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US court pauses Biden’s student debt relief plan

US’ federal appeals court on Friday issued an administrative stay, temporarily blocking President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program.

The order came from the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals in reference to the case brought by six Republican-led states after a lower court ruled that their September lawsuit to stop the debt forgiveness program lacked standing, reported CNN.

According to CNN, the appeals court gave the administration until Monday to respond to that request, and the states will have until Tuesday to reply to that response. The states had asked the appeals court to act before Sunday, the earliest date the Biden administration had said it would grant student loan discharges.

After the court’s verdict, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that the “temporary order” would not prevent borrowers from applying for student debt relief at the website.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. (File Photo: White House).

“We encourage eligible borrowers to join the nearly 22 million Americans whose information the Department of Education already has. It also does not prevent us from reviewing these applications and preparing them for transmission to loan servicers,” Pierre said as quoted by a press statement released by the White House.

She also noted that the order does not reverse the trial court’s dismissal of the case, or suggest that the case has merit. It merely prevents debt from being discharged until the court makes a decision.

“We will continue to move full speed ahead in our preparations in compliance with this order. And, the Administration will continue to fight Republican officials suing to block our efforts to provide relief to working families,” the statement added.

The lawsuit, which was filed last month, was dismissed on October 20 by a district court judge who ruled that the plaintiffs did not have the legal standing to bring the challenge.

Biden’s student loan forgiveness program was first announced in August with an intention to deliver debt relief to millions of borrowers before federal student loan payments resume in January after a nearly three-year, pandemic-related pause.

Borrowers are eligible for this relief if their individual income is less than $125,000 ($250,000 for married couples). No high-income individual or high-income household – in the top 5 per cent of incomes – will benefit from this action, according to the statement released by White House on August 24. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Biden to release 15M barrels from oil reserve

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Education Lite Blogs

Anees Salim: A star on Indian literary firmament

Salim was born in Varkala, a small town in Kerala, in 1970. He says that he inherited his love for words from his father who used to work in West Asia…reports Dr Shujaat Ali Quadri (Chairman of Muslim Students Organisation and Community Leader)

Writers with Muslim names are rare. English writers with Muslim names are rarer. In this predicament, the emergence of Anees Salim as a star in Indian literary firmament is relieving. A novelist, Salim has told stories of small towns, mohallas and obscure characters that are largely Muslims and otherwise are ignored, little understood or misunderstood.

With his inimitable sense of humour, craft and wry reflections on human frailties, his works are something sui generis. And within ten years into his literary career, and seven books to credit, Salim has become an indispensable part of English fiction in India.

Salim’s craft and stories have won him a plethora of accolades. He won the coveted Sahitya Akademi in 2018 and before that, The Hindu Literary Prize, Crossword Book Award, and Bangalore Atta Galatta Literature Book Festival’s Best Fiction (English).

Anees Salim’s works include Vanity Bagh (winner of The Hindu Literary Prize for Best Fiction 2013), The Blind Lady’s Descendants (winner of the Raymond Crossword Book Award for Best Fiction 2014 and the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award 2018) and The Small-town Sea (winner of the Atta Galatta-Banaglore Literature Festival Book Prize for Best Fiction 2017). His seventh novel The Bell Boy hit the stores in August. A famous UK publisher will publish it for the European market.

Salim was born in Varkala, a small town in Kerala, in 1970. He says that he inherited his love for words from his father who used to work in West Asia.

“My father wanted to be a writer, even though he never said so. He was an avid reader of literary fiction and we had a big library at home, and that was how I developed a deep love for reading. The library had no room for popular fiction, and I remember buying a book by Harold Robbins and putting it on the top rack because I liked the look and size of the book. The next morning it disappeared and I knew such books would never have a place in our library,” he says.

As a teenager, says Salim, he loved reading VS Naipaul, Graham Greene, George Orwell, Gabriel Garica Marquez, John Updike, Saul Bellow, William Faulkner and Christopher Isherwood. Voracious reading helped hone his writing.

Yet the road to acclaim has been far from easy. Salim had his first breakthrough after years of rejections. The book was Tales from a Vending Machine, a novel about the daily travails of Hasina Mansoor, a young Muslim hijabi girl who works as a vending machine assistant at an airport.

