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Public education in India has to jump many hoops

Successive governments have taken out the constitutional obligation towards education out of the educational policies. This takes out the fundamental right of universal education out of the equation thus giving rise to inequalities in the system.

Published

6 years ago

June 25, 2016

TeamScoonews

That the New Education Policy has created waves much before it has officially become a policy is amply clear by the media coverage that it has generated, some for the big strides it aims to take while some negative coverage for the way the policy is being handled. The latest is the war of words between Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani and former Cabinet Secretary T.S.R. Subramanian over the report of the New Education Policy (NEP) committee headed by him. While Subramanian is threatening to make his report public; Smriti Irani counters by saying that this can only be considered after the States have sent in their responses to it. In fact, this tug of war is symptomatic of the manner in which the entire exercise of drafting the NEP has been carried out.

Smriti Irani claimed that the Narendra Modi government’s NEP was going to be the result of a collective effort of more than 2.6 lakh consultations around 13 themes earmarked for school education at gram panchayat, block, district, State, groups of States and national levels. These consultations took place through a list of questions supplied by the HRD Ministry to elicit recommendations which would serve as inputs for each of the themes for the Draft NEP document.

Now, the questionnaire couldn’t have been drafted by experts, which explains the surprising composition of the committee itself. Headed by a former Cabinet Secretary, it includes 3 retired government Secretaries and a former Director of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), J.S. Rajput, whose credentials are questionable since his participation in the “saffronisation” of textbooks during Murli Manohar Joshi’s tenure as HRD Minister in the previous National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

Available information, most of which is hearsay as the Ministry has refused to divulge any details, point out that no such scheduled meetings took place. Even if higher level meets did happen, they were orchestrated to legitimatise claims that recommendations represented “the voice of the people”, and that officials and education officers dominated proceedings at meetings where school principals, teachers, government invitees and some school management committee members were herded together. In this scenario, it is not surprising that the HRD Ministry has failed to make the content of the “people’s” recommendations publicly available. A similar lack of transparency shrouds the national and regional debates held by the University Grants Commission (UGC), the National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA), the NCERT and other national-level institutions.

This methodology shrouded in secrecy by the HRD Ministry is disturbing and problematic. Take for example the total lack of analysis of previous policies and no overview of the consequences of implementing the changes introduced by the National Policy on Education (NPE) 1986, its companion Programme of Action, and their modified versions (1992). Before the NPE, democratic goals and the guiding principles of equality and social justice articulated during the freedom struggle informed policies, although it soon became evident that successive governments failed to meet their constitutional obligations. It is no coincidence that the changes introduced by the NPE coincided with the adoption of the economic reforms programme by the Narasimha Rao government in 1991.

Since the NPE was in line with the economic reforms, it focussed on supplying the economy with employable human capital. It was through implementation of a series of missions and abhiyans to impart market-oriented “skills”, the lowest one being “functional literacy”. It needed a conceptual and curricular delinking of cognitive and aesthetic aptitudes from acquisition of the practical skills which were deemed sufficient for making the mass of citizens employable.

Completely violating the constitutional obligation to ensure universal free and compulsory education of comparable quality, the NPE introduced a policy provision for low-cost, poor quality, non-formal education (NFE) which was to be treated as “equivalent to schooling” for those children who could not “be expected to attend a full day at school”. This excluded a vast majority of children in the relevant age group from the formal system of education. With one swift stroke the NPE discriminated a large swath of students under the guise of providing employable capital.

However, NFE only prepared the ground for a policy of multitrack, discriminatory streams of education. Matters were to become far worse, as under pressure from the World Bank, the 1994 District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) introduced “low-cost” infrastructural and recruitment practices into the government school system across the country. The concept of para-teachers and contract teachers were introduced to cut costs. After the Fifth Pay Commission (1996), recruitment of permanent trained teachers was badly affected in most States. Yet, trained teachers were required to be available for official duty during Census, elections, health campaigns such as polio eradication, and now even “disaster management”. In came the Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for improving quality and all these things resulted in driving the entire system to the brink of collapse.

Limitations of the RTE

While we read glorifying tales of the impact of RTE in the media how it is empowering the under-privileged to get their space under the education sun, the truth is that RTE has a horrible underbelly. RTE became the legal form of discrimination at every level. It excluded pre-school Early Childhood Care and Education for 0-5-year-olds. It excluded secondary education for 15-18-year-olds. It excluded the “special” government schools which were proof that governments could run schools when they were required to. But like already pointed out it provided us a peep into the future. The much-lauded and equally utilised 25% admission for children from the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) had a salutary effect by starting a public private partnership (PPP) model which today allows transfer of crores of rupees of public funds to high-fee charging and low-budget private schools alike.

