New CBSE regional offices to open in Bhubaneswar and Patna: Dharitri
Currently the CBSE regional offices are in Chennai, Guwahati, Allahabad, Delhi, Ajmer and Panchkula (Harayana).
February 13th, 2008
MHRD thinks of offering affordable coaching classes for IIT/IIM etc.
Update: MHRD thinking of SAT/GRE style staggered exams.
This is a good move by MHRD. Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph about this.
Concerned about the proliferation of private tutorial services and the high fees they charge, the human resource development ministry has approved a proposal to introduce the country’s first public-funded training to crack competitive exams.
Initially, the training is likely to cover entrance tests to the Indian Institutes of Technology and the Indian Institutes of Management. But the government plans to extend the facility to the civil services entrance exam too, senior officials said.
… The government is, however, anxious to ensure that the “cheaper” option does not end up as a poor man’s coaching class.
Teachers from the country’s top higher education institutions will be invited to form a faculty pool for the facility.
“It will be a broad-based effort involving teachers from universities, IITs and IIMs. The institutions have agreed in principle. The challenge will be to bring teachers on board,” the official said.
Officials conceded that at least initially, the online coaching might not be a substitute for the physical tutorials.
But they hoped the low fees would attract people — rich or poor — to it.
“We hope that soon enough they will realise that they will be prepared best for the competitive exams here,” the official said. … the Planning Commission is learnt to have cleared the proposal as well. … sources said students were likely to charged only a basic registration fee — probably less than Rs 1,000 — which will be used to cover additional emoluments for the faculty.
The faculty will each have a blog restricted to students, who can ask questions and will receive answers within a day.
The teachers’ pool will prepare tests in each subject, which students will take online — like the GRE.
Each student will have an online account — their entry to the coaching class.
Apart from the questions through blogs, live classes can also be held, the official said.
1 comment February 9th, 2008
Computer Education in 1,500 more High Schools
Following is an excerpt from a New Indian Express report.
BHUBANESWAR: Computer education will be imparted in 1,500 more high schools and 300 upper primary schools from the current academic session.
While 900 of the total 14,233 upper primary schools are already provided with computers under Sarva Sikshya Abhijan (SSA), 300 more schools will be extended the facility under buy, own and transfer (BOT) mode, School and Mass Education Secretary S.C. Patnaik said.
The department has also made a budgetary provision of Rs 20 crore for supply of computers to 1,500 high schools.
A centrally sponsored scheme, the Centre has given a financial assistance of Rs 15 crore while the balance is the State’s share.
January 25th, 2008
Educational development Index: PIB
The following are excerpts from http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=34807.
The EDI is developed keeping in mind four broad parameters of access, infrastructure, teacher and outcomes related indicators. The index takes into account 23 variables for calculating EDI. These variables are for Access (Percentage of habitations not Served, Availability of Schools per 1000 Population and Ratio of Primary to Upper Primary Schools/Sections), Infrastructure (Average Student-Classroom Ratio, School with Student-Classroom Ratio greater > 60, School without Drinking Water Facilities, School with Boy’s Toilet, School with Girl’s Toilet), Teachers( (Percentage of Female Teachers, Pupil-Teacher Ratio, School with Pupil Teacher Ratio > 60, Single- Teacher Schools (in schools with more than 15 students), Percentage of Schools with 3 or less Teachers, Teachers without Professional Qualification), Outcomes (Gross Enrolment Ratio – Overall, Scheduled Castes : Gross Enrolment Ratio, Scheduled Tribes: Gross Enrolment Ratio, Gender Parity Index in Enrolment, Repetition Rate, Drop-out Rate, Ratio of Exit class over Class 1 Enrolment (Primary stage only), Percentage of Passed Children to Total Enrolment, Percentage of Appeared Children passing with 60 per cent and above Marks).
January 22nd, 2008
IIT Chennai to help science education in Schools: Lesson for Orissa
The following is an excerpt from an article in Hindu. I hope some schools in Orissa will take similar steps.
