Subramaniam Swamy Asks Why Govt Being So Obstinate to Postpone NEET, JEE Main Exams

NEET, JEE Main 2020 Latest News: After witnessing massive support from state governments and students and other political leaders calling for postponement of NEET, JEE Main 2020, Rajya Sabha MP Subramaniam Swamy on Tuesday asked why the Centre is so obstinate. Also Read - NEET, JEE Main 2020: After Urging Centre, Mamata Banerjee Writes to PM Modi to Postpone Exams.

Taking to Twitter, Swamy said that the time has come for PM Modi to take a call and order the postponement of the exams. Also Read - NEET, JEE Main 2020: Here’s a Look at Safety Protocols For Aspirants Amid COVID-19.

“With so many state governments calling for postponement of NEET/JEE examination, and even Allen Coaching also, why the Ministry of Education being so obstinate ? PM Modi must take a call and order the postponement—now,” he said in a tweet.

On Monday, the Rajya Sabha MP said if the Central government goes through imposing the NEET/JEE exam now it will be a ‘giant mistake’ like the ‘Nasbandi’ in 1976 that resulted in the undoing of the Indira Gandhi government in 1977.

“If our Modi Government goes through imposing the NEET/JEE exam now it will be the giant mistake like Nasbandi in 1976 that caused the undoing of Indira government in 1977. Indian voters may suffer silently but have long memories,” Swamy had said in a tweet.

This reaction from Swamy comes amid the demands from students, parents and political leaders to postpone the entrance exams keeping in mind the coronavirus situation in the country.

The mass ruckus has broken out across the country after the National Testing Agency (NTA) announced that the JEE (Main) will be held from September 1 to 6 and NEET (UG) on September 13.

Earlier in the day, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik urged the Centre to take steps for postponing the Joint Entrance Examination (Main) and the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) as it will be unsafe for students to physically appear in the exams in this pandemic time.

On Monday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote to PM Modi to postpone the JEE and NEET exams due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation, saying lives of students should not be put at risk by taking such unilateral and bureaucratic decisions.

https://www.india.com/education/neet-jee-main-2020-subramaniam-swamy-asks-why-govt-being-so-obstinate-to-postpone-exams-4121840/

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Supreme Court's verdict on final year university exams will be announced soon

The Supreme Court verdict on the University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines to the state universities on conducting final year exams by September end is expected to be out soon. The top court had reserved its order on August 18, 2020 on whether the central commission be allowed to conduct final year exams in state universities across the country.

The Supreme Court verdict on the University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines to the state universities on conducting final year exams by September end is expected to be out soon. The top court had reserved its order on August 18, 2020 on whether the central commission be allowed to conduct final year exams in state universities across the country. Advocating on conducting final term exams, UGC during one of the hearings in Supreme Court had said that state universities final term exams shouldn't be cancelled as the future of students was at stake.

Supreme Court hearing status on UGC guidelines so far

 * The Supreme Court reserved judgement on whether the final year degree examinations in universities should be held before September 30, in accordance with UGC guidelines.
    The top court will also decide whether state governments have the power to take a decision against conducting final year examinations under the Disaster Management Act.
 * A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan has reserved the judgement on a batch of PILs along with some state governments - Maharashtra, West Bengal, Odisha and Delhi - questioning the UGC direction to universities to conduct final year exams before September 30.
 * The state governments have argued that they have the power to promote students without exams in the backdrop of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
 * Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the UGC, contended before the top court that final year is the degree year and exams cannot be done away with.
 * Mehta cited examples of exams being conducted by some universities and added that many top-level universities have opted for online exams. Mehta insisted that foreign universities and further education require degrees.
 * Citing the UGC guidelines, Mehta contended before the bench that these guidelines are not merely for preaching and that they are mandatory.
 * The guidelines which have been challenged before the top court have a statutory mandate, Solicitor General added.

https://www.indiatvnews.com/education/news-ugc-exam-guidelines-supreme-court-verdict-will-be-announced-soon-final-year-university-exams-644060

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Indian Online Education Market Worth INR 360 Billion by 2024

With the increasing adoption of the Internet and rise in awareness about e-learning, the online education industry is expected to witness promising growth during the forecast period.

The online education market in India was valued at INR 39 billion in 2018 and is expected to reach INR 360.3 billion by 2024, expanding at a CAGR of ~43.85% during the 2019-2024 period. Ease of learning, flexibility, and a wide range of study materials have influenced the overall growth of the industry.

However, the lack of formal recognition and accreditation, and abundance of freely available content presents a critical threat to the growth of the sector. The industry is moving towards the adoption of innovative technologies like Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), Big Data Analytics, Blockchain and others to improve the learning experience.

Segment Insights

The online education market is segmented into primary and secondary supplemental education, test preparation, reskilling and certification, higher education language, and casual learning. The online primary and secondary supplemental education segment was valued at INR 11.99 Bn in 2018 and is expected to reach INR 123.65 Bn by 2024, expanding at a CAGR of ~46.48% during the 2019-2024 period. The change in consumer behavior towards detailed learning and surge in demand from tier II and tier III cities are driving the growth of this segment.

The online test preparation market is expected to reach INR 94.75 Bn by 2024, expanding at a CAGR of ~50.84% during the 2019-2024 period. This segment is expected to be the fastest-growing segment in the online education market, owing to growth in career-focused population, enhanced Internet infrastructure and increased penetration of digital payment methods.

The online reskilling and certification market is expected to reach INR 93.81 Bn by 2024, expanding at a CAGR of ~36.95% during the 2019-2024 period. The growing business landscape has widened the skill gap among employees, which is why the demand for reskilling courses is picking up.

The online higher education market was valued at INR 5.01 Bn in 2018 and is expected to reach INR 40.63 Bn by 2024, expanding at a CAGR of ~40.74% during the 2019-2024 period. The conventional education system is insufficient for the growing population, and therefore students are switching to online higher education courses.

