Jul 16 2017 : The Times of India (NaviMumbai)

Science, English now part of school competency tests

Mumbai TIMES NEWS NETWORK





Two years after introducing learning-level tests in first language and maths for primary students, the Maharashtra government has decided to include science in the exam to improve the state's performance at the national level. From this year, students of classes III to V from the vernacular medium will also have to take the tests in English subject.

 

According to a government resolution issued by the education department, previous learning-level tests found that the state's performance in science and mathematics was not up to the mark in the national achievement survey (NAS) and the annual status of education report (ASER).

The state also plans to give importance to children's competency in English, so students with English as their third language will have to take the test in the subject. Three tests ­ one baseline test and two summative exams will test students on their concepts in the respective subjects.

Teachers will have to upload the students' marks on a mobile application that will help the state evaluate the data. “There have been instances of schools either inflating the results or under reporting it. But, the quality of education will improve only when the real learning levels are known. To ensure there are no malpractices, a supervising offi cial must visit a school on the day of the exam and also check the evaluation of others on a later day ,“ said Nandkumar, secretary of the education department. Teachers will be issued a memo if discrepancies are found in the reporting of marks.

The initiative is part of the state's Pragat Shaikshanik Ma harashtra programme. On the basis of the students' performance in the learning level tests, schools are categorized as successful or unsuccessful. Schools have to identify students with poor performances and help them improve their skills.

However, school principals are not happy . “Most schools are conducting the tests for the sake of it. There is no seriousness and several students also get access to the papers ahead of the exams.There is no order in the way these exams are conducted. This is only additional burden to schools,“ said the principal of an ICSE school.

The students' performance in learning level tests will be a critical area in the performance appraisal report of teachers, principals and local education officials.

 
Source : http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31840&articlexml=Science-English-now-part-of-school-competency-tests-16072017004038

Jul 18 2017 : The Times of India (NaviMumbai)

`Do not opt for colleges that have tie-ups with pvt classes

Mumbai |  TIMES NEWS NETWORK





Education Dept Warns Parents, FYJC Students 

Following complaints about integrated coaching programmes flouting norms, the education department has warned parents against taking admission in such set-ups for classes XI and XII.A ticker stating the same was uploaded on the FYJC admission website on Monday .

Members of Yuva Sena met the deputy director of education on Monday to complain about alleged malpractices at 36 junior colleges in the city. “These colleges tie up with coaching centres and their teachers do not conduct classes. Students have to pay fees at the colleges as well as the coaching centres. The education department is aware of this and has still not taken action against any of the colleges. We have recordings of these courses being offered at three colleges in the city,“ said Sainath Durge, core committee member of Yuva Sena.

Over the past few years, these programmes have gained popularity with students from science stream. In a description of how the system works, a popular coaching class on its website said, “The main advantage is that a student's time is saved as she does not have to travel between classes and schoolscolleges.The student will be taught physics, mathematics and chemistry in the college or on school premises by our faculty, three to four days a week.“

Education department officials said it will act on Yuva Sena's complaint. “We will verify if the colleges are tying up with coaching classes and manipulating attendance. Coaching class teachers cannot take classes in junior colleges. If they are found to have done so, we will take action,“ said BB Chavan, deputy director of school education, Mumbai.Eduction inspectors will also be asked to visit colleges whe re the courses are on offer, inquire and submit a report. He added that the education department's divisional fee regulatory committee will look into any complaints related to fees if parents approach them.

Parents, however, feel there is a need for the state to improve the education quality .“Students go to coaching classes because there isn't good faculty in most colleges and students will lose out at competitive exams. Going to both coaching classes and colleges is very hectic for students and hence the integrated course is preferred,“ said a parent of an engineering student.

 


Source: http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31840&articlexml=Do-not-opt-for-colleges-that-have-tie-18072017005033

Jul 18 2017 : The Times of India (NaviMumbai)

HSC question papers may get tougher for 2019 exam 

 

Ardhra Nair





When Maharashtra state board students studying in Std XI (science) will write their HSC exams in 2019, it will be based on a national framework laid down by Council of Boards of School Education in India (COBSE).

