Source: Times of India
Establishment of NTA will benefit about 40 lakh students appearing in various entrance examinations.
CBSE
Govt to Establish Separate Board for ITIs
Source: Times of India
Around 23 lakh students graduating from over 13,000 industrial training institutes across India may soon be awarded certificates equivalent to the ones given to ICSE and CBSE Board pass-outs.
Mock tests for students taking IIT entrance examination
Source: Mint via PwC – EdLive
Students taking the first single exam for entering the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) and other engineering colleges will get a chance to take part in mock tests as part of an effort by the government and the IITs to familiarise admission seekers with the new format. Students will also be allowed to make changes in their application form after the ongoing registration process for the exam ends in mid-December. “The mock test will be conducted for almost three months beginning in the second week of January 2013,” said Vineet Joshi, Chairman, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), which is in charge of conducting the joint entrance exam main (JEE Main) for all centrally-funded technical schools. CBSE functions under the HRD ministry.
In May, the government decided to allow admission to all IITs and centrally-funded engineering institutes through a single test to reduce stress on students who sit for multiple entrance examinations. The so-called one nation, one test formula was adopted after a nationwide debate. For selection to the elite IITs, students who finish among the top 150,000 in the entrance test will sit for another exam. To qualify for admission, they will need to finish in the top 20 percentile of their respective school board exams. There will be more than one sample test available for aspirants. According to an official estimate, more than 1.2 million students are expected to appear for the test. The test will be conducted both in the pen-and-paper and online formats. There are nearly 25,000 seats available in all centrally-funded engineering schools, including 9,700 at the 15 IITs.
Macmillan and Frank Bros tie up for digital books
Source: The Hindu Business Line via PwC – EdLive
Macmillan Education and Frank Bros have joined hands to provide digital content interface to textbook teaching. “We will provide digital books, which will have links to visual and audio resources that the teacher can use to make the classroom experience more effective and rewarding,” said Yash Mehta, Sales and Distribution Head, Macmillan Education.
A part of the Macmillan Publishing Group, it is the preferred knowledge partner of around 15,000 schools in the country. Recently, the publishing house also organised a ‘Principals Symposium’ in Hyderabad to address their partner schools in the country. The integration of the two companies Macmillan and Frank Bros Publishing House will enrich its offering to schools, especially the CBSE, ICSE and State Board.
They will continue to provide text books and digital materials for students and teachers. “The merger will give access to high quality editorial input as well provide latest information about the new researches in the field of education,” said R C Govil, Chairman, Emeritus.