Education Notes

JHARKHAND Room to Read project Ranchi, november 5. Students of government primary schools across the state will soon have access to child-friendly librar­ies to develop the reading habit and enhance learning capabilities, said Kiran Kumari Pasi, director of the Jharkhand Education Project Council (JEPC). In association with Room to Read, a San Francisco (USA)-based non-profit working for children’s literacy and education of the girl child, JEPC has introduced a pilot project to establish 50 well-equipped libraries with low-height chairs and tables statewide. “We have tied up with Room to Read for this path-breaking project. Room to Read is setting up libraries and provid­ing free-of-charge study materials to the state government. If the project is successful, it will be extended on a large scale through a formal govern­ment programme,” said Pasi, addressing a media conference. UTTAR PRADESH TCS teacher training initiative Lucknow, november 22. The Mumbai-based Tata Con­sultancy Services (TCS) — India’s largest information technology services com­pany — signed a memo­randum of understanding with the Uttar Pradesh government’s social wel­fare department. Under terms of the agreement, over a period of 18 months under its go- IT and Ignite My Future programmes, TCS will train 1,500 teachers and 35,000 students of 105 Jai Prakash Narayan Sarvo­daya and Eklavya Residen­tial schools managed by the state government, in computational and logical thinking. Under the Ignite My Future program, teachers will be familiarised with the usage of computers, algorithms, programming, coding and problem-solving pedagogies. These teachers will be certified as master trainers. Under the company’s go-IT program, students will be taught design, logical thinking, problem-solving skills and also prepared for the Bebras In­dia Computing Challenge, an international student competition. ARUNACHAL PRADESH Football for Schools Itanagar, november 22. The state government has finalised plans to launch a ‘Football for Schools’ programme, an initiative to promote the field game of football in 200 schools statewide, said education minister Taba Tedir. “The objective of the programme is to nurture budding football stars in the 6-13 years age group. In this connection, a partnership agreement has been inked between FIFA and the Union educa­tion ministry to promote the game among children countrywide. The Union education ministry and FIFA will jointly support the successful implementa­tion of the programme,” said Tedir addressing the media. UTTARAKHAND Hindi medical education Dehradun, november 5. Uttarakhand is set to become the second state to permit undergraduate medical education in Hindi language from the academic year 2023-24. This decision was taken in light of the special importance being accorded by the Central government to Hindi, said medical education minister Dhan Singh Rawat. The medical education ministry has constituted a four-member expert com­mittee chaired by Dr. CMS Rawat, principal of Gov­ernment Medical College, Srinagar (Kashmir). The committee will prepare a draft of the new syllabus for colleges after studying the MBBS Hindi syllabus in Madhya Pradesh’s medi­cal colleges, added Rawat. JAMMU & KASHMIR Back-to-Village programme Jammu, november 8. Over 14,000 children who had dropped out of school during the Covid pandemic rejoined classes under a Back-to-Village (B2V)…