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College News Archive [August 2003]

ICFAI offers full-time courses in BA, B.Sc, B.Com and BBA

Aug 01, 2003: Hyderabad: The ICFAI National College, a new initiative of ICFAI University is offering full time programmes in BA, B.Sc, B.Com and BBA at Nagarjuna Hills, and also at eight other cities. They are: Guntur, Hyderabad, Kakinada, Nellore, Rajahmundry, Tirupati, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and Raipur of Chattisgarh. The college will be inaugurated tomorrow. The courses are three-year full time campus based programmes with semester system. 18 subjects would be covered in six semesters over three years. The fee charged per semester is Rs 6,000. Candidates who have passed intermediate with 50% and inter final year students who have appeared for exams and awaiting results are eligible. Each batch will accommodate only 30 students after personal interviews.

Medical Counselling in August midweek

Aug 01, 2003: Hyderabad: The counselling process for admissions into government medical colleges is likely to begin in August second week and completed by August 15. The NTR University of health sciences would issue the notification shortly, according to officials. The counselling would commence for 2,975 medical colleges and 1,000 dental seats both in the government and private medical and dental colleges if the government finalises the fee structure and management quota. Otherwise, it would first start the admission process for the 1,475 medical and 80 dental seats in the government colleges based on the rank in the Eamcet, a source said. The government is worried about the Medical Council of India derecognising 270 seats in Government Medical College, Ananthapur; Rangaraya Medical College, Kakinada; Kakatiya Medical College, Warangal; Kurnool Medical College, Kurnool; and SV Medical College Tirupati.

Over 75 engineering colleges face survival crisis in TN

Aug 01, 2003: Chennai: Over 75 self-financing engineering colleges are facing a survival crisis in Tamil Nadu following a steep fall in admissions in the current academic year. And it appears that only a miracle can save 28 of these institutions, most of them hardly year-old, which have managed to attract students only in single digits under the recently concluded centralised admissions conducted by the Anna University. Considering the bleak possibilities of the managements filling up the large-scale vacant seats by the August 23 deadline, the talk in the technical education corridors is already about the fate of the lands and buildings of the colleges. As per the statistics provided by the Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions Secretary P Narayanaswamy, not even one candidate opted for joining the Madhuramangalam based S M Kader Engineering College, which offered 120 seats under the Single Window System. Twenty-Seven colleges have found favour with less than nine aspirants and in nearly 65 other engineering colleges over two-thirds of the seats under the SWS are vacant.

BC students want government to pay engineering fee

Aug 04, 2003: Hyderabad: Hundreds of Backward Caste (BC) students held an agitation demanding the government to pay their engineering course fee and lower the Eamcet cut-off marks by 5%. State BC Student’s union convenor J Srinivas Goud, said the agitation would be intensified if the demands were not met. State BC welfare committee president R Krishnaiah said after the introduction of common fee policy, many BC students were unable to afford engineering education. Not even 20% of the seats were filled because of the fee hike, he said.

Engineering counselling first phase concludes

Aug 04, 2003: Hyderabad: The first phase of the engineering counselling concluded after 17 days with 24,401 students taking admission into various colleges across the state. The counselling began on July 18. 74, students took admissions out of the 286 who registered. Interestingly, not even a single candidate attended for counselling at Visakhapatnam centre. Rankers between 47,001 and 55,000 were called on Sunday. Electronics and Communications Engineering (ECE) topped the list with 5,573 students opting for it and it was followed by the Electrical and Electronics Engineering in which 4,322 students took admission.

They were CSE (5525), MEC (2069), INF (3663), Civil (599), Chemical (408), EIE (678), PHM (320), IPE (304), Bio-Tech (149) and 791 students opted for the rest of the streams. Except the first day when counselling began on a violent note due to the students’ protests against the common fee and abolition of free seat concept, the 17-day affair went on peacefully. Officials made excellent arrangement for the smooth conduct of the counselling. In the second phase of the counselling to start on August 12, admissions would be made into NCC, Sports, Physically Handicapped, Children of Armed Personnel (CAP) and Anglo-Indian categories. Counselling for these categories would be held at the Hyderabad centre only. For further details candidates can check the website – htpp:\\eamcet.dte.gov.in.

TN medical colleges effect phenomenal fee hike

Aug 04, 2003: Chennai: Legal tussles and ambiguous guidelines have created a huge commercial divide in MBBS admissions this year. While students admitted to government colleges have to pay about Rs 5,000 per annum, unaided colleges are demanding anything between Rs 2 Lakhs and Rs 4 lakhs a year. The only minority college included in the single window system in recent years, Vinayaka Mission’s Kirupananda Variyar Medical College in Salem, has prescribed an annual tuition fee of Rs 1.25 lakhs. Together with special fees and payments under other heads, the annual fee works out to Rs 1.95 lakhs. The PSG Medical College in Coimbatore also charges Rs 1.25 lakhs per annum as tuition fees and an annual fee of Rs 1.6 lakhs.

The system of free seats in unaided colleges has been scrapped this academic year, though most colleges have to reserve a portion under government quota. However, students will be charged the same fees as management quota students are, unlike as in the earlier system where free seat students paid significantly less than payment seat candidates. The tuition fees in government colleges is still Rs 4,000 a year, and the total, after including payments under other heads, does not exceed an annual Rs 6,000. The fee structure stipulated by the Government for unaided colleges till now was Rs 10,000 per annum for free seats and Rs. 95,000 a year for payment seats. It also suggested an annual fee of Rs 55,000 for BDS, Rs 22,000 for B. Pharmacy and Rs 25,000 each for B.Sc (Nursing), Bachelor of Physiotherapy and Bachelor of Occasional Therapy.

Management college ties up with US University

Aug 05, 2003: Hyderabad: The Solomon David Memorial College of Management has signed an agreement with the U.S based Troy State University to offer American Degree Transfer Programme in Information Technology and Business Management. The David Memorial Education Society claims that the four year programme allows students to complete the final two years in the U.S University. In case of visa denial for US, the student still has the option for continuing at the Malaysian Campus. The final degree would be from Troy State University.

