The principal as a school leader: through the eyes of a student

School! Whenever I think of my schooldays, I end up remembering my friends - playing with them, making relationship with the new mischief and the simple pleasure and joy of being with principal.Them I also think of the teachers who taught me, books in the library, reading and writing, games and sports and so much more. Like many,childhood and school are part of my fondest and clearest memories. I have similar fond memories of a lot of teachers from my later school and college years. This perhaps is true too for many of us. But for me, when I think of school, the most striking thing that I remember is the Principal or Principal Sir, as we used to call him

Name game

Students learn to apply deductive reasoning in the process of developing their mathematical and scientific thinking skills (here scientific/mathematical is not limited to science or maths as subjects) to think logically using available facts to arrive at valid conclusions

Classroom activities (Name game)

Students learn to apply deductive reasoning in the process of developing their mathematical and scientific thinking skills (here scientific/mathematical is not limited to science or maths as subjects) to think logically using available facts to arrive at valid conclusion

In a Multilingual Class

I was assigned the task of teaching grade three children in a government school. Most of the children were from lower middle class background, and were first generation learners. While the mother tongue of these children was Chhattisgarhi, some of them could speak and understand Hindi (a few common words and sentences in kamchalau Hindi, not textbook Hindi). I did not know a single word of Chhattisgarhi. I present below a brief account of some of my initial interventions in the teaching of Hindi to these children

Using words in context

Activity 1: Using Words in Context Objectives 1. To develop an understanding of nouns, adjectives and verbs 2. To help students understand that the usage decides the nature of the words Level Upper primary classes Material Appropriate text chosen keeping in mind the level and interest of the children. It would be helpful if a text in which nouns, adjectives and verbs occur frequently is chosen. The text chosen here is from the first chapter of the book The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling (given at the end of the activity here). Board, chalk, notebooks and pencils Preparation Select an appropriate text. Identify the categories of words (nouns, adjectives, and verbs) in the text. Think about more examples of such words so that you can provide examples to the students, if required

Using multilinguality as a classroom resource

Can we think of ourselves as being human if we did not have language? What would we have been without it? What kind of a society would we have been? How would we share our thoughts with each other? Would we be able to think? Would we be able to reflect on what we were doing and what was happening around us, and record it? Would it be possible for us to go into the past and discover our histories? Would it be possible for us to plan our future? Would we be able to do so many new experiments and researches? The list of questions is endless. It is obvious that without language none of these things would be possible. Language is a vital attribute of being human

How do we discipline?

Whether the conversation is about schools, education or children, the word discipline is sure to figure in it. One of the main purposes of sending children to school is to have them learn discipline

Language and Language Teaching Workshop 2 in Jaipur, Rajasthan

The second workshop of Language and Language teaching for fifty members of the Azim Premji Institutes focused on the development of reading skills

Effect of Chronic Illnesses on Length of Stay and Mortality of Community Acquired Pneumonia in a Community Hospital

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of demographics, substance abuse, and chronic illnesses on length of hospitalization and mortality of pneumonia. 866 patients admitted to a community hospital with diagnosis of community-acquired pneumonia were studied. Linear and logistic regression analyses were performed for the effect of chronic illnesses on length of stay and mortality. Age (p=0.064), coronary artery disease (p=0.017), congestive heart failure (p=0.011), history of neoplasm (p=0.079) and chronic kidney disease (p[less than]0.001) were associated with increased length of stay. Age (p[less than]0.001), history of stroke (p=0.013), history of neoplasm (p=0.028), and chronic kidney disease (p=0.005) were associated with higher mortality from community-acquired pneumonia. Asthma was associated with decreased length of stay (p=0.006) but no difference in mortality. Respiratory failure and congestive heart failure exacerbation were associated with longer length of stay (p[less than]0.001) but no difference in mortality. ICU admission was associated with longer hospital stay and higher mortality (p[less than]0.001). Septic shock secondary to pneumonia was associated with longer length of stay and higher mortality (p[less than]0.0001). Age (p=0.04), alcohol abuse (p=0.03), coronary artery disease (p=0.05), congestive heart failure (p=0.009) and chronic kidney disease (p=0.011) were predictors of higher level of care needed during hospital stay for community acquired pneumonia.Saurabh Dwivedi (1), Rajni Madaan (1), Saurav Pokharel (2), Bikash Bhattarai (3), Abhishek Sinha Ray (4), Meenakshi Ghosh (4) ; 1. Internal Medicine, Latrobe Hospital, Excela Health. 2. Pulmonary Disease, Frye Regional Medical Center. 3. Pulmonary Disease, Amita Health. 4. Nephrology, Good Samaritan Hospital.Includes bibliographical reference

