Irani looks to boost innovative curriculum in schools

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July 3, 2014

Plans are on by the government to form a national innovation policy that would stress on innovation at the school level.

Informing the directors and chairmen of 16 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) about the policy at a retreat in Goa recently, Human Resource Development minister Smriti Irani has asked them to suggest schools to boost innovation in their curriculum, which would not only align with higher education institutions, but also help set up innovation labs at the district level across India and fill a culture of research and innovation among the students.

A ministry statement also stated that Irani has asked the institutes to set upCultures of Excellence in central universities. The retreat also focussed on issues, which dealt with research and technological innovation for meeting the national development agenda, enhancing industry-academia collaboration and expanding the massive open online courses (MOOCs).

Framing a ranking system that would reflect national concerns and use alumni network was also discussed. Irani further asked the IITs to develop special programmes for students of Northeast stressing on the point that they need to be exposed to the best of the institutions like IITs in different parts of the country. She asked the Director of IIT Guwahati to coordinate efforts in this direction and submit a report by the middle of August.

She also highlighted the need to develop ‘quality faculty’ not only for the new IITs, Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs), but also for other institutions in the country.

Cut-paste approach to end at IIM-C

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July 3, 2014

The cut-paste approach will no longer be appreciated at the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIM-C). Worried about the increasing tendency by students to copy from the Internet and other sources, the IIM-C has adopted a specialised software to check plagiarism.

The software named ‘Turnitin’ has the ability to compare documents submitted by students with papers, thesis and reports that are already online or those, which are earlier submitted by the previous batches of students. It can also determine how much of the work is original and how much of it is copied.

IIM-C professor, Prashant Mishra and former Chairperson of the post-graduation programme (PGP) stated that if a student is found to submit work which is not original, then there are penal provisions in accordance with the institute’s policy on plagiarism.

UGC stresses on teachers’ training courses

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July 3, 2014

Vice-chancellors of all universities have been asked to focus on strengthening and improving teachers’ education in universities. In a letter sent on June 30, Ved Prakash, Chairman, University Grants Commission (UGC), listed several steps that include synchronising teachers’ education courses with the regulatory provisions stated in the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), formulating revised modules for refresher and orientation training for teachereducators, and promoting and running integrated teacher education programmes (TEPs).

This move is aimed at improving the quality of teaching in the higher education sector. At present, the UGC chief’s letter has been posted on the commission’s website. Apart from focussing on the quality of teaching, the UGC chief has also asked universities to strengthen post-graduate programmes.

Prakash commented that UGC has been actively involved in issues relating to strengthening of existing education programmes along with new courses in all universities. He added that the universities, who are receiving grants, have already been directed to include the proposal for establishment of education departments in their XIIth Five Year Plan proposals.

The Chairman has written a separate letter to the directors of the academic staff colleges (ASCs) responsible for teacher education in the university, in which he has asked the institutes to include teacher education programmes in the ASC calendar along with slots for refresher and orientation programmes. This will constitute modules for training teacher educators and senior teacher educators.

Parents protest order to shut down school

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July 3, 2014

The direction issued by the office of the Director General School Education (DGSE) to shut down the Government Elementary School in Radio Colony, Jalandhar, has invited the ire of students and parents alike.

The decision over closing down the school was taken after going through a particular day’s report when there were only 13 students present. As per school authorities, the report was taken at the time of thin attendance. Moreover, the officials claimed that more than 46 students were present on July 1, 2014, the first day of the school after the summer vacation. School teachers revealed that over 70 students are enrolled in the school.

Student’s and parents protested against the move, which forced authorities to re-open the school. It was reported that children studying in the school belong to dalit and poor families. On enquiry, it was revealed that several residents of the posh locality have been expressing concern over poor children, who have been visiting the school to study.

Hardwari Lal, Chairman, Purvanchal Jan Kalyan Maha Sabha, states that the order for closing down the school could have been managed by some residents through political manipulation. Residential families are not welcome to the idea of these children coming to their locality. Lal added that upon visiting Anil Awasthi, District Elementary Officer, there was no clear answer as to who asked for the closing down of the school.

