Free and compulsory education to be extended up to class X

Free and compulsory education to be extended up to class X

Aarti Dhar

CABE approves drafting of law to check malpractices in schools

New Delhi: The provision of free and compulsory education will soon be extended up to Class X. A proposal to this effect was approved at a meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) — the highest decision-making body on education in the country — held here on Tuesday.

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, provides for free and mandatory education only up to primary level – from Class I to VIII.

The CABE, represented by the States and civil society members, also approved the drafting of new legislation to check malpractices in school education. While the Union Human Resource Development Ministry has already introduced a Bill in Parliament to prohibit unfair practices in the higher education sector, it was agreed at the meeting to initiate a similar legislative proposal for the school education sector also.

Briefing reporters at the end of the meeting, Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said two separate committees from within the CABE members would be set up to draft preliminary legislations which would then be sent across to the States before being approved. Both the committees, comprising State Ministers, academics and stakeholders, will submit their reports within three months.

“It was felt that every child in the country must have the right to at least 10 years of formal schooling. We have begun the process and will work out ways to provide for funds for the purpose,” Mr. Sibal said.

The CABE committee on extension of RTE will look into finance, infrastructure and legal requirement. The Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan, promising free education at the secondary level, is already in place and could become the vehicle for extending RTE till the secondary level. Bringing Class IX and X under the provision of the RTE will either require amending the existing Act or enacting a new law.

National framework

There was also unanimous endorsement of the need for a National Vocational Education Qualifications Framework (NVEQF) providing for a nationally recognised framework with vertical and horizontal mobility between general and vocational education. The group of State Education Ministers already constituted, will develop a road map for implementing and incorporating the requirements and concerns of all the States, Mr. Sibal added. The State governments will identify regional and local skills and develop curriculum content to feed into the NVEQF. The courses chosen should be locality specific to be implemented through planes devised by the States, which would be woven into a national grid within the parameters of NVEQF.

Another committee was also set up on university reforms. It will look into the recommendations of the March Vice Chancellors' conference that had called for major reforms in the university systems including financial independence and more autonomy like doing away with the convention of President being the Visitor of all Central Universities. It had also recommended allowing more colleges and institutions to grant degrees by doing away with the affiliation system, as far as possible.

Concern expressed

The meeting also discussed the need for integration of sports and physical education with academic curriculum as also introduction of “10 Great Thinkers of Modern India” in the syllabi of schools. The CABE expressed its concern for preservation of the linguistic diversity and resolved that measures be taken to protect and preserve endangered languages in the 12th Five Year plan.

Why we failed to Pass ? Dozen reason or solutions

1.Schooling is not only for a living.(Paisa paisa karti ho !!!)Schooling for stomach! Education

and Literacy are different things .All literates are not educated...

2.After getting a job we forget to read or right.(Chalta hai !)Alliteracy.

3.Secure job,family,kids-happy .(All is well..)No risk taking.

4.Kids of 21st Century ,Teachers are from 20th Century.(Sau Saal pehle.....)Generation gap.

5.Punishments-Carporal,Exams (Fear factor)Schools should be inviting.

6.Matriculation-Class X phobia(Dus ka Dum).Grade or no grade..parental pressure in urban will continue.

7.No life skill/survival skill education(Zindagi ye kaisi hai paheli..haai ..)Paper Tigers cannot withstand the wind!

8.Peer pressure( Mitwa....).Negative,misinformation,habit formation etc.starts here.

9.Insecure childhood(Dil hoom hoom kare gabraaye..)Don't worry about your kid,be concerned.

10.Sense of humour(lacking) among teachers(Bum bum bole..)

11.Lack of motivation -teacher/kids(Saabasi dega kyaaa?)

12.Encourage divergent thinking.(Socho jara socho...)

You can add more......

Moral of the story: "Don't miss the Tiger for the Woods"!!!.

CCE-Continuous & Comprehensive Evaluation

CCE website download powerpoint on CCE

Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi has issued a teachers manual on CCE for class 9 and class 10. The new scheme of continuous and comprehensive evaluation is being implemented in class 9th from the current session 2009-2010 and the same will be implemented in class 10th too from next session i.e. 2010-2011. In this new grading scheme, CBSE will not take board exam for class 10 and a Certificate of School Based Assessment will be issued by the school authorities as per the guidelines given by CBSE.

The proposed Certificate of School Based Assessment is divided into three parts.

Learn More from the official source at CCE website

Learn to Walk

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Tax on petrol exceeds it original price.Now its time to share the vehicle or learn to walk...
double click the picture above to open and read the details.

