Now, Government to fully fund the education of martyr’s children

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March 22, 2018

The Central Government has decided to fully fund the education of martyrs’ children, revealed a notification from the Ministry of Defence.

Earlier, the government was funding up to Rs 10,000 a month for the education of these children. Now, the limitation known as “educational concession” has now been removed.

The concession is applied to the children of armed forces personnel below officer rank missing in action and those disabled or killed in action. The scheme covers around 3,400 children and entails an expenditure of around Rs 5 crore a year currently.

“The educational concession will be admissible only for undertaking studies in government/government-aided schools/educational institutes/military /Sainik schools and other schools or colleges recognised by the central or state governments, including autonomous organisations financed entirely by the central/state governments,” said a statement posted by the defence ministry on Twitter.

“This small gesture would assure the families of our brave women and men that the nation cares for them and their sacrifices are truly appreciated by the government,” said CoSC chairman and Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba, in a letter.

“These personnel have made the supreme sacrifice for the country and the provision of educational concessions to their wards is a small gesture to recognize their commitment to the defence of the country,” he added.

“The fee being paid to the children of martyrs and disabled soldiers was a small price in exchange for what they had given, and continued to give, to the nation,” said Singh.

The concession allows the complete re-reimbursement of tuition and other fees for children of martyrs and those disabled in action, came into force after the 1971 war to liberate Bangladesh. It was later extended to children of officers and soldiers killed or disabled in Operation Meghdoot (Siachen-Saltoro Ridge) and Operation Pawan (IPKF in Sri Lanka) as well as in counter-insurgency operations.

Cabinet committee approves continuation of higher education scheme

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Akash

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March 22, 2018

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved continuation of Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) from April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2020.

RUSA – a centrally-sponsored was launched with an aim to improve the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of the country to 30 per cent by 2020.

To improve the quality of higher education in the country, the scheme in its second phase aims to set up 70 new model degree colleges and eight new professional colleges in 70 autonomous colleges and 10 select State universities.

Another important objective of RUSA is to bring reforms in academics, governance, affiliation norms and in other areas to improve access, equity and accessibility. To achieve the objective, infrastructural support is being provided to 50 universities and 750 colleges under the scheme.

The scheme seeks to improve equity in higher education by providing adequate opportunities of higher education to socially deprived communities, increase spending on higher education by the State Governments, identity and fill up the existing gaps in higher education, by augmenting and supporting efforts of state governments.

An official release revealed the total cost of the scheme is Rs 9,604 crore including state share of new proposals.

Inculcating values and ethics through education

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Akash

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March 22, 2018

The growing social and religious intolerance in the society has left the age old British education system inadequate. There is a need to revamp the education system to inculcate the values of tolerance and ethics in modern education system, observes Atul Temurnikar, Co-Founder & Executive Chairman, Global Schools Foundation for EletsNews Network (ENN).

The Dalai Lama recently said that principles of compassion, respect, kindness and responsibility should be at the center of every activity in every field.

Atul Temurnikar, Co-Founder & Executive Chairman, Global Schools Foundation

“The time has come to think seriously about introducing education of the heart and mind, based on secular thoughts, particularly Indian secular concept. I think it is very relevant in today’s world,” said the spiritual leader, who is himself a champion of holistic education.

There is undoubted wisdom in his words. Education is indeed the foundation to inculcate values of compassion and tolerance among children. As countries are developing rapidly in an era of globalization, their social and economic fabric also takes newer shape, leading to new challenges. For instance, in India progressive reforms are jostling for space alongside tradition practices and social harmony, especially as the country attains economic success and strives to achieve greater self-sufficiency.

Under such a scenario, it is imperative that the next generation of citizens come armed with the right balance of traditional values and progressive thinking, to adjust to the new world order. A modern curriculum interspersed with innovative learning techniques would be a good start in this direction, which will focus of giving our youngsters a wider worldview without having them lose touch with their roots. Science should stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Art and Languages in the curriculum hierarchy to provide a complete pedagogy to students.

Holistic learning is thus a great way of helping young minds, who will be future leaders and global citizens, to develop more self-awareness, mindfulness, compassion and emotional intelligence required to tackle the challenges of this millennium. And lessons on secularism could be an important aspect of this pedagogy. The basic principles of such a curriculum could be teaching students to embrace versatility with humility, strive for peaceful and green living, and have an inclusive mindset to meet future challenges, which will create caring global citizens and integrate communities.

Such initiatives, if introduced early in a child’s educational journey, would go a long way in laying a stronger foundation for a stable society, the benefits of which are bound to be enjoyed by the nation in future.