Key Market Trends

Gamification is one of the most prevalent trends among online education providers to encourage learning through immersive experiences. Simulation of concepts, level advancement badges and incentive-based learning are driving user engagement on online education platforms. Online learning players, nowadays, are continuously competing to offer differentiated products to the target audience, mostly by offering value-added services with regular courses. Value-added services like internships, live projects, group discussions, and career counselling sessions, offered along with regular courses enhance users' experiences.

Competition Analysis
The Indian online education market is highly fragmented with around 3,500 edtech start-ups operating in the country. Many foreign players are entering the Indian online education industry. BYJU's, Udemy, Coursera and Duolingo are a few prominent players in the industry, catering to the requirements of different target audiences.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200417005258/en/Online-Education-Market-India-Worth-INR-360

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Indian Educational institutions are introducing online courses and some education technology startups

Schools around the world have closed their doors because of the coronavirus pandemic, leaving more than 1.5 billion children stuck at home. While it's a great inconvenience for many, it has created a spike in demand for online learning.

Educational institutions are introducing online courses and some education technology startups are temporarily offering free classes to help offset the impact of school closures.

Take Byju's, an India-based education startup named after its founder, Byju Raveendran. In early March, it announced it would give children free access to its learning app, which it says had more than 40 million users at the end of last year. Around 3 million of those paid between $150 and $200 for an annual subscription.

Since the announcement, the company says it has experienced a 60% surge in students using its products, which range from interactive video lessons and live classes, to quizzes and exam preparation.
A nationwide lockdown, ordered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in late March, means that India's school-age population of around 300 million is suddenly having to home educate.

"The outbreak is clearly increasing the appreciation of online education," Raveendran tells CNN Business. "This could be a turning point for the industry, ushering in an increased usage of this format and changing habits in terms of how kids learn and how teachers teach," he adds.

Other Indian platforms, including Unacademy, Vedantu and Toppr are also offering free classes and content to students.

Google (GOOGL) and KPMG estimated in a 2017 report that India's online education market would be worth around $2 billion in 2021, up from $250 million in 2016, with the number of paying users rising to 9.6 million.
Those numbers may need significant revision. Raveendran thinks that the current school closures will not only boost online learning but will help to reset India's education system, with less emphasis on preparing for exams.
"Students just memorize, replicate and then forget when the exam is over," he says. Online learning would enable personalized lesson formats as well as a more engaging, interactive learning process.

Anantha Duraiappah is director of UNESCO's Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development, which has a vision of "transforming education for humanity."
"It [online learning] allows the potential of individualized learning and offers the prospect of radically changing a system that frankly has not changed or evolved over the past 300-odd years," he tells CNN Business.

A tool to democratize education?

Byju's was founded in 2011 and is now reportedly worth $8 billion. When its learning app launched in 2015, only around a quarter of India's population had access to the internet, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. Today, more than half does.

That means education apps are no longer restricted to major urban centers or the wealthier members of society. Byju's says that more than 60% of its students are from outside the 10 largest cities in India.
The app is currently only available in Hindi and English, but Raveendran says Byju's is in the process of adding more regional languages.

Still, millions of children are unable to access online learning through a laptop or cell phone.
Raveendran accepts there is a long way to go. "If you look at the total number of school students in India, our penetration is still a very small percentage," he says.

Byju's originally offered the free service until the end of April, but is likely to extend it, says Raveendran. He also hopes to create a free model for disadvantaged students in India for when schools reopen.

Although the free service will mean a short-term hit to revenue, Raveendran expects that in the long run it will be beneficial to the business.

"Once [pupils] start experiencing the advantages of learning online, we expect a lot of them to continue learning that way," he says.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/08/tech/online-education-india-coronavirus-spc/index.html

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India, Australia MoUs between top educational institutions

India and Australia today decided to step up institution partnership, collaboration in school policy, skill development and vocational education at a bilateral meeting, which also witnessed signing of three important MoUs between top educational institutions of the two countries.

Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar said the education dialogue with Australia "reaffirmed the commitment" made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Turnbull Malcolm in April 2017 "to strengthen the education, training and research relationship" between the two nations.

Javadekar is leading a four-member delegation to Australia to participate in the 4th Australia India Education Council (AIEC) meeting which was held at Adelaide today. "At a bilateral meeting in #Adelaide with the Australian Minister of Education & Training, Mr. Simon Birmingham. Emphasis was given to institution partnership, collaboration in school policy, online education, skill development & vocational education & training," the minister tweeted.

He further said his discussion with Birmingham has been "fruitful" and "will take the India, Australia education cooperation to a new level".

During the meeting, the two sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding between Western Sydney University and India's Centurion University, a joint PhD agreement between Curtin University and the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, and a MoU between Deakin University and the Central University of Jammu.

“Australia and India share many values and aspirations, as well as a fundamental commitment to education,” Birmingham said at the AIEC meet.

Noting that the cooperation between the two nations covers research, international education, academic mobility, skills and training and partnerships with industry, he further said, “During my visit to India last year I saw firsthand a number of the close partnerships already underway and the importance of India as a key education partner.''

Aiming at enhancing its footprints in India's booming education market, Australia also announced a fund of five million AUS dollars for the Melbourne-based Australia India Institute (AII) during the bilateral meet.

“AII will be pivotal in building closer cooperation between institutions both here and in India, boosting the mobility of Indian and Australian students and further supporting shared research priorities," Birmingham said.

The AII was established in 2008 and is hosted at the University of Melbourne. The Institute's mandate is to build knowledge about India among Australian government, business and the wider Australian community.

“Our meetings today and the continued work of the Australia India Institute will help further enhance the footprint of Australian universities and vocational education providers in the booming Indian market,'' Birmingham said.

Many more agreements are expected to be signed in the coming weeks, including a Letter of Intent on solar cooperation between the University of New South Wales and The Energy Resources Institute of India.
“With more than 8,000 co-authored academic publications since 2013, more than 400 research partnerships already in place and over 70 000 Indian students currently studying in Australia, the partnership between Australian and India will continue to go from strength to strength,” Birmingham said.

https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/trends/current-affairs-trends/india-australia-agree-to-step-up-education-cooperation-2652921.html

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Govt to Dissclose UGC, Wants Your Suggestions For Future of Education System in India

In a potentially game-changing move, the Ministry of Human Resource Development is looking to dismantle the University Grants Commission, the statutory body overseeing higher education in India, and replace it with the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI).

