NEST 2009 for NISER and UM-DAE CBS

Unlike the IISERs that take students from the IIT exams and KVPY, NISER Bhubaneswar (an IISER-equivalent institute that is funded by DAE) teams up with UM-DAE and has its own exam called NEST. (They also took students from KVPY.)

The following information regarding NEST 2009 is from http://niser.ac.in/NEST/.

National Entrance Screening Test (NEST) is a compulsory test for students seeking admission to National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubaneswar and University of Mumbai – Department of Atomic Energy Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences (UM-DAE CBS), Mumbai. Both NISER and UM-DAE CBS have been started by Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India in 2007. Their mandate is to train scientific manpower for carrying out cutting edge scientific research and for providing input to scientific programs of Department of Atomic Energy and other applied science institutions in the country. The test is conducted in more than 25 centers across India. This brochure gives the detailed procedure for applying for the test, syllabus of the test and various dead lines.

The Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India has set up a new autonomous center of excellence in basic sciences in Mumbai. UM-DAE CBS, is to be an international class center for high quality teaching embedded in a vibrant post-graduate and research environment with some of the best teachers and scientists from major institutions in the city (TIFR, BARC, IIT Bombay) and the University and its colleges on its faculty. The center is located in the Kalina campus of the University of Mumbai. The degrees at UM-DAE CBS are awarded by the 150 year old University of Mumbai.Tentatively, there will be 14 seats in Physics stream, 10 in Mathematics and 6 in Life Sciences with reservations as per Government norms, including reservation for persons with disability (PD). The details are on the CBS website (http://www.tifr.res.in/~cbs).

• Last date for request of application form : March 6, 2009
• Last date for receipt of completed application form with DD : April 3, 2009
• Online applications freeze : April 3, 2009
• Dispatch of offline admit cards begins : April 15, 2009
• Download of online admit cards begins : April 15, 2009
• Date of examination : May 10, 2009 (Sunday), 1 pm to 4 pm
• Announcement of results on NEST website : June 8, 2009

Students securing at least 60% marks in aggregate (or equivalent grade) in Class XII (or equivalent) examination from any recognized Board in India are eligible to apply. For Scheduled Cast (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) candidates and for Persons with Disability (PD), the minimum requirement is 55%. Students who have passed the Class XII qualifying examination in 2007 or 2008 or are appearing in 2009 are eligible to apply. (Where only Letter grade is given by the Board, a certificate from the Board specifying equivalent percentage marks will be required. In the absence of such a certificate the decision of the respective Admissions Committee will be final.)

• Online form submission is the most convenient and preferred way. Follow these steps to go for it.
  1. Register yourself before you login.
  2. Confirm your registration from a mail sent to you just after registration.
  3. Login in the NEST homepage with your mail-id and password.
  4. Fill the form and save it or, modify an already saved form.
  5. Take the print-out and send along with DD.
• Form can be downloaded, filled and sent back with DD. Download form  NEST Brochure  Please set margin in the browser page-setup to accomodate the form in a single A4 sheet.
• A letter of request can be sent to get the printed form by post. This form will have to be sent back along with DD after filling it properly.

32 comments January 13th, 2009

My perspective on Vedanta University

I have been watching and collecting various reports on Vedanta University since an MOU was signed about it with the Orissa government. (See my collection here and here and also Vedanta University’s web page.)

After reading about the forced stoppage of the initiation of the building of Vedanta University, I thought I would write about my perspective on Vedanta University.

May I request you to bear with me on my thoughts on Vedanta University and read till the end of this document, even if you partly or fully disagree with me.

I think Vedanta University is a unique opportunity for Orissa and if we mess it up we will regret for ever and our future generation will not forgive us for this.

First I would urge you to watch the following two short videos and an audio interview available in the web:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3B7L1S_MAY&fmt8
• http://www.charlierose.com/guests/anil-agarwal
• http://orissalinks.com/vedanta/radio.mp3

Answer 2: As is evident from the picture in the previous page there are 8 townships planned for those.

its income and expenses are as follows:

Income (2006-07): 3.21 Billion USD

Expenses (2006-07): 3.17 Billion USD

Total Endowment (June 30, 2007): 34.912 Billion USD

http://www.stanford.edu/dept/businessaffairs/cgi-bin/downloadpdf_v3.php?file=AnnualReport_2007.pdf

its income and expenses for 2006-07 are as follows.

Income (2006-07): 3.2 Billion

Expenses (2006-07): 2.9 Billion USD

Total endowment (Aug 31, 2007): 17.2 Billion USD

Q 6: Is Vedanta University’s goal of 100,000 students reasonable.

Answer 6: Following are some large universities in the USA and their student size in Autumn 2007 as obtained from http://www.osu.edu/osutoday/stuinfo.php#enroll_large .

They are all pretty good universities, all of them ranked in the top 100 in the SJT ranking.

Q 7: How do we know that the University is not a ruse and Mr. Agarwal just wants the land?

Answer 7: Mr. Agarwal’s net worth in early 2008 was $6 Billion.(see http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/10/billionaires08_Anil-Agarwal_WDNS.html )

His net worth in 2006 was $2.8 Billion. (see http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/10/WDNS.html )

Now what is the most important asset of a rich man? His reputation in the eye of the world.

Mr. Agarwal has told the whole world about his university.

Articles praising his pledge to donate $1 Billion towards Vedanta University have appeared in major national and international venues such as:

Time, USA –  http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/time100powergivers/article/0,28804,1616375_1615711_1615671,00.html

Economist – http://www.economist.com/people/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9539815

Independent, UK – http://news.independent.co.uk/education/higher/article3045374.ece

Forbes, USA – http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/10/billionaires08_Anil-Agarwal_WDNS.html

Forbes Asia – http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/56/biz_philanthropy08_Anil- Agarwal_WDNS.html

PBS TV USA – http://www.charlierose.com/guests/anil-agarwal

He has met the Prime Minister of India and told him about his pledge to donate $1 Billion for the university.

I do not believe that after so much publicity Mr. Agarwal will back out, as he will lose face and that is the most important thing for a person of his net worth. (It should be noted that many billionaires, especially in the US, do make huge donations. Bill Gates donation of tens of billions USD and Warren Buffet’s donation of about $30 Billion are exemplars. In higher education, Leland Stanford established Stanford University and Andrew Carnegie established Carnegie Mellon University; both top universities now. )

However, if the current opposition continues, it is very much possible that at some point Mr. Agarwal may get fed up with the hurdles created by some people of Orissa and will move Vedanta University to a state (such as Gujarat, Andhra or Karnataka) where he will be welcomed.

Q 8: How come Gujarat, Andhra and Karnataka did not woo him earlier.

Answer 8: I do not know why. May be at that time they did not take him seriously and Orissa did. But now after the design of the university and lot of other groundwork has been done, they will woo him like anything.

IT people have a responsibility that they are yet to fulfil. If they’re making so much money, why shouldn’t they create an outstanding private university equivalent to Stanford or Harvard? Had they done something like that they would have compensated for the other problems they have created. If IT people are making money, what do I get out of it, unless I am employed in Infosys with Narayana Murthy? The trouble is, we have given them a lot, but have got nothing in return.

Q 9: How does Vedanta University help Orissa and India?

Answer 9: Let consider the world ranking of universities. 

In the Times ranking at http://www.topuniversities.com/ the top ranked universities in the world and the top ranked universities in India and China are as follows:

50. Peking University, China
56. Tsinghua University, China
113. Fudan University, China
141. Univ of Sc. & Tech, China
143. Nanjing University, China
144. Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ, China

In the SJT ranking at http://www.arwu.org/rank2008/Top500_EN(by%20rank).pdf  the top ranked universities and the top ranked universities in India and China are as follows:

303-401 IISc Bangalore, IIT Kharagpur

201-302 Nanjing University, Peking University, Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ, Tsinghua University, Univ of Sc. & Tech, Zhejiang University

As the above shows, Indian Universities including IITs and IISc are way behind the top universities of the world. They are even much behind the top universities in China.

So what Vedanta is aspiring is to be a university ranked in the top 50 of these lists, if not in the top 25. If that is achieved it will have a huge impact on India, and not just Orissa.

There will be also a lot of impact on Orissa.

a. It will pull up the institutions near Vedanta University such as IIT Bhubaneswar, NISER

Bhubaneswar, the proposed world class central university (WCCU) in Bhubaneswar, IIIT Bhubaneswar, and even Utkal, Ravenshaw, OUAT, etc. The reason it will pull up the other universities is that many otherwise great professors, who will miss out getting a job at Vedanta, would like to be nearby Vedanta and thus would take a position in one of the above universities in the area. The reason they would like to be near Vedanta is that being nearby will allow them to collaborate with the faculty at Vedanta. For the same reason, many of the Ph.Ds coming out of Vedanta Universities would prefer to stay in the area universities.

b. With a top IIT, NISER and WCCU near Vedanta, the whole area from Cuttack-Puri will become a huge knowledge hub. Orissa will be able to go much beyond attracting WIPRO, TCS, Infosys, Satyam to attracting companies like Google, IBM, Microsoft etc. Currently such companies come mostly to Bangalore.

c. Recently Mr. Agarwal said that (see https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/1105 ) they will work towards giving 25% seats to the students from Orissa who will be taken on merit basis. This means besides Vedanta University, they will invest in schools so that the above happens. They already have started in that direction by enrolling children of the area in DAV schools and funding their educational cost.

d. Vedanta University is starting off with a hospital and medical college. This will definitely benefit the locals.

e. Another way to look at Vedanta University’s impact is as follows.

