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                                                                                          -- Joseph Chilton Pearce

Mumbai schools turn new page to bring in cashless transactions

Mumbai Updated: Dec 28, 2016 09:30 IST

Puja Pednekar
Hindustan Times

(HT )

The country’s move towards a cashless economy triggered by the recent demonetisation has spurred Mumbai schools to introduce cash cards, food coupons and mobile wallets for students to buy stationery, snacks and beverages on campus from the upcoming academic year.
 
Currently, only annual or term fees are accepted online in most schools. Students have to pay in cash to eat in the canteen or for field trips, sports days, parties and others. But many schools are now trying to go completely cashless.
 
Singapore International School at Dahisar, for instance, will bring in a cash card system for its canteen. Students will be able to top-up the card online.

“Boarders or day-scholars had to buy coupons by paying cash over the counter earlier, but with the demonetisation drive, we began contemplating a cashless system for these transactions too,” said Kaisar Dopaishi, principal of the school.

Besides helping the school go entirely cashless, the move will help in keeping tabs on how much students spend and limit excessive spending, he said. “Our only concern was that kids might lose the card or it might end up in the wrong hands,” added Dopaishi.

Another school, Jamnabai Narsee School at Juhu is working on online payment for food coupons. Parents usually buy lunch coupons or cards at the beginning of the year by paying cash. “We started cashless and paperless drive three years ago,” said Zeenat Bhojabhoy, principal of the ICSE affiliated school. “Except for food coupons, everything else was paid through cheques, bank transfers and online.”
However, some schools are facing problems in going cashless.

Schools planning to start mobile wallet facilities for payment are worried about maintaining payment records. “We are unsure if mobile wallets can be integrated seamlessly into our current system of maintaining data,” said Rohan Bhat, chairperson of the Children’s Academy Group of Schools in Kandivli and Borivli.
Bhat said the schools have tied up with banks for fee payments. The banks send MIS (management information system) reports regularly to schools. These reports get directly absorbed into the school’s data system.
 
“This way, we have eliminated any manual entry of data. In addition, we can easily check if any parent has missed a payment,” Bhat said, adding, “We are trying to find mobile wallets that can follow the same method of keeping records.”

Parents have welcomed these initiatives as it makes fee payments hassle-free. “I have started paying school fees online. It is very convenient and saves time even though I am charged Rs50 to 60 more on such transactions,” said Aayushi Potdar, a parent from Vashi.

However, education activists said they continue to receive complaints of schools charging donations or demanding cash payments. A school in Powai last month refused to accept cheque or online payment for sports day. It relented and accepted online payments after parents complained against it.

“Schools maybe charging fees online, but they are collecting lakhs of rupees in cash as donation during admissions,” said Jayant Jain, president of the Forum for Fairness in Education, a non-government organisation. “The education department must probe this.”

How they are adapting to digital push
 
1.Singapore International School, Dahisar: From the next academic year, it will introduce a card system for canteen and other purchases to be made on the campus. Students will be able to top-up the card online and then use it for buying snacks and drinks
 
2. Sacred Heart School, Kalyan: In September, the school introduced online fee payment via ICICI bank. Parents can use their credit and debit cards to pay full fees or opt for EMIs
 
3.Children’s Academy Group of Schools, Kandivli and Borivli: School fees are paid online via Axis bank. But they are looking to tie up with mobile wallets such as Paytm for small amounts charged throughout the year for field trips, sports day, parties or other activities
 
4.St Joseph’s Convent School, Bandra: School fees are paid through Bank of India or Citizen Bank. But parents have to pay cash for other transactions, including canteen bills

5.Jamnabai Narsee School, Juhu: The school is working on a system to purchase food coupons online from the coming June. Parents buy lunch coupons or cards at the beginning of the year

6. Campion School, Fort: It allows parents to pay school fees through a bank gateway, made available on the school website.

Pressure from the government:

CBSE: On December 14, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) directed its 991 affiliated schools to start collecting fees through cashless methods. The board has asked schools to find new ways of online, cashless transactions, and begin it from January, 1 2017

Maharashtra education department: The state school education department is considering making school, college and exam fee payments cashless. On November 30, education minister Vinod Tawde got 70 members of his staff to use State Bank of India’s ‘Buddy App’ — the bank’s mobile wallet payment system and plans to extend this to schools soon.
Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/mumbai-schools-turn-new-page-to-bring-in-cashless-transactions/story-SlCJV72hR2QtSHtaTBdvzL.html

CBSE eases norms for participation in sports

Prakash Kumar, New Delhi, Dec 28, 2016, DHNS:

Students don't need prior permission of board

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) school students are no more required to get prior permission of the school board for participating in national and international level games.

They can now take part in such events merely after intimating the regional office of the board about their schedule. The CBSE has relaxed norms for such students with amendments to its examination by-laws to promote sporting activities and nurture talents.

While more than 1.5 lakh students participated in the inter-school sports and games competitions organised by the CBSE in more than 20 disciplines at cluster, zone and national level, a large number of students of the board’s schools also took part in the national games organised by the School Games Federation of India (SGFI).

According to the statistics with the CBSE, as many as 60 students from the Kendriya Vidyalayas and six from the Navodaya Vidyalayas won medals at the SGFI’s national school games in 2016. The number of students winning medals at the SGFI events has significantly grown over the last three years.

“In respect of students participating in sports at national or international level, exemption from appearing in any one of the summative assessments (SAs) may be granted under intimation to the regional office of the board concerned, provided the student will be participating in sports at the national or international level organised by recognised federations, CBSE or SGFI and being held during the month of conduct of SA,” the revised rules stated.

In such case, the marks obtained in one SA will also be indicated for the second SA by the board, it said.

“The school will take undertaking from the parent (on the student’s participation in national or international level games). It will be countersigned by the school principal and submitted to the regional office of the board,” the revised rules added.

