Education Community

National Institute of Ranking Framework (NIRF) rankings for the year 2021 were released at 12 noon today i.e. 9th September 2021 by a webcast by the Union Education Minister Dharmendra Singh. Among the list, IIT Madras ranks as the topmost college in the overall category. Next in the list is IISc Bangalore accompanied by IIT Bombay at the third position. Viewers can look through the complete list from the website of NIRF, ‘nirfindia.org’ Miranda House has pursued its title again for this year by topping the list under the best college category. Lady Shri Ram College for Women, Delhi and Loyola College of Chennai hold the second and third rank respectively. The institutes are given scores based on – teaching, learning and resources (TLR), research and professional practice (RP), graduation outcomes (GO), outreach and inclusivity (OI), peer perception. Last year, the NIRF rankings were released in online format owing to the pandemic. IIT Madras was adjudged the top institute of India 2020 (overall category) while the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore was the top university followed by Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). Source: The article has been published by the Indian Express with a few edits from the ArdorComm News Network Team.

Chitkara University has been awarded the rating of A+ by the prestigious National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), which places it among the 5% of higher education institutions (HEIs) in India to be granted such a coveted grade. The University scored a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 3.26 on a 4-point scale.   The university has been praised for three major features by the Peer Team. They are: good infrastructure for educational innovation and research; a neat and clean, green, and well-maintained campus; and the location of the institute is in a well-developed urban area with good placement opportunities.   On the occasion, Dr. Ashok K Chitkara, Chancellor, Chitkara University said, “It is the hard-work of our students, staff and faculty that resulted in securing this recognition. Moreover, the university has a well-defined research promotion policy which has resulted in the development of state-of-the-art advanced facilities. CURIN has multi-disciplinary advanced facilities supported by research funding from government agencies such as DST, DRDO, etc. to the tune of 37.24 crore. The research scholars and faculties are provided seed money for undertaking research and filing patents.”   Dr. Madhu Chitkara expressed her sincere thanks to all stakeholders and said, “The curricula are developed following standardised procedures and are revised at regular intervals by taking feedback from all our stakeholders. The local, regional, and global developmental needs regarding employability and entrepreneurship are considered while designing the course. Experimental, participative, and project-based learning are in practise through blended learning. We have adopted a flexible CBCS system that gives freedom to the students to undergo a multidisciplinary approach. The assessment process is well defined to evaluate the attainment level in critical thinking and problem-solving skills through programme-specific learning. ”   Established in 1994, NAAC is an autonomous body of UGC which assesses and accredits Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). NAAC has identified a set of seven criteria to serve as the basis of its assessment procedures: Curricular Aspects; Teaching-learning & Evaluation; Research, Innovations & Extension; Infrastructure & Learning Resources; Student Support & Progression; Governance, Leadership & Management; and Institutional Values & Best Practices. By studying in an institution that is NAAC accredited, students get a chance to learn in a cutting-edge environment and earn a degree that will have global recognition. They get instant recognition as an alumnus of a credible institute and get better placement opportunities as the industry prefers hiring with higher-graded institutions.   The university, through NAAC accreditation, gets to know its strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities through an informed review process. The higher NAAC Grade of the university promotes various intra & inter-institutional interactions. Dr. Archana Mantri, Vice Chancellor, Chitkara University said, “The university practices Global Week for students and faculty exchange programs with foreign academic institutions. Various dynamic collaborations have been established through the internationally funded research projects, international conferences and cultural immersion across the campus.  This best practice has had a significant impact on a large number of global experts (250) and students (25000), several value-added courses (100) have been introduced through this best practice.”   Dr. K. K Mishra, Director, Accreditation & Quality Assurance Cell, said “According to the old scheme, which was followed till 2017, the whole evaluation was based on an overhauled visit by a peer team, and under the current process, 70% of the evaluation is based on data from the institution and university that is evaluated by a third party. That makes it even harder to be accredited. The NAAC accreditation will create new avenues for the university and its stud

Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke at the ‘Shikshak Parv 2021’ conclave on Tuesday, September 7, 2021. During his speech, he announced the launch of key initiatives that will benefit the education sector immensely. To honour the contribution of the teachers and various other educators during the pandemic, the PM announced the celebration of the Shikshak Parv on September 5. The Teacher’s Day celebration will continue till September 17, 2021. The main aim is to recognize the efforts of the educators and to take the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 a step ahead. The PM will continue to address the educators throughout India as well as various education stakeholders during the celebration. Apart from that, five new initiatives will be unfurled on the occasion. The five key initiatives are as follows: Indian Sign Language dictionary of 10,000 words. Talking Books (audiobooks for the visually impaired). School Quality Assessment and Accreditation Framework (SQAAF) of CBSE. NISTHA teachers’ training programme for NIPUN Bharat. Vidyanjali Portal for facilitating education volunteers, donors and CSR contributors for school development. During the speech, the Prime Minister said, “हमारे शिक्षक अपने काम को केवल एक पेशा नहीं मानते, उनके लिए पढ़ाना एक मानवीय संवेदना है, एक पवित्र नैतिक कर्तव्य है। इसीलिए, हमारे यहाँ शिक्षक और बच्चों के बीच professional रिश्ता नहीं होता, बल्कि एक पारिवारिक रिश्ता होता है। और ये रिश्ता, ये संबंध पूरे जीवन का होता है” Source: ANI, Hindustan Times  

An announcement came from Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai, that appropriate actions will be taken this year to appoint 5000 teachers. The announcement came on the occasion of teacher’s day celebrations at Vidhana Soudha. This statement has been released as a response to the request initiated by the Ministers of Primary and secondary education, B C Nagesh. The CM later added to his statementthat the 21st century is the century of knowledge. The country is smoothly moving forward to science, from science to technology and from technology to software. With these upcoming trends of education, it was said that teachers shall acquaint themselves with the updated trends and knowledge. Along with that he stated his opinion, that a person can only become a good teacher if he/she is a good student. With this he added, that the new education policy is profoundly student centric and requires to be implemented soon. Source: indiatoday.com

