Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, June 28, 2007
The last day of counselling on Thursday for admission to law colleges in Kolkata was stopped abruptly due to students’ protests following the university move to curtail seats without prior information.
Counselling was taking place at Hazra Law College since Monday and there were 1,280 seats up for grabs for the BA LLB course at the 6 law colleges under Calcutta University. The varsity had called 1,931 students for counselling and on Thursday, applicants realised 140 seats had been reduced at Surendranath Law College.
Angry students blocked Hazra Road from 12.30 pm to 6 pm. Seven students were injured in a lathi-charge when the police dispersed the protesters. “So many students have come to take admission, only to discover that seats have been curtailed. We will not let this happen,” said Abhijit Nashkar, unit secretary of All Indian Students Block (AISB) at Hazra Law College.
There were originally 840 seats in four government law colleges including Hazra Law College, Jogesh Chandra Law College, South Calcutta Law College and Surendranath Law College Two private law colleges, Kingston Law College and Vikas Bharti Law College offer 80 seats each. “I had not taken admission at a general degree college, because I was sure I would get admission in a government law college. Now that will not be possible and I only have the option of getting admitted to a private law college. But then, I cannot pay Rs 35,000 as fees every year,” said Poulami Ghosh, who has ranked 1,088 in the entrance exam.
CU authorities however, claim they had no other option but to reduce the number of seats. An inspection carried out by the university found that Surendranath Law College did not have adequate number of teachers and did not even have a principal. “According to Bar Council rules, colleges need to maintain a 1:40 teacher- student ratio,” said Imtiaz Gulam Ahmed, dean of law, CU.
Ahmed refused to accept that students did not know about the curtailing of seats. “After the seats were curtailed, all the law colleges had put up the information on their notice board. We do not have money to put up advertisements in newspapers every time. If students do not bother to look up the notice board we cannot help,” he said.
Teachers at the counselling session however, alleged that it was neither the university nor the bar council but Surendranath Law College that was at fault. According to them, the college did not take in full-time teachers even after posts were sanctioned. Instead, they preferred to hire contractual teachers.
The SFI said AISB should not have misguided guardians. “The university owes an explanation for the matter but, nothing can be done if seats are curtailed to maintain quality,” said Sudip Sengupta, state president of SFI.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Law counselling ends on abrupt note
Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, June 28, 2007
The last day of counselling on Thursday for admission to law colleges in Kolkata was stopped abruptly due to students’ protests following the university move to curtail seats without prior information.
Counselling was taking place at Hazra Law College since Monday and there were 1,280 seats up for grabs for the BA LLB course at the 6 law colleges under Calcutta University. The varsity had called 1,931 students for counselling and on Thursday, applicants realised 140 seats had been reduced at Surendranath Law College.
Angry students blocked Hazra Road from 12.30 pm to 6 pm. Seven students were injured in a lathi-charge when the police dispersed the protesters. “So many students have come to take admission, only to discover that seats have been curtailed. We will not let this happen,” said Abhijit Nashkar, unit secretary of All Indian Students Block (AISB) at Hazra Law College.
There were originally 840 seats in four government law colleges including Hazra Law College, Jogesh Chandra Law College, South Calcutta Law College and Surendranath Law College Two private law colleges, Kingston Law College and Vikas Bharti Law College offer 80 seats each. “I had not taken admission at a general degree college, because I was sure I would get admission in a government law college. Now that will not be possible and I only have the option of getting admitted to a private law college. But then, I cannot pay Rs 35,000 as fees every year,” said Poulami Ghosh, who has ranked 1,088 in the entrance exam.
CU authorities however, claim they had no other option but to reduce the number of seats. An inspection carried out by the university found that Surendranath Law College did not have adequate number of teachers and did not even have a principal. “According to Bar Council rules, colleges need to maintain a 1:40 teacher- student ratio,” said Imtiaz Gulam Ahmed, dean of law, CU.
Ahmed refused to accept that students did not know about the curtailing of seats. “After the seats were curtailed, all the law colleges had put up the information on their notice board. We do not have money to put up advertisements in newspapers every time. If students do not bother to look up the notice board we cannot help,” he said.
