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For better management of the widely spread and vast academic coverage of these educational bodies, it is not being considered by the Maharashtra government to split the Pune and Mumbai universities. This is being undertaken in wake of the suggestions given by the National Knowledge Commission or the NKC.

This is a big step which is being thought of in order to improve the levels of teaching and research in the universities and to facilitate better management. Bifurcation or even trifurcation of these universities may take place since the decision has not been taken yet. Only in five districts, the Mumbai University has hundreds of colleges which make it very difficult to administer and control. Similar is the case with the Pune University which has under it three districts and numerous colleges. These proposals however are yet to be approved by the central government. Such decisions could really work to improve the standards of universities and therefore are being considered.

The NKC or the National Knowledge Commission was formed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The main purpose of formation of the NKC was de-linking the undergraduate colleges and establishing their own administrations rather than their being dependent on the universities. This was done to make it possible for universities to focus on researching and also on teaching in a better way.

For anyone who wishes to be successful in life and have a great future ahead, an engineering degree is something which is just perfect. For a good life ahead with a better standard of living, progress of the nation it is important to make a strong educational and professional base. Crossing the initial barrier of engineering entrance examinations would be a major step. The dates for the main engineering examinations in the country are given below:

• AIEEE entrance examination 2009:

Paper 1 (Physics, Chemistry & Mathematics): 26.04.2009 (9.30a.m to 12.30p.m)

Paper 2 (Mathematics-Part I, Aptitude Test- Part II & Drawing Test-Part III): 26.04.2009 (02.00 P.M to 05.00 P.M)

• Delhi Combined Entrance Examination 2009 (CEE-2009) for DCE and NSIT: May, 30, 2009

All those candidates who had appeared for the IIT JEE 2009 examination to get into the IIT and other renowned engineering colleges of the country are trying very hard to get the solutions for the question paper. The format of the paper was changed this time and there were more of subjective questions than objective ones. In the wake of this, the number of questions was reduced from 130 to 120 to ease out on the time since subjective questions take a lot of time of the students. The expected score for IIT JEE 2009 is 150 and the results will be released on May 25, 2009.

Following are the links to get the solved question papers for IIT JEE 2009:

• Complete solutions
• Question paper I along with answers
• Answer keys to paper I

The entrance examination for 15% of the total seats in medical and dental courses all over the country is the All India Pre-Medical/Pre-Dental Entrance Examination (AIPMT) 2009. The examination is conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education. However, the states of Andhra Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir are exempted from this entrance examination. The preliminary examination for AIPMT 2009 was held on April 5^th, Sunday. The AIPMT results for preliminary examination will be out in the third week of April. The final exam for the All India Pre-Medical/Pre-Dental Entrance Examination (AIPMT) 2009 will be held in the first week of June in which the short listed candidates will appear for the main examination.

Important Dates

• Preliminary (AIPMT) 2009: 5th April, 2009 (First Sunday)

• Declaration of AIPMT Result (preliminary) : 3rd week of April, 2009

• Final (AIPMT) 2009: 10th May, 2009 (Second Sunday)

• Declaration of AIPMT Result (Final) 2009: First week of June, 2009

For AIPMT 2009 results, click here.

The Madhya Pradesh Bhoj Open University (MPBOU), Bhopal was established in the year 1991. It was registered under the Act of State Assembly and works on the mission of dissemination of knowledge through distance learning channels. Various age groups and interests are targeted to provide quality education to the masses. MPBOU, as it is commonly called, is the second largest university for open learning in India since it has an enrolment of over 1.5lac students. Branches for better interaction with students have been established all over the country. The contact details are as follows:

MPBOU Headquarters

Kolar Rroad (Raja Bhoj Marg),

Damkheda, Chunabhatti,

Bhopal-462016

Ph. No. 0755-2492090/91

Fax: 0755-2424640

MPBOU Bhopal Branch Office:

Devi Ahilya University Campus,

Khandwa Road.

Indore-452001

Ph. 0731-2465689

Fax: 731-2465689

MPBOU Jabalpur Branch office

Old B.T.I. Bulding,

P.S.M. Campus,

Jabalpur-482011

Ph. No. 0761-2628113

Fax: 0761-2628330

MPBOU Gwalior Branch Office

Jiwaji University Campus

Gwalior-474011

Ph. No.: 0751-2345559, 0751-2442844

Fax: 0751-2345559

MPBOU Rewa Branch Office

Old TRS College Campus,

Civil Lines,

Rewa-486001

Ph. No. 07662-250410

Fax: 07662-250410

MPBOU Satna Branch Office

Old Collectrate Campus

Civil Lines

Satna-485001

Ph. No: 07672-400541

Fax: 07672-400640

MPBOU Sagar Branch Office

Dr. H.S. Gour University Campus

Sagar (M.P.)

