IT professionals launch new education website

A group of young IT professionals has launched a new software-based website intending to enhance the quality of the education system and to enrich campus life in an innovative way.

"(http://www.backyard.in) is an online educational cum social networking service like Facebook. It will help everyone in an educational institution — including the principal, administrators, faculties and students — in enhancing the quality of education and the software will tie the whole college in a logical thread," Sarathi Sabyasachi Sahoo, the leader of the group, said.

Sahoo, an IT professional who worked with Yahoo for five years said: "We have taken 40 technical and management colleges and two colleges in the city into consideration at the initial stage. Before developing the software, a survey was conducted by our team members in various technical colleges in the city and we got a good response to the idea."

Stating that the software/website will provide various services to the students, Sahoo said each individual will be given login id and password to access his/her ID, provide a dashboard with separate login-in access to all students along with teachers, various modules of the software will take care of all processes of an institution like- student-teacher interaction, senior-junior interaction, doubt clearance, regular e-attendance, buying and selling of goods like draft, apron and others.

The software has the module to manage the hall of fame, notice board, and the library.

Various feature of this website include advance search bar, genuine id for students, user friendly interface, performance graph for students in terms of subjects, latest news update on the dashboard, question and answer section (where a student can ask any question on any subject under the courses of study and this can be answered by the concerned teacher or any other student).

The website also provides facilities like in-built chat and message, unlimited photo upload and information about the college events, news and holidays, he said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/IT-professionals-launch-new-education-website/articleshow/29069636.cms

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Education standards dropping in India despite funding: Survey

NEW DELHI: Standards of education in rural India have declined almost every year since 2009 despite huge government investments, one of the organizers of a major new study said on Thursday.

The annual survey by Indian education research group Pratham showed that the proportion of children aged about 10 who are able to perform a basic reading task dropped from 52.8 per cent in 2009 to 47 per cent in 2013.

Rukmini Banerji from Pratham said although the latest 2013 figures were little changed from 2012, the drop in standards over the longer period showed a cause for concern.

The findings of the survey are more bad news for the Congress-led coalition government which is trying to fight off a looming defeat in general elections due by May after a decade in power.

Congress has ploughed billions of dollars into education, including building schools and encouraging children to enroll, particularly in impoverished rural areas.

Two thirds of India's vast 1.2-billion population lies in rural areas where the battle for power at the upcoming elections will be fought.

A Right to Education Act passed in 2009 guarantees state schooling for children from six to 14 years of age and enrolment levels reached 96 per cent in this age category in 2013, little changed from 2012, the study said.

"This decade has been good for schooling, for improving infrastructure and development. But learning for all is only just beginning and it really needs to pick up momentum," Banerji told AFP.

The survey showed 52.8 per cent of children in standard five (children aged about 10) across government and private schools were able to read a text from standard two (children aged about six) in 2009.

This fell to 47 percent in 2013, according to the report released on Wednesday.

In maths, 33.2 per cent of children in standard three in government schools (children aged about eight) were able to solve a simple two-digit subtraction problem in 2010. This fell to 18.9 per cent in 2013.

The drop was smaller in private schools, with 47.8 per cent of children able to solve the same problem in 2010, compared to 44.6 percent in 2013.

"The guarantee of education is meaningless without satisfactory learning. There are serious implications for India's equity and growth if basic learning outcomes do not improve soon," the report.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2014-01-16/news/46263579_1_private-schools-rukmini-banerji-education-act

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8-point plan to improve education

The new district superintendent of education (DSE) in Gumla has directed all area officers and block education extension officers to ensure implementation of an eight-point plan for quality education in government primary and middle schools.

The eight-point plan lays down strict guidelines for teachers. Teachers will have to reach school by 9.30 am and will leave after 4pm.

Classes will start from 10.10am and teachers have to prepare lesson plan.

Special classes on Hindi, English, Mathematics and Science will be taken four days a week while Hindi and English grammar will be taught every Saturday. Debate, quiz, music, dance and painting will be held during rest period on Saturdays.

School premises will be cleaned by members of Bal Sansad everyday between 9 am and 10 am and after morning prayer. Read newspapers will also be compulsory. Every school has to conduct monthly test on every fourth Saturday of a month. "The objective is to improve teaching environment in government schools," where about 90% students, mostly poor, study," said DSE Sachchidanand D Tigga.

Tigga said action will be taken against officers who fail to monitor implementation of the guidelines.