It has been said that 3 Billion USD will be spent in making Vedanta University out of which one Billion USD will given by Mr. Agarwal. One Billion USD is Rs. 5000 crores. Recently the central government has announced IITs, IISERs, world class central universities, etc. and    the budget for making each of them has been announced. See   http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=37684 . The budget of a new IIT is 760 crores, new IISER is 500 crores, AIIMS is 332 crores, IIM is 210 crores, and world class central university is 720 crores. They add up to 2522 crores. In other words, with 5000 crores one can almost make 2 new IITs, 2 new IISERs, 2 new AIIMS, 2 new IIMs and 2 new world class central universities. And that is  what Orissa will lose out if it throws out Vedanta University.

Q 10. I am opposed to Vedanta’s mining activities. How can I support Vedanta University?

Answer 10: Even if one is opposed to Vedanta’s mining activities, he/she should not oppose having Vedanta University in Orissa as opposing Vedanta University for not liking its mining operation is like "cutting of the nose to spite the face."

Q 11. The MOU was signed in 2006. What has happened since then to indicate that Vedanta University is serious?

Answer 11: I do not know all that has happened, but let me elaborate on the design and architectural front. (In addition they have made progress in land acquisition, hired people in implementing R & R, hired architects and engineers etc.)

They have hired a top architecture company in the USA who has a track record of participating and shaping almost all major universities in the USA. The company is Ayers Saint Gross. Its web site is http://www.asg-architects.com/ . Following are some links to their web pages which refers to Vedanta University.

•  http://www.asg-architects.com/story/clients/otb/campusPlanning/cp_vedanta.htm
•  http://www.asg-architects.com/story/clients/otb/academicBuildings/ab_vedanta.htm

The design of the master plan of Vedanta University has been featured in many US architecture venues and it has also won some awards. Following are some links on that.

• Congress of new Urbanism: http://www.cnu.org/node/1875
• AIA Baltimore deisgn award: http://www.aiabalt.com/0_committees/0_DesignAwards/DesignAwards.htm
• New urban news: http://www.newurbannews.com/Sep07.html

Some pictures of the designs are at http://chronicle.com/media/flash/v53/i45/vedanta/ and videos are at :

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3B7L1S_MAY&fmt8

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6nGaBDh_JE

Besides the above architecture company, the other companies that Vedanta has hired include:

• Perkins and Will to design the medical college complex of 34 acres,
• Jensen partners to equip the medical college and develop the medical program (is mentioned in the linkedin profile of Robert Konishi), and
• Paulien and Associates for planning, and facilities and space analysis.

Most recently, they were ready to start construction but were turned away by about 500 people.

So that is part of their current status.

In summary, Vedanta University has the potential to turn the area from Cuttack-Puri into a bigger knowledge center than Bangalore and Pune and perhaps into the biggest knowledge center (with associate knowledge companies such as Google research, Microsoft Research, IBM research etc.) in India. As a result, it can completely change Orissa. (Imagine the impact if Bangalore was in Orissa.)

We should not play politics with it; otherwise like Tata Motors moving from Singur to Gujarat, Vedanta University will move to another state and for centuries our descendants will blame us for missing an opportunity that may come once in many centuries.

14 comments November 8th, 2008

Andhra Pradesh plans at least one university in each of its 23 districts

Following is an excerpt from a report in expressbuzz.

Detailing the steps being taken to develop the education system in the State, he said a university in each district, five medical colleges across the State, IIT and BITS near Hyderabad and law colleges were being set up.

Orissa should do the same with respect to its undivided 13 districts.

October 28th, 2008

IIT Hyderabad takes the lead in starting Ph.D programs

Among the new IITs, IIT Hyderabad has advertised to admit Ph.D students  and will start its  Ph.D program in 2009.  Following is from its announcement at http://www.iith.ac.in/index-curr.php?p=2008Admissions_PhD_Announcement.

Admission to the PhD Programs

Advertisement No.: IITH/2008/Admissions/1

 

Applications are invited for the session commencing from January 2009 for admission to the Doctor Philosophy (PhD) programs in

(a) Engineering: Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Science & Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Material Science and Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering;

(b) Sciences: Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics; and

(c) Humanities & Social Sciences (HSS): Languages, Psychology, Economics, and Management.

 

Minimum Qualifications

(a) Engineering: M.Tech./M.E./M.Sc.(Engineering) degree with first class or equivalent in the respective or allied areas. Candidates with Bachelor’s degree in Engineering/Technology or Master’s degree in Sciences in an allied area with exceptional academic record and possessing a valid GATE score may also apply.

(b) Sciences & HSS: M.Sc./M.A. degree with first class or equivalent in respective or allied areas with a valid GATE/UGC Net/CSIR JRF/NBHM score.

 

General Information

Financial support (Assistantship/Scholarship) will be provided to all students, who are Indian citizens, enrolled in the Ph.D. program and who do not receive any other form of financial assistance. Sponsored candidates from Government of India R&D Laboratories shall also be considered for Ph.D. Programs; sponsored candidates do not require GATE qualification and will not be paid any scholarship.

 

Reservation

Reservations will be 15% for SC, 7.5% for ST and 27% for OBC. Also, up to 3% reservation shall apply as per Government of India rules for persons with disability (PD) in each category.

 

Application form in Pdf Format can be downloaded here.
Application form in Microsoft Word Format can be downloaded here.

PhD Reference Letter form in Pdf click here.

PhD Reference Letter form in Microsoft word click here.
Candidates desirous of applying for more than one program must send separate applications for each program. Applications should be sent on or before 30 October 2008 to:

 

          Professor C.V.R.Murty

Co-Chair, IIT Hyderabad Task Force

          Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad

          Ordnance Factory Campus

          Yeddumailaram 502205

          Andhra Pradesh, India

eMail: dac@iitm.ac.in or iith@iitm.ac.in

18 comments October 16th, 2008

Update on the HRD initiatives; location of 10 new NITs

Update: As per http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=41316&kwd= possible location of 9 of the 10 NITs are:

? … Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Uttrakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

ï‚· The NIT at Goa   may also cater to the needs of Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Lakshadweep.

ï‚· Pudducherry or Andaman & Nicobar may have one common NIT, which will cater the needs of each.

Following are excerpts from the PIB release http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=41190.

… The initiative to set up eight new Indian Institutes of Technology is on course with the first academic sessions starting in 2008 in six of the new IITs in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Orissa, Punjab and Gujarat . The session for IIT Orissa has already been started at lIT Kharagpur in July 2008 and classes will begin for IIT Punjab at lIT Delhi in Sept 2008. And the academic session for the other 4 new IITs, will begin during August 2008.

Out of the 7 new Indian Institutes of Management proposed the IIM at Shillong has already commenced its first academic session from July 2008. The remaining six IIMs will be established in Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Tamil Nadu and Haryana.

The government proposal to set up five Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research is on schedule. Of these two IISERs at Pune and Kolkata were inaugurated in 2006-07 and are now fully functional, and the IISER Mohali started its first academic session in 2007-08. Two more IISERs at Bhopal and Thiruvanthapuram will commence their first academic sessions in August, 2008.

Two Schools of Planning & Architecture (SPAs) are being set up at Bhopal and Vijayawada . Classes in both the new SPAs will begin with the academic session of 2008 through temporary campuses. The SPA Bhopal will be mentored by NIT Bhopal while the SPA at Vijayawada will be mentored by SPA, Delhi .

The strengthening of Polytechnics is under way with steps being taken to set up 1000 polytechnics (300 in Government Sector, 300 through PPP mode and 400 private polytechnics); Further 500 existing polytechnics are being expanded and the Community Polytechnics scheme being revamped and their number being increased from 669 to 1000.

Steps are being taken establish 10 new National Institutes of Technology. The likely location of these NITs will be in States/UTs which at present don’t have an NIT.

Sixteen Central Universities are being set up under the initiative seeking to established a Central University in states not having a Central University . Four existing universities; Sagar University in Madhya Pradesh, Bilaspur University in Chhatisgarh, Garhwal University in Uttrakhand and Goa University, are proposed to be taken over and upgraded as Central Universities. The remaining 12 new universities are to be set up in Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab , Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Kamataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

14 World Class Central Universities (WCCU), are proposed with the locations being firmed up in consultation with the Planning Commission. The State Governments have been requested to identify suitable land.

