Smart Education through Smart Classes in Tripura: Dr Sandeep Mahatme

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July 8, 2017

In order to equip the youths of border areas with jobs, the government is trying to develop coaching centres for competitive exams. The government is also running capacity building programmes for youth to make them to compete in National level competitive exams, says Dr Sandeep N Mahatme, District Magistrate and Collector, Khowai, Tripura in an interview with Souvik Goswami of Elets News Network (ENN).

What are the initiatives by the government to improve the employment status among youths in Tripura?
The State of Tripura with one of the highest literacy rates in the country has a significant number of educated unemployed youths. Lack of coaching/training institutes that offer facilities to prepare for various Central and State
Government Departments’ recruitment exams result into less number of persons making it to Central/State Government jobs.

Border Area Development Programme (BADP) is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for ensuring balanced development of border areas through development of infrastructure and promotion of well being and a sense of security among the border population. At the District level it is implemented by the District Administration through various line departments. One of the important components of BADP is capacity building and skill development. Under this component, the Digital Classroom Coaching programme for Railways and Banking exams for SC/ST and other students is being implemented.

Facilities at Coaching Centres:

A coaching institute, namely, Janakalyan Parishad, Dharmanagar, that tied up with Institute of Career Advancement, Agartala, is engaged through open bid following Quality & Cost Based Selection (QCBS) method.
100 students are selected through screening tests by the coaching institute out of which 50 students are enrolled to undergo coaching for banking exams and the remaining 50 for Railways exams.
The coaching institute will train 100 students, selected through a test, to make them capable of facing recruitment exams of Railways (Group C and D) and Banks (IBPS Probationary Officers, IBPS Clerk Recruitment etc.).
The coaching Institute has set up digital classrooms at Dharmanagar and at Kanchanpur.
The coaching Institute has supplied books and study materials to the students. In addition, it will also supply tablets with access to videos and other information based upon syllabus.
The duration of coaching is for a 4 months session. The coaching institute is required to conduct at least 8 classes per month. The coaching will also conduct at least 2 tests per month. Attendance of the students is taken in Biometric system.
Trainee students will be provided with Travelling Allowance @ Rs 50 on attendance.

What are the opportunities for Tripura’s youths as far as government sector is concerned?
As per Indian Institute of Bank Mana Jement (IIBM), Guwahati, there is heavy demand for trained professionals to man the branches and also to replace those who are retiring in near future. The problem is more acute in the North
Eastern region where officers and staffs of Banks are reluctant to be posted. So, there is perennial shortage of skilled manpower in North East.

Also Read: Smart Education

Institute of Banking Personal Selection (IBPS) quoted that there is acute need of banking persons. Around 7.5 lakh people were to be recruited in next five years. Every year the trend is almost same.
BFSI sector skill council of India (Banking Financial Services and Insurance) (Under NSDC)- has projected manpower recruitment of the sector by 2022 to be 8.5 million, which is as increase of 4 to 4.5 million from where we stand today.
As estimated by NSDC, Tripura require 3.25 lakh employee workforce by 2022. So, banking sector job opportunity must be grabbed by the youth of North East/Tripura.
North Eastern Frontier Railway Division has its Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) in Guwahati. Opportunities in Rail recruitment lies with Rail Wheel factory Recruitment, Rail coach factory recruitment, IRCTC amongst many others.
Recent RRB recruitment shows vacancies of 2,24,656 during 2016-17.

Who and how beneficiaries/people/Departments are affected positively?
The programme is targeted for educated unemployed youths of border villages of North Tripura District who lacks competitive edge due to absence of opportunities to prepare for recruitment exams conducted by Banks and
Railways. Particularly, the focus is on SC and ST students.
This type of coaching would augment, to a great extent, the skills of individuals from remote border villages who are looking for better opportunities but does not have the means to avail quality coaching to prepare themselves for
the competitive exams.

What role do nominated departments play in employment and skilling of youth?
The office of the District Magistrate and Collector North Tripura, invited Expression of Interest (EOI) which was published widely including the official websites of the State Government and District Administration. A good response was received during the second call for EOI. A technical committee evaluated the bid documents
and called the shortlisted eligible applicants for a presentation before the committee. The final selection was made based on QCBS method. The District Administration is also monitoring the day to day progress of the programme as
well as every other aspects of implementation.

