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India Reports: RTI to make examination evaluation transparentThe RTI Act allows students to know the question wise marks in any examination. Teachers are protesting against the not to fail concept in the Right to Education bill. Several realty players are now diversifying into education. Abhinav Bindra plans to open schools across the country with focus on sports. -Chillibreeze Business Research Team Trends Policy Plans-Academic Institutions and Corporates TrendsIIM Lucknow against setting up of pan-IIM board The Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow has also rejected the recommendations of the HRD Ministry-instituted IIM Review Committee Report which had sought the setting up of a Pan-IIM board. The Board of Governors, which met at a specially convened session, said the recommendation and conclusions in the report in its present form could not be accepted. The Board of Governors of IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Bangalore have already rejected the report saying that it has objections to ‘many of the recommendations’ and that it finds ‘much to differ’ with them. The R.C. Bhargava-led review committee for the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM), in its report to the HRD Ministry, had among other things sought the creation of a ‘Pan IIM Board’ as a via media between the Government and the Boards of the various IIMs besides being an institutional mechanism for facilitating coordination and providing broad policy guidelines. December 26, 2008 Teachers critical of Right To Education Bill The Right to Education Bill, introduced in the Rajya Sabha last week, proposing that schools cannot fail students until they complete Class 8 has received flak from teachers. The bill proposes that both government and private schools across the country not fail students for poor performance until they complete elementary education upto Class 8, nor throw anyone out of school. The Federation of Public Schools, an association of over 200 public schools in the capital, has decided to register their protest against the bill. December 25, 2008 PolicyRTI to make examination systems transparent Overturning its earlier decision of a confidential examination system, a recent ruling of the Central Information Commission (CIC) will now allow students to know about the procedure of examinations conducted across the country. Students will now be able to know their question-wise marks secured in examinations, under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The CIC has directed authorities from all education boards across the country to follow the guidelines. Earlier, all the information regarding the conduct of examinations was kept confidential under Section 8 (1) of the RTI Act. G. Ravinder, Joint Director, National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT) said, "This ruling is in line with the National Curriculum Framework 2005, which emphasizes transparency in conducting examinations." "The National Curriculum Framework has suggested several exam reforms including transparency and stress-free exams. However, NCERT is an advisory body, and it is up to the boards to implement the NCERT recommendations," added Mr. Ravinder. December 29, 2008 Girl child education is a mass movement in Gujarat: Modi Girl child education has become a mass movement in the state after his government initiated the girl child enrolment drive in 2001, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi claimed. Modi said that because of the efforts of government, the state has seen improvement in the education sector. He added that he has created a corpus for education of girl child and he gives away all gifts and other presents that he gets to that corpus. According to him, many voluntary organisations and other agencies have contributed to the corpus. December 29, 2008 Autonomy and reforms, buzzwords for future of education Autonomy and reforms should be the watchwords for administrators and stakeholders in the education sector, especially in Tamil Nadu, in the year ahead considering certain retrograde actions witnessed during 2008. The past 12 months have seen appointment of persons with political connections as vice chancellors in at least three universities, government agencies mandating universities to adopt centralised curriculum templates, and populist moves such as the dilution of high school syllabus and lowering of minimum eligibility marks for admission to engineering colleges. While every academic and policy maker has been waxing eloquent on the need for granting functional autonomy to educational institutions, this enthusiasm has not been translated into action. There seems to be a disturbing trend of the government increasingly interfering with the functioning of universities and school education department including framing of curriculum. Worse, some academicians vested with administrative powers, have even aided in this interference. Observers point out that appointment of persons who are seen to be close to ruling party leaders in top posts in the universities and school education department have helped policy makers perpetuate undue interference in the last year. These persons have not only welcomed government intervention but prepared the templates for thrusting planned agendas on universities. The introduction of the Choice Based Credit System in arts and science universities across Tamil Nadu, though certainly a welcome step considering that it is a time-tested system successfully tried out in advanced countries, was actually hurriedly thrust on institutions in Tamil Nadu. Colleges were barely prepared to meet the challenges posed by such a dynamic system since it came into force by late