“Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.” – Nelson Mandela

In 2009, the United Nations General Assembly declared July 18 as Nelson Mandela Day to honour his values and community service. Prior to that, in 2008, Nelson Mandel passed the baton of change to the next generation, to act and create a change. 

“Young people must take it upon themselves to ensure that they receive the highest education possible so that they can represent us well in future as future leaders.” – Nelson Mandela

Born on July 18, 1918, Mandela aspired to create a change by promoting peace, equality, and eliminating discrimination. He believed that education was the key to this process. 

“A good head and good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special.” – Nelson Mandela

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As per him, education was not just acquiring a skill-set to contribute to the economic process, but also to the process of nation-building and reconciliation. He saw education as a means to personal development, a window to opportunities. 

“The power of education extends beyond the development of the skills we need for economic success. It can contribute to nation-building and reconciliation.” – Nelson Mandela

He believed in education being a life-long and never-ending process. When he was imprisoned, he perceived education as an escape from confinement. His faith in learning and education played a vital role in his ideals over politics and democracy. He mentioned the role of education in different phases of his life in his autobiography ‘Long Walk to Freedom.’

“No country can really develop unless its citizens are educated.” – Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela has been an inspiration for generations of learners and educators. He did not confine learning to the formal education system, he believed in acknowledging the events outside our lives, and our experiences. He highlighted the importance of positive mental health and shared his experience with it and how he rejuvenated himself by engaging in activities like running. 

Mandela has left a long legacy of hope- hope for a better future, a better system of governance. This hope is driven by education, which is not confined but allows each individual to explore their potential.

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“Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.” – Nelson Mandela

Union Minister of Human Resource Development Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ inaugurated the new office building of National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) in the national capital today. The state-of-the-art,four-storied office building is situated in Sector 10 at Dwarka, New Delhi. The Minister took the Delhi Airport Metro Line from Shivaji Stadium to reach the venue for the inaugural ceremony.

On the occasion, the Minister of HRD launched a platform designed by NCTE to facilitate registration of Teacher-Pupil. This would facilitate essential documentation while seeking employment as school teachers.

Addressing the audience at the inaugural function Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ said that on17^thAugust this year, NCTE would begin to celebrate the silver jubilee year of its establishment. He said that the move to the newly constructed headquarters is a befitting occasion to invite all stakeholders to join hands to enable it to live up to the expectations of more than 25 crore school children in India who need quality school teachers. He further said that we seek to reimagineNCTE’s role as the premier government agency for ensuring world-class teacher education in the country. NCTE is in the process of reinventing itself so that it lives up to the dreams and aspirations with which it was established 25 years ago.

The Minister added that NCTE being a regulatory body contributes towards setting the foundation of the country’s development. India has been the world’s teacher for thousands of years including Takshila and Nalanda a Premier Educational Institutions and NCTE have the potential to regain this glory the purpose for which established. He said that a child is always treated as a blank slate, so the role of school teachers is critical in molding their future in an expected manner. Education should be not only a medium of generating material prosperity but also transmitting cultural values and pride to the next generation.

He added that School education is the spice of the nation. It needs to inculcate positive thinking in students so that they can be an asset to society by having both a vision and a mission. A teacher should be the distillation of what a nation stands for. It is important to keep the curriculum for teachers as well as students updated. We need to train teachers who are in great demand all over the world. Indian Education system will only do well if it is rooted in Indian ethos.

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Talking about the significance of shifting the NCTE office to the new building, Dr. Satbir Bedi, Chairperson, NCTE, said that the inauguration of the newly constructed building at Dwarkahas paved the way for shifting all the regional committees/offices of NCTE under one roof. This will facilitate better coordination of existing teaching resources with premier national Institutes like NCERT, NIEPA, NIOS, IGNOU, JNU, Delhi University, etc. In addition, the adoption of e-governance at NCTE, especially converting all records into e-format and e-office, will facilitate a seamless transition from a paper-based to a paperless office.”

Dr. Bedi added that teacher education in India faces a lot of challenges. For thousands of years, India has been known as the Vishwa Guru (World's Teacher). We are determined to overhaul teacher education in the country so that India once again becomes known for the excellence of its teachers and emerges as the key exporter of teachers to the world. We are committed to upgrading the skills of school teachers through ICT, innovations and inclusive education. The young people in the teaching system are the key to driving this change. School teachers collectively decide the destiny of the next generation, and thus the destiny of the nation. They are currently responsible for teaching more than 25 crore school children in 15.2 lakh schools spread across India. There are 18,500 (approx.)teacher education institutes in India, from which 19.5 lakh teachers pass out each year, as against the total requirement of 2.75 lakh to 3 lakh school teachers annually. This is a big challenge facing today’s teacher education sector.”

