Skills Development and Training for Engineers

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June 6, 2013

By Dr Haresh Tank,
Director, Station-e Language Lab

Mere transmission of subject knowledge of engineering is not going to help address the issue of employability of engineers…

In the world of internationalised operations, the industry wants knowledge workers rather than mere subject experts for the 21st
century workspace. Today, it does not suffice for an engineer to merely possess the technical knowledge, but requires a host of soft skills to make him/her more employment ready. Engineering education is screaming for a transformation. Mere transmission of subject knowledge of engineering is not going to help addressthe issue of employability of engineers. They require to be trained not only in their subjects, but also in terms of soft skills and life skills such as critical thinking problem solving and communication proficiency. The reason for that is the industry is finding lesser number of employable engineers and a large number of engineers find themselves unemployed despite engineering credentials.This gap requires to be addressed in a way that benefits both the industry and engineers.

Dr Haresh Tank is the Director of Station-e Language Lab. He is in charge of conceptualising and operationalising initiatives with a special focus on Skills Development.He holds a doctorate in Statistics and is a noted Statistical Analyst. He was also nominated for Young Scientist Award. With a passion for teaching and contributing to the society, he continues to serve as Associate Professor in Statistics. As the Director, Station-e Language Lab, he has initiated several projects in the realm of Skills Development with government and private companies

Station-e stands synonymous with skills development and training. As a training company, we have established language labs, skills development centres and digital classrooms across the wide spectrum of management institutes, engineering colleges, universities and several other educational institutions. We have evolved futuristic training programmes designed to cater to the demand of soft skills training for engineering students. We have embedded technology deep into our training to ensure that learners have a customised and personalised learning experience. We use activity based learning, which gives personalised experience to the learner and addresses the requirement and need of a particular learner. The soft skills modules developed by Statione can be implemented by incorporating them into the curriculum of engineering so that it becomes a systemic change and is rendered mandatory for the system and the students. The prospects of employment for engineering students can be transformed if they could be trained for soft skills and systemic changes can be brought about by incorporating soft skills into the core of engineering education. Station-e serves as the model for such a transformation of the scores of engineers whom we have trained and it is fast becoming a nationwide phenomenon.

Kerala government approves 148 higher secondary schools

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digitalLEARNING Network

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June 6, 2013

The Kerala state cabinet has given its nod for setting up of higher secondary schools in panchayats that lacked the presence of such schools at present. By this a total of 148 panchayats in the state would soon get their first government higher secondary schools.

Corporate management educational institutions and private schools would be considered if only government schools were not in a position to run higher secondary courses.

The provincial chief minister Oommen Chandy said that the main objective behind this is to provide opportunity to pursue higher studies to all students who have passed SSLC (Secondary School Leaving Certificate) examination.

At 93.91% literacy, Kerala is the most literate state in India. More than 94% of its rural population has access to primary school within one kilometer.

(Source: PTI)

Envisioning the Quality of Technical Education

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June 6, 2013

Prof U B Desai,
Director, IIT Hyderabad

“One of the things that we need to bring into our education system is a lot more emphasis on innovation, research and development, entrepreneurship,and creative design because no engineering development is ever going to hit the market unless creative design goes into it.There has to be a focus in engineering education where we do not simply talk about the pedagogy of education, but instill in our students that they have to be job creators and not job seekers.”

Prof K Lal Kishore,
Vice Chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehru Technical University, Anantapur, Hyderabad

“Technology is changing very rapidly. Knowledge gets doubled in a period of eight years. But it may be even four years. If you take engineering education of four years duration, by the time a student completes his programme, the knowledge may have got doubled and hence, the industry-academia gap”

Prof H A Ranganath,
Director, National Assessment Accreditation Council and Former VC, Bangalore University”Accreditation is the health checkup of an institution. If it is done by the correct diagnostic centre, it gets to know its strengths and weaknesses and other challenges that the body is facing and accordingly initiate remedial measures are taken.Accreditation has dual functions: assessment and reformation.Assessment takes place both by internal quality assurance by the institution as well as the peer team. Reformation happens when institutions are responsive to the suggestions made by the peer team”

Prof V Panduranga Rao,
Director,IMT, Hyderabad Campus University

“The three problems faced by India are: pedagogy or the design of the curriculum, delivery of the pedagogy and the readiness of a teacher to adapt to the dynamic needs of the pedagogy processes”.

