Education

"Under the UP Board, in the past, the students had to give two exams in each subject and three in Maths. Total number of papers were 12. According to the new syllabus, students will have to give just one exam for one subject. Syllabus too has got reduced considerably,"said Puran Singh, Principal, Sector 12, Government Inter College.

"Moreover, the UP Board has invited English medium private schools too for affiliations. In next few years this board will be on par with CBSE,"said Singh.

Students were jubilant over the new pattern. "Now instead of 12 papers we will have to give just five papers under new pattern. This has reduced burden on us and we are feeling more relaxed," said Farah Khan a Class X student.However, not all are excited with the change.

"Only changing the syllabus on CBSE pattern will not serve purpose. The UP Board should provide other infrastructure and facilities too according to the CBSE guidelines," said Rashid Ahmad,Class XI student.

"We are using old syllabus books to teach as we have not yet got new pattern books," said Kalika Singh, a Physics teacher.

Some teachers felt the previous UP Board syllabus was better."English is the main drawback of UP Board schools. Under the new pattern, though number of pass students will increase but they will have less knowledge," said R.N.Varun, a Chemistry teacher.

The Department of Social Welfare has instructed schools across the state to create the master database of all beneficiaries by October, following which it will be updated on the department's website.

The move comes in the wake of reports of fake beneficiaries siphoning off crores of rupees. Principal Secretary (Social Welfare) Balvinder Kumar said: "There are over 2.5 lakh students who receive scholarships worth Rs 1,300 crore under different schemes.

These include those from Class I to technical courses like engineering and medical." Kumar added: "Several fake cases have come to the fore. By creating a master database, we will be able to keep a record all students receiving scholarships." The state provides scholarships to students from SC, ST, OBC and minority communities, besides those belonging to BPL families.

The scholarships are disbursed in three parts each year, following which the schools and institutions submit a list of beneficiaries to the state government.

Kumar added: "To ease out things, we have divided the entire process into different phases. By July 31, we will prepare a database of all schools and institutions where the scholarships are being given. By August, we have asked the schools to provide us with a list of the beneficiaries, their details and bank account numbers. By October, the technical and higher education institutions will give their lists for the database." The department has already instructed the districts to complete the first phase of work by the set deadline. "By this time (July 31), all schools are open and it is easier to prepare the database," said Kumar.

The college has 400 seats in B.A. courses, 240 seats for B.Com, 80 seats for B.Sc. (medical) and 80 seats for B.Sc. (non medical).

"The general category cut-off marks for male students for various streams are as follows: 309 for B.A., 335 for B.Com., 344 for B.Sc (non medical) and 324 for B.Sc. (medical). Since the full marks is 500, so if calculated in percentages, the cut-off marks are: 61.8 per cent for B.A., 67 for B.Com., 68.8 for B.Sc. (non medical) and 64.8 for B.Sc. (medical)," said professor Dinesh Sharma.

"Twenty five per cent seats are reserved for female students. The cut-off marks for girl students are: 59.4 per cent for B.A., 60.4 per cent for B.Com, 62.8 per cent for B.Sc (non medical), 62 per cent for B.Sc (medical)," said Sharma.

The spread of higher education in backward districts has been touted as an ambitious scheme of the UPA government with the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself taking keen interest. The objective is to increase enrolment ratio of India from the existing 12.4% to 17% by the end of 11th five year plan and eventually to 25% to increase growth rate from the existing 9% to a double digit figure. The districts with enrolment ratio below 12% have been earmarked as `educationally backward districts'. The selection criterion also includes population of a district, number of colleges, geographical location (rural, urban, tribal, hilly etc.), transport facility and how many class 12 pass-outs, between 18-23 years, get access to higher education.

INFO

The Criteria For Identification Of Location For A College:

• The college has to be located in an area of the district having no college in the vicinity of 10km radius.

• Predominantly rural location where the proportion of rural population in the area is higher than the state's average population.

• A new college, as an additional one in the vicinity, shall be permitted only if the existing college has less than 1000 students, or there is no separate college for girls in an area of 10 km radius.

• The location of the college should be such that it is accessible, i.e, reasonably well connected by transport facilities so that the college may serve a larger catchment area.

