Leadership crisis hit India’s higher education sector

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February 15, 2013

Policy Initiatives Higher Education in 2012

There is a serious gap between the existing pool and the requirement of academic leaders to meet targets of the 12th Plan and India Vision 2020, a report said

New Delhi: Higher education sector in India will continue to reel under crisis of capable leaders till 2020, a global survey conducted by the Education Promotion Society for India (EPSI) said.

EPSI is a representative body of over 500 higher education institutions in India.

Nearly 81 percent of the respondents, who took part in the survey, pointed to a serious gap between the existing pool and the requirement of academic leaders to meet targets of the 12th Five Year Plan and India Vision 2020 for Higher Education sector.

Only 18 percent respondents said there is moderate gap between the expected demand and the available pool, according to an EPSI statement.

The survey received responses from thought leaders, chancellors, vice-chancellors, deans, principals and professors from the US, Britain, Germany, Australia, France, Hungary and Dubai.

The survey was conducted in 22 Indian cities, including Delhi-NCR, Pune, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Manipal.

When asked about ‘the critically important traits’ of a transformational leader in Indian Higher Education, 80 percent of the respondents cited innovative approach to development as the most important.

The respondents also felt that high professional integrity, ethical standards, global exposure and ability to change were some of the other requisite qualities of a transformational leader.

Significantly, only 20 percent of the respondents felt that the proposed Bill, ‘The Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Higher Education Institutions Bill 2011’, would curb malpractices, while 80 percent said that this will lead to wrong precedents as the higher education system faces several constraints and challenges.

The survey conducted, jointly with MBAUniverse.com, also examined why Indian higher education institutes are unable to attract overseas Indians with exceptional academic background and proven leadership skills.

“The results of the survey on ‘Leadership Challenges’ in the higher education system are alarming and demand a serious attention by political leadership, policy makers, Chancellors and Vice Chancellors,” ESPI President G Vishwanathan said.

PowerSchool to keep track of Pearson students

K-12

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digitalLEARNING Network

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February 15, 2013

Pearson Schools has introduced Power School, a web-based student information system, in eight of its schools

Mumbai: Pearson Schools has introduced Power School, a web-based student information system, in eight of its schools.

The PowerSchool technology is the fastest-growing and the most-widely used web-based student information system, supporting 10 million students in 50 states in the US and in over 65 countries. The technology uses ERP to help parents and teachers keep track of students’ safety, academic performance and behaviour at school.

The Power School ERP gives parents, teachers and students easy access to school circulars, fee payment, and student assessments. Overall, the technology provides the full range of features like attendance management, tracking and notification, optional seating chart formats with student photos, discipline management and reporting, and assessment reporting needed by administrators at the school level, thus systematically updating parents on all activities of their child.

At present, the technology has been implemented in the Amanora School, Pune; Hillside School, Hyderabad; Manipal School, Mangalore; MadhavaKripa High School, Manipal; SG International Public School, Amara Jyothi Public School, Cambridge Public School, and Shishya BEML Public School in Bangalore.

Among other services offered are the SMS alert service that ensures that parents receive all updates and announcements related to the events in the school, circulars, and a GPRS service in collaboration with North Star which is activated in school buses to trace all bus routes, thus assuring parents of their children’s safety.

The new technology has also introduced easy and safe online payment of fees, and for books and uniforms through PayUPaisa. This enables parents to engage with the school from anywhere in the world.

Special fund for Nalanda varsity in Union Budget

Higher Education

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digitalLEARNING Network

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February 15, 2013

The fully-residential university will commence its activities from the academic session 2013-14

New Delhi: The Union budget will have a special fund provision for the upcoming Nalanda University in Bihar, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said.

Khurshid said that the ruins of the ancient Nalanda University, which was ransacked in the 11th century, should be included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

“The Centre is serious about the establishment of the university,” he added.

India along with 16 countries of East Asia is involved in the project.

The university is set to begin its activities from the academic session 2013-14. The process of selection of faculty for two courses has started.

The university will be fully-residential, like the ancient Nalanda University. It will offer courses in science, philosophy and spiritualism along with social sciences.

A fifth century architectural marvel, the Nalanda University, devoted to Buddhist studies, was home to over 10,000 students and nearly 2,000 teachers.

The varsity, which existed until 1197, attracted students and scholars from South Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia and Turkey.

In 1193, the university was ransacked by an army led by Bhaktiyar Khilji, a Turkish General of Qutb-ud-din-Aibak of the Slave Dynasty, the then ruler of northern India.

