CBSE will verify evaluation of school-conducted exams

In order to make school-conducted Class X exams more credible, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will appoint officials to randomly verify assessment procedures.

The board has also directed schools to involve teachers of other schools in evaluation of exam papers, to avoid partiality.

These are part of a set of strict guidelines issued by CBSE on Wednesday, to be followed in the examinations of March this year.

“With the Class X exam becoming optional for the first time, students can now take school-conducted exams. However, with the issuance of guidelines, we want to ensure that school-based exam will maintain the high standards of the board,” said a senior CBSE official.

Since the schools will be conducting and evaluating exam papers, CBSE has strictly asked them not to communicate the marks of the students on their own. Once the evaluation of the answer papers is done by the schools, these should be sent to the board, so that results are declared by CBSE.

“The board would be declaring the results of class X in May, along with the results of board-based summative assessment. We will be issuing a uniform certificate to every student,” said MC Sharma, controller of examinations.“Through the guidelines, we have laid down procedures on how the summative assessment for class X students must be carried out,” he added.

The summative assessment in March represents the final leg of the assessment of students.

Schools will, however, continue to have the freedom to formulate their own question papers, use CBSE question papers’ bank or mix and match them. “In order to ensure standards, the question paper bank in different subjects would be sent by the board so as to reach schools in time. From the question paper bank, the schools can set their respective question papers,” stated the circular issued by CBSE.

Moreover, evaluation of answer scripts will be done by the school teachers themselves, on the basis of the marking scheme provided by the board. With the issuance of guidelines, CBSE hopes all the apprehensions of parents could be put to rest about the credibility of school-conducted exams.

For the first time, from this year onwards, Class X students will have the option of appearing either for the CBSE-conducted board examination or final class X test conducted by their respective schools.

The CBSE made class X board exams optional from 2011, as part of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) system. Although there was some apprehension among parents, the number of students who have opted out of the board examination shows that the scheme has found favour with students.

In the very first year that the option has been made available, about two-thirds of students have opted out of the board exam. CBSE sources said about 5 lakh students have opted to go with the school examination. The total number of students studying in class X in schools affiliated to the CBSE across India is 8.23 lakh.DNA

Notice to schools for flouting admission rules

The Delhi government on Wednesday decided to issue notices to a few public unaided schools in the capital for violation of the nursery admission guidelines. Acting on the complaints received by the Directorate of Education (DoE), the notices warn the schools against non-compliance with the admission guidelines, which could lead to the cancellation of the admission procedure in the schools.

Few schools in the city as part of their categories have kept profession of parents as one of the criteria. As per clause 13 (1) b of the Right to Education Act, no school or person shall, while admitting a child subject him/her to screening procedure.  Based on this the nursery admission guidelines issued by the Delhi Government this year, said while creating various categories for admission a parents income or educational qualification cannot be taken into account and the school cannot interview either the parent or the child. 

One of the schools Delhi Public School, Rohini has allocated up to 10 points for parents who are teachers or professors on permanent appointment in Government recognised institutions, medical colleges or engineering colleges and other institutes of higher studies approved by UGC. Besides this doctors, engineers, information technology, management, scientists, lawyers, international medal winners in sports, and defence personnel among others can also avail these points.

"The government guidelines mentions that a child cannot be screened based on a parents qualification and annual income, it doesn't mention that the parents profession cannot be taken into account. We do not think it is violation in any way," said Rita Sen, principal, DPS Rohini who said she had not received any notice till Wednesday evening.

Education Minister Arvinder Singh said, "We have taken note of the complaints received on discriminatory criteria and the concerned schools will be sent notices. No school can screen a child based on parents' profession. After all the profession is part of the parents' educational qualification." Singh also added that if the parents feel that a school has discriminatory criteria or is overcharging for forms they should complain to the DoE and immediate action will be taken against those found guilty.

Sale of forms extended

Acting on the Directorate of Education's circular on Tuesday which asked all unaided recognised schools in Delhi to sell forms for a reasonable period of at least for 15 days, some schools in the city have extended the days for sale of forms now.

Both the branches of  Springdales School, Dhaula Kuan and Pusa Road which started the sale of form from Janury3 were slated to sell forms only till January 10 but have now extended it till January 15. The submission dates, which were earlier supposed to be for only till January 15, have now been extended till January 18. Similarly, Tagore International School Vasant Vihar and East of Kailash have also extended sale  to January 15.HT

All schools to have websites by Mar 31

Now schools have websites

In line with directions of the Central Board of Secondary Education ( CBSE) to bring transparency in the working of private schools and enable the parents to keep a tab on the performance of their children, most city schools are busy setting up their websites. CBSE had asked all private schools to launch their website by March 31.

