Junior Digest

Chennai, Jun 23: Union Human Resources Development Minister Prakash Javadekar today said students would not have to travel outside their state for appearing in NEET from next year as more centres would be set up based on the requirement.

“Next year, students travelling to other parts of the country would not happen,” he told reporters here.

He was responding to questions on complaints about several students from Tamil Nadu being alloted centres outside the state for this year’s national eligibility-cum-entrance test.

The minister said this year the number of cities were increased to 150 from 107 in the previous years for the exam.

“Now apart from those, any district which has more than 4,000 students will be made a centre. It will accommodate all students from that district and surrounding districts,” he added.

On reports about erroneous questions in the Tamil version of NEET exam, the Minister said he was not aware of it.

However, he assured that steps, including engaging good translators, would be taken to avoid any complaints in future.

The minister was at Indian Institute of Technology-Madras to take part in an event to mark conclusion of grand finale of the First Hardware Hackathon edition of Smart India 2018.

Replying to a question on the proposed National Education Policy, he said “the NEP for next generation is being finalised and they will be giving me the draft within a month.

It will be given to the nation soon.”

During the event here, the minister held a video conference with participating students who had come up with innovative hardware solutions for problems in various sectors including – waste management, agriculture, health, automotive among others.

Students from 10 institutions including IITs, National Institute of Technology – Tiruchirappalli and the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru took part.

“India lacks in innovation. Unless we innovate, we would not be prosperous. In India we don’t even manufacture stethestoscope or thermometres or many things. We only import.

This is the reason why we need innovation and we need to produce,” he said.

The minister had inaugurated the five-day hackathon on June 18 in Delhi.

New Delhi , Jan 11 : The CBSE on Friday issued a circular announcing the introduction of two levels of Mathematics for class 10th. The students can now opt for one of the levels according to their needs.
Accepting the unrealistic stress the subject can have on students who do not wish to further pursue the subject, CBSE has decided to introduce a Basic and a Standard Mathematics for Class X students for CBSE Board Examinations 2020.
The present level and curriculum of mathematics would continue to remain the same.
In its notification the CBSE also highlighted, “There shall not be two levels of assessment/Examination for class IX. First level would be the same as the existing one, and the other would be an earlier level. The nomenclature for the two Examinations will be; Mathematics-Standard for the existing level of examination, and Mathematics-Basic for the easier level of examination.”

Mumbai, Jul 30 :  The Bombay High Court has asked the Maharashtra government and the Directorate of Education to call for compliance reports from all educational institutes and universities in the state on facilities provided to disabled students.

In an order passed earlier this week, a bench of Justices Naresh Patil and G S Kulkarni said the state must inform the court whether or not all educational institutes across Maharashtra were providing barrier-free access in their buildings to disabled students and staff members.

The bench was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Pune resident Akanksha Kale.

In her plea filed through advocate Satyavrat Joshi, Kale sought that all educational institutes provide barrier-free access and other facilities to disabled students and staff, as mandated in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act.

Kale, who is confined to a wheelchair, had first approached the high court in 2016 against a Pune college after she was unable to attend classes and appear for her exams as the institute did not have disabled-friendly infrastructure.

At that time, another bench of the high court had passed necessary directions to the college concerned, and also directed the state to ensure that all schools and colleges extend appropriate facilities to the disabled.

However, Kale approached the high court again earlier this year, saying that despite provisions of the act and the high court order, not all educational institutes had complied with the requirements.

The Mumbai University’s counsel, advocate Rui Rodrigues, informed the court that there already existed statutory rules mandating that professional colleges, such as medical and engineering institutes, provide barrier-free environment in their buildings.

The professional institutes that did not comply were denied completion and occupation certificates for their buildings, Rodrigues said.

The high court, however, observed that such a requirement must be made mandatory for all educational institutes and not just those providing professional courses.

“The state and the Directorate of Education shall issue instructions to all universities to call for compliance report from all the educational institutions,” the bench said.

