Japan’s young blind photographers use ‘eyes of the heart’...

Tokyo: Yutaka Meijo holds his breath to make sure his camera stays steady, carefully brings the object into focus and waits just a moment before clicking the shutter—relying only on his ears and a hunch.

“I take pictures relying on sound,” said the 18-year-old, who lost his sight when he was seven. “But there’s just a feeling to it,” Yutaka said, as he took shots of his visually impaired friends playing table tennis, hitting a ping pong ball with a bell inside.

“I press the shutter button and don’t hesitate when I think the moment’s right. The moment can’t be brought back. That’s my secret for taking pictures,” he says.

Yutaka is among 23 young photographers at a school for the blind in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, whose pictures are gradually drawing public attention. The children held cameras for the first time in their lives two and a half years ago when Hiroshi Suga, an award-winning Japanese photographer, gave a lecture at their school.

Suga, who is known for his documentary photographs, described the children as having “eyes of the heart”. “When I told them to hold cameras, at first some of them held cameras back to front or upside down while others covered the lenses with their hands,” Suga said.

“But they learnt quite fast and I was really surprised to see how impressive their pictures were,” he said.

He gave them cameras with oldfashioned film, and told them to take pictures of “whatever you like”. The results included photographs of family, teachers, friends, a street performer, and road studs for the blind.

“Their pictures are natural and honest,” Suga said, looking at their works in his studio. Suga decided to make their work public, kicking off an exhibition last year in Yokohama, and publishing two collections of photographs entitled “Kid Photographers”.

Exhibitions have taken place across eastern Japan, including Tokyo, drawing big crowds and selling more than 7,000 books. “Nothing is limited in life,” Suga said. “The kids have a disadvantage for sure but they aren’t pitiful.”

Kanna Yoshida, 14, takes her camera with her whenever she goes out as she says taking photographs allow her to “visualize” memories in her mind.

The young photographers, however, do miss at least one thing—appreciating their own work for its own sake. “I can’t see my pictures, of course,” said Takahiro Tsurui, 14, who lost his sight four years ago in an accident. “But taking pictures matters in itself. I can’t see them but I can imagine what I take.”

Takahiro says photography has helped him build the confidence to go out and talk to people. “No matter what job I have in the future, I want to continue taking pictures all my life,” said Takahiro. AFP

FREEZING TO DEATH?

Future shock: Heat wave temperatures to soar in decades
Washington: During the European heat wave of 2003 that killed tens of thousands, the temperature in parts of France hit 40°C. Nearly 15,000 people died in that country alone. During the Chicago heat wave of 1995, the mercury spiked above 41°C and about 600 people died.

In a few decades, people will look back at those heat waves “and we will laugh”, said Andreas Sterl, author of a new study. “We will find (those temperatures) lovely and cool.”

Sterl’s computer model shows by the end of the century, high temperatures for once-in-a-generation heat waves will rise twice as fast as everyday average temperatures. Chicago, for example, would reach 46°C in such an event by 2100. Paris could near 42.7°C with Lyon coming closer to 45.5°C .

Sterl, who is with the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, projects temperatures for rare heat waves around the world in a study soon to be published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. His numbers are blistering because of the drying-out effect of a warming world. Most global warming research focuses on average daily temperatures instead of these extremes, which cause greater damage.

His study projects a peak of 47°C for Los Angeles and 43°C for Atlanta by 2100; that’s 5 degrees higher than the current records for those cities. Kansas City faces the prospect of a 46.6°C heat wave, with its current alltime high at 43°C, according to the National Climactic Data Center.

A few cities, such as Phoenix, which once hit 50°C and is projected to have heat waves of 48.8°C, have already reached these extreme temperatures once or twice. But they would be hitting those numbers a little more often as the world heats up over time.

For New York, it would only be a slight jump from the all-time record of 40°C at John F Kennedy airport to the projected 41°C. It could be worse. Delhi, India is expected to hit 49°C; Belem, Brazil, 49.4°C and Baghdad, 50°C .

These are temperatures that are dangerous, said University of Wisconsin environmental
health professor Jonathan Patz. And by 2050, heat waves will be 3 to 5 degrees hotter than now “and probably be longerlasting,” Sterl said. By mid-century, southern France’s extreme heat waves should be around 44°C and then near 48°C by the end of the century, Sterl’s climate models predict. AP

Penguins falling victim to showers
Washington: Global warming is leading to unusual epic rains in Antarctica, which is in turn causing the region’s penguins to freeze to death.

According to a report in National Geographic News, since Antarctica’s young Adelie and gentoo penguins are not yet equipped with water-repellent feathers, they freeze to death when the mercury dipped below the freezing point. “Many, many, many of them—thousands of them—were dying,” said explorer Jon Bowermaster, who had been in the region on an expedition funded in part by the National Geographic Society.

The experience, he added, painted a clear and grim picture of the impact of global climate change. “It’s not just melting ice. It’s actually killing these cute little birds that are so popular in the movies,” he said. ANI

Solar system oblong, not round....

Washington: The solar system may not be a nice round shape, but rather a bit squashed and oblong, according to data from the Voyager 2 spacecraft exploring the solar system’s outer limits, scientists said.

Launched in 1977, the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 unmanned probes are now studying the edges of the heliosphere, the huge magnetic “bubble” around our solar system created by the solar wind as it runs up against the thin gas in interstellar space.

The solar wind is made up of electrically charged particles blown into space in all directions by the sun. The boundary between the heliosphere and the rest of interstellar space is known as the “termination shock”.

Voyager 2 in August 2007 crossed this boundary 7.8 billion miles from the sun. Voyager 1 had crossed the boundary in December 2004 about 10 billion miles away from Voyager 1 and almost a billion miles farther from the sun.

Scientists think this indicates that the bubble carved into interstellar space by the heliosphere, which extends well past the distant orbit of Pluto, is not perfectly round, and the solar system is shaped a bit like an oblong.

“Imagine a balloon is being blown up by the solar wind. You might imagine that if you took a balloon, which is mainly spherical, and pushed it against the wall, it would be blunted on one side,” said Edward Stone of the California Institute of Technology, one of the scientists involved in the research.

That’s what has happened with the heliosphere, he said. The findings were published in the journal Nature. REUTERS

SQUASHED: The solar system is seen in a 2004 illustration distributed by Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

PIL filed against fee structure in private med, dental colleges...

Shibu Thomas | TNN

Mumbai: A public interest litigation has been filed against high fees being charged by private unaided medical and dental colleges from students belonging to other states who had taken admissions in the year 2005-06.