NCTE performs various regulatory functions to maintain norms and standards of teacher education in India. Its mandate covers the entire gamut of teacher education, including research and training of persons for equipping them to teach at pre-primary, primary, secondary and senior secondary stages in schools.NCTE is a statutory body of Govt. of India that came into existence on 17th August 1995. It is tasked with achieving planned and coordinated development of the teacher education system throughout the country and maintenance of norms and standards therein. Teacher education institutions in India offer 17 programmes recognised by NCTE for prospective school teachers.

The National and State Commissions for Protection of Child Rights have been established under the Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005. The Commissions have been mandated vide Section 44 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 to monitor the implementation of the POCSO Act, 2012. The Commission may enquire into complaints and take suo moto notice of matters relating to deprivation and violation of child rights; and non implementation of laws providing for protection and development of children, inter-alia. The Commission is mandated to take up the issues arising out of these matters with appropriate authorities.

The National Curriculum Framework (NCF), 2005 developed by National Council of Educational Research & Training (NCERT) emphasizes on providing space for the awareness and management of natural and human generated disasters in school curriculum across the subject areas at all the stages in its syllabi and textbooks.  Disaster Management and natural calamities are not taught as separate subjects in schools; instead their references are integrated across the disciplines viz Social Science and Science at upper primary, secondary and senior secondary levels. As education is in the Concurrent List of the Constitution, majority of the schools are under the jurisdiction of respective States/UTs.

The Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has written to all the States and UTs vide letter dated 01.09.2017 regarding the National Disaster Management Guidelines on School Safety.  It was emphasized that the guidelines on School Safety Policy, 2016 prepared by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) are statutory in nature and are required to be complied without any deviation.  The NDMA guidelines provide for conducting quarterly safety audits by the School Management Committee (SMC) in schools including fire safety and food safety.  The guidelines are in public domain and hosted on www.mhrd.gov.in.

The Manual on Safety and Security of Children in Schools developed by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has also identified authorities at different levels such as School Management Committee, Parent Teacher Association, School Management, authorities at Block, District, State and National levels to monitor the implementation of the manual.  The details are in public domain and hosted on www.ncpcr.gov.in.

All schools under Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangthan (KVS), Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) and Central Tibetan Schools Administration (CTSA) conduct mock-drills, training, and use of certain gadgets like fire extinguishers for the benefit of students.

The Department of School Education & Literacy, MHRD has not held any consultation with disaster  management  institutes  of  other countries  for  imparting  disaster management  education  to  students  in schools.

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The MHRD has issued detailed guidelines on safety and security of children vide letter dated 09.10.2014 to all State and UT Governments suggesting preventive institutional mechanisms and procedures that should be put in place in the schooling system along with the relief and redressal strategies in case of such incidents.  The guidelines cover various aspects related to the safety and security of school children including infrastructure which includes physical structures of school building, play ground, water bodies, electrical and fire safety mechanism, school transport etc. health and hygiene which includes drinking water hygiene, toilets hygiene, food safety and hygiene in mid-day meal; psychosocial aspect which includes elimination of corporal punishment, eveteasing/sexual abuse, school environment; role and responsibility of teachers in monitoring, Monitoring and implementation mechanism of the guidelines is also provided. 

The Department of School Education & Literacy has again advised all States and UTs on 11.09.2017 to sensitize the entire administrative and monitoring machinery towards effective implementation of the guidelines on safety and security of school children; and institutionalizing and ensuring a safe, secure and vibrant environment in schools for children.

Also the schools affiliated to CBSE are required to follow the guidelines relating to safety of children in schools, including the following:-

1. The guidelines issued by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 483 of 2004 in the matter of Avinash Mehrotra (Petitioner) Versus Union of India & Others (Respondents);
2. The guidelines on School Safety Policy, 2016 issued by the NDMA which is statutory in nature;
3. Manual on Safety and security of children in schools developed by NCPCR &
4. National Building Code-2005, as amended from time to time.

As per Section 41(1) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act), Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, all institutions, whether run by a State Government or by voluntary or non-governmental organizations, which are meant, either wholly or partially, for housing children in need of care and protection or children in conflict with law, shall, be registered under this Act in such manner as may be prescribed, within a period of six months from the date of commencement of this Act, regardless of whether they are receiving grants from the Central Government or, as the case may be, the State Government or not.