Teachers at the counselling session however, alleged that it was neither the university nor the bar council but Surendranath Law College that was at fault. According to them, the college did not take in full-time teachers even after posts were sanctioned. Instead, they preferred to hire contractual teachers.
The SFI said AISB should not have misguided guardians. “The university owes an explanation for the matter but, nothing can be done if seats are curtailed to maintain quality,” said Sudip Sengupta, state president of SFI.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
Kolkata, June 28, 2007
The last day of counselling on Thursday for admission to law colleges in Kolkata was stopped abruptly due to students’ protests following the university move to curtail seats without prior information.
Counselling was taking place at Hazra Law College since Monday and there were 1,280 seats up for grabs for the BA LLB course at the 6 law colleges under Calcutta University. The varsity had called 1,931 students for counselling and on Thursday, applicants realised 140 seats had been reduced at Surendranath Law College.
Angry students blocked Hazra Road from 12.30 pm to 6 pm. Seven students were injured in a lathi-charge when the police dispersed the protesters. “So many students have come to take admission, only to discover that seats have been curtailed. We will not let this happen,” said Abhijit Nashkar, unit secretary of All Indian Students Block (AISB) at Hazra Law College.
There were originally 840 seats in four government law colleges including Hazra Law College, Jogesh Chandra Law College, South Calcutta Law College and Surendranath Law College Two private law colleges, Kingston Law College and Vikas Bharti Law College offer 80 seats each. “I had not taken admission at a general degree college, because I was sure I would get admission in a government law college. Now that will not be possible and I only have the option of getting admitted to a private law college. But then, I cannot pay Rs 35,000 as fees every year,” said Poulami Ghosh, who has ranked 1,088 in the entrance exam.
CU authorities however, claim they had no other option but to reduce the number of seats. An inspection carried out by the university found that Surendranath Law College did not have adequate number of teachers and did not even have a principal. “According to Bar Council rules, colleges need to maintain a 1:40 teacher- student ratio,” said Imtiaz Gulam Ahmed, dean of law, CU.
Ahmed refused to accept that students did not know about the curtailing of seats. “After the seats were curtailed, all the law colleges had put up the information on their notice board. We do not have money to put up advertisements in newspapers every time. If students do not bother to look up the notice board we cannot help,” he said.
Teachers at the counselling session however, alleged that it was neither the university nor the bar council but Surendranath Law College that was at fault. According to them, the college did not take in full-time teachers even after posts were sanctioned. Instead, they preferred to hire contractual teachers.
The SFI said AISB should not have misguided guardians. “The university owes an explanation for the matter but, nothing can be done if seats are curtailed to maintain quality,” said Sudip Sengupta, state president of SFI.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Best brains desert govt schools
Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, June 27, 2007
It can be called brain drain. Poor infrastructure and lack of choice of subjects are the chief reasons why government schools are losing meritorious students in Class XI. Government schools are unable to offer computer science and high scoring laboratory based subjects like biology, geography, statistics, home management and nutrition.
Crestfallen at losing the best brains, teachers have approached the school education department for immediate remedy. “Students want to take up subjects like computer science but we do not have full time teachers. Many students have left government schools and we have submitted a memorandum to the school education department,” said Dipak Das, general secretary of Wes Bengal Government School Teachers’ Association.
There are 44 government schools and each of them has at least 10 computers. The problem is lack of quality teachers. The companies provide for computer and teachers. The schools collect Rs 35 every month from all students as computer education fee. “The teachers given by the companies are fit to make the students computer literate. However, they cannot handle the course and we do not have control over them,” Das said.
Teachers blame the companies for not maintaining the computers and many of them are out of order. “Hindu School gives Rs 35000 to the companies monthly. Instead of giving money to the companies, the government can provide for two full time teachers and also maintain the computers. It will be a more profitable proposition,” said Das.
The teachers have also urged the government to select computer science teachers through the Public Service Commission exams before the beginning of the next academic session. So by 2008, the government schools can retain their best students.
