Government: Computers to be available @ Rs 500

Policy Matters

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January 31, 2009

To take knowledge to every household and help students get feed on every subject while sitting home, the Government is set to make available low-cost computers at USD 10 within six months. Technology for these small devices has been developed by IISC, Bangalore and IIT Madras. 'But lot of testing has to be done to ensure that the technology works properly. Once the testing is over, the computers will be made available on commercial basis. The target is to make it available in six months time,' Higher Education Secretary, Ministry of HRD, R P Agrawal said reporters in New Delhi on Thursday.

The computer will be a small equipment with expandable memory, LAN and Wi-Fi facilities. The government will also produce e-content on every subject which will be made available free of cost. A prototype computer has been designed which is being tested now. 'Its cost will be USD 10. If the parents want to gift something to their kids, they can easily purchase this item and gift them,' he said. Students can get the e-content feed and load them in their computers and take advantage of the materials. The government will provide these computers to educational institutions at a subsidised price, said Agrawal. The government is in the process of consultation with different agencies for production of these computers and are seeking collaboration with them. These computers can run at two WT power. 'The ultimate target is to have a Virtual Technological University,' said Agrawal. The low-cost computers are being developed under the central scheme, 'National Mission on Education through Information Communication Technology (ICT).'

Technology Driven Education in UK

Higher Education

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digitalLEARNING Network

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January 31, 2009

Technology is playing an increasingly central role in the development of education in the UK. This is the view of teachers.tv, which has pointed out the large quantity of existing equipment that is being put to good use. However, the firm has also noted that much more can be done in this area. Andrew Bethell, chief executive and creative director at teachers, stated that the speed at which technology is driving education is 'not as quickly as everyone thinks it is.' 'The reason for that is that we have lots and lots of exciting equipment, but what we are not so good at is using that equipment to teach,' he said. 'We are using ICT and television to help teachers to learn how to use ICT, to use the new technology and to transform their teaching, but that is about pedagogy, it is about how you teach, not what you teach.'

The Department for Children, Schools and Families funds the editorially independent channel, which has more than 2,700 programmes available to download from its website.

Allahabad University V-C becomes member of National Mission on Education

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digitalLEARNING Network

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January 31, 2009

The Union government, with the approval of the cabinet committee on economic affairs, has initiated a new Centrally sponsored scheme named as the National Mission on Education through information communication technology (ICT). Vice-chancellor of Allahabad University Rajen Harshe has been nominated as a member of the apex committee of the mission which would formally be launched HRD minister Arjun Singh on February 3. The scheme aims to bridge the gap in the skills to use computing devices for the purpose of teaching and learning among urban and rural teachers and empower those, who have remained untouched by the digital revolution and unable to joint the mainstream of the knowledge economy.

The scheme is expected to be a major intervention in enhancing the gross enrolment ratio (GER) in higher education by five percentage points during the Eleventh Five Year Plan and ensuring access and equity in higher education, as also recommended by the oversight committee and the National Knowledge Commission (NKC). The committee includes several secretaries of the Union government, the UGC, AICTE and DEC chairpersons, directors of IITs and vice-chancellors of various Central universities. Harshe said that the committee would operate through inter-departmental and multi-disciplinary approach and create high quality e-content for the target groups. It would also extend computer infrastructure and connectivity to over 18,000 colleges in the country, including each of the departments of 419 universities/deemed universities and institutions of national importance on a single point rental basis through the department of telecommunications (DOT), he added.

Educomp Solutions bags order of INR 1.2 billion

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digitalLEARNING Network

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January 31, 2009

Educomp Solutions said on Friday that it has received orders worth INR 1.2 billion from Uttar Pradesh and Assam governments to implement computer education in 2,042 schools in the two Indian states. The order from Uttar Pradesh, which has a tenure of 5 years, is for supplying computer hardware, software, connected accessories in 1,401 schools in Lucknow, Meerut, Jhansi and Gorakhpur, it said in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange. It also involves providing a full-time instructor at each school, supplying course material and making provision for electricity and Internet connection in each school, said Educomp Solutions.

Educomp has also received an order from Assam for computer-aided training in 641 schools, said the statement. The orders have helped the company achieve their target of 12,000 schools this year under the instructional and computing technologies implementation, a quarter in advance, said Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Shantanu Prakash. At 12.36 p.m. shares in the company traded down 2.32% at INR 1,755 per share in a firm Mumbai market.

No JEE centre in Singapore says Ministry

Policy Matters

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digitalLEARNING Network

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January 31, 2009

The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has shot down the IITs' proposal to set up a Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) centre in Singapore. After setting up the first overseas JEE centre in Dubai last year, the IITs' Joint Admission Board (JAB) had planned to start the second one in Singapore this year. But the ministry is learnt to have rejected the proposal at the IIT Council meeting held in Delhi earlier this week. 'The present government feels that there is no scope or place for IITs to conduct exams in other nations or set up centres there. They feel that there would be very few candidates who would be applying or appearing for exams from a foreign centre and it would turn out to be an expensive proposition overall. So the plan has been dropped,'[ confirmed an IIT Council member.

