One step forward

Last Saturday, a group of parents got together to discuss how to improve things (not that anything in particular is doing very poorly!) in the School. This included this year and last year's parents' representatives in addition to something like eight others. The Principal and other members of the Management were also there.

Of course its too early to give any specifics, but basically there was considerable discussion on various matters that pertain to the well being of our children. And much discussion on what we, as parents, can do. And on teachers and teaching. And on Sports.

There is a lot that can be done, of course. And here is a place to air your opinions. Please write in.

Facebook and other networking sites

As many of you would have learned, there is some concern about the use/abuse of Facebook and other social networking sites by our children.

What do parents feel about this? What do they know? And what about the children? Are they aware of how the social networking sites manipulate people and data?

Some discussion on this matter would be good.

Integral Learning

The concept of Integral Learning - something that MIS followed in earlier days- could still be relevant in today's context. There are experts on this mode of education in Auroville and they do this for a living.

Can we harness this resource to get back the lost glory at MIS? Follow the links below to learn more about it, and write back with your comments to this post!

• http://www.learningtolearn.sa.edu.au/Colleagues/files/links/IntegralLearning.pdf
• http://www.auroville.org/education/edu_centres/ilc.htm

A Sports Policy for MIS

Vikram Singh, a parent who is also in charge of Sports at the JNU writes in about a possible sports policy for MIS that came up in a discussion of the parents who participate in the morning sports activities at the School.

Health, Physical Education and Sports play important role in realizing the outcomes of physically, mentally, socially, emotionally and spiritually fit personality. The robust education has to be created and inculcated into the physical soil of the child, nurtured through interaction with the parents, teachers, peer group and the community. The father of modern Olympic Games Baron Pierre de Coubertin had said that “Physical Education is the integral part of the total education process”.

Hence it is imperative to conduct the sports training and fitness related programs in a systematic, scientific and pedagogical way. Eminent educationists have clearly marked the role of Health & physical education, arts, creativity, peace education and other allied subjects in the National Curriculum Framework-2005. We see that the Government of India has taken a small step towards decreasing the academic load by making class tenth board exams optional to make way for the co-curricular activities.

All the teacher training curriculums are going under modifications for the sake of joyful learning and development of the life-skills. Even the corporate sector is incorporating the yoga and fitness classes so as to improve the employee productivity and check increasing health related expenses of their employees.

Mothers International School is a place where we find one of the most organized and receptive human beings, whose habits and attitude can be changed, modified and improved and are at the appropriate age to do so because once the habits are formed they generally stay with the person for ever.

Thus MIS parents have thought of framing the sports policy that can be a guideline for the future programs so that the MIS students can become an asset to the society rather than a liability and they are able to become future leaders championing the cause of the great visionary Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. It is strongly felt that there can be no better service than to produce the men and women of action and wisdom with the best quality of head and heart so that our children are better future citizens.

Accordingly, a sports policy for MIS is proposed as under:

1. To make the sports activities more systematic and satisfying for the students.
2. To improve upon the parents and all teachers participation in the sports and physical education programs
3. To carry out regular fitness camps for the MIS community.
4. To organize more and more extramural and intramural sports activities to build up confidence and leadership qualities amongst the students through exposure.
5. To contribute to the “INTEGRTED LEARNING” concept through wholesome experiences.
6. Create new and upgrade the existing sports infrastructure on campus.
7. To nurture talent for higher pursuits of excellence in sports and physical education.
8. To organize sports activities/competitions exclusively for the girls.
9. To organize sports activities/competitions for the otherwise able students.
10. To engage more and more talented coaches and parent volunteers for organizing sports in the morning (before school), during school hours and in the evening.
    
11. To encourage students to take up allied issues like NCC, NSS, SCOUT and GUIDES etc.

Please write in with your reactions, or call him at 9868614409

Sports!

Its time to take stock of how things have been at the MIS over the past few years- as many of you have commented during the last year (at least thats how long this blog has been around) there is much room for discussion.

