Right to Education Essay Example for Free

Right to Education Essay On 12 April 2012, in its historical decision the Supreme Court (SC) of India threw its weight behind the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. The court upheld the constitutional validity of RTE Act that guarantees children free and compulsory education from the age of 6 to 14 years of age. The judgment makes it mandatory for the government, local authorities and private schools to reserve 25 percent of their seats for ‘weaker and disadvantaged sections’ of society. The decision has wiped away many apprehensions regarding the future of the Act. It has been welcomed by academicians, politicians, journalists and others. The Union minister for human resources development Mr. Kapil Sibal, articulated, â€Å"RTE can be a model for the world†. While there has been enthusiastic praise of the judgment, concerns related to quality, finance, ensuring of 25 percent reservation in private schools and change in classroom structure cannot be thrown into the winds. The amount put aside by Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, for the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is only Rs. 25,555 crores for 2012-13, which falls short of the recommended financial requirement of Rs 1. 82 lakh crore. From where will the rest of amount come? According to Kapil Sibal (2012) more than 90 percent of households will have to enroll their wards in government schools. Thus 90 percent of households’ wards will have poor access to education; if at all they are enrolled in schools, as the quality of education in government schools is a matter of serious concern. There is no clarity on how 25 percent reservation in private schools will be filled. There may be more than one private school in a neighborhood, so how will they decide who will go where? How will reservation in private schools be monitored? The 25 percent reservation in private schools will dramatically change the structure of classrooms in schools. Whether diversity of classroom will create democratic learning environment and enhance teaching learning process or will it put children from ‘weaker and disadvantaged sections’ in discomfited position? Concern of Quality Education One of the primary objectives of Right of Children Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 is improving quality education. The quality of elementary education, particularly in government schools, is a matter of serious concern. The quality of school education depends on various variables which includes physical infrastructure, method of teaching, learning environment, type of books, qualification of teachers, number of teachers, attendance of teachers and students and so on. There has been substantial progress in increasing enrollment with national average now at 98. 3 percent (2009-2010) according to official statistics. However, the attendance of pupils in class rooms has declined. In 2007, 73. 4 percent students enrolled for Standards I-IV/V were present in class, which has fallen to 70. 9 percent by 2011 (EPW, 2012). Fayaz Ahmad (2009) came with the findings that despite lack of staff in government schools, teachers remain absent on rotational bases. He adds that due to vacancies for teacher, absenteeism of teachers and poor infrastructure in government schools classrooms are multi-grade, i. e. one teacher attending to children from different grades in a single classroom. The attendance of teachers and students in schools is directly related with the quality of education. Furthermore, mere enrollment of children in school does not fulfill the aims of RTE. Amman Madan (2003) argues ‘the question of reform in Indian education has usually been conceived of in narrow ways – putting children in school and getting schools to function efficiently’. Despite high enrollments in schools 50 percent of children studying in the fifth grade lack the reading skills expected of children in the second grade (Annual Status of Education Report, ASER 2010). Ensuring 25 percent Reservation The RTE, Act, 2009 clause, 12 (1) (c) mandates for private schools to admit quarter of their class strength from weaker section and disadvantaged groups 1. The constitutional validity of this clause was challenged in the apex court of country. However on 12, April 2012, a bench of Chief Justice S . H. Kapadia, Justice K. S Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Kumar upheld the constitutional validity of the Act. In response to the Supreme Court order, HRD minister Kapil Sibal said, â€Å"I am very happy that the court has set all controversies at rest. One of the biggest controversies was on whether the 25 percent reservation applies to private schools or not†¦ that controversy has been set to rest. †2 Reacting to the 25 percent reservation Krishna Kumar (2012) penned down â€Å"most ambitious among its objectives is the social engineering it proposes by guaranteeing at least 25 percent share of enrolment in unaided fee-charging schools to children whose parents cannot afford the fee. † Both Krishna Kumar and Kapil Sibal did not give indepth critical insight to the provision. The questions like, what will be the mechanism of selection process of 25 percent children from ‘weaker and disadvantaged sections’. Some private schools are very reputed and provide very high quality of education and some are either at par with government schools or little ahead. There is a hierarchy of private schools which are stratified in quality education. Who will go where what will be the criteria for that? Furthermore Indian society is patriarchal in nature, boys are even served good food in comparison to girls how one can expect parents or guardians will send a girl child to these private schools, if at all they agree to send a girl child to school. The reservation benefits will go to a particular gender of society. This will further reinforce and reproduce gender bias and social inequality in society. Thus RTE itself creates a vacuum for â€Å"reproduction of culture†. Fayaz Ahmad (2009) underlines, parents prefer schooling for their girl child but prefer government schools for them in comparison to a male child. The important finding which has been revealed by Fayaz Ahmad (2009) is the enrollment shown in schools was higher than what actually it was. This was done to get mid-day meals for more and more children so that teachers can save some money to bear other hidden expenditures and avoid wrath of authorities for poor enrollment. Despite employment of Resource Persons and Zonal Resource Persons by Jammu and Kashmir government in the department of school education ,who are obliged to ensure smooth and normal functioning of schools, such kind of loopholes are observed, how can the government ensure that private schools will follow the provision of 25 percent reservation. Change in the Structure of Classroom and Beyond. The RTE Act directed all schools, including privately -run schools, to reserve 25 percent of their seats for students from socially and economically backward families. That means, quarter of students in classes will be from marginalized section of the society. This will change the structure of classes. Krishna Kumar (2012) maintains â€Å"a classroom reflecting life’s diversity will benefit children of all strata while enriching teaching experience. † He further adds â€Å"classroom life will now be experientially and linguistically richer. It will be easier to illustrate complex issues with examples drawn from children’s own lives. † He rightly articulates that class room will reflect diversity and will be experientially and linguistically richer. But his argument that classroom diversity will benefit children from weaker section of society is hypothetical and ambiguous. School education can’t be separated from its social context, those who teach and learn carry with them attitudes, beliefs, habits, customs, orientations which differ from class to class. The elite schools have their own culture which suits to children of upper class. The teaching-learning environment at these schools suits children of upper class while children from weaker section may find themselves alienated from the schools. Bernstein (1971) while examining the mode of communication of working and middle class argues that both have different mode of communication and most of the teachers in schools belong to middle class which gives edge to middle class children in learning. Bourdieu(1977) empirical research in France explores that performance of a child in school on his access to cultural capital. He maintains that children of upper classes are able to understand contents of knowledge better than their counterparts belonging to marginalized sections of society. The present experience of India with mixed or diversified classroom is not encouraging. The children from marginalized sections of society are discriminated in the classroom on the bases of gender, caste, and ethnicity. Despite Indian constitution strictly prohibits discrimination on the bases of caste and other social backgrounds and makes it a punishable act yet children from marginalized sections are discriminated in schools. How can discrimination of ‘weaker and disadvantaged sections be prevented? There are various theoretical and empirical studies which have come up with that children from lower classes are at a backfoot in schools in the learning process. They are more vulnerable when enrolled in elite schools. Conclusion Indian children now have a precious right to receive free and compulsory education from the ages of 6 to 14 years of age. The government will bear all the expenditures of schooling. The act has mandated for private schools to reserve quarter of classroom strength for deprived sections of society, which will change the structure of classrooms in elite schools to school who are not yet enrolled. However, there are many apprehensions with regard to achieving desired goals through RTE. By pressing for 25 percent reservation for the ‘weaker and disadvantaged sections’ of society, government has acknowledged poor quality in government schools where more than 90 percent of households in the country will have to enroll their children even if 25 percent reservation is implemented in true sense. This means that there will be further diversification of society in India. There are also concerns whether those enrolled in private schools will cope and adjust with education system and culture of elite schools. There are many other loop holes which are pressing and challenging in the way of RTE: quality education, funding, teacher skills and enhance of reservation policy are some major concerns. Despite the flaws in the way of RTE Act, it is important to simultaneously ensure proper implementation of the Act. —————————————- Footnotes 1. The Gazette of India, http://eoc. du. ac. in/RTE%20-%20notified. pdf 2. Dhananjay Mahapatra Himanshi Dhawan(2012) Times of India, RTE:Govt Subsidy to be based on KV expenditure, New Delhi, 13 April. References. Ahmad, Fayaz (2009) â€Å" A Sociological Study of Primary Education Among Girls: With Special Reference to Block Hajin of District Bandipora† Dissertation, Barkatullah University. Annual Status of Educational Report (2010): â€Å"Annual Status of Educational Report ( Rural) , assessed 21April 2012: http://www. pratham. org/aser08/ASER_2010_Report. pdf Bernstein, B (1973): â€Å"Class Codes and Control: Applied Studies towards a Sociology of Language†, London, Routledge Kegan Paul. Boourdieu,P (1977): â€Å" Cultural Reproduction and Social Reproduction†, In Karabel, J and A. H, Halsey, (ed), Power and Ideology in Education. OUP Economic and Political Weekly (2012): â€Å"The Right to learn: Two Years after the Right to Education Act, the government needs to focus on quality†,16 April, Vol XLVII No 16. Kumar, Krishna (2012): â€Å"Let a hundred children blossom: A classroom reflecting life’s diversity will benefit children of all strata while enriching teaching experience. †, The Hindu, Delhi,20 April 2012. Madan, Amman (2003): Education as Vision for Social Change, Economic and Political Weekly May 31, 2003 pp. 2135-2136 Sibal, Kapil (2012): â€Å"Admitting kids from weaker sections while not lowering quality of teaching will be difficult for pvt schools, but it can be done: RTE Can Be A Model For The World† The Times of India, New Delhi, 20 April. