Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar has informed that the annual average dropout rate at the primary school level in the country was 4.13 per cent in 2014-15.
According to the data provided by the minister during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha, the dropout rate among boys at primary level was 4.36 per cent higher than that of girls’ 3.88 per cent. For the same period, 4.03 per cent was the dropout rate in upper primary level while the same for secondary level was 17.06 per cent.
He said, due to no detention policy, there are many cases of children dropping out at the ninth class level.
The minister said that exams are held in Class 9 and students do not know much, observing that many schools had just become midday meal schools, where children came, had a meal and left while their education suffered.
The ministry to resolve this problem had brought in learning outcomes and trained around 15 lakh teachers, he said.
Javadekar said that the present government in its first year has taken steps to resolve the issue of non-availability of separate toilets for girls. It was one of the major reasons for higher dropout rates.
There was no shortage of teachers in the country rather their deployment issues resulted into lack of skilled teachers in certain places, Javadekar added.
Answering a question, the HRD minister said that measure like attendance through biometric system has been taken to make teachers present at the schools.
The education sector in India has seen several trends that helped the sector to improve the processes and to bring its standard at par with the global level. Rahul Belwalkar, CEO, SecUR Credentials, writes about such trends of 2017 for Elets News Network (ENN).
The youth hold the key to the future, and with India being the second most populous country in the world, comprising majorly youth, it is imperative that they are provided with quality education to enable them to become successful entrepreneurs or servicemen.Here are three trends to leverage to this effect-
Gamification in e-learning
Rahul Belwalkar, CEO, SecUR Credentials
Gamification in e-learning allows for a better learning experience coupled with a high level of engagement. The strategies incorporated in gamification lead to an increase in the knowledge recall and retention levels in the minds of the students. The environment provided is also effective for an informal learning environment that aids in allowing learners to practice real life circumstances and tests. Once students are exposed to this they also are privy to instant feedback that tells them what they should or should not know. Gamification can be also be applied to fulfill most learning needs and impact learners positively, thereby creating significant performance gain for companies in the future.
Safety and Security Measures
Another emerging trend is that more and more schools are opting for background screening for their teaching and non-teaching staff. As a background screening company we have observed that there is a growing tension across the nation with regards to the safety and security of students across schools. Without the protective confines of the school compound to ensure their safety, picnics and school trips can often prove to be extremely dangerous for kids, if the proper measures aren’t taken by parents, teachers, as well as school authorities.
The potential for sexual violence and other dangers has been increasing rapidly in recent years, and often done by the very people that students are familiar with and who have been deemed trustworthy by parents as well as school authorities.
However, measures must be put in place to ensure their safety at such classes, lest they come across potentially dangerous individuals. Parents must make sure that the tutor teaching their ward has his credentials in order and has cleared appropriate background screening tests.
AADHAAR Linking
Another key trend observed in 2017 is the AADHAAR linking initiative. The Central Government has made it mandatory for all important documents to be linked to AADHAAR, which is an individual’s unique identification number. To add to this, another idea is to link Aadhaar to the performance record of students—marks sheets, merit certificates, and migration certificates, among others—from Class X onwards. This move will, in addition to helping students and employers, will go a long way n tackling the fake educational degree menace in India. Fake degrees are a big problem in India. Verification of educational credentials is not easy in India because of the sheer number of students, colleges and institutions.
This system is largely unorganised and conducting background screening of candidates at times is very challenging. Aadhaar Linkage will help create transparency in the system and eliminate the risk of fraud to a large extent. There is a growing demand for verification of educational qualifications, and an Aadhaar-linked system will lead to the reduction of fraud.
2017 can be considered as the watershed year for education sector in the India. Many significant moves taken up by the Government helped in increasing efficiency and transparency of country’s educational institutes, writes Manek N Daruvala, Founder & Director, Triumphant Institute of Management Education (TIME) for Elets News Network (ENN).
