Top News in Education Domain You should NOT Miss

We are into the last day of the spectacular year that was, so we thought before we say a very goodbye to 2019 and welcome 2020 with new hopes, aspirations and fresh confidence, let's take a look at the major happenings in the education world this year. The year 2019 marked significant developments in the education sector, be it the performance of institutes at a global level, students bagging laurels through international level events, or the government's relentless efforts towards improving the quality of education in the country.

We at CollegeDekho, bring you the list of the Top 10 Education News of 2019. Let's take a look!

1. New Education Policy 2019

The first draft of New Education Policy 2019 caused a huge uproar. There were around 19 changes recommended in the New Education Policy. Some of the recommendations in the new NEP has caused an uproar among the general public. Some of the changes included renaming the MHRD as the Ministry of Education (MoE), a major revamp of curricular and pedagogical with special emphasis on Early Childhood Care and Education in school education and many others.

2. AIIMS MBBS and JIPMER MBBS Admissions Now Only on the Basis of NEET

NEET to replace AIIMS and JIPMER MBBS Entrance Exam. From 2020 academic year admission to all 15 All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) in Puducherry will be on the basis of NEET-UG. This move will add 1,600 seats for students taking the entrance test.

3. JNU Fee Hike

JNU Fee Hike was one of the major highlights in 2019 in the education sector. The continuous protest from the students' side forced the authorities to roll back the JNU Fee Hike Decision. JNU Feek Hike ignited a rage and affected even IITs, NITs, and many central universities. It still is one of the topmost education news in the year 2019.

4. India's First Transgender University

2019 has been a good year in terms of India progressing to provide education to all and taking steps towards the same. One of the biggest highlights of 2019 in the education sector is coming up with the first transgender university in India. The country’s first university for the transgender community will be established in Kushinagar district in Uttar Pradesh. The first of its kind university is being built by Bhartiya Kinnar Siksha Seva Sang which is India’s transgender education service trust.

Highlights of 2017 in Education Sector

1. Parliament of India Approves IIM Bill 2017

The approval of IIM Bill 2017 is considered historic. The government’s aim to grant more autonomy to Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), and enhance business education in India has got wings with the introduction of IIM Bill in the Indian Parliament. The Union Cabinet approved the Bill in January 2017. Later, the Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha for approval followed by Rajya Sabha in December 2017. The approval of IIM Bill 2017 will empower the premier management institutes to grant degrees instead of diplomas. Moreover, IIMs will get complete autonomy in various aspects of administration and academics. The role of government will be limited with respect to the functioning of IIMs.

2. Performance of Indian Institutes in Global Rankings and NIRF 2017

The higher learning institutes in India have performed exceptionally in global and national rankings this year. Delhi University, one of the popular universities in India was ranked in the 481-491 band among the best universities in the world. Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Madras, IIT Guwahati performed well in THE Rankings 2018, QS Asia University Rankings, QS BRICS University Rankings, THE Employment Rankings and QS Masters in Management and QS Global MBA Rankings. At the national level, Jadavpur University and JNU bagged the top spots in NIRF Rankings 2017.

3. Tamil Nadu NEET Issue and National Medical Commission Bill 2017

The year started with anti-NEET protests in Tamil Nadu, where the students and state government together demanded the central government to exempt the state from NEET meant for admissions to the MBBS and BDS courses. The state government even passed a legislation exempting itself from NEET. But, the central government had not approved the legislation passed by the state government based on the recommendations made by the Attorney General of India. The suicide of a medical aspirant in Tamil Nadu made the state government pressurize the central government to exempt from NEET. The central government made its intentions clear that all the states in the country must follow NEET.

On the other hand, 2017 also witnessed the approval of National Commission (NMC) Bill 2017 by the Union Cabinet. The NMC Bill 2017 will replace the Medical Council of India (MCI) with a new medical education regulator i.e., National Medical Commission (NMC). The government intends to ensure transparency in medical education in India. The Bill will also provide scope for introduction of an Exit Exam for MBBS students. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has severely condemned the Bill.

4. Appointment of Anupam Kher as FTII Chairman

In October 2017, the government appointed Mr. Anupam Kher as the Chairman of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). The famous film institute which had been functioning without a Chairperson since March 2017 witnessed numerous forms of protests from its students against Mr. Gajendra Chauhan, former Chairman of FTII. The situation on the campus was unstable for over six months leaving the administration crippled due to the absence of a Governing and Academic Council. With the new appointment, students were relieved and satisfied as it put an end to the instability on the campus.

