Education is a fundamental human right. An essential measure that can empower many individuals to live a life filled with hopes, dreams, and pursuits. For some, it paves a path to earn, engage and prevail; for some, education assists in making earnings and a living. Through education, one can live life to its most significant potential. Therefore, the right to education is every individual’s fundamental need or demand.

Educational challenges have existed for many years around the world. However, for us to grow as a nation and a people, everyone must take this opportunity to learn and have a chance at a better life. For some Parents, it is without a doubt that their children will go to school and earn relevant credentials. However, for some, the choice between educating a child and having food or making the child support the family is a harsh actuality. There are government-aided schools that educate children for free, and this allows all children to get a prospect of proper education. While every child is the nation’s future, we must ensure all of them get a fair chance at an education. 

A good institution will light a passion for your child that will help them become successful professionals in any field of their interest. Knowing the rights of your child to get an education as a parent must be second nature. Seeking admission at the right time and the right age is required. However, research in finding a good institution with the proper support for your child’s learning needs is key to their success in learning.

As a parent, there is much to ponder before aiding a child’s education. First, one must consider the education cost of the type of institution and the faculty. Can the school offer individual attention? Are they trained to handle your child’s learning needs? Will the curriculum make or break the child? What sort of Extra-Curricular activities are offered? Do they get exposure to the real world? Do they give importance to Sport Education and fitness? How important is it for the school you enroll your child in? Finally, most importantly, will the kid like and fit in the institution just as much as the institution suits the child? Supporting your child during their education is important. Also, as a parent, it is also binding for you to be involved in all aspects of your child’s life. 

7 Positive Parenting Tips

1. Be a role model for your child. 
Help them have a positive attitude to learning and help them understand that you are there for them when the going gets tough.

2. Learn together 
This gives your child the confidence to keep learning and becomes a good bonding activity. Another important aspect of studying together will help you know exactly what your child is learning and give you the ability to guide your child or check back with the teacher.

3. Oversee the child's activity 
This is essential to your child's educational progress. It is also central that you do not become their monitor. Overseeing the child's training is the action where you, as a parent, check to ensure homework is being done and follow up on the days learning. Help with home projects. Equip them for tests. Remind them that grades, while important, do not define them.

4. No over-scheduling 
While overseeing the child's or children's activities, do not fall into the trap of over-scheduling. Instead, allow your child to have some downtime. Give them a chance to play, chill out and even maybe take a break at some point in the day. Over-scheduling will bring out stress and overburden your child.

5. Provide a pleasant atmosphere
Build a good learning atmosphere for your child. Allow them to enjoy learning and grow in their knowledge. Giving them a friendly atmosphere encourages the child to learn.

6. Give constructive criticism 
And help the child learn while understanding where they need to make changes for the better.

7. Allow them to have a memory-filled childhood, not a task-filled study life. 
Take vacations away from the mundane everyday spots. Something like a beach holiday or a hill station visit can do wonders. Also, allow the children to be children. It never hurt anyone for the little ones to goof about once in a while. That is where creativity is born!

These are a few facts to ensure your child gets your support. A nation will move forward as its youth are empowered and enabled or prepared to take on the future.

The growth of cutting-edge technologies that can fundamentally ‘alter how things are done’ is a primary factor in today’s ongoing shift in how people conduct their work. As a result, management discussions are now centered on how businesses can keep up with these developments. For example, realigning their existing business models to fit better a world becoming increasingly dominated by technology and work can now be performed from virtually any location. So it is because work can now be performed from almost every site.

The meaning of the word “job” is evolving in response to social and technological changes. Corporations need to adapt to new ways of working to raise their profits and preserve their relevance and agility in the modern business world. It will allow the companies to boost their earnings. The gig economy, defined by the preponderance of short-term job contracts as opposed to permanent jobs, “is being welcomed by the majority of firms today to bring about this transformation.” 

“Both businesses and individuals realize that the gig economy will become the norm in the coming years at a faster rate than it has ever been.” In the current economy, startups are hiring gig workers, and even more established enterprises are following the same trend and turning to gig workers to perform primary and crucial jobs in their organizations. This trend indicates that the gig economy is becoming increasingly mainstream. In addition, well-established enterprises are now developing an affinity for the paradigm of the gig economy. Because professionals now prefer to work in ways that give them more freedom.

