Posts filed under ‘Primary and Secondary Education’
Pratap Senior Secondary School of Alwar town, Rajasthan offer water and education to passersby to increase enrolment
Following is report by IANS (reported by Anil Sharma) published in http://www.thaindian.com:
Alwar (Rajasthan), April 17 (IANS) In a state parched for water and literacy, it’s a novel idea. The teachers of a government-run school in Alwar town offer to quench the thirst of passersby and then speak to them about enrolling their children.
The Pratap Senior Secondary School has opened a ‘piyao’ or water serving kiosk near the school premises where the teachers and other staff members, while offering water to passersby, inform them about educational and other facilities provided there.
School principal Chankya Lal Sharma, the man behind the idea, also sits at the kiosk to interact with people.
“This entire exercise is aimed at increasing enrolment in the school. We at present have only 52 students and my idea is to take the strength to at least 200 by the start of the next academic session,” Sharma told IANS.
During the ‘piyao counselling’ session, they inform people that the school, besides providing education, tries to get children involved in socially useful productive work (SUPW) and the National Cadet Corps (NCC).
They are also taken on educational tours and girl students are provided uniforms, cycles and course books free of cost, the school staff tell people.
The school also helps students coming from far away places to get bus passes. In the last academic session, the institute had a only 40 students and 28 staff members.
“We persuade people to bring a child even if he/she has failed in an examination or is not good in studies. We tell their parents that we would organise special classes for them,” Sharma said.
“We have a 100 percent result in this year’s Class 8 examination in spite of the fact that not all of our students were bright in studies,” he added.
Sharma said that from May 1, his colleagues would identify the school dropouts and try to link them with education.
“Every teacher has been asked to enrol at least 10 children,” he said. The school has 22 teachers.
“We are also planning to put banners like private schools do to attract students,” Sharma said.
As per the last census in 2001, Rajasthan’s literacy rate of 60.41 percent was lower than the national average of 64.84 percent.
And to make things worse, the high school dropout rate in Rajasthan is high; it has a 50 percent dropout rate from the primary to the upper primary stage and the percentage of out-of-school (OOS) children in the state has gone up from 6.9 percent to 8.21 percent in the recent past.
(Anil Sharma can be contacted at anil.s@ians.in)
All secondary schools in India to have an IT teacher, says Sibal
Following is a report by IANS published in http://www.thaindian.com:
New Delhi, March 18 (IANS) All secondary schools in India will have a computer teacher each and the central government will bear the related expenses, Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal said Thursday.
“We have now a policy. All schools will have an ICT (Information and Communications Technology) teacher. We will pay their salary, which is Rs.10,000 per month,” Sibal said to highlight the need for technology to better educational scenario in the country.
“We are open to any technology solution (provided by private sectors) but it should not be elitist. The real problem is in rural India and we must keep that in mind. I think, the private sector can collaborate with government and train these ICT teachers,” he said.
“Our focus is on giving every child an opportunity.”
Sibal also said that all states should chip in to improve education and make right to education a success.
“It is not about politics, it is about education… it’s about every single child. We need a system in place for quality education and quality teachers.”
The minister also said that India will be most educated country in the world by 2030 and it will be the key to provide intellectual capital to all countries.
“India in 2030 will be most educated in the world. The world must realize that future human capital will flow from India. They should make our population literate and take the benefit,” Sibal said in an event organized by computer giant HP and TV channel CNBC.
He also reiterated his point that his ministry is in touch with Nandan Nilekani, the chief of Unique Identity Authority for an UID for every single student.
“Nandan has told me that he will work with us.”
Sibal also stressed the need for an education finance corporation, which will help refinancing education with a long-term goal and provide education loans to all needy students.
Laing, Lahunipada and Bhawanipur Ekalabya Model School of Sundargarh district earn ISO certification
Folloiwng is a report from The Pioneer:
Six Ekalabya Model Residential Schools (EMRSs) in the State have received ISO 9001-2008 Certification for imparting high quality education for tribal children.
