By Manish Upadhyay, Preetika Gupta & Nitin Mehra

Computers have significantly changed the face of education over the past decade. They have not just revolutionised learning methodologies, but have also changed the outlook of traditionalists. The classic learning methods of using blackboard, pen and paper, and books, have given way to an innovative pedagogical approachthat makes learning more effective and interactive.

Our research team has worked extensively in drawing a comparative study between digitised and non-digitised courses. The team found that the technology-driven (Edtech) programmes create a more conducive learning environment for learners with the help of unique and innovative learning tools such as student presentations, personality development training sessions, English-speaking sessions, games, quizzes and lab practicals. Learners get to participate in discussions and group activities rather than being mere passive listeners. The Edtech programme helps learners gain confidence and hone their technical skills by not just imparting quality education but also by conducting periodic assessments as a performance check.

Let us understand through this case study, and the ramifications of using the Edtech programme for increasing overall learning effectiveness.

Need of the Edtech programme

Though the non-digitised programme is well received and accepted, it has multiple constraining factors and variables such as quality of the trainers, standardisation of programme delivery (course coverage and abilities of different trainers), student motivation levels, and better performance. The new Edtech programme is designed to control and manage these variables in order to improve educational outcomes for all learners.

Methodology of the Edtech programme

The research was based onseven session out of the overall course content of 150 sessions. This particular course prepares students in technical subjects like networking and information technology as well as soft skills like spoken English and selfgrooming. After completing the course students get placed in various organisations as Technical Support Executives. To test the hypothesis, the research looked at four major areas of study namely:

• Process
• Attitude
• Knowledge
• Skill (Technical skills)

Key Hypothesis to be tested:

Intervention of educational technology in the new Edtech course is resulting in increased learning effectiveness/student performance.

Two different groups were formed –

• Control Group (running the nondigitised course)
• Experimental Group (running the new Edtech course)

Student batches for the two groups were created on the basis of –

• Educational qualification
• Number of students
• Geographic location
• Family background

Other tools that were implemented –

• Same trainer conducted both the control group and the experimental group sessions.
• Each session duration data was gathered through centralised LMS by Liqvid.
• To measure student performance, knowledge and skill-based assessments were carried out at the end of each session and after all seven sessions for both the groups. Each assessment carried 10 objective questions. The questions were a mix of multiple choice and fill in the blanks.
• Learner and trainer feedback were also captured by means of a questionnaire.

Key findings of the Edtech programme

The key findings of the programme were based on four main output indicators:

Process indicators:

• Indicator 1 (Improvement in course coverage by the trainer):
o 88 percent of the learners in the experimental group perceived that most of the sessions were covered end-to-end in comparison to a mere 33 percent in the control group. The trainer agreed that the study methodology in experimental group was more structured with use of timer in interactive activities.

• Indicator 2 (Clearer and effective presentation by the trainer):
o 88 percent of the learners in the experimental group said that use of audio and video in the sessions helped them comprehend much better and retained their interest in the course.
o 50 percent of the learners in the control group perceived that they were equipped to answer questions on at least 80 percent of each session taught whereas the same proportion of learners in the experimental group perceived it to be 88 percent.

Attitude indicators
• Indicator 3 (Trainer more interested and focused to teach):
o While the trainer took greater interest in teaching, 94 percent of the control group and 78 percent of the experimental group perceived that not all the topics could be covered in detail due to delay in starting sessions.The reason for delay wasscheduling of back-toback batches and finalising of labs to conduct practicals.

• Indicator 4 (Increase in student participation in the class):
o According to the trainer; the motivation level of the experimental group was 90-95 percent while that of the control group was 85 percent. Both the batches stated knowledge as the key source of motivation.Other sources cited were ambition and quest for learning something new.
o 94 percent of the experimental group preferred group discussion activity over individual presentations in comparison to 72 percent of the control group.This indicates that learners in the experimental group were more participative.

• Indicator 5 (Regularity in student attendance):
o No major inference could be drawn from the attendance data.

