MHRD launches NCTE Virtual Call Centre

The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of School Education and Literacy, Government of India has launched a virtual call centre. The Call Centre was inaugurated by Jan-e-Alam, Joint Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy, MHRD.

The Call Centre is aimed to provide a platform to all the stakeholders- students, teachers and general public to seek any clarification regarding working of the NCTE, application for the recognition of teacher education institutions, teacher education course, and anyother issues including any complaints/grievances pertaining to NCTE.

The Virtual Call Centre will operate from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM everyday. The caller can contact through a toll free number 1800110039 and will be provided the available information with the Centre and if any information which is not available with them, the caller will be connected to the four regional offices of the NCTE functioning at Jaipur, Bangalore, Bhopal and Bhubaneshwar.

The launch of Virtual Call Centre will be another step to provide transparency in the governance and also speedy redressal of grievances. The NCTE is a regulatory body mandated to achieve planned and coordinated development of teacher education in the country and is duty bound for speedy redressal of grievances if any, arising out of its bonafde action.

Fake Degrees: Rajasthan Govt may dissolve Jodhpur univ

After the Jodhpur National University allotted 25,003 fake degrees, Rajasthan government has said that it might consider dissolving the university following a high-level committee’s report on the irregularities there.

“The distribution of fake degrees is presently being probed by the Special Operations Group (SOG) even as the department has set up a high-level committee to probe the irregularities. The committee is expected to submit its report and depending on the recommendation, the state government will decide whether to dissolve the institute or to appoint an administrator,” said Higher education minister Kalicharan Saraf, adding that the State government will not remain a mute spectator to the irregularities at the university.

Senior BJP legislator Ghanshyam Tiwari raised the query regarding action against the institute and probe in the fake degrees scam, who called to dissolve the institute to `bring the shutters down of these shops’. Replying to the starred questions, the minister said the SOG had investigated 38,000 degrees which were issued by the university, of which, 25,003 were found to be fake.

Furthermore, Saraf said that SOG in its probe had found the involvement of vice-chancellor Kamal Mehta and other functionaries of the University. “As per the SOG, the degrees were allegedly issued to students without them having to appear in any examination or attend classes, in exchange for money,” he said, adding that while the counsellors of the university were arrested, decision on action against those who had bought the degree might be taken after the probe is over. He also informed the House that the Sodhani Committee was formed by the government on February 26, 2015 and its term was extended by two months in March.

UNESCO report lauds India’s progress

Universal access ensured, but quality remains a challenge

India has made remarkable strides towards ensuring education for all, a new global monitoring report shows. While access is now close to universal, the quality of education remains a major challenge, it says.

In April 2000, the governments of 164 countries adopted the Dakar Framework to deliver Education For All commitments by 2015. On Thursday, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) published the Education For All Global Monitoring Report to evaluate the progress of countries on these goals.

India is likely to reach the EFA’s first goal of 80 per cent enrolment in pre-primary education by 2015, has already reached the second goal of universal primary enrolment, and will fall just short of universal youth literacy by 2015, the report said. The one measurable goal India will not reach is to reduce its adult illiteracy rate by half (it has reduced it by 26 per cent). The country’s major success has been in reaching gender parity for primary and lower secondary enrolment, the only country in South and West Asia to do so. It has also made progress towards improving the quality of education, but major gaps remain.

According to the report, nearly half of all countries have achieved universal pre-primary, primary and lower secondary enrolment. Only 25 per cent of the countries have reduced by half their levels of adult illiteracy, and women continue to make up two-thirds of the illiterate. Two-thirds of the countries have also achieved gender parity at the primary level, but less than half at the secondary level.

“Overall, not even the target of universal primary education was reached, let alone the more ambitious EFA goals, and the most disadvantaged continue to be the last to benefit. But there have been achievements that should not be underestimated. The world has advanced by 2015 beyond where it would have been if the trends of the 1990s had persisted,” the report says. “A lesson re-emerging over the past 15 years is that while technical solutions are important, gaining political influence and traction is of even greater significance,” it notes.

However, major challenges remain. The efficiency of public spending in India comes in for criticism, as does the expansion of contract teaching jobs in public schools.

Most crucially, the “Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) said that while India’s education system succeeded in enrolling many more children, there were wide disparities in students’ achievement of basic skills across the States, a finding validated in the official National Achievement Survey of grade 3 students,” the report says.

Keywords: India, UNESCO, EFA

Vedanta - Think and Speak

CHANDER GUPTA





Utter offensive words to someone and you are likely to get this reaction, if not a slap on your face, “Mind your language!“ The text and tone of the words we speak in any given situation have their origins in the mind and are coloured by the kind of mental state we are in at that point of time.The state of our mind shapes the tone and tenor of words that tumble out of our mouth.The inference drawn when you are spewing malicious language will be that your mind is filled with malice. The anger in your mind will shoot sharp barbs from your mouth.
The two most common languages we use to communicate are `Body Language', reflected via our body , and `Mind Lan guage', which is expressed in words.
Body langua ge also mur murs micro cues for exp ressing mild emotions, which most of us are unschooled to interpret. The other language, what we speak via words, has spawned a plethora of languages throughout the world, most of which can be expressed both through spoken and written words.
Literature, linguistics, oratory, and so on, are the offshoots of `mind' languages. We speak our mind through a (mind) language. The (mind) language you speak is your personalised spokesperson. Shouldn't we, therefore, check out our mind before we speak? Look before you leap! Wouldn't it be prudent to keep your mouth shut until you have sorted out the negative feelings seething in your mind?
The best way to make sure you speak well and positively is to first check your mindmeter before you let those words tumble out.