 

The question paper pattern for physics, chemistry , biology and mathematics has been changed so that students fare better in entrance exams like National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and Joint Entrance Exam (JEE). But there will not be any change in curricula.

If the level of questions is considered, around 20% will come under `difficult' category in all four subjects, and around 50% will be in `average' category .

The question papers give weightage to objectives with about 30% testing a student's knowledge about the subject, about 40% testing the student's understanding of the subject and the remaining testing the students' skill and ability to apply the concepts to solve questions.

“The question paper format has been changed so that our students perform well in national entrance tests. The question paper will be based on the CBSE pattern,“ Gangadhar Mhamane, chairman, Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, said in Pune on Monday .

The difficulty level of questions may go up, he added.“We give many options for students, like answer three out of five questions. Here, options will be less, which will automatically increase the difficulty level. More than difficulty level, it is the thoroughness of preparation that will be required of students so that they are prepa red like central board stu dents for national level ex ams like NEET and JEE,“ Mhamane said.

After the board of studie received the framework of questions for PCMB from COBSE, a detailed report on how that framework can be adapted for HSC syllabus and how each topic can be given weightage was submitted to the state education board.

“This report, after being scrutinized by the exper committee within the state board, was sent to the govern ment for approval. The re port was approved by the mi nistry this month,“ the circu lar from the board said.

Source : http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31840&articlexml=HSC-question-papers-may-get-tougher-for-2019-18072017002036#

Exclusive: CBSE plans Class 10, 12 Board exams on same date in two shifts

The plan to set common dates for both exams, with Class 12 in the morning and Class 10 in the afternoon, is likely to decrease the overall duration of the finals.

education Updated: Jul 17, 2017 08:50 IST

Neelam Pandey | Hindustan Times, New Delhi

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) proposes to hold the finals for classes 10 and 12 on same dates in two shifts, a move that will reduce the examination period and give teachers extra time to check answer-scripts more thoroughly.


The new plan was designed after the board met principals of some of the top schools in New Delhi and its satellite cities.

The CBSE, which has two panels committees to suggest ways to improve the system, will review the suggestions before a final decision is taken.

The country’s largest school board that has more than 18,000 institutions affiliated to it holds the two exams usually from March 1, barring exceptions such as this year’s state assembly elections that delayed the test by more than a week.

The exams run close to 45 days because of an array of subjects and separate time-tables for the two classes.
The plan to set common dates for both exams, with Class 12 in the morning and Class 10 in the afternoon, is likely to decrease the overall duration of the finals.

At present, exams are not held in the afternoon.
The reduced number of exam days will give evaluators — a pool of schoolteachers selected by the CBSE — more time to check the answer-scripts of students before the results are declared in May.
The teachers usually get a small window to check the answers, given the sheer size of the number of examinees.

More than a million students wrote the Class 12 exam this year.
“By conducting Class 12 and 10 exams on the same day we can reduce the examination period and provide more time to the evaluators,” a senior board official said.

The CBSE has drawn criticism for its evaluation system as several students complained of variation in marks after asking the board for a relook.

The board said it took extra care to cut faults, but the possibility of human error cannot be ruled out in calculating the marks, putting them on answer-scripts and feeding them manually in computers.
“Efforts are made to further improve the system,” the official said. The meeting with principals was called to gather views “before deciding anything on the evaluation and examination system”, the official said.
According to sources, most principals were against reevaluation or rechecking of answer-scripts, but won’t mind verification of marks.

“A longer evaluation period will be better for students. This will give teachers more time to look at the answer sheets, maybe more teachers can look at them. This will ensure fewer errors,” a principal said.
Another principal said “we have assured the board we will send our best teachers” to check answers.
It has also been suggested that the board should ask students to suggest teachers who could be good evaluators. Another suggestion is to increase the remuneration of evaluators, at least by 20%, and to set a figure as to how many copies they need to check.