The Ministry has commissioned the mapping of Child Care Institutions (CCIs) through the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) which was conducted by the Childline India Foundation with the help of NGO partners. The Report is available at Ministry’s website i.e. www.wcd.nic.in. On the direction of Supreme Court in the matter of “Exploitation of children in the orphanage in state of Tamil Nadu vs. Union of India” W.P.(Crl) 102 of 2007, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) is conducting social audit of the CCIs in the country.

Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource Development has launched Integrated Scheme for School Education i.e. Samagra Shiksha effective from 2018-19. Self Defence training for girls is an activity under Samagra Shiksha.  Keeping in view, the rising number of crimes against girls and women in the country and to ensure safety and security of girls, Self Defence training is imparted to girls of class VI to XII belonging to Government Schools. Funds for this purpose are provided for three months @ Rs. 3000/- per school per month for inculcating self-defence skills including life skill for self-protection and self-development among the girls. Self-Defence training is also being given in Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) which are residential schools meant for girls of class VI to XII and belonging to disadvantaged groups.

The States have been advised for convergence for availing funding for  Self-Defence training under the  Nirbhaya Fund under Ministry of Woman and Child Development, Government of India or with other State Government schemes.

Crazy about branding & marketing? You’d want to keep these books in your shelves!

The Power of Branding: Telling Your School’s Story by Tony Sinanis & Joseph Sanfelippo

A step-by-step guide in the Connected Educators Series, this book will help you to be informed, engage, and support your school community. It’s never too late to explore the benefits of branding and create an action plan for sharing the marvelous things unfolding in your classrooms and/or school. With concrete suggestions and in-depth case studies, you’ll be able to artfully create a brand name, symbol or design, share great events using blogs and more, empower all stakeholders and students, and teach digital citizenship K-12. After reading this all-inclusive guice, share how special your school is!

BrandED: Tell Your Story, Build Relationships, and Empower Learning by Eric Sheninger & Trish Rubin

BrandED is the groundbreaking guidebook for educators who want to enhance communication with students, parents, and stakeholders to create a transparent record of value. It proves to be a great resource for designing and sustaining your individual brand as a leader and the brand of your school. Don’t let the great achievements happening in your school stop at the school doors, let the world know your story and create your brand with this hands-on guide. Written by rising stars in the field of education, the book empowers educators at all levels to take control of how the mission, values, and vision of their schools is communicated. An engaging collection of transformative conversations lead you to discover the opportunities and benefits of designing a brand for your school and sustaining a BrandED community to evangelize it. Timesaving and convenient tips and reflections at the end of each chapter make it easy to integrate the BrandED mindset and practices into your everyday routine.

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Building Strong Brands by David Aaker

The classic go-to book for understanding the basics of branding and marketing with crystal clarity! Using famous case studies, the author has tried to illustrate how brands can garner great success. Aaker has introduced the ideas of “brand-as-person”, “brand-as-organisation” and “brand-as-symbol.” As discussed in our cover story, you’ll be able to understand the concepts of brand identity and brand positioning through this book. It might be a “business” guide but like we said, education is a business today and it’s an accepted fact. Use the wonderful examples penned down by Aaker and try implementing them in your schools, you can thank Aaker if they work out for your institution.

Best Classic: The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding by Al Ries & Jack Trout

This decades-old book proves to be an indispensable tool for understanding marketing and branding. This edition includes an updated section that specifically explains internet branding. It highlights the biggest challenges of the online marketplace and ways to overcome such challenges using counterintuitive strategies. While reading this marvel, the reader learns the basics of how the most iconic brands have managed to build and maintain their legacy; it’ll help you understand the roadmap for doing the same. The lessons and insights mentioned in the book continue to be applicable even today; even though some of the suggestions, such as the one that suggests Amazon to be doomed if they tried anything except bookselling, inside the 2002 edition have been proven wrong. Filled with lots of examples, it is the perfect book to start with!

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The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go. – Dr Seuss

While there are many books to read for young, aspiring entrepreneurs, here are 10 of the best books to give young entrepreneurs a dose of inspiration and get started.

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Dale Carnegie’s timeless classic is a book that is packed with rock-solid advice that has carried thousands of now famous people up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives.

As relevant as ever before, this book's principles endure, and will help the reader achieve maximum potential in the complex and competitive modern age.

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Learn the six ways to make people like you, the twelve ways to win people to your way of thinking, and the nine ways to change people without arousing resentment.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter

Robert T. Kiyosaki developed his unique economic perspective from two very different influences – his two fathers. One father (Robert's real father) was a highly educated man but fiscally poor. The other father was the father of Robert's best friend – that Dad was an eighth-grade drop-out who became a self-made multi-millionaire.

