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CBSE chief for lighter school bags
Mohali, November 5 Professor Ganguly, who is also the Chairman of the Council of Boards of School Education in India (COBSE), and was speaking at the zonal meeting of the COBSE held here, emphasised that an alternative had to be found to homework in cases of Classes I to V because while doing homework, the child was only reproducing everything from textbooks. He suggested that instead of the conventional homework, children should be exposed to the immediate environment. While presiding over the meeting, the CBSE Chairman made several valuable suggestions and proposals to revamp school education and make it more meaningful. He said a student should not be evaluated on the basis of the result of an examination but a series of examinations. A three-year profile should be prepared in this regard. There should be no pass-fail criteria up to Class V. He said importance should also be given to “softer” subjects and laid stress on education in life skills. To make mathematics more interesting, their was a need to set up maths laboratories in schools for giving exposure to students from class V onwards. Prof Ganguly said the CBSE had introduced education on disaster management as part of the social science curriculum. For the first time, the central board had introduced biotechnology in the school education. Other subjects that had been introduced were entrepreneurship, fashion studies and multi-media and web technology. In his welcome address, Prof Harbans Singh Sidhu, Chairman, Punjab School Education Board and also the Chairman of the north zone of the COBSE, said education had to be made more meaningful and relevant to the academic, social and economic requirements of our society. Hence, there was an immense need to change the existing curriculum. We needed a curriculum which was more open, daring, imaginative and could imbibe good moral values. He said there was a need to vocationalise the education system. The curriculum should be made employment-oriented and each word taught must have its application value. There was a great mismatch between the skills acquired through the existing system of education and the skills required by the professional sector. The outdated and unwanted concepts should be deleted to make place for new ones. Prof D.V. Sharma, Secretary, COBSE, said the key question to be discussed while debating issues on examination reforms was how to shift the emphasis from memorisation or cramming to. It was also to be seen whether examinations were meant for quality education or just enabled students to cross a threshold. Examination today continued to promote memorisation and hence the scores achieved by a student did not necessarily reflect the quality of learning.
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Set up regulatory authority for schools, says Justice Sodhi
Chandigarh, November 5 They also stressed on the need for an autonomous regulatory authority for raising the standard of school education. They were participating in the two-day seminar on “Quality school education — the way forward”, held at the CII (Northern Region) here this afternoon. The Punjab Finance and Planning Minister, Mr Surinder Singla, lamented that stress was more on opening new schools or upgrading the existing ones rather than improving the quality of education or bridging the gap between the rural and urban schools. The state government at present spent 19 to 24 per cent of the state’s GDP on education but still the standard of government schools was far from satisfactory. Mr Singla said: “The teacher-student ratio in the state is already high and the demand for filling 20,000 vacant posts is quite out of place. Constant steps should be taken to make education more attractive and sustainable.” It was Justice S.S. Sodhi (retd) who in his address laid emphasise on the need to have an autonomous regulatory authority for school education , free from government control to monitor the quality of education and ensure transparency. He said while the government had failed to deliver goods on the education front, private schools had done a much better job. The government schools instead of accusing the private schools of charging exorbitant fees, should try to compete with them in providing quality education and this would go a long way in solving the problem. Mr Sodhi blamed the state government for not filling vacancies of teachers on time or ensuring adequate discipline in the functioning of schools, which had led to deterioration in the standards of education. He talked about giving 25 per cent reservation to poor children in private schools. The need for setting up more Navodaya Vidyalas for imparting better quality education was also put forth. Mr Harpal Singh, Convener, Infrastructure Development Panel, CII, Punjab State Council while giving some dismal figures reflecting on the state of education in the society said: both public and the private sector need to pitch in to remove illiteracy. “Quality education is a means of development and bringing social change and all stakeholders — parents, teachers, school principals, legislators and political leaders — should chip in to empower people. A comprehensive paper should be prepared highlighting what ails the education system and what should be done,” he said. Mr Kanwar Sandhu, Resident Editor of a national daily, said media, too, had failed to contribute towards improving in the quality of education. Critical stories, highlighting the sorry state of education in rural areas which could have made the policy makers sit up, have not been the focus of newspapers on a regular basis. Few other speakers including Mr Manish Bagrodia, CII, Punjab State Council, also laid thurst on making education more attractive and gave an interesting presentation on “the responsibility of school systems.” Earlier, a round table discussion chaired by Mr Harpal Singh was attended by eminent people, including policy makers, educationists, judiciary, media and the corporate sector. Experts also gave their views on “New environmental challenges in school education.”
