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Schools with playgrounds: India

The language, maths, science skills of Class VIII students

UP tops in survey of Class VIII kids

NCERT Study Covering 24 States Tests Language, Maths, Science Skills

Akshaya Mukul TNN

The Times of India 2013/07/13

New Delhi: The NCERT’s comprehensive survey of learning achievements of class VIII students across 24 states — comprising more than 300 districts and over 8,000 schools — reveals that Uttar Pradesh is a clear winner.

The other highlight is that in Kerala, girls outperform boys in most subjects.

However, there is a huge gap between UP students who are in the 90th percentile and those in the 10th percentile. For instance, in mathematics, 210 out of 500 is the score of students in the 10th percentile, whereas, 364 is the score of students in the 90th percentile — a gap of 154 marks. In reading comprehension, the difference — called the inter quartile range — is 141 marks. In science, the difference goes up to 169 as score of students in the 10th percentile is 186 and in the 90th percentile is 355. In social science, the range is astounding — 171 marks between the 90th percentile and the 10th percentile.

The survey that tested students in language, mathematics, science and social science skills using Item Response Theory, the most widely used system to map learning achievements, found highly variable range between students in the 90th and the 10th percentile in other states as well. The survey also notes that unlike Pratham’s Annual Survey of Education Report (ASER), the NCERT survey covers government and government-aided schools in rural and urban areas, gives grade-specific tests, uses sufficient length of test covering wide range of measurement points in content area as well as multiple test booklets.

While the NCERT survey tests Class III, IV and VIII students in different subjects, ASER tests them in reading, writing and arithmetic skills. While ASER uses one test booklet in each area, NCERT uses three questionnaires for pupil, teacher and school.

Reading comprehension

Below average states

In reading comprehension, the average score of Andaman & Nicobar islands, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu is significantly below that of the group average of 250.

Average states

The difference between average score in Delhi, Dadra Nagar Haveli, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and that of the group average of 250 is not very significant.

Performance of girls and boys

When it comes to reading, no significant gap between the average performance of girls and boys could be found in AP, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan. In Delhi, Goa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Punjab, the average performance of girls is better than boys.

Bihar is the only state where boys outperformed girls.

Rural and urban students

No significant difference could be found in the performance of rural and urban students in AP, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, MP, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. Delhi is the only state where performance of rural students is higher than urban students.

REPORT CARD

Delhi is the only state where performance of rural students is higher than urban students. In most other states, urban students do better than rural ones, a nationwide survey finds

Kerala girls outperform boys in most subjects

The survey tested students in language, mathematics, science and social science skills

Laboratories

75% of schools lack decent science labs Subodh.Varma@timesgroup.com

School laboratories: India

The Times of India Aug 19 2014

More than three quarters of schools in the country do not have fully equipped science laboratories for students in class 11 and 12, a survey of 2.4 lakh secondary and senior secondary schools has found. For classes 9 and 10, where an integrated science module is taught to students, over 58% schools don't have the requisite lab.

“This is an atrocious state of affairs,“ says a sad Professor Yashpal, scientist and former chairman of the UGC who has been one of India's most well-known science communicators. “Everybody knows the importance of labs in science teaching. But learning science has been reduced to mugging up things,“ he said.

The shocking state of science teaching at school level contrasts with the high profile science education and research institutions at the top like IITs, IISc and others. The survey was carried out under the Unified District Information System on Education and data analysed by Delhibased National University for Educational Administration and Planning. The report was released recently .

In several states the situation is much worse than what the national average indicates. In Karnataka, just 6% of schools have fully equipped labs for senior students while in Andhra, the share is a mere 13%. Kerala and Tamil Nadu have a better share -34% and 38%, respectively. In Assam, just 4% schools have labs while in Bengal the share of such schools is only 6%. In smaller states and union territories like Delhi, Puducherry, Chandigarh, Goa and even Manipur, the situation is relatively better.

Perhaps this dire situation is there because there are no science students? Although this in itself would be a matter of serious worry , data in the same report shows that over 5.4 million students study science. That's more than one-third of students covered in the survey . Note that these students are spread over all schools.In fact, 43% of schools offer science to senior students, as stated in the report.

Fees

Govt can regulate fee hike by pvt schools: HC

The Times of India, Jan 20 2016

Abhinav Garg

HC: Can't Engage In Profiteering Of Education

Govt can regulate fee hike by pvt schools

In a landmark verdict, the Delhi high court put an end to what it called “profiteering and commercialisation of education“ and empowered the state government to regulate fee hike by private schools. A day after it asked the AAP government to “set its house in order“ and improve its schools, the court ruled that fee hike by private unaided schools, who got DDA land at concessional rates, requires prior sanction from the Delhi government's education department. The order is expected to curb arbitrary fee hike.

