After bringing reforms in the examination system in Plus II level, the Department of Higher Education (DHE) is all set to introduce a slew of reforms, including uniform academic calendar and uniformity in syllabus in the autonomous colleges with a view to promoting academic excellence.
“The DHE Secretary has convened a meeting of principals of autonomous colleges recently to deliberate on the issue of introduction of uniform academic calendar and common syllabus,” said DHE Additional Secretary Durga Prasad Behera.
Taking into consideration the problems faced by the students in autonomous colleges, the DHE has mooted the proposal for bringing uniformity, particularly in syllabus and conduct of examination at a fixed time, Behera informed. Behera said that there are as many as 19 Government autonomous colleges and 13 non-Government autonomous colleges in the State.
They have adopted their own academic calendar each for admissions, elections, examinations, publication of results and vacations, etc. There is no uniformity in syllabus and examination system among the autonomous colleges. As autonomous colleges make their own syllabus and examinations are held on different dates, there is hardly any common ground, which put the students in trouble in pursuing higher education, he said. However, the DHE has taken the initiative in the present format of autonomous colleges and made provisions to follow a common academic calendar so that examinations are held on same dates, he said. The DHE’s initiative has been welcomed by the students, parents and academicians. “A common academic calendar among autonomous colleges will help smooth conduct of examinations, including internal and semester,” said BD College Principal Prof C Savitri in Jeypur. According to official sources, the DHE has also formed a six-member examination reform panel, which would recommend to formulate a foolproof system so that incidents like the question paper leak do not recur and also to steer clear of possible manipulations in the evaluation of answer papers. Meanwhile, the State Government has also decided to categorize undergraduate courses into five streams such as arts, physical science, biological science, commerce and self-financing streams in degree colleges from next year, compared to the three broader streams of arts, science and commerce at present. Honours subjects of information technology, biotechnology, computer science, microbiology, computer science, electronics and telecommunication will come under the self-financing stream, added sources.
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Work has been assigned to an Environmental NGO Sangram, which operates in the area along with the local communities. “The NGO has already taken up the work of survey in the villages,” said Sanjukta Basa, also Honorary Wildlife warden in
STR. Along with this, a socio economic survey is also being conducted in the villages to work out further livelihood options for the local communities based on their skills, she added.
> IJ_ lIJIJgIJrmal>According to official sources, "Armed with specific inputs the Indian Army was able to silence guns fitted inside these civilian structures in retaliatory firing". However, several similar structures continue to be occupied by the Pak army regulars and it is cause of concern for the Indian Army.
"We fear targeting them as they are located in civilian areas where houses are densely populated and any mishit may provide a handle to the Pak Army to launch their propaganda against the Indian Army," a field officer of the Indian army in Poonch said.
The adjoining structures were apparently used by the Pak Army personnel to accommodate trained militants before pushing them inside the Indian Territory during the heavy exchange of firing, sources said. "The possibility of presence of BAT teams inside these structures also cannot be ruled out," sources said.