Yogesh Avasthi

By Yogesh Avasthi, Ahmedabad Mirror | Oct 25, 2016, http://www1.ahmedabadmirror.com/ahmedabad/cover-story/Board-expose/articleshow/55038279.cms Erring teachers, schools to be named and shamed in latest edition of GSHSEB magazine. This is to make teachers aware how their small mistakes can cause big problems for students To bring in accountability and do away with errors in calculation of marks in Board examinations, Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) has decided to expose the erring examiners. After penalising hundreds of teachers who had erred while checking the answer sheets of Board students, GSHSEB will now publish their names along with their schools’ in the latest monthly magazine, Shikshan Ane Parikshan, that is circulated among state board schools and to subscribers. The magazine will be published on October 28, as per a Board official. In its previous edition, the magazine had published how board officials had detected discrepancie...

By Yogesh Avasthi | Oct 17, 2016, (Ahmedabad Mirror : Cover pg story : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.indiatimes.com/ahmedabad/cover-story/Quantity-rises-Quality-dives/articleshow/54885947.cms Students’ intake at Sardar Patel I n s t i t u t e o f P u b l i c Administration (SPIPA), which trains students aspiring to clear Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), has increased seven-fold in last six years but the success rate (number of students clearing finals and getting selected for cadres like IAS) has fallen from 18% to 4.1%. The faculty members are aware about the falling standards at SPIPA. However, their hands are tied as they rue the fact that students from past years, even after failing in UPSC exam, have been hired as lecturers putting a question mark over the training provided by otherwise stellar faculty. The slump in success rate is also ascribed to expansion of SPIPA to smaller study centres which dilutes the efficacy of core faculty. VITAL STATS In 2011, 72 stu...

By Yogesh Avasthi, Ahmedabad Mirror | Oct 11, 2016, http://ahmedabadmirror.indiatimes.com/ahmedabad/cover-story/Below-average/articleshow/54785845.cms What we knew all along has now been confirmed. A national survey has provided enough fodder to nail the quality of education in the state. According to findings of National Achievement Survey (State Report Card) conducted by National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), class 10 students of Gujarat have performed way below the national average in all the five important subjects (English, Social Science, Gujarati, Maths and Science). The sample-based survey conducted for the first time in class 10 included 14,361 students from 350 schools across the state whose performance in the five subjects was assessed. Alarmed by the central findings, the state education department has undertaken special training sessions for the teachers. However, the training has been imparted only to teachers of English, Social Sc...