The values and teachings of some of our leaders could go a long way in shaping the content of such a curriculum. An excellent example of this would be incorporating Mahatma Gandhi’s idea of ‘Learn as if you will live forever’ – which are not just random thoughts, but a profound piece of advice which can be a road map to one’s way of life. His wisdom and virtues have transcended his lifetime and hold an even stronger relevance in contemporary times.

The Mahatma’s ideas and those of other great leaders of this nation can be merged into the education system in a way that will motivate millions across the world and be practiced in such a way that they become part of our daily lives. That would be the best way to commemorate these legends.

An international school like ours should aim to promote values of honesty, tolerance, harmony and peace, especially to Indian students abroad as it will keep their moral values intact. These teachings need to be incorporated in the curriculum to provide students with insights into the experiences and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. Our school follows this as part of our 9 GEMS framework which is recognized as a hallmark of holistic education.

The Centre also offers literature on the Mahatma like his autobiography, besides various other publications, journals and teachings on ancient Indian civilization, Indian philosophy, the country’s freedom struggle etc.

The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, an initiative of Narendra Modi government, is also a step in the same direction. In Budget 2018, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley earmarked Rs 150 crore for activities to prepare for Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary year.

Having such meaningful activities in school and making such teachings part of the curriculum will help nurture our children into responsible citizens of tomorrow. Parents and teachers can contribute to the structural formation of such initiatives so that a balanced and well-rounded pedagogy can be achieved. (views expressed above are author’s personal).

Use of Social Media in Admission

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digitalLEARNING Network

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March 21, 2018

In current times, ‘Social Media’ is the buzzword not only in every household but also in every futuristic organisation, especially in the education industry, writes Sagareeka Roy Bhatia, educationist, for Elets News Network (ENN).

There was a time when hoardings were seen around our neighborhood if a new school emerged but currently, people give a blind eye to the cantilevers and believe and trust what they see themselves and hear from their immediate contacts and that is how social media has replaced the other forms of marketing or sharing information and now it’s passé to listen to radios, watch adverts on the TV, strain your eyes on information available on strips under the movies aired by the local cable operators or adverts displayed in the cinema halls during their intervals. Print media, too, have lost their charm of communication and its standby is only for a day has been successfully replaced by more vibrant, easy to use, appealing to the thoughts, feelings etc. the ‘ONE & ONLY’ Social media as seeing is believing.

The following are a part of social media

LinkedIn
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Youtube
Blog
Google +

Every school has their own social networking pages on Facebook and the students, faculty members and parents are sent an invitation to join them and follow them. Once joined, the same request can be sent by the students to their respective immediate contacts and same with the faculty members and the parents too. Hence one can’t fathom the power of social media, as at zero cost, the target audience reached is immense. There’s absolutely no infrastructure cost or cost to hire billboards at strategic positions to increase visibility. Images and videos of activities can be uploaded from time to time and to add to the boast, one can monitor how many people have visited the page, liked the activity, loved the activity, were shocked/amused to see the activity etc. Isn’t this wonderful? All this exposure leads to generating leads for the admission process.

READ: Social Media A New Tool To Evaluate Youngsters’ Abilities?

On Facebook, on the respective page, ‘admissions open’ can be shared with everyone which further is shared through ‘share’ button or by word of mouth. “Seeing is believing” at the end of the day and with so much of exposure, parents no longer want to trust print media i.e., advertisements in magazines, handout inserts in local newspapers, prominent newspapers. There were times where in-flight magazines were a good medium for schools to share their information but now as they say “change is the only thing that is constant”, the medium has changed to social media, as this is a platform which has built-in data analytic tools to enable schools to track progress, success and engagement. Facebook could support testimonials in the form of an audio file or video to reinforce and build the trust of our soon to be patrons.

A few years back, schools used to burn CDs for annual day and sports day but in current times, the program is being telecasted live on social media which can be visible by all even sitting at home resulting in more visibility, and the same can be viewed by their kith and kin sitting anywhere in the world. Hence for obvious reasons, this is a much-preferred way to reach out to masses of all classes and improve your visibility with fewer hassles. The use of technology in a school is nothing but involving more people to participate in a child’s life, share their happiness with others by sharing the information on their timelines which results in generating leads for admission. Amazing isn’t it?

Youtube is a very prominent social media to communicate with patrons and all that is needed is to subscribe to a Youtube channel. On that channel, there are audio cum video files, preferably video files which could be uploaded with an advertisement of the school, its services and, later, end with admissions open and contact numbers. This medium would be extremely user-friendly if the link would be shared on the Facebook account or through WhatsApp group messaging. This complete proposal can go viral if need be, as a result, it needn’t be only for admission but also to create visibility among the target audience.

