Two years of National Education Policy – New Initiatives and Opportunities

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July 30, 2022

Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan established a series of new education and skill development initiatives at an event held in New Delhi on July 29, Friday to mark the second anniversary of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

Addressing the event, Mr. Shah proclaimed several new endeavors for students and educators including school innovation policy, Vidya Amrit Portal, 200 virtual labs, a skill-India partnership with Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) for a three-year degree programme, and a mobile app for a public consultation survey for the National Curriculum Framework (NCF), among others.

Talking at the event, Mr. Shah stated, “The purpose of education is to develop character, empathy, courage and to prepare students to deal with the challenges of life. The 21st century is the century of knowledge. NEP 2020 is for channelising knowledge for the development of the country.”

“NEP 2020 enriches knowledge and culture and is aligned with the aspirations of our society,” he added.

During the event, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said, “Our educational aspiration is not only for earning degrees and certificates but also to achieve global good. National Education Policy 2020 is an antidote to Macaulay’s system of education designed to colonize our minds.”

The 34-year-old National Policy on Education, which was formulated in 1986, will be replaced by the NEP, which was endorsed by the Union Cabinet in 2020. It will pave the way for transformational reforms in school and higher education systems, with the purpose of making India a global knowledge superpower.

Teaching up to class 5 in mother tongue or regional language, lowering the stakes of board exams, a single regulator for higher education institutions except for law and medical colleges, as well as common entrance tests for universities, are part of the sweeping reforms in the new NEP.

Replacing the 10+2 structure of school curricula with a 5+3+3+4 curricular structure corresponding to age groups 3-8, 8-11, 11-14, and 14-18 years respectively, scrapping MPhil programmes and implementing common norms for private and public higher education institutions are among other salient features of the new policy.

Kerala government plans to launch new e-learning module for children on cyber threats

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July 29, 2022

The Kerala Government, led by Chief Minister (CM) Pinarayi Vijayan, plans to introduce a new learning module to raise awareness of growing cyber risks, especially among children. According to the government, this is an effort to promote digital literacy in the state.

The Chief Minister was speaking at Cotton Hills Girls Higher Secondary School, after inaugurating the “Koottu” program, initiated by the state police’s Cyberdome aiming to spread awareness on cyber safety among the children in the schools in the state.

The Chief Minister informed that the initiative will increase awareness and capability for addressing the risks in the online space.

In accordance with this initiative, the government has launched the Kid-Glove Cyber Security for Children, a public awareness campaign run by the Kerala police as part of their renewed attempts to make children aware of the dangers and threats of the digital world.

Additionally, CM Vijayan noted that with the continued growth in smartphone usage in the post-Covid-19 scenario, online education has become an important tool for educating kids and making them aware of the digital world for their future safety and security.

Sharing his views, the Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan stated, “The government feels that it is time to launch steps to achieve complete digital literacy just like our literacy movement. We are planning to go ahead with such steps. At present, children are the most vulnerable group in cyberspace and the ones most victimized by the online traps.”

Children are victimised by such traps because of their lack of knowledge and misunderstanding and there were instances of children losing even their lives due to this, the Chief Minister added.

Besides, he mentioned that the state government was advancing with the new digital literacy campaign to educate children about the pitfalls and dangers in cyberspace.

Further, the CM said that it was not appropriate for a social media user to retain a post even if the content was found faulty. Thus, he urged the people who control the social media domain to keep a vigil on such trends.

“As digital technology and online systems are now an integral part of day-to-day life, it is very important to have clear knowledge about all aspects of the digital world,” the Chief Minister added.

The “Koottu” program is a joint initiative of Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) and the state government to stop rising incidents of online child pornography and online crimes against children.

According to an official announcement, the Counter Child Sexual Exploitation (CCSE), Childline, Meta (Facebook), Inker Robotics, MAC Labs, IMA, and the non-governmental organisation Bodhini will assist in the implementation of the Koottu program by Cyberdome and the state police.

