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Academics and activists from the All India Save Education Committee (AISEC) unveiled the much-anticipated People's Education Policy (PEP) 2025 at a high-profile "People's Parliament" event here on January 13, positioning it as a robust counter to the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Drawing from nationwide consultations since May 2025, PEP demands a constitutional shift of education back to the State List, 10% Union and 25% state budget allocations, and rejection of privatization trends in NEP.

Core Demands Emerge

The draft leans heavily on the idea of providing universally free education from 3 to 17 years, teaching in one's mother tongue along with English, and doing away with the national tests like NEET and CUET, which are to be replaced by university, led admissions. Speakers poured scorn on NEP for school mergers, promoting Sanskrit, and pseudoscience through the Indian Knowledge System, and also called for permanently hiring teachers and no early vocationalization. Karnataka's delayed state policy fueled calls for local committees to fortify public schools.

Grassroots Momentum Builds

Released initially in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, PEP gained traction through YouTube campaigns and academic forums, critiquing NEP's commercialization. "NEP betrays people-centric promises," declared AISEC leaders, highlighting declining public funding. With events like this drawing educators nationwide, PEP eyes broader adoption amid 2026 reforms.

Implementation hurdles persist, including political resistance, but proponents see it sparking democratic education revival. As states grapple NEP tweaks, PEP's vision—equitable, secular schooling—resonates, potentially reshaping India's policy discourse. Will governments heed this people's manifesto?

The National Medical Commission (NMC) has issued a fresh notification clarifying that medical colleges should not submit separate proposals for recognition of MBBS seats, as annual permission or renewal of seats will itself be treated as valid recognition.

The advisory follows the receipt of multiple applications by the Undergraduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB), where several medical institutions sought formal recognition for their MBBS courses with a specified annual intake. NMC stated that such proposals are no longer required under the current regulatory framework.

In its official communication, the commission said, “All medical colleges and institutions teaching MBBS are advised not to send proposals for recognition of MBBS seats.” However, it added that colleges must continue to submit the Annual Disclosure Report (ADR) along with the prescribed online fee for their MBBS courses on the designated NMC portal whenever called upon.

The notification further explained that once MBBS seats are permitted or renewed annually, the batch will automatically be treated as recognised. The seats approved under this process will be considered valid for registration of the degree awarded to students. Institutions running such programmes will also be regarded as accredited medical colleges for the respective course.

NMC also pointed out that this change is in line with the Maintenance of Standards of Medical Education Regulations, 2023, which replaced the earlier system of separate recognition. Under the new regime, annual renewal of seats is deemed to be equivalent to annual recognition of the admitted batch for the relevant academic year.

This clarification aims to simplify compliance procedures for medical colleges and reduce regulatory confusion, while ensuring that quality standards are maintained through regular disclosures and renewals.

A job drive has been organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). The recruitment campaign will begin at 10:30 a.m. on January 19, 2026. Students who are interested can attend the fair's location, which is the IGNOU Regional Centre in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, across from Nirman University.

As stated in the press release, some leading companies from the IT, banking, automobile, electronics, E-commerce, hospitality, telecommunication and insurance sectors are participating in the job fair.

The University and the Confederation have listed some recruiters who are offering competitive salary packages. Such companies have been listed positions for customer care executives (CCE) in backend operations and team and crew members in quick service restaurants.

Who can apply?

The organisers of IGNOU-CII job drive invite applications from eligible IGNOU candidates with either a graduation degree or pursuing undergraduate courses or having passed their higher secondary examination from a recognised institution.

The prospective candidates should carry their updated resume, educational certificates, Aadhaar Card, PAN Card and a photograph to appear for the placement drive.

IGNOU Vice-Chancellor Prof Uma Kanjilal extends her best wishes to the appearing candidates and participating companies for the second edition of IGNOU-CII Mega Job Fair. She said such initiatives reflect IGNOU’s dedication to the government’s initiative of Skill India Mission and its commitment towards preparing a skilled, industry-ready workforce. Contributing to the agenda of national education, skilling and employment generation at a massive scale, this mega job drive on January 12, 2026, is expected to facilitate a successful engagement for recruiters and learners alike.