IIMB, Pearson join hands to disseminate knowledge

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digitalLEARNING Network

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February 15, 2013

They will jointly publish a range of titles covering business scholarship and collaborate in the field of management education

Bangalore: Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) and Pearson has announced their intention to jointly publish a range of titles covering business scholarship and collaborate in the field of management education.

The collaboration, which will include the participation of the Financial Times, the global business title that is owned by Pearson, was formally concluded with the signing of an MOU, described by Professor Pankaj Chandra, of IIMB Director, as a pact between “two world respected entities with a record of innovative and authoritative achievement”.

Definitive agreements will be concluded by the end of 2013, according to the MoU, which was signed in Bangalore on February 13, 2013 by Professor Chandra and Pearson Education President and CEO Ranu Kawatra.

“At Pearson we believe in learner and educator centric learning. With our expertise and global experience in developing content and providing e-Learning solutions, we hope to create world-class solutions for learners. ,” Pearson’s Ranu Kawatra said.

With the penetration of technology, the global landscape of teaching and learning has experienced a sea change. We consistently strive to improve the quality of instruction and learning through the use of technology for students and the education fraternity. We are proud to have this partnership with IIMB and look forward to work on many projects with them to make learning outcomes better, Kawatra said

The initial foray will be in publishing, including series on sectoral knowledge, strategic management, and another on business and industry case studies.

These titles shall be published in paperback and e-Book format for global distribution. Pearson and IIMB will also evaluate the possibility of launching online education courses. IIMB and the Financial Times, which has a presence in India dating back four decades, will also explore jointly hosting conferences and seminars.

The partnership marks a notable step forward in the arena of higher and executive education in India, where collaboration typically between academic institutions is already widespread. In this instance, Pearson brings a deep and market leading portfolio of education products and services, along with the FT’s content, which will be made available to students, research and subscribers of the institute; at the same time IIMB is powerful brand in learning and higher education.

Speaking on the development,IIMB Director Dr Pankaj Chandra said, “We are proud to enter into this mutually beneficial partnership with Pearson which will allow us to disseminate the knowledge that resides in IIMB to a global audience, through the various print and e-learning platforms offered by Pearson. We hope that IIMB’s content would add value and enrich the Pearson repository.”

Wheebox becomes International Test Commission affiliate

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digitalLEARNING Network

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February 12, 2013

Wheebox is the only assessment organisation that is a certified member of “International Test Commission” from India.

Wheebox has announced that it is an affiliate member of International Test Commission. Wheebox is the only assessment organisation that is a certified member of “International Test Commission” from India.The other members include Talent Q; Pearson, SHL Group from UK, Educational Testing Service from USA, Central Test from France; One test from Australia and others.

Within a short span of time, Wheebox has assessed over half a million unique users created a niche in the market for benchmarking solutions amongst corporate as well as professional institutes and Schools.

According to Nirmal Singh, Founder & CEO, Wheebox, “It is a great opportunity for us that we are the only company from India which is affiliate member of International testing commission.” He further added, “The highlight of our company is that we outsource entire talent identification and assessment process for an enterprise and does end to end designing,building, deploying and delivering best of the online talent assessment solution to find the right talent, lower the cost of recruitment and benchmark on worldwide standards.”

Under enterprise solution, Wheebox offers assessment in Pre-hiring solution and leadership development. Under Academic Solution, the company offers assessment for Schools, Undergraduate & Post-graduate colleges. Wheebox has a close working relationship with some of the World’s leading Universities, Corporations and Government Institutions. The clients include Tata Steel, HDFC, Tata Motors, IL&FS Education and Large Government bodies viz IGNOU and NIELT (Erstwhile DOEACC). Wheebox also partner over 500+ Indian Universities and Colleges for conducting Wheebox Employability Skill Test for final year graduates.

Cochin varsity to set up innovation centre

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digitalLEARNING Network

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February 12, 2013

Focusing hardware and e-Governance the centre will support non-resident Indian students who want to become entrepreneurs

Kochi: The Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) will set up a centre for innovation, focusing hardware and e-Governance, to support non-resident Indian students who want to become entrepreneurs.

The centre will aim to translate the academic research at the university into products and services, CUSAT Vice Chancellor Ramachandran Thekkedath said.

The Centre will have three major divisions, namely Technology Transfer Office, Technology Business Incubator and Research and Technology Park.

“The focus of the business incubator set up by CUSAT will be on information technology, bio-technology and the thrust area will be hardware, which is the first of its kind incubator for core hardware products. e-governance will also be a focus area,” the VC said.

