Everybody is employable, but not for any job: Technocrats TIT Group

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April 30, 2018

Employability is not about doing any job in a sub-standard way but doing it in a productive way, says Surabhi Karsoliya Sharma, Managing Director, Technocrats TIT Group, in conversation with Elets News Network (ENN).

‘Employability Quotient’ of students is much-talked about subject. How do you view it?

The employability quotient is composed of three major elements: your general skills, your subject matter depth or expertise, and your corporate skills. But in India, we often read reports stating that ‘x’ per cent of graduates in India are not employable, ‘y’ per cent of engineers are not employable and so on. I am not convinced by these reports because I believe that their definition of employability itself is incorrect. Some people define employability relating it to life skills — ability to solve problems, articulate well and so on.

Based on this definition, they measure employability and ring alarm bells on low percentage of employability, especially among the educated youth in the country. Employability is not about doing any job in a sub-standard way but doing it in a productive way. For example, one may be unemployable as a pilot or a carpenter but may be employable as a HR consultant or a CEO. My point is, everybody is employable, but not for any job.

Now, this diverts our attention to how should we assess one’s employability? The real problem is employability assessment. According to me, the problem of employability is with the way we assess employability.

What are the initiatives of Technocrats for Student Startup, including strategies or methodologies adopted to enhance students’ teaching-learning experience?

We have Incubation Business Centre which help student to explore their start-up ideas, also we have tie-ups with many industries so that student can get expert advice from them. We, as a group, focus more on practical aspects. We have digital classes, hi-tech computer labs with over 6,000 high PCs, which give students new and enhanced learning experience.

Tell us in brief about Technocrats TIT Group.

Technocrats Group of Institutions is the Central India’s largest and leading technical education group established in 1999 in Bhopal. The group is led (we need past tense here) by a team of alums??? (what is alums? This is not English) from IITs, IIMs and Stanford University Graduate School of Business. The group comprises seven 7 (we don’t write 7 this way, consult style sheet) institutes, 15,000+ students and over 1,100 faculty members on campus. The institutes offer courses from Under graduation up to doctoral level in Engineering, Management and Pharmacy domains.

The group has been recognised as the “Best Engineering Institute in Central India” by Union HRD Minister of State (Dr) Satya Pal Singh in ASSOCHAM summit and companies like Cognizant, Accenture, Renault, Nissan, IBM, DELL among others regularly visit the group from campus recruitment drives.

We have MoUs signed with Central Institute of Plastic Engineering & Technology (CIPET), Bhopal; Centre for Research and Industrial Staff Performance (CRISP), Bhopal; King Mongkut’s University of Technology, Thonburi, Bangkok (Thailand); University of Central Missouri, United States; University of Cincinnati, Ohia, United States; Namibia University of Science and Technology, Namibia.

CiTech Providing World-Class Education

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Akash

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April 30, 2018

CiTech goes beyond carving employable students through quality academia to act as a platform that recognises their strengths and weaknesses, writes DK Mohan, Educationist, Philanthropist and Chairman, Cambridge Institute of Technology (CiTech), for Elets News Network (ENN).

With the long ventilated gap existing between industry and academia incessantly being on the rise, most of the technical institutions in our subcontinent are busy creating “employable engineers”, ignoring a simple logic: the need for entrepreneurs to employ them, world class scientists to take the innovations forward, and ameliorating the standard of social living in a collaborative manner.

But it’s no time to surrender. The technical institutions, such as Cambridge Institute of Technology (CiTech), are rebelling these engineermaking factories with a broad objective of surging society’s standard of living through world-class education.

Accredited by NAAC and NBA, ISO Certified, and approved by the AICTE and affiliated to Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), CiTech goes beyond carving employable students through quality academia to act as a platform that recognises their strengths and weaknesses, imparts personalised and specific training throughout the academic days, and eventually builds entrepreneurs, scientists and even artists out of them.

Cambridge Institute of Technology was awarded as the “Best Emerging College South India” by ASSOCHAM for the year 2017’. CiTech has six R&D departments for each engineering disciplines in the campus; no wonder its pedagogy paradigm—which is a perfect amalgamation of creative R&D efforts, technology leverage, and scientific learning process—goes beyond four walls of the classroom.

Over the years, this ISO 9001:2008 Certified institution’s R&D departments have hosted many novel concepts, including public and private cloud creation projects — and recently completed IoT projects, designed and developed by students for in-house use through smartphones.

