CBSE makes Aadhaar must for JEE enrolment

CBSE makes Aadhaar must for JEE enrolment

KOLKATA: As if the demonetisation scheme was not enough. Now, a decision by the CBSE to make Aadhaar mandatory for all students appearing for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), Mains-2017, is sure to add more ammo to Mamata Banerjee's armoury .The West Bengal chief minister has repeatedly protested against the Centre's decision to link Aadhaar with the different Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) schemes.

If the CBSE persists with its decision, students from West Bengal are likely to be hit the hardest. Unlike states like Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Punjab, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, where nearly 95% of the population have enrolled for Aadhaar and rece ived there Unique Identification (UID) numbers, the figure in West Bengal is only 78%.According to available data, only 7,54,67,010 people in the state out of a population of 9,66,22,186 have got Aadhaar cards. This leaves 2,11,55,176 people in the lurch.

JEE Mains-2017 will be held on April 2, 2017 and the last date of registration is January 2, 2017. 

According to CBSE officials, Aadhaar cards will be mandatory to fill up forms from this year. A circular states that students who do not possess Aadhaar cards should apply for them. In case cards have invalid or wrong information, they should be rectified before the forms are filled up.

Realising that the decision by CBSE to introduce Aadhaar is likely to kick up a storm, a senior HRD ministry official said: " A complaint has reached minister Prakash Javadekar. He will take every measure to ensure no eligible student is left out from appearing in the examination due to nonavailability of Aadhaar card." The announcement has already led to consterna tion among teachers and students in the state.

According to Rammohan Mission School principal Sujoy Biswas: "This will cause a lot of inconvenience to the students, particularly when they are preparing for a major board examination as well as competitive exams. The CBSE could have taken the decision to make Aadhaar mandatory from 2018. This would have given the students some time."

JEE Mains is an eligibility test for JEE Advanced, which candidates have to sit for admission to the undergraduate programmes offered by the IITs, ISM Dhanbad. JEE Mains also acts as an entrance examination for undergraduate engineering programmes in NITs, IIITs and other centrally-funded institutions.

TNN | Nov 23, 2016, 09.31 AM IST

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/CBSE-makes-Aadhaar-must-for-JEE-enrolment/articleshow/55574206.cms

Merit Scholarship Schemes_CBSE

Source: http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com

Tentative Schedule of Common Entrance Tests

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

Making math fun: Schoolteachers to use coins, blocks & counting beads for hands-on learning

Nov 21 2016 : The Times of India (NaviMumbai)

Making math fun: Schoolteachers to use coins, blocks & counting beads for hands-on learning 

 

Vinamrata Borwankar | Mumbai:





In an attempt to make mathematics fun for students and improve the quality of teaching, the state has decided to introduce tools for hands-on learning. According to a government resolution issued by the school education department, schools will have to procure tools for students that will help them understand mathematical concepts better.

The state has suggested the use of 13 tools such as counting beads, mathematics mats, geo boards to learn geometry, scales and measuring tapes, notes and coins, measuring tapes, scales, jodo blocks for class I to V students. “Various surveys have own that students lag be shown that students lag behind in language and mathe matics.
Poor performance in mathematics is due to fear among students for the sub ject and one of the main reasons for this fear is the current teaching methodology ,“ said Nandkumar, secretary , school education department. “If we want students to not fear mathematics, their concepts have to be clear. This can be done if we use tools and demonstrate. Some teachers are already trying to use tools, but are not yielding results because the tools are not scientific. Teachers need to review what they are using and learn new techniques that work with students today ,“ he added.

Schools will have to purchase or create one set of these tools for every six students.“The tools might cost Rs 4,000-Rs 5,000, but will help students learn much better than they do today . Once parents see the change, they might be willing to assist schools in buying the tools.Schools could also seek funds from local government bodies or corporates as part of corporate social responsibility ,“ said Nandkumar.

Teachers will have to undergo a three-day training before they begin to use the tools in classroom. The department has asked schools to fill out forms to seek slots for workshops once they have the necessary tools in place.

Teachers have welcomed the move. “Activity-based learning is necessary to teach students better. It will help them understand concepts and not fear the subject,“ said Anil Bornare, a teacher.

 

State: Score 40%, not 35%, to pass scholarship exam

Nov 19 2016 : The Times of India (NaviMumbai)

 

State: Score 40%, not 35%, to pass scholarship exam

Mumbai TIMES NEWS NETWORK





Class V and VII students who will appear fo the state scholarship exams will have to score 40%, instead of 35%, to pass, and no studen will be declared `fail'.

 

According to a recent go vernment resolution, repor cards will not mention `pass or `fail', instead the Maha rashtra State Council of Ex aminations will pronounce i the student is eligible or ineli gible for scholarship.

Starting this year, class V and VIII students will take the scholarship exam, instead of class IV and VII students as re quired by the RTE Act. The state has also brought abou changes in the exam pattern and marking system this year Students will have to take two papers of 150 marks each in stead of three papers of 10 marks and score above 40% to be eligible for scholarship.

The government resolu tion also said that CBSE and CISCE board students wil continue to take the exam, bu will not be eligible to receive the scholarship money .





Sports play a crucial role in developing life skills amongst children: Nita Ambani

 Sports play a crucial role in developing life skills amongst children: Nita Ambani





Nita Ambani, Reliance Founder Chairperson of Foundation, strongly believes that every child must have the right to education and right to play .Education and sports are the two bedrocks of any society and both complement each other to foster a child's holistic development.Education empowers the youth to make choices and chase their dreams.

