In the view of Coronavirus pandemic, Delhi Government schools have been asked by the Directorate of Education (DoE), Delhi to come up with a proper schedule for distributing textbooks among students. As per the Right to Education, RTE Act, the books are to be distributed in students until classes 8th.
In the situation of a pandemic, it is even tougher to carry out such processes. The schools had also been asked to ensure social distancing every single time and to ensure that the parents of students of different classes come in different time slots. This would ensure better social distancing and health safety among all.
The DoE in an order said “A proper schedule for distribution of books is to be prepared at the school level so that books that have been received by the schools till now are distributed immediately.”
Recently the Dy CM, the education minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia had a meeting with the school principals of government schools. The minister asked them to come up with a micro plan for their institutions one at a time.
The Education Minister felt that all the schools cannot be treated as one and every school will have to deal with its issue itself.
The schools in the national capital territory, NCT of Delhi have been closed since March 12 after the pandemic broke out. The government has started online teaching for all classes as the students cannot go to schools.
As the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) exams are closing in many miscreants are trying to cash in the opportunity. The board has issued an advisory to parents and students regarding CBSE Result 2020. The Board in the advisory has advised parents, students, and teachers to be aware of the miscreants and not fall prey on some fraudulent activities.
The Board revealed that it has come to the notice of CBSE that some unscrupulous persons impersonating themselves as officers/officials of CBSE are contacting the general public claiming to have access to student marks data and asking for money in lieu of increasing marks.
The Board has warned the students, parents, or schools to remain alert and vigilant and prevent themselves from being cheated and share details with local Police Authorities for stringent action under the law.
Along with this, the Board has asked the public to be more cautious and also to sensitize other public around them.
The Board would be conducting CBSE Board Exam 2020 from July 1 to July 15, 2020, in 15000 centers across the country. Earlier the Board has decided to conduct the examination in only 3000 centers.
University Grants Commission (UGC) directed 127 ‘Deemed to be University’ to restrain from using the word university with their name. The commission has released a list of 127 Deemed to be University.
“Instead, the institution may mention the word “Deemed to be University” within parenthesis suffixed thereto,” reads the UGC’s letter.
The letter further quoted “We must also put on record what we have observed during the course of the hearing and consideration of the present matters. It has come to our notice that many universities which are conferred the status of deemed to be universities are using the word “University” which in our view is opposed to the spirit of Section 123 of the UGC act.”
The letter also adds “No institution, whether a corporate body or not, other than a university established or incorporated by or under a Central Act, a Provincial Act or a State Act shall be entitled to have the word “University” associated with its name in any manner.”
The commission has strictly advised not to use the term in any advertisements, email address, website, letterheads, website address, hoardings, etc. and reminded that non-compliance of the same will force the commission to take necessary action against the institutions.
UGC also highlighted that despite guidelines from Supreme Court and UGC, the deemed to be universities are making use of the term through one way or another.
In the view of COVID-19 pandemic, around 600 institutions of higher education including universities, colleges and institutes have had campus buildings and hostels converted into quarantine centers. The centers were made to curb the Corona spread in the country.
The HRD Minister lauded and thanked the institutions across the nation for helping and making way for quarantine or isolation centers.
The central government enforced a nationwide lockdown from March 25, 2020, onwards in order to control the COVID-19 spread in the country which has now entered its fourth phase with certain relaxations in place.
The government, in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19, the people who come in from the different cities and states upon reaching their destinations are required to stay in quarantine centers to stop the spread of the virus.
With the schools shut and the students back home due to the pandemic situation, campuses across the country have been turned into quarantine centres. Several universities which include Jamia Millia Islamia and several others in Assam, hostel residents have been asked to clear their belongings from their rooms. The HRD Ministry in its social media post thanked these institutions for helping out and joining the fight against COVID-19.
Institutes across the nation are being converted into isolation/quarantine centres.
