Battling between board and competitive exams? Manage the two with following tips

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February 26, 2018

The board exams of class 10^th and 12^th are going to start from March 5 this year. For students in class 12^th, the months of March, April and May are very crucial as along with board exams, they will appear in various entrance exams for admission to engineering, medical and other professional courses. Prachi Mittal writes for Elets News Network (ENN) suggesting ways to keep a balance in preparation for board and competitive exams.

Are you facing difficulty while preparing for your class 12th Board exam and JEE Main? Here are some of the tips that will help you strike the right balance between both the exams.

Objectives

Have a clear goal regarding what you want to become. Depending on your goal, make a plan for each day and give your best in following that plan. Divide your time and energy between school and coaching institutes and pay equal attention to both of them.

Execution

Do not ignore school to focus on competitive exams. Take part in all tests at your school. Look for a reputed coaching center which helps you in striking the right balance between the two. Never underestimate your potential and keep working hard.

Managing time properly

Try to manage your time in an organized way. Though the syllabus of both exams is same, they test different skills. Create a routine and follow it rigorously. You can also use CBSE Class 10 study planner to prepare a time table for you according to your preparation level.

Practice through tests

Take up a test series and solve frequent test papers. Analyze your weak areas. Take coaching from best coaching institute to give a boost to your preparation.

Learning through technology

Countless apps are available on phones, tablets to help with your studies. Apps can be used for taking notes and practicing previous year papers. One such app is Avanti Gurukul app where you will have access to lots of fun-engaging study videos for easy understanding of the syllabus.

Plan activities logically

Never study the late night before the exam day and also do not study 1 hour prior to the exam. Be calm and chilled before the exam starts. Studying just before entering the examination hall will lower your confidence.

The above tips will help the students to prepare well for board as well as for the competitive exams. With the syllabuses of the exams being quite similar, the above ways will help the students to balance their preparation in a stress free environment.

Parental Engagement in the Digital Age

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Akash

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February 26, 2018

Parents’ dependency on the technology and digital age has always helped the child to keep themselves ahead in terms of digital learning. Digitally literate parents are capable of educating their children from a very young age, writes Avi Keswani, Co-founder and Director of LISAA School of Design( CREO VALLEY) for Elets News Network (ENN).

To discuss technology dependence in the context of parenting is no less than opening a Pandora’s Box. Apparently, today’s children are well aware about the technology and their umbilical cord has been replaced by technology cord. Probably, this is the time when we could say that the child knows more than parents in term of technology. But it is equally important for parents to be involved in digital learning and educate their children on cybercrime, cyber-bullying, filter inappropriate content and more. Education is, and always will be, the key to helping children, and young people understand the risks and benefits of technology and the online world. Socialisation and digital literacy are skills that can help and nurture through good parenting and engagement.

Technology allows to access invaluable resources and learning opportunities:

The world has turned into a technology run globe allowing young people to access the invaluable resources and learning opportunities. This era is a challenge to parents which is inducing them to participate in digital literacy. As parents play a vital part in teaching children the practice of etiquette outside the classroom, the same way parents should be digitally literate to educate technology to their wards. It is essential that we focus on a conscious rather than a habitual use of modern technology.

It is important for parents to have digital literacy

Using Technology is beyond boundaries and age; we need to recognise that current situation is totally different from that of previous generations. Nowadays, every member of a family has numerous options to connect digitally. Whether we’re carpooling, standing in line at the market or sitting at the dinner table, technology is omnipresent and thus it is important for parents to have digital literacy to fulfill their work as their children won’t accompany them everywhere.

A digitally illiterate parent poses a clear risk to their children (online)

Digitally illiterate parent poses a clear risk to the privacy and safety of children. Tech naive parent may post pictures, videos or information about their children online, unaware of violation of privacy rights of children and worse, opening them up for public scrutiny. Privacy management in Internet and social networks is possibly the primary and most important skill that a parent must possess. It is important for every parent to understand that information in the cyber universe is permanent and it is not difficult to retrieve which may thus pose a risk for the child’s future.

