OCTOBER 2006
Face-to-Face with Master Trainers
NCERT has always felt the need to interact with teachers.
Keeping in view the vast number, it has been strategically
viable to train Master Trainers who will filter the inputs down
to the grass root level. With this aim in mind the Department
of Teacher Education and Extension (DTEE), NCER T
organised a training programme for three days for Master
Trainers drawn from the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sanghathan
(KVS), Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) and CBSE affiliated
independent schools. This programme was organised at the
NCERT headquarters, New Delhi and the RIEs, in a face-toface exercise from June to September 2006. The resource
persons for this programme were drawn from NCERT
headquarters, Universities, NGOs, and school teachers who
have been associated in the preparation of NCF-2005 and
textbooks for different classes.
LIFE ETERNAL THROUGH
LEARNING
FOCUS
€ NCF-2005 and New Syllabus
€ New Textbooks
€ Content-cum-Critical Pedagogy
The discussion and interactive sessions emphasised on group
reading, allowing opportunities to the teachers to ask questions
on various themes.
THEMES
€ Aims of education
€ What is wrong with today’s education and ways and
means of addressing them
€ Awareness about new syllabus in comparison to old
syllabus and
€ Salient features of NCF-2005; what will be the role of
the teacher; new kind of classroom; needs of the
learners and process in which the child learns.
The presentations were followed by interactive sessions
on content, style, exercises and illustrations of new textbooks
highlighting the logic used. Presentations on constructivist
learning situation –observation cognitive apprenticeship,
collaboration interpretation, multiple interpretation, multiple
manifestations were made, during the programme.
In addition to printed material, developed audio-video
programmes which were utilised during face-to-face training
of Master Trainers to make the programme more effective
and interactive. The material included six audio CDs
containing 11 Focus Group materials.
About 2000 teachers were trained through this
programme at different centres – RIEs Ajmer, Bhopal,
Bhubaneshwar, Mysore, and Shillong and NIE headquarter,
New Delhi. Dr M.S.Patel from DTEE, NCERT, coordinated
the programme.
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.
Teleconferencing at NCERT
EDUSAT
IN
NETWORK
With the launching of Edusat Network in coordination with ISRO, INFINIUM and CMC, an
orientation programme for local co-ordinators of
about 30 sites was organised. This was
conducted to familiarise the operational and
technical aspects of the Edusat Network
Terminals located at SCERTs, SIETs, DIETs and
KVS centres. The orientation programme was
conducted from the studio ‘B’ of CIET at Chacha
Nehru Bhawan at NCERT.
The network operates in KU band with
Satellite Interactive Terminals (SIT) located at
different sites all over the country.
TELECONFERENCING PROGRAMME FOR HEAD
TEACHERS AND PRINCIPALS OF KVS
Flexibility in the system’ and ‘autonomy to
teachers’ are the core components which need to
be necessarily provided by the school system in
order to maintain the quality of classroom
teaching-learning opined Prof. Krishna Kumar,
Director, NCERT initiating a discussion. He
further said that such an orientation programme
is not only a programme in itself, but it is an
‘academic forum’ through which a process of
dialogue has got initiated between planners,
implementers (teachers), and administrators in
the school system to bridge the gap between
different stakeholders. In order to reform the
school system, the attitudinal change is the ‘key’
and the first step in this endeavour.
He was speaking at a one-day orientation
programme for Head Teachers and Principals
through teleconferencing on 19 September
2006 in the CIET studio organised by the
Department of Elementary Education and CIET,
NCER T in collaboration with Kendriya
Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS). The programme
was an outcome of a series of training
programmes organised by NCERT for teachers
on new textual material at all stages of school
education. The focus of the programme was on
systemic issues besides the academic and
pedagogical ones.
2
OBJECTIVES
€ Familiarise Principals and Head teachers
with the recent changes and approaches
followed in the new syllabus and textual
material based on NCF-2005.
€ Discuss and share the modalities in
implementing the new textual material
at the institutional level.
Over 700 trainees representing Principals,
Head teachers and Assistant Commissioner
(Academic) of KVS attended the programme at
16 centres in five zones across the country.
Prof. Krishna Kumar, Director, NCER T
chaired the morning session alongwith Shri
Ranglal Jamuda, Commissioner, KVS; Dr U.N.
Singh, Joint Commissioner (Academic), KVS;
Prof. G. Ravindra, Joint Director, NCERT and
Prof. K.K. Vashishtha, Head, DEE.
