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The United Doctors Front Association has requested that the March 5 NEET PG-2023 test be postponed in a letter to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya. A revision of the revised internship cut-off date has also been requested by the doctors’ organisation, who believe that many interns are still ineligible to take the exam. The deadline for applying for an MBBS internship was extended by the Union Health Ministry to June 30 on January 13. Prior to that, candidates had until March 31, 2023, to finish their required one-year internship. The doctors’ association stated that because of the ongoing problems relating to the early scheduled date for NEET PG-2023, medical students are in a state of chaos and are unable to focus on their studies. “Sir, as per NBEMS revised internship eligibility criteria for NEET PG-2023, internship completion date i.e. June 30 is not justifying criteria for ongoing internship batch. Around 10,000 interns from many states are still ineligible for NEET PG-2023 after revision,” the letter dated January 18 stated. “Recently, NEET-PG 2022 special stray round counselling was conducted on January 10. Many of the NEET-PG aspirants were busy in attending counselling. So NEET-PG participants/aspirants are getting less time to prepare for upcoming exam scheduled on March 5. So we request you to kindly look in the above matter on urgent basis and serve justice to NEET PG-2022 aspirants by postponement of NEET PG-2023 for a minimum of two-three months and re-revision of internship eligibility criteria for ineligible interns to make them eligible for NEET PG-2023,” the letter read.

The deadline for feedback on the drafts of the University Grants Commission for the establishment of foreign university campuses in India was extended today by the University Grants Commission (UGC). The UGC sought views from stakeholders on the proposed University Grants Commission (Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India) Regulations, 2023, in a notice that was published on January 5. The deadline for the same has now been extended to February 3, 2023. This decision was made after the Commission received stakeholder requests to extend the deadline for providing feedback, recommendations, and comments on the draft. The deadline for stakeholders to send their suggestions and feedback to ugcforeigncollaboration@gmail.com is currently February 3. UGC Chief M. Jagadesh Kumar released guidelines for foreign institutions setting up campuses in India at the start of the new year. According to the guidelines, only foreign universities that have received approval from the University Grants Commission will be permitted to open campuses in India. Additionally, they will only be granted approval for a 10-year period. To apply, these institutions must either rank among the top 500 or be “highly reputed” in their own countries (if the varsity does not participate in global rankings). The institutions will only be allowed to build up their campuses for those listed subjects if their ranking is between 500 and 100 but their subject wise ranking is higher than their overall ranking. Additionally, all foreign universities that open branches in India will only be permitted to conduct offline classes; that is, they can only provide full-time programmes in physical mode.

The Indian Institute of Management Bodh Gaya launched two full-time residential MBA programmes on Thursday: the MBA in Hospital and Healthcare Management and the MBA in Digital Business Management. The first batches for both programmes are scheduled to begin in the last week of June of the next academic year, 2023-24. The Hospital and Healthcare Management programme will adhere to a curriculum and pedagogy that addresses the growing demand for professionally trained human resources to take on managerial and leadership roles in various sectors of the healthcare industry, such as hospitals, health insurance, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, as well as IT and consulting. While the Digital Business Management programme is designed to fulfil the requirements for Industry 4.0, which are associated with the rapid adoption of digital technology and the disruption of business models. Leaders and veterans from the relevant industries will deliver large portions of both of these lectures. Dr Vinita Sahay, director of IIM Bodh Gaya, inaugurated the programmes. The healthcare management programme has two specialisation tracks: Hospital Management and Healthcare Management, which provide exposure to private and public health systems through internships and final projects in rural areas. The program’s Industry Advisory Board is comprised of senior executives from globally renowned companies such as Apollo Hospitals, Biocon Biologics, Novartis, DoctCo, and Coforge. Digital Marketing and Business Development, Data Analytics and Decision Sciences, Strategy and Consulting, and FinTech are the four specialisation tracks available in the digital business management program. Experts from technology firms such as TCS, Infosys, and IBM have served on the Industry Advisory Board to bring cutting-edge techniques and trends in classroom teachings. Students will gain hands-on experience in both courses through a four-month industry immersion. Admissions for both programmes will begin next week, and qualifying CAT 2022 candidates will have a 15-day opportunity to express their interest. EoI forms will be available until the first week of February, after which candidates will be shortlisted for the next round, which will consist of personal interviews. The CAT score, PI score, and academic profile rating will be used to create the final admission merit list. There are 90 seats available for Digital Business Management and 60 for Hospital and Healthcare Management.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) stated on Saturday that beginning in January 9 of this year, the board will offer counselling services to students in classes 10 and 12. This will be accomplished with the aid of podcasts, tele-counselling, and IVRS. Since students would be taking the offline board exams again after a two-year break, CBSE took this decision with that in mind. “For the ease and familiarization of the students the board had already made available the sample question papers, Exam pattern, marks distribution on the website. However, to provide psychological support and solutions to the students, the counselling facility which used to start in February earlier will now begin in January this year,” the official release read. IVRS will be used as the initial counselling technique. For students and parents, CBSE offers free IVRS service around-the-clock at Board’s toll-free number 1800-11-8004. Through this, Hindi and English information and recommendations about stress-free exam preparation, time and stress management, frequently asked questions (FAQs), COVID prevention, key contact data of CBSE offices, etc., may be accessed from anywhere in the nation. The Board will offer counselling services via voluntary tele-counselling services, just as IVRS. By calling 1800-11-8004, the Board is offering this free service from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm, from Monday to Saturday. This year, 84 principals and counsellors from India and other nations are offering this service. Of these, 11 are in Nepal, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and Singapore, while 73 of the principals and counsellors are from India. The Board will also make bilingual podcasts on these same topics available on the official CBSE website, cbse.gov.in, in addition to the aforementioned. The Board said in a letter that it has posted many important messages on social media over the years and has also used YouTube, Facebook and Instagram platforms to actively communicate with the students. Audio-visual content about youth experiences, aggression, depression, internet addiction disorder, exam stress, one can also view and listen to multimedia content on a variety of subjects, such as particular learning difficulties, substance use disorders, and life skills to deal with them.