The board, however, did not make any change in its rules for condoning of attendance of such students. The school principals are required to refer cases of attendance shortage of students ranging from 15% to 60% for consideration of the board.

Rule 14 of the examination by-laws empowers the CBSE chairman to condone a case of shortage of attendance up to 15% for those students appearing for the secondary and senior school certificate examinations conducted by the board.

Cases of candidates with attendance below 60% in Class X or Class XII, appearing for the board’s examinations, as the case may be, will be considered for condoning the shortage by the CBSE chief only in “exceptional circumstances.”

“As regards attendance requirement, school may take action as per rule 14 of the examination by-laws. However, efforts be made by the school to give them one more chance to appear in the SA1 up to October 31 in Class IX/X and for SA 2 up to March 31 in Class IX,” the rules stipulated.

 

Source : http://www.deccanherald.com/content/588693/cbse-eases-norms-participation-sports.html

 

CBSE Class 12 Pre-Boards 2017: Schools to conduct exam from January 2

The Sahodaya Complex of schools in Bhopal affiliated to CBSE has announced the pre-board examinations dates.

With just two months left for CBSE Class 12 exams to begin, many affiliated schools have started conducting the pre-board examination.
Similarly, the Sahodaya Complex of schools in Bhopal affiliated to CBSE has announced the pre-board examinations dates.
As per notice, the schools will start conducting the examination from January 2, 2017 under a centralised examination pattern.

More on the examination:

• There are around hundred CBSE affiliated schools under Sahodaya Complex

• The sole motive behind conducting the pre-board exams is to help students be more competent and get a better perspective of the board exams

• As per reports, the question paper will be on the centralised pattern

• Furthermore, the examinations will also be conducted as per a common timetable in all the member schools

Common question paper by all schools

Meanwhile, while speaking about the examination, President CBSE School Sahodaya Complex Father T Alex in recent TOI report said, "In boards, students are tested by an external authority and that is why they find the question paper difficult and sometimes many students feel that question paper has been set out of syllabus. But, if all the CBSE schools prepare a common question paper on similar lines as set by the board, students will get used to different or twisted questions."
According to CBSE officials, the class 12 board exams will be conducted in February end or in the first week of March, 2017.
The detailed date sheet will be tentatively released in the first week of January, 2017.
Last year, the class 12 exam was conducted between March 1, 2016 and April 22, 2016.
Furthermore, the Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE) highest governing body "unanimously approved" a proposal of restoring the Class 10 board exams

IndiaToday.in  New Delhi, December 27, 2016 | UPDATED 16:38 IST

Source: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/education/story/cbse-class-12-pre-boards-2017/1/843744.html

Like NEET, govt plans one engg exam from 2018

NEW DELHI: The government is considering conducting a single entrance examination for admission to all engineering colleges, including private institutions, across the country.

The test, pending clearance, could kick in from the 2018 academic session. It will be on the lines of the national eligibilitycum-entrance exam (NEET) that tests students seeking entry into medical colleges, sources in the human resource development (HRD) ministry said.

HRD minister Prakash Javadekar backs the move.

The proposed joint entrance examination (JEE) for engineering colleges is aimed at bringing transparency to the admission procedure, including checking a dishonest practice of making students pay a heavy capitation fee in private institutions.

“The aim is to make the process more transparent, standardised, and free of corruption and commercialisation,” a government official said.India has more than 3,300 approved engineering colleges affiliated to universities, with an annual approved intake of above 1.6 million students. But only about half of the seats are filled. 

The current admission process at the graduation level is dependent on performance in entrance examinations conducted by various agencies.

“The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) conducts the JEE-Main for centre-funded institutions. More than 1.3 million students write this examination every year.

The top-rankers from JEEMain are eligible to write the JEE-Advanced for the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT). This apart, a number of states conduct their own admission test. Others grant admission based on marks obtained in class 12.

Several private colleges have their individual entrance examinations. But “some of them, which are self-financed, charge high fees or sell seats in the name of management or NRI quota at a premium”, a source said. Only a handful of students crack the tough exams set for top colleges such as the IITs, leaving thousands of aspiring engineers to dash for private institutions, many of which are notorious teaching shops.
These colleges have become a magnet for mostly middleclass families in a country where an engineering degree is considered a ticket to a lifetime of fat pay cheques or jobs in the US.

Some of the private colleges admit students without basic talent and aptitude for engineering, affecting overall quality, the source said.

Of the 737,000 graduates in 2014-15, only half found employment. Most of the students didn’t meet expectations of companies offering jobs.

The proposal for a single, nationwide test is viewed as an attempt to streamline the dysfunctional education system. It was discussed at a recent meeting of officials from the HRD ministry and the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the regulator for engineering colleges.

The council will issue regulations for the examination. Issues such as the number of times the examination would be conducted in a year and the minimum qualification marks are yet to be worked out.
A source said the AICTE is planning to conduct webbased counselling sessions for admissions to engineering colleges based on students’ allIndia ranking obtained in the entrance examination.
“States would be invited to join the counselling process to fill the seats in colleges under their jurisdiction,” the source said.

The states will be able to prescribe their admission criteria, apart from the score in the entrance test. The JEE score will, however, be the minimum eligibility criteria, the source said.

23 Dec 2016 | Mumbai |Neelam Pandey neelam.pandey@hindustantimes.com

Source: http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx#

Want better Class 10 result? Be disciplined

NEW DELHI: Doing your homework regularly and being disciplined and punctual in school might help you score well in your internal assessment for the class 10 board exam, says the CBSE.

These are part of the modalities that the Central Board of Secondary Education is proposing after it announced on Tuesday that the class 10 board exam will become mandatory from 2018.

For the high school final, considered the stepping stone to higher studies, 80% weightage would be given to the board-conducted written exam and 20% to the school’s internal assessment of its students.
Sources said a draft proposal has been prepared and a circular will be issued to all CBSE-run and -affilated schools after the board finalises the modalities.