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, popularly known as the Right to Education (RTE) Act, came into being in India from April 1, 2010. The Act introduces a number of changes in education delivery through schools in India. Many of the changes are simply revolutionary, and if they are implemented properly will vastly improve the system of imparting education in the country. The Act is a landmark in the history of education related legislation in India. However, some of the provisions of the Act, although included with noble intentions, will have unintended consequences that might counter some of the advantages of the new system itself. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, as published in the Gazette of India [No. 39, Dated August 27, 2009] makes for interesting reading. I present below a critique of some of the salient provisions of the Act, and elucidate how these provisions also have unintended consequences that have not been addressed. Along the way, I also provide suggestions on what could be done better. Category 1: Decisions relating to screening and failing students (Section 16) No failing allowed: Section 16 of the RTE Act states that no child shall be failed in any class or expelled from school till he or she completes elementary education (defined as education imparted from Class 1 to Class 8). The Act also provides for special training for students who are deemed to be deficient and deserving of extra help. The Government reasons that failing a child is wrong, no matter the level of learning deficiency the child exhibits with respect to his or her peers. Any such deficiencies, the Government thinks, can be made up through special training provided by the school authorities under Section 4 of the Act. The intention of this rule is no doubt to support those children who are not able to attain the level of performance required to gain admission into the next class. Through this provision, the Government wants to reinforce that performance standards are relative, that failing a child is an unjust mortification for the child’s persona, and that a child younger than 14 is too young to be explicitly classified as deficient compared to his or her peers. While all these reasons hold good, a number of issues remain unaddressed: Skill development: While it is true that failing a child may well cause the child to intensely doubt his or her abilities, the Government fails to appreciate that failing a child also serves as a protective mechanism. Under the mechanism of failing, a child whose skills are clearly deficient with respect to his or her peers is held back in the same class and denied promotion. Failing therefore also acts as a protective mechanism, allowing a child to spend more time in the same class to make sure that he or she gains skills commensurate with his or her peers, and acts as a crucial aid in skill development. Under the new system, however, the child graduates to the next class regardless of performance or skill level in the previous one. The system then provides for special attention (through Section 4 of the Act) for such a child in the higher class to make up the deficiency in skills and ability. The critical question is – can a child who is unable to bear the workload of a junior class now deal with the workload of a senior class in addition to taking special classes? The embarrassment of failing, which under a system of failing a weak student is corrected at the first stage of inadequacy, now carries over into senior classes. This only accentuates the embarrassment that a child faces because of an increasingly steep learning curve which he or she finds ever more difficult to negotiate as compared to his or her peers. As a consequence, the child faces academic seclusion in the higher class. No feedback mechanism: Failing also acts as an important feedback mechanism, making the child and his parents and teachers aware that the child is deficient in critical skills. It also acts as feedback for teachers – if more students fail in a teacher’s class than those in other teachers’ classes, the teacher’s methods and effectiveness should be put under the scanner. However, under the new system, when every child is promoted to the next class irrespective of performance, both parents and teachers in general put in less of a marginal effort to ensure development of the child. The onus to support the child is passed from teachers and parents to schools (through Section 4 of the Act), and rarely, if ever, will teachers be held accountable for falling standards of teaching. Similarly, the incentive for children to learn is diminished, because the fear of failure and the repercussions of non-performance are removed. No doubt all consuming interest rather than fear should be the motive for sustained academic development of children but a system that ensures less accountability for all concerned (students, parents, and teachers) in no way creates a case for substituting ‘fear’ with interest. The stick has been removed, but where is the carrot? Postponing development does not work: One reason often put forward is that failing creates a frustration and lack of confidence in the child, causing them to drop out of school. However, a child that is deficient in skills will find it even harder to catch on in a senior class. The frustration and inclination to quit will therefore be even stronger. Ultimately, the child may be inclined to drop out of school in frustration with the system (experienced over a number of years) rather than with just a particular teacher or class. With the latter, there is still hope to bring the child back into the system. With the former, even that is gone. Inability to deal with failure: A child who does not learn the value of accountability, performance, and hard work in the initial stages of its schooling will be ill-equipped to meet these constants of life in later stages. The child will grow up not with resilience, but with a sense of entitlement, feeling that it is the duty of teachers to provide special training when he or she does not perform. When this sense of entitlement is suddenly removed after 14 years of age, the child may well feel deprived, unsupported, and unable to deal with performance expectations. Rewarding competence is the rule in all professions and vocations – why not embed it into the child at an early age? Category 2: Prohibition on physical punishment and ‘mental harassment’ (Section 17). Section 17(1) of the Act prohibits physical punishment or mental harassment of students. While a ban on physical punishment is laudable, the one on mental harassment is incompletely defined. What, after all, is ‘mental harassment’? It could be anything from a light admonition for not completing homework to vile abuses meant to strip the student of all self-respect. The Act sheds no further light. The problem then becomes one of establishing the commission of mental harassment itself. When rules are incompletely defined, they are subject to manipulation and misuse. Consider the plausible scenario when the rule on mental harassment is sought to be enacted. The clear and visible effect is that teachers will not be able to physically punish or mentally berate students. However, there are also some unseen effects. No clear escalation mechanism: One of the unseen effects is that in rural areas and impoverished regions, where acts of mental harassment are most often carried out, these acts are not even reported (except in severe cases). This is because the child risks arousing further displeasure of the teacher concerned, and is not assured of action in any case. Section 17(2) of the Act prescribes disciplinary action against any teacher violating the rule. However, in a set up where mental harassment is hard to establish, reporting mechanisms are poor, the social matrix favours teachers, and where administrators are already feeling a crunch of available teachers, strong action against the guilty is unlikely. If at all it is to be more effective, the provision needs to be given more teeth – establish a uniform reporting and escalation mechanism for teacher misconduct and ensure that whistleblowers are not at the receiving end of punitive measures. ‘Mental harassment’ not clearly defined: In an urban, metropolitan setting, again the loose definition of mental harassment becomes a problem. Here, students are more empowered, and find it easy to report any behaviour which would constitute ‘mental harassment’ in their opinion. In such schools, errant behaviour from students is encouraged because any admonishment, even if it is meant to serve as a correction, can be (mis)interpreted as mental harassment. This will reduce the effectiveness of teachers to administer suitable admonitory measures to this class of students. A solution for improvement, then, seems to be introduction of a uniform escalation and protection mechanism for students, along with clearly defining what mental harassment constitutes, allowing students and teachers to be aware of potential violations when they occur. Category 3: Only ‘recognized’ schools allowed to function (Section 18) Schools which do not have a certificate of recognition from the local authority or government shall no longer be allowed to function, under Section 18 of the Right to Education Act. If such a