Teachers from India qualified to participate in E2

Be it maths, music, psychology or literature, education tools are changing the lesson plans in class. “We are moving towards a paperless classroom,” says Pooja Sachdeva, a teacher in Pathways World School, Aravalli. These educators are teaching a tech generation who view life through their devices. Hence, it has become even more important for them to embed technology in their teaching to keep students `hooked’ to their lessons, adds Brian Aspinal, a teacher from Canada.

Many teachers across the globe are using tools to enhance learning and achieve better student outcomes. However, usually these innovations in the classroom occur in isolation and the achievements go unnoticed. Therefore, E2 - Educator Exchange provides a platform for teachers and experts to share good practices and find solutions to 21st century challenges.

This year, around 300 teachers from 75 countries participated in E2, which was held in Budapest earlier this month. Says Anthony Salcito, vice president, Worldwide Education, Microsoft, that has been hosting the event for several years: “We bring together the most innovative educators from around the world to share their experiences on how to transform education. It is very inspirational.”

Eleven teachers from India qualified to participate in E2 this year and four were in the winning teams. This year’s theme was `Hack the Classroom,’ meaning innovations in the classroom. The conference highlighted innovative approaches such as using skype to engage students in lessons on climate change by connecting with scientists working in the Arctic region. Also, OneNote, a modern replacement of the paper notebook that allows teachers to collaborate with students in real time, creating, editing and grading assignments. And game-based learning like Minecraft, especially to help children with special learning needs, among other innovations.

In the group challenge --- Class Hack Competition, each group was assigned a 'hacker’ persona and teachers had to work in teams to identify a common problem that they face in the classroom and find a solution with the help of technology. The different `hacker’ personas were strategise, personalise, gamify, minimise and delocalise.

The Grand Prize Winner was the team that focussed on `The Multicultural Classroom:’ Migration is a major global challenge. Students new to a country oftentimes face inequity because of the language barrier. Teachers can use OneNote’s built-in translation tool to overcome this barrier by allowing new students to tell their story in their native language.

The new features of OneNote were launched during the conference. According to Mike Tholfsen, principal programme manager of OneNote, they gathered feedback from teachers to make the tool even more useful, and the main consideration was to save time for teachers.

On the key takeaway from the conference, Chandhirakala Venugopal from the Titan School in Hosur, says, ”It’s very useful to be introduced to new tools and also to find out how other teachers are embedding technology in their teaching methods.” Teachers from Nigeria echoed similar views, saying that though smartphones and other devices are now common in the classroom, but with erratic power supply they have to improvise. “At E2 I realised teachers from other countries face similar challenges but nevertheless implement tech tools. This is the first time we have travelled outside our country, so it’s learning beyond borders,” says Oluwakemi Olurinola, educational technologist at the Olabisi Onabanjo University.

Several teachers admitted that it’s the students who guide them about tech tools or games that can be educational. So in this tech era, both teachers and students are learning together.

10-year term soon for college principals

College principals are likely to have a fixed term of 10 years. The review committee set up by the University Grants Commission (UGC) has made this recommendation at its last meeting on Friday. If approved, all new appointments for college principals will be for 10 years. The principals can, however, have a second term of five years. At present, the principals retire at 65.

The UGC, in June 2010, had limited the tenure of the post of a college principal to five years in its new regulations for appointment of teachers and other academic staff in universities and colleges. The regulations on fixed term for college principals were opposed and the committee was asked to review the norms.

The UGC's regulations say that "the term of appointment of the college principal shall be of five years with eligibility for reappointment for one more term only after a similar selection committee process". In its final meeting on Friday, the review committee chaired by vice-chancellor of Delhi University, Dinesh Singh, recommended that the term of appointment of the college principal shall be of 10 years with eligibility for reappointment for one more term of five years only.

Shortage of teachers hits Std X students

Governmental mismanagement has yet again taken a crippling toll on schools in Maharashtra, reports Hemali Chhapia. Many state-aided institutions are grappling with teaching vacancies, forcing them to fall behind schedule. The disarray has affected all students but particularly of class X, who are gearing up for their first external examination.

