Alicia Ashton

Thursday, March 26, 2020

UNICEF scales up to support in 145 countries to battle COVID-19

As schools get closed due to COVID-19 and disrupt the education, UNICEF on Thursday announced that it will significantly scale up the support in all the countries to help children continue their education.To continue the education, UNICEF has allocated additional funding to 145 low and middle-income countries, a statement from UNICEF or United Nations Children’s Fund said.“Schools in the majority of countries worldwide have closed. It is an unprecedented situation and unless we collectively act now to protect children’s education, societies and economies will feel the burden long after we’ve beaten COVID-19. In the most vulnerable communities, the impact will span generations,” said Robert Jenkins, UNICEF Global Chief of Education.“Based on lessons learned with the school closures in response to Ebola, the longer children stay away from school, the less likely they are to ever return. Giving children alternative ways to learn and also by doing so, rebuild a routine is a critical part of our response,” said Mr Jenkins added.The initiative will enable countries to prepare for alternative learning programs. The funds will also help support children’s mental health during the time of crisis.UNICEF will now work with the partner countries to: Support the government’s crisis response plans which will include technical assistance, rapid risk analysis, data collection, and planning for the reopening of schools.Support and planning of safe school operation and risk communication including translating, printing, disseminating and implementing safe school guidelines; equipping schools with hygiene packages and circulating critical information on disease prevention; and training teachers and caregivers in psychosocial and mental health support for themselves and studentsEnsure continuity of learning and access to remote learningEnhance the capacity building for the current response and future pandemics.

Source: https://www.brainbuxa.com/education-news/unicef-scales-up-to-support-in-145-countries-to-battle-covid-19-10227

National Book Trust offers a free download of the books during the lockdown

To keep people engage during the lockdown, the National Book Trust (NBT) is offering free download of its best selling titles which will promote reading as people maintain social distance for the 21 days.As part of the #StayHomeIndiaWithBooks initiative, over 100 books are available for download. NBT is an autonomous body under the HRD Ministry.“Available in Hindi, English, Asamiya, Bangla, Gujarati, Malayalam, Odia, Marathi, Kokborok, Mizo, Bodo, Nepali, Tamil, Punjabi, Telugu, Kannada, Urdu and Sanskrit, the books cover all genres of fiction, biography, popular science, teacher’s handbook, and majorly books for children and young adults,” a senior HRD Ministry official said.“In addition, there are books by Tagore, by Premchand, and books on Mahatma Gandhi – all in all there are books for everyone in the family to read and enjoy. More titles will be added to the list,” the official added.The official added that PDFs are available for reading purposes only and any unauthorized or commercial use is prohibited.

Source: https://www.brainbuxa.com/education-news/national-book-trust-offers-a-free-download-of-the-books-during-the-lockdown-10225

AMU VC urged people to help EWS people during the Corona lockdown period

Prof Tariq Mansoor, Aligarh Muslim University Vice-Chancellor, has urged people to help people from the EWS category during these hard times in whatever way possible. He urged students and their families to come forward and help in whatever way they can and also urged the students and other members of the university fraternity to follow the instructions issued by the Central and State governments to control the COVID-19 Pandemic.“As you are aware that our Government has declared 21-day National Lockdown from March 24, I appeal to all my students and members of the teaching and non-teaching staff. These are difficult times for all of us and it is imperative that we remain united in this fight and act in a disciplined and responsible manner”, he said.He also said that the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College Hospital of Aligarh Muslim University is playing a leading role and is one of the accredited centers for testing COVID-19. “I thank all the doctors and Para medical staff and everyone concerned for their untiring efforts”, he added.Prof. Mansoor said that the majority of students have already left for their homes however, there are about 5000 male and female students who cannot leave due to national lockdown. He said, “I appeal to them to fully adhere to the safety protocol and assure them and their parents of our best efforts to take care of their Dining, Medical, and other needs. They must remain in their respective hostels and not travel till the National Lockdown is lifted”.The VC said that he along with the university functionaries such as the Registrar, DSW, Proctor, Provosts, Wardens, and their teams are regularly monitoring the welfare of the students. He asked students to engage their time in online learning while maintaining social distance from each other.

