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India’s CBSE may open Dubai centre
India’s CBSE may open Dubai centre Muaz Shabandari / 26 September 2013 India’s largest education board has announced plans to set up a new centre for schools in the Gulf. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) centre will deal with student and school issues in an attempt to provide them with better services. “There is a definite need for a centre and over the next two or three months, we will have a sub-regional office in the Gulf region. The centre will most likely be in Dubai since it has the largest concentration of CBSE schools in the Gulf,” said board chairman Vineet Joshi. India’s Human Resource Development Minister Dr Pallam Raju, who was speaking with school principals in Dubai via teleconference, made the formal announcement on Wednesday. The CBSE chief also announced the board’s plan to start accreditation for all schools affiliated with the board. Inspection teams from India will visit schools in the Gulf region every five years to assess education quality as part of the plan. “We were working on developing this accreditation system for the last two years and we have launched it now. It will be compulsory for all CBSE schools to get accredited. Those schools that fail to receive an accreditation will be given one chance, failing which their CBSE affiliation will be revoked,” said Joshi. “The accreditation system will follow a peer assessor scheme where two assessors from private agencies and one CBSE observer will evaluate the school over a period of two days. A list of recommendations will be presented to the board and it will then be examined.” The educational board has selected 12 private agencies to nominate CBSE school principals who will qualify to be peer assessors after completing an accreditation test. The new system is being implemented to protect student interests and improve teaching and learning standards. “Schools associated with CBSE are not supposed to commercialise and, therefore, education cannot be looked at as a product. There has to be a culture of continuous improvement and the accreditation system will help them in this aspect,” added Joshi. Reports by education regulators have constantly highlighted the need for CBSE to move away from rote learning and the board has responded by announcing a series of changes over the last few years. “We are looking at consolidating the changes we have done since we started implementing them four years back. We value suggestions raised by schools and it reflects some of the issues which they may face.” Each year, the board affiliates 800 new schools and the new accreditation policies are expected to come a long way in improving education standards in Indian schools following the curriculum. muaz@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
President orders honouring of UAE football team
President orders honouring of UAE football team (Wam) / 24 September 2013 The President, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, has instructed honouring of the UAE national football team for winning the 10th GCC U-17 Championship, which Qatari capital, Doha, hosted from September 3-12, 2013. The President’s gesture recognises the sports achievements of the UAE innovators who raise the UAE’s flag high at international sports events. The UAE Football Association (UAEFA) paid gratitude to the President for his generous grant to the sportsmen and for his incessant support for the sports sector. Chairman of the UAEFA Yousuf Al Serkal affirmed that his organisation would do what in its power to make more achievements for the betterment of the UAE. The UAE team won the championship for the fourth time. Its previous triumphs were in 2006, 2009 and 2010. Continue reading
Anti-tobacco law to come into effect on January 21
Anti-tobacco law to come into effect on January 21 Staff Reporter / 22 September 2013 The Dubai Municipality has issued a comprehensive guide book to ensure the implementation of the executive regulations of the anti-tobacco federal law with only four months left for businesses to comply. The executive regulations were approved by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in the Cabinet’s Resolution No.24 issued on July 21 this year, and will come into effect on January 21. In the run up to the deadline, the Dubai Municipality has begun a campaign. Assistant Director-General for Environment and Public Health and Safety Salem bin Mesmar told Khaleej Times that the civic body was “giving chance to people to know about the rules and will run campaigns to spread awareness to avoid hefty fines awaiting violators”. Cafés and sheesha joints will lose their licences if they allow customers to smoke in closed areas. “In addition, these establishments will not be permitted to open in residential areas without having a distance of 150 metres from houses, schools and mosques,” said the Head of Public Safety Section at the Public Health and Safety Department Sultan Al Suwaidi. “Smoking will not be allowed in any restaurant built in less than 1,000 square feet and it will be completely prohibited at entrances, in corridors, lifts, elevators, health facilities, entertainment or gaming areas, offices, cinema halls, meeting and conference halls, warehouses of shopping centres, canteens, places of prayer and ablution, areas of employees and rest rooms.” Smoking places in restaurants should not exceed 50 per cent of the dining area and non-smokers should not cross them. Additionally, each smoker should be given 20 square feet of space to avoid congestion. “The doors should be automatic and (the) sheesha preparing area must be separated from (the) food preparation area,” Suwaidi said. The working hours of cafés and sheesha shops will be from 10am to 12.30am. They are not allowed to sell tobacco products to those under 18 years or deliver them to unauthorised places. sajila@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
