CENTRAL BOARD OF SECONDARY EDUCATION (CBSE) NEW DELHI R.Venkata Ramanan

CENTRAL BOARD OF SECONDARY EDUCATION (CBSE)

NEW DELHI

R.Venkata Ramanan

ORIGIN

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is autonomous organization under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Human Resources Development, Government of India. It is controlled and supervised by the Secretary (School Education & Literacy) , Ministry of Human Resources and Development, Government of India. It was constituted in 1952 and then its constitution was amended  in 1962. CBSE envisages,” to serve the educational institutions more effectively, to be responsive to the educational needs of those students whose parents were employed in the Central Government and had frequently transferable jobs”.

HISTRICAL BACKGROUND

The first educational board that was set up in India perhaps was the U.P Board of High School and Intermediate Education in 1921, and had its jurisdiction on erstwhile Rajaputana, Central India and Gwalior. In 1929 it was extended to include Ajmere and Mewar. The board saw a great response in terms of growth in Secondary education. In the mean time Independence movement, followed by war and subsequent independence has given a great impetus to the political division on India. The idea of UNIVERSITIES and STATE EDUCATIONAL BOARDS came in.In 1952 the Jurisdiction of the board was extended to other parts of India and the name Central Board of Secondary Education came into existence. In 1962  the constitution of the board was amended and CBSE came into existence with the objective as cited above.

CURRENT STATUS OF JURISDICTION

The CBSE along with the other integral part of the Ministry of HRD, Govt. of India, such as NCERT , Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KV) , have swept the whole country and abroad. Some of the state boards such as the erstwhile Delhi Board of Secondary Education have merged with the CBSE. All the Union territories have adopted NCERT syllabus and are affiliated to CBSE. All the schools of India ,  in the Union Territory of Chandigarh. Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, the state of Sikkim, and now Jharkhand, Uttaranchal and Chhattisgarh  are affiliated  with the CBSE. Starting with 369 affiliated schools in 1962 , CBSE has more than 15800 affiliated  schools in 23 countries, including Kendriya Vidyalayas, aided schools, Sainik Schools , Military Schools and other organizational schools and private schools.

REGIONAL DECENTRALISATION

In order to facilitate Administration, affiliation and the Conduct of Examinations, the CBSE has opened REGIONAL OFFICES at several locations across the country such as Ajmeer, Allahabad, , Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Dehradun, Delhi, Guwahati, Panchkula, Patna and Thirurvanthapurm. The schools outside India are controlled by the regional office at Delhi.

ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE

The administrative set up consists of a Chairman, who is usually an academician of National repute. He is assisted by eight administrators and academicians to discharge his duties effectively. On the whole the board come under the control of the of the Secretary( School Education & Literacy) , Ministry of Human Resources, Government of India.

VISION STATEMENT OF CBSE

“The CBSE envisions a robust, vibrant and holistic school education that will engender excellence in every sphere of human endeavour. The Board is committed to provide quality education to promote intellectual, social and cultural vivacity among it’s learners. It works toward evolving a learning process and environment, which empowers the future citizens to become global leader in the emerging knowledge society. The Board advocates Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation with an emphasis on holistic development of learners. The Board commits itself to provide a stress-free learning environment that will develop competent, confident and enterprising citizens who will promote harmony and peace.”

ACADEMIC VISION OF CBSE

The academic wing of CBSE , along with its team and with the help of the heads of school affiliated to it aims to achieve the following objectives:

”

i.                    To define appropriate approaches of academic activities to provide stress free, child centered and holistic education to all children without compromising on quality ii. To analyse and monitor the quality of academic activities by collecting the feedback from different stakeholders iii. To develop norms for implementation of various academic activities including quality issues; to control and coordinate the implementation of various academic and training programmes of the Board; to organize academic activities and to supervise other agencies involved in the process iv. To adapt and innovate methods to achieve academic excellence in conformity with psychological, pedagogical and social principles. v. To encourage schools to document the progress of students in a teacher and student friendly way vi. To propose plans to achieve quality benchmarks in school education consistent with the National goals vii. To organize various capacity building and empowerment programmes to update the professional competency of teachers.”

