Cambridge University launches new pre-degree free foundation course

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April 27, 2022

Cambridge University launches new pre-degree free foundation course The University of Cambridge has launched a new pre-degree foundation course, which has a lower entry requirement in a bid to increase diversity across the world-famous educational institution in the UK.

The university has announced that the new Cambridge Foundation Year is free and fully funded and is aimed at engaging an entirely new stream of applicants. The one-year, full- time residential course, which begins with its first intake of 52 students for the start of the new academic year in October 2022, follows a ‘rigorous’ admissions process. This is a big day for those who are receiving their Cambridge Foundation Year offer, and a big day for the University,’ said Dr Alex Pryce, Foundation Year Course Director at Cambridge. In total, there were 267 applications to the pilot Foundation Year programme, or around five applications for every place, which is comparable to the number of applications the university normally receives for undergraduate study at six applications for every place. Annually, the course is aimed at around 50 individuals who have experienced educational and social disadvantage and demonstrate the potential to succeed in a degree in the arts, humanities, or social sciences.

Students will study at one of the 13 Cambridge colleges participating in the pilot scheme and will have to prove their eligibility to receive the “generous scholarship” given to all students on the course. On successful completion of the programme, Cambridge Foundation Year students will receive a CertHE qualification from the University of Cambridge, and with suitable attainment can progress to degrees in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cambridge without the need to apply to the university again in the usual admissions round. The eligibility criteria for the course cover students with disrupted educational backgrounds in the UK as well as refugees or asylum seekers. The move is part of efforts by the university to be more inclusive to students from less privileged backgrounds.

Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann plans to replicate Delhi’s education model in state

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April 26, 2022

The Punjab government would be replicating Delhi’s education model in the state in order to provide quality education to students from all economic backgrounds. This was stated by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday. Mann is on a two-day tour of the national capital along with senior officers of his government and visited schools in the city to understand the “Delhi model” and replicate it in Punjab.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia accompanied Mann to a Delhi government school at Chirag Enclave. “A revolution in the education system is being discussed across the country. We will replicate the same model in Punjab. The country will progress this way by learning from each other.

“Mirroring the Delhi government’s efforts, we will train teachers and principals. We will borrow suggestions from them (the Delhi government) to reform our government schools. We will create an environment in the government schools for the students to thrive in. The children of both the rich and the poor will sit and study at the same desk,” Mann said.

“It is really a mind blowing experience to see this prestigious school equipped with world-class infrastructure and highly qualified staff to steer the career of young minds through innovative teaching practices. I am highly impressed to see a classroom with paperless teaching where the students are taking lessons on their laptops, “he added.

Mann is accompanied by several senior officers from the school education and the health and family welfare departments of Punjab, who would be taking inputs related to these two crucial sectors.

“Borrowing ideas from the Delhi government, the Punjab government will offer a better environment for its students and teachers to thrive in. Punjab will become the land of job providers and not of job seekers. We will transform the state. It is my word. We will put all our efforts towards Punjab’s progress and growth,” Mann said.

Free admission for Covid orphans introduced by scrapping MP quota in Kendriya Vidyalaya

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April 26, 2022

The government has scrapped the provision of admission of students in Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) under the Member of Parliament (MP) quota and has introduced free admission for children orphaned by Covid-19 under PM CARES for Children Scheme.

“The admission will be done on the basis of list given by District Magistrate of the concerned District subject to 10 children per KV and maximum two children per class. These children will be exempted from payment of fees (Tuition fee, Computer fund, and VVN) from Classes I to XII,” the guideline stated.

The BJP MP Sushil Modi praised and welcomed the decision to put the quota admissions on hold. He tweeted that it is expected to open up around 30,000 seats across KVs in India. Last year the Central government scrapped the Union education minister’s discretionary quota for admissions from 2021-22 academic session. However, it was decided that the MPs of both houses will continue to recommend admissions into KVs in each academic session.

