Sun Jun 10 2018

MISSION ADMISSION

Do marks for extra-curricular give SSC pupils ‘unfair’ edge?

Principals Of Other Boards Say Practice Must End

Vinamrata.Borwankar@timesgroup.com
 

Mumbai:
 

As the number of SSC students benefiting from the extra marks for art and culture doubled to 1.6 lakh this year as compared to 2017, principals from other boards are worried about the impact it will have on admissions and the disadvantage their students could face. State board principals, on the other hand, want to encourage the practice so that more students work on overall development.

In the SSC exam of 2017, the first year that the extra marks for art and culture were introduced, as many as 81,726 students in the state had applied for the additional marks. In Mumbai, more than 16,000 students applied under the two categories and 95% of these got extra marks for drawing. This year, the number doubled in the Mumbai division and the state. This year too, the maximum number of students got it for excelling in drawing.

Principals of non-state board schools feel that the extra marks are unfair in the admission race. “Every board competing with each other has led to students scoring near-perfect scores. When students from all boards compete for admissions, the state board students now have an advantage because of the marks for extra-curricular activity. Instead of giving them extra marks, the education department should create a quota in the admissions which will be applicable for all boards,” said the principal of a CBSE school.

When the education department capped the extra marks for art and culture in November last year, it discontinued the 2% reservation in the first year junior college admissions.

State board officials attributed the increase to better awareness this year. And state board school principals feel the numbers should increase in the coming years. “The other boards have near perfect scores even without the extra marks and our students get left out in the admissions race. The additional marks for extra-curricular in fact ensure that students don’t concentrate on just academics, but also pursue their passion,” said Prashant Redij, member of Mumbai’s Principals’ Association.

 

 

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

Mon Jun 11 2018

SELF-STUDY HELPED MORE THAN COACHING, SAYS NEET TOPPER

Bihar girl Kalpana Kumari is a habitual topper who devoted 13 hours to prepare for NEET exam

By Utkarsh Rampal

Kalpana Kumari from Sheohar, Bihar, who did her schooling from Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya was pleasantly surprised when she was told that she topped the NEET 2018. Hailing from a small district, and growing up in a non-descript town, all that she knew was that first step towards success is hardwork.

Her brother, who is currently studying in IIT Guwahati has been her inspiration. "My coaching in Delhi lasted for a short while, as I would frequently visit my native place. I used to visit my relatives in Delhi and was lured to go to one of the prominent coaching centres. I wasn't regular there as I realised that selfstudies would help me more. I used to study for 12-13 hours daily and practiced previous year exam papers in my free time," says Kalpana.

Kalpana, who studied in CBSE board till X, switched to Bihar Board in XI-XII, which she felt offered her more time to study on her own. NCERT books, she says, were far more useful than any other fancy preparation material. As a young student, she wanted to be a doctor, as shortage of good doctors in remote places pained her.

"Most people in the interiors face health related problems, due to lack of medical treatment and facilities available in big cities are way too expensive. There are not many doctors in my family too and this is the reason I want to become a doctor and do something meaningful," adds Kalpana.

At this stage, Kalpana is not sure of the specialisation she wants to pursue in future, but she is inspired by cardiologists.

Her strategy was simple. "I started answering the paper with Physics but found the questions to be lengthy, so I switched to Biology which was much easier and NCERT based. I completed the Biology section in 30 minutes and then finished the rest of the sections."

Kalpana's family is academically-oriented, with her father being a lecturer in a training college in Sitamarhi and mother working as a teacher in her home district. The parents have been involved with the studies of their children, and do everything possible to motivate them. Kalpana wants to study in AIIMS, New Delhi and plans to take decision after the AIIMS 2018 results are declared on 18 June.

Adding another feather to her hat, Kalpana has also topped class XII examinations from Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB), the results of which were declared on 6 June, 2018 with 86.8%.

The top 3 ranks were secured by Kalpana Kumari, Rohan Purohit and Himanshu Sharma. Kalpana scored 691 marks out of 720 and bagged AIR1. She secured full marks in Biology while she scored 171/180 in Physics and 160/180 in Chemistry. Rohan and Himanshu scored 690 marks out of 720 and secured the second and third spot respectively. 

 

 

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