Institutes like Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur and Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI) Jamshedpur have on paper about 30 executive education courses per year. This figure has doubled in the last few years as the amounts charged for each training programme has gone down by 60 %. This rise is also fuelled by rapid technological advancement around the globe, making it imperative for professionals from all walks of life learn new technologies and update and upgrade their knowledge, much after completing formal education in the college. Moreover, there is a shortage of 20-40% in the leadership positions across sectors. Although many companies have found internal training to be a substitute, after a point it becomes expensive. Harvard Business School (HBS) just completed its first five-day executive education programme in Hyderabad. If the course were to be taught at the Harvard campus, it would have cost USD 10,000 (around INR 400,000) upwards. However, an Indian executive gets it for as relatively low as INR 180,000. At IIT-Kharagpur, XLRI Jamshedpur, and IIM Calcutta, around 200 executives take the executive education programmes every year, with course fee ranging between INR 5,000 and INR 35,000, with a few courses costing up to a couple of lakhs. For example, the Danish embassy of Dhaka had sent people for a four-month management course at IIT-KGP at a cost of approximately INR 60 lakh. The level of importance of executive education has reached outside profit-oriented companies too. The Ranchi-based Xavier Institute of Social Service (XISS) too is in the process of drawing up a calendar of topics for training of non-government organisations (NGOs) keeping in mind the priorities of small and middle level NGOs. XISS executive education courses, usually range between INR 25,000 and INR 50,000, and address current topics and concerns ranging from general management to specific functional areas that include human resource, rural development, information management, marketing and finance.
InfoVision Consultants W.L.L. and GISBA sign MoU to promote ICT
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Mr. Mobin Sheikh, Director / Principal Consultant InfoVision Consultants W. L. L. (ICON) and Mr. Javed Abbasi, Principal Consultant, GISBA (Standards Expert) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Both companies are embarking on a joint project aimed at rendering services to clients in fields of ICT and other related services in terms of consulting, development, implementation, trainings and support for International Management Systems Standards and Best Practices including International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 20,000/Information Technology Infrastructure Library(ITIL), BS7799/ISO 27001, Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMi), ISO 9000 and Prime Minister's Office PMO.
The two organizations have decided to work together to provide different markets in Middle East, European Union, Canada, and South Asia, with varied world-class advisory and training services and solutions.
ICON and GISBA / Standard Expert Division will bring the best practices to region by virtue of supporting projects like ISO 20,000/ITIL, CMMi, ISO 9000, BS7799/ISO 27001 and Project Management Office in addition to ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, ISO 22000, ISO 17025, BRC, SA 8000, Balanced Scorecard, Six Sigma, and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP).
Cisco says networking on the rise
“Networking is here to stay and it's going to keep on growing,” said Cisco (South Asia) Corporate Responsibility Regional Manager Lokesh Mehra addressing the media at the Cisco Media Offsite 2008 in Sri Lanka recently. He pointed out that besides its continued growth, networking at is often the fastest growing area in the economy.
Moreover he said that in the process of an e-Government transformation, authorities have to improve the productivity of the internal staff, enhance public safety, increase security, transform education and connect communities. According to Cisco CEO John Chambers the two great equalizers in life are the Internet and education.
While inquiring into the issue of investing in this sector he said “Information and Communication Technology (ICT) penetration in almost all of the South Asian countries is below 7 %”.
Referring to the younger generation Mehra said that they are a 'download' and a 'pen' generation as the entire concept of collaboration has changed. Furthermore he divulged that 120 million clips are being downloaded on average everyday from YouTube.
Speaking about the Cisco Networking Academy Programme he said that students obtaining the highest qualification which is the Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert will be able to earn a minimum of USD 150,000-160,000 easily. The Cisco Networking Academy Programme since its launch in 1997 has established itself with more than 2 million students in approximately 165 countries.
Intel: Malaysia Education Policy ICT Driven
Addressing the ICT Conference and Exhibition 2008, held in conjunction with the 43th Southeast Asia Ministers of Education Conference (SEAMEC), Intel's Director of Global Education Strategies, Dr Martina Roth, said, “The national education policy and the commitment shown by various key players in the education sector have been the catalyst for the success of computing giant Intels educational programmes in the country.”
“We are proud with the success rate of the Intel Teach programme in Malaysia. The Malaysian government has generally been very supportive to this programme. This demonstrates the country's commitment to provide ICT training for its students besides closing the digital gap in the country,” she told reporters.
Intel Teach serves as a component of the national teacher-training programmes on how to effectively integrate the use of technology in the classroom to facilitate and enhance teaching and student learning. The programme was introduced in Malaysia in 2000, in partnership with the Education Ministry, and to date has trained some 40,000 teachers locally while more than five million teachers in 40 countries worldwide have benefited from it.
Intel Malaysia Corporate Affairs Manager Cheng Cheng Loo said the second phase of the project was expected to be launched end of this year. Meanwhile, Intel and the Education Ministry also initiated another project — 1:1 e-Learning programme — in 10 primary schools nationwide last June.
