What are the sources of guidance information for commerce?

An enthusiastic commerce teacher can make constant attempts to know all that is best and latest in the area of commerce. He should try to collect from different sources.

He should try to keep a constant and ever growing contact with businessmen, bank managers and officers, insurance officers, various types of mercantile agents in order to know more and more about the current practices and uses and adop­tion of real devices in the field of commerce, trade and industry.

These sources will furnish them sufficient information’s, what they would intend to collect. A tentative list is given below, which the commerce teachers should try to resort to for assistance.

Central Government Services:

In the beginning, the Directorate of Extension Programmes for Secondary Education, Ministry of Education, and Government of India organised seminars and workshops in various subjects of the commerce programme of the secondary school curriculum. Commerce teachers, who attended such seminars and workshops, where expert guidance was available, were immensely benefitted as necessary services of TCM (Technical Commerce Mission) and Indian and foreign consultants were readily available. A monthly magazines, Teacher Education’ was published by the Directorate of Extension Programmes for Secondary Education. It contains good articles and his useful information’s for teachers.

State Services: Commerce teachers can seek the help from Ex­tension Services Centres located in Training Colleges in the country, through the head of their schools. Such services include the follow­ing:

1. Library containing useful books on commerce subjects.

2. Audio-visual aid centres in the country can be contacted and films, filmstrips, charts, diagrams, cartoons and other necessary information needed for enrichment of the commerce programmes can be procured. These things are available on loan basis to institutions.

3. Commerce teachers should hold conferences and workshops in which best intellectuals of the locality in commerce area may be invited.

4. At State level the education departments may be contacted for useful films and film-strips.

5. Foreign Information Service. Libraries and publishers of repute in foreign countries may also be contacted. Besides this indi­vidual writers and authors can also be contacted. For example, the British Information Service, the United States Information Service, the Soviet Information Services and other information services of several other countries may also be contacted, for the benefit of the students as well as the department of Commerce.

6. Publishing Companies. There are several Companies and firms in each important city in the country which specialize in pub­lishing books and other information’s, which are vitally needed by teachers and students of commerce. A list of publishers, which have published a good number of books on commerce are given below. They may be contacted by commerce teachers:

Professional Organization

There are many professional organisations in the country. They may be contacted and the necessary materials maybe collected. These professional organisations offer opportunities for exchange of ideas and for keeping themselves abreast of the recent developments in commerce and methods of teaching through the following activities:

Meetings and conferences of members held annually. All members should participate in such gatherings.

Exhibits of books and equipments may be featured at the conference through the co-operation of business firms and institutions.

Publishing of journals and yearbooks be also discussed by the members and distribution list also be prepared.

Projects growing out the needs of the members of the staff may be planned.

List of Professional Organisations

1. Secretary Indian Journal of Commerce, S.Y.K. College of Commerce, Nasik

2. Institute of Works & Cost Accountants of India, 12, Sudder Street, Calcutta.

3. Chartered Accounts of India.

4. Indian Institute of Bankers.

5. Indian Institute of Management.

Inter-change of ideas between schools on the one hand and the professional organisations on the other, really speeds up growth and development in any field of endeavour. The commerce teachers should make efforts in making contacts with these professional organisations, which provide such vital opportunities for commerce teachers’ profes­sional growth.

Commerce teachers should have their own state-wise and dis­trict-wise association for mutual exchange of ideas.