Category: Education

Mining in space! And it’s not science fiction

Its 2020! Environmental damage is one of the biggest concerns the world has today. Melting glaciers, dying rivers, depleting ozone, species getting extinct, disappearing forests and a whole list of other events exploiting nature, it’s all here, with consequences clearly visible on the future of humanity.

World’s consumption is going to keep rising in the years to come and with the given deteriorating condition of natural resources which even if improves in the next coming decade (though hard to say that yet!),it will still be difficult to provide suitably for the increasing population.

So, will reducing the consumption help?

The arena of per person consumption is becoming wider and wider, which besides food and water covers fuel and electricity. Development around the world is going to be more digital based hence being more dependent on metals.

In short there is no sign of consumption getting reduced in any near future. One way is to go towards sustainable development by shifting towards consumption habits with less carbon footprint. Could space mining be the other way of saving the planet?

We have heard of asteroids, the space debris orbiting the sun. Our inner solar system is flooded with these objects also called minor planets. The good part is that they are a gold mine for various resources.

A single platinum rich asteroid contains more platinum than has been mined in the history of humanity and platinum group metals are used in almost every other good we use today.Worth trillions of dollars of diamonds and gold is believed to be floating in these objects there in space.

In fact gold first came from the meteor shower millions of years after the earth was formed.

No wonder why asteroid mining is set to become a billion-dollar industry and why companies are eager to explore this idea.

As fascinating as it seems it is no less practical when comes to implementation. There is a class of Near Earth Asteroids (NEA’S) which are easy to reach and extract and transport resources. Most of the NEA’s are even nearer than the moon.

But it is a whole process in itself to determine which asteroid to mine based on what mineral it might contain. Infrared telescopes and spectrometers are the light bouncing techniques which are used to detect the composition of an asteroid. Once this is done then comes the extraction part.

But metals are not the only reason for their mining. Asteroids hold abundant amount of water which when broken down into oxygen and hydrogen could be used as air to breathe and fuel for rockets on journey back home.

It may seem too unreal for now, not likely to happen anytime soon but this thing is gaining momentum fast. Companies like Planetary Resources and Deep Space Industries have started to make this plan sound like a completely achievable goal.

Asteroids- the low hanging fruits of space, as they are now being called, maybe are just waiting to be cultivated. A step like this could change the whole economics of earth with scarcity not much of an issue anymore!

The space might start to look more like a busy trade route and the diamond on your finger probably would have journeyed all the way from the stars. With this idea becoming reality, we could at least say goodbye to all mining exploitation on earth.

 

Survival

Coronavirus survivor I have been through so many disastrous condition in this for 2-3 weeks a hell of ups-downs, loneliness, frightened and anixety of what will happen next.

Will I be alive or dead the next second. In the hospital I got to see so much of hustle-bustle and none of my family member can visit and take care of me. I was breathless and want some fresh air. And want to meet all and say sorry for my ignorant behaviour.

It’s not just the nurses and doctors. It’s the people who are driving the ambulances. It’s the paramedic crews. It’s the woman at the desk doing the admin work. It’s the man coming in cleaning up after a dead body. It’s the porter taking it down to the morgue. The police staff taking serious actions.

Every single person is playing their part. I have written to the ambulance service and the hospital to thank them for their incredible care and dedication.

I touched death and I’m very lucky to be alive. What I’m now looking forward to is appreciating nature. I realised material things don’t matter. When I get outside I want to breathe the air, look at birds and enjoy the natural beauty of the world.

I’ve been given a second chance, A new life.

The despicable face of fast fashion

In the present times, everything is fast paced, and what might be trendy one day, is kicked  to the curb the other. The most common example of this is fashion, specifically fast-fashion. Fast-fashion is used to describe cheap, trendy clothing, which makes the journey from the runway, to your closet and then to the garbage dump, in the blink of an eye. These include brands like, H&M, Forever 21, ASOS, ZARA etc. They  pump out new designs regularly to stay relevant amongst the younger generations, and you cannot escape it. Chances are, the clothes you’re wearing right now are from fast-fashion brands.

