The advantages of co-educational institutions

 

Source: The Hindu,Meera Srinivasan,April 5,2010

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There is healthy interaction on campus
“Segregation significantly impacts perspective”

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CHENNAI: Vishnu Prabhu, a literature student, understands irony. As an undergraduate student, he had a gender studies course where a class of all men had to write a paper on feminism.

For a city with a vibrant college atmosphere, such an experience is not strange as it has very few coeducational arts and science institutions. Apart from limiting perspective, the situation also impacts how students fare as professionals later. Vishnu, now pursuing his master's in a mixed classroom, realises that the learning environment has become richer. “I think having different perspectives on an issue can enhance the quality of discussions,” he emphasises.
 
For a co-educational school student, being in a single-sex college can be rather difficult. “Whether it is about casual conversations, joking or teasing, or about having serious discussions, nothing like having a mixed group,” says S. Ramya, who studies in a women's college. Apart from restricting the learning environment, the lack of adequate interaction with members of the opposite sex seems to have other implications, too. J. Shahul Hameed, who graduated in commerce from New College last year, is now employed in the BPO sector. “I really wish I had studied in a co-education college. While I am very confident about interacting with my male colleagues, I hesitate to talk to my female colleagues. I maintain a distance,” he says.

Miriam Samuel, Head, Department of Social Work, and Dean of Humanities, Madras Christian College, says the overall positive atmosphere in the institution helps young men and women have healthy interaction on campus.

“It is important that more institutions consider admitting men and women. Also, it is important that these institutions consciously create space and opportunities for women, like in student leadership and in other extra curricular areas,” she adds.

Ms. Samuel also feels that campuses are an ideal place to discuss gender concerns. “They are not discussed in families, social or religious circles. But it is possible on campuses.”

Aniruddhan Vasudevan of The Shakti Resource Centre that works on building discussions on gender and sexuality feels the whole “gender segregation business is funny and violent.”

“What are the assumptions? That boys and girls should be kept away from each other to prevent any possibility of sexual attraction? I think that is a ridiculous notion and it is very sexist,” he says. Mr. Vasudevan also thinks such segregation significantly impacts students' perspective and understanding of the opposite sex. “We are being very distrustful of students, even if we are not telling them explicitly.”

Tamilnadu keen on reducing schoolbag load of students

  Source: The Hindu,5 April,2010,Meera Srinivasan

Printing of good quality, light to carry, textbooks on

CHENNAI: When the new academic year begins in June, thousands of school children will carry bags weighing much less than they did last year.

The School Education Department is now keen on reducing the burden of schoolbags on children, as part of its initiative to implement ‘Samacheer Kalvi' under the Tamil Nadu Uniform System of School Education Act for classes I and VI this year.

According to School Education Minister Thangam Thennarasu, printing of textbooks, designed according to the new syllabus, is going on at full swing and would reach students during the first week of June. “A lot of attention has been given to the quality of paper used and weight of textbooks. The textbooks will be of A4 size and have been made using 80 gsm paper. The book will not only be of good quality, but also be light to carry,” he said.

Instead of printing separate workbooks and making students carry them to school everyday, the Department is considering providing work sheets.

While textbooks would be provided to government and aided schools free of cost, Matriculation schools would have to purchase them for a price. According to sources, the textbooks have been priced lower than before.

Welcome move

“Children of the primary sections following the Activity-Based Learning methodology have to carry hardly anything because the methodology largely involves use of activity cards,” Mr. Thennarasu said.

Teachers have welcomed the decision to reduce the load of schoolbags. According to M. Moorthy, president and state treasurer, Tamil Nadu Elementary Schools Teachers Federation, it is important that students be allowed to carry bags that are not too heavy. “It is certainly a welcome decision,” he said.

N. Vijayan, General Secretary, Federation of Matriculation Schools' Associations in Tamil Nadu, said last year, in an attempt to reduce the load of schoolbags on their students, Matriculation schools decided to rework the time-table to enable students to carry select textbooks on a given day.

