IIM Calcutta (IIM-C), for instance, is planning to start a dual-degree programme with its foreign institutions. Saibal Chattopadhyay, dean, IIM-C, says: "We have collaborations with around 50 institutions in over 26 countries for our two-year post-graduate programme students and another 10 collaborations are in the pipeline, for student exchange programmes. We are currently looking at course similarity or equivalence in our partner institutions so that we can start offering dual degrees to our students, in addition to the exchange programmes that we have." The institute is also looking at dual-degree programmes for its executive education programmes.

At IIM-C, too, around 50-60 students go on foreign exchange programmes every year and this year the number will touch 100.

Under the dual-degree programme, students get to study for one year in a foreign B-school after completing a year in India. Exchange programmes, on the other hand, provide students with exposure to other cultures and business practices. Around 700 students annually take part in the student exchange programme from India. Of these, about 400 students go from India to other foreign universities.

Source; Business-standard IIMs sharpen focus on foreign tie-ups, dual-degree programmes

For instance, IIM Bangalore last year pegged the participation fee at Rs 1.5 lakh for slot zero (day one), Rs 1 lakh for slot one, and Rs 50,000 for slot two. This year, it has decided not to impose the fee on recruiters. The institute will only levy the `student support fee' which will be charged on each student recruited by a company.

The student support fee or the recruitment fee, too, is lower as compared to last year. Last year, the institute charged Rs 100,000 per student as recruitment fee for slot zero, Rs 80,000 for slot one and Rs 50,000 for slot two. While recruitment fee for slot zero has not been cut, the fee for slot one has been reduced to Rs 50,000 and slot two to Rs 40,000. Moreover, for its first batch of Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management (ePGP), the institute has not imposed any participation fee but will charge Rs 100,000 per student as recruitment fee for domestic placement and $5000 for international placement.

IIMs generally charge two types of fees from companies participating in campus recruitment -- a fixed fee as participation charge, and a variable fee per student hired. To hire PGP students, the variable recruitment fee for companies making overseas posting ranges from $5,000 (for an annual cost-to-company (CTC) of more than $100,000) to $1,500 (for an annual CTC of less than $ 60,000).

Source: Business-standard By Archana M Prasanna & Vinay Umarji IIMs Reduce Participation, Placement Fees To Lure More Companies

In a statement, Johnson said Britain will continue to welcome genuine foreign students, but will come down heavily on those who use student visas to come to Britain mainly to work and abuse the system. He said: "We remain open to those foreign students who want to come to the UK for legitimate study. But those who are not seriously interested in coming here to study but primarily to work -- they should be in no doubt that we will come down hard on them."

Under the new measures, successful applicants from India and other countries outside the European Union will have to meet a higher bar on English language requirement, and students taking courses below degree level will be allowed to work for 10 hours a week, instead of 20 as at present. Those in courses which last under six months will not be allowed to bring dependants into the country, while the dependants of students on courses below degree level will not be allowed to work.

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are mulling a Rs 35,000 rise in student fees for the next 10 years. This would effectively increase the fees from the current Rs 50,000 a year to Rs 400,000 a year by the end of 10 years.

The plan is aimed at helping the IITs become self-financing institutions. However, IITs maintain that an increase is not possible without the government's permission. "We have taken up the issue with Union Human Resources Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal who has asked us to wait till the ministry puts in place a finance corporation that would help students get loans," says B K Mathur, Dean -- planning and coordination, IIT Kharagpur, adding: "A fee hike is necessary but there should be more scope for education loans to students, to discourage dependence on parents' salaries."

Currently, IITs spend Rs 400,000 per student annually. To be financially independent, IITs need to earn this amount through student fees. At present, they charge Rs 50,000 a year. The areas of income for an IIT include a government grant (which takes care of 25-35 per cent of an IIT's expenditure), student fees and sponsored research.

Source: Business-standard By Pradipta Mukherjee IITs Seek Govt Nod To Increase Annual Fees By Rs 35,000

The CM said the scheme aims to achieve a General Enrollment Ratio (GER) of 75% in classes IX & X in the country within five years, by providing a secondary school within reasonable distance of every habitation and by improving the quality of education imparted at the secondary level.

The GER at national level as per data available for 2005-06 is 52.26%. Dikshit said the GER for Delhi is 83% for class IX as per provisional data available for 2008-09. But the city government will strive hard to achieve 100% GER by the end of the 11th Five Year Plan.

The Cabinet also gave its nod to the setting up of an institutional framework to implement RMSA. A state mission on RMSA will be constituted under the chairmanship of the CM. Further, an Executive Committee under the chairmanship of the Principal Secretary (Education) will be constituted. It has been decided to convert the existing Vidyalaya Kalyan Samiti of each school into a School Management & Development Committee.

