The event also marked a Hindalco Industries industrial visit. In addition to that, they recently visited the weaving industries in Attabira as part of a societal outreach programme. This visit provided them with the opportunity to engage with local weavers, understand their craft and IIM Sambalpur’s contribution in giving weaver community a platform.

During the inauguration ceremony, Prof. Mahadeo Jaiswal, Director, IIM Sambalpur, delivered a warm welcome address, expressing his enthusiasm for hosting the students.  He said, “At IIM Sambalpur, our core values are innovation, integrity, and inclusiveness. Embracing change and forward-thinking solutions, we blend tradition with modernity. Upholding high ethical standards, inspired by Lord Vishnu’s avatars, we ensure everyone feels valued, fostering leaders who understand the importance of inclusivity in innovation and ethics.”

 Chief Guest Debasish Mallik, Joint President of Hindalco Industries Ltd., emphasized the importance of bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and real-world applications and said, “True leadership transcends task management; it inspires and empowers. At Hindalco Hirakud, we foster an environment of learning and growth, enhancing managerial skills and encouraging experimentation. Embracing failure as a learning opportunity, we drive improvement. Leaders support their teams through triumphs and setbacks, promoting continuous improvement and innovation.”

The four-day residential programme is divided into five transformative modules, each focusing on critical aspects of management and personal development. The Modules were led by Mr. Samarendra Mishra, Co-Founder, OVO Farm, Mr. Keshav Rao, Director Personnel, MCL, Dr.K.Ganesh (Partner Global Lead, McKinsey & Company), Prof. Bharat Bhushan and various faculties of IIM Sambalpur.

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Every year in India, the academic season brings a whirlwind of activity. Students stress over exams, parents anxiously await results, and the scramble for admissions, particularly into Class 1, reaches a fever pitch during this period of time. Traditionally, there has been a wide variation in the age criteria for Class 1 entry across different states. However, the recent implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has sparked a crucial debate: should six years old be the mandatory age for entering Class 1?

Prior to the NEP, the age for Class 1 admission fluctuated between five and six, depending on a child’s birth date and individual state-specific cut-off dates. This inconsistency created confusion for parents and educators alike. Children born in the latter half of the year could potentially face a disadvantage, starting school a year younger than their peers. Additionally, the lack of a uniform system meant variations in curriculum and teaching styles across states, further disrupting the academic journey for students moving to a different location.

The NEP aims to standardize the system by mandating a minimum age of six for Class 1 entry. This move aligns with international best practices and aims to ensure a smoother academic journey for students, regardless of their state of residence.

Building a strong foundation

The Ministry of Education (MoE) believes that delaying formal education allows for better physical and mental development in children. Experts argue that a later entry age provides opportunities for a stronger foundation in early learning, particularly for numeracy and literacy skills. Studies conducted in Finland and other Nordic countries, known for their high academic performance, show that delaying formal education until the age of seven can positively influence long-term learning outcomes. This suggests that children who are not developmentally ready for structured academic environments might struggle later on, potentially leading to frustration, disengagement, and a negative association with learning.

Focusing on holistic development

Brain development is a complex process, with significant milestones occurring around the age of five. Entering Class 1 introduces children to formal writing tools like pencils and notebooks, as well as structured learning environments. Allowing them to reach a stage of greater physical and cognitive maturity can be beneficial. Specific aspects of cognitive development, such as focus, attention span, and emotional regulation, are crucial for successful learning and are known to solidify closer to the age of six. Delaying formal education allows for more time to develop these crucial skills through play-based learning and exploration in pre-primary programs.

Dispelling myths

Understandably, some parents worry about losing valuable learning years if their children enter Class 1 later, particularly in a society that often emphasizes early academic achievement.  This anxiety stems from a competitive academic environment where parents might feel pressured to push their children ahead. Here, the onus lies on schools and educational authorities to address these concerns through open communication and awareness campaigns.

Role of schools

Schools, particularly private institutions, can play a crucial role in spreading awareness about the advantages of delayed formal education. Parent-teacher meetings and workshops can be used to educate parents on brain development and highlight the potential benefits of a stronger foundational learning experience. Additionally, schools can bridge the gap by creating high-quality pre-primary programs (age 3-6) that go beyond rote learning and rote memorization.