Principal Secretary of the Department of ST & SC Development Ashok Kumar Tripathy was informed on Thursday that the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), located in Switzerland, has approved the ISO 9001-2008 certificate to the EMRSs of Laing, Lahunipada and Bhawanipur in Sundargarh district, Dhanghera in Mayurbhanj, Ranki in Keonjhar and Rampilo in Jajpur,
There are 11 EMRSs functioning in Sundargarh, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Jajpur, Kandhamal, Rayagada, Gajapati and Koraput districts. The schools impart education from Class VI to XII after selecting the students through an entrance test.
Collector of Mayurbhanj Pramod Kumar Meherda took keen interest in the Dhanghera EMRS. He had visited the school and found things were not up to mark. He harped on academic, social and infrastructural development of the institution. Teachers took the academic leadership and the school ably aided by the PA ITDA and DWO of the district brought perceptive institutional changes. The team members for ISO Certification inspection were happy to see the improvements according to the standards prescribed.
Similar is the scene in Sundargarh district, where all the three EMRSs received ISO 9001-2008, thanks to the initiative of Collector Shalini Pandit, whose insistence on more faculty-student interaction, psychological and social process development, improvement in learning environment and physical development, earned the support of the ISO team.
“Now, we will go for ISO Certification award for other five EMRSs as the district Collectors and officials of the department are inclined to bring in quality management system (QMS) in these institutions,” said Ashok Tripathy.
Proposal for establishing sub-regional science centre in Bargarh and Koraput
Following is a report from The Dharitri. After seeing this report I did a little bit of goggling to search “Sub-Regional Science Centre”. The first hit I got is: National Council of Science Museums. I think the proposed canters are an attempt to attract children for scientific studies. May be the proposed centers will be like these ones.
Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) launches Vedanta Vidyarthi Vikash Yojana
Following is a report from The Pioneer:
In a bid to impart quality education and improve the competency level of secondary level students in peripheral villages, Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) launched a unique programme, Vedanta Vidyarthi Vikash Yojana here at Hotel City Palace in Jharsuguda.
The programme will be implemented by NGO Anchalika Jana Kalyan Anusthan (AJKA) in the six peripheral villages of VAL viz Bhurkamunda, Banjari, Kurebaga, Bhagipalli, Maa Samaleswari Nagar and Brundamal wherein five supplementary and remedial teaching centres will be opened for the secondary school students and supplementary reading-writing materials will be provided to encourage self-learning process among them along with guidance on life skills and personality development.
Speaking on the occasion, Pankaj Khanna, Executive Director VAL, said, “VAL aims at enabling project-affected families of the core peripheral villages to access quality education in vernacular schools by facilitating their linkage with the standardised tutorial classes and fun learning methods named as ‘Vedanta Vidyarthi Vikas Yojana’ and success of this pilot project will further the implementation in the entire district.”
During the programme, deputy DI of Schools, Nandamani Toppo, executive director VAL, Pankaj Khanna, COO VAL, Abhijit Pati , secretary AJKA, Gautam Behera, Sarpanch Badmal, Tribikram Singh, secretary Anchalik Janmanch, Ratan Nayak, social worker Digdhan Pradhan and many students from peripheral villages, women, villagers and senior officials from VAL were present among others.
COO VAL Abhijit Pati said, “Vedanta is always there to come forward for improving the lives of the people.”
Odisha state govt. to open more schools
Following is a report from The Dharitri:
Here is another report from The Pioneer:
The State Cabinet which met here on Friday took a number of decisions starting from fresh appointment of Sikshya Sahayaks (para-teachers), implementing UGS scales, procurement of paddy through different organisations, forming new rules on toll gates and rules regarding implementation of corporate governance manuals.
While briefing the Cabinet decisions in presence of a number of department secretaries, Chief Secretary TK Mishra said the State Government would open 1,703 new primary schools, 928 new upper primary schools and upgrade 5,616 schools to Class VIII. “Another 17,820 Sikhya Sahayaks will be appointed to this effect,” he said, adding that emphasis would be given to recruit trained teachers both at the Bed and CT level.
