Exam blues are here

It's that time of the year when stress levels are heightened in families with school-going kids. Stress during exams is common. But the key is to see that it does not spiral out of control. Students preparing for SSLC and PU exams have started consulting psychiatrists and counsellors unable to cope with the stress. Sleeplessness, headaches, anxiety and poor memory are some of the symptoms associated with exam stress students as final examinations near. To beat the stress, many students in this education hub in the state, have started approaching psychiatrists here. The practice of students consulting psychiatrists on the eve of examinations has increased over the years in this region.

Increasing pressure to score good marks in exams, parental and peer pressure to excel has increased stress levels among students, says Anil Kakunje, associate professor in psychiatry, Yenepoya Medical College. Anil, also the secretary of Mangalore Psychiatrists Society, says five years ago on an average around two students would approach him between January and March, the exam time. "But for the past few years, I have been counselling at least six students every day, during January-March," he adds. Most students today, he explains, are unable to concentrate on studies due to mobiles, computers and their obsession with social networking sites,

There are nearly around 30 psychiatrists in the city. PUC and SSLC students are so much involved in preparing for exams and many a times they are not seen out on play grounds, like undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Children today don't have time for extracurricular activities which decreases stress levels tremendously, said Dr Safeek AT, professor in psychiatrics of Father Muller Medical College.

On Monday, Dr KS Madhava Rao, a psychiatrist, got a call informing him of a II PU science student attempting suicide unable to cope with exam pressure. Madhava, also the president of Karnataka State Psychiatrists Association, said that the student had consumed tablets in a bid to end her life.

He says most PU students who approach him are from science stream. "Parents fail to gauge the aptitude of their children. The pressure to perform well weighs heavily on them. During counselling many science students who are depressed tell me that they will not take the exams. The next year, they will shift to arts or commerce," he adds.

During exam period, Rao has at least three students who consult him every week. The rest of the year, he sees just about two students a month.

Psychiatrists have another piece of advice for troubled students. Consult them at the earliest. Don't leave it for the nth hour. "Many students approach us just a few days prior to the exams," says Dr Satheesh Rao, Department of Psychiatry, KS Hegde Medical Academy. "We provide medication to them as they come very late. It's not easy to cure their disorders within a short period of time. If students come earlier, instead of medication, we can do psychotherapy and counselling," he explains.

Shrinivasa Bhat, another psychiatrist, says his clients approach him to enhance their memory and concentration. "Most students, who consult me are academically good. They want to improve their memory. But most students suffer from insomnia and headaches during exam," he adds.

Is Right to Education Act applicable to nursery admission, high court asks Centre

Indicating a sense of urgency, the Delhi high court on Tuesday began a special hearing on the nursery admission case and gave the Centre a day to clarify its stand on whether the Right to Education Act is applicable to nursery classes.

"Two things you need to make clear. Is the Right to Education Act applicable on nursery admission or not and if not applicable, then what is the procedure to be followed for the nursery admission?" said a bench of Chief Justice D Murugesan and Justice V K Jain. The court made it clear that in case no affidavit is filed by the Centre, it will pass an order as the admission process is on hold and it can't afford any further delay.

The court had earlier reserved its verdict on a PIL challenging two government notifications that gave powers to unaided private schools to formulate own criteria for nursery admissions. But the bench explained why it decided to hold a special hearing. "We had reserved our order. We could have taken a stand on the applicability of the Act on the nursery admission, but we wanted to know your (Centre) views also."

Seeking an affidavit, HC pointed out if the RTE Act should start from Class I, what will happen to Section 13 which may be redundant as seats in school is exhausted at the entry level in private schools, making it difficult for new students to enter at the age of 6.

"If it is not applicable (to nursery admission), what is the purpose," the bench said and fixed the matter for hearing on Wednesday.

Additional solicitor general Rajeeve Mehra, arguing for the Centre, had sought two days' time to respond to queries. He, however, argued that RTE Act stipulates that a child, between the age group of 6 to 14, would be treated as a child covered under the legislation and, hence, the nursery admission would not be under its purview. But the court was unhappy with the delay by the Centre in clarifying its stand and said it should file an affidavit.

