Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, May 30, 2007
Surprise, surprise, though the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education was supposed to announce the Madhyamik results at a news conference after 4 pm, several TV channels jumped the gun and aired interviews with probable toppers from the morning. The results were uploaded on websites at 5.30 pm.
Going through the marks of 6,58,914 students and anointing toppers is virtually impossible before the results are published on the web or the mark sheets reach the schools. Mark sheets are meant to be confidential documents before the results are declared. Nowhere in India does a section of the media take interviews of toppers, even before the results are declared.
The school education minister, Partha De, has been appalled by the act. “This is strange. How can a section of the electronic media take interviews of the toppers even before the results have been declared. If the marks declared by some channels tallies with the official version, then we may launch a probe,” De said. Various teachers’ organisation have lodged a protest with the school education minister.
It is clear that the channels, which have aired the interviews, had access to the results, which cannot happen without the help of an insider. Questions have now risen whether the president of the board, Ujjal Basu, will resign? “I will think about it only after the results flashed by the electronic media, tallies with the real marks,” Basu said.
Basu however rubbished such claims and equated the release of early results by the channels with exit polls during elections. “These are just like exit polls, some will match, while most will be different. To the best of my knowledge, no one had access to the results before it was published,” said Basu. However, he refused to comment how the students or the channels could know the total marks even before the board had published the results. Basu said, “I cannot take the responsibility for some media houses that aired the interviews before the results were published. They should be quizzed, not us.”
Last year too the probable toppers were interviewed by some section of electronic media even before the results were announced. However, the board refused to term it as a leak, because the results were faxed to districts much before the schedule time. But this year nothing such has happened and the board does not know what reason to give.mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
IIT list out, but no OBC quota
Mou Chakraborty,
Kolkata, May 30, 2007
THE IIT-JEE results were declared on Wednesday. However, there was no OBC quota list.
Beginning this year and till 2009, IIT-Kharagpur was to implement 9 per cent OBC quota each year taking the total number of reserved seats for OBC to 27 per cent, as prescribed by the central government. “We will publish the OBC quota list for this session if the government asks us to do so,” said director of IIT Kharagpur Prof SK Dube.
Under the OBC quota policy, IIT-KGP was to add 334 seats this year. But if the OBC quota it not implemented this year then IIT-KGP would have 845 seats, as it was last year. But even if OBC quota list is not published this year, IIT-KGP plans to begin upgrading its infrastructure so that it can accommodate 27 per cent OBC students in the near future. For the purpose, the institute had asked for Rs 680 crore from the HRD ministry.
As for this year’s IIT-JEE results, the good news from Bengal is that WB-JEE topper Subhasish Das from Bolpur Nichupati Nirad Barani High School has bagged the all India 4th rank and has topped in the IIT-KGP region.
Subhasish, who plans to study aeronautical engineering at IIT-Kharagpur or IIT Mumbai, said, “This year the WB-JEE had upgraded its syllabus to IIT-JEE standards. So there was no need to prepare separately. This helped me to make it among the toppers in both IIT-JEE and WB-JEE”.
But Dube credits Subhasish’s success to the reform IITs have brought about in their examination process. “We restructured the syllabus and exam pattern in a manner that students from the districts got a better chance to get in. It has made school education more relevant and coaching centres redundant.”
This year over 2.43 lakh candidates took the exam. The merit list has 7,200 students to fill up 5537 seats at the seven IITs. The merit list has 537 girls. Anamika Sharma from IIT Mumbai zone has topped among girls with an all-India rank of 55. Though 10 per cent more girls have made it to the merit list this time, only 48 girls (2.24 per cent) have been successful from the IIT-KGP region.
Counseling will start from June 18 and will continue till June 22. The preparatory course and their counseling will be held on July 6 and classes at IIT-Kharagpur will start from July 23.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
BOX
ü Total number of students appeared 2, 43, 029
ü Total number of students qualified 7200
ü Total number of students appeared from IIT-Kharagpur region 32,693
ü Total Number of students qualified from IIT-Kharagpur region 733
ü Total number of girls appeared 54,025
ü Total number of girls qualified 537
ü Total number of girls appeared from IIT Kharagpur region 6990
ü Total number of girls qualified from IIT Kharagpur region 48
ü Total number of seats in 7 IITs 5537
ü Total number of seats at IIT Kharagpur 845
ü Counseling for admission - from June 18 to June 22.
