Smart Education For Anganwadi Children in Vadodara

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October 28, 2017

In 2013, the Government of India approved the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Policy to provide quality education in pre-primary schools. Now, the quality education will also be implemented at Anganwadi centres of Vadodara, says Devesh M Patel, Chief Medical Officer of Health, Vadodara, in conversation with Elets News Network (ENN).

Give us an overview of the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) initiative being implemented at the Anganwadi centres of Vadodara.

The Government of Gujarat in collaboration with Unicef has included Anganwadis of Vadodara in its project – “Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE)”. Through ECCE, a curriculum of structured materials and quality education is being provided to the children in private pre-primary schools. It will also be implemented at Anganwadi centres of Vadodara. The Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) is in the process of installing television and computer sets and other infrastructure required for the functioning of the project at Anganwadi centres . The curriculum has been designed in the form of animations and audio-visuals to help children enhance their cognitive learning. The motive of the move is to make Anganwadi children competent enough for taking classes at schools.

When will the ECCE project kickstart at Anganwadi centres? What kind of initiatives will be taken to famillarise Anganwadi teachers with the latest technology?

VMC is planning to start the project by October 2017 at few Anganwadi centres. The project will initially be introduced in about 350 centres, and will gradually cover all 400 Anganwadi centres of Vadodara. Our Anganwadi workers have already been trained by the United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF). However, in order to make Anganwadi workers proficient in the curriculum, the team that designed the animation and audio-visual materials has also taken the responsibility to train them to a handle the latest technologies.

What is the total number of children in the Anganwadi centres of Vadodara? Which subjects will be covered as part of the curriculum?

The number of 0-6-year old children registered at the Anganwadi centres in Vadodara is around 60,000, of which 35,000 are aged 3 to 6 years. The curriculum will cover the children of latter age group. All subjects which are being taught at the private pre-primary schools will be covered under the curriculum, i.e. alphabets, numbers, stories, etc. The module prepared for it has various processes. For example, every day the classes will resume with a prayer and different topics will be taught to the students. Also, tests and backup sessions will be conducted in lines with private pre-primary schools.

The curriculum has been designed in the form of animations and audiovisuals to help children enhance their cognitive learning. The motive of the move is to make Anganwadi children competent enough for taking classes at schools.

Give a brief account of the economic and educational background of the Anganwadi children of Vadodara.

Anganwadis in Vadodara are mostly centered in slums or slum-like areas. The parents of these children earn less than Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 per month. For these Anganwadi children, we have nutrition, healthcare and other programmes to ensure their holistic development. However, a proper educational pattern was missing. Hence, after introduction of a curriculum through ECCE, education at Anganwadis will receive a boost.

Vadodara Municipal Corporation has also launched a mobile-based application for Anganwadi workers. What is this about?

We have a mobile application called “Smart Anganwadi” to track the progress and daily duties of Anganwadi workers. Activities related to delivery and consumption of milk, fruit and sweets; progress of kids on monthly basis (weight and height), etc, are regularly monitored through this app. All Anganwadi workers update their daily duties through smartphone that is monitored for smooth functioning of the whole system.

GUSEC: Zero-Day, Zero-Cost Startup Support System

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digitalLEARNING Network

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October 28, 2017

GUSEC: ZERO-DAY, ZERO-COST STARTUP SUPPORT SYSTEM Gujarat University Startup & Entrepreneurship Council (GUSEC) was formed one-and-half year ago to support startups, entrepreneurs and innovators in Gujarat. Currently, we have 47 student startups, of which a grant of Rs 40,000 each to 37 student startups has already been awarded, says Gujarat University Vice Chancellor, Himanshu Pandya, in conversation with Divakar Mukherjee of Elets News Network (ENN).

What is your perception about the “Student Startup & Innovation Policy” (SSIP) introduced by the Government of India in January 2017? How is it contributing to students ideas?

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced “Stand up India Startup India” policy, Gujarat University (GU) was the first to respond. Vice Chancellors of most of the universities of Gujarat gathered to discuss on the topic. Today, we’re a part of developing the SSIP policy. We initiated this process to support student innovation back in July 2015. Now, we are a Technical Business Incubator (TBI) supported by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India; and a nodal agency of the Government of Gujarat. We are also a Section-8 company and have maintained close ties with state’s Corporate and Social Responsibility (CSR) activities.

Students are always bubbling with energy. They have multiple ideas in mind. When they’re given opportunity and mentored in a way they can perform at their best and nurture their ideas at its fullest, it can be converted into a product. We’ve a Mentor Board of more than 150 disciplines who meet startups regularly, to motivate, and to provide all kind of supports from prototype to product. The SSIP is an accent where students’ ideas and innovations are supported.

Through GUSEC, we are promoting a culture and spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation across the university without any financial assistance.

“Paying it forward” plays a pivotal role for any startups. How is Gujarat University helping student startups receive funding for their innovations?

Gujarat University formed Gujarat University Startup and Entrepreneurship Council (GUSEC) one-and-half year back to support startups, entrepreneurs and innovators in Gujarat. Through GUSEC, we are promoting a culture and spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation across the university without any financial assistance. Now, we are in accord with TBI and expecting some grants from the Department of Science and Technology, Delhi, and also from the Student and Startup Innovation Policy (SSIP), Gujarat, to support student innovation. We have a three-tier setup for student startups. First, we incubate them in our coworking space. Second, we provide mentorship in areas they’re working at and thirdly, we support them while obtaining Intellectual Proprietary Rights, and forming business strategies. If they’re building a company, the university is providing them financial assistance. The university also helps them financially in getting the patents without charging any revenue from the startups.

What role is the Gujarat University playing to foster Student Startup ecosystem in the colleges affiliated with the university?

There are more than 300 colleges affiliated to Gujarat University (GU). We have received more than 100 proposals from students of various colleges of GU. Currently, we are on the process to refine these ideas (not an innovation yet) so that a protocol can be developed to turn it into prototype or product. We have appointed one coordinator for SSIP, who monitors these proposals. GUSEC is open to proposals from the students who require assistance to bring a shape to their ideas. We allow them to sit with the Mentor Board to help develop their idea. Mentor Board helps them by providing a pool of knowledge to explore, discuss, groom and refine their idea to convert it into a prototype. If that prototype is promising then it can be converted into a product. Currently we have 47 startups, of which a grant of Rs 40,000 each to 37 student startups has already been awarded.

