State launches new portal for FYJC admission

Vinamrata Borwankar  |  Mumbai:





The education department's Mumbai division on Thursday launched a new website for admissions to first year junior college (FYJC). On Friday , the admission process will begin with college registrations.

 Once, college registrations are complete, students will be able to access information about the number of available seats and last year's cut-offs, which will help them make an informed decision on college selection.

All junior colleges in Mumbai division will have to re-register on mumbai.11thadmission.net, the new admission portal. “ As the portal is new, colleges will have to fill details of seats available, last year's cut-offs etc.Once the details are filled, registration will be verified by the department,“ said B B Chavan, deputy director of education, Mumbai division. The online registration for colleges will be on till April 13. The verification will be done at VG Vaze College, Mulund, between April 10 and 15.The user IDs and passwords are being sent to junior college principals via SMS and email.

The department is also holding training sessions for school principals. “This year, a lot of procedure is changing and schools have to guide students to ensure forms are filled properly .For this, school staff is being trained to understand the new rules and formats,“ said an official.





 

 

Source: Apr 07 2017 : The Times of India (NaviMumbai)

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Why children must not start school till age 6 

 

Chris Weller  |  BUSINESS INSIDER





Kids Who Delay Kindergarten Have Higher Self-Control 

 

There's already a great deal of research suggesting children should start their school days later. Now, new research finds they should probably start their entire school careers later, too.

 

A study out of Stanford University has found kids whose parents waited to enroll them in kindergarten by age 6 (instead of 5) had measurably better scores on tests of self-control by the time they were 7 and 11.

Self-control -known to psychologists as “executive function“-is one of the more impor tant traits kids can possess in their early years. A strong degree of executive function signals kids are able to budget their time and maintain focus even when they're faced with distractions.

In the latest study , investigators Thomas Dee and Hans Henrik Sievertsen used the Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC) study to collect their data.

The DNBC included responses from 54,241 parents on measures of mental health when their children were 7 years old and 35,902 responses when the kids were 11.

Dee and Sievertsen found kids who started kindergarten a year later than average students had 73% better scores on tests of their hyperactivity and in attention four years later.

Schools in Nordic countries aren't exactly strangers to enrolling kids in school later in life. In Finland, for example, it isn't uncommon for kids to begin formal schooling at age of eight. Much of their childhood is spent either at home or in a form of pre-kindergarten.





   

The Times of India  | Mar 22 2017 : (NaviMumbai)

 

Source : http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31840&articlexml=Why-children-must-not-start-school-till-age-22032017019039

Mar 22 2017 : The Times of India (NaviMumbai)

CBSE unveils new exam format for classes VI to IX

Manash Gohain |  New Delhi:





Changes From Coming Year, CCE Junked

The Central Board of Secondary Education has formally junked the continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) scheme for classes VI to IX, being followed in affiliated schools since 2009.Replacing it from the coming academic year (2017-18) is a new format--`uniform system of assessment, examination and report card'-that aims at standardising teaching and evaluation across schools.

 

All students will be under a “uniform assessment“ process from Class VI onwards and schools will have to adhere to CBSE's template, from examinations to report cards, which will now bear the logo of the board.
CBSE said schools under its fold have been following various systems of assessment and examination in classes VI to IX. The change is a step linked to the restoration of the Class X board examinations from 2018, said board chairperson R K Chaturvedi.

The new format, he said, is a “gradually movement towards quality education through standardisation of teaching, assessment, examination and report card“.

Chaturvedi added that uniform standards had become imperative because dispa rities in the system were creating problems for students whenever they migrated to another school. “With the increase in CBSE affiliated schools from 309 in 1962 to 18,688 at present, a uniform system will ensure easy migration of students within the CBSE schools and also ease their dif The new report cards for classes VI to VIII will be identical with rows which specify the terms, periodic, notebook, subject enrichment and half yearly yearly marks scored in each subject and the corresponding grades. It will also have co-scholastic assessment where students will be graded on a 3-point scale.

The format changes in Class IX where the report card will have scores of a single yearly term comprising a periodic test, notebook, subject enrichment and annual examination. The co-scholastic grading will be on a five-point grading scale.

