EDUCATION - 2004 - Indian Social Institute

More documents

Recommendations

Info

of September 25 had reported that the Cabinet would consider quotas in education on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's return from the US. The quotas would be within the 50% ceiling stipulated by the Supreme Court. The commission would recommend specific welfare measures in keeping with the ruling UPA's common minimum programme. It is expected to give its report by March 31 next year. The Cabinet also approved the terms of reference for the commission. It would suggest criteria for identification of socially and economically backward sections among religious and linguistic minorities, information and broadcasting minister S Jaipal Reddy said. The panel would suggest necessary legal, constitutional and administrative modalities for implementation of the recommendations. (Times of India 30.9.04) 2 nd October 30 Lakh school dropouts in Bihar: New data (11) New Delhi, Oct. 1: Till December 31, 2003, the number of school dropouts between 6 and 14 years in Bihar stood at 7.46 lakhs. The revised figures provided by Bihar to the human resources development ministry puts the number at 29.80 lakhs. The difference in figures submitted by West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh are amazing and put a question mark on the competence of the state governments surveying and tabulation skills. The December statistics put the number of dropouts in West Bengal at 4.39 lakhs and the reviewed number is 10 lakhs. Uttar Pradesh follows with a jump from 2.10 lakhs to 7.27 lakhs. With figures from a;'. the states taken together, an estimated 70-80 lakh children remain out of school at the national level as against the 61 lakh children till December 2003. The revised figures take into account the dropouts till the first few months of <strong>2004</strong>. When the final figures upto September 30 come, the picture is likely to change further. The December figures had come in for criticism as these were shockingly low compared to the data available at the start of 2003 which put the number of drop outs at the national level at 2.38 crores. Asian Age 2.10.04) Gujarat textbook mum on riots (11) Ahmedabad, October 1: THE POST-GODHRA riots of 2002 may have brought international media attention to Gujarat but the state's history textbooks don't think the events are worth even a mention. The Class VIII social sciences textbook — published by the Gujarat State Board of School Textbooks — makes no mention of the Godhra episode or of the anti-minority pogrom that followed. But it does have the Akshardham attack — an event that took place much after the riots. The omission is in tune with the thinking of the B JP and Sangh Parivar, which has always tried to underplay the riots. It has become almost a trademark of chief minister Narendra Modi to say in public that the adverse publicity the riots gave rise to was a conspiracy by the national English media to defame the people of Gujarat. In fact, one industry association in the state had described the riots as a 'social mishap'. Besides the omission, the book has plenty of spelling and grammatical errors — mostly due to inefficient translation from the original Gujarati version — as well as several historical inaccuracies. For instance, the move of eminent lawyers like C.R. Das, Motilal Nehru, VaUabhbhai Patel and Ra-jagopalachari to quit the legal profession and join the freedom movement has been described as a 'negative aspect' of Mahatma Gandhi's non-cooperation call. (Hindustan Times 2.10.04) HRD pats Modi school survey (11) NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 1: THIS would be good news for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. At a time when his government is being accused of glorifying Hitler in school textbooks, Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh's education planners have showcased a particular Gujarat education programme which has improved the quality of primary schools in rural areas. At a recent meeting of education officials from all states held in Delhi, the Government highlighted some good projects in primary education from some of the states. And topping the list was the Gujarat SCERT's field survey conducted with support from Bhavnagar University and HM Ahmedabad. It was one of the most elaborate education surveys ever carried out in the country. The "learning achievements" of children in Classes III to VIII were evaluated in each district. The sample size was quite big in each district, and the questions devised by the survey planners were innovative.