Re-registration for IGNOU begins

The re-registration period for the January 2026 academic year is already open at the Open University. On December 1, 2025, the site became operational for all students registered in online courses including Open and Distance Learning (ODL). On the official website, ignou.ac.in, students can turn in their forms. The process must be finished by January 15, 2026.

To update their information, select courses, and pay the needed cost for the upcoming semester or year, students can log in. According to the institution, all current students who want to continue their programs in the next cycle must re-register. An official statement claims that choosing the wrong courses could cause the academic timetable to be delayed.

On December 5th, 2024, The National Medical Commission's (NMC's) Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB) issued a notification requesting proposals for the establishment of new medical colleges that will provide an MBBS program with 50 available seats in 2025-26. On December 19th, 2024, The NMC published a press release reinforcing the earlier announcement made on December 5th regarding the establishment of additional medical colleges for Academic Year 2025-26. A press release issued by the NMC on December 19, 2024, reiterated this call for new medical colleges for the Academic Year 2025-26. The NMC has rescinded its Letter of Permission to the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence, located in Reasi Jammu & Kashmir.

In response to the aforementioned announcements, the NMC received other applications, including one for the creation of a new medical college called Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence. The MARB issued a LoP to the aforementioned college following the proper procedures, which included document review and in-person inspection by qualified assessors. Consequently, the institution made admissions," stated a letter from NMC.

"However, the NMC has received numerous complaints over the past two weeks containing serious allegations against the institution, including inadequate clinical material, inadequate infrastructure, a shortage of qualified full-time teaching faculty, and an inadequate number of resident physicians," the statement stated.

In order to confirm the accuracy of the complaints, the MARB made the decision to carry out an unexpected physical inspection. The team's assessment report proved that the allegations were accurate and supported. It said, "The shortcomings found were severe and significant in character.

What happens to students already admitted?

The Commission of Medical Education pointed out that if the institution would continue operating under such a condition, it would not only ruin the standard of medical education but also impair the academic benefits of the students.

The medical commission has concluded that the state/UT authorities will be the ones who will decide which students will be admitted in other medical institutions as supernumerary seats, according to the regulations that are applicable, in order to protect the rights of the students already admitted for the academic year 2025–26.

Decision comes amid recent controversy

The decision comes amid the recent debate regarding the acceptance of 46 Muslim students out of 50 for the first intake of the MBBS course at the medical college.

Local residents and various Hindu factions are requesting that specific quotas be allotted for by Hindu candidates attending the Medical College, as it was brought into existence with financial support from the Hindu public through Donations made at the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine, thus, through these donations, they should receive their "fair share/portion" of the financial benefits generated by this Medical College.

Earlier today, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah of Jammu & Kashmir now believes that instead of the BJP continuing with the current status and potential conflict amongst students at this Medical College, the BJP should take action to move those students to Existing Medical Colleges. Omar believes that the BJP has been utilizing Religious Political agendas (Politics, Sport & Food) for personal gain.

"The pupils passed tests and secured seats on their hard work," stated Omar. They received no favors from any. Adjust them somewhere else if you do not want them there.

"I do not think pupils would want to study there in the current situation. We ask the Ministry of Health and the Government of India to place these kids in different colleges. I would not have sent these youngsters if I were their parent. He continued, "We would not want them to study in an area with a lot of politics." "Close the medical college and provide our kids another one" (Vaishno Devi). Such a medical college is unnecessary. Put these kids in reputable government medical schools," he said.

In a mocking tone, the Chief Minister commented on the BJP's senior leader and MLA Sham Lal Sharma asking if Jammu should be its own state, "Who has stopped the BJP from becoming their own state?" The Chief Minister went on to say that the BJP had already destroyed Ladakh by dividing it from J&K, and now there is nothing to stop them from creating Jammu as a separate state. He added, "This could have been done back in 2019 when the BJP was doing everything around both the abrogation of Article 370 and dividing J&K into 2 Union Territories.

Under the National Education Policy (NEP), the University of Delhi (DU) has managed to keep up with the demands of its maximum exam load to date. Semester exams were administered to more than 700,000 students in approximately 90 colleges associated with the University, including its School of Open Learning.

