Education - Current Affairs for November, 2017

The National Achievement Survey (NAS) is the largest ever national assessment survey in the country and is amongst the largest in the world, was conducted throughout the country on 13^th Nov, 2017. Union HRD Minister Shri Prakash Javadekar said that the NAS is a transparent and credible exercise done under third party verification. It was conducted for the Classes 3, 5 and 8 in government and government aided schools. The survey tools used multiple test booklets with 45 questions in Classes III and V related to language, mathematics and 60 questions in Class VIII in Mathematics, Language, Sciences and Social Sciences. The competency based test questions developed reflected the Learning Outcomes developed by the NCERT which were recently incorporated in the Right to Education Act (RTE) by the Government of India. Along with the test items, questionnaires pertaining to students, teachers and schools were also used. The learning levels of more than 25 lakhs students from 1,10,000 across 700 districts in all 36 States/UTs were assessed. More than 1.75 lakhs trained Field Investigators from outside the government education system were engaged to conduct the learning assessment in the country. To ensure the fairness of the survey, a monitoring team was constituted which consisted of observers from inter-ministerial departments drawn from the State Governments, National and State Observers from Education Departments and multi-lateral organizations. The district wise learning report cards will be prepared based on a software especially designed for this. Subsequently, analytical reports will be prepared. The inferences will be used to design Classroom interventions percolated to all the schools in the districts for implementation. The findings of the survey, will also help in understanding the efficiency of the education system. NAS results will help guide education policy, planning and implementation at national, state, district and classroom levels for improving learning levels of children and bringing about qualitative improvements.

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved creation of National Testing Agency (NTA) as a Society registered under the Indian Societies Registration Act, 1860. It is an autonomous and self-sustained premier testing organization to conduct entrance examinations for higher educational institutions. Features:

• The NTA would initially conduct those entrance examinations which are currently being conducted by the CBSE.
• Other examinations will be taken up gradually after NTA is fully geared up.
• The entrance examinations will be conducted in online mode at least twice a year, thereby giving adequate opportunity to candidates to bring out their best.
• In order to serve the requirements of the rural students, it would locate the centres at sub-district/district level and as far as possible would undertake hands-on training to the students.

• NTA will be chaired by an eminent educationist appointed by MHRD.
• The CEO will be the Director General to be appointed by the Government.
• There will be a Board of Governors comprising members from user institutions.
• The Director General will be assisted by 9 verticals headed by academicians/ experts.

• NTA will be given a one-time grant of Rs.25 crore from the Government of India to start its operation in the first year. Thereafter, it will be financially self-sustainable.

• Establishment of NTA will benefit about 40 lakh students appearing in various entrance examinations.
• It will relieve CBSE, AICTE and other agencies from responsibility of conducting these entrance examinations, and also bring in high reliability, standardized difficulty level for assessing the aptitude, intelligence and problem solving abilities of the student.
• In view of the need to have a specialized body in India like the most advanced countries, the Finance Minister in the Budget speech of 2017-18 had announced setting up of a National Testing Agency (NTA) as an autonomous and self-sustained premier testing organization to conduct all entrance examinations for higher educational institutions.

In a bid to boost science and technology learning among students, the government will hold a nationwide science talent search examination through a mobile application. State minister Alphons Joseph Kannanthanam launched the mobile app Vidhyarthi Vigyan Manthan (VVM). The app will be used for National Science Talent Search examination to be held on November 26. The VVM app will be available on Android and Apple's iOS platform. Students appearing for the examination will have to register on the mobile app and will need to visit the authorised centre to take the test. The app will disconnect and free other applications of mobile or laptop once the examination starts. The examination will be conducted in two sections - junior classes which are class 6-8 and senior classes comprising students from class 9-12. The syllabus for the test is available online. Every student will be assessed based on class-based performance. Winners will get recognition, a cash prize and government-sponsored trip to science labs in the country and even abroad. Cash Prizes for Nationwide Science Talent Search Exam Winners (State) Winner - cash prize of INR 10,000, Runner-up - cash prize of INR 7,000 Second Runner-up - cash prize of INR 5,000 Cash Prizes for Nationwide Science Talent Search Exam Winners (National) Winner - cash prize of INR 25,000 Runner-up - cash prize of INR 15,000 Second Runner-up - cash prize of INR 10,000