Digitally literate parents are more informed

Digital literacy involves making informed decisions, knowing and enforcing limits. Digitally illiterate parents may be naive enough to take illogical stances about technology. Another important skill essential for parental e-literacy is the know-how and commitment to manage their child’s technological activities.

Parental digital illiteracy can cause problems to children

Parental digital awareness hinges not only on the parents being well-informed of the tools available to children for safe and efficient use of technology but also on their personal commitment. If parental digital illiteracy can cause one type of problems to children, parental overindulgence in technology can raise a completely different set of equally serious issues. With an increasing use of technology and gadgets by parents themselves, there is a very real risk of a social disconnect from their children. This disconnect can have serious effects on the development of the child.

Parents should have active interaction

It is very important for parents to have active interaction and open communication channels. When parents are participating in digital literacy they understand technology guidelines at school and classroom well. It helps them to know about the types of technology being used in their children’s classroom and to obtain the tools to follow up and complement classroom education with their children.

Parents are a crucial partner in teaching the children

We all know that how fast innovation occurs in the world of technology, many parents may feel as though they cannot help their children to navigate the endless expanse of internet and high-end gadgets. But, even if parents do not know everything about technological advancement, parents are a crucial partner in teaching children the safe and healthy use of the Internet. As school work to discuss principles of online safety in the classroom, parents can reinforce the media literacy educational messages at home for helping children become effective cyber citizens.

We can say, parents, today are much more comfortable with communication technologies than were the generation of parents who preceded them. Today parents are using gadgets such as TV, smartphones, computers, and tablets to manage family life and to keep children occupied. And as children grow older, parents and children are much less likely to spend time together in mediated activities.

Keep the face-to-face discussion up front

In a world where children are growing up with technology, parents play an important role in helping them learn healthy concepts of digital use and citizenship. Media and digital devices are an integral part of our world today. The benefits of these devices, if these devices are used moderately and appropriately can come great. But, research has shown that face-to-face time with family, friends, and teachers plays a pivotal and even more important role in promoting children’s learning and healthy development. It is important for a family to keep the face-to-face discussion up front, and don’t let it get lost in a stream of media and technology.

Parents are the right stakeholders

Parents are the right stakeholders who educate their children about what programs are appropriate and explain the program’s direct and indirect meaning. The parent modeling often uses ‘co-using approach’ also known as co-playing in educating the child where they too learn with the child. This also means parents are present while the child is using the medium. There is no purposeful discussion on the meaning or effects of content are involved but just sharing the experience from parents. This is important as this is acknowledged as enhancing the parent-child relationship, and facilitating the development of cognitive, motor and other developmental skills.

Therefore, parental approach and involvement towards digital learning could lead children to utilise the technology in beneficial ways.

Gamification motivating student learning process

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digitalLEARNING Network

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February 26, 2018

Digital games have instilled a profound impression in human lives. They make users interested to complete an activity in a given time frame through its user-friendly website and app-based platforms. Dipen Pradhan of Elets News Network (ENN) explores the use of Gamification in Education.

In today’s Digital Era, the term Gamification is rapidly gaining attention, especially in healthcare, entertainment, retail, consumer goods, media and marketing to help staffs in increasing the productivity of the tasks often to attain the desired result. The essential use of technology in education is amplifying gamified learning. In India the use is not unknown to the sector, although emerging at a slow and steady pace. The applications are designed taking the game-elements to build a teaching-learning platform, especially for e-Learning and also for classroom environment. Popularly used to train employees on lessons and manuals prepared by organisations, it is developed to assist humans as a technique to motivate their learning process through popular technologies like mobiles, tablets and laptops.

India-based Oliveboard provides learning materials, conducts online tests — a tutorial that helps while preparing for government and bank recruitment exams. The online platform recently achieved two million registered users. Playablo is a gamified assessment platform, containing lessons on English and Maths. It contains quizzes, assignments, data tabulation, tracks progress according to school lesson plan. eMee, is another platform that looks at gamification in multiple domains and verticals as per requirements of industry, enterprises, e-Commercials, education institutes, etc. Some of its gamification products include Gamification for BPOs and Call Centres, Gamified Healthcare portals, Gamified Assessment and Quizzes mentions it’s websites.