Students will be given marks for sports and practical in laboratories. The subject teacher will assess whether the student is regular with the homework, and overall discipline and punctuality. Three tests will be conducted a year and the best two would be considered for final assessment.

“Earlier under the continuous comprehensive evaluation (CCE) method, there were over 150 parameters and we want to modify it. For instance, we want to make sports an integral part of internal assessment and students will be assessed on punctuality, discipline, in case of language marks would be given for spoken and written understanding,” said a senior official.
 
The assessment will play a crucial role in the overall marks that a student obtains as 20% is assigned to schools by the CBSE.

The board made the class 10 final exam compulsory in its 18,000-affiliated schools, doing away with a policy formed five years ago that offered a choice to students to opt for the boards or let the institution assess their performance. Making the board exam optional has been a subject of debate as most schools said the CCE couldn’t be implemented successfully. HRD minister Prakash Javadekar has supported the proposal to make the board exams a must.

25 Dec 2016 | Mumbai | Neelam Pandey neelam.pandey@hindustantimes.com

Source: http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

In Delhi schools, 3-language formula may tilt the balance in favour of Sanskrit

delhi Updated: Dec 25, 2016 15:55 IST

Heena Kausar and Soumya Pillai
Hindustan Times

Schools say they can hire a teacher only when the number of students opting for the language justifies the salary of the teaching staff. (Vipin Kumar/HT PHOTO)

Sanskrit may end up being the only choice for students in the national capital under the three-language formula, which aims at promoting regional languages.

Currently, most private schools in Delhi offer Sanskrit along with foreign languages. Schools say most students choose a foreign language and Sanskrit remains only an option. But with the three-language formula coming into place, the students will only be left with Sanskrit.

In its governing body meet on Tuesday, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) recommended that all schools follow a “three-language formula”.

Under the National Education Policy, the formula means that students in Hindi-speaking states should learn a modern Indian language (22 languages under the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution) — apart from Hindi and English — and in non-Hindi-speaking states, they should learn Hindi along with the regional language and English.

The formula is applicable till Class 8 but the CBSE has suggested its extension till Class 10. The students will be required to get passing marks in the third language, sources said. The move is, however, yet to get the Human Resource Development ministry’s approval.
“We offer Sanskrit and French. But now most students will study only Sanskrit as the third language. The idea to promote regional language is good but there is no demand for Punjabi, Urdu or any other language in Delhi,” said Jyoti Arora, principal Mount Abu School, explaining why the proposal may end up promoting only Sanskrit.

Most principals agree. They say very few students opt for Urdu and Punjabi — two of the official languages of the Delhi government — and other regional languages. This is why very few schools offer the two languages, they said.
Union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar assured on Wednesday that the proposal will not lead to the imposition of one language. “I have not gone through the board’s recommendation in detail but we are not going to impose any language. The three-language formula is being implemented across the country, except in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. We are not changing that,” Javadekar told a news conference.
Schools say they can hire a teacher only when the number of students opting for the language justifies the salary of the teaching staff.
“There are 22 languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. We cannot teach all. The reason why almost all schools will teach Sanskrit is because we have the infrastructure for it. Suppose, I offer a new language, I will have to ensure that there are teachers and supporting infrastructure. What would I do if, some students demand another language,” said principal of a prominent private school in Delhi, requesting anonymity.
Rooma Pathak, the principal of MM Public School, said, “There has to be demand from students for other languages otherwise we cannot offer it. A majority of students opt for Sanskrit because it is closer to our culture. So we offer that.”
But education is not provided on a demand and supply formula, says Atishi Marlena, adviser to Delhi education minister, Manish Sisodia. “Education cannot be given based on what students demand. Many things taught in maths may not be used by students in real life but it is still taught because it helps them develop an analytical mind. Similarly, the aim of teaching regional languages is to make students respect diversity, learn tolerance and how to live in harmony,” Marlena said.

While most private schools say there is no demand for Urdu and Punjabi, in Delhi government schools many opt for the two languages even though all schools don’t offer the language. Sanskrit, Urdu and Punjabi are offered as the third language in the Capital’s government schools.
In 2015-16, 1,94,801 students opted for Sanskrit, 82,341 students opted for Urdu and 28,612 opted for Punjabi in Class 6.

Though Sanskrit is taught in about 98% schools, Punjabi is taught in 24% and Urdu in 25% schools. The student-teacher ratio for these languages shows the number of teachers for Urdu is low.
In the 1,024 government schools, there are 4,296 Sanskrit teachers but only 854 Urdu teachers and 673 Punjabi teachers. There is a vacancy for 221 teachers in Sanskrit, 179 in Urdu, and 351 in Punjabi.
It means, there is about one Sanskrit teacher for 45 students, one Urdu teacher for 96 students and one Punjabi teacher for 42 students. Sources in the education department said the current situation exists due to the neglect of regional languages.

Marlena said that to address the issue, the government has started the process to hire 769 Punjabi teachers and 610 Urdu teachers. “Our aim is to have at least one Punjabi and one Urdu language teacher in each school. Schools first need to provide the option to students,” she said.
The Delhi Minorities Commission in a report in 2015 pointed out the problem of lack of teachers for Urdu and Punjabi.

“It was presented before the commission by many sectors that due to the non-availability of Urdu teachers, students intending to opt for Urdu as a subject are forced to study Sanskrit. We submitted the report and I have heard that the government is hiring Urdu and Punjabi teachers,” the panel chairman Qamar Ahmed said.
Experts in both Urdu and Punjabi languages said that very few schools in the city at present teach these as the third language. The first step after notifying the order should be to strengthen the system and appoint teachers.

“Teachers should be trained well and additional teachers should to be hired to promote these languages, otherwise students will only have the option of taking up Sanskrit,” said Firoz Bakht Ahmed, English teacher at Modern School, Barakhamba Road.