Written in the first person, it draws her character through a mundane day, punctuated by her sense of humour, her resilient nature, and her daydreams of stumbling on the extraordinary in a dreary, ordinary existence. Salim still manages a Facebook profile by the name of Hasina Mansoor, whose posts are characteristic of his protagonist’s wit and humour.

All of Salim’s novels trace his own journey through different social settings and his encounter with various real-life characters. In Vanity Bagh, he depicted the social side of Hindu-Muslim conflict North-Indian milieu. “I grew up in Kerala but travelled extensively across the country to see places and meet people. I stitched together the mohalla called Vanity Bagh from many Indian cities I fell in love with. And the idea of Vanity Bagh happened many years ago when someone, on the brink of losing an argument, asked me to ‘Go and live in Pakistan’. That statement stayed with me and slowly developed into a novel,” he said in an interview to The Wire.

He says researching and working on the novel was a sort of rediscovery of India where Muslims are subjected to a grim test. “Many years ago, before Pakistan was regularly chosen as the place ‘the unwanted ones’ should be banished to. It hurt me beyond words. But it also made me relook at the cities where certain mohallas are overtly or secretly referred to as Little Pakistan. And that was how Vanity Bagh was born,” he said.

Besides, introducing Muslim characters and mohalls, Salim has explored life in small towns. “I find it easier to place my characters in streets I have roamed as a child, in the house I grew up in, by the sea and on the cliff my hometown is famous for. All this reflects in my stories,” he says.

All his books are loaded with social and political concerns, but Salim insists that more than politics, he prefers to focus more on human cries than political noises.

Despite writing successful novels, writing is not his fulltime profession. He works as an advertising professional. He is the Creative Director for FCB Ulka, the multi-national advertising firm, and lives in Kochi. “My day job as an advertising professional has neither shaped nor adversely affected my writing career. To me, they are different streams of life and I don’t want one to influence other,” he says. Despite his background in PR and advertising, Salim makes a point of avoiding promotional tours and speaking at literary festivals.

ALSO READ-Malika Shah, woman achiever from Kashmir

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Education Lite Blogs

Oxford launches online diploma in Global Health Research

The course will teach students how to design, operate and report a high-quality health research study anywhere in the world and how to put findings into practice…reports Asian Lite News

Oxford university is accepting its first students in October 2023 for the Postgraduate Diploma in Global Health Research which is specifically targeted at researchers and clinicians in low income countries, and will offer accessibility never previously available. It is the University’s first academic qualification designed to be taken wholly online and will transform Oxford’s ability to reach and train researchers in the most challenging of settings. By removing this significant barrier to access, the postgraduate diploma aims to strengthen health workforce’ research capacity, regardless of location and context, to meet ongoing and emerging global health challenges and crises.

In eliminating the requirement to travel to Oxford for researchers and clinicians across the world, the postgraduate diploma will drive equity in where health research happens, who benefits from the evidence, and who leads the studies. And in a further step to advance equitable access for students in lower-income settings, 30% of course participants will be supported with fully funded scholarships.

International experts in the subject area with experience of conducting research in the most challenging settings at the Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health in the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, will deliver the course remotely from their own locations across the world over four terms.Pre-recorded interactive lectures, discussion forum tasks, live virtual classes, and asynchronous one-to-one tutorials form the basis of weekly lessons and have been designed to retain the learning experience and immersive teaching methods that Oxford is renowned for.

The course will teach students how to design, operate and report a high-quality health research study anywhere in the world and how to put findings into practice. It has been designed to support the careers of dedicated and ambitious health professionals and researchers across the globe, from every setting. In particular enabling individuals facing the challenges of diseases of poverty and in the most resource-poor settings to develop scientific, management and leadership skills to tackle these diseases.The course is based on the Essential Curriculum for Health Research which was developed in partnership with the World Health Organisation and based on a study that involved over 7,000 participants. This makes it the first course of its kind where all the component steps identified to undertake quality, practical and appropriate health research studies are covered; making it relevant for research into any disease, in all types of studies and in any setting.

