CAT May Soon Go Global

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If things go according to plan, the CAT entrance examination may soon be held globally on the lines of GRE or GMAT.

IIM-Lucknow director Devi Singh said the prospect is being looked into as lot of queries from countries like Sri Lanka and some East Asian nations have come in.

"Some B-schools in France have already started accepting CAT scores," he told reporters.

Singh said the test could be held on the lines of Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) with provisions that students can take the exam during any time of the year. GRE and GMAT scores are accepted by b-schools across the globe.

Upbeat over the successful completion of CAT this year under the online format, he said, "CAT could also be made an independent body to hold the exam, which is a largest of its kind in the world.

"We are seriously looking at it (making CAT a separate body) and a committee is also looking at it."

He said the independent body could relieve IIM professors of the whole process of the test.

As many as 2,04,267 candidates had registered for the test this year, held under the aegis of IIM Lucknow and Prometric India.

Faculty of IIM Lucknow Himanshu Rai said the mandatory 90 minute waiting period for CAT candidates before starting the test "will be reduced from next year".

Besides candidates can also fill the CAT vouchers online from next year, he said.

The CAT online test this year were held over 20 days in 78 locations across 33 cities using 246 computer labs.

Prometric which was responsible for conducting the online test said it had taken several tests to ensure that it is held smoothly.

The CAT exam, which went online last year, was marred by technical glitches last year, triggering rescheduling of the test.

Source: OUTLOOK

JNV bags second rank in Youth Parliament

KATHLAL: Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV), Kathlal, bagged the first position at 14th Youth Parliament 2010, NVS Pune region. The second place went to JNV, Banaskantha. JNV, Kathlal hosted the annual event, organized jointly by government of India and Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS), New Delhi, to train the students to excel in their political endeavours. Four JNVs from Gujarat - Kodinar, Banaskantha, Bharuch and Kathalal - had qualified for the event on Thursday.

About 200 students from the four schools took part in the parliament, where they acted as speaker, prime minister, leader of the opposition, deputy speaker besides ministers for home, finance, defense, HRD and agriculture among others.

Kathlal MLA Kanubhai Dabhi inaugurated the event, which had Matar MLA Devu Sinh Chauhan as the chief guest. School principal JN Bhonsale welcomed the guests.









Source: Times of India

 

Nothing for children in their budgets

Even as the middle class and politicians are gloating over US President Barack Obama’s remark that “India has emerged”, it comes as a rude shock that one of the fastest growing economies spends only 4.45 paise, on an average, per child every year. This is not a mere conjecture, but the finding of an analysis of the Union Budget and Budgets of six State Governments conducted over a five-year period. According to the ‘Budget for Children’ analysis, conducted by Haq: Centre for Child Rights, a non-profit organisation, of every Rs 100 allocated in the Union Budget, education programmes get Rs 2.90, while health and development programmes receive less than one rupee each — this after the Budget allocation for children went up by 40 per cent from Rs 21,033 crore in 2005-06 to Rs 29,518 crore in 2006-07 under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the Integrated Child Development Scheme programmes. What is startling to note is that while the Budget allocation has increased, in actual spending, children’s share has come down to 4.12 paise per child — clearly bringing to the fore a wide chasm that exists between policy planning and capacity utilisation in India.

A pertinent question that could be asked is why do children get a raw deal. Guided by reapolitik, one would say because children do not constitute vote-banks. However, in reality the problem lies in the fact that there is a growing gap between public spending and its intended beneficieries. A case in point is the reaction of the Planning Commission to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s announcement regarding the opening of 6,000 Navodaya schools. The Planning Commission decided that 3,500 schools would be in the public sector and 2,500 in the private sector. It is common knowledge that education in the private sector has emerged as a profitable business with little room for philanthropy and hence the 2,500 schools would hardly serve the purpose envisaged in the Right to Education Act. Ideally, providing easy access to quality school education and healthcare should be a responsibility of the Union and State Governments, but the unobliging attitude of a section of politicians and bureaucrats, in effect, reduces the scope of the benefit. Sure, investing in children would augur well for a nation sprinting away to economic prosperity because they are the social capital. Lack of investment in social capital would result in negative outcomes such as early school drop-out, substance abuse, poor labour market entry, and crime and violence, which in turn would lead to substantial economic, social and political costs. In fact, in Latin America and the Caribbean, negative youth behaviours reduce economic growth by up to two per cent annually. If the Government wants to gloss over such facts, it would do so at the country’s peril. Definitely, children demand more commitment from policy-makers, in case the Government wants a stable, vibrant India.