According to a recent study by EY titled “Future of Jobs In India: A 2022 Perspective,” published in collaboration with Nasscom and Ficci, Indian freelancers control a part of the global online gig economy that is equal to 24 percent. The title of the research report was “A 2022 Perspective On The Future Of Jobs In India.” Another survey reveals that India currently holds the third most significant online labour market share.

According to the reports, this extremely breakthrough is a development that has occurred as a direct result of the engagement of millennials in the labour market. This development has happened as a direct result of the participation of millennials in the labour market. The paradigm of the gig economy has the potential to play a significant role in promoting a greater number of women entering the workforce. Because it enables workers to choose who they work for and for how long, giving them greater control over their employment situations. Maintaining their level of participation can be made easier with the help of this model while they are out of commission and unable to return to work. Numerous businesses with an eye toward the future have lately built a distinct employment platform to entice gig employees through their job websites. This was done to meet the growing need for workers in the gig economy.

Businesses now have the opportunity to hire individuals with specific skill sets for the duration of a project that requires them while maintaining a significant check on costs that could spiral out of control if they did not use the gig economy. This opportunity was not previously available to them. In addition, the business model has a broader reach because companies can now share contractual opportunities with specialists whose high salaries previously prevented them from being considered for full-time positions. In the past, this would have made it impossible for these specialists to get full-time jobs.

The sharing economy of goods and services, sometimes known as the “gig economy,” has its fair share of challenges. For example, it is possible that a person working in contract employment will not be qualified for the benefits to which they are entitled as a full-time worker. Because contractual employment is not considered full-time employment, in addition, while employing contractual staff, recruitment and leadership teams must exercise discretion in hiring these talented individuals while ensuring that permanent employees fill essential responsibilities. Necessary to fulfill both sets of responsibilities effectively. Permanent employees won’t have to worry about their jobs thanks to this measure’s implementation.

Businesses must work towards recognizing the gig economy since it is a step towards establishing a more varied and inclusive workplace. Even though the gig economy may bring some issues and concerns, businesses must try to utilise it. 

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Students had to swiftly adjust to remote learning from home when the bulk of the world went remote in early 2020 with the COVID-19 epidemic. As a result, many parents started to consider homeschooling instead of sending their kids back to the official school system. But how does home-schooling compare to regular education regarding benefits and drawbacks?

Home-Schooling

The Pros & The Cons

Traditional Schooling

The Pros & The Cons

Before settling on a course of action, it is critical to conduct an exhaustive study regarding the benefits and drawbacks of each type of educational setting, including homeschooling and conventional schools. Because every child is an individual with a distinct learning style, interests, and set of skills, as well as their own unique set of obstacles, they will all react differently to the various instructional approaches. It is up to the individual to determine how one should go about cultivating and instilling in their students a genuine love of learning, which is one of the most vital components of education and something that the student will carry with them throughout their entire life.

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The most significant risk to people’s health in the 21st century will come from climate change. The changing climate already has and will continue to have direct impacts on health, such as heat waves, droughts, heavy storms, and the rise in sea level. There will also be effects on health from things like vector-borne and airway diseases, lack of food and water, malnutrition, and forced migration.

The environment in which we live has a significant impact on our overall health. Nevertheless, our environment is shifting, which will likely have major repercussions for our well-being, safety, and health. The term “climate change” refers to a shift that has taken place over a period of decades in the earth’s weather systems. The majority of the most recent changes observed in our climate can be attributed to the actions of humans. Without any sort of intervention, the effects of the changing climate will spread far and wide across our state, the rest of the country, and the rest of the world, and they will be catastrophic. It is a very important problem that could affect people on a global, national, local, and even personal level. 

It is anticipated that climate change will cause roughly 250 000 more deaths each year between the years 2030 and 2050. These deaths will be caused solely by starvation, malaria, diarrhea, and heat stress. It is estimated that the direct damage costs to health will be between 2 and 4 billion dollars per year by the year 2030. The areas with the weakest health infrastructure, which are mostly in developing countries, will be the least able to handle the outbreak without help getting ready for it and dealing with it. 

