مصطفى صادق الرافعي ناقدا
(ورقة منشورة في مجلة اللغة الإلكترونية، العدد الثاني، 2015)
paper published in the "al-Lugah" online Journal, Issue 2, January 2015
see the link below:
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Thursday, October 10, 2013
كليلة ودمنة: مسألة أصله الهندي
دراستي المنشورة في موقع المجلة الثقافية الجزائرية في 10 أكتوبر 2013 م
Kaleela Wa Dimna : The Question of Its Indian Origin
Paper published in the Algerian Online Journal:
"al-Majalla al-Thaqafiyya", 10 October 2013
see the link below
http://www.thakafamag.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4234:2013-10-03-15-00-48&catid=4:2010-05-31-17-34-55&Itemid=22
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Return Migration from the UAE : The Case of Kerala
/*a paper presented in the International Seminar on The Socio-Cultural Exchange between UAE & Kerala, organized by Department of Arabic, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, on 19 July, 2011*/
Introduction
Return emigrants have become a demographically, politically and economically significant component of Kerala’s population. At present one out of every 29 persons in Kerala, one out of every 22 adult population of Kerala (15+), one out of every 19 working age population of Kerala (15-59 years), and one out of every 9 working age male population of Kerala are return emigrants. Corresponding to every 100 households in Kerala, there are 16 return emigrants; 12 of them have at least one return emigrant. About 1.3 percent households have more than one return emigrant. At present, there are roughly over 1.3 million return emigrants in Kerala. Three years ago, KMS [Kerala Migration Survey], 2008 of Centre for Developmental Studies (CDS), Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, estimated that there were about 1.157 million return emigrants Ten years earlier, KMS 1998 enumerated 7.4 lakhs return emigrants. The number of return emigrants is expected to increase to about 1.6 million by 2015 [1].
Return Migration from the Gulf after 2008 Recession
In 2008, the number of Indian workers in the GCC countries reached a high of 6 million. Of those about 60 per cent worked in the construction field. It is estimated that more than 2,00,000 workers in the Gulf have returned to India as a result of the delay in execution of projects due to international economic slowdown and recession. Indian professionals in the western countries like Germany Canada Britain
Several of these workers have returned to India India India
It is estimated that more than 2,00,000 workers in the Gulf have returned to India as a result of global financial crisis. Millions of Indians in Gulf countries are under the fear of job loss. Some have been asked to go on long leave while some receive half or a quarter of their salary. No official estimate of how many people are returning every week. Remittances from the Gulf are declining day by day. Some of the return emigrants identified in KMS 2008 re-migrated to become emigrants once again. They were about 9.549 % of the total return emigrants or about 110,494 when projected to the Kerala population [2]. Malappuram has the largest number of emigrants (15.3 %) and it has the largest number of return emigrants also (19.0 %). Trivandrum is the second largest with respect to emigration and is also the second largest with respect to return emigration. The propensity to return is greater in Trivandrum than in Malappuram when we measure the return emigrants as a percentage of emigrants. On that basis, it appears that the preferred districts for resettlement of Kerala’s return emigrants are (in order of importance) Trivandrum, Malappuram, Thrissur, Kollam and Ernakulam. Muslims are disproportionately over-represented among the emigrants and return emigrants. Propensity to return is also highest among the Muslims. Return emigrants as a proportion of emigrants is about 56 % among the Muslims compared to just 47 % among the Hindus and Christians [3].
Return Migration from UAE
About 40% of the population in the UAE are of Indian origin. Of the UAE population of 6 million people, which comprises both Emiratis and foreigners, the largest group of foreigners is from India. The largest number of emigrants who returned during the recession period turned up from the UAE (46.4 %). So the workers in the United Arab Emirates are seemed to be most affected. The crisis has not affected Saudi Arabia as much as Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. 47,000 Indians are estimated as number of return emigrants from the UAE alone [4].
Companies in Dubai are cutting jobs, particularly in the real estate sector and construction industry. The most visible impact on the construction industry is in Dubai. Dubai has been hit particularly hard because it was the region’s key financial center, and finance has taken a backseat amid the global economic slowdown. Construction, real estate, banking and tourism sectors have been badly hit by the global slowdown. The job opportunities in Dubai were primarily in construction, while in the other countries and emirates, the jobs were more broad-based. No official estimate of how many people are returning to India every week. The Dubai government is still in a denial phase and continues to repeat that there is no mass exodus of Indian workers. The Indian embassy in the UAE could not give precise figures of returnees.
$59-billion debt woes of state-run Dubai World, one of the largest global conglomerates, has left thousands of Indian families worried, as the region accounts for half of the country’s $25-billion remittances. Proleads, a Dubai based property consultancy, estimated that 45 per cent of the country’s building projects had been delayed. Building boom stalled in 2009 - according to Morgan Stanley, real estate projects worth as much as £263bn have been delayed or scrapped in UAE. Around 1,500 to 2,000 fishermen from Sakthikulangara, Kerala were employed in prestigious sea reclamation projects in the UAE, Due to the recession, almost 90% are back. In UAE alone construction companies have halted or put on hold projects worth 582 billion dollars with no word on when work may resume. Recruiting agencies confirmed that hundreds of job visas were cancelled from across the Middle East. Overseas Development and Promotion Consultants Limited, which recruits Keralities for overseas jobs, stated that a recruitment fall has occurred due to recession in Middle East. 30,000 visas had been cancelled in Dubai in 2009-2010 [5].
How to handle the Return Migration ?
No fiscal help is being offered to those returning to India
Kerala, the home state of many expatriate workers, has set up a loan package to help returnees start small businesses from their homes. Former Kerala Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac has said that the State government will examine the possibility of setting up a financial mechanism for providing loans to the gulf returnees interest-free for starting their own employment ventures along the ‘Islamic banking’ principles. The state budget, 2009 allotted Rs. 100 crore. for providing soft loans to Gulf returnees [6]. The state-owned Kerala Financial Corporation (KFC) has been handling the package for Gulf returnees. The KFC provides entrepreneurial loans at a low interest rate of seven per cent to those returning from the Gulf countries after losing job in the wake of the ongoing economic slowdown. The target is to provide Rs 100 crore under the scheme. KFC also evolves a mechanism to impart technical and managerial skills to such Gulf returning entrepreneurs [7]. The state of Kerala has also sought the Gulf Cooperation Council's (GCC) help to rehabilitate thousands of Gulf returnees, who lost their jobs in the wake of the global slowdown, by contributing to the fund which the state government has already set up [8].