“A heavy schoolbag may impact a child's health and growth. Besides the government's efforts, schools must, on their part, cooperate and ensure this is made possible,” he added.

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Education board matters for them

Source: The Hindu,1 April,2010,Liffy Thomas— Photo: S. Thantoni 

The need for holistic development of the child is behind the decision of many parents to change school and board.

CHENNAI: It is S. Karthick's last few weeks in a leading matriculation school before the Class V student joins a CBSE school, from the coming academic year. While his parents are convinced that the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE), introduced by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), will mould the child holistically, Karthick has a different reason to leave his friends for a new environment.

“Taking exams is a nightmare for children and he has seen his cousin write 15 papers continuously. In CBSE, he knows that there are only five subjects and examinations are well spaced,” says his mother Radha Subramanian.

The next academic year is significant in the State. The CBSE has said good bye to Class X Board examinations. The State Government is introducing Equitable Standard School Education under the Tamil Nadu Uniform System of School Education Act, which brings different school boards under one umbrella. Plus, international curriculum such as Cambridge International and International Baccalaureate are getting promoted by schools.

School managements say there are many anxious parents considering a shift in Board. Some parents of CBSE students feel removing examinations is not an ideal choice for their child, while Matriculation parents are sceptical about the uniform curriculum.

But, does it matter which Board one follows?

“The board does not matter. Rather parents must take their decision, based on some kind of rationale, most important is to check the potential of the child,” says G. Neelakantan, principal, Sir Sivaswami Kalalaya Senior Secondary School.

R. Kishore Kumar, Senior Principal, St. John's International Residential School, is, however, of the view that Board does matter and along with it the school too. “The evaluation pattern is the most crucial factor to be looked at.”

In Tamil Nadu, a majority of the transition from Class X (ICSE or CBSE) to higher secondary is due to easier access to higher education. But this trend is being witnessed at the primary or middle school level itself thanks to the pedagogy different Board are introducing. Also, until Class V every Board follows almost similar syllabus and transition is perhaps more appropriate at the primary to middle school stage, say teachers.

“In the State Board all I had to care was marks to secure an engineering seat, whereas CBSE you have to concentrate on regular exams plus the national level competitive exams,” says Rahul Natarajan (name changed), a Class XII student who switched to State Board after Class X.

At the seven institutions of St. John's Group of Schools, the earlier trends among students to shift from CBSE to State Board in Classes VI, IX and XI are changing. Teachers from DAV Group of Schools also say they are now increasingly seeing students continuing in a central board after Class X. Similarly, the Velammal Educational Trust is also seeing encouraging response for its CBSE schools.

With a national curriculum more accepted for parents in transferable on the move, many school managements are introducing a couple of Board and leaving the choice to parents. According to sources, many matriculation schools have also sought NOC from the government to switch to a new Board.

Graduation day with a difference

Source:The Hindu Special Correspondent,April 1,2010

It was held at Madhuram Narayanan Centre for Exceptional Children

Moving ahead:Children of Madhuram Narayanan Centre for Exceptional Children presenting a programme in Chennai on Wednesday.

CHENNAI: Unmindful of the audience, 14 students danced along with their mothers, narrated the ‘thirsty crow' story in their own style and rendered a nursery rhyme at the graduation day programme on Wednesday.

What could have been easily passed-off as a yet another school day function took everyone by surprise as the students were in the age group of three to eight years and had completed early intervention programme successfully at Madhuram Narayanan Centre for Exceptional Children, Chennai (MNC).

In all, it was a graduation day with a difference as the ‘Moving Ahead' programme facilitated children with developmental delays or mental retardation to continue school education in special and mainstream schools after the completion of early intervention programme.

For the past few months, these children were guided and directed by the special educators, therapists, combined with music, yoga and play therapies on how to use one's individual strengths through individualised programme plans.

“Over the past four years, 19 students have been successfully enrolled in the mainstream schools. This year, 10 students will move into the mainstream schools and four in special schools from the next academic session starting in June 2010,” said Vimala Kannan, principal of MNC.

