Haryana

Teacher training programme

Chandigarh, july 23. The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) is set to launch an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled education training programme for classes I-XII government school teachers statewide. The objective of the program is to make classrooms more interactive, data-informed, and student-centric.

In late August, a ten-member team of expert master trainers, who will finalise the training modules, will conduct workshops in all districts, followed by online training for over 20,000 teachers via SCERT’s Prashikshak (‘coach’) portal, said Samvartak Singh, director of SCERT, addressing a press conference.

“This time, the training will be for all subjects from class I-XII. Training outcomes will be assessed using the Peer Learning Circle method, where resource persons will mentor and evaluate teachers as they complete modules and assignments.”

Odisha

Non-compliance crackdown

Bhubaneswar, july 23. Cuttack collector Dattatraya Bhausaheb Shinde has ordered over 100 colleges in the district to suspend disbursement of salaries to employees for failure to submit reports of Internal Complaints Committees (ICCs), mandatory under the Prevention of Sexual Harassment of Women in Workplaces Act 2013.

“Appropriate action may be taken against the heads of defaulting institutions by withholding the salary of the entire establishment of the defaulting offices,” said the order. It also threatened suspension of the principals for non-compliance.

Addressing a press conference, Shinde added: “No college will be allowed to delay compliance, especially in matters involving women’s dignity and grievance redressal. It’s a shame only a handful of the district’s 210 higher ed institutions have complied with the directive.”

Ladakh

SCU’s first convocation

Leh, july 23. Fourteen students of the inaugural batch of Sindhu Central University (SCU, estb.2024), India’s first trans-Himalayan central university, were awarded postgraduate degrees at the varsity’s maiden convocation ceremony. Dr. Pawan Kotwal, chief secretary of Ladakh, Dr. V. Kamakoti, Director of IIT-M and Chair of SCU’s Executive and Academic Councils, presided over the inaugural ceremony.

Currently, SCU offers four postgraduate programmes — M.Tech in Energy Technology and Policy; M.Tech in Atmospheric and Climatic Science; MA in Public Policy and MA in Buddhist Studies & Philosophy — with academic support from IIT-Madras and IIT-Kanpur. SCU’s permanent campus is under construction in Khaltsi, a village at an altitude of 3,500 metres above sea level.

“SCU’s mission is to evolve as a centre for non-conventional, interdisciplinary learning aligned with the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The university is expected to become fully operational by 2028,” said Dr. Kamakoti, speaking on the occasion.

Delhi

IGNOU’s new VC

New delhi, july 25. With more than three decades of distinguished service in the open and distance learning systems, Uma Kanjilal has been appointed the first woman Vice Chancellor of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU, estb.1985).

A professor of library and information science at IGNOU since 2003, Kanjilal is nationally recognised for expertise in e-learning, ICT in libraries, digital libraries, and multimedia courseware development. She is currently the National Coordinator for the SWAYAM and SWAYAM PRABHA flagship digital education initiatives of the ministry of education.

Global achievements include a Fulbright Fellowship at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (1999-2000), consultancy for the Commonwealth of Learning, and digital education work for UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) in Jordan.

Goa

Values program success

Panaji, july 12. Chief minister Pramod Sawant announced significant improvements in student and teacher behaviour as outcomes of the integration of the state government’s Mulyavardhan (values education) program — conducted in association with Pune-based non-profit Shantilal Muttha Foundation — into the school curriculum.

Addressing a press conference via video link, Sawant said: “We launched the values education program six years ago in government higher secondary and high schools, with trained teachers facilitating the curriculum. Over the years, this initiative has positively impacted the behaviour of students and teachers.”

The Mulyavardhan program has reached 80,000 students in 450 state-run schools, with 2,700 teachers trained to deliver the content, he added. Designed to teach students appropriate behaviour at home, school, and in society, the program encompasses the principles of justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity by employing activity-based learning pedagogies.