Amity University: Admission on

The admission process for Amity University's three-continent undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in engineering, biotechnology, management, communication and fashion is on till July 2014. 

Students pursue a part of the programme at Amity campuses in India, and the rest at various universities in London and California. In addition to an Amity University degree, they receive certificates from foreign institutions. 

Participants are offered training in global practices followed in their chosen fields and get exposed to an international environment by studying and undertaking projects on three continents. Besides being taught by international faculty, they undertake industry and lab visits in a society where cultural awareness and foreign language skills are necessary tools for success. The curriculum is aimed to let students experience a multi-national business and technological environment. 

For further details about the three-continent programme, visit www.amity.edu or call at 08826662942

Modi congratulates CBSE students

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the students who passed the CBSE Class XII examinations, results of which were announced on Thursday. Modi is perhaps the first Prime Minister to have wished the students in such a manner.

In a tweet, Modi said: "Congrats to my young friends who successfully passed the CBSE exams. I wish them the very best for their future."

The pass percentage in Delhi region was 86.78%.

What Smriti Irani is looking at: IITs in every state, review of DU's FYUP

NEW DELHI: HRD minister Smriti Irani has given a list of 60 priority areas to her officials and asked them to work in that direction. The list is a mix of progressive initiatives, the Sangh Parivar's ideas on education and the Gujarat model on teachers' training. During her meeting with senior officials, she asked each of them to come up with big ticket ideas. 

Irani wants her ministry to give an assessment of Delhi University's four-year undergraduate programme (FYUP), look into the possibility of setting up IITs in all states as well as Yale-Pan IIT network and map the best education practices in the country. At the same time she wants ministry to see how Vedic studies can be given prominence. "How can we involve traditional vedic education? What about education for life instead of degrees?" she asked senior ministry officials. 

Also, instead of directly changing NCERT school textbooks, the ministry officials have been asked to compile complaints about "textbooks and curriculum" from parents. A ministry official said, "National Curriculum Framework is changed every ten years. It is due now. First the NCF will be reviewed. Textbooks will be changed on the lines of new NCF." Irani wants ministry to take up teaching of mathematics and science in madarsas and ensure adequate steps to stop sexual abuse in schools. 

Among the priority areas, Irani wants a national association of parents so that their voice is heard in all aspects of education. "Parents are the most important stakeholders but their voice is never heard. It is a good initiative," said one official. The new minister also wants to evaluate the contribution of alumni network in the growth of an institution. She also wanted reforms in legal education but since the subject is handled by law ministry it is unlikely that HRD ministry will be able to do anything. "We can build a synergy," a source said. 

Irani has made it clear to officials that all ministry notes and papers should be precise with sub-heads like background, current status, challenges, stakeholders and possible solution.

Smriti Irani aims to increase spend on education to 6% of GDP

NEW DELHI: Smriti Irani, India's 31st and second woman HRD minister, set the ball rolling even before she entered Shastri Bhavan. In a long meeting with two secretaries - Ashok Thakur and Rajrishi Bhattacharya - Irani said she wanted all appointments to be put on hold for a fortnight. 

Irani was told about the impending appointment of chairpersons of Indian Council of Historical Research and National Council of Rural Institutes. 

When she finally arrived at the ministry in a golden sari, Irani thanked PM Narendra Modi for giving her the "responsibility of such a big ministry that was once headed by Murli Manohar Joshi". 

Irani said her first priority would be to look for ways to enhance public spending on education to 6% from the present 3.8% of GDP. She said setting up national e-library and a central university of Himalayan technology would also be her priority. She avoided controversy and remained non-committal about continuous and comprehensive evaluation. Irani said all her decisions would be through consensus. 

In her meeting with top officials, Irani wanted detailed notes on various schemes run by the ministry, for instance Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Mid-Day Meal, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan and Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan. The new minister wanted to know about auditing of various schemes of school education. 

Irani also wanted a list of committees and institutions headed by the HRD minister. ICHR has been without a chairperson for the past few months after Basudeb Chatterji's term got over. The selection process for appointment of new chairperson is about to start. In case of Hyderabad-based NCRI, the HRD ministry is under court order to appoint a new chairperson by June 2. In fact, one of the first things the ministry wants Irani to clear is the new NCRI chairperson. 

Appointment of V-Cs of 12 central universities is already at an advanced stage. It remains to be seen if the new minister scraps the process. Former HRD minister MM Joshi had recently asked the President to review the process. 

After a brief meeting with officials, Irani went to attend the first meeting of the new Cabinet and returned to her Shastri Bhavan office. She took a meeting of senior officials up to the level of joint secretary where presentations were made and priority areas discussed. Irani also wanted separate presentations of educational status of each state. "This is the first time that state-specific presentation has been asked," a source said.

