SSC, CBSE exams from tomorrow

Thursday will mark the start of three sets of board examinations - the Secondary School Certificate (SSC), and Class X and XII exams of Central Board of Secondary Examinations (CBSE). Last year, the school-based assessment system introduced for Class X CBSE students found many takers. However, those opting for it have dropped drastically this time.

Last year, of the 16,000-odd Class X students in the state, 5,063 opted for the school-based exams. This year, 21,000 students from Maharashtra will take the Class X CBSE exam, but a mere 3,081 students have opted for the school-based exams. "This includes students who are studying in schools that function only till Class X, so they must have chosen the board exams over the school-based assessment so that they can be accommodated in junior colleges under the state rule," said Rama Sharma, PRO for the CBSE board. In Mumbai, of the total 3,908 students appearing for the Class X examination, 1,100 students have opted for school-based assessment.

"Students are upbeat and even though some still visit our school for last-minute tips, most others are relaxing now. We advise students to rest well before the examinations," said Rakesh Joshi, principal of Apeejay School in Nerul. A total of 9,822 students will appear for the CBSE Class XII examination from Maharashtra.

The current batch of SSC students will be the first to appear for the changed Science and Maths patterns. "Students have nothing to worry about as schools have informed them well in advance about the changes. Our state board helpline numbers are available for students whenever they need us and our aim is to always make the examination season as stress-free for students as possible," said Ravindra Bhise, divisional state board secretary.

Five states oppose common entrance engineering test

NEW DELHI: The government's plan to introduce a common national examination for undergraduate engineering courses across the country will have to be curtailed with the test applicable only for central technical institutions from next year as at least five states have objected to the proposal.

The states, including Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, opposed the move and two others advocated more debate when the common test was discussed at the state education ministers' meeting on Wednesday.

In light of the meeting's deliberations, admissions to IIT, other Central government institutions and state engineering institutions that admit students based on AIEEE scores will be carried out in accordance with a merit list drawn up by the common national examination results with weightage for state boards.

Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Puducherry opposed the proposal, while Uttar Pradesh suggested that private institutions be brought on board as well. Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh asked for wider consultation. The states have been keen to retain their state-level common entrance tests.

In the midst of the opposition from non-Congress states, the human resource development ministry received support from unexpected quarters with Gujarat expressing its approval for the plan.

HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said the common test will be for the means for admission to central engineering institutes like IITs, and expressed the hope that states will also adopt the formula in coming years. There are, however, considerable reservations of including board exam weightages to tests to India's top technical schools like IITs that have previously conducted their own entrance exams.

Sibal said 11 boards at the Council of Boards of School Education in India (COBSE) meeting last week have "unanimously" supported the move. Four states - Delhi, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Chandigarh - have already accepted CBSE-conducted AIEEE scores for admission to their institutes.

"The unanimous decision of the state education ministers today in passing the resolution was that we agreed in principle that there should be one test in 2013 for all students who want to seek admission to central engineering institutions," Sibal said.

The proposed entrance test which the HRD ministry has proposed to be named as Indian Science - Engineering Eligibility Test (ISEET), is likely to be conducted in April or May next year and will have two parts - ISEET main and ISEET advance. The former will test the inherent intelligence of the student.

Education ministers of states like Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh among others also suggested including regional language along with English and Hindi.

"The exam will be conducted initially twice a year starting in April-May, 2013 and the ultimate aim is to conduct it thrice or four times. The score will be valid for two years."

A formula has been devised by the Indian Statistical Institute to equate the scores of different boards. The idea is to re-emphasize school education, do away with the stress of multiple examination and grey markets," added Sibal.

The entrance examination question papers will be prepared by the IITs and the exam will be conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education. In the first year (2013) around 12 lakh candidates are expected to take the exam. States which will base its admissions on the common entrance test are Delhi, Haryana, Chandigarh and Uttarakhand.

Over 12 lakh students appear in GATE examination

Over 12 lakh GATE aspirants took the examination on Sunday. The Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) is an all-India examination conducted jointly by theIndian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore and the seven Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) for admission to post graduate programs in engineering, technology, architecture and pharmacy at national level. 

GATE 2012 - morning session (9am-12 pm) Common GATE 2012 largely followed the pattern of last year's paper, as previously announced in the GATE 2012 prospectus. The paper consisted of 65 questions with a maximum score of 100 marks. The questions were MCQ type with four options. Every wrong answer incurred a negative marking of 1/3. 
The question-wise breakup of the paper was - engineering mathematics: 15 marks; general aptitude (verbal ability and numerical ability): 15 marks; core engineering subjects: 70 marks. 

However, this year cut-offs are likely to be slightly higher for both the papers (keeping in view the large number of students appearing in GATE 2012).Overall, it was a scoring paper for students with strong fundamentals. 

CS / IT - Analysis in general, this paper was slightly tougher as compared to GATE 2011. A majority of the questions were from DBMS and data structure and algorithm and computer network whereas very few questions were seen from compiler design. Surprisingly, there were no questions from software engineering. In terms of the difficulty level, questions from TOC and DMGT were the toughest and questions on DBMS and data structure were the easiest. 

GATE 2012 saw the weight-age allotted to computer networks increase from 6% to 13%, while the weight-age allotted to computer organisation decreased from 16% to 3% as compared to last year. There was very change in the weight-age of subjects like maths, compiler design and digital. 

Mechanical Engineering - Analysis In general, the difficulty level of this paper was similar to that of the last year. GATE 2012 saw the weight-age allotted to manufacturing and production engineering increase from 12 % to 16%, while the weight-age allotted to thermodynamics decreased from 19% to 13%. There was very little change in the weight-age of subjects like maths, general aptitude and applied mechanics and design. 