Setting up of National Testing Agency (NTA)
Manek N Daruvala, Founder & Director, Triumphant Institute of Management Education (TIME)
The agency would be responsible for conducting entrance examinations in the country and has been allocated a fund of Rs 25 crore to begin its operations. While more clarity is expected on the modalities and functioning of the agency, we believe that this is a significant step.
Some of the exams which would be conducted by NTA will be JEE Main, NEET UG, UGC NET, CTET, etc. These are likely to be conducted twice a year compared to once a year, currently. This will bring relief to aspirants who have to wait for another year to appear in the exams for improving their ranks or scores.
NTA is also expected to bring in standardised testing which will help reduce allegations of uneven difficulty levels in various sittings of an exam.
Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bill
The Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) Bill, 2017 was passed by the Parliament in December. The Bill was supported by the majority of members of Parliament to make the IIMs autonomous.
The Bill provides autonomy to IIMs for taking administrative decisions, approving development plans and granting degrees (postgraduate diplomas earlier). Five members of the IIM board will comprise the alumni to strengthen industry-institute connection. The power to appoint director and registrar of any IIM still rests with the Board.
This is a significant step towards establishing independence in the functioning of the IIMs. The step is expected to help the premier B-schools of the country to take significant steps for improving the management education standards.
Raising the income limit for Creamy Layer
The “Creamy layer” ceiling for OBC reservation has been raised to Rs 8,00,000 per annum from Rs 6,00,000. The increase, witnessed after four years, will give a shot in the arm to those OBCs who were just outside the limit, so far.
National Education Policy
The HRD Ministry has constituted a nine member panel to frame new National Education Policy (NEP). The new policy will replace the current policy framed in 1986 and revised in 1992. The panel is expected to submit its report by March 2018. The new NEP is supposed to consist of steps and practices for improving education standards in the country.
The Indian Education sector is poised at an interesting juncture. On the one hand, there is a growing focus on achieving learning outcomes, while on the other, technology is being adopted quickly and content is being rewritten and redesigned to adapt to a variety of emerging media, writes Sivaramakrishnan V, Managing Director, Oxford University Press India for Elets News Network (ENN).
Amongst all modern-day developments ‘Technology’ has clearly emerged as the single biggest theme to impact the sector in the last few years. This augurs well for the present day learners as also for educators and others in the teaching-learning process. The advent of digital-enabled classrooms, cloud-based content, ebooks and online assessments among others has enabled our education system to reach an inflection point. Let us look at EdTech trends that have the potential to upturn the Education landscape forever.
Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR and AR): This has probably been the most talked about trend of 2017. Virtual Reality immerses the user in a virtual or imaginary environment. Immersive educational environments are already being used to provide learners a life-like experience in subjects as diverse as history and chemistry. Augmented Reality, on the other hand, is a technology used to present an enhanced version of reality where elements of physical real-world environment are augmented with digital learning experiences. AR/VR technologies help learners experience and interact with digital learning objects to support their learning. Educators, who earlier had print or digital images/animations for teaching support, now can leverage these high fidelity educational experiences to achieve better learning outcomes.
Adaptive learning through Artificial Intelligence (AI): Adaptive learning has the potential to solve a crucial challenge in classroom learning – how to engage learners of different abilities in the same classroom! Adaptive learning systems use machine learning to help personalize the presentation based on their learning speed, interest and problem areas. In the hands of teachers, this can become an important tool to ensure more uniform learning. Machine learning along with natural processing and speech recognition technologies are also facilitating the development of conversational programs, also called chatbots. The bots can be programmed to provide a wide variety of services such as tutoring.
Learning Analytics: It is often said “what gets measured is what gets done”. The focus is shifting from big data to ‘little’ data. Little data is personal activity data –which when analyzed by intelligent systems, is able to provide key insights into the way students learn. It may well become an important source of information and insight for decision making for educators. It may also unlock new potential for personalization of tools and content. Adding the right information capture mechanisms and real-time insight capabilities, traditional Learning Management Systems (LMS) can vastly enhance the teaching-learning experience. The implications of a data-driven approach will be far reaching and will permeate not just teaching and learning but other areas, including guidance on career choices. One of OUP’s more recent integrated learning solution, launched last year, provides detailed learning analytics for the student, teacher and also the parent.
