Page 160 - Education

Students should not have pushed JU VC: WB governor

West Bengal Governor K N Tripathi Monday criticised a section of agitating students of the Jadavpur University for heckling Vice-Chancellor Prof Suranjan Das, saying they should not have pushed him. Das had fallen down in front of the administrative building of the University on February 19 during a scuffle between two groups of students. He was hospitalised for two days following the incident. "The students should not have pushed the VC under any circumstances. The students should not ever hit their teacher, their VC," Tripathi told reporters on the sidelines of the convocation of the West Bengal State University in Barasat near here. Asked to comment on the heckling of Das, the governor said the students "should not be involved in any conduct which will go against the spirit of their respective institute". Tripathi, however, said he had nothing against the student community unitedly agitating to press for their demands on academic matters. The incident involving the JU

Seats filled under EWS, DG by Delhi govt 3 times more than in MCD schools: Outcome Budget

The number of seats filled under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and Disadvantaged Group (DG) in aided or unaided schools by the city dispensation is 3 times more than the seats filled in schools under the three municipal bodies, the Outcome Budget of Delhi government Monday said. The outcome budget, which was tabled in Delhi Assembly, also said the number of admissions in private schools have witnessed a 240 per cent increase since 2015-16. "The number of admissions in private schools as per the Section 12 of the Right to Education (RTE) Act have witnessed a 240 per cent increase since 2015-16," Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said. According to the outcome budget speech, at least 76 per cent seats have been filled in schools aided or unaided by Delhi government under the two categories, almost three times more than the schools under three MCDs. Sisodia pointed out that the Delhi government introduced nursery classes in 301 schools run by it and till December 2018, 95 per .

PIL for free education, food and medical aid to poor kids: HC seeks Centre, AAP govt stand

The Delhi High Court asked the Centre, the AAP government and the three municipal corporations on Monday to respond to a plea seeking a policy guaranteeing free education, food and medical aid to children up to 14 years of age. A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao issued notice to the ministries of Human Resource Development and Women and Child Development, the Delhi government and the three corporations in the city seeking their stand on the petition by July 31, the next date of hearing. The order came on a plea by Salek Chand Jain, who claims to be a social worker and has alleged that there is no scheme in place to provide free education, as mandated by the Constitution, to poor children up to 14 years of age in government or municipal schools in the national capital. He said he had last year raised the issue before the court which had in July 2018 directed the authorities to treat his petition as a representation and take steps within four months. However, ..

Opt for state-run schools over pvt ones, Partha tells parents

A school run by the West Bengal government has become the first state-run institute to introduce English as its medium of teaching, with minister Partha Chatterjee assuring parents that its fee structure would be within the reach of all sections of the society. Chatterjee insisted that parents should opt for state -aided institutes, instead of admitting their wards in private schools charging exorbitant fees. "Parents should have faith in the academic standard of the state-run institutions. It will encourage the government to open more English-medium schools in Bengal," he said. The TMC government has framed policies to ensure quality education in the schools, the minister said Sunday. The government has last month given its consent to 65 state-run and aided schools to introduce English as their medium of teaching. "Charging Rs 10,000 for buying a laptop, another Rs 5,000 for an excursion - such trends in schools lead to unnecessary burden on parents," the education ...

National Institute of Design partners with Ireland varsity for student exchange programmes

The National Institute of Design (NID) here has signed an MoU with the University of Limerick, Ireland to develop current research and teaching activities, and to facilitate the exchange and mobility of staff members, researchers and students. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed at the residence of the Irish ambassador here. "Our interests in design are very similar but are social and cultural contexts are each distinctly different. This provides us with a unique opportunity to collaborate with our NID partners, to learn from each other and develop new design approaches to positively influence our fast changing world," said Adam de Eyto, Head of School of Design, University of Limerick. The MoU is aimed at providing a study pathway for undergraduate design students to further their studies while learning from each other's socio-cultural contexts in India and in Ireland.

Shri M Venkaiah Naidu Launches BIMTECH Director Dr. H Chaturvedi's Book on 'Quality, Accreditation & Ranking' at New Delhi

/ -- Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has exhorted Indian business houses and prominent entrepreneurs to come forward and set up quality institutions in higher education so as to ensure a paradigm shift in promoting research and innovation in Indian universities and colleges. Vice President Naidu was speaking on the occasion of a book launch function organized by the Education Promotion Society for India (EPSI), BIMTECH and Bloomsbury Pvt Ltd. The book titled 'Quality, Accreditation and Ranking - A Silent Revolution in the Offing in Indian Higher Education' edited by EPSI's Alternate President, Dr. H Chaturvedi was released by the Hon'ble Vice President Naidu. On this occasion, the UGC Chairman, Dr. DP Singh and Management Guru Padma Shri Dr. Pritam Singh were present as the guest of honour. Check out the video excerpt of the book. Speaking after releasing the book, Vice President Naidu said the focus of successive governments for the past many years has been to achieve 'access, ...

