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Sisodia urges HRD Minister to reduce syllabus by 30 pc

Manish Sisodia

In the wake of COVID-19, Delhi deputy chief minister and education minister Manish Sisodia pitched for a 30 percent reduction in the syllabus for all grades to make up for the loss.

In a letter written to Union Human Resource Development minister Ramesh Pokhriyal, Sisodia asserted that since people need to learn to live with coronavirus now, it would be better if the already existing learning spaces like schools, take up that role. Noting that online teaching can only complement learning in schools and not replace it, he said. It would be a historical blunder if the opportunity is left to pass by not trusting schools with a bigger and bolder role.

“First of all, we need to assure every child irrespective of age and social class that they are important to us and all of them have an equal right to physical and intellectual space of their respective schools. The clamour of online teaching or older children coming to school first and not the younger ones should be put to rest. Online teaching can only complement learning in school, not replace it,” Sisodia said.

“In the process of learning to live with coronavirus, there would be major changes in schools across the world. It is for us to decide whether we reorganize our schools based on the need of our country, our society and learning from our own great history or we wait for other countries or some other societies to do something and then we copy-paste those here. In my view we need to take decisive steps now,” the deputy chief minister said.

Sisodia, also suggested that distinct approach be followed in early childhood education, elementary grades segment, secondary and senior secondary students. “Syllabus be reduced by at least 30 percent across all grades and subjects. Emphasis should be on depth in learning and understanding rather than spreading far and wide. Combine this with exam reforms. CBSE should move away from the one-time high-stake exam of class 10 and 12 to a model of continuous evaluation so that students can take the online exam whenever they want,” he said.

MHRD ministry join hands with Fit India

FIT india

To promote indigenous sports, the Human Resource Development (MHRD) and Sports Ministry have collaborated to produce a series of special films.

The ‘Department of School Education and Literacy’ under MHRD has joined hands with sports ministry’s flagship programme ‘Fit India’ under the ‘Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat’ initiative.

The series is aimed at creating awareness about not just the indigenous games but also the culture and heritage of the states to which they belong.

The 10 sports to be covered in the series are Kho-kho, Gatka, Kalaripayttu, Mallakhamb, Thang-Ta, Sqay, Kabaddi, Roll Ball, Tug of War and Shooting Ball.

The 10 episodes can be watched from Monday to Friday — June 8 to June 19 — at 11am, on the Fit India YouTube page and MHRD digital platforms.

Speaking about the unique initiative, Union Minister of Youth and Sports, Kiren Rijiju said, “Indigenous Games are a focus area for the Sports Ministry. There are scholarships for athletes of these games and there is a growing interest among youngsters to pursue these sports.

Soni: Medical colleges in Punjab have COVID testing capacity

Punjab COVID testing

Punjab Minister of Medical Education of Research, OP Soni said that under the dynamic leadership of Chief Minister Captain Amarinder, Punjab Government has taken various initiatives to fight against the COVID-19.

The minister said the state government has created a capacity of 9000 COVID-19 tests per day in three government medical colleges. To take care of the testing quality, an expert group under Vice-Chancellor, Baba Farid University of Health Sciences and doctors of three medical colleges has been constituted. Around 85,000 samples have been tested in three medical colleges against total testing of 1,07,000 sample in Punjab by June 05.

He also said “As part of testing strategy on 9th March COVID viral testing lab in GMC Patiala and on 10 March in Amritsar was started in each medical college. On 12th April COVID viral testing lab was also started in Faridkot. Our faculty members, para-medics, lab technicians all have worked very hard to start these labs in minimum possible time”, he added.

“For setting up of the labs in 3 medical colleges we have taken help from Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University , Ludhiana, IIT Ropar, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Lovely Professional University Jalandhar, Central University, Bathinda and Punjabi University, Patiala” said Soni.

Disclosing the future plans of the department, Soni said that 4 additional new viral testing labs at Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (North Zone), Jalandhar, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary & Animal Sciences University Ludhiana, State Forensic Science Lab Mohali, Punjab Biotech Incubator Mohali would be set up soon.

“We are also in touch with IISER, NABI, NIPER to start new viral testing labs being central government institutions. Punjab Government provided support to Dayanand Medical College and Christian Medical College, Ludhiana in starting their viral testing labs. Now with increase testing capacity, we will be able to provide more data for COVID care to get better status on the disease spread as well as better understanding of treatments” he added.

