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Learning Wings Committed To Developing International Standard

By
Akash
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Ajay BhatiaWe believe in grooming young ones to think with clarity and respond to life situations in a definitive manner with sensibility and humanitarian outlook, says Ajay Bhatia, Chairman, Learning Wings Education Systems in a conversation with Elets News Network (ENN).

In the rapidly changing education landscape, how Learning Wings meets the demands of parents, students and education providers across the world? What practices are followed at Cambridge International School to nurture them as global citizens?

Innovation and commitment to developing international standards is what Learning Wings Education Systems does the best. It is a global organisation that works closely with schools to raise education standards and hence student achievements. Its schools—Cambridge International School—spread across North India are showing students the process of realizing their potential.

We are a human, physical and technological corporation which serves as a platform to develop the next generation of global citizens. We believe in grooming young ones to think with clarity and respond to life situations in a definitive manner with sensibility and humanitarian outlook. The courses are disseminated in a manner that brings out the learning by self-exploration, collaboration in a team-spirit, and with global perspective.

As profound and ambitious as that sounds, we feel it is a moral and social imperative, as stipulated in guidance from international academic collaborations and the United Nations millennium development goals. We were the first to bring Cambridge International Exams into the North Indian Education landscape and the first International Baccalaureate School provider in North India.

Also Read: Play Based Learning Encourages a Holistic Experience for the little ones

Learning Wings is also the first Indian school management service provider to develop partnerships with Teacher Training Universities in UK for continuous teachers empowerment. These facts show that we live to implement strategies that are the physical embodiment of our motto – Dream, Dare, Do which is supported by five core values.

In order to impart innovative curriculum to the students, what are the practices followed by Learning Wings? Please give brief details about international collaborations in this regard.

This LWES syllabus booklet brings cambridge schools’ commitment to optimize teachinglearning and to expedite students’ holistic development. mission and vision of LWES and its schools are based on single philosophy direction of our chief mentor, sri m. he says happy students grow up to be happiness for all.

The teachers and school should focus and work to make each day creatively fruitful. through this booklet, we share with you creativity and innovations that are brought on the surface by the students through opportunities that are provided by school for hands-on experiments for experiential learning over rote learning.

It shares the challenges planned by teachers that enable the learners to explore multiple dimensions of excellence, encompassing intellectual, social, emotional and physical development. they are prepared for real life living.

LWES endorses the fact that cherishing own culture and respecting that of others, is pivotal to holistic development of learners, hence focuses on value-based learning based on five core values: academic excellence, individual integrity, global citizenship, continuously onwards and commitment to serve.

This syllabus encourages inquiry and exploration, develops children’s competence in various skills like communication, problemsolving, observational, critical thinking and reasoning. equal emphasis is given to individual, small group and whole-group activities, to improve children’s ability to work across all levels and learn essential 21st century skills of collaboration, communication and creativity.

Differentiation and respect for diversity is another aspect which makes our schools equal opportunity learning centers where all learners with all abilities are respected and nurtured. we challenge learners to excel beyond all expectations and create a world worth living.

What is your vision and mission for upcoming years?

LWES aims to expand its operations across the globe. As our Chief Patron, Sri M, Says, Forget the theories, go to the core. We believe that answers to education will not come from the west. It is the ancient wisdom of our culture, mixed with global education practices and using technology as supportive medium for larger collaboration along with open-minded approach of the larger good. We aim to ensure that childhood has to be nurtured with happiness and care, challenges and responsibilities, compassion and empathy. World today needs larger than life actions and for that, we need to prepare ourselves and students.

Redefining the paradigms of digital education in India

By
Akash
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Digital learning solutions have changed the face of most Indian classrooms and home learning environments. Learning solutions that understand a student’s way of learning and also aid teachers in better engagement in classrooms are the learning tools of the future. As a learning solutions company we understand this need and are constantly evolving our digital learning solutions to make learning experiences engaging, effective, and efficient. Indiannica Learning Private Limited (a subsidiary of Navneet Education Limited, formerly known as EncyclopædiaBritannica (India) Private Limited) since its inception has been a pioneer in products that spread knowledge, promote learning, and guide learners. The company has an extensive product catalogue comprising specialized curricular learning solutions and digital learning solutions.

Amitava SenAt Indiannica Learning we are aware of the importance of connecting with learners. Amitava Sen, AVP-Digital Sales, Indiannica Learning Pvt Ltd believes, “Interactive and engaging learning solutions is the way forward for education and in order to evolve the education system it is important to push boundaries and strive for efficient learning solutions for students. “

Indiannica Learning provides an array of digital learning platforms for students in schools and higher learning, which can be easily accessed anywhere and at any time on varied devices that are graded for easy accessibility and can also be monitored by parents and teachers. All our products are designed to enhance learning experience and develop a holistic approach towards learning.

Indiannica Library Unplugged, our e-library offering provides access to high quality reference materials to assist curricular learning. We bring the library within the classroom, and at home, making it available 24×7 on any device, in the form of e-books. More than a thousand e-books are available for all curriculum subjects and can be accessed both online and offline. This enables a large number of student to access the same book at the same time and enhance the learning experience.