The first order of business for the Centre is to repeal the UGC Act of 1956 and replace it with the ‘Higher Education Commission of India (Repeal of UGC Act), 2018—a new law that will usher in the HECI.

On Wednesday, the government opened the draft law for public consultations, and one can send their feedback until July 7. Unlike the UGC, the government’s new proposed higher education regulator, the HECI, will perform a diminished role. Among other facets, for example, the HECI will give up its grant-giving function to the Central ministry.

According to The Indian Express (TIE), the mandate for the HECI is to set, maintain and improve academic standards in universities.

“Just like how the ministry funds all technical institutes like the IITs, NITs and IISERs and the AICTE focuses on maintaining standards, the government can easily take over funding of central universities. We want to downsize the regulator’s role. There won’t be any interference in the management issues of educational institutions,” said a ministry official to TIE.

Comprising of 12 members appointed by the Central Government, apart from the chairperson and vice-chairperson, here are some of the functions of the proposed HECI:

1) Evaluate yearly academic performance by institutions and mentor those not maintaining required standards.
2) Specify learning outcomes for courses of study in higher education.
3) Establish an accreditation system for evaluation of academic outcomes by various universities.
4) Teacher training.
5) Promote greater use of technology in the classroom.
6) Set the standards for opening and closing institutions of higher education.
7) Set the standards for appointing heads of universities, including those in exalted positions.
8) Institutions approved by UGC will now have to endure another screen test with the HECI and show they are complying with their academic standards.
9) The education ministry will order the closure of ‘sub-standard institutions’ who do not comply within three years after Parliament passes the new law.

“The chief executive and other members of management of such institutions who do not comply with the penalty imposed by the Commission shall be liable for prosecution as per procedure laid down under the Criminal Procedure Code and may be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend up to three years,” states the draft.

Reports indicate that the idea for reshaping the UGC came from a meeting between Education Minister Prakash Javadekar and ministry officials, where they discussed the possibility of merging the UGC and AICTE. After some internal revolt on the merge, they decided to go ahead with the HECI.

The reaction to this proposed reform has been mixed. The government is naturally backing this move, arguing that the UGC has lost focus on monitoring various facets of regulating universities, reducing itself to just granting funds for educational institutions.

However, academics and concerned citizens are worried about the lack of autonomy, and the potential for greater government interference in higher education.

Instead of HECI with 12 central government appointees, which include among others secretaries from various ministries, decisions pertaining to universities should be left to a transparent and accountable body not swayed by political interests. They believe that the proposed move is a comprehensive assault by the government on the autonomy of universities.

https://www.thebetterindia.com/147856/ugc-news-university-prakash-javadekar/

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Could India’s poor school education system really stall its potential economic progress?

Could education be one of the four horsemen of India’s potential economic apocalypse?

In Chapter 5 of this year’s Economic Survey, tabled in Parliament on Monday, Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian lists four factors that could stall India’s push to catch up with the world’s developed economies. One factor is the creation of human capital, or, in the survey’s definition, people capable of doing the jobs on offer.

Here is how it stands: around 40% of children in Classes 3 to 8 cannot complete a reading or subtraction test prescribed for Class 2, with more children in higher classes capable of doing the test than those in lower classes. This means that children are learning, but they are not learning more as they should moving up the classes. The gap between what they know and what they should know is already wide. With technological advances this gap will widen, leaving them unable to take the jobs that advances in technology bring.

All of this is already well known. No one will contest that India’s school system – public and private – is failing its young. That a solid basic education is a necessary condition for accessing all types of opportunities, and especially higher education, is also uncontested. But there seems to be some demand-supply confusion over education and jobs.

While a great deal is said about the unemployability of Indian school-leavers and even graduates, it really is nothing more than hand-wringing. There is no evidence to suggest that investors have been stymied by the lack of prospective employees.

Remember that engineers and engineering degrees did not precede bridge-building or manufacturing. They followed it. The engineering college boom in India in the last two decades too was driven by a low-value-added computer industry. Higher education produced what industry demanded.

The school education system in India is in dire need of reform. And the question economists should be asking is this: why is it that education reforms have thus far failed to grapple with issues of equity (a corollary of quality) and what economic interests underpin the persistence of educational disparities?

https://scroll.in/article/866851/economic-survey-could-indias-poor-school-education-system-really-stall-its-economic-progress

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The education in reservation and employment promotion in government jobs

Kolhapur: Hundreds of youths made their demands for reservation in education and employment, promotion in government jobs and quick action in the Kopardi case abundantly clear by joining the silent march in Kolhapur on Saturday.

The Maratha Kranti Muk Morcha started simultaneously from two places in the city - Gandhi Maidan and Tararani chowk - around 11am. Since early morning, thousands of youths from the community gathered at the two starting points, filling the locations to the bring.

"The state has been witnessing rallies for strong action against the accused in the Kopardi rape case. The rally is our support for the victim's family," said Vanita Ghatage, who had joined the rally at Gandhi maidan.

Many youths spoke about the hardships they experience in the absence of reservation for the community in education and jobs. Raj Shinde, who is pursuing engineering degree, rued that they have to pay higher fees for professional courses compared to other students. "The fees for professional courses such as engineering are beyond our capacity. There is no reservation for Marathas in the government sector and we are deprived of jobs," he said.

Dipti Shinde, a medical professional from the Maratha community, said she had seen even her juniors at government hospital get permanent employment because they belonged to a particular caste. "I have been working in government hospital for last two years. Many of juniors from other castes got the permanent job, while I am still working on contractual system. The reservation should be given on the basis of economic status instead of caste," she said.

Youth also said that there should not be any reservation in the promotions given in a government job. They voiced their demand for the skill development institute for their community on the lines of the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Reserch and Training Institute (BARTI).

"We have to face problems in promotions in government jobs. There should not be any reservation in promotions, rather they should be merit based," said Nilesh Patil, a youth who came to the city just for the rally.

