Reply for earlier blog on ....CHANGES NEEDED IN THE TEACHING OF AGRICULTURAL EXTENSIONEDUCATION....

Dear Dr Saravanan
Thank you very much for sending one of the Chapters of a Book published by Dr van den Ban. Dr Ban has given a very strong evidence for bringing change in the system of imparting education in Extension Education in India.
I personally have been feeling that the way students in extension education are trained at the PG level, is not what the employer wants. Any way there has to be some basic courses, then preparing the students in terms of whether he (she) would like to be a teacher in Extension Education, Researcher, or Field extension. At present Degree in Extension Education is easily available (not earned).
As President of the ISEE, I had raised this issue during my addresses in the Society Seminars but nothing tangible could be done due to a cold response. I think the root cause of the present scenario is mediocrity amongst the teachers and also the students.

Dr Ban has also raised the issue whether we need women extension workers for reaching the women farmers? Are their supportive research outcomes from Indian conditions? Already there are a far greater number of women students now in Agriculture/Vety. Streams, especially in the southern States.

It is time that the professionals in Extension Education go-in for in –house heart searching and bring out state-of-the art in Extension Education discipline. We need to stop proliferation of Institutes offering MSc & Ph.D Degrees. We need to consider what should be the minors and supporting. Instead of restricting to Rural Sociology/Psychology as minor, can we have essentially subjects like agronomy, plant protection, horticulture and so on as minor and essentially Statistics as supporting? There could be some other such combinations as well.

The research work for degrees is too preliminary without any experimentation. Single shot studies, with only social concepts, are not accepted by the scientists’ fraternity. Can we think of strengthening research? If yes how and who takes the initiative?

The earlier we do this; I feel it will be better. If we continue to be in the same rut, doom’s day for the discipline is not very far-off.
Those of us who have worked to build this Discipline, those who have/are earning livelihood from being in Extension Education need to think together.

Good luck

With regards
( Dr R. Parshad)
Former ADG ( Agr Ext), ICAR