Climate Change

Increases in greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere drive climate change by raising the earth’s average temperature. 

As a result of greenhouse gases’ ability to absorb heat, air and water temperatures rise. They are mostly made by managing land, mining, farming, transportation, and burning fossil fuels (like coal) to make electricity. Already, people in every corner of the world can observe the results of climate change.

1. A rise in the number of days that reach extremely high temperatures.

2. A rise in climatic conditions that are conducive to the spread of fire and the length of the fire season.

3. A decrease in rainfall during the cool seasons, which led to the lowest streamflow recorded over the course of the last several decades a rise in sea levels.

4. Additional rises in the number of days that are extremely hot and the overall temperature the number of days with extremely high fire danger is growing, and the fire season is getting longer as a result.

5. The annual rainfall totals on average are getting lower, which is having an adverse effect on the quality of water in streams and rivers. 

6. An increased probability of sudden flooding as a result of more intense and frequent heavy.
The level of the sea along the coast is continuing to rise.

Health Effects Of Climate Change

The greatest threat to human health in the twenty-first century, according to the World Health Organization, is climate change. It affects health and welfare in a variety of ways, including:

1. Extreme weather events (including heatwaves, floods, and bushfires) are becoming more intense and frequent.

2. Directly, as a result of changes in the spread of infectious diseases, deteriorating air quality, dangers to food and water, and effects on mental health.

Climate change will also have an effect on the economy. This will lead to more social inequality, financial stress, lack of food security, and unemployment. 

Who is most at danger from the consequences of climate change on their health?

Some individuals are more susceptible to the negative consequences of climate change on their health than others:

1. There are several factors that contribute to children's precarious position. Children, for instance, are more vulnerable to heat stress and dehydration, and they are also more sensitive to the effects of being exposed to air pollution and smoke from bushfires. Their immune systems have not yet matured to their full potential, which puts them at a greater risk of contracting illnesses. They often have to depend on other people to keep them safe and help them get better after dangerous situations.

2. As a result of the physiological changes that occur during pregnancy, a woman's chance of experiencing heat stress during periods of extreme heat is significantly enhanced. They and their unborn babies are especially vulnerable to the effects of air pollution and smoke from wildfires.

3. Dehydration, heat stress, infections, and a worsening of pre-existing heart and lung disease are more likely to occur in elderly people and people with one or more pre-existing medical disorders.
People who live in rural and remote areas, people who are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, people who live on low incomes, and other vulnerable populations are also at an increased risk. This is in part due to inequalities in the underlying health outcomes and the limited accessibility of healthcare and other services. 

4. People who live in rural or remote regions, as well as those who live along the coast, are at an increased risk of being affected by extreme occurrences such as bushfires, droughts, hurricanes, and rising sea levels.

Taking steps to lessen your role in climate change

Individual decisions can have an impact. If we all make small adjustments, our combined efforts will result in a more significant impact. Individual choices have the potential to have an effect. If everyone of us makes a few minor improvements, the sum of our work will ultimately result in a more significant impact.

1. Your risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, several malignancies, and musculoskeletal disorders can be decreased by increasing your use of "active transportation," such as walking and cycling.

2. Utilizing active transportation or public transportation less frequently can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance the quality of the air, which will assist in lowering the prevalence of lung cancer and other lung disorders (including asthma), heart disease, and stroke. 

3. It is beneficial to your health and the environment to consume a diet high in plant-based foods, such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and whole grains, and low in animal-based foods.

4. When combined with a well-balanced, regular diet and a healthy, active lifestyle, eating the amount of fruit and vegetables recommended for men and women each day can help you avoid obesity, keep a healthy weight, lower your cholesterol, and lower your blood pressure.

5. Reducing your intake of high-calorie processed foods will help you use fewer calories overall and lessen their negative effects on the environment. Most processed foods have more salt, sugar, or saturated fat, take more energy to make, and are often packed, which adds to the amount of trash in landfills.

6. It's healthier for the environment and your health to drink tap water instead of bottled water or sugary beverages. Tap water is also significantly less expensive.

7. You might save money and energy if you can heat and cool your home well all year round. 

All these contribute to the well-being of our neighbourhoods but also lessen the burden on the healthcare system.

