Alicia Ashton

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Parents worried as several schools announce Fee hike

As many parents are waiting for the schools to announce fee waiver due to the lockdown, several schools have announced fee hike which has made the parents worried. Parents have also started an online campaign in which they asked the HRD Ministry to send directive to schools to not raise the fee until schools reopen again.On Monday, Gujarat government has announced that schools will hike fee for a year, the government of West Bengal has also appealed the schools to refrain from hiking the fee. “With no information when normalcy will return, when we could head back to our respective workplace is the question that remains unanswered and here, I receive an intimation from the school regarding the hike in fee. I was baffled that how would I be able to cope up? I am anxious to know about the school fee hike and transport fee hike which the school says is to meet the cost demands for the academic year 2020-21,” said Pivit Joshi, whose son studies in a prominent school in Noida. He did not wish to identify the name of school. Jagriti Shukla, a parent in Gurgaon, said, “We understand the schools’ concern that they need to pay salaries and cannot waive fees but at least hike can be avoided at such crucial time. Why the government has not passed any order in this regard?"Similar concerns were shared by Rajesh Kumar as he said that increase in the schools fee has added to his financial woes. "We are getting basic pay but the performance linked incentives have been suspended for the lockdown period. The appraisals have been deferred to next financial year but the school’s fee hike is going on as per usual,” he said.Governments of Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh announced that schools should not force parents to pay fees during the lockdown.

Source: https://www.brainbuxa.com/education-news/parents-worried-as-several-schools-announce-fee-hike-10289

Students demand that government should build its own platform for online classes

For the government’s Bharat Padhe Online campaign, educators and students are demanding that government should build its own native and secure platform for the online classes. The government has asked for the suggestions from students and stakeholders to which it received suggestions that its time that government build its own platform which will be easy for the students to access.Currently, educational institutions are using social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, etc. to conduct online classes.Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has asked the educational institutes to conduct online classes to keep the academic calendar on track. Students have suggested to conduct classes through pre-recorded sessions as poor internet connectivity is hampering live online classes.As of today, center has received more than 3700 suggestions for its Bharat Padhe Online campaign.While sending suggestions one must tag HRD Ministry’s official Twitter handle and Minister’s official Twitter handle. Using e-mail, students and stakeholders can send their suggestions through ‘bharatpadheonline.mhrd@gmail.com’.

Source: https://www.brainbuxa.com/education-news/students-demand-that-government-should-build-its-own-platform-for-online-classes-10288

Students can expect WBJEE results in May-June

Students can expect the results of West Bengal Joint Entrance Exam (WBJEE) in May-June. This year, the exam was conducted on February 2 and the answer keys for the same were released on February 17. WBJEE final result will be released based on the final answer keys and dates for the same will be announced later.West Bengal Joint Entrance Examinations Board has released the list of institutions for this year’s admission.“Result will be published in the form of rank card, which will contain all relevant ranks, total score and component scores in paper 1 (Mathematics) and paper 2 (Physics and Chemistry). The Board never publishes rank list,” the Board has said.The exam was conducted in offline mode and there were two papers in the exam – Paper 1 (Mathematics) and Paper 2 (Physics and Chemistry).The exam is conducted to shortlist the candidates for undergraduate courses in Engineering & Technology, Pharmacy and Architecture in Universities, Government Colleges and Self-Financed Institutes in West Bengal.

Source: https://www.brainbuxa.com/education-news/students-can-expect-wbjee-results-in-may-june-10287

Monday, April 13, 2020

Due to COVID-19 BCECE exams postponed

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bihar Combined Entrance Competitive Examination (BCECE) has been postponed. Earlier, the exams were scheduled to be held on April 19 and April 20. but now the new dates will be announced by the exam board in due time.“In continuation of the Advertisement No. BCECEB(BCECE)-2020/05 dt. 17.03.2020, it is to inform to Bihar Combined Entrance Competitive Examination (BCECE)-2020 candidates, parents and all concerned that due to COVID-19 epidemic and lockdown situation, the proposed date of examination of BCECE-2020 i.e. 19.04.2020 and 20.04.2020 is hereby postponed till further notice,” Bihar Combined Entrance Competitive Examination Board has notified.Through the exam, students are shortlisted for undergraduate pharmacy courses, B. Physiotherapy, B. Occupational Therapy, undergraduate courses in paramedical, and undergraduate courses in agriculture science.The last date to submit the application for Bihar Diploma Entrance Exam has been extended till April 26. Candidates will be allowed to edit their applications from April 29 to May 1. So far the board has not decided on the new date of the exam.

Source: https://www.brainbuxa.com/education-news/due-to-covid-19-bcece-exams-postponed-10286

IGNOU asked students to write assignments in Notebook and then scan them

The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has advised all the students to write the assignments in a fresh notebook having plain paper, scan it and email it to their respective regional centers.For some time, IGNOU has been responding to students’ queries related to assignments, term-end exam dates and availability of study materials proactively and is also conducting online classes to prevent the academic losses.Due to lockdown, students are unable to get study materials like plain paper for writing the assignments. To this IGNOU said that any plain paper will do but students will have to follow other instructions mentioned on our website related to the assignments.Earlier, IGNOU had allowed students to submit their assignments without visiting the centers physically. This was done to prevent the spread of the coronavirus but now the university has also extended the last date to submit the assignment by a month.

Source: https://www.brainbuxa.com/education-news/ignou-asked-students-to-write-assignments-in-notebook-and-then-scan-them-10285

AMU’s Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College is offering free COVID-19 tests

As COVID-19 continues to grip the nation, the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College (JNMC) of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) is offering free-of-cost COVID-19 tests for the patients from all parts of Western Uttar Pradesh.“Overall 1659 free tests have been conducted at JNMC in which 70 cases were turned positive for COVID-19,” said the AMU Vice-Chancellor, Professor Tariq Mansoor on Sunday.“However, none of the cases have been found positive out of the 123 tests conducted in the last 24 hours,” he added.In a statement, AMU said, “so far, 51 from Noida, seven from Rampur, four from Hathras, two each from Mathura and Bulandshahr and one each from Muradabad, Agra, Badaun and Aligarh tested positive”.The university administration has also advised the supervisors and co-supervisors “not to call the students to departments or laboratories from their hostels or homes, whether in Aligarh or outside until allowed by the university”.

Source: https://www.brainbuxa.com/education-news/amus-jawaharlal-nehru-medical-college-is-offering-free-covid-19-tests-10284

Vice President asked universities to keep the academic calendar on track

M Venkaiah Naidu, the Vice President of India, has asked the universities to ensure the continuity of the academic calendar during the lock-down period.He was interacting with the Vice Chancellors of Delhi, Puducherry, Punjab, Makhanlal Chaturvedi Universities and Director of the Indian Institute of Public Administration through a video conference and said that it may take some time before everything goes normal post COVID-19 pandemic and also enquired about their plans to cope with the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. He promoted collaborative learning and self-learning.He also urged the universities to utilize the tools and technologies to promote learning and teach students through distance education.Since COVID-19 adversity has forced people to search for creative solutions, the Vice President was happy that the teaching domain was not that affected. He also stressed that universities and educational institutes must safeguard the students who are staying at hostels.He said that universities should guide the students so that they can take advantage of the e-learning platforms provided by universities and government.

Source: https://www.brainbuxa.com/education-news/vice-president-asked-universities-to-keep-the-academic-calendar-on-track-10283