“We are looking at restricting the number of copies that can be evaluated by a person in six hours so that quality is maintained,” the CBSE official said.

Source:  http://www.hindustantimes.com/education/cbse-plans-to-hold-class-10-12-exams-on-same-day-to-give-evaluators-more-time/story-GCTQLwOHaZUrTpAqgLAqFJ.html

Jul 03 2017 : The Times of India (NaviMumbai)

CHANGE IN MARKING FROM NEXT YEAR? - 

 

 State considers doing away with 20-mark orals in SSC

Mumbai: TIMES NEWS NETWORK





The state is considering changing the marking scheme for classes X and XII board exams from the next academic year. While a final decision hasn't been taken yet, one of the suggestions being considered is to do away with oral exams.

 

Currently , students appear for a 80-mark theory paper and 20 marks are awarded for either an oral or practical examination. However, there have been several instances where schools gave these marks leniently . To tackle this problem, the board reintroduced external examiners for practicals exams in March 2016 boards.

Recently , officials from the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, the state's education department and Maharashtra State Council of Education Research and Training met to discuss an alternative. “The issue was discussed, but the state is yet to finalize a new way to mark students. Many schools did not give marks judicially, and hence that hole needs to be plugged,“ said an official who attended the meeting.

The officials are working on a pattern on how the 100 marks should be distributed for each subject. Another
 official from the education de partment said, “A circular announcing a change is expected to be issued in the next three or four days. This will clear things up for schools and students.“

But teachers feel that doing away with oral exams is not the right solution.

“Oral examination tests skills such as oration, reading out loud and pronunciations. These are critical to the learning process and hence, oral exams need to stay ,“ Uday Nare, teacher at Hansraj Morarji Public School in Andheri. “But we do agree that a lot of schools are giving away the 20 marks without really testing students. The state could introduce external examiners for oral exams too,“ he added.





 
Source : http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31840&articlexml=CHANGE-IN-MARKING-FROM-NEXT-YEAR-State-considers-03072017003030#

Jul 02 2017 : The Times of India (NaviMumbai)

 

8 books on science Bill Gates wants you to read 

 

businessinsider.in 

 



The Microsoft founder has recommended several books over the years -some about the environment, some on the cosmos, and some on diseases. Here are his picks

 

The Vital Question by Nick Lane

Nick Lane might not be a household name, but Gates wants to change that.
The book seeks to resolve unanswered questions about how life formed on earth, and raises thoughtful questions about where solutions for disease may come from.
 “Even if the details of Nick's work turn out to be wrong,“ Gates said, “I suspect his focus on energy will be seen as an important contribution to our understanding of where we come from.“

Sustainable Materials With Both Eyes Open by Julian Allwood and Jonathan Cullen

On the heels of the 2015 Paris climate summit, Gates wrote on his blog that Sustainable Materials With B oth E y e s O p e n struck him because so few environmental books talk directly about “how we make stuff“. The book is a dense, diagram-filled read about the value in lengthening the shelf-life of everyday products by using materials that can be repurposed and reused.

House on Fire: The Fight to Eradicate Smallpox by William Foege

Foege is widely credited as the driving force behind the eradication of smallpox in the 1970s. In a 2014 blog post, Gates remarked on Foege's mentorship to both him and Melinda as they were getting their start in philanthropy.
Foege's 2012 book re counts how the eradication began, delves into his personal and professional life as an epidemiologist, and shares stories of people affected by the disease.

Infections and Inequalities: The Modern Plagues by Paul Farmer 

One of the world's premier e pi d e m iolo g i s t s , P au l Farmer, helped bring sustainable health care to millions in Haiti. Though it came out more than 15 years ago, Infections and Inequalities has stuck with Gates because it reminds the public how much deadlier diseases like A I DS, T B, and ma laria can be to people with out access to vaccines or treatment.

