Gujarat
Abysmal TET results
ONLY 20.15 PERCENT OF SCHOOL principals in Gujarat who wrote the Teachers’ Eligibility Test conducted on December 20, passed the exam, confirmed a Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) official addressing media personnel in Ahmedabad on January 1. Of the 11,121 principals who registered for the examination, 7,770 wrote the test and a mere 1,566 — 1,351 men and 215 women — passed the exam. The proportion of successful male candidates was 21.4 percent and 14.76 percent among women.
In a state where English language learning has been neglected for several decades, only one principal who opted to write the test in English passed, and none of the 31 who wrote it in Hindi cleared it. The official said that of the 7,770 principals who wrote the exam, 4,845 were from the unreserved category, of whom 1,078 passed.
Haryana
Government primary school tests
AFTER ABOLITION OF TESTS FOR students of classes I-VIII for five years, the Haryana state government is set to re-introduce monthly tests this month to monitor the learning outcomes of children in government schools, according to a circular dated January 1 issued by T.C. Gupta, principal secretary, school education ministry.District elementary education officers attributed poor learning outcomes to the no-detention until class VIII provision of the Right to Free & Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009.
Under the proposed monthly tests schema, question papers of the main semester examinations, conducted in October and March, will be prepared by the education ministry for the sake of uniformity, while in the other months tests will be conducted by teachers themselves under the supervision of the headmaster/principal of government primaries.
The circular urges teachers to evaluate answer-sheets with “utmost integrity”, since there’s a “substantial mismatch” with the results of papers marked by state board examiners.
Odisha
VET education initiative
THE ODISHA STATE GOVERNMENT is all set to introduce vocational education and training (VET) in public secondary schools in the new academic year starting June. The VET courses will be launched under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan secondary schools development programme, education minister Debi Prasad Mishra announced in the legislative assembly.
To begin with, VET courses will be introduced in 30 schools statewide on an experimental basis and the programme will gradually be expanded to cover all secondary and higher secondary schools in the state, the minister said on January 8. “Students will be assessed and counselled in class IX to identify those keen on vocational education courses rather than conventional higher secondary education,” the minister said. Initially, VET will be offered in two subjects — information technology and automobile technology — and successful students will be awarded nationally acceptable certification, he added.
Jammu & Kashmir
Embezzlement scandal
A CRIMINAL CASE HAS BEEN registered against seven education ministry officials by the Jammu and Kashmir State Vigilance Organisation (JKSVO) for embezzlement and misappropriation of government funds estimated at several lakhs in the Kunzar zone of Baramulla district during the period 2007-12.
Charge sheets have been filed against four former zonal education officers, a senior assistant and two teachers of Kunzar after a preliminary enquiry revealed they had fraudulently misappropriated government funds during the five-year period, a spokesman of the JKSVO informed media personnel in Srinagar on January 15.
The conspirators raised bills on fictitious firms to purchase stationery items and made payments to non-existent persons, added the spokesperson.
Meghalaya
Destination Meghalaya project
UNFURLING THE TRICOLOUR ON Republic Day in Shillong’s Polo grounds, Meghalaya’s deputy chief minister R.C. Laloo announced a new ‘Destination Meghalaya’ initiative under which investment in education, healthcare, hospitality and renewable natural resources will be continuously made over the next seven years.
“The government will focus on increasing depleting green cover across the state. This will not only attract tourists and generate employment, but also address the environmental degradation problem of the state. Moreover, plans to establish a Shillong International Centre for Performing Arts and Culture where national and international cultural and sports events will be hosted to promote tourism, are also on the state government’s agenda,” said Laloo addressing the media.
According to the minister, Meghalaya’s salubrious climate, natural beauty and rich cultural heritage are great attractions for high-end domestic and foreign tourists, and he called upon the youth to improve their command of English to develop the state into a premier tourism destination.
Paromita Sengupta with bureau inputs