More than 180,000 students of the 6.6 million who had registered for classes X and XII school-leaving exams conducted by the Uttar Pradesh state board of secondary and higher secondary education starting on February 7, didn’t show up to write them following stringent measures initiated by the state government to check examination malpractices. “On the first day, over 53,100 higher secondary and 127,000 secondary students did not write the examinations,” Vikas Srivastava, deputy director of education, informed media in Lucknow on February 8. According to Srivastava, this is the consequence of a slew of measures initiated by the state government, including installation of CCTV cameras in examination halls and using special task forces and local intelligence to check cheating in board exams. Madhya Pradesh Teachers dress code order State government school teachers will be required to follow a uniform dress code — maroon ‘jacket’ for women and navy blue for men — from the new academic year beginning June 2018, according to an education ministry order. In addition, teachers will also be required to wear a name tag on their jackets together with a new descriptive rashtra nirmata (maker of the nation) inscribed on it. “Uniformity in dress is important and ends personality differences,” said the order, citing the Madhya Pradesh Panchayat Adhyapak Sambarg (service conduct conditions) Rules, 2008. In the order issued in Bhopal on February 11, the education ministry issued directives to the Directorate of Public Instruction and the Rajya Shiksha Kendra director to implement the teachers dress code statewide. Punjab New Amity campus Amity University proposes to set up a state-of-the-art campus in Mohali with capacity for 20,000 students. A university delegation led by the Delhi-based Amity Education Group president Dr. Atul Chauhan, met chief minister Amarinder Singh to discuss plans for constructing a campus with an aggregate investment of Rs.1,000-1,500 crore. Sharing details of the February 1 meeting in Chandigarh with the media, an official spokesperson said Amity plans to establish a 50-acre science-focused university campus in Mohali with a large residential student population. The final site is yet to be finalised. The chief minister directed the state’s education and housing ministries to take the proposal forward and extend all support to Amity. Odisha Theft charge against headmistress The headmistress of the government-run Dadhibaman Upper Primary School, Bahabalapur in Nandipur gram panchayat, was suspended from service on charges of stealing rice from the mid-day meal (MDM) scheme and selling it in the market, a government official informed the media in Odisha’s Jajpur district on February 4. In January, a group of students, parents and locals brought the irregularities to the attention of the Jajpur DEO (district education officer) Krushna Chandra Nayak, who directed BEO (block education officer) Ajay Kumar Das to conduct an inquiry and submit a report. The report confirmed the headmistress’ involvement in the misuse of MDM materials, the official added. Tamil Nadu Bharathiar VC suspended Governor Banwarilal Purohit suspended the services of A. Ganapathi, vice chancellor of Coimbatore-based…