The Postgraduate Diploma in Global Health Research aims to:Teach the steps and processes required to conduct effective research within the contextual realities of resource constrained settingsEnhance knowledge and raise the standards of scientists and healthcare professionals working in health research in a global contextPrepare students to resolve difficult health research challenges by providing them with the tools, skills and knowledge to conduct high quality, safe and ethical health research Inculcate in our graduates the competence and ambition to become leaders in global health research.In doing so, the postgraduate diploma will support progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) notably SDG 3.B to ‘support the research and development of vaccines and medicines for the communicable and non-communicable diseases that primarily affect developing countries’; SDG 3.C to ‘substantially increase…development, training and retention of the health workforce in developing countries’ and SDG 3.D to ‘strengthen the capacity of all countries, particularly developing countries, for early warning, risk reduction and management of national and global health risks’.

Professor Trudie Lang, Head of The Global Health Network, University of Oxford said: ‘I’m delighted at the launch of the Postgraduate Diploma in Global Health Research. We have created this course to help address the global disparities in health research by teaching the skills needed to run studies in every healthcare setting. An ideal student could be a highly experienced nurse working in a large public hospital in Bangladesh or Ethiopia, a laboratory scientist in Peru, or members of national and international funding and ethics committees, or those working in regulatory bodies. I’m also very proud that this will be Oxford’s first qualification where travelling to Oxford is not required and that 30% of our intake will have funded places – this is truly transformational and brings true global and diverse access to a qualification from the University of Oxford.”Professor Gavin Screaton, Head of Medical Sciences Division, University of Oxford said: ‘This is a truly exciting moment for the Medical Sciences community at Oxford and across the globe.

It is impossible to predict where and when the next global health crisis will emerge so it’s critical that we continue to build the pool of exceptional researchers in every healthcare setting who can become valued contributors to the global research community, while also delivering impact within their local setting. The Postgraduate Diploma in Global Health Research will do just that for thousands of talented individuals who otherwise would not have that opportunity.’ Professor Martin Williams, Pro Vice Chancellor of Education, University of Oxford said: ‘The launch of the Postgraduate Diploma in Global Health Research shows that Oxford continues to be at the forefront of meeting the challenges of widening access head-on. Alongside the many outreach programmes we run in the UK and overseas, it is another excellent example of our commitment to ensuring talented students around the world can access Oxford’s world-leading teaching and expertise, without financial concerns acting as a barrier.’The application deadline for the 2023-2024 academic year is Friday 9 December, 2022.

ALSO READ-Oxford vax chief criticises UK’s booster jab plan

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Education India News

Education is the ticket out of toxic environment

The youth are grabbing all educational opportunities with vigor and enthusiasm…reports Asian Lite News

As gun culture is laid to rest in Jammu and Kashmir, dawn is rising on the book culture. Youth in the Union Territory has realised that only disillusionment and agony lie in the path of the former. They can no longer be convinced to fight a war that ends in the misery of a lifetime.

Since the government has started various educational initiatives in the Valley such as free coaching centers for competitive examinations and make-shift schools for tribal and Gujjar populace, given their frequent migration, the youth has now developed a taste for a finer life.

Education is their ticket out of the toxic environment they were subjected to growing up. It will give them a purpose in life, elevate their financial status, and ultimately lead the Union Territory towards prosperity. The youth are grabbing all educational opportunities with vigor and enthusiasm.

Last month a native of Tenz village of Shopian district and the son of a fruit merchant, Haziq Parveez Lone topped the NEET-UG 2022 exam in the Union Territory and ranked 10th in the country. He scored 710 marks out of 720. He credits his feat to his secondary and higher secondary government school teachers in Turkwamgam village (Shopian) who instilled a passion for studying hard and living a better life in him. It is pertinent to mention that Haziq belongs to a district that was notorious for its youth joining militant ranks not so long ago. Today South Kashmir is emerging as a competitive district in the fields of education and entrepreneurship.

In an effort to expose young minds to the world outside of J&K and inspire them to dream bigger, a five-day Bharat Darshan Tour was flagged off in Srinagar. The boarding and lodging facilities, including food and air tickets were provided to the students by the J&K administration. Famous multinational companies, tourist spots, major industries, and historical places were covered in the tour. The travellers described the trip as an eye-opener and life-changing. It has encouraged them to study harder keeping the wider worldview in perspective.

At the beginning of this year a Gujjar girl, Jabeena Bashir, from Shopian qualified for the NEET exam in the first attempt scoring 423 marks. She gives the credit to her government school teachers who motivated her and directed her through all steps to this achievement. The Indian Army posted at remote locations have also acted as substitute teachers to such Gujjar children who migrate with their families with changing seasons owing to their occupation.

