15-Dec-2021: Developing world-class higher education institutes and Universities
The Government of India has launched the World Class Institutions Scheme in the year 2017 to enable ten institutions each from the public and private category to have world class academic & research facilities and grant them the status of Institution of Eminence (IoE). So far, notifications have been issued for eleven institutions (08 public & 03 private). Significant amount of autonomy in academic, administrative & financial matters has been provided under the regulatory framework to these institutions so that they can emerge as global educational institutions. Financial assistance of upto Rs. 1000 Crore (over a period of five years) is provided by the Government to each of public Institutions of Eminence.
8-Dec-2021: Indian sign language dictionary policy under the new education policy
The National Education Policy 2020 at para 4.22, inter-alia, recommends for standardization of the Indian Sign Language (ISL) across the country and development of National and State curriculum materials for use by students with hearing impairment. The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC) for developing NCERT textbook based videos in Indian Sign Language. ISLRTC has prepared and launched 10,000 words ISL Dictionary in video format. The dictionary is available on DIKSHA Portal for wider access and dissemination among stakeholders. NCERT is strengthening this dictionary by embedding audio and sub titles in the videos so that the reach of 10,000 words dictionary is not restricted to the hearing impaired only. In addition, NCERT is also collaborating with ISLRTC to add new terms and words based on school curriculum to the existing ISL Dictionary of 10,000 words. So far, NCERT has developed 800 plus ISL videos from classes I to VI and uploaded on DIKSHA for its use by hearing impaired (HI) persons. These videos are also disseminated through PM eVidya (One Class, One Channel), DTH TV Channels, on regular basis to ensure coherent access of these e-contents.
17-Feb-2021: Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot Virtually Releases‘3rd Edition of Indian Sign Language Dictionary with 10,000 Terms’
Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot virtually released the “3rd edition of the Indian Sign Language (ISL) Dictionary with 10,000 terms (including 6,000 earlier terms)”today in a virtual programme. Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Krishan Pal Gurjar graced the occasion as Guest of Honour. The Dictionary has been brought out by the Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC), an autonomous Institute under the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment.
Applauding the Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC) for bring out such a valuable Dictionary, Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot said that it was a proud moment to witness the Tableau of ISLRTC in the Republic Day Parade on Rajpath, Delhi this year. He said that the 1st edition of the ISL Dictionary was launched on 23rd March 2018 with 3000 terms and the 2nd edition with 6000 terms (including earlier 3000 terms) was launched on 27th February 2019. Now the 3rd edition of the ISL Dictionary released today contains total 10,000 terms of everyday use, academic terms, legal & administrative terms, medical terms, technical terms and agricultural terms. The Dictionary also contains regional signs used in different parts of the country. He affirmed that the Union Government is fully committed to the overall welfare of Divyangjan of our country and several new initiatives have been taken and several new schemes have been launched for Divyangjan including reservation of seats in educational institutions and also in jobs during past seven years.
In his address Shri Krishan Pal Gurjar said that the ISLRTC under DEPwD is doing remarkable job for the welfare of Hearing Impaired persons and they are running many Courses also to educate and enlighten them. He hoped that this Dictionary with 10000 terms will fully serve its purpose
The ISL Dictionary with 10,000 terms is the culmination of an innovative 4 year project that was initiated in November 2016 by the Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC), an autonomous Institute under the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment. The 1st Edition of the ISL Dictionary was launched on 23rd March, 2018 with 3000 terms and the 2nd Edition with 6000 terms (including earlier 3000 terms) was launched on 27th February, 2019.
The 3rd Edition of the ISL Dictionary contains a total of 10,000 terms of everyday use, academic terms, legal & administrative terms, medical terms, technical terms and agricultural terms. The videos contain the sign, the English term for the sign and pictures where relevant. The Dictionary also contains regional signs used in different parts of the country.
The Dictionary has been made with the full involvement of the Deaf community by ensuring that only Deaf experts have provided the signs for the Dictionary. Additionally, the signs in the Dictionary have been validated by Deaf experts from across India in three National Workshops conducted during 7th - 9th February, 2018, 22nd - 24th January, 2019 and 3rd - 6th March, 2020.
Since the launch of the 1st Edition in 2018, the ISL Dictionary has been utilized by special educators, ISL interpreters, parents of children with hearing disabilities, professionals in the field, organizations working with people with hearing disabilities as well as by the general public. The Dictionary is also being used as a resource to develop educational content for children with disabilities and speech/text-to-sign and sign-to-speech/text machine translation software. The ISL Dictionary is a crucial resource for promoting awareness about ISL, facilitating communication and providing better accessibility services to persons with hearing disabilities, and thus is a necessary step in realizing the goals of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016.
27-Feb-2019: Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot Launches ‘2nd Edition of ISL Dictionary’ for Hearing Impaired Persons
Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot, Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment launched the “2nd Edition of Indian Sign Language (ISL) Dictionary” brought out by ‘Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC)’ under Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), M/o Social Justice & Empowerment. The first edition of the dictionary with 3000 words was launched on 23rd March 2018. With the second edition, dictionary includes total 6000 words under the categories of academic, legal, medical, technical and everyday terms.
