Results for Class-X CBSE exams announced

Sourcce : PTI May 28 2010 , Chennai

Results for Class-X CBSE Exams were announced today with the Chennai region registering overall

96.18 per cent 'qualified.' According to statistics released by the CBSE here, Puducherry topped the list in the region, comprising seven states and three Union Territories, with a score of 99.50 per cent.

From this year, the practice of declaring a student as passed, failed or compartment has been done away with, following introduction of grading system.

ETEN CA launches its VSAT based Coaching Centre in Bangalore

 Source : ETEN : Bangalore :28 May 2010

Affordable and high quality coaching through satellite link was today launched in Bangalore. ETEN CA (Educomp Tele-Education Network for CA prep) from IndiaCan Education, India’s largest network of technology based satellite coaching centers for Chartered Accountancy prep, today formally inaugurated its centre in Bangalore located at No. 14/1, 4th Cross, Sampige Road, Malleshwaram.


ETENCA is a pioneering Tele Education initiative aimed to help CA aspirants get advanced, scientific and personalized coaching from acclaimed faculties, at their home town and at a lower cost compared to what they would have incurred if they took in-person classes from the same faculty.

In less than 2 years, ETEN CA has set up over 100 centres across north, central and eastern India and benefited over 20000+ students. ETEN CA is now looking to expand its presence in South India with a view to enable students across cities in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu access to high quality CA coaching from nation’s best teachers without leaving their city.



Buoyed by unprecedented success of North India centres and recognizing the need for a specific program for Southern states, ETEN CA is launching a separate program for CA prep for the four South India states. The ETEN CA South India Program (SIP) students will receive coaching from eminent faculties like CA Kapileshwar Bhalla, CS B. Ravi, Dr. T S Deendayalan, CA P. Satish Kumar, Mr. N. S Govindan, Mr .R. Murali, CS Sangeet Kedia, Mr. R. D. Maheshwari, Mr. BVN Rajeshwar and other eminent and experienced faculty.

ETEN CA’s North India Program (NIP) faculty CA Parveen Sharma , Dr. Girish Ahuja , CA Sanjay Aggarwal, CA Raj Kumar, CA Rajiv Singh, CA Pankaj Garg and others may also enrich the ETEN CA SIP initiative at various stages.


Elaborating on the benefits and scope of satellite education Mr. Puneet Jhingan, Senior VP, IndiaCan Education Pvt Ltd said “The objective of satellite education is to help students get advanced, scientific and personalized coaching right in their home town. CA being a professional and competitive course requires skilled and qualitative coaching which is exactly what ETEN CA is doing by assembling the best teachers in the field, under one roof, for students across India. It allows a student to study all subjects at his/her home town without migrating to metropolitan cities. The study is closely managed by ETENCA staff and affiliates and supplemented by advanced Learning Management System, Smart Assessment System, Video Archives and such other unique and beneficial features”

“In Southern India, ETEN CA will shortly open centres across states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala covering cities like Chennai, Coimbatore, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mangalore, Mysore, Cochin, Salem, Erode, Guntur and other major towns. We hope to have close to 20 centres across the southern states by the end of this financial year. By then, we should have around 125 centres across India”.

Among the highlights of the ETEN CA program are India’s leading faculty; Structured assessment; Well equipped classrooms; E-Learning support and Video Archives.

An amazing feature of ETEN CA is that it allows students to access and view the lectures they may have missed or want to review through unique video archive system. Recognizing the special needs of CA aspirants who need to balance their CA prep sessions with demands of frequent travel arising from mandatory Arcticleship, ETEN CA has conceived and implemented a unique Video Archive Access system wherein students have the facility to view their missed lectures on the net. They can also revise a limited number of sessions online closer to their exams and are effectively able to study anytime and anywhere as per their need.


Moreover a student at ETEN CA is monitored and regular assessments are conducted through Mock test, sample paper’s and regular tests which helps a student to perform and prepare better for the CA exams.

Since its launch, ETEN CA has already helped many students in smaller cities to score well in their exams. A student of ETEN CA recently scored 100% marks in IPCC Accounts, creating a history. This is the first time any student has scored 100% marks in IPCC Accounts. Besides this, ETEN CA has produced many Rank Holders in its previous batches.

guidance-cum-orientation programme being organised by The Hindu-EducationPlus here on Sunday

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A special session on how to choose the right options from a sea of choices available in the Kerala engineering stream will be one of the highlights of the guidance-cum-orientation programme being organised by The Hindu-EducationPlus here on Sunday for students seeking admission to courses in various professional streams through the State government's counselling process after taking the common entrance test.

A session on the online seat allotment process, which the students and parents look forward to, will be handled by officials of the Commissionerate of Entrance Examination.

This is the seventh edition of the off-the-page initiative by Kerala's largest-selling English language newspaper. The event was launched in 2004, the year EducationPlus was launched with The Hindu in the State, as a logical extension to the student-oriented content of the weekly supplement.
The Tagore Centenary Theatre will be the venue for the programme, titled “Courses & Choices — Sessions on the Professional Streams and More.”

The forenoon session will focus on the dos and don'ts, strategies related to the online seat allotment process, an overview of the key courses and, in general, set students and their parents thinking on the career and course options before them.

Participants will be briefed on the counselling process and can address questions to the members of a panel of experts chosen by The Hindu.

The afternoon session will focus on courses in animation and gaming, travel and tourism and finance and chartered accountancy. There will also be a “study abroad” session on educational opportunities in foreign countries.

Students who register themselves for the programme on payment of a fee of Rs.75 can choose to attend either one or both the sessions.

A handbook with detailed information on courses will be given to each participant. Apart from helping students gain clarity on the different courses on offer, it will outline points to be considered while seeking admission to professional courses. Entry to the event will be on a first come, first served basis.

Registration forms are available during working hours at the office of The Hindu, Airport Road, Vallakkadavu, Thiruvananthapuram (ph: 0471 250 2001).

Through e-mail

Students can also provisionally register for the event by sending a request by e-mail to educationplustvm@thehindu.co.in. These candidates should complete the registration formalities at the venue before the start of the programme.

The State Bank of Travancore is the presenting sponsor of the event. The associate sponsors are the Cooperative Academy of Professional Education and Shadwells.

At Thiruvalla, the event is scheduled to be held at Mar Thoma Residential School on June 5. Students may register provisionally at eptiruvalla@thehindu.co.in

Thanjavur first ranker wants to become doctor

Photo: M.Srinath

PROUD: Collector M.S. Shanmugam honouring students who scored district ranks in SSLC examination in Thanjavur district on Wednesday.
Source : The Hindu,Special Correspondent,May 27,2010


THANJAVUR: S.Mary Vasanthapriya, student of St.Joseph's Girls Higher Secondary school came first in Thanjavur district scoring 490 out of 500 in the tenth standard examinations, results for which were announced on Wednesday.