“It is clear that schools cannot indulge in profiteering and commercialisation of school education... Quantum of fees to be charged by unaided schools is subject to regulation by DoE under Delhi Schools Education Act and it is competent to interfere if hike in fee by a particular school is found to be excessive and perceived as indulging in profiteering,“ a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath held.

The court further ordered DoE to ensure compliance. It also directed DDA to take action against those private schools which violate the embargo on fee hike in the letter of allotment of land.

The judgement came on a PIL filed by advocate Khagesh Jha for an NGO, Justice For All, which urged the court to intervene and ensure that recognised private unaided schools situated on land allotted by DDA adhere to specified norms and take prior sanction of DoE before hiking their fees.

Action Committee for Unaided Recognised Private Schools, an umbrella body of school associations in Delhi, has decided to “immediately move the Supreme Court“ against the HC verdict.

“This is contrary to the earlier judgment of the Supreme Court in the TMA Pai case in which complete autonomy was granted to private schools with regard to fee structure.This cannot bypass the SC judgment. We have no alternative but to immediately move the matter to the SC,“ said SK Bhattacharya, president, Action Committee.

RC Jain of Delhi State Public School Management Association pointed out that school fees are decided by school management committees, which include nominees of DoE.

Sanskriti admission deadline extended

The Delhi government's deadline of January 22 for nursery admission forms was on Tuesday extended till this month end for Sanskriti School by the Supreme Court. It also decided to set up a three-judge bench to hear the matter.

The Centre and the school administration have assailed in the apex court the decision of the Delhi high court setting aside the 60% quota in the school for the children of group-A government officials who are in the highest class of government servants.

They have also sought an interim order allowing the institution to continue with the admission process under the old scheme till the matter is finally decided by the court.

=Working days, vacations=

220+ working days in Delhi

The Times of India, Jan 20 2016

220 working days must for schools: Govt  The Delhi government made it mandatory for all government as well as unaided recognised schools to run upper primary classes for at least 220 working days in an academic year. The Directorate of Education (DoE) in a communication to schools also notified schedule for summer, winter and autumn breaks, asking them to ensure strict compliance with the same.

“Section 19 of the RTE Act-2009 envisages that every recognized school has to observe a minimum of 220 working days for upper primary classes in an academic year.

“All the heads of the schools are directed to adhere to the provision laid down regarding working days,“ it said.

“It is pertinent to mention that at least 220 working days have to be completed in an academic year (April to March). Although the notified lists of gazetted and restricted holidays are for the calendar year (January to December),“ it added.

The DoE also said the heads of the government-aided and unaided recognized schools will be required to take approval of holidays from their respective managements.

Playgrounds

STATOISTICS - State of Play

The Times of India Jul 29 2014

The fact that today's urban children have little playing space where they live is well known. That makes adequate playgrounds in schools even more important. This is not just to improve India's performance in sports, but because studies have shown that school-level games play an important role in a child's personality development by teaching them to cooperate, plan, negotiate and so on. But data analysed by TOI shows that there are many states, including Bihar and Orissa, where seven out of ten primary schools don't have playgrounds. Data from the Unified District Information System on Education (U-DISE) suggests that access to playgrounds improves somewhat in secondary schools.

Uniforms/ dress code for Teachers

From the archives of The Times of India 2007, 2009

Dress code cannot be forced upon women teachers: HC

Kolkata: Can the Pablo Picasso painting Green Leaves and Bust, which sold for £70.3 million recently, be considered indecent, Justice Jayanta Biswas of Calcutta High Court wondered on Friday while ordering that managing committees of schools cannot impose a dress code on teachers.

At the same time, the judge observed, teachers should be careful about what they wear to school.

The HC was hearing a petition filed by 42-year-old Swati Purakayastha and six other teachers of Golapmohini Mallick Balika Vidyalaya in Singur, Hooghly. In 2008, the school management issued a memo directing teachers to wear white sarees on duty. The teachers moved court. TNN

Hiring and transfer of teachers

The Times of India

Jan 13 2015

Hiring, transfer of teachers politically motivated: Study

Akshaya Mukul

A significant study on teachers carried out in nine states shows that in most of these states, except Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, the process of appointment of teachers and transfer policy is highly “opaque and politically motivated“. The two positive aspects emerging from the study are reversal of policy on hiring of contract teachers and adoption of Right to Education-recommended Teacher Eligibility Tests in all nine states. The report says in several states, there is a freeze on hiring of teachers on contract and all new recruitments of elementary teachers are on regu larpermanent terms.

The study, carried out jointly by the National University for Educational Planning and Administration and World Bank in Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, has stressed on flaws in the teacher recruitment policy . “States do not have a systematic or routine process for calculating how many teachers are needed, and what their specific qualifications and characteristics should be,“ it says.

