Eligibility test not applicable for present teachers: Centre

New Delhi: The Central government on Friday stated that the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) for teachers from class one to 8 are not applicable for present teachers. Union minister Kapil Sibal said the test would be applicable to new appointments. Minister was reply to the submission by MP Achuthan MP.

Many of the MPs sought explanation from the minister on the test, which made confusion among the teachers. The teachers unions from Kerala already protested against the test, which stated that teachers in schools where RTE would be applicable should pass the test. 

The notification was issued by National Council for Teachers Education, on August 23 2010. As per this in 2011-12 9.12 % (54,000) teacher passed the exam. In upper primary only 7% were passed. Only 5 to 6 % are being passed which points towards the hard work the teacher would have to do to pass the exam. If only fewer teachers would pass, there would be shortage of teachers, MPs said.

Kapil Sibal said less pass percentage of teachers who qualified Degree and BE.d is an evidence of low educational quality. Sibal said if small children were not being given good quality education, they would suffer during higher studies.

MATHRUBHUMI News

SSLC Results published.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Education Minister P K Abdu Rabb Thursday announced the results of the SSLC exams held this year. A pass percentage of 93.64 have been registered this year. An increase of 2.29% has been noticed when compared to last year.

6995 student have obtained A plus in all subjects. Kannur tops the highest pass percentage and Palakkad the lowest. Students of Kozhikode have bagged more A Plus. 711 schools have obtained 100% pass percentage and out of it, 210 are government schools. 4,70,100 students had written the SSLC exams this year. The exams were held from March 12-26. This is the first time, the results are being published within a month.

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RBI cuts key rates; loans to become cheaper

MUMBAI: After a gap of three years, Reserve Bank Governor D Subbarao today slashed short term lending rate by 0.50 per cent to 8 per cent, a move that will reduce the cost of home, auto and corporate loans.The reduction in the repo rate at which RBI lends to banks, has been prompted by deceleration in growth and softening of inflation. The cut is aimed at spurring growth to 9 per cent levels, seen before the global financial crisis that began in 2008, Subbarao said while unveiling the annual credit policy here. "The reduction in the repo rate is based on an assessment of growth having slowed below its post-crisis trend rate, which, in turn, is contributing to the moderation in core inflation," the Governor said. RBI has pegged the GDP growth rate for 2012-13 at 7.3 per cent. It is expected to be 6.9 per cent in 2011-12. After two consecutive cuts since January, the Governor, however, retained the cash reserve ratio at 4.75 per cent. Subbarao, however, ruled out further reduction in policy rate in the immediate future citing persistent upside risks to inflation and possible fiscal slippages driven by higher oil subsidies. It expects the inflation to be around 6.5 per cent by March 2013. "It must be emphasised that the deviation of growth from trend is modest. At the same time, upside risks to inflation persist. These considerations inherently limit the space for further reduction in policy rates," he said. The decision is likely to prompt the banks to cut lending rates for home, auto and corporate loans, experts said.

RTE ACT CONSTITUTIONAL - SUPREME COURT

Mathrubhumi News

Tsunami warning: no need to panic, CM

Thiruvananthapuram 11-04-2012: A meeting of high officials was convened by CM here in the wake of Tsunami warning that has been issued due to the massive earthquake in Sumatra. The meeting assured that there was no situation to panic as of now and appealed the people to stay calm. Instruction has been given to all authorities to monitor development.

Fishermen have been instructed not to venture into the sea for 4 hours. All the officials concerned are directed to remain alert. Warning has been given to the coastal areas of the state.

Socio-economic census from Tuesday

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy  inaugurated the socio-economic and caste census in the State on Tuesday. Minister for Planning and Rural Development K. C. Joseph presided over the function held in Kannur Collectorate.

Principal Secretary (Local Self Government) James Joseph told the media that the census was part of the first caste census being held in independent India. Though guidelines prepared for the census at the national level apply, Kerala had special permission to collect house and ward level data, using a special questionnaire. The Centre was providing funds for holding the census in the States and Union territories.

The enumeration would be conducted in four stages covering all house-holds in the State, and would be completed by May 25. The Union Ministry of Rural Development, Department of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Registrar General of India, Bharat Electronics Limited and National Informatics Centre were jointly conducting the census operations.

The Principal Secretary said that the data from the census would be used for identifying beneficiaries for the schemes under the 12 Five Year Plan, and for drawing Central schemes and improving ongoing Central schemes.

He said that the collectors would be in charge of the census at the district level. Commissioner for Rural Development M. Nandakumar would be the State-level nodal officer. The State had 68393 enumeration blocks which were the same as defined for the 2011 population census. Officials from government departments, local self governments, public sector units and teachers of Standard IX and higher classes were being deputed for the enumeration.

About 20000 tablet personal computers had already been distributed to the enumerators for collection of data. This would enable compilation of the results of the census in 14 days. A record of data collected from the households on the tablets would be immediately supplied to the households for verification. Corrections could be made then itself. There would be an opportunity to correct errors after publications of the draft list.

Mr. Joseph said the final document would become the base for determining norms for BPL categorisation and other programmes of the government. Any complaints on the draft would have to be filed within 21 days of publication and the final list would be published ten days later.

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