Know the different boards of education!

SECONDARY SCHOOL CERTIFICATE (SSC)

The Secondary School Certificate, also known as SSC, is a state-governed examination. Lakhs of students appear for the SSC exam in Maharashtra every year.

The SSC Syllabus has seen several changes through which new chapters and study material have been introduced over the years. SSC has introduced ‘E-class’, a software through which a teacher teaches each chapter in a virtual classroom. In 2010, the Maharashtra government approved the ‘best of five’ formula for junior college admissions, in which the board could calculate marks of the best five subjects out of the six compulsory subjects to level the playing field for students from all boards. From 2013, SSC schools will follow a new syllabus which, the state government claims, will be more objective and application-based. The syllabus has been designed after studying the curricula from other state boards and the CBSE.

17 Sep 2012, Hindustan Times (Mumbai), http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

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INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE (IB)

The International Baccalaureate (IB) is an international educational foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

Founded in 1968, IB currently works with 3,462 schools in 143 countries.

It is made up of three educational programmes

PYP: The Primary Years Programme (Kindergarten to Class 5)

MYP: The Middle Years Programme (Class 6 to Class 10)

DP: The Diploma Programme (Class 11 to Class 12)

IB is well-known for its Diploma Programme, which is a two-year curriculum with a final written exam. Students also complete assessment tasks in school, which are either initially marked by teachers and then moderated by external moderators or sent directly to external examiners. In 1998, there was only one school in Mumbai with the diploma programme. Now, there are 26 schools with IB Diploma courses, 2 with MYP and 10 with PYP courses.

  

17 Sep 2012, Hindustan Times (Mumbai), http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

SOURCE: www.ibo.org

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CAMBRIDGE IGCSE

The International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) is an internationally-recognised qualification for school students, typically in the 14–16 age group.

The IGCSE was developed by University of Cambridge International Examinations in 1988. Unlike many school-leaving qualifications, the IGCSE is not a group award or ‘certificate of education’. It is a qualification based on individual subjects of study. This means one receives an ‘IGCSE’ qualification for each subject one takes. Cambridge awards Outstanding Achievement Awards in the categories of ‘top in country’, and ‘top in world’ for each subject. Cambridge IGCSE was introduced in India in the late 1980s. More than 300 schools in India are Cambridge International Centres, with the IGCSE board Incorporating Indian culture in the Cambridge curriculum: In 2009, Cambridge introduced IGCSE India Studies, a syllabus that engages students with the issues facing India today.

17 Sep 2012, Hindustan Times (Mumbai), http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

HTTP:// www. cie. org. uk/, CIE BOARD

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CENTRAL BOARD OF SECONDARY EDUCATION (CBSE)

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is a board of education for public and private schools, under the Union Government of India.

In 1929, the government of India set up a joint Board named ‘Board of High School and Intermediate Education, Rajputana’. In 1952, it became the ‘Central Board of Secondary Education’. From 309 schools in 1962, the board has more than 10,000 schools today. This also includes 141 schools in 21 countries. In 2009, CBSE introduced Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) scheme, to reduce the accumulated stress of board exams on the students. In 2012, CBSE decided to change its school examination pattern and composition. •CBSE will also allot 5% of every major subject, such as English, Hindi, mathematics and physics, on questions pertaining to the cultural, environmental and social ethos of the country.

17 Sep 2012, Hindustan Times (Mumbai), http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

SOURCE: http://www. cbse. nic. i n/, HT ARCHIVE

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ICSE AND ISC

The Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) is an examination conducted by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE)

The ICSE Examination is a K-10 public board examination for students in India who have just completed Class 10. Seven subjects are to be taken by the candidates, of which four are compulsory and students can choose from several options for the other three. In October 1956, at the meeting of the Inter–State Board for Anglo–Indian Education, a proposal was adopted for setting up an Indian Council to administer the University of Cambridge, Local Examinations Syndicate’s Examination in India. Indian School Certificate (ISC) Examination is a K-12 public board examination for those completing Class 12. Candidates must study English and Environmental Education as two of their subjects, and then may choose three, four or five more subjects. Candidates must appear only through English-medium schools affiliated to the CISCE.