In a few states, the report says, “Factors underlying recruitment are closely related to political interests, making teacher recruitment resemble political strategies rather than recruitment policies.“ For instance, in Rajasthan, the recruitment policy changes every year whereas in Punjab there is no policy whatsoever.

As for teacher transfer policies, the report says it is “rare in India“. Of the states studied, it exists only in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. In Odisha and MP , transfers are carried out through a series of government orders and guidelines and followed in letter and spirit. In other states like Rajasthan, the report says, “Transfers are given as rewards to politically helpful teachers.“

Rural schools:2009-14

The Times of India

Rural schooling in India: Some facts

Jan 14 2015

Rural schools high on enrolment, but low on learning levels: Report

Akshaya Mukul

Pratham's 10th Annual Status of Education Report -the country's biggest private audit of elementary education in rural India -released Tuesday has a similar story as in previous years: rising enrolment, poor learning levels in reading, mathematics and English and growth in number of private schools. ASER also says improvement in school facilities -pupil teacher ratios, playgrounds, kitchen sheds, drinking water facilities, toilets -continues. HRD ministry is going to strongly dispute ASER's claims on falling learning outcomes since government's own report gives a different picture.

With Pratham gaining worldwide presence -from Pakistan to Africa -the ceremony , again like in the past, was a glittering event attended by industrialists, entrepreneurs and even chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanian. Report for 2014 done after survey of 16,497 villages, 5.7 lakh children in over 3.4 lakh households across 577 districts says that for the sixth year in a row enrolment levels are 96% or higher for the age group of 6 to 14.

Why do some children do better at studies? NCERT’s 2015 survey

The good habits of students who do well at studies; Graphic courtesy: The Times of India, December 10, 2015

The Times of India, December 10, 2015

Games & siblings key to do better in maths: NCERT

Seetha Lakshmi  Children who play games every day and those with siblings score better in mathematics, but watching television ruins their scores, the NCERT National Achievement Survey has revealed. While having more siblings did little to improve children's reading skills, it did improve maths marks: If those with over four siblings scored an average of 32.9%, grades fell for children with just one sibling. The survey also found that access to more books at home improved reading ability -children with 25 or more books scored 50.8%, while children with no books at home scored 42.6%. But books did little for children to score more in maths (a mere 2.5% improvement), while children who read more did marginally well in science and social science, pointed out S Anand, chief data scientist at Gramener, a data visualisation and analytics company which analysed the data for NCERT.

The survey measured children's learning achievement in language, mathematics, science and social science. It analysed data collected from 6,722 schools (government and government aided), 24,486 teachers and 1,88,647 students through tests and questionnaires from 33 states and Union territories. The objective was to understand what children in schools know and can do at different stages of elementary education.

2015: Std X students below par in English, maths

The Times of India Jan 07 2016

Akshaya Mukul

Big Gap Between Govt And Private School Kids, Finds Study

The first ever survey of learning achievement of class X students has shown that majority of the statesUnion Territories are performing below the overall average score in all subjects. NCERT conducted the survey on 2.77 lakh students from 7,216 schools across 33 statesUTs.

NCERT is also putting in place a system whereby feedback from surveys will be given to the states, examination boards and schools. It has also prepared a detailed analysis of its survey vis-àvis the much touted Pratham's Annual Status of Edu cation Report, the country's first private audit of school education in rural India.

The NCERT survey result shows that only 41% of the students were able to answer correctly in English; in mathematics, only 40% of the students made the cut. In science, 43% of them were able to come up with the right answers, while 47% of them knew the answers in social science. The best result was in Indian languages where 53% of the students were able to give correct answers.

The survey also found there were significant differences in scores of students from government and government-aided schools and private schools. Students of private managed schools did the best with average score of 277 out of 500, whereas government school students scored 236 and those going to government-aided schools got 246.

In English, there is signifi cant difference in the performance of rural and urban students with urban students performing better in Haryana, Meghalaya, Nagaland and J&K. A similar trend was seen in case of mathematics.In science, rural students performed better than urban ones in states like Assam, Kerala and West Bengal. Rural students of Kerala performed better than urban ones in social science. NCERT has ascribed overall low scores to lack of conceptual clarity and understanding. While comparing its National Achievement Survey with Pratham's ASER, NCERT has said that while it conducts class specific assessment, ASER assesses basic ability.

See also

For sanitation in schools, please see : Sanitation: India

Education: India (covers issues common to all categories of Education) <>

Engineering education: India <>

Higher Education: India <>

Medical education: India <>

Primary Education: India <>

School education: India (covers issues common to Primary and Secondary Education) <>

Secondary Education: India <>

Indian universities: global ranking …and many more.