EDUCATION

Haryana board exams: Copycats to get the stick
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, March 14
The Board of School Education Haryana has made elaborate arrangements to make its matric and senior secondary examinations free from the menace of copying in the state.

Stating this, Mr Rakesh Gupta, Secretary of the Board, told mediapersons here today that utmost care had been taken in appointing the centre superintendents and the invigilation staff through computer system. Even the seat arrangement of the examinees had been computerised for the first time in the history of the board.

He said that the entire state had been divided into 174 sectors to ensure effective inspection. Besides, five control rooms had been set up at various district headquarters to monitor all the centres. As many as 473 flying squads have also been set up.

Making a specific mention of certain innovative steps taken by the Board to eliminate the chance of impersonation, Mr Gupta informed that the scanning system which envisaged the printing of the candidate’s photographs and signatures on the admit card, signature chart and individual certificates had been introduced. Specific security features such as U-Verify, Number Aar-Par, watermarks etc, had been introduced for the first time to check the anti-social elements involved in the printing and supply of bogus certificates.

Mr Gupta was also critical of some private schools indulging in unscrupulous practices to gain cheap popularity in their areas of functioning.

He said that last year, the board has issued show cause notices for disaffiliation to about 200 schools, while it had also written to the state education department to derecognise other 200-odd such private schools throughout the state.

He said that the Board would opt for stringent measures if the authorities of such schools did not mend their ways.

Mr Gupta said that as many as 870 cases of unfair means had been detected during the five-day annual examination of middle standard this year and the FIRs had been lodged with the police against 70 examinees.

SCHOOL BUZZ
Educators stress on student focussed learning
Syed Ali Ahmed

The fourth annual conference on “Emerging Trends in Holistic Education” was organised by the Delhi Sikh Public Schools Conference at the Guru Harkrishan Public School, Vasant Vihar.

Taking a holistic view, the key speaker on the occasion, Dr. Anil Wilson, Principal of St. Stephen’s College, said that “educational institutions have become money churning machine. Education has the limited aim of earning for a living and not providing a holistic education. We are just producing a quantitative generation. Earlier, education was from ‘sage on the stage’, but now it has been reduced to guide by the side”

Dr Wilson advised the management committee of the school education to provide a better economic and social status to our teachers so that education can move from teacher- centred learning to student focussed learning process.

Dr. M. R. Chillana, former Professor, NCERT, said that in the present environment teachers should be dynamic, energetic and skillful, and “believe in three H-Head, Heart and Hand”.

He said that every teacher is a leaner and should take inspiration from the Gurbani, and follow the principles of “bow, grow, glow, slow, flow and finally know”.

Values are invisible governors – teaching to learn, learning to earn, learning to forget and learning beyond mind. Become men of values and not of success, he emphasised.

Students take a flight of fantasy

Students of Children’s Valley School, Preet Vihar, taking part in a rhyme recitation competition.

The students of Guru Harkrishan Public School, India Gate, organised a colourful and vibrant cultural programme during their annual function.

A cultural programme, appropriately called “flight and fantasy” transported the audience to the fantastic lands of mermaids.

Another dance sequence based on the changing seasons, “Blooming Through the Year”, took the audience for a trip to the valley of enchantment.

A Punjabi play, “Kaago Hans Kare” based on the life of Guru Ram Das Ji was the highlight of the day. A Gidda dance brought the audience to their feet.

Mr Prehlad Singh Chandok of the DSGMC, was the chief guest on the occasion. The Chairman of the Minority Commission was the special guest. The chairman of the school, Mr Shamsher Singh Sandhu and the principal, Mr Inderjit Singh Narang, welcomed the guests..

Annual day function

Encouraging the students of Amity, Saket, at their annual day function, the Ambassador of Sudan shared the mantra of good performance to ‘a sound mind and sound body’.

Praising the school, the Ambassador said that Amity is a symbol of friendship, brotherhood, goodness and affection.

“Excellence and quality are the key words for all Amitians, and I sincerely hope that they live up to these standards,” he said. The chairperson, Amity International School, Mrs Amita Chauhan, said “all my students are success stories by themselves and each one of my students has immense potential, the need is only to develop their skills.” Dr Ashok Chauhan, founder president, RBEF, called upon the students to inculcate “the killing instinct” in order to succeed. He stressed on the need for the fitness of mind and the importance of networking to achieve the targeted goals.

Agnel Day celebration

Children of Fr. Agnel School celebrated its Second Agnel Day with fanfare. Congratulating the school students and the management, the chief guest, Mr Nilotpal Goswami, Director, Union Ministry of Commerce, said education is the empowerment of minds in the pursuit of individual, community and national goals.

He expressed his confidence that Fr. Agnel School had the capacity and the will to produce such students, who would be an asset for the community and the country.