ü The preparatory course and their counseling will be held on July 6
ü Classes at IIT Kharagpur begin on July 23.
ü IIT’s published the result minus OBC category
ü If OBC category were included IIT Kharagpur would have offered 125 extra seats all reserved under OBC quota.
ü The IIT’s may publish another list comprising of OBC quota students if it gets nod from the MHRD before the beginning of the session.
IIT-Kharagpur region includes – West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa, Part of Bihar, Sikkim, Agartala and Andaman & Nicobar Island.
Kolkata, May 30, 2007
THE IIT-JEE results were declared on Wednesday. However, there was no OBC quota list.
Beginning this year and till 2009, IIT-Kharagpur was to implement 9 per cent OBC quota each year taking the total number of reserved seats for OBC to 27 per cent, as prescribed by the central government. “We will publish the OBC quota list for this session if the government asks us to do so,” said director of IIT Kharagpur Prof SK Dube.
Under the OBC quota policy, IIT-KGP was to add 334 seats this year. But if the OBC quota it not implemented this year then IIT-KGP would have 845 seats, as it was last year. But even if OBC quota list is not published this year, IIT-KGP plans to begin upgrading its infrastructure so that it can accommodate 27 per cent OBC students in the near future. For the purpose, the institute had asked for Rs 680 crore from the HRD ministry.
As for this year’s IIT-JEE results, the good news from Bengal is that WB-JEE topper Subhasish Das from Bolpur Nichupati Nirad Barani High School has bagged the all India 4th rank and has topped in the IIT-KGP region.
Subhasish, who plans to study aeronautical engineering at IIT-Kharagpur or IIT Mumbai, said, “This year the WB-JEE had upgraded its syllabus to IIT-JEE standards. So there was no need to prepare separately. This helped me to make it among the toppers in both IIT-JEE and WB-JEE”.
But Dube credits Subhasish’s success to the reform IITs have brought about in their examination process. “We restructured the syllabus and exam pattern in a manner that students from the districts got a better chance to get in. It has made school education more relevant and coaching centres redundant.”
This year over 2.43 lakh candidates took the exam. The merit list has 7,200 students to fill up 5537 seats at the seven IITs. The merit list has 537 girls. Anamika Sharma from IIT Mumbai zone has topped among girls with an all-India rank of 55. Though 10 per cent more girls have made it to the merit list this time, only 48 girls (2.24 per cent) have been successful from the IIT-KGP region.
Counseling will start from June 18 and will continue till June 22. The preparatory course and their counseling will be held on July 6 and classes at IIT-Kharagpur will start from July 23.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
BOX
ü Total number of students appeared 2, 43, 029
ü Total number of students qualified 7200
ü Total number of students appeared from IIT-Kharagpur region 32,693
ü Total Number of students qualified from IIT-Kharagpur region 733
ü Total number of girls appeared 54,025
ü Total number of girls qualified 537
ü Total number of girls appeared from IIT Kharagpur region 6990
ü Total number of girls qualified from IIT Kharagpur region 48
ü Total number of seats in 7 IITs 5537
ü Total number of seats at IIT Kharagpur 845
ü Counseling for admission - from June 18 to June 22.
ü The preparatory course and their counseling will be held on July 6
ü Classes at IIT Kharagpur begin on July 23.
ü IIT’s published the result minus OBC category
ü If OBC category were included IIT Kharagpur would have offered 125 extra seats all reserved under OBC quota.
ü The IIT’s may publish another list comprising of OBC quota students if it gets nod from the MHRD before the beginning of the session.
IIT-Kharagpur region includes – West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa, Part of Bihar, Sikkim, Agartala and Andaman & Nicobar Island.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
English and Math help to rise in top
Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, May 29, 2007
CBSE toppers who shone in Class X exams did so thanks to English and Maths. And yes all want to become engineers when they grow up.