What will be the outcome of the initiative?
The implementation of the programme is still ongoing. By May, 2017, around 50 students were trained for Railways and around 50 students were trained for banking recruitment exams.

Centre to launch 4 digital initiatives to promote e-learning

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Akash

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July 7, 2017

The Central Government is going to launch four major initiatives to push e- learning in higher education.

President Pranab Mukherjee will launch the initiatives this week. The initiative include the launch of Swayam — an indigenously designed massive open online course (MOOC), Swayam Prabha — a project for transmitting high-quality educational content through 32 Direct-to-Home channels, National Digital Library – online collection of over 6.5 million books, National Academic Depository – to authenticate all certificates issued by institutions across India.

“These initiatives will increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio in the higher education from 24.5 (2015-16) to 30 by 2020,” said a ministry of human resource development (MHRD) official.

“The modalities on granting degrees to students undertaking online courses are still under deliberation,” the official added.

According to the MHRD, the students registered with recognised institutes would have the option of earning online credit through programme running on the platform. Through Swayam Prabha, the government would air new content of four hours every day. It would be repeated six times a day.

“The content would be mainly for students from Class IX to XII and those who are preparing for admission into IITs,” the official added.

Nearly 1,000 vice-chancellors of central, state, deemed and private universities along with directors of premier institutes such as Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) were present at the launch.

Bombay HC orders to formulate pre-primary education policy by year end

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Akash

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July 7, 2017

The Bombay High Court has questioned the delay in bringing out pre-primary education policy and directed the concerned authorities to frame the same by year end.

The court has directed that the policy in Maharashtra must be in line with the provisions of the Right to Education Act underlining the importance and benefits mentioned in the act for a child to acquire from pre-primary education.

“Having regard to the importance and benefits a child can acquire from preprimary education, the framers of the statute took care of pre-primary education also, which is a foundation in the education of any person,” said the High Court.

The bench of chief justice Manjula Chellur and justice RM Borde has passed the order recently in Aurangabad during the hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Dr Jagganath Patil. The PIL has highlighted the hardships and expressed the grievances faced by parents while securing admission for their children in good pre-primary schools education of the state.

It is important to lay down the procedure for pre-primary education as it plays a major role in the education system of the country, described under Section 11 of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.

The court said it failed to understand why the authorities were unable to bring any procedure or policy in Maharashtra even after having a study tour in other states like Rajasthan.

“If such policy is under active consideration of the authorities, we fail to understand, why they need one year to bring it out,” said the bench, when told by the state lawyers that it was working on a policy.

The court set a deadline of December 31 to bring out the policy and disposed the PIL.

Centre constitutes committee to revamp minority education

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Akash

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July 7, 2017

The Minority Affairs Ministry has constituted an 11 member committee to revamp the minority education in India.

The panel has suggested setting up of more than 200 schools and 25 colleges to overhaul the education system for minorities.

The panel has submitted its report to the minority affairs ministry suggesting that the new schools should follow the CBSE syllabus. Students belonging to minority communities may also be allowed to attend Madrasas for religious education.

As per 2011 Census, literacy rate of largest minority community – Muslims is 68.53%. The literacy
rate of Muslims is lowest among all minority communities and is also lesser than the national average of 72.98%. The poor quality of education with lower literacy rate among the community is a matter of concern keeping them at a “double disadvantage.”

Former parliamentary affairs secretary Afzal Amanullah will head the panel. He suggested that five national research and specialised education institutes will be set up in fields like science and technology, health sciences and architecture. As per the Government’s instructions, all the institute will provide co-education to help in improving the abysmally low literacy rate among Muslim women, said Amanullah.

“We have not said only minority students will be allowed to study in these institutes. But we want these institutes to come in minority-dominated areas so that the local boys and girls have an advantage,” Amanullah said.

The panel has proposed to set up 211 schools in places like Anantnag, Darbhanga where students will be taught free of cost.

