Odisha seeks Centre’s clarity on Class 10, 12 board exams

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Odisha seeks Centre’s clarity on Class 10, 12 board exams

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring clarity on the time frame for the conduct of Class 10 and 12 Board examinations and the duration of the 2020-21 academic session.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister said national guidelines with tentative timelines will help states for framing appropriate strategy.

“As all competitive entrance examinations and admission in institutions of high education are interlinked, national guidelines with tentative timelines will help the states for framing appropriate strategy. It will also help students anxious about the examination dates to plan and prepare accordingly,” Patnaik said.

He said that in the absence of clarity on the academic session and conduct of both Class 10 and Class 12 Board examinations, all enrolled students and their parents/teachers are in a state of uncertainty. It is leading to anxiety among all, he added.

In view of Covid-19, all educational institutions are closed in the state since March 17 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The state government has decided to keep educational institutions closed till December 31.

“We have been trying to reach out to the maximum number of students digitally through different modes. But it is not possible to cover all students and prepare them for the Boards and different competitive examinations,” Patnaik said.

With spike in Covid-19 cases, Haryana shuts schools again

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With spike in Covid-19 cases, Haryana shuts schools again

With the sudden spike in coronavirus cases among students, the Haryana government on Friday ordered the closure of all schools — government and private — in the state till November 30.

More than 300 students were tested positive in the past fortnight with the reopening of the schools. Schools for Class IX to XII were reopened after over five months of closure on November 2. However, the government was yet to reopen classes for students from Class I to VIII.

FM announces new employment scheme with EPFO support for 2 years

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FM announces new employment scheme with EPFO support for 2 years

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday announced ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana’ to incentivize the creation of new employment opportunities during the Covid-recovery phase.

The employment scheme effective from October 1 will be applied to eligible new employees joining the EPFO-registered establishments and for those who exited these concerns during the COVID pandemic (March 1-September 30, 2020) and drawing monthly wages of less than Rs 15,000.

Under the scheme, the central government will subsidize the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) contributions for two years. The Centre will provide 12 percent of the contributions of both employers and the employee for establishments with up to 1,000 employees.

In the case of establishments with over 1,000 employees, the Centre will only subsidize 12 percent of the employees’ EPF contributions.

The establishments eligible for the scheme include those that added a specified number of employees compared with the base month of September 2020.

Yogi to launch ‘Mission Rozgar’ after Diwali

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Yogi to launch ‘Mission Rozgar’ after Diwali

After Diwali, the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh is preparing to launch ‘Mission Rozgar’ which will provide employment to the unemployed or those who have lost their jobs. The government has set a target of employing over 50 lakh youths in the state from November 2020 to March 2021.

Through this campaign, youth will get a chance to apply for jobs in the government departments, councils, corporations, etc. With the help of government efforts, many new opportunities for the private sector will also be created.

Finalizing the action plan of ‘Mission Rozgar’, Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Rajendra Kumar Tiwari said, “Under Mission Rozgar, a program will be organized to create more employment and self-employment jobs in various departments, organizations, voluntary organizations, corporations, councils, boards and various local bodies of the state government.

An employment help desk will be created in every department and organization. It will inform the youth of availing the benefit of employment programs related to the respective departments. The chief secretary said that a database of employment will be prepared in the state.

In this regard, an app and a web portal are also being developed by the Directorate of Training and Employment. Data related to employment will be updated every fortnight on the portal. Under the administrative departments, all the directorates, corporations, boards, commissions, etc. will nominate a nodal officer to keep everything on track.

The entire ‘Mission Rozgar’ campaign will be conducted through the Infrastructure and Industrial Development Commissioner (IIDC) and a high-level committee headed by the chief secretary will monitor the campaign monthly.

In every district, there will be a committee under the chairmanship of the district magistrate who will prepare an action plan at the district level for jobs and careers. The Directorate of Training and Employment in collaboration with private industries will also organize employment fairs and will address all the pending recruitment cases.

Job insecurity linked to depression during Covid-19: Study

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Job insecurity linked to depression during Covid-19: Study

Researchers have found a strong association between employment insecurity and common symptoms of anxiety and depression among young adults due to Covid-19.