Explaining why he wants to take up engineering, Abhishek Sharraf of Laxmipat Singhania Academy, who scored 97.2 per cent said, “I love Science and Maths is one of my favourite subject. I have always wanted to be an engineer. I will try to get admission to IIT and after that go for an MBA from IIM.” Sharraf added, “Whenever I studied, I gave it my maximum.”
Incidentally, Laxmipat Singhania Academy students did exceedingly well in English, with 43 students scoring above 90 in English. The highest mark in the subject is 99.
Preetha Saha of Kendriya Vidyalaya Haldia, scored 97 per cent marks. She loves reading storybooks during her free time and dreams of becoming an engineer like her father. “My dad works for Indian Oil Corporation and I want to be like him. My next target is IIT. Biology has never been my favourite subject and becoming a doctor was never an option.”
Sharmila Sinha from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan has got 96.8 per cent and wants to study electronics engineering in IIT. “I did not expect so much but I studied thoroughly and avoided watching television. I am on top of the world and I would love to shine in Class XII exams again,” Sharmila said. Speaking about Sharmila, school principal Anindita Chatterjee said, “She has always been a very bright kid. She lost her father at an early age and we gave her concession on her tuition fee. She was always serious about her studies.”
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan students also did well in English with 53 students scoring above 90 per cent. In Maths too, the students scored high marks. “We think the marking pattern in English was lenient. Practicals helped the students score high marks in maths,” said Jaya Misra, exam coordinator of the school. From this year, there were 20 marks practical in Maths. Similarly, Science theory exams were of 60 marks, with 40 marks left for practicals.
Becoming computer engineer from IIT is what Shatabdi Senapati of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan dreams of. She has scored 95.8 per cent and gives credit to her teachers and parents. While preparing for her exams, Shatabdi did not burn the midnight oil. “Sleeping helps you rejuvenate your mind. I made sure that I had adequate rest. I revised the NCERT books thoroughly and whenever I needed a break, I turned to music,” said Shatabdi.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
Kolkata, May 29, 2007
CBSE toppers who shone in Class X exams did so thanks to English and Maths. And yes all want to become engineers when they grow up.
Explaining why he wants to take up engineering, Abhishek Sharraf of Laxmipat Singhania Academy, who scored 97.2 per cent said, “I love Science and Maths is one of my favourite subject. I have always wanted to be an engineer. I will try to get admission to IIT and after that go for an MBA from IIM.” Sharraf added, “Whenever I studied, I gave it my maximum.”
Incidentally, Laxmipat Singhania Academy students did exceedingly well in English, with 43 students scoring above 90 in English. The highest mark in the subject is 99.
Preetha Saha of Kendriya Vidyalaya Haldia, scored 97 per cent marks. She loves reading storybooks during her free time and dreams of becoming an engineer like her father. “My dad works for Indian Oil Corporation and I want to be like him. My next target is IIT. Biology has never been my favourite subject and becoming a doctor was never an option.”
Sharmila Sinha from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan has got 96.8 per cent and wants to study electronics engineering in IIT. “I did not expect so much but I studied thoroughly and avoided watching television. I am on top of the world and I would love to shine in Class XII exams again,” Sharmila said. Speaking about Sharmila, school principal Anindita Chatterjee said, “She has always been a very bright kid. She lost her father at an early age and we gave her concession on her tuition fee. She was always serious about her studies.”
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan students also did well in English with 53 students scoring above 90 per cent. In Maths too, the students scored high marks. “We think the marking pattern in English was lenient. Practicals helped the students score high marks in maths,” said Jaya Misra, exam coordinator of the school. From this year, there were 20 marks practical in Maths. Similarly, Science theory exams were of 60 marks, with 40 marks left for practicals.
Becoming computer engineer from IIT is what Shatabdi Senapati of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan dreams of. She has scored 95.8 per cent and gives credit to her teachers and parents. While preparing for her exams, Shatabdi did not burn the midnight oil. “Sleeping helps you rejuvenate your mind. I made sure that I had adequate rest. I revised the NCERT books thoroughly and whenever I needed a break, I turned to music,” said Shatabdi.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
Kendriya Vidyalayas shine in CBSE class X
Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, May 29, 2007
It is raining marks in Kendriya Vidyalayas (KV) and students of Class X have done very well in the CBSE results.
