JSS college offers course in human rights - The Times of India

DHARWAD: The principle civil judge C Rajshekhar called upon educational institutions to inculcate human values among students during the course of education, so that they will conduct themselves as good citizens in their life.

Inaugurating the UGC-sponsored certificate course in Human Rights at Janata Shikshana Samiti (JSS) College in Dharwad on Tuesday, he said human rights are the soul of democracy and respecting human rights means upholding democracy. He appreciated the initiative taken by the college in introducing the course.

Principal of the college, Ajith Prasad, narrated how human rights had been violated in South Africa, America and India in the past and emphasized the importance of respecting human rights in a civilized society. He also explained the initiative taken by international organizations like UNO in protecting human rights.Professor Chitra Daijode and others also spoke.

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Only 30% pass GU MPhil test - The Times of India

Results of the entrance test for the Master of Philosophy (MPhil) course has failed to improve at Gujarat University. As much as 70 percent of the students who appeared in the test failed this year.

Complying with the norms of University Grants Commission (UGC), Gujarat Universityconducted the admission test for 300 seats of MPhil programme in July. While more than 600 students appeared in the test for various subjects, only 30 percent of examinees cleared the test.

Apart from Gujarati, other subjects like Sanskrit, Hindi and English had very few students clearing the test. While 34 students appeared in Sanskrit, only 2 students passed the test. Similarly out of 44 students who gave the test only 1 student passed the test and in Hindi 10 students out of 15 cleared the test in Hindi. However students fared well in Gujarati. Out of 26 students who gave the test for Gujarati, 24 students cleared the test.

A student who could clear the test said, "The University has not arranged for any mock test and the format of the test was new to us. Moreover we found the questions tough to understand as the logical and reasoning sections were in English."

The test of 120 marks included a section worth 40 marks related to the students' area of specialization. The other sections were on logic and reasoning. Gujarat University faced a similar situation where many students failed in the test last year as well.

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Fake Institutes

Fake Educational Institutions

The Central Government, through University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), keeps a watch over the fake universities and the unapproved technical institutions. The UGC has identified 21 universities/institutions as fake running in various parts of the country, in contravention of the UGC Act, 1956, out of which 8 are in Uttar Pradesh, 6 are in Delhi and 1 each in Bihar, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Similarly, the AICTE had identified 348 institutions running technical and management courses/programmes in violation of the AICTE Regulation dated 6th January, 2005. Out of these total number of unapproved institutions, 75 each are in Delhi and Maharashtra, 52 in Andhra Pradesh, 34 in West Bengal, 30 in Uttar Pradesh, 26 in Karnataka, 17 in Haryana, 14 in Tamil Nadu, 9 in Chandigarh, 4 in Gujarat, 2 each in Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Goa and 1 each in Uttrakhand and Kerala. The UGC has taken legal action in various courts against 6 of these fake universities. The State Governments have also initiated action against certain fake universities. Show-cause notices have also been served by the UGC to some of the fake universities/institutions and by the AICTE to the unapproved institutions for closure of their programme. With a view to check the growth of such institutions, wide publicity is given by the UGC and the AICTE every year through print/electronic media as well as on their official websites, cautioning students and parents not to take admission in fake and unapproved institutions. A public ‘Appeal’ was issued by the Ministry sometime back that students must satisfy themselves that courses offered by institutions are recognized under the relevant laws and are of quality and repute and that in case of any doubt, necessary clarification may be obtained from the relevant statutory bodies, such as the UGC, AICTE. The State/UT Governments have also been advised, from time to time, to issue necessary instructions to the Districts/Police Administration to take immediate action against such institutions. The last such communication was issued at the level of Minister of Human Resource Development on 2nd May, 2011. This information was given by the Minister of State for Human Resource Development Smt. D. Purandeswari, in a written reply to a question, in the Lok Sabha today. MV/SKS/ gk (Release ID :75716)

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PM seeks to increase private funding in research to 50%

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has suggested increasing private sector funding in Research and Development to 50% from the current 20%. The suggestion was made during a review meeting of eight ministries related to scientific research. The meeting was attended by representatives from science and technology, space, atomic energy, earth sciences, biotechnology, defence production ministries.

Prime Minister spelt out the need to increase country’s footing as a major player in publication of scientific literature, "Prime Minister said that India's share in scientific literature published in international journals should be increased to 10% in the next plan," said an official.

According to the sources, all participating departments were told to make most of the prevailing interest in India as an investment destination and come up with ways to attract FDI in scientific endeavours. African countries and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have expressed interest in partnering scientific ventures in India, and also to purchase technology.

Singh also assure that issue of inclusion of more than 1,000 scientists in the new pension scheme that was turned down by the finance ministry recently or norms for the selection of heads of scientific PSUs will be settled.

The PMO directed the department of science and technology to send a "well-reasoned note" on the pension scheme to the finance ministry, and asked the department of scientific and industrial research (DSIR) to evolve a suitable selection process for scientific PSUs so that the recurrent bureaucrat-scientist tussles do not hamper their working.

The PMO also asked for expediting the setting up of the biotechnology industry research assistance council (BIRAC).

