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In an effort to raise awareness about the ecology and environmentally safe practices, Ecofolks, Mumbai-based NGO, in partnership with Maharashtra State Pollution Control Board (MSPCB), have turned their focus to school children.
Their initiative is an inter-school environment-centered competition targeted at school children between the ages of ten and thirteen. The drive of the competition is to encourage the children to actively participate in preserving the environment. The competition judges the steps that school children (aided by their schools) have taken to protect ecological in their immediate vicinity. The schools will be graded using a point-based system that measures eco-friendly ideas that the schools have initiated.
In its fifth year, the initiative will see twenty-six schools in Pune register and participate in the competition. Gajanand Patil, the city organizer for Pune, believes that the competition will help students understand why they should preserve the environment. Encouraged by the steady growth in the number of school participating each year, Patil, plans to visit various schools offering lectures on green living.
In addition to the environment competition, students will also participate in drama competitions where a popular theme is saving the tigers. Later in the year, the competition will extend to include centers like Mumbai, Nagpur, Aurangabad and Kolhapur. Over ninety schools are expected to attend the competition from each center.
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One of the most critical changes in the past year was that of the acceptance by the school education sector of the fact that application-based learning is the need of the times.To this effect, the syllabi for both the IX and X standard have been revamped starting June 2012.
Also, the reform in examination pattern is not fully clear to many. The new HOTS [hIGHER oRDER tECHNICAL sKILLS]question pattern aims at reforming the Math and Science papers, where 12 marks [20%] are set aside for the same.
This hopes to compliment the shift in the mindset of education decision makers from rote learning to application based learning. The |
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On Tuesday morning, the founder principal of the Vidya Bhavan School, Fr Alfred Barreto [69], passed away at a city hospital following prolonged illness. He was was ordained in 1967 and dedicated his whole working life to the field of education. He also was the principal of the Ornellas High School and St Vincent's College of Commerce. The funeral will be held in Goa on Thursday. |
