HC allows sale of non-NCERT books, uniform in CBSE schools

PTI | Feb 27, 2018, 22:08 IST

 

Representative image

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday quashed a CBSE circular and allowed the sale of non-NCERT books and uniforms at the tuck shops set up at affiliated schools across the country, holding that the sale of such items does not amount to "commercialisation" of education.

It said the availability of books, both NCERT and non-NCERT, stationery items and uniform in the school premises would only add to the convenience of the parents and the students.

A single judge bench of Justice Rekha Palli quashed a circular dated April 19, 2017 issued by Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) advising the schools not to indulge in any commercial activity by way of selling of books, stationery, uniforms and school bags within the premises and to adhere to the provisions of affiliation bye-laws of the Board.

The schools were also directed by the CBSE to desist from the unhealthy practice of coercing the parents to purchase books/uniform from shops within the school premises or from selected vendors only.

"The Writ Petition filed by the Petitioners (Association of School Vendors) is allowed and the circular dated April 19, 2017, issued by CBSE is quashed and set aside.

"It is further directed that the Petitioners shall not be prohibited from the selling of non-NCERT books and uniforms also in the tuck shops which have been allowed to be set up in the CBSE affiliated schools for selling NCERT books and stationery items vide circular dated August 24/25, 2017," the bench said.

The court also quashed the conditions in another circular dated December 18, 2017, prohibiting the sale of non-NCERT books in the school shops and directed the CBSE to "take regulatory steps to ensure that the students and parents are not coerced in any manner, to buy any items from these shops".

Dealing with the question of commercialisation of education, Justice Palli said: "the availability of books, both NCERT and non-NCERT, stationery items and uniform in the school premises would only add to the convenience of the parents and the students".

The court said the use of the school buildings for purposes of education, would put a corresponding duty on the school management to ensure that the students are provided with all necessary facilities to help them pursue education in the school.

"The admitted case of the parties is that the aforesaid items in the school shops would be available only to the students of the school and not to outsiders and, therefore, I see no element of commercialisation in the sale of these essential items in the school shops," the judge said.

The court said that if the sale of books and uniform in the school shops without any coercion on the students or parents to buy from these shops, is treated as "commercialisation", there is no reason why even the sale of food items in canteen would also not be treated as "commercialisation".

"The availability of uniform, non-NCERT reference books or even food items for sale only to the students of the school, in my opinion, does not fall in the category of and cannot at all be considered as 'commercialisation'," Justice Palli said.

The court said the decision of CBSE to prohibit the sale of items, needed by the students in the schools, merely on the premise that the availability of these items in the school shops for sale, could be misused as the students and parents could be forced to buy them only from the school shop, appears to be "wholly arbitrary" and "quite irrational".

It said that it may be more in the interest of students that the option to buy books, both NCERT and non-NCERT, stationery and uniform items from the school shops should be available to them.

"I have no hesitation in coming to the conclusion that the prohibition imposed vide the impugned Circulars, does not satisfy the test of "reasonable restrictions" under Article 19(6) of the Constitution of India," Justice Palli said.

The court said there was also no justification to place NCERT books and stationery items in the permissible category and placing the non-NCERT books and uniform in the non-permissible category.

Source : https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Have no role in deciding eligibility for NEET, says CBSE; 43 new centres announced

PTI | Updated: Feb 27, 2018, 21:36 IST

 

NEW DELHI: The CBSE has clarified that it has no role in deciding eligibility criteria for medical entrance exam - NEET - and grievances, if any, should be submitted to the Medical Council of India (MCI).
The clarification came following several complaints received by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) about barring open school candidates and those with biology as an additional subject in class 12 from appearing in the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET).

This year, NEET will be held on May 6. The online application process began on February 8, and March 9 is the last date to register. The last date for payment of exam fee online is March 10 till 11.50 PM.

Meanwhile, Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said this year, NEET will be conducted in 150 cities, as against 107 last year.

Students who have pursued schooling through National Institute of Open Learning (NIOS)/ State Open School or those who studied biology or biotechnology as an additional subject in class 12 are ineligible to appear in NEET.

The CBSE, in an advisory, said, "The responsibility of CBSE is limited to holding the NEET (UG) examination, based on the eligibility criteria provided by MCI. CBSE has no role to play in deciding the eligibility conditions."

"Therefore, all the grievances received by CBSE on these issues are disposed of. Candidates are requested to kindly read the information bulletin and FAQs hosted on NEET website before sending the grievance to the board in any form," it added.

Tweeting about setting up of 43 new centres, Javadekar said all the cities from where 4,000 and more candidates have applied and which were not exam centres in 2017 have been added as centre cities.

