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IIT Kharagpur: Over 100 pre-placement offers to students at the start of semester

By
digitalLEARNING Network
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IIT Kharagpur students at the start of the semester have received 118 pre-placement offers (PPOs) from companies such as Microsoft, Wipro, Qualcomm and Samsung to name a few.

Several top companies have offered PPOs to students in areas like finance, software etc. With a total of 14 offers each, Microsoft and Wipro are on top to offer PPOs followed by Qualcomm, Samsung and Texas Instruments respectively with 13, 12 and 11 offers, said IIT Kharagpur Career Development Centre in-charge Debasis Deb.

Moreover, ITC, Unilever and several other companies offered placements both in core and non-core areas such as finance, software, analytics and consultancy.

Deb further stated, “This is a great start for the placement season. PPOs generally constitute about 15 per cent of the total number of placements and many more offers are in the pipeline as the semester progresses.”

For Students of the premier engineering institute, as part of the curriculum, it is compulsory for them to enroll themselves for summer internship during May and June.

Students got placed across all departments – computer science engineering, electrical engineering, electronics and electrical communications engineering, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, humanities and social sciences (Economics) and others.

“We are approaching several new companies along with those who have visited us earlier and many have responded already. We are expecting 250 companies to visit us for placement in December,” Prof Deb said.

Public suggest PM to include education, cleanliness, environment for I-Day address

By
Akash
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has received suggestions from the public for inclusion of topics in his Independence Day address. Most of the suggestions are about to cover education, cleanliness, environment, digitisation and girls’ literacy in the speech.

The suggestions have been made by the people in response to the Prime Minister’s invitation to them to share their ideas and inputs to be included in his Independence Day address, according to official sources.

During last Mann Ki Baat – a radio programme, Modi said, “On August 15, I get an opportunity to communicate with the country from the ramparts of the Red Fort. I am merely an instrument. It is not one single person who makes that address, but it is the collective voice of 1.25 billion of my countrymen that resounds from the Red Fort.”

It received an overwhelming response from the public. Through specially-created open forums “Narendra Modi App” and “MyGov” portal, thousands of comments and views are pouring in for the address, the sources said.

Over 6,000 comments were received on the Narendra Modi App while more than 2,000 suggestions were made on ‘MyGov’ portal, the sources revealed.

Modi, a believer in participative governance, regularly invites people to share their opinions and views on various subjects and incorporates people’s suggestions in his speeches.

This is the routine he has particularly followed with regard to his monthly “Mann Ki Baat” programme.

MHRD to hold plans of replacing UGC, AICTE with single regulator

By
Akash
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The Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD) is likely to hold the idea of replacing University Grants Commission (UGC) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) with a single higher education regulator.

The Government’s plan to introduce Higher Education Empowerment Regulation Agency (HEERA) is in limbo. The agency was aimed to eliminate overlaps in jurisdiction and remove irrelevant regulatory provisions.

HRD Ministry and Niti Ayog were earlier working together to bring all technical and non-technical education institutions under one umbrella but since a long time there has been no progress on the same. Minister of State for HRD Upendra Kushwaha raised the issue in Parliament last week where he said, “No such proposal is under consideration at present, tomerge the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) into a single higher education regulator.”

Earlier, the ministry officials claimed a detailed blueprint of the proposed regulator and its legislation is being worked upon. According to the officials, multiple regulatory bodies led to excessive and restrictive regulation and hence contributed to the lack of institutional autonomy.

Various committees set up by previous governments proposed and supported the idea of single higher education regulator. The National Knowledge Commission (2006) had recommended an independent regulatory authority for higher education, the Committee on Renovation and Rejuvenation of Higher Education (2009) had also advocated an apex regulatory body by converging multiple agencies in the field of higher education.

The UGC Review Committee in 2014 had also recommended the commission be replaced with an apex institution named National Higher Education Authority.

Haryana, Switzerland to sign MoU to enhance Hotel Management studies

By
digitalLEARNING Network
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Haryana and Switzerland governments are exploring possibilities to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to provide training to students of the state in Hotel Management studies with a motive to enroll them in hospitality sector.

