'Project Selvi' launched

Chennai:Social Welfare Minister Poongothai on Saturday launched ‘Project Selvi’, a Rotary Club initiative to provide vocational training for underprivileged girls.Rotary District 3230 governor A.S. Venkatesh said the project would help girls in Chennai and surrounding areas to learn skills such as catering, driving, tailoring, marketing and computer operations.Vinod Saraogi, district chairman, said the girls will receive free spoken English training from VETA.Call 42111000 for details.

This youngster knows Tirukkural inside out

Madurai:The couplets of Tirukkural highlight the spirit that preaches positive love and forgiveness besides leading a humane life.It has a message for all – children, parents and kings.But what about the Tamil letters used? Scholars themselves would not have as extensively researched the usage of vowels and consonants in the work as M. Vadivelan has done, one might wonder.

A standard VIII student of Royal Vidyalaya Matriculation School, Madurai, Vadivelan knows that Tiruvalluvar has used 40,900 words (excluding headings) throughout the book. Of these, 3,074 letters are ‘uyir ezhuthukkal,’ 12,729 ‘mei ezhuthukkal’ and 25,047 ‘uyir-mei ezhuthukkal’ and the lone ‘ayutha ezhuthu’ in 50 places.“Tiruvalluvar has not used the letter ‘ow,’ but has used the ‘aa and iv’ combination,” Vadivelan says. Tirukkural has three 23-lettered couplets, ten 24-lettered couplets and so on. The list ends with one 39-lettered couplet, which also takes the pride of being the longest couplet of the work.

Vadivelan can also say how many times each letter appears in every chapter.What motivated him? His determination to be different and the help extended by his teachers. Since the standard III, he was searching for a platform to exhibit his unique talent. One day, Manimaran, Vadivelan’s father, asked if he had completed studying Tirukkural. To escape his father’s wrath, Vadivelan asked him if he knew anything about the number of letters used in Tirukkural.“That casual conversation gave me the idea to work on the Tirukkural project for about one and a half years,” Vadivelan says.

Vadivelan wrote 1,330 couplets on a 91-feet-long paper and presented it along with his research work to the former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam as Tamil New Year greetings. What is he doing now? Studying couplets and their meaning. “So far, I have completed 1,000 couplets,” he says. What does he want to become in life? “The Collector of Madurai.”

Training for teachers

Teachers at the training programme on Active Learning Methodology which began in Salem on Tuesday.The four-day training programme for school teachers on Active Learning Methodology, a new teaching method, has begun in all the block resource centres in the district on Tuesday.The method is aimed at improving the education quality in Standards VI to VIII. The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) introduced the method in ten schools in Ayodhyapattinam block in the district on a trial basis this academic year. The method is expected to be introduced in all the schools in the State in the coming academic year.

The programme will enable the teachers to understand various concepts used in the method and ensure effectiveness in the teaching-learning process in the Standard VI-VIII.SSA officials said that the Active Learning Methodology is primarily based on "SQ4R” concept, which lays importance on aspects such as Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review and Reflect. Students would be encouraged to undertake self-learning and peer-group learning. The child will be motivated to use the mind power mapping technique to draw the lesson in a pictorial form, officials said.

Each student will be asked to prepare a mind power map of the content based on his or her understanding. The teacher will review the maps, identify the areas where students lack understanding and help them learn better. This provides the teacher an insight into the psyche of the student, officials said.The method will help children become more creative. It will be useful to teach English, science and social science subjects, officials added.The SSA will conduct more training programmes on the method to all the teachers taking classes for Standards VI - VIII.

‘International art and craft contest’ inaugurated

Chennai:Pidilite’s ‘International art and craft contest’ was inaugurated here at P.S. Senior Secondary School on Monday.The contest, organised by Pidilite Industries Limited – manufacturers of stationery items such as Fevicol, will cover 10,000 schools in India and abroad. As many as 20 lakh students are expected to participate in the contest.

The competition, which started off as a national-level contest, is being held for the third successive year. Last year the competition was extended to a few other countries. So, this year too students from India will compete with their counterparts in other countries.The contest will be held at four levels: namely school, city, zonal and mega final rounds. The international ‘Art and Craft Champion’ will receive a scholarship of Rs.50,000 from HDFC Standard Life, the partnering organisation.