“In case any institute already has the occupation certificate but does not provide the mandatory facilities, then the authorities should take necessary steps for creating basic facilities such as ramps, washrooms and barrier-free access for handicapped people in such buildings,” it said.

The high court has sought a report from the state on the compliance reports from educational institutes by August 2.

New Delhi, Jan 9: Lok Sabha Tuesday passed a landmark bill to provide 10 per cent reservation in jobs and education for the general category poor with most parties backing the proposed legislation, described by the government as “historic” and in the country’s interest.

Opposition, including the Congress, dubbed the proposed law as a political gimmick that may not stand judicial scrutiny but came around to support it during voting, underlining the huge political import of the measure aimed at placating upper castes.

As many as 323 members voted in support of the bill, which seeks to amend Article 15 and 16 of the Constitution to enable reservation for the “economically weaker” sections in the general category, which had so far been kept out of the quota ambit. Three members voted against the bill.

The government will table the bill in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday as the Constitution (103rd Amendment) Bill. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi were present in the Lower House when the bill was passed.

Replying to an over four and half hour debate, Social Justice Minister Thaavarchand Gehlot sought to allay doubts raised by several opposition members about the legislation’s fate if challenged in the Supreme Court, saying he can say with confidence that the apex court will accept it.

“Your doubts are unfounded. Put them to rest,” he told opposition members, many of whom dubbed the bill as “jumla” and “gimmick”, questioned its legal standing and accused the government of bringing it in haste with an eye on the Lok Sabha polls.

Making an intervention during the debate, Union minister Arun Jaitley informed the House that this constitutional amendment bill will not go to state assemblies for ratification, meaning that it will come into force after the Upper House passes it and the President gives his assent.

Certain constitutional amendment bills require ratification from 50 per cent of state assemblies to come into force.

The bar of 50 per cent put by the apex court on total reservation is for caste-based quota, while the bill seeks it provide it for the economically weaker sections in the general category, Jaitley said.

Describing the bill as a political gimmick, opposition parties led by the Congress expressed apprehension that such a law may not stand judicial scrutiny.

Citing P V Narasimha Rao’s government effort to bring in 10 per cent reservation on the basis of economic criteria, K V Thomas (Cong) said it was struck down by the Supreme Court.

This legislation has been made in haste and has so many lacunas, he said, adding, it should be sent to Joint Parliamentary Committee for examination.

“It was only yesterdsay that Union Cabinet approved the Constitution Amendment for 10 per cent quota for poor under general category on economic basis and was introduced in Parliament today. It raises question on the sincerity of the government,” he said.

It seems to be political ‘jumla’ to win election, he added.

M Thambidurai (AIADMK) said reservation should not be on economic backwardness but on social backwardness. His party staged a walkout objecting to provisions of the bill.

Indian Union Muslim League and AIMIM also opposed the bill.

Jaitley however asserted that the measure will stand legal scrutiny.

Quoting a Supreme Court judgement, he said, “we are also of the opinion that the rule of 50 per cent applies only to reservation in favour of backward classes made under Article 16(4).”

Attempts were made earlier too by governments at the Centre and states to provide reservation on economic ground but failed because they were done either through common statutory provisions or notifications, he said.

Jaitley expressed hope that the bill will pass the test of the basic structure of the Constitution as it does not seek to alter that.

“We have to give equality of opportunity to citizens on caste basis and economic basis…just as equal cannot be treated unequally. Unequally cannot be treated equally,” he said.

He quoted from the Congress manifesto to say that the opposition party had also promised such a quota and added that most other parties also backed it.

Samajwadi Party’s Dharmendra Yadav supported the bill but demanded that the government release census figures and also provide reservation to backward castes in line with their population. RJD echoed a similar view.

BJP ally and Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan made a pitch for creation of Indian Judicial Services and also sought reservation in the private sector, as he backed the bill.

