Google launches YouTube Kids in India, a library of learning oriented video content

#YOUTUBE

  09 Nov 2016 , 15:51

Making it easier for today’s tech savvy kids to find videos on topics they want to explore, popular online video community YouTube on Wednesday launched “YouTube Kids” — a huge library of learning content for children — in India. “YouTube Kids comes to India at a great time for millions of Indian families, as it provides children access to content that will enrich thier lives and create new opportunities for learning,” Malik Ducard, YouTube’s Global Head of Family and Learning, said in a statement.

“India already has a very diverse and rapidly-growing creator base for kids and learning, with content in this category growing 100 per cent year over year,” Ducard added. The standalone, kid-friendly and mobile-first app is available on Google Play and App Store from Wednesday. With its playful design, large images and bold icons, YouTube Kids makes it easier for the children to find and navigate through videos like “Little Krishna” or one of the popular videos from “ChuChuTV”.

The voice search to let children find videos when they cannot type or spell a word correctly makes the app more kid-friendly. Indian kids are consuming the content from local as well as international creators, said Aman Dayal, Content Partnership Manager YouTube Kids and Learning, India and South East Asia. “Indian creators are exporting large amount of content as well. There is a uniformity in the consumption as a lot of content created in India is watched outside and a lot of content created outside is consumed in India,” Dayal told IANS.

Many top Indian YouTube Kids and learning creators will be adding new shows exclusive to the YouTube platform on the occasion of the launch, YouTube said. These include new learning shows from “ChuChuTV” and “Kids TV”, a new season of “Cat and Keet”, a popular chase comedy show by Toonz Animation, the “Gummy Bear” song in Hindi and a new season of “Appu – The Yogic Elephant”.

The service also offers parental control option. Parents can broaden or restrict their kids search — turn “on” to access millions of family-friendly videos or turn “off” to restrict their experience. Parents can also limit their kids’ screen time by setting a built-in timer. They can also put in password, restrict certain content and access settings in the app. The YouTube Kids content can also be watched on big screen using Chromecast, Apple TV, game consoles or a smart TV.

IANS

Source: http://tech.firstpost.com/news-analysis/google-launches-youtube-kids-in-india-a-library-of-learning-oriented-video-content-346262.html

Primary maths teachers to get lessons on subject

Nov 09 2016 : The Times of India (NaviMumbai)

Primary maths teachers to get lessons on subject

SwatiShindeGole  Pune:





Teachers of mathematics for standard I to V in state-run schools will receive special training in the subject. The aim is to improve the maths performance of students in that age group. The state education department took the decision after receiving several reports by private and government agencies that highlighted poor performance of the state board students, particularly in mathematics.
Govind Nandede, director of the Maharashtra state council of education research and training (MSCERT) stated that, “Training would be conducted to ensure that the teachers' foundation of the subject is strong enough. This initiative is for primary teachers who teach mathematics for standards I to V .“ The training would be imparted to 25% teachers in every district. The MSCERT has already invited applications from teachers to register for training.The course will mainly concentrate on teaching mathematics concepts with the help of practical activities. “The state education department adopted the concept of activity-based teaching in schools two years ago and the same will be inculcated during training sessions as well,“ Nandede said.
The last day to fill up forms is November 15.

Sleeping time linked to poor self-regulation among teens

Nov 09 2016 : The Times of India (NaviMumbai)

 

Sleeping time linked to poor self-regulation among teens

IANS





Poor self-regulation among teens strongly associated is with when one sleeps in relation to their body's natural circadian rhythm, finds a study . According to researchers, daytime sleepiness and being a night owl appear to be more strongly associated with poor self-regulation.

 

“The results of this study suggest it is not how long you sleep that has the biggest impact on self-regulation, but when you sleep in relation to the body's natural circadian rhythms and how impaired you are by sleepiness,“ said sleep expert Judith Owens.

Researchers analysed 2,017 surveys completed by 7th to 12th graders from schools, where students completed questionnaires about sleep and self-regulation, including cognitive aspects, behavioural aspect and emotional aspects.Nearly 22 per cent of the students reported sleeping less than seven hours on school nights.

Sleep duration, daytime sleepiness and chronotype were clearly interconnected -night owls slept less on school nights and were subsequently sleepier in the daytime, as were those who slept for fewer hours. But when researchers examined all three aspects of sleep and adjusted for age, socio-demographic factors and mental health conditions like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), depression and anxiety , it was daytime sleepiness and `night owl' tendencies that independently predicted impaired self-regulation while sleep duration did not.

