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Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with Washington University Law School and John Hopkins University for academic exchange program.

The tie up will enable all 3 universities to exchange valuable research and study material with each other. Under the exchange program students, faculties will visit other universities and research material will be shared among all 3 universities. The program will be implemented from next academic session.

AMU is planning to sign similar kind of MoU’s with 5 more American universities to broaden the research and standard of Aligarh Muslim University.

Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry is planning to set up National Police University (NPU) in Delhi. Keeping in view of future requirements and to create a research workforce for law enforcement agencies, HRD plans to start a university with state of the art facilities and equipments, for training law enforcement personals in subjects like Biological Warfare, Conflict Resolution, Forensic Science and Terrorism.

The university is expected to start its first academic program from the year 2010. The undergraduate and postgraduate courses offered by the university will include research and study of subjects like organized crime, economic crime, terrorism, investigation, cyber crime, VIP security, law and order.

Students passing out from NPU will be given special weightage in various recruitment processes in law enforcement agencies.

All the 13 branches of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) as facing acute shortage of qualified faculty. Recently, IIT-D has cut their faculty count by 10% making the situation more worse. Till now IIT’s has been maintaining the healthy teacher-student ratio of 9:1 to 10:1. If the necessary appointments are not made, this ratio is going to increase, that will adversely affect the quality of education.

It has been predicted, that all the branches will need at least 3000 qualified professors in next 5 years. Considering the sheer number of requirement, the IIT management is planning to invite applications from overseas to capture young talent from across the globe.

Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has fined nine students of the varsity for taking ragging of the freshers in the university hostel. All nine students are doing their Masters degree in business administration.

Although, no physical violence has been reported, but student complained of mental torture on the pretext on taking introduction. University is also planning to deny these nine students from availing any hostel facilities. A fine of Rs. 500 to Rs. 2500 has been taken from these students. The prompt and strict action from the university management will act as a deterrent for others who indulge in ragging.

Compared to last year position of 29, this year the state of Madhya Pradesh has ranked 30th in Educational Development Index (EDI).

In a recent report of District Information System for Education (DISE) , that gives the condition of primary and secondary education in states, Madhya Pradesh has scored very low (30th out of total 35 states and union territories). The report clearly suggests that situation of elementary education in the state is in pathetic condition. Despite some improvement in the intake of students at the primary and secondary level, the retention rate has gone low at alarming rate in the state. It clearly indicates the poor quality of education in the rural and semi-urban areas of the state.

Government of India has decided to open two new Medical colleges in Delhi under direct affiliation with Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU), Delhi. The two medical colleges will be setup in Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and College of Nursing at Safdarjung Hospital.

Both medical colleges will offer B.Sc (Nursing) Hons. program of 4 year duration. Admissions will be given on the basis of performance in Common Entrance Test (CET), which will be held on 20th September, 2008. Last date for submitting the completed application form is 30th August, 2008.

Much like the socio-economic diversity in India, school education also offers a multifaceted model. Overall, the schooling in India is split in different levels – primary, secondary and senior secondary. The school age begins once the child is three years and is normally completed at the age of sixteen. The secondary and senior secondary level, from grade VIII to XII is the most important in terms of career goals and achievements.

There is often a wide debate on accrediting the best school and the best board governing the secondary and senior secondary education system. The question –What is better for the child, CBSE or ICSE, often becomes serious for the parents, as it is them who have to decide. So far as CBSE or ICSE are concerned, one has to know about their structure and how they function, so as to arrive at any positive conclusion.

Technically speaking CBSE and ICSE cannot be clubbed together, as the former refers to the board and the latter to an examination conducted by a different one. Let us examine the two boards and see what do they offer.

CBSE and CISCE

CBSE or Central Board of Secondary Education is one of the most popular school boards in India. The board is responsible for preparing the syllabus for class 9 to 12th, secondary and senior secondary level. Another important function of CBSE is to conduct examinations based on the prescribed syllabus. It is a recognized board and its syllabus incorporates the national curriculum as well as additional subject matter. The board conducts two examinations – All India Secondary School Examination, AISSE (Class X) and the All India Senior School Certificate Examination, AISSCE (Class XII).

ICSE on the other hand is one of the two examinations conducted by yet another board, CISCE or Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination. It is similar to AISSE conducted by the CBSE. Its (CISCE’s) equivalent for AISSCE is the Indian School Certificate or ISC.

First Dissimilarity – The Medium of Instruction

The first and foremost dissimilarity between the two boards is the medium of instructions approved by the board. Whereas CBSE approves both English and Hindi language as the medium of instructions, CISCE or ICSE does not recommend Hindi.

Regular and Private Candidates

CBSE is affiliated to a large number of schools all over India. The board allows both regular candidates, who study in CBSE schools, as well as private candidates from non-affiliated schools to appear in the exams. Contrary to this, ICSE does not allow a candidate who has not been studying in ICSE affiliated school.

