Over 10 lakh additional seats are likely to be created across all higher education institutes in India after constitutional amendment to implement 10 percent reservation for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) among upper castes.
An assessment by the Central Government revealed that IITs, IIMs, central universities, state government institutes and private universities have to increase student intake to fulfill additional quota obligation.
As per the Government sources, the current annual student intake across all higher education institutes in India is about one crore and accordingly, 10 lakh additional seats would be needed.
Institute are yet to work out on the modalities of implementing the revised quota. Over 180 institutes including IIMs, 23 IITs, 91 institutes of national importance, eight research-based institutes such as IISc Bangalore and IISERs, 41 central universities, deemed to be universities, and other private universities will come under the quota regime.
As per the All-India Survey on Higher Education, 2017-18, in total, there are 903 universities, 39,050 colleges and 10,011 standalone institutions which will be needed to increase their seats as per the amendment.
Today, we are witnessing industries undergoing a disruption with a rapid convergence of technologies; which is faster than ever before! These constant changes are making competencies in workforce go obsolete leaving Lifelong Learning as the only feasible option, writes Venguswamy Ramaswamy, Global Head of TCS iON, for Elets News Network (ENN).
The Gen Z has a set of unique behavioural attributes which is shaping the needs of education industry and pushing them to develop ways to deal with them. Here are some of the industry trends of delivering learning:
1. Nano-learning: The attention span of learners is persistently shrinking. With the existence of lengthy, text intensive, un-interactive learning content, students are unwilling to sit in sessions spread over hours. To address this, nano-learning or bite-sized learning is fast becoming a significant trend to support the learner behavior and ensure attention.
2. Lifelong Learning: As per a report, by 2022, 9% of India’s work force is expected to be employed in job roles that don’t exist today while 37% is believed to be in new job roles. In order to prepare for this change, it is important to know that learning is not discreet, rather a continuous and connected process in which the needs of the learners vary with time and the stage of their life. Every moment provides a learning opportunity. Hence, it is necessary to keep a track of the learning culture of an individual across different stages and not just specific learning in a particular stage. This will help understand the capabilities of a learner in its true sense.
3. Mass Personalisation: The pattern of customer-based personalisation is gradually progressing wherein adaptive means of learning is taking over the concept of ‘one-size fits all’. Being an effective mode of learning, this approach takes into consideration the individual learner abilities, and the appropriate time to consume content, thereby enhancing the quality of learning and the overall experience of learners.
4. Data-driven Learning: Every individual leaves a large footprint of his/her learning behavior while learning. Today, such interactions (learning better with video, preferring game format, etc.) are acting as data sources for understanding the learner’s patterns and trends, and for devising strategies to make learning more effective than before.
5. Self-paced Learning: Learners have some nuances, which are unique to them where some students slow in a certain subject but might have the ability to grasp other subjects better. Taking this into consideration, the pace of the content is now being adjusted according to the strengths and weaknesses of the individual student in specific subjects.
6. Addictive Mechanisms in Learning: There are specific constructs either in the content or in the learning platform that attract a learner’s attention. These include ‘like’ or ‘comment’ buttons, challenges, the capability to score and compete, win badges and points, and so on. The focus of learning is slowly transforming to include these constructs in the content to make learning more addictive.
7. Engaged or Immersive Learning: The learner today desires a learning experience with engaging, interactive content that includes games, puzzles, and surprises embedded within. Hence, there is a growing trend of designing content using technologies like augmented reality and virtual reality to create immersive and engaging experiences.
8. Collaborative Learning: Learning is no longer a one-to-one interaction between the content and the learner. Instead, it is transforming to be an interaction between a group of people in a community construct where students can learn by debating and deliberating on a common platform. This concept moves beyond the traditional custom of a student and a teacher. A teacher’s role is to facilitate learning for learners together learn from each other.
9. 21 st Century Skills: According to a survey, India is expected to form 25% of the world’s workforce by 2025. This creates the urgency to equip the country’s youth with 21st century skills which have a much higher preference over specific domain skills. Today, learners are assessed on their ability to work in teams, be ethical in given scenarios, and to be creative and assertive. As a result, the focus has shifted towards developing these capabilities to help learners have a greater advantage in the job space. It is not just academics, it extends beyond to social skills.
10. Learning Experience Platform: Today, rendering mere content is not enough; instead one needs to render experiences to make learning enjoyable. The emphasis rests on enhancing learner experience management system which uses engaging game cartridges to modulate experiences while delivering content.
