"To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong."
-- Joseph Chilton Pearce
-- Joseph Chilton Pearce
____________________________ Reliance Foundation School-English Medium, Lodhivali. ____________________________
Thursday, December 29, 2016
Mumbai schools turn new page to bring in cashless transactions
Mumbai Updated: Dec 28, 2016 09:30 IST
Puja Pednekar
Hindustan Times
Hindustan Times
(HT )
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
Wednesday, December 28, 2016
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.
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
Monday, December 26, 2016
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 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 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.
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
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.
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
“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
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)
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.
“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.
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.
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
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)
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)