ICT revolution in Papua New Guinea
In Papua New Guinea, the development of what is known as PNGARNET, short for Papua New Guinea Academic and Research Network, is being spearheaded by universities, in particular the Divine Word University in Madang. PNGARNET, set to be soon, is a company wholly-owned by the PNG Vice-Chancellors Committee and was formed with the express purpose of facilitating the efficient cost-effective delivery of Internet services to Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) and research in PNG, so that PNG tertiary students can receive a world-class education.
All organisations which are part of the Office of Higher Education in PNG can get involved in PNGARNET. PNGARNET is providing efficient Internet resources to its members through a satellite Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN).
The third PNG National Educational Plan offers the challenge that the universities provide a world class education to its citizens. This plan presumes that PNG tertiary students will be able to access the learning resources that are commonly provided via Internet connections, thus, PNG students must become world learners. The equipment including satellite dishes, antennae and Block Up Converters – a device used in the transmission of satellite signals, for the sites of the PNGARNET partners has been sourced mainly from China.
Bangladesh building knowledge based society
Bangladesh is an emerging market for WiMAX (World Wide Interpretability for Microwave Access) technology. Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has plans to give WiMAX license in May this year, which will bring a dynamic solution to establishing long-haul data communication link to distant areas.
The introduction of WiMAX can be utilised to build knowledge centres across the country where people can get e-education and related services which will effectively improve their livelihood. State-run BTTB (Bangladesh Telephone and Telegraph Board) has its Digital Data Network (DDN) node in 64 districts. Areas under these nodes can easily be connected with the internet, generating tremendous opportunity to unlock potential in unprivileged areas.
Baramati conference on ICTs for communities
The Baramati Initiative is an event that links techies, development campaigners, agricultural scientists and others to help 'integrate the rural community into the digital world.' The city of Baramati in Maharashtra, surrounded by the agricultural lands of Pune district, will host the annual event for the 8th time during March 23-26 this year. The event will be co-orgaized by Vidya Pratishthan's Institute of Information Technology (VIIT) and Intel and will be led by the leader of the initiative, VIIT director Dr. Amol Goje,.
The initiative will focus on the theme of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and development. VIIT, an engineering and educational institution started this series of conferences along with US Digital Partners.
This year's conference will focus on ICT for Communities
Budget allocation for education increases
The Delhi budget announced an additional INR 238 crore ( INR 809 to 1,405 crore) for education, a development indicative of the Government's intention to improve the educational infrastructure of the national capital of India.
The Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) is being entrusted with an upgradation project at 198 schools in the next two years backed by a budget of INR 250 crore.
The budget also increased the uniform subsidy from INR 300 to INR 500 per annum thus allowing children to buy a winter jersey. This will also be extended to students admitted under the freeship quota along with the payment for books. Free braiile books will also be provided for both government and private schools.
Among other measures outlined, the Kasturba Polytechnic at Pitampra will be ugraded to a women's engineering college with specialization in four disciplines. A specialized polytechnic institute will be set up at Dwarka in the coming academic year. The government also plans to establish a Delhi Knowledge Development Foundation to develop and enhance distance learning in technical education.
UNICEF sends emergency education supplies to Zambia
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is providing emergency support to flood affected Zambian schools. UNICEF has flown in 58 schools-in-box from its supply division in Copenhagen.
The highly portable materials are designed to provide teachers and students with everything they need to resume school, an extremely important activity especially for children whose families have been forced to flee their homes because of rising floodwaters or in areas where school buildings have been damaged or destroyed. Each schools-in-box contains enough supplies for 100 children, which will be distributed over 40 community and government schools in flood damaged areas of Southern, Lusaka, and Western Provinces. The Zambia Ministry of Education will provide the educational materials. The kits contain learning material for students from standard 1-9 and include exercise books; slates, an inflatable globe, a student register; crayons, pencils, pencil sharpeners, ball-point pens and felt-tip pens; erasers; two chalkboards; chalk and chalk duster; chalkboard paint; a chalkboard compass and ruler; a clock; flipchart markers; scissors; tape; paint brushes; several educational posters; over 90 coloured wooden cubes; book bags; rulers; safety scissors; and a metal box for transport and storage. UNICEF Zambia will be providing $139,000 in emergency supplies to the Ministry of Education, including 36 large tents and 40 recreation kits which include volleyballs, netballs, footballs, nets, and whistles.
SLanguages 2008 scheduled 23-24 May
SLanguages, a 24-hour multilingual conference will be held on 23-24 May within Second Life in order to explore 3D virtual worlds as a tool for language education. The conference will provide a forum for language educators to share their knowledge and experience.
Second Life is a 3D virtual world and is being used by over 12 million world wide users as an educational and business forum. Since 2007, Second Life is being used as a tool for learning languages in Michigan State University and University of Southampton.
SLanguages 2008 will be hosted within Second Life on the tropical 'EduNation' islands owned by The Consultants-E. For further information check website-www.slanguages.net
The Consultants-E is an educational consultancy company specialising in on-line education, offering tailored consultancy in technology for education. The company also offers courses in e-learning tools such as Second Life, wikis, podcasts and Moodle. The Consultants-E own and run three private islands in Second Life that foster education and training.