Daughter of Lourdusamy, a businessman, and Rakini Mary, Headmistress of Panchayat Union School at Kantharvakottai, Vasanthapriya expressed her desire to become a doctor after completing Plus Two. “It is by God's grace and I am very happy,” she said when asked about her feelings on coming first in the district.
Three students shared the second rank in the district by scoring 489 out of 500.

They are P.Surya of St.Isabella Girls Higher Secondary school at Pattukottai, A.Prabhu of Government Boys Higher Secondary School at Peravurani, R.Rajarajan of Laurel Higher Secondary school at Pallikondan near Pattukottai.

Surya and Prabhu expressed their desire to become aeronautical engineers. Third rank was also shared by two students _ N.Rajkumar of Laurel Higher Secondary School at Pallikondan near Pattukottai and S.Swamiya of Sacred Heart Girls Higher Secondary School at Thanjavur, scoring 488 out of 500.
Collector M.S.Shanmugham and Chief Educational Officer V.Kumar congratulated the rank holders and presented them with books and certificates.

Kumar said that the district recorded 92.37 percentage of pass. Out of the total of 27157 students who wrote the examinations, 25,085 passed out. Of 12,830 boys, 11,633 passed out. A total of 14327 girls wrote the examinations out of which 13,452 passed. While the boys pass percentage was 90.67, girls pass percentage was 93.89.

“We have improved the pass percentage in the past three years. During 2007-08 it was 86.7, during 2008-09, it was 91.2 and during 2009-10, it was 92.37,” said Mr.Kumar. A total of 247 schools held the tenth standard examinations. Out of them 77 have achieved centum results. Out of them 53 are Government schools, 17, government aided schools and seven self financing schools.

In the Matriculation stream, A.Firdoz Banu of Gandhi Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Madukkur got the first rank in the district, scoring 486 out of 500. K.Gayathri of Christ The King Matriculation Higher Secondary school, Kumbakonam, got the second rank scoring 483 out of 500.

Third rank was shared by three students R.Manojkumkar of Gandhi Matriculation Higher Secondary school, Madukkur, S.Suryan of Kamala Subramaniam Matriculation Higher Secondary school, Thanjavur and R.Abhinaya of ARR Matriculation Higher Secondary school, Kumbakonam. They scored 482 out of 500.Suryan of Kamala Subramaniam Matriculation Higher Secondary school attributed his achievement to team work of the school under the guidance of correspondent S.Valliappan.

In the Matriculation scheme, 78 schools wrote the examinations. Out of them 33 got centum results.

Skill development programme for gold appraiser

ERODE: The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Institute (MSME-DI), Ministry of MSME, will organise a skill development programme
for gold appraiser at EEDISSIA at SIDCO Industrial Estate on May 28 to June 6.

The objective of the programme is to train educated, unemployed youth and enable them to get job opportunity in the nationalised and co-operative banks as gold appraisers.

It would also help the youth to start their own pawnbroker and jewellery shops.

The practical training will be imparted using the modern touch acid technique, a press release says.
 
The MSME-DI would issue certificates to the trainees on successful completion of the course.

The fee for the course is Rs. 3,500. Persons belonging to scheduled caste and scheduled tribe and the differently abled persons would be given 50 percent concession in the fee.

Interested persons can contact 
Deputy Director,
MSME Development Institute,
65/1, G.S.T. Road,
Guindy, Chennai 600032

(Landline: 044-22501011/ 22500765 and Mobile: 94445-55549).

Fewer centums in mathematics again

Sourcce :  The Hindu,Liffy Thomas,May  27,2010

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Of the 9,67,420 students, a total of 2,399 secured full marks in Mathematics

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CHENNAI: For the second consecutive year, centums in Mathematics have seen a significant drop at the S.S.L.C examination.

Of the 9,67,420 students who appeared in the examination, a total of 2,399 secured full marks in Mathematics. This is against last year's 5,112 and the previous year's 11,000 students who secured centum.
However, Matriculation and Anglo-Indian schools have not seen any drastic decline in the number of centums.
A total of 2,638 Matriculation students secured full marks in Mathematics, against last year's 1,374.
Teachers say this trend has to be worked upon as subjects such as Mathematics and Science mainly help students increase their overall total.

Disappointment
Many schools expressed disappointment that students who generally secure good marks in the subject fail to secure centum at the public examination.

“Maths is easy to score but the fear is high when the students appear for the public examination. Many are tensed and tend to confuse concepts.

‘One mark' questions especially is where a majority of students lose out. Also, trigonometry and analytical geometry are new topics where a student starts studying only from Class IX,” says S. Porchelvi, maths teacher, Children's Garden Higher Secondary School, Mylapore. Three students from the school secured centum, as against 10 that she had expected.

Basic grounding
Mathematics teachers say all the questions are from the textbook and basic grounding in the subject is essential while answering the tricky one-mark questions. Guess work should be avoided and teachers have a role to play in preparing the students, they add.

“Teachers should be receptive to the needs of the class. Schools should have special classes for underachievers and coach them,” says K. Srinivasa Rao, retired senior mathematics professor, Institute of Mathematical Science.

TANCET to be held on May 29, 30

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Common Entrance Test (TANCET) 2010 for MBA, MCA and M.E/M.Tech/M.Arch/M.Plan degree programmes will be held on May 29 and 30.

Fifteen enquiry offices have been set up in the State. In Chennai, the enquiry office will function at the Examination Centre in Anna University on May 27 and 28.

In 14 cities, the enquiry offices will be functioning on May 28 between 9 am and 5 pm.

