CBSE Chairman takes 'lesson' from Aamir's 'Taare Zameen Par'

Dubai, Jan 30 (UNI) Taking its cue from the underlying message of Aamir Khan-starrer 'Taare Zameen Par', the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) would stress on encouraging creativity among students rather than burdening them with homework.

Referring to the Bollywood flick at a function at Indian High School here, CBSE Chairman Ashok Ganguly said, ''We have asked teachers repeatedly not to stifle the creativity of students through homework. The mindset that one size fits all, besides providing no flexibility and autonomy, makes it stressful for them.'' ''I believe that creative tension is required in a student's life,'' he said.

Mr Ganguly pointed out that many initiatives have been taken by the board to destress the whole education process as a result of which incidents of suicides among students of Class X and XII under duress have significantly come down, Khaleej Times reported.

He observed that Mathematics Laboratories intended to remove the phobia of the subject among students was one such step and have become fairly popular in schools.

''We would like to churn out young students with quality and varied subject options like physics with music. Students should be given the true picture of their assessment skills,'' Mr Ganguly noted.

On the introduction of new content for CBSE schools, he said a new subject-- Financial Market Management-- has been introduced in 90 schools, initially, across India in classes XI and XII. This would be equivalent to three subjects and will be jointly certified by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and CBSE.

Students would start appearing for the paper next year, alongside their regular papers. The Board is also working with the General Health Care, National Design and Fashion Technology, Retail and IT sectors for similar courses, he added.

On the grading system, the CBSE Chairman said, ''We are all ready but it needs acceptance from various stakeholders.'' UNI XC SZ VC1022