Kerala

CPM leader criticises Christian college

Pinarayi Vijayan, secretary of the Kerala unit of the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM), has heavily criticised the management of Newman College, Thodupuzha for dismissing lecturer T. J. Joseph, whose hand was allegedly chopped off by activists of PFI (Popular Front of India) on July 4. PFI had objected to an allegedly blasphemous anti-Islam question in an examination paper set by Joseph. On September 1, Newman College dismissed Joseph for “hurting the religious sentiments of a community”.

Addressing a Student Federation of India seminar at Thiruvananthapuram on September 22, Vijayan said the stand of the church/college on the issue amounted to justification of the brutal attack on the lecturer by the extremist group. “The church’s position in the case is extremely dangerous. By taking action against the lecturer, the church has virtually elevated radicals as representatives of the Islamic faith,” said Vijayan.

Delhi

IGNOU’s growing footprint

IGNOU, the largest open university in the world, plans to open bricks-and-mortar study centres in several countries in Europe and Africa to offer a variety of hybrid (distance-cum-classroom) courses and teachers’ training progra-mmes. “We have proposals from as many as 11 countries including Germa-ny, France, Kenya and Ethiopia and we are currently studying them,” said IGNOU vice chancellor V.N. Rajasekh-aran Pillai, addressing media personnel in New Delhi on September 22.

According to Pillai, several African countries are particularly keen on rural development programmes while Kenya and Ethiopia have also evinced interest in IGNOU’s business management programmes. IGNOU has already established a study centre in London, and a  presence in over 35 countries through 56 study centres, with an aggregate enrolment of 42,000 students. According to IGNOU sources, more than 90 percent of enroled students are of Indian origin.

Himachal Pradesh

State school board exam scandal

Pressure is mounting on the Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education chairman to resign in the wake of an examination scam in which several students who hadn’t “appeared” for board exams were declared successful. Vidya Stokes, opposition leader in the legislative assembly, has demanded an inquiry into the matter by a sitting or retired high court judge. “The govern-ment should have immediately sacked the chairman after the activities of the board came under the scanner and it was exposed that hundreds of students had passed the board examination without actually writing the exam,” she said addressing the media in Shimla on September 28.

According to Stokes, rogue acade-mies and schools are flourishing in the state in connivance with education board employees. “Corruption is the biggest hurdle to development in the state and an institutional mechanism must be evolved to curb this menace,” she said.

Haryana

PGIMER introduces verification process

The highly-reputed Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, has initiated a verification process to vet all 500 resident doctors who enroled in the institute’s postgrad programmes during the past two years following media reports that seats in PGIMER were ‘sold’ by agents operating from Mumbai and New Delhi. Sources say that since the case has countrywide ramifications, the Central Bureau of Investigation is making preliminary enquiries into the allegations.

Meanwhile a PGIMER internal enquiry is being conducted by the registrar and heads of departments, institute sources informed media personnel in Chandigarh on September 28. According to a media report, the agents used impersonators to write the entrance exams on behalf of applicants.

“We have started verifying the crede-ntials of all the resident doctors who enroled with us in the past two years. We are extending full cooperation to all the investigative agencies involved,” says an official statement of PGIMER.

Meghalaya

CCE rollout preparations

The north-eastern state of Meghalaya (pop: 2.32 million) will introduce a continuous and comprehensive evalu-ation (CCE) system in state schools from the next academic year.

To begin with, the CCE system will be introduced in select schools where the overall performance of students in classes I-VIII will be continuously evaluated, replacing traditional written tests and marking systems, education minister Ampareen Lyngdoh said in a statement issued in Shillong on September 27.

According to Lyngdoh, students will be evaluated after completion of every chapter and therefore won’t have to study the whole book to pass an exam-ination. “The system is being introduced to remove fear of examinations from students’ minds, laying emphasis on overall mental development rather than memorisation,” she said, adding that the process of preparing material for teachers’ training has already begun, and will be conducted for two and a half months starting December.

Punjab

Massive teacher recruitment drive

The punjab state government will soon issue appointment letters to over 7,000 newly recruited teachers. The education department will appoint 7,654 master cadre lecturers and vocational training teachers within 15 days, state education minister Upinderjit Kaur said in a statement issued in Kapurthala on September 27.

According to Kaur, the department of education plans to spend around Rs.70 crore for purchase of new furniture including desks for primary schools and a sum of Rs.10 crore for purchase of cookware and crockery for the mid-day meal scheme. “More than 40,000 teachers have been appointed so far during the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP rule in the state and the number of school dropouts has come down to 29,000 from 2.25 lakh,” she said.