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Now, HIV patients’ children entitled to free education

Under the Right to Education (RTE), children of HIV positive patients will now get free education up to class 12 in private schools.

Children of HIV positive patients will be entitled to free education irrespective of their family’s financial condition. However, the scheme will be applicable only on the kids aged between three and seven years. They will be given admissions in nursery and class one from this academic year (2017-18). So far, 19 children in this category have been identified by the anti-retroviral therapy (ART) centre in Bareilly.

“Admissions will be given only in nursery and Class I. We have identified 19 children under this category and have registered them with our centre. We have informed the district magistrate and the Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) about them. The last date for registering students under this category is June 19,” said data manager of ART centre Manoj Verma.

“Though many HIV patients approached us for free education for their kids in private schools, their children were above seven and hence could not be registered. The selected students will have to apply on the RTE website. If the number of applications is higher than the reserved seats, BSA will take a final call on the basis of a lottery system,” added Verma.

The government has been providing free treatment, medicines and travel allowance to HIV patients on their visit to ART centres. So far, treatment of 1,385 patients has been initiated out of the 1,940 persons registered with the ART centre. The number of patients also include 90 children below 14 years.

Union Minister favours technical education in vernacular languages

Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Vijay Sampla said that to provide a level playing field to the rural youths, technical education should be imparted in regional languages as well.

The youth in rural areas usually lack in knowledge of English language that put them at a disadvantage in comparison to their urban counterparts, the minister added.

“Youths in remote areas who have obtained technical education can’t compete with their counterparts in cities. Local language plays a vital role in this. A student in suburban areas or rural areas cannot understand English, which is same as any other foreign language to him,” Sampla said.

The minister was addressing academicians from various institutions and members of business community at the 6th All India Technical and Management Council (AITMC) Summit. In order to solve the issue and to bring everyone on par, technical education should be imparted in regional languages too, Sampla said.

“It is because of trial and errors…and determination that we have become the largest exporter of software services and made other countries to seek our help to send satellites,” Sampla said.

AICTE and the Labour Ministry have also signed an MoU on national career service at the event. AICTE chairman Anil Sahasrabudhe was also present at the event.

Over 50 EMR Schools made functional during last three years

Ministry of Tribal Affairs has made 51 Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) functional during last three years.

Including the new ones, currently, 161 EMRS are functional while the number of functional EMRS was 110 in 2013-14. Over 52,000 tribal students are taking education in 161 EMR Schools of 26 States.

In order to boost educational opportunities for Scheduled Tribe (ST) children across the states, the Government in next five years seeks to extend the facility of EMRSs in all 672 Blocks where ST population is more than 50% of the total population.

The Government’s plan is in line with the guidelines. According to the guidelines, EMRS is to be set up in each Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA)/Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP) having 50% ST population in the area.

The capital cost for setting up the school complex, including hostels and staff quarters has been earmarked at Rs 12 crore with a provision to go up to Rs 16 crore in hill areas, deserts and islands.

Eklavya Model Residential School Scheme was started in 1998 with its first school in Maharashtra in the year 2000. During last 17 years, a total of 259 schools have been sanctioned during the last 17 years, out of which, 72 EMRS were sanctioned during last three years.

VIBGYOR Schools: Redefining Teaching Learning Methodologies

With its new and innovative approaches in every dimension of teaching and learning, VIBGYOR schools in sync with parents and teachers are developing the kids holistically, says Ashish Tibdewal, CEO & CFO, VIBGYOR Group of Schools in an interview with Elets News Network (ENN).

What are the practices followed at your school to embed best future practices and innovation with the teaching-learning process?

One of the features that VIBGYOR takes great pride in is its specially designed interdisciplinary curriculum developed in-house by a team of experts. The curriculum not only provides high quality learning material to students based on standards prescribed by various educational boards (CBSE, ICSE and CIE) but it also provides a detailed set of guidelines to the teachers. This ensures delivery of good quality education by the teachers across all VIBGYOR schools. A common curriculum enables a seamless transfer of students within VIBGYOR schools.