The salient features of primary level textual
material and major shift in the material, in terms
of activities and nature of questions were the
themes of the second session. This session was
conducted by the coordinators of primary
level textbook writing teams of the NCERT in
Hindi, English, EVS and Mathematics. During
the interactive session apart from appreciation
of new textual material, a lot of queries were
raised by Principals and Head teachers, which
lead to fruitful suggestions. The queries were
mainly related to implementation of new
material in the classroom transaction and pupils
assessment.
The third session was chaired by Prof. Anita
Rampal, Chairperson, Primary Level Textbook
Writing Team and accompanied by Dr U.N. Singh
and Prof. K.K. Vashishtha. The discussion was
around the major shift required in school
management and other systemic issues such as
flexibility in the timetable, classroom organisation
and management, evaluation and practices
amongst others.
The Joint Commissioner (A) assured the Head
teachers and the Principals of reviewing and reforming
the primary level practices in KVS and said that this
is a joint venture which requires cooperation and
support of each and every individual.
NCERT NEWS/October 2006
CAPACITY BUILDING OF CRC CORDINATORS
A Teleconferencing Programme on “Capacity
Building of CRC Coordinators on Monitoring
Formats for Quality Dimensions under SSA”
was organised on 6 September 2006 at the CIET
(NCERT) catering to teleconferencing centres
located in 19 States/UTs. CRC coordinators and
BRC coordinators participated from Karnataka,
Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Punjab, Chandigarh,
Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar
Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Haryana, Bihar,
Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, Madhya
Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Goa and
Meghalaya. There was a discussion on the
Cluster Level Monitoring Formats.
Prof. Krishna Kumar, Director, NCERT and Ms.
Richa Sharma, Deputy Secretary, Department of
SE&L, MHRD were present at the Inaugural
Session. The panelists for this programme were
Prof. K.K. Vashishtha, Prof. K.M. Gupta, Prof.
Sandhya Paranjpe, Dr Shabnam Sinha,
PRESENTATIONS
€ NCF-2005 – Prof. Yashpal, Chairman
National Steering Committee
€ Aims of Education and what is wrong with
today’s education – Prof. Krishna Kumar,
Director, NCERT
€ How to critically reflect on one’s own
practices? – Prof. Jalaluddin
€ How to move beyond the Textbooks –
Prof. Anita Rampal
€ Constructivist Approach – Shri Rohit
Dhankar
€ Critical Pedagogy – Ms. Deepta Bhog
€ Textbook of Biology for Class XI — Its
content, style, exercises and
illustrations – Dr B.K. Tripathi
Prof. Phalchandra, Dr S.C.Mehta, Shri A.A.C.Lal,
Dr R.D. Sharma and Ms. Latika Gupta.
OBJECTIVES
€ Emphasis on the need for strengthening
the monitoring mechanisms across all
the States/UTs.
€ Ensuring quality in the on-going
programme of SSA.
€ Clarifying problems being faced at the
cluster level.
NCERT NEWS/October 2006
€ Proper use of Analysis Sheets to work
out action points at CRC level
€ Identifying the training needs of the
teachers
MONITORING QUALITY DIMENSIONS
Two teleconferencing workshops in collaboration
with DEP-SSA, IGNOU were organised by
NCERT. The first teleconferencing was held on
23 May 2006 for five southern and eight north
eastern States. The second teleconference was
organised on 16 June 2006 for another 23
States. Specific roles of DIETs and SCERT were
discussed elaborately. Ms. Vrinda Swarup, Joint
Secretary and Ms. Richa Sharma, Deputy
Secretary, SE&L, MHRD were also present in the
teleconferences.
OBJECTIVES
€ To discuss the concept and rationale of
monitoring major quality dimensions.
€ To orient the state functionaries on the
formats developed by DEE.
€ To have fruitful discussions ranging
from administrative to pedagogy to
qualitative assessment.
€ To focus on the importance of analysing
the information collected at every level.