Hearing the PIL by Dahisar resident Amit Mehra, a division bench of Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice V M Kanade directed that the admission brochure for that year be placed before the court.

“For the last three years students from outside Maharashtra of this particular batch have been charged Rs 6 lakhs which is on on par with fees of Non Resident Indian students,’’ said advocate Amrendra Mishra, counsel for the petitioner. He added, “Students domiciled in the state are being charged only Rs 2.17 lakhs.’’ However, students of the subsequent batches both from the state as well as from other states have been paying the same fees.

The apparently discriminatory fees came about following a joint memorandum signed between Association of Management of Unaided Private Medical and Dental Colleges and the state government before the Supreme Court in 2005. This MoU agreed to allowing the 15 % management quota in colleges to be filled by both NRI students as well as those from outside Maharashtra.

According to the petition this was supposed to be an interim arrangement till the seven judge bench delivered its judgment in the matter relating to fees charged by private institutions.

“While for the 2005-06 batch in respect of fees for both NRI and outside Maharashtra students were at par, the admission criteria was different,’’ said the petitioner. Students in the NRI category were required to obtain merely 50% marks in HSC, while students from other states had to also qualify in the CET examination conducted by the Association. The petition, while calling the different fee structure as discriminatory, has urged the court to quash the high fees charged from students form outside the state.

shibu.thomas1@timesgroup.com

Agony, ecstasy after mad rush to colleges

Roana Maria Costa | TNN

Mumbai: On a cloudy Thursday afternoon at a south Mumbai college campus, three girls just couldn’t stop screaming. Ayushi Anandpara, Anam Merchant and Aanchal Jumani hugged each other on Thursday in between their squeals. They were ecstatic at having got into the junior college of their choice.

“I scored a percentile of 94.8, but was not sure I would make the Xavier’s cut-off as they have a 60% reservation and we fall in the other 40%. But I have made it here and am very happy,’’ said a glowing Anandpara, who has chosen the arts stream. Standing on the basketball court, she shared her euphoria with her friend Anam Merchant.

“Ecstatic is not even the word that I can use to even start to describe what I feel. Making the first merit list gives me the best feeling and I am on the top of the world right now,’’ said an excited Merchant, who too applied for arts.

As students and parents scrambled over each other to see which names had featured in the first merit lists, a long queue formed across the court for the purchase of application forms. The atmosphere was charged as students chalked out plans and shared notes with friends.

Jumani, who got into HR College but was with her school friends at Xavier’s, said her kick of the day was the text message HR College sent to her informing her that she had made the cut. “At 3 o’clock sharp, just as the college opened its gates, the SMSes were sent. When I got there, it was a mad rush as I had to push my way to see my name,’’ said the excited girl.

But as those who made the cut were relieved and went into party mode, there were others who will have to wait for the second merit list.

Standing outside HR College at Churchgate, Darshan Modi was feeling low. “I applied to HR, KC and Jai Hind, but got through only at KC. I expected to see my name at the other two colleges too. I now pin all my hopes on the second merit list,’’ said the lanky teen.

Anushi Shah too was upset. “I got a percentile of 87.94, but that was not enough to get into Jai Hind or HR. I can only wish that the second list changes the tide for me,’’ she said.

District quota called for
Mumbai: Colleges that have not kept 70% seats for students in their district will have to put out a new merit list, according to a state education department circular sent to district education offices on Thursday. The circular quotes a 2003 order that asks for the quota. Mumbai has three districts—Mumbai, Mumbai suburbs 1 and Mumbai suburbs 2. TNN

ALL EYES ON BOARD: Students at Patkar College, Goregaon scan the first merit lists put out on Thursday.

ARTS GAINS MERIT ON FIRST LISTS...

Rising Cut-Offs Show That Even Students Who Score High In Class X Are Opting For The Humanities In Junior College

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: Unlike in Delhi, Class X students in India’s commercial capital usually do not flock to the humanities stream. Most high scorers in Mumbai opt for science or commerce. But this year in some of the city’s top colleges, there has definitely been a steady increase in arts cut-offs, showing that even high scorers are opting for the stream.

At St Xavier’s College, Dhobi Talao, one of the country’s most popular colleges for humanities, the arts cut-off stood at 88% for ICSE students and 86.5% for SSC students, a good 2 to 3% more than last year’s scores. Not surprisingly, thanks to the marks normalisation scheme, which aims to put SSC scores on par with those of the ICSE and CBSE boards, St Xavier’s saw an increase in the number of SSC students making it to the merit list. Around a third of the students on the arts list were from the SSC stream.

In the case of St Xavier’s, those with phenomenally high scores opted for the arts stream. The merit list opened with a whopping 96.62%. The numero uno spot was occupied by an SSC student. The top 54 slots in the merit list for St Xavier’s College were occupied by students who had scored 90% and above in Class X. Most of them were either from the SSC or the ICSE stream, with only one CBSE student appearing.

At Ruia College, the arts cut-offs rose by about 4 to 5%. Last year, the cut-off for arts in the first merit list in this Matunga-based institution was 80%. This year, it stood at 84.02% for SSC students and over 85% for ICSE and CBSE.

“Cut-offs for arts have gone up dramatically. It goes to show that several students, despite high percentages, are taking up arts. Students passionate about this stream are getting in, irrespective of how high their score may be,’’ said Suhas Pednekar, Ruia College principal.

At Jai Hind College, counters for arts closed at over 82% for ICSE and CBSE students, 2% higher than last year’s 80%. “This goes to show that bright students with high scorers are increasingly opting for the arts stream,’’ said Kirti Narain, Jai Hind College principal.

MAKING THE A-LIST: Students at Maharshi Dayanand College, Parel crowd around the notice board displaying the first merit lists for admission to junior college on Thursday

Future tense for Cambridge board class X students

Anahita Mukherji | TNN

Mumbai: For students from the 60-odd IGCSE (Cambridge international board) schools across the state—most of which are in the city—who’re hoping to re-enter the Indian education system, the future is still uncertain.

The Class X board examination scores for IGCSE students are out only by August whereas admissions to junior colleges are complete by the mid-July. And so, most IGCSE students who want to opt for the Maharashtra state board in Classes XI and XII usually obtain temporary admission based on provisional scores in the mock exams that they appear for before the ‘O-levels’.

While most South Mumbai colleges readily accept these scores, many suburban colleges are wary of international boards and refuse admission on the basis of provisional scores. “How can we grant a student admission based on the scores in a mock exam and not the actual IGCSE board exam,’’ says Mithibai College principal Kiran Mangaoker.

