Teacher training initiative
Chandigarh, january 20. The Punjab government has finalised a plan to send a first batch of 36 principals of government schools to the Principals’ Academy, Singapore for a specially designed training programme this month (February).
Addressing a press conference, education minister Harjot Singh Bains said: “Since teachers are nation builders who can lift the level of education, their teaching skills need to be upgraded by ensuring quality training. The principals will take part in a professional teachers’ training workshop in Singapore from February 6-10.”
Last year, chief minister Bhagwant Singh Mann convened a meeting with government school principals seeking inputs on ways and means to raise school education standards.
Uttarakhand
Sampark FLN TV
Dehradun, january 2. Under a Sampark smartshala initiative to transform government school classrooms into smart classrooms, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami introduced Sampark FLN (foundational literacy and numeracy) TV and Sampark Science TV — free-of-charge plug and play devices designed by the Noida-based Sampark Foundation — at a function organised at the Girls Inter College, Kaulagarh.
In the initial phase, Sampark FLN TV — a device that converts any television set into an interactive learning platform with preloaded lessons featuring quizzes, worksheets and animated content — will be installed in 100 schools statewide, impacting 17,000 students. A total of 200 teachers will be trained to use the smart platform.
“Sampark smartshala is an initiative to promote education through modern technology. It will reach out to nearly 11,000 schools statewide. In particular, the initiative will prove very useful to children living in remote areas of the state,” said the chief minister.
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Jharkhand
Overnight protest trek
Chaibasa (jharkhand), january 18. A hostel warden, four teachers and security guard of the fully residential government-run Kasturba Gandhi Girls School, Khuntpani were served show-cause notices after 61 girl students trekked 17 km overnight to register a complaint at the deputy commissioner’s office highlighting abuse and “atrocities” inflicted upon them by school authorities.
The students informed the DSE (district superintendent education) that they were served stale food, denied clean toilets and backward class children were forced to sleep on the floor in cold wave conditions. They also alleged that the warden compelled them to lie to senior officials when they visited the school for inspection.
Neither the guard nor teachers were aware that 61 girls were missing from the hostel until the district authorities contacted them.
Gujarat
Bribery charge arrest
Ahmedabad, january 9. The Gujarat Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) arrested a DEO (district education officer) for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs.20,000 from a government school principal near Lunawada town.
The Mahisagar district DEO was trapped accepting the bribe, which he had allegedly demanded from a school principal when she had approached his office for the second time to complain about delay in allotment of an ‘employee number’ to a newly appointed teacher in her school.
Haryana
Sports University of Haryana
Sonipat, january 2. Former IPS officer S.S. Deswal has been appointed vice chancellor of the Sports University of Haryana which is all set to start operations in the new academic year. The 200-acre sports university will be carved out of the campus of the Motilal Nehru School of Sports, Sonipat — India’s top-ranked government boarding school.
The university will conduct academic and training programmes in physical education and sports sciences, aided by latest sports technologies and medicine. Study programmes will include sports management, infrastructure engineering, psychology, nutrition, journalism and sports marketing.
“We are in touch with state governments, universities and other institutions working in this domain,” said Deswal, addressing a press conference in Sonipat.
Karnataka
First green ITI
Bengaluru, january 10. The Government Women’s ITI, Mangaluru became the first Industrial Training Institute (ITI) to go green countrywide. Under a pilot project, Quest Alliance, a Bengaluru-based not-for-profit, will also work with ITI-Halol (Gujarat) and ITI-Srikona (Assam) at three levels — infrastructure, cognitive development and preparing students for green careers.
“Our institute plans to become a green ITI and inspire students to pursue green careers. We want to build a green mindset among our students. For this we are conducting an audit,” said Shivakumar S, principal of the Government Women’s ITI, Mangaluru, speaking on the occasion.
Paromita Sengupta with bureau inputs
