Education and skill development would be the “overriding priority” of the 12th Five Year Plan even as India’s current slow economic growth rate might affect total outlay of the plan.
Allocation for the 12th Plan period (2012-17) would be declared in a month and the total size of the plan outlay would be “commensurate with the growth rate”, Planning Commission member Narendra Jadhav told reporters. Jadhav, however, said education and skill development followed by healthcare and infrastructure will remain the top priorities in the plan period as prior to the 11th Plan, the central government did little for the sectors, resulting in a “large backlog”.
Skill Development Top Priority in 12th Plan
IGNOU gets It’s New VC
Gopinath Pradhan, professor of economics , took over as the new vice-chancellor of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (Ignou) on August 1.
Pradhan joined Ignou in 1993 as a reader in economics and became a professor in 1998. He has been serving as the director of the School of Social Sciences (SOSS) of the university since 2010.
Pradhan has handled various research projects pertaining to policy research and has contributed to the capacity-building training module, certificate programme launched by Ignou in 2001 on ‘Involuntary Resettlement and Rehabilitation’ and ‘strengthening of local government in Madhya Pradesh.’
SSA Gives 75 Children a New Life
More than 75 children from Mansa district, Ludhiana, have been treated for congenital heart defects (hole in heart), cancer, paralysis and polio free of cost after they registered through Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan which allows for free treatment in PGI, Chandigarh and DMCH, Ludhiana. Mansa DC Amit Dakha said that a total of 513 schools are covered under SSA and 2,844 children are currently undergoing treatment for various ailments.
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is an Indian Government programme aimed at the universalisation of elementary education “in a time bound manner”, as mandated by the 86th amendment to the Constitution of India making free and education to children of ages 6–14 (estimated to be 205 million in number in 2001) a fundamental right. SSA is being implemented in partnership with State Governments to cover the entire country and address the needs of 192 million children in 1.1 million habitations.
Bihar entrusts CORE Education to digitalise primary education
The education company, CORE Education & Technologies (CORE Education) has informed the stock exchange that Bihar State Government has signed a Letter of Intent with the company to provide computer aided learning solutions in 168 schools across eight districts, such as Nalanda, Jamul, Nawada, Lakhisarai, Sheikhpura, Khagarai, Saharsa and Begusarai. The total value of the project is Rs. 22 Crore. With this project, CORE Education is providing education solutions to over 10,000 Government schools in India.
The Bihar Government, which is taking rapid strides towards development of the state, has selected CORE Education as its partner for this project which intends to make quality education accessible to students in even the remotest corner of the state. This move will fulfill the dream of the poor students by giving them access to modern technology enabled education.
CORE Education will impart digital literacy training not only to over 10,000 students but also to over 1500 teachers in the state. CORE is also mandated to develop physical infrastructure for training centers, supply hardware, software and manpower to install and maintain the establishments. To ensure smooth execution of the project and to uphold the high level standards, CORE will put together a strong team of 177 people under the supervision of an experienced project manager.
digitalLEARNING Magazine Announces Annual Resource Guide 2012
digitalLEARNING , a premier monthly publication from Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd on current practices in ICT and education in India and across the globe, is coming up with its 4th Annual Resource Guide in the month of October 2012.
digitalLEARNING 4th Annual Resource Guide 2012
The October 2012 issue will be the Annual Resource Guide, which serves as a valuable source of information for service providers and end users in education space. Being the ‘only one–of–its–kind’ for the Indian market, this annual issue is a comprehensive compilation and showcase of latest products and solutions in the education technology space. The issue will serve as a quick reference guide for everyone in the domain of education. There will be a spotlight on the companies, which are playing a seminal role in developing and implementing innovative systems and solutions at the educational institutions.
The Annual Resource Guide of digitalLEARNING serves as a unique opportunity for companies and organisations to get featured and develop connections with decision makers at schools, colleges, higher educational institutions, state and central government departments and also with other stakeholders in the ICT fraternity and education sector.
Key Features of Listing in Annual Resource of Guide
There are three types of listings in the Annual Resource Guide
Basic: The product wise listing includes contact details of the company.
Advanced: The company contact details will be highlighted in a box with company logo.
Premium: The Premium segment will include brand profile of the company with advertisement. Detailed company profile includes photograph of the representative, company logo, products and services, USP, target verticals, achievements, key people in the company, sales and after sales support details, and much else.
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· Prof S S Mantha is the Guest Editor for the October 2012 issue · The Annual Resource Guide will also feature in depth coverage of leading school chains and higher education institutions · There will be coverage of work being done by eminent education organisations like AICTE, NCERT, CBSE, MHRD, NAAC |
Highlights
· The Yellow Pages of ICT and service sector companies in the education space
· One year shelf life
· Wider reach among key decision makers
· Strong brand presence and strategic positioning
· Maximum return on investment
Read by key decision makers in schools, higher education institutions and other places of learning, digitalLEARNING magazine provides unparalleled access to key people who research, recommend and purchase your products and services. The magazine is uniquely positioned to create impactful print, digital and event opportunities that will deliver maximum benefits for your brand.
The reach of the Annual Education Resource Guide
• School principals, chairmen, directors, senior functionaries
• VCs, directors, deans, at higher education institutes and vocation training centres
• Ministers, senior officials at education ministries at centre and state levels
• Important functionaries at funding agencies in education space
• Important functionaries from the corporate sector, banks and PSUs, including CIOs and CTOs
• Public Administrators looking after regulation in education sector
• Heads of Academic think-tanks and other institutions
• IT vendors
• & many others
Expected number of copies to be published: 60,000
25,000 of the magazines go to schools. 20,000 go to higher education institutions
5000 go to government functionaries, corporate
Contact us now to take advantage of the opportunity of being part of digitalLEARNING’s mega Annual Resource Guide for the month of October 2012.