When TOI contacted Mumbai’s deputy director of education, Sheila Tiwari, she said that there were no hardand-fast rules when it came to such admissions. “I have asked the government for guidance on this matter, till now, colleges haven’t been issued any instructions on the matter,” she said.

“This is really unfair on my child. How can colleges refuse admissions on the basis of a provisional score? This means that students from an international board who want to re-enter the Indian system stand to lose out on a year, because the results are out later than those of Indian boards,’’ says an upset parent of a student from a suburban IGCSE school.

However, while the colleges and the state are unclear on admissions for IGCSE students, Ian Chambers, region manager South Asia, University of Cambridge International Examinations, says that the Maharastra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board has issued an eligibility certificate for Cambridge IGCSE as a foreign board. This allows access to junior colleges in Maharashtra for students with 5 IGCSEs (including English).
“Acclaimed institutes such as Mumbai University to accept IGCSE students on the basis of forecast grades and we would like to see progressive institutes follow this example,’’ says Chambers. He adds that in the ‘Application Form for Eligibility Certificate’, a booklet brought out by the Maharashtra State Education Board for students belonging to foreign boards/universities/institutions, there is a deed of undertaking which states that the divisional board can grant a provisional eligibility certificate, provided that documents are furnished within a stipulated time limit. “We would like to see junior colleges follow this,’’ says Chambers.

SSC students score high in cut-offs too

Top Lists Thanks To Normalization And Higher Marks

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: The minority is now the majority. The city’s premier institution for science, D G Ruparel College, which had admitted about 100 students from the state board last year, has a whopping 209 SSC students in its first cut-off list. The institution has a total of 286 science seats.

When the first merit lists for admission to junior colleges were put out on Thursday afternoon, it became apparent that thanks to higher marks and the normalization of scores, SSC students wouldn’t be bulldozed off the merit list by their ICSE and CBSE counterparts this year.

Principal of the Matunga-based Ruparel, P P Kulkarni, said his college had never had so few ICSE or CBSE candidates. “Last year, we had at least twice the number of ICSE students in our college. This year, there are just 70 who have managed to get into the first merit list.’’ His college’s first merit list for science closed at 92% last year. This year, the cut-off was from 92.8% to 94.43%.

Thanks to the marks normalisation scheme, introduced by the state government to put SSC scores on par with those of other boards, the number of SSC students who have made it to junior college merit lists has dramatically increased.

For instance Ruia College, which has 680 seats and closed the first list in the 95.24 percentile, saw more than 50% of SSC students make it. A closer look at the actual marks showed that if an SSC student needed a minimum of 91.54%, her ICSE counterpart was required to score at least 93.14% to get in. The first list in this college closed at 92% last year.

National College principal Manjula Desai, whose college also had a large percentage of SSC students making it to the first list, said, “We closed our eyes to the fact that this year SSC students have an edge over others.’’

In south Mumbai, the city’s top college for commerce, HR College of Commerce and Economics, which has some 950-odd seats, had over 500 state board students in the first list. Principal Indu Shahani said, “The tables have been turned. But at the end of the day, all students will have to perform well in college. These marks only give entry into college.’’

Cut-off for arts soared by almost 5% as compared to last year. Cut-offs for science and commerce went up by an average of 3% to 4%

At Xavier’s, the No 1 slots for arts and science were occupied by SSC students. Around half of the students in the arts merit list and nearly 50% students on the science list were from the SSC board

In Ruia, which has 680 seats, over 50% of seats went to SSC students

At HR College of Commerce, more than 500 SSC students made it. The college has 950 seats

High cut-offs trigger college rush

Armed with new percentile scores, students flock to check the first merit list for junior college admissions

BAPU DEEDWANIA AND DIPTI SONAWALA

As the first merit list for admissions to junior colleges were put up at 3 pm on Thursday, students flocked to college campuses in large numbers to check for their names. This year, there has been an unprecendented increase of almost 10 per cent in the cut-off marks for Commerce, while other streams have also seen an increase in the cut-offs that have been calculated on the basis of percentile scores.

While some students have managed to get through to their preferred colleges most of them have to wait for the second list. “I am so disappointed. I wanted to take up Science at Ruia College but I haven’t made it to the the first list. I hope with 89 percentile, I get through to the second list. I have managed to made it to KC College but I am still keen on getting into Ruia,” said a student from Dadar.

DON’T PANIC, ADVISE COLLEGE PRINCIPALS
Principals of various colleges have asked students to maintain their calm and not panic. “This is just the first list. Most of the top-scorers apply to more than one college and ultimately choose the one they want. This creates room for students who are left out in the first list because of a marginal difference. I request students to have patience and report to us if they face any problem,” said Manju Nichani, principal, KC College.

However, Nichani agrees that the result this year are shocking. “There is a 10 per cent increase in the cut-off for Commerce. Last year, we closed at 78 per cent and this year the percentile score is 88. This means that the cut-off for SSC students is 84.5 per cent, for ICSE students it’s 85.43 per cent and for CBSE students it is 86.01 per cent,”said Nichani.

THE COMPETITION IS GETTING TOUGHER
“Students have scored phenomenally well in their exams. This is clearly reflected in the results and applications. There is tougher competition for every single seat. We received a total of 17,000 applications for 1,100 Science seats, 600 Commerce seats and 360 Arts seats. We are not sure how many students on our top list will actually go elsewhere. With the percentile score in place this year, the SSC students have an edge over those from other boards,” said Dr V I Katchi, principal of Bhavan’s College at Andheri.

NEW PERCENTILE SYSTEM: SSC STUDENTS GAIN
Suhas Pednekar, principal of Ruia College agrees the new percentile system for calculating cut-offs will put SSC students at an advantage. “The government has introduced this system keeping the SSC students in mind. They have been at the receiving end all these years and the government wants to put them at level with the other boards. The difference between the marks attained by top scorers of the three boards was the chief reason for this move,” said Pednekar.

However, this may affect ICSE and CBSE students. “The ICSE and CBSE students will not be put to a great disadvantage. There will be a difference of a maximum of two per cent. Also, the number of ICSE and CBSE students applying to junior colleges is much lower than that of SSC students,” he said.

Pednekar mentioned that the Education Board and the government can address such problems. “As far as we are concerned, we have applied the new scores and the list will be prepared as per the percentiles and accordingly seats will be allotted. Last year, we closed the first list for Science on 89.4 per cent. This year, we have closed it at 95.14 percentile score. This would mean an increase of three to four per cent,” he said.

