Archive for October 2011
CBSE – Central Board of Secondary Education in India
CBSE is one of the two most important school education boards in India, the other being Indian Certificate of Secondary Education or ICSE. The Central Board of Secondary Education is a result of a series of changes over the years that led up to the board’s present avatar.
The first board of school education in India was UP Board of High School and Intermediate Education which was set up way back in 1921. It expanded rapidly and a need was felt to form a centralized board in the wake of the advent of state boards and universities. Consequently, the same board was rechristened and the CBSE was born in the year 1952.
At present, the area of activity of the CBSE transcends national boundaries. Around 9000 schools are affiliated with the board and the figure includes around 140 schools spread across 21 countries.
From centralization to decentralization
In order to function efficiently and to ensure effective management of its tasks, the centralized board has a decentralized presence in different parts of India. There are offices in Delhi, Panchkula, Ajmer, Allahabad, Guwahati and Chennai. Affiliated schools that are outside the country are taken care of by the head office at Delhi.
Objectives
The CBSE has a number of objectives. In addition to prescribing and updating the syllabi and norms of examinations, the board conducts public examinations at the end of class 10 and 12 under its 10+2 system of education. The board also issues respective marksheets and certificates to successful candidates. The board has a role to play in assisting students in the transitional phase in the event of either parent’s job transfer as well.
Overall, the board works in the direction of raising the educational standards of the country.
Using Student Loans, Scholarships And Grants To Pay For College
For most middle class parents it can be a case of sticker shock adding up all those cost to send a young adult to college. Between tuition, fees, room and board, the average yearly cost is $12,127 at a four year public college and more than $29,000 at a private university. It’s no wonder parents ask themselves each year if they can afford it.
The good news is that the answer is yes. With just a few simple moves families can save themselves thousands of dollars.
Start early
One thing parents should never underestimate is the power of saving. A 529 plan is one of the more popular saving plans. It basically offers parents a tax-advantage for saving for future college costs. It’s also known as a “qualified tuition plan.”
529 plans come in two varieties — college savings and prepaid tuition. College savings plans let parents use their plan funds for college expenses at any college. Prepaid tuition plans let parents lock-in future tuition at in-state public colleges at present prices.
All fifty states and the District of Columbia sponsor at least one type of 529 plan. In addition, a group of private colleges and universities sponsor a pre-paid tuition plan.
The Upromise website even puts an interesting take on saving by offering rewards to their customers for every day purchases.
When saving isn’t enough
If for whatever reason it’s too late to save or there isn’t enough savings, all hope is not lost.
According to a report from The College Board few students pay full price for college. It says full-time students at private institution receive about $9,000 in aid each year thanks to grants and tax benefits, while the aid is about $3,100 at public four-year schools.
The first step is to fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), using your tax return. Schools use this as a basis for award decisions, and don’t delay, since awards are made on first come, first served basis.
There are three types of federal student aid.
1. Grants– financial aid that you don’t have to be repaid.
2. Work-Study-allows you to earn money for your education.
3. Loans-allow you to borrow money for school, but it must be repaid with interest.
Talk to a school counselor about the qualifications for each of these and which would work best for you.
If going for a loan, shop around. Websites like ScholarPoint offer a variety of tools to understand and apply for loans from the Stafford loan for students to the PLUS loan for parents, and private education loans for undergraduate and graduate students.
Scholars wanted
Another and rarely used way to find money for college, is scholarships – apply, apply, apply. Guidance counselors frequently complain that there are so many scholarships out there, but few people apply. They say part of the problem is a misconception that a student has to be in sports or have straight A’s to get a scholarship.
But there is more than a billion dollars worth of national, state and local scholarships available and they vary according to your education level, talent, and background. You just have to look, and it doesn’t have to be a long drawn out chore hunting for scholarships. The College Board websites allows you to search some 2,300 sources of college funding, and so do websites like FastWeb , which has a personalized scholarship matching program.
Reducing the cost
Spending your first two years at a community college can also drastically cut down on the costs. Community colleges are usually less expensive than four-year schools, and attending one allows you to live at home, saving money on room and board. If you decide to start at a community college, make sure your courses will transfer to your four-year college, and they will count toward your bachelor’s degree. Discuss any concerns you have about transfer courses and credits with the college registrar.
With all these options and choices, one should never let the dream of going to college slip away, no matter their financial situation or circumstance.
The Different Types of Meeting Rooms
Meeting rooms have different names according to their intended purpose. Common meeting rooms are the board room, conference room, general meeting room, banquet room, and cabinet room. Let us look at each of these in turn.
A board room, as the name implies, is the place where a board of directors of a company meet regularly for deliberations and discussions of important policy and the performance of their company. It is also where meetings of the heads of department take place in many companies. A board room should be a very well furnished. Its size varies according to the tradition of the company. It may be of a size suitable for the exclusive use of only the highest level in the company and entry is denied to all others. Separate rooms are provided for meetings of other executives of the company.
On the other hand, there are also large board rooms with an informal setup. Such a room has a huge table in the center with comfortable chairs all round it. This is in contrast to the high-backed armless chairs associated with more formal board meetings.
A conference room is occasionally called the boxing ring as it is sometimes used by a set of personnel who are itching for a fight to have a go at everyone during the meeting. The real purpose of holding a conference room meeting is to have meaningful discussions and arrive at practical solutions to the problems which individuals are not able to solve alone and require active cooperation of another department. In some companies there is no conference room and the board room is used for this purpose.
A cabinet room is where the fate of the people of the country is decided. It can often be a meeting of extremely nervous ministers having to answer awkward questions from the Prime Minister or President like errant school boys. They may pray for an early end to the meeting.
There are further types of meeting room in existence, which are more esoteric in their use. A banquet room is a place for official receptions and dinners for visiting dignitaries and other VIPs, held by the head of the state, usually at the official residence. Others have names like smoking, dining, reading and coffee room called specifically for the purpose for which they are used.