JEE asks schools to provide cut-off mark to shorten delay in IIT, NIT admissions

Neelam Pandey | Hindustan Times, New Delhi |Jan 30, 2017

The top 20 percentile at schools is the qualifying mark for the JEE main examination, the entrance test that secures an admission in IITs and NITs.(HT File Photo)

School education boards across the country have been asked to provide the top 20 percentile cut-off to JEE Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) for class XII examination results before June 10 so that admission to Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and other engineering colleges are not delayed.

This was decided at a meeting of the Council of Boards of School Education in India (COBSE), which includes all school education boards and the CBSE.

Without class XII scores, JoSAA cannot start the seat allocation process since securing 75% marks or being in the top 20 percentile of a school is an essential qualification for securing a seat in IIT or NIT.
“All the school boards have been asked by COBSE to furnish the top 20-percentile cut-off, which is a qualifying mark for JEE main. The information will be used for preparing the cut-off for the engineering exam,” said a source.

Sources also said that the boards including CBSE have agreed to provide the details by the middle of May. Registration for joint seat allocation system will start on June 15
“IITs and other institutes have informed the COBSE about the problem they face during the admission process if school boards delay this. June 10 should be last date for providing such information which is vital for the admission process,” said one of the government officials, requesting anonymity.

In the past the joint seat allocation process for IITs and other top engineering schools such as National Institutes of Technology, aimed at reducing the number of vacant seats in the top schools, were delayed by a few weeks.

CBSE had postponed its class 10 and 12 board exams this year. The exam will begin from March 9, a day after the last phase of polling in the upcoming assembly elections in five states. Despite the postponement of the exams, CBSE chairman RK Chaturvedi said they are confident of releasing the results on time. The exams usually begin on March 1, and results are declared in the third week of May.


Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/education/jee-asks-schools-to-provide-cut-off-mark-to-shorten-delay-in-iit-nit-admissions/story-72XYpnKiAoNtQr7NVscnUP.html

• 28 Jan 2017 |  Mumbai

PROBLEMS IN NEET 2017

 

THERE’S STILL NO clarity on the syllabus that will be considered for the NEET 2017 exam. While the NEET originally was meant to be based on the CBSE syllabus, there were discussions of including state board syllabus as well. However, parents had sought more clarity on the inclusion of state board syllabus as no two states share similar syllabus for Classes 11 and 12 subjects. There is no clarity todate PArENts HAvE tIME and again asked for a single website to be put together by the CBSE officials for official and regular updates about the exam but as of now, CBSE has not even released an official website for NEET 2017

REGIstrAtIONs FOr NEET exam usually begin by mid-December, but this year, there’s been no word from CBSE about the process as yet. Parents are worried that the registrations process will begin exactly when students will start appearing for their class XII exams, which should begin in mid-February CBSE HAs NOt yet announced the exam date for this year

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

CBSE exam dates changed



CBSE has changed the exam dates for three Class X subjects and five Class XII subjects due to overlap with language subjects and to give adequate gap between two papers.

New CBSE exam dates





Exam dates for a few subjects of classes X and XII to be conducted by the CBSE have been changed. Class X exam for Tamil is rescheduled from March 10 to March 18 while NCC has been shifted to March 23 from March 15. The new date for class XII theatre studies is April 10, while physical education is shifted to April 12. Sociology will be conducted on April 20 now and food service-II examination will be held on April 26. 

 

Source: Jan 28 2017 : The Times of India (NaviMumbai)

CBSE Class 10, 12 exams 2017: Dates changed, check here

CBSE class 10, 12 examinations 2017: The changes for class 10 are for the subjects of Tamil, Gurung and National Cadet Cops.

