Thursday, May 31, 2007

Special concessions for Presidency College

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, May 31, 2007
Presidency College, which was on the verge of gaining autonomy, will probably stay under Calcutta University, but they might be given special concessions that are not granted to colleges under the university.
This has been suggested by a 7-member committee formed by the state government. Headed by the vice-chairman of West Bengal Sate Council of Higher Education, Subimal Sen and famous alma mater of Presidency College — Barun Dey, Bhobotosh Dutta, Chittotosh Mukherjee, Bimal Jalan, Pradip Narayan Chattopadhyay and Ashesh Prasad Mitra has submitted the report on May 30 — to the state higher education department.
The focus of the report is on ways to develop the academic quality of Presidency College and turn the college into an ideal institution for turning out meritorious students at much lower fees.
Many pages in the report are dedicated to the issue of autonomy for Presidency College. But, the suggestions are very different from the kind of autonomy granted to colleges by the UGC. The biggest difference is that while, UGC autonomy gives colleges the right to detach themselves from the parent university, Presidency College has been asked to stick to CU.
Unlike other autonomous colleges, it will not frame its own syllabus and neither will it conduct its own exams. The report states that CU is more famous than Presidency College and if the College is de-linked from the university, then it will face hindrances. Instead, the committee wants the government to give certain facilities to Presidency College, which it does not provide, to other government colleges.
The report suggests that if the college wants to churn out meritorious students then the government must not transfer the best professors to other government colleges. Some teaching posts should be created where talented teachers will join and who will never get transferred. “It is because of this transfer policy that many well-known teachers have left Presidency College and joined other universities. We do not want it to happen,” said one of the committee members.
The government is not looking at the governance issue as just another bureaucratic policy. Hence, the idea will be to create an institution of excellence without giving it financial autonomy. “I have not seen the report yet. Let me see what they have suggested. Only then would I make any comments,” said Sudarshan Roychoudhuri, state higher education minister.
The report has suggested that the college be given the privilege to create some professorial posts. The department professors will have the right to invite legendary academicians to join as chair professors. The committee has also suggested that the principal of the college be given the power to let teachers go for seminars and symposiums across the globe and grant them sabbatical leave. Currently, college teachers have to obtain permission from the higher education department, which is a very laborious process.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Record number of students clear Madhyamik hurdle

Mou Chakraborty,
Kolkata, May 30, 2007
A record ten per cent increase in the pass rate and students scoring heavily has been the new trends as Madhyamik results came out on Wednesday.
This year 6,58,914 students appeared in the examination and 74.57 per cent of students passed compared to 64.95 per cent last year. The probable topper, Md Arif Shekh, has scored 795 out of a possible 800, something unthinkable in the Madhyamik examinations even two years back.
Another significant trend is the gap in the success rate of districts and Kolkata has decreased. As in the last few years, most of the toppers are from the districts and there is only one student from Kolkata in the top ten. However, the overall pass percentage of students in the city was good, with 73.71 per cent boys passing compared to 75.62 per cent of girls.
While East Midnapore has the highest pass percentage among boys with 86.63 per cent, Hooghly has 77.54 per cent of pass rate among the girls, which is the highest. Purulia on the other hand has the lowest boys and girl pass percentages, 56.28 per cent and 45.61 per cent respectively.
Explaining why the students have scored so heavily, the president of West Bengal Board of Secondary Education Ujjal Basu said, “All national boards and the council has seen an upward trend in total percentage of marks obtained by the students. This is an all India phenomenon.” He added, “The flood of marks is because all boards have followed the recommendations of National Curriculum Frame Work, which has asked us to decrease stress among students by cutting down on their academic load.”
Apart from this, Basu pointed out that the board from this year had changed their question pattern and evaluation procedure, which helped the students to score heavily. “I do not remember seeing an increase of 10 per cent in the pass figures. This shows that the new syllabus has suited the students,” Basu added.
The school education minister, Partha De, said the good results were expected. “We anticipated a surge of high marks. Students had been selected rigorously in the pre-board examinations and only the meritorious were allowed to sit for Madhyamik. The weaker students were detained.”
The board had published the result within 42 days. A total of 34,588 students got star marks, 37 per cent are girls and 63 per cent are boys. Though there has been a glut of high scores, few students have been able to score full marks in any subject. Mathematics, physical science and additional mechanics were the subjects where students got full marks. A total of 582 students (372 from Kolkata) compared to 558 last year have scored full marks in mathematics. In physical science 32 students scored 100, while 105 scored full marks in mechanics.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com

Madhyamik result leaked!

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, May 30, 2007

Surprise, surprise, though the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education was supposed to announce the Madhyamik results at a news conference after 4 pm, several TV channels jumped the gun and aired interviews with probable toppers from the morning. The results were uploaded on websites at 5.30 pm.
Going through the marks of 6,58,914 students and anointing toppers is virtually impossible before the results are published on the web or the mark sheets reach the schools. Mark sheets are meant to be confidential documents before the results are declared. Nowhere in India does a section of the media take interviews of toppers, even before the results are declared.
The school education minister, Partha De, has been appalled by the act. “This is strange. How can a section of the electronic media take interviews of the toppers even before the results have been declared. If the marks declared by some channels tallies with the official version, then we may launch a probe,” De said. Various teachers’ organisation have lodged a protest with the school education minister.
It is clear that the channels, which have aired the interviews, had access to the results, which cannot happen without the help of an insider. Questions have now risen whether the president of the board, Ujjal Basu, will resign? “I will think about it only after the results flashed by the electronic media, tallies with the real marks,” Basu said.
Basu however rubbished such claims and equated the release of early results by the channels with exit polls during elections. “These are just like exit polls, some will match, while most will be different. To the best of my knowledge, no one had access to the results before it was published,” said Basu. However, he refused to comment how the students or the channels could know the total marks even before the board had published the results. Basu said, “I cannot take the responsibility for some media houses that aired the interviews before the results were published. They should be quizzed, not us.”
Last year too the probable toppers were interviewed by some section of electronic media even before the results were announced. However, the board refused to term it as a leak, because the results were faxed to districts much before the schedule time. But this year nothing such has happened and the board does not know what reason to give.mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com