The government of Kerala has decided to issue photo identity cards for the non-resident Keralites working for a minimum of 6 months in a foreign country. To gather the details of gulf returnees a special registration system has been introduced by NORKA [9]. Swanthwana is a Relief Fund Scheme that has been launched for NRKs in distress. This scheme targets NRK returnees living on below poverty line and similarly placed dependents of deceased NRK’s. The scheme is devised to meet financial requirements for marriages, medical treatment etc. and posthumous aid to provide social security to and their family or dependents. A rehabilitation scheme, a legal aid cell and a 24-hour helpline are constituted in this regard. A new centre will also be set up to improve the skill sets of those who want to go abroad for a job. Another new initiative is the setting up of an Overseas Employment Skill Testing Centre [10].
However, the plans of the State Government to create a data bank on Gulf countries following recession has suffered a setback as only an insignificant number of returnees has so far enrolled themselves in the data bank even after two years of its launch. Around 1,500 persons have so far enrolled themselves in the data bank being prepared by the NORKA-Roots. The poor response to the data bank will indeed torpedo the welfare initiatives of the Government for rehabilitation of the returnees. The lack of awareness among the targeted group is considered to be one major reason for the poor response to the data bank. Around 100 returnees availed of the loans being offered through the Kerala Financial Corporation. The response is not so encouraging. Most of the people are looking for trading activities. But as per KFC’s rules, it could not provide financial support to trading activities [11].
References
• Centre for Development Studies. 2008. Global Financial Crisis and Kerala Economy: Impact and Mitigation Measures. Report submitted to the Government of Kerala.
• Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs. 2008. Annual report 2007-08. Government of India, New Delhi.
• Irudaya Rajan, S. 2004. From Kerala to the Gulf: Impacts of Labour Migration. Asia Pacific Migration Journal, Volume 13, No.4, Pp. 497-509.
• Irudaya Rajan, S and D Narayana. 2010. The Financial Crisis in the Gulf and its Impact on South Asian Migrant Workers. Report Submitted to the Asian Development Bank and the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India.
• Irudaya Rajan, S and K C Zachariah. 2010c. Global Financial and Economic Crisis on Migration and Migrant Workers in India with Special Focus on Kerala. Report prepared for the International Labour Organization.
• Zachariah, K.C and S Irudaya Rajan. 2010. Impact Of The Global Recession On Migration And Remittances In Kerala: New Evidences From The Return Migration Survey (RMS) 2009. Centre for Development Studies Working Paper 432, Thiruvananthapuram. www.cds.edu
[1] K. C. Zachariah, S. Irudaya Rajan, March 2011, From Kerala To Kerala via the Gulf: Emigration Experiences of Return Emigrants, CDS, Thiruvananthapuram
[3] K. C. Zachariah, S. Irudaya Rajan, March 2011, From Kerala To Kerala via the Gulf: Emigration Experiences of Return Emigrants, CDS, Thiruvananthapuram
[5] Inter Press Service: June 30, 2009
[8] Malayala Manorama, Wednesday, July 22, 2009
[9] Budget Speech 2009-2010, Part VII, Welfare Measures, Dr. T. M. Thomas Issac, 20th February, 2009.
[11] Express News Service, 21 Jan 2011
Monday, May 2, 2011
Indian Diaspora in GCC countries: The case of Kerala
[Paper published in the Journal of Politics & Society, University of Kerala, Vol 6, No.2, March 2011]
Introduction
Migration is an inevitable tendency in humans, and it gives birth to diaspora community. «Diaspora» a Greek word meaning ‘dispersion’, refers to the various Jewish communities «living in exile outside Palestine». The term diaspora is now commonly used in a generic sense for communities of migrants living or settled permanently in other countries, aware of its origin and identity and maintaining varying degrees of linkages with the mother country. The Indian diaspora - perhaps the oldest diaspora in the world, third largest (20 million), spread in 110 countries of the world. The Indian diaspora has some 20 million people worldwide who generate an annual income equal to 35 percent of India's gross domestic product.
Indians in the Gulf Countries
Introduction
Migration is an inevitable tendency in humans, and it gives birth to diaspora community. «Diaspora» a Greek word meaning ‘dispersion’, refers to the various Jewish communities «living in exile outside Palestine». The term diaspora is now commonly used in a generic sense for communities of migrants living or settled permanently in other countries, aware of its origin and identity and maintaining varying degrees of linkages with the mother country. The Indian diaspora - perhaps the oldest diaspora in the world, third largest (20 million), spread in 110 countries of the world. The Indian diaspora has some 20 million people worldwide who generate an annual income equal to 35 percent of India's gross domestic product.
Indians in the Gulf Countries
The Gulf Cooperative Council (G.C.C.) states include Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman. There is a huge population of Indians in the GCC countries. Most of the Indian diaspora moved to the Gulf after the oil boom in 1970s to work as labourers and for clerical jobs. One of the major reasons why Indians like to work in the Gulf is because it provides incomes many times over for the same type of job back in India and its geographical proximity to India. The Indian Diaspora makes up a good proportion of the working class in the GCC countries. The NRI population in these Gulf Cooperation Council countries is estimated to be around 6 million (2008-2009), of which over 2,500,000 stay in the UAE. Majority of them originate from Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Their numbers make impressive reading even in terms of their percentage of total population in the countries where they reside: Country - percentage of national population (1999) , Bahrain - 20% ; Kuwait - 13%; Oman - 15%; Qatar - 24%; Saudi Arabia -7% UAE -32%. However these figures are increasing day by day. For example, in 2005, about 40% of the population in the UAE were of Indian descent. This NRI population tends to save and remit considerable amount to their dependents in India .
