MHRD Invites Application for the post of Vice Chariman, AICTE

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April 23, 2012

Government of India , Ministry of Human Resource Development , Department of Higher Education has invited applications from distinguished or renowned persons in the field of Technical Education for the post of Vice-Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), a Statutory Body under the Ministry of Human Resource.

Applicants should preferably be below the age of 60 years at the time of closing date for applications. Applications (in duplicate) in the proforma as given in the website of the Department (www.education.nic.in) under the sub head technical education may be sent, through proper channel, to the Under Secretary, Technical Section-Ii, Department Of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development within 45 days from the date of advertisement.

Mallikarjun Kharge unveils Web Portal of DGET for Effective Implementation of Skill Development Scheme

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April 19, 2012

Union Labour & Employment Minister Mallikarjun Kharge has unveiled and dedicated the Official Web portal Directorate General of Training & Employment (DGET), M/o Labour & Employment to the nation for the effective implementation of Skill Development Scheme (SDIS) to promote training of around 6 lakh people in the Country annually. The portal is is developed by the Helwatt Paackard, India.

Unveiling the Web Portal Shri Kharge termed the occasion as a new beginning and is making one step forward in fulfilling the main aim of our Government to bring good governance. He said any Govt. scheme is always supported by funding incurred from public exchequer which needs to have a proper in-built mechanism to check & monitor the physical progress and financial expenditures on regular basis. Such a scheme like Skill Development Initiative encompassing a huge number of people from all over the country is quite difficult to handle and hence, tracking must be based on setting up of an efficient “Management Information System(MIS)”. I am quite confident that this powerful Web-portal would not only facilitate DGET in all these aspects but also enable to keep a track over outcome of the Scheme, Kharge added.

The Minister said the National Skill Policy has been articulated at the behest of Prime Minister’s National Council on Skills Development. He reiterated the mission statement of the National Policy on Skill Development that it will empower all individuals through improved skills, knowledge and nationally-internationally recognized qualifications to gain access to decent employment and ensure India’s competitiveness in the global market. The minister said we must remember that this national Skill Policy is an integral part of comprehensive economic, labour and social policies so as to establish a framework for better coordination among various Ministries, States, industry and other stakeholders.

He expressed the hope that this On-line access to the countrymen from enrollment and admission to training and Certification will certainly begin a new chapter with true inclusiveness in the skill building process of our country.

In his welcome address, Sharda Prasad,Director General, DGET and Joint Secretary in the M/o Labour & Employment said with this webportal, timely access to information across stakeholders would be available, thereby enabling better citizen centric services in a transparent manner. The SDIS Web Portal will also help in State Governments in registering candidates, the Vocational Training Providers (VTPs) and empanelled Assessing Bodies (ABs). It also tracks the creation of training/assessment batches, publishing test results and dispersal of online certificates.

The SDIS is a 100 percent Centrally Sponsored Scheme and is launched by the Directorate General of Training & Employment (DGET), M/o Labour & Employment for the early school leavers and existing workers especially in the informal sector. It was operationalised on 24th May, 2007 and initially the project target for training and testing of one million persons over a period of 5 years was fixed. Thereafter the the target of training of one million person per year has been taken up. The Modular Employable Skill (MES)- National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT) certificate issued after the prescribed training is recognized nationally and internationally for gainful employment.

Manipal Institute of Technology Adopts MathWorks’ Solutions

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April 19, 2012

MathWorks, a developer of mathematical computing software, announced that Manipal Institute of Technology in Karnataka, India has implemented a campus-wide license for the MATLAB and Simulink product families. With this implementation, Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT) has standardized on the same tools used by engineers and scientists across industries for technical computing, simulation and Model-Based Design. MIT’s students will gain hands-on, practical experience with software used widely in industry, and MIT’s faculty can engage is research and devise curriculum based on their experiences with these tools.