The truth is that across the political spectrum this policy perspective has either been actively contributed to—if the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) governments brought in the NPE and the RTE, the NDA brought the 86th Amendment Bill which defined the limits of the RTE and the concept of knowledge as a “tradeable commodity”, and education as a “tradeable service”—or been accepted as the model of development by all governments in power. The Modi government’s Skill Development campaign not only rests on the foundation of the NPE 1986, but also requires the changes proposed to child labour laws allowing children less than 14 years of age to participate in hereditary trades.

Quick-fix solutions

Coming back to the approach used by the HRD Ministry. It is fundamentally flawed as even after “widespread” consultation has taken place, there is no vision, principle or logic on which one set of suggestions should have precedence over other alternatives. No strategy either underlies or could be formulated out this wasteful exercise, which flies in the face of government claims that there are no funds for education and has resulted in savage cuts made in budgetary allocations over the past 2 years.

However, miraculously this does not mean that an agenda is not being advanced. If on one hand, there is no vision for reviving the stagnant public education system, on the other hand, it has to be admitted that government “policy” is herding parents to the gates of commercialised private institutes. The NGO Pratham’s Annual Status of Education Report (ASER 2012) showed that in just 2 years after the implementation of the RTE Act, there was a 5.8% increase, up from 29.8% in 2010-11, in private school enrolment for primary (Classes I–V) students.

In State after State, governments are compelled to close or merge schools because students are deserting them. Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and even Himachal Pradesh and Kerala, once stellar examples of the success stories of the public education system, have stated that the policy is inevitable. Thousands of teachers are becoming redundant by the process of “rationalisation” because it saves public funds on paying their salaries. Holding on by a hairs length, people’s organisations in some States have been able to push back this dismantling of the state-funded and maintained school system for one more year.

Stark inequalities

Clearly, India’s education system is reproducing social inequalities and not removing them. Earlier the lack of political will to address caste, class and gender failed to universalise education, and today discriminatory policies are reinforcing inequality. Illiterate children are not a result of poverty but due to negative attitudes and misplaced priorities of policy (ASER 2015). Segregating the poor and the disadvantaged and educating them in institutions catering exclusively only to them will deny the fundamental right to education to a majority of children even as privilege masquerades as merit.

Regarding the medium of instruction, contrary to all egalitarian preferences for the mother tongue as the language of learning, fluency in English is driving even poor families to take on the crushing fee-burden of private “English medium” schools and is generating the self-defeating demand that government schools should shift from the vernacular to the English medium.

In this darkening scenario, a ray of light has been the recent landmark judgment of the Allahabad High Court (August 18, 2015) which emphasised the democratic and educational importance of shared schooling for children from all sections “. . . in changing society from grass-root level. The initial level mixing among all children will have different consequences.” It went on to say that the division of schools into “elite”, “semi-elite” and “common man’s schools” based on privilege and wealth have neither an educational basis nor social value in a democratic society.

“After more than 65 years of independence, these (common men’s) schools are still struggling to have basic amenities for children…. It is not difficult to understand why conditions of these schools have not improved. The reason is quite obvious and simple…. There is no real involvement of administration with these schools. Any person who has some capacity and adequate finances sends his child/children to elite and semi-elite primary schools. They do not even think of sending their wards for primary education to… third category schools, i.e. common men’s schools. The public administration therefore has no actual indulgence to see functioning and requirements of these schools.”

This enforced integration ordered by the court cannot be deemed a denial of “democratic choice” for the affluent elites because the judgment holds choice itself as the reason for the vast majority of India’s children being denied their fundamental right to education. The State government was thus directed to ensure that “the children/wards of government servants, semi-government servants, local bodies, representatives of people, judiciary and all such persons who receive any perk, benefit or salary, etc. from State exchequer or public fund, send their child/children/wards who are in age of receiving primary education, to primary schools run by Board… and ensure to make penal provisions for those who violate this condition”.

A resounding nod to the common school system

The judgment’s resounding endorsement of the Common School System in modern democratic societies is grounded in historical fact. No system of quality education has ever been universalised without the participation of the state. The judgment should not only be implemented forthwith in Uttar Pradesh. It should be extended to cover all States of India.

The other beacon of hope is the sustained struggle of students from numerous institutes of higher education to defend the democratic right to both knowledge and dissent.

So can we expect a radical change from the HRD Ministry? The “special touch” which the present regime has brought to the education system has more to do with bringing the system firmly under the official control of the Center with centrally sponsored Teachers’ Day events, Swachch Bharat campaigns, Sanskrit Week, compulsory sessions of the Prime Minister’s radio speeches, yoga days, and even decisions on which festivals children will be allowed to celebrate with their families.