About 21% questions were from manufacturing section whereas very few questions were seen from thermal science which includes thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and heat transfer. In terms of the difficulty level, questions from mechanics and design were the toughest.

School students win NASA & Singapore tours

The Resonance's Scholarship and Talent Reward Test (STaRT-2012), which was open to students from classes VI to XII across India, was declared recently.

More than 80,000 students across cities had participated in the stage-I test conducted in December 2011; 9399 students made their way to stage-II and 6628 finally appeared in stage-II test conducted on February 5 at test centres across 28 cities.

Seven national first position prizes consisting of 11-day tour of NASA, US, a gold medal and a merit certificate, respectively, has been won by Shauryasikt Jena of class VI of Gautam Budh Nagar (Uttar Pradesh), Himanshi Mehta, class VII of Udaipur (Rajasthan), Divyanshu Mittal, class VIII of Kota (Rajasthan), Shrishti Asthana, class IX of Chandigarh, Swati Gupta, class X of Jaipur (Rajasthan), Shudhatma Jain, class XI of Kota (Rajasthan) and Pankaj Goyal, class XII of Agra (Uttar Pradesh). 

Seven national second position prizes consisting of a six-day tour of Singapore, a silver medal and a merit certificate, respectively, has been won by Parth Anil Shimpi, class VI of Nasik (Maharashtra), Lakshay Sharma, class VII of Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh), Puranjan Dev, class VIII of Khurda (Orissa), Sheshansh Agarwal, class IX of Jaipur (Rajasthan), Parth Sharma, class X of Kota (Rajasthan), Yash Gupta, class XI of Udaipur (Rajasthan) and Jain Shubham Anil Kumar of class XII of Thane (Maharashtra).

Seven national third position prizes consisting of branded laptops, a bronze medal (2gm. gold) & a merit certificate, respectively, has been won by Chinmay SI, class VI of Bengaluru (Karnataka), Disha Rawal, class VII of Gurgaon (Haryana), Suraj Dash, class VIII of Khurda (Orissa), Bhavya Choudhary, class IX of Kota (Rajasthan), Diksha Agarwal, class X of Kota (Rajasthan), Palak Jain, class XI of Udaipur (Rajasthan) and Twinkle Parekh, class XII of Ajmer (Rajasthan).

RK Verma, managing director, Resonance, said, "It will be heartening to see young talented students going on NASA, and Singapore Science Centre, tours and also winning other prizes based on their talent."

The result of STaRT-2012 is available on www.resostart.in

8000 to take ICSE exams from today in Mumbai

Around 1.32 lakh students across the country and 7,823 students in the city will be appearing for the Indian School Certificate Examinations which begin on Monday.

City schools have been conducting workshops and counselling sessions after the preliminary exams to teach students learning strategies and to de-stress them. This is the second year when ICSE students can avail of the best-five scheme initiated by the Maharashtra government. However, interest levels in group III subjects have not declined, claim principals.

According to Carl Laurie, principal of Christ Church School, there might be a slack in interest in a couple of years. "There has been no change at the moment. Students are still interested in group III subjects," he said. The school has been roping in counsellors and nutritionists to de-stress students and explain the right diet to follow during the exams. Lectures were conducted to give students tips on how to prepare for the exams.

Last year, most schools saw a rise in percentages of students due to the best-five policy. According to the policy introduced by the state two years ago, students can count only the best five scores, excluding group III subjects. Group III includes subjects like cookery, computer applications, technical drawing, art and physical education.

Principal Norina Fernandes from Lilavati Podar High School said, "There has been no decline in interest in group III subjects among students. The performance of students in these subjects in the preliminary exam has been good." While the school has been giving students yoga training and tips on several other de-stressing activities, the focus shifted to learning strategies post the prelim exams.

From next year, ICSE students will only have six subjects, with environment education out of the syllabus for class X. Paul Machado, principal of Campion School, Colaba, said, "This year, the performance of students in group III subjects has been good, so there is no declining trend. Students have to appear for their exams in their own centres, so it is stress-free for them."

Mumbai: Around 1.32 lakh students across the country and more than 7,823 students in the city will be appearing for the Indian School Certificate Examinations from Monday. City schools have been conducting workshops and counselling sessions post-preliminary exams to help them in learning strategies during their prep leave and also to de-stress them. This is the second year, when ICSE students can avail of the best-five scheme initiated by the Maharashtra state government. However, the interests' level in group III subjects has not declined, claim principals.

According to Principal Carl Laurie, from Christ Church School, there might be a slack in interest in a couple of years. "However, there has been no change at the moment. Students are still interested in group III subjects," he said. The school has been conducting workshops by counsellors and nutritionist experts explaining students on the right diet to be followed during the exams. Lectures also were conducted to give students some tips on how to prepare for the exams.

Last year, most schools saw a rise in percentages of students due to the best-five policy. According to the best five policy introduced by the state government two years ago, students can count only the best five scores, excluding the group III subjects. Group III includes subjects like cookery, computer applications, technical drawing, art, physical education, etc.

Principal Norina Fernandes, from Lilavati Podar High School, said, "There has been no decline in interests among students in group III subjects. The performances of students in these subjects in the preliminary exam have been good." While the school has been giving students yoga training and tips on several other de-stressing activities, the focus shifted on learning strategies post the prelim exams.

From next year, students of ICSE schools will have only six subjects, with environment education out of the syllabus in class X. Paul Machado, principal of Campion School, Colaba, said, "This year, the performances of students in group III subjects have been good, so there is no declining trend. Also the students have to appear for their exams in their own centres, so it is stress-free for them."

CS exam results declared

The results of the Company Secretaries (CS) examinations held in December, 2011were declared on February 25 to all regional and chapter offices of the institute throughout the country. 