A total of 4043 students have appeared for the exams and for the first time, there have been no failures. However, 103 students have got compartmental, where they have failed in one subject. These students will sit for a retest in 3 months.
The pass percentage has also gone up by six per cent compared to last year. While Abhishek Sharraf from Laxmipat Singhania Academy has scored 97.2 per cent and is the probable topper from Kolkata, Preetha Saha from KV, Haldia has scored 97 per cent and has secured second position.
“Kendriya Vidyalayas all over the state have done consistently well and the credit goes to the teachers who have motivated the students,” said V. K. Shrivastava, assistant commissioner of KV schools in West Bengal, Sikkim and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
However, teachers feel that all schools have done well. “This year the checking was lenient and not only the KVs, but all schools have performed very well,” said Anindita Chatterjee of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan from where Sharmila Sinha has scored 96.8 per cent and is most probably the third candidate in the state.
KV officials obviously are thrilled to bits. “Unlike the private schools, we take in mediocre students and it feels great to see that many of them have scored over eighty per cent in the board exam. It is a big feet, considering the fact that many of the students are first generation learners in their families,” said Shrivastava. The KVs had taken steps to ensure a good result. “We conducted two centralised pre-board tests. Weak students got remedial teaching in school and had separate learning materials. To keep tab on the situation, we had three surprise inspections this year. Our excellent teachers also pitched in,” said P. Devakumar, education officer of the KVs.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
Kolkata, May 29, 2007
It is raining marks in Kendriya Vidyalayas (KV) and students of Class X have done very well in the CBSE results.
A total of 4043 students have appeared for the exams and for the first time, there have been no failures. However, 103 students have got compartmental, where they have failed in one subject. These students will sit for a retest in 3 months.
The pass percentage has also gone up by six per cent compared to last year. While Abhishek Sharraf from Laxmipat Singhania Academy has scored 97.2 per cent and is the probable topper from Kolkata, Preetha Saha from KV, Haldia has scored 97 per cent and has secured second position.
“Kendriya Vidyalayas all over the state have done consistently well and the credit goes to the teachers who have motivated the students,” said V. K. Shrivastava, assistant commissioner of KV schools in West Bengal, Sikkim and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
However, teachers feel that all schools have done well. “This year the checking was lenient and not only the KVs, but all schools have performed very well,” said Anindita Chatterjee of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan from where Sharmila Sinha has scored 96.8 per cent and is most probably the third candidate in the state.
KV officials obviously are thrilled to bits. “Unlike the private schools, we take in mediocre students and it feels great to see that many of them have scored over eighty per cent in the board exam. It is a big feet, considering the fact that many of the students are first generation learners in their families,” said Shrivastava. The KVs had taken steps to ensure a good result. “We conducted two centralised pre-board tests. Weak students got remedial teaching in school and had separate learning materials. To keep tab on the situation, we had three surprise inspections this year. Our excellent teachers also pitched in,” said P. Devakumar, education officer of the KVs.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
Two state colleges granted provisional autonomy
Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, May 29, 2007
Close on the heels of St Xavier’s College, two more colleges from the state, Ramkrishna Mission Residential College and Belur Shikkhon Mondir B.Ed College have been granted provisional autonomy on Tuesday.
The state government has given the go-ahead to these two institutions and asked the syndicate of Calcutta University (CU) to pass the proposal. Autonomy will enable the colleges to frame its own syllabus and conduct the exams. This will include, setting the question papers and evaluating the answer scripts without any university interference.
“The colleges will now have to apply to UGC by May 31. After which there will be an inspection from the university followed by one by the UGC, to check infrastructure and capability of the institutions. The report will be submitted to the executive council of the UGC, which will in turn, decide upon whether the colleges deserve the tag. The whole process will take about two months time,” said Samir Bandhyopadhyay, registrar of the university.
However, Presidency College, which had also been shortlisted, will have to wait for some more time. “The high powered committee formed by the state government to decide upon the mode of governance is yet to submit its report. Necessary steps will be taken, once the report is submitted,” said Haren Bhattacharya, general secretary of Government College Teachers Association and a teacher at Presidency College.