Timeline for October 2012 issue:
Editorial material timeline: 15th September, 2012
Ad material timeline: 19th September, 2012
For editorial queries contact: Pragya Gupta, pragya@elets.in, +91 8860651648
For advertising queries, contact: Fahim Ul Haque, fahim@elets.in; +91 9873277808
India Sri Lanka CEO’s Forum Identifies Potential Areas in Education
The Sri Lanka- India CEO’s Forum organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) was held on August 4, 2012 with the participation of a large number of CEOs from both Sri Lanka and India. The Co-Chairs for the event were Kulatunga Rajapakse, Managing Director of DSI Samson Group (Pvt) Ltd. from Sri Lanka and Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman & Managing Director of Bharti Airtel Ltd. from India. The Forum was conceptualised at a meeting between the Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh and the President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Some of the potential sectors identified for increasing trade and investment between the two countries are apparel, rubber products, power and energy, tourism, education, skill development, ports and shipping and infrastructure in general.
The Commerce Ministers of both countries and the Senior Minister of Monetary Cooperation of Sri Lanka graced the occasion and agreed to support the initiatives that will be taken by the CEOs. The two Governments have already decided to establish a Joint Task Force to come up with a road map to further enhance economic cooperation between the two countries.
Karnataka Government for more Private Universities
The state will see more private universities in the future as there are 10 proposals pending before the state government for approval. Governor HR Bhardwaj, chief minister Jagadish Shettar and higher education minister CT Ravi also favour setting up more private universities in the state.
At the convocation of Alliance University on Saturday, he said the university authorities should bring in ultra-modern facilities to enhance student and faculty exchange programme with world-class universities. Shettar advocated that private universities should partner with best world class universities for faculty and students exchange programme. “Such steps will transform the students to global citizen.
eLearning firm Liqvid raises $3 m from SBI’s Japan Arm
LIQVID, an integrated eLearning content solutions company specializing in English Language Training, has raised $3 Mn funding from SBI Ven Capital, a subsidiary of SBI Holdings, Japan.
Following this investment, Brijesh Pande, board member of SBI Ven Capital, Singapore is joining the board of LIQVID. SBI Holdings is one of the largest private equity firms in Japan with more than $3 billion funds under management. SBI has investments in more than 13 countries across Asia. Liqvid provides English learning and training solutions to individuals and organisations under the brand name EnglishEdge offering on personal computers, tablets and handsets. It is a venture launched by key members of egurucool.com, one of India’s foremost eLearning brands.
CBSE to test Students’ Problem Solving Skills
Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will conduct a compulsory Problem Solving Assessment Test to ignite students thinking level. The test will have questions from both quantitative & qualitative reasoning skills.
Starting this academic year, the CBSE will hold a compulsory Problem Solving Assessment (CBSE-PSA) to encourage students to start thinking, instead of just borrowing ideas. It will assess students in quantitative and qualitative reasoning and language conventions.
Though the assessment will not be based on a particular syllabus, there are broad guidelines on how the questions will be framed. Questions in the quantitative reasoning section will test students in areas related to mathematics, science and technology; while in qualitative reasoning students will be tested in humanities, arts and social sciences.
UGC Proposes to Set up Four Regional Centres of Educational Management
The meeting of the Consultative Committee of Parliament for the Ministry of Human Resource Development was held on the subject, “Proposed National Mission on Teachers and Teaching”. At the outset a presentation was made in this regard in which it was elaborated that UGC has made two specific proposals with regard to teacher training. The first one is regarding Setting up of Regional Centres of Educational Management in the Indian Institutes of Management at Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Bangalore and in the National University of Educational Planning and Administration. The second one is regarding Establishment of Centres of Excellence in Science and Mathematics Education in leading national level institutions, namely Indian Institute of Science, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research etc. for development of specialized cadre of academy of teaching and teacher educators.
In the presentation it was also highlighted that Technology Enabled Learning can also play an important role in enhancing the capacity of teachers. Presently, under the National Mission on Education through ICT, up to March, 2012, Virtual Private Network and internet connections have been provided to 392 universities and 18189 colleges/polytechnics across the country. A number of projects have been sanctioned under the NMEICT scheme to various institutions of the country. For UG course, Consortium of Educational Communication (CEC) has been tasked for e-content generation.
The presentation pointed out that as regards training of teachers for polytechnics, the four National Institutes of Technical Teachers’ Training & Research (NITTTRs) located as Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai and Kolkata have been directed to organize ‘Summer Schools” during the forthcoming summer for training 1,000 technical teachers of polytechnics by each NITTR. They have further been advised to take action in this regard after consultation with the concerned State Governments so that they may nominate their participants in the programme.
Addressing the meeting Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Shri Kapil Sibal said that the final contours of the proposed National Mission and its operational features are under discussion. The Mission, however, would address, on the one hand, current and urgent issues such as supply of qualified teachers, attracting talent into teaching profession and raising the quality of teaching in schools and colleges. On the other, it is also envisaged that the Teacher Mission would pursue the long term goal of building a strong professional cadre of teachers by setting performance standards and creating top class institutional facilities for innovative teaching and professional development of teachers.
Speaking on the occasion, Members of Parliament underlined the requirement of a Mission on Teachers, as the shortage of teachers is very marked in the country. Members of Parliament also expressed concern regarding inadequate quality of education in the country. Some MPs stated the need for greater use of ICT in imparting teacher education. MPs also underlined the need for adequate infrastructure to be in place in teacher training institution and also that while releasing funds, UGC could address manpower requirements ahead of infrastructure requirements.