However, the Central government in its circular to the states have said that ideally, the Central government should fully fund the project but in view of the past records, when Central or University Grants Commission schemes have not been able to take off properly due to lack of interest on the part of states, it has been decided that two-third of the funding will be done by the state governments. In reply, the state government has shot off letter asking the Central government to either bear 90% of expenses or leave it on the state governments to take decision on the issue. The officers in the state higher education department said they are hopeful of a `positive outcome' soon. However, sources are worried that the Central-state spat may hamper the project.

The Objective:
Educationally Backward Districts In UP:
The Dismal Higher Education Scenario in UP:

Source: Times Of India By Ashish Tripathi Centre-state spat hits higher education in UP

However, the 20 per cent quota for women will not be given separately but within the already existing quotas.

"In most of the universities, the percentage of girls is more than the boys, in certain categories the percentage of women, however, is low. This will give more chance to girls in those categories," said Anil Sant, Principal Secretary of Higher Education.

According to the government, the Uttar Pradesh Technical University has been implementing this for quite some time.

Apart from it, the universities and colleges will reserve 5 per cent seats for dependents of ex-Armymen, 3 per cent for physically challenged and 2 per cent for dependents of freedom fighters in all the courses.

The Lucknow University has already decided to implement the 20 per cent reservation for girls in admissions to different courses at undergraduate and post graduate level.

The decision was taken unanimously at a meeting held on Tuesday.

Lucknow University Registrar G P Tripathi said: "The universities have enough girl candidates but this may not be true for the colleges." Of the total number of students, there are around 60 per cent girls at present, he said, adding that after the implementation of reservation the number of girl students is likely to rise.

District inspector of schools Jyoti Prasad said, "A total of 21,547 students had appeared for high school examination from the district. Of these, only 14,692 students passed the exam which is around 68 per cent. It is better than the last year when pass percentage was just 46 per cent."

"Grading system has been introduced from this year but marks were also mentioned which helped in tracing the district topper. Lav Kush Sharma from Saraswati Vidya Mandir Inter College is the district topper. He scored 495 out of 600 and got an A2 grade," said Prasad.

"No student scored an A1 Grade. Only three students scored A2. Besides Lav, the other two students who scored A2 are Vishal Gupta from Sant Yuvraj Inter College, Baraula, and Nidhi Kaushik from Mihir Bhoj Inter College Dadri," said Prasad.

यूपी स्टेट एंट्रेंस एग्जाम का रिजल्ट आ चुका है।
अब स्टूडेंट्स मेरठ , गाजियाबाद और ग्रेटर नोएडा स्थित इन कॉलेजों में काउंसलिंग का इंतजार कर रहे हैं। यूपीटीयू के 10 जून तक काउंसलिंग प्रोग्राम का ऐलान करने की उम्मीद है। इसके बाद स्टूडेंट्स मेरिट के हिसाब से अपना पसंदीदा कॉलेज चुन सकते हैं। गर्ल्स कॉलेजों में फैकल्टी से लेकर सिक्युरिटी के लिए भी महिलाएं तैनात हैं। यूनिवर्सिटी में कुल सवा लाख सीटें हैं , जिनमें 20 पर्सेंट लड़कियों के लिए रिजर्व हैं। इसका मतलब है कि करीब 25 हजार लड़कियों का यूपीटीयू में दाखिला होना तय है।

कॉलेज चुनने से पहले लें जायजा
एडमिशन के लिए किसी भी कॉलेज के बारे में राय बनाने से पहले स्टूडेंट्स को कई संस्थानों में जाकर वहां के माहौल का जायजा जरूर लेना चाहिए। इन दिनों छुट्टियां चल रही हैं। ऐसे में हॉस्टल में रहने वाले कुछ स्टूडेंट्स या पुराने स्टूडेंट्स से कॉलेज के माहौल के बारे में बात की जा सकती है। उनसे संस्थान के फीस स्ट्रक्चर , पढ़ाई के स्टैंडर्ड और कैंपस प्लेसमेंट के बारे में भी पता करना चाहिए।

In his resignation letter, the Lucknow University V-C had accepted his moral responsibility and said the fate of lakhs of student was uncertain.

In a written communique to Mr. Mishra on Thursday, Mr. Joshi asked him to continue leading the Lucknow University and rejected his resignation.

