1. Digital Learning Resources: With technology playing a major role in supporting the student’s education during this pandemic, there are several other platforms that have been actively working to promote quality education. The educators, with the help of such applications and platforms, can enhance students’ compromised skills and boost their knowledge. This will, in turn, prove beneficial for them as their interest will witness an upsurge followed by active participation. That’s how the schools can ensure that their students are getting delivered quality education. The Top 10 schools in Sonipat are making the most of these applications as well as digital learning resources
2. Structured Learning Process: In order to accelerate effective learning, a structured learning process does wonders. Educators must work on preparing a routine and structured learning process wherein engaging students actively must remain the key agenda. Such an approach will welcome participation followed by growth of interest and motivation. As a part of routine, repetitive or revision sessions must be included in the curriculum which will help students come up with their doubts and that they will not miss the key to the chapters. A structured learning process works affectively in online education 
3. Learning Recovery Programs: One of the finest ways to recover learning loss is by initiating a collaboration with several learning recovery programs available over the Internet. Such programs prove highly beneficial for students who have been trying to cope with the learning loss. The educators or school committees can proceed with a joint collaboration and initiate special recovery programs for a set of students. Also, these can be done occasionally scheduled post their regular sessions. These will benefit the students to a great extent and ensure that their productivity does not get lost in a long run 
4. Skills Development Sessions: Learning loss not only affects academics but also lay a major impact on skills. For instance, there are several students whose communication skills get impacted by the same. Educators delivering skills development sessions can benefit their students by working effectively on their development. Such sessions will not only boost their confidence but also make their foundation skills stronger than ever. Likewise, parents can work together with the tutors too. Practicing skills development at home in some way or the other will let a student keep a track of essentials. The Top CBSE schools in Sonipat frequently deliver skills development programs as a part of the curriculum 
5. Individual Open Sessions: Any loss can be healed with a conversation. Conducting regular open conversations with students will help them cope with their learning loss. Educators can also focus on individual students, specifically the ones who have been struggling hard with matching up with the course. Here, not only educators, but parents can do the process that in turn will make their ward relieved from the loss. Keeping track is essential followed by regular conversations with a child. This is an excellent opportunity for students to talk about their fears and anxieties that have been affecting their performance 

With Covid affecting students’ education to a great extent, learning loss has been significantly witnessed. It is one of the major issues that need to be addressed with utmost priority. Children have been losing their skills and motivation during online sessions quite often now – The prime aspect relating is shutting down of their schools. 

Swarnaprastha Public School works with utmost dedication to ensure that their students are being administered on regular basis. Varied approaches are being implemented to boost students’ participation so that they do not lose their confidence in the new normal. That’s what makes Swarnaprastha a part of the best schools in Sonipat. 

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1. Design Complex Activities: Complexity is the key to attracting attentiveness from students. When students are provided with easy assessments, they tend to solve those with minimum consultation. However, when it comes to the complex ones, collaboration becomes a must between an educator and student. Design activities that involve both tutors and students to work together as a team. Such can be done by initiating activities like research, case studies, discussions, etc. Student-centric collaboration can only be done by the way of these complex projects. The best boarding schools in Sonipat promote student collaborative learning more than those doing individual studies with minimum participation. 
2. Small Groups for Maximum Participation: Teamwork or Group work does wonder when it comes to solving theories, or undergoing assessments. In order to ensure maximum participation, it is essential for educators to make sure of the fact that their groups have been kept tiny. A huge number of students in a single group result in conflicts and less participation from students. But, when it comes to a group of 4-5 students, participation becomes mandatory. That’s where the tutors also begin to take note of every activity. Some tasks can be a quiz, case studies, group discussions, etc. Hence, collaborative learning can be successfully commenced with smaller groups. 
3. Sharing Resources: One of the best strategies to initiate a collaboration is teaching the art of sharing to students. Educators, if deliver activities involving students sharing the commodities followed with interest will boost student-centric learning. Also, these will embrace their interpersonal skills. Tutors can undertake hand on activities by dividing students into different groups. In order to initiate sharing process, the students could be offered limited resources. That’s when the group will learn how to effectively make use of the team and showcase considerable results. 
4. Be a Coach: Sounds strange right? But that’s the way to effective student-centric collaborative learning. Instead of being a tutor to the students, try to become their coach instead. For instance, get involved with students, talk to them, generate open conversations, teach them skills, practice with them, and so on. That’s when a student will become comfortable and grasp most of the knowledge at a faster pace. Such an approach will prove extremely beneficial for the long run and collaborative learning in the form of a team will initiate quality education. The top 10 day-boarding schools in Sonipat practice these approaches practically to ensure their collaborative learning is being successfully initiated. 
5. Designate Roles: In order to boost the confidence and make a student learn the responsibility, an educator must designate roles within team members. For instance, a team of students must comprise a monitor, an assessor, a timekeeper, a meeting leader, an attendance recorder, etc. Such roles accelerate an exclusive level of confidence which results in better participation. That’s when they do not lose their interest. It keeps the team engaged in the long run. Also, the students understand the relevance of their roles too. Educators must implement the concerned strategy to ensure collaboration amongst students.

