Prof O R S Rao
Vice Chancellor, ICFAI University, Jharkhand, in an interaction with Elets News Network (ENN), talks about the University’s journey, mission, courses offered, placement opportunities for students and more

When was your University established?
ICFAI University, Jharkhand, was set up in 2007 as a self-financing (private) University, under Section 2(f) of the UGC Act, 1956, after approval from the Jharkhand State Government. It was approved by UGC in December 2009 and classes started in 2010.

Why drove you to start the University in Jharkhand?
Ranchi is one of the best places for school studies, though a number of students tend to go to other states for higher/professional studies, as they feel the quality of education is better outside. Therefore, we wanted to offer quality education at affordable cost in Jharkhand, so that students can study locally.

Please share the mission of your University.
ICFAI University is committed to grooming students into competent professionals with values, as we believe competency and character are essential for a person to be successful and happy in life.

What courses are offered at the University?
We offer UG, PG and Ph.D courses in Engineering, IT and Management. These include Diploma in Technology (Polytechnic), BBA, BCA, B.Com (Hons), B.Tech, M.Com, MBA and Ph.D in Management (Part-Time).

What is unique about your courses compared to those of other universities?
Curriculum of all of our courses is latest and updated every year as per the industry requirements and technological developments. Besides knowledge, we focus on imparting requisite hands-on skills to our students through live projects and internships. Our students are groomed not only to take up jobs in corporate organisations but also to become entrepreneurs, depending on their interest.

Which all branches of B.Tech you have courses in?
We offer B.Tech in Civil, Mechanical, Computer Science, ECE and Mining. With several mining industries in Jharkhand, it offers excellent job opportunities for Mining graduates. That’s why we started Mining as a branch in B.Tech. We are one of the few institutions offering Mining branch in Jharkhand.

What about your B.Com (Hons) courses?
We offer B.Com (Hons) in three disciplines – Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI), Computer Applications, and Finance & Accounts, to make the students employable in BFSI, IT and Corporate sectors. Students can pursue higher studies in M.Com or MBA. All students of B.Com (Hons) undergo summer internships. We also offer placement assistance.

What is different about your Ph.D programme in Management?
Our Ph.D programme is designed keeping in mind the requirements of working professionals, who want to pursue doctorate without leaving their jobs. They only need to attend mandatory Course Work for two weeks at the campus. After that, they can work under the guidance of supervisor and co-supervisor at their own place.

How has been the placement record?
Our alumni have been working in sectors like IT, Telecom, Banking, Financial Services, Insurance, Manufacturing, Government etc., and reputed companies like Cognizant, HCL Technologies, Microsoft, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, Vodafone, Tata Teleservices, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, LIC, Cadbury, Hindustan Unilever, Pepsico, Larsen & Toubro, Mahindra and Mahindra, Tata Steel, Indian Army, Ranchi Mahanagar Nigam, Jharkhand Police, etc.

Do you offer any scholarships?
All the students domiciled in Jharkhand State get ‘domicile’ fee concession. Besides, students are awarded Merit Scholarships in first semester (up to 50 percent of semester fee), depending on marks in qualifying examination and subsequently on the basis of merit in semester examinations. In order to encourage girl students to pursue higher education, there is Special Merit Scholarship for Women, which is five per cent higher than the one for men

Established in 1939, S Chand Group is one of the oldest Indian textbook publishers and exporters, and largest publishing and education services enterprise. Gaurav Jhunjhunwala Director, S Chand & Co Pvt Ltd, shares with Aamir H Kaki of Elets News Network (ENN) about the group’s journey, philosophy, vision, innovative products and digital learning solutions

Being the youngest generation of the S Chand legacy, the move towards digital empowerment has been a personal mission of mine, and has been extremely challenging and rewarding, at the same time. We have adopted a two-pronged approach to the digital transformation by incubating some ventures within our own company, and making minority investments in others. So far, we have invested in a tablet LMS company, a home tutor discovery platform, a STEM and Augmented Reality Toy company and an online test preparation platform. This strategy has worked well for us and we will continue to look for good companies in which we can invest and help to grow.

