Latest news with #2020
NDTV
4 hours ago
- Science
- NDTV
61 Lakh Clear Science Stream In 2024; Centre Urges Expansion Of STEM Education
New Delhi: In 2024, a total of 61 lakh students cleared the science stream, marking a 16% increase from 52.4 lakh in 2022, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Education. In response, the Union Education Ministry's Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL) is urging an increase in seats and faculty in STEM programmes, given the significant surge in students clearing their Class 12 science exams. The move aims to align with shifting academic trends and growing aspirations, especially among girls. A senior DoSEL official said, "An additional 9 lakh students passing science means we need proportional increases in STEM seats and faculty in higher education institutions to support this growth." This trend calls for better school planning, enhanced teacher training, and improved recruitment at the state level. Despite this progress, challenges remain as dropout rates continue to hinder advancement. Ministry data shows that in 2024, around 26.6 lakh regular Class 10 students did not progress to Class 11. Of these, 4.43 lakh did not appear for the exams, while 22.1 lakh failed. A similar trend was seen in Class 12, where approximately 24.7 lakh students were unable to complete their higher secondary education due to failure or non-appearance in exams. Though this marks a 47% improvement compared to 2013, it continues to obstruct progress toward achieving a higher Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER). To address this, DoSEL is exploring ways to expand open schooling, focusing on the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), and urging states to consider merging separate Class 10 and Class 12 boards into a unified board structure to streamline examinations. However, NIOS's effectiveness remains limited due to low penetration in many states. In 2024, 6.98 lakh students enrolled in Class 10 through open schools, but only 3.4 lakh passed. For Class 12, 7.9 lakh students appeared-2.84 lakh through NIOS-with pass rates standing at just 54% for Class 10 and 57% for Class 12. These low pass percentages remain a concern for open boards. The ministry report noted, "States like Delhi, Rajasthan, and Haryana have shown lower failure rates in open schooling. Other states are being encouraged to adopt similar models to help more students complete their education." NIOS plays a vital role in offering a second chance to students who either fail board exams or are unable to continue formal education. Officials said both NIOS and state governments are being encouraged to establish more open schools to provide these students with alternative pathways to complete their education. "Open schooling is a critical solution for academic continuity, especially for students who face disruptions due to personal, social, or financial reasons," said a senior ministry official. The move is part of a broader strategy to improve retention and completion rates under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. India currently has 66 school examination boards-3 national and 63 state boards. Of these, 33 boards account for 97% of total student enrolment, while the remaining 33 boards serve just 3% of students. A total of 48 boards conduct exams at both the secondary (Class 10) and higher secondary (Class 12) levels. The ministry has called for improved school-level planning, increased teacher recruitment, and enhanced state-level training initiatives.
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ari Aster's Eddington Trailer: When Reality Is a Horror Movie
The small American town of Ari Aster's new Eddington doesn't look so different from the real world presented by CNN or the Drudge Report: People can spin anything into a conspiracy, government is turned against itself, and gunfire erupts with seemingly little provocation. The small, fictional New Mexico town in the brand-new trailer for Eddington — set in 2020 — isn't so different from downtown Los Angeles right now, where local government clashes with the National Guard sent in by the president, suspicions run high, and everything feels on the edge of violence. Though a complete film can of course go places only hinted at in a preview, the Eddington trailer falls into the same tricky predicament as many recent satire or horror films: How do you keep up with a real world more dramatic than the movies? It feels quaint, for example, to see Joaquin Phoenix's Sheriff Joe Cross and Pedro Pascal's Mayor Ted Garcia face off over the direction of a small town, when in real life the president of the United States is threatening to arrest the governor of California. And while we don't recall anyone in 2020 connecting anti-Covid masks with child trafficking — as Austin Butler's cult-figure preacher, Vernon Jefferson, does in the Eddington trailer — it sounds like exactly the kind of weird connection people would make at any moment in the conspiracy-mad 2020s. Eddington, which premiered at Cannes to strong reviews and comes to theaters July 18, carries the tagline 'hindsight is 2020' — that's the long-ago year when the pandemic began — and an image of buffalo running off a cliff. (Indigenous people on the plains used to hunt and kill buffalo by chasing them into a panicked cliff jump.) Recent projects like Jesse Armstrong's terrific Mountainhead and the new season of Black Mirror feel like they're racing to stay a few steps ahead of the real-life technical innovations that can make reality seem ever more dystopian. Once we turned to entertainment for something more exciting than our humdrum real lives. Now we turn to entertainment for something not necessarily more boring, but easier to contain: It