V Dayalu, general secretary of Sanskrit Shikshak Sangh Delhi, said it is a two-fold problem. “There is lack of Punjabi and Urdu teachers due to which some students have to take up Sanskrit. But the prime reason for taking Sanskrit is that it is a scoring subject,” he said.

Kanchan Bhupal, governing council member of Punjabi Academy Delhi, said the academy had been receiving complaints that many schools do not offer Punjabi language. “You first need to give students the option. Was there a demand for German and French? But when the schools started offering it, students showed interest,” she said. Bhupal said the government is in the process of hiring Punjabi language teachers.

Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi/three-language-formula-may-force-delhi-schools-to-learn-sanskrit/story-kzagTtcSviSE73rVVMm2VJ.html

CBSE Class 10 exams: High marks bonanza, not test formats, is real issue

columns Updated: Dec 26, 2016 10:17 IST

Shivani Singh
Hindustan Times

The idea of making boards optional was to reduce the obsession with high marks. But most students opted for internal exams because they believed it would make scoring high marks easier. (HT file photo)

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the panel most Delhi schools are affiliated to, has decided to bring back Class 10 board exams. The same board had made the ‘stressful’ exams optional for the Class of 2011 and introduced the continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) system through year-round tests and a grading system.

In its consultations with the stakeholders, the CBSE found that school principals and parents wanted out of the dual-system and asked for the reintroduction of the mandatory board exam for Class 10. The internal assessment is likely to carry 20% weightage along with the board exams for the Class of 2018.

The CCE was started with the aim to shift focus from testing memory alone to judging a range of abilities such as imagination and creativity. Reducing stress was to be the natural fallout. But it ended up suffering from the same structural problems that plagued the previous systems.


The CCE required well-trained teachers who could understand and rate kids continuously on the basis of projects, class tests and extra-curricular activities. This called for a bigger investment in the teaching staff, which very few schools were willing to make. The teachers who were expected to roll out the reform were themselves a product of the old rote system.


Until 2011, a bachelor’s degree in Education alone could land one a teacher’s job. Then the Union human resource ministry introduced the Central Teacher Eligibility Test for BEd before they were hired in central government-run schools. Delhi adopted the same exam for state schools. But the results have been dismal at 7% in 2013 and 13.53% in 2015.

Unless it is from a reputed university, most BEd degrees or diplomas are suspect. In 2012, a Supreme Court-appointed committee headed by the former chief justice of India JS Verma found that of the 291 teacher-training institutes it inspected in Maharashtra, only 34 were fit to continue. That was just one state.


The CCE offered an opportunity to launch a continuous evaluation of the skills of the existing teaching staff in both government and private schools. But authorities seemed content with perfunctory training so they could get the new system started. In an article in HT last week, former NCERT director Krishna Kumar wrote that there was no uniformity in training and how “lack of coordination and clarity on roles and responsibilities expectedly resulted in systemic chaos”.


The idea of making boards optional was to reduce the obsession with high marks. But most students opted for internal exams because they believed it would make scoring high marks easier. Their schools did not disappoint. Last year, almost 12% students who cleared Class 10 under CBSE got a perfect score. The previous year, it was 7%. Some Delhi schools even flaunted 60% of their students in the top bracket of 90% scorers or more.

In 2004-05, in the name of de-stressing, the CBSE shifted its policy from testing what a student does not know to what she actually knows. Long answer type questions were reduced to minimise subjectivity and objective type questions were introduced. As a result, students are scoring 100% even in English and History.

But to clear the Class 12 exam, students must still take the board exam where the pass percentage this year was 83% as compared to Class 10’s 96%. It gets progressively difficult to score as one proceeds to higher standards, but the drop in overall performance in just two years tells that all’s not well.

Even the Class 12 board throws up too many high-scorers. Reality dawns when they compete for few good options for undergraduate courses at Delhi University. For most popular courses in top colleges, cut-offs consistently stay above 95% and the seats fill up fast. Suddenly, nobody is sure how good is good enough.

Teachers and parents are the best judge of their wards’ aptitude, interest and capability. It is criminal to induce a false sense of academic accomplishment and expectations by awarding high marks undeservingly. Switching between board exams and internal assessment will not make a difference unless the system gets real.

Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/columns/high-marks-bonanza-not-test-formats-is-real-issue/story-DKIcr87okg368zXjQS9ntJ.html

NEET: ‘More private matric schools opting for CBSE at Class 12 level’

Matriculation students are also opting for CBSE syllabus at the Class 12 level, which enabled them to clear NEET with ease, the official said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By: PTI | Kanyakumari | Updated: December 26, 2016 11:21 am

 

Matriculation students are also opting for CBSE syllabus at the Class 12 level, which enabled them to clear NEET with ease, the official said.
With the Central government making “National Eligibility cum Entrance Test” (for medical seats) compulsory, more private matriculation schools are opting to switch over to CBSE in plus two level, a senior education department official said.

As more such schools are coming up to take it up at plus two level, the CBSE board was also taking steps to improve the standard, streamline and regulate private schools offering CBSE syllabus, the official, who did not wish to be named, said.

Besides matriculation students were also opting for CBSE syllabus in plus two, which enabled them clear NEET with ease. Hence the CBSE board wanted to ensure that private schools maintained high standards at plus two level, he said.
 
In the last few years, especially after introduction of ‘Samacheer Kalvi’, the uniform system of school education in Tamil Nadu, to integrate various school educational systems within the state, the number of schools offering CBSE pattern of education was increasing steadily, he said.

The official said the objective behind introducing Principal eligibility test was only to ensure that private CBSE schools maintained certain standards.

An eligible principal would definitely produce good and efficient students and students would get the higher education they preferred. Only those who cleared PET would be appointed as principals of the CBSE Private schools, he said.

While giving permission for CBSE schools the board would ensure that standards were not diluted by the schools. The government wanted to ensure that procedures and functioning of private CBSE schools did not have any flaw or led to drop in standards, he said.
 