While the scientific and creative engagement with students help in mitigating the ‘learningphobia’, getting them acquainted with the industry is the next step of learning process in Cambridge.

Thus, besides periodic industrial visits, we expose our students to additional in-house handson training led by industry professionals, and in turn give them much wider perspectives with an aim to mold at least 10 per cent of our graduates as entrepreneurs.

Looking forward to become autonomous in the near future, the institute’s infrastructure facilities are built accordingly, matching the world-class standards. Separate hostels for boys and girls that meet the international standards are located inside the campus with tight security measures and facilities like 24×7 clinic and doctors, counseling centre, yoga centre and cafeteria.

“While the scientific and creative engagement with students helps in mitigating the ‘learning-phobia’, getting them acquainted with the industry is the next step of learning process in Cambridge.“

We have awarded with NAAC and NBA accreditations and are looking forward to become autonomous within a couple of years, and a private deemed university within five years. We have completed 40 acres of land acquisition in the outskirts of Bengaluru for this.

Cambridge has a high-functioning Department of HRD (Training and Placement) which caters to the placement and industry oriented training right from the first semester and the result is that more than 50 organisations including Capgemini, Tech Mahindra, NTT Data, Lowes, IBM, HCL, SASMOS, etc., are inducting candidates from the institute every year.

Tying up with more companies en route to the private university status, Cambridge Institute of Technology is one of the country’s best emerging institutes to carve a meaningful future.

‘Prime Challenge in School Education is Curriculum’

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digitalLEARNING Network

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April 28, 2018

“The prime challenge in education today is the content — the curriculum. We need to assess if the curriculum is futuristic and relevant or are we getting tied down with old, outdated curriculum. There are subjects that have invaded the new world that provide knowledge and education required to be world leaders,” said Sarvesh Kaushal, Special Chief Secretary, Government of Punjab while delivering the keynote address at 7th Elets School Leadership Summit held at Chandigarh.

“There are institutions which respond quickly and equip themselves. There are subjects that have invaded the new world that provide knowledge and education required to be world leaders,” he said.

Cautioning teachers that it is not just they who are assessing the children but nowadays it is the children too who are assessing their teachers. “This is significant given the fact that parents today are moving two layers above their affordability to educate their child and so are increasingly becoming very critical of any lapse. There is a reason for that – earlier the education used to be as good as free but no more,” he said.

“I would not bog down private schools cynically but would rather upgrade the government schools for better education of those who cannot afford it. Both private and government schools go together and there are no biases. There are hospitals in government sector which are ill equipped but that does not mean that we pull down the super specialised hospitals in private sector,”said Sarvesh Kaushal.

Explaining the role of government and private schools in his special address, Dr Anup Kumar Rajput, Professor and Head – Department of Elementary Education, NCERT, said, “Its the responsibility of private school along with government to produce creative, skillful and employable youth.”

“Pedagogy must help parents and teachers to about the progress of their wards and students along with fulfilling students learning needs, ” he added.

The Summit saw thought leaders across the education sector, the corporate and policy makers come together at a common platform to deliberate on relevant issues. This included panel discussion on training teachers in the age of technology driven education, the future of early childhood education in the era of Digitalisation and Innovation. Round table discussions were held on digital library, the need of skill development in k-12 segment.

A special session on preschool education was also held during the summit to showcase challenges and solutions of the sector.

During the summit, top schools of Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh were also felicitated by Dr Rajput. The schools were chosen on the basis on the basis of ranking done by digitalLEARNING magazine.

MIT World Peace University: Addressing the Challenges of Tomorrow

Magazine

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Akash

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April 28, 2018

Technological developments along with the disruptive technological innovations are putting the world economy under great stress. It is important to act accordingly to gain advantage over others. Educational institutions are aimed to provide the leaders to the world who are willing to accept challenges and solve them. Thus, developing leaders, entrepreneurs and thinkers of tomorrow is the responsibility of an education system.

MIT World Peace University (MITWPU) as an institution is committed to nation building for over four decades. In line with its continued commitment to excellence, MIT-WPU has contributed to society by producing creative innovators, startups, entrepreneurs, industry leaders and leaders of tomorrow in private and public sectors. The course work is focused and experiential, while encouraging innovations at all levels (UG, PG, and Research). The training imparted by the university to its students for developing skills and competency continues to help them by contributing (through its innovative teaching and learning practices) to product development as well as services to improve the quality of life. This has been the core focus of MIT-WPU. The university is focusing on interdisciplinary areas where the tools of one discipline impact another; thus leading to diversified knowledge. Our students have demonstrated their excellent capability and capacity by participating in many global events and winning many laurels.