Under the CCE scheme students were assessed based on two term-end `summative assessments' and four `formative assessments' (two each in each terms).Sixty percent of the assessment was pen-paper tests, while 40% formative assessment during the year was continuous evaluation by teachers based on various activities.
The new scheme too has two terms, but the pen-paper test weightage will be now 90%, which includes the 80 marks of the half yearly or yearly exam and 10 marks of the 20 marks set aside for periodic assessment in each term. Each term will be of 100 marks of which 10 marks will be for note book submission and subject enrichment (five marks each) under periodic assessment.

While the half-yearly (term 1) exams for all the classes from VI onwards will be based on syllabus covered till the exam time, the syllabus for yearly exams will have a slightly different format. These exams will increasing cover more of term 1 syllabus, starting with 10% for Class VI, 20% for Class VII and 30% for Class VIII.

“This is to gradually prepare the students for Class IX and higher classes where they will have to appear for exams for the entire syllabus. But it will happen gradually,“ said Chaturvedi.

Source: http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/

CBSE Std X gradesheet to get a makeover from current session

Representative image

Nagpur: Even though CBSE's Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) scheme for Std IX and X is to be scrapped from 2017-18 academic session, the board has decided to make a major change in the gradesheet (mark sheet) from the current session itself. The 2017 summer exam gradesheet will have only Std X grades unlike the earlier CCE practice of publishing even Std IX grades on it. This change wasn't expected till summer of 2018.

Anmol Badjatia, principal of Jain International said, "This certainly came as a surprise to us. Also there won't be any descriptive indicators published in the gradesheet from now on." Badjatia added that the change does not pose any academic problems for students. "It's probably a change keeping logistics in mind. Regardless, students who did not do well in Std IX will be extremely happy that their grades now won't be reflected the final Std X gradesheet," said Badjatia.

KK Choudhury, CBSE's controller of examination informed schools on March 15 about this change. "After due consideration it has been decided that this year onwards CBSE will not include Std IX result in gradesheet-cum-certificate of performance of Std X. This provision will be application to both board-based and school-based candidates", Choudhary wrote to schools. But the board advised principals to still conduct the Std IX summative and formative assessments in its true spirit and failures of Std IX should not be promoted to the next class. "Further, in Std X for co-scholastic areas, certificate will be issued separately by the school," added Choudhary.

Also, for the current academic session CBSE has decided to collect CCE data (marks and reports) of Std X online only. The online data entry window began on Monday and will be opened till April 20. The board has warned schools to ensure timely completion of the task failing which a heavy penalty will be levied. If any school misses the deadline then the fines will range from Rs5,000 to Rs20,000. While the online data will be updated in the CBSE servers, a hard copy for records will still have to be sent to the regional CBSE office.

A few months ago CBSE decided to do away with the CCE scheme for Std X, which meant the return of the traditional board exam. The current format gives only 30% weight to board exams in the total marks scored, and that too from half the syllabus. The first batch under CCE format appeared for Std X exam in 2011 and the last one is currently giving the exams.



By - Abhishek Choudhari | TNN | Updated: Mar 22, 2017, 12.14 PM IST
 
Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

CBSE Class 10 Science Board Exam 2017: Very easy and straightforward NCERT based paper

The CBSE board exams for class 10 and 12 boards began on March 9. Today, class 10 students appeared for their second major paper which is that of Science. According to latest media reports, the students were quite happy with the paper.

The CBSE board exams for class 10 and 12 boards began on March 9. Today, class 10 students appeared for their second major paper which is that of Science. A total of 19, 85,397 students from Classes 10 and 12 are appearing for the board examination this year. Last year, the Class 10 exam began on March 1 and continued till March 28.

The Class 10 board examination will continue till April 10, while Class 12 boards will continue till April 29.

Students' reactions

According to latest media reports, the students were quite happy with the paper. They were completely satisfied with how the paper was framed and most of them are expecting more than 75 marks. 
In conversation with India Today education team, students of Ramjas school, Delhi said that physics had some tricky and twisted questions, otherwise the paper was extremely easy.

NCERT based diagrams

The questions were all direct and an average student will easily score between 50 to 60 per cent. The questions were all NCERT based and almost all the students attended 80 per cent of the paper. The diagrams were all from the NCERT itself and chemistry was the easiest part to attend.
 
The duration of the exam was of three hours. The examination began at 10:30 am and got over at 1:30 pm. The time allotted to read the question paper, which was distributed at 10:15 am, was 15 minutes. From 10:15 am to 10:30 am, students were given time to read the paper and go through it carefully.