 Source: http://indianexpress.com/article/education/neet-more-private-matric-schools-opting-for-cbse-at-class-12-level/

Grace marks for class XI failures cut to 50% from now

Grace marks for class XI failures cut to 50% from now

Mumbai: TNN





Students who fail in class XI will get only 15 grace marks, instead of 30, from this year. The state education board has decided to halve grace marks for class XI and bring it on a par with class XII (HSC). A circular to this effect was issued by the board on Friday .

 Students can fail in a maximum of three subjects and grace marks in each cannot exceed 10% of total marks in the subject. Chairperson of the board, Gangadhar Mhamane, said for years, junior colleges doled out 30 marks to failing students. “To make the policy uniform, we decided to bring the grace marks down to 15 like it is for class XII. If a student is failing in three subjects for want of 15 marks, they can be divided accordingly . A student cannot fail in more than three subjects to avail grace marks,“ said Mhamane.

For example, if a student has scored 25 in mathematics, he can get 10 grace marks and the remaining five marks can be collectively given in two other subjects.

 Students are unhappy with the move. “Evaluation of papers is very strict in class XI as colleges seek 100% results in HSC...The policy of 30 marks was better,“ said a college student.

Aprincipal said it must be an uniform policy . “If grace marks are reduced, students will strive better,“ said the principal.





 

Source:Dec 25 2016 : The Times of India (NaviMumbai)

From '17, NEET to be held in Marathi, 7 other languages

From '17, NEET to be held in Marathi, 7 other languages

Mumbai: TIMES NEWS NETWORK





Medical aspirants can appear for the National Eligibility-cumEntrance Test (NEET) in eight languages including English and Marathi for admissions in 2017.

 The decision was recently taken by the Union health ministry on the directive of the Supreme Court. Even while the CBSE is yet to release an official notice announcing the move, students have welcomed it. About 1,670 medical aspirants took the state's common entrance test (CET) in Marathi this year.

NEET was re-implemented after three years, in 2016 after a SC order revived it. About 7.5 lakh students took the exam in phase-I and phase-II.While state government colleges were exempted from using NEET scores this year, it will be the on ly test conducted for medical admissions for all colleges, including, government, private and deemed in 2017. The court had directed the government to conduct the test in regional languages, as many students take the state-level CET in regional languages, too.

 Following the directive, the Centre has decided to conduct the national test in Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu, apart from English and Hindi. A parent said that the decision will benefit many students who skipped NEET this year due to the language barrier.

 

Source: Dec 24 2016 : The Times of India (NaviMumbai)

Next yr, appear for NEET in 8 languages

Next yr, appear for NEET in 8 languages

Mumbai: TNN





Medical aspirants can appear for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) in eight languages, including English and Marathi, for admission in the coming year. The decision was recently taken by the Union health ministry on the directive of the Supreme Court. Though the CBSE is yet to release an official notice announcing the move, students have welcomed it.About 1,670 medical aspirants took the state's common entrance test (CET) in Marathi this year. A similar number of students will benefit in the state once NEET is conducted in Marathi.

 NEET was re-implemented after three years in 2016 after an SC order revived it. About 7.5 lakh students took the exam in phase-I and phase-II. While state government colleges were exempted from using NEET scores this year, it will be the only test conducted for medical admissions for all colleges, including, government, private and deemed in 2017.





Source: Dec 24 2016 : The Times of India (NaviMumbai)

Post title

Study: States hardly invest in improving education quality

New Delhi:  TIMES NEWS NETWORK





`Just 1% Of Funds Spent On Training Teachers'

 

For all the talk on education quality and improving learning outcomes, little is actually being done to achieve either. The Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA) and Child Rights and You (CRY) studied state budgets for education in 10 general-category states and found that allocations for measures, even statutory provisions for ensuring quality -teacher training, monitoring, community mobilisation and training -are close to negligible in education budgets. In fact, share of any of these categories rarely rises beyond 1% in the education or Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) budget in any state.

 

“There is much discussion on quality but governments are not investing in the systems responsible for improving quality ,“ said Subrat Das of CBGA. The share of teachertraining in the education budget doesn't rise above 1% in any of the 10 states included in the analysis except Bihar, where it was 1.6% in 2015-16 (budget estimate). Inspection and monitoring are similarly neglected with their share crossing 1% in only Tamil Nadu and Odisha, both 1.2%. The study considered all 12 years of schooling. While there is huge variation across states, perstudent expenditure is less than that of relatively successful centrally-funded systems ­ the Kendriya and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (KVs and JNVs) -nearly everywhere.

 More than 98% schools in the 10 states have formed school management committees (SMCs). Mandated by the Right to Education Act 2009, these are composed mainly of parents and communitymembers. In addition to monitoring the functioning of schools, the RTE also requires them to formulate school development plans and clear school budgets. But, again, states have spent very little on training them. The share of training SMCs and Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) in the SSA budget was less than 1% in all 10 states in 2014-15. Teachers' salaries do claim the largest chunk of the budget in all 10 states. Their share ranges from 51.6% in Bihar to 80.4% in Rajasthan. But, as Protiva Kundu from CBGA said, “The myth that teachers' salaries take away all the funds for education is not true.“ State governments, especially UP and Maharashtra, spend significant amounts on non-government schools ­ as grants-in-aid and compensation for children enrolled in the 25% quota for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and Disadvantaged Groups (DG).

Education as a sector is under-funded, believe the organisations that authored the report. The per-student expenditure in public education in practically every general-category state is below that of KVs and JNVs.

 
Source:Dec 23 2016 : The Times of India (NaviMumbai)

RELIEF FOR STUDENTS - SSC exam timetable changed to give break between papers

Mumbai: TIMES NEWS NETWORK





In a relief to students, the state government has changed the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exam timetable so as to give them a break between three papers -science II, historycivics and geography-economics -that were scheduled from March 20 to 22.