Online Assessments: New forms of technology-mediated assessments have enabled a big shift from fixed-in-point summative assessments, which are today at the core of the learning process, to more continuous and adaptive formative assessments. Online assessment solutions are clearly more customisable, interactive, secure and quick to deliver. They work across multiple platforms (mobile included) and offer detailed interactive dashboards to analyze performance from various aspects. The ability to store historical assessment data and compare progress over time can be used to establish a trend and also draw inferences on the learners’ progress in the context of learning. Online testing also brings with it benefits of anytime testing, remote proctoring, real-time audio-video integration and also more personalised testing.
2018 promises to be an interesting year for Education, clearly with EdTech disrupting traditional methods, pedagogies and mindsets. With its seamless integration with print and classroom, practices will be central to its success -in the Indian context – and wider acceptance by stakeholders —the key to its longevity.
It is important not to lose sight of the evolving needs of the educator in the context of fast-paced EdTech developments. Teacher Training programmes offered online, offline or in a combination, are key to upskilling our educators who are often the primary consumers of these EdTech solutions, playing a pivotal role in seeding and growing adoption among learners.
Online education has succeeded in eliminating barriers and borders, giving everyone the opportunity to have access to education anytime anywhere, writes Dr Sarika Lidoria, Director, ITM University Online for Elets News Network (ENN).
The Internet revolution has shortened the distances from one corner of the globe to another. Time and space have shrunk to an extent that erstwhile could have been captured only in fantasy tales. If to the people of antiquity, the flying carpet of Aladdin was a thing of awe and wonderment, to the modern users of cutting edge AI technology, it is but mundane and humdrum. If the stories of mythic figures with extraordinary powers of speed and endurance could keep people of olden times gaping with surprise and incredulity, the modern man, with the entire universe literally on his ‘palm-top’, yawns at them as if to ask, ‘what’s new’!
Dr Sarika Lidoria, Director, ITM University Online
What can be more magical than for students to enter the classroom by simply reaching into their pockets, going online from their smart devices, opening E-learning Apps and signing in? If you have a pocket, you have the wisdom of the world with you at all times and at all places. M-learning is but one among a plethora of tools made available by technology to educate students in the non-traditional, online medium. What fuels this gigantic engine that Online Education has become? The life-blood of this vast body is the advancement in networking technology that the IT boom of the mid-90s inaugurated. What bridges the gap of thousands of miles in distance, and thousands of years in time, is the Internet. It is this that helps you make it to your classroom at the other end of the world, or to the Palaeolithic age, in a matter of seconds.
An assortment of developments in Internet technology has helped shape the accelerated growth of the Online Education sector. Cloud computing, for example, has facilitated convenient sharing and transfer of large files across the world. Software applications like Learning Management System (LMS) have helped boost student-institute interaction. Telecommunication programs enabling audio and video calling like Skype and Adobe Connect, have all contributed in making computer-based learning a reality. This has augmented both the scope and desirability of Online Distance Education globally.
With the rise in awareness of the need for education among all the sections of society, there arises a demand and supply problem. The lacunae in the traditional methods of education have thrown open the gates of the Online Education market. Here the requirements of infrastructure and the need for a large work-force get obviated. Students and faculty do not need to step out of the comfort of their homes or their self-ascribed time-schedules to be part of an enriching learning experience.
E-education in India is catering to the needs of working professionals and students. The prospects of promotion and job-climbs looming overhead is making professionals throng towards the Online channels of learning. Ancillary learning channels, courseware developers, and degree-based online educators like ITM Group of Institutions have done the utmost in supplying this enormous demand for E-learning that makes up around 12% of the student-force of India.