Cartoons in Textbooks of Rajasthan

Jaipur: Mickey Mouse and other cartoon characters will enliven the text books of Class I children in Rajasthan from the next academic session to help get the children more interested in studies.

The Rajya Pustak Mandal has decided to print cartoons on the cover pages and make the books more colourful.

"Mickey Mouse would be on the cover page and if our plan is successful then we would incorporate similar changes in books for Classes 2 and 3," Vasudev Devnani, state minister for education, told IANS.

"Kids love cartoons the most. We want them to learn and enjoy at the same time," he said.

"It is a good step and would certainly help in generating the interest of students," Vivek Sharma, a father of a five-year-old daughter, said.

Despite its efforts, Rajasthan still has a high drop out rate, which as per estimates stands at over 34 percent. The state government has taken various initiatives to improve educational standards in the state, including appointing around 41,000 teachers, while the appointment of another 31,000 teachers is being finalised.

The government has improved the student-teacher ratio in primary classes and secondary classes.

Under the Shiskha Sambal Mahaabhiyaan, 1.65 million children in the age group 6-14 years were enrolled while 9.6 million children were given free text books. IANS

India's fearless 'untouchable' paper

By Amarnath Tewary
Dumka, Jharkhand (for BBC)

But the sixty-something Dalit from Dumka in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand has published a newspaper every week without fail for the past 21 years, highlighting discrimination against the poor and local corruption.

Mr Rajak's four-page, handwritten Hindi-news Din Dalit is photocopied 100 times and sold to subscribers or pasted onto Dumka's main traffic lights, bus stands and roads.

Din Dalit is not just another small town news sheet - the newspaper is registered with India's Registrar of Newspapers, thanks to the efforts of India's first Dalit President, KR Narayanan, after Mr Rajak wrote to him.

Since its first edition in October 1986, Din Dalit has made a difference to the lives of local people, even helping a resident to secure social security from the authorities after his plight was reported in the paper.

'I was hurt'

Mr Rajak says he decided to bring out the newspaper after he was humiliated by local authorities when he took some people to meet them to help enlist them in a government social security scheme.

"I was very hurt. I approached the local media to highlight the incident but they did not show any interest. So I decided to go ahead and bring out my own newspaper," he says.

Over the years, Din Dalit has run stories on diverse subjects like a local scam in the distribution of specially-made cycles for disabled people, and bungling in a government housing scheme and kerosene oil distribution for the poor.

After washing clothes through the week for a living, Mr Rajak concentrates on bringing out the paper by selecting the news, deciding on the editorial page content and headlining the articles on Sundays.

The paper now even boasts a reporter - 45-year-old Ravi Shanker Gupta, who works in a grocery and goes out to collect news when he gets a work break.

On Monday morning, the editor and his intrepid reporter publish 100 copies of Din Dalit - 50 are bought by regular readers, and some are pasted on the walls. Some 25 copies go to government departments.

Mr Rajak says he spends 300 to 350 rupees (about $8) producing the paper.

His wife is less than impressed with his efforts. "He just wastes his time and money every week. I have no idea what he gets by bringing out the paper," says Lakshmi Devi.

But others in Dumka think highly of Mr Rajak's paper.

Ashok Khatri, a disabled man, says he received a 2,000 rupee social security grant from the government, only after Din Dalit wrote about him.

'War against corruption'

Rickshaw puller Dhrub Rai says Din Dalit serves a critical social purpose.
"Rajak has simply waged a war against corruption and social evils here," he says.
Mr Rajak's four sons also support their father's unstinting efforts.
"We feel proud when we see people reading and discussing the issues raised in the paper," says eldest son, Raj Shanker Rajak.
And local English-language journalist Brajesh Verma concedes that Din Dalit serves an important purpose.
"It has its own dedicated readership who wait for it every week," he says.
Din Dalit has also begun commenting on larger national issues. A recent piece by Mr Rajak stressed the need to turn the Line of Control - the de facto border separating the disputed region of Kashmir - into a "line of peace".
He has also written a drama on the Kashmir problem and sent it to a state-run television channel to make a serial out of it. He is still waiting for a response.

Mr Rajak's achievement is considerable when you consider the fact that India's 180 million Dalits still remain largely neglected by the authorities.
Officially, caste discrimination was outlawed when India gained independence in 1947.

But Dalits are still often expected to do the most menial jobs. In many villages, they are also prevented from drinking water from wells used by high-caste Hindus.