Education Notes

Rajasthan New teachers test stayed Issuing a restraining order on April 15, the Rajasthan high court barred the state government from conducting its recently introduced teachers eligibility test until the court’s next order. Simul-taneously Justice G.K. Vyas served notice to the state’s advocate general asking him to apprise the court of the rationale behind conducting the Rajasthan Teachers Eligibility Test (RTET). Notices have also been issued to the National Council for Teachers Education (NCTE) and the Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education (RBSE). According to petitioner Ritesh Tripathi and other teachers, they already possess sufficient qualifications to be recruited as teachers in classes II-III. Agreeing with petitioners’ counsel Pushpendra Singh Bhati, Justice Vyas said it is “meaningless” to conduct a plethora of tests, and duly qualified teachers cannot be compelled to write RTET. Earlier, NCTE had issued a notification making it compulsory for all class I-VIII teachers to pass RTET. Uttar Pradesh Shiv Nadar University announced In a statement issued in New Delhi on April 25, the Shiv Nadar Foundation, established by IT industry tycoon and promoter-chairman of HCL Techno-logies Ltd Shiv Nadar, announced an intent to establish the Shiv Nadar University (SNU) in Greater Noida to offer undergraduate, postgrad and professional degree programmes across a number of disciplines. According to the statement, the Uttar Pradesh government has enacted necessary legislation for the purpose. The foundation has appointed Nikhil Sinha as the first vice chancellor of the university which will commence operations this year with the launch of its school of engineering. In the coming years, SNU will establish schools of business, humanities, natural sciences and social sciences, says the official statement of the foundation. “While India can be justifiably proud of having a robust education infras-tructure, it has not uniformly kept in tune with current Indian and global needs in higher education. The progressive outlook of Uttar Pradesh has enabled us to promote a university with a multidisciplinary and research-led character to address many of these issues,” said Nadar speaking on the occasion. Last year Nadar and his family sold a 2.5 percent equity stake in HCL Technologies to raise Rs.581 crore which will serve as the corpus of the university. SNU will be sited on a 286-acre campus in Greater Noida and will accommodate 4,000 students after completion of the first phase of construction. When fully complete, the campus will accommodate 8,000 students, the statement adds.  Manipur Schools under army occupation Nearly 200 students in the Bishenpur district of Manipur have not been able to attend classes for the past few years as their schools have been occupied by Indian Army personnel. Interacting with a media team from Imphal on April 21, some teachers at Karang said parts of the Karang Lower Primary School (KLPS) and nearby Khoidum Leihao Junior High School (KLJHS) have been occupied by the 33rd Assam Rifles personnel since April 2004. Karang hillock is an island in the middle of Loktak lake, and the only means of accessing it is by boat from nearby Thanga. KLPS has an enrolment of 40 students…