On Wednesday, three year-old Shriyaditha and eight year-old Nandini along with their friends showcased their acquired skills. Naresh Krishnan was given a 32 months pre-school training programme while Madumitha underwent a 16 month programme.

After the completion of the intervention programme, the children were able to follow instructions in English and Tamil; eat independently; play with friends; give direction to teachers and fellow students about their needs; and spell three letter words.

S.P. Sarguna Pandian, chairperson, Tamil Nadu State Commission for Women, presented gifts to the children and distributed certificates to parent trainees.

In her special address, she lauded the parents of Exceptional Children for playing the role of teacher-cum-guide and said that the Commission was ready to help them in all possible ways.

‘Paathshaala’ made Shahid Kapoor remember his fun days

Source:Spicezee Bureau, March 31, 2010, 21:27 IST


Mumbai: Sweet memories of childhood made the chocolate boy of Bollywood – Shahid Kapoor quite nostalgic as he visited a school recently in Mumbai for the promotion of his latest film, ‘Paathshaala’. Sasha went down the memory lane as he interacted with kids at Beacon High School in Khar. The actor talked about his school days, school friends, schoolteachers, and also taught the school children some cool dance moves!

On being asked about his favorite and worst subjects, Shahid quipped, “Science was my favourite but I was terrible in Math. I was never the frontbencher nor the last bencher. I was somewhere in between.” The actor further commented, “I was a very naughty child. I was an average to above average student. I was neither a brat nor a teacher`s pet. I was a bit of both. My two friends and I were called the pillars of the class because we were always punished in the class.”

Shedding light on his memorable school days, Sasha said, “Best memories are attached to my school in Delhi. We were a gang of four boys and we ruled. There was a new building coming up in the school compound and we played with mud and pebbles in that construction area all day. Also Samir, one of the guys in our gang, had a crush on this cute girl in class and the rest of us made sure no other boy could sit next to her. We were in Standard 2 during this episode.”

On being probed about his childhood sweetheart, the actor reluctantly confided that there was a sweet girl in the eighth grade and he used to go to a tuition class only because she went there. But unfortunately the girl liked some other guy.

The actor was a hit among kids as he taught them some funky cool dance steps but before leaving he said on the prevalent education system in India - “The importance given to hard work and education is very good but sometimes, it gets a bit excessive.”

RET- Chennai Officials yet to start work on RTE Act

Source:Karthika Gopalakrishnan, TNN, Apr 1, 2010, 04.16am IST





CHENNAI: April 1 is being promoted as a red-letter day for the country's education policy when The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 will be operationalised across the country. 

In Tamil Nadu, however, the Act will not take off as per schedule since education department officials are yet to receive word from higher authorities on its implementation. It is also not clear if the model rules circulated by the ministry of human resource development will be modified by the state and then brought into use. 

The Act, which provides for free and compulsory education for children between six and 14 years of age and comes into force as notified in the Gazette of India,' requires no further resolutions at the state level to be adopted by the respective governments.

The provisions of the Act lay down that a state government has to constitute a State Advisory Council' (not exceeding 15 members) comprising persons with knowledge and practical experience in the field of elementary education and child development. The functions of the council would be to advise the government on implementing the Act effectively.

A state government, the Act also stipulates, should constitute an authority (the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights) to examine and review the safeguards for rights provided by the Act and inquire into complaints relating to a child's right to free and compulsory education.

Education department authorities would also have to intimate state government schools, aided schools and any school belonging to a specified category that each of them would be legally bound to set up a School Management Committee' under the Act with at least three-fourths of the members being parents or guardians. The committee would also have to include elected representatives of the local authority and teachers from the school.

While authorities from the education department remain in the dark about these steps, the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan has rolled out a framework to carry out the preliminary work for the implementation of the Act. State project director R Venkatesan has given instructions for a statewide survey to be undertaken from April 5 to 12 to ascertain the number of out-of-school children in every district.

