NEWS TODAY 22.11.2024

 

NEWS TODAY 20.11.2024

 

Call to save asst. professor from alleged victimisation in Periyar University

Call to save asst. professor from alleged victimisation in Periyar University

Periyar University has placed an agenda to remove the assistant professor from service. File Photo

K. Prem Kumar, also general secretary of PUTA, was placed under suspension on March 5, 2022, for allegedly leaking the agenda of the Syndicate meeting to media

M. Sabari  20.11.2024 

Salem

The Association of University Teachers (AUT) and Periyar University Teachers Association (PUTA) demanded an urgent intervention of the Tamil Nadu Government and Higher Education Department to save an assistant professor from victimisation in Periyar Varsity. The university placed an agenda to remove the assistant professor from service.

K. Prem Kumar, an assistant professor in the history department at Periyar University, and also the general secretary of PUTA, was placed under suspension on March 5, 2022, for allegedly leaking the agenda of the Periyar University Syndicate meeting to the media. Last week, the university circulated the agenda to the Syndicate members for the ensuing meeting on November 22 in which the university has placed an agenda to remove Mr. Prem Kumar from service.

AUT president M.S. Balamurugan said this was a clear vindictive action of the Periyar University administration. The university was continuously violating the rules. Within 24 hours of notice issued to Mr. Prem, he was placed under suspension. After 26 days of his suspension, the university preferred a sexual harassment complaint from a girl student and without following rules, the then registrar (in charge) personally lodged a complaint directly to police and Mr. Prem was arrested.

Later, the university constituted three internal complaints committees (ICC), contrary to the POSH Act and UGC regulations. Not satisfied with these actions, in the 113th Syndicate (held on May 18, 2023), the university placed an agenda to remove Mr. Prem from service and realising the illegality, the administration withdrew that agenda.

Again, in the 114th Syndicate meeting held on November 6, 2023, the agenda was placed by the university, but in a majority decision (10 out of 18), the agenda was rejected, terming that punishment was not proportionate to the charges and it was severe, Mr. Balamurugan added. Demanding urgent intervention in this issue, Mr. Balamurugan said the university again placed the same rejected agenda before the ensuing Syndicate on November 22. So the Tamil Nadu Government and the Higher Education Department should direct the ex-officio members of the Syndicate of Periyar University to act against the illegalities of the university administration and save the assistant professor whose future was in peril, the AUT president added.

PUTA president V. Vaithianathan said that keeping Mr. Prem under suspension for 33 months was illegal. Now, the university was trying to remove him from service. “We demand all the Syndicate members, especially Periyar University Association of Self-Financing Colleges (PASAM), which has four Syndicate members, to place their dissent on this agenda and save the assistant professor from this vindictive action,” Mr. Vaithianathan added.

Responding to the AUT and PUTA’s call, PASAM secretary K. Rajavinayakam said that on November 22, a meeting would be held with the PASAM executive members. “PASAM does not go against the welfare of a teacher. As of now, this is our stand and on November 22 morning, we will take a decision,” Mr. Rajavinayakam added.

Periyar University Vice-Chancellor R. Jagannathan was not available for comments.

Salem teacher faces action for taking part in event honouring EPS

 Salem teacher faces action for taking part in event honouring EPS

The Hindu Bureau

 

Salem 20.11.2024 

The Tamil Nadu Education Department has taken disciplinary action against a teacher for participating in a function to felicitate former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami.

On Sunday, on behalf of various farmers’ associations, a function was held at Mecheri to felicitate Mr. Palaniswami for implementing the 100-lake scheme in the district. At the event, R. Seetharaman, alias Thambaiah, an English teacher at Ariyampatti Panchayat Union Middle School, praised the former Chief Minister on behalf of one of the associations.

The Education Department took disciplinary action against Mr. Seetharaman on Monday.

In a letter to the Director of Elementary Education, the Tharamangalam District Educational Officer (elementary education) A. Raju said his office received complaints against Mr. Seetharaman that he was not reporting regularly for duty at the school, and that he was doing AIADMK party-related work and functioning as the Cauvery Surplus Water Committee president while in government service.

The official added that Mr. Seetharaman was spending time talking on the phone and browsing his laptop during school hours, and not taking classes. An inquiry was conducted at the school on November 14, and Mr. Seetharaman admitted that he was a functionary of a politically affiliated farmers’ association. Based on the inquiry, disciplinary action was taken against him.

Devising a foolproof system to ensure credibility of NEET

Devising a foolproof system to ensure credibility of NEET 

Recommendations suggested by a seven-member committee to reform the exam have met with mixed reviews as experts weigh in on the options to check pilferage and other malpractices 

Rajlakshmi.Ghosh@timesofindia.com 19.11.2024 

Months after it was constituted, a high-level committee, headed by former ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan, has proposed major reforms to the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) in the wake of this year’s paper leaks and exam irregularities. Experts claim the reforms were much needed to bring back the credibility in the examination system while advocating the need for multistage examination process and restricting the number of attempts and exam centres. The seven-member panel that submitted its recommendations on November 1, suggested some key recommendations, which include implementing a hybrid examination model where question papers would be transmitted digitally while students can use OMR sheets for answers. 