This clear, well-written, and thought-provoking book is not just about money. It's about how we are taught to think; how we are programmed by schools, family, and friends and the steps we need to take to reprogram our minds.

Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

Engaging the reader in a lively conversation about how we think, the author reveals where we can and cannot trust our intuitions and how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking. He offers practical and enlightening insights into how choices are made in both our business and our personal lives—and how we can use different techniques to guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble. Thinking, Fast and Slow highly is highly recommended if you're interested in why human beings behave the way they behave and will transform the way you think about thinking.

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Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk

Gary Vaynerchuck is widely considered a web celebrity and social media expert. He used social media and online video (WineLibrary TV) to gain incredible exposure and propel his wine business to unprecedented success. In Crush It! Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion, readers will learn how to harness the power of the Internet to make their entrepreneurial dreams come true. The book has some great tips regarding social media and personal branding.

Start with Why by Simon Sinek

Any organization can explain what it does; some can explain how they do it; but very few can clearly articulate why. WHY is not money or profit—those are always results. WHY does your organization exist? WHY does it do the things it does? WHY do customers really buy from one company or another? WHY are people loyal to some leaders, but not others?

Drawing on a wide range of real-life stories, Sinek weaves together a clear vision of what it truly takes to lead and inspire. This book is for anyone who wants to inspire others or who wants to find someone to inspire them.

The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

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Eric Ries defines a startup as an organization dedicated to creating something new under conditions of extreme uncertainty. The Lean Startup approach fosters companies that are both more capital efficient and that leverage human creativity more effectively.

Rather than wasting time creating elaborate business plans, The Lean Startup offers entrepreneurs – in companies of all sizes – a way to test their vision continuously, to adapt and adjust before it's too late. Ries provides a scientific approach to creating and managing successful startups in an age when companies need to innovate more than ever.

The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau

In The $100 Startup, Chris Guillebeau tells you exactly how many dollars his group of unexpected entrepreneurs required to get their projects up and running; what these individuals did in the first weeks and months to generate significant cash; some of the key mistakes they made along the way, and the crucial insights that made the business stick.

This is a great glimpse into what is possible with a small investment, for people who have absolutely no experience in being an entrepreneur or online business owner.

The Art of the Start 2.0 by Guy Kawasaki

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In this book, Guy Kawasaki brings two decades of experience as one of business’s most original and irreverent strategists to offer the essential guide for anyone starting anything. From raising money to hiring the right people, from defining your positioning to creating a brand, from creating buzz to buzzing the competition, from managing a board to fostering a community, this book will guide you through an adventure that’s more art than science—the art of the start.

The Psychology of Selling by Brian Tracy

The purpose of this book is to give you a series of ideas, methods, strategies, and techniques that you can use immediately to make more sales, faster and easier than ever before. This is a useful & practical book on all the key things you need to know when it comes to sales, persuasion & consumer psychology. Brian Tracy's ideas are both easy to understand, practical and well thought through.

The Entrepreneur Mind by Kevin D. Johnson

In a praiseworthy effort to distill some of the most important lessons of entrepreneurship, Kevin D. Johnson, president of multimillion-dollar company Johnson Media Inc. and a serial entrepreneur for several years, shares the essential beliefs, characteristics, and habits of elite entrepreneurs.

Smart and insightful, The Entrepreneur Mind: 100 Essential Beliefs, Characteristics, and Habits of Elite Entrepreneurs is the ultimate primer on how to think like an entrepreneur.

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Source – Goodreads

The Importance of Being Little by Erika Christakis – A bold challenge to the conventional wisdom about early childhood, with a pragmatic program to encourage parents and teachers to rethink how and where young children learn best by taking the child’s eye view of the learning environment. Christakis’s message is energizing and reassuring: young children are inherently powerful, and they (and their parents) will flourish when we learn new ways of restoring the vital early learning environment to one that is best suited to the littlest learners. This bold and pragmatic challenge to the conventional wisdom peels back the mystery of childhood, revealing a place that’s rich with possibility.

Handbook of Early Childhood Education By Robert C. Pianta – Comprehensive and authoritative, this forward-thinking book reviews the breadth of current knowledge about early education and identifies important priorities for practice and policy. Robert C. Pianta and his associates bring together foremost experts to examine what works in promoting all children's school readiness and social-emotional development in preschool and the primary grades. Exemplary programs, instructional practices, and professional development initiatives—and the systems needed to put them into place—are described. The volume presents cutting-edge findings on the family and social context of early education and explores ways to strengthen collaboration between professionals and parents.

