BYJU’S launches initiative to encourage digital learning

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November 21, 2020

Leading ed tech startup BYJU’S announced the launch of BYJU’S Give initiative which aims to take digital learning to as many children as possible, giving them a chance at remote learning.

BYJU’S Give is part of “Education for All” initiative that endeavors to democratise education and provide five million underprivileged children across remote areas access to quality online learning opportunities by 2025.

In this initiative, citizens are encouraged to donate their old or unused smart devices that will then be refurbished and powered with BYJU’S content and distributed to children with no access to online education.

Also read: Byju’s acquires LabInApp’s solution

“This simple gesture can give a new start to a child’s education, especially in challenging times like these,” Mrinal Mohit, COO, BYJU’S, said.

“At the heart of this initiative, lies a humble dream of every member of the BYJU’S family — to empower children with an equal opportunity to learn and thrive in life,” Mohit added.

The ‘Give’ initiative is focused on bringing equal and quality learning for every child as well as addressing another critical area i.e. responsible recycling of old technology.

The company will be collecting, evaluating, and refurbishing these old devices in partnership with Cashify, mobile e-commerce platform.

Maha School Education Minister: School reopening decision to be taken by local bodies

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November 21, 2020

Maharashtra School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad has issued a statement saying that the final decision with regards to reopening of schools in the state would be taken by local bodies after assessing the pandemic situation. The clarification from School Education Minister comes following BMC’s order which announced closure of schools in Mumbai until 31st December, contrary to State Government’s announcement of school reopening from 23rd November.

The state government empowering local bodies, Gaikwad said that the final decision about reopening of schools across Maharashtra will be taken by respective local bodies. She also added that the in the SOPs and Guidelines released earlier, the state government had asked local authorities to co-ordinate efforts for school reopening by connecting with the parents and teachers.

Also read: Tamil Nadu govt postpones reopening of schools

Moreover, local bodies are better informed about local situation with regards to pandemic, therefore they would be right agency to take a final call about school reopening in a particular district or zone. In line with this, announcement, BMC i.e. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, has decided to close down schools in Mumbai until 31st December.

Also written consent from parents is necessary for children regarding attendance. As per School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad, only one child will be allowed to sit on a single bench and classes will be held on alternate days. Another important step to ensure safety of the teachers is that all teachers will have to undergo mandatory COVID-19 RT-PCR tests. Testing of teachers is to be completed by 22nd Nov – Sunday, before the reopening of schools.

Board Secretary: CBSE 10th & 12th Board Exams 2021 to take place for sure

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November 21, 2020

The CBSE Board has issued a statement confirming that there has been no plan to cancel the board exams for next year. CBSE Board Secretary Anurag Tripathi has also confirmed that the CBSE 10th Exam 2021 and CBSE 12th Exam 2021 will be soon released via official channels on website cbse.nic.in.

The clarification from CBSE Board Officials comes at a much needed time when rumours around cancellation of exam or delay in board exam were going viral on several platform, owing to the pandemic situation in the country.

Also read: SC rejects plea for waiver of CBSE exam fees

CBSE Board’s Secretary Anurag Tripathi issued a statement confirming holding of Board exams during a webinar on “New Education Policy (NEP): Brighter future of school education” organised by ASSOCHAM. Tripathi said that “”The board exams will happen for sure and a schedule will be announced very soon. The CBSE is making plans and will soon reveal how it will do test assessments.” However, he didn’t confirm if there would be any change in the exam time i.e. delay or postponement from the usual schedule for which exams are held in February – March 2020.

CBSE Board’s confirmation about holding of Board Exam 2021 comes amid calls from various stakeholders for cancellation of the examination. Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown, schools across the country have been closed for last 7 months i.e. since March 2020. Moreover, even those states where partial reopening of schools was attempted, several COVID cases among students and teachers have forced the state government to again close the schools.

Amazon launches programme for B-school students

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November 20, 2020

The e-commerce giant Amazon launched its flagship leadership development programme ‘Amazon Future Builders Program’ (AFBP) for students enrolled in B-Schools in India. The programme will consist of a two-month incubator period, followed by a 24-30 month period of domain expertise in particular lines of business (LoBs).

Amazon claims that the students will be given learning, training, networking, and mentorship opportunities.

During the eight-week incubator period, candidates will learn about AWS, consumer, HR, advertising, devices, operations, finance and video. Students will also learn about Amazon’s ‘Day 1’ philosophy, the company culture, and get acquainted with the processes and mechanisms that Amazonians use every day, the tech giant said.

