Universities in the US have started accepting three-year bachelor’s degrees for admission to their graduate schools, a move that straightaway opens the doors of higher studies in American varsities to a massive Indian pool of three-year BA, BCom, BSc degree holders.

Until now, the US accepted students in its graduate schools only after they had completed 16 years of formal education (12 plus 4). This meant that Indian students were required to study for another year after their graduation before they could sit for GRE or GMAT for entry into US universities.

The US acceptance of 15 years of formal education follows a European decision to harmonise the degree structure under the Bologna Process to award a bachelor’s degree in three years, rather than four that’s been the norm in US.

The new structure takes its name from the Bologna Declaration of 1999, when 29 countries resolved to create a European Higher Education Area by 2010. The Bologna Process has since grown to include 45 countries, virtually forcing the US to acknowledge the three-year degree. India, too, becomes a beneficiary of this change.

Earlier, the only exceptions to the 16-year norm were very bright students who would be given a waiver by grad schools to join and catch up with extra credits. Engineering degree holders faced no problems since theirs was a four-year degree.

United State (US) NOW A DEGREE CLOSER

¢ 56% of American graduate schools say the 3-year bachelor’s degree is not a barrier for admission into post-graduate programs.

¢ US varsities have lately been losing overseas students to Europe, which has moved to a 3-year bachelor’s program.

¢ More US institutions are recognising Indian degrees as equivalent to US degrees enter US varsities without wasting a year.

There was relief among aspiring US-goers. “Now, I can concentrate on my graduation as I do not have to spend an extra year on post-graduation, which would ultimately be no help,” said Jaita Das, an English literature student of Delhi’s Kirori Mai College, who’s aiming for Harvard.

“Earlier, only students with outstanding academic record used to get a year waived. This would be an opportunity for all Indian students to fulfil their dreams immediately after they pass out of college and not waste a year. It will double the number of applicants,” said A S Reddy, principal, Sri Venkateswara College, Delhi University

Anecdotal evidence also suggests that US institutions are now beginning to recognise Indian degrees as equivalent to American degrees. Leena Gurukar, wno nas a BA, MA, and MPhil from Karnata-ka University in Dharwar, recently had her degrees evaluated by the World Educational Service (WES). Her BA and MA were certified equivalent to similar US degrees, while her MPhil was considered equivalent to two years of American advanced graduate studies.

A recent study by the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) says: “Evaluating applications to US graduate schools from international students with bachelor’s degrees earned in three years has become a less controversial issue on US campuses.” With Sonia Sarkar in New Delhi

Source: The Times of India

Notification

Realising the need for high quality education and training in the area of biotechnology, the government’s Department of Biotechnology is all set to establish a regional centre for education and training in biotechnology, in association with Unesco. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in the Capital last week.

The mandate of the proposed centre includes capacity building through education and training, and research and development in biotechnology through regional and international cooperation. Calling it an endeavour towards developing research capacity M K Bhan, secretary. Department of Biotechnology said that the establishment of the regional centre reflects the government’s concern to link education with research.

The proposed centre, which will be ready in two years, will offer postgraduate, doctoral and post-doctoral education in diverse areas of biotechnology as well as conduct short-term programmes in socially relevant subjects like IPR/ technology transfer, bioethics, bio-enterprise/ management in biotechnology, biosafety and so on. “Biotechnology is a driving force for innovation and development. The biotechnology centre would essentially focus on areas like nano-biotechnology, agriculture biotechnology, stem cell research, environmental biotechnology and so on,” said Maciej Nalecz, director, division of basic and engineering sciences, Unesco.

Nalecz is hoping that the centre would be authorised to grant its own degrees and diplomas. Talks are also being held with various varsities including JNU to seek affiliation. Apart from creating benchmarks in biotechnology education at the postgraduate level, the centre also aspires to make a positive influence on undergraduate education available in the discipline.

The centre would function under the aegis of Unesco and will be governed by a body that would have represen-M tation from Unesco and member countries. “We would secure the highest level of scientists from different countries to be a part of the advisory body and through them we would be able to seek participation of their respective governments to further develop the centre,” said Nalcez. It will furthermore act as a coordinating agency and wouldâ„¢ leverage partnerships with other biotech institutions in both India and other regional countries to share knowledge, research and development (R&D) as well as find solutions to common problems in health, agriculture and environment. Training, workshops, seminars and faculty development programmes would be the other key activities of the regional centre.

The centre would receive an initial funding of Rs 40-50 crores from the government and it hopes to attract money from member countries at a later stage. It would initially start functioning at the National Institute of Immunology in the Capital from February 2007.