Sleepier adolescents reported significantly worse self-regulation, as did teens who tended to be `night owls' rather than `morning larks'.The findings held for all types of self-regulation but were most robust for cognitive and emotional aspects.

“The misalignment or mismatch between early school start times and teens' circadian rhythms -which normally shift later with puberty -may worsen self-regulation or so-called executive functioning,“ Owens added.
 

Source: http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31840&articlexml=Sleeping-time-linked-to-poor-self-regulation-among-09112016107012

THE BOARDS GUIDE

Nov 10 2016 : The Times of India (NaviMumbai)

 

THE BOARDS GUIDE 

By Pratibha Jain





Parents often face confusion while narrowing down on a board that will cater to their child's needs and aptitude. Read on to know the features of various boards to help you make an informed choice

Choosing from among the increasing number of high school boards in India often creates confusion for parents as to which will be best suited for their child. Today, all India boards like the CBSE, ICSE and the ISC are competing with international programmes that include the British A levels, international baccalaureate (IB), American advanced placements (AP) and Canadian high school qualifications. Additionally, each Indian state offers its own Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) which extends the choices for parents even further.

CENTRAL BOARDS
A pre-determined curriculum with clear demarcations of subjects under science, commerce and humanities is probably the weakness and the strength of Indian high school programmes. Indian boards are well known for their theoretical approach with high emphasis on textual learning.The indepth study of subjects of a selected discipline gives students a grounding in fundamentals which enable them to meet the demands of higher education at universities in India as well as abroad. The strong academic focus of central boards like the ICSE, CBSE and ISC is the ideal pathway for succeeding in national entrance tests to gain admission into competitive and professional programmes under engineering, medicine, chartered accountancy and management.

STATE BOARD
Schools and colleges that offer the state board syllabus are cost effective and less competitive. It is important to note that local colleges have a legal requirement to absorb a high percentage of students who complete high school from the state boards. Although there are several arguments associated with Indian boards, such as they promote rote learning, and that they are easier to crack than national level boards, the credibility of these viewpoints is debatable.

INTERNATIONAL CURRICULUM
Schools that follow an international curriculum are in demand owing to their focus on application based method of study and a small class size, which fosters a greater degree of interaction between students and teachers. The programmes aim to develop and encourage critical thinking, analytical skills, communication, investigative abilities, problem solving skills, team work and research-based learning. International programmes gain their strength through flexibility and diversity of subject choices. Students are exposed to a range of subjects under different subject groups and are given the liberty to choose one from the groups of science, languages, mathe matics and humanities.Moreover, students trained in this `thinking style of education' fit in easily with the academic demands of universities abroad. Additionally, because of the credits they earn for academic work done under IB and A levels, they save time and money while pursuing undergraduate programmes in the US and Canada.

However, students who study in international boards find it difficult to get admissions into colleges in India. One of the reasons for this is that final examinations for international board schools fall in the month of May and results are declared at the fag end of the admission process in India -in July August. Students pursuing international boards usually take a gap year if they wish to take entrance tests for joining competitive professional programmes.
(The author is a career counsellor based in Mumbai)

No ‘easy math’ option for Maharashtra state board schools from 2017-18

• Puja Pednekar, Hndustan Times, Mumbai
| 
• Updated: Oct 28, 2016 11:10 IST

Vinod Tawde, the education minister, is in the process of drawing up a plan to revise the regular math syllabus to incorporate both easy and tough questions (HT)

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From the academic year 2017-18, the state school education department will scrap the easy math or general mathematics option — a less difficult paper than the regular course — for students in Class 9, and a year after that, for Class 10.

Instead, all students will compulsorily take the regular math course that the department is revamping to suit multiple intelligences in the classroom.
Easy math was introduced by the Maharashtra state board in 2011 for students weak in math, in order to improve the pass rate of the subject. There was only one catch. Students choosing easy math would not be able to take admissions in the science stream in Class 11 or to industrial training institutes ( ITIs).
A review done by the department found most students taking the subject were unaware of this clause or regretted it later.

