamic teachers. LSC had meeting with parents once a month, emphasized on curricular activities as well. It had organized ‘Bal Sabha’ (parent’s day) on 19th November which was a new experience for kids and more fun. d). School infrastructure- The debilitated conditions of government schools with leaky roofs, lack of drinking water and toilets is a discouraging factor for girl child enrollment and also absenteeism. Lack of teaching aids, text books, sports articles makes teaching learning process a monotonous act so a child tries different ways to escape school. Also, bullying by other boys or fear of corporeal punishment by teachers is a major cause of dropouts and absenteeism in these schools. All these were common in the village and absenteeism was more in rainy season as school had lessrooms or was leaky. One can imagine the scene of two classes commencing in a single room and learning of child in this environment. Moreover if there were any marriages around it was a practice to stay Baraat in the school so unofficially it was a kin of holiday. e). Economic condition of family- This factor was found to be the most important factor along with parent’s attitude and perception during the village stay. Now here are 4 cases- firstly the family was poor and wanted the child to continue study, secondly they wanted child to earn or assist in fields or do other works for livelihood, thirdly family was well off and could afford education and fourthly they wanted them to look after agriculture as land holding and agricultural income was more so they felt there is no need to study. It has been discussed in detail in parents section. f). Societal culture – It describes how the society affects parents and children thinking and feeling about education and what they aspire to become in future. At Muhammadpur Kowari the villagers were involved in agriculture and labor works mainly and were either illiterate or had very less formal education so they were less informed. They viewed education as a way to overcome poverty by seeking jobs such as teaching, police, army, government service etc. So any successful example of anyone getting such jobs was looked with respect and younger generation wanted to emulate his success. On the other hand many of the views that every educated man does not gets the government job so there is no use to study and wanted their child to engage in works. Another kind of thought that emerged was to seek benefit of schemes by enrolling child to school or to engage naughty children for few hours or the meal served in the afternoon at school. Many dalits had bitter experience of discrimination in the past and viewed education and ‘aspirations’ as privilege of upper class and caste and it would make no difference to their conditions. Muslims send their children to madarsa for education and by 14 years of age they dropped out to learn some tailoring or masonry works to earn bread and butter. Very few muslim households send their children to school and those belonging to Sheikhs and business class had tutors for their children. Home tutors were available for girl child because of parda system they were not going outside the village to study and after 8th standard they dropped out. However it was a matter of surprise that these girls when interviewed were happier and had no desire to study further and it had developed in their society as upper limit of girl education.. One more observation was that muslim family had no issues in sending their girl child to LSCs run by AKRSP because it was nearby or in their locality and mostly the female teachers were in that centres. Hence concern for security and parda system was guiding the aspirations. 6. 2 ODISHA Village:Badampada Block:Kaptipada District:Mayurbhanj State: Odisha 6. 2. 1 Village:Badampada: -The village Badampada is 60 kms from Baripada, the district head quarter of Mayurbhanj. It is around 8 km away from block head quarter, kaptipada. The place I visited is coming under tribal belt of Mayurbhanj. The Similipal reserve forest is near to our village. since the area is surrounded by the dense forest, people are more involved into NTFP collection from the jungle. Since the forest cover is depleting day by day, more people are diverted towards agriculture. Besides agriculture, some people depend on livestock. A very few people are salaried and a small fraction of the villagers are businessmen. The literacy rate of Orissa is 63. 08% (2001 census), while the literacy rate of the district is 52. 43%. The literacy rate of the district is not par with the state, because the tribe constitute 57. 67% of the total population of the state. Since there was very less tribal family in our village, literacy rate of the village is more than that of district i. e 60%. The various schemes are implemented by the state govt to attract the children to the school. The children in the primary school are provided Mid Day meal . The students are also text books, free of cost through District Primary Education Programme (DPEP). To improve the female literacy rate, the state Govt is providing school uniform to girls in the primary school. TheState govt. declared Rs 500 cr for Sarva Siksha Abhijan scheme . There is a primary school in the village, badampada which caters to the need of nearby villages like vaisnab sahi,Dhumkheta ,sisodia etc. Among them Vaisnab Sahi is the tribal dominated village. 6. 2. 2 Factors Affecting aspiration of the Children of Primary School * Parents- School students in the village are enthusiastic about education; however, parents are not very supportive. Most parents seem to think education as a meaningless practice without any real benefit. Most people in the village are from the working class, they force their children to help them in their work. I found major difference between Odiya and tribal families. While parents of Odiya family are very much enthusiastic to send their children to school, the case is opposite is in tribal families. * Teachers-The teachers play a vital role in the primary education. The teachers in the village show very little interest towards the education . I came to know, some teachers are involved in parallel business during school time. They do not work for the entire duration of their duty period and go home early. Another trick used by teachers is periodic presence by teachers (at a particular time one teacher remains present, while may be the remaining one is absent) . I am reliably informed that the school Head master was caught while stealing eggs which were provide for Mid day meal . * School Infrastructure- There is two class rooms and one office room in the primary school. So multiple classes are going on in one class room. The situation inside the class room is very much chaotic. It is very difficult on the part of the teacher to handle the multiple classes at a time. I have observed number children moving outside the classroom during school time. The teacher student ratio is 38 in the school. The school children are not getting books at the right time. No audio visual aid is provided to the school. * Economic status – The parents of the well off family send their children to English Medium School at Kaptipada. Due to poor economic status of the tribal household, they can’t afford the other facilities to their children during festival period; there is high absenteeism in the school in case of tribal students. Since they are not provided with any amusement in their home, they attend the fair without going to school. Some children help their household working in others firm to meet the day to day household consumption. * Societal Culture- Children imbibes from the society, surrounding them. Since, the parents are not much aware about the benefit of the education; they don’t motivate their children to attend the school. They are in favour of instant income. Children leave school in early age to earn money in tribal family. 6. 3 HARYANA Village : Gundiani Block : Mustafabad Tehsil : Jaghadhari District : Yamuna Nagar 6. 3. 1 Village: Gundiani: – A small village of population 494, located about 4 km away from a small town called Mustafabad, connected via road and rail routes. According to my fieldwork stay , village seems to be prosperous and it was supported by government data of BPL family number which was eight only out of total 68 households. Major income generating source of villagers is agriculture and apparently few villagers do have some business and services options as well which they have chosen over agriculture, even there are some instances of villagers going abroad for earning livelihood. Hence as the sources of income was varied so the income level was also have a varied range of about one lakh to 60 lakh per annum. Infrastructures related to education available in village boundaries were a government primary school, however within a 3 km radius of village one government higher secondary school, three private schools were located and school buses of 3-4 prominent private schools of which one include Delhi Public School, ply to the village for picking students. Literacy rate of Haryana is 67. 91 % ( 2006 data ), and that of the Yamuna nagar district is 72. 20 % ( 2006 data ) while that of village Gundiani was found to be 68. 81% ( 2010 data collected by Kamal & Sandeep). Well irrespective of all these infrastructure the literacy level of village was on not a brighter side as compared to overall state literacy level and on the lower side as compared to that of district. This can be attributed to the previous generation literacy as the thinking of previous generation was that they need to do agriculture only, so there is no need of education for that, hence this thinking pulled down the overall literacy level to lower side. 6. 3. 2 Factors affecting aspiration of primary school children: * Parents: They play the most important role as home is the building stone of the child’s life and in the home the family i. e parents play a vital role in aspiring the child for education. Educational qualification of parents is a major factor which shapes the thinking of parents towards education and future of their child. In village Gundiani, although the literacy level was low but still parents were conscious enough about education of their child. But they were not aware of future aspects and where to get this information. Parents just see other children from the village and their society and hence understand the importance of education and hence inspire high for the children. * Teachers: At primary level teachers influence the most the future of a child as they mold the mind of a child and hence inspire the actions of child towards life and education as well. In village Gundiani, in government primary school there were only two teachers and they were taking enough pain to work towards better future of students. They used to educated students regarding what they have to face in future if they don’t study well and always used to give examples of various other people from their village only so that children can easily relate them and can learn easily the importance of education. While in the private schools in nearby areas it was not so as the teachers employed by majority of schools were not well qualified, they were there to just teach from text books and were helping the children to understand the importance of education. But still the parents tend to send their child to a private school, the main reason behind this was that admitting your child to private school was seen as a status symbol in the village, and even few poor people used to send their child just to develop their status. Hence we can say that the teachers play a vital role developing the aspirations of a child at primary level. * School Infrastructure: This is one of the vital components affecting the aspiration of children and their perception towards education. In the village Gundiani the government school was having two class rooms and one room for mid day meal scheme meal preparation. There were six standards in the school but there were only two class rooms in each of which three consecutive standards were taught by teachers side by side. While in case of nearby private schools each standard was taught in different class room and enough teachers were available but the qualification of teachers was questionable to some extent. In the class rooms teaching aid were available in case of government schools while in some of the few private schools they were thinking of incorporating it. * Economic Status: Economic status of family matters a lot in case of the education provided to the child and hence in direct proportion affects the inspirations of the child as well parents towards education. As the family income largely determines the chances of a child getting education and its quality depending upon the schools to which children are sent. Apart from the school the outside school education and facilities provided by parents according to their economic status like availing school bus so that child can go to far off better school and also time wastage in traveling can be minimized, availing private tuitions, better text books. Also better economic status of parents give a high confidence level to the child and in turn all the above factors highly influence the inspirations of child as well that of parents towards education of their child. * Societal culture: This section basically include the society and culture the village which highly affect the thinking of parents, teachers and in the end that of child. In society parents see the other children and then compare their child with others and hence try that their child also progress up to some benchmark set by them. Also availability of few role models in the village like few villagers have migrated to other big cities due to jobs and a few migrated foreign which proved to be role models for the parents of other children and hence they also wanted their child to prosper in life and get up to those positions. For this the parents were clearly aware that their child needs to be sent to school. Hence the societal cultures of the village influence significantly the inspiration of the parents in in turn that of the child. 6. 4 KERALA It is possible to say that the state of Kerala has a unique position in the education map of India with a literacy rate of 90. 92%. This rate is the highest in India according to 2001 census. Out of which literacy rate of men and women accounts to 94. 2% and 87. 86% respectively. Kerala became the first state in India to declare full literacy in one district called Ernakulam (1990). With the support of central government, government of Kerala launched a number of programmes in education sector. One of such programmes is â€Å"Akshara Keralam† introduced in 1991. It was aimed at bringing maximum number of illiterates to schools and other study centres. Apart from all these NGO interventions on education are also there in rural and backward areas of Kerala. In April1991 Kerala was declared as fully literate state by NLM (As per the norms of NLM, a literacy rate above 90 % shall be treated as complete literacy). Kerala topped the Education Development Index (EDI) among 21 major states in India in year 2006-2007. A report by NLM in 2007 states that Mizoram surpassed Kerala in literacy rate. SSA is also running well in Kerala. CDS, Trivandrum is monitoring the activities of SSA in Kerala. Kerala has made major achievements in school enrolment at the primary level and in preventing drop outs. Education providers in Kerala include both government and private parties. The percentage of private aided schools is considerably high. Government schools constitute 33% of total schools in Kerala. Education in these schools is completely free. Government aided private schools and fully private owned schools accounts to 45% and 22% respectively. Number of primary schools in Kerala is 6712(2551-govt, 4003-aided private, 158-unaided private) Education accounts for more than one third of the total revenue expenditure of the state. The per capita expenditure on education is the second highest among states in India. 6. 4. 1 Idukki District Profile Idukki is the high range district of Kerala. It is famous for its Mountainous Hills and Spices. This district occupies 13% of the area of Kerala. It can be said that for Keralites Idukki, means power generation also. About 66% of the state’s power needs come from the Hydroelectric Power Projects in Idukki. 88. 58% of the district population is literate. Male literacy rate (92%) is much higher compared to female literacy rate (85%). 6. 4. 2 Karunapuram Village Profile Karunapuram village comes under Udumbanchola taluka of Idukki and Nedumkandam block. It has a population of 26033 according to 2001 census. The major source of income is agriculture and allied activities. The literacy rate of this village is 87%. 40 Anganwadis are there. 6. 4. 3 Factors affecting the educational aspirations and their role in Karunapuram * Parents: -.

