This seems to be the year of change -- at least as far as the education scenario is concerned. The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is planning major reforms in the tertiary education segment where all recognised colleges will have to declare fee details, faculty components and admission-related details. The HRD Minister Kapil Sibal is expected to announce the reforms that include an institution's seat capacity per course offered, the pay and qualifications of all staff members as well as the institute's physical and academic infrastructure and syllabus outline.
The Executive Committee of the AICTE wants to put the whole approval/accreditation process for institutes online so that the status of their applications can be known pertaining to their approval for new courses, increasing the intake of existing modules etc. The changes are going to be designed in order to make the system more transparent.
Other alterations include stopping the affiliation of professional courses (B.Tech/M Tech) offered in the distance mode and encouraging institutes to subscribe to an Internet grouping and to high-speed broad band connectivity; developing a comprehensive scheme for the horizontal and vertical mobility of voca tional and ITI students and considering starting dual-degree M.
Tech programmes that lead to a Ph.D.
In what looks like another first of its kind is a proposal by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) that is pending the HRD Ministry's approval.
The proposal, if it goes through, will see even a 13-year-old child being capable of handling a basic emergency arising out of medical need. Students will be trained to handle accidents in a calm manner apart from being taught at the basic level in all CBSE affiliated schools. The course, designed by experts from the AIIMS trauma centre is slated to be incorporated in the curriculum of Classes VII to XII in all CBSE schools across the country.
The centre has undertaken a series of training sessions during the last few months in medical colleges across the country. The course in its most basic form will train students and teachers in basic life support techniques such a Cardio-pul monary Resuscitation (CPR), how to stop bleeding, how to handle windpipe choking or drowning or electrocution and how to safely take the accident victim to the nearest hospital with the minimal damage. The curriculum will be updated as the class level increases.