resolves, more or less, at the end of the movie, or episode, or season. Also Read: In Ari Aster's Eddington: Small-Town Covid Tensions With Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone and Austin Butler Turning off the news can feel like hiding. Part of our instinct is to confront the problems of the world, in hopes of fixing them. But they can also add to a sense of learned helplessness that might make us worse at fighting for a better world. How do we strike the right balance between being informed and doomscrolling? Eddington presents interesting questions, but not escape: The scenario in the trailer parallels our real lives too precisely. As tension of masks and fear of the virus sweep through Eddington in 2020, Butler's social media tirades add fuel to the brushfire. Pascal's mayor pleads for calm. Phoenix's sheriff traffics in grievance. Emma Stone, as the sheriff's wife, seems disgusted, and wondering how she's gotten dragged into this insanity. When she types "Horrible" in the comments section of a Vernon Jefferson video entitled "How Masks Make It Easier to SMUGGLE CHILDREN," is she referring to the practice of smuggling children? Or the fear-stoking tactics of the video? It's been a cliche for years to say real events parallel a horror movie. But it's saying something when the director of Hereditary and Midsommar turns to the news for inspiration. And reality is not, to be clear, a horror movie. You can turn off a horror movie. Main image: A scene in the trailer for Eddington, from Ari Aster, in theaters July 18 from A24. Related Headlines 30 Baby Boomers We Love How Nobody Wants This Uses Cross Shooting and Creative Editing to Make Strong Connections Giving Voice to the Adolescents of Adolescence
India Today
2 days ago
- General
- India Today
Centre flags rising school dropouts, urges states to act before 2030
India's Education Ministry urges states to tackle rising secondary school dropout rates with enrolment drives and accurate data tracking to meet NEP 2020 targets. Secondary school dropout rates in India remain a significant challenge, with several states experiencing higher-than-average figures. According to a report by a department of the Education Ministry, states like Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, and Maharashtra show notable dropout percentages, prompting the central government to advocate for corrective measures. The report highlights the urgent need for intervention to address these alarming statistics. Addressing the dropout rates The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 outlines a vision for a 100 per cent Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) by 2030. However, dropout rates pose a substantial barrier to achieving this goal. For example, Karnataka's dropout rate at the secondary level stands at 22.1 per cent, significantly above the national average of 14.1 per cent. The central government has stressed the importance of states taking targeted actions to mitigate these rates and ensure educational continuity. Proposed initiatives As part of the efforts to address this issue, the Centre has recommended initiatives such as special enrolment drives. These would involve door-to-door surveys in school catchment areas to identify and enrol out-of-school children. The Project Approval Board (PAB) has highlighted the need for states to focus on these initiatives, especially in regions with acute dropout challenges. Effective implementation of these strategies is crucial for success. Challenges in data reporting In Bihar, the issue of dropout rates is compounded by what the report describes as "large variations" in data reporting, particularly on the PRABANDH portal. This inconsistency necessitates a more structured approach to ensure accurate identification and admission of out-of-school children. In line with this, the involvement of school management committees has been suggested to streamline processes. Regional disparities West Bengal, with an annual dropout rate of 17.87 per cent at the secondary level, has been advised to scrutinise the factors contributing to this statistic. Efforts to rectify data discrepancies and address underlying issues are deemed essential for improving enrolment rates. Similarly, other states have been encouraged to assess their specific dropout causes and adopt tailored strategies to combat them. Addressing these disparities is vital for achieving national educational goals. With the overarching goal of achieving full enrolment by 2030, the central government stresses the urgency for states to take decisive steps. The Samagra Shiksha programme, aimed at holistic school development, reinforces this call by promoting educational inclusivity and quality improvement across all levels. The collaborative efforts of states and the central government are essential to realize these ambitions.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
FBI alleges Chinese interference in 2020 election