Appreciation programme at Apeejay School

Apeejay School, NOIDA, organised a three-day appreciation programme for students of Nursery, KG and Class 1. The event was aimed at awarding young talents and motivating them to perform to their best possible abilities.

Mrs. Padmashree Simha, in-charge, pre-primary wing, said, “As fragrance abides in a flower, achievements abide within our little ones. Today, we all are here to honour the sparks of talent in our tiny tots, which were identified during the year 2003-2004. We are thankful to their parents—-the ones who nurtured their childd’s hidden qualities and developed it into achievers of immense potential.”

Rhyme recitation competition

Children’s Valley School, Preet Vihar, organised a rhyme recitation competition. Students of pre-primary wing recited rhymes for their grandparents. The grandparents of the students along with Mr Pradeep Jain, chairman and Mrs Seema Bhandari, principal, were the special invitees on the occasion.

Sports day function

The Little Baloons School organised its sports day function for its school children recently. The event started with a march past by the children. Various kinds of races for children such as balloon race, lemon-spoon race, sack race etc., apart from drills were conducted on the occasion. The children were specially prepared for the occasion and dressed up in colourful costumes.

Cultural programme by children

A cultural show, based on the theme ‘We the Future’, was organised recently by Roots School, Mukherjee Nagar. Children were dressed up in the attire of different states with distinct cultures and religion.

The director of the school, Ms Mamta, appreciated the efforts of the children and everyone involved in putting up the performances by the kids. She advised the parents to take a pro-active role in the positive development of their children.

Annual Graduation Ceremony

The ABC Nursery School, Model Town and Ashok Vihar, celebrated their ‘Annual Graduation Ceremony’ in the lawns of Goodley Public School. The atmosphere during the mass presentation was full of fun, frolic and sensation.

The most enchanting part was the cultural programme presented by the young magicians, whose exotic performance made the audience sit glued to their seats.

Discover India

‘Discover India’ was theme of the annual day function of the Sapling. The highlight of the programme was a performance by children dressed in the different traditional dresses of India, dancing to the tune of the latest pop album.

Prize distribution ceremony

Mr Brian Dickson, Deputy High Commissioner of Canada, distributing prizes to children of Kinder Paradise School, Patel Nagar.

Kinder Paradise School, Patel Nagar, celebrated its annual function and prize distribution ceremony at LTG Auditorium, Mandi House. The school principal, Mrs. Dipanita Ranjan, welcomed the chief guest, Mr Brian Dickson, Deputy High Commissioner, Embassy of Canada, who distributed the prizes to the children. The colourful performances put up by the children were well appreciated by the audience.

Techno Era exhibition

A techno exhibition, “Techno Era” was organised by the Manav Sthali School, New Rajender Nagar. The exhibition aimed at exploring and sharpening the minds of future technos and scientists.

Annual day function

The Kinder Nest Play School, Rajouri Garden, celebrated its annual day with great fanfare. Mrs Ragini Kaul, headmistress of DPS, Dwarka, was the chief guest. Dr. K. Raj Kapoor, a child growth expert pediatrician was the guest of honour. The principal of the School, Mrs. S. K. Arora, welcomed the guest, parents and presented the annual report on the occasion.

Principalspeak
Find peace within yourself

I would like to share some experiences of my life with you. I come from a family of staunch Gandhians. My grandfather was closely associated with Mahatama Gandhi and Pandit Nehru. He worked very closely with villagers, farmers and the people in no man’s land– robbers and thieves—-convincing them as to why they should participate in freedom movement. During his work, a famous robber of Rajasthann–Jaisingh, was inspired to leave his profession and my grandfather appointed him the treasurer of his newspaper against the advice of all well-wishers. 

After a few days my grandfather was put in the jail by the British Government, where he received the news that Jaisingh had misappropriated some funds. After being released from the jail, he decided to meet Jaisingh at his residence. “Jaisingh, why did you put yourself to such mental torture? Even if you had committed an error, you could have just accepted it. When I made you the treasurer, I put my faith in you and putting faith means that I am ready to accept you with your mistakes.”

So children, if your have committed any mistake or have not got good marks in the past, it is OK, just accept the fact and move on. When one realises and accepts one’s mistake, one is at peace with oneself, ready to move forward without any guilt or tension.

My grandfather had the habit of giving away his things to people who were in need of them. Sometimes some people took advantage of this. When I asked him why he gets deceived by such characters, he replied, I want to live by my convictions, let them live by theirs. Why should I stop doing my Karma, just because others do not do their Dharma! This was a mantra I took to my heart.

I feel each one of us must draw strength from our convictions, even if it means being different from others. Let us not compare ourselves to others all the time, let us find our own strengths and work on them–we can surely find peace within ourselves.

Madhu Chandra, Principal, Birla Vidya Niketan