Recognition

Both CBSE and CISCE are self-financing education institutions. However, CBSE is recognized by Indian government and ICSE is not. Although the certificates provided by both of them are globally valid, yet CBSE has a better footing in the subcontinent than ICSE. The ISC by CISCE is recognized by many foreign education systems as equivalent to senior examination or high school. Therefore students qualifying ISC are not required to go for bridge courses while seeking admission in colleges abroad.

Syllabus

The syllabus prepared by CBSE is more suitable for qualifying in various entrance examinations, including the medical and engineering professional exams. The syllabus of ICSE is more detailed and requires the student to remember a lot. CBSE is comparatively easier than ICSE.

Assessments

One more point of distinction between the two boards is the evaluation and assessment of students. In ICSE, internal assessments are vital and practical tests are aggregated with the overall scores. ICSE lays more emphasis on lab work.

Environmental Education

The ICSE has made it compulsory to include environmental education as one of the subjects. CBSE does not ask for the same.

Other than examinations and syllabus, the two boards are engaged in a number of education related activities. Research and development is the secondary initiative taken by CISCE. CBSE also has been engaged in similar exercises, including the research on creating better learning environments.

The review committee appointed by government to analyze the fee structure of IIM’s is unlikely to suggest any changes in the fee structure. Although people have demanded lowering of fees in IIM’s, the panel has given indication of no fee change for now.

The review committee led by Maruti Udyog Limited CEO, will also visit various IIM’s to understand the working and general administrations of the IIM’s. The committee is also expected to make some suggestions to the HRD ministry about improving the operational structure of the IIM’s, when it will submit its report next month.

After the hike in fees in April this year, demand of review of fee structure was raised vigorously by the students.

Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) have decided to provide online question bank and online test facility for its students. The database of question bank will be based on Higher Order Thinking System (HOTS) , a concept by Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to develop analytical and logic building skills of the students.

After the implementation of this scheme, students of KV’s will be able to assess their analytical skills by taking online tests of themselves. The automated test will randomly pick questions from the question bank and will present it to the student. A complete test report will also be generated after successful completion of the test.

This methodology of online tests will help students prepare better for various entrance examinations.

The dropout rate of teenagers is increasing in West Bengal, which is worsening the condition of education in the state. According to state government records, about 5000 teachers posts are also lying vacant in rural and semi-urban areas of the state. This further aggravates the situation as enough teachers are not available in the schools to teach the students.

Records from state government shows that from 120 million children aged between 6 to 14 years who are going to school in the state, 60 million out of them drop their school education before reaching 10th grade. This makes the dropout rate of 50%, which is very high and needs immediate attention from the state government.

Another factor that aids in worsening of this situation is pathetic conditions of schools in rural and semi-urban areas. Schools do not have basic facilities and teachers are not regular in their duty.

Delhi Government has announced scholarships for economically backward students who want to take admissions for higher studies in various institutes in Delhi. A trust “Delhi Higher Education Aid Trust” will be created which will be headed by minister of education for the state to look after the fair distribution of scholarships. The trust will also manage distribution of stipends and prizes for poor students of the National Capital Region (NCR).

The government has decided to contribute an amount of Rs. 1 crore as corpus fund for the trust. This move will encourage students from weaker sections of society to take on higher studies.

From the academic year 2009-2010, ICSE board has decided to revise and re-structure class X syllabus. Except mathematics, whose syllabus was revised earlier in 2007-2008, all other subjects will be reviewed and necessary changes will be done in the syllabus.

The ICSE management has given clear indication that these changes will help students prepare in a better way for various engineering and medical entrance examinations. It’s a common public perception that CBSE syllabus is much more well structured when it comes to preparation of various entrance examinations. It seems that ICSE wants to change this perception by introducing drastic changes in its syllabus.

Group of Ministers (GoM) have received the Right To Education Bill 2005 from union cabinet for approval. Once it will get approved by GoM, the bill will be introduced in the parliament in monsoon session.

On successful implementation of this bill, children aged between 6 to 14 years of age will get the right of free and compulsory education.

Bihar Government has decided to revise and amend the recruitment process of teachers in the state. Under the amendment process following recruitment rules will be changed.

Bihar Panchayat Elementary Teachers (Employment and Service Conditions) Rules,      2008
Bihar Urban Local Bodies Elementary Teachers (Employment and Service Condition)      Rules, 2008
Bihar District Board Secondary / Higher Secondary Teachers (Employment and      Service Condition) Rules 2008
Bihar Urban Local Bodies Secondary / Higher Secondary Teacher (Employment and      Service Condition) Rules 2008

After the complaints of irregularities in the appointment process, the state cabinet has decided to remove the loopholes in the whole process and make it more transparent and credible. Under the new amendment, only the candidates appearing in the merit list will be called for counseling and interview. The certificates verification time has also been increased to 15 days. It has also been decided to publish the advertisements for all the posts simultaneously, to reduce the complexity of the recruitment process.

Leaves quota has also been amended with increase in maternity leave, casual leave and leave without pay. Education fraternity has welcomed these amendments and is expecting a more transparent system which will give fair opportunities for deserving candidates.