Amarjit Chopra, president of ICAI said that, "This initiative, for students who work for 14 hours a day towards completing their article-ship along with studies, will immensely help them to reduce stress while they juggle between tuition centres and workplace where they do their articleship."

Overhauling the examination system is also on the radar of ICAI, as it mulls to modify the academic pattern by basing it on the application model.

"The ICAI may introduce case studies in examination in order to test the aptitude and analytical prowess of students which will help them to build up their own understanding of the subject," added Chopra.

Under the aegis of the Board of Studies, the ICAI, on the physical front will put in place regular classroom teaching at all important places.

"Covering each and every aspect of the course, these classes are expected to provide students with complete guidance. Moreover, such an initiative will enhance the personal interaction between teachers and students where they will benefit from the face-to-face discussions," said an official from the ICAI.

The study material will be accordingly revised while keying on the applicability skills.

Application based questions in the Common Proficiency Test (CPT), Professional Competence Course (PCC) and Integrated Professional competence Course (IPCC) will be introduced in order to enhance the critical skills of students.

"The provision to provide coaching classes to students may take two years to evolve into a concrete shape. Moreover, we are also planning to undertake research projects particularly in the field where the Institute can come up with suggestions towards optimum utilization of scarce resources of economy for industry and government agencies," said an official of ICAI.

The ICAI is also lined up with another initiative which will ensure that the grievance redressal system e-samadhan becomes more responsive and effective.

"There are three legislations we are planning to propose for improving higher education in the country, including one allowing domestic and foreign players to set upeducational institutes, (and two others for) setting up National Accreditation Authority and the Educational Finance Corporation," Sibal said.

He was speaking at the Conscious Capitalism Summit organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here.

Sibal said the second legislature would reduce the government's intervention in the functioning of private institutes.

"The National Accreditation Authority would do all the evaluation process of the institutes as per their declarations made on their websites pertaining to the infrastructure, faculty members, etc. for the quality education," he said.

The minister also informed the house that the proposal to the Planning Commission for setting up the Educational Finance Corporation would "Reduce the fee structures inprivate institutes as they would be provided with long-term commercial borrowings."

Through this corporation, students will be able to fund their education without depending on their parents, Sibal said.

"Only about 12 percent students enrolled in schools enter in the colleges for higher education who fall in the age group of 18 to 24 years. We want to increase the resources for them and states alone cannot do it," Sibal said.

This comes six months after the knowledge giant made inroads into the school textbook business in India with a cache of 30 books, 10 knowledge CDs and nine teachers' manuals.

"The fact that the Indian government is stressing knowledge beyond the classroom and is devising a new school education system will help us grow," Cauz told the sources.

The Britannica books cover the National Council for Education, Research and Training (NCERT) syllabus from classes one to eight.

"While the books published in September 2009 will be included in the school curriculum in April 2010 as additional tools to supplement NCERT knowledge, access to the education portal will be made available on the basis of subscription."

The internet modules under Britannica Online School Edition (BOSE) have been created for three levels elementary (primary), high school and senior high school covering classes one to twelve.

Cauz said, "The e-module was viable in the country with the increasing penetration of computers at the school level."

Source: indiaedunews.net Now, school textbooks, e-module from Encyclopedia Britannica

"The biometric system will be installed in all the 300 medical colleges across India within two months," said MCI president Ketan Desai.

Dr Vedprakash Mishra, chairman of MCI's Academic Cell, said: "The 10 regional centres being run by the MCI for give only basic orientation for three days. The apical body, however, will help upgrade courses so that a talent pool is created and there are experts to teach different medical subjects."

At present, 1,000 teachers have been given orientation and the MCI aims to make a basic medical education course mandatory for all medical teachers across India every five years.

Officals said the apical centre will also have a web portal so that medical education courses can be accessed from across the country. There will also be a central server in MCI's Delhi office so that biometric attendance across 300 colleges could be monitored from one centre. "There have been several incidents of doctors working in one hospital or college but reporting in some other hospital. With the central server system, such practices would be curbed," Dr Desai added.

LEAP YEAR A million new jobs. The best salary hikes in the Asia-Pacific region that will fatten purses of employees by 10 per cent on average. After the gloom of the slowdown, the sun appears to be shining again on India in 2010

It's the time of year when management graduates across the counry put on their best ties and head out to campus interviews. If they've been good students, they do so in been good students, they do so in expectation of salaries with as many digits as telephone numbers.

Last year was a bad year. The Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad, the country's top man- agement institute, took a record nine days to place its graduating batch. Even then, salaries were down by 25 to 33 per cent compared to 2008.

This year, the smiles are back. "We cannot say the offers were through the roof, but compared to last year, the num- ber of offers and packages has increased", says Himanshu Nema, a second year student and student head of the IIM-A placement committee.

Campuses around the country expect a better show this year. IIM Calcutta's campus recruitment began yesterday.