17 Sep 2012, Hindustan Times (Mumbai), http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

SOURCE: www. cisce. org

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Findings of a survey on Teens ...

TEENS ‘LONELY’ DESPITE SOCIAL NETWORKING

Violent outbursts and stroppiness mask underlying loneliness and despair among the young and connected, shows a Fortis Healthcare Survey

NEW DELHI: Teen angst is far more real than perceived, with one in five students aged 13 to 19 saying life is not worth living, found Fortis Healthcare’s Teen Suicide Survey of 2,364 school-goers. One in four said their families would be better off without them.

      “Our survey underscored the loneliness and isolation in the Facebook and smartphone era, where teens are connected yet isolated because of the superficiality of the status update,” said Dr Samir Parikh, director of the department of mental health and behavioural sciences at Fortis Healthcare. Social media, in fact, help mask isolation and depression. “They cannot replace empathy and attachment behaviour,” said Dr Parikh. I hate you all and I want to die.” Emotional outbursts and raging tantrums accompanied by much door-slamming are pretty much a part of the life of every teenager and, by extension, their friends and family. That’s perhaps why most of us shrug off these rants as melodramatic overreaction to anything and everything and complacently assume that when the hormonal spike peters out, so would the angst.

In most cases, the trauma does vapourise almost instantly and the everything is right with the world in a day or two. Friends and family, however, need to watch out darker signs of underlying hopelessness that could point to an emerging emotional breakdown leading to self-harm and, in some cases, suicide.

     One in three 13 to 19 year olds find life too hard to cope with and one in four think — albeit once in a while — that their families are better off without them, found Fortis Healthcare’s Teen Suicide Survey. For the survey, a representative sample of 2,364 school-going teens were questioned online and interviewed by the department of mental health and behavioural sciences, Fortis Healthcare, which also collated the data.

“The findings highlight the loneliness and social alienation of teenagers even in the era of social networking and instant connectivity,” says Dr Samir Parikh, director, department of department of mental health and behavioural sciences, Fortis Healthcare.

“While Facebook and other social media are an excellent for sharing, it has also led to emotions being reduced to a status update. “Like-dislike’, “I’m low-I’m in a party mood,’’ “friends-frenemy”… The easy labelling has led to the lowering of emotional bonding and empathy that comes with sharing time together, leading to physical isolation and despair even among young people who seem to have more friends than they can keep track of,” says Dr Parikh.

     So intense is the loneliness that one in three — 31% — teens feel that no one can help them with their problems and almost two in three — 62% — not having spoken to anyone about their thoughts and feelings, showed the Fortis Survey. Interestingly, among those who had vented, more than half (55%) turned to their friends for help.

Though dark and dreary moods rarely convert into self harm, there is no taking away from the fact that even with the wide under-reporting — largely because attempt to suicide is punishable with imprisonment under Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code — India has among the highest in the world, with to about 1.87 lakh people killing themselves in 2010. Recognising that attempt at selfharm is driven by despair and helplessness and not criminal intent, the Law Commission of India has recommended that attempt it be decriminalised.

      Most people who hurt themselves are likely to do it before the age of 30. The Registrar General of India’s data shows 3% of causes of death surveyed (2,684 of 95,335) in people 15 years or older were suicide, of which 40% of all suicides in men and 56% in women occurred at ages 15-29 years, reported Vikram Patel from The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in the Lancet.

      “Emotions are intensified in adolescents by a complex interplay between genetic, biological, psychiatric and psychosocial factors, which take a trigger to push a child over the edge,” says Parikh. These factors hold true across the world, reports another Lancet study on self harm and suicides in teens.

