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10+2 science & maths syllabus to be made uniform from 2011 session
NEW DELHI, February 17, 2010: State boards across the country have agreed to implement a core curriculum in science and mathematics at the higher secondary level. The decision taken by the Council of School Board of Education
(COBSE) on Tuesday will be implemented from 2011-12. The apex body for all school boards and councils also agreed to work
towards a common entrance examination for professional courses by 2013. With concerns about stress faced by students mounting, the core curriculum is expected to be implemented smoothly. Putting in
place a common entrance examination for courses like engineering, medicine may prove to be difficult, as it would mean doing away with entrance exams like IIT-JEE. Both decision would be referred to the Central Advisory Board on Education for approval.
“The COBSE approved the core curriculum in science and mathematics. This will be accepted by all the state boards at the senior higher secondary level. Hence forth, the core curriculum will be taught in the science stream in all schools,” HRD minister Kapil Sibal said.
There are 41 boards across the country. Source: The Economic Times
IGCSE school students across globe net, set and go online
MUMBAI, October 21, 2009: Imagine a 24-hour online classroom, where children from across the globe log on to a common website and interact with each other across continents and time zones.
That's exactly what happened all of Tuesday, with the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE), a board affiliated to Cambridge University, launching a new course called
global perspectives for students in the age group of 14 to 16.
At least 80 schools across the world participated in the online classroom sessions on Tuesday, including 10 from India. Students from each of the 80 schools began the day by logging on to the
website. They could join the online session at any point during the day, so that they would overlap with students in different time zones.
The online classroom was a bit like a 24-hour relay. Students from New Zealand were the first to log into the system. UK students joined in several hours after Indian students started school, thanks
to the difference in time zones. Students and teachers could choose five global topics to explore
from 16 key themes, including belief systems, disease and health, trade and aid, tradition, culture and language, climate change, conflict and peace and water. Source: The Times of India
Over 71% schools have less than 3 teachers
BANGALORE, October 1, 2009: Even as Right to Education Bill holds out the promise of education for all children, there's a huge stumbling block. Altogether 4.17 lakh primary schools in India have one or at best two teachers. And that's 54% of all primary schools in the country. Worse, the number of primary schools with three or less number of teachers is as high as 5.49 lakh -- that's a staggering 71.5%. The
report of the working group on elementary education and literacy for the 11th Five-Year Plan submitted to HRD ministry has said that schools across the country are woefully short of teachers.
The increase in upper primary teachers is relatively higher in rural areas of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. In most states, the percentage
increase in upper primary teachers is more than that of primary teachers. Also, irrational allocation of primary teachers among schools and between rural and urban areas is a major issue in many states. Yet another major issue is small schools with very few teachers.
CBSE to make
Class X boards optional in 2010-11
Delhi, August 27, 2009 (ANI): The Central Board of Secondary Education
(CBSE) is likely to announce on Friday that from the coming academic year (2010-11), Class X
board exams will become optional in all CBSE-run schools.The board will make a formal announcement once the blueprint of the new system
to replace the board exams is frozen. HRD Min plans to introduce grade system in CBSE schools.
CBSE sources said board chairman Vineet Joshi would hold the last presentation and consultation session in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday on the changes being
brought about before the draft is finalized and made public.
Teach Hindi in all schools: Sibal
NEW DELH, August 25, 2009: Human resource development minister Kapil Sibal presented a proposal for a core curriculum for mathematics and science in all school boards on Monday at a two-day annual conference of Council of Boards of School Education in India
(COBSE). The minister also urged the boards to ensure fluency of three languages among students, and said the knowledge of Hindi would aid in national integration.
Parliament nod for Right to Education Bill
NEW DELHI, August 6, 2009: Parliament has adopted ‘The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill, 2009,’ which envisages free and compulsory education to children in the 6-14 age group with the Lok Sabha approving it by voice vote on Tuesday. The Rajya Sabha passed the Bill on July 20.
Replying to the debate, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal termed the Centre’s move a “national enterprise that would help shape India’s future.” The legislation would ensure every child’s right to education, and the obligation of the government to impart it. Once the President gave assent to the Bill, getting education would be a fundamental right of the child.
The law was brought not to interfere with the State government’s attempts to provide elementary
education. On the medium of instruction, he said there was a provision to provide elementary education, as far as possible, in the mother tongue of the child. The law would ensure that the child got free, compulsory and quality education by qualified teachers. The curriculum would be less rigorous and it would ensure all-round development of children.