This year, 95 companies have turned up, compared to 80 last year, and more are expected. Prafull Agnihotri, chair- man of the placement and career devel- opment cell at IIM-C, says, "According to me, salary figures will not touch the 2008 mark, but students will definite- ly bag 20 per cent more than what was offered to them last year".

With inputs from Kamayani Singh in Delhi, Prasad Nichenametla in Ahmedabad, Salil Mekaad in Bangalore and Mou Chakraborty in Kolkata

mahua.venkatesh@hindustantimes.com

Source: Hindustan Times by Mahua Venkatesh We Bring Good News  - Expect Jobs & Hikes

• WHERE ARE THE JOBS?

• Engineers and MBAs are back in demand.

• THE MACRO VIEW

• LOOK WHO'S BACK

The MS University of Baroda, for example, boasts of a four-star grade awarded by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC); the only catch is that this rating was annulled as far ago as in January 2006. This is not a solitary case. Seventy other Indian institutes, including Pune University, Mangalore University and the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages in Hyderabad, have been advertising rankings that expired long ago.

At a time when the ministry of human resources development is hitting out hard at private and deemed universities, its own institutes are sitting pretty on old grades, which are no longer valid. While accreditation is not mandatory, NAAC rules specify that grades are valid only for five years after they are awarded and they expire at the end of that term. Colleges and universities have to re-apply for inspection to receive fresh ranking. In fact, in 2008, the NAAC's executive committee had announced that the institutes whose grades were about to complete the fiveyear term or were in the last quarter of the fifth year should submit a letter of intent and request for re-accreditation. But most universities gave re-assessment a skip and continued splashing old grades.

Source: Times Of India By Hemali Chhapia Univs continue with expired grades

The initiative was launched in Delhi's Tihar Jail in 1994, but as a special gesture, the university has given the project a major impetus by declaring that the education it offers to jail inmates will, henceforth, be free.

"All jail inmates in the country will now be able to access free education as per their choice," the university informed in a statement. Students do not even have to pay examination or late fees.

"They can enrol themselves any time of the year, appear when they are ready to take their examinations and get certificates which will ensure them vocational advantage as well as access to quality life," the statement said.

Source: The Tribune IGNOU offers free education to jail inmates

Schools feel this problem may not arise next year if they make their own question papers. CBSE chairperson Vineet Joshi has hinted at this. ``We will be more than happy if schools make their own question papers. We wanted to establish a minimum standard to be followed by the schools and facilitate the completion of curriculum.''

This time, many students got hold of question papers of other schools through coaching centres. For instance, there were around 12 sets of papers made by CBSE for each subject. The same paper was rotated and used by different schools. Usha Ram, principal, Laxman Public School, and member of CBSE committee working on CCE, said, ``Every school has been given a different code through SMS to access the question papers sent by the Board on a CD. We have maintained full secrecy. The problem will no longer be there. We will set our own papers from next time.''

Source: Times Of India By Neha Pushkarna & Manash Pratim Gohain CCE: Schools may set own Class IX papers

Click On Image For Site View (www.dpjju.com)

A first of its kind effort, the website provides a platform to children, parents, concerned citizens and stakeholders like NGOs, government, police and child rights activists to get information on the Juvenile Justice System and a guide to use the law. It has the facility to report about a child in distress online and have an investigating officer follow up on the matter.

Besides sections on the law, NGOs, reports and contact persons, the website offers an innovative section for the urban child under a section `Hot tips for cool kids'. It talks of recent trends in child abuse. For instance, there is one section on bullying which not only elaborates on what bullying entails but also offers help to fight it.

EASY ACCESS

• Report a child in distress: Just at the click of the mouse a form appears asking for simple details regarding the complainant and the child in distress. Once the form is submitted online, the Juvenile Police Unit promises to get back with an investigating officer.

• Hot tips for cool kids: For the tech-savvy urban child, the site offers solutions to bullying, misuse of information on social networking sites and harassment through teen sexting via mobile phones. Problem of drug abuse and ways to quit it are also listed.

• Quick tips for parents: A section offers quick tips to parents through a book on child abuse, the trauma involved and ways to recognize its signs.

• Resources for police:The website has information on laws, guidelines, manual, various judgments as well as reports and case studies for reference.

IT major HCL registered 150 students. Its BPO offered a pay package of Rs 1.5 lakh per annum for a position in its voice process. Another company, MIE, which had visited the campus last month and shortlisted 38 students, took their final interview on Saturday.

" Aptara Corporation, HDFC Standard Life, Intelnet and Dell are some of the other companies that will meet the students next week," Seema Parihaar, chairperson of the CPC, said.

S. K. Vij, dean of the DU students' welfare cell, said: " We have lined up six corporate firms for the third placement drive. We have had a similar drive last month and it was successful.

The main endeavour of the CPC is to help in the placements of all 8,076 students who have registered with it."