College status was awarded to a Special school in Yate, so that staff can help more children with special needs. Culverhill School, in Kelston Close, has been named a special educational needs college by the Department for Children, Schools and Families. The school will specialise in communication and interaction and the move means the school will receive an extra UK
KOICA initiates setting up of Korea Nepal Institute of Technology
On Friday, Madhav Kumar Nepal, Prime Minister, Nepal, laid the foundation stone for the Korea-Nepal Institute of Technology (KNIT) in Tamnagar, Butwal. KNIT will be financially supported by $5 million from the South Korean government, reported the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). The aim of the former is to enhance and upgrade the quality of technical education and vocational training in Nepal.
Among those present at the ceremony were Minister for Education Ram Chandra Kishawaha, Minister for Irrigation Bal Krishna Khand, Minister for Forests and Soil Conservation Dipak Bohara, senior Nepali officials, Korean Ambassador Hong Sung-mog and resident representative of KOICA Doh Young-ah. Construction of the institute, provision of the equipment and educational materials, and supporting the capacity building all would be aided by KOICA. The same would be encouraged through invitational training in Korea and the dispatch of experts for institute management, as well as training for teachers. The project construction period is set for 2008 to 2011. KNIT is expected to be in full operation by the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2011.
IIM a call away with CAT 2009 results announcement
An impact that will be remembered for a long time, that is, the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2009, conducted by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). For reasons such as the examination of the year going online; secondly, jitters during conduction of the examination; and thirdly, the first time in history that there was conducted a second phase of examination. The new addition to the list being the CAT 2009 results, which were declared on Sunday, the February 28, 2010.
As soon as the results were announced, the CAT-IIM website was clogged because of 'heavy traffic', told an official. Students were not able to see their CAT scorecards till late in the afternoon. The website, however, could come up with the scorecards only after 6 pm. Successful students are now awaiting calls for a seat in the IIMs across the country. Till yesterday, only IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Shillong announced a short-list of candidates. The other IIMs are expected to announce the short-lists in the coming days.
Partnership between National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) & Britain’s ifs School of Finance
On Wednesday, The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) inked an agreement with Britain's ifs School of Finance to deliver diploma courses in banking and finance for its employees. The partnership with the ifs School of Finance, one of the world's leading providers of professional banking and financial services qualifications, will enable NBAD's employees to benefit from an excellent foundation in banking and from which to progress their careers, told Michael Tomalin, the Chief Executive of the UAE bank.
Martin Day, dean of higher education at the ifs School of Finance, expressed his pleasure over the deal with NBAD and told that, 'This agreement brings together a global leader in financial education and Abu Dhabi's foremost financial services provider, and marks a real milestone for both institutions.' He added, 'Students in Abu Dhabi will now be able to benefit from a rigorous and engaging course, supported by excellent learning materials that will give them a firm foundation in banking on which to build in the future.' NBAD, which is ranked as one of the top 50 safest banks in the world, currently operates across eleven countries on four continents. The bank has one of the largest branches and ATM networks in the UAE and the largest overseas network of all the UAE banks. It employs more than 3000 employees of more than 50 nationalities.
NCE summit produces new decisions on education
At the 56th National Council on Education (NCE) summit which held in Abuja last week, a number of initiatives were given a green signal by the nation's education system operatives at federal and state level as well as stakeholder from all parts of the country. One of the major issues that took the centre stage during the week-long brainstorming is the efforts of the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council at ensuring the delivery of qualitative and functional education in schools through its curriculum development activities.
Listed among the memoranda to council is the one on the development of 34 Senior Secondary School Trades curricula by NERDC which highlights the basic features of the new entrepreneurial trades curricula as they relate to the approved new Senior Secondary Education (SSE) curriculum in the fields of science, humanities, technology and business. There was a particular mention of the successful completion of the revision of 42 subjects that were approved for SSE, with relevant stakeholders involved at every phase of the curriculum review process which led to the approval of the exercise by the NCE.
2.4million for ICT programmes in Malaysian Rural schools
An allocation of RM2.4 million has been made by the CIMB Foundation for carrying out Information and Communication Technology (ICT) programmes in 10 rural schools nationwide, as an empowerment initiative. The programme was launched by CIMB board of directors member Datuk Seri Yeap Leong Huat. Also present were state education department ICT sector chief Tan Hock Lee and Perfisio Solutions Sdn Bhd marketing and development senior manager Yusni Abdul Ghani.