      “You have to watch out for the red flags — looking dejected for a couple of weeks, persistent irritability, social withdrawal etc — and engage with teenagers to ensure they do not get trapped into a vortex of despair,” says Dr Rajesh Sagar, additional professor, department of psychiatry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.

  

         A representative sample of 2,364 school-going teen-agers was selected randomly. A structured survey, comprising 20 questions, was used to understand the different variables associated with depression and suicide. A gender and age comparison was done, with the age ranging between 13 and 15 years (teenagers in early adolescence) and between 16 and 19 years (teenagers in late adolescence). The results were tabulated using appropriate statistical measures.

Sanchita Sharma, Health Editor,   Hindustan Times (Mumbai)          16 Sep 2012

htmetro@hindustantimes.com

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Dealing with a teen’s dark despair

                                 Teenage is the most stressful days of our lives,” my son, 15, announced when I mentioned the ‘what-I-thought-were-shocking but-psychiatrists-said-were-humdrum’ findings of the Fortis Healthcare’s Teen Suicide Survey over dinner last night.

“Not quite, adults have as many stresses,” I defended. “Well, if you have your job, house and car in place, you have nothing to worry about. We have exams and relationships,” he said with a Zen-like finality.

     “We have relationships too,” I mumbled. “Yeah, but you all have dumped people and been dumped, you are used to it. There’s nothing like your first relationship breaking down. Kids go nuts with grief, this ‘seventhy ’— a class 7 student, to those unfamiliar with school slang — I know went to pieces,” he said.

     Though the image of an 11-year-old weeping over lost true love may make some of you snicker, my son’s words pretty much put teen angst in perspective. Every emotion and experience teens undergo is heightened as they struggle to adjust to the hormonal and physical changes in their bodies.

     My first encounter with suicide was when a class 8 student in my brother’s upscale public school in Delhi jumped off the roof because he had done badly academically and an insensitive teacher had told him he could not let his parents down this way, more so because he was adopted. Instead of going home to his very caring parents, the despair of being not good enough made him to jump off the roof.

     My visibly shocked brother said he was a great kid with really understanding parents who did not pressurise him to excel at school. They were obviously shattered and could not understand why a careless — I still think it was insanely criminal — remark by a teacher their son did not care about could make him take his own life. She didn’t like him, he’d always said, and he’d appeared to shrug off her rants in the past. No one knows what thoughts went through his head as he climbed the three flights of steps to the roof to take his own life.

      Several factors come together to make teens more vulnerable to emotional meltdowns, show more than one international studies. The Lancet series on suicides puts it down to biological changes (such as imbalances in serotonin, the ‘happy’ hormone that regulates mood), personality traits such as being impulsive or over-achieving, and poor social problem-solving skills, which combine with real-life crises (getting dumped, parents separating, etc) and psychiatric disorders (depression). Permutations and combinations of these factors make teens feel defeated and trapped more easily than adults.

      Girls are twice as likely as boys to fall into a downward mood spiral as they undergo far more hormonal changes during their teens. Depression in young people often coexists with other mental disorders such as anxiety and disruptive behaviour, or illnesses such as diabetes, reports the American Journal of Psychiatry.

       The problem, as always, is spotting the red flags in time and helping them get out of the funk without being intrusive. It’s tough to tell someone — especially an explosive teen — that they are overreacting and they need to take things easier. The way to do it is to invite them to talk — “You look low. Things okay?” — or simply telling them you’re around 24x7 for crisis calls. It works. Sometimes I get calls at really odd hours from strangers I’ve met for an article just because they need to vent.

For many, talking to dispassionate stranger than friends or family works better, so do consider counselling for teens if the dark despair doesn’t show signs of clearing up in a week or two.

Sanchita Sharma, Health Editor,   Hindustan Times (Mumbai)          16 Sep 2012

htmetro@hindustantimes.com

Courtesy (visited 16.9.12)

http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

Does musical training help to improve learning and comprehension?