Speaking on the occasion, P.S. Senior Secondary School correspondent A.N. Radhakrishnan said the contest was a good effort to recognise the artistic and creative abilities of school students. He said he hoped students of the school would give their best and win prizes.The contest was launched at the school, thanks to Sunanda, who won the regional-level contest and the third place in the international contest last year is a Standard V student of the school.Inaugurating the contest, MLA B. Ranganathan, urged students to respect their parents and teachers. “That will take you to great heights,” he told students.

J.M.Jose, Head of Regional Sales and Marketing, Pidilite, eminent artist Maruthi and principal of the school Lakshmi Srinivasan were present.At the end of the contest, apart from student winners, the most creative school, and art and craft teachers will also receive awards at the event. The mega final will be held between October 19 and 28 in Mumbai. For further details, call 3911 4000.

Education infrastructure in Kayathar panchayat

Tuticorin: The Centre for Human Empowerment through Education-related Services, a non-governmental organisation based at Eppothumvendran near here has urged the district administration to augment the educational infrastructure in Kayathar panchayat union.Speaking to reporters here on Saturday, Sister Assunta, Director of the group, said that of the 130-odd villages in the Kayathar block, 25 hamlets did not have any educational institutions.

According to her, 11 out of the 25 hamlets have about 10 to 25 primary school-going children residing there.Owing to lack of educational infrastructure, these children were forced to go to schools, which were very far from their houses.“Compounding their woes, the public transport services were inadequate in the Kayathar block,” she said adding that the students were thus forced to walk long distances to reach schools if they wanted to pursue education.She said that the authorities concerned should take steps to establish more schools across the block and to introduce frequent bus connectivity within the block.

City student wins bronze at Chemistry Olympiad

For T. Immanuel Ilavarasan, who begins his Computer Science Engineering course at the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras on Monday, it has been a season of success.After topping the State in the IIT—Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) by obtaining the 39th rank, he won a bronze medal at the Chemistry Olympiad, which concluded in Moscow last week.Back after spending over a week with 265 finalists from 68 countries, Immanuel described the experience as having been “fantastic”.

Four students from the country chosen from nearly 30,000 candidates, who took the preliminary examination for selection, received intensive training at the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE), Mumbai, for nearly a month before they left. And, the training seems to have paid off. The four students have returned with two gold, one silver and one bronze medals. Immanuel, the only student from South India, is the bronze medal winner at the event. “Holding the Indian flag at the closing ceremony of the Olympiad is an unforgettable moment in my life,” says the teenager.

Students had to prove their merit through a theoretical and a practical examination. So what does the young chemist want to do next? “I have opted for engineering in the computer science discipline because I want to master computing. There are several avenues coming up such as computational chemistry, computational biology and interface sciences. I have not decided in which area I want to specialise,” he says.

Interestingly, Immanuel spends considerable time doing “fun things” such as playing table tennis, in which he represented the State till he was in Class X. “He also plays the guitar well,” says his father, V.S. Thomas, who is the assistant head master at Santhome Higher Secondary School. A product of St.Bede’s Anglo Indian School, he says the perception that only students following the CBSE syllabus can make it to the IITs or crack Olympiads should change. “With the right kind of focus and effort, anyone can.”

Aim high and achieve goals, Kalam urges students

Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam interacts with students who presented a science project as part of Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Senior Secondary School’s triennial educational project in Chennai on Sunday. Correspondent and vice-principal Sheela Rajendra is in the picture.Students of Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Senior Secondary School, Nungambakkam, could not have asked for a better ending to their triennial educational project ‘Uthishta Uthishta Bhoomim Raksha’ (Arise, awake, save our globe), which concluded here on Sunday.Just when they were about to wrap up the four-day event, they heard that former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam may drop in.

