This has come as a shock not just to the students but also the Idara-e-Adabiyat-e-Urdu, which conducts the Urdu Fazil course. The Commissioner, School Education, has obviously gone by a letter issued by the Board of Intermediate Education in October last stating that the Fazil course is not equivalent to Intermediate. But subsequently the Principal Secretary, Higher Education, has clarified that the Fazil course continues to be equivalent to Intermediate. In this context the action of the Directorate of School Education is puzzling.

"Following representations, the Principal Secretary, Higher Education, wrote to the Secretary, BIE, to keep in `abeyance' the decision not to consider the Urdu Fazil course on par with Intermediate. "Allow the equivalence for this year," the Principal Secretary clearly instructed in a letter dated November 2003.

The Idara-e-Adabiayat conducted the examination for the Fazil course two months ago and the result was declared only recently. "Students who successfully completed the Fazil course have a right to appear for the DSC-2003," said Mohd. Faseeuddin, president, Urdu Struggle Organisation.

Autism is a lifelong developmental disorder that occurs during the first three years of life, where the child fails to develop communication and social skills. There are no schools that cater specifically to autistic children, since they are good at something. While some grasp languages easily, others are good at mathematics.

"Our children are neither mentally retarded nor are they normal. So they do not fit into regular schools or special schools," said K Laxmi, mother of six-year-old Harsha, an autistic child. "They need a school where teachers can understand their disability and educate them based on their individual capabilities," she said.

Meet to explore technology use for language teaching

04 Feb: Participants at the 35th conference of the English Language Teachers' Association of India will explore the possibility of using technology to impart linguistic skills effectively to students.

The conference, to be held here on February 6 and 7, will look at ways of adapting to the e-world, using its devices to promote linguistic proficiency and develop soft skills. Technophobic teachers scarcely find space to accommodate technology in their learning scheme. However, following an orthodox, laid-back approach will only maim their learning potential. Delivering the S. Natarajan Endowment lecture, M.L. Tickoo, former professor of materials production, Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages, Hyderabad, will signpost the directions language teaching is likely to take in the country.

To provide hands-on experience to the delegates, parallel sessions of workshops, giving them access to e-learning devices, online resources and multimedia packages have been organised. Ten parallel sessions will be held on both days to accommodate more than 70 presentations, ranging from Spoken English with technology to mobilisation technology for creative writing.

English teachers can attend the conference and register themselves at the venue, Anna University. The Director of Collegiate Education, in a release, said leave taken by English lecturers to attend the conference would be treated as `On Duty', on production of a certificate of attendance. Further details can be had from 17, Muthalamman Koil Street, West Mambalam, Chennai 600 033, on phone (3712407) or Anna University (22203165).

The academy, to be launched at the Youth Employment Summit (YES) regional forum for South and Southeast Asia, will conduct research and identify employment opportunities in various sectors and work towards capacity building.

The US-based Education Development Centre (EDC), the Andhra Pradesh government, the MS Swaminathan Foundation and some others are partners for the Academy, which will also undertake projects.

Poonam Ahluwalia, executive director of EDC that the centre had raised $200,000 through several UN bodies.

Various groups such as the Hyderabad-based Reddy Foundation, which is training youths for employment, have also come forward to become partners in the Academy.

Ahluwalia said the Academy was being set up in Hyderabad as the city had received global recognition due to several innovative projects in different sectors.

EDC is an international, non-profit organisation with 325 projects in 40 countries dedicated to enhancing learning, promoting health and fostering a deeper understanding of the world. The organisation raises $80 million every year.

The YES Campaign, launched last year at Alexandria, Egypt, is working to build the capacity of young people to create sustainable livelihoods.

"It was launched in response to the enormous challenge of youth unemployment facing most countries and affecting millions of young people around the world," said Ahluwalia.

IIT researching on hypersonics

9 Dec: Fly to London in less than two hours. It will not be wishful thinking or remain in the realm of imagination in a few years. The Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) here is aiming just that as it has begun work on the `biggest aeronautical challenge' for the country. Giving flight to the imagination, all the IITs in the country are among the 12 academic institutions working with the DRDL to develop a hypersonic aircraft.

When the hypersonic aircraft becomes a reality, one can travel to London, perhaps attend a meeting, and travel right back in just a few hours. At present, a New Delhi-London flight takes eight hours - one way. In the ambitious programme to achieve what the United States and Russia too are competing. The IISc, Bangalore , the Osmania University, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) and Hyderabad Central University in the city are also working with the DRDL.