Guidance of teachers helped me: State topper

Jasmine scored 495 out of 500 in SSLC examinations

S. Jasmine

S. Pavithra
Source :The Hindu, Tamil Nadu Bureau,may 27,2010

Chennai: Keeping awake till 2 a.m. everyday in a small rented house inside a compound of eight similar dwellings in Tirunelveli town, S Jasmine, a student of Corporation Girls' Higher Secondary School, has topped the S.S.L.C exams with a score of 495 out of 500.
“The prayers of my parents, guidance of teachers and my hard work helped me top the exams,'' she says. After obtaining B.E. in Computer Science and Engineering, she wants to become a civil servant to serve society, particularly the poorest of the poor.
Her father M. Shaik Dawood is a hawker selling dress material criss-crossing villages in the district on his two-wheeler. This prompted her elder brother, S. Imran, to work as a sales executive after obtaining a Diploma in Electronics to support the family financially.
Jasmine's scores: Tamil – 98, English – 99, Mathematics – 100, Science – 100 and Social Science – 98. The top rank in the matriculation stream has come as a pleasant surprise for S. Pavithra, a student of Bannari Amman Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Sathyamangalam. She has scored centum in Mathematics and Science, 99 marks in Social Science, 98 marks each in Tamil and English subjects to secure the first rank. “I did not expect State rank. I was only expecting a good score. It is a pleasant surprise,” she says, thanking the school management and teachers for providing special attention. “My parents C. Saravanan and Nirmala, both doctors, encouraged me to prepare well and asked me not to worry about the ranks.” She wants to pursue a career in engineering.
Two girls from Coimbatore shared the first rank in the Anglo Indian stream. S. Rene Angel of St. Francis Anglo Indian Girls' High School and J. Namrita of Stanes Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School scored 483 out of 500. Both secured centum in maths and science. R. Shiva Preeya of PA Vdiya Bhavan Higher Secondary School, Thalapatti in Karur district, is a second rank holder in S.S.L.C. with a score of 494.
M. Jeyeline of Sarah Tucker Girls' Higher Secondary School, Palayamkottai, is another third rank holder.

Chennai Schools fare better

S. Ashpunisha (left), and right, K. Sangeetha and K. Krithika, the Chennai School toppers with S. Arumugam who came second. Source  : The Hindu ,May27,2010


CHENNAI: S. Ashpunisha, one of the three first rankers of Chennai Schools in the SSLC examination with 487 out of 500, has happily forgotten her stomach ache, thanks to the results. She had been hospitalised for the past three days and wanted to be discharged, though a final diagnosis had not yet been made.


Ashpunisha wants to become a doctor. Daughter of a tailor M.S. Deen, she is a student of Chennai Higher Secondary School of Saidapet. Her parents said they expected higher marks. Her brother completed his engineering course this year.

The daughter of a driver, K. Krithika of Chennai Girls Higher Secondary School, Pulla Avenue, who too scored 487, said she did not think she would be a topper. “I used to get 3rd or 4th rank. But most times, I have ended up doing well in the final exams.”

She has won several prizes in elocution and essay competitions and wants to become an engineer. Krithika said her teachers felt a centum in Mathematics, which she lost by three marks, would have boosted her total. It was celebration time for K. Sangeetha, the daughter of R. Kandavel, an employee of Aavin. Packets of chocolates are going out to friends and neighbours in celebration of her sharing the top score in Chennai Schools. She wants to do her B.Com and become a Chartered Accountant.

The second rank went to S. Arumugam of Chennai HSS in Thiruvanmiyur, who scored 486 marks. The third rank was shared by Vasantha Kumari of Chennai GHSS Saidapet and J. Vishnupriya of Chennai HSS Maduvinkarai, who scored 483 marks.

Students of Chennai Schools have fared better than last year, with an overall pass percentage of 85.33 in the SSLC exam, results of which were announced on Wednesday. Last year, 82.58 per cent of the students passed. Of the 9,115 students who appeared, 7,778 passed the exam. The number of students who secured more than 400 marks, or 80 per cent, is 1,138.

Three schools — Chennai High School in Seven Wells, Chintadripet and Vanniya Teynampet — have got cent per cent pass. The pass percentage of girls at 89.06 was better than that of boys, who were 80.47 per cent.

However, the number of centums in subjects went down this year from 22 to 18.

Students said they lost marks in English and Mathematics, which brought down their total. K. Devibala of Chennai HSS, Madhavaram High Road, who scored a centum in Science, said she found English grammar difficult.

Civic body officials said that for the first time special classes would be conducted for the Chennai School students who would be taking the supplementary exams.

Battle over, toppers have reasons aplenty to cheer

Hard work, encouragement and self-motivation behind their performance, students say

Photo: A. Muralitharan

M. Priyanka of Sri Venkateswara Higher Secondary School, Puzhuthivakkam, celebrates her success following the results. — Photo: M. Vedhan

G. Sree Vandana and T. Lavanya of Velammal Matriculation Higher Secondary School.



 Source : The Hindu City Bureau,May 27,2010

CHENNAI: They fought their own battles in and after school and on Wednesday when the results of the Class X examinations were declared, the toppers had enough reasons to cheer. Hard work, encouragement and self-motivation were behind their performance, the students said.

As the public examinations approached, M. Priyanka of Sri Venkateswara Higher Secondary School, Puzhuthivakkam, used to spend as many as nine hours a day revising her lessons, with breaks in between. Her hard work paid, as she is the State second ranker in S.S.L.C. examination, scoring 494 marks out of 500.
For G. Sree Vandana, State second topper (493) in the Matriculation stream from Velammal Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Mogappair, concentrating on languages helped her increase her overall percentage. But Vandana is excited about finally getting a “big teddy bear” that she has been asking her father since her middle school days.

The State third topper, T. Lavanya, a student of Velammal Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Panchetti, recalls staying at the school hostel for two months before her examination to save on travel time. “I paid special attention to English grammar,” says Lavanya, who scored 492.

In the O.S.L.C. examination, students of Sri Ahobila Math Oriental Higher Secondary School, West Mambalam, bagged three State ranks, with S. Anusha topping with 475 marks. Five students in Chennai district scored 491 in the S.S.L.C examination. The district secured a pass percentage of 87.04 per cent.
“The evening before the Tamil paper, we had a power cut for one-and-a-half hours, and I studied under candle light. I am happy that I scored 98 in Tamil, with centum in Science and Social Science,” said R. Mithra, one of those who scored 491 and a student of Children's Garden Higher Secondary School, Mylapore. Her father G. Raju runs a photocopy shop and she says she would be a motivation for students in Royapuram locality where she resides.

Dance was a way to relax between lessons for R. Srinidhi, a student of Zion Matriculation Higher Secondary School and the topper in Kancheepuram district with 490 marks. “I would get up early and study for a couple of hours before going to school — very simple to follow,” she says. Eleven schools in Kancheepuram district registered 100 per cent results in the S.S.L.C. examination. While the Government High Schools at Kayarambedu and Devariampakkam and Government Adhi Dravidar Welfare High School at Orikkai recorded full pass percentage, in the aided and self-finance schools category eight have registered 100 per cent results.

A total of 41,202 students appeared for the SSLC examinations in Kancheepuram Revenue District, comprising Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu Educational Districts, and 32,113 cleared it. The overall pass percentage was 77.9. Thirty-nine of the students scored centum in Science, 32 in Mathematics and 11 in Social Science subjects.

In Matriculation schools category, a total of 10,709 students took the examinations and 9,942 cleared it. The overall pass percentage was 92.84. Out of the 34,816 students who took the SSLC examinations in Tiruvallur Revenue District, 25,755 passed. The overall pass percentage was 74, said a press release. The Collector, T.P. Rajesh, presented books to the toppers who called on him at the Collectorate.