A total of 373 degree colleges will be set up in the districts having GER lower than the national average as identified by the UGC. Out of these districts, about 90 districts have been shortlisted which have less than 6% GER, have less than 4 colleges per lakh of population and are also minority concentration districts. It is proposed to fast-track the starting of the degree colleges in these shortlisted districts this year.

Twenty Indian Institutes of Information Technology are planned with NAASCOM having submitted a project report. The setting up of the IIITs under the PPP mode has been discussed with the States and most of the States agreed to tap not-for-profit private investment, while ensuring that PPP should not lead to any erosion of access to the poor sections of society.

Scholarships for College and University students, based on merit, to non-creamy layer students numbering about 2% of the. student population will be given to those who pass out from various intermediate boards. The scholarship will be Rs.l,000 per month for the first 2 years after which it will be of Rs.2000 per month for the balance period of the professional or other courses in Higher Education. Every year about 41,000 boys and 41,000 girls will benefit from the scheme.

The government is working on an Education Loan Interest Subsidy Scheme. It will be a Central Sector scheme for providing interest subsidy during the moratorium period on the educational loans taken by students belonging to "non-creamy" layer for pursuing professional education in India.

All the Central Educational Institutions are implementing OBC reservations as per the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006 from this year onward on a staggered basis and the necessary funds have been released to all of them, after holding the meetings of the Empowered Committees. All the IITs, IIMs and the Central Universities that are covered under the Act have started giving reservations to OBCs in a staggered manner. As a result of the implementation of OBC reservations in this academic year, there is an increase of over 20500 in the intake capacity in the Central Educational Institutions.

The states and union territories that do not have NITs are:

1. Delhi
2. Uttarakhand
3. Goa
4. Dadra and nagar haveli
5. Pondicherry
6. Andaman and Nicobar islands
7. Lakshadweep
8. Meghalaya
9. Mizoram
10. Manipur
11. Nagaland
12. Arunachal Pradesh
13. Sikkim

So, I guess the majority of the 10 new NITs will be in these states. My guess would be 2, 3, 5, 8-13. (I skipped 1 because I wonder if there is any space left in proper Delhi for an NIT. The rest that I skipped, 4,6 and 7, are very remote as well as hard to reach places.)  That makes 9 NITs. It would be interesting to see where the 10th NIT will be located.

4 comments August 8th, 2008

Details of NISER Bhubaneswar interview for admission

Following is from http://www.iopb.res.in/niser/session08-09/niser-interview.html.

The list of candidates short-listed on the basis of performance in NEST-2008 held on April 20, 2008 and called for interview is available HERE.

Candidates should report at the above address at 8.00 a.m. on the day of the interview. The interview will be held throughout the day. The interview of a candidate may be held anytime between 8.30 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. on that day. Outstation candidates should make their own arrangements for travel and accommodation. SC/ST and PD (Persons with Disability) candidates will be entitled to travel allowance (second class train fare/bus fare from place of residence to Bhubaneswar and back, by the shortest route) as per the institute norms.

Candidates are required to bring with them at the time of interview the following documents in original :

• Class X and Class XII mark sheets.
• Proof of date of birth.
• Caste/tribe certificate issued by a competent authority (in case of SC/ST students).
• OBC certificate and undertaking (in case of OBC candidates in the non-creamy layer)

In case of non-availability of class XII mark sheet in original, the candidate will have to give an undertaking to that effect. In case of candidates in the PD category, a Medical Officer appointed by the Institute for the purpose will certify whether a candidate qualifies to be under that category. Format of OBC certificate and undertaking can be seen HERE.

In case of any problem, please send e-mail to admission@niser.iopb.res.in

May 30th, 2008

Some Budget numbers relevant to Orissa HRD (NISER, AIIMS-like, etc.)

Following is from Volume 2 of the expenditure of Budget 2008-09.

• NISER/IOP: The IOP+NISER budget (item 9.04 of the DAE budget) is 69 crores in plan + 9 crores in non-plan  = 78 crores. The nornal IOP budget is about 20 crores. Hence, 50-58 crores is the budget for NISER in 2008-09.  (Note that in 2007-08  IOP was allocated 32.75+7 crores and it spent 27.6+8 = 35.6 crores. I..e, Probably 15-18 crores were spent for NISER. )
• IISER: There is a budget of 150 crores (item 61 of the Higher education budget) for the five IISERs. (The budget for three of  them was 125 crores in 2007-08, out of which only 60 crores was spent.)
• new IITs: There is a budget of 50 crores (item 60 of the Higher education budget) for the establishment of three new IITs. (The budget for them was 80 crores in 2007-08, out of which only 0.01 crores was spent.)
• new IIITs: There is a budget of 21.4 crores (item 57 of the Higher education budget) for the establishment of new IIITs.
• AIIMS-like: There is a total budget of 490 crores (item 26 of the Health ministry budget) for the establishment of 6 new AIIMS-like institutes and upgradation of 10 other institutes. In 2007-08 the budget for this was 150 crores out of which only 90 crores was spent; most of it went to the upgradation part.
• NITs: The budget for the NITs (item 69 of the Higher education budget) is 808 (plan) + 285 (non-plan) = 1093 crores. Rs 608 crores of that is for enhancing the number of students to account for the OBC quota.
• IITs: The budget for the IITs (item 38 of the Higher education budget) is 1171 (plan) + 525 (non-plan) = 1696 crores. Rs 771 crores of that is for enhancing the number of students to account for the OBC quota.
• IISc Bangalore: The budget for the IISc (item 41 of the Higher education budget) is 130 (plan) + 91 (non-plan) = 221 crores. Rs 70 crores of that is for enhancing the number of students to account for the OBC quota.
• UGC: The budget for UGC (item 3 of the Higher education budget) is 3095.5 (plan) + 2009.4 (non-plan) = 5104.9 crores. Rs 875 crores of that is for enhancing the number of students to account for the OBC quota.
• NIRTAR and other 6 institutes for blind, deaf, mentally retarded and orthopaedically handicapped: The budget for them (item 21 of Ministry of Social Justice budget) is 47+27.05 crores.
• IIST (Indian Inst. of Space Sc. & Tech): Its budget (item 12 of ministry of space) is 65.25 crores. 25 crores out of a budgeted 75 crores was spent in 2007-08.
• ISIs: Its budget (item 4 of ministry of statistics) is 22.5 + 51.96 crores.
• NIFT: Its budget (item 11.01 of ministry of Textile) is 31.75 + 10 crores.
• Tourism: Its budget for training (item 5 of Tourism ministry) is 71 + 0.8 crores. It includes 26 Institutes of Hotel management, 7 Foodcraft institutes, IITTM, and NIWS (National Institute of Water Sports).
• CIPET: Its budget (item 2 of Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers) for the 15 centers is 31 crores.
• NIPER, Mohali: Its budget (item 7 of Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers) is 75+15 crores.
• National Institute of design: Its budget for (item 3 of ministry of commerce) is only 0.25 crores. It was 20.25 crores in 2007-08. It seems the funding pattern has been changed. There is now 50 crores (item 7 of ministry of commerce) for project based support to autonomous institutions which includes NID and several other institutions.

February 29th, 2008

Early budget numbers in education

Following is an excerpt from a report in Asian Age.

… the ministry has decided to propose an outlay of nearly Rs 2,522 crores in the 2008-09 Budget to allow institutions to augment their intake capacity if the Supreme Court rules in favour of the Centre’s decision to reserve 27 per cent of the seats in Central educational institutions for other backward classes (OBCs). … For 2007-08, the Budget had provided for an allocation of Rs 2,698 crores to help the institutions augment their capacity. The overall outlay for the implementation of quotas during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-12), is pegged at Rs 11,728,000 crores.

The ministry has proposed an outlay of no less than Rs 12,800.51 crores for the 2008-09 Budget. Not surprising, given the Centre’s ambitious plans to go in for a huge expansion in technical education during the Eleventh Plan which has proposed an outlay of Rs 84,943 crores for it.

The HRD has proposed an outlay of Rs 1,496.01 crores for "new schemes" in areas of technical education in the 2008-09 Budget. Of this amount, a major portion has been proposed as outlay for the setting up of new polytechnics. The ministry wants nearly Rs 440 crores set aside for the new polytechnics apart from another Rs 101 crores for the strengthening of 400 existing polytechnics. Another Rs 150 crores has been proposed as outlay for the 580 new community polytechnics. …

As for the eight new IITs the UPA government has plans to set up, the HRD ministry has proposed an outlay of Rs 200 crores for them in the forthcoming Budget. As for the existing IITs, the ministry has proposed an outlay of Rs 492 crores. The seven new IIMs also on the anvil in the Eleventh Plan have had an outlay of Rs 50 crores proposed for the 2008-09 Budget, while an outlay of Rs 45 crores is proposed for the existing IIMs. For the prestigious Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, the ministry has proposed an outlay of Rs 70 crores for 2008-09. A substantial amount — Rs 150 crores — is the proposed outlay for increasing the fellowship amount for M.Tech. students.