Gulf: The case of Kerala
The overseas Indian workers (OIWs) in the GCC Countries come mainly from the four states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. However, most of them have originated from Kerala. This had led to the establishment of a separate ministry for non–resident Keralites, and an international airport at Thiruvananthapuram. Compared to all India, Kerala contributed an average of 25 per cent of emigrants in 21st century, down from an average of 35 percent in the twentieth century. In other words, one out of every three or four Indians living in Gulf has been a Keralite. Towards the end of the nineties, Keralites working abroad constituted 10 percent of the workforce in Kerala. The size of those working abroad now equals those working in the organized sector (both public and private) in Kerala. According to unofficial estimates, nearly 20 lakh people from Kerala are currently working in various West Asian and North African countries .
The 2001 census put Kerala's population at 31.8 million. Non-resident Keralites (NRKs) send back close to US$8 billion in remittances annually, more than double the state's tax revenues. Migration has provided the single most dynamic factor in the otherwise dismal scenario of Kerala in the last quarter of the twentieth century. In Kerala, migration must have contributed more to poverty alleviation than any other factor including agrarian reforms, trade union activities and social welfare legislation . One important negative effect has been the rise in unemployment rate due to education and «replacement migration» into Kerala from other Indian states. Emigration had a role in increasing the population with higher levels of education by boosting the willingness and the ability of the Keralite youth to acquire more education. Due to demonstration effect, a common aspiration is «to emigrate to the Gulf, earn a lot of money, get married, and live happily ever after». In recent years, many countries in the Gulf have made it mandatory to have secondary level education for migrants to enter. This has led to considerable increase in the demand for secondary level education in Kerala.
Kerala’s share in attracting remittances from overseas Indian workers has not been insignificant. A study conducted in 2003 has estimated the total remittances to Kerala households based on their survey carried out in 1998 in each of the districts. According to their estimates, total remittances to Kerala stood at Rs. 35,304 million, representing an average remittance of Rs 25,000 per emigrant, and a per capita receipt of Rs. 1,105 by the state population. As a rough proportion of Kerala’s State Domestic product, this was close to 10 percent. They also constituted about 10 percent of the country’s aggregate remittances of US$12,000 million in 1998 at an exchange rate of approximately Rs. 33 to a dollar. Remittance flows to India are estimated to have reached $50 billion in 2010, compared to earlier estimates of $30 billion.
About two million people from Kerala work abroad, almost 90% of whom are in the Gulf states. Many are poor, semi-skilled labourers who have taken loans of up to £2,000, often from moneylenders, to pay recruitment agents for overseas jobs. They work 12-hour days, live without their families in harsh conditions, earn between £500-£1,000 a month, and send most of the money home. According to Pravasi Bandhu Welfare Trust, a UAE-based charitable organization working for the welfare of expatriate Indians, NRKs have remitted more than US$42 billion to Kerala in the last 35 years. Weekly newsmagazine India Today reports that non-resident external deposits with Kerala banks, which were US$6.73 billion in June 2008, are expected to cross US$8.39 billion by the end of 2010 . The remittance income from abroad to the Kerala economy is of two types: (i) remittances through legal channels, and (ii) remittances through illegal channels. However, the incentive to send money through illegal channels seems to have reduced with the liberalisation of the exchange rate since 1991. It is now widely acknowledged that foreign remittances in the economy of the State of Kerala in India in the form of money sent by its workers in the Gulf countries play a crucial role. By the early nineties remittances to the Kerala economy assumed a significant share of state income. This ranged from 17 percent during 1991-92 and 24 percent during 1997-98 with an average of 22 percent for the second half of the nineties. The liberalisation of the Indian economic policies, particularly the foreign exchange rate, benefited Kerala directly. Adding the remittance income to the Net State Domestic Product, a Modified State Income series has been constructed. As a result Kerala’s per capita income not only caught up with the average per capita income for India but started exceeding it reaching 49 percent above the national average by the end of the nineties. This tallies with per capita consumer expenditure in Kerala, which was in excess of 41 percent above the national average by the end of the nineties.
Remittances have also made significant impact on savings. By the nineties savings rates in the Kerala economy seem to have reached such high levels comparable to the East and South East Asian countries . Average propensity to consume declined as income increased steadily. This helped the savings rate to increase and reach high levels comparable to East and South East Asian countries during the nineties. The challenge before Kerala now is to translate such high rates of savings (also reflected in high growth rates in bank deposits and a low credit-deposit ratio of around 40 percent) into investment so as to accelerate not merely aggregate growth of the economy but more importantly, in employment growth. While there are signs of some decline in unemployment in Kerala during the nineties, the rate of unemployment is still high compared to the national average. Majority of the unemployed in Kerala are of the educated kind and this poses both an opportunity as well as a challenge to the Kerala society.
The increase in per capita income as a result of remittances helped increase the consumption of the people in Kerala, including on enhanced family investment in education for migration. The average per capita consumer expenditure in Kerala was below the national average till 1977-78. Since then per capita consumer expenditure in Kerala exceeded that of India progressively reaching 41 percent above the national average in 1999-00. Kerala’s modified per capita income (PMSI) caught up with that of the national average only in 1984-85 but reached 49 percent above the national average in 1999-00. The delay in catching up with the national average in per capita income might be a reflection of the remittances through illegal channels. However, consumerism and house building activities have drained the state of the development potential of its remittance receipts, leading many families to financial bankruptcy, even to suicides. Apart from this, the increasing economic and political clout of the «new rich» in Kerala is reported to have created a climate of resentment against them among the other sections of society .
Reverse Exodus of the Diaspora
In 2009, the number of Indian workers in the GCC countries reached a high of 6 million. Of those about 60 per cent worked in the construction field. It is estimated that more than 2,00,000 workers in the Gulf have returned to India as a result of the delay in execution of projects due to international economic slowdown and recession. Indian professionals in the western countries like Germany, Canada and Britain have not shown any such trend of mass home return, despite these economies going into recession. The World Bank estimates that the biggest declines in the flow of migrant money in 2010-2011 are expected in the Middle East and North Africa because of economic slowdowns in the Gulf and Europe.
