Education

GVMC grind for better SSC result begins

Tuesday, 28 January 2014 08:37 administrator

The Hindu 28.01.2014

GVMC grind for better SSC result begins

G.V. Prasada Sarma

With about 35 per cent of students lagging behind and under pressure to improve the SSC result, the GVMC is planning to introduce intensive residential coaching to students of civic schools.

After the inclusion of Anakapalle and Bheemunipatnam in the corporation, GVMC has 29 schools from which 1,935 students will take the SSC examination in March. With an SMS system in place for informing attendance, time of leaving the school and performance in weekly and other tests, parents are in regular touch with headmasters and teachers. Headmasters assess that a certain percentage of students either being poor in studies or being chronic absentees are unlikely to get through the examination.

There are also problems like teachers post being vacant in the schools. Of the 715 posts, 38 secondary grade and 60 school assistant posts are vacant. Some headmasters have asked for SGTs being posted there to tide over the difficulty and nine SGTs have been posted, says Additional Commissioner P. Poornachandra Rao who is in charge of education.

To help students face the examinations better, GVMC has been giving them answer books covering all the questions. “Besides, separate books on each of the subjects are also being provided this year to help them do better,” said.

The students have been categorised into A, B, C and D depending upon their performance.

In the 2012-13 the SSC pass percentage was 70, about 2 per cent less than that of the previous year. It, however, fell much below the district average of 82 per cent.

To help students in C and D categories special classes are conducted in the morning for one-and-a-half hours and in the evening for three hours. During the evening classes, snacks are also provided to them.

The classes have already begun and will continue till March 20.

Civic body to scrap School Excellence Programme

Monday, 20 January 2014 05:44 administrator

The Indian Express 20.01.2014

Civic body to scrap School Excellence Programme

Mumbai

At the start of the new academic year on June 14, NGOs attached to BMC’s School Excellence Programme (SEP) will begin the process of handing over the management of 148 civic schools currently under their care to the civic body.

This is following the civic body’s decision to discontinue the programme on account of the “poor improvement” in students’ performance till 2012. The project had begun in 2010 in partnership with UNICEF to tackle deteriorating education quality and attendance rates in civic schools.

“We have asked NGOs working in the programme to create an action-plan for a one-year hand-holding programme with us, which will end before our takeover of the programme in 2015-2016 academic year. NGOs will impart skills to teachers and administrators and train them to carry forward the model for better quality education,” said civic education committee chairman and BJP corporator Manoj Kotak.

The five-year programme covers 148 Urdu and Marathi medium schools, although it was initially to cover a total of 1,327 civic schools in Mumbai. It included participation from organisations such as McKinsey & Co and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and was expected to include music and fun-based activities in teaching techniques. Other areas covered under the programme were teacher and headmaster training, identifying a proper activity-based methodology (pedagogy), reducing administrative and paper work for teachers and headmasters, as well as systemising the NGO participation at the municipal school level.

In July 2013, the project proposed for acquiring funds worth Rs 6 crore for extending the programme by a year. The NGOs named in the proposal which was up for renewal in the committee meeting included : Nandi (which handles the civic urdu medium schools), Kaivalaya, Rishi Valley, and Students in Teaching. Apart from these, some of the other names attached to the project are Teach for India and Aakansha. At the meeting, civic officials said data on the performance of students enrolled in these schools showed a rise by about 12 per cent in two years. The committee, however, denied approval for extension on the grounds of NGO Praja’s annual report on BMC schools that pegged the drop-out rate in civic schools at more than 17 per cent.

“Such a minor increase in the performance-rate of students is not enough considering the amount of funds and resources BMC pumped into the programme. The SEP has not even created a new syllabus for the schools, instead they have designed a supporting syllabus for which the civic administration has been made to provide the basic services such as printing materials, questions etc. Moreover, at every school, the civic body has appointed a Shikshan Sahayogi (educational assistant) to carry out most of the work for the NGOs. If we anyway are going to do so much, why are we still engaging NGOs when results are not up to the mark?” said Kotak.

Last Updated on Monday, 20 January 2014 06:09

Municipal school budget to power revamp

Saturday, 28 December 2013 00:00 administrator

The Times of India 28.12.2013

Municipal school budget to power revamp

AHMEDABAD: The chairman of the municipal school board, Jagdish Bhavsar, presented a budget of Rs 612.2 crore for the city. This year, the board has made an additional Rs 6.25 crore provisions for new programmes that have to be introduced in a few schools as part of an experiment.