Our online learning resources complement classroom learning and help with homework and research. Britannica® School is specially designed for differentiated instruction, allowing students to move easily to material of higher or lower reading levels as needed. The content of Britannia School is reliable, age-appropriate, and updated continuously. Users can choose from primary, middle school, or senior school levels. Numerous articles, images, interactive exercises, atlases, timelines, magazines, pre-screened websites, and videos in lesson plans, for class projects, or for homework are available for users. It also includes study guides and exercises that cover English, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies.

Similarly, there is the Britannica® Online Academic Edition which makes finding information fast and easy, and students and teachers can access a variety of resources from one location. The search results deliver a range of content including encyclopedia articles, primary sources, e-Books, multimedia, related websites, magazines, and much more.Articles are written and edited by a dedicated staff of professionals inhouseand also an extensive network of renowned scholars (including former U.S. presidents and Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners), advisers, content specialists, and writers. They ensure that all articles are current, accurate, unbiased, comprehensive, relevant, and international in scope, and engaging to college-level learners, researchers, and faculty.

To simplify and improve searches for images, students can use Britannica® ImageQuestand gain access to nearly 3 million images from more than 50 of the best collections in the world, including Bridgeman Art Library, Dorling Kindersley Images, Getty Images, the National Portrait Gallery of London, the National Geographic Society, and Oxford Scientific Language Lab and Pronounce are effective digital learning solutions that help learn the English language better. Language Lab is an easy to use and dynamic-pure software solution, which emphasizes on speaking and listening. It has made classroom management easy, enabling peer and group discussion, can be easily controlled by the tutor, and made student evaluation easy. Similarly, Pronounce is a state-of-the-art digital solution for schools that has enhanced English language learning. The software solution combines the latest text-to-speech technology with voice recognition, creating a powerful tool for language learning.

Our award-winning smart class solution, Conceptpedia, which is especially designed for teachers, has enabled teachers to better engage with students for an interactive learning experience. The curriculum-mapped content has enabled teachers to teach the essentials of various subjects in an interactive way. Conceptpedia has also solved many problems that schools face while using a smart class and has allowed for easy integration with existing smartboard network.

Our digital learning solutions are designed for the 21st century classroom and today’s home learning environments and reflect our continuing association with global educational publisher, Encyclopædia Britannica as exclusive licensee of Encyclopædia Britannica curricular solutions. Our learning solutions encourage critical thinking and nurture curiosity of the learners. Through our products we aim to enhance and support the academic growth of students worldwide and will continue to develop and deliver the best learning solutions to learners.

RIT Fostering Excellence in Higher Education

By
Akash
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Rajarambapu Institute of Technology (RIT), Rajaramnagar was started in 1983. RIT has a green beautiful campus of 17 hectors and buildings on it measuring 53,029 Square meter. RIT has emerged as a leading Technological Institute in Western Maharashtra through its dedicated and disciplined approached to provide quality technical education over a period around 35 years.

RIT offers seven undergraduate programmes, 12 postgraduate programmes and four Diploma (2nd Shift) programmes. Most of them are accredited or re-accredited by National Board of Accreditation (NBA) or All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) New Delhi.

RIT is one of the few private engineering institutes in Maharashtra who received TEQIP (Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme) funds in phase I & II. Since 2008, RIT has been identified as a Regional Centre of IUCEE program (Indo-Universal Collaboration for Engineering Education). In 2011-12, UGC and Shivaji University, Kolhapur granted status of autonomy to the institute. In the academic year 2014-15, the institute attracted international admissions. . In 2016, the institute is accredited with ‘A’ grade by NAAC. The institute has also been accredited by Institution of Engineers (India), Kolkata. RIT is ranked 75th by National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, in 2016. UGC has granted extension of Autonomous Status for the period w.e.f. 2017-2018 to 2021-2022

RIT has signed MoUs with renowned academic institutes across India and abroad like CTARA, IIT Powai and Purdue University, USA. The institute has also signed MoUs with around fifty reputed industries. The institute has 39 patents filed and five granted patents. The Institute has established a centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship Development [CIIED].

ISTE Maharashtra – Goa Section has honored RIT with “Library of the year 2018” award for the year 2017-18. Award conferred in 15th Indian Society for Technical Education (ISTE) Maharashtra – Goa State Level Student’s Convention 2018. RIT is 49th in top 75 and 28th in top private colleges as per the Engineering Institute Rankings 2017 survey by Times Engineering. Outlook Survey 2017 has ranked RIT 91st in Top 100 Engineering Colleges in India. Team Luftwaffe 4.0 of RIT has received 1st rank in Go-Kart Racing Championship, organized by Indian society of New Era of Engineers (ISNEE) held at Coimbatore. RIT Space Club has successfully launched Satellite Balloon recently. Experimentry Rocket Club of RIT has developed sounding rocket consisting electronic ignition devices.

The Institute passionately and meticulously implements Outcome Based Teaching Learning Processes and Innovative Practices with vast opportunities for student welfare and care by nurturing culture of counseling, mentoring, facilitation and overseas exposure.

Carving Global Leaders through Technical Education

By
Akash
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Dr G P Saradhi VarmaIndustry-oriented courses, good placement record and innovative teaching-learning methodology has placed SRKR Engineering College among the top 100 institutions of the country, says Dr G P Saradhi Varma, Principal, Sagi Rama Krishnam Raju (SRKR) Engineering College, in an interview with Elets News Network (ENN).

What prominent challenges a private engineering institutions like yours is faced with?