school is already functioning, the Act prescribes that it be shut down within 3 years if it fails to meet norms. If a new school is set up, it must conform to the norms for a school as laid out in the Schedule of the Act, or be shut down within three years. The norms themselves prescribe minimum teacher-student ratios for different classes, the existence of a permanent building, minimum number of working hours per teacher, and a functioning library, among other things. There is no doubt that a school which provides all of these will be superior in imparting education to an institution which provides only some of these. However, two main difficulties arise – it is erroneous to conclude that private, unrecognized schools offer a quality of education that is less than that offered by recognized schools, and banning private unrecognized schools further aggravates the problem of scarcity of formal education institutions. Unrecognized schools may be better than recognized ones: In a study conducted on private, unrecognized schools in the slums of East Delhi in 2004-05[1], James Tooley and Pauline Dixon from the University of Newcastle found that there were more unrecognized schools than government schools in the locality. In this research paper, the authors found, through unannounced visits, that a higher number of teachers were teaching in private unaided schools as compared to government schools. Further, they found that private unaided schools (including unrecognized ones) had superior or similar inputs than government schools. Most significantly, in this study, Tooley and Dixon found that children in unrecognized private schools scored 72% higher in Mathematics, 83% higher in Hindi, and 246% higher in English than students in government schools. Students in private unaided schools were found to be more satisfied with facilities being provided to them than their counterparts in government schools. Teachers in these schools reported a level of satisfaction similar to that reported by teachers in government schools. Importantly, even head teachers or principals were reported to maintain closer monitoring on teachers in private unaided schools (including unrecognized schools) than in government schools. Considering that monitoring and continuous evaluation of teachers is an important element of the strategy under the new Act, this last point gains even more significance. In another study conducted by Tooley and Dixon[2] in 918 schools within a locality in Hyderabad, 37 percent were found to be private unrecognized schools, compared to only 35 percent government run schools. Around 65 percent of school-going children in the area went to the private, unrecognized schools. It may be argued that this study was conducted only in particular areas, and that things might be different in other parts of the country. This notion is refuted by another study done by Karthik Muralidharan and Michael Kremer of rural private primary schools in India in 2003[3]. This study, as claimed by the authors, is a â€Å"nationally representative survey of rural private primary schools in India conducted in 2003†[4]. While conducting this research, the authors found that private schools are most common in areas with poor public school performance. In spite of paying lower teacher salaries, these schools have children with higher attendance rates and higher test scores. The teachers are 2 to 8 percentage points less likely to be absent as compared to public school teachers, and 6 to 9 percent more likely to be engaged in regular teaching activity. These research studies do present strong evidence for the view that private unrecognized schools are comparable, if not superior, to their government counterparts. The onus is on the government to prove conclusively that this is not so. Until this has been done, closing down the unrecognized schools, even with a 3 year grace period to confirm to standard regulations, might be hasty, unwarranted, and a step backward. Unrecognized schools solve the problem of outreach: Under Section 13(1), the Government has mandated that no school should collect any capitation fee for granting admission to a child. This move is welcome, and it will ensure that discretionary admissions are not the hegemony of the rich. However, having addressed the symptom, the Government has failed to address the underlying cause. Why do schools demand that capitation fees be paid for admission? The simple reason is that the number of children seeking admission is much higher than the number of seats available. The school therefore sees this as a convenient way of ensuring admission for those wards whose parents can contribute the most to the school financially. The presence of this phenomenon itself indicates the paucity of available education. The solution would be to either ensure that government schools or private recognized schools can ensure education for every child who seeks it. As this is a huge task and is not easily accomplished in at least the foreseeable future, private unrecognized schools must be a crucial part of the strategy for enabling outreach. Not only will this ensure a lesser burden on the government to set up new schools quickly, but it will also ensure that the overall vision of the Act – basic education for the widest base of children possible – is more convincingly achieved. We need to create more schools, not less. Private unrecognized schools are not the alternative to recognized institutions – they are the alternative to no education at all! By proposing to shut them down, the government decreases the outreach of education made possible by these institutions. An uncertain future for students: The RTE Act mandates that unrecognized institutions which fail to meet the set criteria will have to close down after a period of about 3 years. However, apart from mandating that the students in these schools will have a right to seek transfer to other schools within the area, the Act does not specify how and on what basis these students will be given admission in other schools. With recognized schools already straining under the burden of having to support free education for all students who approach them (till their capacity), the room for accommodating more students will be scarce. This itself will create uncertainty for students studying in these unrecognized institutions, and will also create a strain on recognized institutions to accommodate them later. The only alternative is for the state to open as many recognized schools (of approximately similar capacity) as the number of unrecognized schools that it closes down. A Times of India report[5] cites various studies that show that in Punjab, 86% of more than 3000 private schools are unrecognized and 3. 5 lakh children are enrolled in them. The report also says that in 1996, the Public Report on Basic Education in India (PROBE) survey of UP, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh found that 63% of private schools were not recognized. According to the report, Andhra Pradesh has 10,000 unrecognized schools, and Delhi has at least 1,500 catering to around 6 lakh children. The report also cites Prof Yash Aggarwal of the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), who in 2000 had said that the number of unrecognized schools in the country was doubling every 5 years and the number of such schools was soon expected to be 1. 5 to 2 times that of government schools in the country. With 10 years already having passed since this assertion, one can assume that unrecognized schools form a large part of the educational backbone of India. To break this apart and yet keep the neck straight will be a difficult endeavour. Category 4: Prohibition of private tuition by teachers (Section 28) Section 28 of the RTE Act mandates that no teacher should engage himself or herself in private tuition activity. Through this provision, the Government is trying to address the problem of teachers not teaching properly in schools and then requiring students to attend private tuitions to actually learn the subject material. The intention again is worthy of appreciation – any provision that improves standards of teaching in the classroom and removes perverse incentives for teachers to earn money from their students through unethical means is welcome. A question of money: The primary reason why teachers underperform in the classroom and then require their students to attend private tuitions is the want of additional income, unfettered by a loose monitoring and punitive system. Banning teachers from taking private tuitions does not do away with the cause of the problem. With the RTE Act enforcing strict norms on the appointment of teachers, some aspirational educationists might well be forced to sit out. It is then possible for their collaborators inside the system to promote the seeking of private tuitions with these private teachers, with of course a money sharing arrangement being worked out between the two. While banning private tuitions by teachers themselves is a welcome step in this regard, this should also be reinforced with a ban on referring students for private tuitions. Monitoring this will not be an easy task, but then neither will be monitoring teachers to ensure they do not provide private tuitions. It is student reporting that must be the proof of misdemeanour in this case (with suitable verification and safeguards to ensure false reports are filtered out). Banning referral for private tuitions along with private tuitions by teachers themselves will make the legislation more complete. A question of performance: Even if private tuitions by teachers are successfully done away with, it still does not address the prevalence of teacher underperformance and absenteeism. One may argue that with an alternative source of revenue (private tuitions) now removed, teachers will be loath to take up government school jobs, as the effective income earned is lower. Some capable teachers who would otherwise have taught well in school, and also taken private tuitions, will therefore walk away from a government school teacher job, choosing to dedicate themselves completely to private tuitions. On the other hand, some less capable teachers, who were not teaching well in school but were supplementing their income through private tuitions, will elect to stay on. With the failing mechanism also removed, the performance evaluation of these teachers will become even more difficult. Underperformance, therefore, will stay, and teacher absenteeism will only increase (especially to pursue other income opportunities). Section 24 of the Act prescribes punitive measures to be undertaken in case absenteeism and non-performance of duties is observed. While it prescribes the minimum duties to be undertaken by each teacher, no specification is made of what constitutes high performance.

