Citizen initiative to boost SSLC performance
Monday, 13 December 2010 06:22
administrator
The Deccan Herald 13.12.2010
Citizen initiative to boost SSLC performance
Bangalore, Dec 12, DHNS:
Free coaching for poor performers in 12 state-run, corporation schools of Jayanagar
As many as 1,000 SSLC students of government, corporation and aided schools in Jayanagar will attend free coaching classes from this month, thanks to an initiative by a group of academicians and elected representatives.
About 65 teacher-volunteers are part of this campaign to train poor performers, picked up from 12 schools in the area. A majority of the volunteers are retired government school teachers or those who were teaching at coaching classes.
The 60-day crash course commences on December 29 at three selected venues in Jayanagar and culminates in early March next year. Ninety-minute classes will be held on all subjects on all working days and a lengthy session is scheduled for Sundays.
Launched last year, the project initially focused on select subjects like Mathematics, Science and Social Studies. About 750 students attended the coaching class last year.
The pass percentage in 12 schools went up significantly despite the change in question paper pattern last year, the volunteers claimed.
The group has also set up a team of experts in each subject to standardise the teaching methodology. Training sessions were held for the trainers also.
Major challenge
According to the teachers, the major challenge is to train students within 60 days. However, they are ready to undertake the mission this year too.
“We conduct a test before the commencing the course to evaluate the knowledge of each student in a specific subject. Several students don’t even know the basics of difficult subjects like Mathematics and we have to teach them the fundamentals,” said Shyamanna K, headmaster of Government High School, Sarakki, JP Nagar.
Jayanagar Academic Committee coordinator S Murali Mohan said they faced initial resistance from parents and students to conduct classes after school hours. However, the parents were convinced after seeing the improvement in the performance of the students, he said.
8 civic students in hospital after drinking milk provided by school
Saturday, 11 December 2010 10:06
administrator
Indian Express 11.12.2010
8 civic students in hospital after drinking milk provided by school
As many as eight students of Sainath Nagar Municipal School, Ghatkopar, were hospitalised on Friday after they complained of vomiting and stomach pain soon after drinking flavoured milk provided by the school. The students, in the age group of 11-14 years, were admitted to Rajawadi Municipal Hospital. The milk that they drank had been certified by the Belapur Public Health Laboratory and the BMC laboratory in Dadar.
“Though the school reopened on November 22, the milk supply resumed only today. The milk was consumed by 34 students at 9 am. Eight students complained of severe stomach ache and some vomited,” said Deputy Education Officer Mirza Beg. The supplier had attached certificates from the public health laboratory and the BMC lab on the batch of tetrapacks that was brought to the school on Thursday. Milk supply to the school was stopped following Friday’s incident, Beg said.
Hospital authorities said the students were out of danger. Flavoured tetrapack milk is supplied to all civic schools by Warana on a contract of Rs 100 crore for one academic year. Additional Municipal Commissioner in charge of education, MM Adtani, said he had sought a list of city laboratories approved by the Food and Drug Administration. “After we get the list, we will make it compulsory for the supplier to attach certificates from any two of these approved labs and only then will they be allowed to resume supply,” said Adtani.
A BMC team will visit Warana’s manufacturing unit in Kolhapur. “If the milk is not found up to the mark, we will terminate the contract. We cannot jeopardise the health of more than 4 lakh students who study in municipal schools,” said an education official.
Around 200 ml of elaichi-flavoured tetrapacked milk is provided to civic students everyday along with khichadi. There is no regulatory body to monitor the quality of Khichadi served by private suppliers.
Last Updated on Saturday, 11 December 2010 10:10
|
Rise in dropout rate in civic schools, says study
Friday, 10 December 2010 11:58
administrator
Hindustan Times 10.12.2010
Rise in dropout rate in civic schools, says study
Though the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation spent an additional Rs 10,000 on every civic school student in 2009-2010 compared to the earlier year, the number of students who dropped out of school went up in the same period, says a report released by the voluntary organisation, Praja, on Thursday.
