PIB ANALYSIS FOR UPSC CIVIL SERVICES EXAM
Topics Covered
- Programme for International Students Assessment (PISA)
- International Stock Taking Conference on Tiger Conservation
- National Agriculture Higher Education Project
Note : Current Affairs of February 1 will be updated tomorrow morning
1 . Programme for International Students Assessment (PISA)
India and OECD sign agreement to enable India’s participation in Programme for International Students Assessment (PISA) to be held in 2021
Participation in PISA will improve learning levels of children and enhance quality of education in the country: Shri Prakash Javadekar
About PISA
- PISA is a triennial international survey (every three years) which aims to evaluate the education system worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students.
- Students are assessed in reading, mathematics, science and collaborative problem-solving.
- Participation in PISA allows benchmarking performance against a wide range of countries.
- PISA uses test items aligned with international benchmarks. Test items are adapted to the local context and language, pilot tested and validated before being used for the test.
- OECD have agreed to contextualize the questions for Indian students.
Important features of India’s participation in PISA
- Schools run by Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS), Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) and schools in the UT of Chandigarh will participate.
- Within the country (or specific geography to be covered in case of large countries), PISA covers a sample of 15-year-old students representing all forms of schooling i.e. public, private, private aided etc.
- PISA is a competency based assessment which unlike content-based assessment, measures the extent to which students have acquired key competencies that are essential for full participation in modern societies. It would lead to recognition and acceptability of Indian students and prepare them for the global economy in the 21st century.
- Learnings from participation in PISA will help to introduce competency based examination reforms in the school system and help move away from rote learning. The CBSE and NCERT will be part of the process and activities leading to the actual test.
- More than 80 countries, including 44 middle-income countries, have participated in the assessment since the first round of testing in 2000. Next round of PISA is going to be held in 2021. The list of registered countries includes Brazil, China (certain areas like Shanghai and Beijing) and countries from South-East Asia like Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam.
2 . International Stock Taking Conference on Tiger Conservation
Context : The 3rd Stock Taking Conference on Tiger Conservation was inaugurated in New Delhi today. Third in a series of Stock Taking Conferences, this is the second to be held in India after 2012 and is expected to have wide ranging discussions on the status of the Global Tiger Recovery Program (GTRP) by the 13 tiger range countries besides deliberations on combating wildlife trafficking.
About International Stock taking Conference on Tiger Conservation
- The conference is being hosted by the National Tiger Conservation Authority, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in close collaboration with the Global Tiger Forum which is an International, Intergovernmental Organization for conserving tigers in the world.
- During the 3rd Stock Taking Conference, wide ranging discussions shall be held on status of the Global Tiger Recovery Program (GTRP) by all tiger range countries besides deliberations on combating wildlife trafficking. Best practices from tiger range countries especially India, shall also be presented. On the sidelines of the Stock Taking conference, India shall also hold a meeting with its neighboring tiger range countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan & Nepal to discuss a sub-continent level tiger estimation report as a followup of deliberations held earlier.
- A major outcome of the Conference is expected to be course correction in strategies envisaged in GTRP/NTRPs which shall take tiger conservation forward to the intended goal as outlined in St. Petersburg.
St. Petersburg declaration in 2010
- In the 2010 St. Petersburg Declaration, the countries agreed to a Global Tiger Recovery Program
- During the St. Petersburg declaration in 2010, tiger range countries had resolved to double tiger numbers across their range by 2022.
- The tiger range countries that are part of the Global Tiger Recovery Program are Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand, and Vietnam. However, China
Global Tiger Recovery Programme
- The Global Tiger Recovery Program (GTRP) seeks to empower Tiger Range Countries (TRCs) to address the entire spectrum of threats, domestic as well as those that are transboundary in nature, and work toward increased financial sustainability through the integration of conservation objectives into development.
- To solve the tiger crisis, which represents the larger Asian biodiversity crisis, the TRCs, international organizations, and civil society have come together on a collaborative platform within the framework of the Global Tiger Initiative (GTI).
- After a two-year process of sharing knowledge and best practices and developing a common vision, a GTRP has been developed, with the shared goal of doubling the number of wild tigers globally by 2022 through actions to: (i) effectively manage, preserve, protect, and enhance tiger habitats; (ii) eradicate poaching, smuggling, and illegal trade of tigers, their parts, and derivatives; (iii) cooperate in transboundary landscape management and in combating illegal trade; (iv) engage with indigenous and local communities; (v) increase the effectiveness of tiger and habitat management; and (vi) restore tigers to their former range.
India’s Performance
- At the time of deliberations at St. Petersburg, India’s tiger estimate stood at 1411, which after the third cycle of the All India Tiger Estimation, 2014 has nearly been doubled to 2226.
- This has largely been possible because of strides made against Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), predominant among them being legislation to ensure protection of tiger habitat and enhancement of penalties, besides providing a statutory basis for inviolate space. A
3 . National Agriculture Higher Education Project
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) launches National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP) to attract talent and strengthen higher agricultural education in the country
About National Agriculture Higher Education Project
- ICAR launched Rs 1100 crore ambitious National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP) to attract talent and strengthen higher agricultural education in the country.
- This project will be funded by the World Bank and the Indian Government on a 50:50 basis.