Prof donates 50 per cent of his award money to alma mater

Suman Dhar, a professor of Jawaharlal Nehru University and a recipient of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award has handed over 50 per cent of his prize money to Kalyani University, his alma mater to encourage students of the varsity to take up PhD. Vice Chancellor of Kalyani University, Shankar Kumar Ghosh said Dhar handed over 50 per cent of his award money (Rs 2.5 lakh) to him on Saturday for an award in memory of his late mother. "Every year, the student who will come first in MSc in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics will be given an amount from the interest of the donated fund to encourage research," the VC said. Dhar, is at present Professor in the Centre for Molecular Medicine in JNU. He did his masters degree from Kalyani university. Dhar said, "As an alumni of Kalyani University, I had decided to share fifty per cent of my money achieved through Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award with Kalaynai University authorities for help students who intend to go for ...

Varanasi: Security beefed up at UP college after murder of student

Security has been beefed up at Udai Pratap Autonomous College in Varanasi after a post-graduate student was shot dead on Sunday night, police said.The deceased, identified as Vivek Singh, was shot eight times by unidentified men inside the premises of the college, they said. He was in the final year of B.Com course.The police rushed to the spot after receiving a complaint from the college administration.The police suspect that the murder could have been carried out by people with whom Singh recently had a tussle.The family members of Singh have been informed and they will be reaching Varanasi, they said.

HP: Agitated by shortage of teachers in govt school, Rampur villagers likely to boycott Lok Sabha polls

The people of Rampur village have found an unusual way to mark their protest against the shortage of teachers in a government-run school.The villagers have decided to boycott the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in order to draw the attention of the government towards the ongoing crisis.Speaking to ANI, Gartantra, a student said: "I have to walk 5 miles every day for attending the school. I have a dream of becoming an engineer but there is no teacher in the school for major subjects. We all are worried now as we have our board examinations in March."Another student, Kritika also spoke on the same lines and said due to the paucity of teachers in the school her studies are getting affected. "I have a dream of becoming a teacher, but now I feel that I would not be able to achieve it as there is no one in school who can guide us," he said.Locals informed ANI that the school does not have teachers for major subjects such as Science and Mathematics. At present, the school is running with merely

Dwayne Johnson's high school classmates believed he was 'undercover cop'

Dwayne Johnson has admitted that his high school classmates used to believe that the professional wrestler-turned-actor was an undercover cop rather than an actual student. Johnson, 46, made the remark in response to a news video on Twitter Saturday. "Did you know @TheRock's high school classmates thought he was an undercover cop? Keep watching to see what The Rock was really like as a teenager!" read the caption of the video clip. Confirming the story, Johnson replied on the tweet and said the article was a "nice trip down the memory lane". "And yes, very true story when I moved from Hawaii to Nashville, I was already 6'4 225lbs with a pornstache at 15yrs old and the students in my new high school thought I was an undercover cop. All the lovely ladies stayed far away from me," he added. On the work front, the actor will next be seen in "Hobbs and Shaw" which will hit cinemas on August 2.

JU Pro-V-C confined in office for 48 hrs as students' sit-in

A section of agitating Jadavpur University students have confined Pro-Vice-Chancellor Pradip Kumar Ghosh in his office for over 48 hours. "We will not withdraw the sit-in till we get concrete and definite assurances on holding a tripartite meeting to facilitate conduct of students' union polls and inquiry into attacks by a handful of Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad activists on left-wing students in recent times," one of the agitating students, Ushashi Pal, told PTI. Members of the Arts Faculty Students' Union (AFSU), Science Faculty Students Union (SFSU) and Faculty of Engineering and Technology Students' Union (FETSU) have been camping outside Ghosh's chamber since Friday evening over the twin demands. They have been alleging a handful of TMCP students had been threatening them of stopping "all kinds of democratic activities" inside the university campus and demanded immediate holding of tripartite talks between the university, government and students for starting

DUTA condemns assault on law faculty teacher

The Delhi University Teachers' Association on Sunday condemned the assault by a student on a law faculty teacher who had reportedly raised questions on the veracity of a WhatsApp video shown to him by the student. The video allegedly contained representations of the Pulwama Terror attack. The student's "justification" for the assault, that questioning by the teacher has hurt his nationalist sentiment, is completely unacceptable, the teachers body said. "Teachers and students must be guaranteed the freedom to express their own views and argue their own opinions, however unpopular or contrarian, within a democratic educational institution. This freedom is integral to the survival of critical thinking," DUTA said in a statement. It said an educator's prerogative to introduce heterogenous ideas and question or insist on empirical verification of any statement or representation is sacrosanct, as without this prerogative, learners cannot be guided towards either objective awareness or ...