The Tribal Affairs Department recently operationalised a 100-bed hostel for female students in Jammu and one is upcoming in Srinagar. Many such hostels will be raised to bring students closer to education centers. The hostels will have all the modern facilities and subsidized meals. Tribal students will get scholarships and computer tablets with preloaded educational content.

The Department has also sanctioned a modernisation plan for 120 schools in the tribal regions of the UT. In Phase 1 of the plan, 100 schools have already been modernised at the cost of Rs 20 crore. Under a special budget earmarked under Tribal Education Plan (TEP), the department will provide students with coaching for competitive exams such as UPSC, medical and engineering entrance exams, and IT equipment. Today the Tribal Research Institute celebrates one year of achievements in curating capacity-building programs for teachers of tribal schools in coordination with the district-level education department.

To provide quality education to youth in remote areas of J&K, 25,000 additional seats are being provided by setting up 50-degree colleges. For the first time, the higher education sector of the UT will afford quality education to the disadvantaged section of society.

Under the Aao School Chalein Campaign, there has been a 14.5 per cent increase in school enrolment in 2021-2022.

1,65,000 students across the UT have joined various schools, 80 per cent of whom had never been to school before. Such children have been put in age-appropriate classrooms according to their caliber. For capacity building of teachers, a student mentorship programme — Student & Teacher Engagement for Educational Reinforcement (STEER) — has been launched in the UT. The programme focuses on strengthening student performance in real-time through hands-on learning.

Besides, formal school education, 70,000 school children from 714 government schools are being imparted vocational training in 14 different types of trades. To carry out this initiative 803 vocational labs are in place, and 1122 new labs and 1352 smart classrooms are underway in the current fiscal year. To translate promises to action, 127 Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) and 1420 Computer Aided Learning (CAL) Centres are coming up in Jammu and Kashmir.

An MoU has also been signed with HCL TechBee for providing skill training to school graduating students. The idea is to instill creativity, scientific temper, and entrepreneurial and moral leadership among students as per the counsel of the National Education Policy (NEP), stated Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.

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Education

Teachers’ Day highlights need to ‘transform education’

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that teachers are the engines at the heart of global education systems, the statement said…reports Asian Lite News

Teachers are at the heart of education, and their valuable work must also lead to better salaries and working conditions, the heads of three UN agencies and a partner organization said on Wednesday.

The statement comes in their joint message to mark World Teachers’ Day, celebrated annually on 5 October.

The international community has committed to transform education – a process that must be led by teachers.

A critical partner

That’s the firm belief expressed by Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UN educational and cultural agency, UNESCO; Gilbert F. Houngbo, Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO); Catherine Russell, Executive Director at the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and David Edwards, General Secretary of Education International.

“Today, on World Teachers’ Day, we celebrate the critical role of teachers in transforming learners’ potential by ensuring they have the tools they need to take responsibility for themselves, for others and for the planet,” they said.

“We call on countries to ensure that teachers are trusted and recognized as knowledge producers, reflective practitioners, and policy partners.”

Fulfill the promise

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that teachers are the engines at the heart of global education systems, the statement said. 

Without them, it is impossible to provide inclusive, equitable and quality education to every learner.  Teachers are also essential to pandemic recovery and preparing learners for the future.

“Yet unless we transform conditions for teachers, the promise of that education will remain out of reach for those who need it most,” the partners warned.

They recalled that the Transforming Education Summit, held last month at UN Headquarters, reaffirmed that transformation requires the right number of empowered, motivated and qualified teachers and education personnel in the right place with the right skills.

Demotivated, dropping out

However, in many parts of the world, classrooms are overcrowded, they said, and teachers are too few, on top of being overworked, demotivated and unsupported. 

As a result, an unprecedented number are leaving the profession. There has also been a significant decline in people studying to become teachers.

“If these issues are not addressed, the loss of a professional teaching corps could be a fatal blow to the realization of Sustainable Development Goal 4,” they warned, referring to global efforts to ensure quality education for all, by 2030.

Furthermore, teacher loss disproportionately affects students in remote or poor areas, as well as women and girls, and vulnerable and marginalized populations.

Global shortage

The partners pointed to recent estimates which reveal an additional 24.4 million primary school teachers will be needed globally, along with some 44.4 million secondary education teachers, if the world is to achieve universal basic education by the end of the decade.

Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia alone will require 24 million more teachers, roughly half the number of new teachers needed in developing countries.

These regions have some of the most overcrowded classrooms in the world, and the most overburdened teachers and understaffed educational systems. A remarkable 90 per cent of their secondary schools face serious teaching shortages.

“Therefore, bringing qualified, supported and motivated teachers into classrooms – and keeping them there – is the single most important thing we can do to improve the learning and wellbeing of students and communities,” said the partners.

“The valuable work that teachers do must also be translated into better working conditions and pay.”

Education innovators awarded

Relatedly, three innovative programmes from Benin, Haiti and Lebanon have been recognized for their efforts to enhance the role of teachers and transform education, both in their communities and beyond.

These projects are the recipients of the 2022 UNESCO-Hamdan Prize for Teacher Development, which will be presented at a ceremony in Paris on Wednesday.

They are run by the Graines de Paix Foundation, the organization PH4 Global and the American University of Beirut, who will share a $300,000 endowment to help further their initiatives.

Promoting peace, preventing violence

Graines de Paix organizes a programme in Benin called Apprendre en paix, Enseigner sans violence (Learning in Peace, Education without Violence) that provides educational solutions focused on how to prevent all forms of violence and prevent radicalization.

The project also promotes well-being and a culture of peace, security, equity, and inclusion. Over 4,500 teachers have been trained, and more than 250,000 children reached.

Through its Training Teachers to Transform Haiti programme, P4H Global strives to improve the quality of education in the Caribbean country by training teachers as well as school directors, parents and community members.

Strategies for success

The objective is to transform teachers’ methods into effective student-centred strategies that cultivate critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity. These are reinforced through measures that include personalized feedback via social media and messaging apps. 

More than 8,000 educators and 350,000 students across Haiti have benefited from the programme.

Under the TAMAM Project for School-Based Educational Reform, university researchers and educational practitioners in Lebanon work together to generate strategies grounded in the sociocultural contexts of the Arab region.

The initiative covers 70 schools in 10 countries in the region, and has benefited 1,000 educational partners, with 100 improvement projects initiated over the past 15 years.

ALSO READ-President Lauds Teachers On Teachers Day

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Education Lite Blogs

KISS gets prestigious UNESCO prize for mother tongue-based learning

Dr Achyuta Samanta, founder of KIIT and KISS sharing a light moment with students of KISS.

The educational initiative at KISS comprises a school, a college and a university founded with the objective of providing food, education and empowerment to indigenous children…reports Asian Lite News

Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), Bhubaneswar has won the prestigious UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize 2022 for its outstanding literacy programme based on the recommendations of an international jury.

The UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize is sponsored by the Government of the Republic of Korea and recognizes contributions to mother language-based literacy development. KISS has received the award in the category of ‘Mother Tongue Based Multilingual Education programme’. The award carries an endowment of US USD 20,000, a medal and a diploma. KISS is a constituent of the KIIT Group of Institutions.

KISS, the largest institute for the indigenous students in the world, is credited with the adoption of innovative pedagogies as learning tools and bringing about a perceptible change in the socio-economic lives of the indigenous population through education. This recognition also brings the state of Odisha to prominence on the world map for its efforts at changing the education ecosystem. Moreover, it is also a big day of celebration for indigenous communities as it is truly an award for them.

Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) Logo
Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), Bhubaneswar.

KISS is a not-for-profit organisation headquartered in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. It was established in 1992-93 by well-known educationist Dr Achyuta Samanta to empower the indigenous population through education. It is a fully free residential educational institution that provides holistic education, comprehensive skilling and sports empowerment.

The educational initiative at KISS comprises a school, a college and a university founded with the objective of providing food, education and empowerment to indigenous children.

ALSO READ-Tribal girls puncture stereotypes

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-Top News Education

UN education fund gets $42 million to address global learning crisis

The new funding catalyses much-needed support to address a global learning crisis where over 78 million crisis-impacted girls and boys are out of school…reports Asian Lite News

Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the UN global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, has received $42 million in new funding from the LEGO Foundation, Germany and the US, said the fund.

The donors announced their decision during the high-level week of the UN General Assembly, with the LEGO Foundation offering $25 million, Germany 10 million euros ($9.7 million), and the US $7 million, Xinhua news agency reported.