Girls shine in class X exams

Source :The Hindu,Liffy Thomas,May 27,2010

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82.5 per cent pass in SSLC examinations
Top score shared by two girls in Anglo-Indian stream

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CHENNAI: In all the four streams – S.S.L.C., Matriculation, Anglo-Indian and O.S.L.C. – girls outscored boys by a 3 to 6 percentage points difference in the results declared here on Wednesday.

A total of 9,67,420 candidates (private and from schools) appeared for the S.S.L.C examination, recording a pass percentage of 82.5 per cent. In the Matriculation stream, where a total of 1,32,545 candidates took the examination, the pass percentage was 94.7. Over a lakh secured 60 per cent and above.

In the Anglo-Indian stream, the pass percentage among girls was 98.2 per cent and 93.7 per cent among boys. A total of 4,762 candidates appeared in the examination, with the pass percentage standing at 96.3 per cent.

There was a dip of 4 percentage points in the overall pass percentage among students who appeared under the O.S.L.C stream. The pass percentage was 88.2 per cent, among the 1,548 students who took the examination.

S. Jasmine of MPL Girls Higher Secondary School (HSS), Tirunelveli was the highest scorer (495) in the S.S.L.C stream. Four students came second with 494 marks, while 10 students came third with 493 marks.
S. Pavithraa of Bannariamman VMS, Sathyamangalam topped the Matriculation exam with 495 marks.
In the Anglo-Indian stream, the top score was shared by two girls from Coimbatore. S. Rene Angel of St. Francis Anglo-Indian Girls Higher Secondary School and J. Namrita of Stanes HSS scored 483 marks each. S. Anusha of Sri Ahobila Math Oriental HSS, Chennai topped the O.S.L.C stream with 475 marks.
Supplementary/recounting


Students who want their answer re-totalled should apply before May 31. Supplementary exams will be held in June and July. Candidates can collect their mark lists on June 15 from their schools; private candidates can get theirs from the centre they appeared.

Informal expressions for daily usage

We come across plenty of ‘communicative English' lessons regularly -- our textbooks include a few, and if you pick up a book about spoken English, you will find it usually includes such lessons. 

Typically, these lessons tell you how to behave -- and what language to use --in specific situations, such as post offices and banks, or job interviews. While these lessons are valuable, they mostly focus on dealing with stock situations, and little on handling situations that are perhaps a little unusual.

But there are a few handy expressions for these circumstances. The most versatile expression is a colloquial form of question that is useful for seeking explanations: ‘what gives?' Let's consider some examples to begin with. If you are waiting at your usual bus stop, and after a long wait have realised that none of the buses are stopping at your stop, you can wonder, ‘none of the buses are stopping here..what gives?'

Or if your usual quiet restaurant is unexpectedly packed with people, you can ask the owner: ‘quite a big crowd in here today; what gives?' In such situations, you are reacting to something unusual, and seeking an explanation by asking the question ‘what gives?' In terms of tone, this question is neutral. 

In most cases, it simply amounts to asking for an explanation, without a specific implication of anger or complaint. The question can also be directed at people, and not just general situations. For instance, you can ask your friend: ‘you look worried and tense today, what gives?'

In case you are wondering, the use of ‘give' here is not all that unusual. Apart from the standard meaning, ‘give' can also mean ‘to break down', or ‘to yield to pressure'. For example, you can say: ‘the small table gave (broke down or collapsed) when I sat on it.'

This sense of ‘give' becomes a part of the casual question ‘what gives?'

Another expression you can use is: ‘what is it with...' If you have a friend who has the habit of constantly checking his mobile phone, you can ask: ‘what is with you and the cell phone?'. As you can tell from the example, this question often has a tone of annoyance in it.

Unlike the question ‘what gives' which is used to seek an explanation, this one conveys the message that you know what is going on and are not happy with it. You can use this question for people as well as situations. For example, you can say: ‘what's with this new arrangement of books in the library? I can't find books the way I used to, any more!'

As usual, both the expressions are informal, and can be extremely useful in your daily interactions.

tips@skillspark.com

www.skillspark.com

NILESH JAHAGIRDAR

CWIT scholarships - UK

The Charles Wallace India Trust (CWIT) has called for applications for funding fellowships for short duration studies and visits to United Kingdom.

The CWIT is an arts, heritage conservation and humanities scholarship fund. It enables Indians in the early or middle stages of their careers to spend time in the UK, helping to achieve their artistic, professional or academic ambitions and make wider international contacts.

The deadline for applications is November 16, 2010.

For information email to cwit@in.britishcouncil.org

Applications invited for MBA - Anna and Annamalai universities

The Centre for Distance Education, Anna University, Chennai – 600025 has invited applications for admission to its two-year (4 semesters) master of business administration courses in general management, technology management, financial services management, retail services management, health services management and human resources management.

Entry qualification is a pass in Bachelor's degree in any discipline. Selection will be on the basis of distance education entrance test to be held on July 25. The university has invited applications for admission its Master of computer applications course.

Course duration: three years ( six semesters) through distance education mode. Entry qualification is a pass in any Bachelor's degree.

The applicant should have studied Mathematics either at Plus Two level or mathematics/ statistics/ computer-oriented subjects as one of the subjects at the degree level. The selection is based on an entrance test to be held on July 25. Download application forms from the website www.annauniv.edu/cde. Last date: July 2.
 

Annamalai University

The Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar – 608002 in Tamil Nadu, has invited applications for admission to its MBA on campus programme.

The two year programme includes specialisation in human resource management, finance management, marketing management and international business management. Graduates in any discipline with a minimum of 50 per cent marks in part III (main subject) are eligible to apply.

Application fee is Rs.1000. The application form can be obtained from the Registrar, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar – 608002 by sending a requisition letter along with a demand draft of Rs.1,000 drawn in favour of the Registrar, Annamalai University, payable at Chennai, along with a self-addressed envelope (30X24 cm). Last date: June 11.

100,000 US students to visit China in four years

 

  Source :Indo Asian News Service :27 May 2010 :7:02am

Beijing, May 27 (IANS) China will receive 100,000 US students in the next four years as part of the education cooperation programme, a Chinese official has said.
 

Beijing, May 27 (IANS) China will receive 100,000 US students in the next four years as part of the education cooperation programme, a Chinese official has said. 

The two countries have agreed on an exchange programme under which American students will come to study Chinese language or do research, said Zhang Xiuqin, director of Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges of the Ministry of Education. 

The agreement was signed during the second round of the China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue, which concluded Tuesday in Beijing, Xinhua reported. 

Principals of some US primary and secondary schools and Chinese language teachers in the US will be invited to China as part of the project. 