Being a gen-next leader, how do you see the paradigm shift in the education and learning space?
I foresee various shifts happening in the learning space as a new generation of teachers and learners are entering the classrooms.

Firstly, educational products and services are moving from a one model to the next one, like one teacher attending to the learning needs of 30-40 children in a classroom to one-to-one model. This would be largely due to the proliferation of technology, such as smart phones and tablets, coupled with adaptive learning software, which allow children to spend more time brushing up on the areas and concepts which they are lacking in.

Secondly, a large number of startups are cropping up in the education space, giving competition to the established players. This will force education companies to start paying attention to what the students actually need, rather than telling what is right for them.

What is the idea, philosophy and vision behind DS Digital Pvt Ltd?
Our vision is to use technology and various media available to help teachers and students in their pursuit of learning. We engage with schools to facilitate effective teaching and impact learning outcomes. Since learners are increasingly using technology, it provides us an opportunity to help teachers and students ensure better learning not only through books but also audio-visual and experiential learning.

A number of pioneering products has been launched under the umbrella of DS Digital Pvt Ltd. Can you detail those?
S Chand Group with licence of HMH, the biggest US publication, has launched a number of pioneering products under the umbrella of DS Digital Pvt Ltd to empower teachers and students by using technology to its fullest potential. DS Digital provides schools, teachers and students interactive e-learning solutions comprising digital classrooms, tablets, interactive white boards, labs, assessments and cloud-based solutions. This is supported by a strong professional development practice wherein we have trained more than 10,000 teachers in India and abroad, in CCE and other areas. With nine national and four international awards, we are one of the acknowledged education partners in India.

DS Digital focuses to empower teachers by using technology to its fullest potential. How it is helpful for students? Does it eliminate the barriers of classroom teaching?
An important and often ignored factor for success of technology in schools is enabling and facilitating teachers to use technology in an easy and effective manner. In case teachers can see how it can make their teaching better, and help students learn better, they are willing to use it. However, this requires consistent efforts to train them on how to operate it with ease. Students in a class will gain only if digital content is meaningfully embedded in the lesson plan followed by teacher in the class. So, digital content solutions are effective tools, which teacher-students can use to enhance learning.

What your core values of ‘Knowledge, Innovation, Learning’ are all about?
The means of education have changed over the years, but the end has remained the same – Empowered Minds, which can evolve, sustain and fulfill the everchanging needs of society.

Our entire group is driven by our mission to be India’s leading knowledge corporation. Given the dynamic and fast-paced nature of the world today, if we are not constantly innovating and learning, then we will be left behind by new ideas and new approaches to teaching and learning.

How do see the market in educational technology and e-learning solutions in the coming five years?

• Fast penetration and explosive growth of mobile devices, lowering hardware prices and improving connectivity will fuel the growth of digital content consumption. This is bringing the complete bag, including books, assessments, videos, online resources, etc., in a single device in student’s hand;
• Increasing trend of online videos through YouTube and large screens of smart phones have been a facilitator for digital learning;
• Most of the exams for selection to top higher education institutions and jobs/services are becoming online. This is a big inflexion point for preparation for such exams to become digital;
• In tune with the global trend of continuous upgradation in skills and knowledge, more and more working people are enrolling for various courses. Given the time and commuting constraints, online learning becomes the medium of choice for most of such people. So, MOOCs will play a very important role in people upgrading their skills on continuous basis; and
• Education apps and games will become important means to engage learners. Moving forward, artificial intelligence and virtual reality will further help in making content more user need specific, and create enhanced learning experiences.