VIBGYOR’s educational philosophy is based on the holistic principles of learning that lays emphasis on the overall development of the child: intellectual, social, physical, emotional and spiritual. We are one of the few schools in the country to conduct structured programme in Sports and Performing Arts. Programmes offered in Sports and Performing Arts are based on a Best-in-class curriculum developed, managed and delivered by a team of professionals. We train our students in a spectrum of athletic and artistic activities ranging from Fitness to Games that include swimming, skating, football, cricket, basketball, handball, gymnastics as well as Music, Dance, Speech and Drama. This multi-faceted approach prepares students for the rigours of higher education, inculcates discipline and equips them with the skills and resourcefulness they require for a professional environment.

Also ReadVIBGYOR: A Launch Pad for Your Child’s Imagination

Our infrastructure also supports the same philosophy. All our classrooms are tech-enabled as we believe in Integration of technology to meet the learners’ requirement at every stage. For example, upto the primary level, the intervention of technology is limited to the use of audio video aids to facilitate the classroom learning, while the secondary grades are encouraged to use online research, video conferencing etc.

It is important to monitor innovative progress, performance and behaviour of every student at school. What initiatives have been taken by your school in this regard?

We strongly believe that effective and timely feedback is a critical component for improving a child’s performance and development. We conduct regular monitoring and periodic assessments of students. Cumulative feedback from parents, teachers and principals are given equal importance throughout the learning and development process of the students.

At VIBGYOR, we strongly support Inclusive Education. We have a dedicated and highly meticulous personalised learning team that plans and implements individualised education programmes for our students with special needs.

Teachers focus on encouraging positive and acceptable behaviour in the classroom. This motivates students to become self-disciplined. Further, an ideal Teacher-Student ratio enables our teachers to provide individual attention to every child.

For Innovation in school it is very important to have skilled teachers. What measures have been taken at your school to improve the teaching experience?

Our students are guided by qualified teachers and scholars who in their own way are counsellors as well. We have special training modules for teachers. We also have V-QUEST (VIBGYOR Quality Enrichment Support for Teaching) that regularly monitors the quality of teaching and learning across all VIBGYOR schools and provides feedback to enhance the teaching skills.

Effective training modules, teacher certification courses, soft skills training are also conducted for teachers to improve their teaching skills.

Another unique system we have in place at VIBGYOR is that we take into consideration our students’ perception of their teachers wherein our students of 8th Grade and above give feedback about their teachers.

It is very important for the school and parents to be in sync for the holistic development of children. Please share the processes you follow for it.

Parents are our partners and together our aim is to achieve the holistic development of every child. We encourage the involvement of parents in various activities. They are invited to be a part of the periodic culminating activities, where every child participates and exhibits their understanding of the concepts taught in the classroom.

Safety and security of our students being our topmost priority, we have an RFID system in place whereby every parent is notified of their ward’s entry and exit from the school and school bus.

There are regular interactions between parents and teachers to monitor the student’s progress. The parents also have access to a portal where they can closely monitor the child’s attendance, reports, etc. This approach helps the school and parents to work in a well-orchestrated manner.

‘All possible technologies will be used to improve education systems at all levels in UP’

Serious efforts will be made to provide better facilities and curriculum to coming generations in primary, secondary and higher education, said Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath .

He also added that efforts should be made right away in a phased manner to provide education based on the NCERT curriculum and called for use of all available technologies to improve the education system at all levels.

The Chief Minister was today holding deliberations at his Shastri Bhawan office with Secretary of the School Education and Literacy Department of the Union HRD Minister, Anil Swaroop and other GoI officers about ‘Road Map for transforming School Education, State of Uttar Pradesh’.

Also present on the occasion were Deputy Chief Minister Dr. Dinesh Sharma, Minister of State (independent Charge) for Basic Education Anupama Jaiswal and Minister of State Sandeep Singh. The Chief Minister also said various good educational practices followed in other states should also be implemented in Uttar Pradesh.