“At 13, it is unfair to ask children to take a subject that will close career avenues such as engineering for them. Many chose it without thinking of its repercussions and faced problems later,” said Prachi Sathe, special officer, education department.
This also reduced the number of students opting for this subject. Of 17 lakh students appearing for the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exam every year, only 1.15 lakh students pursued easy math. This is just 6.5% of the total number of students.
“The purpose behind introducing easy math was to improve the pass rate of students, but we didn’t see any significant impact,” Sathe said.

It was also becoming difficult for schools to offer the subject only for a few students. “It’s tough because schools have to hold separate classes and exams for a small group of students,” said Sathe.
But what will happen to weak students if easy math is scrapped?
Sathe said Vinod Tawde, the education minister, is in the process of drawing up a plan to revise the regular math syllabus. “ The minister’s plan is to incorporate both easy and tough questions into the subject and design the question paper in such a way that all students can answer it,” said Sathe. She added this would mean scaling down the difficulty level of the regular math course.

“While students appearing for exams like NEET want difficult math on the level of the CBSE syllabus, we can’t deny that SSC board is for the masses and we can’t make the subject too tough for just a few thousand students,” she said.
School principals, however, are upset with the decision to keep only one math subject for all students. “Students with learning disabilities were taking up easy math as they found regular math difficult. Now what option will they have? The department should have consulted with all schools before taking the decision,” said Suresh Nair, principal, Vivek Vidyalaya, Goregaon.
But academicians lauded the decision saying easy math was redundant. “Even easy math was actually not that easy. It was doing more harm than good,” said Vasant Kalpande, former chairman of the Maharashtra state board.
Kalpande suggested other ways of making math easy for students. “The paper can be divided into two sections, while it will be compulsory for students to attempt both the sections. The easy section should equip students with enough marks to pass, while the second section could be an add on for students with higher thinking skills,” said Kalpande.

Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/no-easy-math-option-for-maharashtra-state-board-schools-from-2017-18/story-Yq7AB9of7fiwnEVgh1hTBL.html

CBSE to ensure exam centres are within 8km of students’ schools

• Neelam Pandey, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
| 
• Updated: Nov 07, 2016 09:13 IST

Students do a last-minute revision of syllabus ahead of their CBSE board examinations in New Delhi. (HT File)

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The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is working on an online system to ensure that students will be allocated examination centres within eight kilometres of their schools, sources said.
According to sources, the board is in the process of providing all information regarding exam centres for board exams, National Eligibility Test (NET), NEET, JEE main online. For this it had asked for disclosures from schools across the country about the current infrastructure there so that the system is made transparent. Currently there is no system for mapping this information online.
The CBSE is looking at allocating centres within an 8km radius of schools so that students don’t have to travel long distances. For other competitive exam, the closest centre will be allocated, sources said.
“Once we are aware of the infrastructure that is present in the schools we can map it online and this will help us in allocating centres automatically. For instance the system will prompt the official as soon as the 8-10 km radius is crossed. This will ensure they don’t allocate centres that are far away,” said a senior official. Sources said there have been instances in the past where students have been allocated centres at far-flung areas.
The move will also eliminate the need for searching or physically checking the centre before the examination which is a common practice amongst the candidates.
Out of the 14,000 private schools, nearly 2,000 have submitted all the information to the CBSE. This will be used for allocating centres to students. The last date for submitting the information is November 30 and the board is confident of completing the process on time. There are 3,000 schools that have uploaded infrastructure details too. There are 18,000 schools affiliated to the CBSE including Kendriya Vidyalayas.

“This would enable candidates to locate a centre on GIS maps in their mobile phones and to view its facilities,” added the official.
The online system will also map facilities such as the type of furniture, drinking facility, toilets that are present in the schools. “There have been instances in the past where students had to write exam sitting on chairs meant for kindergarten children. Once the institutes inform CBSE about the facilities it will be used to allocate centres,” said a source.
As per the CBSE affiliation rules, each school has to prepare its annual report and has to provide comprehensive information including the details of infrastructure and teachers to the board.
On September 29, the board had asked all the schools under it make mandatory disclosures of all information pertaining to the schools including fees, infrastructure, teachers etc. Under this system once the board has all the data it can use it to plan future projects.

Source : http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/j-k-cbse-to-ensure-board-exam-centres-are-within-8km-of-students-schools/story-Y1tplyBiYllaAcoBqcnnhK.html 

UGC, CBSE asks edu institutes to observe National Education Day

TNN | Nov 3, 2016, 10.36 PM IST

DEHRADUN: The University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has asked all the affiliated institutes to observe the 128th birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad as the National Education Day on November 11. A freedom fighter and an eminent educationist, Azad was the first Union minister of education of independent India.