B. Ed students demand for early examinations

Aug 07, 2003: Hyderabad: Students of B.Ed colleges, who took admission into the second phase of counselling in the newly permitted college, took out a rally in support of their demand that the examination be held along with the batch admitted earlier for the same academic year. Students numbering over 3,000 from 30 colleges took out a rally from Osmania University Arts College and submitted a memorandum to the officials. The students said their classes commenced on May 8 and they attended classes even in summer holidays to make up for the lost time. However, the university had now decided to conduct examination for these students from March 13 next year. Students want the university to consider their summer holidays from May 8 to June 16 as working days since they attended classes.

List of dubious universities released

Aug 07, 2003: Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE) has released a list of universities, which have not been recognised by the University Grants Commission. The degrees, diplomas and certificates issued by them would not be recognised for employment or academic purposes. The fake universities are; Maithili University, Darbhanga, Bihar, Commercial University Ltd, Delhi, Delhi Vishwavidya Peeth, Delhi, United Nations University, Delhi, Vocational University, Delhi, St. John’s University, Kishanattam, Kerala, Raja Arabic University, Nagpur; Kesarwani Vidyapeeth, Jabalpur, DDB Sanskrit University, Trichi, Tamil Nadu. Mahila Gram Vidyapeeth Vishwavidyalaya, Varanasi, Indian Educational Council of UP, Lucknow, Gandhi Hindi Vidyapeeth, Prayag National University of Electro Complex Homeopathy, Kanpur, Netaji Subash Chandra Bose University, Aligarh , Uttar Pradesh Vishwavidyalaya, Mathura, Maharana Pratap Shiksha Niketan Vishwavidyalaya, Pratapgarh (UP) and Bhartiya Shiksha Parishad, Lucknow.

US Consulate seeks more info from students on grades

Aug 07, 2003: Hyderabad: The Online Verification (Olive) project that helps verification of genuineness of educational certificates of students from Andhra Pradesh seeking to study in the United States by the U.S consulate in Chennai, is in for some changes from this year. The US consulate is seeking additional information from universities on the %age of marks scored by students in professional courses and has written letters to all universities in this regard. The format designed earlier for the project had details of student’s name, roll number, father’s name, degree code, specialisation, academic type, graduation month and year and university code. However, from this year the consulate has sought additional information on grades or %age obtained by students. This is being apparently done to expedite the decision making process of the Visa Officer, who generally decides the fate of applicants based on various factors. The Olive Project came into being a few years ago after an agreement between the State Government and the US Consulate to check the growing number of students with fake certificates from State during the software boom. The Olive project is updated every year with details of candidates studying professional courses in the state. The information is compiled by the universities and sent to the Software Technology Park of India (STPI), which consolidates and forwards it to the US consulate.

GO angers Eamcet meritorius students

Aug 08, 2003: Hyderabad: A GO followed for the Eamcet counselling ensuring first preference to the BC students over general students in the third phase is working protest from scores of meritorious students. According to the norm, the second phase counselling is mainly for reserved category students like PH, NCC, CAP, Sports and Games, BC, SC and ST which will be held from August 12 to September 3. Since there are enough chances of sliding by these students after getting better rank in the reserved category, a lot of seats are likely to fall vacant in the open category, as these students were earlier admitted to the open category. The seats falling vacant in either category, according to the practice, should be transferred purely for the open category students on the basis of Eamcet rank. But, according to the GO, students of BC category will be given first priority in filling up these remaining seats, AP State Council of Higher Education admitted.

Notification for medical seat counselling soon

Aug 08, 2003: Hyderabad: The government is planning to issue the notification for counselling for admission into medical colleges in a couple of days, according to health minister K Siva Prasad Rao. He said that the government was in the process of formulating the GO on the matter. The counselling process would be completed by August and classes would begin on schedule. Commenting on the medical counselling on the Medical Council of India’s decision to cut 270 medical seats in some colleges because of lack of infrastructure, the minister said that the government was waiting for the MCI’s reinspection report. The state would regain all the seats, he said.

He also said that the government would fill all vacancies in faculties by promoting the staff in government medical colleges and by recruiting retired person in private colleges. The minister, while reviewing the matter with senior officials, had asked the new director of medical education Sashi Prabha to submit a report on hospitals and medical colleges in the state in one month. The Andhra Pradesh Junior Doctors Association has requested the CM to deal with derecognition of colleges by MCI by fulfilling the requisites rather than blame the MCI.

Engg. institute's first academic session from August 11

Aug 09, 2003: Hyderabad: South Asia International Institute, a member of the Sylvan International Universities Network, is beginning its first academic session from August 11 with 55 students. At present SAII offers courses in electronic engineering, telecommunications engineering and computer science engineering. They had applied to the Union Ministry of Human Resources and the UGC for the registration as deemed university and hope to receive this status soon, said K.A. Padmanabhan, Vice Chancellor. SAII had been allotted 125 acres by the State Government to build their campus at Imarat Nagar, which should be operational by 2005. At present the institute was operating from rented premises. They hoped to have 10,000 students on their rolls by 2010 in diverse disciplines, said Dr. Padmanabhan.

81% pass in Edcet; AU tops list

Aug 11, 2003: Hyderabad: As many as 2,01,845 out of the total 2,48,784 students appeared for EDCET-2003, have qualified the examination with a pass rate of 81.13%. Releasing the result, EDCET chairman and Osmania University Vice Chancellor Prof J Anantha Swamy said that Andhra University had topped the list with 86.16 pass %, followed by Sri Venkateswara University with 83.27 and Osmania University with 79.10 pass %age. Candidates belonging to AU region have bagged first ranks in four subjects. The result is also available on the websites www.resultsaponline-gov.in/edcetresults and www.osmania.ac.in. EDCET convenor Prof VBB Sarma said that rank cards would be despatched soon and all the candidates would receive the same in the next ten days. The actual admission process could be delayed by two/three months since the State Government had to issue a GO on the rules to be followed and the colleges to be taken into account, he said.

