Professor Yashpal speaking at the inaugural session J ULY AND OCTOBER 2009 SAARC Seminar LIFE ETERNAL THROUGH LEARNING The intertwined Hansas symbolise the integration of three aspects of the work of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT): (i) Research and Development, (ii) Training, and (iii) Extension. The design has been adapted from an Ashokan period relic of the third century B.C. found in excavations near Maske in the Raichur district of Karnataka. The motto has been taken from the Isavasya Upanishad and means life eternal through learning. Curriculum Group of the NCERT organised an International Seminar on ‘School Curriculum: Policies and Practices in South Asian Countries’ during 10-12 August 2009 at New Delhi. Fifty participants from India and twelve participants from other SAARC countries, namely, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka participated in the seminar. The objective was to provide a forum for sharing and exchange of ideas and experiences related to curriculum policies and practices in South Asian countries. The seminar was inaugurated by Professor Yashpal, a renowned scientist and educationist. Nine sessions were held on the following themes : • Curriculum for quality education – issues and challenges in curriculum development. • Policy perspective and process of developing curriculum, syllabi and textbooks. • Curriculum, syllabi and textbooks for various curricular subjects. • Systemic conditions for implementation of curriculum – infrastructure, teachers and examination reforms. • Curriculum and social justice: Issues related to gender, marginalised and physically and mentally challenged. Each session was chaired by an eminent educationist with presentations by participants. Professor Yashpal emphasised the need to examine the curriculum from child’s perspective and said that
Transcript
Professor Yashpal speaking at the inaugural session
JULY AND OCTOBER 2009
SAARC Seminar
LIFE ETERNAL THROUGHLEARNING
The intertwined Hansassymbolise the integration of three
aspects of the work of theNational Council of EducationalResearch and Training (NCERT):(i) Research and Development,(ii) Training, and (iii) Extension.
The design has been adapted from anAshokan period relic of the third
century B.C. found in excavationsnear Maske in the Raichur district
of Karnataka.
The motto has been taken from theIsavasya Upanishad and means
life eternal through learning.
Curriculum Group of the NCERT organised anInternational Seminar on ‘School Curriculum: Policies andPractices in South Asian Countries’ during 10-12 August2009 at New Delhi. Fifty participants from India and twelveparticipants from other SAARC countries, namely,Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and SriLanka participated in the seminar. The objective was toprovide a forum for sharing and exchange of ideas andexperiences related to curriculum policies and practicesin South Asian countries. The seminar was inauguratedby Professor Yashpal, a renowned scientist andeducationist.
Nine sessions were held on the following themes :• Curriculum for quality education – issues and
challenges in curriculum development.
• Policy perspective and process of developingcurriculum, syllabi and textbooks.
• Curriculum, syllabi and textbooks for variouscurricular subjects.
• Systemic conditions for implementation of curriculum– infrastructure, teachers and examination reforms.
• Curriculum and social justice: Issues related to gender,marginalised and physically and mentally challenged.
Each session was chaired by an eminent educationist withpresentations by participants.
Professor Yashpal emphasised the need to examine thecurriculum from child’s perspective and said that
2 NCERT NEWS/July-October 2009
Participants browsing through textbooks
knowledge is constructed from textbooks aswell as by connecting learning with the worldoutside. School education should keepboundaries between disciplines transparentand porous. Commonalities of issues andsolutions can be shared across countries.
Professor Krishna Kumar, Director, NCERTsaid that educational experience arises out ofbringing together the mind of a teacher and of astudent. This distinctive experience giveseducation a certain quality, and a relationalaspect. Philosophers and scholars like Buddha,Plato, Rabindranath Tagore and Piaget haverecognised the agency of ‘child’ in theeducational process. Professor Kumar quotedMahatma Gandhi’s statement that if textbooksare to dominate teaching, what is the value of‘teacher’ agency.
Ideas that emerged during the seminar
• To improve the quality of education,enhance the quality of educationalexperience.
• Child centred curriculum and pedagogygives primacy to experiences and voices ofchildren and makes learning participatoryand meaningful.
• Disparities in education arising frominequalities of gender, caste, languages,culture and religions must be addressed.
• Inclusive education, social justice andmulti-lingualism are common concerns forall SAARC countries.
• Socio-economic and cultural diversity inclassroom should be seen as an asset.
• The curriculum framework, syllabus andtextbooks are developed centrally in allSAARC countries. But India permits statesto develop their own curriuclum, syllabi andtextbooks. It was agreed that curriculumshould be contextualised but developingcontextualised textbooks is a challengingtask. Efforts made by India in this directionwere appreciated.