Visvesvaraya Best Teacher Award, Dr. Pritam Singh Best Teacher Award granted to outstanding faculty members, Chhatra Vishwakarma Award to innovative students and Clean and Smart Campus Award to sustainable, eco friendly AICTE approved Institutions. Awards conferred on outstanding faculty members and innovative students by Union Minister of Education. New Delhi 05 Sep 2021. AICTE has instituted Visvesvaraya Best Teacher Award, Dr. Pritam Singh Best Teacher Award, Chhatra Vishwakarma Award and Clean and Smart Campus Award. These awards have been introduced by AICTE to identify and felicitate extraordinary teachers, recognize their excellence, best practices, innovativeness and creativity among students and environmental sensitivity among institutions. Union Minister of Education Shri Dharmendra Pradhan along with Minister of State for Education, Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh conferred AICTE- Visvesvaraya Best Teacher Award to 17 faculty members in Engineering and Technology whereas 3 faculty members were awarded the AICTE-Dr. Pritam Singh Best Teacher Award in Management Education. The Minister interacted with all the awardees and appreciated their contribution to the society. While visiting the displayed projects of students, he admired the innovativeness and efforts of winning teams of Chhatra Vishwakarma Award and expressed confidence in India’s bright future. Highlighting the AICTE’s Visvesvaraya Best Teacher Award and Dr. Pritam Singh Award 2021, the Minister said that the aim is to honour meritorious faculties and encourage them to update themselves to the ever changing needs of higher education at global level and thereby becoming an effective contributor to the knowledge society. Dr. Pritam Singh Best Teacher Award introduced this year only; is conferred on the faculty members for demonstrating teaching excellence and institutional leadership in management education. He said, “For centuries our destiny was not in our hands. But as we complete 75 Years of Independence, the citizens finally have the will to shape India. The new National Education Policy is expected to revolutionize the educational sector in India and lay the path for the next 25 years as per the Vision 2047 of Hon’ble PM Shri Narendra Modi ji. The education has to make each one of us more responsible and become Global Citizen. For this I would like to congratulate AICTE for instituting these 4 awards. Apart from recognizing the efforts of the Teachers, these awards have also brought the spark for innovation. The Minister also acknowledged Council’s innovative schemes for students, faculty members and infrastructure development in institutions, such as ATAL, NITTT, IDEA Lab, PRAGATI Scholarship Scheme for girl students, SAKSHAM Scholarship scheme for Specially-Abled students, SANATH schemes for empowering students such as Orphan, Either or both parents died due to Covid-19, Wards of Armed Forces and Central Paramilitary Forces martyred in action; CAFES scheme for construction of Hostel for students and MODROB schemes for modernization of Laboratories. Schemes like PMSSS reach out to students in Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh. Innovation Ambassador Programme’ will lay the seeds of innovations in young minds. He congratulated AICTE for providing engineering courses in 11 regional languages, technical book writing in regional languages, pioneering ATAL academy and more than 6 lakh internships to students through its portal. AICTE is taking various steps to support entrepreneurship and a burgeoning culture of innovation. AICTE- Chhatra Vishwakarma Award is one such initiative. These Awards are inspired by the spirit of engineering and creation patronized by Lord Vishwakarma, the ruling deity of construction practices in India. The awards are thus a means to provide a platform for our students to look at the societal challenges, with an aim to provide innovative and low-cost solutions. This year again, the council announced the Chhatra Vishwakarma Award 2020, with the theme of “INDIA’S ECONOMIC RECOVERY POST COVID: Reverse migration and rehabilitation plan to support “Atmanirbhar Bharat”. 24 teams of students have been awarded and their prize winning models were exhibited in AICTE. Students have developed very useful and creative solutions for various socio-economic issues.  The zeal, enthusiasm, innovativeness and hard work of these students will make India a focal point to generate innovative ideas in the near future. Clean and Smart Campus Award, 2020 has also been conferred to selected technical institutes. The award aims to seek engagement with all stakeholders, primarily the student community, to draw their attention towards the immense scope and potential that the technology offers on abstract objectives such as cleanliness, sustainability and environment etc. in line with Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. Winning institutions have displayed great concern and commitment for the environment. All institutions must align their activities with sustainable, clean, and green environmental Policy. Huge response was received for all the awards. The proposals were shortlisted on rigorous, holistic evaluation criteria by a constituted committee of distinguished academicians/experts who evaluated the participants on various parameters of teaching effectiveness, innovativeness & research, academic leadership and community outreach. Speaking on the occasion, Minister of State for Education, Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh motivated the students & all other stakeholders. He said “I hope this kind of encouragement will impact the different teaching communities in the group, which will motivate them to impart impeccable education to students.” Shri Amit Khare, Secretary, Ministry of Education said, “On this teacher’s day, I hereby convey my wishes to the entire teaching community in India on behalf of myself and the Ministry of Education. Even though we remember our teachers for our whole life, today is a special day as it is the birthdate of our Honorable Former President Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.” Chairman, AICTE, Prof. Anil D Sahasrabudhe, Vice Chairman, AICTE, Prof. MP Poonia and Member Secretary, AICTE Prof. Rajive Kumar also complimented the awardees during the event and highlighted the importance of teachers in nation building.

On one side where after a huge gap and concern, many states have decided to reopen their school with maximum precautions, the Maharashtra government is far away from taking such a step. Providing more details regarding the reopening of schools in Maharashtra, Varsha Gaikwad said new SOPs and school reopening guidelines are yet to be discussed. She further added that an expert panel which was set up by the government to advise on the reopening of schools has suggested some more changes. As of now, the Maharashtra government has no such plans of reopening the schools in urban areas. This announcement related to postponing the reopening of schools in Maharashtra came after meeting with the pediatric task force to discuss the matter of reopening of schools. The state education minister said, there will be one more meeting held on this matter and then the proposal will be sent to CM. The final decision regarding the reopening of schools will be made by CM. The decision not opening schools in Maharashtra is due to the fear of the Covid-19 third wave. Maharashtra was one of the worst-hit states in the first as well as the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. The government does not wish to take any casual steps to make the situation more critical. Source: India.com

Thiruvananthapuram: Amid rising new cases, adding to the total cases of COVID-19 in India, most of the cases are pouring in from Kerala. In a meeting called by CM Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday, many international experts in the meeting were of the opinion that schools must reopen, especially primary schools in the state. Speaking to IANS, veteran virologist T. Jacob John who took part in the meeting said that most of the international experts in the meeting from different parts of the world proposed reopening of schools. “The general opinion was, it is time that the primary schools are opened because there is no major issue if a 15-year-old child misses an year of school, but it’s not the same if a toddler who gets ready to begin his education, as any impediment in the cognitive development in the first part of a child’s education career can cause trouble,” said John, a winner of the prestigious Dr B.C. Roy award. “Moreover today kids and children are presently locked up in homes and while at home none wears a mask, but when in school or outside, all wear masks. Risk is the lowest at primary schools,” added John. On Thursday, State Education Minister V. Sivankutty said opening up of the education sector is being planned. “We will soon appoint an expert committee to study various aspects of it and then a final decision will be taken by the Chief Minister,” said Sivankutty.Source: IANS, Times of India, Deccan Herald

