Assam
Education hub plan
INAUGURATING THE FIRST convocation of the newly-established campus of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in Guwahati, on June 6, the state’s chief minister Tarun Gogoi stressed the state government’s determination to transform Assam into the education hub of North-east India.
“Our government is committed to encouraging quality education. Today, Assam boasts several education institutions of national importance. We want to transform Assam and the North-east into an acknowledged education hub. To this end, we are encouraging the participation of private educators through the PPP mode to bring about qualitative change in the education scene,” he said.
Arunachal Pradesh
Blue revolution initiative
ADDRESSING A TWO-DAY seminar in Itanagar, W.S. Lakra, vice chancellor of the Central Institute of Fisheries Education (CIFE), called for a “blue revolution” in North-east India, particularly Arunachal Pradesh, to end the region’s dependence on Andhra Pradesh for fish.
At a training workshop titled ‘Aquaculture and fisheries management for food and nutritional securities in Arunachal Pradesh’, Lakra said the institute will provide an in-depth analysis of the vast aquaculture resources of Arunachal, and draw up a plan for a substantial increase in pisciculture development in the state. Currently Arunachal’s fish production is negligible despite the state’s huge natural resources, confirmed the state’s fisheries secretary Dani Salu, and suggested regular evaluation of the contribution of each project towards the state’s economy.
Elaborating on the status of fisheries in the state, D. Das, an officer on special duty in the state’s fisheries department, said 84 new species of fish have been discovered in the state since 2000, increasing the total number of species to 215.
Jammu & Kashmir
Systems review promise
CHIEF MINISTER OMAR Abdullah has directed that no-objection certificates (NOCs) should be issued within a time-bound frame to private education institutions in the state.To expedite processing of NOC applications, they will be brought under the ambit of the Public Services Guarantee Act (PSGA), a state government spokesperson said in Srinagar on June 12.
The direction from the chief minister came after a delegation of the Private Schools Coordination Committee (PSCC) met with him on June 11, and solicited his intervention to make the system of granting affiliation, recognition and other related issues by state education officials, time-bound, convenient and smooth.
Promising to review the applications processing system, Abdullah said the guidelines will be reviewed soon. “No compromise, whatsoever, will be made in ensuring safety, security and education of students besides providing basic facilities in government and private education institutions. All of us should also be concerned about safeguarding the interests of students, teachers and support staff working in private schools and colleges,” he added, calling upon private education providers to rationalise their fee structure and upgrade facilities.
Gujarat
Girl child enrolment drive
WHILE VISITING THE Rumadiya, Kawant and Moti Chikhli villages of the tribal-dominated Chhota Udaipur district of central Gujarat on June 13 on a girl child school enrolment drive, Anandiben Patel — the state’s recently-appointed first woman chief minister — expressed her displeasure about parents not keen on educating their children.
“The government has provided well-equipped schools, modern hostels, better transportation and other infrastructure facilities for education in rural and tribal areas, but some parents don’t take any interest in the education of their children,” she said.
Later addressing teachers in Vadodara, she urged them to comply with the education calendar prepared by the state government, and regularly send annual school activity reports to the education ministry to enable it to evaluate the standards of their schools.
Maharashtra
Attendance allowance benefit
THE STATE ECONOMIC Survey report for 2013-14, tabled in the state legislature in Mumbai on June 4, reveals that 452,000 girl students benefited from a state government scheme to reduce the number of girl children dropping out of primary schools in 2012-13.
Since 1992, the state has been implementing an ‘attendance allowance scheme’ under which Re.1 per day to a maximum amount of Rs.220 per year, is paid to parents of girls in classes I-IV, for attending school subject to minimum 75 percent attendance per year. The scheme is limited to girl students from tribal sub-plan areas and scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and below poverty line households.
In 2012-13, 452,000 girl students statewide benefited with the state government paying out Rs.9.95 crore.