The Week In Education: CBSE datesheet, MHA guidelines, schools reopen

NEW DELHI: The education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ announced that he will be releasing the CBSE Class 10, 12 board exams date sheet on February 2. The Central Board of Secondary Education’s exams are slated to take place between May 4 to June 10. The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, or CISCE board, has announced that the academic session at its affiliated schools will begin from March and that the board exam dates will be announced later. To avoid clash with board exams the LSAT exams have been postponed to June 14.

The home ministry issued fresh unlock guidelines for February on reopening spaces after the COVID-19 lockdown. Telangana and Jammu have announced they will reopen schools and colleges from February 1, Delhi from February 5.

CBSE board exam date sheet on Feb 2

Union education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ has announced that the date sheet of CBSE Class 10 and 12 examinations will be released on February 2, 2021. Pokhriyal had earlier announced that the board examinations will be held from May 4 to June 10, 2021 and based on the reduced CBSE syllabus announced earlier.

The CBSE will also digitise all its records starting from 1975, the education minister announced at a webinar.

CISCE academic session from March

The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) has issued a statement saying that the academic session 2021-22 will begin from the middle of March in affiliated schools. The board has also clarified that the exam dates for the 2021 session will be announced ‘at the appropriate time’.

The council has said that the exams will not take place as per their usual schedule in February-March due to the pandemic situation and the upcoming elections in five states.

Schools, colleges reopen

Schools in Telangana will reopen for Classes 9 and 10 from February 1 and shall function till May 26. As per a memo issued by Telangana School Education Department, the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations in Telangana will be held from May 17 to 26.

Karnataka will reopen schools for Classes for 9,10 and pre-university students from February 1. The state is also planning to hold the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) exams from June 14 to 25.

Schools for Classes 9 and 11 as well as degree and diploma institutions, including polytechnics and Industrial Training Institutes in Delhi will open from February 5.

Schools in Haryana will reopen from February 1 for Classes 6 to 8.

Punjab will reopen for even pre-primary classes at all schools from February 1. Students of Classes 3 and 4 have been allowed to attend school from January 27 while those of Classes 1 and 2 will return from February 1. In Jammu and Kashmir, universities and colleges located in the Jammu region are also going to reopen from February 1.

Maharashtra is also considering reopening schools for Classes 1 to 4 in February.

MHA Unlock Guidelines: States to decide on education

The ministry of home affairs this week issued the unlock guidelines for February and left states to decide on reopening of education institutions outside the containment zones. It has also asked states to continue with containment measures and COVID-19 SOPs.

LSAT India 2021 rescheduled to June 14

To avoid clashing with the CBSE 2021 exam, the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) has been rescheduled to June 14. The registration date for LSAT India 2021 has also been extended to June 4.

UP govt to provide free competitive exam coaching

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has announced a free coaching scheme for students preparing for competitive exams such as JEE Main for engineering and NEET for medicine.

Free textbooks to Scheduled Caste students in Haryana

The Haryana government has decided to provide free books to Scheduled Caste (SC) students studying in state-run colleges. The government will transfer the money to purchase books directly into eligible students' bank accounts.

BITS Pilani launches management school

The Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani has announced the launch of BITS School of Management (BITSoM) with an investment of around Rs 1,500 crore over the next five to seven years. BITSoM will offer a two-year MBA programme and will admit 120 students in its first batch.

Education ministry planning virtual universities

The ministry of education is planning virtual universities to increase enrollment in higher education. The decision was taken during a meeting of education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ with the senior officials of the ministry to review the implementation of National Education Policy 2020. The education minister has also suggested having nodal persons in every ministry involved in implementing NEP 2020.

UGC Paramarsh Scheme

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has approved 167 institutions under the ‘Paramarsh’ scheme to mentor 936 institutions so that they improve in quality and get accredited by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) or the National Board of Accreditation (NBA). The UGC has set itself the target of helping all institutions attain a minimum accreditation score of 2.5 by the year 2022.

Pre-Budget Economic Survey

The Economic Survey tabled in Parliament pointed out that the percentage of enrolled children from government and private schools owning a smartphone increased from 36.5 percent in 2018 to 61.8 percent in 2020 in rural India.The survey noted that the government is implementing several initiatives like e-Vidya to make education accessible to children and facilitate learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The survey has also pointed out that just 2.4 percent of India's workforce in the age group of 15-59 years has received formal vocational or technical training, while another 8.9 percent were trained informally.

World Bank to fund STARS project in six states

The ministry of education has signed an agreement with the World Bank for a loan to support the school systems of six states -- Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Odisha -- over five years.The total cost of the STARS project is Rs 5,718 crore.

Padma Awards 2021: 26 from 'literature and education' field

Twenty-six citizens won India’s most prestigious civilian awards in the field of “literature and education” including Chandrashekhara Kambara, founding Vice-Chancellor of Kannada University. Former Vice-chancellor of Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Belle Monappa Hegde will be awarded Padma Vibhushan for his contribution to medicine.

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