1. The CBSE is an affiliating body, that affiliates schools that are under government, Kendriya vidyalays, Saimik Schools , Jawahar Navopdaya Vidyalays , and other private educational societies.

The schools seeking affiliation should either be recognized by State governments or Union territories and should have a NO OBJECTION CERTIFICATE FROM THE STATE/UT for affiliation to CBSE in the name of that school.

Usually the CBSE approves middle class syllabus at class VIII stage (Classes I to VIII) and grants composite affiliation from class IX and X. Schools are expected to file application for affiliation when the school reaches  class VII. The syllabus followed for all practical purposes should comply with that of NCERT/KV.

Parents seeking admission may verify this class as a precautionary measure before seeking admission. The status of affiliation could be verified from CBSE offices or CBSE schools directory in the internet site.

2. The CBSE is an EXAMINATION body that conducts the following examinations.

a.    All India/ Delhi Board Secondary School  Examination. (AISSE)

b.    All India/Delhi Board Senior Secondary school  Certificate Examination (AISSCE)

c.    All India Pre-medical/ Pre-Dental Entrance Examination) ,; Preliminary and final.

d.   All India Engineering/Architecture Examination

AFFILIATION

The school seeking affiliation usually should seek affiliation when it reaches VIII class stage , for approval of syllabus up to class VII and Comprehensive affiliation to classes  IX and X and make the school eligible to send students to AISSE examination from the academic year the students reach Class X.

At the time of affiliation either the school must be and /or possess a NO OBJECTION CERTIFICATE for affiliation to CBSE from the state/UT government.

Parents seeking admission may verify the claims of a school regarding the status of affiliation. If the school has only VIII class and below, it may not have any recognition and the transfer certificate may not be accepted by other good schools.

ADMISSION

The admissions to CBSE schools are offered by the respective schools. As a rule ,

“A student seeking admission to any class in a 'School' will be eligible for admission to thatClass only if he :

(i)          has been studying in a School recognised by or affiliated to this Board or any other recognized Board of Secondary Education in India;

(ii) has passed qualifying or equivalent qualifying examination making him eligible for admission to that Class;       

    (iii) satisfies the requirements of age limits (minimum and maximum) as determined by the State/U.T. Government and applicable to the place where the School is located;”

Though the CBSE stipulates that no capitation fee should be charged for admission, several school   do charge on different grounds, taking advantage of the anxiety of the parents to get their children educated.

“ PARENTS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT THE COST OF EDUCATION AT SCHOOL  LEVEL SHOULD BE MINIMUM AS WE MAY NOT HAVE CONTROL ON HIGHER EDUCATION COST”

Time spent on languages

Due to the Government of India’s  three language formula in education, which is implemented strictly in CBSE schools, the time spent on languages are more in CBSE schools. Thus reduces the time for essential subjects.

However CBSE offers exemption to the third language requirement under the following conditions,

“a. foreign nationals studying in schools affiliated to the Board;

(b) wards of Indian nationals admitted to class IX after a minimum of two years of stay abroad;

(c) students admitted to class IX from school affiliated to State Boards, where only two language formula is in vogue.

*(d)Blind students, those suffering from speech or hearing defects, Dyslexic and candidates with disabilities as defined in the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995.”

WHY CHOOSE CBSE STREAM? ADVANTAGE CBSE

ü  EASY Transfer of kids as there are a number of schools available with the same syllabus across the globe. The CBSE Board “ today has 15799 schools as on 15.09.2014 including 197 schools in 23 countries. There are 1078 KendriyaVidyalayas, 2482 Government/Aided Schools, 11443 Independent Schools, 585 Jawahar NovodayaVidyalayasand 14 Central Tibetan Schools.”