There are more than 300 colleges affiliated to Gujarat University (GU). We have received more than 100 proposals from students of various colleges of GU. Currently, we are on the process to refine these ideas (not an innovation yet) so that a protocol can be developed to turn it into prototype or product.

Considering most of the startups in India belong to innovators from technical background, what role is the Gujarat University playing to bring other disciplines at par with them?

Technology is a core area even for a nontech startups because some or the other way they will have to be associated with it. For instance, to deliver goods or to develop a product, technical assistance will be required. The prime interest of Gujarat University is on non-technical startups as they are involved in the Government policies directly. We look towards the Government’s policy, its programmes, to facilitate them through our startup ecosystem.

We have more than 50 ICT-enabled classrooms with facility to interact with global teachers. We also have a Google classroom installed in our department. Currently, we’re working on the Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) programme of the Government of India, being dealt through Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) website. We’re also utilising Swayam and Swayam Prabha platforms for teaching-learning process. Moreover, we’ve introduced an Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning course as a Master Degree programme in Gujarat University from this academic year. We want to come up with an ideology where we can facilitate our students with out-of-the-box thinking, i.e. from a conventional teaching and learning method to the need of the time. If we can link industry and academia anyhow, we can be facilitators of both academia and industry. It is a whole chain of system that we follow in Gujarat University.

AICTE Igniting Innovation For New India

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digitalLEARNING Network

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October 27, 2017

AICTE is a regulatory agency with a mandate to define norms and standards for ensuring quality of technical education in terms of infrastructure, faculty, laboratories, library requirements and provide state-of-the-art model curricula, while it is the universities and its academic bodies who have to implement the curricula, conduct examinations and award degrees, says Prof. Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), in conversation with Dipen Pradhan of Elets News Network (ENN).

In today’s context, how are the student innovations and start-ups contributing to the development of the nation?
Globally, innovations and start-up ecosystems have evolved around academic institutions. For instance, Stanford University, the University of Waterloo in Canada, the University of Helsinki in Finland, etc. Universities not only impart learning to students but also think about the sciences of tomorrow. So potential universities are the spinners of research and development, labs and technologies, providing world-class solutions. At universities, it is easy to reach founders, co-founders, faculty, human resources and learn about new ideas. In India, there is a lot happening for developing both ecosystem and successful innovators or start-ups. One of the fundamental aspects of the ‘Startup India’ action plan is that ignition should start at the college-level.

There is a presence of AICTE by way of more than 10,300 AICTE approved colleges in almost all the 600+ districts of the country and about 25 lakh students graduate from these colleges. One day these students will either seek a job or become self-employed, or create jobs — and it is happening.

In India, as well as globally, there is a lot happening for developing both ecosystem and successful innovators or startups. One of the fundamental aspects of the Startup India action plan is that ignition should start at the college level.

What role can the universities and academic institutions play to nurture innovation and entrepreneurship?

Universities and academic institutions are primarily engaged in the teaching-learning process. It is also important for them to innovate for new knowledge and take it to end-users. Most of the AICTE affiliated universities are equipped with good infrastructure, quality teachers and experts. Some are also linked with the State Government colleges. AICTE as a regulatory agency provides a mandate but academic curricula, methodology of examination, contents, strategy, etc, are managed by the respective universities. It is the responsibility of the State University to respond to AICTE’s call.

NITI Aayog says that every month India needs to create two million jobs. Therefore, we need to ensure that universities also become a hub of job creation. A good number of entrepreneurs and innovators have come-out mostly from engineering colleges affiliated to AICTE. Universities and educational institutions have a major role to play in terms of changing their curricula, their academic intervention, creating incentives, culture, and create a support system for various parts of the value chain. Other regulatory bodies like AICTE can help them in capacity building and provide policies like AICTE Student Startup & Innovation Policy.

What role is the Student Start-up and Innovation movement playing in the ‘National Innovation Ecosystem’ and ‘Startup India’?

There are different layers involved in the ‘Startup India’ action plan. There are multiple ministries involved in it. Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and NITI Aayog are looking into the regulatory support system, Biotechnology and Department of Science and Technology are engaged in incubation infrastructure, grants, fundings, etc, and the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) is involved in the ways of creating the culture, preincubation. Technically, the ‘Startup India’ innovation focuses entirely on student start-ups and innovations. It is because students are always bubbling with fresh ideas, they ask questions, and are well-versed in new trends and can think forward.

What has AICTE done so far to nurture student innovation and start-ups across the nation?

The AICTE’s Student Startup Policy, published in November 2016, has the mandate to create at least one per cent entrepreneurs among graduates across universities/institutions or at least they should be self-employed. The AICTE Policy Implementation Committee has also been formed to create a roadmap on how to deploy the policy. AICTE is trying to integrate the support system of different ministries, particularly falling into the region to target preincubation and student startups. AICTE is also trying to pull in a support system together and create a pipeline to create a feeder network to all these institutions so that all the Ministries involved can get the best institutions and best students to avail the support that has been created. The National Student Startup Award and Science Festival are organised to nominate student startups for recognition and give them IPR (Intellectual Property Right) support, linking them with different incubators and government agencies. AICTE is trying to scale the initiatives of SSIP of Gujarat in other states.

Initiating Innovation

AICTE and NITI Aayog signed MoU on 6 July, 2017 to promote innovation and entrepreneurship nationwide. The MoU aims to strengthen the linkage between technical institutions, students’ engagement and mentorship opportunity with Atal incubation centres and Atal Tinkering labs being established in schools across the country.
AICTE and the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship signed MoU on 13 June, 2017 towards the mass creation of entrepreneurial-oriented, practising and skilled students in 3,050 technical and management institutions in next five years.
AICTE and the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises signed a MoU on June 13, 2017, towards imparting skill and increase the employability of students completing their education and internship.
Innovation and entrepreneurship are being promoted through various national award programmes such as Clean Campus Awards, Vishwakarma Award and other awards programmes at AICTE.
AICTE is also lining up with other ecosystem enablers such as DST and DBT supported incubation centres, NASSCOM 10,000 warehouse, ISBA, NRDC to strengthen the referral support to student innovations and startups with incubation and acceleration centre at national-level.

