Bihar First BLISS graduates The Bihar state government felicitated 120 teachers trained in English teaching under the British government-spons-ored Bihar Language Initiative in Secondary Schools (BLISS) project, at a ceremony in Patna on July 3. Speaking on the occasion, Bihar’s education minister P.K. Shahi said: “We have a staggering 20 million students in classes I-X to whom we must provide quality education and equip with linguistic skills to enhance their pros-pects. We must address the aspirations of our students for better education. Otherwise we are sitting on a volcano.’’ In January, the state’s education ministry signed an agreement with the British government’s Department for International Development (DFID) to provide English teaching programmes for teachers in Bihar. Rob Lynes, director, British Council (India), said the BLISS project will provide English teaching skills to teachers by way of in-service training. Odisha Higher education quality push The Union government will give a major push to improve the quality of higher education during the Twelfth Plan (2012-17) period under its Rashtriya Ucchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) programme. “It is a stark reality that quality, particularly in higher education, is not of international standards. Therefore the Central government is taking a slew of measures to improve the situation,” Union human resource development minister M.M. Pallam Raju said in Bhubaneswar on July 2. Addressing a press conference, Raju said RUSA’s focus will be on improving teaching-learning quality and enabling research. “RUSA will fund colleges and universities, and transform them into centres of academic excellence.’’ Elaborating, the minister announced that 20 new Central universities and seven IITs will be promoted under RUSA during the 12th Plan period, adding that deserving institutes will also be conferred the status of Central universities. With particular reference to Odisha, Raju said the Centre’s allocation to the state for school education schemes during the period 2009-13 aggregated Rs.6,488.77 crore against which the allocation in 2013-14 is Rs.837.12 crore. Punjab Rural higher ed initiative The punjab government is examining a proposal to provide free higher education to meritorious students of poor families in rural areas of the state. The programme, under active consid-eration, is envisaged in the PPP (public-private partnership) mode in association with several renowned private sector education institutions in Punjab. “The state government is determined to provide free-of-charge high quality higher education to merit students from poor rural households. We are currently engaged in discussions with several reputed education institutions to partner with the state government,” said Punjab education minister Sikander Singh Maluka, speaking to media personnel in Chandigarh on July 4. Uttar Pradesh IIM-L-SMU concordat A memorandum of understanding has been inked between the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow (IIM-L), and Singapore Management University (SMU). Under the terms of the MoU signed in Lucknow on July 29, the two institutes will support each other in the pursuit of excellence in global business education. “Both IIM-Lucknow and SMU will closely collaborate in research, executive education, faculty and stud-ent exchange programmes. With globalisation, opportunities will be created in various domains of learning. Moreover,…