This was decided in a recent meeting held between the Switzerland’s Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs and Labour, Bruno Sauter, and Haryana’s Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

According to Khattar, under this strategic partnership, study centres of specialized courses would be promoted and students from Haryana can also pursue the six months to one year Hotel Management course in Switzerland, or even take online courses.

In addition to that, the Swiss faculty would deliver special lectures in institutes in Haryana which will create wider platform for students to learn, get trainings and get jobs.

Switzerland Ministry has also showed interest to explore and cooperate with the Haryana Government in sectors like Information Technology (IT), Education, Agriculture, Financial Services and Sports, the Chief Minister said.

As Ajmer Turns New Page, No Dream Looks Far-Fetched

By
digitalLEARNING Network
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Gaurav-GoyalIn its effort to make learning process more inclusive, District Administration and Ajmer Municipal Corporation under the leadership of Collector and District Magistrate of Ajmer, Gaurav Goyal, has undertaken two major innovative initiatives – a novel book bank to bank upon for building a promising future of thousands of children and a mobile library to inculcate a culture of reading in the historical city, writes Kartik Sharma of Elets News Network (ENN).

On 14th August, 2016, Ajmer Municipal Corporation turned a new page in its efforts to nurture an inclusive learning environment in this heritage city that serves as a confluence centre of different cultures. The Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Vasundhara Raje, inaugurated a book bank and mobile library started under the stewardship of the Mayor, Dharmendra Gehlot, and Collector and District Magistrate of Ajmer, Gaurav Goyal.

After inaugurating these novel initiatives, the Chief Minister took a round of the mobile library and appreciated the efforts of the corporation in bridging the existing knowledge gap hinging firmly on affordability. The Chief Minister handed over several books to the students of Adarsh Girls School and also felicitated major donors for these initiatives on the occasion.

The Book Bank
 The noble cause driving this initiative is collection of academic and non-academic books from students or people in general who do not need them, and then their distribution among the needy students or people. Under this initiative, camps are being organised in private schools of the city and many famous donors of the city are being contacted to donate their books. The collected books are kept in the book bank to be delivered to the needy, especially students of government schools, as there is limited availability of books in government-run schools. Besides, there are many schools which do not have proper libraries.

Jyoti Kakwani, Deputy Commissioner of Ajmer Municipal Corporation, was appointed as the coordinator for this initiative and she tried her best to collect books from various sources and delivered it to the needy students. More than 3,000 thousand books of different types have been collected so far and delivered to students school-wise. Even some students participated in this novel cause and donated books which were later distributed in government primary schools.

There was also an innovative programme launched, wherein the books were not distributed among students directly but stalls were set up so that children themselves can select the books of their choice. Many institutions and schools appreciated the efforts.

To keep the mobile library affordable for all, the annual fee is kept as low as Rs 20, allowing students to get the books issued for two weeks.

Mobile Library Ajmer Municipal Corporation is also running a mobile library along with the book bank. Through the mobile library, every fortnight, the books are being sent to different areas to distribute books to the needy students. Wednesday has been announced to be the weekly off for mobile library.

Along with regular course and competitive exam books, books on art and literature are also part of the mobile library.

To keep the mobile library affordable for all, the annual fee has been kept as low as Rs 20, allowing students to get the books issued for two weeks. Proper arrangements for students have also been put in place so that they can read the books in a comfortable ambience.

Kindle, a mobile device to read books online, is already made available at the library for facilitating e-reading. Computer operators at the library also arrange soft copies for the students if need be. Besides, a list of available books is maintained and updated for easy identification.

Many educational institutions are highly appreciative of the mobile library and some of them are also organising seminars on their impact on the book reading culture in educational institutes. At the Collector-SP Conference, which was organised on 24th to 26th November last year, the Chief Minister instructed the officials present to take a leaf out of Ajmer Municipal Corporation’s book to operate similar book banks and mobile libraries across the state.

Transforming Learning Experience in Rajasthan

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-

‘Project Utkarsh’ and ‘e-Gyankendra’ are the two projects which have earned Rajasthan government’s accolades. If the former project is about bringing qualitative change in mass school education via technology and quiz-based learning system, the latter, developed by Dr Jitendra Kumar Soni, District Collector and Magistrate, Jhalawar, Government of Rajasthan, is meant to facilitate and empower the community through e-learning and e-governance, examines Kartik Sharma of Elets News Network (ENN).

