Saturday, June 27, 2009

Dear Honourable Minister for HRD
I heard your lectures many times in Delhi when you addressed the august gathering in National Defence College during the mid nineties. At the time I felt that you are a knowledgeable lawyer and during the tea-time talk I felt that you are a man of convictions too!
Well I do hope that the fiery lawyer in you is still alive to defend your stance and the man of convictions is still walking ahead.
Let BJP say Harbari mein garbari or pessimists reject this as centralisation of education, Mr Minister I do hope that you will not get deterred by these reactions from non –starters.

Your proposals as HRD minister to make
Grade X exam optional in CBSE schools, Grades to replace marks , if possible from next year itself
And your long term goals of
One-board principle
Prevention of educational malpractices
An autonomous body to give accreditation to educational institutions, sounds good and feasible too!

As the Principal of a CBSE School I welcome your progressive measures in education as I can foresee many benefits in these few reforms.
Particularly the proposal to ‘No Board Exams in X’, I would like to talk about today. I shall share with you my opinions on your other proposals too each succeeding day.
At a time when the child is growing into a teenager and struggling to find his own identity, the pressures of exams don’t allow him to meet with himself. All he is told is that your identity is dependent on your percentage in the exam. Obviously he does it with a need to get attention from his society and not for assimilating the basic knowledge of science, math or social studies.
Of course the societal factors make it more meaningless by attaching more importance to gaining percentage through memorizing than understanding. So the purpose of sending a 15 year old out of the school with basic knowledge is not achieved.
All we send out is a child with under-baked knowledge and little applications skills.
Most of the adolescent problems of this age have no time for redressal either from the schools or home because they are considered insignificant in comparison to percentages. This results in coaching a frustrated teenager into a marks gaining machine.
Another problem I see is fear of math or science or for that matter social studies in some students. They have no choice but to like them and learn them well so that their overall percentage in the boards will fetch them a free seat or a concessional seat in an intermediate college or +2 school.
If the student is opting to pursue commerce or science without biology in + 2 program, why should he be penalised for not doing well in the same biology in Class X exam?
The purpose of a learning program up to Grade X is to provide basic knowledge of all subjects. The students are expected to find their own interest in some of these subjects according to their abilities and pursue them in +2 level. The purpose of a good learning program is served when the student opts to do the subject extensively in his + 2 program. By the age of 16, he is a little comfortable with himself and the world around him and he is ready to meet the challenges of academic rigor.
(Sadly neither psychology nor emotional dynamics are greatly considered in our country. I wonder why we have turned into such materialistic human beings with such illustrious spiritual wealth.)
Unfortunately we in India have compartmentalised it so much between arts, commerce or science that a students cannot opt for different combinations. Moreover someone who opts for Humanities or Commerce is looked down upon and the students of Science are the golden geese!
Well these golden geese are no scientists for sure but machines of memorising certain isolated facts because there is no time to learn the application part of it.
I as the Principal would feel glad to justify the basic learning program of school and ignite their imagination and instil scientific temper if I don’t have the target as Board exams. Although I have no major complaints with the existing system also as I have found my own ways of making it meaningful for my students.





Mr Minister , I wish you will have time to read what I do to justify the existing system.