The Science paper was divided into two sections: Section A and B. Section A comprised the theoretical part and carried 70 marks while section B comprised Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) and carried 20 marks.

Source: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/ |  New Delhi, March 22, 2017 | UPDATED 14:18 IST

CBSE grants concession to class 10 Mumbai student with learning disability

 

Less than a week after DNA reported about the class 10 student from Mumbai with learning disability who was being denied concession by CBSE citing delay in getting the certificate , the board has now rolled back its decision.

On Thursday, the CBSE's Chennai division , which Mumbai is a part of, sent a letter to the school granting concession to the student for the remaining exams. The letter granted a concessional time of 30 mins to an hour depending on the total marks of the paper. The letter came after city-based psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty wrote to the HRD ministry.

In 2016, the child was diagnosed with learning disability after which the school issued a letter to Nair hospital to get the necessary tests done and was expecting to get a certificate before December 2016, the due date mentioned by the CBSE to submit the documents.

The hospital gave the certificate a little late on February 20 , due to the large number of requests it had, confirming that the child had dyslexia and dysgraphia. The letter was forwarded to the CBSE in the next two days but was denied by the board citing delay.

Now with the concession being granted , the child can write the remaining papers with the additional time.
"We are finally relieved that the CBSE has granted concession to the child. We just wish that the board should have been considerate and taken note of the request before"said the mother of the student.

Dr Harish Shetty said that he would write to the HRD ministry to ensure that no such student suffers in the manner after this. "I will write to the HRD ministry and would urge them to take action against officials who denied the child his right " said Shetty.

By: Ankita Bhatkhande | Fri, 17 Mar 2017 | DNA webdesk

 

Source Link : http://www.dnaindia.com

CBSE Class 12 boards 2017: Business Studies paper had more value-based questions

CBSE class 12 boards 2017: The BSt paper contained 21 questions with a total weightage of 80 marks which students had to answer in three hours.

CBSE class 12 boards 2017: The more confusing questions were of six marks and had the possibility of more than one answer.
 
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) conducted the Class 12 Business Studies (BSt) paper on March 16, 2017. The paper was simple with a few difficult questions, according to commerce students who appeared for the same on Thursday.

The BSt paper contained 21 questions with a total weightage of 80 marks which students had to answer in three hours. There were eight questions of one mark each, five questions of three marks each, six questions of four marks each and three questions of five and six marks.

There were a 2-3 value based and case study questions which required a depth of understanding and knowledge. The more confusing questions were of six marks and had the possibility of more than one answer. This, however, could be answered easily if the students knew the concepts well.

Vaneet Kaur, Business studies teacher from GD Goenka Public School, Greater Noida said, “The paper broke the tradition of rote learning. The questions were not direct and were based more on concept, knowledge and understanding. Students who will give the paper in the years to come should remember to attempt case studies and practice value based questions.”

This year, there is a good chance of scoring well and students are crossing their fingers hoping for papers with similar difficulty levels in all other subjects in the CBSE boards.

Source : By: Express Web Desk | New Delhi | Published:March 17, 2017 3:38 pm
Link: http://indianexpress.com/