• Mathematics curriculum of Pakistan,Bangladesh and other SAARC countries isin terms of content only. India presentedsyllabus and textbooks where pedagogy isintergrated with content.
• Science is an observational, experimentalsubject. based on ‘inquiry’ approach andshould provide ‘hands-on’ experiencces tostudents. However, textbooks of SAARCcountries give only scientific theories andprinciples and provide no space for studentquestions/experiments. Textbooksdeveloped by NCERT in the the light of NCF–2005 were considered ‘model’.
• Social science subjects such as history andpolitical science are influenced by politicalideology of each countries.
• All SAARC countries have rich heritage andtradition of crafts. Nepal, Maldives and Indiateach Arts in schools. In some countries,health education is integrated with Sciencewhereas others teach Health separately.Work as pedagogical medium advocated byIndia was a new concept for other SAARCcountries. There was common agreement toinclude these areas, namely, Arts, HeritageCrafts and Health and Physical Educationas curricular areas.
• Non-availability of qualified teachers andissue of retaining competent teachers inschools was a common concern. It wasconcluded that good curricular practices ofdifferent SAARC countries should bestudied and documented. Special referencewas made about India’s efforts to developlearner-centred curriculum and textbooks;Bhutan’s policy of recruiting and retaininggood teachers in schools and Sri Lanka’sspiral curriculum at primary and modularcurriculum at secondary stage.
3NCERT NEWS/July-October 2009
Capacity Building Programmes
PROGRAMME ON QUESTION SETTING
A Capacity Building Programme for KeyResource Persons of Rajasthan Board ofSecondary Education on Question Setting wasorganised from 2 to 6 June 2009 at Udaipur.Theoretical deliberations were made on qualityquestion setting followed by practicum. Duringpracticum, exemplar quality questions forQuestion Banks were developed in differentsubjects namely, Hindi, English, Social Studies,Science and Mathematics. About 60 teachersand academic officers of the Rajasthan Boardof Secondary Education participated.
TRAINING PROGRAMME FOR DMS TEACHERS
The Department of Women’s Studies organised,for the first time, a training programme fordemonstration Multi-Purpose School at fourRIEs on Gender Issues in Education. Thespecific objectives were to develop skills inteachers for integrating gender issues indifferent disciplines and its transaction; makeclassroom management gender inclusive;promote and nurture a caring and harmoniousrelation between girls and boys.
Twenty-nine teachers participated in the 10days programme. The methodology adoptedwas a blend of theoretical and practicle work:resource lectures, discussions, group work, useof audiovisuals and field visits. Constantmonitoring and evalution formed an integralpart of the training programme.
YOGA IN SCHOOLS
The Position Paper National Focus Group onHealth and Physical Education states that bothYoga and physical education contribute thephysical development of the child as well aspsycho-social and mental development. Playinggroup games has a positive impact onindividual self esteem, promotes betterinteraction among children, imparts values ofco-operation, sharing and to deal with both
victory and defeat. Various studies have shownthat yoga contributes to flexibility and muscularfitness, corrects postural defects, andcontributes to improving learning, memory anddealing with stress and anxieties in children.Though Yoga has been an integral part of Healthand Physical Education up to Secondary Schoolstage since 1988, Yoga and physical educationhave not been given the due importance in theschool curriculum.
In order to promote teacher training in Yoga,MHRD was implementing a Centrally SponsoredScheme under QIS titled Introduction of Yogain Schools. In pursuance of decision of CCEA,Government of India, the Ministry of HumanResource Development (MHRD), transferred thescheme to National Council of EducationalResearch and Training (NCERT) w.e.f. April2006. The existing scheme of MHRD has beenrevised keeping in view the perspective of Healthand Physical Education. The scheme willcontinue to be operating as CentrallySponsored Scheme and assistance will be givenfor training teachers in Yoga in an integratedway as per the stipulation made in the NationalCurriculum Framework–2005 and the syllabusof Health and Physical Education. One timeassistance is also given for library assistance.The detailed scheme is available on NationalCouncil of Educational Research and Training’swebsite: www.ncert.nic.in. Up till now, nearly600 teachers have been trained under thescheme.