ISB girls create 'Perfect Professor'

27 Nov : Your search for the 'Perfect Professor' ends at the Indian School of Business (ISB) located in Hyderabad. At ISB, they don't just learn business. Observant girl students have even created the 'Perfect Professor', an imaginary being created with all the desirable traits they want, ranging from looks, talent to mentoring ability.The students made their 'Perfect Professor' public last month by listing the ingredients that go into the making of the ideal professor. The 'recipe' has been published in ISB's student newsletter The Harbinger. Prof Ziv Katalan's eyes, which the students seem to be enamoured of, forms the base of the cake. Katalan, who teaches 'decision models and optimisation', comes from Wharton. To this base, the students have added Prof Robert Stine's forearms and Prof Mark Finn's calves. Stine is also from The Wharton School while Finn, who teaches 'financial accounting in decision making', is from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.

Creating the 'Perfect Professor' was an all-woman affair. Amongst the ingredients for the 'first layer' of the cake, the students suggest "three tumblersful of Prof Jagmohan Raju's humour, 574.098 bathtubs of Prof Huggy Rao's presence, charm and charisma, Prof Anjani Jain's smile, a dollop of Prof Scott Ward's voice and six pegs of Prof Waterman's extremely amazing accent''. "We did it in good humour. There's been no negative reaction to our attempt,'' said some students.

CIEFL's new courses

26 Nov : The Central Institute of English & Foreign Languages is offering a part-time Certificate of Proficiency and Diploma courses in various foreign languages from January 2004. The languages offered are Russian, Japanese, Arabic, German and Spanish. Application forms would be available from the Dean's office from December 8.

ABVP activists spoil students' revelry

25 Nov : The national flag was allegedly torn and tied to a beer bottle by drunken participants at Chrysalis 2003, a festival organised by students of the Vignan Jyoti Institute of Management on the Osmania University campus on Monday. While a 'Treasure Hunt' game was going on in the Tagore auditorium after lunch hour, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists barged in and accused the participants of insulting the national flag by tying it to a liquor bottle and dancing with it.

Osmania University police registered a case under Section 2 of the Prevention of Insult to National Honour Act, 1971, and seized the torn flag and the liquor bottle. But they did not arrest the revellers and also failed to send them for a medical examination, allegedly because one of them is the son of a senior police officer. Kachiguda assistant commissioner of police A Venkateshwar Rao said the youngster was perhaps one among the several hundred students of the institute but was not involved in the incident. Vignan Jyoti managing director Brig. (retd.) Ravindranath Chowdary told reporters at the police station that no flag was torn by the participants. He said the ABVP raid was a pre-planned and orchestrated one.

Inter-district transfers irk Urdu Academy staff

18 Oct : The inter-district transfers of the staff being carried out by the Urdu Academy of Andhra Pradesh is leading to agitation among the staff as well as the members of the Academy's governing body.

The cause of concern for the employees is that their salaries are less than Rs 5,000 per month and it is difficult for them to sustain if they are transferred other than their native districts. This operation has been carried out for different departments in the Urdu Academy.The president of the Academy Ibrahim-Bin-Abdullah Masqati defended the move stating that only excess staff of the academy has been shifted to the places where staff is required."We can not pay the salaries for the work that they have not done," he said adding, the Academy wants to fully utilise the services of the staff and hence they are deputed where the academy requires services.

It is learnt that the staff whose services are transferred are approaching the TDP leaders of their respective districts and seeking their intervention. The staff are not provided with any other facilities so as they can manage the cost of living and accommodation at the new places.

Students told to develop savings habit

18 Oct : The Minister for Woman and Child Welfare, S. Saraswathi, on Friday called upon students to take up savings besides concentrating on studies and sports. Addressing a meeting after inaugurating a high school building built at a cost of Rs. 10 lakhs in Bommavaram village in Obulavaripalle mandal, she said teachers and parents besides encouraging childrenin their studies must inculcate in them the habit of savings.

She wanted girl children too educated on par with boys. The Rajampet MP, G. Ramaiah, assured funds for the school's development through his MPLADs. Earlier, the Minister inaugurated a dhobi ghat built with Rs. 1 lakh in Balireddipalle village and tar road laid from Bestavaripalle to Rallacheruvupalle at a cost of Rs. 29.70 lakhs. The NEDCAP chairman, K. Narayanaiah Naidu, was also present. .

Proper nutrition, sleep elude these students

16 Oct : For students of the Government Blind High School (GBHS) in Darushifa, normal activities such as eating, drinking and sleeping are major challenges because of the dearth of facilities at their institution. Students of the GBHS, established in 1939 in Devan Deorhi, and then shifted to Darushifa in 1974, have a lot to tell about their daily problems.

