Cultural dimension of education
The book "Cultural dimension of Education" is a collection of essays available on-line on this topic.
2 comments July 7th, 2007
Sarva Siksha Abhiyan: EGS (Education Guarantee Scheme) and its follow-up
Quoting from http://ssa.nic.in/ssaframework/
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is an effort to universalise elementary education by community-ownership of the school system. It is a response to the demand for quality basic education all over the country. The SSA programme is also an attempt to provide an opportunity for improving human capabilities to all children, through provision of community-owned quality education in a mission mode.
EGS is one of schemes that has been used for the above effort. Now that the central govt has asked some aspects of EGS to be changed the Orissa government plans to develop an alternative. The following article in Samaja elaborates on a proposal that is under consideration.
July 7th, 2007
SCB got back the 43 seats it had recently lost
Dharitri has reported that SCB has got back the 43 seats it had recently lost.
July 7th, 2007
Two central universities per state
Following are excerpts on this topic from a Business standard report:
The government has allocated Rs 1,920 crore for setting up 16 central universities in states which do not have one so far . The plan was announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently.
Once these universities are in place, the government plans to have two central universities in each state.
“The government has set aside Rs 1,920 crore for setting up 16 central universities in 16 states that lack such varsities till now,” an official in the Ministry of Human Resource Development told Business Standard.
The allocation would take care of non-recurring costs like infrastructure and recurring costs like salaries and other yearly expenditures throughout the Eleventh Plan period.
“While Rs 60 crore is the non-recurring cost to set up a varsity, an yearly amount of Rs 12 crore would be made available for five years to take care of the recurring costs of a university,” the source said.
While estimates point that setting up one full-fledged central university costs around Rs 400 crore, the ministry expects the amount of Rs 120 crore to take care of the initial expenses like the construction of buildings and staff salaries. Since the state governments are expected to provide the required land, the amount is being considered sufficient for now. …
The source said that once the 16 universities were in place, the government would go ahead to set up two central universities in every state. There are 20 central universities in the country at present.
July 7th, 2007
More details on the new and exisiting central universities
This PIB article mentioned plans for establishing new central universities. Hindustan Times has a news report elaborating on various aspects of the new central universities. Following are some excerpts:
A common entrance admission test for all Central universities, a uniform semester and credit system to allow easy mobility for students may come into force. …
“The common national entrance test for 30 Central Universities, including 14 new ones to be set up, to ensure top quality student intake, would be the same as the JNU test, which is well regarded and has been accepted,” a senior government official said.
JNU governance model of complete autonomy will also be adopted in all universities to check “political interference” in the appointment of vice-chancellors and faculty, the official added.
The semester system would also be similar to that of JNU’s, with a facility for a student to break away for a year or two and return, if he or she wishes.
All new 14 Central universities will have an engineering school, a management school and a law school, but would be allowed to charge higher fees than the conventional courses, the presentation states.
The presentation also recommends increasing the fee for undergraduate courses to Rs 12,000 per annum with 40 per cent of students getting substantial scholarships.
“The fee structure should cover 20 per cent of the cost for running the university,” the official said. The government also wants to set up a Central government loan guarantee mechanism, which will cover 75 per cent of the loan amount in case of default by students obtaining loans from the banks.
The underlined sentence above says 14 new central universities, while the PM’s address had said 30 central universities. Perhaps it may mean that there will be 14 new central universities while 16 will be upgradations. If that is the case and indeed the new central universities have an engineering school, a management school and a law school, then all these will most likely would be part of the earlier mentioned central university in Koraput. That would be really great.
1 comment July 6th, 2007
Two more engineering colleges are being established in Bhubaneswar
Samaja has advertisements by the following two engineering colleges. Neither of them appear in the OJEE 2007 counseling brochure. (See our earlier posting on this.) One of them mentions receipt of AICTE LOI.
(Thanks to reader Parashar Das for the tip.)
