Bihar
Absent teachers crackdown
Patna, july 6. The state government has ordered deduction of a day’s salary of 87 teachers of 3,486 government schools in Patna district, found absent during inspections in the past five days.
This action was taken following a directive of additional chief secretary (education department), K.K. Pathak, who asked district magistrates to conduct frequent inspections of government schools from July 1, and “immediately” deduct a day’s salary of those found absent without valid reason.
Simultaneously, the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) has also ordered similar deduction of its lecturers posted in Purnea and Darbhanga districts, for not attending online meetings convened by the council on July 5.
Punjab
Singapore training for principals
Chandigarh, july 22. Chief minister Bhagwant Mann flagged off two batches of 72 government school principals to the Principals Academy, Singapore for updating their professional knowledge and expertise in K-12 education.
“The motive is to ensure that students of state government schools receive world-class education, thereby enabling them to compete with their convent educated peers. This endeavour is aimed at reversing the trend of brain-drain from the state and channelise the energy of youth in a positive direction,” said the chief minister, addressing a media conference. “After their return, these principals will share best practices with students and their colleagues thereby ensuring that students get acquainted with the pattern of study in foreign countries,” he added.
Madhya Pradesh
Students protest march
Indore, july 25. A group of 150 students of the state government-run Gyanodaya Residential School in Morod village walked 20 km to the Indore collector’s office to protest against mismanagement of the school.
“The school refused to provide financial assistance for the treatment of a student who suffered injuries after falling from the third floor of the institute. We jointly collected Rs.19,000 to foot the medical bill of the injured student. Moreover, we are suffering an acute shortage of books and regular teachers in the school,” said a student protestor.
“I have ordered an Additional District Magistrate to conduct a detailed inquiry into the complaints of students. Action will be taken against those found guilty,” said Indore district collector Ilayaraja T, addressing the media.
The free-of-charge Gyanodaya Residential School was recently conferred a ‘Centre of Excellence’ award by the state government.
J&K
Design-own-degree initiative
Jammu, july 27. Prof. Umesh Rai, vice chancellor of Jammu University, announced the launch of a four-year ‘design your degree’ undergraduate programme which will be offered by the university from the current academic year beginning this month.
“By allowing students to select courses from diverse fields of study, the ‘design your degree’ programme will equip them with well-rounded education that nurtures critical thinking, creativity, and adaptability — essential traits for thriving in the rapidly evolving global economy,” said Prof. Rai, addressing a press conference.
The objective of the self-designed degree is to produce graduates who aren’t just experts in their chosen fields but also possess a “holistic understanding of the world,” he added.
Maharashtra
Exorbitant fees cases
Pune, july 13. Cases have been registered against managements of the privately promoted Bliss Edify International and Rudiment International schools located in the Pimpri-Chinchwad area of Pune district under sections 420 (cheating), 465 and 468 (forgery) of the Indian Penal Code, said Suresh Sable, a Pune Zilla Parishad education department official.
“During the inspection of these schools, we discovered that the managements were charging exorbitant fees from parents without necessary approvals and sanctions from the government,” said Sable.
Delhi
Teacher training promise
New delhi, july 30. Three hundred institutions countrywide will be developed as ‘centres of excellence’ for capacity building of teachers, said Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Speaking at the Akhil Bhartiya Shiksha Samagam 2023 to celebrate the third anniversary of the National Education Policy 2020 inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Pradhan said: “Capacity building of teachers is a priority and from this academic year, 300 institutions including 100 for school education, 100 for higher education and 100 for skill institutions will be developed as centres of excellence. It is our collective responsibility to convert the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) guidelines into textbooks. All educational and skill institutions will have to work jointly on this.”