Bill making education free and compulsory may get LS nod
NEW DELHI, August 1, 2009: A `historic' bill making education free and compulsory for all children in the age group of 6 to 14 years is likely to get Parliament's approval on Monday.Already passed by the Rajya Sabha, the bill was moved by HRD minister Kapil Sibal in the Lok Sabha on Friday. He said that the legislation was capable of radically changing Indian society by providing education to every child.
Sibal said the "intellectual assets" that the bill promised to create would be part of the national wealth. Therefore, there should be no opposition to its early passage. Speaking on the bill, Kirti Azad (BJP) said his party would back the bill. Sibal said the legislation would provide for standardisation stipulating the student-teacher ratio, infrastructure and uniformity all across the country.
TN gets 85 new engg colleges
CHENNAI, July 10, 2009: The All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has approved a whopping 85 new self-financing engineering colleges, including nearly half-a-dozen exclusive women’s institutions, taking the tally of private players in engineering education in Tamil Nadu to 420. With this, the number of BE/BTech seats in private colleges is set to cross 1.64 lakh. Two colleges have been approved for Puducherry too. Only Andhra Pradesh, with 523 engineering colleges, is ahead of
Tamil Nadu in technical education. While Maharashtra has 227 such institutions, Karnataka has 154,
according to AICTE data.
Union Budget 2009-'10: Varsities gain most, schools given less
New Deli, July 7, 2009: Higher education is clearly the primary focus as the government has increased the plan outlay by Rs 2,000 crore, from Rs 7,593.50 crore in the interim budget to Rs 9,596 crore. While this is aimed at increasing the gross enrollment ratio in higher education from the current rate of 12.4%, there were no special incentives for the private sector to join this effort. A sum of Rs 50 crore has been provided for Aligarh Muslim University’s new campuses in Murshidabad, West Bengal and
Malappuram, Kerala. Also, Rs 827 crore has been earmarked for a central university in each uncovered state, Rs 450 crore for setting up new IITs and NITs, and Panjab University, Chandigarh has been given Rs 50 crore to improve infrastructure. On the tax side, the deductions on the interest paid on education loans under Section 80E has been extended to all fields of higher education and vocational studies.
Research and development has also found favour. The Indian Council of Forestry Research and
Education, Dehra Dun has been given Rs 100 crore, while the Botanical Survey of India and the
Zoological Survey of India have been allocated Rs 15 crore each, and the Geological Survey of India has got an additional Rs 15
crore. Significantly, the school segment, the foundation of the education sector, was not touched upon, the Budget reiterates the government’s aim to reduce female illiteracy by half in three years. The burden of financing the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan has shifted to the 2% education cess while the 1% secondary and higher education cess is expected to net Rs 7,129 crore.
- ET
Courses related to environment studies
Jun 29, 2009 :With increasing awareness on climate change and other environmental threats,
possibilities in environment studies have opened up. In India late last year, university students have been increasingly looking at alternative areas of study, at the potential of ‘emergent’ industries. Many colleges and institutions have also begun offering courses related to the environment in recent years to cater to the increasing interest in such fields.
Anna University currently offers three environment-related courses at the master’s level
- Environmental Science, Environmental Engineering and Environmental Management. They have also set up research bodies like the Centre for Climate Change where Ph.D students participate in collecting local climate data and conducting regional-scale environmental research.
Others, like the University of Madras, have partnered with institutions like the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and the Centre for Research on New International Economic Order (CRENIEO) to offer more specialised courses and degree programmes for those who require it for their field of work or those who are particularly interested in these areas.
Rs 15,500 cr boost for education likely-
New Delhi, June 27, 2009: The country’s education sector is expected to get a huge boost in the
upcoming budget, with outlay for education rising by as much as Rs 15,500 crore over the
Rs 34,500 crore provided to the Ministry of Human Resource Development in the
interim budget in February, 2009. This increment — the highest for any ministry in the last three years — would
require to be used for improving school education and expanding higher
education.
A special allocation of Rs 8,500 crore is being earmarked for setting up eight
new IITs, seven IIMs, 10 new National Institutes of Technology and 15 Central
Universities, a senior government official, who was not willing to be quoted,
said. A part of this allocation would be utilised to upgrade colleges to
Universities. At present, India has 431 universities; China has over 1,500.