The new funding catalyses much-needed support to address a global learning crisis where over 78 million crisis-impacted girls and boys are out of school, and nearly two-thirds of 10-year-olds are unable to read a simple text, said the ECW.

“Education is our investment in human beings and the human potential. So far we have only seen a glimpse of it. There are 222 million children out there that will allow us to see the full potential of humanity,” said ECW Director Yasmine Sherif.

“We must unite to fully fund Education Cannot Wait and our strategic partners in mobilising $1.5 billion over the next four years,” the Director added.

Since its inception in 2016, the ECW and its strategic partners have mobilised more than $1.1 billion and directly supported nearly 7 million children and adolescents, according to the fund.

ALSO READ: Unicef: Girls worldwide lag behind boys in math

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Asia News Education World News

500 Hafiz among 1200 NEET 2022 successful Muslim candidates

More than 500 students from the Al-Ameen Mission’s 70 branches in West Bengal have passed the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test this year (NEET). Most of these students come from economically weak backgrounds. Many of them have studied in Madrassas and some of them are also hafiz (those who learn the Quran by heart) … A special report by Mohammad Modassir Ashrafi

As much-awaited results for the NEET exams were declared last week, the success of Muslim candidates, including those from Madarssa backgrounds, has exhilaratingly astounded everyone. Around 1200 Muslim candidates have passed the coveted test to pursue an MBBS degree. Out of them, more than 500 are from Al-Ameen Mission’s 70 branches scattered in West Bengal, 250 plus candidates from Ajmal Foundation-run coaching institutes and around 450 from Shaheen Group of institutions.

Most of these students come from economically weak backgrounds. Many of them have studied in Madrassas and some of them are also hafiz (those who learn the Quran by heart).

More than 500 students from the Al-Ameen Mission’s 70 branches in West Bengal have passed the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test this year (NEET). Touhid Murshid, a student from the Malda district of the state, came up on top with 690 points (All India Ranking 472). Nearly 1,800 students took the NEET exam this year. According to Al-Ameen Mission, at least 500 to 550 students would have the option to study medicine among them. The majority of them are from the state’s most impoverished districts. Murshidabad has 139 candidates, while Malda has 89.

Apart from them, 50 students come from the South 24 Parganas, 50 from Birbhum, 33 from the North 24 Parganas, 25 from Budwan, 24 from Nadia, 16 from Uttar Dinajpur, 15 from Dakshin Dinajpur, 13 from Howrah, 12 from Hooghly, 11 from Bankura, 10 from East Midnapore, 8 from Coochbehar, 7 from West Midnapore, 3 from Kolkata, 2 from Purulia, 3.

Al-Ameen Mission, based in Howrah, is recognized with graduating around 3500 doctors (MBBS and BDS) and 3000 engineers, as well as a large number of researchers, administrative officers, instructors, and professors. Nurul Islam created the organization, which now operates 70 coaching institutes in 20 West Bengal districts.

The organization includes around 3000 professors and non-teaching employees who teach 17,000 residential students. The Al-Ameen Mission’s main campus is in Khalatpur (Udaynarayanpur), in the Howrah district of West Bengal.

Currently, the Mission provides half-free studentships to 6838 students (40 percent) and full-free studentships to 4257 students (25 percent). “The majority of Al Ameen Mission NEET students come from very impoverished families and come from the lower portions of society. Nurul Islam told a Muslim-oriented website, “We foster their talent, enhance their intelligence, and offer them with a decent environment so that they can come out with their best”.

“To attain our goal and perform our part in nation-building, we use Zakat and Sadaqah funds”. “We implore community people to join us in our efforts”, Islam said.

Shaheen’s success

Around 10 plus Madrassa pass-out hafiz students of Shaheen College in Bidar, Karnataka, are expected to attain MBBS seats in government-run medical colleges. Unlike other students, the hafiz students have achieved something truly remarkable in the Shaheen Group of institutions. Despite never having attended school or studied subjects such as science, mathematics, or languages other than Arabic and Urdu prior to that. The Shaheen Institute’s Academic Intensive Care Unit’ assisted them in achieving excellence and obtaining free government seats in prestigious medical colleges. The institution prepares Hafiz students for competitive examinations in medical and other professions in a unique but successful Model.

Like every year in NEET, the college has got the best results this year as well, 450 plus students are expected to secure government MBBS seats, said Dr Abdul Qadeer, chairman of Shaheen Group of Institutions.