In an underhanded style of working, historical and sociological facts are distorted to facilitate indoctrination through textbooks. Finally, Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh’s (RSS) student wing, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) being used to declare radical Ambedkarite, Marxist and even independent-minded university students and teachers as extremists and anti-nationals, initiating disciplinary action and even slapping charges of sedition against them are an undisguised threat to the future of the country’s educational institutions.

Clearly, the HRD Ministry has learnt nothing from its misadventures, and education and educational institutions will continue to be in turmoil.

This post is based on an article originally published here

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Atal Innovation Mission launches fresh applications for Community Innovator Fellowship

Currently, there are 22 Community Innovator fellows being incubated at the Atal Community Innovation Centre (ACIC) program of AIM.

Published

1 day ago

December 2, 2022

Team ScooNews

Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog on Tuesday, December 1st, 2022 announced the launch of applications for Community Innovator Fellowship (CIF), an initiative of Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog in collaboration with UNDP India to facilitate knowledge-building and provide infrastructure support to aspiring community innovators essential for their entrepreneurship journey. Currently, there are 22 Community Innovator fellows being incubated at the Atal Community Innovation Centre (ACIC) program of AIM.

A Community Innovator Fellow is an individual with an entrepreneurial mindset, with an idea to solve a community challenge through her/his enterprise. The journey of the fellow has been structured into 5 phases. Applicants can visit this link to learn about this year’s fellowship.

Speaking at the launch Dr. Chintan Vaishnav, Mission Director, AIM mentioned “At the micro level, the start-up revolution has reached the tier 2, and tier 3 cities of India and amped up the Startup ecosystem in these regions. Solving local problems at scale ranging across issues like healthcare, education, agriculture, and financial services is the key driving force for Atal Innovation Mission to empower the innovators to solve local community problems at the grassroots. With the strategic locations, Atal Community Innovation Centres are witnessing grassroots innovators undergoing the transformation journey of pursuing entrepreneurship as their full-fledged career option. With this launch of applications for the fellowship we call upon the applicants to experience the journey of creating a change in the community”.

This is a one-year-long intensive fellowship program wherein aspiring community innovators can apply irrespective of their socio-economic background is aimed at creating a conducive environment where knowledge, mentorship, community immersion, and inclusion can prosper through adequate infrastructure and funding. During the course of this fellowship, each fellow would be hosted at an Atal Community Innovation Centre and would acquire SDG awareness, entrepreneurial skills, and life skills while working on her/his idea.

AIM has been setting up Atal Community Innovation Centres (ACIC) across the country. Currently, there are 14 such centres, spread across 9 states and 36 more are coming up in the near future to take the collective number to 50 ACICs.

Link to Apply to the Fellowship

Learn more about CIF

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Sanjay Kumar takes charge as Secretary, Department of School Education & Literacy

Kumar said that he looks forward to contributing to providing quality, accessible and affordable education to every student in the country.

Published

1 day ago

December 2, 2022

Team ScooNews

Sanjay Kumar took charge as Secretary, of the Department of School Education & Literacy on 1st December 2022 in Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi.

Pursuant to assuming charge, Kumar held a meeting with the senior officials of the Ministry in which he reviewed the functioning of the department, autonomous bodies, and various schemes relating to school education. Discussions were held on the implementation of National Education Policy 2020, capacity building of teachers, infrastructure in schools, and the upcoming Prime Minister’s interaction programme ‘Pariksha Pe Pariksha’.

Kumar said that he looks forward to contributing to providing quality, accessible and affordable education to every student in the country.

News

New school timings from December 1 in Haryana

This change has been announced by the Directorate of School Education, due to the drop in the temperature.

Published

1 week ago

November 24, 2022

Mehak Goyal

The school timings will be changing from December 1, as announced by the Haryana government. This change has been announced by the Directorate of School Education, due to the drop in the temperature. On Wednesday, the new winter school timings were announced – single-shift schools will take classes from 09:30 a.m. to 03:30 p.m. Whereas, for the schools with two shifts, the first shift will be from 07:55 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and the second shift will be from 12:40 p.m. to 05:15 p.m.

The Directorate of Information, Public Relations, and Language Department, Government of Haryana took to its official Twitter handle and announced the new timings for the winter session.

Meanwhile, Education Minister Kanwar Pal talked about the dual desks being purchased for the schools of Haryana. “There are 1.41 Lakh dual desks being purchased for primary, secondary, and senior secondary schools in 22 districts of the state. 65,501 desks will be made available for students of class five; 36,168 desks for classes six to eight students and 39,208 desks for the students of classes 11 and 12,” he added.