After a few minutes of anxiety, it became almost evident that he was going to be there, as security personnel with hand-held metal detectors appeared.At around 3.15 p.m., a white Ambassador car arrived outside the school’s main gate. And in no time, students jumped with excitement as they spotted Mr. Kalam wearing a warm smile.With students applauding in joy, the former president walked in and proceeded towards the dais, making a few enquiries with the students standing on either side. After visiting the science laboratory, where students’ science projects were on display, he addressed an eager audience comprising students, teachers and parents.

“What is the one word that we keep hearing all the time, everywhere?” he asked the students.“Exams,” said one. “Discipline,” said another. “Peace”, “Sorry” and “Corruption” were the other answers he got.“Don’t we keep hearing the word impossible all the time?” A product or system heavier than air cannot fly was the belief till the Wright Brothers invented the aeroplane, he explained.“The Bumblebee, which cannot fly scientifically, flies because it wants to. So higher the aim, you will definitely reach it,” he told students, who watched him without batting an eyelid. He read out an oath and asked the audience to repeat the lines.

The ‘people’s president’ made sure his student friends, who were in total awe, had an opportunity to ask a question. Class Nine student Karthik.V.S sprung up asking, “How is Dr. Kalam better known? As the president or as a teacher?” he asked. Pat came the reply. “The teacher is a good fellow!”Speaking at the event earlier, N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu, commended the dean and director of the school Mrs.Y.G. Parthasarathy and the school faculty for the “wonderful work done”. He said students had taken up an impressive range of issues that mattered, issues that were relevant and those which connected lives of young people to the rest of the world.Speaking on the usage of nuclear weapons, climate change and peace — some of the topics that students had chosen, he said students, with the help of their teachers, had done a very fine job.

422 engineering seats filled on Day One of general counselling

A busy day at the counselling centre, Anna University in Chennai, where general counselling for engineering admissions began on Monday.The first day of general counselling under the single window system for engineering admissions saw 422 seats being filled from among the 620 students who attended it at Anna University on Monday.As per the initial intake, 62,337 seats in 266 colleges were available under the government quota as on Monday. By the end of the day, 61,172 seats were available under all categories.

Earlier, handing over allotment letters to 10 top rankers, Higher Education Minister K. Ponmudy said all available seats would be filled this year. Over 25,000 call letters had been issued for the first phase of counselling. A total of 84,000 students had applied for the 65,000 seats that were expected to be filled under the government quota as the counselling proceeds.More seats were expected to come under counselling as the All India Council for Technical Education had given its approval for 15 new colleges. However, no additional seats were available with Anna University.

Of the top rankers eight have been allotted Electronics and Communication Engineering seats and the other two Computer Science seats in Anna University’s constituent colleges. P. Arvind, who was allotted a seat in the College of Engineering, Guindy, was given the first allotment letter.Assuring students from the vocational stream that the Government would heed their demand for more seats, Mr. Ponmudy said separate counselling would be held for them after the first phase was over. A total of 700 candidates had been allotted seats out of the 2,100 who had applied under this stream.

Altogether 1,171 seats have been filled through counselling for special quotas such as physically handicapped, vocational and students from other States.Some of the students allotted seats under medical counselling had given them up in favour of engineering seats, the Minister said.The university has made arrangements to counsel around 1,000 students a day and this would be scaled up to 2,400 as more seats are made available for counselling, Rhymend Uthariaraj, Secretary, Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions, said.

Applications for admission to M.E

Tirunelveli:The Department of Computer Science and Engineering of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University has invited applications for admission to M.E. Computer Science and Engineering programme (both full-time and part-time).According to the Registrar, MSU, P. Chellathurai, said admissions to M.E. programme will be through GATE, TANCET. Candidates without TANCET, GATE score will have to take an entrance test to be conducted by the Department of Computer Science and Engineering on July 25 at 11 a.m. at university.

B.E. candidates with 55 per cent and above marks in Computer Science and Engineering, Information Technology, Electrical and Electronics, Electronics and Communication, Instrumentation and Control, Electronics and Instrumentation are eligible for the M.E.programme.Aspiring candidates can appear for the entrance test on July 25 by submitting a Demand Draft for Rs. 600 (Rs. 350 for application and Rs. 250 for entrance test) drawn in favour of, the Registrar, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli.For Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe candidates, the DD amount is Rs. 350 only, the Registrar said.