Earlier this month, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Koo, and the CyberPeace Foundation teamed up to launch the joint initiative ‘#CybersKool’ for raising awareness of cybersecurity among Indian youth.

Over the course of the next 11 months, the program seeks to make youngsters and college-level students in India more aware of the need to make social media and the internet reliable, safe, and trustworthy.

Elets World Education Summit 2022 confers awards of excellence to state government initiatives

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July 29, 2022

Elets Technomedia and Digital Learning, along with Collegiate and Technical Education Department, Government of Telangana, India as ‘Host Partner’, organised the 24th edition of the two-day ‘World Education Summit‘ in Hyderabad. The objective of the conference was to touch upon the various challenges emanating from privatisation, globalisation, and public financial crunch to understand the future directions of higher education in India.

The summit kicked off with the welcome address and the lamp lighting ceremony by Dr Ravi Gupta, CEO & Editor-in-Chief of Elets Technomedia. “Education sector is one of those sectors which is fundamental to creating a new India. The vision of the government of India of making a new India cannot be completed without empowering the education sector per se,” he said.

The lamp lighting ceremony was attended by Agus P Saptono, Consul General of the Republic of Indonesia, Mumbai; Dr Garima Panwar, Additional Commissioner, PI Kalaburagi Division Commissionerate of Public Instruction Government of Karnataka; Syed Omar Jaleel, Secretary and Commissioner, Intermediate Education and Secretary, Intermediate Board, Intermediate Education Department, Government of Telangana; Navin Mittal, Commissioner, Collegiate and Technical Education Department, Government of Telangana; Abhay Jere, Chief Information Officer, Ministry of Education, Government of India; Professor R Prasad, Director – ACAD Wing, ICFAI Group; Professor Saroj Sharma, Chairperson, NIOS; Dr Vinnie Jauhari, Learning and Skills Lead, Microsoft and Dr Shwetha Suresh, Head of Innovation, Swissnex, Swiss Consulate General, Bangalore.

At the valediction of the World Education Summit, an award ceremony to recognise quality and excellence in Higher & School Education was held. The felicitations were spread across two days. Day 1 recognised initiatives in the Higher Education and the Corporate sector and day 2 saw awards for the School Education and the Government initiatives.

K. Lalhmingliana, Director, Labour, Employment, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of Mizoram, was given the award under the category ‘Government Sector Initiative in skill development’ for the project PMKVY. Under his tenure, Mizoram has been the highest ranking state all over India under PMKVY 2.0, for the highest number of enrollments and placements.

The Department of Higher Education, Government of Madhya Pradesh, was given the award under the category ‘Government Sector Initiative in digital learning’ for the project eShiksha. It is an education management portal which facilitates blended training for its learners, providing hybrid learning with technology based virtual classrooms and traditional classroom training. More than 800 e-content have been prepared in Hindi and English languages and uploaded on LMS (Learning Management System) portal for major subjects of first year undergraduate. These video lectures and e-text can be accessed by students as well as teachers on their mobiles.

Navin Mittal, Commissioner, Collegiate and Technical Education Department, Government of Telangana was given the award for IT reforms in Higher Education. Professor R Limbadri, Chairman, Telangana State Council of Higher Education, Government of Telangana and Navin Mittal were awarded for the Project Degree Online Services Telangana (DOST). PGK Gajendra Babu, Assistant Professor of Commerce and State Coordinator DOST, was also awarded for his excellent work in Project DOST.

Three Government Degree Colleges – Nalgonda, Narsampet and Paloncha were given awards for A Grade Naac Accreditation.

National Institute of Construction Management and Research (NICMAR), Hyderabad was given the award under the category ‘Outstanding Leader in Global Higher Education’ and ‘Outstanding University in Executive Education and Placements’.

