Next ‘Mann Ki Baat’ on January 29, to focus on exams

education Updated: Jan 20, 2017 18:22 IST

PTI, New Delhi

The next episode of the monthly radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’, to be aired on January 29, will focus on various board and competitive exams, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday. (PTI file)

The next episode of the monthly radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’, to be aired on January 29, will focus on various board and competitive exams, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday and invited students, parents and teachers to share their thoughts and experiences.

“The #MannKiBaat episode on 29th January will primarily be on the various board exams coming up. It will be a programme for my young friends,” Modi tweeted.

“Urging students, parents & teachers to share their thoughts & exam season experiences. Their views will surely inspire so many others,” he added in another tweet.

The Prime Minister said the thoughts and experiences could be shared on the specially-created forum on the App.“The Prime Minister invites all of you, particularly students, parents and teachers to share their experiences about examinations be it preparing for examinations, the role of parents and teachers in the run up to the examinations,” a PMO statement said.

“Please also share memorable exam anecdotes that have left a lasting impression in your minds,” it added. Asking people to even record their messages for the Prime Minister, either in Hindi or English, the PMO said some of the recorded messages may become part of the broadcast.

Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/education/next-mann-ki-baat-on-january-29-to-focus-on-exams/story-rm4wWwjyW9lFiN1FI1jqvK.html

Sahitya Akademi to publish stories, poems from school fest

 P.K. Ajith Kumar

January 24, 2017 18:31 IST

KOZHIKODE: The focus at the State School Arts Festival might always be more on popular and spectacular events like dance, music and drama. Prize winners in off-stage events, such as short story and versification, are hardly recognised, but that is all going to change.

The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) is bringing out the prize-winning short stories and poems in books, while the paintings will adorn the calendar of the DPI, to be brought out in June.

“The books will be published soon by the Kerala Sahitya Akademi,” K.V. Mohan Kumar, Director of Public Instruction, told The Hindu on Tuesday. “Besides the entries from the State School Arts Festival, we will also include stories and poems from the competitions held as part of Sargolsavam. Best stories and poems published in the Vidyarangam magazine, brought out by the DPI, would also be featured in the books.”
There will be two books, one for short stories and the other for poems. “Each of them will have about 100 works each,” said Mr. Mohan Kumar. “It is the first time in the history of the 60-year-old festival that the prize-winning short stories and poem are getting published.”

He added that the aim of the project was to encourage the literary talent among children. “We also felt their works needed to reach out to a wider audience,” he said.

At least one of the prize-winners has already been published and has attracted a lot of attention through the social media. Drupath Gowtham of GHSS, Meenangadi, came first in Malayalam versification in the HSS section at the State Festival.

If you do not want to wait to read his prize-winning poem, or other works of poetry, fiction and essays from the Kannur festival, you can log on to schoolwiki.in. The IT@School’s School Wiki project has uploaded most of the entries at the Festival, including short stories, poems, essays, paintings, drawings, cartoons and collage.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/Sahitya-Akademi-to-publish-stories-poems-from-school-fest/article17088726.ece?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS_Syndication

1 out of 3 kids does not have a healthy body mass index

Mumbai:| TIMES NEWS NETWORK





Nationwide Survey Done By School Sports Enterprise 

 

Almost one out of three school-going children in the country does not have a healthy body mass index (BMI) and almost half of them lack enough lower body strength, according to a survey . Mumbai students fared similarly on the fitness parameters. Conducted by EduSports, a school sports enterprise, the survey covered 1.70 lakh students from across 86 cities and 26 states. They tested students on sprint capacity , flexibility, upper and lower body strength, abdominal strength and BMI.

 

In its 7th edition, the survey found that the percentage of children with an unhealthy BMI increased from 20% last year to 33% this year. In Mumbai, out of the 843 children surveyed, only about 67% recorded a healthy BMI. Among other parameters, adequate lower body strength saw the lowest number of children meeting requirements. One in four children did not have the desired flexibility for their age.

“This trend needs to be reversed to have a healthy generation of children. Lack of physical activity increases the risk of obesity and health-rela ted problems in adolescence, and adulthood. Schools provide the ideal environment to promote physical activity at the right age and improve fitness standards among children,“ said EduSports CEO Saumil Majmudar.

The survey also compared data of schools with that and a structured sports programme with three or more physical education periods per week versus schools with less than three physical education periods. It found that those with three physical education periods were healthier with students faring about 3-5% better across parameters.

