(For those who do not know, Dhanada is a Ph.D in Civil Engineering from University of Michigan, is in his early forties, was principal of JITM after passing over many offers.)
From http://groups.yahoo.com/group/agamiorissa/message/2399.
As I sit in a review meeting of our campaign in the Cuttack office surrounded by eager young faces as zonal cordinators, state office functionaries, state head of projects etc., I am bombarded with passionate arguments about the progress of our efforts in the 180 blocks of 24 districts in different remote corners of the state. As we look in to the number of volunteers mobilised, numbers of those trained, numbers of classes started, the meeting erupts with arguments and counter-arguments. Some one doesn’t believe the numbers, some one defends vociferously as for a while I sit back and let the energy drain and enjoy the passion that people bring to their work as which is perhaps only possible in my new occupation! We discuss and debate our work culture, the need to open up more, to take more people with us in the campaign, the urgency and importance of motivating that grassroots level volunteer, the need for travelling to keep in touch and support each other, the enegy, the passion, the dedication to the cause stands out above the occasional din of arguments and counter-arguments. Welcome to the Read Orissa Campaign at its peak!
As I adjust in to this new life of no office, no 9-5 office hour, no Sundays to take a break, there has been very little opportunity to reflect on this dramatic transition from that of a volunteer to a full-timer, let alone write the experience down. When I relocated suddenly back to Bhubaneswar, to re-occupy my parents’s home leaving my job at JITM, Paralakhemundi behind, my parents as well as Babita’s (my wife) parents were perplexed with a tinge of concern as to what I was up to. I was not sure how to put it to them, other than saying that I am on a sabattical and will be working on social issues full-time. This was not very convincing for most of my family and well wishers and I had to make up some story like I am still working for JITM on their Bhubaneswar campus etc.
Continue Reading October 28th, 2007
Hindu magazine has a heart warming story on the Ruchika School and Ruchika Social Service Organization. A documentary film on Ruchika narrated by Robert Redford and shown in PBS is here. Following is an excerpt from Hindu article.
A young housewife, new to Bhubaneswar, started a pre-school in her house with two students: her sister’s daughter and the gardener’s daughter. Soon, she put up a small board, “Ruchika” on the gate. This attracted curious neighbours who got used to seeing a couple of children laughing and playing with a lady in the “posh” Forest Park house. The number of tiny tots soon grew to 11 and then 20.
Soon after, she started a school in a rented building. Ruchika was a school with a difference. Teachers took the students out to post-offices and railway stations, banks and bridges to give them a “feel” of what they learn in books, and “see” how things work. Every day, the lady saw a number of children from nearby slums peeping in at the gate. “But I didn’t have the freedom to open my own gates to those poor semi-clad children. We have stratified our society that way. That really hurt,” she now says.
Whenever she went to the railway station, she saw children with bright faces wiping compartment floors and begging from passengers. Inderjit Khurana’s husband was an engineer in the Army, and the Khuranas had moved to Bhubaneswar in 1970s. When asked what brought them to Bhubaneswar, Inderjit smiles, “Destiny”.
Idea that worked
Inderjit often thought of the children outside her gate and those bright faces covered with grime. She hit upon the unique idea of “Platform schools”. If a child cannot come to the school, the school should go to the child! She asked teachers in Ruchika if they would volunteer to teach the “platform children” early in the morning before they started their regular work. Only one, R.P. Dwivedi, the physical training instructor, agreed “provided you don’t sack me if I say ‘no’ after one month”. Ruchika’s Platform School was born, with one frail lady and a physical training instructor marking the boundaries of the “school” with chalk in one corner of the Bhubaneswar railway platform. The duo went with toys, paper, crayons, soap and towels. Platform children flocked in and “it was a joy to see them bathing and laughing. They drew, talked and asked very intelligent questions”, recalls Inderjit 27 years later.
October 28th, 2007
The following is excerpted from http://www.cbse.nic.in/welcome.htm. Please go to that site for up-to-date information. The information below was copied on October 19 2007. Its possible that the CBSE site may have updated information.
| Click here to download Information Bulletin |
| Important Information at a Glance |
| 1. |
Please read the instructions and proceed carefully before you start filling the application form. |
| 2. |
Examintion Fees |
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| GENERAL |
Rs. 400/- |
| SC/ST |
Rs. 200/- |
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| 3. |
Application can be submitted Online during 16.10.2007 (10:00 AM) to 26.11.2007 (05:00 PM) |
| 4. |
After successful submission of On-line Application Form, an Application Number along with confirmation page will be generated.
