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School Education @2010 “Once children learn how to learn, nothing is going to narrow their mind. The essence of teaching is to make learning contagious, to have one idea spark another” -Marva Collins
By Yukti Pahwa
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ducation system saw remarkable changes in the year 2010. Many reforms were sought, formulated, implemented, reviewed and deliberated upon. Broadly, the changes happened with Right to Education, grading system and introduction of continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) coming into effect; welcoming technology, research, innovation and raising concerns over issues such as shortage of teachers, teacher training; and so on.
drews Ganj says, “RTE is effectively being implemented at our school. Many NGOs have also joined hands with us as a support for the same, like Times of India and so on. It is during the summer vacations that we use their help and mobilise children from disadvantaged areas through play-way method and share with them the value of education, followed by their enrollment in the schools after the vacations.”
Right to Education
CCE and the Grading system
The Right to Education Act finally came into effect on April 1, 2010, with the aim of improving the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) across the country. With this enactment government has promised to provide all children between the age of six and 14 the right to school education and making it imperative for every school in the country to allocate 25% seats for students from disadvantaged section of the society. The implementation has begun at many schools. Rajini Jain, Principal, MCD School, An-
This year Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) took some vital steps in the area of school education. They introduced and executed a new examination system, changing the basis of the same from a marks-based evaluation system to a grading system, making 10th standard board examination as another option. Continuous and Comprehensive Examination (CCE) was rolled-out that has introduced a range of activities and non conventional methods as against the regular yearly or half yearly pencil-paper
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tests. To support this, Bandana R P Lazarus, Head – Dept. of Biology, Delhi Public School, Vasant Kunj said, “I think CCE is a very good scheme as the students to be monitored and observed everyday giving us a holistic picture of their development. We get an idea of not only the academic but also their scholastic aptitude. This has also led to mass participation of children in extra-curricular activities.” Additionally, talks are on for making unified Common Entrance Exam (CEE) for different streams. For instance, 14 new central universities had a CEE for enrolling students in various graduate courses for students who had passed 12th standard exam. On the basis of respective scores, they could then seek admission.
Training for Teachers There have been numerous deliberations of teacher shortage, lack of quality teaching and access of teachers to the right kind of material for making teaching learning process more interactive and effective. Additionally, efforts are being made not only by government