India Education Round-Up | April 2023 | Indian-origin mathematician CR Rao honoured with math ‘Nobel Prize’
The write-up aims to share recent notable events in Indian education, inspiring educators and stakeholders to adopt best practices. This article serves as a primer for the news articles published in the print/digital media.
Around 6,900 inmates become literate in the last year, 57 take the post-graduate exam in MP’s Bhopal Central Jail
Bhopal: Bhopal Central Jail has acted on the principle that everyone has the right to education and it provides free education to inmates lodged here. The prisoners are being made literate under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (education for all) campaign of the Indian Government. There are about 6,900 inmates who became literate in the last year. Besides, 300 prisoners took the Under Graduate exam, 57 took the Post Graduate exam, 463 took the primary education exam, 92 prisoners took the secondary education exam and 243 prisoners took the higher secondary education exam. 158 women prisoners also took various exams and 10 women became proficient in computer education.
Speaking to ANI, Bhopal Central Jail Superintendent Rakesh Bhangre said, “To make the inmates literate and to raise their level of education, they are being taught and being given diploma degrees. It is being done so that when the prisoners get released from jail, they can earn a living and become educated.”
Tata Institute of Social Sciences joins La Trobe - led Smart Cities Research and Innovation Powerhouse
New Delhi: A New Partnership between La Trobe University and Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), will see TISS join two prestigious Indian Universities to advance research into smart city-related projects, as part of the Asian Smart Cities Research Innovation Network (ASCRIN). Founded by La Trobe University in 2019, ASCRIN brings together a network of Researchers, Global Industry Partners, Government Collaborators and start-ups to conduct research to solve real-world problems - aiming to improve sustainability, livability and efficiency of cities and towns in the region. TISS is joining two other prestigious Indian-based academic partners in ASCRIN – the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT-Kanpur), and Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS Pilani).
Professor Shalini Bharat, Director and Vice-Chancellor at TISS, said TISS is committed to fostering partnerships aimed at meeting the educational goals of a diverse set of students and supporting social research and extension work with the potential to benefit people across the globe.
Indian-origin mathematician CR Rao honoured with math ‘Nobel Prize’
Pennsylvania, US: Calyampudi Radhakrishna Rao, a well-known Indian-American mathematician and statistician, will receive the 2023 International Prize in Statistics, the field's equivalent of the Nobel Prize. CR Rao made significant contributions to the field of statistics and its applications in various areas, including medical research. The accolade, which comes with a reward of $80,000, will be given to CR Rao, who is currently 102 years old, in July during the biennial World Statistics Congress of the International Statistical Institute in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
“In awarding this prize, we celebrate the monumental work by CR Rao that not only revolutionized statistical thinking in its time but also continues to exert enormous influence on human understanding of science across a wide spectrum of disciplines,” said Guy Nason, Chair of the International Prize in Statistics Foundation.
CR Rao was born in Hadagali, Karnataka, to a Telugu family. He completed his school education in Andhra Pradesh. In 1943, he earned an MA in statistics from Calcutta University and an MSc in mathematics from Andhra University. In King's College at Cambridge University, he earned a Doctorate. In 1965, he added a DSc degree from Cambridge. He is presently a research professor at the University at Buffalo and a professor emeritus at Pennsylvania State University. Over the years, Rao has received several awards which honoured his work. The Indian Government conferred on him the titles of Padma Bhushan in 1968 and Padma Vibhushan in 2001.
In his remarkable 1945 paper published in the Bulletin of the Calcutta Mathematical Society, Calyampudi Radhakrishna Rao demonstrated three fundamental results that paved the way for the modern field of statistics and provided statistical tools heavily used in science today.
UP Govt to give free rides to award-winning teachers on UPSRTC buses through smart card
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Government has planned to provide smooth and free travel facilities to all the teachers who have won awards at the state or national level, in the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) buses through a smart card to be issued to them.
“The free travel facility in UPSRTC buses will be admissible to all such teachers who fulfil the criteria. The director of education, basic and secondary, has instructed all the basic education officers and district inspectors of schools (DIOS) of all the districts in this regard, to provide the details of all such awardee teachers within a week,” a Government spokesman said.
Odisha bridges the schooling gap for migrant children at brick kilns
Bhubaneswar: In Khurda, Cuttack and Balasore districts of Odisha which are the major destination districts for brick kiln workers, the School and Mass Education Department of the state has been mainstreaming the vulnerable children into regular schools for elementary education (Class 1 to 8) as per the Right to Education (RTE) Act mandate. The department calls it a bridge course. While children from other states are taught separately in Hindi, those from within the state attend classes with regular students. They are not just provided mid-day meals but also free textbooks, uniforms, shoes and stationery.
"We come to these kilns after agriculture work in our village is over. There was no such schooling initiative in other districts where we have worked in the past. Here, Rinku's class teachers have not only enrolled her in school but also make sure that she attends classes every day. We want our daughter to complete her schooling," said Sriram who is an agriculture labourer for six months a year.
To further this initiative, the Commissionerate Police of Bhubaneswar-Cuttack is coming up with a 'code of conduct' for brick kiln owners in Khurda and Cuttack under which, they are required to ensure that all children coming to the kilns are admitted to the local Government schools.
Ministry of Education invites suggestions on Draft National Curriculum Framework for School Education
New Delhi: As a follow-up of the NEP 2020, the development of four National Curriculum Frameworks, viz., NCF for School Education, NCF for Early Childhood Care and Education, NCF for Teacher Education and NCF for Adult Education has been initiated. The National Steering Committee under the Chairpersonship of Dr K Kasturirangan was set up by the Ministry of Education to undertake and guide the development of NCFs.
National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage had been brought out and launched by the Ministry of Education on 20th October 2022. In continuation of this NCF-FS, the National Curriculum Framework for School Education - Pre-Draft is also ready. Given the diverse needs of students, multiple pedagogic approaches, and learning-teaching material at the different stages of school education, it is felt important to take feedback from students, parents, teachers, teacher educators, experts, scholars and professionals on the various sections and recommendations of this NCF-School Education (SE). While giving your feedback, it needs to be kept in view that this is a pre-draft of the NCF-SE which still requires several rounds of discussion within the National Steering Committee.
Feedback is solicited specifying the stage of school education, curricular area, school governance, assessment, etc. You may send your feedback to the following email addresses - ncf.ncert@ciet.nic.in
Link to the document: https://ncf.ncert.gov.in/webadmin/assets/b27f04eb-65af-467f-af12-105275251546
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