AICTE’s target is to take along at least 10 per cent of approximately 10,000 colleges affiliated to it, where there is certain creative and innovation taking place, groom and promote them to the next stage by providing the support system and link them with different facilities.

As a national regulatory agency, how will AICTE replicate the student startups initiative across the nation?

Firstly we aim to benchmark best practices followed by the student innovation systems across universities, identify the best systems and highlight them in other parts of the country to help them scale up. Secondly the AICTE will create an index and a common IPR policy at the national level, so that these things trickle down to various States and universities. Thirdly we will be bringing together all the governmental support at the national-level and create a common pipeline so that anybody with merit can be easily noticed. Fourthly the AICTE will promote entrepreneurship in specific regions based on the resources available there. AICTE also needs to collaborate with global stakeholders to adopt their best practices. The AICTE startup initiative has a very strong root in promoting innovation and innovation culture.

Gujarat – Set To Scale New Heights with Students’ Startups

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digitalLEARNING Network

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October 27, 2017

Dr Ravi Gupta, Editior-in-Chief, Digital Learning Magazine and CEO, Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd

The State of Gujarat has acquired an unprecedented importance in the last decade or so for being an amazing development story. Irrespective of which political party has been holding the reins at the Centre, the Gujarat success story has been mesmerizing for various other States.

In the light of rising importance of Artificial Intelligence and a spurt in layoffs in the industry, the significance of Student Startups have acquired a new meaning, offering a big ray of hope for a bright future for the youth of the country.

Also, in the wake of a large number of highly impressive thesis and innovative ideas emerging every year, the cover story of our magazine’s latest issue has tried to explore and focus on how the Student Startup and Innovation Policy (SSIP) transforms these innovations and new products and services are being offered by the startups.

It maybe remembered that following an experiment by the Gujarat Technological University in 2010, which was about incentivising students academically for identifying a problem at any village, industry, or organisation, it gained currency at university level of the State as well. Later, it led many students to highlight problems and present fresh ideas to solve them. All this led to the idea — “Students could become entrepreneurs”. Our latest issue has tried to demystify this aspect of Students Startups.

A Hackathon Report features in this issue for the first time. Its significance has been that in Gujarat, a large group of people recently tried to solve public problems through intellectual prowess away from any discrimination.

We have also attempted 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.

Also, we have looked into Startup Perspective, touching upon various startups and innovative ideas in Gujarat. These write-ups showcase how government policies and various incubation centres at different universities help these ideas to become a product.

The startup and innovation ecosystem has gained momentum in India recently. With ‘Startup India’ mission in place, Government of India has reached out to new age innovators to drive sustainable economic growth and generate large scale employment opportunities. In line with the Government of India, Government of Gujarat has also given focus in terms of building effective startup and innovation ecosystem.

Realising the importance of Startup revolution for generating employment, the Higher & Technical Education Department, Government of Gujarat in association with Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd, is organising National Student Startup & Innovation Summit on 5th October, 2017, in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The aim of this conference is to create a knowledge sharing platform in which innovators across India and world over from various higher education institutes can come and showcase their innovations in the presence of policy makers, experts and investors.

Presenting a special issue of the magazine, featuring a host of interviews, stories and reports, we look forward to our readers’ invaluable feedback.

Next Generation Schools – Paving Way for Blended Learning

Article

By

Akash

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October 26, 2017

Technology has shrunk our world and made communication instant. The physical boundaries that separate nations are not applicable to today’s cyber worldfilled with unlimited possibilities, writes Gavin Dabreo, Chief Executive Officer, MLSL, NIIT Ltd for Elets News Network (ENN).

As a country aspiring for global leadership in every field, India is moving towards a new generation of skill sets and education platforms to meet global requirements. Learning and teaching methodologies therefore need to gear up to meet challenges that require unconventional approaches and out of the box thinking. Next generation learning isn’t about educating the next generation of students. It is about engaging with today’s students through learning and designs that produce significantly higher achievements compared to those under current methodologies. It requires a deeper understanding of student engagement in newer learning environments.

Many Asian countries have already started using technology to make learning fun, and ensure that concepts are easy to understand. Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore are using tablet PCs from the first grade for improved learning outcomes. South Koreain particular needs mention as a nation that is moving towards digitisation with great speed providing computer notebooks and wireless internet to all schools. Tablets and PC’s with Keyboards are used by students as reference books, exercise books and other resources and they are finding classes more engaging and interesting. Digital textbooks also cater to multi-media and are used as dictionaries, encyclopaedias and browsers for all kinds of knowledge sources.Learning methodologies in our country too are gradually moving towards smart classrooms with the schooling segment in India poised to be around US $ 44 billion by 2020

The real purpose of education is to help students discover themselves and their true potential. Unfortunately this is not possible within the narrow confines of modern day classrooms where most children are literate but not ‘Educated’ in the real sense of the term. Next generation schools will have technology supported roles for deeper learning and encourage critical thinking. Multiple language options and tailored pathways with secondary options for fast, selective and career specific goals will enable a learner profile that is student centred. The learning in next generation schools will cover knowledge of subjects as well as life skills tailored to meet future needs as in vocational education. Use of technology will entail changes in the overall ecosystem impacting school operations, varying roles of teachers as stakeholders, changes in the manner and tools of learning for the student and the methodologies of learning sciences.A combination of digital media, communication and bandwidth in this scenario ensures that learning is delivered at a fraction of traditional costs. Virtual classrooms will change the educational ecosystem in unimaginable ways making interaction between students and teachers across the globe simple and seamless. The availability of text, audio, video and interactive resources will reduce large overheads and infrastructure that account for a major share of expenditure on education. Virtual classrooms can be accessed from any place that has an internet connection and in the process reduce the time and cost involved in physically commuting to schools. Institutions will have the opportunity to select high quality faculty and students from smaller cities that lack infrastructure can also have access to quality education provided they are connected to the Internet. This means a student from a backward region of the country will have the same advantage as a student living in the capital or any developed metro city.