On the need to set up the CITTIC, Thekkedath said the country has great disconnect between the three major entities — university, research establishments and business/industry.

“Various universities have approached the long chain technology commercialization in different formats. CUSAT, as the first move among Indian universities, will be able to gain maximum advantage by entering into all these activities spreading the entire chain of research, development and commercialization,” he added.

“The horizon is wider if children have a good foundation”

Interviews

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digitalLEARNING Network

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February 12, 2013

Author of an innovative series of books ‘My Learning Train’ for pre-school children, Sonia Relia, sheds light on the salient features of the book in conversation with Ruhi Ahuja Dhingra.

Please tell us about ‘My Learning Train’.
‘My Learning Train’ is a complete pre-school series comprising six books for LKG and UKG. Each book in this series is supported by a parents’ and teachers’ handbook as well as flashcards and audio-visual aid.

The series is activity-based and each page can be converted into an interesting activity page. This series was created as teachers always want to include activities but when they have to connect the activities with the book, they find missing links. So, we thought of creating a series for children and teachers which could be an activity-based link for the classroom.

We collected a wish list from the teachers through our Teachers’ Participation and Experimentation programme at Oxford University Press India. I have been conducting this programme for the last about five years and we collected a wish list. We just compiled and designed the course as per the wish list and My Learning Train happened. It is a journey and this is just the beginning.

What inspired you to write the book?
My needs as a teacher and as a parent inspired me to create this series. I used to look for aids to help my daughter. And when I was a teacher, I looked for resources. When I became a trainer, my teams told me what they wished was there. The Oxford University Press (OUP) also believes that change is going to happen in pre-schools. That connect made me brave enough to create my first manuscript and hand it over.

How will the interactive resources that you are offering with the series help the teachers?
When there is a digital resource and there is duplication in the books, it matches. And for children to understand the digital resources with a page in the book becomes so much easier. With animation, songs and rhymes, it becomes even more exciting for the child. The dream of this series is to collect lots of smiling teachers and children.

What is your view on the adoption of the digital medium in pre-schools?
Going digital in pre-school is extremely important because it helps in visualisation. It is also very important to balance hands-on learning with it. A little child is developing – he is holding the grip or the ball for the first time. His muscle coordination and emotional development need to be taken care of. The child needs a hug which he cannot get from a machine, and he needs to hold and touch things to learn.

That is why we thought of having something digital in which every digital activity can be easily converted into hands-on activity. That helped us to connect; the digital medium exists, but the child should be able to touch things.

Please tell us more about the book.
The books in My Learning Train provide all necessary tools a teacher would need to aid the all-round development of a child during the pre-school years and successfully bridge the gap between pre-primary and class one.

As mentioned, we have provided a parents’ handbook with each book so that parents can also do a similar work concept at home with the kids. Simple things like socks, cloth lines and turmeric can be used to create activities for children. When you arrange your clothes every day, you can tell the child to separate her/his clothes and her/his father’s. Ask the child to arrange the socks together and you are teaching them pairing. You do not have to go out and buy things; anything that you have at home becomes a very simple teaching tool.

Accompanying the course is a teachers’ manual that we will give to the teachers with all digital support. It has everything that the teacher desires. We have created about 300 activities for parents and about 350 for teachers and given flashcards with envelopes for storage.

We feel that if we empower the teachers and then demand from them, we are being fair. Otherwise, from where do they create? So we decided to create a one-stop solution for teachers. Fortunately, Oxford supported me in my search for innovation and excellence. It is like seeing your baby walk now. We hope that when it goes into the environment, it stands true to the litmus test.

How are the parents, teachers and the kids responding to the book?
My Learning Train has been on its journey for a long time now – about 23 years of my own experimentation and 16 years of activities and training have gone into it. And it took shape in the last five years. We have tested it with 800 children and 20 teachers and their feedback was encouraging. Teachers also say that it is one-stop solution for rhymes, stories, music or outdoor activities.

A teacher once told me that she wanted to do backward counting with Jack climbing down the beanstalk. And so, we have put a page of Jack climbing down the beanstalk! I finished compiling the wish list of 8,000 teachers this year and have been very lucky to have wonderful suggestions. When I was designing the book, I tested it with parents also. There is a school that I handhold and everything was tested there too. The children have responded beautifully.

We need to believe in change and let the little learners develop their skills because the horizon is wider if little children have a good foundation.