ü  The medium of instruction is English in most of the schools.

ü  The syllabus is prescribed by NCERT and moderated by CBSE, both under the Ministry Of HRD , Govt. of India.

ü  Though the board affiliates for classes IX and X, it protects the interest of students from Class I upwards.

ü  The syllabus and examinations are student focused.

ü  If a school has classes from 1 to 12, then a student shall be automatically promoted to class XI (subjected to their performance in class IX & X assessed by the school) and the student will TAKE ONLY ONE EXTERNAL EXAMINATION AT THE END OF CLASS XII.

ü  In case a parent wants to change school /board or want to take polytechnic/vocational courses, the student may take Class X, AISSE.

ü  CBSE affiliation is for all the Indian and foreign languages.  Hence CBSE will permit a student taking any language as SECOND LANGUAGE. If a school does not offer the language, the parent may opt for educating the child themselves or through tutors and submit their periodical assessment to the school. This provision is available , subjected to the willingness of the head of the institution.

ü  Students would have an opportunity to participate in games and sports at the National Level too.

ü  Continuous Comprehensive Assessment (CCE) and skill based assessments gives the student an edge over others and increases the knowledge base of the student.

ü  Being in metros and semi-metros, the CBSE schools have  definite geographical advantage . Student should be able to get ample facilities for extra coaching classes for competitive examinations.

ü  The Vocational education, Art Education and Physical and health education ensure a ‘HEALTHY MIND IN A HEALTHY NBODY’ and helps in reducing stress.

ü  Assessment system is so designed as to provide a stress free education in Academics.

ü    Transferable categories of parents would have less stress on admission.

ü  A number of school charge nominal fees and parents may take advantage of them.

ü  CBSE insists that the fee should be commensurate with facilties.

ü  Most CBSE schools start from KG and go up to class XII. Hence resident parents who put their wards in KG , may have a peace of mind from seeking repeated admissions. The student will study in the same culture for 14 years and with home advantage.

If the school provides boarding too , transferable category of parents may take advantage of it.

IN CONCLUSION

On the whole among the available streams of studies CBSE has definite advantage than others as it gives a stress free environment to both students and parents.

The syllabus is well suited for National Talent search Examinations, as well as Engineering, Agriculture, Law, Medical and other Entrance Examinations.

Parents and students must take advantage of the large no of subjects and languages available in order to focus on their higher education.

Being All India based, it draws recognition in India and abroad.

There is definitely a myth that States,”CBSE syllabus is tougher and higher than state board Syllabus”

CBSE syllabus is more of concept oriented and hence a lot of top gracing takes place without depth in a subject, unlike state boards.

The structure examination pattern and possible different level of moderation helps in passing the examination, though scoring high may be a challenge.

The most striking advantage is skipping class X external examination and takes only Class XII examination if studying in the same school.

ENJOY 14  LONG YEARS of STRESS FREE SCHOOLING AND ONE EXTERNAL EXAMINATION AT THE END OF CLASS XII IN CBSE.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN INDIA R. Venkata Ramanan

PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN INDIA

R. Venkata Ramanan

The Public Schools in India is a one of the gifts to India  Education By the Britishers when they enslaved India. Many schools in India were started as an Asylum for children of  British soldiers who died in action. As time went by they were upgraded to Military schools to augment their requirement of soldiers and after the second world war , they became Public Schools. These schools admitted Indian students after Independence.

Some schools were started  By the Royals of India for their family Children.

Hereunder a brief history of Public schools.