Growing agrarian crisis in the state has also prompted concerns as the community is largely dependent on agriculture. Indrajit Khardekar, a young farmer from Danoli Jaysingpur village, said the government should be provided the Minimum Support Prise (MSP) to agricultural goods.

"The agricultural sector is in crisis. The Maratha community depends on agriculture for its livelihood. The government should implement the recommendations of Swaminathan commission to make farming sustainable," he said.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolhapur/Reservation-in-education-jobs-top-on-agenda/articleshow/54875660.cms

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India is a very prominent learner market coursera adds 60k learners a month from online learning

Coursera Chief Business Officer Nikhil Sinha, who was in the city recently, told DH that a quarter of its Indian learners are interested in technology skills (Computer Science courses).

“Technology and Data Science are the top two areas that are in demand in India, and they are followed by business. India is a very prominent learner market for us because of the combination of a young population with significant aspirations, and where education is the most important mechanism for social mobility, and where there is a large English-speaking workforce, and where people are willing to invest in education,” he said, adding that 20% of Coursera’s users learn only on mobile.

Coursera partners with top universities and organisations worldwide, to offer courses online for anyone to take. Recently, it entered into a partnership with Manipal Global Education Services (MaGE) to offer curated educational content to Manipal Global’s over 1.5 million active learners and alumni community.

Coursera, which has 200 employees inclusive of 100 engineers, has over 22 million registered learners worldwide.

“Three-quarters of learners are from outside the US (76%), and nearly half are from emerging markets (44%). We partner with 146 of the world’s best universities and make their content available on our platform. Our university partners include Universities like Pennsylvania, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, Duke, and California, among others,” he said. Coursera offers over 1,500 courses and 150 specialisations.

When asked about its largest market, Sinha said, “The largest market is the US with nearly 25% learner base, followed by India and then China. In addition to 22 million learners today, we add half-a-million learners every month to our platform.”

Though Coursera began by making content available to anyone and anywhere in the world, recently it has launched a new business line — Coursera for Business.

“It is our first enterprise platform for workforce development at scale. Here, we take the content available on our platform, provide a number of services around it, and make them available to companies. Axis Bank is our first enterprise customer in India,” he said.
DH News Service

“We are planning to target more such organisations, and we will be announcing many new deals in the next few weeks.”


http://www.deccanherald.com/content/576035/online-learning-coursera-adds-60k.html

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President Pranab Mukherjee in education can be expanded without compromising qualit good educational institutions

President Pranab Mukherjee Monday said education cover can be expanded without compromising on quality as he expressed hope that the outward flow of students from India can be reversed.

Speaking at the 60th Founders Day ceremony of Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya, he expressed “shock” on learning from Delhi’s education minister that a large number of students cannot read text books. It is pathetic, he said.“Education can be expanded without compromising quality… We have so many good educational institutions. Still in the list of top 100 institutions of the world rated by top international agencies no Indian university or institution has found a place,” he said, adding that change had started and IIT-Delhi and IISC, Bengalore, found a place among the leading global institutions.

The President said that he is confident that many Indian institutions will be among the top in the time to come, as he recalled that ancient India led the world in higher education while referring to Taxila and Nalanda.

“Almost 1700 years, starting from year 6 century BC to 11 century AD, from the glorious days of Taxila to the collapse of Nalanda, India led higher education in the world. Taxila became the conclave of four civilisations; Greek, Chinese, Persian and Indian.

Read: Top jobs that Indians prefer and why

“I feel pained that every year more than 6,000 students leave India for higher education to Europe, Australia and North America…I want the flow to be reversed. That will depend on the type of education provided,” he said.

Madhya Pradesh Governor O P Kohli, Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Madhavi Raje Scindia, President of the school’s Board of Governors, were among those present on the occasion.

Stressing that education is the alchemy that can take India to its next golden age, Mukherjee called upon teachers and students to work towards the democratisation of quality education.

He said education and learning are a lifelong process, and quoting Swami Vivekananda, added, “Education which does not help the common mass of people to equip themselves for the struggle for life, which does not bring out strength of character, a spirit of philanthropy, and the courage of a lion; is it worth the name?….”

Read: Lots of today’s jobs will not exist in future: Nilekani

The President also praised Vijaya Raje Scindia, the late BJP leader, for the vision and courage of establishing an educational institution exclusively for girls at a time when the national literacy rate among women was around 10 per cent.

He also congratulated the Board of Governors of the school and expressed hope that the high standard set by its founders would be upheld in the future too, according to an official statement.

Earlier, Governor O P Kohli called for maintaining a balance between modern and traditional values of the country in imparting education.

He said that while intellectual efficiency was important, equally important was emotional efficiency in a person.

Read: Housing for students in Delhi: Without a hostel seat, what some students have been forced to do

“In the urge to become modern, we should not forget our rich traditions and heritage. Spirituality and religion form part of the country’s traditions and we should follow them also while seeking modern education,” he said.

Kohli said one can achieve intellectual efficiency by becoming modern, but one is not complete without getting emotional efficiency and sensitivity.

He also called for providing “man-making” education as Swami Vivekananda had sought.

President Mukhrejee said: “As education is the alchemy of change in this society, it is needed that it should be democratised but democratisation does not mean mere mindless physical expansion.”

“Expansion of education can take place without compromising on its quality,” he said.



http://indianexpress.com/article/education/education-cover-can-be-expanded-without-compromising-quality-president/

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Mahatma Gandhi devoted time and energy to evolve a model of education that would suit its people india

Equality of access and success in education emerged as the most professed objective of the developing countries. In India, Mahatma Gandhi devoted time and energy to evolve a model of education that would suit its people. He completed his initial education from a school which was open to children from every strata of society. His sojourn to the UK made him realise the importance of universalisation of education, which reflected in the Hind Swaraj in 1909. He not only conceptualised basic education, later buniyadi talim, but also put it to practice. After Independence, India ignored his approach and persisted with the transplanted alien system designed for a few. Expectedly, it collapsed when extended to all.