Twelve students, who have completed the hafiz course in Madrassa, studied a basic course in our institution and completed PUC have performed well in NEET. Among the overall achievers, a large number of students have studied in government schools, Kannada medium, and rural areas, he added.

Ajmal Foundation’s success

All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) President Badruddin Ajmal’s integrated educational program with a special focus on students from underprivileged backgrounds has fought against all odds to deliver great results in competitive exams such as NEET/ JEE(Main)/(Advance).

Around 240+ students from various institutes run by Ajmal Foundation have cracked the NEET exam this year. Last year, the number of successful students was around 100.

The Ajmal Foundation is a registered public charitable trust, established in the year 2005 at Hojai, Assam, India. It has 25 educational institutions all over the state of Assam. “The organization has been working in the fields of modern education, skill development and employment generation, women empowerment, poverty alleviation, relief and rehabilitation, and environmental awareness and health aid programs”, states its official website.

(Mohammad Modassir Ashrafi is Research Scholar at Jamia Millia Islamia)

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Education Lite Blogs

Let your kids fly beyond textbooks

Over 150 million students worldwide have access to highly adaptive, interesting, and efficient learning solutions thanks to the global ed-tech business BYJU’S…reports Asian Lite News

It’s critical to explore beyond textbooks in the twenty-first century. Today, there are countless resources for learning. When we restrict the scope of instruction to a certain field, the purpose of education is irretrievably lost.

Different new-age companies are now offering communication, critical thinking, and experiential learning. According to research, regularly utilising resources other than textbooks can aid students in learning more quickly and effectively.

In reality, by making learning familiar and meaningful to pupils, employing resources besides the textbook can help to promote authenticity in learning activities.

Here are 5 brands that are helping kids move beyond textbooks:

Merlinwand

A customised book service for children called Merlinwand makes them into their own heroes. In a world of information overload, extremely high video consumption, and screen time, Merlinwand is on a mission to support kids in donning their thinking and creative hats and unleashing their true potential. By include such components in their customised story books, they also hope to educate children about social environmental issues and experiences. The Tingling Finger, The Climate Ninja, The Unusual Adventures of a Gutsy Explorer, The Great Timbooktu Rescue, The Music Band, etc. are just a few of the novels they have available.

Byjus

Over 150 million students worldwide have access to highly adaptive, interesting, and efficient learning solutions thanks to the global ed-tech business BYJU’S.

With technologies that lie at the intersection of mobile, interactive content and personalised learning approaches, it provides a learning experience of the highest calibre. With visual and contextual programmes that adjust to each student’s individual learning style, ability level, and pace, teachers engage students in their lessons.

Kiddopia

Kiddopia provides engaging games and activities to encourage creativity and cognitive growth. Through a variety of imaginative and intriguing activities, the subscription-based software stimulates learning and entertains users.

Kiddopia is a secure, welcoming, and supportive setting that aims to support each child in realising their greatest potential. Their Curriculum-Linked Math Program, Language Skills, General Knowledge, Creativity and Role Playing, Social-Emotional Learning, and Reporting Dashboard are the key components of their Total Integrative Learning.

PlayShifu

PlayShifu is an AR toy startup that is redefining the future of play by giving kids engaging learning opportunities today. Kids may develop STEAM and other fundamental skills like critical thinking, engineering, and geography with the help of 16 toys that offer unique tactile play experiences for children ages 4 to 12. This platform fosters the idea that screen time should be beneficial rather than thoughtless.

Kutuki

One of the first early learning apps in India, Kutuki uses original stories and curricula based on songs to draw in the country’s youngest students. Through the creation of contextual, multilingual information that Indian parents and children can relate to, the interactive Kutuki app seeks to shape the minds of the young. With their localised language content, they are gaining ground in Tier I, II, and III cities.

ALSO READ-‘Every step forward was hard’

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Education Lite Blogs

Oldest orphanage in Delhi rears orphans of North India

Children at the Ghar, both boys and girls, are sent to nearby primary and secondary schools in the walled city. They are also additionally taught some courses in computer programming, music, sewing and other courses to help them develop professional proficiency…writes Dr Shujaat Ali Quadri

Little Zoobi was dropped by her mother a year back at ‘Bacchon Ka Ghar’, Delhi’s oldest orphanage, in Matia Mahal locality in the walled city. She is now accustomed to her new home, bajis (wardens), sahelis (friends) and aapis (elder sisters). Only occasionally, she craves for her home and her late father. But solace comes in the company of Shaila, Ashiya, Ruby and others who have also lost their fathers and share the shelter with Zoobi.