The Health Needs Assessment

The Health Needs Assessment This assignment is a quasi-report on a health need assessment (HNA) which is being prepared, as part of this module summative assessment, in order to gather information on the basis of designing and implementing a programme, on a limited scale, of health and health care acceptable, accessible and identified in Southwark based on evidence of cost-effectiveness and is beneficial to the needs of this practice area. The aim of the report is to demonstrate a critical understanding of HNA and HNA policy at the community level. The use of local and national data in identifying health met and unmet needs by demonstrating an understanding the handling and interpreting local and national data. Using policies context of increasing exclusive breastfeed and using the right evidenced based intervention by emphasising on the advantages of increasing exclusive breastfeeding to infants up to six months old. The intervention of increasing exclusive breastfeeding is through the introduction of fathers as an initiative will be discussed in depth. In order to succinctly focus the critical analysis of the assignment the Hooper Longworth (1998) five steps theory of HNA will be used. Step 1) Getting started Step 2) Identifying the Health Priorities for the Population Step 3) Assessing the Health Priority Step 4) Planning for Health Step 5) Evaluation As stated above this is a limited assignment therefore not all the steps will be used. Health Needs Assessment (HNA) Definition Health Development Agency (HDA) (2004) define HNA as a way of identifying the health needs and inequalities being experienced by a specific population groups in Southwark and identifying their priorities for professional and service development to improve the health of that target population or individuals to reduce health inequalities. The HNA assist the HVs in identifying the wider determinant of health of the population and appropriate intervention put in place to meet that needs. Needs or who will be benefiting from the intended intervention must be identified and it must be cost-effective. Bradshaw (1994) identified four different needs which is termed the Taxonomy of Needs it is Felt needs what the individuals want, expressed needs what is demanded, normative which consists of both the met and unmet needs, and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ In this report the normative needs will underpin the HNA as both the met and unmet needs are going to be identify. Marmot (2003) suggests it is important for people to be in control of their lives and exercise autonomy instead of them being told what they have to do; this is a way of tackling health inequalities (DH 2003). It is Government national priority as resources were allocated to it. HV should make time to find their priorities and preferences and working with their community to achieve their goals. This is a way to achieve health equality and built social capital. Social capital is the way that HV could work with mothers and fathers in improving community relationships and trust which has a direct and positive effect on increasing breastfeeding continuation up to six months. Research indicates that peer education by lay people is sometimes more important than getting information by experts who are coming from a level of power. HMSO (2012) Healthy Lives Healthy People White Paper is an overarching document responding to Marmot Review Fair Society Healthy Live (Marmot 2010) is providing a framework in tackling the wider social determinant of health and health inequalities. It aims to build peoples self-esteem, confidence and resilience right from conception and into older age with stronger support for early years. It is underpin by the White Paper Liberating the NHS (DH 2010) providing the framework in commissioning services that has an impact on the health of the most needy in the community thereby helping in reducing health inequalities. Demography of Southwark Health inequality is defined as providing equal health to all across the different boundaries (reference). Southwark in a central London borough and is ranked 12th as the most deprived London Borough and 41st most deprived in England according to the Index of Multiple Deprivation in 2010 (reference). Pocket of extreme deprivation are concentrated in the centre of the borough. Data from the Charity Shelter UK (2012) reveal that Southwark are among the most vulnerable London Boroughs with 1 in 46 households are at risk of losing their homes. According to the 2010 census (NAO 2012) it has a diverse multicultural, multilingual and multi-ethnic population and 51% of the Southwark population is from the British minority ethnic (BME) group. This is a challenge In Southwark 4.1% compared to 3.1% in London of the households are homelessness and one is four households are overcrowded living in overcrowding homes (Shelter 2005) putting extra pressure and stress on families relations. However, the coalition government has recognised the overburden on the housing stock and in the process of funding new home building across England (). This will not relieve the housing situation in the sort term. children living in poverty 16986 (32.3%) (21.9% England and 29.7% London average) First time entrant to young justice 402 (0.7% or 4.8%) (Eng. 57291; London 8349) 16-18 NEET 330 (4.37%) (4.50% London 6.13% England) homelessness 510 (4.11%) (London 3.14%; England 2.03%) 4136 (90.56%) babies initiated breastfeeding after birth compared with 74.08% in England and 87.06% in London. 3446 (75.69%) breastfeed until six to eight weeks compare with England 47.02%; London 67.32%. Smoking status at time of delivery 202 (4.38) compare with England 13.19%; London 6.02% Under 18 years old conception 679 (61.5%) compare with 38.1% and 40.9% Infant mortality 79 (5.3%) England 4.6% and London 4.5% compared to England, 49 percent of the population is white British descent. The largest minority ethnic groups are Black African and Black Caribbean. Southwark has a young population. Overall the health profile of Southwark population is poor. Deprivation, crime, teenage pregnancy, and children living in poverty rates are higher than England average (Reference). Rationale The rationale is to identify the role of fathers in motivating and promoting their partners to breastfeed their babies as part of public health initiative thereby reducing health inequalities for both mother and infant. Furthermore, it will explore the health benefit of breastfeeding and the potential health risks factors to babies and mothers if exclusive breastfeeding is discontinued after six to eight weeks postpartum. Evidence has shown that exclusive breastfeeding infants until they are six months old greatly reduce childhood obesity and prevent them from acquiring other health problems when they are adults. Reducing smoking and increasing life expectancy are among Southwark health priorities together with the reduction of children obesity (Reference). In order to reduce childhood obesity research has shown that mothers should be highly encouraged to exclusively breastfeed their babies up to six months () and fathers are well-placed to encourage mothers whilst breastfeeding (). This underlines the reason Breastfeeding is among one of the Southwark health priorities as it an important factor in the reduction of child obesity. Such as reducing smoking and increasing life expectancy most importantly is the reduction of child obesity. Research has shown that breastfeeding up to six months is an important intervention to reduce children obesity. The rationale Data In 2010 there were 5131 live births, the highest birth rate in London, out of which 226 were young mothers under the age of 18 years old (National Office of Statistics (NAO) (2011) and Department of Health (2012) Links bf rates and health inequality The breastfeeding initiation rate was 73.9percent in 2012/13 Quarter 2, which is just less than the annual percentage for 2011/12 (74.1percent) and slightly higher than 2010/11 (73.7percent). The prevalence of breastfeeding at six to eight weeks 92% of mothers in Southwark initiate breastfeeding postpartum until 6-8 weeks. 1 in 4 mothers breastfed their babies 6 months, the remainder either revert to mixed feeding or exclusively formulae-feeding. decrease by 66% thereby coming down to a ration of 1 in 4 babies are breastfed by 6 months and over (Bolling et al 2007; NICE 2008). Initiation and duration rates of any breastfeeding rates are lowest among families from lower socio-economic groups, adding inequalities in health and continuing to the perpetration of the cycle of deprivation. BF rates are low in the UK for several generations, and professionals, childbearing women, families and the public at large have all been exposed to formula feeding as the norm. This is one of the reasons that mothers are encouraged by the midwives and HVs to continuously breastfeed their babies until six months and up to two years. It seems that most mothers discontinue breastfeeding their babies after six to eight weeks reverting to formula feeding which is classified as health inequalities. The intervention by fathers is important motivators in supporting mothers to increase breastfeeding rates up to six months thereby prevent health inequalities. The 2012 data in England, London and Southwark on initiation and continuation of mothers breastfeeding from two hours to six to eight weeks postpartum identified a slight increase from 76% in (year) to over 90% in 2013. The discontinuation of breastfeeding after six to eight weeks is as a result of either mothers are returning to work, feeling pain at breastfeeding or lack of family support. Fathers involvement by midwives and Health Visitors (HVs) from antenatal is an important intervention in supporting their partners to breastfed their babies until six months postpartum. The drive placed on mothers by midwives and Health Visitors (HVs) to continuously breastfeed are underpinned by International, National and local policies The determination placed on mothers by the Government and Health Visitors (HVs) to exclusively and continuously breastfeed their babies until six months postpartum is an important and effective measure that can protect their health and that of their babies with specific contributions and motivations from babies biological fathers. Healthy Child Programme (HCP) (2009) recommends that fathers are involved However, the HCP has conflicting information from the UK government which flexibly recommends formula or mixed feeding could be introduced after four months (17 weeks) however with the caveat it should be delayed until six months. This is giving conflicting information to both the mothers and Health Visitors (HVs) who tends to follow the UNICEF BFI UK guidelines. Risk Factors Ip and colleagues (2010) conducted a systematic review of the evidence on the effects of breastfeeding on short- and long-tem infant and maternal health and suggested that breastfeeding reduces the risk of diarrhoea and chest infection; atopic dermatitis and asthma; obesity and type I and type II diabetes (Sherburns-Hawkins et al. 2008); childhood leukemia; sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and necrotising enterocolitis. According to Breastfeeding also confers benefits on the mother by regulating fertility (WHO 2010) Employment, housing and income are primary determinants of health and health inequalities4. They affect individuals, families and society both directly or indirectly through wider social and economic factors, e.g. child poverty, educational attainment of children, social isolation, etc. London is arguably disproportionately affected by employment, housing and income as determinants of health due to demographics, higher living costs and the nature of its housing and employment markets Reference Lists Custworth L. Bradshaw J. (2007) A comparison of policies to enhance child well-being. Special Policy Research Unit, University of York. Hooper, J. and Longworth, P. (1998) Health Needs Assessment in Primary Health Care. Huddersfield: Calderdale and Kirklees Health Authority. Downloaded on the 23rd November 2012 www.geocities.com/HotSprings/4202/ hnawrk.html Shelter UK (2005) Full house? How overcrowded housing affects families. Downloaded on the 24th December 2012 http://england.shelter.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/66400/Full_house_reportL.pdf Stevens A. Gilliam S. (1998) Needs assessment from theory to practice. British Medical Journal 316, 440-444. Tate A., Lloyd T., Sankey S., Carlyon T., Marshall G., Jefferys P., Williamson K and Chung S. (2012) The housing report 2012: The coalition midterm review. Shelter, London. DH (2007) Implementation plans for reducing health inequalities in infant mortality: a good practice. The Stationery Office, London. DH (2003) Infant feeding recommendation. The Stationery Office, London. www.chimat.org.uk. www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/ifs2005 www.london.nhs.uk/publications/tools-and-resources/pct-perfromance-quick-guides

