Page 404 - Education

This education cannot be watered down

Water and culture go together. Water shortage is not about mere failure of rain. It is about the failure of society to live and share its water endowment

JK govt orders closing down of private tuition centres

The Jammu and Kashmir government today ordered closure of coaching centres offering tuition up to class 12 to remove the "distractions in and around schools", in the wake of widespread student protests against the Kathua rape-murder incident. The order, however, shall have no bearing on the coaching centres providing training for professional courses to students passing out from class 12th, an official spokesman said. In order to remove distractions in and around schools, and to put in place a regulatory mechanism for improving the academic environment in the state, Education Minister Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari has directed that all those private coaching centers offering tuition up to class 12 will be closed for the time being, he said. He said the decision in this regard will be reviewed on fortnightly basis. The decision was taken during a meeting with officers of the state education department, including chief education officers (CEOs) and principals of government higher ...

Students helping NASA decide which plants to grow in space

Not only scientists with advanced degrees but students are also helping NASA decide what crops to grow in space to expand food options and increase plant diversity.

Two students accuse teacher of rape

Two girls in West Bengal's Uttar Dinajpur district have accused their school teacher of raping them.The accused allegedly molested and threatened the girls to not tell anyone about the incident.An FIR at Kornojora Police Fari has been filed by the family of the students.Headmistress of Kornojora Primary school, Mariyam Kisku said that she informed the matter to Sub Inspector of Raiganj circle.The investigation is underway and the police are on a look out for the accused who is absconding.

Dwayne Johnson surprises high school student

Actor Dwayne Johnson surprised a high school student who asked him to go to prom with her.

Video games can help learn new language

Popular video games can be used to teach a new language, say scientists who have used the 'Assassin's Creed II' to teach the Italian language to a class of students. Simone Bregni, associate professor at Saint Louis University in Spain, started playing video games in 1975 when he was 12. By the mid-1980s, he was playing textual adventures, and soon realised his English was improving rapidly as he played. Bregni began incorporating video games in the classroom in language labs in 1997. It was the introduction of a new generation of animated, interactive adventure games in 2009, however, that brought striking results to his students. Set in fully inhabitable environments, they enriched both language and culture. "Games have now evolved. They are interactive movies," Bregni said. Though Bregni has used Final Fantasy, Trivial Pursuit, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Heavy Rain and Rise of the Tomb Raider in his classrooms, one of the most useful games to teach Italian is Assassin's Creed ..

Another glass ceiling broken, UP Sainik School admits girls

For the first time in the country, a Sainik School here has opened its doors for girls. As many as 15 girls from different family backgrounds have got admission in the Captain Manoj Kumar Pandey Uttar Pradesh Sainik School here in class 9 for the academic year 2018-19. However, the journey for these girls was certainly not an easy one, as there were 2,500 aspirants vying for laurels. School principal Col Amit Chatterjee said the girl students will undergo a strenuous routine beginning with PT exercises at 6 AM every day and then get ready for assembly prayers at 8.15 AM. "After classes, they will return to their hostel and after a brief rest, participate in sporting events, before taking up studies at 7 PM," he told PTI. Asked how the girls felt in their new environment, Col Chatterjee said, "They feel very proud to be part of the institution. They aspire to become famous one day in life." The school's registrar Lt Col Uday Pratap Singh said, "Out of the 2,500 girls who appeared in ...

1.3 lakh engineering seats likely to be dropped

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is planning to reduce intake of seats by almost 1.3 lakhs in B.Tech and M.Tech courses, from the new academic year, starting from July this year.In regards to this, students of Harcourt Butler Technical University in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur have blamed increasing unemployment and unwillingness to take up engineering as their future careers for the decision.A student of the university welcomed the AICTE's move and told ANI, "Many students are doing preparations for engineering. Parents also are worried about their child's performance. However, as per industry standards, they don't know proper engineering and hence, they don't acquire the practical knowledge needed today. It's good that the government is pushing for fewer seats so that children are admitted in good institutes and get a good and quality education."Meanwhile, a professor at Harcourt Butler Technical University expressed concerns over the decision by the AICTE to reduce .

HC raps policy makers who lifted prohibition

Highlighting the evils of consuming liquor, the Madras High Court has rapped policy makers who lifted prohibition, which was imposed in Tamil Nadu in the late 1930s by the erstwhile Madras Presidency headed by C Rajagopalachari. Justice N Kirubakaran also dismissed a petition filed by an engineering student who was not permitted to write his semester VI examination due to lack of adequate attendance as he was under suspension due to consumption of alcohol during college hours. "How liquor plays havoc in the lives of the people is clearly exhibited in this case and this court should blame only the policy makers, who lifted prohibition which was imposed in Tamil Nadu during the year 1938 by the then premier of Madras Presidency, Rajagopalachari," Justice Kirubakaran said in his recent order. There were many cases of untimely death of persons leaving their families in the lurch, due to consumption of alcohol throughout Tamil Nadu, the judge said. "... consumption of alcohol in Tamil ...