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari 

According to Harari, we weren't always the only species of human beings on Earth. Roughly 100,000 years ago, there were actu ally six varieties of people, but homo sapiens were the e it to today. He also looks to only ones who made it to today. He also looks toward a future in which genetic engineering and artificial intelligence make our definition of “human“ even mor e f lu id. F rom Gates: “I would recommend Sapiens to anyone who's interested in the history and future of our species.“

The Fever: How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years by Sonia Shah 

Malaria has become one of the Gates Foundation's top priorities over the past several years. Gates calls Shah's book “probably the best choice“ if you only have time to read one book on the subject.

Seveneves by Neal Stephenson

After a science-fiction dry spell of more than a decade, in 2016, Gates picked up Seveneves on a friend's recommendation, and he says he's grateful for it. “The plot gets going in the first sentence, when the moon blows up,“ he wrote.

The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee 

Genome science can hardly be considered a topic of mainstream interest, but Gates says Mukherjee manages to captu re its relevance to people's daily lives. He seeks to answer big questions concerning our personalities and what makes us, us. Mukherjee is what Gates calls a “quadruple threat“. He's a practicing physician, teacher, researcher, and author.

 

Source : http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31840&articlexml=8-books-on-science-Bill-Gates-wants-you-02072017016039#

A school without textbooks

We need to nurture skills, encourage children to engage with environment

Written by Anju Kawr Chazot | Published:June 30, 2017 12:24 am

Traditionally in ancient India, learning was imparted by the “guru” and mostly to children of higher castes. (Representational photo)

When in 1999 we started a school without prescribed textbooks, the reactions ranged from mild surprise and amusement to anxiety, even shock and indignation. A school without textbooks? How would children learn? Yet, after 18 years, our data shows that these children are faring as well, and in many cases even better, than their counterparts who studied in schools with prescribed textbooks. From kindergarten to Class 10, children at the Mahatma Gandhi International School (a PPP with the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation) learnt through real life projects that they voted for or proposed and then prepared for their exams in grades 11 and 12.

Traditionally in ancient India, learning was imparted by the “guru” and mostly to children of higher castes. The guru’s position in Indian society was due to his spiritual and moral qualities as much as his knowledge of texts that were imparted in an oral tradition. Till the British rule, village schools ran under headmasters who decided on the curriculum based on the local context and resources. Though there was an erosion in the hallowed status from the guru to the headmaster, the latter continued to enjoy epistemic power and authority. However, colonial rule took away the independent status of the teacher by centralising education with stringent bureaucratic norms. This meant prescribed curriculum and textbooks with centralised examinations along with government control over teacher appointments, promotions, and school budgets. Poor pay scales and lack of autonomy further eroded the teacher’s professional status.

Furthermore, the teacher was no longer the sole provider of information. The textbook became the new source of information and the teacher derived his or her power in the manner of use of the textbook. This led to what Krishna Kumar, erstwhile director of the National Council for Education Research and Training calls the “textbook culture”. A curriculum and a prescribed textbook are always political playgrounds for competing ideologies. What goes into a textbook as well as what is kept out, is decided by a bunch of people sitting somewhere away (both geographically and metaphorically) from our children.

It takes a long time for new discoveries to make their way into textbooks. Sometimes, longer than 500 years. For example, the current map of the world we study in our textbooks is called the Mercator map and was made by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569. A new projection called the Galls-Peter map made in 1974 shows how distorted the Mercator map is: Actually, Africa, South America and India are larger, Greenland and Antarctica diminished and Europe and North America much smaller. There is a debate about the “imperialist” bias and the “Eurocentric” vision that diminished the physical size of the colonised world. Now that we have the technology, should not the map have changed in the textbooks?

Educational researchers in India have long argued for a curriculum that takes the local context of the child into consideration. In one textbook for English as a second language, in an area where poor tribal children trek from forest areas and come mainly for the mid-day meal, often barefooted, I was shocked to see that the teacher was supposed to teach a Robert Frost poem as part of the secondary school course. No doubt some luminary had a romanticised idea of teaching English language through literature to a group of children who could not even respond to “what is your name” after two years of studying the language. Can we really blame the teacher in such a situation?