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Tips on avoiding lab mishaps
Chandigarh, November 5 One of the main sources of information about physical and biological properties of chemicals and their hazards is The Merck Index, a complete encyclopaedia on chemicals and drugs. Strongly advocating the need to create awareness about essential characteristics of chemicals housed in labs, expert Asheesh Sarkar listed the hallmarks of lab safety policy that addresses the safety concerns of students. Currently working for ICI Global, Mr Sarkar has helped IITs evolve such policies which rest on basic elements like ventilation, hazard communication, storage, handling and transportation of chemicals, and proper waste disposal. Earlier during the day, he held a workshop on lab safety for school teachers. The workshop was organised by The British Library. In an interview with The Tribune Mr Sarkar talked about factors that trigger accidents in school labs. He rated the use of mobile phones in labs as extremely risky as well as hazardous to health of students. The habit of mouth pipetting liquids is another risk factor in labs. The expert said, “Students must know the warning symbols for specific chemical hazards and they should never work in labs under the influence of drugs Also they should never smoke, eat or drink in a lab. Often teachers are not trained enough to know what to do in emergency situations. Such training is important,” he said. Mr Sarkar emphasised lab safety policy for every school. The policy, he said, must provide for safety equipments and personal protective equipments like specialised ware for glass handling, gloves for handling hot items and chemicals, goggles to protect eyes, waste disposal methods for broken mercury thermometers and other hazardous waste. He added that special focus must be laid on emergency evacuation which was often a neglected area. Stressing the role of signages in case of emergencies, Mr Sarkar said emergency exits needed to be marked properly. He, however, added that schools in India needed to awaken to the urgency of lab safety, especially in times when experimentation was getting more and more challenging. Any lab safety policy, the expert said, must begin with the estimation of risk in the lab situation.
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Techno Fest held in Vivek High School
Chandigarh, November 5 The fest was inaugurated by, Mr N.S. Kalsi, Secretary, IT, Punjab. Meanwhile, in the inter-school debate held yesterday the Macmillan Running Trophy was given to Bhavan Vidyalaya. The first, second and third prize were bagged by Ankita Sagar of Bhavan Vidyalaya, Ramita Wig of St Kabir High School and Rattan Amol Singh of Vivek High School. Group song debate
Patriotism, harmony, beauty of nature and festive spirit of rain were the themes of the group songs presented by teams of the local colleges at an inter-college group song debate held at Dev Samaj College for Women, Sector 45. The contest was held as part of two-day inter-college cultural fest: Mosaic — 2004. Prof B.D. Budhiraja, Dean, College Development Council, PU, inaugurated the event. The results of various events are Group Song Trophy: MCM DAV College for Women and Govt College Sector 46 — 1, Dev Samaj College for Women , Sector 45 — 2 and Govt College for Girls, Sector 11 — 3. Folk Song: Namdev of DAV College — 1, Harjeet of GCG 11 — 2 and Rajan of SD College, Sector 32 — 3. Anti-cracker rally
Students of Government Model High School, Sector 20, participated in a rally to spread the massage of “Say no to crackers” and “discontinue use of polythene bags”. Mr R.S. Goraya, principal of Government School, Sector 46, flagged the rally. Competition
Different events in an inter-house competition concluded at DAV School, Sector 15, here today. Activities ranging from literacy to performing arts were held during the weeklong celebrations. Mr Rakesh Sachdeva, principal of the school, inaugurated the event. Vigilance Week
To celebrate the Vigilance Week, students of Sri Guru Harkrishan Model School, Sector 38, participated in poster making, slogan writing and debate. Ms Harpreet Kaur, principal of the school, informed the students about the importance of the awareness week.
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Fashion students display creations
Mohali, November 5 KDT-III students worked on knitted fabric for creating garments by ‘draping’. Draping is a technique which helps in creating garments directly on dummies of various sizes. Students came up with evening wear and nightwears working on themes like
‘Electic’, ‘Oriental, Mysterious’, ‘Head over heels’, ‘Folds’ etc. Students of
KDT-I presented knitted fabric swatches, created and developed by themselves.
