China scores low in English test

Beijing: Chinese have "poor" English skills despite huge efforts by the government in language training, according to a study.

China was ranked 29th in the English Proficiency Index, behind other Asian countries like Malaysia, Japan and South Korea, the Shanghai Daily reported.

Test-oriented, memorized learning habits did not give Chinese students the real language skills, education experts said.

The report was based on a free online English test, where two million adults from 44 countries where English is not the native language took part.

source:http://indiaedunews.net/International/China_scores_low_in_English_test_13786/

NCPCR seeks redressal mechanism for RTE law

New Delhi: The absence of a clear grievanceredressal structure for the Right To Education (RTE) law was questioned on Thursday by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).

The NCPCR is the apex body that ensures the implementation of the RTE Act in the country. 

It has been a year since the law had been brought to action in India. However, the NCPCR has cited the lethargy on the part of most state governments that have failed to notify key rules for the successful implementation of the RTE.

National RTE Coordinator at the NCPCR Kiran Bhatty said that there was definite tardiness in the implementation of the act. "We have written to the state governments repeatedly and would still keep on writing to them," she said. 

Guidelines for a redressal mechanism for the RTE have also been proposed by the NCPCR to theHuman Resource Development (HRD) ministry. These guidelines are currently being examined by the law ministry. 

According to the RTE Act, the NCPCR, chaired by Magsaysay Award winner Shantha Sinha, is the watchdog body for the implementation of the right to education all over the country. The NCPCR had been given the role with the aim to ensure and the implementation of and independently monitor the law instead of the HRD ministry.

Section 36 of the RTE Act says that the state governments are required to appoint designated local authorities who are empowered to sanction prosecution of school or government officials for conducting screening tests, corporal punishments or running unrecognized schools.

Vinod Raina, a member of the National Advisory Council on the RTE Act has informed that only 13 of the 36 states and union territories have notified about the rules accompanying the Act or notified the authorities.

source:http://indiaedunews.net/Today/NCPCR_seeks_redressal_mechanism_for_RTE_law_13787/

Kamala Nehru College to join protest against semesters

Taking a cue from teachers of othercolleges under the Delhi University, teachers from Kamala Nehru College have decided to join in the protest against the implementation of the semestersystem.

Teachers at the college have decided to take classes on the lawns of the college. Earlier, member of the Joint Action Board (JAB) that is a forum created by teachers to fight against thesemester system had decided to take classes in the lawn in front of the vice chancellor's office from Monday.

The JAB had decided to take classes in the lawns in order to seek fresh debate against the implementation of the semester system. They had to cut short their protest because of the two-day university bandh. The teachers will now continue the protest as classes resume today.

Members of the JAB have said that more collegesand teachers are expected to join the protest against the semesters and begin taking classes in the open. 

Delhi University had already implemented the semester system for 13 undergraduate science courses last year. Teachers have said that they would protest against the semester system as they have alleged that the teaching in the science courses has worsened.

source:http://www.indiaedunews.net/Delhi/Kamala_Nehru_College_to_join_protest_against_semesters_13689/

Afghanistan: lessons from a decade of cooperation with the Ministry of Education

An evidence-based IIEP publication

IIEP has just published a new book, On the Road to Resilience: Capacity Development with the Ministry of Education in Afghanistan, documenting lessons learned in building education planning capacity during the past ten years.

Education in Afghanistan has made remarkable gains over the last decade, in spite of the ongoing conflict and the frequent attacks on students, teachers and schools. In 2001, just 1 million primary school age children were enrolled, with girls accounting for a tiny fraction. By 2008, 6 million children were in school, including 2.3 million girls. The number of classrooms in the country has tripled and teacher recruitment has increased. Yet, 42% of schoolchildren are still out of school and the quality of the education is still a major concern. Quality, relevant education will be indispensable to building a future peace in the country (Source: 2011 EFA Global Monitoring Report). This will require massive sustained investments in developing the capacity of Afghanistan’s education system, as documented in the 2011 EFA Global Monitoring Report, released on 1 March 2011.

When IIEP began its cooperation with Afghanistan in 2002, the Ministry of Education faced dire capacity issues. In addition to building schools or training teachers, educational planning has been central to the reconstruction of Afghanistan’s education sector, including: the development of two education plans in national languages, the collection of educational data through Afghanistan’s first school survey, the setting up of an information system, school mapping, teacher registration, and organizational reform of the Ministry. 

