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Centre concerned over dwindling states’ share in education

The Centre has regretted the gradual decline in spending by the states on education and asked them to increase it by at least three fold to match the pace of the expansion plans of the government.

As the expenditure by states declines, it affects the target to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio which has been abysmal in the country.

The expenditure on education currently remains at 3.54% of GDP against the target to increase it to 6%, Higher Education Secretary R P Agrawal said at a conference of state ministers.

'We find the states' contribution to education sector has been dwindling. Unless they increase their share, we cannot achieve the target of six per cent GDP expenditure on education. This may affect quality and our target to increase the GER, that shows the percentage of youths in the age group of 18 to 24 years enrolled in higher education,' he said.

The secretary said in the 3.54% of GDP being spent on education, the Centre's contribution is about 0.79% while the states put 2.75%. However, the share of the states was over 4% in 1999. The states' share started declining from 2001 onwards.

States like Maharshtra, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi and Bihar spend less than two% of their Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), he said.

'The Centre has made significant increase in the spending on education in the 11th Plan. The states have to at least increase their spending by three times,' Agrawal said.

HRD Minister Arjun Singh also asked the states to cooperate with the Central government in achieving the targets in education. 

GurukulOnline Learning Solutions tie-up with Rajasthan for skill development programmes

GurukulOnline Learning Solutions recently announced its tie-up with Rajasthan government for providing various skill development programmes like Spoken English cum Employment Readiness Skills to the youth in Rajasthan.

The students coming out from various colleges of the state lack skills in spoken English and soft skills. The skill development programme aims to rectify these deficiencies, besides imparting domain knowledge skills like Organized Retailing, Logistics, and Financial Services etc. Lack of these skills is known to be a major impediment in finding a suitable job especially outside Rajasthan.

Project Chaired by Chief Minister of Rajasthan Vasundhara Raje, along with GOLS aims to train over 2000 students during this financial year through the skill development programmes. GOLS has successfully conducted a pilot project of 200 students in Jaipur who were provided training on Spoken English, Soft Skills and  Retail Industry. Most of these students have been placed in various retail outlets across the state. Over the current financial year, GOLS will also tie-up with various colleges across state to provide training on an eLearning platform on above-mentioned courses.

Shailesh H.Mehta, Founder & CEO, GOLS said, 'We at GOLS aim to build the skill sets of youth through both eLearning and offline courses. Equipping the students with the required skill sets with the aim to increase their job potential has been a common aim between us and Rajasthan government. The resultant factor of our tie-up is the rich dividends our students are reaping by embarking on a promising career in the retail industry. After the success of our pilot project, we have been mandated to provide industry specific courses on retail, logistics, Financial Services etc apart from Spoken English & soft skills across districts of Rajasthan including Kota, Jhalawar, Bundi and Baran apart from Jaipur.'

 

North to get its own ISB, courtesy four biz honchos

Four leading Delhi-based industrialists

IIT Bombay enters into a strategic tie-up with Agilent Tech

Indian Institute of Technology – Bombay has joined hands with Delhi-based IT company Agilent to develop technologies for the speedy data transfer on the web.

Announcing the collaboration with IIT – Bombay, Agilent Technologies said it would build technologies for 100 Gigabit as well as next generation carrier ethernet networks in the metropolitan space.

'It is a great pleasure to partner with Agilent Technologies and to explore areas that could potentially redefine the Ethernet network domains. With this association we hope to contribute substantially to the telecommunication research at the global level,' said Professor Ashwin Gumaste of IIT Bombay.

The technologies that would be developed through this association would be employed by next generation data centres for mobile back-haul traffic.

Agilent Technologies President and Country General Manager Venkatesh Valluri said, 'Such collaborative technologies that help in enhancing data speeds multifold would create new global business opportunities.'

With this collaboration emphasis on the future of ethernet would be a key shift for private-public partnerships in the Indian scenario.

Teachers summit in Nigeria: Experts make case for ICT training

The Greencircle Network organised the 2008 Teachers Summit with experts including the Director, Distance Learning Centre, University of Ibadan, Francis Egbokhare advocating the adoption of compulsory information communication and technology training for teachers in the nation's school system.

 The Greencircle Network has been in the forefront of advocacy for teachers training and employment of ICT facilities for teaching and learning in the nation's schools, particularly public-owned institutions.

