Schools beckon again

Anita Pandit,the principal of Dastur Girls School,Moledina Road,Camp,explains,“The governing officials have sanctioned us to cancel our second unit tests so even though we had taken an extended break in August,the students are relieved of the burden. We will be directly holding our terminal examinations on October 29 now,after the Diwali holidays. So the students have some breathing room”.

Buneshta Hakhamaneshy,the head girl of the school and Deeksha Gulati,the student general secretary,both from Std X,mention,“At first,we were nervous about having difficulties coping with the portion once school resumed after the swine flu break. But thankfully,the teachers and the rest of the staff have been very understanding and have not forced anything on us which would have turned out to be unmanageable. We had no problems adjusting to our studies once school restarted.” As Sudha Limaye from Deccan Education Society Secondary School (DES),Sadashiv Peth puts it,“We were really happy to see that after two weeks of holiday,students were eager to start the school. And we didn’t find any students who had problems in coping with the syllabus. And now that we have postponed the exams,students will get ample time to revise and study.”

Tenth standard student Ashwini Gujar exclaims,“I was very happy to return to school after the break. I was bored at home and had missed my friends. Plus,I was worried about keeping up with my lessons. Once school started,all of those fears left me.” But Limaye also feels that as the first semesters have been postponed,students might face a time constraint at the end of the year during final exams. The exams,which were supposed to start in the last week of September,are now postponed till last week of October. “We have also shortened the Diwali vacations so that the lost time can be made up for,” tells Uma Basa,principal,Jawaharlal English School.

Along with this,some schools have also cancelled unit tests so that the course should not get hampered. While Priya Kaul,administrator of Sarhad English School,Katraj,tells us that the general mood of her students is good despite the swine flu scare,Poli Mukherjee,the principal of Sindhu Vidya Bhavan,Aundh,says,“Considering the fact that we have just 25 to 30 students in a class and a single section,we did not face any coping problems with the students,neither did we have to cut down on the holidays or postpone the exam. We can ensure individual attention and smooth study even if the portion is being rushed through.” Different schools,different views. But one thing is for sure,with so many alterations and help from their teachers,there is no stopping them from excelling in their studies.

* Ten students from the Symbiosis school have brought laurels to their school by prizes in the Fifth National Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Competition 2009,conducted by Ideal Play Abacus on Sep 18 at Chennai. Saee Tatke and Nikunj Gugale were the two winning the first prize while Sahil Saraph won the second prize. Raj Birla was the won the get the fouth prize while Sidhi Mandada,Arya Lele,Kushal Maniyar,Sejal Naik,Atharva Dusane and Gaurish Gawade won consolation prizes. The competion had over 4000 students participating to solve 100 sums in 5 minutes. The prizewinners will be appearing for the International Competition to be held in Penang Dec 13,2009.

* Saurabh Kumbhar,a student from S.P.M English School has added a feather in his cap by achieving an NTS scholarship for the year 2008-09. Saurabh,is a student of standard 9 and has secured his meritorious position in total three rounds where students from SSC and CBSE board were selected for the national round. The headmistress Ms Pandit congratulated Saurabh for the exceptional talent and dedication towards studies.