India needs to create 100 million jobs to accelerate its growth: Report

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October 31, 2018

To accelerate country’s growth potential and make it inclusive, India needs to create around 100 million new employment opportunities over the coming decade, says a report.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in its report –Nagarik: Inclusive growth through large-scale employment generation highlighted practical ways of raising employment across the country over the coming decade.

The report also suggested that connecting local resources of India’s smaller districts to markets can lead to large scale employment generation.

According to report, “Over the coming decade, we need to create employment opportunities equivalent to the population of five Australias. This is one of the most critical agenda items facing the country which, if tackled with foresight and energy, can help accelerate our growth and make it inclusive.”

As per the report, India will need to increase its labour force participation rate (LFPR) by providing greater opportunities to its working population especially women.

“Reaching the global LFPR average of 63.5 percent in line with the increase in working age population will be critical”, the report noted.

“Generating gainful employment, especially in India’s smaller districts, where majority of India resides, allows inclusive growth. Using local capabilities, local entrepreneurs and market connects is the sustainable way forward,” said Shyamal Mukherjee, Chairman, PwC in India.

QCI and DCPCR to evaluate Delhi’s Schools jointly

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Akash

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October 31, 2018

The Delhi cabinet has approved to engage Quality Council of India (QCI) as system integrator by the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) to assist in the project management of comprehensive school evaluation exercise in National Capital.

QCI in association with DCPCR will evaluate all schools in Delhi including government, municipal, aided and unaided, on nomination basis.

In a Right to Education(RTE) State Advisory Council meeting earlier, it was decided that the DCPCR, will conduct comprehensive evaluation of school on academic levels of students, meeting of RTE norms with respect to infrastructure, teachers and security measures for students.

DCPCR also constituted a working group comprising representatives from Directorate of Education, Government of NCT of Delhi (GNCTD), East Delhi Municipal Corporation, North Delhi Municipal Corporation, South Delhi Municipal Corporation, New Delhi Municipal Council, SCERT/DIETs, Delhi Cantonment Board, private schools and civil society organizations.

The Working Group after deliberations of nearly three months submitted its report outlining the evaluation framework, process and use-cases.

QCI is a quasi-governmental organisation housed within the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). It is mainly responsible for certification and accreditation of quality across various sectors including education and healthcare. Gradually, QCI is now taking on roles in Quality Promotion across the nation through various national level initiatives, ensuring quality across all spheres.

Better social relationships, improved learning in students: A study

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Akash

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October 29, 2018

Friendly relationships between students, teachers and parents lead to improved learning capacity among school students rather than financial support, suggests a new study.

According to the study, better social capital affects reading and math scores of primary school children three- to five-times more than financial capital. Social capital is the name given to the network of relationships between school officials, teachers, parents and the community that builds trust and norms promoting academic achievement.

“We found that money is certainly important. But this study also shows that social capital deserves a larger role in our thinking about cost-effective ways to support students, especially the most vulnerable,” said Roger Goddard, professor at the Ohio State University in the US.

The study was published in the Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk. It involved 5,003 students and teachers of 78 public elementary schools in Michigan.

In the survey, teachers have to complete a questionnaire that measured the levels of social capital in their schools. The questionnaire also included the statements like “Parent involvement supports learning here“, “Teachers in this school trust their students” and “Community involvement facilitates learning here”. Ratings given by teachers on above statements also helped in estimation of social capital level in the school.

The team used state-mandated methods of reading and mathematics tests to measure learning among fourth-grade students. The results showed that, students of the schools spending more money performed better than those that spent less. However, the effect of social capital was three times larger than financial capital on math scores and five times larger on reading scores.

“Social capital was not only more important to learning than instructional expenditures, but also more important than the schools’ poverty, ethnic makeup or prior achievement,” Goddard said.

“More than half of the social capital that schools have access to has nothing to do with the level of poverty in the communities they serve,” he added.

Jindal Global University to train teachers from Afghanistan

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digitalLEARNING Network

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October 26, 2018

Ball State University (BSU), Indiana, USA, in partnership with O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU), Sonipat, India, has been awarded a grant from the US Department of State and U.S. Embassy, Kabul through the Regional Afghan Junior Faculty Development Program. The title of this US government-funded project is ‘Afghan Faculty Forum for Enrichment, Collaboration and Training (AFFECT)’. This program entails BSU hosting a cohort of Afghan junior faculty members for a 10-week professional development stint at JGU in India from January 2019 onward. It will present trainees with an innovative, interactive forum for course development, student engagement, student-centered teaching, curriculum development, and English instruction, as well as providing insight into the American system of higher education.

Expected outcomes from this program include aiding participants in their professional development, acculturation to U.S. educational and cultural expectations, establishing opportunities for sustainable mentoring relationships, opportunities to audit U.S. style courses, and to aid participants in development of an action plan and academic product for implementation upon their return to Afghanistan.