The UGC through a letter posted on its website has stated that the Union ministry of human resource development (MHRD) wishes that all the universities should be involved in observing the day by organizing various activities centred on the importance of education and the nation’s commitment to all aspects of education.

The CBSE has also asked all the affiliated schools to celebrate the day and organize workshops, rallies on the importance of literacy and education for the well-being of the society.

“The observance of National Education Day on November 11 is in commemoration of the birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad for his contribution to the cause of education in India. It is praiseworthy that such a day is being observed,” said Dinesh Bartwal, vice-principal of Doon International School.

Parents hailed the decision to commemorate the noted educationist’s birthday in schools. “It is crucial that youngsters are aware about personalities like Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. Many students mix him up with Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and it is time that they are made aware about many such eminent personalities whose contribution to the nation building is noteworthy,” said Kiran Bisht, a parent.

Meanwhile, it is learnt that schools have also been asked to review their ongoing programme such as community outreach, entrepreneurial projects, vocational skills, life skills and inclusive education while celebrating the day.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/dehradun/UGC-CBSE-asks-edu-institutes-to-observe-National-Education-Day/articleshow/55231308.cms

Fee disclosure for private schools: CBSE extends deadline to November 30

The order comes after the Board received recommendations from various parent groups urging the government to look into exorbitant fee hikes in the name of school fee.

Written by Shalini Rajvanshi | Noida | Updated: November 3, 2016 3:57 pm

“Regulation is a gray area as CBSE can only ask schools to explain their fee structure but cannot control the same.” The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has recently given an ultimatum of November 30, 2016 to schools to disclose their financial details as well as fee structure on their websites. The order comes after the Board received recommendations from various parent groups urging the government to look into exorbitant fee hikes in the name of school fee.
LocalCircles, a social networking site, had conducted a survey recently among parents asking them about their views on the fee structures in CBSE schools. The survey received over 10,000 responses.
The survey revealed that 64 per cent guardians felt their ward’s school was charging a significant amount of fee (with an increase of over 10 per cent) under heads other than tuition. About 81 per cent respondents felt that there should be a regulatory body for private school fee in the country.
Seventy three per cent felt that private schools with a profit objective should be required to label themselves as private companies instead of trusts or societies while 89 per cent voted in favour of recognised private schools disclosing their financial reports in addition to the school fee structure.
Yatish Rajawat, Chief Strategy Officer, LocalCircles, said initially, the site had asked just one question – what kind of fee hike had the parents witnessed? But the findings then ended up going viral on social media as parents from various sectors across the country said that they had noticed a fee hike of 10-30 per cent in the past one year. These were shared with the chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) as well as the Union Human Resource Development Ministry, after which the Board issued a circular regarding the same to affiliated schools.
“This is a gray area as they (CBSE) can only ask schools to explain the school fee structure but cannot regulate the fee. The district education officer can issue notices to schools but even he or she cannot regulate school fee,” he said, adding that parents had asked for a regulatory body in this regard to be set up.
N P Singh, District Magistrate, Noida, had written to the CBSE Chairman in May, 2016 recommending certain measures through which the charges can be regulated, such as fee resonating with facilities available in the school, hiking said payments only a year and consultation of parents regarding the hike, among others.
“There should be a regulatory body looking into fee hike. Schools have found to be billing parents under plantation, women empowerment fee, etc. There should be a range for the fee hike regulated by the CBSE,” he said, adding that details of the visit of the audit team to schools, which happens once a year should be made known to parents beforehand so that they can interact with the team and voice their grievances.
Fee hike should be linked with inflation, price index or the rise in prices or taxes of goods and services related to education, said Singh. Echoing his statement, Rajawat said, “The average salary hike is about 12 per cent, inflation about six to eight per cent while the most schools hike fees by about 15 per cent on an average. What most parents said in the survey is that hike should be linked to either pay commission (15 per cent votes) or inflation (41 per cent), among other factors. About 20 per cent felt that it should be capped at annual hike of 10 per cent.”
Source: http://indianexpress.com/article/education/fee-disclosure-for-private-schools-cbse-extends-deadline-to-november-30/