Private Colleges act pricey

Aug 11, 2003: Hyderabad: With counselling from the open category Eamcet Convenor seats in engineering colleges being completed, private colleges have started ‘selling’ the management quota seats for higher-than-stipulated sums. They are reportedly demanding lakhs of rupees for each seat in the name of various funds. The demand is said to be in the range of Rs 50,000 to Rs 3 lakh depending on the branch and the college. Engineering colleges in and around the twin cities are charging more than Rs 2 lakh for the Electrical and Electronics Engineering (EEE) course, Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE) and other electronics related branches.

For Mechanical Engineering the asking rate is more than Rs 1 lakh. However, the demand for these seats in engineering colleges located in rural areas is rather thin. A majority of management quota seats are being allotted for less than Rs 75,000. Over 9,786 seats are available under the management quota, both in minority and non-minority engineering colleges. The seats shall be filled by the management keeping them open to all eligible candidates belonging to other states and union territories, besides the non-resident Indians. A senior official conceded that no mechanism is in place to stop the private college managements from charging exorbitant fees from students.

Save B.Ed students' interests, says YSR

Aug 11, 2003: Hyderabad: CLP leader Y S Rajsekhar Reddy demanded that the government take adequate steps to save one academic year for the students who joined B.Ed course offered by newly established colleges during February/March-2003. This batch of students were agitated that they forgo one academic year going by an official announcement that the students of these new colleges would be consideredas a supplementary batch, YSR said. In a letter addressed to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, he said that the government should come to the rescue of these B.Ed students as it gave permission to the 142 new colleges which took admissions despite lack of sufficient days to fulfil NCTC norm of minimum of 180 days for completing an academic year. These students were only asking for treating them on par with others so that their academic year would be saved, YSR said.

Separate entrance test for B.Arch likely

Aug 12, 2003: Hyderabad: The admission mode of Architecture course may go in for a change from next academic year what with the Council of Architecture (COA), a statutory body constituted by the Government of India, issuing fresh guidelines to be followed in the admission of students. As per the guidelines, a separate entrance test has to be conducted for students seeking to study Architecture and it cannot be clubbed with any other entrance like Engineering or Pharmacy. Moreover, a separate counselling has to be conducted. This means the present mode of admission in the State would have to be changed.

Till now, Architecture students have been writing the Eamcet but taking an aptitude test at a larger stage. The School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), JNTU, which offers the course in the State has already recommended to the Government to delink the course from the Eamcet. The guidelines also make it clear that admission made under the minority/management/NRI quota without the aptitude test would not be valid. Moreover, the regulations do not provide for lateral admission to any other stage of the 5-year course as is being done with the Engineering course where Polytechnic students get a lateral entry into the B.Tech course.

B.Tech admissions begin for special category students

Aug 13, 2003: Hyderabad: Of the 24,800 seats for engineering courses in the open category, 24,713 seats have been filled, while the admission for special category Eamcet seats began on Tuesday. The admissions for engineering courses for the physically-challenged was held on Tuesday, while admissions for other special categories, including children of defence personnel, NCC and sports quota will be held till August 18, according Technical education deputy director P T Prabhakar. Following that, admissions for the reserved category of seats, including Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Castes will be held till September 3, according to AP State Council of Higher Education officials. Of the 64,000 engineering seats in the 223 engineering colleges across the state, about 54,000 seats will be filled by the convenor of Eamcet admissions. The seats left over in the various categories will be filled in the final phase of admissions, which will be held in the middle of September.

'Mee Kosam’ for students, women

Aug 14, 2003: The State Government will launch a novel TV programme “Mee Kosam” on August 18th through DD-8 Saptagiri channel to impart lesions to seventh and SSC students. Apart from students, the programme will focus on women and youth empowerment too. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu will inaugurate the four-hour programme on Independence day but it will start on a regular basis from August 18.

The Programme will be as follows: 09:30 AM to 10:00 AM, news about the State Government; 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, class room session for seventh standard students; 11:00 AM to 12:20 PM, class room session for SSC students; 12:20 PM to 12:55 PM, for women and 12:55 to 01:30 PM for youth.

Confusion over admissions to medical colleges in State

Aug 14, 2003: Utter confusion is prevailing at all levels including the government as to when the counselling could being for admission to medical colleges. This is the result of the Union Health Ministry saying ‘No’ to restoration of 270 seats in the government medical colleges that were de-recognised by the Medical Council of India (MCI) for lacking the required infrastructure. The MCI also refused to grant permission to three private medical colleges (Kuppam, Eluru and Karimnagar) unless the State Government plugged all deficiencies. Following these setbacks, Medical and Health Minister K. Sivaprasada Rao today held a meeting with the principals of all the government colleges and superintendents of the government teaching hospitals for initiating measures to ensure that the colleges conform to the norms of the MCI.

As the main objection raised by the MCI related to inadequate number of professors in the colleges, Sivaprasada Rao issued instructions that as many as 50 assistant professors be promoted and the vacancies thus created filled with competent doctors on contract basis. “As other requirements like class rooms, laboratory staff, conference halls are minor issued, the Centre would restore the seats if the teaching faculty is strengthened,” and official of the Medical and Health Department told TNIE. Armed with the list of measures the State has initiated to make the colleges conform to the MCI norms. Medical and Health Principal Secretary Chaya Ratan would leave for to meet the officials of Union Health Ministry. According to Sivaprasada Rao, his department was keen on clearing the way for counselling and admissions for both the government and private colleges as early as possible.

New rules for minority colleges soon

Aug 16, 2003: Hyderabad: The government will come out with a new set of guidelines before January for both the admission process and fee structure to be followed by the unaided minority and non-minority professional colleges in the state in the light of the Supreme Court’s latest judgement on capitation fee. From next year onwards, the unaided professional colleges should admit students based either on the common entrance test conducted by the government or a joint entrance examination conducted by an association of all the colleges. The option of choosing, between either of these tests must be exercised before issuing of prospectus and duly intimating to the authorities concerned.