American college students will also be invited to participate in summer language camps in China. And, under the agreement, 10,000 Chinese post-graduates will go to the US to pursue PhD. 

Zhang said the project will provide an opportunity to Chinese graduates to study in US universities and research institutes.

CBSE launches curriculum for schools abroad

Source:Indo Asian News Service :25 May 2010

New Delhi, May 25 (IANS) Giving an international face to Indian education, the Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE) Tuesday launched an upgraded international syllabus for its schools abroad.

New Delhi, May 25 (IANS) Giving an international face to Indian education, the Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE) Tuesday launched an upgraded international syllabus for its schools abroad.

The new curriculum, which focuses on the education needs of Indian diaspora as well as local communities, was launched by Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal at Indian High School in Dubai, according to a official press release here.

The curriculum which will be launched in 30 schools in nine countries aims at carrying forward the basic strength of the Indian system of education and promoting critical and creative skills of the students.

Speaking at the function, Sibal emphasised the need for quality education for all children, with learning being a continuous and comprehensive process.

'We need a globalised community of children. I hope that it would grow and provide an alternative international curriculum to the students, both of the Indian diaspora and to local citizens in the countries,' he said.

The board aims to expand the curriculum to its other schools aboard as well in a phased manner.

The syllabus has been designed keeping in view the foundations of the National Curricular Framework (NCF 2005) and the experience gathered by the board over the last seven decades in imparting effective learning to millions of learners, many of whom are now global citizens.

The earlier curriculum focused largely on issues related to Indian interest which were proving a hurdle in expanding the coverage to international students.

The CBSE at present has 74 schools abroad, 63 of them in Gulf countries alone.

Tamil Nadu-Profile of district toppers

M.B.Harsha, Thambu HSS, Coimbatore.

M.B.Harsha, Thambu HSS, Coimbatore.

M.B.Harsha, Thambu HSS, Coimbatore.

M.B.Harsha, Thambu HSS, Coimbatore.

M.B.Harsha, Thambu HSS, Coimbatore.

M.B.Harsha, Thambu HSS, Coimbatore. MATRICULATION TOPPERS

P. Deepika (district first rank holder)
P. Deepika of A.R.C. Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Karumathampatti, scored 488 out of 500 to secure the district first rank. The girl has a centum in maths. Daughter of R. Palanisamy, who runs a lathe, says she expected 490 plus but is nevertheless happy with her marks. The girl wants to take up maths-biology group to realise her dream of becoming a doctor. Her interests include reading biographies.

Sruthi Bargavi A.S. (district first rank holder)
Sruthi Bargavi A.S. of Bharatiya Vidya Mandir Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Pollachi, has also got 488 to secure the district first rank. She has a centum in maths and science. She expected a rank and was happy to bag one. Daughter of N. Senthil Kumar, Bargavi wants to pursue computer science engineering. She plays chess, paints and pens poems.
Oshin Ponnuchamy (district first rank holder)
Oshin Ponnuchamy of National Model Matriculation Higher Secondary School shares the district rank with two others. And she too has centum in maths and science. The girl says she did not expect 488 and the marks surprised her. A school topper throughout, the girl wants to pursue engineering and then focus on robotics, thanks to her engineer father Ponnuchamy Varatharaj.
SSLC TOPPERS

Harsha M.B. (district first rank holder)
Harsha M.B. of Thambu Higher Secondary School, Press Colony, secured the district first rank in the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) stream, scoring 490 out of 500. She also has centum in maths and science.
Daughter of mill worker K. Balasubramanian, the girl says she studied from four in the morning, and then till 10 in the evening. She wants to become an aeronautical engineer.
Her interests include painting and reading general knowledge books.

Deepika J. (district second rank holder)
Deepika J. of Sri Gopal Naidu Higher Secondary School, Peelamedu, bagged the district second rank with her 488. Her only centum was in social science. She expected 490 plus but is nevertheless happy. She wants to choose maths-biology group to become a doctor, her grandfather's dream. Her father S. Jayakumar runs a photocopy service centre in Peelamedu. She has been a school topper since Standard IV.

Source :The Hindu Staff Reporter,May27,2010

SSC: Hyderabad stays at the bottom

Source :TNN, May 24, 2010, 04.37am IST


HYDERABAD: The state capital was right at the bottom in the SSC-2010 results declared on Sunday with a pass percentage of 71.79, while Nizamabad topped the list (92.65%). There were no toppers from the city either, the honour going to Tirupati, Karimnagar, Nellore and Khammam. Also, SSC-2010 again saw girls outshining boys.

The overall performance, however, was an improvement over last year (71.83%), jumping to 81.63. A total of 2,433 schools secured 100% pass this year, an increase of 440 from 2009. But the sorry state of government schools was brought home again with as many as 12 registering zero pass percentage.

Incidentally, Hyderabad bringing up the rear is not a new phenomenon. In 2008 the city scored 66%, which rose to 70.3% in 2009. Its marginal improvement in 2010 (71.79%) has, however, failed to propel it out of the hole. District education officer (Hyderabad) Victoria Deva Kumari blamed the city's poor performance on external factors, which, according to her, killed their efforts to improve the pass percentage.

"The riots followed by curfew upset the exam schedule, with some not even knowing the paper they were to write the next day. I hope the situation is better the next year."

A total of 13,48,726 students appeared for the SSC examinations held between March 22 and April 13. The supplementary exams are scheduled to be held from June 24 to July 7.

NEW DELHI :Class X results to be out on Friday

Manash Pratim Gohain, TNN, May 25, 2010, 05.59am IST


NEW DELHI: The results for the CBSE class X exam will be declared on May 28 at 10am. This year, 9,02,517 students — the highest so far — appeared for the exam out of which 2,47,291 were from the Delhi region. The figure is likely to go down as class X exams become optional from 2011.

While the students will not be marked this year, they will get grade points (GP) and a cumulative grade point average (CGPA). The marks for individual subjects or the total marks will not be given. For every subject, the students will obtain a corresponding grade on the basis of which they will receive a cumulative grade point average.

The top grade ‘A1’ will be given to those scoring between 91 and 100 marks in a subject. The last passing grade — ‘D’ — will be for a score between 33 and 40. The students would get a corresponding GP to figure out an average for admission purpose. For example, ‘A1’ grade fetches 10GP, while ‘A2’ gets 9GP. So if a student gets 10GP in science, 9GP in mathematics and 8GP in English, the average GP for admission in science stream would be 9GP (10+9+8=27/3=9).