The joint training of teachers from Afghanistan between BSU and JGU is expected to make a valuable contribution to nation-building of a strategically important country for the United States and India that is facing severe challenges of armed conflict and instability. The AFFECT program will also enhance academic cooperation between the US and India, two democratic partner countries which share common goals and aspirations.

JGU located at Sonipat, Haryana, India just outside New Delhi, is one of the best research-intensive social science universities in South Asia. Deeply committed to its core institutional values, the university has been awarded the highest grade ‘A’ by the National Accreditation & Assessment Council (NAAC) of India.

Speaking about this award, the Dean of the Jindal School of International Affairs (JSIA), Professor Sreeram Chaulia said: “The future of Afghanistan will be determined by not just the end of war and terrorism but also the quality of higher education that the country can offer to its youth. Development of Human Resources holds the key for stabilising Afghanistan’s in the medium to long terms. As an Indian university, JGU is proud to be part of this nation-building exercise for Afghanistan.”

The Vice Chancellor of JGU, Professor C. Raj Kumar added: “JGU has an excellent track record in capacity building of civil servants, civil society activists and corporate executives. We have also been training teachers and lecturers from within and outside India over the years. This prestigious US government-supported grant is a major affirmation of our motto of a ‘Private University Promoting Public Service”.

NIFT Admission 2019: Online registration starts

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Akash

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October 26, 2018

National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) has started the admission process for next academic session (2019) through its online portal. Interested candidates may register till December 28, 2018.

Candidates seeking any support or clarification regarding admission process can send email to nift@applyadmission.net.

NIFT will conduct written entrance test on January 20, 2019 and the result is likely to be announced in February/ March. The test will be the gateway for admission to Bachelor of Design, Bachelor of Fashion Technology, Master of Design, Master of Fashion Management and Master of Fashion Technology courses.

Candidates, who are unable to apply before the deadline, should deposit Rs 5000 as late fee on or before January 3, 2019.

While 10+2 is the qualifying degree for admission to Bachelor courses, candidates with a graduate degree are eligible to apply for a Masters programme.

The upper age limit for applying to Bachelor’s programme is 23 years. There is no upper age limit for applying to Masters programme.

Out of the total number of seats 15 percent are reserved for candidates belonging to SC category, 7.5 percent for ST category, 27 percent for OBC category and 5 percent for PwD category.

Foreign Nationals (whether residing in India or abroad) and other candidates, who are holding an Indian passport and have temporarily immigrated to another country for six months or more for work, residence or any other purpose and who meet eligibility and admission requirements of NIFT can also apply for admission. Selection of such candidates will be on the basis of SAT/GMAT/GRE scores.

IIT JAM 2019: Online correction window opens

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Akash

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October 25, 2018

The window for correcting the online application form of Joint Admission Test (JAM) 2019 has been activated. Candidates aspiring for the exam are allowed to do corrections in exam centre, category and gender in their online application till October 30 through the official website — jam.iitkgp.ac.in.

IIT JAM 2019 exam will be conducted on February 10 in two sessions. The Computer Based Test (CBT) will be for admissions of students to M Sc (four semesters), joint M Sc-Ph D, MSc-PhD dual degree, etc. programmes at the IITs and integrated Ph D degree programmes at IISc.

IIT JAM 2019 Syllabus

The syllabus will comprise of various topics such as BL (Biological Sciences), BT (Biotechnology), GC (Geology), MS (Mathematical Statistics), CY (Chemistry), PH (Physics) and MA (Mathematics).

IIT JAM 2019 Examination schedule

Session-I: 9 am to 12 pm — Biological Sciences (BL), Mathematics (MA), Physics (PH)

Session-II: 2 pm to 5 pm — Biotechnology (BT), Chemistry (CY), Geology (GG), Mathematical Statistics (MS).

IIT JAM 2019 Eligibility criteria

Educational qualification:

The aspirant should hold a bachelor’s degree in any stream from any recognised college or university
They must have scored a minimum 55 per cent marks for general and OBC-NCL candidates. For SC, ST and PwD categories, it is 50 per cent
Those students who are in the final year of their qualifying exam can also apply
Age limit: There is no age restriction and the candidate can be an Indian national or a foreigner

IIT JAM 2019 Important dates

Commencement of Online registration: September 1, 2018
Online registration ends: October 10, 2018
Admit card availability: January 4, 2019
Mock test link availability: January 10, 2019
JAM 2019: February 10, 2019
Result announcement: March 20, 2019

India doubles its presence in QS Asia Ranking 2019

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Akash

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October 25, 2018

Indian higher education institutes have doubled their presence in the 2019 edition of the QS Asia Rankings, but none made it to the top 20.

