Education Community

Delhi University has decided to increase the number of students in a lecture by around 50 to 60% per batch, a move that has been opposed by teachers. According to the university’s new plan, the number of students in tutorials would triple. The resolution was passed by the university’s Executive Council on Thursday, with two EC members dissenting, claiming that the effort to raise the student-teacher ratio will have an impact on the quality of education. According to EC member Seema Das, the DU has set a cap of 60 students each batch for lectures, 30 for tutorials, and 25 for practical classes in undergraduate programmes. Previously, the number of students in lectures in graduate courses was set at 40, while the number of students in tutorial and practical sessions was set at 8 to 10 and 15 respectively. Postgraduate courses have 50, 25, and 15-20 students per batch, accordingly. On November 11, the university issued a notification to colleges in this regard. “The Executive Council accorded its approval regarding uniformity in the teacher-student ratio in all the programmes and courses being offered by the university and its colleges, both at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels vide the notification,” Das added. Several teachers’ bodies have spoken out against the notification, citing “bigger-than-ideal” batch sizes. The dissenting members have stated that the November 11 notification will have a negative impact on the quality of learning at colleges and university departments. Registrar Vikas Gupta stated in the notification that the regulation was created to provide uniformity in teacher-student ratios across all of the university’s programmes. According to the dissenting members, increasing the tutorial group size to 30 students for UG courses and 25 for PG courses “negates” the concept of small group interaction and denies students the ability to gain a deeper knowledge and clarify their doubts. Source: PTI

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan invited students, teachers, and parents to the sixth edition of “Pariksha Pe Charcha” on Tuesday. Pariksha Pe Charcha will be held in a town hall format this year at the Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi in January 2023. The Union minister tweeted that “exam warriors” would be given a mantra to help them relax and succeed. दूर होगा #ExamWarriors का परीक्षा का डर, मिलेगा तनाव से मुक्ति और सफलता का मंत्र। परीक्षा के लिए और अधिक तैयार होने के लिए बनिए प्रधानमंत्री श्री @narendramodi जी की परीक्षा पे चर्चा 2023 का हिस्सा। आज ही रजिस्टर करेः https://t.co/mmOSAxKl4Q #PPC2023 pic.twitter.com/wtanwlNjsX — Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) December 6, 2022 Students interested in participating in Pariksha Pe Charcha should register at innovateindia.mygov.in/ppc-2023 and compete in the creative writing competition based on the following themes: Know your freedom fighters Our culture is our pride My book my inspiration Save Environment for future generations My life, my health My startup dream STEM education/ education without boundaries Toys and Games for Learning in Schools To be a part of the PPC 2023 programme, teachers and parents must participate in a creative writing competition. Five themes are for instructors, and three are for parents. Around 2050 students, teachers, and parents chosen through MyGov competitions may get PPC Kits and a certificate of appreciation from NCERT’s director.

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi had its 10th convocation, with 462 students graduating (348 male and 114 female). This year, the institute granted 64 PhDs, the greatest number of PhDs conferred in an academic year at IIT Mandi to date. The institute has experienced an increase in the number of female students graduating from various programmes. This year, IIT Mandi graduated 33 female students in undergraduate programmes, 49 in postgraduate and master’s programmes, 28 in PhD programmes, and four in iPhD programmes, exceeding prior years’ numbers. The chief guest was Prof Stuart R Hameroff of the University of Arizona in the United States. The honorees included Akhilesh Gupta, Secretary, Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), New Delhi; Kingshuk Banerjee, Director, Hitachi India Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru; and Woochan Chang, Director, KOICA India, New Delhi. “I wish my heartiest greetings to all our graduating students,” stated Prof Laxmidhar Behera, Director of IIT Mandi. “They will become the torch bearer of the Institute. I am sure that their professional competencies and uncompromising character will empower them to lead the society in various ways. Their success will also be the success of IIT Mandi.” “In the coming years, my focus will be to encourage faculty members and research scholars to publish impactful research works that are at par with the best Universities across the world. We must be solving real-live problems around us that will impact the lives of the people around. To encourage the research ecosystem, we have raised the seed grant to faculty members from 5 lakh to15 lakh,” he said.

