Education Community

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.

After participating in a recent survey, around 68% of over 3000 class 11 and 12 students mentionedthat they would like to pursue their further education in their home country only. This number hasseen a jumped increase of 24 % in it, as compared to last year. For this survey titled Student QuestSurvey Report, more than 6,600 students between classes 9 to 12 participated from over 2,000schools from India and South Asia. If we look at the round figure on an overall basis, only 25% ofstudents are planning to go abroad for their further studies this year.The quality of faculty for choosing higher education institute was ranked low by the studentsbelonging to class 9 and 10 standards, while students of class 11 and 12 ranked it higher as animportant aspect. An overall 83 % of students prefer the quality of education as the main cause forchoosing their education abroad.Source: ndtv.com

Delhi Government has issued orders, that children who lost their parents in pandemic after March last year, shall be offered with free education and allotted the same school in which they were studying. These directives were issued by Delhi Government for the private school which is running on DDA or government allotted land. The Directorate of Education (DoE) said in an official order, “that all the children who lost their parents after march last year, either due to Covid-19 or any other reason, needs to be taken care of in terms of education. Such students are asked to be admitted to the same school without any draw of the lot if the schools are running on DDA or government allotted land. The approval for these kids to continue their education in the same school shall be done by a competent authority”. On the other hand, such students can also be treated as students studying under economically weaker section disadvantage. Hence, the reimbursement will be paid by the Directorate of Education, and once these kids complete education till class 8, they can get admission to the government school.  Source: Indianexpress.com

IIT Kharagpur has instituted a full ride scholarship to support students who figure in the top 100 of all India rankings of JEE advanced, institute director Prof Virendra Kumat Tewari said on Wednesday.   The scholarship entitled  ‘Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Full Scholarship for Top 100 JEE (Advanced) Rankers’ will cover the entire expenses of students who win it till they complete their B.Tech course at IIT Kharagpur, Tewari said at the institute’s 71st foundation day programme held at its campus. The scholarship will be implemented from the 2021-22 academic session and will consider students whose parents’ gross annual income is less than Rs 20 lakh, he said. “At IIT Kharagpur we believe that not a single meritorious student should have their education limited due to financial constraints … It is our responsibility as well as our privilege and immense pleasure to support all such talented and meritorious but economically challenged students to access higher education. “This scholarship is in the name of Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyay) and he earned the title of ‘Vidyasagar’ for his vast knowledge in Sanskrit and Indian philosophy which was compared to the vastness of the ocean,” he said. Students require funds not only to for tuition fees but for myriad other reasons like buying  books, transportation, food and lodging, he said adding the expense may be too high for a family to pay. “The full ride scholarship will cover the entire cost of education of a student such as institution fees, hall expenses, text books, meals, gadgets and other miscellaneous expenses such as relocation expenses, personal expenses, other living costs and also to provide an out-of-pocket allowance. It will leave them free to focus on their studies and social life without worrying about money.”, said Prof Jayanta Mukhopadyay, the Dean Outreach and professor of computer science and engineering department at IIT Kharagpur. Prof Surjya K Pal, the Associate Dean of Alumni Affairs and Branding and a professor of the mechanical engineering department said the institute will bear all the expenses of the chosen student throughout his tenure. “The students you are encouraged to carry on with your studies, not only for your bright future but also for the progress of the nation”. If a student who has won the scholarship wants to be of support to his/her family, he/she can do so as there is a provision where the saved amount from the students expenses can be utilised for the benefit of immediate family members, he added. Source: PTI

The Indian Institute of Management has launched the Brij Disa center for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (CDSA). This center will be devoted to assure high-quality research in the fields of data science and artificial intelligence. The research findings are aimed towards supporting the government, policymaking, and businesses. The objective of this center is to bridge the gap between scholars and practitioners within the data-intensive organization. With that, there will be undertaking case study pattern research to analyze and understand the ongoing industry practices. Which will also help in developing case studies for classroom learning. The philanthropic support for the establishment of this center has been done by Deepak Gupta, Joint Managing Director, Kotak Mahindra Group.  The CDSA will also be focused on the dissemination of knowledge to a large audience through conducting workshops and conferences. The center will also be looking forward to taking up various consulting projects that demand critical thinking and have considerable importance in the industry with vibrant players. Source: Indianexpress.com