The biggest challenge for the private engineering institutions is to change the perception of education stakeholders and build reputation. Private engineering colleges are deprived of the funding benefits and various types of assistance from the Government. Despite the good quality facilities and infrastructure, SRKR faces the scarcity of quality students as we are allowed to admit the students through EAMCET and ECET only.

If the SRKR is allowed to admit the students through JEE Main, it would be beneficial for the college. The number of private engineering colleges mushrooming at a rapid rate leads to downfall in the quality of education. NIRF ranking by the Government helped the institutions to cope up with this situation.

What are the innovations introduced by SRKR Engineering College to boost learning and employability of students?

SRKR Engineering College has introduced innovative teaching-learning methodologies with introduction of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), IIT Madras NPTEL online Lectures and Course assignments, IIT e-Yantra Robotic Assignments, ZF Innovation Online Assignments, Vlip Moodle online learning, Google Class Room for online assignments, 24×7 Digital Learning Centre etc. SRKR is recognised as Skill Development Centre (SDC) by Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) and NASSCOM, as part of this, the college is offering skill development and technology training courses to the students.

The college is also selected as one of the Centres of Excellence by APSSDC, IUCEE EPICS Partner Institution for Purdue University Design Thinking Programme; recognised as CISCO Networking Academy by CISCO, India; Mozilla Campus Club by Mozilla, USA to organise various skill development programs, certification courses, training courses.

We have established an i-Hub (Industry, Innovation, and Incubation) centre within the campus aimed to promote innovation and entrepreneurship among students. SRKR has also collaborated with 64 reputed Industries/Organisations/International Universities for conducting training programmes, internships, and student exchange programmes.

What are the achievements of SRKR Engineering College in students’ placement?

Experienced faculty members of training and placement cell at SRKR Engineering College have developed an ecosystem that helps students to be industry-ready and employable. Over 50 companies including the big names like Yahoo, SAP, IBM, HSBC, TCS, HCL etc visit the campus every year to recruit the students. Since last 20 years, the college has 100 per cent placement that helped it to secure first position in Andhra Pradesh. Another achievement of the college is that seven students have been selected for placement in abroad by Panasonic R&D, Malaysia, with a package of Rs 25 lakhs per annum.

Are you also having some foreign collaborations?

The institute has successfully completed the collaborative research projects with Wageningen University and Research, Netherlands; University of Technology, Sydney, Australia and with University of Virginia School of Medicine, USA. We have another on-going research project on Dissecting Autism Trajectories in Longitudinal Electronic Health Records in collaboration with Ben-Gourin University. SRKR has signed 20 MoUs with International Universities for internships, student and staff exchange programmes, collaborative research activities etc.

Govt’s Joint Efforts with Private Sector for Better Future of Students

By
Akash
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There is going to be joy in learning for children going to schools in Haryana as the state government has tied up with private organisations for starting a pilot project on high tech education in primary schools, writes Priya Yadav of Elets News Network (ENN).

In a recent move, the State Council of Education Research and Training has decided that it would provide tablets and smart classes facility for students and teachers across the state. The decision will be implemented in a phased manner with pilot project kicking off from this academic session in about 30 schools in Gurugram and Rewari districts.

Senior officials in the Haryana education department who have been involved in the project said that the very basic structure of class rooms in government schools will be modified to launch this concept of digital learning. Projectors, tablets will be provided by private organisations under the Corporate Social Responsibility programme to the schools. The department of school education has already signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Hero Group of Companies for funding the project.

The project has come up with its own challenges that the government is trying to tackle. Special lectures will be required both for the children and their teachers to align with the demands of digital learning. Teachers will get special learning for the project since they are the point of contact for the children. They will be given tablets for better monitoring of children’s progress along with career counselling that they will now provide to the children.

“Digital learning in government schools will excite the interest of the students in studies. They will get the opportunity to learn using modern techniques and the learning process will become easy for the children. The idea is to enhance the learning level of students in the government schools and government has been making concerted efforts in that direction which are now beginning to pay off,” said Pramod Kumar, State Education Officer, department of school education, Haryana.

Jyoti Choudhary, Director (SCERT), said that the project is in mode of being implemented and the department is looking for quality educators who will deliver lectures in schools.

“Workshops will be held to train the teachers who will be finally teaching the students. Such programs are of huge benefit to the education set up in government sector as these are targetted to enhance the interest of students in computer technology. Smart classes will help children get a better command on English language, improve their communication skills, boost their confidence besides making learning fun,” she said.

This is not the first time that the state government has joined hands with private sector for the benefit of government school children. Two years ago, the State Government launched a project called Muskann which was kicked off from Gurugram. The idea was to make both government and private schools work together for enhancing the overall standard of education in the state.

Under the Right to Education Act, the government is mandated to build a certain number of schools. Though infrastructure has been improved but the quality of education leaves a lot to be desired in the government sector.

The idea of project Muskaan was to introduce the best practices that private schools have implemented in the government set up as well. The project, it was envisaged, will start with an emphasis on infrastructure improvement, and would eventually aim to accomplish intervention classrooms.

There are 14,500 government schools in the state, of which 8,500 are primary. Under the project nearly 30 private institutions had come forward to adopt government schools under the Muskan programme which required each private school to adopt at least two government schools in their vicinity and share their best practices in learning, innovative ideas and creativity.

