CHILDREN OF A LESSER BOARD

Non-SSC Students Look To Bombay HC For Succour As It Decides What To Do With The State’s Normalisation Plans

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: Tuesday is likely to be one of the most important dates of the academic calendar for about 17,000 students from Mumbai who have just passed out of class X this year from the ICSE and CBSE boards.

All the action, however, is going to take place outside the classroom and inside one of the rooms of Bombay High Court. Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar is likely to take up for judicial scrutiny the state government’s attempts to “normalise’’ marks of all class-X pass-outs across boards after parents of some ICSE students filed a public interest litigation against it. These parents have alleged that the process is not fair to ICSE and CBSE students and gives SSC students a headstart in the race for a seat in a Mumbai junior college.

More than 12,000 city students have passed out of class X from schools affiliated to the Indian Certificate for Secondary Education this year; the number of students who passed out of the Central Board of Secondary Education-affiliated schools was 3,345. Many of these students have suffered because of the state government’s efforts at standardising marks, say their parents and educationists.

The formula the government worked out led to an average rise of 4 per cent in marks of Mumbai’s 2.72 lakh SSC students; but marks of ICSE and CBSE students went up by only around 2 per cent after the “normalisation’’.

Besides the vagaries of the formula, the way the state education department went about the whole process left hundreds of high-scorers in the ICSE and CBSE examinations high and dry. The plans were announced only after junior colleges in Mumbai started selling admission forms and, by the time the sale of forms was over, very few ICSE and CBSE students — or even their parents — had realised what was happening.

They went by last year’s cut-offs in colleges and found that the rules of the game had changed drastically, thanks to the state government’s attempts at “normalising” marks of students of boards that had different syllabi and different marking systems.

Hundreds of students found themselves nowhere on the merit list of colleges of their choice or failed to get a seat in the subject of their choice. And, worse still, they had no way of going for lesserknown colleges as the sale of forms was already over.

The situation, say parents of the affected students, is particularly worrisome at homes where an ICSE or a CBSE passout has failed to get into a college of choice despite scoring in the 80s or 80s. TOI, over the past few days, has spoken to dozens of these students.

More than 650 Mumbai students, of schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary
Education, have scored 90 per cent or above and 1,021 have scored in the 80s. The percentage of high-scorers would be similar in case of those from schools affiliated to ICSE as well, say teachers and principals of schools affiliated to the ICSE board in Mumbai.

But it is not only ICSE and CBSE students who are unhappy with the state’s “stepmotherly attitutde”. Students of Mumbai’s international schools, too, have complained of a getting a raw deal.

Their class-X scores will only be out in August and so colleges are giving them provisional admission on the basis of their “projected scores’’ or the grades they have scored in their mock exams. But these scores are not converted into percentiles as colleges say it’s difficult to convert mock exam grades into percentiles.

LEFT IN THE LURCH
The way the state education department has gone about ‘normalising’ marks of students has resulted in all-round chaos

DARKNESS AT NIGHT
The government website announces on 27 June its plans to normalise marks of students from all the boards, the same day junior colleges start selling admission forms. The notice, say students and principals alike, is first seen on the website only after college hours.

UNFOLDING DRAMA
The details of how the government plans to normalise scores break out gradually over the next day. A section of the media talks of a strange formula that is going to be used: 10 top scores of all three boards (ICSE, CBSE, SSC) are going to be added up and then divided by 10 to give that board’s ‘representative’ marks. The formula works out to 100 multiplied by the total marks of a student divided by 97.8 (for an ICSE student) or 97.74 (for a CBSE student) or 96.12 (for an SSC student).

THE SECRET FORMULA
Newspapers across the city report in detail about the new formula. But, even then, there is no official briefing by the state education department to explain the intricate details of the formula.

IT’S TOO LATE
Colleges close their sales counters for admission forms on 1 July (Tuesday) even as students (and their parents) try to decipher the government formula. Hundreds of ICSE, CBSE students with high scores do not go the the second-rung colleges at all because they are confident of getting a seat in a college of their choice.

CUT OFF FROM COLLEGE
Colleges announce their first merit list on 3 July and only then do ICSE, CBSE students realise what has hit them. Very few of them are on that first merit list despite scoring high marks. Anxious parents move Bombay High Court for justice. 89% but vocational science remains out of reach

Sixteen-year-old Pranay Bhargav is not just an average student. He slogged for over a year to score 89 per cent in his class-X exams. But he is learning the hard way that, in these days of “normalised’’ marks’’, even 89 per cent is not enough to guarantee him a seat in a college or subject of his choice. Bhargav has just about managed to scrape through into Jai Hind College in the third merit list and, even there, has failed to get the subject of his choice. The ICSE student from Lilavatibai Podar School has taken admission in biology in Jai Hind College after not getting vocational science.

