MHRD annuls Distance Education Council; tells UGC to frame guidelines

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June 4, 2013

The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) dissolved the Distance Education Council (DEC) with immediate effect. Under the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), DEC was the apex regulatory body that looked after distance education offered by universities across India.

Furthermore, the Ministry handed the responsibility of Open and Distance Learning (ODL) to the University Grants Commission (UGC) .

UGC Secretary in his letter addressed to the Vice Chancellors of all the universities stated, “Distance Education Council (DEC), has been repealed and deleted with immediate effect. Accordingly, DEC of IGNOU stands dissolved.”

UGC is now working on developing appropriate regulations for maintaining standards in the ODL programmes, and it has asked different universities to not affiliate any new centre of ODL till it comes up with new regulations.

King’s College London Opens first International Summer School in Delhi

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June 4, 2013

King’s College London has opened its first international Summer School in Delhi, following the successful launch of the university’s India 2013 programme in Mumbai earlier this year.

Classes are being held at Miranda House College, University of Delhi. Courses will cover nternational relations, international political economy and e-business. King’s is working with local partner Think Education to deliver the programme of courses.

The Delhi Summer School builds on King’s extensive connections in India’s capital – the university has strong academic ties with Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and a thriving alumni branch of nearly 250 professionals working in law, medicine, management, social sciences and education. King’s India Institute – one of the leading international centres for global engagement with contemporary India – now has an academic based in Delhi whose research focuses on the international politics of South Asia and Indian defence and security policy.

Scholarships will be available on each course of the Delhi Summer School for the best and brightest students to study at King’s College London Summer School in July and August. In addition to this, King’s will offer a scholarship for a member of staff from the host college to visit London and interact with King’s staff working on summer programmes.

Tayyeb Shah, Director of International Strategy at King’s College London, said: ‘This is a great day for King’s as we celebrate the opening of our first Summer School in Delhi.Like the popular original London programme, students can expect innovative, interactive teaching methods, faculty who are motivated by their enthusiasm for their subjects, teaching informed by cutting edge research and an opportunity to reflect on how to prepare for their future. A Summer School is a fantastic way to enrich your portfolio of skills and to get a head start in today’s globalised and fast-moving world. We are grateful to Miranda House College for hosting our courses and for the hard work that they have put in to make this happen.We have been delighted with the success of our tailor-made India programmes this year and the positive reaction from all our students. We hope to build on this success as we look to increase the range and scope of King’s activities and partnerships in India.”

IGNOU offers masters course in tourism management

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June 3, 2013

The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is offering a masters programme in tourism from the 2013 session.

Spread over four semesters, the Master of Arts in Tourism Management (MTM), is designed for students who are interested in a career in tourism at the managerial level.

The prospectus form is available at IGNOU for Rs 200 and at all its regional centres. The last date to apply is June 15.

Graduates from any discipline can apply for the course, but they should also possess a Diploma in Tourism, which is recognised in the university system or by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

IGNOU is the world’s largest open university system. It boasts of a pan-India presence as well as international reach. It offers flexible entry qualifications and a wide range of academic programmes at affordable costs.

(Source: IANS)

MHRD announces financial assistance for needy children

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June 1, 2013

The Human Resource Development Ministry (MHRD) has decided to provide financial assistance for higher education to needy children who have passed with minimum B1 grade under CBSE grading system in X / XII examination.

Parents’ income of such children should not exceed Rs. 5000/- per month. The amount of grant given to such meritorious students shall not exceed Rs. 20,000/- for Class X and Rs. 40,000/ for class XII during any one financial year.

Grants for financial assistance will be sanctioned from HRD Minister’s Discretionary Fund. Preference will be given to physically handicapped children; children belonging to SC/ST/OBC/ex-servicemen/girl child from rural area and girl child under BPL.

To avail assistance under HRM’s discretionary fund, the students need to apply in the prescribed application form available in the website mhrd.gov.in.

MHRD formulates task force to set up National Testing Agency

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June 1, 2013

The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has set up a seven-member Task Force under the chairmanship of Prof. Sanjay Dhande, Ex-Director, IIT. It will prepare a blue print for creating a special purpose vehicle to take the concept of National Testing Agency (NTA) forward. The Task Force will have the representatives from CBSE, UGC, NCERT, AICTE and from the Ministry.

The NTA will look into the issue of multiplicity of entrance examination leading to stress on the students. It will address the issue in a comprehensive manner by formulating a uniform entrance examination for admissions in different branches of higher learning.

The testing agency would be conducting the National Eligibility Test (NET) and Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) to begin with.

The decision for setting up the National Testing Agency was taken in the meeting of Central Advisory Board for Education (CABE) which was held in April this year.