Presently, competitive environment in the country is forcing all the universities to excel by innovating and with focus on research. MIT-WPU is committed to create an excellent research eco-system with support from faculty members.

MIT-WPU is recruiting the best faculty globally and training them in respective domain in line with the pedagogy. MITWPU in its regular courses has included a peace component under which moral skills are inculcated among students. The University admits students from across the globe and has shown that the peace component initiative enables it to manage heterogeneity and thus producing global citizens. It also has the unique distinction of offering course on Governance, Pharmacy, Law, Rural Connect, amongst others. The University believes in its mandate of opening ways to future generations to bring desired changes in the society.

Sphoorthy Engineering College Nurturing a Facilitative Education Ecosystem

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Akash

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April 28, 2018

Sphoorthy Engineering College, affiliated to Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU), was established in 2004 with approval from All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). Pursuing the philosophy of outcome-based education; the institution nurtures academically excellent students.

The environment in the college supports students and faculty members attain high standards of education and skill sets to shine in their life ahead. The faculty members with their impressive academic, research and industrial experience help students to achieve excellence and impart quality education to them.

The College offers five B Tech, five M Tech, MBA and three Polytechnic Programmes. The college is accredited by NAAC and also ISO 9001:2015 certified. The college is recognised by University Grants Commission (UGC) u/s 2 (f) and 12 (B).

So far, 10 batches of engineering students have successfully graduated with average placement of over 65 per cent students of every batch in IT and core companies. Many students are also pursuing higher studies in India and abroad.

Active alumni body of the college supports students financially, academically and coordinates in providing corporate relations, internships, placements, trainings, etc.

The governing body of college consists of dynamic group of individuals from industry, academics and philanthropy dedicated to serve the students.

The college aims at providing outcome based education that helps students in ensuring challenging and satisfying careers after graduation. Keeping this in view, facilities such as personality development, yoga and martial arts training, skill development, skill training to boost employability, counselling services, tutorials and remedial coaching for slow learners, foreign languages training, free coaching for higher studies, etc are also available in the college.

Industry Institute Interaction: With the advent of globalisation, there is an urgent need to prepare engineering students for jobs in multinational companies by exposing them to latest technologies and engineering practices. The college has MoUs and Tie-ups with the following prestigious Institutions of Global and National Importance

• (IUCEE)-Indo Universal Collaboration for Engineering Education

• IUCEE – SCALE ( Student Consortium for Advancement and Learning in Engineering Education)

• GEDC – Global Engineering Deans Council

• TASK – Telangana Academy for Skills and Knowledge

• ICT Academy

• STUMAGZ

• Intel Technologies

• Cyber Securities

Innovation and Entrepreneurship: The importance of innovation in entrepreneurship is another key value for the longevity of a business. Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Cell is functioning to create entrepreneurial culture by encouraging innovations among students through its incubation facilities and tie-ups with the following organisations:

• ISBA – Indian Science and Technology Entrepreneurs Park and Business Incubator Association

• NEN – National Entrepreneurship Network

• BYST – Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust

• NSTED B – National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board

• ISB-TEP – Indian School of Business – Technology Entrepreneurship Programme

• J-HUB – JNTUHUB

• FTAPCCI – Federation of Telangana Andhra Pradesh Chamber of Commerce of India

• Palle Srujana

Institutional Achievements:

• Visionary Leadership Award by IUCEE -2018

• 4th Rank in Transformations in Engineering Education – IUCEE -2017

• Visionary Leadership Award – TASK

• 17th Rank in Telangana State ( BestEngg. Colleges Category -2017) Times Group

• Educational Leadership Award – Dewang Mehta Group

• Educational Excellence Award, Indus Foundation

• Best Educational Institution, SHRI

• Most Promising Engineering College with Excellent Faculty in Telangana at World Education Summit and Awards 2018.

Learning Wings Committed To Developing International Standard

Interviews

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Akash

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April 28, 2018

We 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

Magazine

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Akash

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April 27, 2018

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.

At 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

Magazine

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Akash

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April 27, 2018

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

Magazine

By

Akash

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April 27, 2018

Industry-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

Magazine

By

Akash

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April 27, 2018

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.

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