Education Among the Pakistani Women Essay

Introduction Education is perhaps the main source of human intellectual development and a critical factor pertaining to standard of living. Education here refers to all instructions received by a child, whether at home, playground, or school. Continuous increase in population and declining assets in public education give birth to a serious dilemma for developing countries. Like most of rest of the developing world, Pakistan is known to be a male dominated country and ranks as the seventh most populous of the world. The sex ratio is 105.7 men to every 100 women, with an overall literacy rate of only 45%; 56.5 percent for males and 32.6 percent for females in 1998 (Jehan, 2000). For centuries women have been battling for equality, yet the society continues to shape the stereotypical view of women and is responsible for the lower status of women. This paper aims to explore the factors obstructing Pakistani women, specifically in rural areas where they cannot acquire education. The consequences they face due to lack of academic opportunities are also discussed alongside an elaborate analysis pertaining to various sociological concepts introduced in the course. This is an ongoing cultural and political issue, which reflects the corrupt government and extreme subjective interpretations of the religious doctrines. The status of Pakistani women reflects the complex interplay of many factors such as social, cultural, and religious views. In addition, the gender biases, geographical regions, and social classes pose several difficulties for Pakistani women. Lack of education quite obviously hinders their practicality in the workforce along with increased unawareness about health and failure to access legal rights for mistreatment from the male dominating society. The social and cultural perspective of Pakistani society is primarily patriarchal. At a very early stage men and women are divided into two separate worlds, this becomes a way of life. For women home is defined as being the lawfully ideological space whereas, the men dominate the world outside the home. This false ideological discrimination between inside and outside worlds is supported by the notion of honor and the tradition of purdah (veil, the seclusion of women from the sight of men or strangers) in Pakistan (Country Briefing Paper, 2000). The male honor is associated with the women’s sexual behaviour, the family’s honor hold great emphasis on women’s sexuality. Although the women are not prohibited from working, at the same time they are supposed to firmly follow the rules of morality. They may feel a role strain, to be a â€Å"good† daughter or wife or to have the right to do a job they wish to do. Status is defined by your social location, and women in general face everyday prejudice because of their gender. Pakistan, being a developing country, has a lower overall status in the world. Pakistani women have many statuses; one being a â€Å"Pakistani†, this however is an achieved or ascribed social position. Meaning it can be attained either by taking birth in the country, or by applying to become a citizen. Being Pakistani is not her only social position, when she’s born; she’s a daughter (ascribed status), when she gets married; she’s a wife (achieved status), and then when she has children she’s a mother (achieved status). The status in terms of just occupying a position; the 3 different statues that the Pakistani women achieve are daughter, wife, and mother. She is not known for anything other than that. Rarely are they known for ‘working women’, or any kind of job positions. The culture looks at them as nothing more, nor are they supposed to have any other status. Status in terms of prestige or honour; for centuries women have been fighting for equality, equal rights, honour, and respect; despite all of that, it is still an ongoing struggle. Pakistani women have an ascribed lower status, this means that women don’t earn or work towards being a lower status; they are given it by birth. Most Pakistani families yearn for a son, so he could handle the family business, but on receiving a daughter, they are ashamed. Hence this starts her being worthless in the eyes of her parents. As she grows older, the neighbours start to look at her that way, and so forth. Eventually the society looks at her that way and therefore, it becomes a norm, or part of an ideology. A Pakistani women’s life particularly in rural areas is a journey of subordination. As a woman is growing up she must listen to her father who decides whether she obtains education and who she would marry. After marriage her husband and in-laws are the decision makers on her behalf, who mainly decide how many children she would have and whether she is allowed to work outside the household. In a woman’s senior years her sons decide the fate for the rest of her remaining life. This is the norm in Pakistan; the behavioral expectations of women are to listen to the males that dominate their lives. Furthermore the entire society acts as an oppressor imposing stereotypical roles upon them. As such, daughter, wife, mother: in all three of these roles, the woman is expected to be sexually ‘pure’, that is, not to commit any acts of adultery. In all three, she must protect her family’s honor by learning conventional general labor skills, exquisite manners, and modest dressing. Women are part of a loop: this loop starts from being a daughter, being a wife, and finally a mother; it ends in the mother giving birth to another daughter who must now follow her mother’s footsteps and live a life reminiscent to that of her mother. This social structure reflects the roles of women in a shocking new light, a light that barely, if not at all, reaches the west. The daughter’s role: starts when she is born into the family. Her role in her family is to clean the house, take care of the chorus alongside her mother, serve food, and if she’s lucky, go to school in a very unhygienic, little populated school. She is to get married at a very early age and this often results in her not finishing her education. Her father decides whom she should marry; this is a process with both cultural and religious significance. According to Islam, it is already written to whom you will marry. By the father being the person who decides, that gives him the â€Å"higher authority† or â€Å"higher status† as the daughter must be handed over by a wali (the present caretaker, either her oldest brother or father). The role of the wife: in most sense the role of the wife is very similar to that of the daughter; she is supposed to keep the honour of the husband by keeping quiet, following his lead, and implicitly being a slave. The role of mother: this is when the daughter learns to take all the cultural guidelines and the norms and apply it on her children. Thus the cycle starts all over again. In order for this cycle to break the women need to view their roles in perceptive of the bigger picture. They need to realize that they have voices and that they can change their faith. Though this does not mean going against their religion, but to fight for their rights in a politically corrupted governing system. Acquiring academic and career planning resources is definitely a constructive and logical start to absolving them from this loop. Conversely, the political and cultural infrastructure most definitely tries to thwart these efforts. The implications of these cultural requirements and lack of education for women’s economic activities are catastrophic. The female labour force participation is known to be the second lowest for Pakistan in the world (Jehan, 2000). Their high contribution in agriculture and the informal sector of work tends to go unrecorded by the statistics. However, in the poorest regions, some opportunities occur for women to work outside areas for domestic services such as sweepers, construction workers, and hired labourers. Women are also restricted to several industries such as textiles, food and beverages and pharmaceuticals. This norm guides the social behavior of Pakistani women, where they cannot acquire high paid jobs and limits women to jobs that are lowest paid and require less mobility. These gender-defined roles vary from the geographical region in which they reside, where some areas are stricter. The main concern is the lack of education among the rural areas limiting their working capabilities. The total number of females with less than primary education is 18% (Ibraz, 1993). The situation is better in urban areas where women have overcome some of the traditional restrictions due to educational facilities. Another factor that restricts Pakistani females from acquiring higher level of education is the traditional