PROGRAMME FOR SCERT/SIE FACULTY
A fifteen-day capacity building programme forSCERT and SIE faculty was organised by DEMEat NCERT, New Delhi from July 27 to 10 August2009 in conducting achievement surveys andon educational evaluation with the academicsupport from SSA/TCF. A total of 38participants from 23 states and UTs attendedthe programme. There was focus onexamination reform initiatives suggested in theNational Curriculum Framework-2005 and its
4 NCERT NEWS/July-October 2009
Position Paper of Focus Group on ExaminationReforms. The five main areas covered were:concept of large-scale assessment, developmentof tests and tools for achievement surveys,sample and sampling techniques in surveys,data management in large scale assessment andmajor recommendations of the NCF-2005 onexamination reforms.
A total of 30 sessions were devoted to issuesrelated to conducting achievement surveys and12 sessions were devoted to issues related toexamination reforms initiatives. Two full dayswere devoted in reviewing the MAS test itemsas well as new items developed in workshop inMathematics and EVS for state specificity. Alocal educational tour was arranged for one dayfor participants. A feedback session, aprogramme evaluation session and an open-session for participants were also organised.
ENVIRONMENT ACTIVITIES
A meeting of the States/UTs officials dealingwith the hands on activities in Environmentrelated areas was convened in the NIE Campus,NCERT, New Delhi, during July 2009. The mainoutcome of the meeting can be highlighted bythe fact that a large number of schools in all theStates/UTs are having active eco-clubs andnature clubs. In the clubs the following typesof activities are regularly undertaken:
• School campus cleaning• Tree planting• Environmental awareness rallies• Celebration of at least six green days
• Anti-plastic campaign• Cultural programme on environmental
awareness
• Nature campsThese actions are aimed eventually atbehavioural changes favouring care andconcern for the environment being adopted bythe children.
A paper entitled ‘Basic Information andAwareness of Parents of Mentally ChallengedChildren Towards Mental Retardation: AnExploratory Study’ authored by Shri VinayKumar Singh, Reader, DEGSN, NCERT andcoauthored by Dr. Masroor Jahan, RINPAS,Ranchi and Dr. Alka Nizamie, DICDMH, Ranchiwas published in the Journal of Psychometry,Vol.23, No.1, pp.19-25.
Abstract
In this study, basic information of parents ofmentally challenged children regarding child’sdisabling condition was studied. Mother/ fatherof 30 mentally retarded children wererespondents for present study. Data werecollected on Multiple-choice checklist. Resultsuggests that about 63% parents identifiedchild’s problem when the child was 0-2 yearsof age. Most of the parents felt shock anddespair. A majority of parents did not hide thechild’s problem and encouraged the child toparticipate in social gatherings. They felt needfor special education/vocational training.Parents expected that the child would becomeindependent and find a suitable job.
Paper Presentations
Professor Nauman Khan, DoL, gets theNawab Siddique Hasan Khan AwardDr. Nauman Khan, Professor of Urdu,Department of Languages, NCERT, New Delhihas been awarded the prestigious NawabSiddique Hasan Khan Award for the year2008-09 for his contribution to Urdu literatureand criticism. The award was given toDr. Nauman by the Minister of MinorityWelfare of the Government of Madhya Pradesh,Dr. Ramkrishna Kusmaria in a ceremonyheld at Bhopal on 28 June 2009. The awardconsists of a citation, a shield, a shawl and cashof Rs. 15,000.
Award
5NCERT NEWS/July-October 2009
Language and Beyond
HINDI WORKSHOP
A one-day workshop was held on 9 June 2009in CIET to encourage the use of Hindi underthe guidance of Professor Ram Janam Sharma,Head, Deptartment of Languages and HindiCell. Shri S. D. Pandey, Assistant Director,MRHD (Implementation) highlighted theimportance of Hindi and its place in theConstitution, and stressed that it should beincreasingly used for official purposes and indaily life, as simple and direct communicationin Hindi would contribute to the spread of thelanguage. Shri Saroj Kumar Tripathi, DeputyDirector, Rajabhasha Vibhag, Ministry of HomeAffairs ( North) spoke about Hindi with referenceto the Quarterly Report. The NCERT staff,particularly LDC and UDC, participated in theworkshop. Feedback indicated that theworkshop was extremely useful.
HINDI FORTNIGHT
The Hindi Fortnight was celebrated at NCERTfrom 14-30 September 2009. Academic andnon-academic staff participated in the variouscompetitions organised by the Hindi Cell,NCERT on essay writing, debate, poetry,translation, etc. The valedictory-cum-prize distribution function was held in theRose Garden, NIE Campus, NCERT on1 October 2009. Professor Krishna Kumar,Director, along with Professor G. Ravindra,JD(C), and Professor Vasudha Kamat, JD(CIET) graced the function. Bhajans associatedwith Mahatma Gandhi were melodiously sungby noted vocalist Sita Bimbra and her group.Of the 160 enthusiastic participants, 31 werehonoured with cash prizes and certificates.