Government Institute of Electronics, Secunderabad; Government Polytechnic for Women (Minorities), Badangpet; KDR Government Polytechnic, Wanaparthy; Commissionerate of Technical Education, Hyderabad, Telangana; and State Board of Technical Education and Training, Hyderabad (SBTET) were conferred Institutional awards.

Rev Fr. Thomson Kinny, Principal, St. John The Baptist High School and Jr. College, Thane was given the award under the category ‘Educational Reformer of the Year’ and B Anil Kumar, Principal, Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Boisar was given the award under the category ‘Outstanding Contribution & Achievement in the Field of Education’.

Global Indian International School, Kuala Lumpur was given the award under the category ‘Excellence in International Curriculum Practices’; Vista International School, Hyderabad was given the award under the category ‘Innovative Practices for Academic Excellence’ and Jubilee Hills Public School, Rampally was given the award under the category ‘Innovative Practices for Academic Excellence’.

Some of the focus themes for the event included role of technology intervention in education, role of NEP as a game changer to revolutionise India’s educational landscape, pegging the growth of EdTech in the future and switching to teaching the four C’s — critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity.

The networking-cum-knowledge gathering delivered a medium for exchanging views and measures for transforming the Education industry. The summit witnessed 500+ higher education delegates, 120+ higher education leaders, 200+ school education leaders, 500+ school education delegates, 25+ international experts, 20+ government dignitaries, 50+ exhibitors, and 50+ knowledgeable sessions.

Visit Here: Education Conference Dubai

University Grant Commission’s new portal to launch more than 23,000 higher education courses for free

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July 29, 2022

The University Grants Commission (UGC) on 28 July announced that over 23,000 higher education courses, including programmes on Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security, and Early childhood care, will now be available free of cost on a new web portal.

The portal strives at bridging the digital divide and enriching the accessibility of higher education in remote parts of the country. It will be launched today as a part of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 second anniversary.

The UGC has linked up with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to incorporate the e-resources with their over 7.5 lakh Common Service Centres (CSC) and Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) Centres.

“As part of its efforts in making higher education accessible to all, the UGC has been constantly working in making digital resources available to students in English as well as regional languages,” stated UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar.

The CSC’s purpose is to deliver digital access and make e-governance services unrestricted to the citizens at their doorstep, particularly to those who live in rural areas.

“The CSCs and SPVs are being managed and operated by entrepreneurs who belong to the local community and are referred to as village-level entrepreneurs (VLEs). VLEs operate the centres to earn their living by delivering online services. These centres have computers and internet connectivity,” said Kumar.

The courses comprise 23,000 postgraduate courses, 137 SWAYAM Massive Online Open Courses (MOOC) in emerging areas, and 25 non-engineering SWAYAM courses. It can be accessed on the UGC portal for free.

M Jagdesh Kumar said, “All courses are free. However, for availing of the services and infrastructure of CSC/ SPV, a user has to pay a fee of Rs 20 per day or Rs 500 per month to reimburse the Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLE’s) efforts and cost of their infrastructure.”

“This is similar to other government projects like Ayushman Bharat Yojana, PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, e-Shram, Pan Card, Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan Yojana (PMSYM), and many others,” Kumar added.

Elets 24th World Education Summit to assemble education leaders on a common platform

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July 25, 2022

Elets Technomedia along with Digital Learning will be organising its 24th edition of the World Education Summit (WES) on 27-28 July at Hotel Le Meridien, Hyderabad. The summit comes following the success of its first 23 editions and will underline the purpose, innovation, experience and engagement as the tenets of future-proof, profitable educational transformation. The two day-long summit will see the congregation of a number of education industry thought leaders who will be sharing their views and opinions during the summit. This networking-cum-knowledge gathering will deliver a medium for exchanging views and measures for transforming the Education industry. The country partners of the event will be Switzerland and Indonesia.