The crisis has roots in a student census the state conducted last October in which it found lakhs of "bogus" pupils on schools' rolls. P 4

Reasoning that the survey showed many schools had surplus teachers, it stopped new appointments. Fresh hirings are used every year to fill 10,000 vacancies left behind by schoolteachers exiting the system. At the same time, it decided to take stock of additional teachers and move them to schools with a shortage. The process is a work in progress.

With no new appointments, many state-aided schools have been forced to use their existing staff to take additional lectures for no extra pay. In some schools, teachers have been urged to handle extra subjects. The worst affected have been students from higher classes.

State-wide, schools schedule their class X timetable in such a way that the syllabus gets completed by December or January, thereby giving students enough time to prepare for the board examinations. "But with insufficient teachers, the schedule is difficult to keep up with," confessed a principal of a Mumbai school.

School education director Sridhar Salunkhe insisted the state will "soon start the process of transferring surplus teachers to the schools that need them". The process was stayed because of a petition filed before the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay high court. Earlier this week, the court directed the state to present its plan of action within a month.

For schools wrestling with staff crunch, testing times may not end very soon. "The state will have to first draw up a list of surplus teachers and then assign them to the schools that need them based on qualifications. This is going to take a couple of months," admitted an official.

Aruna Galgali, principal of Poorna Pragnya High School, said the institution has been forced to cancel several classes because of lack of teachers. "I am facing a dharam sankat (moral dilemma). I feel guilty because we are not doing justice to the children. A few new teachers who have been appointed are working without a salary."

Sanjay Patil, treasurer of headmasters' association, too said several schools have cancelled classes or have asked teachers to shoulder additional workload. "I wish the government had managed this situation differently," he said.

P M Raut, president of the Mahamumbai School Teachers' Association, concluded, "Although the government wants quality education, it is not filling up teaching vacancies. How then do we provide good education?"

Teachers’ association to approach governor over fraud in Bharathiyar University polls

The war of words between the Association of University Teachers (AUT) and vice-chancellor of Bharathiyar University C Swaminathan rose to fever pitch on Wednesday, with the AUT choosing to write to the governor claiming that the recent election to the senate search committee was fixed.

The AUT has alleged fraud in the search for the new VC to Bharathiyar University. It said that the election to the senate search committee was flawed. The allegation has serious implications as it affects the entire process undertaken to elect a new vice-chancellor for the university.

"The VC ensured that his own man was elected as the search panel member of the senate," said C Pitchandy, general secretary, AUT. However, when contacted, Swaminathan said all due democratic process was followed in the elections to the search panel of both the senate and the syndicate.

In a press release, the AUT said it will write to the governor, who is the chancellor of the university, to reorganise the election process. The allegations and counter-allegations are being made against the backdrop of the election of S Saravanakumar, owner of Cumbum College of Arts and Science, as the senate search committee member.

The election was hotly contested by the AUT, whose candidate N Chenthamarai took only 65 votes while the candidate allegedly put up by the VC won 114 votes.

The AUT argues that the senate elections were fixed to favour the VC after the syndicate elections were decided unanimously. The higher education secretary had nominated the syndicate candidate to the search panel for choosing the VC and he had been elected unopposed.

According to the AUT, Saravanakumar is too inexperienced to be the senate search committee member, but the VC sees it as a pure battle of ballots. "In a democracy, the losing party should not grumble. I don't understand what the hue and cry is about. I know both candidates - Chenthamarai and Saravanakumar - very well. How can they say only Saravanakumar will propose my name when he hasn't even done so?" asked the VC.

The AUT also accused the VC of destroying the moral fibre of the senate and mobilising voters to win a numbers game.

Upto 7-yr jail proposed for teachers committing corporal punishment

Taking a tough stand on corporal punishment and ragging, the government has proposed changes in the law that would send offenders to up to seven years in jail. The changes will be made to the Juvenile Justice Act, which is being renamed as the Child Justice (Care, Protection and Rehabilitation of Children) Act.

This is the first time the government has defined corporal punishment and ragging in the proposed changes. For corporal punishment, a jail term of up to a year is being proposed in cases of simple injury and emotional distress to the child. For subsequent offences, it would be three years. A second conviction would also mean dismissal from service.