As the nation-wide Lockdown 4 in India, emerging out of the corona pandemic comes to an end, schools, colleges, students, parents and teachers are struggling with different concerns. On the one hand, re-opening of schools and colleges exposes students and teachers to community spread, on the other hand, extended lock-down translates into loss of education for all students. Therefore, in order to protect our students and our country from second wave of Corona, the option of online education needs to be explored for all schools and universities in India at least for the next academic year. After the recent n announcement from the finance minister and Minister MHRD about budget allocation and focus on online education, we are hopeful that online education may become a viable option provided it is executed well.
There are concerns about reaching out to the remote corners of the country, but the investment in technology and new dedicated channels can address this. Majority households and even school going children have access to internet and laptops and therefore, in comparison to the risks of COVID-19 infection, it may be better to study online. Besides the technology and access part, online education also has several other benefits; despite the fact that it may bring a disruption to the existing model of conventional education.
Firstly, online education can help reduce inequality in the “Quality” of faculty and education available to students across different schools and colleges in India. We have a large number of universities and colleges, but not all faculty are qualified. Even with top colleges and schools, often, a vicious loop of mediocrity is formed and education quality suffers. By removing the nuisance of unnecessary overheads and administration, and by bringing the best faculty in direct contact with the students through online learning can do wonders for motivation of both, the faculty and student.
Secondly, access to online classes and digital media will provide room to students to develop self-motivation and become independent. After all, conventional teaching is often criticized with spoon – feeding and over emphasis on exams and internal tests and assessments. This reduces the creativity in students and makes them dependent on marks, and placements that are related to exam results.
Thirdly, online teaching will save the time to travel as well as the negative sides of gossip and bullying from peers, both for students and faculty, a phenomenon which is so common these days unfortunately.
Fourthly, access to the best digital content for all, as well as the room for creativity and innovation will help our future citizens to think, analyze and get clarity about what is right and wrong for themselves, for society as well as future of our nation. Faculty will get more time to do research, as administrative work will get reduced. Currently, administration and discipline has taken a priority over academics and research. Online education will give prominence to the genuine teachers and researchers.
Fifth, online classes are the best solution to protect our children from corona infection and also ensure continuity of education at least until the pandemic threats exist. Parents will not worry as their kids can study safely from home. Teachers can also teach from home and give more time to self study and research.
Sixth, traffic and congestion on roads will be less if more than 100 million school students do not physically go to school and instead, study from home, and will help reduce pollution and save our environment.
Seventh, kids are smart in learning new technology and will enjoy online education. Students will not need to carry heavy school bags to school and no crowd in buses and rickshaws. Students will be forced to learn to study by themselves at home through text books and through online classes.
As our students become more independent, they will carry these values as they grow old to be more responsible citizens, will have more time to pursue their passion, and may create their own start-ups, thus help towards making of an Atma-Nirbhar Bharat.
(Dr Indu Rao, Professor and Director-ASC, VIT University, Vellore)
Most governments around the world have temporarily closed educational institutions in an attempt to contain the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. Over 1.5 billion students and youth across the globe are affected by school and university closures. The outreach of educational programs is improving day by day with the digitalization of education. Digital education is providing both teachers and students new opportunities to teach and learn thereby ensuring greater participation in the overall learning process.
The penetration of digital education into the rural market is evolving fast. Affordable high-speed internet and direct-to-device technologies are empowering rural students to study courses online and improve their skills and knowledge. The Ed-Tech firms have saved the day for many educational institutions as thousands of schools were finding it hard to complete their syllabus.
Once COVID-19 passes, will institutes across the globe reopen their doors and resume classes as before, or will the education model be changed forever? Has online learning overthrown traditional campus learning? The questions are yet to be answered.
Elets Technomedia and digitalLEARNING Magazine organized a webinar on “Blended Learning and Digital Examination to boost Effectiveness and Efficiency in Academics” with esteemed speakers from the Higher Education sector.
Dr. Pankaj Gupta, President, IIHMR University, Jaipur said “Our productivity has surged in this pandemic. Our syllabus was over in time so there were no issues. Initially, the faculty members were very reluctant but now it seems everything on its track. We use music, meditation as therapy for students. We have created more outcomes in this crisis. We have even created an individual development plan for students to handle the pressure.”
