Education Community

Student Federation of India (SFI) has arranged a “face to face classroom” on road to protest against the closure of educational institutions. The student body will hold the protest on August 12 across West Bengal. Schools across India have been closed since mid-March 2020 due to the pandemic and classes are being conducted digitally since then. While the country is reopening slowly, schools and educational institutes still remain shut. This year, many examinations have been cancelled including the board examinations of classes 10 and 12. Examinations for most of the colleges and universities are being taken online. SFI has been demanding to reopen the schools and colleges immediately. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also declared that, if the situation permits, classes may start in schools on alternative days. As a protest for the online classes, SFI is holding offline classes on the roads. One such class has already started on the road in front of Jadavpur University where professors have joined to take classes. “The classes there will commence till 14 August and such initiative will be taken across the state on 12 August.” Professor Nandini Mukherjee who joined in the movement with the students and took class, said, “The students who stay in the remote area are suffering. Many of my students are not being able to get the facility of attending online classes due to poor network connections. The government has granted permission to reopen everything instead of educational institutions.” She also added, “There must be a proper plan to reopen the schools, colleges and universities. To function the entire system properly, government needs to open the campus immediately with proper protection.” SFI State General Secretary Srijan Bhattacharya, said, “Government is not prioritising education. Central Government, in their New Education Policy, has focused on online mode of education and state Government is backing. The basic structure of the education system is on the verge of abolition. So we have started a symbolic protest.” Source: News 18

Even after witnessing a relief in the case count of Covid-19, after a harsh second wave. As a ray of hope schools are all set to reopen. As per a survey report published in moneycontrol, almost 48% of parents do not wish to send their children to school until their children are fully vaccinated or in case the covid-19 cases go to zero. As per a survey conducted by an online platform, local circles in late July, around 37000 parents of which 47 percent are based in tier 1 district, 27 percent in tier 2 and 26 percent respondents were from tier 3,4, and rural districts. Another 21 percent of parents said, they would send their kids to school even if vaccination is not done. But they at least expect the number of cases to come down to zero. So that they can feel their kids are safe.

Meghalaya Education Minister Lakhmen Rymbui has announced that the state government will most likely reopen the educational institutes, such as schools and colleges, after mid-August. The final date for the reopening of schools has not been announced yet. Speaking to reporters, Rymbui said there is a need to resume classroom teachings as soon as possible, especially in higher education institutes. Students have been studying from home through online classes, which are not accessible by everyone. “When everything has already started, even the markets are opening, then why not the schools? This is my personal opinion, but (the decision) will have to be collectively taken with the Health Department,” he added, as per PTI reports. Apart from urging all the eligible students to get vaccinated on time, Education Minister Lakhmen Rymbui has also urged people to get themselves, vaccinated to provide a safe environment for the students, once the schools reopen. Talking about the success of the vaccination dive in Meghalaya, the education minister said, “I am very happy that every day about 10,000 people in the state are getting vaccinated.”  “So, I take this opportunity to urge parents and friends all over the state to let us give education to our children by vaccinating ourselves so that our society is more resistant to this coronavirus,” he further added, as per PTI reports. The schools and colleges in Meghalaya were shut down in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the nationwide lockdown. The educational institutes were reopened once again in early 2021 but were shut down once again due to the second wave of the pandemic. Source: PTI

The Savitribai Phule Pune University has recently launched a new program in Drone technology. Under this program, students can apply for undergraduate and post-graduate certificate courses. This drone technology program will commence from the current academic year. As per the officials, there will be an entrance exam to be held in August for admitting students to these courses. A Memorandum of Association was signed between SPPU and ForForcesAeroproduct India Limited on 30 July 2021. Two respective certificate courses in the undergraduate and postgraduate categories have been launched. The MoU was signed in the presence of Dr. Nitin Kalmakar, Vice-Chancellor SPPU, Dr. S Umarani, Pro vice-chancellor, Dr. Apurva Palkar, Director of Innovation, and Linkages; Dr. Aditya Abhaynkar, Head of the technology department, and officials of Forforces Aero Products India Limited.  The certificate course which will be called, ‘Introduction to drone technology, will be conducted for two weeks. Another 12 weeks duration course with the title “Advanced course on drone technology’ will be introduced soon along with a drone pilot training course to be completed in one or two weeks mostly. There will also be a bachelor of Autonomous Vehicle course and in the coming days a, “Masters in Autonomous vehicle” the course will also be introduced by the varsity.