For those who do want to know their marks, CBSE has come up with a formula. It gives an indicative equivalence of the percentage of marks as against the scored GP. In order to get subject-wise indicative percentage of marks students can use the formula: ‘9.5 X GP of the subject’ , while for the overall indicative percentage the students can use: ‘9.5 X CGPA’ . CGPA is the average of GPs obtained in all subjects, excluding the additional sixth subject.

Students can access class X results on internet on CBSE’s official sites — w w w. re s u l t s. n i c. i n , www.cbseresults.nic.in and www.cbse.nic.in. The results can also be accessed using the interactive voice response system (IVRS) or SMS.

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Schools grapple with norms-Mumbai

Source :Shreya Bhandary, TNN, May 24, 2010, 01.41am IST

MUMBAI: Schools around the state are slowly gearing up to meet the various clauses as mentioned under the Right To Education (RTE) Act which came into force in April this year. However, some features of the Act, like banning screening tests and selecting ‘neighbourhood' children, have created more confusion than clarity.

Clause 13 of the Act says no school shall subject any child or their parents to any screening procedure before giving them admission, but many principals still feel that screening of a student is necessary to an extent.

"These tests are performance-based, just to gauge the psychology of a student. Children are not expected to be brilliant at these tests. In fact, we don't have any written tests for KG level students. Students who apply for admission to classes above standard I are tested on the three core subjects - languages (English and Hindi) and Maths," said Meera Isaacs, principal of Cathedral and John Connon School in Fort. Some also felt that these tests are necessary to help the student understand and gel with the culture followed in the schools.

"The tests are held to ensure that the student's aptitude matches the school, so that later on the child doesn't feel insecure while studying there," said Avnita Bir, principal of Ramniranjan Podar High School, Santacruz.

Many added these tests are merely undertaken to understand a student and their parents before giving the child admission to the school. "For instance, parents should also be comfortable with the ICSE syllabus only then will the students find it easy too. We don't want to promote tuition culture so we try to ensure that the student gets all the education in school and their homes itself," said Carl Laurie, principal of Christ Church School, Byculla.

Others don't agree. "The screening procedure should immediately be done away with so that there is no room for bias. Once the student is a part of the school, then he/she can be taught to gel in with the rest of the students and be taught other valuable information. Testing them on all this before they are even in the school is not done," said psychologist Harish Shetty.

Regarding another RTE stipulation of giving preference to students from theneighbourhood only for admission, Laurie said, "What exactly should we consider as our neighbourhood? For almost three kilometres, there isn't any other ICSE school around so students come to us from a lot of places. We can't deny them admission just because they stay a little away from school." Many also mentioned that the lack of good schools in the city was another major problem. "Parents would obviously want to send their students to better schools and not bother about the neighbourhood," added Isaacs.

Passport services to get user-friendly

source :Daniel P George, TNN, May 23, 2010, 04.10am IST


CHENNAI: Services at the regional passport office (RPO) will soon get better, with applicants getting SMS alerts on passport status and interviews. The RPO is shifting from the Passport Control Issuance System to a state-of-the-art Passport Management System, an upgradation that will cost Rs 35 lakh and be operational by June 1.

RK Mishra, director (technical) of National Informatics Centre (NIC), said the system will be faster and more user-friendly than the existing one. NIC officials are presently in Chennai, involved in data conversion and installation of new hardware. A training programme for all passport office employees is slated for May 29.

"The state-of-the-art software and server called the Passport Management System will result in improvement in overall work output at the RPO in Chennai," said V Suresh, principal analyst at the National Informatics Centre, who is overseeing the transition to the new system in Chennai.

What prompted the move to shift to a new software was storage constraints, considering the database has been growing at over 200% with around thousand passport applications being received per day, Suresh said. The system would be integrated with the immigration office to lookout for wanted persons either arriving or departing from the city. Chennai will be the 20th passport office to move to the new system out of the total 37 passport offices in the country.

Welcoming the move, K S Daulat Thameem, deputy passport officer, said, "We are happy that we are moving to a faster and effective software and hope to increase the output". The regional passport office in Chennai with 103 officers and staff members, receives a footfall of over 4,000 daily. In 2009, 2,36,000 applications were received and 2,20,000 passports issued from Chennai.

HSC results out online on May 25

Source :TNN, May 24, 2010, 03.03am IST


NAGPUR: The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, Pune, will announce the results of its Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinations for 2009-10 on its website mahresult.nic. in at 11am on May 25.

The results for all divisions, Pune, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Mumbai, Kolhapur, Amravati, Nashik and Latur, will be announced simultaneously.

The marks will be available to the students individually on the website, based on their roll number, and they can take a printout of the same, if required.

Meanwhile, the actual results and marksheets will be sent to the schools about a week from the announcement of results. The exact date for distribution of marksheets will be announced later. A total of 13,00,549 students from 6,610 junior colleges had appeared for the HSC examination this year. Out of them, 7,54,929 are boys and 5,45,620 are girls.

All for a quota in Mumbai’s 200 missionary schools

Source :Mumbai,HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times May 22, 2010
                  

Corporators, who are members of the civic education committee, are pressurising aided missionary schools for a quota because these schools do not entertain their requests for admissions.

“Corporators have been demanding a quota in these schools for a long time and because these schools do not entertain their letters of reference they are raking up this issue,” said an education committee official.

There are at least 200 missionary schools in Mumbai.

The administration has claimed that the demand for a corporators’ quota is only a suggestion. “We will have to check whether such demands can be made legally. Currently, there are no plans to send suggestions to the state,” said Education Officer, Abasaheb Jadhav.

State School Education Minister Balasaheb Thorat said he has not received any such proposal. “I have not read anything about it,” he said. “I will not comment unless I see the proposal myself.”

The demand for a quota came up in the education committee meeting on Monday. Sources said the two Sena corporators who were very vocal about these issues were the same corporators whose requests for admissions were not entertained.

“We are providing all the facilities to these schools. What is wrong with asking for a few seats to be reserved for the local corporator?” asked Sena corporator Raja Chaugule.

Raju Pednekar, a member of the education committee said, “We give aid to schools so coporators should also have a quota in these schools. At least four seats should be kept reserved.”

Education Committee Chairman Rukmini Kharatmol said the corporators’ demands were valid. “What is wrong with demanding that children should sing our national anthem every day in school?” She also backed the demand for a corporators’ quota in schools.

He said these schools do not give enough importance to Hindu festivals. Corporators raised this issue when they were discussing the proposal to give grants to three aided schools, St Francis Xavier School, Bandra (West), St Lewis Convent and Hansraj Morarji Public School, Andheri. The proposal on grants to these schools is pending.

Chaugule added that central board schools should also follow this rule because the municipal corporation gives them land and water.

This stunt has not gone done well with minority groups. The Catholic Secular Forum has written to Chief Minister Ashok Chavan about this.