DCPCR completes evaluation of over 4,000 schools in Delhi

The Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) has completed evaluation of over 4,000 schools in the city which will improve transparency and accountability in the sector, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Sunday. The DCPCR completed evaluation of the 4,041 schools of Delhi on February 18, under its initiative School Development Index (SDI), which include parameters of safety, learning and inclusion. Addressing the gathering on the occasion to mark the end of the phase-II of the project, Sisodia said, "We are getting really positive feedback from govt schools as well as private schools about such assessment, in contrast to the initial fear about the same." He said very few nations across the world have the courage to establish an assessment of its schools. "It's a question of utmost importance to the nation as to how are the places where every citizen spends 6-8 hours of his/her childhood? Where does a school stand on relevant quality parameters. It's most ...

Interactive activities can make learning fun for children:

Science communicator from Australia Dr Stuart Kohlhagen, currently on a visit to India, has said learning should be fun for children and stressed on introducing interactive activities in school curriculum. India has always been instrumental in the advancement of science and technology education, but the country should also find ways to reduce stress and burden of students, he told PTI Saturday on the sidelines of a workshop at Birla Industrial & Technological Museum (BITM) here. "India's strength remains in the fact that a large number of students recognise the value of education. Many of them are keen to learn and innovate. But we need to introduce fun activities in curriculum to engage the children. There has to be more than just direct instructions," Kohlhagen, who was here to mentor educators and teachers, said. Addressing the students, Kohlhagen said, "You need to have confidence and resilience to tackle problems. These things are not specifically taught in ...

Prince Harry, Meghan visit mountain school in Morocco

Prince Harry and his pregnant wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, are visiting a school high up in Morocco's rugged Atlas Mountains. Harry and Meghan landed in the mountain town of Asni on Sunday morning on a whirlwind official visit to Morocco. They arrived by helicopter from the capital of Rabat and were welcomed by pupils from a school run by a Moroccan foundation that emphasises education for all. The school provides education for girls from rural communities whose parents would not typically be able to afford secondary education. The brief trip is expected to be Meghan's last international trip before she gives birth to the couple's first child in April. The visit also includes a chance to observe horses that provide support to children with special needs.

Letter to Kejriwal for hospital at Jamia

The teacher's association of the Jamia Millia Islamia has written to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for establishing a hospital in the university that could be converted into a medical college in future. "When we look at certain areas, where we can improve upon or progress, we find that three of our contemporary universities like DU, BHU and AMU are successfully running hospital and medical college," the Jamia Teachers' Association (JTA) said in the letter on Saturday. "We request you to establish a new 500 bedded hospital in Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) so that in (the) near future it could be converted into a medical college," it said. The JTA said the university is situated in a densely-populated area, where more than 90 per cent of the population belongs to the Muslim community and many of them are underprivileged and desperately need quality medical facilities. "But they are not getting these services as there is no hospital nearby." The hospital, the JTA said, would enhance .

Jamia teachers write to Kejriwal for 500-bed hospital

The Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) teachers' organisation has requested Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for setting up of a 500-bed hospital in the university to cater to the training needs of dentistry students.

Gay relationship lessons to be made compulsory in UK schools

Britain's schoolchildren will be taught about gay and trans-gender relationships as part of new compulsory government guidelines to be issued next week. The new classes will be introduced across UK schools in 2020 following a six-month consultation period by the UK''s Department for Education, 'The Sunday Times' reported. The new statutory guidance will also spell out for the first time the end of parents' right to opt their children out of relationship and sex education (RSE) classes. The change will guarantee all children receive at least a term of lessons by the time they are 16. Campaigners argue the lessons are required to protect children from child sexual exploitation online as well as to be taught about different types of relationships in society. However, not all parents are on board with the concept and on Monday a petition signed by more than 100,000 people objecting to the new curriculum will be debated in the UK Parliament. "We believe it is the parent's fundamental ...

Five school students in Kerala tested positive for H1N1 virus

Five students of a government school near here have been tested positive for H1N1 virus while 67 others with suspected infection kept under observation, a health official said Sunday. The five - four girls and one boy - were students of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya near here. All the five have been taken to their homes by their parents. Of the 67 under observation, most of them were girls, the district health officer told PTI. "However, everything is under control. Since the institution is a residential school, parents are a bit worried. But we would like to tell everyone that there is no reason to panic," he said. A medical check-up was underway at the school, the health officer said, adding three doctors have been deputed for the purpose. The residential school has over 500 students and over 200 staff. The health authorities have opened a separate ward in the school and two isolation wards for boys and girls.

How an illiterate rickshaw-puller from Assam became a mascot for education (IANS Special Series)

Ahmed Ali from Assam's Karimganj district, while pulling his cycle rickshaw one day in the late 1970s, felt miserable at the realization that like him his soon-to-be-born child too will remain illiterate and may have to pull a rickshaw for a living.