November 26, 2009
He might be a superstar today, but Bollywood actor Aamir Khan has no qualms in admitting that he has undergone various punishments during his education days – from getting caned to kneeling down for the whole day.
“When in school, kneeling down in front of the principal’s office was a regular feature. I have also been caned a couple of times. It is strange that when you get caned, you don’t realise the pain instantly, but after two seconds it shoots so badly… It’s awful,” Aamir told reporters here.
“I used to be more interested in sports and hence used to always forget doing my homework. Also, poor marks used to create problems for me. I used to get scolded very often,” he added.
The 44-year-old actor also revealed that he only studied till Class 12 and never had a very good college life.
“My education has only been till 12th standard because after that I got into films. Even while in college for my 11th and 12th, I used to hardly attend classes because I was always busy with dramatics. Read More>>
November 26, 2009
Only 25 to 30% graduates passing out from all universities in the state are employable. This shocking revelation was made by principal secretary of higher education, government of Maharashtra, J S Saharia. He presented the figures, obtained from a survey conducted by NASSCOM, to governor SC Jamir at a meeting convened at Raj Bhavan in Mumbai on Saturday to review the higher, technical and vocational education in the state.
Chief minister Ashok Chavan, minister for higher and technical education Rajesh Tope, minister of state Varsha Gaikwad, chairman of the Shikshan Shulka Samiti Justice (retd) P S Patankar were also present in the meeting. Seemingly taking a cue from Union HRD minister Kapil Sibal on education reforms, Saharia stressed on the need to take effective measures to enhance quality of education across all spheres. Sibal had talked and even initiated such reforms to overhaul entire school education to bring it at par with global standards. “The figures are disturbing. There is an urgent need to improve quality of education. We have already directed the universities to revamp their curricula across all faculties,” Saharia told TOI adding that improving quality was the only way to make students from state become globally competitive. Read More>>
November 26, 2009
Teachers of pre-primary schools will get salaries on par with government teachers once the registration of pre-primary schools begins from the academic year 2010-11, say sources in the directorate of education (DoE). They told TOI that education minister Atanasio `Babush’ Monserrate has made such a proposal to the state government.
The DoE is determined to bring all pre-primary schools operating in Goa under its purview before the next academic year begins, say sources. To speed up the work, the department has already decided to form a separate cell in its office itself which will be dedicated to the registration and regulation of pre-primary schools in the state.
It has further decided to take stringent measures against those not registering with the DoE, as despite its notification making it mandatory for pre-primary schools to register with it, not a single school has submitted its registration details for the current academic year. Read More>>
November 22, 2009
Dirty linen was pulled out at Bangalore University, where controversy is nothing new. But Tuesday’s developments were perhaps the ugliest, which involved the decision-makers of a university that has a student population of over seven lakh.
While vice-chancellor Dr N Prabhu Dev refused to allow the newly-appointed registrars — M G Krishnan and M S Talwar — to assume office on Monday, insisting on official communication from the CM’s office, the latter said they were armed with the government order (GO) from the higher education department.
That’s where all the confusion began. The professor of the department of rural development at BU told `The Times of India’ that students were upset that the V-C did not allow the registrars to join.
“The protest began around 10.30 am and continued for three-and-half hours. Students, teachers, non-teaching staff — all participated in the protest. There was no compulsion on anyone to participate. We wanted the vice-chancellor to respect the GO and appoint the registrars,” he said.
“We have given the university three days to solve the issue amicably, failing which the protest will continue indefinitely. It is the image of the university that is affected,” he said.
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November 22, 2009
With two out of every three children, a majority studying in schools, reported being physically abused in India, a child rights organization Friday called for immediate implementation of the proposed safer schools guideline in the country.
On the occasion of International Children’s Day Friday, NGO Plan India held consultation with school authorities, government bodies and other organization to promote safer schools guidelines.
‘We are very keen to put a strategy and mechanism in place where children can attend school and expect a quality learning experience without fear or threats of violence,’ said Amod Kanth, chairperson, Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR).
Affirming his support to implementation of the guidelines on safer school, Kanth said: ‘It is imperative that we accelerate the implementation of these guidelines to ensure that we can provide children with a safe and positive environment in schools.’
