PreParing rajasthani graduates for Professional World

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August 9, 2017

The Government of Rajasthan with its focus on imparting education to tribal and rural population of the State has also signed MoUs to impart skill and job-oriented training to the youth of State, says Ashok Jain, Chief Secretary, Government of Rajasthan, in an interview with Kartik Sharma of Elets News Network (ENN).

What are the various initiatives undertaken by the Government of Rajasthan to enhance competiveness of manpower as per global standards?

The Government of Rajasthan in a joint venture with Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Limited (MKCL), Pune; University of Rajasthan, Jaipur; Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur; Vardhaman Mahaveer Open University, Kota; Rajcomp Info Services Ltd, and Centre for e-governance, has set up Rajasthan Knowledge Corporation Limited (RKCL). It is a public limited company with an objective to develop a new educational framework that can plan, implement, supervise and regulate the developing needs for IT skills in the 21st century in the State.

ajasthan has created vast infrastructure under education sector for schools, colleges and technical institutions. The government has also come up with initiatives for enhancing employability quotient. Rajasthan Skill & Livelihoods Development Corporation (RSLDC) is the main agency for skill development across state.

The Government of Rajasthan is taking various initiatives for better connectivity with students, to hone computer skills of students and coordinate amongst all educational institutions, universities, students and the Government.

The State Government has its emphasis on educating rural population and people of economically weaker sections of the society, what are the new initiatives taken in this direction?

To make the education easily accessible to every section of the State, the Government of Rajasthan is trying to remove impediments of SC, ST, women, rural students and poor students in this regard. The government is laying special emphasis on access to higher education and also to increase the enrollment of SC, ST, women, poor and rural students by providing them scholarships and books. Further, proactive steps have been taken to achieve the above goal such as subsidised higher education for lowincome families, subsidised education to girls in rural areas, free education to SC/ST girls and encourage donor participation in girls’ SC and ST education.

Other than this, merging of schools, staffing pattern and teachers’ accountability measures are also introduced in the last two years that have improved the education scenario among the rural population of the state.

With Rajasthan’s literacy rate being around 60 per cent, lower than that of the national average (around 74 per cent), how is the State government planning to achieve the national average?

national average? The Rajasthan Government in its efforts to match the national average of literacy rate has taken the following steps:

Updated Curriculum: It is necessary for the educational institutes to update their syllabus time to time which is dynamic and related to the current scenario of the market. The updated syllabus helps the students to understand the industry trends.

Innovation: Higher education institutes need to take some innovative steps in their institutes such as satellite and video classes, seminars on various topics. Educational institutions should adopt the latest methodologies to educate their students. Faculties should be flexible with technology for teaching.

Industry Interaction: Interaction with the industries should be increased in higher education. Lack of information about latest industry trends among students results into declined placements in an institution.

The government is laying special emphasis on access to higher education and also to increase the enrollment of SC, ST, women, poor and rural students by providing them scholarships and books.

Libraries are the window of a zone’s culture, how is the government supporting them to provide good quality study material to students?

The facility of library must be available in every institute of the State. Institutions must improve their library with world-class reference books and journals for students and faculties. The government in its effort to provide students access to good quality study material may soon launch digital libraries. These libraries will help the students to access quality material anytime.

What are some of projects on which the State government is working to bring the education sector of Rajasthan at par with the global standards?

• To obtain the larger objectives of quality higher education, the following goals have been stated to be achieved:

• Expansion in a planned manner so as to improve availability as per population and spatial norms of institutional density

• To increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) from the present level with specific attention to gender, SC, minorities, OBCs, differently challenged

• Reduce disparity in GER across geographic, economic, and social groups

• To increase the Gender Parity Index (GPI) from the present level

• To enhance quality of teaching and research so as to match to global standards through revision of curriculum, syllabus, teaching learning material text books, pedagogical process ICT in education

• Enhance infrastructural facilities and enhance the existing ones

Implementing Best Learning Practices in Rajasthan’s World of Higher Education

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digitalLEARNING Network

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August 9, 2017

Rajasthan is a fast evolving state in India in terms of higher education. An endeavour is being made to ensure our youth are not just educated but also skillful and employable, says Kiran Maheshwari, Minister, Higher and Technical Education, Sanskrit Education, Science and Technology, Government of Rajasthan, in conversation with Kartik Sharma of Elets News Network (ENN).