Claiming that though Muslims are in dire need of modern education, the panel will also look at the needs of other minority communities as well, Amanullah said. “We have focused on imparting secular education. But if anyone wants to pursue theological studies, we have said that students can go to madrasas before the school hours,” he added.

Anand Kumar’s Super 30 to get funds from Saudi NRI

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Akash

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July 5, 2017

Super 30, a free coaching centre in Bihar, is likely to get support from a non-resident Indian of Saudi Arabia in form of financial help.

Obaidur Rahman, a Saudi Arabian businessman and chairman of the Bihar Foundation of Saudi Arabia, has set up an organisation called Rahman 30. Every year through a screening test, the organisation will select 30 students belonging to the minority communities from all over India.

“The main objective is to give the students employable education through rigorous training. This is what is lacking for the minorities. They don’t get quality technical and job-oriented education due to their poor financial condition,” Rahman said.

These students Anand Kumar, founder-director of Patna-based Super 30, will provide free coaching to these students.

“Education is the only way one can make meaningful contribution to society as it has the power to change generations as I have seen at Super 30,” Rahman added.

Super 30 is a free coaching that helps children from economically weaker sections of society in preparing for nation-wide engineering entrance exam – JEE conducted for admission to prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

ISB launches nation-wide research initiative on Aadhaar card

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Akash

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July 5, 2017

The Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad has launched research initiative to study the impact and potential of Aadhaar card.

The research, part of the Digital Identity Research Initiative (DIRI), will be conducted on a national-level. With a motive to promote an ecosystem of academic research on Aadhaar, the initiative will seek to engage researchers and academic institutes from across India and world.

According to an official announcement made by ISB, under the first phase, study will be made on the impact of Aadhaar on areas such as financial inclusion, public distribution systems, benefit transfer, public policy, and healthcare schemes.

DIRI has received support from Omidyar Network in form of $ 2 million grant for a period of two years.

“In the last 16 years, ISB has earned the distinction of being a research focused B-School and we believe that our research prowess gives us the edge to lead an initiative of this kind,” ISB Dean Rajendra Srivastava said.

UIDAI CEO Dr Ajay Bhushan Pandey said, “I am glad to note that the Indian School of Business (ISB) is setting up a research initiative around the important topic of digital identity in India.”

On the occasion, a first of its kind “State of Aadhaar Report 2016-17” was also released mentioning technological and operational architecture, legal and governance framework related details of Aadhaar.

The largest biometric enabled digital identity system – Aadhaar has enormous potential to conduct multi-disciplinary research with outcomes which will have important implications for India and the world, said an official statement released by ISB.

Towards a Younger, Happier and Fulfilling Future for India’s Children

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Akash

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July 5, 2017

While preparing a child to be a global citizen and an achiever in adult life, somehow the fact that, he is a child who may find it difficult to cope with a demanding life at that age, is often overshadowed writes Asha Narayanan, Principal, Lodha World School for Elets News Network (ENN).

It is easier to build strong children than to mend broken men – this quote by African-American social reformist Fredrick Douglass, has never rung more true than the present times. A 2004 research by renowned sociologist and best-selling author of Raising Happiness, Christine Carter, clearly records the direct correlation between adult happiness and childhood experiences. But, what are the factors ensuring healthy and happy development of a child? As suggested by Christine, child development is a complex derivative of ‘nature’ and ‘nurture’, and it is largely influenced by parents at home and educationists at school, the two places the child spends maximum time at.

Teachers today are not just imparters of knowledge; they are also mentors and counsellors who need to be armed with skills to detect signs of early depression, aggression, destructive and other kind of negative or harmful behaviour. This insight will equip them better in motivating and counselling children who face communication gaps, so that they can get necessary support for soaring over such troubles.

Education experts and psychologists strongly suggest building support systems in schools to nurture the mental health of students and build a positive atmosphere. In addition to this, training the teachers in simple classroom exercises can play a pivotal role in aiding them to be support givers. A recent research by University of Malta suggests that drawing exercises can help children break communication barriers. Recurring colours used by a child during such exercises can also be a window into inferring the psychological well-being of a child. The alertness on the teacher’s part can help channelise the student’s energy on to the path of growth and help him be self-driven and motivated towards excellence.