Now why is this problematic? By putting out new clothes every month or so, and using extremely clever marketing tactics, they’ve convinced the average consumer that their clothes are “outdated” and they need to keep purchasing from them to stay in trend, thereby maximising their profits every single time. But that isn’t even the worst part. To quench their never ending thirst for money, these brands utilise sweatshops for production of their clothing. A sweatshop is a factory where workers are severely underpaid, and the working conditions are inhumane, ranging from excruciatingly long working hours, to unsafe and unhygienic work environments. Sweatshops are usually placed in third world countries like Bangladesh, Cambodia etc. where worker’s rights are minimal, where rich brands can get quick, inexpensive labour at the cost of actual human lives.  

Since these clothes are mass produced and cheaply made, it is not surprising to know that they go bad after a couple of washes, and are no longer wearable. Each year, the average consumer throws away about 32 kilograms of clothing, adding to the already over filled landfills . It is estimated that the fashion industry is responsible for 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions, which is more than international flights and maritime ships combined. It also takes thousands of gallons of water to produce one cotton shirt and a pair of jeans, as they are made from a water intensive material-cotton. Further, textile dyeing is the second largest polluter of water, leading to the fashion industry being responsible for 20% of the worlds water pollution.

As more and more people get aware of their malpractices, fast fashion brands resort to greenwashing, which is basically presenting a company as more eco friendly than it really is. They make false promises about making their products with organic cotton and recycled polyester. However, they fail to provide sufficient and definitive information, and refuse to specify how much of a garment is made with recycled material. Brands like LuLuLemon and H&M have been recently accused of greenwashing, yet their sales remain high.

It is saddening to see how many people are unaware of these evils, and those who are aware simply turn a blind eye to such issues. How can we prevent this? Our strongest weapon in this war against fast fashion is education. Educate yourself and those around you. Watch documentaries, read books and articles, and convince others around you to quit buying from such brands. Try reducing the number of shopping trips you take in a year. Another thing which can help is mending your old clothes, and wearing them at least 30-40 times to make the most out of them. Remember, every little step counts. Gone are the days when we were blind consumers. Now, the time has come for serious reforms.

Sources: https://www.businessinsider.in/science/news/the-fashion-industry-emits-more-carbon-than-international-flights-and-maritime-shipping-combined-here-are-the-biggest-ways-it-impacts-the-planet-/articleshow/71640863.cms

https://www.greenamerica.org/blog/factory-exploitation-and-fast-fashion-machine

NEW EDUCATION POLICY-2020 IN INDIA.

The central government is all set for enforcing a new education policy from this year by proposing sweeping changes in school and higher education. This New Education Policy was implemented on Wednesday i.e on 29/07/2020 by Union Minister Sri. Ramesh Nishank Pokriyal.This is a massive policy that starts sweeping changes in schools and colleges. Let’s take a look at this policy and its implements.

For what purpose do NEP(National Education Policy) serves?

A NEP is a cyclopedic shell to guide the development of education in the country. The need for a policy was first felt in 1964 when Congress MP Siddheshwar Prasad criticized the then government for lacking a vision and philosophy for education. The same year, a 17-member Education Commission, headed by then UGC Chairperson D S Kothari, was constituted to draft a national and coordinated policy on education. Based on the suggestions of this Commission, Parliament passed the first education policy in 1968.

A new NEP usually comes over every few decades. India has had three to date. The first came in 1968 and the second in 1986, under Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi respectively; the NEP of 1986 was revamped in 1992 when P V Narasimha Rao was Prime Minister. The third is the NEP released Wednesday under the Prime Ministership of Narendra Modi.

union ministers in the press meet during the NEP launch on Wednesday.

What are the Key Policies and Implementations?

The NEP proposes sweeping changes including opening up of Indian higher education to foreign universities, dismantling of the UGC, and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the introduction of a four-year multidisciplinary undergraduate program with multiple exit options, and discontinuation of the M Phil program.
In school education, the policy focuses on overhauling the curriculum, “easier” Board exams, a reduction in the syllabus to retain “core essentials” and thrust on “experiential learning and critical thinking”.
In a revelatory shift from the 1986 policy, which pushed for a 10+2 structure of school education, the new NEP pitches for a “5+3+3+4” design corresponding to the age groups 3-8 years (foundational stage), 8-11 (preparatory), 11-14 (middle), and 14-18 (secondary). This brings early childhood education (also known as pre-school education for children of ages 3 to 5) under the ambit of formal schooling. The mid-day meal program will be extended to pre-school children. The NEP says students until Class 5 should be taught in their mother tongue or regional language.

