The federal government of Pakistan's move to devolve the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has been opposed by the Vice-chancellor (VC) of the University of Agriculture Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan. He has strongly criticized the HEC stating that the decision will affect the quality of education at universities across the country. While briefing a delegation of the Foreign Service Academy, Islamabad, on Friday, the VC said that by shifting HEC's responsibly to the provinces monitoring of the higher education system in line with the criteria set at international level, will also suffer. He expressed the fear that the abolishment of the monitoring system will make students prefer private universities, while adding that the government budget for education was diminishing, and that the trend must be curtailed. While shedding light on some of the facts, he said a total of 130 universities were functioning in the country out of which six universities were giving agriculture related education, with the University of Agriculture topping the rankings in this category.
Amba Research announces soft skills training programme
Amba Research recently announced the approval of the equity investment analyst training programme which has been renewed by the CFA Institute's approved-provider programme . This 10-day programme is a hands-on training programme that is designed to guide its participants through the essential aspects of the entire equity research cycle, including industry attractiveness assessment, earnings forecast model-building , evaluation, and presenting investment recommendations .
IRS introducing PGPRM, MBA
Indian Retail School (IRS) is about to launch its postgraduate programme in retail and marketing (PGPRM) and MBA starting July 2011. The two-year programme would equip students with application-based knowledge. The PGPRM and MBA programme is divided into four academic semesters where students will undergo industry internship facilitated by IRS.
IIJT to join job seekers and employers once again
Delhi youth will witness a job fair cum assessment camp organized by the Indian Institute of Job Training (IIJT). This is one of those employment fairs which are organized by IIJT often to match the job needs to the fresh graduates. The event will be held on April 8 and 9 and is expected to attract people of all age groups. The issue of unemployment in India is the main issue to be discussed in the event. Still so many years after independence unemployment still prevail in India. This event not only links job seekers and employers but also the demand and supply of manpower and bridging the gap across industries.
RIL into leadership skills training
'Accelerated Leadership Programme', an initiative by Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has recently been launched to develop highly skilled professionals who would be equipped to take up senior positions in the organisation over the next few years. Mukesh Ambani and other company heads would mentor the students and make them competent for the world. The programme would comprise a hands-on, two-year leadership experience
Rani endorses P&G
The silver screen diva Rani Mukherjee is all set to play a new role as she endorses Procter & Gamble's Shiksha programme. The bollywood queen has urged everyone to educate as many as possible and contribute to the noble cause. Rani, who describes herself as “not such a studious student in school”, feels that education should be made more interesting so that kids grab it more easily. “School is as important as drinking water and education is as important as the air we breathe. So, I feel that initiatives like Shiksha that support the cause of education are incredible, and I feel we should all contribute even if it's a little bit because if we do that India will have 100 per cent literacy rate one day,” Rani told reporters here. “It's my dream too that every child in India is educated because the way India is growing I don't think without education, we can see a very bright future. So if we want a bright future for our country, I think education is foremost,” she added. “It's very important to make education interesting and enjoyable so that students don't drop out. Also, focus should not be only on academics. Alternate interests like painting, music, etc., should also be encouraged,” she said.
20 Jamia students make it to GATE
As many as 20students of Jamia Miliya Islamiya have set a benchmark this year by qualifying for the prestigious GATE examination with good All India rankings. Out of these 20, Prashubh Bharadwaj, Akshit Ranjan and Naman Agrawal have secured the 31st, 69thand 96th All India Ranks respectively. These students belong to the Department of Electrical Engineering, Jamia Millia Islamia. The department has been instrumental in cultivating a research oriented culture amongst its students. Nowhere is it more evident than in the number of students who qualify GATE every year to pursue higher education. Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) is an all India examination administered and conducted jointly by the Indian Institute of Science and seven Indian Institutes of Technology on behalf of the National Coordination Board – GATE, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.