As the Principal of a CBSE school with the first batch of class 10 (Class of 2009) having done very well in their boards I am sailing in that boat ecstasy . I am ecstatic because I have not pressurized my students nor have I allowed the teachers to give exam anxiety to students. Consciously and collectively we in the school woke them up to the idea that whatever they do or don’t do, will affect them.
In their orientation to Class X, the only caution we gave was on proving their academic excellence of nearly 11 months course in 3 hrs time that too they will be corrected by a stranger and not a teacher who loves them for their + or – points.
One or two months later I got to know that they were feeling the pressure of being the first Board batch of the school and they have to create a record. I dispelled the fears and demystified their anxiety. I had to re assure them saying that the school does not believe in taking glory out of their results and the school’s image certainly does not most certainly depend on their performance.
We carved our own image in the community and we have no need to depend on our students’ board results for our existence.
I made sure that I repeated this in assemblies and PTMs so that parents, students and teachers get the message clearly.
That has reduced the first stress point from the school or teachers.
We counselled the parents with some success which countered the second stress point.
And finally the students were explained in many terms, that what they are doing is measuring their own learning abilities in an exam, whether school exam or a board exam. The word Board is consciously not used.
Its just another exam they will write and the only difference is that they will be writing it in another school and a stranger (but a teacher) will be correcting them..
We largely depend on their conscience and wake them up to a self-assessor’s role and we make them say that ‘ you are writing an exam to know how much you know’.
With all this we managed to replace the word competition with excellence. I believe that there is a need in everyone to excel and that need has to be nurtured .Excellence is for personal satisfaction and competition is for public approval.
For a student who is groomed with the need to excel in everything he does, whether sports or academics there is no stress factor but a pleasure factor.
I neither gave printed notes to them nor have I grilled them through extra classes. All we managed to do is, excite their imagination and create a need for excellence. And I am proud of my students who are enjoying the fruits of their excellence.
I sign off for today Mr Minister, but be rest assured that I shall keep giving you my feedback on all your measures .

Wishing you all the best in your progressive endeavours

Seetha Murty
Principal
Silver Oaks
A Leadership School









Episode punch:
Of course there are many pessimists who can say’ easier said than done’
But the optimist in me always says...’It is easy to say and easy to do too’

All I want to work on is
Counsel: Parents who face more peer pressure than students
Well inform: Ill- informed parents
Change: Indian psychology of overplaying everything
Redefine : Education as the refinement of an individual and certainly not the ability to reproduce in exams.
Reduce the influence of : Publicity campaigns of (so called) educational institutions that rave about percentages on gullible parents
Enlighten parents on: Aggressive campaigns about the importance of percentages by vested groups
Reduce: Unnecessary hype on the word percentages resulting in stress on students.


also I understand certain words in a different light.
Rat race... rat race is for rats..not for conscientious people who are empowered by their own self-worth.
Competition.. is for reproducing the mugged up facts and public approval.
Percentage: quantitative measurement of performance in exams..not qualitative proof of one's knowledge.

38 comments:

srinivasa rao kondamuri said...

Dear Madam,
Your Open Letter to Central HRD Minister Mr.Kapil Sibal enlightened us about the planned reforms in Education and usual mixed response from different quarters. You have also touched upon several important points with passion and wisdom. It is nauseating to watch TV advertisements of so called corporate schools/educational factories ,virtually quarrelling about "ranks" and "percentages". Both Students and Parents are constantly undergoing "Stress"

Hope under your tutelage, we can see future leaders in students and Parents live with"pleasure factors".

RISHI R said...

AWESOME blog mam. I liked it very much. the letter was also very nice. Than q mam for creating such a nice blog.

sailaja vittaldev said...

hie akka,
i have just explored your blog it is wonderful. It is just mind blowing especially the one which is dated on june21st. It is very true that these small things which don't matter to many people.

Am just wondering that in which way the recent educational policy is going to help the children and the parents? Well Am yet to understand it. But when i read your letter which is addressed to Mr. Minister is very explanatory on this issue. I used to wonder as a parent that will there be any educational system which will not stress the child and the parent may be here is a beginning....
Iam sure that this policy will see a definite change in the entire education system.
One more thing I want to express is that we should cultivate a little bit of spiritual practice among the children so that it will give them inner strength to be a stress free or tension free persons.

hats off to you for your keen observation.... (about the people)

here iam signing off
waiting for your next episode punch.....
bye
sailaja vittaldev

Ishaani Sharma said...