Another Rs 8,000 crore is expected for infrastructure schemes like setting up
6,000 model schools, of which 2,500 would be through the public private
partnership mode, in the educationally-backward districts and improving the
quality of education under the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan. Mid-day meal and
pre-matric scholarship for students from weaker sections is also expected to get higher
allocation.
The government has set itself an ambitious target of creating a pool of 300
million skilled workers by 2012 and about 500 million by 2022 that will help the
country maintain its competitive workforce advantage over rivals like China.On Thursday, Kapil Sibal, minister of human resource development, said he will
announce a 100-day agenda for the ministry next week. The agenda will include
initiatives like setting up an autonomous authority for higher education and
research, a law to regulate entry and operation of foreign educational providers
and a new policy to attract talent from the across the world to existing and new
institutions.
Estimates suggest that around 100,000 of Indian students leave each year to
study abroad, at a cost of $4billion or Rs 16,000 crore. In all, the HRD ministry will get close to Rs 50,000 crore, a five-time increase
in allocation as compared to Budget 2005-06.
Source: Hindustan Times
Education reforms top priority, says Sibal
NEW DELHI, June 25, 2009: HRD minister Kapil Sibal wants to bring in sweeping reforms in the education sector, focus on areas that have till now received little attention and enter into an era of
partnership with the private sector as well. In this interview with ET, he discusses his future plans. Our focus in elementary education should be on teacher’s training
and improving infrastructure. We need to change norms for schools. Urban areas should have different norms than rural areas given the land issue. We have had many players setting up schools just to get the land, that has to stop. These will be focus areas for the government. When it comes to the private sector, we will need to set up an institutional mechanism to assess quality. This would include setting up entry barriers so that only quality schools remain. Private players with proven track record in education and financial
track record who will ensure a good student-teacher ratio will be allowed. At present, I am concentrating on the Right to Education, I would like to see it through in this session of Parliament.
We have to ensure an independent evaluation mechanism. This mechanism has to be set up
independent of the government. This could be in the form of a council. Our greatest drop out rates take place in the transition from upper primary to secondary. This must be arrested, if we want to increase
the gross enrollment ratio at the tertiary level. The Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan will be launched on a mission mode, like the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan was. This will be part of the 100-day
effort. We will need to go to Cabinet once again for allocations for the mission, which will focus on the secondary segment.
We need to revamp vocational education, make it up to date. It should be possible for students to move from class XII to polytechnics. Vocational education is an important component, because not every child who goes to school ends up doing research or pursue academics, a lot of children become
entrepreneurs. As the economy expands there will be a large demand for skills as well. Students need to be given choices, for that vocational education needs to stand on its feet.
Pvt professional colleges harming education system: SC
NEW DELHI, June 18, 2009: In what can further crank up the pressure for cleansing the education system, the Supreme Court on Wednesday criticized education regulators for the casual manner of giving recognition to private professional colleges, calling them "masked phantoms". The court charged the regulators with disregarding the criteria laid down for the recognition, saying that it was hurting the higher education system while asking the policy makers to take note of the runaway commercialisation of education. It said: ``The protagonists of privatisation of education should realise what is happening in
the country.''
The regulators - the University Grants Commission, Medical Council of India, All India Council of Technical Education and Dental Council of India - are all under the scanner, amid signs that the government may be veering towards scrapping them to bring in a fresh regulator patterned after the Securities and Exchange Board of India. The bench comprising Justices B Sudershan Reddy and Aftab Alam was concerned about the practice of private institutions enrolling thousands of students even
before they get the mandatory recognition. The plight of these students is then invoked, it said, to
wangle recognition from regulators who are not keen to apply the standards laid down in the book.
The private institutions cite the students' career as grounds to legalise the admissions they had done
unauthorizedly, it said. The bench then went on to call, echoing the remark made by the court in a similar case, the institutions - "masked phantoms" - which do more harm to the education system than good.
It also sounded a loud warning against the current policy premium on privatization, pointing to the pitfalls involved. Privatization of education was all right, but this sort of blatant violation of statutory requirements needed for starting a professional college by private parties amounted to playing with the future of thousands of students, it said.
The HC had referred to a 1986 judgment of the apex court emphasising the need for proper inspection of the private institutes before grant of recognition on the grounds that ``private institutions
unauthorizedly established were invariably ill-housed, ill-staffed and ill-equipped'' and deprecated the HCs which allowed such institutes to admit students.
