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Software giants call for reform in education

Three leading software manufacturers have launched plans to transform global education with a new multi-sector research project aimed at improving assessment. Cisco, Intel and Microsoft will examine assessment methodologies and technologies, effective learning environments, and replicable ICT-enabled teaching in the hope of creating new versions of the international benchmarks: PISA and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Anoop Gupta, Corporate Vice President, Technology Policy and Strategy for Microsoft, said, 'Reforming assessment is essential to enabling any systemic change in education. And change on a global scale is required to equip students of today with the skills they need to succeed in the workforce of tomorrow.' The research study, first unveiled at the recent Learning and Technology World Forum, has been backed by the International Association of the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) and the OECD.

A spokesperson for Microsoft explained: “The primary focus of this project is the large international assessments, such as PISA and TIMSS, which impact schools in all OECD and other countries.

ISB ranked 15th top business school in the world

The Indian School of Business (ISB) has been ranked 15th in the global business school rankings by the Financial Times, London. This is the second year in a row when the ISB has achieved a high rank among leading international business schools. Last year, it was ranked 20, making it the first Indian business school to be counted among the top 20, the ISB said in a statement here on Tuesday. 'I am very proud of the ISB's achievement. The high level of commitment of the faculty, students, alumni, and the staff at the ISB as well as the unstinting guidance of its associate schools and the board, have made it possible for this institution to overcome many challenges in its formative years,' said Rajat Gupta, ISB chairman.

The ISB was established in 2001 by a group of leading industrialists and academicians from India and abroad. From 126 students in 2001, the ISB has steadily increased the number of students year after year. There will be 440 students graduating in April 2009. The ISB will be increasing the number of students to 560 in 2010. Recently, it announced the setting up of a second campus at Mohali, which is likely to commence classes in 2012.

Abu Dhabi University Offers 5 Master Programs

Abu Dhabi University has organized information sessions pertaining to the master degree programs which the university will be offering during the next semester set to start in February. These programs include a Masters of Business Administration, a Masters of Science in Finance, a Masters of Human Resources Management, a Masters of Science in Computer Science, and a Masters of Education in Leadership. The information sessions were be attended by more than 150 executive managers from various business sectors. Those executives are interested in continuing their higher education and advancing their career goals by joining the programs that Abu Dhabi University. Abu Dhabi University is offering in cooperation with a number of prestigious universities around the world.

Yosser Gadhoum, Dean of the College of Research and Graduate Studies, stressed the importance of holding such information sessions and their role in making the national community and representatives from the different business sectors aware of the master degree programs and their admission requirements. He mentioned that the key requirements stipulate that the candidate should hold a bachelor degree with an average GPA of 3.0 – 4.0 from an accredited institution, as well as holding a TOEFL score of no less than 550 unless the student graduated from an academic institution where English is considered to be the primary language of instruction.

Omatek gives a boost to e-education

Omatek last week presented new ranges of smart books to help bring the e-education to fruition in Nigeria. The new products which come in 8 and 10 inches models are an advancement to the old version of the products which the company pioneered last year. The new model products come in 60gb hard disk space & 512mb and 1gb RAM, respectively. The beauty of the Omatek 8 and 10 inches smartbooks is that the products come with connectivity making it easier for users to work online anywhere. Introducing the products to media men recently, Omatek boss, Mrs Florence Seriki said that having observed the difficulties people go through for connection and how lack of connection has turned many computers into mere log of woods, she decided to discuss with the country's second National operator, Globacom to have its wireless Internet package run on the new products. What this means is that buying the omatek smartbooks is buying a computer with already made Internet connection.

The initiative she said, has attracted several commendations from those that have experienced the products. Reliving how the idea came, Seriki said it was not long after Prof Nicolas Negroponte of the famous US$100 par laptop introduced that initiative that she keyed on it to boost the e-education platform in Nigeria.

All is not lost in our education system

Against a backdrop of a widely lamented decline in our educational system which is blamed

Adolescent Education in Virtual Resource Centre

Schoolchildren in Patna are these days 'hooked on' to a new hobby of accessing and contributing to the virtual resource centre that gives them updated information about gender, maternal and infant health, adolescent health and birth-related issues. Initiated by the Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh (JSK), the virtual resource centre (VRC) provides access to advocacy material in the form of films, posters and photographs. It also has the provision of downloading the material or ask for it on CD from the JSK or the National Population Stabilisation Fund. The Centre allows the students or any interested individual or an institution to contribute to the resource centre.