It is not the educational institutes alone that have before them a swelling market, but producers and vendors of smart devices like notebooks, palmtops, tablets, screen casters, interactive boards and projectors too are reaping the harvest of a prodigiously fecund market. Institutions across the country are now forced to swim with the current, by the introduction of flipped classrooms, a blended learning channel, where the core teaching is carried out through audio-visual media while the teacher engages mainly in personal interaction with the pupils. The use of 3D videos and Virtual Reality simulation in special areas of learning is also slowly being normalized. Moreover, students with a technology-powered learning experience are likely to fare better at the workplace and to be, in general, more adapted to the future course that our technically driven world is bound to take.
It is not given us to peer into the mysteries of the future, but from the wake left by the ship the course ahead of us can to an extent be presaged. The rudiments of AI technology can already be perceived in the education sector with the introduction of automated evaluation, case-by-case student feedback systems, adaptive learning tools, and intelligent tutoring systems (ITS). Q&A tools designed to answer student queries through machine representation and information retrieval technology, interactive language learning applications, math learning tools that provide instructions in accordance with the student’s learning curve, are some of the ground-breaking AI projects afoot, ready to usher in the next revolutionary change in Online Education.
The word ‘omnibus’ in Latin, literally, means ‘for all’. And this aptly characterizes the nature of the expansion of online education throughout the globe, and in India. For it benefits one and all; anyone with any stake in it, from students, teachers, educational institutes, to vendors and developers of IT products and services, stands to gain from this tectonic shift that is shaking the world of education from within, and which is bound to take it toward that horizon of technological magic, as unbelievable and incredible to us as Aladdin’s magic lamp or flying carpet was to our forefathers.
A professor at Azim Premji University, in Bangalore, India, lectures to a classroom full of students.
Higher education is going through a churn and 2018 -2019 will be defining years for the students of engineering and management streams, writes Prof R S S Mani, Vice President -Institutional Development, ITM Group of Institutions for Elets News Network (ENN).
Engineering and Management programme in its current format has reached saturation point and need to be reinvented for survival in the long run. The demand for pursuing an Engineering degree would continue; however the aspiring students would now carefully choose institutions with a good brand value and good faculty. The pressure will be on faculty to strive continuously to unlearn, learn and relearn in order to remain relevant and contemporary!
Prof R S S Mani, Vice President -Institutional Development, ITM Group of Institutions
Further, all institutions need to rethink about the curriculum of Masters in Business Administration (MBA) and revisit the same and make it more industry relevant. Faculty members in management colleges need to develop newer skills for classroom delivery as they are no more the single source of conceptual inputs, thanks to the Internet. They need to redefine their role as a facilitator of learning and not the disseminator. This will also mean that the management teacher has now to play the role of expert interpreter, analyst and evaluator of various approaches to management. Thus, the pressure will be more on teachers to learn more to keep abreast of the latest trends , practises and such and be able to guide the student .
Good quality higher education is only possible if we have the best of teachers .The most important step that needs to taken at the macro level in our country is to position teaching as an attractive option and should be given its place of pride as an employment option. Sad but true, the teaching profession is often seen as a last career option that executives can pursue after their retirement. Teaching should be a premium career option and teachers should be provided the best facilities similar to those we see at the corporate sectors.
e-learning platforms:
A career in academics would necessitate sound knowledge of e-learning platforms and also the ability to use various online resources to make learning more effective in the classroom. The use of online and interactive learning platforms such as khan academy, coursera, Edx, MIT open courseware, etc can make the learning experience more enriching and meaningful for both the student and the teacher.
An unfortunate reality that we need to soon realise and accept is that many educational institutions will see closure. It is recommended for every teacher in such colleges to focus on reskilling themselves and also acquire additional competencies in emerging areas to remain relevant. Areas like business analytics, data sciences, digital marketing, etc are the high thrust areas currently.