The Education Minister also said that an amount of around Rs. 95 Crore will be spent on this. These desks will be delivered by January 31, 2023, that is, by the first phase to the respective schools.

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NIOS celebrates 33rd Foundation Day

Dr. Subhas Sarkar addresses the 33rd Foundation Day Celebrations of NIOS

Published

1 week ago

November 24, 2022

Team ScooNews

Union Minister of State for Education, Dr. Subhas Sarkar addressed the 33rd Foundation Day Celebrations of NIOS as the Chief Guest.

The function was attended by senior officials of the Ministry of Education, Chairpersons of educational institutions, Heads of Departments, officers, and staff of NIOS. Prof. Naval Kishore Ambasht, former Chairman, of NIOS and Pro-Vice Chancellor, of the Central University of Haryana, Prof. Sushma Yadav graced the occasion.

Dr. Subhas Sarkar in his address appreciated the various programmes and schemes of NIOS and said that NIOS is lighting the lamp of knowledge all over the world. Talking about the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, he mentioned that today’s children will be young people in the age group of 30-40 years on the completion of 100 years of independence and will be responsible for building our nation.

He said that the Ministry of Education has entrusted NIOS with several responsibilities such as developing inclusive education resources, expanding the open and distance education system in states/UTs, translating all courses into more languages as required, creating Indian Knowledge Tradition based courses and propagating Indian culture by translating them into major foreign languages. He also praised the programmes of NIOS enrolling 10 crore adults under ‘Basic Literacy Assessment’, training of in-service teachers, Gender Green Project, and training in Yoga. He said that Indian Sign Language as a subject at the secondary level has been acknowledged on national and international platforms. He described the launch of an e-library called ‘DEEP’ by NIOS as a big step forward.

Prof. Saroj Sharma spoke about the journey of 33 years of NIOS and highlighted the special achievements. She said that NIOS is one of the two National Boards of Education under the Ministry of Education, which provides school education through Open and Distance Learning (ODL) for secondary, senior secondary, and vocational education. She elaborated on the role of NIOS in the field of education, efforts being made by NIOS for the successful implementation of the New Education Policy, Virtual Open School, Digital Library (DEEP), NEPIA Project, MoU with Ministry of Defence for Agniveer Project, setting up of Mukta Kaushal Kendras and subjects offered under Indian knowledge Tradition.

It was also conveyed by her that a curriculum called ‘Aarambhika’ is being developed by NIOS for catering to the Indian Diaspora.

A documentary based on the journey of 33 years of educational endeavours of NIOS was presented on the occasion. In this documentary, ‘All England Badminton winner Pullela Gopichand said that most of the players in his badminton academy are getting an education from NIOS.

NIOS alumni, Ms. Niranjana and Vinod Kumar Chaudhary were also felicitated on the occasion. Shri Vinod Kumar said that only due to his education in NIOS, he was able to get the credit of making the Guinness Book of World Records 10 times (8 in Typing and 2 in sports). A proud learner of NIOS, Ms. Niranjana is a successful ventriloquist. Prof. N. K. Ambasht, former Chairman, NIOS said that in this age of technology, innovations must lead to developing ‘standalone’ courses for the Indian Diaspora, to achieve the goals of the National Education Policy- 2020. Pro-Vice Chancellor, Prof. Sushma Yadav said that the role of NIOS increases in the light of New Education Policy. NIOS has such potential that the institute will be able to achieve the ambitious goals of National Education Policy 2020 in the coming years.

The half-yearly magazine of NIOS ‘Pragyan’ was released by Dr. Subhas Sarkar on this occasion.

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TCS to train UP Govt Schools for the underprivileged in Computational Thinking

Under this program, TCS will also train 1,500 teachers in these schools to help them understand computers, algorithms, programming, coding, and problem-solving skills.

Published

2 weeks ago

November 22, 2022

Mehak Goyal

Tata Consultancy Services – the country’s largest software services company will train students and teachers of 105 Jaiprakash Narayana Sarvodaya Schools and Eklavya Residential Schools in computational and logical thinking.

These schools are run by the social welfare department of Uttar Pradesh.

A memorandum of understanding for 18 months was signed between TCS and the social welfare department in the presence of Minister of State (Independent charge) Asim Arum on 21st November 2022, a government statement said.

The company, under its programme go-IT and Ignite My Future along with International Bebras Computing Challenge will train the students in logical thinking and computational thinking as a push towards Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), the statement also said.

These schools with 35,000 students provide residential accommodation and try to impart quality education to students from underprivileged sections and tribal regions of the state.

Under this program, TCS will also train 1,500 teachers in these schools under the programme Ignite My Future in computational thinking to help them understand computers, algorithms, programming, coding, and problem-solving skills. These teachers will act as master trainers to impart training further to their colleagues and students.