Results are available with subject wise break-up of marks on the institute's website, www.icsi.edu. Also the ICSI has extended the facility of downloading e-result-cum-marks statement for examinees of the foundation and executive programmes. The results are sent through e-mail by the institute to such of those students who had registered their requests along with their e-mail ids on the institute's website. 

The next examinations of company secretaries for foundation programme, executive programme and professional programmes respectively, will be held from Saturday, the June 2 - 9, for which the last date for receipt of enrolment applications together with requisite examination fee is March 26.

(www.icsi.edu)

60% dip in PhDs at Mumbai University over 4 yrs

The contribution of PhD research at the University of Mumbai has dipped by close to 60 per cent in the past four years. The highest drop among doctoral graduates is in the pure science streams.

From 2008 to 2011, the number of PhD degrees awarded fell from 325 to 134, as per information provided by the MU's thesis department to RTI activist Anil Galgali. Several streams like commerce, human physiology, medicine, labour studies, molecular biology, geology and African studies had no takers.

While the university officials said that the drop is due to decreasing interest among students in pursuing a PhD but many other senior academicians felt that it was the research quality that mattered and not the headcount.

"For close to a year in the period under question, the varsity was not functioning normally. There wasn't a full-time vice-chancellor and the elections to several academic bodies were due. Hence, the research and recognition committee (which clears PhD proposals and conducts vivas for graduating PhDs) was not in place for almost a year," said a senior Mumbai university official. H

He said he has cleared thousands of PhD proposals in the last one year and vivas for outgoing PhD fellows were being held on daily basis.

Faculty in the chemistry department, which saw the sharpest fall from 85 fellows in 2008 to 20 in 2011, said it was due to a faculty member who had retired and some others who had superannuated.

"There is no fall in interest of students wanting to do a PhD in chemistry," said V R Ajgaonkar from the department. Heads of several other schools noted that it was not correct to compare the annual PhD output of a university.

"The PhD isn't a tenured course. It depends on the individual pace of the student and the guide. Even one great PhD can change the course of how one lives," said a faculty.

Anitha Kurup, an associate professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, and Jagdish Arora, director, Information and Library Network Centre, who collated information on PhDs from across India between 1998 and 2007, found that Delhi is the PhD capital of the country.

It has produced over 73% (7,872) of the total doctoral theses in the country. Uttar Pradesh is a distant second (5,421) followed by Maharashtra 8% (3,942).

Source: www.indiaeducationreview.com

Mainstream they must swim but it’s best to start them on the side

Meenal Chopra, 15, was in a "special needs" school till Class IX. She now likes it at the Rohini private school she attends but would have felt more comfortable if her teachers were better equipped to handle visually-impaired kids like her. "In my previous school, there were trained teachers who looked after us. But the environment didn't allow much freedom. I am more independent here. Though the teachers are helpful, they aren't fully trained to deal with our needs," she says. Chopra's admission into a mainstream school was facilitated by the All India Confederation of the Blind.

This is the reality for many disabled children placed in mainstream schools. Although there are policies promoting integration of disabled kids - identified as children with special needs or CWSN by Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) - experts and activists say attempts at mainstreaming have largely failed in Delhi.

"Is the system accessible?" asks G Syamala of Action for Ability Development and Inclusion (AADI). It's a rhetorical question, really. "Putting a disabled child into a regular school doesn't mean successful integration. A child who cannot see will depend on hearing and a child who cannot hear will depend on sight. Are books available in all these formats?" she asks.

According to 2009-10 SSA data, all government schools in Delhi (3,475) have "barrier-free access" - school buildings have ramps and handrails. "When a child is two-and-a-half, she needs to be put into playschool which requires kids to be toilet-trained. These schools don't know how to handle a child who is not talking or walking," says Syamala.

"After RTE, no school can reject the application of a child on the basis of disability but they are expected to learn a lot before they enter - taking care of self, managing the environment. A child with impairment needs more help and more time. But schools are not ready to give that." Even the admission procedure is difficult as parents are asked to take their kids to "special schools" or pressed to produce "disability certificates".

Dr Madhumita Puri of Society for Child Development, says that the student-to-teacher ratio in regular schools doesn't help either. "A teacher with a class that's filled to capacity gets nervous if a child with special needs is put in. She is not only unsure of her own competence to handle the child but the necessary equipment is also limited. That's when the marginalization happens."

"Training of teachers is important. If teachers aren't equipped to handle disabled kids, the latter will drop out," says an expert on inclusive education (IE). She says categorically that part of SSA "hasn't taken off in Delhi. However, SSA data from end-2010 claims that 88.94% of CWSN (12,068 out of 13,568) have been enrolled in schools - a statistic that most activists and experts working in the field reject. "A major chunk of the disabled in Delhi is out of school," she says, "Usually, only enrolled kids are included in the data." She goes on to explain that private schools don't solve the problem either. "In most private schools, there's only partial mainstreaming, not full inclusion," she says. And "special needs" wings of such schools are too expensive. "These schools spend more on resources and special educators and most children can't afford that," says another activist. However, there are also cases, where disabled children have been successfully integrated into mainstream courses like commerce and science. Rohan Garg, 16, who's visually impaired, was admitted into the commerce stream of a reputed private school. He's only being charged the regular fees and finds the teachers very supportive.

"Delhi has two sets of agencies - both central and state - yet it has nothing," comments Javed Abidi, an IE-expert. With too many agencies in the field, no one takes ownership. There are lots of NGOs but the government hasn't entered into partnerships with them," he says. Under SSA, there are 250-300 resource teachers and about 100 volunteers, which is nowhere near the kind of manpower required to tackle the disability sector. For that reason, a 90-day training programme for teachers was formulated with Rehabilitation Council of India. But, its enforcement had been hugely resisted.