However, the material received is scrutinised for content and quality before being made public, says Shailaja Chandra, Executive Director of the JSK. With a view to involve adolescent schoolchildren in the awareness campaign, the JSK tied up with several government and private schools in Patna, where the concept of the resource centre was explained and the children encouraged to highlight related issues either in audio or visuals forms. Apart from bringing out the talent among the children, it will also help create awareness through correct and updated information to help children grow into informed adults ready to make the right choices, Chandra told The Hindu.

Britain teachers leave to find rich life abroad

Record numbers of teachers are quitting the UK to work abroad, raising fears of an exodus that will leave British schools understaffed. The number of qualified teachers who have left to take up posts in schools overseas where the national curriculum is the same as in England and Wales has risen by 26% in three years, new figures reveal. There are now 74,264 teachers from the UK in such schools – known as British international schools. That number is equal to almost 14% of teachers in UK state schools. ISC Research, which analyses the international schools market and collected the figures, predicts that by 2013 the number will have risen by a further 54% to nearly 115,000.

John Dunford, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, warned that the flight of teachers from the UK could exacerbate a shortage of maths and science teachers across the country. Meanwhile, Christine Blower, acting general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, argued that schools could struggle to fill UK vacancies because the new points-based immigration system meant there were 'major constraints' on schools recruiting teachers from overseas. The departure of so many teachers is mainly a result of hundreds more British international schools opening across the world, according to ISC. In the last three years their number has grown from 1,282 to 2,129, it has found.

NAGRAT supports 3year Senior High School

The National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) on Monday threw its weight behind the three-year Senior High School (SHS) programme, saying it is not different from the four-year course which kicked off last academic year. 'The syllabus (of the four-year course) is not different from the three-year programme,' Kwame Alorvi, President of NAGRAT, told the Ghana News Agency in a telephone interview. He said apart from French and ICT, the first year programme deals only with the core subjects – English, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies.

The elective courses begin only in the second year, Alorvi said, adding that in fact the SHS programme was essentially still a three-year programme. He said the number of periods on the time table for the electives had been reduced from eight to five, adding 'we're doing less than three years.' Alorvi said the cost of the four-year to the nation and parents is high while it hardly added anything to the content. 'Even for French and ICT, which are taught in the first year, there are hardly any teachers for the subjects.' He said textbooks for the four-year programme had not arrived while some subjects had still not got their syllabus. According to Alorvi, the new education programme was to begin from Kindergarten and asked how many such schools had been built. Further, there has been no physical expansion to classrooms and dormitories of the SHS.

40 Abuja women in ICT trained by NEPAD

Over 40 market women have been trained in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in Abuja by the New Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD). The training aims at integrating the participants into the ICT world to allow them access to information sources world wide with regard to trading, promoting networking transcending borders, languages and cultures. Solomon Odeka, director planning, monitoring and Evaluations NEPAD Nigeria, representing the Special Adviser to the President on NEPAD stresses that the training would strengthen participatory approaches and creation of new livelihoods for the participants.

According to him, ICT allows faster delivery and more adapted content of technical assistance in a variety of sectors, ranging from long-distance education, telemedicine and environmental management. Odeka further stresses that the workshop organised in conjunction with GM Consults was in line with the decision of the Assembly of African Heads of State and Government of OAU now AU in July 2001. He says 'It's a development framework which strategically aims at revamping the political, socio-economic and cultural aspects of the African continent through deliberate implementation of its plan'

The NEPAD boss notes further, 'It will allow access to information sources world wide, promoting networking transcending borders, languages and cultures, foster empowerment of communities, women, youth and socially disadvantaged groups, and help spread knowledge about best practices and experience.'

Teacher

To mark the year of Information Technology and the English language, the Education Ministry has pledged to make new changes in the country regarding the education sector and the usage of Information Technology in schools. A new web portal, SchoolNet has been created for teacher-student community enabling more than 1700 schools to be able to interact via the net on a daily basis. This portal will be the widest computer network in the country providing access to educational websites with over 3 million hits by teachers and students, island wide. The ministry also hopes to set up 2800 full-fledged ICT laboratories island wide, providing ICDL for education scholarships for 50,000 teachers. The creation of over 1 million e-mail accounts among teachers-student community together with providing ICT Knowledge to rural communities through 20 e-villages are a few of the strategies for this year.

Microsoft partners together with the Secondary Education Modernization (SEMP), awarded a few teachers and students for their outstanding performances via implementing IT in their projects at schools and workplaces. Teachers from rural areas were recognized for their innovative ideas and novel teaching methods via the new software and web portals. Teachers and students in the rural parts of the island are to be given additional assistance. A teacher PC Programme is to be held for teachers to provide them with computers at concessionary rates. Career based ICT education for school leavers at 1500 rural computer learning centres, Facilitating the distance higher education courses at 150 computer learning centres and Websites in 600 schools and web pages among thousands of students and teachers are to be implemented as soon as possible.

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