Under the go-IT program of the company, students will be taught design and logical thinking with problem-solving skills and developing codes, besides preparing them through the International training programme – Bebras Computing Challenge.

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Consultation on draft National Credit Framework (NCrF) at IIT Delhi

Union Minister for Education and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Dharmendra Pradhan participates in consultation on the draft National Credit Framework (NCrF) at IIT Delhi

Published

2 weeks ago

November 22, 2022

Team ScooNews

Union Minister for Education and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Dharmendra Pradhan participated in the stakeholders’ consultation on the draft National Credit Framework (NCrF) at IIT Delhi. The Chairperson, NCVET India, Dr. NS Kalsi, Director, IIT Delhi, Prof. Rangan Banerjee, Rakesh Ranjan, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Education, Govt. of India, academicians, and many other distinguished dignitaries were also present.

Speaking on occasion, Pradhan said that NEP 2020 envisages universalization of credit framework for removing barriers between knowledge, skills, and employability, establishing a credit accumulation & transfer system for all kinds of learning for ensuring seamless mobility between learning and skilling pathways.

He further said that to reap a demographic dividend we have to provide a level playing field and equal opportunities to all. This can only be achieved by recognizing, accounting, and formalizing all kinds of conventional, unconventional, and experiential knowledge repositories.

The Minister stated that NCrF will provide us with an opportunity to recognize applied aspects of knowledge and skills. It will also create new possibilities for lifelong learning & skilling. NCrF will boost per capita productivity, empower all, and lay a strong foundation for India to lead this century, he further added.

Pradhan underlined that National Credit Framework will be a key for enhancing the economic convertibility of education, bringing a vast majority of our population under the fold of formal education and skilling, achieving GER targets, and accelerating India’s march towards becoming a $5 trillion economy.

National Credit Framework will integrate education and skilling at all levels, enhance economic convertibility of education and empower all.
Do submit your feedback and observations on the draft NCrF here. 👇https://t.co/VoH9HBGW8K
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— Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) November 21, 2022

About the National Credit Framework (NCrF):

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 emphasizes making education more holistic and effective by integrating higher education and vocational education. To realize the intent and objective of NEP 2020, the National Credit Framework (NCrF) has been developed by a high-level committee constituted by the Government of India.

The NCrF is a comprehensive framework that enables seamless integration of learning from academic, vocational, and experiential learning. The NCrF provides for creditisation of all learning and assignment, accumulation, storage, transfer, and redemption of credits, subject to assessment, removes distinction and establishes academic equivalence between vocational and general education; enables mobility within and between them and its operationalization through the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC).

The draft National Credit Framework is available here for comments/suggestions from all stakeholders.

The comments/suggestions may be sent to [email protected] up to 30th November 2022.

News

39 Schools Awarded Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar 2021-22

Published

2 weeks ago

November 19, 2022

Team ScooNews

Minister of State, Ministry of Education Dr. Subhas Sarkar gave away the Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar (SVP), 2021-22 to the National awardee schools in New Delhi today. Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, Minister of State for Education was the esteemed Guest of Honour.

The third edition of the Award i.e. SVP 2021-22, saw phenomenal participation with 9.59 lakh schools registered for the awards. This number is approx. 1.5 times more than the number of schools (6.15 lakh schools) in SVP 2017-18, who participated during that year.

Out of 9.59 lakh schools, more than 8.23 lakh schools submitted their applications for SVP 2021-22. The evaluation process of 4,27,718 eligible schools was undertaken at the district and state levels, out of which 606 schools at State/UT level awards were found eligible for National level awards. The National Selection Committee for selection of schools for SVP 2021-22, in their meeting held on 10^th October 2022, selected 39 schools (34 in the overall category and 5 in sub-categories) for National level awards for SVP 2021-2022, after 3rd party evaluation by UNICEF partner agency (NEERMAN).

Out of 39 selected schools, 21 schools are from rural areas and 18 are from urban areas. Further, 28 schools are government/ government aided while 11 are private schools. The awarded schools also include 2 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas and one (1) Navodaya Vidyalaya and 3 Kendriya Vidyalayas. Out of 39 schools, 17 are elementary and 22 are secondary/ higher secondary schools. Cash prizes of Rs. 60,000/- to 34 schools (in the overall category) and Rs. 20,000/-, (in sub-categories) were given to the awardee schools.

Speaking on the occasion Dr. Sarkar asked all the schools from Districts and States to work hard in the field of swachhata in schools to compete with the performance of award-winning Schools, Districts, and States. He also stressed that schools conferred with the National award may sustain the standard and rating of cleanliness and hygiene.