The experts canvassed this position during the 2008 Teachers Summit organised by Greencircle Network to equip teachers with new trends in teaching and learning, particularly the use of new ICT facilities for knowledge dissemination.

 Egbokhare who spoke on “Building a knowledge society: Integrating ICTs as a teaching and learning platform,” argued that since ICT had turned the world into a global village, any nation that failed to embrace opportunities in it for the development of its education sector would blame itself.

He called on about 1,000 teachers, who attended the summit to develop themselves in the use of ICT facilities in order to better their lot.

 “ICT has provided a platform where intellectual work, intellectual capital could be delivered from anywhere. It has provided a new power for individuals to collaborate and compete globally and the phenomenon that is enabling, empowering and enjoining individuals and small groups to go global so easily and seamlessly,” he said.

 He added that governments at all levels should encourage teachers by exposing them to new teaching methods offered by educational technology.

 Quoting the former Secreatry General of the United Nations, Mr. Kofi Anna, the lecturer said, “A Technological revolution is transforming society in a profound way. If harnessed and directed properly, Information Communication Technology (ICTs) has the potential to improve all aspects of our social, economic and cultural lives. ICTs can serve as the engine of development in the 21st century.”

He advised teachers to change their attitude towards their jobs, saying that there were a lot of opportunities in the profession. He, however, added that any teacher that would enjoy the global opportunities in teaching must be ready to upgrade his skills, as this would make them wiser and marketable.

 “We can be knowledgeable with other people's knowledge, but we cannot be wise with other people's wisdom,” he said.

 In his own remarks, the Chief Executive Officer, Greencircle Network, Ladipo Oke, urged school owners and teachers to embrace new technology that would enhance teaching and learning in schools.

Health manuals for CBSE schools

Good health is the key to good performance — in classroom and in life. The CBSE is now all set to promote this belief among students across the country under the Comprehensive School Health Programme developed in association with the World Health Organisation. In the latest step towards implementing this health policy, CBSE has prepared four health manuals for schools which have various activities to create health awareness among students from kindergarten to class XII.

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If the schools respond well to CBSE's initiative, health will become a co-curricular aspect of education from this session itself. CBSE has already sent out circulars to schools informing them about the manuals, which are based on six themes — knowing your body, food and nutrition, personal and environmental hygiene, physical fitness, being responsible and safe, and behaviour and life skills. “The manuals are holistic in their approach since they deal with not only physical health but also mental, social, emotional and spiritual well being,'' stated CBSE secretary Vineet Joshi.

 There are separate manuals for students in classes  I-V, VI-VIII and IX-XII. While for younger students, the manual focuses on making them aware of the importance of health and nutrition, the activities for adolescents aim at understanding changes in the body and developing life skills. According to CBSE, these activities can be conducted under a health club that can be formed in all schools.

The health programme will not be a part of the syllabus and so, children will not be evaluated on these activities. But CBSE has asked schools to regularly monitor the health of students by maintaining a health card. “CBSE wants schools to make a health card for each student so that changes in their health or behaviour can be recorded over the years,'' said Usha Ram, principal, Laxman Public School. She added it would be better if CBSE made the health programme, a part of the curriculum for implementing it in the right earnest. The programme also recommends making the menu for school canteens more nutritious and organic.

 

BRAOU offers B.Sc courses designed for employability

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University (BRAOU) is offering B.Sc courses in computer applications and drug science in collaboration with Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. and National Institute of Information Technology (NIIT). < ?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

The B.Sc (Special) programme in drug science is designed to provide employment opportunities in drug industry. The students are expected to have more than 80 per cent attendance for practical sessions and industry internship. The course is offered at two centres, one is in Hyderabad and another is at Vizag, and total seats available are 100.

Students who opt for computer applications have to study four courses in their second and final years at their near-by NIIT centres.

Students will receive B.Sc degree from the university and Diploma in Computer Applications from NIIT after their successful completion. The eligibility for B.Sc in drug science is – students should have either passed D. Pharmacy or Intermediate with chemistry as an optional subject or should have two years experience in chemical industry.

There is no special eligibility criterion for computer applications.

The fee for B.Sc in computer applications is of INR. 6,000 per year in addition to the course fee of the university.

