Education and Career

Pune, July 09: Now, anganwadi children aged three to six are set to learn English. Pune Zilla Parishad chief executive officer Dr Sanjeev Kumar, who incidentally used his medical background to introduce healthcare schemes like prevention of anaemia among girls, has launched a library project. He distributed books from China and Australia at ten anganwadis in Wagholi on Wednesday.

The tastefully designed and high-end branded books, including those from Fisher-Price and Kotwai and Young, will be circulated among the ten anganwadis on a trial basis.

New Delhi, July 09: The Supreme Court gave a stern message to private unaided medical and dental colleges that it will act tough if there was any violation in keeping 50 per cent of the seats reserved for candidates coming through combined entrance tests.

The stand of the apex court came forth during the hearing on a bunch of petitions accusing three such colleges of Madhya Pradesh turning away the candidates selected through a combined entrance test and violating the 50:50 sharing ratio in the admission.

New Delhi, July 08: A suspected Indian Mujahideen terrorist, allegedly involved in the September 13 Delhi serial blasts, on Wednesday approached the Delhi High Court seeking bail to appear in final semester exam of MBA.

Saquib Nisar, in custody since September 20, has approached the court stating that his examinations were scheduled to start on July 18.

The High Court had, earlier, refused to grant him interim bail when he was to appear in the fifth semester exam and had allowed him to write his paper from jail.

Patna, July 08:Polytechnic faculty members have been teaching in engineering colleges with the full knowledge of the Bihar government, a minister has admitted.

Bihar Science and Technology Minister Shahid Ali Khan said in the state assembly Tuesday that faced with an acute shortage of teachers in engineering colleges, polytechnic faculty have been deputed as teachers for taking classes in four new engineering colleges.

‘I fully admit that polytechnic teachers have been working in engineering colleges, but temporarily,’ he said.

New Delhi, July 07: The deemed universities have been allowed to remove ‘deemed’ from their name and identify themselves as universities, the government said today.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has approved the use of the word ‘university’ by such institutions, Minister of State for Higher Education D Purandeswari told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

The decision was taken following a recommendation in this regard by a committee comprising heads of UGC and All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) and a former Secretary of Higher Education.

New Delhi, July 07: The government is probing the “spurt” in permissions granted for setting up deemed universities and examining whether they are following the norms laid down for them, Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal said today.

“We have set up a committee. We want to make sure the deemed universities are following the norms. We are carrying out a review,” Sibal said during question hour in the Rajya Sabha.

New Delhi, July 07: Amid criticism of his 100-day agenda, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal on Tuesday said the government is contemplating a Bill on allowing foreign universities, but would move carefully and through consensus.

Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour, he said India needs to become a world class educational hub for which “we need to access” global institutions.

“I hope to send it (Foreign University Bill) to the Cabinet”, he said in the Rajya Sabha, adding that the Bill will be brought to Parliament whenever there is consensus.

Chandigarh, July 07: After a brief hiatus on Sunday, the counselling for centralised admissions to Class XI in government schools resumed at GMSSS-10 today. Around 628 students in the percentage bracket of 68 per cent and above were admitted on Monday, taking the total admission tally to 3,243 till date.

Humanities and vocational streams, which have received a poor response from students till now, did not show much improvement with only 30 and 36 admissions respectively.

Chandigarh, July 07: The Union Budget presented on Monday gave the Panjab University a reason to cheer.

A grant of Rs 50 crore has been sanctioned for the university.

It is for the first time that the university has managed to find a place in the Union Budget.

The grant comes as a major relief, as the university is facing acute shortage of funds. “I am grateful to the Ministry of Human Resource and Development for the amount they have sanctioned. Also, it is an honour for our university to have its name being mentioned in the Parliament,” Vice-Chancellor Prof R C Sobti said.

Mumbai, July 07: The reactions were predictable: students of the state board were disappointed, those of other boards jubilant. Whatever their mood, all got ready for admission, with decks for the process cleared after the verdict.

“It is a victory for parents, students and the Association of ICSE Schools of Maharashtra. Our students can now go ahead with a normal admission procedure,” said Perin Bagli, principal of Activity High School, Gamdevi.

Mumbai, July 07: In a major respite to thousands of non-SSC Board students, the Bombay High Court declared the Maharashtra government’s decision to reserve 90% of seats in Class XI admissions for SSC Board pass-outs as illegal.

A division bench of Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice SC Dharmadhikari of the Bombay High Court said, “The Maharashtra government’s 90:10 quota formula for SSC students was illegal as it violated the rules.”

Mumbai, July 07: The state government’s second attempt at wooing the majority SSC (state board) students fell flat on Monday when the Bombay High Court set aside the government resolution that reserved 90 per cent of seats for SSC students and the rest for those of other boards like the ICSE and the CBSE.

The court said it had seen through the government’s political agenda and observed, “The GR has been issued only for political ambitions and to favour students belonging to the SSC board.”

Washington, July 07: How children are faring before they turn four is a strong guide to early school success, according to a major study. It is more important than what happens to them in the year immediately before they start school.