In his Independence Day address to the nation on 15^th August 2014, Prime Minister declared that all schools in the country should have toilets with separate toilets for girls within a period of one year as only then our daughters will not be compelled to leave schools midway.

The Department launched Swachh Vidyalaya Initiative in 2014. Under this initiative, a record number of 4,17,796 toilets were constructed in 2,61,400 schools, including 1,90,887 girls’ toilets in one year period up to 15^th August 2015. Encouraged by this stupendous success, the Department of School Education and Literacy launched the Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar in 2016-17 to ensure long-term sustainability and behavioural change. The Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar not only honours the schools that have taken exemplary work in the field of water, sanitation, and hygiene but also provides a benchmark and roadmap for schools to make further improvement

Under this Award, schools are rated on six broad parameters of (a) Water (b) Toilets (c) Handwashing with Soap (d) Operation and Maintenance (e) Behaviour Change and Capacity building, and (f) COVID-19 (Preparedness and Response). The Puraskar is given at District, State, and National levels.

Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar (SVP), 2021-22 was successfully launched by Dr. Subhas Sarkar on 12^th January 2022, which was the birthday of Swami Vivekanand and is celebrated as National Youth Day. In view of the COVID pandemic, an additional parameter – “COVID-19 preparedness and response” – was included in the Swachh Vidyalaya guidelines in 2021-22, considering its implications for the health, hygiene, and safety of the children. The methodology of the awards was evolved in consultation with UNICEF, which was the Implementation and Technical partner for the awards.

In the National award ceremony Sanjay Kumar, OSD, Prachi Pandey, Joint Secretary, and Archana Sharma Awasthi, Joint Secretary, Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education were also present.

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28th edition of CBSE Sahodaya Schools Conference begins at Vadodara

The 28th National Annual Conference of Sahodaya School Complexes on the theme of Education 4.0-Reinventing
Education 2030 and beyond begins.

Published

2 weeks ago

November 18, 2022

Team ScooNews

The 28th National Annual Conference of Sahodaya School Complexes (2022) began on 18th November 2022. This year the conference is being held in collaboration with Gyan Sarovar Sahodaya –The Central Gujarat CBSE Schools Sahodaya Complex.

The theme of the conference is “Education 4.0: Reinventing Education for 2030 and Beyond” with the objective to sensitize school leaders and prepare them for the era of education 4.0 with the necessary changes in the design of curriculum and pedagogy.

Sub Themes

Social dynamics and development of education
School Leadership for futuristic schools
Technology is indispensable for education
Capacity Building of teachers
AI in school education
Creative Learning
Positioning curriculum for 2030 and beyond
Moving from Transactional Leadership to Transformational Leadership
Building Learning Communities
Schooling Vs. Education: Bridging the gap for a better India for 2030 and beyond
Community School Partnership for quality education

This year’s conference is hosting the representatives of more than 200 Sahodaya School Complexes and educationists from around the world in a two-day event at Vadodara.

Principals from 800 plus CBSE affiliated schools in the country and abroad, academics, and senior officers of the Board are participating in this two-day conference which will dwell upon various themes such as Community School Partnership, Schooling versus Education, Technology for Education, Artificial Intelligence in Education, Building Learning Communities, Leadership, Creative Learning, and Capacity Building of Teachers.

The inaugural session of the conference began with the address of the Chairperson CBSE Smt. Nidhi Chhibber highlighting the roles and responsibilities of school principals and administrators in realizing the objectives of NEP 2020 and making schools future ready.

A number of publications prepared by the Board were also launched by the Chairperson, on this occasion.

Conference Souvenir

A compilation of the probable best practices received from different schools across the country in the area of curriculum, pedagogy, capacity building of teachers, school leadership, school community partnership, and use of technology.

CBSE SQAA Portal

As per NEP 2020 recommendations, CBSE has developed a ‘School Quality Assessment and Assurance (SQAA)’ Framework based on 7 domains covering all the aspects of school functioning and can be useful as a tool for accomplishing individual and institutional excellence.

Practice Books in Science and Mathematics have been developed for Students of classes IX and X in the subjects of Mathematics and Science to strengthen the skills and competencies of students and help them apply the learned concepts in real-life situations and draw inferences.

These workbooks present a series of questions organised as themes, mapped to concepts from the curriculum of the respective class.

Item Banks

The board has designed and developed Competency Focussed Practice Questions aligned to the NCERT curriculum in the subjects of English, Mathematics, Science, and Social Science for Class X students to test conceptual understanding and application.

SAFAL Assessment Frameworks for grades 3, 5, and 8 were also launched today in the subjects of Language (English/Hindi), Mathematics, and EVS/Science. These include domains, strands, and competencies, and define learning outcomes at various proficiency levels.