In tune with the global trend of continuous upgradation in skills and knowledge, more and more working people are enrolling for various courses. Given the time and commuting constraints, online learning becomes the medium of choice for most of such people. So, MOOCs will play a very important role in people upgrading their skills on continuous basis

How do you see the market for digital learning solutions in tier II-III cities?
As access to Internet becomes more widespread, we are seeing a new wave of learners from tier II-III cities accessing content and learning material through their smart phones. Our group has recently launched ‘myStudygear’, a K12 learning app on Android and iOS, wherein students can access assessments, eBooks and digital content such as videos and animations – all completely free of cost. While we have many users from cities such as Delhi and Mumbai, it’s got good traction from tier II-III cities.

What are your professional achievements and priorities you have set for the future?
I am very proud of the fact that today S Chand has put together one of the strongest and most talented teams in the Indian education industry. We have undergone major transformation in the past couple of years having attracted international investors, acquired a number of companies and hired top talent. More than any one individual, if it weren’t for our team, we would not be in the strong position that we are in today.

As we look towards the future, we would continue to push for growth in the publishing space, but we are also putting a lot of focus on the digital and services verticals. We want to play a role at every step of a student’s development, right from KG all the way through to help them get a job when they graduate.

Every year, the ritual of presenting the proposed expenditure pattern for public welfare across governance thematics are presented on the last day of February. While the major spending patterns catch the attention of one and all, the deeper drilling of the budget documents is seldom done beyond the official annals.

digitalLEARNING thought of diving deep and picking up some of the salient pointers and patterns from this cumbersome document which retains its most sought after status. Hope our readers would find this effort worthwhile and would find it thought provoking.

BENCHMARKING
Operating Costs of Educational Institutions
In an educational market, where the enterprise of education across the spectrum remains a not-for-profit t entity, it becomes imperative to note down the diversified spending benchmarks which the Government keeps itself for running its very own institutions.

`3.45 Crore is the cost of operating a Kendriya Vidyalaya
The 1100 odd Kendriya Vidyalayas teach somewhere to the tune of 11.21 lakh students and are allocated a budgetary support of `3795.47 crore. The cost of educating a single student thereby comes out to be `33,857.

`4.13 Crore is needed to run a Navodaya Vidyalaya
The government has allocated `2471 crore to run the 598 odd Navodaya Vidyalayas across the country.

`73 lakhs is the cost of running a school by Central Tibetan Schools Administration.

`151 Crore is needed on an average to run each of the Central Universities.

`55 Crore goes to the Government run/aided 25 Deemed to be Universities.

Public Spending on Higher Technical Education Follows a Geometric Progression
Interestingly, the various genres of Centrally Funded Technical Institutions (CFTIs) are laid out in a funding matrix which follows a kind of a geometric progression. Lowest in the precedence deck is the set of IIITs. If the public allocation of `267.50 is considered as the base X; the next cluster of institutions namely IISc/ IISERs having an allocation of `1142.52 qualify to fall in the 4X funding bracket. The next in the hierarchy the National Institutes of Technology (NITs) with their funding allocation of `2629.95 somewhere touches the 8X envelope and the top of the league the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) with their royal `4983.71 get into the 16X bracket.

In a nutshell the IIITs:IISERs:NITs:IITs follow a funding ratio of 1:4:8:16 which is nothing but the elementary geometric progression. Whether this was well thought through by the number crunchers at Shastri Bhawan or it simply fell into the natural pecking order, our analysts can’t speculate beyond.

`35 to 61 Crores needed to run a Specialised Institution of National Importance
While National Institute of Industrial Engineering, Mumbai receives a grant of `35 crore, the SLIET, NERIST, NIFFT and CIT Kokrajhar combo receives a collective provision of `244.58 crores making the average funding to the tune of `61 crores.

Digital India e-learning
Technology-enabled learning has become the hallmark of progressive and modern education at all levels. The extent of public spending made in this area paves the path for due technological adoption across layers and levels of the vast educational ecosystem. Interestingly, due to various reasons the spirit and mechanisms of leveraging the benefit of technology are largely absent in the government blueprint for this scale. It would certainly be a lost opportunity in ushering the era of Good Governance across Indian Academia.

