Bombay HC directs state government to sort power issues at exam centres

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September 25, 2014

The Bombay high court has asked the state government to ensure availability of uninterrupted power supply across the state during the period of examinations commencing September 26. In a directive addressed to the Department of Secretary of School Education, the HC has asked the government to appoint a team of officials who will be responsible for making random visits to exam centres that are affected by load-shedding. They are further to verify, if these centres are getting uninterrupted power supply during the exam period.

A division bench of justices Abhay Oka and Girish Kulkarni clearly stated that these officials should make surprise visits to the 153 centres of the board to examine if the exam halls have been provided generators or invertors. The bench also directed the state government to come out with an action plan with reference to this issue for next year’s SSC/ HSC exams.

It stated: “From its last affidavit, we know what the government’s approach is. This is a human issue and we will not leave it at this. We want answers with regard to providing uninterrupted power to all exam centres in the future too.”

The directive was issued during the hearing of a bunch of petitions highlighting the non-implementation of a 2009 high court order directing the state to provide uninterrupted power supply to exam centres. One of the petitions, filed by Navi Mumbai social worker, alleged that many students had had to write exams in darkness.

NDA Government scraps Higher Education bill

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September 25, 2014

The Union Cabinet has withdrawn a draft legislation that sought to create an overarching regulator for higher education, replacing the University Grant Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the National Council for Teachers Education and the Distance Education Council. The decision to scrap the Higher Education and Research Bill, 2011, was arrived at a meeting of the Union cabinet in New Delhi on Wednesday.

The bill was introduced in Parliament in December 2011 by then Human Resource Development (HRD) minister Kapil Sibal and had sought to create a National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER), an independent statutory body in education similar to capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India. The proposed NCHER, which has now been scrapped, was to determine, coordinate, maintain and promote standards of higher education and research (university, vocational, technical and professional education), other than agricultural education and medical education.

This is the first instance of the new National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government scrapping an important draft legislation that was introduced in Parliament by the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. The Bill sought to give all powers related to higher education to the proposed commission even though education is a subject controlled by both the Union and state governments.

Speaking to reporters after the Cabinet meeting, Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the government thought it was not in sync with the federal structure of the country. Prasad said that the HRD-related parliamentary standing committee had expressed its reservation on the Bill. The standing committee had said the HRD ministry had not consulted state governments while drafting this Bill. It recommended that state governments be given a say in the formulation of any policy on higher education. It had also opposed the proposal to scrap UGC, AICTE and other regulators.

Government effects major bureaucratic reshuffle; moderate impact on MHRD

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September 25, 2014

In what has been the biggest bureaucratic reshuffle at the Centre in recent times, the Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre has ordered the transfer of close to 50 officers of the rank of additional and joint secretaries in the past two days. Orders to this effect for 48 of these officials were issued late Tuesday night.

As far as the Ministry of Human Resource Development is concerned, the impact of what many officials have termed as a ‘midnightmassacre’ has been comparatively moderate. Among the major movements, Satyanarayan Mohanty, a 1980-batch IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre has been appointed as Secretary, Department of Higher Education. Mohanty, who currently handles the National Disaster Management Authority, replaces Ashok Thakur.

In another significant transfer, Praveen Prakash, Joint Secretary, Technology Enabled Learning, Department of Higher Education, has been moved to the Ministry of Urban Development. M Ariz Ahmed, Director, Department of School Education and Literacy, has been appointed as Joint Secretary in Department of Pharmaceuticals.

In other appointments in the MHRD, 1986-batch Satbir Silas Bedi, an IAS officer of the UT cadre, has been appointed as Joint Secretary in the Department of School Education and Literacy. Shashi Prakash Goyal, 1989 batch IAS officer of UP cadre, has been appointed as Joint Secretary in the Department of Higher Education.

Rakesh Ranjan, a Manipur-Tripura cadre IAS officer of the 1992 batch, currently on compulsory wait in the Ministry of Culture, has been appointed as Joint Secretary in the Department of Higher Education. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, a 1988 batch IAS officer of the Uttarakhand cadre, has been appointed as Joint Secretary in the Department of Higher Education. He replaces Jagmohan Singh Raju, a 1985-batch Tamil Nadu cadre IAS officer, who was prematurely repatriated to his cadre on June 30, 2014.