I completely agree with you on this point maam.I, as a student of tenth grade myself feel that coming into tenth is all about boards, percentage and pressure for everyone. It’s not taken as another step towards learning, another step towards enhancing your learning and personal skills but to get to the merit….some way or the other. Well, I don’t say that there should be no examinations, yes…there should be examinations, they are necessary but why such a hype about it??... Why can’t it be just like another final exam we give every year??...Besides how can someone judge a student’s 10 years of learning in just three hours??....(mind you, but these three hours are the hours when the student is under immense pressure) and on top of it, it becomes the deciding criteria for every students career!!!... It’s extremely heart-rending to know that students, barely fifteen years commit suicide due to low marks or failure in board examinations, thanks to the fear of humiliation and to be looked down upon. Not only the students but the parents are also put under immense pressure and trauma. Also the teachers who correct the board papers have no idea about the student’s capabilities. All they see is the answer on the paper written by some student under a lot of tension and pressure. As some wise gentleman once said “…for once when the great scorer comes, to mark against your name, he sees not that you won or lost but how you played the game…”..And 'the game' here has a major role to play in each and every tenth graders life. I think it’s high time we reform our education system and make tenth more of a learning experience rather than testing the student’s rote capabilities.
When it comes to me…I would prefer if we have no boards, but if our government does not decide take that decision…personally it would not effect me as much…thanks to the inside-out approach of my school and the wonderful and supportive team @ Silver Oaks.

your Manager Admissions said...

I wish the minister would vist our school and see the way we approach our students and the confidence levels in them.If he succeeds in his attempt to make the X Board exam optional and One single board for the entire country the study life of the students in our country will be on a roller coaster ride. The perspective of studies in the mind sets of the students will be different, they just don't study for the marks or percentages.They learn to apply in their daily life as our students are already doing.
As a manager for admissions I in my small world am trying to educate the paretns about the changing educational system in India and mostly in our school (mostly NRIs who think that the education system in India is measured only with marks).
-Jaya Lakshmi

Yohith said...

I think v had a healthy debate on dis issue. Although i stood on no board xams side I still support 4 xams,b'coz a student 2 get an admission in a different school needs a percentage certificate from the board as the school may not actually accept the certificate of his school.
But wat u wrote here may also be right. A student’s talents & knowledge cannot b judged in an 100 marks paper & 3hrs xams.

Basically a below average or an average student may suffer parental pressure, like many of the parents say if u study like dis I doubt if ur goin to pass
10th grade.


According to me board xams are not the end of the world. But many students take it like a death xam may be dis write up will change dem.

"In our school nobody fears about xams as we play the match(write xams)to know how much we know.If we get 80% in our school xams der is only 20% v need to learn".Dis is the way u told us rit.

So all the parents & tchers visiting dis blog n reding dis comment."Tell all ur children d same thing".

Aniruddha said...

The new facet of the 10th standard examination brought into limelite is welcome.

May the thought persist and reach the implementation.

With such a strong wind of change reforms in the education system and making the class 10 exam optional will really relieve many students from the pressure to perform and nearly double the no. of parents will be relieved from the pressure they face from the society.

Really it is a welcome move and welcome it with both hands open.

Let winds gain speed and sail the reforms boat into the New World of education.

Lot of thought churning had been already done and some reforms suggested by honourable minister find roots in the reforms suggested by the Domal committee and the other NFC/NCERT recommendations.

The student should be given a choice to chose the majors he likes. sometimes as you rightely pointed the 15 year young adult may not be able to make the immediate choice or may wish to change it after few months of exposure to the subject he opted as major.

Here he should be given a choice to change majors within one year.

At the same time we should not overlook the subjects which demand many skills and many subjects study. For example, a molecular biologist must know organic chemistry, biochemistry, algebra and calculus. similarly a a pharmacologist must know neurobiology, biochemistry, human physiology, and quantitative analysis.

So the option is the best choice for standard X exams.

Aniruddha

Ranga Suman Kondamuri said...

Nowadays ,Young minds are grappling with several pressures apart from the hyped academic competition. The proposed educational reforms like unified Board and Grade System etc go a long way in correcting several maladies explained in your post. It is the cherished wish of many parents like me to see good schools like Silver Oaks under your guidance inculcate sense of belongingness , instilling leadership qualities in students and let young acorns embellished with three "C"s of Clarity, Creativity and Confidence bring laurels to our nation.

Unknown said...