The new centres have been set up in Andhra Pradesh (5), Assam (2), Gujarat (3), Maharashtra (6), Odisha (4), Tamil Nadu (2), Kerala (5), Telangana (2), West Bengal (3), Uttar Pradesh (3) and one new centre each in Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Karnataka and Uttarakhand.

Source : https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

CBSE class X: Overall 33% in each subject enough to pass this yr

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

CBSE Class X students who will sit for Board exam on March 5, the first mandatory public exam after eight years, “need to secure overall 33% (both internal assessment and the Board exam marks taken together) in the subject to be able to pass”. They will be exempted from the mandatory separate pass criteria in subjects having internal assessment component of 20 marks and 80 marks of Board examination.

The Central Board of Secondary Education on Tuesday notified this one-time exemption.

The CBSE had introduced the Comprehensive and Continuous Evaluation (CCE) scheme along with optional Board exam. All others took the school-based exam. The CCE system was revoked in 2017 and Class X Board examination was made mandatory.

According to the notification issued by CBSE chairperson Anita Karwal, the examination committee recently decided to give the one-time exemption to the Class X students as they will be the first batch after the Board exam made a comeback. The same passing criteria will also apply in the additional subjects, provided they have internal assessment of 20 marks and Board examination of 80 marks.

This rule will also apply for students with subjects under National Skills Qualifications Framework scheme for the five major subjects —two languages, science, mathematics and social science. The provision of replacement of subjects extended to the NSQF students “for the failed subjects (out of the three subjects – science, mathematics and social science) by the vocational subject (passed by the candidate under NSQF) would continue to apply”. However, for vocational subjects listed in Annexure I, which were notified on March 9, 2017, there will be no exemption from separate pass criteria as the internal assessment component of these subjects comprise 50 marks. In these subjects, mandatory separate pass criteria of securing 33% both in internal as well as Board examination will apply.

Source : https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/#

CBSE Class 12 Mathematics: Board examiner points out 8 common errors stopping students from getting a full 100

• Roshni Chakrabarty | New Delhi | February 21, 2018

The CBSE Boards 2018 are beginning March 5 and the Class 12 Mathematics exam is scheduled for March 21.

Class 12 Mathematics is a whole different ballgame. Do not expect the paper to be anything compared to Class 10 Boards. However, this is the one paper in which you can most easily score a full 100 marks if you practice well.

India Today Education spoke to Hariyana Vidya Mandir (Kolkata) Mathematics teacher Debjani Kar, an experienced Board Examiner for several years, with almost 20 years of teaching experience, about the common mistakes students make in the Class 12 CBSE Mathematics Board exam for which they lose out on getting a full 100 per cent.

Here are a few tips from the experienced Board Examiner to get full marks on your Class 12 CBSE Mathematics paper:

1.

For the sums of Matrix Elementary Operation, do not change rows and columns together in the same sum. For row transformation, change only row, and for column transformation, change only column.

2.

In the Determinant sums, to get full marks, students must use the properties of determinant.

3.

For sums of Indefinite Integral, students must write the constant of integration.

4.

For Linear Programming problems, proper shading of the feasible region is very important. If the region is unbounded, don't forget to draw the kink line.

5.

In the sums of Vector Algebra and 3D-Geometry, do not forget to give vector sign.

6.

In 1-mark questions, always try to write the correct answer of the sum. If steps are correct and answer is wrong, step marking or point marking becomes very difficult.

7.

Students often forget to write this when solving such problems in their Class 12 CBSE Mathematics paper:

8.

In such questions, remember not to take log on both sides!

So, keep your fingers crossed and keep practicing your sample papers and previous years' papers! If your preparation is up to the mark, these tips will ensure you can get a full 100 per cent in your CBSE Maths paper!

Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/tips-and-tricks/story/cbse-class-12-mathematics-board-exam-common-mistakes-pointed-by-board-examiner-html-1174565-2018-02-21

CBSE Class 12 English: Section-wise common errors pointed out by Board examiner

• Roshni Chakrabarty | New Delhi | February 22, 2018

CBSE Boards 2018 are around the corner and in Class 12, most students barely touch their English NCERT books and give more focus on the other subjects. But what they fail to remember is -- low marks in English could pull down their aggregate marks making it difficult to take admission in top colleges.

The English Core paper is the first exam of class 12 and is scheduled to be held on March 5. Make sure you read through your NCERT textbooks thoroughly. If you have that basic idea and a good hold on grammar, scoring above 90 in CBSE Class 12 English is not such an insurmountable task.
Getting a full 100 in English is, however, not easy at all. Board examiners often need to cut marks for very silly mistakes in your answers.