… IIT Chennai, one of India’s foremost engineering college has now tied up with number of schools to enhance high school science education in the country.
"The way science is taught in our schools leaves much to be desired. Our children get programmed to answer questions in examinations without being able to relate the concepts to the real world around us. There is too much focus on scoring marks than on understanding, " Dr. T S Natrajan of IIT-Chennai told PTI.
Though IIT has introduced a number of initiatives like the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) to enhance the quality of engineering education in the country by developing curriculum based video and web courses, Natrajan points out that new ‘Science Enrichment Program’ is first direct initiative of the institute for betterment of school education.
"This is my personal initiative and the institution is backing me completely for this. I wonder what kind of science is taught in the schools when students have to go for coaching classes in preparation for specialised entrances exams," he says.
Under the new programme, IIT Chennai will provide consultancy and develop Science Enrichment Program for classes Five to Twelve in Physics and Chemistry. This will include planning and developing problem based worksheets and activities which will make science fun and easy for children.
It also includes training the science teachers to improve their skills as well as understanding using some of the best materials and getting advice from eminent professors from IIT.
The program aims to develop Science Enrichment Materials which would include designing hands-on and computer based activities in Physics and Chemistry based on the CBSE syllabus from class 5 to 12 for implementation in the classrooms.
January 22nd, 2008
OMC Donates 1 Crore for the Completion of Ladies Hostel in BJB Junior College
Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) has donated one crore rupees for the completion of the ground floor and the first floor of the ladies hostel of BJB Junior College. The hostel will accommodate 50 students in the ground floor and 71 students in the first floor. The Chief Minister is expected to inaugurate the ground floor and the hostel this month (January 2008). The first floor will be completed by the end of March 2008. Kudos to OMC and the principal of BJB Junior College, Prof. R. N. Panda, for his relentless effort.
January 21st, 2008
Rtapalli Vidyapitha: NRI funded free residential school for poor and meritorious students
See details about them at:
http://www.shraddha.org/
http://www.shraddha.org
http://www.shraddha.org
For info call Rutpalli Vidyapitha at: 0674-2743063
The last date of application is February 5th and test is on 17th February, Sunday.
3 comments January 19th, 2008
Orissa has the highest percentage of out-of-school rural children in the country
According to the Annual Status of Education Report (Rural) 2007 released by Pratham, Orissa tops the list of states with 8% out-of-school children in the 6-14 age group in rural areas. This number is almost double the percentage all over India (4.2%). The good news is that the percentage has gone down from 9.1% in 2006 to 8.0% in 2007. Rajasthan and Bihar, however, have reduced the percentage from over 10% in 2006 to 6.5% in 2007.
The following table shows the numbers for the 30 districts in Orissa. Some of the numbers are truly alarming.
January 17th, 2008
‘Met Lab’ in High Schools for Climate Study
Following are excerpts from a New Indian Express report.
Global warming and the changing weather pattern would not just be confined to textbooks.
Soon, students would be recording Meteorological observations. The Department of Science and Technology (DST), New Delhi would fund this ambitious mission – Participation of Youth in Real-time Observation to Benefit Education (Probe).
About 70 high schools have already been identified for establishment of ‘Met labs’ where students would be involved for monitoring weather pattern. These schools are mostly based in coastal belt and interior pockets worst hit by the changing climate.
…Probe’s success is expected to provide climatologists with clinical inputs of region-specific weather parameters and help farmers and fishermen gather online weather information.
Uttarakhand, one of the first States to adopt it, exemplifies Probe’s success. ‘Today, these schools have literally pushed aside the Meteorological department by providing region-specific information to media for their weather column,’ said Prof S K Das of IIT, Delhi, who was one of the team members in DST to frame the programme.
…These centres are likely to be set up at the Department of Marine Science, Berhampur University, IMMT and KIIT. The labs would be connected to the resource centres and IMMT for data transmission.