But school principals said they were making enough efforts to ensure students had enough physical activities. “We offer students about eight sports options to pick from and a physical activity like yoga is included in the school timetable almost every day ,“ said Chandrakanta Pathak, principal, HVB Global Academy , Marine Drive. Similarly , at St Mary's School (ICSE), Mazgaon apart from the physical education classes, primary students have a structured session in aerobics regularly .





 

Source: http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31840&articlexml=1-out-of-3-kids-does-not-have-24012017009017#

 

Jan 23 2017 : The Times of India (NaviMumbai)

Cut-off date for KG admissions to be extended





Kids Born Up To Sept 30 Eligible, Not July 31
Vinamrata Borwankar | Mumbai:

In a move that will ease admission worries for lakhs of families, the cut-off birth date for school admissions in the state is being pushed from July 31 to September 30. The education department has already made the change for admissions to seats reserved for economically deprived sections under the Right to Education Act, 2009 and is in the process of extending it to other students.

 

In January 2015, the education department had issued a government resolution setting an age criterion for school admissions. The move was in line with requirements under the RTE Act, which mandates that all students in class I must be six years old. To fulfil this rule by 2019, schools last year began to admit to only children who had completed three years by July 31to nursery and four-and-a-half years to senior kindergarten.

Last week, when the state issued the rules and schedule for the 25% quota under the RTE Act, the cut-off date was changed to September 30. This will enable numerous children who would have had to sit out of the formal schooling system for almost a year if they were born between July 31and September 30. What's more, the state is now extending the cut-off date for all children.The new rule will apply to institutions under all the boards, including CBSE and ICSE.

“In RTE admission GR we have mentioned September 30. Hence we have to modify our earlier GR where the date mentioned is July 31. Accordingly a file has been submitted for approval to modify the dates,“ said Nandkumar, secretary of the school education department.

Last year, the age criterion resulted in fewer admissions to schools. Some schools had to even cut classes and will now have to make provisions for a larger intake of students in the next academic sessions when all children born between July 31, 2016 and September 30, 2017 will become eligible for admissions.

“We didn't get enough students last year and have one division less. We had to turn back students born after July 31 and now parents of those students will be upset with the school for following the rule last year and not this year. It will put school managements in a fix,“ said Rohan Bhat, trustee of Children's Academy group of schools.

Source: http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31840&articlexml=Cut-off-date-for-KG-admissions-to-be-23012017007024





Jan 23 2017 : The Times of India (NaviMumbai)

Schools to have Sep 30 as birth date cut-off

Mumbai





In a move that will enable numerous children who have to sit out of the formal schooling system for almost a year, the state education department has extended the cut-off birth date for school admissions from July 31 to September 30. The change has already been made for admissions to seats reserved for economically deprived sections under the Right to Education Act, 2009 and will apply to institutions under all the boards, including CBSE and ICSE, from the next academic session,
reports Vinamrata Borwankar.

 

Source: http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31840&articlexml=Schools-to-have-Sep-30-as-birth-date-23012017027026#

• 23 Jan 2017 | Mumbai | Puja Pednekar puja.pednekar@hindustantimes.com

Age norms tweaked to let more kids join nursery, KG, Class 1

MUMBAI: The state’s school education department is modifying its uniform age criteria for nursery, kindergarten (KG) and Class 1 admissions for the upcoming academic year, 2017-18. The cutoff date to reach the minimum age — which ranges from above three to five years, depending on the class — will be pushed to September 30, 2017, from July 31, 2017, said education officials. The changes were suggested by educators and parents.

Under the new rules, a child will have to be above three years for nursery, above four years for junior KG, and five-years and-four-months for Class 1 by September 30 of that academic year. This will be applicable for all schools — irrespective of their managements or education boards. See page 12
This means that schools will be able to take in more students than earlier. “We had lost out on some children because the earlier cut-off was July 31. We will call them back for admission as soon as the rules are introduced,” said Savita Venkat, principal, Bombay Cambridge Schools, SSC and CIE, Andheri. Maharashtra has been following a uniform minimum age limit for school admissions from 2016-17. The idea is to ensure that schools admit only children who are six years and above by the academic year, 2019-20. The age-limit was set in a government resolution (GR) dated January 21, 2015, which mentioned that July 31, will be the cut-off to meet the required age.

