A positive pitch for tender minds

A life barren in aspirations to work out good plans, to fulfill great schemes, to realize noble visions, is indeed tragic, empty and insufferably blistering. The deeper enthusiasm of our inner soul is invoked only when our towering vision thrusts our eyes, our hands and our hearts upward to heavenly heights of thought and action.
These heavenly heights can be contoured by the grooming of a child/student at school. It is instrumental in giving the shape to the intellectual and emotional paradigm of a student. After school, a student at some juncture requires a right kind of direction and guidelines to achieve his lofty and preset targets. In this contemporary world, Generation Y is exposed to different genres of avenues. To demystify the labyrinth of which path has to be chosen to emerge triumphant, is a Herculean task indeed for the student. At this crucial stage, the coaching institutes play a vital role in mentoring the student and showing him/her the right direction, making the student do enough labour and incessant hard work enabling him shine like a diamond, who is then exposed to the world of cut throat competitions.
The modern world witnesses a sudden upsurge in a more skilled and techno-savvy work force which is indeed the need of the hour too. Competitive exams like National Talent Search Examination (NTSE), Kishore Vaigyanic Protsahan Yojana (KVPY), International Olympiads, etc. equip the students to compete with the country’s and world’s best brains.
National Talent Search Examination (NTSE) is conducted by National Council of Education and Research and Training (NCERT) for the students of class VIII. Earlier it was conducted for class X also but now only students of class VIII can take this exam. The exam is conducted in 3 stages. The first two stages comprise of written tests and the final stage is an interview. Total 1000 students are selected after the final stage and they are then awarded a scholarship of Rs. 500/- per month up to PG/Ph.D. level.
KVPY (Kishore Vaigyanic Protsahan Yojana) is an initiative by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India to encourage students of Basic Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to take up research careers in these areas. Every year students are awarded with KVPY Scholarship/Fellowship in various streams. The Fellowship amount varies from Rs. 4000 to Rs. 7000/- Per month and Annual Contingency Grant in the range of Rs. 16000 to Rs. 28000/-. In Basic Sciences, there are different eligibility criteria for different streams. Students enrolled in the XI Standard (Science Subjects) during the academic year 2009-2010 and have secured a minimum of 75% (65% for SC/ST) marks in aggregate in mathematics and science subjects in the X Standard Board Examination are eligible for SA stream. Students enrolled in XI/XII standard, I/II year (B.Sc./Int. M.Sc.) in Basic Sciences during the academic year 2009-2010 and have secured a minimum of 60% (50% for SC/ST) marks in aggregate in the X & XII Standard Board Examinations are permitted for Stream SP (Basic Sciences).
There are many competitive exams for the students of grade VII – X that give the students enough exposure and practice to make their foundations strong and make them aware of the wide spectrum of available avenues. The list of various exams includes, National Science Talent Search Examination (NSTSE), International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO), National Science Olympiad (NSO), National Cyber Olympiad (NCO), Unified Cyber Olympiad (UCO), International Informatics Olympiad (IIO), International Olympiad in Mathematics (IOM), International Olympiad of English Language (IOEL), All India Talent Search Examination (AITSE), National Talent Search Examination (NTSE) stage I and II, National Standard Examination in Astronomy-Junior (NSEA-Jr.), National Standard Examination in Jr. Science (NSEJS), Regional Mathematics Olympiad (RMO), Green Olympiad for Environmental Science, State Science Talent Search Examination (SSTSE).
National Cyber Olympiad, conducted by Science Olympiad Foundation, New Delhi, tests the aptitude of the participants for taking up a career in mathematics and computers. Students from classes 2nd to 12th can appear in this exam. CBSE / ICSE & various state board (Computer, reasoning & Mental Ability) ‏syllabi are taken into consideration.
National Science Olympiad, conducted by Science Olympiad Foundation, New Delhi, is an academic & scholastic aptitude competition, encouraging learning in Science, Environment & Mathematics. Students from classes 2nd to 12th can take this exam. Syllabi of this exam include CBSE / ICSE / IB / CIE & various state boards (Science & Mental Ability).
Green Olympiad, conducted by TERI, develops a standard analytical tool that assesses a student’s comprehension on the issues related to the environment, natural resources, and sustainable development. Students of classes 8th, 9th & 10th are eligible for this exam and the question paper remains the same for all the classes.
National Science Talent Search Examination (NSTSE), conducted by Unified Council, Hyderabad, is a diagnostic test which assesses a student on the basis of conceptual clarity and understanding. The emphasis in NSTSE is on independent thinking rather on memorizing or cramming. Students from classes 3rd to 12th can appear in this exam. The papers are based on CBSE syllabus (Science, Math & General Knowledge) ‏.
International Astronomy Olympiad, conducted by Indian Association of Physics Teachers, is held in five stages. National Standards Examinations in Astronomy (NSEA) and Indian National Astronomy Olympiad (INAO) are Stage I and II respectively. Third stage constitutes Orientation cum Selection camp. Fourth stage is training of Indian teams for International Olympiad at Homi Bhabha Center of Science Education (HBCSE) Mumbai. Fifth stage is International Astronomy Olympiad (IAO). Student team of 5 members & 2 teacher leaders constitute the delegation to represent India at the International Astronomy Olympiads. Registration for this exam starts from mid August every year. Other exams like International Mathematics Olympiad, International Physics Olympiad, and International Chemistry Olympiad, International Biology Olympiad also follow almost the same procedure as is followed by International Astronomy Olympiads.
Resonance has been a significant contributor in achieving good results in these exams successfully. Students of all the three centres (Kota, Udaipur & Jaipur) of Pre-foundation Career Care Programme of Resonance (PCCP) captured top ten ranks in
National Talent Search Examination (NTSE). 7 students from Pre-foundation Career Care Programmes of Resonance, Kota secured top ten ranks in NTSE with Shuddhatm Jain (1st rank), Kaushal Jha (2nd rank), Aayushi Mittal (4th rank). Jashan Singhal and Sujay Gupta stood 6th and 8th respectively from Udaipur (PCCP) Centre. Harit Yadav and Sarthak Daga captured 6th and 9th position respectively from Jaipur (PCCP) Centre. Out of 255 successful students from Rajasthan, 53 are from Resonance PCCP with 17 from Kota classroom, 20 from Jaipur classroom, 10 from Udaipur classroom and 6 students are from Distance Learning Programmes. 177 students from Resonance have achieved this scholarship in 2008 with 103 students of class VIII and 74 students of class X in NTSE exam.

