• 7 Jan 2017 | Mumbai | Shreya Bhandary shreya.bhandary@hindustantimes.com

NEET in 8 languages, but study material available only in two

Despite several reminders, state education ministry hasn’t aided students, say parents

MUMBAI: Even as medical and dental aspirants across the country are demanding the right to appear for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) 2017 in regional languages, experts have pointed out that study material for the exam is available only in English and Hindi.

The Union health ministry has made it clear that NEET 2017 will be held in eight languages — English, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Assamese and Bengali — but books included in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) syllabus— considered study material for medical aspirants — are not available in any of these languages.

“More and more students from across the country are fighting for their right to appear for the exam in a regional language but they are forgetting that study material is only available in two languages. The government seems to be playing with students’ emotions,” said Arun Mehta, a parent.
Last year, a Supreme Court order made it clear that any entrance exam held nationally should be conducted in regional languages so that all students can benefit.

The circular stating NEET would be held in eight languages came from the Union health ministry in December.

Soon after, members of Students Islamic Organisation (SIO) objected as NEET will not be held in Urdu.

Earlier this week, state minister for health and family welfare Girish Mahajan wrote to Union health minister J P Nadda, stating that more than 11,000 students from Maharashtra appear for HSC exams in Urdu and deserve an equal opportunity to bag a medical seat.

“Just holding an exam in regional languages serves no purpose unless textbooks are made available in the same languages. Sadly, the Maharashtra government only spoke about making study material available in Marathi, but nothing has changed yet,” said a parent.

Many were unhappy that despite the state education ministry being reminded several times to aid medical aspirants from the state, it has not done so.

“Amid all the confusion about medical entrance tests and admissions in 2016, we had highlighted the need for study material as per NCERT books to benefit future batches. One year later, neither has the government upgraded the state board syllabus to match CBSE standards, nor made NCERT books available in regional languages,” said the proprietor of a city-based coaching institute.

As of now, parents are unclear about the syllabus for the NEET 2017 examinations as the CBSE is yet to give make an announcement regarding this.

“Until then, our children have no choice but to study two different syllabi, one for the Class 12 exam and another for NEET,” added a parent.

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

CBSE extends deadline for 'mandatory disclosure' till January 20

TNN | Updated: Jan 7, 2017, 01.00 PM IST

INDORE: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has extended its deadline for mandatory online disclosure of school details for the third time till January 20.

More than 110 CBSE schools in Indore district were expected to submit the mandatory disclosure by December 15 earlier. Of them, around eight schools are yet to submit their mandatory disclosure. CBSE has named the online disclosure as Online Affiliated School Information System.

Releasing the circular about the final deadline for the mandatory disclosure, CBSE deputy secretary (affiliation) said "In view of the representation received from several stakeholders, the competent authority of the board as a measure of last opportunity has approved extension of date for filling the information from December 23, 2016 to January 20, 2017."

However, this time the board has given warning to the schools not meeting the deadlines that the link will not be available for submission after January 20. Such schools will also be penalised with a fine of Rs50,000.

"CBSE has given the final deadline now and the school not complying with the deadline will have to pay the penalty. However most of the schools have submitted their details from the city," said Jaydeb Kar, CBSE helpline member from the state.

The board has also sought information about the sexual harassment committee and its members under OASIS. Apart from it, OASIS also sought information about schools and the vicinity where they are located.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/indore/cbse-extends-deadline-for-mandatory-disclosure-till-january-20/articleshow/56388510.cms

The candidates who are appearing for Class 10 & 12 board exams can download the sample papers from below:

CLASS - X
Link : http://cbseacademic.in/SQP_CLASSXII_2016_17.html
 
CLASS - XII
Link : http://cbseacademic.in/SQP_CLASSX_2016_17.html

CLASS 10 AND 12 CBSE EXAMS WILL BEGIN ON MARCH 9

The CBSE announced its board examination dates on Monday. The Class 10 board exams will be held from March 9 to April 10. The Class 12 exams will start on March 9 and end on April 29. 

CBSE exams delayed by a week

 The Class 10 and Class 12 exams of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will begin on March 9 this year, postponed by a week owing to Assembly polls in several states.

This will delay the new academic session, which begins on April 1 in Mumbai schools, by a couple of weeks. Around 10 lakh to 16 lakh students will appear for the Class 10 exams and Class 12 across India.
The board announced on Monday the exams were deferred on account of elections in five states. Now, Class 10 exams will end on April 10 and Class 12 on April 29.

“The board has given careful consideration to the situation before postponing exams by a week. This will allow students to get more time for preparation and ensure uninterrupted sequence of exams,” read the statement released by Rama Sharma, CBSE public relations officer.

The move, however, will affect the start of the academic year — after exams, schools hold classes at least for a month, before closing for the summer break.
With the Class 10 exams spilling over into April, schools will have to defer beginning the new session, said principals.

Some schools might have to postpone lectures for Class 11, while those acting as exam centres will need to push back all classes.

“Exam centres will be occupied till April 29, which is the last day for Class 12 exams. So they won’t be able to hold classes for the entire month,” said Avnita Bir, principal, RN Podar School, Santacruz.
The elections have delayed other board exams too — ICSE, ISC exams were also rescheduled after the election commission announced poll dates last week.

Source: 10 Jan 2017 | Mumbai |Puja Pednekar puja.pednekar@hindustantimes.com

(http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx)

"To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong."                                                                                             
                                                                                          -- 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