THE CIET LENS
VIDEO WORKSHOP BY CHILDREN
Under the series of ‘video production bychildren’, four workshops were organised in fourcities from July to September 2009, each
attended by fifteen children. CIET and SIETsstaff exposed children to simple operations ofvideo camera, script development, shootingand logging the shoots. At the end, childrenproduced two video programmes on theirown.
USAGE OF EDUSAT
About 150 faculty members from NE-RIE,SCERTs, SIETs, DIETs, CTEs and universitieswere given orientation through Edusat facilityon Research Methodology for ICT.
AUDIO/VIDEO PROGRAMME PRODUCTION
During this quarter July to September 2009,54 audio programmes and 50 videoprogrammes were produced, covering a largenumber of themes. In the section of audioprogrammes, the programmes were developedprimarily on NCERT textbooks, whereas invideo section, a wide range of areas, bothcurricular and co-curricular, were covered.
VISITS OF STUDENTS AND TEACHERS OF CIET
From July to September 2009, 158 studentsand 17 faculty members from differenteducational institutions visited CIET, The CIETgave them the exposure of writing scripts,producing video programmes andinfrastructure facilities available in the CIET.These visitors showed a high degree ofenthusiasm in the production of scripts forproduction in CIET.
Orientation on Edusat
6 NCERT NEWS/July-October 2009
Orientation Programmes
TRAINING COURSE ON PEACE EDUCATION
NCERT had initiated the process of offeringtraining courses for school teachers on PeaceEducation since the year 2005. The efforts arein tune with the idea that ‘implementingEducation for Peace is not only an appropriatestrategy for conflict resolution and conflictavoidance but also a pro-active investment inrealizing the India of our dreams for futuregeneration of students.’
The fifth course, offered by the Departmentof Educational Psychology and Foundations ofEducation commenced on 20 May 2009 andconcluded on 19 June 2009. Raisingconsciouseness of teachers about their role aspeace educators, learning contexts were themajor objectives. Forty-four school teachers andteacher educators deputed by EducationDepartments from 21 States participated, inaddition to teachers from KVS, NVS, CentralSchool for Tibetans and private schools.
visits for inducing reflection among theparticipants.
The faculty drawn from within NCERT aswell as experts and practitioners from otherinstitutions led the expositions.
RTE 2009
The landmark legislation, Right to Education,2009 presents new challenges for theimplementation of the National CurriculumFramework-2005. The NSC meeting wasconvened on 15 September 2009 at NCERT,New Delhi, under the chairmanship of ProfessorYashpal to discuss the implications of theNational Curriculum Framework-2005. Thirty-five members including special invitees attendedthe meeting and shared their views.
Dr. Vinod Raina, special invitee to themeeting, while clarifying meanings and termsused in the Act said that unlike an educationpolicy, the RTE Act is a political and a legaldocument, which brings education into theambit of the judiciary. Professor Krishna Kumarsaid that NCERT on its own feels greatly elatedand challenged by this remarkable law and inthe context of curriculum related policies. It wasfelt that the national Steering Committee couldreflect on the issues, placed by the RTE.Professor Yashpal said that we need to trainpeople for inclusion, of all types. This is whereNCERT’s interventions are needed in the contextof RTE Act.
