The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has allowed affiliated schools the sale of NCERT books, stationery, and other stationary items within their premises.

Back in April, the CBSE gave the schools its directive of no-association with commercial activities by way of selling of books, stationery, uniforms, school bags, etc.

The CBSE board has allowed schools to operate shops to facilitate the sale of NCERT books.

The board in its circular declared that since schools are allowed to purchase the books directly through the NCERT website, the schools may open a ‘tuck shop’ within the schools’ premises.

British Council has launched a six-week online programme “myEnglish” with multiple modules to enhance the spoken and written English skills of individuals.

The online course will be delivered by British Council teachers. Interested candidates can apply for the course after an online analytical test followed by teacher’s consultation. The course will be available from September 23 and will cost Rs 8,800.

The course secures fluency and accuracy along with the nine modules at three language levels. Apart from this, the students can take part in online activities for practice. All of this will be facilitated through Zoom platform via desktops, laptops, smartphones, and tablets.

“Through myEnglish we have recreated the unique British Council classroom experience, offering customers flexibility, convenience and access to attend this course from anywhere in India,” said Alan Gemmell, OBE Director of British Council India.

Union Minister of Human Resources Development Prakash Javadekar has referred the students as ‘cleanliness ambassadors’.

While speaking on the occasion of Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar 2017-18, he said, the students will lead the vision of clean India drive of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He stressed on inculcating the habit of cleanliness everywhere in the country by changing our mindsets and.

The minister has congratulated the winners of Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar 2017-18 and also revealed that the competition will be open for private schools as well from next year onwards.

A statement from the ministry in this regard called it an achievement as over 2,68,000 schools from both Central and State Governments have participated voluntarily in the competition. The statement further said that it is a beginning of “New India”.

The winners were awarded with Rs 50,000 each as additional school grant, to be utilised for swachhta related activities. The amount will be transferred to them digitally along with a Certificate.

Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan have been declared as top three States with maximum number of schools in Five Star and Four Star ratings (green & blue category) and given a Certificate of Recognition for that.

Sambalpur: The temporary campus of Indian Institute of Management, Sambalpur (IIM-S) will be shifted to Sambalpur University after September this year.

At present, the premier management institute is being run from a private institution, Silicon Institute of Technology (SIT), at Sason in Sambalpur.

Director of IIM-S Mahadeo Jaiswal informed this development and said, the institute will run from the Sambalpur University till permanent campus of IIM-S at Basantpur gets ready. The permanent campus is likely to be ready within next three years while the work on the boundary wall has already started. 

Jaiswal said that they will soon sign an MoU with the Sambalpur University in this regard. The State Government has already allotted a portion of university campus to run the IIM-S.

As per the industry norms and academic contexts, an elite B-school runs for 24 hours, the Director said. But they face problems in taking class during evening hours as the SIT is located in an isolated place. The faculty members of IIM-S could take classes in evening hours after shifting of the temporary campus to Sambalpur University. Moreover, permanent faculty members are being recruited.

The B-school requires modern classrooms for the students. However, IIM-S cannot upgrade the classrooms on temporary campus as the Government does not allow upgrading infrastructure in a private building. However, they can upgrade classrooms at the university, Jaiswal said.

News Credit: Biswajit Sahoo

Bhubaneswar: All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) is set to introduce a six-month training programme for engineering teachers to understand new age training techniques.

The refresher course will cover five lakh technical faculties and will be launched from next year onwards.

Chairman of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Anil D Sahasrabudhe shared this plan of AICTE in Bhubaneswar during an industry workshop. He said that the Council is devising a six-month pedagogical training module for the faculty members which will be made compulsory for faculty members from next year.

He said, these days, students have short attention span which is why they are unable to focus during the regular training camps where the teachers just talk and give notes.

“The faculty members will be educated on ways to engage the students through videos and discussions. They must understand to solve the problems of the students,” said Sahasrabudhe. He added that all existing faculty members will have to undergo the training to get a promotion.

The AICTE Chairman further added that all the technical universities in the State have been directed to revise the curriculum every year. Around 80 per cent of the curriculum can be in terms with AICTE and the rest can be in accordance with the local needs.

The AICTE Chairman urged students to use the Council’s Swayam portal that offers 700 engineering courses which are being provided by best faculty members of elite engineering institutions and IITs.

News Credit: Biswajit Sahoo