ONLINE ADMISSION FACILITY HELPED
Online admissions proved to be a boon for students. Out of a total of 1,25,231 students in Mumbai, 36,000 availed of the online facility successfully. Sheela Tiwari, deputy director of education, “We know the problem faced by the students during admissions. I was keen on coming up with a solution to this chaotic procedure. This has been a good start and I hope that the more students benefit from this facility next year,” said Tiwari.

Students throng HR College, Churchgate to see the first merit list. The cut-off for commerce has increased by 10 per cent this year

Mealion Dollar Baby...inspiring!

Sarath Babu shunned plum postings after IIM-A to live his mom’s dream

Tapash Talukdar

HUMBLE beginnings seldom pay. But E Sarath Babu will not buy that. For this 28-year-old, rags-to-riches is not just another adage. It’s his very foundation of success. From a slum in Chennai to the top echelons of academia with an enrolment in chemical engineering at BITS Pilani and IIM-A, and now as the steward of his Food King Catering business, Sarath has come a long way. His humility perhaps made him reject several highbrow offers from MNCs after his MBA. That, in a way, was the genesis of Food King Catering—with a paltry Rs 2,000 seed money. Today, his food business spans six locations with a Rs 9-crore turnover to boot and set to clock Rs 20 crore by year-end.

For Sarath, his mother, who once sold idlis on the pavements of Chennai and worked as an ayah, is a pillar of strength. “Her sacrifice eggs me on,” says Sarath. Apart from bringing up four children, Sarath’s mother worked as a cook for the midday meal scheme for 11 years and got paid just a rupee each day. Having completed SSLC, she moved on to teach under the same scheme for five years. Even then, her salary was insufficient. So Sarath’s mom sought refuge in the food business to supplement her meager income. As she rolled dough in the form of idlis, dosas, bhajjis and appams, it was Sarath’s job to sell them in the neighbourhood. “For kids living in a slum, idlis for breakfast is something very special,” says Sarath even to this day.

A natural entrant to the food business with acquired acumen in childhood, Sarath has trained his sight higher. From the current 250 people, he’s aiming to recruit 2,000 people by next year, “and probably, 5,000 in the next two years”.

Initially, his catering business, with two units in Ahmedabad, was Rs 2,000-per -day in the red. “But I burnt the midnight oil literally to get a solution,” Sarath says. It’s worth a mention here that Sarath spent most of his childhood in the dark, without electricity. He focused on volumes rather than spartan servings, and started taking contracts from institutions and companies. To bag an order, Sarath even slept on the platform of Mumbai’s railway station. “That’s one of my finest nights I’ve ever had,” Sarath reminisces. Today, Food King is targeting 100 clients, including 50 top institutions and 50 corporates for the snacks business — South Indian, North Indian and Chinese food.

Food business is not just about selling but also taking care of quality and the people associated with it, Sarath points out. He now envisions FoodKing’s Palace (food malls) across cities where all kinds of Indian food would be served at “economical rates”. And how does he manage his team? “I ask them to write their dreams on a piece of paper and advise them to think of developing
themselves,” says Sarath.

Is he really worried about inflation or pricerise in food products? When most of the restaurants have increased their prices, Sarath sees an opportunity to serve at a cheaper price. “Sourcing from one place makes a lot of difference. I will tap this opportunity,” says Sarath. Today, he drives a Chevrolet to take his mother for a ride to oversee his business units in Chennai. “Next, I want to build a house for my mother,” says Sarath. tapash.talukdar@timesgroup.com

From classes to classic

Roana Maria Costa | TNN

Mumbai: If Ramesh Sippy, director of Bollywood’s biggest blockbuster Sholay, had the chance to go back to college, he would do it differently. “I hope my children and their children have all the fun that I missed out on in college,’’ he says.

Sippy, who lived next door to Jai Hind at Churchgate, joined in the arts stream in 1961. “I was training at my family’s film studio when I was studying there, so after classes, which ended at 10am, I rushed to work. This left me little time to chill out and see the fun part of college,’’ says the director.

“I had no time to be naughty and play pranks. Classes were from 7 to 10 and then I went to the studio. So I ended up being a serious kid as I could not miss out on what was happening in class.’’

Sippy says he felt very comfortable at the college. “I must say my experience at Jai Hind was wonderful and the college was an amazing one to study at. The atmosphere and faculty were great. But if I had the chance to be a student again, I would do it differently. I would engage in all the extra-curricular activities I could.’’

Sippy did participate in eloctions, but had no time for theatre. His creativity, he says, was not particulary honed at Jai Hind as there was no film or communications course at the time. “But I believe that education plays a big role in making a person better and shaping minds,’’ he says.

Other alumni: Aishwarya Rai, the late Sunil Dutt, Ajay Piramal, John Abraham, the Raheja
brothers, Anjali Mukherjee.

MILESTONES

Jai Hind was established in 1948, after Independence, by the displaced Sindhi community

Jai Hind was awarded an A grade by the National Assessment of Accreditation Council (NAAC) in April 2003

The college began by offering only arts courses in a room at Elphistone College, Kala Ghoda. The science stream was started in 1949, while the commerce stream began in 1980

TIED TO HISTORY: Jai Hind College was opened after Partition

CHANGING THE PLOT: ’Sholay’ director Ramesh Sippy, who says he was too serious at college, wishes to return again so he can chill out

AT THE ELEVENTH HOUR

Day Before Merit Lists For Class XI, Parents File Court Plea Against Marks Normalisation

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: A day before the first merit lists for admission to junior colleges were set to be announced, a delegation of parents of ICSE students went to court against the Maharashtra government over its hurriedly announced marks normalisation scheme. The scheme seeks to put SSC scores on par with those of other boards.
“We have filed a prayer against the scheme in the Bombay High Court,’’ said Xavier J Luis, one of the parents who filed the plea on Wednesday.

The plea comes amidst unprecedented drama in the run-up to junior college admissions. There is an air of apprehension among ICSE and CBSE students, who feel that their SSC counterparts will unfairly benefit from the marks normalisation scheme.

A student from Kendriya Vidyalaya, Powai, said, “I have scored a distinction. But it will get more difficult to get into a good college after the normalisation.’’

The normalisation scheme comes in response to the feeling that SSC students lose out during admissions as students in the national boards score higher marks.

According to the normalisation, the average of the top 10 scores in a particular board is calculated. Then the overall score of a student from the same board is divided by the top 10 average. The resulting figure is multiplied by 100 to arrive at a ‘normalised’ score.