He also expressed concern over the fact that while the number of students in private schools and the number of such institutions was increasing, the drop out rate in government schools was increasing.

With regards to this, Yogi said immediate steps should be initiated to implement a transparent system at all levels so that students are drawn to the schools and study seriously whereas teachers attendance increases and the quality of education also improves.

The Chief Minister also said that serious and effective steps should be taken to link students with Aadhar and set a basic parameter in every class about the level of knowledge of students and try to make it to that basic level. He also expressed satisfaction that the present government has started working seriously in this direction.

He also called for use of technology in transfer policy for teachers, their attendance at schools, ways of teaching, student attendance and said that in the coming years, the state’s education sector will witness wide ranging changes.

Yogi also stressed on the use of technology to end graft in the education system and said that where power was not available solar energy should be used for running computers. The Chief Minister also said that in urban areas where the strength of students was poor such schools should be closed and efforts should be made to adjust them in nearby schools.

The Chief Minister also stressed on the need of GIS mapping and said that a transparent system should be implemented to ensure the attendance of teachers. He also stated that by embracing the NCERT curriculum, students from the state will be benefited in all-India competitions and will not suffer from complexes.

He further added that as and when needed local syllabus can be used in the NCERT curriculum. He also stressed on reducing the weight of the bags of children, making of a project monitoring group which included parents and local people for management of schools and monitoring of teaching and opening up of more regional offices of the CBSE in the state.

With this, the Chief Minister also issued instructions for starting an online system for students to receive the mark sheets and certificates for the Secondary Education Board, on the lines of the ‘Parinam Manjusha’ Scheme of the union government.

Also present at the meeting were Additional Chief Secretaries of the Secondary and Basic Education Departments and other senior officers.

More than 1.17 crore aspirants trained under “Skill India”

Over 1.17 crore aspirants have been trained under the National Skill Development Mission, said Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

The minister said that MSDE has trained the aspirants under various schemes and programmes since the inception of “Skill India”.

Rudy was addressing media persons on 3 years of NDA government, he said, “Skill India is a silent revolution that is underway and it is a joint investment that the government along with the private partners is making for the future growth of the country. He said it is a path that needs to be tread very carefully since it involves the future of the youth of our country. He said, what we sow today is what we will reap tomorrow. We have hence taken the first two years, to set our base right and align the skill ecosystem to national standards of skill qualification.”

According to Rudy, more than 26.5 lakh people were trained under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY). The scheme was launched on July 15, 2015 and of the candidates trained under the scheme so far 50 per cent were women candidates.

 “It is good to see that more and more women candidates are coming forward to take up skills. Last year women participation under PMKVY was 40%. I am elated to see that we have an equal male female ratio this year cumulatively” the Minister added.

Rudy also said, “The industry/private sector will only partner when they see quality workforce coming out from Skill India. We are seeing that transition happen gradually. More and more corporate are partnering with us on different levels whether is it on engaging with apprentices, extending infrastructure support, contribution through CSR funds and hiring of resources.”

MIT to design curriculum for SRM University’s Andhra Pradesh branch

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will design curriculum of key subjects for SRM University’s Andhra Pradesh branch.

MIT will develop the curriculum in subjects like calculus, electromagnetic theory, classical mechanics and computer programming for upcoming SRM University campus in Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh.

SRM University said that the curriculum will be developed and designed on the lines of MIT courses. By utilising both traditional and technologically enabled teaching methods, these courses will incorporate the concepts of hybrid learning.

“SRM is embracing a new method of learning, not before seen in India. We will emphasise practical and application oriented learning via projects and lab courses rather than monologues that are the typical feature of our classrooms,” said P. Sathyanarayanan, president of SRM University, Amaravati.

“We would like to create a world class environment for our students here at SRM University and we want to help them create tomorrow,” he added.