Several of these workers have returned to India only temporarily, that is, on leave without pay and expect to go back once the economy revives and projects restarted. At the same time, Many other workers in GCC countries return to India on cancelled visas or after finishing their jobs, not those on leave. The Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs, Mr. Vayalar Ravi, said in the Indian parliament that until 2007, 50,000 to 150,000 workers returned annually to India from Gulf countries after completing their contracts, which run from three to five years. The workers in the United Arab Emirates seemed to be most affected. The Indian embassy in the UAE could not give precise figures of returnees, but indicated that the number was very large. The most visible impact on the construction industry appears to be in the emirate of Dubai. The job opportunities in Dubai were primarily in construction, while in the other countries and emirates, the job opportunities were more broad-based, covering wider spectrum of industry, including oil and gas and related ancillaries. In 2009, Proleads, a Dubai based property consultancy, estimated that 45 per cent of the country’s building projects had been delayed. Companies cut jobs, particularly in the real estate sector, which had been booming to the tune of around $2 trillion till recent times. With the global financial crisis sparked by the credit crunch in the West having reduced fuel demand, oil prices have fallen to below $35 a barrel. This after oil prices touched highs of over $140 a barrel in 2008 .
The union ministry for Over seas Indian Affairs has sought the states to furnish details of those retuned from Gulf countries due to financial recession. The information is being collected as part of conducting study to found out how much the recession affected the returnees. The Indian Council of Overseas Employments (ICOE) has the responsibility of the study . Some 200,000 to 500,000 Keralites working in the Gulf are likely to return home by July 2009, state finance minister Dr. T.M. Thomas Isaac told the State Assembly . This is a considerable chunk of the estimated two million-plus Keralites working abroad, nearly 90% of them in the Gulf. The 2001 census put Kerala's population at 31.8 million. Non-resident Keralites (NRKs) send back close to US$8 billion in remittances annually, more than double the state's tax revenues. The impact of the reverse exodus - both economically and socially - could be devastating, according to experts. According to the Centre for Developmental Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, the number of emigrants from Kerala in 2008 was 2.16 million, up from 1.84 million in 2003. The number of return emigrants was 1.1 million in 2008, up from 890,000 in 2003. So return emigration rose 210,000. Fore example, Around 1,500 to 2,000 fishermen from the Kerala Taluk, Sakthikulangara were employed in prestigious sea reclamation projects in the UAE, such as Palm Island, Due to the recession, almost 90% are back .
However, the government’s biggest problem in fleshing out the fund is that there is no official estimate of how many people are returning every week. Though the government has a separate department to cater to these NRKs (NORKA), it has only a vague idea about the numbers returning from the Gulf . The International Labour Organisation, a specialised agency of the United Nations that deals with labour issues, is likely to send a fact-finding mission to Thrissur in Kerala to assess the number of jobless returnees from abroad and the impact of the global economic downturn on NRI remittances. Thrissur has been one of the districts to immediately launch an NRI returnees rehabilitation programme as recession began affecting jobs. About 700 returnees have registered their names with the rehabilitation cell. Migrants from Thrissur district constitute 9.7 per cent of the total number in the State, according to 2004 figures. Every 100 households in Thrissur have 27 migrants and 13 returnees . About 88 per cent of the emigrants are less than 40 years.
No fiscal help is being offered to those returning to India, although the government is considering a proposal to establish an aid fund. A separate programme helping former expatriates to transfer their skills to jobs that may be available in India. The ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs was expecting a budgetary support of Rs.100 crore for setting up a fund for returning Indian workers but the request could not be accommodated in the union budgets of 2009 & 2010.
Kerala, the home state of many expatriate workers, has set up a loan package to help returnees start small businesses from their homes. Kerala Finance Minister Dr. T.M. Thomas Isaac has said that the State government will examine the possibility of setting up a financial mechanism for providing loans to the gulf returnees interest-free for starting their own employment ventures along the ‘Islamic banking’ principles. The state budget, 2009 allotted Rs. 100 crore. for providing soft loans to Gulf returnees. The state-owned Kerala Financial Corporation (KFC) will handle the package for Gulf returnees. The KFC will provide entrepreneurial loans at a low interest rate of seven per cent to those returning from the Gulf countries after losing job in the wake of the ongoing economic slowdown. The target is to provide Rs 100 crore under the scheme. KFC will evolve a mechanism to impart technical and managerial skills to such Gulf returning entrepreneurs. The corporation has already constituted to an expert team for the purpose at an informal level . The state of Kerala has also sought the Gulf Cooperation Council's (GCC) help to rehabilitate thousands of Gulf returnees, who lost their jobs in the wake of the global slowdown, by contributing to the fund which the state government has already set up.
Conclusion
India has drawn disproportionately high worldwide attention to the success stories of its highly skilled human resources doing remarkably well in the developed countries. In contrast, the Indian labour diaspora in the Gulf have been considered more of a responsibility than pride for India. To neutralise this imbalance and empower the Indian labour migrants, the interest of the stakeholders in the Gulf are gradually being looked into, and innovative programmes are being introduced. The developments following the institution of the «Pravasi Bhartiya Divas» (Expatriate Indians Day), constitution of a separate ministry of the government of India, and the steps to give franchisee right to NRIs reflect a break from the past – a confidence emanating from a paradigm shift towards India taking pride in its diaspora, and vice–versa. What is required, however, is a long–term policy that is aimed at establishing India’s links with the Indian diaspora for sustainable socio–economic development in the country. An effective mechanism is required to cater to the rehabilitation of the gulf returnees also.
Reference
The overseas Indian workers (OIWs) in the GCC Countries come mainly from the four states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. However, most of them have originated from Kerala. This had led to the establishment of a separate ministry for non–resident Keralites, and an international airport at Thiruvananthapuram. Compared to all India, Kerala contributed an average of 25 per cent of emigrants in 21st century, down from an average of 35 percent in the twentieth century. In other words, one out of every three or four Indians living in Gulf has been a Keralite. Towards the end of the nineties, Keralites working abroad constituted 10 percent of the workforce in Kerala. The size of those working abroad now equals those working in the organized sector (both public and private) in Kerala. According to unofficial estimates, nearly 20 lakh people from Kerala are currently working in various West Asian and North African countries .