The school lacks proper eating and drinking water facilities. When night falls, the students problems are compounded by the fact that there is a major shortage of bed sheets in the hostel. The drinking water being supplied through tankers is inadequate and in the dry season this problem becomes acute. The students have no access to proper medical facilities. The doctor who is supposed to attend the students every Thursday has not been seen in the hostel for the past several years.

When the students fell sick they have to approach a nearby private clinic on their own expenses. Mohammed Shakeel, a Class VIII student, who is totally blind, said as there is no permanent cook for the hostel, the food being cooked by others lacks quality. The curry lacks taste and the dal is so watery, he said. Upender Reddy, a Class X student from Suryapet, said that there hordes of mosquitoes in the hostel. "We do not have proper bed sheets to cover ourselves. The cold and mosquitoes force us to have sleepless nights," he said.

Bureaucratic muddles aggravate the problem. Though both the buildings are located in the one-acre compound, the education department manages the school while the disabled welfare department manages the hostel. Of the 109 students who stay in the school's hostel, 80 students are totally blind and 29 are partially blind. Students from different districts of the state stay in the hostel that is situated in the school's compound.

B.Ed counselling likely to be delayed

15 Oct : Counselling for filling the existing 31,796 seats in the 283 B.Ed colleges in the State may be delayed by a few more days with the Government deciding to file an affidavit in the High Court tomorrow specifying the norms to be followed by private institutions. For candidates, the uncertainty continues despite completion of EdCET, and preparation of the statewide merit list. The delay is also due to the non-availability of the "approved list" of the colleges from the National Council for Teacher Education after renewal of recognition for the year.

The Minister for School Education, M. Venkateswara Rao, said at a press conference here. In the affidavit to be filed before the High Court, the Government would state that it had complied with the Supreme Court judgment by issuing a GO (No 1038 Dt. Oct. 10) providing for allotment of 50 per cent seats in private/minority institutions to managements without naming them as "management quota" and fixing a common fee for all colleges, Rs 10,800 per year. It would also seek a directive from the High Court asking the private managements to have their own common entrance test/counselling through two committees of judges as suggested by the Supreme Court in its August 14 verdict.

The Government would want the private managements to follow this as an alternative if they were not prepared to fill their seats honouring the merit lest prepared by the Government. The private managements too are in a piquant situation. Last year, they were allotted 15 per cent seats while 85 per cent went to the Government. When the apex court fixed the Government-management seat quotas at 50:50, the managements were happy.

They, in fact, approached the High Court seeking a directive to the State Government for complying with the judgment. However, the GO issued by the Government came as a dampener, specifying common fee for all the colleges, government as well as private, without giving scope for discretion. Now, it is stated, they want to revert to last year's ratio (85:15) .

Tourism clubs for schools on the anvil

15 October : Where are Niagara Falls, Statue of Liberty and Eiffel Tower? Answers to this question would come promptly from a majority of school students. However, ask them why is Pillalamarri famous or where the sacred Buddhist site Amaravati stupa is in the State, a majority of them could draw a blank. Students in schools will no longer experience these embarrassing situations, if the plans of the A.P.Tourism Department to form Tourism and Culture Clubs in schools to promote the popular tourist spots in the State apart from providing some educational value to high school students come to fruition. "The idea is to make the children learn, see and experience the glory of the State and its rich tradition and culture,'' says M. Lakshmi Jyothi, Chief Training Officer of Tourism & Hospitality Training Centre of the Government and involved in the formation of Tourism and Culture Clubs.

As a prelude to the exercise, the department held a meeting with principals of prominent private schools in the city recently apprising them of the concept. The idea is said to have generated a lot of interest among the principals who agreed not only to form the clubs but also spare a period every month exclusively to enlighten students about the prominent cultural places of the State with a tourism perspective. "We are targeting high school students as when they enter college life in a few years they will have a fair idea about tourism,'' Ms. Jyothi says. She says teachers from these schools would also be trained before the formation of the clubs.

Students need to pay Rs. 5 per year to become the member of the club apart from the initial registration fee of Rs. 20 while the school would contribute Rs. 2,500 per year and the Tourism Department would chip in with Rs. 5,000. The money would be used for the club activities, which also includes excursions to nearby prominent tourist spots. "Most students now go to excursions now also but these would be different where they would end up learning about the historic importance of the place apart from enjoyment,''

Ms. Jyothi avers. The club members would get a book with list of activities to be taken up during year which include exposing them to heritage, handicrafts, ecology, adventure tourism, cuisine, temples, religions, history, tribal culture and so on of the State. Each activity is followed by an exercise.