Pranjal Singh tops CBSE exams

Source :TNN, May 21, 2010, 10.52pm IST



VARANASI: Pranjal Singh of Sunbeam School, Bhagwanpur, emerged as the city topper as the results of CBSE class XII were announced on Friday.

While girls outshone boys in overall pass percentage, the boys hogged the limelight by becoming individual toppers in various city schools. As per reports, Pranjal Singh topped with 96.2 per cent marks, while Shruti Singh (95.4%) of DPS, Varanasi, and Saumya Mohan (94.6%) of Sunbeam, Bhagwanpur, were other top rankers in the city.

Interestingly, most of the city schools witnessed a high pass percentage (over 90%). Aryan International School (100 %), St Atulanand Convent School( 99.7 %), Sunbeam Academy (99%) , Swami Harsewanand Public School (98.4%), CHS (girls), BHU (94%), Glenhill School (94%) and CHS Boys' School (92.8 %) fared well in the examinations.

The individual toppers in science stream from different schools included Rohit Singh (93.8%) of CHS Boys' School, Kritesh Patel (93.4 %) of St Atulanand Convent School, Priyanshi Srivastava (92.8 %) of DALIMSS, Rishav Nigam (92.4 %) of Sunbeam Academy, Akash Maheshwari (92.6%) of Glenhill Academy, Dipika Rao (92.4%) of Sunbeam Lahartara, Abhishek Kumar Singh (92.4%) of Gurunanak English School and Atisha Srivastava (92.2%) of Sunbeam Varuna.

NASA : Students to spot new asteroid and name it

 

Source :Edu Times :Friday, May 21, 2010

New Delhi: As part of a unique astronomy project connected to US space agency NASA, in the next three months, many students across India will search for new asteroids and name them.

The data collected by the students will contribute to NASA’s Near-Earth Object (NEO) Program. It will offer students a chance to go through exclusive sky data and search for their own asteroids.

The project will run between May 17 and June 30 and from July 1 to Aug 13 and will be introduced in India for the first time with about 30-45 schools involved in it. This year 11 countries on four continents are participating.

“The process involves using astronomical data analysis software to go through exclusive data files of the sky provided by the IASC to each school,” C.B. Devgun, SPACE director, told the sources.

It will enable students to work in parallel with professional astronomers and expose them to actual research being done in astronomy. Behind involving school students in the project is the Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE) along with the International Astronomical Search Collaboration (IASC), an international educational outreach programme.

CBSE: Chennai Tops

 Source : Newstoday,May 21,2010

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) today announced results of Class XII exam for Ajmer, Punchkula and Chennai regions.


R V Layamrudhaa of SBOA School at Mogappair and Prashant of PS Senior Secondary School at Mylapore emerged toppers of the Chennai region with a total score of 490 out of 500 at the Plus Two exams.

Two students from DAV gopalapuram, were second with 488 out of 500. DAV appears in honor list frequently. 

The total number of candidates passed stood at 49,711 with the overall pass percentage of Chennai region at 92.06 per cent. The total number of boys appeared was 29,563 and those passed stood at 26,726.The total number of girls appeared was 24,437 and those passed stood at 22,985. 


The SBOA School & Junior College, is one of the first and largest school campuses for the SBIOA Education Trust, run by the State Bank of India Officers Association.

P.S. Senior Secondary School is rated among one of the top 5 schools of Chennai.

CBSE Class XII exams: Chennai region the topper

Source :Urvashi Sarkar,The Hindu,22 May 2010

NEW DELHI: The Chennai region has recorded the highest pass percentage of 92.17 in this year's Class XII examinations conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

The results for the Allahabad, Delhi, and Guwahati regions were declared on Friday, while the results for the Chennai, Ajmer and Panchkula regions were announced on Wednesday.

A total of 69,25,71 students from these regions appeared for the examinations, which were held between March 3 and April 8 at 2,641 centres.

For the second consecutive year, Chennai emerged the topper with regard to the pass percentage. It also recorded the highest pass percentage for girl students (93.77).

Among the regions, Delhi recorded the second highest pass percentage of 84.97. Ajmer came a close third with 84.67 per cent, followed by Panchkula, Allahabad and Guwahati.

While the Chennai region had 57,177 students, the number was 2,08,594 and 79,821 for Delhi and Ajmer respectively. With regard to the Panchkula, Allahabad and Guwahati regions, 1,14,467; 2,01,945 and 30,567 students appeared respectively.

A total of 1,304 disabled candidates appeared. Of this, the pass percentage is 87.35 per cent.

The overall pass percentage of all the six regions is 79.87. A total of 7,00,983 candidates registered themselves for the examinations from 6,035 schools. The number of those who have passed overall is 5,37,467.

In the general category, 80.21 per cent of candidates passed, down by 1.30 percentage points from last year. The Scheduled Castes category has improved its performance by 0.76 percentage points. The pass percentage is 81.51.

The Schedule Tribes category also improved its performance by a sizeable 15.59 percentage points to achieve a 79.87 pass percentage.

Girls have outdone boys with a pass percentage of 85.28 compared with the pass percentage for boys which is 75.90.

In comparison to 81.95 per cent of regular students that have passed, 41.99 per cent of private students have passed.

The pass percentage of the Kendra Vidyalayas in the six regions dropped by 0.19 percentage points while government schools improved their performance by 1.68 percentage points. The Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas improved their pass percentage by 0.22 percentage points while the pass percentage of private candidates declined by 7.73 points.

The number of students appearing for compartmental examination this year is 74,523. It was 63,644 students last year.

The first set of compartmental examinations will begin on July 17. Schools should send the list of compartmental candidates to the respective regional office by June 23.

Students can also verify their marks within 21 days from the date of declaration of the results. Application forms can be downloaded from the www.cbse.nic.in. Applications for marks verification can be made to the respective regional offices

CBSE Class XII results: Girls outshine boys for 12th time

Source :Manash Pratim Gohain, TNN, May 22, 2010, 02.18am IST

NEW DELHI: For the first time in five years, the pass percentage for Class XII, CBSE, dipped by 1.13% over that of 2009, but those who wish to see a reflection of this in lower cut-offs might be disappointed. This is because even as more students have struggled to clear the exam, the number of "high-performers" has vaulted, resulting in a whopping 9,404 merit certificates, compared to 5,712 last year.

Moreover, English core, a must subject in the best of four aggregate, has seen one of the best performances in recent history. As many as 3,788 students have scored 95% and above in the subject while five scored a centum. The number of 90 percenters too has risen by 724 to record an increase of 2.46%. So for the already high cut-offs, a marginal increase cannot be ruled out this year.

