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Edgefx: Boosting Innovation Among Kids through DIY Kits

Idea concept with row of light bulbs and glowing bulb

Edgefx designs unique, powerful and innovative Science, Technology, Engineering Maths (STEM), Do It Yourself (DIY) educational kits in wide areas of Electronics, Electrical, Embedded and Communication. The kits, which introduce students over 8 years to engineering world, are being sold to over 40 countries worldwide including the US and the UK.

Our Purpose: Empowering every student to innovate is why Edgefx exists.

EdgefxMethodology-Design Thinking: Our experiential understanding of over 18 years about the needs and wants of the students has helped us immensely to incorporate design thinking in building our products. Our Product lines include:

Edgefx DIY Project Kit for Engineering and Diploma students

Over 20 million students globally pursue technical courses including engineering wherein it is mandatory for students to complete a project to have practical exposure as per university guidelines. Lack of trained technical manpower, outdated syllabus, and absence of practical lab facilities has made “Edgefx DIY Project Kits for Higher Education” a popular product among students.

Edgefx boasts of a range of over 400 end-toend different project solutions in more than 40 different categories.

Edgefx STEM Kits for students from 8 years onwards

STEM is a revolution in the education system worldwide. Edgefx STEM Kits are based on electronic building blocks, designed for ease of use and to feed the curiosity of young minds. Edgefx STEM Kits include real time projects with fun-filled activities and experiments and are also mapped to the curriculum.

Pearson: Celebrating 20 years in India

Pearson is world’s learning company, with expertise in educational courseware and assessment, and a range of teaching and learning services powered by technology. Our mission is to help people make progress in their lives through learning – because we believe that learning opens up opportunities, creating fulfilling careers and better lives. Our products are researched, expertly developed and continually improved to ensure that they deliver the best possible learner outcome that enable learners around the world to make progress in their lives. Our focus has always been on digital programmes and learning and we continue to deliver technology enabled products that are accessible and flexible for learners.

In the last 20 years, Pearson has come a long way. We have achieved feats that no other education organisation in India has and we will continue to strive for excellence in the coming years. From the beginning, we had a vision to think differently, while keeping learners at the center of everything we do. With our personalized approach and superior content, 173 years of global lineage and 20 years of rich experience and path breaking ideas in the Indian education space, we are reaching out to schools, institutions and learners and helping build an India that is future-ready!

Building culture of innovations

We as the largest education company in the world, offer solutions across the spectrum that leverage technology for better education. With our award winning integrated learning eco-system MyPedia, Pearson has stepped in to redefine learning. Being a pioneer in the education industry, we understand that today every child learns differently and every teacher teaches differently. Therefore, we set out to introduce an integrated learning ecosystem that unlocks the potential of the learner, the teacher and the school and delivers measurable outcomes for all – and that is how the genesis of MyPedia came about. MyPedia programme facilitates enhanced, effective and measurable learning to bring out the geniuses from within. It brings to every classroom a process-based learning which integrates all teaching tools – publishing, assessment and digital. Now after having two patents filed – one in India and one globally – MyPedia is now reaching out to students in the Middle East, China, Brazil, and South Africa as a teaching and learning solution that is way ahead of its time providing tangible learning and teaching outcomes.

Creating talent pool

We truly believe in our people and their power to create a positive change in learning. It is by both demonstrating and broadcasting this value that we attract the brightest people with the most curious minds to join us in our journey to stimulate learning like never. Our endeavour is to encourage our people to do brave and ingenious work, while collaborating with passionate and supportive colleagues in a company that is committed to its core values of being brave, decent, imaginative and accountable.

Efficacy

Pearson’s purpose is to help people make progress in their lives through learning. We want to measure the progress that our products and services enable people to make in terms of improving learning outcomes. We have developed methods to ensure that the ‘Efficacy’ of what Pearson does is looked at and measured in a consistent way. This includes the efficacy framework we are committed to, by reporting audited learning outcomes and targets alongside its financial accounts, covering its whole business by 2018.

Cambridge Montessori: Fostering love for learning among children

Cambridge Montessori Preschool, is poised to create a learning environment for the tiny tots, which is based on internationally renowned Montessori. The school develops an excellent Montessori curriculum sourced and researched from across the globe and delivered with the help of operational centers in Asia. Cambridge Montessori Preschool focus on the pivotal early grade for children from 12 months to 6 years.