Other institutions that the Budget will be providing for are the 20 new Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIIT) that are in the offing. The ministry has budgeted Rs 50 crores as the outlay for 2008-09. As for the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER) coming up in Bhopal and Thiruvananthapuram and the new one in Mohali, the ministry has proposed an outlay of Rs 100 crores in the coming Budget.

Yet another area set to get a boost is that of faculty development in technical education with the ministry proposing an outlay of Rs 100 crores for 2008-09.

1 comment February 13th, 2008

Various education schemes from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment for disadvantaged students

Following is from an old PIB from 2003.

Despite India’s "political triumph of democracy", deprived sections of the society continue to remain marginalised. One of the major reasons has been wide spread illiteracy among these sections. Literacy is an important indicator of human development index. The literacy rate for Scheduled Castes (SC) in 1991 was 37.4 per cent as compared to 57.7 per cent for others. Expressing concern over the plight of those living on the fringes of social spectrum, the Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee said, "Independence is incomplete without social justice". It may not be out of place to mention that these marginalised sections constitute a sizable portion of our population. According to the 1991 census, the Scheduled Castes comprise 16.73 per cent. The Other Backward Castes (OBCs) constitute 52 per cent and the Minorities 18 per cent of the country’s total population.

Dr.Bhim Rao Ambedkar believed that education is everybody’s birthright and should be available to the poorest of the poor. Education is the stepping stone towards social, economic and political empowerment. In pursuance of this, the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment has accorded top priority to radical improvement in literacy rates among the weaker sections. It has taken several major initiatives during the last five years in this direction. Lauding these efforts the Prime Minister said at the National Convention of Minorities , "It is good that you are focusing on education. Education is an investment for development, for progress and for a better future".

Towards Self-Reliance

To meet the emerging challenges, the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment has embarked upon schemes to promote merit among the SC/ST students right from the beginning. One of them is the Dr. Ambedkar National Merit Scholarship Scheme for the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students launched early this year to encourage merit and excellence among them from the school level. Under this scheme more then Rs.1.25 crore would be distributed as scholarship to 458 Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students having secured highest marks in 26 Education Boards/ Councils in the country each year. The Social Justice & Empowerment Minister, Dr. Satyanarayan Jatiya, described it as a historic initiative for generating self-confidence and self-reliance among SC/ST students.

The other scheme provides for upgradation of Merit of SC/ST students through cent per cent Central Assistance to the States/UTs for arranging remedial and special coaching for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students studying in class IX to XII. While remedial coaching aims at removing deficiencies in school subjects, special coaching is provided with a view to preparing students for competitive examinations for entry into professional courses like engineering and medical.

To enable them to pursue higher studies abroad, the National Overseas Scholarship Scheme to seventeen meritorious SC and ST students has also been improved. The rate of maintenance allowance has been enhanced to US $ 7,700 per annum or Pound Sterling 5,000 per annum per candidate. The scheme also provides for US $ 500 per annum for meeting various contingency expenses besides air passage, visa fee, equipment allowance and incidental expenses charged by the institution and insurance premium.

Many students belonging to the weaker sections find it difficult to compete for entry into institutions of higher learning or for employment. Consequently, the reserved quotas for them in technical and professional courses remain under-utilized. Therefore, NGOs, universities and institutions of repute are provided 90 per cent central assistance in running coaching and allied assistance programmes to prepare such students for competitive examinations.

Initiative

For their higher education, the Central Government is running a post-matric scholarship scheme for the SC students. They are also provided financial assistance. The amount varies from Rs. 90 to Rs. 425 per month for pursuing studies beyond matriculation in recognised institutions. There are other incentives also like reimbursement of compulsory non-refundable fees and study tour charges. The coverage under this scheme has grown at a much faster rate than that of the growth rate in the SC population. More than 93 per cent of SC students in the country are now covered under this scheme. An estimated number of over 46 lakh students have benefited from this scheme since 1999-2000.

The Central assistance under the scheme is normally provided to State /UT governments on 50:50 basis over and above the committed liability. The annual committed liability of the States during the Ninth Plan under the scheme was Rs. 231 crore. It would be Rs.390 crore per annum during the Tenth Plan as per existing pattern. The Centre is actively considering to revise the rates of maintenance allowance and other norms of the Scheme in view of the rising cost of books, school fees and food.

Yet another scholarship scheme at the pre-matric level has become popular with the children of the families engaged in occupations like scavenging and leather tanning. The number of beneficiaries increased by nearly 42 per cent during the first three years of the Ninth Plan.

The implementation of the scheme of hostels for SC boys and girls has been stepped up since 1998-1999. During the last 4 years 285 hostels were sanctioned for the boys and 183 for girls. These hostels are meant to enable the SC students pursue their studies in a congenial atmosphere. To encourage mixing among students, these hostels are allowed to accommodate non-SC students upto 10 per cent.

Two new schemes are on the anvil to boost quality education among the Scheduled Castes. These include provision of assistance to the SC students for pursuing studies in residential public schools. Under it meritorious students with family incomes of less than Rs. 1 lakh per annum would be financially assisted in getting quality education. The assistance would help them in fully meeting boarding, lodging fees and cost of study material charged by the management. It would be subject to a ceiling of Rs. 80 thousand per annum per student from Class VI to XII.

Another scheme in the pipeline envisages setting up of residential schools for SC/ST students studying between Class VI and XII. One residential school would be set up in districts where the literacy rate of the SCs is much lower than the general category. Such residential schools numbering 125 would be set up in the country with the establishment of 25 schools in each year under the Tenth Plan. The enrollment target in these schools stipulates admission to at least 30 per cent SC/ST girl students and 3 per cent disabled SC/ST students.

Yet another scheme on the anvil is to provide Bridge Education for Children living in city slum or street children. Under the scheme children between the age group of 6-10 years would be provided educational material and nutrition in the shape of one glass of milk and 2 biscuits per child per day.

Schemes for Disabled

There are about 10 million children with disabilities in the country according to the National Sample Survey Organisation Report, 1991. Reportedly being considered less productive even by their own families, they often require special learning aids and financial support besides encouragement from the scommunity to get proper education.

The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment has started the Scheme of National Scholarship for Persons with Disabilities since the last financial year. The objective of the scheme is to provide financial assistance to students with disabilities for pursuing higher and technical education. To begin with 500 scholarships have been made available under the scheme. The amount of award varies from Rs.1000 per month for post-graduate courses to Rs.400 for graduate level professional courses. The awardees are also reimbursed the course fee upto Rs.10,000 per year. They are supported with financially for acquiring special aids and appliances for pursuing their studies.

The Ministry has also been providing a new thrust to not only encouraging new enrolments in schools and preventing drop-outs among the weaker and deprived sections but also imparting them with quality education. It is a new approach to tackle the problem rooted in history.

With the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, a time-bound programme for imparting elementary education to all children in the age group of 6-14 years by 2010, it is expected that all gender and social gaps would be bridged. Coupled with the provision of facilities for quality education the deprived people would be able to compete with the rest of the country’s population on a level platform. It would also create an urge among them for achieving excellence and make themselves equal partners in the country’s march towards a better future. (PIB Features)

*Contributed by Shri M.L.Dhar, Information Officer, PIB, New Delhi

17 comments November 21st, 2007

UGC Chairman’s article in Hindustan Times

Following is from http://www.hindustantimes.com/.

Higher education in India has witnessed manifold changes since Independence. The number of universities have gone up from 20 to 378, colleges from 500 to 18,064 and teachers from 15,000 to nearly 4.80 lakh. Consequently, enrolment has increased from a mere 1 lakh in 1950 to over 112 lakh in 2006, and the gross enrolment ratio (GER) in higher education has risen from an abysmal 1 per cent to 10 per cent.

Besides these numeric expansions, there has been significant diversification, with a marked shift in courses from the conventional disciplines to inter-disciplinary in emergent areas. Further, it’s not just public institutions, but also the private-aided and unaided sector that has had an important role in this expansion.

These developments notwithstanding, higher education today is faced with a number of challenges. In the forefront is the issue of improving overall enrolment, along with equitable access and quality education. We now recognise that the current access at 10 per cent is too low when compared with the world average of 23 per cent and 40 to 60 per cent in case of the developed countries. Besides, there are regional and social group imbalances in access, which varies between 6 to 8 per cent for the SC, ST, OBC and Muslims. The most deprived are the poor, for whom access is no more than 2 per cent. The GER in rural areas, at 7.5 per cent, compares poorly with the urban areas, at 24 per cent. Besides, regional disparities are also noticeable, with as many as 350 districts in the country having GER lower than the national average and 29 districts having GER of less than 5 per cent.

