News and views about the Education in India

Inroads of technology, like internet for schools and technical aids for teachers, was in the limelight. IITians refused jobs on moral grounds while MIT wants to offer joint courses in India. The Apex Court refuses to let teachers do poll duty on working days and it reserves the right of minority institutions to reserve seats.

-Chillibreeze Business Research Team

IITians decline Dow Chemicals jobs on moral grounds

Young engineers of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are refusing lucrative jobs at Dow Chemicals (which owns Union Carbide) on moral grounds, as the company has been held responsible for the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy that killed over 5,000 people and left thousands permanently disabled.

'By refusing Dow entry into the campuses, IITians have not only prevented the company to use them to gain legitimacy in the country but also proved that justice comes before business,'

Source:www.indiaenews.com
December 3, 2007

PDP devises policy on youth empowerment, education
Jammu and Kashmir's ruling alliance partner Peoples Democratic Party Monday came out with a policy for the youth, which focuses on education, employment and empowerment. the policy stated that the youth are feeling 'neglected' and that they are special because of the trials and tribulations they have undergone during the past two decades of turmoil in the state.

It is for the first time that a political party has made a youth policy, addressing the issues concerning the youth who grew up during militancy.

The policy has declared 2008 as the Year of the Youth in Jammu and Kashmir and called for developing the state as a special education zone and youth leadership at the block level.

The PDP has promised that it would devise the youth employment strategy, and employment insurance for the jobless youth. It pledged to create a 'youth opportunity fund', organize regional youth conclaves across the state, and reorient the state's educational system.

It would also provide opportunities for youth to be active partners in the decision-making, build leadership skills of the youth, link youth to planning and policy efforts, and also allow them to identify their own interests.

Source:www.indiaenews.com
December 3, 2007

MIT keen to foster ties
MIT will be collaborating with Indian institutes to provide students from both countries with a global experience.

MIT is looking to bring together engineers, scientists and physicians under one roof. "Health, science and technology are critical areas of research and MIT is experimenting to make it stronger. We have signed a MoU with India's Department of Biotechnology to bring every professional who is instrumental in reaching results in contact with each other," informed Martha L Gray, director (health science and technology), MIT. MIT has also collaborated with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras to ensure increased participation by students outside their field, thus translating technologies developed by them into products used by physicians.

Source:www.timesofindia.com
December 3, 2007

For dynamic learning
Educational institutions in Mysore, a prominent knowledge centre of the State, have been making rapid strides in integrating state-of-the-art technology to facilitate better teaching-learning process.

Not just professional colleges or the universities, even schools are adopting innovative technologies that make learning most effective and an enjoyable experience. When teaching is changing because of increasing expectations by students, use of technology can actually assist the teachers in meeting those expectations and new challenges. Therefore, several educational institutions across the globe are switching over to technology-enabled education because of its effectiveness in addressing the students’ needs.

Source: The Hindu
December 3, 2007

Delhi's school van operators withdraw strike
Around 5,000 private school-van operators Monday called off their strike within hours of launching it as the Delhi government gave them a month's time to meet the guidelines set by the Supreme Court.`

The private operators who run nearly 15,000 vehicles to ferry schoolchildren went on strike Monday morning, protesting authorities' stringent action against them for not running buses as per the prescribed laws. They also demanded more time for replacing LPG kits of their buses with those of CNG.

As the school-vans stayed off the roads, thousands of school-children were stranded. Students who rely on private operators missed their classes and attendances in many schools were thin.

Source:www.indiaenews.com
December 3, 2007

US varsities to offer joint courses for working pros
India's working professionals who have missed out on their MBAs can now look forward to graduating in management from some reputed California-based institutions. The Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA) has proposed a collaborative tie-up with Monterey Institute of International Studies and the Fisher Graduate School of Business for joint courses.

The Monterey Institute is ranked among the top 20 schools of its kind in the US. It specialises in international policy studies, language and language teaching, and translation and interpretation.

The Fisher School, ranked among top 25 US business schools, focuses on globalisation and localisation. It is also recognised as one of the best educational environments in the world for preparing global business professionals.

Source:www.indiaenews.com
December 5, 2007

Haryana Govt launches scholarship scheme for SC students
The Government of Haryana has launched new scholarship schemes for students belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC) category. The scheme is a part of the Special Component Plan where a sum of Rs.7 crore will be spent for its implementation in the current financial year.