MIT has been using MATLAB and Simulink in its B. Tech and M. Tech courses since 2003 and has integrated the software into its curriculum. With the new campus-wide implementation, more than 2000 undergraduate and post-graduate students, and over 500 faculty members will be able to learn, teach and research with MATLAB and Simulink in MIT’s labs, classrooms, and on laptops and PCs off-campus. The implementation will cover wide-ranging disciplines such as Engineering, Biological and Life Sciences, Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Business and Economics.
“Manipal Institute of Technology aims to train world-class engineers tuned to the demands of a fast-changing global economy. The campus-wide implementation of MATLAB and Simulink is a major stride towards arming our students with the relevant engineering knowledge and the skills to ably compete with the best in the global job market,” said Dr. Vinod Thomas, Associate Director (Development), Manipal Institute of Technology. “The campus-wide license also ensures access to world-class research infrastructure for our faculty members.”

“Engineering education needs to be in sync with the requirements of the industry. Globally, MathWorks has a strong focus on bridging the gap between the academia and industry sectors. By providing easy and campus-wide access to industry-standard software such as MATLAB and Simulink, MIT is equipping its students with a blend of theory and real-world technology practices, making them industry-ready,” said Kishore Rao, managing director of MathWorks India.

MHRD Announces 40 DTH Channels on Education

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April 18, 2012

N K Sinha, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Human Resources Development, Government of India has announced that government will be launching around 40 DTH, free to air channels on education. This will help in taking high quality education content to far flung areas of the country.

Kapil Sibal calls for Child Centric Education

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April 18, 2012

A meeting of Principal Secretaries/Secretaries of Higher and Technical Education of State Governments has held at New Delhi, which was presided by Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Kapil Sibal Dr D Purandeswari, Minister of State for Human Resource Development inaugurated the conference in which 28 States/Union Territories took part. Vibha PuriDas, Secretary (HE), Prof Ved Prakash, Chairman UGC; Prof S S Mantha, Chairman AICTE and senior officials of Ministry of Human Resource Development and Planning Commission were present in the meeting.

Kapil Sibal said that education should be child – centric and not institution centric. He said that the present affiliation system where Universities affiliate hundreds of colleges needs to be changed so that the focus of education should be on students and on learning, and not merely on examinations. He suggested that in order to ensure mobility of students, we must ensure semester system in our Universities. He also announced constitution of a five member committee with Secretary (Higher Education) of Gujarat as the Convener, to device a framework for mobility of students.

The following other decisions were taken in the meeting:

The states unanimously endorsed the broad outlines and contours of the proposed Rashtriya Ucchhatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) and exhorted central government to finalise the scheme at the earliest.

The request of the central government to states to enhance plan allocation of higher education was very well received by state secretaries and they promised to take up this issue with their state government. The need to undertake comprehensive perspective planning for higher education was also well received.
The states expressed their eagerness to participate in the Community College programme of the MHRD. The details of the scheme were explained in detail to state secretaries.

The states were presented with details of National Vocational Educational Qualifications Framework (NVEQF) by Chairman, AICTE. The states, other than those participating in pilot project, agreed to integrate the framework in their existing vocational education programmes. Some states also made valuable suggestions to further improve upon the scheme.

All the states appreciated the Research and Innovation agenda outlined by the Ministry. There was a general consensus and agreement on need to step up investments on Research and Development by way of earmarking of funds in institutions of higher learning.

Central role of faculty and teacher education was appreciated and the states were keen to know the details of the various components of the proposed Mission in Teachers and Teaching. The proposed Schools of Education can also be set up in select State Universities. However, inputs for pattern of funding needs to be spelt out. Strategies to rope in industry experienced persons to take up teaching assignments needs to be worked out. Transparent system of recruitment to be put in place.

The states appreciated that MHRD has undertaken All India Survey on Higher Education to collect a robust data base. They ensured that they would make all efforts to complete the survey by 31st May, 2012. They will specifically instruct all the colleges to upload the data on the portal immediately.

Some innovative ideas from States which were mentioned by the respective Principal Secretaries are as under:
Chhattisgarh has signed an MOU with IIT Kharagpur for training of Teachers.
Tripura has well utilized Community Polytechnic.
Andhra Pradesh has Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technology.
Gujarat has been able to introduce Choice Based Credit System.
Gujarat is trying ‘Multi-Varsity’ of IIM-A, IIT-G and University of Gujarat.
Gujarat has introduced online system of recruitment.
West Bengal has suggested compressed system of Vocational Education.
Tamil Nadu has started distribution of laptops to final year students.
Haryana and Himachal Pradesh have introduced education hubs.
Jharkhand is starting three engineering colleges under PPP mode.