Ma'am I totally agree with you as I too believe that examination is not a yardstick to measure a child's knowledge. Each child is unique in his/her own way.
A child can prove himself/herself when the knowledge gained is rightly blended with his/her natural skills. Only when a student learns with pleasure and works towards his/her satisfaction, he can prove himself and carve a niche for himself in the society and become a legend.
Parents need to realize that their children are also human beings, they too have their own feelings, desires, expectations, interests and ambitions. Parents need to understand and identify their children's ambitions and accordingly facilitate for its fulfillment instead of joining the rat race.
Most, if not all, the ills of our societies arise from people who go against the value systems that they have learnt in their childhood, for reasons of greed, necessity or even perceived lack of choice. I hope (am sure) that the X board exams would be eliminated in the near future and the grading system would be introduced to releve the students of learning under pressure.
At the end of schooling, all that a student wants is to know himself. Getting the students to know themselves, is exciting and at the same time exacting.
Kudos for your blog......
Uma

Ravi Prasad said...

The ideas expressed by you are extremely correct. In my teaching experience, I have seen several students who hate mathematics and for them no other go but to learn(is it callled learning?) mathematics and appear for the board exam. Without that learning there is no academic mile stone crossed. Similarly I have seen many students who dislike social studies ... If you can really see into the hearts of students there are many, who dislike one or the other subject but forced to learn because of the board exam. Students enjoy learning a particular subject only when they like it. "Learning the subject because he/she likes it" and "forced to like the subject because of board exam ", you can make out the difference.

nghn said...

yjku

abighna said...

hi maam.this topic is really informative.it speaks abt the study system in our state.a student of 15yrs is stressed from morning 7 to evening 7 like a machine,atleast there is rest for the machine when it is repaired.but wat abt a student?i say there is no rest for a student.neither he has entertainment nor relaxation for some time.but i am proud to study in silver oaks cuz it is a school which is really a school.i say this cuz there are schools in ur state only run for marks and percentage.a student in these schools lack leadership qualities and many more but i bet a student of silver oaks has good text knowledge and aslo leadership qualities.i am proud to study in silver oaks.thank u maam for making ur school an examplefor many other cooperate schools

Anonymous said...

I am a student of Ms.Seetha Murthy.She really is a great principle ever seen.And i do agree with her opinion of writing an exam for knowing our own talents and not for showing off.I am really proud of saying that i am a student of Ms Seetha Murthy.
Mam,Thankyou very much

Unknown said...

the idea of creating the blog is superb.we th budgerigars of yours will surely continue the silveroaks spirit

Unknown said...

the idea of creating a blog is superb.we the budgerigars of yours will surely keep up the spirit of silveroaks

sonal said...

hi mam
i totally agree with u and i m always gonna b there with u it is quite strange that even i have seen some parents tellin thier kids that "there is a very strong competition u have to do it!" etc
the children get stressed a lot and sometimes are not able to get best results even after hours of studies!

this is what some children face
i hope u r successful in what u wanna do

Hemant Kancharla said...

Ma'am, its Hemant again.
Your letter to HRD minister really shows your heart, mind and ambitions.
I truely am really proud to have the best principal in the world with me.

Wishing you good luck and health,
Yours respectfully,
K. Hemant
X A

AMRUTHA said...

I read ur blog. It shows how dynamic u r. The way u presented ur blog shows that ur the real artist in the art of living.U passed ur ideas about how a teenager feels in his board exams.And i say u r the one who understands people well.

YOUR SINCERELY,
AMRUTHA.

padma said...

Dear Madam
This is really a good topic about the parents and the students. both should understand about the reason of doing things. the parent should know the interest about the child and should give importance about the views and ideas about his or her child, should not give pressure on the child for the friends or relatives. if that change comes in the parents community this type of problems will not be there.The students should have the confidence in what they are doing then they will definitely not have exam fear. The children in silver Oaks are lucky ,what ever they learn they apply in their life . they are very confident to attend any type of competitive exam and can address any gatherings.The parents should also know that they are grooming the future citizens of INDIA.

Unknown said...