Equally important is the problem of quality. Out of 14,080 colleges, only 6,000, and out of 224 state universities, only 167 are able to meet the minimum prescribed norms and standards for receiving UGC development grants. Further, NAAC  assessment of 3,492 colleges and 140 universities reveals that only 9 per cent of the colleges and 31 per cent of the universities are rated as A-grade and an overwhelming 68 per cent of them are rated as B-grade.

Besides, there are issues related to academic reforms. While quite a few institutions have been able to implement credit-based courses and a semester system with continuous internal assessment, others have continued with annual examinations, largely based on external written examination. Also, the affiliating university system is over-burdened as the number of colleges affiliated to each university has been on the rise.

Enhancing access with inclusion and excellence are the main challenges, which the Eleventh Plan approach recognised. It recognised that increase in access will have to come with focus on the regions and social groups that presently have lower GER. These also happen to be the regions with lower quality educational institutions.

The strategy of the Eleventh Plan will revolve around the issue of expansion, inclusiveness and quality, including academic reforms. The Plan sets a target GER of 15 per cent by 2012. This is proposed to be achieved through increase in the intake capacity of existing institutions and through establishment of new institutions. Under the PM’s initiative, 30 new central universities have already been announced.

This strategy for expansion will have to be combined with measures for reducing regional imbalances, with central support to states on matching basis. Under the PM’s initiative, the establishment of a college in each of the 350 districts with low GER and less number of colleges per lakh population has been announced. Besides, there will be focus on hilly, border, tribal, remote, rural and small town areas.

The strategy for enrolment expansion will be combined with that of inclusion for social groups like women, SC, ST, OBC, minorities like Muslims, the physically challenged and the poor in general. This will include support to universities and colleges having high proportion of students from these groups, and also to institutions located in districts with relatively higher concentration of their population.

There are a number of steps proposed for promoting quality and excellence. First, it will include support to 60 per cent colleges and 40 per cent universities that are so far ineligible to receive UGC grants. Bringing them within the orbit of UGC grant, with matching grants from states, shall certainly improve their quality.

Second, it will comprise measures for bridging the quality gap between C- and A-grade colleges and universities, which will again be based on matching commitment from states.

Third, it will focus on adequate availability of quality teachers, which, in turn, will require enhanced funding for research and
fellowships for PhD. It will also require steps with respect to salary, appointment, mobility of teachers and others.

The issue of academic practices relating to admission, examination and assessment has been in the public domain ever since the Radhakrishna and the Kothari Commission. These have been selectively implemented but have not yet become a uniform practice. It is important to identify the enabling conditions for their wider use. This may require  selective approach, which calls for sharing of experience of those who have tried them successfully and with those who tried but failed.

The issue of regulating private education providers in a manner such that it facilitates their role and, at the same time, ensures quality and equity is equally important. All the three types of private providers — namely private-aided, private-unaided/self-financing institutions and also self-financing courses run by public-funded institutions — have seen rapid expansion in recent years. The Eleventh Plan proposed to develop a regulatory framework for private sector institutions, regulating admission, fees and governance.

In this sense, the Eleventh Plan takes a leap forward. It is important that these policies are implemented. It is with this in mind that the UGC organised four regional conferences of Vice-Chancellors, which culminated in the national conferences of Vice-Chancellors on October 10 and 11, to discuss the above issues and arrive at a common view.

Sukhadeo Thorat is Chairman, University Grants Commission

3 comments October 15th, 2007

Summary of the recommdations of the National Conference on the development of higher education

Following is from the PIB release http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=31853.

The University Grants Commission organised a two day National Conference on Development of Higher Education on 10th and 11th October,2007 at New Delhi.  The two day National Conference was attended by Vice Chancellors of Central, State, Deemed Universities and other eminent educationists. Six technical sessions were held on the themes of (i) Access and Expansion (ii)Equity & Inclusion (iii) Quality & Excellence (iv) Private Participation in Higher Education and Internationalization (v) Academic and Administrative Reforms (vi) Financing and Funding Mechanism. Following is a summary of the recommendations made by the participants of the National Conference.

1.                   There was a consensus that the triple objective of Expansion, Inclusion and Excellence are integral and complementary to one another and must be seen as three dimensions of the same problem and issues related to them will have to be addressed simultaneously and with due deference to one another.

2.                   It was agreed that access to higher education has to be increased to 20-25 percent and that the target GER of 15 by the end of the 11th plan appears reasonable. The participants agreed with the two-pronged strategy of establishment of new institutions and also capacity enhancement of existing institutions. They however emphasised that this should be done with due regard to the social and market relevance and changing preference of students and that the focus of expansion should be on inclusion and excellence and an approach that is expedient.

a.       Capacity addition in existing instituions

b.       Focus on smaller towns, rural and remote areas and backward regions where GER is lower than the national average;

c.       A women university in each state

d.       Established universities to set up rural campuses

e.       Priority to professional and technical courses in public institutions;

f.         Restructuring conventional courses

g.       Focus on professional, technical and market-oriented courses must not be at the cost of humanities and social sciences.

h.       Universities should not be reduced to skill-development centre; their focus should be intense engagements in intellectual activities;

i.         Enrolment at the PG level across all disciplines need to be enhanced;

j.         Universities and colleges to be of optimal size; conduct a study to decide;

3.                   Rationalise the affiliating system: reduce the number of colleges per university; make affiliation more effective; autonomy to bigger and better colleges;  UG examination board within the university;

4.                   It was insisted upon that the strategies for expansion as outlined in these conference must not rely upon the private sector alone for this will adversely impinge upon the goal of equity and inclusion. Thus public investment in higher education has to be increased substantially;

5.                   It was reiterated time and again that mere expansion in institutions and intake capacity shall not necessarily make higher education inclusive. This will require an proactive approach and strategies for removing the regional and social imbalances. The participants agreed with the approach and strategies suggested by the UGC and also with the recommendations of the regional conferences:

a.       New universities and colleges in areas that have GER lower than the national average;

b.       Strengthen and expand existing universities and colleges that are located in areas that have GER lower than the national average;

c.       Special assistance to institutions located in under-privileged regions/areas and also to those that have higher proportion of such social groups as SCs, STs, OBCs, Minorities, Girls, Physically Challenged in their student and staff population;

d.       Establishment of equal opportunity office in each university;

e.       Capacity building centres for students from the deprived social groups;

6.                   It was emphasised that the strategies for inclusion must also include the physically challenged – departments of disability studies;

7.                   Focus will also be on school education;

8.                   Better endowed and privileged universities and colleges need to network with under-privileged institutions located in rural and remote areas and thus offer the opportunity of providing the best talents and technology to the rural, backward and deprived institutions;

9.                   Regarding excellence in higher education will have to focus on Infrastructure, physical facilities and human resources particularly teachers;

10.               The national conference is in agreement with the strategies suggested by the UGC and the recommendations of the regional conferences;

a.       Bring the non-12b colleges & universities under the ugc fold – on matching grant basis;

b.       Priority funding for bringing B and C band universities at the level of A band universities;

c.       Faculty development through fellowships and FIP

11.               Much depends upon the availability of quality teaching faculty but for which quality of higher education shall not improve;

12.               State governments to accord priority to higher education – Remove ban on creation of faculty positions and appointment

a.       Nurturing Talents and Promoting Quality Faculty: Teaching Staff: Special and urgent efforts are needed in attracting and retaining the best available talents as faculty members in higher education. Autonomy with responsibility, performance based incentives, revisit the compensation and rewards;

b.       Rigour in faculty selection, PhD admission on merit and through rigorus selection process; faculty development;

c.       Student evaluation and feedback of courses and faculty should be introduced and these should be used for incentivising faculty members;

d.       Financial assistance to universities and colleges for International faculty exchange, Inter-institutional faculty exchange within the country and also for faculty exchange between industry and academic institutions;

13.               On the issue of academic and administrative reforms the conference is in agreement with the recommendations of the regional conferences on updating of curricula, examination and evaluation system, semester and credit based courses, inter-institutional mobility of students;

14.               The process of reforms has already been delayed for long and every possible efforts should be made to put them into practice. The leadership of the university should take the initiative and must exert their authority to ensure that these are implemented urgently;

15.               It was indicated that Infrastructural constraints particularly inadequate faculty is the biggest constraint in the implementation of these reforms;

16.               Higher education must protect its autonomy and the most effective way of doing the same lies in behaving with responsibility. Autonomy with accountability, therefore, has to be the guiding principle. The higher education fraternity must work hard and excel in their pursuits to command respect. The higher education system needs to protect its autonomy and in no circumstances the universities should allow the external forces to control the contents of higher education.

17.               Multiplicity of regulatory authorities is a concerns encroaching upon the university autonomy and creates confusion. It is suggested that:

§         The UGC should be the sole regulatory authority for universities and that other regulatory authorities should respect the autonomy of these institutions and should play only an advisory role.

