Students can pose questions by audio or email
Scores of rural Common Entrance Test (CET) candidates who envied the unfair advantage their urban counterparts enjoyed with preparatory coaching, now have something to cheer about: Satellite-linked Nemmadi centres in their villages, complete with live, interactive classrooms offering CET coaching.
Hughes Communication India Ltd., a leading provider of broadband satellite networks, and Comat, which provides e-governance services, have announced the launch of this new initiative called “CET Karnataka.”
Lectures beamed from Bangalore and Delhi will be telecast live to the students’ computer screens in the virtual classrooms (studios). They could pose a question by audio or email it. Lecturers, in turn, could monitor the students’ progress live by asking random questions.
The programme will be available for both 1st and 2nd pre-university students. For I pre-university, the candidates will have to pay Rs. 15,000 plus taxes while 2nd pre-university students will be charged Rs. 13,000.
Formally launching the initiative, Higher Education Minister D.H. Shankaramurthy said training would help rural candidates who were often left behind the better trained students from urban areas. The Government, he said, was committed to boost education opportunities for all by adhering to the standards proposed by the Know-ledge Commission report.
Privatisation
Later, Mr. Shankaramurthy told presspersons that the CET Cell could not be privatised. He was reacting to a question on the private professional college managements boycotting the governing council meetings of the new Karnataka Examinations Authority. The managements were upset that the council did not give them adequate representation.
The Minister said the Government had left four seats for the managements. “Anybody cannot become the owner of government property,” he quipped.
Quelle/Source: The Hindu, 12.09.2007