Gehlot, in his reply, said the Modi government’s policy and intentions are good and that is why it has enabled the reservation for the poor in the general category with constitutional amendment, he said, seeking support of all parties.

The poor, irrespective of their religions, will benefit from it, be it Muslim, Christian or others, he said, adding that castes like Brahmins, Thakurs, Patidars, Kapus and Jats will also benefit.

He said the bill is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assertion when he assumed power in 2014 that his government would be devoted to the poor and work for “sabka saath sabka vikas” (With all, development for all).

“This is an historic decision and in the interest of the country,” he said, adding that the poor in the general category are living as deprived a life as those suffering in such a manner from other communities and needed support.

Various commissions in the past had made recommendations for such a quota but it is this government which has brought the bill, he added.

New Delhi, Dec 26 : Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday said in next three years the target is to attract 20,000 foreign students under ‘Study in India’ project.
Mr Javadekar while addressing reporters here said, “A total of 100 Indian institutes have been selected for research under which 2000 foreign students have been studying right now. He said that we are expecting nearly 20,000 foreign students from 30 Asian, African, Middle East and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries under this program in next 3 years under this programme being implemented by EdCIL (India) Limited, a Mini Ratan Category-ICPSE under Ministry of HRD.
The Minister said that the “Study in India’ is an innovative initiative to attract students from our partner countries in South Asia, South-East Asia, Middle East and Africa to come and experience the very best of academic learning from the top institutions in India. The program includes setting-up of a large portal, call centre, social media campaign, branding, event management and setting up of a facilitation centre to attract more and more foreign students towards Indian Institutions.

Also, Mr Javadekar handed over a cheque of Rs. 5,49,74,086/-, of KVS for Kerala Flood relief to Puneet Kumar, Resident Commissioner, Govt. of Kerala in the presence of KVS Commissioner Santosh Kumar Mall.
This amount of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan has been contributed by the employees of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan.
The Minister had appealed to all officers and staff of Ministry of HRD as well as of the organizations under its control to contribute one day’s salary as relief to the flood affected people of Kerala.
The officers and staff of KVS have expressed solidarity with the flood affected people of Kerala and contributed generously an amount of Rs. 5,49,74,086/- (Rupees five crore forty nine lakh seventy four thousand eighty six only).
EdCIL presented highest ever dividend cheque of Rs 11 crore for the year 2017-18.
Shri Diptiman Das, CMD, EdCIL presented the dividend cheque to Mr Javadekar in the presence of R. Subrahmanyam, Secretary (Higher Education).
EdCIL offers Project Management and Consultancy solutions across education verticals covering ICT/IT Solutions, Online Testing and Assessment Services, Advisory Services, Infrastructure, PMC, Procurement and Overseas Education Services.

New Delhi, July 8: In an overhaul of the education system, the Government on Saturday announced that it will set up a new agency to conduct Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) main and NEET exams twice a year from 2019.

The newly-constituted National Testing Agency (NTA) will start conducting NEET, JEE (Mains) and NET entrance exams, which are currently organised by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), from the upcoming academic session, Human Resource Development minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters here.

