Teachers in special schools complain of being bitten and punched. Teachers working in special schools are so worried about being bitten by students with special needs that they are buying their own tetanus and hepatitis jabs. The Nasuwt teachers' union conference heard calls for protection against pupil violence in schools for children with special educational needs. Suzanne Nantcurvis told delegates that some teachers were paying UK
ICT society launched in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone Information Technology Society (SLITS) was launched by the Deputy Minister of Education, Dr Lansana Nyalley in Sierra Leone as part of an initiative to introduce Information and Communication Technology(ICT) in the country. stakeholders such as Members of Parliament (MPs), members of the diplomatic corps, journalists, business community and other dignitaries attended the event.
Information technology is the government's agenda for change in Sierra Leone. The government is presently putting modalities in place for the proper establishment of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). According to Dr. Nyalley, many avenues have been created in the business community, academia and other important areas, in order to popularize the ICT facilities. He maintained that government is ready to support SLITS and other ICT Societies to achieve the opportunities that ICT offers.
According to the Chairman of the occasion, Hon. Ibrahim Sorie, it was a big opportunity for Sierra Leone to have an ICT Society that includes lecturers, students and members from all walks of life. SLITS is aimed at bringing all stakeholders together in order to gain a wealth of knowledge from ICT and utilize it for the purpose of development. He appealed to all stakeholders, including government, to put hands on deck and support SLITS.
The National President of SLITS, Mr. Alfred Hindolo Fomolu, spoke on the shortage of ICT instruments in tertiary institutions. Sierra Leone ranked 170th out of 178 countries in the world of ICT. ICT plays a very vital role, and thus SLITS was formed mainly to strengthen and develop ICT in the country. But there was a need for the government, the business communities, the parliamentarians and other stakeholders to put policies in place that will enhance ICT in Sierra Leone.
New Zealand: Interntaional education agents target
New Zealand's lucrative international education sector is set for a boost as over 230 of the world's leading education agents from 49 countries fly in to meet with representatives from 192 local and Australian institutions at the Australia New Zealand Agent (ANZA) Workshop to be held at SKYCITY Convention Centre in Auckland on April 22-24, 2009. The favourable exchange rate is just one factor attracting international education agents to New Zealand for this sell-out event. Rob McKay, Chairman of English New Zealand, says agents are likely to be highly motivated to form new partnerships with NZ institutions. He said, 'At this time of financial turbulence it is great to see the commitment to New Zealand of the registered agents. This is a great chance to meet with key supporters of our sector.' However, while almost half the agents attending the ANZA Workshop 09 represent Asian countries, Middle Eastern countries are demonstrating a strong interest in New Zealand as a safe, tolerant and socially acceptable study destination for their students.
A number of Saudi agents are coming to the ANZA Workshop following the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's accreditation of a range of programs delivered by local universities, polytechnic and technology institutions. Closer to home, an increase in Vietnamese students interested in New Zealand as a study destination is prompting Vietnamese broadcaster, VCTV1, to film the ANZA Workshop for an upcoming episode of their national 'Study Overseas' programme. New Zealand's international education sector employs over 32,000 people and accounts for more than NZ$2.3 billion dollars per year in export earnings, making it a rising star in these days of economic gloom. However, Education New Zealand CEO Robert Stevens says the industry's value goes well beyond its export earnings. The ANZA Workshop is organized by ICEF and EdMedia, and alternates each year between New Zealand and Australia.
InstaBook gears up to promote literacy through digital library
The Internet-based InstaBook Corporation (www.instabook.net) has announced a new digital library initiative. It claims that it can promote literacy around the world.
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In association with the Project Gutenberg Consortia Centre and other organisations, instabook.net says it has created a new service geared to take a wide range of books to libraries and other non-profit organisations. Project Gutenberg, founded in 1971, is a global volunteer effort to digitise, archive and distribute cultural works. It is the oldest digital library. Most of its items are the full texts of public domain books. Visitors to the instabook.net website can download for free any of nearly 100,000 titles and have them printed on demand if they have access to an InstaBook Digital Library. Users can install an InstaBook Maker in their premises by paying the manufacturing cost of the equipment.
Book Fellowships on Modern India
Aiming to address lack of scholastic work by Indian historians and social scientists on the post-Independence period, The New India Foundation seeks to sponsor works on modern India and for the fifth round of the Foundation's fellowships, applications have been invited. According to a press release from the Foundation, the fellowship, open to Indian nationals, carries a stipend of INR 70,000 per month and fellowship holders would be expected to write original books. Applicants have been invited to submit their resume, book proposal and a writing sample of at least 5,000 words (published or unpublished), to the Managing Trustee, The New India Foundation, 22 A Brunton Road, Bangalore 560025, before July 31, 2009. The applications could be sent by post or courier and email applications would not be considered, the release said. Queries could be addressed to ramguha@gmail.com. For details refer to www. newindiafoundation.org.