With the students coming from diverse backgrounds, the student Centered collaborative learning is becoming a major focus in every growing institution. The approach is being implemented to ensure a productive education. This collective learning is proving beneficial to students in several ways like increased confidence, improved communication skills, teamwork, etc. on the other hand, it has been measured that collaborative learning is also proving beneficial in the development of interpersonal skills. 

Swarnprastha Public School, one of the best CBSE Boarding schools in Sonipat, focus in providing student centric collaborative learning and lay a keen focus on delivering the quality education by the exceptional educators. They implement the best strategies for the same and that’s what reflects in their students. The skills provided by the school’s methodology help students in learning essential skills and succeed in their endeavours.

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Ques. 1: How do I prepare for my Graduation? Owning clarity on choosing a specific career option is a blessing. A school counsellor provides a wider understanding of the prime techniques and ensures to deliver the essentials required to prepare for graduation. Likewise, the counsellor monitors your performance by engaging in frequent consultations. That’s what marks away from the attainment of the goal.

Ques. 2: What competitions do I need to opt for? Standardized tests are one of the essential aspects of getting into the desired college or university. A counsellor will guide you to undertake the necessary tests or competitive examinations post analyzing your desire for college. The counsellors are well aware of the tests and how well they work in accordance with your preferred course. The top boarding schools in Sonipat make sure they have the best counsellors available to make the students grab the best of the opportunities.

Ques. 3: What is the right time to start applying to college? At times, the colleges start their admission process prior to the announcement of results. That’s what a student needs to be aware of. A counsellor ensures that the students are aware of the ongoing processes of universities and colleges. Asking them the right time to apply not only proves beneficial for the students but also, the counsellor to get ample time to concentrate on preparing the student accordingly.

Ques. 4: Where do I find scholarship opportunities? Post relieving from school, some students desire to apply for scholarships. However, getting detailed information from the internet is never enough. The counsellors are best to go for when looking for scholarship opportunities. They guide you with the top scholarship opportunities matching your subject and other requirements.

Ques. 5: What are the deadlines for college applications? Missing out on the application deadline is the biggest nightmare of an applicant. The counsellor ensures its student is not missing out on any application he might be interested in. Asking out deadlines and not missing them is the most a student must ask their counsellors. The CBSE schools in Sonipat keep their students updated with the application deadlines.

Ques. 6: How do I fill out my application form: Filling out an application form requires crucial details that one cannot afford to miss out on or make mistakes on. Your counsellor will be the person to go for wherein; they guide you to fill out even the tiniest details with perfection. Also, with their industry experience, your answers will possess the capability to stand out amongst the application.

Ques. 7: How do I manage the balance between studies and competitive preparations? School studies and preparation for competitive examinations become a hard amalgamation wherein balancing the duo becomes challenging. A counsellor showcases various techniques for students to ensure that their studies are not being affected whilst their preparation for competitive examination is going on. Managing both at the same time gets better with productive counselling.

Ques. 8: Do universities provide Financial Aid? Some students aspire to enhance their career by getting admission into the top colleges but, their pocket makes it harder to commence further. That’s where the counsellor plays a vital role. Your counsellor is well aware of the universities providing financial aid and how the process takes further. Ask your counsellor about financial aids as they hold an understanding of what colleges or universities offer concessions, discounts, sponsorship, and so on for the specific set of students.

A school’s career counsellor is a major personality who not only plays a role in shaping your future but also, guides you by implementing his top skills and resources. However, there are times when students get confused about the questions they need to put in front of their counsellors. 