"Even the 90-day training is not a comprehensive programme. It's only a foundation-course that teaches how to identify the disabled and refer them to special educators," says a senior government official. Shanti Auluck of Muskaan says that for the professionals who come into the field, it's the last option. "The quality of training is no

Of coaching classes and board exams

Every year, thousands of students in the country take a break after Class XII and enroll in coaching classes at Kota for various entrance exams. However, in Jaipur, most students prefer to clear such competitive exams along with their Class XII board exam.
If the coaching institutes are to be believed, the number of such students simultaneously attending their classes is around 30% of the total number of students taking coaching in various institutes. Most of the students are just appearing to get a feel of the examination so that in future they would be able to give a shot properly. Others hope they have a fair chance to clear the competitive exams. The latter are inspired by the success stories of students who cleared the competitive exams in the first attempt.
Mukesh Gupta, a Class XII student of a private school and a resident of Vidhyadhar Nagar, has a busy schedule as he has to begin his day early to attend the school and then attend coaching classes in the evening. Most students in his class too have enrolled in coaching classes and despite the fact that the board exams are only less than 10 days away, they continue to attend coaching classes regularly, he said.
"I think there is no harm in appearing for competitive tests like AIEEE this year. But I have to strike a balance between my Class XII studies and competitive exams," he said.
Vice-president (operations and business development) of a coaching institute, Manoj Sharma said: "I think more than 30% of students preparing for IIT, AIEEE and medical entrance examination in our coaching institutes are those who are also appearing for the board examinations."
Since a lot of students are appearing in competitive exams simultaneously with board exams, most students and parents feel that there should be some in-house training available in schools. "It would help if the schools themselves had some arrangement to include preparations for competitive exams as a routine. This would reduce the pressure on the children, who strive hard to score well in both the boards and competitive exams,'' said Manoj Kumar Sharma, father of a Class XII student Ashish.
However, Principal of Neerja Modi School Kanak Khanna said: "CBSE does not allow us to help the students to prepare for competitive schools." St Xavier's School vice-principal CK Punnoose said: "Since the syllabus of competitive exams is vast and different, it is not possible to give coaching for entrance exams as there are all kinds of students in schools. So, there are chances that we may get complaints that some students are not coping up with the studies. So we are not providing any coaching for entrance exams."
Besides, a private school official said that the coaching institutes are following the formula of catching them young. "I do not know how they approach the students individually to lure them to coaching centres. It has changed the entire culture," she said.

Young talent

When children take responsibility to make an impact in their own life and the life of other children, we see a change, more so, when children who have less opportunities take the lead. Meet a group of children who used a creative opportunity to not just empower themselves but to work for other children. 

Manoj Basu, whose father is a driver and mother, a maid, did not allow his background to affect his willingness to learn about robotics and make a vacuum cleaner for other children. A student of class IX from Lord Mahavira School, Noida, he and his team members showcased the project in I CAN, a one-day festival organised by Dreaming Child Productions and Vidya and Child School in the NCR region recently. 

Their team made a vacuum cleaner toy car after a bit of research on the net. "We used a toy car and attached a trolley to the toy car so that the dirt is collected in the trolley. The trolley also had wheels attached to it. To power the car, we used two batteries of six volts each. We used a sun board, paint brushes, which were attached on the opposite side of the trolley. These brushes would collect dirt and put it in the trolley. We had a remote control to control the movements of the car," says Basu. 

Talking about the challenges that the team faced while making the vacuum cleaner, Basu says, "We didn't know what battery size to use for the motor. We used a large one and the batteries were fused. It took us timke to understand the kind of batteries that could be used for the model," says Basu. Making the vacuum cleaner toy car was a new experience for them and this has encouraged him. 

"We didn't make the vacuum using any kind of software and so the next time, we make something, we want to try and develop it through software," he concludes. 

The one-day festival also showcased work in areas such as robotics, electronics, filmmaking, set design, architecture, film-editing, choreography and mass communication. 

‘Pride of Place’- needs to be instilled in young Indian minds

One of my observations in my dealing with graduate/postgraduate students is- most of them are not aware of the contributions made by 'pioneers of science' in India. In other words they are almost ignorant about how modern science started in our country, who were the people who made that start possible, in what circumstances they did it and what has been the impact of their work on Indian science and society. 

During my interaction with students I came to realize that most of them are not familiar with the names like PC Ray, PC Mahalnobis, Birbal Sahni, JC Bose, GN Ramchandran, Meghnad Saha, S. N. Bose, S.S. Bhatnagar, etc. Of course, they are superficially familiar with   the relatively famous names of CV Raman, Vikram Sarabhai, and Homi Bhabha, but not so exactly with their work and contribution. A large number of them go for CSIR-NET/JRF test, but majority do not care to know, how CSIR came into existence, who were the people to put in efforts to build it. 

In my opinion, it will certainly make sense for all of us involved in science education and research to make our students aware of the stalwarts of Indian science. This will make them feel pride over the place they belong to, i.e. India. One may ask, why it is important to know about what people did in past, while some of their work might have gone obsolete? Answer is: it will be more useful to Indian students to learn what type of difficulties were/are faced in India while setting laboratories or doing research, and how they can be solved, than to learn from examples of foreign countries which may be more advanced in Science but problems faced there and the ways to solve them may be quite different from those in India. If young minds of India will know about the greats India has produced in Science/Technology, they certainly will be able to feel some 'pride of place' over their motherland. It will make them believe that good science can be done in India itself. 

While reading about history of modern science in India, students will surely come across biographies of various scientists/science administrators. Reading those biographical sketches will not only make them aware about the evolution of scientific infrastructure in India, but it will also provide them an opportunity to know what personal qualities  in general are possessed by those who have achieved high degree of scientific excellence. Doing so, even if a small fraction of our large student population (actually all those doing science, for that matter) gets motivated towards development of certain personality traits (e.g., respect for time, discipline, etc.) it can bring a sizable optimistic change in the way Science is looked up to in our country. I believe being familiar with the evolution of scientific research in one's own country can be of great help in nurturing a scientific temper. 

