Bihar
Examination reform plans
THE BIHAR SCHOOL Examination Board (BSEB) will conduct its matriculation (class X) examinations for every subject in two shifts. The state’s education minister P.K. Shahi informed the media in Patna on January 9, that this initiative has become necessary as the number of examinees is set to rise to 1.4 million this year.
“This decision to conduct board examinations in two shifts per day for every subject will also help check cheating and other examination malpractices,” said Rajmani Prasad Sinha, chairman of BSEB.
Meanwhile, reiterating the state government’s commitment to improve quality of education in Bihar, the education minister said the outlay for education in the state government’s 2013-14 budget was hiked by 25 percent, and “effective steps” have been taken by the JD(U) government to improve primary and secondary education.
Tamil Nadu
Redirected research plea
DELIVERING THE FIRST Celebration of Science lecture at IIT-Madras on January 22, Bharat Ratna-designate and eminent scientist Dr. C.N.R. Rao called upon India’s premier education research institutions to focus on basic problems confronting the citizenry. “IITs and top-ranked institutions are insufficiently researching our greatest problems such as water, energy, etc. The national interest demands concerted action on hydrogen fuel cells and solar batteries,” said Rao, who added that he’s currently researching water splitting, and semiconductor nanostructures.
“Nuclear energy which is being heavily researched doesn’t contribute more than 5-8 percent of the country’s energy output. Water will be the coal of the future,” he predicted.
Assam
Major education push
A major push to education is in the offing for Assam “in the near future”. This was disclosed to the public by the state’s governor Janaki Ballav Patnaik at the Republic Day ceremony in Guwahati on January 26.
According to Patnaik, while a plan to establish 21 new polytechnics in 21 districts under a Centrally-sponsored scheme has been finalised, construction work for the Assam Hills Medical College and Research Institute at Diphu has begun, and land acquisition proceedings have begun for medical colleges in Dhubri, Lakhimpur and Kokrajhar.
“Moreover the government has signed an agreement with Narayana Hrudalaya to set up a super speciality hospital under the public-private-partnership mode, while construction work for a 200-bed cancer hospital at Guwahati Medical College Hospital is in progress,” he said.
On the subject of skills development, Patnaik said: “The government plans to establish one Industrial Training Institute (ITI) in each unserviced block and 15 new ITIs are under construction.”
Meghalaya
ADB skills development loan
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has committed a US$ 100 million (Rs.625 crore) loan for vocational education and training in Meghalaya. The loan is for “enhancing the employability of the state’s youth through improvements in secondary education and vocational skills training programmes,” says an ADB statement issued in Delhi on January 24. “The project — Supporting Human Capital Development in Meghalaya — is ADB’s first loan for boosting education and skills,” says an ADB spokesperson.
Moreover a technical assistance grant of an additional US$ 2 million (Rs.12.5 crore) by the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction will also be associated with this loan to strengthen the capacity of civil society organisations and related state government departments. “ADB’s first ever loan for skills development and reform of secondary education to India will enhance the employability of Meghalaya’s youth by improving the quality, access, and delivery of its secondary education (classes IX-XII)... the project will help in creating a virtuous cycle of inclusive growth in the state,” says Nilaya Mitash, joint secretary in the Union ministry of finance.
The project is expected to be completed by September 30, 2018.
Himachal Pradesh
Higher ed thrust
Presiding over a State Higher Education Plan meeting in Dharamsala on January 23, Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh informed media personnel that his government has asked the Union government to approve projects valued at Rs.842 crore under the Rashtriya Ucchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (higher education development plan) during the period 2013-17. Funds for the project will be provided in the ratio 90:10 by the Centre and the state.
Seventy-two government degree colleges, including five Sanskrit colleges, five government-aided colleges, and two state varsities — the Himachal Pradesh University and Himachal Pradesh Technical University — will be established under the project, and “cluster universities” will be created in Shimla, Mandi and Dharamsala by clubbing four to five colleges. “A grant of Rs.160 crore is also expected from the Centre under the ‘infrastructure grants to colleges’ scheme,” he added.