A GREAT UNIVERSITY IN CHAOS

Bidyut Chakravarty's tenure as VC of VisvaBharati has been a tumultuous one, replete with protests, suspensions, rustications and court cases.

FROM 42 MOUZA TO NASA

An Odisha non-profit has assembled a team of school students including orphans and children of daily-wagers to build a rover for moon They have been selected to join exploration. NASA's rover challenge.

BY STUDENTS FOR STUDENTS

Children even cross the Gomti river to attend classes offered by Koshish, an NGO which has student volunteers from an engineering college teach school kids from poor, marginalised communities.

HOW DO YOU PROTECT CHILDREN IN SCHOOL?

Tamil Nadu schools have set up student safeguarding advisory committees to prevent sexual harassment. Now, the Madras High Court has ordered internal complaints committees as well.

NOT 'TOO YOUNG TO UNDERSTAND'

Ina country squeamish about sex education, two private schools have bravely started and protected LGBTQIA+ support groups.

SCRIPTING A LANGUAGE

As far as Dhaniram Toto knows, around two centuries ago, his people started moving out of the region of Mongolia and made their way to West Bengal where they founded Totopara and settled down. The Toto language, spoken by under 1,700 individuals at last count, had no script until Dhaniram Toto, 59, gave it one. For his achievement, he is being awarded the Padma Shri in 2023. He spoke to Careers 360 about the language, its speakers and the birth of the Toto alphabet. Edited excerpts.

SCHOOLING IN A 'FOREIGN' LANGUAGE

Kerala designed a series of textbooks and learning materials exclusively for the Muthuvans, a tribal community residing deep in the forests of the Western Ghats, who don't speak Malayalam and don't have a script.

STUDYING SCIENCE WITHOUT BOOKS OR WRITING

Tamil Nadu’s volunteer-driven programme to encourage STEM learning has been received well but the frequency of the classes is too low.

ODISHA: FAILING ITS CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

Odisha doesn't allow teachers holding qualifications in special education to join regular schools. This has left the vast majority of its 1.46 lakh disabled students without vital support.

YEARS FOR FRUIT; MONTHS FOR SALARY

Uttar Pradesh has implemented neither the increased cooking cost nor the honorarium for workers. Instead, payments are delayed and children served poor quality school meals.

ADOPTED AND ABANDONED

Only some of the schools adopted by elected leaders and bureaucrats in UP have seen real development. The rest still await teachers, benches, toilets.

CHAOS, CONFUSION ABOUT BOARD EXAMS IN CLASSES 5, 8

More states have framed policies for public exams in elementary school from 2023. But private schools are caught in a fix over them.

WHAT HAPPENED IN BENGAL?

West Bengal's teacher recruitment scam has stalled hiring for years and left generations of children without quality teachers.

LEARNING BEYOND CLASSROOMS, EXAMS

Workshops, internships, community service, field work in high school 'make children socially conscious, foster independent thinking'

SYLLABUS CUTS PUSH STUDENT TO 'DUMMY' SCHOOLS

During the pandemic, the CBSE exam syllabus was cut and the NCERT textbooks' content 'rationalised'. But the major entrance exams' syllabi remained the same.

NATIONAL VS INTERNATIONAL

Schools affiliated to international boards have spread even to tier-two towns. How do they compare with national education boards?

Why Indian Students Are Important To The UK

Indian students are regarded as valuable contributors to the advancement of science and technology research in international campuses.

High Interest In Foreign B-Schools But Jobs Are A Concern

Management is a popular choice for postgraduate studies abroad but with the recent downturn, many students are looking to return to India, say experts.

Studying Abroad Is An Investment For The Future

Here's a quick guide to planning the financing of your overseas education - timelines, loans, what to account for.

Study Abroad - How Much Will It Cost?

Experts weigh in on budgeting for a degree abroad and whether you should worry about currency values and visa timelines.

10 Most Common Myths About Studying Abroad

Lack of awareness has led to many myths and misconceptions influencing critical decisions and students losing opportunities. Here are some of the most common ones busted.

'I ENDED UP CREATING MY OWN SPACE'

Sumeet Samos Turuk, 28, anti-caste activist and rapper, has had an interesting higher education journey. From Koraput, Odisha, he came to Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University and eventually secured admission in Oxford University. Without scholarships or personal resources, he successfully crowdfunded his Oxford tuition fee, raising Rs. 38 lakh in three hours. Now back in India, Samos spoke to Careers360 about the challenges that historically-marginalised students face while applying for universities abroad and what happened when he became a part of an international classroom. Samos has also written a book, Affairs of Caste. Edited excerpts below.

CREATING LEADERS WITH EMPATHY

In 2017, Raju Kendre set up Eklavya India Foundation to promote higher education and grassroots-leadership among first-generation learners in Maharashtra. It has been mentoring students from marginalised communities to pursue education in India’s premier educational institutions and now, it wants to send such students abroad through its Global Scholar Programme GSP). In 2022, Kendre featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 list’. Hailing from a farming family, Kendre spoke to Careers360 about the inspiration for GSP and why they are focusing first on law, media, public policy, development, humanities and social sciences.

DEMOCRATISING HIGHER EDUCATION

A group of research scholars in some of the UK’s top universities are helping over 350 Indian students from marginalised communities apply for universities abroad.

INDIAN CLASSROOM TO GLOBAL EXPOSURE

Twinning and transfer programmes allow students to get a foreign degree at about half the cost of a full course abroad.

NEW PATH TO STUDYING ABROAD

Pathways programmes help students who want to study abroad but don’t quite meet the entry requirements close the gap.

'WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THE TEST SCORE INTEGRITY IS ABOUT HONESTY'

ETS, a global testing service based in the United States, which is in charge of conducting Test of English as a Foreign Language TOEFL) and Graduate Record Examinations GRE), has appointed a new global chief security officer, Wallace Dalrymple. This is the first time that the company, best known for its English language proficiency test, has set up a global chief security officer. Dalrymple spoke to Careers360 about his role, the challenges to securing tests such as TOEFL, preventing impersonation and why his first priority is India. For context, tens of lakhs of Indians take the TOEFL each year to prove their English proficiency for studying or working in English-speaking countries. Edited excerpts below.

'CASTE IS A PROBLEM AMONG SOUTH ASIAN STUDENTS EVERYWHERE'

Meet the South Asian students and teachers working toward getting historically-marginalised castes protected status in university campuses.

'AFTER LEARNING GERMAN, I HAD LOTS OF CALLS FOR INTERVIEWS'

Naveen Eldho Paul writes about his 2 years in Germany as a student the cost, the lonely Christmases, working part-time, difficulty learning German and the opportunities that opened up once he did.

SEVENTY PERCENT INDIAN STUDENTS IN FRANCE STUDYING MANAGEMENT

As a study-abroad destination, France is especially popular for its management programmes with over 70% of its Indian students enrolled in them. Campus France, a branch of the French Government has offices in 12 cities in India and 14 specialists to guide students seeking to pursue higher education in France. Margo Girard, national coordinator of Campus France India spoke to Careers360 about France’s higher education system, why it is costeffective, application process, and work.