Page 314 - Education

Bengal to name new university after Mahatma Gandhi

The West Bengal government on Friday announced naming one of its five upcoming universities in the state after Mahatma Gandhi.

Four new varsities to come up in West Bengal

The West Bengal cabinet today gave its nod for setting up four new universities in the state, Education Minister Partha Chatterjee said. The four new universities would be run by the government and come up in Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, South Dinajpur and Murshidabad districts, Chatterjee told reporters after the meeting. At the meeting the cabinet also decided that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee would lay the foundation stone of the proposed Mahatma Gandhi University in East Midnapore district on Gandhi Jayanti this year, he said. With the setting up of the five universities, their number in the state would reach 28, he said. Identification of land for the four new universities which got the nod today are being done by the respective district magistrates and the education department, the minister added.

Lack in innovation, quality research foremost challenge for nation: Javadekar

Lack in innovation and quality research was the foremost challenge for the country, HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said today. He was chairing a three-day national conference of vice-chancellors from across the country. "Lack in innovation and quality research is the foremost challenge before the country. Quality expansion and teaching reform is the need of the hour," the minister said. The minister further emphasised on creating a positive and lively environment to enhance the quality of education in all central and private universities. "It is time to show India's prowess to the world in the field of education. The country hosts many world-class educators who are working in silos and they need to break walls and come forward to share their knowledge," Javadekar said. "It has been found that many Indians, including few parliamentarians, are among the world's top teachers and the country should make the best use of such resources," he added. Flagging the issue of plagiarism in PhD ...

HC asks JNU to give admission to students with disability in M.Phil and Ph.D

The Delhi High Court today asked the JNU to admit students suffering from disability in M.Phil and Ph.D courses who have cleared the entrance exam. A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar clarified that the prohibition in its earlier order, which had barred the varsity from giving admission to the five per cent unfilled seats for students with disability for M.Phil and Ph.D courses, shall not come in the way of JNU in granting admission to the students in the Persons With Disability (PWD) category who were successful. The court was hearing a petition filed by the National Federation of the Blind challenging the admission policy of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) for the 2018-19 academic session, saying it stipulated 100 per cent weightage to the viva voce examination (interview), terming it unfair. The federation also challenged the university's decision not to grant any weighage to the written examination and alleged that the varsity had failed to

Osmania University initiative to enhance employability

As part of its initiative to enhance employability of its graduating students, Osmania University will facilitate assessment of 100,000 final-year students of its nearly 600 colleges through HireMee, a digital assessment and recruitment platform.

Sessions for Indian students travelling to UK

Indian students, who are travelling to the UK for higher education this year, will get a pre-departure briefing at the British Council here.

Female student enrolment lowest in institutes of national importance: AISHE

The enrolment of female students is lowest in the institutions of national importance, followed by state private open universities and government deemed universities, according to the All India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE). The report, which was released by Union Minister of Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar today, said the Gross Enrolment Ration (GER) in higher education in the country is 25.8 per cent, which is calculated for 18-23 years of age group. "Share of female students is lowest in Institutions of National Importance, followed by state private open universities and deemed universities (government). The total enrolment in higher education has been estimated to be 36.6 million with 19.2 million boys and 17.4 million girls. The girls constitute 47.6 per cent of the enrolment," the survey report for 2017-18 said. The GER for male population is 26.3 per cent and for females it is 25.4 per cent. For Scheduled Castes, it is 21.8 per cent and for Scheduled Tribes it

Checking phones during lectures can affect grades

Checking smartphones or tablets for non-academic purposes during lectures can lower your grades in the end term examination, suggests a new research.

Checking phones in lectures may cost students grades: Study

Giving students access to an electronic device, such as a phone or tablet, for non-academic purposes during lectures may lower their performance in exams, a study has found. The research, published in the journal Educational Psychology, found that students who don't use such devices themselves but attend lectures where their use is permitted also do worse, suggesting that phone use damages the group learning environment. Researchers from Rutgers University in the US performed an in-class experiment to test whether dividing attention between electronic devices and the lecturer during the class affected students' performance in within-lecture tests and an end-of-term exam. As many as 118 cognitive psychology students at Rutgers University participated in the experiment during one term of their course. Laptops, phones and tablets were banned in half of the lectures and permitted in the other half. When devices were allowed, students were asked to record whether they had used them for ...

Several UP schools use 'Islamia' as prefix

Several government primary schools in Uttar Pradesh's Ballia district have been found using 'Islamia' as a prefix to their names.It has also been found that these primary schools close on Fridays instead of Sundays.Taking note of the matter, the local authorities have prompted the schools to close on Sundays instead of Friday.Meanwhile, Block Education officer Nirbhay Narayan Singh assured that Islamia will be removed from the schools."As of now six schools have been identified and the word 'Islamia' will be removed. We have directed them to keep schools open on Fridays and closed on Sundays," he told ANI.

AAP MLA admits his kids in Delhi government school

Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan on Thursday admitted his children in a Delhi government school with an aim to change the mindset of people about such schools.

Drug menace: Buddy project for students

The anti-drug special task force of Punjab will soon roll out a project to aware students about the ill effects of drugs. It was stated by STF Inspector General Promod Ban here while holding a review meeting with the sub-divisional magistrates and police officers of five districts -- Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, an official release said. Ban said the "buddy project" would involve principals, teachers, students as well as their parents. It will be led by class teachers and supervised by the principals and district education officers. Teachers will be trained by a special team constituted by the state government, consisting of STF, psychology department officials, Punjabi University (Patiala) members and education department officials. While addressing the officers, the officer said the state government was committed to wipe out the menace of drug abuse and a multi-pronged strategy had been adopted to accomplish this task.