School Education misses Digital India Bandwagon
Can the ambitious mandate of educating the billion plus nation be effectively accomplished by a meagre budgetary allocation of `1.5 Crore towards Digital India e-learning initiative in the school domain as mentioned in Section 9 of the Notes on Demand (51) for Grants, 2016-17?

It’s another matter that the same head in the Notes on Demand (52) for Grants, 2016-17 concerning Higher Education adds up a total of `552 crore, which has a major component reserved for the National Mission in Education through ICT carrying an allocation to the tune of `200 crore.

Was there a real need to put this marginal component under the ambit of Digital India e-learning?

Duplicity of Heads & Clutter of Objectives in the allocation of `552 odd crores
The sub-heads under the head range from as broad as National Mission in Education through ICT and setting up of virtual classrooms and MOOCs with an allocation of `200 crores and `75 crores, respectively.

Interestingly, there is no mention of the ambitious satellite learning programme CEC under the aegis of UGC, which was set up with similar objectives. The handsome amount of `4491.94 would be incorporating a significant sum to this vast establishment.

The 100 odd crores allocated to IGNOU could have been clubbed to create a seamless Open Learning Ecosystem.

e-Shodh Sindhu, National Digital Library and INDEST seem to be different names for a similar objective. The need for trifurcating the funds for a common goal is nowhere pressed upon.

POSITIONING & CLUSTERING OF BUDGETARY HEADS
The delineation of the various budgetary heads exhibit the top level understanding of the direction of the department at large. At places, the same seems to have missed the right mark signalling a significant deficit of direction which eventually translates into lesser than expected outcomes. Here are some of those which have somewhere missed the shot.
Statistical & Public Information System divorced from Planning & Administration: `15 crore allocated under Strengthening of Statistical & Public Information System, head number 6.04 ends mention under the Digital India e-learning component, while there is a separate Head No. 14 namely Planning, Administration & Global Engagement which receives a handsome amount of `109.59 aimed to fund the operations of NUEPA, NIRF, Governance and Accreditation Systems, etc. Statistics & Public Information System remains an integral part of Planning & Administration.

Reduced importance of Global Engagement
At a time when the entire focus of Government of India is to attract foreign investors to Make in India, Global Engagement at MHRD has been relegated to a pariah status. It has simply been clubbed with the routine head of Planning, Administration & Global Engagement. Also putting the Planning, Administration & Global Engagement on number 14 in the precedence order and juxtaposed between IIITs and Assistance to various institutions say a lot about the understanding matrix at Shastri Bhawan.

AICTE Fails to make its Relevance Felt Out
Despite being the apex statutory body mandated to undertake the proper planning and coordinated development of the technical education system throughout the country, it finds mention under the Assistance to Other institutions Head as 15.03. It could have been a part and parcel under Planning, Administration Head sitting alongside NUEPA and other key planning thematics at the helm of India’s Higher Education shouldering the burden of some 10,000 technical institutions across the country.

The Legacy of Copyright Management rests with MHRD
While the entire regime of managing and monitoring Intellectual Property Rights rests with the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, the budgetary allocation and thereby the administrative control for the Copyright Board and Copyright Office rests with the MHRD along with the mandate of promoting the same.

Setting up of Inter-Institutional Centres, Creation of Excellence Clusters & Network, Establishing Alliances across Institutions
This dominant head no. 17.02 under Demand note 52 gets a whopping sum of `1 crore. Positing it under Research & Innovation makes it all the more interesting. What would be accomplished out of this paltry allocation remains to be seen.

TRIVIA – Secretarial Expense of Higher Education is 16 times higher than the School Education

The Department of School Education and Literacy has got a total budgetary allocation to the tune of `43,554 of which a mere `7.42 crores has been allocated to Secretariat-Social Services.
On the other side, Department of Higher Education has got a budgetary allocation of `28,840 crores of which it consumes a whopping `95.99 crore as Secretariat – Social Services.
What makes this striking difference is to be investigated and inquired but this is certainly a major striking aspect hidden in the new lines of the budget document. The cost of administering Department of Higher Education is 16 times higher than that of Department of School Education & Literacy.