The use of HRM in public sector

The use of HRM in public sector This assignment seeks to produce an analysis and critical evaluation of how Human Resource Management has been used as a lever of change in the public sector. It will consider change in its organizational context and the rational for and purpose of the change. It will also look at the involvement of the stakeholders and the approach been followed to bring about the change. The factors that influence the change and its triggers will also b e analyzed. The role of Human Resource Management and how it has been used to bring about change; and resistance to change will also be looked into in the course of this work. The first stage of the development of public management, according to McLaughlin, Osborne and Ferlie (2002), was the minimal state. Here, government provision was seen as a necessary evil and the provision of almost if not all the public services were through private provision (Owen 1965). However, it was during that period that that the basic principles of public provision were laid out. The second stage of the development of public management started in the twentieth century and was characterized by an unequal partnership between the government and the private sector McLaughlin, Osborne and Ferlie (2002). Here, there was an ideological shift from the traditional conservatism which obtained in the first stage towards social reformism and Fabianism as cited by (Prochaska, 1989). This shift according to them contained three elements which are A recasting of social and economic problems away from a focus on blaming individuals to a recognition of those problems as societal issues which concerned everybody The recognition that the state did indeed have a legitimate role to at least provide some public services And thirdly, in a situation where the state did not provide the public services, it needed to enter into a partnership with the private sector to provide such, even though the state would have more to do. This model according to (Kamerman and Kahn, 1976) is where the state provided the basic minimum and the charitable and private sectors took it up from there. The third stage is the welfare state which according to (Beveridge, 1948) cited in McLaughlin, Osborne and Ferlie (2002), is based on the belief that charitable and private sectors had failed in there provision because of the duplication and fragmentation of the service provided, because their service was inefficient and ineffective. Consequent upon these, the provision of these services would now be managed by professional public servants. The final stage, which is what obtains today, is the plural state. This stage came about as a result of the criticisms against the welfare state. The focus of the welfare state was on the provision of a minimum standard of service to the citizens but late on in the twentieth century, the perceived needs of the citizens had moved on to a situation where they expected services to meet their individual needs and to be a part of the process of the service delivery (Mischra, 1982) cited in McLaughlin, Osborne and Ferlie (2002). However, the debate became more focused in the 1990s because this fourth approach became characterized as the New Public Management. This is because as posited by (Dunleavy, 1991) this approach to public management was based on an incisive critic of bureaucracy as the organizing principle within public administration, a concern with the ability of public administration to secure the economic, efficient and effective provision of public services (Hughes, 1997), and a concern for the excesses of professional power within the public services and the consequent disempowerment of service users (Falconer and Ross, 1999). In spite of the fact that lingering debate as to the exact nature of New Public Management, its classic formation according to (Hood, 1991) in McLaughlin, Osborne and Ferlie (2002) is made up of seven doctrines which are: a hands on and entrepreneurial management in preference to the traditional bureaucratic focus of the public administrator (Clark and Newman, (1993) explicit standards and measures of performance (Osborns et al, 1995) an emphasis on output controls (Boyne 1999) the importance of the aggregation and decentralization of public services (Pollit et al, 1998) promotion of competition in the promotion of public services (Walsh, 1995) emphasis on private sector styles of management (Wilcox and Harrow, 1992) and the promotion of discipline and parsimony in resource allocation (Metcalf and Richards, 1990). In addition to these seven doctrines is the one posited by (Stewart, 1966) cited in McLaughlin, Osborne and Ferlie (2002) which is of the taking away of political decision making from the direct management of public services. However, the New Labour government has taken it a stage further from the plural stage. This is because it is argued that the view of both the public management and the New Public Management is myopic which according to (Clark and Stewart, 1998) in McLaughlin, Osborne and Ferlie (2002) is from a narrow focus on the marketization of public services and towards an emphasis upon community governance. In this situation, the public sector is no longer seen only in relation to the government a planner or service provider, but as working together with the government, voluntary and community sectors and the private sector in the planning, management and provision of public services. Here, according to (Rhodes, 1996; Kickert et al, 1997), the main function of the government becomes the management of the intricate system of service provision. New Public Management according to (Dunleavy and Hood, 1994) is a way reorganizing public sector bodies to bring their management, reporting, and accounting approaches closer to business methods. This reorganization involves the two main ways that the public sector organization is structured by moving it down-grid and down-group as opined by (Douglas, 1982). Down-grid according to him is when there is a reduction of powers by procedural rules over issues like staff. Down- group on the other hand is a situation where the public sector is made less distinctive as a unit from the private sector in relation to personnel, reward structure and in methods of doing business. This shift resulted in budgets been reworked to become more attractive in accounting terms and organizations became a network of contracts linking incentives to performance (Dunleavy and Hood, 1994). Again, functions were separated by introducing distinctions between the purchaser and provider and opening competition between agencies, firms and not-for-profit bodies. Also, provider roles were deconcentrated to the minimum sized feasible sized agencies, allowing users to exit from one provider to another. These according to (Dunleavy and Hood, 1994), was for the purpose of better service delivery. According to (Polsby, 1984) in (Dunleavy and Hood, 1994), New Public Management can be influential in at least two modes based on past experience of organizational change. The first is the incubated mode when change ideas only come into effect in the long run and the acute innovation pattern, in which change programmes reach there peak early and break up soon after. However, New Public Management seems to be a mix of both modes. This may be as a result of New Public Management now been so omnipresent in public sector organizations that it hardly amounts to a distinctive change programme anymore (Dunleavy and Hood, 1994). As opined by (Dunleavy and Hood, 1994), New Public Management has proved a fairly durable and consistent agenda but according to McLaughlin, Osborne and Ferlie (2002), New Public Management may weaken the accountability of public services and the commitment of the community in the pursuit towards marketization. This has brought to the fore, the criticisms of New Public Management which fall into four groups. Though these four broad criticisms of New Public Management contradict themselves, some important lessons can be learnt from them. The fatalist critique of organizational change going by the position of (Dunleavy and Hood, 1994) is that the basic problems of public sector management which include system failure, human mistakes and corruption cannot be done away with, not even by New Public Management. Fatalists are of the opinion that there is really not much change going on in spite of new acronyms and control frameworks promoted by New Public Management and that the much talked about systems have failed. From the point of view of the individualist critique, New Public Management is somewhere between the traditional structure of public administration and a fully formed system which is based on enforceable contracts and the legal rights of individuals. Individualists see New Public Management as becoming a kind of replacement for fully individualized contract rights (Dunleavy and Hood, 1994). The hierarchist critique is that human beings have the ability to manage nature in a defined way but that care should be taken so that the process of change does not get out of hand thereby damaging the public sector. There worry is that as a result of the changes, the ethics of traditional public service will be removed together with the career concept and the redesign of public sector organizations (Dunleavy and Hood, 1994). The egalitarian critic is centered on the premise that problems could arise if concentration of organizational power and decision making are left with the elite because a large scale marketizing reform will increase the risks of corruption in the public service. This is because New Public Management emphasizes a management that is close to the customer, the decentralization of service delivery and giving clients a choice (Dunleavy and Hood, 1994). HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND CHANGE IN THE NHS: According to Armstrong (2006), the nature of interaction between Human Resource Management and performance, and in particular the search for a definite and conclusive evidence of the positive impact of Human Resource Management on performance cannot be underestimated. The impact of the NHS Plan on the workforce has been expressed through the Human Resource in the NHS Plan which has formed the basis for the development of a variety of Human Resource Management policies focused on making the NHS a model employer and ensuring that the NHS provides a model career by offering a Skills Escalator, improving the morale of staff, and building people management skills led to the launching of a new workforce strategy by the middle of the decade. Human Resource Management systems and practices have a laid down framework which involves other organisational factors like structural arrangements. Based on this, Brown (2004) observed that while changes to the public sector over the last twenty have had a significant impact on employees of public sector organizations and the conditions under which employees work, limited thought has been given to the specific field of Human Resource Management research in relation to the public sector. In the UK which is the focus of this study, government has placed a high importance on the value of strategic Human Resource Management in improving the delivery of healthcare reforms. Towards the achievement of this, local trusts of the NHS are encouraged to adopt a best business practice approach by, according to (Bach, 1994), engaging all staff through people management processes. This idea of Human Resource Management in the public sector establishes that Human Resource Management is a major infl uence in public sector change but theoretically, there has to be a scope for the Human Resource function within trusts to adopt a more strategic role within the New Public Management (Stock et al, 1994). According to (Corby, 1996) it should no longer be consigned to a reactive and administrative role, interpreting and applying national rules, and can be proactive. As opined by Barnett et al (1996) the Human Resource function within the NHS is characterised traditionally by low credibility, a narrow operational contribution and a peripheral position. According to (Brown, 2004), the bureaucratic and the management models of public sector operation and activity are compared to discern the ways in which employment and organizational issues are conceptualized in each model. The manner in which the institutional, policy, and organizational changes impact public sector employment and conditions of service are explored. Higher managerial objectives as posited