Mumbai University's convocation robes to go desi from November

TNN | Oct 24, 2019, 08.13 AM IST

 

MUMBAI: As part of a government move to make everything desi, around 125 academicians will participate in the convocation procession in a Shivakalin Angarkha, donning a Jagannath Shankarseth (Nana) topi at Mumbai University in November. The long, colonial cream and yellow convocation robes worn by dignitaries and academicians on the dais will undergo a makeover at the next convocation. The angarkha, which will have a Paithani border, will represent valour, commitment and good governance, university officials said. 

Graduating male students can wear sadara pyjamas, and females can wear a sari or salwar kameez with a sash. A maroon 'topi' to match with dignitaries was recommended by a university-appointed committee, but was turned down by management council members at a meeting on Wednesday. Affiliated colleges can choose the attire for graduation ceremonies or can switch to the university's pattern in subsequent years, a university official said.

Most recommendations by a three-member committee, led by M D Teli, professor from fibres and textile processing technology department at ICT-Matunga, Armaiti Shukla, from textile science and apparel design department at SNDT's SVT College of Home Science, and designer Archana Rao, were approved by the university's management council.

A former dean said the directive to make use of India traditional attire and fabric had come from University Grants Commission (UGC).

"Most of our education system's concept has been derived from the British, so our convocation attire was heavily influenced by their culture. The use of 'professor' for teachers was also borrowed from their education system. The government believes in making everything desi. This is a move in that direction. Whether it will be comfortable for use will have to be seen once the convocation is held," said the professor.

The committee has recommended the use of poly-khadi material for comfort and to give a 'swadeshi' touch to the attire. The fabric for the robe will be purchased from small-scale khadi gram industries. The Nana topi was included to further the cause of education and philanthropy. Shankarseth was an educationist and a social reformer. "The proposed convocation attire is a mix of our culture, tradition and inclusiveness," said vice-chancellor Suhas Pednekar.

‘Golden’ girls shine at Jamia convocation

tnn | Oct 30, 2019, 04.31 AM IST

New Delhi: Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) on Wednesday made a strong pitch for a medical college-cum-hospital at its annual convocation attended by President Ram Nath Kovind and human resource development minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’. More than 10,000 students, including 350 gold medallists, who passed in 2017 and 2018 were awarded degrees and diplomas on the occasion. Out of 350 gold medallists, 183 were girls.

The President congratulated all the passing students, especially the girl gold medallists who outnumbered boys.

Kovind congratulated the university for entering into its centenary year, and said that the founders of the varsity were also connected with the freedom struggle. “JMI is the symbol of the country’s composite culture, which not only needs to be preserved, but also strengthened,” he said.

About the proposed new education policy of the government, the President said that it is to establish India as a ‘knowledge superpower’. “Students should go to villages and try to understand their issues while making villagers aware of various welfare schemes,” Kovind said

Addressing the ceremony, both JMI chancellor Najma Heptulla and vice-chancellor Najma Akhtar sought the government’s help in setting up a medical college-cum-hospital in the university.

Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ in his address assured all possible help to the varsity. “The new education policy will help in fulfilling Narendra Modi’s resolve to raise India’s economy to five trillion dollars by 2024,” he added.

Vice-chancellor Najma Akhtar said that the university is planning to put itself on the national map in respect of environmental studies and climate action.

Bengaluru: RGUHS may appeal against disaffiliated nursing colleges

TNN | Oct 14, 2019, 01.08 PM IST



 

BENGALURU: Seven nursing colleges in the city, which were disaffiliated by Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) in January, have not only gone ahead and admitted students for this academic year, but also helped students file an appeal seeking they be allowed to write exams.

RGUHS vice-chancellor Dr S Sachidanand said they will file a counter-appeal as the court has directed them to allow the students, who are not even part of the university, to write exams. "We had not even permitted the colleges to admit students, and here they are asking for permission to appear for exams," Sachidanand said, adding that their answerscripts won't be evaluated. He said the university had published a public notice, informing students about the status of the colleges.

The seven colleges - Bethel Medical Institute of Nursing Sciences, Hosmat College of Nursing, Gayathri Devi College of Nursing, Pan Asia College of Nursing, Bethel College of Physiotherapy, Hosmat College of Physiotherapy and Hosmat Hospital and Educational Institution - were disaffiliated due to alleged involvement in a certificate scam.

Almost 200 students from these colleges have appeared for two papers. Sachidanand said the university was unaware that the colleges had even admitted students.

CN Ashwath Narayan, deputy chief minister and minister for medical education, said he can't comment on the matter as it's in court, but promised swift action against the culprits. "More than the students, those responsible for this situation should be brought to book. I will escalate the matter to the highest investigating authorities," he said.