Moreover, the answer scripts of the entrance test must be preserved for a few years to check for any irregularities. If it is found that any student has been admitted on considerations other then merit, the penalty could be imposed on the institute and in appropriate cases, recognition or affiliation may also be withdrawn. If any professional college chooses not to recognise the common entrance test conducted by the association of minority and non-minority professional colleges, then the college must necessarily admit students qualified in the common entrance test conducted by the government. The government had decided to come out with new rules as several minority colleges made admissions flouting the rues of the state government.

Panel to fix fee structure

Aug 16, 2003: Hyderabad: The government will set up a committee to decide on the fee structure various unaided minority and non-minority professional colleges, in the light of the Supreme Court’s verdict on the admissions into professional courses. The committee will finalise the fee pattern. The secretary of the state in charge of medical or technical education will also be a member and as secretary of the committee. The committee will be free to nominate or co-opt an independent person of repute in the field of education as well as one of the vice-chancellors of the universities so that the total number of persons on the committee do not exceed five.

The panel will fix the fee structure for each institute based on the infrastructure and facilities available, the investment made, salaries paid to the teachers and staff, future plans for expansion of the institutes besides other factors. Before that, the college managements had to submit the proposed fee structure with all the relevant documents and books of accounts to the committee for scrutiny. However, if any institution which has been established and been following its own admission procedure for the last 25 years will be permitted to apply for exemption from admitting students based on the new pattern. Further, if the institution feels that any particular student may leave in midterm, and then the student will have to give a bond or bank guarantee that the fee for the entire course would be paid.

Detention System relaxed in AU

Aug 18, 2003: The detention system introduced in Andhra University has been relaxed by the Standing Committee of the Academic Senate. According to an AU release here today, as per the proceedings of the Standing Committee, a student would be allowed to pursue the next year’s course provided he or she passes at least 50 % of the papers in course concerned. For purpose of calculation, theory and practical examinations would treated as separate subjects was odd in number, the benefit would be given to the student. Students of the distance mode of education have been exempted from detention system, according to the release.

New admission procedure likely to be finalised today

Aug 18, 2003: The State Government is likely to come out with its official view on the new admission procedure to professional courses on Monday, in view of the latest Supreme Court judgement on capitation fee. According to sources, the broad view that emerged was that the new guidelines would affect medicine and B.Ed admissions since the admission procedure for both the courses has not yet started and even the Government has not come out with the concerned G.O. But the officials want to be clear on the fee to be charged by private managements for medicine and B.Ed courses if freedom is given to them. To what extent the freedom has to be given without meddling with the judgement would be discussed.

However, engineering admissions and admissions to MBA and MCA courses are not likely to be affected given the judgement’s leverage that the present position may be continued for the current academic year if the admission procedure has already begun. Admissions to engineering courses are halfway through with 24,000 odd students already admitted. With regard to MBA and MCA courses, Sri Krishnadevaraya University and Nagarjuna University have finalised their admissions and Kakatiya University is yet to begin the admission to its colleges.

BRAOU degree exam schedule

Aug 19, 2003: Hyderabad: Dr BR Ambedkar Open University has announced the dates for degree (BA/B.Com/B.Sc) I, II and III year supplementary second spell examinations. The first year examinations will be held from December 15 to December 18. The university will conduct the second year examinations from December 5 to 10, all failed students and candidates with backlog subjects can apply for the examinations in the new ICR/OMR form available at the varsity study centres. The forms are also available from the Controller of Examinations at the University headquarters. The last date for submission of filled in application forms is September 20. BRAOU announced the results of the first year degree (BA/B.Com/B.Sc) examinations held in June. The memorandum of marks will be sent to the residential address of students soon. The results will be available at the university website: www.braou.ac.in.

Medical, dental colleges to reduce free seat fees

Aug 19, 2003: Hyderabad: The Supreme Court’s verdict fixing the management quota at 50% in all unaided professional colleges is expected to result in decrease of fees for MBBS and BDS seats under the Eamcet convenor’s quota in the State. As per apex court has enhanced the management quota in private unaided professional educational institutions from 25 to 50%, the private medical colleges have agreed to reduce their fee for MBBS course under the free seats from Rs 55,000 to Rs 45,000 per annum. In case of the dental courses the reduction will be Rs 45,000 to Rs 40,000 or Rs 35,000 per annum. The managements also offered to revise the fee structure for the management quota, which will be filled with the basic qualification from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 4 lakh per annum. It was decided that there should not be any change in the admissions to engineering, MBA, MCA and law courses, the process of which has already commenced for their academic year.

MDS Admissions postponed and EAMCET admissions touch 25, 623

Aug 20, 2003: Hyderabad: Selections for admissions to the MDS course for 2003-04 scheduled to be held on August 20 at the NTR University of Health Sciences have been postponed, a press release issued by the registrar said. The release said the postponement was to seek clarifications from the Government on the implementation of today’s High Court orders. The nest date of selections would be notified later.

A total of 25,623 seats, including 675 on Tuesday, were filled during the ongoing EMACET-2003 admissions. The number of candidates registered centre-wise on Tuesday are, Hyderabad-355, Warangal-152, Guntur-106, Visakhapatnam-54 and Tirupathi-108, according to a press release.

Minority College pre-empt OU admission schedule

Aug 20, 2003: Hyderabad: Several minority educational institutions are claiming affiliation to Osmania University even before the latter has even inspected their facilities to assess their suitability for such status. Moreover they have already issued notifications in newspapers inviting applications for seats in MBA and MCA courses even before the university has published its admission schedule. The university issues the admission schedule only after the renewal of affiliation of colleges. The mandatory inspection process has just begun but several colleges are claiming affiliation and steaming ahead with their admissions. Curiously, students who come forward to apply are not being given application forms but are being offered seats for a hefty fee. The institutions that have issued newspaper notifications ahead of Osmania University’s admission schedule include Muffakham Joh College of Engineering and Technology (MCA), Sultan-ul-Uloom College of Business Administration (MBA) both located at Banjara Hills, Shadan Institute of Computer Studies (MCA) and Shadan Institute of Management Studies (MBA) located at Khairatabad, Anwar-ul-Uloom College of Business Management (MBA), Mallepally, Global Education Centre (MBA), Residency College (MCA) located at Banjara Hills, and Nizam Institute of Engineering and Technology.