Approach to education and academics has changed to a great extent .The earlier model used to revolve around teachers as the main source of knowledge. However, the current scenario has changed the role of the teachers from source to facilitator. Now, students can learn at home and sit in the classrooms for clearing their doubts. The new age teachers have to be better equipped and smart enough to satisfy the queries and doubts of the students to gain their confidence and establish credibility.
To summarise, a career in education would be more challenging and demanding and hence is strongly recommended to those who have a serious bent of mind towards academics. It cannot be seen as a comfortable & cushy career with limited working hours and minimal stress. Further a career in this area would necessarily need a PhD qualification for growth and stability.
The West Bengal government has announced to provide Advanced Vocational Training in Higher Secondary (HS) schools.
The initiative will be introduced by the government in a phase wise manner. Under this initiative, the government aims to foster skill development and create employment opportunities for the students in Jharkhand.
Speaking on this initiative, Technical Education Minister Purnendu Bose said: “The West Bengal government has decided to impart advanced vocational training in higher secondary (HS) schools for skill development.” Adding further he stated, “Training in vocational education was important for creating employment opportunities.”
While addressing BNCCI seminar he informed that currently around 2700 higher secondary schools had been selected for to impart vocational training courses.
This step of the government will ensure that young people are well-prepared and can use their capabilities to find good jobs.
To take this step at higher level, the government was keen to associate with institutions such as National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), NABARD and Chambers of Commerce.
The Central Government has sponsored schemes for vocational education in government and government-aided schools, said NSDC State engagement officer Bikram Das.
“Dubai – World’s one of the most vibrant cities, a city committed to tolerance and a city committed to well being, “said Mark Beer, OBE, Chief Executive, DIFC Courts, Dubai International Financial Centre, during the 11th World Education Summit Dubai.
Describing about Dubai’s education journey, he said, “I would like to take you to a journey, a journey from foundations of education in Emirates to future of education in Dubai. First school in Dubai was opened in 1912. Parents were paid to send their children to school.”
“First Indian school in Dubai was opened in 1961 with eight students has grown to more than 15,000 across all three campuses. First English school was opened in 1963 in a pet’s room of a villa. It was opened by Military. First American school was opened in 1966 by Dubai Petroleum. The year was also important as it was the year when oil was explored in Dubai,” he added.
Explaining about how Dubai evolved itself, Beer said, “In my view, 1985 was Dubai’s first Renaissance. It went from the “Era of Oil” to “Era of diversification”. In 1985, oil contributes around 50 per cent of Dubai’s economy but now it contributes only 2-3 per cent. Dubai decided to diversify its economy away from the wealth comes out of the Earth. And in this process, the city becomes the hub of moving goods from West to East and East to West.”
“So, in the era of diversification people were migrating via Dubai but not staying here. Major factors for people’s stay in a city are: proper healthcare mechanisms, good education opportunities for younger generation and protection of rights. It brings the second Renaissance in Dubai, from “Era of Diversification” to “Era of Sustainability”,” he added.
Beer also described about the role of authorities. He said, “Building trust and confidence and following best international practices, this was the middle of year 2000. In 2006, Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) was established for educating the children. In 2007, Dubai Health Authority was established keep the citizens healthy. In the journey of 10 years, we are now established as the leading Medical tourism destination of the world.”
Beer said about the WES, “The reason we are here today is, Dubai the leader in the world for one of the best education environments. It educates quarter to million students in 200 schools and in private sector schools, around AED 6.8 billion is paid as fee annually.”
He also said, “In line with Dubai’s future dream, World Education Summit brought 500 speakers from around the globe on one platform to discuss the future of education. It is important as 50 per cent of the children entering to school education will be doing the jobs which no do not exist today.”
He explained the Dubai’s vision of becoming the city of future adding , “Today we are going to enter the third Renaissance. Dubai is the city of future. We brought leading thinkers from around the world to tell us that how the city should look like in future.”