Project Utkarsh
Many government schools have access to technology infrastructure through various schemes, but its utilisation by teachers and students is usually quite below par. Moreover, there is no effective way for the government to track Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure usage or measure the impact on student learning outcome.

Result Indicators
Benefits:
• Build a strong learning culture by making students more curious, confident and participative
• Made curriculum-based learning more engaging and playful
• Collaboration with implementation agencies (e.g. government and Department of Education) for consistent project implementation. As part of the Project Utkarsh, we are establishing district and school level implementation model for further replication.

Key Considerations:
 • 127 ICT schools selected from Jhalawar district
• 80+ schools have completed smart class teachers training
• 500+ systems used for regular practice and learning
• 1,000+ teachers were trained for long term capacity building
• 82.5% participation of rural area schools
• Content developed in local language
• Revolutionary step for Digital India through digital empowerment

Enabler Indicators
Stakeholders’ inclusiveness and participation: Formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and Statement of Work (SoW) signed up among key stakeholders including roles and responsibility of each stakeholder, programme methodology and execution approach has been crucial in this regard.

Open Media Server based e-Gyankendra aims to bridge that gap by providing a versatile technology solution and sowing seeds of a grassroots community around it.

Technology adaptations/innovative deployment: Quiz Academy platform having exclusiveness and interactiveness of content in common parlance, smooth user interface, remote monitoring dashboard for real time status, offline solution for non-internet availability in schools have been important factors.

e-Gyankendra Teachers and students across the globe can now access educational resources in their own language for free. But there is a big problem of internet access. Around two-third of the world population doesn’t have any reliable internet access and within India, the situation is not good as well. This can be addressed through (semi) offline educational-media servers which are present at the site of the educational deployment. Considered together, the immense growth in high quality Open Educational Resources (OER), recent advances in low-power, low-cost computing, and the fall in cost of storage devices makes bridging the gap an economically feasible and scalable solution.

Proposed Solution
 Open Media Server based e-Gyankendra aims to bridge that gap by providing a versatile technology solution and sowing seeds of a grassroots community around it. Let’s take a sample.

• Media
• Connectivity
• Administration
• Sample Content
• Wikipedia (multilingual)
• TED Talks
• Worldwide maps (OpenStreetMap)
• Project Gutenberg (45000+ books)
• Khan Academy (KA Lite)
• NCERT resources (multilingual – through the NROER project)
• Toys From Trash video
• Any other open-licensed content

Web Apps
• LMS – Moodle
• Local Social Network – Elgg
• Wiki – Dokuwiki
• Book Server – Pathagar
• Collaboration – Jabber
• Any other open-licensed web-app
• Personal use

Creates a home Wi-Fi network
• School use (Personal use features)
• Manages the LAN

If there is limited internet connectivity available:
• Provides content filtering
• Optimises bandwidth usage
• Remote debugging and deployment through VPN

Village network use (School use features)
• Wide area Wi-Fi network meshes
• Deployment
• Built on next generation technology
• Web-console for push-button deployment and management of content and services

Analytics
 • Content access analytics – AwStats
• Server diagnostics – Munin
• Admin console – Cockpit

Hardware options
• Low end – Raspberry Pi
• Mid to High end – Intel NUC, and most other generic computers and servers

Need for the Initiative
In the present era of the digitisation, relevance and importance of internet cannot be under-rated but affordability, availability, security and consistency are also key aspects. The solution of open media server based e-Gyankendra is an effort to create an ecosystem for community empowerment and smart-citizen though digital learning leveraging open source technology and providing free access to best of the open source digital content for local community without internet-dependency.

The solution of open media server based e-Gyankendra is an effort to create an ecosystem for community empowerment and smartcitizen though digital learning leveraging open source technology and providing free access to best of the open source digital content for local community without internet dependency.