Education an important tool in transforming society: President Mukherjee

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July 1, 2014

Pranab Mukherjee while addressing participants of ‘School Chale Hum Abhiyan’ stressed on the role of education to transform society. Mukherjee said that the Right to Education which was enacted in Parliament on August 4, 2009 and came into force on April 2, 2010 was a historic step in this direction. This made education for every child a fundamental right, who belonged to the age group of 6 to 14 years. He further added that our educational institutions should aim to achieve better quality, research and innovation. It is also important to remind the young generations of their unique heritage in the form of the Indian value system, which combined with the knowledge imparted through formal education will give them the priceless gift of wisdom.
A Rashtrapati Bhavan release quotes President saying that education can be used to pursue the goal of inclusive growth of our society, paying special attention to those that are marginalised due to socio-economic or cultural reasons. He also extended his best wishes for the success of the ‘School Chale Hum Abhiyan’.

WB invests Rs 1000 crore for higher education infrastructure

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July 1, 2014

The West Bengal government is investing Rs 1000 crore to create more infrastructure in higher education, said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. This initiative is taken so that the general category students are not affected when reservation for OBCs begin in the state.
While addressing a gathering at a programme to celebrate Santhal rebellion or ‘Hool Divas’, Banerjee said that from 2014-15, OBC reservation will start and in order to avoid grievances from the students belonging to general category such initiative it taken.

All the categories of students belonging to SC, ST, OBC and general category will get a chance to get admission in the higher education institutes. There will also be an increase in IAS, IPS, doctors and engineers in the state as mentioned by the chief minister.
The state government is also creating 500 marketing hubs or bazaars where 100,000 youngsters will get shops for free of cost to sell their goods. Fifty hubs are ready and rest is in progress states Banerjee.
She also stated that for the upliftment of the tribals, the government will establish a Tribal Bhawan in each district of the state.

DTE specifies composite score method for engineering admissions

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June 27, 2014

The Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) on Thursday declared the procedure for calculating composite score, which will form the basis for framing the final merit list for the allotment of first-year engineering degree course seats in the state through the centralised admission process (CAP).

The composite score will be drawn from a 50:50 weightage to the percentile of marks obtained in paper 1 of the JEE (Main) 2014 and in the Std XII physics, chemistry and mathematics (PCM) group of the board exams. The formula for calculation of the normalised percentile and the composite score has been devised by the Kolkata-based Indian Statistical Institute.

“Candidates who have passed std XII from any board other than Maharashtra state, CBSE and ICSE boards, will be assigned equivalent board percentile of Maharashtra state board candidate who has scored equal number of marks in the PCM group for March 2014 exam,” DTE S K Mahajan stated in the notification detailing the calculation procedure. This provision is primarily aimed at students, who have cleared their class XII from the International Baccalaureate (IB) schools.

For a Maharashtra state candidate passing std XII from the state board, CBSE or ICSE, the percentile will be calculated separately for respective boards on the basis of March 2014 examination, the notification issued by directorate of technical education stated. Similarly, the March 2014 result of the respective board will be considered for the purpose of total number of students, who appeared for the Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics (PCM) group in the respective board, the notification added.

CBSE reiterates stand on corporal punishment

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June 27, 2014

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has reminded all its affiliated schools to keep out corporal punishment at every cost. Though corporal punishment has been banned in schools across the country, incidents keep happening, due to which all boards work on sensitising their staff.

The board has made it clear that corporal punishment needs to be eliminated completely. It emphasised in a letter to the schools that even the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act has framed strong rules against it. The 2009 Act, which came into force on April 1 a year later, defines physical or mental harassment as illegal and punishable under sections 17(1) and 17(2). The Act came in reference to the repercussions seen on the child’s mental condition on being subjected to such harassment which include – increased aggressive attitude, behavior resembling vandalism, decreased self-esteem, reduced confidence and concentration strength and other serious defects.