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Creating work-life balance and blending it into your life is an ongoing and persistent process. It will never stop. You will constantly learn and adapt as your interests, and situations change over time. So, let this run be filled with fun. Don’t forget to revisit your priorities now and then to see what is or has changed. You must keep track of your preferences and continue to line up how you spend your time and energy.

7 Tips For A Healthy Work-Life Balance

1. Learn To Say NO

Learning ‘when to say NO’ is the hardest aptitude to master. Be it at work or be it at home. After knowing to say no, putting this into practice is even more challenging. It is critical to set the proper boundaries. To begin with, one must foremost evaluate the specific needs of your day and learn, then articulate and prioritise what you have to do or complete.

2. Breaks

A 30-second micro-break can improve concentration, make work feel satisfying, keep one engaged and relieve stress. It’s essential to be mindful of this even when working from home. Surprisingly, especially since the pandemic, stress levels at work went sky high because people at home forgot to take appropriate breaks. And as the point says, it helps reduce stress, one of the leading causes of many work-related silent killers of the working professional.

Use your lunch break wisely. If you have a lunch break, you have the right to use it. Taking a coffee or lunch break to replenish your stamina, recharge your mind and rejuvenate your spirit to get work done is nonpassable. I am sure no boss will appreciate you suffering from ulcers, gastritis, or acidity because a report was due at 3 pm.

3. Schedule Family Time

Block out time that’s dedicated altogether to your family. For this to work, everyone in your family must have to make this period a prerogative. Make sure everyone in your family is on the same page for this to happen. It would be best if you collectively decided to carve this time out. And better yet, no external interruptions.

4. Prioritise Health

Lose your health; you lose much more than you can imagine. It is of prime importance that you begin maintaining your physical health, emotional well-being, and mental fitness to function well. Ignoring your health can hamper your work-life balance. Low concentration at work can lead to overtime or poorly accomplished tasks. In turn, it can impact your interactions at work. Carried back home, this becomes a potential cesspool of festering anger that can burn people around you with scathing anger. To make health a priority, build simple and supportive actions into your day. Habit stacking, a pattern or routine introduced in our life, can make waves in our work-life balance – daily workouts, journaling, meditation, getting connected, and plenty more. Use time wisely and give importance to self-care for a healthy you.

5. Practice Self-Compassion

Letting go of perfectionism is one of the most important ways to achieve a sense of work-life balance. The approach of perfectionism does nothing but bring stress. Moreover, it causes anxiety to accumulate over time. The strain and emotional stress press so hard on our well-being that we begin to crumble as our commitments increase.

6. Set Boundaries To Truly Unplug

Set and communicate your work hours clearly to your colleagues and customers to have clear boundaries. Include information on when you’ll work and when you won’t be available to respond. Many of us wear pseudo badges of honour; thinking overtime and working through weekends is commendable. In reality, this is nothing but a show of incompetence. And the lack of being able to have a life outside of work.

7. Invest In Relationships

An exciting study by Harvard Health Publishing found out the absence of strong relationships increased the chance of an early demise from all causes by 50%. That’s approximately as harmful as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Yikes, right? Who knew that seclusion was a silent killer? Conversely, excellent and well-grounded connections and social support systems can improve health and increase longevity.

Ensure even after your work schedules and deadlines and meetings, you will make time for your well being, friends, family and all that matters to you. It is true we will never find time for anything, we will have to put effort to find time, to do what we want to do. Enjoy a little and enjoy a lot, life is short and make every second worth it.

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Years ago, I had journaled about negativity at the workplace. Those were my earlier years of employment. My first taste of negative people and office politics. As Interns, we were supposed to follow a hierarchy, do what is told and never question, and sometimes even fraternise according to how they wanted us to. If we did not do as expected, we would endure a different treatment than what others received (read: being left out of vital projects). Little did bosses and colleagues understand then, the importance of workplace positivity and connection to productivity. Most of the time, the management had stringent rules set for work and we ended up blindly following them. I have heard about it from almost all my friends who have undergone this pressure and negative environment. It is also one of the primary reasons for attrition in most organisations, then and even now. When employee satisfaction hits a low, organizations experience a lot of exits as well.