The Federal Government has promised to provide 15 hours a week of free preschool for the nation’s four-year-olds. But the study indicates the importance of investment in the earlier years, too.

The Child Care Choices study is unique in Australia for having followed an initial group of children – more than 670 – from child care to school for six years.

Chandigarh, July 06: The faculty and students of Panjab University, where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was both a student and a teacher, Monday hailed the budgetary grant of Rs.50 crore (Rs.500 million) to the cash-starved institution.

Many said they were grateful to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee as well as Manmohan Singh for coming to the aid of one of India’s oldest universities, set up originally in Lahore.

New Delhi, July 06: With attacks on Indian students creating widespread concern in India, Australia Monday underlined its policy of ‘zero tolerance for racism’ and announced a slew of steps, including review of a legislation, to ensure the safety of international students.

New Delhi, July 06: India Monday pegged its expenditure outlay at Rs.44,528 crore (Rs.445.28 billion) for both school and higher education which is around 20 percent more than the last fiscal.

According to the union budget 2009-10 proposals, while school education gets over Rs.29,099 crore (Rs.290.99 billion), the higher education bags Rs.15,429 crore (Rs.154.29 billion). The figures include both planned and unplanned outlay. Last fiscal, the total budget outlay for education was Rs.37,366 crore.

New Delhi, July 06: The Delhi government Monday said before the Delhi High Court that private schools should also give paternity leave to their employees just as the state-run institutions do.

The court was hearing a petition by Chandramohan Jain, who had opposed his salary cut by Bagrodia Public School when he was on paternity leave as his wife had given birth through a caesarean operation in December 2008. After the delivery, both the mother and the child remained hospitalized for some days.

The school deducted his salary on the ground that it had no provision for paternity leave.

Chennai, July 06: As racist attacks against Indian students continue, a ten-member delegation from Australian universities will be conducting ‘Educational Roadshows’ across the country from July nine.

The delegation, including top police officials, would be holding roadshows to attract Indian students to Australia, country’s Consul General Aminur Rahman told reporters here.

The team would visit 13 cities in three weeks, he said.

Melbourne, July 06: A change in lifestyle has been the fallout of the attacks against Indian students in the southern winter of 2009 in Australia. They have learnt an important lesson – get home early.

Mir Qasim Ali Khan, 24, the student of a two-year programme in hospitality at the Victoria Institute of Technology, was one unlucky victim.

A fortnight back, while returning home after a haircut near the eastern suburb of Box Hill where he stays with two other Muslim friends, the student from Andhra Pradesh was accosted by two beefy white teenagers.

New Delhi, July 06: The budget has increased the outlay for the minority affairs ministry from Rs.1,000 crore last fiscal to Rs.1,740 crore with a focus on educational schemes.

The funds have been hiked to implement projects for the welfare of the minorities, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced while presenting the union budget on Monday.

“The plan outlay for the Ministry of Minority Affairs has been enhanced from Rs.1,000 crore in 2008-09 to Rs.1,740 crore for 2009-10, registering an increase of 74 percent,” he said.

Mumbai, July 06: In a major respite to thousands of non-SSC Board students, the Bombay High Court on Monday declared the Maharashtra government’s decision to reserve 90% of seats in Class XI admissions for SSC Board pass-outs as illegal.

A division bench of Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice SC Dharmadhikari of the Bombay High Court said, “The Maharashtra government’s 90:10 quota formula for SSC students was illegal as it violated the rules.”

New Delhi, July 06: Continuing its thrust on higher education, the union budget 2009-10 today proposed to allocate over Rs.21 billion for the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the National Institutes of Technology (NITs).

“I am allocating Rs.2,113 crore (Rs.21.13 billion) for IITs and NITs, which includes a provision of Rs. 450 crore for new IITs and NITs,” Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said while presenting the budget.

Currently, there are 12 IITs and 20 NITs operating across the country including the new ones.

New Delhi, July 06: How does Union Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal respond to the criticisms of his educational reforms? Karan Thapar asked him on Devil’s Advocate.

Karan Thapar: Minister, on June 25, at your press conference, did you throw up ideas for public debate or did you announce decisions taken by the Government?

Kapil Sibal: The press release that day suggested that there were some issues which were merely ideas; there were some that were decisions; there were some which were initiatives of policy and there were decisions initiatives and legislations.

Pune, July 06: Admission process to class XI of science, commerce and arts courses will be delayed by at least 10 days, while that of bifocal by four to five days.

The release of provisional merit list of bifocal courses, scheduled to be out on Monday, has been postponed until the final verdict on 90:10 formula. The decision was taken during an urgent meeting called by officials of the education department on Sunday.

Pune, July 06: Dearth of good students in basic science programmes at the undergraduate level has pushed the University of Pune (UoP) to think of a plan that will make at least some brilliant students turn to BSc courses.

The varsity plans to give scholarships to the students who get above 90 per cent marks in class XII. In most colleges affiliated to the university, BSc seats have been going vacant for the past few years, as students prefer professional courses such as engineering or medical after class 12.