State likely to regulate school fees from this yr

Anahita Mukherji I TNN

Mumbai: Is your child’s school charging you a bomb? Do you think the education the school offers isn’t worth the money you put out? Does the school hike fees with little transparency or accountability? If yes, the state government will soon come to your rescue.

State education minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil wants to create a body to regulate the fees charged by schools across the state. “While the Shikshan Shulka Samiti regulates fee for higher and technical education institutions, there is no such regulatory body for school education. We are working on setting up such a body in the next couple of months, so that fee regulations can be implemented for the coming academic year,’’ said Vikhe Patil.

Will this body regulate ICSE, CBSE and IB schools too? “Definitely,’’ says Vikhe Patil. “Any school that wants to function in Maharashtra must abide by the laws of the land.’’ Patil says he has received several complaints about profiteering by schools. “We cannot give schools the liberty to exploit the system,’’ he says.

The new fee regulatory committee will check a school’s balance sheets in order to gauge whether the fee charged is justified.

Parents say they support the government’s initiative. “It’s high time such a committee was set up. I also feel there should be a regulatory body to monitor whether the quality of education offered by a school is worth the fees that parents have to cough up,’’ said J Sarita, parent of a student of Ryan International School, Kharghar.

Online Complaints
Parents will soon be able to log on to the education department’s website and key in their complaints about a school. They are free to do this anonymously, said state education minister Vikhe-Patil. In addition, the education department plans to depute dedicated officers at the regional level who can be approached by parents with their grievances.

REGULATORY BODY
School fees: City parents welcome govt initiative
Mumbai: Parents have welcomed the government’s initiative in setting up a body that will regulate school fees.

A parent, whose child studies in an ICSE school in south Mumbai, agrees that there’s a need for some regulation when it comes to fees, but says it should not come at the cost of teachers’ salaries.

“I don’t believe that any system can be left entirely to the free market without government intervention. This includes the economy,’’ said Avnita Bir, principal of R N Podar, a CBSE school in Santa Cruz. Bir agrees there’s need for a regulatory body that audits schools, keeping the quality of education offered by the school in mind.

Several educationists, such as Fr Francis Swamy, principal of Holy Family School (Andheri), say fee regulation in schools will go a long way in encouraging affordable education in the state. “I have found that a large number of schools have absolutely no accountability when it comes to fees,’’ adds Arundhati Chavan, president at the PTA United Forum.

However, Meera Isaacs, principal of Cathedral and John Connon School, Fort, says a debate on the subject is needed before the regulatory body is put into place. While she seconds the view that profiteering in education should be stopped, she believes schools should have the freedom to develop themselves.

Reaching for the stars...

In the early 1960's ...India was slowly awakening to the Space age....Although rest of the world was preparing to reach for the Moon...we were making our humble beginning...a small rocket took off from Thumba on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram, announcing the birth of the modern space age in India. That was when the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) formally came into existence. Over the years, TERLS have given birth to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) and to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)...

This was how the Rocket Cone was transported to the Launch Pad at Thumba !!









November 21, 1963: The Nike Apache rocket being readied for launch







Try identifying the person on the left...most probably you wont be able to identify...

He is our very own...Dr. A.P J. Abdul Kalam....

Early days at the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station. Readying equipment to be carried by a sounding rocket into the atmosphere are Kalam and R. Aravamudan







The present day Launch Station at SriHarikota

UK primary school curriculum to include Twitter and Wikipedia

TIMES VIEW It’s a good move

The British government is considering a proposal to overhaul the country’s primary school curriculum. The new curriculum proposes to give schools more flexibility in what they teach while emphasising traditional areas of learning. At the same time, the curriculum will teach kids to use social networking websites like Twitter and Wikipedia as sources of information. Children will also be expected to become familiar with social networking sites as forms of communication. These proposals have drawn criticism from some quarters, which claim that an emphasis on social media skills is unnecessary in school.