Many government schools are unable to offer modern lab based subjects like biology, geography and statistics. “Most of the schools do not have teachers and laboratory for these subjects,” said Das.
“Lab based subjects are more scoring and that is why students want to take it up. Our inability to cater to this popular demand is costing us. Despite the teachers best efforts, we are unable to retain talent,” Das added. Many government schools are also unable to offer top arts subjects like education and music, which is very scoring and has a high demand. Reacting to the demand, school education minister Partha De said, “We will look into the problem and see what can be done.”
Meanwhile, three government schools, one in Kalyani and two in Cooch Behar are not offering science stream thus losing out their best students to government sponsored and private schools in the locality.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
Kolkata, June 27, 2007
It can be called brain drain. Poor infrastructure and lack of choice of subjects are the chief reasons why government schools are losing meritorious students in Class XI. Government schools are unable to offer computer science and high scoring laboratory based subjects like biology, geography, statistics, home management and nutrition.
Crestfallen at losing the best brains, teachers have approached the school education department for immediate remedy. “Students want to take up subjects like computer science but we do not have full time teachers. Many students have left government schools and we have submitted a memorandum to the school education department,” said Dipak Das, general secretary of Wes Bengal Government School Teachers’ Association.
There are 44 government schools and each of them has at least 10 computers. The problem is lack of quality teachers. The companies provide for computer and teachers. The schools collect Rs 35 every month from all students as computer education fee. “The teachers given by the companies are fit to make the students computer literate. However, they cannot handle the course and we do not have control over them,” Das said.
Teachers blame the companies for not maintaining the computers and many of them are out of order. “Hindu School gives Rs 35000 to the companies monthly. Instead of giving money to the companies, the government can provide for two full time teachers and also maintain the computers. It will be a more profitable proposition,” said Das.
The teachers have also urged the government to select computer science teachers through the Public Service Commission exams before the beginning of the next academic session. So by 2008, the government schools can retain their best students.
Many government schools are unable to offer modern lab based subjects like biology, geography and statistics. “Most of the schools do not have teachers and laboratory for these subjects,” said Das.
“Lab based subjects are more scoring and that is why students want to take it up. Our inability to cater to this popular demand is costing us. Despite the teachers best efforts, we are unable to retain talent,” Das added. Many government schools are also unable to offer top arts subjects like education and music, which is very scoring and has a high demand. Reacting to the demand, school education minister Partha De said, “We will look into the problem and see what can be done.”
Meanwhile, three government schools, one in Kalyani and two in Cooch Behar are not offering science stream thus losing out their best students to government sponsored and private schools in the locality.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Normality returned to South City Day College on Tuesday after five days of turmoil.
Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, June 26, 2007
Classes will begin from July 7 and the teachers have promised to cooperate. The admission process will also go on normally.
The teachers of the college met principal Khogen Adhikari and the latter managed to convince them into withdrawing their resignations. “The teachers agreed to take back their resignations. They are not against the students but it had become impossible for them to continue tolerating the protests organised by the students for the wrong reasons. I understand their position,” Adhikari said.
The teachers urged the college administration to ensure that a healthy and peaceful atmosphere on the campus and to encourage academic activities. They have also asked the administration to take steps for the safety of the teaching and non-teaching employees during students agitations or similar situations.
Though the teachers have taken back their resignations, the matter has to be reported to the governing body of the college.
The students had submitted a written apology to the teachers on June 22, a day after all 30 teachers of the college put in their papers in protest against a students’ agitation.
The SFI-led students’ union had gheraoed the teachers for over 10 hours, alleging that transparency was not being maintained in the admission process. The teachers, however, denied the allegation.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
Kolkata, June 26, 2007
Classes will begin from July 7 and the teachers have promised to cooperate. The admission process will also go on normally.
The teachers of the college met principal Khogen Adhikari and the latter managed to convince them into withdrawing their resignations. “The teachers agreed to take back their resignations. They are not against the students but it had become impossible for them to continue tolerating the protests organised by the students for the wrong reasons. I understand their position,” Adhikari said.