How is the Government of Rajasthan planning to promote higher education in the State?

Rajasthan is developing at a great pace. The State government has formulated policy architecture for achieving the task of better literacy rate in the form of skillful students. The government policies help students in achieving their goals easily and make them capable to compete globally. The rules and regulations framed by the Government ideally fulfill all the educational needs of students. The Government is endeavouring to develop this State as an educational hub in the country.

Government of Rajasthan is promoting entrepreneurship amongst students, what policies and new initiatives have been undertaken in this regard?

Efforts have been made to initiate Entrepreneurship and Skill Development Programmes for students to optimise their placement and career oriented opportunities. Establishing Entrepreneurship and Skill Development Cells in the colleges was proposed as preliminary initiative that is approved from the competent authorities. With an intense focus on developing next-gen leaders, entrepreneurship and skill development programmes for students are underway in colleges across the State. Universities have been directed to upgrade curricula to include skill development courses. Alongside, a proposal has been made for establishing ‘Kalpana Swarnim Udaan Kendra’ in Girls Colleges to train students for self-defense, skill development and also to act as help centres in their career making.

What Information Communication Technology (ICT) based initiatives are being taken by the government to boost teaching-learning process in the State?

The dynamic e-Classroom initiative has facilitated students across the State to get curriculum-based online academic support and contents to prepare for competitive exams. The first phase of the programme is in final stage, as the installation of equipments in the colleges is under process by the DOIT. A total of 34 colleges have been identified in the first phase, selecting the prominent/leading colleges from each district headquarters in the State. The proposal is to expand this facility to other colleges as well.

BSNL is providing dedicated lease line for internet connectivity to all Government colleges in Rajasthan. To enhance the teaching–learning capabilities of students as well as faculty of different subjects, various smart initiatives have been taken by the State Government. Under the proposal, a lab is supposed to be established having minimum 5 sets of desktops and IT peripherals where quality contents will be made available to students free of cost. This will help to enhance academic quality in colleges. The proposal is for 33 colleges in the first phase, which may be replicated in rest of the colleges after successful implementation.

Bhamashah Sahyog Yojna is a link on Higher Education (HE) portal to have support from philanthropists and corporate sector to fulfill the infrastructure or any other requirements of the institution.

Efforts have been made to initiate Entrepreneurship and Skill Development Programmes for students to optimise their placement and career oriented opportunities.

Considering the teaching –learning based difficulties belonging to faculty of science, especially the Zoology subject, Virtual Lab facility is proposed for 33 colleges. Under the proposal, virtual labs in two subjects were established in each college, of the two subjects one is Zoology. The other subjects are Chemistry, Physics and Botany.

Considering the difficulties in teaching– learning processes across the State, especially in remote areas, a unique effort – E-Repository is designed to make quality content easily accessible to the students. Under the proposal a lab is supposed to be established having minimum 5 sets of desktops and IT peripherals where quality contents will be made available to students free of cost. This will help to enhance academic quality in colleges. The proposal is for 33 colleges in the first phase, which may be replicated in rest of the colleges after successful implementation.

Are there some projects in the pipeline to bring the higher education sector of Rajasthan at par with the global standards?

With the aid from central government, infrastructure development grant has been received from five universities and 100 colleges and also to establish one new engineering college at Baran. State higher education plan has been submitted to MHRD o receive more grants from Research, Innovation and Quality improvement and vocationalisation of higher education in the State.

The State government has several plans to boost the higher education sector. The government has proposed to establish “Kalpana Swarnim Udaan Kendra” in girls’ colleges to train them in self-defence, skill development and to act as help centres in their career. This scheme is proposed for 10 government girls’ colleges in the State.

Similarly, establishing “Janjatiya Yuva Unnayan Kendra” in ST dominating colleges is also proposed to train students for skill development and entrepreneurship. Such centres are also supposed to act as help desk in their career making. It is proposed for 32 government colleges in the statee.