Deal clinched on medical seats

11 Oct : The controversy over admissions to vacant seats in private medical colleges has been sorted out with managements agreeing to admit students on the basis of merit and reservation rules. The government has also decided to approach the Supreme Court to seek extension of date of counselling as the deadline stipulated by the apex court ended on September 30. Further it would request the court to waive the Rs 50,000 fine for every late admission levied by the Medical Council of India.

The agreement came after senior health department officials met private college representatives on Friday. After two new colleges were started, students in the B category (25 per cent of total seats allotted by managements on the basis of merit) became eligible for 'A' category seats (outright merit seats). The deadlock arose out of how the vacancies in the B category created by this "sliding " would be filled.

A series of government orders added to the confusion. Some of the students who got admissions are demanding that the government should reveal the names of those officials who were behind an order (No 488) that sought to convert unfilled seats in the B-category into C-category seats (management quota seats).

The father of an Eamcet ranker said over 61 MBBS and 102 BDS seats that fell vacant were "sold" by private colleges.In a press release, the director of medical education K Sashi Prabha said the registrar of NTR University of Health Sciences has been instructed to furnish a report on the persons who did not take effective follow up action after GO 574, which authorised the competent authority to fill up vacancies, was issued.

Engineering student held on charge of stealing cell phones

10 Oct: The Mahankali(Hyderabad) police on Thursday caught an engineering student, Nagari Kumar Raja, red-handed while he was walking away with the cell phone of an unemployed person after allegedly luring the latter with a promise of securing job in a reputed software company. Raja confessed to have stolen 26 cell phones in a similar fashion in Mahankali and Abids police station limits in the last five months, the North Zone DCP, M.V. Ramachandra Raju, told a press conference.

Raja's modus operandi is to call up the jobless on their mobile phones introducing himself as the project leader of a software firm. He would invite unemployed youngsters for a talk at a hotel on SP Road. Pretending that his mobile phone was not working, he would request the victims to lend their cell phones to make a call and walk away with the instrument. "During a journey, a gentleman offered to sell his mobile phone to me.

When I asked him for the documents, he said there was no need for any document. Then, it struck me that I can rob and sell mobile phones without any difficulty," Raja told reporters. Asked as to how he got the resumes of educated youngsters, Raja said he used to frequent Satyam i-way Internet cafes, open the D-drive section and peruse the bio-data of jobseekers. However, some of the victims, present at the press conference, said they have never saved their resumes in any of the said Internet cafes.

The Police Commissioner, M.V. Krishna Rao, gave away Rs. 500 reward to each of the special police party members who laid trap and nabbed Raju. Mr. Rao commended the work accomplished by the Inspector, G. Someshwar Rao, and the Mahankali ACP, M. Divakar.

Ban on inter-dt. transfer of teachers may go

30 Sept :The State Government is likely to lift the ban on inter-district transfer of teachers shortly if the consensus reached at an all-party meeting convened by the School Education Minister, M. Venkateswara Rao, on Monday is any indication.

Participating in the meeting, members cutting across party lines unanimously resolved to ask the Government to facilitate inter-district transfer of teachers in accordance with the Presidential orders.
Briefing reporters later, the School Education Minister said that the Government would work out the modalities pertaining to the transfers shortly ensuring that the academic year of students was not disturbed. Once the ban was lifted, first preference would be given to spouses working in different areas followed by requests for mutual transfer. Preference would be given to the transfer applications of those whose spouses were posted in non-transferable jobs in the State and Central Government departments.

But, the transfers would be restricted to the vacancies created in the respective districts after the transfer of some of the teachers
.

College for women muftis opened

22 Sept :The first Dar-ul-Iftah (collegium of muftis from where fatwas are issued) for women was formally inaugurated in the premises of Jamiat-ul-Mominat on Sunday.
A panel of three mufthia (women muftis) issued the first fatwa on a issue relating to women as part of the inaugural ceremony. The fatwa says that in Shariah, women are permitted to wear make-up to make themselves look beautiful. The Shariah, however, does not allow women to use coloured contact lenses, bleaching and removing of hair from their body, trimming of hair and wearing the dresses of men.
The institution, located in Moghalpura, has been provided with a library-cum-research centre, a computer lab along with Internet connection and a chamber for the panel to meet women and discuss their issues and problems.It has been decided that the panel will initially take up only women-related issues. The institution also launched its website in Urdu, www.jamiatulmominat.com on the occasion. Anyone seeking guidance or fatwas on issues relating to women can get in touch with the institution on its website.