UGC up for increasing teachers’ retirement age
Sukhdeo Thorat, Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC), has urged State governments to raise the retirement age of teachers from 60 to 65. The retirement age of teachers in Central universities has been increased following a UGC recommendation. He was speaking at the inauguration of the two-day conference of vice-chancellors of universities in Karnataka here on Thursday. Prof. Thorat also called upon States to give due importance to higher education and increase budgetary allocation for it. This, he maintained, would help increase enrolment ratio in higher education. 'The Union Government, realising the importance of higher education, increased the allocation from INR 8,000 crore during the 10th Plan to INR 45,000 crore in the 11th Plan.'
The enrolment ratio in 20 districts in Karnataka is less than the national average of 11 per cent. Model colleges, which are autonomous, should be set up in these districts to increase the enrolment ratio. 'The UGC will provide 50 per cent of the total cost, while the State Government makes a matching grant,' he said. He also said the UGC had doubled NET scholarships for M.Phil. and Ph.D. candidates to Rs. 3,200. If State Governments also increased the number of scholarships, the dearth of M.Phil. and Ph.D. students could be tackled effectively. Governor and Chancellor Rameshwar Thakur said it was necessary to keep higher education independent and immune from political interference so that the autonomy and academic excellence of universities was preserved at all costs. '”It is with this idea that a role for the Governor of the State to hold the position of Chancellor of universities in the State was envisaged. It is unfortunate that some dilution has occurred in the original role envisaged by them, in recent years. There has also been gradual reduction in standards of administrative and academic systems in universities,' said Thakur.
Copia e-Learning programme wins award at the annual European Retail Awards 2006
At the annual European Retail Awards 2006, held at the Birmingham NEC Hilton on June 6th 2006, leading UK DIY retailer B&Q and e-Learning company Copia claimed first prize.
The award was given for 'Best use of Technology for Employee Development'. It was in recognition of the success of their EPoS e-Learning solution, which was used to train and support over 25,000 B&Q staff during the implementation of a new Electronic Point of Sale system earlier in 2006. The e-Learning programme, developed by Copia for B&Q has transformed the way B&Q employees learn checkout and back-office systems, through customer-facing simulations. In that system, till transactions, customer service and process training are combined in a safe, realistic environment. The project has reduced training time for new employees, providing a sustainable, measurable and consistent method of training and it has proved highly successful with learners.
Government jobs attract college students
Unlike the when fat pay packets and fast growth options were the priorities of the students; job security takes the center stage now. This has been revealed by a survey recently conducted at several colleges situated in Gujarat. The recommendations of sixth commission have brought this change among students. Around 60 pc students preferred government's job to private jobs. Of the remaining 40 %, 20 % expressed their interest to pursue higher education while the rest said they would either join their family business or start an enterprise. This year 41 students from the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) have opted for public sector job.
Moreover, after Sixth Pay Commission, government salaries have shot up. Benefits like life-long pension, holidays and fixed working hours are adding to the allure of government jobs. 'The survey includes final year students in graduate and post-graduate programs. It was conducted in February-March when the retrenchment on the rise. Insecurity in the private sector have changed the mindset of youth,' says SR Apte, Director of BM Institute of Mental Health who conducted the survey. 'When I started my graduation, I wanted to study MBA and join a multinational. Now, I have decided to do MSc and take up a job as lecturer in a government college,' says Maitreya Acharya, final year BSc student.
IIMC launches programmes for working professional
The Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIMC) has introduced two new courses including 'Executive Programme in Business Analytics' and 'Executive Programme in International Business' for the working professionals. IIMC has been giving importance to the education of executives from the last several years and has been widely appreciated for the various innovative and customized programs that has been introduced over the years based on its front line teaching, research and consulting. Business Analytics is about sophisticated, quantitative & statistical analysis and predictive modeling used towards building competitive strategies around data-driven insights that in turn generate impressive business results.
Executive Program has been specially designed to help students acquire knowledge and skill to help work in International companies and environment. The program covers aspects related to International Business Environment, Challenges in International Marketing & Sales, International Operations, International Logistics and Supply Chain etc.
India’s First Government arm converts into FOSS
With the Curriculum Committee giving nod for adopting free software in Higher Secondary level too, the General Education Department has become the first Government arm in the country to convert completely into FOSS (Free and Open Source Software). IT education in Higher Secondary level and e-governance programme in the Department will now be changed into free software with the assistance of IT@School project. The Curriculum Committee that met here on November 12 had taken a decision in this regard. Till date, proprietary softwares were used for teaching computer science and computer applications in Higher Secondary level. With the new decision of the Curriculum Committee, the IT@School will now have to develop special tools in open source for carrying out teaching and teachers' training process.
It was in 2007 that the Government Order came out insisting the use of free software for ICT education in schools. In 2008, around 15 lakh high school students in the State had been given their final examinations in open source, which was hailed as the first mega event in the world where free software was put to wider use. The hardware deployment that IT@School did in schools by spending INR 30 crore had helped the Government save INR 11 crore, the statement said. The transfer and appointment of teachers, the total physical fitness programme, pre-metric scholarship, mid-day meal scheme and many other projects were computerised by IT@School using free software. The Schoolwiki project launched on November 1 is another classic example of the use of free software in collaborative learning. Earlier, the software used to compile details of students sitting for SSLC examination and participating in the school youth festival was done in proprietary software. Even this has been switched to free software now for the first time. The new online application for school festival was tested in Perambra last week and had been found successful.