IIT list out, but no OBC quota

Mou Chakraborty,
Kolkata, May 30, 2007
THE IIT-JEE results were declared on Wednesday. However, there was no OBC quota list.
Beginning this year and till 2009, IIT-Kharagpur was to implement 9 per cent OBC quota each year taking the total number of reserved seats for OBC to 27 per cent, as prescribed by the central government. “We will publish the OBC quota list for this session if the government asks us to do so,” said director of IIT Kharagpur Prof SK Dube.
Under the OBC quota policy, IIT-KGP was to add 334 seats this year. But if the OBC quota it not implemented this year then IIT-KGP would have 845 seats, as it was last year. But even if OBC quota list is not published this year, IIT-KGP plans to begin upgrading its infrastructure so that it can accommodate 27 per cent OBC students in the near future. For the purpose, the institute had asked for Rs 680 crore from the HRD ministry.
As for this year’s IIT-JEE results, the good news from Bengal is that WB-JEE topper Subhasish Das from Bolpur Nichupati Nirad Barani High School has bagged the all India 4th rank and has topped in the IIT-KGP region.
Subhasish, who plans to study aeronautical engineering at IIT-Kharagpur or IIT Mumbai, said, “This year the WB-JEE had upgraded its syllabus to IIT-JEE standards. So there was no need to prepare separately. This helped me to make it among the toppers in both IIT-JEE and WB-JEE”.
But Dube credits Subhasish’s success to the reform IITs have brought about in their examination process. “We restructured the syllabus and exam pattern in a manner that students from the districts got a better chance to get in. It has made school education more relevant and coaching centres redundant.”
This year over 2.43 lakh candidates took the exam. The merit list has 7,200 students to fill up 5537 seats at the seven IITs. The merit list has 537 girls. Anamika Sharma from IIT Mumbai zone has topped among girls with an all-India rank of 55. Though 10 per cent more girls have made it to the merit list this time, only 48 girls (2.24 per cent) have been successful from the IIT-KGP region.
Counseling will start from June 18 and will continue till June 22. The preparatory course and their counseling will be held on July 6 and classes at IIT-Kharagpur will start from July 23.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com

BOX

ü Total number of students appeared 2, 43, 029
ü Total number of students qualified 7200
ü Total number of students appeared from IIT-Kharagpur region 32,693
ü Total Number of students qualified from IIT-Kharagpur region 733
ü Total number of girls appeared 54,025
ü Total number of girls qualified 537
ü Total number of girls appeared from IIT Kharagpur region 6990
ü Total number of girls qualified from IIT Kharagpur region 48
ü Total number of seats in 7 IITs 5537
ü Total number of seats at IIT Kharagpur 845
ü Counseling for admission - from June 18 to June 22.
ü The preparatory course and their counseling will be held on July 6
ü Classes at IIT Kharagpur begin on July 23.

ü IIT’s published the result minus OBC category
ü If OBC category were included IIT Kharagpur would have offered 125 extra seats all reserved under OBC quota.
ü The IIT’s may publish another list comprising of OBC quota students if it gets nod from the MHRD before the beginning of the session.

IIT-Kharagpur region includes – West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa, Part of Bihar, Sikkim, Agartala and Andaman & Nicobar Island.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

English and Math help to rise in top

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, May 29, 2007

CBSE toppers who shone in Class X exams did so thanks to English and Maths. And yes all want to become engineers when they grow up.
Explaining why he wants to take up engineering, Abhishek Sharraf of Laxmipat Singhania Academy, who scored 97.2 per cent said, “I love Science and Maths is one of my favourite subject. I have always wanted to be an engineer. I will try to get admission to IIT and after that go for an MBA from IIM.” Sharraf added, “Whenever I studied, I gave it my maximum.”
Incidentally, Laxmipat Singhania Academy students did exceedingly well in English, with 43 students scoring above 90 in English. The highest mark in the subject is 99.
Preetha Saha of Kendriya Vidyalaya Haldia, scored 97 per cent marks. She loves reading storybooks during her free time and dreams of becoming an engineer like her father. “My dad works for Indian Oil Corporation and I want to be like him. My next target is IIT. Biology has never been my favourite subject and becoming a doctor was never an option.”
Sharmila Sinha from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan has got 96.8 per cent and wants to study electronics engineering in IIT. “I did not expect so much but I studied thoroughly and avoided watching television. I am on top of the world and I would love to shine in Class XII exams again,” Sharmila said. Speaking about Sharmila, school principal Anindita Chatterjee said, “She has always been a very bright kid. She lost her father at an early age and we gave her concession on her tuition fee. She was always serious about her studies.”
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan students also did well in English with 53 students scoring above 90 per cent. In Maths too, the students scored high marks. “We think the marking pattern in English was lenient. Practicals helped the students score high marks in maths,” said Jaya Misra, exam coordinator of the school. From this year, there were 20 marks practical in Maths. Similarly, Science theory exams were of 60 marks, with 40 marks left for practicals.
Becoming computer engineer from IIT is what Shatabdi Senapati of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan dreams of. She has scored 95.8 per cent and gives credit to her teachers and parents. While preparing for her exams, Shatabdi did not burn the midnight oil. “Sleeping helps you rejuvenate your mind. I made sure that I had adequate rest. I revised the NCERT books thoroughly and whenever I needed a break, I turned to music,” said Shatabdi.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com

Kendriya Vidyalayas shine in CBSE class X

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, May 29, 2007

It is raining marks in Kendriya Vidyalayas (KV) and students of Class X have done very well in the CBSE results.
A total of 4043 students have appeared for the exams and for the first time, there have been no failures. However, 103 students have got compartmental, where they have failed in one subject. These students will sit for a retest in 3 months.
The pass percentage has also gone up by six per cent compared to last year. While Abhishek Sharraf from Laxmipat Singhania Academy has scored 97.2 per cent and is the probable topper from Kolkata, Preetha Saha from KV, Haldia has scored 97 per cent and has secured second position.
“Kendriya Vidyalayas all over the state have done consistently well and the credit goes to the teachers who have motivated the students,” said V. K. Shrivastava, assistant commissioner of KV schools in West Bengal, Sikkim and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
However, teachers feel that all schools have done well. “This year the checking was lenient and not only the KVs, but all schools have performed very well,” said Anindita Chatterjee of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan from where Sharmila Sinha has scored 96.8 per cent and is most probably the third candidate in the state.
KV officials obviously are thrilled to bits. “Unlike the private schools, we take in mediocre students and it feels great to see that many of them have scored over eighty per cent in the board exam. It is a big feet, considering the fact that many of the students are first generation learners in their families,” said Shrivastava. The KVs had taken steps to ensure a good result. “We conducted two centralised pre-board tests. Weak students got remedial teaching in school and had separate learning materials. To keep tab on the situation, we had three surprise inspections this year. Our excellent teachers also pitched in,” said P. Devakumar, education officer of the KVs.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com

