Haryana
Spate of higher education legislation
Haryana will have a National Law University, sited in Rajiv Gandhi Education City, Sonepat. In all, 16 Bills, including the National Law University Haryana Bill, 2012, five amendment Bills relating to higher education and the Haryana Private Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2012, were passed on March 9, the concluding day of the assembly session. The National Law University will be managed by a governing executive, academic councils, a finance committee and other such authorities as may, from time to time, be declared.
One-fifth of the total seats reserved for Haryana domiciles will be allotted for the wards of land owners whose land has been acquired by the state government for the ongoing Rajiv Gandhi Education City project. Admission into these seats will be made on the basis of merit in the university’s Common Law Admission Test.
Delhi
NCPCR corporal punishment guidelines
Schools should constitute special monitoring cells to take prompt action in cases of physical punishment or harassment of children, according to guidelines unveiled by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) in New Delhi on March 5. The guidelines recommend establishing corporal punishment monitoring cells (CPMCs) in schools to hear grievances related to corporal punishment, child sexual abuse, mental harassment and discrimination, without any delay. These cells should forward recommendations to district-level authorities within 48 hours of a reported occurrence.
Moreover the guidelines prescribe that all school children should be informed through campaigns and publicity drives that they have a right to speak out against physical punishment, mental harassment and discrimination.
According to state government officials, NCPCR has framed the guidelines following a detailed study conducted in 2009-10 involving 6,632 children in seven states. The study revealed that nearly all of the 6,632 children had experienced corporal punishment, 81.2 percent had been subject to outward rejection by being told they were not capable of learning or were exposed to other types of verbal abuse.
Speaking on the occasion, Union minister of state for women and child development, Krishna Tirath said: “These guidelines will serve as an important tool for sensitisation and creating awareness on the subject amongst various stakeholders.”
Himachal Pradesh
Government-NTPC engineering college
The Himachal Pradesh government signed an MoU with National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) for establishing an engineering college in the state’s Bilaspur district with hydropower engineering as its speciality. The MoU was signed by S.K. Dass, principal secretary (technical education), on behalf of the Himachal government and S.C. Gupta, general manager, Koldam Hydropower Project, for NTPC in the presence of Himachal chief secretary, Rajwant Sandhu, on March 3 in Shimla.
Sandhu said the college will cost Rs.100 crore with NTPC contributing Rs.37.5 crore. This will be the first engineering college of its type in India because this is the first time NTPC — which only executes thermal power projects — has undertaken a hydro-power project to promote the 800 MW Koldam project in Bilaspur district.
Bihar
Microsoft digital literacy project
The Bihar state government announced a partnership agreement with Microsoft India on March 22. Under the terms of the agreement, they will jointly implement a pilot programme to showcase a model school of the future. The initiative, scheduled to begin in April, will improve digital literacy in the state and optimise the use of new digital technologies by students and teachers.
Addressing the media in Patna, Rajesh Bhushan, project director of the Bihar Education Project Council, said five government secondary schools will participate in a project named ‘Window to the World’. “The aim of the initiative is to reach out to students and educational stakeholders to build capacity within the state on a limited budget,” Bhushan said.
Also speaking to the media on the occasion, Irina Ghose, director of education at Microsoft India, said: “We aim to partner with the Bihar government to showcase how tech-enabled classrooms can increase student engagement and learning.”
The pilot project will provide computer-aided learning opportunities for government school students of classes VIII-XII, as well as introduce innovative platforms which will connect students and teachers the world over. Microsoft India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Microsoft, USA, has adopted five girls’ schools in Bihar under its Digital Literacy Programme. “The three-month training programme will begin on April 1,” adds Ghose.
Arunachal Pradesh
New higher education initiatives
The Arunachal Pradesh legislative assembly passed the Indira Gandhi Technological and Medical Science University (IGTMSU) Bill, 2012 on March 25 to pave the way for establishing the first private medical university in the state. The day before on March 24, the Arunachal Pradesh University (APU) Bill, 2012 for promoting a government university, was also passed unanimously. IGTMSU will be sited in Ziro, headquarters of Lower Subansiri district, while the APU site will be Pasighat in East Siang district.
Both Bills were tabled in the state assembly by education minister Bosiram Siram on March 22 and passed unanimously. According to Padi Richo, who represents Ziro in the state assembly, he had proposed IGTMSU 11 years ago to provide higher and technical education and more importantly better health facilities to the public without any financial burden on the state. The proposed university will be promoted and administered by New Delhi-based NGO World Institute Building Programme, which will provide 25 free medical seats to the state government.