But these measures, if implemented, will bring primary school curriculums into the 21st century. The suggestions to include social media in the curriculum are only a small part of the larger project to improve primary education. This would help kids to develop the necessary social skills they need to conduct themselves on the internet. As more of our communications move online, it is important that children have to follow some rules of comportment on cyberspace. The argument that they would pick it up anyway doesn’t hold — today’s adults also had to be taught how to write letters.

The internet is a wonderful digital aid for education, but it can also pose a danger to children. Paedophiles lurk on the many social networking sites on the Net, amongst other threats. And young kids, particularly in networked societies like the UK, do access the internet, with or without supervision. According to Ofcom, regulator of the UK’s communications industries, 59 per cent of five- to seven-year-olds access the internet at home. What better way for schools to fulfil their duty of care to young people than to teach them how to use the internet safely? Children do, after all, need computer skills to enable them to operate safely and effectively in order to capitalise on the wealth of knowledge and opportunities offered by the online world.

COUNTER VIEW It’s not a school’s business Sindhu Manjesh

Primary schools in England are set to adopt a radical new syllabus, which among other things, aims to equip students with skills to negotiate the world of social networking. The makeover is ostensibly in keeping with the times. But really, is the art of setting up social network homepages what primary schoolchildren should be taught in school? A primary school is where the foundation of conceptual thinking is laid.

Quality education during these years should focus on helping a student in understanding and applying concepts. This calls for a flexible syllabus and creative teaching methods, in keeping with the different needs of young students. To that end, the idea of replacing stand-alone subjects with six core learning areas — as the new curriculum proposes to — is a great idea.

But mastering Wikipedia, Twitter, blogs and social networking sites? Isn’t that taking creativity and flexibility too far? What’s more, students are reportedly going to be graded on assignments in this brave new project. Which means that they will be expected to not just be familiar with these areas but also devote time to excelling in them. Given how addictive the internet is, one can imagine just how many hours students can now fritter away, with licence. Get ready to welcome more mouse potatoes. You cannot complain, because they are busy doing homework.

Sure, one must adapt to a changing world. But virtual networks can only add to, not substitute, real social networks — of friends, colleagues and family — that form our support system. Replace the latter with the former and the result is a breakdown of social relationships, which leave people poorly equipped to navigate through the real world they are a part of. Poorly socialised people often end up being social misfits. Schools are the first place outside of home where children pick up social skills. Let schools focus on aiding students to get along with people around them and becoming confident individuals. Mastering the virtual world is something students are doing anyway.

TN executives turn vegetable vendors

Organic Veggies On Chennai Beach Bazaar

Kamini Mathai | TNN

Chennai: Rice from the boot of a Toyota Corolla. Mangoes from a Ford Endeavour. Vegetables from a Santro. They call it the car bazaar and you’re most likely to see them on Sunday mornings at Besant Nagar beach in Chennai. The veggies are sold by corporate execs and businessmen who have turned to organic farming with a passion. Some of them have taken to it as a stress-busting diversion from work or even as a hobby, others have woken up to the idea of using inherited land to supplement their income.

For Sankaran Raghunathan, a professor of management, the initiative began in November 2005 when his dissatisfaction with the quality of spinach in the market prompted him to take matters into his own hands. “I decided to grow my own spinach organically on my farmland. But I ended up growing much more than I needed and so I decided to bundle the extra spinach into my Ford and bring it to Elliots Beach on a Sunday,” says Sankaran.

Initially, family and friends were a bit sceptical about the idea, but the response he got from shoppers made up for it. “I landed on the beach in my Endeavour on a Sunday at 6am. Some morning walkers thought since I was selling it from the boot of an SUV, the vegetables would be expensive. I sold only half my produce that day. Next week, people in the nearby slums began buying from me; then everyone started lining up. The spinach sold out and I started driving to Besant Nagar every Sunday from then,” says Sankaran, 51.