The members in the meeting discussedvarious clauses of RTE, which have directimplications for the implementation of NCF-2005. RTE dissociates school classes from theage of the child. RTE permits a child to takeentry in a school at any point of time in anacademic year and it also provides for a specialtraining to this child in order to make him/herat par with other. For this, schools need to comeout with flexible curricular plans and thisrequires detailed guidelines for schools. As perRTE the medium of instruction shall as far as
Empowering self for peace, conflictresolution skills, parenting for peace, schoolsas nurseries for peace, whole school approach,classroom practices for peace, issues ofcurriculum load, examination stress and medialiteracy were some of the other significant themescovered. The transaction of the various topicswas planned through experiential exposition,discussions, demonstrations, role play, studytime, audio video inputs, assignments and field
Professor Krishna Kumar, Director, NCERTinteracting with participants
7NCERT NEWS/July-October 2009
practicable, be in child’s mother tongue. Theissue arising out of this is of multilingualclassrooms and preparation of teachers forteaching in multilingual sitations. This alsoinvolves issues of providing education to child(who due to his/her parents’ migration to otherstate in search of livelihood takes entry in newschool) in her/her language, which is not theregional language. In one of its clauses, RTEstates the children belonging to weaker sectionsand disadvantaged groups ( up to 25% of thestrength of the class) shall be admitted toKendriya Vidyalayas, Navodaya Vidyalayas,Sainik Schools or Unaided Schools. RTE alsodiscusses the qualifications for appointment ofteachers and service conditions of teachers. Thishas implications for teacher recruitment andpre-service and in-service teacher educationprogrammes. R TE takes up the issue ofassessment of children by the school andsuggests continuous comprehensive evaluation.As per RTE there will be no Board Examinationsand pass or fail upto Class VIII. This requireslaying down appropriate evaluation proceduresfor elementary education. Regarding RTE’srecommendation related to Early ChildhoodCare and Education, the Government may makenecessary arrangements for providing free pre-school education for children above three anduntil they complete the age of six years. Thishas implications for linking pre-school withClasses I and II. The Committee was of the viewthat advocacy and general awareness of RTE isneeded for various stakeholders. The committeerecommended constitution of sub-groups todiscuss these issues in detail.
DATA USERS CONFERENCE
In order to identify the data needs of thestakeholders and to finalise the data items tobe canvassed in the Eighth All India SchoolEducation Survey (AISES), a one day data usersconference was organised by the Departmentof Educational Surveys and Data Processing on25 May 2009 in NCERT. Senior officials fromMHRD, Planning Commission, StateDirectorates of Education, NUEPA, SCER T,
National Informatics Centre, Regional Institutesof Education, and Edcil took part in theconference. Professor G. Ravindra, Joint Directorwelcomed the participants. Professor D.K. Vaidstated that the present survey on schooleducation will be census survey covering all the35 States and UTs of our country, andobtaining data from more than six lakh villagesand 5000 towns of our country, andeducational facilities will be assessed at thelowest level of habitation.
Inaugurating the conference Ms. AnshuVaish, Secretary, School Education andLiteracy, MHRD stated that the survey willprovide important inputs for the Twelfth FiveYear Plan. Shri S.C. Khuntia, Joint Secretary,MHRD, in his address stated that the Eighthsurvey will conclude by October 2011 and itsfirst report will be available by March 2010. Dr.Gautam Bose from NIC informed exactly howNIC would extend assistance in organising thesurvey. A vote of thanks was proposed byProfessor Sridhar Srivastava.
Professor G. Ravindra, Joint Director, NCERT,welcoming the participants
VIDEOCONFERENCING
In 2009-10, DEGSN, NCERT conducted anorientation programme for the teachereducators working in the non Hindi speakingstates such as Andhra Pradesh, Mizoram,Karnataka, Bhubaneshwar and JK on theissues and concerns of the education of childrenbelonging to the minorities, SC, ST and sufferingfrom disabilities and challenges. Twenty teacher
8 NCERT NEWS/July-October 2009
educators from five learning centres eachparticipated in the three days programme. Theresource persons for the programme were drawnfrom Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi andJamia Millia Islamia University, Delhi.The main themes were –
• Inclusion: concept, skills and competencies
• Student’s need assessment
• Curriculum adaptation and contextualisation
• Presentation on adapted lesson plan
• Myths, attitudes and reality
• Inclusive teaching learning strategies
• Systemic reforms
For the group activities, the participants wereprovided case studies to identify the educationalneeds and then asked to suggest somecurricular adaptations for the particular case.
WORKSHOP ON RESEARCH WRITING
The Department of Educational Research andPolicy Perspective (DERPP) organised an
Participants in the workshop
and Chattisgarh several local faculty membersfrom different departments sought permissionto attend the workshop. Professor S.C.Panigrahi, CASE was the honorary ProgrammeDirector of the Workshop.
It covered a wide range of topics such as‘Developing a Project Proposal’, ‘Language inResearch Writing’, ‘Review of Related Literature’,‘Writing a Research Article’, ‘Writing BookReviews’, ‘Use of Library Resources’ and others.Group work, group presentation and collectivediscussion were also a daily feature of the five-day workshop.