Stories of Zoobi and her housemates narrate similar tales: their mother or relatives leave them at the Ghar as they couldn’t manage to raise and educate them. The Ghar does so until they turn 18 and then are returned to their guardians.

The Ghar houses around 50 girls, aged 7-18.

Bacchon Ka Ghar was started by Hakim Ajmal Khan, educationist, freedom fighter and legendary unani medicine practitioner in 1891 in Daryaganj as a shelter for orphaned boys. Later, a branch of it was started in an old world style haveli in a Matai Mahal alley near the historic Jama Masjid.

Girls and their wardens lament the congestion in their home and the location of their house. “We, 50 girls and five staff members, live in six rooms. Our street is too narrow that only one man can walk at a time and it is located in such a dense area that we fear to let girls out after they return from school,” said Ayesha Khan, the warden, referring to untoward incidents involving women reported in Delhi on a regular basis.

But wardens, Ayesha and Roshni Jahan, and guard Sadood Miyan are happy that they are successfully running a family of 50 girls in a densely-populated locality which at times makes these girls feel alienated, but at other times, they also receive showers of affection.

“As and when a marriage takes place in the vicinity, girls being girls, are curious and anxious to attend. They feel pain of being relation-less, relative-less. But some courteous neighbours make sure that they participate, have meals and revel in the festivity,” said a senior inmate, who was shy to share her name.

Girls are admitted to the Ghar either by their mothers or by some relatives. “Among Muslims, a child is considered yateem (orphan) if his or her father dies. We admit such girls whose mothers or guardians come with the death certificate of their fathers. The trust manages all expenses of children and their education,” said Masroor Ahmed, chairman of the Trust running the Ghar.

Children at the Ghar, both boys and girls, are sent to nearby primary and secondary schools in the walled city. They are also additionally taught some courses in computer programming, music, sewing and other courses to help them develop professional proficiency.

One of the inmates, Ashraf, who is in Class VIII and plays guitar to the satisfaction of his music teacher, says that he loves to sing Urdu poetry on modern musical notes. His classmate Subhan says he was learning the Quran by heart to become hafiz.

Apart from many teachers employed in various schools of Delhi, the Ghar also produced late Bollywood writer and eminent poet Akhtar ul Iman, who was two-time recipient of the coveted Filmfare award and also the Sahitya Akademi award, the highest literary honour conferred by the Indian government.

Sadly, the luminous connection could not fetch the much required funds and government attention the Ghar deserved. “Even we ourselves have never tried to reach the government or any political organisation for help. We collect funds from well-wishers and socially conscious Delhiites to run these Centres,” said Masroor. He along with other trust members like Tejpal Bharti roam in the whole city to collect funds.

“While most of the time, we roam in different places to collect money, sometimes people themselves come to deposit their zakat and sadqa. Somehow, we manage to raise these kids and provide them decent education up to Class XII,” said Faiyaz.

Unfortunately, the Delhi government, which also has a minister in its Cabinet who represents the constituency where the Ghar is situated, seems to have no plan to assist the Ghar.

“They don’t approach us,” was the response of Asim Ahmed Khan, MLA from Matia Mahal, and the Food and Supply Minister in the Delhi government, when this correspondent probed him about his plans for his constituency and the urgent attention the orphanage demands.

Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in North Delhi provides a paltry Rs 250 per child per month assistance to the Ghar. “Even that is released after several visits to the MCD office,” said a clerk at the Trust office.

This correspondent also contacted Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s office to know whether his government nurtures any plan for the Ghar. He didn’t get any reply till the writing of this report.

“With our limited funds, we manage to develop these children sensible enough to face life ahead. Those exceptionally talented are also helped to study in better schools and colleges. Some boys have managed to become engineers and one girl qualified for Company Secretary’s course after completion of her studies here. We hope that the government realises its responsibility for the orphanage and helps build it a proper hostel for these children. And if not the government, then the Muslim community should come forward,” said Faiz Ahmed, manager of the staff at the Ghar.

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