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UGC advocates adoption of khadi for ceremonial dresses in varsities 

The circular encourages all the more than 50,000 universities and colleges to use khadi or handloom textiles “for ceremonial dresses prescribed for special occasions like convocations”. education Updated: Oct 30, 2019 13:33 IST


 
Prashant K Nanda

Hindustan Times, New Delhi The UGC circular says that khadi is an integral part of Indian culture(Mint file)

The University Grants Commission (UGC), which has been extolling the virtues of khadi, has cited Prime Minister Narendra Modi and has asked universities and colleges to use the fabric for ceremonial dresses worn on special occasions.

“The honourable Prime Minister has advocated the use of khadi and also emphasized on the revival of handlooms. Mahatma Gandhi used khadi, a handspun and handloom cloth as a weapon during the struggle for Independence, and hence it is also known as ‘Liveries of Freedom’...the use of khadi and other handloom will not only give a sense of pride of being Indian, but also be more comfortable in hot and humid weather,” the UGC has said in a circular to all the universities in the country last week.

The circular encourages all the more than 50,000 universities and colleges to use khadi or handloom textiles “for ceremonial dresses prescribed for special occasions like convocations”.

The circular says that it is “requested” that universities and colleges consider use of this fabric, but it also seeks “appropriate action” for its adoption.

“I request you to kindly take appropriate action to adopt khadi and/or handloom fabric for ceremonial dresses to encourage the use of khadi...,” said the circular by the education regulator.

“The language of the circular is very interesting. While it did not use the word mandatory, it expects universities to take action. We are not against khadi or handloom but I believe universities and colleges need to be left alone to take a decision on what they wish to adopt,” said a Delhi University professor who requested anonymity.

“It’s an indirect directive to fall in line. It’s symbolism, not Indian pride that the education regulator is trying to get us to believe,” he said.

In the last couple of years, there has been a growing clamour around changing the convocation dress from the Western-style gown and square cap to a traditional one. Some institutions, including the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, IIT Bombay, the National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh, and Gujarati University, have already adopted khadi for their convocations.

The UGC circular signed by its secretary Rajnish Jain, says that khadi and handloom products are an integral part of Indian culture and heritage and are a source of livelihood for lakhs of rural people.

Modi has been a strong supporter of khadi and in September 2017 in one of his Mann Ki Baat radio programmes, asked people to adopt the fabric to help weavers.

First Published: Oct 30, 2019 13:33 IST

Mumbai University not using UGC plagiarism checker despite reminders mumbai 

Updated: Oct 15, 2019 00:31 IST

 

Priyanka Sahoo

Two months after the University Grants Commission (UGC) made a plagiarism-detection software available to all higher education institutes in the country, the University of Mumbai (MU) is yet to use it despite a series of reminders.

UGC is the apex body that governs all higher educational institutes in the country.

In May, the UGC had issued an exclusive notice to the university for not implementing any anti-plagiarism framework to screen PhD theses submitted by students. Soon after, in August, the UGC made the anti-plagiarism software ‘URKUND’ available on a trial basis to all universities. The trial started on September 1. However, MU is yet to start using the software, said sources in the university.

According to official figures, the university receives around 350 thesis and research papers every year from scholars in its departments, research centres and affiliated colleges. On an average, the university hands out 330 PhDs annually.

However, none of the theses go through a plagiarism check, said a senior professor from the university, on the condition of anonymity. The university had converted its library and thesis department into a cell for anti-plagiarism methods. “The university doesn’t have a digital repository of information on scholars as well as their works. This makes it difficult for the university to screen all PhD theses,” said the professor. Earlier the varsity had planned to purchase licences for Turnitin software, but the plan did not take off. Now that the URKUND software is available for free, utilisation of the software has not started.

University pro vice-chancellor Ravindra Kulkarni was unavailable for a comment. An official from the thesis department said not all theses are being screened, but work has already started.

“We are just starting to use the URKUND software. At the moment, the licence is shared if any faculty member asks for it,” he said, without divulging details on how many faculty members have accessed the licence so far. However, no official communication has come from the university about the use of the software, said professors.

“We have recently purchased the rights for Turnitin software. We are demonstrating it to faculty members. From now on, all theses will go through Turnitin,” said pro vice-chancellor Ravindra Kulkarni.

It is important to note that last year, a city college lecturer had made a complaint of plagiarism against senior Economics professor Neeraj Hatekar. In the absence of an Institutional Academic Integrity Panel (IAIP), the university has formed a new committee to look into the matter.

In yet another violation of the UGC guidelines, not all theses are uploaded on the central repository of Shodhganga. As on date, there are only 214 theses under MU that are uploaded on Shodhganga. “We have started uploading theses on Shodhganga. It will take some time but we will soon upload all the research work,” said an official from the thesis department.

