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| EDUCATION TRIBUNE |
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Initiate necessary reforms
Teachers want panic buttons in classroom
Laptops can make students more learning-oriented
Campus Notes
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Initiate necessary reforms MANY thinkers, including management gurus like Peter Drucker and C. K. Prahalad, had predicted India’s tremendous potential and suggested ways and means of realising it. The kind of inclusive growth our Prime Minister visualised is possible only if we design and develop a paradigm the education system of our country deserves. Our poorly managed universities, which serve as examination-conducting and certificate distribution centers, don’t act as repositories of intellectual assets, so vital for the sustained growth of any nation. We have around 480 universities and 22,000 colleges against the required strength of more than 600 universities and 40,000 colleges. These figures show the system in rather a poor light. Over the years, a number of national commissions and committees have recommended many reforms in higher education. A bold initiative needs to be taken to overhaul the existing system. There is need to initiate necessary reforms and any steps being taken in this direction by the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry are more than welcome. The commitment of HRD Minister Kapil Sibal to make a difference in the higher education scene in India seems to be supported by the political will of the ruling alliance. There is no doubt many competent people have burnt mid-night oil to prepare the best possible drafts and with some opposition and changes, the Bills will become Acts in due course of time. The Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Technical and Medical Educational Institutions and Universities Bill 2010 is a landmark step in more than one way. Everyone has been talking of crores being exchanged for seats in such institutions which seems to have become the existing norm and adopted as a way of life. It is hoped that the Bill would be stringent enough to put an end to education malpractices. It is a very well-known fact that the seats in engineering and management colleges are auctioned at a rate depending upon the number of seats available and the depth of pocket of the seat-seeker. That is precisely why every institution tries its level best to get more and more seats allotted, as 10 per cent of the total seats can be ‘used’ as management quota and the institution can make much money. The HRD Ministry expects the institutions to work in a ‘self-disclosure mode’, i.e., they should voluntarily disclose everything honestly on their websites so that there is no need to carry out any inspections. However, if any facts are found to be wrong, they can be blacklisted and prosecuted. The National Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher Educational Institutions Bill 2010 is another important step forward. It seeks mandatory accreditation of all higher educational institutions through registered accreditation agencies. Assessment and accreditation is vital if quality of the institutions is to be maintained. Experience, both positive and negative, of the existing National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) can be of great help to develop and refine the system. The new improved system must ensure that institutions don’t walk away with high grades by projecting temporary physical and intellectual assets as stage-managed. In addition, the Education Finance Corporation is a novel idea to help set up good institutions and support deserving students, so that they are not deprived of education because of lack of funds. Under this scheme, meritorious students will be able to get money at as low rates of interest as 4-9 per cent. This will promote the three-pronged strategy of expansion, inclusion and excellence envisaged by the HRD Ministry. Hiccups are expected in the implementation and functioning of any self-regulating system so huge as being planned. A Bill for setting up an educational tribunal will go a long way in the speedy disposal of complaints, grievances, etc., as institutions cannot afford to get bogged down with litigation for years. The controversial Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations) Bill has also been tabled. Though many apprehensions have been expressed, all agree that if properly executed and monitored, it can go a long way in transforming the education system. The National Council for Higher Education and Research being contemplated to be executed soon is also another step in this direction. Today, higher education is going beyond the reach of a large majority of our population. If India is to achieve its dreams, the number of children going from schools to colleges has to be increased manifold. It is estimated that approximately 14 million students go to colleges now, and this figure must reach 44 million in the near future. This is only one indicator of the magnitude of the task ahead. Continuous improvement of the existing system along with expansion without compromising on quality is a major challenge that has to be met. The HRD Ministry has an enormous task at hand and must make the best of this opportunity at all costs.