While announcing the scheme on Tuesday, Education Minister Mange Ram Gupta said three scholarship schemes have been introduced for students belonging to Scheduled Castes. Under this scheme, at least one thousand computers would be provided to SC students for learning.

Source:www.indiaedunews.com
December 5, 2007

Bangladesh praises Tripura's teaching method
A delegation from Bangladesh has been bowled over by the teaching procedures of tribal languages in different schools in Tripura. A group of 12 experts from the Bangladesh Tripuri Kalyan Foundation (BTKF), arrived Wednesday on a weeklong visit to Tripura, has found the tribal language teaching technique in the state very efficient.

The Bangladeshi team is here to study the teaching methods, script and curriculum of tribal languages taught in schools in the state. Most tribal community in Bangladesh are similar to tribals of India's northeast.

Source:www.indiaenews.com
December 6, 2007

Apex court against teachers on poll duty on school days
Expressing grave concern over the state of primary education among the poor in India, the Supreme Court Thursday told the Election Commission not to deploy school teachers on poll duty on school days but only on holidays and non-teaching days.

A bench of Justices S.B. Sinha and Harjit Singh Bedi, however, allowed the poll panel to deploy the non-teaching staff of schools on poll related duties on any day.

'We direct that all teaching staff shall be put on the duties of roll revisions and election works on holidays and non-teaching days. Teachers should not ordinarily be put on duty on teaching days and within teaching hours. Non-teaching staff, however, may be put on such duties on any day or at any time, if permissible in law,' the bench ruled.

Source:www.indiaenews.com
December 6, 2007

Minority schools can reserve seats for own community: court
The Delhi High Court Thursday allowed minority schools, which were granted land by the government at concession rates, to reserve all the free seats for poor students of their own community.

'We can give you that latitude. Give the freeships to students of your own community,' a bench comprising Chief Justice M.K. Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Khanna said. However, the court, for the time being refused to exempt them from mandatory requirement of providing 15 percent reservation for students of economically weaker sections and directed the government to file its response on their petitions.

Source:www.indiaenews.com
December 7, 2007

Toonz Academy to open centre in Hyderabad
Technopark-headquartered Toonz Animation's sister company Toonz Academy announced Friday plans to open a centre in Hyderabad later this month.

A press release issued here said this would be the latest centre after the opening of the previous one in Delhi last month.

Their other centres are at Thiruvananthapuram, Mumbai and Nagpur. 'The opening of these centres is just one among the major expansion plans we have in store. We will be opening the academies in Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Visakhapatnam and Bhubaneswar in the coming months,' said Binu Raj, national marketing head of the company.

Toonz Academy is a fully owned subsidiary of Toonz Entertainment Pvt Ltd, Singapore, which also owns Indian animation studio Toonz Animation India Pvt Ltd.

Source:www.indiaenews.com
December 7, 2007

Posco offers scholarships for Orissa students
Posco-India, a subsidiary of South Korea steel major Posco, Saturday announced merit scholarships for students from poor families that are being displaced due to its construction activities.

On Friday, the company's TJ Park Foundation, a non-profit welfare organisation awarded merit scholarships to 29 students from various educational institutions in Orissa. The foundation is funded and supported by Posco.

Thirty-five more students have been selected for the scholarship on a priority basis, which will be handed over to them later on. All these children are from the economically backward families, the company said in a statement.
The scholarships of $500 each and renewable annually were from the state's leading universities such as Utkal University, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology and Biju Patnaik University of Technology.

Source:www.indiaenews.com
December 8, 2007

Kerala gives all its schools Internet connections
Kerala's Education Minister M.A. Baby Sunday inaugurated the first phase of Internet broadband connections to 1,200 schools in the state.

The initiative is part of the IT@School project launched by the state government in 2003 for imparting IT education to high school children across the state.

'All the 2,800 high schools in Kerala will be connected through broadband Internet by June as part of the project,' the minister said while inaugurating the first phase from the State Secretariat.

'We are planning to extend the services to upper primary schools (between 5th-7th classes) as well. In the first phase, we will start with 38 schools in this academic secession,' said Baby.

Source:www.indiaenews.com
December 9, 2007