Outcomes: Knowledge (K) and Skill (S)

• Indicator 6 (Increase in student performance per session):
o The average score at the end of knowledge-based session assessments was 53 percent for the experimental group and 42 percent for the control group.
o The average score at the end of skills-based session assessments was 77 percent for the experimental group and 65 percent for the control group.

• Indicator 7 (Increase in student performance in the final assessment):
o The average score at the end of all knowledge-based sessionswas 71 percent for the experimental group and 32 percent for the control group, which is more than the double.
o The average score at the end of all skill-basedsessions was 75 percent for the experimental group and 71 percent for the control group. There is only a marginal improvement in the skill factor.

Smart Learning Techniques of the Edtech programme:

• The trainer asks three learners to come forward and give a presentation on the previous day’s topic. This is to know how much they have understood. The duration of the activity varies between 3-5 minutes.
• After the presentation is over, the trainer rates each student (on a scale of 5) based on five parameters: Knowledge (KN), Grooming (GR), Presentation (PR), Confidence (CF) and Language (LN).
• The trainer uses whiteboard as a primary teaching aid, but wherever needed, displays relevant procedures on a computer, which is projected through a TV in the classroom. The trainer also carries relevant hardware like motherboard for hands-on feel.
• Each session has one or more group discussion activity wherein each group discusses a topic. A group leader is appointed for each group who answers the questions asked by the trainer. The duration of the activity varies between 3-5 minutes.
• Depending on the content of the sessions, the practical/LAB sessions happen after every couple of sessions. Two learners share a terminal to do the practical.
• Learners attempt quizzes and assignments for each session in their books. It is either done either as homework or discussed in the class depending on the practical nature of the content.

Conclusion

Our education system is in a constant flux and those associated with it, whether learners or practitioners, should reap benefits from technology-enabled learning methodologies that give excellent performance support solutions. The Edtech product creates a motivating environment for both learners and trainers in the most effective way. Learners exposed to innovative approaches of study and practice will have better career opportunities as compared to those who simply reproduce what is given in their books.

The inability to provide a continuous talent pipeline to meet industry requirements is forcing companies to move jobs out of India

By VSN RAJU

The privatisation of education in India a decade ago was welcomed as it was aimed at enhancing the size and availability of skilled talent pool that India Inc could showcase to establish India as the most preferred destination for business and trade in the globalisation and IT & ITeS boom phases. According to the University Grants Commission (UGC), India has added nearly 20,000 colleges in a decade that had increased from 12,806 in 2000-01 to 33,023 in 2010-11 which translates into an over 150 percent growth. The number of degree-granting universities more than doubled from 256 to 564, primarily due to deemed and private universities. This growth in the education space has had a positive impact on the Indian economy not only by bringing in the much needed foreign investments, but also by generating diverse and progressive employment opportunities for the graduating youth of our country.

But lately, this growth is losing its sheen as colleges are struggling to overcome challenges like scarcity of competent teachers, rising infrastructure costs and the growing discord between the industry and academia; which is forcing them to adapt to unscientific and lowcost means for imparting education to students, thus affecting the quality of the talent pool. The inability to provide a continuous talent pipeline to meet industry requirements is forcing companies to move jobs out of India.

Empowering the colleges with best practices in teaching-learning and facilitating active collaboration at all levels, be it fellow-students, fellow-institutions, industry experts and leading academicians, will address the challenges faced by colleges to a great extent.

Established in the year 2000, Globarena Technologies is an education service provider and has been providing scientific and technology-enabled teaching and learning solutions. For the past 13 years, our teaching, learning and assessment solutions have benefitted many institutions, universities and government education departments in their skill development and capacity building efforts. All our solutions are technology-enabled and are designed to suit the changing teaching-learning processes and impact a wide spectrum of colleges operating in the urban, semi-rural and rural regions of India.

Our solutions have evolved from just being PC-compatible to being a scalable 24*7 or 365-days accessible solutions compatible with the latest gizmo’s and come with a multi-mode delivery possibility. The analytics incorporated to our solution in the form of usage statistics, and validated assessment (pre-during-post) gives a 360-degree feedback to teacher and learners in their respective endeavours.

