Health, education of girls focus of new policy

JAIPUR: The new 'girl child policy' approved by the state cabinet on Friday would help many children in the state get better healthcare facilities and education apart from security and protection without any gender discrimination.

The policy is unique in the sense that various departments of the government would be putting their combined effort to ensure that girls get all the benefits proposed in it.

Principal secretary, women and child development, Sarita Singh said: "The policy has been prepared taking into consideration that in the past one decade, the state witnessed growth in various spheres but the child sex ratio declined. So, a need was felt for holistic approach to improve the skewed sex ratio. The policy will focus on health, education, care, protection and security of girl child."

The top priority of the policy is to address the declining sex ratio in the state. The policy also advocates strict implementation of Pre-conception, Pre-natal and Diagnostic Act to prevent use of hi-tech machines for sex selection. The policy also proposes incentives for birth of girl child and for her survival. 'The panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) should ensure registration and tracking of all pregnancies in villages and towns in early stages. Ward panchs and gram sabha members must play their role in identifying families involved in female feticide," the policy says.

"The situation analysis highlights the need for eliminating sex selection, promoting gender equality in the delivery of health and education services, parental support for girl child's well-being, protection against violence, abuse and exploitation and strengthening girl child's empowerment," says the policy.

The policy encourages families to provide timely healthcare to girl child, special incentives to gram panchayats having a record of 99% of survival of children (boys and girls), immunization and antenatal care and incentives for ANMs & ASHA workers who make post-natal home visits to ensure that the newborn girl child remains healthy. In education, the policy proposes scholarships and transportation for girl child to ensure regular attendance in schools.

On various existing schemes for girls, the policy suggest that all the existing healthcare schemes should be reviewed to ensure that there should be no discrimination against girl child. Also, existing schemes including Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojna and Sabla should be expanded.

"In recognition of their vulnerability to neglect, the girl child up to the age of five years shall be provided with free transport to a health institution in case of a health-related emergency and treatment at the OPD for major illness. Special fund for the care of girl child for tertiary care shall be set up," it says.

Also, major emphasis of the policy was on ensuring proper nutrition of girl child. "An adolescent nutrition policy will be formulated to promote micronutrient, protein and calorie intake along with an adolescent nutrition programme targeting girls in schools and out of school girls," the policy says.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-01-12/jaipur/36295893_1_girl-child-boys-and-girls-school-girls

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Indian education meet draws students in Oman

Muscat - The two-day seventh India Education Interaction Meet at Haffa House Hotel that concluded on Tuesday saw good participation from students and parents

The education meet aimed to promote Indian universities and colleges by bringing them to Oman's doorstep, and gave students and parents an opportunity to interact with representatives of these institutions.

K Shivakumar, from the organising firm Indus Fairs and Events, told Muscat Daily  the group holds education events across Middle East and Africa every year in January. “India has many colleges and institutions which provide quality and affordable education, but many students are not even aware of them. Private higher education institutions in India offer a variety of courses with different fee structures. They have placement cells, and multinational companies hire graduates through campus interviews.”

He said that a number of foreign students received scholarships to pursue higher education in India last year.

Satheesh Philip, manager, Hindustan University, told Muscat Daily that 25 students from Oman joined the university last year. “We are planning to open a campus in Oman, but are awaiting approval.”

Deva D Dubey, manager, corporate relationship and placements at K J Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research, said that the world is expanding but also shrinking. “Many people go abroad to study and work. Higher education institutions in India also attract foreign students to encourage diversity on campuses.”

http://www.muscatdaily.com/Archive/Oman/Indian-education-meet-draws-students-in-Oman-1z6a

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India - Sri Lanka Joint Study Group Presents Recommendations for Bilateral Relations

The India - Sri Lanka Joint Study Group, set up under a joint initiative of the Manipal Global Education (MaGE) of India and the Pathfinder Foundation of Sri Lanka, has presented its recommendations to the Governments of India and Sri Lanka.

The Joint Study Group was conceived as a discreet and informal dialogue process to jointly explore ways of strengthening the bilateral relationship between the two neighbours with a view to generating innovative recommendations and complementing official efforts to this end.

The relationship between India and Sri Lanka is a multi-faceted one and has tremendous scope for significant expansion and rapid improvement. The report sets out some of the ways in which this potential can be realized. It recognizes that a speedy reconciliation process would have a salutary impact on further strengthening bilateral relations. In this regard, the report emphasizes the importance of both governments repositioning themselves in relation to the post LTTE realities in a pragmatic and forward looking manner.