Key Features of e-Gyankendra Best of the knowledge content: e-Gyankendra can host and support open media content in the form of video, docs, PDF, animation, images etc. It has been tried to compile, curate and host best of the knowledge content especially of Indian context.
There is around one Tera Byte data which includes:
• Wikipedia (multilingual)
• Quiz Academy (www.quizacademy.org
• TED Talks • Worldwide maps (OpenStreetMap)
• Project Gutenberg (45,000+ books)
• Khan Academy (KA Lite)
• NCERT resources (multilingual – through the NROER project)
• Toys From Trash video
• Any other open-licensed content.

Crafting Technology- Enhanced Innovation in Higher Education

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-

Ashutosh A T PednekarThe Government of Rajasthan has adopted innovative learning methodologies to improve the higher education landscape in Rajasthan. The government is focussing on ICT based skilful learning to make the youth employable, says Ashutosh A T Pednekar, Commissioner College Education and Special Secretary Higher Education, Government of Rajasthan in an interview with Kartik Sharma of Elets News Network (ENN)

What are the plans of the Government of Rajasthan to provide quality higher education to the youngsters of the state?

Rajasthan has a vast higher education system both in terms of numbers, their age and antiquity, as well as the types of institutions defined by source of funding and the nature of management. Rajasthan occupies place in top 6 States in terms of highest number of colleges in India including Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.The system draws its strength from the young population as well as the aspirations for greater economic and social mobility associated with higher education.

What initiatives are incorporated by Department of College Education to enhance higher education space of Rajasthan?

In order to deal with issues of access, equity, management, efficiency, pedagogy and quality, the Department of Higher Education, Government of Rajasthan, has taken the following initiatives:

• Implement e-Governance in Higher Education through Higher Education Portal
• Availability of Smart Classroom in Colleges
• Provide Wi-Fi facilities to students and faculty
• To encourage Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).
• Big Data Challenge and Hackathon on regular basis
• Library computerisation in higher education institutes (HEIs)
• Spoken tutorials for FOSS courses
• Digital class rooms in Girls colleges under CSR
• Establishment of smart science labs
• Establishment of Crowd Sourced Social Platform for education
• Linking colleges with INFLIBNET facility of UGC
• Implementation of GIS mapping in HEIs
• Promotion of industry-academia linkages.
• Online test for students to access skill and aptitude on regular basis.

Please explain about the policy architecture of the state government for making the students skillful to get their goals and to compete globally?

Nowadays the government is focusing more on equipping students with the vocational and entrepreneurial. These skills will make the students suitable for jobs in corporates of their respective streams.

In order to make the skill based learning more effective the government has ordered to strengthen the vocational education at college level. In their efforts, the respective departments of government are trying to attract more students to skill based courses at Polytechnics through aggressive marketing and appropriate counselling.

Curriculum revision has been done for universities to make their regular courses more flexible. Skills oriented add on courses in colleges to be taken by students while pursuing degree education in Arts, Commerce and Science. Through industry university interaction, the universities have to identify subjects in high demand and diversify their courses.

In order to make the skill based learning more effective the government is keen to strengthen the vocational education at higher education level.

What steps have been taken by the government to overcome the challenges while connecting the tribal population of the state with the mainstream education?

It is necessary to made good quality education easily accessible to the tribal population to bring them in the mainstream of development. The government has proactively taken the following steps to achieve the desired outcome.

• Public spending to focus more on remote and un-accessible areas- Equal infrastructure, attractive salaries, hostels and few institutions of excellence.
• Subsidised higher education for Non income tax payees, SC and ST and free education to SC/ST girls.
• Subsidised education to girls in rural areas.
• Encourage donor participation in Girls education, SC and ST education.
• Special Coaching Classes in Colleges of far flung areas be encouraged to facilitate updation of knowledge.
• Proficiency of enhancement in English language classes will be introduced.
• Online Video conferencing, Internet and Intranet connectivity of colleges, libraries, universities and the commissionerate.

What are the expansion plans of the state government in terms of education to envisaged new job and also the opportunities for self employment?

In Rajasthan, Agriculture & allied activities still provide over 60% of all jobs, with industry (mainly construction and manufacturing) and services (mainly trade, hospitality, Government and Community Services) accounting for the rest of employment. The State Government has been creating a number of job opportunities under various sectors, but the increase in the job has been more than offset by the rapid growth of population.

