Jammu & Kashmir

DST boost for science

The Union government’s Department of Science & Technology (DST) has announced a special package comprising grants and scholarships to upgrade science education in Jammu and Kashmir’s colleges and universities.

Addressing vice-chancellors of all universities of J&K in Srinagar on May 3, DST’s T. Ramasamy said that the department will provide Rs.50 lakh for laboratory and other infrastructure to 35 colleges in the state — 20 in the valley and 15 in Jammu.

Ramasamy also announced that DST will provide travel expenses and honorarium of Rs.25,000 per month to researchers who visit J&K universities for a maximum of two months in a year. Moreover Rs.1.5 crore will be provided to each J&K university annually to send researchers to other institutions. In addition every university in the state will be granted Rs.1.5 crore to improve teaching facilities.

The meeting of vice-chancellors was chaired by Kashmir University vice-chancellor Riyaz Punjabi.

Orissa

Students torpedo NFT

The Orissa state government has indefinitely postponed all semester examinations of Biju Patnaik University of Technology, Bhubaneswar (BPUT), which were scheduled to commence on May 2. This decision follows student demand for scrapping BPUT’s ‘not fit for technical education’ (NFT) rule which disqualified all students scoring less than 4.5 SGPA (semester grade point average) in first, second and third semesters, from writing further BPUT exams. In effect, the rule expelled below average students prior to completion of the second year.

According to a BPUT spokesperson, the NFT rule was introduced on the recommendation of IIT-Kharagpur and NIT-Rourkela. Moreover, of BPUT’s 50,000 students, a mere 250 students would be affected by NFT, he added.

But while BPUT vice-chancellor O.N. Mohanty claimed that the NFT rule was accepted because it would maintain academic standards, all student unions opposed it. Following several rounds of talks with varsity authorities and students, the NFT rule has been dropped.

Andhra Pradesh

Higher education subsidies

The Andhra Pradesh government has allocated a sum of Rs.600 crore towards reimbursement of higher education fees paid by economically under-privileged students from upper castes. Speaking to the press in Hyderabad on May 4, the state government’s finance minister K. Rosaiah announced that upper caste students whose family income is below Rs.1 lakh per annum qualify for reimbursement of fees paid to pursue higher and professional education.

“This is a very big step taken by the state government. No other state is extending such beneficial facilities to the poor among the upper castes,” Rosaiah told reporters. A concurrent audit system will also be instituted to make the scheme foolproof, he added.

A sum of Rs.553.67 crore has thus far been reimbursed to BC, ST, SC, minority and physically-challenged students who had paid tuition fees. A sum of Rs.396 crore for upper caste students will be released soon, he said.

Madhya Pradesh

Saffron damage charge

The MP unit of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) blamed “saffronisation of education” practised by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the poor showing of Madhya Pradesh students in the SSC (secondary school certificate) class X board exams — 64 percent of students who wrote the public exam, failed.

The CPM has also demanded constitution of a joint committee to examine the issue. “With the BJP government asking students to perform surya namaskar (sun salutation) in schools for the past several years, nearly 15-20 school days are spent every year by the teachers and students on such rituals in the state,” says CPM state secretary, Badal Saroj.

Addressing a media conference in Bhopal on May 10, Saroj added: “Besides, the state government’s blanket permission granted to its employees to attend RSS shakhas (classes), and forceful extraction of donations from teachers for the RSS are other contributory causes of students faring poorly in the SSC exam.”

Mizoram

New education commission

The Mizoram state government has constituted an 11-member Education Reforms Commission (ERC) headed by Prof. A.K. Sharma, former director of National Council of Education Research and Training.

Other members of the commission include Prof. Ved Prakash, vice-chancellor of National University of Educational Planning and Adminis-tration; and Prof. A.N. Rai, vice-chancellor of Mizoram University. The commission will examine the current status of pre-primary to higher education and make suggestions for improvement of the quality of education and competitiveness.

The terms of reference of ERC also include ways and means to reduce school dropouts and review the operations of the state education board, SCERT (State Council of Education Research and Training) and the Indira Gandhi National Open University unit in the state.

Nagaland

Teachers salaries withheld

The February and March salaries of government school teachers in Nagaland have yet to be paid because of excess withdrawal of over Rs.27 crore by drawing and disbursement officers of the education ministry. The over-withdrawals were detected in February when it was discovered that there was massive excess expenditure in the ministry, additional chief secretary, school education, Banuo Z. Jamir informed the media in Kohima on May 14. Against the backdrop of all departments of the ministry reporting increased head counts, verification of departmental monthly payouts has been requested.

Responding to questions from media personnel, Zamir denied the state government’s decision to withhold teachers salaries was connected with the probe being conducted by a special investigation team of the Vigilance Commission to probe illegal appointment of teachers.