Cambridge Montessori PreschoolThe school provides the academically challenging curriculum with flexibility to meet the needs of individual children in these critical early years. The focus on teaching children in unique manner with the help of Montessori material establish strong foundation in reading, composition, mathematical skills and encourages individual creative expression and thus kids become independent learners at the early age of 3/5 years.

It helps them instill independent learning, creative thinking, and excellent communication skills and further arm them to succeed in tomorrow’s world. Cognitive approach in a progressive way with the help of Montessori teaching materials thus enhancing gross motor skills, sensory development, hand eye coordination and adaptation to the changing environment in their sensitive period of conscious as well as sub conscious phase of their absorbent mind.

Also Read: Cambridge Montessori Preschool: Leading way for affordable franchise model in India & abroad

At Cambridge Montessori PreSchool, children have the freedom to choose their own activities. Children become enthusiastic learners and develop self-discipline. The Cambridge Montessori PreSchool environment is a nurturing place for children. It is designed to meet the child’s need for self-construction. The environment is responsive to the ever changing needs of the growing child. They become expressive through art/ craft and drama. The child’s self-esteem is central to our education.

School Leadership Summits’ Legacy: Recognising the Finest Practices and Minds

Looking at the potential of Information and communications technology (ICT) in making a significant and positive impact on education, it is vital to understand a forum that serves as the knowledge-sharing platform for thought leaders, edu-experts and industry leaders – the School Leadership Summit (SLS).

Over the years digitalLEARNING through the School Leadership Summits has congregated various education stakeholders to deliberate on finest practices and innovations empowered by technological interventions. The objective of these summits is also to facilitate the top schools of India on the basis of their exemplary work in the field of school education. Let’s have a glance at the School Leadership Summits’ legacy:

5th Elets School Leadership Summit:

School Leadership Summit 2018In today’s digital era, technology is needed in every sector of education. Now, schools are embracing technology and innovation to prepare for the future of learning. New technology is more integrated into the classroom than ever as educators and industry experts believe that both students and teachers can benefit from it and help in building a robust digital future. We all agree on the potential of ICT to have a significant and positive impact on education.

Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd, the premier technology and media research organisation of Asia and the Middle East, is organising the 5th School Leadership Summit on 12 January, 2018, in Bengaluru with the vision to connect educators, policymakers, industry leaders and key stakeholders to share new ideas, best practices, latest trends with each other.

This would thereby be an apt platform pitching and professing the new technological advances in school education.

4th digitalLEARNING School Leadership Summit 2017

School Leadership Summit 2017The 4th digitalLearning School Leadership Summit 2017 acted as a forum of knowledge sharing among the thought leaders, education experts & industry leaders. The summit was organised for various education stakeholder to deliberate on finest practices and innovations empowered by technological interventions. The conference was meant to achieve objectives of Educating, Encouraging, and Enlightening.

The summit was intended to deliberate and initiate a dialogue on the changing paradigms around the  emerging themes of Learning Outcomes, Outreach and Access, Vocationalisation, Examination Systems,  Teacher Education, ICT Interventions for New Knowledge, Pedagogies and approaches for STEM education, Standards, Assessments and School Management systems, Learning Platforms for Differently Abled, Language Learning and Ensuring the Comprehensiveness of Education and Child health.

3rd digitalLEARNING School Leadership Summit 2016

School Leadership Summit 2016The 3rd digitalLEARNING School Leadership Summit 2016 intended to deliberate and initiate a dialogue on the changing paradigms around the emerging themes of Learning Outcomes, Outreach and Access, Vocationalisation, Examination Systems, Teacher Education, ICT Interventions for New Knowledge, Pedagogies and approaches for STEM education, Standards, Assessments and School Management systems, Learning Platforms for Differently Abled and Language Learning and Ensuring the Comprehensiveness of Education and Child health.

The objective of the summit was to find out the answers to the questions like how to evaluate the technology outcome implemented in schools, how to initiate critical thinking and what is personalised learning.

2nd digitalLEARNING School Leadership Summit 2015

School Leadership Summit 2015The digitalLEARNING School Leadership Summit 2015 was organised to understand the vision of teachers for ensuring better future for children. Another important objective of the summit was to identify the role of technology in creating excellence in school education. Technology has changed the whole scenario in school education. Many schools have already started using technological advancements like smart boards for making the education, entertaining and easy. Now, information is just a click away.

Impact of globalisation on schools, need for visionary schools in present scenario and Life Skill Education were among the important themes of the Summit.

