Girls beat boys yet again as the results of the Indian School Certificate (ISC) and the Indian Council of Secondary Examination (ICSE) were declared on Wednesday. While the overall pass percentage for Class X result was 96, that for Class XII was 93.5 with girls faring better than boys in both.

Girls have done remarkably well in these exams. On an average, for every 56 boys, there were 44 girls but, despite being less in number, they have secured a higher pass percentage, said Rita Wilson, deputy secretary, ICSE.

Girls appearing for the ICSE had a pass percentage of 96.93 whereas boys had a pass percentage of 95.29. So, of the total of 51,714 boys who appeared for the examination, 49,277 were awarded the pass certificate. And, of a total 40,067 girls who appeared for the exam, 38,837 were awarded the pass certificate.

Their ISC counterparts too, fared better than the boys. The pass percentage for ISC girls was 95.96, as opposed to 91.64 secured by the boys. Of the total 24,227 boys who took the exam, 22,201 passed, whereas amongst the total 18,807 girls, as many as 18,048 were awarded pass certificates.

Meanwhile, the highest pass percentage for Class X was 97.60 and the highest for Class XII was 98.25. Also, the average pass percentage for Class X was 96 an improvement of 1.97% from last year. The total pass percentage for Class XII at 93.53% was the same as last year.

Also, ICSE students in the SC, ST and OBC category had a pass percentage of 92.39, 92.77 and 95.62 respectively. ISC students in the same categories had a pass percentage of 91.29, 87.67 and 93.56 respectively.

The zonal break up for ICSE is as follows: the west zone topped the list with 98.59%. The rest of the zones scored an average pass percentage of 95.28 (east zone), 98.07 (south) and 94.41 (north). In ISC, the highest average pass percentage was secured by south zone at 98.99 followed by west at 96.72, east with 93.22 and north at 93.01.

In Delhi, Shriram School and Shriram School Araval-li got a pass percentage of 100 in both ISC and ICSE. The highest score in Shriram School Aravalli was 95.4% in Class X.

In Shriram School, the highest score was 93.5% in commerce.

Results can also be obtained by logging on www.cisce.indiaresults.com, www.cisce.lifesets.com and www.cisce.examresults.net.

A total of 1,34,815 students appeared in the Board examinations, of which a whopping 49.9% opted to know their results through 8888.

Source: The Times of India

Alerts

AICTE, Ministry of HRD, Govt of India, New Delhi Announces Important Notice (Approvals 2006-2007)

1. The Council has approved MBA/MCA as additional courses for some of the Engineering/MBA/MCA Institutions as per AICTE policy guidelines (list of such institutions is mentioned separately). However, the formal approval letter would be issued only on submission of RPGF i.e. Rs. 15 lakhs for each approved course on or before May 31st, 2006, failing which, the approval will stand cancelled.

The institutions will not be allowed to make any admissions in these courses until the RPGF is

submitted at the concerned Regional Office and formal approval letter is issued to the institution

2. Proposals for increase in intake/additional courses forwarded to the concerned State Government and affiliating University upto 28th March, 2006 have been processed and the remaining would be processed subsequently. It may be noted that the Approval Process is open ended and the applications for increase / variation in intake, addition of new courses would be processed round the year.

3. The Institutions which have not hosted their Mandatory Disclosures on the website are being granted conditional approval. All such institutions are advised to host their Mandatory Disclosures as per prescribed format on the website by 31st May, 2006, failing which, action would be initiated as per rules and regulations of AICTE including no admission/ withdrawal of approval. Intimation regarding date of hosting Mandatory Disclosure along with the website address should be sent to the concerned Regional Office on or before 31st May, 2006.

4. The following categories of institutions would be considered for restoration of intake for the year 2006-07.

a. Faculty deficiency:

The institutions which are able to send a compliance to the AICTE Headquarters, New Delhi regarding recruitment of the deficient faculty by 31st May, 2006 would be considered for restoration proportionately.

The request for restoration should be accompanied with the selection committee minutes, list of faculty members appointed in the relevant disciplines along with one page bio-data (with passport size photograph), appointment letter and joining letter of each faculty member appointed.

b. Built-up Area deficiency:

The following documents regarding built-up area should be submitted at the AICTE, Headquarters, New Delhi by 31st May, 2006:

The institutions placed under Reduced Intake due to the deficiency of non-availability of adequate built-up area as per AICTE norms may submit the latest status of the availability of built-up area in their institutions. In case any built-up area has been constructed after submission of the compliance report in December or the date of the Expert Committee Visit the same should be submitted along with the documentary evidence before 31st May 2006.

In case the deficiency of built-up area continues to persist and the Institute is willing to rectify the deficiency, the Council may consider restoration of intake proportionately in such institutions on submission of an affidavit on a Rs. 100/- stamp paper on or before 31st May 2006 stating that the built-up area deficiency would be complied with on or before 31.08.2006 for restoration of intake.

c. Any request for restoration of intake submitted at the AICTE, Headquarters, New Delhi after 31st May, 2006 would be considered for the next academic year i.e. 2007-08.

5. All the Institutions irrespective of the number of years of approval granted are required to submit the Compliance Report in the prescribed format (available on the AICTE website) along with the processing fee of Rs. 40,000/- every year.

6. The Institutions granted extension of approval are required to rectify all the specific deficiencies including appointment of an eligible Director (wherever applicable) by 31st August, 2006, a compliance to this effect in the prescribed format along with processing fee of Rs.40,000/- should reach the concerned Regional Office, by 31st August, 2006.

7. Approval letters along with deficiencies (if any) are being dispatched to the institutions individually.

8. PIO cases are being processed separately.

Notification

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has issued show-cause notice to 105 technical institutions for failing to comply with its norms and regulations.