The move was unique as it encouraged children from private schools to interact with their counterparts in government schools, donate their books and toys to them. Several private institutions had come forward across the state, donating funds under their Corporate Social Responsibility programs that were strategically used in upgrading infrastructure. Solar panels were put on various government school buildings by private institutions under the scheme. Even as few institutes came forward with the offer of transforming traditional classrooms into smart classes.

It is not just enhancing the learning level of students that Haryana government is working on. Simultaneously a project has been launched that is targeted at polishing the employability skills of students. For this, a vocational education programme has been envisaged in collaboration with a Swedish organisation.

“The idea of project Muskaan was to introduce the best practices that private schools have implemented in the government set up as well. The project, it was envisaged, will start with an emphasis on infrastructure improvement, and would eventually aim to accomplish intervention classrooms.“

The project, which will also be launched from this academic session, will be first launched in 100 government senior secondary schools. While addressing a meeting of the Haryana School Shiksha Pariyojna Parishad, education minister Haryana, Ram Bilas Sharma said that an attempt is being made to launch personalised learning model that makes vocational education more meaningful and effective.

Three skills that have been identified to be enhanced in government schools for vocational purposes are retail, IT/ITes and beauty and wellness. “By the time a child passes out of the school, if he has enrolled in vocational training, he would be trained sales person or can use his IT skills for earning morning or girls can set up beauty shops that can get them much needed extra money,”said Rajnish Sharma, a government teacher in Panchkula school.

“Already, 1001 government senior secondary schools with two skills each have been covered under a separate scheme approved by the Chief Minister Manohar Lal, where 14 skills have been introduced now,” said Haryana’s Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma.

Under the pilot project, life skills such as effective communication, digital literacy, entrepreneurship, critical thinking, problem-solving and self-management would be the outcome of the proposed innovative methodology that will help the students, Sharma said.

“Apart from studies, employment remains number one concern of students in government schools, as most of them are from underprivileged families and are fighting serious concerns of financial instability. The vocational programme is a step towards making them financially independent at early stage in life besides empowering them with skills that would last a lifetime,”said Pramod Kumar.

Additional Chief Secretary, School Education, Dheera Khandelwal said that the programme will be funded by Swedish corporates who will send the funds under their corporate social responsibility programme and will be routed via the National Skill Development Fund. It is estimated that nearly Rs 10 crore will be spent on the project.

Scout teachers in schools will also be made part of the project and will be given orientation along with vocational teachers. Students who will be taking vocational courses will be enrolled as Scouts and Guides.

India Needs Skill-oriented Education to Boost Employability

By
Akash
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Trade and industry sectors want their potential employees assessed in various ways. It is done to evaluate the candidates’ abilities matching the desired work profile. However, most often the grudge is skill deficit or skills mismatch. Elets News Network (ENN) presents a report based on an interaction with industry-academia experts on how government, industry and academia can play helpful role in skill development.

On the occasion of the launch of Skill India Mission in 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “In the coming decades, the largest workforce required by the world will be provided by India.” The Government thus set a target to create 500 million skilled workforce by 2022, accordingly.

India is steadily working to become a pool of market-ready talent for the world at large and not just for domestic needs. With India having the world’s largest youth population (64 per cent of 1.3 billion in the working-age group); it is well-known that the education system will have to continue to take the lead role to provide the youngsters required skills and training, especially to higher education students.

Include Skills, Training in the Curriculum

According to the government statistics, India’s youth literacy rate (15-24 years) and adult literacy rate (15 years and above) in 2011 were 86.1 per cent and 69.3 per cent, respectively. It has set a target to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education to 25.2 per cent in 2017-18 and further to 30 per cent in 2020-21.

The Government’s Draft National Education Policy 2016 also envisages to include skills and training in the curriculum to expand opportunities for students to acquire relevant skills, including skills needed for work and entrepreneurship, to name a few.

“There is a need to renew curricula at all levels of education with special emphasis on the emerging learning areas,” states the Draft Policy.

According to Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) report published last year, only 20 per cent of the five million students who graduate every year get employed.

“India’s demographic dividend will be a huge deficit if we continue to have only 20 per cent of our graduates employable. The evident gap in the industry requirements and curriculum has emerged as one of the most common reasons highlighted for this figure,” said Chief Executive Officer of MeritTrac Gopal Devanahalli.

“There is an opinion among stakeholders that most of teaching–learning experience is academic and not related to the real-job environment. Communication skills of graduates are often lacking particularly in comparison to the demands of today’s global marketplace,” he added.

The All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2016-17 report highlighted that 28,348,197 students got enrolled at graduate-level.

“In India, new legal frameworks to entrust institutions with higher levels of autonomy, including the strategically important capacity to manage their budgets and their staff members’ career is the need of the hour,” said Professor Prakash Kondekar of Saurashtra University.

On similar lines, Rohit Manglik, Chief Executive Officer of EduGorilla emphasised on imparting practical knowledge.

“Academic institutions should devise a dynamic curriculum which gives more emphasis on practical knowledge in tune with the needs of the industry rather than encouraging rote learning,” said Rohit Manglik, adding, the academic-industry collaboration for curriculum structuring, guest lectures and internships will lead to better career prospects for students.

Government, Corporate & Academia, Boost the Talent Pool

With the tremendous impact of technology on the labour market marked by continuous change, the work environment has also become more complex, requiring new skills.