EARLY BRITISH SCHOOLS IN ENGLAND

The first PUBIC SCHOOL was setup in Winchester in 1387 AD. The school became poplar among the Rich in England. The success Of Winchester school ushered the starting of more school , the fore most among them being the one at ETON which was established by none other than King Henry the VI in 1441. When it started ETON was exclusively meant for King’s scholars. The school enjoys a covetous position even to day for producing the maximum number of Prime Ministers of England. Later similar schools were started at RUGBY in 1567, Harrow in 1571 and Chaterhouse in 1611. The first Prime Minister of Independent India received his early education at the public school at Harrow. At present there is a net work of Public Schools in England enjoying the patronage of the Rich and carving their own place in the Educational map of the world.

EARLY  PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN INDIA

When the British came to India , the idea of Public Schools for providing English Education to the children of their officers came into being. The first PUBLIC SCHOOL that was set up In INDIA was BISHOP COTTON SCHOOL, SIMLA n the year 1856.  . Similar schools were established at SANAWAR, LOVEDALE, DEHRA DUN and other places. As time went by the Maharajas and Rajas wanted English Education to their Princes and hence they started at Gwalior, Raipur , Jaipur, Patiala etc.

The Public Schools in India should not be confused with a spate of schools in different parts of our country and abroad which generously use the word PUBLIC in their names. The fact there is nothing public about them.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS are independent, private,  self financing schools mainly catering to the rich and affluent parent’s children ; secular in its character , imparting Secondary and higher secondary education. The factual PUBLIC SCHOOL belong to the select group of schools coming under the INDIAN PUBLIC SCHOOL CONFERENCE established in 1939. Many of them are completely residential . Some of them start from Class IV or Class V only. They  are governed by independent board of Governors and may not necessarily follow the guideline applicable to Grant in AID schools.  Recently many of the Government funded schools such as Military schools and Sainik schools have joined the conference and currently only 79 schools qualify to boast the label PUBLIC SCHOOL. There are Girls only as well as boys only and Coed schools among them. The board to which these schools are affiliated are the choice of the respective schools board’s. The IPSC Articles of Association clearly stares  its aim is , "To prepare students of ability for positions of service and responsibilities in all walks of National Life".

Even though  a large  member  IPSC schools now have a larger proportion  of day-boarders and day scholars  than boarders, they  in principle to offer autonomy of decision-making to their head of Institution, making it a PRINCIPAL CENTERED INSTITUTION.  Most school provide opportunities  for co-curricular, extra curricular , games and sports  facilities .They  have a  well formed PREFECTORIAL SYSTEM that provides  students a feeling of being a part of the school  in providing  education and nurtures LEADERSHIP Q UALITIES. Every effort is made to   develop qualities of leadership  and  initiative, responsibility, self discipline,  fellowship and team-spirit, of fair-play, and a desire to join the main stream with the spirit of PUBLIC SERVICE.

DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS

1. Majority of the IPSC Public Schools are RESIDENTIAL Schools , and limit the day scholars to staff children.
2. They give importance to English as medium of instruction and emphasize learning of English.
3. The Public schools tend to recruit well qualified staff.
4. Many schools do not start at Class 1. Rather some start at CLASS IV , some at CLASS V and Sainik school start at Class VI.
5. Public schools stress on Character building, discipline, leadership qualities, community living , self confidence etc. along with the regular curriculum of the board of affiliation. Some impart Military training as well.
6. They provide a platform to develop the latent potentials of a student under their care and provide an opportunity towards All round development.
7. The 24 hour schedule teaches them Time Management, self discipline, stay focused , independent at studies, accepting responsibilities and be an active participant in discussions rather than a passive student.
8. The Dormitory life helps to learn community living and ability to care for the needy.
9. Living in   the HOUSE SYSTEM with a HOUSE MASTER/HOUSE MISTRESS/ HOUSE PARENT helps in healthy interaction between the teacher and the taught.
10. The emphasis on Sport, Games and related extracurricular activities make them a team builder and develop team spirit.
11. Many schools have OUTWARD BOUND CAMPS instead of excursions, bringing students close to nature and teaches  independent living and comrade ship.
12.  Some offer schemes such as Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme which includes Community service as well.
13. Admission in most schools are through seniority of registration and qualifying examinations.
14. Government of India and State Governments offer scholarships for admission , boarding and tuition fee.

