JANUARY 2006
Workshop to Generate Software
For the Children, By the Children
U
nder the project of generating software for the children
by the children, three workshops were organised at the
Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET), NCERT
during 26–31 December 2005. In the first workshop,
children developed two video programmes and in the second
they made an animation film which was entered for the NHK
International Award Video Competition. The third workshop
related to evolving toys and games.
Twenty-four children from different schools of Delhi
participated in the workshops. These children were
encouraged to make toys/displays etc by the method of
developing various steps — on making toys; and supporting
these with graphics. This exercise helped children to look at
the things they could make, from a different perspective.
Discussions were held on how to make board-games
interesting and how to reuse them. Children divided
themselves into groups and essayed to make board-games
along with the rules to play them. Board games like Ulta Pulta
evolved by the children were interesting. The children (in
groups) were also asked to make presentations on their
creations.
The children then embarked upon the exploration about
movement and toys. Different materials like batteryoperated motors, injection syringes, empty film rolls,
rubber foam, etc were used to create the toys. During
the workshop they also organised dress shows and other
games based on varied cultures of different states.
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.
Improving the Quality of Elementary Education
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan : The NCERT Initiative
The Department of Elementary Education
(DEE) has been identified as the nodal agency
in the NCERT for providing support to the
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan for improvement in the
quality of elementary education. Various
activities for research, development, extension
and training have been taken up by the
Department which feed into the SSA. It has
been deputing its faculty members in various
training programmes organised by the National
Institute of Administrative Research (NIAR),
Mussoorie for the preparation of Annual Work
Plan and Budget focusing on Quality and
Micro-Planning. The faculty participated in
meetings held from 12–19 October, 15–17
November, 4–7, 12–13, 22–23, December,
28 – 30 December 2005 at Daman and Diu,
Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Shillong,
Tripura and Sikkim respectively.
The Regional Institutes of Education have
been asked to provide academic support to the
states for SSA and for preparation of a database
on elementary education and teacher educators.
The DEE organised a Planning-Meeting of the
five RIEs on 7– 8 December 2005, for taking
the programme forward in terms of preparation
of the database and organisation of the ‘Regional
Conferences on Quality Improvement of
Elementary Education under SSA’.
R ESEARCH P ROGRAMMES
SARVA SHIKSHA ABHIYAN
UNDER
In order to review and assess the progress
made in the implementation of Competency
Based Teaching Learning (CBTL) at the
elementary stage in various States of the
country, five Regional Conferences were
organised in various Regional Institutes of
Education at Bhopal, Mysore, Ajmer,
Bhubaneswar and Shillong between 29
June 2005 and 05 August 2005.
2
Objectives
• To provide a platform to the States for
exchange of experiences on the
implementation of CBTL.
• To ascertain the status of
implementation of CBTL in terms of
development of curriculum, TLMs,
training modules, classroom
transaction and corrective measures
for improving quality of education,
scheme of evaluation and evaluation
materials.
• To identify aspects of success, in the
implementation of CBTL in the states
• To identify bottlenecks in the
implementation of CBTL in the states.
• To identify the kind of support, the
states require to further strengthen
the programme of CBTL.
Twenty-six states/UTs, comprising
experts from various SCERTs and State
Project Offices of SSA participated in the
regional conferences. The participants
discussed the status of CBTL and identified
major areas of success and bottlenecks in its
implementation. CBTL imbibed the concepts
like mastery learning, individual attention,
diagnostic and remedial teaching, peer group
learning, self-learning, continuous and
comprehensive evaluation and grading
system instead of marks.
The DEE also initiated a research study
for documentation of good practices entitled
Learning Guarantee Programme: An
Innovation for Improving Retention and
Learning Achievement of Children – a case
study of District Gulbarga in Karnataka at
the instance of the Ministry of Human
Resource Development (MHRD).
MAJOR FINDINGS
The programme has been successful in
introducing consciousness amongst state
NCERT NEWS/January 2006
functionaries of the need to improve the quality
of education in primary and upper primary
classes. School/community networking
emerged as a critical factor in ensuring the
attendance of children and providing necessary
facilities to promote their participation.
The observations also brought to the
surface issues, which need to be addressed to
maintain the sustainability of the programme.
