Serra Pre-school Eyeing Pan-India Operations Plans

K-12

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October 15, 2011

Serra International Pre-school has entered into a joint venture with EtonHouse International Education Group of Singapore to launch a chain of international pre-schools across India.

The Singapore-based group is well-established in Asia with 52 schools and pre-schools across Singapore, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea, Vietnam, Japan and India with students from 54 different nationalities.

“We decided to invest Rs 100 crore for setting up 100 franchised international pre-schools by next year and 1000 franchised international pre-schools in the next seven years across India. Our aim is to revolutionise the early childhood education in the country by providing world-class curriculum,” Serra International Pre-Schools Chairman, Arun Arora said.

“For the next year, we want to focus our expansion plans across Pune, Mumbai, and Gujarat in the west, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Secunderabad in the South Delhi/NCR and Punjab in the north, These, we believe are some of the key markets that value high quality international pre-school education and would enthusiastically welcome an offering such as ours,” said Mr. Arora.

Pre-school education market is set to reach USD 1 billion mark by 2012 against USD 750 million at present. “The Indian pre-school market is set to become the largest in the world. In India, the pre-school segment is currently worth USD 750 million and is expected to reach USD 1 billion by 2012,” Serra International Pre-Schools Chairman, Arun Arora.

Currently, the industry in India divided between the organised and unorganised sector. However, the organised sector represents just 17 per cent of the aggregate industry and this is expected to raise to 25 percent next year, Arora said adding many organized players are entering into tie-up with foreign players for expansion.

Minister for Immigration Announces TOEFL Test Score Equivalencies for Student Visas in Australia

Policy Matters

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October 14, 2011

Following an approval by the Hon. Chris Bowen MP, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship of the TOEFL

Tree House Education & Accessories Inducted in BSE Small Cap Index

K-12

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October 14, 2011

Tree House Education and Accessories Limited, a unique company providing pre-school and K-12 educational services in India and operating the largest number of self-operated pre-schools in the country, is now included in the BSE Small Cap Index post the latest quarterly review.

As of October 13, 2011, the scrip closed the day at Rs. 176.5 on the BSE. The scrip has posted a consistent increase over the Issue Price of Rs. 129 per share for retail investors and Rs. 135 per share for HNIs/ Institutional investors. From Friday, August 26, 2011; the equity shares of Tree House Education & Accessories Limited were listed and admitted to dealings on the Exchange in the list of 'B' Group of Securities.

The Company has announced an income from operations of Rs. 16.26 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2011. The EBITDA was Rs. 9.44 crore with an EBITDA margin of 58.1% and Profit After Tax of Rs. 5.22 crore with a PAT margin of 32.1%. Its profit from operations before other income, interest and exceptional items was Rs. 8.30 crore. It registered a net profit of Rs. 5.22 crore for the quarter. The Company's earnings per share for the quarter was Rs. 2.27 crore. For the year ended March 31, 2011, the Company's achieved a net profit of Rs. 9.19 crore on an income of Rs. 39.24 crore.

The Company currently has 230 pre-schools of which 155 pre-schools are self-operated. The Company also provides school management service to 12 K-12 schools. The company currently employs approximately 835 teachers in its pre-schools.

The Company is seeing a strong consumer demand across its pre-school and K-12 management businesses. Also, given the nature of the business, wherein admission trends in the pre-school business are evident at the start of the academic year in the first fiscal quarter, the Company is seeing good visibility for the current fiscal. In general, the Company has a more robust first and third fiscal quarter since the bulk of admissions happen during these quarters.

QAI Introduces Software Testing Programs in Association with IBM Career Education Program

Higher Education

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October 14, 2011

The co-designed programs by QAI and IBM Career Education will be offered on campus across India, as a blended learning program supported by world class courseware and internationally certified faculty members.

QAI (www.qaiglobal.com), a consulting and workforce development organization has announced that it is working with IBM's Career Education to help create skilled workforce in Software Testing.

The co-designed programs by QAI and IBM Career Education will be offered on campus across India, as a blended learning program supported by world class courseware and internationally certified faculty members. The co-branded Certificate and Diploma Programs in Software Testing are aimed at offering a cost-effective skill-building program to students that aligns with industry needs and also encourages adoption by academia. Both Diploma and Certificate courses will be offered, accompanied by real world projects.

For students, this collaboration presents an opportunity to gain from the tacit knowledge and experience of the best industry practitioners and helps them acquire industry ready skills that will enhance their job prospects and give them the edge in their career.

Announcing the new programs, Mr. Navyug Mohnot, CEO, QAI said, “QAI has been at the forefront of addressing operational excellence and workforce development across the globe in various business critical skill domains through a portfolio of certifications, training processes and assessments. Software Testing is a critical area of expertise for QAI and is one of our key thrust areas to address the employability requirements of the IT & ITES industry. QAI in association with IBM endeavors to benefit not only the student, institutions and workforce community, but also intends to add value to the IT & ITES industry at large.”