These programs should focus on holistic development through play, exploration, and activities that foster critical thinking, problem-solving, social interaction, and emotional intelligence. This prepares children for the transition to formal education in Class 1 with a strong foundation and a love for learning.

Collaboration for implementation

The shift towards a later Class 1 entry age represents a significant change in India’s educational landscape. While the NEP has laid the groundwork, successful implementation requires collaborative efforts from various stakeholders:

• Government: The MoE needs to provide continuous support and resources to states to ensure smooth implementation across the country. This includes capacity building for teachers and early childhood education (ECE) providers by offering training workshops on child development and best practices in pre-primary education. Additionally, financial assistance might be necessary to support the establishment of quality pre-primary programs, particularly in rural and underprivileged areas.
• Schools: Schools, both government and private, have a responsibility to educate parents about the rationale behind the age change. They can also explore ways to bridge the gap by creating high-quality pre-primary programs that nurture holistic development in young children. Additionally, schools can review and revise their curriculum for Class 1 to ensure it aligns with the developmental needs of six-year-old children.
• Parents: Parents play a vital role in understanding the importance of age-appropriate learning. By seeking information and engaging with education professionals, they can make informed decisions about their children’s education.  They can also become advocates for change within their communities.  Spreading awareness about the benefits of a later Class 1 entry age among other parents and friends can help create a more supportive environment for this policy shift.

Furthermore, by actively participating in school events and meetings, parents can voice their concerns and suggestions, fostering a collaborative approach to ensure a smooth and successful transition for their children. Ultimately, by understanding the rationale behind the age change and embracing a holistic approach to early childhood education, parents can empower their children to thrive throughout their academic journey.

Sum & substance

The revision of the age criterion for Class 1 admissions represents a significant stride towards transforming the Indian education system in accordance with global best practices. By mandating six years for Class 1 admission, the Ministry of Education seeks to ensure that children embark on their academic journey fully equipped to meet the challenges of primary education. This initiative underscores a commitment to encouraging holistic development and laying a robust foundation for lifelong learning among India’s young learners. As the nation continues its journey towards educational reform, prioritizing developmental readiness and equitable access to quality education will be pivotal in shaping a brighter future for generations to come.

Ramakant Chaudhary is senior journalist and currently working with PRP Group as Content Head. He has worked in various editorial roles with Financial Express, Mint (Hindustan Times Group), The Times Of India, Jagran Post (Dainik Jagran Group), The Pioneer, and The Political and Business Daily. He writes on politics, government policy, economy, infrastructure, real estate, social issues, lifestyle, and health.

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Additionally, GAIL officials visited schools to educate students about natural gas as a cleaner energy source and emphasized the benefits of choosing Piped Natural Gas (PNG).

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Parties like the DMK and AAP also joined the growing chorus against the holding of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) at a time when COVID-19 cases were rising across the country.

At a meeting convened by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on a range of issues ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, the seven chief ministers unanimously agreed on the need to file a review petition urging the Supreme Court to reconsider its recent order rejecting the postponement of the competitive exams.
Among the chief ministers who attended the meeting were West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee (TMC), Maharashtra’s Uddhav Thackeray, who is heading the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government, Punjab’s Amarinder Singh (Congress), Jharkhand’s Hemant Soren (JMM), Rajasthan’s Ashok Gehlot (Congress), Chhattisgarh’s Bhupesh Baghel (Congress)and Puducherry’s V Narayanasamy (Congress).

A decision was taken to discuss the matter and evolve a joint strategy in this regard.

Sonia Gandhi said the Congress was on board on the issue and asked Banerjee, who proposed a joint appeal by the states in the apex court, to work out with Amarinder Singh and other chief ministers on the legal recourse. She said whatever steps need to be taken in the interest of students should be taken unitedly.

