English revives state schools-BE students’ projects a big racket in city-S9 Consulting stands vindicated
English revives state schools
December 2nd, 2009
By Our Correspondent
Hyderabad
Dec. 1: The need for education in English medium is growing by leaps and bounds in the state. Even in small towns and villages, parents have realised that learning English is necessary for their children to get good jobs.
The huge demand for English had forced the state government to make English the medium of instruction in thousands of government schools which were earlier in Telugu medium.
Statistics indicate that while enrolment in English medium schools has grown by 100 per cent over the last three years, it has fallen by 83 per cent in Telugu medium schools in the same period.
Also, English, in a way, had saved many government schools that were on the verge of closure for lack of students.
“Parents think that English can help their kids do well in life because higher education in India is in English and employers prefer people who speak English. Moreover, English has snob value,” said Prof. Nageshwar of the Osmania University.
Studying in English medium schools has always been a privilege enjoyed by children from well-to-do families, while those from weaker sections of society are unable to afford the fees charged by the largely privately run English medium schools.
However, the situation has changed in recent times. Some 6,500 government high schools had switched over to the English medium in the 2008-09 academic year.
As a result, English became the medium of instruction in more than 2.5 lakh new students. English medium was introduced from Class VI.
The AP government said its decision would strengthen the students’ base in English and help them cope better with the competition in IT and other knowledge-based industries which provide many jobs in the state.
Rural students would be able to take advantage of opportunities hitherto denied them because of the language barrier.
The government’s decision has its fair share of critics. One criticism from teachers and parents alike is that a student who has studied in the Telugu medium till Class V will not be able to learn English suddenly in Class VI.
After much deliberation, the government has recently decided that English will be the medium of instruction in all government schools right from Class I.
It is expected to issue orders to this effect soon, which will be implemented from the next academic year.
According to the state report on elementary education, a National University of Educational Planning and Administration publication, Andhra Pradesh has more students studying in English than any other state, followed by Tamil Nadu.
The study only accounts for students studying in government and government-aided primary, upper primary, secondary and higher secondary schools.
In Andhra Pradesh, 70.34 lakh students out of a total of 1.13 crore students go to schools where Telugu is the medium of instruction, and 40.32 lakh attend English medium schools.
Teachers’ fluency needs help
December 2nd, 2009
Dec. 1: To cater to the demand for more English medium schools there must be more teachers fluent in English.
But currently, existing B.Ed colleges are not able to meet the rising demand as a majority of them are offering courses in subjects other than English.
Realising the gravity of the situation, the government has introduced the English methodology course in all B.Ed. colleges in the state.
It has directed all colleges to allot 10 per cent of the total seats to English methodology. B.Ed colleges hitherto offered only four methodologies — in social studies, physical sciences, botany and mathematics.
If the government implements its decision to start English medium from Class I next year, it will require an estimated 20,000 teachers proficient in English. “The shortage of teachers qualified to teach in English has become a major hurdle in introducing English as the medium of instruction in government schools. Though there are more than 600 B.Ed. colleges in the state, they don’t offer the English methodology course. If we don’t act immediately, we won’t have qualified teachers to teach in English medium schools,” said a senior official in the school education department.
S9 Consulting stands vindicated
BE students’ projects a big racket in city
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Hyderabad: Engineering students with deep pockets in the city are on a hiring spree. Many of them have hired consultants to do their university project work, on a payment of Rs 3,000 to Rs 6,000.
According to officials from engineering colleges in the city, many consultancies with one or two techies working under them, are ‘manufacturing’ projects of almost all the engineering students, irrespective of their streams. This fraudulent practise came to light after examiners found striking similarity in the project reports submitted by students from different colleges.
JNTU had prescribed two project works for students carrying 250 marks, with an aim to make students get handson-work experience in various industries. But the project has become a source for easy marks with the students outsourcing the project work to consultancies working out of one-room offices in Ameerpet. These firms not only choose the topics and execute them but also provide both hard and soft copies of the ‘project’ within less than ten days.
Management representatives said that they are left with no choice but to accept whatever the students submit, since not all students can find an industrial project to work on. “The students do not do any of the industry oriented projects as many companies do not allow part-time project assistants. Besides, there are 200 engineering colleges in and around the city with thousands of students studying in them and there are fewer companies. The intake capacity of each of the companies for part time projects is also low,” said Sridhar Reddy, principal of Scient Institute of Engineering and Technology, Ibrahimpatnam. He added that many companies demand a deposit from the colleges to involve their students in projects.
Other college managements said that taking the student projects for external examination is a pain. “The external examiners have debarred many students for duplicating work. Since the consultancies manufacture the projects in bulk some of them get repeated. It is easier for the external examiner to find the fraud as he/she would have gone through projects from other colleges also,” said a management representative of an engineering college.
Certain college managements said that instead of stressing on industry based project work, the university should focus on experimental projects. “The students should be allowed to work on experiments and model developments on their own. There are smaller projects, like those undertaken by governmental bodies like Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC(), eSeva or internet villages where they could work,” said a principal.
When asked whether the university can put a bar on consultancies, JNTU officials said that they strictly do not allow projects done by consultancies. “Once caught for plagiarism or any other malpractice, the students are barred for two years. There is no other way to check the bulk manufacture of projects,” said D N Reddy, VC, JNTU.
