Chennai: From physical classrooms to virtual ones and from distant learning to digital learning, education is one field which has been witnessing changes ever since the outbreak of Covid-19. Here are some updates from the field.
CONFUSION OVER COLLEGES
Anna University, the umbrella institution of engineering educatiion in Tamilnadu, has refuted reports which claimed that it has released a list of 89 ‘unfit’ colleges. The Registrar in a statement said that the university has not done any such classification.
MEDICAL MATTERS
The Madras High Court has directed the Union government to constitute a Committee within three months to decide on the issue of providing 50 per cent quota in medical admission to Other Backward Class (OBCs) students in All India Quota (AIQ).
The Committee should consist of representatives from the Centre, Tamilnadu government and the Medical Council of India (MCI), the First Bench comprising Chief Jusitice A P Sahi and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy said, while
disposing off a batch of petitions filed by the ruling AIADMK, DMK, PMK and other parties challenging the Centre’s decision not to provide OBC quota in AIQ seats for medical admission.
The political parties moved the High Court after the Apex Court had declined to hear their pleas and asked them to approach the High Court on the matter.
Refusing to accept the MCI’s contention that only the Apex Court to take a decision on the matter, the Bench also made it clear that any decision made by the panel would be applicable only from the next academic year.
Observing that there was no legal bar in providing OBC quota in AIQ seats as contended by the MCI, the Bench said it was not passing a positive order to provide the reservation in view of the settled law that courts could
not interfere in policy decisions of the government, unless in cases were fundamental rights were affected.
QUESTION BANK
In an endeavour to make exam preparations more effective, Pearson has unveiled CBSE 2021 Question Bank Series for Science and Mathematics. Based on the recent changes made by CBSE in its curriculum, the new series features a comprehensive, systematically collated, and well-developed summary of chapters to help students prepare for the exam.
As an effective tool for quick revision, the question banks will have 1000+ practice questions, covering previous year questions and 500+ MCQ’s, fill in the blanks and VSA type questions as per CBSE guidelines, according to a press release.
Sunil Agarwal, head- product (test preparation and assessment), Pearson India said, ‘the reduction in the syllabus for Classes 9 to 12 by 30 percent with an intent to ease the burden on students, comes at the backdrop of the extraordinary situation created by Covid-19.’
FROM CANADA TO CHENNAI
A global leader in edtech software and technology, Canada-based D2L has announced its strategic partnership with Chennai-based Edutech India Private Limited, part of the Edutech Group. With this, D2L seeks to provide on-the-ground, local support to key stakeholders in Indian education where digital transformation has become a necessity.
“With over two decades of experience in the eLearning space in India, we understand the challenges of the industry. Schools and colleges in our country need real-time ground support to embrace innovation in a hassle-free manner, and that is exactly what our goal is with this partnership with D2L,” said Sajeev KR, director, Edutech India.