Key education trends to watch out for in 2019

Mon Dec 17 2018 

Key education trends to watch out for in 2019

As 2019 is expected to be an interesting year for education in India – several trends of previous years will pan out strongly and hopefully accelerate India’s march towards becoming a ‘knowledge economy’, writes Sivaramakrishnan Venkateswaran

The value of education in any society is uncontested—in fact, its relevance in today’s world is possibly far greater compared to most aspects of human life. It is probably for this reason that the World Development Report 2018 published, in a first, focussed solely on education.

It is a very gratifying experience for anyone associated with education to go through this report as it delves into systemic issues that impact education and areas of future focus. In the Indian context, the report is extremely relevant given the strides we have made as a nation in the space of education. Yet there are issues that need to be addressed, making education quite fundamental to our nation’s future growth agenda. Below are the key trends to watch out for in 2019:

Growth of integrated learning solutions: While on one hand it is fascinating to see schools, mainly in urban centres, adopt technology with alacrity, a very large number has yet to experience its benefits owing to connectivity and infrastructure issues, and therefore rely on the traditional ‘chalk and talk’ model of education. India needs bespoke education solutions that align with its socio-economic-technological landscape. Integrated learning solutions that seamlessly combine print books with digital learning aids appear to be a great fit for India, and their demand is expected to surge significantly in the coming years.

Adoption of formative assessment solutions: The last few years have witnessed a lot of debate on the importance of learning outcomes. As a result, there has been increased focus on assessment as a theme. The catch however lies in choosing the right assessment solution. The routine assessment solutions adopt a cookie cutter approach by just testing for basic recall, that too at the end of the term. On the other hand, formative assessment solutions are designed to analyse social and personal competencies and test the learners’ progress alongside curriculum delivery, and hence are more suited to ensuring that learning makes an impact. Formative assessments are also adaptive, giving the learner a personalised feel of outcomes.

Learning through regional languages: Ours is a nation of varied languages, and hence rendering anything via one language alone will be rather ineffective in terms of reach. Learning through regional language content and/or bilingual content will only grow as a trend in the coming year, ensuring coverage of a wider learner base.

Increased demand for teacher professional development: It is important to familiarise teachers with 21st century competencies and skills, new teachinglearning pedagogies and augmenting their lateral thinking abilities through professional development programmes.

(The author is Managing Director, Oxford University Press India)

Source : https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/#

Soon, a panel to decide fees in private varsities

22 Dec 2018| Mumbai | Musab Qazi mes.com 

Soon, a panel to decide fees in private varsities

AS PER NEW RULE, PVT UNIVERSITIES WOULD HAVE TO DISCLOSE THE FEES THEY DECIDE TO THE STATE

MUMBAI: In a bid to bring transparency in the fees of the courses offered at self-financed universities in Maharashtra, the state government has decided that the fee structure will be decided by a varsity-level ‘fee fixation committee’. However, their colleges will continue to have the autonomy to decide their fees.

The fee fixation committee will include members of the respective universities’ academic and management council members, retired judges, former vice-chancellors, chartered accountants and Padma Bhushan awardees.

The decision is part of a new set of rules and regulations for self-financed or private universities. The state higher and technical education department will soon notify these rules, after receiving a green signal from the law and judiciary department.

According to the new rules, the private universities will have to disclose the various fees they decide to the government. Students and other stakeholders can get their grievances resolved by Maharashtra Higher Education Development Council (MAHED).

The new set of rules come around a month after Ravindra Waikar, the minister of state for technical and higher education, proposed that the state government decide and regulate the fees of courses offered at private, or self-financed, universities.

In a letter to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Waikar, who belongs to the Shiv Sena, which is an alliance partner of the ruling BJP government, alleged that the universities are functioning in a high-handed manner, as there is no government control over these institutes.

As many as 13 private universities have come up in the state after the government enacted the Maharashtra Self-Financed Universities (Establishment and Regulation) Act in 2011. Letters of intent (LOIs) have been granted to five more organisations which have proposed to set up such institutes.

The state government has granted permission for these varsities in order to reduce burden on its public universities while making a variety of education programmes available to the students.

Source : http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

BCOM EXAMS: 500 TEACHERS YET TO START ASSESSMENT

21 Dec 2018 | Mumbai | Musab Qazi

BCOM EXAMS: 500 TEACHERS YET TO START ASSESSMENT

MUMBAI: More than two months after the fifth-semester examinations for Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) began, around 500 teachers from colleges affiliated with University of Mumbai (MU) are yet to start assessing answer sheets of a few subjects.

The university has prepared a list of these teachers (copy with HT) and wants them to start the assessment work so the results are declared on time.

“The dean of Commerce is expected to contact these teachers and motivate them to assess papers. That’s why the list was released,” said an MU official.

Among courses offered by the varsity, BCom has for the highest number of students. For the past few years, MU has been struggling to declare results within 45 days of examination.

MU officials said several teachers are yet to start assessment work because they are busy checking answer papers of firstand-second-year examinations.

Although the exams are held by colleges, the MU provides common question papers and sets the timetable. Officials also said the teachers mentioned in the list may have assessed answer sheets of other subjects as well.

Source : http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx