Education

Today, we hear a lot of buzz words: environment, eco-friendly, go-green and so on. Eco-consciousness needs to be inculcated into our next generation and the best way to instill values into our children is through right schooling.Let me narrate the sterling example that my school set in the early 1960's. This was St Thomas School, at Mandir Marg, in Delhi. Our principal was an enlightened lady, who, through many practices followed by the school, inspired all of us to be aware of our environment, not be wasteful and to respect the dignity of labour. We all wore uniforms made of…

Sixteen-year-old Hasina Begum, a student of Magadi Government Girls High School in Bengaluru is entering a crucial year in school, the tenth standard. This is just her third year in school. Hasina used to work as a domestic help before she was rescued by the Association for Promoting Social Action (APSA), a Bangalore-based grassroots community development organisation. Underprivileged children who study at APSA's Kanasina Shale, located in LB Shastri Nagar. Pic: Vaishnavi Vittal Hasina studied and prepared for her seventh standard exams at APSA's Dream School or Kanasina Shale, where formal education is imparted to child labourers and children from…

Indira Swaminathan, an educational consultant, recalls the story of a Nisha*, a teenager with learning difficulties who joined Akshyam Early Learning Centre, where Indira is founder-director. When she first joined their school, Nisha was more of a spectator to daily activities. When Indira asked her to help her out, she laughed and said, "No, I don't have any brains." To which, Indira simply said, "You are talking to me, it shows that you are capable and can help me." Over a period of time, Nisha learnt to assist the younger children with tying their shoe laces, getting the required books…

A quick glance at your neighbourhood schools. At Indira Priyadarshini, Sindhu J C topped the SSLC with 601 for 625. 90% passed at Holy Infant. At Frank Public it is a 100% pass. At St Marks Public, 100% passed, with 20 of 30 students securing first class. Mahatma Education Society secured a 67% pass. “Its not too bad, we not only concentrate on academics but also on other curricular activities”, says Dr Seshagiri Rao K A, Principal.Coming to some ICSE 12th results, at Clarence Public, all students secured above 80% marks. At Dayananda Sagar, above 80% of the students got…

Jayanagar Academic Committee (JAC) organised an event on March 14th to mark its completion of the coaching programme for students appearing in the forthcoming SSLC exam. This was held at SSMRV College, Jayanagar 4th T block. More than 100 people attended the function. A volunteer teacher of the coaching progamme demonstrated to show as to how the 45 days coaching classes have been conducted. The students said that they were made to solve model question papers and the classes were very interactive and practical. The idea of this progamme was put forth by MLA of Jayanagar. Pic: Chetan Boray. More…

Crime news is hardly a thing one likes to read in the morning. But the suicide of two young girls isn't something you can miss. The two girls aged 17 and 19 killed themselves some weeks back due to exam fears. Though the two deaths are unrelated, the cause is scarily common; especially at this time of the year.Over the last few years Bangalore has gained a dubious reputation of being the suicide capital of the country! One of the media reports quoting statistics available with the city's crime bureau says that over 7840 cases of suicides were recorded in…

From January 29th, around 600 SSLC students of government schools and aided schools, from the Jayanagar assembly constituency, are putting extra effort into preparing for their upcoming final exams. They are attending coaching classes organised by the Jayanagar Academic Committee (JAC) whose single point goal now is to improve SSLC results in Jayanagar constituency. The constituency covers Pattabhiram Nagar, Byrasandra, Jayanagar East, Gurappanapalya, J P Nagar, Sarakki and Shakambari Nagar. Students in the classroom. Pic courtesy: JAC.Presided by Jayanagar MLA B N Vijaykumar, who initiated the idea, the committee comprises of Dr T V Raju, Director RV Institute of Management,…

On February 10th, The Environment Protection Institute (EPI) conducted a training session on teaching methods and environment protection for teachers.EPI was set up in 1993 and was formerly known as Environment Education Foundation (EEF). EPI's main objective is "to conserve bio-resources and health of the planet" says Dr K Shivashankar, President of EPI.Around 67 teachers from Bangalore schools participated in the workshop, at JP Nagar 5th Phase, near AV Education.Shivashankar said that EPI aims to reach out to schools and teachers. They also conduct inter-school competitions in collaboration with the Rotary Club and hold lectures at schools to spread awareness…

Aneesh Vidyashankar, 18, is a violin player and student of architecture based in JP Nagar VI phase. He gave his first violin solo concert (classical carnatic style), when he was just eight. Aneesh Vidyashankar. Pic: Ramesh. He has given solo violin concerts at ISKCON, Chowdiah Memorial Hall., The Bangalore Club., Bangalore Gayana Samaja., The Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Indian Institute of World Culture, and many more concerts.Vidyashankar has won several prizes in competitions held by various sabhas like The Gayana Samaja and Academy of Music, and the first prize at Prestigious national level Classical Music Competition-Instrumental Violin 2009 held by Prasara…

While many parents prefer traditional, mainstream schools, there are others looking out for options. Tradition has edged the mass towards mainstream schools with blackboards and report cards, but a growing number of parents in Bengaluru are opting for an alternative method of education - alternative schools. The names one usually comes across while mulling over alternative education are Montessori, Jiddu Krishnamurthi, Steiner/Waldorf, Reggio Emilia, etc. While following these schools of thought, some schools do bank on their own home-grown methods of teaching too. Some of the better-known unconventional schools in Bangalore are The Valley School, Centre for Learning, Shibhumi, Poorna,…