CBSE schools gear up to tackle ragging

Ragging has always been a problem on college campuses. But the Central Board of Secondary Education feels that ragging in schools is just as rampant and immediate steps need to be taken to address the problem.

A circular to this effect has been sent to schools across the country, asking them to strictly follow certain guidelines that would help address the problem. When city schools re-open later this week, a series of activities will start to ensure that all the pointers in the circular are met.

From detailing punishment for an offender or group of offenders, quantifying the number of counselling sessions that every child has to go through in a year, setting up wellness clubs, bringing out anti-ragging manuals and training peer mentors/educators to mentioning ragging as a crime in school diaries, the circular clearly mentions anti-ragging measures that schools need to take immediately.

To read more click here

Learning difficulties

Minister Kapil Sibal’s education reforms, particularly for schools, have electrified students, teachers and parents. The Class X board exam will now be optional for Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) schools, grades will be introduced instead of marks, and there will be continuous evaluation in schools. These reforms were urgently necessary and Sibal is certainly one of the UPA’s best-performing ministers.

Yet reactions have been mixed. A group of parents told me recently that Sibal’s advisers on school reforms are ‘idealistic jholawallahs’, far removed from Indian realities. Is the emphasis on ‘de-stressing’ the Indian student, ‘de-traumatising’ the education system, making a child free from the ‘pressures of competition’, an overly romantic and idealistic vision? Are children of elite schools to be pampered into believing that underachievement, indiscipline and sloth are actually signs of a child’s own ‘individual creative genius’?

To read full article click here

Education sector: HRD ministry at full swing

The joke is that the rate at which HRD ministry is framing cabinet notes and draft bills, many of the next sessions of Parliament will only be passing legislations on the education sector.

A new minister and a new work culture in the ministry is right now geared to meet the 100-day deadline that ends in the first week of September.

The biggest of them all, the Right to Education, has been passed in both Houses of Parliament. A lot of questions, many of them genuine, are, however, being raised about the legislation. Putting together its nuts and bolts will hit many roadblocks by various interest groups but a big step has been taken.

Though there are many other bigticket changes on the anvil, public interest will be on weather the class 10 board examination will be made optional and evaluation will shift to grading system. The answer to both questions is yes, at least for all CBSE-affiliated schools in the country.

To read full article click here

Principals welcome optional Class X Boards

The nod for education reforms by the Central Advisory Board of Education has brought a wave of happiness and enthusiasm among school principals and academicians.

According to the plan, the schools affiliated to Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), New Delhi, will implement the grading system from the current academic session and the optional Class X exams from the next session.

School principals in the city view this as a healthy development stating that the changes in the education system will ensure all round development of children while the teachers will have to be more responsible.

Harmeet Kaur Waraich, principal of Nankana Sahib Public School, Gill Road, said: “The Class X Board exams have been made optional for senior secondary schools. Students who wish to continue in the same school in Class XI can opt to go through comprehensive and continuous evaluation in the school. This will give students freedom to learn in a better way. The step will go a long way in de-stressing students as the fear of Board exams is over now.”

To read full article click here

Comment: A Good First Step

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), under the direction of the Union human resource development ministry, has decided to do away with class X exams in all schools that are affiliated to it from 2010. This decision is welcome. As we have argued in these columns India’s education system, ranging from school-level education to higher institutes of learning, is in serious need of reform if the country’s demographic dividend is to pay off. Introducing a degree of flexibility in the system by abolishing the class X boards is a good first step.

The implementation of this measure is a victory for HRD minister Kapil Sibal, who has been successful in alleviating the concerns of state education boards. They had previously expressed reservations about how a system without testing students in class X would work. However, many have since said that they will consider going the CBSE way if the method proves to be successful. That, hopefully, will be the case.

To read full article click here