January 15th, 2008
SAI International School for Global Exchange
Following is an excerpt from a Tathya.in report.
SAI International School (SIS), Bhubaneswar has finalized the unique plan of International Exchange of students and teachers through its strategic partner Laurels Global, UK.
This will provide opportunities for students to discover and explore exciting places and cultures, improve or develop new language skills and make lifelong friendships.
In addition, children will increase their cultural awareness through a direct experience, enhance their understanding of others, gain confidence, develop responsibility and self-reliance, and are better prepared for 21st century life in the global village.
SIS is arranging tie-ups with leading schools worldwide, to invite children and teachers to visit and be a part of their dynamic and vibrant school community.
Children will attend classes and participate in various school activities.
Teachers will be engaged in teaching–learning process and enrich them with the latest pedagogical trends and techniques used internationally.
Similarly children and teachers of other schools will visit SAI International School and explore rich Indian heritage and values.
1 comment January 4th, 2008
Residential girls’ schools in 53 blocks soon
The Statesman reports the following on the CM’s announcement at the Tribes Advisory Council meeting.
Chief minister Mr Naveen Patnaik today announced that residential girls’ schools will be opened in 53 blocks of scheduled area of the state, in a single phase. Similarly, a registered society will be set up for expediting reach of education in those areas. Mr. Patnaik was presiding over the Tribes Advisory Council meeting here today.
Education facilities have been extended to more than one lakh tribal girls through 1003 newly established hostels, he said and added that while construction work of 887 are complete, another 113 will soon be complete. Besides, 207 new hostels have been opened for tribal students in KBK region through the Revised Long Term Action Plan (RLTAP). He also pointed out that 10 Eklavya Model Residential schools have been accorded higher secondary school status. Renowned institutes like Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology and Central Tool Room are roped in to impart quality education to the teachers and around 1200 tribal students.
December 29th, 2007
CBSE updates class X Oriya syllabus
The New Indian Express reports that the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has updated the Oriya syllabus for the class X examination. The CBSE has been updating the Oriya syllabus for the past few years and the results are very encouraging. Oriya is now more popular among the students. Following is an excerpt from the news report.
The revision comes at a time when there has been a renewed interest among the students for the subject, thanks to the Board’s move to engage local experts to frame the syllabus and relax the content.
In fact, the 2006 and 2007 passouts got a feel of the transformation. And the result was encouraging.
‘Most secured marks that were on a par with marks fetched by students in Hindi and Sanskrit,’ said a teacher of a DAV Public School here.
The changes also benefited students of Class XII. Experts said the move helped the pupil bring the languages closer to heart and understand its richness.
December 13th, 2007
Read India Campaign in Orissa: A report by Dr. Dhanada Mishra
Review Report of Read India Campaign in Orissa (Jul – Nov 2007)
Dhanada Mishra
Introduction:
Pratham started its ‘Learning to Read’ and library activities in the slum areas of Cuttack in 2003 and later the direct program was expanded to Jaypore town in Koraput with support of BILT. Later the program was expanded when Pratham Orissa in collaboration with Orissa Primary Education Program Authority (OPEPA) conducted a pilot of ‘Learning to Read’ in 4 blocks of 4 districts namely- Kantamal of Boudh, Tikabali of Kandhamal, Basta of Balasore and Thakurmunda of Mayurbhanj during the period Nov 06 – April 07. The pilot received positive response and now the campaign has moved to 24 out of 30 districts of Orissa. We are covering 181 blocks (roughly half of the state) in these 24 districts. The blocks have been chosen in consultation with OPEPA on the basis of backwardness in terms of various parameters such as out of school children percentage, results etc. as compared to state average.
The campaign was launched on 28th of July with a 2 day state level consultation with various partner organizations. The campaign is 3 months old and community based as the OPEPA partnership to implement it through the school system is yet to be finalized, but likely to take place very soon.
No. of Districts: The campaign will now cover 24 out of 30 districts of Orissa
Target Children: The target group is the children in the age group of 6-14 years.