Commenting on this collaboration, Mr. Himanshu Goyal, Country Manager, IBM Career Education said, “We are very happy to work with QAI, addressing the education and needs of information technology across organization, under IBM's adaptive Career Education program. The Career Education Program is aimed at dissolving the traditional boundaries between academic levels, education providers, and economic development initiatives to provide a single system for life-long learning, skills development, career and workforce training. Through this program we are enabling the young generation to be the workforce of tomorrow.”
As per recent NASSCOM estimates, only 25% of the technical graduates and approximately 15% of other graduates are considered employable by the rapidly growing IT and ITES industry. NASSCOM predicted that India's IT sector would be facing a shortfall of half a million professionals as on last year. Over the years, there has been a widening demand-supply gap for the appropriately skilled, ready to deploy workforce in India. The Indian market itself requires 35,000 testers approximately to bridge the gap which is projected to increase to almost 1, 65,000 in the year 2013.

Students require skills for Diploma

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October 14, 2011

Students studying the course for new diploma qualification are expected to reach the grade in maths and English, told the Senior Education Chiefs. Bolton Council educational authorities told that students Mathematics, English and ICT skills had to be good if they intended to achieve good score in the diplomas, which were piloted in the Borough. Their comments were backed by David Waugh, the Borough's Diploma Co-ordinator and Deputy Head-teacher of Rivington and Blackrod School in Horwich, and follow an Ofsted report into the qualification which found the teaching and learning of the core subjects was 'patchy'.

Since the introduction last September, a handful of students have opted to study one of nine diplomas, that include society, health and development; engineering; construction and the built environment; creative and media; and hair and beauty. Educational authorities conceded that there had not been a great take-up for the courses, but they also believed that interest would increase as they become more established. Less than half of students in Bolton achieve five A to C grade GCSEs, including English and Mathematics.

Falcon tied up with Dubai Port World for courses in logistics and supply management

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October 14, 2011

At a time when the demand for trained persons in logistics is rising, the Falcon Institute of Logistics, a member institution of Vidyabharathi Group, has tied up with Dubai Port World, Cochin and Falcon Infrastructures Ltd. to offer diploma course in logistics and supply management. Mr N.A.Mohammed Kutty, MD of Falcon Group, said the diploma and PG diploma courses will be of 12 to 15 month duration with three months internship in India Gateway Terminal Ltd., a subsidiary of Dubai Port World, which will run the ICTT at Vallarpadaom that is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Cochin Port Trust chairman N Ramachandran said the course will help meet the shortage of qualified employees in the maritime sector. Kochi is fast becoming one of the major logistic hubs of South India with good job potential for trained personnel in the upcoming projects like ICTT, Vallarpadam, Petronet LNG terminal, Vizhinjam Port, container freight stations by Concor and Central Warehousing Corporation.

Initially, two batches of 30 students will be introduced and the classes will begin by July. The syllabi have been so designed with focus on imparting industry specific work skills and Falcon Group may absorb some of the candidates after the course. The group is also hoping to get certification from Higher Education body in Kerala for its courses.

Science Gives Me Immortality, says Scholar at IGNOU& USA in Education

Higher Education

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October 13, 2011

Eminent scientist, Prof. C. N. R. Rao inaugurated the two day national conference on 'Chemistry: Education and Research Frontiers' to celebrate the International Year of Chemistry 2011 at the Indira Gandhi National Open University's (IGNOU's) convention center in the capital today.

The on-going national conference is organized by the Sir C.V. Raman Chair for Science Education and School of Science (SOS) of the university wherein nearly 250 students and teachers from eminent schools and colleges participated in the morning session.

Prof. Rao delivered his keynote address on 'Glorious past and Exciting Future' of Chemistry and started with positioning the subject in the 18th century era. “People did not know in the 18th century that there is a subject called Chemistry. In 1911, no one knew about DNA. There were only few chemical compounds known to man then. Lavoisier was the father of chemistry. He was the first one to define the word compound. Today, it is 100 years of Nobel Prize to Madam Curie and if I am alive by the year 2016 then I shall celebrate 100 years of modern chemistry as well,” he started his lecture.

With the help of a presentation, he apprised the audience by introducing them to the various eminent chemists of the past viz, Dalton, Berthollet, Humphry Davy and J.J. Berzelius. “Chemistry became three dimensional because of Van't Hoff,” he said.

Prof. Rao threw light on Michael Faraday's achievements and his association with Davy. “Chemistry is an old subject. It is not just doing but understanding. In the first century, there were only seven elements known to us; in the 16th C there were 10 and subsequently today, in the 20th C, we know 114 of them,” he said.

“The subject is not just about reading books or just doing experiments. It requires intuition. You have to come up with an idea which may or may not work,” he said.

Describing the modern chemistry era he said, “When did modern chemistry start? It started when it was said that a chemical bond is nothing but two electrons between two atoms. The 1960 view of chemistry was based on structure, synthesis and dynamics. This subject is like a phoenix which rises from its own ashes.”

Other dignitaries present on the dais were Prof. K.R. Srivathsan, Pro VC, IGNOU, Prof. P.T. Manoharan, C.V. Raman Chair Professor, IGNOU, Dr. Geeta Kaicker, IGNOU, Prof. Javed. A. Farooqui, SOS, IGNOU and Prof. Shakti .R. Ahmed, IGNOU.