Mapping of variations in child stunting, wasting and underweight within the states of India: the Global Burden of Disease Study 2000–2017

Background To inform actions at the district level under the National Nutrition Mission (NNM), we assessed the prevalence trends of child growth failure (CGF) indicators for all districts in India and inequality between districts within the states. Methods We assessed the trends of CGF indicators (stunting, wasting and underweight) from 2000 to 2017 across the districts of India, aggregated from 5 × 5 km grid estimates, using all accessible data from various surveys with subnational geographical information. The states were categorised into three groups using their Socio-demographic Index (SDI) levels calculated as part of the Global Burden of Disease Study based on per capita income, mean education and fertility rate in women younger than 25 years. Inequality between districts within the states was assessed using coefficient of variation (CV). We projected the prevalence of CGF indicators for the districts up to 2030 based on the trends from 2000 to 2017 to compare with the NNM 2022 targets for stunting and underweight, and the WHO/UNICEF 2030 targets for stunting and wasting. We assessed Pearson correlation coefficient between two major national surveys for district-level estimates of CGF indicators in the states. Findings The prevalence of stunting ranged 3.8-fold from 16.4% (95% UI 15.2–17.8) to 62.8% (95% UI 61.5–64.0) among the 723 districts of India in 2017, wasting ranged 5.4-fold from 5.5% (95% UI 5.1–6.1) to 30.0% (95% UI 28.2–31.8), and underweight ranged 4.6-fold from 11.0% (95% UI 10.5–11.9) to 51.0% (95% UI 49.9–52.1). 36.1% of the districts in India had stunting prevalence 40% or more, with 67.0% districts in the low SDI states group and only 1.1% districts in the high SDI states with this level of stunting. The prevalence of stunting declined significantly from 2010 to 2017 in 98.5% of the districts with a maximum decline of 41.2% (95% UI 40.3–42.5), wasting in 61.3% with a maximum decline of 44.0% (95% UI 42.3–46.7), and underweight in 95.0% with a maximum decline of 53.9% (95% UI 52.8–55.4). The CV varied 7.4-fold for stunting, 12.2-fold for wasting, and 8.6-fold for underweight between the states in 2017; the CV increased for stunting in 28 out of 31 states, for wasting in 16 states, and for underweight in 20 states from 2000 to 2017. In order to reach the NNM 2022 targets for stunting and underweight individually, 82.6% and 98.5% of the districts in India would need a rate of improvement higher than they had up to 2017, respectively. To achieve the WHO/UNICEF 2030 target for wasting, all districts in India would need a rate of improvement higher than they had up to 2017. The correlation between the two national surveys for district-level estimates was poor, with Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.7 only in Odisha and four small north-eastern states out of the 27 states covered by these surveys. Interpretation CGF indicators have improved in India, but there are substantial variations between the districts in their magnitude and rate of decline, and the inequality between districts has increased in a large proportion of the states. The poor correlation between the national surveys for CGF estimates highlights the need to standardise collection of anthropometric data in India. The district-level trends in this report provide a useful reference for targeting the efforts under NNM to reduce CGF across India and meet the Indian and global targets. Keywords Child growth failureDistrict-levelGeospatial mappingInequalityNational Nutrition MissionPrevalenceStuntingTime trendsUnder-fiveUndernutritionUnderweightWastingWHO/UNICEF target