‘The National Testing Agency has started its work. It will conduct Joint Entrance Examination (JEE-Main), UGC-NET, National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) and Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test (GPAT) examinations. Millions of students to benefit,’ he said.
The main feature, he said, was that ‘the student will not lose one year because there will be two examinations before admission. He/she can appear in either of the two or both. The best score will be taken into account for the result.
While JEE exam will be held in January and April, NEET will be conducted in February and May.
The practice module would be made available at http://www.nta.ac.in from August1, 2018. From August-end, students could practice, if needed in the nearby engineering colleges, CBSE or Kendriya Vidyalaya schools.
The minister assured that the syllabus, question format, language and fees would not change, adding that each exam would be conducted on four to five dates.
Mr Javadekar attempted to allay fears in this regard, stating that the format would be immune to cheating and leaks since it was computer-based. However, when reporters pointed out that this year’s Class 10 examinations
were computer-based but created room for cheating, he brushed them aside, saying the NTA module doesn’t allow screen-sharing.
“The exams will be more secure and on a par with international norms. There will be no issues of leakage and it would be more student friendly, open, scientific and a leak-proof system.”
According to an official release, the examinations will use highly secured IT software and encryption to ensure delivery of tests just in time thereby ensuring no leakages and other malpractices.
“NTA will establish a network of test practice centres for students of rural areas so that everyone will have an opportunity to practice before the exam. Schools/engineering colleges with computer centres would be identified and kept open on Saturday/Sunday starting from the third week of August. Any student can use the facility free of charge,” it added.
The probable schedule for UGC-NET is December 2018, JEE (Mains) will be held in January 2019 and April 2019. CMAT & GPAT are due to be held in January 2019.
The proposed change will see the the NTA replacing the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) which has conducted NEET on behalf of the Medical Council Of India and the Health Ministry and NET on behalf of the University Grants Commission (UGC)

New Delhi, Aug 31 : In its endeavour to enhance safety and security to girls students across the country, the Ministry of Human Resource Development announced to provide an amount of Rs 164.49 crore funds for self defence training in schools for the year 2018-19 under its Samagra Siksha Abhiyan.
HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar shared this information on Twitter, “Endeavouring to enhance safety and security of girls, @HRDMinistry is providing funds for #SelfDefence training under the #SamagraShiksha.”
An amount of Rs 164.49 crore has been allocated for the year 2018-19 for self-defense training under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan of the HRD Ministry.
As of now, a total number of 2,11,416 schools have been enrolled under the self-defence programme.
Out of the total funds, an amount of Rs 102.22 cr would be utilised by total number of 1,34,835 primary schools while the remaining would be given to 76,581 senior and senior secondary schools of the country.

Mumbai, Oct 18: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has issued a set of student-friendly guidelines that prohibit institutes of higher education from keeping original documents of aspirants and students.
But educationists are asking how effective can the new set of guidelines be given that this is at least the third time that the UGC has tried to rein in errant universities and institutions, according to a report of the Billion Press.
In a new attempt announced earlier this month, the HRD Ministry and UGC said students seeking admission to universities and institutes for higher education will no more be required to submit their original documents like marksheets or school leaving certificates.
The HRD ministry also announced that institutes are obliged to refund fees according to a schedule if the student withdraws the admission, with a 100 per cent refund when the withdrawal of admission is made a fortnight before the notified last date.
The government diktat will bring relief to students who often were locked in to institutes where they sought admission, making it difficult for them to switch institutes or change courses because the original documents and full fees were being collected and retained by institutes.
“No institution can take any original certificate into their custody. They can only ask for self-attested copies of the documents,” HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said, announcing the change.
The extent of the problem was highlighted by the UGC itself which had issued a similar notification way back in 2007, which said, “Universities and Institutions by way of retaining the certificate in original force retention of admitted students which limits the opportunities of candidates from exercising other options of joining other institutions of their choice. However, it is not permissible for Universities and institutions to retain the school/institution leaving certificate, marksheet, caste certificate and other documents in original.”
This 2007 notification, however, did not have much effect.
This is thus the third time the UGC is opening the issue, this time with a warning of strict action.
In a statement, the HRD ministry said higher educational institutions will face “strict punitive action” if the guidelines are not adhered to. This includes withdrawal of declaration of fitness to receive grants from UGC, withholding of grants allocated to the higher educational institutions (HEI), declaration of HEI as ineligible to receive any assistance from UGC for General or Special Programmes, recommending to the affiliating university for withdrawal of affiliation, in case of a College/ Institute, recommending to the Central Government for withdrawal of Deemed to be University declaration, in case of an Institution Deemed to be University and appropriate necessary action in case of University established or incorporated under a State Act.
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The non-refund of fees in case an admission is withdrawn within one month will also invite a similar penalty,the UGC has warned.A student withdrawing admission 15 days before the notified last date of admission will be entitled to a 100 percent refund. The colleges that deduct a processing fee cannot deduct more than five per cent paid by the student, subject to a maximum of Rs. 5,000.
The following is the full schedule for refund of fees, should a student ask for it: Ninety per cent: in case a student decides to withdraw within 15 days before the formally notified last date of admission.
Eighty per cent: in case a student decides to withdraw within 15 days after the formally notified last date of admission.
Fifity per cent: in case a student decides to withdraw between 16 days and 30 days after the formally notified last date of admission.
NIL: in case a student decides to withdraw after 30 days of the formally notified last date of admission.
The entire caution money and security deposit, which are not part of the fees chargeable, shall be refunded in full in all cases, UGC said. The refund of fees shall be made by the HEIs within 15 days of receipt of a written application from a student.
The directive was welcomed but educationists were not clear how speedily or effectively it could be implemented in a system where originals are routinely kept as security against the student trying for a seat elsewhere to better their prospects.