Globarena Technologies, in consultation with universities, industry bodies and renowned academicians from across India, has recently rolled-out the Centre of Excellence (CoE) solution and OnMark – Examination Management Solution which has been tested in realtime environments with encouraging results that have been endorsed and accepted by all consulting parties as very helpful solutions to empower colleges/ universities to overcome the present day challenges they face in teaching, learning and assessments.

CoE follows the Teacher-Learner Delivery Mode (TLDM) that enables colleges practice collaborative teaching-learning using two-way HD virtual classroom with an option to record and archive lectures, e-Resources for teachers and students (both on LAN and/or online) in line with the university curriculum and knowledge management tools to impart education; the framework of CoE enables colleges/universities to run Industry Strength Programmes (ISP) to prepare the students on the industry required competencies while at college.

The OnMark – Examination Management Solution addresses the challenges that universities face to ensure transparent and error-free examination conduction, answer-script scanning, on-screen evaluation and preservation of answerscript. It has been designed with our experience of conducting assessments for national industry bodies like NASSCOM and online examinations for over eight state universities and comes with built-in student, colleges and university modules.

Globarena Technologies, in its 13th year of operation in the education services space, wishes to be a change agent and redefine the way the universities look at teaching, learning and assessment during knowledge dissemination and evaluation. To expedite our efforts to reach out to universities, institutions and government, we have successfully delivered many pilots in live environments involving government education departments and universities which have been well received and appreciated by all. We are hopeful that our solutions will enable Indian universities to promote collaborative learning and conduct transparent and error-free examinations. (The author is CEO of Globarena Technologies, Hyderabad)

Strengthening the Indian services sector is the one way of sustaining the Indian economy

Dr Haresh Tank
Director, Station-e Language Lab

For a country that ranks number one on the Global Services Location Index year-after-year, it is natural to assume that the world with all its MNCs will make a path to this place. This ranking translated into a number of corporate giants coming to India and establishing outlets that threw open possibilities that even a Shakespeare would not have the imagination for. The other thing that has been in India’s favour is that in spite of the global economic slump, India has seen considerable economic stability. However, for sustained growth, India needs skilled labour in sectors that make the Indian economy go around sectors such as the services sector. It is this sector that makes more than 60 percent of the GDP and which absorbs the youth for its various sub-segments.

“With sectors that require a highly skilled workforce – financial services, IT/ITeS, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals – set to expand briskly over the next decade, India’s transition to a knowledge-based economy would require a new generation of educated and skilled workforce.” (Skilling India: One Billion Challenge, 2010, page 16)

Favourable demographics position India to fill the void created by countries with an ageing population, and become a major player in global business. The manner in which India uses this opportunity will determine whether it will reap its demographic dividend. Apart from tackling spatial challenges arising from a remarkable disparity in the demographics of its states, India will have to address the critical issues of creating jobs and preparing its youth to participate in its economic growth.

India will need to alter its policy framework and give incentives for creating sufficient jobs and alleviating workforce skill-mismatch. If status quo persists in India’s policy frameworks for education and training, and workforce management, economic growth will soon hit a speed breaker. If labour and industrial policies are not reformed, people with different education and skill levels, or from different states, would have unequal economic prospects. India’s industrial sector may not be able to scale up to absorb the excess workforce in agriculture. This could, in turn, block efforts to reduce income inequality in India. (20-21)

While the services sector requires so many of the skilled youth, the mind numbing stat that paints the whole thing in black is that only 10 percent of nontechnical graduates are readily employable. It is this sort of unpreparedness that will pull India back from the gates of glory and the aggression with which countries like China are skilling their youth will take them to the top. It must be borne in mind that if we do not do enough, China is right on our heels on the Global Services Location Index. The Indian economy rests heavily on the services sector and hence, the efforts not only to sustain it but to strengthen it further are required on war footing. These efforts would involve up-skilling of the youth.