RMRC is planning many changes after it is granted autonomy, but it will take place slowly. “To begin with, we would like to stick to the syllabus and exam pattern of CU. In future, we will see whether the semester system will suit us or not,” said the principal of the college Swami Suparnananda.
The college, which was established in 1960, currently has 650 students, and offers courses including, physics, chemistry, maths, statistics, computer science, economics and English at the undergraduate level. Physics and chemistry are also available for PG students.
“By setting up our own exam routine, we will be able to ensure speedy results, making our students eligible for admission in various universities and they can sit for the all-India level competitive exams,” said the vice principal Swami Puratanananda.
Belur Shikkhon Mondir B.Ed College, on the other hand, is ready to implement the semester system after it gets autonomy. Speaking about the matter, principal Ramendra Maharaj, said, “It will be one of the first items on our agenda and our board of studies will also revise and update the syllabus.”
Following autonomy, the colleges would be granted Rs 6 lakh per year by UGC for the next 6 years. After the term, CU and UGC would review the progress made by the institutions. Following a satisfactory report, they will be granted permanent autonomy.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
Kolkata, May 29, 2007
Close on the heels of St Xavier’s College, two more colleges from the state, Ramkrishna Mission Residential College and Belur Shikkhon Mondir B.Ed College have been granted provisional autonomy on Tuesday.
The state government has given the go-ahead to these two institutions and asked the syndicate of Calcutta University (CU) to pass the proposal. Autonomy will enable the colleges to frame its own syllabus and conduct the exams. This will include, setting the question papers and evaluating the answer scripts without any university interference.
“The colleges will now have to apply to UGC by May 31. After which there will be an inspection from the university followed by one by the UGC, to check infrastructure and capability of the institutions. The report will be submitted to the executive council of the UGC, which will in turn, decide upon whether the colleges deserve the tag. The whole process will take about two months time,” said Samir Bandhyopadhyay, registrar of the university.
However, Presidency College, which had also been shortlisted, will have to wait for some more time. “The high powered committee formed by the state government to decide upon the mode of governance is yet to submit its report. Necessary steps will be taken, once the report is submitted,” said Haren Bhattacharya, general secretary of Government College Teachers Association and a teacher at Presidency College.
RMRC is planning many changes after it is granted autonomy, but it will take place slowly. “To begin with, we would like to stick to the syllabus and exam pattern of CU. In future, we will see whether the semester system will suit us or not,” said the principal of the college Swami Suparnananda.
The college, which was established in 1960, currently has 650 students, and offers courses including, physics, chemistry, maths, statistics, computer science, economics and English at the undergraduate level. Physics and chemistry are also available for PG students.
“By setting up our own exam routine, we will be able to ensure speedy results, making our students eligible for admission in various universities and they can sit for the all-India level competitive exams,” said the vice principal Swami Puratanananda.
Belur Shikkhon Mondir B.Ed College, on the other hand, is ready to implement the semester system after it gets autonomy. Speaking about the matter, principal Ramendra Maharaj, said, “It will be one of the first items on our agenda and our board of studies will also revise and update the syllabus.”
Following autonomy, the colleges would be granted Rs 6 lakh per year by UGC for the next 6 years. After the term, CU and UGC would review the progress made by the institutions. Following a satisfactory report, they will be granted permanent autonomy.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
Monday, May 28, 2007
HS results on June 1
Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, May 28, 2007
The results of Higher Secondary 2006, conducted by the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education, will be published on June 1 at 10 am.
From 10 am onwards, students will be able to know their result through SMS or the Council’s website or through a phone call. Schools will distribute mark sheets and pass certificates on the same day.
This will be the first results after the HS syllabus and examination pattern underwent massive changes. For the first time, students took the exam only on the class XII syllabus. The mark sheets will also be of a new pattern: students will not have the sum total of marks obtained in each subject, and along with marks in each subject, students will get grades.
This year, the examinations concluded on April 18. Almost 4 lakh students appeared for them. The council has also been able to adhere to the June 10 deadline by the Supreme Court to all state boards. The SC ruled that all boards declare XII results and distribute mark sheets by June 15.