So it’s amazing when comparisons are made with countries like Finland or desires are expressed to borrow their system. Indian practices such as teacher absenteeism or proxy teachers would appear unbelievable to teachers in Finland. They would be shocked to know that teacher-taught ratio could be 1:100 or more in thousand of schools here, and that around a million para teachers work on a pittance of an honorarium. They may never have heard of degrees, particularly of teacher education, being purchased. The average teacher-taught ratio in India was 40.6 in 1971 as against 16.2 in Finland. While it stood at 13.2 in 2013 in Finland, it was 42.9 in 2011 in India.

Finland is proud of its teacher preparedness, which is scientific and exhaustive, with provisions for renewal and updating of the content and pedagogy. Finnish society treats its teachers on par with medical and technical professions. Admission procedures to teacher education institutions are rigorous and selective.

Is it possible to talk of Finland without realising that India ranks 143 as against No. 6 of Finland in the first annual assessment of sustainable development goals on health performance report released recently? There are other hidden but universally known elements as well that have contributed to the decline of quality in the Indian education system. Is India proud of its teacher preparation institutions? One is not aware of any intensive reform programme to alter the quality of teacher preparation and ensure that it is no more a last resort to the disinterested.India participated in the multi-country Programme of International School Assessment, a survey to compare learning achievements launched around 2002. It was placed at 72 in a total ranking of 73 countries. India withdrew participation in the next phase. In the 2012 rankings Finland is placed best in Europe. Every school there is open to every child, no eclecticism. Hence, they get full support from the state and the parents and community. There are no schools without drinking water or functional toilets. Electricity is not disconnected because of non-payment of dues. Schools there also provide affiliated services such as daily meals, health care, psychological counselling, facilities for sports and games. Children in India who require additional learning support are ignored, often leading them to drop out. Finland provides extra teachers for such children.

But there is a way out. Instead of Finland study tours, study the philosophies of Swami Dayananda, Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo, B R Ambedkar, Mahatma Phule, Gurudev Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi et al. Tangible alternatives would emerge, which should be implemented with integrity. Gandhiji succeeded because he heeded the advice of great Gopal Krishna Gokhale to understand India. Others too can if they strive to understand India and Indians.


http://www.newindianexpress.com/magazine/voices/Dont-look-west-look-within-to-improve-education-in-India/2016/10/01/article3632879.ece

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Higher Education Fair organised in New Delhi by the European Union Delegation to India

Around 125 exhibitors including universities of global ranking, embassies and higher educational institutions from 26 European Union (EU) Member States attended the two day European Higher Education Fair organised in New Delhi by the European Union Delegation to India with nearly 100 globally renowned European higher education institutions.

The fair was inaugurated on Friday by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs M J Akbar and was attended by Member Secretary AICTE Dr. A P Mittal and European Union Ambassador to India Tomasz Kozlowski along with other leaders.

What else is making news?The fair reaches out to Indian students looking to study abroad and showcases what Europe has to offer in terms of high quality and diversity of English-taught post-graduate and Ph.D. courses.Speaking on the EU-India knowledge sharing collaboration, M J Akbar said, “This partnership bridges the knowledge centres of India and Europe. We are delighted that our works of knowledge are reaching each other. Students are travelling beyond to seek and spread the treasure of information. Through such initiatives together we create prosperity which would reduce economic disparity in society.  I hope this celebration of knowledge becomes the pathway to a new, exciting and co-operative future”.

On his part, Kozlowski said, “The EU and India have forged strong bonds of cooperation in the field of education in recent decades. The recent EU-India Summit in Brussels underlined higher education as an important area of cooperation and through this fair we aim to enhance educational opportunities for Indian students.”

Read: Top jobs that Indians prefer and why

The fair also provides a platform to Indian Students to explore scholarship opportunities available for studying in Europe, funded by the EU and Member States.

More than 4,000 Indian students have benefited from Erasmus grants to study in Europe in recent years and about 1,700 grants were given to Indian researchers under the ‘Marie Sklodowska-Curie’ scholarships to teach and research in Europe.


http://indianexpress.com/article/education/european-higher-education-fair-in-delhi-witnesses-world-rank-universities-from-eu/

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The Centre is currently working on the National Education Policy-2016 for Information and Broadcasting M Venkaiah Naidu announced

Vijayawada, Sep 27 (PTI) The Centre is currently working on the National Education Policy-2016 that seeks to promote "a credible education system" capable of ensuring quality education and life-long learning opportunities for all, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting M Venkaiah Naidu announced today.

The Centre was also working to promote 20 world-class institutions both in public and private sectors, he said, adding that "informing and reforming our youth force", so as to enable it to take part in the transformation of India, "shall be the agenda of higher educational institutions".

Addressing the inaugural session of the south zone conference of vice-chancellors of various universities at the Vignan University at Vadlamani in Guntur district this afternoon, Venkaiah said the new policy, which was now going through a consultation process, was aimed producing students and graduates equipped with "knowledge, skills, attitude and values" that were required to lead a productive life and participate in the countrys development process. "Commercialisation of education with emphasis on success in competitive exams and securing a high-paid job is resulting in socio-economic issues to be grappled with.

If our (present) higher education system does not result in right products, it could have serious socio-economic and political implications", Venkaiah warned.

"From being a pioneer of education in ancient times, we have now come to lag behind many other nations in terms of both quality and quantity. From great heights, we have for some reasons fallen by the wayside.

"Thousands of our students flock to other countries for higher studies and that is a matter of serious concern," the Union Minister observed.

He asked the vice-chancellors to ponder this and "do the needful".

Andhra Pradesh Health Minister Kamineni Srinivas, Association of Indian Universities president D S Chauhan, Vignan University founder Lavu Rattaiah and vice-chancellors of universities of southern states are attending the three-day conference that is deliberating on the theme "Universities contribution to spilling, innovation and entrepreneurship". PTI DBV NRB BSA BAS



http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/centre-working-on-national-education-policy-2016-venkaiah/1/774758.html

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The World Education Forum revamped its annual Global Monitoring Report to progress made in the documentation of education

The Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report (http://en.unesco.org/gem-report/report/2016/education-people-and-planet-creating-sustainable-futures-all/page#sthash.VXOOQt7I.dpbs) states that India will attain universal primary education by 2050, universal lower secondary education by 2060 and universal upper secondary education only in 2085. The report implies that we are half a century behind achieving the education goals and would miss the 2030 deadline of attaining Sustainable Development Goals.