“The reason given for this system is that there is a general feeling that non-SSC boards, namely ICSE and CBSE, are more lenient than the Maharashtra board. So it is sought to give SSC students a level playing field. But the syllabi of the ICSE and CBSE boards are far superior, with these students often covering portions taught in the Maharashtra board’s FYJC & SYJC. So where is the level playing field? Where is the hard evidence required to come to such a conclusion?’’ asked Luis.

He said a democratic process needs hard evidence before an ordinance is passed. “No one does things based on general feeling,’’ said Luis. Parents of ICSE students feel the normalisation is “absurd and discriminatory’’. An ICSE student who got 85% said she studied for an exam that was harder than the SSC.

College principals, too, said the scheme is unfair. “The differences between students from the SSC on the one hand and ICSE and CBSE on the other begin to show up ins enior college,’’ said a college principal.

As Wednesday drew to a close, the tension mounted as sky-high cut-offs are expected, especially since SSC students got much better marks this year.

Some institutions like St Xavier’s College, Ruia College and D G Ruparel plan to put their merit lists on their respective websites. But in most cases, students will have to make trips to colleges they applied to.

Ruia College principal Suhas Pednekar said that his college had not received any guidelines from the deputy director of education’s office on how to upload the merit list to the online admissions website - mumbaiapplications.com toireporter@timesgroup.com

Medical admission made easier for Cambridge school students...

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: In a move that is likely to bring cheer to thousands of students pursuing their International General Certificate of Secondary Education, the Medical Council of India has declared that their AS level exam is as good as the Class XII examination conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education.

This means that students from this board wanting to pursue medicine in India will be allowed to do so on the basis of their AS (Advanced Subsidiary) English level exam scores. Previously, aspiring medical students were forced to take the CBSE or a state board Class XII exam to appear for the pre-medical entrance test.

The decision to treat this exam on par with the Indian Class XII exam was taken by the MCI’s executive council and communicated to the Cambridge International Examinations’ regional office recently. About 170 schools in the country, with a total student population of about 15,000, are affiliated to this board.Closer home,Maharashtra has 63 schools, of which 43 are in Mumbai, that offer the Cambridge International programme.

This board offers two levels of exams—the AS level English which is the lower level and a higher A level English. Until now, the MCI had accepted the scores of only the A level English exam of medical aspirants. Ian Chambers, CIE regional manager, South Asia, said, “We are delighted that CBSE now accepts the Cambridge AS level English advanced subsidiary course as an equivalent qualification for admission to undergraduate medical courses. This simplifies the process for students who aspire to take up pre-medical entrance exams in the country.’’

Principals, teachers hail MCI decision
Mumbai: Principals and teachers are elated by the MCI decision to equate the AS level exam of CIE with the CBSE.

“The recognition of Cambridge GCE AS level English language by CBSE as equivalent to the Class XII examination is indeed an achievement. Now it will give students who are studying the CIE curriculum a fair chance to compete for medical courses in India,’’ said Soumita Mukherjee, a teacher at Delhi Public School International, Delhi.

An MCI member said that the Association of Indian Universities had approached it seeking equivalence of the CIE conducted exam. “The MCI executive council, which met in late April, took up this matter and decided to give equivalence to the AS level exam scores after studying the curriculum offered by this board,’’ he added. toireporter@timesgroup.com

IIT coaching is worth Rs 10,000 crores, says survey...

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Coaching for admission to Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and other engineering colleges has acquired the status of a mega industry in India. According to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham), the size of the industry is Rs 10,000 crore.

Assocham’s conclusion is based on the assumption that six lakh students attend these classes every year and the average cost for each student is Rs 1.7 lakh, a spokesman for the industry body told TOI. According to Assocham, the staggering sum of Rs 10,000 crore being netted every year by private academies that coach students for admission tests can fund 30 to 40 new IITs.

Calling for deregulation of higher education, Assocham president Sajjan Jindal said the beneficiaries of the current system were those running big educational institutions and coaching centres. “The amount of money which goes to these institutions is enough to open 30 to 40 IITs with lots of seats that can ensure admission to even average candidates,’’ he told IANS.

Those familiar with the coaching industry pointed out that both figures— the number of students going to coaching classes and the average cost per student—seemed exaggerated. Stating that the average cost per student cited by Assocham was too high, they pointed out that the cost in smaller cities which were home to many successful coaching institutes was much lower. They also said the number of students attending coaching classes could be much lower than six lakh.

TOI had recently done a survey of the coaching classes at Kota, the hub of the IITJEE coaching industry, and arrived at a ballpark figure of Rs 550 crore for the size of the industry there. At least 50% of the students who appear in the entrance tests for admissions to IITs and other engineering colleges enrol with coaching centres to beat the cutthroat competition, Assocham said.

It also said that 80,000-90,000 students went abroad for higher studies, leading to a high forex outflow. “If quality institutions are provided, many will stay back and contribute to the nation,’’ it said, adding that that more institutions of excellence should come up. It also suggested that private players and big industrial groups should be encouraged in higher education.

From Small Towns To Boom Towns

KOTA: Kota boasts of 60 to 75 coaching institutes with a combined annual turnover of about Rs 500 crore

KANPUR: Kakadeo, earlier know as Vikrampura, has 25,000 students from five villages. Tutoring for JEE, the main industry here, has an annual turnover of Rs 60 crore.

India - UK round table...

Q& A

‘We aim to link 300 Indian schools with UK schools’

The India-UK round table established in April 2000 is probably one of the more productive track II efforts between the UK and India. Sandra Dawson, deputy vicechancellor of Cambridge University and one of the members of the round table, speaks to Indrani Bagchi:

How has the India-UK round table evolved?
The discussions remain outside the normal bilateral talks. The round table includes people from academics, media, business and various other walks of life. Our discussions focus on education, cultural exchanges, health issues, the context of world politics, climate change, etc. The discussions are always free-flowing though our attempt is to make recommendations for the two governments to pursue, though they are strictly not under any obligation to do so.

What have been your recent recommendations?
The UKIERI (UK-India Education Research Initiative) was born out of our recommendations. It’s now an established initiative and we’re very pleased at the direction it is taking. The main aspects of the initiative involve higher education and research, schools and professional and technical skills. This is what we had recommended — a partnership in skill development, including training teachers and widening the reach of English language learning. By 2011, the initiative aims to link 300 Indian schools (government funded and private) with 300 UK schools.The round table has also been pushing the idea of mutual recognition of qualifications.