Participants are eligible for promotion at any time during the programme duration subject to recommendation from the manager and subsequent promotion review process as defined by the respective line of business.

Also read: Amazon provides virtual internships for students

For graduating MBA students, there is no minimum work experience required to join AFBP. First-year MBA students can apply for a summer or autumn internship and can qualify for a pre-placement offer (PPO) at the end of the internship. Final year MBA students can also apply for direct hiring through final placements at the campus.

“AFBP is designed to transform students into well-rounded business leaders who demonstrate the ability to think critically, solve complex business problems and are well assimilated into our peculiar culture which will enable them to build long term career with Amazon” said Swati Rustagi, Director, HR, Amazon India.

Samsung inaugurates AR-VR Innovation Lab at IIT Jodhpur

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November 20, 2020

Samsung India has inaugurated the Samsung AR-VR Innovation Lab at the Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur (IIT-Jodhpur). The lab will train students on new technologies such as Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR/VR), helping them learn industry-relevant skills and making them job-ready.

Courses at the lab would be run by Samsung engineers in conjunction with the faculty of IIT-Jodhpur and will be offered to B.Tech, M.Tech and PhD students by the department of computer science and engineering at IIT-Jodhpur. As per a release issued by Samsung, a batch of 30-35 bachelor students would be trained per year and part of this lab would be used by research fellows to conduct their experiments. The course will be taught over 14 weeks through classroom lectures, assignments and lab room sessions, self-study and mini projects.

Also read: IIT Jodhpur inks pact with NHAI to share expertise

Extensive tutorials and approach documents will also be provided to students to facilitate practical exercises. Samsung has so far set up six Samsung Innovation Labs in IIT-Delhi, IIT-Kanpur, IIT-Hyderabad, IIT-Kharagpur, IIT-Roorkee and IIT-Guwahati as part of its Samsung Digital Academy program.

Edu-tech platform Udemy raises Rs 371 cr in funding

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November 20, 2020

Edu-tech platform Udemy has raised Rs 371.2 crore from global edu-tech and growth funds including Learn Capital.

Pre-money valuation refers to the value of a company without including external funding or the latest round of funding.

“The funds raised from leading global ed-tech and growth funds, including Learn Capital will enable the company to continue to grow its consumer and business product offerings to serve the world’s learners, organisations, and instructors,” a statement said.

Also read: Ed Tech firm Udemy set to raise $100 million in funding

Udemy CEO Gregg Coccari said this year upended everything about how one lives and works, and people everywhere turned to online learning to help them meet new challenges.

“We are perfectly positioned to meet these demands and help drive success for individuals, businesses, and governments,” he added.

As countries enacted stay-at-home advisories and national closures, course enrolments across the entire Udemy marketplace platform increased more than 425 per cent, consumption across Udemy for Business surged 90 per cent, and the company saw a 55 per cent increase in course creation by instructors.

Headquartered in San Francisco, Udemy has offices in Denver, Brazil, India, Ireland, and Turkey. Its investors include Insight Partners, Learn Capital, Prosus, Norwest Venture Partners, Stripes, and Benesse Holdings.

Currently, 35 million students globally learn from 57,000 instructors who collectively teach over 1,30,000 courses via Udemy.

Powered by the Udemy marketplace, Udemy for Business is designed to serve the next generation of workplace learners. With subscription access to a collection of 7,000 relevant courses on the most in-demand skills, customers can upskill their workforces and harness learning to drive business performance.

UP CM Adityanath: NEP 2020 to be implemented in phases

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November 20, 2020

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the National Education Policy-2020 will be implemented in the state in phases by 2022.

Addressing a gathering at the Lucknow University after inaugurating its centenary celebrations, he also said the new education policy will take the society forward and prove to be the foundation of “Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat” and a self-reliant India.

“The policy is the vision of the prime minister and is to be implemented by 2022. It includes both the theoretical and practical aspect of knowledge that is necessary for students. If the Lucknow University moves ahead with the new National Education Policy, it will set a new paradigm,” Adityanath said.

Also read: UP CM Adityanath launches portal for career and employment

Congratulating everyone associated with the university on the completion of 100 years of its establishment, he said during this glorious journey, the institution has made remarkable achievements in the academic field at national and international levels.

“This university has given many distinguished dignitaries, politicians, administrative officers, principals, scientists and industrialists, including the president, to the country,” the CM said.

Stressing the need for educational institutions to connect with the public and play an important role in local problems, he pointed out that a hand sanitiser was made by the Lucknow University to face the challenge of COVID-19.