The teachers urged the college administration to ensure that a healthy and peaceful atmosphere on the campus and to encourage academic activities. They have also asked the administration to take steps for the safety of the teaching and non-teaching employees during students agitations or similar situations.
Though the teachers have taken back their resignations, the matter has to be reported to the governing body of the college.
The students had submitted a written apology to the teachers on June 22, a day after all 30 teachers of the college put in their papers in protest against a students’ agitation.
The SFI-led students’ union had gheraoed the teachers for over 10 hours, alleging that transparency was not being maintained in the admission process. The teachers, however, denied the allegation.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Wanted: teaching assistants at IIMC
Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, June 24, 2007
Students pursuing their masters’ degree or PhD at institutions such as Jadavpur University and Calcutta University might consider heading to the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIMC) for a teaching post.
From this year, IIMC has decided to hire bright university students as teaching assistants to teach their first-year students. Till now, second-year students of IIMC used to double up as teaching assistants, by helping freshers to understand whatever is taught after regular classes. “The decision to hire teaching assistants for first-year students has already been taken. Soon we will start recruitment,” said Anindya Sen, dean of program and research initiative, IIMC.
Explaining why second-year students were relieved of their assignment, Sen said, “The second-year students are under a lot of academic pressure and they also have to do their internships at various companies. It becomes very difficult for them to help first-year students with their study lessons. Sometimes they had to do so at very late hours and we decided to do away with it.”
The teaching assistants hired from various universities will have to attend classes at IIM along with the freshers and then stay back on campus for “tutoring sessions”. “We will hire students specialising on the module being taught in class. Thus the teaching assistant should have in-dept knowledge about the subject and should be able to handle teaching others,” said Sen.
This year 300 students have taken admission in IIMC and they have 3 semesters in their first-year covering 17 different courses. There will be different assistants for each of these courses. The teaching assistants will have to come to campus at least 5 days a week for a duration of 3 months, which is the timeframe of each semester. “After the course gets over, assistants can go back to their respective campuses and do their research work,” the dean Sen.
Apart from helping students understand their lessons, teaching assistants will be also required to correct answer scripts of class tests and quizzes. The IIMC campus is in the outskirts of the city and it might pose a problem for scholars travelling there. To counter that, IIMC is lining up an attractive compensation package. Apart from good money, the teaching assistants will be given an appointment letter as well as certificate of participation.
They will also have the rare distinction of both studying and teaching at IIMC, which they can put in their CV. That not too bad is it?
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
Kolkata, June 24, 2007
Students pursuing their masters’ degree or PhD at institutions such as Jadavpur University and Calcutta University might consider heading to the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIMC) for a teaching post.
From this year, IIMC has decided to hire bright university students as teaching assistants to teach their first-year students. Till now, second-year students of IIMC used to double up as teaching assistants, by helping freshers to understand whatever is taught after regular classes. “The decision to hire teaching assistants for first-year students has already been taken. Soon we will start recruitment,” said Anindya Sen, dean of program and research initiative, IIMC.
Explaining why second-year students were relieved of their assignment, Sen said, “The second-year students are under a lot of academic pressure and they also have to do their internships at various companies. It becomes very difficult for them to help first-year students with their study lessons. Sometimes they had to do so at very late hours and we decided to do away with it.”
The teaching assistants hired from various universities will have to attend classes at IIM along with the freshers and then stay back on campus for “tutoring sessions”. “We will hire students specialising on the module being taught in class. Thus the teaching assistant should have in-dept knowledge about the subject and should be able to handle teaching others,” said Sen.
This year 300 students have taken admission in IIMC and they have 3 semesters in their first-year covering 17 different courses. There will be different assistants for each of these courses. The teaching assistants will have to come to campus at least 5 days a week for a duration of 3 months, which is the timeframe of each semester. “After the course gets over, assistants can go back to their respective campuses and do their research work,” the dean Sen.
Apart from helping students understand their lessons, teaching assistants will be also required to correct answer scripts of class tests and quizzes. The IIMC campus is in the outskirts of the city and it might pose a problem for scholars travelling there. To counter that, IIMC is lining up an attractive compensation package. Apart from good money, the teaching assistants will be given an appointment letter as well as certificate of participation.