Gagan Kumar Dhal,
Principal Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Government of Odisha

“We are keen on digitising the libraries in the state so that there can be proper accounting of the journals, which are purchased and the students will be able to access them. We are coming up with a very comprehensive scheme for the same purpose.”

Prof V S Rao,
Director,BITS Hyderabad Campus

“I want to request the AICTE and other organisations concerned with engineering education to seriously think about the engineering practices, overhauling the curriculum, changing the pedagogy and addressing the problems of the faculty. You cannot transform engineering education without transforming your faculty. Meritorious students should be identified and sent to excellent universities abroad to do research and they should come back and teach in India. Priority should also be given to giving rewards and recognition or educational innovations.”

Prof Dr G Tulasi Ram Das,
Vice Chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Kakinada

“A beautiful educational landscape with technology driven solutions is ahead of us. It will make the learning process in the four walls of the classrooms interesting.”

Dr Sanjiv Tokekar,
Director, Institute of Engineering and Technology, Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya

“Our enrolment ratio has scaled three times from about 49 lakh in 1991 to about 1.5 crores at present. This is a problem created because of massification, a term given by UNESCO. Massification has also given way to unethical practices in the system. Education, these days runs as a business”

Dr Kuncheria P Isaac,
Member Secretary, AICTE

“We have to bring in discipline and some kind of shifts and changes, which everybody will have to do it, something small or big, whether it is teachers, students, the attitude of students, the social system, the infrastructure or the library. Everybody will have to bring a change which has to happen over a period of time so that we will be able to bring in a quality education system in the near future.”

Dr G Viswanathan,
Founder & Chancellor, VIT University, Coimbatore

“India’s GER (Gross Enrolment Ratio) is 16 percent whereas the world average is 27 percent. Thus, expansion of higher education particularly technical education is the most important reform that the country requires as opposed to centralisation of power, as is suggested by most pending government bills. Instead, the government should be liberal, should encourage competition and through competition we will achieve quality, be able to cut down the prices and bridge the gap between different states in the higher education sector. I also believe more private institutes should be provided with greater autonomy.”

Dr Akshai Aggarwal,
Vice-Chancellor,Gujarat Technological University,Ahmedabad

“I have visited now about 200 colleges in GTU, and I believe if we cannot have discipline, we should not ask for a world class university in India. There have also been issues about lack of industry-institute interaction, but my suggestion is don’t go to the large industries. They are good for seeing or tour, but not for learning for students. On the issue of autonomy of institutions, one should copy the west intelligently. We will doom all the autonomous institutions to remain third-rate for all time to come, if they do not have two to three world class teachers. According to a study, Indian institutions did not even make to the list of top ten technical institutes in Asia. The way out is to be ruthless in quality, supporting the institutions financially and giving them sufficient autonomy”

Lokesh Mehra,
Director, Education Advocacy, Microsoft

“By the year 2025, there will be 47 million youths and there should be 52 million job opportunities to employ everyone. There is a common complain that the industries do not come forward. However, the truth is that industries operate in silos. Some people prefer to go and deliver a guest lecture, some of them allow students to visit them,and some of them will come forward and donate equipment. Also, as far as the curriculum s concerned, the board of study sits twice or thrice a year. So the curriculum is not updated often.”

