Examination Guidelines

Examination Guidelines

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1.     Prepare your stationery a day in advance and do not borrow or lend the items in the examination hall as it not only distracts the examinees but severely violates the test codes of conduct.

2.     Check your room allotment as per your Symbol No well ahead of the test time and enter the examination hall at least 15 minutes prior to your test.

3.     Remember to carry your authorized documents like ADMIT CARD and School ID each test day. Also carry a Xerox copy of your documents, in case the original copies get misplaced or lost.

4.     Do not carry unnecessary text/notebooks on your test dates as you hardly have enough time to revise the notes; it rather confuses you and puts unnecessary pressure on your mind.

5.     Write your details on the first cover page of the answer script without any error in all the prescribed languages and formats, including the SET on the top left corner of the same page if required.

6.     Have a good time allotment for each of the questions and try to solve the problems within the same timeframes, like 1 mark=1.8 minute at the most.

7.     Put all your focus on your test and do not visit the washroom unless emergency, or be distracted when others do so.

8.     Never write anything on the question paper except your symbol number and a tick as an indication of answering priority.

9.     Always try to attempt all the questions as there is no negative marking even if your answers are not correct.

10. Draw at least a 0.5-inch margin line on the right and 1 inch on the left to let enough space for the task items to be distinctly marked.

11. Your alphanumeric handwriting matters a lot in any test. Have it legibly and clearly written to not just please the examiners but marked generously.

12. Carefully read the instructions for each of the tasks and their items to precisely address the need of the questions.

13. Answers without the correct question numbers are considered invalid. Always mention question No at the top center of your page to save yourself from missing question no.

14. In case you are unable to answer the questions in sequential order, you are allowed to start with any question you find easy which prevents you from wasting your precious test time.

15. Do not panic/be nervous when you find an unfamiliar/unknown question as the concerned teacher(s) from the same department will visit the exam hall to fix the problem well in time.

16. Make ample use of the keywords in your answers, especially in subjects other than Maths.

17. The number of words should neither overshoot the mark nor undershoot the threshold, but write more words for more marks and fewer words for fewer marks, like 1 short sentence for 1 mark in case of a descriptive answer, however, it may vary from subject to subject and as per the tips and techniques taught by the respective subject teacher.

18. Never resort to any foul or unethical means as it is a matter of both your character and career.

19. Do not expect or ask for any hints/clues from the proctors nor argue with them as it is a punishable offense.

20. Do not leave the examination hall before you have completed the test or at least 2 hours after the commencement of the test.

21. Have at least 10 minutes time left for the final revision of your paper when you can check the cover page details and the answer numbers.

All the best!

8 STEPS BEFORE COLLEGE

Often many students come to a crossroad after they have completed their Matriculation or Grade 10 studies from a school. As Frost says,

 

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, 

And sorry I could not travel both.

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Decision-making, is, therefore, not eating a piece of cake. It involves a number of factors to be considered before we come to a conclusion. And so is the case for many school graduates as to what stream and faculty of studies they should opt for a prospective career not merely after 5 years but in the next 2 decades. Hence the selection of the right stream plays an instrumental role in fulfilling the aspirations of the students as professionals. But the most decisive task that defines a student's future or career goal demands how s/he choose the stream (Science and Technology, Management or, Humanities and Social Sciences in Indian subcontinent) or Science or Non-Science pertaining to GCSE AS/A Levels). Today most city students visit professional career counselors to exactly know their potentials and niche to not regret later. However, the majority of our students do not have easy access to these counselors for several reasons. 

But don't you worry! I have some 8 steps before college tips for all of you as to what you should consider before opting for the right stream that befits your potential strength. Let's see the flowchart below and have some idea on each of the elements of this chart.

1. Your Interest and Aptitude

The first and foremost factor you need to consider is your interest and aptitude. By now you must have identified as a 10th graduate what subject of studies you most enjoyed at least in the past two years like since Grade-8. Just recollect what you did the best and how you met the deadlines of the assignments handed. If you remember you enjoyed and did the best in Mathematics, Computer Science, General Sciences and English, your college course niche is the Stream of Science and Technology. Join a good nearby college without a second thought. But if you enjoyed and did better in Languages and Social studies, you may think of Humanities and Social Sciences where you can opt a great combination of subjects like Economics, History, Culture, Literature, Mass Communication, and even Mathematics, besides many other choices. Your aptitude (natural ability) together with your joy in studies plays a decisive role.