The schools had been directed to upload the fee records and report cards of students so that their guardians can check these.

The school websites will enable parents to know what delegates in Continuing and Comprehensive Education ( CCE ) have discussed. Apart from this, it will bring about transparency in the working of private schools, including the admission process.

The websites are also supposed to have details of CBSE guidelines, numbers of teachers appointed, the average number of students, details of the fee structure, courses taught, contact numbers of the school administrators, infrastructure, salaries of teachers, names of the students, phone number of parents and their email IDs.

Principal of BCM Arya Model Senior Secondary School, Shastri Nagar, Paramjit Kaur said it is not possible to mention the grades of the students on the website, adding that most of the other directions are already being followed by schools. TOI

CBSE school heads to discuss, debate CCE at national conference

Several school heads from the city are among those dissecting the various facets of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) to better understand and implement it at the 17th annual conference of CBSE Sahodaya School Complexes. The event, which began in Bangalore on Monday and is scheduled to continue on Tuesday, is a meeting of representatives from school associations across the country.

Organised under the theme, Managing change for better learning', the conference will look at key issues such as school-based assessment, addressing resistance to change, teacher empowerment, embedding technology in the CCE environment and dimensions of co-scholastic skills.

"We are here because we see the conference as a good forum to discuss and debate the positives and negatives of CCE. We are also looking to get inputs on assessment since it is a new system. As principals, we need to equip our teachers with the know-how and come up with a good method to assess children," said Margrette David Raj, principal of Bhakthavatsalam Vidyashram and chairperson of the CBSE Chennai Sahodaya School Complexes. About 15 representatives from schools in the city are participating in the conference, she added.

 CBSE chairman Vineet Joshi and Sadhana Parashar, Head (Innovation and Research), CBSE, were also scheduled to attend the event.

Recognising the need to train greater focus on the issue of assessment, the CBSE is also organising an international conference on the subject in January 2011. Slated to be conducted in association with the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and Sahodaya School Complexes (Gurgaon Chapter), the conference will look to address the scope of assessment in teaching and learning. Union Human Resource Development minister Kapil Sibal will inaugurate the event.

The conference will deal with topics such as understanding best assessment practices, using assessment to monitor teacher effectiveness to encourage school improvement, developing a support system for using assessments in classroom and policy changes in the new educational framework for improved assessments. TOI

75% state CBSE students prefer board exams

About 75% of the state's class X CBSE students have registered to take the board exams to be held in March 2011. This is the first year that the CBSE board has made class X board exams optional to reduce stress among students. In Maharashtra, 15,948 students have registered to appear for the  board exams while 5,063 have opted for the school-conducted final exams. However, across India, 67% of the 11 lakh class X CBSE students have opted not to take the board exams, said CBSE chairman Vineet Joshi.

According to Joshi, a large number of students from previous years in Maharashtra have left the CBSE board after class X to join the state board junior colleges. This could explain why more students in the state have opted to take the board exams.

Even though Wednesday was the last day for students to choose between the exams, a board official said that students could make changes up to December 21. "The figures will hardly change between now and then," added the official.

Students taking the board exams and those taking the school final exams will get grades instead of marks

India's new hall of fame: CBSE texts

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is flooded with requests from various government departments, the military and para-military forces, and industry bodies suggesting the work they do be included as a lesson in the students' social science syllabus. All claim they want to 'inspire the young generation' by relating all that these agencies do and their 'contribution to nation building'.

But academics feel that if their requests were acceded to, the social science syllabus, already heavy, would become overburdened.

The CBSE has yet to take a call on any of these requests.

"There is pressure from organisations such as the Income Tax department, the Indian Air Force, Indian Navy and the Border Security Force, who have approached CBSE requesting their work be included in the syllabus," said a professor at the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT), which drafts the country's school text books.

The army has requested human resource development minister Kapil Sibal to make 'the contribution of the armed forces to India' part of school curriculum.

"Incorporating fresh content into existing syllabi involves bringing out a new edition of the existing textbook and ensuring it reaches all students," said a senior CBSE official.

"It can only be done once in a few years."

After a recent request, a committee was formed which is working on making road safety part of the social science syllabus.