Hence this post, at the special request of our Representative, Vivek Bhushan. This note is just to start things off, but among the various points you may like to comment on, here are some:

Are you happy about the level of sports at MIS?

Facilities- are they adequate? Some more games? which ones?

How much of a balance is needed between sports and studies? In which classes?

Do give your feedback- this is most important- and let's try to emphasise the positive aspects of all sides of the system, namely the efforts of the teachers, parents, and most importantly, the students!

An Unusual Festival

कबाड़ से जुगाड़ : RECYCLING WORKSHOP

Kabaad se Jugaad is presented by Red Earth as part of The Monsoon Festival 4 in Association with British Council, Swechha & Lakshya

IN ONE-LINE: Learn to make beautiful things from waste.

DATES AND TIMINGS

Friday 4 September 2009
First Session: For Schools; 9 am to 12 Noon
Second Session: For General Festival Audiences; 4 pm to 7 pm

VENUE: British Council; 17 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi 110001

ENTRY DETAILS: Free workshop. Register in advance.
Maximum number of participants: 50 per session
Maximum 10 participants from each school.
Event happening in outdoor area.
Participants should carry the following: hat; water, fruits / snacks.

Open to all ages.

Please also bring old newspapers and chips packets.
For registration contact
Lopamudra Sanyal / swechhaindia@gmail.com / 9958147041
Himanshu Verma / himanshu@redearthindia.com / 41764054

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

We produce increasing amounts of waste each year, using natural resources at a faster rate than ever and putting strain on the environment's capacity to deal with waste. Given the immediacy of the global environmental crisis, it becomes very important for each of us to think of relevant ways in which we can ease the pressures on resources and the planet.

One tangible way for each of us to go-green is to RECYCLE some of the waste we generate, in order to create new, beautiful and useable things. Lakshya, a Faridabad based organization that makes bags, belts from jute and waste cloth, and jewellery from waste plastic, help us understand ways in which each of us can recycle items that we normally send to the dustbin.

The Lakshya team teaches the audience to make durable paper bags from old newspapers, wallets and cell-phone purses from plastic wrappers, earrings from used plastic wrappers and other items from everyday waste.

Change of Guard

After the election on 22 August, we have a new Parent's Representative on the Management Committee. Vivek Bhushan is our new rep. for the year 2009-2010.

Brimming with ideas- as many of you already know, he organizes the sports every morning at the School, and has recently started the adults Yoga session. He has already had a meeting with the parents reps. from earlier years to take stock of long-standing issues and to reaffirm the values of the School. Which, you might like to recall, is what drew us to put our children in this School in the first place...

This blog will continue for the foreseeable future, and one can only hope that as the year passes more of you will participate by sending your comments, adding to posts, and so on.

Yoga for all

A parent has written in to draw attention to two facts. One, that there are a number of parent volunteers who take the time to coach MIS children who come for sports in the morning. It is largely due to these efforts that we have a diverse range of different sports that children can participate in, and get coached in.

A welcome offshoot of this is that parents who come to drop their children have the opportunity to take a yoga class themselves! This will go a long way in making the chore of dropping the kids off at school a bit sweeter. And healthier.

What's on the the MIS website

Since it can be difficult to find:

• The School Medical Team has addressed the students and advised them about precautionary steps to be taken against H1N1 infection.
  
• The school functioned smoothly today (11th August).
  
• No further case of H1N1 reported.
  
• Students should refrain from attending school only if they are genuinely ill.
  
• We expect the school to function in full strength from tomorrow, 12th August 2009.

10th August Notice

Just repeating what is on the School website:

• Attendance for students on Tuesday, 11th August 2009 and Wednesday, 12th August 2009 is not compulsory.
  
• While there is no need to panic, students suffering from cold, cough or fever should abstain from coming to school till they fully recover. Parents please take special care!
  
• Tests scheduled for 12th August, 2009 have been postponed till further notice.
  
• Students wishing to wear a clinical mask are allowed to do so.
  
• The fumigation of the primary section has already been executed.

The comment in red is mine.