TRAINING PROGRAMME FOR SC/ST DIET FACULTY
The Planning Programming Monitoring andEvaluation Division (PPMED) organised afive-day training programme for the SC/STDIET faculty in the area of educationalplanning, management and evaluation atRIE, Bhubaneswar from 7 to 11 September2009. DIET faculty members, who areworking in the Planning and ManagementBranch of the DIET from Western States, viz.Orissa, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Bihar,Andhra Pradesh and Vidarbha Region ofMaharashtra participated in the programme.The training programme concentrated onfour aspects, viz. Educational Research,Educational Planning, EducationalManagement and Evaluation and QualityConcerns in Education. The training packagedeveloped by the division with the help ofexperts from all over India and the facultyof PPMED was provided to the trainees.Professor U. K. Nanda, Principal, RIE,Bhubaneswar, inaugurated the programme.Professor M.S.Khaparde, Head, PPMED, inhis address pointed out that the DIETs werecreated in pursuance of the implementaionof NPE (1986) as an important institution atthe district level to take over the functions oftraining, development and research. Thepresent training would help the DIET facultyto perfom their functions more effectively.
innovative ‘Workshop on Research Writing’ foryoung faculty members in Education workingin the Western and Central regions of thecountry. The programme was organised incollaboration with the Centre for AdvancedStudy in Education (CASE). Professor A.K.Srivastava, Head, DERPP and Dr. N.K. Guptawere present on the occasion.
Apart from the 35 young academics selectedfrom Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh
9NCERT NEWS/July-October 2009
ANALYSIS OF CBSE QUESTION PAPERS
The National Curriculum Framework, 2005besides other reforms has laid special emphasison improving the quality of questions used inthe question paper as it is the basic toolemployed in all written examinations . As a followup of the reform process, model samplequestion papers in all subjects based on NCF-2005 recommendations were developed byNCERT for CBSE public examination. Thequestion papers prepared in 2007-2008 and2008-2009 by CBSE for Classes X and XII doshow some improvement but much moreremains to be achieved.
The analysis was undertaken with a view tofind strengths and weaknesses of questionpapers in terms of quality of questions, contentcoverage, difficulty level and language ofquestion, comparability of different sets, etc.This task is accomplished with the activesupport of faculty members working in variousdepartments such as Department of Educationin Science and Mathematics, Social Sciencesand Humanities, Languages and EducationalMeasurement and Evaluation.
WORKSHOP HELD
A five-day workshop was conducted by DCETAfrom 1-5 June 2009 related to Develpoment ofTextbook on ‘Computer and CommunicationTechnology Class XI’ to finalise the manuscriptfor Class XI Part-II textbooks.
TEXTBOOK ON GRAPHIC DESIGN
A new curricular area ‘Graphic Design’ hasbeen introduced by the CBSE for Classes XI &XII. The curricular area aims at enabling thestudents to develop their faculties ofobservation, imagination, creation,development of skills and sensitivity towards theuse of visual elements for an effective visualcommunication.
The faculty of Department of Education inArts and Aesthetics (DEAA) has developed a
textbook The Story of Graphic Design forClass XI on this new curricular area. Areas inanalog media (drawing with pencil and paper,etc.) and digital media using up-to-datecomputer tools (graphic hardware and software- for drawing, painting, layout, typography,scanning, and photography), both have beenincorporated to make the textbook interestingand useful.
TRAINING ON ADHD
A two-day training programme for primaryschool teachers on Assessment of Students withAttention Deficits Hyperactivity Disorders(ADHD) was conducted on 30 September 2009and 1 October 2009 at CIET. The programmewas inaugurated by Professor Neerja Shukla,Head, DEGSN, followed by the welcome addressby Shri Vinay Kumar Singh, Reader andcoordinator of the programme. Sixteen teachersfrom 8 states namely, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Delhi,Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, UttarPradesh, and Uttarakhand participated in theprogramme.
Common attention problems among schoolchildren, ADHD, its nature, characteristics,diagnosis, differential diagnosis, coexistingdisorders, problem behaviours, learningcharacteristics and learning problems, etc. werediscussed by the eminent resource persons inthe field. Learning materials and tools ofassessment were described and furtherdistributed among the participants for fieldwork.
WORKSHOP ON DEVELOPMENT OF TEST ITEMS
A six-day workshop on Development of TerminalAchievement Survey for Class V was organisedfrom 6-11 July 2009 at India Habitat Center,Lodhi Estate, New Delhi. In this workshop 16participants, five national level experts, fourinternational experts and NCERT facultyparticipated. Items in the areas of Mathematics.Environmental Studies and English Languagewere developed.
