The Pune University Teachers' Assn asks UoP, affiliated

colleges to fill vacancies

The Pune University Teachers' Association (Puta) on Wednesday demanded that the University of Pune (UoP) and its affiliated colleges should fill the vacant posts of sports director and director of physical education respectively for the benefit of students involved in sports activities.

Addressing a press conference, the teachers' association alleged that around 70% of the university affiliated colleges are yet to fill the vacant posts of the director of physical education.

Over 11 lakh students will appear for hsc examinations from today under the gaze of squads

The Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examination conducted by the Maharashtra State Board for Secondary and Higher Secondary Education will begin on Thursday.

As many as 11,84,226 students will appear for the examination which will end on March 21. The practical examinations were conducted between February 6 to 24 at the colleges.

"We will have police bandobast near the examination centres to avoid any untoward incidents," secretary of the board TN Supe said. For the first time, the board has requested for vigilance squads from the Pune Municipal Corporation and the district collectorate for the centres.

The HSC and SSC Board examinations have come as a blessing for many students. Educational institutes which are centres for the Board exams have cancelled the classes for other students so that the examinations are not disturbed.

To ensure free and fair HSC examinations in Thane this year, the Thane Zilla Parishad’s (TZP) education department has decided to deploy a special all-woman flying squad to keep a tab on those girl students intent on indulging in unfair means to push their grades higher up.

Speaking to DNA, TZP secondary section education officer, SA Patil confirmed the deployment of the all-woman flying squad. He said, “Although the incidents of copying at examinations have gone down, we are not taking any chances. It is difficult for men to check girl students. So, we have resorted to an all-woman team this time.”

Colleges are increasingly lending start-up capital to students wishing to start new ventures of their own

The incubation programmes in colleges have led students to start their own companies while studying. While some colleges are helping students with their initial capital investment, many others have programmes training them to set-up companies with zero capital. "We provide assistance to students, so that they become entrepreneurs, and not just employees," says Saket Jalan, chief mentor, Jain Centre for Entrepreneurship.

The dip in number of companies coming for recruitment on the first day of placements at IIMA has left the students disappointed. However, an IIMA student who is yet to be offered a job at the placement said, “It is not only IIMA but all other institutes that have been affected by the recession adversely.”