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| 5. |
Candidates are advised to take printout of confirmation page and paste his/her two recent photographs (as given in point 6 below), sign in the specified box and send this confirmation page along with Demand Draft by Registered/Speed Post to "The Deputy Secretary (AIPMT Unit), Central Board of Secondary Education, Shiksha Kendra, 2, Comunity Centre, Preet Vihar, Delhi 110 301" for further processing so as to reach on or before 28.11.2007. Application received after the last date will not be accepted.
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| 6. |
Photograph : Firmly affix two recent good quality color passport size photograph (taken on or after 1.9.2007) with gum/fevicol (not to be pinned or stapled) in the space provided for it in the Application Form, one duly attested by the Principal/Head of the institution/Gazatted Officer. Before affixing the photograph, candidate must write down his/her Name and Application Number on the back of the both the photographs with ball point pen only. The photograph must indicate clearly the name of the candidate along with the date of taking the photograph. Photographs should be without cap or goggles. Spectacles are allowed. Polaroid photos are not acceptable. The photograph of the candidate should be attested by the Principal/Head of the Institution or Gazetted Officer in such a way that part of the signature is on the photograph and remaining part of the signature is on the application form. Attestation should be done on the bottom part of the photograph so that the photograph is not defaced. Candidates not complying with these instructions or with unclear photograph are liable to be rejected. Candidates may keep 6-8 identical photographs in reserve for use at the time of entrance examination/Counselling/Admission. |
| 7. |
Before the dispatch of the application form, kindly insure that the form is complete in all respect. |
| 8. |
Candidates submitting applications online are required
- to attach Demand Draft of required fee (In favour of “Secretary CBSE Delhi”, payable at Delhi).
- to mention his/her Application No., Name, and Address on the back of the Demand Draft
- to retain a photocopy of confirmation page for future reference.
- to retain a photocopy of the Demand Draft sent.
- to retain the original receipt issued by the post office for having dispatch the Application Form
- The processing of applications will begin only after receiving confirmation page and Demand Draft.
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| 8. |
Eligibility and Qualifications:
- He/She has completed age of 17 years at the time of admission or will complete the age on or before 31st December of the year of his/her admission to the 1st year MBBS/Dental Course and is an INDIAN NATIONAL.
- The upper age limit for All India Pre-Medical/Pre-Dental Entrance Examination is 25 years as on 31st December of the year of the entrance examination. Further provided that this upper age limit shall be relaxed by a period of 5 (five) years for the candidates of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes/Other Backward Classes.
- The number of attempts which a candidate can avail at All India Pre-Medical/Pre-Dental Entrance Examination shall be limited to Three (03) uniformly for all the candidates.
- The candidate must have passed in the subjects of Physics, Chemistry, Biology and English individually and must have obtained a minimum of 50% marks taken together in Physics, Chemistry and Biology at the qualifying examination. In respect of the candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes/Other Backward Classes the marks obtained in Physics, Chemistry and Biology taking together in qualifying examination be 40% instead of 50% for General candidates. Those who are taking plus two examination in 2008 can also appear for the entrance test provisionally subject to their fulfilling the canditions later.
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| Procedure for filling the Application Form |
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Please go to http://www.cbseaff.nic.in/aipmt08/online/instruction.aspx and follow instructions and links from there. |
October 19th, 2007
Following are excerpts from a New Indian Express report.
… SAI International School, the first corporate- style institute of the State. Every classroom will be equipped with computers with broadband connectivity and big display units. Specially crafted education management software will give parents an opportunity to monitor the progress of their wards through the Internet. All in all think of the Eton College and you get all its good attributes here. The school is being set up by the JSS Group close to Infocity here.
Classes will commence next academic session, from creche to class VII. It would be extended up to class XII later. The school will follow CBSE curriculum, however, with a blend of both US and British syllabuses. Renowned UK-based LaurelsGlobal institute will be closely collaborating with SAI International School on the academic front.
Sources said, the school has forged an understanding with well-known institutions of similar stature across the country for seamless migration of students.
Incorporation of best of the international curriculum would also help students coming from abroad integrate with the courses here with ease. But the school will not have residential facilities.
Adhering to the Yashpal Committee recommendations, the management has decided to do away with school bags up to class III. Lockers will be provided to all students. Classroom teaching will be uploaded to interactive website and parents can have access to real time teaching.
… The promoters said, the location, plus the international feel, would meet one of the key demands of the IT workforce here for such a school in the city.
"In the event of them shifting abroad, their wards would have little trouble adjusting to the new atmosphere," they underlined.
The tuition fee would also be within the reach of Government employees and parents engaged in other sectors, they claimed.