H1N1

As many of you would have learned by now, one student of MIS Class 5 D has tested positive for the H1N1 virus. As a consequence, all students of 5D are advised to stay at home on Monday 10th August 2009.

Some pertinent facts. The student in question did not travel out of Delhi in the recent past, and neither, apparently, did anyone in the family. The student uses the MIS 16 bus to come to school. The fever was detected on August 5, namely Raksha Bandhan and the student has not come to school after that.

The School has taken all precautions as advised by the Delhi Health directorate. The rooms where the student is likely to have gone have all been fumigated. Every child in the class as well as many in the bus have been called up personally and given instructions on what precautions to take. Again, this is on the advice of the Directorate.

As a precautionary measure, classes for the Primary and Pre-Primary sections of the school will be suspended on Monday, August 10, 2009. Any further advisory will be posted on this site as well as on the website of the School, namely http://www.themis.in


Please call 011-23921401 if you have any doubts about H1N1: This is the number of the Outbreak Monitoring Cell.

For effectively monitoring and protecting our students, it is very important that you also stay alert. Parents are strongly advised not to send children to school in case of any uncertainty: in case your child is not fully well- please do not send them to school.

Results

Another year goes by... and the MIS results are impressive. Here, in a nutshell, is the index of the school's performance in the Board Exams.

Class X:

Of the 178 students who appeared, 1 got a compartment, 2 obtained a 2nd division, while the remaining 175 passed in the 1st division. The leaders were Oishika Chakraborty (97.2%), Ritika Sinha (96.6%) and Sreetika Ray Mohapatra (96.4%). A clear gender divide here... as in the Class XII performance (see below).

The total number of distinctions was 778, with 3 students scoring perfect 100s in Mathematics.


Class XII:

Of the 164 student who appeared, 163 passed in the 1st division. Malika Garg had 96% in the Science stream, Bhoomika Arora had 91.8% in the Humanities stream, while Swati Choudhary got 95% in the Commerce stream, with 699 distinctions overall.

How does this compare to last year? Or previous years? Or to other schools? Please write in!

PTM, 2 May

This is for all the parents who, for one reason or the other, could not come to the general body PTM that was held today in the new Hall of Grace at M.I. S. A very large number [over 1150] were there, given the importance of the point under discussion: the fee-hike.

Briefly, what happened was as follows. After introductions, I summarized the main points and voiced a number of the concerns that you have communicated to me over the past week, and invited other parents to bring up other points that had not been discussed. A lot of parents raised very pertinent issues and articulated their concerns to the School management. Overall, I would say that most parents were in agreement with the need for an increase in the fees, but they also wanted the school to be responsive on other matters. I will discuss this below.

• One very positive outcome of this meeting was the setting up of a smaller group of about a dozen parents who will meet at the school on Tuesday, 5 May, to look at the school budget and accounts, and suggest any ways of an overall "tightening of the belt" so as to meet the monthly expenses.
• There is a move to make a smaller group of a recommendatory nature, with representation from teachers and students in addition to parents to discuss other problems: quality of teachers and teaching, facilities, sports, and so on.
  
• Many parents expressed satisfaction at having a general body meeting of this kind, and wanted this repeated in order to look into other issues that are of concern to us. Again, there is a request out on this front, and I think there will be some move to have such a meeting soon.
  

Legalities aside, it was good for all of us to meet and share our feelings about how the MIS is run and what more can be done- by parents, as well as by teachers and school management- to make the school bring out the best in our children. The specifics are too long to go in here, but as they say: Watch this space.

Mr Basu, Manager of the MIS tells me that about 95% of those who came to the meeting gave their concurrence to the fee increase, but, importantly, that there were about 50 parents who were NOT in agreement.

The minutes of Tuesday's meeting of the smaller group that will look at the accounts will be posted on the net, and hopefully things should be clearer then.

Meanwhile, here is a link to an interesting article that has just appeared in New York Magazine, called How not to talk to your kids. Something in it for all of us.... Enjoy!