As per the new directive, the officials of the Education department will have to send the complete updated lists of all students eligible for the scholarships to the Social Welfare department by October 31. Since the demand plan for the scholarships are sent twice a year, the last date of sending the demand for the current fiscal is December 31.

"This will not only streamline the system but will also decide the role of different departments. With the dates for each step finalised, each department will have to take responsibility," said Prem Narain, Principal Secretary (Social Welfare department). He added that the new method would help identify the loopholes and gaps in the distribution process.

In a directive sent to principal secretaries of departments like basic education, secondary education, higher education, vocational education, technical education, medical education, social welfare, backward classes welfare, minorities welfare and all the divisional commissioners and district magistrates, the chief secretary has asked them to strictly adhere to their deadlines.

Narain justified the deadline of October 31 for receiving the list of the students eligible for getting the scholarship, saying "the admissions, including those in technical institutes, are over by September". "There is enough time for preparing the hard and soft copies of eligible students' names. These lists should be accompanied by verification reports and demand plan," said Narain."In case of delay from any end, it is the student who will suffer. And anyone responsible for such actions will have to face the music," Narain added. According to the new directive, the scholarships will not be released to schools before the lists are sent.

The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court permitted aspirants with less than 50% marks in their graduation or post graduation to appear for the test.

But the Allahabad High Court, hearing a different set of petitions, declined to grant relief to those who had secured less than 50%.The exam is scheduled for May 5.

Hearing several petitions, Justice Shri Narayan Shukla of the Lucknow Bench ordered Lucknow University, which is responsible for conducting the exam, to make arrangements for the aspirants with lower marks.

G P Tripathi, Registrar of Lucknow University, said the university would comply with the order.

The aspirants had moved the court against the govern ment notification of April 30, whereby the eligibility criterion was changed and only candidates with at least 50% were declared eligible.

"Government cannot change the eligibility criteria in the middle of examination process," one of the petitioners, Ganga Singh, had argued.

Justice Dilip Gupta of the Allahabad High Court, however, ruled: "It is not possible to permit the petitioners to appear at the Joint Entrance Examination scheduled to be held on 5th May, 2010."

If you thought money could get you a seat without the set percentage on your mark sheet.  Think again.Now, the district magistrate of Noida will keep a tab on touts promising admission through management quota in various technical colleges and varsities in Noida and Greater Noida, resulting in education on merit.

Recently, a committee comprising Uttar Pradesh Techincal University (UPTU) joint director, joint secretary and additional district magistrate (ADM) Noida, Shivankant Dwivedi was formed after receiving complaints regarding admissions through illegal process in engineering and management colleges in and around Noida.

The committee then delved into the matter, and it was decided that the district magistrate from now on will oversee cases regarding touts, and will accordingly take them to action. If needed, a complaint will also be registered against the college, and their affiliation will be cancelled.

Source: Mid-Day By: Shashank Shekhar Touts beware!

The move comes after a St Stephen's student approached the CIC demanding that she be able to access her answer sheets. The student, Sarah Cyriac, alleged that Delhi University (DU) had inadvertently mixed up her answer script with someone else's. Chief information commissioner Wajahat Habibullah said, "We have decided to set up a seven-member bench to review the decision to not disclose evaluated answer sheets." No date has been fixed yet.

The case against DU, however, points to the apathetic state of affairs in public institutions. In her submission to the CIC, Cyriac pointed out that she appeared for all six papers of BA (Hons) Economics final year exams held in April-May 2009 by DU. She was, however, marked `absent' for one paper in which she had appeared and expected to score well. The scores for the rest of the papers averaged about 50% and were at variance with her earlier academic record. Cyriac said in her submission that she was a CBSE Class XII topper as well as a nominee of the HRD ministry's Commonwealth Scholarship 2009.

As evidence, Cyriac produced attendance records that proved she had appeared for the exam. Within three days, university officials issued a fresh marksheet with a 50% score in that paper also. Suspecting that there was a mixup in answer scripts, Criac approached DU in July 2009 for her answer scripts under RTI but was denied information.

CIC's earlier decision said that with institutions having "an established system as foolproof as can be, and which, by their own rules, prohibit disclosure of evaluated answer sheets would result in rendering the system unworkable... We therefore decide that in such cases, a citizen cannot seek disclosure of the answer sheets under RTI Act, 2005."