Two state colleges granted provisional autonomy

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, May 29, 2007
Close on the heels of St Xavier’s College, two more colleges from the state, Ramkrishna Mission Residential College and Belur Shikkhon Mondir B.Ed College have been granted provisional autonomy on Tuesday.
The state government has given the go-ahead to these two institutions and asked the syndicate of Calcutta University (CU) to pass the proposal. Autonomy will enable the colleges to frame its own syllabus and conduct the exams. This will include, setting the question papers and evaluating the answer scripts without any university interference.
“The colleges will now have to apply to UGC by May 31. After which there will be an inspection from the university followed by one by the UGC, to check infrastructure and capability of the institutions. The report will be submitted to the executive council of the UGC, which will in turn, decide upon whether the colleges deserve the tag. The whole process will take about two months time,” said Samir Bandhyopadhyay, registrar of the university.
However, Presidency College, which had also been shortlisted, will have to wait for some more time. “The high powered committee formed by the state government to decide upon the mode of governance is yet to submit its report. Necessary steps will be taken, once the report is submitted,” said Haren Bhattacharya, general secretary of Government College Teachers Association and a teacher at Presidency College.
RMRC is planning many changes after it is granted autonomy, but it will take place slowly. “To begin with, we would like to stick to the syllabus and exam pattern of CU. In future, we will see whether the semester system will suit us or not,” said the principal of the college Swami Suparnananda.
The college, which was established in 1960, currently has 650 students, and offers courses including, physics, chemistry, maths, statistics, computer science, economics and English at the undergraduate level. Physics and chemistry are also available for PG students.
“By setting up our own exam routine, we will be able to ensure speedy results, making our students eligible for admission in various universities and they can sit for the all-India level competitive exams,” said the vice principal Swami Puratanananda.
Belur Shikkhon Mondir B.Ed College, on the other hand, is ready to implement the semester system after it gets autonomy. Speaking about the matter, principal Ramendra Maharaj, said, “It will be one of the first items on our agenda and our board of studies will also revise and update the syllabus.”
Following autonomy, the colleges would be granted Rs 6 lakh per year by UGC for the next 6 years. After the term, CU and UGC would review the progress made by the institutions. Following a satisfactory report, they will be granted permanent autonomy.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com

Monday, May 28, 2007

HS results on June 1

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, May 28, 2007
The results of Higher Secondary 2006, conducted by the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education, will be published on June 1 at 10 am.
From 10 am onwards, students will be able to know their result through SMS or the Council’s website or through a phone call. Schools will distribute mark sheets and pass certificates on the same day.
This will be the first results after the HS syllabus and examination pattern underwent massive changes. For the first time, students took the exam only on the class XII syllabus. The mark sheets will also be of a new pattern: students will not have the sum total of marks obtained in each subject, and along with marks in each subject, students will get grades.
This year, the examinations concluded on April 18. Almost 4 lakh students appeared for them. The council has also been able to adhere to the June 10 deadline by the Supreme Court to all state boards. The SC ruled that all boards declare XII results and distribute mark sheets by June 15.
Students will be able to see their total marks and division obtained by typing their roll numbers on the following websites: www.wbchse.nic.com, www.wbresults.nic.in, www.cacuttatelephones.com, www.kolkata.bsnl.co.in, www.tathyabangla.org, www.banglarmukh.com, www.results.sify.com, www.rediffmail.com, www.indiaresults.com, www.icqresults.com.
To know the result through SMS, a student has to type WBHS give a space and type the roll number and send it to 7777, 9999, 7333, 4545, 6505 from a BSNL mobile. Tata Indicom users will have to send the same SMS to 8282 while Airltel users SMS to 3030. Realiance mobile customers can SMS to 1234 and 3926.
To know the results via phone, one has to call up Tathya Kendra at 2223-4214 and 2223-2451. BSNL users can call up 1250102, Reliance users can call up 1234. To know the results through Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS), students will have to call up the following numbers and say ‘Result’: 646 for Airtel users, 123 for Hutch users, 456 for Idea users, 12900 for Tata users and the BSNL users can dial 12555, 1255568.
Council authorities have made it clear that students will not be able to know their results directly from the council office. The council has directed the schools to collect the mark sheets and certificates from 10 am onwards on June 1 from the 33-distribution centers spread all over the state.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com

Cultivate reading habit of your child through strategy

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, May 28, 2007
MEET DAKSHINA Chatterjee. Like any other seven-year-old she is happy watching Cartoon Network on TV and playing games with her friends. But her mother wants to cultivate reading habit in her daughter. So she bought her adventure storybooks and comics. The books were full of glossy pictures and cut outs. Dakshina picked up the books but did not go beyond looking at the pictures. Her love for the idiot box did not wane.
This is a common problem. Even at school, teachers keep telling about the benefits of reading habit but those good words fall flat on most students.
But coordinator of the English Language Centre at Brigham Young University Neil Anderson says the battle can be won easily. During his trip to Kolkata last week, Anderson addressed over 80 teachers from across Bengal on how to cultivate reading habit among students across all age groups.
“Well if you find a child interested in cartoons and buy him storybooks and comics the chances are he will opt to watch the same on TV since it is more attractive. But what about gifting him a book on how ‘Tom & Jerry’ was made? The child will not only like it but will also want to read more on the topic,” Anderson said.
The trick to begin with lies in identifying the hobbies, likes and dislikes of the child and give them a book which helps them to know more about their interest areas.
Another way of helping your child pick up that novel prescribed in the syllabus and actually read through it is playing the predication game. “After reading some chapters if the children are asked to guess what will happen next they will find it very exiting to play the guessing game. The teachers will not only understand how much the child has actually studied but the child will get interested in reading the next few chapters and knowing whether his prediction was correct or not,” said Anderson.
For the grown-ups, teachers and parents may discuss an alternate ending to a novel or a story or ask questions like which characters in the book can be your best friend and why? And yes, do not do too much testing. “Most of the times the students get drifted away from reading their prescribed books because they know that at the end their will be a test. So the best will be that the students are kept away from testing and instead the teacher discusses the character, background and other relevant things in the class,” Anderson said.
And if the teachers find their students really bored with the reading they can try another trick. “If the teachers ask the students to draw the picture of what they understood from reading certain portion of the book the students will give positive response. They will not only have good time drawing pictures but the teacher will also understand how much a student has understood and liked reading the book,” said Anderson.
Language is a gift for a child and books give this gift in abundance. Reading a book aloud can be a good exercise not just for memorisation but also for improvement of speech and vocabulary.
“For little children the parents can read aloud a novel every night and then on few occasions asks the child to read aloud while the whole family listens. In that way the child will consider it a game or a every day practice and will pick up reading habit,” Anderson said. “For the students who love mathematics or love to do things in short cut the teacher can explain the plot of a book through Venn diagram,” he added.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com

