India to provide training to Afghan school teachers
The National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) has been directed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development to prepare a specific curriculum to train Afghan school teachers on student-friendly methods of teaching to strengthen the education system in Afghanistan.
'Teachers coming from Afghanistan will be here for two years and will be imparted with the modern and student-friendly methods of teaching,' a senior HRD ministry official said. At the end of the training, teachers will be awarded diploma certificates.
NIIT initiative for 1,870 schools in Gujarat
The NIIT has entered into a contract with the state Education Department to introduce Computer Aided Learning in 1,870 government schools for classes 9-12 in Gujarat.
The five-year contract valued at INR 84.38 crore, would impact around 9,00,000 school students across Gujarat. Based on its track record of providing quality ICT education solutions in schools NIIT bagged the majority share of the contract awarded by the state government, L. Balasubramanian, President, School Learning Solutions, NIIT Ltd, said.
IGNOU to launch BA programme for hearing impaired students
Over 40 lakh students with hearing impairment can now dream of attending college, graduating with degrees and jobs in their hand with the Indira Gandhi National Open University launching first of its kind Bachelor in Arts (BA) programme for them in India.
The programme, done in collaboration with University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN), UK, will kickstart with 40 seats from this academic year at IGNOU's Delhi campus offering full-time BA in Applied Sign Language Studies and BA honours in Applied Sign Language Studies. Students will have to undergo selection process after which they would be enrolled for the course. Post graduation, students will also be assisted in getting jobs.
Indian professor gets Leontief Award
The Leontief Award 2009 has been conferred on Bina Agarwal, Professor of Economics at the Institute of Economic Growth. The award has been instituted in honour of Nobel laureate Wassily Leontief, given by the Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University, US.
The Leontief Award is conferred to recognise outstanding contribution to economic theory that addresses contemporary realities and supports just and sustainable societies.
The presentation ceremony will be held later this year. Distinguished winners of the award in previous years include John K. Galbraith, Amartya Sen, Paul Streeten, Herman Daly, Dani Rodrik and Robert Wade.
Six varsities, 150 colleges to be netlinked in Kerala
Six universities and 150 colleges in Kerala will be netlinked soon, making it easier for educational institutions to exchange information and share activities. The Cochin University of Science & Technology (CUSAT) will be the nodal agency and will coordinate the networking of information. A proposal has been sent by the state government to the Ministry of Human Resource Development for clearance.
Meanwhile, the CUSAT is all set to launch a knowledge repository which will link all the state and central institutions situated in Kochi. 'We are negotiating with the scientific institutions in Kochi and we will provide a platform for the common public as well as industries who are on the lookout for information,' said Registrar N Chandramohankumar.
Delhi University to conduct its first online exam
Delhi University (DU) will become one of the first central universities in the country to conduct an online examination for its undergraduate science students. A K Bakshi, Director of the Institute of Life Long Learning (ILLL) under DU which formulated the online examination paper, said that for the first time students of the B.Sc course will be taking their environmental science paper online.
'It's just a starter. Students of the B.Sc course will take one of their qualifying papers, of environmental science, online. If a success, it should set a trend for more university exams to go the same way,' he added. A total of 2,500 students from 27 colleges will take the exam, scheduled in the first week of June. The examination will however be held in just three centres and that too in three shifts. The online exam is a part of DU's larger plan to go the e-learning way. ILL has been working on making the entire teaching process, and now even the assessment process, more tech-savvy for a number of subjects.