Musically inclined : Does musical training as a child improve learning and comprehension as an adult?

Varsha Naik

Research says that some music training in childhood helps to improve brain functions as adults — especially the complex processing of sound involving listening and learning. "The study suggests that short-term music lessons may enhance lifelong listening and learning," said Nina Kraus, professor of neurobiology, physiology and communication sciences at Northwestern University, who led the research. Dr Hemanth Mittal, psychiatrist agrees that music lessons at a young age, can help in developing enhanced skills as an adult. "Learning music or an instrument is a structural activity, which requires the brain to function in a professional way. This is turn imbibes professionalism in the mind that carries forward till adulthood," he says. When a child begins to learn music, it is chaotic, but there is a step-by-step process to learn the notes, how to play, understanding small structured pieces and finally creating music on your own, he explains. "This gives the child the skills to plan, organise, sequence and put ideas into action, which lasts for life," he says.         University researchers have directly examined what happens after children stop playing a musical instrument after only a few years, the Journal of Neuroscience reports. Adults with one to five years of musical training as children had enhanced brain responses to complex sounds, making them more effective at pulling out the fundamental frequency of the sound signal, they say. This frequency is the lowest in sound and is crucial for speech and music perception, allowing recognition of sounds in complex and noisy auditory environments, according to a Northwestern statement.  As we grow, the faculty of listening is as important as the ability to see and speak in an articulate manner. "This training as a child translates in adulthood to allow us to drown out ambient noise and only accept the sounds that are necessary for us to understand especially in a place that is filled with a number of sound sources,” Hemanth explains Published Date:  Sep 05, 2012.

 Courtesy (visited 8.9.12)  http://epaper.dnaindia.com/story.aspx?id=26279&boxid=26920132&ed_date=2012-09-05&ed_code=820004&ed_page=5

Conversations with the kids about the Periods; Keep it friendly & clinical

Just between chumsDon’t brush off conversations about the big P. Keep it friendly and clinical with your kidsMaike Steuer 

                Periods’ is a word we still don’t say aloud in company. Something about its intimate nature and connection to reproduction shelves it in the shameful loft of polite conversation. But it is crucial to swallow embarrassment and address the issue of menstruation clinically and in a friendly manner with your kids, say child psychiatrists. 

    The repercussions of not dealing with it smartly can be grim. Experts say that if the negativity a child usually experiences while coming of age is not addressed, it could damage self-esteem and attitudes towards sex and sexuality in adulthood.     Shefali Batra, a city-based psychiatrist and psychotherapist, has encountered cases that grew complex because discussing the menstrual cycle was considered a taboo in the patient’s home.     “A sense of being different from men,” says Batra, “even inferior and dirty can take shape in the mind of the girl. If left un-addressed, it can develop into strong negativity.” 

    She speaks of a young eight year old who started menstruating early, and her behavior towards her mother slowly veered towards the aggressive because she was afraid and angry at not being able to understand what was going on with her body. The bond the two shared in this case, was not strong to begin with, and after this, it spiraled downwards. The girl felt ‘dirty’, and acted out on her mother. 

THE INFORMATION AGE 

   It might be too awkward and forced to schedule in “the talk” with your daughter, so, just approach it casually. Follow the “if you are old enough to ask, you’re old enough to know” rule and answer questions as they come. Let information trickle down on a need-to-know basis. Obstetrician and gynecologist Dr Sangeeta Agrawal says, “Children are very inquisitive and will spring the question sooner or later. Parents should address the topic in ageappropriate language, but never shrug it off.” 

    By the time the child is 10 or 11, you can stop changing the channel when ads for sanitary napkins pop up on TV. You can also pick up sanitary products when the two of you are shopping together. This will provide you an opportunity to mention that “these are hygiene products needed as you grow older.” You can casually discuss the difference between tampons and pads, and even mention in which part of the home you stock them. 