There are at the moment 34 middle schools, 191 secondary schools, 701 senior secondary schools, including 19 Pratibha Vidyalayas. Of the 191 secondary schools, 86 are running in single shifts. Of the 701 senior secondary schools, 305 are running in single shifts. ``There is scope for the upgradation of middle and secondary schools," said the CM. ``Apart from this, greater effort is required to retain children up to the secondary stage by eliminating dropouts," she added.

Dikshit further said it is essential to constitute all required bodies before release of funds for preparatory activities by the Union Government.

Anxious school pass outs running from pillar to post to get information about admission into the premier central university of the country is the most common scene during the admission season at the Delhi University (DU).

However, the university has mulled to alleviate their worries and has proposed to educate them while they are in schools, so that they are familiar with the admission process even before stepping out in to the campus.

"In a first of its kind of initiative, the university", said Gurpreet Tuteja, deputy dean (Students Welfare), DU, "will soon conduct a workshop to educate school teachers and administrators regarding the admission process of the university so that they could further disseminate the information to their students."

The workshop is to be conducted in four sessions on the second and third Saturdays of February where the teachers would be categorized in three categories to be accommodated.

The University would also be guiding students to choose their subjects carefully for class XII. It would be encouraging them to choose only those subjects which interests them.

"We generally see students in a confused state of mind when they come into the campus to apply for undergraduate courses. The university now, takes the initiative to reduce their misconceptions even before they reach the stage to choose their subjects in class XII," said a DU official.

Source: indiaedunews.net DU to conduct workshop in schools on admissions

Aimed at those who are already working in tele-centres or interested in setting up one, the 10-module course will be first made available in English and Hindi and later introduced in other languages.

The course, according to IGNOU officials, will also be helpful to those interested in the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for development.

A tele-centre is a public place where people can access computers, the internet and other digital technologies that enables them to gather information.

The programme will be launched in collaboration with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and Microsoft.

The Government is considering giving greater weightage to Class XII performance for admissions to the Indian Institutes of Technology ( IITs).

The human resource development ( HRD) ministry on Thursday set the ball rolling for changes in the admission process at the IITs.

The ministry set up a committee under IIT- Kharagpur director Professor Damodar Acharya to suggest reforms in the IIT joint entrance examination ( JEE).

During a brainstorming session chaired by HRD minister Kapil Sibal on Thursday, several proposals were mooted to improve the admission process.

The IITs have been contemplating increasing the marks for eligibility from the existing 60 per cent. Including the board examination's performance while determining the cut- offs for entrance to the IITs is also being considered for some time.

The move will make it easier for students who prepare for their Class XII boards and IITJEE simultaneously.

Source: Mail Today By Kavita Chowdhury Class XII score to add ` weight' to IIT dream

At a brainstorming session on IITs, chaired by Mr Sibal, a committee was set up under IIT Kharagpur director Damodar Acharya to study the existing JEE and GAIT exam and suggest possibilities of improvement.

The committee will submit its report in three months. It is expected to suggest on how to consider the Class XII marks of students while preparing the cut-off for admission. At present, students are required to score 60% in their class XII board examinations for their JEE results to be considered. At the last meeting of IIT Council, the apex body to decide on IIT matters, discussions were held on giving more weightage to marks obtained in school-leaving examinations while selecting students.

The meeting, attended by the IIT directors and chairmen, however, did not take any decision on the proposal to increase the tuition fee of students to make the institutes self-sufficient.

Source: Economic Times No IIT fee hike till HEFC is set up

The Medical Council of India (MCI) said the Bachelor of Rural Health Care (BRHC) a shift from an earlier proposal for a Bachelor of Rural Medicine and Surgery (BRMS) would involve three-and-a-half years of study and six months of internship. (See chart)

Senior MCI officials said the BRHC course would be open only to candidates from notified rural areas, and that its graduates would be allowed to deliver health services only in rural areas, at least for the first five years.

"They will receive a one-year licence that will be renewed every year for five years on condition that they remain in the rural area of their states," said Ved Prakash Mishra, chairman of the MCI's academic cell.

What happens after five years has been left undefined, though it's unlikely they will ever be allowed to work in urban areas.

"After five years, an individual state may decide whether it wants to retain their services in rural areas. I expect the earliest BRHC course to begin by August 2011 for the academic year 2011-12," Mishra said.

The BRHC graduates will be entitled to provide limited diagnostic and treatment services, less than what an MBBS doctor is authorised to provide, said Mishra. "Their skills would cover only 60 per cent of those of an MBBS doctor."

Source: The Telegraph Barefoot docs tied to villages