Cenbosec - Quarterly Bulletin, Vol. 51,  No. 2, April-June 2012

Community Outreach

Content

• From the Chairman
• Feedback Forum
• Articles
• Community Outreach - Ms. Mahenaz Farid
• Reaching Out – A Social Responsibility - Ms. Caroline Diane Ross
• Community Outreach - Mr. S. Juneja
• Community Outreach - Ms. Seema Vijay Nair
• Community Outreach - Ms. Rooma Pathak
• Community Outreach - Ms. Chitra Nakra
• Sensitizing young minds…. ….Community Outreach - Mr. Rupam Sah
• Community Outreach - Mrs. Neera Sharma
• Community Outreach - Mrs. Malabika Bhattacharya
• Service to Humanity – Reaching out with a helping hand - Ms. Alka Sahani
• Community Outreach - Ramendra Chauhan
• Community Outreach - Ms. Heena Arora
• Community Outreach- Is it really advantageous for Society? - Vikas Mahajan
• What other Principals say
• What other Teachers say
• News from Schools
• Green Page
• Health & Wellness Clubs
• Sahodaya Updates
• Sports Arena
• Academic Updates
• Best Practices
• Circulars

We remember our school days when we were given a project - ‘Each One Teach One’. A simple initiative that made the students take the role of teachers for those ‘chosen few’ who did not even dream of ‘school education’. It is surprising to hear that a lot of kids who got initiated into reading and writing pursued education from open schooling etc., and grew up doing well in life. This is a simple example of ‘Community Outreach’

The term ‘Community Outreach’ can be interpreted in a number of ways depending on the need, requirement and modes of providing the outreach. According to me the Community Outreach can be simply explained as an event or program that benefits a specific community/population. It can be any activity that brings the work, experience, knowledge, information, innovations of the institutions/organizations out into the community, the nation or the world. And when we talk of a Community Outreach programme in the field of education, it involves students, teachers, schools, academic institutions, educationists, academicians, society and most importantly, the outreach audience.

The Community Outreach can take on many forms like service to others, teaching and taking up various community concerns. Outreach projects commonly take place in settings outside of the school/institution that directly or indirectly benefit community partners. Management, faculty and student engagement with community audiences and partners in both formal and informal settings are the types of activities that are most commonly associated with outreach. It describes all projects, assignments, workshops etc., which are offered outside the regular premises. On the other hand teaching the students weaving, handcrafts, traditional arts, crafts, painting and other folk arts etc. to the young generation so that these ancient art forms do not die out, can be categorized as Community Outreach too.

Continuing with its efforts in the area of ‘Values Education’, the CBSE is bringing out a Values Education Kit (VEK) that contains Values Education: A Handbook for Teachers, Values Cards and a CD of songs symbolising values of peace, harmony and respect for nature that can help in bringing education for values in schools. We all know that this is not something new. Teachers everywhere are attempting this in their own way. What is required at this stage is to review all possible strategies which could lead to a comprehensive approach. In the Class X and XII exams 3-5 marks in each of the core subjects will be allotted for ‘Values Education’ in the form of Values Based Questions. The idea is to prepare and nurture students to live in a multilingual, multicultural, and multi-religious country.

It is believed that heritage education is important for a child’s understanding of the beliefs, values, history and socio-cultural context and it should not be confined to the study of physical survivals only. In this context CBSE has recently extended its horizon in the field of education with the incorporation of Heritage Education Programme in schools. The main initiatives under the programme are inter-school Heritage India Quiz, initiating Heritage Walks, annual celebration of World Heritage Day on 12th January, Adopt a Monument Programme, functioning of Heritage school clubs and conducting cultural events to enrich every learner’s overall experience.

The Board has also initiated a micro site on Heritage Education at www.heritage.cbseacademic.in which will help teachers to explore, learn and empower their students with local heritage and connect them to National and World Heritage Sites.

The country would be celebrating the 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda on 12th January 2013. It has been decided to commemorate the event in the schools affiliated to the Board so that the teachers, students and various stakeholders can understand the life, philosophy and teachings of this great reformer.

In order to excel at a job, a sport or any discipline, a person must acquire and master certain skills. Living a healthy, accomplished and productive life is no different. Taking the lead, CBSE has introduced Life Skills Education as an integral part of the curriculum to inculcate self awareness, empathy and critical thinking skills among young learners. In this context, the first International Life Skills, School Health and Wellbeing Summit, 2012 was held between 19 and 21 April 2012 at the India Islamic Cultural Centre,  New Delhi. A soft launch of the CBSE Academic website was also done by the Honourable Minister of Human Resource Development during the summit. The website provides an insight not only into the academic activities which otherwise might not be easily accessible to all. It is a sincere effort from the CBSE Academics and Training Unit and aesthetic and visual appeal, navigation and accessibility are the major focus points that were kept in mind while designing and developing this website.

The CBSE honours 15 mentors and 32 teachers from across the country on the eve of the Teachers’ Day for their innovation and contribution in the field of education. Introduced for the first time, the Mentor Award is being given for efforts to promote Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE). The Mentors are identified by the CBSE, who helped schools implement CCE effectively. Keeping in line with CCE and the other Examination Reforms, the CBSE has decided to discontinue the practice
of providing a Blue print, Sample Question papers and Marking Schemes in classes IX and X w.e.f. the Summative Assessment II of 2012-13.

The Board has been propagating life skills, health, hygiene and sanitation, disaster management, vocational education, environmental education, values education etc., which are intrinsic to reaching out to the community, nation and the world. The Community Outreach also creates awareness among children, develop life skills and train the young growing minds to look beyond academic and global boundaries.

Courtesy : Central Board of Secondary Education