Source: The Times of India
New norms for teacher education mooted
June 15, 2009: The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) will be coming out with a new
curriculum for teacher-training courses. Also, the council will be laying down strict regulatory norms to check the quality of teacher education institutes and to curb the mushrooming of sub-standard private
institutes. In fact, it has decided to put a curb on the number of teacher-training institutes a state can have.
"Teacher training in India has been getting diluted over the years. There are good, bad and even worse institutes offering teacher education
programmes. NCTE has already shut down more than 150
sub-standard institutes. But along with this, there is also a need to improve the quality of education in the existing institutes. Therefore, we have decided to revise the teacher education
curriculum, propose new norms for institutes, new qualification for faculty and new eligibility criteria for admission of student
teachers," informed Mohammad Akhtar Siddiqui, chairperson, NCTE.
Nalanda varsity site may be included in world heritage list
PATNA. May 13, 2009: The excavated site of ancient Nalanda University has now been included in the tentative list of world heritage nomination from India. It is an important step since the World Heritage Committee cannot consider a nomination for monument on the world heritage list unless the property has already been included in the tentative list.
The World Heritage Centre (WHC) offers advice and assistance in preparing this file, which needs to be as exhaustive as possible, making sure the necessary documentation and maps are included, said Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) additional director general B R Mani.
Nalanda was one of the most ancient international centres of education and learning equivalent to modern universities, with a very rich library. The real importance of Nalanda began during the Gupta rule (5th century AD). The monasteries of Nalanda were the creation of the Gupta kings beginning with Kumaragupta I. Nalanda is primarily an archaeological site and retains its original location and settings. It is still not much disturbed by the forces of urbanization, industrialization or modernization. Nalanda is
primarily an archaeological site exposed during the excavations conducted by the ASI during 1915-37 and 1974-82.
ICAR to set up three new research institutes
HYDERABAD, :May 11, 2009 : The Indian Council of Agricultural
Research (ICAR) is setting up three new research institutes with deemed
university status with focus on Biotechnology, Biotic stress and Abiotic stress
to face emerging challenges in crop production. Further, the Council is planning
to introduce fellowships for post graduate and doctoral (PhD) programmes for
students from both the developed and developing countries. Inaugurating the 44th All India Rice Research Group Meetings at Acharya NG Ranga
Agricultural University (ANGRA U) here today, Director-General of ICAR Mangala
Rai said that the transgenic culture is attaining greater importance in
agriculture.
He emphasised that agricultural scientists working on rice should reorient their
research to face global climatic changes to check productivity loss and other
negative effects on yields. He pointed out that the Indian rice varieties are
yielding good results in Africa.ICAR Deputy Director General (Education and Crop Science) SP Tiwari said that
ICAR is coming up with many research projects in consortium mode for development
of new knowledge and breakthrough in rice production.
Is a fee hike justified during recession?
May 04, 2009: Pursuing a management education at any of the prestigious Indian Institute of Managements (IIMs) is probably the top most priority for those wanting to study management in India.
However, the recent fee hikes across IIMs for their flagship two-year Postgraduate Programme in Management during these times of recession have left many aspirants questioning the affordability of an education at these centres of excellence.Most students and academicians want to know if the fee hike is justified in the current economic situation. - The Economic Times
SBI cuts education loan rates for new borrowers
MUMBAI, April 30, 2009: After a slew of rate reduction schemes, State Bank of India
(SBI), the country’s largest lender, has lowered interest rates on education loans for new borrowers.
The reduction is in the range of 25-200 basis points (1 bp=1/100th of a percentage point) and will take effect from May 1 to September. Following the rate cut, education loans will be available in the range of 11-11.5%.
On loans up to Rs 4 lakh, SBI will charge 11.50% against the earlier 11.75% while interest on loans between Rs 4 lakh and Rs 7.5 lakh will be charged at 11.25% against 13.25% earlier. For loans above Rs 7.5
lakh, the rate is fixed at 11% against 12.25%. SBI will offer interest rate concession of 0.5% to female students availing of education loans. SBI’s education loan portfolio is in the range of Rs
5,000- 6,000 crore. Existing customers who have availed of education loans will not benefit from the latest reduction as the rates they pay are linked
to SBI’s prime lending rate, which has not been revised downwards since January last year. The bank’s PLR stands at 12.25%, even as
most banks have cut their PLRs this month.