In 2008-09 the student dropout figure was 6.32% while in 2009-10 it stood at 6.63%.
The report, released on Thursday at the YB Chavan centre, lists the student, teacher ratios in schools, ward-wise dropout rates and student numbers in every class for a three-year period. “The data we have collected paints a dismal picture of the corporation’s education department,” said Nitai Mehta, founder-trustee of Praja. “By compiling the white paper, we hope to create awareness about the major issues. We plan to monitor whether the BMC is putting into practice the programmes it has in place to evaluate itself.”
The data show that every year the number of students enrolling in Class 1 goes up but the number of dropouts increases with every higher class. “The big drop in the number of students is from higher primary (Class 7) to secondary school (Class 8 onwards),” said Mehta, founder-trustee of Praja. “Girls tend to drop out because of puberty or because they are given household jobs to do. Boys drop out as the family feels they need to contribute economically.”
The city has 1162 primary municipal schools up to Class 7 but there are only 42 secondary municipal schools in the city that have Classes 8 to 10. From Class 7 to 8, the number of students falls to approximately one fourth.
“The problem in Maharashtra is that the municipal schools end at Class 7, whereas the Right To Education Act guarantees education till Class 8,” said Farida Lambay, co-founder of Pratham, at a panel discussion at the report’s release. “Can the state add Class 8 to the primary schools? Otherwise after Class 7 the child has to go elsewhere.”
Last Updated on Friday, 10 December 2010 12:00
Despite more funds, BMC fails to reduce dropout rates
Friday, 10 December 2010 11:32
administrator
Indian Express 10.12.2010
Despite more funds, BMC fails to reduce dropout rates
Express News Service Tags : Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, dropout rates in schools Posted: Fri Dec 10 2010, 04:07 hrs Mumbai: Despite allocating more funds for education each year, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has failed to reduce dropout rates in schools. According to the latest report by Praja Foundation, of every 100 children who enter Std I, only 12 reach Std X.
“This trend has not changed since 2007,” said Nitai Mehta, Founder Trustee of the Praja Foundation, a citizen’s initiative to increase governance and accountability. “The BMC spends over Rs 40,000 annually on each student while most of them do not even pass class X,” said Mehta.
The total per capita budget for each child has almost doubled from Rs 22,219 in 2007 to Rs 40,461 in 2009-10. According to Dr Ramesh Panse, former head of Economics at Department of SNDT University, “One must understand that about 90 per cent of the per capita budget on children is the component of the teacher’s salary. And yet we do not get quality education.” While the percentage of children reaching class X was 11 per cent in 2007, it increased to 13 per cent in 2008-09 and dipped to 12 per cent in 2009-10, according to the report.
The Praja report also points out that the overall dropout rates for wards are on the rise as 15 out of 24 wards saw an increase in the number of dropouts from 2008-09. The highest dropout rate is in Dahisar West and Bhandup while the lowest is in Bhendi Bazaar Crawford market area (C Ward). The quality of education also suffers as the BMC schools have poor student-teacher ratio, according to Mehta. While the highest student-teacher ratio is in Malad West and Chembur with 1 teacher for every 47 students, the lowest was found in Ghatkopar East (1 teacher for 29 students) and Mulund West (1 teacher for 30 students).
According to the data collected by Praja in the past three years, “it was shocking to find that of the elected representatives in education committee, more than half had never asked a single question regarding education in any of the meetings.” There are 26 members in the education committee but the data pertains to only 22 councillors. In the 19 meetings held since April 2009, only 22 questions had been asked by councillors.
The attendance ratio of the councillors have also dropped since 2008-09, with most members attending only eight or nine meetings this year compared to 11 meetings in 2008-09. Questions regarding school infrastructure and education were posed most frequently while those on lack of students, sports and education trips and fees and donation were asked less frequently, said Mehta.
“Attendance which is a big problem amongst students need to be addressed by all the agencies,” said Farida Lambay, Founder Pratham and professor of Nirmala Niketan College of Social Work. According to Panse, “Foremost we need to make education attractive and fun for students. Also, we should do more of public-private partnerships in schools.”
|