The 2001 census put Kerala's population at 31.8 million. Non-resident Keralites (NRKs) send back close to US$8 billion in remittances annually, more than double the state's tax revenues. Migration has provided the single most dynamic factor in the otherwise dismal scenario of Kerala in the last quarter of the twentieth century. In Kerala, migration must have contributed more to poverty alleviation than any other factor including agrarian reforms, trade union activities and social welfare legislation . One important negative effect has been the rise in unemployment rate due to education and «replacement migration» into Kerala from other Indian states. Emigration had a role in increasing the population with higher levels of education by boosting the willingness and the ability of the Keralite youth to acquire more education. Due to demonstration effect, a common aspiration is «to emigrate to the Gulf, earn a lot of money, get married, and live happily ever after». In recent years, many countries in the Gulf have made it mandatory to have secondary level education for migrants to enter. This has led to considerable increase in the demand for secondary level education in Kerala.
Kerala’s share in attracting remittances from overseas Indian workers has not been insignificant. A study conducted in 2003 has estimated the total remittances to Kerala households based on their survey carried out in 1998 in each of the districts. According to their estimates, total remittances to Kerala stood at Rs. 35,304 million, representing an average remittance of Rs 25,000 per emigrant, and a per capita receipt of Rs. 1,105 by the state population. As a rough proportion of Kerala’s State Domestic product, this was close to 10 percent. They also constituted about 10 percent of the country’s aggregate remittances of US$12,000 million in 1998 at an exchange rate of approximately Rs. 33 to a dollar. Remittance flows to India are estimated to have reached $50 billion in 2010, compared to earlier estimates of $30 billion.
About two million people from Kerala work abroad, almost 90% of whom are in the Gulf states. Many are poor, semi-skilled labourers who have taken loans of up to £2,000, often from moneylenders, to pay recruitment agents for overseas jobs. They work 12-hour days, live without their families in harsh conditions, earn between £500-£1,000 a month, and send most of the money home. According to Pravasi Bandhu Welfare Trust, a UAE-based charitable organization working for the welfare of expatriate Indians, NRKs have remitted more than US$42 billion to Kerala in the last 35 years. Weekly newsmagazine India Today reports that non-resident external deposits with Kerala banks, which were US$6.73 billion in June 2008, are expected to cross US$8.39 billion by the end of 2010 . The remittance income from abroad to the Kerala economy is of two types: (i) remittances through legal channels, and (ii) remittances through illegal channels. However, the incentive to send money through illegal channels seems to have reduced with the liberalisation of the exchange rate since 1991. It is now widely acknowledged that foreign remittances in the economy of the State of Kerala in India in the form of money sent by its workers in the Gulf countries play a crucial role. By the early nineties remittances to the Kerala economy assumed a significant share of state income. This ranged from 17 percent during 1991-92 and 24 percent during 1997-98 with an average of 22 percent for the second half of the nineties. The liberalisation of the Indian economic policies, particularly the foreign exchange rate, benefited Kerala directly. Adding the remittance income to the Net State Domestic Product, a Modified State Income series has been constructed. As a result Kerala’s per capita income not only caught up with the average per capita income for India but started exceeding it reaching 49 percent above the national average by the end of the nineties. This tallies with per capita consumer expenditure in Kerala, which was in excess of 41 percent above the national average by the end of the nineties.
Remittances have also made significant impact on savings. By the nineties savings rates in the Kerala economy seem to have reached such high levels comparable to the East and South East Asian countries . Average propensity to consume declined as income increased steadily. This helped the savings rate to increase and reach high levels comparable to East and South East Asian countries during the nineties. The challenge before Kerala now is to translate such high rates of savings (also reflected in high growth rates in bank deposits and a low credit-deposit ratio of around 40 percent) into investment so as to accelerate not merely aggregate growth of the economy but more importantly, in employment growth. While there are signs of some decline in unemployment in Kerala during the nineties, the rate of unemployment is still high compared to the national average. Majority of the unemployed in Kerala are of the educated kind and this poses both an opportunity as well as a challenge to the Kerala society.
The increase in per capita income as a result of remittances helped increase the consumption of the people in Kerala, including on enhanced family investment in education for migration. The average per capita consumer expenditure in Kerala was below the national average till 1977-78. Since then per capita consumer expenditure in Kerala exceeded that of India progressively reaching 41 percent above the national average in 1999-00. Kerala’s modified per capita income (PMSI) caught up with that of the national average only in 1984-85 but reached 49 percent above the national average in 1999-00. The delay in catching up with the national average in per capita income might be a reflection of the remittances through illegal channels. However, consumerism and house building activities have drained the state of the development potential of its remittance receipts, leading many families to financial bankruptcy, even to suicides. Apart from this, the increasing economic and political clout of the «new rich» in Kerala is reported to have created a climate of resentment against them among the other sections of society .
Reverse Exodus of the Diaspora
In 2009, the number of Indian workers in the GCC countries reached a high of 6 million. Of those about 60 per cent worked in the construction field. It is estimated that more than 2,00,000 workers in the Gulf have returned to India as a result of the delay in execution of projects due to international economic slowdown and recession. Indian professionals in the western countries like Germany, Canada and Britain have not shown any such trend of mass home return, despite these economies going into recession. The World Bank estimates that the biggest declines in the flow of migrant money in 2010-2011 are expected in the Middle East and North Africa because of economic slowdowns in the Gulf and Europe.
Several of these workers have returned to India only temporarily, that is, on leave without pay and expect to go back once the economy revives and projects restarted. At the same time, Many other workers in GCC countries return to India on cancelled visas or after finishing their jobs, not those on leave. The Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs, Mr. Vayalar Ravi, said in the Indian parliament that until 2007, 50,000 to 150,000 workers returned annually to India from Gulf countries after completing their contracts, which run from three to five years. The workers in the United Arab Emirates seemed to be most affected. The Indian embassy in the UAE could not give precise figures of returnees, but indicated that the number was very large. The most visible impact on the construction industry appears to be in the emirate of Dubai. The job opportunities in Dubai were primarily in construction, while in the other countries and emirates, the job opportunities were more broad-based, covering wider spectrum of industry, including oil and gas and related ancillaries. In 2009, Proleads, a Dubai based property consultancy, estimated that 45 per cent of the country’s building projects had been delayed. Companies cut jobs, particularly in the real estate sector, which had been booming to the tune of around $2 trillion till recent times. With the global financial crisis sparked by the credit crunch in the West having reduced fuel demand, oil prices have fallen to below $35 a barrel. This after oil prices touched highs of over $140 a barrel in 2008 .