M Jagadesh Kumar, Chairperson of the UGC, said that India has begun its G20 presidency with a programme called ‘University Connect,’ in which students from universities around the country would engage with one another. “During India’s G20 presidency, students of several universities will create awareness about the importance of the G20 presidency and how India can be a role model for the rest of the world through its G20 Presidency of healing, harmony, and hope,” Kumar said. “It is wonderful that India began today its G20 presidency journey with “University Connect” by engaging with students of universities across the country, he added. On December 1, India formally assumed the G20 presidency, with a focus on counter-terrorism and “unity” in addressing global concerns such as the economic slump and climate crisis. Read: India’s G20 Presidency begins today with focus on forging unity “Our students will also be ambassadors of our country in showcasing to the visiting G20 members the rapid, inclusive developmental progress that India is going through,” the head of the University Grants Commission (UGC) stated. The G20, or Group of 20, is an intergovernmental forum of the world’s major developed and developing economies. Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union comprise the group. Source: PTI

Following in the footsteps of the last five years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha,’ an interactive session with students taking board examinations this year. The ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha’ programme was announced on the Ministry of Education’s official Twitter account. The registration process for participating in the interaction is now open, with the deadline of December 25. Students who are interested can register at innovateindia.mygov.in/ppc-2023. In addition to students, parents and teachers are welcome to attend the event. The most-awaited interaction is here! Get ready for #ParikshaPeCharcha2023. Participate in #PPC2023 activities and have a chance to connect directly with Hon’ble PM Shri @narendramodi. Visit: https://t.co/PpA2Mja27s #ExamWarriors pic.twitter.com/q30yKFYRYX — Ministry of Education (@EduMinOfIndia) November 28, 2022 “Know the mantra to overcome your fears & celebrate exams like festivals! Take part in #PPC2023 activities & stand a chance to interact directly with Hon’ble PM,” the Twitter notification reads. Students from grades 9 to 12 are eligible to take part. The Ministry of Education will provide PPC Kits to around 2050 students, teachers, and parents who are chosen through competitions on MyGov.

Punjab will become a global hub of medical education, said Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday after inspecting the site of a new medical college in the district. According to an official announcement, he stated that the medical college, which would be built on 20 acres of land at a cost of 428.69 crore, will be named after Guru Nanak Dev. The design has been finalised, and work on this huge project will begin soon, according to the chief minister. He stated that since a large number of students from various states will attend this college, a hostel facility as well as a 300-bed hospital will be built. The Punjab government has decided to build 16 medical colleges over the next five years, bringing the total number of such institutions in the state to 25, according to Mann. The foundation stone for the Sant Attar Singh State Institute of Medical Sciences in Sangrur’s Mastuana Sahib had already been set, and work on two medical colleges in Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur will begin soon, he said. Students wishing to continue medical education would no longer have to travel to nations such as Ukraine, according to the Punjab chief minister, because they will receive quality medical education here. He accused previous governments of not paying attention to medical education and claimed that the AAP government’s primary focus areas are health, education, power, and clean water. Mann reiterated that the state government is entirely dedicated to maintaining Punjab’s hard-won peace, and that strenuous measures are being taken to discourage gun culture, and that police personnel have been told not to spare anyone uttering hate speeches. Mann later visited the site of a future medical college in Hoshiarpur, which will be named after martyr Shaheed Udham Singh. He stated that the medical college will be built on around 23 acres of land at a total cost of 418.3 crore.