"Some members of the teachers' association were trying to run the school in their own way (but) when they met me, I shooed them away," the DSE said, adding that he would monitor the entire process.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ranchi/8-point-plan-to-improve-education/articleshow/29051607.cms

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Centre mulls $3 billion fund for Muslims' education

The Centre on Saturday said it will soon announce a special fund to the tune of $3 billion for uplift of the Muslim people by providing infrastructure, mainly for education.

"We need infrastructure. Indian Muslims need education and for that we need infrastructure. Currently we lack in infrastructure," Union minister for minority affairs K Rahman Khan said here.

"We are working on to create a fund of $2-3 billion, which will be around Rs 10,000-15,000 crore. Even if only one per cent of Indian Muslims donate, we will be able to generate this amount," Khan said while delivering the keynote address during a function of American Federation of Muslims of India origin.

He said Muslim people in India have the resources but only need the mechanism to generate and manage the fund.

When asked by when the government is likely to finalize the fund, Khan said "We have been working on this for some time. Now we are going to announce it very soon."

He further said the government is taking all necessary steps to improve the conditions of the Muslims.

"The only priority of Indian Muslims is education. If you are educated, the society can be changed ... Do not think that you are a minority, think that you are the second largest population in India," Khan said.

On utilization of funds by the northeastern states, the minister said the Centre had allocated Rs 700 crore for a multi-sectoral development in the region during the 11th Five-Year Plan.

"Utilization of funds here is very slow. We have had discussions with the chief minister. We urge the state governments to give priority and focus more on utilization," he added.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-12-29/india/45674058_1_indian-muslims-priority-infrastructure

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Imparting sex education tough for govt school teachers

Striking harmony between the traditional cultural values and the need of the hour regarding comprehensive sexual and reproductive health education is proving to be a tough task for the teachers at the government schools, who have to overcome their own inhibitions before talking to the students. An assessment spanning over a year, was done by a Delhi-based organisation MAMTA, of the teachers' participation and delivering comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) through Adolescent Education Programme in as many as 10 government schools in the district. At present, the organisation is running the CSE programme in four states including Haryana, Karnataka, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

"Some times we fell short of words to explain how a condom can be useful in preventing teenage pregnancy to the young boys and girls in the school especially when their parents are also not convinced that is it right to talk about it? But after attending the training sessions, we have become much more comfortable in dealing with these subjects that are undoubtedly very crucial for our young generation to understand and talk about especially when they are going through a transition," said Chandramani Verma, a teacher at the government school at Badagaon.

Also it is tough for the students, especially those from the rural areas, to shed their inhibition and open up to their teachers to talk about issues related to their self-image and other problems, including problems related to sexual behaviour. "After so many discussions held by our teacher, now I feel free and can anytime seek advise on issues that I can't talk about in my family," said Amrita (name changed), a class IX student of the Krishak Balika Mahavidyalaya Todarpur, Raja Talab.

To deal with the opposition raised by the parents of students and village community members in rural areas Parents-teachers Association Committee are formed that also have village pradhan.

The Adolescence Education Programme (AEP) is an initiative of the HRD ministry for imparting authentic knowledge to learners about Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health (ARSH) concerns, inculcating positive attitude and developing appropriate life skills for responsible behavior are also the objectives of AEP.

In pursuance of the National Curriculum Framework, 2005, NCERT is the coordinating agency of AEP which is being implemented apart from the NCERT itself by the Council of Boards of School Education (COBSE), National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) and Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS).

As per the deputy secretary, Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad (UP Board), UP Mishra, very soon the board will also inculcate the AEP in its curriculum from class 9th onwards.

According to Murari Gupta, the regional manager, MAMTA, the main aim of the CSE through AEP is to make the adolescents to understand the importance of talking about their doubts first with the teachers and then with doctors on the issues that need medical advise like prevention of teenage pregnancy, AIDS and other issues related to self-image.

Since 2005, the provision has been made under the NRHM to open ARSH clinics at the government health centres where the doctors and counsellors will be able to provide medical help along with the guidance.

Additional chief medical officer RP Tiwari, eradicating the taboos attached with sexuality and related issues is important for us, first and foremost as a family and then as educators and doctors. "We have to accept the fact that no matter how much restrictions you put on a young boy or girls, the sexuality will play a role in their lives. So instead of suppressing the issue and closing our eyes is definitely not going to help. The sooner we start in this direction, the better," said the doctor.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-12-31/varanasi/45738623_1_govt-school-teachers-school-education-aep

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Intl Meet on Transnational Education from Tomorrow

An international meet on transnational education will be organised here from January 3 to 5. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will inaugurate the meet to be organised by the Kerala State Higher Educational Council (KSHEC).