Hello Sita,
First and foremost please accept my congratulations for creating this technological virtue called "blog". I knew you had that special something in which made you stand out from the rest.... and now i am confirmed. I am glad i could forsee the 'spark', the 'genious', the sensitive yet rock solid persona in you , the moment i met you.
Please keep it that way forever!!
Coming on to the topic on "scrapping off X Board exams".... I have a gush of reactions.Dont know where to begin from.
Scrapping exams is fine but it has to be substituted with an alternative? ( I wonder whether Mr.Minister has not put his foot in the mouth too soon).
In my opinion semester system , the one of "open book" research pedagogy could be the best answer. why do kids have to "mug up" answers over and over again??? I can understand once (in whichever mode it may be called) but why traumatise them by repeating the portions once,twice or thrice over and over again?
Wouldnt it suffice if whatever little they are taught ,they are assessed? and then next slot and next.....
Or as the 'open book" methodology goes, frame questions (involving Higher or HIGEST order of thinking skills) and place a whole lot of bibliography and reference materials before them and have them answer it. Not only will they understand what to answer but also how to refer the 'reference'.
And all this at their own time frame. So practically no "one single" day of exam but it could be spread out and flexible.
This could be both at X and XII levels. Then there should be a bridge built between schools and professional colleges where the intake could also be in a similar manner.
Tall order though!!!! but seriously Mr. Minister could give it a thought!
Not only would it instil a "rationale " behind the learning but also produce a generation of learners who would be more grounded, basic, down to earth and responsible.
The % system (the marks) has crossed all limits. Imagine 98%marks or for that matter 88%(considered as low). where are we heading to ? In a few years time if this pattern continues then its going to cross the 100% threshold!
In our days, 60% was considered a great achievement. How valuable it felt!
But one most important aspect cannot be ignored in the bigger perspective. Our Teachers. Are they ready to impart knowledge in a manner in which they have not recieved it? What with the outdated, antiqued "teacher traing programe- the B.Ed?
So to conclude , it brings us back to the mainframe question.... Are we ready for the change? tough question but nothing is IMPOSSIBLE.

Warm regards,
Anjali Razdan.
Principal,Jubilee Hills Public School, Hyderabad.

Lakshmi Rao said...

Dear Mrs. Seeta Murthy,

your letter to HRD Minister is excellent.I second your opinion regarding the pressure the Board exams are creating in the minds of the Parents as well as the students. I feel the examinations as they are today should not not be the yard sticks to assess the intelleft of any child at all because various factors influence the performance during the summative tests and I am dead against judging a child based on one particular day's performance. As you rightly said a child need not have to be penalized for his/her bad performance in one particular subject instead the students can be given various options from Grade VIII onwards as it happens in IGCSE.
Congratulations for taking an initiative to bring this issue before HRD minister. Looking forward for more from your blog.

Ashok said...

Your points are well takem. It is heartening to know that you applaud the efforts of the HRD ministry and are not affected by charges of centralisation of education. However the point is that for subjects like sciences it is ok to have a common curriculum across the nation . But can we do it for the social sciences ? Especially subjects like history ? If the single board will be run from Delhi ( as surely it will be) ,the curriculum will be Delhi centred. They will teach you about the Delhi sultanate but nothing about the Vijayanagara empire. I can guarantee this. Is this desirable ? I think not. People must have their local pride and must be able to connect with local history and events.
You will do well to remember that India is unity in diversity. Though the need for unity cannot be overemphasised, there is need to provide some space to diversity also.
So I cannot second your unqualfied adulation for Sibal Kapil but certainly do agree that there must be uniformity in curriculum across the nation, wherever possible.
Another point. A single board, will be a kind of monopoly. And monopolies are not desirable. so why dont we have two or three national boards ? To manage the students of the nation with one single board will also be adminstratively very burdensome.

Thank You

Seetha Murty said...

Mr Ashok
I wud like to draw your atttention to my article once again. I am yet to talk about centralisation or curricular changes or for that matter a single board.
I intend to talk about the proposals one after the other. So far I expressed my opinion only on the Board Exams in Class X.I will surely answer all the concerns you have regarding the curriculum,centralisation and the administrative inconvenience a country of our size may have, if we go for one-board system.
I hope to write about them by tomorrow.
I am glad that you have gone thru my blog and responded .
Thanks.

Revathi said...