Ph. No: 07582-265572, 264130

Fax: 07582-264130

MPBOU Chindwara Branch Office

Govt PG College,

Chindwara-480001

Ph. No.: 07162-243257

Fax: 07162-238715

MPBOU Ujjain Branch Office

School of studies in Continuing Education,
Old Administrative Building,

Vikram University Campus,

Ujjain-456010
Ph. No.0734-2514273 0734-2556968

Fax: 0734-2514276

MPBOU Bilaspur Branch Office

Pt. Motilal Nehru Hostel Campus,

Jerabhatta,

Bilaspur-495001

Ph. No.07752-231056, 07752-271135

Fax: 07752-231056

MPBOU Raipur Branch Office

Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University Campus

Raipur-492010

Ph. No.0771-2262695

Fax: 0771-2262695

MPBOU Durg Branch Office

Govt. Arts and Science College Campus,

Durg-491001

Ph. No. 0788-2334705

Fax: 0788-2334705

MPBOU Jagadalpur Branch Office

Govt. PG College

Jagadalpur

Ph: 07782-229155

Fax: 07782-229046

For further reference, log on to www.bhojvirtualuniversity.com

The IIT JEE 2009 entrance examination saw a major shift this year from the usual pattern of the entrance exam. The assertion reasoning type questions have almost disappeared and the reappearance of subjective questions was seen.

The cut-off for the IIT JEE 2009 is expected to be around 150. Therefore, a student with around this score can expect to see his name in the merit list for the exam.

for more information and level of difficulty for the IIT JEE 2009, click here.

The National Institute of Open Schooling or NIOS was originally called as the National Open School. It was established in the year November1989 and the main aim of establishment was the pursuance of the National Policy of Education of 1986. The main headquarters of the NIOS are located in Noida in Uttar Pradesh. The complete address of the headquarters and also the branch addresses are given below:

NIOS Headquarters:

National Institute of Open Schooling

A-24/25, Institutional Area,

Sector – 62, NOIDA

Distt. Gautam Budh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh – 201 309

Telephone No. 95120 – 2402890, 18001809393

NIOS Regional Offices:

• NIOS Delhi office

A 31, Institutional Area, Sector – 62, NOIDA Distt – Gautam Budh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh
Ph (O): 0120-2404914/2404915 Fax: 0120-2404916
E-mail: rcdelhi@nos.org

( for areas in East Delhi, North Delhi, North East Delhi, North West Delhi, Jhajjar, Gautam Budh Nagar, Ghaziabad)

• NIOS Delhi Office-II

A 31, Institutional Area, Sector – 62, NOIDA Distt – Gautam Budh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh
Ph (O): 0120-2404914/2404915 Fax: 0120-2404916
E-mail: rcdelhi@nos.org

( for South Delhi, West Delhi, South West Delhi, Central Delhi, New Delhi, Gurgaon, Faridabad)

· NIOS Hyderabad office
House No. 17-26, Sree Nagar Colony, Road No. 5, Dilsukh Nagar, Hyderabad (AP)
Ph.: (O) 040-24162859, Fax : 091-040-24060712
E-mail : rchyderabad@nos.org

(for areas Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka)

· NIOS Guwahati Office
15 Nilomoni Bhawan, 1st Floor, Nilomani Pukhan Road, Christian Basti, Guwahati-781008 (Assam)
Ph.: (O) 0361-2340497, 2343964, 2343588 Fax : 0361-2343585
E-mail: rcguwahati@nos.org

(for areas Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura)

· NIOS Pune Office

C/o. Indian Institute of Education, 128/2, J.P. Naik Road, Kothrud, Pune-411029 (Maharashtra)
Ph.: (O) 020-25444667, 25439763
E-mail:rcpune@nos.org

(for areas Maharashtra, Goa Daman & Diu)

· NIOS Chandigarh Office
YMCA Complex,Sector-11C, Chandigarh – 160011,
Ph.: (O) 0172-2744915, 3950979, Fax : 0172-2744952
E-mail:rcchandigarh@nos.org

{For areas Haryana (excluding Faridabad, Gurgaon & Jhajjar), Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Chandigarh}

· NIOS Kolkata Office
10/1/H, Diamond Harbour Road, Kolkata -700027 (WB)
Ph.: (O) 033-24797714, Fax.: 033-24797707
E-mail:rckolkata@nos.org

(For areas Sikkim, West Bengal and Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Subcentre Bhubaneswar)

Bhubaneswar – Sub Centre,
Part of Kolkata Region for Financial and other related matters 360/10 Shishu Vihar, Patia, Bhubaneswar, Orissa