Most private varsities `illegal'

12 Sept :A senior UGC official has questioned the manner in which private universities are being registered and operated at present, terming it `illegal.'

Reacting to reports that private universities were being promoted by `for-profit' companies, which is prohibited in India,V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, UGC Vice-Chairman, told media that most of them had not taken the mandatory UGC clearance before starting operations. Prof. Pillai said universities could not be established by mere `executive orders' of State Governments but required separate legislation in Parliament or legislatures for them to be legal.

A university promoted by the `for-profit' U.S. company, Sylvan Learning Systems has already started classes in rented premises in the city, despite not receiving deemed university status from the UGC. Sylvan has also been given 125 acres of land by the Government to set up its campus. Prof. Pillai said the UGC would give its recognition if these new degree-giving institutions conformed to all the provisions of the current laws. But they cannot launch academic programmes before getting this recognition, he cautioned.

London mayor's wife to visit city school

12 Sept : Carole J Blackshaw, wife of the London mayor, will visit the Government Red Cross School in Chandrayangutta on Friday. She is in the city accompanying alderman Gavyn Arthur, the Lord Mayor of the city of London. Later, she will visit the British Library. She will take a tour of the library and see facilities and services offered to members. She will also meet members of the Association of British Scholars, Web wizard master Ajay Puri and other dignitaries. Carole Blackshaw, a qualified lawyer, is a member of the Ethics Committee of the Human Factors Group based in Cranfield University, which vets aviation research projects..

More RTC services to women's college

8 Sept : APSRTC has introduced four additional buses for 120 single trips from Dilsukhnagar to Women's College in Koti with immediate effect.

This decision was taken due to the ban imposed by the police, restricting the entry of seven-seater autos into the city limits from Moosarambagh.

The buses would have 10-minute frequency between 7.30 a.m. and 9.30 a.m. for the convenience of commuters. The Regional Manager, C. Panduranga Murthy, said that more services would be introduced depending upon the demand.

Private schools' discomfiture due to transport problem

Aug 28 : Caught unawares by the sudden crackdown of the Transport Department on school buses in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad , private school managements are at their wits' end even as they took recourse to hiring APSRTC buses. While the transport authorities vow to continue their drive against the `rickety' buses that commenced after the ghastly accident in Karimnagar, the school managements are crying foul against the authorities.

The school managements, however, argue that grounding their buses could send the academic schedule haywire. "How were the fitness certificates given all these years? Why didn't they insist on the prescribed guidelines while issuing them? Now, after cancelling them, we are being informed of new rules. Worried parents are already asking if we will declare holidays,'' says a school head. In this scenario, the private school managements are planning to take up the issue with the Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu.

Student files FIR against math teacher

27 Aug : A student studying in class VIII has lodged a police complaint against his teacher for beating him. In his complaint lodged at Shahinayatgunj police, boy said that the blood clotted in his fingers after he was beaten up.

The student, Navneet Mantri, 12, a student of Goodwill Public School Hyderabad, said that his mathematics teacher Rajkishore had beaten him with a stick on his fingers on Monday as he had not completed his homework.Mantri, who is a resident Begum Bazar, returned home and informed his father Kamal Kishore Mantri. He was taken to a hospital and later a complaint was lodged with the police. The case is under investigation.

All school buses to be tested for fitness

22 Aug. In the backdrop of the tragedy involving a school bus which plunged into a well killing eight children in Karimnagar on Tuesday, the State Government has taken up a massive exercise of inspecting each and every school bus throughout the State to test its fitness. Transport Minister, M. Damodar Reddy, issued orders to this effect. The vehicles were ordered to be seized if they failed the fitness test during inspection.

A press release of Transport Commissioner, A. Giridhar, listed the dos and don'ts the managements of the schools ought to follow in the running of the buses apart from ensuring they were road worthy. Among them are that they they cannot have drivers above the age of 50 and their health and vision should be checked up every quarter by managements at their cost.

One teacher and a parent will travel by the bus from the start to the end points everyday by turn. They should sit in the last rows to be able to watch the children all the time. When the appointments of the drivers were made, it should be ensured that the drivers were not smokers or alcoholics and had at least five years of driving experience. The managements have to get the licence particulars of the drivers verified with the RTAs concerned for their genuineness.

The buses should be painted in canary yellow and inspected by the principals and parents' committees every month for their mechanical condition. The speed governors of the buses should be locked at 40 kmph and the vehicles fitted with emergency brake systems. No one other than the driver shall drive. The buses should be parked within the school premises and the children made to board or disembark there only. The vehicles should carry the complete list of the children with all their particulars.