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Students take out anti-cracker rally
Mohali, November 4 Students, divided into three groups, were led by teachers. They also interacted with residents and told them about the adverse affects of crackers on the environment. Principal Jaya Bhardwaj earlier flagged off the anti-cracker rally. Earlier, while participating in a discussion students were told to celebrate Divali in a traditional method by lighting earthen lamps to mark the victory of good over the evil. Ms Bhardwaj expressed concern over the deteriorating environment and said that crackers on this single day raised the noise level manifolds.
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Open Day celebrations
Mohali, November 5 Students from class V onwards exhibited their creations which included paper crafts, stitch crafts and clay modeling. The function was attended by all students. Field activities had also been organised which commenced with a march past by students. Mr Chander Shekhar, Additional DGP, Punjab took the salute. The march past was followed by the participation of the students in various field activities. As many as 60 students participated in dumb bells which was followed by gymnastics. Students attired in colourful costumes presented bhangra followed by an impressive giddha performance by girls.
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Candidates harassed in bank strike
Chandigarh, November 5 The branch of the bank in the university had been authorised to sell the examination forms to students of different classes. After the students agitated, the univesity authorities began the sale of the forms at its counters. The students lamented that a form each was being given. They lamented that private persons were selling forms at a higher price than allowed by the university.
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NZCC celebrates Foundation Day
Chandigarh, November 5 Haryanavi Dance Junior Group ( 8-12) years: Shishu Niketan Senior Secondary Model School, Sector 22, Chandigarh; J B Modern Public School, Sector 27, Chandigarh and Moti Ram Arya Modern Public School, Sector 7, Panchkula. Choreographed Dance Competition Junior Group ( 8-12)years: Gem Public School, Phase 3-B-2, Mohali; I S Dev Samaj Girls Sr. Sec. School, Sector 21, Chandigarh; M J S Ramgarhia School, Sector 27, Chandigarh and Dews The School, Sector 21, Panchkula (Consolation). Choreographed Dance Competition Senior Group ( 12-17)years: I S Dev Samaj Girls Sr. Sec. School, Sector 21, Chandigarh; Moti Ram Arya Sr. Sec. School, Sector 27, Chandigarh and St Soldier International School, Sector 28, Chandigarh. Rangoli Competition Junior Group ( 8-12)years: D C Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 7, Panchkula; M R D Model School, Manimajra; Bhawan Vidyalaya, Sector 15, Panchkula and Moti Ram Arya Public School, Sector 7, Panchkula (Consolation). Rangoli Competition Senior Group (12-17)years: Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Sector 15, Panchkula; AKIPS, Sector 41, Chandigarh; D C Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 7, Panchkula; G N Holy Heart Public School, Mauli (Consolation); SGGS Collegiate School, Sector 26, Chandigarh (Consolation) and Little Flower Convent School, Sector 14,
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Udhas finds muse in classical poetry
Chandigarh, November 5 Last year, he recorded a complete album on the lesser known works of classical Urdu poet Meer Taqi “Meer”. This year, he is working on Daag Dehelvi’s verses. In Chandigarh today on invitation from a company that organised a ghazal concert in this region for the first time, Udhas said all his musical pursuits were directed towards a goal. This evening, he presented some new ghazals from his repertoire. Beginning the recital with Nasir Qazmi’s fairly regular poetry in the ghazal “Nai kapde badalkar jaaon kahaan…aur baal banaoon kiske liye..woh shakhs to sheher hi chhod gaya…main baahar jaaon kiske liye…”, Udhas went on to offer the melodies that brought him fame. Among other new ghazals he rendered tonight at Hotel Mount View were Sudershan Faqir’s “Kaise likhoge mohabbat ki kitaab, tum to karne lage pal pal ka hisaab…” and Zaffar Goraphpuri’s nazm “Dukh sukh tha ek sabka…apna ho ya begana; ek who bhi tha zamana, ek yeh bhi hai zamana…”. In his presentation, Udhas remained muted, as ever. He struck his melodies in the old, familiar style, once again living up to what he has always believed in: “The art of ghazal has no grammar. All its practitioners have evolved their individual styles. Mine is just one among
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