India Today Education spoke to senior English teacher Suvalakshmi Bhattacharya, with 23 years of teaching experience and 21 years of experience as Board Examiner, about the common mistakes students make that make them lose out on the rare full 100 per cent marks.

Here are section-wise common mistakes students tend to make in their CBSE Class 12 English Board exam:

Section A

• In Note Making, four abbreviations will fetch you one mark

• Students tend to write too many abbreviations unnecessarily, sometimes writing an entire page of abbreviations! This is a waste of their time

Section B

• When writing letters or articles, make sure you use the inputs provided in the question while framing your answer

• Do not write your own residential address in letter writing if different inputs are provided. This is a very common mistake!

• In letter-writing, dates must be written carefully, according to the inputs given in the question, and not necessarily the date on which you are giving your exam

• In long format writing questions such as letters and articles, make sure your break down your text into paragraphs. Your answer shouldn't be a long chunk of text

• Students often miss out the headings in their report or article writing questions. This has marks allotted to it

Section C

• For 1-mark questions, the answer must be written in a complete sentence

• Keep answers of 3-mark questions under 40 words. Do not write unnecessarily long answers!

• For long answer questions of 6 marks, students often tend to write a summary of the entire story! You must write the answer of the question and not a full brief of the story.

Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/tips-and-tricks/story/cbse-class-12-english-common-mistakes-listed-by-board-examiner-html-1175168-2018-02-22

CBSE Class 12 Business Studies: 9 common errors students make pointed out by Board Examiner

• Roshni Chakrabarty | New Delhi | February 21, 2018

The CBSE Class 12 Board exams are beginning March 5 and the Business Studies paper is scheduled to be held on March 9.

BST is a theoretical subject and most students take this as a breather exam. However, with the changes in CBSE pattern, you cannot score a full 100 per cent anymore just by mugging up your NCERT book. CBSE now tends to give case studies and indirect questions which test the conceptual knowledge of students.

The syllabus of Business Studies deals mainly with General Management, Financial Management and Marketing Management.

India Today Education spoke to DPS Ruby Park (Kolkata) BST teacher Sumana Roy, Board Examiner of Business Studies for 10 years, with 11 years of teaching experience, about the areas where students must be careful in the CBSE Board Exam to secure maximum marks.

"Recently a degree in Management has emerged as a necessity for widening the career options for students. As a result Business Studies has gained a lot more importance as a subject," says Roy.

Here are the common errors she pointed out that students make in their Class 12 CBSE Business Studies paper:

1

Most of the questions are based on passages which are related to familiar events. Students must read the passages thoroughly in order to write correct answers to the questions. They often miss out a certain line in excitement, which offers the hint to the answer.

2

Students should give a diagram whenever possible even if not asked for. Don't draw diagrams in pen! Moreover, labelling diagrams is also very important. 

3

Don't write your answers in long paragraphs in your CBSE BST paper. Other than 1-mark answers, every answer should be written in points. Each point should have a 'Heading' and an 'Explanation'. Writing only the 'Explanation' or only the 'Heading' is a common mistake that stops students from getting full marks.

4

'Importance' and 'Features' are NOT the same thing. Students often get confused between the two terms in questions given in the CBSE Class 12 Business Studies paper. For example: Feature of Planning is "Planning focuses on achieving objectives", whereas Importance of Planning is "Planning provides direction".

5

Students should not reframe the Definition of a term or topic. It should be written as it is stated in the NCERT book.

6

In the Class 12 CBSE BST paper, real life examples (mathematical examples in case of Financial Management) should be given wherever possible to secure maximum marks.

7

While differentiating between two concepts, students often don't mention the basis of the difference. This should be mentioned for getting full marks.

8

If the answer to a 1-mark question is "YES" or "NO" then one reason should be given along with it to justify the answer. Don't answer just in a single word.

9

Last but not the least, students must maintain the word limit in order to complete the paper on time. Students make the common error of thinking long answers mean more marks in CBSE Class 12 Boards. The length of the answers should be according to the marks allotted. 

Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/tips-and-tricks/story/cbse-class-12-business-studies-board-exam-common-mistakes-pointed-by-board-examiner-html-1174667-2018-02-21

NEET 2018: CBSE To Allow Only One Chance For Correcting Application Form Details

CBSE will allow candidates to correct the application form details from 12 to 16 March 2018. However, candidates should note that only one chance will be provided for correction.