A three screen day for consumption, production and sharing with broadband facilities at school and home will provide 24×7 learning opportunities 365 days a year, where students can have practical training and conceptual understanding in different roles as journalist, scientist, historian, inventor and coach. They will also have access to flexible ways of learning which will be personalized to suit their grasping abilities. Alternately students will have greater options to choose from like blended learning systems involving a formal education programme where they learn partly online and the restin brick and mortar classrooms away from home.

There will be a notable shift towards competency based learning which changes the dynamic of time and rewards students for skill acquired rather than the time spent in a seat in contrast to the existing system of judging students by grades. The education system and syllabi in the new scheme of things will be more relevant to job outcomes and global requirements.

Next generation schools will have greater emphasis on teacher training, where tested methodologies that encourage questioning and problem solving are used in place of learning by rote. Educators will be guided towards building a motivational profile of experiences that encourage community based learning through a fine balance between innovation and execution.

A deeper learning where adaptive assessments and complementary dashboards visually show students and instructors their individual progress is a likely possibility. This will encourage students to take ownership of their learning and make them aware of where they require additional support. Replacing the present method of teaching and evaluation with a greater sensory environment, next generation schools are all set to encourage critical thinking and problem solving.They are essential in preparing global citizens take on the world.

DTE Creating Sustainable Start-Up Ecosystem

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digitalLEARNING Network

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October 26, 2017

Our overall goal is to create a sustainable ecosystem. We are trying to help institutes and universities in providing prototyping, IPR and allied support systems so that they can extend such supports to all innovative teams of students and alumni, KK Nirala, Director, Technical Education, Government of Gujarat, in conversation with Divakar Mukherjee of Elets News Network (ENN).

What role is the Directorate of Technical Education playing to motivate universities under its umbrella to implement the Student Start-up and Innovation Policy (SSIP) in order to harness students’ innovations?

Directorate of Technical Education (DTE), Gujarat is trying to ensure that the SSIP mandate for colleges is strongly implemented across all the institutes under DTE. It is trying to handhold all stakeholders associated with the programme and trying to create end-to-end support system. Our focus is on students and the core thrust is on ensuring that every student does innovative projects and try to be a problem solver. To do so, we are creating tool kits to give training to faculty members and students with the help of experts. We are setting up Innovation and Start- up Clubs, orienting faculty members to create linkages between colleges and local start-up ecosystems and work with academic system to create incentives for student innovators and start-ups. Awards and citations are being introduced to acknowledge efforts of young minds and provide them mentoring as per their need. Focus is also on helping institutions build capacity for supporting innovation and startups in a sustainable manner.

“Awards and citations are being introduced to acknowledge efforts of young minds and provide them mentoring as per their need. Focus is also on helping institutions build capacity for supporting innovation & start-ups in a sustainable manner.”

The Directorate of Technical Education has several policies, how do you ensure a convergence with SSIP?

KK Nirala, Director, Technical Education, Government of Gujarat

We try that students in technical education acquire necessary skills and aptitude to become creative. We are integrating all our programmes in such a manner that it ensures a support system is built around the students. We are building infrastructure, mentor base, quality teaching-learning process and incentives to foster innovation and institutionalise innovation and entrepreneurship endeavours. Right from our efforts in providing exposure to our stakeholders till we help them realise their true potential and harness their creative potential, we are making processes and support system at each juncture. We ensure that each of our policy and intervention complement each other while aiming to achieve broad goals of making students more innovative and enterprising.

Which initiatives of the university under SSIP are unique in terms of impact that they are going to make in upcoming days?

Our overall goal is to create a sustainable ecosystem. We are trying to help institutes and universities in providing prototyping, IPR and allied support systems so that they can extend such supports to all innovative teams of students and alumni. We are also trying to create regional innovation centres in different parts of the state so that students in the vicinity can access to innovation and start-up support in their nearby locations. We are also creating a state-level common facility and resource centre that will help student innovators and start-ups across the value chain and domain. We are also in process of creating a student IPR policy which will help young innovators to benefit from their research and innovations. We will also build capacity of institutes so that SSIP strategies are implemented at the ground level in a decentralised manner. We aim to help in supporting 1,000 innovations for prototyping and 1,000 for IPR every year. We are also trying to benchmark every university and institute for their innovations, start-up efforts so that they can further progress towards achieving excellence by knowing where they stand today and where they need to reach in a given time frame.

“We are establishing a state-level common resource centre this year to hand hold innovative initiatives across universities and benefit over 14 lakh young students in state with world-class innovation and start-up support system.”

Tell us more about the Common Facility and Resource Centre which is being developed at state level to support student innovations and startups.

We are establishing a state-level common resource centre this year to hand hold innovative initiatives across universities and benefit over 14 lakh young students in state with world-class innovation and start-up support system. This will be a single point access for all innovators in the state across 65 plus universities and 3,000 plus colleges where they can access end-to-end facility to take their innovation to impact stage. This will help them to successfully accomplish their journey from “Mind to Market”. All universities, colleges, Innovators and local ecosystem stakeholders can leverage this facility. This centre will house facilities like idea lab, design facilities, fabrication lab, pre- Incubation support & experts from different innovation promoting organisations under single roof. It will be India’s 1st such centre where any innovator from any college, formal or informal sector can come with his/her unique idea/innovation, get support and create impact at ground level. It will also help filing patents, showcase best innovation from the state and have a vibrant activity centre where around 50,000 students, innovators, and start-ups will actively participate every year. Primarily this Innovation Hub will cover wide range of innovations from sectors like a) Social Innovation b) Manufacturing and allied innovation c) ICT and Digital Innovation d) Science, pharmaceutical and allied innovation e) Sectoral and emerging technology driven innovation. Innovators from all districts and regions can reach out to this centre after developing their idea to certain stage and this Innovation Hub will facilitate the next set of support. Through Hub and spoke manner this Innovation Hub will be connected with all university and institute innovation centres, incubators, design labs, mentor network, investor networks, so that collectively it helps to co-create Gujarat as the most innovation promoting state in the nation.

What is your message for those attending the National Student Startup and Innovation Summit, Ahmedabad?

