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Academics Criticise move to bury NCTE

THE move by the government to do away with the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) by repealing the National Council for Teacher Education Act, 1993, has met with criticism from a section of academics who have pleaded against taking any “hasty” action.

“The recent loss of credibility of the NCTE is an undisputed fact. Decisions taken by the NCTE have been found to be chaotic and charges of corruption in its functioning were noticed. Its benign neglect by the government may have contributed to NCTE’s present monstrous form,” a release issued by former NCERT and NCTE directors AK Sharma, AN Maheshwari and JS Rajput and former member southern regional committee of the NCTE, S.C. Sarma said.

Instead of doing away with the statutory body, it has been suggested that the government take effective and constructive steps for the proper functioning of the NCTE in the interest of planned and coordinated development of teacher education. It has been argued that the malfunctioning of the NCTE could have been curbed had the government been monitoring its functioning as envisaged by the Act. “The challenge of setting right the NCTE by the government can begin by introspection of its role and identifying where it failed and apply the needed correction to set right the malady. Alternatively, the government has an option laid down in the Act to supersede the Council,” the release said. A committee headed by former education secretary Sudeep Banerjee found that the NCTE had failed in its endeavour. The committee found that not only had the NCTE derelicted its duties, the apex teacher education body had promoted commercialization and unplanned proliferation of teacher education institutes. It has suggested that the Council be dissolved and the Act repealed. Instead, universities across the country will take on the task of ensuring adequate teacher education. The recommendation has been accepted by the ministry of human resource development and a Cabinet note seeking dissolution of the statutory body is currently being circulated.

Set up in 1973 as an advisory body for the Central and State Governments on all matters of teacher education, NCTE became a statutory body in 1995 following the enactment of the NCTE Act, 1993.

It was elevated to a statutory body as per the National Policy on Education, I9S6, to perform essentially regulatory functions, ensure maintenance of standards in teacher education and prevent proliferation of sub-standard institutions.

Honchos wage a different war at Delhi University

Battle Campus Heat to Seek Admission for Wards

HONCHOS who are honed to wage corporate wars, are battling the campus heat in torrid Delhi summers. Scores of senior execs are stepping out of their air conditioned cabins, to sweat it out, hopping from college to college with their children seeking admissions. This is typical of paranoid parents. And execs are parents too. Whether it’s helping the little one’s make choices or egging them on with a helping hand, blue-collar parents ‘leave’ no stone unturned, literally. That is, when admission time rings true, special leaves at the workplace abound for mom-n-pop execs for their very special ones.

Arun Kumar, EVP, HR, Godfrey Philips India, plans to take a day off for his daughter, Nikhita, who is seeking admission to Delhi University colleges. A pass out from Cambridge School, Noida, she wants to do her BSc Computer Science. “It’s the most important milestone in a student’s career and equally important for a parent,” says Mr. Kumar. “It makes sense to be there for your kids when they need you the most.”

Given the extreme weather conditions in Delhi, many parents struggle to keep up their energy levels, nonetheless it’s an important enough occasions for them not to miss. Girish Johar, vice president — people and culture — Ericsson, MU-India and Sri Lanka, who went around the city’s engineering colleges for son Akshay to find a perfect fit, “If you got to do it, you got to do it. Don’t we work even if it’s hot or things are not congenial. Its a similar situation and taking a leave is very obvious.”

Not only do these execs parents go college hunting, but they are helping kids plan on what to target and what to leave out. Some are selecting colleges that offer on-line registration, and then go chasing them according to the kid’s preference. If there’s no parking available near the colleges, one of the parent looks after the vehicle while the other accompanies the kid to the admission centre, besides complementing each other in buying forms from different colleges, brain-storming on what options would be better. “These are the moments when the kids are unsure and need psychological support from parents. That’s why parents do things which they are otherwise not comfortable doing. At these points of life, actions count more than words, besides being there when they need you, brings both children and parents closer,” says Jayaram Eswaran, director, Aricent. He took a day off from work for the first trip to the North Campus and plans do the same when the father-daughter duo visit the South Campus.

Vardhman to train students

LUDHIANA: Vardhman Textiles will impart free training to 50 students belonging to backward communities in Punjab. “Under the Affirmative Action Programme of CII, we will train 50 students from SC, ST and OBC categories,” said its president D L Sharma.

High Court allows CFA to conduct exams here
Over 7,000 To Take Test for All The Three Levels On June 3

IN A major relief to the Indian students and the US-based Chartered Financial Analysts Institute (CFAI), which provides self-study courses, the Delhi High Court on Thursday allowed CFA Institute to conduct examination scheduled for June 3. The order dated May 18 is stayed till the writ petition is disposed off and the CFA can go ahead with the examination, Justice B D Ahmed said, while pronouncing the verdict on CFA’s petition. The court, however, made it dear that the order is limited only to the extent of conducting examination and all other activities would not be carried out by the institute in accordance with the order passed by AICTE on May 18.

The court had yesterday reserved its order on a petition filed by the US-based institute that seeks to quash AICTE’s directive restraining its operations in the country. The CFA had sought a direction from the Delhi High Court to allow it to impart education and conduct exams in the country.
The court took into account that nearly 7,000 applicants had paid fees and have gone through the self-study stage. It observed that the only step left was allowing them to sit for the examination scheduled to be held on Sunday at Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. The Guwahati High Court (Agartala bench) in an order passed on May 28 had seemingly granted its imprimatur to the AICTE order. The council on May 18 had asked the US-based Institute to cease its operation in respect of conduct of CFA programme in India with immediate effect. It had also issued directions to all the concerned authorities including state governments and UTs to take appropriate measures to shut down the operations of the US -based institute.

The matter is coming up before the Guwahati High Court on July 23. The Delhi High Court, while leaving the matter to be decided in accordance with the law, observed that the US-based institute has a “good prima facie case". “To my mind, the petitioner no 1 (CFA Institute) does not fall within the expression “technical institution” as contemplated in section 2 (h) of the All India Council for Technical Education Act. Nor do I feel at this stage that the petitioner is imparting “technical education” as contemplated under section 2 (g) of the act” said Justice Ahmad.
AICTE through its counsel and additional solicitor general Amrender Sharan had said the curriculum of the US-based institute falls within the relevant act of the council which was empowered to put the regulatory device on it.

The Delhi High Court ruling brought relief to students — both who were trying to get tickets reserved for taking examination outside India as well as to those who will now get their tickets cancelled. The students, as a precautionary measure, had booked tickets to travel abroad in the face of dilemma over judicial verdict. Sumit Saraf who has already booked himself on the Friday flight to Hong Kong plans to get it cancelled. “I think I might lose 50% of the money, but it will be better to stay back and take the examination,” says Saraf, who shelled out Rs 30,000 for just the return ticket.

Course Material
–>Chartered Financial Analyst’s Institute of America (CFAI) is a 60-year-old body with a presence in 134 countries. CFA is a correspondence-based course which takes two to three years to complete

–>In March, 2007, Hyderabad-based ICFAI had filed a petition in the Guwahati High Court alleging that All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the UGC were not taking any action against the CFA institute for allegedly running an unapproved technical programme in India

–>On May 18, AICTE had served the notice on the CFAI to cease its operations in India as it was flouting regulations

Guwahati High Court upheld the notice sent by AICTE asking the CFAI conducting the course to immediately stop all operations in India