There is obviously the argument that all teachers may not have the wherewithal to create a curriculum. In that case, textbooks created by local stakeholders together with researchers and innovative educationalists can serve as a guide but not as a prescriptive truth. What should be developed and nurtured are skills and processes through a wider consultation of a variety of sources from books and internet to people. Instead, we have ritualised procedures in terms of definitions and formulae learnt by rote from textbooks and regurgitated in a onetime exam. Little wonder that a NASSCOM report states that only 15 per cent of the graduates in India are employable.

The National Curriculum Framework (NCF, 2005) and the Right to Education (2009) have brought welcome reforms in terms of active learning, connections with local contexts and real life and learner centric pedagogies. The NCF provides a framework for greater freedom for the teacher. But there continues to be a gap between the policy and its implementation.

With new technologies, the textbook cannot be the sole source of information. The internet has democratised knowledge making new skills of critical thinking and synthesis more relevant than just factual information. A curriculum based on concepts is more universal. As the psychologist Jerome Bruner argues, it is no longer problem solving but problem finding that is the key to a relevant education. This is possible when children are engaged in experiential learning through interaction with their environment. The nature of reality is complex and multi-layered. It cannot be be doled out in standardised formats. It can only be grasped and understood by one’s own processes and in relation to one’s own context.

Source: http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/a-school-without-textbooks-children-colonial-rule-ancient-india-education-4728285/

CBSE to keep moderation policy if other boards do not concede

The CBSE has also set up the Inter Board Working Group (IWBG) panel asking Boards across the country to not inflate marks and give unusually high scores for the class 12 exams in 2018.

By: Express Web Desk | New Delhi | Published:June 30, 2017 1:13 pm

Taking into account the consensus among the state boards, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) raised its concerns over the scrapping of the marks moderation policy during a governing body meet on Friday. The Board said that it will not remove the policy if all other state boards do not concede to do the same.

“We are completely in favour of scrapping inflation of marks in order to maintain pass parity with previous years’ results,” said a senior CBSE official, adding that this may put student of the central Board at a disadvantage as compared to students of the state boards.


Earlier on April 24, CBSE and 32 Board had developed a consensus around the marks moderation policy but the Delhi High Court had prohibited the CBSE from removing the policy mid-evaluation. The Board had been planning to challenge the High Court order but refrained from the move to avoid delays for result declaration.

The CBSE has also set up the Inter Board Working Group (IWBG) panel asking Boards across the country to not inflate marks and give unusually high scores for the class 12 exams in 2018. CBSE chairperson Rakesh Chaturvedi heads the panel with members from Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Telangana, Gujarat, Manipur and ICSE boards.


Two more committees have been set up by the central Board to study the evaluation process and prevent loopholes which have caused faults in evaluation of the class 12 results.

Source: http://indianexpress.com/article/education/cbse-nic-in-will-not-scrap-moderation-policy-if-other-boards-dont-concede-4728947/

Jun 30 2017 : The Times of India (NaviMumbai)

CBSE class X students can now select vocational study as sixth subject

TIMES NEWS NETWORK





Class X students of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) can now opt for a vocational subject as the sixth subject under the remodelled assessment scheme of the board examination.

 

Under the revised scheme, if a student fails in any one of the three elective subjects (science, mathematics and social science), it will be replaced by the vocational subject. This was approved by the governing body on Thursday .

Post the restoration of the class X board exam and revision of the scheme of the exam, this is the first governing body meeting. The members also had a discussion on the moderation poli cy where CBSE chairperson R K Chaturvedi apprised the members about a committee being set up by the HRD ministry to work out the modalities, like common curriculum, examination and assessment schemes. But some of the members raised concern over whether all school education boards will come on board for a consensus.

The board, in March 2017, had discontinued the scheme of vocational subject as compulsory sixth subject under the national skill qualification framework and replaced it with a remodelled assessment scheme.

The governing body also approved the notification for restoration of the class X boards from the academic year 2017-18 and the first exam will be conducted in 2018.





 

Source : http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31840&articlexml=CBSE-class-X-students-can-now-select-vocational-30062017002022#