This is a true fillip to the cause and creates a platform for exposure, discourse and add momentum to the student innovation and start-up movement. This will help to share insights from different start- up ecosystems and particularly how the student innovation and start-up ecosystem is evolving across states. This will bring together different stakeholders in innovation start-up ecosystem like innovators, mentors, incubators, academia, investors, policy makers and others. I wish the event a great success and add more energy into the entire student innovation & start-up movement. It will be a landmark in this segment of the entire start-up ecosystem endeavour under start-up India goals.

VIBGYOR: A Launch Pad for Your Child’s Imagination

By

Akash

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October 26, 2017

VIBGYOR Group of Schools has always worked to provide academic excellence to students. Our group is built on the dream to honour young people by giving them an environment to grow intellectually, artistically, athletically and morally, says Ashish Tibdewal, CEO and CFO, VIBGYOR Group of Schools, in conversation with Elets News Network (ENN).

How have the practices and methodologies followed at VIBGYOR helped it to be in sync with the rapidly evolving education sector?

There is a lot of scope in the education sector in India with the array of innovative and technology-based educational programmes being introduced. We at VIBGYOR are committed to provide quality education to our students. One of the challenges is to do away with the rote-learning methods, for which we have adopted modern, interactive and experiential methods. It makes learning more interesting for students. Our curriculum is developed by experts and the best educationists. Moreover, adoption of international education standards has made available good quality education to students at VIBGYOR for fostering their talents.

How is VIBGYOR different from other educational institutions?

Ashish Tibdewal, CEO and CFO, VIBGYOR Group of Schools

The quality of education, unique interdisciplinary curriculum, state of the art facilities, ideal teacher-student ratio, safe and secure environment, sports infrastructure and more such offerings caters to the goal – Holistic development of a student. It helps them to explore their potential. These offerings certainly give us an edge over other institutions.

What is the educational Philosophy at VIBGYOR?

John Dewey once said, “Education is not preparation for life, education is life itself”, in line with this, we at VIBGYOR believe in preparing our students as learners throughout their life. Our educational philosophy is based on the holistic approach of learning. The all-round approach means intellectual, social, physical, emotional and spiritual development of children. We nurture students to be skillful thinkers prepared for challenges of the real world.

What special parameters are taken into account by the school while developing the curriculum?

We believe that every child is unique in terms of learning approach, intellectual capacity and personality, and right education may help them to survive and excel in the ever evolving world. The curriculum is meticulously calibrated so that in every subject and at every grade, students enhance their learning every year and simultaneously prepare themselves for the challenges (exams) in the following grades. The curriculum is regularly updated to keep abreast with the newer advancement in teaching pedagogy, educational technology, revised standards and methodologies prescribed by the educational boards.

In order to boost the learning, how do teachers inspire and counsel the students? What are the criteria adopted by the school while recruiting the teachers?

Learning requires regular analysis of delivery methods and its effectiveness. Our Faculty Development Programme follows an approach that ensures efficiency of our teachers is optimum. Our VQUEST team conducts regular audits of classroom teachings and assesses and remediates the flaws. We conduct teacher training programmes regularly to enhance teaching skills and induct teachers with latest methods and innovations in the field of education.

It is important to empower students not only in academics but also in other areas to face real life challenges, what extracurricular activities are organised at school for this?

Our pursuit for excellence in academia has been supported by various sports and performing arts activities conducted at the school. Such regular activities in school make learning holistic and dynamic. We are recognised as one of the few schools in the country to have a structured programme for sports and performing arts. We offer the best-in-class curriculum integrated with sports and performing arts which is developed, managed and delivered by a team of professionals. We train our students in a spectrum of athletic and artistic activities ranging from swimming, skating, football, cricket, basketball, handball, gymnastics as well as music, dance, speech and drama. Students are guided in various streams of performing arts such as Keyboard/Piano, Singing, Guitar, Dance and Drama, to help them find their groove.

Vembark: The initiative by VIBGYO R is a conglomerate of educational clubs and programmes like VHMUN, VHSSRC, VHGC and others that engage students in trans-disciplinary learning activities outside and beyond regular school hours.

VIBGYOR also hosts Viva, an Interschool and Junior College festival that promotes interactive learning through Sports, Cultural, Academic and Artistic mediums.

What is the vision and plans of the group for upcoming years?

VIBGYOR started its journey in 2004. Our aim was to make a difference to the society through quality education. Our passion for creating the best and strong focus towards a greater goal helped us to develop one of the most renowned brands in the education sector with over 25 schools across the country and with 3-4 new centres every year. We have the largest presence in Bengaluru, followed by Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Lucknow, Vadodara, Surat and Kolhapur. In the coming academic year, we are launching 4 new schools, 3 in Bengaluru at HSR Layout, Doddanekkundi, Panathur and 1 in Pune at Hinjewadi.

SSIP – Laying Roadmap To Help Varsities Expand Horizon

Magazine

By

digitalLEARNING Network

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October 26, 2017

SSIP has formed committees at the State-level in which leaders and experts in finance, incubation, designing, marketing, etc., are involved to help universities in creating a broad roadmap, says Anju Sharma, Principal Secretary, Higher & Technical Education, and Chairperson, SSIP Implementation Committee, Gujarat, in a conversation with Hemangini Kanth Rajput and Dipen Pradhan of Elets News Network (ENN).

Tell us about the journey behind Gujarat’s achievement in becoming the country’s first State to implement Student Startup and Innovation Policy (SSIP) aimed at harnessing students’ innovation?

An organised effort to support student startups started early in Gujarat. Generally, students across academia are creative enough to solve problems. The only thing required was providing a platform so that they can utilise their skills and abilities to solve problems — and create innovation and enterprises.

About seven years ago, small co-working facilities with preincubation activities to support student innovation had already begun in universities and campuses of Gujarat. On an average, every year around 100 plus student startup came as a spin-off from these activities and experiment and support system. It further led to some of the universities to create their own strategy providing impetus to the students.

Anju Sharma, Principal Secretary, Higher & Technical Education, and Chairperson, SSIP Implementation Committee, Gujarat

In 2014-15, we observed a critical mass happening. It received a further boost with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of “Startup India”. AICTE had been taking a keen notice of experiment happening in these universities to support startup and innovation in Gujarat.