A five-year imprisonment has been proposed if a child is grievously hurt or subjected to severe mental trauma. A repeat of such an offence would invite a seven-year term.

There have been many cases of Corporal punishment in the country. To put things in perspective, a 2009-10 survey by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights among 6,700 students in seven states saw around 99% of them confirming punishment at the hands of their teachers.

Tough measures have also been proposed to check severe ragging — up to two years’ imprisonment, a fine of Rs. 10,000 or both. Ragging by an institution’s staff would put them at the risk of dismissal and a bar on working with children in the future.

The jail terms proposed are higher than those under the Indian Penal Code.

[Source: Hindustan Times]

Nearly 50,000 teachers will take Teachers' Aptitude Test today

Nearly 50,000 teachers will appear for the Teachers' Aptitude Test (TAT) examinations on Monday conducted by Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB). The test is being held for recruitment of teachers for class IX and X.

Officials said that the TAT exam will be held in main center of each district to facilitate more teachers from rural areas to easily take the test. The test will be held in two parts. Paper one will be test general knowledge while the second paper will subject based.

Officials said that blind teachers will be given permission to have writers to write their papers. However, the writers will be only class VIII pass. Blind candidates will be allowed 20 extra minutes for the first paper while 15 extra minutes will be allowed for the second paper.

Officials said that certain officers will be deployed in all the centers to curb copying. It needs mention that this is the second TAT exam which will be held. Earlier, 95,000 candidates had appeared for TAT in December to qualify for the position of secondary teachers for classes VIII, IX and X in government and grant-in-aid schools.

However, recruitments following the first TAT exam ran into rough weather after majority school managements refused to issue appointment letters to the teachers recruited by the state education department following TAT exams saying that the schools were not given any say in the recruitment which was unacceptable.

Eligibility test must for new CBSE teachers

The CBSE has now mandated that any new teacher recruited for standard I-VIII must have cleared the government-approved teachers' eligibility test. The central board has amended its affiliation by-law number 53 with immediate effect to implement the new guidelines across all schools in the country.

As per the decision, teachers who want to join any CBSE -affiliated school (for std I-VIII) must have passed the Central Teachers Eligibility Test (CTET) or the Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) which is conducted by the state government.

The newly introduced CTET is already proving to be a 'killer exam' going by the results of the two tests held so far. In the first edition of CTET held in 2011, about 87% teachers failed while 93% failed in the test held earlier this year.

Even though the new recruitment rules give an option to new teachers to clear either CTET or the much easier TET, in reality there is no choice. Since CTET is conducted by the CBSE itself, every affiliated-school management would prefer recruiting candidates who meet the central board's criteria. This has now become a big challenge for schools that have already started the recruitment process.Teachers react strongly against CBSE decision.

93% aspirants fail teacher’s eligibility test

With a staggering 93% of aspiring school teachers failing to clear the Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET) 2012, the quality of teacher training in the country has come under the scanner.

The results of the competency test conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education, declared on Tuesday, show that just around 7% of the 7.85 lakh managing to clear the exam.

Of the 8,61,231 aspirants registered of which 76,004 could not appear in the test due to the assembly elections in five states. Of the 7,85,227 aspirants who appeared only 55,422 managed to clear either paper I or paper II or both.

What's even more worrying that this year's performance is worse than the CTET in 2011, which recorded around 9% pass percentage. Meanwhile, after the dismal show last year, the Ministry of Human Resource Development has already asked the CBSE to analyse the results institution wise and has decided to provide feedbacks to teacher education institutions so that they can improve on their teaching and training.

The CTET was introduced in 2011 by the ministry to improve the quality of teaching in schools after the enactment of the Right to Education Act.

The CTET certification has been made mandatory to become a teacher for classes I to VIII in any central government school, while the CBSE affiliated schools can either recruit teachers based on the CTET or the respective test conducted by the states.

In fact, the Delhi government too decided to adopt the CTET for recruitment of teachers for government run and aided schools.

The CTET comprised two papers, paper I for teachers for classes I to V and paper II for classes VI to VIII. Aspirants who wish to get certified for classes I to VIII need to clear both the papers.

The objective is to test their knowledge on the syllabi - English, mathematics and environmental science.