Both schools, as well as students, now understand the relevance of a career counsellor. Swarnprastha Public School, one of the best schools in Sonipat, primarily focuses on exclusive career counselling wherein their students are provided with the best of the opportunities right before they step out of their school.         

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1. Embrace the engagement: As compared to the day boarders, Students residing in boarding schools miss their time with family. Due to the restrictions, with students being at home, parents have been exposed to the opportunity to engage with their kids all over again. Set a routine, engage them in conversations, listen to their exciting boarding experiences and likewise, understand their fears. That’s when you will get to know them better. Acknowledging their feelings and expressing their understanding will make your child feel secure and positive throughout these tough times. 
2. Small Goals do wonders: When in school, students are always engaged in some way or the other. However, with the pandemic closing the school doors for children, they have become lazy. The boarding schools kept the children involved in activities post routine schoolwork. So parents, Set small goals for them. For instance, make a checklist of your child’s hobbies, or make their homework interesting. Don’t make them miss school much by adding extra activities throughout the day. Indoor games would also do wonders for them. These small goals will be feasible for your child and his development.
3. Track their studies: There is no doubt in the fact that pandemic has impacted a student’s productivity to a great extent. The focus and attention which a child received in its school, somehow, has been compromised at home. It is highly essential to keep a track of the studies of your child. Also, be informed about the sessions and other activities being undertaken by the tutors. Commencing a connection with your child’s school faculty will help you stay updated with your child’s performance. The Top schools in Sonipat ensure that their students’ parents are actively being informed about the performances and about the advances being made in accordance with the ongoing pandemic situation. 
4. Virtual Get together’: The students in boarding schools get to spend their time with their friends throughout the year. They stay together, learn together, play together, and so on. However, due to schools being shut at present, your child would be missing his friends the most. One of the most exciting things parents could do is to make sure that their child is connected to their friends. Surprise your child by arranging a virtual get-together and let them know how better you understand their feeling of missing on friends. Plan virtual online games for them. Such activities will keep them close to their friends and maybe, they might miss their school a bit less. 
5. Cyber Protection: With studies being shifted to online platforms, students are being exposed to cyber threats. Although digital platforms have made it easy for students to stay in touch with their friends and engage in learning, several dangers surround their privacy too. Parents, it’s time to ensure that your child is secured with internet access. There’s no harm in establishing a routine for digital use. Apart from learning sessions, make sure your child has restricted screen time per day. There’s no harm in talking to your ward about the threats and disadvantages associated with heavy internet usage. The best CBSE boarding school in Sonipat trains its students with online education and the consequences attached to them. 

Students, residing in boarding schools, tend to find it quite different for living for a longer duration at home. Now, with schools shifted to an online platform, parents need to ensure that their child is motivated and that he is not missing on their school or hostels. A major focus is required to keep an eye on a child’s mental health. Swarnprastha Public School makes sure that parents are well informed of the performances and that the students are doing well even digitally. That’s what makes it the best school in Sonipat. Covid 19 has increased complexities in both personal as well as professional lives, however, now it is up to us how well we make our kids cope with the changes and make them enjoy the new normal.

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The competition, however, is not primitive. Students do not claw at each other to win. Modern-day schools maintain healthy competition among their students that is blended with cooperation and mutual respect. The features of a 21st- century competitive learning environment are unique. They target development rather than winning.

The tasks set are often challenging

The best school in Sonepat does not set conventional assignments or projects where the answers are directly available in the textbooks. At times, the tasks deviate from the norm and become challenging where the students really have to crack their minds and go to every corner of the library to find answers. The difficulty of the task gives rise to competition. Students compete to come up with the best answers from out-of-the-box sources to overcome the challenge. Every time the teacher levels up the tasks, the students work that much harder. And in the process, the students develop vital skills like research, critical thinking, problem-solving, analytics, interconnectivity, and more.

Collaboration is always on the cards

The challenge of the assignment set is to not complete it first. The challenge is to come up with the best possible answer. Students know that they cannot achieve the feat alone and thus seek help from peers, seniors, teachers, and others. In boarding schools, everyone stays within the same boundary. Students and teachers can collaborate on a challenge and brainstorm ideas to produce impressive solutions. Plus, living together brings about a collaborative environment where students help each other with almost any problem. Collaboration is a crucial part of a competitive learning environment. Students learn to focus on the common goal rather than beating each other to finish at the top.