1st digitalLEARNING School Leadership Summit 2014

School Leadership Summit 2014The digitalLEARNING School Leadership Summit 2014 was made up of four key sessions led by renowned educational leadership researchers. It covered many different and important aspects of educational leadership in the 21st Century. The different sessions were designed to cater to various stake holders involved in education at different levels. Principals of around 200 top schools of India participated in School Leadership Summit 2014. The delegates comprised many school leaders, educators and researchers from Secondary and Senior Secondary Schools.  It was meant understand the challenges of educational transformation and why they persisted over time.

Flash Back 2017: Digital Learning Revisits Innovations in Education

The 2017 has been an eventful year for the education sector, as the Governments have been infusing a variety of things through innovations in the education sector to make it more relevant for the student fraternity in the contemporary world.

Having played role of a lighthouse on the key developments, the digitalLearning magazine brings to you a flashback of the year gone as captured and observed through each of our monthly issues.

It is pertinent to mention this magazine also played a key role in bringing together world’s eduleaders at one platform through its print and web edition along with the premeir knowledge conferences. Let’s have a glance at the highlights of our different issues and conferences as observed by Elets News Network (ENN).

January Issue: KALOREX Nurturing 21st Century Learners

The first issue of January 2017 showcased the best education practices and teaching methodologies followed by Kalorex schools for the holistic development of its students. “The motive of Kalorex is to develop global learners equipped with 21st century learning skills,” stated Manjula Pooja Shroff, MD & CEO, Kalorex Group, in the cover interview. She explained their strategies and methodologies. She also threw light on the various philanthropic activities of the group. The interview also comprises the details of awards won by the group for its best educational practices and philanthropic work.

 

 

February-March Issue: Rediscovering Bahrain

This was a special issue which revolved around World Education Summit (WES) 2017 Bahrain and  recognised the global education ecosystem’s best practices. The summit was inaugurated by H E Dr Majid Bin Ali Al-Nuaimi, Minister of Education, Kingdom of Bahrain. The cover story of the February and March 2017 issue covered the improvements in formal education sector of Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region. Governments across the region have invested heavily in the education sector and over the past 25 years witnessed a rapid expansion in primary, secondary and tertiary education. Despite all the development in the education space, the region has a lot of scope to grow in terms of bridging the gap between skill development and job market.

April Issue: Private Engineering Colleges Ranking and Annual Resource Guide

Finding out the most suitable institute or college as per one’s academic prowess and financial means most often proves a Herculean task, especially in engineering stream. Considering the complications of zeroing-in on the most suitable option, we decided to devote our Digital Learning magazine’s April issue to “State-wise Ranking of Private Engineering Institutes and Colleges -2017”, conducted by a perception-based methodology by a jury involving experts.

In addition, our cover story – “Annual Resource Guide: Sourcing Educational Prerequisites” – was a step towards furthering Digital Learning legacy providing better insights, enabling consumers to take an informed decision.

The issue also comprised the glimpses of “elets 8th World Education Summit Bahrain 2017” that witnessed a grand congregation of leading speakers and hundreds of delegates from as many as 12 countries from across the world.

May-June Issue: Transforming School Education Practices Trough Innovation

With a large number of schools adopting finest teaching-learning practices from across the world, our May-June issue tried to find out the practices that are improving and enriching educational experiences in the Indian schools through the cover story “Rehashing School Education Practices through Innovation”.

Through our three special stories “Ensuring Holistic Development of Children”, “ICT in Higher Education Taking Learning Process to the Next Level”, and “Sports-Key to Character Building of Schoolchildren”, the magazine attempted to touch upon some latent dimensions of the existing education scenario of the country.

Another prominent interview was of Prof Anil D Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, AICTE, who talked about the council’s various steps undertaken to improve technical and higher education in the country.

July-August Issue: Rajasthan Higher Education Souvenir

The July-August issue of Digital Learning magazine was published in association with Department of Higher and Technical Education, Government of Rajasthan. The Souvenir carried a number of prominent and distinguished who’s who of Rajasthan whose presence has brought remarkable changes in the Rajasthan education system.

An important feature of this issue of the magazine was congratulatory messages from the President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar, Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh and Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.

With Rajasthan, one of most vibrant and progressive States of the country, focusing on its education sector in a big way, the Digital Learning magazine’s Cover Story — Rajasthan Higher Education Embracing Change for New Era of Opportunities — highlighted the growing charm for higher education among youngsters as an important prerequisite to grab highly rewarding jobs.

