In the end, politics won. Jaipur, which was perhaps the best location in the state for an IIT, has lost the premier institute to Jodhpur, the hometown of chief minister Ashok Gehlot. Earlier site selection panels had strongly recommended the Pink City for IIT
Launch of new MCAST degree courses
Four MCAST institutes will see the introduction of degree programmes in art and design, ICT, electrical and electronics engineering, and business and commerce as the new MCAST prospectus for the scholastic year 2009/10 was launched, on Thursday. Students who have successfully completed their two-year Higher National Diploma courses may now progress to the vocational degrees. This year's courses will be followed by the introduction of further degree programmes in the remaining institutes within a two-year period. Throughout the last eight years, MCAST made considerable steps forward in post-secondary quality vocational education.
Principal CEO Professor, Maurice Grech attributed MCAST's success to the introduction of training initiatives which were not being met before the College was set up in 2001. The degrees initiative is an important development but one must emphasize that, as a vocational college of further and higher education, MCAST thrives on diversity. The institution's policy of inclusivity distinguish Malta's unique vocational institution and crucial in MCAST's stature and popularity. Basic education courses at the lower entry levels, are specifically designed to provide for the needs of those willing to embark on a 'second-chance' education. These learners may be the ones whose secondary education was a negative experience, having completed five compulsory schooling years with no formal qualifications. MCAST's learning support unit has been screening these applicants to ascertain their competence levels in key skills. It has been found that those who are most in need cannot be expected to achieve the prescribed school-leaving level within the existing one-year foundation framework. When appropriate, the college intends to extend the foundation course to address this situation.
Taiwan looks up to ICT, electronics
The companies based in Taiwan, in the area of Information and Communication Technology and electronics, are looking upto Philippines for new investments and joint ventures, reported an official of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO). Taiwanese firms first met the local companies at the e-services and Global Sourcing Conference and Exhibition on February 8 and 9, on the setting up of new call centers, tie-ups in marketing software and e-commerce programs, software development, animation, and the propagation of smart card and other e-commerce technologies.
The Taiwanese firms which attended the conference and exhibition included TECO Smart Card Division, the main contractor of Taiwan's national health insurance IC card; Industrade, the exclusive agent and stock distributor in Taiwan for power electronics and thermal production equipment; Infomatics, an independent IT management consultancy firm specializing in IT services and information security management; Dewey International Educational Consultants Ltd., a licensed international educational organization that promotes overseas education in Taiwan; and Empyrean International Techno Devices Inc., a leading developer and distributor of GPS products.
Microsoft awarded innovative teachers in Nigeria
For their outstanding contributions to education in Nigeria, 12 teachers who have found innovative ways to introduce information and communication technology (ICT) into the classroom as a learning aid, have been honoured at the second Nigerian Microsoft Innovative Teachers' Forum Awards, held in Abuja. Olalekan Adeeko of Remo Secondary School, Sagamu, Lagos, won the first prize for his project on eradicating Malaria. The project, which culminated in the students using technology to educate their peers on the causes, prevention and treatment of malaria; met the three major selection criteria of, community, collaboration and use of ICT.
During his presentation, Adeeko told the audience that the students who participated in the campaign were divided into groups with each assigned a particular area of data gathering. The students then created a PowerPoint as class work, which they took to their peers and other members of the community. Second prize went to Oboh Wellington of Government Secondary School, Gwarinpa, FCT, who presented a project on statistics, while Ms. Elizabeth Oyelola of Federal Government College, Ijanikin, Lagos, whose project centred on solar electricity supply as an alternative source of power, came third. They will represent Nigeria at the pan-African Innovative Education Forum taking place in Mauritius in September, where Africa's representatives at the worldwide Microsoft Innovative Teachers Forum would emerge.
Cisco and Government of Rio de Janeiro pair-up to provide students with ICT knowledge
The Cisco Networking Academy, in collaboration with the government of the state of Rio de Janeiro and the local Foundation of Support for Technical Schools (FAETEC) are helping create opportunities for 180 students from the community of Manguinhos by providing information technology (IT) skills to prepare them for entry-level IT positions in various fields.