 According to the new timetable, which was issued by the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE), the science II paper will now be held on March 20, history-civics on March 22 and geography-economics on March 25. The change in timetable means that the papers scheduled after geography-economics will now be pushed ahead and hence, the exam, which was to conclude on March 29, will go on till April 1.

The MSBSHSE after announcing the timetable on October 29 had given 15 days for feedback. During this period, several teachers' groups, local leaders and students raised concerns over the three papers, which were scheduled one after the other, without any break. They demanded at least a day's gap between the three papers.

“Considering the feedback, we decided to change the timetable. Class XII time table remains unchanged,“ said Krishnakumar Patil, secretary of the state board. The exam begins on March 7.

Teachers have welcomed the change in timetable.“Three papers in a row would have been stressful for students. They must be given a day to revise and refresh their minds. It is, in fact, a practice that the board follows every year,“ said Anil Bornare, secretary of the junior college teachers' association.

Source: Dec 23 2016 : The Times of India (NaviMumbai)

CBSE to introduce test for teachers aspiring to be principals

The eligibility and modalities for introducing the Principal Eligibility Test (PET) will be notified by the Board in due course of time.

By: PTI | New Delhi | Published:December 22, 2016 9:22 pm

Amendment shall not be applicable to the principals of Government schools.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is working on introducing a Principal Eligibility Test (PET) for teachers aspiring to become school heads. According to a circular, the proposal was ratified by the Governing Body in its meeting held Wednesday.

“The Board has decided to conduct the Principal Eligibility Test (PET) for aspiring teachers to become principal and for existing principals, who fulfill the minimum qualifications of Principal as laid down in rule 53 (I) of Affiliation Bye laws of the Board,” the circular issued by the CBSE said.

However, it added that the amendment shall not be applicable to the principals of Government schools.
The eligibility and modalities for introducing the Principal Eligibility Test (PET) will be notified by the Board in due course of time, it added.

Source: http://indianexpress.com/article/education/cbse-to-introduce-test-for-teachers-aspiring-to-be-principals-4440605/

CBSE gets say in picking heads of unaided schools

Dec 23 2016 : The Times of India (NaviMumbai)

CBSE gets say in picking heads of unaided schools

Manash Gohain

New Delhi:





Private unaided schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will no longer be able to appoint principals or heads on their own as the board has empowered itself to monitor such appointments in schools that fall under its ambit. Also, teachers aspiring to be principals will now have to qualify a Principal Eligibility Test (PET) conducted by the board, a circular issued on Thursday said. According to a CBSE circular issued to all state education directorates, school principals and other stakeholders, it will now be mandatory for schools to include a CBSE nominee and a state government nominee in their selection panels for principals.

Further, these committees will have to comprise five or more members instead of the four , the new addition being that of the state government nominee. What makes this change significant is that the member with experience in school administration, hitherto nominated by schools' managing committees, will now be nominated by the chairperson of the CBSE.

This effectively means that out of the five members on the panel, two will be appointed directly by , or with the approval of, the CBSE. “Till now, it was the managing committee which used to independently pick the two, with the president of the society and the managing committee chairperson being the remaining two constituents. In case of private unaided schools, the recruitment used to be completely in the hands of the school management,“ said a member of the CBSE's governing body .

 Voicing concern at the apparent curtailment of autonomy , a principal of a private school in Delhi said on condition of anonymity , “We don't really know how reducing schools' members in the selection panel will help them. The strength and kind of candidates vary from school to school. For that there should have been more autonomy .“

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आधार क्रमांक नसनारे विद्याथी केंद्राच्या शिष्यवृत्ती योजनेतून बाद ?

CBSE move to three-language format proves burdensome

Parents feel that learning a foreign language will help their children in an increasingly globalised world, says Anvita Bir, Principal of R. N. Podar School.   | Photo Credit: File photo

The CBSE insists that the third language to be included in the syllabus must be an Indian language rather than popular foreign languages

The proposal of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to revert to the three-language system is likely to increase the burden on students. “The return of the three-language format could further prove difficult for students as it increases the number of subjects from five to six. Earlier, students had to learn three languages only until Class VIII, after which the emphasis shifted to Science, Maths and Social Sciences in Class IX and X. However, it might become a way of life soon,” according to Rakesh Joshi, Principal of Apeejay School in Nerul.

The CBSE insists that the third language must be an Indian language rather than popular foreign languages like French and German. According to the Board, the syllabus should include English, Hindi, and an Indian language, while foreign language should be the fourth, optional language subject for Class X board exams.
Explaining the logic for the new proposed format, Dr. Mousumi Bhoumick, who has worked as an advisory with various CBSE committees, said, “The theory behind the three-language format is that students should first be taught their mother tongue, then a language spoken in their environment, and thirdly the language of the society in which they stay. Thereafter, they can be taught foreign languages. However, parents misuse this system by enforcing foreign languages on their children, which is very unfair and could be harmful for them in the long run.”

Foreign language preference

The contention behind the CBSE’s new policy is that many parents prefer their children learning foreign languages like French and German over regional languages like Marathi. This is so that their children will be equipped to participate on an international stage. The government’s bid to downgrade foreign languages and upgrade Indian languages has however, not gone down well with the parents.

“We chose French over Sanskrit for our son since learning Sanskrit offers no practical use. Learning French would be helpful in communication while travelling abroad,” says Shubra Singh, whose son is a Class IX student in a CBSE school.

In R. N. Podar School, Santacruz, most students opt for French over Hindi or Sanskrit as the third language option, according to Principal Avnita Bir. “Most parents prefer their children to learn French as they feel it would be an advantage to them in an increasingly globalised world,” she says.