The new rules are expected to release in the next two to three days, said officials. But some schools were apprised of the changes in a meeting on Friday, as the latest January, 10, 2017, GR — on revamping the admission process to fill the 25% reserved seats under the Right to Education (RTE) act — states that September 10 should be considered as the cut-off. Since the January 10 GR is limited to RTE admissions, the department must change the January 21 GR to extend the new date to all other admissions. Officials confirmed the process for doing this has already begun. “We have submitted the file to modify the date mentioned in the GR to September 30 from July 31 for approval,” said Nanda Kumar, principal secretary. The GR will be approved by education minister Vinod Tawde.
Happy with the new rules, most schools said accommodating more children won’t be a problem. “We keep a buffer of 20% for last-minute admissions,” said Father Francis Swamy, principal, St Mary’s School (ICSE) Mazgaon and joint-secretary of the Archdiocesan Board of Education, which runs 150-odd schools in Mumbai. Some schools such as Bombay Scottish School, Powai, are yet to begin admissions and so will be able to alter their criteria easily. “Luckily for us, our admission process starts in February. So by that time the new GR will be released, making things clearer,” said Sunita Geoge, principal of the school.

Source: http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx
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Changes in nat'l architecture aptitude test stump students

Yogita Rao  |  Mumbai:





Changes in this year's National Aptitude Test in Architecture (NATA) have baffled many students aspiring to pursue their BArch. The Council of Architecture (CoA), which conducts NATA, has included mathematics as a 40mark component in the 200mark paper. A separate section for mathematics was never part of NATA since its inception a decade ago. The council has even moved to an offline exam that will be conducted on April 16, instead of online tests conducted in phases between AprilAugust-end every year.

 

Students could reappear in slots and the best of the five tests were considered as the final score for admissions. Students could take the test at their convenience and could better their score, said a teacher from a city architecture college, adding that it was meant to be an aptitude test. With the exam on asingle day , many will not be able to enjoy the benefit of the multiple-test system. The exam is also on a Sunday , in between the class XII exam of some state boards and CBSE exam this year, added the teacher. “The test pattern has moved from being progressive to regressive,“ said the teacher.

Maharashtra, which comprised around one-fifth of aspirants taking the test, used to conduct its own test till 2015. The state decided to use NATA scores for admissions to architecture colleges in 2016. For admissions to the five-year BArch course, 50% weightage each is given to NATA and the aggregate of class XII scores (includes scores in mathematics). “The council should rethink its decision to include mathematics in NATA. There is no need to evaluate students in mathematics as they already appear for the subject in the qualifying exam.This will ensure more creative minds from Arts and Commerce background, who are not good at mathematics, also get a decent rank in the test,“ said Rajiv Mishra, a professor for 25 years from JJ School of Architecture.

Council president B Nayak said NATA used to test students on numerical ability before too.“The mathematics component will be based on class XII CBSE syllabus. Our aim is to test the aptitude of students in all aspects of architecture. If they are not good in mathematics till class XII, they find it difficult to cope with the subjects later. Our attempt is to get more Science students in colleges, and meritorious ones. We need not continue to follow a wrong pattern forever,“ said Nayak. He added that the single-day test was being conducted to eliminate malpractices and bring about standardization and transparency .But a student said the class XII mathematics syllabus in CBSE was different from state boards.

Jan 20 2017 : The Times of India (NaviMumbai)
 

Source: http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31840&articlexml=Changes-in-natl-architecture-aptitude-test-stump-students-20012017009010#

CBSE Class 12 Maths paper will be easier this year: CBSE Board

According to a statement released by CBSE on August 12, 2016, the Class 12 mathematics paper will reduce the difficulty level 

IndiaToday.in  New Delhi, January 13, 2017 | UPDATED 14:54 IST

Last year, many students claimed that mathematics exam was very lengthy and they could not finish the exam on time. According to a statement released by CBSE on August 12, 2016, the education body will reduce the difficulty level of mathematics question paper from 2017.

Here's look at the new paper pattern of Class 12 mathematics:

Short-answer type questions:

The paper pattern will be reviewed and short-answer type questions carrying two marks to be introduced. This will eventually reduce the number of controversial high thinking questions

HOTS will now carry 10 marks:

The higher-Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) questions will carry 10 marks and will be bifurcated into two sections, segregating it into six and four marks questions.

This year, mathematics exam is scheduled to be held on March 20.

The CBSE has released Class 12 and Class 10 datesheets on the official website, cbse.nic.in. The Class 10 board examination will begin from March 9 and will continue till April 10, while Class 12 boards will continue till April 29. This year, mathematics exam is scheduled to be held on March 20.

Source: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/education/story/cbse-class-12-maths-paper/1/856466.html 

CBSE Class 12 Date Sheet to be revised to accommodate JEE Main: truth behind the reports

Here is the truth behind the reports that CBSE Class 12 2017 date sheet would be revised to accommodate JEE Main.