Sunday, May 27, 2007

HS, CBSE and ISC pass outs to be treated at per during college admission

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, May 27, 2007
It is good news for the Class XII students of ISC and CBSE boards. For the first time they will face no discrimination as they apply to colleges and they can start filling in admission forms even before the Higher Secondary (HS) results are out.
Earlier colleges started distributing admission forms only after HS results were declared, as many of them set cut off marks for ISC and CBSE board students. However, from this year, this will change as Calcutta University has urged all colleges not to discriminate against CBSE and ISC students. WBCHSE has made HS a 700 marks exam and brought parity in the syllabus, question and marking pattern with the national boards.
“Earlier, the colleges deducted marks from students of CBSE and ISC boards. My daughter had five percent of her marks slashed while taking admission because she was not from Bengal board. It is true that all boards have separate systems, but then what is the point of giving them marks if some college deducts it before admission. To escape this discrimination, many students went to other states,” said Malini Bhagath, Vice Principal of Mahadevi Birla Girls’ High School under CBSE board. “It is good that Bengal is stopping this discrimination from this year and I hope this system continues,” she added.
Presidency College will start distributing admission forms for its 17 honours courses even before the HS results are declared. The college will upload the forms in its website www.presidencyadmission.net from June 1. “CBSE and ISC students can apply online,” said Mamata Ray, principal of the college. The college is also trying scout talent from outside Bengal. “Our college conducts admission tests for all subjects and especially for the CBSE and ISC students we were thinking of having exam centres in other states from this year. But ultimately for some reason we could not. We will try and do it from next year,” added Ray.
St. Xavier’s College will start distributing forms online soon from its website www.sxccal.edu. The college will make a separate merit list for CBSE, ISC and HS candidates and take equal number of students from each board. “Every year, the result of ISC and CBSE is declared much before HS. Until then, no college distributes forms and students of Delhi board remain in anxiety. We do not want that to happen,” said father P.C. Mathew, principal of the college.
Lady Brabourne College too will upload admission forms on their website www.ladybrabourne.com from first week of June. “We are not waiting for the HS result but will be activating our website by next week so that the students from other boards can apply,” said Sanghamitra Mukherjee, principal of the college.
Those want to study in Scottish Church College will be able to down load its admission form at www.scottishchurchcollege.ac.in from June 1. “We do not feel that the HS students will lose out. The university has directed us to treat students of all boards equally because their syllabus and marking pattern are now at par,” said J. Abraham, Principal of Scottish Church College.
mou.hindutsantimes@yahoo.com

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Gender study makes its way in IIMC

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, May 24, 2007
The Indian Institute of Management, Joka is all set to introduce ‘gender issues in management and corporate world’ as one of the elective subjects from 2008 academic session. To begin with, the institute plans to introduce it as an elective subject in its Post Graduate Programme for Executives.
“With the increasing entry of women in the board rooms, gender issues have become paramount. We are planning to introduce it in some of our programmes from the next academic session,” said Anindyo Sen, dean programme and research initiatives of IIM.
IIM will be helped by the Boston based Simmons School of Management, which hosts the only MBA programme in the US designed for women. The programme is rated among the top 25 by the prestigious Entrepreneur magazine. IIM had signed a MoU with the US based school in April this year.
“We will be requesting Simmons School of Management to map out a syllabus for us. Jointly we might launch a management development programme for women,” said Sen. “We would like to offer it as one of the elective subjects in our executive management programmes. But in the near future, we would also like to introduce it in our two years MBA curriculum.”
IIM wants to use the tie-up to attract more women MBA candidates. Despite Indra Nooyi, a 1976 graduate who is now heading PepsiCo, only 25 per cent of the institute’s students are women. “The tie-up with the Simmons School will definitely help us attract more women. We are also going to request the faculty members from Simmons School to come here and discuss the issue,” said Sen.
The dean said, “There is a lack of awareness of gender related problems that women face in the corporate world. In the past, we have not discussed the issue in our classrooms. But now the time has come when the students must be made aware of the problems and how companies can solve them.” Gender sensitivity is an alien word to many companies in India. In many cases when women get rapid promotions and hefty increment, the office grapevine attributes it to her closeness with the boss. However, it attributes a man’s hike and promotion to hard work.
“In India we have seen that the men do not even realise that their women colleagues are being made a victim of gender bias. We too do not have much awareness. So before training the students, we too need to understand the subject,” said Sen.
The agreement also fosters faculty collaborations and better understanding of cultural differences between the US and India to create improved business relationships. Officials at both schools are working on developing advisory services for multinational businesses with US and India operations.
mou.hindustantimes@gmail.com

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

RBU postpones venue shift

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, May 23, 2007
Bowing to student protests, Rabindra Bharati University has decided to postpone shifting its fine arts department, located at its Jorashanko campus to its main campus in B.T. Road by at least six months.
For a long time, the university has wanted to shift the entire academic wing to its main campus at B.T. Road. The building at Jorashanko is an international heritage site. Rabindranath Tagore was born in his ancestral house here and spent a considerable portion of his life there. Later, the house became the university’s property and the visual arts and fine arts departments were located here. By shifting academic activities to the main campus, the state government and the university wants to convert Tagore’s house to a tourist spot and have a Tagore research centre.
The fine arts section consisting of the Rabindra Sangeet, vocal music, dance, instrumental music, musicology and drama departments will be conducting its exams in June. Students are resisting the move because they feel uncomfortable taking the exams in a new venue.
“Shifting academic activities of the Jorashanko campus to our main campus was part of the university’s 10th five-year plan. The visual arts department has already moved but the fine arts department is taking more time to shift,” said Shontosh Kumar Gharui, registrar of the university. “We understand the student’s problem and we will only shift the campus after October, when all exams are over. Then students will have no problems moving to the new campus and adjusting there,” he added.
Many faculty members had alleged that the ambience at the B.T Road campus and the new building constructed for the fine arts department did not gel with the subjects to be taught there. Refuting the allegations, Gharui said, “What will a student do with ambience while he is learning? Moreover, the 5-storyed fine arts building is bigger than the present building used by them at Jorashanko. So there is no scope for complaints.”
On the contrary, according to the registrar, the shift to the new campus will give students the opportunity to study mainstream subjects along with fine arts as an honours subject. This will increase their chances of becoming a schoolteacher, as only students having mainstream subjects are eligible to take the School Service Commission exam.
“The protestors are those students and teachers who do not want to go to the new campus because it is far from their home and would not allow them to take tuitions. They are ignoring the fact that the shift will make the students more employable,” said a high placed university official.mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com