They will also have the rare distinction of both studying and teaching at IIMC, which they can put in their CV. That not too bad is it?
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
Friday, June 22, 2007
Changing courses mid-stream
Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, June 22, 2007
A recent trend among students has put those wanting to study English as their first option at a disadvantage.
Mohit Kashyap (name changed), a science student of St. Stephens’ School has got 70 per cent in his ISC exam. He could not crack JEE and his percentage would not guarantee him a BSc honours seat in any reputed college. Hence, Mohit has applied for English honours in the better colleges in the city and hope to get calls from more than one college because his percentage is higher compared to his competitors from the humanities.
“I could not apply at Lady Brabourne College, because I have 69 per cent aggregate, whereas the college is asking for at least 70 per cent. But many of my friends who had science in their plus-two are applying,” said Anusha Bhowmick, (name changed) who passed out of South Point High School. “This is not right. It is easy for the science students to have a better aggregate. The colleges should have separate eligibility criteria for those seeking English honours from different streams,” she added.
The teachers are helpless. “We know such things happen. But we do not have any option other than preparing a merit list giving equal weightage to all students. That is the university rule,” said Debabrata Chowdhury, principal of Ashutosh College. “The main problem is that while students from any stream can apply for humanities, it is not applicable the other way round. Those who studied humanities in the higher secondary level remain in a disadvantageous position,” he added.
Mohit’s father explained why his son applied for an English course, “When he passed Class X with 80 per cent marks, we insisted that he took up science because that is what we know meritorious students do. And an English honours degree was always the last option for us in case he was unable to do well or crack JEE. English can now offer him several other avenues.”
Some teachers do not object to this line of reasoning. “Some not-so good students from the science stream may apply for English honours, but then they won’t get the subject unless they have the minimum required marks in English. No mater from which stream a student comes they have to be good in the subject,” said Monidipa Ray, principal of Gokhale College.
Malini Bhagat, principal of Mahadevi Birla Girls High School, feels another reason for science students later opting for humanities is immaturity. “I have seen several cases where students discovered they did not like the stream, several months after taking up the course. At Class XI, students are too young to decide which stream to opt for and they take up science thinking it would increase their stature among friends and relatives. But after Class XII, they realise their mistake and are forced to opt for a humanities degree.”
Jadapur University for instance, has seen many science students taking up English. “Last year a successful WBJEE medical candidate chose English because he loved the subject more. Since we conduct a written test, we can distinguish the genuine cases,” said Nilanjana Gupta, professor of English at JU.
mou.chakraborty@hindustantimes.com
Kolkata, June 22, 2007
A recent trend among students has put those wanting to study English as their first option at a disadvantage.
Mohit Kashyap (name changed), a science student of St. Stephens’ School has got 70 per cent in his ISC exam. He could not crack JEE and his percentage would not guarantee him a BSc honours seat in any reputed college. Hence, Mohit has applied for English honours in the better colleges in the city and hope to get calls from more than one college because his percentage is higher compared to his competitors from the humanities.
“I could not apply at Lady Brabourne College, because I have 69 per cent aggregate, whereas the college is asking for at least 70 per cent. But many of my friends who had science in their plus-two are applying,” said Anusha Bhowmick, (name changed) who passed out of South Point High School. “This is not right. It is easy for the science students to have a better aggregate. The colleges should have separate eligibility criteria for those seeking English honours from different streams,” she added.
The teachers are helpless. “We know such things happen. But we do not have any option other than preparing a merit list giving equal weightage to all students. That is the university rule,” said Debabrata Chowdhury, principal of Ashutosh College. “The main problem is that while students from any stream can apply for humanities, it is not applicable the other way round. Those who studied humanities in the higher secondary level remain in a disadvantageous position,” he added.
Mohit’s father explained why his son applied for an English course, “When he passed Class X with 80 per cent marks, we insisted that he took up science because that is what we know meritorious students do. And an English honours degree was always the last option for us in case he was unable to do well or crack JEE. English can now offer him several other avenues.”
