Education Community

According to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the 5G telecom service will advance the nation’s educational system beyond “smart facilities, smart classrooms, and smart teachings” by utilising the most recent technological advancements. Additionally, he said that the New Education Policy (NEP) will free the nation from its “slave mentality” toward the English language. The Mission Schools of Excellence programme of the Gujarat government had just been unveiled in Adalaj town, Gandhinagar district, when the prime minister made his remarks. He emphasised that even though English is merely a language used for communication, it is still thought to be a sign of intellectualism. By constructing brand-new classrooms, smart classrooms, computer laboratories, and generally upgrading the infrastructure of schools in the state, the Mission will assist Gujarat in bolstering its educational infrastructure. “Recently-launched 5G service will go beyond smart facilities, smart classrooms, and smart teachings. It will take our education system to the next level,” the Prime Minister said. With the aid of the 5G service, he said, students may now experiment with virtual reality, the Internet of Things, and other cutting-edge technology in their classrooms. The PM also pushed for the use of regional languages to ensure that individuals who find English difficult are not left behind. “Earlier, knowledge of the English language was considered a criterion of being intellectual. In reality, the English language is just a medium of communication. This language barrier was a hindrance. Many young talents from villages could not become doctors and engineers because they were not well-versed in English,” he said. Young people now have the choice to pursue studies in different languages, according to the prime minister. “We aim to ensure that children of poor parents become doctors and engineers even if they are not educated in English (medium). We want to ensure that no one is left behind due to the lack of the English language,” PM Modi said, adding the “New Education Policy of the Centre will pull the country out from this slave mentality surrounding the English language”. Source: PTI

The “centenary chance examination” for college dropouts to finish their courses at Delhi University (DU) began on Sunday. D S Rawat, the dean of examinations at DU, said the tests are being held in two shifts and that so far, attendance has been “good.” Due to DU’s year-long centenary celebrations, which began on May 1, the dropouts have been given this one chance. “The centenary chance examination has begun. All the arrangements were made carefully and the exams are being conducted smoothly,” Rawat said. On the exam day, more than 1,850 students are expected to show up. For the examinations, more than 8,560 candidates had submitted applications. On Sunday, the exams would be given in two shifts. Both the Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Sciences are conducting the exams. There will be 18 papers up for assessment in each shift, according to Rawat. The maximum number of papers for examinations administered annually is four, and the maximum number of papers for tests administered semester by semester is eight. It won’t be used for internal evaluation; instead, it will be used for a theory and practical examination. The exams will take place between October 16 and November 9. The DU had previously announced in May that students who left college in their final year could sign up for this one opportunity to take the exam and finish their course. The university will conduct further exams in March of the next year. Source: PTI

IISc retains its position as the top Indian institution in the 2023 THE World University rankings In the most recent round of Times Higher Education (THE) rankings, which the majority of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) have boycotted for the third year in a row due to concerns about transparency, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has maintained its top spot among Indian institutions. The IISc is ranked in the range of 251-300, making it the top Indian institution overall. According to a statement released by THE, the University of Oxford has emerged as the top institution globally among 1,799 universities from 104 countries. The Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences (351-400 overall), which debuted in the rankings, has grabbed the second position among Indian institutions. In the universities category of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2022, the Himachal Pradesh-based private university is ranked 96th. However, JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research, another private university based in Karnataka, and Shoolini University share the same spot among Indian institutions. Algappa University, a public university in Tamil Nadu, placed third in India (401-500). IIT Ropar received the second place in the Indian category last year, but it has dropped to sixth place this year and to the 501-600 band globally from the 351-400 band last year. The parameters used to rate the institutions include teaching (30%), research (30%), citations (30%), international outlook (7.5%), and industry outcome (2.5 percent). A “reputational survey” has 15 percent weight in both teaching and research. Over 121 million citations from over 15.5 million research publications were analysed for this year’s ranking, which also includes survey responses from 40,000 experts worldwide. JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research, Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences, and Alagappa University rounded out the top three Indian institutions.

In accordance with suggestions made in the National Education Policy 2020, the University Grants Commission (UGC) is streamlining the procedure by which colleges achieve autonomous status. Prof. M. Jagadesh Kumar, chairperson of the UGC, stated that the Commission has adopted draft regulations in this regard, which will be made available to the public for stakeholder feedback by Tuesday. The proposed changes are largely intended to speed up the process of obtaining autonomy status and link it to NAAC ratings. For instance, at the moment, proposals for autonomy are initially reviewed by expert committees through site visits. However, under the proposed changes, on-site visits won’t be necessary anymore. “A standing committee of the UGC shall examine the application of the college for conferment of autonomous status. The approval/rejection letters may be issued on the basis of the decision of the standing committee. The decisions may be ratified by the committee subsequently,” according to the draught regulations. Additionally, if the concerned college receives grade A accreditation from the NAAC, the autonomous status—which is currently awarded initially for a term of 10 years—will now be automatically extended for another 10 years. For at least three programmes with a minimum score of 675, technical colleges will need NBA accreditation. Colleges that have operated as autonomous units for a continuous period of 15 years will be granted the status permanently once the revised regulations are passed, and they won’t need to reapply as long as they maintain their high NAAC or NBA ratings. In the US, there are about 500 autonomous colleges. According to the NEP, “it is envisaged that over a period of time every college would develop into either an autonomous degree-granting college, or a constituent college of a university – in the latter case, it would be fully a part of the university.” According to Prof. Kumar, the proposed changes were made after an expert committee reviewed the existing regulations. “These regulations will also provide freedom to the autonomous colleges to determine and prescribe their own courses of study and syllabi, and restructure and redesign the courses to suit local needs, make it skill oriented and in consonance with the job requirements. Further, the autonomous college may prescribe their own admission rules, evolve methods of assessment,” he stated.