The state government is also focussing on self-employment. The facilities for vocational guidance and assistance for self- employment to the educated persons are, therefore, being given emphasis. Expansion in education, medical and health, and housing facilities is envisaged creating new opportunities for self-employment. Technical training facilities will also be improved and it will be imparted in emerging areas to cater to the changing needs and pattern of industrialization and advancement of technology.

Rajasthan Higher Education embracing change for new era of opportunities

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-

Realising the growing importance of higher education for youngsters as one of the important prerequisites for grabbing good jobs and achieve a decent living standard, the Government of Rajasthan is focused on introducing innovations into the State’s educational landscape, writes Akash Tomer of Elets News Network (ENN).

Rajasthan has a vast higher education system in terms of numbers, types of institutions, defined by source of funding, and the nature of management. Rajasthan is among the top six States of India in terms of number of colleges. The other States are Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

The education system of the State draws its strength from the aspirations of its young population for greater economic and social mobility associated with higher education. The higher education landscape of Rajasthan reflects that along with quantitative expansion the thrust is on qualitative aspects.

The departments associated with the education in the State are committed to promote holistic learning amongst youths of Rajasthan so as to enable them to lead meaningful lives in the society. Every department is keen to develop the requisite capacity and capability of youngsters that will lead to development of the nation.

The department of Higher and Technical Education, Government of Rajasthan, focuses on nurturing employable, positive and aspirational generation of lifelong learners. Such traits help the youths of the State to sustain in this competitive and quality conscious era of globalisation.

In order to be in line with the government’s vision, the department facilitates higher education institutions that provide a lifelong education to the masses, address the needs of productive employment, and also higher quality institutions that are primarily focused on research and innovation. This will entail creation of multi disciplinary institutions/ universities that

• Offer a wide range of basic under graduate and post graduate courses.

• Impart skill based training to bring out employable degree holders at grass root level.

• Focus on achieving social objectives of poverty alleviation, and civic consciousness regarding health, sanitation, and other collective responsibilities.

• Give priority to student learning outcomes.

• Provide industry aligned courses to develop functional, critical and soft skills.

• Can be centres of research excellence compatible to the best in the country.

• Encourage out of the box thinking and creation of knowledge.

• Would attract the best minds both to the pool of students and faculty and in the process can become valuable assets in India’s knowledge driven economy.

MISSION

The Rajasthan Government’s mission is to develop a higher education system in the State that strives for excellence in quality, easily accessible to every section of the society, and produces skillful human resource that can stand up to the challenges of the changing times.

Easy access to higher education opportunities will enable students to develop knowledge and skills necessary to achieve their professional goals, improve the productivity of their organisations and provide leadership and service to their communities.

The Government, with such a higher education system, wants to ensure that it is open to all and does not discriminate an individual on the basis of religion, caste, gender, physical or financial conditions. An education system that churns out social thinkers, scientists, inventors, innovators, artistes, players, motivators of highest quality is the need of the hour.

The system has its focus on enhancement of quality of teaching and research at par with the global standards through revision of curriculum, syllabus, teaching-learning material, text books, pedagogical processes and ICT in education.

To improve the quality of all Higher Education Institutes (HEIs), benchmarking will be done through The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) and through National Board of Accreditation (NBA).

Rajasthan endeavours to put in place such an education system that could support and sustain India’s undeniable status of an emerging economic power.

KEY FOCUS AREAS IN HIGHER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION

higher-technical-educationStudent Management
• Student information
• Academic details
• Forums and groups
• Profile management

Examination Management
• Online enrolment
• Test paper management
• Center, duty management
• Degree, marksheet management

Curriculum Management
• E-learning
• Course and subject management
• Centralised content repository

Faculty Management
• Faculty information
• Research management
• Profile management
• Attendance mgmt

College/University Management
 • Affiliation management
• Election management
• Placement management
• Grant management

Admission Management
• Online admission forms
• Online fees payments
• Central seat allocation

Institutional Enhancement

Due to the initiatives of the State Government and other institutions that are involved for the purpose, the higher education scenario in Rajasthan has undergone a transformation. In a bid to promote higher education, end gender inequalities, improve enrollment of students in colleges and universities, and provide other educational services, many new policies are being framed and implemented time to time. Today, Rajasthan is a fast evolving State in India as a centre for education. The Government of Rajasthan is endeavouring to make this State a hub of best educational centres of the country.