Replacing UGC like 'external enemy' destroying a country: Yechury to Modi

Communist Party of India-Marxist chief Sitaram Yechury has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expressing concern over how the government's plan to replace the University Grants Commission (UGC) with a new body would adversely affect higher education in India, like an "external enemy" destroying a country.

RS takes up bill to amend NCTE Act

A bill to provide retrospective recognition to central and state government funded institutions offering B.Ed and related courses which are not recognised under the National Council for Teacher Education Act, was moved in the Rajya Sabha today. The National Council for Teacher Education (Amendment) Bill would help over 10,000 students, who have obtained the B.Ed degrees from those institutions which do not have NCTE approval for the course. The bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on July 23. Introducing the bill, HRD Minister Prakash Javedekar said it would provide retrospective permission to start a new course or training in teacher education to institutions. "This is a one-time arrangement to provide relief to 10,000 B.Ed degree holders who have staged protests for one year," he said. The minister said that in the list of such institutions which do not have NCTE approval include several leading central universities such as the BHU, AMU and Sagar University, besides ...

CPI(M) opposes draft higher education Bill

The CPI(M) today opposed a draft Bill related to higher education, claiming it will have an adverse impact if passed in its present form. CPIM General Secretary Sitaram Yechury claimed that the proposed Bill creates an "authoritarian framework of regulation through over-bureaucratisation and centralization undermining the federal character of decision making". "After carefully going through the provisions of the proposed Bill, we have come to the conclusion that if the Bill is enacted in the present form, it will have a major adverse impact on higher education in the country in general and public-funded higher education in particular," Yechury told reporters. The present draft Bill needs to be withdrawn to avert the eventuality, he said. The Left leader also said that the draft Bill is an "instrument to appease corporate interests" and attract private sector investment in higher education by neglecting the challenges that confront public-funded higher educational institutions.

Delhi HC asks JNU to allow 3 students to submit thesis, register for courses

The Delhi High Court today directed JNU to allow three students, who were penalised for misconduct during different protests, to submit their thesis and register for courses. The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) had imposed varying punishments on them, including fine and withdrawal or transfer of hostel facility. The court asked the students to file appeals before the varsity's vice chancellor challenging the punishments imposed by JNU. It granted them liberty to file appeals within two weeks. Justice Siddharth Mridul directed JNU to dispose of the appeals expeditiously and made it clear that the appellate authority shall abide by principles of natural justice and accord an opportunity to the three students to defend the findings in the proctorial enquiry. The court said till the time, the university takes a decision on the appeals, JNU is directed "not to take any coercive steps against the three students and that they are granted all facilities, including the acceptance of thesis, .

Prohibitory orders imposed in Manipur district for 2 months

Prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC was today clamped in Imphal West district for two months, a statement issued by the district magistrate said. The moved followed the unrest over demand for removal of Manipur University Vice-Chancellor Prof AP Pandey. The capital city of Imphal is located both in Imphal East and Imphal West districts. The Raj Bhavan, the Manipur University, the state secretariat and other prominent buildings are located in the high security zone of Imphal West district. The district witnessed violence in the past few weeks over demand to remove Prof Pandey by a various students' and teachers' bodies. A 48-hour general strike called by these organisations passed off peacefully even as violence broke out at the fag end of the agitation. There had also been attempts to enter the Raj Bhavan forcefully.

Odisha signs MoU to strengthen education for blind students

The Odisha government has signed a MoU with 'Sightsavers', a global organisation working to prevent avoidable blindness, to strengthen inclusive education for the blind and low vision students, state government officials said. The Odisha Primary Education Programme Authority (OPEPA) on behalf of Department of School & Mass Education signed the MoU with Sightsavers yesterday, they said. "As part of the MoU, Sightsavers will provide technical support to OPEPA in strengthening the mainstream education of the blind and low vision children studying in general schools across the state," an official said. Sightsavers will also provide technical support in disability management, low vision assessment, curriculum and special skill development among visually impaired students, the official said. It will also help in capacity building of resource and classroom teachers towards quality education delivery for the children with special needs, he said. The project while targeting ..

Govt schools in Ballia, Ghazipur distts use 'Islamia' as prefix, probes ordered: officials

Several government primary schools in Uttar Pradesh's Ballia and Ghazipur districts have been found using 'Islamia' as a prefix and closing on Fridays instead of Sundays prompting the local authorities to order probes into the matter. Earlier it was found that five schools in Deoria district had prefixed 'Islamia' to their name and remained closed on Fridays. The authorities in Deoria took corrective action and ordered the schools to remain closed on Sundays and also removed the 'Islamia' prefix. However, similar cases soon were found in other eastern Uttar Pradesh districts. In Ballia, nine government primary schools are runing with "Islamia" as a prefix and closing on Fridays, official sources here said. "While six such schools are in Siyar, two in Rasda and one in Sukhpura," an official said. District Magistrate Bhawani Singh Khangaraut has ordered a probe into the matter and directed the Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) to submit a report after which action will be taken, he added. In

Jio Institute given only 'letter of intent,' says Minister

The controversy over granting 'Institute of Eminence' status to Jio Institute figured in the Rajya Sabha today as many members questioned the wisdom behind ranking the yet-to-come-up institute with the likes of IITs and others that have a proven record for decades.