Prof S Ramesh Babu,
Associate Vice President,Education & Research, Infosys

“We need to connect to the stakeholders and get a lot of insights from them to make our programmes relevant, flexible and useful to our people”

We are Committed to Providing Laptops to 16 Million Children

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June 6, 2013

Educational reforms in Mexico are on the fast track and students today are in the midst of a major transformation. HE Jaime Nualart, Ambassador of Mexico to India, in conversation with Shahid Akhter, ENN, shares his insight on the educational changes in Mexico. Excerpts:

Mexico’s education is in news due to President Enrique Peña Nieto being very particular and adamant about the reforms that he wants to introduce in education. But this has brought him into conflict with Teachers’ Union, leading to strikes and deadlocks. Why are such hurdles coming in the way of better education?
Mexican education system demands a national agreement aiming to bypass old political and administrative inertias, and to once again place students at the centre of scope of major transformations. President Peña Nieto has put considerable energy in promoting the creation of the Professional Teaching Service.
The reform contains clear rules to ensure that professional merit is the only way to be recruited, remain and be promoted as a teacher, principal or supervisor. In addition, reforms are aimed at transforming evaluation into a more efficient mechanism to improve teaching standards. Promoting new rules entails overcoming inertias and to adopt new institutional approaches.

Certainly, it is not an easy endeavour, but political parties reached a wide consensus in the sense of urgency to implement educational reforms, which simplifies negotiations.

Does the Teacher’s Union have a powerful political clout?
There are two main Teacher’s Unions. One is SNTE and the other one is CNTE, both with nationwide influence ranking among the biggest unions in Latin America. Over the years, they have achieved considerable influence in politics and education policies, as in every country. The government of Mexico is keen on working closely with them to promote its reformist agenda.

How is the Mexican education system organised?
Today’s Mexican education system is federalist. The Ministry of Education, following the guidelines provided by the executive power, is responsible for providing syllabus to be followed in every school at the kinder, primary and secondary levels. Centrally edited text books free of cost are delivered annually to every child to ensure homogenous teaching and to promote national identity. Previous reforms during the 80’s and 90’s gave State governments considerable autonomy for managing education budget, and addressing local challenges such as hiring and promoting teachers and issuing diplomas.

Is the government officially responsible for providing compulsory basic education? Is there gender parity in school enrollments?
The right to basic education is granted in the Mexican Constitution since 1917. Providing free of cost kinder, primary and secondary education is compulsory. According to the 2010 Census, 96.1 percent of boys and 96.4 percent of girls between 6 and 12 years old are enrolled in school. According to OECD, 6.2 percent of Mexico’s GDP is spent on education.

The United States and Mexico have a long history of educational collaborations. Does it translate into innovation and research?
Mexico and the United States have historically cooperated in the field of education, and this includes the fields of innovation and research as well. During his recent visit to Mexico City on 2-3 May, 2013, President Obama addressed students in National Anthropology Museum, where he highlighted the importance of education to achieve a better understanding of the bilateral relation and announced a plan to increase scholarships for young Mexican students. President Peña Nieto announced the creation of a Bilateral Forum on Higher Education, Innovation and Technology, in which the Mexican National Council on Science and Technology and the US National Science Foundation are to take a major role in its functioning.

Budget for ICT initiatives in public primary school is expected to reach USD four billion during the following six years

How much of technology has been harvested to digitise education?
Where do you see ICT in Mexican education today?
The Information and Communication Technology (ICTs) is nowadays an integral part of the Mexican education system. In 2000 “Enciclomedia” programme was introduced to provide a digital blackboard and a computer equipped with sound system and Internet to every school room. Teachers and students could benefit from specially designed multimedia content, approved by the Ministry of Education, that was able to enrich content of classic text books. Eventually, Enciclomedia evolved in 2013 into a scheme with the goal to provide laptops to 16 million children of V and VI grades during the following six years.

Is there any budget allocated by the Mexican government for ICT initiatives and innovations?
Budget for ICT initiatives in public primary school is expected to reach USD four billion during the following six years.

Please share your MoUs with India?
In 2005 Mexico and India signed an Educational Exchange Programme, aiming to promote regular exchange of information and scholarships for young post-graduate students of both the countries.
Besides collaboration in the field of Traditional Medicine between the Department of Ayush (Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of India) and Secretariat of Health of the United Mexican States, 15 projects have been approved under Indo-Mexican Joint Call of 2011, and four projects are under review.