July 6th, 2007
Standing up for the backward areas of Orissa and India
India can not progress much if it leaves behind big parts of its population and areas; same is true for Orissa. Unfortunately the most backward areas of India also happen to be in Orissa. We must make sure that these areas are given adequate attention by all governments.
1. Some statistical points on KBK, the most backward districts in Orissa as well as India; on Orissa and on MHRD spending in Orissa.
(a) Population below the poverty line in southern Orissa (of which KBK is a part) is reported to be 89.17% of the people according to the 1999-2000 NSS data and 72% of the families according to the 1997 census.
(b) The literacy rates in the KBK districts are abysmally low. Malkangiri 31.26%, Nabarangpur 34.26%, Rayagada 35.61%, Koraput 36.2%, Nuapada 42.29%, Kalahandi 46.2%, Balangir 54.93%, Sonepur 64.07%. Two adjacent districts also have low literacy: Gajapati 41.73% and Kandhamala 52.95%. The state average is 63.1%.
(c) The tribal population percentage of the KBK districts are as follows: Malkangiri 58.36% (+19.96% SC), Rayagada 56.04% (+14.28% SC), Nabarangpur 55.27% (+15.09% SC), Koraput 50.67% (+13.41% SC), Nuapada 35.95% (+13.09% SC), Kalahandi 28.88% (+17.01% SC), Sonepur 22.11% (+9.5% SC), Balangir 22.06% (+15.39% SC). Two adjacent districts also have high tribal population. They are Kandhamala 51.51% (+18.21% SC) and Gajapati 47.88% (+8.77% SC)
(d) KBK needs sons of the soil, (highly) educated in the soil teachers, doctors, engineers, officers etc. to help in bringing KBK to the main stream of Orissa and India. With a high tribal population, it is important that they have higher education opportunities right where they live as often they do not venture out to Delhi, Hyderabad, Allahabad or Benaras to take advantage of the ST seats in the high quality central universities there and the ones that venture out do not usually return home. In this regard one must note that in the US a major percentage of Blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans who have a higher education degree have it from colleges and universities (such as HBCUs — Historically Black Colleges and Universities) near their home rather than in far flung universities.
(e) Central government spending in fully centrally funded higher education institutions in Orissa is towards the bottom among all states in India. A rough calculation in http://www.baral.us/hrd-nh.htm showed that while the central government spent (in 2005-06) per person Rs 4.07 on fully-funded-by-center HRD institution in Orissa, it spent Rs 177.12 in Delhi, Rs 105.42 in Uttaranchal, Rs 105 in Arunachal Pradesh, Rs 77.7 in Assam, Rs 33.78 in Himachal Pradesh, Rs 28.10 in West Bengal, Rs 25.12 in Karnataka, Rs 17.79 in Tamil Nadu, Rs 17.09 in Maharastra, Rs 17.08 in UP, Rs 16.2 in Jharkhand, Rs 16.05 in Andhra, Rs 14.5 in J & K, Rs 13.38 in Punjab, Rs 8.52 in Haryana, Rs 7.9 in Kerala, Rs 7.39 in Chhattisgarh, Rs 7.2 in MP, Rs 4.87 in Gujurat, Rs 2.59 in Rajasthan, and Rs 1.87 in Bihar. Now that an IIT and IIM has been announced for Bihar and an IIT has been announced for Rajasthan, Orissa will be at the bottom.
(f) As per the NSSO study of 2004-2005 Orissa is at the bottom of most higher education parameters. For example, Table 3.14.1 shows that in the 15-19 age group 29% people in Orissa are attending school/college and in the 20-24 age group this number for Orissa is 6.1%. (Both numbers are lowest among all but the small states/UTs of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu and Lakshadweep.) For the Scheduled Tribe population
these numbers are 17.1% for the 15-19 age group and 4.1% for the 20-24 age group.
2. Orissa government and people have made sincere efforts towards establishing a KBK central university.
(a) Oct 24 2005: The CM meets the HRD minister Mr. Arjun Singh and proposes the idea of a KBK Central University and Mr. Singh appreciates the idea. Following is an excerpt of a press release that discusses it.