5. Mumbai University Results Row

April 2017 to September 2017 were the most problematic months for the University of Mumbai. What started with an objective to ensure transparency in the evaluation process of answer sheets failed miserably. The authorities of Mumbai University implemented a fresh ‘On Screen Assessment’ system which did not turn out to be successful in a first. The mess led to a prolonged delay in the announcement of Final Year Exam Results of Mumbai University, the exams for which took place in April 2017. Not only the delay, there was a lot of chaos in the evaluation process and the answer sheets of the students were also misplaced. It took almost five months for the authorities of the varsity to declare the results of all the exams. Students were left helpless as they were not able to apply for higher education due to the delay in the declaration of results and the lack of mark sheets.

6. AICTE's New Measures to Revamp Technical Education

AICTE has come up with new measures to revamp the technical education in the country. The council initiated the process of framing new syllabus patterns while focusing more on improving the employability of the students. New topics in Humanities, Social Sciences, Bullet Train and Big Data will be a part of the new curriculum from the next academic session. The council has also come up with mandatory induction programme for the first year engineering students to acquaint them with the concepts of engineering education. AICTE also decided to shut down the colleges with less than 30% student strength.

7. HRD Ministry’s World-Class Universities Plan

HRD Ministry’s idea to create 20 world-class universities took off as soon as it invited applications from the eligible institutes. HRD Ministry and UGC had issued guidelines for the ‘Institute of Eminence’ tag. The application process concluded recently and over 100 institutes are in the race for the world-class tag. Popular universities like JNU and Delhi University are among them. A high-level committee will screen the applications and further select institutes eligible for the world-class tag. The list is expected to be released in March 2018.

8. Union Cabinet Approves National Testing Agency (NTA)

In November 2017, the Union Cabinet gave its nod for the creation of a National Testing Agency (NTA), which will conduct entrance exams for various bodies. NTA will conduct entrance exams like JEE Main, NEET, UGC NET and others. CBSE that currently conducts most of these exams, will be relieved from the responsibility. CBSE had expressed its inability to conduct exams for various bodies earlier. Moreover, NTA is expected to conduct JEE and NEET twice a year so that students can get a chance to improve their performance.

9. Huge Totalling Errors in CBSE Class 12 Results

It was a rare chance that CBSE witnessed huge totalling errors in CBSE Class 12 exams. CBSE, which lacked clarity on the applicability of moderation policy and spiking of marks failed to monitor the evaluation process properly. The results of Class 12 Board 2017 were delayed as well. There were plenty discrepancies in the subject-wise marks allotted to the students. A large number of complaints were filed against CBSE. Many students had applied for re-evaluation too with a hope that their marks will be revised and they will be able to get admissions in good UG colleges on the basis of merit. Further, with an objective to put an end to these kinds of issues, CBSE has also directed the affiliated schools to send experienced teachers for the evaluation process for Board Exams 2018.

10. Topper Success Stories of 2017

Of all the candidates who appeared for a variety of entrance exams, board exams, civil services examination, IPCC and others have been an inspiration to many. Some of the success stories of toppers included the following:

• Gaurav Sarawagi emerged as All India Topper in ICAI IPCC May 2017 examination. He cracked all the exams in his first attempt itself.
• Gujarat’s Nishita Purohit emerged as the Topper of AIIMS MBBS 2017. She also performed in the Board Exams 2017 and managed to secure 91.4%.
• Nandini KR – emerged as the UPSC Topper this year and aimed to join the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).
• Raksha Gopal from Amity International School Emerged as Topper with 99.6% in CBSE Class 12 Exams 2017.
• Kalpit Veerwal JEE Mains 2017 Topper who Scored 360/360 - the only one to have scored a 100% in the history of the coveted engineering entrance exam.
• Ananya Maity was the ISC Topper 2017 who scored 99.5% overall.
• Sarvesh Mehtani from Panchkula emerged as Topper of JEE Advanced 2017 Exam with an aim to bag a seat in Computer Science Engineering at IIT Bombay.

With so much happening in the education sector this year, we believe that the coming year will also witness positive changes in the system so that India as a country can be regarded as an education hub for all.

CollegeDekho wishes all of you a very Happy New Year 2018. Let's not forget that education is not a preparation for life, education is life itself!