Thus, in 2016, it drafted a National Student Startup Policy. Meanwhile, the Department of Higher & Technical Education took a giant- step to support this innovation and startup system across universities and formed Student Startup & Innovation Policy with worth Rs 200 crore support to create innovation and startup infrastructure, incentive, PoC, development of Prototype, Patent filing, Ecosystem building, etc.

As Gujarat had always been an entrepreneurial State, there was an advantage of having the highest amount of incubators, with around 15, in the State granted by different Central Government agencies.

Moreover, with the existence of quality academic education institutions, precedence of risk taking ability along with incubators, investors, mentors, designers in the State —and with existence of all these together led to amalgamation of a movement that eventually created SSIP to support need of the student startups.

“Interestingly, some of the universities used to help the student innovation at their own budget. With SSIP in place, it showed them a direction.”

Since the implementation of the SSIP policy in Gujarat, how has been the response from State universities and colleges?

Interestingly, some of the universities used to help the student innovation at their own budget. With SSIP in place, it showed them a direction: where to move, by when and how. Initially, we received applications from around 20-odd universities for SSIP grant. Around 100 colleges applied in the first phase. On September 26, 2017, State Chief Minister Vijaybhai Rupani distributed grants to 11 universities and 12 colleges. On the other hand, many universities have filed proposals outlining “what they have done” and “what they want to do”. Our core goal is to ensure that these colleges and universities become incubation ready and systematic innovation supporting organisations by next five years. Proposal for receiving grants have been not only from technological university but also from Agriculture, Social Sciences, Liberal Arts Universities. Similarly, the institutions which have come forward are from Management, Commerce, Social Sciences, Agriculture background etc.

Colleges and universities have responded very well. Those who used to already have the student startup ecosystem are gearing-up to the next-level. Those, who have not yet started, are trying to take it forward in every aggression for supporting their startup. Our idea is to help supporting 1,000 Patent filing from the State university and witnessing such participation. There’s been an outstanding response.

On what basis will the university be eligible to receive grant and support of the SSIP?

Our criteria of selecting university depends upon “what they have done” and “what they want to do”, highlighting a clarity on the roadmap. In the evaluation process, proposal submitted by these universities matter. The proposal should have structured data-sets that will be evaluated by the committee at State-level. Criterias that are looked into are “Active Student Participation” (ASP). The university should have at least 2,000 ASPs with five-year Action Plan Milestone, and minimum of 200 ASPs for academic institutions with Action Plan Milestone for three years, to become eligible for SSIP grant. The Action Plan should contain all the parameters mentioning their target on the number of student sensitisation, innovative projects, patent filing teams it would support for prototyping, workshops and conferences, etc. We also ask their significant initiative in the past and its impact. Finally, they propose a ‘Budget Plan’. These are some of the important indicators after which a number of screenings are conducted to award them SSIP support and grant.

Incubation centres play a major role in fostering SSIP. How is the Department of Education, Gujarat, mobilising incubators to join this innovative policy?

One of the crux of the SSIP Policy is to ensure that university supporting the student innovation and startup should have an incubation centre, or incubation setup ready in the next five-year plan. SSIP starts just before the incubation. The support system will ensure a strong pipeline to incubation, if the university wants to setup an incubator. Simultaneously, SSIP also provides insights to the universities while trying to setup an incubator. Furthermore, we are trying to create a network of incubators. SSIP has formed committees at the State-level where leaders and experts in finance, incubation, designing, marketing. etc., have been involved. The committee helps universities to create a broad roadmap and in capacity building. We are also trying to connect universities with these incubators, so that at least one to three incubators each would handhold three to four universities.

Literacy in a Digital World: Whys and Hows

Article

By

Akash

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October 25, 2017

Digital literacy means the use of technologies and digital devices to enhance knowledge and skills of any person. Ravindra Yatagiri, Vice President, e-Learning and Dr Alka Dwivedi, Associate Director, e-learning, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES) explores current scenario and scope of digital literacy in India for Elets News Network (ENN).

The world in 21st century is no longer analogous. It has become digital, or one can say digitally beautiful. Now almost all forms of content whether text or audio or video is either digitised or is about to get digitized, and such digital content can be moved from one point on the globe to the other in a matter of seconds. This is no less a revolution. Thanks to World Wide Web and Internet!

In this digital world the term ‘Literacy’ has acquired an added dimension. It is workable definition has irreversibly expanded to incorporate ‘the ability to use IT based systems and the ability to use software and web-based applications on computers or similar electronic devices’.

But then, there is a contrasting narrative going on silently in the background. At one end the world moves with such dizzying speed and at the other end there are millions of our brethrens, who are stuck in misery, poverty and are leading undignified lives. They have no idea where the world is going and they find themselves helpless in getting out of their situation because their illiteracy will not allow them to improve their lot. Neither will it let them get in touch with today’s modern world.

On hindsight, the literacy rate in India is still only 76%. It implies that more than 31 million people are still deprived of basic literacy skills, who cannot read or write any language. Their employment avenues are limited to manual labour or blue collared jobs.

Even those who are able to acquire some level of education bear the brunt of crumbling education system. They are barely better off than the illiterates, as testified by PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) scores. The last time Indian students participated in this global assessment organized by Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) we realized that the scores on reading, mathematics and science, of our 15 year olds were more than their counterparts from Kyrgyzstan. The rest of the 71 participant countries were better off than India, in terms of the learning skills of their students.

This is the scenario after seven long decades of democratic rule in the country. All these years, while we were focusing on ‘ garibi hatao’ or ‘ mandals and kamandals’ we overlooked the fact that Science and Technology was busy reshaping the world we are a part of. Now the digital bus has arrived and it is time to board it. Everything is getting digitised whether it is information systems or communication channels or governance or education or commerce.

In this digital world the term ‘Literacy’ has acquired an added dimension. It is workable definition has irreversibly expanded to incorporate ‘the ability to use IT based systems and the ability to use software and web-based applications on computers or similar electronic devices’.