The study, published online in the Journal of Adolescent Health, found that since the start of the pandemic, nearly 60 percent of US young adults experienced direct or household employment loss.

“It is clear from this study that the Covid-19 pandemic has had wide-ranging effects on young adults,” said study author Kyle T Ganson from the University of Toronto in the US.

“It is imperative that public policy address the economic downturns to ensure the employment security of young adults, which may subsequently address their mental health,” Ganson added.

Among a sample of nearly 5,000 young, researchers found that since March 2020, young adults who lost their job or were part of a household that experienced employment loss were more likely than those with secure employment to experience four common symptoms of anxiety and depression. This was also true of young adults who expected an employment loss in the next four weeks.

“Young adults are especially affected by employment loss since they are just starting their careers,” said senior author Jason M Nagata from the University of California in the US.

“Internships have been canceled and employment offers have been rescinded during the pandemic,” Nagata added.

The study also found that symptoms of anxiety and depression were common among the sample of young adults.

“Young adults experiencing depression or anxiety should seek professional help early on. During the pandemic, there are more options to access telehealth and other mental health resources virtually,” the study authors wrote.

Schools reopen in Andhra after 5 months

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Schools reopen in Andhra after 5 months

Schools started reopening after a gap of five months in Andhra Pradesh in a phased manner from Monday amid the Covid pandemic, several Class 12 and 10 students attended classes across the state.

Classes will be held from 9.15 a.m. to 1.45 pm, followed by midday meals. Only a maximum of 16 students is allowed in a classroom. Students were made to sit with wide spacing between them, leaving many benches vacant.

Students were thermally screened before entering the classes and made to use hand sanitizers.

The 2020-21 academic year has been extended to April 30 to ensure 180 working days.

School Education Commissioner V. Chinna Veerabhadrudu had announced that schools in the state will reopen in phases for different classes.

There are around 60,000 schools, including aided, unaided and private ones, in the southern state.

Educational institutions in Assam to reopen on Nov 2

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Educational institutions in Assam to reopen on Nov 2

The educational institutions in Assam are set to reopen next week with strict Covid-19 guidelines after over seven months of closure, officials said on Saturday.

The schools are going to open on Monday.

According to the officials of the state Education Department, the students from Class 6 to 12 would only attend the schools and a standard operating procedure (SOP) has been issued in this regard.

The officials said the students of classes 6, 8, and 12 would attend teaching on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and the rest three days are reserved for classes 7,9 and 11.

“All the students would not come into the schools at a time and they will attend the schools in different batches in the morning and afternoon shift. Fixation of the first batch and second batch of students would be done by the head of the institution.

The first batch of the students would come at 8 a.m. and stay up to 12 noon and the second batch will come at 12.30 p.m. and stay up to 3.30 p.m.,” the officials said.

The school authorities have been asked to follow the social distancing and other precautionary measures against the Covid-19.

The SOP also includes a staggered timetable for general colleges, engineering colleges, polytechnic institutions, and IITs and the final decision will be taken by the college authorities.

However, the online mode of education would continue for students who prefer to attend online classes rather than physically attend the schools.

The SOP said that all hostel facilities in the schools and colleges would remain suspended until further orders.

It said that the educational institutions should have to be sanitized every weekend, preferably on every Sunday.

The teaching and non-teaching staff of all the educational institutions and cooks and helpers engaged in preparation and serving of Mid-day-Meal among the students should be medically tested for Covid-19 after 30-days and the people with symptomatic cases testing should be done immediately.

Andhra orders 30% fee cut in pvt schools, intermediate colleges

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Andhra orders 30% fee cut in pvt schools, intermediate colleges

With an aim to provide relief to people hit financially by the coronavirus pandemic, the Andhra Pradesh government has announced a 30 percent reduction in fees charged in private unaided schools and intermediate colleges.

“After careful examination of the matter and on Andhra Pradesh School Education Regulatory Monitoring Commission (APSERMC) recommendations, the state has decided to affect 30 percent reduction in tuition fees for the academic year 2020-21,” said Principal Secretary B Rajsekhar.