Bhargav’s first choice was Mithibai College or Ruia College and had also applied to D G Ruparel College, Sathaye College and Jai Hind College. “Two of my friends who scored about 89 per cent got into Mithibai science (vocational) last year. The normalisation process has benefited SSC students much more. But the ICSE syllabus is very tough and I, too, have worked a lot for the score I have got,’’ he said. 82% and still without a berth

Astudent from a Bandra school, affiliated to the Indian Certificate for Secondary Education board, has gone into depression after failing to secure admission in any college in Bandra despite getting 82.71 per cent in her class-X examination. “We are anxious and frustrated and we are now just banking on the Bombay High Court order. We applied to all the colleges in Bandra and actually went according to the cut-offs that colleges used till last year. We never thought in our wildest dreams that the scenario would change so drastically this year,’’ the girl’s mother told TOI on Monday. She felt that it was unfair to compare two very different boards (ICSE or the Central Board of Secondary Education with the state board) and try and put the marks on par. “ICSE is actually much tougher than SSC and requires a lot more knowledge and analysis from students and a lot less mugging,” she said on Monday. The court needs to know that this is morally wrong. We feel so helpless right now. All we can do is wait for a favourable order,’’ she added. 92% but refused by 4 colleges

Rahul Nagpal has always been among the top three or top five students in his class in school. And that consistency is evident in his class-X performance as well; he has scored 92.28 per cent in his Indian Certificate for Secondary Education board examinations. But Nagpal, who applied to five colleges, got through into only one of them. He had applied to Sathaye College, D G Ruparel College, Mithibai College, Ruia College and National College for science (vocational). And only one of them, Bandra’s National College, had a place for him. Nagpal is already preparing to take the Common Entrance Test for engineering next year. “What I have scored, 92.28 per cent, is a good score. I thought that I would get into any college of my choice with a score like that,’’ he trailed off. He said he was keen on getting into Sathaye College and confessed that he had never thought that the fall-out of the government’s marks-normalisation scheme would be so disastrous.

CODE OF CONDUCT

Teaching is a unique experience but it also brings with it huge responsibilities. For those turning teachers, here are some guidelines...

Code 1 RESPECT
It’s important to treat all children with respect and pay heed to their ideas & opinions. Also, respect their privacy. Personal information shared by them should be kept confidential. Volunteers should not take photographs of children.

Code 2 PROFESSIONALISM
Volunteers need to conduct themselves in a professional manner. Expletives and profanities should not be used. Physical disciplining of the child is to be avoided. Volunteers should be aware of their function as role models and present a positive image. Arriving for a class on time is a must. The names — TOI or UN Volunteers (UNV)— should not be used by volunteers for any purpose.

Code 3 NO DISCRIMINATION
Volunteers should not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, gender, caste, language, religion, wealth and ability. They should not use prejudiced language or behave in an improper manner with children during the campaign. They should be impartial.

Code 4 AVOID CONTACT
Volunteers should refrain from any inappropriate physical contact with the children taking part in the campaign. It is not advisable to be in contact with the children beyond teaching hours and after the campaign period. No single volunteer should be alone with a child during the period he has volunteered to teach, except with the permission of the host NGO.

Code 5 REPORT
Volunteers should report any incident of child abuse that they happen to come across during the campaign. They should also report any inappropriate behaviour while dealing with children. They should report to the TOI regional co-ordinator, UNV programme officer or the TOI HQ team. Breach of any other code should also be reported.

Sign on only if you can stay on

Don’t Treat It Like A Sprint, It’s A 3-Month Marathon, Say NGOs. And Conditions Can Be Tough

Amrita Singh | TNN

Volunteering can be both fulfilling and fun. It leaves one with a warm glow inside. After all, what can be better than giving back to society, especially in a country like India with such distressing disparities. But while volunteering should certainly start with this altruistic impulse, say social workers that are in the business of nation building, it takes more than desire to stay the course. Therefore, signing on for Teach India in a flush of enthusiasm is one thing, running the full three month marathon quite another.

Those in non-profit organizations say that being a volunteer is a bit like being a civil soldier—the conditions are not always pretty. Tents in slums and down-at-heel municipal classrooms are going to be where the action is, not air-conditioned offices in glass buildings. This could be a world quite removed from the comfortable home-to-office rut most of us move in. But if you don’t allow these superficial downers to get under your skin, there couldn’t be a better fit than you for the job.