The announcement was made following the opening ceremony of the Manguinhos CVT with Rio de Janeiro Gov. Sergio Cabral and Amos Maidantchik, Cisco Brazil's public sector manager. The opening of the CVT was also part of the Brazilian federal government's Growth Acceleration Program, which opened other infrastructure facilities in the community, with the presence of Brazilian President Luiz In
500,000 US$ award to Indian American professor
Known for 'Unique Games Conjecture', the Indian-American computer scientist Subhash Khot received the prestigious National Science Foundation's (NSF) $500,000 Alan T. WatermanAward. Given to outstanding young researchers, annually, the award is given in any field of science and engineering supported by the NSF. The honour includes a grant of $500,000 over three years for scientific research or advanced study in any field of science.
An Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) graduate, Khot is associate professor at the New York University's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. He works in the area of 'Computational Complexity' which seeks to understand the power and limits if efficient computation. Khot has received an NSF Career Award, a Sloan Foundation Fellowship, and a Microsoft New Faculty Fellowship. Khot did his doctorate in computer science from Princeton University in 2003.
ICT for rural students
Maxis Communications Sdn Bhd is doing its bit to address the 'digital divide.' Under its Maxis Cyberkids Camp programme, the telecommunications giant trains the best students from selected rural schools in ICT (information and communications technology), before sending them back to their schools to train their peers. The camp involves five-day courses in hotels, where Form One and Form Two students are taught how to research, build websites and how to make presentations. The students are guided on how to use online tools such as flickr (a photo-sharing site), photoscape (a photo-editing application) and audacity (an audio-editing program). Maxis said the programme is aimed at cultivating a generation of Malaysians who are ICT-literate.
This year, the programme brought together 336 participants from 42 schools in six states
Community education model to travel from Tamil Nadu to Papua New Guinea
A beeline was made by the Papua New Guinea foreign minister when he came to India, to a small Tamil Nadu village to learn about a new non-formal education system. For Samul T Abal, minister of foreign affairs, trade and immigration, one of the highlights of the first ministerial trip from Papua New Guinea in 30 years was a trip down south, where he visited the Dr. Chandran Devanesan Rural Community College in Tamil Nadu's Kancheepuram district. Xavier Alphonse, the director of the coordinating agency for community colleges, Indian Centre for Research and Development of Community Education (ICRDCE), is already known to the Papua New Guinean government. He had visited Papua New Guinea last year to oversee the government's new scheme to set up a chain of community colleges.
Thirty-four Papua New Guineans have already been trained at ICRDCE, who will be working in the two pioneering community colleges that are under construction. During his field visit in Tamil Nadu, Abal was impressed at the way lives were being changed by providing access to education in economically backward areas. In fact, he has asked his Indian counterpart S.M. Krishna to schedule a trip to Papua New Guinea this year, so that he could be taken to those areas where the Indian-assisted colleges will be functioning.
81% students clearing CBSE with girls at top
Putting an end to the anxious wait of over 637,000 Class 12 students, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) announced the results of
In the
Weloming men to field of B. El. Ed.
There is good news for male students who want to study Bachelor's of Elementary Education (B El Ed). For a long time, available only in women's colleges, the course will find its way into a co-educational college. So far, all the six of the colleges offering the B El Ed course-Aditi Mahavidyalaya, Jesus & Mary College, Lady Shri Ram College for Women, Gargi College, Institute of Home Economics, Shyama Prasad Mukherji College, Miranda House and Mata Sundari College are women's college. For a long time, Delhi University applicants have believed that there is a bias against men who want to take up teaching jobs.
'I had always wanted to be a school teacher,' said Vidhan Gehlaut, a DU aspirant. 'I felt that the B El Ed course would be perfect for me, as you immediately get a job after completing the course. But as DU does not allow me to study this course, I am going to apply for B Com (Hons). I feel it is unfair that there is a traditional bias towards female students.' But the Faculty of Education insists it was not because of bias that the course was being offered only to women. The B El Ed course is not the only course from which men are barred. Courses such as Bachelor's in Mass Media and Mass Communication and even psychology are available in mostly women's colleges. Zakir Hussain is the only coed college to offer psychology to men.
