Royal art lessons for children

Ranjitsingh Gaekwad teaches different aspects of art to children

Devanshi Joshi. Vadodara/DNA
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
“Contemporary art forms should not be compared with old art forms as both are unique and distinct,” said Maharaja Ranjitsingh Gaekwad during a workshop held at Fatehsingh museum in Vadodara on Tuesday. On the last day of 'start with art', a four-day workshop on art for children, Gaekwad interacted with children and taught them different dimensions of art.Gaekwad talked to children about different forms of paintings and designing. It was an overwhelming experience for the children to listen to Gaekwad of Vadodara's royal family and to participate in art activities with him. It was very rare instance when Gaekwad interacted with children and shared words with them.He advised children to remain focussed and use imagination to make their piece of art distinct and creative. “Children are best learners. They are so innocent and receptive that anything can be taught to them easily. Though art demands creativity, with correct direction one can cultivate it. Today, when I am working with children in this workshop, I can sense the talent and learning instinct in this future generation. They are very talented but efforts and initiatives should be taken by someone to nurture their talents.”Gaekwad also shared the art of using traditional tools in drawings and paintings with children. He showed a 500-year-old painting drawn with brick and charcoal. “Art has no boundary. When colours were not there, artists used charcoal and brick to make drawings and paintings. But now with the invention of modern technology, art has got a modernised touch. Use of modern techniques in traditional art can reform the artistic value of the art piece.”It was a great experience for the children in Vadodara who participated in the art workshop. Children followed their imagination and also the directions by Gaekwad and made different drawings.

Lab to make learning mathematics fun

Vadodara school introduces Math lab to enable students to learn mathematical and geometrical concepts in a practical way

Devanshi Joshi. Vadodara/DNA

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Mathematics has generally been considered a difficult subject for students. While most of the students hate the subject, there are of course a few who love it.For the students of Zenith school in Vadodara, however, maths is now no more a tedious subject of calculations only; it has become an enjoyable activity these days, thanks to 'Maths lab' launched in the school. The project aims at making the vital subject of mathematics simpler, easier and fun to for the students. NIIT installed the 'NIIT e Guru Math Lab' at Zenith school in Vadodara on Friday, first of its kind in the city. “NIIT eGuru Math lab' is a lab which provides Math lessons with the help of objects and software. After Ankleshwar, Vadodara is only the second city in the state where this kind of lab for mathematics has been established. The lab provides practical learning of different Mathematical topics. You find geometric shapes, charts and pictures on wall along with specially made software and mathematical objects.The Math lab enables school students to learn and explore mathematical concepts and verify mathematical facts and theorems using tools such as the Geometer's sketchpad which is a dynamic construction and exploration tool that spans mathematical curricula from class 1 to 12. The lab offers multiple teaching and learning aids comprising of technology applications, videos, measuring instruments, tables and charts.Talking to DNA Vikas Prakash, a sales counselor, NIIT, said based on three pillars of 'imagination, investigation and interaction', the lab provides opportunity to students to understand, initialize, discover and verify basic mathematical and geometrical concepts through concrete objects and situations, thus building interest and confident of the students.Launching the lab, MS University professor Dr SK Kothari said, “Children need all the tools at their disposal to rise to the challenges of a progressive nation. This kind of lab will help make their mathematics strong.” Margi Shah and Megha Patel class 10 students had no bounds to their joys at the launch of the lab. “The lab has made maths a totally practical oriented subject and we are very much exited to explore this world of math in our lab through innovative ways.” they told DNA. “We are confident that through this lab students will not only be able to comprehend Math but will also excel in their grades,” SP Nandi, principal of the school said.

400 primary teachers trained in self-evaluation

Devanshi Joshi. Vadodara/DNA

Saturday, August 09, 2008
Advancement of Educational Performance through Teacher Support (ADEPTS), a three-day programme organised by the Gujarat government for primary teachers, concluded on Thursday. In the programme, 400 teachers form 36 schools in Vadodara were taught lessons in self-evaluation and how to impart quality education based on the student's aptitude level and need.The teachers were trained by education system officials to see education through students' point of view and to make the education system student friendly. Every child is different and some need more attention. "To teach effectively, teachers need to be trained on it," said programme co-coordinator Kiran Sadhu.

Students see virtue in virtual information

Students prefer online communities for guidance on career issues as they are easily accessible