Education Minister P K Abdu Rabb and University of Delhi Vice-Chancellor Dinesh Singh will be among those present at the inauguration.

Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor will release the first issue of KSHEC journal ‘Higher Education for the future’, KSHEC executive vice-chairman T P Sreenivasan said.

The objective of the meet is to raise the profile of transnational education in the state, stimulate debate by learning from best practices in other countries and regions, discuss how the state could frame policy incentives to promote transnational education and provide recommendations to the government on adaptation of best transnational education practices, he said.

Sreenivasan said that Kerala should look into opportunities in transnational education.

He said that about 15 experts from abroad, seven from India and 16 from the state will participate in the meet.

There would be technical sessions on open education, massive online open courses and increasing diversity in classrooms, apart from the role of private sector in education and also initiatives to attract talents to teaching profession.

http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/thiruvananthapuram/Intl-Meet-on-Transnational-Education-from-Tomorrow/2014/01/02/article1978034.ece

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Bihar to Britain: a unique journey for Dame Asha Khemka

From the small, sleepy town of Sitamarhi in Bihar, it has been a unique journey for Asha Khemka, a Nottinghamshire-based educationist who arrived in this country with her family in 1978 without any English language skills and went on to change the lives of thousands of British students.

Awarded often for her work in the field of education, Khemka was last night honoured with one of Britain’s top civilian awards, Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, which is the female equivalent of knighthood. She was awarded the OBE (Order of the British Empire) in 2008.

Khemka told HT on Tuesday that she had several plans for education and skills development in India.

“To receive such recognition is deeply humbling. This is a shared honour, shared with everyone who I have worked with over the years,” she said.

Khemka, who is the chairperson of the Association of Colleges in India, added, “My passion for Further Education is impossible to describe and grows more so every day. I am immensely proud to be part of this amazing sector.”

Khemka is the second woman of Indian origin to be awarded the top British honour for women since the order was instituted in 1917. The first was Maharani Lakshmi Devi of Dhar in 1931.

Announcing the New Year’s Honours List 2014, a Cabinet Office statement said Khemka has served the deprived areas of the West Midlands as Principal of West Nottinghamshire College for the last eight years.

“Under her leadership, it has become one of the most eminent further education colleges in the UK,” the statement said.

It added: “She has embraced the apprenticeship agenda, leading the college to become the largest 16 - 18 provider in the UK and finding jobs for 700 young people in the first year. Her charitable trust, The Inspire and Achieve Foundation, is especially focused on those not in education, employment or training. She is in the process of opening a skills centre in India”.

Khemka said the first skills centre in India will be opened in Chandigarh, where online coaching will be provided in English and Mathematics in partnership with her team in Britain. Efforts were on to open a similar centre in her home state of Bihar, she said.

Khemka’s husband, Patna-origin Shankar Lal Khemka, is a trauma and orthopaedic surgeon, and joined the National Health Service after gaining medical qualifications from the Patna Medical College in 1975. The couple has three children, daughter Shalini and sons Sheel and Sneh.

Hailing from a family of judges, Khemka dropped out of school at 13, married at the age of 15 and arrived in England with her family at the age of 25 without any English skills. Her journey after arriving in England with her husband has been unique.

After teaching herself English by watching children’s television, Khemka resumed her further education after her three children starting going to school and gained a business degree from Cardiff University before embarking on her teaching career.

Last night, Khemka was among several Indian-origin individuals named for other categories of honours (such as OBE and MBE) in the honours list, including doctors Abhay Rane, Satbir Singh Jassal and Davinder Kumar Kapur.

Others included Bisakha Sarkar for services to south Asian dance, Sadhu Singh Gakhal for services to the Sikh community, Mohan Gupta for services to inter-faith cohesion and Priya Lakhani for services to business, community and voluntary initiatives.

MBE awardees included Anil Prabhu Patel, second secretary in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and Alison Jayne Barrett, director in the British Council, for services to teaching and learning of English in India.

Britain’s honours system has been the subject of criticism in recent years with demands for changes to be made to better reflect modern democratic values and achievements of individuals.

Campaign group Republic wants that the honours should be awarded by parliament, on behalf of the people, not by the Queen, on behalf of party leaders. It believes that titles would have much greater value if they reflect modern democratic values, rather than the values of elitism and empire.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/top-british-honour-for-indian-origin-woman-for-excellence-in-education/article1-1167942.aspx

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