One-third of Literacy Budget goes in feeding the Students
9700 crore is spent on Mid-Day Meals while Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan gets `22,500 crore

Skill Development Retains its footprints in MHRD
Despite having a sprawling Ministry of Skill Development, `164.86 would be spent under the aegis of MHRD. This component and the corresponding administrative assets could have been moved to the newly constituted ministry.

Dwarfed down National Initiatives with a paltry allocation of `1-2 crore
The raison d’être of according the title of national initiatives while allocating a paltry sum to the tune of `1-2 crore looks interesting. What would this amount accomplish in the domains of National Initiatives on Sports & Wellness, National Initiative on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Higher Education and national Initiative to Foster Social Responsibility? These National Initiatives could have otherwise been merged with their corresponding line ministries for an effective utilisation.

Research & Innovation at par with the Initiative for Excellence in Humanities and Social Sciences
The quantum of funds allocated for the specific purpose of driving Research & Innovation falls in the same order as that of striking excellence in the domain of Humanities and Social Sciences. While the former gets an allocation to the tune of `236 crores, the latter bags a booty of a little less than `270 crore.

National Research Professors
Surprisingly, there is an interesting scheme at MHRD which intends to develop a cadre of National Research Professors within a budgetary allocation of `1.3 crore. Since when this allocation got into and why this continues would remain an interesting ask.

Grants for Book Promotion Activities & Voluntary Agencies in `2 lakhs
A magic operational formula should be existing at the Ministry which facilitates the Grants for Book Promotion Activities through Voluntary Agencies. Item 3.09 in Demand 52 really looks astonishingly striking.

Housewife’s Budget: `1 lakh of Other Items
Item 3.16 allocates `1 lakh for Other Items. This certainly calls for a serious review.

Eating into the mandate of Ministry of Culture & Home
Languages are certainly a way of bonding and uniting a nation state. They are an integral part of culture as well. However, should the promotion of Indian Languages be a mandate under MHRD whose core focus need to be learning and research in language which probably is being covered under the huge budgetary allocations to the institutions of higher learning.

Shouldn’t this be bifurcated within the Ministry of Culture & Home? A handsome amount of `432.78 crore compounded with that of `57.30 crore grant to National Book Trust for book promotion would help the budgetary allocation of Ministry of Culture touch the 3000 crore mark.

Research & Innovation Focus @ MHRD
While a whopping amount of `30,000 crore has been allocated to line ministries (DST, DBT, DSIR, DAE, DoS etc) dealing with first-hand research & development in specific areas, MHRD’s share to the tune of `236 crores under that head looks strikingly insufficient. Neither it takes up the mandate of a particular area of research, which is domain specific, nor it creates a seamless framework for research assimilation and continuance.

Ramesh Batlish
Centre Head, FIITJEE Study Centre, Noida shares his views on the teaching-learning pedagogy followed at the institute

Ideal education is one where one does not have to make choices: between academics and extracurricular activities; learning and remembering; and most importantly, between enjoying education and not being stressed by it.

Ideal teaching methodology is one with a holistic approach that is comprehensive so that there is no need of any supplementary support services. Where the goal is to enable a student deliver his best without getting stressed during the pursuit of a good performance. Where the extracurricular activities are in consonance with the overall objective of wholesome education – making students ready for global careers as well as enabling them to conduct their lives in a much desired, honest, ethical and truthful manner.

Total success of a student would be based on his active participation in a class by encouraging teacher-student questioning and interactive discussions. Making students imbibe the fundamental of subjects is of utmost importance that would enhance the overall logical thinking and IQ level of the child that is necessary for his overall personality development.

This is an era of cut throat competition where lakhs of students every year compete for the limited seats at Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) for IITs and other renowned engineering institutes. In such case, they require exceptional guidance from specialised experts. There has to be a fair balance between theory and practice.