1 more collage at Ooty

Udhagamandalam: The founder of the Good Shepherd International School near here, P.C.Thomas, is all set to provide one more educational facility - the Good Shepherd College of Hotel Management, in association with the Switzerland-based Cesar Ritz Colleges.It would be dedicated on Saturday by Cesar Ritz Colleges president Martin Kisseleff. Having brought into being the Good Shepherd Public School here about three decades ago and subsequently converting it into an international school, Mr. Thomas established the Good Shepherd Finishing School a few years ago and now under the aegis of his Good Shepherd Academy of Higher Education, the College of Hotel Management has been created.He told media persons here on Friday that the college would be housed in the Baroda Palace at Fernhill.

“240 schools upgraded”

Nagercoil: The Government is striving hard to improve the lot of students by upgrading schools in the State, said the Tourism Minister, N. Suresh Rajan.Speaking at the inaugural function of a drinking water facility and overhead tank at Sir C.V. Raman Higher Secondary School at Boothapandi recently, the Minister said that In this academic year alone 120 middle schools and another 120 high schools were upgraded. The Government has reduced the fee in engineering colleges to Rs.7,500 as it would help rural students.

School buildings inaugurated

Tirunelveli:The Minister for Environment and Pollution Control, T.P.M. Maideen Khan, inaugurated additional school buildings constructed under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan programme at a cost of Rs. 6.45 lakh at the Government High School, Tharuvai, near here on Saturday.Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Maideen Khan said infiltration wells would be sunk to solve drinking crisis at Tharuvai and another Rs.10 lakh allocated for constructing ‘aalangaal’ bridge also at Tharuvai, where Rs. 50 lakh had so far been spent on laying roads.The Tirunelveli MP, R. Dhanushkodi Adityan, said that Rs.15 crore had been allocated for the district under SSA programme.

Over 500 girls take part in cultural meet

Students participating in a ‘rangoli’ event in Tuticorin on Thursday.An inter-school cultural meet was organised as part of the ‘Diamond Jubilee jamboree’ of Subbiah Vidyalayam Girls Higher Secondary School here on Thursday.Essay competitions were conducted on topics such as ‘Role of students in renovating the city,’ ‘Self-reliance and self-confidence,’ and ‘Role of Information Technology in modern life,’ for students of middle schools, high schools and higher secondary schools respectively.Elocution events too were conducted in three levels on themes such as ‘President Kalam’s dreams about children,’ ‘Internet – a boon or a bane?,’ and ‘Globalisation.’

Besides, dance, drawing, ‘rangoli,’ fancy dress, floral designs (‘pookolam’) and mehndi competitions were organised.In the vegetable carving event, competitors made crocodile park, fountains, ponds and chariots using carrots, pumpkins, cabbages, brinjals and bananas.About 550 girls from 24 schools in Tuticorin and Kovilpatti Educational districts took part in the event.The Chief Educational Officer, David Balasingh, inaugurated the cultural programme.The Headmistress of Subbiah Vidyalayam Higher Secondary School, P.K. Pappusundari, was also present on the occasion.

Stage demo by Students

Members of the All India Students’ Federation staging a demonstration in Tuticorin on Sunday.Members of the All India Students’ Federation staged a demonstration here on Sunday.They urged the authorities concerned to improve educational facilities in the district.The agitators said that steps should be taken to open more government colleges, besides augmenting facilities at government hostels for students.

According to the cadres, uniform syllabi should be evolved at school level after scrapping different types of syllabi like Anglo Indian, Matriculation and CBSE.The banks should expedite disbursal of educational loans to needy students, instead of making them wait for long periods.Bus passes should be distributed to all college and school students at the earliest.They urged the district administration to run more number of buses to rural areas to facilitate students to reach colleges and schools situated in the towns easily.Stalin Mahendra Singh, State joint secretary, and J. Murugan, district president of the AISF, spoke.