The report recommends a structured, systematic and continuous dialogue, based on mutual respect and sovereign equality between the Governments of India and Sri Lanka, so as to deal with issues that arise from time to time and remove any potential irritants. It also proposes preparing a road-map for enhancing economic relations over the next two decades. It calls on the latter to place a special emphasis on the reconstruction and development efforts in northern Sri Lanka. The report recommends intensified interaction in diverse fields, including education, culture, fine arts, sports and media. It calls for the effective and expeditious implementation of the report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), in particular those relating to post-conflict reconciliation. It also calls for the establishment of a joint mechanism for the management of fisheries and other marine resources in the Palk Bay.

The Study Group calls upon the two Governments to pay urgent attention to implementing the recommendations contained in the report.

The Study Group presented its report to the National Security Adviser and the Foreign Secretary on the Indian side, and Secretary to His Excellency the President on the Sri Lankan side.

Background

The Indo – Lanka Joint Study Group has been set up to initiate a discreet and informal dialogue process to jointly explore ways to strengthen the bilateral relationship between the two neighbors.

Manipal Global Education (MaGE) of India, the leading higher education player in the country and Pathfinder Foundation of Sri Lanka are the sponsors of this informal channel of dialogue.

About Manipal Global Education:

Manipal Global Education Services (MaGE), an integral and vital part of the Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG), has come a long way with six decades of presence in the field of education in India and abroad. MaGE is also committed to improvement of relations between India and other countries in this region by establishing informal channels of dialogue.

About Pathfinder Foundation:

Pathfinder Foundation’s mission is to play a catalytic role in changing attitudes of legislators, government officials, civil society groups, and the general public, towards the role of government in the economy and society, markets, the globalization process and private initiatives through research, information dissemination, action and dialogue.

About the initiative:

The two organizations have got together to form an Indo Lankan Joint Study Group consisting of experts from both the countries which has prepared a report aimed at highlighting actions to be taken to promote harmony between the two countries.

http://www.businesswireindia.com/PressRelease.asp?b2mid=34037

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Mindlogicx bags education deal worth Rs 54 crore

 BANGALORE: City- based Mindlogicx, a tech product development company in the higher education space, has announced that the company has bagged a multi-year Rs.54 crore Exam Management Services (EMS) contract from Gujarat Technical University (GTU), Ahmedabad. This is the company's second large deal in Gujarat after its end to end exam automation deal with Saurashtra University struck in September last year. GTU is the largest technical University in the country with about 5.5lakh students studying in 500 affiliated engineering, pharmacy, and management colleges under its fold.

Suresh Elangovan, founder CEO, Mindlogicx said, "As part of the deal with GTU, Mindlogicx will provide Cloud Technology that will enable e-Assessment of answer sheets for all theory exams conducted by the University. This involves Digitization & Digital Evaluation of hand written answer scripts, besides centralized monitoring and reporting of the whole examination processes, result processing and analyzing and printing of certificates and mark sheets. We will be deploying our patent pending technology suite "IntelliEXAMS" to manage GTU's entire examination evaluation process and handle the answer sheet evaluation in a swift and transparent manner. Our plan is to hire over 200 Software Support and Network Engineers in Gujarat for this project."

eAssessment involves examiners correcting the answer-sheets that have been scanned and uploaded on the main computer server. The evaluation of answer script is done digitally by registered faculties in a distributed manner and after the assessment is over, the results are automatically uploaded on GTU's website. As part of the e Assessment process, multiple examiners will be able to access the answer-sheets that have been uploaded over the web and will assess answer-sheets online.

As they evaluate each question, marks for each of them will be added automatically to the grand total, thus reducing chances of errors. The computer will automatically display marks attained by the student which will enable the results to be declared faster as teachers do not have to prepare separate mark sheets. GTU's staff will be trained on the implementation of this first of its kind e Assessment system in the country.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-01-10/bangalore/36257212_1_mindlogicx-intelliexams-mark-sheets

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Netas game for sex education in schools

The Delhi gang rape has changed the mindset of old-style political parties. They want to introduce sex education as part of school curriculum to create awareness among students at an early age.
Leaders of parties believe that it’s the government’s responsibility to do this and it should deal with it seriously by working out a plan.