By: Express Web Desk | New Delhi | Updated: January 27, 2017 5:26 pm

CBSE class 10, 12 examinations 2017: This year, there are 10,98,420 students appearing for the class 12 exam. CBSE class 10, 12 examinations 2017: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has released the revised the date sheet for class 10 and class 12. The changes for class 10 are for the subjects of Tamil, Gurung and National Cadet Cops. For class 12, the dates have been changed for Theatre studies, Tangkhul, Physical Education, Sociology and  Food Service-II.

The dates for the few subjects mentioned above have been switched. The CBSE exams for class 10 and 12 will begin on March 9, 2017. The class 10 will end on April 10 while the class 12 exams will continue till April 29. The exam dates had been delayed this year due to elections in five states- Punjab, Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

Last years, girls scored higher in the class 10 examination with an average score of 96.36 per cent and private schools in the capital performed better than government-run and aided school. This year, there are 10,98,420 students appearing for the class 12 exam, with 10677 schools having registered to the board.

Changes made:

Class 10
Tamil- Saturday, March 18, 2017
(Old date- March 10, 2017)
Gurung- Friday, March 10, 2017
(Old date- March 23, 2017)
National Cadet Cops- Thursday, March 23, 2017
(Old date- March 15, 2017)

Class 12
Theatre studies- Monday, April 10, 2017
(Old date- April 20, 2017)
Tangkhul- Monday, April 10, 2017
(Old date- April 20, 2017)
Physical Education- Wednesday, April 12, 2017
(Old date- April 10, 2017)
Sociology- Thursday, April 20, 2017
(Old date- April 12, 2017)
Food Service-II- Wednesday, April 26, 2017
(Old date- April 29, 2017)
REVISED CLASS 10 DATE SHEET:

Friday, March 10
132 Gurung
002 Hindi Course A
085 Hindi Course B



Monday, March 20
049 Painting
096 Spanish
021 Russian
Wednesday, March 22
086 Science
090 Science W/O Prac

Saturday, March 25
008 Sindhi
122 Sanskrit

Thursday, March 30
101 English Comm.
184 English Lang & Lit
Monday, April 3
041 Mathematics
Wednesday, April 5
165 Foundation of IT
Saturday, April 8
087 Social Science

REVISED CLASS 12 DATE SHEET:
Thursday, March 9, 2017
ENGLISH ELECTIVE –NCERT
ENGLISH ELECTIVE-CBSE(FUNCTIONAL ENGLISH)
ENGLISH CORE

Wednesday, March 15, 2017
PHYSICS
PERSIAN
SECRETARIAL PRACTICE & ACCOUNTING
AIR CONDITIONING & REFRIGERATION – III
OPTICS –II
RADIOGRAPHY-I GENERAL
ELECTRICAL MACHINE
CLINICAL BIO-CHEMISTRY (MLT)
CHILD HEALTH NURSING
GARMENT CONSTRUCTION –II
TRADITIONAL INDIAN TEXTILE
Thursday, March 16, 2017
BUSINESS STUDIES
BASIC HORTICULTURE-II
BEAUTY & HAIR -II
OPERATION & MAINTENANCE OF COMMUNICATION DEVICES

Monday, March 20, 2017
MATHEMATICS
FIRST AID & EMERGENCY MEDICAL CARE
CLINICAL BIO-CHEMISTRY & MICROBIOLOGY-II
MICROBIOLOGY (MLT)
HEALTH CENTRE MANAGEMENT
OPTHALMIC TECHNIQUES-II
RADIOGRAPHY-II (SPECIAL INVESTIGATION IMAGING RADIOGRAPHY)

Saturday, March 25, 2017
CHEMISTRY APPLIED PHYSICS
FOOD & BEVERAGE COST & CONTROL
FLORICULTURE
COST ACCOUNTING
BIOLOGY OPTHALMIC-II
RADIATION PHYSICS
Monday, March 27, 2017
INFORMATICS PRACTICES
COMPUTER SCIENCE
ADVANCED FRONT OFFICE OPERATIONS
OLERICULTURE – II
INSURANCE –II
BASIC PATTERN DEVELOPMENT
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
ACCOUNTANCY
BAKERY-II
HOLISTIC HEALTH –II
SECURITY(NSQF)