These are: timely supply of all major qualitative
and quantitative inputs by the State
Department in a consistent manner; in-school
process needs to be strengthened through
collaborative efforts of teachers and the state
education functionaries; effective feedback and
follow-up mechanism; mechanism to evaluate
individual teacher’s performance; evaluation
mechanism for children with disabilities etc.
The National Curriculum
Framework (NCF) – 2005
has been brought out in
print form following the
approval by Central
Advisory Board of
Education (CABE) in its
meeting held on 6 and 7
September 2005. The
document is also available
on NCERT website: www.ncert.nic.in. For
wider dissemination, a folder containing the
broad features of NCF –2005 has also been
brought out. Position papers developed by
21 National Focus Groups on various themes
of school education are under print. Print
copies of translated versions of NCF in Hindi
and 21 languages listed in VIII Schedule of
the Constitution will be available shortly.
National Talent Search Examination
The NCERT conducts the National Talent
Search Examination (NTSE) for the
identification of talented students and provides
them with financial assistance to nurture their
talent. The scheme has been running since
1963. Over the years it has undergone various
modifications. The last major modification was
done in 1995. It was felt that talent can be
identified in many other fields than simply
academic. The scheme was reviewed at a
seminar-cum-workshop from 16 –19
November 2005 at NIE Campus, New Delhi.
Twenty-five educationists, psychologists, social
scientists and scientists from Universities,
premier institutes of advance learning, SCERT
and NCERT participated in the seminar and
presented their papers. The seminar finalised
two schemes - one at the end of Class VIII and
the other at the end of Class XII. The scheme at
the end of Class VIII is proposed to operate at
district level with 13 scholarships as there are
600 districts in the country. The scholarships
will begin from Class IX and will go on till the
end of Class XII.
For the scheme at the end of Class XII, 3000
scholarships have been proposed in the areas
of Basic Sciences, Social Sciences, Languages,
Music and Art. The scholarships will begin from
NCERT NEWS/January 2006
under graduation and go on till post graduation.
A five-day nurturance programme for
National Talent Search (NTS) awardees of the
southern region was conducted from 26-30
December 2005 at R.V. Teachers College,
Banesankari, Bangalore. In this programme,
88 awardees of year 2005 of Karnataka State
were invited, out of which 42 participated. The
resource persons in the programme were drawn
from various reputed institutions such as Indian
Institute of Science, Indian Space Research
Organisation etc. The programme was
appreciated both by awardees and resource
persons as it gave emphasis not only on content
but also on approaches towards leading a
happy life, pursuing creative activities etc.
Another five-day nurturance programme
for NTS awardees for the north-eastern region
was conducted from 27– 31 December 2005 at
the Department of Education, North Eastern Hill
University, Shillong. The main objective was to
provide NTS awardees an opportunity to
interact with persons of eminence/senior faculty
from various departments. Fifty-six awardees
of 2004 and 2005 sessions were invited.
Seventeen awardees representing five states of
the north-eastern region attended the
programme.
3
News from PSSCIVE, Bhopal
RESEARCH
The Pandit Sunderlal Sharma Central Institute
of Vocational Education (PSSCIVE), Bhopal
took up a research programme entitled
“Identification of Vocational Teachers’
Entrepreneurial Competencies” in the States
of Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.
O BJECTIVES
z
z
z
z
z
z
To identify the existing entrepreneurial
competencies of vocational teachers .
To find out differences in the existing
entrepreneurial competencies of vocational
teachers .
To find out differences existing between the
vocational teachers of these two states and
the reasons for this,
To identify the deficiencies, if any in the
competencies of teachers.
To find out the relationship between the
teacher’s competency on students career
options.
To suggest measures for the healthy growth
of vocational education programme.
Seven districts from Maharashtra Nasik,
Ahmednagar, Pravaranagar, Chandwad,
Dhule, Jalgaon, Bhusawal were selected and
120 vocational teachers from these districts
were interviewed to identify Entrepreneurial
Competencies (the study in Tamil Nadu was
conducted in July-August 2005). The outcome
was in the form of a Research Report. The likely
impact of this research would be in the form of
implementation of the Vocational Education
Programme.