Udgam student Varsha wins Spell Bee
The famous competition for spelling words correctly, commonly known as Spell Bee has its new winners for the new year. “HDFC Life Spell Bee 2011” finished its city final round at St Xavier's Loyola Hall School, Mumbai, with Varsha Iyer, a student of Udgam School for Children, emerging as the city level contest winner. No less than 7,500 students from 60 schools of the city took part in the battle. Iyer will now take part in the grand finale in Mumbai in May this year. “I was confident of winning as my scores were high throughout the contest. But, I got scared when a couple of words went wrong in the rapid-fire round. For almost an year, I dedicated two to three hours daily in learning new words and updating myself,” said Iyer. Speaking about HDFC Life Spell Bee, Executive Director and CEO, Entertainment Network India Limited Prashant Panday said, “English language has over the years been woven with much prominence into India's lingual fabric. HDFC Life Spell Bee aims at strengthening the basics of the language amongst Indian students to give a fillip to their proficiency in English. HDFC Life has partnered the event for the third consecutive year which stands testimony to its phenomenal success last year.” Various winners from different cities that are taking part in the competition will compete against each other in Mumbai in the final round. HDFC Life Spell Bee 2011 is a unique and scholarly education series in a fun-filled quiz format under the patronage of Spelling Bee USA which is a prestigious 85-year-old annual event in America. In India, the first season of the competition was held in 2009. The third season of the competition held this year is being conducted in 25 cities across the country, including Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara in Gujarat. More than 1,300 schools across the country are participating in the competition this year. The Times of India will send the winner of the grand finale to experience the Scripps National Spelling Bee at Washington DC in the US.
Wharton business school plans to spread wings in India
One of the world's top business schools, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania is all set to expand its wings to India in the next one-and-half years. The globally acclaimed business school will zero in on either Mumbai or Delhi for the expansion. “Our students are already coming to India. The difficulty is that the world does not know Wharton is in India,” says Dean Thomas Robertson. Wharton, has various points of presence in India – the healthcare institute with ISB, study trips of the executive MBA student faculty to India, and executive education programmes. Robertson was in Delhi in connection with the signing of an agreement with Indian School of Business , Hyderabad, to develop Max Institute of Healthcare Management at ISB's new Mohali campus. Wharton School, along with Kellogg School of Management , are ISB's associate schools since its inception. “All or some of this could be part of our physical presence model in India,” says Robertson. He, however, ruled out plans for a campus in India at the moment. Wharton's focus is on India and China, two of the fastest growing economies. Over the past two decades, Wharton has positioned itself as a global school. Close to 40% of its students and 35% of faculty are international. The ISB campus at Mohali will have four specialist Institutes, termed as Centres of Excellence, for promoting research and offering additional specialisations in the post graduate programme — Max Institute of Healthcare Management; Bharti Institute of Public Policy; BML Munjal Institute of Manufacturing and Operation Excellence and Punj Lloyd Institute of Physical Infrastructure Management. “We are focusing on four national priorities in the country – manufacturing, infrastructure, public policy and healthcare. We have to build management capacity in all these areas,” says Ajit Rangnekar , dean, ISB. The Max Institute of Healthcare Management will impart industry-relevant skill sets to students in this programme to meet India's growing need for quality healthcare professionals. The Mohali campus will see its first intake of 210 students in April 2012. On its part, Max Healthcare is transforming itself into an academic medical centre, and has bought 60 acres in Greater Noida to start a medical school. A healthcare provider is forging ahead into education and research in the area of healthcare science, says Analjit Singh, chairman & managing director, Max India. He did not reveal details of the project. Singh says the ISB venture is aimed at producing MBAs who are adept in managing medicine. “As customer expectations are changing towards healthcare, you need talent to take care of these,” says Singh.
Wipro Program Educates Educators
Wipro Technologies, a unit of Wipro Ltd., has set up a teacher training program as part of an effort to improve the quality of engineering school graduates. As India grows rapidly, information technology and other global industries are struggling to find enough high-skilled employees. Only one quarter of the graduates of India's engineering colleges are prepared to join the workforce, an Indian industry trade group study showed. To try to address the problem, Wipro founded a non profit called Mission 10X. Its leaders say they interviewed 300 campus placement officers and 53 heads of universities before deciding that the best way to improve the quality of graduates was to improve the teaching. Mission 10X has spent $4 million annually for the past three years running week-long workshops at engineering colleges around the country. So far 10,000 professors have participated in the five-day workshops that include videotaping the teachers' lectures, giving them feedback and advising them on how to engage students in discussions and show them how to apply knowledge. Mission 10X programs are free, and the foundation shows up only when invited by colleges. The foundation follows up within three months with a two-day refresher session and then mentors the professors online. Yogesh Nerkar, principal of PVG College of Engineering and Technology in Pune says attendance in his classes soared when he applied the techniques he learned in the workshops after participating in one in 2008. Nearly 90% of his students attended his classes last year, he says, a big increase from the 40% who used to show up under duress before he participated in the workshop. He says he's put projectors in all classes so professors can use audiovisuals to explain diagrams instead of spending a big part of their time drawing on the blackboard. Now Wipro is expanding the program, hoping to offer the workshops to another 25,000 engineering faculty members over the next three years, Mission 10X leaders say.