Students today have varying aptitudes, which could lie beyond traditional streams. Since they are far more exposed to the ongoings of the world than any other generation, they grow up visualising themselves as who they aspire to be. Schools providing the right work-play balance, help the students acquire theoretical and practical knowledge and aid exploration of academic and curricular spaces to realise their true potential.

This can result in either them becoming self-motivated to excel or demotivate them as being inadequate. The educationists need to pay emphasis on them becoming the best versions of themselves, which will help them set and achieve realistic goals, saving them from disappointment. In the case, the child finds himself buckling under the desire for good grades, support from the parents at home coupled with guidance and attention at school will ensure that he/she is able effectively ace it all. When the child knows that he/she has someone to get support from and communicate with, it will certainly reduce the chance of him feeling lonely and distressed.

Given the fact that we live in a scientifically advanced world, technology can serve as the biggest boon in aiding the young future-makers with a fulfilling life ahead. Security cameras can help keep a watchful eye on the activities around the school campus, protecting children against bullying, sexual abuse or mistreatment. Furthermore, smartphones can serve as an efficient means to enhance teacher training and monitoring mechanisms via apps like Teno. An intra-communication system like this facilitates easy communication between parents and teachers, enables exchange of ideas regarding student welfare in order to empower them for providing a more positive atmosphere.

It may not always be possible to tell exactly what is troubling a student and where these troubles may lead, but being watchful of the students certainly holds the key. In many cases, schools may be the last positive social connector for students. Acting on these warning signs, can help students achieve holistic growth. In some other cases, such technological innovations can even help save a life.

Innovation in Education Technology

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Akash

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July 4, 2017

Present education scenario is greatly influenced and highly driven by technology. The technical advancement in the field has transformed the learning system at its core. When technology was evolving in education, the innovations embraced its evolution, writes Prakash Menon, President, Global Retail Business, NIIT Ltd for Elets News Network (ENN).

For several years now, educational technologies have impacted how students, corporates, and business professionals want to learn. Investment is flowing at an unprecedented rate in the edtech market. Technologies like virtual classroom, mobile devices, digital readers, on-demand video, online courses, and cloud-based LMS are continuously catering the market, and constantly thriving for innovation. Established edtech companies, entrepreneurs, and educational institutes are identifying the possibility to leverage the innovative products beyond the boundaries and designing tools that quench millennials’ demands.

At NIIT we have been embracing innovation since inception by empowering learners through education technology. The ideation and vision towards adapting future educational technologies is part of our DNA. From introducing Computerdrome in 1982 to launching NIIT’s Cloud Campus in 2013, the momentum of the digital transformation has kept evolving at NIIT with time.

The Indian education system is increasingly adapting the edtech format and discovering the joys of learning. A study shows that India has the world’s largest K-12 education system with more than 260 million enrollments. This is mainly because the focus of Indian edtech sector has greatly shifted towards developing innovative learning products and promoting better learning experience right from preliminary education.

With an introduction of new tools and technology, both pedagogy in educational institutes and training in corporates has been enormously benefited. Some major sectors where time will witness prospective development and innovation are:

Learning Management systems (LMS):

LMS is the platform that delivers several education courses in an organized way with the help of computer programs. The system is utilized by various educational bodies with diversified customer base both online and offline. And this educational ecosystem is a primary target for tech companies striving for innovation. NIIT’s Cloud Campus and NIIT.tv are the finest examples of LMS, which is enabling thousands of learners across the nation to pursue online certificate course anytime, anywhere.

Training.com by NIIT is another exceptional move towards innovating education technology. It’s a multi-modal platform by NIIT that offers various programs to executives and students through online modules and video lectures. Other global companies like Tata Elxsi, which set up the first virtual reality/visualization facility in early 2000, are also working towards designing VR based learning management systems.