Students will be able to see their total marks and division obtained by typing their roll numbers on the following websites: www.wbchse.nic.com, www.wbresults.nic.in, www.cacuttatelephones.com, www.kolkata.bsnl.co.in, www.tathyabangla.org, www.banglarmukh.com, www.results.sify.com, www.rediffmail.com, www.indiaresults.com, www.icqresults.com.
To know the result through SMS, a student has to type WBHS give a space and type the roll number and send it to 7777, 9999, 7333, 4545, 6505 from a BSNL mobile. Tata Indicom users will have to send the same SMS to 8282 while Airltel users SMS to 3030. Realiance mobile customers can SMS to 1234 and 3926.
To know the results via phone, one has to call up Tathya Kendra at 2223-4214 and 2223-2451. BSNL users can call up 1250102, Reliance users can call up 1234. To know the results through Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS), students will have to call up the following numbers and say ‘Result’: 646 for Airtel users, 123 for Hutch users, 456 for Idea users, 12900 for Tata users and the BSNL users can dial 12555, 1255568.
Council authorities have made it clear that students will not be able to know their results directly from the council office. The council has directed the schools to collect the mark sheets and certificates from 10 am onwards on June 1 from the 33-distribution centers spread all over the state.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
Kolkata, May 28, 2007
The results of Higher Secondary 2006, conducted by the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education, will be published on June 1 at 10 am.
From 10 am onwards, students will be able to know their result through SMS or the Council’s website or through a phone call. Schools will distribute mark sheets and pass certificates on the same day.
This will be the first results after the HS syllabus and examination pattern underwent massive changes. For the first time, students took the exam only on the class XII syllabus. The mark sheets will also be of a new pattern: students will not have the sum total of marks obtained in each subject, and along with marks in each subject, students will get grades.
This year, the examinations concluded on April 18. Almost 4 lakh students appeared for them. The council has also been able to adhere to the June 10 deadline by the Supreme Court to all state boards. The SC ruled that all boards declare XII results and distribute mark sheets by June 15.
Students will be able to see their total marks and division obtained by typing their roll numbers on the following websites: www.wbchse.nic.com, www.wbresults.nic.in, www.cacuttatelephones.com, www.kolkata.bsnl.co.in, www.tathyabangla.org, www.banglarmukh.com, www.results.sify.com, www.rediffmail.com, www.indiaresults.com, www.icqresults.com.
To know the result through SMS, a student has to type WBHS give a space and type the roll number and send it to 7777, 9999, 7333, 4545, 6505 from a BSNL mobile. Tata Indicom users will have to send the same SMS to 8282 while Airltel users SMS to 3030. Realiance mobile customers can SMS to 1234 and 3926.
To know the results via phone, one has to call up Tathya Kendra at 2223-4214 and 2223-2451. BSNL users can call up 1250102, Reliance users can call up 1234. To know the results through Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS), students will have to call up the following numbers and say ‘Result’: 646 for Airtel users, 123 for Hutch users, 456 for Idea users, 12900 for Tata users and the BSNL users can dial 12555, 1255568.
Council authorities have made it clear that students will not be able to know their results directly from the council office. The council has directed the schools to collect the mark sheets and certificates from 10 am onwards on June 1 from the 33-distribution centers spread all over the state.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
Cultivate reading habit of your child through strategy
Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, May 28, 2007
MEET DAKSHINA Chatterjee. Like any other seven-year-old she is happy watching Cartoon Network on TV and playing games with her friends. But her mother wants to cultivate reading habit in her daughter. So she bought her adventure storybooks and comics. The books were full of glossy pictures and cut outs. Dakshina picked up the books but did not go beyond looking at the pictures. Her love for the idiot box did not wane.
This is a common problem. Even at school, teachers keep telling about the benefits of reading habit but those good words fall flat on most students.
But coordinator of the English Language Centre at Brigham Young University Neil Anderson says the battle can be won easily. During his trip to Kolkata last week, Anderson addressed over 80 teachers from across Bengal on how to cultivate reading habit among students across all age groups.
“Well if you find a child interested in cartoons and buy him storybooks and comics the chances are he will opt to watch the same on TV since it is more attractive. But what about gifting him a book on how ‘Tom & Jerry’ was made? The child will not only like it but will also want to read more on the topic,” Anderson said.