Making education available to tribal population of the State was a major challenge for the Government, but it was an important requirement for communities such as these. In order to fetch fair prices for the artefacts they sell, it is extremely important for them to be aware and literate. The Government lays emphasis on education to girls and many efforts are directed to make such programmes popular among the masses.

Initiatives for Educational Quality Enhancement

The Government of Rajasthan and higher education departments under their aim to provide quality education to youths of the State. The Government’s endeavours are recognised nationally since there are four universities amongst the top 100 universities in National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2017.

The institutions are two deemed universities Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences (BITS – 13th position) and Banasthali Vidyapeeth (53rd position). Besides these, there are two state universities Rajasthan University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (RUVAS – 68th position) and University of Rajasthan (UOR – 79th position). Various Initiatives to improve the quality of higher education in the state are:

Rating and Ranking of Institutions of Higher Education at State Level:
• Format for Rating and Ranking has been prepared
• A test run conducted
• Results were analysed and necessary modifications were incorporated
• Revised matrix was submitted for development of related software to DoIT.
• Meanwhile a Google sheet is prepared for Rating and Ranking and a sample test was again piloted and the results obtained are being analyzed.
• Rating and Ranking Matrix will be mandatory, after validation of Google sheet format, for all State Government and private colleges and universities.

Bilateral Collaboration Within and Outside the Nation
• Exploring possibilities of collaboration with national and international institutions as per UGC scheme “Promotion and Maintenance of Standards of Academic Collaboration between India and Foreign Educational Institutions Regulations”.

• A study of institutes of Higher Education in Kerala State to identify the areas of collaboration and to identify institutions within and outside the country.

• Collaboration with IGNOU for 5 Skill and Entrepreneurship capacity building courses (Certificate/ Diploma) in 22 Government colleges in the current session 2017-18.

• Collaboration with empanelled partner of NSDC, GOI for enhancement of English Language Labs.

NAAC Accreditation

A total of 70 colleges have been accredited by NAAC of which seven colleges are accredited with A Grade. A State Level Quality Assurance Cell (SLQAC) has also been formed for:

• Preliminary scrutiny of Self Study Report (SSR) by NAAC assessors before submitting for accreditation and input communicated to Institutions for improvement

• In-house Evaluation teams to inspect institutions before NAAC peer team visit

• Three one-day workshops organised to assist, train and enable the nodal officers to prepare SSR and to expedite the process of accreditation of their colleges

Faculty Improvement

Leadership training workshop for academic administrators (Principals, Vice-Principals and senior faculty members) in two batches was conducted to hone their leadership and management skills by IIM Lucknow.

• Orientation programmes and Refresher Courses are mandatory at institutions

• Induction training for new recruited faculty to be initiated.

• Various leadership, management information, gender sensitisation, RTI, work on excel, PPT presentation, disaster management and improvement programmes throughout the session are organised at HCM RIPA.

RUSA Efforts and Achievements

The Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS). Launched in 2013, it aims to provide strategic funding to eligible state higher educational institutions. The central funding (in the ratio of 60:40 for general category States, 90:10 for special category states and 100% for union territories) would be norm based and outcome dependent. Rajathhan State Higher Education Council (RSHEC) formed for planning, monitoring and evaluating quality assurance in higher education.

Major Achievements:

• State Higher Education Plan (2015-2022) prepared and proposals worth Rs 20,88,343 submitted to MHRD

• Infrastructure grant to five state universities and 100 government colleges

• RUSA grant released for opening one new engineering college at Baran

• Creation of 17 basic essential facilities in all RUSA beneficiary institutions.

• Internal audit of the Physical and Financial progress of all RUSA beneficiaries.

• Monitoring of physical progress by Geo tagging. 172 points which records highest in the country from any beneficiary state.