rule of marrying them at an early age. The average age of marriage is stated at 17 years for females (Ibraz, 1993). After marriage the beliefs of the husband interfere; resulting in his social behavior of making his wife take care of the household and his family rather than continuing with further education or working outside the household. Cultural ideas such as protecting the family’s honor result in women barely communicating with men outside th eir family. If any communication is necessary, they adjust their religious headgear to make sure that proper protocol is followed and communicate only with minimal eye contact and enthusiasm. Another cultural idea such as honor killings also encourages males to warn females of the consequences of not following the norms and of course, encourage them even more to carry out an execution if the woman is in fact found guilty. Also, in rural areas, a common cultural idea is that education encourages women to rebel against their respective families. This furthermore advocates the practice of not wasting money sending girls to school. Social identity: women who are brave and resourceful enough to leave their families are marked as ‘heathen’ or ‘witchy’. Other females in the neighbourhood are forbidden to socialize with them. Therefore, a common tool to dominate women who do rebel is to take away all social identity from them or in worse cases, demeaning their social identity through media propagandas and common word of mouth. This is a very potent technique; it makes other women (who are in sync with ‘norms’ ) disrespect and look down on those that actually stood up to the discriminating societal structure. The male dominating ideology, therefore, persists. The health indicators of Pakistani women are among the worst in the world. Pakistan is known to be one of the few countries where the life expectancy of males exceeds the females. One in every 38 women die due to pregnancy related complications (Annual Report, 2009). The health of the Pakistani women was never considered a priority because woman as a gender are not culturally, traditionally, or religiously given equal status in the society. The health system relies on this gender inequality and is hesitant to adopt policies to help improve women’s health. Lack of awareness among the female population allows them to accept the mistreatment from the system. They are more likely to approach different methods of treatments themselves. More than 80% women are delivered at home in the presence of unskilled birth attendants (Annual Report, 2009). Social and domestic control over women’s sexuality, their economic dependence on men, and restrictions on their mobility establish the health services provided to males and females. Furthermore, honour killings, rape, and illegal trafficking of women are prevalent across much of the country. Women in Pakistan are seen as a representative of the men’s honour to whom they belong; they are responsible for guarding their virginity and chastity. If a woman is superficially having an illicit sexual relationship, she degrades the family honor and looses the right to life (Amnesty International, 1999). In response the man publicly reveals his power to safeguard his honour by killing the women that have damaged it, these acts are done openly. Brutal punishments are reported for bringing food late, for answering back, and even for undertaking forbidden family visits. Extreme measures such as honour killings take place for several matters. Conveying the desire to choose a spouse and marrying a partner of their own choice is an act of disobedience since most marriages are supposed to be arranged by fathers. Divorce is seen as a public rebelliousness and women must be punished for restoring male honour. Rape among the Pakistani women is seen as a highly shameful event and thus rape victims are also executed. The Government of Pakistan has failed to take any measures against the honour killings (Amnesty International, 1999). The political institution is flawed; the law and government that are supposed to protect their people from harm’s way; institutionalized corruption. To give women a lower status and view them as unequal is prejudice. It is institutionalized for a Pakistani woman to follow the authority of the man, since he is superior to. It is a practice to look down upon women in Pakistan as it became a norm. An example of such injustice is a story of rape victim named Shazia Khalid. She was a medical doctor, who got married and was offered a job by a government run facility. Her husband worked outside the country, she was staying at the facility that was secured by the members of the military. She was repeatedly raped overnight and then silenced by the military as they would not allow the police to investigate. To avoid embarrassment of the military, General Musharraf, the president of Pakistan, declared the rapist innocent. They further attacked Shazia by suggesting she was a prostitute. At this point Shazia attempted suicide but thankfully was saved by her child’s request. Her story increased media’s attention and further humiliated the president of the country, her family was asked to leave the country by the order of the government. They decided to immigrate to Canada but because immediate actions were required they were told to reside in England where they will be further assisted by the government to move to Canada. When landing at England they were abandoned by the government and are living on welfare waiting from their admission to Canada (McKenna, 2006). Egocentrism plays a big role in the hearts of Pakistani men. Their pride and honor has a prestige status; meaning its worth more whereas a woman’s life is worthless. They created this norm shared by the society. In deciding not to follow the norm results in negative sanctions. Due to the institutionalized corruption many Pakistani women have taken a toll to fight for their rights. Diverse groups including the Women’s Action Forum, the Pakistan Women Lawyers’ Association, the All-Pakistan Women’s Association and the Business and Professional Women’s Association, are supporting projects throughout the country that focus on empowering women. They have been involved in such activities as instituting legal aid for indigent women, opposing the gendered segregation of universities, and publicizing and condemning the growing incidents of violence against women. ( Group, strict)The progressive women’s association (PWA) and the all Pakistan women’s association (APWA) is comprised of educated individuals; an example of their political struggle is the attempt to change the hadood ordinances law in Pakistan regarding rape. They are quite effective as they are setting the milestone for women standing up for their rights in the country. Conclusion In light of arguments presented in the paper, the low status of Pakistani women can be attributed to lack of education and cultural values. The consequences are very negative: inequality in the workforce, poor health, and marriage at young age with high fertility and childbearing mortality. Pakistani women lagging behind in education are not aware of their legal rights and are forced to focus on obligations of family life. Although this paper is geared mainly towards the women in rural areas of Pakistan, the cultural and traditional aspect of life imposed on women still persists in middle and higher classes, merely less strict. Hence, there is definitely a big gap between the loose group of women and the strict group of women. Consequently, a solution to the issue can also be portrayed as bridging the gap between these two respective groups. Assistance from the global community will be required to educate different populations to invoke change. Resources APA style Annual Report. (2009). Health of women in Pakistan. Society of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists of Pakistan. Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JPMC). Amnesty International. (1999). Pakistan, Honour Killings of Girls and Women. Country Briefing Paper, Women in Pakistan. (2000). Situation Analysis of Women in Pakistan: An overview Ibraz, Tassawar S. Fatima, Anjum. (1993). Uneducated and Unhealthy: The Plight of Women in Pakistan. The Pakistan Development Review. 32:4 Part II, pp. 905-915 Jehan, Qamar. (2000). Role of Women in Economic Development of Pakistan. University Of Balochistn. McKenna, Terence. (Feb-Mar 2006). In Dept Pakistan: Pakistan, Land, Gold, Women. CBC news. Retrieved from: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/pakistan/mckenna_pakistan.html Munir, Shafqat. (2001). Institutionalized Exploitation of Women as Negative Impact of Globalization. Journalists for Democracy and Human Rights† (JDHR) Pakistan.