For B.Sc in drug science, the fee is INR. 5,050 per year, including practical fees. SC, ST, PHC students will get fee concession from the university, subject to the stipulated conditions.

The students of drug science have been absorbed by the drug industry so far.

The diploma in computer applications from NIIT will give an extra edge to the student in job search.
Collaboration

The university is planning to introduce more job-oriented programmes in collaboration with prominent industry players. “We are planning to start B. Ed, B. Ed in Special Education, Bachelor of Hotel Management, Bachelor programmes in Entrepreneurship, Hospitality and Tourism Management in collaboration with industry players,” said Vice-Chancellor of the university, O.R. Reddy

12-day training for teachers begins in Islamabad

The opening ceremony of a 12-day in-service training course for head teachers was held at Federal College of Education.

More than 25 head teachers are participating in the course being organised under the capacity-building of teachers training institutions CIDA-supported project of the Ministry of Education and training of elementary schoolteachers in ICT.

During the course, the head teachers will be trained in managerial skills, lesson planning, curriculum designing, computer fundamentals, educational objectives and classroom behaviour analysis.

The purpose of the course is to promote teacher education as per policy and requirements of the Ministry of Education. Under the CIDA project, 154 teachers and 26 head teachers have been trained during the last three months while 580 teachers and 75 head teachers are expected to be trained during the current financial year.

Ministry of Education Project Management Unit Director Fida Hussain Khokhar presided over the opening session while Federal College of Education Director Prof Talat Khursheed, welcomed the guests and participants.

Seminar on Shah Abdul Latif Bhutai held: A seminar on Sindhi literature and culture was arranged at the Pakistan Academy of Letters.

The Shah Abdul Latlf Social and Cultural Organization in collaboration with the academy held the seminar with Prof Abdul Majeed Chandio in the chair.

MPA Dr Faiza Rasheed was the chief guest on the occasion. Majeed said that Pakistan culture and Indus civilisation had no difference.

He said cultural events help educate young generation about their values.

Faiza said nations were known through their culture. She stressed the need for prompting our literature in the world and reiterated that 'we have rich culture'.

Patron-in-chief of the organization, Abdul Majeed Veecer said the basis aim of the organisation is to promote our literature. Rahina Gul, Ashfaq Chandio, Zulfiqar Bhatti, and Asghar Khan also addressed the seminar. Zahid Jatoi recited many verses of Shah Bhatti on the occasion.

IGNOU Launches Course on Financial and Cost Accounting

The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India (ICWAI) will jointly start specialized courses in B.Com with major in financial and cost accounting and M.Com in management accounting and financial strategies at IGNOU. < ?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was recently singed between the two for the courses which would be available to ICWAI students and its members.

Students who have registered themselves with the ICWAI after passing class 12 will be eligible for the B.Com course and students admitted in professional courses of ICWAI will be eligible for the M.Com programme.

Minister of State for Commerce, Mr. Jairam Ramesh launched a one-year Post Graduate Diploma in Food Safety and Quality Management Programme at a televised function at IGNOU.

The programme is being jointly offered by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) of the Ministry of Commerce and IGNOU.

The programme will be open to graduates in science, agriculture, food science and technology, hospitality management and allied subjects.

Union Health Minister to attend

The Union Health Minister, Anbumani Ramadoss will give another push to his relentless campaign against tobacco when he will attend Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) programme 'Smoke Free Campus' tomorrow. DUSU is organizing the programme in the light of new academic session as the campaign aims to bring the movement of smoke free campus to the freshers. The Delhi University was declared 'No Smoking Zone' on 14th February, 2008 in a function inaugurated by Union Minister, Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar.

The function assumes significance in the context of Minister's announcement of complete ban on smoking in public places from 2nd October, 2008. “The Cigarette and other tobacco products (Prohibition and Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production Supply and Distribution”) Act, 2003 is one of the most comprehensive tobacco control act in the world. Rules to implement the law have been notified and revised to expand the definition of public places to include all work places shopping malls, cinema halls, etc. State Governments are being sensitized to accord due priority to the implementation of the law.

Government of India has launched National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP) in the 11th five-year plan to implement anti-tobacco laws. School programme is one of the crucial part of the national programme targeting school children as well as college going youth.

India is one of the pioneer signatories of WHO

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