December 2nd, 2009
By Our Correspondent
Hyderabad
Dec. 1: The need for education in English medium is growing by leaps and bounds in the state. Even in small towns and villages, parents have realised that learning English is necessary for their children to get good jobs.
The huge demand for English had forced the state government to make English the medium of instruction in thousands of government schools which were earlier in Telugu medium.
Statistics indicate that while enrolment in English medium schools has grown by 100 per cent over the last three years, it has fallen by 83 per cent in Telugu medium schools in the same period.
Also, English, in a way, had saved many government schools that were on the verge of closure for lack of students.
“Parents think that English can help their kids do well in life because higher education in India is in English and employers prefer people who speak English. Moreover, English has snob value,” said Prof. Nageshwar of the Osmania University.
Studying in English medium schools has always been a privilege enjoyed by children from well-to-do families, while those from weaker sections of society are unable to afford the fees charged by the largely privately run English medium schools.
However, the situation has changed in recent times. Some 6,500 government high schools had switched over to the English medium in the 2008-09 academic year.
As a result, English became the medium of instruction in more than 2.5 lakh new students. English medium was introduced from Class VI.
The AP government said its decision would strengthen the students’ base in English and help them cope better with the competition in IT and other knowledge-based industries which provide many jobs in the state.
Rural students would be able to take advantage of opportunities hitherto denied them because of the language barrier.
The government’s decision has its fair share of critics. One criticism from teachers and parents alike is that a student who has studied in the Telugu medium till Class V will not be able to learn English suddenly in Class VI.
After much deliberation, the government has recently decided that English will be the medium of instruction in all government schools right from Class I.
It is expected to issue orders to this effect soon, which will be implemented from the next academic year.
According to the state report on elementary education, a National University of Educational Planning and Administration publication, Andhra Pradesh has more students studying in English than any other state, followed by Tamil Nadu.
The study only accounts for students studying in government and government-aided primary, upper primary, secondary and higher secondary schools.
In Andhra Pradesh, 70.34 lakh students out of a total of 1.13 crore students go to schools where Telugu is the medium of instruction, and 40.32 lakh attend English medium schools.
Teachers’ fluency needs help
December 2nd, 2009
Dec. 1: To cater to the demand for more English medium schools there must be more teachers fluent in English.
But currently, existing B.Ed colleges are not able to meet the rising demand as a majority of them are offering courses in subjects other than English.
Realising the gravity of the situation, the government has introduced the English methodology course in all B.Ed. colleges in the state.
It has directed all colleges to allot 10 per cent of the total seats to English methodology. B.Ed colleges hitherto offered only four methodologies — in social studies, physical sciences, botany and mathematics.
If the government implements its decision to start English medium from Class I next year, it will require an estimated 20,000 teachers proficient in English. “The shortage of teachers qualified to teach in English has become a major hurdle in introducing English as the medium of instruction in government schools. Though there are more than 600 B.Ed. colleges in the state, they don’t offer the English methodology course. If we don’t act immediately, we won’t have qualified teachers to teach in English medium schools,” said a senior official in the school education department.
S9 Consulting stands vindicated
BE students’ projects a big racket in city
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Hyderabad: Engineering students with deep pockets in the city are on a hiring spree. Many of them have hired consultants to do their university project work, on a payment of Rs 3,000 to Rs 6,000.
According to officials from engineering colleges in the city, many consultancies with one or two techies working under them, are ‘manufacturing’ projects of almost all the engineering students, irrespective of their streams. This fraudulent practise came to light after examiners found striking similarity in the project reports submitted by students from different colleges.
JNTU had prescribed two project works for students carrying 250 marks, with an aim to make students get handson-work experience in various industries. But the project has become a source for easy marks with the students outsourcing the project work to consultancies working out of one-room offices in Ameerpet. These firms not only choose the topics and execute them but also provide both hard and soft copies of the ‘project’ within less than ten days.
Management representatives said that they are left with no choice but to accept whatever the students submit, since not all students can find an industrial project to work on. “The students do not do any of the industry oriented projects as many companies do not allow part-time project assistants. Besides, there are 200 engineering colleges in and around the city with thousands of students studying in them and there are fewer companies. The intake capacity of each of the companies for part time projects is also low,” said Sridhar Reddy, principal of Scient Institute of Engineering and Technology, Ibrahimpatnam. He added that many companies demand a deposit from the colleges to involve their students in projects.
Other college managements said that taking the student projects for external examination is a pain. “The external examiners have debarred many students for duplicating work. Since the consultancies manufacture the projects in bulk some of them get repeated. It is easier for the external examiner to find the fraud as he/she would have gone through projects from other colleges also,” said a management representative of an engineering college.
Certain college managements said that instead of stressing on industry based project work, the university should focus on experimental projects. “The students should be allowed to work on experiments and model developments on their own. There are smaller projects, like those undertaken by governmental bodies like Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC(), eSeva or internet villages where they could work,” said a principal.
When asked whether the university can put a bar on consultancies, JNTU officials said that they strictly do not allow projects done by consultancies. “Once caught for plagiarism or any other malpractice, the students are barred for two years. There is no other way to check the bulk manufacture of projects,” said D N Reddy, VC, JNTU.
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