Kerala
Sports education initiative
Widely advertised as India’s most advanced state in the fields of education, health and land reforms, Kerala (pop. 32 million) is all set to become the country’s role model for sports education, says Kerala sports minister M. Vijayakumar. Inaugurating the National School Athletics Championship in Kochi on January 7, Vijayakumar announced that Kerala will develop infrastructure facilities with the cooperation of local governments to provide one playground in each ward and a stadium/swimming pool in every village panchayat jurisdictional area.
“The government cannot locate and nurture talent without sports infrast-ructure facilities. We need scientific training facilities,” he told a press conference. According to the minister, the state government is implementing a “total physical fitness” programme in all schools statewide to assess the athleti-cism of generation next. After evaluating their physical abilities, students will be trained according to their talent to develop their skills, he said. The state government’s Vision India project conducted by the Asian Football Confederation in collaboration with Kerala State Sports Council, is another sports education training programme.
Highlighting the need for national sports planning, Vijayakumar said Kerala has constituted a Sports Commission to study and develop a national policy for sustained achievements in sports arenas around the country.
Haryana
Open offer to educationists
The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUBA) has offered 11 sites to reputed education institutes for setting up world class institutions in its Rajiv Gandhi Education City, Sonipat which is being developed as a hub of higher learning and research in cutting edge technologies.
Addressing media personnel in Chandigarh on January 8, a HUBA spokesperson said one site of 60-180 acres has been reserved for a reputed institution or private university.
The other ten sites of three-25 acres will be offered to high profile institutions such as the IIMs, IITs, NIFTs, Central universities, National Law School and research institutions. “Not-for-profit institutions run by organisations, education societies and trusts with track records of over ten years, and institutes of higher education run by reputable business groups will be given preference,” he said.
According to the HUBA spokes-person, institutions offering study programmes in cutting edge engineering technologies such as avionics, environmental sciences, bio-medical engineering, medical robotics, information technology and artificial intelligence, would be given preferential treatment. Study programmes in business management, finance, defence research, textile technology, film and media studies, are also a high priority.
Andhra Pradesh
Green light for TIFR second campus
The Andhra Pradesh state government has allotted 210 acres of land on the Hyderabad University campus, to the Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) for establishing its second campus in India, said the state information minister A. Ramnaryana Reddy at a press conference in Hyderabad on January 5. TIFR is an autonomous institute of the Department of Atomic Energy.
TIFR had addressed a proposal to the state government to establish a new campus in Hyderabad to expand its research, education and related activities at a projected investment of Rs.2,500 crore spread over 12 years.
TIFR recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Hyderabad University to expand its facilities through synergising academic programmes. Following the signing of this MOU, the two institutions will also provide high-class training in research and development to students.
Meghalaya
First ever education road map
The government of the north-eastern state of Meghalaya (pop. 2.3 million) has announced formulation of an education policy for the first time. Addressing a press conference in Shillong on January 20 after a cabinet meeting, Manas Chaudhuri, minister for higher and technical education, told reporters that the policy will draw a road map for education from primary school to college level.
Highlighting the main features of the policy, Chaudhuri said the state govern-ment has drawn up a plan to promote an education park in the state, where edupreneurs will be invited to establish learning institutions. Moreover a Meghalaya Education Service will be promoted to implement the education policy.
In the immediate future, the state government has decided to promote three arts, science and commerce colleges in three districts of the state in a phased manner, in accordance with the common minimum programme of the coalition Meghalaya Progressive Alliance government.
Maharashtra
AUS launches Teach-Ed
The Nashik-based Ashoka Universal Schools (AUS) has launched its Teach-Ed computer-based teaching programme which enables parents to help their children with classroom subjects at home. On January 28, Dr. Jawahar Surisetti, director of the Ashoka Education Foundation, walked press reporters through the programme with a classroom demonstration.
“To arouse and sustain the interest of our students we have introduced the visual, auditory and kinesthetic (VAK) model of education providing students visual, auditory as well as kinesthetic inputs in their classrooms to make learning enjoyable, interactive and long-term,” he informed invited press personnel. The VAK system enables teachers to access 40,000 lessons from a central server to show animations, movies and design powerpoint present-ations, to make teaching more lively. A demonstration of volcanoes, earth-quakes and prepositions was given to the press party by the faculty.
Another AUS initiative is the introduction of virtual labs at an early age, to foster the spirit of research in children. “This gives children the freedom to experiment without the danger of being exposed to risk in actual labs,” added Dr. Surisetti.