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Haryana to Provide Self-Defence Training to School Girls

Haryana School Shiksha Pariyojna Parishad, under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, will provide training in self-defence and other martial arts to girl students studying at elementary level during 2012-13. Under this scheme, training would be provided in five schools of each block and for this trainers would be appointed for a duration of three months, an official spokesman said.
He said that under the scheme, there was a provision for a budget of Rs 4,500 per month per trainer. In Mahendragarh district, the programme would be organised in 20 schools where a batch of minimum 50 students would be chosen at the district-level, the spokesman said.

NISER’s Scientists Involved in the Research for Higgs Boson

National Institute of Science Education and Research’s Scientists Involved in the Research for Higgs Boson along with other Indian institutes scientists. Scientists from 8 institutes of India participated in this experiments. This was informed by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Planning, Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Ashwani Kumar in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

Kumar said that a group of 80 Indian scientists including 30 Ph.D. students from 8 institutions are currently working on the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) Experiment, which is one of the two experiments that have led the research on the Higgs Boson. These institutions are — Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, University of Delhi, Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay, Mumbai, National Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhubaneswar, Panjab University, Chandigarh, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai and Visva Bharati, Santiniketan. Earlier, Indian scientists also participated in the construction of the massive particle accelerator at Geneva [viz. the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)], detector system for the CMS Experiment and the LHC Grid Computing System using which research on Higgs Boson is being carried out.

This research falls in the domain of Particle Physics. It is the Higgs particle which imparts mass to all fundamental particles in the Universe. With this finding, therefore, a major milestone in the human understanding of the fundamental constituents of matter and their interaction will be achieved.

CBSE joins hand with Pearson in School Education

Central Board of Secondary Education and Pearson Foundation will set up a Centre for Assessment, Evaluation and Research – a not for profit centre of excellence to contribute to the reform of learning.
HRD Minister Kapil Sibal, who announced the formation of the centre, felt one of the prime areas for any assessment is to evolve mechanism where a child is able to discover himself and communicate.
The centre is expected to influence the CBSE schools and students, primarily through grass roots research and the application of its findings. Initially, this will focus on the impact of recent CBSE innovations such as Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation and Life Skills Curriculum. The centre will draw on relevant international best practice to inform its recommendations for improved teaching practice and approaches to assessment before rolling out an extensive program of professional development of teachers.

MP Quota for Admission Raised in KVs

Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS), with the approval of Board of Governors has implemented a new scheme of Special Dispensation Admission for Members of Parliament in Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) with effect from 20th August 2012.

Under the scheme, the dispensation admission quota on the recommendations for each MP has been raised to six admissions in an academic year. Such recommendations would be for admissions in Kendriya Vidyalayas located in his/her constituency only. In case there is no Kendriya Vidyalaya in the constituency of the Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha), he/she may recommend these admissions in the KVs located in any neighboring contiguous constituency. However, for Members of the Rajya Sabha, the state from which the Member has been elected would be deemed to be his/her constituency for this purpose. Nominated Members of the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha can recommend six cases for admission in any one or more KVs of the country.

CBSE Organises Inter School Sports Competition

Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has organised Inter School Sports and Games Competitions each year at approximately 160 venues for nearly 9000 independent category of affiliated schools in as many as 17 disciplines at cluster, zonal and National level. For smooth organisation of these competitions, the schools have been divided into 16 Clusters and five Zones. Andhra Pradesh is part of cluster VII along with Karnataka Sports competitions in State schools are organized by the respective State Governments.

The CBSE Inter School Sports and Games Competitions are self-financed educational activity and do not receive and financial aid from the Government. However, the Board disburses fixed organizational Grant to each of the Organizing Schools. It also provides certificates and medals to all the participants and winners. Each year Board spends approximately Rs 2 crore on the conduct of Sports and Games Competitions. The students of nearly 250 independent Category of Affiliated Schools from Andhra Pradesh participate in these competitions.

CBSE, Pearson join hands to set up Centre for Assessment, Evaluation and Research

CBSE, India’s largest examining body, has joined hands with Pearson Foundation, the World’s largest education service enterprise, to set up a Centre for Assessment, Evaluation and Research (CAER). This centre is a public-private partnership which will function through an Executive Council, chaired by Vineet Joshi, Chairman, CBSE. This centre will be financially supported by Pearson Foundation in first two years of its operations. In three years, the centre will become self supporting and financially independent.