Ung Su Ling, the Senior Manager, Group Corporate Communications, explained that as a part of social corporate responsibility of this government-linked company, the work was done with aim tto improve the academic performance of rural students. She added that through this programme, the foundation cooperated with Utusan Melayu (M) Berhad in subscribing to the Tutor education portal for a year, which would allow students to revise for examinations, using online trial examinations.
Climate change library lauch by TERI
The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) has launched a specialized library on climate change. HE Ann Ollestad, Ambassador of Norway to India, inaugurated the library. Dr. Pachauri, Director- General TERI and other distinguished fellows of TERI were also present on inauguration of library. 'Climate change is one of the most contentious international environmental issues today. Thus, it is imperative to study about such issues in great detail to understand its effects on our lives,' said Dr. Pachauri.
The 'Specialized Library on Climate Change' has been set up by the Library and Information Centre (LIC) of TERI to spread awareness and information on climate change. While inaugurating the library, HE Ann Ollestad, said, 'I am happy to note that a Special Library on Climate Change (SLCC) is being established. It will in due course, develop as a repository of valuable information resources and services in the subject area that would be readily available to researchers, policy makers and business organizations dealing with climate change issues. I would like to extend my complement to TERI for having conceptualized the need for such a library and wish them all the best.'
Private educational institutes to receive encouragement from new laws
Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal, recently, mentioned that many legislation will be proposed by the government to encourage private participation in education as the states alone cannot provide resources. He mentioned that three legislation were underway for introducing improvement in higher education in the country. One of these one comprised of allowing the domestic and the foreign institutions to set up their institute in the country. He was speaking at the Conscious Capitalism Summit organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Delhi.
Sibal said the second legislature would reduce the government's intervention in the functioning of private institutes. He informed the gathering that the proposal to the Planning Commission for setting up the Educational Finance Corporation would support reduction in the fee structures in private institutes as they would be enabled to have a long-term commercial borrowings. Through this corporation, students will be able to fund their education without depending on their parents, Sibal said.
More entries from Indian firms to DIC
At Dubai Internet City (DIC), it is being expected that a higher number of Indian IT companies will come to UAE this year, according to sources. Over 1,300 ICT companies operate from Dubai Internet City which has managed to maintain its lead in the region mainly because of its unique position as an IT park. DIC, one of the region's largest managed ICT (Internet and Communication Technology) clusters and part of Tecom Investments, saw 135 new companies register and set up offices in 2009
IGNOU & NIIT collaborate for skill building to enhance employable talent pool
IGNOU- world's largest Open University and NIIT- leading Global Talent Development Corporation and Asia's largest IT trainer, have entered into a 'Global Partnership in Education & Skill Building for Enhanced Employability.' The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on this significant partnership was announced by Prof. V. N. Rajasekharan Pillai, Vice-Chancellor, IGNOU and Rajendra S Pawar, Chairman, NIIT, on 10th March 2010. Under this Global Partnership IGNOU & NIIT plan to collaborate in domains like Information Technology and Management Sciences for its India and international operations. Joint Programs in IT would include programs in stand-alone undergraduate programs or combined Master's programs. An Executive MBA will be offered as a part of management programs. The tie-up will also be extended to Finishing School programs that would be available as optional programs for IGNOU students and Alumni.
Speaking on the occasion Prof. V. N. Rajasekharan Pillai, Vice-Chancellor, IGNOU, remarked, 'More and more people today look up to us to get customized education which is internationally viable. We gradually found our education rather lauded both for employability as well as intellectual recluse. Students today pursue our education in a system of learning process. This global partnership with NIIT will enable students to acquire employable skills for the domestic as well as global markets.' Rajendra S Pawar, Chairman, NIIT said, 'Inspired by Prime Minister's skills mission, the NIIT- IGNOU partnership seeks to contribute to large scale skill development'. The IGNOU- NIIT partnership aims at initiating the process for developing a pool of industry-ready professionals by bringing together higher education and skill building.