The policy also proposes phasing out of all institutions offering single streams and that all universities and colleges must aim to become multidisciplinary by 2040.

How do these reforms will be implemented?

The NEP only provides a broad direction and is not mandatory to follow. Since education is a concurrent subject (both the Centre and the state governments can make laws on it), the reforms proposed can only be implemented collaboratively by the Centre and the states. This will not happen immediately. The incumbent government has set a target of 2040 to implement the entire policy. Sufficient funding is also crucial; the 1968 NEP was disabled by a shortage of funds.
The government plans to set up subject-wise committees with members from relevant ministries at both the central and state levels to develop implementation plans for each aspect of the NEP. The plans will list out actions to be taken by multiple bodies, including the HRD Ministry, state Education Departments, school Boards, NCERT, Central Advisory Board of Education, and National Testing Agency, among others. Planning will be followed by a yearly joint review of progress against targets set.

Impact on Mother Tongue by English Medium Based schools?

Such emphasis is not new: Most government schools in the country are doing this already. As for private schools, it’s unlikely that they will be asked to change their medium of instruction.A Senior official has clarified that Such emphasis is not new: Most government schools in the country are doing this already. As for private schools, it’s unlikely that they will be asked to change their medium of instruction.

What about the people with Nomadic jobs?

The NEP doesn’t say anything specifically on children of parents with transferable jobs, but acknowledges children living in multilingual families: “Teachers will be encouraged to use a bilingual approach, including bilingual teaching-learning materials, with those students whose home language may be different from the medium of instruction.”

What about the University educations?

The NEP proposes sweeping changes including opening up of Indian higher education to foreign universities, dismantling of the UGC and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), introduction of a four-year multidisciplinary undergraduate programme with multiple exit options, and discontinuation of the M Phil programme.

Under the four-year programme proposed in the new NEP, students can exit after one year with a certificate, after two years with a diploma, and after three years with a bachelor’s degree.

verdict:-

Indian government is looking forward to implement this as early as possible.

WHAT IS NEOWISE COMET AND THE BEST WAY TO SEE IT !

Comet Neowise has been entertaining space enthusiasts across the northern Hemisphere. Although its official name is C/2020 F3, the comet has been dubbed “Neowise” after the near earth object wide field infrared survey explorer space telescope that first noticed it earlier this year. The Neowise Comet was discovered on March 27th and it is closely passing earth, i.e, it’ll be only 200 times as far as the moon is from the earth. All the hype of this comet is because you can actually watch it with naked eye. The last time humans could see a comet with the naked eye, it was comet Hale- Bopp in 1997.

How can one see it with naked eyes?

Find the darkest possible swath of sky and make sure your eyes are adjusted so that you give yourself the best possible opportunity to see faint objects. You need 15 minutes or so to adjust your eyes, so that your pupils are adjusted, and they are used to seeing fainter thing. You can also use the app “comet neowise” developed by astrophysicist Hanno Rein of university of Toronto Scarborough to see exactly where it is, so that you know the direction which you need to look upon.

You can take a moment to look up and enjoy this beauty glazing through the space for about 20 minutes right after the sunset. A ll should witness this surreal experience before it disappears into the outer-space for next 6000 years.

Rakshabandhan in 2020: How it is going to be different…

“There’s no other love like the love for a brother. There’s no other love like the love from a brother.” –Astrid Alauda

Rakshabandhan is popular, traditionally Hindu, annual rite, or ceremony, which is central to a festival of the same name, celebrated in India, Nepal, and other parts of the Indian subcontinent, and among people around the world influenced by Hindu culture. The festival is a festival of love, care, and happiness. It symbolizes the existing love between brother and sister. On this day, sisters of all ages tie a talisman, or amulet, called the rakhi, around the wrists of their brothers, symbolically protecting them, receiving a gift in return, and traditionally investing the brothers with a share of the responsibility of their potential care.

Despite being a part of Hindu culture, due to its moral values, the festival is celebrated by other cultures as well. Among women and men who are not blood relatives, there is also a transformed tradition of voluntary kin relations, achieved through the tying of rakhi amulets, which have cut across caste and class lines, and Hindu and Muslim divisions. In some communities or contexts, other figures, such as a matriarch, or a person in authority, can be included in the ceremony in ritual acknowledgment of their benefaction.