Beyond that fine print, though, the CBSE results released on Friday held few surprises. Girls raced past boys for the twelfth year in a row, but this time, with an all-time high lead of 9.38%. The margin, a good 1.03% over last year, came even as overall pass percentage among girls fell by 0.66% compared to last year. Girls outshone boys in the merit list too in the results for Delhi, Guwahati and Allahabad regions - 678 girls scored 95% and above as against 524 boys.

The two all-India toppers from Chennai continued yet another trend - the zone, with 92.17 pass percentage, maintained its supremacy over the five others for the fifth year running. Swati Prusty and R Gayatri from DAV Girls Senior Secondary School, Llyods Road, Chennai, each scored 490 marks out of a maximum of 500. There was an upset in the order though, with Delhi ranking second among the zones, slipping past Ajmer (84.67%) with a pass percentage of 84.97.

Delhi and NCR schools, in fact, showed some spirited performances, with 3,928 students scoring 90% and above, second only to Chennai. While science student Radhika Gambhir from Uttam School for Girls, Ghaziabad, scored 487 to emerge as the NCR topper, commerce students Sneha Agarwal and Vaishali Gargya and science student Divyanshu Agarwal of DPS, R K Puram, with a score of 486 each,emerged as the Delhi toppers.

The board, on its part, played down the dip in pass percentage, choosing to focus on the positives. "Regarding the marginal dip in pass percentage, it would be incorrect to compare two populations (students of 2009 and 2010) in absolute terms. The dip is marginal and does not indicate anything negative. What we precisely have to see is the qualitative improvement and that can be measured in terms of comparing the increase in merit certificates, number of students scoring 90% and above... these are there for all to see," said CBSE chairman Vineet Joshi.

More than seven lakh students took the exam this year, the first time CBSE has crossed the mark. Among the institutions, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, once again, topped schools in terms of pass percentage, with 95.31%, an increase of 1.22% over last year. Despite a drop of 0.19%, Kendriya Vidyalayas were firmly in the second spot, with 91.13 pass percentage. The performance in private schools, however, fell for the second year running. These schools lost another 1.52% to record a pass percentage of 79.42% this year. The biggest loser was Central Tibetan School recording a downslide of 11.9%.

Of the 22 students who scored a 100 in business studies, 11 are from Delhi, while in accountancy, of the 50 hundred-percenters, 23 are from Delhi. Of the 160 students who scored a centum in maths, 53 students from Delhi as is the lone 100 percenter in history.

Institution-wise, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Delhi, had a pass percentage way above the average, at 95.97%, while KV scored 92.07%. Private schools such as Amity International, Saket and Noida scored 100% pass percentage while Vasant Valley, among others, presented an impressive 86% pass percentage. Government schools of Delhi also improved their pass record to score 88.86%.

manash.gohain@timesgroup.com

Reopen schools on time: parents- coimbatore

Source : The Hindu:Staff Reporter,May 18,2010

---

Use corpus for additional funds

Collect money for books

---

COIMBATORE: Parents here have appealed to private school managements to reopen institutions on time.

S.B.O.A. Matriculation School Parents' Association, Coimbatore, made the appeal on behalf of parents at a press conference held here on Monday.

Their demand comes in the wake of the Association of Managements of Nursery, Primary, and Matriculation Schools' decision to indefinitely postpone the start of the academic year to contest the fees fixed by the Private Schools Fee Determination Committee.

R. Mani Mohan, president of the parents' association, said the managements could start the schools as scheduled and wait for the results of their appeal.

They could collect money for books and notebooks.

For additional funds the schools could make use of the corpus.

In any case the fees the schools collected in March 2010 in the last academic year were valid till June.

With this money the managements could start the academic year.

Appeal

And by the end of June, they would have in hand the orders of their appeal, with which they would be in a position to further run the schools.

Mr. Mohan also wanted the State Government to make necessary changes to Sub-section 2 of Section 11 of the Tamil Nadu Schools (Regulation of Collection of Fee) Act, which empowered School Education Department officers to search and seize records from schools.

Court ruling

The Madras High Court struck down the clause saying it was an infringement on the schools' rights.

He said that if the Government failed to bring about the necessary changes the Act would be toothless.

The parents' association secretary M. Saravanan said in a release that the very fact that the fees fixed by the Justice Govindarajan Committee were less than what the schools collected last year justified the parents' grievances.

Thanking the State Government for the legislation, he said the Act had immensely helped parents who were putting up with higher fees collected by managements just to get their children educated.

It was also planning to start a parents' forum to improve the quality of education, protect the rights of parents and also teachers.

It was tailor-made for children-Melur, Tamil Nadu

NIE, a nutritious supplement to regular diet

— FILE PHOTO 

Rewarding:Class VI students of S. S. V. Sala Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Melur, engaged in a reading session during the NIE programme. 

Source : The Hindu:S. Annamalai:Tuesday, May 18, 2010

It was what the mother had ordered for her children – a nutritious supplement to regular diet.

And it has paid off handsomely.

For the children, what was offered at these schools was a wholesome meal – a vibrant curriculum supplemented by an equally vibrant THE HINDU Newspaper in Education (NIE) programme.

Beneficiary schools

The programme, implemented in Madurai region since 2004-05 in classes seven, eight and nine, has 103 beneficiary schools spread over Madurai, Sivaganga, Virudhunagar, Tirunelveli and Tuticorin districts.

The modules offered are ‘Language Skills,' which enables the children to finetune two ‘R's – reading and writing – and also helps them in developing listening and conversation skills; ‘Me and Myself' in which they learn about behavioural skills and how to enhance their academic experience, they also get to read the newspaper, incidentally; ‘Science and Mathematics,' which introduces them to the universe surrounding us and also to scientific facts, besides making mathematics a likable subject, and ‘The Hindu Panorama,' where the young ones gain an awareness of consumer rights, health, road safety and civic issues.

The children, who passed the higher secondary examinations this year, have felt the impact of NIE in a better manner than their seniors as many of them have been exposed to the programme from seventh standard.

Some of the components of the programme, like dramatics, have induced creativity among children, says V. Gnanaguhan, correspondent, Guhan Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Madurai.

The way they are taught to read the newspaper (THE HINDU) puts them in an advantageous position, he adds.

The children keep abreast of what is happening around them through authentic presentations, a trait envied by elders.

The NIE programme has developed the analytical and questioning spirit of children in suburban Melur.

The ‘how' and ‘why' questions are more in classrooms, after the children were introduced to the programme, says R. Sudha, Principal, Sri Sundareswara Vidyasala Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Melur.

Their level of comprehension went up several notches and this enabled them to understand the questions in higher secondary examinations better and answer them properly, she adds.

Four years of association with THE HINDU NIE has been much rewarding for this school that has launched an environment-friendly programme of waste plastic collection in Melur town as an NIE project.