Reports suggest e-learning market of India estimates to become a $1.96 billion industry, and with around 9.6 million users by 2021. India budget 2018-19 has also allocated Rs 3,073 crore for the “Digital India”. Markets and Markets estimates, global gamification market trending to become an $11.1 billion industry by 2020.

Gamification In Classroom
Bloomsburg University Instructional Technology Professor and TEDx Speaker Karl Kapp in his YouTube channel, says, “Using game-based mechanics, aesthetics and game thinking, gamification engage and motivate people and action, promote learning, and solve problems in a non-game context.”

Another professor from Mississippi Valley State University Assistant Alfred Boyd writes in his blog, “It is important to differentiate between ‘game-based’ and ‘game-informed’ teaching in applying the principles of gamification to the classroom. Game-based teaching uses games in the classroom setting to teach and monitor the progress of students. Gamification, on the other hand, uses aspects of the gaming model in traditional classroom teaching to motivate students and reshape the learning process.”

When utilised correctly, experts opine, it helps in motivating students in their learning process. Some Gamification Features Gamification uses gaming elements, for example, points, competition, rewards integrated with social forums programmed into the platform.

Oxford Analytica in its report ‘Gamification and the Future of Education’ highlights Mechanical and Personal elements of Gamification.

Mechanical Elements of Gamification: It says there are game mechanisms which have gained prominence as the most fundamental with wide applicability, particularly in education:

• Incremental progression system — Goals, challenges, and quests
• Badges
• Onboarding and Increasing Accessibility
• Instant Feedback

Personal Elements of Gamification: Games also increase player’s engagement with a sense of identity, a technique which can help educators motivate student engagement in the learning process, the report states.

Global Apps Using Gamified Learning

KnowRe: Seoul-based online math learning site for secondary students. Class Dojo: Assists teachers to track behavior and communicate with parents.

Socrative: A cloud-based response system where teachers can quickly put together quizzes for student engagement.

Minecraft Edu: With over 5,500 teachers in 40+ countries using MinecraftEdu, the application hosts a library of STEM lessons through the use of Minecraft in the classroom.

Play Brighter: The App allows teachers to test students’ knowledge. Students learn and proceed through the level of the games, they will be rewarded with online currency to improve their performance on the platform.

Zondle: The website hosts many free learning games. It’s easy to set up the class and have students enroll on their own.

Virtonomics: The free online game focuses at players who understand the real life laws of economy, business, and finance.

Course hero: An online learning platform to enhance learning outcomes via document sharing.

Duolingo: Online language learning platform. Class Realm: Teachers can use ClassRealm to set up specific goals and achievements for students.

Kahoot: Education quiz app across varied subjects and ideas that can be taken in competition with others.

6th School Leadership Summit: When Top Educationists Brainstormed Vision for School Education

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digitalLEARNING Network

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February 25, 2018

The 6th School Leadership Summit on Saturday felicitated 180 educational institutes — including preschools, boarding schools, and CBSE/ICSE affiliated schools — across the country for their efforts to impart quality education.

The Summit witnessed educators, policy makers, industry leaders and key stakeholders share innovative ideas, best practices, latest trends and who also opined to form a consensus to develop a common forum that identify and solve key challenges prevailing in the sector.

On the occasion, Chief Guest HRD School Education Secretary Anil Swarup while inviting suggestions, said, “My concern is how to make things happen on the ground. It is in events like this (School Leadership Summit) where solutions emerge.”

A very useful interaction with school leaders at the Summit today. These are performers in the field that are creating a #nexusofgood. Public-Private partnership rightly emerged as the key to transforming school education in the country. pic.twitter.com/KzV6Jzq3Bx

— Anil Swarup (@swarup58) February 24, 2018

The Summit also witnessed interactive sessions on topics ‘Importance of Inducive Policies to Build Effective School Education Ecosystem’, ‘How Technology is Transforming Teaching-Learning Process in the Schools of Tier 2 Cities’, ‘Collaborative approaches for redesigning of schools’, ‘How can schools work with others for Designing Tomorrow’s Schools?’ and ‘Future of Boarding/International Schools in India — Plans and Challenges’.

