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UK Vice-Chancellors in capital city to explore possibilities in higher education

By
Reetika Bose
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Higher education

In order to seek opportunities in the higher education sector with the Indian government and future collaborations with stakeholders and institutes, Vice Chancellors from top 20 universities in the United Kingdom are on a visit to New Delhi.

Steered by the British Council, the meeting is part of a higher education-focused bilateral programme – UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI).

“Through the VC delegation, UK Universities aim to work closely with Indian stakeholders in the higher education sector to further strengthen the relationship and identify shared priorities for future collaboration,” Sir Steve Smith, Chair, Universities UK International said.

“We aim to closely understand the vision and priority areas of the Indian central government, state governments and the higher education institutes to assess the role UK universities and the country more widely can play to achieve India’s goals in the context of the draft New Education Policy,” he said.

Also, in order to bring out areas of mutual interest, the visit also marks the deliberation of the UK Chancellors with key Indian stakeholders from the government, universities and relevant bodies.

“The internationalisation agenda is critical to both nations and the delegation’s discussions with the Indian stakeholders will focus on outcomes related to three key areas – internationalisation of higher education institutions, research collaborations and student mobility in both directions between our countries,” Director North, British Council India”, Tom Birtwistle said.

UKIERI is India’s first bilateral research programme that enable the governments of both the countries and their universities, to work hand in hand in the higher education segment.

Rethinking Education: Robots become teachers in a school in Bengaluru

By
digitalLEARNING Network
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robots teachers

A school in Bengaluru introduced humanoid robots to teach and interact with students just like regular teachers do, giving way to Disruptive Technologies and Artificial Intelligence into classrooms.

“Our robots impart lessons daily in five subjects to about 300 students in Classes 7-9 in four sections by turns. They also interact with them and respond to questions in the subjects,” Indus International School’s Chief Design Officer, Vignesh Rao, told a news agency.

“We have programmed the interactive robots to answer questions students frequently ask on the subjects and related to them. With AI in play, the robots can respond to questions and doubts of our wards after a lesson is taught,” said Rao.

“The AI-enabled robots teach lessons in Biology, Chemistry, Geography, History, and Physics to Classes 7-9. As per the Collaborative Learning Model (CLM), the man-machine team, comprising a teacher, students, and the robot, collaborate in the classroom to deliver a lesson. The teacher collaborates with the robot and brings out the key concepts, relevance, and application of the lesson being taught,” said Rao, who also heads the project.

The three robots each weighing 45 kgs have been designed from light-weight 3D-printed materials with imported smart servo motors by Rao and his 17-member team. These robots mimic human-like gestures while teaching students.

“It has taken our team nearly two years to design and develop these robots with software, hardware, and AI to make them teaching assistants and allowing the human teacher to be more relevant in the classroom so that they can focus on the child and not the subject alone,” Rao added.

The team comprises of teachers in – programmers, graphic designers, content developers, and hardware engineers. They did not involve any manufacturer but had sourced software components and hardware to assemble the robots in-house for Rs 8 Lakhs each.

“The response of students to a robot teaching them is positive and encouraging. They feel the collaboration between a human teacher and a robot enhances learning. It makes the human teacher focus on the child and personalises learning,” Indus Trust Chief Executive Lt. General (retd) Arjun Ray told a news agency.

In an unprecedented move, the school has plans to roll out more such humanoid robots for more classes and subjects. The school is also working on applying for an international patent to protect the intellectual property of the Eagle 2.0 version of the humanoid robots.

“The CLM purpose is to make human teachers more creative in the education sector. Robots will not replace their human counterparts but will work collaboratively with teachers as a tool or assistant to enhance the learning experience for the students in the classroom,” added Lt. General Ray.

The Indus Trust has a wide reach presence across the country with 14 educational institutions which include three top-ranked K-12 international day-cum-boarding schools, eight early learning centres, Indus School of Leadership, Indus Training and Research Institute, and Indus International Community Schools in Bengaluru and Belagavi in Karnataka, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Pune.

CA Examinations registration date extended for Jammu & Kashmir candidates

By
digitalLEARNING Network
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ICAI

In the wake of the disruption of the internet, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) extended the date of registration for candidates in Jammu & Kashmir only. Candidates appearing for the CA examination can now register for the same till September 15, 2019. Candidates belonging to other parts of the country will be required to register on or before September 7, 2019.