September, by which a quarter of an academic year had passed. An idea, however, good it is can succeed and achieve its purpose only if it is implemented with the wholehearted support of all stakeholders. Therefore, the government would do well to at least diligently debate on the Common Universities Bill involving vice chancellors, principals, teachers unions and students before acting on it in the coming year. Dilution of Standards: In November, the school education minister had announced that "difficult portions" were being deleted from the state board class X Mathematics and Science subjects. Earlier too, the government had resorted to such measures to boost the overall pass percentage. However, if one were to look at this objectively, such dilution does not augur well in a globally competitive environment. Also, one must not lose sight of the fact that the CBSE high school and higher secondary school syllabus is more wholesome, as a result of which the state board students have fared badly in competitive examinations. A similar reasoning would apply to contest the government's decision to lower eligibility marks for admission to engineering colleges. Already, the Anna University has found that abolition of the common entrance test had led to many students failing in the university examinations. Helping engineering colleges to fill up all seats through this method have adversely affected quality of admissions into pure science and arts stream in colleges. Positive Steps: The government had taken commendable initiatives like establishing the Tamil Nadu Teachers Education University, opening six government engineering colleges to provide quality and affordable education to meritorious students and convincing the centre to establish an Indian Institute of Management in Trichy. Likewise, the Anna University (Chennai) revived the practice of posting online the rank list of engineering colleges which is of great help to the student community. The government did talk of establishing cluster colleges, where resources can be shared between institutions, but it has not taken off. Steps should be taken to implement this in the coming year. The state must also critically examine its decision to convert five colleges into universities and ensure that this does not end up as a mere renaming exercise but should be an upgrade. The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan too has been a success in the state and must continue its efforts to take Activity Based Learning to the interior areas and use technology to its best. With the Right To Education Bill all set to be enacted, Tamil Nadu must play an active role in making education a reality for all children. The government must also try to bring in reforms to ensure that admission into schools is easier for parents. December 27, 2008 CCEA okays setting up of 1,000 new polytechnics The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has decided on a financial allocation for the 1,000 new polytechnics to be set up across the country at a total cost of Rs 737.82 crore. Of these, 300 polytechnics are to be set up with a one-time Central grant of Rs 12.3 crore a polytechnic to meet the capital cost. Another 300 polytechnics would be set up under the private-public partnership (PPP) mode with partial funding of Rs 3 crore a polytechnic from the Central Government. The rest 400 polytechnics would be set up through private funding. It has also been decided to strengthen the existing polytechnic system by granting funds of up to Rs 2 crore a polytechnic for 500 polytechnics. As one of the components to give incentive to women, grants were also proposed for construction of women’s hostels in over 500 polytechnics at a cost of Rs 1 crore each. The total outlay for the entire scheme has been estimated at Rs 6,828 crore to be spent during 11th and 12th Plan period. The CCEA also approved a proposal for merger, revision and continuation of support to voluntary agencies for adult education and skill development during the 11th Plan. December 26, 2008 Quality Education to Tribal Students The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has introduced a new Central Sector Scholarship Scheme of Top Class Education for ST Students from the academic year 2007-08 with the objective of enabling meritorious ST students to pursue degree and post degree level courses in any of the identified institutes. 125 institutes have been approved under the scheme, in both the Government and private sectors covering the field of management, medicine, engineering, law and commercial courses. Each institute has been allocated a maximum of five awards with a ceiling of total 635 scholarships per year. A meritorious ST student who has gained admission in any of these 125 identified institutes shall be eligible for receiving the scholarship under this scheme provided he falls within the inter-se seniority of top five meritorious ST students and the total family income of the ST student from all the sources does not exceed Rs. 2.00 lakh per annum. This was stated by the Minister of State for Tribal Affairs, Dr. Rameshwar Oraon in a reply to a question by Shri Jai Prakash Narayan Singh in Rajya Sabha today. He said that under the scheme, eligible ST students are awarded scholarship covering full tuition fee and other non-refundable dues in respect of Government/Government-funded institutions. However, there is a ceiling of Rs.2.00 lakh per annum per student for private sector institutions and Rs.3.72 lakh per annum per student for the private sector flying clubs for Commercial Pilot Training. In addition, the scholarship also provides for (i) living expenses @ Rs. 2200/- per month per student subject to actuals, (ii) books and stationery @ Rs. 3000/- per annum per student and (iii) cost of a latest computer system along with its accessories limited to Rs. 45000/- as one time assistance during the course. Grant is being released to identified institutes and not State-wise. During 2007-08, grant was released to various institutes for disbursement of scholarship to 78 ST students. December 22, 2008 Plans-Academic Institutions and CorporatesSinhal Classes in talks for VC funding Sinhal Classes, is scouting for venture capital investments into its newly formed subsidiary company that will spearhead the business of setting up educational Web portals. The company is looking at divesting more than 25 per cent stake in subsidiary company, eStudents Systems, to strategic investors in two rounds of equity funding. The subsidiary will also operate sinhalsonline.com, a portal where students applying for MH-CET can give up to 1,600 test papers online, for a fee of Rs 1,600. December 28, 2008 IIT-B to start certificate course in Delhi from February 2009 The Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) is all set to launch a six-month certificate programme in Retail Chain Management in New Delhi and NCR. For the first batch, 125 students will be offered admission to the course, scheduled to commence from February 2009. Students having 50 percent marks in graduation or diploma in any discipline with minimum 50 percent marks will be eligible for the course. The course has been designed for students and young working professionals, aspiring to build a career in retail management, international trade, export and import. December 27, 2008 Realty players diversifying into education Education is proving to be quite a draw with a new breed of entrepreneurs in Kolkata. A bunch of real estate developers are diversifying into education and looking at rolling out schools, management institutes and engineering colleges , most of them as a not-for-profit or CSR activity. The likes of the Ambuja Group, South City, PS Group, among others are all looking at education, drawn by the sheer long-term opportunities which the sector offers. Though realtors have been setting up schools as part of large integrated projects, which also boast of amenities like shopping areas and medical facilities, these players are different in the sense that they are looking at these educational ventures as independent projects in themselves. PS Group CMD Pradip Kumar Chopra said around 80-85% of the initial investment in setting up an education project goes towards infrastructure and land cost. “Since we are already experts in real estate, we can then save nearly 30% of the initial cost. Hence, this would make such projects more viable,” said Mr Chopra. PS Group has already acquired two 25-acre plots in Rajarhat and Bantala for their proposed education ventures. This includes a B-school and an integrated education hub, which will offer everything from school to doctoral-level education. South City Projects is also aggressively promoting its South City International School within its residential complex, conceptualised by educational consultant Shomie Das, ex-principal, Doon School. The school will offer five certificates including ICSE, ISC, IBO, Geneva, IGCSE (‘O’ and ‘A’ levels). Harshavardhan Neotia, chairman, Ambuja Realty told, “As part of our CSR activities, our foundation has recently taken over the Institute of Technology and Marine Engineering on Diamond Harbour Road from its earlier promoters. Right now, it has 1,200 students and six streams of engineering. In due course, we intend to add management and hospitality education.” December 26, 2008 Abhinav Bindra plans to set up 50 schools in 5 yrs After hitting the bulls eye in Bejiing, India's sole individual Olympic gold medalist Abinav Bindra is training his eyes on setting up to 50 schools across the country in the next five years. The schools to be run under the banner of Abhinav Bindra Ace Public School (ABAPS) will have sports as the main focus. The trust plans to set up around 50 schools within the next five year and the first school is likely to come up by 2010 in Bangalore. While the Karnataka government has already given 50-80 acres land for the purpose, it is still in the process of acquiring land in other states like Kerala, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand and Chandigarh. ABAPS would have a capacity of around 800 residential students and would impart education from the 6th to 12th standard. The trust is in talks with various international bodies and agencies and NGOs to finance the schools. December 25,2008 IIM-C announces doubling of stipend for PhD students IIM Calcutta (IIM-C) has announced an over 100% increase in the stipend for its PhD programme students , following a decision taken in the board of governors’ meeting. This move comes at a time when leading institutes like the Indian Institute of Managements (IIMs) are grappling with a faculty crunch coupled with a serious problem in attracting quality faculty. These institutes look at PhD students as a pool for potential faculty. IIM-C has a doctoral fellowship programme leading to the title of ‘Fellow of IIM-C’ in various management and related disciplines such as marketing, finance, strategy, economics, behavioural sciences, information systems, sociology, regional development and operations management. The new stipend policy will provide Rs 20,000-24,000 per month and a Rs 20,000 annual contingency grant. The students are also provided a one-time grant for field study, laptop grant and a fully-supported international conference attendance anywhere in the world. Till this decision, the students were entitled between Rs 10,000 and Rs 11,000 per month and a Rs 10,000 annual contingency grant. December 25, 2008 |
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