GEM report does not dismay, it illuminates

Though the vast gap between the current education scenario and the position aimed to be attained by 2030 may seem disappointing, past experiences with targets have taught us that only research can push progress and help bring new energy to projects.

Moreover, the report aims to propel decision makers and educators across the globe to have a holistic approach towards development. All sectors, for example, health, infrastructure, education, etc. depend upon each other to reach its goals, as development in isolation is impossible.UNESCO, under the direction of the World Education Forum, revamped its annual Global Monitoring Report to gauge the progress made in the documentation of education against the objectives of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), which was set in September 2015.

Baptised as the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report, it provides powerful insights into social, economic and cultural impacts of education. Millions of people across the globe are reeling under poverty, lack of hygiene, malnutrition, and hence, disparities prevail in accessing education. Concerns over such issues led to the birth of sustainable development goals.

Sustainable Development Goals: Unachievable?

Experts opine that the Sustainable Development Goals, signed by 193 countries including India, are unrealistic and unachievable. However, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General on the Sustainable Goals, Jeffrey D Sachs condemns such an attitude as "reckless and immoral" and urges the educators to stand up to their role of providing "adequate schooling" to the young generation, and prevent them from being prey to poverty and violence. This technique of learning by memorisation without proper understanding of concepts continues to plague the Indian education system. The resistance to change and experiment can be found even in non-traditional classrooms. Conventionally, being educated means possessing command over theories and having a degree.Instead of pushing children to a "one-size-fits-all programme", educators should try to inculcate lifelong learning skills in them. Lifelong learning skill "begins at birth and carries through all stages of life." This way of learning can strengthen the formal and informal ways of accrediting knowledge. It equips children with critical-thinking skills, social skills, problem-solving skills and brings forth their creativity and self-control.

It is important to devise a curriculum which develops which promote enquiry-based learning and encourage self-directed research among children. It is found that an educated individual is more likely to participate in politics and conceive ways to develop their own community. The right education is the way to raise leaders and entrepreneurs. Previous researches have already brought forth the issue of teacher absenteeism. The GEM report only re-emphasises it further. It observes that teachers are either absent or late for their duty. While the teacher-student ratio is troubling and needs attention, it is imperative to differentiate between the quality and quantity of teachers, indicates the report.

Way forward: Training and motivationechnology is introduced in the classrooms, but teachers are not trained to make use of the tools. Hence, a continuous professional development is of vital importance for teachers to integrate technology in the classroom. The report also lays emphasis on the importance of proper incentive and remuneration for teachers.

Collaborate and innovate: Promising futureThe GEM Report gives out a clarion call to all the educators and planners to join hands. The reports says, "to achieve the SDGs, it is necessary to break down silos and build cross-sector collaboration that contributes a shared vision."

For instance, if a child is living under unhygienic conditions, their learning experience will be affected, or may even be halted. But, if the child is goes to school, they will learn to take care of their hygiene, which in turn will improve their health. All the stakeholders need to be brought on the same table to discuss, debate and contribute to the development of the country's education sector.

Government's task"Education ministries should be better linked with ministries of health, gender, environment and labour," the report recommends. Educators need to work closely with civil society and learn from it. The aim should be to reap long-term 'cross-sector' benefits. The report points out that there has been a fall in the percentage of funds allocated for the development of the education sector. However, if the government is able to embrace the 'cross-sector' approach, then the additional fund from the other sectors could be utilised in education.

Curriculum plansMajority of the population in India is comfortable speaking in their mother tongue. Hence integrating regional elements in the development of curriculum, and training teachers to teach in the first language of the students can yield better results. The report suggests involving community elders in curriculum development.

Conclusion

Scaling up efforts to attain quality education is the need of the hour. Innovation and partnership would go a long way in achieving this goal. Lastly, it should be a priority to set new ways of securing funds. Domestic funds need to be utilised properly, and global donors need to allocate money where there is a need for it.



















http://indiatoday.intoday.in/education/story/gem-report-what-india-needs-to-do/1/774229.html

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The quality education stressed on importance

Hyderabad:  “The face of the Indian Defence sector is changing rapidly with a strong focus on indigenisation and make in India initiative is also gaining steam” said Director General DRDO Dr S Christopher, during seventh Convocation of GITAM University held here on Saturday.

Dr Christopher stressed the need of giving much importance on quality education. He said it was essential for making India stronger by equipping it with world-class defence systems and technologies.

Make in India aims at transforming India into a global hub of manufacturing, whose share in GDP would rise to 25 per cent by 2022. The programme has identified 25 sectors that would get incentives support and has promised to align policies to boost investments in them,” he said. Dr Christopher appealed to the budding engineers graduating at the Convocation to make the country strong by their skills and innovations.

GITAM Vice Chancellor Professor M S Prasada Rao shared the progress report of the university at the event. BTech, MTech and MBA degrees were awarded to 750 graduates, while 19 gold medals were presented to the toppers of both Hyderabad and Bengaluru
campuses.

President medals were awarded to two students, who stood over all toppers. GITAM Pro Vice Chancellors Professor K. Sivaramakrishna, Professor N Sivaprasad and Professor P V Sivapullaiah, Registrar Professor M Potharaju, Bengaluru Campus director Professor K Vijaya Bhakar and members of Board of management and directors were also present at the convocation.


http://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/Telangana/2016-09-19/Importance-of-quality-education-stressed/254505

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The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation India will be 50 years in achieving universal education goals

New Delhi: India will be 50 years late in achieving its universal education goals, according to a latest report released by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation or UNESCO.

With 11.1 million out-of-school students in the lower secondary level, India’s target of achieving sustainable development goal of providing quality education to every child by 2030 is far behind schedule, as per the Global Education Monitoring report 2016.