The university authorities have advised students to approach the colleges for admission only after the announcement of the schedule. The university has not issued the schedule yet.

Privatisation of Aliya, Mahboobia opposed

Aug 20, 2003: Hyderabad: Members of the All India Democratic Students Organisation (AIDSO) and All India Mahila Samskrutika Sangham (AIMSS) have demanded that the government withdraw a proposal to hand Aliya and Mahboobia educational institutions over to non-governmental groups. In the name of creating centres of excellence, the government wants to hand over these 150 year old educational institutions to outsiders, with the school education commissioner and the secretary of the Board of Intermediate Education playing a mediatory role.

Though the government had neglected such institutions, Aliya and Mahboobia institutions with the available infrastructural facilities are providing education to thousands of poor students. Instead of shirking its responsibility, the government should take steps to provide all facilities to improve the standards of education, AIMSS city secretary D. Swaroopa Rani said.

BRAOU extends last date for MBA application forms

Aug 21, 2003: Hyderabad: The last date for issue and submission of MBA application forms of Dr. B.R.Ambedkar Open University for academic year 2003-04 has been extended form August 20 to September 5, according to a university press release. The MBA programme is offered through Anantapur, Cuddapah, Karimnagar, Kurnool, Mahaboobnagar, Nizamabad, Rajamundry, Tirupati, Vijaywada, Visakhapatnam and Warangal, apart from colleges in the twin cities.

The application forms can be obtained from the university headquarters on Road No.46, Jubilee hills or from the specified study centres between 11:00 AM and 05:00 PM on all working days through a DD for Rs 200 drawn in favour of “Registrar, BRAOU,” payable at Hyderabad.

Kerala to study college fee issue afresh

Aug 21, 2003: Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Cabinet today decided to reconstitute its sub-committee on self-financing college admissions and fee structure with the mandate to hold detailed discussions with all concerned on the fee structure. In place of the earlier three member panel, the sub committee now has the Ministers for Education, Law, Cooperation and Health as members with the Education Minister as its convener. The reconstitution of the sub-committee seems to suggest that the proposals drawn up by the earlier sub-committee did not find favour with the Cabinet. Briefing presspersons after the Cabinet meeting, the Chief Minister, A.K. Anthony, said the Cabinet would take a final decision before September and admission would be completed by September-end he said.

Mr. Anthony refused to comment on the UDF convener, Oommen Chandy’s reported statement that the fees to be levied by the private self-financing colleges and Government colleges could not be the same and made it known that he would rather allow the Cabinet sub-committee to arrive at an appropriate decision. He said the Cabinet had decided to go by the Supreme Court verdict on the 50:50 ratio in admissions to merit and management quota seats in self-financing colleges. The directive of the apex court would be applicable from this year and the Commissionerate of Entrance Examinations would be told to prepare the rank-list and start steps for counseling. The merit quota list would also be prepared and passed on to the private self-financing college managements, he said. Asked whether the Government would go in for a common entrance test to prepare a rank-list applicable to both the Government-run and private self-financing colleges, Mr. Anthony said the Government would go by the Supreme Court directive. He said the Government had not decided in favour of or against going in for a Supreme Court directives. The Supreme Court had give sweeping powers to the Government in all these matters and it proposed to enlist the cooperation of everyone while exercising its powers, he said.

Punjab University students on a fix

Aug 21, 2003: Lack of coordination between the Punjabi University, Patiala , and its study centre in the city has left hundreds of students in the lurch. Students who have joined the university’s distance education courses in M.Tech (software) are a worried lot as the university is yet to dispatch study material thought he examinations are scheduled fro September. The university allegedly collected lakhs of rupees as tuition fee and examination fee but has not sent the study material so far. The authorities are not even responding to letters and mails sent by students regarding their admission.

Decks cleared for MBBS, BDS counselling

Aug 22, 2003: Hyderabad: Decks have been cleared for starting the much-delayed counselling for admission to MBBS and BDS courses following the Centre’s decision to recognise 270 medical seats in five Government medical colleges in Andhra Pradesh. The GO will also lay down the management quota, an issue that came up for close scrutiny by the Supreme Court recently, the fee structure in Government and private colleges and the dates for staring the new academic year. Although there has been no official communication so far regarding the quota, the seats in private colleges will be divided in the ratio of 50:50 between merit and management quota. Within the management quota, half the seats will be allotted on the basis of EAMCET ranks but the fees will be considerably higher than that charges for merit students.

Once this order is issued, the NTR University will immediately notify the dates for the counselling taking care to give enough time to EAMCET rank holders to submit applications for admission. As a now, 1450 MBBS and 80 BDS seats in ten medical and two dental colleges in Hyderabad and Vijayawada are up for grabs. There are 200 medical seats in Osmania, 150 each in Andhra, Guntur, Gandhi, Rangaraya, Sri Venkateswara, Kakatiya and Kurnool, 100 each in Siddhartha and Government Medical College, Anantapur. However, there is no word yet with the Government about the MCI’s verdict on its earlier decision derecognising three private colleges at Kuppam, Karimnagar and Eluru. This is unlikely to have a bearing on the counselling schedule since the admission process for private colleges will be taken up only after completion of the process in Government colleges.

Notification soon to fill medical seats - Centre restores 270 seats in five Government colleges

Aug 22, 2003: Hyderabad: With the Centre restoring all the 270 seats in five Government medical colleges de-recognised by the Medical Council of India (MCI), the State Government is likely to issue an order shortly notifying the number of seats in all the Government medical and dental colleges. The Union Health Ministry informed the State Government yesterday about the restoration of the seats after it was convinced by the measures taken by the State to plug deficiencies in the five colleges. The (MCI) de-recognised all the 150 seats in Anantapur Medical College, 30 in Kurnool Medical College, 50 in SV Medical College, Tirupati, 50 in Rangaraya Medical College, Kakinada and 40 in Kakatiya Medical College, Warangal.