QR code (Quick response codes) could be made available which could be scanned by smartphones (post downloading the QR code reader from the app store). These codes could be linked to the school website for further information about the school and on the website, an online query could be left or an online admission form could be filled for admission. Indeed this is the quickest method.

Google + can be an excellent social media to generate leads for admission. The search engine Google can be utilized optimally, then one could create a complete ecosystem with Google maps to give the location, Google AdWords to complement it with short videos of the enrolment process and Google forms could complete it.

LinkedIn as a medium is a professional networking site, but creating an account ie a page could reach the professionals enrolled in LinkedIn which would promote ‘Brand visibility’ and indirectly boosted by adding a contact us the link. Twitter at the same time is not being used widely in this country. Currently it is being extensively used to follow celebrities but as they say that the world of technology is dynamic hence hoping that the approach to twitter would change and it would be more effective to approach a wider audience. Tweets in Twitter could consist of GIF, photos, Hashtags & links to the website. All the reminders or follow-ups of admission process can be done on tweets. Have you ever tried content marketing through blogs? All the staff members & students could be asked to write blogs in which the name of the school could be highlighted with ‘hashtags’. In fact, hashtags could help identify the brand and improve its rating among its competitors.

To conclude, Social media is a direct marketing & customer engagement tool. Using this media effectively would result in both, search engine optimization & maximization which would promote the target school, create curiosity, draw the audience close and finally result in the closure of the deal. Social media helps engaging audience and boasts their grey matter with enough information. It is the future, doubtless as these are more personal than outbound advertising.

(Sagareeka Roy Bhatia is an educationist, passionate about educational management building an unthreatening atmosphere for the learners across grades. Views expressed are personal.)

UGC grants autonomy to 60 higher education institutions: Prakash Javadekar

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March 21, 2018

The University Grants Commission (UGC) on Tuesday granted autonomy to 60 higher education institutions across India, of which some are even authorised to start new courses and departments without permission.

Announcing the move as a historic decision, Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar told media the autonomy was granted to the select higher educational institutions for maintaining high academic standards.

The decision includes eight colleges and 52 universities, of which 5 are central universities, 21 state universities, 24 deemed universities, 2 private universities.

The autonomy was granted under the new regulation, ‘Categorization of Universities for Grant of Graded Autonomy’ introduced by UGC, and based on the institution’s National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) accreditation score on three categories: I, II, and III.

The Universities and institutions with a NAAC score of at least 3.5 were given autonomy under ‘Category I’, 3.01 to 3.49 under ‘Category II’.

Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi; Hyderabad Central University, Hyderabad; National Academy of Legal Studies and Research, Hyderabad; Osmania University, Hyderabad; Jadavpur University, West Bengal’, among others, were awarded ‘Category I’ status, with authorisation conferred to start new courses and departments.

In a historic decision, 60 Higher Educational Institutions granted autonomy by UGC : HRD Minister @PrakashJavdekar https://t.co/XtD4H0bI82

— Ministry of HRD (@HRDMinistry) March 20, 2018

“These universities will remain within the ambit of UGC but will have the freedom to start new courses, off-campus centres, skill development courses, research parks and any other new academic programs,” Javadekar said.

“They will also have the freedom to hire foreign faculty, enrol foreign students, give incentive based emoluments to the faculty, enter into academic collaborations and run open distance learning programmes,” he added.

The select eight autonomous colleges are authorised to set their own syllabus, hold examinations, carry out the evaluation as well as declare results — and only the degree will be awarded by the respective university, the statement said.

Click to see the list of higher education institutions granted autonomy by UGC

Myntra & Jabong employees to get skill training by Udacity

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Akash

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March 20, 2018

Udacity is soon going to provide best in class technical education to upskill Myntra and Jabong employees on Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

According to Manpreet Ratia, CXO and Head – SCM, CE and Human Capital , Myntra & Jabong, “Myntra is committed to being a market leader in building a future ready organization through constant learning and skill upgrades. We are happy to enter into this partnership with Udacity to accelerate the pace of skill adoption and to ensure that our employees are equipped to take the organization and its customers to newer heights through technology led innovations.”

The Silicon Valley-based lifelong learning platform Udacity has collaborated with the Myntra and Jabong to enhance the skills of their through its courses. The training will help the employees to apply futuristic technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning directly affecting their operational efficiency

Commenting on the collaboration, Ishan Gupta, Managing Director-India, Udacity, said, “Bringing knowledge and innovation together to create relevant and advanced tech education is what Udacity is known for. Our focus is on providing relevant training in these futuristic technologies, which means that at the end of the Nanodegree course, Myntra and Jabong employees will be comprehensively skilled in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence.”

