Holistic development of a child is very important in today’s globalised world, said Rajeev Katyal, Country Director, Global Indian Foundation and GIIS Schools India, at eINDIA 2012
India is globalising very fast. Indians are going abroad and MNCs are coming to India and interacting with each other. This is pointing to an era where India will emerge as a global economic superpower in the years to come. Children of today’s India will lead the effort. And for this they need education in globalised environment.
A global school needs to cater to certain aspects, which makes it the visionary school of future. One such aspect is curriculum, whereby we need to have schools catering to diversified curricula. Second aspect is infrastructure that needs to be not only academic, but one that also caters to co-curricula and global connectivity. Third is holistic development of a child academically, and also support multiple intelligences, and excellence in different areas. Holistic development is a method of looking at a child in multiple dimensions and choosing that dimension in which that child is special and trying to emphasise on that strength in a particular child.
Global education excellence also talks about exchanging information between children in various parts of the world to make them globally aware about the other parts. Global education is about sharing best practices across geographies and involving every stakeholder including teachers, students, parents, media, and society. There are multiple dimensions that need to be focused on when we talk about visionary school in global context. Today, schools emphasise only on CBSE curricula. Many students have full potential and freedom to go to curricula, which are different from Indian curricula like IGCSE curriculum or IB, ICSE. Particularly with international curricula, students get a chance to go abroad and study in foreign universities.
Holistic development of a child is very important in today’s globalised world. A child could be good in academics, sports, communication or creativity. Typically in our schools, we focus on different dimensions of the child’s personality. The schools measure the ability of the child to develop in each of these areas termed as nine gems or nine dimension method where we look at things like values and ethics, leadership development, and sporting excellence to develop a child. So, multi-dimensional development is another aspect of developing global school.
An interesting experiment that the Global Indian International School has done is the global student exchange through videoconferencing. We facilitate monthly interactions with students from Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indore, Surat, and Noida through the videoconferencing method to understand about each other’s countries. For example, students of Noida interacted with the students of Singapore and each presented to the other interacted about transportation system in their respective cities. Students of Noida came to know about Singapore’s transportation system and what they can learn from it. So this kind of student exchange leads to globalised community and develops global culture and etiquette.
Another good practice that GIIS has created all over the world is strengthening of communication between all stakeholders that are important for welfare of a child such as parents, teachers, principals, and administrators. So we have created software, My Global Campus, that provides basic information about assignment, marks, tests, student notificationand also encourages regular feedback and interaction between the parents sitting at home and teacher. This implementation enables 24X7 connect with schools and parents at home. They can remotely track the child’s progress, take feedback from teachers and school. They have become partners in the child’s progress along with the schools.
With all above-mentioned efforts we are creating visionary schools of the global world.
ranged from the Roadmap of e-Governance in India; ICT Deployment in Public Safety & Security; Smart Cities; ICT in Energy & Transportation; Aadhaar based Service Delivery; From eSeva to Mee Seva: State Leadership Summit; ICT Usage by Public Sector Units; and ICT Usage in Financial Inclusion.
In the two days, eINDIA witnessed eight sessions on health and telemedicine. Panel discussions took place around the Emerging Paradigms in Healthcare; eHealth and mHealth; Point-of-Care Technologies and Chronic Disease Management; Emerging Trends in Health Insurance; Patient Safety; Rural Health and the like. While aiming to provide a platform for dialogue on the health systems in India and beyond, the eINDIA Health Summit track was able to associate with various departments and representatives of state government departments, bodies like the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH) and others. The event speakers and attendees were from reputed hospitals, diagnostic laboratories, doctors, policy makers, researchers, health experts and industry members from Andhra Pradesh, across India and abroad. Among the key speakers were Girdhar J Gyani, Member, Governing Board, NABH and Member, Govern- ing Board, ISQua; P K Taneja, Principal Secretary, Health & Family Welfare, Gujarat; Balaji Utla, CEO, Health Management and Research Institute (HMRI) and N Veerabhadraiah, Chief Information Officer & Deputy Director, Commissioner of Health & Family Welfare, Andhra Pradesh.
The education seminal track was divided in two parts – School Education and Higher Education. Overall, 14 panel discussions were held in the two days. The topics for Higher Education included Challenges and Opportunities in Accreditation of Higher Education Institutions; Investment in Education; Vision 2020; Transformatory Practices in Technical Education; Creating Innovative Models in Education; and Best Practices in Higher Education. Under the School Education Track, discussions were held on topics such as Essentials for Building Visionary Schools in a Globalised World; Learning Practices in the 21st Century; Alternative Assessment Strategies; STEM Education and Tech Assisted Tools for Student Comprehension; Progressive Learning Environment through Connected Classrooms; Blended Learning Curriculum & Supportive Teaching; and Training of Educators: Coping with Rapidly Changing Education Technologies. 
Prof S S Mantha, Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE); K Sunitha, Commissioner, Directorate of Collegiate Education; Prof Parvin Sinclair, Director, National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT); Prof U B Desai, Director, IIT Hyderabad; Prof V S Rao, Director, BITS Hyderabad Campus; Sanjay Singh, Principal Secretary, Department of School Education, Madhya Pradesh; Dr Pascal Chazot, Head of School, Mahatma Gandhi International School; N Siva Sankar, Commissioner & Director of School Education, Andhra Pradesh; Son Kuswadi, Education Attache, The Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia; Andrey Shelukhin, Counselor (Science & Technology), Embassy of the Russian Federation in India; and K Gopal, Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Textbook Corporation were among the key speakers who included state education secrearies, vice-chancellors of universities, directors and faculty members of higher education institutes, and principals and chairmen of schools.
The Indian democracy can go forward in the 21st century only if it democratises information, said Sam Pitroda, Advisor to the Prime Minister of India on Public Information Infrastructure & Innovations, at eINDIA 2012
An exhaustive exercise had been conducted to identify the areas and level of students’ competence. The focus was on the convergence of technology, pedagogy and content to enhance learning ability. The entire project is based on developing curiosity, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking across the curriculum.
Haryana Chief Minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, laid the foundation stone of Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College in Karnal. The `650-crore super-specialty college would have a 500-bed hospital, an OPD, maternity ward, emergency care, nursing college, auditorium, animal house and other facilities. The state government has provided `105 crore in the current financial year to the medical college. Spread over 43 acres, the college is expected to be ready in two years. The college will offer 100 MBBS seats.
Ireland is aiming to double the number of Indian students studying in the country in three years, its Minister for Higher Education and Skills, Ciaran Cannon T D, said in Bangalore. Around 850 Indian students are currently studying in Ireland for post-graduate degrees in engineering, pharma, business, computer sciences, accounting, and hospitality management. According to Irish officials, it is estimated that every 100 additional international students who come to Ireland support the creation of 15 local jobs, through spending on tuition, accommodation and other living expenses.