Christopher Higgins, Business Head of IdeateLabs, said: “In a fast-changing areas like digital marketing where schools and universities cannot keep up with the pace of change, many agencies have also launched part-time training courses that lead to internships.”

“I believe that industry can step in and ensure that students get access to development opportunities, especially in industries that have a shortage of skilled talent,” he added.

Youths after graduating often opt to secure a decent job; some choose to pursue higher education or put efforts on research and development; some opt for the profession of teaching; some follow their family occupation; some choose a different career path; some follow their passion or interest: photography, music, film, art, and so on.

It would be no exaggeration to say that graduates who look out for a regular- income-work profile in their field-of- study are the ones who often struggle to get one.

Many corporate bodies and organisations along with government bodies have been collaborating to contribute on enhancing students’ employment opportunities by way of internships, campus placements and providing work experience to students.

Manipal ProLearn CEO AP Ramabhadran, said: “Industries will need to support and encourage the endeavour while heavily investing in various training and upskilling programs.”

“Finally the government will have to provide the framework to support learners and companies through this period of transformation for creating a win-win situation for everyone,” he added.

Elaborating on it, MeritTrac CEO said: “It would be better if they can articulate the requisites of roles and graduate employability skills for students to work upon much prior to their placements by using authentic and reliable assessments which are more aligned with corporate practises to ascertain best fit for the respective roles that they are hiring for.”

“Government plays a vital role by contributing to employability and skill development schemes that help create more vacancies,” he said, adding that funding higher education for a better quality of education that encapsulates syllabus-based learning could go a long way to mould budding talent in a very large way.

Meaningful Collaborations among Government, Industry and Academia

employabilityThe potential of human capital in India is never questioned, but the employability quotient of fresh talent is still in a questionable state, says AP Ramabhadran, Chief Executive Officer, Manipal ProLearn.

“The way forward is for the government, industry and academia to engage in a meaningful collaborations aimed at imbibing a culture of self-learning and honour code among students,” he said.

Professor Prakash Kondekar of Saurashtra University, feels: “The main goal of educational institutes or universities is to provide the educational component necessary for the construction of knowledge within a broad humanistic vision and in the context of a massified higher education system.”

“It should have a lifelong access to learning through innovations that supports the professional and personal objectives of a diversity of learners,” the Professor added.

Prakash Kondekar further emphasised on keeping a loose decision-making and cooperation framework on track, and deepen the dialogue with the stakeholders along with developing a shared language, shared understanding of the underlying objectives rather than the technicalities of the tools.

“This can be achieved if the tools are seen as being interconnected through student-centred learning and with the view of catering to a diverse student population, within specific institutional and national contexts,” he added.

Create Future Leaders

In the midst of a rapid and progressive transformation in education across the dimensions—purpose, content, pedagogy and methodologies have paved the way for many sundry challenges.

Today, higher education is posed by various contingencies demanding diverse skill, architecture, innovation and creativity, public-private partnership, to name a few.

MIT World Peace University Faculty of Management Dean (PG Programmes), Sayal Ganakar, feels that the four dimensions: individual agency associated with self-determination and the creative impulses of individuals; proficiencies and opinions of diverse set of people; intrinsic motivation merits over external rewards; and individualism deeply intertwined with autonomy at colleges and universities— are inherent to promote and nurture an innovative climate.

“While we see such a churn, it is our profound ambition to create future leaders who both can comprehend and contribute to their organisations in becoming nimble and corporate leaders,” she said.

Global philanthropist and Founder of The Giving Back Foundation, Meera Gandhi, stressed on entrusting youths to run companies.

She writes: “Youths must be entrusted with running companies, not just the young people born into industrial families. Talent must be nurtured now.”

“Government must give tax incentives to companies that hire young people at a certain pay scale and in responsible positions. Academia must have corporate fair days where companies are invited on campus and can pitch jobs to students as is done at Harvard and all universities in the USA,” said Gandhi.

Industry-Academia Collaborations: Imperatives for Sustainable Development

By
Akash
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Global pursuit for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) has brought the Higher Education on the forefront of the
Developmental Agenda across the world. It is primarily because of the increasing role which knowledge plays in
development and more so because of the rapid pace at which Knowledge gets generated and becomes obsolete, writes Dr Umesh Chandra Pandey, Regional Director, Regional Evaluation Centre, Indira Gandhi National Open
University, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, for Elets News Network (ENN).

Dr Umesh Chandra Pandey, Regional Director, Regional Evaluation Centre, IGNOU, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
Dr Umesh Chandra Pandey, Regional Director, Regional Evaluation Centre, IGNOU, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh

We are witnessing an ever-growing class of Knowledge Workers who need to update themselves and stay productive at their workplaces. Major proportion of such new class of knowledge aspirants belong to corporate world. Academia has to respond to such increasing demands of lifelong education. It’s hardly a matter of choice but an economic compulsion of the knowledge society we are living in.

Situation is challenging for the academia as they have to reach out to work places of the corporate workers and deliver education at the time and place of their choice. Educational Systems are under obligation to adopt flexible ways and means to serve work place requirements and bridge the gap with corporate world. Open and Distance Systems are therefore emerging as the only viable alternative due to their inherently “Flexible and Innovative” nature.