DEVELOPMENT
The PSSCIVE conducted a workshop for
Development of Instructional-cum-Practical
Manual of Linux (Phase-I).
The objective of the programme was to
develop instructional-cum-practical manual
on Linux. The workshop for this was organised
at Goa Board of Secondary and Higher
Secondary Education, Alto Betim, Goa from
4
24 – 27 October 2005. Six academicians and
industrialists participated in the workshop.
The Chairman and the Secretary of Goa Board
of Secondary and Higher Secondary
Education, Goa inaugurated the workshop.
The experts listed 15 practical activity units
out of which 8 activities were developed in the
prescribed format. The activity units were
listed as Installation of Linux, Vieditor, Shell
Programming, Open Office Application,
Internet Application, System administration in
Linux, Networking in Linux, some system
utilities, etc. A draft of Instructional-cumPractical Manual on Linux was developed.
The PSSCIVE also developed a National
Vocational Qualification in office related
occupation (Level 1).
O BJECTIVES
To identify various types of occupations in
office area;
z To identify competencies in each occupation;
z To develop knowledge and skills required
to perform the job;
z To develop norms and criteria for
evaluation of competencies.
z
Sixty-nine occupations at the entry level
were identified and competencies required for
each occupation were also identified in the
meeting. On the final day of the meeting, task
analysis and syllabus for theory and practical
were developed. The outcome realised was an
occupation-based module for the office sector.
The likely impact of this programme will be
better implementation of NVQ in the country.
The modules will be developed at higher levels
as a follow-up measure.
The programme was conducted in Pollachi,
Tamil Nadu from 21 to 23 December 2005.
T RAINING
Training of Vocational Education Teachers in
Sikkim on Skill Training and Skill Certification
was organised in the Department of Human
Resource Development, Government of
NCERT NEWS/January 2006
Sikkim, Gangtok. Forty teachers drawn from
Government Sector Secondary Schools in four
districts of Sikkim participated in the
programme.
The PSSCIVE resource team delivered
lectures on issues concerning implementation,
evaluation and certification of vocational
education programme in Sikkim.
Mr Ugen Tashi, Assistant General
Manager, North Eastern Development Finance
Corporation Ltd., Gangtok elaborated the
different schemes available with the Finance
Corporation for establishing enterprise for selfemployment.
The participants worked in groups and also
individually to prepare (i) a proposal for setting
up a stall of vocational education in Janata
Mela, (ii) a project proposal for selfemployment, (iii) questions for testing
knowledge, understanding and application.
A short-term Vocational Teachers Training
Programme was held in the area of Marketing
and Salesmanship by the PSSCIVE for the
State of Maharashtra.
O BJECTIVES
z
z
z
To orient the vocational teachers about the
concept, goal and objectives of Vocational
Education.
To discuss the problems faced by the
teachers in transacting the curriculum
and suggest possible solutions.
To develop training skills in the teachers
for teaching marketing and salesmanship
courses, latest knowhow technology in the
field of marketing and salesmanship.
This programme in the area of Marketing
and Salesmanship for Maharashtra was held
from 4-24 October 2005 in collaboration with
the Mahatma Gandhi Vidyamandir, Lonkete
Vyanktrao Hiray College, Nasik. Twenty-six
vocational teachers in the area of marketing
and salesmanship from Maharashtra
participated in the training programme. They
were trained in various aspects of vocational
education programme as well as aspects
related to Marketing, Salesmanship,
Accounting, Business Correspondence,
Business Communication, International
NCERT NEWS/January 2006
Marketing, Agriculture Marketing and
Computer Fundamentals.
Educational and industrial field visits were
arranged for the participants. They visited
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, MIDC,
Siuner, Nasik, Gargati MIDC, Sinner, Nasik,
Agricultural Produce Market Committee,
Panchvati, Nasik and Central Warehousing
Corporation of India, Panchvati, Nasik and
acquainted themselves with marketing strategies.
E XTENSION
Sensitization of the Officers of the Scheduled
Caste Scheduled Tribes Corporations/
Directorates of North-Eastern States towards
Vocational Education
O BJECTIVES
z
z
To bring awareness about VEP amongst key
officials SC/ ST Corporation and Directorates
concerned.