Al-Ameen Mission bags top three positions in board exam

Mou Chakraborty,
Kolkata, May 23, 2007

It is a win-win situation for the Al-Ameen Mission School, Howrah. All the three probable toppers for the High Madrasah exam are from this institution.
The High Madrasah examination is equivalent to Madhymik. Safiqul Hassan, son of a farmer in Hooghly, secured 97.2 per cent and is the probable topper. Mohosin Baidya followed with 96.8 per cent. The third position went to Shekh Amir Ali with 90.3 per cent.
Nurul Islam, the school secretary, revealed the secret behind the institution’s success. “We admit poor but meritorious students through an admission test. The children know they can fulfil their dreams only through studies,” explained Islam. “Education is almost free for them, and the students don’t suffer too many distractions, as ours is a residential school. As a result, the students are able to concentrate on their studies,” he added.
Hassan wants to become a doctor and treat people living in the villages. Baidya and Ali, on the other hand, said they would opt for engineering.
This year, 22,325 students appeared in High Madrasah and the pass percentage was 66.21 per cent. While 3,069 students took the Alim exam, 63.63 per cent cleared it. The Fazil exam, which is equivalent to the Higher Secondary was taken by 497 students and 83.44 per cent passed. The Kamil exam, equivalent to graduation, was taken by 361 students and 83.84 per cent cleared it. And all the 217 students taking the MM exam, which is equivalent to Masters, passed the examination.
The exams are conducted by the West Bengal Board of Madrasah Education and the results can be accessed through the board’s website www.wbmadrasahboard.org.
In order to prevent any forgery of mark sheets, board, this year, has introduced a unique ink mark on them. “There is a black mark on all the mark sheets. It turns white when it is exposed to temperatures above 45 degrees. It becomes black again when brought back to normal temperature. This is a special imported ink, and forging is impossible,” said Soharab Hussain, the board president.
The board had earlier introduced holograms to prevent forgery and they will be there this year, too. In its attempt to bring Higher Madrasah at par with Madhymik from the new academic session, geography will upgraded to a 100-mark course from the present 50. The school began distributing the mark sheets and certificates from Wednesday.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Turn on the music to teach English grammer

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, May 22, 2007

Want to teach grammar to students? Well, how about turning on the music! Want to introduce a new English word in the class? Just pick up a chart buster top of the pops and play it in the class.
These are the tricks of the trade being taught by English language training expert Jennifer R Crandall to over 80 school, college and universities teachers from all over the state. The two day workshop organised by American Library aims at helping teachers to make teaching English enjoyable.
Music can be used in a classroom to enhance listening skills, promote critical thinking and encourage discussion. “Using music as a teaching tool generates interest among the students and they do not forget their lessons in a hurry,” said Crandall. “This technique can be applied to all level of learners, right from the kindergarten to the university,” she added.
According to Crandall, teachers can use English songs in the class to introduce and explain new words. Taking a step further, the students can be asked to explain the meaning of the lyrics. “This can be done by asking students to frame questions on the lyrics and also prepare multiple choice answers. In this way, the student never tends to forget what he has learnt. Teachers can also understand who are the weak students without an exam,” she added.
Music can be used to teach the students grammar and while introducing or wrapping up a chapter in class. Say if a teacher is teaching adjectives, she can leave a blank on every seven or ten words and ask the students to fill them up. And in that way she can introduce or wrap up the topic in class,” Crandall added.
Music can also talk about burning topics like alienation of the youth. “If we are trying to discuss youth alienation, I would introduce a song named ‘Superman’ by the Canadian group 5 4 Fighting. I would ask the students what Superman means to them. The song talks about alienation and by discussing it we encourage the students to discuss their links with society. By discussing problems with their peers, students can get relief,” Crandall said.
But finding the right song to teach the subject can be difficult. “It needs a thorough research by a teacher to pinpoint the right song. It can be popular or unknown, but the lyrics should help them to explain whatever she is teaching,” Crandall said. “There are many websites which helps the teachers to hunt for songs with ‘right lyrics’, which the teachers can log on to,” Crandall added. The teachers can also pick up songs from the weekly list of top ten English songs given on the Internet and newspapers.
(mou.hindstanimes@yahoo.com)