General Body meeting on 2 May

As all of you would have read in the note that Mr Basu sent around, the Directorate of Education has asked the School to call a General Body Meeting of parents.

The main issues have been spelled out in some detail in the note sent around. It would be good if (a) you plan to attend the meeting on Saturday next, (b) that if there are points of concern, please raise them earlier (say by sending me a mail or talking to Mr Basu or the Principal) so that there can be a focussed discussion. The increase requested is, in brief, for

a) Students admitted before academic session 2007-08 Rs. 1,541.00
b) Students admitted in academic session 2007-08 Rs 1,027.00
c) Students admitted in academic session 2008-09 Rs 541.00

Further a tuition-fee increase of Rs 324/- per month is being suggested.

Please let me have your reactions and suggestions.

Gyan Jodo

An old article in the science magazine Nature Medicine caught my eye, and I thought I would share it with you. This article is about Jodo Gyan, an unusual organization in Shakarpur, that makes a variety of educational material for children. Jodo Gyan "is an organization of professionals and social activists who have come together to find workable solutions to the problems in the classroom practices. We try to take a fresh look at the problems and draw upon cutting edge research to solve them. We are a social enterprise motivated by the need to find sustainable and broadly applicable solutions to make education meaningful for every child in our country." Their website, http://www.jodogyan.org says

"Jodo Gyan is an effort to participate in the process of development of the country. Since 1998 we have worked closely with students, teachers, teacher-educators and parents, particularly in mathematics and science education, to introduce innovative methods through which children will understand and enjoy what they are being taught. ....

We have set up Maths Labs in many schools and designed Science Discovery Rooms. Presently we are engaged in a programme called Design and Development of Innovative Curriculum for Primary Mathematics in four progressive schools in NCR. This involves curriculum designing, module making, modeling classroom transactions, assessment and evaluation.

We are a non funded, not-for-profit social enterprise. We intend to carry forward our work by establishing linkages with all organizations and individuals concerned with providing quality education to our children to enable them to embark on the path of inquiry-based learning."

They have wonderful kits for carrying out experiments- inexpensive and imaginative- and for doing mathematics. An ideal set, either for keeping your children occupied during the summer, or for sharing with friends, and the School. It would be great if groups of parents could get together and see that their children's classes (and this is mainly targeted to the primary sections) could get these kits. The price list can be seen on the Jodo Gyan website- here.

The article that made me aware of JG is also available online. It is entitled Science on a shoestring " Microscopes made from bamboo bring biology into focus", by Paroma Basu. As the picture on the right shows, it is the imagination to use everyday material in a very useful device that makes it possible to integrate science into everyday life in a meaningful way. At Rs 175 for a microscope, every class should have one, as should every child...

JG's details: Jodo Gyan Educational Services, E - 12 & 13, Shakurpur, Delhi –110034

Ph: 27102820, 27100104, 9312385974, 9873084472
Email jodogyandel@jodogyan.org

The Hindustan Times article

Many of you will have seen the article in yesterday's Hindustan Times with headings like FAILED STUDENTS ASKED TO LEAVE and PARENTS CLAIM MOTHERS INTERNATIONAL DOESNT WANT TO PROMOTE WEAK STUDENTS. I think its necessary for us all to take notice of this and have an open discussion.

One parent has written a comment on the blog, which I reproduce in part: I have never seen so much of nonsense written in an article. MIS will never ruin the life of a child for the sake of looking good in some petty exams. ... Our children are the best, not only in their behavior but also in sports debating music and any other activity you can think of. And all this is not out of some spirit of competition but out of a true spirit of learning.

The school is perfectly right in detaining children who are not ready to go to the next class.or offering them subjects that they would do well in after the required talk with the parents but to accuse the school of expelling the students just because the failed some stupid maths test-----nonsense---lies and mischief mongering.

Let me strongly state that this article has just played around with words to show the school in a bad light.

The rest of the comments can be read where they appear, namely on the post below, but the issues that we all need to address are

0. What has actually happened?
1. Has the article been fair to the children/parents/School?
2. What do we expect from the School management?