To assist the officers in developing proposals
for establishing VET centers.
Twelve SC/ST participants attended the
programme. They were from Assam, Meghalaya
and Tripura states and Kendriya Vidyalaya
Sangthan. The programme coordinator explained
the purpose of inviting three different categories
of participants, roles and functions of PSSCIVE
and the programme schedule for the next three
days. Discussions were held on:
z Why Vocational Education?
z Features of VEP
z Different systems of Vocational Education
and Training
z School-Industry Linkage
z Feedback from the participants
z National Vocational Qualification
Framework for India
z Production-cum-Training Centre
z Apprenticeship Training
z Teacher Factor
z Performance Evaluation
z Entrepreneurship Development
z A brief introduction on the proposed new
scheme on VET
Continued on page 8
5
Constructivism : A Debate
The discussions elicited questions like —
• Are the prescribed textbooks an
antithesis to constructivism?
• What should the role of the teacher be?
• If the teacher is a mediator and a
facilitator then what are the implications
on pre-service and in-service teacher
education programmes?
• Does the school time table have
sufficient time to promote this approach?
• Should a constant and fixed curricular
content be retained?
With the approval of the National Curriculum
Framework (NCF) -2005 by the Central
Advisory Board of Education (CABE), the
NCERT initiated a debate on Constructivism
and its Implications on Elementary Education,
since October 2005. The programme is
coordinated by the DEE. The first meeting was
held on 5 October 2005.
Professor Krishna Kumar, Director,
NCERT, initiated the discussion and
emphasised the need to focus on Gyan Ki
Rachna so that the child learns through
experience and moves forward.
The second meeting was held in an informal
setup on 25 November 2005 at the Rose Garden
FOCUS
• Child as an agent of one’s own learning
• Construction of knowledge based on the
ethos of her environment
• Knowledge as a basis of action rather
than an outcome
• The role of the teacher educator and the
teacher in this scenario
• Need to inculcate values and positive
attitudes
• Connecting the school ethos with the
child’s context
• Need for the use of teaching learning
materials that are contextual and local
specific
6
• The discussion veered around the
child’s need to take decisions and
manage her own learning. For this,
there was a need to revamp the existing
assessment procedures and develop
suitable resource materials (print, audio
and video) to promote the child’s
construction of knowledge.
The second meeting was held in an informal
setup on 25 November 2005 at the Rose Garden
of the NIE Campus, NCERT. Dr. Shabnam
Sinha from DEE initiated the discussion. Two
papers were presented; Point-Counter Point and
the Dilemma of the Text Book Writer by
Dr. Shabnam Sinha and Form Rote Memory to
Learning by Understanding by Dr. Santosh
Sharma, DTEE. This meeting witnessed
animated discussions on issues like
constructivism and Indian educationists; the
significance of culturally contextual learning
and the difference between constructivist and
constructionist approach to learning etc.
Professor Krishna Kumar mentioned that
the constructivist pedagogy does not rule out
learning by rote, rather it provides space for
rote learning in certain areas of study like
historical dates, names of chemical
elements etc which can not be discovered
merely through intellectual efforts and
knowledge construction.
Articles are available on the NCERT website //
www.ncert.nic.in.
NCERT NEWS/January 2006
In the News....................
NCERT NEWS/January 2006
7
Continued from page 5
Orientation Programme on VEP for Capacity
Building of Minority Institutions
O BJECTIVES
z
z
z
z
To orient participants about VEP;
To highlight the role of VE&T programme
in the capacity building of minority
groups;
To popularise VEP amongst minority
groups though its implementation in
institutions managed by minorities;
To prepare projects to start VEP in
minority institutions.
Thirty-two key functionaries from
Maharashtra, Punjab, U.P., Mizoram, M.P.,
Kerala, Karnataka, Gujarat attended the
programme. Project formulation and different
financial schemes, use of information
technology, establishment of PTC, OJT and SIL,
guidance, counseling and entrepreneurship,
motivation and popularisation and schemes for
minority institutions were discussed. Group
work was carried out by the participants, which
suggested the action points for starting/
strengthening vocational education in minority
institutions.
The programme was held from 24 – 27
November 2005.