“Considering the plight of parents who have been economically incapacitated, the commission in the exercise of powers under Section 9 of Act 21 of 2019 has recommended a reduction of 30 percent in tuition fees for 2020-21 session,” he added.

All private unaided schools and intermediate colleges can collect only 70 percent of the fees charged in the 2019-20 academic session.

The state government also took the opinion of Director, School Education (DSE) and Commissioner, Intermediate Education (CIE), who said that the proposed reduction was required and it may not affect managements substantially as total operational and maintenance costs have definitely reduced to due to many reasons.

“Educational institutions in the state were closed with effect from March 22 and have not reopened till now in 2020-21 academic year… daily operational and maintenance costs for schools too have substantially reduced,” the officer said.

“All academic and extracurricular activities in schools have not been held all these months and operational and maintenance costs of school buses too must be bare minimum during all these months,” said Rajsekhar.

Hiring activity in India up 24% in September: Naukri.com

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Hiring activity in India up 24% in September: Naukri.com

Driven by industries like pharma, fast-moving consumer goods, education, and IT, hiring activity in India saw a growth of 24 percent in September compared to the previous month, according to a new report by job portal Naukri on Monday.

Further opening up of the economy with unlock measures and increased mobility has led to an improvement in hiring activities in industries like real estate, auto/ancillary, and hospitality/travel versus August, revealed the Naukri JobSpeak Index for September.

Key industries such as business process outsourcing (BPO)/IT enabled Services (ITeS) and banking and financial services continue to post robust growth sequentially, said the report.

“While the hiring is yet to touch last year levels and is down by 23% in Sept’20 versus Sept’19 but this is also a marked recovery from a 35%-60% decline that we have witnessed in the last few months,” Pawan Goyal, Chief Business Officer, Naukri.com, said in a statement.

“Businesses that are leveraging digital channels for dissemination and consumption of goods and services are thriving and will continue to do so as we imbibe social distancing norms in our daily lives.”

Metros that were reeling under various lockdown measures earlier have posted strong double-digit growth in the month of September Vs August with Pune leading the pack followed by Hyderabad and Chennai, while Bangalore is lagging with a 14 percent growth.

Tier-2 cities like Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, and Jaipur have also seen a significant uptick in the hiring activities, according to Naukri.

Hiring grew across the board in terms of experience bands with the demand for mid-management professionals (8-12 years) up by 27 percent versus August followed by 0-3 years’ experience (25 percent), 4-7 years’ experience (23 percent), 13-16 years’ experience (24 percent) and more than 16 years’ experience by 19 percent.

“With increased mobility and focus on health, we are hopeful that hiring activity will further improve in sectors like Travel, Hospitality, Medical/ Healthcare, Insurance, and Financial Services,” Goyal said.

The Naukri JobSpeak is a monthly index that calculates and records hiring activity based on the job listings on the Naukri.com website month on month.

US weekly jobless claims total 840,000

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US weekly jobless claims total 840,000

The weekly unemployment claims in the US totaled 840,000 last week, the lowest level since the coronavirus-induced shut down in March, according to the Labour Department.

The new figure, released by the Department on Thursday, was also lower from the upwardly revised 849,000 from a week earlier, reports CNBC News.

Since the US economy was shut down after the World Health Organization declared the outbreak as a pandemic, unemployment claims have remained above the 800,000 marks every week.

However, continuing claims again fell sharply, dropping by just over 1 million to 10.98 million, according to the Labour Department.

Continuing claims trail the headline weekly claims number by a week.

The insured unemployment rate also slid from 8.2 percent to 7.5 percent, its lowest since March 28.

Despite the persistently high level of jobless claims, a White House official said the economy continues on a clear recovery path.

“The economy is entering into a boom and growth looks great,” Joseph LaVorgna, an advisor to President Donald Trump and chief economist on the National Economic Council, told CNBC News on Thursday.

“If you look at most indicators, they are back above their pre-coronavirus readings,” he said.

There are still 25.5 million workers claiming some form of unemployment benefits.

First-time claimants under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program fell by 44,270 to 464,437 for the week of October 3.

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