To monitor all labs, their testing equipment, the requirement of consumables and to improve overall efficiency, IT system has been developed and the data is readily shared with the Department of Health Services, Punjab as well as with ICMR.

Briefing about the treatment capacity of 3 Government Medical Colleges, Cabinet Minister said that these medical colleges have 1100 isolation beds out of which 1006 beds are with oxygen and 134 ventilators are available to take care of most critical cases.

In order to effectively utilize services of private tertiary care hospitals of the state, surveys have been conducted by faculty from 3 government medical colleges to assess their facilities and suitability as COVID hospitals or as multi-specialty hospitals.

“For tertiary care, we have identified an additional 563 ICU beds and 133 ventilators for COVID, out of a total available 2343 ICU beds and 692 ventilators in the private sector”, he added.

UPSC to resume Civil Services 2019 personality test

Civil Services 2019

After declaring the dates for Prelims Exam, Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has decided to resume the Civil Services 2019 personality test round. Interviews will commence from July 20, 2020.

Candidates shortlisted for the Civil Services 2019 personality tests will be contacted by the UPSC with the interview date and time.

Earlier, UPSC had postponed exams due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic across the country.

The commission, in a special meeting, assessed the ongoing COVID 19 situation across the country. It took note of the progressive relaxation given by the Government of India in the lockdown and has issued a revised calendar for 2020.

Due to the rescheduling of exams, UPSC has deferred the EPFO EO/AO 2020 exam till further notice. The exam was scheduled to be conducted on October 4 to fill 421 vacancies in the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation. The new dates for the EPFO exam will be notified by the commission on the UPSC website when released.

MHRD to cap fees in private universities under new policy

fees in private universities

Private Higher Educational Institutions will come under a “progressive regime of fees determination”. The policy will give them freedom in setting fees for their courses independently. However, the institutions will have to make sure that at least 20% of students can study through freeships and an additional 30% through significant scholarships in coming days.

According to the new National Education Policy, all the fees set by these institutions shall be transparently and fully disclosed. The policy also ensured that there will be no abrupt raises in fees during the period a student is being enrolled. The new policy will also cap the fees for the institutions.

An MHRD official said “A new fee structure will be developed for different types of institutions depending on their accreditation so that individual institutions are not adversely affected.”

He also added “50% of the students at any given private institution will have some sort of scholarships assistance, which include ensuring at least 20% of students on freeships.”

This will ensure a reasonable recovery of cost, while also compelling institutions to fulfill their social responsibilities.

The new policy is under ‘Transforming the Regulatory System of Higher Education’ and in the subsection ‘Curbing Commercialization of Education’. The new policy envisions a number of mechanisms with checks and balances that will countervail the commercialization of higher education.

The new guidelines will allow all such Acts to establish private institutions, triggering a common regulatory framework for both private and public institutions.

Assam Board declares Class 10th Results

Assam Board Class 10th Results

Following the suit of various boards, the Board of Secondary Education Assam (SEBA) declared the class 10th Results. The result was declared on its official website. The results can be checked online at sebaonline.org.

Students can check their scorecard on the official website. The result can be checked on various other websites including sebaonline.org, resultassam.nic.in, examresults.net, examresults.net/assam, exametc.com, assamjobalerts.com, assamresult.in.

Students are advised to send a message to 57766. Type SEBA 20 Roll Number and click on the send button.

The Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA), conducts the High School Leaving Examination (HSLC) for the students of Class 10. SEBA regulates, supervises and develops the system of Secondary Education (Class 10) in Assam.

As per the media reports, around 3.8 lakh students had appeared for the Assam Board HSLC examination this year.

How to check Assam HSLC Result 2020:

-Visit the official website at sebaonline.org

-Select SEBA HSLC Result 2020

-Enter credentials asked in the website including roll number and others

-Download Assam 10th Result 2020 or Assam HSLC Result 2020

Shagun: Digital platform for 1200 KVs,18000 CBSE schools, 600 JNVs

Shagun Digital platform

To provide e-learning to students and improve the school education during the Coronavirus pandemic, the Union Government launched a portal which created a junction in the form of a platform for all portals and websites of School departments across the country.

School Education portal Shagun includes more than 18000 CBSE schools, 1200 Kendriya Vidyalayas, KVs, Navodaya Vidyalayas, NVs, 30 SCERTs and 19000 organizations affiliated with NCTE.