There is room for honest feedback

Sugar-coated feedback thwarts development. Honest feedback leads to progress. Honesty means that the teacher appreciates the success of the students with the same intensity as detailing the mistakes done during the class or assignment. No one side gets more weight. Success and failures are discussed equally. The top school in Sonepat uses the honest feedback mechanism at every step to make sure that the students understand their development. If a student makes a mistake today, he/she understands that tomorrow’s success was hinged on the previous failure. This is how the competitive learning environment remains healthy. Students neither become over-confident nor lose all hope in themselves.

It is fun

A major downside of a competitive learning environment is that it can quickly turn into a pressure cooker. Difficult assignments surrounded by high-performing peers can make way for unnecessarily ambitious expectations. This is where gamifying the whole process becomes vital. Students cannot just compete to become better versions of themselves. There need to be fun rewards, exciting activities, thrilling tasks, and valuable problems to solve. The task may include organizing a school event. Science fairs are good ways to learn both the subject and associated skills. The winning report can get printed in the school magazine while the winning team can get a distinct advantage during the next project. The fun element has to reside to bring down the stress levels.

Lastly, there is mutual respect among students

In healthy competition, the competitors respect each other. And that is how they fuel each other to become better in their trade and grow simultaneously. A top boarding school’s competitive environment will first teach mutual respect because the idea is to collectively become educated and skilled. Students openly help each other. They motivate each other and encourage each other to reach new heights. Many projects happen in groups where students learn to work in teams and often assist other teams to raise the benchmark of the overall class. Boarding schools inculcate a feeling of fraternity. And this infuses mutual respect in the competitive learning environment.

Swarnprastha’s competitive classrooms look exactly like this. SPS students compete in a healthy fashion to go beyond their true potential. The learning ambiance is accommodative, free, exhilarating, competitive, thriving, and process-oriented. The positive results naturally follow given the benefits of the stated features. Swarnprastha Public School is where students get educated as per 21st-century requirements. The world, after all, has become competitive and students need to learn the nuances in school to find success in the real world.

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The best boarding schools in Sonepat, however, prioritize content and thought to their deserved levels. At a time when we are collectively acknowledging the importance of soft skills, the best schools do not de-emphasize content because both have their own place in our evolving educational requirements.

Content, memory, retention – these are necessary

We cannot deny that learning multiplication tables help with long divisions. Neither can we deny that some concepts of algebra have to be taught as is. Content-oriented teaching helps to form the base upon which thought can develop. A student oblivious of the background concepts will imagine instead of thinking when asked a question. He/she might come up with irrelevant answers as the foundation is still weak. We, thus, have to teach content first and then ask students to think based on the content already taught.

Additionally, teaching through thought only is time-consuming. If we ask students to figure out every concept by thinking or group brainstorming, no school can cover their curriculum in a single academic year. In contrast, teaching content through direct lectures is quicker as students get help forming associations.

Thought-oriented teaching develop soft skills

The best school in Sonipat will also recognize that fast teaching is never on the agenda. Students need to understand the subject matter rather than memorize to develop real skills around the topic. When asked to correlate themselves, students form critical thinking and problem-solving skills along with fluid intelligence and high curiosity levels. The need-to-know factor comes in education that naturally promotes better knowledge retention.

Thought-based teaching also makes space for increased collaboration and unique ideas. Numerous studies have shown that young students learn better in peer groups when compared directly to one-directional classrooms by helping each other to achieve excellence and raising the educational benchmark. Content teaching limits the group’s brainstorming capabilities. But when allowed to think, collaborative learning can deliver excellent results.

How do the top boarding schools balance both?

The direct lecture method is still the best way to teach content. Smart technologies inside classrooms enable visualization of content that assists students to form a better understanding of the underlying content. Let’s go back to our multiplication table example again. Teachers in the top 10 schools in Sonipat now do not merely ask their students to learn. Using smart boards, they also show how multiplication actually works and how knowing the tables by heart can actually help the students in the long run.

Thought-based teaching majorly radiates from the assignments set. If the classroom was all about teaching content, then the assignment is thought-provoking that compels the students to go beyond their textbooks to come up with answers. Home assignments also have the scope of collaborative learning, given the current age of EdTech and easy accessibility to the internet.

Projects are another way to teach both contents and thought simultaneously. The associated research, almost always, begins with a revision of the underlying content upon which the students’ ideas are built. Project-based learning is thus becoming an important tool of modern-day schools to teach lessons like never before. Inquiry-based learning also has a place. After all, curiosity is the best driver of knowledge.