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Harlem Hellfighters - Essay Example In this era, the 369th, a military organization for black people was formed in Harlem. This remarkable group fought for the French in World War I and helped the French defeat their enemies. It is this success that led to a dilemma within government quarters on what to do with the black soldiers during World War II. The Negroes were seen as inferior to the white combatants, apparently because the former were lacking in intelligence and discipline (Graebner & Waller 1996, p.194). Majority of white people were opposed to the inclusion of black men in the U.S army arguing that the blacks would fail miserably in the military and would only bring shame to America. Nonetheless, as a result of mounting public pressure, President Roosevelt was compelled to include black people in the military. The 369th was called up to duty in the Antiaircraft. For the black people in Harlem, 369th was not only fighting for the honor of their country, but also for that of the black people in America. The success of 369th would represent the success of the black community in America. 369th spent a year in training at Oswego and came out as professionally trained soldiers. On their mission to Hawaii, 369th encountered racist ideas such as; black men had tails and that a relationship with a black man would lead to a baby with a tail. The 369th also had to deal with incidents of fellow white soldiers getting drunk and insulting black men. According to Graebner & Waller (1996, p. 197) the latter would physically fight back for equality and honor. Some street fights had fatal consequences, as it happened on two occasions when white soldiers died in a street fight. The black men involved in the two incidents were, however, acquitted on grounds that they were fighting for their honor. In the military, the 369 was able to command respect even from junior white soldiers who were forced to salute their â€Å"black seniors†. By the time the

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Role of Religion and REN in Wells and Byrn - Essay Example This essay declares that H.G. Wells in his work titled The Discovery of the Future and E.W. Byrn named The Progress of Invention during the Past Fifty Years discuss how future might pan out influenced by various factors. Wells examine the ways past and present determines future, with various psychological and philosophical aspects playing inducing roles. On the other hand, Byrn focus on various scientific and technological inventions and discoveries of the past and the ways those things are orienting contemporary times and might sway future as well. Although both writers take a distinct approach in formulating their vision of progress, they both deal with how religion and REN play an optimal influencing role, and in other cases, how they take a ‘backseat’ and allow humans to play their roles in future and their vision of progress.This discussion stresses that  humans play prominent roles, there are occasions when religion subtly and even explicitly plays a role in peop le’s living and thereby influences their future and progress. That is, religion in the form of god or superior power is shown to influence individuals or society and in a way their future.  Although humans has invented and discovered many life sustaining and useful things, there is a view that superior powers and religion mainly played the facilitating role in that process.  Wells point out that future is something that is ambiguous, complex, and difficult to grasp.