Trainings, Workshops and other Events
JAWAHARLAL NEHRU NATIONAL SCIENCE
EXHIBITION FOR CHILDREN 2005-06
The 32nd Jawaharlal Nehru National Science
Exhibition (JNNSE) was organised by the
Department of Education in Science and
Mathematics (DESM), NCERT at Raipur,
Chhattisgarh from 11–16 November 2005 in
collaboration with the Government of
Chhattisgarh. The Hon’ble Governor of
Chhattisgarh Lt. Gen. (Rtd.) Krishan Mohan
Seth, PVSM, AVSM, inaugurated the
exhibition. Dr Raman Singh Hon’ble Chief
Minister of Chattisgarh was the Chief Guest.
Prof Puran Chand, Joint Director, NCERT
represented the NCERT. About 130 exhibits
were displayed and roughly 260 students and
teachers from all over the country participated.
O RIENTATION
E VALUATION
P ROGRAMME
IN
E DUCATIONAL
A five-day orientation programme was
organised by the Department of Measurement
and Evaluation (DEME) for primary teachers of
SC dominated areas of Uttar Pradesh in the area
of Educational Evaluation. It was organised
during 19 – 23 December 2005 by the
Department of Measurement and Evaluation at
SCERT, Lucknow. About 72 participants
attended. The first two days of the programme
were devoted to theoretical and conceptual
8
framework of educational evaluation and three
days were utilised to prepare sample questions
of various levels in different subjects viz.
Mathematics, Languages (Hindi and English),
Science and Social Studies, behaviour
indicators for various activities, and guidelines
for teachers for enhancing achievement of
students of Schedule Castes.
TRAINING PROGRAMME OF STATE
COORDINATORS OF MID- TERM A CHIEVEMENT
SURVEY AT THE END OF CLASS V
A two-day training programme of State
Coordinators was conducted by the
Department of Measurement and Evaluation
(DEME), NCERT from 12–13 December 2005
to carry out various activities related to the
conduct of Mid-term Achievement Survey at
the end of Class V. Thirty-five participants from
various States/Union Territories participated.
The modalities for the conduct of Mid-term
Achievement Survey were discussed in detail.
ORIENTATION P ROGRAMME IN G UIDANCE AND
C OUNSELLING FOR THE S TATE L EVEL KEY
PERSONNEL IN THE NORTH-EAST
The Department of Educational Psychology
and Foundations of Education, NCERT
organised a three-day orientation programme
for the state-level key personnel in guidance
NCERT NEWS/January 2006
and counselling at NERIE, Shillong during
5-7 December 2005. This was the first
programme planned especially for the state
level administrators and guidance personnel
of North-East states keeping in view the needs
and concerns of students and status of
guidance and counselling services in these
states. The main objective was to augment
guidance and counselling services for schools
in these states.
Eighteen participants including SCERT/
SIE Heads and incharges of the State Guidance
Units and teachers/teacher-educators from
Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya and
Mizoram attended the programme. It provided
participants an opportunity to interact with
representatives from other state level guidance
agencies, NGOs and NCERT resource persons.
The activities comprised lectures, interactive
sessions, panel discussions, group work and
presentation of status reports by the
participating states.
The inaugural session was presided over
by Mrs HMD. Blah, Jt. Secretary, Government
of Meghalaya, Education Department.
The participants were informed about a
strong network of guidance services available in
Maharashtra NGOs and private institutions. A
special guest lecture-cum-workshop on
Sex Education: Aspects and Strategies
emphasising comprehensive sex education
through distribution of materials and necessary
competencies and attitudes required was also
held. A special session was organised on
Evolving strengthening guidance services at the
state/district/school level which helped each
participant to develop an action plan for one year
based on the background and student needs for
its implementation. A set of three publications
were distributed to participants to help them
start work as soon as they returned to their
institutions. In his valedictory address Shri
L.Roy, IAS, Director, DERT, Govt of Meghalaya,
Shillong welcomed the effort made by NCERT.