A notification released by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) read, “In view of the disruption of internet facility in Jammu & Kashmir and the consequent hardships caused to students in filing examination application form, the last date for submission of exam application forms for appearing in the CA exams to be held in the month of November 2019 for candidates residing in the Jammu & Kashmir stands extended upto 15th September, 2019.”

The CA exams are to be conducted at 209 centres nationwide and five centres abroad namely Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha, Muscat, and Kathmandu.

This year, the CA examination for the Foundation, Intermediate and Final Courses, is scheduled to be conducted in November. The examination will be held along with various post qualification course exams such as International Trade Laws and World Trade Organisation Part 1, Insurance and Risk Management Technical, and International Taxation – Assessment exam.

Maharashtra Government’s Tribal School to switch to English Medium Education

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-
Tribal Schools

Tribal Development Minister Ashok Uikey on Friday said that the government-run ashram schools for tribal children in the state of Maharashtra will turn to English medium schools. This will be a phased procedure wherein the ashram shalas (schools) will be converted into English medium schools to impart better educational opportunities to tribal children in the rural part of Maharashtra, he said.

“In the first phase, 50 government-run run ashram shalas will be converted into English medium schools and the admission will be given for Standard I. The admission will also be given to students from Standard VI during the academic session 2019-20,” Uikey said.

The government has planned to appoint qualified teachers from reputed private schools meeting the requirements of the project, Uikey added.

Presently, the Tribal Development Department is running 502 ashram schools in Marathi medium under the curriculum laid down by the Maharashtra State Education Board.

The Minister said, “Ashram shalas having better infrastructure such as buildings, hostels, electricity, playgrounds, libraries, laboratories, and computer centres, among others, will be considered for English switchover.”

“Subjects like maths and science will be taught in both Marathi and English from Standard VI onwards in these schools”, he added.

Uikey highlighted that English medium teaching will allow tribal students from remote villages to pursue a career in engineering, medical and other technical education streams.

Delhi Govt plans to extend free coaching scheme to OBC and General Category students

By
digitalLEARNING Network
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free coaching

Delhi Government is planning to extend the free coaching scheme to needy students from General Category and Other Backward Classes (OBC). The decision has come in wake of the success of government’s free coaching scheme ‘Jai Bhim Mukhyamantri Pratibha Vikas Yojana’.

Notably, thirty-five underprivileged students, who were given the free coaching under the scheme, have qualified for the JEE Main and NEET this year. Besides, five of them have secured a seat in top technical and medical institutions like; IIT-Delhi , Lady Hardinge College, Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University and National Institute of Technology Delhi.

Social Welfare Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam, in conversation with a leading news agency, informed about the government’s decision to extend the free coaching to needy students hailing from OBC and general category.

“At present, selected students are availing free coaching for four months. The Delhi government bears all expenses, up to Rs. 50,000 per student. We are considering increasing this amount to Rs. 1.5 lakh and the course duration to 12 months,” Gautam further briefed.

Interestingly, out of the 107 students, who were given free coaching under the scheme for engineering and medical entrance exams, 13 have cracked the JEE Main whereas 22 have successfully cleared the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET).

The scheme, which was launched by the AAP Government last year, witnessed the enrollment of 4,953 students for availing coaching for various exams. The students also enrolled for coaching for the exams like UPSC, SSC, banks, Railway Recruitment Board, Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board and insurance companies in 2018-19.

Fake Degree Row: Education Ministry asks UGC to inquire into sale of fake degrees

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-
Fake Degree

In the wake of media reports about certain universities facilitating the sale of fake degrees, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) on Thursday ordered University Grants Commission (UGC) to immediately put together a High-Level Committee to inquire into allegations.

The Ministry has given three weeks to the Committee to identify such institutions and individuals that adopted illegal practices so that strict action shall be taken against them.

“In response to media reports, the Human Resource Development Ministry has ordered UGC to immediately constitute a high-level committee to enquire into allegations regarding sale of fake degrees by certain universities (sic),” a tweet from the MHRD said.