Comprehensive health check-up of all the students would be carried out for which the school has forged tieups with corporate hospitals here.
Health report will be sent to parents every quarter along with other reports. The menu has been designed by dietary consultant of Australia.
October 13th, 2007
Following is an excerpt from a report in Pragativadi on this.
Tata Steel, in collaboration with Pathani Samanta Planetarium, will organise a Young Astronomer Talent Search (YATS). According to a Tata Steel release, all students from Class 8 to 10 from any school in Orissa are eligible to participate in the programme.
The YATS will be conducted in three stages. In the first phase, the students have to prepare an abstract within 500 words on any subject related to astronomy and space science and submit it with the concurrence of the heads of their respective institutions, either to Tata Steel or the Pathani Samanta Planetarium before October 15. In the second stage, the short-listed students will be called for the zonal camps and those selected in these camps will be invited to participate in the state-level camp.
The zonal camps will be held at Keonjhar, Jharsuguda, Jajpur, Bhubaneswar , Koraput and Berhampur and the State-level camp in Bhuibaneswar. The students participating in the zonal and state-level camps will be reimbursed for their actual expenses. About 100 students will be invited to each zonal camp.
Out of the 600 students participating in the six zonal camps, 150 will be invited to State-level camp. The best 10 models of the state-level camp will be awarded on the occasion of the 173rd birth anniversary of Mahamahopadhyay Chandrasekhar Singhsamant Harichandan Mahapatra, popularly known as Pathani Samanta, on December 13.
October 12th, 2007
Institute of Mathematics and Applications in Bhubaneswar has extended the last date of application for RMTS 2007 to 25th of October. The test date is not changed and stays on Nov 11.
Update: The application form is available at http://www.rmtsorissa.org/text/aplication.zip.
October 10th, 2007
Following is a quote from http://www.saiinternationalschool.org/aboutus.php.
SAI International School is a joint venture of Shirdi SAI Education Society, Bhubaneswar and LaurelsGlobal, United Kingdom. They have joined hand to provide education at par with global standard in Bhubaneswar. Expertise of schools of UK, USA, Australia, Dubai and Singapore is made available to the SAI International School by the LaurelsGlobal.
Following is a quote from http://www.laurelsglobal.co.uk/projects.php:
The first day-boarding world school of Bhubaneswar, India’s fast growing infotech city that has attracted global Information Technology (IT) companies such as Tata, Wipro, Infosys, Gempack, Mindtree and Satyam to name a few. Spread on a 5.5 acre land, the school will start classes from April 2008 and would be completed in three phases. The school plans to admit children between the age of 3 and 17.
October 8th, 2007
More details is at the RMTS website. Following are excerpts from a news item in New Indian Express.
The Institute of Mathematics and Application (IMA) plans to award as many as 500 scholarships in the fifth Rural Mathematics Talent Search Examination 2007, provided the response is encouraging.
For, lesser than expected turnout has become a reason of concern for all. Last time 200 scholarships were given.
Last year, only about 23,000 class VI students, for whom the test is intended, appeared. Evidently, with 6,000 high schools and 11,000 elementary schools, it was way below reckoning.
Thanks to the lackadaisical attitude of the School and Mass Education Department, thousands of schools simply remained unaware of such an event.
The students remained deprived of availing of an unique opportunity. However, institute Director Prof Swadhin Pattanayak said, the Department has got its acts together this year and has instructed all inspector of schools to reach out to each school with the circular. The test would be held on November 11.
The eligible ones would receive Rs 1,500 per year for five consecutive years. The best among the lot also would also get a chance to participate in the Indian National Mathematics Olympiad.
The scholarship amount is funded mostly by NRIs. The 200 number of scholarships is equally divided among eligible students of East, Central and South Orissa.
October 6th, 2007
Following is an excerpt on this from a report in New Indian Express.
… library now has a fullfledged computer lab with free access to the children. The lab with computer systems donated by international IT major SUN Microsystems would facilitate use of interactive multimedia resources for educational purposes. "It would be fun and learning for the children, making their visits more exciting," said Bakul Foundation (BakulFoundation@yahoogroups.com) secretary Sujit Mohapatra.
On the occasion, Krutibas Biswal of SUN Microsystems said, "It is the first time SUN has donated to an organisation in Orissa. The company is quite impressed with the work Bakul has been doing and decided to support it."
… Started as a small step towards getting a library done through individual contribution under "Donate Books: Build a Library" programme, Bakul has come a long way since inception in April this year.
Today, it is … with over 7,000 books including some of the most interesting educational resources of children available in the world. The library does not charge any money from the children.
October 4th, 2007