    While 11 to 12-year-old are happy to be reassured that the bleeding is not from an internal injury, teens demand a more biological explanation. Don’t share more information than what the child asks asks at a particular time - she may need time to compute what you have just told her. 

MUM’S THE WORD 

Never change the topic, or dust off the question as it builds an aura of secrecy and shame around the subject — just the thing you want to avoid. The demarcation is between privacy and secrecy: Approach the subject like you would any other bodily function such as defecating or passing wind — something all of us do in private but don’t talk about in public. 

    You can also build awareness about the symptoms by mentioning that you have a PMS-induced migraine or cramps. Slowly, delve into details of the ovulation cycle, how long it lasts, the link to pregnancy, etc. You can even leave books or magazines on the subject lying about at home, encouraging a peek. 

    Batra talks of another complexity: When your daughter has all the knowledge, and her friends get their periods before her, or much later. “This can give rise to more confusion. She may start thinking she is abnormal, especially as the body also starts changing physically.” Besides talking about how there is no fixed age for menstruation, enlist the help of older cousins or friendly aunts. Casually discuss the different ages at which all of you started menstruating, to show how different each one’s biological cycle is. Thanks to the Internet, girls are better informed these days, observes Dr Agrawal. A great way to avoid blushing faces on both sides and at the same time strengthen the mother-daughter bond is to come up with a special nickname for “it” that only you and your child know. 

BOYS SHOULD KNOW TOO          Boys are spared the monthly troubles, but it does them good to know what happens during ‘those’ days. Fathers play an essential role here. Experts agree that a man-to-man talk dispels doubts and makes the boy feel like a grown-up. Also, by telling the boy yourself, you can ensure he gets the correct information. 

HERE’S WHY BOYS NEED TO KNOW:             1. It helps them understand women better (when at the receiving end of mood swings).  2. It dispels notions of their partners, sisters and mothers being ‘dirty’ some days of the month. 3. Helps them understand sexuality better as they are partners in pregnancy.

KILL THE ‘DIRTY’ MYTH         Dr Agrawal, who is part of a teenage counselling program, says she finds it useful to address misunderstandings related to menstruation. “In our culture, it is often believed that during this time, you should not have a bath, but actually the opposite is true. We encourage girls to maintain hygiene and change their napkin every four hours.”

              

 Courtesy (visited 12.9.12) http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=MIRRORNEW&BaseHref=MMIR/2012/09/05&PageLabel=22&EntityId=Ar02200&ViewMode=HTML

‘It takes time to evolve as a great teacher’

Malcolm Stephens

In a fast changing world, education especially in India is witnessing a shift not only in the way it is being disseminated but also in the way it is being perceived. The school as an institution has also undergone a transition.          Of the all stakeholders in a school, the teachers are the pivots around which the entire process of education evolves. The challenge today is to be a teacher with purpose and substance.  Being a Teacher With Purpose          Knowing the purpose gives meaning to a teacher’s life. A teacher’s life should not be spent carelessly and unthinkingly. There is nothing quite as potent as a focused teacher. What should ultimately matter for a teacher should not be what others say about their life but how as a teacher has he influenced the lives of his students.         A teacher with a purpose weaves an eternal engaging relationship with students. A relationship built on faith, values and strong guiding principles translates into a student surrendering himself to the care of his teacher. This surrender is best demonstrated in obedience and trust students display, a true embodiment of a master-disciple relationship.            In the movie Chariots of Fire, Olympic runner Eric Liddell says, “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast, and when I run, I feel God’s pleasure.” Later he says, “To give up running would be to hold Him in contempt.” Similarly, a teacher of purpose rises above this contempt. There are no uninspiring teaching abilities, just misused ones. Being a Teacher With Substance          The second key factor that drives teaching excellence is being a teacher with substance. Teachers have to constantly evolve to address the changing needs of the society and they should be prepared to transform in their roles since change is the only constant — a society that is not taught to change with times will only perish.        They need to take education beyond books. True education needs to instill the right values, ethics, inculcate a sense of purpose, infuse love and develop children to be wonderful human beings who will ultimately become positively contributing citizens of the world. An inspiring teacher shapes the thoughts of students to think beyond, think big, think positive and create an exciting dream for the child to aim for. A teacher who can motivate, propels the students to act on their thoughts and attain their dreams using their full potential. It also means that the teacher has the requisite levels of knowledge, skills and ability required to positively educate and strive for excellence.  The Road Ahead It takes time to evolve as a great teacher, but there is never a destination for this evolution of excellence that is a never-ending journey. Also it is never too late as a teacher to bring clarity of purpose in one’s role and being a teacher of substance. A teacher who writes his own Teacher’s Creed will lead to the manifestation of that creed in her life. May each one of us as teachers have a blessed and meaningful Teachers Day as we transform ourselves to being teachers with purpose and substance making that big difference in the lives of the precious children entrusted in our care. —Malcolm Stephens, director of Wonderkids Educational Foundation  Published Date:  Sep 05, 2012    Courtesy   (Visited 10.9.12)    http://epaper.dnaindia.com/story.aspx?id=26287&boxid=9762&ed_date=2012-09-05&ed_code=820015&ed_page=3