Wednesday, April 5, 2017
BIOLOGY
TAXATION-II
DERIVATIVE MARKET OPERATIONS
AIR CONDITIONING & REFRIGERATION-IV

Monday, April 17, 2017
ECONOMICS
TROUBLE SHOOTING & MAINTENANCE OF ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
Saturday, April 22, 2017
HINDI ELECTIVE
GUJARATI
NEPALI
LIMBOO
LEPCHA
BHUTIA
HINDI CORE


Source: http://indianexpress.com/article/education/cbse-nic-in-cbse-class-10-12-examinations-2017-date-sheets-revised-check-here-4493831/

Jan 20 2017 : The Times of India (NaviMumbai)

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.

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

UGC caps age limit for NEET candidates at 25

Number Of Attempts Also Restricted To 3





Hemali Chhapia | Mumbai:

Medical aspirants across India can now only take three shots at cracking the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, a cap introduced to discourage thousands of `Munnabhais' who keep trying their luck at the medical entrance test. Also, now the candidates must be below 25 years of age if they want to take the medical and dental exam. During a University Grants Commission meeting in Delhi on Tuesday , it was decided that the minimum age for NEET candidates will be 17 and the maximum 25. The cap on age for students from the reserved category will be 30. Till date, there has neither been a maximum age defined to take the NEET nor a limit on the number of attempts.
“This is a good decision,“ said Dr Pravin Shingare, director of the directorate of medical education and research. “When they don't ma ke the cut, some students join a BSc college and then every year, keep taking the medical embrace test,“ he added. In fact, the rule will also bar faculty of coaching classes who perpetually take the entrance test to understand the altering pattern of the exam. The NEET information brochures that contain this information and will be disbursed soon.
Two years ago, the All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT) had to be conducted again after it was found that 90 answers had been transmitted to the candida tes during the examination in consideration of Rs 15 lakh-Rs 20 lakh. The AIPMT 2015 scandal had at least 45 beneficiaries who were supplied with special vests fitted with SIM card and a bluetooth device to facilitate transmission of answer keys. “We often find that that coaching classes field candidates and sometimes that leads to fraud and cheating,“ said an expert.
This cap on age and attempts will force candidates to focus on the field where their capability and passion lie, said principals.

Jan 25 2017 : The Times of India (NaviMumbai)

Source: http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31840&articlexml=UGC-caps-age-limit-for-NEET-candidates-at-25012017005023#





THINK IT OVER

THE BEST STUDENTS COME FROM HOMES WHERE EDUCATION IS REVERED: WHERE THERE ARE BOOKS, AND CHILDREN SEE THEIR PARENTS READING THEM.                          

LEO BUSCAGLIA

Source: http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx# | 23 Jan 2017 Mumbai

Jan 25 2017 : The Times of India (NaviMumbai)

 

Over 50 per cent parents fear cyberbullying will hit their kids, finds study

IANS





While 40 per cent of Indian parents allowed their children to access the internet before age 11, 54 per cent of them fear that their children are more likely to be bullied online than on a playground, a study revealed. The findings shed light on parents' perceptions of cyberbullying and the preventative measures to protect their children. A concern for many parents is that cyberbullying doesn't stop when their child leaves school -as long as your child is connected to a device, a bully can connect to them. 

 

The report also pointed out that 71 per cent parents thought their children would download malicious programmes or a virus, 69 per cent think their kids would disclose too much personal information to strangers and 65 per cent thought a stranger could lure their children in the physical world. Parents were also concerned that their kids might do something online that could make the whole family vulnerable (62 per cent) or embarrassed (60 per cent).Nearly 61 per cent believe the children could be lured into illegal activities like hacking.