In India, different professions enjoy different social status. There are enough reasons to believe that a scientific career in India is not the one among most sought after. Public perception of a scientific career will also become more positive if those who have contributed significantly towards establishment of scientific tradition in India, are brought to limelight. Our pupils definitely know Jawaharlal Nehru as a political leader, but how many are aware about the role he played in boosting science in newly independent India. Similarly the role played by scientists (such as M N Saha, Vikram Sarabhai, etc.) in areas other than science, should also not remain unsung. 

While going through the times and life of our notable scientists and/or science administrators, students will also understand, that it is not only money which can serve as motivation. Much stronger motivation can be derived from the possibility (which is created after accepting science as a career) of developing/discovering/inventing something new. Once students (and all those who are into science) understand what actually serves as motivation for a true scientist/researcher, many of them will stop comparing financial remunerations in science with those in Management or Information Technology. 

As we have Research Methodology as a component of syllabus, History of Science can also be included as a component of curriculum. This history of course, can not be just collection of dates and events, but it should be serving towards acclimatization of the young mind in a scientific context. Once the pride of place is generated, it may do many goods. It may well inspire build up of quality journals of Indian origin, which may be preferred over equivalent foreign journals. Introducing the practice of formal discussions (through University/college level science clubs) on how science interacts with culture of a nation or society, role of scientists as a citizen- outside their narrow field of research, will certainly prove fruitful. 

Finally, even if History of Science (in India) may not be a part of our formal curriculum, teachers must talk it to their students in informal sessions. Professors shall do well by making their students aware of roots of modern scientific research in India.

If they can make students derive motivation / inspiration from life of our own scientific heroes, they may find, that many of the things they wanted to tell their students (e.g. what is the broader meaning of discipline in a laboratory, why a researcher needs to be somewhat immune to a variety of tempting distractions, how to handle criticism on one's research, what one needs to care for grammar while writing a scientific paper, etc.) are already been grasped by them from their reading of scientific history. No doubt, history is about the time which has passed; present context and the research problem of today are very much different from those of past, but the attitude, skill, and above all the scientific temper required to solve them remains the same all the time.

BY: Dr. Vijay Kothari, Assistant Professor, Nirma University, Ahmedabad

Source:http://www.indiaeducationreview.com/article/%E2%80%98pride-place%E2%80%99-needs-be-instilled-young-indian-minds

Bumps galore, it’s an unequal race

A handful of youths rendered disabled by polio joined college this year. They are also professional dancers with their wheelchairs and crutches doubling as stage props. Gulshan Kumar, Vijay Kumar, Ajay Kumar and Manish Kumar were all drawn out of their homes, often against the wishes of their parents, trained as dancers for years by an NGO and placed in schools. Belonging to economically weak families, these kids, once considered liabilities, are now supporting their families.

"We prepare the disabled for independent thinking and living free of cost," says Syed Salauddin Pasha of the Ability Unlimited Foundation (AUF) that works mostly with disabled kids coming from economically weak backgrounds. He teaches them to dance, do yoga and sword-play - all on wheelchair.

In 2011, one of his wards, Gulshan Kumar, affected by polio, even broke the world record for wheelchair-spinning. "We work as professionals and our efforts are funded by shows. When we started, I had to keep writing to festival organizers to get a platform for my students. They'd not reply or refused outright. This year, we had to turn down offers for many shows. We were just not free," says Pasha.

However, few get a break like that. The support structure for the disabled in Delhi is incomplete - even 17 years after the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995, came into being, work on it is going painfully slow. Even the existing systems do not work in tandem with each other. Occupational therapy is available in hospitals and even private centres but getting to these places is difficult. Public transport is hopelessly inaccessible to the disabled, especially to those with locomotive disabilities; roads are dangerous for the wheelchair-bound.

The means for diagnosis and identification of disability are easy but referrals and follow-ups are rare; awareness is growing among parents but information about existing resources and support systems are scattered. Most facilities are in private hands and medical help, considered the only remedy instead of alternative lifestyles, is forbiddingly expensive. "The approach to the rehabilitation of the disabled," says Arun C Rao of The Deaf Way Foundation, "is fundamentally flawed".

"You can't thrust a hearing-aid or medical procedures such as cochlear implants at the deaf and consider them rehabilitated," continues Rao. "There has to be regular follow-up and monitoring, which are missing. But for the disabled person, it's a life-long matter. Rehabilitation involves improvement of the quality of life, requiring help on all fronts - medical, social, educational and vocational." Parents look for a permanent solution. "I've known many families that have gone bankrupt looking for a cure," says G Syamala of the Action for Ability Development and Inclusion (AADI).

Most importantly, the process of rehabilitation for those born with disabilities has to start early. "Facilities are available in urban areas but how many people know about them? A child is brought into an OPD and his parents have specific questions. If those aren't answered and the doctor omits details, it leaves the parents clueless. By the time the parent learns about available help, valuable time is lost," says Dr Madhumita Puri, executive director, the Society for Child Development.

The concept of screening babies at birth for any kind of impairment and referral to specialists and organizations exists in many parts of the world, even developing ones such as Brazil. In India, disabilities do get spotted but referrals and follow-ups are absent, even for new-borns, making early interventions almost impossible. "If the mother doesn't see any support or any resources, the child becomes a liability," says Syamala.

Institutions catering to the disabled exist but are woefully few and, often, very expensive. "With growing awareness among parents, the demand is about 70% higher than what we are able to give. And typically, such centres deal with specific needs of a particular impairment. But there is also co-morbidity, associated problems such as low self-esteem and depression that are not addressed," says Dr Bhavna Burmi, clinical and child psychologist with Fortis Escorts.