Panaji, Dec 15 : A panel tasked with preparing the new National Education Policy (NEP) has completed its work, Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said here Saturday.

He said the draft NEP would be handed over to the Central government “anytime from now”.

The Central government had constituted K Kasturirangan committee to prepare draft for the new NEP 2017.

“The panel has prepared the draft of the policy which has five pillars namely accessibility, affordability, equity, quality and accountability”, the minister said.

He was speaking at the convocation ceremony of the Goa University here.

“Our committee under K Kasturirangan today only said that the report is ready. They are ready to hand over the national educational policy at any day and any time”, he said at the function attended by Chancellor of Goa University and Goa Governor Mridula Sinha.

Javadekar said his ministry will frame a schedule for accepting and implementing the policy.

“This will give a new feeling and a new direction to our education system. We have a long way to go”, he said.

TheNEP is aimed at promoting education amongst the common people of the country.

The policy covers elementary to college education in both rural and urban India.

The first NEP was promulgated in 1968 by the government ofthen Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and the second by then Prime MinisterRajiv Gandhiin 1986.

Javadekar further rued that India lacked in research and innovation, “due to which, many things that are used in the country are foreign-made”.

“Indian researchers are everywhere in almost all innovations like iphone, Facebook, Twitter and even Whatsapp kind of Apps. But despite all this, we are just the contributor for innovation. We are not the owners of innovation which should change”, he said.

The minister said the culture of innovation should be introduced at the level of schools. “That is the reason we have created ‘Atal Tinkering Lab ‘(Under Atal Innovation Mission) in more than 3,000 schools”, he added.

“Under this project, students from class 6 to class 12 can work on 3-D printing, robotics, artificial intelligence and others”, he said.

The Union government has also launched ‘Hackathon’ at the college level wherein problem statements are given to students who are expected to find a solution.

“During the first year (2016), 40,000 students participated in Hackathon while the number of students participating in the event last year (2017) stood at one lakh.

This year, around 1.5 lakh students are expected to take part which will be the world’s largest hackathon in three years”, he said.

The minister said Hackathon is producing results.

“In the first year, 50 products were invented whereas more than 100 innovations happened in the second year. This year more innovations will happen”, he added.

Javadekar said innovation is the key for sustainable development of India.

“That is why we have started a programme called Imprint, which is a public research programme. During a first Imprint event, we received 1,500 proposals of which 200 proposals were sanctioned. We are now funding them completely from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 4 crore”, he said, adding that the second Imprint also received a tremendous response in the form of 2,000 proposals of which 300 have been accepted.

Meanwhile, the minister said the HRD ministry is planning as many as 2,000 courses catering to professionals, students, professors and even senior citizens under new “Swayam” platform.

“Swayam” is a “anytime, anywhere and learning forever platform”, he said.