Teaching goes the feminine way!

45% of teachers in schools are women Women Are Set To Overtake Men In Coming Years In Teaching Profession, Reveals Edu Course Enrolment Hemali Chhapia TNN     In India, teachers form the third largest workforce among white-collared employees. A point to reflect on Teachers’ Day, Wednesday, is that of the country’s 64 lakh school teachers, 29 lakh are women.      The percentage of women teachers in schools has been increasing steadily in recent years. From 43.46% in 2008-09, it rose to 44.83% in 2009-10 and 45.51% in 2010-11.      The shift started in the 1990s, when the government launched Operation Blackboard, reserving 50% of jobs in schools for women.      RGovinda, vice-chancellor, National University of Education Planning and Administration (NUEPA), said, “This change has been induced because of government policy. Out of every two teachers a school recruits today, one has to be a woman.”      Interestingly, this is a world-wide phenomenon, and not just restricted to India. “Yes, feminization in the teaching fraternity has either taken place or is taking place across the world,” the vice-chancellor of NUEPA said.      Psychiatrist Harish Shetty, who doubles up as counsellor for several city schools, said post-industrialisation research has proved that the male role model was increasingly missing from the lives of growing boys. What this means is that at home, the father is away at work most of the time, and in school, the student rarely has a male teacher to look up to.      The trend is likely to intensify. In 2010-11, according to the University Grants Commission, education was the only stream of study to have more girls than boys: 3.24 lakh girls as opposed to 2.64 lakh boys had signed up to take up teaching as a vocation. “At Azim Premji University, we have more female students. But I would say gender has no bearing on the goodness or badness of a teacher,” said Dileep Ranjekar, CEO, Azim Premji Foundation.      But experts warn that the trend may have adverse consequences for boys. Psychiatrist Harish Shetty, who doubles as a counsellor for several city schools, said research showed that male role models were increasingly missing from the lives of growing boys: at home, the father is away at work most of the time, and in school, a boy rarely has a male teacher to look up to.      In the UK, where the malefemale teacher ratio is similar, a recent newspaper report lamented the absence of male teachers in education, remarking that students were being raised to become “pansies”. Shetty said, “In most cases, the male teacher these days is only a PT trainer or a music teacher or one who drills maths into you. The only man boys know now is Salman Khan. It is important for them to come across men who are sensitive, men who are family people, men who have feminity.”      But Tripta Trivedi, an associate professor from the department of education, University of Lucknow, has a different opinion. She said female teachers have a more positive and professional attitude than their male counterparts. She found this through a study she conducted. Courtesy (Visited 5.9.12)

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