Hello ma'm,
Once again superb!
I too would like to add on my views and ideas.
As a tenth grade student I always felt that i was really very tensed in the first stage when everybody has got very high hopes from me.
i thought they are being very silly on putting me into such pressure. The immense pressure and trauma faced by me in the first few days was really very terrible. I spent many days in dark only to find that tenth boards are a cakewalk if we learn what is supposed to be learnt. And now to replace this system with grading or making it optiional is also like stressing the students in some or the other way.
for example, a student who takes up the boards are under pressure by those who don't and those who don't by their parents comparing them to their friends. and the grading system.. you won't be knowing the difference betwee a student getting 96% and the one getting 98% as they fall in the came category of grade. what has been done to destrees students is again putting them into pressure. So what i conclude is that it is good to have boards to know where we stand in the national level thereby increasing the copetition level.
But what i want the change is that the board papers be corrected by our respective school teachers rather than externals
I wish the winds of change blow sooner.

Vamshi Krishna - vamshkrishaqua@gmail.com said...

Hello Ma'am!
You have chosen a debatable topic.
In my opinion, I partially agree for board exams (sorry to contradict your opinion but perceptions vary). It maybe a better point to make the exams optional and to be left up to the students to appear for the exam or not. We cannot predict how the situation would be in the future. According tho the present scenario, if it is the student's option to appear for the exam or not by gauging his/her own abilities and interests, it may reduce the stress on the student to a large extent. Else writing the exam and failing in it may take the student into depression or trauma. Hence, leaving the exam as a choice to the student is a much better option rather than just scrapping it.
Hope this "EDUCATION REVOLUTION" will bring a positive change in the mindsets of people who are directly or indirectly connected to it. And also bring a change in the examination pattern with feasibility.
Eagerly looking forward for more articles on your blog.....
Yours respectfully
Vamshi Krishna.G
Grade IX
Silver Oaks

Unknown said...

WONDERFUL blog mam.

the idea of creating it is superb.

this is something that every individual have to know

jayaprada said...

PEOPLE WHO MAKE THINGS HAPPEN !!! Hats off to your Responsible Risk taking ! The Revolution or the change you want to bring in the Educationa system and Human mindset is amazing n awakening for every one.Change is always critisized, later on accepted. Evolution theory proposed by Darwin was critisized and condemned by the religious heads and others. He was also threatned by the Pope for breaking the religious beliefs.when Darwin died Pope wanted to see how god is going to punish him.Pope got a dream in which he was given a ticket to visit hell. He passed 6 stages where people were tarmented. when he reached the 7 station gloomy and melencholy place was very pleasant and souls were happy. When Pope asked Darwin how this change happen? Darwin narrated that any thing depends upon our perspective and action. This brought revolutionary change in the mind sets of the souls which brought a new life in them. gloomiest place turned into pleasant place.instead of adjusting with the exsisting system I feel better be a part of change which serves the society with meaningful life.Thats true! I completely agree with you..... Identity with percentages, memorising than understanding basics, adolesecent problems all these making student frustated and advertisements of so called corporate school/educational factories not giving chance to think. with this parents and students are undergoing stress.to overcome that every one if they raise their conscience and self assessors it will be a pleasure factor to every one.regarding X board exams I completly agree with you. in this connection my support n cooperation always will be with you.so parents always Awake! Arise! Alert!

Seetharam said...

I completely agree with you maam. I, as a tenth grader myself am seeing how life takes a drastic turn in tenth, Students find it to cope up with new demands or cumplusions of tenth( not being to play games, not being allowed participate in competetions. Both of which seem to be the very thing they are intrested in!). All that matters to the world is marks n percentages not what a student has understood in his 10 yrs of schooling. People should start to understand life dosent end at getting 1st, 2nd or 3rd ranks in examinations. They should see 10th exams as just an other final exams and nothing more. Life dosent end at tenth class, does it?.Students should not be over-burdened to study to an extent that they have to do nightouts! But, alas no one seems to understand the very motive behind schooling and mainly examinations.
I WOULD LIKE TO HIGHLIGHT THAT A 3 hrs EXAM CANT JUDGE STUDENTS AND THEIR CAPACITIES!