§         The mandates of other regulatory authorities – the AICTE, NCTE, etc should be confined to colleges offering professional and technical courses and private and self financed non-affiliated institutions only;

§         As medical and agricultural universities and colleges are funded by separate administrative Ministries, the MCI and ICAR should continue to regulate the medical and agricultural education in universities and colleges;

§         Other regulatory authorities should consult and involve the university concerned in their approval and accreditation process of affiliated institutions;

§         Governance and Decision making process:

o        size and composition of decision making bodies.

o        Decentralisation

o        Departmental autonomy

o        Leadership in universities plays vital role in promoting quality and excellence in higher education. Thus The Vice Chancellors should be appointed

§         on merit proven administrative administrative capabilities;

§         by search committee comprising of people of repute and other external forces should not be allowed to play part in the selection of vice chancellors’

As regards internationalisation, participants agreed with the recommendations of the regional conference. Watchword has been that it must not adversely impinge on the goal of equity and quality. Strongly regulatory mechanism for the foreign universities was suggested;

So was the case with the issues concerning private participation in higher education. Even the private and self financed universities were in agreement that these universities should be guided by the principles of equity and justice and commitment for providing quality higher education; A strong regulatory framework was suggested for the purpose;

The crisis in higher education is not as much due to lack of resources as it is of priorities. Unless higher education appears high on the priority of the union and state governments, the resource constraints shall continue to remain;

Cost recovery from students is already very high in the range of 40 – 50% and the scope of raising fees may be limited.

1 comment October 11th, 2007

Kasturaba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas scheme

The Kasturaba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya scheme is aimed at girls belonging primarily to SC, ST, OBC and minorities in difficult areas. The guidelines for their implementation as given in their web site is as follows:

1.         Background

1.1       The Government of India has approved a new scheme called Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) for setting up upto 750 residential schools with boarding facilities at elementary level for girls belonging predominantly to the SC, ST, OBC and minorities in difficult areas.  The scheme will be coordinated with the existing schemes of Department of Elementary Education & Literacy viz. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), National Programme for Education of Girls at Elementary Level (NPEGEL) and Mahila Samakhya (MS).

 

2.                  Scope/ Coverage of the scheme

2.1       The scheme would be applicable only in those identified Educationally Backward Blocks (EBBs) where, as per census data of 2001, the rural female literacy is below the national average and gender gap in literacy is more than the national average. Among these blocks, schools may be set up in areas with:

 

¨       concentration of tribal population, with low female literacy and/or a large number of girls out of school;

¨       concentration of SC, OBC and minority populations, with low female literacy and/or a large number of girls out of school;

¨       areas with low female literacy;  or

¨       areas with a large number of small, scattered habitations that do not qualify for a school

 

The criteria for eligible EBB will be the same as in the NPEGEL scheme of SSA.

 

3.         Objective

3.1       Gender disparities still persist in rural areas and among disadvantaged communities. Looking at enrolment trends, there remain significant gaps in the enrolment of girls at the elementary level as compared to boys, especially at the upper primary levels.  The objective of KGBV is to ensure access and quality education to the girls of disadvantaged groups of society by setting up residential schools with boarding facilities at elementary level.

 

4.         Strategies

4.1       Between 500 to 750 residential schools will be opened in a phased manner over the Xth Plan period at an estimated cost of Rs. 19.05 lakh as recurring cost and Rs. 26.25 lakh as non-recurring cost, per school.  Initially, the proposed schools  shall be opened in rented or other available Government buildings after deciding the location.

 

4.2       Such residential schools will be set up only in those backward blocks that do not have residential schools for elementary education of girls under any other scheme of Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment and Ministry of Tribal Affairs. This shall be ensured by the district level authority of SSA at the time of actual district level planning of KGBV initiatives by co-ordinating with the other Departments/Ministries.  A list of educational complex being run by Ministry of Tribal Affairs is enclosed for facilitating selection of KGBV.

 

 

 

5.                  The components of the scheme will be as follows:

 

(i)                  Setting up of residential schools where there are a minimum of 50 girls predominantly from the SC, ST and minority communities available to study in the school at the elementary level.  The number can be more than 50 depending on the number of eligible girls.  Three possible models for such school have been identified and given at Annex.I(a) to I(c).

(ii)                To provide necessary infrastructure for these schools

(iii)               To prepare and procure  necessary teaching learning material and aids for the schools

(iv)              To put in place appropriate systems to provide necessary academic support and for evaluation and monitoring

(v)                To motivate and prepare the girls and their families to send them to residential school

(vi)              At the primary level the emphasis will be on the slightly older girls who are out of school and were unable to complete primary schools (10+). However, in  difficult  areas  (migratory populations, scattered habitations that do not qualify for primary/ upper primary schools)  younger girls can also be targeted

(vii)             At the upper primary level, emphasis will be on girls, especially, adolescent girls who are unable to go to regular schools

(viii)           In view of the targeted nature of the scheme, 75% girls from SC, ST, OBC or minority communities would be accorded priority for enrolment in such residential schools and only thereafter,  25% girls from families below poverty line.

(ix)              Established NGOs and other non-profit making bodies will be involved in the running of the schools, wherever possible. These residential schools can also be adopted by the corporate groups.  Separate guidelines are being issued in the matter.

           

6.         Implementation, monitoring and evaluation

 

6.1       The scheme will be implemented by State Governments through the Mahila Samakhya (MS) Society in MS states and through the SSA society in case of other states. Funds will be released as per SSA pattern to the State SSA societies. The monitoring and evaluation at the State and district level will be undertaken by the MS State Resource Centers and  in non-MS states, through the committee created for the National Programme for Education of Girls at the Elementary Level in the SSA society. 

 

6.2       Training for teachers and staff at the residential schools will be coordinated by the District Institutes of Educational Training, Block Resource Centres and the Mahila Samakhya Resource Groups.

 

7.         State Support Group

 

7.1       An Advisory State level coordination committee as approved under the NPEGEL scheme, shall provide direction and support to the programme. This group will consist of nominees from relevant State Government Departments, Government of India, experts in the field of girls education, educationists etc. The selection of an appropriate model of the school and its location would be done by this Committee based on the recommendation of the district committee implementing the NPEGEL and the new proposed scheme.

 

8.         National Support Group

 

8.1       The National Resource Group (NRG) created under the Mahila Samakhya programme at the National level shall provide inputs on conceptual issues and concerns arising in the programme, and advice GOI on policy matters concerning the education of girls. This group will provide the interface with research and training institutions, women’s movement, educationists and non-Governmental  institutions and also bring in other experiences of educating girls.

 

8.2       Since the NRG, consists of a small number of persons and meets only two to three times in a year, smaller sub committees of the NRG created for specific inputs, like gender training of teachers, development of gender based teaching learning material, development of  audio visual programmes etc. will co- opt additional  persons from relevant institutions or experts for the purpose.

 

9.         Methodology

9.1       Based on the number of girls and the type of residential school to be provided, the selection of the model of the school to be selected would be done by a State Level Committee based on the recommendation of the District Committee for the purpose.  The proposal shall be forwarded to the Cell at the National level who shall appraise them with the help of external agencies/consultants, where necessary.  Finally, the Project Approval Board of SSA will approve these plans.

 

10.       Financial Norms under KGBV

10.1     The SSA pattern of financing with a 75:25 ratio of sharing between the Centre and the States during the Tenth Five Year Plan, and 50:50 thereafter, will be adopted for KGBV as well.  Commitments regarding sharing of cost would be taken from the State Governments in writing.

10.2     The provisions for KGBV will be in addition to the provisions already made under SSA and for NPEGEL.  The SSA Society shall ensure convergence of KGBV with NPEGEL and Mahila Samakhya programme. It shall also ensure that funds allocated are appropriately invested and there is no duplication of activities. 

10.3     The Government of India would directly release funds to the SSA State Implementation Society.  The State Government will also release its share to the State Implementation Society.  Funds will be released thereafter to the Mahila Samakhya Society wherever applicable.  In States where MS is not being implemented, the implementation of this scheme will be through the ‘Gender Unit’ of SSA Society and existing mechanism used for implementation of SSA will be followed.

10.4     The State Society should open a separate Savings Bank Account for operating the funds of KGBV.  State Government should also release its matching share to the State SSA Society through a separate budget head.  Separate accounts will have to be maintained at district and sub-district structures, accordingly.