The ISL Dictionary is also available on ISLRTC's YouTube channel. Around 1000 videos have been uploaded already and the rest are in the process of being uploaded on YouTube. The videos can be accessed at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFjydPMg4Dapq9vcdmGyHs8uJhiqMgUrX.
The dictionary is intended to serve as a resource for ISL teachers, ISL learners, teachers of the hearing impaired, interpreters, parents of hearing impaired children, researchers, etc. Hearing impaired persons will benefit from this dictionary since they can look up information about a particular sign and its English/Hindi equivalents. The Dictionary includes total 6000 words under the categories of academic, legal, medical, technical and everyday terms. It has been made with the involvement of the hearing impaired community, by giving due consideration to their suggestions and understanding. The videos contain the sign, the English term for the sign and pictures where relevant. A word list is also given with the English and Hindi equivalents of the signs.
Two National Workshops were conducted from 7th-9th February, 2018 and from 22nd-24th January 2019 with hearing impaired participants from all over India to provide feedback and suggestions on ISLRTC’s Dictionary. The videos recorded in the workshops have also been included as regional signs in the Dictionary.
According to Census 2011, there are 50.71 lakh hearing impaired persons in India. Most of the hearing impaired persons use Indian Sign Language to communicate. The aim of the dictionary is to help spread the use of ISL and result in better education and employment opportunities for hearing impaired persons. The dictionary is intended to serve as a resource for ISL teachers, ISL learners, teachers of the hearing impaired, interpreters, parents of hearing impaired children, researchers, etc. Hearing impaired persons will benefit from this dictionary since they can look up information about a particular sign and its English/Hindi equivalents. The Dictionary has been made with the involvement of the hearing impaired community, by giving due consideration to their suggestions and understanding.
24-Mar-2018: India's first sign language dictionary released
The Indian Sign Language (ISL) dictionary, which has been developed by the Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC), comprises 3,000 Hindi and English words and their corresponding graphic representation of the signs which are used in daily life. The dictionary is available both in print and video format.
"The basic aim of developing the ISL Dictionary is to remove communication barriers between the deaf and hearing impaired communities as it is focused on providing more information in Indian sign language," Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawarchand Gehlot said at the release of the dictionary. He said that soon many new words will be added in the dictionary and hoped that more and more people will use this dictionary and get the benefit of learning Indian Sign language.
The dictionary contains graphic representations of popular signs used by the hearing impaired and also includes regional variations. It will also enable government officials, teachers, professionals, community leaders and the public at large to learn and use sign language.
As per the census 2011, there are 50,71,007 deaf and 19,98,535 people with speech disability in India. Around 300 dictionaries were distributed during the event.
The DVD of the dictionary will also be uploaded on the ministry's website and people can procure it from ISLRTC too. ISLRTC has been working on this ambitious project for the last one-and-half years. The words in dictionary are divided into five categories-- Every day, Legal, Academic, Medical, and Technical terms.
Everyday terms category includes words that are used in everyday communication. Legal category includes videos for 237 legal terms and explains legal words like affidavit, acquittal etc., that are used in various legal situations. Academic terms help deaf children understand complex academic concepts and contain explanations for terms like "nervous system", "rotation" and "revolution", etc. The words are from various subjects like Physics, Geography, Biology, Maths, among others. This category contains 229 videos for 212 terms. The medical category includes 200 sign videos for 200 medical terms to help the deaf community understand the medical terminologies used in hospitals and in medical situations. The technical category has 206 videos of signs and explanations for 204 technical terms that are used in vocational training or in computer courses.
24-Nov-2021: Cabinet approves continuation of National Apprenticeship Training Scheme for next five years
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi today has accorded its approval for stipendiary support of Rs. 3,054 crore to apprentices who undergo apprenticeship training under National Apprenticeship Training Scheme (NATS) of Ministry of Education for the period from 2021-22 to 2025-26 (upto 31-03-2026).
Approximately 9 lakhs apprentices will be trained by industry and commercial organisations. NATS is a well-established scheme of Government of India which has demonstrated to enhance the employability of students who have successfully completed the apprenticeship training.
The apprentices who have completed graduate and diploma programme in Engineering, Humanities, Science and Commerce will be given stipend of Rs.9,000/- and Rs.8,000/- per month respectively.
The Government has approved an expenditure of more than Rs. 3,000 crore during the next five years which is about 4.5 times the expenditure made during the previous 5 years. This increased expenditure on apprenticeship is in line with the thrust which National Education Policy 2020 has given to apprenticeship.
In keeping with the Government emphasis on "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, --Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayaas", the scope of NATS has further been expanded to include students from Humanities, Science and Commerce besides students from engineering stream. This scheme aims to raise the standards of skill level by strengthening the skill ecosystem and as a result, will provide employment to approximately 7 lakhs youths in the next five years.
The NATS will provide apprenticeship in the emerging areas under 'Production Linked Incentive' (PLI) such as Mobile manufacturing, Medical devices manufacturing, Pharma sector, Electronics/Technology products, Automobile sector etc. The scheme will also be preparing skilled manpower for connectivity/logistics industry sectors, identified under Gati Shakti.