The much delayed counselling for medical students would be held by the NTR University of Health Sciences after the Government notifies the final number of seats available in all the colleges, according to sources in the Medical and Health Department. The following break up of the final strength of 1450 seats (medical) and 80 seats (dental): Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam: 150, Guntur Medical College, Guntur: 150, Siddartha Medical College, Vijayawada: 100 Osmania Medical College, Hyderabad: 200 Gandhi Medical College, Hyderabad: 150 Rangaraya Medical College, Kakinada: 150, SV Medical College, Tirupati: 150, Anantapur Medical College: 150, Kakatiya Medical College, Warangal: 150 Kurnool Medical College: 150, Government Dental College, Hyderabad: 40 and Government Dental College, Vijayawada: 40.

OU heritage site to get facelift - American Express Grant for Koti Women’s College

Aug 22, 2003: Hyderabad: American Express, a global financial services company, has granted $1 lakh to fund renovation of Koti Women’s College of Osmania University, a heritage building listed on the World Monuments Fund’s 2002 list of 100 most endangered sites. The grant was made through the World Monuments Watch programme of the New York-based WMF, and the announcement came at a meeting attended by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu in Delhi on Thursday. “I am delighted at the grant. This is another fine example of cooperation between the corporate sector and society,” exulted Naidu. The grant was accepted by Women’s College Principal Dr. P Pramada Devi on behalf of the college.

The Women’s college building was built in 1806 by the then British Resident James Kirkpatrick. Built in European architectural style, the building, recognised as a heritage site by the government, has a marvellous Durbur Hall. “The attempt is to completely renovate and reconstruct its original glory,” said a conservation architect actively associated with the project. A lot of effort must go into renovation, since the heritage structure has been affected by its location in a busy commercial area. Heavy traffic and the resulting vibrations have also has an effect on the building. American Express country manager K L Muralidhar felt the grant would not only support launch of a conservation programme, but also draw police attention to the critical issue. World Monuments Fund president Bonnie Burnham said he was delighted to hear about the beginning of the process of preserving the heritage structure.

UK schools open Indian chapter

Aug 22, 2003: London: Top British schools such as Harrow and Dulwich are likely to set up branches in India and other countries in Asia as part of globalisation of British education.British universities scouring India and other countries for high fee paying students is no longer news, but now private British schools are set to tread the same path to generate revenue. Some of the most historic names in British education are cropping up across the Far East as public schools begin to tap the vast and lucrative markets of Asia. In September, Shrewsbury School, alma mater to scientist Charles Darwin, will open its first international branch in Bangkok. In July, Dulwich College started work on a new Chinese franchise in Shanghai, adding to its branch on Phuket, in southern Thailand. It may also open shop in India. Harrow, whose onetime pupils include former Prime ministers Winston Churchill and Jawaharlal Nehru, has a franchise in Bangkok.

Day pupils at Dulwich College International in Shanghai will have to pay about £3,000 a term — roughly the same as their peers in south London. Under Chinese law, only expatriate British, Taiwanese and Hong Kong citizens can enrol, but the school says it hopes the restrictions will be lifted soon. According to Jeremy Goulding, the head teacher of Shrewsbury school, Shrewsbury International in Bangkok will provide a full English curriculum for 600 boys and girls aged three to 18. English-speaking teachers, mostly from Britain, Australia and New Zealand, will be employed. Dulwich College, where authors Raymond Chandler and PG Wodehouse were pupils, already runs a successful international school in Phuket. The nursery department of its Shanghai franchise will open next month, the full school a year later. Students from the Pacific Rim are flooding into fee-paying schools and universities in Britain. Reports here say that many in Asia regard British education as offering tradition and status combined with a more liberal, humanistic approach than their own schools. Asia is already a significant source of students for Britain’s universities and private schools. Data shows that foreign student numbers in Britain are rising, making up over 10% of students. A report from Universities UK, which represents vice-chancellors and principals, estimated that off-campus expenditure of overseas students in 1999-2000 was £1.3bn. Graham Able, head teacher of Dulwich, says there are three main reasons behind the overseas expansion. “It gives us an international dimension, allowing pupil and staff exchanges; it raises our profile abroad; and the income from the franchise fee paid to us goes towards providing bursaries here.”

Centurion Bank plan to source cash: Hearing Sep. 6

Aug 23, 2003: Mumbai: Centurion Bank's proposal to bring in additional capital by roping in the Sabre Capital-led investor consortium would be taken up by the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court on September 6. The hearing was slated for today, but no arguments were taken up. The proposal needs legal clearance, before the plan to infuse capital into the bank, can be implemented. At a shareholders meeting held in Goa on June 14, shareholders approved the scheme of amalgamation of Bank Muscat’s single branch Bangalore operations with Centurion and infusion of additional capital. The chairman’s report on the meeting has been filed with the Goa bench. After getting the approvals, Rs 154 crore in fresh capital will flow into the bank over the next few months.

Engineering classes to start from Sept. 8

Aug 23, 2003: Hyderabad: Counselling for admission to engineering courses in various engineering colleges will be completed by Sept. 5 and classes will being on Sept. 8. Counselling for admission to the Schedule Castes and Backward Caste categories was held on Thursday and 186 seats were filled. As of Thursday, of the Eamcet convener, 26, 185 were filled. The rest of the seats will be filled before Sept. 15, technical education deputy director P T Prabhakar told The Times of India. The fee structure would remain the same – Rs.22,000 – as set by the AP State Council of Higher Education

For next year’s admissions, as per the Supreme Court directions, two committees will be appointed by the Government – one to decide the fee structure and the other to supervise the quota seats. The committee headed by a retired judge will be appointed by March 31 and the other committee members will include technical education secretary and vice-chancellor of a university among others.

Grant for College

Aug 23, 2003: Hyderabad: American Express on Wednesday granted $100,000 to fund restoration of the Osmania University Women’s College. A cheque was handed over by senior bank officials at a programme attended by Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu at Andhra Bhavan in New Delhi. The grant was made through the World Monuments Watch programme of the New York-based World Monuments Forum. The Women’s College of OU is counted among the world’s 100 most endangered monuments by the WMF. A press release said. The Chief Minister said it was an example of co-operation between the corporate sector and society.