For the establishment of a cognitive computing hub, in the Indraprastha Institute of Technology Delhi (IIIT), the Department of Science and Technology has released a fund of 100 Crore, for five years. With that the institute has also set up an iHubAnubhuti, which is a technology Innovation hub (TiH), it has been set up under the national mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber System Physical Systems supported by the DST. The company has been created under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS) of the central government. Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, DST, said, “ iHUBAnubhutiat IIIT Delhi is focused to build a strong tripartite collaboration between industries, academia, and the government agencies, and with this, it will become both a custodian as well as an aggregator of the roadmaps in the areas of cognitive computing and social sensing”. TiH is been set up with aim of setting collaboration between academic institutions, industries, and government agencies, with the motive of creating data-driven cognitive computing solutions. Source: theInndianExpress.com

New Delhi: The admissions for Delhi University for undergraduate programs will close on Tuesday, August 31, 2021. This news is of importance to students who have completed their 12th class exams and are trying to enrol for undergraduate courses. Students who have not yet submitted their applications for the University of Delhi can register through DU’s admission portal— ugadmission.uod.ac.in. The registrations for other colleges like St. Stephen’s and Jesus and Mary College will also end today. These colleges conduct their admission process for admitting students, while students will have to register on the DU portal before filling out any other forms to get admitted into the university. There is no offline admission process for DU. The entire process for undergraduate admissions for session 2021-22 will only be administered through the DU’s admission portal. The candidates fulfilling the eligibility criteria will be considered further for admission. Candidates who will be selected will be required to visit the campus for document verification when required. They will be notified by the university prior to the document verification process. Fees for online registration Registration fee for Merit-based programs for UR/OBC/EWS – Rs 250 Registration fee for SC/ST/PwBD – Rs 100 Additional Registration fee for ECA/Sports – Rs 100 Additional Registration fee for each Entrance-based program for UR/OBC/EWS – Rs 750 Additional Registration fee for each Entrance- based program for SC/ST/PwBD – Rs 300 Admission Cancellation fee (as per UGC/DU norms) – Rs 1000 Source: Delhi University and Times of India

The ICFAI Deemed University is set to launch paradigm-shifting five-year full time integrated courses from 2021. Programs like BBA-MBA, B.Com-MBA and B.Sc (Data Analytics) will be available for students at the off-campus centre in Kengeri, Bangalore. Prof. J. Mahender Reddy, Vice-Chancellor, ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education, addressed the media virtually to give insights about the campus and its programs, he said, “The focus will be on communication skills, critical thinking, interpersonal skills and a good understanding of the domain knowledge with a focus on applications to the real world.” The ICFAI Business School has been accredited for the BBA, MBA and PhD programs by AACSB, a world-renowned accreditation agency. Less than five per cent of the B-Schools in the world receive this renowned accreditation. In India, only about 15 B-Schools have got this accreditation out of about 5000. About the Programmes: BBA-MBA (Integrated) Program: The program provides a unique opportunity for students to learn and earn two management degrees in five years to become successful and valued managers of blue-chip Indian/global companies and start-ups. B.Com-MBA (Integrated) Program: In the program students may study and acquire both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in one go, which will save time, money and energy. B.Sc (Data Analytics) Program: The Program provides students with the tools and skills needed for improved data-driven decision making in just about every imaginable domain. Data Science plays a key role by helping understand customer preferences, improving R&D, streamlining logistics and reducing manufacturing costs. Eligibility: Pass in Class XII or equivalent with an aggregate of 50% and above marks (any discipline) in English medium. Class XII (or equivalent) students who have appeared for their final examinations and awaiting results are also eligible to apply. For B.Sc (Data Analytics), the candidates who have completed Class 12 with mathematics as one of the subjects are eligible for admission into the program. For more details regarding admissions or the courses, log on to www.ifheindia.org/integrated programs.