Delhi: Major digital skilling drive
New Delhi, June 6. Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan launched a class VII-graduation digital skilling initiative for 10 million students. The programme will provide skilling, reskilling and upskilling education to students via internships, apprenticeships and employment in emerging technologies.

“This is the first-ever collaboration on a national scale between the ministries of education, skill and affiliated NSDCs, Skill India programmes and AICTE. Over 100 corporate, technology and manufacturing firms have already come on board this platform to provide free-of-charge emerging technologies certification,” said the minister, addressing a press conference.

Rajasthan: Best education districts
New Delhi, June 27. Rajasthan’s Sikar district is the best performing school education district countrywide, followed by Jhunjhunu and Jaipur, according to the Union ministry of education’s Performance Grading Index for Districts (PGI-D) pertaining to 2018-19 and 2019-20. The three districts are classified under the ‘Utkarsh’ category (awarded 81-90 percent on a scale of 100) with Jhunjhunu awarded the maximum (236 out of 290) in learning outcomes.

PGI-D classifies districts into ten categories starting with ‘Daksh’ for districts awarded over 90 percent of the total points in that category; ‘Utkarsh’ for districts with scores awarded 81-90 percent followed by ‘Ati-Uttam’ (71-80 percent), ‘Uttam’ (61-70 percent), ‘Prachesta-I’ (51-60 percent). The lowest classification in PGI-D is ‘Akanshi-3’ for districts which are awarded 10 percent or less.

Madhya Pradesh: K-question suspensions
Indore/Bhopal, June 21. The Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission (MPPSC) suspended a paper setter and moderator after a controversial question on Kashmir was posed in the General Aptitude Test of the state public service commission’s preliminary examination.

According to home minister Narottam Mishra, the question was: “If India should decide to hand over Kashmir to Pakistan, which of the following arguments are stronger? Options included ‘Yes, it will save a lot of money for India’ and ‘No, such a decision will lead to more similar demands’, ‘Both are stronger or vice versa’.”

Addressing the media, Mishra said: “The question was objectionable and a letter is being written to the state public service commission and the higher education department for stringent action against them.”

J&K: Stress management programme
Jammu, June 5. The Singapore-based Red Pencil Humanitarian Foundation (estb.2011) and the Mumbai-based Piramal Foundation have developed an art-based capacity building and training (ACBT) programme for teachers to address the emotional and mental stress of government school children in the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir.

Addressing the media, Ravi Shankar Sharma, director of school education, J&K, said that 150 teachers, 75 each from Jammu and Kashmir divisions will be trained in the first phase. “The objective is to improve the socio-emotional well-being of students, especially those who cannot express their problems and grievances verbally. The ACBT project will be especially helpful for teachers in remote areas like Poonch and Kishtwar,” he added.

Odisha: New education milestones
Bhubaneswar, June 17. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the Bhawanipatna School in the backward Kalahandi district. Promoted by the nationally renowned Kalinga Institute of Social Science (KISS), the school will provide high-quality free-of-charge education to 1,200 children from underprivileged households.

“The tribal-dominated Kalahandi district has been making good progress in education with the inauguration of universities and engineering colleges. Moreover, 400 state-run high schools — of which 129 are in Kalahandi — have been revamped under this government’s action plan 5T — transparency, teamwork, technology and timeliness leading to transformation,” said the chief minister, addressing an online press conference.

Telangana: Chief minister’s bounty
Hyderabad, June 27. The Telangana State Education Welfare Infrastructure Development Corporation has sanctioned a long-term Rs.126.28 crore loan for construction of an education hub with a built-up area of 4.59 lakh sq. ft. The hub will provide English-medium class VI-postgrad education in Gajwel, a constituency represented by chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao.

“Two separate 40 and 20-acre campuses for boys and girls equipped with spacious classrooms, a common 1,200-seat auditorium, dining halls, libraries and laboratories of the highest standards are currently under construction,” says an official communique of the state government. As soon as this plan is successful, similar hubs in other districts of the state will be constructed.

Paromita Sengupta with bureau inputs