Incidentally, the confusion over foreign languages by the CBSE has led to much chaos in classrooms. In 2014, CBSE had introduced Mandarin in some schools, following a tie-up with China. However, schools were left scrambling in the middle when the deal with China expired within two years. The subject was discontinued in many CBSE schools as they couldn’t find the language teachers at a short notice. Similarly, German language was allowed to be taught in schools but was suddenly discontinued in 2014 by the then Human Resources Minister, Smriti Irani, in spite of intervention by the German chancellor, Angela Merkel.
The new system will privilege the learning of the local regional language. However, sentiments are strong that frequent changes to the CBSE syllabus are disruptive.

“Education should be insulated from political changes. It has caused enough confusion in the classrooms. The government can’t keep going back and forth on policies like this. It does not help our students go anywhere,” an academician said.

The difficulty faced by students is also not going unnoticed. “My daughter had opted for French but later gave it up. It is difficult for her to learn one more language for her Class X boards next year. In today's times, when there are so many opportunities opening up, students should be given the option to choose the subjects that they wish to learn,” says Rupa Sen, mother of television child actor Anushka Sen, who is a Class IX student.
 

The writer is a freelance journalist

Hepzi Anthony

Mumbai: December 22, 2016 00:44 IST

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/mumbai/CBSE-move-to-three-language-format-proves-burdensome/article16920570.ece

CBSE’s Three-Language Formula: Won’t impose any language, says Prakash Javadekar

All CBSE schools will now not only have to implement the three-language formula in letter and spirit, but also extend it up to Class X.

The Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) decision to implement the three-language formula up to Class X will not lead to the imposition of one language on schools, HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar assured on Wednesday.

Asked if Sanskrit would become compulsory in CBSE-affiliated schools, he said, “I have not gone through the Board’s recommendation in detail, but we are not going to impose any language on schools. The three-language formula is currently being implemented across the country, except in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. We are not changing that.”

 

Under the National Education Policy, the three-language formula means students in Hindi-speaking states should learn a modern Indian language, apart from Hindi and English and, in non-Hindi-speaking states, they should learn Hindi along with the regional language and English.
However, a majority of the 18,000 affiliated institutions offer the mother tongue or Hindi, English and a foreign language such as German and Mandarin up to Class VIII. All CBSE schools will now not only have to implement the three-language formula in letter and spirit, but also extend it up to Class X. A directive, with finer details and timing of implementation, will be issued to schools as soon as the move is ratified by the government.

The decision comes almost two years after the HRD Ministry, under Smriti Irani’s leadership, forced Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) to discontinue teaching of German as a third language in classes VI to VIII on the ground that it violates the three-language formula. KVs were directed to replace it with Sanskrit or any modern Indian language. German is still taught, but as a hobby/additional language.
Javadekar also supported the CBSE’s move to make the Class X Board exams compulsory from 2018. “This (opting out of Board exams in Class X) was an anomaly. Why should only CBSE students have the freedom to opt out (of Board exams) when the students elsewhere cannot,” he said.

Source: http://indianexpress.com/article/education/cbse-compulsory-board-three-language-prakash-javadekar-hrd-wont-impose-any-language-4439304/

Want to study a foreign language at CBSE school? You may have to take 3 more

delhi Updated: Dec 21, 2016 11:23 IST

Heena Kausar
New Delhi, Hindustan Times

The CBSE has recommended to the government that all schools should follow this system and those wanting to study a foreign language will have to take it as an elective or an additional subject. (Vipin Kumar/HT file)

Students in CBSE schools may soon have to study four languages if they want to take up a foreign language as the board has recommended that schools follow three-language formula under which students study Hindi, English and one modern Indian language such as Sanskrit or Telugu.

Many private schools in the Capital offer foreign languages along with Sanskrit as the third language. But with CBSE’s new move, foreign language will become an elective or additional language.
Some schools are unhappy with the move and said that students should be free to study foreign languages if they wish to. Principals said that most students take up foreign languages because they want to go abroad or make a career in the language.

“We are looking at providing students with global upbringing. We cannot limit their options because many of the students want to go abroad for graduation,” said principal of a private school on condition of anonymity.
According to sources, in its governing body meet on Tuesday, the CBSE has recommended to the government that all schools should follow this system and those wanting to study a foreign language will have to take it as an elective or an additional subject.

Also, while the three-language formula is applicable only till Class VIII, as per a decision of the board, students of Class IX and X will also have to study three languages. Reportedly, they will only be required to get passing marks in the third language, sources said.
Some schools said it will add unnecessary burden on students.

Most private schools offer Sanskrit, German, French, Japanese, Spanish, and Chinese as the third language under the formula. Most private school principals said students prefer to take up a foreign language.
“It is not a good idea to limit options for students if they want to study a foreign language. It will add burden on students if they want to take foreign language as an elective because they have to study other subjects also. In this situation a student will study four languages plus other courses,” said LV Sehgal, principal of Bal Bharti School, Ganga Ram Hospital Marg.

Manohar Lal, principal of Delhi Public School, Mathura Road, said, “This will create a lot of problems for our students. Most of them take up foreign languages but now they will have to rethink because students cannot burden themselves with only languages.”

Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi/want-to-study-a-foreign-language-you-may-have-to-study-three-more/story-HoJlzq9B2PMd49y0nZtXsL.html

CBSE removes lesson on Nadars from textbook

Board was asked by HC to review ‘derogatory’ references to community.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has directed that a topic in the Class IX social science textbook on ‘Caste conflict and dress change’ with references to the Nadar community be dropped from the curriculum.
“No questions from the section should be asked in 2017 Summative Assessment,” a Board circular addressed to teachers and students read.
The topic features in ‘India and the contemporary world-I’, one of the social science textbooks published by the National Council of Education and Research Training (NCERT) and used in CBSE schools across the country.
In the chapter titled ‘Clothing: A social history’, the Nadar community is referred to under the ‘caste conflict and dress change’ sub-head, wherein it is stated that a majority of them were considered a ‘subordinate caste’ and that they were expected to follow the local custom of not covering their upper bodies.