Industrialists also deliberated a PPT presentation and the exhibitors showcased an array of innovative solutions during the 1-day summit.

While on the session, CTET, JNVST and Misc Exam Director MVV Prasada Rao feels the biggest challenge is the behavioural and attitudinal changes in children.

“If parents and schools do not come together, it will be very difficult to develop the child. And this aspect is missing in today’s education scenario,” he added.

According to Rao, a school leader should have a “PHD — Passion for work, Hunger for competition and Discipline for commitment”.

Kalorex Group MD and CEO Manjula Pooja Shroff, a moderator in one of the sessions, said, “Today education is in transition and has to regrow and reinvent. Conferences like this help in expanding the horizon and, of course, networking.”

Ryan Group of Institutions CEO Ryan Pinto recalled the previous School Leadership Summits organised by Elets. He added, “Elets has taken the brand of Indian education overseas.”

Founder and MD of MT Educare Mahesh Shetty while deliberating on the topic, ‘How Technology is Transforming Teaching-Learning Process in the Schools of Tier 2 Cities’ quoted George Couros: Technology will never replace the great teacher but technology in the hands of great teachers is transformational.

Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd, a premier technology and media research organisation of Asia and the Middle East, had organised 5th School Leadership Summit on January 12 in Bengaluru this year.

The organisation will host the 7th School Leadership Summit in Lucknow on April 14, 2018.

Don’t limit yourself to criticism, recognise good works: Education Secy Anil Swarup

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digitalLEARNING Network

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February 24, 2018

Emphasising the need of highlighting the good works done by teachers and organisations in nooks and corners of India, HRD School Education Secretary Anil Swarup on Saturday said wisdom does not lie in Delhi, it lies in the States.

“Don’t limit yourself to criticism, recognise the good works happening around you. The good works need to be replicated…We have to see and highlight the scalable part of the good work,” Swarup told a gathering of educationalists at the 6th Elets School Leadership Summit held at Eros Hotel in New Delhi.

He further said that his objective is to “create a conducive environment so that the education in India could flourish”.

“My concern is how to make things happen on the ground…It is in events like this (School Leadership Summit) where solutions emerge,” the top bureaucrat said.

However, in a word of caution, he said, “Every idea has to be politically acceptable because we live in a democracy. Also the idea has to be socially acceptable.”

A very useful interaction with school leaders at the Summit today. These are performers in the field that are creating a #nexusofgood. Public-Private partnership rightly emerged as the key to transforming school education in the country. pic.twitter.com/KzV6Jzq3Bx

— Anil Swarup (@swarup58) February 24, 2018

HRD School Education Secretary Anil Swarup tweets about the 6th School Leadership Summit — New Delhi.

6th School Leadership Summit To Felicitate Top Schools

Event

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digitalLEARNING Network

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February 23, 2018

Bringing together educators, policymakers, industry leaders and key stakeholders on one platform, Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd., is all set to organise ‘6th School Leadership Summit’ (SLS) in the national capital.

The conference will witness educators, policymakers, industry leaders and key stakeholders share innovative ideas, best practices, latest trends, and identify and solve key challenges prevailing in the sector — to prepare a roadmap of brighter future.

Ministry of Human Resource Development School & Literacy Secretary Anil Swarup will grace the occasion as the Chief Guest. CTET, JNVST & Misc Exam Director MVV Prasada Rao; and CBSE Vocational & Training Director Dr Biswajit Saha are also scheduled to attend the summit being held at the New Eros Hotel.

The Summit will hold Panel Discussions on emerging topics in the education sector, including industry presentation from renowned edupreneurs, stakeholders, industrialists.

It will witness a good number of attendees from across the country. CEOs from a major group of schools and about 250 principals from top Indian schools are attending. Moreover, the summit aims to provide a platform for sponsors and the exhibitors to showcase their best solutions for the education sector.

The SLS 2018 is also facilitating top schools in the country.

On this occasion Elets Technomedia will also be unveiling a survey ranking of the ‘Top Private and Deemed to be Universities’ across the country, featuring in its latest digitalLEARNING magazine — Asia and Middle East’s premier monthly magazine on innovation in education—being launched on Saturday.

Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd, a premier technology and media research organisation of Asia and the Middle East, had organised its 5th School Leadership Summit on 12 January, 2018 in Bengaluru.

The organisation will host 7th School Leadership Summit in Lucknow on 14 April, 2018.

Stimulating School Learning for Higher Education

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digitalLEARNING Network

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February 23, 2018

With schools steadily turning key elements in influencing the personalities and career choices students take up later on, they are laying foundation of youngsters’ tastes or options in higher education. These schools prove to be stimulants for students’ preferences in after life, observes Akash Tomer of Elets News Network (ENN).

Be it adaptability, readiness to embrace change, fearlessness to take on challenging situations or deep curiosity to acquire knowledge beyond the given curriculums, all these key factors in the present times usually get touched upon at schools. In essence, initial learning processes play key role in shaping children’s personality that further leads to their approach towards any situations in personal or professional life.

The growing inclination among various schools to encourage carefree mindsets than remaining limited to textbooks driven thought process towards life is bringing a sea change.

It is turning a common knowledge that if education has to be relevant to ensure a good career ahead, it should also give way to holistic development of students.

A student’s educational experience can be broadly classified into three stages: preschool, school and higher education. The 12-year period of main school education acts as a foundation for one’s stream in higher education and the life ahead.

Education is no more just a process of acquiring some educational degrees and achieving monetary success, it is also determining factor to cultivate an optimistic and healthy thought process and grooming of our cognitive abilities. Here are some of the factors contributing significantly in the development of young minds as they step into adulthood. There are many schools today focusing on these factors to prepare and bridge the gap between school and higher education in students’ learning process.

CURRICULUM
Both the School education and higher education landscape in the country appear to be in transition state.In these sectors, every brand is trying to equip their students with the skills which are not only as per the requirements of industries but also help them to live a peaceful life.

Explaining about the importance of curriculum, Mukul Tyagi, Director, Icon Group of Schools said, “At ICON, The distinctive curriculum has been designed after years of research in early childhood education in such a way that the learning occurs within the context of play and active learning strategies where children are engaged in tangible and hands-on discovery experimentation and interactions with materials, their peers and nurturing adults.We believe that the “Child is Curriculum” and so we have designed the curriculum in such a way where teacher helps children build knowledge by designing concepts and activities that build on children’s prior knowledge to create understanding and information.” he added.

MENTAL ASPECT
School is the foremost pedestal of knowledge children are exposed to. It gives a chance to them to acquire knowledge on various fields of education such as people, literature, history, mathematics, politics, and other numerous subjects. This contributes to cultivation of the thought process.

There is perhaps need for schools to focus on mental ability of students. They need to be exposed to the influences coming from various cultural sources. It will help them to learn the best practices around the globe expand their thinking capabilities.

SOCIAL ASPECT
Social development involves learning values, knowledge and skills that enable children to relate to others effectively and contribute positively to family, school and the community. The first venue where a child socialises with others is school. Social capability is crucial. Without this, children are at a risk of being unable to transition successfully from school to higher education and then to a career. Good social education helps children to resolve their behaviour problems social problems, problems that often remain in adolescence and even adulthood.

With schools, children are exposed not only to new ideas but also to same-aged compatriots. This instills sociable practices such as empathy, friendship, participation, assistance which turn out to be important in their adulthood.

DIGITAL EDUCATION
This is certainly the age of technology. In every industry and aspect of life, we can feel the effects of technology. This applies to modern education world too. Since last decade, technology has affected the education sector significantly.

According to Prahar Anjaria, Chairman, RANGOLI Group of Institutes, technology may bridge the gap between school education, higher education and industry requirements.

“Education sector in India has long awaited an overhaul to meet the growing demand for a contemporary education system that is accessible to all and currently acceptable to all,” he said. “Children and youth in India have in the last decade become increasingly technology-driven, revealing considerable potential and readiness to imbibe and learn using digital media.”

“Digital India has been envisioned as an ambitious umbrella program to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. We are happy to see that the Prime Minister has introduced initiatives such as e-education, e-basta, Nand Ghar which will impart education using technologies including smart phones, mobile apps and internet services in far-flung areas where it may not be possible for teachers to be present in person. With approximately 130+ million cellular-phone households in the country, we believe that delivering education through the digital platform to children and teachers could be a potential way to bridge the education deficit,” he added.