8 schoolchildren die as van falls into well

20 Aug: Eight children died and 14 others were injured when a school van fell into a well in Desarajupalli village in Karimnagar district on Tuesday morning. The driver of the van too lost his life in the accident.

The van was taking 25 children to a private school when it tipped over into the open well around 8.45 am. The victims are: Akhil, Mahender (Manoj Kumar), A. Rakesh, G. Rakesh, Swapna, M. Anup Reddy, J. Sampath, A. Rajesh and van driver Chotemiya. They were all residents of Desarajupalli village.

The injured students have been admitted to a hospital in Karimnagar town. Villagers said 23 children and school supervisor Vijayender Reddy boarded the bus at Desarajupalli as it rumbled in from Venkatraopalli. It was just starting off for Avudaripalli, when the brakes failed and the bus driver lost control. The vehicle fell into an open well with a deafening sound. The supervisor rescued 14 of the children. The rest died before villagers could join the rescue. District collector Sumita Dawra, Andhra Pradesh minister Damodar Reddy and other officials rushed to the spot.

Chief minister Chandrababu Naidu visited the village in the evening. The bodies were retrieved from the well and the van was hauled out in the afternoon. Naidu has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 1 lakh to each of the nine victims and Rs 10,000 to the 14 injured students.

OU students disrupt CFT meeting

19Aug : Students of Osmania University on Sunday barged into a meeting of the Congress Forum for Telangana (CFT) and insisted that 41 Congress MLAs from the region must resign in support of a separate Telangana.The CFT leaders were meeting to iron out internal differences over their separate PCC demand when about 400 students from different unions drove up to the CFT office in 50 Tata Sumos and raised slogans asking Congress MLAs not to succumb to party high command's pressure tactics. CFT leader Indrakaran Reddy had a tough time in convincing them that the Forum was discussing the strategy to be adopted on the Telangana issue.

The students demanded that the CFT must not succumb to pressure from the high command, as the spirit would die down if the tempo is relaxed. Addressing the students, CFT president G Chinna Reddy said that 'the demand for separate statehood for Telangana' was above party and they would intensify the agitation if the high command fails to heed their demand. Later, the students submitted a memorandum to the CFT urging it not to buckle under pressure and rectify the mistake of 1969.They virtually gheroaed Chinna Reddy.

Meanwhile, the CFT has put on hold its demand for a separate PCC for Telangana till November. However, the CFT leaders said, they would continue the demand for separate Telangana. The CFT meeting, held in the backdrop of four legislators tendering their resignation to Congress president Sonia Gandhi demanding a separate PCC, decided that they would abide by the decision of the high command.

School's reach out to HelpAge India

13 Aug : Ankita Jain of Pre-Primary and Akshay Mehta of Class Four in Kalpa School topped the list of highest individual collections, contributing Rs. 2,450 each, donated to HelpAge India.

At a function In Hyderabad, a cheque for a total amount of Rs. 95,609, being the amount collected by the school, was handed over by Kusum Gupta, the school's Director, to Amala Akkineni, who received it on behalf of HelpAge India.

Amala Akkineni and the State In-charge of HelpAge India, Mohd. Raza Mohammed, appreciated the gesture of the students and said the amount collected by them would be used to perform 95 cataract surgeries to the deserving poor in the twin cities. The students received social service certificates and mementoes from Amala Akkineni.

School kids tie rakhis to prisoners

13 Aug : A festive atmosphere prevailed in the Chanchalguda Central Prison as schoolchildren thronged the premises to tie rakhis to the inmates on the occasion of `Raksha Bandhan' here on Tuesday.

The students of St. Ann's, Secunderabad, Trinity Public School, SR Nagar, Sri Saraswathi Vidya Mandir, came to the prison accompanied by their teachers and tied rakhis to the prisoners, most of them undertrials and few convicts.

The students from various schools were let inside the imposing gates, school-wise accompanied by jail officials. They applied `tilak' and tied rakhis to the jail inmates who stood in a line. The St. Ann's students of VII, VIII and IX Std., belonged to their school's ``Social workers club.'' About 45 of them contributed to buy rakhis, sweets and fruits for the special occasion.

The students of Trinity Public School also visited Women's Prison and distributed rakhis and sweets to the 117 inmates there and clothes to the children of undertrials. "The women tied those rakhis to our boys,'' said a teacher.

Scholarship scam to be probed

30 July : The state government has ordered a fresh inquiry into the misappropriation of post-metric scholarships disbursed during the years 1984-87. The commissioner of enquiries has been asked to nominate an officer to probe the whole issue.