To start with, the board has proposed to spend Rs 2.5 crore for a special 'Bala Project' in the fives zones of the city involving 25 schools. Under the project important spaces within the school premises will be turned into a space for learning - with such features as letters on walls and graphics explaining interesting facts and trivia. Even the play utilities will be educational. Teachers here will be given special teaching aides to help students visualize concepts.

The second project announced was the implementation of the 'Sakshar Ahmedabad Abhiyan' under which councilors will individually carry out the school enrolment mission. In another ambitious decision, CCTV cameras in 25 schools will be installed - a pilot project that was carried out in Delhi municipal schools.

The experiment will help in monitoring teachers in the schools. A budget of Rs 25 lakh is being earmarked for this purpose. Also as part of an experiment, children of standard VI and XIII will be taught to repair mobile phones and electronic gadgets. "A special mention in our budget is towards constructing a special 'girl's only' room in 25 schools in the city. The project will be extended to other schools as well in the following budget years," says Bhavsar.

Children will also be given martial art lessons. "This academic year we will set aside Rs 50 lakh to organize school tours for children to Kevadia Colony to show them the site where the world's tallest statue, of Sardar Patel, is going to be built," says Bhavsar.

With diaries, civic body to forge student-teacher interaction

Tuesday, 17 December 2013 06:37 administrator

The Indian Express 17.12.2013

With diaries, civic body to forge student-teacher interaction

Beginning this academic year, children studying in schools run by the South civic body will be provided with special school diaries along with their new books. The one-of-a-kind move makes South Municipal Corporation the only civic body to have undertaken such an initiative at the school level.

The diaries, titled Samvad, will be distributed to students of Classes I to V free of cost.

"You will find that children studying in private schools have school dairies. In corporation schools, it is unheard of. So, we thought of providing these diaries to students. Currently, there is no system of interaction between students, parents and teachers in municipal schools. Through these diaries, we hope to create a system," Satish Upadhyay, Chairman of Education Committee, South corporation, said.

The school diary will have information about school management committees, different welfare schemes for students and grading and assessment system.

"We even have a page on the 'no corporal punishment rule', so students who are subjected to physical punishments know where to complain," Upadhyay said.

Then there is space allocated to weekly division of class-wise syllabus. "Municipal schools don't follow any syllabus or rules. But, we have created syllabi for individual classes and printed it in the diaries, so that we can monitor the syllabus as well as pace of teaching," PRO of South corporation Mukesh Yadav said.

More than 3 lakh diaries have been printed and sent for distribution. At Rs 18.36 each, it has cost the civic body nearly Rs 65 lakh. The diaries also include a daily time table, a yearly calendar, an annual school calendar and a list of important phone numbers.

"Samvad means communication. Without Samvad, there can be no improvement. We hope, through this diary, to bridge gaps of communication between schools and parents," Yadav said.

PCMC plans semi-English divisions in 136 schools

Wednesday, 11 December 2013 11:27 administrator

The Times of India 11.12.2013

PCMC plans semi-English divisions in 136 schools

PUNE: The school board of Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) will start a division of standard I in the semi-English medium in each of the 136 municipal primary schools from June 2014 to boost enrolment. Science and mathematics will be taught in English while the remaining subjects will be taught in Marathi.

Board chairman Fazal Shaikh told TOI, "There is a growing tendency among parents to enrol their wards in English medium schools. There is a decline in the number of students taking admissions in the municipal primary schools. Hence, the board has decided to start one division of standard I in semi-English medium in all 136 municipal primary schools on an experimental basis. Teachers who have good command over English will teach the students in this division."

"If we get an overwhelming response to the initiative, we may start another division from the next academic year," Shaikh said.

There are problems like students not receiving free school uniforms, textbooks, notebooks, sweaters, shoes and other school items at the start of the academic year. Poor standard of education has also affected enrolment in civic schools.

Shaikh said the sports competitions at municipal primary schools for the 2013-14 academic year will continue till December 18. The competitions are being held in two categories - one for students of standards I to IV and second for students from standards V to VII.

Individual competitions will be held for boys and girls in 100m running, long jump and high jump. Team competitions will be held in kabaddi, kho-kho, lezhim, patriotic song singing and folk dance.

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