Education Notes

Himachal Pradesh HPU-UFV collaboration agreement Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) has concluded an academic cooperation and student exchange agreement with the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV), Canada. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Prof. A.D.N. Bajpai and Mark D. Evered, vice chancellors of HPU and UFV in Shimla on November 6. The MoU details articulations/transfer agreements, and organisation of co-operative academic activities such as conferences, seminars, symposia, lectures with faculty and other collaboration as institutional objectives. In addition, it paves the way for student exchanges, and development of an international mobility exchange to include exchanges of publications and other materials of common interest, and extensive exploration of common research projects. According to Prof. Meenakshi F. Paul, director of the Centre for Canadian Studies at HPU, the MoU also paves the way for conducting short courses of Canadian Studies and expanding areas of co-operation between HPU and UFV. Meghalaya Performing arts education initiative The Meghalaya government is set to introduce music and art into the curriculum of government schools to provide holistic education to children in the state. The objective is to impart balanced education to children by schooling them in performing arts like music and dance in the interests of integrated learning, said a state government spokesman. This initiative will be infused into the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA or Education for All) programme as recommended by the National Curriculum Framework 2005. Thirty five teachers and 25 children drawn from schools in the state are undergoing a training programme in Shillong and will serve as master trainers for integrated learning, Federick Kharkongor, secretary of the education ministry, informed media personnel in Shillong on November 23. The state government’s programme will be aided by World Voice, an initiative of the British Council Arts Education programme launched in the UK earlier this year to promote cultural understanding through sharing of folk music and dance with India and Senegal. Punjab New education city plan Addressing media personnel in Ludhiana on November 16, Punjab’s deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal announced an ambitious plan to build a mega education city near Chandigarh to give further impetus to higher education in the state. The education city will be constructed over an area of 1,500 acres at Mullanpura, he said, adding that the state government is determined to make Punjab the most literate state in the country. Badal addressed the media after inaugurating the new block of a commerce and management college in Ludhiana. Badal also invited the Ludhiana-based Oswal Group to enter the higher education sector. “I invite the Oswal Group to help in establishing a world-class university in Punjab,” he said. Haryana BML Munjal University The Munjal family, promoters of the Hero Motors Group — India’s largest producer of automotive motorcycles, scooters and bicycles — has finalised a plan for promoting a BML Munjal University in Haryana. The varsity is named after Brij Mohan Lal Munjal, the promoter-chairman of the Hero Motors Group. Spread over 50 acres, the university plans to admit its…