2. Check Career Prospects

I-20 at a Glance

I-20 at a Glance

INTRODUCTION

The increasing craze for a US Academic degree has made me have some cursory information about the so-elusive document ‘I-20 ‘, especially for the ones studying in schools other than the United States. Having gone through several websites, personal acquaintances, YouTube videos, and some direct information from the US Embassy official, I understood it as the first and foremost prerequisite certificate of eligibility for international nonimmigrant student status basically issued by the DSO (Designated School Official) at every school/college/university that accepts international students in their academic programs. This I-20 form is a basic requirement for the visa application to study in the US under the visa categories like F1(Academic and Language Programs) and M1 (Non-academic/Vocational Program).

WHO IS ISSUED AN I-20?

1. All those students who get accepted by the primary or secondary schools, colleges, or universities certified by SEVP (Student Exchange Visitor Program).

2. All those international students who have provided solid evidence of scholarship, sponsorship, or financial liabilities for at least one academic year (9+months) as per the requirement of the schools (Academic Institutes) verified by their DSOs.

3. All International students’ dependents (spouse or children) who need to accompany them in the United States and have provided sufficient evidence of their living and medical expenses in any form like bank certificate/statement, personal savings or sponsorship letter as prescribed by the DSO.

WHY I-20 IS A MUST

1.   Apply for F1 or M1 Visa (Non-immigrant Student Visa)

2.   Apply for a US social security number

3.   Apply for a US state driver’s license

4.   Apply for a US state ID card

5.   Change F1 visa status to any other status

6.  To prove work authorization for F1 students

Nepal in 2030

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Jobs and Careers

NEB (National Examinations Board, Nepal) Grades 11-12

NEB (National Examinations Board, Nepal) Grades 11-12

Established as Higher Secondary Education Board of Nepal, of late the government has reconfigured the programme in grades 11 and 12 and so has the name NEB come in place of the HSEB which was established in 1993. Although the name is suggestive of administering all the examinations under the public sector, the NEB looks after all those activities like syllabus design, affiliation and supervision of new schools at Grades 9-12 that were rendered by the previous board (HSEB).

  Grade 11-12 programme is an A-level, the IBDP, the CBSE, and the ICSE equivalent programme designed and implemented by the Government of Nepal as the finals of the Secondary Education Examinations. Compared to the boards and programmes above, the NEB curricula are more specifically streamlined to ease the pathways of the students towards preparing them for competitive examinations and qualify for higher studies in the streams of medicines, engineering, the ICT, management and even prepare for the PSC competitive examinations. In this sense, it is very close to the CBSE board programme. Despite the growing trend of going abroad for higher education, and the presence of foreign programmes like the IBDP and A-Levels, most Nepali students decide to join the NEB for several other factors besides the dominant factor aforementioned.

  Education in Nepal like health is very expensive compared to many south Asian countries. Since the government has far fewer public schools that care for grades 11-12 students, they are bound to join the private schools mostly available in the city or town hubs. The cost for grades 11-12 science programmes are nearly twice as much as it is for management studies and one-third the same for humanities on average. There is a growing trend of enrolling in the Management stream followed by Science and Technology and the least, average (other under-performing) students, join Humanities and Social Sciences. Most students from the rural and even the towns and cities outside the capital enrol themselves in the NEB affiliated colleges based in the capital, Kathmandu. The reasons are pretty obvious, schools that provide competitive materials and resources outside the capital are a handful in number and so are the professionals that deliver the materials as per the need and the guidelines of the curricula.

  Despite an expensive programme, many schools that run the A-level and the IBDP, the vogue of enrolling in these programmes is increasing in Nepal as they form a basis to pursue international exposure in the academic programmes run by universities of high repute in the US, Australia, the UK, Canada, Germany, France, Finland, Sweden and several other European nations.

  Therefore, the best advice for those aspiring and smart students who can afford expensive programmes and would like to pursue higher degrees in foreign universities should go for the IBDP, followed by the A-levels. Another group of students who are equally smart learners and hard-workers and those who dare to crack the competitive examinations and build a career in medicines, engineering, IT, management, or other vocational and professional fields largely in their own country or the region should opt for the NEB or the CBSE boards. The ICSE board is less likely to admit students in Grade 11, otherwise, it is also a prospective board for students who would like to pursue their higher studies abroad. Whatever said and heard, nothing can bar or prevent a smart or a gifted learner from opting for any programme of his or her choice anywhere and making the best out of it.

Hopefully, you are able to be satiated with some of the dominant queries that might have arisen in the minds of the parents, and the students who have recently sat for the Grade-10 board examinations and also those who care about research and plan for their final years of Secondary Education.