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CBSE students in Nashik prefer board exams over internal tests

The purpose of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)'s plan to make board exams optional in class X seems to be defeated in Nashik.

While in the last year, a big chunk of students from class X opted out of board exams, this year the numbers are reduced to single digits in most city schools. Worried about closing down their options instate institutions, most students have opted for board exams.

Some of the schools have even asked students to appear for the board exams only. The plan was introduced in the academic session in 2010-11 to reduce unnecessary stress caused due to the boards. Last year, Kendriya Vidyalaya 1 in Deolali had only 17 students opting for the board exams. The rest of them preferred the school based assessment, where schools conducted an internal test.

"After the results were out, our students had to run around to get multiple approvals. Students who were interested in taking up admissions to state's junior colleges managed to get seats which were left after the mainstream admissions were over. Even after the admissions were given, they did not have the board certificate which was mandatory for their admissions in junior colleges," said Shiny George, the principal of Kendriya Vidyalaya 1 in Deolali. She added that students interested in polytechnic courses offered by the state were disappointed after they learnt that the school assessment results will not get them admissions.

"Polytechnic courses ensure a lateral entry in to engineering courses in the second year. Many students aspire to get into engineering courses via this channel," added George.

In another Kendriya Vidyalaya in Nashik city, only 25% students had opted for the board exams last year. This year, however, the school asked all its students to appear for the board exams.

The vice-principal said that most students, who are interested in the state level entrance exams, prefer moving to the state board colleges post class X. "However, with a centralised test for medical and engineering admissions, there should not be any problem in future," added the principal.

Vice principal M Sawhney, from Army Public School in Deolali, said that last year they had maximum number of students appearing for the school based-exam, however, those the numbers have drastically come down this year. "This year more than 60% of students are appearing for the board exams as they wish to move out of CBS board," said Sawhney.

Dearth of PhDs: Mumbai university to focus more on research

ing out several measures. The commerce facility, in particular, has been clearing pending research proposals and conducting workshops to encourage teachers to take up guideship in their respective fields of specialization.

The research and recognition committee (RRC) for commerce has been clearing proposals. "There were pending proposals for more than a year on research topics. Now, we have been clearing at least 10-15 proposals in every meeting," said Madhu Nair, dean of commerce, MU.

The university is also working on the supply and demand aspect. "There is a dearth of PhD guides in the university. Commerce has around 44 guides, exclusive of management guides. We are now holding workshops to explain to teachers the procedure to get their papers published. We are also training them in writing papers. A PhD holder is given guideship on basis of the number of papers they have published in their names," said Nair.

He added that the commerce department is attempting to increase the number of guides to 100 soon.

Leadership Traits in Tough Times

Trying to grow your business in this sluggish economy is a little like trying to swim through Jell-O. Ineffective or uncertain leaders definitely need not apply.

 

So what does it take to lead a small business through this ongoing economic mess? Here's a roundup of the important traits for entrepreneurs in 2012:

1. Listen. Tune in to what workers and customers are saying, and you'll find great ideas for how to move forward.
2. Give credit. Workers love leaders who acknowledge their ideas.
3. Be yourself. In our age of sound bites and phony smiles, tell your story honestly. It's rare and refreshing, and makes workers feel like they know you -- and want to help you succeed.
4. Communicate. So much company dysfunction can be prevented with clear communication. Otherwise, workers are in the dark. And soon, they won't care.
5. Don't be trendy. Avoid the "strategy du jour" problem. Choose a course and stick to it.
6. Beat anxiety. Stop worrying and turn your negative emotions -- regret, fear, sadness -- into teachers that help shape your character.
7. Be service-oriented. Leaders can be sort of self-involved, forgetting that they are in a position of leadership. To serve customers, shareholders and workers stay focused on others.
8. Be accountable. Define the results you want, and acknowledge when a screw-up is your fault.
9. Use empathy. Demographic changes have foisted more and more women into the workplace. Make sure your communication and leadership style is a fit for today's workforce.
10. Share the big picture. If your workers don't know the company's overall goals, it can be hard for them to solve problems. That leaves you having to micromanage every problem instead of being able to delegate and offer guidance.
11. Keep your cool. The days when being a screamer worked are long gone. If workers are worried about whether you're in a good mood today or not, little gets done.
12. Think like an immigrant. When you arrive on new shores, you often see the business world with fresh eyes. Use your unique perspective to spot opportunities others are missing.

CBSE exams from March 1

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) final exams for classes X and XII will start from March 1. The first exam for Class X will be painting and for Class XII it will be English.

CBSE regional officer K K Choudhury said, "The preparation for the examinations has already started. The question papers have already been dispatched from Delhi to the different centres. There are around 285 centres all over the northeast, and around 753 schools in the northeast from which approximately 85,000 candidates of classes X and XII would be appearing for the exams."

He added that although at the senior secondary level, that is, Class XII, students can opt for either board-conducted school-conducted examination, it is seen that in the northeast, students prefer the exam conducted by the board.

The regional officer also said that this year, CBSE has introduced the board's international curriculum in Indian schools and this has been notified to schools in the northeast as well.

"The CBSE international curriculum would be more project-based and the schools would now offer both the courses for students to choose from. The CBSE international curriculum would vary across regions as we have included region-specific issues and important historical events in the social science subject," Choudhury said.

That international curriculum needs to be handled differently altogether, as it is quite unlike the regular course, but it would surely benefit the students, he said.

The CBSE curriculum is also stressing more on vocational subjects, and hospitality and tourism are the latest subjects that have been introduced in the curriculum. "Vocational subjects are the need of the hour and the idea is to provide the students the option of studying subjects that would help them professionally after the board finals," the CBSE regional officer said.