Both content and thought are important

And we cannot merely prioritize one over the other. It all boils down to the school’s goals for a particular academic year and what the lesson is trying to achieve. Among younger students, teaching content is more important as they have just begun their education. At middle school and secondary levels, students need a more thought-oriented approach as they are about to enter a world that will prioritize skills over subject knowledge.

The right balance between content and thought – is what Swarnprastha Public School tries to achieve. As a boarding school, SPS students spend more time in the school environment that conveniently accommodates both content and thought-oriented teaching. Both in the classrooms and through assignments, students learn content first and thought next to critically think about their subjects, analyze the information received, and develop a knowledge base infused with the required soft skills. SPS knows how to embrace the benefits of the conventional and yet acknowledge the contemporary.

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Apart from academic scores and competitive exam results, these universities look for certain qualities among their incoming students. And you need to work on these rather than single-mindedly sprint towards scoring high scores. Most of your global competition will have high grades. It is the following qualities that can set you apart.

1. Passion for the subject you choose

Studying in one of the top 5 schools in Sonipat helps with this quality. To understand if you are truly passionate about a stream, you need to explore multiple subjects first and then exactly comprehend what the niche you pick is actually like. Over time, you need to build expertise in the subject you choose and work on innovative projects to show your passion. The top universities test passion and can easily differentiate the true lovers from the fake ones. You need to take advantage of your school’s career counseling department and find your passion as soon as possible.

1. Your communication skills

The international universities assume that you will have a language barrier to cross because you are a foreign student in a foreign university. They do not expect you to have exceptional English skills but your communication should be impeccable. The top universities generally test your expression and comprehension abilities. I asked a unique and out-of-the-box question, can you form ideas, recall past incidents, and put them into words that the other person can understand? Communication is important in foreign universities because you will meet students from around the globe. And you need to gel with all to thrive in the environment.

1. Your relationship with failure and adversity

In other words, they want students who can persevere and rise above setbacks. And the top CBSE schools in Sonepat already infuse these skills among their students, thus, keeping them a step ahead in international university applications. The curriculum of Oxford or Harvard is designed to test their students. Many have to see failure first to bring out their true potential and thrive in the academic ambiance. Hence, the admission experts do not only look for the brightest minds in the world. They search for students who can stick to the path despite the involved adversity and bring home success rather than waiting for it.

1. Your personal and professional goals

In the questionnaire that they send out as part of their application forms, most international universities ask their applicants what they expect to get out of their college education. And this is where many students falter because not many are sure what they wish to do during their stay in the college or after passing out. “Working for the top company” or “becoming successful” are vague answers. The universities expect you to write down an action plan during the 4 years at college and the following 5 years after. They test if you are organized, know what you are doing, and can plan ahead, given your ambitions.

1. The skill diversity that you will bring to the University

The top international universities are also upfront about what they wish to get from their incoming students and skill diversity is right up at the top of their list. They wish to admit leaders and team players. They want entrepreneurs and able managers. They look for specific cultural lessons, unique exposures, diverse expertise in multiple hobbies, and community awareness on pressing social issues. Your resume need not be long but it must have diversity. You cannot just be good at one thing but should add value by becoming a part of the prestigious college. If you aspire to study in one, awaken your exploring side and try various activities.

Swarnprastha Public School students are best equipped to apply for the top international universities and crack the admission procedures. Being one of the best boarding schools in Sonepat, SPS students are already independent, collaborative, academically ahead, and skilled. SPS also provides early career counseling to its students to pinpoint their professional path and offers a range of extra-curricular activities to build diverse skills. Schools, after all, are precursors to colleges and universities. A student needs to get the best schooling to become eligible for a top international university.

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The top schools in Sonipat have the following 7 aspects in their classrooms. These help to maintain a highly effective learning atmosphere and students naturally learn what they are supposed to in schools. Every aspect shows the students’ learning depth and the outcome is a complete school education in every sense.

1. Students ask meaningful questions

In a classroom where students are learning effectively, curiosity will reign the atmosphere. And the students will never have unrelated random questions, they will ask intellectual ones related to the subject at hand. Learning leads to questions and questions lead to more learning. An indifferent student is rarely motivated to learn anything, let alone the complexities of STEM and history. If questions prelude every lesson, be sure that the students are willingly coming to class to learn.

