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.

Decks cleared for ITIs exclusively for women

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June 27, 2014

With an aim to ensure women empowerment by helping in gaining employment, Centre agreed to a proposal by Punjab government for setting up ITIs exclusively for women in the state.

Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi agreed to a proposal mooted by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal when she called on the latter at Kapurthala House in New Delhi this morning, according to a statement of Punjab government.

During the meeting, the Minister also assured Badal that the Centre was ready to fund any scheme/programme aimed at overall development and welfare of women and children in the state and impressed upon him to submit a proposal for setting up ‘One Stop Crisis Centres’ in each district across the state to ensure assistance to women afflicted with gender crime.

She asked the Chief Minister to send a detailed proposal to her ministry for the establishment of a network of ITIs across the state for imparting technical and vocational training to women for enabling them to be gainfully employed.

Gandhi hoped the unique initiative would go a long way in instilling a sense of confidence amongst women to live a life with self respect and dignity besides enormously contributing in the national growth.

The Minister apprised Badal of the scheme under which the state was required to hand over 250-300 square yards land to establish such centres by erecting pre-fabricated structures, the entire cost of which would be borne by the Centre.

Badal also raised several demands including revision in honorarium of Anganwari workers and helpers under ICDS scheme from Rs 5000 and Rs 2500 per month to Rs 8000 and Rs 4000 per month respectively.

Badal also pleaded for introduction of Contributory pension scheme with a minimum monthly contribution of 10 pc honorarium to facilitate retirement of workers and helpers at the age of 60 years, as demanded by Anganwari Unions.

He also sought liberal financial grant from the Centre for construction of Anganwari centres in a phased manner and asked for a grant of Rs 4.50 lakh per building for the construction of 2000 centres during 2014-15. Badal said more than 25000 Anganwari centres were running in rented/community/panchayat buildings across the state.

AICTE, Cusat nod to M Tech in Network Computing at TIST

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June 27, 2014

A new M Tech course in ‘network computing’ introduced by Toc-H Institute of Science and Technology (TIST) at its Arakkunam campus has been given approval by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT).

The two-year post graduate course has been designed to cater to the growing demand for professional network engineers in various industry verticals.

TIST Vice Principal Prof Babu John said the postgraduate course focuses on acquiring knowledge in multimedia networking, network management, wireless and mobile networks to make the students expert in network engineering.

Apart from giving prime importance to coding theory, network security and advanced communication technologies, the course also imparts training in information and resources management, cluster and grid computing, cloud computing and big data analysis.

The college has set up well equipped laboratories for the students to gain hands on experience in computer network and wireless network protocols.

‘Decision to grant 5 per cent quota to Muslims historic’

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June 27, 2014

The state government’s decision to provide 5 percent reservation to Muslims in government jobs and educational institutions has been termed as ‘historic and revolutionary’ by Maharashtra’s Minority Affairs Minister Mohammed Arif Naseem Khan.

“Several surveys had mentioned about socio-economic as well as educational backwardness of Muslim community. The Sachhar panel of Central government and Rahman panel of the state government have also highlighted the same,” he said.

Khan said that both the committees were positive about the need for reservations for Muslims in education and jobs.

“As per available data, the representation of Muslims in government jobs is very poor,” the minister said, adding that the quota would help to empower Muslims socially and economically, which will go a long way in bringing them in the mainstream.

In a politically significant decision, the Congress-NCP government approved 16 per cent reservation for Marathas and five percent for Muslims in government jobs and educational institutions.

Delivery boy clears IIT entrance test

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June 27, 2014

C Prashanth of Mysore is now an inch closer to realising his dream of studying engineering in IIT as he cleared the IIT-JEE (Advanced) with 255th rank (ST category).

Prashanth, 18, is from a poor family as his father Chandra Nayak is a construction labourer. To supplement the family’s finances, he delivered newspaper to homes in Mysore when he was in high school. “I was not expecting the 255th rank. It’s a wonderful feeling,” he said.

All credit goes to my family and Rashtrothana Parishat and Base institutions, which encouraged and gave me education free of cost,” Prashanth said, adding that he couldn’t afford to buy a newspaper, but while selling them, he managed to read them and that helped him gain knowledge to crack the prestigious exam.

Till SSLC, Prashanth did not know what IIT meant. “Initially, it was very difficult to follow the IIT subjects, but hard work and my teachers’ interest made things easy for me,” he added. He wants to pursue electronics, mechanical or civil engineering. His father and mother Jyothi saw to it that poverty didn’t come in the way of providing education to their three children.

Prashanth’s elder brother C Vasanth Kumar is pursuing BA in Mysore and sister C Chandana finished her SSLC this year with 87 percent.

His maternal uncle, Gopala, who is in the police department, ensured that once he finished schooling, he came to a Bangalore college. “I was scared of Bangalore as it’s a big city. But my uncle forcibly brought me to Bangalore to study,” he said.

Tapas, coaching centre of Base institutions, provides free education for economically poor students, who are keen on studying in the IITs. Tapas office coordinator S Rukmini said, “Prashanth was a hard worker and he has made us proud.”

Leaders meet to mend education in Arunachal Pradesh

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June 27, 2014

To reform the gloomy education scenario in Arunachal Pradesh, a joint coordination meeting adopted several resolutions to work in tandem with all stakeholders of the state.

The meeting held at Itanagar on June 20 resolved that maintenance of existing infrastructure in schools may be accorded top priority while expansion of infrastructure should be made as per the growth and need of the institutions, a copy of the document made available to the press said here today.

The meeting, attended by elected representatives including ministers, parliamentary secretaries, MLAs, municipal and panchayat leaders also resolved that new schools should be opened up only after construction of sufficient classrooms and posting of teachers.

Chief Minister Nabam Tuki, while addressing the meeting, exuded hope that the meaningful suggestions that have evolved should emerge as policy guidelines for the government.

He suggested for constitution of a committee to be headed by Education Minister Tapang Taloh with Health Minister Kalikho Pul, Parliamentary Secretary Phosum Khimhun, MLAs P D Sona, Kento Rina, Paknga Bage, Honchun Ngandam as members to submit their recommendations to the government so that early decision can be taken for these reforms.

Education minister in his observation said that the involvement of ministers, MLAs and public leaders would bring about revolutionary changes in the education sector.

He insisted on strict implementation of transfer and posting in the schools and asked all the senior officers to come up with data to his office to examine the feasibility of transfer and posting right in the beginning of the new academic session.

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