School
Rating |
RagingBullEdu thought of rating
colleges and schools and have started the process in year 2008. At that point
of time RagingBullEdu was the only site which had analysed the Anna
University Colleges based on Course Speciality, Primitiveness and ranked the colleges and published the report. In year 2012 we
started the process of ranking the schools and to achieve that we analysed
systematically and prepared a Survey
Questionaire and sent to Schools by email and
sought the response. It is being too
challenging to achieve this, since most of the
schools do not have a website nor even an
emailid (eventhough creating an emailid with
even free email providers like yahoo.com gmail.com or hotmail.com etc is
absolutely free of cost) to send the questionaire. Then we decided to call the schools and requested for
emailids so that we can communicate with them. But in the process we feel
that the phone is being attended by admin / office staff and they feel that
any communication with Principal or Correspondent is not possible and will
not be provide any emailid if at all if they have one. |
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At this juncture, I feel that
Indian Education system has to totally revamp and the thought process of educationist has to be changed
first. There is strong feeling that Principal
can be reached by parents only by visiting the school during school hours. Correspondent is not
possible to be reached. This kind of thought
is not good for the Educationists as well as the student plus Parent
community. |
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Few
fundamental questions come to my mind |
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1.
Why Principal / Correspondent are not reachable to the parents? |
2.
How will parents represent their grievance / suggestions to the school
management?(Of course the first step will be to educate that there should be
some communication channel between Parents & Principal / Management) |
3.
Why Principal / Correspondent are not aware of the e-media
communication and check mails or answer any call to mobile
(Once again whether the Principal mobile numbers are provided to the parents
for any urgent issues). |
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By |
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All Tamil Nadu schools to be graded |
CHENNAI: Parents
in Tamil Nadu will no longer have to go by glossy advertisements and claims
while selecting a school for their children. The government is planning to
grade all 12,500 schools from nursery to higher secondary on a scale of A to
D on 10 parameters. |
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The parameters include
pupil-teacher ratio, classroom-pupil ratio, qualified teacher rating,
teacher's salaries , play area, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities
, number and quality of library books, green environment and sophistication,
inclusive education and transparency in functioning. |
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The grading would be done using
data provided by schools in the fee determination questionnaire circulated
since 2009. Many parents felt it would help them. "But I am not sure if
it would be accurate to use the same parameters for all from government-run
institutions to international schools," said Rebecca Charles, mother of
twin boys studying in a private matriculation school. Schools said the
process should be transparent. "An audit is good, but the state should
ensure there is transparency and genuineness the panel doing it should be
competent; or if it is a self survey it should be genuine" , said Vael's
Billabong High International School principal Meenakshi Ramesh. |
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Greenery and playgrounds on campus
are going to be vital for schools as the government has embarked on a project
to grade 12,500 of them across the state. The schools will be graded on a
scale of A to D. |
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Only a school situated on a campus
with trees with grown branches providing good shade would be considered as a
school with a green environment. "A school having shrubs, trees grown
for beauty and lawn cannot be construed as functioning under green
environment, and such schools cannot claim any points under this criterion
," said the official document listing the parameters and rationale
behind them. However, schools can claim points for the use of alternative
energy source and 24x7 medical care under the sophistication parameter. |
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Schools that have been getting away
with a playground hired from public bodies, like the corporation or
municipality, cannot claim points under the per capita availability of
playground area. The government also expects schools to keep parents informed
about their functioning, and transparency in administration . It has given
points for periodic function of mothers' monitoring team, students-parents
grievance cell, display of fee structure on the notice board and school
details on the school website, and periodic parent teachers association
meeting . |
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Some parents, however, remained
unconvinced. "In a brand-conscious country like India, this could mean
that even if my child secures top marks in board exams, people would still
say that she came from a 'C' or 'D' grade school. And that is very
discouraging," said R Priyadarshini , a parent. |
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Sources in the school education
department said that the exercise would help the state to also evaluate the
impact of some of the parameters , such as teacher training, classroom
environment and promotion of community participation. TN has been ahead of
most states when it comes to student enrolment, but when it comes to learning
outcome, independent studies have shown that the state lags behind some other
states. |
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"There is nothing to judge
here. Such an audit will show us where we are and where we have to go,"
said Amukta Mohapatra, director of The Blue Mountains School in Nilgiris. It
should be done with community participation, which is an integral part of the
Right to Education Act, she said. |
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Source
: Times of India |
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