12000 TEACHERS TRAINED
TELECONFERENCING
THROUGH
Twelve thousand teachers from KVS/NVS and
CBSE affiliated independent schools were trained
throughout the country through video
conferencing. The Department of Teacher
Education and Extension (DTEE) and CIET jointly
organised an orientation programme for the
teachers of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan,
Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti and CBSE affiliated
independent schools, on new textbooks developed
by the NCERT for Classes I, III, VI, IX and XI. The
programme was held through teleconferencing
from 6 July to 20 August 2006. Learning centres
operationalised throughout the country for this
teleconferencing included the states of Andhra
Pradesh, Karnataka, TN, Kerala, Chandigarh,
Chattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh,
Rajasthan, West Bengal, Orissa, Gujarat,
Uttaranchal, Bihar and Maharashtra. Out of 25
3
centres, 3 centres were situated in Kendriya
Vidyalayas, eleven in SCERTs, four in RIEs, six in
SIETs and one in DM school.
The day-long programme consisted of three
presentation sessions of 30 minutes duration.
Each presentation session was followed by
group work (30 minutes) and a live interactive
hour-long session. The content of different
sessions consisted of session-highlights of
National Curriculum Framework (NCF)–2005,
syllabi and focus group reports. The second
session included major changes in the new
textbooks, approaches adopted, nature of
activities and guidelines for using the textbooks,
and the third session comprised strategies to
be adopted by the teachers. The experts
HIGHLIGHTS
€ 36 days of videoconferencing.
€ 25 learning centres operationalised.
€ Sessions included group work, live
interaction, approaches to new
textbooks.
€ Teachers directly interacted with
textbook writers for the first time.
provided their guidance on these aspects in
detail. The subjects that were covered during
36 days videoconferencing included EVS,
Mathematics, English and Hindi for Classes I
and III; Science, Social Science, English, Hindi,
Sanskrit and Mathematics for Classes VI and
IX; Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics
Hindi, English, History, Economics, Business
Studies, Geography and Accountancy for
Class XI.
This was the first time when users (teachers)
from all parts of the country interacted directly
with the textbook writers/developers and
experts in different subject areas and shared
questions, queries, observations and
suggestions with each other. Prof. Yashpal,
Chairman, National Steering Committee (NCF)2005, Prof. Krishna Kumar, Director, NCERT;
Chief Advisors of various textbook committees,
Dr Ashok Ganguly, Chairman, CBSE; Shri
Ranglal Jamuda, Commissioner, KVS and Shri
O.N. Singh, Commissioner NVS addressed the
teachers during the programme, Prof. B.
Phalachandra from CIET and Dr M.S. Patel
fr om DTEE, NCER T, coordinated this
programme.
4
VIDEO-CONFERENCING OF FINE ARTS AND MUSIC
TEACHERS
National Curriculum Framework (NCF)-2005,
states Arts Education as one of the important
curricular areas of school education to be taught
compulsarily upto Class X and its integration
across the curriculum. So far, there have been no
recommendations for a textbook in arts education
at these stages and in absence of the textbook,
teachers require understanding and clarity through
guidelines for the teaching-learning processes and
evaluation procedures in areas of arts education.
Keeping this in view, NCERT carried video
conferencing through a network of fifteen
centres on 21 September 2006 by utilising
EDUSAT facility for orientation of fine arts and
music teachers of Kendriya Vidyalayas,
Navodaya Vidyalayas and independent
schools affiliated to CBSE. More than five
hundred teachers benefited by this facility
where they were able to communicate with the
panel members present at NCER T’s Central
Institute of Educational Technology (CIET)
studios at New Delhi regarding different issues
related to the NCF-2005 as well as their
concerns in its implementations. Most of the
queries were targeted towards the
implementation of the curriculum in arts at
different stages and the difficulties generally
faced by the teachers in execution of the
activities related to the subject and the inferior
position of the teachers in school hierarchy.
The teachers wanted clarifications on the
issues related to curriculum, syllabus and
system in schools.
The panel consisted of the Chairperson of
the National Focus Group on arts, music, dance
and theater, Mrs. Shubha Mudgal; Dr Krishna
Kumar, Director, NCERT; Dr U. N. Singh, Joint
Commissioner (Academic), Kendriya Vidyalaya
Sangathan; Prof. Suneera Kasliwal, Faculty of
Music, Delhi University; Dr Asha Singh, Lady
Irwin College; Ms. Prerana Shrimali, noted dance
exponent; Ms. Seema Srivastava, visiting
Faculty, Delhi College of Art; and NCERT faculty
members.
UPDATING SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS
TEACHERS
The DESM faculty participated in orientation
programmes on Science and Mathematics for
NCERT NEWS/October 2006
the teachers of upper primary, secondary and
higher secondary stages.