Rajasthan Higher Education Expanding Horizon in Modern Era

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digitalLEARNING Network

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August 9, 2017

Dr Ravi Gupta, Editior-in-Chief, Digital Learning Magazine and CEO, Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd

With the Indian education system witnessing a major transformation in the wake of global demand for skilled people and our country’s youths showing interest in exploring foreign shores, Rajasthan, one of most vibrant and progressive States of the country, is focusing on its education sector in a big way.

In this light, the Digital Learning magazine’s latest Cover Story — Rajasthan Higher Education Embracing Change for New Era of Opportunities — highlights the growing charm for higher education among youngsters as an important prerequisite to grab highly rewarding jobs. And, it explores how the Government of Rajasthan seems keen to introduce innovations and modern initiatives in the State’s educational landscape.

Being taken out by Digital Learning magazine in association with Department of Higher and Technical Education, Government of Rajasthan, this Souvenir carries a number of prominent and distinguished who’s who of Rajasthan whose presence has brought remarkable changes in the Rajasthan education system.

An important feature of this latest issue of the magazine is congratulatory messages from the recently elected President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar, Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh and Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.

They have highly appreciated the Rajasthan’s Department of Higher and Technical Education and the Digital Learning magazine for their joint effort in launching this souvenir and offered their good wishes for our effort towards showcasing innovations and initiatives being undertaken in higher education landscape of Rajasthan.

Some of the other top leaders and officials covered this time include the State’s Minister Higher Education Kiran Maheshwari; Chief Secretary Ashok Jain; Additional Chief Secretary Rajhans Upadhyay, and Commissioner of College Education and Special Secretary for Higher education Ashutosh A.T. Pednekar.

Some of the prominent officials featuring in this special edition through interviews include, Anil Swarup, School Education Secretary, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Anil D Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, AICTE and Major Harsh Kumar, Secretary, NCERT.

As this issue has tried to explore how some of the bright and emerging leaders who are bringing a change in Rajasthan with inspirational initiatives, we’ve also explored the initiatives being undertaken by various University Vice Chancellors like Prof Pradip Chandra Deka, Prof Souvik Bhattacharyya, Vice Chancellor, BITS Pilani and others.

Also, in a bid to showcase innovations and initiatives in the higher education landscape of the State, the Government of Rajasthan has organised the Festival of Education in Jaipur from 5 to 6 August, 2017. The grand event will be an occasion of knowledge exchange for top-notch edu-experts and key policy makers.

We also take pride in sharing that Rajasthan will be the Principal State Partner of 10th World Education Summit where this souvenir published jointly by the Department of Higher and Technical Education, Government of Rajasthan and Digital Learning Magazine will also be available.

Hoping the latest bouquet of stories and interviews will arouse deep interest in Rajasthan’s education system, we look forward to our esteemed readers’ invaluable feedback.

A bill introduced in Kerala Assembly to regulate medical colleges

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digitalLEARNING Network

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August 9, 2017

Kerala Assembly has introduced a bill to regulate the fee and admission in private medical colleges of the state.

From recent past, the government has been receiving complaints about various institutions trying to tide over the admission procedure. To keep check and control on such practices, the government has decided to introduce the bill.

An 11-member regulatory committee will also be formed to regulate admission and fee structure in the colleges of the state. A retired judge of the Supreme Court will be appointed as the chairperson of the committee.

As per the guidelines of the bill, people aggrieved by an order of the committee could appeal before the high court within 30 days from the date of such orders.

The Kerala Medical Education (Regulation and Control of Admission to Private Medical Education Institutions) bill, 2017, seeks to provide reservation of seats to persons belonging to Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) in these institutions.

Once the bill passes, it will replace Kerala Medical Education (Regulation and Control of Private medical education institutions) Ordinance, promulgated in April 2017. The bill was introduced by the State Health Minister K K Shailaja.

HEFA in place to support infrastructure investments

Higher Education

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digitalLEARNING Network

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August 4, 2017

To encourage infrastructure investments in the higher educational institutions, the Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) has been originated with an initial capital base of massive Rs 300 crores.