Technological Change and Economic Growth Research Paper

Technological Change and Economic Growth - Research Paper Example Moreover, it is very essential to understand here that technology does not refer only to the information and technology but it signifies the transfer of knowledge, both theoretical and practical knowledge (Amesse & Cohendet, 2001, pp. 1459-1478) that influences the process of development positively and/or negatively. In order to understand the role of technological change in economic growth and broadly, economic development, it is very imperative to understand the definition of the terms itself that will subsequently indicate the role. Particularly, it has been an observation that economic development (Borensztein & Lee, 1995, pp. 115-124) has often been taken only in terms of economic progress of a state; in other words, in terms of its gross domestic production. However, in current era, economic development is more than an increase in GDP and various factors play a role in determining positive or negative economic development of a country. ... Here, one can notice various indicators in this list cannot be analysed quantitatively and therefore, economic development is more than quantitative progress of a country. The World Bank (2013) data confirms strong relationship of technological change with economic growth of countries. Analysis of its findings has indicated that countries that have invested more in technological advancements, especially in the sectors of education and business have been successful in providing basic facilities to its population, which has resulted in their overall economic growth and/or development. In other words, when a government ensures secure and encouraging social environment by working towards increased technological advancements, it automatically results in higher economic growth of the country. This surely is an indication of the role of technological changes that facilitates economic growth of a country. While the paper includes discussion on the role of technological change in economic gro wth of a country, it will be inappropriate to overlook the particular role of multinational enterprises that they play by bringing FDIs especially in developing countries. For many decades, quantitative indicator of economic growth (Victor, 2008, pp. 5-11) has remained an essential requisite for developing countries to transform into modern and developed economies. In the year 1972, Gould (pg. 1) defined economic growth as â€Å"the sustained increase in real per capita incomes.† Here, one can see that economic growth does not consider short-term alterations since it focuses on ‘sustained increase’. In this regard, one cannot overlook the significant role of