The National Talent Search Examination (NTSE) has been postponed until further orders, according to a recent announcement from the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). Since NTSE was not approved after March 31, 2021, the programme has been put on hold till further notice, according to an official notice from the NCERT. The Ministry of Education (MOE) of the Government of India entirely funds the central sector programme known as the National Talent Search Scheme. The NTS scheme is implemented by NCERT. The scheme was approved till March 31, 2021. The scheme’s further implementation in its present form has been postponed until further orders because it has not been approved. “This is for the information of all concerned,” the official notice reads. Recently, the NTSE 2021 was held on October 24, 2021, at 68 exam centers across the nation, and the final results were made public on February 18 on the official NCERT website, ncert.nic.in. On February 9, 2022, the Council made the provisional results and the OMR sheet available on the official NCERT website. The Ministry of Education (MOE) of the Government of India (Gol) entirely funds the NTSE scholarship programme, which is administered by the NCERT. Every year, two phases of the scholarship test are held: stage 1 (state level) and stage 2. (national level). The second stage is hosted by NCERT, whilst the first stage is run by the states.

The Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) is urging students to enrol in its Degree Plus programme to help make them “industry ready.” The curriculum is offered in addition to the students’ regular enrollment in the BA, BCom, and BSc degrees. The website offers more than 300 certificate programmes, the majority of which are free. Nitin Karmalkar, who was SPPU’s vice chancellor at the time, spearheaded the project in 2021, making 300–350 courses available to students for less than the original fee. The university has partnered with a number of educational and social organizations to offer the courses, including Harvard Business Online, Stanford University, AWS, Simply Learn, Celebrity School, and IBM. Students at the institution will be able to acquire up-to-date knowledge in fields including economics, culture, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing through “Degree Plus.” The majority of students should take advantage of this opportunity, according to SPPU Vice-Chancellor Karbhari Kale. All of the courses are offered online, and many of them are free. Students receive certificates upon passing the course, and the website has posted the course programme for 2022–2023 already. Nearly 26,000 students signed up for it during its pilot run, and 5,000 students applied for admission. The website http://degreeplus.in is where students seeking degrees from SPPU and its affiliated universities can apply for enrollment to the programme.

Mr. Prahar Anjaria, the founder of Pratham Educare and Rangoli International School, moderated a panel discussion on “New Age Schooling” at Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA) campus on September 23, 2022. The panel consisted of Mr. Archit Bhatt (President, AOPS), Dr. Kavita Sharma (Principal, JG International School, Ahmedabad), and Ms. Nirali Dagli (Principal, CPS, Ghatlodia, Ahmedabad and Executive Member, Ahmedabad Gandhinagar Sahodaya Group of Schools). The panel discussed various issues in new age schooling like (a) Experiential learning (b) New age careers (c) Value education and (d) the Role of educators.

In order to establish the “Nykaa Chair in Consumer Technology,” the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A) and Nykaa signed an agreement today. The purpose of this partnership is to advance the scientific practise of marketing. The emphasis will be on research and instruction that offers insights on how digital, social, and mobile technologies affect business models, consumer behaviour, and broader social developments, and that makes it easier to use AI and machine learning insights in a market that has been disrupted. In order to quantify the impact of the Internet and new media on consumer and business behaviour and to comprehend the privacy-preserving potential of digital advertising, it will also make use of economic and statistical models. The Chair will also collaborate closely with academics affiliated with already-existing Centers of Excellence in emerging fields of technology, such as the Brij Disa Centre for Data Science (CDSAI) and Artificial Intelligence and the Centre for Digital Transformation (CDT). The nature of technology and its effects on social and economic systems have drastically changed as a result of technological breakthroughs in the previous ten years. Consumer connection through augmented and virtual environments and greater cross-cultural use of digital technologies necessitates awareness of several facets of consumer tech innovation. “Through our partnership with Nykaa, we aim to work together on finding research solutions to some of the immediate, real-time questions in the consumer tech space. We look forward to bringing on board a talented, research focused individual to take up this position at the institute,” said Professor Errol D’Souza, Director, IIMA.

An effective technique for Sanskrit text sentiment analysis has been developed by researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee. The proposed method has a machine translation accuracy of 87.50% and a sentiment classification accuracy of 92.83%. Due to a lack of enough labelled data, these technologies were not used to their full potential. The study suggested a methodology that includes sentiment analysis, machine translation, and translation evaluation models. The cross-lingual mapping of the source and target languages has been done using machine translations. The sentences that were translated into English are as natural and mature as the original English. The Valmiki Ramayana website, which was created and is still being updated by IIT Kanpur researchers, served as the source of the dataset for this study. To improve classification using only root words and their corresponding suffixes and prefixes, the researchers are going to study the morphological features of Sanskrit. They also intend to assess how well the Sanskrit’s rich morphology is preserved in the English translation. In addition, they hope to acquire a model that can recognise the context of words in many languages and offer word embeddings with smaller dimensions. In the journal “Applied Intelligence,” a research paper describing the model has been published.