Supported by funding from the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, IIEP’s new book investigates this process and the numerous challenges that war-torn Afghanistan faces in rebuilding its education sector. The book features case studies of capacity development partnerships between Afghanistan’s Ministry of Education and a number of education partners, including IIEP and UNESCO’s Kabul Office. 

On 10 March 2011, the book is presented at the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague, Netherlands.

source:http://www.iiep.unesco.org/en/news/single-view.html?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=803

Panel submits final blueprint of CET for central varsities

A panel of experts comprising of several vice-chancellors appointed by Human ResourceDevelopment (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal have submitted their final report and blueprint to the minister regarding the common admission procedure that has been recommended for all central universities in India.

According to the blueprint that has been finalized by the panel that is headed by former Jawaharlal Nehru University vice chancellor B.B. Bhattacharya, good under-graduate scores would remove half the pressure on a student of securing a post graduate admission in acentral university. 

This is because 50% weightage will be given to the previous academic performance of a student and the rest will be given to performance in the common entrance test.

The blue print for the common admissions will be discussed by the vice chancellors of about 200 central and state universities in India on March 25-26. 

Kapil Sibal has also planned common admissions to M.Phil. and Ph.D programmes at all of India's 40 central universities from the upcoming academic session of 2011.

According to the plans by the HRD ministry, the common entrance test for universities will also be extended for master's programmes in the year 2012 and to undergraduate programmes from the year 2013.

Admissions to central universities currently rely only on admission test for selecting students to be admitted for masters, M.Phil and Ph.D programmes. No specific weightage is given to scores achieved by students in previous programmes.

According to the University Grants Commission (UGC), an estimated number of 100 lakh students are pursuing undergraduate education currently over 500 central, state and deemed universities. Out of these, about 10 lakh students are studying at central universities.

Also, around a lakh are pursuing masters' programmes at central universities and about 5-10,000 are currently enrolled in M.Phil. and Ph.D programmes.

Earlier, the panel of vice chancellors headed by B.B. Bhattacharya had considered giving 30% weightage to scores of undergraduate degree programmes for master's admissions master's scored for M.Phil and M.Phil scores for Ph.D.

The weightage given to previous scores has been hiked by the panel in its final report. The report adds that only the scores of the final two years of the preceding academic degree course will be considered.

source:http://indiaedunews.net/Today/Panel_submits_final_blueprint_of_CET_for_central_varsities_13668/

AICTE's new norms bring admission worries

New norms: You have to score more now to study engineering.

Will the number of admissions to engineering courses in Karnataka come down this year? This is the common question haunting both the State government as well as the managements of private engineering colleges.

The cause of this apprehension is the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) decision to increase the minimum marks required in the qualifying examination for admission to the engineering degree courses.

As per the new norm, students seeking admission to engineering courses under the general category across the country need to score at least 50 per cent marks in their second year pre-university or Class XII examination, instead of 45 per cent.

Students belonging to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities will have to secure at least 45 per cent marks instead of 40 per cent.

The statistics available with the Higher Education Department in Karnataka show that nearly 10,000 students, who secured marks between 40-50 per cent marks in the qualifying exam held in 2010, had become eligible to join engineering courses.

According to the statistics, 1,947 students, who had scored less than 50 per cent and more than 45 per cent marks in the qualifying exams in 2010, were allotted ranks as they had become eligible to seek admission to engineering courses based on the minimum marks prescribed then. Of these, 269 had joined various engineering courses in private colleges.

Similarly, 7,802 students belonging to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities, and Other Backward Classes, who had scored more than 40 per cent and less than 45 per cent marks in the qualifying marks in 2010, had become eligible to join engineering courses. Of these 1,890 had joined engineering courses.

The new norms are likely to make at least 10,000-15,000 students ineligible to seek admission to engineering courses in the State this year. As a result, more number of engineering seats are likely to remain vacant.

About 17,000 engineering seats remained vacant in 2010. In some colleges, the number of vacant seats was in the range of 250 to 278.

Director of Technical Education H. U. Talawar said that the State government has written to the AICTE that the decision to increase the minimum marks for eligibility is unilateral, without taking into consideration the local needs. He said that the students hailing from rural areas will lose an opportunity to join engineering courses.