Also, for imparting quality education under the All India Council for Technical Education, norms and standards have been set to improve the technical education through conducting courses and their renewal from time to time.

Keeping up with the provision, (Establishment of and Maintenance of Standards in Private Universities) Regulations, 2003, the UGC arranged for an immediate investigation of 159 private universities to evaluate if they have been meeting the basic criteria in terms of programmes, faculty, infrastructural facilities, financial viability, etc as instructed by UGC and other governing bodies.

In a bid to impart quality education, UGC is following all the essential steps.

The inspection report has also been shared with the concerned private university to present compliance for the suggestions given by UGC. The same report has also been submitted to the Committee of the Members of Commission for consideration. Further, the advice of this Committee is also presented before the Commission for a final judgment in this matter.

The HEFA is formed as a Section 8 Company under the Company Act of 2013 and will enlist debt/bond funds from the market to finance improvement in the infrastructure and research facilities.The loans will be processed through the internal accruals of these institutions.

This information was provided by the Minister of State (HRD), Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha.

Government to conduct National Achievement Survey in 2018

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digitalLEARNING Network

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August 4, 2017

The Central Right To Education rules have been amended to include a reference to class-wise, subject-wise learning outcomes.

Progressing with the same idea, the output for language classes such as Hindi, English and Urdu and Mathematics, Environmental Studies, Science and Social Science up to the elementary level have been defined and shared with the States and the Union Territories (UT) to leverage better understanding.

This will also help lay the guidelines for States and UT’s establishing appropriate learning standards for children.

The learning evaluation will be as per the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) developed outcomes which are based on their periodical and national surveys of learning achievements for children in III, V, VIII and X standards.

So far four rounds of National Achievement Survey (NAS) have been conducted for class V and three rounds for classes III & VIII. These surveys give an insight into the learning achievements of the students in various subjects.

From 2018, the Government has also decided to conduct a National Achievement Survey with the district area as its sample base.

The student’s assessments will be aligned with the NCERT evaluations. Within the Centrally sponsored scheme of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), the State Governments and UT Administrations are supported on several occasions in order to enhance their teaching standards.

These include regular in-service teachers’ training, induction training for newly recruited teachers, recruitment of additional teachers for improving student-teacher ratio, educational support for teachers through block and cluster resource centres, Maths and Science kits, Lab equipment, specialised teaching for better learning, ICT facilitated schools, introduction of vocational education component at the secondary level and activities under ‘Unnati’ project for developing English language skills.

Apart from this, the Central Government also supports States and UTs on early grade reading, writing & comprehension, and early Mathematics programmes through a sub-programme of SSA ‘Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat’ (PBBB) in classes I and II.

The Government has also launched Rashtriya Aavishkar Abhiyan (RAA) programme on 9th July 2015 as a subcomponent of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), to motivate and engage children in the age group 6-18 years in science, mathematics and technology through observation, experimentation, inference drawing, model building, etc. both through inside and outside classroom activities.

This information was given by the Minister of State (HRD), Upendra Kushwaha today in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha.

Qlik academic programme to cover 50 education institutions in India

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digitalLEARNING Network

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August 4, 2017

Data analytics company Qlik, has announced the expansion of the Qlik academic programme to cover 50 education institutions across 25 cities in India. Under this programme, more Universities will be able to teach marketable data literacy and analytical skills to students along with their academic discipline.

The Qlik Academic programme is open to accredited university-level institutions globally including profit and non-profit colleges alike. To name a few,it include education institutions like IIM Bangalore, IIM Lucknow, IIM Indore, SP Jain School of Global Management, NIT Karnataka, NMIMS Mumbai, SCMHRD, Xavier Institute of Management Bhubaneshwar, IIFT, and IMT Ghaziabad, etc.

The programme offer access to the Qlik data analytics curriculum which provides university-level programmes, ready-to-teach, free resources, in-class activities, and academic assignments. In addition to that, it provides Qlik Continuous Classroom, which is a distance-learning platform with over 125 hours of online learning content. Moreover, students and professors can visualise and analywe data, and to share insights and findings through an interactive, collaborative team environment.

The technology edge of the programme enable students to enhance their skills, career prospects with online study material.

