Clippings of chat session we had with our Principal Mrs. P Vijayalakshmi on 14th Oct 2010
The text in red color is the reply given by our Principal to the student's query.
Samantha: mam, they say ther r gonna take evrything into account mam
so if we have a low grade in any non-scholastic activities
will they depromote us?
mam
i mean physical trainig....craft...like that mam
CHINMAYA VIDYALAYA VIRUGAMBAKKAM: no not at all.infact his works the other way. if yr grades r bad in scholastic other grades will help.
Kavya B: mam do u think this system has or will reduce the pressure on students?
CHINMAYA VIDYALAYA VIRUGAMBAKKAM: moreover getting good grades in all areas speak good of u that u are an alrounder and this is what today's employers want. I am sure none of u wud want a low grade in any area .
Mam, y shud comp.sci marks and craft marks hv a common grade..? if a person is gud at comp.sci and bad at craft his grade goes down due to his craft marks mam...
CHINMAYA VIDYALAYA VIRUGAMBAKKAM: at present c.sc comes under work experience. the system tries to ensure an all round excellence . my advice would be do ebverything sincerele. bec marks are not for how beuatiful yr craft work is but for the efforts that u take.
Harini: if we get gud marks in main subjects and bad marks in non-scholastic works will we be depromoted?
Sent at 4:26 PM on Thursday
CHINMAYA VIDYALAYA VIRUGAMBAKKAM: talking about pressure on students, there is basic diff. in the new system u can't wait till the terminal exams come. u hv to perform in every activity that is assigned to u. but that need not scare u . bec all these things are small small actiivities which make u learn the concepts well .
Samantha: bt mam, they keep tests and give hws daily, there is no way that we could have free time
Sent at 4:29 PM on Thursday
Samantha: mam
CHINMAYA VIDYALAYA VIRUGAMBAKKAM: no . i wish all of u look at the system in a more positive way.scholastic and non scholastic both are imp. good performance in non scholastic e u areas give u an edge over the others, the benefit of which u will feel in the long run.
Kavya B: mam do u think is it beneficial 2 have changed de pattern of holidays,etc?
i also mean de reducing of no. of terms
Sent at 4:32 PM on Thursday
CHINMAYA VIDYALAYA VIRUGAMBAKKAM: the problem now is bec for ages we hv been trained for a particular system. If u plan well and manage time everything will be easy. we teachers r also taking steps to ease the system.definitely we understand yr problem. we will see to that everything is not squeezed into a particular day/
Archana Venkatachalam: mam, suppose if a particular portion of a chapter in any subject is not taught 2 d students, but the questions fm that portion of the chapter is asked in d exams, do we get marks for that even if the question number of that particular question is written on the answer sheet?
Sent at 4:34 PM on Thursday
CHINMAYA VIDYALAYA VIRUGAMBAKKAM: surely if its is really out of portion.
Harini: mam can we have either craft or computer?
CHINMAYA VIDYALAYA VIRUGAMBAKKAM: no .both are given equal imp.
Samantha: mam, although cce has benefits, we do lot more work than we did with the system we had earlier
its like we reduce the work we have done it for 100 marks to 10%
mam?
Sent at 4:39 PM on Thursday
CHINMAYA VIDYALAYA VIRUGAMBAKKAM: the new system has merits and demerits. definitely the merits outnumber the demerits. this new system is keeping in tune with systems followed in many other countries. here ths objective is to make children learn with understanding.not training them to mug up just before the day of the exam and repeat in the answer papers. the old system te3sted only memory power. but acc to new system u r all forced to learn everything then and there and also thorughly..doing more work is not a sin. infact this is the basic difference between us and other students in other countries. but remember evrything u do in small doses. not big chunks of portions to be learnt in one day.
Harini: we already write many pen paper tests. is it necessary to have model exams mam?
CHINMAYA VIDYALAYA VIRUGAMBAKKAM: today we r at the crossroads. we hv to train u for both systems. ultimately u hv to writei long tests ie summative assessment. as of now we find students not performing well in sa exams due to lack of revision. so we r forced to take care of both the aspects.
Archana Venkatachalam: mam, we hv been given a circular regarding the portfolio of d students.If v had written any competitive exams and hv not received any participation certificates or prizes yet, what shud v do in order to prove that we hv participated in so and so competitions? and mam, i am attending piano and guitar classes so does this fall under the participation category??
Sent at 4:43 PM on Thursday
CHINMAYA VIDYALAYA VIRUGAMBAKKAM: u can definitely mention that u are training in these areas which can be reflected in yr records.
Archana Venkatachalam: and mam what abt d competitive exams?
CHINMAYA VIDYALAYA VIRUGAMBAKKAM: there shd be some proof, if its thro the school u can ask the incharge teacher to certify.
Harini: mam can we have EG back because boys do better in computer and Eg but not in craft. so can we have EG and craft as choices
CHINMAYA VIDYALAYA VIRUGAMBAKKAM: the only way to make the best us e of the system is to be regular in all yr work. if you don't procrastinate u will be able to do all on time.only en u accumulate things u run into trouble. anyway form the school side we will see to that maximum work is done during school hours.
getting a teacher is the only hitch. definitely this will be considered.
Archana Venkatachalam: mam, may i know why the CBSE board has suddenly asked for our SA I papers??
Sent at 4:51 PM on Thursday
CHINMAYA VIDYALAYA VIRUGAMBAKKAM: they hv asked us to keep the answer papers with us. some authorities may visit the school for inspection . this is to ensure that the system is followed as per the guidelines. wr supposed to maintain these records for two years.
Samantha: mam, y is it that the grades are to be kept in a record, i mean they say that they will keep a record
and that they will enter it in the 10th report card also
Sent at 4:55 PM on Thursday
CHINMAYA VIDYALAYA VIRUGAMBAKKAM: yes . this is to present a total picture of the student , but this is not a new system. earlier when we were in 9th and 10th we were also given a booklet like this .
Archana Venkatachalam: mam, i heard that in SBOA school, they give d 10th std students a choice on writing either the board exam or the SBOA common exam..do v also hv something like that?
Samantha: oh...thank u mam!!
Sent at 4:58 PM on Thursday
CHINMAYA VIDYALAYA VIRUGAMBAKKAM: this choice is only for students studying in schools where they hv 11 the 12 the also. only those who wish to go out of the school need to write the board exam. but schools like us where there is no senior sec, all the students hv to take up the board exam.
Sent at 4:59 PM on Thursday
Archana Venkatachalam: well, in
that case mam why shud v b assessed if we're asked to write board exams?
Sent at 5:01 PM on Thursday
CHINMAYA VIDYALAYA VIRUGAMBAKKAM: the weightage for board exam is only 40 percent. the rest of the 60 percent is only thro continuous assessmen. pls understand the board doesn't want to encourage the system of mugging up everything overnight. the choive is only for 40 percent of the total marks for all the students. therefore yr scores in school is very imp whether u take up borad exam or not.
CHINMAYA VIDYALAYA VIRUGAMBAKKAM: Before I leave my advice to the students of 9th is to request them not to bother musch abt the demerits of the system. bec the school will take care, afterall we want all of u to leave the school happily, we don't want any student to be at a disadvantage. but at the same time make use of the good things, we will take care of the disadvantages.