The evaluators compared learning levels vis-a-vis "competency" levels anticipated in the textbooks provided to them. Special focus was laid on language skills, Mathematics and Environment Sciences. Kumud Bansal, Education Secretary, today said the results were very interesting. The survey identified "hard spots" and suggested teaching and learning remedies. Accordingly, the Gujarat SCERT devisee teacher training module for each class. (<strong>Indian</strong> Express 2.10.04) 7 th October Coming soon: Mars in multimedia at Madarsas (11) Calcutta: When teachers take up the history of the Taj Mahal or the topography of Mars, students in about 50 madarsas across the state can soon expect lively classes embellished with multimedia presentations. Attempts are being made to put madarsas firmly on the information technology expressway with the West Bengal Board of Madarsa Education signing an MolJ with Intel, a software giant, to train teachers in preparing teaching and learning material. After the training, they will conduct classes in computer laboratories of their respective madarsas, where students from Classes VI to XI will be taught various subjects with the help of multimedia presentations. More than 40,000 students are expected to benefit from the tie-up. "Intel is providing training in computer operations free of cost," said board president Abdus Sattar. The heads of about 44 madarsas have attended two one-day training workshops. From Monday, two 10-day workshops have started for selected teachers simultaneously in Calcutta and Malda. "This is the first time such a project has been undertaken by the state madarsa board," Sattar said. The agreement was signed under the board's technical aided learning system project. "They gave us an idea on how to operate computers and make CD presentations. It was very interesting and students will be attracted more to their classes," said Sheikh Mohammad Nurud-din, teacher-in-charge of Akra High Madarsa. (Telegraph 7.10.04) 15 th October Gujarat defers promulgation of Ordinance on universities (11) GANDHINAGAR, OCT. 14. In the face of stiff opposition from students and academics, the Gujarat Cabinet today decided to defer the proposed "Common Universities Ordinance." The move was viewed by the Congress and the party-affiliated student organisations as an attempt towards "saffronisation" of the higher education. The Urban Development Minister, I. K. Jadeja, said the Cabinet met here today under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, decided to defer the Ordinance. The Government would give the move "more considerations" and discuss it with all those concerned. The Pradesh Congress Committee described it as a "people's victory" and said the decision "forced by the students, the academics and the people" was a "big slap" on the face of the BJP Government trying to destroy the autonomy of the universities in the State. (The Hindu 15.10.04) 19 th October Arjun conspiracy theory: Now it’s Gandhian thoughts (11) AHEMDABAD, OCTOBER 18: FIRST the Mahatma and now the Mahatma's thoughts. Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh today used the 51st convocation at the Gujarat Vidyapith to tell students how "communal elements had conspired to kill Gandhian thoughts and principles after killing the Mahatma". Stating that he had acepted the invitation to speak at the convocation only because "it was my duty to tell students about the conspiracy", he exhorted the students to beware of "active communal forces" and, quoting Jawaharlal Nehru, said: "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty". "Students carry a lot of responsibility and therefore they have to be vigilant," he added. Singh alleged that the previous government had deliberately removed from the first page of the NCEKT books, the preamble of the Constitution in 2000. "It's necessary to discover the people who are afraid of the Constitution's preamble and why are they afraid of it?" he said. He also termed the removal of Gandhi's death from textbooks as "manipulation of history". "I'm quite upset over the issue," he said, adding such changes were prompted by the same ideology. He devoted his 20-minute speech to attacking "elements who divide people in the name of religion, caste, language and region. It is due to these communal forces that the land of Gandhi
Page 1 and 2: EDUCATION - 2004 Compiled & Edited
Page 3 and 4: GUWAHATI, FEB. 4. The Axom Sarba Si
Page 5 and 6: Anger against profound illiteracy (
Page 7 and 8: The Central officials brought up a
Page 9 and 10: 8 th April 20% reservation likely i
Page 11 and 12: HRD minister Murli Manohar Joshi no
Page 13 and 14: Secondary Education, the Union Publ
Page 15 and 16: New Delhi, May 22: The new human re
Page 17 and 18: y his ministry "which puts the stud
Page 19 and 20: NEW DELHI, JUNE 1. The Bharatiya Ja
Page 21 and 22: agree with. "These books were not w
Page 23 and 24: handing over higher education to ma
Page 25 and 26: College, at a press conference here
Page 27 and 28: CABE, somewhat smaller in size had
Page 29 and 30: 'History of India can't be history
Page 31 and 32: Another TN school catches fire, non
Page 33 and 34: anch of a nationalised bank to that
Page 35 and 36: 11. The notices were issued after h
Page 37 and 38: the situation is the same in almost
Page 39 and 40: A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has sought corpo
Page 41 and 42: transparent manner," the release ad
Page 43 and 44: anners inviting applications for ad
Page 45 and 46: shades of saffron and ask the autho
Page 47 and 48: function in his hometown of Vadnaga
Page 49: egarding minority education in the
Page 53 and 54: 9 th Nov. India again gets red grad
Page 55 and 56: other Central government institutes
Page 57 and 58: she added. According to sources, ex
Page 59: Bill on panel for minority bodies p

EDUCATION - 2004 - Indian Social Institute

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?