WES Delhi Special Issue

In this issue, we highlighted how a growing role of innovation and technology in education sector is becoming too overwhelming for members of any progressive society to ignore it. We stated how it is serving as a useful tool to help our schools, colleges and universities deliver the information and knowledge effectively.

Our cover story — WES Legacy: Bringing the Brightest Minds Together — was an attempt to explain and revisit the World Education Summit over the years and celebrate its 10th edition.

This special issue also contained insightful interviews of Kiran Maheshwari, Minister of Higher Education, Government of Rajasthan; Anil Swarup, Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource Development and Ashok Jain, Chief Secretary, Government of Rajasthan among others.

September Issue: India’s Top Preschool Ranking

In the light of rapid growth of the preschool segment, the September issue of the magazine came up with India’s Top Preschools’ ranking for the second time.

Through “India’s Top Preschool Ranking 2017”, we endeavoured to explore various dimensions of the preschool segment. This year’s ranking was also intended to create an integrated and comprehensive database of diverse, high quality early childhood education and care services.

Our special interview on Sanfort — a pioneer partner of “Trinity College London” — was about bridging the learning gap in the early years of learning. The brand has around 150 preschools in 22 States of India and two abroad.

 

October Issue (Part I): Nurturing innovation encouraging Startups: The Gujarat Way

In the wake of a large number of highly impressive thesis and innovative ideas emerging every year, the cover story of our magazine’s October issue explored how the Student Startup and Innovation Policy (SSIP) transformed these innovations into new products and services.

A Hackathon Report also featured in this issue which showcased how a group of people recently tried to solve public problems through intellectual prowess away from any discrimination.

We also tried to explore the perspective of various distinguished stakeholders including Anju Sharma, Principal Secretary, Higher and Technical Education, Government of Gujarat, Prof Anil D Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) and K K Nirala as Director of Technical Education, Gandhinagar and others.

October Issue (Special Issue): Top Schools of India Ranking 2017

This issue published the Top School Ranking-2017, a concise list of the best of schools across India which have been ranked in order of their performance on six parameters handpicked carefully. The benchmarks achieved by the schools in our ranking was done separately for five zones – North, South, West, East and Central.

When choosing a school, security of the campus is high on the priority list of most parents given the rising number of violent incidents against students. Our cover story, ‘Are Schools Safe for Children?’ in this issu, highlighted the various aspects of security at schools, and the measures that can be taken by the management to check the incidents of violence against the innocent kids.

November issue: Happy Education: Dubai Inspires the World

As the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has embarked on a unique journey not many countries have treaded in the world, it’s steadfastly acquiring a distinction of being a global education hub with a difference. We endeavoured to highlight how the UAE’s new policies are focused on giving back to the world by making happiness and well-being the focal point of everything they do to improve quality of the education through the November Issue.

Our cover story in this issue, “Happy Education: Dubai Inspires the World”, explored the three key pillars of the UAE’s ‘Year of Giving’ – Corporate Social Responsibility, Volunteering, and Serving the Nation – to develop a knowledge-based economy as the best in the world.

December Issue: Rajasthan BuildingHigher Education Capital with Higher Education

Rajasthan is among the top states in India in terms of number of institutions of higher learning. Given the high number of graduates and post-graduate students being churned out of these colleges and universities, providing meaningful employment through industry-academia partnership is of utmost priority for the State.

Our cover story “Rajasthan Govt All Set to Bridge Students-Industry Gulf” in this special Higher Education and Human Resource Conclave, Rajasthan issue covered various initiatives and achievements of the Government of Rajasthan in facilitating direct employment of students.

This issue also carried the B-School Ranking to help aspiring students to choose the right B-school for their education. The Top B-school Ranking 2017, being published for a second time, is a perception based ranking of over 300 B-schools in the country under various parameters.

Union Budget 2018 – 19: Edu-experts’ reactions

The Union Budget of 2018-19 presented by Finance minister Arun Jaitley is focussed on education along with agriculture and healthcare for the poor. Jaitley announced a new funding scheme for infrastructural development in Centrally Funded Institutions (CFIs) and Universities. Setting up 24 new government medical colleges and “Eklavya” schools in tribal areas of the country are the other important highlights of the Budget 2018.