As we progress in 2019, we have our energies focused on these evolving trends which are about to dominate the next set of years and we are in the forefront of driving these trends in the market itself.
The distinct waves of disruptive technologies are changing established ways of teaching and learning across the world. The pace of disruption is gaining speed with every passing year, write Shantanu Rooj, Founder and CEO, Schoolguru, and Vipendra Singh, Senior Vice President, Schoolguru, for Elets news Network (ENN).
The internet, which has turned businesses (from newspapers through music to book retailing) upside down, is set to upend education too. Now the online programmes revolution, is offering students the chance to listen to star teachers and get a degree for a fraction of the cost of attending a University-on- campus. Employers are putting greater emphasis on adaptability, curiosity and learning as desirable attributes for employees. Shorter courses, lower costs and online delivery are making it easier for people to combine work and training. New credentials are being created to signal skills.
While 2018 has been a great year when technology made significant strides in the teaching-learning processes, 2019 is going to be a significant upgrade. The result will be the reinvention of the University.
Mobile, Not Laptop becoming the Device of Choice for Learning
Major changes are coming in the next generation, of a kind and magnitude that exceed the expectations of almost everyone currently engaged with a traditional University. Better smart phone penetration, ease of use, supported by low cost of data is paving way for a revolution in learning spaces similar to what it has done for social networks. Learning delivered across higher education institutions is becoming increasingly online, blended, multi-modal, mobile and virtualized that makes education geography- agnostic; rather than people only being able to “go to college” in a few, scarce expensive places, you’ll essentially be able to go to college from almost anywhere. Universities of the Future shall be everywhere – online, on-campus and on-the-job! Mobile technologies are increasingly being used not only by the learners but also by the faculty to deliver their lectures and connect with the students from anywhere, anytime; that makes learning more collaborative and effective.
Better, Innovative Use of Big Data, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence
Yuval Noah Harari, in his latest book, ‘In the kingdom of cyborgs’, predicts that human beings will change more in the next hundred years than they have in all of their previous existence. Algorithms will know people better than they know themselves, and that this knowledge can be used by business or governments for manipulative ends with a risk that technological revolution might establish the authority of big data algorithms, while undermining the very idea of individual freedom. The combination of biotechnology and artificial intelligence (AI) may enable some people to be digitally enhanced, transforming what being human means.
With the advent of technologies like big data and AI, education leaders will soon be making data-driven decisions; and hence, having a data and information management strategy in place will soon become a necessity. Higher education regulatory bodies (such as UGC in India) and Universities are making progress in collecting data at various touch points. The government is building several repositories to store this data to be analyzed and used for betterment of education. However, there is still much room for improvement and a lot needs to be done to enable data-driven decision-making across the entire ecosystem. Big data offer the chance for more personalised education. Use of machines learning and AI technologies shall enable predictive analysis and adaptive reactions.
Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and Gamification
The outlines of a new ecosystem for connecting employment and education are becoming discernible. New technologies like virtual and augmented reality can radically improve professional training and make learning more effective. Platforms make it easier to connect people of differing levels of knowledge, allowing peer-to-peer teaching and mentoring. Using virtual reality for more real-life experiences has the potential of taking learning experience to a whole new level. Augmented reality (AR), a technology for overlaying digital information on objects in the real-world seen via a smartphone camera or headset can make learning more immersive and fun. Gamification technologies and techniques are being increasingly adopted to keep learners involved and interested.
Increased Usage of Videos and MOOCs
The usage of video for learning has reached a significant level. Harvard’s DART initiative is one recent effort to try to help faculty and instructional designers make full use of open access assets. MOOCs started in 2008; and, as often happen with disruptive technologies; they have so far failed to live up to their promise. Largely because there is no formal system of accreditation, drop-out rates have been high. But this is changing as private investors and existing universities are drawn in.
MOOCs will disrupt different universities in different ways. Not all will suffer. Ambitious people will always want to go to the best universities to meet each other, and the digital economy tends to favour a few large operators. The big names will be able to sell their MOOCs around the world. But mediocre universities may suffer the fate of many newspapers. Digital education is generating new learning opportunities as students engage in online, digital environments and as faculties change educational practices through the use of blended courses, personalized instruction, new collaboration models and a wide array of innovative, engaging learning strategies. Most Universities will need to reinvent themselves to survive.
2019 is going to bring in a positive momentum in faster tech adoption in higher education and help create more integrated, virtualized, gamified learning experience for learners and educator alike. Usage of data is going to make student engagement and retention better thereby making education more user friendly. Augmented reality, virtual reality and gamification are going to change the way students learn inside and outside campuses. Educators will need to keep pace with the technological innovations to ensure they remain competitive and relevant. Partnerships with private service providers who can support the institutions with their competencies and platforms shall play an important role in their success.
