Well of Opportunities

Higher Education

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February 4, 2009

If you have an idea for an innovative social project that can create significant social value, here's your chance to win US$1 million. The Lien i3 Challenge hopes to catalyse social innovations by providing both funding as well as advice, to ensure good projects get launched and are sustainable. The challenge is open internationally but preference would be given to projects that benefit communities in Asia. Also, for a chance to win, the project must demonstrate innovation, impact and implementability – the i3. The challenge has been established by the Lien Centre for Social Innovation at Singapore Management University (Lien Centre at SMU).

The challenge is a three-stage process, which culminates with the implementation of the winning projects within a year. In the first stage, participants must submit their ideas in a two-page proposal by March 31, 2009. Participants will then be shortlisted to proceed to the second stage, where they will each be given US$1,000, mentorship and support by the panel of judges to further develop their ideas. The participants will have to submit 'refined' entries by August 31, after which the judges will select the final participants to award the US$1 million grant money to implement their ideas in the third and final stage. The winners will be announced in October.

Budget Schools to be set up by Educomp

K-12

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digitalLEARNING Network

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February 4, 2009

Educomp Solutions on Tuesday announced plans to set up budget schools, to be called the Vidya Prabhat schools, in small towns and rural areas across the country. The firm said it will set up five such schools by July 2009, and increase the number to 100 in the next 2-3 years. The schools will charge students INR 700 per month. The first schools will come up at Bazpur, Gadarpur, Kashipur and Bahl Parav in Uttarakhand. Educomp will invest close to INR 70 lakh per school and expects each school to enroll about 700 students. The schools will focus on providing affordable conventional education, using latest educational methods, aided by technology, as well as vocational training. 'There is a shortage of over two lakh schools in the country, especially in small towns and rural areas. Also, most of the tier 3 cities do not have access to schools that offer quality education, usually available in large towns and metros. We hope to fill this gap,' said Educomp Solutions CEO Shantanu Prakash.

In a separate filing to the BSE, the firm said it is going to appoint Grant Thornton as its internal auditor. Educomp Solutions shares have taken a beating since rumours of financial irregularities at the firm surfaced.

Around 2 lakh kids with no nursery admissions

K-12

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digitalLEARNING Network

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February 4, 2009

'Kya hoga mere bachche ka ?' That is the question thousands of parents are asking as nursery admissions draw to a close, leaving out some 1.75 lakh children out of schools. The number of applicants far outstrip the 1,976 recognized private schools in the city, say authorities, while parents do not prefer to send their kids to government schools. S K Bhattacharya, chairman of School Action Committee said, 'There are two types of schools

Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV): A ray of hope

K-12

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digitalLEARNING Network

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February 4, 2009

Pradip Patil, 30, hails from a family of poor farmers in Latur. His father eked out an existence for himself and his family on less than two acres of not-so-fertile land. Patil's future, like those of millions of youngsters from similar backgrounds, looked bleak

Apeejay completes 25 years

K-12

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digitalLEARNING Network

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February 4, 2009

A function was held at Apeejay School, Noida to mark the successful culmination of its silver jubilee celebrations. Principal N.N. Nayyar welcomed Chief Guest Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Sushma Berlia, President, Apeejay Stya Group and Vice President, Apeejay Education Society presided over the function. Dr. Kalam inaugurated the exhibition that comprised displays and working models of Mathematics, Science, Social Science and Robotics and released a postal cover. The cultural programme included a street play, 'Bhagirathi' and other events. Sushma Berlia said Apeejay institutions emphasized on character building, and the students are not only academically strong but also possess courage and conviction.

DLDAV School, Pitampura hosted 'Heritage 2008' under the aegis of DAV College Managing Committee in association with Dayanand Institute of Education, Management and Research. The highlight of the programme was felicitation of Kapil Sibal, Minister of Science and Technology and Earth Science. He was conferred with 'Vidya Ratan Award' by G.P. Chopra, President, DAV College Managing Committee. Preeti Adani, Chairperson of Adani Foundation was also honoured. Evergreen Public School, Vasundhara Enclave was declared 5th amongst the top 10 school's in change maker Category for Green School awards on the basis of report on the activities taken up by ECO-CLUB in the field of Air, Water, Energy, Waste and Land conservation. Sunita Narayan, Director CSE emphasized the importance of conserving and preserving the environment. Ahlcon Public School, Mayur Vihar celebrated 'Anugoonj', the Annual Prize Distribution Ceremony and Cultural Show which provided a platform to the students to showcase their talents in dance and music. The programme commenced with 'Ganesh Vandana' followed by welcome address of Principal, Dr.R.K. Sharma. Chief Guest, Shrivardhan Trivedi, media personality and Guest of Honour, M.L. Babbar also spoke.