The education industry has welcomed the Union Budget 2018-19 and few are calling it a holistic budget. In its laudable move, the government is emphasising more on teachers’ training and allocated one lakh crore for educational research.

Here are reactions to the Union Budget 2018-19 from education people belonging to education sector:

Utpal Ghosh, CEO and President, UPES Dehradun:

“The budget has a strong focus on emerging technologies and the education sector. Machine learning, artificial intelligence, robotics, big data, quantum communication etc. are going to drive future jobs and hence a national programme catering to these disciplines is a welcome initiative. District Wise Strategy to improve the quality of education and achieving standard learning outcomes based on the results of the National Achievement Survey is a path-breaking announcement. New medical colleges, planning & architecture schools and a special railway university are steps in the right direction.”

Professor C Raj Kumar, Founding Vice Chancellor, O P Jindal University:

“The initiative – Revitalizing of Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE) by 2022 with a total investment of one lakh crore in the next four years is to be lauded as it definitely portrays the importance and prioritization of education in this country. Similarly, with emphasis being laid on digitization sector, the benefits will reach the needy students.”

Sivaramakrishnan V, Managing Director, Oxford University Press India:

“Integrated Education is a worthy mention in the budget and we hope that it leads to a teaching-learning process that combines print, digital, assessments and teacher training. The focus on teacher training continues from last year’s budget announcement and it exemplifies the renewed focus on this noble profession given that teachers are the principle pivot in the learning eco-system.”

Beas Dev Ralhan, CEO and Co-founder, Next Education:

“The Union Budget 2018–19 looks promising for the education sector. The government has earmarked Rs 1 lakh crore for a new scheme called Revitalising Infrastructure in School Education (RISE) fulfilling his promise of developing infrastructure in schools. The government has also realised the importance of improving the quality of teachers to enhance the quality of education in our country.”

Vijay Thadani, VC and MD, NIIT Ltd:

“It is a progressive budget with the right emphasis on training of teachers, use of technology and funding for research. Increase in digital intensity in education and envisaging move from ‘‘black board’’ to ‘‘digital board’’; using technology to upgrade the skills of teachers through a digital portal “Diksha”; national program on artificial intelligence under the aegis of Niti Aayog; mission on Cyber Physical Systems and a test bed for 5G technology at IIT Chennai were among the other encouraging initiatives.”

Vandana Arora, Principal of Nahar International School:

“We are glad that the 2018 Budget has a forward looking vision with benefits for the sectors that needit the most. As announced, specifically for the education sector, having an integrated B.Ed. programme, with teacher-training as its main focus, will boost the workforce towards being more aware and skilled. I am glad to hear that Rs. 1 lakh crore are to be invested over the next 4 years into a new drive to boost Research and Development.”

Zishaan Hayath, CEO & Co-founder, Toppr.com:

“Capitalising on digital influence for quality education is a welcome move. We sincerely believe that technology has a very important role in education and we are glad that the government aligns with it. Education is critical to the future of India and any relaxations in taxes on education and technology would have been an added benefit. Recognising the importance of teacher training is another significant step to boost quality education in the country. We eagerly await the details and plan of action from the government following the announcements.”

Minal Anand, Founder and CEO, GuruQ:

“The 2018 budget will provide an important thrust for established firms as well as start-ups in the ed-tech sector. Mr. Jaitley’s increased emphasis on digital forms, over traditional forms of learning, is a major boon for the industry. This paradigm shift will increase literacy rates, across the country, ensuring that quality education is available for all. This budget’s focus is on higher quality of teacher training and development which aims at equipping educators with latest teaching techniques, skill training and content.”

Venguswamy Ramaswamy, Global Head, TCS iON:

“The Government in the budget has clearly acknowledged the need to improve the quality and scale of education across the country, through a continued digital push.  A significant population within India has been deprived of access to quality education and infrastructure in the past and the Government’s introduction of Eklavya schools for tribal children will help bring them into the ambit of the formal education model and empower them to explore a bright future. The Ministry’s announcement on giving formal training to teachers through the recently launched ‘DIKSHA’, will definitely boost the quality of teachers, a key pivot to improve the quality of education.

Rohit Manglik,CEO, EduGorilla:

“The Union Budget (2018), which has showcased government’s plan to transform India’s educational scenario by leveraging technology in education is commendable. The 1-day registration of a company will surely provide a boost to startups. The re-skilling of teachers through the portal Diksha will not only improve the quality of education but will be a game changer for the entire education ecosystem.”