Education | Written by Maitree Baral | Updated: February 17, 2018 13:52 IST

  

CBSE NEET 2018: Option To Correct Application Form Details; Know More

New Delhi:  If you have applied for CBSE NEET 2018 but have, mistakenly, made errors in the application form, you need not worry as the Board will allow students for correcting the particulars after the registration process is over. CBSE will allow candidates to correct the application form details from 12 to 16 March 2018. However, candidates should note that only one chance will be provided for correction. 'Neither opportunity will be given to the candidates after this schedule and nor any request on the same will be accepted by the CBSE,' clarifies the Board, further.

Any changes related to category, parents name, qualifying code, exam centre, etc. should be done in the given time period.

In response to the query of candidates where the aadhaar card only carries the name of the mother (being the ward of single parent), CBSE has asked to fill up the mandatory space for father's name as 'XXXX'.

On the outcry over NIOS, open school students being disallowed from appearing for NEET, CBSE has clarified that it is responsible for conducting the exam, only. Rules regulating the exam are set by Medical Council of India (MCI). Shunning down the queries, the Board has stated that, 'such candidates are advised to follow the instructions given by MCI. CBSE has no role to play in it. Therefore no reply to any such query on the eligibility condition will be given by the CBSE.'

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/education/cbse-neet-2018-option-to-correct-application-form-details-know-more-1813834

CBSE Class 12 English paper: tips from board examiner to help you easily score over 90

• Roshni Chakrabarty | New Delhi |February 15, 2018 | IndiaToday.in

CBSE Boards 2018 is just around the corner and the English Core paper is scheduled to be held on March 5. English in class 12 is a breather exam compared to the humungous syllabus in almost all other subjects for each stream. This is why many students completely ignore this paper, leaving it for the last moment.

Now, if you are good in basic grammar and don't have any problem in understanding the concept while reading through the texts, then scoring good marks in the Class 12 English paper will not be an insurmountable task.

However, if you want to score above 90, you will need to make sure you are not making the common mistake most students make which can make your aggregate percentage drop even after scoring well on PCM (if you are from Science stream).

India Today Education spoke to senior English teacher Suvalakshmi Bhattacharya, with 23 years of teaching experience and 21 years of experience as Board Examiner, about a few tips and tricks that students should definitely know to maximize their marks.

Here are a few crucial tips from the board examiner that will help you score over 90 in your English paper:

1

Plan before leaving home which section (A/B/C) you are going to attempt first in the exam and how much time you will allow to each section.

 

2

Do not exceed the word limit. Unnecessarily long answers will NOT FETCH you more marks. On the other hand, it will cut into your limited time.

 

3

Underline the value points - important words and phrases - while writing the answer itself as you might not have time later on to go back and read through line by line again.

 

4

Do not leave out any question. If you are not sure of the answer, leave some space according to the allotted marks and come back to it later on. Do NOT leave it out.

 

5

For section B Writing section, the following points must be noted: (a) Formats must be followed as prescribed by CBSE (b) Break your text into paragraphs wherever needed - in letters, articles, reports, debates and speeches (c) Select the question to answer wisely when you have options in a question (d) Be careful when you are writing the dates in letters (e) In Note Making, the title, subheadings and the abbreviations must be written properly to score marks (f) You need a minimum of four abbreviations in Note Making, for which 1 mark is allotted, but don't write a full page of abbreviations

 

6

For section C Literature section, the following points must be noted: (a) Each 3-mark question must have at least two value points (b) Each 6-mark question must have at least four value points (c) 'The Invisible Man' MUST be prepared and will have two questions based on it -- one character based question and one plot-based question

 

7

Aim to complete your paper in 2 hours 45 minutes so that you have 15 minutes to revise your answers.

Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/tips-and-tricks/story/cbse-class-12-english-study-tips-from-board-examiner-html-1170179-2018-02-15

CBSE Class 12 Accountancy Board exam: Tips from Board examiner to score above 90

• Roshni Chakrabarty | New Delhi | February 19, 2018 |IndiaToday.in

The CBSE Class 12 Accountancy paper is scheduled to be held on March 15, 2018. Though this paper is mainly based on numerical, you won't be able to score 90 per cent, let alone a full 100 per cent, unless you have properly studied the theoretical sections as well.
Moreover, this is a very time consuming paper and most students struggle with time management during CBSE Boards Accountancy paper. So, be very careful in the exam hall regarding how much time you are giving to each question or each section.
India Today Education got talking to Hariyana Vidya Mandir (Kolkata) Accountancy teacher Pradeep Mukherjee, a Board Examiner of Accountancy for 20 years, with 28 years of teaching experience, about certain important tips students should keep in mind to score above 90 in their class 12 CBSE Accountancy paper.