Qlik Continuous Classroom, Vice President of Knowledge and Learning, Qlik stated, “Students preparing for careers in today’s global data-driven environments need to raise the bar to succeed. They need exceptionally strong analytical and data literacy skills, along with the tools and know-how to keep pace with rapid change.”

“To meet this growing demand, the Qlik Academic Program has expanded to give students the skills and tools they need to succeed – while ensuring that professors are empowered with the best course materials on the most modern data analytics platform,” he added.

Government to frame National Book Promotion Policy

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digitalLEARNING Network

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August 4, 2017

To promote publishing, writing and cultural reading in the society, the Government of India has announced to frame a National Book Promotion Policy. The policy seeks to motivate and facilitate effective writing, good publishing and systematic distribution of books, making then accessible to readers.

The announcement was made by Minister of State of Human Resource Development Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey, at two-day national seminar organised by National Book Trust.

With this move, cultural, national, tribal and other literatures will be preserved and foster the importance of printed books in the society.

Under this policy, Indian literature will receive preferential treatment in publishing policies, writing and distribution policies across the country while promoting reading.

“The Government of India is working on finalising a National Book Promotion Policy, which will take care of providing a policy direction to the whole spectrum of book publication, writing and distribution in order to promote a culture of reading in the society,” added the HRD State Minister.

He also highlighted the role being played by National Book Trust and assured the commitment of the Government of India to support its endeavors to meet its avowed objectives.

While deliberating on the theme of the seminar, Dr. Pandey said, “Nationalism is an integral part of Indian literature.”

The national seminar had sessions focused on the tribal literature, folk literature, etc and their importance in order to preserve our culture and literature.

Digitisation takes over Odisha Board of Secondary Education

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digitalLEARNING Network

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August 4, 2017

Under the digitisation attempt, the students of Odisha Board of Secondary Education (BSE) should soon be able to access their educational documents online promoting easy accessibility.

The vision of BSE is to program the database in such a way that it promotes the smooth functioning of matriculation examination related records.

In a proposal given to the State Government, BSE seeks funds for its execution and intend to begin it by this year.

“A detailed proposal along with a technical report prepared by Industrial Development Corporation of Odisha Limited(IDCOL) has been submitted by the Board to the state government for the project,” stated Board’s President Sushant Das.

“We need at least Rs three crore for the project as a dedicated computer section will be set up to scan and digitise records of lakhs of students,” added Das. Board officials announced that authorities have assured the necessary financial support for this project.

The Board, appointed under the Odisha Secondary Education Act 1953, started its proper operations in 1955. In the last 62 years, lakhs of students appeared in the conducted matriculation examination and their records like registration number, mark sheets, passing certificates have been maintained with manual intervention.

Every year, at least six lakh students appeared for the matriculation examination. With this, whenever a student requests for a duplicate mark sheet copy or certificate, the process takes at least a month’s time to issue a duplicate record. With digitisation, this can be done within few hours. Also, the digitisation process will maintain the decade old records.

“Though our store rooms are in good condition but it is a fact that decade old documents turn brittle and get damage. In order to preserve the old records we have to urgently take up digitization work,” a senior Board official said.

A new arrangement is also being planned inside the office premises for the storage of documents since the store rooms are running out of space.

Delhi Govt to set up academies to promote different languages

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digitalLEARNING Network

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August 3, 2017

The Delhi government has plans to establish 12 regional language academies with a vision to promote the culture and tradition.

As per the scheme of the things, languages like Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Odia, Assamese, Garhwali, Kumaoni, Jaunsari, Kashmiri and Marwari will be a part of Delhi government’s Art, Culture and Languages Department.

According to the officials, Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who recently took charge of the ministry, wanted formation of the academies in the capital city.

“Since Delhi is the national capital, people from all parts of the country live and work here. It is this diversity that forms Delhi’s vibrant and cosmopolitan culture,” Sisodia said, in an official order.

“I have found that language academies play an important role in not only promoting the languages of different parts of the country but also the culture and tradition of different regions,” he added.

The ruling Aam Aadmi Party in its annual budget had also announced that they will set up multiple academies after the inclusion of Hindi and Sanskrit language.

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