ACHIEVEMENTS
€ Teachers familiarised with the philosophy
and approach for teaching-learning of
Science and Mathematics.
€ Teachers interacted with the panel on the
recommendations of the NCF.
€ Two-way live interaction pertaining to
curriculum in Science and Mathematics.
Learning is a divergent process that occurs through
various exposures... It is essentially a
participative process in which the learner
constructs his or her knowledge in one’s own
ways, through absorption, interaction,
observation and reflection... The process,
therefore, is not linear, it is rather spiral and
complex in nature.
– NCF–2005
Vision
INSTITUTIONALISATION OF NCERT DOCTORAL
FELLOWSHIP
The Council has decided to introduce 10
Doctoral Fellowships for conducting
research leading to Ph.D. degree in
Education and fields directly related to
education in a University/Research
institution. A two-day meeting of the
experts was held during 8-9 August 2006
to work out the details of the
institutionalisation of the fellowships. In the
meeting, an information brochure including
priority areas of research was developed.
Online Directory of Schools and Educational Statistics
The NCERT has taken up a collaborative pilot
project to collect educational statistics using
Information Technology (Web Technology) in the
state of Andhra Pradesh.
A pilot project titled “Online Updation of
Directory of Schools and Educational Statistics
Using Web Technology” has been taken up by
the Department of Educational Surveys and
Data Processing.
A state level meeting with the Director of
School Education and other state level
functionaries was held in the month of July
2006. It is a joint venture and both NCERT and
states will bear the financial and administrative
responsibility. The department will provide all
academic and technical inputs. The
questionnaire for the collection of school
statistics is being finalised and will be uploaded
on the website.
International Conference
University of Alberta, Canada. Organised by the
Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece. The
conference was held from 10-15 July 2006.
T H E S S A L O N I K I 2006—E X P L O R I N G
CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES
Two faculty members, Dr Sanjay Dubey and
Dr Pratyusa Kumar Mandal of the DESSH,
participated in the international conference,
Thessaloniki 2006 — Exploring Cultural
Perspectives, sponsored by the International
Cultural Research Network (ICRN),
NCERT NEWS/October 2006
OBJECTIVES
€ To compile the online directory of
schools and educational statistics in
the country.
€ To develop a system of directory of
schools in the state.
€ To create a separate number for each
school.
€ To maintain and update online
information regularly whenever a new
school is opened in the state.
€ To use web technology for creating a
user-friendly format.
PAPERS PRESENTED
€ Assessment of New Protective
Legislations on Constitutional
Safeguards and Property Rights of the
Hindu Women in India
€ Any Which Way: Sociology of Hindu
Women’s Property Rights in India
5
The Battle for School
Struggle of the Poor for their Entitlement to Education
NCERT-IIC Lecture
There is an explosive demand for education in
India today. Millions of poor parents are
struggling against all odds to actualise their
yearning for educating their children through
full time formal schools. Those who have taken
the step to send their children to schools do
so with a hope that their child would continue
in school. However, it is uncertain that the
child would reach up to Class X without any
disruption. A child’s survival in school is an
accident and is not by design. There are
innumerable barriers for a child’s continuance
in school. This has as much to do with issues
relating to the issues of children’s right to
education and the manner in which schools
are governed and poor children are treated.
National Conference
on Munshi Premchand
Munshi Premchand, the immortal story writer
who sketched the picture of rural India in his
novels and short-stories, was also known for his
revolutionary ideas, and zeal for social reforms.
Munshi ji was remembered fondly and the
memories of his era came alive on the occasion
of his 125th birthday in the auditorium of
Central Tibet Institute of Higher Education,
Sarnath, where a conference was organised by
the Department of Languages, NCERT under the
6
Some parents do not even attempt to send
their children to school and lose the battle
even before they join it. There is a need to
understand why they refused to participate
in these battles.
The consequences of losing the battle for
schools are devastating for the child as well as for
the texture of democracy in India. Therefore the
battle must be won for protecting children’s right
to education and strengthening of democracy.
The above sentiments were echoed by
Prof. Shantha Sinha of Department of Political
Science, University of Hyderabad in her lecture
delivered on the The Battle for School on 3 July
2006 in IIC Auditorium, New Delhi. The talk was
chaired by Prof. B. L. Mungekar, Member,
Planning Commission. Prof. M. Sen Gupta, Head,
DERPP, NCERT proposed the vote of thanks.
guidance of Prof. R.J. Sharma, Head of the
Department. It was a pleasure listening to the
litterateurs who are closely associated with
Hindi literature. Prof. Krishna Kumar and Prof.