24th World Education Summit: Quick glance

The summit will witness the participation of senior leaders from the government sector, and a number of thought leaders from higher and secondary education. Some of the prominent speakers at the event will be:

Abhay Jere, Chief Information Officer, Ministry of Education, Government of India
Agus P Saptono, Consul General of the Republic of Indonesia, Mumbai
Garima Panwar, Additional Commissioner, PI Kalaburagi Division Commissionerate of Public Instruction Government of Karnataka
Rajiv Gupta, Director, Higher Education Department, Government of Punjab
Bharat Bhushan Dev Choudhary, Secretary, Secondary Education, Government of Assam

Furthermore, industry experts from across the country will gather to showcase their innovative solutions for the education sector.

The summit will witness 500+ higher education delegates, 120+ higher education leaders, 200+ school education leaders, 500+ school education delegates, 25+ international experts, 20+ government dignitaries, 50+ exhibitors, and 50+ knowledgeable sessions.

The gathering of leaders from the education sector will touch upon the various challenges deriving from privatisation, globalisation, and public financial crunch to comprehend the future directions of higher education in India. It will host a series of panel discussions on topics including:

Role of technology intervention in education
How to reinforce upskilling and reskilling of students in the world of education.
Role of NEP as a game changer to revolutionise India’s educational landscape.
Pegging the growth of edtech in the future.
The push from the academic institutions on the road to employability.
Bridging the digital divide: the societal challenges involved and the ways to overcome.
Switching to teaching the four C’s — critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity, and many more.

About Elets Technomedia

Elets Technomedia, a premier technology and media research organisation of Asia and the Middle-East has been championing innovations & e-governance for a better future since 2003.

The organisation has been building knowledge-sharing platforms and highlighting the importance of innovations for governance, health, education, urban development, and banking and finance sectors through conferences, publications, and knowledge portals.

Visit Here: Education Conference in Dubai

ISC 2022 12th results are out with 99.38% students passing the exam

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July 25, 2022

The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) released the Indian School Certificate (ISC) class 12th result yesterday.

The overall pass percentage for this year was 99.38%. A total of 96,940 candidates showed up to take the exam this year. Additionally, 18 students have secured top ranks in ISC results with 99.75% marks.

According to the reports, girls have outperformed boys. In comparison to boys, who passed at a rate of 99.26 %, whereas girls passed the exam at a rate of 99.52%

The Southern region has the best pass percentage in the 12th ISC result of 2022 at 99.58% , followed by the Western region at 98.81%. West Bengal did well as six out of 18 toppers were from the state.

Reportedly, the ISC paper recheck window for students opened on July 24 at 5 PM, will be available till July 30, 2022. The results of both the semesters, semesters 1 and 2, will be included on the ISC final mark sheet.

This year, CISCE has conducted the ISC Class 12 exam in two different semesters. The board will prepare the Class 12 mark sheets by equally considering the marks scored by a student in semester 1, semester 2, and practical and internal assessments. To pass the Class 12 exam, students are required to get at least a 33% mark on each paper and overall.

Through the official website, cisce.org, students can download the ISC 12th scorecard of 2022 by entering their unique IDs, index number, and captcha.

Students can also download the CISCE 12th scorecards that show up on the screen and print them for further reference. The scorecard includes information about grades earned throughout the academic year, including those from project work, practical tests, and pre-board exams.

However, students need to take measures in double-checking their names, subjects, schools, and roll numbers after obtaining the ISC Class 12 mark sheet. Further, schools can also access the ISC 12th result of 2022 by using the principal’s login ID and password.

Earlier, the board officially declared that the ISC class 12th result of 2022 will be announced on June 24th at 5 PM.

The ICSE class 10th examination was conducted for a total of 2,31,063 students who appeared for the exam, 99.97% were declared pass. Girls over-performed boys with 99.98%, whereas for boys it was 99.97%.

In the CISCE 2022 results for ISC class 12, Mubashira Shamim has emerged as Delhi topper with an overall percentage of 99.25%. While, twins from Gurugram, Anandita and Aditya Mishra, were among those securing the first and second positions respectively.