In the field of education, we are also emphasising innovation and the role universities can play in fostering innovation. Cambridge University has a strong tradition in this field and there are similar initiatives both in Bangalore and Hyderabad. We have established the Cambridge-India partnership where we are looking to working together on research in biological sciences and nanotechnology, where we’ve tied up with the National Centre for Biological Sciences and IIT Mumbai respectively.

What other sectors do you focus on?
Well, health and climate change are becoming big concerns. No matter how large your GDP is,there’s never any money for the health sector — in any country. We’re trying to increase our attention to public health issues, because here we find a large degree of commonality between the UK and India,even though we have different histories.

Demography too is a growing area of focus. India is a remarkably young country while the UK is an ageing one. We are tackling issues of dealing with longevity, caring for the old and we find that we can have a useful partnership with India in this regard.

Indian students complain that cost of education is higher in the UK as compared to the US.
Yes, we’re trying to turn that around. The first batch of Manmohan Singh scholars will be headed to the UK this year and we’re increasing the number of scholarships to Indian students.

3,500 line up outside Andheri colleges planning to shut down...

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: The Laxmi Education Trust may not be interested in running two of their junior colleges—MVLU and Chinai College—in Andheri, but almost 3,500 students are interested in seeking admissions here.

The college refused to print admission forms this year. As a result, around 3,500 students who approached the college for admission forms were turned away. The MVLU and Chinai College Bachao Samiti, which consists of teachers, students and activists, has now collected letters from all the 3,500 students who were turned away by the management. These letters have been submitted to the deputy director’s office, said member of the Samiti R S Pande in a press conference on Tuesday.

“The chief minister has ordered the deputy director’s office to register an FIR against the trustee of Laxmi Education Society for not printing admission forms and turning away students,’’ Pande said. Based on the orders of the chief minister, the deputy director has appointed a twomember committee to look into the matter.

On Monday, the Bombay high court set aside the order passed by the school tribunal that had allowed the colleges’ management to shut down the institutions. Over the last few years, this trust has been downsizing its staff and declaring its teachers as surplus. It did this after cutting student intake year-on-year. Sources have said that the trust is planning to build a mall on the land which the colleges currently occupy.

While the school tribunal had earlier declared that the management was allowed to close down the college, Monday’s order set aside this decision. The question of closure will now be decided by the state government in four weeks. The committee set up by the deputy director’s office will take a final decision on this issue.

Energy credit: Targets to be revised

Nitin Sethi | TNN

New Delhi: In its National Action Plan on Climate Change, the Centre has, among other things, decided to set up different energy efficiency targets for different sectors. It would be impractical to put one benchmark standard for all the units to achieve over a fixed period.

Say, the best sponge iron plant consumes only 5,000 litres of oil equivalent to produce one tonne of sponge iron but the worst uses 15,000 litres to produce the same one tonne. If the government was to put a fixed benchmark demanding that in two years’ time all sponge iron plants should be operating at 3,000 litres of oil equivalent per tonne or shut shop, the worst performers would be easily wiped off causing upheavals not only in the manufacturing sector but also retard economic growth as well as cause labour problems.

The government could instead resort to separate targets for different levels of players in each sector, suggest knowledgeable observers. So the most inefficient end of the spectrum would have a level of efficiency to achieve relative to their existing consumption levels and the highest end of the spectrum—the best in the business—would have a target to achieve relative to their existing consumption levels. These targets could be successfully revised upwards over fixed number of years. Those who achieve their targets and surpass these would be allowed to then trade in them with those who have not been able to meet their targets in an open market. Or, they could set off these extra savings over the next round of efficiency targets that the government notifies from time to time.

In other words, the heavy fuel consuming industries could start a trade in energy savings certificates. This would allow the overall target of sector wide efficiency to be achieved while ensuring that the achievement is made at the least cost to the industry and the economy because all improvements in efficiency are at the end of day driven by investments that the businesses can make. This is exactly the logic followed in the international arena in running the carbon credit trade. Rich countries have targets to cut their carbon dioxide emission. But for some it can be very expensive to achieve these targets in their own backyard. So they instead come to developing countries to buy credits generated by industries in countries like India that have achieved some carbon emission reduction.

But keeping with India’s international stance, the trade will be restricted only to a domestic market and not be linked to any international market in energy saving certificates or anything similar.

Thrust on solar energy in climate action plan

PM Says India Will Continue To Demand Emission Cuts From Rich Nations

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: PM Manmohan Singh on Monday released the much-awaited National Action Plan on Climate Change which aims to boost solar power generation in the country besides launching seven other programmes in mission mode towards greenhouse gas reduction and adaptation to inevitable climate change.

TOI had earlier reported about the eight missions which the first draft of the plan had laid out. The essence of these remains intact in the final document. But the most interesting addition to the draft is a clear signal that India will not budge from its position in the international arena that these voluntary steps are being taken at a domestic level. India will continue to fight for an “equitable” global compact that demands greater and mandatory emission cuts from the rich countries.

The release of the plan had earlier got stalled with the PM’s council on climate change debating how much of the country’s international stance should be incorporated in the document. Some had suggested that the plan should be looked upon as a purely domestic document while others were keen to ensure that the domestic plan be written in the context of the global negotiations that seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The latter group seems to have got its point across more emphatically in the final version. “The plan could have been more aggressive in laying out a roadmap for the entire world, demanding heavy and immediate cuts by the developed countries. At the moment, this remains its weakness,” said Sunita Narain, a member of the PM’s climate change council.

While developed countries have emission cut targets under the existing UN regime, they want India and other developing nations to also agree to cuts. The US has even suggested that India’s domestic action plan become the base for its international commitments.

But the domestic plan makes it clear that India is only taking these steps as part of a scheme that “promotes development objectives while also yielding co-benefits of addressing climate change effectively”. Out of the eight missions, the emphasis on solar energy is bound to generate the most excitement as the solar power sector has been lagging behind even as the wind power segment of the renewable power portfolio got a boost. The plan also suggests making it mandatory for power grids to purchase renewable energy from producers and sets up progressive targets to do so over the coming years.

While the move towards solar and solar derivatives is bound to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels, the plan also puts as much emphasis on demand side management — reducing consumption levels in both industry and housing sectors. The government envisages saving 10,000 mw by 2012 through energy efficiency measures. It has also laid out a blueprint for marketbased tools to be used to achieve these goals while giving fiscal incentives to move industry, manufacturers and consumers towards a low-carbon path.

Appliance manufacturers rated as more energy efficient would get tax benefits just as industries would be aided to move to better technologies.

The auto sector would be expected to not only fall in line with fuel-efficiency regulations but also be required to start recycling to reduce waste and save on manufacturing of carbon-heavy components.