The research and development sector is increasingly becoming business-funded in developed countries. For instance, the European Union's R&D programme in 2008 relied 55% on private sector's funds, a third came from the respective governments and around 9% from abroad. In 2007, of the entire amount spent in Japan, 77.7% was bankrolled by the private sector, and in the US, 67.3% was funded by the business houses.

[Source: Times of India]

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Role of teachers crucial for RTE’s success: PM - Indian Express

Using the occasion of Teachers’ Day, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today suggested that the dedication and commitment of teachers would be crucial for achieving the objectives of the Right to Education Act which has the potential to transform schools and lives of children.

Interacting with a group of meritorious teachers here, Singh noted that teachers have a critical role to play in shaping the future of the country and they should inculcate progressive and rational attitudes among children maintaining a balance between tradition and modernity.

He sought to strike a personal chord with the teachers by pointing out that teaching has always been “close to my heart” as he had started his career as a teacher.

“The Right to Education legislation that we have enacted has the potential to transform our schools and the lives of our children.

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NCERT to get ‘university’ status: Kapil Sibal | India Education Review

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) will now get ‘university’ status announced HRD Minister Kapil Sibal. The status will enable NCERT to address diverse issues and challenges in the education sector and also help its teachers draw professor level salary.

NCERT should be made a ‘Centre of Education’ said the minister.

"I strongly suggest that we should work very hard to ensure that the university status to NCERT is brought about as quickly as possible," he said at a function.

The status will also guide other organisations in this country to take the agenda of NCERT and its regional units forward.

Sibal pointed out that the scholarship amount paid under the prestigious National Talent Search Examination (NTSE) scheme is a "farcical" Rs 500 per month and assured to "raise" the amount. According to officials, the university status will enable NCERT confer BEd, MEd degrees and PhDs through its five regional educational colleges.

Recalling Prime Minister's Independence Day address where he disclosed plans to set up a commission to look at the new vision of education in 21st century, Sibal suggested that NCERT should also be an integral part of such a proposal.

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'Schools still using dated teaching methods' - The Times of India

Two years have passed since the Bharatiya Jain Sangathana conducted a study on the quality of schooling in Goa, but the directorate of education(DoE) is yet to prepare a roadmap to improve infrastructure in Goa schools. The study, which was conducted in collaboration with the state government, pointed the lack of security systems in schools. It also drew attention to poor maintenance of toilets and lack of playgrounds.

The state government had signed a memorandum of understanding with the BJS to conduct a survey on the quality of schooling in Goa.

The study was submitted in early 2009, and the Goa government was to prepare a roadmap to improve the quality of schooling based on the report's findings. However, little progress has been made on the front. The BJS recommendations described how "an alarming 90% of high schools and higher secondary do not have sufficient safety and security systems like compound wall, fencing, fire extinguishers, and safety in laboratories. "Wherever they exist, they are inadequate and insufficient. In most of the schools, first aid facility is inadequate," the report said.

The report had recommended an immediate need to review and upgrade the safety and security measures in all schools in Goa. The study also stated that 40% of schools have inadequate and poor state of toilets. Maintenance of the toilets is very poor. Above 50% schools have common toilets for staff and students. A proper system with constant monitoring of cleanliness of the toilets is essential. Immediate provision for sufficient number of taps and supply of water," the report said.

It was found that most high schools and higher secondary schools provided non potable water to the students and 42% of schools had insufficient number of taps and supply of drinking water. The tanks storing the potable water were also found to be unclean.

It was seen that around 27% schools in Goa had no playgrounds and about 45% had very small playgrounds which had uneven surface making it almost unusable. "This was more relevant to privately managed schools," said the study. The BJS report recommended that schools without playgrounds could lease a nearby plot or provide indoor sports facilities to its students. The report revealed that about 80% of the private school management members had never or rarely attended any orientation programme on education. However, they did show interest to attend such programmes, said the study.

The report suggested workshops on creative teaching methods for teachers and a system where the school head can encourage the use of available teaching aids. This was recommended as it was found that teachers in high schools and higher secondary schools were unaware of the use of non-conventional teaching aids. "A towering 77% of schools use stereotyped methods of teaching, leaving very little scope for interactive, experimental teaching. These schools also lack creativity in their teaching methods," said the study.

Despite the serious nature of some of BJS recommendations, government officials confirm that very little has been done to draw the promised roadmap as per the MoU signed to improve of the inadequacies pointed out by the report.

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PhD test in November - Times Of India

It was decided at a meeting of higher education officials on August 26 that the common entrance test for PhD will be held in the first week of November. To prepare question papers of various subjects, different state universities have been roped in. The question paper will be based on syllabus according to the UGC- NET, CSIR, and ICIR. The entrance exam will have two question papers. The first one will be purely objective, while the second one will consist of both objective and subjective type questions. After the completion of the exam, three cut-off marks will be declared for general, SC/ST, and OBC candidates respectively.

On the basis of these marks, a score card will be given to the student, which will be valid for two years. A student can then take admission in any state university as per his marks. For this, all state universities will have to create a list of vacant seats in each subject and upload it on their website. The cost of application form will be Rs 800 for general and OBC candidates, and Rs 400 for SC/ST candidates. Higher education officials also informed that discussions were made for making the examination fully online from next year. All question papers will be kept in the custody of Sampoornanad Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya, Varanasi.

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