“Its no longer good enough to teach people facts, we need to create human beings, we need to create social and emotional learners. We need to teach new skills and inculcate creativity, problem saving, curiosity and leadership,” he added.
The tech giant Google has invited applications for Software Engineering Internship 2018 programme from the students pursuing B Tech/M Tech in Computer Science or a related technical field and completing it in 2019.
The 8 to 12 weeks of internship programme will begin from April 2018 and the last date to apply for the internship is 26 December, 2017.
Under this programme, selected students will be offered a competent stipend. Moreover, to enhance skills of the interns, they will be assigned specific responsibilities which would vary by project area.
Along with the educational qualification, internship demands certain preferred skills like candidate must be enrolled in a full time degree program and returning to the programme after the completion of the internship, hands-on systems software or algorithms, C++, Java, and Python. In addition, candidates should be familiar and have knowledge of Unix/Linux or Windows environments, APIs, TCP/IP and network programming.
The applications for internship can be filled and submitted through Internshala – A web-based portal which offers several internships and training programmes across various industry verticals.
A two-day conclave on Higher Education and Human Resource commenced in Jaipur on Thursday which seeks to inculcate partnership between academia and industry to explore employment opportunity along with enhancing innovation and entrepreneurship of students of Rajasthan.
Being organised by the Department of Higher and Technical Education, Government of Rajasthan, along with the Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd, under the direction of Higher and Technical Education Minister of Rajasthan Kiran Maheshwari, the conclave is witnessing participation from AICTE Chairman Prof Anil Sahasrabudhe; Atal Innovation Mission, Mission Director Ramanan Ramanathan, High Commissioner of Cooperative Republic of Guyana David Goldwin Pollard, and Vice-Chancellors, Principals and major education stakeholders.
On the inaugural-day on Thursday, the Higher and Technical Education Minister, Kiran Maheshwari said: “This conclave is a start to create a platform for the academia-industry partnership. Through this conclave, I wish to see various initiatives being taken to enhance employability, innovation and entrepreneurship of students.”
She also thanked AICTE Chairman, Prof Sahasrabudhe who arrived on the special invitation from the Minister for extending support to the engineering and technical universities of Rajasthan.
Congratulating for the launch of the conclave, Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar through a video message said: “The deliberation at this conference will, I am sure, enable the participants to play an important role in enhancing students skill and increase the employability quotient of student.”
On the occasion, Prof Sahasrabudhe said: “We need to help our students become innovative to prepare them to become job creators. An excellent governance mechanism is required working with the cause of education.”
According to Prof Sahasrabudhe, AICTE has created a semester-long module to help teaching-learning process to be introduced from the 2018 academic session.
Also present at the Conclave was Mission Director of Atal Innovation Mission, Ramanan Ramanathan, who said: “Atal Innovation Mission has embarked on two important missions: promote innovation and entrepreneurship. The mission aims to to create job creators , not job seekers.”
“The aim of this conclave is to explore how can the academia-industry come together, and also to recognise the need to prepare students as per industry requirement,” Ashutosh AT Pednekar, Commissioner College Education and Special Secretary Higher Education, Government of Rajasthan said.
“The Higher and Technical Education Department of Rajasthan is committed to provide students a better placement in both private and government sectors. It equally focuses on enhancing students entrepreneurship,” he said.
Meanwhile, a MoU was signed between the Centre for Electronic Governance (CEG) and Engineering Council of India (ECI) on e-Governance in the presence of Minister Kiran Maheshwari.
The MoU aims to impart job-oriented training and skills to youth of Rajasthan, especially technical students, to make them employable, said ECI Member Secretary, PR Swarup.
During the Conclave, the Minister also launched a common logo to be used by all the engineering colleges of Rajasthan.
During the conference, various panel sessions were held on topics like Innovation and best practices in Higher and Technical education, enhancing employability, etc.
On Friday the Conclave will witness participation and discussion from various Human Resource organisations.
