JOIN USSSA to hold science, maths Olympiad
With an aim of promoting science and mathematics in schoolchildren, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan will conduct science and mathematics olympiad for the students of sixth and ninth standard during the academic year.
As there has been a decline in number of students opting for science education, the government has decided to conduct maths and science Olympiad on the model of international Olympiads in the state, so that awareness will be created among students.
It is an effort to promote development of scientific attitude through innovative activities and use of IT in learning process that involve school students across the state.
Speaking to Deccan Herald, SSA district project coordinator Shivaprakash said that the science and mathematics examinations will be restricted for the students of government schools this year. It aims at encouraging students to participate in debate among their counterparts on issues related to science and technology and thus increase their knowledge. It also intend to make students to continue science career and develop enthusiasm in learning process.
The exam will be held in four stages. The exam will be held at all the schools across the state on August 31—science (10 am to 11 am) and mathematics (12 noon to 1 pm). The toppers in each school will be sent to the block level exam, where in five per cent of the toppers in maths and 5 per cent of the toppers in science will be sent to the district level competition. The block level examination will be held on September 21 and the district level exam will be held on November 8. About 10 per cent of winners in the district-level exam will be sent to the state level competition.
To prepare question papers , the SSA in consultation with the DSERT and DIET will have to constitute two committees for maths and science. The members of the committee will have to be drawn from classroom teachers, subject experts, educationist and NGOs working in the field of conducting Olympiad and related examinations. The committee will have to decide the broad framework of syllabus and also prepare model question papers in both science and maths for both the levels. This has to be published in the SSA website on July 31. The committee will have to draft 10 series of question papers each for block level, district level and five series for state level. Toppers at block level till state level will be given different certificates.
Facilities in schools
Under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, basic infrastructure facilities will be given to all the government higher primary schools. Though all the schools have toilet facilities in the district, additional toilets will be constructed in 12 schools during the year.
Accordingly, Rs 1.20 lakh has been released to all the schools. For the physically challenged children, special toilets will be constructed in all the 825 government schools in the district. About 50 per cent of the works have already been completed. All the schools in the district are disabled-friendly wherein ramps have been constructed to help physically challenged kids to enter classrooms.