The services sector depends on the soft skills of the youth who would carry out the various processes of the transactions that make the business today. In the olden times, the business processes were simple enough to be carried out by anyone willing to put in the hard work with or without education, but today, the bar for the skills has been raised very high in the services sector and it has led to a sort of emergency of skills and employment. Sample this, the services sector requires highly skilled youth even for the simplest of its business processes and the situation is so dire that we do not have enough skilled youth – not more than the celebrated figure of 10 percent. This has the makings of a breakout of economic slump because the services sector will never be able to find the skilled youth it wants, and on the other hand, there would be an unprecedented rise in unemployment as today the market requires highly skilled youth as the workforce. It is sheer indifference of the policy makers due to which we are sitting on this volcano and playing the fiddle while the Rome is about to go to ashes, in spite of all the prospects of economic superpowerdom.

If we realise that our economy rests heavily on services sector, which relies heavily on skilled youth, particularly communication proficiency, we have to ensure that firefighting and symptomatic treatment of wherever there is dire situation will not work. If we want to save the services sector, the backbone of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), we will have to inject the skills in the system through drastic measures of up-skilling, and if we want to inject the remedy that can heal the communication incompetency of the youth, the 21st century English lab addressing this skills deficit is the only way out. This would also mean that the labs have to be high-tech and innovative, and not a stockpile of computers fed with old-fashioned audio files. It has to be a model that uses the most advanced technology coupled with innovative training modules prepared with Activity Based Learning (ABL) as the central tenet of training.

Station-e model of English Lab

Higher education

In all, higher education faces the issue of accountability today. To address the issue of skills deficit, particularly communication proficiency in general graduates, Station-e envisaged the concept of Digital English Lab. It is a unique construct, aiming at up-skilling the youth of the country. We have established several Digital English Labs at various educational institutions across the country. The lab serves as the training wing of the university/college, operated in a digital learning lab and powered by highly sophisticated technology. It comes with in-built training programmes on soft and life skills. Customised to the core, these modules have astonishing transformation value as they produce remarkable results in virtually no time. The youth across the country have benefitted by the innovative Digital English Labs and carved a niche for themselves in their chosen area of endeavour. What it means for a university/college is that it proves its worth, and demonstrates its relevance through the skills training that the youth passing out of the system will be equipped with to operate in today’s world.

Engineering colleges

Digital English Lab at engineering colleges can ensure that students receive the skills training where they are studying. The lab has a rich array of courses pertaining to skills enhancement with special focus on engineering education. All the modules are run through highly advanced technological tools. The lab would work in close coordination with the engineering education and cater to the diverse skills development needs that the engineering education faces today.

Management institutes

Digital English Labs at management institutes aim at impart skills training to the students. The lab has the provision for a variety of courses related to skills development with an emphasis on management education. All the training programmes are conducted in a technology- defined fashion and environs.

All things considered, the equations of the situation are quite clear. The Indian economy has stood its ground in spite of  all the economic gloom and doom across the world. The backbone of this economy is not exports as it is in the case of China, but the service sector which constitutes the lion’s share of our GDP. Sustaining it in the era of global competitiveness calls for a highly skilled workforce that we are not likely to get from our universities and colleges. We need to inject it as add-on from the level of policy and granting it a special status and special funds as a mass skilling drive. Producing skilled youth for the services sector is not only the goal butalso a challenge and the way to achieving economic prosperity, and eradicating unemployment and inequality.

Prof SD Agashe, Principal Investigator, V-Labs Project, College of Engineering Pune (COEP), talks about the virtual labs at the institute and how they help in increasing the effectiveness of scientific research

Laboratory practice plays a crucial role in understanding a subject in engineering education. It has been observed that engineering students in many colleges lack hands-on experience. The reasons for this include nonavailability of adequate laboratory facility or equipment, non-functional equipment, lack of teaching/technical support, reduced hours for experimentation, and lack of expert support for correcting mistakes during experimentation etc.