Kendriya Vidyalaya in Pudukottai soon

Tiruchi: The decks have been cleared for starting Kendriya Vidyalayas in Perambalur and Pudukottai districts from the current academic year.Temporary buildings, with the requisite facilities, have been identified in these districts for commencing classes for Standard I-V.In Perambalur, the temporary building for the school has been located at Madanagopalapuram within the town limits, while in Pudukottai, the building of the Public Works Department opposite the government hospital has been approved.

To begin with, there will be single section classes in Perambalur district and two-section classes in Pudukottai district, says K.V. Jayajothi, Principal, Kendriya Vidyalaya-1, Tiruchi, who recently inspected the facilities and approved them.The schools will subsequently be shifted to permanent buildings in sites allotted by the district administration.Teachers will be transferred to the new schools from the nearby Kendriya Vidyalayas, and contractual appointments will also be made.The initiative is in keeping with the Centre’s policy of starting a Kendriya Vidyalaya in each district.The sponsoring agency — the State Government — will enjoy a quota of 10 seats in each section.

Revising guidelines for autonomous colleges

Chennai:UGC members and heads of institutions at a consultation meeting held in Chennai on Saturday. Representatives from over 70 autonomous institutions across the State attended a consultation meeting, organised by the University Grants Commission (UGC), here on Saturday. Stella Maris was the host college.The meeting was aimed at revising the guidelines prescribed during the 10th Five Year Plan for autonomous colleges. The UGC constituted a committee to compile feedback given by principles, deans and senior faculty of autonomous institutions, and submit it to the Commission. The UGC would consider these while revising the guidelines for the 11th Five Year Plan period.

Committee member Xavier Alphonse said Tamil Nadu had the highest number of autonomous institutions in the country. Over 100 colleges of the nearly 275 autonomous institutions in the country were in the State.The guidelines would broadly be based on three objectives, namely, removing bottlenecks in the process of realisation of autonomy, to facilitate a quicker process to obtain autonomy and to enhance the status of autonomy to degree awarding status.“In the light of suggestions made here, we will submit a draft with the guidelines to the Commission by August. We are expecting the revised guidelines to be out by this September,” Mr.Alphonse said.The committee, besides requesting for a raise in funding (from Rs.12 lakh to Rs.20 lakh every year), will address inclusiveness in higher education, credit transfer, vertical mobility and lateral entry.

The first consultation meeting was held in Andhra Pradesh and the final meeting in the series would be held in Bhopal soon. The committee comprises UGC’s joint secretary A.K.Dogra and UGC members, Ramamurthy Naidu, Sashi Rai .and Mr.Alphonse.Mr.Alphonse said UGC was considering recognising community colleges as an alternate system of learning for school drop outs and candidates failing in class ten and addressing how they could be mainstreamed later.

Varsity wants senior professors to value answer scripts

Vice-Chancellor of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University Cynthia Pandian addressing a meeting in Tirunelveli on Saturday. The Manonmaniam Sundaranar University (MSU) has made valuation of answer scripts by senior professors compulsory. This is following a series of complaints from several quarters, particularly the Controller of Examinations (In-Charge), N. Arunachalam, regarding repeated skipping of paper valuation by senior faculty members of affiliated colleges.

Participating in a debate on one of the resolutions in the Standing Committee on Academic Affairs (SCAA) of MSU here on Saturday, Dr. Arunachalam said that the senior professors, who did not want to value the undergraduate and post-graduate answer scripts, wanted only to be chiefs. Consequently, the faculty members working in self-financing colleges with only a few years of teaching experience had to be roped in for paper valuation.Members V. Rajaram, M. Sadananthan and others reiterated that the students could get a fair deal only by bringing in the senior professors for valuation.

Intervening, the Vice-Chancellor, MSU, Cynthia Pandian asked the SCAA members whether the promotion of senior professors could be deferred for a while if they preferred to skip paper valuation. But none of the participants favoured the suggestion. “Since we are receiving a lot of complaints from students and good number of appeals for revaluation, the senior faculty members should come forward to fulfill one of their duties,” Dr. Pandian said. When member K. Kumarasamy moved a resolution on admitting all science students, who had studied mathematics at Plus Two in the M.Sc. Computer Science programme irrespective of their major in the undergraduate programme, it drew flak from all quarters.

