MARCH 2007 SCIENCE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF SCIENCE

6conducted and reported that learningachievement have primary schoolchildren in general and mathematics inparticular is far from satisfactory (Das,2000). In the age of science andtechnology, a strong base of mathematicsis absolutely necessary for all. Therefore,developing the basic mathematicalcompetencies among young children isa strong need felt by teachers,researchers and educators.Why Comparison?Periodical revision and reform ofcurriculum and syllabus must be carriedout to make it need centred for thechildren of the country, to achieve thenational goals and for the contemporaryworld, and at the same time all possiblemeasures have also to be taken for itsproper implementation. Implementationof curriculum at the primary schools inBangladesh and West Bengal of Indiaand its study is of vital importance indetermining the effectiveness of themathematics curriculum and the qualityof primary education in these countries.A thorough inquiry into the statusof the mathematics curriculum for theprimary schools is necessary to give asatisfactory answer to the questionsrelating to primary mathematicscurriculum in Bangladesh and WestBengal of India. Some of these questionsare: How far do the objectives of primarymathematics curriculum reflect in theprescribed curriculum? To what extentare the specified objectives of curriculumin consonance with the objectives ofprimary mathematics education set byexperts from other parts of the world?SCHOOL MarchSCIENCE 2007What are the contents needed forachieving such objectives? How far arethese objectives reflected in theprescribed curriculum content and in theteaching-learning process? How far isthe content able to bridge the gapbetween theory and practice? How isprimary mathematics curriculum beingimplemented in the schools? Whatproblems do teachers face inimplementing them? How do teachersassess their pupils’ achievement in theschools and in the classroom?Documents of national policy ofeducation and review of related literaturetell that Bangladesh needs to improvethe quality of education by modifying thecurricula at all levels. For the sake ofimprovement in quality of education,Bangladesh cannot adopt ready-madeideal curriculum and education systemfrom any other developed countrybecause the differences of cultural andsocial aspects of both these countrieswould lead to failure of the system. If atall Bangladesh wants to follow or borrowsomething good as a sample of educationsystem for the sake of better quality ofeducation, she must look into similaritiesof culture, language and other aspectsof that system from which educationalideas could be borrowed for better qualityof education.Comparison – Regional andInternational OrganisationsBy exchanging information andexperience, pooling expertise, sharingfacilities, and undertaking jointactivities, several countries workingtogether can increase their resource

A COMPARISON OF PRIMARY MATHEMATICS CURRICULUMOF BANGLADESH AND WEST BENGAL OF INDIA – WHY?base and lower costs to their mutualbenefit. Such arrangements are often setup among neighbouring countries (subregional), among all countries in a majorgeo-cultural region, or among countriessharing a common language or havingcultural and commercial relations.Regional and International organisationsoften play an important role in facilitatingsuch co-operation between countries(WCEF A, 1990). However, of late therehas been more attention to mathematicsprogrammes which are based upon theneeds and cultures of the ethnic mixesfound in most countries. First looking atUNESCO, most of UNESCO’s work isdirectly with the governments of itsMember States, and the mathematicseducation programme is no exception.Upon request, the mathematicseducation specialist from UNESCO workswith the ministry of education, advisingand providing information. UNESCO’sprincipal emphasis on mathematicseducation has been to promote theexchange of information, to worknationally, and to co-operate withregional and international groups(Jacobsen, 1996). This, in turn, will helpthe system to lift the quality of education.Comparison between Bangladesh andWest Bengal of India – Why?Looking to the fact that the sharing ofBangIa, by Bangladesh with parts ofIndia – offer both possibilities andchallenges for cooperation among peoplein education and culture – in the field ofliteracy as well as in substantive studyof science, social science andhumanities. It is necessary however to7assert that while neither education noreducational co-operation will alter thebasic determinants which politicallyexist. For example, Bangladesh is knownto use Bangla in its judicial and perhapseducational system to a much greaterextent that in Indian West Bengal – andthe latter is said to be studying the former(Bhattacharya, et al., 1993). The Dhakadeclaration (December 1985), as it cameto be called, underscored the historicsignificance of the first ever summitmeeting of the South Asian Countriesand described it as a tangiblemanifestation of their determination tocooperate regionally, to work togethertowards finding solutions to theircommon problems in a spirit offriendship, trust and mutualunderstanding and to the creation of anorder based on mutual respect, equityand shared benefits (Bhattacharya,1995). Bangladesh and West Bengal ofIndia, share common historical, cultural,religious and linguistic heritage. Not onlydo India and Bangladesh have manyagreements to their credit to foster allround ties between the two countries butthey also share democratic relations andshare many common policies in worldaffairs. In this context, it is of greatimportance to study and comparemathematics curriculum at the primarylevel of both countries. This, in turn, willhelp spell out the positive points ofcurricula of both the countries.ConclusionSuch research work will help to giveanswers to questions raised regardingthe achievement of goals of primary