 

The foundation has launched and partnered with various initiatives in sports, with focus on developing talent at the grassroots level, and has used these activities as a motivator to raise their aspirations and enhance the spirit of learning and leadership.Through its multiple sports initiatives, it has already reached out to over seven million children and youngsters across the country .

Two years ago, they launched the Reliance Foundation Young Champs Programme with the aim of helping young Indian footballers develop their talent. Through their grassroots initiatives, they have scouted and selected 41 talented children from across the country , and awarded them with residential scholarships to receive world-class football training as well as quality education at the foundation's school. In a short span of two years, these champs have shown the promise of excellence, winning 91 of the 107 matches played at the state and national levels. They hope that in a few years from now, they will be able to represent India in football on the global platform.

On the occasion of Children's Day , Nita Ambani says, “I wish every child a very happy Children's Day .At Reliance Foundation, we would like to reach out to millions of children in our country through our grassroots initiatives in sports.Sports play a crucial role in character building and developing life skills amongst children. I believe that India has no dearth of sporting talent. We are a nation with 50 per cent of the population below the age of 25. What is needed is a conducive environment for them to grow and blossom as sportspersons.“

Sports provides physical fitness and also strengthens the mind. It inculcates values of self-discipline, sportsmanship, team spirit, leadership, integrity as well as promotes a healthy lifestyle.More importantly, it is a great unifier, with its power to remove individual differences of religion, ethnicity , language, and geography and binds people together.

Source: Nov 14 2016 : The Times of India (NaviMumbai)





90% of parents want school guidance on bringing up, understanding kids

90% of parents want school guidance on bringing up, understanding kids 

 

Vinamrata Borwankar|Mumbai:





Lost in the sea of information, a lot of which may be irrelevant, nearly 90% of parents in the city look to schools for guidance on how to bring up their young children and understanding them, a recent survey has revealed. The survey of 1,600 parents of children up to the age of six years in Mumbai found that 70% of them do not depend on websites. For, over 57% of them felt the information available online is not culturally relevant or personalized.

Alarge number of them depend on traditional ways to learn parenting: 34% often imita te their parents' style, while 25% learnt from their friends and community . Only about 4% always used books, while 49% said they sometimes read up on the issue. Probably as a result of this, most parents want schools to play an integral part in shaping the children and understanding them. While 87% of them felt schools should help them through reading material, seminars and open houses, 67% felt there must be a course in parenting. “The values and morals of the children depend on the parenting style of the parents. The child must be able to understand what is allowed and what is not at all times,“ said Swati Popat Vats of BornSmart, an online parent-toddler programme platform that conducted the survey .

Some schools said they were already helping parents.“We have workshops regularly for parents of students in the pre-primary and primary sections. It helps them understand their child's needs better,“ said Father Francis Swamy , principal, St Mary's ICSE, Mazgaon.





Source: Nov 14 2016 : The Times of India (NaviMumbai)

Take JEE (Main) to join Navy as officers

Take JEE (Main) to join Navy as officers 

 

Rajat Pandit | New Delhi:





Class 12 PCM Percentage Now Invalid 

 

The Navy is going hi-tech with a vengeance.With state-of-the-art warships, weapons and sensors being progressively inducted by the force, it wants “sea warriors“ capable of handling the intricate challenges of the massive technological revolution under way .

 

First, the Navy implemented plans to ensure virtually all its new officers have B Tech degrees, apart from the traditional military and leadership skills, when they graduate from the sprawling Indian Naval Academy (INA) at Ezhimala in Kerala.

And now, it has been decided that the shortlisting of candidates aspiring to join the force through the 10+2 B Tech cadet entry scheme will be based “only on JEE (Main) ranks“. Consequently , the PCM (physics, chemistry , maths) percentage obtained in the Class XII board exams will not be valid for this scheme any longer. “Different state examination boards have gone berserk in awarding high marks in Class XII. We were finding the quality of candidates coming for the SSB (services selection board) interview or training ve ry uneven,“ said a senior officer. “The JEE (Main) ranks, which the CBSE has agreed to share with us, will be a better benchmark. With the government approving the move, youngsters will have to appear for the JEE (Main) in 2017 to be eligible for the January 2018 course at INA,“ he added.

As was earlier reported by TOI, the first direct-entry batch of B Tech officers graduated out from the INA in May 2013. Since then, the Navy has been tweaking the three officer entry schemes after Class XII. First are the naval cadets who undergo the three-year course at the triservice National Defence Academy (NDA) at Kadakwasla (Pune) after clearing the UPSC exam and SSB interview. These cadets, who number 78 every year, get commissioned as officers with B Tech degrees after another year of intensive training at the INA.
Then, there are the around 110 cadets who directly joined 110 cadets who directly joined the INA for the four-year B Tech programme after clearing UPSC exams in two batches every year. Under the third and largest scheme, around 120 cadets will now be shortlisted for the SSB interview on the basis of their JEE (Main) ranks. “In effect, one has to take either the UPSC exam or the JEE (Main) to be eligible,“ said an officer. All this has become necessary because the Navy needs a cadre with advanced technical expertise to handle the sophisticated weapon systems in the pipeline. “As per the plan, the Navy will have 212 warships, 458 aircraft and helicopters by 2027,“ said another officer.

Source :Nov 13 2016 : The Times of India (NaviMumbai)