Students’ needs today are much different from what they were 20 years back, with competition increasing manifold. Given the limited amount of time and unlimited study material at their disposal, specialised mentors need to provide the right guidance on what to study, and where to give more attention.

conceptual knowledge of Science, Mathematics and other fields by analysing and understanding the day-to-day occurrences and phenomena from fundamental principles. This way they are able to naturally raise their IQ without stress of fear of failure which is necessary for competitions in entrance examinations as well as in life. Programmes need to be specially designed to hone the skills of students with unique teaching in class, pattern proof study material, regular quizzes and mock tests, followed by their test analysis to overcome their weak areas.

In order to provide right guidance to students, FIITJEE has a very stringent process of selecting their faculty who undergo strenuous training programme. The aim of the training is to ensure that each and every faculty member is absolutely thorough in his/her subject and proficient in all such activities which assist in imparting sound training to young aspirants preparing for various entrance examinations. Training is also aimed to imbibe FIITJEE’s culture, traditions, systems, values, ethics, mission and vision in the faculty members besides awareness of individual roles and responsibilities towards the organisation and related personal growth.

The need, today, is to build a conducive and stimulating learning environment that ensures the overall development of a student to help them blossom into ideal human beings.

Lakshmi Kumar
Director, The Orchid School, shares the challenges in imparting new-age education and the approach of the school towards overcoming those

Today’s learners need extensive knowledge of the world, the skills and dispositions to engage with people from many cultures and countries. Keeping this in mind, The Orchid School, Pune, has embarked on a path of imparting education for the 21st century learners.

We responded to this challenge through a three-pronged approach:
Systemic changes: For anything to change, the larger eco-system must be readied – as a school system, we put all the administrative and academic process digital and online. Be it admission process, teacher recruitment drive, lesson plans, parent– teacher communication, student performance report, teacher performance appraisals, ICT-enabled, blended learning in classrooms etc, we built our system, tools, and IT infrastructure that would facilitate our initiative to go digital. Apart from going green and saving paper, the school became ‘modern’ for the right reasons. Stakeholders could access information anytime and from anywhere. These crucial processes are open and transparent. This transformative, technologyenabled process has given us an edge – that is cost effective, reliable and time–eficient.

People Changes: Most teachers have not experienced learning, much less teaching, in environments, especially when facilitated through technology. Induction and orientation programme for all new recruits begin with an intensive training for all the digital demands that lie ahead for their role. Service staffs too are given lessons on computer literacy so they can access their mails, enter data in the ofice, manage security systems on line and keep track of processes relevant for each role. Our students have been the most inspiring role models, enablers and teachers for us in this endeavour. With smart boards installed in classrooms, this learning was not an option. Moreover, all lesson plans had an embedded aspect of online resources, YouTube, TED Talks, Khan Academy Lessons, Teacher Page, Google‘s Education Apps and Resources etc, which are mandatory.

Learner-centric changes: Judicious choice of technology, matching age with appropriate technology and providing suitable technology are some of the on-going debate and discussions we have with our students.

We believe that it is crucial for students to be able to navigate the digital world around them without fear. Our role is to help students make sense of the deluge of information online — to learn what to trust, what to dismiss, how to be safe surfers and how to be able to ind the relevant information that exists in the ininite number of Google searches, with speed and accuracy. More importantly, our role is to prepare our students on how they can enrich and contribute to the online global community, to be responsible digital citizens and culturally competent person.

Vittal Bhandary
CEO, Little Elly, briefs about a case study on implementing technology in the school and how technology is adding new dimensions to education

The foundation of a classroom has traditionally been content and pedagogy, and technology is strengthening this foundation today. As the world has advanced technologically, teachers have the advantage of a variety of media through which they can deliver learning. The collaboration of technology in education has added a new dimension of interest in the classroom. The introduction of technology in education makes learning more interactive and interesting for young minds and also helps in honing life skills that will be invaluable in a rapidly changing world.