In an official press statement released by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) on Wednesday, India has the third largest number of universities and institutes (75), after China (112) and Japan (89), in the Asia Rankings. Out of 75 institutes, there are 40 new Indian institutions in the ranking.

Bettering its position by 1 place from last year, IIT-Bombay is ranked 33 and is the top Indian Institute in QS Asia Ranking 2019. The other institutes from India in the ranking are IIT-Delhi at 40th position, IIT-Madras at 48th position, Indian Institute of Science at 50, IIT-Kharagpur at 53 and IIT-Kanpur at 61. Delhi University and IIT-Roorkee are also among the Indian institutions in the top 100 list.

“With forty new universities ranked and fourteen moving up the table, India is making good progresses in this analysis…. Since India has to cater principally for its rapidly growing student population, it has domestic priorities which results in it lagging behind in the international faculty and students’ indicators. Its leading institutions are well-liked by employers and respected by academics internationally: nine Indian universities place among the top-100 for these two indicators,” Ben Sowter, research director at QS, said.

National University of Singapore has been assessed as Asia’s best university, followed by University of Hong Kong, Nanyang Technological University, Tsinghua University and Peking University, in that order.

QS Asia Ranking 2019: Nine Indian varsities among top 100

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Akash

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October 25, 2018

With the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT- Bombay) as the top Indian institute in Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Asia University Rankings 2019, eight other varsities from India made it to the top 100.

In the latest rankings, IIT-Bombay is ranked 33 with no Indian institute among top 10 Asian institutes.

The National University of Singapore has been assessed as Asia’s best university, followed by University of Hong Kong, Nanyang Technological University, Tsinghua University and Peking University.

The other institutes from India in QS Asia Ranking 2019 are IIT-Delhi at 40th position, IIT-Madras at 48th position, Indian Institute of Science at 50, IIT-Kharagpur at 53 and IIT-Kanpur at 61. Delhi University and IIT-Roorkee are also among the Indian institutions in the top 100 list.

As per a QS release, there are 75 universities from India in the top 500 Asia list.

Universities in QS ranking have been assessed on parameters like academic reputation, employer reputation, student-faculty ratio, international faculty and students, staff with PhD, papers per faculty and citations per paper, among other parameters.

Top 10 Asian University

1) National University of Singapore (NUS)

2) The University of Hong Kong

3) Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU)

3) Tsinghua University

5) Peking University

6) Fudan University

7) The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

8) KAIST – Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology

9) The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

10) Seoul National University

NASSCOM to train students online

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Akash

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October 24, 2018

The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) is planning to make available its online skilling platform Futureskills for college students as well.

The move of not for profit tech services industry will provide training to students in emerging technologies beyond member companies.

Futureskills offers training in Internet of Things (IoT), Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Virtual Reality, Big Data Analytics, Cloud Computing and 3D printing, among others. NASSCOM through the platform has started the courses around three months ago and now has 2,00,000 participants from its member companies.

It is expected that the Futureskills will make these courses available to colleges from July next year. Initially, NASSCOM may carry out a pilot with a few colleges. The current subscription model for the courses offered is also likely to be replicated for the courses.

“Our first goal was to train the employees of member companies. So far, we offered training for B2B. July-August is when we want to take it to the colleges. We may pilot with some colleges and are in discussion with them,” said Amit Agarwal, CEO, IT-ITES Sector Skill Council, Nasscom,.

He also said, “The primary objective of Futureskills is to train people at member companies and the people who could be recruited by them.”

MHRD constitutes panel for feasibility study of IITs’ autonomy

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Akash

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October 24, 2018

The Ministry for Human Resource Development (MHRD) has set up a seven-member committee, under former IIT-Kanpur chairman M Anandkrishnan, to explore the feasibility of reducing Government’s control over the 23 IITs.

The committee also having directors of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) located in Kharagpur, Madras, Bombay, Delhi and Kanpur, is expected to submit its report in two months.

The committee is most likely to suggest changes in the composition of the Board of Governors (BoG) of IITs. As per Section 11 of the IIT Act, the board has nine members, all of whom are either directly or indirectly nominated by the government. In contrast, as per the new IIM Act, each IIM has 15 members of which five represent the institute’s alumni.

“Some of the best engineering schools abroad have bigger boards representing diverse voices and experience. They also have a strong alumni presence. The IIT boards are small and their composition is controlled by the government. There no room or provision for alumni either,” said a committee member.

In addition to that, the committee will also examine to empower the board to amend the institute’s statutes that govern day-to-day functioning. Currently, no amendment, repeal or addition to the statutes is possible without the approval of the President, who is the Visitor of all IITs.

It is also expected that the will also seek feedback from the IIMs on their experience under the new IIM Act before finalising its report. “We need to know if there are any lessons in there for us,” the above member added.

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