Learning Goals
The target children should be able to read 6 letter words and simple sentences, passage, short stories without conjoined letters.
Achievements and Shortfalls:
- Mobilisation
- Reach – We have reached about 18340 out of approximately 25000 villages. We have realized that there has to be a change in tactics to speed up our reach by collaborating with existing network of NGOs, SHGs, Government programs such as OTELP, Watershed mission etc. We realistically expect to reach any where between 15000-20000 by middle of November.
- Partnership – Formal partnership (MOU) with OPEPA is yet to be signed. But we have got in principle letters of support from State Project Director addressed to all DPCs, we have letters of support from Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC)s of two out of 3 zones where most of our districts are located in support of our campaign addressed to collectors. Number of districts are giving us good support with out formal MOU. We have partnership on the ground with about 30 NGOs. We have received small local financial support from one group of educational institutions (CSREM) and a US based NGO – IAFF. Partnership proposal with UNICEF is being negotiated for joint campaign in Koraput and Raygada districts. Some 3811 schools are conducting L2R classes.
- Personnel- Number of volunteers mobilised was about 14500 at roughly one per village.
- Training: Almost 17500 volunteers out of 23800 volunteers mobilised have been trained by the end of November. No. Of teachers (700), SHG members (100), Anganwadi workers (1400) have been mobilised but those trained have been much smaller in comparision.
- TLM: Pratham – Pratham has printed and distributed about 220000 sets of materials to the trained volunteers at the rate of set of 20 booklets per volunteers so that the trained volunteers can start the classes. About 4600 volunteers had received the material by end of November.
- Teaching-Learning Activities – About 280000 children are involved in the classes by the end of November.
Other Highlights of Achievements:
- 196 blocks in 24 districts have been identified and block coordinators, district coordinators and zonal coordinators selected, trained and deployed.
- Almost 23800 volunteers have been identified in about 18300 villages and training is going on.
- About 17500 volunteers already trained and conducting classes.
- 12 page TLM has been designed and printed and being distributed in phases as more and more volunteers are trained and getting ready to start classes.
- Letters of supports have been received from SPD and two RDCs.
- MOU under negotiation with Orissa’s largest Newspaper group.
- Pratham has conducted a ‘Story Writing and Story Reading’ festival in 1500 panchayats in collaboration with SAMBAD – the largest circulating Oriya daily. Almost 15000 children have participated in this festival and it has created thousands of stories written by children that can be used by us in creating material for the Reading campaign.
- In collaboration with UNICEF Pratham organised a ‘Reading can be Fun’ stall on Children’s Day for the state level function. UNICEF is considering a proposal to partner with Pratham in their reading program in Koraput and Raygada districts.
- In collaboration with Institute of Mathematics and Application (IMA), Bhubaneswar and its director Prof. Swadhin Pattnaik (most well known mathematician of Orissa), Pratham volunteers helped conduct the Rural Mathematics Talent Search Examination (RMTS) on November 18th. As a result of our help, almost 10000 additional class VI students could take the test in almost 100 centres in remote rural areas. This partnership is likely to help us in the future with our work in ‘R2L’ in mathematics.
- Number of corporates have shown interest in sponsoring Read Orissa campaign as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility program.
- Negotiation is underway with the ICDS department for conducting a 10 block pilot of the Sishubachan program through the Anganwadi centers.
- The Skill development program being run at Central Toolroom and Training Center (CTTC) has expanded from one pilot batch of students to four batches.
- Spoken English pilot at the Government High School, IRC Village in Bhubaneswar is running well with children showing good progress.
- First issue of ‘Pratham Parikrama’ – the newsletter of Pratham has been published.
All in all it has been an exhilarating experience, as we go about taking the campaign forward and reaching out to children far and wide in remote corners of the state. We hope to work closely with OPEPA at the state level and education department officials at all levels and finally primary school teachers to ensure that all of our children are able to read, write and do arithmetic.
1 comment December 13th, 2007