 

 

Annex I(a)

 

FINANCIAL ESTIMATES- I

(Scenario I: Cost estimates for 100 girls)

NON RECURRING:

Rs in lakhs

SN	ITEM OF EXPENDITURE	AMOUNT PER SCHOOL*
1	Building	20.00
2	Furniture/ Equipment including kitchen equipment	2.50
3	Teaching learning material and equipment including library books	3.00
4	Bedding	0.75
	TOTAL	26.25

 

RECURRING COSTS PER ANNUM:

Rs in lakhs

SN	ITEM OF EXPENDITURE	AMOUNT PER SCHOOL*
1	Maintenance per girl student per month @ Rs. 750	9.00
2	Stipend for girl student per month @ Rs. 50	0.60
3	Course books, stationery and other Educational material            @ Rs 50/ month	0.60
4	Examination fee	0.01
5	Salaries:                  1  Warden cum teacher              4  Full time teachers              3  Part time teachers 2  Support staff –    (Accountant/Assistant, Peon Chowkidar and Cook)	6.49
6	Vocational training/specific skill training	0.40
7	Electricity/ water charges	0.50
8	Medical care/contingencies @ Rs 750/ child	0.75
9	Miscellaneous including maintenance	0.40
10	Preparatory camps	0.15
11	PTAs/ school functions	0.15
	TOTAL	19.05

 

* Based on calculations for 100 girls.  The number of girls can, however, increase.

 

Annex I(b)

 

FINANCIAL ESTIMATES- II

(Scenario II: Cost estimates for 50 girls)

 

 

NON RECURRING:

Rs in lakhs

SN	ITEM OF EXPENDITURE	AMOUNT PER SCHOOL
1	Building	15.00
2	Furniture/ Equipment including kitchen equipment	2.50
3	Teaching learning material and equipment including library books	3.00
4	Bedding	0.75
	TOTAL	21.25

 

RECURRING COSTS PER ANNUM:

 

Rs in lakhs

SN	ITEM OF EXPENDITURE	AMOUNT PER SCHOOL*
1	Maintenance per girl student per month @ Rs 750	4.5
2	Stipend for girl student per month @ Rs 50	0.3
3	Course books, stationery and other Educational material @ Rs 50/ month	0.3
4	Examination fee
5	Salaries:	6.49
	1  Warden
	4  Full time teachers
	3  Part time teachers
	2         Support staff –       (Accountant/Assistant, Peon, Chowkidar and Cook)
	Vocational training/specific skill training	0.3
	Electricity/ water charges
	Medical care/contingencies @ Rs 750/ child	0.375
	Miscellaneous including maintenance	0.35
	Preparatory camps	0.1
	PTAs/ school functions	0.1
	TOTAL	12.815

* Based on calculations for 50 girls. The number of girls can, however, increase.

Annex I(c)

 

FINANCIAL ESTIMATES- III

(Scenario III: In an existing Girls upper primary school)

NON RECURRING:

Rs in lakhs

SN	ITEM OF EXPENDITURE	AMOUNT PER SCHOOL*
1	Building	15.00
2	Furniture/ Equipment including kitchen equipment	2.50
3	Teaching learning material and equipment including library books	3.00
4	Bedding	0.75
	TOTAL	21.25

 

RECURRING COSTS PER ANNUM:

 

Rs in lakhs

SN	ITEM OF EXPENDITURE	AMOUNT PER SCHOOL*
1	Maintenance per girl student per month @ Rs 750	4.5
2	Stipend for girl student per month @ Rs 50	0.3
3	Course books, stationery and other Educational material @ Rs 50/ month	0.3
4	Examination fee	.01
5	Salaries:	3.6
	1  Warden
	3  Part time teachers
	2         Support staff –       (Accountant/Assistant,  Peon, Chowkidar and    Cook)
	Vocational training/specific skill training	0.3
	Electricity/ water charges
	Medical care/contingencies @ Rs 750/ child	0.375
	Miscellaneous including maintenance	0.35
	Preparatory camps	0.1
	PTAs/ school functions	0.1
	TOTAL	9.925

* Based on calculations for 50 girls. The number of girls can, however, increase.

September 27th, 2007

PM’s remarks in the full planning commission meeting

Following is from a PIB report.

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, chaired the full Planning Commission meeting here today. Following is the text of the Prime Minister’s closing remarks on the occasion:

            “We have had a wide ranging discussion on a subject which is vital for the continued progress of our country. We have covered all the critical areas in education, although I believe that more work needs to be done to give a final shape to the Skill Development area.

            The approach presented by the note of the Planning Commission has received broad support. The proposed scale of Central Government funding for education in the 11th Plan amounts to almost Rs.2.5 lakh crores in constant prices, which is a four-fold increase over the 10th Plan. The share of education in the total Plan will correspondingly increase from 7.7% to 19.4%.  This reflects the high priority being given to education by our Government and represents credible progress towards the objective of raising public spending of the Centre and the States combined to 6% of our GDP.

            The proposals discussed today are at varying degrees of conceptualisation. While some are ready to be operationalised in a few weeks, others will take longer to take final shape. The Planning Commission, the Ministry of Human Resource Development and other Ministries concerned with Skill Development must now move quickly to operationalise the approach agreed to today by preparing detailed programmes for each of the major new initiatives.

I wish to emphasise a few points in particular:

1. Focus on Quality Education in Elementary Education

The Sarva Siksha Abhiyan has made breakthroughs in providing universal access in most parts of the country even though I recognise that the quality and quantity of high incidence of drop-out rates I think constitute, I think serious drawbacks. It must now move to a phase where the goal would be to extract the maximum value for the money being spent. It should rapidly move its focus to quality improvement. It should even be called the Second Phase of SSA. The Ministry of HRD should work out minimum standards which must be met by all schools, whether public or private, and also chalk out the details of how to ensure that the objective is actually achieved. Special attention needs to be paid to districts with concentrations of SC, ST and minority populations. The Mid Day Meals (MDM) scheme has to be rapidly expanded to cover 60 million additional children at the upper primary level by the end of year 2008-09 and I am glad to report that the Cabinet had today approved this ambitious proposal.

2. Secondary and Higher Secondary Education

            We are setting out a goal of universalising secondary education. This is clearly the next step after universalising elementary education. While the goal is laudable, much work needs to be done before we are in a position to launch the Scheme for Universalisation of Access for Secondary Education (SUCCESS). Its details need to be quickly spelt out and discussed with States so that we are fully ready to launch it from the year 2008-09. We must not underestimate the complexity of this task as the principles for universalising elementary education cannot be easily transferred to secondary education. The physical, financial, pedagogical and human resource needs are quite different. We also need to recognize the role currently being played by the private sector and the policy design must factor this in. Detailed strategies and plans would need to be worked out rapidly for each state. Special attention would need to be paid to Districts with SC/ST/OBC/Minority concentration. The points that are made by Shri Sharad Pawar when we are dealing with children from disadvantaged background I think their special needs need to be kept in mind. The recommendations of the Sachar Committee need to be seriously considered and factored into our planning processes while planning for this programme.

To kick start the initiative, the proposal for setting up 6000 high quality model schools with costs to be shared by the Centre and the States needs to be finalised within the next few weeks. The mechanism for setting up and managing these schools – whether in the government sector or through private participation in some aspects – should be worked out by the Ministry of HRD, in consultation with the Planning Commission. It must be recognised that about 60% of secondary schools are under private management and the Ministry and the Planning Commission should focus on incorporating the role of the private sector wherever possible. An outline of the proposal should be available within two months.

Expanding secondary education would run into capacity constraints on many fronts – in getting an adequate number of mathematics and science teachers, in ensuring better attendance of teachers, in ensuring a high quality of education and in ensuring accountability of schools. This would require attention to be paid to teacher training and  managerial control aspects. The Ministry of HRD, there is no doubt that  elaborate specific proposals for meeting this need.

3. Higher Education

The Higher Education System has been relatively neglected in the past decade. It was the investment made in this system in the 50s and 60s which has given us a strong knowledge base in many fields. We are committed to rapidly expanding this sector as well.

There is now general agreement on setting up 16 Central Universities in States which do not have a university, 14 Central Universities in other States, 8 IITs, 7 IIMs and 5 Indian Institute of Science, Education & Researches. I am already getting requests from a large number of states for locating these institutions in their states. I am sure that with the large number of institutions we are considering, we would be able to satisfy every state to some extent.

Some of these universities/institutions should, ab initio, be targeted to achieve world class standards. For the Central Universities aimed at world class standards it will be necessary to be more ambitious in terms of infrastructure, especially if they are to include departments of science, medicine and engineering. This involves higher costs. The scope for private participation in these universities should therefore be systematically explored. The location of these institutions should be determined in a manner which balances the desire for achieving a greater geographical spread with the potential synergies arising from co-location. Location decisions should not be purely based on land availability. We should encourage States to compete for the location of these prized Central Institutions.

These are decisions which would define the educational growth trajectory of states for many decades to come and must be taken with utmost care.  The details and the roll-out of this high visibility programme should be worked out by an Inter-Ministerial Group consisting of the Ministry of HRD, the University Grants Commission and the Planning Commission and outside experts which the Planning Commission can appoint within a fortnight. Locational decisions should be taken within the next two months.