The union ministry for Over seas Indian Affairs has sought the states to furnish details of those retuned from Gulf countries due to financial recession. The information is being collected as part of conducting study to found out how much the recession affected the returnees. The Indian Council of Overseas Employments (ICOE) has the responsibility of the study . Some 200,000 to 500,000 Keralites working in the Gulf are likely to return home by July 2009, state finance minister Dr. T.M. Thomas Isaac told the State Assembly . This is a considerable chunk of the estimated two million-plus Keralites working abroad, nearly 90% of them in the Gulf. The 2001 census put Kerala's population at 31.8 million. Non-resident Keralites (NRKs) send back close to US$8 billion in remittances annually, more than double the state's tax revenues. The impact of the reverse exodus - both economically and socially - could be devastating, according to experts. According to the Centre for Developmental Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, the number of emigrants from Kerala in 2008 was 2.16 million, up from 1.84 million in 2003. The number of return emigrants was 1.1 million in 2008, up from 890,000 in 2003. So return emigration rose 210,000. Fore example, Around 1,500 to 2,000 fishermen from the Kerala Taluk, Sakthikulangara were employed in prestigious sea reclamation projects in the UAE, such as Palm Island, Due to the recession, almost 90% are back .
However, the government’s biggest problem in fleshing out the fund is that there is no official estimate of how many people are returning every week. Though the government has a separate department to cater to these NRKs (NORKA), it has only a vague idea about the numbers returning from the Gulf . The International Labour Organisation, a specialised agency of the United Nations that deals with labour issues, is likely to send a fact-finding mission to Thrissur in Kerala to assess the number of jobless returnees from abroad and the impact of the global economic downturn on NRI remittances. Thrissur has been one of the districts to immediately launch an NRI returnees rehabilitation programme as recession began affecting jobs. About 700 returnees have registered their names with the rehabilitation cell. Migrants from Thrissur district constitute 9.7 per cent of the total number in the State, according to 2004 figures. Every 100 households in Thrissur have 27 migrants and 13 returnees . About 88 per cent of the emigrants are less than 40 years.
No fiscal help is being offered to those returning to India, although the government is considering a proposal to establish an aid fund. A separate programme helping former expatriates to transfer their skills to jobs that may be available in India. The ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs was expecting a budgetary support of Rs.100 crore for setting up a fund for returning Indian workers but the request could not be accommodated in the union budgets of 2009 & 2010.
Kerala, the home state of many expatriate workers, has set up a loan package to help returnees start small businesses from their homes. Kerala Finance Minister Dr. T.M. Thomas Isaac has said that the State government will examine the possibility of setting up a financial mechanism for providing loans to the gulf returnees interest-free for starting their own employment ventures along the ‘Islamic banking’ principles. The state budget, 2009 allotted Rs. 100 crore. for providing soft loans to Gulf returnees. The state-owned Kerala Financial Corporation (KFC) will handle the package for Gulf returnees. The KFC will provide entrepreneurial loans at a low interest rate of seven per cent to those returning from the Gulf countries after losing job in the wake of the ongoing economic slowdown. The target is to provide Rs 100 crore under the scheme. KFC will evolve a mechanism to impart technical and managerial skills to such Gulf returning entrepreneurs. The corporation has already constituted to an expert team for the purpose at an informal level . The state of Kerala has also sought the Gulf Cooperation Council's (GCC) help to rehabilitate thousands of Gulf returnees, who lost their jobs in the wake of the global slowdown, by contributing to the fund which the state government has already set up.
Conclusion
India has drawn disproportionately high worldwide attention to the success stories of its highly skilled human resources doing remarkably well in the developed countries. In contrast, the Indian labour diaspora in the Gulf have been considered more of a responsibility than pride for India. To neutralise this imbalance and empower the Indian labour migrants, the interest of the stakeholders in the Gulf are gradually being looked into, and innovative programmes are being introduced. The developments following the institution of the «Pravasi Bhartiya Divas» (Expatriate Indians Day), constitution of a separate ministry of the government of India, and the steps to give franchisee right to NRIs reflect a break from the past – a confidence emanating from a paradigm shift towards India taking pride in its diaspora, and vice–versa. What is required, however, is a long–term policy that is aimed at establishing India’s links with the Indian diaspora for sustainable socio–economic development in the country. An effective mechanism is required to cater to the rehabilitation of the gulf returnees also.
Reference
- http:// indiandiaspora.nic.in , Report of High Level committee submitted to Govt. of India on Indian Diaspora in the Gulf States Region.
- http://www.boloji.com/opinion/0384.htm
- http://www.financialexpress.com/news/middle-easts-demographic-gift-may-dash-keralites-gulf-job-dreams/93390/
- Zachariah K.C., Mathew, E. T. and Rajan, S. I, (2000), «Social, Economic and Demographic Consequences of Migration in Kerala», Working Paper Series 303, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram
- Khadria, Binod, (2006), India: Skilled Migration to developed countries, Labour migration to Gulf, P 17
- http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/india/article.cfm?articleid=4384
- Kannan, K.P. and Hari, K.S., (2002), Kerala’s Gulf Connection: Emigration, Remittances and their Macroeconomic Impact 1972-2000, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, P 4.
- Rajan, I. S. (2003), «Dynamics of International Migration from India: Its Economic and Social Implications», Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram.
