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Those students who wish to join the BPO sector which is developing at a very fast pace, they can now have the required training in the school itself.

This comes in the wake of the introduction of the special course related to BPO which will start in class 11^th when the session reopens. This action is being taken in Ranchi in Bihar where all CBSE schools are providing this course to the students free of cost to make them fare better in the fast-growing BPO world.

The program is called the Business Processing and Outsourcing Programme and is available for the students of the commerce stream. The main focus of this course would be on various facets of BPO which include advertising, technical up gradation, customer relation management, customer satisfaction. In addition to the theory, it is also proposed that students will be taken on sites of call centres to provide them training in practice as well. Just after completing their Plus Two examinations, the students will be able to take up this upcoming profession.

This course has been developed to give the students a career option which they can take up right after school. It has been developed by the curriculum development committee under the chairmanship of G.C. Sharma who is the director of BLB Institute of Financial Markets. Framework of the course and also the learning tools has been developed by the Central Institute of Vocational Education.

There has been seen an increase in the multi-national companies like ADP, IBM Global Services, Accenture, Convergys, etc which have developed the BPO sector. Also, there are many Indian companies too which are big names that have proven their presence in the market. These include WNS Global Service, Genpact, ICICI OneSource, etc. which provide a good opening for students in the BPO sector. These would provide a good platform for the encashment of their job skills in which they have been trained beforehand.

Startling information has been collected by the National University for Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA) through the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. This information shows that around 84% primary schools do not have a headmaster or head teachers. This makes about 949 schools out of the 1121 primary schools present in the state which are government schools or aided institutions.

Varying opinions are coming in from different administrational levels in the education department of Goa. The importance of a headmaster or head teacher is being stressed upon to maintain discipline by the former block resource person at SSA Bardez, Narendra Kamat. This however is being refuted by the project director of SSA, P R Nadkarni who says that a headmaster is not necessary for proper functioning of the school. Further, Mr. Nadkarni threw light on the fact that around 70% of primary schools never had a headmaster. The management of these schools is undertaken by higher schools which thereby cut down the need of a head teacher for management.

On this, Mr. Kamat asserted that it is the government schools which are suffering since the government does not provide any head teachers if the student enrolment is below 24 students. This causes multi-tasking in teachers and they have to take up administrative tasks in addition to their teaching. The work of a peon, administrator, teacher, manager and every other function required to be performed has to be done by the teacher itself which causes major disruption in the teaching at school.

Yoga is a regular subject that is taught at the secondary level of the school curriculum. However, it requires support to bring it at equal level with the other subjects of the curriculum. To provide assistance in this task, NCERT now has a plan at the formative stage through which they will provide financial assistance to the yoga training centres and will also provide skilled teachers of yoga so as to train school students.

It is already acknowledged that overall development of the child is the main focus of education and learning. The contribution of Yoga to the physical aspect of development has been recognised already but it has not been give the due importance and some assistance is required to promote it in schools. For this, it is being considered to provide lump sum grant to teachers for undergoing the grooming of teachers at yoga institutes.

The joint director of NCERT will chair the grant-in-aid committee which is to consider this proposal. The main task of this committee will be consideration and approval of the proposals which will then aid for the release of funds to institutions on decided criteria. For follow up, the monitoring of the execution of this scheme will also be taken up by this committee.

Teachers will be trained in the yoga skills according to the specifications that have been made in the National Curriculum Framework, 2005. It would be the respective states that would take up the responsibility of routing the proposal of yoga institutes. The check or monitor will be kept by a committee which will be specially created for this task by the regional institutes of education which will also monitor the functioning of the training programme.

This scheme would be seen to initiate in August 2009 and around 30 teachers will be a part of a single training program. The deputation of teachers for the purpose will also be done by the state governments. The actual programme of training may stretch over to one month. Also, according to the need of the teachers, refresher courses can also be arranged for duration of 21 days.

The 11^th Five Year Plan has been introduced by the University Grants Commission and there have been several considerable changes when it comes to the universities of the central and the state level. These changes are related to the stress on the written examination system, annual result system etc.

The semester system is one of the major changes that might be introduced in the university courses. Since the exam results are delayed and are released after several months of examination, there might occur many loopholes during this time. Academic delay is another effect. To remove this problem and enable gradual assessment of the students, semester system is proposed to be introduced in the central and state universities.

There is a lot of debate on the issue. Highlights are being made by some educationists giving the benefits of semester system which include study all round the year, internal assessment on a continuous mode, twice an year examination, etc. However, some people are also stressing on the already challenging situation when it comes to declaration of results annually. A lot of energy and time will be wasted and this will be an additional challenge for the teachers and the management. Students however are very keen on introduction of the semester system which will be a great way for them to concentrate on their studies and will make them perform better.

With the increase in population of the country at alarming rates, the demand and also the need of education is also rising day by day. To provide for such a cause, it is highly appreciated that opening of new schools is taken up with a better initiative and resources. For those who see this as a business opportunity, there is ample scope in this ever-growing education industry which has seen only a rise and no dips.

Opening a school however requires many points to be considered before a decision is made. Availability of ample space is one of the most important factors which are followed by good resources that can be used for setting up a school. The capacity and provisions while opening a new school should be decided keeping in mind the population of the area and the need of a school.

Other points to be considered include construction of the school premises and the time frame required, infrastructure for the school, recruitment of expert and experienced staff, local marketing and advertising, etc. Such factors are very important while investing in this action for the social cause of spreading education. Quality education should be the main motto of opening a new school and all efforts should be made to achieve this.

Ram Navami is celebrated to be the day when Lord Sri Rama was born on this earth. He is said to have lived on this earth in the 7^th or 8^th century. All Hindus and Indians value this festival as one of the most important since it is the day of birth of their god. The day occurs in the Chaitra month according to the Hindu lunar calendar. A lot of preparations and celebrations are made on this day by people all over the country.

For the children too, this day carries a lot of significance. Since they have to know about their own values and culture and for this they need to be enlightened about the occasion and its history. Teachers as well as parents can tell them the history of the festival. The best way is to enact some plays and make the children know about the festival. Visits are also arranged to pilgrim places which are popular and celebrate this occasion well.