The Union Minister Human Resource Development Dr Ramesh Pokhariyal informed about the development on his official handle. Shagun is combined of the two words, ‘ Shala’ meaning Schools and ‘Gunvatta’ meaning Quality. It is a repository and online monitoring website that was launched to appreciate and spread the innovations in the education sector. The programme was linked to Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

The HRD Minister also urged people to use the portal which would enable them to access information related to school education and gather comprehensive insights.

This portal consists of more than 2.3 lakh educational websites linking more than 15 lakh schools across India. Imagine you need any information on education, go to Shagun. The schools have been geotagged due to which all data can be accessed on this portal.

The report cards of 15 lakh schools across the country are available on this junction. The portal sought connection of approximately 92 lakh teachers and 26 crore students. The website has a very robust feedback mechanism.

NCERT, UNESCO release guidelines for online learning

NCERT, UNESCO release guidelines

Amid Coronavirus crisis, NCERT and UNESCO have released guidelines to promote Safe Online Learning. The new guidelines aim at preventing Cyber Bullying and its adverse impact on the students and their education.

The guidelines released by the education regulatory body prescribes a detailed set of do’s and don’ts to ensure safety and mental health for the students who have been taking online classes. The official guidelines released by NCERT are developed jointly by the council along with experts from UNESCO.

One of the key points that these guidelines focus on, is the negative and harmful impact of Cyber Bullying on children who are undertaking online classes currently.

The guidelines also explain how, unsafe digital learning environment can lead to mental health issue among students. The guidelines also mention that students who undergo cyber bullying on digital platforms also suffer from poor mental health and quality of life in general.

In addition to adversely affecting the students, cyber bulling also hampers teachers’ abilities to provide quality education through online mediums.

Furthermore, the guidelines announced by NCERT also prescribe what students should and shouldn’t do to stay safe online. The most important aspect of the guidelines advises students to have a strong password and security setup for various digital accounts.

NCERT asks students to make the best use of the privacy setting provided by various digital platforms and social media websites to build a wall between public and private sphere of their digital life. Moreover, students have been advised to only communicate with people and practice caution while posting photos and videos on social media sites.

UP school teacher earns Rs 1 crore

UP school teacher

In a bizarre incident, a teacher employed in Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) in UP under the state basic education department worked simultaneously in 25 schools. The teacher is earning around Rs 1 crore as salaries for over a year from various schools.

A probe has been ordered against the teacher after the department found the details about the teacher during the database search.

According to the basic education department, digital database the same teacher was employed at 25 different schools across districts in Uttar Pradesh.

Anamika Shukla, a full-time teacher working in KGBV, was found employed at 25 schools, simultaneously. She was registered as a teacher in districts such as Amethi, Ambedkarnagar, Raebareli, Prayagraj, Aligarh and others.

She managed to withdraw a salary of around Rs 1 crore from the department for over 13 months.

Anamika is a native of Mainpuri district as per the records available with the department.

Her salary has been withheld with immediate effect while the education department is trying to find out if the same bank account was used for the salary transfers from different schools.

UP basic education minister Dr Satish Dwivedi said, “The department has ordered a probe and strict action will be taken against the teacher if the allegations are true. The digital database is being created for transparency since our government has come to power. Action will be taken if there is any involvement of department officials.”

UPSC to conduct UPSC Civil Services prelims exam on October 4

UPSC Civil Services prelims exam

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has announced the new dates for UPSC prelims examination. The commission said UPSC prelims examination will be held on October 4. The dates of UPSC Civil Services prelims exam have been put on a hold in view of the COVID-19 crisis.

The Commission has released the UPSC Prelims dates on the official portal at upsc.gov.in.

According to the announcement, the main examination has been scheduled for January 8, 20201.

The UPSC prelims examinations, which are conducted for the recruitment of Indian Administrative Services (IAS), Indian Police Services (IPS), Indian Foreign Services (IFS) are among others. Over 10 lakh each year, out which, around 5 lakh appear for the first leg of the coveted recruitment process.

The Commission has also had to defer recruitment notification for Indian Economic Service/ Indian Statistical Service Examination, 2020; Combined Medical Services Examination, 2020; Central Armed Police Forces Examination, 2020 and the NDA & Naval Academy Examination, 2020.

After exam dates are decided, UPSC will release admit card for the exams.

Meanwhile, Staff Selection Commission (SSC), another government recruitment agency, announced the revised recruitment calendar for 2020. SSC will complete the pending exams of 2019 and 2018, which were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, between August-October.

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