Industry Academia Gap: A Cause for Concern

A weak functional relationship between output of educational system and requirements of job market has serious challenge for the economic development. The situation has attracted the renewed attention of policy makers keeping in view the Sustainable Development Goals. Draft New Education Policy of India underlines that weak linkages between University and Industry is one of the reasons for poor research and development. It is increasingly being realized that structured knowledge created in the Universities should blend with the tacit knowledge of the Industrial Workforce. Such a fusion of knowledge and experiences will help to accelerate Industrial growth. On the other hand, it will also help the academia to further explore innovative technologies for increased resource and energy efficiency. To facilitate an effective interface between academia and industry, several policy initiatives have been suggested which includes the provision of having representations from industry in Governing bodies of higher education institutions.

Further, Industry’s job multiplication effect has a positive impact on society. It has been estimated that every one job in manufacturing creates 2.2 jobs in other sectors (UNDP web Site). Hence a strong functional dependence between academia and industry is a developmental imperative. A weak academia industry linkage will make industry incapable of supporting other vital sectors of development.

Role of Distance Education

Open and Distance Learning Systems due to their “Innovative and Flexible” character istics are ideally positioned to work in a Multi Stakeholder Environment.It creates a conducive situation for collaborations and networking with industry. Further Open and Distance Learning systems have been biggest users of technology which enhances their capabilities to reach out to working population. Among all the ODL institutions, IGNOU is the major role player which has the technological capability to run Online Knowledge Repository, satellite channels, Network of FM Radio Stations across the country, Network of SIT Terminals for video teleconferencing, A/V Programmes, Mobile E Learning Terminals Vans (MeLT Vans) etc., which favorably position the ODL system to reach out to diverse clientele through ICT enabled methods.

IGNOU is known for its novel approach of collaboration and sharing of resources .University has signed MOUs with several professional bodies, corporate, Government organisations, NGOs, educational institutions, research organisations both in India and abroad to develop Academic Programmes, to create Self Learning Content, develop Multimedia Content, deliver the Programme and Monitor the activities. An innovative project of Hero Honda Ltd., and IGNOU has been widely recognised as the best innovative initiative of University and Corporate organisation. Some of the other prominent organizations which were involved in IGNOU’s affairs in the past are the Future Learning and Development Ltd. (FLDL), NIIT Ltd, the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI), IBM, Bharti Learning Systems Ltd (Centum Learning Ltd), the Cochin International Aviation Service Limited (CIAL), the Institute of Rail Transport (IRT), the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International School of Textile & Management (SVPISTM), Global Talent Track (GTT), Training and Advanced Studies in Management & Communication Ltd. (TASMAC), Everonn Education Ltd., Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., Sri Sanskar School of Etiquette and Career Development, CORE Projects & Technologies Ltd, etc (Source: IGNOU Web Site). The Centre for Corporate Education Training & Consultancy (CCETC) of the University has an interdisciplinary approach to meet the corporate needs. These initiatives of ODL systems in India are some of the success stories.

Corporate Social Responsibility: A New Opportunity

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has given rise to interesting possibilities of collaboration between Distance Education Institutions and Corporate Houses. The expertise and capabilities of distance education institutions to deliver educational products in remote and far-flung areas can attract the CSR investments. The corporate houses can fund innovative collaborative projects with distance education institutions to enhance their presence in such areas. Whereas Distance Education Institutions will be able to enhance their reach up to hitherto unreached areas, the Corporate Houses will be able to earn brand loyalties in such virgin areas. Such convergence of interests between Distance Education Institutions and Corporate houses need to be fully explored.

Why Demands are So Pressing?

The gaps between academia and industry will have serious consequences for the global pursuits of Sustainable Development Goals. SDG-9 of Post 2015 development agenda of United Nations emphatically highlights the role of Industry. As Industry is one of the core drivers of the Global Economic agenda, any delay to achieve SDG-9 will seriously jeopardize our pursuit to end poverty.

Further, demographic structure of Indian Population have crucial implications for SDGs. The major segment of Indian Population will continue to be young in coming 15-20 years. Moreover India is expected to be the fastest growing economy in the world during this period. Industry and Service sectors are coming up in a big way with expected contribution of 92% of India’s GDP by 2030.Report titled “Higher Education in India: Vision 2030” of FICCI Higher Education Summit 2013 highlights that expected growth will require gross incremental workforce of 250 million given retirements / drop outs. Indian Higher Education has a responsibility to supply major share of this work force.

Interestingly, India will have a labor surplus of largely young people in 2030 with a median age of 32 years. These demographic trends have a far reaching impact for SDGs primarily because rest of the world is aging fast. If suitably skilled such young workforce will be able to respond to the massive human resource required to fulfill the demands of labour deficient markets around the world. India has already emerged as a major source of permanent/skilled migrants going to Australia and New Zealand. India’s IT/ITeS sector currently employs 2.3 million people who service foreign markets (Reference: FICCI Higher Education Summit 2013). Indian companies are spending increasing amounts on R&D and Government of India is encouraging initiatives to boost R&D in the country. Similarly Global companies are setting up R&D facilities in India. Universities have to play a meaningful role in collaboration with corporate houses to implement such R&D projects. The quality of pass outs of University systems will be crucially important to realise this.