MHRD asks schools to ensure implementation of ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’

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September 25, 2014

The Human Resource Development ministry has asked all colleges and educational institutions to ensure implementation of the ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’. In a ministry communiqué sent on Wednesday ahead of the launch, institutes have been asked to make sure that the programme is sustained in a “befitting” manner and the campuses are kept clean.

Laying emphasis on the sustenance of the programme, the communication said, “All concerned may be requested to keep the academic, administrative and residential area in a neat condition.”

The ministry has also asked the University Grants Commission (UGC) to roll out schemes on national initiatives for fostering social responsibility in higher education and set guidelines for the establishment of a centre for fostering social responsibility and community engagement in universities during the 12th Plan period.

The centre would help to leverage on the mobilisation and interest that will be generated in the higher educational institutions during the launch of the ‘Swachh Bharat’ mission, the communiqué added. Teaching spaces should have a positive ambience for students and playgrounds and open spaces should be kept in neat and clean conditions. Besides, drinking water supplies and storage facilities in both academic and residential blocks should be kept clean and inspected on regular basis, the communication said.

HRD Minister Smriti Irani is set to launch specific cleanliness campaign from a school in New Delhi today. All officials up to the rank of Deputy Secretary will take part in cleaning activities in Kendriya and Navodaya Vidyalayas across the national capital as part of the ‘Swachch Bharat’ campaign. Officials in the higher education division will be at the universities as part of the clean-up drive.

The cleanliness drive culminates on October 31, birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. To ensure the exercise is not confined to one day, the HRD ministry will ask educational institutions to include stories of cleanliness in their curriculum. They will also be asked to ensure that at least few questions in examinations are about hygiene and cleanliness.

NTPC ventures into upskilling

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September 24, 2014

NTPC and National Power Training Institute (NPTI) signed a contract agreement for Skill Development of Power Plant Engineers across the country. Under this agreement NTPC will provide consultancy services to NPTI for procurement, engineering, supervision and testing of Simulators at six locations in the country.

The agreement was signed in the presence of I.J Kapoor, Director (Commercial), NTPC and Subodh Garg, Director General NPTI. These Simulators will be installed at NPTI buildings at Badarpur in Delhi, Faridabad in Haryana, Durgapur in West Bengal, Nagpur in Maharashtra, Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh and Allappuzha in Kerala.

Now, a parent-friendly App for schools

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September 24, 2014

In a move of technological upgradation that could drastically cut down parents’ worries, schools in Mumbai have now started incorporating an app to facilitate efficient and user-friendly reach to the parents.

Intellinects Ventures, an education service provider, has designed an Android mobile application for schools which will provide parents with information such as news, events, teachers, alumni, PTA meetings, etc. This will lessen the burden of parents to visit schools and help them access the information on their mobile phones.

Kevin Saldanha, director of Intellinects Ventures, said, “With over 900 million mobile users, Indians are more likely to use the mobile to receive information about schools. The updates are delivered notification. The app developed for schools will not only have public view information but private view, which will be secured and cannot be viewed by an outsider.”

Apostolic Carmel Junior College, St Andrew’s High School and Convent of Jesus & Mary (CJM) High School & Junior College are three schools where this app is introduced. “In less than a month, about 30 per cent of the parents have already downloaded the App via Google Play Store,” added Kevin.

Antonette Monteiro, principal of CJM High school and Jr. College, said, “We have created the app on September 5. This is a great idea and the quickest way to provide any kind of information, especially in case of an emergency.”

Intellinects Ventures also plans to set up a group chat called Charcha, which will be a platform for parents and teachers to interact with each other. Learning Management Systems, which will include educational content and games, is also among their future goals. Plans are also afloat to provide similar Apps to more than 20 schools in Goa, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Cambridge partners with Indian institutes for English assessment

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September 24, 2014

In a move that is likely to enhance the English language assessment skills in India, UK-based Cambridge English Language Assessment (a not-for-profit English language assessment department of the University of Cambridge) has signed different Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with Hindustan University, the Indian Council for Assessment and Accreditation (ICAA), Vignan University in Andhra Pradesh and BS Abdur Rehman University in Tamil Nadu.

These MoUs were inked at the ‘1stCambridge English – India Partnership Summit’, which saw top educationists, policy makers and heads of educational institutions in attendance.