Online Application Process at mum.digitalunivercity.ac. Mumbai: According to latest updates regarding undergraduate admissions, University of Mumbai has started their online admission process from today (5th August 2021).  Just two days after the declaration of Maharashtra 2021 HSC results, the University has announced the commencement of admission to undergraduate courses.  Candidates can register for the Mumbai University Admission 2021 by logging onto the exam portal i.e. @ mum.digitaluniversity.ac. To help candidates reach the online application page of the official website, a direct link has been placed below. By clicking on this page, students will be able to reach the online application portal and complete their registration process easily. Apply for Mumbai University Admission 2021 – Direct Link (Available Now) Mumbai University Admission 2021 – Important Dates Along with starting the online application process for candidates seeking admission to Mumbai University, the varsity has also released the list of important dates and the respective events which are part of the admission schedule for this year. The online pre-admission registration process which has begun today will continue until 14th August, while the 1st merit list will be released on 17th August 2021. The complete admission schedule for Mumbai University admissions 2021 can be found in the table below: Examination Events Date Sale of Admission Form 5th August to 14th August 2021 Pre Admission Enrolment Begins 5th August to 14th August 2021 Online submission of pre-admission enrolment form and admission form 6th August to 14th August 2021 Release of 1st Merit List 17th August 2021 Online Verification of Documents and Fee Payment 18th August to 25th August 2021 Release of 2nd Merit List 25th August 2021 Online Verification of Documents and Fee Payment 26th August to 30th August 2021 Release of 3rd Merit List 30th August 2021 Online Verification of Documents and Fee Payment 1st Sept to 4th Sept 2021 Online Admission System to be followed due to COVID-19 Keeping in mind the threat of COVID-19 pandemic, the complete admission system for Mumbai University has been made online to limit contact between students and curb the spread of the infection. On similar lines, colleges affiliated with the varsity have been asked to create an online submission system to avoid physical interaction. In places like Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg and Palghar, where having an online portal for admission may be difficult; colleges are allowed to have an offline admission system with strict COVID-19 protocols. Source: Jagran Josh, Syndicated Feed

New Delhi: NEET 2021, the undergraduate medical entrance examination, will be conducted on September 11. Some changes have been introduced this year by the National Testing Agency regarding the exam pattern, and the exam process. These include the introduction of new programmes, changes in the application process, question papers, among others. Candidates can apply for NEET UG 2021 at neet.nta.nic.in. The application window has also been extended recently till August 10. Previously the application deadline was August 6. The four things that will be new in the medical exam this year: 1. NEET 2021 Application In Two Phases NTA has divided the NEET 2021 application process into two phases to ensure that the candidate data is submitted quickly. The first phase is currently going on. The second phase application window will be opened after the exam and before the results. “All candidates shall fill up each set of information of the application form at the respective time of availability. In the absence of filling up of any of the set of information, his/her candidature will be cancelled,” the NTA said. 2. NEET 2021 Paper Will Have Optional Questions The NEET 2021 question paper will have optional questions but the total number of questions that candidates need to answer, and the total marks will remain unchanged. NTA has decided to introduce internal choices in the NEET 2021 question paper to rationalise the school syllabus cut across boards. The three subjects included in NEET 2021 – Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics – will have two sections – A and B – and the first section will consist of 35 mandatory questions. The second section will have 15 questions out of which students will have to attempt any 10. 3. NEET 2021 To Be Used For BSc Nursing, Life Sciences For the first time, the medical exam will be used for admitting students to BSc Nursing and Life Sciences programmes, according to information in the NEET 2021 bulletin. Institutions like JIPMER, BHU have already released notifications in this regard saying there will be no separate entrance exams for these courses. The NTA said specific requests have been received from nursing colleges affiliated to the Delhi University for including them in the list of participating colleges and therefore, the application deadline has been extended. 4. NEET 2021 OBC, EWS Reservation The NTA has released a revised notification, mentioning the revised OBC, EWS quota reservation scheme in NEET 2021. “It has been decided by the Government of India to implement 27% OBC reservation (Non-Creamy Layer) and 10% EWS reservation in 15% Undergraduate (UG) All India Quota seats (MBBS/BDS) (contributed by the State/UTs to the Central Pool). This reservation will take effect from the current Academic session 2021-22,” the NTA said in a statement.

CBSE Class 10th Result Live Update: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) class 10 results declared one of the best ever results as nearly all students have passed the exam. Of the total registered 21, 50, 608 students, 21, 13, 767 gave the exam and as many as 99.04% have passed. This is a jump of over 8 percentage points from last year when 91.46% of students had passed the exams.  Among the 21,13,767 students, as many as 20,97,128 have received their results. Further, the results of 16, 639 students are under process and will be declared later. There has been a jump in the number of students getting marks over 90%. As many as 2, 00,962 students have scored more than 90% marks. A total of 57,824 students have got 95% and above mark in CBSE 10th Results 2021. Region-wise, Trivandrum remains the undefeated champion as it not only the best among regions but has the highest ever pass percentage with 99.99% of students from the region clearing the exam. It is followed closely by Bengaluru which has a 99.96% pass percentage. Special Result Highlights: Girls Outshine Boys in CBSE Class 10th Result 2021 Over 2 lakh students score 90% and more Students have received combined marksheet and certificates As 10th CBSE results were delayed, most students are receiving admission in 11th class on the basis of interviews and aptitude tests Visit the website to view your result – https://cbseresults.nic.in/class10/Class10th21.htm Source: News18, IndianExpress