THANKS 4 WRITING A SUPERB 'N' ENLIGHTING BLOG.


But when it comes to me I dont have to worry about all this all thanks to inside-out aproach of our school.The final decision wouldn't effect me because we have a very supportive and caring teachers in OUR TEAM@ SILVER OAKS

Seetha Murty said...

Mr Ashok
I found a litlle time to respond to your comments of y'day.
let me see if I can do justice.

Ur point...not affected by charges of centralisation of education.

my point....centralisation will help in identifying the national goals on educational policy.presently each state is having its own antiquated ideas with its own set of outdated advisers. SCERT is yet to catch up with the contemporary needs of education.


ur point:...Especially subjects like history ? If the single board will be run from Delhi ( as surely it will be) ,the curriculum will be Delhi centred. They will teach you about the Delhi sultanate but nothing about the Vijayanagara empire

my point: even in karnataka state syllabus they are not teaching vijayanagar glory ..forget about andhra.the little knowhow they are getting is through the telugu prose and poetry only.

moreover learning about delhi sultanate or vijayanagar empire should be left for heritage as a hobby but compulsory subject and not make it as an exam oriented topic.
curriculum from delhi is the only one that is udated year after year and thanks to that cbse students are learning why french revolution we learn even today...as the begining of human rights...the same thing in state syllabus is taught to rememmber the mundane dates insignificant events. facts are important...enduring understandings...zero.

by the way the SCERT is yet to update the textbooks 'coz the text books I used in my class X ,32 years ago, are the ones my students use even now.
need I say more?
I can talk about the curricular priorities endlessly.


Ur point;;;;
People must have their local pride and must be able to connect with local history and events.
You will do well to remember that India is unity in diversity. Though the need for unity cannot be overemphasised, there is need to provide some space to diversity also.

my point;;;
it is this local pride that is making people alienate themselves and ask for separation or alienation.I dont think I can agree with you on this.


ur point:
A single board, will be a kind of monopoly. And monopolies are not desirable. so why dont we have two or three national boards ? To manage the students of the nation with one single board will also be adminstratively very burdensome.

my point:
I agree that a single board will be a monopoly. Have you seen the monopoly of the state boards? do you think they are doing any justice?
Schools here are more factories than educational institutions.They allowed so called corporate schools to commercialise education to such extent that its no longer education...its literacy...the ability to reproduce mugged up facts including math in board exams.

Keeping in mind that rural areas, semi-urban and urban areas need different curricular priorities, a national board may have 3-tier system. administrative convenience?/?where there is a will there is a way.




I hope to continue this healthy debate.
thanks

Rebellia said...

Hi Amakka!

This is truly the best educational debate I've ever come across! It is high time the government decides on banning those std X exams, which are clearly of no use to any students! Young minds put under solid work and sometimes under the pressure of depression! As a student I understand the pressures mounting on the young tenth grade student, upon whom high hopes, expectations and many other anxieties are mounted by their parents, peers, family. It will indeed by a wise move to remove the tenth grade board exams. Students can decide on mature grounds regarding what course to take up after their tenth grade, without having to regret in the future. I hope the minister looks into this matter and does the very needful. It will save a lot of young minds from going into depression. :-)

Will keep updating.
-- Shreya..

Yohith said...

I myself as a tenth grader am udergoin a lot of pressure from parents,teachers or even frm my side.I'm made 2 think that 10th is nothin but percentage, marks etc.
People dont think it as a way to improve our knowledge,it is a way to learn more.Some way or the other they relate it to marks percentage and the end result is "pressure".
But something important in this board exam is it becomes the criteria for deciding our career.It is heart rending to know that many students commit suicide b'coz of low marks.Why do they take it(board exams) as the end of the world.The teachers who are alotted with the correction of the papers do not know the inner talents and skills the student posses.They just see the answers and its content and does it match with the answer the examiner know.

It's better to make 10th a learning class rather than a class were they test rote capabilities.

there is a famous saying that do ot "judge a book by its cover",a student should not be judged by his roted answer.