PRAYOG

Pradhanacharya Yojna for Growth, has been designed in view of the important role of the Principals in the effective implementation of NEP 2020 in CBSE schools and covers various themes such as Innovative Pedagogy, Competency Focussed Education, Experiential Learning, Art integrated learning, Story Telling and Sports Integrated Learning, Systemic Reforms via initiatives such as SAFAL, HPC, SQAA, and Competency-based assessments, and other topics like Peer Education and Life Skills, Inclusive Education, Environmental Education, Pedagogy Leadership and Expectations from Principals.

Skill Education

A number of Skill Modules for Class VI-VIII on Travel and Tourism, Marketing, Media, Beauty & Wellness, Design Thinking, and Innovation were also launched today along with new modules for classes IX-XII in Library and Information Science, Cost Accounting, Early Childhood Care and Education.

Hand Book on Positive Parenting – A Ready Reckoner

The Board has always been sensitive and proactive regarding the mental health and wellness of students. Positive Parenting – A Ready Reckoner has been brought out by CBSE with the hope of adding value to the nuances of parenting and nurturing skills in a very simplistic and easy-to-follow manner. This publication by no means attempts to undermine the concerns and care of the parents already in place but may help in deepening the understanding and in building positive relationships amongst schools, parents, and students. The contents have been carefully curated post-COVID challenges and include topics such as the Mental and Emotional Wellness of Children, Parenting the Pre- teens, Gender Equality and Child Abuse Protection, Children with Special Needs, Online Learning for Parents, and more.

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National Sports Awards 2022 Announced

Sharath Kamal Achanta to receive Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2022

Published

2 weeks ago

November 16, 2022

Team ScooNews

Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports announced the National Sports Awards 2022 on 14th November 2022.

The awardees will receive their awards from the President of India at a specially organized function at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 30^th November 2022 (Wednesday) at 1600 hrs.

Based on the recommendations of the Committee and after due scrutiny, the Government has decided to confer awards upon the following sportspersons, coaches, and entities:

(i) Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2022

S. No.	Name of the sportsperson	Discipline
1.	Shri Sharath Kamal Achanta	Table Tennis

(ii) Arjuna Awards for outstanding performance in Sports and Games 2022

S. No.	Name of the sportsperson	Discipline
1.	Ms. Seema Punia	Athletics
2.	Shri Eldhose Paul	Athletics
3.	Shri Avinash Mukund Sable	Athletics
4.	Shri Lakshya Sen	Badminton
5.	Shri Prannoy HS	Badminton
6.	Shri Amit	Boxing
7.	Ms. Nikhat Zareen	Boxing
8.	Ms. Bhakti Pradip Kulkarni	Chess
9.	Shri R Praggnanandhaa	Chess
10.	Ms. Deep Grace Ekka	Hockey
11.	Ms. Shushila Devi	Judo
12.	Ms. Sakshi Kumari	Kabaddi
13.	Ms. Nayan Moni Saikia	Lawn Bowl
14.	Shri Sagar Kailas Ovhalkar	Mallakhamb
15.	Ms. ElavenilValarivan	Shooting
16.	Shri Omprakash Mitharval	Shooting
17.	Ms. Sreeja Akula	Table Tennis
18.	Shri Vikas Thakur	Weightlifting
19.	Ms. Anshu	Wrestling
20.	Ms. Sarita	Wrestling
21.	Shri Parveen	Wushu
22.	Ms. Manasi Girishchandra Joshi	Para-Badminton
23.	Shri Tarun Dhillon	Para Badminton
24.	Shri Swapnil Sanjay Patil	Para Swimming
25.	Ms. Jerlin Anika J	Deaf Badminton

(iii) Dronacharya Award for outstanding coaches in Sports and Games 2022

A. Regular Category:

S. No.	Name of the Coach (S/Shri/Ms)	Discipline
1.	Shri Jiwanjot Singh Teja	Archery
2.	Shri Mohammad Ali Qamar	Boxing
3.	Ms. Suma Siddharth Shirur	Para Shooting
4.	Shri Sujeet Maan	Wrestling

B. Lifetime Category:

S.No.	Name of the Coach (S/Shri/Ms)	Discipline
1.	Shri Dinesh Jawahar Lad	Cricket
2.	Shri Bimal Prafulla Ghosh	Football
3.	Shri Raj Singh	Wrestling

(iv) Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sports and Games 2022

S. No.	Name of the sportsperson	Discipline
1.	Ms. Ashwini Akkunji C.	Athletics
2.	Shri Dharamvir Singh	Hockey
3.	Shri B.C Suresh	Kabaddi
4.	Shri Nir Bahadur Gurung	Para Athletics

(v) Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar 2022

S. No.	Category	Entity recommended for RashtriyaKhel Protsahan Puruskar, 2022
1.	Identification and Nurturing of Budding and Young Talent	TransStadia Enterprises Private Limited
2.	Encouragement to sports through Corporate Social Responsibility	Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology
3.	Sports for Development	Ladakh Ski & Snowboard Association

(vi) Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2022:

Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar

National Sports Awards are given every year to recognize and reward excellence in sports.