- http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/world-news/
- Mathrubhumi online Saturday, August 23, 2008
- http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/india/article.cfm?articleid=4384
- The Guardian, Monday 6 April 2009, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/06/
- Business Standard Monday, Jul 06, 2009, http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/kerala
- The Hindu, Saturday, May 30, 2009, http://www.hindu.com/2009/05/30/stories/
- http://keralaassembly.org/budget/highlights2009-10.html
- The Hindu business line, Thursday, Jun 04, 2009
- Malayala Manorama, Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Principles of Education in Holy Qur'an
طرائق التعلم والتعليم في القرآن الكريم
ن. شمناد *
1. المقدمة
إذا تأملنا حياة الإنسان نجد أن التعلم يشكل مكانا هاما فيها على نحو مستمر عبر مراحل العمر المختلفة. قدم القرآن الكريم بناء تعلميا متكاملا[1] للبشرية يحقق لهم السعادة والفوز منذ أكثر من أربعة عشر قرنا. ويتسم البناء التعلمي في القرآن بخاصية فريدة تميزه عن كافة النظريات الوضعية. وهي المصدر الإلهي[2] للبناء التعلمي الذي يؤكد ثباته المطلق وفائدة العظمى للإنسان. وينبثق النظام التعلمي في القرآن من النظام التفسيري والرؤية الصادقة للكون والحياة والمجتمع والتاريخ والإنسان، فالله هو الخالق وهو المنظم ومبدع الإنسان، ومنزل الشريعة المناسبة له والقادرة على تنظيم شؤونه، وعلى تحقيق التوازن أو التعادلية المعجزة لحاجاته الجسدية المادية والروحية والعقلية .وينطلق نظام القرآن في التعلم من الفهم الصادق لحقيقة الإنسان والهدف من خلقة وأساليب تحقيق أهدافه ومصيره في الآخرة، وهي مقدمات لابد منها حتى يستوي النظام التربوي غاية ووسيلة ويحقق أهدافه[3]. النظام التربوي في القرآن يأخذ في الاعتبار مجموعة من الأبعاد وهي: تحديد الصلة بين الخالق وبين الإنسان المخلوق، وتنظيم أمور الناس في الدنيا وعلاقتهم سياسيا واقتصاديا وأسريا وتربويا، وبيان كيفية تحقيق الهدف السامي من استخلاف الله للإنسان في الأرض وأسلوب معيشته، ومراعاة البعد الزمني لعمر المتعلم فهو يبدأ في الدنيا ويمتد إلى الآخرة عبر مستقبل. التعلم في القرآن يحقق النمو المتكامل المتوازن لشخصية الإنسان. وهو تعلم فكري وسلوكي وعملي معا، ويجمع التعلم الإسلامي بين الطابع الفردي والاجتماعي معا، وينشئ الفرد على مراقبة الله، ويحافظ على فطرة الإنسان النقية ويعلي غرائزه الفطرية. وهذا التعلم تعلم موجه نحو الخير، وتعلم مستمر، وتعلم عالمي منفتح، وتعلم يجمع بين المحافظة والتجديد[4].
2. أهداف التعلم في القرآن
1. الحفاظ على الفطرة وتنميتها من خلال تعريف الإنسان بخالقه وبناء العلاقة بينهما.
3. إعداد الفرد لمواجهة متطلبات حياته في هذه الدنيا.
5. إعداد الناس لحمل الرسالة الإسلامية ونشرها في العالم كله حتى ينتشر الحق.
6. غرس القيم الإيمانية الإسلامية في النفوس مثل وحدة الإنسانية والمساواة بين البشر.
3. طرائق التعليم والتعلم في القرآن الكريم
يمكن أن يلخص أهم طرائق التعليم والتعلم التي تشير إليها القرآن الكريم كما يلي[7].
1. التعلم بالقدوة الطيبة، والموعظة الحسنة :
لقد علم القرآن الكريم من طرائق التعليم والتعلم وإعداد المتعلم القدوة الطيبة والصادقة في سلوك الأب، والمعلم مع اتباع الموعظة الحسنة، حيث يوجه المتعلم إلى السلوك القويم، وتدعيم الحسن منه وتخلية المتعلم من السيئ والمرفوض منه، ويتضح هذا جليا في أسلوب لقمان – عليه السلام – مع ابنه وهو يربّيه، قال تعالى: {وإذ قال عثمان لابنه وهو يعظه يا بني لا تشرك بالله إن الشرك لظلم عظيم}[8].
2. التعليم والتعلم بالملاحظة الدقيقة والمنظمة :
أقرّ القرآن أهمية الملاحظة المنظمة والمشاهدة المتكررة في التعليم والتعلم، حيث يرسل الله النبي أو الرسول ويدعم موقفه التعليمي بالمعجزات التي يشاهدها المتعلم (المرسل إليه)، ويستنتج منها النتائج والعظات والعبر، فيعدل من سلوكه إذا فقه الدرس ووعاه، قال تعالى : {ويا قوم هذه ناقة الله لكم آية فذروها}[9]. وفي هذه الآيات أوضح النبي صالح – عليه السلام – لقومه قدرة الله بهذه الناقة التي تسير أمامهم، وتشرب الماء في يوم، وتعطيهم اللبن. وقد حشد القرآن الكريم عشرات المواقف التعليمية بالملاحظة المنظمة مثل موقف إبراهيم – عليه السلام – مع الشمس والقمر وعبادته لله، وكذا التفكر في خلق الله[10].
3. التعليم والتعلم بالمناقشة:
حيث إن التعليم الجيد يستلزم مشاركة المتعلم في العملية التعليمية بحماس وإيجابية، والمناقشة تشجع المتعلم على المشاركة في الموقف التعليمي، والمناقشة لون من الحوار الشفوي بين المتعلم والمعلم يؤدي بالمتعلم إلى التوصل إلى جوانب التعلم المعرفية الأساسية. قال القرآن: {وإلى مدين أخاهم شعيبا قال يا قوم اعبدوا الله[11] قالوا يا شعيب أصلواتك تأمرك أن نترك ما يعبد آباؤنا... قال يا قوم أرأيتم إن كنت على بينة من ربي[12]}. فالمعلم الناجح يخطط للحوار في تدريسه بحيث يصبح الحوار منظما منطقيا مقنعا، ويحاول أن يمس الحوار حاجة عند المتعلم، ويعمل على تعديل سلوك المتعلم بما يقنعه في ذلك من الحوار، وعندما يصل الحوار إلى منتهاه، أو يرى المعلم أن نتائج الحوار غير مجدية فعليه أن يفكر في أسلوب آخر غير هذا الأسلوب الحواري لتعليم تلاميذه وتعديل سلوكهم، وهذا ما أرشدتنا إليه الآيات السابقات من سورة هود[13].
