Byju’s raises additional funds from Verlinvest

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March 30, 2017

Byju’s, an Edutech start-up (Think and Learn Pvt. Ltd) has raised an undisclosed funding from Belgium based venture firm Verlinvest. The fund will fuel Byju’s global expansion and acquisition plans.

“In the last 18 months, we have witnessed exponential growth in India. While these numbers are very exciting, there is a long way to go before we can call it a revolution. The fact that we are still reaching to less than 1% of the student population, shows the immense potential and the impact we can create,” said Byju Raveendran, CEO, Byju’s.

People on condition of anonymity revealed that the deal has been finalized at $30 million at a valuation of $ 676 million (approx. Rs 4500 crores)

Byju’s targets students from classes four to 12 (K-12) and those taking competitive exams like JEE, NEET, CAT, IAS, GRE and GMAT. The has its presence in the Indian and Middle East markets is looking to expand to the USA, UK, South Africa and other African and Commonwealth markets.

“A 1:1 learning experience is a dream ratio, and it is very encouraging to see that an Indian company has created a product which closely addresses this need by offering engaging and personalized learning experiences enabled by technology. We have seen a lot of edtech companies, but Byju’s offers personalized learning to an extent which we haven’t seen in any product across the globe. We look forward to supporting the management team to expand to new markets and to further build the brand,” said, Nicholas Cator, Executive Director, Verlinvest.

Central Government proposes a separate board for ITIs

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Akash

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March 30, 2017

The government has proposed to set up a separate board for Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs). The board will be on similar lines of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and will conduct exams along with awarding certificates equivalent to class X and XII to pass out candidates.

Ministry of Human Resource and Development has accepted the proposal that is likely to benefit over 2 million students graduating from over 13,000 ITIs every year.

The government’s move will also help students to undertake courses in ITIs and it later will lead towards pursuing regular courses in other schools and colleges.

Union Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy informed the same to the Lok Sabha during Question Hour.

Admitting that “there’s been a decline in the standards quality of ITIs”, Rudy said that in the coming days, the ITIs opening in the country will be at par with the quality of central schools like Kendriya Vidyalayas and other good quality training institutions.

He mentioned, “23 lakh students used to pass out from ITIs but did not get the equivalent certificate of X or XII standard because no such provision was there earlier”.

“Now we have decided that on the lines of CBSE and ICSE… there will be a Board for ITIs in the country which will give them a certificate equivalent with X and XII standard. The HRD Ministry has agreed to this,” Rudy said.

Consequently, the UGC, CBSE, AICTE, NCERT, AIU (Association of Indian Universities)and state education Boards will be informed that the National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT) has been authorised to conduct academic examinations for ITI pass outs and award Xth and XIIth certificates which should be honoured by all educational institutions to provide further opportunities for higher studies.

HEC Paris and Coursera launch Online Master’s in Innovation and Entrepreneurship

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Akash

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March 30, 2017

News - 2 — e-Learning Concept. Computer Keyboard

The European business school, HEC Paris and the online learning platform, Coursera jointly have launched their first online international degree programme, Online Master’s in Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OMIE).

The online degree will allow students to work in teams on a project of choice over a six-month period. It will help the students to bring the ideas from the planning stages to reality.

The students will also receive mentoring from entrepreneurs and business leaders who will meet with them once a week. Successful graduates can then apply for seed funding from HEC Paris, and have their project be incubated at HEC’s incubator, based at Station F.

Under the programme, students will face different opportunities in social ventures and governments that will help them to explore a new way of thinking as an entrepreneur.

The school’s dean, Peter Todd said through innovative, fully online and interactive courses, participants will leave the program ready to launch their own venture or to innovate within their existing organisations.

Referring India, where entrepreneurship has exploded in recent years, Coursera CEO Rick Levin said, the degree will target students who want to gain access to an international network of entrepreneurs and build high impact companies.

Todd added that the need for courses designed for entrepreneurial and innovative leaders is greater than ever: “As the aspirations of Indians change, more value has been placed on entrepreneurship education which aims to provide the required knowledge, skills and motivation to encourage entrepreneurial success.”

Jigsaw Academy introduces an integrated programme in Data Science and Machine Learning

Corporate Updates

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Akash

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March 29, 2017

Jigsaw Academy and University of Chicago’s School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies have collaborated to introduce an integrated programme in Data Science and Machine Learning. Jigsaw Academy is an online school for analytics funded by Manipal Global Education Services (MaGE).