Adityanath said Uttar Pradesh has the capacity to fulfil the dream of a self-reliant India and make the country a $5 trillion economy.

Sisodia: Happiness curriculum aims at developing mindset of students

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November 20, 2020

The Happiness curriculum is aimed towards the development of the mindset of students, Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia said during an online panel discussion on systematic social emotional learning. The happiness curriculum developed for Delhi government schools was featured in Harvard University’s International Education Week.

The Deputy CM said the programme is not focussed on preaching values but rather on developing students’ mindsets ad lifelong learners. The happiness curriculum was organised by the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) during its International Education Week. The curriculum celebrates the successful implementation of the “happiness classes” in the government schools of Delhi. The Deputy CM said that the curriculum is focussed on developing students mindsets so that they can adopt the values in their everyday attitude and behaviour rather than being a value education class that preaching moral values to students.

Also read: Manish Sisodia: Wants to run Delhi school autonomously

He further said that the curriculum provides the tool kit for school children to scientifically observe their emotions and comprehend them. The Minister said that happiness curriculum focusses on the science of emotions because once the students are able to comprehend and recognise their emotions well, they will grow up and become better human beings.

The role of the happiness curriculum said the Deputy CM, then becomes critical in developing the students’ mindsets as well as the teachers to adopt these ethical values in their behaviour. The minister said that these students coming out of schools should be prepared to live in the world as lifelong learners, which is the main aim of the curriculum.

Fintech firm Eduvanz acquires edtech startup Klarity

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November 19, 2020

Country’s one of largest fintech firm Eduvanz has acquired edtech startup, Klarity. Klarity is an online one-on-one platform that connects students with professionals in their area of interest to provide video-based mentoring.

Varun Chopra, CEO, and Co-Founder, Eduvanz, said “The acquisition of Klarity has helped Eduvanz reach out to a network of passionate industry mentors and more than 300 education institutes powered by mentoring that enabled them to choose the most suitable path in their education and career. Through its fantastic platform, Klarity has impacted more than 5000 careers via one-on-one mentoring and the team can help Eduvanz users not only finance their courses but also get help in choosing the right course.”

Also read: Ed Tech firm Udemy set to raise $100 million in funding

The online one-on-one mentorship of Klarity runs across a span of two years, and primarily works with post-graduate students. While most of the post graduate programs ask the students to decide on their specializations in the second year, the students get confused about their prospects and job-roles that will be on offer. The mentoring program involves analytics-driven assessment, specialization-wise market realities workshops that cover job-roles followed by one-on-one mentorship meetings with industry professionals.

Manmeet Singh Akali, CEO and Founder Klarity, said “Joining forces with Eduvanz will help us amplify our reach, and intensify the impact of our work in the careers of students with whom we are working. We are equipped with a mentor network of more than 200 industry experts from some of the best companies of the world such as the Big Four consulting firms, Amazon, JP Morgan, Uber who graduated from institutes such as the IIMs, Carnegie Melon, Georgia Tech and so on. “

IIT Delhi tops among Indian institutes in employability

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November 19, 2020

According to Global Employability Ranking and Survey (GEURS) 2020 results, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi has been ranked as the best institute in India and 27th globally, in terms of employability of its students.

Globally, India has been ranked among the 15 best-performing countries in employability, improving from its 23rd rank in 2010.

IIT Delhi climbed 27 ranks from 54 in 2019 to 27. Indian Institute of Science (IISc), however, has dropped to 71 from 43 in 2019. The other Indian institutes that made it to the list are IIT Bombay (128), Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad (184), IIT Kharagpur (195), and Amity University (236).

Also read: 22 IIT Guwahati researchers featured in list of world’s top scientists

GEURS 2020, released by the Times Higher Education and French HR Consultancy group ‘Emerging’, is based on 1,08 225 votes from 9,000 operational and international managers in 22 countries. They voted to rate the employability performance of 6,000 international institutions.

Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank congratulated institutions, faculty, and students for the outstanding achievement.

“Employability Rankings 2020: Glad to share that India has been featured among the top 15 countries with universities producing the most employable graduates. India has improved its ranking from 23 in 2010 to 15 in 2020,” said Pokhriyal said.

Universities from the USA — California Institute of Technology, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Harvard University — made it to the podium, followed by two universities from UK — University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford — in top five.

Employability Rankings 2020: Glad to share that India has been featured among the top 15 countries with universities producing the most employable graduates. India has improved its ranking from 23 in 2010 to 15 in 2020. @timeshighered

— Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (@DrRPNishank) November 19, 2020

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