Expressing concern at ragging incidents in colleges, one of which led to the death of a student, President Pratibha Patil on Saturday said if necessary, a law should be considered to curb the practice. 'I am deeply concerned about incidents of ragging which has become rampant in college campuses. I saw the agony of parents who lost their children in a ragging incident,' she said, while inaugurating a seminar on Development of Sustainable Rural Health at Suttur near Mysore, about 130 km from here. 'Strict action should be taken to see that such incidents were not repeated,' maintained Patil. The issue should be taken seriously and if need be, legislation should be brought in to prevent it, said the president. She called for collective efforts by students, parents, teachers, college and university authorities and state governments to end incidents of ragging.
The seminar was organised by the Jagadguru Shivarathri Swami (JSS) Medical College as part of its silver jubilee celebrations. Patil also inaugurated the JSS School girls hostel building. Ragging has become a major problem in colleges and freshers subjected to ragging go through mental agony due to fear and humiliation, she noted. 'It is a crime against humanity,' asserted Patil. She advised senior students to create congenial atmosphere for the juniors to be at ease in colleges. Aman Kachroo, a student of a medical college in Himachal Pradesh, died March 8 allegedly after he was severely beaten as part of being ragged by his seniors. The death has again brought the issue under focus.
Kapil Sibal, the Union Minister, Ministry of Human Resource Development, explained that from the coming year the Central Board of Secondary Education examination would be made optional. It would be changed to represent a nine point grading system, replacing the marks system. The minister denied the claim that one national board will replace all existing 42 state education boards. According o the minister an attempt is being made to bring about a child friendly educational system and not forcing rules down throats of the people and students. Central Advisory Board on Education, the country’s top education policy-making body which has state education ministers as members, in 2005 had passed the bill to make class X board exams optional. Same was suggested by National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) in order to reduce stress on children, in 2006. Sibal explained that Class 10 exams will be made optional for those children who want to continue in the same school. Continuous internal assessment will decide whether a child will be promoted to class XII. The new system has following additional features. Those who secure over 90% will get grade A. Mark sheets won’t use the term failed for students who score less than 33% in particular subject. They will be given an E grade that will imply improvement required. And only when a student gets an E in more than one subject, student will be considered as failed. The grades consist of A, A1, B, B1, C,C1, D, D and E.
Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), The Advanced Center for Informatics and Innovative Learning (ACIIL) and IBM India have signed an MoU that will reinvent and reform IT education in the country. The collaboration of IBM, with IGNOU, will bridge the gap that exists between education, skills and national development. As a part of the MoU, IGNOU and IBM India will partner to skill students on the IT standards in the emerging verticals like healthcare, financial services and retail that have a significant growth potential, in addition to the skills demand of Open Source software and Open Standards, with live projects. 
In the third round funding of US$19 million, K Ganesh, Serial Entreprenuer, is preparing for an aggressive expansion globally. This would be accompanies by acquisition-led growth for his education venture TutorVista Global Pvt Ltd. In one of the largest venture funding rounds in recent times, the Bangalore based online education provider raised US$12.5 million from publishing giant based in UK, the Pearson Group and another US$6.5 million from the existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners and Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG). Major part of this capital would be used to expand in foreign markets. In India, it will be utilized for an acquisition overdrive of schools and school managements, besides tutorial companies in states where it does not have a presence.
Utilisation of the latest laptops and high speed Internet broadband use by four schools’ students will enable students to become tech savvy, following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between DST Group and Ericsson with the principals of the selected schools. DST group and Ericsson’s joint venture, the joint community ICT project, will bring about high-speed mobile Internet connectivity to schools, was brought together by DST Group and Ericsson. The selected schools included Tanjung Kindana Primary School, Berakas Secondary School, Pengiran Jaya Negara Secondary School and Sayyidina Othman Secondary School. The laptops and Internet broadband will be stationed in each school’s computer labs.