Hence, Indian Higher Education of 21st Centure has to develop as a High Quality, Equitable and Affordable for the young people of the country. Indian Higher Education should be developed as not only best in the world but best for the world. Hence, an effective functional relationship between industry and academia is a developmental imperative which has to face the massive challenge to prepare its young population for the global economy. The effective interface between academia and industry will enhance the employability of its pass-outs , will equip them with the required leadership skills for upcoming industrial needs and respond to continuing professional requirements. Bridging the gaps will help the Industry, Government and Society in different ways. The industry will get benefitted as it will readily get the industry ready talent. Government will get benefitted as industry oriented education will help to reduce the un-employability and enhance the income levels of the people from eligible age group (18- 23 years). At the societal level multiple social benefits will accrue like raised standard of living, more number of jobs getting created. The Global Economy will get obvious advantage as any benefit which will accrue in India for young population will have worldwide impact.

AICTE Expanding Students’ Horizon through Internship

By
Akash
-

It is not the question of employability; it is the question of the students’ actual way of moving ahead, says Manpreet
Singh Manna, Director, All India Council For Technical Education (AICTE), in an interview with Elets News Network (ENN).

Students’ Employability Quotient is much-talked about. What is your opinion in context to India’s scenario?

Manpreet Singh Manna, Director, All India Council For Technical Education (AICTE)
Manpreet Singh Manna, Director, All India Council For Technical Education (AICTE)

When we talk about students’ employability, we have to first clear the concept of employability. As per trends, 20 to 25 per cent students always follow their parental occupation. When we collect figures, around 40 to 50 per cent get placement. Then immediately we start blaming institutions, regulatory bodies and other teaching-learning communities, saying that our students are unemployable. It is not the question of employability; it is the question of the students’ actual way of moving ahead.

A person who completes any education system in our country, either graduation in Humanities, Engineering or Medical Science — that person is very much employable. The only question is, what he/she deserves and gets; because of resistance, recession and policy. Suppose, if an MBBS graduate doesn’t get a break in a good private hospital, he/she may approach government hospital. If the government hospitals are limited, there will be limited scope of vacancies, and he pursues higher education or may look for the career outside the country. Otherwise, India’s education system is one of the best and largest education systems.

To provide students exposure of the outside world, we have signed MoUs with all MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) of the country to provide them internships. We have also signed MoUs with 4-5 good organisations for the potential students to come and join as interns or trainees. They have a portal for students passing, or passed, their degrees to fetch inputs free of cost. So students will come to know their liking, their areas of expertise which industries are looking for, and even get POPs (Performance Oriented Packaging) and eventually get placement. So, employability cannot be that fear factor as it is existing in the present scenario.

Another image changing aspect is the “Smart India Hackathon”, wherein students can get live projects by different Ministries of the Government of India — to first solve on the paper, then on code, and then finally build an application or a software. Soon, we will also start Hardware Hackathon. Students’ handhold has to be improved, otherwise these engineers will be nowhere engineers.

A major role of the university is to evaluate students, confer degrees as well as revise the curriculum as per today’s industry, country and global need.

How the AICTE imparts skills in the higher education?

The AICTE imparts skills to students through a number of projects. For example, the Government of India has started the world’s largest MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) programme known as SWAYAM (Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds).

In the classroom or through curriculum structure, students generally get 60 to 70 per cent theoretical knowledge, of which 70 per cent is captured through labs. Being in a campus lab, students may not get that hand-hold opportunity.

The “Tinkering Lab” concept started in the school and higher education has become a great success. As on today, more than two lakh students in the school education system have access to tinkering labs. Through SWAYAM, we provide videos for students; before going to the lab one can learn how to connect instruments, how to troubleshoot, how to do soldering, etc.

All kinds of philosophy, concepts are available on the platform, as without a proper skill, any engineer or graduate can feel that fear factor; and think of himself or herself as incompetent for the job. We must remember jobs don’t exactly require a bookish knowledge or what you learnt.

What inspired to introduce AICTE New Model Curriculum?

Previously, there were around 20 technical universities in India. An Act was passed mandating each State to have one technical university in which all the technical institutions of that State could be governed.

A major role of the university is to evaluate students, confer degrees as well as revise the curriculum as per today’s industry, country and global need. But some of the States were unable to revise it on time or revise as per the taste of the industry. So a mismatch in the curriculum was witnessed from one State to another State, one college to another college, one institute to another institute which confused students a lot. Many industries were choosing the students passing out from a particular university/college/institute because their curriculum matched their needs, thus followed the unrest.

The AICTE then formed a board which conducted a survey throughout the country — taking inputs from stakeholders, faculty, directors, deans, HoDs, students and industries — to create a new model curriculum based on inputs from academia and industry. It is not a mandatory engineering course.

We have asked universities to take at least 70 per cent from the new model curriculum. They can tweak the remaining 30 per cent as per the local area’s demands so that a uniform curriculum can be taught in the engineering system of the country to make each and every student employable and competitive enough to take any competitive exam of the country or of other countries. Many universities have already started to implement the new model curriculum.

How important is participation from the State governments to expedite the Centre sponsored schemes?

Any policy, any scheme, which is going to be launched by the Government of India cannot achieve expected level of success until and unless all the State Governments come forward to follow it without any ego, without any confusion.

Particularly for SWAYAM, we are not getting any kind of resistance because the platform is governed by nine national coordinators. The AICTE is also one of the national coordinators for all intra-disciplinary, international and private university courses. As on today, SWAYAM has more than 1,200 courses on the platform, of which some were run in the last semester, some are running and some are being run in the upcoming semesters.