Lecturers from University of Chicago and industry experts from Jigsaw Academy will prepare the content and curriculum for the course that will last for nine months and will cost around $5000 (approximately Rs 3.25 lakhs).

“Globally, we are producing more data than ever before. We have the tools to harness the power of data to draw insights that can affect real world change. With Jigsaw Academy’s considerable industry expertise, we have launched a comprehensive program that equips the tech workers of tomorrow with the necessary skills to remain competitive and relevant in a dynamic industry environment,” said Rob Schnieders , Senior Associate Dean, Academic Affairs, Graham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies, University of Chicago.

Young professionals working across domains or functions can join the programme. The study programme features specific electives addressing the analytical needs across different industry sectors. It integrates business strategy, project-based learning, simulations and case studies.

It will be a chance for the students to work with real data sets to provide data-driven strategic and tactical recommendations. The curriculum includes a module on Spark, one of the most actively used platforms for machine learning which also combines well with R and Big Data.

“We are confident that the IDM programme is unique in its approach. We have created this course keeping in mind both – the requisite technical skills and crucial softer aspects like storytelling and project management in analytics. With this program, we have built a strong industry connect with guest speakers, industry projects, company contests. Beyond the classroom, we also empower our students with valuable networking opportunities and career connections,” said Sarita Digumarti, cofounder, Jigsaw Academy.

IIT Kharagpur starts drive to attract foreign students to Indian law school

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Akash

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March 29, 2017

IIT-Kharagpur with Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law (RGSOIPL) has started a drive with the objective of attracting foreign students to study law in India. RGSOIPL is the only IIT law school to initiate exchange programmes with the George Washington University Law School in Washington DC, US.

Prof Khushal Vibhute, Dean, RGSOIPL, said, “Against old practice of Indian legal scholars making trips abroad to become law practitioners and professionals, we are promoting India-bound student traffic. RGSOIPL is the only law school in the IIT system, which has established collaborative and exchange programmes with the internationally reputed George Washington University Law School.”

“With the government’s mandate of bringing in foreign students and promoting internationalisation of IITs, we had organised a spring semester programme with GW Law School, which paved way for exposure of Indian students,” Vibhute said.

IIT Kharagpur’s law school has also expanded to areas such as Corporate, Taxation, Criminal, International, Constitutional and Competition Law.

“The GW Law community has the privilege of working with one of the world’s top universities in helping establish a top-flight law school,” Karamanian, the Associate Dean of RGSOIPL, said.

Indian women to be awarded scholarship by a US educational body

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Akash

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March 29, 2017

Institute of International Education (IIE), a top US body in international education along with Goldman Sachs has announced a scholarship and mentoring programme for the Indian women.

The scholarship – ‘WeTech Goldman Sachs Scholars’ – will be merit based and top 25 Indian women will receive scholarship of $ 1,500 for 2017-18 academic year. According to an official statement, the women will also be connected with an experienced mentor from the global investment banking company for a six-month mentorship from June to December 2017.

“Engaging women at various stages from their academic years to a career is a critical step in addressing the gender gap often seen in the technology industry,” said Shubha Iyer, managing director in the Technology division at Goldman Sachs in Bengaluru.

“IIE and Goldman Sachs believe that providing young women university scholarships towards a degree in a STEM field and offering real-world career advice has tremendous impact on their ability to thrive in the global workforce,” said Allan Goodman, IIE president and CEO.

“This comes at a time when the tech industry around the world needs more women who are educated and trained to entering into STEM careers and work with peers across many different countries and cultures,” Goodman added.

IIMC to set up Asia’s biggest audio-visual training centre

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Akash

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March 27, 2017

Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) will soon set up Asia’s biggest audio-visual training centre in Mumbai’s film city. IIMC’s Director General KG Suresh revealed the same while speaking at IFFCO Connections 2017-IIMC’s alumni meet. He said that the centre will be established in association with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and expected to be operational within two years.

According to media reports, Rs 200 crore has been allocated for the project. The audio-visual centre will be named as “National Centre for Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics”.

Announcing the project, Suresh said, the centre will train 1600 professionals annually. He also said that various IIMC campuses will now work as regional centres. Jammu will be the centre for north India while Kottayam, Dhenkanal, Amravati and Aizwal will be the centres in south, east, west and north-east respectively.

Indian Institute of Mass Communication Alumni Association (IIMCAA) has scheduled 12 alumni meets this year – beginning in Delhi from February 19 and culminating on April 23 in Kolkata.

