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.