Moreover, 10,534 trained science graduates, 1542 arts trained graduates, 2,931 Plus Two Science College and 2,831 Metric CT would be recruited as para teachers. The education district will be treated as a unit. A candidate can apply from any education district of the State. But he has to submit an affidavit that he is applying from only one district. If Government did not get trained teachers, it can appoint non-trained teachers. But the teachers who get an appointment would have to give in writing that he or she would do the Bed or CT within five years of his or her appointment.
Industry Secretary Saurbha Garg said that the Department of Public Enterprises has developed a Corporate Governance Manual for State Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs).
The guidelines in the manuals are also applicable to the Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation of Odisha Limited (IDCO). As per the manual, the mandate of the PSUs will be drawn up once in every five years by the Government taking into account the current scenario.
It was also decided to link performance to motivate employees to achieve the expected level of performances. PSUs can now hire professionals in the rank of Managing Directors (MD) from the open market whenever felt necessary by Government. The MD would be recruited through open advertisements or through professional recruitment firms.
The Public Enterprises Selection Board would be recast to include professionals and experts in the relevant fields. It was also decided to sign anMoU between the Government through the administrative department of the PSU and the PSU board.
Henceforth, the managing directors of all profit making PSUs shall develop a performance linked incentive schemes for implementation with due approvals.
The Government has also set a target of procuring 32 lakh metric tonnes of rice. “We have given a target of procuring eight lakh MT of rice to the Food Corporation of India. Last year, their performance was dismal. But they have assured to procure the paddy” Chief Secretary Mishra said, adding that Union Food Secretaries along with the FCI Chairman are coming to Odisha to review the situation.
On the issue of UGC scales, Higher Education Secretary Madhu Sudan Padhi said UGC would stop giving money to the State for giving UGC pay scales to about 5,567 teaching staff from March, 2010.
“However, the State Government will bear the additional burden of Rs 126.70 crore for this purpose,” he said, adding that a Professor would get a salary of Rs 68,000.
The State Cabinet also decided to bring Odisha Toll Act- 2009. Under this Act, toll gates would be set up on Public-Private Partnership mode. “Private parties would be allowed to set up toll gates. But they have to enter into an agreement. If they construct a certain road, private parties can collect toll tax,” said Works Secretary Subhendu Kumar Ray.
The Cabinet also gave its approval to remove the anomalies related to pensions. “A job holder will get pension as per his original post but not for the temporary posting,” he said. It has also given its nod to regularise the jobs of 326 adhoc nurses who were given appointments in 1995, 1996 and 1997.
Sixteen schools of Odisha will get international standard education
Following is a report from The Dharitri:
Following report is from indiaeducationdiary.in:
The Orissa government and the British Council have jointly begun a two-day orientation training camp to impart information and telecommunications studies to the students through computers at primary and middle level.
In the concluding ceremony, school and mass education Pratap Jena said that the British Council has made an effort to impart information and telecommunication studies to the students in Odisha.
The state government will extend all possible cooperation. The students in the state will get an opportunity to interact directly with the children in United Kingdom through computers in this programme.
While 40 schools have been selected for the programme, in the first phase this education will be imparted in 16 schools. The schools which have their own building, teachers, computers and Internet facilities have been selected. Later on, this programme will be extended to other schools after creating the necessary facilities.
The students by interacting with UK students can improve their skills in English and their professional skill sets will improve, the minister said. Among others, the British Council’s MM Mukherjee, school and mass education secretary Bandana Jena and senior officials of the concerned department were present at the meeting.
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- This is a very good initiative by British Council and govt of Odisha. Each districts of Odisha should have at least two of such international schools. This can be done in collaboration with software giants like Infosys, Wipro etc.
- There are some International schools in Odisha viz. KIIT International School, and Sai International School.
Kosal Discussion and Development Forum 