CBSE prescription: schools must tie up with hospitals

Here's another boost to the safety measures of your child when in school. In a student-friendly move, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has advised all its affiliated schools to have a tie up with a neighbouring hospital.

The circular dated October 18, 2010 and signed by chairman Vineet Joshi states: "There is a need to create medical care facilities and systems in schools and also have tie up with a nearby hospital within a radius of 2-4 km for any medical emergency.'' The move is part of creating a "safe, fearless and secure environment" which is a prime requirement of holistic education.

With an increasing aggressiveness among children of this generation, even the cases of casualties in schools have risen, authorities say.

"There will be around 8-10 small casualties every day. When compared to previous years, there is an increase in the number of cases from the classrooms. If it had been, say, five cases five years ago, it would be eight now. Students tend to imitate the scenes they watch in TV during the breaks," says Mansoor Ali Khan, trustee member, board of management, Delhi Public School.

Increase in physical fights and restlessness among children of classes three to six are noticeable, teachers say.

Asthma, stomach pain, fever and minor accidents like falls are the common incidents in schools. Many schools in the city already have their own in-house medical facilities with full-time doctors, nurses and first aid box (even in the school buses as students tend to get into fights even there). A few even have ambulances in case of emergencies.

Kumaran's Children's Home is planning to make it more `specialized'. They are planning to open a nebulising unit for students with breathing problems.

While some schools like Geetanjali Vidyalaya have the phone numbers of the students' paediatricians stored in the handbooks, others say they call the parents immediately as they will have objections to the hospitals they take the children to.

Some schools already have understandings with hospitals __ Army Public School with the army hospital and Gear Innovative International with VIMS. There are others who are finalizing the tie ups. "We are in the final process. Apart from emergency cases, they would conduct health check-ups, lectures and give tips on healthy living," says P S knot, New Horizon Gurukul.TOI

Separate board to soon promote vocational courses: Kapil Sibal

Union HRD minister Kapil Sibal today said that the government is looking at setting up a separate board on the lines of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to promote vocational education in the country.

The government also plans to set national vocational education framework by mid-2011, Sibal said, adding "this would help school students who are unable to complete higher education or the students who are not academically bright but have other skill sets."

He, however, did not provide any specific timeline as when the board would be created.

"We are planning to create a separate CBSE board for vocational education. The framework in this regard would be set up by mid next year. There will be a different curriculum for vocational education where students can choose the subjects depending on their interest from cooking to automobile engineering," Sibal said at a conference in Mumbai.

The proposed vocational training will begin at the school level and will be of 10 levels. Students from Class Eight onwards will be able to take up various vocational courses, like carpentry and para-medical, along with their regular courses till Class Twelve. This programme would also help mitigate the shortage of skilled personnel in the country, Sibal said.

He said it would help empower children through imparting skills and would thereby lead to an inclusive education, which is currently the "need of the hour."

"We have to strengthen education system in the country. We are all set to achieve the critical mass by 2020. For this we have to promote vocational education," Sibal said, adding that the universities should enable a seamless transition of these students from the senior secondary level to the undergraduate level.

Sibal said that the vocational education would help empower children through imparting skills and would thereby lead to an inclusive education, which is currently the need of the hour.

Citing data that about 220 million children go to school, however only 14 million reach college, Sibal said India was far behind the developed nations, where the percentage is pegged at round 80 as against the global average of 23%.

"We have to strengthen education system in the country. We are all set to achieve the critical mass by 2020. For this we have to promote vocational education," he said adding that the universities should enable a seamless transition of these students from the senior secondary level to the undergraduate level.

Hunger strike forces school to reduce fee hike

The management of Arya Gurukul at Kalyan agr-eed to reduce the fee hike after the parents of the students staged a hunger strike on Friday, protesting against the "sudden" rise in the middle of the year.

Irked by the school's decision to raise the fees by 42%, increasing the amount from Rs 11,400 annually to up to Rs 17,100 annually, the guardians of the students gathered outside the institute and started hunger strike. Finally, the school relented to increase the fees by 25% and not 42%.

Instead of raising the fees by 42%, the management has agreed to increase it by 25% only.