HP Introduces Lab-in-Box to Vidyanagar Primary School in Ahmedabad

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April 18, 2012

HP has introduced HP Lab-in-Box to Vidyanagar Primary School students in Ahmedabad.

A self-sustainable and fully operational computer lab created in a shipping container, the HP Lab-in-Box is designed as a rapidly deployable cloud enabled infrastructure solution to spread both the reach and quality of education in India.

This is the fourth such HP Lab-in-Box prototype that has been installed to facilitate personalized and immersive learning experiences. The previous three pilots are running at the Government Sarvodaya Senior Secondary School in New Delhi, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) campus in New Delhi and by the Indian army at the Western Command, Chandigarh.

HP is also hosting a cloud based educational application that searches and displays relevant videos from the internet, based on the textbook being read by the student. The application has an adaptive online self-learning tool called MindSparkTM from Educational Initiatives, an HP partner, who is providing personalized assessment tools to the student to track their individual learning progress. The results of a related pilot now completed in Bangalore showed significant improvements in competence after using this application and similar outcomes are expected in Gujarat.

Each HP Lab-in-Box comprises a shipping container that has15 HP Multiseat Thinclients, a multifunctional printer, wireless connectivity, electricity, furniture, fans and air conditioning. HP’s multiseat computing solution means multiple users can be connected to one PC, which maximises space while reducing cost and complexity.
Speaking at a press briefing to launch the HP Lab-in-Box in Gujarat, Jaijit Bhattacharya, director, Government Affairs, HP India, said, “Today, there is a shortfall of trained teachers in several schools in the country and limited access to IT also makes it extremely difficult to offer a more personalized teaching approach. The HP Lab-in-Box addresses these limitations by giving students access to a richer learning experience and the best teaching resources across the country.”

“We welcome this initiative from HP and their partners. Both our students and our teachers have benefitted immensely from the easier access to quality IT and it has helped raise their proficiency and knowledge levels. As more students and teachers familiarize themselves with the HP Lab-in-Box, we’re sure it will help raise education competencies in our school,” said Pramukhray Patel, Principal, Vidyanagar Primary School.
The value of HP’s Lab-in-Box concept extends beyond the education sector. As the shipping containers are spacious, robust and water-proof, they can be easily customised for a variety of scenarios. The same infrastructure can be leveraged for social requirements, such as service centres for citizens and remote telemedicine outlets.

AICTE Adopts Cloud to Improve Technical Education

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April 13, 2012

All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Microsoft Corporation announced today that AICTE is deploying Microsoft Live@edu as one solution amongst many such initiatives with IT majors and Industries, over the next three months to more than 10,000 technical colleges and institutes throughout India. The cloud deployment will expand students’ access to high-quality technical education and collaboration.

In one such initiative being implemented, Live@edu is a hosted communication and collaboration service that offers email, Microsoft Office Web Apps, instant messaging and storage to AICTE’s more than 7 million students and nearly 500,000 faculty members, for a total reach of 7.5 million users — roughly double the size of the Los Angeles population — making AICTE Microsoft’s largest cloud customer ever. Live@edu is the first step in AICTE’s deployment of Microsoft cloud computing for education. AICTE also plans to deploy Microsoft Office 365 for education when it becomes available later this year, providing access to Microsoft Exchange Online email and calendar, Microsoft SharePoint Online, Microsoft LyncOnline and Microsoft Office Professional as the technical infrastructure to support member colleges and institutes.

“Microsoft’s cloud platform will make for a truly progressive ecosystem and contribute to the country’s technical education by providing a better communication and collaboration platform for institutes and students,” said Dr. S. S. Mantha, Chairman of AICTE.

