SHEMBLOG

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.

About 40 British students aged between 18 and 19 years will visit India under UK Prime Minister’s Global Fellowship Program. The aim of the project is to give British students exposure to multi-cultural environment and developments happening in developing countries in 21st century.

The program is made up of three parts:

Cultural and linguistic immersion
Working on a research project in collaboration with their peers in a local school
Time as a guest of a global company, investigating how international business and its      social responsibilities impact on local communities

During their visit, the students will also get taste of local Indian food as they will be staying with a local family for a week. Apart from exchanging cultural information with the local students, they will also get exposure of popular Indian firms like HSBC, TCS and will understand their business working environment.

The students will also be invited to 10, Downing Street after their return, to share their experiences with the Prime Minister and people associated with the program.

For more information about this program visit http://www.global-fellowship.org/

There are some common traits in every good school. We, as parents strive hard to give the best to our children, and admission in right school is one of the important decisions that we have to make for bright future of our kids.

Following are some areas that must be well researched to identify a good school for your kid:

Teacher/Student Ratio
Qualification And Experience Of Teachers
Curriculum Structure And Revision Policy
Available Academic Streams
Admission Procedure And Policies
Students From Different Ethnic Backgrounds
Examination Structure And Student Assessment Policies
Consistent Past Record
Affiliations And Memberships
Awards Received By The School
Infrastructure And Facilities
Location And Accessibility
Philosophy And Mission Of The School
Eco-Friendly Premises With Green Landscape
Feedback From Alumni
Parent-Teacher Association Functioning
Goodwill And Public Image Among Local Community
Transportation Facilities

Once you have probed the following areas, rest assured your child will get the best in education.

Student exchange programmes are gaining immense popularity. In India, a large number of schools and institutions are involved in student exchange programmes. In one such exchange programme, nine students from the neighbouring country Pakistan, reached Mumbai recently. These students were as much excited as their hosts.

The nine students came all the way from Karachi to visit a municipal school in Khar, as part of an exchange programme ‘Khoj’ between India and Pakistan.

The Pakistani students were quoted as having said that Indian students are more ambitious and committed to the education. The students who reached here also said about the similarities between the education systems in the two countries. The students were keen to know about the personal lives, life style and other cultural aspects.

Even cricket was discussed and the fan clubs and sport stars, reported one website.

This student exchange is part of a programme ‘Khoj’, an initiative to spread ’secular education among school children’. Teesta Setalvad director of Khoj says in a report published by expressindia.com: “We had started a pen pals programme between India and Pakistan in 1999. The aim is to encourage exchanges between children of two countries. We were one of the first to start such a project, which included writing letters. This visit is a step further in the project. This is their first visit and it will work best if they are able to keep in touch with each other in future.”

Students also exchanged mail addresses and promised to remain in touch with each other. Students exchange programmes have served amply in cultural diffusion and providing a broader outlook for the students.

Municipal Corporation Of Delhi (MCD) has announced plans to start the upgradation process of all MCD schools. A grant of Rs. 300 crores is sanctioned for the same, which will be spent on the upgradation process. Currently, a large number of MCD schools are in pathetic condition running in tents, sheds and semi-pucca buildings.

MCD is also planning to deploy security guards in all the schools running by them to improve the security of students.

The second list of Higher Secondary Centralized Allotment Process – 2008 (HSCAP), Kerala has been declared.

ALLOTMENT (SINGLE WINDOW) RESULTS-2008 (SECOND ALLOTMENT) – Link 1
ALLOTMENT (SINGLE WINDOW) RESULTS-2008 (SECOND ALLOTMENT) – Link 2

Those students whose name is in the list, must join the allotted schools before 5 PM on 21st July 2008.

A new scheme to promote girl education of weaker section of society has been launched by the Central Government. The scheme named ‘Incentives To Girls For Secondary Education’ has been introduced for girls belonging to the Scheduled Castes / Scheduled Tribes.

Under this scheme a sum of Rs. 3000 will be deposited in the name of every SC/ST girl taking admission in class IX. The girl will be able to withdraw the same amount, provided she has attained 18 years of age and passed 10th grade as regular student. The main objective of this scheme is to reduce the drop out rate of girls belonging to SC/ST category. To avail the benefit of this scheme, the maximum age while enrolling in class IX should be 16 years on 31st March of the admission year.

Government of India is planning to pass two new ordinances to accelerate the establishment of proposed 8 new Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT’s) and 16 new Central Universities, four of which will undergo major upgradation of infrastructure and rest will be built from scratch.

Central universities that will undergo major upgradation are:

Gour University, Sagar (Madhya Pradesh)
Garhwal University (Uttarakhand)
Bilaspur University (Chhattisgarh)
Goa University (Goa)

Central Government has already sanctioned about Rs.2,275 crores in the 11th plan, out of which allocation of about Rs 50 crores has already been done in 2008 Budget.