IIT Madras seen over 60% growth in foreign students in five years

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Akash

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March 27, 2017

Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) has seen over 60% growth in the number of exchange students. From 90 students in 2011 to 145 in 2016, the rise in number of foreign students is the indication of improved international relations and global impetus of the institute.

Presence of international students and faculties has helped the institute to improve its global ranking significantly in the surveys. IITM is also working on recruiting fulltime faculty members and increasing its research collaborations with foreign universities.

At present, the institute has exchange students and visiting faculty that account for the international crowd on the campus. “The student exchange programme works in two ways. One, where the student visits a foreign university to pursue one semester (four months), and in exchange a student from that foreign university visits IITM,” said, R Nagarajan, dean, international and alumni affairs. “The second possibility is for a student to visit IITM for research collaboration,” he added.

Majority of the international students are from European countries such as Germany, France, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Spain, Italy and Denmark. “We also have students from Asian countries (China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia). Countries like Australia, Zimbabwe, Sweden and Finland have been active in sending their students of late,” Nagarajan said.

“Under the full time programmes, we have received two students (both Korean) who are doing their B Tech. From 2011 to 2016, students from Ethiopia, Romania and Mauritius have taken up M Tech, MS and PhD at IITM,” he said.

“The number of full time professors teaching on the campus is 10. The institute is also hosting nine visiting international faculty members who have come from Germany, Taiwan, the UK and USA. Recently, the MHRD had announced that IITs would be encouraged to recruit more foreign faculty members. IITM is in the process of implementing it,” said Nagarajan.

“We would invite potential faculty members for a visit to get an understanding of the campus atmosphere before bringing them on board. And, about the salary, with the implementation of the recommendations of the seventh pay commission, we will be able to match the salary offered by most countries,” said Nagarajan.

MHRD likely to make annual teacher training mandatory

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Akash

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March 27, 2017

The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) is planning to make annual teacher training mandatory for the teachers. In order to improve the quality of school education, mandatory teacher training is ministry’s latest step along with standardisation of assessment, examination and report cards, and ensuring most Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) schools subscribe to NCERT textbooks.

CBSE is also working on another plan of linking a school’s accreditation to teachers’ qualification and training. According to ministry officials, the reformative step will ensure to bridge the disparities between the “elite” (private unaided schools) and others.

Standardisation of education at school level will help the students to get quality and uniform education standards across all schools.

In this context, the HRD minister Prakash Javadekar said that from next year the ministry will “further strengthen the delivery of the National Council of Educational Research and Training books.”

The CBSE has approached the National Council for Teachers Education for a detailed blueprint on improving of teacher training while the National University on Educational Planning and Administration is working on online training modules for school teachers.

It is expected that the reforms will be rolled out by the midsession of the 2017-18 academic year. The ministry is likely to come up with plans so that majority of CBSE schools subscribe to NCERT textbooks, rather than those of private publications. “We have received complaints about how expensive the school textbooks are. So we made a start to supply the NCERT textbooks as demanded by the schools voluntarily. From next year we will strengthen the system so that students get quality and affordable books,” said Javadekar.

Now, IIT-Kharagpur to have supercomputing facility!

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Akash

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March 27, 2017

The Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (IIT- KGP), is going to be the first higher educational institute to get a supercomputing facility under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM).

According to IIT-Kharagpur spokesperson, the facility will provide large computational support for carrying out research and teaching activities that involve state-of-the-art High Performance Computing (HPC).

Director of IIT-KGP, Prof P P Chakrabarti said “The Peta-Flop new system with both CPU and CPU-GPU based servers along with the already existing HPC equipment will provide about 1.5 Peta-Flop capacity support to several areas where the researchers of IIT-KGP are actively involved.”

In order to build, manage and operate the HPC facility, a new Centre for Computational and Data Sciences (CCDS) will be established around such a supercomputing platform, he added.

Prof Chakrabarti, referring the research areas where the facility will be of use, said “Faculty members and their research groups at IIT-KGP are already engaged in research in several areas of national importance requiring large computational (both hardware and software) support.

“The facility will cover cutting-edge research scope in different inter-disciplinary areas like bio molecular simulations, drug design and bio-informatics, climate change and digital earth, geo-scientific exploration, infrastructure design and sustainable cities,” he said.

“Other than research, CCDS will also focus on education and capacity building,” Prof Chakrabarti said adding, IIT-KGP had been chosen as a nodal centre for HPC-related educational activities by NSM.

The initiative at IIT Kharagpur is supported by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). The objective of the mission is to build supercomputing capacity and capability in the country with an estimated budget of Rs 4,500 crore over a period of seven years, he added.

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