PHYSICAL ASPECT
According to childcare experts, 75 percent of brain development occurs after birth. A child, after conception, goes through various physical developments. Physical play helps a child to develop connections between the nerve cells and the brain. While home provides a restricted outlet, in school, a child can channelise his energy into more sociable avenues. Studies have pointed out that while in familiar environment, the child is is equipped to deal with sudden bursts of energy, the learns to be at his/her best behaviour only when exposed to same- aged individuals. Plus, familiarity leads to taking advantage of situations, while in school, the playing field is leveled.

OVERALL ASPECT
Earlier, schools were considered as places to learn events in history chapter, solve tough mathematical problems or recite poems and sonnets. In current educational scenario, a child learns to go beyond the traditional way of rote learning. They are taught to develop a mind of their own and through the flexible curriculum, curiosity is promoted. The child is freed of the shackles of mental blocks and lets his/her imagination run its course. Importance of imagination is stressed upon extensively. Life is also about learning, apart from living. While we can learn to a certain extent from our parents, they tend to be unilateral. At school, children are exposed to various sources from whom they can imbibe immense knowledge, instrumental for their development. Hence school is necessary for children to inculcate “the workings of life”. Education forms the foundation of any society. It is responsible for the economic, social, and political growth and development of society in general.

Karnataka HC allows overseas Indians to apply for CET 2018

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digitalLEARNING Network

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February 23, 2018

Karnataka High Court on Thursday passed an interim order where it directed the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) to permit Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) students to submit applications for the Common Entrance Test (CET) 2018 for admission to various engineering courses. To this effect, Justice BV Nagarathna passed an interim order following the hearing of a batch of petitions. The petitioners are directed to submit their applications before February 26.

As per the amendment to Section 7A of the Citizenship Act in 2005, Justice B V Nagarathna notes, OCI card holders are on par with Indian citizens and in case of a repugnancy, as per Article 254 of the Constitution, the act passed by Parliament prevails. During the earlier CET era, there were Karnataka and non-Karnataka quota seats and the government allowed students from outside to study here.

The court also cited that the Union Government allowed OCI student to apply for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-2018 and the State Government in fact followed last year’s court order passed by High Court which allowed admission of OCI students to various courses.

Students Should Know How To Market Themselves: Chetan Bhagat

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digitalLEARNING Network

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February 22, 2018

Is scoring high percentage in board examinations alone enough for students today?

Students today need to know how to market themselves in addition to scoring good percentage in examinations, feels author Chetan Bhagat. Speaking at a session in a Kolkata based engineering college, author Chetan Bhagat highlights the significance of communication and marketing skills for students.

The author brings back the focus on the need to change the education system of the day to help students connect their knowledge with real life. Sharing his insights on the education scenario, author Bhagat said “Americans are good at marketing, they are the best at marketing.”

Referring to Vasco Da Gama, Bhagat says, students are more interested about scoring marks than gaining knowledge. They would know Vasco Da Gama came to India in 1498 but they were never taught how Da Gama established connections with the local people in that age.

Chethan Bhagat stressed on the role that hard work plays for students to be successful. “Each pain I weather will pave my path (for success),”

Gujarat SMCs to educate migrant kids

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digitalLEARNING Network

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February 19, 2018

Gujarat-based School Management Committees (SMCs) have announced to provide an access to quality education to 6,500 migrant kids from select 680 villages in the State, during its 4th annual convention held recently in Ahmedabad.

SMC was formed under the Government of India’s flagship programme Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan — comprising parents, teachers from schools receiving grants from the State Government, and a local authority member.

The primary goal of SMC is to achieve the objectives of Right To Education (RTE). It keeps track of the children enrolment and continued attendance along with monitoring the maintenance of the prescribed norms and standards, check children harassment, denial of admission, etc. It also monitors the identification and enrolment of disabled children and ensures their elementary education.

Presently, Gujarat SMC has 174,054 physical members out of the set target to train 197,760 members, according to “SMC Training Year ?2016?17 Target And Achievement” report.

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