Going by the current status, India is likely to achieve universal upper secondary education by 2085, half a century late, says report.

The upper secondary education comprises of the age group of 14-17 years which is, students in standard 9 to standard 12.

However, as of 2013-14, there has been an overall increase in the gross enrolment ratio at almost every level of education, which signifies that student enrolment to the corresponding eligible age group in a given year has increased, the study shows.

Enrolment Of Girls In Schools Has Increased

Gender disparity in schools has largely been addressed as the enrolment of girls in higher education increased from 39 per cent in 2007 to 46 per cent in 2014.

An increase in single-sex toilets in schools has led to an increase in the enrolment of adolescent girls and female teachers, the UNESCO study shows.

However, there is still a large disparity in achieving basic skills such as reading and math, where there has been a decline in learning outcomes, highlights the report.

Absenteeism Among Teachers Remains A Problem

Almost 24 per cent teachers were absent during random visits to rural schools, according to a September 2015 study by the University of California.

Steps By Government To Tackle Absenteeism

The government has not established any bonus to incentivise teachers and principals, the Minister of Human Resource Development informed the Lok Sabha in April 2016.

E-pathshala, launched in 2015 and aimed at promoting e-learning through e-resources like textbooks, audio and video material, was among the steps taken to tackle the shortage of good teachers, the minister said.

Stunting In Children Needs To Be Addressed

As many as 39 per cent or 61.8 million Indian children who are five or younger are stunted, IndiaSpend reported in July. This is 15 per cent higher than the global average.

Another sustainable development goal that India is likely to miss is the goal of having only 100 million children stunted in 2025.

The current trends suggest that there will be 127 million children stunted in 2025.  Lack of local and global funding are the reasons for the same, an IndiaSpend study points out.


http://everylifecounts.ndtv.com/india-miss-target-universal-upper-secondary-education-report-4977

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The Delhi Government organised the first ever 'SMC Sabha' for School Management Committees parents and education department

The Delhi Government organised the first ever 'SMC Sabha' for School Management Committees (SMCs) of Government schools located in the Burari Assembly constituency. Strengthening and empowering Delhi's SMCs has been a top priority of the government for more than a year. The SMC Sabha was one more step towards making the government accountable to parents of children studying in government schools.

SMC members from 15 schools of Burari had assembled in the Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya (RPVV) - Civil Lines, to share their grievances with government officials. The concept of the SMC Sabha was to provide a platform to parent SMC members to voice their issues with the schools to the concerned officials, in order to ensure effective and speedy resolution.Deputy chief minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia graced the event with his presence and encouraged parents to speak up about the problems they were facing. "The government is very keen on involving parents and the community in school administration. SMCs are playing a very constructive role in improving the condition of government schools today. This is an extraordinary event, since it is the first time that government and parents are meeting together, discussing and resolving problems as one team," said SisodiaThe minister sought tighter deadlines for completion of work and pulled up officials who were found to be lax. He will personally follow-up all the commitments made by officials to ensure works get completed on time. When a parent complained of poor grain quality in mid day meals, Sisodia immediately inquired with the contractor, and gave him a one-week deadline to improve food quality. He also ordered that the contractor would be penalised and replaced if he failed to meet the deadlines.

MINISTER ACTS TOUGH ON LAX OFFICIALS

On another occasion, when a group of parents from the Mukundpur School in Burari complained of a delay in construction of classrooms, the minister asked both PWD and Education Department officials about it. When he found that the necessary files were stuck between the two departments, he asked both of them to convene a meeting on Monday and finish the paperwork by the end of the day.Apart from the Sisodia, the advisor to Dy CM Atishi Marlena, Burari MLA Sanjeev Jha, advisor to Director (education), Shailendra Sharma, district magistrate (North East District), Deputy Directors (education), and officials of PWD, Delhi Jal Board, MCD and Delhi Police were also present to answer queries and resolve department-related problems faced by parent SMC members.

MASSIVE TURNOUT AT SMC SABHA

"SMCs have changed the way Delhi government schools function for the better and this effort of the government was to make it directly answerable to parents of children who study in our schools. The turnout at the Sabha is very heartening and SMC members will return home today with even more confidence to perform their responsibilities in their schools," said Atishi Marlena.

This initiative of the government is first of the many such 'SMC Sabhas' to be organised in every Assembly Constituency of Delhi. The Delhi government has always made education its prime area of focus, and has launched several interventions to transform government schools.


http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/delhi-government-smc-sabha-parents-government-school-manish-sisodia/1/761903.html

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Nila Mohanan IAS has been transferred to the education and civil aviation secretary

PANAJI: North Goa collector Nila Mohanan IAS, has been transferred to the secretariat where she will function as the education and civil aviation secretary. Former passport officer Agnelo A J Fernandes, who is currently the commissioner of labour and employment, will replace Mohanan, as per an order issued by under-secretary (personnel II) Shashank Thakur, on Friday.

Sources said deputy chief minister Francis D'Souza, who holds the revenue portfolio, had demanded that chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar transfer Mohanan from the North Goa collectorate after she refused to succumb to political pressure.

D'Souza, when contacted, denied that he had sought Mohanan's transfer. He said he had just returned from Rome and learnt about the development through the media.

Earlier this year, the deputy chief minister had kicked up a fuss over being allotted five secretaries for each of his portfolios and over the transfer of officers from his department without his consent. He had threatened not to continue as a minister and said he would sit as an MLA and do party work instead, if he wasn't consulted on matters. D'Souza had also said that he was not consulted on the transfer of officers, specially revenue personnel, from his department.

Parsekar had later met him personally to pacify him and voided the transfers in keeping with D'Souza's demands.

Mapusa deputy collector Pundalik Khorjuvekar had also been transferred on D'Souza's request.

In other transfers ordered on Friday, director of administration of the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMC) T S Sawant, will replace Fernandes as labour and employment commissioner. Additional collector, sub-district, Bardez, Sanjiv Gadkar, will be the new director of administration at the GMC and will hold additional charge as NRI director until further orders.