According to political experts, there was a plan to introduce sex education in school curriculum in 2007. But the ruling party as well as opposition parties strongly objected to it over the content and style of teaching of the subject. “But now, the gang rape seems to have awakened them all,” said an expert.

Vinod Tawde, leader of Opposition in the legislative council, said, “This should be taught in schools. Earlier, we had opposed it over the style of teaching, which was inappropriate. We are also against the name, it shouldn’t be called sex education. It should be called adolescence health education.”

“It shouldn’t be taught like the regular subjects. The syllabus should be prepared under the guidance of health experts, including counsellor and educationist. If they feel 15-20 sessions are needed to cover the subject, then it can be spread across the academic year. Because of digital revolution, this subject has become important. We will support if the treasury benches table this subject again,” Tawde added.

Earlier, while preparing the syllabus for sex education, the government had copied the content in entirety from that of Western countries. “That was a wrong approach as their problems are not applicable here. We have a different set of people. Hence, we need a different approach,” said the expert. NCP MLA and spokesperson Nawab Malik said, “It’s a delicate issue; there should be clarity on it. All precautionary measures should be taken. A female teacher should teach this subject to girls and a male teacher to boys. It should be taught only to students of a certain age and focus on rudimentary knowledge related to sex. If it crosses the line, it will have an adverse effect on students.”

“Before introducing this subject, a discussion should be held between all parties’ leaders,” he added. The Congress has a similar stand on this. Party spokesperson Sachin Sawant said, “Sex education in schools is the need of the hour. An expert on the subject should prepare the syllabus.”

Nitin Sardesai, MNS MLA, said, “The subject is necessary in schools. But how the syllabus should be and how it should be taught in classes is up to the experts.”

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_netas-game-for-sex-education-in-schools_1787403

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CCTV cameras in education institutes help reduce misdemeanour

It was earlier limited to government offices, financial institutions and corporate offices but now CCTV camera surveillance is common at educational institutes also. Schools and colleges are increasingly equipping their buildings with this proverbial 'third eye' to be in more control of their environment.

Deepak Bajaj manages Mahatma Gandhi Centennial High School and had pioneered the concept in 1996. "I had 74 sections for middle and high school and over 4,000 students were studying. Their activities along with those of teachers and multitude of visitors' needed to be monitored, and the only way possible was having CCTV," said Bajaj.

His father KC Bajaj, who started the school, had installed the intercom system in 1962 itself. "When you have a system of monitoring it helps immensely as all other stakeholders are aware that their activities are being recorded," said Bajaj.

Ritu Kataria, director of Tejswini Vidya Mandir, agrees saying vigilance through CCTV is effective. "It goes without saying that the media is providing too much exposure to students and they try to imitate the bad behaviour in our premises. We installed over 50 cameras in our school in 2007 and regularly monitor their activities," said Kataria.

And for all these institutes the system has delivered results. Kana Roy Chaudhuri, principal of Centre Point School (Katol Road), said, "We installed cameras in February and the very next day we caught an outsider trying to steal a mobile phone. For security reasons I won't tell how many and where we have installed these cameras, but since last year we have captured quite a few misdemeanours on tape."

A director of a well known educational group told TOI on condition of anonymity that premises have to be secured off-hours as well. "In our engineering college cameras have been installed due to increased misuse of the premises after college hours. Some parts are under construction and students as well as outsiders would indulge in unmentionable activities there. Now with 24 hours CCTV surveillance we have noticed that our campus has become extremely safe," he said.

Bajaj says the cameras have made administration much easier. "Whenever I send a memo to a teacher for negligence of duty I always give them a video CD. Same is done with the students, their acts of indiscipline are recorded and that puts us on a strong footing. My CCTV system allows me to view the output on my phone and I can even use the intercom over the phone," said Bajaj.

Former MLC (teachers' constituency) VU Daigavane, however, strongly objects to this practice. "Schools and colleges are like a family and by installing cameras the management is showing distrust. Do we install cameras at home to watch our family members? Then why do so at schools? My suggestion will be to appoint supervisors who can monitor teachers but CCTV cameras should be scrapped," said Daigavane.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/CCTV-cameras-in-education-institutes-help-reduce-misdemeanour/articleshow/17974856.cms

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Indians Spend Rs 20 Lakh for School Education: Survey

The growing cost of education has become a major cause of worry for parents. Most parents usually spend more than Rs 18 lakh-20 lakh in raising a child by the time they are teenage graduates from high school, reported Himanshi Dhawan for TNN.