FBI Director Kash Patel has turned over an intelligence report alleging that Chinese officials sought to rig the 2020 election with mail-in ballots by giving out tens of thousands of fake IDs. Newly declassified intelligence reports from August 2020 allege a vast conspiracy to benefit Democrat Joe Biden , officials who reviewed the file told Just the News. 'The FBI has located documents which detail alarming allegations related to the 2020 U.S. election, including allegations of interference by the CCP,' Patel wrote on X Monday evening. 'Specifically, these include allegations of plans from the CCP to manufacture fake driver's licenses and ship them into the United States for the purpose of facilitating fraudulent mail-in ballots – allegations which, while substantiated, were abruptly recalled and never disclosed to the public,' Patel told the outlet. The report was originally sent out to FBI offices around the country, but the memo was later recalled within weeks and never fully investigated on the grounds that the source needed to be interviewed again. The withdrawal came around the time that then-FBI Director Christopher Wray publicly testified that there were not any known election interference operations in the 2020 election, the officials said. The documents were requested by Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who first raised concerns that the intelligence had not been fully investigated despite there being evidence of fake drivers' licenses. 'In accordance with Chairman Grassley's request for documents, I have immediately declassified the material and turned the document over to the Chairman for further review,' Patel said in a statement. Grassley's office has since requested additional documents from Patel in a letter, specifically one report from the FBI's Albany field office from September 2020. Sources familiar with the document told Just the News that the FBI report was based on a relatively new confidential source. The informant warned the agency that the Chinese government was producing fake U.S. drivers' licenses as a part of a plot to provide Chinese residents in the U.S. with forms of ID to vote in the 2020 election. These IDs would then be used to help the non-citizens vote using mail-in ballots, officials claim. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) intercepted nearly 20,000 fake licenses around the time of the intelligence report, officials claim. 'Chairman Grassley is in receipt of an FBI document responsive to a request he made based on legally protected whistleblower disclosures,' the senator's office said in a statement. 'The document alleges serious national security concerns that need to be fully investigated by the FBI.' 'Grassley is requesting additional documentation from the FBI to verify the production, and is urging the FBI to do its due diligence to investigate why the document was recalled, who recalled it and inform the American people of its findings.'
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Trump's FBI unveils shocking details of Chinese plot using 'fake ballots' to defeat him in 2020 election
FBI Director Kash Patel has turned over an intelligence report alleging that Chinese officials sought to rig the 2020 election with mail-in ballots by giving out tens of thousands of fake IDs. Newly declassified intelligence reports from August 2020 allege a vast conspiracy to benefit Democrat Joe Biden, officials who reviewed the file told Just the News. 'The FBI has located documents which detail alarming allegations related to the 2020 U.S. election, including allegations of interference by the CCP,' Patel wrote on X Monday evening. 'Specifically, these include allegations of plans from the CCP to manufacture fake driver's licenses and ship them into the United States for the purpose of facilitating fraudulent mail-in ballots – allegations which, while substantiated, were abruptly recalled and never disclosed to the public,' Patel told the outlet. The report was originally sent out to FBI offices around the country, but the memo was later recalled within weeks and never fully investigated on the grounds that the source needed to be interviewed again. The withdrawal came around the time that then-FBI Director Christopher Wray publicly testified that there were not any known election interference operations in the 2020 election, the officials said. The documents were requested by Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who first raised concerns that the intelligence had not been fully investigated despite there being evidence of fake drivers' licenses. 'In accordance with Chairman Grassley's request for documents, I have immediately declassified the material and turned the document over to the Chairman for further review,' Patel said in a statement. Grassley's office has since requested additional documents from Patel in a letter, specifically one report from the FBI's Albany field office from September 2020. Sources familiar with the document told Just the News that the FBI report was based on a relatively new confidential source. The informant warned the agency that the Chinese government was producing fake U.S. drivers' licenses as a part of a plot to provide Chinese residents in the U.S. with forms of ID to vote in the 2020 election. These IDs would then be used to help the non-citizens vote using mail-in ballots, officials claim. According to officials, the plot was meant to benefit Biden. However, internal FBI memos about the report were recalled 'in order to re-interview the source,' Grassley's office claims. The FBI later advised: 'Recipients should destroy all copies of the original report and remove the original report from all computer holdings.' U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) intercepted nearly 20,000 fake licenses around the time of the intelligence report, officials claim. 'Chairman Grassley is in receipt of an FBI document responsive to a request he made based on legally protected whistleblower disclosures,' the senator's office said in a statement. 'The document alleges serious national security concerns that need to be fully investigated by the FBI.' 'Grassley is requesting additional documentation from the FBI to verify the production, and is urging the FBI to do its due diligence to investigate why the document was recalled, who recalled it and inform the American people of its findings.' Biden beat Trump by just a few thousand votes in several states. Biden won Arizona by roughly 10,000 votes. In Georgia the Democrat won by 12,000 votes. Trump lost Wisconsin by around 20,000 votes.