Harvard Business School to host executive education program in Mumbai

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May 30, 2013

Mumbai: Harvard Business School (HBS) will host a two-day executive education program on Aligning Strategy and Execution—India, from June 11 to 14, 2013 at Taj Lands End, Mumbai.

The leadership training program is designed for senior executives and general managers, who are at the helm of affairs and who look after developing and implementing sustainable strategies for doing business in India, and around the globe.

The program is best suited for executives at big Indian companies focused on international expansion, and for those at multinational firms seeking to enhance their strategy for the global economy especially in the backdrop of economic slowdown.

The participants will get to learn the nuances of business like why some strategies succeed while others fail—and why a strong strategic foundation can help companies expand.

CBSE Class X results, Girls beat boys again

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May 30, 2013

New Delhi: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) declared the much-awaited Class X results on Thursday. The pass percentage reached 98.76, a marginal increase over the last year.

Girls once again outshone boys in the results. The pass percentage of girls stood at 98.94 percent as compared to 98.64 percent of boys.

According to the new examination system that was introduced a couple of years back, the CBSE Class X results are reflected in grades instead of marks.

The Chennai region boasted of the highest pass percentage in the country- at 99.80.

In total, 1,25,7893 candidates were registered for Class X examination this year, an increase of about 6.67 per cent over last year.

(PTI)

MHRD to offer Special Scholarship to 5000 J&K Students

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May 30, 2013

The Ministry of Human Resource Development has launched a Special Scholarship Scheme for J&K students appearing for class XII or equivalent exams. It will be offered through the State Board of Jammu & Kashmir or Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) affiliated schools located in the region.

Under this scheme, 5000 scholarships will be given every year to J&K students, who seek admission outside the State to pursue higher education in general degree courses, engineering and medical studies in government colleges, institutes, other non-govt. institutes recognized by AlCTE or UGC.

Out of these, 4500 scholarships would be for general degree courses, and 250 each for medical and engineering courses. An amount of upto Rs.30,000 per annum for general degree courses, upto Rs.1.25 lakh per annum for engineering and upto Rs.3 lakh per annum for medical studies are being given to every scholar as tuition fees. In addition to this, hostel fees and incidentals is also being given for all categories of courses upto a ceiling of Rs. one lakh per annum.

Efforts are also being made by the Ministry to popularize the scheme among the students by publicising it at school level. In order to improve the delivery-mechanism and also effectively monitor the progress of the scheme, it has been assigned to the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for implementation through an e-portal from the Academic Year 2012-13.

The AICTE has invited online applications from the eligible students through its web portal by advertising it in leading newspapers. On the basis of the recommendations made by the AICTE, an amount of nearly 9.3 billion rupees for 1048 students has already been released to the AICTE.

IIT-H to get $174.8 million aid from Japan

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May 30, 2013

Japan will provide USD 174.8 million loan as development aid to the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (IIT-H) -the biggest foreign aid to an IIT.

The institute receive the loan in a phased manner. The Indian government will contribute 15% of the amount and the rest will be coming from JICA ( Japan International Cooperation Agency), which is to be repaid over 30 years.

The aid expected to contribute massively in improving the standard of higher education in the state and will help boost infrastructure.

With the financial aid, IIT-H will set up nine high-tech buildings, which includes a special technology centre, new academic blocks and a research park.

A part of the aid will be set aside to acquire lab equipment. The authorities plan to expand student intake from from existing 1000 plus to more than 7,500 by 2018.

Also, to beat the quality faculty crunch, the institute will increase the number of teachers to more than 750 by 2018, an increase from the over 100 teachers now.

Private companies will get a chance to use the R&D laboratories inside the campus.

Make Internship Compulsory for all Engineering Students says AICTE

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May 29, 2013

The All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has made internships compulsory for all engineering students to enhance their employability levels. Students in the fifth, sixth and seventh semesters will have to do an internship ranging from three to 24 months.

According to a statement issued by the AICTE Chairman SS Mantha the initiative was part of the National Employability Enhancement Mission (NEEM), whose core idea is “not to create jobs, but to improve employability”.

AICTE has also signed a memorandum of understanding with state-owned BSNL to train third and fourth year engineering students in communication and related fields. The training will be done at BSNL’s 43 world-class training centres across the country.The AICTE will pay for the training to the colleges, which will direct the funds to BSNL.

Similar collaborations are being worked out in other disciplines of engineering with micro, small and medium enterprises.

To promote innovation among students, another initiative is being offered to reward and challenge students under the ‘Student Innovation Promotion Scheme’. Four regional-level workshops will be conducted, and 10,000 to 15,000 students will be invited to one of them, to work on projects on the spot. MSMEs will be asked to evaluate the project and selected students will be pushed to the next level of design or technology.

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