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CBSE, ICSE OR NEB?

CBSE, C/ICSE OR NEB?

The months of March and April pose a number of serious questions before the students and their parents in the Indian subcontinent about the right choice of 10+2 colleges and the programme they offer under different streams like Science and Management. A sizeable number of secondary school graduates, who for several reasons, also look for other vocational training and skill development programmes which are provided by non-academic institutes like CTEVT, National Skill Development Agency (NSDA, India), Bhaktapur Polytechnic Institute, Nepal, Balaju Engineering, Nepal, etc.  These vocational training institutes are providing training and skill development packages like Civil Engineering, steel fixers, flight attendants, PCL Nursing, interior designing, waiter, bartender, cooking and bakery, housekeeping, fashion designing, carpentry, computer hardware and networking, application and web developing, electric wiring, plumbing, auto mechanics, scaffolding, farming and agriculture, medical transcription, repair and maintenance of electronics, transport auto mechanics, security and so on.

Without veering away, let’s see what pros and cons we find under the general observation of the CBSE, ICSE, and NEB of Education at upper secondary level in India and Nepal.

CBSE or ICSE? 
Central Board of Secondary Education or Indian Certificate of Secondary Education Boards

The CBSE and the ICSE Grade 11-12 are A-levels and IBDP equivalent programmes. The CBSE is developed and implemented by the Government of India all over the country. However, there are parallel state boards that run their own curriculum but most of the content is the same as the CBSE except for the local vernacular languages. The materials for most of these state boards are designed by the NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training). The CBSE curriculum is comparatively easier than that of the CICSE/ICSE Board. Although, both the boards are equally recognized all over the world, the ICSE seems to have an upper hand in regards to enrollment in foreign colleges and universities. The CBSE board on the other hand is stronger and more in demand at the regional level because of its top niche in the national level competitive examinations for technical fields like medicine and engineering. The ICSE curricula focus on all the subjects including arts and sciences while the CBSE curricula give more priority to sciences and mathematics to enable students to qualify for NEET(Medical), JEE (Engineering), IIT, etc. The ICSE graduates have a better prospect of enrolling in foreign colleges or universities as they perform better in diagnostic tests like SAT, ACT, TOEFL, GRE, GMAT, etc. for their verbal reasoning is far stronger compared to the CBSE students, and even qualify for the UPSC, SPSC. But that does not mean the CBSE graduates are underperformers.

  Result-wise, we see the ICSE students performing better in board examinations which accounts for almost 98% while the CBSE stands at about 92% over the past several years. Students find the ICSE more rigorous and vast than the CBSE as the CBSE implements its 50% curriculum for internal and the rest for external examinations, the ICSE implements only 20% of its curriculum as internal and the rest is administered as external examinations.

  When we see the expenses and other accessibilities, the CBSE is more approachable to students from all financial backgrounds and its medium of instruction is both Hindi and English which is not so in the ICSE board--it is only English. The ICSE board has almost 20 times less affiliation, like most convent schools and expensive private schools and run it, than that of the CBSE board. One cannot have access to the ICSE in all the corners of all the states. It is more available in metropolis rather than far-flung districts in the country. It is also more expensive as it is a private board and has better facilities for its students and the staff. It may go beyond 100K in metropolis whereas the CBSE may shrink at 50-70K a year in the same geography.

  When you look at the materials and resources, the CBSE has the better advantage as it extends to almost all the states, districts and even 25 other foreign countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Nepal and so on. The ICSE also has its franchise in several foreign countries like Singapore, the UAE, Qatar, Malaysia, Myanmar, Bhutan, etc. One can find the bulk of online resources and materials both free and paid for the CBSE and so is the availability of professionals which is not so pertaining to the ICSE curricula.

  Unlike the A-level Programmes, these boards have a pretty streamlined curriculum that does not offer as many choices from interdisciplinary fields of studies. Students in these boards stick to one specially designed programme that specifically leads to a particular career path like engineering, medical, liberal arts, ICT, etc.

Read more…

Cambridge AS and A Level vs IBDP

Cambridge A-Level or IB

Today hundreds of thousands of parents and guardians across the globe face a stark dilemma as to what is the right Board of Education for their children to comfortably get enrolled on a prestigious college or a university and have access to the global market of the twenty-first century. Choosing the best Board of Education/Programme for further studies especially after the junior school, Matriculation or Grade Ten is indeed a Herculean task for many students across all the continents.