Namvar Singh while addressing the conference
said that children were very dear to Munshi ji.
In his own times Munshi ji raised his voice
against the deteriorating standards of
education system. During the three-day
National Conference distinguished speakers
remembered him as a ‘Kahani Ka Rehnuma’
and a writer par excellence who chose to write
about rural India.
NCERT NEWS/October 2006
Snapshots...
IIT NURSERY SCHOOL
CELEBRATES FESTIVALS WITH
GUSTO AND FERVOUR
Theatre is one of the most
powerful, yet least utilised art
forms in education. In the
exploration of self in relation to
others, the development of
understanding of self, and of
critical empathy, not only for
humans but also towards
the natural, physical and
social worlds, theatre is a
medium par excellence.
— NCF-2005
Children Browsing through NCERT books
at an exhibition
NCERT NEWS/October 2006
7
Education and Information
Technology
Hindi Pakhwara
Efforts are being made for promoting the
official use of Hindi in NCERT. Hindi
Pakhwara is organised every year to
encourage NCERT staff to participate in
various writing competitions in Hindi.
This year Hindi Pakhwada was
organised from 14-28 September 2006.
Addressing the participants on this
occasion, Prof. Ram Janam Sharma,
Head, Hindi Cell and Department of
Languages said that the use of Hindi as
an official language in the offices of
NCERT, is on the increase. He expressed
hope that in future, Heads of
Departments and faculty members
would write official notings in Hindi, as
this will further help in creating an
appropriate environment for the
use of the language in NCER T.
Prof. G. Ravindra, JD, Council also
stressed the need of wide-ranging use of
Hindi and for this he felt that the
language should be made easy for use
and understanding.
The Department of Computer Education and
Technological Aids (DCETA) organised a
National level twelve-day Orientation
Programme for Teacher Educators belonging to
minority groups on integration of Information
Technology (IT) tools and IT -based learning
resources in curriculum transaction from
31 July to 11 August 2006. Seventeen teacher
educators from nine Satates/ UTs viz., Andhra
Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab,
Tamil Nadu and Uttaranchal attended the
programme.
Briefs
The interactive sessions conducted during
the programme provided a view of the
possibilities which could be explored for gainful
use of IT in teaching strategies. The participants
had hands-on experience in computer use for
developing projects and lesson plans.
Children learn to use the computer fast if they
are allowed to play with it. Groups of 6 to 13
year old children do not need to be ‘taught’
how to use the computer. Teachers have often
recorded gains in enrolment, attendance and
school examinations, particularly in subjects
that deal with computing skills, English
vocabulary and usage, concentration, attention
span and problem solving and above all in
working together and self-regulation.
— NCF-2005
8
€
Dr Gouri Srivastava, Reader, Department of
Women’s Studies has been awarded the Asia
Fellow Scholarship by the Asia Scholarship
Foundation 2006-07 to work on “Gender
and Peace: Policy Curriculum and
Textbooks in the Republic of Maldives”.
€
Prof. Anil Sethi from DESSH, NCERT was
deputed to assist the SCERT of Himachal
Pradesh, Solan to revise and reformulate the
Social Science syllabi at the Upper Primary,
Secondary, and Senior Secondary stages on
17-19 August.
€
Dr J.L. Pandey, Project Coordinator, NPEP
was nominated as Chairman and Dr Saroj
Yadav, Professor, NPEP as the Member
Secretary of the “Committee on Content
Analysis of School Textbooks from the point
of Adolescnce Education”, set up by the HRD
Ministry, Government of India.
NCERT NEWS/October 2006
Enhancing Skills of the
Paper-setters of Bihar School
Examination Board
The Department of Educational Measurement
and Evaluation organised a five-day programme
for capacity building of Key Resource Persons
(KRPs) of Bihar School Examination Board in
framing questions, from 4-8 September 2006,
at the State Institute of Health and Family Welfare
(SIHFW), Patna. About 44 teachers participated
in the programme. As per the objective of the
programme, quality questions in six subjects,
namely, English, Hindi, Sanskrit, Social Studies,
Science and Mathematics were developed.