Myntra and Jabong, India’s leading online portals for fashion brands aim to deploy various applications for these futuristic technologies to gain an edge over competitors. To use AI and Machine Learning for last-mile deliveries, automated storage systems, data mining and AI analytics to develop new styles and patterns, Myntra & Jabong require employees with comprehensive skills in these new smart technologies.

Under the collaboration, Myntra and Jabong employees will gain access to Udacity’s Machine Learning Foundation, Machine Learning Basic, Machine Learning Advanced, and Deep Learning Foundation Nanodegree programs.

Lesser Known Careers In Real Estate

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digitalLEARNING Network

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March 20, 2018

Being a fresh graduate or an early stage professional trying to outline a long-term career path today is challenging. While there are a number of different career disciplines available, there is that inherent accompanying uncertainty in the constantly evolving job market. Additionally, despite some favourable initiatives, there exists a large supply and demand gap, with students expressing their frustration by way of limited employment opportunities and corporates looking for quality talent, writes Shubika Bilkha, Business Head, The Real Estate Management Institute, for Elets News Network (ENN).

While graduates seem to be focused on careers in the IT sector, finance, marketing, among others, the real estate sector remains largely overlooked when determining a viable career path. The real estate sector, which is slated to be a $180 billion opportunity by 2022, has a current skill shortfall of 4 million core professionals with the total skill requirement of the sector expected to be 75 million by 2022. The government’s impetus to boost urban development and infrastructure, such as the addition of 25 million homes, 40 million dwelling units and ~100 smart cities, has further enhanced the growth of the real estate and ancillary services sector. To accomplish Prime Minister Narendra’s Modi’s development agenda, there is an urgent requirement to have skilled resources in the real estate and infrastructure segments.

Today, with increased regulatory vigilance, real estate companies gaining scale, an increase in investments by private equity funds in real estate firms, as well as a number of large brands entering the space, there is a greater focus by companies on talent acquisition and retention. Building enhanced delivery capabilities within their organizations have become essential for real estate companies to meet the stipulations of the new act RERA. With attractive incentive structures and greater professionalism across the sector, there is a wonderful opportunity to build a lucrative career.

There is also limited awareness of the kinds of career opportunities that are available across the real estate industry.

For new graduates looking to enter the space, there are a number of opportunities across corporate functions at real estate companies such as the marketing, sales, finance, strategy, administrative roles and management. Programs such as Real Estate Business Management and Real Estate Marketing and Sales could be advised for these candidates as it covers an introduction to the sector, an understanding of the legal aspects of the sector, documentation involved, the approval and construction process, marketing, sales, leasing among other technical, business and entrepreneurial modules.

Additionally, programs focused on Housing Finance opens a new career path for graduates at Housing Finance Companies/Micro Finance Institutions.

For civil engineering graduates looking to join real estate companies, Real Estate Project Management or Construction Management is advised to provide the requisite ‘job-ready’ skills and get them updated on the latest tools and technologies.
For specialised graduates, such as architectural graduates or legal or accounting graduates, taking a Real Estate Business Management program will improve their skills and expertise to understand the details of the business, legal and procedural aspects of the sector. This is essential for them to be able to meet various stipulations as outlined in their work profiles.
Under the new act RERA, job roles such as RERA Compliance Officers, Customer Relationship Managers, Project managers, become integral to meet the stipulations of the Act.

The ‘top of the pyramid’ career opportunities in real estate can be categorised into the following segments: specialised professionals, core professionals, non-core professionals and real estate services.

Specialised professionals

Valuers
Quantity surveyors
Facility managers
Property managers
Sustainable development experts

Core professionals

Engineers
Architects and planners

Non-core professionals

Management
Business administration
Chartered Accountants
Marketing professionals
Sales professionals
Project managers
Finance analysts
Lawyers
Electrical engineers
RERA Compliance Officer
Customer Relationship Manager/Customer Centricity/Customer Evangelist

Real Estate Services include services such as consulting, brokerage and other ancillary services. With the recently proposed regulatory amendments, the real estate brokerage sector is on the path to getting more organized and will over time operate in line with global benchmarks. This will create an organized entrepreneurial segment with licensed brokers and create a lucrative career opportunity within the sector for students, graduates as well as for women homemakers.

(Shubika Bilkha is the Business Head at The Real Estate Management Institute. Views expressed by the author are personal).