Parents spending on a single child's education has increased massively from Rs 35,000 in 2005 to over Rs 94,000 in 2011, said a recent survey. The spending was noted to be integral to the school curriculum like fees, books, transport, uniform, stationery, building fund, educational trips, extra-curricular activities and extra tuitions.

The cost of private education has always been excessive, but education in government-run institutions has also amplified greatly in the past one month with the HRD ministry increasing the under-graduate fees in IITs by 80 percent.

The decision to increase fees for undergraduate courses from Rs 50,000 to Rs 90,000 yearly was taken at the meeting of the IIT Council. In IIT, the student fees include only 30 percent of the entire operational cost of the institute. This decision is also taken at a time when the leading tech institutes are working to become self-sufficient.

Also, the rising cost of education recently has taken up major part of the household budget. 65 percent of parents spend more than half their take-home salary on their children's education, making it a major burden on their family budget, said an Assocham survey.As per government data, average costs on secondary education in private schools are as high as Rs 893 per month in comparison with just Rs 275 per month in government schools. This is chiefly due to the difference in soaring tuition fees in private institutions.

The cumulative public spending on education in the 11th Plan period is projected at Rs1244, 797 crore for both the Centre and states together. Around 43 percent of the public expenditure on education was noted to have incurred for elementary education, 25 percent for secondary education and the remaining 32 percent for higher education.

It was also noted that around half of the Central government's expenditure had incurred for higher education and the remaining for elementary (39 percent) and secondary (12 percent) education. The number in the state sector was about 75 percent for school education, 44 percent of which is on elementary education and 30 percent on secondary education.

It was seen that public expenditure on secondary education has gone up from 0.78 percent in 2007-2008 to 1.05 percent in 2011-2012.

http://www.indolink.com/displayArticleS.php?id=011013110958

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A fellowship for service in India

The American India Foundation’s William J. Clinton Fellowship for Service in India is a 10-month fellowship where Fellows from India and the United States are placed with “credible NGOs and social enterprises in India in order to accelerate impact and create effective projects that are replicable, scalable, and sustainable.” AIF focuses on enhancing the livelihoods of poor and marginalised communities with particular emphasis on promoting livelihoods for women and youth. A monthly stipend covers rent, utilities, and transportation to and from work, language classes, personal expenses, and food.

For Aditya Pasumarty, a Fellow serving with Frontier Markets (a rural sales and marketing and distribution company), based in Jaipur, the Fellowship was a chance to do socially relevant work in a structured way. “I was an investment banker in New York,” he says. “AIF’s support system makes the transition a lot easier.” Sriya Srikrishnan agrees. A Fellow from India, she enjoys her work with the public health NGO, Calcutta Kids, Kolkata. With her interest in maternal healthcare and education, she works on developing curricula for communities the NGO serves.

The application part

All applicants fill out an online application for the Fellowship program, which includes their educational background, work experience, and a series of essays and short questions about their motivations and future goals. For Pasumarty, coming up with structured thoughts about what he wanted to do was the toughest part. “It a very comprehensive application process, he says. “You may not know what you would want to do right at the beginning but somewhere along the process you will find out.”

It’s natural to have many doubts while working on the application, say the Fellows. As Srikrishnan says, “I had just graduated and didn’t think I would get in.” Fellows are placed all over India. This can often mean being a total stranger to the local language and customs. But as Pasumarty says, “The orientation helps and while initial adjustments might seem tough, you will eventually get used to it.”

Gayatri Jane Eassey, a fellow working with National Council on Skill Development, Mumbai has some tips for first-time applicants. “Talk to alumni who have already done the programme,” she says. “Above all, start. That’s the hardest. At the most you won’t get it but imagine if you do. You get a chance to make a real difference.”

http://www.thehindu.com/education/a-fellowship-for-service-in-india/article4283293.ece

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Online education a popular option, but not profitable

In August, four months after Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng started the online education company Coursera, its free college courses had drawn in a million users, a faster launching than either Facebook or Twitter.

The co-founders, computer professors at Stanford University, watched with amazement as enrollment passed 2 million last month, with 70,000 new students a week signing up for over 200 courses, including Human-Computer Interaction, Songwriting and Gamification, taught by faculty members at the company's partners, 33 elite universities.

In less than a year, Coursera has attracted $22 million in venture capital and has created so much buzz that some universities sound a bit defensive about not leaping onto the bandwagon.