Promoting International Relations
The NCERT facilitates promotion of
international relations with educational
institutions in other countries. The following
delegations visited NCERT.
z
A three-member delegation from South
Africa consisting of Ms Zodwa Lallie, Chief
Director (South Asia), Department of
Foreign Affairs, Mr Phil Mnisi Office
Manager, Ministry of Education and Mr
Xolela L. Nofubuka, First Secretary
(Political), South Africa High Commission,
New Delhi visited NCERT and held
discussions about school education and
teacher education in India and the roles
and functions of NCERT.
z
The Executive Director, Council for
Technical Education and Vocational
Training Institute for Technical Instruction
(TITI). Sanothimi, Bhaktapur, Nepal,
Kathmandu visited PSSCIVE, Bhopal from
4-8 December 2005 and NCERT on 15
December 2005 in connection with a new
Trainers Course being developed by the
TITI for the trainers who conduct Training
for the Disadvantaged Group (TAG). The
NCERT NEWS/January 2006
z
z
team shared the information related to
disadvantaged group training; got inputs
from experts of NCERT on their work and ;
looked for ways to strengthen relationships
between TITI and NCERT (PSSCIVE) in future.
Four members of TITI visited PSSCIVE,
Bhopal. The two members namely Mr
Dhruba Prasad Dhungel, Executive
Director and Mr Kabir Chitrakar, Director,
Curriculum Project visited NCERT, New
Delhi on 12 December 2005. The delegation
met with the faculty of Department of
Education of Groups with Special Needs
(DEGSN) regarding issues and concerns of
disadvantaged group that need to be
considered for developing training of
Trainers Course. Interactions took place on
issues related to special groups,
disadvantaged groups, minorities and course
design. The visiting team also interacted with
Prof. Puran Chand, Joint Director.
On the invitation of Shri Arjun Singh,
Hon’ble Minister for HRD, Govt. of India, a
six-member delegation led by H.E. Sergo
Yeritsian, Minister of Education and
9
z
z
Science, Republic of Armenia visited India
from 3-12 December 2005.
H.E. Sergo Yeritsian and four other
members visited NCERT on 5 December
2005. A meeting of delegates was
organised with the Director, Secretary and
Heads of DTEE, DERPP, DESSH, DL,
DESM, and IRD in the Conference Room,
Zakir Hussain Block. The discussion
centered around recent activities of the
NCERT focusing on development of
curriculum and textbook and constructivist
approach to teaching and learning.
Dr Daya Pant, Reader, Department of
Educational Psychology and Foundations of
Education participated in an International
Workshop on Teaching Common Values in
Formal Education. This was organised in
Kuala Lumpur from 5 – 8 December 2005
by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
NEW PUBLICATIONS
z
z
z
z
z
z
NCERT Annual Report: 2004-05 (English and Hindi)
National Curriculum Framework-2005, based
Syllabus for Secondary and Higher Secondary
Classes
32nd Jawaharlal Nehru National Science
Exhibition for Children-2005
– Structure and working of Science Models
– List of Exhibits
– Folder
National Curriculum Framework-2005
Microscale Chemistry Experiments for
Senior Secondary Level
Bahuroop Gandhi (Hindi)
JOURNALS
z
z
z
z
Indian Educational Review : July 2004
Journal of Indian Education : November 2004
Bhartiya Adhunik Shiksha : January 2005
Primary Shikshak : January 2005
Regional Seminar (Eastern Region) on Perceptions of
Women Teachers Working in Rural Areas
Women teachers are crucial in promoting girls’
education at all levels of schooling. Empirical
evidences highlight that the presence of a
woman teacher in school generates confidence
among parents leading to a positive change
in the girls’ participation in education. Women
teachers are instrumental not only in
increased enrolment of girls but also have a
positive influence on their retention,
performance and personality development.
However, it is equally necessary that women
teachers work in a congenial environment and
their problems be paid due attention, so that
they can perform their roles and duties
effectively. With this background the present
study has been undertaken to build a national
perspective on the problems of women
teachers working in rural areas handling
Classes VI-VIII.
In this study, the DWS has already
collected information from representative
sample of teachers working in rural areas from
all over the country on relevant parameters.
Four regional seminars have been conducted
for face-to-face interaction. This year a seminar
was conducted at RIE, Bhubaneswar from
10
22-24 November 2005 for the eastern region.
Forty-nine women teachers working in rural/
remote areas from different states participated.