If Mayawati, Nitish Kumar and Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee are on the same side on the issue of implementation of the Right to Education Act, the answer lies in the numbers. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, as per the Union Human Resource Development Ministry's latest figures, lag way behind other states in terms of education indices and, hence, are the ones which will have to pitch in the most for implementing the RTE Act.

Countrywide estimates drawn up by the ministry show that of the 13.3 lakh new teachers who need to be inducted over the next three years to provide education to every child between the ages of six and 14, Uttar Pradesh has to take in at least 3.9 lakh, Bihar 2.2 lakh and West Bengal 1 lakh.

Of the 7.8 lakh additional classrooms required, again UP needs the most (2.5 lakh), Bihar (2.5 lakh) and Bengal (1.3 lakh). These three states will also have to construct the maximum number of toilets for girls in schools and to make provision for drinking water in schools.

Shared by the HRD Ministry with all state governments at a meeting earlier this year, these figures indicate the kind of investment and work needed to meet the goal of free and compulsory education to children.

The government estimates that it will require Rs 1.71 lakh crore for implementation of the RTE Act over the next five years. The Finance Commission has released Rs 13,000 crore to the states to kickstart the implementation process, and the ministry is in the process of getting a 65:35/75:25 Centre-state fund-sharing arrangement through the Expenditure Finance Committee to open the purse strings for states.

Source: The Indian Express By ANUBHUTI VISHNOI RIGHT TO EDUCATION Why UP, Bihar, Bengal fear the maths

Last year parents held numerous protests against what they called an `unjustified hike' in school fees

To try and rein in rising school fees, parents of students of 30 city schools on Sunday decided not to pay the hiked fees for the new session. Parents gathered at a meeting called by the All India Parents' Association (AIPA) on Sunday, following the latest guidelines issued by the directorate of education (DoE) on April 16. The DoE guidelines now make it mandatory for a school to get the consent of its Parent Teacher Association before the school-managing committee approves any hike in the fee.

According to AIPA, parents will not pay any hike in the fee for the new session, which started this month, unless every school forms a valid PTA and takes its consent before hiking the fee. ``Schools have invariably increased the fee by 15% to 20% at the start of the session even though such a hike is unnecessary in most cases.

We have now decided to pay the same fee as before and not the hiked amount, said Ashok Aggarwal, national president, AIPA. Aggarwal added, ``Parents of nearly 30 schools were present in the meeting, including Summer Fields School, Kailash Colony; Air force Bal Bharati, Lodhi Road; Green Fields School, Safdarjung Enclave; Ramjas School, Anand Parbat; Sachdeva Public School, Rohini; Vishal Bharti School, Paschim Vihar; Navy Children School, Chanakyapuri and others on Sunday morning which went on for almost two-and-a-half hours. We will make other parents also aware of this decision. DoE's fresh guidelines have given us a legal backing. If schools take any action against the parents, we will move court.

neha.pushkarna@timesgroup.com

Source: Times Of India By Neha Pushkarna Parents say won't pay hiked fees

About 400 technical colleges of western UP will be affiliated to the university.

A formal announcement about the university in likely to be made in the next month, it is learnt.

The Noida and Greater Noida authorities have set up four English medium senior sec- ondary schools in the twin cities, with infrastructure comparable to renowned public schools.

The schools will be affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the tuition fee is Rs 290 per month. Admissions for Classes I to VII started on Wednesday.

The schools will be governed by the Noida and Greater Noida Education Society, headed by the UP Cabinet Secretary and will be funded by both Noida and Greater Noida authorities.

"The total expenditure incurred on these four senior secondary schools so far is around Rs 600 crore. Once the schools start functioning from May second week, we will apply for CBSE affiliation," Mohinder Singh, chairman Noida and Greater Noida, told Hindustan Times.

htreporters@hindustantimes.com

Source: Hindustan Times By Kapil Datta Education gets an impetus in Noida

In addition, if four hours of administrative work per week is accounted for, teachers in these three states are out of school for another 35-36 days. For a 214-day school year, as in UP, a teacher was not in school for 57-58 days.

