Delivering 21st Century Skills in the Indian Classroom - Triangle ...

News & TrendsGauhati University abolishes paid seats at PG levelBowing down to pressure from the students' union ofGauhati University (GU), the authorities have decidedto do away with the practice of admitting students ondonations.The decision came after the Post Graduate Students'Union (PGSU) launched an indefinite strike on theuniversity premises on Friday demanding abolition ofthe paid seats in 11 postgraduate courses. Theuniversity authorities gave a written assurance to thestudents' union that the paid seats in the postgraduatecourses will be abolished from 2013-14academic sessions itself.According to officials, there were nine paid seats inthe education department, six in biotechnology, six incommunication and journalism, five each in English,library and information science and statistics, foureach in psychology and electronics andcommunication, three in instrumentation and twoeach in philosophy and environmental science.“There will be no paid seats in the postgraduatecourses of the university from now onwards. Thestudents' community was against reserving seats andafter discussing the matter we have decided toabolish the paid seats. It was also decided to convertthe paid seats into general seats,” said A K Das,secretary (in-charge), university classes of GU.Source: TOIBaddi University collaborates with IBM to offerjob-ready coursesHimachal Pradesh-based Baddi University hascollaborated with IBM to offer joint BTech ComputerScience & Engineering (CSE) program with industryvertical & technology specialisations through theirSolan campus. The joint initiative is aimed to makestudents from the university employment readywhen they graduate.As part of the partnership, IBM will design and deliverthe new set of technology & domain courses andtrain the faculty on the same. The university willengage with students and deliver these courses aswell as provide the marketing & infrastructuresupport to run these programmes. IBM will provide aweb based courseware, webinars and subject matterexpert to visit to the campus.Lovi Raj Gupta, vice chancellor of Baddi Universitysaid, “The new paradigm in the education domain isthe 'out of the box thinking'. However, nobody isdefining the box. With this initiative, Baddi University,along with IBM, have defined the box and arebringing together what is best for the students andthe industry.”The program has been extended to their existingstudents and offered to the upcoming batches ofBTech CSE students amounting to nearly 1,000students over the next 4 years.A press statement on this collaboration said that theavailability of job-ready graduates will also help fillthe gap within the IT industry, where fresh graduatestake long unproductive time to get deployed oncustomer sites or projects.Gauhati University abolishespaid seats at PG level“Today, there is a greater demand for skilledtechnology professionals. This initiative will equip thestudents, at Baddi University, to adapt to thedynamics in the industry and drive technology andbusiness innovation. These courses will imbibe deeptheoretical knowledge in students, coupled withbroad-based industry alignment, interaction, talentdiscoverability as well as excellence in theirprofessional practice,” said Subram Natarajan,Executive – Systems Solutions Center, DeepComputing and STG Education, IBM India South Asia.Source: Business Standardwww.learnmile.com 17