Owing to the faculty deficiency in 404 other institutions, 27,273 seats including 22,722 engineering seats have been reduced by the council. Around 45 other institutions have been put under “no admission” category.

Over 3,270 institutions processed for extension of approval by the council on 2nd May 06.

“Those institutions whose seats have been reduced are given an opportunity to rectify the deficiencies and submit a compliance report by May 31. We will examine the report to consider; restoration of seats,” said R A Yadav, vice-chairman, AICTE.

However, 20, 867 seats have been increased in engineering (16,357), management (3670), pharmacy (445), MCA (365) and hotel management (30) in 270 institutions, which have performed well and have met the norms of the council.

“The courses that had faculty deficiency up to 25% were granted extension while the courses for which the faculty deficiency was more than 25% were placed in reduced intake category. Seats were reduced in those institutions that have appreciable built-up area deficiency. While, the institutions who had complied with the norms and standards, extension was considered for a maximum period of three years,” Yadav added.

Over 120 applications were processed for the establishment of new institutions of which 78 were issued the letter of intent, which would be processed for the issue of letter of approval after the institutions show their preparedness.

Source: The Times of India, Delhi

Date: 5th May 2006

News of AICTE

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

News of IGNOU

Computer-Aided Learning Programme Launched For 82,400 Rural Children In 30 Districts

Arul Mozhi, D. Deepa and K. Maunika are first generation learners from hamlets with about 1,000 families in interior Tamil Nadu but they are among the thousands of primary and elementary school children who use computers as a learning tool.

Under a computer aided learning programme launched in September, 82,400 rural children in 412 centres in 30 districts are using software packages produced jointly by the State and the Bangalore-based Azim Premji Foundation. Children answer questions in subjects such as Tamil, English, Mathematics, Science, and Social Science on computer.

Some 200 children from class I to VII took online tests for proficiency in using computers here on Tuesday at the Anna Institute of Management Studies. The children were winners at the block and district level online tests held earlier in February.

A child exposed to computers will be able to answer some 80 questions in five minutes. Every question [that is] answered is tracked. Each class gets 150 questions. At the end of the tests the scores come up on the screen, explained J. Shankar, head of academics, pedagogy and technology initiatives at the Foundation. We have three objectives. Learning play, assessment and equal knowledge for all.

The aim is to make learning fun, assess the childs ability and assess if girls get as much time on the computer as the boys. The Foundation began its project in Karnataka in 2001 and has conducted such programmes in 14 States so far. But, Tamil Nadu is the first to take up statewide assessment, Mr. Shankar said.

Outside the room, where the students took tests under the supervision of the Foundation members, teachers from panchayat and block schools waited for their wards. C. Shobana, block resource teacher educator in Kancheepuram district under whom nearly 70 schools fall, said: Most of the children are from villages and are first generation school goers.

Date: 7th March 2006

Source: The Hindu

News of Learning Programme

Imagine graduating along with earning big bucks. An apprenticeship in hand that too in a reputed multinational company, and a degree from DU, does that sound like Utopia?

Well, it is all set to become a reality at the Campus of Open Learning (COL), Delhi University, long regarded, despite the huge numbers it caters to, as a poor kin of DU colleges.

The university, signed a first of its kind memorandum of understanding with Genpact, a company of the GE group, under which 300-odd students, initially from only B Com (pass) and English (hons) programmes, studying in COL, will be selected and trained by the company from the first year itself for BPO and other jobs.

Two days a week, the students will attend classes at the campus while for the other three, they will be working. The students will get a basic monthly salary of Rs 5,000, plus the usual allowances for Genpact employees.

The MoU will come into effect from 2006-07. In the COL admission form, there will be a provision for students to indicate whether they want to opt for the programme.

The idea, says S K Vij, director, COL, was to devise a course that would open up employment opportunities for students. We have made one thing very clear. Neither will COL interfere in the companys selection process, nor would it put up with any interference from the company in the matter of course content and structure, Vij explained.

The selected students would need to pay Rs 12,000 to the company as surety, which they will get back in three instalments, one each after completion of every year of graduation.

Date: 13th March 2006

Source: The Times of India

News of DU

Graduates Make Suitable Boys

New Breed of Software Programmers Replaces Engineers

Come summer, graduate colleges across the country will have new visitors Indias marquee IT companies Wipro, Satyam and TCS. Breaking away from a long tradition of hiring only engineering graduates as software professionals, these companies are now looking to hire science and commerce graduates to write computer programs.

In the next few months, the Bangalore-based Wipro, the third largest software company in India, will have hired 1,500 graduates. Hyderabad-based Satyam Computers will hire 600 while TCS, the No 1 software company, will initially start off with mathematics majors and a few other science graduates. In the last three months, even multinational companies like Oracle and IBM have hired a dozen science and commerce graduates each. Says Wipros chairman Azim Premji, These youngsters are surprisingly capable and trainable for many job functions.

The new recruits will work in the core software business for the companies. Like software engineers, they will also be part of teams who work on large overseas software contracts. Says Satyam Computers HR vice-president T Hari, There are many aspects of programming that dont need an engineering background. These graduates will be groomed for those functions.

But why are companies looking at graduates now? The Indian software industry began by body-shopping they earned hourly rates for sending engineers abroad. Projects also required engineers to be sent abroad to work in the clients premises abroad. US visas were only available to graduates who had four years of college education after schooling. Better communication infrastructure has increased the offshore portion of software contracts, requiring less overseas travel for engineers.

Date: 23rd Feb 2006

Source: The Times of India (Mumbai)

News