Every year, this festival has been awaited by all of us. It gives a chance for the celebration of a selfless and beautiful relation. For some families, this is the occasion where sisters get a chance (out of their busy schedule) to finally visit their brother and celebrate their love. The occasion begins from the previous day itself, with sisters buying beautiful rakhis and sweets for their brothers and applying Mehendi on their hands. Next early morning, both sisters and brothers dress up in new clothes. The sister ties Rakhi on brother’s hand offers him sweet and sings love songs for him depicting brother-sister relation. The brother then gives her sister a gift and along with that a promise of “protection against any problem in her life.”

Every year, this is the time when families travel to each others’ houses to celebrate the festival. But this time, the festival falls amid these harsh times when the whole world is standing against a pandemic, COVID-19. Rakshabandhan is the first major festival of Hindus after the beginning of the pandemic. Therefore, it is a challenge for all of us to get along with the charm of the festival by taking all the precautions and by maintaining social distancing. This year, it is difficult for sisters to visit their brothers if they live in a different city or state. Each year, we can easily have a get-together and celebrate the festival. But, every year, we have our soldiers, policemen, doctors, workers who are away from their home, on their duty even during festivals for the service of their country. This time, we have got a very golden chance to serve our country and fight against the pandemic by staying at our homes. We can spread happiness and celebrate the festival with our police brothers, doctors, and nurses who are truly working as our safeguard for our protection. We can tie Rakhi out of respect to them, making them realize that they are true heroes and fulfilling the responsibilities of a brother. 

Apart from this, in this time of the internet, even though we are staying far, we are always connected through the internet. We are never apart. We can celebrate the festival over a video call. It will a new experience and it will be great fun. One more thing we need to remember that though some sisters are not able to go to their brother, due to pandemic, colleges and schools are closed. This brings young brothers and sisters together who usually don’t get holidays on Rakshabandhan when colleges run regularly. They must be together after a long time and enjoying the togetherness.

“As we grew up, my brothers acted like they didn’t care, but I always knew they looked out for me and were there!” – Catherine Pulsifer

Last day of Internship

So, finally, today is the last day of my internship. This is not related to any news, article or any kind of research, this is just a simple message and a little experience which I want to share. In this period of a month, I learnt a plethora of skills such as content writing, Blogging and more than that I enjoyed to being a publisher with eduindex. I haven’t traditionally good at writing but now I think I did my best even I can do more better. In today’s world, everyone should learn these skills and knowledge as well and we are blessed as we have such a good platform Internshala through that we can use this knowledge or skill even learns from them in such a convenient way. Hopefully, my little experience will be helpful to have the curiosity in young ones.

LEARNING

A Human continuous process

PATTIKONDA:30/07/2020.

Learning is the process of acquiring new understanding,behaviour, knowledge,skills,values,attitudes, and preferences.Some learning is immediate, induced by a single event, but much skill and knowledge accumulates from repeated experiences.

Learning is not a education word. Human learning starts at birth and continues until death as a consequence of ongoing interactions between people and their environment. learning may occur as a result of habituation, operational conditions,classic conditions or as a result of more complex activities.Real learning is the ability to adopt what you know and know-how to do and adapt it under an everchanging variety of circumstances.

A direction of life
  • There are 3 types of learning.
  • Non-associative learning: It refers to “a relatively permanent change in the strength of response to a single stimulus.
  • It includes habituation and senisization.
  • Active learning: It occurs when a person takes control of their learning experience. Since understanding information is the key.Active learning is a key characteristic of student-centerd learning.
  • Associate learning:Associative learning is the process by which a person or animal learns an association between two stimuli or events.
  • It includes classic and operant conditioning.

Multimedia learning or e learning is the modern learning techniques. Multimedia learning is where a person can use both audible and visual stimuli to learn information.Electronic learning or e-learning is computer-enhanced learning. A specific and always more diffused e-learning is Mobile learning.When a learner interacts with the e-learning environment, it’s called Augmented learning. Augmented digital content may include text, images, video, audio.Nonformal learning is organized learning outside the formal learning system.