For conducting exams, approximately 15, 000 question papers were prepared. Over 10, 000 teachers used multiple Central Evaluation Centres to assess answer sheets so that the evaluations would be done on time and would be transparent. 

Data has been compiled to indicate that exam participation has continued on the rise. Along with that, the number of question papers has continued growing gradually across each academic year from 2021/2022 through to 2025/2026. In fact, the university has set a new record for the number of question papers processed in a single session during the November/December 2025 session, with a total of 941 question papers being processed in a single session. This compares to a total of 228 question papers that were processed in the same session during 2024, which is a dramatic increase. Another indication of increasing workloads for the Examination Branch has been an increase in the total number of students taking exams in a given session, which increased from 69,808 students to 86000 students in a single year.

As per the official statement, the university held semester examinations for more than 700, 000 students in about 90 colleges, which included the School of Open Learning. "The number of students examined in one session also went up from 69, 808 to 86, 000 within a year. This is the heaviest workload ever handled by the Examination Branch in a single session, " the statement said.

Operational Challenges and Coordination Efforts The extent of operations has grown substantially, thus demanding vigorous coordination in scheduling, distribution, evaluation, and the final processing of results.

The officials emphasized that such huge figures necessitated detailed planning in case they wanted to maintain the examination process efficient and effective. The officials used the comparisons between May, June 2025 and November, December 2025 sessions to highlight the increased pressure on the system. More than 800 papers were seen on several days, and there was a single day peak of 941.

Comparing the sessions from May, June 2025 and November, December 2025 revealed even more dramatic signs of system strain, with multiple days exceeding 800 papers and a one day peak of 941. According to university officials, the introduction of the NEP has substantially escalated the examination workload, which is mainly due to the increased student enrolment and the higher number of papers per semester. They pointed out that these quantities demanded highly concentrated efforts in coordination from scheduling, distribution, evaluation to the final processing of results.

Cops bust Rs 1.5 cr fake degree racket run by PhD holder "Name any course and you will get a degree from a recognised university." The Gomtinagar police operation on Dec 21, which led to the exposure of a well, oiled interstate racket, was a surprise to everyone. The gang allegedly made academic qualifications easily available. Job seekers got fake degrees and marksheets from the gang, which was led by the kingpin, a PhD holder, and was highly educated. The eastern zone crime and surveillance team of Lucknow police arrested three men accused of running the fake degree syndicate. 

"The investigation of the case which was initially presumed to be simple led to the discovery of a large- scale forged academic document supply network, " said Shashank Singh, deputy commissioner of police (East). Besides, the police have recovered 923 forged marksheets and degrees from at least 25 universities, along with 15 forged university seals, laptops, hard disks, printers, registers, and Rs 2 lakh in cash. An FIR was registered at the Gomtinagar police station under various sections of the BNS.

The police arrested three individuals who were identified as Akhilesh Kumar. He has a PhD in sociology from a private university in Odisha. Satendra Dwivedi (32) has an MSc in chemistry from a government university in Kanpur, and Saurabh Sharma (35) holds a diploma from a private institute. The police said the gang that investigators were after, was charging anywhere between Rs 25, 000 and Rs 4 lakh for 'ready, made' degrees, depending on the course and the credibility of the university. The courses included BTech, BCA, MCA, MSc, and BA. 

"The accused targeted candidates who were not eligible for jobs or higher education, " the DCP said. "They also assured fake degrees that look real and can pass verification." According to assistant commissioner of police, Gomtinagar, Brij Narayan Singh, the certificates were so well made. The police fabricated documents in the names of different institutions like Swami Vivekanand Subharti University, North East Christian University, Maharaja Agrasen Himalayan Garhwal University, Kalinga University, JRN Rajasthan Vidyapeeth and Sabarmati University. The arrest of various digital devices and financial records indicates the existence of detailed client lists and payment trails. "We are going through the digital information to find the beneficiaries who used fake degrees to get jobs, " said a senior officer.

HR experts say such rackets thrive because many private companies rely solely on submitted documents. Police are coordinating with universities and employers to trace forged documents already in circulation.