Bill Gates once observed that technology applied to an efficient operation will magnify efficiency and technology applied to inefficient process will magnify the inefficiency. Illiteracy creates a lot of misery for the individual and the society. And as technology is getting progressively weaved into the socio-economic fabric of the society the debilitating impact of illiteracy is magnified manifold.

Our current position is amply clear to us and we also know what future awaits us if we stand here any longer. We need to move and move fast enough to stop the demographic advantage turning into demographic disaster.

To kick start the efforts the government needs to take into account the digital version of illiteracy and work towards eradicating it with a sense of responsibility and urgency.

Today a learner needs to be given not only skills to read and write but also the skills to sustain in a digital world. Digitization is bringing incremental changes in the way citizens interact with the state and its agencies and also in the way they interact with each other. All changes are not smooth and neatly planned. When a sudden demonetisation takes place the ones who can understand and appreciate the change and march along are the ones who are literate as well as have an exposure to digital way of things.

This possibly, can be done by employing a two pronged strategy. At one Level the government can strengthen the existing system. It can work towards increasing student enrollment ratios, by increased budgetary allocation, improved infrastructure, supportive policy framework, removal of bureaucratic hurdles and creating, implementing and monitoring academic administrative systems.

At another level the government can inject the digital component into the system. It can harness the power of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) to improve the quality of education. Recently, two education projects viz. National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) and ‘Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds’ (Swayam) have given a lot of hope in higher education space. Similar initiatives can be taken for primary and adult education. The process has to start by training the trainers. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) can be developed by established Institutions and educationists. These can be used in teachers’ training in a traditional format, blended mode, or even in virtual classes. Objective is to provide quality training to large number of teachers in a short span of time. Using ICT in ‘Training the Trainer’ program will also initiate the teachers into digital teaching.

Next step in the process is to replicate the same model to teach students. The objective is also quite similar, which is to provide quality education to large number of students and also make them familiar with technology.

The whole idea rest upon the firm resolve of the government to invest sufficiently in setting up the required infrastructure. If necessary, PPP (Public Private Participation) model can also be explored for the purpose.

The ubiquitous mobile phones and smartphones have shown that people are quick to adapt to technology if it is within their reach and serves their purpose. So one can be sure that if government acts with genuine intentions, not only literacy levels will catch up but PISA scores will also improve, showing impact on both quantity and quality front.

SSIP: An Idea that became a Policy

By

digitalLEARNING Network

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October 25, 2017

In Gujarat, a large number of thesis and innovative ideas emerge every year. How Gujarat ‘Student Start-up and Innovation Policy’ (SSIP) transforms ideas into new product and services to becoming entrepreneurs, writes Dipen Pradhan and Hemangini Rajput of Elets News Network (ENN).

In 2010, the Gujarat Technological University (GTU) started an experiment to incentivise students academically. Under the experiment, the students were asked to identify a problem at any place, village, industry or organisation during their summer vacation. Students who were able to figure out the problem were awarded four credit points — equivalent to a subject. An additional point was awarded to the students who came up with solutions. The experiment became popular among other universities in Gujarat as well. It led many students to highlight problems. It also helped some of the students to come up with fresh ideas for solving these problems. The experiment boosted the idea — students could become entrepreneurs.

In the next three years, students were encouraged to create a market for their innovations either by becoming an entrepreneur or by selling their technology. This saw a spike in the ‘patent filing’ with 300 patents filed during the period — a six-fold increase in the numbers. From 2012 – 2013, around 20 to 23 students graduating from GTU were setting up their own ventures, of which some were already earning revenue of Rs 2.50 lakh.

Initially, the idea was to motivate innovation among students and provide them with more skills rather than passing out with just a degree in hand.

As many new innovations and researches were being done by students in sectors like manufacturing, information communication technology (ICT), Internet of things (IoT), embedding system, agritech, edutech, etc. For the first time student entrepreneurship was being talked about, but without any financial support to their startups.

GTU formed a Student Start-up Support System (S4) to build a complete Student Startup Ecosystem: culture building, problem-solving, ideation, product design, pre-incubation, etc. S4 provided a supply-line with an access to infrastructure, initial capital and mentoring. In three years, around 1,50,000 students graduated from the university. Initially, the idea was to motivate innovation among students and provide them with more skills rather than passing out with just a degree in hand. Meanwhile, new theories were evolving because, even if the students tried and failed at the age of 20, their innovation could achieve new heights in the market.

GTU then drafted the country’s first comprehensive and strategic, ‘University Student Start-up Policy’ in 2014. This policy has provisions like relaxation in attendance for those who want to build enterprises, a provision to promote girls entrepreneurship, provision to universities for setting up of regional innovation centres, a provision allowing colleges to facilitate start-ups after class hour to name a few.

“Overall this policy provided a legitimate definition for the student start-ups and entrepreneurs. It aimed to facilitate innovations among regular students and alumnus of universities and colleges of Gujarat. The initiative witnessed 90 per cent success rate, of which majority were from the institutions established in the last six years and remotely located colleges of the Tier-II cities of Gujarat,” AICTE Executive Director Hirenmay Mahanta said, adding “All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) drafted National Student Startup Policy – 2016 further provided an additional boost to the legitimacy of this experiment now providing support to student start-ups across AICTE-approved institutions of the nation,”

Student Startup and Innovation Policy (SSIP), Gujarat

Gujarat Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasma held several meetings with Vice Chancellors of the universities in Gujarat on forming a state-level Student Start-up & Innovation Policy (SSIP). The policy was needed to create resources for start-ups, to support the mandate for student start-ups in the State. Gujarat Higher and Technical Education Principal Secretary Anju Sharma had been actively working to expedite the process to frame university-based SSIP with AICTE acting as an umbrella organisation. The idea was to provide a system to support pre-incubation phase of entrepreneurship.

At that time, a policy was much needed that completed the student start-up ecosystem through integration of industry, government and universities. The focus was earlier on entrepreneurs. The Government used to provide funds only to those start-ups (already listed as companies) who have already developed a prototype. The system saw a loop-hole as the expenses accrued during the preincubation phase, which was not refunded. A student, for instance, in manufacturing field needed at least Rs 10,000 to develop a prototype, and more funds for a better one. Gujarat Industry department awards up to Rs 21 lakh of grants to entrepreneurs — a type of support given at the post-prototype stage. The Science & Technology department funds for infrastructure creation, ICT-related innovations. The State’s Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) is one of the oldest incubators in the country. Gujarat Venture Finance Limited (GVFL), supported by the Government of Gujarat, also provides funds. But, it lacked preincubation link or support to the startups.