The game of Boards

K-12

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digitalLEARNING Network

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February 4, 2009

It's that time of the year again. Parents and students are feeling the pressure of the board exams that are set to commence a few weeks from now. In most cases, the preliminary exam results are out, which is reason enough to study even harder and score even better. For class X students, this is an exercise strictly to ensure eligibility to a stream of their choice in class XI. On the other hand, for class XII students, the results will determine whether or not they make it to their 'ideal' college. 'Besides serving the purpose of ensuring eligibility to a stream of their choice, a good aggregate in class X is also an advantage when applying for admission to professional courses like the MBA. The class X board marks come up for consideration during the first professional placement, either after a BE/BTech, or a five-year law degree or a hotel management degree, or an MBA, CA, CWA and CS, to name just a few,' emphasises career counsellor, Jayanti Ghose. Yet, it has been observed that many students are so preoccupied preparing for engineering and medical entrance exams after their class X exams, that they are unable to do justice to the class XII board syllabus. In the case of class X students, the argument is that it is the parents and teachers, rather than the students themselves, who provide the 'push' for studying. Seconding her statement, Gerry Arathoon, additional secretary and officiating chief executive and secretary, Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination, discloses, 'I have found that candidates appearing for the ICSE (class X) and ISC (class XII) exams are committed, hardworking and serious about their performance.'

Jobs available for diploma, degree holders

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digitalLEARNING Network

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February 3, 2009

More than 800,000 students currently pursuing their studies at higher learning institutions would not face problems in securing jobs although Malaysia is expected to register lower economic growth, said Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin. Mohamed Khaled said more jobs and new business opportunities would be stimulated because the government would increase public spending although the private sector has been cutting costs, including retrenching their workers. 'Despite the current economic situation, jobs are still available in business and service sectors because the spending capacity in the country is still high…so universities are encouraging entrepreneurship programmes,' he told reporters after opening a National Information and Communication Technology seminar (ICT) here today.

He added that his ministry would work with the Ministry of Human Resources to identify job opportunities available in industries and encourage graduates to venture into fields that they have studied. According to a study conducted by the ministry, about 80 per cent of Diploma and degree holders are able to secure jobs within six months of completing their studies, he said. He also pointed that the civil service and education sectors continue to offer vast job opportunities for graduates and diploma holders.

Educational divide bridged through e-learning

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digitalLEARNING Network

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February 3, 2009

It is critical to initiate radical reforms to build a knowledge-based society within the global arena. Creativity determines the survival and prosperity of nations. Information Communication Technology (ICT) in education is the way forward enabling such educational reforms, said Minister of Education, Susil Premajayantha. He was speaking at the Innovative Teachers National Competition 2008 Awards Ceremony in Colombo last week Young students from remote villages were among the prize winners who find ICT a window of opportunity for innovative and new learning avenues.
Sri Lanka is aiming at strategically building a learning society to empower youth to face challenges of a knowledge based global society. The SEMP and EKSP projects funded by the Asian Development Bank had helped pave the way to enhanced applied ICT knowledge. Around 3,000 schools have been provided infrastructure and 50,000 ICT trained teachers to enhance human resource development. ICT for efficient school management has been adopted by 2000 school principals and Microsoft partners.

Looking for best mix for smart schools

K-12

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digitalLEARNING Network

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February 3, 2009

When smart schools burst onto the national education scene in 1999, they were met with great excitement from parents and teachers. A decade later, Malaysia is generating a similar buzz in other Asian countries. Last month, it bagged the United Nations' South-South Innovation Award for its Smart School Project in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

The RM1.73 million capacity-building project under the Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme was modelled after Malaysia's own Smart School Project to promote information and communication technology (ICT) growth and development in these countries. Since 2002, 570 teachers have been trained and 15,500 students have benefited there from access to ICT facilities. And while the UN recognised Malaysia's role in sharing its smart school experience, Norrizan Razali, Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) smart school senior manager, is equally impressed by the rate with which knowledge was passed on from teachers who attended training in Malaysia to those who did not — both to their own colleagues and to other schools in their district. In fact, Malaysia can now learn from how these four countries replicated the concept in rural areas. Norrizan now hopes to achieve similar results with 50 rural schools in Malaysia which MDeC has been tasked to help the Ministry of Education with over the next two years. And with the wisdom of hindsight, MDeC is setting the tone for its new mission by managing expectations.

Fresh hope for undergraduate drop-outs at IGNOU

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digitalLEARNING Network

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February 3, 2009

Enrolling into the associate programme will help students of community college get lateral entry to the undergraduate programme in a regular college. However, the candidate has to clear the 'Bachelors Preparatory programme' for seeking lateral entry, said an IGNOU faculty member. The candidate also has to complete two years of study in the community college for being eligible for lateral entry, he said requesting anonymity as he is not authorized to speak to the media.

Community colleges, mostly run in South, have proved a boon for drop-outs and for working professionals who were unable to complete their formal education for varied reasons. While around 200 such colleges are functioning today, the faculty member said another 400 would come up soon in rural areas across the country utilising the existing infrastructure of the regular colleges. They will offer programmes across all streams and will acquire ICT facilities in keeping with the present-day requirement. Community colleges usually function after regular colleges close for the day. IGNOU will function as the nodal agency for such colleges.

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