GREEN STEPS Key elements of the National Action Plan on Climate Change
Solar energy boost—1,000 mw power by 12th plan end Savings of 10,000 mw by 2012 through energy efficiency Industries like steel, power and textiles to trade in energy efficiency targets Minimum target of 5% renewable energy for power grids to procure on competitive basis Nuclear power part of climate mitigation package Critical data to be digitised, sharing and access made easier Recycling from automobiles at the end of their life 5,000 mw of coal thermal plants to be retired by 11th plan. Extra 10,000 mw retired or overhauled by 12th plan

Weak Spots
Adaptation of agriculture to climate change Water management Inter ministerial coordination

Electrical engg stages a comeback...

Computer science has for years had no rival at any engineering college. This year, however, the stream seems to have lost some of its lustre. Of the top 100 JEE rankers, about 15% have opted for electrical engineering when they could have got a computer science seat.

Until the late 1960s, before all the IITs started offering computer science, most toppers would opt for electrical engineering. The IT revolution in the late eighties saw the top layer of candidates blindly opting for computer science.

But of late, some toppers have started choosing electrical engineering. IIT-Kanpur director Sanjay Dhande said he had been observing this change in preferences in the last two or three years. “The perception is that computer science as a branch is limited. An electrical engineering graduate can opt for computer science at the post-graduate level, but the reverse is not possible,’’ said Dhande. TNN

Electrical engineering is hit at new IITs too
Mumbai: Last year, computer science in IIT-B opened at rank 1 and closed at rank 47. All the 44 seats for the general category students were filled by the JEE toppers who joined the Powai campus. Of the 50 top-100 JEE rankers who got into IIT-Bombay, 44 took up computer science and engineering.

But this year, of the 54 top-100 students, 10 have ditched computer science and engineering and given electrical engineering as their first preference. IITMadras director M S Ananth told TOI, “Telecommunication is on the top, at least neck and neck with computer science. Electrical engineering is as much a rage as computer science, at least in the IITs. After that we have most students opting for mechanical engineering.’’

In 2003, all eyes were on All India JEE rank 2 Yashodhan Kanoria—who had dumped computer science for electrical engineering. Sure, as IIT-B director Ashok Misra said, toppers do, “once in a while’’ take up electrical engineering. But the numbers over the years, sources say, have been rising.

In fact, as admissions opened at the new IIT-Hyderabad, at rank 600, the toppers chose electrical engineering. Similarly, at IITGandhinagar, too the story repeats itself. The six new IITs offer popular courses like computer science and engineering, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. tnn hemali.chhapia@timesgroup.com

Debarata Tom Sarkar Cruise...

Howrah man on a mission wheels his way into city

Priyanko Sarkar | TNN

Mumbai: It is easy to get fooled by 43-year-old Debabrata Sarkar’s slight frame. But this third degree black belt karate expert is a man on a mission. His aim is to rehabilitate prisoners, and identify and help schoolchildren with behavioural problems.

He has travelled on his bike from Kolkata across Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and plans to end his journey in Gandhinagar and then return to West Bengal, notching up over a thousand kilometres in the process.

Sarkar says he drew inspiration from his late father, a police inspector who helped many prisoners. “But some incidents in my childhood also changed my life,’’ he says. The Howrah resident had once gone to watch a Hindi movie starring Amitabh Bachchan and received a sound thrashing from his brother, forcing him to run away to Mumbai. “I was a naughty 10-year old. I came to Grant Road and worked as a domestic help for a fortnight before calling off the whole thing and returning home,” recalls Sarkar.

But that adventure paved way for many more such trips in his life. “On numerous occasions, I was put behind bars where I realised how easy it is for criminals to get back to crime because of lack of rehabilitation measures,” he says.

It was then that he founded an NGO called Salkia Safar to help criminals. He now plans to go to school along with psychiatrists and identify “problemchildren’’. He says he has not seen Minority Report, but his ideas are close to what Tom Cruise and his team set out to do: eliminate crime before it actually happens.

“But it is not an easy task convincing ministers, jail authorities and even the criminals. Nobody trusts us initially. Nobody has given us funds too,” he rues, half-smiling at the irony of it all before adding, “The system is not foolproof. I can’t promise that crime will come down to zero but we have to find out why students of international schools are shooting each other, isn’t it?”

LOOKING AHEAD: Debabrata Sarkar wants to rehabilitate prisoners and identify and help children with behavioural problems

Mission Admission...

20K e-forms filled till Monday night

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: After a late start on Friday and glitches on Saturday, the state’s website for online admissions to junior college has taken off with 20,000 applications filed till Monday night. They were filed by 5,000 students.

Students who have registered themselves on the website will receive a free SMS informing them of whether or not they have made it to the merit list of any college they applied to.

While 1,000 of the 4,000-odd students who applied to Mithibai College opted for online admissions, 6,000 of the 10,000 students applying to K C College went in for e-admissions. At HR, one-third of the 4,000-odd applications were made online.

“The website is working smoothly and we have sorted out all the technical difficulties initially faced,’’ said Jitendra Shah, architect of mumbaiapplication.com. He added that those who face any difficulty should check their own internet connectivity. “If you have a problem applying to a particular college, delete all the cookies on your computer,’’ he said.

If there’s poor connectivity on the computer from which you’re applying, and you have to click several times on the submit button for a particular college, the website usually deals with the problem, said Shah. However, there’s a 1% chance that the website will record multiple applications. In that case, the student will receive a message from the site.

A few Shiv Sena shakhas in the suburbs installed computers with internet connectivity and invited students to apply online. However, after the early technical glitches, the Shiv Sainiks grew agitated and repeatedly called the state education department demanding an explanation. They were later pacified and the admissions process continued smoothly.

PAPER CHASE: A large number of offline admission forms have been sold as students initially adopted a wait-and-watch attitude towards the online system

Getting on-Board!

Crossing over to another board is also an option

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: Looking for variety? If you’re a Class X student, you have a lot of options. Besides choosing from the arts, science or commerce streams, you can also opt for an education under any board you want, not just the one you passed out of.

For instance, SSC students need not opt for the HSC in Class XI and XII. Instead, they can apply to national boards like the ISC and CBSE as well as foreign boards like the International Baccalaureate (IB). ICSE and CBSE students can also opt for other boards.

Like with colleges, schools too have their own cut-offs. Some even have their own entrance tests for students from other boards. “Not many SSC students know that they can switch over to boards like the ISC. It’s only after we advertised in neighbouring schools that we received applications from SSC students for the ISC course at our school,’’ said Carl Laurie, principal, Christ Church School, Byculla, an ICSE school that has started the ISC for the first time this year. Of 150 applications the school received for the course, 20 are from SSC students.