Engineering Hours Accounting System Essay Example for Free

Engineering Hours Accounting System Essay Introduction Avitronics is a medium sized engineering company that produces components for the aerospace industry. Employees keep track of the hours they work on different projects and at the end of the week turn in a timecard with this information on it. The company can take up to roughly 12 contracts a year; each of these contracts is assigned a Job-Code. The Current System At present each employee keeps track of their hours using their own system. This could be as informal as a rough tally on a scrap of paper. At the end of the week, the employees fill their hours into a formal timecard, which is handed in and tallied by a clerk. Objectives of The New System Mr. Salomon (the chief accountant) would like a system with data entry forms so that each employee can input their own hours into the system at the end of each week. He would like to have pull-down menus for the job-codes, so that clumsy engineers entering complicated codes do not make mistakes. Hours should be rounded to the nearest quarter-hour. Data entry should be quick and simple. Each individual employee should not be able to see the hours worked by everyone else. The information should be sent to a database from Mr. Salomon can produce reports. He wants to be able to get a report that shows how many hours each employee works each week (these should be sorted by employee number). Mr. Salomon would also like to have a graphical report, which shows the total number of hours worked each week against each contract. He would like to start a fresh new system at the start of each year. Mr. Salomon would also like an easy to understand user guide, which should include complete instructions for a novice, using no jargon. Performance Indicators My solution will have to: * Prevent all employees seeing other employees hours. * Be simple to use, and not waste employees time. * Prevent errors wherever possible by using validation and combo-boxes. * Allow Mr. Salomon to create reports (with graphs) from entered data. * Include a template for Mr. Salomon to reset the system at the start of the year. * Provide Mr. Salomon with a User Guide designed to assist novice users when they are using the solution. * Accurately calculate the total hours for each employee per week, accurate to each quarter hour. Accurately calculate the number of hours worked on each contract per week, accurate to each quarter-hour. If all of these criteria are met then my solution will be successful. Design Choice of Software A Spreadsheet is the best solution to the problem because I can use the software well already and I know how to solve the problem using this software. I have chosen to use Microsoft Excel because it is the most common piece of spreadsheet software in general use. I could use an equivalent spreadsheet package from a different company, but this may not be compatible with Mr. Salomons computer. Features of Excel that make it ideal for solving the problem: * Ability to create a blank template * Pivot tables to create sophisticated reports with graphs * Formatting to help make it clear to the user where to enter data * Macros to automate various functions * Macros which will execute automatically on opening and closing workbooks * Validation and Protection of cells to prevent tampering and errors Systems Overview My system will be based on one workbook, with three sheets (excluding reports). The Hours Entry sheet will be the main input form, where employees will enter the hours they have worked, on what days and on which contract. The Admin Options Sheet is where the Administrator changes Contract numbers and groups, he/she also sets the week beginning date. The database sheet is where reports and charts will be produced form. Detailed Design Follows on the next 6 pages Workbook and Sheet Discussion Hours Entry Sheet This sheet is designed to let the employees enter their hours in a quick and simple way. It is important to keep it simple so that employees do not become disgruntled and frustrated with the system. This sheet has a simple colour scheme that distinguishes input cells from cells where input is not required. Combo boxes are used to keep certain aspects simple and to prevent mistakes. Buttons are used to execute macros that clear the sheet and transfer relevant data to the spreadsheet. As hours have to be recorded by the closest quarter-of-an-hour, I have used a ceiling formula in the total cells to prevent mistakes being made when data is transferred to the database. Admin Options Sheet This sheet contains any options the administrator may need to set concerning the system He/She can add/remove contracts and add/remove groups of workers. At the start of each working week He/She has to set the Week Beginning date that is needed throughout the system, it is essential they enter this date correctly. The colour scheme for this sheet is simple, every cell is white, input cells have borders to distinguish them form non-input cells. This sheet contains two buttons that execute macros: Protect Workbook This macro opens up the protect workbook dialog, where the administrator can protect the whole workbook, with the exception with cells that are not Locked (input cells). Start New Year This macro erases all the data in the workbook, and prepares the system for a new year. A warning box automatically pops up when this button is clicked to warn the user that they will be deleting all entered data from the previous year. This is to prevent all the data being removed accidentally. Database Sheet This sheet contains all the data that has been transferred from the Hours Entry Sheet. It contains Employee #, Hours Worked for each employee. Job Code, Hours Worked for each contract. From this data, an employee report can be created, this is a report listing all the employees, and the number they have worked in a given week. From this data, a contract report can be created; this is a report listing all the contracts and the number of hours worked on them for a given week. From this data a contract graph can be created, this is a graph showing the number of hours worked for a given contract over the past month (4 weeks). These outputs will need to look professional and be suitable for their purpose. Data entry and Validation These are the fields in which data will be entered into my system: Last Name The employee will type this in. I chose this method, as there is no reasonable alternative. Employee # This will be typed in by the employee. I chose this method because there is no reasonable alternative. Employee number is a four-digit number. This cell will be validated so that numbers bigger than 9999 are not accepted; also text is prevented from being entered. I use this validation so that problems do not occur further on the process, when reports sorted by employee number are being produced. Group The user will select this via a combo box this ensures no typographical errors are made when typing it in. I am choosing to use a drop down box as there are few options for the employee to choose from. Job-Code This will be selected from a drop down box to prevent typographical errors being made. If it were a plain cell, with no validation or input aids, if an error was made it could cause unwanted consequences throughout the system. Monday Employees enter their hours by typing the number in the correct cell. Any number they enter will later be rounded up to the nearest quarter hour, by the use of a ceiling formula. The validation on this cell will be that it has to be a number between 0 and 20. Tuesday Employees enter their hours by typing the number in the correct cell. Any number they enter will later be rounded up to the nearest quarter hour, by the use of a ceiling formula. The validation on this cell will be that it has to be a number between 0 and 20. Wednesday Employees enter their hours by typing the number in the correct cell. Any number they enter will later be rounded up to the nearest quarter hour, by the use of a ceiling formula. The validation on this cell will be that it has to be a number between 0 and 20. Thursday Employees enter their hours by typing the number in the correct cell. Any number they enter will later be rounded up to the nearest quarter hour, by the use of a ceiling formula. The validation on this cell will be that it has to be a number between 0 and 20. Friday Employees enter their hours by typing the number in the correct cell. Any number they enter will later be rounded up to the nearest quarter hour, by the use of a ceiling formula. The validation on this cell will be that it has to be a number between 0 and 20. Saturday Employees enter their hours by typing the number in the correct cell. Any number they enter will later be rounded up to the nearest quarter hour, by the use of a ceiling formula. The validation on this cell will be that it has to be a number between 0 and 20. Sunday Employees enter their hours by typing the number in the correct cell. Any number they enter will later be rounded up to the nearest quarter hour, by the use of a ceiling formula. The validation on this cell will be that it has to be a number between 0 and 20. User Aids to Operation User Aids to Operation that I have used are combo boxes, and buttons that execute useful macros. Combo boxes assist the user with entering data when there are only a few options to choose from. They also help prevent mistakes from being made when typing out something complicated. For example in my system, the user uses a combo-box to select a job code, if they had to type every job code in it is more than likely that every week several mistakes would be made. By using combo-boxes I have eliminated the probability of this occurring. By using buttons that execute macros I have enabled the employees to enter their hours in a simple entry form. If I did not use macros then each individual would have to type hours into the database, this could cause a huge number of problems for the company. Protection Sheet 1, Hours Entry Sheet The following cells on this sheet will NOT be protected: C6, Last Name C5, Employee # C10:C16, Mondays Hour Entry Cells D10:D16, Tuesdays Hour Entry Cells E10:E16, Wednesdays Hour Entry Cells F10:F16, Thursdays Hour Entry Cells G10:G16, Fridays Hour Entry Cells H10:H16, Saturdays Hour Entry Cells I10:I16, Sundays Hour Entry Cells These cells will not be protected because when I protect the sheet, I want them to be editable. Eg the employees need to enter data into them. Macros Transfer_Macro This macro will be executed from a button on the Hours Entry Sheet. The macro transfers required data from this sheet into the database. After it has transferred the data it will return the user to the Hours Entry Sheet, where they can exit the spreadsheet when they are ready. If the transfer is completed successfully then a message box will popup saying Transfer Successful. Create_Employees_Report This macro will create a report on the employees. It will copy selected data from the database, paste it into a new sheet and format it appropriately. The report will show the employee number, last name, hours worked for each week for each employee stored in the database. Create_Contracts_Graph This macro will use selected data from the database to create a graph showing how many hours are spent on each job code over a period of weeks. The graph will show all of the job-codes and all of the data about each job code that is stored in the database. Auto_Open This will execute automatically when the spreadsheet is opened, it shows the Hours Entry Sheet and clear all of the white input cells. It will select the Employee # input box ready for the user to begin. Clear This macro clears all of the white input cells in the Hours Entry Sheet. If the employee enters a few mistakes or realises he has entered totally wrong data, instead of having to delete every piece of data separately he/she can simply click the button that executes this macro. Protect_Workbook This macro will be executed via a button on the Admin Options page, this will hide all menus and the taskbar and take the user to the Hours Entry Sheet. It will also run the Clear macro so that the Hours Entry Sheet is always blank when it shows up. Start_New_Year This macro erases all data from the database ready for the system to begin a new year. The employees and job codes will stay on the admin options page as it would be unreasonable to assume that all the jobs were finished at the end of the last year. Data Flow Diagram Testing Test Strategy This is what my solution is required to do, as outlined in the Performance Indicators section of the Analysis: * Prevent all employees seeing other employees hours. * Be simple to use, and not waste employees time. * Prevent errors wherever possible by using validation and combo-boxes. * Allow Mr. Salomon to create reports (with graphs) from entered data. * Include a template for Mr. Salomon to reset the system at the start of the year. * Provide Mr. Salomon with a User Guide designed to assist novice users when they are using the solution. * Accurately calculate the total hours for each employee per week, accurate to each quarter hour. Accurately calculate the number of hours worked on each contract per week, accurate to each quarter-hour. Here is an outline of the tests I will have to carry out on my spreadsheet: * Does my system open correctly? * Ensure that the Database and Admin sections are hidden from the employees. * Ease of Use, as little complications as possible. * Tests of Validation (effects of incorrect/extreme data entry) * Tests of Protection * Accurate calculation of hours * Does my spreadsheet cause problems after closing? Test Plan The following tests will be performed: Basic Function Tests: 1. Open my spreadsheet. 2. Add data as outlined in test data set 1. 3. Test the Submit Hours button. 4. Add data as outlined in test data set 2. 5. Test the Clear Form Button. 6. Add data as outlined in test data set 3. 7. Test the Submit Hours button. 8. Test the Exit System button. 9. Reopen the spreadsheet. 10. Try entering data from test data set 4. 11. Try entering data in a locked cell (eg. The cell containing the word Group and the cell containing the word Totals). Admin Function Tests: 12. Open my spreadsheet. 13. Test Admin Options button, enter password from test data set 5. 14. Test Admin Options button, enter password from test data set 6. 15. Test the Enter New Employee button. Enter the data as outlined in test data set 7. 16. Select cell F19, Test the Delete Job Code button. 17. Select cell B11, click the Delete Job Code button. 18. Test the Enter New Job-Code button, enter the data as outlined in test data set 8. 19. Test the Enter New Job-Code button. 20. Test the Create Contract-Chart button. 21. Test the Employee Report button. 22. Test the Change System Password button. Enter the password as outlined in test data set 9. 23. Test the Protect System button. 24. Test the Admin Options button. Enter the password as outlined in test data set 6. Error massage should appear. 25. Test the Admin Options button. Enter the password as outlined in test data set 9. 26. Test the Change System Password button; enter the original password again as outlined in test data set 6. 27. Test the Start New Year button. 28. Click File then Exit please do not save any changes to the spreadsheet. Jonathan Stamp ICT Excel Coursework Page 1 of 17 Jonathan Stamp ICT Excel Coursework Page 1 of 17