Orientation of Contact Persons
in Preparing Research Abstracts
workshop was to increase the knowledge base
and skills of the contact persons in respect of
identification and preparation of abstracts of
researches to be included in the Indian
Educational Abstract. Twelve participants from
education and psychology departments from
different universities participated in the
workshop.
Pedagogy of Psychology
A three-day orientation programme for teachers
of Psychology at higher secondary stage was
organised by the Department of Educational
Psychology and Foundations of Education
(DEPFE) from 25-27 July 2006. Thirty-five
teachers teaching Psychology in CBSE affiliated
schools of the Delhi region participated in the
programme.
The Department of Educational Research and
Policy Perspectives brings out the Indian
Educational Abstracts (IEA) biannually in
January and July. IEA is a periodical meant for
dissemination of information about completed
research projects and consolidation of
knowledge based on the empirical researches
around theoretical formulation or under
formulation of best practices. The DERPP has
approached universities to extend their support
by way of nominating one contact person from
the respective university for the Indian
Educational Abstracts.
FOCUS AREAS
€ Survey of Research in Education – Its
process and significance in a historical
background from its inception;
€ Priority area of researches covered in
survey of Research in Education/
Indian Educational Abstracts;
€ Identification and preparation of
abstracts as per agreed format; and
€ Preparing exemplar abstracts of
research projects and doctoral
dissertations.
The department organised a two-day
workshop for the contact persons nominated by
the universities in the NIE campus on
7-8 September 2006. The purpose of the
NCERT NEWS/October 2006
OBJECTIVES
€ To orient teachers about the
pedagogical aspects of the new
textbook in psychology.
€ Activites – Lectures, interactive
sessions, panel discussions, small
group discussions, group work and
presentation by the teachers.
€ Filming of video programmes covering
different aspects of National
Curriculum Framework.
€ Providing ample opportunity to the
participants to share, reflect and
clarify their doubts on teaching.
9
Workshops and Meetings
ARTS TEACHERS’ WORKSHOP
Ramjas School, R. K. Puram in collaboration
with NCERT organised a day-long workshop for
teachers of fine arts, music, dance and drama
on 2 September 2006. Around 40 teachers from
19 schools participated in the workshop
focusing on sensitisation of the National
Curriculum Framework-2005. During the
workshop, teachers interacted with the resource
persons and participated in different
pedagogical activities. The first part of the
workshop was focused on the features of the
NCF-2005 and new approaches on teachinglearning practices and evaluation methods. This
led to interesting discussions with teachers and
their concerns of working with certain
limitations. Teachers also participated in
warming-up exercises of theatre games, which
they can replicate in the class. During the post
lunch sessions participants were divided into
two groups of performing and visual art teachers,
where resource persons conducted activities
with the teachers and discussed the strategies
and recommendations of the paper prepared by
the National Focus Group on arts, music, dance
and theater as part of the NCF-2005.
from NCERT participated in the meeting. The
teachers are expected to complete these action
researches by the year end.
l
Dr Seema Shukla Ojha from DESSH, NCERT
attended the workshop for the preparation
of training package for Upper Primary Stage
Social Science held at the IASE, Allahabad,
UP from 11-15 July 2006.
l
Prof. Poonam Agrawal attended the ‘Meeting
of the Sub-Mission Task Force on Education
of Disadvantaged Groups Including Girls,
SC/ST, Minorities, Urban Deprived Children
and Disabled Children on 12 July 2006 at
the India International Centre, New Delhi.
l
DWS faculty, Sushma Jaireth, Reader; Milly Roy
Anand, Sr. Lecture; Mona Yadav, Lecturer
participated in the workshops organised by
DESM, DEE and DESSH to review the textbooks
for classes IV, VII, X, XII from the point of view of
gender bias and gender stereotyping.
A one-day meeting, of the committee
constituted by the MHRD to suggest
recommendations on testing children at all
levels of school education, was organised by
DEME on 7 July 2006. The meeting was
attended by eleven experts. The meeting
deliberated upon the issue in the light of
(i) level and periodicity of survey (ii) body or
organisation whom the work may be
assigned (iii) strategy for collecting reliable
data—the areas for which MHRD has given
the mandate.