The State has no option but to follow the AICTE norms as it applies to all engineering colleges across the country, said Mr. Talawar, while pointing out that many new engineering colleges, those situated in north Karnataka region, and those not ranked high among the colleges, would find it difficult to get students.

M. K. Panduranga Setty of Karnataka Unaided Private Engineering Colleges Association said that the revised eligibility norms will increase the number of vacancies in many colleges.

“It is certain that the number of admissions to engineering courses will reduce further. We hope that the increase in the intake into engineering courses under lateral entry scheme for those with a diploma and Bachelor of Science degree will attract some students,” said Mr. Setty.

The new AICTE norms may see increase in the number of admissions to regular undergraduate courses in the science stream and other equivalent courses, and many engineering colleges around Bangalore city too may witness more vacant seats, Mr. Setty pointed out.

He, however, felt that the increase in minimum marks is a good move as it is aimed at improving the quality of engineering graduates. “In fact, I feel that the minimum eligible marks should be 60 per cent in the interest of maintaining the quality of engineering graduates,” he added.

Ramesh R., a teacher in a private engineering college, pointed out that some students who had joined engineering courses by securing only 40-0 per cent marks in the qualifying exams, had done fairly well later and completed the degree in first class.

“What is the point in keeping a large number of engineering seats vacant? The quality of education in rural areas required to be improved so that more number of students succeed in the qualifying exam by scoring more than 50 per cent marks,” he said, adding that some private engineering colleges may opt for reducing their total intake.

Sudhakar Manjunath, a final-year engineering student, said that there was no harm in increasing the minimum marks. “I am unable to understand why AICTE is giving permission to new engineering colleges or permitting opening of new courses or enhancing the number of seats in the existing colleges if the AICTE is concerned with quality of engineering education.”

This year's pre-university examination results and completion of the admission process to engineering courses will decide the next course of action by the engineering college managements and the State government.

SOURCE:http://www.hindu.com/edu/2011/03/08/stories/2011030850070200.htm

India asks US to prevent exploitation of foreign students

New Delhi: India on Wednesday said it expected the US to prevent its universities from exploiting foreign students, as has happened in the case of Tri-ValleyUniversity in California in which about 1,500 Indians face an uncertain academic future.

External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, in a suo motu statement in the Lok Sabha, said the government was confident that the "unfortunate development" in the Tri-Valley University would not affect the "excellent cooperation" between India and the US in higher education, under which over a lakh Indian students are studying in American universities.

"The government expects the United States would take steps to prevent such (Tri-Valley) universities from exploiting foreign students. The government would also advise Indian students to exercise due diligence in applying to foreign universities," he said soon after the Question Hour ended.

"I am confident that this unfortunate development will not affect the excellent cooperation between India and theUnited States in higher education, which includes the presence of over 100,000 Indian students at US universities, and who enjoy a strong reputation for academic accomplishments and responsible conduct," he added.

Krishna said while India recognized the right of every government to investigate and prosecute fraud, it has asked the US government that all Tri-Valley students, who are themselves victims of fraud, should be given adequate time and opportunity to transfer to other universities or adjust their status. And, if they desired so, they should be allowed to return to India honorably.

Noting that the US government had closed Tri-Valley University last month foralleged immigration fraud and other irregularities, Krishna said the university was authorized in February 2009 to admit a limited number of foreign students, but had not enjoyed state accreditation.

Its 1,500 Indian students constituted 95 percent of enrolment at the university and they were there on valid visas or authorization.

"US authorities had questioned a number of Indian students and 18 of them were initially detained and then released with radio monitoring devices on their ankles, pending completion of their investigations for possible involvement in irregularities," he said.

Krishna said India had strongly protested the radio collars as "unacceptable", which should be removed immediately and the US authorities had begun progressively removing them.

The US authorities, he said, have also assured that innocent students would have adequate opportunity to readjust their status or transfer to other universities.

Assuring that the government and the Indian embassy and consulates general in the US were fully engaged in addressing the welfare and academic future of the affected students, the minister said the Indian mission had got in touch with most of the students despite them being dispersed across the US without registering their new contact details.

The embassy and consulates "have provided all possible assistance to them, including through direct meetings, by organizing a free legal aid camp and issuing appropriate guidance and advisories", he added.

Krishna said that he personally took up the matter with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao had also conveyed India's concerns to American authorities during her visit to the US.

source:http://indiaedunews.net/International/India_asks_US_to_prevent_exploitation_of_foreign_students_13579/