SCHOOL MarchSCIENCE 20078mathematics education in context of thepresent needs of the society, existinggaps of the education system ofBangladesh and West Bengal of India interms of curriculum design and itsimplementation and suggestions tomodify the primary mathematics.curricula, if needed for better quality ofeducation and to satisfy aims of primaryeducation. Such comparative study willhelp identify strong positive and negativepoints existing in curricula of both thecountries that will further enable to givesuggestions for modification of primarymathematics curricula of Bangladeshand West Bengal of India.Therefore, a comparative study of theprimary mathematics curriculum inBangladesh and West Bengal of Indiawould be of great value, because on thebasis of such a study, an insight will bedeveloped into the existing scenario andissues related to mathematicscurriculum” which in turn would act asa guide for appropriate plan of action,which may be undertaken for theimplementation of good quality primarymathematics education.REFERENCESALEXANDER, R.J. 2000. Culture and pedagogy: international comparisons inprimary education. Blackwell publishers Ltd., Oxford. pp. 26-27.ARAM, S.A. 1986. A comparative study of mathematics education in People’sDemocratic Republic for Yemen (PDRY) and India. Unpublished Doctoraldissertation, Delhi University. pp. 1, 3 .Bangladesh National Curriculum and Textbook Board (BNCTB). 1988.Revision and Modification of Curriculum of Primary Stage against theBackground of Universal Primary Education: Essential LearningContinual (Primary Education). Dhaka: BNCTB.Bangladesh National Education Commission Report, 1974BHATTACHARYA, S.P. et al. 1993. Education in the SAARC countries - A statusreport, Department of Education, University of Calcutta.BHATTACHARYA, S.P. 1995. Education in the SAARC Countries. RegencyPublications, New Delhi. p.17 .DAS, P. 2000. Enhancement of Learning Achievement in Mathematics ofHandicapped children through activity-based Teaching. Journal of IndianEducation, 26 (1 ). pp. 70-78.GOEDEGEBNURE, L. et at. (ed.) 1994. Higher education policy: An internationalcomparative perspective. Pergamon Press Ltd., England. p.161.HOSSAIN AND JAHAN. 2000. Curriculum planning, development and reform forprimary and secondary education. Country papers on curriculumdevelopment from selected states in south and south-east Asia. (ed.) inUNESCO(2000) Globalization and living together: the challenge foreducational content in Asia.Final report of the sub-regional course oncurriculum development, New Delhi, India, 9-17 march 1999, pp.64-69.

A COMPARISON OF PRIMARY MATHEMATICS CURRICULUMOF BANGLADESH AND WEST BENGAL OF INDIA – WHY?JACOBSEN, E. 1996. International co-operation in mathematics education (ed.)in Bishop, A.J. et al. International Handbook of Mathematics EducationPart II. (pp. 1235–1256). Kluwar Academic Publishers, Netherlands.ROY, S.B. 1986. A critical evaluation of the high school general sciencetextbooks in Bangladesh. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The M.S.University of Baroda.SHARMA, R. AND R.K. SHARMA. 2002. Problems of education in India, AtlanticPublishers and Distributors, New Delhi. p. 374.SHO, T. 1997. Education in Japan. The Tsukuba Association for InternationalEducation Studies.WCEFA. 1990. World declaration on education for all and framework for actionto meet basic learning needs. Jomtien (Thailand). 5–9 March. p.13.9