The trick to begin with lies in identifying the hobbies, likes and dislikes of the child and give them a book which helps them to know more about their interest areas.
Another way of helping your child pick up that novel prescribed in the syllabus and actually read through it is playing the predication game. “After reading some chapters if the children are asked to guess what will happen next they will find it very exiting to play the guessing game. The teachers will not only understand how much the child has actually studied but the child will get interested in reading the next few chapters and knowing whether his prediction was correct or not,” said Anderson.
For the grown-ups, teachers and parents may discuss an alternate ending to a novel or a story or ask questions like which characters in the book can be your best friend and why? And yes, do not do too much testing. “Most of the times the students get drifted away from reading their prescribed books because they know that at the end their will be a test. So the best will be that the students are kept away from testing and instead the teacher discusses the character, background and other relevant things in the class,” Anderson said.
And if the teachers find their students really bored with the reading they can try another trick. “If the teachers ask the students to draw the picture of what they understood from reading certain portion of the book the students will give positive response. They will not only have good time drawing pictures but the teacher will also understand how much a student has understood and liked reading the book,” said Anderson.
Language is a gift for a child and books give this gift in abundance. Reading a book aloud can be a good exercise not just for memorisation but also for improvement of speech and vocabulary.
“For little children the parents can read aloud a novel every night and then on few occasions asks the child to read aloud while the whole family listens. In that way the child will consider it a game or a every day practice and will pick up reading habit,” Anderson said. “For the students who love mathematics or love to do things in short cut the teacher can explain the plot of a book through Venn diagram,” he added.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
Kolkata, May 28, 2007
MEET DAKSHINA Chatterjee. Like any other seven-year-old she is happy watching Cartoon Network on TV and playing games with her friends. But her mother wants to cultivate reading habit in her daughter. So she bought her adventure storybooks and comics. The books were full of glossy pictures and cut outs. Dakshina picked up the books but did not go beyond looking at the pictures. Her love for the idiot box did not wane.
This is a common problem. Even at school, teachers keep telling about the benefits of reading habit but those good words fall flat on most students.
But coordinator of the English Language Centre at Brigham Young University Neil Anderson says the battle can be won easily. During his trip to Kolkata last week, Anderson addressed over 80 teachers from across Bengal on how to cultivate reading habit among students across all age groups.
“Well if you find a child interested in cartoons and buy him storybooks and comics the chances are he will opt to watch the same on TV since it is more attractive. But what about gifting him a book on how ‘Tom & Jerry’ was made? The child will not only like it but will also want to read more on the topic,” Anderson said.
The trick to begin with lies in identifying the hobbies, likes and dislikes of the child and give them a book which helps them to know more about their interest areas.
Another way of helping your child pick up that novel prescribed in the syllabus and actually read through it is playing the predication game. “After reading some chapters if the children are asked to guess what will happen next they will find it very exiting to play the guessing game. The teachers will not only understand how much the child has actually studied but the child will get interested in reading the next few chapters and knowing whether his prediction was correct or not,” said Anderson.
For the grown-ups, teachers and parents may discuss an alternate ending to a novel or a story or ask questions like which characters in the book can be your best friend and why? And yes, do not do too much testing. “Most of the times the students get drifted away from reading their prescribed books because they know that at the end their will be a test. So the best will be that the students are kept away from testing and instead the teacher discusses the character, background and other relevant things in the class,” Anderson said.
And if the teachers find their students really bored with the reading they can try another trick. “If the teachers ask the students to draw the picture of what they understood from reading certain portion of the book the students will give positive response. They will not only have good time drawing pictures but the teacher will also understand how much a student has understood and liked reading the book,” said Anderson.
Language is a gift for a child and books give this gift in abundance. Reading a book aloud can be a good exercise not just for memorisation but also for improvement of speech and vocabulary.
“For little children the parents can read aloud a novel every night and then on few occasions asks the child to read aloud while the whole family listens. In that way the child will consider it a game or a every day practice and will pick up reading habit,” Anderson said. “For the students who love mathematics or love to do things in short cut the teacher can explain the plot of a book through Venn diagram,” he added.
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