“(Under Swayam), you will get a chance to learn further even after your formal education is over. You can upgrade your skills. Right from professors to senior citizens, anyone can learn”, Javadekar said.

The minister said his ministry waned to built Swayam platform further to incorporate 2,000 courses very soon.

He said the concept of the National Digital Library (NDL) has done away with the need to search books at various colleges and libraries.

“Now you have 1 crore 65 lakh books in your mobile phones and computers in the form of national digital library which are available for free”, he said.

He said the government was planning to give access of the digital library to all citizens to spread knowledge.

“We don’t know if it’s being caused by the screen time. We don’t know yet if it’s a bad thing,” said Gaya Dowling, an NIH doctor working on the project, explaining the preliminary findings in an interview with the CBS news program 60 Minutes.

“What we can say is that this is what the brains look like of kids who spend a lot of time on screens. And it’s not just one pattern,” Dowling said.

The NIH data reported on CBS also showed that kids who spend more than two hours a day on screens score worse on language and reasoning tests.

The study — which involves scanning the brains of 4,500 children — eventually aims to show whether screen time is addictive, but researchers need several years to understand such long-term outcomes.

“In many ways, the concern that investigators like I have is, that we’re sort of in the midst of a natural kind of uncontrolled experiment on the next generation of children,” Dimitri Christakis, a lead author of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ most recent guidelines on screen time, told 60 Minutes.

Initial data from the study will begin to be released in early 2019.

The academy now recommends parents “avoid digital media use — except video chatting — in children younger than 18 to 24 months.”

New Delhi, June 19 : Breaking walls National Digital Library is open for all from today, said Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar.
Mr Javadekar on Tuesday at a function held at Vigyan Bhavan here dedicated National Digital Library which he also referred as treasures of knowledge to the people of the nation. From now everyone can read books, research books and magazines for free on internet or mobile phones.
There are over one crore seventy million digital texts in this library and there are also video lectures besides audio books.
The digital library prepared by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, has content in 200 languages which can be read twenty-four hours on a single window.
Mr Javadekar said knowledge is must to grow (Padhoge toh Bachoge, Padhoge toh Badhoge).
Earlier, school teachers, students, principals could use the National Digital Library. But from now, anyone can use the digital library on their mobile phones, computers. This all will be free of cost.
“It has 30 lakh plus registered users. Educational materials are available for users ranging from Primary to post-graduate levels. All for free,” said the HRD Minister.
National Digital Library Mobile app is also available is in three languages but soon it would be accessible in other languages too.

Hyderabad, Oct 25:  Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has said that ‘all School syllabi in the country should be reduced by fifty percent and Students should learn 50 per cent from their classrooms and 50 per cent from playgrounds’.

He further said that the young students would soon be called upon to be leaders of India’s journey towards development. You should prepare yourself; equip yourself starting today, so that you will be ready when called upon to be leaders of a resurgent India, he added.
Saying that it is important to learn from books, the Vice President said that it is good to know facts and understand theories, but it is more important to be able to understand concepts and to gauge their practical applications. It is important to learn to do things, to develop practical and pragmatic wisdom, Mr Venkaiah said.

The Vice President said that whole examinations should be based on measuring the child’s capacity simply to question the things around him or her. This will encourage young people to never be content with the status quo and help to make change a relatively easy process, he said.
Mr Naidu urged the young students to never let their marks define or restrict them in any way. You are much more than the numbers on your report card, he added.
The Vice President opined that education imparted should be all encompassing, comprehensive and holistic.
He said that only half the school time should be spent in classrooms learning, the other half should be spent in playgrounds and in nature. Some of life’s crucial lessons are learnt by the children from playgrounds, such as sportsmanship, empathy and teamwork, Mr Venkaiah added.

Along with physical fitness, schools should also encourage other extra-curricular activities, the Vice President said. Love for the fine arts and interest in literary activities should also be inculcated in children, he added.