Karnataka govt, colleges reach 75:25 agreement

Aug 23, 2003: Bangalore: Private college management in Karnataka on Friday agreed to leave 75 % of the seats to the government and retain 25 % with them for admission to professional courses for the academic year 2003-04. This decision is likely to bring much needed relief to students who have applied at colleges in the state. The managements agreed for the 75:25 seat sharing arrangement at a meeting called by Chief Minister S M Krishna to find a solution after the Supreme Court verdict fixing the 50:50 formula. The counselling process for professional courses was nearing completion when it had to be suspended due to the Supreme Court judgement.

Implementing the recent apex court from this academic year would have meant initiating the entire process afresh. Counselling would now resume on Monday only for the seats for which the exercise was incomplete. Higher education minister G Parameshwara said the solution would hold good only for 2003-2004 and stressed that with the decision to retain the seat sharing arrangement worked out before the apex court judgement, interests of students had been protected. Before the Supreme Court verdict, state government had hammered out a 75:25 seat-sharing formula and gone ahead with the counselling process, which was upheld by the state high court along with the fee structure worked out by it. Managements of unaided colleges had however locked horns with the government and moved the apex court which clarified ambiguities in its earlier order and fixed 50 % quota each for managements and government.

Panel on ST welfare visits ANGRAU

Aug 25, 2003: Hyderabad: The State Legislative Assembly’s House Committee headed by D.S. Reddy Naik, on Scheduled Tribes welfare visited the Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU) and reviewed the implementation of rule of reservation for ST’s in the university. Mr. Naik asked the university authorities to implement the 7.5% reservation for ST’s and fill the backlog vacancies every year. On behalf of the university, S. Raghuvardhan, Registrar, and M.V. Subba Rao, Dean Veterinary Science, brought to the notice of the committee members, the problems faced in the recruitment of ST candidates.

UNDP meet to focus on technology in education

Aug 25, 2003: Hyderabad: In the light of the rapid technological advances witnessed across the globe, the United Nations Development programme is proposing a first-of-its kind round table conference for Asian countries on the use of Information, Communication and Technology in education. The conference was aimed at evolving ways to improve the education system that is “surrounded with a sea of mediocrity and low performance” in the Asian context and being organised by the UNDP’s Asia Pacific Development Information Programme. Outlining some key issues faced by Asian countries, the UNDP said that one of the objectives of the round table is to provide a platform for countries to learn about educational resources available and affordable besides forging alliances to start building and sharing educational resources. The main aim is to explore possibilities of an ongoing mechanism such as Strategic Education Research Partnership Asia, seeking to forge a new kind of partnership among researchers, practitioners and policy makers to generate collaborative work that will in turn develop new capabilities among them.

Uniform fee fixed for B.Ed

Aug 25, 2003: Hyderabad: The private B.Ed college managements association has asked the government to fill up all the seats in 250 colleges by fixing a uniform fee of Rs 50,000 for each seat. Association president P Papa Rao said that the convener could fill up all the seats without leaving a single one to the management quota by fixing Rs 50,000 fee for each seat. The management had invested huge amounts of money in starting the colleges of education and hence the government should fix a reasonably high fee to deliver quality education, he said.

SVU suspends 15 PG students for ragging juniors

Aug 26, 2003: Tirupati: In a swift action, Sri Venkateswara University suspended as many as 15 post-graduate students from the university hostels for allegedly ill-treating fresh students in the name of ragging. On he complaint of the students, the university ordered a probe and based on the preliminary report placed under suspension 15 students of III semester post-graduate courses. The university has also directed the concerned heads of department to conduct surprise visits of all the hostels to avoid the incidents of ragging. Meanwhile the situation was continued to be a matter of concern in the Veterinary College of the Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University. The life of fresh students has became miserable ever since the classes commenced on August 10th. Even the girl students were not spared by the seniors. A senior member of the college complained that there was no supervision on the hostels and the juniors were left in the lurch.

V-Cs asked to formulate guidelines for admissions

Aug 26, 2003: Hyderabad: Vice-Chancellors of all the Universities have been asked to come up with their views on the recent judgement of the Supreme Court regarding admissions and administration of private professional colleges. Discussion regarding this came up at the Vice-Chancellors meeting held. The universities were asked to formulate guidelines for admissions next year keeping in view the Apex Court judgement. To what extent the judgement would affect the control of universities on the colleges and the implications on academic and administrative affairs were also discussed. V. Jayarami Reddy, Secretary, A.P. State Council of Higher Education said that the meeting also discussed the shifting of colleges from rural areas to urban areas. A view emerged that such proposals should be dismissed as rural areas would stand to lose and the aim of the government to take higher education to rural areas would be defeated. It was also decided to form guidelines regarding shifting of colleges and change of ownership.

IIT-Roorkee signs MoU with Canadian varsity

Aug 27, 2003: Dehradun: IIT Roorkee has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Waterloo (Canada) for a technical education and training exchange programme. Under the agreement, IIT students would visit Canada to receive advance training in technical education and students of Canadian varsity would visit Roorkee to conduct research in various fields, an IIT official said.

Indian teachers go global

Aug 27, 2003: New Delhi: The focus of Indian immigration has shifted in recent times from Indian entrepreneurs to teachers who have joined the gallery of India's 'global citizens'.India has always been a popular destination for recruiters wanting to hire teachers, as the latter are known for their internationally transferable skills. Experts say Indian teachers who have educational advantage over other Common wealth countries in subjects like English, Science and Mathematics, have huge potential to tap new avenues in the field of teaching globally. The dearth of educators in UK and US are helping to create a growing global market for teachers. In Britain there are as many as 7000 vacancies according to government officials and the National Union of Teachers predicts the figure to go up to as many as 40, 000. Also the salaries for teachers in UK are the biggest draw.

An Indian teacher in Britain will start at £17,000 a year with a potential to draw as much as £27,000 once he or she has qualified in the UK, and or worked for a number of years. The only glitch is that the Local Education Authorities (LEAs) do not recognise Indian qualifications. Hence, even if an aspirant has a Ph.D. and ten years of work experience, they have to begin from the scratch. In India, having worked in the United States is very prestigious. As a superpower and the world’s largest economy, America looks like the Promised Land to middle-class Indians who see the US beamed down to them on satellite TV.