“We take in students based on their Class X scores in a particular subject. For instance, if a student wants to opt for science, we take into account their science and math scores,’’ says Vandana Lulla, principal, Podar International School, Santa Cruz. She adds that students from all boards opt for the IB course at her school. “SSC students are able to cope with the IB curriculum,’’ she adds.

In addition to Class X scores, at the three DAV schools in Mumbai that offer the CBSE, a diagnostic test is given to students from other boards. “Our teachers are equipped to help students from other boards adapt to the CBSE,’’ says K B Kushal, regional director, DAV Institutions, adding that 10 to 15 students who apply to each of the three schools in Class XI are from the SSC board.

COLLEGE SCAN: ST XAVIER’S

Scripting success from college days

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: “A happy time.’’ That’s how actor Shabana Azmi
d e s c r i b e s her stint at St Xavier’s College in Dhobi Talao as she rewinds to fond memories of the years she spent there. It was on that campus, known for its Gothic structures, that she realised she was seriously interested in acting.

The college, with its strong emphasis on extra-curricular activities, proved to be an ideal nurturing hub. “At that time (early ‘70s) there was only an English theatre group. I and Farooq Sheikh, who was two years my senior, formed the Hindi Natya Manch,’’ she says with an unmistakable hint of pride. They went on to bag all the inter-collegiate acting awards that year, she recalls.

Azmi graduated from St Xavier’s in 1973 with a Bachelor of Arts and specialisations in psychology and sociology. She doesn’t get to return to her alma mater often enough, but says she still feels happy when she sees the campus in scenes on television or in the movies.

Things have changed a lot since her time there, she feels, citing the professional and commercial introductions that are evident on campuses. The inter-collegiate festival, Malhar, hosted by the college is an example. “At that time, all the money that we had to put in was from our pockets. The sets were furniture from a friend who stayed near the college and we made do with whatever there was. Now they have commercial sponsors for all of it,’’ she says.

Her message to students: “I consider formal education to be of great importance.’’

Other famous alumni:
Azim Premji, Kavita Krishnamoorthy, Swati Piramal, Fali Nariman, Pankaj Udhas, Soli Sorabjee, Alyque Padamsee, Charles Correa, Terence Lewis.

MILESTONES
St Xavier’s College was affiliated to the University of Bombay on January 30, 1869
The first three graduates of the college got their degrees in 1871
The college went co-ed in 1912 when girls were first admitted 660-SEATER: Xavier’s junior college has 330 seats in the arts stream and 330 in the science

ICONIC INSTITUTION: St Xavier’s is considered by many to be Mumbai’s premier college for arts and science

MERIT MAYHEM AHEAD...

Cut-Offs Set To Soar, Thanks To Normalisation Of Scores & Higher SSC Marks. Merit List Toppers Could Have Over 100%

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: In the midst of an admission season that’s full of uncertainty, with higher-than-usual SSC scores and the state government’s sudden decision to put marks scored by all boards on par, you can expect a merit list that looks very different from the one put up last year.

First of all, the cut-offs on merit lists are expected to soar. Secondly, one can expect more SSC students to occupy top slots on college merit lists.

Thanks to the extreme uncertainty prevalent in the student community, at a time when even 90% doesn’t seem to be enough, bright students with high scores are going into overdrive, applying to half-a-dozen colleges to have back-ups. This will result in the cut-offs for the first merit list going sky-high.

For instance, while K C College, Churchgate, has 240 seats in junior college, the college has received more than 240 applications from students who got over 90%. So the cut-offs this year will be exceptionally high. And don’t be surprised if the student on top of the merit list has scored over 100%.

Thanks to the new ‘marks normalisation’ scheme introduced by the state government, if the toppers from any board applies to a particular college, their scores will definitely cross 100%. This is because the scores secured by any student will be divided by the average of the top 10 scores from that board and converted into a percentage. This means that if the topper from a particular board scores 99% and the average of the top 10 scores is 97%, the normalised score would give the topper 102%.

“I don’t know how the state government expects colleges to find out the top 10 scores in boards like the ICSE and CBSE, especially when they do not release a merit list,’’ said Ruia College principal Suhas Pednekar.

Pednekar said the normalisation scheme is a very superficial way of putting the scores from different boards on par, as the ICSE, SSC and CBSE boards are different, both in terms of content as well as assessment. Incidentally, around 10 to 15 years earlier, SSC students would routinely outscore ICSE and CBSE students. The result was that, during admission time, colleges would give ICSE students a good 5% more while preparing a merit list.

However, some principals feel that the new normalisation scheme will iron out the differences between different education boards. “In the last few years, the SSC topper would get 2 to 3% less than the ICSE topper,’’ said Kiran Mangaokar, principal, Mithibai College, Vile Parle.

ADMISSIONS SCHEDULE
June 27, 28, 30 & July 1: Sale of offline forms
June 27-30 & July 1-2: Submit forms. Online submission till 5.30pm, July 2 July 3, 1pm: Master merit list for online/offline July 3, 3pm: 1st merit list
July 3-5, till 5.30pm: Pay fees July 5, 5.30pm: 2nd merit list
July 7-8 till 5.30pm:
Pay fees July 8, 5.30pm: 3rd merit list
July 9-10, till 5.30pm: Pay fees July 10, 5.30pm: 4th merit list
July 11, till 5.30pm:
Pay fees July 11, 5.30pm: 5th merit list
July 12, till 5.30pm:
Pay fees

TIME FOR REFLECTION: Students seeking admission chat with one another at a city college on a rainy Monday. The first merit list, which will be out on Thursday, is expected to have higher cut-offs than before.

450 year old tradition of education...

An A-plus accreditation by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council is just one of the reasons why St Xavier’s is a popular name in academic circles.

Principal Fr Frazer Mascarenhas says the college boasts of a 450-year-old Jesuit tradition of education that concentrates on the overall personality development of the students. “Our focus isn’t on students becoming toppers, but we are interested in students loving the subject he or she is interested in,’’ he says. A committed faculty is the college’s USP, he adds.

The college boasts of a long list of co-curricular and extracurricular activities. It is well known for the inter-collegiate festival Malhar that puts on display the creative streak. Those with a social bent can turn to the Social Service League, while the Honours programme inculcates a habit of research.

The heritage campus, with its architectural beauty, also houses the Indian Music Group, which promotes and documents classical music and hosts the annual Janfest. TNN