Other approaches to online courses are emerging as well. Universities nationwide are increasing their online offerings, hoping to attract students around the world. New ventures like Udemy help individual professors put their courses online. Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology have each provided $30 million to create edX. Another Stanford spinoff, Udacity, has attracted more than a million students to its menu of massive open online courses, or MOOCs, along with $15 million in financing.

All of this could well add up to the future of higher education - if anyone can figure out how to make money.

Coursera has grown at warp speed to emerge as the current leader of the pack, striving to support its business by creating revenue streams through licensing, certification fees and recruitment data provided to employers, among other efforts. But there is no guarantee that it will keep its position in the exploding education technology marketplace.

"No one's got the model that's going to work yet," said James Grimmelmann, a New York Law School professor who specialises in computer and internet law. "I expect all the current ventures to fail, because the expectations are too high. People think something will catch on like wildfire. But more likely, it's maybe a decade later that somebody figures out how to do it and make money."

For their part, Koller and Ng proclaim a desire to keep courses freely available to poor students worldwide. Education, they have said repeatedly, should be a right, not a privilege. And even their venture backers say profits can wait.

"Monetisation is not the most important objective for this business at this point," said Scott Sandell, a Coursera financier who is a general partner at New Enterprise Associates. "What is important is that Coursera is rapidly accumulating a body of high-quality content that could be very attractive to universities that want to license it for their own use. We invest with a very long mindset, and the gestation period of the very best companies is at least 10 years."

But with the first trickles of revenue now coming in, Coursera's university partners expect to see some revenue sooner.

"We'll make money when Coursera makes money," said Peter Lange, the provost of Duke University, one of Coursera's partners. "I don't think it will be too long down the road. We don't want to make the mistake the newspaper industry did, of giving our product away free online for too long."

Right now, the most promising source of revenue for Coursera is the payment of licensing fees from other educational institutions that want to use the Coursera classes, either as a ready-made "course in a box" or as video lectures students can watch before going to class to work with a faculty member.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-01-07/education/36191709_1_coursera-daphne-koller-online-courses

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Soon, study MBA and engineering in distance mode

In the not-too-distant future, you could become an engineer or earn an MBA sitting at home.

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the apex body for professional courses, will allow colleges to offer engineering and MBA via distance mode, overturning the tough stand it has maintained for years. The council had earlier stated that professional courses like engineering required intensive practical training and programmes such as an MBA ought to have several hours of classroom discussions and debates as business had several tones of grey that an aspiring manager must understand.

The AICTE's change of heart will not only augment the number of professionals in India, but will also prove to be a game-changer as the fees will be a lot lesser than what students pay to attend college. But every candidate will have to sit for an exit or a licentiate examination, termed as the National Eligibility Test, at the end of the course before she or he is declared an engineer or the MBA or MCA degree is awarded.

A student should have completed a degree or a diploma in the classroom mode and attained a minimum of five years of work experience before they can take up a professional course via the distance learning mode.

"This will be a mixed mode of education—while practical training will take place face-to-face, theory can be conducted using ICT," AICTE chairman S S Mantha said.

The decision was taken on the recommendation of a committee headed by former IIT-Kanpur director Sanjay Dhande and IIT-Kanpur chairman M Anandkrishnan who studied the possibility of offering engineering and other professional courses through the distance mode. As Mantha explained, all professional courses except architecture and pharmacy can be conducted virtually. But a student or a class XII pass-out seeking his/her first diploma or degree cannot sign up for a BTech under this scheme.

"Essentially, there will be an entrance test and an exit exam that all students signing up for a course under the distance education mode will have to take. We have to preserve the quality of students at both the stages," Mantha added. The AICTE is currently drawing up rules and the approval process for colleges wanting to offer courses though the virtual medium. Interested colleges can apply from March 1.

Distance education:
Currently, 14 open universities and 172 other institutions offer courses in higher education via the distance mode to about 40 lakh students. Distance education courses are regulated by the Distance Education Council (DEC), a body that operates under IGNOU.

Distance education is largely confined to general streams. Some universities like IGNOU offer technical courses like an MCA but tie-up with colleges so that students can use their laboratories for practical training.

There was a tripartite committee comprising the UGC, DEC and AICTE which used to examine applications from institutes interested in offering courses via distance education, but the committee was almost defunct as the AICTE maintained that professional courses could not be imparted virtually.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-01-08/news/36215867_1_distance-mode-professional-courses-distance-education-council

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