‘Keep SMS lingo away from answer sheets’

Exam fever is running high with the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinations beginning on Tuesday. While students are busy preparing for their papers, lecturers and exam moderators are busy sharing last minute advice with their students. While "Don't Panic" seems to be the most common advice, another common feature students are being advised against is the use of SMS lingo during examinations.

"We still get some answer sheets with these errors. Whenever we come across such mistakes in papers during moderation, we keep briefing our own college students on the same," said Kamakshi Mohan, professor at SIES College and an Economics paper moderator. While professors agreed that use of SMS lingo in answer sheets has come down in the past few years, some students still opt for the easy way out.

"Once the answer sheet is checked by an examiner, it goes to the moderator for a second round of correction and these are the exact silly mistakes that moderators are looking for. Answer sheets are scrutinised very carefully so it is important that students avoid spelling mistakes and SMS lingo," said Jyoti Thakur, head of the science department at Jai Hind College.

Examiners also collectively agreed that these errors are mostly found in papers like History, Economics and especially English. "English is an exceptionally lengthy paper and invariably, students end up using short cuts in answers. I have found a lot of mistakes especially towards the end of the answer sheet," said a moderator for the subject.

The moderator added that often students from the commerce stream make these mistakes. "Students from the Arts stream are very careful about the language they use and Science students cannot afford to take short-cuts," she added.

Allan Danis, science student from St Andrews' College, Bandra, said, "Most of the words that I tend to write in abbreviated forms are the smaller ones, which are used very often in the paper. While writing bigger words, I am careful and have never used SMS language. Our teachers have warned us before the exams. For English, we have to be extra cautious."

Against all odds - An Inspiring story of a teacher

An economically weak background with few opportunities did not daunt Vandana (17), the daughter of a parking attendant at Nehru Place who dreams to become a teacher and is working towards fulfilling her dream. 

She has already taken the first step by joining English classes at ILSC-Education Group in Malviya Nagar. "The first day I came to ILSC, I was nervous being around foreigners. Everyone here was speaking in English," says Vandana. 

Six months later, she can speak fairly well English and is developing into a confident young woman. 

The ILSC 'Learn to Earn' programme for girls fosters English communication skills and developing self-confidence, it aims to provide inclusion in the society and give girls a job placement with local businesses for free. 

Integrating skills 
"For us, this is more than just teaching English and equipping them with language skills. We want the girls to have a holistic development and make them aware of the world. We take in girls who are between 16 -25 years old with a minimum educational level of class VIII," says Jason Flaming, director, ILSC, New Delhi. The school supplies the stationary and textbooks for free. 

The Learn to Earn programme is sponsored by donations from the ILSC schools in San Francisco, Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, as well as private donations from individuals and corporations in Canada. 

On their way of teaching English, Flaming informs that they do not follow the teacher-centric, chalk and talk system, but involve students in a creative and student-centered way. 

Flexible teaching 
"Our teachers are trained to find ways to help students discover language in a deeply personal and contextual way - this means not just using the classical textbook approach, but rather learning through the use of puzzles, pictures, role-plays, and music. We are also looking to empower our students and help them develop confidence so that they can explore an ever-increasing world of possibilities. We lay emphasis on speaking and listening but students also learn basic things like grammar, reading, writing, and pronunciation. We also conduct a progress check every four weeks, which helps us provide feedback on the student's progress" he says. 

Internship 
Besides learning English, students are also given a 15 hour employment skills training that includes personality development, interview and business workplace preparation including writing e-mails and using social networking sites; as well as 20 hours of financial and life skills training. 

"We train the girls on how to open a bank account, use of credit and debit cards, learn about interest rates and the importance of saving and assistance in getting government identification cards. The students are given Rs 500 every month to cover their daily expenses, such as transportation and lunch," informs Flaming. 

The students are also paired with international students through a 'buddy programme.' 

At the end of the programme, the girls are placed in one-month internships in the service or hospitality sector. Here half of the participant's salary is paid by ILSC, while the other half by the business owner. 

"We are looking for more partnerships in different sectors and seeking to bring on small businesses that would be interested in hiring on the girls with their newly minted language and interpersonal skills," he concludes.

Follow a proper diet plan during exams: Nutritionists

Board exam anxiety lead students to either eat too much or lose their appetite completely. Hence, during the exam time, a well charted out study plan is not all you need to be concerned about. A properly designed diet plan also helps to keep one up and alert, believe dietitians.

Students, with the high level of stress and a haywire schedule during the exams, need to be especially careful about their diet and nutrition. Nutritionists suggest taking in the right amounts of calories, protein and many other important constituents of food. They also say one should avoid heavy, greasy food during examination period.

"Students must ensure they get sufficient calories, proteins and all micronutrients. They should make an effort to have adequate amount of water so that they don't get dehydrated as most exams take place during summertime," advised city-based nutritionist A N Radha. She also suggests including pro biotic foods like curd and buttermilk as they help the functioning of the digestive system and alert brains.

It is not just tradition or its cooling properties that make curd an essential food for kids during exams. Being rich in potassium, curd taken with jeera powder can help reduce blood pressure, too," informed dietitian Anju Mahurkar. "Vitamin D is also important and can be consumed in the form of tablets or fermented and sprouted food. Another brain food is milk with gulkand or kesar. The food during examinations should largely be satvik," she suggested.

"Studying at odd hours mostly leads to munching on crispies. Instead kids could opt for fruits like grapes or juices when burning the midnight lamp. Ideally, their food must be rich in protein and low on calories and carbohydrates, as such foodstuffs can induce lethargy and also cause them to fall sick," suggested nutritionist Divya Thakkar. Some options that she thought could be considered were milk, boiled eggs, moong or ragi chila, sprouts, oat or wheat flakes among others.