One of the pioneers in Public Schools SIR JOHN SARGENT, Education advisor to Government of India, in 1944, opines, “ The product of the public school may be limited in its intellectual range, narrow in its sympathies, arrogant in its assumptions; but at the same time it displays a capacity to set and abide by the standards of conduct and readiness to accept responsibility, qualities which must form an essential part of the equipments of any real public servant.”

LEARNING STRATEGIES FOR CREATIVITY R. VENKATA RAMANAN

LEARNING STRATEGIES FOR CREATIVITY

R. VENKATA RAMANAN

“If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those to imposters just the same: Yours is to earth and everything that is in it”  said Rudyard Kipling.

Here is a message from the humble NEEM TREE,

CREATION VS DESTRUCTION

Just a CRITICISM is a form of appreciation, DESTRUCTIVE mentality is a form of CREATIVITY.

Most people who are creative have achieved the intangible through their hard work and determination to give at leat one invention or discovery to their human kind. It is the responsibility of future generations to use these discovery or invention for constructive purpose and not for destruction.

HOW PEOPLE ACHIEVED THEIR CREATIONS?

Nature is full of ideas. They are every where around us. Some people observed nature keenly and assimilated the ideas from nature and used them to create and invent things to make our lives easy.Let us see some of the NATURAL EVENTS THAT LED TO INNOVATION AND DISCOVERY:

1.   The shifting of shaddow of a vertical object as time and SUN advances in a day, led to the invention of SUN DIAL. Later observing tides and flow of water led to HOUR GLASS ; when water was replaced by fine sand SAND CLOCKS came. As time passed metallurgy and, wheels and gears led to the discovery of ANALOGUE CLOCKS.

2.   Natural medical physicians as well as ordinary folks have been using the extracts of the BATKS of WILLOW TREE ; that from WINTER GREEN PLANT (Gaultheria fragmentissima) and MEADOW SWEET to releive pain.All these plants contain Salicylic acid or their esters and were used for a long time as anti inflammatory and for pain killing. The meadowsweet had its old name as Spiraea ulmaria. ; the famous ASPIRIN or Acetyl salicylic acid owes its name to this plant.

3.   Apple was falling ever since evolution brought it to its existence. It helped NEWTON through his acute Observation and inquiry to propose the THEORY OF GRAVITATION.

4.   George de Mestral’s keen observation of naturally dispersed seed through animals ; led to the invention of HOOP and LOOP FASTENERS . Seeds that cling on to animals as they moved to be dispersed elsewhere helped him.

Innumerable such instances can be quoted from the WESTERN DISCOVERY.

When the west was busy in discovering tangible ways for making human life easy, the EAST was busy in analyzing nature and resorted to STORY TELLING  in bringing out INTANGIBLE KNOWLEDGE.

a.    VALMIKI who wrote RMAYANA describes of HANUMAN going in the OUTER ATMOSPHERE to catch the SUN AS A BALL OF FIRE . much before COPPERNICUS was born.

b.    The sages of India  described SUKRA , one of the Nine planets as a one eyed guru of Asuras, describing the that it is not possible to see the full circular disc of VENUS , as it was always a crescent , being an inner planet.

c.    They also described SATURN as SANEESWARA , as the EESWARA  implied wearing a crown to exemplify the ring system of Saturn which looked like wearing a cap.

d.   Our Galaxy was described as KSHEERASAGARA (Sanskrit) or PARKADAL (Tamil) where earth is born ; while WESTERN ASTRONOMY describes it as MILKY WAY or AMBROSIA.

Thus we see the ability to keenly observe is the KEY to GREAT CREATIVITY.

HOW SHOULD ONE GET  EDUCATED TO BE CREATIVE ?