Briefs
10 NCERT NEWS/July-October 2009
WORKSHOP ON TRANSLATION OF TESTS
A four-day workshop from 17-21 August 2009for Translation of Tests in Regional Languagesto be used for Field Tryout in TerminalAchievement Survey for Class V was organisedat NIE, NCERT. In this workshop 40participants from different states and three localexperts participated. During the workshop astotal nine tests (three in each subjects) weretranslated under the supervison and guidanceof national and international experts,.
WORKSHOP ON VETTING OF TEST ITEMS
A three-day workshop from 17-19 September2009 was organised for Vetting Test Items/Testsdeveloped for Terminal Achievement Survey forClass V at NIE, NCERT. In this workshop 15participants from different states participated.During the workshop tests developed in regionallanguages were vetted by participants fromStates’ versions vis-a-vis English/Hindi versiontests developed by DEME faculty.
GUIDELINES FOR SC/ST/MINORITY
This project was initiated last year and to beginwith, is being conducted for the North- EasternStates of India. It was proposed to review thelacunae in the implementation of the SC, STand Minority related concerns in the schooleducation system and to develop guidelines forminimising the shortcomings in theimplementation of the SC, ST and minorityrelated concerns in terms of institutionalframework, school curriculum, pedagogy,teacher development, etc. as per NCF, 2005 andthe position paper of NFG.
In this connection DESGN had organised aPlanning Group Meeting in August, 2008 in theNorth-Eastern Regional Institute of Educationin Shillong. From the deliberations of thismeeting certain issues emerged, particularly forthe N-E States. Accordingly, on the basis of theseissues/concerns, this year, to start with, DESGNdeveloped the guidelines for Mizoram inconsultation with around 26 variouseducational functionaries there, such asrepresentatives of various DIETS, B.Ed colleges,
examination board, SSA Mizoram, SCERTfaculty, school teachers and with the expertsfrom the University of Mizoram, Jaipur NationalUniversity and MD University, Rohtak. Thedraft guidelines developed are being finalised.
TRAINING
Six days training programme by DESSH forCommerce PGTs of Kendriya VidyalayaSangathan was organised on ComputerisedAccounting System, an Optional Course inClass XII, at Zonal Institute of Education andTraining (ZIET), Gwalior from 25-30 September,2009.
ORIENTATION
An orientation programme of Master Trainersof SC Category of NCR for activity based ScienceTeaching at Upper Primary Stage wasconducted by Department of Science andMathematics, NCERT, New Delhi from 27-29July, 2009. The programme aimed atfamiliarising teachers from Government schoolsas well as KV/NVS/Public Schools with theconcepts in the new textbooks in science atupper primary stage developed in NCERT.Professor R.S. Sindhu coordinated theprogramme.
TRAINING PACKAGE
The DESM developed a 21-day TrainingPackage for Teachers without substantialBackground of Science/Maths, at UpperPromary Stage and its use in the Training ofkey Resource Persons from 7-11 August 2009and 14-18 September 2009. The coordinatorsof the programme were Professor R.S. Sindhuand Dr. A.K. Wazalwar.
The following lectures were held as part ofthe Thursday Lecture Series :