The Union Health Minister, Mansukh Mandaviya, urged everyone to develop an education system modelled on India on Thursday. While addressing with the heads of 150 private medical schools around the country, he remarked, “Let us create the India model of medical education that defines paradigm of accessible, affordable, credible and quality education.” The minister spent around three hours listening to the comments, recommendations, insights, and questions from representatives of these medical institutions, the health ministry said in a statement. Representatives discussed and offered proposals for NEET PG, NeXT, admissions, faculty retirement age, journal articles, bonds for rural posting, district residency programme, etc. during the interaction. We can only create an ecosystem with “Samvaad” where the government and other stakeholders in medical education advance in a setting of consent and consultation. One of the key pillars in this is a robust medical education sector, he noted. Mandaviya urged the private medical institutions to move forward in a spirit of partnership in order to jointly develop a robust and energising medical education industry in the country. Let’s develop the “India Model” of medical education, he remarked, which establishes a standard for easily accessible, relatively affordable, reliable, and high-quality medical education. He made mention of the recent “Heal in India” and “Heal by India” initiatives, saying that “India envisions to lead in the global arena on the strength of its medical sector not only to meet the domestic requirements but also meet the global demand of highly skilled and trained manpower, and quality medical and healthcare and wellness services.” The minister expressed concern about medical institutions that had become “merely businesses to the exclusion of “sewa bhaav” deeply embedded in the Indian ethos,” according to the official statement.

The Ministry of Education said on Tuesday that the annual Pariksha Pe Charcha event, during which Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks with students about how to manage exam stress, will take place on January 27 at Delhi’s Talkatora Stadium. The event was first held in 2018, and this will be its sixth edition. Due to the pandemic, Pariksha Pe Charcha was conducted online in a town hall format in 2021. A select number of students, teachers, and parents get to interact with the PM live in addition to it being streamed live through television and social media platforms. They are selected via an online creative writing competition, the topics of which are shared to schools around the nation. This time, “know your freedom fighters,” “our culture is our pride,” “my startup dream,” “education for skilling,” and “future educational challenges” have been picked as the themes. In comparison to PPC-2022, which had around 15.7 lakh participants, PPC-2023 has about 38.80 lakh participants (students- 31.24 lakh, teachers – 5.60 lakh, parents – 1.95 lakh). Parents from 50 nations, teachers from 51 countries, and students from over 150 countries have enrolled for PPC-2023, according to a statement from the ministry.

