State launches its open schooling board

Paakhee Jain dropped out of school last year in Class VII. A state-level badminton player, she wanted to concentrate on her chosen sport but the month-long training sessions were taking a toll on her academic life and the school was not too happy with her low attendance.

On Thursday, Paakhee along with two other children and education minister Vinod Tawde in Pune launched the online registration for admission to Class V and VIII of the Maharashtra State Board of Open Schooling (MSBOS).

“The students who take admission in these courses will have to complete 20 contact sessions in their respective study centres before appearing for the examination, which will be taken twice in a year,” said Subhash Rathod, state coordinator, MSBOS. “There are 543 study centres across the state and students must compulsorily pass in at least five subjects as per the norms of the board to qualify in the respective levels and move on to next stage.”

The registrations will be on till January 31 and the onetime registration fee is Rs 1,000. “This includes the registration as well as study material cost. The centres have appointed teachers who will conduct study sessions on second and fourth Saturday and Sunday depending on the time table. Currently, the study material is available in English, Marathi and Urdu. If there is a demand, we will include other languages too. The study material for Class X and higher levels is being made and once it is done, registration for those classes too will start,” said Rathod.

Tawde said that suggestions were being taken for improvement from parents and NGOs. He said that all good suggestions would be incorporated to make the working of the board better.

Tawde also said that the long-pending teacher recruitment process in schools would start soon and private aided schools would be given a choice of five candidates per seat to choose from.

“The five candidates would be chosen based on merit and it will be compulsory for the management to take the video of the entire interview. This will bring transparency in the process,” he said.

He also said that the recruitment of teachers to colleges would start soon. Tawde refused to give a timeline, saying the process of finalising the rosters was in progress and soon after that the recruitment would start.

Tawde: Nat’l open learning course not considered equivalent to CBSE or SSC

State education minister Vinod Tawde said the National Institute of Open Schooling certificates were not considered equivalent to those of other boards like the CBSE or SSC at an event in Pune on Thursday, going on to add that people felt these certificates were “below grade”. Tawde was speaking at the launch of the Maharashtra State Board of Open Schooling (MSBOS) on Thursday. Countering Tawde, regional director of National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), Pune, Saumya Rajan termed the statement an act of mudslinging. Rajan said there was no comparison between a central and a state board. TNN

Source: The Times of India dated January 11, 2019