Here are tips he provided which can help make sure you are giving the best shot in your Accountancy Board exam:

In CBSE Class 12 Accountancy Board exam, the accounts paper is generally a little lengthy. Therefore, students should read the paper thoroughly and put a tick mark against the questions which comes easily to them. Attempt the easy questions first.

 

There are altogether eight 1-mark questions. It is usually seen that students give much time to answering these 1-mark questions. These questions should be answered in one word or one sentence or in short workings, so that they shouldn't take more than one minute each.

 

Showing the workings is not necessary for all problem sums. Workings should be necessary for complicated problems only because marks are allotted to workings in the complicated and longer numerical problems.

 

Proper format is necessary for journal and ledger questions while proper narration is also important for each journal entry. As much as 25 per cent of the marks in the question can be deducted if proper format and narration is not provided.

 

Students need to practice sample papers in time bound conditions so that they don't face time management issues in the exam hall. Each 1-mark question should be given one minute, each 3 or 4-mark question should be given 3-8 minutes, each 6-mark question should be given 15 minutes, each 8-mark question should be given 15-20 minutes.

The following topics of CBSE Class 12 Accountancy are excluded from the syllabus and students shouldn't give importance to these:

• Accounting treatment of interest on Calls in Arrear and Calls in Advance in Share Capital chapter of company
• Treatment of ex-interest and cum-interest of redemption of Debenture chapter

The following topics of CBSE Class 12 Accountancy have been included in the syllabus and students should focus on these topics more:

• Writing-off discount or loss on issue of Debentures
• Conversion method of Debenture

These topics appear in the Board exam every year and students should definitely study these:

• Issue of shares, its forfeiture and re-issue
• From past adjustment of partnership -- its accounting treatment
• Cash flow statement

---------
Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/tips-and-tricks/story/cbse-class-12-accountancy-board-examiner-tips-html-1172902-2018-02-19

CBSE Class 12 Physics Board Exam: 

10 common mistakes students make pointed out by Board examiner

The CBSE Class 12 Board exams 2018 begin March 5 and students from the science stream all over India will be sitting for the Physics paper on March 7.
India Today got talking to Shampa Chakraborty, senior Physics teacher at Hariyana Vidya Mandir school, Kolkata, with 20 years of teaching experience, and an experienced Board examiner, who pointed out the silly errors students make which Board examiners cut marks for. Most of these errors have absolutely nothing to do with your knowledge of the subject and can easily be avoided.

Here are 10 common errors you can easily avoid in your CBSE Class 12 Physics paper:

1

The answer length Class 12 CBSE Physics Board exam should be in accordance to the marks provided for the question. A question of 1 mark should not be answered in half a page or a whole page.

2

Even good students at times do not write the formula when doing numericals. However, marks are allotted for the formula itself and not writing the formula will make you lose marks.

3

Students often flip the numerator and denominator in formulae by mistake. This makes sure that the entire working of the numerical problem is incorrect and you get absolutely no marks for the answer.

4

An extremely common mistake students make in the Class 12 CBSE Physics Board exam is in the formula for finding capacitance in series. The formula is: 1/c= 1/c1 + 1/c2. However, students commonly write: c= 1/c1 + 1/c2

5

In value-based questions, which are generally of 2 marks, students tend to write only one sentence. They ought to write 3-4 sentences in order to get full marks.

6

For questions where diagrams are asked for, students should label them properly and preferably, in pencil.

7

In the Class 12 CBSE Physics Board exam, m ost questions have several parts in it, and each part is allocated some marks. Students often tend to overlook or miss out on a small part of the question, thus losing anything from half a mark to 3 marks for the same.

8

In questions of 1 mark which are asking for a "yes" or "no" answer, students should write the reason for the "yes" or "no" as well in order to get full marks. Most of the time, such questions are allocated a half mark each for the two parts of the answer.

9

Students should make sure they write the correct question number for the answer they are writing. Any mistake here means they would lose the entire marks even if their answer is correct.

10

Students often re-write certain questions. In that case, they MUST make sure that you strike out the first answer. If that isn't done, CBSE rules ask examiners to accept the first attempt and ignore the second attempt.

Prepare well for your Class 12 CBSE Physics Board exam, and make sure you do not make these silly errors in your exam hall to avoid losing marks even when you know the answers.All the best!

Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/tips-and-tricks/story/cbse-class-12-physics-common-mistakes-told-by-board-examiner-html-1173559-2018-02-20