“We have a wide range of English language examinations. Increasingly, we’re setting up centres around the world, because we realise that you can’t help the world learn English just from Cambridge. You need to do it where the people are learning,” said Saul Nasse, chief executive of Cambridge English Language Assessment.

Under the MoUs, the institutions will get to utilise the wide range of assessment tools developed by Cambridge. According to Nasse, the institutions can also customise these tools according to their requirements.

Cambridge English works with 200 technical institutions and several corporates in India for conducting assessments. The department works with approximately 6,00,000 candidates per year across all primary and higher education schools and is growing at about 20 per cent.

‘Reservation’ to ensure equal opportunities for all: Hamid Ansari

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September 24, 2014

India’s Vice President Hamid Ansari has said that the motive behind issuing reservations in educational institutions is to ensure equal opportunities for all students across the country. “The Indian Constitution ensures opportunity for all its citizens. In case of inequality in certain cases, the state government must intervene to take necessary actions to place them on an equal footing,” Ansari said while addressing a gathering at Sophia College for Women in Mumbai on Tuesday.

The Vice President answered queries on wide ranging topics covering education, sports, role of the media and international relations in an interactive session with the students. The students also posed questions on sports to which Ansari said that the Right to Sport should be implemented as a part of the Right to Education (RTE).

Although parents in Mumbai have complained of their children being denied admissions to schools under several pretexts, interestingly, Ansari seemed to be fairly satisfied with the implementation of the RTE Act. “Through the Right to Education (RTE), the process of admitting children in schools is largely being met, but the school system fails to impart quality education,” Ansari said, adding that the situation could be changed through society’s intervention rather than government initiated measures.

However, a statement from VP Ansari that resonated with his audience is when he acknowledged the stress that education inculcates within students. He said: “The challenge lies in transforming stress into enjoyment.”

He also expressed disappointment over the current representation of women in Parliament. There are only around 60 women in a house of 545. He hoped the Women’s Reservation Bill would be passed in the Lok Sabha soon.

DU has more ad hoc teachers than permanent ones

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September 24, 2014

In spite of the many reforms ushered by Delhi University(DU) in recent years, the issue of ad hoc teachers refuses to go away.

It has been found that in most DU colleges, the number of ad hoc teachers is more than permanent teachers. Colleges have not been appointing permanent teachers for a long time, it has been found.

UGC rules state that the number of ad hoc teachers cannot be more than 10 percent of total teacher strength, but most DU colleges have been found to be flouting this rule. Teachers have been found to be teaching in ad hoc capacities for as long as ten years without getting a permanent position. This has prompted them to form a forum to put forward their case.

DU, however, says that the delay has been due to changes in the rules for appointment of teachers. The points-based system introduced by UGC in 2010 was opposed by DU as well as other universities and had written to the Ministry of Human Resources for reconsideration. The recommendation of a committee constituted by the Ministry to look into the issue were notified only in 2013. Due to it, there weer no appointments in the intervening years. But with the recommendations being notified, colleges may start hiring teachers on a permanent basis.

Medical colleges face a catch-22 situation after SC relief

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September 24, 2014

The recent Supreme Court order to provide interim relief to medical colleges is proving to be a double edged sword.

Supreme Court had recent allowed medical colleges that had been de-recognized by the Medical Council of India(MCI) to admit students for medical courses, but with a lot of strings attached. MCI had refused to resocnize nearly 40 medical colleges after they had failed the surprise tests conducted by it. The colleges had spproaced the courts for relief, but a three-judge bench at the Supreme Court while permitting them to admit the students, laid down conditions that may not be acceptable to them.

The Supreme Court has asked the erring colleges to submit an undertaking saying that all the shortcomings found by MCI during its surprise inspection had been corrected. If the undertaking was found to be untrue, then the college could lose its Rs 10 crore bank guarantee.

In addition, the private colleges cannot admit students on their own accord. In stead, the respective state governments will admit the students from its merit list. The students thus admitted will pay the fees fixed by the state instead of that charged by the private colleges. This is proving to be unacceptable to the private colleges, as the state-fixed fees are considerably lower than their fees. Private colleges are wary of surrendering their seats to the government.

The next hearing date of the case is October 1.

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