In AP, with a 168-day calendar, teachers were not in school for 68-69 days and in Madhya Pradesh, teachers were not there for 63-64 days out of 229. This has come out in a study conducted by Educational Consultants India Limited for the HRD ministry.

MISSING IN ACTION

• For an academic year, in UP, a teacher was not in school for 57-58 days, in AP for 68-69 days and in MP for 63-64 days
  
• This study was conducted by Educational Consultants India Limited for the Union HRD ministry
  
• The study also showed that teachers reported more working days in urban areas 16 days more in AP and 10 days more in MP

It was also seen that not all teachers present in school were engaged in teaching. While about 85% of teachers were present in school in MP, 76% in AP and 89% in UP, percentage of those found teaching was only 72% in UP, 76.4% in MP and 65.6% in AP. Thus, in the three states, about 28% teachers were not in classrooms for at least part of the day.

Source: Times Of India By Akshaya Mukul Teachers in UP, MP, AP miss school for 28 days a year: Study

In another first, the ceremony was also broadcast live on the Delhi University Community radio.

A total of 67,000 degrees were awarded for the year 2009, while 485 PhD degrees were given in 71 subjects.

A total of 185 medals were given to toppers in different courses and subjects. Three medals were constituted for the first time for disabled students and two special children were awarded. Shikha Gupta of MSc (maths) received the highest number of gold medals, seven in all.

Delhi University vicechancellor Deepak Pental presided over the convocation and principal scientific advisor to the government of India Dr R Chidambaram addressed the recipients.

Dr Chidambaram, while delivering the chief guest's address, highlighted the need for scientific understanding and research.

He also invited young minds to face new challenges and help the country achieve developmental goals.

On an average, one class of this college can accommodate only 70 people, which means at any point of time, the 13 class- rooms can hold 910 students.

So, what do the rest 1639 stu- dents do? Fight for a toehold or just loiter around.

And how is the college man- aging? Holding classes on alter- nate days, and in labs.

"The college is holding our classes on alternate days. Even then many students are left out," said commerce students on condition of anonymity.

College principal C.S. Khanna admitted the shortage of class- rooms: "With limited resources and infrastructure, we are man- aging and holding classes even in laboratories."

The principal said the college had requested the Noida Authority to construct six lec- ture rooms and other infra- structure.

"Moreover, we are expecting a grant from UGC for con- struction of 10 additional lec- ture rooms, six toilets for girls and four toilets for boys," said Khanna.

Source: Hindustan Times By Kapil Datta Just 13 Classrooms For 2,549 Students, Space Crunch Hits Classes At Noida PG Degree College

यूनिवर्सिटी के वाइस चांसलर प्रफेसर राम सिंह निर्झर ने बताया कि एमबीए में फाइनैंस ऐंड अकाउंट्स, ह्यूमन रिसोर्स मैनेजमेंट, मार्केटिंग मैनेजमेंट और स्ट्रैटजिक मैनेजमेंट ऐंड ऑपरेशन में स्पेशलाइजेशन की सुविधा शुरू की गई है। इस कोर्स में कुल 120 सीटें दाखिले के लिए उपलब्ध हैं। एमटेक इन बायोटेक में भी जेनेटिक इंजीनियरिंग और बायोइन्फर्मेटि&# 2325;्स ऐंड फूड टेक्नॉलॉजी में स्पेशलाइजेशन का प्रावधान रखा गया है। इस कोर्स में भी 60 सीटें एडमिशन के लिए मौजूद हैं।

एमटेक इन आईसीटी कोर्स में दाखिले के लिए 60 सीटें ही मौजूद हैं। वहीं इंटीग्रेटिड ड्यूअल डिग्री प्रोग्राम (बीटेक, एमटेक) में दाखिले के लिए 255 सीटें उपलब्ध हैं। एमए में स्टूडेंट्स को चार ऑप्शन उपलब्ध करवाए गए हैं। इस कोर्स में दाखिला लेने के इच्छुक स्टूडेंट्स अप्लाइड साइकोलॉजी, सोशल वर्क, इंटरनैशनल रिलेशन और एजुकेशन में स्पेशलाइजेशन कर सकते हैं। इस कोर्स में एडमिशन के लिए केवल 120 सीटें मौजूद हैं।