Other PSU lenders such as Punjab National Bank offer 11% on education loans below Rs 4 lakh, and 11.75% on loans above Rs 4 lakh while Bank of India charges 10% on loans up to Rs 4 lakh and 10.5%
up to Rs 7.5 lakh. For loans above Rs 7.5 lakh, BoI charges 11.25%. Bank analysts say SBI has opted to offer education loans at sub-PLR, rather than cutting its PLR. Apart from education loans, SBI is offering home and auto loans and produce marketing loans for the agri sector at
sub-PLR levels.
AIEEE catches aspirants by surprise
PUNE, April 27, 2009:: The All India Engineering Entrance Exam (AIEEE) only got tougher this year with increased total marks and an increased level of difficulty. Over 25,000 students in the city and 1.25 lakh candidates across the state registered for the examination that took place on Sunday. The
exam is conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education across the country.
Students also complained about a tougher chemistry section while the math and physics sections were comparatively easy. The complete change in the pattern of the paper also took the examinees by surprise.
India's examination system is faulty, say experts
New Delhi, April 22, 2009: Calling the Indian examination system faulty, education experts at a seminar
Tuesday said the system of examination here fails to create questioning minds.Amit Kapoor, chairman of the Institute of Competitiveness who was one of the
panellists, said that students in schools and colleges here choose to study at
the end of the year with just examinations in mind - thus losing the whole
purpose of learning.
"Thus the fundamental flaw in the examination system in India is that it creates
students with mugging minds instead of questioning minds. The semester system,
therefore, is a better option because it's more regular assessment of what a
student has learnt through the year," he said. Most students, he added, limit their potential by studying only with the aim of
securing a job. Educational institutes should instil a sense of confidence in
students to study a subject of their choice and create a niche for themselves in
a new field. "Educational institutes make job-seekers, and not job creators. They should
create entrepreneurs," Kapoor said.
Going a step ahead, Rajeev Katyal, director of education at Microsoft, said the
most ideal way of linking education to employability is by encouraging
vocational training. "Vocational training is significant because it leads to more employability.
Currently only seven percent Indians are getting vocational education," Katyal
said. Kelly Raj, counsellor, department of education, employment and workplace
relations, Australia, added: "Vocational education is the perfect link between
education and employability".
Source: Indo-Asian News Service
UGC nod for course credits
NEW DELHI, March 24, 2009: Asking universities to adopt choice-based credit system, University Grants Commission has said that students enrolled for a particular programme or course would be free to opt and earn elective credits within their university and even in another institution. UGC chairperson Sukhdeo Thorat has written to VCs of central, state and deemed universities asking them to adopt the recommendations of the A Gnanam committee on academic and administrative reforms. These include introducing the semester system, examination reforms and inter-institution credit and transfer of students. Importantly, UGC has linked implementation of these measures with grants.
The committee has also said all academic programmes like certificate, diploma, undergraduate, postgraduate, M.Phil and Ph.D should be subject to upgradation or revision to a limited extent
every academic year and substantially every three years.
Private schools outpace public ones in student enrolment
MUMBAI, March 16, 2009: Even as public schools are mushrooming around the country, thanks to the education-cess that powers the UPA government's flagship Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
(SSA) programme, student numbers in government schools are dwindling. Fewer parents are opting to put or keep their kids in free schools across India. This trend is pronounced in two states __ Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu __ where the student population in private schools exceeded that in public schools for the first time in 2007-08.
The most recent data released by the Union government reveals some disquieting truths. Between 2002-03 and 2007-08, state governments constructed and started a total of 1.49 lakh schools across the country, and boasted increased enrolment. But the reality was strikingly different
, the student population kept dwindling in public institutes. Educationists note that private fee-levying
English- medium schools, once popular in urban centres, are increasingly sought after even in the most obscure corners of the country.
The thousands of crores of rupees collected through the
education-cess has indeed funded school buildings. But educationists know the harder truth: imparting quality education needs more than
money.
Enrolment is not education
New Delhi January 14, 2009: Pratham's survey says despite higher attendance in
schools the level of education hasn't improved.
Pratham, the non-governmental organisation engaged in education, has come out with its fourth Annual Status of Education Report (Aser) for rural India. The results are as interesting as in previous years: there is a steady increase in school enrolment and attendance, but not much (if any) improvement in the level of education attained. Drop-out levels remain high, and the majority of students in Class V are unable to do the work that they should have mastered three classes earlier. These are decidedly mixed results when there has been massive recruitment of teachers, and more money spent under a variety of schemes, including the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan for building the physical infrastructure for schools.
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