Rahul Gandhi Calls CBSE “Central Board of Suppressing Education” For Modifying Syllabus

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April 26, 2022

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi labelled the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) as the “Central Board of Suppressing Education” and called RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) the “Rashtriya Shiksha Shredder”. This was after CBSE dropped some chapters on the Non-Alignment Movement, the Cold War era, the rise of Islamic Empires in Afro-Asian territories, the chronicles of Mughal courts, poems of Faiz and the Industrial Revolution from the CBSE Class 11 and 12 political science syllabus.

Also read: CBSE is conducting live webinar on modalities to hold term-2 board exams

While addressing Twitter, the Wayanad MP not only called CBSE the “Central Board of Suppressing Education”, but he also shared an image showing a shredding machine cutting all the eliminated topics like Democracy and Diversity, Impact of Globalisation on Agriculture, Non-aligned Movement, The Mughal Court, Industrial Revolution, and poem of Faiz. Also, CBSE has dropped the topic “impact of globalization on agriculture” from a chapter on “Food Security” in the class 10 syllabus. The translated excerpts from two poems in Urdu by Faiz Ahmed Faiz in the “Religion, Communalism and Politics” section have also been excluded this year. Similarly, in the Class 11 syllabus, the board has dropped “Central Islamic Lands.” The class 11 history syllabus talks about the rise of Islamic empires in the Afro- Asian territories and their implications for the economy and society. All those chapters that focused on the arenas of Islam in reference to its emergence, the rise of the caliphate, and empire building have been cut down by the Board.

In the class 12 history syllabus, the chapter titled “The Mughal Court: Reconstructing Histories through Chronicles” has also been eliminated. However, when asked, the officials stated that the changes are part of the rationalization of the syllabus and are in alignment with recommendations by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

However, this is not the first time that CBSE has taken such a stand. Earlier, in 2020, the CBSE announced that chapters on federalism, citizenship, nationalism, and secularism in the class 11 political science textbook would not be considered while assessing students. This blew the matter out of proportion and triggered a major controversy. However, the topics were restored in the 2021–22 academic session, and they still remain a part of the curriculum.

Instagram to help students manage post pandemic stress, launches guide

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April 25, 2022

Social media app Instagram has now moved a step ahead than just becoming an entertainment platform. Aiming to help students manage the stress of coming back to offline classes after two years of the pandemic, Instagram has released a guide. Titled ‘Readapt and Readjust: Back to the Classroom’, this guide is a collaboration between Fortis National Mental Health Program, Fortis Healthcare, Sangath’s It’s Ok To Talk initiative and Instagram.

This guide aims at helping students readapt to offline school, prepare for in-person exams and manage exam stress, especially for students appearing for their class 10 and 12 board exams.

This guide will provide students with practical tips to manage study and exam priorities, learning strategies to cope with associated stress triggers and study techniques to improve concentration. Apart from this, this guide will also contain relaxation strategies for short-term relief as well as important self-care practices to manage their mental health in the long-term.

The topics shared in this guide include ‘putting best foot forward’, ‘readapting and readjusting’, prioritising and setting tasks, study environment and time management, and much more.

UGC forms panel to draft rules for foreign universities planning campus in India

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April 25, 2022

New Delhi

Planning to set rules for the foreign higher education institutions aspiring to set up campuses in India, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has formed a five-member committee to prepare regulations to allow foreign higher education institutes, particularly in areas of science and technology.

This is the first step towards opening doors of the higher education sector to foreign universities, a key proposal in the National Educational Policy (NEP) to “internationalise” the higher education sector.

According to official information, besides drafting the legal framework, the committee would attempt to frame broad outlines of institutional structures required to invite foreign universities to start operations in India. The UGC believes that if this move works out well, top educational institutions here will benefit through collaborations with their foreign counterparts. Earlier this week, the Commission had issued amended regulations to promote tie-ups between domestic and international institutes for offering dual-degrees, joint degrees and twinning programmes.

CBSE is conducting live webinar on modalities to hold term-2 board exams

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April 25, 2022

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is holding a live webcast on the term-2 exams 2022 modalities today at 11 am that will last for about an hour. As per the notice officially, the webinar entails to explain examination preparations as well as the roles and responsibilities of functionaries. Also, the live webinar will be recorded and made available on the YouTube channel.