The government order comes in the wake of a newspaper report published on how inquiries into the earlier scandal proved futile and the enquiry officers did little to nail the guilty. The earlier scam, considered precursor to the present one, was incidentally committed by a group of people, including the main accused, U Santosh Kumar, who figured in both the cases.

The vigilance and enforcement (V&E) department, which detected the scam in 1988, noticed that about 31 officials and staff of the social welfare department siphoned off several lakhs of rupees in the name of bogus students from three city colleges. Based on the V&E findings, the government ordered an inquiry and appointed a senior IAS officer to probe the culpability of the staff. In the last 14 years, four inquiry officers have been changed and none of them completed the probe citing technical and procedural problems.

The last inquiry officer, additional director of the social welfare department, went on medical leave in April 2002 and subsequently retired in January this year. Thereafter, no officer had been named to probe the scandal. Principal secretary (social welfare) J Satyanarayana, in a report submitted to the Assembly house committee probing the scholarship scam, has said that the matter has been taken up with the commissioner of enquiries for nominating an enquiry officer to probe the previous scam also.

Govt contemplates grading in schools

28 July: While the grading pattern has almost become indispensable in most of the premier educational institutes in assessing the students' understanding level in higher classes, the government is exploring the relevance of the system in school education to ease out pressure among students and parents. A senior official in the education department revealed that the grading system would provide greater flexibility and suit the requirements of the institutions besides doing away with the system of failing students in the examinations.

The department would examine the relevance of grading system in the current academic scenario to fine tune the existing pattern Awarding of grades in the place of marks will considerably reduce the significance of numbers which is depending on inter and intra-examiner variability, imperfection of tools among others, according to NCERT director J S Rajput.

The NCERT has recently brought out a document titled Grading in schools outlining its advantages in school education. The system of awarding of marks is not foolproof as it had a lot of discrepancies like sampling of objectives within the content and arbitrary time limits for answering individual questions in testing situations, the official said. Further, the practice of declaring pass and fail merely based on the marks often proves traumatic for both students and parents.

Though the grading system will remedy most of the problems in the conventional method of evaluation, the government should make a concerted effort to dispel the misgivings about the systems, a spokesperson said.

Private schools need to be upgraded , says Minister

22 July: If private schools are touted as much better than Government schools, how come their results do not reflect that? This was the poser from the State School Education Minister, M. Venkateswara Rao. Of the 45,000 students who appeared for the SSC examination in Hyderabad district this year, only 5,000 were from the Government schools. Yet the district achieved only 60 per cent pass and remained low in the State while other districts registered 80 per cent and above. This only showed that private schools had to step up their standards, while Government schools with better qualified teachers than those in private schools, needed better facilities, right orientation, commitment and accountability. With facilities in Government schools being upgraded with right ambience, there was no reason for students of these schools to lag behind, he felt. "We are expecting significant improvement in results this year. In fact Government school students in the district can emerge as toppers''. The Minister who inaugurated the 229th school building in the district, at Banjara Hills recently, said there was no dearth of funds as already Rs.20 crores was released for the purpose. The remaining 880 Government schools would also be provided with own buildings and infrastructure, he said. The new school building was constructed with contribution from a private cargo transport company, Gati, under the Janma Bhoomi programme. The Rs.45-lakh upper primary school would be upgraded into Gati Government High School. Mr.Venkateswara Rao said that of 880 Government schools in Hyderabad district, buildings had been constructed for 229 schools during the last four years and 50 more were under progress. Assuring permanent representation to the `Gati' in the school education committee to have its say in the running of the school, he also asked them to chip in with their contribution for the maintenance of the building. The Minister said he would take it up with the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad to allot the adjacent site to the school for its playground.

Engg. Counselling: ECE favourite

July 19. As a subject Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE) emerged a clear favourite among the top rankers at the Engineering counselling which started in five centres in the State simultaneously this weekend..
The top 34 rankers chose ECE and opted for university colleges. More than 80 per cent in the top 100 preferred ECE. None of the top 12 rankers of EAMCET-2003 attended the counselling as they apparently chose other institutions like IITs, NITs, BITS, Pilani, and others.
The Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) was the favourite followed by the Osmania University Engineering College. Interestingly, the best ranker (13th rank) to have taken admission this year through counselling chose SRKR Engineering College, Bhimavaram instead of a free seat in the university colleges.
The counselling which began two hours behind schedule due to the dharna by student organisations was stopped for another hour after just two admissions due to problems at Warangal where student organisations held up counselling. However, there were no technical glitches.
Out of the 878 who were admitted, 390 chose ECE, 196 opted for EEE, 115 preferred 120 students chose CSE while Mechanical Engineering. Civil Engineering was opted by 14 and Chemical Engineering 15. One student chose Pharmacy while the rest of the courses were shared by the remaining. Interestingly, none on the first day chose Information Technology.
The trends in favour of ECE stream were observed since last two years with the slump in IT industry. The mood of the students and parents was reflected when several candidates appearing for counselling at the Hyderabad centre expressed apprehensions over the job prospects and a rewarding career in the Information Technology and Computer Science field.
It was the case with most other students, who after discussing the issue with their teachers thought ECE was a safe bet as it provided wider opportunities. Interestingly, the nearly 1,000 seats out of the 1125 seats surrendered by the private colleges from their management quota were from CSE and IT groups.