Source: https://www.brainbuxa.com/education-news/amu-vc-urged-people-to-help-ews-people-during-the-corona-lockdown-period-10224

UPJEE application form submission date extended

The last date to submit the UPJEE (Polytechnic) 2020 application has been extended by the Joint Entrance Examination Council, Uttar Pradesh (JEECUP). Candidates who are interested in applying for the exam can now submit the application until April 20, 2020. According to a notice released, candidates will be allowed to modify their application forms from April 21 to 24. UPJEE exam is conducted for admission to Diploma courses in the Polytechnics/Institutes affiliated to Board of Technical Education, UP. Candidates can access the application form from the official website – www.jeecup.nic.in.The council has not mentioned any specific reason to postpone the registration date but one of the reasons could be 21 days nation-wide lockdown due Corona virus.“Extended Last date of Registration for UPJEE-2020 is 20th APRIL, 2020, Modification in candidate data will be available between 21st to 24th APRIL 2020 (sic),” said the notification released on the JEECUP official portal.With this change, the date of the JEECUP is also expected to change. Earlier, the council had decided to conduct the offline examination on April 26 and online examination on April 27.“The UPJEE (POLYTECHNIC) -2020 application has been made completely online i.e. the candidate has to fill the particulars online and also upload their photograph and signature. Due to above, the provision of sending hard copy of the application i.e. confirmation page to the UPJEE (POLYTECHNIC) office has been done away with,” the official JEECUP notification said.Candidates are advised to go through the official notification before they apply for the exam.

Source: https://www.brainbuxa.com/education-news/upjee-application-form-submission-date-extended-10226

Thursday, February 27, 2020

Odisha schools face lack of toilets and drinking water facilities

On Wednesday, the state assemble informed that as many 90 schools in Odisha do not have blackboard in classrooms and 34,394 schools lacked toilet and drinking water facilities as of March last year.As many 35,769 schools are running without electricity till 2018-19 financial year said, School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash as he was replying to a question. He also added that 37,645 schools in the state do not have playgrounds, 2,451 schools have no library facility and 16,368 schools have no boundary walls.Mr. Dash further added that 51,434 primary, upper primary and high schools under school and mass education department have all the basic facilities.Replying to another question, the minister said the annual average dropout rate in primary schools in Odisha was 5.42 per cent while it was 6.93 per cent in upper primary, and 5.41 per cent in secondary schools during 2018-19.

Source: https://www.brainbuxa.com/education-news/odisha-schools-face-lack-of-toilets-and-drinking-water-facilities-10223

Happiness curriculum will benefit children in long term

Shravan Kumar Shukla, a government school teachers from UP’s Gorakhpur district is enjoyinh international fame as he is a part of the team which has developed happiness curriculum concept. “In 2004-05, I had gone to Chhattisgarh to attend a camp on human values. There, I met Manish Sisodia who at the time was neither in politics nor associated with Anna Hazare. He was working for the RTI. We found we were on the same frequency in many ways. When he came to power in Delhi in 2015, he called me on deputation, and I became a member of the core creative team of six people for the happiness curriculum in schools there. I am happy that the program has achieved recognition and praise,” he said. Mr. Shukla also said that UP officials have not reached out to him for the happiness course but official from Nepal did. Other countries such as Afghanistan and the UAE are also showing interest in the program. Mr. Shukla believes that all humans irrespective of location, religion, caste and sex have a lot in common.“A set of values is common to everyone. However, instead of nourishing those values, we have blindly adopted an education system and forgotten what makes us happy and good human beings,” said Shukla.He also said that the results of the happiness curriculum will be visible in long term after 20 years.

Source: https://www.brainbuxa.com/education-news/happiness-curriculum-will-benefit-children-in-long-term-10222

Interview schedule for NVS TGT exam released

Under the direct recruitment drive July 2019, the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti has released the interview schedule for the post of TGTs – Hindi, English, Maths, Science & Social Studies.According to the schedule, interviews will be conducted from March 16, 2020 to March 28, 2020. The list of shortlisted candidates for the interview is available on the official website of NVS. The list contains name of the candidates, date of interview, venue, and reporting time. Shortlisted candidates are requested to appear for the interview on the scheduled date, time and venue.Call letters for the interview are available on the official website of the NVS and have also been forwarded on the candidates’ registered e-mail id.In case any shortlisted candidate does not receive the call letter for the interview, he/she can contact on 0120-2405969-73 Extn. 2038 or can send an e-mail at nvshqrect@gmail.com.Final merit list will be prepared after conducting the interviews in which 80% weight will be given to the computer-based test and 20% weight will be given to the interview performance of the candidate.

Source: https://www.brainbuxa.com/education-news/interview-schedule-for-nvs-tgt-exam-released-10221