As far as the events are concerned, here, as I understand it, is what happened:

About 25 students of Class XI have not secured 40% marks in a number of subjects that they had opted for. These students were called, along with their parents, and given a set of options: (a) withdraw from the School, (b) stay back in Class XI, or (c) change streams since they were not coping well with the subjects they had chosen after the Class X Boards.

Some parents have pointed out that the CBSE guidelines put 33% as the pass percentage, while 40% is what the MIS follows, and most of the students would have been deemed to pass with this lower criterion.

Since the HT Reporter is interested in a story, I am not sure that all the facts of the case have been presented, and perhaps the affected parent could have exercised caution.

There are some important issues that have to be confronted. Tuitions. Teaching. Counseling. Board performance.

• Tuitions and Teaching: Many parents tell me that the teaching has been 'slipping' and that teachers don't pay as much attention in the senior classes because most childrent are taking "tuitions". Clearly, responsibility cuts both ways, and parents also need to worry about things during the year, and not just when promotion to the next class is an issue. I know most of us do, but still...
• Counseling: The School has an impeccable record in this regard. None of the children who were called up were called up for the first time. I know of teachers who even visit the homes of children to counsel them and parents. And there is only so much that can be done...
• Board Performance: Where, in your opinion, does the reputation of the School lie? While the MIS has never given too much importance to the overall performance (like some schools we know of, that take in toppers from other schools in Class XI) is it OK to us as a body if the School were to not care at all. Namely, by setting a 40% bar, does that help students by raising the standards, or is it something that is not fair.
  

Speaking personally, I think that having a better standard to aspire to has always helped...

Anyhow, these are complicated matters, and it would be good to have your feedback.

Pay peanuts... and get monkeys

A comment on an earlier post [with some minimal editing] which is a heartfelt plea to the School Management:

I just cannot understand as to why the the school management is destroying the school by underpaying the good teachers that they have-----or have had.

Do they realize that they have lost so many good teachers for this reason ??? Do they know that they can lose another big lot of disgrunted teachers if their salaries are not improved.
I think that it is time that the management looks beyond old fashioned ideas and the boundaries of the Ashram walls and do a reality check.

Today there is a huge global demand for good teachers. And every parent of our school knows on how much they can earn by giving tutions.

Why should the teachers pay for the ideas of someone who has deceided on what is good for them.

And can the management really have control over the performance of people who are always mulling over their options.

I think this is something that we should think seriously about. What are the statistics? Are good teachers leaving? In large enough numbers? Most of us have been very supportive of the arrears payments, so I think that we will be similarly supportive of the management if they wish to take concrete steps in these directions.

Please write in! And make sure that more concerned people read this!

Greetings!

HAPPY HOLI!!!!!

One from the heart....

A comment posted on my post, Career Choices was hearfelt enough that I thought I would give it a bit more prominence. (By the way, I do hope that many more of you are seeing the blog these days... Please do tell other parents also, especially the ones who are not either aware or net-savvy. Thanks!)

S/he writes It is amazing as to how many of us are so concerned about the career choices, the Board Exams, subjects to be "counted" and dropped and other such issues for our small children.

Have we ever taken a step back and seen if we really love them, care about them, are interested in what they really want to do. Do we care about what they eat, what they play, what they do on the net - and how they are releasing their energies? Has any of us ever done anything to really get some happiness in their lives - have we ever bought any joy to them - have we ever played with them - have we spent quality time with them to do something that the children really enjoy doing? Is it really about concern for them or is it about our petty egos?

All we are bothered about is that they get "good" marks - "good" meaning better then their friends, their class mates and winning the rat race.

What we do not look at is that ninety percent of them are bound to fail as they require at least 95% marks to get into a college like St. Stephens. Anything less is considered a failure. But most of us are flogging our children to death to make sure that they get that 95% - even if in our hearts we know that they are incapable of it.

All children are different - each child cannot be a topper. Instead of realising this fact most of us parents still spend all of our time and energy to make our children top the Board exams.

