Monday, December 26, 2016

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.

neet, neet 2017, cbse, cbse class 12, matric exam, private schools, private cbse schools, medical entrance test, national eligibility cum entrance test, cbse news, education news, indian express 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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)
clip


clip

Post title

clip

Friday, December 23, 2016


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

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.
Candidates after Staff Selection Commission Exam at Government College for Girls in Sector 11 of Chandigarh on Sunday, November 15 2015. Express Photo by Sahil Walia *** Local Caption *** Candidates after Staff Selection Commission Exam at Government College for Girls in Sector 11 of Chandigarh on Sunday, November 15 2015. Express Photo by Sahil Walia
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

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 .“
===============================================================================