The Quantum LeapThe recent constitutional reform in education aims to:

Ensure that all students are educated by the best teachers. To this end, the professional teaching service will be created. The reform contains clear rules to ensure that professional merit is the only way to be accepted, remain and be promoted as a teacher, principal and supervisor.
Make the evaluation mechanism more efficient for improving the teaching standards. The National Institute for Educational Evaluation has therefore been granted constitutional status with full autonomy. It also envisages the creation of a National System of Educational Assessment, which will take into account the conditions and the challenges that teachers face everyday.
Improve conditions for students’ integral training. The reform strengthens the autonomy of school management and plans to substantially increase the number of fulltime schools; to provide more educational and cultural opportunities and encourage students’ overall balanced development and skills.

New Financing and Business Models in Education

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June 6, 2013

Seema Jhingan, Partner, LexCounsel Law Offices, New Delhi
There are lots of challenges in finding investors in education. In India, education is considered as a non-profit making sector. For profit entities like partners firm, cooperatives, private limited companies, investments is not a challenge. But with education, which is formed under entities like societies, trusts and Section 25 companies, finding investor is a real challenge. Investor or VC funds cannot invest in trust or society because they cannot reap benefits out of them.

Naveen Jha, CEO, Deshpande Foundation; and Managing Trustee, Deshpande Education Trust; President-TiE-Hubli
Most of the companies think that investment happens on top line. The new set of investment that is happening in the country, which is particularly in education is happening on PACT (Profit After Tax). Even if you have `1 pact there are investors who are ready to give you 20 times of that. But if you have a top line of 50 crores and you are not profitable means the execution is a big problem inside the company and we as Indians are far better in giving ideas, chalking out strategies, but lack in the execution side. If you are running a company, or a business and, if you have `1 of profit, it is more valuable than `100 of top line.

Ujjawal Singh, Partner, Indus Balaji
I think private players like us are looking to invest in innovations so that we can play a meaningful role in the education sector. For instance, we support an organisation called ‘Agastya’ that designs low-cost science equipment. So here is a huge opportunity lying in the philanthropy and innovation format that can be used to supplement the education system. Various sectors require very specific skills. I think India’s demographic dividend has to be converted into human capital else it will become a liability.

Melwin Braggs, Business Lead, Develop Schools
India’s private education market is estimated to reach USD 103 billion from USD 71 billion currently. New models of PPP in the skill development sector are assisting the vocational education sector. We see expansion in education with participation of private and foreign players. For that, the sector should be turned into for profit. Government can allow long-term lease on land and infrastructure. It may cap profitability, but allow a rate of return to the investor.

Education is the Apprenticeship of Life

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June 6, 2013

Doon Public School is a coeducational, CBSE affiliated Senior Secondary School, celebrating its 35 years of service to the nation. The school aims at imparting premium quality education through a holistic, scholastic and spiritual approach in its pursuit of excellence in all fields.
The school provides a cutting-edge technology platform to the students and enjoys a unique distinction of being the first school in India to have computer-aided teaching and learning through Smart Assessment System, and the digital Maths Lab, the first in India which facilitates students with new modern technologies in learning, verifying and visualising mathematical concepts. The school also offers the latest educational technologies in the form of Wi-Fi enabled computer labs; a digital language lab which aims at enhancing the student’s communication skills; a digital library with more than 18,000 books online in addition to the existing library; a state of the art Biotechnology Lab with the facility of tissue culture; a lecture theatre provided with interactive board and facility for video conferencing; Digital Teaching System which creates a culture of inquiry in the learners’ minds and the Fashion Studies Workshop, which trains the students in the theory and practice of garment manufacturing, special animation classes and the Lexile Framework for reading.
The concept of Abacus and Vedic- Maths has made Maths easy and enables students to achieve high standards of mental arithmetic. To broaden the outlookof the students, the reading habit and the book culture is also inculcated in them.
[colored_box color=”Navy blue”] N V Sarat Chandran I am proud and privileged to lead and be a part of a spirited and edicated team which has redefined school education. Our methodology and pedagogy of imparting holistic, high value education by combining judicious use of technology and moral values makes our students globally capable, competitive and efficient. We groom leaders in every field to meet every challenge
N V Sarat Chandran, Manager [/colored_box]

