Bhubaneswar, Dec. 31: From controversies to reforms, from campus ruckus to launch of new schemes, 2010 was an eventful year for the education calendar in Orissa.

CONTROVERSIES

Vedanta storm

The most prominent among all the controversies was the high court’s order to quash the process of land acquisition for the proposed Vedanta University in Puri. On November 16, the court directed the government to return the acquired land to its owner. The order was passed in response to petitions filed by people who had lost their lands to the project and many who claimed that the land belonged to Lord Jagannath. They had sought the intervention of the court, describing the land acquisition as illegal. Earlier, on May 11, the Centre ordered stalling the construction of the proposed university citing doubts over environment clearance.

Closed to change

The setting up of Orissa State Open University also met with stiff opposition from various quarters. The All India University Employees’ Confederation raised objections on certain provisions in the proposed university bill from time to time, dragging it into controversy. The confederation opposed the state government’s move to hand over control of the centres of distance education and correspondence course institutes to the proposed open university. The confederation said that this would lead to the untimely folding up of existing universities.

JEE jolt

The introduction of e-counselling in Orissa joint entrance examinations proved to be nightmare for many private institutes that were left to struggle on their own with many vacant seats despite conducting a second JEE. The scene was different with e-admissions introduced by the department of higher education in select Plus II and Plus III colleges. Buoyed by the success of this year, the department announced that all the 1,200-odd junior colleges would be included in the online admission process in the next academic year.

Dress mess

On September 25, the state government notified the Orissa Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rule–2010 finally bringing the compulsory education rule into force in the state. The rule has codified responsibilities of teachers, education officials and local authorities. The school and mass education department was dragged into various controversies this year — the most notable one being the introduction of dress code for teachers. The move invited widespread resentment among the teaching community and various teachers associations who called the direction “undemocratic” and “imposing”. At least two teachers were transferred and their salaries “held back” for having dared to share their opinion with the public.

Minister vs secretary

There were also reports of “no coordination” between the education departments secretary Aparajita Sarangi and minister Pratap Jena. The delay in supplying schoolbooks and a large number of vacancies in schools invited scathing criticism from all quarters and regular protests by various student organisations from time to time.

campus TENSION

Ravenshaw ruckus

Boy students of Ravenshaw University ended their 14-day hunger strike against the allotment of the 89-year old East Hostel to girls after vice-chancellor Devdas Chhotray reassured them they would look into their demands.

Fresh trouble

Two groups of students of the Institute of Technical Education and Research (ITER) clashed during the freshers’ party after one group allegedly passed derogatory remarks against the other on September 20. The incident left 10 injured and several vehicles damaged. Sixteen students arrested in this connection were later let off on bail.

Street justice

The Regional College of Management (RCM) was stripped of its “autonomous” status after it failed to admit students through the Orissa Joint Entrance Examinations (OJEE). Irked students boycotted classes and even took to the streets. Normality was restored with the governor’s intervention, who promised them help.

Out with ragging

The Orissa High Court directed BPUT to constitute a “monitoring cell” on ragging and ensure the formation of “counselling cells” for victims of ragging in all colleges and institutions affiliated to it in the state. This decision came in response to an alleged case of ragging of a second year student of Piloo Mody College of Architecture, Cuttack, and BPUT’s orders to rusticate five students, including a girl.

Students of various BPUT-affiliated institutes stopped buses on the road for four hours and gheraoed the University’s city office in Bhubaneswar protesting against the delay in announcing the dates for “special examinations” for students who had failed to clear tests.

Strike of the pen

Teachers of the Xavier’s group of English Medium Schools entered a pen-down strike for over a week in July demanding better infrastructure and hike in pay.

For Braille

In the same month, students of Bhima Bhoi School for the Blind sat on strike for over a month demanding Braille text books, trained teachers and increased food allowances.

REFORMS

Complain cheerfully

On the brighter side, grievance redress mechanisms launched by the department such as the school helpline — a toll free number for students to lodge their complaints — and the grievance cell for teachers became an instant hit with the beneficiaries. The teaching-learning assistance booklets Samadhan, Samiksha and Sadhan introduced by the department were also appreciated by many.

Donation ban

In another welcome move, the department banned holding of entrance examinations for Classes I to VIII in any public or private school in the state. In a notification to all private and government schools of the state, the department said that that there would be no interviews and no donations, any kind of fee, charges or expense charged by the schools that may prevent students from pursuing and completing elementary education

Welcome matters

Education reforms introduced by the Board of Secondary Education included introduction of a new kind of admit cards and certificates for the high school certificate exams that would come with an embedded picture of the candidate and a scanned signature. The new features were introduced with an aim to check impersonation. The BSE also decided to issue original certificates immediately after the publication of the results, saving students from unwanted hassles. The BSE has also announced introducing instant examinations instead of the existing supplementary examination.

Hurrah for cops

The police did its bit this year by ensuring that all school and college buses adhere to the Supreme Court safety guidelines. The drive is aimed at checking the number of road mishaps involving school buses and cops have started verifying if the 10-point-guidlines of the apex court are being religiously followed.