Monday, May 21, 2007

Multiple choice makes the difference in WBJEE

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, May 21, 2007
Despite scepticism about multiple-choice questions for WBJEE, the decision was vindicated when many successful candidates in this years’ exam credited their performance to that fact.
Take the case of Abhishek Rai who passed his Class XII exams in 2004 from Kendriya Vidyalaya in Burdwan. After three failed attempts, he topped the medical entrance exams this year. “Multiple-choice questions are a part of most all-India competitive exams. So, when WBJEE stared the MCQ pattern, I did not require separate preparation and that had a lot to do with my improved performance,” the topper said.
Monodeep Kar of Uttarpara Government High School has come 2nd and 9th in the engineering and medical entrance exams respectively. Monodeep is keen to study computer science at any IIT and would wait till the announcement of IITJEE results, before making the final decision. Contesting the opinion of many state board students, his father Nirmal said, “MCQ cannot be a problem for students of any board if they study their textbooks thoroughly. On the contrary, it helps them prepare for a wide range of competitive exams.”
Rubaina Siddique has come 7th in the medical entrance on her third attempt. Currently, studying B.Tech in information technology from the Calcutta Institute of Technology, Rubaina cannot wait to step inside Medical College. “I have always aspired to become a doctor and this time I feel the MCQ pattern made all the difference. While taking the exam we have to think about the answer but if choices are provided and one has studied well, it becomes easier to choose the correct answer,” she said.
The West Bengal Board of Joint Entrance Exam has decided to retain the MCQ pattern, but they would be introducing a new element for next years’ exams. Announcements would be made later.
“This years’ results prove that state board students are comfortable with the MCQ pattern. Since this pattern is followed in IITJEE and All-India Engineering Entrance Exam (AIEEE), the task of preparing for these exams will become easier,” said V.K. Shome, principal of Pathfinder, a popular coaching institute.
Continuing last few years’ trend, lesser-known schools — many from the districts — have outshone their more well-known city counterparts in this years’ WBJEE.
The top position for engineering has gone to Subhasish Das of Bolpur Nichupati Nirad Barani High School, while the medical entrance topper is from Burdwan, as mentioned earlier. Kolkata schools have failed to secure a place in the top 10, apart from Uddipata Maity of Araidaha Kalachand High School who stood 4th and South Point High School student Aashish Kumar, who came 6th in engineering. Also, two students from Rajasthan have featured in the WBJEE top-ten.
However, from next year, outstation exams centres have been abolished and candidates will have to travel to the state to sit for the exam. Also, from this year, successful medical candidates will have to produce a domicile certificate, failing which their admission will be cancelled.
Talking about the failure of city candidates to secure top spots in the exams, N.R. Banerjea, chairman of the WBJEE board, said, “This definitely does not mean that city students are bad. It only shows that the format of the exam has been accepted by students all over and meritorious students have outperformed others.”
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com

Fast track admission option in state engineering colleges

Mou Chakraborty,
Kolkata, May 21, 2007
From this year, a limited number of candidates who have the money to spare can get direct admission to private engineering colleges in the state, in their choice of subject. Provided they have appeared in the list of successful candidates.
The state government from this year has allowed private engineering colleges a 10 per cent management and NRI quota, to fill up seats. But, in return, the government has asked the 62 private colleges to offer 10 per cent seats free and 5 per cent seats at half the standard fees to needy students.
The management and NRI quota students will not have to appear for counselling and can approach colleges directly. But, while management quota students have to be among the 45,000 rank-holders in this years’ WBJEE, students seeking admission through the NRI quota need not even appear for the WBJEE. “We cannot expect a student coming from Australia or the US to have taken WBJEE. They can take direct admission if they are other wise eligible. The state will follow the Supreme Court guideline regarding fees and admission procedures through management/NRI quota,” said Sudarsan Roychoudhuri, state higher education minister.
“In the past, colleges have illegally admitted some students even after counselling got over. By offering them the quota, we have given them a chance to do it legally. But, we will set up a monitoring cell to check whether they are indeed offering seats to poor students,” said Roychoudhuri.
The Central Selection Committee, that conducts counselling for engineering aspirants, however, has not received any government order regarding implementation. The committee will counsel 80 per cent students from WBJEE and 10 per cent students from AIEEE to fill up 17,000 seats in private and government engineering colleges in the state.
Last year, the government had to publish a merit list of upto 80,000 rank-holders to fill up vacant seats in the private engineering colleges. This year, counselling for engineering will be preceded by medical and IITJEE counselling, to reduce dropout rates.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com

Monday, May 14, 2007

The mad mad world of science

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, May 14, 2007
Your child might already have an inclination towards the sciences or maybe they are like some who shy away from the subject. Parents need not always look for a “good teacher” from now on, as there is fun way to learn science in the city.
Coming to India for the first time, is an international organisation – Mad Science – specialising in teaching science to schoolchildren in a fun manner. And the good news is that the organisation will be based in the city.
“We specialise in organising crazy scientific experiments for schoolchildren between 6 and 12 years. Our aim is to help them fall in love with science through fun at a tender age. So, when they grow up they can take to the subject naturally and maybe pursue a career in science. Mad Science engages children in scientific explorations that are so much fun that children will forget they are learning,” said Anirban Chanda, head of Mad Science in Kolkata.
Mad Science originated in Montreal, Canada in 1985. It was the brainchild of two brothers, Ariel and Ron Shlien. As children, the brothers loved performing crazy scientific experiments for friends in their neighbourhood. Currently, Mad Science has a presence in over 23 countries, including the US, the UK, Italy, Singapore, Malaysia and Canada. “The Mad Science performances are famous all over the world. Our presentations are 60 per cent entertainment and 40 per cent education. Children do not want to spend time after school with a science tutor when they go home. So, we offer them the knowledge through fun,” said Chanda.
Text books, exercise books, blackboards and homework are banned in Mad Science programmes. Mad Science instructors have their own experiment kits and according to the syllabus being followed, the children are assisted to try out upto 10 experiments in a one-hour class. The organisation specialises in imparting practical, hands-on knowledge of science through fun-filled experiments. And the good part is that they will probably remember the experience and could well be spurred on to greater things.
Mad Science offers several types of programmes such as, yearlong workshops in schools, summer camps, after-school and pre-school programmes. They kicked off by organising a summer camp at Science City from May 14 to May. “We are approaching various schools for tie-ups and parents can also send their children to us for after school programmes conducted on weekends spread over 8 weeks,” said Chanda.
You can invite Mad Science to your child’s birthday parties too. “Our no-mess, hassle-free parties typically last one hour, with the option of special add-ons, like cotton candy-making, bubbling potions and rocket launches. Children will discover objects that float through columns of air, marvel at the mystery of fireworks, see the power of static electricity and be amazed by green-glowing water,” Chanda added.
The programmes start from Rs 2,000 per student and to know more about the programmes, you can log on to www.madscience.org.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