Upon some reflection, a realisation dawned how no one thought of workplace happiness even until a decade ago. All we thought was to complete our day’s targets and end the day as quickly as possible. Most of the time we were burnt out too. The biggest reason for our frustration was how the management never bothered to find out the reasons for the low outputs and errors we made. There were no efforts to liven the workplace and conduct training sessions for beginners/trainees. Professional relationships could have been more beautifully developed if there was inclusivity – seniors and juniors at one table discussing the work on a particular day together and brainstorming for solutions. Hierarchies dominated. As part of human nature, we all focused on the negatives faster than the positives – bad bosses, scheming colleagues, vile support staff. We rarely focused on boosting the energy of the workspace or our productivity.

Interestingly, this week is globally observed as the International Week of Happiness at Work – September 19-23. Some organisations do give their employees a day off from work but celebrate it with games and fun. It becomes an open house for kids to come and see the workplace where their parents work.

But why restrict this to one particular day in the whole year? Why not make every day a happy day for employees? Work can be made fun with the required seriousness too. There are many in People Operations and Life Coaches who explain the importance of happiness in and at a workplace and suggest simple ways for the same. The New CEOs and heads of organisations are setting new goals for management. Workspaces are being redesigned, and becoming more vibrant and spacious, and modifying policies to benefit workers. So, what are you waiting for? Let’s spice up our workplace as well.

10 Ways To Hike Happiness @ Work

1. Morning Tea/Coffee Meet 

Having a short chat at the beginning of the work day over a hot cuppa tea or coffee is a good ice breaker and start to a work day. Strategies or goals for the day can be chalked out. A smile exchanged, is a great way to begin the day. If there are employees who are working from home, the meeting can happen with them over a video call too.

2. Rejig Teams At Regular Intervals

Bosses can rejig teams for better productivity. Fresh ideas can energise the team as well. Innovations can be welcomed better by teams too. Of course, please do this after talking to the team. An open conversation always helps.

3. A Date For Offbeat Topics

Fix a particular day in a month to talk about anything apart from work. A small panel discussion or a debate can be organized by employees/managers. Perhaps, you can bring a speaker to talk about any topic too – anything but mundane. There is something to look forward to for employees other than work too.

4. Striking A Healthy Work-Life Balance

Work smart must be the mantra. In other words, utilising work time for work alone and encouraging better time management skills for projects. If this is done, most employees wouldn’t need to work overtime (unless it is needed). This means lesser burnout and going home on time. In addition, ensuring that the weekends are reserved for family time.

5. Vision Boards 

Experts say that having a vision or goal in front of you will motivate you to work better towards the target. Get creative and decorate the vision board/soft board. Place the board at your desk – basically a collage of images (cut and pasted) related to the project you are working on. A daily look at this board will keep you motivated to complete the project with finesse. 

6. Place Indoor Plants 

Plants are known to spread good energy and positivity at work places. They add to the aesthetic value and design of the office. Of course, keep plants that are low maintenance and spread positivity like Peace Lily, Bamboo, Cast Iron plant, Snake plant and Ferns.

7. Awarding Employees 

Praise or recognition of the hard work put in by employees can go a long way in increasing happiness levels. A small pat on the back or praising him or her for small tasks done to big projects getting accomplished at a short notice/deadline will go a long way in releasing happy hormones. 

8. Team Bonding Retreats

Having occasional team outings like lunch or dinner outside or even a get together with the team can charge up employees. It goes a long way in connecting better with teammates.

9. Career Booster Sessions

Looking beyond your horizon goes a long way in boosting organization-employee happiness levels. Encouraging employees to have long-term career goals is a great motivation. This may or may not be your last company to work so it is a good idea to have your skills upgraded now and then. A good company will organize training and on-field sessions with experts from the industry. Experts can provide professional guidance to work better and plan careers effectively too. 

10. Know Your Employees (KYE) 

Organizations earn a lot of brownie points for making efforts to remember employees’ work anniversary details like honouring their one or many years at the firm, celebrating their victories, acknowledging their success in achieving the target et al. It feels good to be known individually and be remembered on their special days. Good and bad!

Signing off with this great quote by Steve Jobs, “your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”

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