Teaching Assistance:

The technology for teaching assistance is deliberately open for innovation. Lectures of teachers from across the globe are streaming on various video platform. With the advent of chatbots, real-time assistance, and extensive support system the popularity of teaching assistance methods has ramp-up in no time. With innovative approaches of edtech companies towards assistance tools, the transformation of teaching methods and teachers is certain. The traditional teacher will soon be a leader, facilitators, and innovator equipped with real world skills.

Enhanced Use of Virtual Reality

Virtual reality is completely a new way to access the education as a real-world object. The tech leaders like Google, Samsung and HTC are investing massively in developing education application for VR technology. By incorporating virtual reality in education system, the students can get a better and detailed understanding of the content, and complex data can be resolved into simple modules.

Virtual reality brings imagination to real life for students. In 2015, Google launched the ‘Expeditions Pioneer Program’ that has already allowed over 1 million students from 11 countries to explore virtual world using Google Cardboard.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence is a huge vault in the education system, empowering edtech industry with automation and awesomeness. The most satisfying thing about this segment lies in automating nearly all kinds of learning resources. The innovative AI products and devices are helping both teacher and student to work efficiently with special needs of children. NIIT’s ‘DigiNxt’ is heading on the creative path of artificial intelligence with the introduction of robotics, machine learning and design thinking under the hood.

A key aspect of innovation in edtech is the adoption rate of new tools and technologies by the learners of the millennial community. They are driving ideas in edtech companies, transforming leaders for future and exploring all possible ways to achieve best technically optimized learning. The trends discussed here showcase that education and training industry will continue to evolve, innovation will keep on taking place and the market will have lasting impacts for years to come.

Super 30 students to visit Moscow State University

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By

Akash

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July 4, 2017

The success story of Super 30 has also influenced the Moscow State University that promised take some of its students for higher education on full scholarship.

A team from the university visited the Super 30 academy of mathematician Anand Kumar recently.

The team from Russia consisted of teachers and students visited Kumar’s home and interacted with him and students drawn from economically poor background.

Moscow State University professor Olga Arapova who also headed the team, said that the objective of the visit is to take Super 30’s meritorious students to Moscow on the lines of the arrangement with the University of Tokyo.

“We had heard a lot about Super 30 and the way it has successfully groomed students from underprivileged sections of the society over the past 15 years. We wanted to see it to get a feel of it. We will also like some of its students to pursue higher education in the University of Moscow,” Arapova said.

Arapova also said she will invite Kumar as well for his interaction with the students and faculty members of Moscow State University.

“What Anand Kumar is doing is really very inspiring. He is helping students who don’t have the facilities and resources to excel at the highest level. People like him are behind India’s rich educational legacy,” she added.

Thanking the Moscow State University, Kumar said, such interaction would further boost the confidence of Bihar to do better.

Super 30 is a pioneering initiative of Anand Kumar that empowers underprivileged children of the society by providing them quality education and enabling them to crack the entrance tests for admission to Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT).

So far, more than 400 Super 30 students mentored by Anand Kumar and looked after by his family have made it to IITs.

IIM Rohtak registers a threefold rise in the number of girl students’ enrolment

By

Akash

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July 4, 2017

Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Rohtak has witnessed a threefold increase in numbers of girl student enrollment.

For its eighth batch in academic session 2017- 19, the premier management institute has inducted 26 girl students. Though, the number is very less compared to 236 boys for the same boys but from nine girls in 2016, this year the number of girl students enrolled is almost 3 times that of the previous year.

The management institute has made continuous efforts to boost the number of girl students. According to IIM director Prof Dheeraj Sharma, various campaigns were run by the institute on different social media campaigns and merit-cum-scholarships were also announced for girl students for the second year of their management programme.

The institute stills has a long way to achieve a respectable gender ratio among its students. Another reason for increase in the number of girl students at IIM Rohtak is over 70% increase in seats by the seats.

“The institute also organised its first meet and greet session where candidates were given a chance to interact with the faculty and were encouraged to enroll here,” sharma said. However, the institute has achieved 1:1 gender ratio back in its 2013-15 batch.

Moreover, the institute has also seen students’ enrolments from diversified background as there is a 33% increase in students coming from a non-engineering background.

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