Education, globally, is becoming flexible, modular, accessible and affordable. The recent initiatives from UGC providing guidelines to Universities to focus of outcomes seem to be well meant. Boosting student success through shared responsibility and accountability for outcomes seems to be the only way forward. Universities will need to promote innovation and competition through transparency and evidence of what works; will have to strive to reward success, especially where teams are demonstrating their commitment to better serving disadvantaged students. Universities will need to lean on technology to support them while they build efficient, transparent and accountable systems while providing the best in class learning and support services to the students; the question is both contextual and existential!
(Views Expressed by the author are a personal opinion)
Tesco Bengaluru has inaugurated its maiden Community Development Centre (CDC) at Immadahalli, Whitefield in collaboration with NASSCOM Foundation.
In a first of its kind initiative, the two partners will work on enhancing opportunities for employability among youth from disadvantaged communities. In addition to the skill-based training, the Centre will also support the students with placement opportunities in IT/ ITES/ retail sectors.
Designed according to the curriculum proposed in National Digital Literacy Mission, the programme at the newly inaugurated centre is curated with modules such as English language training, personality development, vocational training, data entry, accountancy and Business Process Outsourcing under three verticals – Career Courses for students between 17 to 30 years of age, Skill Courses, and Digital and Financial Literacy modules for students who are 14 years and above.
Commenting on the launch of the Centre, Dr. Sumit Mitra, CEO, Tesco Business Services and Tesco Bengaluru said, “As a leader in the retail space for over 100 years, Tesco has always prioritised community outreach and development of future generation. At Tesco Bengaluru, education is one of the focus areas of our CSR programme and we are creating and enhancing opportunities for youth to improve their livelihood through skill building & training programmes.”
“With this career Community Development Centre, we aim to address the issues concerning the burgeoning youth unemployment in India and skills-gap in the retail, IT/ITES sectors. We are honoured to be partnering with Nasscom Foundation for this endeavor. We look forward to working with them to expand the impact and reach of the programme over the next few years,” he added.
In line with the CDC’s focus on delivering skill based training, the first batch comprises of 12 – 15 students to maintain a fair student-teacher ratio.
Ashok Pamidi, CEO, NASSCOM Foundation said, “Having trained over 1 lakh people on digital literacy, NASSCOM Foundation through this centre is trying to go beyond making people digitally equipped to make them employable in a digital economy.”
With the opening of the CDC, Tesco Bengaluru and NASSCOM Foundation hope to enroll girl students as well from the communities that can equally benefit from the programme.
The Ministry for Human Resource Development (MHRD) is going to reduce the content in NCERT textbooks by 10 to 15 percent from academic year 2019-20 as part of its exercise to relieve youngsters from “Curriculum Overload”.
In a meeting of the NCERT, chaired by Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar himself on Saturday, the minister said that the target is to reduce 50 percent reduction of the “curriculum overload” without affecting the learning outcomes.
“Curriculum will be reviewed to ensure holistic education in which there will be time for physical education, value education, life-skills education and experiential learning. The curriculum needs to be reduced. We have decided to reduce curriculum by 50 percent. This year, there will be 10-15 percent reduction. Next year it will be more. Finally, in 2021, the target will be achieved,” Javadekar said after the meeting.
The minister also suggested earlier that removing duplication and redundant portions in a scientific way, the NCERT will be able to bring down its curriculum significantly. There were over a lakh suggestions on the basis of which the rationalisation exercise was carried out, an official said.
The union minister also said that to ensure adequate supply of NCERT textbooks, the number of published books this year is 8 crore this year. The number was 6 crore last year.
With a rapidly transforming education sector across the globe, Seth M R Jaipuria Schools focuses on nurturing global leaders by imparting quality education to its students, says Shreevats Jaipuria, Vice Chairman, Seth M R Jaipuria Schools and Jaipuria Institute of Management, in conversation with Elets News Network (ENN).
What practices are followed at the school to develop leadership qualities among students?
Leadership can’t be taught in a traditional classroom setting. It is developed through practice. From a primary level, the school should make students participate and take responsibility both within and outside the classroom to inculcate such qualities.
In what ways Seth M R Jaipuria reaches out and connects with its neighbourhood?
Understanding the community around us is an integral part of a good education. We have multiple programmes and opportunities through which our school and college students reach out to the community around them. These include community services, group projects, and cultural activities.