Once the broad policy framework is clear, we should make a start with detailed planning for the proposed Central Universities aiming at world class standards. The proposal in the Planning Commission note to set up distinct teams, to go into details of the structure and operationally relevant issues for each university is a good idea. We should have a creative approach to the design of these new centres of learning. Ideas such as common entrance tests, the semester system, flexible syllabi, student body diversity, inter-institutional student transferability, faculty recruitment and transferability, autonomy and governance reform should all be well thought out in this design. The final approval of funding for these universities should be given on the basis of the reports of these teams.

We should also seriously look at the proposal for fee increases to reasonable levels in a graduated manner accompanied by a scheme of extensive scholarships and loans which would ensure that no student is denied education because of his or her financial constraints This is a reasonable approach and the Planning Commission should work out these proposals in greater detail.

We must also seriously examine the role of private initiative in supplementing public funding for higher education. We obviously cannot rely on the private response alone but we should welcome it as a supplement. I believe that there is a role for private initiative in this area. Many states have developed good quality private institutions. We should carefully examine the policy issues that need to be addressed to promote growth of such institutions in the future.

Finally I would like to draw attention to an aspect of quality education that has been touched upon but not adequately elaborated. The IITs and IIMs have acquired a “star status” globally and we have ambitious plans of expanding the number of such institutions. However, there are large potential capacities within existing institutions which can be easily captured. Some of the existing IITs and IIMs are well endowed with land and have the capacity to expand the size of the student population by three fold. We are currently planning an expansion of 54% for providing reservation to students from other backward classes (OBCs). In fact I feel we should set up a committee to go into the optimum capacity of the existing IITs and IIMs. The Planning Commission and the Ministry of HRD should set up a group for this purpose.

The role and functions of apex institutions like UGC, All India Council of Technical Education, Medical Council of India, etc, need to be reviewed in the context of the large number of changes that have taken place in higher, professional and technical education in the last many years and the demands of a new knowledge economy.  The Planning Commission in consultation with the Ministry of Human Resource Development and other concerned Ministries should set up a Working Group to suggest a specific reforms agenda in this area.

4. Vocational Education

One area where I believe that we have slipped a lot in our commitments is in vocational education and skill development. I had mentioned on 15th August that we will develop the capacity for enrolling one crore children under this stream. The proposals, however, are too sketchy – both in vocational education and skill development. I would like to Planning Commission, in consultation with all concerned Ministries to finalise this proposal before 2nd October so that we see some real action on the ground this year.

Conclusion

            In conclusion, I compliment the Planning Commission and the Ministry of HRD for having put in sustained effort in giving shape to our commitment to improve the quantity and quality of our education system. However, what I would like to emphasise is that we cannot discuss options endlessly. We need to work with a sense of urgency and work to fixed timelines if we have to see action on the ground. Otherwise, we will continue with a theoretical exercise within these four walls for some more years. We need to work hard to ensure that all that we have agreed today takes off in a reasonably short time frame. Proposals for setting up 6000 schools covering all blocks, having 30 Central Universities and providing large capacities in vocational education must be finalised within the next two months. Locational decisions must be taken fast. It is only then that the common man will have faith in our ability to deliver on our promises.”

2 comments September 14th, 2007

What does $1 billion buy? Is Vedanta University’s proposed budget enough?

Following up on our earlier rejoinder of an article that said $1-$3 billion is not enough for making a research university in India, following are some excerpts from an Indian Express article which talks about how much $1 billion buys in terms of Indian HRD.

How much is this Rs 4443.60 crore in the context of current spending on education? Consider these:

44 times the annual allocation for an IIT at the rate of Rs 100 crore average.

68% of the total allocation in 2007-08 for higher and technical education, which is Rs 6,483 crore, inclusive of allocation for expansion to accommodate OBC quotas

• Almost twice this year’s allocation for the entire UGC (Rs 2124.77 crore) which includes all Central universities and its quota expansion

137% of the current year allocation for technical education: Rs.3240 crore of which Rs.2122 crore is IITs, NITs, IIMs expansion.

50% of the entire Tenth Plan allocation for higher and technical education, Rs 8876 crore

• Cost of 2 new IITs

• Upgrading 15 premium IITs

• Setting of 15 Central universities

September 6th, 2007

Educational Loans from Banks

The following is copied from the UGC page on educational loans.

Government of India in consultation with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Indian Banker’s Association (IBA) has framed a Comprehensive Educational Loan Scheme to ensure that no deserving student in the Country is deprived of higher education for want of finances. The new scheme covers all type of courses including professional courses in schools and colleges in India and abroad.

The Salient features of the scheme are as under:

• The scheme envisages loans up to Rs.7.5 lakh for studies in India and up to Rs. 15 lakh for studies abroad.

• For loans up to Rs. 4 lakh no collateral or margin is required and the interest rate is not to exceed the Prime Lending Rates (PLR). For loans above Rs. 4 lakh the interest rate will not exceed PLR plus 1 percent.

• The loans are to be repaid over a period of 5 to 7 years with provision of grace period of one year after completion of studies

Tax Benefit

Repayment of an education loan is deductible under section 80E of the Income Tax Act. The yearly limit for deduction is Rs. 40,000 (for both the principal and the interest). Only loans taken for higher education – fulltime studies in any graduate or post-graduate, professional, and pure and applied science courses – may claim deduction. The deduction will be available for a maximum of eight years starting from the day you start repaying.

Equitable Access to quality higher education has been a concern of the University Grants Commission. To this purpose the Commission, besides encouraging colleges and universities to provide for liberal financial support to the meritorious but needy students, has also been instrumental in educational loan scheme. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued guidelines in this regard to all commercial banks. A large number of banks have already launched educational loan schemes. Provided below are links to the respective website of individual banks offering such facilities.

• Allahabad Bank
  Educational Loan Scheme Application form

• Andhra Bank
  Educational Loan Scheme Application Form

• Bank of Baroda
  BOB Scholar Application form

• Bank of India
  Vidya Vardhini Application Form

• Bank of Maharashtra
  Educational Loan Scheme Application Form

• Canara Bank
  Vidyasagar Loan Application Form

• Central Bank of India
  Centvidhyarath Application Form

• Corporation Bank
  Educational Loan Scheme Application Form

• Dena Bank
  Dena Vidya Laxmi Application Form

• Indian Bank
  Educational Loan Scheme Application Form

• Indian Overseas Bank
  Vidya Jothi Application form

• Oriental bank of Commerce
  Educational Loan Scheme Application Form

• Panjab and Sindh Bank
  Educational Loan Scheme Application From

• Panjab National Bank
  Vidyalaksyapurti Application Form

• State Bank of India
  Educational Loan Scheme Application Form

• State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur
  Educational Loan Scheme Application Form

• State Bank of Hyderabad
  Educational Loan Scheme Application form

• State Bank of Indore

• State Bank of Mysore

• State Bank of Saurashatra

• State Bank of Travancore
  Gyan Jyothi Application Form

• Syndicate Bank
  SyndVidya Application Form

• Uco Bank
  Educational loan Scheme Application form

• Union Bank of India

• United Bank of India
  Educational loan Scheme Application Form

• Vijaya Bank
  Education Loan Scheme Application Form

Disclaimer: Since the rules, regulations, eligibility conditions, repayments and interests rates etc are revised by the banks from time to time in keeping pace with the changing capital market conditions, students and parents are advised to thoroughly check the terms and conditions of educational loan scheme on offer at the time of application.

9 comments August 14th, 2007

Orissa gets new textile training centre

Fiber2fashion reports,

The 29th centre of ATDC is inaugurated in the State of Orissa ON 24.07.2007. Indeed the last few years, ATDC is streamlining its activities in tune with its objectives. From an initial strength of a mere 195 students training in 1996, number of students passing out last year has risen to 7500. Overall more than 23000 students have been trained in different centres of the ATDC, since its inception and around 5500 students are now undergoing training in different courses. The students trained at various centres of ATDCs are suitably employed in the garment industry and we are proposing to set up a total of 50 ATDC centres by December 2007 and to train a minimum of 25000 students per year. As part of institutional social responsibility and in specific development of the weaker section of the society and to provide them opportunities for a better livelihood, in collaboration with the National Backward Classes Finance & Development Corporation (NBCFDC) and National Scheduled Castes Finance & Development Corporation (NBCFDC), New Delhi, ATDC has tied up to impart training to OBC/SC candidates by signing MOU’s. …….. In fact, ATDC provides 100% placement for the students passing out from ATDC centres. Various industries / export houses situated in all over the country recruit our students. Indeed there is a huge demand for skilled human resources in the Apparel Industry, as the textile sector would generate employment opportunities for 17.35 million work force of which 5.2 million will be skilled and the textile sector is expected to attract an investment of 1,50,600 Crore by the end of 11th Five year plan. Indeed the growth of the industry has now accelerated to 10% per annum and it is expected to rise to 16% in coming years.

2 comments August 1st, 2007