In many engineering disciplines, the cost of the equipment/instruments is very high which prohibits the institutes from buying these facilities. The innovation in  laboratories comes only with freedom of failure, and analysis of experimental data. In today’s context, both the things are missing, resulting in fear of experimentation and failure instiin professional life. Another dimension to the dismal performance of students in the laboratories is fixed hours of experimentation and non-functioning of instruments. The number of teachers who have adequate knowledge of the technology and competency to pose challenges to students is another reason for reduced laboratory component and quality of experiments.

The innovation in laboratories comes only with freedom of failure and analysis of experimental data

In contrast to this, many reputed institutes have good teachers with stateof- the-art laboratory facilities, good bandwidth, continuous support for up-gradation and maintenance of lab equipment, opportunities for applied research and consultancy, and industrial tie-ups. The utilisation of costly laboratory equipment is a concern for these institutes. The teachers are ready to support the weak students from other institutes, but physical distance prohibits this readiness.

The solution to this long pending problem is technology. Web-based experiments and online lectures will emerge as a lucrative solution. At the College of Engineering Pune, ICT Virtual Laboratories have been developed through the MHRD’s National Mission on Education. The pilot plants developed at the institute are industry standard and due care is taken for their safety. All the data related to the experiment is stored in the database and is shared with the student after the completion of the experiment. This ensures the post analysis of the results and helps in identifying weak areas  of learning. The support is available through webinars and a camera is attached along with a live mimic to view the status of the plant online. A dedicated line of National Knowledge Network (NKN) which guarantees a high speed of communication.

By Jaivardhan Varshney

Technology in a classroom should focus on enriching learning without compromising on any of the three types of interactions involved in the learning process

The rapid development of computer and Internet technologies has dramatically increased the ways of teaching and learning. From the typical classroom to online courses – all learning processes are witnessing changes. However, most of such technologies are finding it difficult to merge seamlessly with the pen and paper method of learning. Before we understand the importance of interactivity lets broadly classified learning interactions under three categories: i) learner-instructor, ii) learner-learner, and iii) learner-content.

With advent of smart boards and online content, classrooms are witnessing a change, though not the one we would like to see. The content gets played on the smart boards. Though it may help the school to standardise the content, the teacher gets marginalised and the learning flow gets compromised leading to a lot of to and fro between the content and the teacher, when actually the interactions should be more between the teacher and students.

Moreover, the learner-learner interaction also gets impacted to a large effect. Students fail to learn from amongst themselves. The class assumes a shape of lecture based learning rather than a discussion based one.

Thanks to Anoto’s dot-patterned digital pen and paper technology, classrooms are getting efficient without losing the golden touch – the touch of pen and paper. The education solutions built around this technology are capable of capturing everything students write with digital pens on their paper notebooks and show it on an interactive whiteboard in front of the class. The content so displayed can be used as a basis for discussions.

The entire classroom progress is digitally saved and stored along with audio so that teachers can continue from where they left or playback classes. This solution allows to save individual student’s work, and track progress seamlessly and effectively.

All this to bring the focus back on learning, where it should always remain. These solutions enrich the overall learning process by:

• Encouraging discussion-based learning
• Enhancing students’ attention in class
• Leading to increased content retention

The teacher is able to carry out oneon- one interaction in a classroom setup where all the content is saved digitally. Automatic Test Administration and Grading frees up teachers’ time to focus on teaching. All this is achieved with simple pen and paper technology that does not require teachers or students to change their habits. Nor do they have to undergo extensive training on using the solutions.

Technology in a classroom should focus on enriching learning without compromising on any of the three types of interactions involved in the learning process. And that can be achieved only when the level of interaction remains as high as it was before implementing the technological solutions, if not less.

(The author is the Chief Operating Officer of Xcallibre India. He can be reached at jai@xcallibre.com)

One of the biggest challenges of the 21st century is to bridge the digital divide that exists in the world population. Most new technological inventions and gadgets are primarily focused on the developed first-world populations which have the purchasing power for such innovations and services. Billions of people are still without access to Internet, which is now being considered a human
right in the Western world. Datawind believes that its products and technology are a solution to this problem.