IGNOU, Intel Spread Hold Session on Usage of ICT in Education

Higher Education

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October 11, 2011

In a bid to create awareness, share ideas and experiences on the use of ICT in Education amongst key policy and government officials, academia and research industry, IGNOU's Distance Education Programme- Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (DEP-SSA) and Intel Corporation & civil society stakeholders organized a consultative session.

While inaugurating a consultative session on the use of ICT in Educational systems and policies at the campus in the capital, Prof. V. N. Rajasekharan Pillai, VC, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) said, “We all have considered, formulated and implemented national and organizational policies, strategies and action plans relating to ICTs. There are priority issues faced by every one of us in becoming knowledge societies which focus on information and technology. But due to the dynamic environment, the challenges are becoming more acute and intense. This workshop shall explore such opportunities and priorities for deriving optimum benefits from ICTs as developmental tools in education.”

“Given the rapid pace at which the world is changing there is a need for our education systems to empower the next generation of learners to become productive and capable citizens of tomorrow. We are glad to be partnering with IGNOU and other key stakeholders from the central and state governments as well as Academia on this path of Education Transformation,” said Mr. Ashutosh Chadha, Director- Corporate Affairs Group, Intel South Asia during the session.

In recognition of the need to assist stakeholders navigate their way through the highly complex area of the Knowledge Society, IGNOU and Intel Corp joined hands to examine thinking and to build knowledge on issues related to the Knowledge Society and its pillars of ICT and Education systems and practices.

The workshop also discussed the specific experiences with ICT in Education systems in different case study countries like Jordan, Singapore and Thailand to benefit in particular from the experiences in India.

IIJT Chembur Gets VSAT Connectivity

Higher Education

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October 11, 2011

Indian Institute of Job Training (IIJT), India's largest staffing solutions company today launched VSAT facility at the IIJT Chembur centre to enable last mile access to employability enhancement training.

The VSAT infrastructure will enable IIJT to give quality career skills training to all candidates, even those in more remote locations who may have been limited by lack of access to quality faculty, infrastructure and exposure to industry professionals.

IIJT's VSAT facility is being launched with a series of Career Seminars by real-life professionals from across various industries for the benefit job seekers and students. This is based on the research that many students make their career decisions without much research, role models or active discussion. With 93% of employment in the informal sector, these seminars create a unique opportunity for interaction with formal sector professionals for students across the country. The seminars are open to the general public, apart from IIJT students. Part biographical, part professional and part industry, these seminars will have professionals talking about their personal career journey and will give insights to students on selecting and enabling their careers in those industries.

Babul SoumenSaha, Divisional Head IIJT west stated that the dearth of having quality and well trained faculty across the country particularly for advanced modules was one of the reasons for investing into satellite technology. He also added “A minimum of 25% of all our career courses will be taught from the studio. The Career Seminars every Saturday will be open to public and apart from the normal classes, one of the most effective satellite interventions will be 'Train-the-trainer' programs for our range of programs across finance, accounting, sales, marketing, hardware/networking, and English.”

IGNOU Inks Pact with Honghe University for ICT Enabled Education

Higher Education

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October 11, 2011

The Indira Gandhi National Open University's (IGNOU's) School of Foreign Language (SOFL) has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Honghe University (HU) of China to offer degree and diploma programmes at the undergraduate and postgraduate level.

The emphasis will be on research and development with the use of ICT enabled education and interactive multimedia in distance education deliveries.

The MoU was signed by the Registrar of IGNOU, Mr. U. S Tolia and the Vice President of HU of China, Prof. Peng Qiang, in the board room of the Vice Chancellor's office in the main campus of the university. Prof. V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, Vice Chancellor ofIGNOU received the delegation.

According to the MoU, its objectives and concerns shall be to recognize the common goals of higher education and training to empower people to participate effectively in the process of national development. The pact shall establish a network for collaboration in the field of higher education through distance education.

The Chinese Delegation was received by Prof. G. Chaudhuri, Director, SOFL, who introduced the delegation members in Chinese Mandarin and translated into English to all the faculty members of IGNOU. He emphasized the importance of close Academic cooperation between HU and IGNOU and requested the HU head to provide a Chinese teacher to teach Chinese in IGNOU. He also introduced the delegation members about the existing programmes IGNOU offers in Chinese Language and Culture.

Prof. P.R. Ramanujam, Pro VC, IGNOU also informed the HU delegation that three MoUs have been signed earlier with Chinese Universities and he mentioned the possibility of great potentiality of such Academic Collaborations in not only Economic Domain but Tourism and Culture as well.

Prof. Peng Qiang, Vice President of HU said that, “We would look forward for a teacher and student exchange programme with IGNOU focusing not only on English as a subject but Chinese, science and management as well. With a step by step approach, we also want to exchange students from management programmes and keep avenues open for other subjects like economics, financial management and international trade. Thailand and Vietnam have projects of teacher and student exchange which we also want to develop with IGNOU.”

Dr. Latha Pillai, Pro VC, IGNOU, said that “The importance of teacher education is one of the areas which can be explored for cooperation between the two universities.”

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