Ashish P Dhakan, MD & CEO, Prama Hikvision India Pvt Ltd:

India’s overall allocation to the education sector in the last decade has hovered between 3.5-4 per cent of total expenditure. Last year, the figure was 3.7 per cent. The government proposed to launch ‘Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE) by 2022’ with a total investment of Rs 1 lakh crore in next four years, to step up investments in research and related infrastructure in premier educational institutions, including health institutions. A modest 3.84 per cent increase compared to last year can be seen in the education sector allotment. This is a positive development for the security industry.

Union Budget 2018-19 likely to boost the education sector

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has presented the most awaited budget which started with a positive note on how the Indian economy has reversed course with GDP at 6.3% signalling a turnaround of the economy.

The country is now on track to be one of the fastest growing economies of the world with increased digitalization on the back of reforms such as demonetisation, the quantum of cash currency in circulation and increased tax base.

It is commendable that the government has given a significant focus on education and digitalization.  We whole-heartedly welcome the Government’s plan and focus to move classroom black boards to digital boards. This will help immensely in standardizing and ensuring teaching content and quality and increasing outreach particularly in rural areas where there are impediments such as teacher availability and teaching materials.

The Government also proposed ‘Eklavya’ school, at par with Navodaya Vidayalas, for every block with more than 50% ST population and at least 20,000 tribal people by 2022 in a bid to make education accessible to all.

In a laudable move, Arun Jaitley also allocated Rs 1 trillion to a new scheme called Revitalizing Infrastructure in School Education (RISE) to integrate its school education sector—from pre-school to class 12—implying merger of several school schemes in the near future to revitalize the infrastructure of schools in the country.

The new scheme to identify bright students pursuing B Tech in premier engineering institutes, and providing them higher-education opportunities in IITs and IISc Bengaluru will give the desired impetus to research and development in India. Plans to set up two new full-fledged schools of planning and architecture, 18 new schools of planning and architecture in the IITs and NITs and investment of Rs. 1 lakh crore in four years for higher educational premier institutes are a shot in the arm for the sector and will further the Government’s agenda of education for all.

We also welcome the emphasis to be given to training of untrained teachers and allocation of 1 lakh crore for education research. It’s also very commendable about the plans of coming up with 24 new Medical colleges. Also, praise-worthy is the plan of at least one medical college in every three constituencies. However, government further increased the education cess by 1 per cent which will be a blow to the middle class.

It is encouraging to note the focus on new generation technologies like robotics, artificial intelligence, analytics etc. as far as skill building initiatives go with . The FM’s stance on embracing technology is progressive with Amitabh Kant-led Niti Aayog to establish a National Programme to direct efforts in the area of Artificial Intelligence towards national development focused on research & development and its applications. It remains to be seen how partners from the private sector eco-system with knowledge & expertise in these areas get involved in this initiative.

In line with the expected thrust on rural India, Modi government has rightfully focused on palliating the stress on agrarian economy and overall rural development including construction of toilets, rural electrification and housing for poor. Significant focus on healthcare with a massive health cover programme for 10 crore poor households has been announced, claimed to be the largest in the world is much appreciated.

“While this was a balanced budget and we congratulate the Government on putting India on a growth trajectory on track to achieve 8% GDP growth and announcement of strong fundamental initiatives, we look forward to the expected outcomes as implementation will be the key in achieving the desired results.” said a press note by the Association of Publishers in India (API).

Budget 2018: A futuristic one with focus on better educational infrastructure

The push to education sector in the budget has been hailed by the industry. The budget has its focus on skilling youth and to promote higher education and encourage research among the graduates of the country.

Reacting on the budget, Mindler CEO Prateek Bhargava said, “The Government is coming good on its promise of putting education outcomes and skilling upfront. The allocation of Rs 1 lakh crore for improvement of education infra is one of the highlights of this budget. A medical college for every three parliamentary constituencies is a path breaking initiative and one that will give a huge boost to medicine as a career.”

“FM’s plan to identify 1,000 B.Tech students each year and providing means to pursue PHDs in IITs and IISCs is again a great initiative to drive focus towards research and is in sync with the massive investment of almost 1 lakh crores towards education research. FM’s focus on teacher training and digital education is welcomed and was much needed,” he added.

The Managing Director of Cambridge University Press -South Asia, Ratnesh Jha called it a balanced budget for education sector of the country. He welcomed the government’s move of treating education holistically along with focus on improving educational infrastructure in the country and to strengthen capacity building through improvement in teacher training.