India has nearly 800 universities. AICTE being an affiliating body; their syndicate, their academic concept, their board of studies have to be approved from the SWAYAM basket to offer the course for their respective constituent’s college students.

The National Student Startup Policy can be effectively implemented if the student, faculty, director/vice-chancellor and the State government come together to give innovation a final shape.

Unless they publish the list, students cannot benefit from the choice-based credit system (CBCS) of our country. It was a historical step taken in 2016, when the Government of India Gazette notification declared that any student pursuing graduation through UGC system, either college or university; or pursuing diploma and degree from the AICTE system, can earn 20 per cent choice-based credit through SWAYAM platform.

This means a student pursuing B. Tech, who wants drama or journalism or music as one of the elective subjects, can avail the credit. This can be feasible only if the hosting university and parent university and the teacher delivering the course on SWAYAM match.

The platform is a supplement or value addition to the current system. Teachers need not fear; chalk and duster system cannot be replaced with any kind of system. Any student who wants to enhance knowledge can visit SWAYAM and access content without any cost.

How can AICTE National Student Startup Policy be effectively implemented in all States?

In India, the skill development is basically a ‘jugaad technology’ which is very famous throughout the world, and we Indians are not utilising whereas others are learning and implementing it at their respective countries. Why can’t our students start implementing this jugaad technology in the incubation centre and later even file patents?

Our patent filing is at a very low rank. With the effort of the Government of India, we are at 60th rank from 85th rank in patent filing, as per global innovation index. Also, India is the third best consumer in the world. The National Student Startup Policy can be effectively implemented if the student, faculty, director/vice-chancellor and the State government come together to give innovation a final shape.

Fake universities in India revealed

By
Akash
-

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has released a list of 24 fake universities functioning in India.

A notice issued by UGC in the interest of students read, “Students and public at large are informed that at present following 24 self-styled and unrecognised institutions are functioning in contravention of the UGC Act in various parts of the country. These universities have been declared as fake and are not entitled to confer any degrees.

Uttar Pradesh and Delhi top the list with eight fake universities in each state. Other fake universities are located in the states like Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Puducherry.

State-wise list of 24 fake universities in India is as follows:

Uttar Pradesh

  1. National University of Electro Complex Homeopathy, Kanpur
  2. Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose University (Open University), Aligarh
  3. Uttar Pradesh Vishwavidyalaya, Kosi Kalan, Mathura
  4. Maharana Pratap Shiksha Niketan Vishwavidyalaya, Pratapgarh
  5. Varanaseya Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya, Varanasi
  6. Mahila Gram Vidyapith/Vishwavidyalaya, (Women’s University), Allahabad
  7. Gandhi Hindi Vidyapith, Prayag, Allahabad
  8. Indraprastha Shiksha Parishad, Institutional Area, Khod

Delhi

  1. ADR-Centric Juridical University
  2. Indian Institute of Science and Engineering
  3. Viswakarma Open University for Self-Employment
  4. Commercial University Ltd., Daryaganj
  5. United Nations University
  6. Vocational University
  7. Adhyatmik Vishwavidyalaya (Spiritual University)
  8. Varanaseya Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya

Odisha

  1. Nababharat Shiksha Parishad, Anupoorna Bhawan, Rourkela
  2. North Orissa University of Agriculture & Technology

West Bengal

  1. Indian Institute of Alternative Medicine, Kolkata
  2. Institute of Alternative Medicine and Research, Kolkata

Bihar

  1. Maithili University/Vishwavidyalaya, Darbhanga

Karnataka

  1. Badaganvi Sarkar World Open University Education Society, Belgaum

Kerala

  1. St John’s University, Kishanattam

Maharashtra

  1. Raja Arabic University, Nagpur

Puducherry

  1. Sree Bodhi Academy of Higher Education

UGC released a list of fake universities last year as well which included Maithili Vishwavidyalaya, Darbhanga (Bihar); Varanaseya Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya, Varanasi (UP); Commercial University Ltd Daryaganj (New Delhi); United Nations University, Delhi and Vocational University, Delhi.

CBSE makes Physical Education compulsory in class 9 to 12

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has made physical education compulsory for class 9 to 12 in all its affiliated schools.

“Health is often a state of physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual well- being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity. Hence, we have decided to mainstream health and physical education for class 9 and 12 with the aim of preventing them from having a sedentary lifestyle or turn into couch potatoes,” a CBSE official said.

A 150-page manual has been developed by the board in which detailed guidelines have been listed for schools. The manual also contains the methodologies to execute the guidelines.

Under the new guidelines, the schools have been instructed by the CBSE to dedicate one period for sports everyday during which students will be free to do or participate in any physical activity  in playground. The physical activities have already been listed in the manual basis which the students will be graded later.

However, Health and Physical Education (HPE) will be different from Physical Education (PE) academic elective which is offered to class 10 and 12 students. “Earlier, there used to be two co-scholastic areas — Health and Physical Education and Work Education. Now the two have been merged and the total periods allocated for the two will be used for HPE. This will ensure that schools are under no pressure of adjusting the time tables at the cost of academic subjects,” the official said.

Last month, CBSE asked all schools to reserve one period for “Health and Physical Education (HPE)” while preparing their time-table for the 2018-19 session.

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