Edtech unicorn upGrad acquires Harappa Education in a $38 Mn cash and share swap deal

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July 22, 2022

Edtech major upGrad has acquired Harappa Education at a value of $38 Mn (INR 300 Cr). According to the edtech major, upGrad closed this transaction with present Harappa shareholders-Bodhi Tree Systems (a newly formed platform between James Murdoch & Uday Shankar ) and Cofounders Pramath Raj Sinha & Shreyasi Singh. Following the deal, all of them will join the upGrad cap table.

Cofounded by Pramath Raj Sinha, who is also the founding dean of the Indian School of Business (ISB) and the founder trustee of Ashoka University, and Shreyasi Singh, ex-editor of India Inc, the New Delhi-based online learning institution offers self-paced courses to address the growing issues related to poor employability, inadequate leadership, and an ill-equipped workforce. Harappa has an active clientele of 100 mid and large-sized organisations. As per the company, Harappa aims to clock INR 75 Cr in revenue this year.

“Similar to the integrated approach that we have been able to achieve in the B2C segment, we intend to offer a complete suite of products to our enterprise partners. A combination of upskilling courses along with these critical skills that Harappa has to offer would set us apart. We see strong demand from our clients and with Harappa coming in, we believe we’ll be able to grow exponentially within the segment as we cross-leverage the synergies. Pramath and Shreyasi come with a strong business legacy, which in turn, further fuels our ambition of becoming the global edtech leader,” said Ronnie Screwvala & Mayank Kumar, Co-founders of upGrad.

Commenting on the development, Pramath Raj Sinha and Shreyasi Singh, Founders of Harappa Education, said, “Consolidations get like-minded entrepreneurs together to build powerful, inspired formations. We are delighted to expand on the immense potential of our unique curriculum of social, cognitive, and behavioral skills, with Ronnie and Mayank, who have created such an exciting global company. As a combined force, Harappa and upGrad will anchor our purpose and conviction to create a truly wholesome learning ecosystem for lifelong learners in India and abroad, with our time-tested pedagogy, flagship programs, and rich partnerships to guarantee unmatched outcomes for our learners and clients.”

EY acted as the advisor for Harappa on the transaction.

So far, the edtech unicorn has acquired four companies this year and 12 companies including WOLVES India since its inception, according to Crunchbase. However, the company claims that this is its ninth acquisition as the rest of the deals were acqui-hires. Also, interestingly, this is upGrad’s second acquisition in a month.

Further, in June, upGrad had secured $225 Mn from the US-based test and assessment company, Lupa Systems LLC and Educational Testing Service (ETS). Other investors such as Temasek Holdings, the family offices of Lakshmi Mittal, and Sunil Bharti Mittal also participated in the round.

In India’s edtech space, it faces competition from the likes of BYJU’S, Udemy, Unacademy, and Vedantu.

According to a report, India’s edtech market is likely to be pegged at $10.4 Bn by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 39% during the period 2020-2025.

CBSE Class 12th results declared at cbse.gov.in

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July 22, 2022

The class 12 results of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) have been declared. Students can check their results on the official websites cbse.gov.in and cbseresults.nic.in. According to official figures, the pass percentage this year is 92.71 per cent as compared to 98.83 per cent the previous year.

With 98.83 per cent, Trivandrum recorded the highest pass percentage. The girls have outshined the boys with a pass percentage of 94.54, while the boys have acquired 91.25 per cent. The class 12 examinations were held in April this year.

CBSE Class 12 Result 2022 declared: Follow these steps to check score

Step 1: Visit cbse.gov.in or cbseresults.nic.in
Step 2: Click on CBSE Class 12 result 2022 designated link
Step 3: Enter the required credentials
Step 4: Submit and download the CBSE 2022 result
Step 5: Take a print out for further references

Yogi Adityanath reviews NEP implementation in UP

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July 21, 2022

As directed by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, educational institutions in the state have been asked to promote technology in education with focus on quality. He stated this while chairing a department-wise review meeting for the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP)-2020.