The findings of the study ‘Baseline
Achievement Survey at the End of Class III
in Maths and Languages’ under Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan were presented in the
meeting of the 4th Joint Review Mission of
SSA on 19 July 2006. The outcome of the
Baseline Achievement Study of Class VII/
VIII in four subjects i.e. Language, Maths,
Science and Social Studies was also shared
with the members of the JRM. A concern was
expressed about the quality of education at
different stages.
l
REVIEW MEETINGS FOR ACTION RESEARCHES
A two-day meeting of the elementary school
teachers, DIET personnel, DPO, SCER T
coordinators and Bodo Education Council was
organised at DIET, Kokrajhar on 20-21 July
2006 to monitor Action Researches being
conducted by seven elementary teachers and
one DIET faculty sponsored by NCERT. The
work of the teachers was appreciated by the
district authorities.
DIET faculty of Kokrajhar, Karimganj and
Kamrup are conducting Action Researches
financed by NCER T in the area of school
education. A one-day review meeting of District
functionaries and State coordinators was
organised on 13 September 2006 at SCERT,
Assam. Dr N.K. Gupta, Programme Coordinator
10
l
NCERT NEWS/October 2006
Staff News
APPOINTMENTS
€
€
Shri Mohd. Gulam Rehbar, PGT, History,
D. M. School, RIE. Ajmer, 05-07-06.
Smt. Rashmi Chandokar, PGT, Maths
(Promoted TGT to PGT), D. M. School, RIE,
Bhopal, 10-08-06.
PROMOTIONS
w.e.f. 25.07.2006.
€
Shri Ravinder Singh as UDC.
€
Shri V.Swaminathan as UDC.
€
Shri Moti Lal as UDC.
€
Smt. Manju Tannan as UDC.
€
Smt. Superavasha Singh as LDC.
€
Shri Sajjan Kumar Meena as UDC.
€
Shri R.K. Gupta as LDC.
€
Smt. Sumitra Devi, PGT, Hindi (Promoted TGT
to PGT), D.M. School RIE, Ajmer, 27-07-06.
€
Dr Subhash Chandra Roy, Reader, NERIE,
Shillong, 21-07-06.
€
Shri Jitender Singh Kshetry as Computer
Operator.
€
Shri Kamlesh Soni, PGT, Physical Education,
RIE, Bhubaneswar, 14-08-06.
€
Shri Rajpal Singh as Security Guard w.e.f.
4.8.06.
€
Shri Benudhar Sahoo, PGT, Chemistry, RIE.
Bhubaneswar, 28-06-06.
€
€
Shri R.K. Singh, IDAS joined NCERT on the
post of Chief Accounts officer on the forenoon
of 24.8.06 on deputation basis.
Lt. Col. (Retd.) Amarjit Singh Dalal joined
NCERT on the post of Vigilance Cum-Security
Officer w.e.f. 18.7.06 on contract basis initially
for a period of one year in the first instance.
w.e.f. 08.08.2006
€
Shri A.P.Kumra as Assistant.
€
Shri Anand Singh Kathait as Assistant.
€
Shri R.S. Parcha as Assistant.
€
Shri Krishan Kumar as Assistant.
TRANSFERS
€
€
Shri Devi Prasad, Farash, has been appointed
as Packer on 3.7.06.
Shri. Sukhar Chand, Security Guard, Ajmer,
has been transferred to NCERT Headquarters.
He joined NCERT on 1.9.2006.
€
Shri Raj Pal, Security Guard has been
appointed as Jr. Accountant on 4.8.06.
NEW PUBLICATIONS
SUPERANNUATION
€
Dr S.K. Pranami, Reader, RIE, Ajmer on 31.07.06.
€
Shri Radhika Prasad, Assistant, on 31.7.06.
€
Shri S.N. Sharma, Headmaster, D.M.School,
RIE, Bhopal on 01.08.06 V.R.S.
€
Dr R. S. Kothari, Reader in Maths, RIE, Ajmer
on 02.08.06 V.R.S.
€
Shri N.S. Raghunath, Reader in English, RIE,
Mysore on 18.08.06 V.R.S.
€
Ms. Shobna Samuel, PGT in Geography,
D.M.School, RIE, Bhopal on 31.08.06.
€
Dr N.M. Rao, Professor, RIE, Mysore on 31.08.06.
€
Shri R.B. Azad, Deputy Secretary, on 31.8.06.
€
Smt. N.K. Tandon, UDC, on 31.8.06.
€
Shri Bahadur, Safaiwala, sought voluntary
retirement on 4.9.2006.