He also said everything cannot be taught online and universities must adopt blended learning when they re-open their campuses. Universities have to adopt new ways to keep students engaging as it’s been difficult times for all, he added.
Over exams, he said the concept of long answers have to must be removed. Varsities must focus on mental health and well being of students. He even said no technology can replace a teacher.
He emphasized to focus on the effectiveness of education system.
Dr. Mahesh D. Goudar, Professor & Director MIT Academy of Engineering, Pune said “We had a digital infrastructure in our college. Earlier, we were doing it in a very small scale but now we have to adapt it extensively. Initially, it was a huge challenge for faculty members. By the time faculty members adopted it gracefully and conducted over 1500 sessions.”
He also said the institution has made classes very interactive for students and outcomes were very promising. He even said institutions must adopt creative ways to engage students during a virtual class.
He even said engineering is nothing but applied science. He also emphasized on adopting ERP for exams.
Dr S S Mantha, Chancellor, KL University, Andhra Pradesh and Former Chairman, AICTE said “Five years ago, AICTE introduced blended learning. We have implemented blended learning in KL University six months back. Every student has to select one course and will have to complete it online. The feedback is very good and completion rate is very high.”
He also said “The content is the main challenge in online education. The expanse of digital content is very large. Challenge to conduct exams especially in remote areas.”
He even said institutions need govt support for conducting exam and cable TV can be one of the potential solutions for exams.
The mindset has to be changed for digital exams. People have to learn through both offline and online, he added.
There will be acceptance of digital education. Three things will dominate the education sector- online education, blended learning, distance learning, he added.
Mode of learning does not matter if credit only matters for students. Still, there is no accreditation for online education in India and a lot of works needs to done in the sector. There is a huge potential for online learning and virtual labs can bring new dimensions to the sector.
Prof. (Dr.) Navin Sheth, Vice Chancellor, Gujarat Technological University, Ahmedabad said “We have started blended learning from mid-March. We have trained our faculty members for blended learning. Earlier, only 3 pc teachers were acquainted with e-learning.”
Over exams, he said “We have conducted mock test for students and around 98 pc registered for the exams. Through mock test, we have shown that exams can be conducted online. Blended learning can be adopted widely and the best solution in this crisis”.
E-learning has been accepted in every sector. The virtual classes have witnessed about 99 pc attendance during the lockdown period. E-learning can be seen as the best solution in the crisis, he added.
Kunwar Shekhar Vijendra, Chancellor, Shobhit University, Uttar Pradesh said “Technology was always with us but we were reluctant to accept it as a substitute. The Covid-19 crisis has given us the chance to experiment and technology has become a substitute. These days we are talking about blended learning not teaching as teachers are also learning new things.”
Over challenges, he also said in rural areas there are huge issues with students including internet connectivity and gadgets. We are not ready with the infrastructure to provide study materials to students. The challenge of availability is persistent. However, attendance has surged during the virtual classes.
He asked to emphasis on quality of content.
We need to have blended learning with 60-40 pc. There was a concept of meta universities has to introduced in the system, he added.
In this crisis institutions must have curiosity, courage, calmness, collaboration, compassion, he added.
He even said the energy will be missed on campus as there will be restrictions in the coming days.
Rajita Kulkarni, President, Sri Sri University, Cuttack said “Corona has accelerated things in last two months. When lockdown announced we shifted to online teaching in two-three days. The crisis has translated the sector. The transition was seamless and 98 pc of our students took online exams. This has been very productive time for teachers.”
She even said faculty members provided many free webinars for students during the lockdown.
Over challenges, she raised a few concerns. How can we make it sustainable? How students are going to come back to campus? Will students suffer online fatigue in the coming days? The mental wellbeing of students is a challenge that universities have to tackle.
She even said Education is building the character of students. Teachers cannot be replaced by Artificial Intelligence. AI can be a substitute, not a solution. AI cannot provide empathy for students.