SCHOOL MarchSCIENCE 200710Energy Security throughNuclear Energy in India*SUBHASH CHANDRA, ARUN SRIVASTAVA ANDR.B. GROVERStrategic Planning GroupDepartment of Atomic EnergyECONOMYhas shownimpressive growth in the recentpast and it is expected that it willcontinue to do so for several decades tocome. Growth in economy has to beaccompanied by growth of primaryenergy and electricity consumption.Assuming i) India’s Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) growth rate remainingaround 5 to 6 % for fifty years to come1and ii) applicable correlations betweenGDP growth rate and energy growth rate2,as the GDP multiplies by nearly 15 timesin the forthcoming fifty years, primaryenergy and electricity consumptionwould also go up. Estimates indicate thatthe domestic fossil resources would notbe able to meet rising energy demandsand one has to go in for a quantumincrease and large imports of fossil fuels.Excessive dependence on imports canimpact energy security in two ways, firstdue to price volatility in the internationalmarket and second due to disruption offuel supplied in case of any regionaldisturbance. Moreover, excessive fossilfuel consumption using the presenttechnologies impacts environment atlocal, regional and global level. This mayINDIANchange as new technologies aredeveloped. In the coming years, newemerging technologies like carboncapture and sequestration, renewablesand various nuclear technologies willcompete with each other for their share.Based on the energy growth scenariobuilt by Department of Atomic Energy(DAE), it can be said that the cumulativeprimary energy requirement during the50-year period between the years 2002and 2052 would be about 2400 EJ.Domestic fossil fuel resources canprovide only about half of it even whenthe total recoverable prognosticatedhydrocarbon resources are taken intoaccount. Hydro and non-conventionalrenewable sources can provide about12%. The remaining energy has to beshared by nuclear and importedcomponents. If DAE’s vision of installingabout 20 GWe of nuclear power capacity,consisting of Pressurised Heavy WaterReactors (PHWRs), Light Water Reactors(LWRs), and Fast Breeder Reactors(FBRs), by the year 2020 and theninstalling, as many as possible, metalbased FBRs from the plutoniumgenerated from all the thermal reactorsmaterialise, it is possible that nuclearpower contributes about a quarter of thetotal electrical power by the year 2052.In that case the cumulative nuclearenergy will constitute about 10% of thetotal cumulative primary energy duringthe 50-year period and cumulativerequirement of imported energy would becontained at 29%. The larger/ smallerthe nuclear energy production achievedthe corresponding energy import will be*Reproduced from ‘Nuclear India’ Vol. 40, No. 7-8, Jan-Feb, 2007.

ENERGY SECURITY THROUGHNUCLEAR ENERGY IN INDIAsmaller/larger. The success of thenuclear energy programme thus has verycrucial bearing on energy security ofIndia. The present article brieflydescribes energy trends of thepresent century, expected nuclearrenaissance in the world and brief detailsof energy scenario in India for the next50 years.11and its energy growth and thiscorrelation is very strong for thedeveloping countries where per capitaGDP is low (Fig. I ). Per capita income inIndia is many times below the worldaverage. Energy requirements of Indiaare likely to increase at a high rate ontwo counts, first the increase inpopulation and second the rise in percapita income.Energy trends in 21st centuryNearly a quarter of the world populationis not getting even minimal commercialenergy due to lack of purchasing power.A large disparity in the living standardof various sections of the society is oneof the main causes of social tensions anddisturbances. It is expected that thedeprived section of people will graduallyget its energy needs in the presentcentury so as to improve its livingstandard thereby lessening the economicdisparity. Developing countries likeChina and India will need huge amountof energy as their population is very largeand increasing, and they are waybelow the world average energyconsumption. The energy supplysustainability thus becomes animportant issue. Energy shouldpreferably be produced andconsumed without any negativeside effects on environment andwithout risking its availability tofuture generations. All forms ofcommercial energy coal, oil, gas,hydro, nuclear, wind and solaretc. need to be exploited to theirfull potential. As mentionedearlier, there is a correlationFig.between GDP-growth of a nationPreserving Earth’s ClimateCarbon dioxide emission and itsstabilisationThe atmospheric level of carbon dioxidein the pre-industrialisation era was ataround 280 ppm, which has alreadyincreased to about 380 ppm. Presentlyabout 7 billion tonnes of carbon is beingemitted annually to our atmosphere andif this trend continues then it may reachto about 14 billion tonnes per year fiftyyears from now (BAU path Fig. 2) takingthe quantity of carbon in the atmosphere1: Per capita electricity consumption Vs per capitaGDP for various nations of the world

SCHOOL MarchSCIENCE 200712Box lEnd-user Efficiency and ConservationFig. 2: Stabilisation Triangle(Adapted from S. Pacala and R. Socolow,Stabilisation wedges: Solving the ClimateProblem for next 50 Years with CurrentTechnologies, in Science, Vol. 305,13 August 2004)to about 1200 billion tonnes which isdouble the figure of the pre-industrialisationera. The corresponding quantity of CO2in the atmosphere would be 560 ppm, thelevel at which catastrophic climatechanges might be triggered. The cost ofsuch climatic changes may be very high,several percentages of the world GDP. Inorder to avoid such a disastroussituation and to flatten the carbonemission curve (desired path) theworld community has to immediatelyinitiate development and deployment ofsuitable technologies. S. Pacala and R.Socolow have shown a way to solve thisclimate problem with currenttechnologies3. They discuss fifteen suchtechnologies or technology combinations,categorised as ‘End user efficiency andconversion’, ‘Power generation’, ‘CarbonCapture and Storage’, ‘Alternativeenergy sources’ and ‘Agriculture andforestry’ (Box-I).1.Increase fuel economy of two billioncars from 30 to 60 mpg2.Drive two billion cars not 10,000 but5,000 miles a year (at 30 mpg)3.Cut electricity use in homes, officesand stores by 25%Power Generation4.Raise efficiency at 1,600 large coalfired plants nom 40 to 60%5.Replace 1,400 large coal-fired plantswith gas-fired plantsCarbon Capture and Storage (CCS)6.Install CCS at 800 large coal firedpower plants7.Install CCS at coal plants thatproduce hydrogen for 1.5 billionvehicles8.Install CCS at coal-to-syngas plantsAlternative Energy Sources9.Add twice today’s nuclear output todisplace coal10. Increase wind power 40-fold todisplace coal11. Increase solar power 700-fold todisplace coal12. Increase wind power 80-fold to makehydrogen for cars13. Drive two billion cars on ethanol,using one sixth of world’s croplandAgriculture and Forestry14. Stop all deforestation15. Expand conservation tillage to 100per cent of cropland