The analysis of responses from women teachers
of this region revealed that no weightage is
given to rural background of girls at the time
of recruitment of upper primary school
teachers. Teacher- participants from Bihar and
Jharkhand highlighted lack of security while
commuting to schools located in remote areas.
Non-existence of grievances redressal cells were
also identified as major problems by teacher participants. During the three-day seminar, the
identification of the problems led to a
discussion on workable solutions.
Some of the solutions suggested by the
teacher-participants are: frequent public
transport for rural areas; provisions of interestfree loans to purchase two wheelers; separate
toilets for women teachers in schools; staff
rooms; provisions of watchmen; libraries;
residential accommodations at the block level;
childcare facilities or childcare allowance for 2
children up to the age of three years including
maternity leave period and provision of rural
allowance.
NCERT NEWS/January 2006
Thursday Lecture Series
The following lectures were organised by
DERPP under the Thursday Lecture Series:
z
Researchers handling of their Research
Problems by Prof Carl Martin Allwood
University of Lund, Sweden on 6 October
2005
z
z
z
Satellite Based Communication–Panchayat
Members by Mrs. Anita Kaul, IAS,
Secretary, NCERT on 20 October 2005
Strengthening Mathematical Education of
America’s Teachers by Prof Jack Narayan
SUNY, Oswego, New York on 24 October
2005
Non Detention Policy in the States; A Status
Study by Dr Chandra Sekhar DEME,
NCERT on 27 October 2005
Staff News
PROMOTIONS
z
Dr. S.K.S. Gautam, DESM, promoted as
Professor under CAS on 26.4.2002
z
Dr. Ram Avtar DESM, promoted as Professor
under CAS on 26.4.2002
z
Dr. Santosh Sharma DTEE, promoted as
Professor under CAS on 10.12.2001
z
Dr. Janak Verma, DEGSN, promoted as
Professor under CAS on 21.4.2002
z
Dr. J.P. Mittal PPMED, promoted as Professor
under CAS on 29.3.2000
z
Dr. Y.A. Azad DEGSN, promoted as Professor
under CAS on 21.4.2002
z
Dr. (Mrs.) Manju Jain, DEE, promoted as
Professor under CAS on 29.3.2001
z
Your view on the forum activities by Dr N K
Gupta DERPP, NCERT on 10 November 2005
z
Dr. D.D.Yadav, DTEE, promoted as Professor
under CAS on 29.7.2001
z
Panel Discussion: Nature of Social Science
and Humanities. Prof Krishna Kumar,
Director, NCERT, Prof Savita Sinha, Head,
DESSH, NCERT and Dr D K Sharma,
NCERT on 17 November 2005
z
Shri Bechu Ram, Daftry promoted as Jr. Gest.
Operator w.e.f. 28.10.2005
z
Shri Ram Pal, Daftry promoted as Jr. Gest.
Operator w.e.f. 28.10.2005.
z
Sh. Puran Mal, Assistant promoted as
Section Officer w.e.f. 13.10.05
z
Sh. Ishwar Lal, Asstt, RIE Ajmer promoted
as Section Officer w.e.f.14.10.05
z
Sh. S.S.Sharma, Asstt, promoted as Section
Officer, w.e.f.13.10.05
z
Sh. R.L.Lingwal, Asstt, promoted as Section
Officer, w.e.f.13.10.05
z
Sh. Nepal Singh, Asstt, promoted as Section
Officer, w.e.f.13.10.05
z
Sh. K.S. Tanwar, Asstt, promoted as Section
Officer, w.e.f.13.10.05
z
Sh. Ram Dayal, Asstt, promoted as Section
Officer, w.e.f.13.10.05
z
Smt. Kamlesh Gulati, Asstt, promoted as
Section Officer, w.e.f.13.10.05
z
Sh. O.P.Dhyani, LDC promoted as UDC
w.e.f.21.11.05
z
Sh. Attar Singh, LDC promoted as UDC w.e.f.