Another incongrous figure on the beach selling veggies from a swanky car is Shyam Sekhar. He has an infrastructure business, and owes his part-time stint as an agriculturist to his father who was passionate about farming. The family had land near Kancheepuram and Shyam decided it would be a good idea to grow something on it. For the last two years, he has been driving to Besant Nagar beach every Sunday morning and selling rice, gingelly oil, turmeric and pulses—all organic—from the boot and roof of his Corolla. This motley bunch has taken inspiration from one another: selling stuff on the street, dealing with long lines of customers, these are issues on which it helps to share notes. “Now that the demand has increased, we have started bringing a truck full of vegetables with us,” says IT professional Venkata Subramaniam, who started out in a Santro some years ago. He and his wife Srivalli run an online company, but the idea of selling fresh farm products has found so many takers that they have expanded the scope of their business and are now selling even at stores during the week.

Their clientele is regular and vouches for the quality of produce. Homemaker Sujatha Ravi says her husband saw Sankaran selling spinach one morning during his walk and brought a bunch home. “It was the best spinach I had ever made,” says Sujatha.

Sankaran averages Rs 1,200 to Rs 1,800 with his 150 bundles of spinach and 40 kg of vegetables. And now, with the mangoes, he makes an additional Rs 60 per kilo. Shyam makes Rs 3,000 each Sunday. “I’ve got many regulars now that I have started door deliveries,” says Shyam, although the infrastructure firm still remains his mainstay.

The fascination for agri activity may have something to do with the pressures of urban life. PB Murali who organises a weekend market at his house on Luz Church Road, pursued a career in marketing and stock-broking before he took to farming on the outskirts of Chennai.

CAR MARKET: Like Srivalli and Venkata Subramaniam (top) and Shyam Shekar (above), executives and businessmen have taken to organic farming in their farmlands. On Sundays, they park their Fords or Corollas at Chennai beaches and sell the farm produce from the roof or boot of their cars. While it’s a stress-busting diversion from work for some, for others it’s a means to supplement income

Children show how to save power

Chittaranjan Tembhekar | TNN

Mumbai: Around 100 families living in the plush Evershine Greens complex on New Link Road in Oshiwara may not know who their neighbours are, but they surely know about 10-year-old Unnayan Mishra, a student of Bhakti Vedanta Swami Mission School, who lives in the same complex.

People here not only know Mishra but also implement the power-saving tips he has passed on to them. Till recently, Mishra’s neighbour Bhagwan Chandnani did not know that a fully loaded washing machine and a half-loaded one used the same power. So, Chandnani is using the machine only once and has saved power, which is now evident in the bills.

Mishra is not alone. Ritika Parate (Std VII, Hiranandani Foundation School), Bhakti Lakhani (Std VIII, Greenlawns High School) and Yugal Narang (Vibgyor High School student) are some of the others in the area who have convinced their neighbours to follow several energy-saving tips to bring down their household electricity bills.

These kids are a few of the 38,000-plus people, including children from 26 schools across the city, their teachers and parents, who have started “lighting up’’ their neighbours’ minds. This huge force has come together under the banner of Energy Club, promoted by Tata Power, and their number is swelling.

“Children will make a difference. Their movement has helped people save an average 10%-12% on power bills. It’s a big hit,’’ Tata Power managing director Prasad Menon said.

HERE’S HOW YOU CAN GET A LOWER ELECTRICITY BILL
Devices like TVs, VCRs, DVD players and mobile chargers eat up maximum power, even on standby; turn these off when not in use Switch off power from the main supply point as it saves 5% power Use dimmers to reduce electrical load and power consumption of lamps For desktop work, use tasklighting Do not use air-conditioners below 24⁰ C; you spend up to 5% more electricity for every degree below that Use tinted glass or solar windows to save 40% energy consumed by an AC

Refrain from opening the fridge too often and keep it full; if there is nothing, at least keep a container of ice in the freezer

Lowering refrigeration temperature only wastes power. Set it between 3⁰ C & 5⁰ C and the freezer temperature between 18⁰ C & 15⁰ C

Shortening the hot-water tank pipe from 10 m to 3 m will save enough energy in one month to heat water for 10 showers; thin pipes are more energy-efficient than thicker ones

Avoid use of appliances between 10 am and 8 pm as it is a peak power consumption time

Computers use up to 70% less electricity when you put them in sleep mode; so don’t use screen-savers

Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent lights

A laptop uses up to 90% less energy than desktop models