Source: The Times of India

News

3, MAHAPALIKAMARG, POST BOX NO. 1967, MUMBAI-400 001

PH: (022) 22620601, 22690602

FAX: (022) 22692102

Telegram: Edutech

No.: 2A/ADM/2006-2007/549

Date: 21″April 2006

Public Notice
Non-Recognised Universities/ Bogus Institutes & Courses

For All Candidates seeking Admission to any UG Degree/ Diploma, PG Degree/ Diploma Professional Courses in Non-Recognised Universities/Bogus Institutes

All Students and their parents are hereby specifically warned that, admissions to any UG Degree/ Diploma, PG Degree/ Diploma Professional Courses, conducted by such institutions and/or Universities should not be taken if such educational institution is not recognised and/or approved by Statutory Bodies such as, All India Council for Technical Education, Pharmacy Council of India, Council of Architecture, University Grants Commission, New Delhi etc. or Government of Maharashtra / Directorate of Technical Education, Maharashtra State, Mumbai.

This is specifically being made publicly known as such courses are illegal and therefore such admissions are also illegal. Even after completion of such un-recognised/ un-approved courses,-a Degree or Diploma which is valid in law cannot be obtained/ conferred.

It is further clarified that before seeking admission to any UG Degree/ Diploma, PG Degree/ Diploma Professional Courses in any University/ Institute they should confirm as to whether the said University/ Institute is approved by Statutory Bodies i.e. All India Council for Technical Education, Pharmacy Council of India, Council of Architecture, University Grants Commission, New Delhi etc. or Government of Maharashtra/ Directorate of Technical Education, Maharashtra State, Mumbai, and also to confirm as to whether the said University/ institute is affiliated to Recognised University or Maharashtra State Board of Technical Education, Mumbai.

The information regarding affiliation & recognition be first verified from the information brochure of the concerned University/ Institute. For further clarification, candidates are instructed to approach Regional Offices of this Directorate.

For inquiry the addresses of Regional Offices, is available on DTE web site i.e. www.dte.org.in.

If any candidate seeks/ has taken admission to any such University/ Institute which is not recognised by above mentioned statutory bodies and if the candidate faces any problem regarding admission and/ or recognition of the course then the Govt. of Maharashtra or this Directorate will not be held responsible. The sole responsibility of any such action shall rest with the candidate and his/her parents alone.

(Prof. N. B. Pasalkar

Director, Technical Education
Maharashtra State, Mumbai.

Notification

Last Date For Submitting IGNOU Examination Forms

IGNOU has announced the new schedule for submission of examination forms for students appearing in the June term-end exams. Online forms can be submitted up to March 31 on the varsity’s website, www.ignou.ac.in, according to a press release. Those submitting examination forms between February 1 March 31 will not have to pay a fee. A late fee of Rs 100 (through a DD in favour/payable at IGNOU, New Delhi) will be charged from those submitting their forms between April 1 April 20, 2006, while a late fee of Rs 500 will be charged if forms are submitted between April 21 May 15. Forms submitted between May 16 May 28 will attract a late fee of Rs 1,000. The examination forms, along with the late fee, as applicable, should be submitted to the respective regional centres. For students wishing to/ appear in Delhi, the examination form can be sent to Registrar, SR&E, IGNOU.

Date: 29th Marchl 2006

Source: The Times of India

Notification

Perhaps its time to contemplate a journalism rehab centre. Thanks to 24X7 televisions, there is a media institute in almost every corner of the city who promise anything and everything to meet the so called rising demand for journalists.

But do degrees in mass communication and journalism give you an edge over others? They do. At least what the students queuing up outside journalism institutes believe. Its in vogue and everyone wants to cash in on the trend. But most of these institutes offer more style than substance. Eventually its the student who suffers.

At the Indraprastha University, there are seven self-financing affiliated institutes Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies (VIPS), Madhubala Institute of Communication and Electronic Media, Kathuri Ram College of Higher Education, Lalitha Devi Institute of Management and Sciences, Gitaratan International Business School, Tecnica Institute of Advanced Studies and JICD that take a total of 435 students. The fee ranges from Rs 42,000 to Rs 54,000 per year and the course module includes print media, electronic media, public relations, advertising and filmmaking.

The students are required to do compulsory internship during their course of study but many allege that institutes are rarely of any help.

Though we study in English, we are offered internship opportunities in vernacular dailies by the institute. As a result we are left with no choice but to find internships on our own, said a student of JICD on condition of anonymity.