ENERGY SECURITY THROUGHNUCLEAR ENERGY IN INDIAEach of the fifteen technologiesshown in Box-1 is capable of avoiding 1billion tonne a year of carbon emissionto the atmosphere. Starting from now,the year 2006, if deployment of sevensuch technologies (Seven technologywedges Fig 2), taking care of anyoverlapping areas, is completed in fiftyyears then the annual carbon emissionwill stabilise at the present level itself(desired path Fig 2). Deployment of moresuch technologies will be requiredsubsequently in 2056 to initiate furtherreduction in the annual carbon emissionthus limiting the total cumulativequantity of carbon in atmosphere to wellbelow the critical the of 1200 billiontonnes. Individual countries, dependingon their economic, social and otherconditions, may decide how to contributetowards accomplishing the abovestartling feat. Nuclear energy is one ofthe most potent technologies in thepresent context. If twice of today’snuclear output is added to displace coalthen one ‘technologywedge’ is earned.There is adequate nuclear potential inthe world to earn many such wedges.India also has a significant nuclearpotential if a suitable fast breeder reactorroute is developed and deployed.Moreover keeping the present domesticfuel resource base in mind, it is the onlysolution if India intends to limit theenergy import dependence at the currentlevel of about 29%.Nuclear EnergyAs of April 2006 about 440 reactors of370 GWe-net installed capacity wereunder operation. India’s share is less13than 1% of the total. However India’sshare, out of 20 GWe under constructionreactors, is 3.6 GWe about 18% of thetotal. Growth of nuclear power aroundthe world was very high during the twodecades 1970-1990. Largest capacityaddition was achieved in the year 1985(Fig. 3 and 4). While there was a declinein new constructions subsequent to1985, nuclear electricity generation hascontinued to grow due to better plantperformances.Worldwide opinion is again tilting infavour of nuclear energy. The lowprojection of IAEA, assuming that thereactors already under construction willbe the only additions, is 416 GWe in2020, a modest increase from the current370 GWe, before its leveling off. The highprojection incorporates the projectsproposed beyond those already firmlycommitted. In that case the installedcapacity would go up to 640 GWe, asubstantial increase over the presentcapacity (Fig. 4). It is expected that thisnuclear renaissance will be led by thedeveloping countries, notably China andIndia, and the economies in transition(Russia and Eastern Europe) althoughquite a few reactors are expected indeveloped economies also4.The reason of this nuclearrenaissance is not far to seek.Environmental considerations, speciallyrecently observed climatic irregularitiesthat are perceived by many to be relatedto global warming, oil and gas price hikesand burgeoning energy demand from thedeveloping world are the main drivingforces behind this nuclear surge.Moreover vastly improved availabilityfactors of nuclear plants and their

SCHOOL MarchSCIENCE 200714Fig. 3: Nuclear electricity generationand capacity additionFig. 4: Cumulative installed nuclearpower capacity(Courtesy: Nuclear Power and Sustainable Development, IAEA,April 2006, pg 2 and 3)smoother and safer operations have alsocontributed to it (Fig 5, 6 and 7). Relativeeconomy of various future powertechnologies will however be the mostimportant factor deciding their share.Table 1, Table 2 and Fig. 8summarise new power plant constructioncost estimates and levelised powerproduction costs from numerous studiescarried out recently in many parts of theworld. The estimates place the threealternatives, nuclear coal and gas on alevel playing field.According to the joint report ofNuclear Energy Agency (NEA),International Energy Agency andOrganisation for Economic C

B.C. found in excavations near Maske in the Raichur district of Karnataka. The motto has been taken from the Isavasya Upanishad and means life eternal through learning. A COMPARISON OF PRIMARY MATHEMATICS CURRICULUM OF BANGLADESH AND WEST BENGAL OF INDIA – WHY? 3 A Comparison of Primary Mathematics Curriculum of