He said, “With focus on increasing digital intensity in education, the budget is quite futuristic as it looks to address the needs of today’s India emerging as a powerful knowledge economy.”

One of the commonly asked questions from the leaders in the current Government is about generating employment for the youth of the nation. The Government in this budget has focused on the issue and tries to address it.

Associate Professor of Finance at MDI Gurugram Ashutosh Dash said, “The budget speech indicates government to focus on the rural sector to create more jobs by 2020. This will require more fund allocation towards the education sector and human resource development sector. The government should also continue creating the environment that ensures ‘ease of doing business’. This will lead to more investments by the private sector and create further jobs for the students completing their formal education.”

Budget 2018: New funding mechanism for infrastructural development in higher education institute

IITs, IIMs, NITs, IIITs and other centrally funded institutions (CFIs) universities will receive their grants for expanding and building new infrastructure in form of loan through Higher Education Funding Agency (HEFA).

HEFA was set up by the government last year to mobilise funds from the market and offer 10-year loans to CFIs.

Earlier, the total grant to all the CFIs from the Government was around Rs 10,000 crore every year but under the new funding model – Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE), the central universities and institutions will now be able borrow up to Rs 1,00,000 crore in the next four years.

A senior official of Ministry of Human Resource Development said, “In terms of funds availability, it is a 250% jump. The idea is to move away from lump sum grants to outcome-based approach and project-based funding. RISE will remove financial constraints imposed by budget availability and bring in greater accountability on part of the educational institutions.”

Loans borrowed by the institutions under RISE initiative can be paid back in 10 years. The loan repayments modes will vary from institutions to institutions based on their internal revenues. For instance, the central varsities will be granted loan in 90:10 window. It means that these universities will have to pitch in 10% of the actual principal amount to be repaid whereas the Government will repay the remaining amount and interest accrued on the loan to HEFA. On the other hand, IITs and IIMs may avail loans through the 75:25 window.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also announced to set up two new Schools of Planning and Architecture (SPA) in Guwahati and Pune this year and another 18 SPAs will also be established as autonomous Schools within IITs and NITs.

Vidyasaarathi with TATA Housing to offer scholarship for girl students

Vidyasaarathi, a unique education scholarship portal powered by NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure Limited (NSDL e-Gov) has announced its partnership with TATA Housing who will be offering scholarships to girl students. Through this partnership, TATA Housing aims to recognize, promote and financially assist the deserving girl students belonging to economically weaker sections of the society. This partnership will open up new avenues for Vidyasaarathi to expand its portfolio in the educational scholarships space; thus catering to a number of underprivileged students.

The scholarship is relevant to students pursuing civil engineering (B.E/ B.Tech.), Bachelors in Architecture (B.Arch) and MBA in Construction Project Management (CPM). The eligibility criteria for  B.E / B.Tech scholarship is that the student needs to be pursing the courses and must have an overall minimum percentage of 50% right from SSC and above.  The student applying for the MBA scholarship must have completed graduation with an overall percentage of 50%.

Commenting on the collaboration, Gagan Rai, CEO and MD, NSDL e-Gov, said, “We are delighted to partner with TATA Housing as we continue to revolutionize the education scholarship sector.  Along with offering a helping hand to the girl child in the education domain, we are also supporting them to gain necessary skills and expertise to be a part of the flourishing construction industry. Vidyasaarathi follows a transparent route in a controlled environment enabling students across India to pursue higher education and become architects of the future, continuously reinventing themselves”.

“At Tata Housing, it is our constant endeavor to contribute towards the society in a positive way. This partnership with NSDL e-Gov will enable us to efficiently identify, promote and financially assist meritorious girl students belonging to economically weaker sections, so that they are able to complete their education and contribute towards the growth of Real Estate industry” said Brotin Banerjee, MD and CEO of Tata Housing.

Having benefited a number of students in the pilot phase, NSDL e-Gov has already empaneled a number of educational institutes on board to collaborate for the Vidyasaarathi program. Vidyasaarathi envisions simplifying the process of scholarship attainment in the country by shifting the entire process to the digital world, thereby reducing administrative challenges faced by organizations to support education funding.

The scholarships facilitated by TATA Housing will be disbursed across educational institutions and will be available for girl students from across the country. Up to INR 60,000 per student will be covered per scheme under the scholarships.

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