Thiruvallur's university launched website

Vellore:The results of the undergraduate examinations of the Thiruvalluvar University held in April/May 2007 will be published on the university’s new website, http://www.tvuni.org/, which was launched by Vice-Chancellor L. Kannan here on Thursday.Talking to newspersons, Dr. Kannan said that students could see the results, including marks on the website. Besides, the results and mark sheets would be despatched to all affiliated colleges so as to reach them on Friday. A total of 52,026 students, comprising 25,387 men and 26,639 women appeared for the April/May 2007 examinations.Dr. Kannan said that the university was going to introduce the semester pattern for all undergraduate courses and postgraduate courses (except B. Ed.) from the academic year 2007-2008.

The syllabi for the semester pattern had been meticulously prepared by the respective Boards of Studies. This was a breakthrough for the university, which has been following the non-semester pattern till 2006-2007. The Department of Chemistry was under conversion as Department of Applied Chemistry.The Vice-Chancellor said that the 108 affiliated colleges comprised 56 arts and science colleges, 49 B. Ed. colleges and three oriental title colleges.The 56 arts and science colleges comprised 11 Government colleges, nine aided colleges and 36 self-financing colleges. In reply to a question, Dr. Kannan said that the university had sent proposals to the Government for Rs.44 crore for the construction of own buildings for the university, for which 100 acres of land have been identified in Serkadu.The Government was in the process of issuing an order. The university could get the 12-B status entitling it to the receipt of funds from the University Grants Commission only when it had its own buildings, he said.

SSLC/OSLC special supplementary examinations

Vellore:The SSLC/OSLC special supplementary examinations will be conducted from July 3 to 12 for those candidates, who appeared in the March/April 2007 public examinations but failed in one to three subjects and also for private failed candidates, according to a release from the Regional Deputy Director of Government Examinations, Vellore.Regular candidates could obtain their admission cards at their respective schools from June 29 to July 2.

Private candidates could obtain the admission cards at the following centres on the same dates:Cheyyar education district: St. Paul’s High School, Cheyyar; Tiruvannamalai education district: S.R.G.T.S. Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Tiruvannamalai; Tirupattur education district: T.M.S. HSS, Tirupattur; Vellore education district: Government High School, Sathuvachari.The Matriculation/Anglo-Indian School Leaving Certificate special supplementary Examinations will be conducted from July 2 to 12 for private candidates failed in one to three subjects.

The private candidates who applied through the schools will be issued the admission cards at the respective schools from June 28 to 30, while those, who applied directly, will be issued the admission cards at the following centres from June 28 to 30:Cheyyar education district: Government High School, Cheyyar; Tiruvannamalai education district: Gandhinagar Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Tiruvannamalai; Tirupattur education district: Lions Matriculation HSS, Tirupattur; Vellore education district: Government HSS, Sathuvachari.

ICFAI college offers concession to MBA programme

Tiruchi:Boys and girls joining the MBA programme offered by ICFAI National College with 70 per cent score in bachelor’s degree would be entitled to a fee concession of 50 per cent and 70 per cent respectively, P. Ramkumar, Associate Dean, ICFAI National College, Bangalore, told pressperson here on Thursday.Undergraduate students with a minimum of 50 per cent would be eligible to join the programme after getting through a written test and interview.

From this year, the two-year course fee of Rs. 2.16 lakh would include provision for laptops, books, examination fee, alumni fund and industrial visit charges. The fee could either be paid in eight instalments or under equated monthly instalment scheme over a four-year period.Mr. Ramkumar said that the students should complete 27 courses and two management theses to secure an MBA degree. During the four-month internship in industrial and business establishments, they would be paid a stipend of Rs. 3,000 a month.

To enhance communication skills, the college has introduced English Language Bridge Course and non-B.com students would be initiated into a preparatory programme. There was a provision for dual specialisation from amongst areas that comprise marketing, HR, banking, insurance, investment and accounting. The course contents had been customised to the requirements of the evolving business environment, Mr. Ramkumar said.As regards placement, most of the nearly 200 students who had passed out of the college in Tiruchi over the past couple of years had been placed in various companies.The classes would commence on July 2, Mr. Ramkumar said.