1. School Education by Professor AnilSadgopal (Interview mode) on 18-6-2009.
2. Child Rights and Education by SwamiAgniveshji on 23-7-2009.
THURSDAY LECTURES
11NCERT NEWS/July-October 2009
Staff News
NEW RECRUITMENT
1. Shri Surender Kumar as DTP Operator2. Shri Pawan Kumar Barriar as DTP Operator3. Shri Dinesh Kumar Meena as Steno4. Shri Mahesh Kumar Meena as Steno5. Shri Paras Ram as Assistant6. Smt. Manju Tannan as Assistant7. Smt. Hem Prabha Bali as Assistant8. Dr. Abhay Kumar as Lecturer in
Environmental Science at NERIE Shillong9. Shri P. C. Meena, Assistant10.Shri Khusal Kumar, Assistant11.Shri Nitin Kumar Suman, Assistant12.Smt. Usha, Assistant13.Shri Kirti Singh Rawat, Assistant14.Shri K. Ganesharamu, Assistant15.Shri Thangneilien Haokip, Assistant16.Shri Mahesh Chand, Assistant17.Mrs. Tripti, Assistant18.Shri Yagdutt Sharma, Assistant
RIE, Mysore, 30.4.20099. Dr. J.S. Padhi, Professor in Education, RIE,
Bhubaneswar, 31.05.2009.10.Shri B. S. Rana. S.O. on 31-07-200911.Shri Surender Kumar, UDC, on 31-07-200912.Shri Jagdish Prasad, S.O. on 31-07-200913.Smt. Sneha Kumari, Asstt. on 31-08-200914.Shri Darshan Singh, Dy. Secretary
on 30-09-0915.Shri Subey Singh, Security Guard
on 31-10-2009
PROMOTED ON REGULAR BASIS
1. Shri Ram Niwas Sharma as UDC2. Shri Dinesh Kumar as UDC3. Shri Indesh Singh as UDC4. Shri Hari Narayan as UDC5. Smt. Omna Rajan as SO6. Shri S.D. Prasad as SO7. Shri Jagdish as SO8. Shri R.C. Goel as SO9. Shri Sushil Kumar as SO10. Shri Krishan Kumar as SO11. Shri M.S. Yadav as SO12. Shri Rajesh Kumar as SO13. Smt. Tulika Verma as SO14. Smt. Kiran Juneja as SO15. Shri B.S. Rana as SO16. Smt. Prem Chadda as SO17. Smt. Neelam Kukreja as SO
NEW PUBLICATIONS
Based on the recommendations of the NationalCurriculum Framework–2005, the Departmentof Education in Science and Mathematics hasdeveloped textbooks in Science andMathematics for different stages from ClassesVI to XII. The department has also developedLaboratory Manuals and Exemplar Problemsfor use together with the correspondingtextbooks.
1. Laboratory Manual – ScienceClasses IX and X
2. Laboratory Manual – ChemistryClasses XI, X and XII
12 NCERT NEWS/July-October 2009
Publication TeamP. Rajakumar Varada M. Nikalje
Shveta Uppal Arun Chitkara
3. Prayogshala Pustika – RasayanClass XII
4. Prayogshala Pustika – VigyanClass IX and X
5. Exemplar Problems – PhysicsClass XI
6. Exemplar Problems – MathematicsClass XI
7. Exemplar Problems – BiologyClass XI
8. Exemplar Problems – MathematicsClasses IX and X
11. NCF-2005 Position Papers of NationalFocus Group on National Concerns Vol. III
12. Prathmik Shikshak : January 2009 Issue13. School Science : September and December
200814. Journal of Indian Education : February
200915. Human Ecology and Family Sciences
Part I, Class XI16. Monitoring Formats for Quality
Management Under SSA17. Primary Teacher : January and April 200918. Srijnatmakta Ke Liya Shiksha19. The Story of Nai Talim20. Early Childhood Education Programme21. Bhartiya Adhunik Shiksha : January 200922. The Primary Teacher : July-October 2008
and January 200923. Project books on Environmental Education
for Classes VI to X24. Charl’s Darwin Ki Atam Katha25. Rashtriya Pathyacharya Ki Rooprekha
Published at the Publication Department by the Secretary,National Council of Educational Research and Training,Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi 110 016, lasertypeset in-house and printed at .............................
Back MarginWhile visiting an Industrial Training Institute (ITI)near my office, I noticed how happy the studentsand their teachers looked. They were learning aboutblock printing. To be more precise, they were learninghow to do block printing, not about block printing.The equipment and material were being used fully,and by every student. This is seldom the case invocational classes in higher secondary schools.
The gap between academic and vocationalcourses continues to manifest in the form ofnumerous contradictions and problems in thesystem. The idea that work-related experienceshould find a place within a common educationsystem was advocated by no less a person thanMahatma Gandhi more than seven decades ago. Thesystem is still struggling to create a unified commoncurriculum and teacher training process for workand vocation-related learning. Gandhi was nottalking about vocational education as such, butabout a new kind of education or Nai Talim . Sadly,the system has got increasingly fractured over theyears. Between the ITIs and the +2 level vocationalcourses, there is hardly any systemic or academiccommunication. Both are suffering from similarproblems. There are exceptions like the ITI I hadvisited, but as obsolete content, poor infrastructureand lack of trained teachers afflict most vocationalcourses and institutions. At the highest level,dialogue between the Ministry of Labour, which looksafter ITIs, and the Ministry of HRD, which looksafter +2 level vocational courses, is extremelylimited. Clearly, we are looking at a systemicimpasse which has now become further compoundedby a new economic and technological ethos. A majoropportunity to overcome this impasse has emergedin the form of the National Skill DevelopmentMission which sets an agenda for radically alteringthe provision for vocational education as well asfor introducing work-related awareness, attitudesand skills in the general system.