During the orientation, we were promised internships and placements. But only a handful from a batch of 60 students have been placed by the institute, he adds

The institute on its part maintains that they offer placements to as many as 90 per cent of the students. Though we provide placements to most students it is not our responsibility to ensure 100 per cent placement, said Prof Om Gupta, dean, JICD.

Besides finding internships, incompetent faculty and poorly developed infrastructure too seems to be a problem with these institutes.

Many students complain that the permanent faculties have no experience and lt8S they survive on guest lectures. Often the faculty is not up to the mark and we try to get them changed, says a second year student of Tecnia.

The end result is that quality of education suffers and the industry is faced with mediocrity. There are only 20 per with are competent enough to be absorbed across the board. Around 50 per cent are mediocre and 30 per cent are just here for fun. Despite this, we try to provide all of them placements, affirmed Prof Gupta.

The IP University on its part states that institutes are run under strict guidelines and any institute flouting the rule is derecognized.

We havent come across any complaints so far. If students are facing any problem with respect to faculty or labs they should complain to the University and we will take the necessary action, said Prof K Kannan, dean, student welfare, IP University

Source: Hindustan Times

News

UGC Directive to DU May Lead to Faculty Shortage in Varsity

The University Grants Commission’s (UGC) mid-June directive to Delhi University on National Eligibility Test (NET) exemption for prospective undergraduate teachers with an MPhil or PhD degree might mean that the DU students will continue to face faculty shortage when they return on July 17.

Many colleges which received the DU notification dated June 29 only in the last week of June or earlier this month had to issue corrigendums to their earlier advertisement inviting fresh applications. Some had to cancel or postpone interviews.

Said V K Yadav, principal, Maharaja Agrasen College: “We had finalised only two recruitments when the letter arrived. Now with the process starting afresh, it might take close to a month for us to get dates from the selection committee members and convene the panel. We are once more left with no alternative but to resort to ad hoc faculties for the six vacancies we had earlier planned to fill by the start of the academic session.

Agreed dean of colleges, Shirin Rathore: “The directive which reached us on June 14 created a lot of confusion. That has finally been sorted out but the corrigendum and fresh applications

would mean some delay in appointments.”

Several colleges like Zakir Husain, Moti Lai Nehru and Delhi College of Arts and Commerce had to postpone their interviews scheduled in early July. Others like Swami Shraddhanand are facing pressure from its own staff association to cancel or review appointments made after June 14 when the UGC notification arrived.

With an estimated 100 recruitments in various colleges hanging fire, the situation has been further complicated by a court case where one candidate has demanded that all recruitments that happened between June 23 and 29 be cancelled on the ground that on June 23 the university had information about the UGC directive.

Said J L Gupta, Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma (ARSD) faculty member and a former member of DU’s academic and executive councils, “Many candidates recruited during the period have already submitted their joining reports. Even if DU had information about the directive on June 23, the circular to colleges could not have gone before approval by the statutory bodies. To add to our troubles, there is apparently also a fresh UGC directive against ad hoc appointments.”

Among the colleges that could find its recruitments cancelled if the appellant’s contention holds, is Shri Ram College of Commerce. Said commerce head of the department Anil Kumar, “We had already issued letters to the selected candidates by June 25, till which time we had no intimation from the university. It’s not the college’s fault.”

Another fact that had initially added to the confusion was the UGC’s recruitment deadline of June 30. Said Moti Lai Nehru principal R C Sharma, “That has now been extended to September 30, but the start-of-session target * we had for recruitments has / definitely been missed.”

Source: The Times of India

News of DU

Perhaps it is time for sarkaari babus to go back to school. In an ostensible effort to groom civil servants, the government is planning to set up a National Centre of Governance that will train bureaucrats in public administration, management, public relations and customer relations. An inter-state ministerial council, chaired by the prime minister, has appointed Hyderabad-based Centre for Good Governance to prepare a draft report on this project. “We have already submitted our preliminary report to the council. The new centre will require Rs 500-crore investment,” said a senior official of the Centre for Good Governance.

According to him, the Andhra Pradesh government has already earmarked 200 acres for setting up the school. “However, we are yet to receive any response from the Centre,” he added. The school of government, proposed on the lines of the Kennedy School of Government and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, will offer an MBA in public governance and administration. “Given the size and importance of India and the issues it is struggling with during its transition from a closed economy to a market-oriented economy as it meets new challenges, training in modern public policy analysis and management is crucial,” he added.

There is a growing recognition that new types of leaders and leadership must emerge who can function both as managers and decision-makers. “Unfortunately, our civil servants lack managerial skills. None of our business schools, including QMs and ISB offer any full-time masters programme.”

Source: The Economic Times

News B-School