Part of India’s Ministry of Human Resource Development, AICTE is the governing body for technical education in India, certifying and managing technical colleges and institutes in a country where the technology industry and higher education are both becoming increasingly vital to the economy. To carry out its charge of evaluating the curriculum and quality of education for all technical institutes across the country, AICTE needed to have consistent and timely communication with these colleges, some of which are located in the remotest districts of India. AICTE and the ministry wanted to deploy a technology system that would provide an efficient platform for students and the institutional framework and would foster efficiency and support broader educational reforms. Microsoft’s cloud services for education is one such commitment to education across all the company’s products and programmes, as well as the system’s seamless interoperation with the entire Microsoft product portfolio. The council was also impressed by Microsoft’s extensive experience in higher education and ability to deploy a system across geographically distributed locations without adding significantly to the institutions’ IT management costs or complexity.

“India is seeing rapid economic activity and growth. Developing India’s youth and their skills is going to play an important role in the country’s inclusive growth. The union budget also laid emphasis on skill development and so does the proposed 12th Five Year Plan with a National Policy on Skill development. The PPP model (public-private partnership) is most essential in running and managing training institutions to address the skill gap most efficiently. Microsoft’s commitment to empower students by deploying Microsoft Live@edu for 7.5 million users across the country with AICTE is commendable and a step towards an informed and developing India. I congratulate both AICTE and Microsoft on this significant milestone,” said Kapil Sibbal, Union Minister for HRD

“We are delighted with the confidence posed by AICTE in Microsoft”, said Sanket Akerkar, Managing Director, Microsoft Corporation India Private Limited. “Microsoft has always seen education as a priority area and believes that technology offers possibilities that can help empower not just teachers and students but collectively India as a nation”, he added.

The implementation is already underway and is being managed by Microsoft and a set of Live@edu partners. Full deployment is expected to be complete by summer 2012.

Live@edu is the leading cloud suite for education, with more than 22 million people using the service worldwide. At 7.5 million users, the AICTE deployment is the largest cloud deployment ever. Other recent Live@edu adoptions include a 700,000 cloud-based collaboration solution for the Kentucky Department of Education. The online service helps educational institutions provide email and enterprise-grade online tools to students and faculty while helping to reduce costs and simplify IT management.

InfoPro Launches Collaborative Learning Platform GNOSIS

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April 11, 2012

InfoPro Learning, Inc, a learning solutions company, has announced the release of Gnosis, an online collaborative learning platform that empowers learners by helping organizations tap into the in-depth, tacit knowledge and experience of their experts. With Gnosis, people can share knowledge, experience, and expertise in real time.

Gnosis was designed as a holistic collaborative learning platform that bridges the gap and provides continuity between formal and informal learning. A simple click of a button provides access to all the information and experience available within an organization. Gnosis combines diverse, evidence-based collaborative and social learning methods with powerful, flexible, and incredibly efficient technology.

Key features of Gnosis include: Communities of practice that allow users to create and join interest-based user groups and discussion forums. It offers Discovery-based learning to help users discover and retain meaningful information. Its Measurement tools allow organizations to measure learning collaboration by assessing each contribution.

It offers a varied information base that supports a wide variety, including audio, video, text, and images. An intuitive interface with anytime, anywhere access and support for a variety of mobile devices.
“We developed Gnosis to provide a structured approach to informal learning methodology, while also making it measurable,” says Arun Prakash, Executive Vice President. “We believe that this platform will tremendously help corporate, education, and publishing institutions with its cutting-edge, comprehensive offerings. Gnosis offers these institutions a variety of features that facilitates continual team learning, critical thinking, information sharing, interaction with thought leaders, team coaching, team recognition, employee motivation, team feedback, team communication, and much more.”

CBSE to Introduce Change in Project Work Guidelines

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April 10, 2012

CBSE is planning to introduce a major change regarding the project work from next academic session. CBSE students will have to complete their project work on the school premises and essentially during school hours.

Board chairman Vineet Joshi quoted in the Times of India that under Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) scheme students would not be allowed to take or prepare their projects outside the school campus.

It is extremely common for students to complete their projects at home and some even take unfair advantage of this leeway given by schools. Students are known to get their projects prepared by someone else for a fee or copy it from the Internet thus defeating the purpose of CCE.