In a first-of-its-kind project in the country, as many as 240 government schools in Kerala will soon install weather stations, recording daily variations in weather conditions in the state. The project is part of an effort to train the next generation about climate change and how to take the required precautions in the wake of frequent natural disasters such as floods in the southern state. On Friday, General Education Minister V Sivankutty inaugurated the unique project at the district level in Kozhikode at the Kayanna Government Higher Secondary School. During the occasion, he stated that the General Education Department has already begun the process of installing weather monitoring stations in 240 schools around the state, which is a first-of-its-kind effort in the country. Students would gain firsthand experience and understanding of what they had learnt in weather textbooks through such centres. “Daily changes in atmospheric conditions will be monitored and recorded through the school weather stations. Thus, every child can be made a weather observer… the data collected will be used for further research,” he said. Each school weather station would include 13 instruments such as a rain gauge, thermometer, and weather data bank. Weather stations are being installed in 18 government higher secondary schools in Kozhikode, where geography is an optional subject. Children would record the amount of rain that fell in the area, the wind speed, and the atmospheric pressure in a special chart. The data gathered from the school weather stations would be recorded by the students themselves in a separate chart. The ministers also stated that special training would be provided to geography students and teachers as a part of the project.

Amazon India announced on Thursday that less than two years after its inception, it would discontinue its online learning platform for students in the country’s high schools starting in August 2023. The Amazon Academy platform was launched in January of last year to assist students in their JEE (Joint Entrance Examination) preparation. Those enrolled in the current academic session will receive a full refund, according to the e-commerce giant. The platform was introduced at a time when virtual learning was experiencing a boom due to the coronavirus pandemic. The JEE exam, which grants admission to the best engineering colleges in India, was one of the competitive exams for which Amazon Academy provided coaching. The largest online retailer in the world announced in a statement that it has determined to stop Amazon Academy “in a phased manner to take care of current customers” based on an assessment. Customers will get access to the entire course material online for an additional period of one year, or until October 2024, according to the company. For those preparing for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), the company also partnered with the education group Sri Chaitanya to introduce full syllabus courses. The winding down comes as numerous edtech companies are struggling to keep up with the demand as schools and coaching facilities reopen across India following lockdowns brought on by the coronavirus. Byju’s, a key player in edtech, announced in October that it would layoff 2,500 employees as it works to become profitable. Earlier this year, layoffs were also announced by a number of other players, including Unacademy, Toppr, WhiteHat Jr., and Vedantu.

The All India Council for Technical Education’s new Chairman is T G Sitharam, the director of IIT Guwahati.  He will head AICTE for three years or until he is 65, whichever comes first, according to a government notification dated November 17. Sitharam will succeed UGC Chairman Jagadesh Kumar, who served as interim AICTE Chairman when Anil Sahasrabuddhe was released from his duties on September 1, 2021, after reaching the age of 65. His appointment coincides with the Ministry of Education wrapping up a Bill that aims to merge the AICTE and the University Grants Commission into a super regulator known as the Higher Education Commission of India. IIT Guwahati now has a vacancy as a result of Sitharam’s appointment because his term as Director was only supposed to end in July 2024. He was a Professor in the department of civil engineering at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, prior to assuming the position of Director of IIT Guwahati. He has previously served as the chair professor for the IISc’s Department of Energy and Mechanical Sciences. His areas of interest in research include earth dams and tailing ponds, geotechnical earthquake engineering, and rock mechanics and engineering.

To advance innovation programmes for startups, Maruti Suzuki India and the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay teamed together on Thursday. To broaden the scope of its innovation programmes for startups, the auto major said it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE), IIT Bombay. According to the statement, SINE will assist in the outreach and incubation of potential startups that could participate in Maruti Suzuki’s innovation programmes as part of the three-year MoU. Maruti Suzuki and SINE will jointly shortlist startups for some of the challenging business issues the company has highlighted as part of the effort. Together, they will review applications and plan workshops with investors, mentors, and business leaders. “Our efforts to engage startups aligns with Prime Minister’s mantra of ‘Sabka Prayas’ to make India a global manufacturing hub. Our tie-up with IIT Bombay is an effort in this direction,” said Hisashi Takeuchi, Managing Director and CEO of Maruti Suzuki India. SINE CEO Poyni Bhatt highlighted that Maruti Suzuki began its journey with a single vehicle, the Maruti 800, forty years ago, and that the company has since transformed the automotive industry. “As the industry is set to further grow, it brings many opportunities for budding startups. We are excited to partner with Maruti Suzuki and by leveraging our combined strengths, we are set to enable startups with innovative solutions to scale to the next level,” she added. Source: PTI