National level common entrance test to study law to strat soon

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, May 9, 2007

The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) is set to introduce a common entrance test for students who want to study five-year Bachelor of Arts degree in Law in the national law institutes across the country. While the University Grants Commission (UGC) has formed a committee led by Professor Mool Chand Shrama, the commission’s Vice Chairman, the committee consists of MHRD Joint Secretary Sunil Kumar and the heads of seven national law institutes, including Vice Chancellor M.P. Singh of the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (WBNUJS).
The committee is presently busy drafting the modalities of the common entrance test for students who would be seeking admission in the seven national institutes, including Gujarat National Law University, National Law Institute University (Bhopal), National Law School of India University (Bangalore), National Law University (Jodhpur), WBNUJS, Hidayatullah National Law University (Raipur) and Hyderabad-based National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR). “Though I am personally not looking into it, UGC is in the process of starting a national level common entrance examination for students seeking admission in law schools,” UGC chairman Professor Sukhdeo Thorat said.
The UGC, however, is yet to decid what the common entrance should be called. The decision till now is to have a centrallised counselling for rank holders, following which individual law schools can send call letters to qualifying students as is done by the IIMs after CAT results are declared. While the next stage for admisison could be participation in a group discussion, the committtee is still yet to decide on this model. “We still have some time in our hand to fine tune it,” said Professor Balraj Chauhan, director of the Bhopal-based university.
He infomred that the move was being taken as a Supreme Court judgement urged all national law schools to have a common entrance test so that students do not have to sit for separate entracnce tests at different law schools. “We are also trying to see if upcoming law schools can be brought under the ambit of the test. Our aim is to start this entrance test in 2008 as students seek admission for the next academic session. Since specailsiation in law has become a lucatrive career option, we will be able to get the best of talents only if we have a centralised exam,” Professor Chauhan added.
The special commite will be holding a meeting end of this month to decide if other law schools like Symbiosis Society’s Law College, Amity Law School, ILS Law College (Pune) and Tamil Nadu-based Dr Ambedkar Law University, National University for Advanced Legal Studies, Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Ram Manohar Lohia Rashtriya Vidhi Sansthan and the Chanakya Naional Law University, besides some state colleges can be brought under the exam’s umbrella.
While different law schools also follow different syllabus, the committee is in the process of designing a common syllabus for the entrance test, including both objective and subjective questions, etsing students’ skills in general scince, English, general ability, legal aptitutde and IQ. “We are keeping in mind that students sititng for the exam would be Higher Secondary pass outs or those appered in Class 12. We would ensure that areas covered in the common entrace test is not out of bounds for them,” said Chauhan, who is also responsible for forming the exam syllabus.
According to available satisics, over while 2.5 lakh students enrol for BA Ll.B every year but only around 700 study in national law institutes. A section of committee members belive they are successful in bringing other national law schools under the test’s umbrella, students would have to face less harrasment.

mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com

Monday, May 7, 2007

Shoot the moon with a little help form the SFI

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, May 7, 2007
With the results of Class X and XII board exams and competitive exams such as WBJEE and IITJEE expected soon, the Students Federation of India (SFI) has decided to conduct career counselling for these students across the state.
“The SFI will conduct career counselling programmes in all 19 districts in May and June. This is a crucial period for students, as they have to decide about their higher studies, its costs and take the plunge. The SFI will help them in this matter of decision making,” said Apurbo Chatterjee, state secretary of SFI.
This year SFI has decided to give more importance to its units in schools and will also initiate interaction with guardians of students and the career counselling programme is a step forward in that direction.
All SFI local committees will visit homes where a student has appeared in a board or a competitive exam and will ask them to fill up a form. It will record the marks obtained by the students in his or her academic career and also about his ambitions. It will also make a note of the both the students’ proficiencies and drawbacks. The survey would also ascertain whether the student can afford higher studies.
Then students and their guardians would be invited to a day-long convention, where teachers and educationists of the area, will offer counselling on probable careers that might suit the student. SFI members who also work as career counsellors might also offer guidance to students. If there is a demand for a particular career option, then experts in that field will an insider’s view of the profession.
A career guide published by SFI will also be on sale. It will inform students about various educational and professional institutes in the state, admission procedure, fee structure and the cut-off marks for admission in various institutions the previous year.
The SFI would also give economic assistance to those with a cash crunch. “We will collect funds from our members throughout the year to help finance higher education of needy students. We will also approach others to help out,” said Sudip Sengupta, state president of SFI.
Those who are weak in studies need not lose heart. “If a student is not good in studies, there is no need for them to worry. We will encourage such students to take up various vocational courses launched by the state,” said Sengupta.
The SFI has also joined hands with Democratic Youth Federation of India, to help those who want to discontinue their studies and start something of their own. Various self-help and entrepreneurship development schemes offered by the state and the methods of availing them will be discussed. They will also get tips about procuring loans for their ventures.
Though students’ groups of the opposition see this as damage control by the SFI post Nandigram and Singur, the SFI has refuted the allegation. “We have organised such events before but on a smaller scale. This time we want to reach out to as many students as possible,” said Sengupta. However, the SFI will organise signature campaigns against the violence in Nandigram in June.mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com

Proposal might bring sea change to higher education

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, May 7, 2007
A proposal by the Distance Education Council (DEC) of the ministry of human resource development (MHRD) can bring sweeping changes to higher education in the state. But, for that to happen it has to be accepted by the state higher education department.
According to the proposal, a college or university can offer a combination-mode of education. Picture yourself attending a full-time course and also pursuing another programme by this method, where you can attend weekend classes and also access lectures and study material online. Moreover, you can enrol in the two courses in two separate colleges or universities. A college or university will be permitted to enrol 40 pre cent students for the regular course and the rest under the combination mode or distance education mode. The programme would be entirely funded by the MHRD
The chairman of DEC — V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai was in the city on May 3 to discuss this proposal named ‘Convergence between the traditional face-to-face university education and distance learning for the benefit of both’. He conducted a meeting at the West Bengal State Council of Higher Education (WBSCHE) office with state higher education minister Sudarsan Roychaudhuri, and vice chancellors of all state universities.
Currently 10 per cent students in the 16 to 21 years age-group pursue higher education. The scheme is being offered to colleges and universities to double the figure to 20 per cent. The DEC along with IGNOU, in collaboration with UGC, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and National Council for Teachers Education (NCTE) will help institutions to implement this scheme.
“The higher education minister was very positive about the proposal. We have invited all the vice chancellors to Delhi so that we can discuss the proposal in detail. Many have shown interest,” said Pillai.
Any college or university agreeing to the proposal will have sign an MoU with IGNOU and DEC. Even though, much of the course would be imparted via the internet, laboratory and library facilities would be available to students. “IGNOU will train the teachers to be tech-savvy. While we are urging full-time teachers to take some classes during the weekends, part-time teachers can also be engaged. Full-time teachers will be paid extra for conducting classes,” said Pillai.
The examination and evaluation process will be the same as that for students studying under the general course. Exams will be held together with the same set of question papers and the results too will be declared concurrently. Also, the mode of education will not be mentioned in the mark-sheet or certificate. “Through this programme the resources of institutions will be optimally utilised. Especially good colleges which have limited seats can enrol more students,” he said.
But the state is mulling over the matter before taking the final decision. “We have just got the details and need to study it further,” said Subimal Sen, vice-chairman of WBSCHE. The programme will be launched in July and according to Pillai about 15 universities across the country has shown interest.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com