Earlier, the court had reserved its order on the PIL, filed by NGO Social Jurist, against two notifications, issued by the HRD ministry and Directorate of Education of the Delhi government, respectively. The notifications gave schools the power to formulate their own admission criteria, the PIL said.

During one of the hearings, HC had made it clear that its decision on the PIL would also affect nursery admissions for the 2013-14 academic session. Filed by Social Jurist, the PIL alleged that the notifications gave "a totally free hand to all unaided recognized private schools to formulate their own nursery admission criteria based on categorization of children...". However, the categorizations of children in admission have specifically been barred by the RTE Act, it said, adding that some schools still give preferences in admission on grounds such as religion, alumni and sibling.

A federation of private schools, however, opposed the PIL, saying that the private institutions cannot be forced to "toe" the diktat so far as the admission process is concerned.

Question bank for NEET, JEE now on website

Officials of Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) said that the question bank for HSC (science) students preparing for the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE), the common engineering test and National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET), common medical entrance test for admission to colleges across India, has been uploaded on the board's official website. Students can download the material for free and use it to prepare for the entrance exams.

Officials also said that a helpline for SSC and HSC board students and their parents, will be launched from Friday. The toll-free number of the helpline is 1800 233 5500. The helpline will be active from February 15 to March 25. Students can call at any time from 8 am to 8 pm.

Later, the helpline will be activated from April 8 to 16 for students and parents who have questions regarding the Gujarat Common Entrance Test as well NEET and JEE.

Students seeking answers for questions regarding the exams and those feeling anxious and stressed can call the helpline. The number will be manned by both education and psychological counselors.

It needs mention that the board launched the question bank on February 6, for the benefit of students. Since there was tremendous response, the board decided to upload the question bank on its website.

"Given the response from students, there would have been an issue reprinting booklets. Plus, the students had to come to the DEO in each district to take the booklets. Hence we decided to upload the booklet for the benefit of the students," said a board official.

Officials said the question bank consists of 3,015 questions in physics, 3,488 in chemistry, 4,789 in biology and 1,980 questions in maths.

SSC internal assessment in Maharashtra to be reduced to 20 marks

The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education has proposed to reduce the internal assessment marks of secondary school certificate (SSC, std X) examination to 20 from the next academic year.

The change will be applicable for science and mathematics subjects, board chairman Sarjerao Jadhav told TOI on Monday.

"As per the revised syllabus, the internal assessment for std IX is of 20 marks. It will have to be continued for std X as well. The proposal is not yet cleared by the government but the chances are that it will get the nod," Jadhav said.

At present, mathematics has 150 marks, including 30 marks for internal assessment. It will be reduced to 100 marks - 40 marks each for the algebra and geometry written examinations and 20 marks for internal assessment. Students would have two-and-a-half hours for the 80-mark written exam, Jadhav said.

For science subjects, currently, theory is a 60-marks paper and internal assessment is for 40 marks. But from 2013-14, the internal assessment will be reduced to 20 marks while theory paper will be of 80 marks.

The state government has decided to revise the marks weightage to bring parity with the CBSE examination pattern. This will help the government to resolve issues like the 'best five' calculations, which had caused controversy, he added.

All except 160 institutions come under RTE: Govt

The government has told the high court that in Bangalore, except for 160 minority institutions notified by the education department, others will come under the purview of RTE and that parents can apply for benefits in all such schools.

Earlier, the department issued a circular asking these institutions to get a certificate from the tahsildar to claim benefit as a minority under RTE. But from now on, only those who have registered under the National Commission for Minority Education institutions Act 2004 will get exemption from RTE.

The details of notified schools which come under RTE purview are there in the website for parents to check.

In a related development concerning free and compulsory education for all, Justice Huluvadi G Ramesh asked regional directors of both ICSE and CBSE institutions to appear before the court on February 12 to explain their stand on the issue.