SHEMBLOG

Guwahati University has appointed the most senior professor of the university Prof. Okhil Kumar Medhi as the new Vice Chancellor of the university. Prof. Mehdi has already been working as Vice Chancellor of the university from June, 2007.

He specializes is chemistry research and has obtained his Post Doctoral degree from university in UK. Previously he has served as head of chemistry department and as dean of faculty of science in the university. The tenure of his job will be accounted from last year since he took charge as VC of the university.

Tamil Nadu State Government is seeking more authority and power from Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry for controlling deemed universities in the state.

Universities who gets deemed status from HRD, reserves the right of complete control of admission process and fee structure. As a result lot of government reservation quota seats are alloted to private candidates. Recently, Cettinad Medical College got the deemed status from the HRD ministry without the recommendation of the state government. As a result, the government lost about 83 seats under reservation guidelines.

The state government demands control over fixing fee structure and allocation of quota as per new reservations guidelines in these deemed universities.

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.

A new information technology institute has been launched in Delhi, which was inaugurated by Delhi’s Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Wednesday. Indraprastha Institute if Information Technology (IIIT) will be state of the art technical institute with modern equipments. Delhi Government has expressed its full commitment in giving all the facilities and help in making this institute among top institutes in India in similar domain.

For the time being, the institute will run from the premises of Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology,Dwarka. Later, the permanent campus will be set up in Okhla area.

National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Patna has started the classes of its first academic year with 60 students. 30 students are doing Bachelors of Design in Fashion Communication, while the other 30 are pursuing Masters Degree in Fashion Management.

At present the institute will run from temporary premises of a Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority building near Gandhi Maidan, Patna. Bihar government has sanctioned 10 acres land and Rs. 586 million for the institute. The construction work and infrastructure buildup will be completed by the end of this year. Out of total sanctioned money, 270 million will be spent in the current financial year for initial setup of the institute.

Currently, faculty members from Delhi, Hyderabad and other branches will be teaching the students on rotation basis, till the branch does not gets its own permanent faculty members.

Soon a rehabilitation center will be setup by Delhi University for students who voluntarily want to quit their smoking habit. Delhi University has already declared north zone as ‘No Smoking Area’. The rehab center will be setup in next two weeks providing all the facilities to help students quit smoking.

Students have given mixed reactions to this initiative taken by Delhi University Students Union (DUSU). Although some students have raised concern about exposing their identity to their parents and relatives during the rehabilitation process, generally there is consensus about the implementation of this rehabilitation center.

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.

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi has decided to cut down its faculty strength by 10%. Interestingly, the student intake has increased this year after the implementation of OBC reservation quota. Previously, the student-teacher ratio in IIT-D was 9:1, and after the cut down in faculty strength it will become 10:1.

Before the cut down, the sanctioned faculty strength was 556, which will be reduced to 506 after the layoffs. When asked about the reason, the officials told that it is a collective decision of the institutes management.

After the successful opening of new IIT’s in Gujrat and Rajasthan, a new IIT was inaugurated in the capital city of Patna. At present, the land has not been allotted for the institute and will be operating from the temporary campus of a polytechnic. For the time being, IIT – Guwahati will act as a mentor in running the institute, till permanent staff is not recruited.

The Bihar government has chosen the site for the institution, and infrastructure setup will be done on priority basis. A full time director will soon be appointed for proper administration and speedy set up of the institute.

University Grants Commission (UGC) is sending a group of experts across different varsities to evaluate the financial needs of the universities.

A total of 168 universities will be visited by the group of experts from UGC, out of which 30 universities have already visited and their report has been submitted to the UGC. At the beginning of each five year plan, UGC assesses the financial needs of the universities and grants them the required funds after closely evaluating their performance, infrastructure and future requirements.

In a recent proposal by UGC experts, it has been recommended to increase the general development fund by 100% from Xth five year plan, under the General Development Assistance Program for all recognized universities. A proposal of merging several schemes has also been given by the experts for better management and allocation of funds from XIth five year plan onwards.

State government of Uttar Pradesh has announced the grading system policy for schools associated with Mid Day Meals (MDM) scheme. Following the complaints of sub-standard food being served in several districts of UP, including Barabanki and Allahabad, government has formulated this grading policy.

Under this scheme, schools performing well will be awarded points on the basis of pre-defined metrics. Points will be given for good quality food, better hygiene, keeping records of beneficiaries. Schools securing the highest grades will be given incentives from the MDM department. This will encourage better administration and distribution of meals in the schools.

The population of India is nearing 1.5 billion, and demand of more schools and colleges is increasing day by day. Currently, India spends of about 3% to 4% of GDP on education sector, which is very low as compared to several developing and developed states. Although government is aiming to raise this expenditure to up to 6%, but it still seems a far dream. Seats in educational institutes are far less than required.

Thankfully, with the introduction of distance education, lacs of students who are not able to get admissions in regular colleges and schools and students living in very remote areas are now able to pursue their studies. In recent years, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and National Institute of Open Learning (NIOS) has played a major role in providing distance education to millions of students across the length and breadth of the country.

Distance education has provided opportunities for weaker section of societies, women and SC/ST candidates to complete their basic education as well as to pursue their higher studies.

Since the introduction of percentile system for admissions in various state colleges, management of international schools is concerned about the discrepancy creeping up in admission process.

It is alleged that percentile system does not give fair assessment to students of IB, and is biased towards the students of the state boards. The management of international schools have decided to create a pressure group to raise their voice against this issue, after parents and principals of ICSE schools filed plea in the court.

Many parents have even claimed that the ICSE board and international schools maintains better education standards compared to the state boards. The management of both ICSE and IB schools say that the boards have been unnecessarily suffering since the introduction of the percentile system.

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) is the most prestigious Indian institute for pursuing engineering studies. Lacs of students take part in the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and only handful of them are selected for these premier institutes.

In recent years, the number of students reaching the merit threshold has increased significantly. Is this a healthy sign of fair education policy and better education system, or is it something else? Some of the IIT caretakers feels the other way. They are concerned over missing the raw talent of the country behind JEE.

Today, thousands of coaching institutes have popped up in every corner of the country, giving coaching to IIT aspirants and helping them crack the exam with minimum efforts. These students get well equipped by practicing anticipation of paper pattern and solving similar pattern of problems. The result is that some of the raw talents of the country remains behind in the race, and these paper cracking aspirants takes the front seat.

IIT caretakers are aware and concerned of this fact, and some of them have even suggested to completely change the structure of Joint Entrance Examinations.

Very soon, the proposed Aryabhatt Knowledge University will be setup in Bihar’s capital, Patna. The state legislature has cleared the bill for erecting the university in the states capital.

After being set up the university will act as a regulating body, and will regularize and standardize the education pattern in all affiliated colleges and institutes. The university has been named after the famous astronomer, Aryabhatt.

University aims to promote high tech courses and create a strong technical work force coming from the state. Some of the subjects that will be given emphasis are Information Technology, Nano-technology and Bio-technology.