What are teachers’ expectations and how does the school help them work towards achieving the organisation’s vision?
We have a strong belief that teachers’ development and learning pave the way to succeed in any educational institution. We provide multiple training opportunities in the school and outside too for teachers on pedagogy, and subject knowledge. Moreover, we provide them with new teaching ideas for every topic in the syllabus through nearly 1,00,000 lesson plans developed by us.
What are the most required qualities needed to inculcate among students?
The most important skill in today’s world is the self-learning ability. We try to inculcate self-learning in our students, and try to make them self-motivated from a very young age. In today’s world no success is possible without the ability to work with people as a team. This requires empathy and listening skills. It gives not only a pathway to success but also makes one a better human being, who understands and helps people around himself or herself.
What is the biggest challenge for country’s educational system? How it can be resolved?
The greatest challenge is to improve access to quality education. We need to build schools that invest in improving the skills of teachers and enable students with the skills to be successful in today’s and tomorrow’s world. There are very institutions that are able to do this outside metropolitan cities. Moreover, though there are many world-class institutions both at the school and higher educational level but the average quality of institutions is very poor. We need to bridge this gap between a few great and mostly poor institutions.
As an educational institute, what kind of help Seth M R Jaipuria Schools expect from the Government of India to improve the status of education in the country?
The government should create a legal framework, which promotes investment in education and competition amongst schools. Schools should be forced to deliver better quality and affordability through market competition and transparency rather than regulation.
Description: Seth M R Jaipuria Schools impart integral education, general as well as vocational, to all irrespective of caste, creed and colour; in an atmosphere of purity, efficiency, discipline and fraternity.
Sandeep Goenka and Archana Goenka Founder Trustees CP Goenka International Schools
We strive for maintaining quality and thus achieving excellence by preparing students for learning beyond their school years and assisting them to become lifelong learners, say Sandeep Goenka and Archana Goenka, Founder Trustees, CP Goenka International Schools, in conversation with Elets News Network (ENN).
To manage with the rapidly evolving world, students must be responsive to change and receptive to new ideas, how does C P Goenka International School maintain such environment for its students?
At C P Goenka International School, we have created an environment that exposes students to different
cultures, value systems and practices in different ways like student exchange programmes, model united nation sessions, interactive learning activities, debates, and research projects etc. This enables them to understand different perspectives. Such activities encourage students to appreciate cultural diversity. This helps them to accept the change positively.
What are the best practices followed by the school in its curriculum to nurture lifelong learners?
The curriculum is planned in such a way that creativity, collaboration, learning by doing, online and differentiated learning, self-regulation and problem solving are regularly undertaken through projects that focus on solving real-life problems. Students’ confidence and self esteem are fostered through activities like MdM (My delightful Moment) where students showcase their unique talents, debates, quiz, street plays, elocution, etc.
The curriculum also incorporates differentiated learning strategies to nurture students’ strengths, integrate multiple intelligence-based activities, flipped classrooms and the right use of technology etc, to develop skills and create the most competent learners and citizens.
How growing use of technology in education sector is improving the teaching-learning practices, assessment methodologies and improving the learning outcomes?
The effective use of technology in education has changed the face of education and created more educational opportunities for teachers and students. use of online activities, educational games, high-tech lessons and collaborative learning sessions with the children of the world has brought out a global perspective amongst our students.
What measures are adopted by the school for active engagement of parents along with teachers for holistic learning amongst its students?
Parents play a fundamental role in the development of our school and students. The active collaboration of the student-parent-teacher has had its impact on the holistic learning of the students. Active involvement of the parents in the PTA, framing of activities, organising events and functions has
nurtured a compassionate attitude towards teaching and learning.
Description: CP Goenka International School imparts education to nurture Culturally Developed, Responsible and Conscientious Global Citizens.
Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has approved addition of 5,000 seats in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV) from the Academic Year 2019-20, announced Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday.
Currently, the JNVs – Residential schools for talented rural children, are having around 46,600. The addition of 5,000 seats means the enrolment of over 51,000 students from the academic year 2019-20.
In the last four years, over 9,000 seats have been added and the addition of 5,000 seats from next year has taken the number to over 14,000 seats. In the next four years, the Government is likely to add 32,000 more seats.
“This is a step in the right direction. This is the biggest-ever expansion of quality education for rural students. This unprecedented expansion of JNVs, nearly free of cost residential schools, will provide more opportunity for talented children from rural areas to get a quality education,” said HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar.