by (Kramar, 1986) are achieved through effective Human Resource practices offered by adopting HRM principles. It can be argued then that the adoption of New Public Management has thrown the possibility of managers acquiring or developing sophisticated Human Resource Management techniques open. This is because New Public Management principles allows a more flexible and responsive approach to quest ions of recruitment, selection, retention, training and development of NHS employees. This is because according to (Tyson and Fell, 1992; Tyson, 1995; Storey, 1992; Ulrich, 1997), for Human Resource functions to play a strategic as opposed to a tactical or administrative role, it has to be distinguished by a focus on the long term, linking business and Human Resource strategic objectives and forward planning. The application of HRM principles within the public sector displaced the traditional model of personnel administration and was argued to have been introduced when the sector experienced a shift from a rule-bound culture to a performance-based culture (Shim, 2001) and paralleled the extensive public sector managerial restructuring and reform programme with the new models of HRM in the public sector highlighting the notion of human resources having the capacity to achieve performance outcomes in line with the strategic direction of the public sector organization (Gardner and Palmer, 1997). With particular reference to the UK, a number of distinctive features of public sector management include more attention to issues of health, safety and welfare of staff. Another feature is the tendency of public employment practices to be standardized, with workers performing similar tasks and also having the same terms and conditions regardless of their geographical spread, high levels of union den sity across public sector organizations (Winchester and Bach, 1995) and also the emphasis on staff development and equal opportunities typifies the State as a model employer (Farnham and Horton, 1992). According to (Truss 2003), there are currently some policies and management initiatives that are transforming the structure and organization of the NHS. The current role of Human Resource Management in the NHS, its status within the service, and its success as an effective function have become especially important at this time as opined by (Bach 2001, Clarke 2006).  Ã‚  As a result of these, the growing importance of the Human Resource function is particularly clear in situations where individual NHS trusts are granted greater financial and operational independence within the increasingly competitive, consumer driven market that the government is creating. This is in spite of the argument by some commentators that changes in the role and status of HRM in the public sector merely follow orientations developed in the private sector (Buchan 2000; Thomason 1990).  Ã‚  However, Human Resource practitioners within the NHS see it from a different perspective. According to them, the intr oduction of more efficient people management is an important and necessary development, one that is very important in an environment where people  are not only the service providers, but also the product and customer of healthcare services. A change in Human Resource functions was one of the reforms that took place in the NHS and its purpose was to cut through bureaucracy and red-tapism and ensure cost-efficiency and effectiveness in the system through a process of decentralization. Decentralization within the NHS was based on the NHS and Community Care Act of 1990. This Act created both the internal market and self governing trusts, and introduced a division and marketization of relations between health care providers and purchasers Lloyd (1997). Decentralization is the transfer of authority or responsibility for decision making, planning, management or resource allocation from government to its field units, administrative units, regional or functional authorities, private entities and non-governmental private or charity organizations. According to (Rondinelli and Cheema, 1983; Rondinelli et al., 1989; Hope, 2000; Sarker, 2003; Elliot and Bender 1997), decentralization acknowledges that for service provision to be effe ctive, different approaches must be adopted in various area of public sector and the necessity to construct pay structures to reflect these needs. In turn, this has resulted in both more diverse and more flexible pay arrangements. Consequently, the main advantage of decentralization and of delegated responsibility for pay is that it encourages, management to develop a reward strategy that is consistent with an agencys wider strategic goals. Delegating responsibility for pay to agencies may be viewed as a mechanism for stimulating agencies to develop an explicit and consistent set of strategic goals in order to satisfy their customers. The main aim of the decentralization process was to encourage trusts to determine pay locally. The central theme of the modernization pay reform was that it should be based on performance. The main thrust of the Agenda for Change within the NHS is the payment of employees based on their performance and as per their skills and knowledge. However, this was not only a new way of paying employees, it was developed to support and enable improvement for patients, employees and the organization. This according to (Department of Health, 2009), allowed for equality of pay, pay re-structuring and transparency. The Human Resource function was used to bring about this change in terms of job evaluation, harmonizing terms and conditions of service and through the knowledge and skills framework. PLANNED CHANGE: As a concept, the process of change starts with the awareness of a need for change. An analysis for the need for change and the factors that lead to it will now be an indicator of the direction in which action needs to be taken (Armstrong, 2006). Proponents of change management have proposed two forms of the process which are: planned and emergent. Planned change has dominated the theory and practice of change management over the last 50 years and is significantly based on the work of Kurt Lewin. This approach sees organisational change as a process that moves from one fixed state to another through a series of pre-planned steps, and can therefore be analysed by a construct such as Lewins (1951) Action Research model. Another planned approach to organisational change is Lewins (2003)Three-step model which describes the three learning stages of freezing; when one clings to what one knows, unfreezing; when one explores ideas, issues and approaches, and refreezing; the stage of identify ing, utilising and integrating values, attitudes and skills with those previously held and currently desired. This approach recognises that, before any new behaviour can be adopted successfully, the old one has to be made away with. Only then can the new behaviour be fully accepted. The organisational change that was carried out in the NHS embodies some of the characteristics of the planned model, defined by (Iles and Sutherland, 2001) as implementation of some known new state through the management of some form of transitional phase over a controlled period of time. This came about when politicians and health care professionals recognized some degree of change was necessary in the UK health sector in order to facilitate better healthcare delivery services. In response to the intention, government embarked on series of health program reforms to effect positive changes in the healthcare. Governments health reforms have concentrated on hospitals, but increasingly shifting their attention to NHS community services. Governments plan is to improve long term healthcare outcomes for individual patients while reducing the cost pressures on the system as a whole. Proposals include more outreach clinics, a regular healthcare checkup, and joined-up care plans. This plan of action by the government is based on a model that will make healthcare services affordable and closer to the patients. The governments proposals on change are aimed at the following: Bringing some specialties out of the hospital nearer to people, including dermatology, ear, nose and throat, orthopedics and gynecology would be achieved either through outreach clinics run by hospital consultants or specialist services provided for by GPs Introducing a new generation of community hospitals that will provide diagnostics, minor surgery, outpatient facilities and access to social services in one location Pilot a new NHS life check or health MoT from 2007 to assess peoples lifestyle risks, the right steps to take and provide referrals to specialists if needed The life check will be run on a two-stage basis with patients first filling in a paper-based or online self-assessment. If the assessments indicate the person is at significant risk of poor health for conditions such as diabetes, cancer or heart disease, the individual would then be given access to a health trainer who could advise about diet and exercise. If problems are more complex, patient would be referred to a GP or nurse Give patients a guarantee of registration on to a GP practice list in their locality and simplifying the system for doing this Introducing incentives to GP practices to offer opening times that respond to the needs of patients in their area Consideration was given to dual registration allowing patients to register with more than one GP but was thrown out because it would undermine the underlying principles of the family doctor system New responsibilities placed on local councils and the NHS to work together to provide joined up care plans for those who need them Supporting people to improve self care by trebling the investment in the Expert Patient Programme, which teaches patients with long-term illnesses, such as asthma and diabetes, how to control their condition Developing an information prescription for people with long-term health and social care needs and for their carers More support for carers, including improved emergency respite arrangements and the establishment of a national helpline for carers Extension of direct payments and piloting of individual budgets for social care to allow people to decide what their allocations are spent on Increasing the quantity and quality of primary care in under-served, deprived areas through a national procurement programme which would open the GP market to the private and voluntary sectors Encourage nurses and other health professionals, such as physios, to take on more responsibility Set up pilots to allow patients to self-refer themselves to professionals other than GPs, who currently act as gatekeepers to the NHS (www.news.bbc.co.uk) REFERNCES: Armstrong, M. C. (2006) A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. 10th Ed, London, Kogan Page. Bach, S. (2001) HR and New Approaches to Public Sector Management: Improving HRM Capacity. Workshop on Global Health Workforce Strategy, World Health Organization, Annecy, France. Brown, K. (2004) Human Resource Management in the Public Sector. Public Management Review, 6(3), pp 303-309. Buchanan, J. (2000) Health Sector Reform and Human Resources: Lessons from the United Kingdom. Health Policy and Planning, 15(3), pp 70-89. Clark, N. (2006) Why HR Policies fail to support workplace learning: The Complexities of Policy Implementation in Healthcare. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 17(1), pp 190-206. Department of Health. (2009) Agenda for Change. Dunleavy, P. and Hood, C. (1994) From Old Public Administration to New Public Administration: Public Money and Management, 14(3), pp 9-16. Lloyd, C. (1997) Decentralization in the NHS: Prospects for Workplace Unionism, British Journal of Industrial Relations, 35(3), pp 427-446. McLaughlin, K., Osborne, S. P, and Ferlie, E. (2002) New Public Management- Current Trends and Future Prospects, (EDs) Abingdon, Routledge. Thomason, G. F. (1990) Human Resource Strategies in the Health Sector. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 1(3), pp173-194. Truss, C. (2003) Strategic HRM: Enablers and Constraints in the NHS: International Journal of Public Sector Management, 16(1), pp 48-60. http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Managingyourorganization/Humanresourceandtraining/Modernizingpay/Agendaforchange/DH_424 (Accessed 19 April 2010) http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2002/08/feature/uk/0208103f.htm (Accessed 19 April 2010) http://www.healthcaresupply.org.uk/pdfs/hrinthenhsplan.pdf (Accessed 21 April 2010) http://www.lums.lancs.ac.uk/events/owt/10301 (Accessed 3 May 2010) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4662024.stm (Accessed 3 May 2010) KENECHUKWU O. AKABUA 0823583 MA HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT HR 4062 HRM AND CHANGE.