In comparison, other reputed state universities such as Madras University, Anna University, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Benaras Hindu University and Allahabad University, have been using the URKUND or other anti-plagiarism softwares for at least two years now. Most of these universities have special systems allowing one to check any documents for plagiarism.

This is in accordance with the UGC regulations issued in July 2018 on the Promotion of Academic Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism in Higher Educational Institutions. The UGC asked the universities to set up IAIP to promote academic integrity and to develop systems to detect plagiarism.

According to the apex body, any similarity of over 10 per cent in two documents is considered plagiarism or duplication. The regulatory body also laid down penalties for plagiarism — no penalty for similarities up to 10 per cent; revision of script within six months for similarities above 10 per cent to 40 per cent; debarred from submitting a revised script for a period of one year for similarities above 40 per cent to 60 per cent; cancellation of registration for similarities above 60 per cent.

UGC mulls increasing number of autonomous colleges

TNN | Oct 31, 2019, 04.10 AM IST

Coimbatore: The university grants commission (UGC) is planning to increase the number of autonomous colleges in the country, in a bid to give them more academic freedom and to ensure quality of higher education, UGC member G Gopal Reddy said here on Wednesday.

Of the around 49,000 colleges in the country, only 708 are autonomous, Reddy said while speaking on the sidelines of the inaugural session of the two-day national workshop to train teachers for student induction programmes at the Bharathiar University. “Tamil Nadu has 193 autonomous colleges. We are aiming to increase their number to 1,000 across the country. By getting the autonomous status, colleges get academic freedom and can have their own board of studies, conduct exams and declare results. They can frame a portion of the syllabus, but not completely, as the syllabus should have some uniformity with that of the parent university,” he said.

UGC has also changed the modalities of granting autonomous status to colleges. Earlier the body granted the status to colleges only for five years. From last year, it has been granting autonomy for 10 years.

“If colleges that have ‘A’ rating of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) seek autonomous status, we would complete the process in 30 days. Site inspection is not needed for the colleges that have ‘A++’ grading,” Reddy said.

Speaking of NAAC, the official said 25 years ago, when it was first introduced, it was only voluntary for colleges to go for it, but now it has been made mandatory for funding processes. “We are planning to introduce a new scheme where NAAC would identify higher education institutions to act as agencies that would take up the responsibility of getting 100 colleges under them NAAC accredited,” he said.

Of the 49,000 colleges and 9,000 universities, only 12,000 are accredited by NAAC. “NAAC alone cannot accredit all the remaining institutions. So, we will identify institutions to act as agencies to get 100 institutions under them accredited,” Reddy said.

The UGC has given time till July 2020 for higher education institutions to fill up 90% of vacant teaching posts, he added.

Old students grab 70% MBBS seats in Tamil Nadu

TNN | Oct 17, 2019, 05.56 AM IST

In a span of three years, the number of old students joining MBBS in Tamil Nadu has increased from 12% to 70%, after introduction of NEET. If the trend continues, the percentage of old students may touch 90% in the future.

The trend emerged from admission data provided by Directorate of Medical Education. The numbers, obtained through RTI, reveal that around 70% of students joining medical colleges in Tamil Nadu in 2019 were not straight out of school (seniors or repeaters) and had spent a few years preparing for the exam.



Of the 4,202 students who joined MBBS this year in the state, 2,916 were old students. While two students from the 2010 (Class XII) batch joined medical colleges, 2,371 from the 2018 batch have got admitted. Among 2,762 state board students who joined medical colleges, 2,402 students (87%) were repeaters. Of 1,368 CBSE students, 482 (35%) were old students.

In 2016, when admissions were last conducted based on Class XII marks, only 450 repeaters (12%) had joined the MBBS course. The huge number of repeaters joining MBBS courses points to the effect of an ever-growing NEET coaching industry.

According to sources, over 10,000 training centres, both formal and informal, have mushroomed all over the state in last three years, turning ‘NEET coaching’ into a Rs500 crore industry.

“NEET gives an advantage to old students as current students have to prepare both for board exams and common medical entrance,” said Dr GR Ravindranath, general secretary, Doctors Association for Social Equality.

He said the National Testing Agency should fix an upper age limit and cap number of attempts. “The syllabus for NEET also needs to be updated every three years to avoid giving undue advantage to old students,” he said.

At present, there is no limit on the number of attempts a student can make for NEET.

“It is becoming a trend that students need to spend one year extra for coaching to get MBBS seats. It takes time for students to change from board exam mode to competitive exam mode,” said Dr Prasad Manne, secretary, Kilpauk Medical College Alumni Association.

With more number of high scorers, the cutoff for the exam this year has shot up by 80 to 100 marks.

“With repeated practice and learning, a student with 300 marks last year is able to get 500 marks in his second attempt,” said P Swaminathan, secretary, SRV Schools.