Meanwhile, schools will require a set up to view the webcast’s live stream. The live webcast will begin with Dr Vineet Joshi, Chairman of CBSE, delivering the keynote address. The duration of the live webcast will be used to get into examination mode and hence be fully prepared to conduct the examination successfully.

This webinar aims to eliminate all future complications and Board with the help of schools and students to be able to conduct examinations successfully. It is compulsory for all the schools to attend this webinar. “Non-compliance of instructions for watching this webinar by any school will be viewed seriously,” said the CBSE board in a statement.

UP government’s ‘Operation Kayakalp’ all set to make primary schools “smarter”

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April 25, 2022

Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh

Keeping up with the changing times and aiming to improve the education facilities in the state, the Yogi Adityanath led Uttar Pradesh government will be giving a smart makeover to the primary and secondary schools with ‘Operation Kayakalp’. The operation will transform the primary and secondary schools into ‘smart schools’.

The government has chalked out an action plan to fulfill the quality education resolution and make the state-run schools at par with the private schools in terms of facilities and infrastructure. About 30,000 secondary schools will be equipped with smart classrooms, playgrounds, proper toilets, libraries, computer laboratories, art rooms and other modern facilities.

It may be mentioned here that Yogi Adityanath government’s ‘Operation Kayakalp’ that is aimed at transforming the primary schools of the state was started in the year 2019. Under this, efforts are being made to provide a clean and safe environment with modern facilities to 1.64 lakh children studying in 1.33 lakh council schools.

Owing to the sustained efforts of the UP government in the past, the state-run schools are amalgamating traditional teaching methodology with tech-based learning to improve the quality of education. Resultantly, the number of students who have enrolled in these schools have also risen.

Beginning 2023, Internship for class 9, 11 students for UP students

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April 22, 2022

Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh

Beginning 2023, the Uttar Pradesh Board (UP Board) will be introducing a host of changes in the curriculum. These include a new pattern of question papers for class X, multiple-choice questions in exams, internships for class IX and XI students and focus on linking Sanskrit with technology are said to be amongst the key changes that the UP Board will be introducing.

According to the officials of the board, starting 2023, 30 per cent of the questions in all subjects for class X board exams will be multiple-choice questions and students will be given optical mark recognition sheets (OMR) to answer them. The same pattern will be implemented for class XII UP Board exams from 2025.

Also Read: Yogi Adityanath to flag off ‘School Chalo Abhiyan’ from Shravasti on April 4

The board will also be introducing a new programme, wherein students of class IX and XI will get internships. This will increase the employability of the students.

UP Board secretary Divyakant Shukla said on Thursday, “Thirty percent of all questions in examinations will be objective and OMR sheets will be given to students to answer them. We have already used this format in class IX examinations this time, and from next year, the same will be replicated in class X examinations too.”

The decisions were taken during a meeting presided by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday where senior officials gave presentations on how the state board’s functioning could be improved.

Researchers of IIT Madras develop VR tools to combat newborn deaths

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April 21, 2022

Chennai, Tamil Nadu

The researchers of the Centre of Excellence on Virtual Reality (VR) and Haptics IIT Madras have developed VR tools that will help in combating maternal and newborn deaths. The IIT Madras researchers are working along with the National Health Mission (NHM) of Tamil Nadu to improve the newborn and maternal health and reduce the number of neonatal deaths. .

Mission Director, National Health Mission Tamil Nadu, Dr. Darez Ahamed released the ‘SmartNRP project’ IIT Madras on 19 April for rural healthcare workers to reduce Maternal Mortality Rate (NMR) in India. The researchers have identified the gaps in the skill training of the health workers, which is one of the major challenges that India has been facing, specifically at the primary health centres level. The research further added that Neonatal Resuscitation Protocol (NRP) is the global standard in first aid technique for newborn babies that are not breathing/crying.

“Using VR, Gaming Technologies, cloud, and AI/ML, the SmartNRP tool will be used for training the PHC health workers in Tamil Nadu under National Health Mission (NHM) to take the technologies forward. This will be scaled subsequently to other states in India where NMR is very high,” the institute said.

This project will be scaled subsequently to other states where MMR is very high, IIT Madras informed.

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