Delhi University (DU) has announced tentative dates for the start of admission process for Undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) programmes for next academic sessions. However, the CBSE Board exams and results for Class 12 is still pending.
The academic council of Delhi University is considering a proposal under which the admission process is expected to start in June 2020. This proposal will be up for discussion at the DU Academic Council Meeting which is scheduled to be held on 29th May, 2020.
According to the report, the Delhi University Admission portal will start accepting online applications from 8th June 2020 and the last date to complete the application process is likely to be 30th June 2020. The timeline for registration of candidates for admission process for both undergraduate and postgraduate students is the same.
After the completion of application stage, the National Testing Agency will hold the university-level entrance exam in the month of July. While the exact dates for the NTA DUET 2020 exam for Delhi University Admissions is not yet finalized, candidates can expect the entrance test to be held between 27th July to 10th August 2020.
The Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) has released the official schedule for round two of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test PG and MDS (NEET PG and MDS). The second round of counelling will start from June 3, 2020.
The registration will begin from June 3 to 9, 2020, for admission to 50% All India Quota (AIQ), Deemed/Central universities, ESIC, and AFMC institutes.
Candidates who do wish to continue with the seat allotted to them in the first round of counselling must submit their resignations by June 1.
Candidates who have qualified NEET MDS 2020 but could not register for the first round of NEET MDS counselling can register themselves from June 3. Those who had registered for the first round of NEET MDS 2020 counselling must note that they must not register again for the second round of counselling.
After registering for NEET PG/MDS counseling 2020 round two, candidates are required to fill the choices by clicking on the add ‘+’ button for every option. It is important to click on the ‘save and next’ tab to lock your selected options. If candidates fail to do so, then the options will automatically be locked.
How to register for NEET PG Counselling round two:
In the wake of COVID crisis, the Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ has said that the University Grants Commission (UGC) is finalising the list of 100 universities which will offer online degree programme.
The announced was made during a webinar conducted for 45,000 colleges by the HRD Minister.
He also said students of the first year will be promoted based on their internal assessment and final-year exams will take place depending on the situation.
The announced of online degree programme was announced by finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman recently.
The minister also asked the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) to work on the modalities to accredit online degree courses to be launched soon.
The minister urged institutions to get themselves registered on NAAC and get accredited for their improvement and improvement of the education sector. Pokhriyal also said that the UGC has formed a task force to carry out the academic activity in the post COVID-19 lockdown scenario.
HRD minister said that the positions were not being filled because of legal issues and thousands of vacant positions have been filled in past some time.
Talking about the New Education Policy, HRD Minister said that the draft of the policy is ready, which will be India centric. He also said that the students can reach out to the UGC in case of the challenges being faced by them, even they can reach out to the ministry for their grievances.
The webinar had vice-chancellors, registrars, professors, principals and teachers from across the country participating and was hosted by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, announced that the top 100 universities will be allowed to offer online degree programmes from May 30, 2020 as a part of Government of India’s Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.
In the wake of Coronavirus lockdown, University Grants Commission (UGC) has urged educational institutions to consider requests received of students for relaxations and flexibility during the COVID 19 lockdown period. The commission has received many complaints alleging that their universities and colleges are forcing them to pay the fee during the ongoing lockdown period.
As per the notification, the commission has received grievances from the students and parents stating that universities and colleges are insisting upon immediate payment of annual or semester tuition fee or examination fee. It also reads “They have represented that due to the financial hardship being faced due to the lockdown, they are not in a position to make payment of fee.”
The UGC has urged institutions to consider the matter related to fees sympathetically and offer alternative payment options to students till the situation returns to normal.
The UGC letter says: “If need be, the universities and colleges may also consider individual requests from students, received if any, concerning payment of fee, in a considerate manner, keeping in view the present COVID-I9 Pandemic.”
Earlier, on the recommendation of the expert committee to address the grievances of the students arising out of the coronavirus pandemic situation, the UGC has set up a helpline and has also created an email. It has also formed a task force to monitor the grievances.