The Directorate of Education has recently issued guidelines for reporting mechanisms of child abuse and corporal punishments in schools. Read More>>
November 22, 2009
Led by India, America’s universities and colleges have defied the economic meltdown by posting the biggest increase in the number of international students admitted since 1980.
India, which has led the student inflow to US campuses for the past eight years, has for the first time crossed the one lakh mark in a single academic year. It has sent 1,03,200 students of a total 6,71,616 foreign students admitted during 2008-09 academic year, said the Institute of International Education (IIE) in its annual report, released on Monday.
India accounts for as much as 15.4 per cent of the year’s flow of international students into the US. With China following closely (98,235 students), the two Asian giants together account for 30 per cent America’s newly-enrolled foreign students.
Neither the US’s recession with unemployment currently running at 10.2 per cent nor the escalating costs of American higher education appear to have applied the brakes on the “Chalo America” trend. Read More>>
November 22, 2009
The Centre plans to allow the (for-profit) private sector set up educational institutions and tap the capital market, thus aiming to plug the funding gap in the education sector. In this regard, the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry has asked Max India Chairman Analjit Singh to prepare a feasibility paper.
HRD Minister Kapil Sibal did so during a roundtable in New Delhi with Singh and other members, including Sunil Alagh, chairman of SKA Advisors, Hari Bhartia, co-chairman and MD of Jubilant Organosys, and Rajendra Pawar, chairman of NIIT.
Singh is one of the founder supporters of Indian School of Business (ISB’s) second campus at the Knowledge City, Mohali and has donated Rs 50 crore for the campus. Other founder supporters include the Bharti, Hero and Punj Lloyd groups.
Analjit Singh’s office confirmed the development, but declined to divulge details. Read More>>
November 21, 2009
It’s 60 years too late and still, the 2009 Education Act leaves out half of India’s children, says PUJA MARWAHA
I MET 27-year-old Sushila in a Bhandup slum, located about five metres off Mumbai’s railway tracks. A mother of two daughters aged 12 and three, she works as a domestic help in a high-rise on the opposite side of the tracks. “Where I work, they live in such great comfort that they have running water in taps!” says Sushila, for whom collecting drinking water is a daily wading through a broken nullah to access a leaking pipe. The slum dwellers have petitioned the government repeteadly for drinking water taps and electricity, to no avail. “I will live without them,” she says, leaning against rough tin sheets that serve as her home walls. “What I can’t bear is that there is absolutely nothing for my children.”
What Sushila is hinting at is an anganwadi – a government nursery, which in theory provides all 3-6 year olds a safe place to play, learn from a governmentappointed teacher and get a free midday meal. But since Sushila’s slum is ‘unrecognised’, it doesn’t qualify and those who lose out are too young to demand it. Read More>>
November 21, 2009
Amid hectic parleys on the last day meant exclusively for business visitors at the India International Trade Fair, a brainstorming session was on at hall number 8 between academicians, vice chancellors as well as past and present policymakers to transform Delhi into the country’s knowledge capital. The conference was organized against the backdrop of the Delhi government’s vision to create a new university system. This envisages setting up of six new specialized institutes of learning in the city.
Titled `Delhi as the knowledge capital’, and jointly organized by the Department of Training and Technical Education, government of NCT of Delhi and Delhi Technological University (DTU), the conference on Wednesday discussed a strategic framework for giving shape to the varsity system.
Three out of the six universities are already functional. They include the National Law School University (NLU), IIIT-Delhi and Dr B R Ambedkar University. Read More>>
November 21, 2009
While the rest of the world celebrates Children’s Day on November 20 every year, India celebrates it six days ahead, on the birth anniversary of its most beloved Prime Minister – Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. With the Right to Education Bill passed successfully by our parliamentarians, education has become a fundamental right of children across the country.
However, education is not penetrating the darkest corners of India’s society, due to poor implementation. But at the same time, educationists across the country are doing their bit by stretching a lending hand to the needy and teaching the importance of education in a child’s life.
Sharonee Mullick, principal of Singapore International School (SIS), Mumbai, said, “Even though the literacy rate has gone up in our country, there are large sections of society which are deprived of basic education. It is our duty to step in and share our resources with those who are in need of help.” Read More>>