9 new ministers allotted portfolios: Soni gets school education, Kamgar power

In a reshuffle of portfolios following the induction of nine new ministers in Punjab Cabinet, five-time MLA O P Soni would hold the charge of school education, while Gurpreet Kangar will be the new power minister. According to officials, on the advice and recommendation of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, Punjab Governor V P Singh Badnore allotted portfolios to the newly inducted ministers tonight. With the allocation of portfolios, the chief minister was left with 19 departments out of the 42 he was handling. He will retain the departments of Home, Vigilance, Excise and Taxation, among others. Among the new ministers, Soni has been given the charge of freedom fighters department, besides the school education portfolio, while Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi would be in charge of sports and youth affairs, an official said. Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, the MLA from Dera Baba Nanak, has been assigned the portfolio of cooperation and jails while Gurpreet Singh Kangar has been given the charge of ...

JNU Engineering school set to open in July

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is all set to open its new engineering college in July this year with 50 seats, which will be increased later, a varsity official said on Saturday.

JK govt asks students protesting Kathua incident to return to schools

The Jammu and Kashmir government today asked the students protesting against the rape and killing of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua district to return to schools, cautioning them that "enough protests have happened". The mild warning from the state government came as students have continued to organise protests against the rape-and-murder of the minor girl in January. The protests have led to the closure of schools and colleges across the Valley. "It was an emotional issue and the students gave vent to their emotions. Now, it will be better if they attend their schools and colleges," Education Minister Syed Altaf Bukhari told reporters. Bukhari urged students to return to schools, or they will be treated as "rowdies if they keep coming on roads". "Enough protests have happened, now they should let the court do the justice," he said. The minister advised students they could lose a year "because we will not consider this (protest) at the time of their exams". "Our students are good, ..

Tripura urges Centre for relaxing norms to recruit over 12,000 teachers

The BJP government in Tripura has urged the Centre for one-time relaxation in academic and other qualifications to facilitate recruitment of 12,222 teachers to overcome their shortage in the state, an official said on Saturday.

More than 7,000 students visit IIT Delhi Open House

More than 7,000 students visited the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT-D) as it opened its gates to school children on Saturday, showcasing a number of its innovations and technologies it developed in last one year.

Two class 4 students raped by teacher inside school

Two class 4 students were allegedly raped by a teacher in a classroom for four consecutive days after the school hours in North Dinajpur district, police said today. The incident at a state government aided primary school came to light yesterday when one of the girls refused to go to school. The 35-year-old married class teacher is absconding, police said. The teacher allegedly raped the two in a class room for four days this week after school hours and threatened the victims with dire consequences if they disclosed it to anyone, they said. One of the victims told her parents about the ordeal yesterday after they asked her the reason for her unwillingness to go to school. She also named the other victim, police said. The parents of this girl then went to the house of the other victim who corroborated the incident. Parents of both the girls lodged an FIR at Raiganj police station last night against the teacher who is on the run, police said. Medical examination of the two girls were .

Adani Foundation inaugurates Project Utthan

Adani Foundation has partnered with 'Room to Read' to implement the project 'Utthan'. The project was formally inaugurated on April 21, 2018, at Bhat Primary School, Bhat, Gandhinagar.Bhupendrasinh Manubha Chudasama, Minister for Education (Primary, Secondary and Adult), Higher and Technical Education, Law and Justice, Legislative and Parliamentary affairs, Salt Industry, Cow-Breeding and Civil Aviation was the esteemed chief guest at the inauguration."With my experience as a teacher as well as an education minister, I have realised that when an objective has commitment and subsequently full involvement, it is bound to achieve success. A child's mind is like a blank slate, and reading at a young age helps the child develop cognitive skills. When community and government work hand in hand, is when development can be achieved. I thank Adani Foundation for taking up this important initiative and wish them all the best to take this forward to many more schools," he said."With the advent ..

Control your emotions and resume classes, Minister tells J&K students

Jammu and Kashmir Education Minister Syed Altaf Bukhari on Saturday advised students protesting over the Kathua rape-murder case to control their emotions and resume their classes.

Substandard material used in school construction in J'K's Poonch, inquiry ordered

Taking serious note of a complaint alleging use of substandard material in the construction of a school building near the LoC, authorities in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district have ordered an inquiry into the matter, a senior official said today. Over 300 students belonging to villages along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Mendhar sector are enrolled with the Dharana High School. The school was upgraded from a middle school in 2011 at a cost of Rs 58 lakh under the centrally sponsored Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) scheme by the Roads and Buildings department. The inquiry was ordered after the school administration intimated that the contractor had used substandard material for the construction of a building in the school, rendering it unsafe for putting into use for the students, the official said. Taking cognisance of the complaint, District Development Commissioner, Poonch, Mohammad Aijaz Asad ordered the inquiry and constituted a four-member committee, he said. The .

HC pulls up bank for rejecting students' education loan

The Madras High Court has pulled up a nationalised bank for rejecting education loan applications of students on "flimsy grounds" and warned that such action was wilful disobedience of various court orders passed earlier. Justice M S Ramesh of the Madurai bench, yesterday while allowing a petition filed by a law student, Hariharasudhan, seeking to direct Indian Bank to sanction education loan, said courts by various orders had restricted the scope for refusal to entertain students' loan application on "flimsy grounds". The judge directed the bank to consider the plea of the petitioner for sanction of Rs 70,000 education loan for 2017-18 within two weeks. In this case, the bank had raised queries in the form of clarification, calling upon the student to explain his one-year delay in admission and by placing the reliance on the CIBIL report of the petitioner's father, he said. CIBIL scores are considered by several lenders to be the benchmark for granting a loan to a person. The ...

Harvard alumni, now faculty, vote to form union

Harvard University graduates now teaching at the institution have voted to form a labour union to bargain for higher salaries despite opposition from the management.