The Professional-Client Relationship Analysis

The Professional-Client Relationship Analysis Assignment Question: The professional-client/service-user relationship is expected to be objective and detached (Storr, 1989). Discuss this statement and other potentially stereotypical assertions we affix to the profession. Profession is a vocation or an occupation based on an educational training. It also requires a degree in that professional field. For example, teaching is considered to be a profession because it has both an educational training and a degree. The word profession comes from the Latin word professio which means a public declaration with the force of a promise. This means that the profession first presents itself to society as a social benefit and then society accepts the profession, expecting and trusting it to serve some important social goal. In fact, The Australian Council of Professions defines a profession as; a disciplined group of individuals who adhere to high ethical standards and uphold themselves to, and are accepted by, the public as possessing special knowledge and skills in a widely recognised, organised body of learning derived from education and training at a high level, and who are prepared to exercise this knowledge and these skills in the interest of others. The professional-client relationship, as Storr stated, is expected to be objective and detached. In fact, theories of the helping process that follows the medical paradigm have presented the ideal worker as an objective, clinical detached and knowledgeable professional. The relationship has to be objective and detached because a professional is someone whose efforts or actions are only intended to attain or accomplish a purpose or goal without any emotional involvement. For example, a doctors efforts are to cure the patients health without any personal feelings involved. In fact, if a worker expresses his real emotional feelings towards his clients, then he is considered to be unprofessional. The relationship between a professional and a client may be defined by boundaries. These boundaries make the relationship both professional and safe for the client. Paraphrasing Marilyn Peterson, from her book At Personal Risk, these boundaries are the limits that allow a safe connection between the professional and the client based on the clients needs. The clients needs should always come first. The workers personal values or biases should be prevented from their ethical decision-making. This is because, if their values enter their decision-making process, their personal views or needs would begin to govern or shape the therapeutic intervention. Therefore, in this situation the needs of the workers will be placed above the needs of their clients and the decisions will not be beneficial for the clients. Boundary can refer to the line that separates the self of the client and the self of the professional. Professionals should not touch or hug their clients because if this happens, the professional-client relationship would begin to diminish. Regardless of who initiates the touch or hug, the client or professional may then perceive the relationship as one between friends whether intended or not. Professionals should avoid becoming friends with clients and should not socialize with them. The need for professional boundaries is rooted in the power imbalance that exists between the professional and the client. This power imbalance exists because the professional has skills, expertise and knowledge that the clients do not posses and they need. This means that the client depends on and trusts the professional to do only good and not cause harm. In other words the client believes and has faith that the workers, while in their professional role, will fulfill their ethical obligations of bene ficence and non-malfeasance. Also, this power arises due to the clients disclosure of personal information. However, despite all this, professionals are human beings working with other human beings. There are days when they are tired and stressed, and as a result, their ethical decision-making may not be good as it is when they are not stressed. They may cross boundaries inadvertently or their clients may innocently push the boundaries. Nevertheless, it is the professional responsibility to maintain or re-implement boundaries and they must take responsibility for their actions. Stereotype is a belief or opinion that people in a society create on something or someone. Due to these stereotypes, many societies believe that in order to be a professional, one has to obtain an educational training and a degree in that professional field as already mentioned. Therefore, a professional is perceived as someone who goes to university, studies hard, obtains a degree and enjoys a comfortable salary. Such occupations that are considered to be professions to society are medicine, dentistry, law, engineering, architecture, social work, nursing, accountancy and teaching. However, there are occupations that are not considered to be professions but in my opinion they should be. For example, builders and plumbers are not considered as professionals because they do not have a high educational training like the others mentioned. However, in my opinion they should be considered as professions. This is because to be a builder or a plumber one should have a certain knowledge and s kill in order to bulid an entire building or to install and repair pipes. Furthermore, both builders and plumbers are really necessary in society. Therefore, I think that they should be considered as professions even though they do not have a high educational training and a degree. In addition, those occupations that are considered to be professions are not really that professional in my opinion. Workers are considered to be professionals because they have the knowledge and skill to cure their patients, however there are other things that should be considered. For example, usually doctors are not friendly and sometimes, especially in hospitals they have the habit to talk with nurses about patients in medical words. This may make the patients feel uncomfortable because they know that they are talking about them and they may not understand these medical words. In my opinion this is not professional. I think professionals should first make their clients feel comfortable as possible. Workers are required to choose between their personal and professional self during their work. Obviously, professionals have to choose the professional self in order to be professional. However, in my opinion by interacting the personal and the professional self together, one will develop a real skill. Professionals should help their clients in the most important and meaningful way they can. I think that there is nothing wrong if professionals show their feelings and express them to their clients. Professionals should respond in a personal way but at the same time carry out their professional function. In fact the interactional practice theory suggests that the helping person is effective only when able to synthesise real feelings with professional function. Without such a synthesis the worker appears as an unspontaneous, guarded professional who is unwilling to allow the clients access to the workers feelings. Clients do not need a perfect worker but they require someone who cares d eeply about their success and improvement. Usually, the clients are more likely to see the worker as a real human person rather than a mechanical. If the worker shows no sign of humanity, the client will either constantly test to find flows in the facade or idealise the worker as the answer to all problems. The client who does not know at all times where the worker stands will have trouble trusting that worker. Another way in which sharing the workers feelings can be helpful in a relationship is when the effect is directly related to the content of the work as when the worker has had a life experience similar to that of the client. Self-disclosure of personal experiences and feelings when handled and interacted with the professional function can promote client growth. The professional-client relationship raises many critical argumments. In fact there are also many films created purposely to criticse the boundaries of the relationship between professionals and clients. Good Will Hunting is an example of one of these films. In this film what attracted me the most is the relationship between Will Hunter and the psychologist Sean Macguire. Although Will was unaware, blamed himself for his unhappy upbringing life and so he needed help from a psychologist to find direction in his life. In their relationship, Macguire was suppose to be objective and detached. However, this did not happen. Macguire, shared personal information about with Will about his wife and that he was too a victim of child abuse.