Foundations of Early Childhood Education: Teaching Children in a Diverse Society by Book by Janet Gonzalez-Mena – Foundations of Early Childhood Education: Teaching Children in a Diverse Society is a practical introduction to the field of early childhood education and can even be used as a hands-on guide. The text emphasizes observations skills and the need to understand child growth and development, special needs, developmentally appropriate practice, positive guidance, an overview of curriculum, and the importance of working with families. Based firmly on research, but with a focus on practice, the text gives students the information they need to function in early childhood settings of various types including classrooms, child care programs, and infant centers. The information is reinforced by a multitude of real-life examples–dialogues, case studies, stories, and anecdotes–that help students make the connection between theory and practice. The text also integrates and discusses cultural influences and stresses what students need to know about working with children from diverse backgrounds.

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Curriculum in Early Childhood Education: Re-examined, Rediscovered, Renewed by Nancy File – Curriculum in Early Childhood Education: Reexamined, Rediscovered, Renewed provides a critical examination of the sources, aims, and features of early childhood curricula. Providing a theoretical and philosophical foundation for examining teaching and learning, this book will provoke discussion and analysis among all readers. How has theory been used to understand, develop, and critique curriculum? Whose perspectives are dominant and whose are ignored? How is diversity addressed? What values are explicit and implicit?

The book first contextualizes the historical and research base of early childhood curriculum, and then turns to discussions of various schools of theory and philosophy that have served to support curriculum development in early childhood education. An examination of current curriculum frameworks is offered, both from the US and abroad, including discussion of the Project Approach, Creative Curriculum, Te Whāriki, and Reggio Emilia. Finally, the book closes with chapters that enlarge the topic to curriculum-being-enacted through play and that summarize key issues while pointing out future directions for the field. Offering a broad foundation for examining curriculum in early childhood, readers will emerge with a stronger understanding of how theories and philosophies intersect with curriculum development.

Spotlight on Young Children: Observation and Assessment (Spotlight on Young Children series) Holly Bohart and, Rossella Procopio – The debate surrounding testing and accountability in early childhood education continues, but one thing is universally agreed upon: effective observation and assessment of young children’s learning are critical to supporting their development. Educators balance what they know about child development with observation and assessment approaches that both inform and improve the curriculum. This foundational resource for all educators of children from birth through third grade explores;

What observation and assessment are, why to use them, and how

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Ways to integrate documentation, observation, and assessment into the daily routine

Practices that are culturally and linguistically responsive

Ways to engage families in observation and assessment processes

How to effectively share children’s learning with families, administrators, and others 

Find inspiration to intentionally develop and implement meaningful, developmentally appropriate observation and assessment practices to build responsive, joyful classrooms.

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The online application for the Odisha Teacher Eligibility Test (OTET), 2018 has been opened by the Odisha Board of Secondary Education. The OTET 2018 applications will be available from November 12, 2018 8 am to November 27, 2018 11:45 pm. The filling up of the forms through online mode will be accepted till November 28, 2018 midnight. It will be received through online mode only using the website bseodisha.ac.in.

The payment of fee shall be done through SBI Collect either in online or offline mode till the last date. The official website has listed out the step by step instructions for online registration, applicability and eligibility of candidates, syllabus and its structure, instructions for physically handicapped candidates and format for continuing certificate.

OTET is applicable to all candidates who possess requisite academic and training qualifications with requisite percentage of marks and to all candidates pursuing the final year of the teacher training courses before the date of publication of advertisement for conducting OTET who aspire to become teachers for Classes-I to VIII in the schools of the State Government, private aided schools and private unaided schools in the State of Odisha.

OTET examination consists of two papers; Paper I and Paper II. The total duration of the test in each paper shall be two and half hours. The OTET question paper follows the Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) pattern. Each question carries one mark with four alternatives out of which one answer is correct. 

The question papers in non-language subjects will be bilingual i.e. in Odia and English. And the following languages shall be offered in Language: Odia, Hindi, Telugu, Urdu, Bengali. The candidate has to choose any one of the above languages for Language-I subject. Language-II subject will be English for all candidates.

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There shall be no negative marking in OTET exam.

Candidates can appear Paper I or Paper II or both the papers as per their eligibility. The candidates appearing both Papers I and II will have to fill up application form separately. 

Visit http://www.bseodisha.ac.in/examination/otet-examinations/ for live updates.