C K Mathew of Dipalaya, a Delhibased NGO in education, says, “Sometimes when young volunteers come face to face with poor working conditions—no air conditioning, no electricity and not even a chair to sit on, they simply drop out and stop coming from the next day itself.’’

Mathew hastens to add, however, that this is perfectly okay as long as the volunteers know what they want and don’t expect the NGOs to be overly grateful to them for having spared time from their busy lives for poor kids. NGOs are also wary of volunteers who come to them with a slightly more dubious motive—buffing their CVs so that they get into a posh US college or land a job with the NGO itself. “Some people come to us and say they want to volunteer, and later, they say they want to join us. So when we have a vacancy, they get the job and then go away to study abroad. That’s been a pattern with many young volunteers,’’ says Mathew.

Jerry Pinto, a Mumbai-based writer and child rights activist, says more than anything else volunteers should have a very clear purpose and motive. “While there may be spin-offs of volunteering like emotional satisfaction or perhaps blessings in the next life, they should understand that their primary purpose is to give back to society in whatever little way they can,’’ says Pinto, who is a consultant to the NGO Butterflies. “Only someone who truly comes with that kind of motive can build a rapport with us and remain motivated in the long run.’’

At Dipalaya, Mathew intends to use volunteers for the personal contact programme—a sort of bridging school for children who are self-learning or are from the open school. However, he would also welcome specialist volunteers. “Besides regular subjects, we would be glad if some of the volunteers can give their time to making life a little more colourful and fun for these kids by teaching music, dance or painting,’’ says Mathew.

Shubhra Chatterji, director of Kolkata-based NGO Vikramshila, is particularly happy about the response from housewives. “A lot of them have signed up, which I think is a very positive thing. Housewives, usually don’t have the time constraint that working people have and so they can be of immense help to any NGO.”

NGOs are also hoping their relationship with the volunteers continues even after the Teach India programme and becomes a long-term one. “We are hopeful that after being sensitized to the problems of poor kids, at least a few will continue to give us their time and support,’’ says Mathew. As Wesley, programme officer with Chennai-based NGO World Vision, says, “Interacting with professionals is hugely motivating for these kids and makes a huge difference to their lives.”

WANTED: Volunteers For Weekdays
While the response to the Teach India outreach has been tremendous, most people have signed up for evening weekend sessions. While this is under-standable and commendable—taking time out from your one Sunday is not easy—there are many weekday slots, which could do with more volunteers. What’s more, weekdays work better for the children since these dovetail with their schoolgoing hours. “We hope our volunteers will also consider signing on for weekday sessions,’’ says Mathew. Most NGOs would prefer their volunteers to join the morning 8 to 11 sessions but weekdays between 4-6 pm is also good. Chatterji of NGO Vikramshila says, “We have a lot of options for a volunteer who wants to give time.”

US firm turns CO2 emissions into Green Carbon

Washington: A small company in the US is developing an alternative for carbon sequestration that takes carbon dioxide (CO ² ) and tailings from mining operations and turns the mix into materials of a “higher order” for use in a variety of industrial, agricultural, and environmental applications, which has been dubbed as ‘green carbon’.

According to a report in ENN (Environmental News Network), Carbon Sciences, founded by CEO Derek McLeish, has developed a relatively simple technology that puts the brew under pressure and temperature to create PCC (precipitated calcium carbonate). Traditionally, calcium carbonate is produced through an energy-intensive process using expensive materials such as limestone.

The ‘green carbon’ technology takes this normally exhaustive process and simplifies it, thus producing a useful, benign material while transforming carbon emissions instead of simply sequestering it.

Carbon neutral operations don’t release any additional CO ² into the atmosphere, nor do they reduce CO ² levels either. When applying green carbon technology to a carbon neutral process, say an ethanol plant, that process actually reduces the amount of CO ² , thus making it carbon negative. Not only is Green Carbon a method for removal and transformation (as opposed to storage) of CO ² , McLeish contends that the technology can produce PCC at a lower cost than traditional processes and also points out that as carbon credit markets come online, users will automatically realize additional cost reductions when the CO ² consumed in green carbon is sold as carbon credits.

From paper to plastic, wallboard to fertilizer, PCC is a common component of many everyday products, materials, and industrial processes. ANI

Govt’s normalisation order has ‘ambiguities’

Anahita Mukherji | TNN

Mumbai: The state’s government resolution (GR) on marks normalisation for junior college admissions appears to be ambiguous and open to interpretation on a couple of counts.