B.Ed fee structure may not be disturbed

Aug 28, 2003: Hyderabad: The State Government is likely to go ahead with the existing system of admission and fee structure for the B.Ed course this year already. A meeting of Senior Officials said to favour the present system of 85% seats allotted by the Convenor and 15% management quota with the fee for the Convenor quota at Rs 10,800. The meeting also discussed the demand of the private B.Ed college managements that the fee is fixed at Rs 50,000 with the convenor himself filling all the seats or give 50% seats to management enhancing the fee for the convenor quota. However, the officials are said to have showed some interest in the second offer of giving 50% to managements with the fee being fixed anything between Rs 15,000 and Rs 18,000. The Government would take final decision after taking in considerations the views of the managements.

Colleges likely to get off to a late start in Karnataka

Aug 29, 2003: Bangalore: Despite the private managements of Karnataka’s professional colleges and the state government agreeing to the high court-decided 75:25 seat sharing and fee structure for ’04, academic year is likely to be delayed by at least a week or two. The minister said the state’s law department and legal experts are examining the modalities of implementing the court’s earlier interim order instead of abiding by the Supreme Court’s ruling on 50:50 seat sharing and framing a new fee structure. This is because the seat counselling process is already underway. The seat counselling based on 75:25 formula had been almost completed by the CET cell for medical and dental courses for all categories, including non-Karnataka students. As far as engineering courses, counselling for non-Karnataka students was pending and will be resumed soon. Students shall be strictly in accordance with merit, making it clear that the CET cell will continue to be in operation in the coming years too to fill up the seats for the government quota if the private managements opted to have their own entrance tests for their quota.

India fights to protect education market

Aug 29, 2003: New Delhi: India is having to fight off pressure from world trade majors such as the US, the European Union, Australia, Canada and New Zealand to keep education out of the current round of WTO negotiations on opening up trade in services. Indian educational institutions do attract some foreign students and also have a certain potential to supply educational services to foreign markets, particularly of developing and neighbouring countries. But India has decided to guard its turf rather than try and pry open markets in educational services. Although technically WTO negotiations are mandated to cover the entire range of educational services, from primary education to higher education, public educational services or those services provided by the government are practically out of these talks now. This is because there has been a worldwide hue and cry highlighting the peril of free trade in public services.

Even countries like the US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, where education services are already big business, have moderated their postures and are now confining themselves to negotiating the opening up of only private sector education services. The requests these countries have made to India in education negotiations include: Establish a transparent mechanism, including an appeal process, for accreditation of courses provided by foreign educational service providers, provide full market access in services such as distance education, e-learning and virtual educational institutions in higher education, adult education and "other educational services". These services are supposed to be delivered through what is called the "Mode-1" in WTO jargon, meaning cross-border supply just as in the case of goods: Treat foreign suppliers of these education services on a par with domestic suppliers. In other words, provide foreign suppliers "national treatment".

Medical colleges face huge fines for late admissions

Aug 29, 2003: Hyderabad: In a major setback to students in the state, the Medical Council of India (MCI) has reportedly asked the government not to hold counselling for 270 medical seats in the five government colleges. The MCI has told the government to conduct counselling until anomalies like faculty and other aspects are addressed. Further, it has not yet conducted inspection of six private colleges, as a result the fate of 700 medical seats hangs fire. The council had, earlier, derecognised 270 medical seats in the five colleges stating they had admitted students without the Centre’s permission.

The Union Health Ministry, however later restored recognition to the seats for the current academic year, but has not given recognition to these seats for the year 2002-03.Medical colleges in the state will have to shell out huge fines to the Medical Council of India (MCI) if they do not complete admissions before September 30. The directorate of medical education, New Delhi has ordered health secretaries to complete admissions by September 30. The MCI has warned the colleges to stick to the deadline or else pay a fine of Rs 50,000 per student. It will also bar defaulting colleges for a year from making applications to the Centre. As the admissions process takes a lot of time, none of the state’s colleges would be able to complete admissions before September 30.

Osmania slips on admission notices

Aug 30, 2003: Hyderabad: Meritorious students may lose out on the Osmania University’s quota of 30% of MBA and MCA vacancies in the minority institutions, as they still have not been informed about the availability of seats. Following a 2002 Supreme Court judgement, the government issued an order on July 5th that minority colleges can fill 55% of the seats with minority students on a merit basis and another 15% under the NRI and management quota. The remaining 30% should be filled by the university only on merit, it ordered. The problem began when Osmania University issued a notification on June 26th inviting applications for MBA and MCA courses under its jurisdiction, based on the government’s earlier guidelines.

The new guidelines came out on July 5th, so Osmania University’s notification did not have information about the availability of 30% of seats in minority institutions. Nearly two months later, the university still has not issued fresh orders. As per the July 26 notification, the last date for applying for the MBA and MCA seats, with fine, was July 24. A month later, the Osmania University has still not extended this deadline to account for its quota of MBA and MCA seats in minority institutions. Many candidates did not apply under this quota, as they were not informed about it. If a new notification is not issued before the university publishes its admission schedule for minority colleges, managements will get an opportunity to fill them on their own.

Students fear government will not meet MCI deadline

Aug 30, 2003: Hyderabad: Students in the city are on tenterhooks, as counselling for admission in the medical and dental colleges has not been completed even three months after the start of the academic year. The September 30 deadline set by the MCI for completion of admissions has caused further consternation. They are of the opinion that even if the government begins counselling now, it will not be able to meet the deadline. The directorate of medical education, New Delhi recently ordered all health secretaries to complete admissions before the stipulated time. If any of the colleges fail to do so, the institution will have to pay Rs 50,000 for each admission. The latest directive of the Medical council of India – putting a bar on the government to conduct counselling for 270 seats in five government colleges – has further aggravated the agony of over 30,000 aspirants in the state. The delay is also causing anxiety on the financial front for the several students, as they debate whether they will get a seat in the government or private medical colleges.

 
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