Datawind Accolades

• Shiksha Ratna Award by digital LEARNING State Education Summit 2013
• UK’s Most Innovative Mobile Company Award – 2012, by UK Trade & Investment, a government department
• Datawind CEO honoured as “Entrepreneur of Year 2012” by The Sikh Directory, London
• CNBC TV 18 and Mercedez Benz “Young Turks Innovation of Year” Award 2011
• Datawind founders received the “Technology Achievement Award” by the Indo-Canadian Chamber of Commerce presented by the Canadian Minister of Natural Resources, Joseph Oliver, and ICCC President, Satish Thakkar (Toronto)
• Datawind CEO listed among “Forbes Top 15 Classroom Revolutionaries List” for Education Innovation

Datawind has broken this price barrier by creating an Internet-capable device, which costs the equivalent of a typical week’s salary in India, about `2,500. Datawind’s products are built around its breakthrough web-delivery platform, covered by 18 US patents, which reduces network load and delivers a fast and efficient web experience on today’s congested mobile networks. The content delivery is accelerated by factors of 10x to 30x – resulting in a superior mobile web experience at a lower cost. Rich web content can be now be downloaded at a fraction of usual costs. Datawind products will be delivering anytime, anywhere Internet access to its users for `99 monthly unlimited data plan over GPRS networks. This means users all over India will be able to get online anywhere they get a cell phone signal (added Wi-Fi functionality, if you are at a hotspot). Additionally, the device can also be used as a cell phone to make phone calls. This opens the door for creating custom solutions for India’s population that has been left out till now, but will be joining the Internet age. It decreases the disparity of education through technology among the less developed nations, therefore, bridging the digital divide between gender, income and age group. Intended to empower a better quality of education through affordable devices and mobile access, Datawind’s Aakash/UbiSlate tablets deliver the power of billions of web pages of content and communication to students anytime and everywhere.

Datawind has been named a finalist for the Global Mobile Awards 2012 (GSMA) in the category for the Best Mobile Innovation for Education. Datawind’s innovative solution at breakthrough pricing was chosen from six hundred applicants, and this recognition validates the critical need to break the affordability barrier for devices and network access in bridging the digital divide in the developing world.

This technological innovation of developing a sustainable business model and market potential also links strongly to institutional systems like virtual learning environments and Management Information Systems.

Datawind’s innovative products have brought the attention of the world to the possibility of creating a sustainable business solution to  cater to the underserved sections of the global society. Enabling users to have Internet access over GPRS networks at high speeds on an affordable data plan is a revolutionary phenomenon which can bring the next billion users into the Internet age.

By Anil Goyal, Director, Mexus Education

Technological innovations in education are set to revolutionise the traditional labs in schools. The new generation, future digital labs seek to re-invent the pedagogy and learning experience

Although India is trying its best to bring as many children as possible under the fold of education, issues relating to the quality of pedagogy employed, and not to mention the ineffective teaching infrastructure, continue to produce halfbaked results. Our traditional rote-based education system has been inadequate in nurturing students’ inherent curiosity and quest for exploring knowledge. Going forward, this has made them ill-equipped for the dynamic work-situations of today that require application of knowledge for out-of-the-box, resourceful and instant decision-making.

As the business environment becomes increasingly dynamic and competitive, the gap between industry expectations and skills is widening. This situation cannot be salvaged with late stage interventions through learning programmes and trainings; skills need to be developed from the very beginning with the help of newage labs. Clearly, if the present stock of students had a learning experience better suited for a hyper-competitive, every changing work environment that encouraged independent assimilation, reasoning and innovation, India’s workforce would have been radically different today.

The missing elements

School laboratories are not a new or breakthrough concept in the Indian schooling system. Whether public or private, schools were always required to house science labs at higher secondary levels. Of course, the adequacy of these labs is questionable, since they largely depend upon how well schools were funded. Essentially, the significance of ‘practicals’ or experiential learning has always been recognised in our system, if not applied in spirit. The idea that each child is unique and that a combination of learning methodologies reaching out to all seven learning orientations is required for learning, can revolutionise Indian schooling today. A complete learning system by complementing classroom learning practices with engagement through activities is the master key to unlock the minds of all children by infusing interest and interactivity into an experiential mode of learning.