2. The questions come from everywhere

A student can read the chapter to be taught beforehand and bring questions to the classroom from the textbook. Or, he/she can observe the world around, along with reading the chapter and raise questions from a variety of observations. The first method tends to make learning one-directional, textbook-oriented. But the second method makes learning divergent, application-oriented. Effective classrooms encourage the second type of curiosity. The best school in Sonepat will always motivate students to think beyond their syllabus.

3. A wide range of learning models are employed

Not only direct-lecture and smart technology, but an effective classroom will employ a variety of learning methods to teach students almost all subjects. These include the flip classroom model, peer-to-peer learning, project-based learning, inquiry-based learning, and so on. No school can just stick to one method because it feels that the model tends to work the best. No one method is accommodative enough. Plus, variety in learning methods also eliminates monotony and keeps the students engaged.

4. A variety of assessment methods

With assessments as well, the focus does not simply lie on grades in effective classrooms. Teachers assess everything to understand that if students are learning the intended lessons and design the future pedagogies based on the feedback. Top scorers receive the same kind of appreciation as the top participators. Assessments include everything, starting from subject knowledge to creativity to interest levels to grasp of context. Learning is effective only when assessment is proper.

5. Room for introspection

Assessments do not only serve as feedback mechanisms for the teachers. They are feedback for the students as well. And once students identify their mistakes, shortcomings, they need time, space and guidance to ponder on those mistakes before working on rectification. Effective classrooms do not leave their students in confusion about a poor grade. The teacher works with the students individually, figures out ways how things can be improved, and keeps track to show the students that progress has indeed happened.

6. Personalised learning

Curiosity, lessons, assessments and introspection – all boil down ultimately to personalised learning. And the best CBSE school in Sonipat will have the model to extend personalised care to both performing and struggling students. An effective learning environment takes care of the learning needs of every student. A performer gets more exposure while the struggling student gets special help. Personalised learning propels students to academic greatness and raises the benchmark of classroom education.

7. The right definition of success

This is where an effective classroom defines how much importance should students, parents and teachers give on marks or grades. How much focus does skill development deserve and what does true educational success mean? Curiosity will not mushroom if students are just focused on marks. Similarly, subject knowledge will suffer if students only focus on extra-curricular activities. An effective classroom defines success, keeps reminding the definition and checks in regularly to measure progress.

Swarnprastha Public School’s classrooms have all the above 7 aspects. The school strives to maintain an intellectually active ambiance on the campus that is both effective and result-centric. SPS students learn through curiosity and motivation. Teachers teach through modern learning approaches and balance academics and skills. Over the years, Swarnprastha has always remained a step ahead when it comes to effective learning and the proof is visible in the school’s consistent boards and alumni performances in the real world.

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A passing mark help maintain a minimum educational benchmark

Although the system of standardised examinations frequently comes under the scanner and their efficiency is questioned, both the Indian education boards and their associated schools have improved the system with time. Achieving the passing mark now is not that difficult. To help students, a certain set of questions is kept straight-forward so that anyone who has read the textbook and paid attention in class can answer. This is thus a way to test if students are serious about their education. To get promoted to the next class, all students need to do is put in the required effort to pass. The lower cut-off helps in maintaining an education benchmark. Without this, the whole system will run in utter chaos.

But is being strict about promotion necessary?

Consider a student who has to secure 33 out of 100 to pass a subject in a particular class. In the next grade, this particular subject is going to get more advanced and the student is required to understand the basics to be able to retain anything of the advanced level. If this student scores a 35 or 40, it means that he/she has answered the direct questions right and understands the basics of the subject. One who scores in the 90s has grasped the subject and promotion regulations of the top school in Sonipat do not expect every student to reach that kind of mastery.

Now, a student who scored in the 20s has clearly gotten the direct questions wrong. It is clear that he/she is yet to understand the basics of the subject. Promoting him/her to the next grade by being lenient now will start an eternal cycle of struggle for this student that is detrimental to his/her education. The student is now trying to learn something advanced when his/her basics are still not clear. With time, the subject will reach out of hands and the student will develop a weak educational foundation. Can this help his/her future or even his self-confidence studying in a peer group who are way ahead academically? Schools thus need to be strict about promotions. The guidelines benefit students more than working to their disadvantage.