Indian B-schools going out of business:ASSOCHAM

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digitalLEARNING Network

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February 8, 2013

Majority of them are fast losing the loyalty from corporate India Inc. during campus recruitment with only 10% of graduates being actually employable

New Delhi: Despite a robust demand for MBAs, most of the B-schools are fast losing the loyalty from corporate India Inc. during campus recruitment with only 10% of graduates being actually employable, a survey by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) revealed.

This holds true for most B -schools, except may be the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), the report said.

The ASSOCHAM paper on ‘B-schools and Engineering colleges shut down- Big Business Struggles’ reveals that since 2009, the recruitments at the campus have gone down by 40% in the year of 2012.

As a result the B-schools and engineering colleges are not able to attract students with more than 180 B-schools have already closed down in 2012 in the major cities Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Dehradun, while another 160 are struggling for their survivals.

ASSOCHAM Secretary General DS Rawat said that there is no quality control, the placements are not commensurate with fees being charged, the faculty is not good enough and there is no infrastructure.

“The biggest reason for the gap is the rapid mushrooming of tier-2 and tier-3 management education institutes that has unfortunately not been matched by commensurate uplift in the quality of management education. Most of the students prefer to choose cheaper AICTE approved programs rather than B-schools,” Rawat said.

“The need to update and re-train faculty in emerging global business perspectives is practically absent in many B-schools, often making the course content redundant,” adds the paper.

About 160 schools offering Master of Business Administration (MBA) courses are expected to close this year. Only 10% of graduates from Indian business schools excluding those from the top 20 schools get a job straight after completing their course, compared with 54% in 2008, the paper says.

Some students expressed that the business schools promote their brands only on placement and by boasting about high salaries. They offer theoretical courses which lacks practical skills required by the corporate sector today, mentioned the paper.

In the last five years, the number of B-schools in India has tripled to about 4,500 amounting to as many as 360,000 MBA seats, collectively. The demand has begun to deflate now, as economy growth rate hit its slowest in the last nine years and the quality of education provided by B-schools came under the radar.

The paper also stressed that nowadays students are not concerned about the quality of education in an institute, they only want to know the placement and salary statistics and discounts offered on the fee structure and this has spoiled the entire education system.

Similarly, the Master of Computer Application (MCA) course, nearly 95 colleges stopped offering the programme this year and only 25 started MCA courses.

MBA seats in India grew almost four-fold from 95,000 in 2006-07 to 360,000 in 2011-12,resulting in a five-year compounded annual growth rate of 30 %.

Unfortunately, job opportunities for MBAs have not grown in the same proportion. The MBA capacity in the country was built based on the projection of a 9 to 10% economic growth rate.

ASSOCHAM has advised to improve the infrastructure, train their faculty, work on industry linkages, spend money on research and knowledge creation, as well as pay their faculty well in order to attract good teachers.

Facility to pay fees in rupees to foreign varsities launched

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digitalLEARNING Network

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February 8, 2013

It will enable participating schools and universities to offer Indian students the option to pay tuition fees in their home currency

Mumbai: Payment services major Western Union’s subsidiary, Western Union Business Solutions (WUBS), has launched a new service that will allow universities and higher education institutions around the world to accept tuition payments in Indian Rupee.

The service has been launched in association with the RBI-approved agents Paul Merchants and Weizmann Forex.

Staff from the agents will collect the fees from clients’ doorsteps for empanelled universities in rupees. WUBS will be charging a fee for every transaction and also earning in foreign exchange conversion.

Fee structure and number of universities, the company has empanelled, have however not yet been disclosed.

According to a recent study, the United States, United Kingdom and Australia are the top three destinations for Indian students. Indian students who go abroad are typically invoiced in the currency of their university, which often makes the payment process cumbersome and expensive.

In many cases, intermediary fees impact the final amount received by the university so the students still owe money before commencing their studies.

According to WUBS, India is the second largest market in the world with about 200,000 students going abroad every year.

India to set up 200 community colleges this year

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digitalLEARNING Network

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February 6, 2013

These community colleges will assist in providing high quality relevant skills education at low cost to learners and improve employbility

New Delhi: The Government will set up 200 community colleges on pilot basis in existing colleges and polytechnics from the current academic session, Human Resources Development Minister MM Pallam Raju said.

These community colleges will assist in providing high quality relevant skills education at low cost to learners and improve employability; he said while addressing an international conference on community colleges in New Delhi this morning.

The move is aimed at bridging the gaps in skilling level and education system.

He said industry, including business; services, agriculture and allied sectors will be associated at all levels of activities in these colleges such as development of curriculum and training of trainers and teachers.

The minister said as every year more than thirty lakh graduates are passing out, there is a strong need to increase their employability.

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