Friday, May 4, 2007

School for children of foreigners in the city

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, May 4, 2007
Come August the city will get a special school for children of diplomats living in the city and for those whose parents work with international business houses and keep travelling from one country to another.
The US consulate has come up with American School Kolkata (ASK), which is scheduled to open its doors to students from August 6. The school is not only a welcome relief for diplomats and other foreign nationals who live in the city, but it will also ensure an increase in trade with various multinationals.
“I hope that ASK will serve as a magnet for foreign businesses and as a vote of confidence for the rapid economic growth in this region. American Schools already exist in Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai, and are a key factor in the decision by international organisations and companies as to the location of their offices and personnel. We have also received much encouragement from the state government, as they clearly see the advantages of having an American international school in Kolkata,” said Henry V. Jardine, the US consul general in Kolkata.
The American School in Delhi already has 1,300 students and the one in Mumbai has 700 students. Chennai has about 400 students. “The demand for a berth at these schools are on the rise and we expect the same with its Kolkata counterpart. This is because people who are on the move and need to set up temporary base in eastern India will send their children to ASK. Thus, when they go to another country there is a parity in the syllabus,” said Jardine.
The Indian government however, will not allow Indian nationals to study in ASK and it will be limited to children holding foreign passports, a landed immigrant or those of comparable status. “If the government of India changes its policy, we would love to welcome Indian students at ASK. However, NRIs who come back to India for a brief period can also send their children to ASK,” said Jardine.
Indian teachers have a slim chance of becoming a faculty member at ASK. “The faculty positions are open to people of any nationality who have American certification or have worked in American schools,” he informed.
ASK will open with not more than 10 students and that too in the early elementary grades. As the demand increases, the school will grow in size to meet that demand. The school will start its operations from the US consulate office in the city and will be shifted to another address when expansion is required. The subjects will include, language arts, mathematics, science, social studies and foreign languages. There will also be specialised classes in art, health, and music. The school later plans to offer International Baccalaureate diploma programmes to its students.
“We will adopt a student-centric approach of education, where, we will be encouraging students to correlate whatever they are learning with the real world. The teachers will just be the facilitators,” said Kathleen Dickinson Jardine, the teacher of ASK.
The fees of ASK will be higher compared to that of other schools offering an international curriculum in the city. The admission process has already begun and for additional information call 3984-2400 or email at ask@aes.ac.in.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com

Thursday, May 3, 2007

Students to travel to other colleges to give exams

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, May 3, 2007
The students of all the private engineering and management colleges in the state will have to appear for their exams in some other private college from June. And they will have to make the trip twice a year, as there are 2 semesters in an academic year.
To begin with first and second year students are not being allotted home centres but in 6 months, from the next semester, students from the first and final years will also not be allotted home centres.
The West Bengal University of Technology (WBUT), to which all private engineering and management colleges in the state are affiliated, has taken this decision, which is to be implemented from the semester exams starting this June. The circular notifying colleges of this decision have been sent already.
Recruiters have often questioned the quality of graduates from private institutes, since they have been given home centres. The move by the university will definitely address this issue. The vice-chancellor of the university, A.R. Thakur, however refused to term this action of the university as a quality check on private engineering and management colleges in the state. “By not allowing home centres we are not trying to improve our quality. Instead, we are demonstrating the quality of the students. If the students study well then their results will not depend on their exam centre,” Thakur said.
Out of 105 private colleges in the state, 62 are engineering colleges and the rest offer management courses. To set the ball rolling, students of 80 private colleges will not get home centres. The university has allowed students of the remaining 25 colleges to appear for their exams in their own colleges due to the non-availability of a private college nearby. There are over 65,000 students studying in various colleges under WBUT, of which there are about 22,000 students studying in their first year.
But students of various private engineering colleges are agitated about the move. The authorities however, are no ready to listen to their objections. “Students will have to take the exam wherever they are asked to. If required, they will have to go to the moon to take the exam. They have no right to protest under any pretext. The transport system is good in the state and we are allotting seats by calculating its distance from the place where the students study,” said Thakur.
“If they wanted to implement such a decision, they should have given us some sort of notification, and not have done this just one month before the exams. Moreover, there are many students who travel over 50 km to reach his/her college and the examination centre may be further away from his/her home. What will he do?” asked an engineering student of college in Agarpara.
But WBUT is adamant about their decision. “If younger students appearing for the HS and Madhyamik can appear for their exam from a different school, then it should not be a problem for students who are doing their graduation. Appearing for exams at home centres is as good as taking it at home. If students of professional degree courses all over the country can do this, then it will not be a problem for anyone here,” said Thakur.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Free ship for poor students in private engineer colleges

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, May 2, 2007
THE GOVERNMENT will make it mandatory for all private engineering colleges in the state to reserve seats for economically backward students. It wants 10 per cent of its seats free and another five per cent made available at half the normal fees.
To compensate for the revenue lost, the colleges will be allowed to introduce paid seats. It can charge higher fees for 10 per cent of its seats, which will be called the management quota. All three quotas will be introduced simultaneously.
Often, needy students pass WBJEE but don’t go for counselling because they cannot pay the tuition fee charged by private engineering colleges. The move is aimed at benefiting them, and the state hopes colleges will take the management quota bait.
“Private engineering colleges can introduce a management quota if they offer 10 per cent free seats to meritorious but economically backward students, and five per cent seats for the same category at half the tuition fees,” state higher education minister Sudarsan Roychoudhuri said, without specifying when the quotas would be introduced.
Insiders said the government would send circulars to all engineering colleges in the next five days. The West Bengal University of Technology (WBUT), which governs all 62 private engineering college in the state, has already received the circular.
“Though we are yet to make an official announcement regarding this, the matter has already been discussed at a very high-level meeting. If the higher education minister wants, it will be implemented from this academic session itself,” a government official said.
The management quota has already been introduced in state medical colleges. Though there were initial protests, well-to-do students, especially NRIs, are paying for such seats. At the private engineering colleges, students can get admitted under the quota after appearing for WBJEE.
The SFI had recently urged the state government to introduce a management quota in private engineering colleges. “Private engineering colleges anyways take in some students with donations. If we legalise this process then the colleges will make their money and will at the same time be in a position to offer free and subsidised seats to needy students,” said SFI state president Sudip Sengupta.
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