16-Dec-2020: Maintenance allowance of Rs 20,000 to be released under Prime Minister’s Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS) by AICTE
Extending support to J&K and Ladakh students, AICTE has decided to release the instalment of Rs. 20,000/- as maintenance allowance under Prime Minister’s Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS). The decision has been taken to support & empower students for completing their online studies.
Under the PMSSS Scheme, the youths of J&K and Ladakh are supported by way of scholarship in two parts namely the academic fee & maintenance allowance. AICTE has already released the entire academic fee for the year 2020-21 to all the institutions. The maintenance allowance had been fully released as per scheme guidelines till the end of last academic year 2019-20. Subsequently due to COVID-19, the academic institutions across India were closed and only online classes are going on. Since there is no hostel & mess expenditure involved, the maintenance allowance was suspended, till such time students physically join the institutes.
However, in order to support & empower students for completing online studies, it has been decided to release the instalment of Rs. 20,000/-. The amount shall be released to all the beneficiaries pursuing classes in Odd Semester (July-December 20). The subsequent instalments shall be released once the students shall join physically at their respective institutions based on the verification of continuation certificate issued by the Institution.
Background:
An Expert Group was constituted by the Prime Minister for enhancing employment opportunity among youths of J&K and Ladakh and formulate job opportunities in public and private sectors. Subsequently, Prime Minister’s Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS) is being implemented by the All India Council for Technical Education(AICTE), New Delhi.
The Scheme aims to build the capacities of the youths of J&K and Ladakh by Educating, Enabling and Empowering them to compete in the normal course. Under the Scheme, the youths of J&K and Ladakh are supported by way of scholarship in two parts namely the academic fee & maintenance allowance. The academic fee is paid to the institution where the student is provided admission after on-line counselling process conducted by the AICTE. The academic fee covers tuition fee and other components as per the ceiling fixed for various professional, medical and other under-graduate courses. In order to meet expenditure towards hostel accommodation, mess expenses, books & stationery etc., a fixed amount of Rs.1.00 Lakh is provided to the beneficiary and is paid in instalments @ Rs. 10,000/- per month directly into students account.
2-Dec-2020: Union Education Minister sets up a task force for preparing a roadmap on imparting technical education in Mother Tongue
Union Education Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ has set up a task force for preparing a roadmap on imparting technical education in Mother Tongue, here today. The task force set up under the chairmanship of Secretary, Higher Education will take into consideration the suggestions made by various stakeholders and will submit a report in a month. The decision was taken by the Minister at a high level meeting on imparting technical education in Mother Tongue. Secretary Higher Education, Shri Amit Khare, IIT Directors, Academicians and senior officials of the Ministry were present on the occasion. The agenda of the meeting was to discuss and deliberate regarding the implementation of NEP- 2020.
Shri Pokhriyal said that the meeting today is a step in the direction towards achieving Prime Minister’s vision that student may pursue the professional courses such as medicine, engineering, law, etc. in their mother tongue.
The Minister said that no language will be imposed on any student but enabling provisions should be made so that bright students are not deprived of Technical Education due to lack of knowledge of English language.
He further said that all the stakeholders are taking concerted efforts to ensure effective implementation of the New Education Policy- 2020.
23-Nov-2020: Union Minister of Education inaugurates 46 online ATAL Faculty Development Programmes (FDPs) organised by AICTE
Union Education Minister, Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' today inaugurated 46 online AICTE Training and Learning (ATAL) Academy Faculty Development Programmes (FDPs) to train teachers of higher education institutions associated with All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) in thrust and emerging areas in technology. The FDPs will be conducted in 22 Indian states.
On the occasion, the Shri Pokhriyal said that it is a matter of pride for the ATAL Academy to be included in the Book of World Records. He informed that the London-based organization has recognized the FDPs as a world record, under which 1,000 online FDPs in over 100 emerging areas will benefit one lakh faculty members across premier institutions like IITs, NITs, and IIITs. This year the online FDP program will cost Rs 10 crores, he added.
The Minister mentioned that the ATAL Academy is conducting FDPs in online mode, including the process of registration till certificate disbursal mechanism. In the year 2020-21, new thrust areas in the field of Engineering, Management, Life Skills, Design & Media have been incorporated. The online FDPs will be conducted according to the new National Education Policy (2020), he added.
Shri Pokhriyal highlighted that out of 1000, 499 FDPs have already been completed with more than 70,000 faculty members already trained. In 2019-20, 185 five-day face-to-face FDPs in nine thrust areas -- Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Block-chain, Robotics, Quantum Computing, Data Sciences, Cyber Security, 3D Printing & Design, and Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality -- benefited around 10,000 participants.
Prof. Anil D Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, AICTE said that Digital learning and the increasing use of smart devices such as computers, smart phones, and tablets have enhanced student learning. CBSE teachers have been trained under the 'Flipped Classroom' and 'Blended Learning' concept. In the flipped classroom model, students can take online lectures at home as per their convenience and the next day in class, they do assignments related to that lecture. This method not only improves learning ability, but also students' scores. Under this, teachers record their lectures and post videos online, which can be accessed by students. Students watch these videos and study at home and when they come to class they are ready with that lecture. The next day, teachers in classrooms provide activities related to the post lecture and students participate, he added.
"The main objective of ATAL Academy is to provide quality technical education in the country and to promote research and entrepreneurship through training in various emerging fields. IITs, IIITs, NITs CU and research labs are organizing these ATAL FDPs," said Prof M.P. Poonia, Vice Chairman, AICTE.
"These FDPs by AICTE are the need of the hour. With this, the teachers of higher educational institutions will educate the students according to the industry needs and equip them with varied kinds of skills. In the challenging times of Coronavirus, these programs are being run online, Resource persons across the globe are able to take sessions due to online nature of FDPs," said Prof Rajive Kumar, Member Secretary, AICTE. He expressed hope that ATAL Academy will emerge as national teacher training institute under the New Education Policy.
Dr. Ravindra Kumar Soni, Director, ATAL Academies said, in just over two years, the Academy is conducting FDPs on a large scale in the entire country. These programmes will help Indian students get acquainted with new technological developments, and choose it as a career, he said, adding that advance training in 'emerging technology' is also being planned.