In June this year itself, Students Federation of India (SFI) had raised this concern with MHRD and asked for measures to curb “mushrooming growth of fake higher degree holders.” It is a serious matter and is an “insult to the entire research community” of the country, the student body shared in the note with the Ministry.

The organization cited various such instances of ‘paid doctoral degrees’ and how such nuisance will lead to a downfall of the quality and credibility of research activities and higher education in the country.

“Lack of stringent actions curbing of the award of fake Ph.D degrees is in another way questioning and nullifying the genuine effort of scholars who work hard for a better part of their life,” the letter said.

IIT Kharagpur to collaborate with Amazon Web Services to develop AI portal

By
Reetika Bose
-
IIT Kharagpur

In an undertaking to make the quest for AI learning simple and accessible, IIT-Kharagpur plans to partner with Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), to promote learning and development in Artificial Intelligence (AI) for all AI students, experts and specialists in India.

The collaboration will enhance the learning and experimentation for AI users where they can get access to compute facilities. For beginners, the portal will help them to quickly search and get access to countless of learning resources and make machine learning skills available to every developer.

Professor Partha Pratim Chakrabarti, the man behind this development said, “The contributions from AWS will enable us to provide cloud computing to all learners and reduce the high barrier to make training in AI more available.”

There is already a great demand for professionals skilled in AI as well as resources, and this need will only increase in our society. The development of this platform will help boost the AI community in India,” said Professor Sudeshna Sarkar, Head, Centre for Artificial Intelligence at IIT-Kharagpur.

Commenting on the collaboration, Bratin Saha, Vice-President, AWS Machine Learning and Engines, said, “AWS is delighted to work with IIT-Kharagpur in developing the National Artificial Intelligence Resource Portal, powered by Amazon SageMaker, and we are excited about the opportunity to help make machine learning skills available to every developer. With more than 200 significant machine learning capabilities launched in the last two years, AWS has the broadest and deepest set of machine learning and AI services focused on solving some of the toughest challenges facing developers. We welcome the opportunity to work with IIT-Kharagpur on some of those challenges.”

The initial funding for the National Artificial Intelligence Resource Portal was from the Ministry of Human Resources Development.

Amazon Web Services is an Amazon.com company, to develop a National Artificial Intelligence Resource Portal to promote and develop Artificial Intelligence in learning for every user.

Rajasthan: Transforming Higher Education Through Innovations

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-
Vaibhav Galriya

Rajasthan Government in line with its vision of ensuring employability and skill training among the students has launched various schemes. Moreover, the Government is also emphasising on improving the quality of higher education institutes in the State, says Vaibhav Galriya, Secretary, Higher & Technical Education, Government of Rajasthan, in conversation with Kartik Sharma of Elets News Network (ENN).

What are the unique schemes recently launched by the Higher & Technical Education Department, Government of Rajasthan to improve higher education sector of the State?

Quality education is our aim and underlining this objective, we need few changes in our educational structure. We believe in responding to colleges’ preferences and requirements. We have come up with decentralisation measures with our scheme of RACE. The scheme is for the colleges and by the colleges. It involves redistribution of resources at local level and it will surely help in improving the condition if colleges that lack resources.

Another innovation has been Annual Auditing Programme which is soon to be launched in colleges. The scheme will bring the institutions at par with the standard of other higher education institutes in the country which indirectly helps in improving the higher education sector in Rajasthan.

Pratiyogita Dakshta Programme has been launched in all the Government Colleges of the State to enhance competitive attitude and to increase their chances of getting employment.

Also Read: Innovations paving way for quality higher education in Rajasthan

What initiatives have been undertaken by the department to make education sector vibrant and result-oriented?

With an objective to prepare good academicians, the department has started induction training programme for newly appointed assistant professors. Initiatives like free coaching classes for regular students of the colleges help the department in making education sector vibrant and result-oriented. Subject matter experts in the department are preparing e-content for these classes. The department is also opting for skill education initiatives along with regular studies to make students after their graduation and postgraduation degree.

Please provide a brief description about the administrative initiatives taken for smooth functioning of the department.

The review meetings with the concerned officials of the respective department on regular basis are among the major initiatives that helped in smooth functioning of the department. We have also installed Biometric attendance system for principals and professors. The OIC system installed in various colleges helps in monitoring the progress and problems of the colleges at CCE level.

