Prof V S Ramamurthy,
Director, National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) and Former Secretary, Department of Science
and Technology, Government of India

When the leftovers are entering the teaching career, you know what will happen to education of your children

We are standing on the threshold of a knowledge dominated era. Trained human resource holds the key, not only for national development and business competitiveness, but also for national security. The biggest challenge, to be faced by the educationists in  the coming years is faculty shortage.
Education stands on three pillars: students, teachers and educational infrastructure. If there are no students, you do not have to worry about education. Most of the western world is facing the problem of decreasing number of students—they are not getting enough students.

Excellent infrastructure but no takers
The western world have built a very enviable educational infrastructure during the last 100 years. The big educational institutions  have infrastructures which are unbeatable. But, if there is shortage of teachers and students, infrastructure will sit idle. Excellent  infrastructure will be converted into a nice educational museum; there won’t be education in those buildings. Unfortunately, if there is  a shortage of students today, it will lead to shortage of faculty tomorrow, because today’s students are teachers of tomorrow.
India is in a different bracket. It does not have shortage of students. But, the challenge is to ensure that everyone receives education.  We do have a problem with infrastructure; we know that the number of colleges, universities, and schools are not enough. The  government of India has taken very ambitious steps particularly in the last few years; major initiatives have been taken to build the additional infrastructure. But you can’t have a good university only on the basis of brick and mortar constructions, you also need a  good faculty. The existing institutions have around 30-40 percent faculty shortage.

The way ahead
Teachers of the 2020 are already in the schools; they will not be created in 2019. If we don’t train them to be a good teacher, we will  not get good teachers. Quality teachers can’t be created instantaneously. More than a decade of work is needed to mould someone into a quality teacher.  Talented individuals have to be encouraged to take up teaching as a profession.  Opportunities for students are  increasing in emerging areas of technology. Salary for teachers is still lesser than what is being offered in other jobs. Not only is there a monetary disincentive to being a teacher, there are social pressures too. Indian parents don’t want to see their son  as a teacher; they want him to be a CEO and have a rather plush lifestyle.
When the leftovers are entering the teaching career, you know what will happen to the education of your children. We have to create an enabling atmosphere, where good quality students can be inspired into taking up the teaching career. The US has a similar challenge in the field of Research and Development (R & D). An ambitious programme by the Department of Science & Technology tries to  identify close to hundred thousand students who are academically good. These students are then encouraged to take up higher education and then move into the field of R&D.
Our country also needs to identify good quality students who can be a good teacher. These students must be encouraged to opt for the  teaching profession. Unless we can improve the quality of our teachers, the state of Indian education system cannot be improved.

E Ahamed,
Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Government of India inaugurating World Education Expo 2012

The World Education Summit,  2011 was a fantastic success and the 2nd Edition of the World Education Summit (WES) 2012, achieved success on an even grander scale. The world’s premier platform on education thought leadership was held at Le Meridian, New Delhi, on 23rd and 24th July.
The World Education Summit (WES) 2012 was jointly organised by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE); Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies (www.csdms.in); and Elets Technomedia Pvt. Ltd. (www.elets.in). The Summit is being co-organised by Directorate General of Employment and Training (DGET); Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India; National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS); National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT); United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS).
The event witnessed the largest gathering of education leaders from across the globe. The summit witnessed engrossing deliberations on a range of issues related to the education sector in India. The most of the eminent names in the educational eco-system were there to present their views.

Pearson Clinical and Talent Assessment, a division of Pearson has launched the India edition of their flagship screening test for the Indian market, DST-J India (Dyslexia Screening Test – Junior, India Edition) for school teachers, special educators and psychologists across schools in India.

The DST-J India is a revolutionary psychological screening test to identify children at risk for Dyslexia, which was launched at the World Education Summit 2012, New Delhi. The DST-J India is poised to change the way schools identify children with learning disabilities and create an inclusive learning environment for all children. The DST-J India was developed from leading scientific research by Pearson Clinical & Talent Assessment that is changing the way children and adults learn in India. This test is unique because it can be administered by general school teachers, unlike most other psychological tests used in the school system that can be used by special educators or psychologists only.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Angela Fawcett, Vice President, British Dyslexia Association, Emeritus Professor, Swansea University, UK and author, Pearson Clinical & Talent Assessment stated, “The DST-J is globally recognised as the most successful and effective screening tool for dyslexia and other learning difficulties, which lead to failure and distress for up  to  20 percent of children across the world. It empowers teachers to identify academic  problems before children fail,  nd helps  them to learn. The DST-J India will transform the future of children in India who  are struggling to learn, thus fo llowing  them to express their strengths and overcome their weaknesses. I am delighted to bring this test to India!”

Also present during the launch was Dr Nitin Anand who spearheaded the India standardization project for the DST-J India optimistic about the role of the DST-J India in the school system in India, Dr Anand stated, “The DST-J India is a watershed in developing assessments for the Indian school system. The DST-J India will ensure children who have so far been disadvantaged in traditional classrooms due to their learning disabilities, will be identified at an early age for this condition. Early identification is essential to offer timely support to such children and positively alter their learning trajectory. The DST-J India is an outcome of an extensive scientific study carried out across eleven cities of India and represent’s Pearson’s commitment to provide high-quality assessments for education, psychology and allied fields.”

We should take advantage of technology to unleash the strength of our universities

Prof V S Rao
Director,
BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus

Technology holds the key to the future of education. Technology has a great potential to strengthen universities. A lot of educational activities can be conducted more efficiently once we start using the latest innovations. Technology is a tool which is used to face the challenges in education sector.

To meet the needs of access, equity, quality and the shortage of faculty, universities are increasingly depending upon the technological tools. BITS has increased the student strength from 3,500 in the year 2000 to 10,500 in 2010. This is an increase of 300 percent. They have around 18,000 working professionals who are pursuing their continuing education and earning degrees both at bachelors’ and masters’ level. Admissions are conducted bycomputer based online system called BITSAT (BITS Admission Test).

The tests are conducted at 20 different centres over a period of one month. 1.15 lakhs people appeared for this admission test for 2100 seats in across three Indian campuses. All registration processes, timetables and integrated learning programmes for working professionals are delivered through online systems.

Unless innovative ways are developed, universities will lose their importance and many virtual universities will takeover. In the virtual world students have the freedom to learn at leisure and the new consultant will be an invisible professor available in some offices with computer. Things are going to change and proper research should help education and technologyenabled services in every university.

The role of teacher cannot be diminished and these technologies are going to supplement the teacher. We should take the advantages of the technology that is available and unleash the strength of our universities.