America and the Decay of Morality: The Great Gatsby and The Sun Also Ri

America is a popular image in literature and films. Dozens of writers sought to expose America’s vices and evaluate the consistency of its values, morality, and ethical norms. The pursuit for material wealth and the American dream were the topics most frequently discussed in American literature during the 1920s. The effects of World War I on individual beliefs and ideals, the ongoing decay of morality, the hollowness of dreams and convictions, and the failure to materialize one’s life goals together created a complicated situation, which often resembled a journey for nothing. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises are equally similar and different. The two stories are similar in their commitment to the failure of the American dream and its moral hollowness. However, the means and literary methods which the two authors choose to prove their point are distinctly different. Hemingway and Fitzgerald attempted to evoke aimless traveling across East to West and West to East through their writing styles in which the various nature of modernism in literature is reflected. Hemingway adopts his original sentence structure called â€Å"cablese† which consists of ordinary speech and exact words without any vague expressions, while Fitzgerald describes the protagonist, Gatsby through Nick’s perspective. The purpose of this essay is to examine how the two modernist writers depict America in the 1920’s in a state of moral decay and the pursuit for material wealth gradually replaces the purity of conventional moral ideals and beliefs in their ways by comparing and contrasting the two novels. Both stories are considered to be fictional representations of the American dream—moral decay in America and the fa... ... Conclusion The American Dream and the decay of American values has been one of the most popular topics in American fiction in the 20th century. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises create a full picture of American failure and pursue its ideals after the end of World War I by portraying the main characters as outsiders and describing the transportation in a symbolic way. Putting the aimless journeys for material life foreground, Fitzgerald and Hemingway skillfully link West and men and associate East to not only money but women. As American modernists, Hemingway utilizes his simple and dialog-oriented writing to appeal to readers and Fitzgerald ambiguously portrays Gatsby through a narrator, Nick, to cynically describe American virtue and corruption, which substantially contribute to modernism in literature.

Marhsal Field :: essays research papers fc

Marshal Field The elder Marshall Field considered himself the â€Å"Chief Apostle of the American Way,† he epitomized the American Dream by becoming one of America’s first rags to riches stories in the industrial boom of both the pre-Antebellum and post-Antebellum periods. Marshall Field was born and raised as a humble farm boy and became perhaps the greatest businessman this country has ever had. Field learned his work ethic as a young boy by direct example of his father, who started working two hours before daybreak and stopped two hours after. As soon as Marshall could walk, he was working on the family farm. At the age of six, he enrolled in district school only during the winter months when farm work was scarce. He continued these lines of life until the age of fifteen, when the Field family was forced to stop working their farm due to a road closure. At this time it was decided that since Marshall was the youngest son and did not qualify for of the estate property, that he would have to go out and earn his own living. His father being friends with the local dry goods (general store) owner secured Marshall a clerking job in the dry goods store. Ironically, Marshall was fired from that same job after two weeks. When the father inquired what had happened the owner told him that your son has no future in the dry goods market and he should be kept at home on the farm where he belongs. Marshall Field then began working as a hired hand on his brother’s farm. After two years of being his brother’s servant, he moved to Pittsfield, Massachusetts with his other brother. His brother had secured Marshall a job at the Deacon-H.G. Davis dry goods store. There his first year salary was a measly $400. However, he was able to save two hundred of this by sleeping in the store. By the time of the 1857 panic, Marshall had modernized Deacon’s credit policies; subsequently Deacon was not monetarily damaged by the panic. By modernizing Deacon’s credit programs Field was able to insure the store’s future by making credit harder to attain, by shortening the amount of time customers had to repay the store. Because of some unwise business dealings the store’s owners had been involved in, the store was reorganized into Cooley, Farwell and Company. Marshall Field was then awarded a partnership for his part in saving the store from the Panic.

Marketing Strategy Essay

Discuss the type of product the company will offer and identify its primary characteristics The type of product the company will offer is a bracelet called Life Alert band. The characteristics of this device are size and the ease of use along with a lifetime guarantee. The Life Alert band is light and portable that no one will even know it’s on his or her wrist. It’s the size of a thick rubber band and comes in different wrist sizes. It has one easy to access button with an emergency icon that only needs to be pushed once to alert the Life Alert call center in the event of an emergency. The bracelet has several hidden sensors that monitor a person’s pulse and blood sugar and wirelessly sends this information to the Life Alert monitoring centers. If a change is detected in any of the monitors the bracelets sends a signal to the centers for immediate action. The Life Alert medical counselors immediately call the patient to see if they are ok. If no response is received they dispatch emergency responders right away. The bracelets uses flash memory to keep the device slim and flexible. It has a flexible band that can bend slightly. The material of the bracelet is a made of hard rubber that protects the electronics and its sensors. The bracelet requires a one-time setup much like a cell phone has to be programmed by Life Alert in order to ensure communication is occurring with their monitoring centers. The device has wifi built in for local communication. Users who have a wireless network can browse directly to the bracelet using a web browser. This gives them access to all the information the bracelet is recording. Discuss the product branding strategy Entrepreneur magazine states that a branding strategy is how, what, where, when and to whom you plan on communicating and delivering on your brand messages. Where you advertise is part of your brand strategy (Enterpreneur, 2011). In this case a brand is name that consumers associate with a device or service. Life Alert has many devices, all which bare its name on it. For example wireless companies such AT&T sell cell phones from different manufactures but all of them have the name AT&T on them and their logo. This goes for any large company that sells multiple products even if the products are manufactured by another company. Another good example is Apple. Apple has mp3 players, desktops, laptops, and other computer peripherals, all have the Apple logo on them. Therefore, the branding approach for the Life Alert bracelet will be the umbrella branding approach. The umbrella approach will help Life Alert in promoting their popular name even further. In a survey taken by ACNielsen International Research, 87% of Life Alert members said that Life Alert’s protection is a main or important factor in their decision to keep living at home rather than going to a retirement institution (lifealert911, 2011). Life Alert members on an average spend 6 more years living alone because of their services. The bracelet will not only enhance their product line but attract more customers. The introduction of this bracelet will increase their customer base and maybe appeal to those who have a serious illness. The bracelet will become the main entity of the product line with Life Alert’s name and logo. Discuss how the product fits within a product line and the depth and breadth of the line. Life Alert’s bracelet is a unique product that has carved a niche in the medical devices industry. It fits into health care products that offer emergency services for monitoring and addressing health related issues. It addresses a void in the industry and aims to support independence in aged adults by providing state of the art monitoring and emergency services. The distinctive aspect of the Life Alert bracelet is that it is both broadens and intensifies in scope in terms of its breadth and depth. It fits well into the product line Life Alert offers. It’s an extension of the current product offerings. Some of the functionality the bracelet offers cross’s over to other product categories. For example the bracelet now becomes competitive with blood glucose meters. Regardless, the bracelet extends the depth and breadth of the company. Explain how the product and target market strategies fit with the organizational strategy. The organizational strategy is based around a few key factors. The company’s business domain is clearly defined and is focused towards Mature 50+ adults who wish to live an independent lifestyle. The factors that are considered are mainly geographical location, age, retirement lifestyle and medical needs. The strategy is effective as it concentrates on a few key product and ervices. Life alert employs niche marketing to devise a product strategy aimed at that targets mature 50+ adults residing mostly in Florida, which is a popular retirement destination, who are currently living a retired lifestyle and desire a degree of independence and who may or may not have specific medical needs. The Life Alert bracelet fits into the organizational strategy for Life Alert. Introducing the bracelet will solidify the stance in the market. The organizational strategy for Life Alert is to be most innovative company in assisting the elderly. Life Alert can take advantage of its existing organizational strategy to support and market the bracelet. The company can further expand its diversified portfolio of services by using its existing infrastructure and the multifaceted use of its core resources. By including and expanding on existing product offerings the company can reduce cost and maximize return on resources. Life alert bracelet can utilize the infrastructure for Life Alert Necklace, security, monitoring and emergency response services with minor additions. All of these services employ the same core organizational set up, which is the monitoring center, which maximizes service offering with minimal investment. The marketing strategy includes Ads in local newspapers or niche publications, Opt-in web sites that make use of keywords to connect with potential customers, direct mail campaigns, as well publicity through Television developed for mature audiences. The bracelet can be incorporated under these existing marketing tools since it’s directed towards the same target audience. The ease of competitors’ entry into Life Alert’s market segment is minimal as the company employs a profitable business model where users pay an initial set-up charge for the systems and the company generates revenues each month through subscription-based monitoring costs. The company also distributes medical alert system to more than 300 resellers and is one of the largest wholesale medical alarm distributors in the nation, with over 200,000 medical alert devices in service. The bracelet can be an adjunct to the existing portfolio and use the same monitoring system and distribution strategies in use. The business strategy also supports innovation and product development and at present only a couple companies offer a medical alarm with two-way voice. With an additional service such as the bracelet the company will be a step ahead of its competitors and can utilize its R&D budget to support the new product. The company’s ability to customize services and marketing different price points for packages will allow customers to use the bracelet with other Life Alert products and services. The new product aligns well with the company’s organizational strategy and the same marketing strategy can be applied towards the Life Alert bracelet.