Domains of learning
  • The DOMAINS of learning is
  • Cognitive: To recall, calculate, discuss, analyze, problem solve, etc.
  • Psychomotor: To dance, swim, ski, dive, drive a car, ride a bike, etc.
  • Affective: To like something or someone, love, appreciate, fear, hate, worship, etc.
  • Transfer of learning is the application of skill, knowledge or understanding to resolve a novel problem or situation.
  • Machine learning, a branch of AI, concerns the construction and study of systems that can learn from data

Factors of affecting learning: Status of students: Physical and home conditions also matter.hereditary: learners are rich in hereditary endowment while others are poor. Each student is unique and has different abilities.Physical environment: The design, quality, and setting of a learning space such as a school or classroom.Goals or purposes,Motivational behavior,Guidance,Interest, Learning activities,Attention are some influences of learning.

Serum Institute asked to revise protocol for Covid-19 vaccine clinical trial

A  Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) expert panel has sought clarifications from Serum Institute of India (SII) over its application to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) seeking permission for conducting phase 2 and 3 human clinical trials of the Oxford vaccine candidate for COVID-19, official sources said on Wednesday. The CDSCO has advised the Serum Institute of India (SII) to submit a revised protocol to perform the clinical trials in India for potential Covid-19 vaccine.

The move comes when the Subject Expert Committee evaluated the submitted protocol by SII. The Subject Expert Committee (SEC) on COVID-19 which held its meeting on Tuesday deliberated on the application by SII and asked the Pune-based firm to revise its protocol for the phase 2 and 3 clinical trials, besides seeking some additional information. On Wednesday evening, SII submitted a revised protocol for conducting the trials to the DCGI. The firm plans to start phase 2 and 3 human trials in India in August. The domestic pharma giant has partnered with AstraZeneca for manufacturing the Oxford vaccine candidate for highly infectious disease Covid-19.

“The company on Tuesday was asked to clearly define phase 2 and phase 3 part of the protocol and resubmit their application for evaluation by the SEC,” an official source said. The panel also recommended that the proposed clinical trial sites be distributed across India, the source said. “They also have not given justification for the proposed enrolment of 1,600 subjects during the trial,” the source added. Additional Director, Government Affairs, SII, Prakash Kumar Singh said, “We have submitted our revised protocol to DCGI office today evening for further action by SEC and DCGI.” 

The SII which has partnered with AstraZeneca for manufacturing the Oxford vaccine candidate for COVID-19 had submitted its application to the DCGI on Friday, seeking permission for conducting the phase 2 and 3 trials of the potential vaccine ‘Covidshield’.”According to the application, it would conduct an observer-blind, randomized controlled study to determine the safety and immunogenicity of ‘Covishield’ in healthy Indian adults. The firm said that around 1,600 participants of more than 18 years would be enrolled in the study,” a source had said.  A Lancet medical journal report has stated that a vaccine candidate developed at the University of Oxford has shown encouraging results and it appears to be “safe, well-tolerated, and immunogenic. Initial results of the first two-phase trials of the vaccine conducted in five trial sites in the UK showed it has an acceptable safety profile and homologous boosting increased antibody responses, the source said.

To introduce the vaccine, SII, the world’s largest vaccine maker by the number of doses produced and sold, has signed an agreement to manufacture the potential vaccine developed by the Jenner Institute (Oxford University) in collaboration with British-Swedish pharma company AstraZeneca. On the partnership with AstraZeneca, Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla had said, “Serum Institute of India has entered a manufacturing partnership with AstraZeneca to produce and supply 1 billion doses of the COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Oxford University.”

These vaccines will be for India and middle and low-income countries across the world (GAVI countries), he had said. Last week, Oxford University announced the satisfactory progress with the vaccine, making it one of the leading ones among the dozens of vaccine candidates being developed around the world. The clinical trials of a potential Covid-19 vaccine on humans began in April. There was no immediate response from SII when ANI contacted them to make their version.

National Education Policy 2020

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the new National Education Policy (NEP) with an aim to introduce several changes in the Indian education system – from the school to college level. A single regulator for higher education institutions, multiple entries and exit options in degree courses, discontinuation of MPhil programs, low stakes board exams, common entrance exams for universities are among the highlights of the policy.  Speaking to reporters, Union minister Prakash Javadekar said the changes are important as the policy, which was framed in 1986 and revised in 1992, had not been revised since then.