NCERT NEWS/October 2006
€
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Discovered Questions
Catalogue – NCERT Select Publications
Indian Educational Review : July 2005
Indian Education Review : January 2006
Journal of Indian Education : August 2005
Journal of Indian Education : November 2005
School Science : September 2005
School Science : December 2005
The Primary Teacher : January and April 2005
Hindustan aur Asri Duniya : Bhag-I, Class IX
Hindustan Tabai Mahoul – Class XI
Bhugol Mein Prayogatamak Karya – Class XI
Riyazee – Class IX
Riyazee – Class XI
Abhivyakti aur Madayam – Classes XI-XII
Our Tree Neighbours
Position Paper (NF Group) on Education for Peace
Position Paper (NF Group) on Early Childhood
Education
11
Thursday Lecture Series
The following lecturers were organised under the
Thursday Forum from July to September, 2006.
€ RSSK – A Case Study by Dr Indu Sharma,
DEE, NCERT on 6.7.06.
€ A Study of Vocationalisation of Education—
Conflict between Ideology and Practice by
Dr K. Chandra Sekhar, DEME, NCERT on
20.7.06.
€ Panel Discussion on Humanism Revisited: The
Soka
Educational
Philosophy
by
Dr Varsa Das (Ex Director, NBT) and
Prof. Laxmi (Ex VC, Mother Teresa Univ.) on
27.7.06.
€ Ideology in History Textbooks by Prof.
Mubarak Ali, Historian, Lahore, Pakistan on
3.8.06.
€ Rim Jhim par Aadharit Shikshak Sandarshika
Ka Nirman by Dr Lata Pandey, DEE, NCERT
on 10.8.06.
€ Education for All – Existing Realities and
Challenges by Dr Anupam Ahuja, DTEE,
NCERT on 24.8.2006.
€ Potentials of ICT for an Elementary Teacher
by Dr N. K. Gupta, DERPP, NCERT on 21.9.06.
€ Evaluation Revisited – Continuous and
Comprehensive Evaluation by Dr A.D. Tiwari,
DEME, NCERT on 28.9.06
There is no one ‘method’ that is effective in
causing all learners to learn in similar ways.
Each teacher has to find one’s own ‘style’
of learning through perceptive practice but
recognise the fact that all learners learn in
their own ways.
– NCF–2005
Publication Team
P. Rajakumar
Meenakshi Khar
Vandana R. Singh
Shveta Uppal
Arun Chitkara
Website : www.ncert.nic.in
Back Margin
Have teachers read the National Curriculum
Framework? A colleague asked, and thereby
opened an old, dusty file in the history of
educational planning in India. No report, even
the best-known and easily the most
comprehensive documents ever prepared,
namely the Kothari report, has been
disseminated widely enough to reach teachers.
In fact, it is difficult to say whether teachers
have ever been regarded as an intended
audience of policy documents. Yes, they are
supposed to implement policies; in fact, they
are the most important, final link in the long
chain of execution (currently called ‘delivery’
which might suggest as if education is a kind
of postal system). It is assumed that teachers
will somehow make sense of policies and the
new perspectives and measures emanating from
changes in policy, without ever reading the
original documents. This assumption is clearly
not valid. It has never been valid, yet it persists.
The so-called cascade model firmly stands on
the rock of hierarchy, which means that the
higher-ups in workshops. In cases like the
Kothari report, some incidental dissemination
takes place on account of the examination
system which induces key-writers for B.Ed. to
prepare short summaries capable of being
memorised. Transmission losses are heavy in
both media, so by the time the Kothari report
gets broken down into bits of systemic memory,
its architecture is lost.
In the case of NCF, the beginning has been
better, because the document has been
translated into all Indian languages and at least
some states have started disseminating it. Let
us hope that teachers will get a chance to read
it in the original. The entrenched tendency
among teachers is to read the textbook they are
expected to teach. According to the procedures
put in place in the middle of the 19th century,
the textbook is all that needs to be taught. NCF
says that learning must go beyond the textbook.
For this to happen, the teacher’s own reading
must widen. If the teacher is a lamp, we must
ensure that it gets enough oil.
KRISHNA KUMAR
E-mail: publica@nda.vsnl.net.in
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 Bengal Offset
Works, A-56, Sector 5, NOIDA, U.P. 201 301
12
NCERT NEWS/October 2006