“To reach the stage to receive Rs 21 lakhs fund, the start-up needs to have at least Rs 50,000 or 1,00000 lakh rupee to convert the protocol into a prototype or a product. This was the missing link Gujarat wanted to advent. In January 2017 when the Gujarat Government passed the Student Startup & Innovation Policy (SSIP) and allocated a budget of Rs 200 crore per year, of which Rs 100 crore is allocated from the State fund and Rs 100 crore from other resources. The mandate of the SSIP is to put resources in the university for creating student start-up ecosystem to nurture a start-up from preincubation stage to a renowned company. The policy envisage to create a value-chain of culture building, innovation building and setting up of a full-fledged organic incubation mechanism in the next five years,” Mahanta said.

Gujarat SSIP, a state-wide policy aims to supports creativity, innovation and student start-ups across the 60 universities in the State with an enrollment of around 1.4 million students, of which 1,000 students could obtain Proof of Concept (PoC) and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) every year.

The academic start-up has received a significant push in Gujarat. More than 8 out of 10 Technical Business Incubators (TBI), supported by the Gujarat department of Science & Technology (DST), are in universities. Nearly 18 out of 20 nodal institutes are in academic environment. Gujarat Start-up ecosystem has taken a leadership towards setting up a systematic preincubation layer since past three years.

Gujarat University also intervened similar efforts in non-technology sectors through its initiatives. GTU, GU and others during an academic year receive funds to create nearly 30-40 student start-ups each for hand holding at their early stage. Gujarat Startup incubators and the ecosystem at large is believed to fetch a quality pool of potential start-ups from university and handhold them to become success stories of tomorrow.

Gujarat has developed an end-to-end innovation ecosystem involving three different support schemes from the Department of Education, the Department of Science & Technology and the Department of Industry — put in place and positioned in a manner that it complement each other’s offering, and through synchronisation, create optimum impact.

SSIP: A university-based policy

Universities in Gujarat submit a roadmap outlining its plans for what it wants, are doing and its competencies to obtain the SSIP support. The state-level committee then examines the proposal. Once approved, the government colleges are liable to get funds up to Rs 40 lakh grant per year and a private institution/college would get upto Rs 20 lakh. The funds can be utilised on helping students producing a POC, designing, filing patent, conducting workshops and programmes, etc.

The practice was simultaneously being practised few universities in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, too. Odisha, Jharkhand are also scaling the idea in their context.

The policy was first implemented in Gujarat Technological University (GTU). After the implementation, it has set funds for two needs: for students who needed fund for prototype building during their pre-incubation phase; for filing Patent. In Gujarat, a sum of Rs 15,000 approximately is required for filing a patent.

Mahanta says, “AICTE is serious to mandate every State to adopt a policy like SSIP, Gujarat. 3-4 states have approached for assistance in designing a similar policy in their respective state universities. Although the ecosystem of SSIP would differ from State to State due to geography, culture, resources, demography differences, the policy shows the basic path for implementing the SSIP.”

GTU Student Start-up Ecosystem

Every month GTU issues a notice inviting applications from innovative students on their Innovation Council Cell website. At least 30 to 35 applications are being received on a monthly basis from both university affiliated and non-affiliated colleges or institutions, said its members.

A student approaches Design Clinics of the GTU Innovation Council with an ‘idea’. The experts on the relevant fields evaluate the ‘idea’ to check its feasibility in the market. If the ‘idea’ fails its feasibility chance, through Idea Generation Methods, the Council provides training on ‘basics to form an idea’ which is again validated in the Design Clinic. After idea validation, the Council helps the innovator in building a prototype or designing the Proof of Concept (PoC). The innovator is invited to the Startup Clinic where mentoring is provided. Patent Cell trains students skills required for making Patent Search and Analysis Report (PSAR) and Patent Drafting Exercise (PDE). The Council has a ‘Patent Clinic’ to check if the prototype needs Patent Filing or just to register the design for copyright, trademark, design registration, etc. The Council then assists on conducting ‘Market Research’ in which it helps them to achieve a target of gaining 100 User Traction or customer validation — a must criteria as set by the Council. Once they achieve the target, the council helps them obtain Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) or Private Limited registration. The GTU is currently trying to involve Venture Capitalists to invest, for which the aforementioned needs a proper check.

The GTU has assisted more than 150 start-ups on their pre-incubation phase of prototype building. These startups were affiliated to various institutions and nodal agencies. For GTU affiliated college/ institution, it has so far incubated 47 startups, of which 14 received fund, seven commercialised their product and 26 are at early stage of getting validation in the market. Out of 480 colleges affiliated to GTU, 30 have recognised incubation centres to help the Student Startups.

Salient features of Gujarat SSIP

Setting up Innovation and Pre incubation facilities across 200 academic campuses
Currently, Gujarat receives about 650 patent filing comprising around 40 % filings by academia. The SSIP supports 1,000 student innovators and researchers to get IPR support.
Grassroots innovators comprising school dropouts and other inclusive innovators have been made adjunct faculty members. GTU has 14 members currently getting a cross-learning opportunity ( Knowledge reach economical people also to be part of academic system).
Universities in Gujarat are encouraged to give academic credit to students for scouting community, SME, rural, urban challenges and also convert some of them as the subject of their projects so that impact reaches to end-users.
In GTU around 2,000 students does real life project based on challenges by Small industries and try to work around their pain points.
During Smart India Hackathon program by MHRD, participants from colleges from Gujarat won the highest numbers of awards. Total 135 awards were given across 29 ministries in 26 host venue nationally out of which student teams from Gujarat won 8 national awards.
Gujarat on September 26, launched its own Hackathon in which challenges sourced from different ministries and departments and students across universities incentivised to participate and develop digital solutions.
Recently, one Gujarat student Start-up “Straut” developed technology in solar thermal engineering got 1st prize/gold medal at MIT Climate change Innovation Award among 700 plus university participation globally.

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