4. التعليم والتعلم بالعروض العملية :
العرض العملي هو النشاط الذي يقوم به المعلم أو المتعلم أو أي متخصص أو مجموعة من المتعلمين أو المتخصصين بقصد توضيح حقيقة أو قانون أو قاعدة أو نظرية أو تطبيقاتها في الحياة العملية باستخدام بعض وسائل الإيضاح مثل العينات والنماذج والصور والرسوم والأفلام والتجارب العملية إلى جانب الشرح الشفوي. وقد أقر القرآن الكريم أسلوب التعلم بالعروض العملية في العديد من المواقف التعليمية الواردة في القرآن الكريم، ومنها قصة الغراب عندما قتل ابن آدم أخاه[14].
5. التعليم بالتجريب العملي، والدراسة اللامختبرية :
أقر القرآن التجريب طريقة من طرائق التعلم القاطعة، والتي لا شك بعدها، وقد اتضح هذا في موقف إبراهيم -عليه السلام- الذي يشير إليه القرآن[15]. وهذا قمة التعلم بالتجريب فإبراهيم يود أن يطمئن عمليا، إلى ما استيقن به نظريا وعقليا وقلبيا، فطلب تجربة عملية، فكانت تلك التجربة التي أخذ فيها أربعة من الطير وذبحهن بيديه، بعد أن علمهن وعرفهن جيدا، ثم مزقهن قطعا، ووضع بيديه على كل جبل منهن جزءا، ثم دعاهن فأتينه سعيا على هيئتهن قبل أن يمزقهن ويوزعهن على الجبال.
6. التعليم والتعلم بالرحلات والزيارات التعليمية :
أقرّ القرآن النشاط التعليمي المخطط له باعتباره جزءا متكاملا من عملية التعليم والتعلم الذي يقوم به المتعلم تحت إشراف المعلم في البيئة الخارجية، ويتضح هذا جليا في قصة موسى مع العبد الصالح[16]، قال تعالى: {قال له موسى هل أتبعك على أن تعلمن مما علمتَ رشدا}[17].
7. التعلم الاجتماعي :
بنى القرآن الكريم تعلم العقائد وتأدية العبادات مثل الصلاة والصيام والزكاة والحج على النشاط والسلوك الجماعي حتى ولو كان الفرد يؤدي العبادة منفردا[18].
8. التعلم الذاتي :
أقر القرآن أسلوب التعلم الذاتي في إحداث تغيير في سلوك المتعلمين سواء أكانوا فرادى أو جماعات، حيث أمرهم القرآن بالتفكر في خلق الله بدون معلم أي بالذات، وهذا من أحدث الأساليب التربوية التي ينادي بها رجالات التربية في العصر الحديث، قال القرآن: {إن في خلق السماوات والأرض واختلاف الليل والنهار ...لآيات لقوم يعقلون}[19].
9. التعلم بالثواب والعقاب :
ثبت علميا أن للثواب والعقاب أهمية كبرى في عملية التعليم والتعلم وتعديل سلوك المتعلم، وقد أقر القرآن الكريم مبدأ الثواب والعقاب في كثير من المواقف قال القرآن: {الزانية والزاني فاجلدوا كل واحد منهما مائة جلدة... وليشهد عذابهما طائفة من المؤمنين}[20]، كما أقرّ القرآن بقطع يد السارق حتى يصبح عظة وعبرة وتعلما وتعليما لمن تسوّل له نفسه الاعتداء على حرمات المجتمع[21].
10 - التعليم والتعلم بالقصة والعرض التاريخي:
والمعلوم أن للقصة أثرا طيبا في تعديل السلوك والتعليم والتعلم، فهي تستحوذ على لب المتعلمين في جميع الأعمار. وقد تميز القصص القرآنية بأنها أحسن القصص حيث الواقعية والصدق والعفة ونبل الهدف، قال تعالى: {نحن نقص عليك أحسن القصص بما أوحينا إليك هذا القرآن وإن كنت من قبله لمن الغافلين}[22]. وقد وردت كلمة قصة باشتقاقاتها المختلفة في القرآن الكريم 26 مرة، وفي القرآن سورة تسمى سورة القصص، كما عرض القرآن في أسلوب تعليمي تعلمي تاريخ الأمم السابقة.
11 - التعليم بضرب الأمثال:
في القرآن الكريم 130 آية فيها مثل[23]، ضرب الأمثال وتقديم النماذج وسيلة استخدمها القرآن للتعليم. وهذا أسلوب علمي تربوي سبق به القرآن علماء التربية الحديثة في تقريب المجرد بالمحسوس فضرب الله مثلا للمنافقين: {مثلهم كمثل الذي استوقد نارا فلما أضاءت ما حوله ذهب الله بنورهم وتركهم في ظلمات لا يبصرون}[24].
12 - التعليم والتعلم بالعظة التاريخية :
استخدم القرآن الكريم طريق العبرة بما حدث للسابقين في تربية المؤمنين: {ألم تر كيف فعل ربك بعاد}[25].
قدم القرآن الكريم مبادئ وطرائق التربية المتنوعة والمتباينة والشاملة، والذي يقف على الأساليب العلمية التربوية الحديثة يعرف أنها قاصرة وعاجزة أمام الإعجاز القرآني في مجال التربية والتعليم.
المصادر
1. القرآن الكريم
2. علوان، عبد الله ناصح، (1983)، تربية الأولاد في الإسلام، القاهرة: دار السلام للنشر والتوزيع
3. موسى، نظمي خليل، (1995)، من طرائق التعلم والتعليم في القرآن الكريم والسنة النبوية المطهرة، القاهرة: مكتبة النور
4. سلامة شاش، سهير محمد، (2006)، علم نفس اللغة، القاهرة: مكتبة زهراء الشرق
5. الزعبلاوي، محمد السيد، طرق تدريس القرآن الكريم، الرياض: مكتبة التوبة
6. نجاتي، محمد عثمان، القرآن وعلم النفس، بيروت: دار الشروق
12. http://www.albahaedu.gov.sa/vb/showthread.php?t=4411
14. http://www.balagh.com/mosoa/mabade/ys0uxkf5.htm
[1] سلامة شاش، سهير محمد، (2006)، علم نفس اللغة، القاهرة: مكتبة زهراء الشرق، ص: 198
[7] موسى، أبو العطا، (1995)، من طرائق التعلم والتعليم في القرآن والسنة النبوية، القاهرة : مكتبة النور، ص:10
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