UN may declare yoga Indian heritage

Kounteya Sinha

London





Unesco Head Says Panel Studying Proposal; Could Be 33rd Desi Item On List

Yoga may soon be declared an intangible cultural heritage of India.In an exclusive interview to TOI, a day before her first bilateral meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Paris, Unesco director general Irina Bokova said that yoga is in the list of elements to be considered by the Intangible Heritage Committee for inscription on Unesco's register.
Modi was instrumental in getting the United Nations to declare June 21 as the International Yoga Day endorsed by 175 out of 193 members and is expected to unveil a portal on yoga in France on April 10.
Bokova told TOI “a lot of my friends have benefitted immensely both spiritually and physically by practising yoga in difficult times. It is a unique living tradition of India. Unesco's general conference in October will also look to endorse the international yoga day as spearheaded by prime minster Modi“.
According to Bokova who is the first woman to lead UNESCO and is now serving her second term, yoga will come up for inscription in front of the intergovernmental com mittee for safe guarding intangible cultural heritage in 2016.
“It is multifaceted philosophy and tradition that unifies mind body and soul. I have read a lot about yoga and tried it too. I know that PM Modi practises yoga regularly ,“ Bokova added.
If selected, yoga will become the 31st intangible cultural heritage that has been listed from India so far with Unesco.
The permanent delegation of India to Unesco recently began yoga classes for all ambassadors, delegations and secretariat at Unesco.
The Indian misson said “Yoga is practiced by 250 million worldwide, including the three million in France.This art of right living was perfected and practiced in India thousands of years ago and the foundations of yoga philosophy were written down in the Yoga Sutra of Pa tanjali in 200 AD“.
The Buddhist chanting of Ladakh -recitation of sacred Buddhist texts was inscribed in 2012 as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity . In 2013, Sankirtana -the ritual singing, drumming and dancing of Manipur was inscribed while in 2014, it was the traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making among the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru, Punjab. The famous Chhau dance was inscribed in 2010 on the list.
Modi's 3-nation trip to bolster India's `Link West' diplomacy: Chinese daily
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visits to France, Germany and Canada this month is part of New Delhi's efforts to bolster its `Link West' policy, a leading English daily of China stated on Thursday. “In an effort to bolster his `Link West' diplomacy, Indian PM Narendra Modi kicks off his maiden visit to Europe on Thursday since assuming office in May last year, with stops at France and Germany before he travels to Canada,“ the Global Timessaid in an op-ed piece. IANS

India will need 119m more skilled workers

New Delhi: TIMES NEWS NETWORK





Study Shows Requirement By 2022

Around 119 million additional skilled work force will be required by 24 sectors such as construc tion, retail, transportation logistics, automobile, and handloom by 2022, says a government report. Accord ing to the skills gap report commissioned by National Skill Development Corpora tion, most of the sectors ex cept agriculture will require more skilled workforce in the next seven years.Among the major sec tors, building, construction & real estate would require additional skilled workforce of 31.13 million, followed by retail 17.3 million, transportation and logistics 11.66 million and beauty & well ness 10.09 million. The report found that 7.18 million additional workforce would be required by furniture and furnishing, 6.48 million by tourism, hospitality and travel, 6.14 million by hand looms & handicraft, 3.9 mil lion required by auto & auto components and 900,000 by media & entertainment.
The employment base of agriculture was 24 crore peo ple in 2013. However, the pro jected number of skilled workforce in the sector by 2022 is pegged at 21.56 crore showing a reduction of 2.48 crore people in the incremental human resource requirement. It was found that the incremental human resource requirement across 24 sectors is nearly 119 million (11 crore 90 lakh) whereby the top 10 sectors including automobile, retail, handloom, leather, etc. account for about 80% of requirements.
“The idea behind the skill gap studies is to understand the sectors in which we are likely to face the biggest gaps. It is imperative for us to plan the skilling of fu ture workforce of India on the basis of these reports,“ said minister for skills development & entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy.
The minister added, “These reports will be used for the implementation of the recently announced Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana; for state skill missions and for various other skill initiatives being planned across the country.“
Bridging the skill shortage has been identified as key focus area of the Modi government.
Gadkari raises Vadra issue to target Cong
Terming the Land Acquisition Ordinance as pro-farmer, T Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday attacked Congress for opposing the proposed law and sought to know why it was not bothered about Social Impact Assessment issue when Robert Vadra's firm bought land in Haryana. “Congress didn't bother to talk about SIA when land was given to Robert Vadra in Haryana,“ he said in Panaji. “But now when we acquire land for development projects, Congress remembers SIA. They have double standards,“ he added. He said the opposition to Land Acquisition Ordinance was politically motivated and claimed it favours farmers. Gadkari rubbished suggestions that farmers would be forced to commit suicide if the amended land law being pushed by the Modi government comes into force. PTI

Russian may undergo head transplant

London:





In February , Italian surgeon Dr Sergio Canavero announced that he had developed a technique to carry out the world's first human head transplant within two years.Now, a 30-year-old Russian computer scientist with a genetic muscle-wasting disease has volunteered for the radical procedure which would see his head re-attached to the healthy body of a brain-dead donor, reports PTI.“My decision is final and I do not plan to change my mind,“ said Valery Spiridonov, who has spoken to Canavero. The surgeon says he will need a staff of 150 for the 36-hour operation.