21.11.05
z
Sh. Sanjiv Kumar Dhankhar, promoted as
VSO, w.e.f. 31.10.05
z
z
z
z
z
Trees in Our Environment by Prof. Mohan
Ram (Retd), Delhi University on 24
November 2005
A Study of Learning Achievement
of Children of Primary Level by
Dr. G.C. Upadhyay on 08 December 2005
English Education in South Africa–New
Methodologies for researching the English
Classroom being used in South Africa by
Prof. Gunther Kress and Dr Carey Jewittt
Institute of Education University of
London Prof. Pippa Stein, Denise Newfield
and Y. Vonne Reed University of the
Witwatersrand Johannesburg on 15
December 2005
Web Access and Usage Behaviour of
Teacher Educators and Student Teachers
by Dr. K.S. Ramakrishnan, NIET, Noida on
22 December 2005
Prathmic Kakshaen by Mr. Jitendra Kumar
Bachon Se Batcheet on 29 December 2005
NCERT NEWS/January 2006
11
A PPOINTMENTS
Dr. Moorttimatee Samantaray Deputy
Librarian DLDI, NCERT Appointment on
16.12.2005
z
S UPERANNUATIONS
Prof. A.K.Sacheti, PSSCIVE on 31.10.2005
Dr. J.P.Mittal, Reader (CAS) DESM on
31.12.2005
Shri Sat Prakash, Workshop Attendant on
31.10.2005
Dr. R.P. Saxena, Reader, RIE, Ajmer on
31.10.2005
Dr. (Mrs.) A. Grewal, Professor, RIE, Bhopal
on 30.11.2005
Sh. S.P. Gupta, PGT, RIE, Bhopal on
31.12.2005
Sh. O.N. Awasthi, Professor, RIE, Bhopal on
31.12.2005
Dr. K.L. Arya, Professor, RIE, Bhopal on
31.10.2005
Ms. Indira Saxena, PGT, RIE, Ajmer on
31.10.2005
Dr. L. Srikantappa, Professor, RIE, Mysore on
31.10.2005
Dr. Sudha V. Rao, Professor, RIE, Mysore on
31.12.2005
Dr. H.H. Tripathy, Reader, Bhubaneswar on
31.10.2005
Sh. K.K. Sharma, Ex-E.A., voluntarily retired
06.10.05 (F/N)
Smt. Kamla Dhiman, Ex-Artist - Gr.II on
30.11.05
Sh. Purushottam Lal, Ex-Sr. Gest. Operator
on 31.12.05
Smt. Sushila Rochlani, UDC, on 31.10.05
Sh. D.C. Bathmi, UDC on 31.10.05
Sh. I.C. Jain, Deputy Secretary, on 31.12.05
Sh. Puran Mal, Section Officer on 31.12.2005
Sh. Sanjiv Kumar Dhankhar, VSO resigned
from Council Service w.e.f.26.12.05
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
Publication Team
P. Rajakumar
Shveta Uppal
Shabnam Sinha
Arun Chitkara
Design : Kalyan Banerjee
Back Margin
At a recent discussion on declining sex ratio held
at NCERT, senior feminist Veena Mazumdar
warned against the dangers of excessive
abstraction. When ‘people’ are referred to
‘population’, she said, it stops being a matter of
concern that family size is being controlled in
many regions by killing girls before birth. She
inspired the audience to wonder how our highly
educated medical professionals could assist in
extermination of unborn girls. The fact that
husbands who force their wives to abort the
female foetus have been to a school reveals the
fuller truth about the failure of education.
This is no systemic failure, for the system
of education has expanded itself quite
remarkably fast over the recent years and is
close to achieving universal coverage. The failure
is philosophical, arising from our inability and
reluctance to deconstruct the word ‘education’.
By treating it as an abstraction and insisting
that any or all education per se is good, we fail
to recognise that education is an experience. Its
core components are understanding and values.
If these two components are missing or
inadequately addressed in someone’s
schooling, it can hardly be called education.
Seen from this kind of perspective, the system
requires a deeper look and pervasive reforms.
Few believe that the system can be improved by
gradual reform. Those who have some faith in
the reform process lack the patience to let reforms
unfold over a staggered calendar.
KRISHNA KUMAR
Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s
those little bits of good put together that
overwhelm the world.
ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU
Website : www.ncert.nic.in, 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, 335, Khajoor Road, Karol Bagh, New Delhi 110 005
12
NCERT NEWS/January 2006