• Monitoring of all the Financial transactions by beneficiaries, with the help of Fund Tracker .

• PFMS Compliance of all transactions

• Workshops conducted for E-Learning initiatives, educational leadership and PFMS compliance transactions

New Schemes under RUSA: Dishari: The scheme has been launched for students for capacity building and employment enhancement in their colleges.

Yuva Swavlamban Yojna: The scheme has been launched for setting up Career Counseling, Placement and Skill Training Cell for the students.

Gender ATLAS: Preparation of Gender Atlas of the State through Application of Remote Sensing and GIS is under process.

Bhamashah Sahyog Yojna: A new scheme to muster support from individual donors and companies under CSR to overcome the pit falls in the field of higher education launched.

IT innovations: Plans and Implementations

The introduction of Information and Communication (ICT) in higher education has profound implications for the whole education process especially in dealing with key issues of access, equity, management, efficiency, pedagogy and quality. For achieving the vision goals of 2022, the Department of Higher Education, Government of Rajasthan, has prepared a Mission document for ICT strategy which has the following attributes:

• To implement e-Governance in Higher Education through Higher Education Portal
• Availability of Smart Classroom in Colleges
• To Provide Wi-Fi facilities to students and Faculty
• To encourage Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).
• Big Data Challenge and Hackathon on regular basis
• Library computerization in HEIs
• Spoken tutorials for FOSS courses
• Digital class rooms in Girls colleges under CSR
• Establishment of Smart Science Labs
• Establishment of Crowd Sourced Social Platform for Education
• Linking colleges with INFLIBNET facility of UGC
• Implementation of GIS mapping in HEIs
• Promotion of Industry Academia linkages.
• Online test for students to access skill and aptitude on regular basis.

The Government of Rajasthan through its various initiatives has implemented various ICT initiatives to transform the higher education segment of the state. Few of them are:

Based on ICT, Crowd Sourced Social Platform For Education, it is a new initiative by Higher Education Department of Rajasthan to connect students, teachers and group of subject experts to share knowledge among them and making it available to all students across Rajasthan.

2. In seven selected government colleges at divisional headquarters smart science labs are established, that will serve as centre of educational excellence, models for further replication and nodal centre for linked colleges for sharing and disseminating the knowledge.

3. Online admission Process (OAP) is successfully implemented in all government colleges for UG and PG courses in last four years. Students now are not required to submit hard copy of their application form.

4. Integration of OAP will be integrated with upcoming higher education portal and college management modules. Admission data will also be integrated with Examination module which will eliminate the resubmission of examination forms by the admitted students and later can be used to award degrees.

NEW INITIATIVES

1. District Higher Education Advisory Council to be formed for Institutional support and academic enhancement, Industry Academia interface Innovative market driven relevant courses Skill-training, entrepreneurship and employability of youth in the state.

2. Small business and entrepreneurship centres are to be established in all universities of the State. Curriculum has been updated to make it market driven and relevant as per contemporary industry demands.

3. Universities are directed to design vocational courses (B Voc) for affiliated colleges and to take advantage of provisions made in UGC for Credit Framework for Online Learning Courses (MOOC) through SWAYAM portal, make National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) compliant courses and obtain appropriate level for certification.

Government of Rajasthan is keen to develop the higher education segment as one of the best in India. Through its innovative initiatives, the state is making its youth educated and employable at the same time. Along with the government, higher education institutes of Rajasthan are also helping rural and tribal population of the state to overcome the challenges in this sector. The best practices will help the government to achieve their vision and generate more and more opportunities for the youngsters.

Transforming rajasthan into Higher Education hub

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-

Raj-Huns-UpadhyayThe higher education segment of Rajasthan has witnessed speedy progress in the last few years. With a focus on research and development, efforts are on to build Rajasthan as an education hub, says Raj Huns Upadhyay, Additional Chief Secretary Higher, Technical and Sanskrit Education Department, Coordination – School and Sanskrit Education, Government of Rajasthan, in an interview with Kartik Sharma of Elets News Network (ENN).

What steps are required to bring higher education in Rajasthan at par with the best across the world?