Teens replacing drugs with smartphones?    Matt Richtel |   NYT NEWS SERVICE   Interactive Media Appears To Play To Similar Impulses As Drug Experimentation, Say Scientists    A mid the rise of deadly synthetic drugs and the widening legalisation of marijuana, a curious bright spot has emerged in the youth drug culture: American teenagers are growing less likely to try or regularly use drugs.   The trend has been building for a decade, with no clear understanding as to why .Some experts theorise that antidrug education campaigns have finally taken hold. But researchers are starting to ponder an intriguing question: Are teenagers using drugs less in part because they are constantly stimulated by their computers and phones? The possibility is worth exploring, they say , because use of smartphones has exploded over the same period that drug use has declined. This correlation does not mean that one phenomenon is causing the other, but scientists say interactive media appears to play to similar impulses as drug experimentation. Or it might be that gadgets simply absorb a lot of time that could be used for other pursuits, including partying. National Institute on Drug Abuse's survey , “Monitoring the Future,“ found that past-year use of illicit drugs other than marijuana was at the lowest level in the 40-year history of the project for eighth, 10th and 12th graders. Use of marijuana is down over the past decade for eighth and 10th graders even as social acceptability is up, the study found. Though mar ijuana use has risen among 12th graders, the use of cocaine, hallucinogens, ecstasy and crack are all down. Even as heroin use has become an epidemic among adults in some communities, it has fallen among high schoolers over the past decade, the study found. NIDA's director Dr. Nora Volkow said this period was also notable because declining use patterns were cutting across groups -“boys and girls, public and private school, not driven by one particular demographic,“ she said. Dr. Volkow described interactive media as “an alternative reinforcer“ to drugs, adding that “teens can get literally high when playing these games.“ However, while drug use has fallen among youths ages 12 to 17, it hasn't declined among college students, said Dr. Sion Kim Harris, codirector of the Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research at Boston Children's Hospital. Explanations aside, researchers unanimously expressed hope that the trends would persist. Researchers say phones and social media serve a primitive need for connection. “People are carrying around a portable dopamine pump, and kids have basically been carrying it around for the last 10 years,“ said a researcher. In 2015, 4.2% teenagers aged 12 to 17 reported smoking a cigarette in the last month, down from 10.8% in 2005, according to a survey. At the same time, gadgets are readily consuming a growing portion of young people's time.

 

Source : The Times of India  | Mar 17 2017  | (Navi Mumbai)

FROM NEXT YEAR, SINGLE ENTRANCE EXAM FOR ENGINEERING COLLEGES

THE SINGLE TEST WILL BE ALONG THE LINES OF NEET, AN ALL­INDIA TEST LAUNCHED IN 2016 FOR ENTRY TO MEDICAL AND DENTAL COLLEGES

NEW DELHI: The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) will conduct a single entrance exam for admissions to all engineering colleges in India from next year. The move will put an end to multiple tests conducted by central agencies, state governments and private bodies. According to officials, the single entrance exam for engineering as well as architecture courses will be on the lines of the National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test — which is a single, all-India test for admissions to medical and dental colleges.

However, students seeking admissions to the IITs will have to ace the JEE-Advanced after taking the single engineering entrance exam. The AICTE Council on Tuesday also approved a regulation which mandates institutes to introduce induction courses, revise curricula every year and undertake teacher training through the government’s e-learning platform, SWAYAM. Admission to engineering colleges across India will be done through a single entrance examination from next year with the AICTE approving a regulation in this regard, sources said.

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) on Tuesday approved a comprehensive package, including the single national test, for improving engineering education.

The AICTE, which is the statutory body and a national-level council for technical education, also directed institutes to go for induction courses, yearly revision of curriculum and teacher training through SWAYAM platform, said a source, adding that ₹250 crore will be spent to implement the package.

The Study Webs of ActiveLearning for Young Aspiring Minds (SWAYAM) is a programme developed by the government to take the best teaching learning resources to all by bridging the digital divide.

Once implemented, the single entrance test will do away with the practice of multiple entrance examinations conducted by central agencies, state governments and private institutions.

“The AICTE has come up with the regulation following a directive by HRD minister Prakash Javadekar. It will now be sent to the ministry for an approval. After that, a gazette notification will be issued,” said a source.

According to officials, the single test for engineering, as well as architecture courses, will be along the lines of the National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test (NEET), a single, all-India test for entry to medical and dental colleges launched in 2016.

However, students seeking admission to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) will have to clear the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE)-Advanced after taking the engineering entrance exam.
“The AICTE has been advised to ensure that the examination process is standardised, keeping in view the country’s linguistic diversity. The test will also be conducted multiple times every year,” said a senior official on the condition of anonymity.

Regulations have been issued under the AICTE Act making it mandatory for every state to follow it. Sources said in case a state refuses to adhere to it, it will lose AICTE approval.

“The aim is to make the process more transparent, standardised, and free of corruption and commercialisation,” a government official said, referring to allegations that some private institutions charge exorbitant capitation fee from students.

India has more than 3,300 approved engineering colleges affiliated to universities, with an annual intake of an estimated 1.6 million students. But only about half of the seats are filled.

The current admission process at the graduation level is dependent on performance in entrance examinations conducted by various agencies.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) conducts the JEE-Main for the Centrefunded institutions.

Source: Neelam Pandey | 15 Mar 2017 | Mumbai |  | neelam.pandey@hindustantimes.com

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