How the department is planning to keep up the positive growth of Rajasthan’s education sector in future as well?

higher education sector in RajasthanWe are focussing on the various aspects for betterment of higher education sector. It will help in establishing universities and colleges of global repute and appointment of skilled faculties along with a good support staff.

We are also focussing on addressing the challenge of unemployment among the Rajasthan’s youth. We are also formulating appropriate and innovative strategies for easy and equal access of education among the poor and vulnerable students. The department is striving hard to develop institute of excellence.

What message would you like to give to students?

Education is the secret for the success of any human being and the roots of good learning lie on healthy competition. Keeping his in mind, the department conducted a State-level General Knowledge competition for the students of all the government colleges. It also helped the students to evaluate their calibre. Such competitions are necessary for developing skills and effective knowledge. Moreover, Education breeds confidence and to sustain in this competitive world, it is necessary to develop confidence among our students to prepare them for the future challenges.

IIT Roorke partners with Microsoft Garage to enhance Quantum Computing learning

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-
IIT Roorke partners with Microsoft Garage

Microsoft Garage India has joined hands with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee to carry out lectures on quantum computing for a full semester. The statement issued by the top IT College mentioned that IIT’s B.Tech and M.Tech students will be given the choice to select the course as a pool elective.

The course has been structured by IIT Roorkee and Microsoft unanimously. It will provide the students with access to Q# Programming Language practical examples, Microsoft Quantum Faculty and Microsoft Quantum Development Kit.

Notably, Microsoft’s quantum computing program has been operational for more than 15 years. It helps students in understanding the technology, developing practical applications, and building the quantum workforce for the future.

As per the statement issued by IIT Roorke, the engineers at IIT Roorkee will be given training by Microsoft experts with a unique approach to learn quantum computing with real-world experiments and access to tools, under the course.

Also Read: ABB partners IIT Roorkee to drive smart power distribution

Speaking on the latest development, Reena Dayal, Director, Microsoft Garage India, said, “With Microsoft’s experience in the field of quantum computing, we aim to make the technology more accessible and enhance the learning journey of engineering students. The partnership will create a new learning experience for students and help them build impactful solutions”.

Prof Ajit K. Chaturvedi, Director, IIT Roorkee, termed the partnership between Microsoft Garage and IIT Roorkee as a great opportunity for the institute and students to grow and learn through the quantum computing program. He said, “We believe that together we will be able to deliver and achieve our respective goals”.

Notably, Microsoft Garage India has been closely working with academia to provide students access to new technologies. The program (Microsoft Garage) has been encouraging the students to innovate aggressively, learn through practical experiences, and build creatively.

UGC NET Paper-I December 2019: Know the exam pattern and syllabus

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-
UGC NET

The National Entrance Exam (NET) for University Grant Commission (UGC) is being conducted by the National Test Agency (NTA). The exam is held twice in a year – June and December.

Notably, the UGC NET examination consists of two papers. Paper I – assesses the teaching/research aptitude of the candidate, whereas, Paper II – is based on the subject chosen by the candidate.

UGC NET Paper I Exam pattern

The UGC NET exam, which is a computer based examination, is conducted in a single sitting. There is no break in between Paper I and Paper II.

Paper-I consists of 50 objective type questions (MCQs), carries weightage of 100 marks and the duration is 1 hour. Paper II comprises of 100 Questions of 200 marks and the duration to complete the exam is 2 hours.

The Paper-I of UGC NET examination is generic in nature and is meant to access the research/teaching aptitude of the candidates. It is specially designed to know the reasoning ability, comprehension, divergent thinking and general awareness of the candidates.

Important sections of UGC NET Paper-I

  • Teaching Aptitude
  • Research Aptitude
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Communication
  • Reasoning
  • Data Interpretation
  • Logical Reasoning
  • People & Environment
  • Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
  • Higher Education System: Governance, Polity & Administration

Important Dates

Notably, the examination will commence from December 2, 2019 and will conclude on December 6, 2019. Candidates who are willing to appear in the examination can register from 9th September to 9th October, 2019.

The admit card will be issued to candidates on 9th November 2019. And the result is expected to be out on December 31, 2019.

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