Last year, Prof S Sankararaman, Chairman of JEE 2008, IIT Madras, visited Singapore to examine the possibility of setting up a JEE 2009 centre there. In his report, he said that three schools – Global Indian International School, Delhi Public School and Raffles Junior College – had expressed interest in hosting the exam.Sankararaman had further said that while there may be just 50-60 candidates at first, the figure would increase and it was 'worth trying this experiment in Singapore.' The proposal was then sent to the HRD ministry.

Wi-Fi now enabled in Rohtak university

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digitalLEARNING Network

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January 31, 2009

Haryana's Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) Tuesday became a completely Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity) campus with the commencement of an integrated telephony and Internet system. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda inaugurated the facility on the university campus here. Hooda hoped that research and development activity in the university would get a boost with the new facility being introduced. He complimented MDU vice-chancellor R.P. Hooda for introducing the wi-fi connectivity on the campus. The vice-chancellor said the MDU campus was now the largest wi-fi campus in Haryana. HCL Info-systems has executed the wide area networking project.

The new integrated system provides for high-speed, high-bandwidth and optic fibre connectivity to all offices and departments of the university. Users will be able to access high Internet speed, MDU officials said.

Everonn Systems reports good revenue for its Last Quarter

Corporate Updates

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digitalLEARNING Network

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January 31, 2009

Everonn Systems, an education and training company, reported revenue of Rs 43.55 crore for the third quarter that ended on 31 December 2008, compared to INR 29.13 crore in the year-ago period, on the back of client additions in its various divisions. Its net profit grew to INR 7.88 crore from INR 4.04 crore in the previous year. Everonn Systems currently provides computer-aided learning in government schools in many Indian states through the BOOT (build-operate-own-transfer) model. In this model, the company would invest in setting up computer training facilities in the school and provides teachers from the local community.

A press statement from the company said its ViTELS division added 385 institu-tions in the third quarter, taking its presence to 1135 institutions from 750. Through its seven studios in Chennai, it beams lessons in Maths, Physics and Chemistry through satellite-based technology to students located in different parts of India. In addition, the company also added 80 schools in its ICT division.

Educomp wins orders worth INR 120 Crore from UP, Assam

Corporate Updates

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digitalLEARNING Network

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January 30, 2009

Educomp has received work order from Education Director (Secondary), Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh for implementation of Computer Education and Computer aided education in 1,401 schools in four zones of Lucknow, Meerut, Jhansi and Gorkhapur for the period of five years to supply Computer hardware, software and connected accessories and provide Computer Education and computer aided education.

In Assam, Educomp will impart training and for engagement of Technical Para teacher in 641 schools.With these orders the total number of schools under ICT implementation in the Educomp portfolio has gone up to 12,012. Educomp wins orders worth INR 120 crore from UP, Assam.

Multimedia Development Corp aids Ministry for upgradation of rural schools

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digitalLEARNING Network

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January 30, 2009

MDeC, which is custodian of the MSC Malaysia initiative, said upgrading work will be done in three phases beginning with 15 schools this year, 15 more next year and 20 in 2011. Its senior manager of smart schools, Norrizan Razali, said that 50 schools located nationwide will be modelled after the country's pioneer 88 smart schools and that MDeC will use a different approach to upgrade the rural schools to smart schools.

MDeC and the ministry will also help the teaching faculty in each of the rural schools to optimise the ICT facilities given to them and will ensure that proper technical support is in place. 'By the end of this project, MDeC also hopes to have a model to transform more rural schools into smart schools,' said Norrizan. The upgrading of these schools, she said, gives MDeC a chance to get a hands-on approach to developing smart schools in Malaysia. Norrizan said that since the first 88 schools were transformed into smart schools between 2006 and 2008, there are now about 1,737 new smart schools in the country. According to the plan, the Government is promoting the utilisation of ICT in schools to enhance the quality of education in the country.

Educomp signs agreement with Michael & Susan Dell Foundation

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digitalLEARNING Network

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January 30, 2009

The agreement includes establishing a model to transform learning levels of underprivileged children of private schools in Hyderabad. This model will continue till March 31, 2012. With the goal of bringing long term change in the teaching process and improving the learning outcomes in poor urban children, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation recently launched Project Gyana Shakti, a pilot project which will assess the effectiveness of innovative teaching methodologies developed by Educomp Solutions Ltd for use in private schools in India which serve low-income students. Educomp, one of the largest education companies in India, will manage this project on behalf of the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation in accordance with Educomp's belief that quality education is a right every child should have, and in keeping with Educomp's vision of providing innovative solutions focused on 'Quality of Education' and 'Access to Education for All.'

For this project, Educomp will select six unaided private schools that serve lower income families in Hyderabad to pilot and evaluate Educomp's innovations in education in these schools, with a clear focus on measurable and significant improvement in learning outcomes of students in classes 1-5 in all subjects through the implementation of systemic measures such as building the capacity of teachers, improving the leadership skills of school heads and adding parent orientation programs. The goal of this project will be to evaluate the educational interventions provided to the six chosen schools, with the ultimate wider goal being to develop a sustainable and scalable model for capacity building and school improvement in private unaided schools serving poor urban children throughout India.

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