Education Notes

OrissaDual language in higher ed proposal According to Badri Narayan Patra, higher education minister of Orissa (pop. 50 million), Oriya should be the medium of teaching together with English in tertiary education for better under-standing of subjects by students in the state. The minister expressed this opinion while inaugurating a college teachers workshop in Berhampur on September 7. Students will be able to understand their subjects more clearly if they are taught in their mother tongue alongside English, the minister said. College teachers should make use of Oriya especially while teaching tech-nical subjects, suggested Patra, adding that some states have been promoting vernacular languages in higher educ-ation. I am not against English. Its an essential medium of communication in the era of globalisation. But developed countries such as China, Japan and Germany are developing their languages for higher education and research work, said Patra. Madhya Pradesh Shadow over private engineering colleges Not a single student has opted for admission into 20 private engineering colleges of Madhya Pradesh (MP) at the start of this academic year (July/August), says a report of the states technical education department. Not only are there no takers for these 20 colleges, but also in another 60 colleges the number of admissions is almost negligible, the report adds. Of the 20 colleges which had no takers, eight are sited in Bhopal. The central India state of Madhya Pradesh (pop. 73 million) hosts a total of 223 engineering colleges. Earlier this year, 111,000 students wrote the state governments pre-engineering test (PET) to qualify for admission. Of this number, 70,000 students registered for counseling with the technical education department following which 50,000 students were admitted into mainly government colleges, which offer highly subsidised higher education. According to knowled-geable academics in MP, the wide range of higher study options available to students has cast a shadow on private engineering colleges in the state. Uttar Pradesh Massive teacher recruitment drive The Mayawati-led BSP government of Indias most populous state of Uttar Pradesh (pop. 200 million) broadcast its decision to fill over 72,000 teacher vacancies in the states 147,070 K-12 government schools. This proposal was approved by the state cabinet in a meeting chaired by chief minister Mayawati on September 14 in Lucknow, says an official spokesman. The decision will not only ensure availability of teachers in schools, but also help in improving the quality of primary education in Uttar Pradesh, he said. Uttarakhand Government directive on basic amenities Following a supreme Court order, the Uttarakhand state government recently directed officials to speed up their efforts to provide basic amenities including water, toilets and electricity to all 17,142 government schools in the state by November. The directive was issued by the chief secretary, Subhash Kumar, to all officials, the state government said in a press release dated September 19. Earlier during a review meeting, Kumar was informed that provision of drinking water facilities to 916 schools is underway while toilets are under construction in 625 schools. Regarding electrification, the chief secretary directed…