The Union Minister of Education Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ said that the ministry was under so much pressure from the students and their parents to conduct JEE and NEET on the schedules dates. He also hinted that most students are ready and willing to write the examinations because most of them have downloaded the admit cards. “The Director-General of the NTA told me that around 7,50,000 JEE aspirants have downloaded their admit cards. This says that they want to write the exam,” he said.

However, a large number of students said that they downloaded the admit card just to know where their exam centre is and they still want the exam to be postponed. Interestingly, a lot of students took to social media, posting photographs of them burning their admit cards.

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*Muzzafarpur,1^st August 2020*:  India BPO Promotion Scheme has become a boon for those who had to leave their homes and families in search of a job. Hundreds of youths interested in BPO sector can now find employment in their hometowns. *IBPS is a scheme which runs under the Digital India Program launched by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)*. The Vision India BPO in Muzaffarpur, established under this scheme is a first of its kind organization employing more than 250 youths. Women and disabled have been especially benefitted through this BPO founded in 2016.

According to *Vivek Kumar, the CEO of Vision India*- a company associated with human resource development that runs skill development programs in small towns, “We had always believed in the efficiency of this town`s youth population. We knew they would be capable enough to meet the work requirements in BPO sector once we trained them. But as in the case of all new startups, we were analyzing all the perspectives of this initiative. Our company conducted a survey which revealed that 56% of the employees working in the BPOs running in the metro cities belong to small towns. The main reason behind this was the lack of employment opportunities in these cities. This motivated us to open BPO centres in tier II & III cities and Muzaffarpur is one of them.

IBPS removed all the barriers: Vivek Kumar adds, “Several obstacles came up during the process of opening BPO centres. The financial viability of BPO centres was the biggest challenge we faced. Fortunately, we got to know about the *IBPS implemented by STPI*. Many problems were solved due to the support given to us by STPI. Under this scheme, one can avail a benefit of Rs. 1 lakh per seat, provided they qualify certain standards set by the government. We have employed the youth while benefitting from IBPS. This scheme is not only directly or indirectly providing job opportunities to the youth but also putting a stop on their migration from this region.”

A golden opportunity for women and disabled:

A huge number of youths being employed are women and disabled. Vivek Kumar says, “The parents in small towns are hesitant in sending their daughters away for education or jobs. Due to this, many talented girls are denied the opportunity to get a job or showcase their potentials. This initiative has paved path for many girls to work in the BPO sector and prove their talents. Besides that, many disabled youths are making their futures bright by working at this centre. This initiative also helps in the all-round development of youth. They are trained in a manner that they can work and perform not only in the BPO sector but in any other industry as well.”

What is the aim of IBPS: The aim of IBPS is to create a system through the expansion of ITES/BPO operations. This would boost the development, make the investment easy and attract the industrial world in such regions. *This initiative by STPI and Vision India in Muzaffarpur* has indeed pushed this region ahead in the field of ITES/BPO. It has not only reduced the migration of youth by providing jobs to them but has also socially helped them in carrying out their responsibilities towards their families.

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He also informed that a few weeks ago, he invited suggestions from all educationists on the reduction of syllabus on social media by using #SyllabusForStudents2020. ShriNishank informed that we received more than 1.5K suggestions and expressed his gratitude to everyone for the overwhelming response.

The union Minister said that the changes made in the syllabi have been finalised by the respective Course Committees with the approval of the Curriculum Committee and Governing Body of the Board.
The revision of syllabi is a measure taken due to the extraordinary situation prevailing in the country and at different parts of the world. Considering the importance of achieving the level of learning, the syllabus has been rationalised to the extent possible up to 30% by retaining the core concepts.

The Heads of Schools and Teachers have been advised by the Board to ensure that the topics that have been reduced are also explained to the students to the extent required to connect different topics. However the reduced syllabus will not be part of the topics for Internal Assessment and year-end Board Examination. Alternative Academic Calendar and inputs from the NCERT on transacting the curriculum using different strategies shall also be part of the teaching pedagogy in the affiliated schools.