Exams for classes 10 and 12 have started today at the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). The exams are scheduled to end on February 14. In nearly 28000 schools nationwide and in 26 other countries, these exams are being conducted. The board will designate external examiner to conduct the class 12 exam. It is possible for one examiner to be assigned to more than one school. An internal invigilator designated by the school will be present with class 10 students. The CBSE has advised schools to schedule their practicals appropriately because the JEE (Main) January session would also take place during this time. For the practical exams, the CBSE has not released a schedule. With the needs of the students and the time slots available with the external examiner in mind, schools are free to set their own schedule for practical exams. The school has been given the go-ahead to communicate with the external examiners and adjust the schedule if necessary. The schools must promptly release all external examiners so that they can finish their other assignments. The schools must promptly release all external examiners so that they can finish their other assignments. Students should make sure they are present for practical exams because they won’t be rescheduled, according to a notification from CBSE. The practical marks are simultaneously posted on “Pariksha Sangam.” The schedule for the Class X and XII final exams for 2023 was issued on Thursday by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). The dates for the 2023 CBSE Class X and XII board exams are February 15 to April 5. The exam for Class X will end on March 21. The board announced the dates for the final exams and noted that enough time had been given between each subject and that other factors, such as competitive entrance exams, had also been considered in selecting the dates. The examination will begin at 10.30 am. The date sheets are available for download on the CBSE’s official website at cbse.gov.in and cbse.nic.in for students taking the board exam in 2023. According to reports, more than 34 lakh students have enrolled for the CBSE Class X and XII board exams this time.

The Digital Survey for National Curriculum Framework (DiSaNC) has received a call for participation from the Ministry of Education. The development of the curriculum framework has been suggested by the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 in four areas: school education, early childhood care and education (ECCE), teacher education, and adult education. The Education Ministry urged the public to take part and provide ideas to the NCF survey in a social media post that read: “The Digital Survey for National Curriculum (DiSaNC) aims to collect suggestions and feedback from the public at large. This will help in the formulation of National Curriculum Framework (NCF).” It added, “The DiSaNC Survey is available in 23 languages.” What should be the focus of learning for children between the ages of three and eight? What subjects should be taught to children in Classes three to five? What subject areas do children need to study in Classes six to eight? These and additional questions are included in the DiSaNC survey. The Digital Survey for National Curriculum includes questions about what society expects from school education, what values children need to inculcate during their schooling, and what language a child should study in school starting in Class 1. The survey asks for suggestions on how to improve the dignity of teachers and what role they should play in the overall development of students.

According to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the NCERT textbooks will cover Odisha’s history with hockey and its two times serving as host to the Hockey World Cup. After attending an all-party meeting, Pradhan spoke to the media and urged that the Men’s Hockey World Cup, which will be held in Odisha from January 13–29, be used to promote the art, heritage, and traditions of that state at the greatest possible level. The tournament will take place in Birsa Munda Stadium in Rourkela and Bhubaneswar’s Kalinga Stadium. The state government’s decision to invite all schools and institutions in the nation to the Hockey World Cup was also praised by the minister. By 2036, when Odisha celebrates its 100th foundation day, “we should work together to ensure that as many as 100 Olympians emerge from Odisha,” Pradhan said on Thursday. “This time, 7 Odisha players went to play in the Olympics,” he remarked. There’s a chance that India may host the Olympics in 2036, the year the state celebrates its 100th foundation day, Pradhan added. The Men’s Hockey World Cup will be held for the fifteenth time this year. The mega tournament is being hosted by Hockey India for the second time; the previous time was in 2018 and was won by Belgium. Source: PTI

Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, has announced that the state government will now reward class 12 students with financial rewards in their undergraduate degree if they score more than 75%. According to the state chief minister’s announcement, the state government would now cover the engineering and/or medical college fees of students who get more than 75% in their class 12 exams. “I already give laptops to students who scored more than 75% in their 12th standard exams. Now, I will also bear the fees of medical college, engineering college, IIT and law college,” he was quoted by ANI. This scholarship/financial reward announcement comes just a few days after the National Testing Agency (NTA) reinstated the class 12 performance criterion of 75% for qualifying for JEE Main 2023. Admissions to BE / BTech / BArch / BPlanning courses at NITs, IIITs, and CFTIs “will be based on All India Rank subject to the condition that the candidate should have secured at least 75% marks in the Class 12 examination conducted by the respective Boards,” according to an NTA brochure. According to ANI, the CM also said that the state government has planned to build playgrounds in 110 villages. His government has also created 10 lakh new government jobs, which he says are being filled.