     The world is changing with the needs and the demands of time. The markets and other organisations need the same kinds of human resource that does not become easily obsolete even after two to three decades of the completion of higher studies or obtaining a university degree. In order for that kind of education to be provided, today's youth and their parents or guardians are even more anxious and stressed. The situation even worsens when they find a number of choices but beyond the size of their pockets.

Here, I am trying to list out some of the basic pros and cons of some major international and national boards or programmes available in the region to enable the school graduates and their parents to choose the best Board of Education that suits their needs and situations.

As and A-level

It is a Secondary School Programme equivalent to Grades 11 and 12 for 16-19 year teenagers. Based in the UK, it is strictly monitored and supervised by Cambridge University’s Cambridge Assessment International Examinations (CAIE) cell. It has more than 160 affiliates all over the world facilitated by either the British Council or are directly linked to Cambridge University.

There is an increasing attraction towards this programme for several factors.

Advantages

1) Carries the ethos of Understanding, Knowledge, Skills and Application

2) Internationally accredited to major universities across the world.

3) A wide choice in six groups from 55 different subjects

4) More advanced curriculum; reviewed every two years

5) No fixed streamlined subjects like in other boards

6) You can choose your own examination time; June or November

7) Superfast results processing time (2 months’ time)

8) Focus on independent and creative learning

9) High-tech material delivery system

10) Collaborative, project, task, research-based learning

11) Opportunity for global competition and similar recognition

12) Develops teenagers into global citizens

Disadvantages

1) Very expensive programme; not all parents and students can afford

2) Dearth of materials and professionals to teaching and learning

3) Available only in Metropolitan cities across the world

4) Meant for highly creative smart learners

5) Not a strictly time-bound programme

6) Lazy and average learners may not perform well (axiom)

7) Needs good command over English communication skills

8) The subject combination may not comfortably allow students to sit for competitive examinations like Medical and Engineering: IOE, IOM, AIT, USMLE, NIIT, IIT, IIM, IAS, etc. but it does not apply to the smart learners in IGCSE, Cambridge A-levels

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme Standard and Higher-levels (IB-DP)

It is also like the A-level programme meant for 16-19 year teenagers. It has international accreditation to major universities in the world. Over 3,293 schools worldwide called IB World Schools are currently offering the IB Diploma Programme in over 153 countries. There are many benefits to choosing the Diploma Programme (DP). The sole goal of this programme is to develop learners having an excellent spectrum of knowledge and skills into physically, intellectually, emotionally and ethically strong global citizens to lead the world.

Alike the Cambridge A-Level programme, the IB curriculum is made up of six subject groups and the DP core(compulsory) comprises Theory of Knowledge (TOK), Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) and the Extended Essay. Some of the factors why the IB-DP programmes are becoming increasingly popular these days are;

Advantages

1) A two year (Standard and Higher Level) programme of international recognition

2) More rigorous and academically challenging programme

3)  Worth of two long years rigorous and dedicated studies

4) Challenging learners to excel in their studies and to constantly compete with oneself

5) Inclusion of Internal Assessment Credits

6) Enables learners to question and enquire assumption (TOK)

7) A precise preparation for College/University enrollment

8)  A powerful bridge for college and university degrees

9) Creativity, Activity and Service incorporated into the course as compulsory core aspects

10) An all-out support for your achievement from the programme provider(s)

11) No chance of getting into bad companies; no time at all for this or that

12) Develop International mindedness/understanding

13) Inclusion of compulsory cultural tasks

14) Available online to reach the global needs

15) Simple and easy grading system in both Standard Level and Higher Level

16) Inclusion of streamlined electives subject with compulsory core elements like-

a) Theory of Knowledge

b) The Extended Essay

c) CAS (Creativity, Activity and Service)

Disadvantages

1) Very heavy syllabus

2) Expensive: not all parents and students can afford to pay for the fee and materials

3) Bulky everyday home assignments

4) Even loss of health and heavy exertion

5) Very little time for social life

6) No extensive subject electives like in A-levels

7) Strictly disciplined and hardworking learners who are good time managers and organisers are likely to perform well

8) No guarantee that you get an IBDP at the end of the term, if you don’t perform well

9) Study and study like every day is your exam day

10) Dearth of materials and teachers at all parts

11) Need an internet with a good bandwidth connection for online and material procurement

 Having listed some of the pros and cons of these two different programmes, it is solely upon you how and why to make the best choice for your children depending upon their interest and industry together with their study acumen and skills.

Please do not ignore these attributes of your own (child) before you see the attributes and the prospects of the college programmes so that the combined attributes successfully enable you(r) (child) to instil the values, knowledge and skills the 21^st century demands.

The End