‘Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award’ is given for the spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports by a sportsperson over the period of the previous four years.
‘Arjuna Award for outstanding performance in Sports and Games’ is given for good performance over a period of the previous four years and for showing qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline.
‘Dronacharya Award for outstanding coaches in Sports and Games’ is given to coaches for doing outstanding and meritorious work on a consistent basis and for enabling sportspersons to excel in International events.
‘Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sports and Games’ is given to honour sportspersons who have contributed to sports through their performance and who continue to contribute to the promotion of sports even after their retirement.
‘Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar’ is given to corporate entities (both in the private and public sector), Sports Control Boards, NGOs, including sports bodies at the State and National level, who have played a visible role in the area of sports promotion and development.

The overall top-performing university in inter-university tournaments is given the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy.

This year, for the first time, applications were invited only online and sportspersons/coaches/entities were permitted to self-apply through a dedicated portal.

A large number of nominations were received for these awards this year, which were considered by the Selection Committee headed by Justice A. M. Khanwilkar, Retd. Judge, Supreme Court of India and consisting of eminent sportspersons, persons having experience in sports journalism, and sports administrators.

News

ATL Schools across India celebrate Childrens’ Day

1.5 lakh students from 5000+ schools took part in the Atal Tinkering Labs’ unique mega tinkering activity on the occasion of Children’s day

Published

3 weeks ago

November 15, 2022

Team ScooNews

In a first-of-its-kind occurrence, around 1.5 lakh students from more than 5000 schools in India in the Atal Tinkering Labs programme of the Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog took part in a unique mega tinkering activity on the occasion of Children’s day, on Nov 14. Several schools from the length and breadth of the country along with their students, ATL in-charges, principals, mentors, AIM team, and partners participated in the event virtually from their respective ATLs. In this event, participating students all across India built an innovation project together in one of the largest-ever global tinkering events done collectively in a single day.

With a vision to ‘Cultivate one Million children in India as Neoteric Innovators’, Atal Innovation Mission is establishing Atal Tinkering Laboratories (ATLs) in schools across India. Recently AIM has achieved the objective of establishing more than 10,000 ATLs in schools across India with an objective to foster curiosity, creativity, and imagination in young minds; and inculcate skills such as design mindset, computational thinking, adaptive learning, physical computing, etc.

Ms. Deepali Upadhayay, Program Director, AIM started the event by congratulating all students on the occasion of Children’s Day and the establishment of 10000 ATLs across schools in India. As part of the event, students learned the scientific concept behind the activity and demonstrated the steps for building the hand-held fan using equipment from the ATL. This activity aimed to develop the attitude and aptitude to experiment and tinker among young students. These students were invited to participate in a contest where they will share pictures and videos of the tinkering activity done in their schools.

ATL students across the country have been ambassadors of the tinkering movement and have used their creative energies to make better versions of the hand-held fans. They also modified it to incorporate 3D printing in it. Some students also took it to the next level by designing complex robots and drones. ATL has been a front-runner in helping with the infrastructure and technical know-how of these innovation projects in schools.

Ankush, from Aditya Vidyashram School, Puducherry, and Sufeenah from Green Valley School, Srinagar said “It was great being a part of this mega tinkering event and building the project together with other ATLs. We thank the entire AIM team for organizing this activity”.

On the occasion of #ChildrensDay, bollywood actor, @TheSharmanJoshi, expresses his congratulations to #AIM & @NITIAayog on the establishment of 10,000 #ATLs🙌
He also shares his words of encouragement for the students performing the mega tinkering activity📽️⬇️#ATLTinkeringDay pic.twitter.com/ITxZ59bunW
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— Atal Innovation Mission Official (@AIMtoInnovate) November 14, 2022

Famous Bollywood actor Sharman Joshi also congratulated the students via a video message saying that “This scale of a tinkering activity hasn’t been done before and paves the way for acceleration of the tinkering movement in India”.

Dr. Chintan Vaishnav Mission Director AIM in his message shared his remembrances from the first time he did such a tinkering activity as a child and said that “Children in today’s age have the tools and resources which were not available earlier. This event truly exhibited the ‘spirit of making’ in taking India to greater heights”.

Click here to know more about the ATL program.

YouTube Live link