The exercise will involve around 6,000 block resource teacher educators (BRTEs) who will collect details using a specifically-designed format on students' family backgrounds, educational status (in school, dropped out or migrant) and community profiles. The district-level list will be ready by May 15 and a statewide list will be consolidated by the end of May so that all out-of-school children identified in the exercise can be enrolled in school or given special training within the school premises and become subsequently mainstreamed. Officials estimated that approximately 60,000 children were out of school in the 6-14 age group in Tamil Nadu.

From today, every child has a right to education

 Source:PTI Apr 01 2010 , New Delhi

Nearly eight years after the Constitution was amended to make education a fundamental right,
the government today implemented ahistoric law to provide free and compulsory education to all children in age group of 6-14 years.

The 86th Constitutional amendment making education a fundamental right was passed by Parliament in 2002. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, a law to enable the implementation of the fundamental right, was passed by Parliament last year. Both the Constitutional amendment and the new law came into force from today.

The new law makes it obligatory on part of the state governments and local bodies to ensure that every child gets education in a school in the neighbourhood.

Its implementation will directly benefit close to one crore children who do not go to schools at present. These children, who have either dropped out from schools or have never been to any educational institution, will be enrolled in schools.

The Right To Education is being touted by the UPA government as another major achievement after Right To Information Act and National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.

At present, there are nearly 22 crore children in the relevant age group. However, 4.6 per cent of these children (nearly 92 lakh) are out of school, a ministry official said.

The school management committee or the local authority will identify the drop-outs or out of school children above six years of age and admit them in classes appropriate to their age after giving special training.

The Act makes it a right of every child to get education. The Act makes it obligatory for the appropriate governments to ensure that every child gets free elementary education.

The Act mandates that even private educational institutions have to reserve 25 per cent seats for children from weaker sections.

Certain schools have already challenged the law in the Supreme Court as being "unconstitutional" and violating fundamental rights of unaided private educational institutions. However, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal has said that legal process would not affect the implementation of law.

The Finance Commission has provided Rs 25,000 crore to the states for implementation of the Act.

As per the government's estimate, there will be a requirement of Rs 1.71 lakh crore in the next five years for implementation of the Act. Sibal said that the government has arranged the required funds for implementing the law.

The Act says no school can deny admission to a student and all schools need to have trained teachers. In case of schools not having trained teachers, they will have to comply with the provision within three years.

As per the new law, the schools need to have certain minimum facilities like adequate teachers, playground and infrastructure. The government will evolve some mechanism to help marginalised schools comply with the provisions of the Act.

The government has already prepared model rules which have been circulated to the states for preparing their own rules for implementation of the Act. The Centre has also prepared separate rules for the Union Territories which will be notified by the Law Ministry next week.

As per the Model rules, the local bodies and the state governments will undertake household surveys and neighbourhood school mapping to ensure that all children are sent to school.

The rules say that the state governments or local authorities will determine the neighbourhood schools by undertaking school mapping. Such agencies shall ensure that no child is subjected to caste, class, religious or gender abuse in the school.

The local authority will conduct a household survey and maintain a record of all children in its jurisdiction. The record will contain detailed information about the child and the parents and will specify whether the child belongs to the weaker section or disadvantaged group or having any disability.

The state government or local authorities will identify children with disabilities and children from disadvantaged groups every year.

Unaided and private schools shall ensure that children from weaker sections and disadvantaged groups shall not be segregated from the other children in the classrooms nor shall their classes be held at places and timings different from the classes held for the other children.

The new law will ensure that quality education is provided to children of all community, including minorities and backward classes.

However, the reservation for weaker section will not be implemented from this year as the admission season is almost over. It will be implemented from 2011-12.

The state government and local authorities will establish primary schools within walking distance of one km of the neighbourhood. In case of children for Class VI to VIII, the school should be within a walking distance of three km of the neighbourhood.

The government has prepared a short film on the new law which would be aired on TV channels to create awareness.