- … In addition to this, Shri Patnaik also requested for establishment of a Central University for the KBK Region, which is one of the most backward regions in the country. He pointed out that there was a heavy concentration of the scheduled tribe and scheduled caste population in this region, which has a literacy rate below 50%. Shri Patnaik stated that setting up a Central University in the KBK region would go a long way in encouraging higher education among tribal population. He added that the university could also set up specialized centres for tribal development related studies, as tribal development was one of the biggest challenges facing the country today. Shri. Arjun Singh appreciated the rationale of having a Central University in the KBK region and sought a formal proposal in this regard from the State Government. He assured that this would receive high priority whenever the Central Government considers setting up of new central universities
(b) Since then the Orissa government and the representatives of Orissa have brought up this issue many many times.
- The MPs brought it up in Rajya Sabha on December 19 2005. (See page 2 right column)
- See http://kbkcentral.blogspot.com/ for the numerous times this have been brought up by the CM, by other ministers from Orissa, etc.
(c) A detailed proposal was sent by the Orissa government as well as by us.
(d) Here is our proposal. (word, pdf) This document has lots of detailed statistics in case you may want to use some of it in your letter.
(e) Hundred of us also sent letters about it to the PM, planning commission, etc. (word) This letter also has lots of detailed statistics in case you may want to use some of it in your letter.
3. A shock to Orissa:
(a) The Hindu first reported on the plan for the tribal university in Madhya Pradesh. Following is an excerpt from it. One may compare this excerpt with the Orissa government press release on Oct 24 2005 and it becomes clear that the idea proposed by our CM was stolen.
- … The Indira Gandhi National Tribal University will encourage studies on tribal art, culture and traditions, forests and natural resources. Tribal students will be given priority in admission. … The D. Swaminadhan Committee, set up by the University Grants Commission, recommended the setting up of a varsity exclusively for promoting tribal culture and providing tribals access to higher education.
(b) The recent PIB says the following:
The Union Cabinet today gave its approval for establishment of Indira Gandhi National Tribal University in Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh with Central Government funding. It also approved introduction of the Indira Gandhi National Tribal University Bill, 2007 in the Parliament.
(c) http://www.ranchiexpress.com
There is no mention of KBK Central University above; nor about branches of IGNTU in Orissa. This came as a shock to people of Orissa.
4. Soothing words from the PM and the central minister from Orissa, Mr. Chandrasekhar Sahu
(a) In http://pib.nic.in/release
Today, I am happy to announce that we intend to establish 30 new Central Universities across the country. The work on the modalities for setting these up has begun and the Ministry of Human resource Development, the University Grants Commission and the Planning Commission are working to operationalize this in the next 2-3 months.
(b) Business Standard reported central minister Chandrasekhar Sahu saying:
While the first Central University is likely to be set up in Koraput,
5. In light of the above we have the following five point demand:
I. The central university in Koraput should be a multi-campus one with campuses in all the major towns in KBK+ districts. I.e., the eight KBK districts and the adjacent Gajapati and Kandhamal districts. This university should be more like the universities in the north east in that it must have special quotas for tribals and KBK+ residents.
II. The PM said there will be 30 new central universities. Since there are already about 20 central universities and Orissa has none; besides the
central university in Koraput, one of the other universities in Orissa, from a different part of Orissa, must be upgraded to central university status.
III. Branches of the Indira Gandhi National Tribal University must be made in the north western districts with high tribal population, in particular
Mayurbhanj (tribal percentage 57.87%, literacy 52.43%), Sundergarh (50.74%, 65.22%), and Keonjhar (44.52%, 59.75%); and possibly in Sambalpur (35.08% , literacy 67.01%), Deogarh (33.31%, literacy 60.78%), and Jharsuguda (31.88% , literacy 71.47%).
IV. A greenfield IIT must be established in an appropriate location in Orissa to serve the backward parts of Orissa as well as to be close enough to existing infrastructure so as to be a viable world class institution.