Technology has also changed the attitude of the society and the people living in it. As an educationist, I have been dealing with parents for many years. The current set of parents I interact with in my school, expect information, which ranges from academic records to event calendars, to be made available at the swipe of a finger. To keep pace with the growing demands, we have introduced innovative methods of educating students, viz., ICT-enabled classrooms, blended learning programmes and integrated solutions. With technology, the classroom is a happier place. Students are excited about being able to use technology and thus be are more prepared to learn. The teacher, in turn, becomes the encourager, advisor, and coach.

I would like to share a case study in our school.

Over the past few months, Ms Sharada, our Mathematics teacher, has been using the smart board combined with the Math Lab. For the first time, she witnessed all her students actively participating and engaged in problem-solving. All the students were able to learn what they needed to at their own pace and in a way that held their attention and interest. This was what she had to say, “Traditionally, teaching was limited to my knowledge and exposure which I would share with my class. Now, it is exciting for me as well, since I am able to reinvent myself as an educator. The flexibility and adaptability of technology allows me to think about teaching in various ways and with other content than I had before and focus on specific learning outcomes.”

I believe a perfect blend of traditional pedagogical approaches and technology in education is the way to move forward.

Dr Niyati Chitkara
Principal, Chitkara International School, speaks about the school’s focus on technology and the teaching-learning pedagogies to suit the needs of current generation

The year was 1992. Students were set current generation ting in their class and waiting for their teacher to start with a new chapter. They were sitting there without having any previous knowledge of the topic and without doing any prior research regarding the topic. Their sole source of knowledge and information were their teachers and books.

It is 2016 today — the era of Generation Z learners. There are again students sitting in a classroom but they are not waiting for a teacher to introduce a topic to them. They are already engaged in a webinar and having deep discussions regarding the topic with students from a school in Dubai, university students sitting in Vancouver, Canada and supported by an industry expert, sitting in England. Along with the teachers and the books, these students have also become a source of knowledge and learning.

These students are inventing, inspiring and creating new concepts during their school years itself. They are undergoing online courses as part of their curriculum, they are interacting with students from different countries and breaking all boundaries as far as learning is concerned. Therefore, the Learning Pedagogies have evolved accordingly to cater to these students at Chitkara International School.

Since inception, our focus has been on building a world-class school that offers a blend of nationally and internationally acclaimed educational opportunities. Our school has been developed on the format of industry to kindergarten education, rather than K to 12 education flow.

Our vision is to take a hand, open a mind, touch a heart and shape a future. We aim at creating DNA of research scholars in varying fields that can further multiply and add value to the world. To embed this in every Generation Z learner and create different DNA altogether and further multiplying it to serve the mankind is clearly the mission of our school.

Technology is one of the major tools that have helped us in fulfilling our vision and mission. Office of Online Support Services at our school was created to instill useful technologies into the school system — be it in proper organisation and planning of processes, efficient communication between various stakeholders, 24-hour redressal of parent queries or training the teachers to use technology in the most effective and efficient way in the classrooms, diagnostic and scientific assessments and just-in-time feedback to the parents.

In classrooms, we take the help of technology in providing personalised learning. Our students undergo a variety of courses through MOOCs. They are given various assignments throughout the session, but it is left to them how they want to undertake them. One may give a video presentation, one may give a live project or it could be in the form of a mind map/flowchart. Technology has assisted us in giving freedom to the learner to choose the way he/she wishes to learn.

We extensively use technologies like ERP system, Google Classrooms, Google Earth, Edmodo, Skype Sessions, TED Talks, Webinars and iTunesU in our school on day-to-day basis. These tools have helped us tremendously in better functioning and also, efficiently imparting learning to our students. We have witnessed increased levels of participation and interest shown by the students in the learning processes.

Technology has also helped us in creating a better and strong bonding between all the stakeholders. Through our school’s ERP system and a user-friendly mobile App managed by the Ofice of Online Support, the parents are more involved and connected with their child’s education. With a click of a button, they can communicate with the teacher, management, access their child’s topic-wise diagnostic assessment and keep updated with daily learning activities undertaken in the class. Using online polls, we take parent’s opinion in various decisions on school’s functioning, be it in deciding the agenda for summer camps or participation in international conference.