Gandhian non-violence course in Vidyapith
A course on Gandhian non-violence has been launched by Gujarat Vidyapith to cater to international participants who have been trying to understand his philosophy and looking towards institutes in India to get a formal training in Gandhian non-violence. According to the Vice Chancellor of Gujarat Vidyapith, Dr Sudarshan Iyengar, a course of this kind has been launched after a gap of 13 years; the last batch was in 1998. Gandhian non-violence has always influenced people across the globe. This course is one step forward in spreading it more systematically. The course will focus specifically on the non-violence aspect rather than covering general aspects of Gandhian philosophy, which was taught in earlier batches. According to the registrar of Vidyapith, Rajendra Khimani, this free four-month course is meant only for international students and it will commence on September
15, 2011.
Indian educationists to modify learning processes
For an accurate assessment of the current learning methods, education experts from Indian syllabus-based CBSE schools in the GNU Compiler Connection and India are taking initiatives to ensure that students clearly understand core concepts while learning. Recently a discussion was led by GEMS Education, a leading international education company, and the India-based Educational Initiatives (EI), an internationally renowned organisation in the field of child psychology and student assessment methods. Research by Educational Initiatives shows that while children today respond to rote-based questions relatively well, they fail to answer unfamiliar or application-based questions due to unclear core concepts.
Chandigarh schools bid adieu to blackboards
All the laboratories of Chandigarh schools will be digitised and have latest technological tools to aid in teaching English, Hindi and Mathematics. To implement the project, Sarva Siksha Abhiyan has roped in the Regional Institute of English, Chandigarh. Multimedia labs in schools will be equipped with 16 computers, 15 for the students and one for the teacher. To make them familiar with this innovative way of teaching, all teachers of these seven schools are being imparted training. Initially, the multimedia labs will come up at seven government schools. Once the project is implemented successfully, all schools will boast of multimedia labs. The lab for training at the Regional Institute has 31 computers, hi-tech software and an LCD projector, giving the teachers a feeling of a virtual classroom.
Karnataka Janapada Academy to be country's first folk varsity
Karnataka Janapada Academy, to be set up in Haveri district, is going to be the country's first folk varsity. “The varsity will be spread on an area of 560 acre,” B S Channabasappa, Chairman of the Karnataka Janapada Academy said. Addressing the four-day All India Folklore Conference, he said that all necessary documents have been submitted to the state government and the process of launching the university will start in June.
He also added that the All India Folklore Conference had attracted 54 scholars from different parts of the country, including those from Jammu and Kashmir.
IGNOU to establish RCs in Bihar, Jharkhand to reform Higher Education
Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is about to establish two more regional centres in Saharsa and Deaoghar. With the approval of IGNOU Vice-Chancellor Prof. V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, the University has decided to establish these two centres in Bihar and Jharkhand. According to the notification issued by U.S. Tolia, Registrar of the University, the Board of Management (BoM) at its 107th meeting held in April 2011 approved the proposal for the establishment of the Regional Centre at Saharsa, which shall cover the districts of Khagariya, Saharsa, Supaul, Madhepura, Katihar, Arariya, Kishanganj and Purnia.