BITS Pilani, Samsung sign MoU for skill enhancement

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digitalLEARNING Network

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March 20, 2018

India’s premier engineering institute BITS Pilani has agreed to facilitate advanced learning to enhance the technical knowledge of the Samsung India employees for which a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on Monday.

According to official release, the program sponsored by Samsung is intended to offer employees an opportunity to synergise theory with practice on a sustained basis. The learning that will be held at Samsung R&D Institute India-Noida (SRI-Noida) is also aimed to enhance employees academic qualification while giving them a career development opportunity.

Samsung R&D Institute India-Noida Managing Director Dr Seounghoon Oh, said: “This MoU is in line with our vision to develop futuristic skill-sets aligned to the requirements of the fast-evolving mobile and consumer electronics sectors to deliver the best training and skill development to our employees.”

The curriculum of the course consists of three semesters of theory-work, and one semester of dissertation with focus on research and skill development in areas such as machine learning, cloud computing, data mining, data structure and algorithms design and artificial intelligence, the release said.

BITS Pilani Off-Campus Programmes & Industry Engagement Director Prof. G Sundar said: “We are very excited about this partnership both in terms of upskilling employees of SRI-Noida and to develop a globally competitive talent pool.”

Applications invited for Haryana CM’s Good Governance Associates Programme

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Akash

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March 20, 2018

With an objective to create another successful batch of Haryana Chief Minister’s Associates, Dr Rakesh Gupta, Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister of Haryana and Vineet Gupta, Pro Vice Chancellor and Founder of Ashoka University, have announced the call for applications for Chief Minister’s Good Governance Associates (CMGGA) programme.

The programme is a strategic initiative between the Government of Haryana and Ashoka University. CMGGA aims to make youth aware about the intricacies of governance and administration, while at the same time leveraging their training and fresh perspectives on projects. As a knowledge partner, Ashoka University will facilitate the process of recruitment, training, mentoring and monitoring the work of the Associates.

“The programme combines youth and academia to create momentum and intellectual feedback from the ground-level at the CM office. The associates bring perspectives and ideas for implementation and pilots. Ashoka University has been a knowledge partner and has helped in designing the programme, research and documentation,” said Dr Rakesh Gupta, Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Haryana.

Over 1933 applications were received last year for upto 25 seats from leading institutions of Haryana, New Delhi, Bihar, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. This year as well, spanning over a period of one year, around 22-25 young leaders from across cities will be selected to work across the 22 districts of Haryana. The selected associates will undergo an induction of two weeks at Ashoka University.

Speaking about the programme, Ashoka University Founder Vineet Gupta said, “The CMGGA programme is an opportunity for young students to experience public life with the chance to work with the Government. These young students are fresh out of college, fearless and willing to speak their minds to create maximum impact in their one year with the programme. After the successful completion of the association, only two students have joined the corporate world, other students have opted to continue with the public life.”

Apart from executing regular mandates received from the CMO, CMGGAs will work with the Deputy Commissioners and other district officials to expedite various government schemes and bring about transformational changes within their districts. Associates will also pilot innovative scalable solutions to address various issues at the district level. Interested candidates may apply online through the website at www.cmgga.in before 15^th April, 2018.

Wiley planning to make India the Global R & D Powerhouse

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Akash

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March 19, 2018

Wiley has launched Wiley Innovation Advisory Council (WIAC) as an initiative to create a core forum of seasoned analytics and AI thought leaders, industry experts, academicians and influencers to work together on smart content.

Wiley also hosted a round table in Bengaluru on this initiative. The round table was attended by top 45 top leaders in emerging technologies. They have discussed need of industry and academia working jointly to build the future workforce as well as the education curriculum. During the round-table, the future landscape of learning and work was also discussed.

According to Matthew S. Kissner, Chairman of the Board, Wiley, “With our 210+ years of existence, we aspire to bridge the higher education gap by delivering content solutions in innovative ways to enrich the learning experience of our readers and help them develop skills that are necessary to succeed.”

Of Wiley’s three business verticals, research is the largest division that contributes to 60% percent of the total revenue share, while the rest of the business comprises of products in knowledge and learning.

Wiley is committed to collaborations and investments in India to build skills that provide world-class job readiness. It considers India as the preferred destination in applied research and emerging technologies like Data Science, AI and IoT. The Indian education market is expected to almost double to $180 billion by 2020.

Vikas Gupta, Managing Director, Wiley India, said, “As part of our continued investments and engagements with our stakeholders, Wiley has recently shifted to a new office space and will be hosting local forums as part of our growing market presence. We foresee India as the hub of innovation where new means of learning and content will be developed for other parts of the world.”

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