Can we all take a step back to think why we made our child join this School rather than any other School - because we thought that this was the best School. Can we look back at the progress the School has made in the fields of art, music, debates and sports - do we remember that this School was once the best in these areas - and this was one of the main factors why we considered ourselves so lucky to get our children into this School.

I really thought that this was the best School - I am no longer sure. It is very fast on the way to becoming like any other School. Is the management aware of what is happening and do they really care?

I would be very glad if the parents can take this debate forward. I am not too sure if the management of the School is taking steps in the right direction - or whether they have a game plan for this institution that The Mother had blessed.

OK. Some of it is extreme (few of us actually flog our children to death, and not all of us are quite so insensitive to our childrens' individualities), but the sentiment is in resonance with what I have heard many parents say often...

Please do discuss this more, and also let the management know. They do care, this much I can vouchsafe. How they will respond, I cannot tell.

Arrears

The latest circular from the School is regarding the arrears payable as a consequence of the 6th Pay Commission implementation. This post has been a little late in coming- but maybe thats not so bad, since all of us have had time to reflect on things.

Before the notifications were made, some parents were quite concerned about what would happen, and the extent of arrears that needed to be recovered... The Principal's note is fairly clear, but in case there needs to be some discussion, this is a place. Basically, the School does not have the ability to absorb the entire burden created by (the much needed!) pay revisions. Since these have to be given with retrospective effect, it turns out that the total amount that has to be paid out to teachers as pay arrears comes to something like Rs 2 crore. That is the sum that is being shared out among all of us, amounting to Rs 7266 for those who have had children in the school admitted before March 2007, Rs 6100 if between March 2007 and March 2008, and Rs 4933 if between March 2008 and March 2009.

The accounts maintained by the School are quite transparent, so these numbers are pretty straightforward.

There will necessarily be a fee increase, starting April 1, 2009. Some part of this is going to be what is mandated by the Delhi Government, namely Rs 400 per month, but as the Principal has said, this will not actually cover costs. At any rate, other schools that are in the same general category as the MIS charge substantially more as monthly fees.

The Fence

Those of you who have been at the School recently will have noticed that a fence is coming up. This is in response to concerns for security and the realization that the School/Ashram boundary is very porous. A number of parents have called in to express their concern...

Once the whole fence is up, there will be very few points where one can come in/exit the School premises, and these will be manned by guards. There has to be a balance between security and building a fortress, and the sense of open space that MIS has enjoyed is something to value. I guess this sort of fence is some compromise in these times...

Career Choices

An issue that many parents bring up is the number of subjects that are available to students for the Boards... In the past year both Biotechnology and Drawing/Painting have been shown the door, and this is a matter that is of some concern.

At a meeting with the Principal and other officials of the School, where a fellow parent, Sanjay Gupta (of Chetna) was also present, we had a chance to discuss this and other matters. I thought I would summarize some of the important points that came up.

On the matter of subjects getting dropped, the main problem is the numbers of students that opt for a given subject. The Biotech class had dwindled to 4, and in these circumstances, one can imagine that teachers also get demotivated. Apparently the same is true of Art. There is a bit of a Chicken-and-Egg problem here, maybe some parents prefer to change their children's school if a given option is not available...

I guess one would like to be realistic while keeping some options open for the future- and it would probably help the School Management if more parents let them know how they felt. The loss of 3 options in Class XII is a serious problem, and it closes more doors than necessary, given how competitive things are (and will be). The way in which the CBSE and the Universities value the different subjects is also to blame- I can see that parents are loath to encourage those subjects which are not going to be "counted"... But what is the right balance? Please write in and let me (and the School) know how you feel.

Admissions 2009

Its that time of year again... However, this time around, the Delhi government guidelines give the School a very clear set of guidelines. There are 75 seats in the pre-primary section, and of these, 49 are in the General category, 3 are for Staff Children, 8 are for children from the economically weaker section or EWS, and the remaining 15 seats are at the discretion of the management.

The School management has been very proactive in making things as web-accessible as possible. The rules and regulations are all posted on the School website.