Bihar
Teachers welfare goal
Addressing the public on Teachers Day (September 5), Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar said his government is taking all steps to strengthen the states education infrastructure to make it an engine of growth. Announcing a hike in the honorarium of contractual teachers by Rs.3,000 per month without any demand from their side, the chief minister said teachers development and welfare is a top priority of the Bihar government. As the states financial condition improves, we will raise the remuneration of teachers. When the Janata Dal (U) government assumed power in November 2005, 12.5 percent children in the age group 6-14 were out of school. Currently only 3 percent do not attend school, he said adding that education achievement has been a distinguishing feature of Bihar since time immemorial.
The chief minister also presented teaching excellence awards to eight teachers on Teachers Day. Also speaking on the occasion, education minister P.K. Shahi said that currently 20 million children are attending 72,000 government schools in the state.
Nagaland
Poor performance and parochialism
Nagalands minister for school education, C.M. Chang is dissatisfied with the academic performance of government high schools in the state.
Talking to mediapersons in Kohima on September 18, Chang said the performance of government schools, especially in the HSLC (high school leaving certificate) and HSSLC (higher secondary school leaving certificate) examinations has been poor. The government has decided to downgrade schools showing nil pass percentage in board exams, he said, adding that government school teachers will be sent for regular in-service training so that some improvement can be made in their performance.
Commenting on the acute shortfall of maths and science teachers in government schools, he criticised local teachers associations for resisting recruitment of qualified teachers from other states. There has to be relaxation of rules in the recruitment of maths and science teachers from outside the state and this idea has got the green signal from the chief minister, said Chang.
Mizoram
Employment focused education call
Inaugurating the first ever Mizoram Skills Expo 2013 conclave in Aizawl on September 18, Mizorams finance minister H. Liansailova stressed the need for skills development and job-oriented educational programmes to reduce unemployment among Mizo youth. Liansailova said the youth from the state should be equipped for better jobs locally and across the country.
According to Haukhuma Hauzel, member-secretary of the state planning board and chairman of the Mizoram Skill Development Society, who also spoke on the occasion, more than 50,000 youth in the state are unemployed. Its impossible to accommodate all the unemployed people in government and private companies within the state or in traditional occupations. Therefore its important for education institutions to hone students skills for employment across the country and abroad, Hauzel added.
Puducherry
JIPMERs foreign tie-ups
Puducherry’s Central government-funded Jawaharlal Institute of Post-graduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) has signed up with Boston University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry, New Jersey, to promote several initiatives starting with a healthcare programme.
This was announced on September 28 at a meeting between officials of the US Consulate, Chennai and JIPMER. The US team of officials was led by consul-general Jennifer McIntyre and included public affairs officer David Gainer and Prof. Kevin Joseph McGirr, a visiting scholar from the University of California.
A US-India joint collaborative research project on tuberculosis will soon be launched in JIPMER with the academic support of Boston University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry, New Jersey. The research project will be jointly funded by the US National Institute of Health and the Union governments department of biotechnology.
Andhra Pradesh
Aga Khan Academy, Hyderabad inauguration
As many as 230 million children are enrolled in schools due to the efforts of the Centre under the RTE Act, said Union human resource development minister Dr. Pallam Raju, speaking on the occasion of the inauguration of the Aga Khan Academy, Hyderabad, on September 20. The government has focused on creating capacity in education in the past few years and has achieved reasonable success, though there are many miles to go, he added.
Lauding the efforts of the Aga Khan, Raju said Aga Khan trusts and foundation have contributed immensely to education development in India. The Aga Khan Academy, Hyderabad, constructed on a 100-acre campus, is part of a global network of schools promoted to dispense quality education of the highest international standards to meritorious boys and girls regardless of socio-economic background.
Haryana
Education hub promise
Speaking on the occasion of laying the foundation of a girls school promoted by the Surajmal Memorial Educational Society in Dabauda village, Bahadurgarh district, on September 12, Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said the state will emerge as an internationally benchmarked education hub in the next few years.
Its due to the progressive policies of the state government that the drop-out percentage of primary students has reduced to 2 percent, said Hooda. As a consequence of the governments determined efforts of the past eight and a half years, the number of universities in the state has increased to 36 and government colleges to 95. Of these 95 colleges, 22 are exclusively for girl students, he added, emphasising that the state government is according special attention to the education of girls.