Ph: 0674-2740208

(For Orissa)

· NIOS Patna Office
Lalit Bhawan, Ground Floor, Patna -800001 (Bihar)
Ph.: (O) 0612-2545051, Fax: 0612-2545470
E-mail:rcpatna@nos.org

(for Bihar & Jharkhand)

· NIOS Kochi Office
34/2470 C, 2nd floor, Mamangalam, Palarivattom PO, Kochi- 682025, Kerala
Ph.: (O) 0484-2335714, Fax: 0484-2335533
E-mail:rckochi@nos.org

(for Tamilnadu, Kerala and Pondicherry)

• NIOS Jaipur Office
  D-11,12, Roop Vihar colony, Mohan Marg, Opp. Karali Garden, New Sangner Road, Sodala, Jaipur, Rajasthan – 302006
  Ph.: (O) 0141 – 2723029, 2720601
  E-mail:rcjaipur@nos.org

(for Rajasthan and Gujarat)

• NIOS Bhopal Office
  Manas Bhavan, Shymla Hills, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
  Ph : 2660331,2661842
  E-mail:rcbhopal@nos.org

(for Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh)

· NIOS Allahabad Office
19/17 Kasturba Gandhi Marg,Allahabad – 211002
Ph : (O) 0532-2548149, Fax : 0532-2548154
E-mail:rcallahabad@nos.org

(for UttarPradesh & sub Centre Dehradun)

· NIOS Dehradun Office

69/106, Niranjanpur, Opp. I.T.I, Dehradun – 248001
Ph: 0135-2629166, 2623929

E-mail:rcdehradun@nos.org

(for Uttrakhand, Meerut, Bagpat, Saharanpur, Muzzafarnagar, Moradabad & JP Nagar (Amroha), distt. of UP)

Reference: www.nos.org

In a very major event of carelessness by the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), thousands of students of Delhi were not able to appear for their class 12^th exam on April 6^th. The reason for this is that the students did not receive their IDs for the exam and therefore this day saw thousands of students queuing outside the office of NIOS to collect their duplicate ID cards.

As a last resort for the situation, students queued up in last few days before the exam and even had to shell out Rs.50 for the duplicate IDs. It seems that the IDs were dispatched but were somehow lost or misplaced. Many students even resigned in the situation since even if they received their duplicate on the day of the exam, reaching the exam centre before 2:30 PM seemed impossible.

Officials of the NIOS however say that the IDs were dispatched but might not have reached due to wrong addresses being provided. Around 3500-4000 students faced this problem and lined outside the office. Officials claim to have contacted the students personally to inform them that the requirement of IDs had been removed from this exam and they could appear for it. Students however have another story to tell.

Along with this event, there also has been cancellation of numerous admissions this year due to non-payment of fees. According to officials of the NIOS, it might be due to the partial computerisation of the records and functioning of the NIOS. Data might have been lost during this process which involves around 1.30 lakh students from Delhi. Admissions however will be restored when the students bring proof of payment of fees which was done through drafts. Also, officials assure that necessary steps will be taken about the Monday confusion after all the details are received.

Mess outside NIOS office with students waiting to collect duplicate IDs

Those students who wish to join the BPO sector which is developing at a very fast pace, they can now have the required training in the school itself.

This comes in the wake of the introduction of the special course related to BPO which will start in class 11^th when the session reopens. This action is being taken in Ranchi in Bihar where all CBSE schools are providing this course to the students free of cost to make them fare better in the fast-growing BPO world.

The program is called the Business Processing and Outsourcing Programme and is available for the students of the commerce stream. The main focus of this course would be on various facets of BPO which include advertising, technical up gradation, customer relation management, customer satisfaction. In addition to the theory, it is also proposed that students will be taken on sites of call centres to provide them training in practice as well. Just after completing their Plus Two examinations, the students will be able to take up this upcoming profession.

This course has been developed to give the students a career option which they can take up right after school. It has been developed by the curriculum development committee under the chairmanship of G.C. Sharma who is the director of BLB Institute of Financial Markets. Framework of the course and also the learning tools has been developed by the Central Institute of Vocational Education.

There has been seen an increase in the multi-national companies like ADP, IBM Global Services, Accenture, Convergys, etc which have developed the BPO sector. Also, there are many Indian companies too which are big names that have proven their presence in the market. These include WNS Global Service, Genpact, ICICI OneSource, etc. which provide a good opening for students in the BPO sector. These would provide a good platform for the encashment of their job skills in which they have been trained beforehand.

Startling information has been collected by the National University for Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA) through the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. This information shows that around 84% primary schools do not have a headmaster or head teachers. This makes about 949 schools out of the 1121 primary schools present in the state which are government schools or aided institutions.