Experiencing lessons first-hand augments curiosity among children about why things are the way they are; a much more effective method of learning than spoon-feeding them with knowledge. Through hands-on activities and by putting theory to practice, students can gain knowledge of subjects, and understand their relevance with improved retention and recall. There are several schools in India with high-tech laboratories which team up with existing infrastructure in schools to reinvent pedagogies, with surprising results.

Bringing the change

More and more schools are now taking up experiential activities through ‘Digitised Activity Lab’ sessions to educate students that study between grades 4 and 9. These labs facilitate activity-based learning aided by audio-visual and kinesthetic simulation, which motivates, involves and connects with students in process of learning through interactivity.

The sessions complement instructions on subjects taught in class and do not upset classroom learning, thereby allowing students to revise theoretical concepts in a meaningful manner. In addition to hundreds of practical sessions, labs are also an avenue through which children can access learning resources, tools, kits and activities that schools do not generally provide.

These labs fundamentally serve the purpose of development of a scientific temperament among children, by encouraging them to explore new concepts through investigation and reasoning. Previously, the responsibility of imparting education was shouldered solely by teachers and quality lapses occurred when they could not live up to what was expected of them. The virtue of experiential learning is that students are now responsible for how much they learn; and they will, because learning has been made fun and interesting. The time invested by teachers in reiteration of concepts can be invested qualitatively in strengthening fundamentals by means of experiential learning.

The labs facilitate schools to grab and retain the interest of students in Science and Technology by allowing them to experiment scientific theories and knowhow for problem solving through project-based activities leading to early development of ‘Design Thinking’.

Conclusion

By enhancing teaching methods to incorporate experiential education, it is possible to ensure better outcomes in terms of reality-orientation and employability of students, by motivating them to pursue science and technology oriented fields in the future. Experiential learning through modern-age labs is perfectly poised to prepare solution seeking, industry-ready professionals contributing to the intellectual wealth of the country.

Prof (Dr) Louis Vernal

• Member – National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), Western Region

• Education Consultant – Learning Links Foundation Delhi, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Goa

• Former Dean, Faculty of Education & Chairman, Board of Studies in Education, Goa University

There is a need to expand the vocational education and training programmes in the country to reap the benefits of the demographic dividend, says Prof (Dr) Louis Vernal

Secondary Education

Education is the key to the task of nation- building. It is also a well-accepted fact that providing the right knowledge and skills to the youth can ensure the overall progress and economic growth of a country. The Report of the Education Commission (Kothari, 1964-66), titled ‘Education and National Development’, set a number of goals to be pursued. One of them was to vocationalise secondary education.

The National Vocational Education Mission includes the establishment of 1,600 new industrial training institutes (ITIs) and polytechnics, 10,000 new vocational schools and 50,000 new skill development centres to ensure that annually, over 100 lakh students get vocational training. There is thus, a need to expand the Vocational Education and Training (VET) programmes to reap the advantage of the demographic dividend of the country and to fulfil the aspirations and right of the youth to gainful employment and contribute to national productivity.

The total annual training capacity of VET programmes thus offered is estimated to be about 25 lakh. There also centrally-sponsored schemes of vocationalisation of secondary education which includes establishment of 1,000 polytechnics in the country under the government, PPP and private models. Jan Shikshan Sansthan and Craftsmen training are other schemes.

About 90 percent of employment opportunities require vocational skills, which is not being imparted on a large scale to students. The major reforms proposed for bringing about necessary ‘flexibility’ in the offering of vocational courses and development of ‘modular competency-based curricula’ in collaboration with industry to suit the needs of both target groups and the employers (industry), will be useful in reducing the shortage of skilled manpower. The corner stone of a vocational framework would be the close partnership and collaboration with the industry/potential employers at all stages: identification of courses, content development, training and provision of resource persons, assessment, accreditation, certification and placement.