This method while strengthening the security will ensure the release of exam questions closer to the start of the exams, thereby reducing the risk of unauthorised access. The committee further proposed adopting a multiple-stage format similar to JEE to manage the large volume of applicants, along with limiting the number of attempts to create a more equitable examination landscape. Presently, candidates are allowed to take the NEET UG exam an unlimited number of times. The proposed change is also expected to motivate candidates to prepare more competently for their attempts. 

Further, to make the examination’s security more foolproof, the panel recommended reducing dependency on outsourced services and private test centres. The panel recommended that NTA should instead incre ase its permanent staff and the number of exam centres under its direct control. Currently, exams are essentially conducted in government-run institutions, with private  centres used only when necessary. A key proposal from the panel involves the development of a ‘Digi Exam’ platform, which draws inspiration from the successful implementation of the Digi Yatra initiative at Indian airports. This platform is expected to leverage biometrics, including facial recognition technology, to facilitate secure candidate identification and authentication. By adopting this approach, the NTA can move towards a more effective and paperless process for registration, exam access, and remote testing. Going digital “The ecosystem should be developed in a phase-wise manner before implementing such measures as not all class XII students are tech-savvy or computer literate. 

These initiatives should ideally be started at the NEET PG level,” says a senior faculty member from a Delhi-NCR medical college, sug gesting further the need to set up high-speed electronic printers at the exam centres to digitally print the question papers and minimise manual intervention. The centres should be owned and manned by NTA’s own employees who are adequately trained to manage the exam process. Further, in a high-stakes exam like NEET UG, a two-stage process, as per the recommendations, will eliminate a large percentage of candidates at the prelims stage, leaving the more serious candidates to compete for the final exam. “This will help improve the quality of candidates enrolling for counselling and college admissions. Additionally, the ratio of the number of seats to students will be reduced. 

But multiple sessions for a single exam much like JEE does not give students a clear picture about the difficulty level of each session, nor are they convinced about the use of normalisation for calculating the scores which may invite controversy the way NEET PG 2024 did,” says the faculty. Highlighting some of the key outcomes of the hybrid mode of exams, Dr Amit Gupta, professor, De partment of Surgery, AIIMS Rishikesh, says, “It will check to some extent pilferage of question papers. At one go, the question papers will be displayed on screens throughout the country. Thereafter, students can write their answers on the OMR sheets if the exam is in pen and paper mode, and online if it is a Computer-Based Test (CBT). A uniform CBT format might be an issue in the remote and rural interiors due to uneven internet access, giving rise to technical glitches.” He further adds that the same hybrid format is used in the OSCE exam (Objective Structured Clinical Examination) by National Board of Examinations (NBE) to assess candidates’ clinical competencies and knowledge of medical procedures in postgraduate examination. 

“The hybrid mode would face some issues like technological failures, insider collusion, or inadequate monitoring of exam conditions, which might persist if not carefully managed. Digitally transmitting question papers should have strong encryption and secure channels,” cautions Dr B Unnikrishnan, dean, Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Manipal Academy of Higher Education. Multistage exam Since the number of candidates appearing for NEET exam far outweigh the number of candidates in any other national-level entrance exam, it would be better to have a multistage exam process, such as a NEET Prelims and NEET Main/Advanced just like JEE, says Dr Gupta, adding it will make the job of NTA easier and eventually lead to the smooth conduct of the examination. 

Moreover, restricting the number of attempts will give all candidates a fair chance to crack the exam considering there is presently no bar on the number of attempts, Dr Gupta says. However, Dr Unnikrishnan reasons that limiting attempts might affect candidates from disadvantaged backgrounds. “Students who have access to better resources, coaching, and preparation might fare better, making it harder for those with fewer opportunities to compete effectively,” he say

Indian students in Nepal get licence to practice

Indian students in Nepal get licence to practice 

Ayushi.Gupta1@timesofindia.com 19.11.2024

After several weeks of tussle, the Nepal Medical Council (NMC) issued an official notification declaring that all international medical students in the country are now eligible to obtain a licence to practice in local hospitals. The announcement comes as welcome news to Indian students planning to pursue medical education in Nepal. 

In April 2023, the NMC had scrapped the licence to practice in Nepal for international students after the completion of MBBS course in the medical colleges. Following this, several Indian medical students had decided against studying in Nepalese medical colleges due to the lack of compliance with India’s Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate (FMGL) Regulations, 2021. With the recent NMC notification, students are relieved and are moving forward with their admissions.

The deadline to submit the course fees and complete the admission process is November 14, 2024. The official notification states, “The Nepal Medical Council (NMC) recognizes undergraduate degrees, including MBBS/BDS and equ ivalent courses with a minimum academic duration of 5.5 years, which includes a mandatory one-year internship. All foreign nationals are eligible to take the licensing examinations according to NMC Regulations. Upon passing the licensing examinations, foreign candidates can obtain a license equivalent to that of Nepalese citizens. This licensing procedure does not require a good standing certificate from the candidate’s home country council.” The notice also mentioned that NMC grants provisional registration to all MBBS/BDS students in Nepal during their internship period. 

According to NMC internship guidelines, students must complete their internship in hospitals affiliated to their respective medical colleges. This provisional registration is at par with that of Nepalese citizens, allowing both Nepali and international students equal opportunities to practise medicine. The Global Medical Society (GMS), an association representing Indian MBBS students in Nepal, expressed appreciation for the recent NMC notice, which has provided reassurance to students from previous MBBS and BDS batches in Nepal.

EWS TODAY 18.11.2024