The battle between the parents and school management of Arya Gurukul at Kalyan ended on Friday afternoon after parents organised hunger strike since morning outside school which led both the parties to compromise over the fee hike. The school management agreed to reduce fee hike from 42 percentage to 25 percentage.After the school increased the fees from Rs 11,400 annually to up to Rs 17,100 ,

On Friday the parents of students of Arya Gurukul in Kalyan had organised hunger strike outside school to protest against the school's fee hike. Parents alleged that the school administration raised fees by 42 percentage that was Rs 11,400 last years and it was increased up to Rs 17,100.

After the demonstration began, The school authorities had to call in the police and the Quick Response Team , both of which deployed a large number of personnel at the site to ensure that the situation did not go out of control. A police pick-up vane was also stationed near the institute. During the course of the day, five representatives of the parents, along with local MLA Ganpat Gaikwad, met the management and after four hours of discussion, both the sides agreed that the rise should be kept at 25%.

A sizeable police bandobast including a police pick-up van and a quick response team was in place to ensure that the situation did not go out of control during protest.

One of the parents, J Nambiyar, told TOI, "The school decided to increase the fee in the middle of the year and the officials refused to talk to us." They had even started harassing students." over the issue."

Justifying the fee hike, school trustee Bharat Malik said, "For an unaided school, fees are the only source of income. We have to pay our teachers in the scale recommended by the Sixth Pay Commission. Moreover, maintaining the high standard, we provide all the additional facilities to students. So we were bound to hike the fees. For this year, it has been raised by 25%."

The next session's amount will be decided later."

Malik further said, "We have to pay our teachers as per the sixth pay commission this all increased our expense that is why we have agreed to only 25 percentage fee hike for this year while for the next year we will decide later"

Before organizing the protest parents had also approached the local Kolsewadi police but they had not taken any action against the schools management resulting parents had called hunger strike.

On Friday it was third agitation called by the parents against the fee hike by the school management after school came in to existence in Kalyan east area.

Parents alleged that, Arya Gurukul is the single CBSE school is situated in the Kalyan east area while in Kalyan west there are many CBSE schools, but due to long distance parents give preference to Arya Gurukul and that is why taking advantages of this school management every years increased their fee.
 

CBSE will keep track of progress over CCE in over 10,500 schools

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) would use a special software solution to collect and analyse all the data related to Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) scheme.

Sources said that the board had decided to capture data related to CCE from affiliated schools of the board through an application software which would be both offline and online. The software will cover CCE-related data of about 10 lakh candidates from at least 10,500 schools across the country.

“The idea of using technology is to systematise data collection. With the implementation of CCE, data collection has become very important. Every school has a huge amount of data. Technology comes in handy to deal with the vast resources, to preserve and analyse them in a scientific manner,” said a CBSE official.

Sources at CBSE said that the aim of the special software was to standardise the whole process of CCE. “We want to give a universal touch to the whole collection, evaluation and analysis of data, as part of CCE scheme. With the use of high software technology, we will standardise the process of CCE scheme, for both schools and CBSE board,” said an official from the board.

To deploy the technology, the board has asked software firms to bid for a tender to execute its project titled ‘Web-based software development for data collection/capturing of mark/ descriptive indicators/grades for scholastic and co-scholastic areas’ by December 1.

“We are looking for software firms with at least five years of experience with proven track record of software development for educational institutions and domain expertise in education. The bidder firms should have a previous record of successfully implementing CCE solution or equivalent in at least 10 schools. The agency should have its own software team for study, design, testing and implementation of the software and to provide appropriate technical support to the board, as and when required,” said BM Gupta, head (Computer Centre), CBSE .

The decision of the board has been welcomed by schools in Bangalore affiliated to CBSE.

“With the use of technology, data pertaining to CCE scheme will be at the click of a mouse. Moreover, retrieval of data will also become easy now,” said Chitra Sharma, vice-principal, Delhi Public School (South), Bangalore.

The board introduced the CCE scheme for classes IX and X from the academic session 2009-10. It was also introduced in all schools affiliated to the board. Under the scheme, a student has to engage and perform in various scholastic and co-scholastic areas for two years as per scheme of studies.

The scheme, introduced to come up with a holistic assessment of a learner, includes co-scholastic area of life skills, attitudes and values, sports and games, as well as co-curricular activities. One of the main highlights of CCE is that there are no Class X board examination from 2011 for students studying in CBSE’s senior secondary schools and those who do not wish to move out of the syllabus after Class X.

Experts say that CCE would help both the students and parents, who are the primary stakeholders of school education. The board, through CCE scheme, aims at reducing stress and anxiety level among school kids, which is widely found due to the constant pressure to perform.DNAINDIA