The programme of social concern like the Mothers Empowerment for Educational Development (MEED), Rural Education Mission and Hope for Future have brought a change in the lives of many people. Global partnerships and exchange programmes have emphasised on building a world without boundaries, a world where people exist in symbiotic relation amidst amity, love and peace.
The dedicated work of our competent teachers, innovative teaching methodologies and use of cutting-edge technology platforms along with the support of the parents ensure that we are able to live up to our motto ‘Excelsior’.

Doon Public School is a hi-tech futuristic, numero-uno school that grooms each child academically, socially and spiritually, thus, turning him out into an ethical, confident, well-balanced citizen of the world Being pioneers in digital learning, we provide a cuttingedge technology platform for our students and believe that
education can bring about a radical change in society
MG Vasan, Chairman

MICA Offers Advertising Mgmt & PR course via eLearning

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June 5, 2013

Leading B-school Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmadabad (MICA) is offering postgraduate certificate in Advertising Management & Public Relations in partnership with Ivory Education.

The one year program will be provided across India and globally through high tech e-learning environment. Students will be taught theoretical concepts followed by case studies and practical implementations. The online sessions will be designed to be interactive and participative.

The programme students can attend the classes with broadband connectivity at their homes, offices or any other place of their convenience and such classes will be held twice a week.

The course is likely to commence from July 2013 and graduates in any field from a recognised university are eligible to apply for this course. In India, the program fee is kept at Rs. 1,15,169.

MICA is popular for its leadership in Communications Management. The institute was established in 1991 and over the years it has emerged as a pioneer in meeting the integrated marketing communication needs of the industry, government and community.

GTU gets AICTE nod for two new management courses

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June 5, 2013

The All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) has given permission to the Gujarat Technological University (GTU) for starting two new courses-Master of Applied Management (MAM) and Master of Computer Management (MCM).

The MAM course is an integrated five-year management programme that is similar to MBA. The MCM is an integrated five-year computer course akin to MCA.

The students who have passed Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exam this year are eligible to apply for the course. The admission forms can be downloaded from the GTU website.

There are 840 MAM seats in 24 MBA colleges across Gujarat while there are 360 MCM seats in six MCA colleges.

Free online DU registration for SC/ST/PH students

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June 5, 2013

New Delhi: The Delhi University (DU) has announced that the online registration for admissions will be free for students from backward communities as well as for physically challenged students.

However, those under general category will be charged an amount of Rs 50. For convenience of students, the payment can be done online using credit or debit cards.

The cost for online registration has been reduced from Rs 100 to Rs 50. Until last year students from SC/ST/PH categories could not register online.

The move has been taken in view of making admission process easier for students, especially those coming from far off cities.

The fees for filling the form manually will be Rs 100 for general and OBC students and Rs 50 for SC/ST/PH students.

Separate forms will be issued for students under general and OBC categories and second for SC/ST/PH students.

Furthermore, the students will be required to fill additional information about family income, mobile number, the kind of schooling and area of the school in the OMR form.

The DU also will offer SMS alerts to students at the time of admission this time.

(Source: PTI)

Bihar plans reduce BPL lines through skill development trainings

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June 4, 2013

With the primary aim to lift people of Bihar above poverty line, Bihar government has planned to promote skills development of one crore people across different domain over next five years. This target was announced by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in a recent meeting.

As said during the meeting, a skilled labourer will be paid a minimum amount of Rs 500 per day. On working for 24 days in a month, he would earn Rs 12, 000, thus lifting his category above poverty line.

The skill development trainings would be planned through industrial training institutions and the state government would set up a human resource development mission under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister of the state. Till day, 12 women ITIs are functional across nine subdivisions of Bihar. Also, there are 59 government industrial training centres and 459 non-governmental institutions in the state. The state also plans to establish 10 lakh women self help groups in the coming years, with a target of 1 lakh such groups already in place.

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