Devanshi Joshi. Ahmedabad/DNA

Students are increasingly turning to online communities for reliable information about different institutes and courses, and even for dependable advice on various careers. Ruchika Sarda, 21, a resident of Thaltej wanted to study design at National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad. He was plagued by doubts about her choice of career and also by many questions such as how to enroll at the institute, how to make a portfolio, and how to prepare for the studio test. All her doubts were cleared online and questions answered when she began interacting with a virtual community of NID students. She followed community members' advice in her preparations for the NID and had no trouble getting admission to the prestigious institute. "I came to know some senior NID students through the community who gave me valuable advice on many aspects of the course and also told me how to prepare for admission to the institute," Ruchika said. "Their counselling made me well informed and gave me the confidence I desperately needed." Given the large number of career options available before students today, particularly Class XII graduates, it is important that they get correct information and correct advice on various courses and institutes. Online communities prove extremely useful because information and advice offered by a community member almost always gets cross-checked by views of other members. Incorrect or inadequate information gets corrected or updated. Sunny Waghela, a resident of Paldi who has just graduated in engineering from Nirma University (NU), is seeking out and collecting information on the US universities which offer advanced programmes in his subject of specialisation. "It is important to have correct information about courses and universities in the US because a mistake may prove costly later. Many NU graduates are currently studying at different US universities. Some are studying at universities where I, too, want to go for higher studies," said Waghela. "I don't know these students personally but I have received valuable information from them, too, as they are members of different online campus communities of various US universities. Using these virtual communities and student forums, I have reliable information on the fee structure, accommodation, admission procedure and other details about various universities." Students turn to online communities because they are not satisfied with the information provided by official websites. This information, they say, is 'one-sided'. Online counselling, on the other hand, provides 'two-way communication'. Since advice and information available on online communities come from diverse sources, students say the communities are more dependable as career counsellors. Prof DV Dewani, an educational counsellor, said, "Students prefer the views of alumni and students of the institutes they want to join. Online communities can offer reliable information as they enable prospective students to establish direct contact with campus communities."

(ICAI) plans to start a course for accounting technicians.

(ICAI) plans to start a course for accounting technicians.

Devanshi Joshi/DNA

The Western India Regional Conference organised the 23rd WIRC regional conference at C.C. Mehta Auditorium of M.S. University of Baroda on Friday. More than 750 chartered accountants participated.

To fulfill the demand for trained accounting professionals and to support chartered accountants (CAs), the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) plans to start a course for accounting technicians.Uttam Prakash Agarwal, vice-president, ICAI said: "This course is aimed at supporting CAs and to meet the demand for accountants in the industry." Accounting technicians work in areas of accounting and finance, supporting CAs and associate CAs. Prakash said the institute plans to produce one lakh accounting technicians in the first phase. "The industry needs qualified accountants, and CAs require qualified support. The accounting technician course will bridge both needs at the same time," he said."Careers in finance and accounting have become popular, and chartered accountancy is the most prestigious option in the field. With the increase in job opportunities in finance and accounting, the demand for finance course is also rising," said B.M. Agarwal, chairman of the Western India regional council of ICAI.Enrolment to the one-year accounting technicians' course will be carried out through a centralised system. Anyone who has passed class XII can apply for the course, which will cover accountancy and finance.The ICAI president said campus interviews conducted by ICAI would give students fair placement opportunities within a year completing the course. With the increasing demand for accountants, accounting technicians could get job opportunities not only in financial firms, but also in other industries such as IT, Banking and BPO/KPO outfits.

Inflation throws education budget out of gear

Inflation throws education budget out of gear

Devanshi Joshi/ DNA MONEY Thursday, 12 June

The re-opening of schools has not been good news for many middle-class parents. For, they see a daunting task ahead to bear the additional expenses for their wards in the face of rising costs of everything.
Be it school fees, books and notebooks, uniforms or conveyance - the costs have gone up by an average 12% this year. Parents say this rise is over what the costs were during the last academic session.

This year, the price of digest has risen by 12 to 13% compared to last year's, while in case of notebooks the rise is more than 10%. In school uniforms, the rise has been anywhere between Rs 50 and Rs 100. To add to the woes of the parents, the rise in coaching class fees has been very frequent.
The hike in petrol prices has affected the costs of conveyance, too. Autorickshaw drivers are charging Rs 100 to Rs 150 more than what they charged last year.
Milan Patel, a shop-owner in Usmanpura, had to break his year-long savings to bear the educational expenses of his two daughters. "Bearing the educational expenses of my daughters, Simoli (class 7th) and Trisha (class 5th), has become a daunting task for me and my wife. The school has already taken an undertaking from us to the effect that we don't have any objection with increase in fees. Due to hike in prices of study material, uniform and school fees, I am finding myself helpless in setting a normal household budget," he said.
Avani Bhatt, a homemaker living at CG Road, says it is very difficult to meet the rising expenses. "My son Ayush is studying in class 8th and with the re-opening of his school, the tuition fee has increased by Rs 2,000 a year. Earlier, I used to pay Rs 12,000 a year as tuition fee but now I will have to pay Rs 14,000. The school also charges extra fees on different heads like computer, activity and project. It is really difficult to meet the expenses," she said.
In addition to these expenses, there is also another hurdle. Coaching classes have become sort of compulsory. And the fees in case of coaching classes have also gone up.

According to Kaushik Patel, a businessman living in Vadodara, education these days has become a business. "The fees of my children Varun (class10th) and Dhruti (class 8th) include coaching class fees Rs 26,000 a year and school fees Rs 12,000 a year. Apart from fees, one has to bear the costs of books, digests, uniforms, conveyance, etc," he said.

Another thing that troubles many parents is that the earnings are not increasing in proportion to the rising expenses. Ravji Chauhan, an employee in a private firm in Rajkot, said: "I don't have that much earning which can bear my children's educational expenses and that is why my son works part-time to support his educational expenses. This year due to rise in prices of study material and coaching fees, we are finding it difficult to cope up with educational expenses of our children."