Psychiatrist Dr Pawan Adatia said corporal punishment could have grave consequences for the child. “Even a mild form of punishment can jeopardise a child’s self-respect, especially in cases of public humiliation; the child may develop a long-surviving trauma, which can result in a case of suicide in some cases if the punishment is repeated.” He added that if a child was physically punished for the purpose of discipline, he might in the future use it on his juniors for the same purpose. “This effect is made worse if the child is exposed to acts of violence, especially on TV. The only way to nurture a child in this case is to find the reason behind the problem of the child,” said Adatia.

DU takes a U-turn on FYUP

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June 27, 2014

The Delhi University has decided to roll back its controversial four-year undergraduate programme (FYUP), said the university’s vice-chancellor Dinesh Singh on Friday.

In a statement, Dinesh Singh said that, “The University of Delhi recognises the need of the hour. It is of paramount importance to protect the interests of the students by ensuring the start of the admission process.”

“In line with the directive of UGC, the university has decided to roll back FYUP. Consequently, the admission process shall be conducted under the scheme of courses that were in force in the academic session 2012-13 in all the colleges of the University of Delhi,” Dinesh Singh said.

“It is expected that the principals of our colleges shall assist in devising and ensuring speedy completion of the admission process,” Dinesh Singh said.

Earlier, Delhi University wrote to UGC accepting compliance and stated that is it ready to start admission process as per three-year undergraduate programme in existence prior to four-year-undergraduate programme.

The letter has been sent from DU administration on Friday morning. “I am directed to state that the University is in the process of drafting a response in accordance with the spirit of your directives to ensure that the admission process start very soon. We will send it to you at the earliest,” DU told the UGC.

Earlier, amid the standoff between the university and the UGC, human resource development minister Smriti Irani made it clear that student interests needed to be protected at all costs. She asked all players not to stand on “prestige” and said: “This is the time for statesmanship.”

Delhi University Teachers Association members along with university employees carried out a protest march from the Faculty of Arts to the residence of vice-chancellor Dinesh Singh in North campus demanding his resignation and immediate rollback of the four-year undergraduate programme.

“Delhi University’s VC is playing with the future of students. The FYUP should be scrapped and admission process under the three-year undergraduate programme should begin,” Nandita Narain, president, DUTA, said.

Sex education in schools should be banned: Health Min

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June 27, 2014

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has generated another controversy by stating in his website that sex education in schools should be banned.

In his ‘vision’ document for Delhi schools, Vardhan, himself a doctor, has said, “So-called ‘sex education’ (should) to be banned.” His website – drharshvardhan.com – also states the need to integrate value education with course content and put strong emphasis on exposing students to India’s cultural relations.

Vardhan couldn’t be contacted for his comments as he’s in the US. His office said this was the minister’s personal views. Delhi BJP spokesperson Sanjay Kaul said, “The issue of banning sex education in schools has not been discussed on the party forum. We have no comment to offer.”

Earlier, the health minister had created a stir by claiming the supremacy of fidelity as an AIDS prevention measure. “Condoms promise safe sex, but the safest sex is through faithfulness to one’s partner. Prevention is always better than cure,” he was quoted as saying.

Public health activists are angry with the ‘vision’ of the doctor-turned politician. Some public health activists said that the health minister appeared to be pushing the RSS agenda.

“Children are attaining puberty at very early age these days. By the age of 12-13 years, many children are sexually mature and several teens are also sexually active. In such a scenario, it would be idiotic to turn a blind eye to reality. Not only should parents speak to their children about sex and the implications and responsibilities arising from it, schools too should play an active role in imparting sex education to students,” said an activist. He said sex education instills essential information about conception, contraception and sexually transmitted diseases.

This is not the first time, sex education has been opposed by political parties. With the view to generate awareness and inculcate necessary skills among adolescents and youth, a scheme for adolescent education programme in the school curriculum was promoted by the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) and the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), which led to a major controversy in 2007.

Opponents argued for a ban on sex education in schools on the ground that it corrupted the youth and offended ‘Indian values’. They contended that it may lead to promiscuity, experimentation and irresponsible sexual behaviour.

As fallout of this controversy, several Indian states including Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Goa declared that the course content as suggested by MHRD was unacceptable and thus, banned the programme.

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