Navodaya is the only education system in the country where students give entrance examination for admission to class six. In 2001, 5.50 lakh aspirants appeared for the entrance examination for admission to class 6. Over the years the number of aspirants appearing for the entrance examination has increased considerably. In 2019, 31.10 lakh students have registered for the entrance examination.
“This reflects the growing aspirations of rural children for acquiring quality education and the Government’s consistent effort to meet this aspiration, under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” the HRD Minister said.
“The Government is also actively considering setting up of a Navodaya Vidyalaya each in the newly carved out districts in various States,” the minister added.
In past five years, Navodaya Vidyalaya has consistently recorded a pass percentage of over 97 per cent in Class 10 and Class 12, of which 86% securing first division, which is far better than private schools and CBSE’s national average.
Today, the Internet is the new pied-piper. And everyone seems mesmerised by its music, especially children. The challenge is to use the Internet in the way that leads children towards knowledge and self-awareness, says Manmeet Khurana, Founder and CEO, The Ultimate Knowledge (TUK), in an interview with Elets News Network (ENN).
How does The Ultimate Knowledge (TUK) help in developing awareness among children from an early age?
The Ultimate Knowledge is a dynamic portal, which aims to develop awareness in the minds of the children from an early age. We strive to provide knowledge to children in the form of impeccably written articles supplemented by attractive images and videos. We have kept in mind the comprehension capabilities of children vis-à-vis language and content across knowledge spectrums and geographical boundaries.
How is the information available at TUK different from regular academics? How will it help students boost their Intelligence Quotient (IQ) and learning power?
The information available at TUK is different from the academic curriculum and has been designed to supplement the knowledge a child acquires at school. TUK endeavours to adopt a holistic approach to education by creating general awareness among students.
How does The Ultimate Knowledge platform help teachers to improve the learning practices in classroom?
Teachers can enhance their classroom lectures by adding more interesting information to any topic. As the students are Internet savvy, teachers may also direct them to get additional information on any topic by reading an article. Any topic taught digitally through attractive images and videos have a lasting impression on a child’s memory.
What are the various domains in which TUK is imparting knowledge to a child? Please describe about every domain.
We started working on our portal only after we have done our due diligence, and post extensive consultations with eminent teachers, educationists, principals and parents.
On a higher level, we segregated our content into 3 grade categories [Grade 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12]. This we have done keeping in mind that the language and comprehension capabilities differ across age levels, and one size doesn’t fit all. At a granular level, we have divided the content into various interesting domains.For example, to make students understand Science better, we present situations and events with proper explanation of the concept behind it. Similarly, under the technology section, the latest Technological breakthroughs across the world are presented before the children in a lucid language.
What is the vision and mission of The Ultimate Knowledge for the future?
Our mission is to ensure that the perfect blend of information and knowledge is imparted to students. We see ourselves as a perfect ally of all educational institutions whose aim is to create awareness among children. We would be the go-to portal for students to get an all-round and holistic knowledge.
Our vision is to help the society by creating a heightened level of awareness among the youth to face future challenges with their knowledge and capabilities. India enjoys a prestigious global presence, and our students need to be well-equipped to make the most of the opportunities looming large on the horizon.
The Jump Start imparts quintessential knowledge and skills to the graduate talent making them employable and organisations future ready and competitive, says Mahesh Iyer, Co-Founder & Curator, The Jump Start, in conversation with Elets News Network (ENN).
Mahesh Iyer, Co-Founder & Curator, The Jump Start
Please describe briefly about the solutions developed by the organisation to help education institutes?
The Jump Start is a skill formation and an employability enrichment venture curated by industry professionals who possess extensive experience in the field of human capital formation through talent identification and development, academia affiliations, training and consulting.
How does the solutions provided by your organization help in promoting effective learning among students?
The Jump Start team is committed to improve the employability quotient in the society by inducing a skill and value-based learning methodology which is industry-recognised and are aligned to the national occupational Standards prescribed by the MSDe. We believe that the inclusion of Tier 3 and 4 graduate talent and the unemployed workforce to the mainstream will address a larger socio-economic challenge of our country.
Industrial Revolution 4.0 is much talked about term nowadays, how important is the skill and training for students?
Researches revealed that the graduates lack the fundamental skills required by businesses. Further, formal training of employees in basic business frameworks and concepts is relatively missing. It is imperative that we demystify the gap. The missing threads are confidence building, application of concept into practice and the efforts from the institutes to fulfil the requisites for helping students to sustain in this dynamic and volatile job market.