Over 2,000 foreign applicants in DU, many want to study Hindi

NEW DELHI: The Foreign Students' Registry at Delhi University has received more than 2,000 applications this year for all kinds of courses, from certificate to PhD-level. Amrit Kaur Basra, who now heads the FSR, says that the certificate course in Hindi is a popular one with this group. There have been queries on this at DU Open Days in South Campus.

"I have already forwarded about a dozen applications to the Hindi department. Many among the Chinese and Korean applicants as well as those from the African countries opt for this course," says Basra. Applications have come from more than 65 countries, including Korea, Nepal, Tibet, Russia, China, Bangladesh and Uzbekistan. Some even applied from Germany and Japan.

Indian Council for Cultural Relations too sponsors students from other countries. There are some applicants for Faculty of Management Studies though they have also applied for Central Aptitude Test. The admission process for foreign applicants ends early. "We have to check whether the institutions they have earned their previous degrees from are recognized," says Basra, "It takes 4-5 months."

In North Campus on Monday, officials clarified once again that candidates who've studied under boards in which the theory component in a paper is less than 70% will lose 10 marks from their score in that paper. The university's new admission policy on vocational subjects will mean trouble for many students coming from other states. From this year, DU will consider all subjects in which the theory component is less than 70% as non-academic.

"There are some boards in which the theory part in subjects like physics, chemistry and biology is less than 70%. Those students will lose 10%," says Malay Neerav, joint-dean, students' welfare. About 1,000 potential applicants attended the open day at North Campus.

HRD: Focus on skills, scholarships, job-oriented education

A lot of what Narendra Modi promises would be easier to achieve if education gets top priority. The government must focus on changing lives through out-of-the-box initiatives.

Higher education, in particular, is in disarray and needs to be reinvigor ated. Building of skills needs focus as that would increase employability of the youth. The Modi government should build on several good UPA initiatives and further strengthen them by plugging loop Boost spending on education to at least 6% of GDP, a globally accepted standard, to provide muchneeded funds to increase school enrolment and, most importantly, check the persistently high dropout rates.

To ensure access to quality education, scholarships, book banks, IT facilities, translation services and institutional infrastructure should be made compliant with highest standards in all parts of the country.

Modernize teachers' training and strictly monitor through an independent mechanism; revamp teaching methods by use of modern technologies and methods; make service conditions and remuneration of teachers more secure and attractive.

Accord highest priority to skill development and training in vocational/technical subjects with dynamic linkages to industry needs.

Strengthen Right to Education; help states with funds so that trained and quali? ed teachers are recruited and ensure their attendance is ensured.

Recast Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in terms of syllabus and give English teaching top priority.

Revamp the UGC and implement promise of higher education commission; scrap AICTE and merge it with new commission.

Bridge the gap between central and state universities; bolster Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan for this purpose.

Stop opposing sanction for foreign universities to set up campuses in India.

Do quality audit of IITs/ IIMs; ask IITs to pay attention to research and not just be factories producing engineers; give IIMs deemed university status to encourage genuine research in a fast changing economy; create more IITs and IIMs.

MODI TO TOI I think our youth is extremely talented, capable and ready to work hard. They have a right to dream, a right to build their own lives and careers. It's our responsibility to give them ample opportunity.

Jamshedpur boy tops ISC exams, score 99.25%; all India pass percentage is 95.27

NEW DELHI: Ayush Banerjee of Loyola School, Jamshedpur with a score of 99.25% aggregate in English and three best subjects topped the class XII (Indian School Certificate) examination 2014 conducted by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination. The results were declared on Saturday, which recorded an all time high pass percentage of 95.27%. While CISCE schools abroad scored a pass percentage of 98.51%, in the country South zone has the best outcome with a pass percentage of 98.32%. 

The joint second all India toppers are Shruti Agarwal, City Montessori Inter College, Gomtinagar, Lucknow and Rohini Chandrasekar, Sheiling House, Kanpur, both scoring 99%. 

"The toppers aggregate are calculated from the scores in English and three other best scored subjects," said chief executive and secretary of the Board, Gerry Arathoon. 

In all 68,723 students appeared for the exam across 868 schools in India. Girls once again outscored boys with a pass percentage of 96.58%. Boys' pass percentage this year is 94.18%. 

In the Delhi-NCR there are 18 schools affiliated to CISCE and 1,080 students appeared in the exam this year. 

The ISC exam has been conducted in 48 written subjects of which 14 are Indian languages and five foreign languages. 

The pass percentage in Delhi-NCR is 97.41%. The joint topper for Delhi zone are Shivam Garg, St Joseph Academy, Ghaziabad and Anaqat Kamboj, Shri Ram School, Gurgaon, both scoring 98.25%.