History says that Creativity is not linked to intelligence shown in education or even the educational level. It comes from inherent latent talent of an individual irrespective of age  and qualifications. Let us take some example:

1.   ROBERT BOOLE was only a third standard educated student when he formulated the BOOLEAN ALGEBRA. This has revolutionized the computer industry and education through the concepts  propounded by Boole, and logic gates are playing a very significant part in computational Sciences.

2.   Thomas Alva EDISON was asked to be withdrawn from his school. Enraged mother of Edison retorted,” I will educate Eddie” and withdrew him. He grew up ; Starting a carrier as a PAPER BOY , his creativity sprang up to become a man who holds , THE LARGEST NUMBER OF PATENTS TO DAY.

3.   Albert Einstein had been adjudged to be poor in mathematics in his collegiate days. But his mathematical equation E=mc²   , is still the best the world can think of.

4.   Looking at the Indian scenario, we have G.D.Naidu, who is dubbed as “Indian EDISON” , studied only primary classes ,. He was the pioneer in designing electric motor in India and to day , Coimbatore in Tamilnadu is the hub for the manufacture of Electric Motors. He also contributed to several inventions including super thin shaving blades.

Education alone does not guaranty the quality of Innovation and creativity in an individual. But education can help in refining the   inventions and taking it to the society for development. No doubt Dr.C.V.Raman, was awarded NOBEL PRIZE for discovering Raman spectroscopy. India ignored its value and never funded further work on it. It is the Germans and Japanese who refined the discovery to make it a great tool fort finger printing molecules.

On the other hand if you can educate children to observe intently and with genuine curiosity, then innovation and creativity would automatically spring.

What should be the qualities one must imbibe to be creative?

1.Ability to accept change as permanent NATURAL PROCESS . ( Change is the only permanent factor in the Universe.)

2. Ability to accept failure and learning to analyse the cause of failure impartially.

3. Frugality and Frugal habits ensures, inexpensive creativity and inexpensive creations.

4.Locate and get to know people who have had similar ideas and have succeeded.

5.Develop enterprising ability to talk to strangers at their level and befriend them.

6. Develop a keen sense of observing nature including sky gazing and ponder over your observations for any hint that may hit the back of your mind.

7.Never criticize others  including your teachers. It could be possible, you may discover, one of your teacher is very poor in subject. Thank him for giving you a chance to learn your self and discover the difference between good teaching and poor teaching.

8. Nothing that exists is a WASTE. Everything has a definite purpose for its existence. Discover if you can.

9. You may find a child repeatedly breaking a dry leaf and wondering the sound produced or beating a metal spoon over and over again. It may be annoying to you. For the child it is a discovery.

10. Remember it is easier to define “What happiness is not. Than to define what happiness is”

11.If you have some work shop or space, collect as many things you like as possible and observe them often and see whether you can find some ways of using them.

12. Be very quick to observe any change that may occur and relate it to its utility in day to day life.

13. Passion for doing some thing new, is the basic motivation for creativity.

14.Patience and Perseverance pays.

15. Learn to differentiate instinct and innovation. Tool using monkeys  taught human beings how to make tools and use them.

16. Remember Planning takes a longer time than execution.

17. Have pride in your for fathers and ancestors. They lived at a time mobile, computers, Google and Wikipedia did not exist.

18. Look critically ancient mythologies, stories and epics , you may discover or learn something new .

19. Punctuality is very important and remember “WORK IS WORSHIP”

20. Remember you want to wear good dress, you must  protect and maintain them. If you want your parents to protect and love you, you must also learn to reciprocate the same. If you want DHARMA to protect you, you must protect it. Only when you adore Righteousness, it will protect you.

21. GOOD MEMORY and GOOD HANDWRITING are the KEY TO SUCCESS. Copying good habits is not a sin.

22. Learn to work systematically, meticulously and record your work promptly.

23. HAVE FAITH IN YOU.

REMEMBER