I feel not having board is better as it reduces pressure and trauma the particular student faces.

Shweta Reddy said...

hello maam

i feel it was very thoughtful and considerate of you to discuss this at the beginning of the academic year.even i used to have a tiny bit of fear in me in Jan. but as days passed the fear in me vanished into thin air.as you have always told us exams are not exams but assessments "to know how much we know".
i think exams for tenth are really very essential as they decide the future of a student.

sheshan said...

The point of do away with class x exam is the centre of lot of debate and confusion.

What Kapil Sibbal has said need to be understood clearly and weighed in respect to the after-effects it will have.

As a principle of school are we not checking the students marks or grades when he comes for admission?


Are they not checking the class x marks for admissions in intermediate grades?

The whole education system is run on the basis of marks or grades obtained and we fuell it further by adding awards, scholarships and luring the top performers with fat salarties in the campus interviews.

Just by cancelling one board exam the goal of having a better society to live for, better talents to work for and better satisfaction to strive for will not be achieved.

At one place said,
"All he is told is that your identity is dependent on your percentage in the exam. Obviously he does it with a need to get attention from his society and not for assimilating the basic knowledge of science, math or social studies.
Of course the societal factors make it more meaningless by attaching more importance to gaining percentage through memorizing than understanding. So the purpose of sending a 15 year old out of the school with basic knowledge is not achieved."

Yes exactly this is what is happening around and every student has to run through this rat-maze and winner is selected for the more rewards and more comforts. No need to blame the parents. They do not have enough money to pay for the donations or the fat fees of the private and commercial colleges. They were deprived or could not achieve their dream because of the poor resources and facing day in and day out other members of the society who do not have the skills still got educated and earn better.

Darwin was right when he said "survival of the fittest".

I welcome the move and hope it spreads further and other changes are also taken care.

Otherwise what is happening today to the 15 year old boy when he is thrown into open with no supports during and after class 10 exam will happen to him when he is 17 years and appears for the class xii exams.


The medicine needs to address the drawbacks in curreent system. All efforts to change the education system are supported and welcome.

The way giving free food to poor is not the answer to the issue of poverty,doing away with exam will not solve the problem og marks oriented education.

Thinking to take new directions. Why we need education and educated people?

Sheshan

ravali said...

hi ma'am its ravali again
once again hats off to your blog ma'am.. the way u r trying to convey the message to all parents and few of your friends is really awesome...
when i passed out from class nine i had a fear in mind that i came to 10th, its very tough and every one will come to my marks... but day by day the fear got reduced as in our school u make all of us say that the main purpose of exams is to know how much we know. i feel that these exams are necessary for the brighten future of students.and this is the first challenge we teenagers face in this age.. this is the first step toward success. and if we think about the students who are committing suicide then i feel that these are really mad students as the do not know the value of life, they should know that life does not come to end if they get less marks in 10th.'marks are not life. 'there are many more things which are to be achieved other than marks..'we must enjoy life to the fullest as it is the best gift of life..
thank you ma'am for creating a wonderful blog..

hunter said...

u have posted something very true again mam.as a student i really feel itz a fact.what ever u have posted is what every student faces.2 mch of pressure from the society,parentz.itz really difficult to manage the pressure infact there are students who just put their handz on their headz n bang their head hard listening to what is adviced to them. parents now a days force their children to choose MPC or BiPC or sciences in their +2 or intermediate.the child is not allowed to opt MEC or HEC or CEC although intrested in it.
and now that IIT has become a dream in every student who opt sciences, parents introduce these thoughtz into their childrenz minds.n coz of this the children donot choose their fav option for their parents happiness.
n yea the board exams thing, mam u rock.....
mam u reminded 1ce again that u are my principal mam. :-)...........

Unknown said...

mam,it is awesome.This blog can be seen by parents for changing the children.
By vamsi and nithish of grade 7b
thank you mam.

nithish said...

mam,your blog is so informative and it helps parents and others outsiders to know more about our school.
By Nithish

vamsi said...

mam, your blog is awesome.It is informative and it helps parents to know more about our 7 habits practised in the school.
By vamsi