V. Connectivity to KBK must be upgraded with (a) fasttrack implementation of the Vijaywada-Ranchi highway and (b) Finishing three important rail projects in KBK: Khurda Rd – Balangir; Naupada-Gunupur-Therubali; and LanjigarhRd-Bhawanipatna-Junagarh-Nabrangpur-Jeypore-Malkangiri with the last exetended to Bhadrachalam Rd thus creating an alternate shorter Ranchi-Hyderabad rail connection passing through the tribal and backward areas.
2 comments July 6th, 2007
Groups interested in setting up of private universities in Orissa; land provided by Orissa to various universities
Pioneers reports on a reply in the Orissa state assembly regarding groups interested in setting up of private universities that have contacted the state government. Following are some excerpts.
The State Government on Thursday said the Government has already received proposals to set up six private universities in the State. These universities included the Vedanta University, Ravishankar University, ICFAI University, Barrister Ranjit Mohanty Law University, Amity University and SBM University.
… Higher Education Minister Samir Dey said Government is planning to introduce a bill to regulate the activities of the private universities.
He further said that all the private universities have to arrange the land for setting up their own campus. But in few cases, the State Government will provide lands to the private universities. He further said that 398.811 acres of land has been provided to Utkal University. Similarly, 250 acre of land to Berhampur University, 573.11 acre to Sambalpur University, 80.73 acre to FM University, 98.02 acre to North Orissa University, 1,674 acre to Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology and 100 acres of land have been provided to Jagannath Sanskrit University.
1 comment July 6th, 2007
Orissa AIEEE site updated for 2007
It seems the Orissa AIEEE site is updated and has now information for 2007. Unlike last year a larger number of colleges seem to be listed there. (Thanks to an alert reader, comment 58 in this article, for pointing this out.)
46 comments July 5th, 2007
Agami Odisha plans a convention on the KBK Central University issue on July 8th
Agami Odisha plans a convention on the KBK Central University issue on July 8th at the Jayadev Bhavan in Bhubaneswar. Following is an appeal by its president:
We appeal to all to attend the Convention in Jayadev Bhavan on 8th July for displaying our commitment , mobilising support and for chalking out a road map for an effective democratic movement spread over KBK region, other district towns in the state and to rest not till we obtain positive response from the central and the state government to our demand.
A contact address the appeal provides is: Shri Dilip on mobile 9861240228.
July 4th, 2007
Pragativadi: Prof. Gopal Nayak recommended as IIIT Bhubaneswar director
Pragativadi reports that Prof. Gopal Nayak has been recommended for the IIIT Bhubaneswar director position by the selection committee established by the chief secretary. He will be formally appointed after the chief minister’s approval.
July 3rd, 2007
Ravenshaw University Vice Chancellor’s presentation in Detroit, MI, USA
Ravenshaw University vice chancellor Mr. Devdas Chhotray gave a presentation on Ravenshaw University at Detroit, MI, USA on July 1 2007. Based on the discussion there a yahoo group has been formed for Ravenshaw alumni, friends and well-wishers. The goal of this group is to discuss, make action items, and act towards making Ravenshaw a premier university in the world.
1 comment July 3rd, 2007
Orissa Engineering Colleges in Dataquest Ranking
Dataquest magazine has published its 2007 ranking. The Orissa Colleges in their ranking are:
- (16) NIT Rourkela : 24 in 2006, 17 in 2005
- (90) UCE Burla: 55 in 2006
- (108) CET Bhubaneswar: 47 in 2006
- (110) Orissa Engineering college, Bhubaneswar: 82 in 2006, 61 in 2005
Only NIT Rourkela improved its ranking from 2006; ranking of others have dropped.
NIT Rourkela also features in the top five engineering colleges in the eastern region. They are:
- (1) IIT Kharagpur
- (6) IIT Guwahati
- (14) Jadavpur University Engineering College
- (16) NIT Rourkela
- (19) BIT Ranchi
As always, these are just one ranking.
2 comments June 29th, 2007