By Kanika Khurana | Published: January 16, 2017 2:30 PM IST

CBSE Class 12 Date Sheet to be revised to accommodate JEE Main: truth behind the reports

Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) released the CBSE Class 12 Board Examination 2017 Date Sheet last week. Soon after the date sheet was released, parents and teachers took to the internet to complain about the date sheet.

Parents and teachers complained that JEE Main and CBSE Class 12 Board papers were too close and presented how unhappy they were with the date sheet. Such has been the chorus that reports of CBSE planning to revise the Class 12 Date sheet to accommodate JEE Main examination have surfaced. Whether they are rumours or a fact continues to baffle parents, students and teachers. We reached out to sources in the CBSE and hereby confirm that there is no truth behind the alleged reports. CBSE Class 12 date sheet, is in fact, not going to be revised.

Reason for the rumour was very simple. The JEE Main 2017 examination, one of the largest engineering entrance examinations written by lacs of students falls on April 2, 2017. This is right in the middle of the Class 12 Board Examinations. The Chemistry paper, a qualifying subject for JEE Main and consequently for JEE Advanced 2017 is on March 25, 2017. Another point of concern is the biology paper which falls three days later on April 5, 2017.

Understandably, a large section of class 12 students would be appearing in the JEE Main 2017 examination. This examination is crucial for them to qualify for the elite IITs – the premium Indian Institute of Technology as well as the only entrance examination for the NITs. Parents were worried that the close dates would create unnecessary stress on students. Though officials at CBSE understand the concern, it is also a fact that the date sheet is not being revised.

It is important to mention here that CBSE had to delay the commencement of Class 12 Board Examinations to March 9 instead of the usual March 1. This has been done keeping in mind the Assembly Elections in 5 states of Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Manipur. The elections in the state would start from February 8 and end on March 8 when the last phase of elections would conclude in Uttar Pradesh. To accommodate the elections, even ICSE and ICS exam schedules have been revised.

Uttar Pradesh Board Examinations have also been re-scheduled. Though this does create a problem of exams being too close for comfort, the dates cannot be shifted further. As it is, in order to accommodate the engineering aspirants, CBSE has pushed the qualifying papers of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics to conclude in March itself.

Parents are again advised not to fall for rumours about the Class 12 Date sheet being revised. The date sheet released by CBSE last week is final and examinations would start as states from March 9, 2017.

Source: http://www.india.com/education/cbse-class-12-date-sheet-to-be-revised-to-accommodate-jee-main-truth-behind-the-reports-1762508/

CBSE to go easy on Class 12 Maths paper

  Kritika Sharma | Tue, 17 Jan 2017-07:05am , New Delhi , DNA

The Board has revised the pattern of its question paper, after students complained about it being very tough, last year

In a relief to Class 12 Science students, the Mathematics question paper of Central Board Secondary Education (CBSE) is going to be easier this year, and will include only 20 per cent difficult questions. The Board revised the pattern of its question paper after students, last year, had complained about the questions being very tough, and some of them being out of the syllabus.
As per the revised format of the question paper, 20 per cent questions will be difficult, 20 per cent easy and the rest 60 per cent will be average questions.
Also, the Board is going to do away with choice system. There will be no overall choice in the question paper, but 30 per cent internal choice will be given in questions containing four and six marks.
A circular in this regard was circulated by CBSE in July 2016, which will be adopted for designing the questions this year. As per the circular, 35 per cent questions will be designed to test a student's 'understanding' of the subject, 20 per cent to test 'remembering' and only 10 per cent questions will test Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS), the kind of questions that are generally considered to be difficult. The paper will also contain very short and short-answer type questions.
"A team of experts discussed various aspects of the question paper and it was decided that most of the questions should be based on Understanding and Application of the subject. Questions that test HOTS can only be solved by bright students but the question paper should cater to all kinds of students, which is why the focus will be more on average questions," said a source in the CBSE.

Clean chit

After various complaints from students and teachers last year, the CBSE had placed the matter before Committee of Subject Experts who concluded that the question paper was as per the curriculum. For this year, the CBSE wants to assure students that questions will be completely based on what they have studied in school from their National Council of Education and Research Training (NCERT) textbooks.

Revised question patten of Mathematics:

Typology of Questions–
Remembering: 20 per cent
Understanding: 35 per cent
Application: 25 per cent
Higher Order Thinking Skills:10 per cent
Evaluation: 10 per cent

Question-wise break-up

Very short answer–4 marks
Short answers – 16 marks
Long answers -I – 44 marks
Long answers -II – 36 marks

Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/academy/report-cbse-to-go-easy-on-class-12-maths-paper-2293189