A National Policy on Skill Development has been formulated by the Ministry of Labour & Employment and which has been approved by the Cabinet in its meeting held on 23rd February, 2009. The objective is to create a workforce empowered with improved skills, knowledge and internationally-recognised qualifications to gain access to decent employment and ensure India’s competitiveness in the dynamic global labour market. It aims at increasing the productivity of workforce both in the organised and the unorganised sectors, seeking increased participation of youth, women, disabled and other disadvantaged sections and to synergise efforts of various sectors and reform the present system.

Higher Education

Workforce in India

With elementary becoming universal in India, secondary education is targeted in the next phase. Higher education will take time to be transformed into a mass education initiative. At present, India has more than 15,000 colleges with about 10 million students. More than two-thirds of these colleges are Arts, Science, Commerce and Management (18 percent) and oriental learning colleges. The recent growth is much greater in professional colleges especially engineering, management and medicine as well as in private vocational courses, catering especially to the IT sector. There are over 1,250 medical colleges.A major concern echoed by both the industry and the academic community is that India has stock of some 22 million graduates, including six million science graduates, 1.2 million with engineering degrees and 600,000 doctors, according to the data compiled by the Economic Times Intelligence Group, the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) and other industry sources. This population is growing rapidly, with over 2.5 million graduates added every year, including 25,000 doctors, 350,000 engineers and over 600,000 science graduates and post-graduates. Yet, at any given time, about five million graduates remain unemployed.As per a McKinsey report, 73 million workers are needed by 2015: 50 percent more than today in the automobile and electronic sectors.Collaboration between educational institutions and industry is vital for producing capable and employable workforce. The courses and their transaction should be tuned to the real-world requirements to increase the employability quotient for the students. The influx of a variety of global organisations have their own set of benchmarks and additional requirements are needed such as analytical ability, communication and people skills, technical proficiency, creative thinking and leadership competency, social media.

Pranab K Bose, Managing Director, Waterford Institute India, shares how Waterford Early Learning is empowering both the teachers and the students

Please tell us about your digital lab solutions.

Our comprehensive early learning suite, Waterford Early Learning, comprises of Waterford Early Reading and Waterford Early Maths and Science programmes, which includes English language, Math and Science curricula; early literacy assessment; and innovative teacher tools that provide a richer learning experience that inspires and empowers both the children and educators alike.

How do the programmes help learners?

Waterford Early Reading Programme provides a complete digital language arts programme that has created dramatic results for young learners across the country. Systematic and explicit instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, text comprehension, vocabulary, print concepts, readiness skills, writing, and oral fluency provide a comprehensive foundation for English language learning.

Waterford Early Math and Science Programme provides a comprehensive early Math programme with instructions in the five big ideas of early Math: numbers and operations, geometry, algebra, measurement, and data analysis. The programme also emphasises exploration and the scientific method through an integrated science curriculum that covers earth, life, and physical science.

Please tell us about the benefits that the programme offers to the students.

Because Waterford Early Learning assumes no background knowledge and automatically individualises instruction, it has been proven to help a wide range of students to achieve academic success, including: Preschool through grade 2, response to Intervention differentiated tiers, English language learners, at-risk students, advanced students, and special education (IEP) students

Please shed light on your tie-up with academic institutions to extend the reach of the programme.

Yes, institutes and schools including the Aga Khan Education, Sujaya Foundation, Children’s Academy, Chennai Public School, Gudecha Academy, Chitkara International, Sneh International, Hills Nursery, and Klay Schools are using the programme.

Please tell us about the infrastructure required to set up a digital lab.

Typically, a digital lab includes a networked lab with a central server and client nodes (as per the requirement of the school) complete with microphones, and headphones etc. The application software and media (content repository) would reside on the server and the student application software in the client nodes.

Please share with us your future plans.

The next version of our programme, which is slated to be released this year, would involve the application server residing in the Cloud. This will result in reduced cost of acquisition for the customer.