Point 4 of the GR, which is put up on the state government website, states: “Ya sutramadhye kanishth mahavidyalaya staravareel pravesh prakriya hot aahe he gruhit dharun kanishth mahavidyalayastareeya percentile paddhati suchvili aahe.’’ This means that the percentile system should be implemented at the college level.

However, a parent with a law background who scrutinised the GR said the line could also mean that each college should implement its own percentile system. In other words, a college should consider the scores of the top 10 applicants to it from a particular board when calculating percentiles, and not the scores of the overall 10 toppers of that board. Incidentally, this is what the government had initially planned.

The next line in the circular adds to the confusion. “Kendriya Paddhateene pravesh hot aslelya arjancha vichar karoon pahilya 5 kiva 10 vidyarthyanchya gunanchya sarasareene uprokt paddhat vapraata ye-eel.’’ Translated, this means: For a centralised admission process the scores of the top 5 or top 10 students must be taken into account while calculating percentiles.

It is unclear why a centralised admission process is brought up at all. The process is currently used in cities like Pune and requires a central body to admit students to all colleges.

“Why is there a special mention of how to calculate percentiles for the centralised admission procedure. The circular seems to clearly state that this is the rule for the centralised system. Then, for a decentralised system, like in Mumbai, where admissions are done at the college level, the colleges should calculate their own average of the top percentiles,’’ said one parent.

When TOI read out the concerned lines in the GR to a principal, he said the ambiguity was present. State education secretary Sanjay Kumar said it was not possible for the GR to talk of the top 5 or 10 scores for centralised admissions. “You are not looking at the correct GR,’’ he said. However, the GR that TOI referred to is on the Maharashtra government website and the link to it is tagged “Normalisation in 10th standard students’ marks.’’ It is dated June 27, the night the GR was issued.

Kumar said the government was clear on the fact that percentiles would be calculated on the basis of the top 10 scores at the board level.

LOOKING FOR HELP: Many students hope the admissions reopen today.

Approach govt, not media: Edu secy

Mumbai: Education secretary Sanjay Kumar told TOI that if anybody had a problem with the marks normalisation process they should approach the government and not the media.

Principals and parents said the system is unfair because the normalised scores—or percentiles—of ICSE and CBSE students go up by an average of 2 points over the actual percentage, and for an SSC student by as much as 4 points. However, the actual percentages of students from the boards of other states and the IGCSE are used. Percentiles are calculated by dividing a student’s score by the average of the top 10 scores in his/her board and multiplying the result by 100.

The principals and parents refused to be named as they feared repercussions. A parent initially brought the flaw to TOI’s notice. ICSE parents expressed surprise when told of the drawback. A college principal said the entire normalisation process was flawed.

Many students from other states apply to Mumbai’s colleges, especially to minority institutions with quotas. For instance, a number of students from the Gujarat board apply to colleges with a Gujarati quota. TNN

KEEPING THEIR FINGERS CROSSED

Students seek end to doubts

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: Parents and students who still need to secure admission to junior colleges are keeping their fingers crossed in the hopes of a favourable court verdict today. A week after the Bombay High Court stayed admissions, many students—those who made it to the third list but didn’t finalise admissions and those still waiting to get in—are expected to do the rounds of colleges today.

“We don’t know what is going to happen. It is rather uncertain,’’ said Mekta Goel, who passed out of JB Petit School with 85%. “My friends and I have decided to keep tabs on what the order is and we will spread out to different colleges accordingly. We are hoping admissions begin again soon,’’ she added. Goel missed getting into HR College’s third list by 1%

Parents are worried too. Many plan to take time off from work or leave early to reach colleges in time. “After all these complications, my son Piyush has become very nervous. He scored 65% and has applied to several colleges for commerce but has not made it yet. Usually, with this score, it is not very difficult to secure admission in commerce,’’ said Hanita Khosla. “I will go to colleges in the morning and am hoping that the admission process begins quickly so colleges can begin the year in time,’’ she added.

For Sanjana Athalye’s (name changed) daughter, who studied in AVM School, the wait has been endless.

“We have been praying that the court decides quickly and our uncertainty ends. My daughter missed the second list at National College by 0.6 percentile. Moreover, the normalisation was a bigger problem for her because she passed out from ICSE,’’ she said. “We are very helpless now. I hope this frustrating experience comes to an end.

“If the 70:30 quota is scrapped, colleges may have to redo their second and third merit lists, and chances of us losing seats cannot be ruled out,’’ said Sani Qureshi, who got into the third list of Jai Hind College but is yet to seal his admission.

toireporter@timesgroup.com