Education, Careers & Professional News
life-skills
Source
Times of India
Date
2005-01-13
Information
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is the world’s largest educational board at operational level. The director (academic) and chief vigilance officer, CBSE, G Balasubramanian, speaks to the Education Times on different academic policies and the focus areas for the year 2005.
What will be the focus for 2005?
The future appears to focus more on knowledge enrichment rather than on mere exam certification. The focus will be more on functional knowledge, multiple intelligence and skill quotient.
What is the board presently focusing on with regard to its academic policies?
At present we are focussing on promoting life skills, emotional intelligence and functional knowledge. There seems to be a dire need for platforms for creativity and open-ended learning. In a world, inundated by information and knowledge dynamics, competencies of self-learning have to be incorporated and entrepreneurial attitude of our young people needs to be developed.
What are your initiatives towards a holistic curriculum at the primary school level?
Stress-free learning at primary level to make learning process more enjoyable and interactive.
We have advised schools that students of class I and II should be allowed to leave their books in the schools and to desist from the pass-fail system from classes I to V.
We have introduced an achievement record for students to focus exclusively on positive attributes of learners, rather than their inadequacies and alternatives to home-work for classes III to V, where we focus on promoting the rapport between the child and family, increasing environmental sensitivity, improving communication skills, among others. At the formative level enough time has to be invested by parents on the child’s mental health.
At the middle level?
In an environment that is getting highly comsumerist, we have introduced life-skill education. The students need to have a balanced approach to life which requires empowerment of life skills through concepts like appreciation of nature, aesthetics’ sensibility, dignity of labour, mental and social hygiene and similar skills.
The board has incorporated the concept of mathematics laboratories. Learning mathematics from hands-on methods and relating to real-time situation will help in defusing the fear of the subject. The board is concerned about the quality of practical skills in science and will be coming up with a proposal to enrich hands-on experience in science practicals.
And for the senior classes?
As a pace-setting board, we respond to both current and futuristic requirements. We have introduced disaster management from class VIII onwards as a part of our frontline curriculum.
At the senior school level we have introduced frontline curriculum approach in several subjects like Physics, Business Studies, Accountancy, Economics and Biology. Moreover, several new subjects like Information Technology, Biotechnology and Fashion Studies have been introduced.
What other issues you are at present looking into?
We address many related issues in school education, like environmental concern, consumer education, population and adolescent education. We have taken initiatives to provide counselling before and after examinations, both through counsellors as well as e-counselling.
Where do you place the teachers in all these endeavours?
The teachers are crucial. We address teachers’ empowerment through many orientation and in-service programmes. Heads of institutions have to be sensitive, both to educational management and dynamics. We have specific programmes both for principals of newly affiliated schools as well as to senior principals in collaboration with Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
Where would you place CBSE vis-a-vis other boards, both national and international?
It is unfair to compare. Every organisation has its own objectives and working parameters. What is important is that they synergise their experience and derive maximum benefits from each others’ experience. We are striving to provide a kind of academic leadership in school education.
What are your views on grading system?
Grading is a far superior mode of evaluation than raw scores. It places an individual in a bandwidth which is more sensible than a specific mark. Grading is adopted worldwide and there is no reason why we should not create a climate for its acceptability.
What is the strength of CBSE?
The strength lies in the management of heterogeneity.