The NEP 2020 aims at making “India a global knowledge superpower”.The new academic session will begin in September-October – the delay is due to the unprecedented coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak – and the government aims to introduce the policy before the new session kicks in. The committee — which suggested changes in the education system under the NEP — was headed by former ISRO chief K Kasturirangan. The NEP was drafted in 1986 and updated in 1992. The NEP was part of the election manifesto of the ruling Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) ahead of the 2014 elections.

Either one of the mother tongue or the local/regional language will be the medium of instruction up to Class 5 in all schools, the government said Wednesday while launching the National Education Policy 2020. Among other changes in the revision of the NEP, last done over three decades ago, is the extension of the right to education to cover all children between three and 18 years of age. The policy also proposes vocational education, with internships, for students from Class 6, a change to the 10+2 schooling structure, and a four-year bachelor’s program. NEP 2020 will bring two crores, out-of-school children, back into the mainstream, the government has claimed. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted saying he “wholeheartedly welcomed” the policy, which he called a “long due and much-awaited reform in the education sector”.

In a bid to ramp up digital learning, a National Educational Technology Forum (NETF) would be created. “E-courses will be developed in eight regional languages initially and virtual labs will be developed,” Amit Khare, Higher Education Secretary, said. Top 100 foreign colleges will be allowed to set-up campuses in India. According to the HRD Ministry document, listing salient features of policy, “such (foreign) universities will be given special dispensation regarding regulatory, governance, and content norms on par with other autonomous institutions of India.” Standalone Higher Education Institutes and professional education institutes will be evolved into multi-disciplinary education. “There are over 45,000 affiliated colleges in our country. Under Graded Autonomy, Academic, Administrative and Financial Autonomy will be given to colleges, on the basis of the status of their accreditation,” he further said.

Here are the important points in the National Education Policy 2020:

  1. The mother tongue or local or regional language is to be the medium of instruction in all schools up to Class 5 (preferably till Class 8 and beyond), according to the policy. Under the NEP 2020, Sanskrit will be offered at all levels and foreign languages from the secondary school level. 
  2. The 10+2 structure has been replaced with 5+3+3+4, consisting of 12 years of school and three of Anganwadi or pre-school. This will be split as follows: a foundational stage (ages three and eight), three years of pre-primary (ages eight to 11), a preparatory stage (ages 11 to 14), and a secondary stage (ages 14 to 18). According to the government, the revised structure will “bring hitherto uncovered age group of three to six years, recognized globally as a crucial stage for the development of mental faculties, under school curriculum”.
  3. Instead of exams being held every year, school students will sit only for three – at Classes 3, 5, and 8. Assessment in other years will shift to a “regular and formative” style that is more “competency-based, promotes learning and development, and tests higher-order skills, such as analysis, critical thinking and conceptual clarity”.
  4. Board exams will continue to be held for Classes 10 and 12 but even these will be re-designed with “holistic development” as the aim. Standards for this will be established by a new national assessment center – PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development).
  5. The policy, the government has said, aims at reducing the curriculum load of students and allowing them to become more “multi-disciplinary” and “multi-lingual”. There will be no rigid separation between arts and sciences, between curricular and extra-curricular activities and between vocational and academic stream, the government said.
  6. To that end, the policy also proposes that higher education institutions like the IITs (Indian Institute of Technology) move towards “holistic education” by 2040 with greater inclusion of arts and humanities subjects for students studying science subjects, and vice versa.
  7. The NEP 2020 proposes a four-year undergraduate program with multiple exit options to give students flexibility. A multi-disciplinary bachelor’s degree will be awarded after completing four years of study. Students exiting after two years will get a diploma and those leaving after 12 months will have studied a vocational/professional course. MPhil (Master of Philosophy) courses are to be discontinued.
  8. A Higher Education Council of India (HECI) will be set up to regulate higher education; the focus will be on institutions that have 3,000 or more students. Among the council’s goals is to increase the gross enrolment ratio from 26.3 percent (2018) to 50 percent by 2035. The HECI will not, however, have jurisdiction over legal and medical colleges.


The Cabinet also approved changing the name of the HRD ministry to the education ministry.