 

In what can be called a silver lining, the report also showed that Indian parents are starting to recognise how damaging cyberbullying can be for children and are putting preventative measures in place.
Nearly 57 per cent parents chose to check their child's browser history , 46 per cent only allow access to certain websites, 48 per cent allow internet access only with parental supervision, the report said.





 

Source: http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31840&articlexml=Over-50-per-cent-parents-fear-cyberbullying-will-25012017104017#

Jan 25 2017 : The Times of India (NaviMumbai)

 

State aptitude test for class X kids from Feb 15

Mumbai: TNN





State board schools will have to conduct aptitude tests for class X students between February 15 and March 4.This is the second year that the state is conducting the online tests for its students to help them assess their interests while making a career choice.

 

The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education in a circular to schools have asked them to assign a teacher for the tests. “ All students appearing for SSC examination this year must be informed about the tests. Additionally , the school computers must be prepped and a teacher for the process,“ said Krishnakumar Patil, secretary of the board.The aptitude test, a 40-minute exam with 150 multiple choice questions, will be conducted at the school in batches.

The results will be declared online in April and the report cards given along with SSC mark sheets. “The teacher incharge will follow the online portal every day for updates. The test will be mandatory for all students,“ said Patil. Last year, about 16 lakh students took the test.

School teachers said the board should have considered holding the test in class IX instead.“Students are already occupied with SSC exam. Holding the tests in class IX would also help them decide better,“ said Uday Nare, teacher, Hansraj Morarji Public School, Andheri.

Source: http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31840&articlexml=State-aptitude-test-for-class-X-kids-from-25012017005015





The NCERT’s tweaking of learning outcomes is not exactly child friendly

editorials Updated: Jan 18, 2017 17:37 IST

Hindustan Times

Among the things that a child in Class 8 is going to be asked is if she can file a first information report (FIR)? We presume that a child in that class will not be required to go to a police station unaccompanied and file an FIR; so this is an odd learning outcome to say the least. (Representative Photo)(HT)

Making learning interesting and enjoyable — that should be the main criteria for any educationist or educational organisation when it comes to setting frameworks for children. No one can fault the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) for not trying, but it seems to suffer from a distinct disconnect from what children really need in the learning outcomes it has prepared to assess them. Among the things that a child in Class 8 is going to be asked is if she can file a first information report (FIR). We presume that a child in that class will not be required to go to a police station unaccompanied and file an FIR; so this is an odd learning outcome to say the least. Another is whether the child can locate her parliamentary constituency on a map or name the local MP.

Now this is fine as far as general knowledge goes, but a child who does not vote is not really required to know these facts. A child in Class 4 should be able to read subtitles on TV, titles of books, news headlines and advertisements. Again, this cannot be a substitute for teaching the child reading in the classroom. Reading advertising lines is not a skill that a child of that age should be asked to acquire. The other suggestions are whether the child can read train timetables, a task which defeats even adults at times and how to locate places on a map.

These draft learning outcomes, if implemented, could hold the difference between the child progressing to the next class. Draft learning outcomes for each class have been developed for languages — Hindi, English and Urdu, mathematics, environmental studies, science, and social science. Mercifully, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has made the draft public for suggestions and comments till the end of the month. These outcomes may be included in the Right to Education (RTE) too. The NCERT goes further and asks children to discuss the Rajya Sabha TV show Samvidhan and watch movies like Gandhi, Sardar and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. While these are undoubtedly educational pursuits, none of them sound particularly child friendly.

The draft seems to have been written purely based on theoretical notions of what children ought to know. There is nothing in it which could spark interest in the child or make learning more interactive or joyful. Hopefully, the public will come up with suggestions that are more appropriate for the child and which will engage her in a more sustained manner. This way the NCERT could reframe its draft to serve children better, which should be at the heart of any learning outcome.

Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/editorials/the-ncert-s-tweaking-of-learning-outcomes-is-not-exactly-child-friendly/story-LUcthhFAKPv7O6fWkn9MvL.html