Varying opinions are coming in from different administrational levels in the education department of Goa. The importance of a headmaster or head teacher is being stressed upon to maintain discipline by the former block resource person at SSA Bardez, Narendra Kamat. This however is being refuted by the project director of SSA, P R Nadkarni who says that a headmaster is not necessary for proper functioning of the school. Further, Mr. Nadkarni threw light on the fact that around 70% of primary schools never had a headmaster. The management of these schools is undertaken by higher schools which thereby cut down the need of a head teacher for management.

On this, Mr. Kamat asserted that it is the government schools which are suffering since the government does not provide any head teachers if the student enrolment is below 24 students. This causes multi-tasking in teachers and they have to take up administrative tasks in addition to their teaching. The work of a peon, administrator, teacher, manager and every other function required to be performed has to be done by the teacher itself which causes major disruption in the teaching at school.

Yoga is a regular subject that is taught at the secondary level of the school curriculum. However, it requires support to bring it at equal level with the other subjects of the curriculum. To provide assistance in this task, NCERT now has a plan at the formative stage through which they will provide financial assistance to the yoga training centres and will also provide skilled teachers of yoga so as to train school students.

It is already acknowledged that overall development of the child is the main focus of education and learning. The contribution of Yoga to the physical aspect of development has been recognised already but it has not been give the due importance and some assistance is required to promote it in schools. For this, it is being considered to provide lump sum grant to teachers for undergoing the grooming of teachers at yoga institutes.

The joint director of NCERT will chair the grant-in-aid committee which is to consider this proposal. The main task of this committee will be consideration and approval of the proposals which will then aid for the release of funds to institutions on decided criteria. For follow up, the monitoring of the execution of this scheme will also be taken up by this committee.

Teachers will be trained in the yoga skills according to the specifications that have been made in the National Curriculum Framework, 2005. It would be the respective states that would take up the responsibility of routing the proposal of yoga institutes. The check or monitor will be kept by a committee which will be specially created for this task by the regional institutes of education which will also monitor the functioning of the training programme.

This scheme would be seen to initiate in August 2009 and around 30 teachers will be a part of a single training program. The deputation of teachers for the purpose will also be done by the state governments. The actual programme of training may stretch over to one month. Also, according to the need of the teachers, refresher courses can also be arranged for duration of 21 days.

The 11^th Five Year Plan has been introduced by the University Grants Commission and there have been several considerable changes when it comes to the universities of the central and the state level. These changes are related to the stress on the written examination system, annual result system etc.

The semester system is one of the major changes that might be introduced in the university courses. Since the exam results are delayed and are released after several months of examination, there might occur many loopholes during this time. Academic delay is another effect. To remove this problem and enable gradual assessment of the students, semester system is proposed to be introduced in the central and state universities.

There is a lot of debate on the issue. Highlights are being made by some educationists giving the benefits of semester system which include study all round the year, internal assessment on a continuous mode, twice an year examination, etc. However, some people are also stressing on the already challenging situation when it comes to declaration of results annually. A lot of energy and time will be wasted and this will be an additional challenge for the teachers and the management. Students however are very keen on introduction of the semester system which will be a great way for them to concentrate on their studies and will make them perform better.

With the increase in population of the country at alarming rates, the demand and also the need of education is also rising day by day. To provide for such a cause, it is highly appreciated that opening of new schools is taken up with a better initiative and resources. For those who see this as a business opportunity, there is ample scope in this ever-growing education industry which has seen only a rise and no dips.

Opening a school however requires many points to be considered before a decision is made. Availability of ample space is one of the most important factors which are followed by good resources that can be used for setting up a school. The capacity and provisions while opening a new school should be decided keeping in mind the population of the area and the need of a school.

Other points to be considered include construction of the school premises and the time frame required, infrastructure for the school, recruitment of expert and experienced staff, local marketing and advertising, etc. Such factors are very important while investing in this action for the social cause of spreading education. Quality education should be the main motto of opening a new school and all efforts should be made to achieve this.

Ram Navami is celebrated to be the day when Lord Sri Rama was born on this earth. He is said to have lived on this earth in the 7^th or 8^th century. All Hindus and Indians value this festival as one of the most important since it is the day of birth of their god. The day occurs in the Chaitra month according to the Hindu lunar calendar. A lot of preparations and celebrations are made on this day by people all over the country.

For the children too, this day carries a lot of significance. Since they have to know about their own values and culture and for this they need to be enlightened about the occasion and its history. Teachers as well as parents can tell them the history of the festival. The best way is to enact some plays and make the children know about the festival. Visits are also arranged to pilgrim places which are popular and celebrate this occasion well.