Director of sports and youth affairs V M Prabhudesai, will hold charge as Sports Authority of Goa (SAG) executive director, in addition to his current duties.

Additional collector-II, North, Surendra F Naik, will hold charge of the post of additional collector, sub-district, Bardez in addition to his present duties.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Nila-Mohanan-now-civil-aviation-education-secy/articleshow/54257930.cms

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India needs to redesign its education system

The new global “revolution”--Artificial Intelligence, robots, knowledge centric economies, Uber-isation--threatens to make “industrial” policy models obsolete. Like earlier industrial “revolutions”, this will have winners and losers amongst people, communities and countries.

The government’s strategy of multi-pronged initiatives--skills, start-up, digitalisation and Make in India--is the right one to make India one of the winners. The strategy’s success relies on having a “right designed” education system--dynamic, future-anticipating, performance-driven and available to all citizens. No surprise that education is one of 9 pillars listed by FM Arun Jaitley in his budget speech.

HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar’s challenge is providing this--by reshaping curriculum and institutions to reflect the needs of the new world. Three “themes” need attention--technology readiness, access and performance.

Technology ready: Recent technological advances have broken the “ratchet” productivity improvements and disrupted established processes across world economy. The target for our education is now to make each student capable of “using” technology to identify and create utility. Different from “programming”, it needs deeper understanding of technology’s potential and a “comfort” in using it in ways that ignore established continuums and processes. By making access to knowledge virtually independent of classrooms, the internet provides a “free” platform to provide this. Hence, each child must have and be able to use the internet.

The first requirement is getting computers in each child’s hands. We need a national drive – developing cheaper laptops, “recycling” old ones, a laptop and PC donation movement and “use” Cloud and improved connectivity to build inexpensive machines that work off of “remote” common platforms.

We also need to change our curricula. Every stream must include technology as an integral part. This will incorporate the “use” of technology within each area of work and make students less at risk of becoming redundant through technological advances. Simultaneously, we have to “broaden” our youth’s knowledge spectrum. The last half century saw more rigid streaming – to encourage specialisation. Today, IT has made basic information easily available and increased interconnectivity between various subjects, work streams. Courses, especially undergrad need to build in both availability of information – so less rote focussed performance measurement, and interdisciplinary dependence through multi-subject courses and well designed project work.

TCS effect on under-privileged students: 70 years after independence, “access” to education for the underprivileged – women, poor and SC/STs has improved. Now access needs to be supplemented by a “pull” factor that provides a road map to success – choosing the right education, upgrading performance and creating leaders. TCS’s success inspired the success of other IT companies. Let’s create similar beacons of achievement from the weaker sections of society. Identify top 1000 students from underprivileged sections of society and give them the opportunity to attend the world’s best universities with the proviso of having to then work in India for 5 years. Such aspirational rewards with continuous performance monitoring will incentivise better performance. More important is the motivation successes provide. Imagine the impact when a rural dalit woman goes to Harvard and makes it to the top of a global business. Thousands of other girls will try to follow. Access gets reinforced by performance motivation and direction.

Making performance and excellence a priority: 2016 budget allocated 72394 crores to education, with a substantial portion for higher education. Given our limited resources, we cannot afford to let institutions churn out graduates with too little emphasis on excellence. This needs change in teachers, students and the “culture”. To start, we have to treat teachers with more respect. Simultaneously, especially in institutions of higher learning, we must hold teachers to robust performance standards – publishing record, “new” research, number and quality of lectures, student performance on standardised testing are some metrics.

While we have to stress access in school, student performance especially at the postgraduate stage needs tighter monitoring. Too often, MPhil and PHD students are there for a hostel, preparing for civil services or pursuing politics. To “push” performance we can limit years of hostel use, establish ongoing annual appraisals for study grants and an automatic “exit” with need to re-apply if particular stages of a degree are not completed within a prescribed period

Lastly “culture”. Given taxpayer money spent on universities, one shudders hearing “culture of politics” trotted out as an excuse for disrupting education through competitive dharnas. What we need is a “culture of learning” – research, growing knowledge, path-breaking academic work. Ofcourse, political awareness and activity are necessary ingredients of education but they cannot dominate the education process. Political apprenticeships cannot be subsidised by the taxpayer, even as hundreds of willing “real” students can’t get admission.

“Right” education access, curriculum and performance are critical to India benefitting from the demographic dividend, developing and remaining competitive. Our scarce resources must be prioritised for the underprivileged, must aim to make our youth future-ready and cannot be wasted through lack of focus on performance.


http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/computers-to-curriculum-india-needs-to-redesign-its-education-system/story-d937PYfTvnaAxkDB8ed3kM.html

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Pune IDP Education India a student placement service provider organized an Australian education fair

PUNE: IDP Education India, a student placement service provider organized an Australian education fair in Pune at Le-Meridien for students aspiring to pursue higher education in Australia. The fair was held on Wednesday, from 1 pm to 5pm. The fair spread across 14 cities aims to bring together prominent universities and educational institutes from Australia under one roof. 39 Australian institutions participated in the fair. It was a free platform for all students to gauge their prospects, apply directly to the institution of their choice and get a first-hand information on courses, scholarships etc.


In addition to meeting the institutions, the qualified students were also told about application fee waivers and scholarships. The scholarships ranged from a fee bursary to a 50% scholarship of tuition fee for select students. Piyush Kumar, Country Director, India, IDP Education said, "IDP seeks to provide a platform to aspiring students to come and have a face-to-face interaction with the university representatives and get answers to all their queries related to studying in Australia. Australian education has always attracted Indian students for its quality and the availability of post study work opportunities make it even more attractive. Also 20 out of 39 Australian universities feature in world's Top 400 Times Higher Education Rankings."


The universities that took part in this far included The University of Melbourne, The University of New South Wales, The University of Sydney, Murdoch University, The Australian National University, University of Technology, Sydney and many more. Other cities which will host the fair are Kolkata, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Gurgaon, Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Kochi and Coimbatore.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/IDP-Education-organizes-Australian-Education-Fair-in-Pune/articleshow/53947540.cms

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