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Teachers want panic buttons in classroom TEACHERS in Australia are calling for emergency buttons to be installed in classrooms in response to allegations that a 13-year-old girl threw a bin at her teacher then punched him. The teenager has been charged with assaulting a public officer and suspended for 10 days from the public school in the Goldfields region. Education authorities labelled the incident “abhorrent” and are deciding whether to expel the student and send her to a departmental behaviour centre in Kalgoorlie-Boulder. Another student also faces suspension for filming the attack. Footage allegedly shows the teacher backing away as the girl screams, punches him and then throws a bin at him. State School Teachers Union president Anne Gisborne said measures were needed to ensure an urgent response when teachers were in danger. “In circumstances such as that school, there might need to be phones in each classroom, that makes it easier to contact, there might be an emergency bell,” News.com.au quoted Gisborne as saying. Education Minister Liz Constable said all options would be looked at. “But again you have to be in the place where that panic button is, don’t you, when the incident occurs,” she stated. Constable said there had been no increase in attacks on teachers, with 17 expulsions due to physical assaults on teachers in 2009 and four so far this year. Teachers are legally allowed to restrain students if they put others in immediate danger. But Gisborne said that was not an easy call to make. “Making that sort of choice and decision can be quite complicated because always there will be an investigation,” she said. — ANI
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Laptops can make students more learning-oriented LAPTOPS can help students become more engaged, attentive, participatory and learning-oriented in the classroom, says a new study. Perry Samson, University of Michigan (UM) Professor in atmospheric, oceanic and space sciences, has developed robust interactive student response system called LectureTools, that utilises students’ laptops. ”If you allow laptops in the classroom without a plan for how you’ll use them, you can potentially invite disaster,” says Samson. “It’s unlikely that students will be so entranced by class material that they won’t wander off to their favourite social networking sites,” Samson said. “The key is to deliberately engage students through their computers. LectureTools does just that,” he adds. Instructors at more than 400 colleges and universities have set up accounts to use it. Samson recently surveyed close to 200 students who, over the past three semesters, have taken his Extreme Weather lecture course that utilised LectureTools. Students reported that while they did sometimes stray from class tasks, laptops with LectureTools made them feel more attentive, engaged and able to learn, compared with classes that don’t use the system. “Our surveys showed that while laptop computers can be a distraction, students of this generation feel that they are capable of productive multitasking,” Samson said. Close to half of students surveyed said that having a laptop in class increased the amount of time they spent on tasks unrelated to the lecture. But a full 78 per cent agreed that laptops in class made them more engaged. Approximately, half said that having their laptops made them more attentive. Seventy per cent said laptops had a positive effect on their learning, said an UM release. ”It is the first successful instance I’ve seen of dramatic use of information technology to augment the real-time classroom experience,” said John King, vice- provost for academic affairs and professor of information. — IANS
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Campus Notes THE Haryana government has approved projects worth Rs 9 crore for Haryana Agricultural University under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY). The HAU Director of Research, Dr R. P. Narwal, said the State Level Sanctioning Committee of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana had accepted nine project proposals of the university. He said the projects included development of laboratory facilities for organic food analysis (Rs 375.95 lakh), setting up of referral biochemical laboratory (Rs 157.50 lakh), accelerating adoption of crop residue conservation technologies (Rs 100 lakh), control of hemorrhagic septicemia in cattle and buffaloes (Rs 67 lakh), development of mechanical de-torsion device to correct uterine torsion in buffaloes (Rs 66 lakh) and development of a therapeutic nanobody for treatment of endotoxemia in domestic animals (Rs 35 lakh). Besides three other proposals regarding evaluation and screening of Bt cotton hybrids (Rs 32.40 lakh), capacity-building of farm women in diversified agriculture (Rs 34 lakh) and training of young farmers on scientific bee keeping (Rs 14.245 lakh) were also sanctioned.
Turkish fellowship for don Dr Anil Duhan of the Department of Chemistry and Physics, Haryana Agricultural University, has been awarded one-year fellowship by the Scientific & Technological Research Council of Turkey. Dr Duhan will receive a fellowship of Rs 70,000 per month during his stay in Turkey. In addition, he has been awarded travel grants and health insurance premium worth $2200.
JRF for veterinary students Six students of College of Veterinary Sciences of Haryana Agricultural University have bagged Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). They are: Parveen, Amit Kumar, Amresh Kumar, Mahak Singh, Arvind Kumar Yadav and Naresh Lehkra. Under the fellowship, they will pursue postgraduate studies in the disciplines of Veterinary and Animal Sciences. —
Contributed by Raman Mohan
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Statistics related with higher education in India paint a dismal picture with just 8-10 per cent of our students going to college as against more than 50 per cent in developed countries like the US and only 156 students per million being engaged in research as against 5,000 in the US.