Complexometric Determination Essay

Introduction Using a Lewis base neutral molecule to donate electron pairs (ligands) to a Lewis acid metal ion center to form a single cluster (complex) ion. When the complex ions forms with a metal ion (chelation) the ligand used is called the (chelating agent). EDTA acts as a great chelating agent due to the Nitrogen and Oxygen donating an electron pair to the metal ion center to form an octahedral complex. The metal ions especially with a +2 charge or higher are the reason for water hardness to form on various objects known as â€Å"scum†. Calcium ions are typically the most common contributing factor for water hardness so this experiment uses CaCO3 (Calcium Carbonate) to analyze the hardness of an unknown sample. A scale of water hardness identifies â€Å"soft† water with a value less than 60 ppm (parts per million) and â€Å"hard† water with a value more than 200 ppm. 3 mL of ammonia/ammonium chloride buffer (pH 10) is added to the mixture prior to the titration to capture the calcium metal ions so the indicator can work properly. The experiment adds 4 drops of Eriochrome Black T as the indicator to visually see the color change as complexes are formed and the solution undergoes chelation of metal impurities. The color change from indicator starts as pink and changes to a violet then light blue color to signify the chemical phase changes throughout the reaction until the endpoint. 3 titrations are experimentally conducted to calculate the mean average of the Na2 EDTA for experimental accuracy. The EDTA mean average is then used to calculate the water hardness of an unknown water sample (#97) using 3 more titrations to calculate a mean average of the unknown water sample. An absolute deviation is calculated for each titration experiment to calculate the experimental estimated precision. The final experimental result is then compared to the city of Tempe standard for water hardness and acceptable standards. Principle (Spurlock, 2014) (Spurlock, 2014) â€Å"A complex ion is an ion containing a central metal cation bonded to one or more molecules or ions† (Chang, 2013). Just like complex ions, a ligand is a molecule or ion that is bonded to the metal ion in a complex ion (Chang, 2013). A chelating agent is a substance that forms complex ions with metal ions in a solution (Chang, 2013). The process of the chelating agent forming is called chelation. E.D.T.A. (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) is a common chelating agent that will be used in this experiment to chelate the metal ions. Tetraamminecopper (II) [Cu(NH3)4]2+ will be the complex ion in this lab experiment. In chapter 11.1-3 the â€Å"Kinetic Molecular Theory† is being tested in this experiment (Chang, 2013). Solids are denser than liquids and allow very little empty space to exist between molecules limiting the freedom of motion. The liquids are less dense than solids, held closely together with little space between molecules (less than solids), however, the mo lecules in liquid do not break away from the attractive forces allowing them to move past each other freely. Gases are the least dense and have the largest amount of distance between molecules allowing them to move around more freely. According to the theory, the experimental Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen and Oxygen ions are able to quickly attract and find the metal ion in the liquid by donating their electron pair to the metal ion center creating the complex. These complex ions in the experiment use intermolecular and intramolecular forces to break and hold chemical bonds thru the experimental process of chelation to identify the hardness of the unknown sample. After the reaction is complete, when evaporation and or vaporization of the liquid and gas in the molecules is separated the remaining metal impurities known as â€Å"scum† are left. In chapter 4.1 hydration is used to orient the negative poles of the diatomic gases to the positive pole of the Hydrogen and metal impurities in the solution creation the complex cluster. Chapter 4 is also used for titration of redox reactions using a standard solution (Na2 EDTA) to add into another solution of unknown concentration (unknown sample + ammonia/ammonium  chloride buffer + Eriochrome Black T) until the equivalence point is reached (has fully reacted) as visually identified by the indicators (Eriochrome Black T) from the color change of pink to violet to blue. Procedure 1. â€Å"Prepare about 500mL of approximately 0.004M disodium EDTA solution. To prepare your solution, weigh out 0.7-0.8g of Na2EDTA and dissolve in about 500mL deionized water in your plastic bottle. Seal the bottle and shake vigorously for a few minutes to dissolve the salt. 2. Standardize the Na2EDTA solution using a stock calcium ion solution as the primary standard: a. Use a 10-mL transfer pipet to add 10.00 mL of standardized calcium ion stock solution (1.000g CaCO3/L solution) to a 250-mL Erlenmeyer flask. b. Add about 30 ml of deionized water to this titration flask. c. Add a magnetic stir-bar, place on a magnetic stirrer and begin stirring. A piece of white paper under the flask gives good contrast for easier detection of the indicator color change. d. Inside the fume hood, add about 3mL of ammonia/ammonium chloride buffer (pH 10). The buffer is an inhalation irritant. Stir for 30 seconds. e. Just prior to titrating the flask, add four drops of Eriochrome Black T indicator solution. Continue stirring for another 30 seconds and then titrate this solution with your disodium EDTA solution within 15 minutes. f. Slow down your titration near the endpoint, as the color change takes 3-5 seconds to develop. At the end point, the color changes from pink to violet to blue. If you feel unsure whether you’ve reached your endpoint, read and record the volume delivered and then add another drop of titrant to check for a complete color change. g. Repeat this titration two more times. Calculate the molarity of your disodium EDTA from each titration. Average your molarities from the three trials and calculate your precision. 3. Choose one prepared unknown water sample as provided. Record the unknown code in your notebook, then titrate this water sample with your standardized disodium EDTA solution: a. Transfer 25.00mL of the prepared water sample to a 250-mL Erlenmeyer flask. b. Add about 20ml of DI water to the titration flask. c. Add a magnetic stir-bar. Place the flask on a magnetic stirrer and begin stirring. d. Inside the fume hood, add about 3mL of ammonia/ammonium chloride buffer (pH 10). Stir for 30 seconds. e. Just prior to titrating,  add four drops of Eriochrome Black T Indicator solution to your flask. Continue stirring for another 30 seconds and then titrate this solution with your standardized disodium EDTA solution within 15 minutes. f. Repeat this titration twice more. Calculate the hardness (mg CaCO3/L) of the prepared water sample from each of your titrations. Calculate your average hardness and your experimental precision from the three trials. 4. Compare your results to the expected range for municipal water hardness. Check your city’s water quality lab website (e.g. http://www.tempe.gov/waterquality/typical_values.htm)† (Complexometric Determination of Water Hardness Lab, n.d.). Observations Upon adding the preparing the Na2EDTA solution the Na2EDTA solid was quickly dissolved into the DI water to create a clear solution. Later on in the procedure stage of adding the ammonia/ammonium chloride buffer into the 250 mL flask, a visual chemical reaction was observed as the ammonia buffer was mixing into the flask with CaCO3 and the unknown solution in both procedures. Upon adding the Eriochrome Black T indicator the color was visually changed from clear to light pink in both procedures. During titration of both procedures the visual color change was observed from light see-through pink to see-through violet when the process was close to ending, then from see-through violet to see-through light blue signaling then end of the reaction process.