How to Select the Right School for your Child

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

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

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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 analyzed the aforesaid mentioned areas, you can rest assured that your child will get the best in terms of education.

Student Exchange Programmes, Well Received In The Country

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.

MCD Schools To Be Upgraded By Next Year

Municipal Corporation Of Delhi (MCD) has announced plans to start the upgradation process of all the 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.

Central Government Launches ‘Incentives To Girls For Secondary Education’ Scheme

A new scheme to promote girl education of weaker section of society has been launched by the Central Government. The scheme namely ‘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. 3,000 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 a 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.

Central Government Plans Two Ordinances For New IITs And Central Varsities

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.

Impact Of Media: Teaching Teens To Handle It Rightly

Today almost every teen in metropolis and even in small towns has access to media channels (Internet, cell-phones, television) and they are used to it. A recent study by Gartner Group shows that teens are spending on an average 44.5 hours per week browsing Internet, talking on cell phones and watching TV. It is more than what they spend in school in whole week. The issue is not just the amount of time spent, but also what they are getting from these media channels.

Make Your Move

Teens hate to be monitored every minute by their parents. They are at a very crucial stage of their life and want more freedom & decision making authority for themselves. Keeping a watch on their activities requires some tricks and a lot of patience.

Good and Bad Content

It is not debatable as whether the content on the popular channels or media like Internet is appropriate or not. People have been debating over issues like moral policing of the children. Modernization has been confused with values and norms, resulting in the inculcation of negative behavioural traits in the new generation of youngsters.

Internet – bane or boon

The content on the Internet has been the most abused as viewing restrictions are not applicable. No doubt, the technology has changed the outlook and the learning capacity of the children, but numerous cases of abuse of the content have also been reported.

Parental Help

For monitoring the Internet activities of your children you can install software like KeyLogger. Parents who are more aware about technology can use the service and set a simple filter to block porn sites or sites containing inappropriate content. Creating a day schedule from early childhood solves most of the problems. Unfortunately, most parents do not pay attention to it. It is always advisable to give some space to your teen and at the same time be vigilant about his activities.

The safe use and misuse of technology will always be an issue. But, there is a lot we can do to prevent our children from falling into the wrong activities.

Modern Teaching Aids: More Homework For Teachers

Students, especially small children almost loathe about the daily homework assigned to them. The young minds sometimes envy their own teachers as they come in the classroom, teach and leave – no homework, no tests and no assessments. That may be true but not in the coming era where teachers themselves have to prepare a lot before coming to the classroom.

The textbook and dictation age is a thing of the past. Modern teaching aids like audio and video presentations demand more preparations from the teacher. Many schools have recently added such aids and techniques in the curriculum to provide to the students an all-inclusive learning package and environment.

Image Credit: Misterteacher

In certain subjects like History and Sciences, there are many things that cannot be completely described on the blackboard or by oral recitation. One popular example is the development stages of living cells, functioning or various organs, organ systems, etc. Even though the teacher may carry a chart or draw a neat diagram on the board, but effective learning still misses out. A video presentation or short film gives the student a better learning experience as they can watch the actual phenomena and processes.

Teaching lessons are increasingly being provided on compact discs and digital video discs and the content on the same is either viewed in the class or by the student at home. The teacher has to be sure to identify the main points or emphasize on these points so that children can assimilate the knowledge.

Three cheers to our teachers who are supposed to do a little viewing of the content at home and come prepared in the morning!

Disaster Management: Educating The Masses

The day was 26th January 2001 and the country was busy preparing for the celebrations of the 51st Republic Day, when a natural disaster shook the country and devastated the Gujarat state. About 20,000 people died. On Dec 26, 2004, one of the deadliest catastrophes hit the coastal region in Asia. About 2,25,000 lives were lost as a result of the destruction by Tsunamis. In the morning hours of October 8, 2005 one more cataclysmic earthquake hit the north of Indian landmass and adjoining country Pakistan. More than 80,000 people died.

Image Credit: eb78

All these events that resulted in havocs have impelled many people and representations to think about solutions and handling the crisis as it occurs, in a better way. The most talked about concept has been disaster management. Its importance got so much magnified in the past decade that hundreds of agencies were set forth to arrive at possible solutions.

Our education institutions also provided their helping hand and introduced education programmes related to disaster management. Disaster management has become quite popular, nothing less than a cliché. Its importance and growing popularity can further be estimated by its recent incorporation in the CBSE and ICSE high school syllabi. All this points out to the fact that the country is trying to educate the masses as how to handle crisis situations and save human lives.

At the moment the trailblazers in the new field are of the opinion that knowledge sharing is the best way to avert the maximum damage. By imparting knowledge to the people, who are prone to such risks or people living in areas where seismic activity and other natural disasters are more likely to hit, many lives can be saved. The same idea has been conceived the education institutions that are trying to educate the people as how to survive in those trying times. As there is no guarantee about the contingency plans, the mass mobilization and sharing of knowledge seems to be the best precaution.

Government of India Reveals Its Programme To Universalize Secondary Education

In a move to universalize secondary education, government of India has initiated a programme along the lines of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

The new programme that goes by the name Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan will work to make secondary education available, accessible and affordable to the students in the age group 15 and 16 years.

The Union HRD minister, Bandhu Tirkey has called upon CBSE, ICSE, Navodayas and government aided schools to send their details by July 20. As per the order, the head of the institutions i.e., Principals will have to send details including the foundation of the school, teaching capacity, school infrastructure, students’ performance, staff members, administrative officers, furniture and results.

Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan is said to focus on imparting equality among the students throughout the country. Some comprehensive arrangements have been made under 11th five-year plan. The objectives of the detailed programme have been estimated to be completed by 2020.