Primary education exam system to be reformed

July 16 The Progressive Recognised Teachers' Union, Andhra Pradesh, which held its two-day executive meeting here on July 12, and 13 demanded reforms in the primary education examination system and scrapping of the District Common Examination Board. The union said awarding of marks based on internal assessment (50) and on performance in the written examination (50) should form part of the reforms. Briefing presspersons later, the spokespersons said the stipulation of pass on the basis of school attendance percentage should also be done away with. They wanted the department to take steps for fool- proof conduct of the examination after evolving question papers. The executive, they stated, was of the opinion that the standards of students could improve if a 45-day training course on value-based education was conducted for teachers. The union would cooperate with the Government in the conduct of the course.

NSUI Students gherao V-C

July16 Students led by the National Students Union of India (NSUI) gheraoed the Vice Chancellor, Md. Iqbal Ahmed, and the Registrar, Y.V. Ramanaiah, of Sri Krishnadevaraya University here today on various student-related problems. On their demand for reduction of the qualifying mark in the RESCET-2003, authorities explained to them that any change would invite legal complications. Authorities assured the students that another entrance test would be conducted in December to fill the vacant seats. The authorities agreed to release the results of post-graduate final year results, construct a common mess, new hostel buildings and a de-fluoridation tank.

College case sent to statute bench

11July:Counselling for engineering, agricultural and medical streams in the state is likely to be delayed further in the light of the Supreme Court's latest decision to admit writ petitions in order to re-examine the issue of freedom for private unaided professional colleges in admission procedures. The hearing will begin on July 22.The apex court's decision will affect the counselling process as a major chunk of engineering and medical seats are available in private colleges. Though the SC did not direct the state government to stop the counselling process, the government will take a final decision after examining the judgment. Questioning the right of the state to regulate the admission procedure in certain colleges, a Bench of Chief Justice V N Khare and Justice S B Sinha referred the petitions to a five judge Constitution Bench Among others, minority institutions of Karnataka and Kerala moved the apex court for a final decision on the issue. Though the court sometime ago settled the issue, confusion has prevailed over the admission procedure in hundreds of unaided minority professional educational institutions (UMEI) across the country. The court issued notices to all states. It said the five-judge Bench would interpret the law laid down by it in an earlier judgment. Attorney-general Soli J Sorabjee will assist the court in the matter

Topper blames SSC board for flaws

July 10:: SSC topper J Vamsidhar Reddy on Wednesday came down heavily on the Board of Secondary Education for its 'irresponsible totalling' of his class X science script. Vamshidhar Reddy, a student of Brilliant Grammar High School, was initially awarded 575 marks in SSC-2003 with 96 in Hindi, 98 in Special English, 96 in English, 100 in mathematics, 88 in science and 97 in social studies, besides securing state sixth rank.

The student told the press that he had applied for recounting, as he was confident that he would secure more than 95 marks in science. After recounting, he obtained 98 marks as against 88 in science awarded to him, which helped him share the first rank with G Vijay Kumar.Vamshidhar Reddy observed that many students failed in the SSC examination despite their best performances. Meanwhile, director of examinations D Ravindranatham said the department had suspended examiner P Sridhar of Karimnagar for his negligence as the science script of Vamshidhar was evaluated by the teacher. The official said the department would further tighten the evaluation pattern from next year onwards. institute recognised by the DCI in the state.

Private colleges to contest govt fee

July 10:Counselling for admission into private medical and dental colleges in the state is likely to be delayed as the Andhra Pradesh Private Medical and Dental College Managements Association is set to challenge the management quota and fee structure stipulated by the government on Tuesday.This year 1,500 medical and 920 dental seats are available in the 14 medical and 10 dental private colleges in the state.

The government has fixed Rs 55,000 for medical and Rs 40,000 for dental seats for the Eamcet convener's quota. A fee of Rs 2 lakh has been fixed