SHEMBLOG

There is a raging battle of sorts in the education fraternity. The two most reputed boards viz Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Council of Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) are at loggerheads regarding the grading system introduced by the Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal. The nine-point grading system has come under flak from the CISCE chairperson, Neil O’Brien who has openly condemned the new system saying that their board is in no mood to follow the directive and awarding grades instead of marks.

The basic logic put forth is the unacceptance of the colleges to give recognition to the grading system after Class XII. AS after Class X, the schools will again have to rivet back to the marks system due to the universities not giving grades any recognition, so there lies no point in adopting the grading system in Class X in the first place. The confusion over awarding grades instead of marks is also supported by the principals of ICSE schools in the NCR region.

The stress being laid by the CISCE Board is on the uniformity of pattern to be adopted by all schools, colleges and universities alike. Today, approximately 1,600 schools are affiliated with CISCE while the majority lies with the CBSE with more than 9,000 schools under its affiliation. And the CBSE has planned to go ahead with the HRD’s directive. In view of the prevalent scenario of chaos among the various boards itself on the directives issued, the students are in affix as of now and only the future holds the key to the way forward!!

The Director of Education, which collaborated with Goa State Infrastructure Development GSID, has started it work to reconstruct the school facilities in the state. According to reports published in the state dailies, GSID has designed interactive classrooms and computer rooms for schools in Goa. It may worth be mentioning here that education infrastructure throughout India needs to be reconstructed and new equipments need to be installed to advance the educational development in the country.

As per the model designed for the schools, pupils will now be facing each other instead of the traditional classroom arrangement of the seats. Classrooms have been designed in such a way that the seating arrangement would be fashioned in a circular design, allowing students to have a visual contact over each other as well the teacher.

The managing Director of SHEMFORD Group of Schools, Mr. Amol Arora has appreciated the idea of modernizing the present day schools. Mr. Arora has participated in a number of workshops that were aimed at providing better means of education in the country.

A comparison between the popular schools in the West and the schools in India reveals that educational infrastructure here is still at the lagging end. As news schools and institutions are being equipped with the necessary equipments and provisions, we hope that the quality of education will improve over the course of time. However, all concerned agencies must be obliged to share the responsibility.

The one week-long DPS Principal’s Conference, Gandhinagar ended on November 28^th 2008 and one aspect of the discussion that found favour with everyone was regarding the use of innovative and futuristic teaching methods in order to make the learning process more engaging and sustainable. The conference saw 32 DPS principals participate and communicate their individual experiences. Nearly every educationist in attendance agreed that more sincere efforts were needed to teach young minds through making education/learning more realistic by using the tools of observation and self-exploration.

The conference was also attended by some management gurus like IIM-A professor, Anil Gupta. Mr. Gupta went on to present his definition of a good teacher. According to him, the best teachers were those who interacted with the maximum number of children outside the classroom. The chief guest was Dr. Sasi Misra, Professor, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDI). He was of the opinion that education in India was overpriced and the pricing of educational services ought to be in compliance with values imparted to a child.

According to a popular news agency, thousands of Tibetan Children who had enrolled in Indian schools are receiving strict punishment from the Chinese government. As per the reports the Tibetan children have been asked to confess about their teachings in the Indian schools, some of which are headed by the spiritual leader Dalai Lama.

There have been cases reported about children ebing smuggled in the adjacent regions, as religious teachings have been heavily dealt by the Chinese government. Young students are even said to cross the border, while trekking over mountains to receive the teachings in the Dharamsalas, located outside Tibet.

Various education societies and human rights groups have condemned the atrocities on the poor students, who have a right to receive religious education. Though the concerns have been subdues and do not pose a serious threat for harming any International relations, however, various authorities have warned the Chinese government to deal properly with the students. 

The number of Indians having migrated to or studying in Australia has nearly doubled in the last decade. Now, the Indian segment of the population is demanding more recognition and respect for their native language — Hindi. Indian students at the High School Certificate or the HSC level have developed an inclination towards learning the language and want to pursue it as a mainstream subject. However, a minuscule number of universities and schools offer Hindi and that too as an option.

Many Indians working as teachers in Australian schools and universities want to see Hindi being introduced in the school curriculum at par with other European languages. They feel that with the growing number of Hindi-speaking population in Australia and the increasing volume of trade relations between Australia and India, learning the language makes absolute sense. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in Sydney has made a significant contribution towards this cause and it organises special Sunday Hindi classes for those wishing to learn Hindi.

The former President of India, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Azad will be teaching a batch of 70 students in the country’s premier managment institute, IIM-A. The course, named as “Globalising a Resurgent India through Innovative Transformation (GRIT)” will be attended by the students in the Ahmedabad.

The course is aimed to address reflect on the key areas like Urban-rural divide, Water Conservation, Energy and Security and will also deal with various issues pertaining to the said subjects.  The course has been designed by the former president himself and Professor Anil K.Gupta of the same institute. Other issues regarding governance and policy making, will be covered in the course.

In almost all schools and educational Institutes, Teacher’s Day was celebrated with much enthusiasm and vigour. Small events were held in schools throughout India.

Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU) will be providing training to 642 newly recruited Sub-Inspectors (On Probation) of Delhi Police. It will be a 3 months training in legal education and will be conducted at Police training school, Wazirabad.

The training aims to provide basic training of legal education to sub-inspectors and will cover the following domains:

Indian Penal Code
Criminal Procedure Code
Indian Evidence Act
Constitution of India

The training will also help them in providing necessary skills to deal with general public. Judiciary members from district courts and practicing lawyers will be contributing as guest faculties during the course.

Central board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has posted the answer sheets of class Xth high scoring students for session 2007-2008 on its web site. This step is widely appreciated by the education fraternity, as it will give help students in learning the right way to attempt the paper.

Following subjects answer sheets have been posted on the web site:

Answer Sheet: Mathematics – Class Xth Results 2008
Answer Sheet: Social Science – Class Xth Results 2008
Answer Sheet: Science – Class Xth Results 2008

Student can easily download these answer sheets in pdf format, for thorough analysis and learning.

Rani Durgavati Vishwavidyalaya, Jabalpur has announced the IInd revised Programme of M.Sc. IInd Semester Examination 2008.

IInd revised Programme of M.Sc. IInd Semester Examination 2008

Students are advised to obtain the official date sheet of exams in printed format from the university.

Lower middle class of the Indian society often face the dilemma of choosing the right school for their child. They have to choose between municipal corporation schools and private schools run by various groups, parishes and similar institutions.

Although municipal schools provide free books, mid-day meals and uniforms, but parents still prefer private schools for their kids for only one reason – “Better Education Quality”. Parents are ready to spend more to get better education for their children. Their only complaint with municipal schools is that the teachers do not teach and have no motivation for teaching.

Parents have also alleged that teachers of municipal schools in Mumbai talk on mobile phones in their classes. At the end of every month municipal schools remains closed, as teachers have to draw their salaries. It has also been noticed that a lot of time of municipal teachers is wasted in distributing books, mid-meals under the “Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan”.

Despite a bit heavy on pocket, lower middle class and middle class prefers private schools for their children to build strong foundation of their kids, for better career opportunities in future.

Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is soon going to set up special study centers in UP madrassas. One such center has already been set up in a madrassa in Jalaun district of the state, informed an IGNOU official.

A special course, Bachelor of Preparatory Programme (BPP) will be introduced in these study centers. Any student completing this course can directly apply for graduation and can pursue his higher education. This scheme will encourage drop outs from madrassas to continue their studies.

The districts where Muslim population is more than 60% have been chosen by IGNOU to set up such special study centers in local madrassas.

Today India’s economy is booming and we are seen as a strong economic power in the coming years. Despite this fact, some social issues are still of concern and should be given enough importance if we have to sustain ourselves as a strong socio-economic super power. One such issue is ‘Gender Parity In Primary Education’, which needs immediate attention by state and central governments.

Let’s see some figures* related to gender distribution in primary and secondary education in India.

Primary Schools (Class I-V) -> Parity Index: 0.94 -> 94 girls for every 100 boys
Higher Secondary (Class IX-XII) -> Parity Index: 0.80 -> 80 girls for every 100 boys

*Source: HRD Ministry, Figures of 2005-2006

The above figures gives a clear picture of wide gap between school going girls and boys. The situation is even more worse in selective areas of the country, especially in west,north west and some parts of north India. The drop out rate of girls is most in primary education, as parents prefer to spend more on their son. Early marriage, security issues also play an important role in further aggravating the situation.

The noticeable difference in gender parity index in urban and rural areas clearly indicates that more attention is needed in rural areas, where drop out rate of girls is much higher than urban areas.

Programmes like Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) launched by government in 2004, does help the cause to some extent, but more action is needed to tackle this situation. Some state governements are also offering free bicycles to girls to travel to school, resulting in decreased drop out rate of girls in these areas.

Unless, the whole outlook of society will not change on this issue, it would be very difficult to close the gap of gender parity index.

Mathematics Professor, Annaswamy Ranganath Rao is 100 years old and is one of the pioneers in popularizing the concept of Math labs in schools. Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), recognized his method of teaching mathematics and made it mandatory to have math labs in CBSE schools. Since 2006, this concept has been introduced with 80 marks from theory paper and 20 marks from math lab.

Professor Rao introduced math labs way back in 1974, making it easy for students to understand various math theorems. He design new model, gadgets to explain these concepts to students, making these concepts more understandable and at the same time a playful experience too.

Department of science and technology, which has decided to nominate him for UNESCO’s prestigious Kalinga Prize for popularizing science.

Texas is going to be the first state in US, introducing Hindi textbook for high school students. Today, it is the fourth largest spoken language in North America. With the emergence of India as an economic power, states are realizing the importance to learn the Hindi language. Earlier US students were reading French, Spanish and even German in their regular curriculum.

The book ‘Namaste Ji” is developed by Arun Prakash, an Indian origin teacher. It took 8 long years for him to develop this book. Arun has been teaching Hindi to US students from 80’s and has vast experience in teaching US students.