SRM’s faculty members will also participate in annual design camps to ensure the effective delivery of these courses in the proposed campus.

These camps will help the faculty members in learning the techniques to blend MITx courses and MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) with the blend of relevant local content into the courses offered.

IIT Kharagpur with University Of Pennsylvania to study climate’s effect on Darjeeling Tea

IIT Kharagpur (IIT-KGP) and Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) jointly are going to conduct a study to find that how climate change has affected the quality of Darjeeling tea.

Teams from the department of Architecture and Regional Planning of IIT-KGP and the department of Geography and Regional Planning of IUP have come together under Summer Study Abroad Programme in India, 2017 to conduct the research on above topic.

“Through this study we are taking a look at what are the special factors responsible to give Darjeeling tea its uniqueness. From environmental perspectives, we would analyse what changes or climate change impacts have been affecting the tea industries,” Principal Coordinator of the programme for IIT-KGP Haimanti Banerji said.

“We would also try to take a look at how the tea gardens are evolving or changing their production process as a response to the changes,” Banerjee added.

Seven students and two faculty members of IUP have already arrived in Kolkata.

“Tea is something that the entire world can relate to, even Starbucks has introduced Chai Latte in their menu. And when we talk about tea it is the world famous Darjeeling tea which comes to the mind,” Principal Coordinator of the program for IUP, Sudeshna Ghosh said.

“This research will focus on the socio-economic and geographic issues of tea -plantations and how they are impacted by climate change. Darjeeling has been selected as the test bed for this year,” Ghosh said.

The teams from both the institutes would be visiting Makaibari Tea Estate and Darjeeling Tea Research & Development Centre at Kurseong this month to conduct their field study.

“We would also be collecting weather related data of the region for the past 50 years, to understand the extent of climate change and how it gave Darjeeling tea its unique aroma,” Ghosh added.

Centre to replace UGC and AICTE with single higher education Regulator

The central Government in its attempt to revamp the education space of the country is planning to bring in a single higher education regulator. The Human Resource Development Ministry has proposed for Higher Education Empowerment Regulation Agency (HEERA).

HEERA will replace University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE).  The agency will be set up with an aim of removing overlaps in jurisdiction and to curb irrelevant regulatory provisions. HEERA will also act as a regulatory body for the technical and non-technical institutions.

‘The University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) are soon going to be a thing of the past with the government planning to replace them with a single higher education regulator,’ a report said.

Education experts from past many years are demanding to set up a single regulator for India’s higher education sector. The blueprint and legislation is still to be worked upon. “Both Niti Aayog and HRD Ministry officials are working on the plan. It was felt that multiple regulatory bodies led to excessive and restrictive regulation and hence contributed to lack of institutional autonomy,” an official said.

UP Board makes NCERT books mandatory for its students

Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad (UPMSP) – UP Board, most likely, from the coming academic year is all set to follow National Council of Research and Training (NCERT) textbooks.

Additional Secretary (Administration) UP Board Shiv Lal said, “We received a communication in May from Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma, who also holds the secondary education portfolio, with the direction to introduce NCERT books into our curriculum”. This implies that those writing their Class X and Class XII exams in 2019 will comprise the first batch of students to be facing their tests under the new system.”

Except the students who will study Agriculture (high school) and Business Studies (Intermediate) need not to follow NCERT textbooks as there is a huge difference between the syllabus of both the Board for these subjects.

“The proposed changes will thereafter be vetted at a meeting of the Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad  (secondary education council), which would be presided over by the Director, Secondary Education. Thereafter, the draft proposal will be sent to the government for approval,” Lal said.

Every year millions of students appear for UP Board’s Class 10 and Class 12 exams. Around 32.6 lakh students appeared for class 10 board exam last year, whereas the number for students appeared for class 12 board exam was around 29.2 lakh.

UPMSP conducted the board examinations in the month of March- April 2017 and it is expected that the results for the exams will be declared on June 9.

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