There is a significant growth in the number of higher education institution and universities in the State. The Government of Rajasthan has established new colleges with a focus on recruiting well qualified faculty for these colleges. Apart from this we are also working in phased manner to develop a infrastructure of global standards in colleges and universities. We are encouraging higher education institutions to raise their own funds so they are are not totally dependent on the government funding.

Research and Development in higher education appears not to be getting the required attention, what are the challenges and steps being taken in this regard?

Research and development initiatives are mainly taken in universities however, some leading colleges have shown equal participation, it is important to build synergies between teaching and research to promote excellence in both. We are adopting best practices followed across the globe and encourage and support higher education institutions and their faculty members to engage more deeply with institutions and faculty around the world to improve quality of research. We have asked State universities to explore possibility of collaborations with best universities of World in order to facilitating alliances for research. Such collaborations will also help in linking university departments with research institutions and industry to accelerate the process of knowledge development.

There should be dedicated funds for research and development to strengthen higher education ecosystem. As far as Rajasthan is concerned, we are trying to move towards a university system integrating UG, PG and doctoral studies, with faculty concurrently teaching both at UG and PG level which will help improve synergies between teaching and research. Universities will be multidisciplinary in nature and not single disciplinespecific. In short, favourable conditions need to be created in the State as well as in the country to promote high quality research.

Digital divide between rural and urban areas is a big issue in the State and country, what role does technical education play in bridging this gap?

Internet is an empowering tool. SWAYAM, an online Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS) platform is being developed with the support from Ministry of Human Resources Development. It will help the students from different areas of the country to be at the same-level as far as access to good quality education content is concerned. Best faculties from every domain are requested to develop MOOCs content which will be available free of cost to all students.

Research and development initiatives are being taken in universities to upgrade the skills of existing faculty members, it is important to build synergies between teaching and research to promote excellence in both.

“Digital India” and “Skill India” are the two most ambitious projects of the Government of India, what is the role of the department in skilling and providing jobs to the youths under these two initiatives?

All our transactions, be it related to approval, finance, education content, courseware, admission processes, or disbursement of degrees are all becoming digital. Higher Education Department, Government of Rajasthan, is working according to the true spirit of Digital India.

There are some State Universities which are offereing short term and long term skill imparting courses. Three of our State Universities have received financial assistance from MInistry of MIcro, Small and Medium Entreprises under its ‘Assistance to Institutions’ scheme. Other universities are also working to develop Skill and Entrepreneurship centers.

What are the most significant challenges you see in the technical education domain?

Higher and Technical education in the State faces many challenges. Traditional pedagogy, setting up quality research, motivating students, classrooms attendance and widespread geographic, income, gender, and ethnic imbalances. Government policies play a vital role in information and resource sharing and with the enhanced participation of education stakeholders, these challenges can easily be resolved. Government is trying to reach the remote areas of the State. There is a need to upgrade higher education system so that the State gets good colleges and universities and higher educational institutes get more skilled faculties and supporting staff. Better education will ensure good future of students and if students will get better education facilities in their own State, they will not be forced to migrate to other States.

Special education schemes for poor students

By
digitalLEARNING Network
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In order to provide education loans, and create ease in processing of loans, the Government has launched various education loans and subsidy schemes.  These include Central Scheme, Padho Pardesh Scheme and Dr Ambedkar Central Sector Scheme.

The Central Scheme to provide interest Subsidy (CSIS)  is a scheme available for the economically weaker students. Under this scheme, students can avail full interest subsidy for educational loans disbursed on or after 1st April, 2009 during the period of moratorium.

Under Padho Pardesh Scheme, meritorious students belonging to economically weaker sections of notified minority communities are awarded with interest subsidy for overseas education.

Dr Ambedkar Central Sector Scheme of Interest Subsidy is a scheme for educational loan for overseas studies for Other Backward Classes whereby interest payable by the students for the period of moratorium is borne by the Government of India.

The government has also launched a web-based portal i.e. Vidya Lakshmi Portal wherein students can track and apply education loans. In addition to that, Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme for Education Loans (CGFSEL) has also been introduced under which students can avail collateral free loan of upto Rs. 7.5 lakh.

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