Some teachers do not object to this line of reasoning. “Some not-so good students from the science stream may apply for English honours, but then they won’t get the subject unless they have the minimum required marks in English. No mater from which stream a student comes they have to be good in the subject,” said Monidipa Ray, principal of Gokhale College.
Malini Bhagat, principal of Mahadevi Birla Girls High School, feels another reason for science students later opting for humanities is immaturity. “I have seen several cases where students discovered they did not like the stream, several months after taking up the course. At Class XI, students are too young to decide which stream to opt for and they take up science thinking it would increase their stature among friends and relatives. But after Class XII, they realise their mistake and are forced to opt for a humanities degree.”
Jadapur University for instance, has seen many science students taking up English. “Last year a successful WBJEE medical candidate chose English because he loved the subject more. Since we conduct a written test, we can distinguish the genuine cases,” said Nilanjana Gupta, professor of English at JU.
mou.chakraborty@hindustantimes.com
Final decision on teachers’ resignation in 24 hrs
Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, June 22, 2007
The students of South City Day College also known as Heramba Chandra College on Friday submitted a written apology to their principal, but teachers are yet to take back their resignations.
On Thursday, angry and tired of being gheraoed by the SFI-ruled students’ union, all 30 teachers had sent their resignations to principal Khogen Adhikari. The SFI supporters had alleged the college was not maintaining transparency in the admission process and gheraoed the teachers from 12 noon till 10.15 pm. The teachers countered that with the college starting online admission procedure from this year, the SFI was having problems in admitting their students and hence was creating trouble.
“The students have given a written apology and has promised to cooperate in running the college smoothly. I have requested all the teachers to take back their resignation letters but they have asked a day’s time for a rethink,” said Adhikari.
“If they decide to take back their resignations then the matter will end there. Otherwise, I will have to place the resignation letters at the next governing body meeting of the college,” the principal said. College authorities are convinced that the teachers will take back their resignation letters. The chairman of the college governing body Arijit Das, has also requested the teachers to change their decision.
Though teachers have refused to join work until they take their final decision, they have promised to help with the admission procedure. “We will go ahead with admissions from the first merit list on Saturday. I understand the problem of the teachers and support their view,” said Adhikari.
Teachers are quite perturbed about the situation they face in college. “We come here to impart education. Why will we get gheraoed repeatedly on every pretext? We are not going to tolerate it anymore,” said teachers of the college. Not only that, non-teaching employees are also not ready to get back to work unless the college authorities guarantee the students will “now learn to behave themselves”.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
Kolkata, June 22, 2007
The students of South City Day College also known as Heramba Chandra College on Friday submitted a written apology to their principal, but teachers are yet to take back their resignations.
On Thursday, angry and tired of being gheraoed by the SFI-ruled students’ union, all 30 teachers had sent their resignations to principal Khogen Adhikari. The SFI supporters had alleged the college was not maintaining transparency in the admission process and gheraoed the teachers from 12 noon till 10.15 pm. The teachers countered that with the college starting online admission procedure from this year, the SFI was having problems in admitting their students and hence was creating trouble.
“The students have given a written apology and has promised to cooperate in running the college smoothly. I have requested all the teachers to take back their resignation letters but they have asked a day’s time for a rethink,” said Adhikari.
“If they decide to take back their resignations then the matter will end there. Otherwise, I will have to place the resignation letters at the next governing body meeting of the college,” the principal said. College authorities are convinced that the teachers will take back their resignation letters. The chairman of the college governing body Arijit Das, has also requested the teachers to change their decision.
Though teachers have refused to join work until they take their final decision, they have promised to help with the admission procedure. “We will go ahead with admissions from the first merit list on Saturday. I understand the problem of the teachers and support their view,” said Adhikari.
Teachers are quite perturbed about the situation they face in college. “We come here to impart education. Why will we get gheraoed repeatedly on every pretext? We are not going to tolerate it anymore,” said teachers of the college. Not only that, non-teaching employees are also not ready to get back to work unless the college authorities guarantee the students will “now learn to behave themselves”.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
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