Resonance trains the students to develop enough capabilities to excel in these competitions so that they can fortify their foundations and can procure good marks in their school examinations also.
The Olympiad conducted by Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE), Mumbai, is held in different stages. For International Junior Science Olympiad (IJSO), HBCSE conducted Round I on November 26, 2008 in which 320 students got selected; Round II was conducted on Feb 2, 2009, in which 35 students got selected. A selection camp was held from May 17 to June 6 at Mumbai and a team of 6 members was finally selected on June 7, 2009. In the 6 member team, 3 students are from Pre- foundation Career Care Programme of Resonance, Jaipur Study Centre. Rahul, Aayush & Aastha are NTSE scholars whereas Rahul also got selected in Stage I of International Astronomy Olympiad Junior. International Junior Science Olympiad 2009 will be held at Baku, Azerbaijan from December 2 to 11, 2009. Mehul Kumar, a student of Resonance’s Jaipur study centre, also got selected for Asian Science Camp to be held in Japan from August 3 to 8, 2009. In this camp Noble Award winners and Noble Award nominees interact with the participants. Mehul is also an NTSE scholar and fellow of prestigious Kishore Vaigyanic Protsahan Yojana. (KVPY).

Miss Shruti Khatri, a student of Resonance Classroom Contact Programme at Jaipur, is one of the four finalists in International Chemistry Olympiad 2009 to be held from 18th July to 27th July at Cambridge, U.K. She also obtained All India Rank 817 in IIT-JEE 2009. She secured an aggregate of 94% and 97% in Physics, Chemistry and Math (PCM) in grade XII. Out of the four finalists in International Chemistry Olympiad 2009 the second one, Vinayak Gagrani, is a student of Resonance Distance Learning Programme. He secured All India Rank 68 in IIT-JEE 2009. Vinayak is a CBSE topper of Ajmer Zone obtaining 97.8% in grade XII.
The Green Olympiad finally culminates in to Terra Quiz, the first environmental quiz programme for school students. It’s a 13 episode quiz programme based on general local and global topics. The top 32 schools seven from each zone and four from the international group are selected to take part in Terraquiz. Students of Resonance PCCP division Vaibhav Gupta & Bhanu Pratap Singh Tanwar got qualified for Terra Quiz, which took place at Delhi from April 5 to April 11, 09, and was telecasted at National Geographic Channel on every Saturday from May 9 to June 20, 2009.
Not only to bring the economy back from the slump, but also to boost its national income, increase in skilled Generation Y is a must as they constitute good team players and fast learners.
Proper directions at a tender age can bring in tenacity of purpose, the fortitude to meet challenges smilingly and an in-exhaustive poise arising out of cheerful disposition. The flurry of various courses may at some point bamboozle a tender mind but a proper and meticulous direction with tactically designed courseware to crack different competitive exams will certainly guide the tender minds to add value to enrich the country’s intellectual asset and Resonance has taken a lead in this track.
A truly enthusiastic worker automatically becomes systematic in his planning and orderly in his executions. Instead of pausing to improve all others, let us try to revolutionize these tender minds by laughing face and sweating back.