At the event, Shri Kapil Sibal, Hon’ble Minister for Human Resource Development, announced the creation of Centre for Assessment, Evaluation and Research and he also inaugurated the Centre’s website www.indiacaer.com. Kapil Sibal emphasised that continuous research needs to be done to come up with new ideas for comprehensive and definitive evaluation in education. This can help the child to know his/her areas of interest and also help children find their own pathway in the community education system.

Vineet Joshi, Chairman CBSE, announced that setting up of the Centre with Pearson Foundation was a big step in improving student learning, as well as bringing about improvements in teaching- learning quality in CBSE schools. He expressed that they were looking forward to development and research that is aligned to global best practises.

The main purpose of the centre is to develop, research and assessment capabilities and also raise the resources for CBSE, its schools and teachers. The centre will focus on the best practises in school based evaluation and high stake examinations and carry out research, provide professional development programmes, and publish support materials to strengthen the learning systems. In this partnership, CBSE will be providing its physical infrastructure, it will also provide guidance, advice and support to the centre.

Speaking at the launch, Khozem Merchant, President, Pearson India, expressed the opinion that the Pearson Foundation was proud to be part of this joint partnership and that CBSE had taken a bold step in wanting to improve their learning outcomes by doing in depth research and thorough evaluation of the present exam practices.

Digital learning Renewables Courses Launched

The National Skills Academy for Environmental Technologies has developed a new range of bespoke e-learning resources.
The new resources have been developed to help those who want to gain a further understanding about the various environmental technologies available – ‘Future proof your career’ is aimed at experienced building services engineers and an ‘Introduction to Environmental Technology Systems’ is accessible to anyone with an interest in renewables.
Other resources available in the suite support the level 3 qualifications, and include modules on ground and air source heat pump systems and water harvesting and recycling systems, solar thermal hot water systems, small-scale solar photovoltaic systems.

New CBSE Test Pattern for IX students from this Session

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has decided to hold a mandatory multiple choice questions (MCQ) test for Std IX from the ongoing academic session. Its scores will be counted in the final marks.

The Problem Solving Assessment (CBSE-PSA) will be an analytical reasoning test and its scores will be made part of the fourth Formative Assessment (FA-IV) which comprises 10% of the total marks in Std IX. The FA-IV score is reflected in the combined Std IX-X grade sheet which the board now issues under the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) system.

TCS, HDFC Partner to Invest in Sports Education Startup

Tata Consultancy Services and Housing Development Finance Corporation have together planned to invest in sports education startup – Kids Out Of Home.  Cricket personalities Ajit Wadekar and former Delhi cricket player Sanjeev Sharma have joined as advisors to the Kids Out Of Home.

The company targeted to provide sporting facilities to 3 lakh kids in next three years and it was in the advanced stage to raise fund from a PE firm for around 15% stake.

The company aims to deliver international and professional sports programs and events that are attractive for children; engaging both parents and children simultaneously, with today’s technology to help shape their children’s future.

Other players in the space include Edusports – Seedfund backed sports education solution provider, Sportseed and Leapstart. Edusports was planning to raise around R20 Cr last year to fund its expansion plans. Interestingly in U.S the sports industry is twice the size of the U.S auto industry and seven times the size of movie industry.

India Ranks Second in Education Searches

With over half of the Indian Internet population in the age bracket of 18-35, India has raced to the number two spot globally when it comes to absolute volume of search queries related to education on Google Search, according to a recent Google India study.

India was ranked 8 in 2008, and is now behind only to the US, reveals a study titled ‘Students on the web’ compiled by Google India.
The study was compiled by combining Google search query patterns and an offline research conducted by TNS Australia on behalf of Google India. Over 60 percent Indian students, who have access to Internet, use it as their first source to research for information related to educational courses and institutes, the study reveals.
Education related queries on Google in India are growing at over 46 percent year on year, that highlights strong demand for information on institutes and courses that are available in the country.

Out of all education related search queries on Google, over 40 percent of queries were for higher education courses and institutes.
Search queries from mobile phones have considerably grown showing a growth of over 135 percent and amounting to over 22 percent of all education related search queries.Among the courses being searched for on Google, IT or Vocational accounts for 44 percent followed by engineering courses (40 percent) and institutes, postgraduate courses with MBA (16 percent).
The study also found that students take anywhere close to 5-6 months on an average to research before finalising the institute and course.

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