A form of external motivation

When students know that they need a minimum of 33 marks to pass, the drive to study the subject comes naturally. Not always can internal motivation be strong enough to get the job done. Students need an external force to focus them on studying and the passing mark serves the purpose by setting a lower standard. If schools are slack with their promotion regulations, students will also take their education casually. And this again will not help the academic foundation of children that is so important for their future.

Plus, students are not left alone

The Best Boarding schools in Sonipat do not function like the students will have just one exam to show their mettle and it is now or never. The final exam is built up by a series of assessments and tests in the daily classrooms. When a teacher notices that a student is struggling with a subject, he/she is immediately put in a remedial program where extra classes are separately provided to help the student. Progress is continuously tracked; assignments are set accordingly. A student who shows chances of not passing a particular grade has help continuously and the final call of holding him/her back is only taken when even the remedial classes could not help.

Thus, despite the raging debates across the world, Swarnprastha Public School maintains a strict promotion code. SPS continues to use standardised methods to evaluate education and sets a basic academic expectation in front of all its students. However, the school is vigilant with its remedial classes. Informal assessments also form an integral part of the school’s evaluation process. Together, SPS’s marking system accommodates the needs and skills of all students and grades them fairly. Promotion to the next class is a sign of academic advancement. If the journey is corrupted by excess leniency now, the students ultimately suffer.

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One of the most effective ways to develop critical thinking among school students is to continuously ask them the following 5 types of questions. These need to exist in every subject taught in the classroom, every project assigned and every co-curricular activity offered so that the students develop the habit of inquiring and pondering upon the same even when the moment has passed.

1. Factual or knowledge-based questions

The foundation of developing critical thinking as a skill is to get the facts right. While exploring the unknown, facts present the starting point from where the hunt can start. Thus, questions like “what are the three Newton’s Laws” or “who were the six great emperors of the Mughal period” are necessary to explore how a rocket launches into space or whose rule was better and why. Students need to memorize the basics. Factual questions can help the process. Once the foundation is strong, teachers can build on that.

2. Didactic or structured questions

The top CBSE schools in Sonepat separate didactic from factual questions as the latter can be random but the former has to be structured, although both depend a lot on the student’s memory and capacity to recall. Consider the following series of questions:

• What are the three of Newton’s Laws of Motion?
• Why do we feel a jolt every time a car or bus applies the brakes?
• What is Inertia of rest and motion?

The above three questions are related. The answer of the first paves the way for the second and accordingly the third. Didactic questions give knowledge structure and further solidify critical thinking.

3. Evaluative or opinion-oriented questions

The author said in his book that Akbar was the greatest among all the Mughal rulers. Do you agree with this statement? Such questions provoke students to present their personal opinions. They also teach not to accept everything at face value and question the intention behind the same. As evident, this skill forms the core of critical thinking where a student sees a statement, researches further on the same, and develops an informed opinion that is fed from multiple sources. Evaluative questions force students to think. Answers rarely come from one’s memory or a single textbook.

4. Interpretive questions

Take the same preceding statement to the question of point 3 but instead of asking for a student’s personal opinion, frame the question as – Why do you think the author made such a statement? What was the provocation? By asking the students to interpret the motive of the other side, critical thinking spills over the boundaries of one-sided opinions. Evaluation and interpretation together can better answer the question of Akbar being a great ruler. Without interpretive questions, students cannot become unbiased judges where on top of one’s personal opinion, the situation of the other person who made the statement matters.

5. Analytical or inquiry-based questions

Lastly, analytical questions should mark the perfect ending to critical thinking. Or, at least, directing the students to think critically and ask further questions that have not been asked by anyone else. Is there a place in the universe where Newton’s Laws are not followed? Akbar might be a great ruler but was not Ashoka better who actually wanted to end violence and sought peace? At this stage of critical thinking, the students will have the facts. Their knowledge is structured, evaluated, and interpreted. The idea is to probe further, open the gates of innovation and imagination and critically analyze more topics that are related to the main theme.

The reputed Boarding schools in Sonipat work on critical thinking along these lines. The questions change as per the subject, the pattern varies based on the pedagogy. But the types remain constant where one flows after the other and takes the shape of a pyramid with critical thinking right at the top. Swarnprastha Public School’s approach is exactly this. The boarding school has always prioritized critical thinking in its classrooms as the skill is vital to developing other associated habits. Through closely stitched questions, SPS teachers provoke students to ask more meaningful questions and find out answers through research, collaboration, exploration, and communication. Critical thinking is essential and asking questions is the way to develop it.

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