For Elementary Classes (I-VIII) schools shall follow the Alternative Academic Calendar and Learning Outcomes specified by NCERT. The revised syllabus is available on CBSE Academic Website www.cbseacademic.nic.in

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— Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (@DrRPNishank) July 3, 2020
In his address to the students Shri Pokhriyal said that our priority during this epidemic is to ensure safety and academic welfare of students. We will ensure that while conducting the examination, we strictly follow the guidelines given by the Ministry of Home Affairs and Health Ministry so that students are kept away from the grip of this epidemic.

The Minister said that social distancing will also be followed in the examination centers and all other precautionary arrangements will also be made. Shri Pokhriyal advised all the students to remove all kinds of stress from their minds and pay attention to their studies. The National Testing Agency has prepared a testing App for all the candidates through which students can complete their preparations. In the end, the Minister wished all the students for their examinations.

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Speaking on the occasion the Union Minister said that this Calendar provides guidelines to teachers on the use of various technological tools and social media tools available for imparting education in fun-filled, interesting ways, which can be used by learner, parents and teachers even while at home. However, it has taken into account, the varying levels of access to such tools-Mobile, Radio, Television, SMS and various social media. The fact that many of us may not have internet facility in the mobile, or may not be able to use different social media tools- such as whatsapp, facebook, twitter, google, etc., the calendar guides teachers to further guide parents and students through SMS on mobile phones or through voice call. Parents are expected to help elementary stage students to implement this Calendar.

Shri Nishank further said that this calendar caters to the need of all children including Divyang children (Children with Special Need). It includes links for Audio books, Radio programmes and Video programme.

He said that the calendar contains week-wise plan consisting of interesting and challenging activities, with reference to theme/chapter taken from syllabus or textbook. Most importantly, it maps the themes with the learning outcomes. The purpose of mapping of themes with learning outcomes is to facilitate teachers/parents to assess the progress in the learning of children and also to go beyond textbooks. The activities given in the calendar focus on learning outcomes and can thus be achieved through any resource including the textbooks children are using in their state or UT.

It also covers experiential learning activities such as Arts Education, Physical Exercises, yoga, pre-vocational skills, etc. This Calendar contains class-wise and subject-wise activities in tabular forms. This Calendar includes activities related to four languages as subject areas, i.e., Hindi English, Urdu and Sanskrit. This calendar also gives space to the strategies of reducing stress and anxiety among teachers, students and parents. Calendar includes link for Chapter wise e-content available on the e-pathshala, NROER and DIKSHA portal of GoI.

All the given activities are suggestive in nature, not prescriptive, nor is the sequence mandatory. Teachers and parents may opt to contextualize the activities and do those activities that the student shows interest in, irrespective of the sequence.

NCERT has already started having live interactive sessions with students, parents and teachers through the TV channel Swayam Prabha (Kishore munch)( available through Free DTH channel 128, Dish TV Channel # 950, SunDirect #793, Jio TV, Tatasky #756, Airtel Channel #440, Videocon Channel # 477), Kishore Manch App(can be downloaded from play store) and youtube live (NCERT Official Channel). Daily Monday to Saturday these sessions are telecast for secondary 9:00 am to 10:30 am , for primary classes from 10:30 am to 12:00pm, for upper primary classes from 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm and higher secondary classes from 2:30 pm to 4:00 pm. In addition to interacting with the viewer, hands on activities along with teaching of topics are demonstrated in these live sessions

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Justice Rajiv Shakdher also directed the schools, both in south Delhi, to pay salaries of staff and teachers at rates presently prevailing.

The directions came on the schools’ plea challenging the Directorate of Education’s (DoE) April 22 finding, that the two institutions had illegally hiked fees and compelled parents to pay that along with arrears, and its recommendation to lodge an FIR against the management and seal the premises.

The court issued notice to the Delhi government, the police and the DoE on the plea and sought their stand by June 8.

It asked the school management or officials to join the police investigation into authenticity of some e-mails sent to the two schools allegedly by the DoE allowing them to hike their fees.

The DoE has lodged a complaint with police regarding the e-mails, the court noted and directed the Cyber Cell to file a report with regard to genuineness of the e-mails.

The court further directed the police that, meanwhile, no coercive steps be taken against the schools’ management till the next date of hearing on June 8.

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