S. Vishnu Sharma
Education arena is about recent developments in the field of education in our country that are worth noting.
The news on the education arena that have made the impact in the current scenario are given below:
Education arena 2021
1. JEE Mains, NEET UG 2021 exams
The entire nation watched the education arena with utmost attention when Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank announced that CBSE board exams, NEET UG and JEE Mains will be conducted on reduced syllabus.
Students began experiencing relaxed moments when they heard Union Minister RP Nishank announcing at an interaction with students and teachers of Kendriya Vidyalaya.
While announcement was made with regards to CBSE syllabus reduction, no such thing came out in connection with NEET UG exams in particular.
This put students to certain amount of confusion, however, things have become clear with this announcement.
2. MKU and evening admission
Education areana in southern part of India garnered much attention as Madurai Kamaraj University Evening College began inviting applications for MPhil courses for the academic year 2020-21.
Sources following the education arena in the country say that MPhil course is offered in 22 subjects.
English, Physics, Bio-Medical Science, Economics, History are among the courses offered. The last date to apply for the course is 29 January.
Students can apply by visiting the official website of MKU Evening College at ‘www.mkuniversity.ac.in’
Admissions will be provided based on marks obtained in qualification test.
Candidates will also be selected based on reservation policy of Tamil Nadu Government. SC/ST candidates need not pay any application fee by providing an attested copy of Community Certificate.
3. NEET UG Exam date
NEET UG exam has also become a subject of utmost interest as it is one of the most sought after tests in India.
As some lakhs of candidates write NEET UG exam every year this is one of the most important aspect of our education arena.
Students who aspire to study medicine at undergradute level eagerly wait for this popular exam.
Union Education Minister RP Nishank recently hinted that date for NEET UG exam 2021 could be announced in the next 10 or 15 days.
The education arena is now looking forward for announcement of NEET exam dates for this year.
4. Joint PhD programme
There is no dearth of highly worth watching developments on the education arena of our nation.
IIT Delhi and Queensland University joined hands two years ago to offer a PhD programme.
Entire education arena watched with enthusiasm as both setup UQIITD Academy of Research (UQIDAR) to run a joint PhD programme.
The programme has now turned two years old, sources say UQIDAR now aims to enrol over 300 students in next three months.
Sources tracking the education arena say the PhD programme has already attracted 65 top PhD scholars in various disciplines.
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A permanent office of UQIDAR was also inaugurated at IIT Delhi premises.
Students who wish to apply under the programme can visit the website ‘uqidar.org’
5. TANCET 2021 registration commences
Education arena in this country once again has some news of high importance for students.
Students seeking admission into postgraduate management, engineering and architecture programmes have news that will make them happy.
TANCET 2021 registrations has begun.
Students seeking admissions for post graduate courses in management, engineering and architecture at university departments, university colleges of engineering, regional campuses of Anna University, Annamalai University, government and government aided colleges can register for TANCET 2021 exam.
Sources following the developments in the education arena say, students can apply online for TANCET 2021 exam at the website ‘tancet.annauniv.edu’ and last date to register is February 12.
The halltickets for the exam will be issued by March 5 and TANCET 2021 result will be out on or before April 16.
6. Kolhapur Startup Mission
Education arena witnessed with enthusiasm when Maharashtra Government joined hands with IIT Kanpur, Kolhapur Incubation Centre (KIC) and DY Patil Education group to commence Kolhapur Start-up Mission.
The objective behind fostering the collaboration is to solve the civic problems bothering Kolhapur city with help of startups.
The mission began its innings after a grand inauguration by Satej Patil, Maharashtra Minister for Home and IT.
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Startups which bring out innovative solutions inform of products or services to civic issues bothering the city will win a grant of Rs 5 lakh from KIC in collaboration with SIIC of IIT Kanpur.
7. Scholarships for children of police personnel
This development on the education arena brings happy news for the children of police personnel.
Sources keenly following the education arena of our nation say Ajinkya DY Patil University has launched a scheme to provide scholarships to children of police personnel.
The university brought out Yashwant Dyanarthi Shishyavratti scholarship scheme in the name of the grandfather of Chairman Dr Ajeenkya DY Patil.
The aim behind bringing out the scheme is to recognise the service of the police personnel, in particular, their work during tough times like COVID-19.
As per this scheme, the university is said to offer a scholarship upto 50 percent to the children of police personnel.
Sources tracking the education arena say, university intends to offer 100 percent scholarships to students who get more than 95 percent marks in class 12 exams.
8. Low drop out rate of Kerala
Kerala made its presence distinctively felt on the education arena of this country when sources pointed out that the state had achieved lowest school droup out rate in the country for 2019-20.
Sources in the education arena said the school drop out rate was at 0.11 percent during 2019-20 which is said to be the lowest in the country.
Kerala was able to achieve this owing to modernisation of education system and making the schools high-tech, said Kerala Education Minister C. Raveendranath.
Government and aided schools in Kerala were made modern by providing hi-tech classrooms and laboratories, said Kerala Education Minister.
Needless to say, this development is an impressive one as far as education arena in our country is concerned.
9. PM Modi to address the convocation
Tezpur University has taken the central position on the education arena as the news comes out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would address the students during the 18th convocation of the university.
The ceremony will take place on 22 January, say sources tracking the education sector in India.
Source from the education arena say, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Lok Sabha MP of Tezpur Pallab Lochan Das will also participate in the programme.
Education arena in this nation will watch the ceremony with utmost interest as Prime Minister Modi will address the ceremony virtually.
Sources from the education arena further said the convocation will witness only PhD scholars and toppers receiving degrees in person owing to the COVID-19 restrictions.
10. Tuition fee reduction
Odisha also became a centre of attraction on the education arena of this nation when the state government announced reduction in tuition fee for 2020-21 academic session.
The announcement of reduction with regards to all aided and unaided private schools in a way turned a happy news for parents and students, say sources keeping track of education arena.
According to a notification by School and Mass Education department of Odisha, tuition fee reduction will be made available in seven different slabs.
There is going to be no reduction in school fees of Rs 6,000 per annum, however schools which charge between Rs 6,001 to Rs 12,001 will witness a reduction of 7.5 percent.
A reduction of 12 percent is provided where schools charge tuition fees from Rs 12,001 to Rs 24,000 annually.
A 15 percent reduction is provided when the annual tuition fee is between Rs 24,001 to Rs 48,000.
Sources tracking education arena further say a concession of 20 percent is offered on tuition fees in case it is between Rs 48,001 to Rs 72,000.
A concession of 25 percent is offered if the annual school fee is from Rs 72,001 to Rs 1 lakh, 26 percent concession is provided where tuition fee is above Rs 1 lakh per annum.
Sources tracking the education arena say the measure seems to have been taken based on a directive from High Court.
Sources keeping track of the education sector say parents associations have approached the High Court in the recent past as the request to reduce the fees was not accepted.
Also, Chief Minister of Odisha announced the waiver of exam fee for class 10 students who are going to write exams this year.
Even this development on the education arena has gained good deal of attention from various sections.