Marijuana Is Beneficial Essay -- pot should be legal

To toke or not to toke that is the question. Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of society or succumb to popular opinion and legalize Marijuana. Marijuana is a cure for anorexia as well as glaucoma. Marijuana is even a helping factor for relieving some symptoms of A.I.D.S. Still the government of our nation has Marijuana classified as a Division I drug. Which means it serves no medical use and does in no way benefit society. The studies outdated and scientifically proven to be incorrect still remain beliefs of our government. Supporters of the legalization of Marijuana have many scientifically proven facts that point to the fact Marijuana should be legalized. Marijuana legalization would prove to be beneficial in a number of areas. The first bonus to legalizing Marijuana is its medical uses. Marijuana stimulates the immune system and serves as a cure for glaucoma. Marijuana helps people with AIDS retain and eat food. Marijuana use also has intellectual benefits. Marijuana increases alpha wave activity in the brain. The alpha waves are associated with creativity. This creativity is potentially the foundation of literary and musical revelation. Bob Marley was one of the most influential musical composers of all times. Marley's music has persevered throughout the years. He openly admitted, on many occasions, to smoking marijuana before he wrote and composed songs. Marley's influence is global. His nickname of "the Legend" has distinguished him from many other musicians. His global fame separates him from all other musicians. Many people have attributed Marley's creative genius to his use of marijuana. Socially, marijuana is better from the standpoint of addiction. Marijuana is less addictive than tobacco. Essentially marijuana is neither as physically nor mentally addictive as Nicotine. Another social benefit of marijuana is its not cancer causing when compared to legal drugs like caffeine or Cigarettes. These are only a few of the reasons that Marijuana legal. To really get into the legalization issue not only do you have to look into the facts of the case but also the employment effects it would have. Granted there are no hard facts that say marijuana needs to be legal (or illegal). If a person tries pictures the number of jobs a single American field of Marijuana would create, they find i... ...yet the government says that it still harms you when you smoke it. The government refers to the thousands of chemicals in marijuana you still do inhale when you smoke it. The government fails to mention that every cup of coffee has eight hundred volatile chemicals. After testing a mere twenty-one of the chemicals in coffee studies found that sixteen of them were cancerous. However, coffee considered fairly safe is legal. Investigating each fact of the two cases dealing with marijuana it seems that marijuana should be legal The legalization activists seem to have the answer to almost every fact presented by the anti-marijuana activists. The American public needs to look on these facts as they formulate their personal opinion. This debate is too important to let uneducated people decide the fate of others. America needs to get rid of the old stereotypes of marijuana and formulate their opinion on facts not fancy. Bibliography Page Hager Paul. Marajuana Myths. Not published, :ICLU Drug Task Force Wallace J.M.. "Peripheral Blood Lymphocyte Subpopulations and Mitogen Responsiveness in Tobacco and Marijuana Smokers" Journal of Psychoactive Drugs.:(1988) Marijuana Is Beneficial Essay -- pot should be legal To toke or not to toke that is the question. Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of society or succumb to popular opinion and legalize Marijuana. Marijuana is a cure for anorexia as well as glaucoma. Marijuana is even a helping factor for relieving some symptoms of A.I.D.S. Still the government of our nation has Marijuana classified as a Division I drug. Which means it serves no medical use and does in no way benefit society. The studies outdated and scientifically proven to be incorrect still remain beliefs of our government. Supporters of the legalization of Marijuana have many scientifically proven facts that point to the fact Marijuana should be legalized. Marijuana legalization would prove to be beneficial in a number of areas. The first bonus to legalizing Marijuana is its medical uses. Marijuana stimulates the immune system and serves as a cure for glaucoma. Marijuana helps people with AIDS retain and eat food. Marijuana use also has intellectual benefits. Marijuana increases alpha wave activity in the brain. The alpha waves are associated with creativity. This creativity is potentially the foundation of literary and musical revelation. Bob Marley was one of the most influential musical composers of all times. Marley's music has persevered throughout the years. He openly admitted, on many occasions, to smoking marijuana before he wrote and composed songs. Marley's influence is global. His nickname of "the Legend" has distinguished him from many other musicians. His global fame separates him from all other musicians. Many people have attributed Marley's creative genius to his use of marijuana. Socially, marijuana is better from the standpoint of addiction. Marijuana is less addictive than tobacco. Essentially marijuana is neither as physically nor mentally addictive as Nicotine. Another social benefit of marijuana is its not cancer causing when compared to legal drugs like caffeine or Cigarettes. These are only a few of the reasons that Marijuana legal. To really get into the legalization issue not only do you have to look into the facts of the case but also the employment effects it would have. Granted there are no hard facts that say marijuana needs to be legal (or illegal). If a person tries pictures the number of jobs a single American field of Marijuana would create, they find i... ...yet the government says that it still harms you when you smoke it. The government refers to the thousands of chemicals in marijuana you still do inhale when you smoke it. The government fails to mention that every cup of coffee has eight hundred volatile chemicals. After testing a mere twenty-one of the chemicals in coffee studies found that sixteen of them were cancerous. However, coffee considered fairly safe is legal. Investigating each fact of the two cases dealing with marijuana it seems that marijuana should be legal The legalization activists seem to have the answer to almost every fact presented by the anti-marijuana activists. The American public needs to look on these facts as they formulate their personal opinion. This debate is too important to let uneducated people decide the fate of others. America needs to get rid of the old stereotypes of marijuana and formulate their opinion on facts not fancy. Bibliography Page Hager Paul. Marajuana Myths. Not published, :ICLU Drug Task Force Wallace J.M.. "Peripheral Blood Lymphocyte Subpopulations and Mitogen Responsiveness in Tobacco and Marijuana Smokers" Journal of Psychoactive Drugs.:(1988)

Essay --

Many of us may know about the tragedy that took place back in the 1900’s, the Holocaust. One important question that crosses many of our minds is, if the United States knew what was happening in Germany, why didn’t this great nation take action? Aldof Hitler finally succeeded to become leader of Germany from January 30, 1933-May 8, 1945. During those time periods Jews were being over powered in way of unnecessary persecution. This lead to nearly 6,000,000 murders of the Jews, keeping in mind that 1.5 million of those Jews were children. The Jews who died were not the ones who fought in Europe during World War II. After World War I, Germany was downgraded by the Versailles Treaty, which reduced its pre-war territory and completely reduced its armed force, that’s where it all began. The Holocaust was one of the twentieth century’s greatest tragedies that was made possible by isolationism politics, possible outright fear of the U.S., and possible denial. "During the 1930s, the mixture of the Great Depression and memory of devastating losses in World War, was what could have possibly le...

Catherine Lucille Moores Shambleu and Greek Mythology :: Science Fiction Greece Myth Essays

Catherine Lucille Moore's Shambleu and Greek Mythology Throughout history, humans have had legends, myths and folk tales. Many of these dealt with monsters that cannot be found on the planet Earth, at least any more, especially the myths of ancient Greece. In such cases, there can be a fine line between where myth ends and science fiction starts. In Catherine Lucille Moore’s short story "Shambleau," one such myth crosses that line. That myth is the ancient Greek myth of the Gorgons. Gorgons had snakes for hair and could turn anyone into stone by looking at them in the eyes. "Shambleau" tells the tail of something very much like a Gorgon with snakes as its hair. This creature, called a "Shambleau," comes to and terrorizes a town. In the American Heritage College Dictionary, myth is defined as: "A traditional story dealing with supernatural beings, ancestors, or heroes that informs or shapes the world view of a people" (903). The same dictionary has science fiction defined as: "A literary genre in which the plot is typically based on†¦space travel, or life on other planets" (1221). Both definitions deal with life that is not natural to Earth. While the origins of such creatures may be different, they both deal with non-human sentient beings. Several science fiction stories deal with extraterrestrials visiting Earth in what humans would call the "Ancient" era and becoming part of a culture’s mythology. Then they might come back in the "Modern" era. One such story is Moore’s "Shambleau." Gorgons from ancient Greek mythology are creatures who look human but have snakes for hair and can make anyone or anything that looks them in the eye turn into stone. In "Shambleau," a female extraterrestrial, resembling a Gorgon but with subtle differences, terrorizes a town. A man, not knowing what she is or what she does, tries to protect her from an angry mob until he finds out her true intentions. The story ends with him promising to go off and kill her. However, it is said that she does something to humans which is like an addictive drug. Unlike a Gorgon, however, she had feline qualities such as "three fingers and a thumb, and her feet had four digits apiece too, and all sixteen of them were tipped with round claws that sheathed back into the flesh" (528). Yet, like a Gorgon, she had hair that "squirmed of itself against her cheek" (531).