He said along with teaching-learning, universities and higher institutions should fulfil their responsibility towards society.

The chief minister said that inter-disciplinary research on local issues should be encouraged. The research topics should be social, national, and globally relevant.

Emphasising the need for quality research, the chief minister said that 77.7% of the total population of Uttar Pradesh lives in rural areas. Therefore, under the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan Scheme (UBA), educational institutions should be connected to rural areas with an emphasis on conducting courses related to rural development.

The CM said there is a need to encourage private investment in school education, and the education system should be compatible with the global ecosystem. Adityanath said the best practices of many educational institutions in the private sector, which are doing commendable work, should be implemented in government institutions.

Ministers and officers of the basic, secondary, higher, technical, agriculture and vocational education departments were present at the meeting. The officials have been asked to take these instructions to their respective departments at the earliest.

The CM also asked all eligible institutes in the state to get NAAC grading. He said that after the implementation of NEP at the graduation level from the current session, it should be implemented at the post-graduate level from the next session.

Chief Minister said more than ₹6200 crore has been invested for the development of infrastructure facilities in 1.33 lakh schools, and a proxy teacher in a school was unacceptable. Under the Nipun Bharat Abhiyan, innovative schemes like weekly education schemes, libraries in schools and school leadership programmes etc have been implemented, the CM added.

CM also directed that 5,000 ‘Abhyudaya Composite Schools’ should be established in the next four years.

Edtech company Geekster raises $1.30 Mn in Pre-Series A round, plans to expand services

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July 21, 2022

Edtech Platform Geekster has raised $1.30 Mn (INR 10 CR) in a Pre-Series A round led by Inflection Point Ventures (IPV) along with MyNavi Corporation and others.

The funds raised will be utilised towards growing the team, launching more programs, creating a scalable recruiting and learning platform, and expanding the spectrum of available services.

The career-focused edtech platform aims to help students learn programming skills in order to make them work-ready for aspirational tech jobs.

Geekster said, its edtech platform does not charge any fee from the student until they obtain a well-paying job. This offer makes the company distinctive, especially among students from Tier-2 and 3 cities in the country.

Sharing thoughts on the fundraising, Co-founder of Geekster Ankit Maggu said, “We are on a mission to democratize quality education & career opportunities; aiming to make a million graduates work ready in the next few years. Our offering has witnessed great response from the Students & Employer Partners alike and we shall be working aggressively to scale our operations in the next few months. We are fortunate to have associated with marquee investors who are equally excited about the opportunity and are aligned with our vision for Geekster.”

Geekster said it is presently assisting 300+ companies, including the top product-based companies, MNCs, and well-funded startups, in hiring the best tech talent for their teams. In the past eight months, the platform has been able to achieve 10x growth.

With this fundraising effort, Geekster hopes to advance its goal of making a million students work-ready within the next 5 years.

Expressing his views about Geekster, Ankur Mittal, Cofounder, Inflection Point Ventures says, “Gone are the days, where a graduate certificate would be more than enough to secure a job in your respective field. With the growing competition, job seekers are expected to be more skilled to be a cut above the rest. Geekster has been successful in designing a tech education platform with its unique model of skilling which allows tech graduates to hone their skills at zero cost until they get a paying job. And at the same time, it engages industry professionals as educators on the platform keeping the content relevant and practical.”

He further said that the company has won the trust of leading companies to hire a highly skilled tech workforce and IPV looks forward to further scaling this platform and creating a pool of talented and top-notch industry-ready professionals.

IPV has announced the launch of a $50 Mn Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) Physis Capital to invest in Series A and B growth-stage startups. Till now, IPV has invested over INR 420 Cr in 128 projects. Including the current round, the edtech company has successfully raised $1.5 Mn.

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