Widespread protests

The reference to the Nadar community in the textbook had triggered a major controversy in 2012 and attracted strong condemnation from political parties.
DMK leader M. Karunanidhi and MDMK chief Vaiko had said it was unpardonable to describe the Nadars as a community of migrants.
PMK leader S. Ramadoss also criticised certain objectionable remarks against Nadar women in the textbook.

Later that year, the then Chief Minister Jayalalithaa wrote to the Centre seeking removal of the “objectionable” portions

S. Poorvaja

CHENNAI: December 21, 2016 01:27 IST

Updated: December 21, 2016 01:48 IST 

 

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/CBSE-removes-lesson-on-Nadars-from-textbook/article16915107.ece

New CBSE norms: Board exam is back, test for principals, three languages until Class X

All three decisions need the final stamp of approval from the HRD Ministry, said sources.

Written by Mallica Joshi , Ritika Chopra | New Delhi | Updated: December 21, 2016 9:35 am

Currently, it is optional for CBSE students to choose either the Board exam or a school-based examination. Over 18,000 schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will have to implement the three-language formula up to Class X, the Board’s Governing Body resolved on Tuesday. Currently, schools are meant to follow this up to Class VIII.

CBSE’s highest decision-making body, which met for close to four hours, also decided to make Board examination compulsory for Class X students from 2018 and introduce an eligibility test for principals of all its schools. All three decisions need the final stamp of approval from the HRD Ministry, said sources. CBSE chairman R K Chaturvedi was unreachable for comment.

Under the National Education Policy, the three-language formula means students in Hindi-speaking states should learn a modern Indian language, apart from Hindi and English and, in non-Hindi-speaking states, they should learn Hindi along with the regional language and English.

However, a majority of the 18,000 affiliated institutions offer the mother tongue or Hindi, English and a foreign language such as German and Mandarin up to Class VIII. According to Governing Body (GB) members, who spoke to The Indian Express on the condition of anonymity, all schools will not only have to implement the three-language formula in letter and spirit, but also extend it up to Class X. A directive, with finer details and timing of implementation, will be issued to schools as soon as the move is ratified by the government.
 
The decision comes almost two years after the HRD Ministry, under Smriti Irani’s leadership, forced Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) to discontinue teaching of German as a third language in Classes VI to VIII on the ground that it violates the three-language formula. KVs were directed to replace it with Sanskrit or any modern Indian language. German is still taught, but as a hobby/additional language.

“The National Education Policy and NCERT’s National Curriculum Framework clearly suggest that the three-language formula should be implemented in secondary education and, hence, the decision is in line with that. Private schools currently offering foreign languages will have to treat it as a fourth language, but the three-language formula has to be followed strictly,” said a GB member, when asked about the rationale behind the move.




The decision to make Class X Board exams mandatory again has been taken five years after former HRD Minister Kapil Sibal had nudged CBSE into making it optional. Sources said CBSE has decided that all schools will conduct two tests and a half-yearly exam in Class X.


The final examination will be conducted by the Board. The Board exam will carry 80 per cent weight and a student’s performance in school tests will account for 20 per cent. “The student will have to secure pass marks in both school and board exams separately to get promoted to Class XII,” said another GB member.
It’s not clear at this moment if the third language, which will introduced in Class IX and X as a consequence of Tuesday’s decision, will be tested in the Board exam.

Class X Board exams were made optional in 2011 after educationists objected to the stress associated with it. This was replaced with Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation or CCE. Students, however, could opt for board exams if they wanted.
 
About 20 per cent of the students chose the Board exam in 2011 and 2012. This figure increased gradually after it was made clear that students who wanted to change their school Board after Class X would have to take exams. In 2016, more than 40 per cent students opted for the Board exams.
“The UPA government had expected that other state education boards will follow CBSE’s example, but that didn’t happen. Over the last few months, CBSE and HRD Ministry have met teachers and principals from across the country to get their feedback on Boards and CCE.

The overwhelming support was for the return of exams,” said a member. A meeting of about 300 school principals was held in Mata Sundari College last week to discuss the change and seek feedback.

CBSE’s governing body also resolved that principals of all CBSE schools will have to pass an eligiblity test. “We’ve noticed that wives and relatives of the schools owner/owners end up becoming principals. That’s not the ideal qualification to head a school. So CBSE will design a test on the lines of the Central Teacher Eligibility Test for principals too which they have to pass,” said a GB member.

Source: http://indianexpress.com/article/education/new-cbse-norms-board-exam-is-back-test-for-principals-three-languages-until-class-x-high-school-hrd-4437967/

CBSE wants smart cards for all students

Manash Pratim Gohain | TNN | Updated: Dec 19, 2016, 02.51 AM IST

NEW DELHI: After making payment of school fees and teachers' salary cashless, CBSE has advised schools to inculcate habit of cashless transaction among students by introducing smart cards in canteens and tuck-shops. The schools have also been asked to use activity weeks to push digital payment and task each student to promote the same at home and among at least 10 outsiders.

On December 7, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) convened a meeting of 350 nodal schools and deliberated on how to make the schools completely cashless. Three days later, it issued a circular on staff payment through bank transfer and payment of fees only through "non-cash" mode.

The meeting also discussed the issue of inspiring students to go cashless. "The schools are now being asked to sensitise students on cashless transaction and how to keep it safe. However, it's an advisory," said a senior CBSE official. "Students' involvement will make promoting cashless transaction easier."

The board is going to allow e-wallets like SBI Buddy and Paytm for its competitive exams. It will also do away with the challan mode of payment for affiliation from January when the new cycle starts. All payments will be accepted through debit/credit cards or net banking.

Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, too, has decided to train students from Class IX onwards and teachers on various cashless modes of payment and use services of Scouts and Guides to educate various sections of society. A circular regarding this financial literacy drive has already been sent to its regional offices. Experts from local banks/financial institutions and postgraduate teachers in computers, commerce and economics will hold these sessions.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/CBSE-wants-smart-cards-for-all-students/articleshow/56054326.cms
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