Dietitian Kavita Bakshi also said nuts like almonds and walnuts that are good for brain should be included in the diet. "Constantly sipping on aerated drinks or beverages should be avoided as it creates acidity. Another thing that should be avoided is having long gaps between meals. Children should be made to eat well and on proper times," she stressed.

Dietitian Rekha Khandwani said that the gap between two meals shouldn't be more than four or five hours. "One could consider starting the day with a glass of lemon water. Fruits and green leafy vegetables should form a big part of the diet. Dinner should be a light meal, preferably without rice," she added.

The diet plan:

Include proteins, while avoiding carbohydrates and fats

Make healthier choices when choosing munchies

Stay well hydrated

Consume a lot of fruits and juices in the diet

Eat well; don't starve yourself

Instead of big meals, take small portions at regular periods not more than four hours apart

Have more curd and buttermilk

Have a lot of milk, mixed with nuts, gulkand, or kesar

Include iron-rich green leafy vegetables in the diet

Avoid junk food and too many sweets

'No country can become successful on the back of an uneducated populace'

The RTE clearly is a landmark judgement in the direction of providing basic education to government school children. With such a vast majority of children yet to be educated, what are the bottlenecks that you perceive in the implementation of the act?

Challenges are inevitable in the execution of a vast programme such as the RTE. Lack of sound infrastructure is the major impediment that we face, physical space for the children's education is a constraint. Many government schools have limited classrooms, desks and benches which is the minimum required infrastructure. Teachers are inadequate and recruiting good quality teachers who are willing to teach is a problem. Absenteeism among the children too, is a major challenge. Getting the children to schools is not the problem, but the real challenge lies in retaining them. Having proper sanitation facilities is important for the girl students, as, after a certain age, girls need separate and clean toilet facilities and if they are not provided with adequate facilities, they go back home and do not return. The dropout rate of girls in government schools by class VIII is about 72% in some places, which is an alarming situation. No country in the world can become a successful power on the backs of an uneducated population, we have to give the children the right tools to be able to cope with the 21st century world economy. It is important to keep the children in schools until high school and thereafter offer them vocational training depending on their talent. There is a lot to be done.

Q- Why has the government reduced the allocation towards education in the last decade (4.2% in 1999-2000 3.8% in 2008-09)?

The GDP of the country has been on the rise and so has the budget, so even a lower percentage would be a higher sum of money, so there is more money going into education, I cannot confirm the accuracy of the figures but we should maintain the same percentage, so that when the economy goes up, the amount of money available for education also goes up.

Q- When many a villages do not have adequate electricity supply, how will the government ensure the success of the Aakash tablet programme?

Like I mentioned before that sound infrastructure is a problem which also includes electricity supply, but efforts are being made to bridge the gap between ambition and execution. The Aakash tablet is no doubt an excellent programme and it should not be curtailed for the lack of certain facilities. The balance of progress and remedy to challenges should go hand in hand.

Q- Is it a good trend among children to be exposed to social networking sites, where filtration of content cannot be guaranteed?

There is abundant learning and general awareness content that is available on these sites. There are many-a-forum where constructive debates and discussions on complex issues, can prove to be of a great understanding for students and children. There is no doubt, an import of matter that may not be suitable for children, at least not in their formative years of learning, in such cases, the parents can play a role in monitoring what their children view on such websites.

Technology makes learning complete

Technology is ushering in a revolution in the field of education. Through audio-visual assisted classes to long distance video-conferencing, technology is helping education become more of a practical and innovative learning exercise than bookish knowledge gained in classrooms. It has also helped enhance the magnitude of research and knowledge transfer among students. 

Educational institutes are offering technological tools to their students to help them learn better. Students today are also opting for institutes that offer them the IT advantage. Young students are aware of the benefits that technology based learning has to offer and they go by it to decide the kind of institutes they want to study at. Shama Nisha Singh, a college student, shares, "Technology plays a big role in increasing our information base on various subjects and that shows in the marks one scores." She adds that through technological tools "one can know what a student is learning in a subject in USA or Australia so that we can compare our syllabi and enhance our knowledge base". Shama is right as internet has made knowledge seamless and accessible and in this age of communication revolution no one can afford to remain ignorant. 

The transition from rote learning to tech-based education is clearly evident. Swanky laptops, CDs, and elearning are now part of everyday education. A leading academician explains, "Technology has brought about a huge transformation in the education system and rote learning is likely to diminish in the coming years". A couple of years back, online education was Greek and Latin to most people; today technology has finally arrived with a bang, and everyone has welcomed it. 

The majority of people in India comprise what is called the GenNext and it is imperative to provide them the right kind of education. While e-learning ensures that data quality remains the top-most priority, it also facilitates the development of content. 

Though setting up a technology-driven system is not an easy task, it has its own benefits. India has made giant strides in improving her education system, but a lot still needs to be done in terms of modernisation. The introduction of IT will not only aid the students but also the faculty, and as a result the overall efficiency of the system is bound to improve. 

With the introduction of technology, the younger lot will certainly take more interest in the curriculum. It is the best way to unleash their creativity. Thanks to the Internet, everything is available at the click of a finger (or a mouse). And, the students are making the best use of this technology. Today, it is required to replace notebooks and textbooks by 'laptops and presentations'. 

Sudhakar Bannerjee, a student, says, 'Technology is a great asset and should be used for betterment of education. However, technology needs a balanced approach". He adds that technological tools have enabled students to access information at a click. In such a situation teachers too need to widen their knowledge base as students can now put up questions on any and every topic. Technological advances have ensured that today no information is unavailable. Even parents can find out whether what is being taught is correct or not. 

With technological tools here to stay, it needs to be understood that they are just an assistance and can never substitute the knowledge a teacher can impart.