Technology has revolutionized the field of education. Teaching has become more visual than verbal

Pedagogy – A stimulating schedule of versatility and vibrancy is followed which includes creative essay writing, elocution, quiz, dance, drama, street plays, music and singing competitions, fine arts competitions, theme based morning assembly, art and craft exhibition. A system of seen paper and open book paper has also been developed for in-depth preparation.

Infrastructure – The school provides a palatial, secure and environment friendly edifice with seven computer labs, camera systems for vigilance, Math lab, intercom connectivity, well equipped science labs, fully computerized administration block, fine arts lab, eBeam interactive device, a well stocked three-storey computerised library, robotics and dynamics, multimedia hall with LCD projectors, gymnasium, a well equipped auditorium, publication room, activity and creativity rooms and a vast playground.

Teachers’ Training – The school organizes teacher training programmes at a regular basis to keep the staff abreast with the latest
developments in the field of education.

Technology – The smart classrooms have made the process of teaching and learning enjoyable. We have a senior and a junior language lab with latest software. Senior students have their e-accounts with school which help to equip them with latest information, notices and circulars.

Sports – Our school has compulsory one hour morning activity for students where they practice a sport of their choice. Our school
encourages participation in district, state, national and international tournaments. We provide coaching for a wide range of sports.

EDITORIAL
The Age of Smart Learning

ADVERTORIAL
Doon Public School – An Odyssey Of Educational Excellence Inspiring Leaders To Scale New Heights

SCHOOL EDUCATORS
School Educators of Tomorrow

Privatisation in education has led to competition

Dr Nripen Kumar Dutta, Founder and Principal, Miles Bronson Residential School, Guwahati

A P Sharma, Principal, Apeejay School, Sheikh Sarai-I, New Delhi

Dr Shashi Banerjee, Principal, Bhavan Vidyalaya, Panchkula

B Vinod, Principal, Delhi Public School, Patna

Dr Satyendra Kumar, Principal Birla School, Pilani

Col Dr K S Saini, Principal, St Kabir School, Hisar

Vandna Joshi, Principal, DPS Bopal, Ahmedabad

Shalini Nambiar, Director, Excelsior American School, Gurgaon

Manju Balasubramanyam, Principal, Delhi Public School, Bangalore (North)

Rajeshwari Sawant, Principal, Gwalior Glory, Gwalior

Dr Rajesh Kumar Chandel, Principal, Gyan Ganga International School, Jabalpur

Indu Kaul, Principal, Indus World School, Gurgaon

Sanjay Suar, Principal, KiiT International School, Bhubaneswar

Nirmal Mahna, Principal, KC International School, Jammu

Navita Puri, Principal, Kundan Vidya Mandir, Ludhiana

Dr Pascal Chazot, Principal, Mahatma Gandhi International School, Ahmedabad

Mamta Wadhwa, Principal, Manav Rachna International School, Faridabad

Dr Sarvesh Naidu, School Executive Director, Pathways World School, Gurgaon

Harish Sanduja, Principal, Sai International School, Bhubaneswar

Krit Serai, Principal, Satluj Public School, Panchkula

Rashmi Singh, Principal, Vibgyor High International, Lucknow

Yajuvendra Jadeja, Principal, Sodha Schools, Jamnagar

Ravneet Kaur, Principal, Guru Teg Bahadur International School, Gurdaspur

J Ajeeth Prasath Jain, Principal, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Chennai Kendra

Dr Neera Sharma, Principal, DAV Public School, Amritsar

Poly Pattanaik, Principal, Mother’s Public School, Bhubaneswar

Shantanu Das, Principal, Sarla Birla Academy, Bangalore

Dr Vandana Lulla, Director and Principal, Podar International School, Mumbai

Shilpa Solanki, Principal, The Orchid School, Pune

Kavita Sanghvi, Principal, MET Rishikul Vidyalaya, Mumbai

Seetha Murthy, Principal, Silver Oaks School, Hyderabad

Dr Rajeev Chauhan, Principal, Sir Padampat Singhania Education Centre, Kanpur

M S Rehman, Principal, The Millennium School, Nagpur

Renu Singh, Principal, Amity International School, Noida

Rita Jha, Principal, Dr K N Modi Global School, Jaipur

Alice Vaz, Principal, Ryan International School, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai

N Krishnaveni, Principal, St Mary’s High School, Hyderabad

Rupa Chakravarty, Principal, Suncity School, Gurgaon

V Krishna, Principal, Indus World School, Raipur

Dhriti Malhotra, Principal, Manav Rachna International School, Gurgaon

Anil Sharma, Principal, Birla Vidyamandir, Nainital

Adilakshmi Chintalapati, Principal, Oakridge International School, Bachupally

Seema Jerath, Principal, DLF Public School, Ghaziabad

Anit Arora, Principal, Cambridge International School, Dasuya

Jorawar Singh, Principal, Cambridge International School, Phagwara

Manju Sharma, Principal, DPS Bangalore, South

Jaya Bhardwaj, Principal, Hansraj Public School, Punchkula

Ramanjit Ghuman, Principal, Indus World School, Ludhiana

Nidhi Serohi, Principal, Kothari International School, Noida

Fr Joseph Karukayil, Principal, Lourdes Public School and Junior College, Kottayam

Rashmi Mehta, Principal, Salwan Public School, Gurgaon

Rita Kaul, Principal, The Millennium School, Noida

Bindu Sharma, Principal, Rayat International School, SBS Nagar

SPECIAL FEATURE

Complete Skills Solution for Schools

AIE helps Indian Schools teach through technology

Creativity and new-age learning: Keys that open to a more enriching classroom

Cyber security jobs in India are making a comeback!

FIRST PERSON

Problems in higher education and challenges before RUSA

Enhancing GER and quality is the way forward

Poor Research Leads to Mediocrity

From IITs to Universities Abroad, WizIQ Is Indeed Going Places

State to have 80 new ITIs by 2017

“Odhisa has a number of ITIs and Polytechnic Colleges to help our youth attain the right skills for having gainful employment in the industry of their choice,” says Dr Chandrasekhar Kumar, Commissioner cum Secretary, Employment & Technical Education & Training Department, Government of Odisha

Please tell us about the measures that are being undertaken in the State of Odisha to ensure that the citizens are adequately trained for being employed in the modern industry.
In order to streamline and pay more attention for improving employability of youths through systematic pattern of training, Government of Odisha has created the new department in the name of Employment and Technical Education & Training Department. The basic purpose of this department is to look after the skill upgradation of the youth and provide quality technical education at various levels. Odhisa has a number of ITIs and Polytechnic Colleges to help our youth attain the right skills for having gainful employment in the industry of their choice. In fact, I would like to point out that our educated youth are finding good jobs not only in Odhisa but outside the state also. The work for skill development of our youth is being done through the formal sector, as well as the informal sector. In the formal sector we are strengthening, upgrading and expanding new ITIs and Polytechnic Institutions. In 12th Five year plan, we are targeting more than 80 new ITIs, which will add up to 40,000 seats and will also strengthen the existing ITIs. Also in coming five years we are planning to set up 20 new Polytechnics, which will add 10, 000 more seats. In the informal sector we basically try to cater to the needs of the students who have dropped out of the education system during their schooling period and have not been able to pursue higher education. To these students we provide short duration courses that can enable them to gain skills for different sectors like manufacturing, construction, retail, banking, computers and others.

What steps are being taken to ensure that there is adequate level of interface between the academic community, who are involved in providing skills related training, and the industrial sector?
A healthy level of interface between the academic community and the industry is of great importance. The academic community in the IITs and Polytechnics of Odhisa are interacting with the industry leaders. We do our best to upgrade and reform the courseware and teaching systems in our education institutions by taking into account the changes that are happening in the industrial area. The institutions often approach the important industry bodies for knowing their views on the kind of curriculum that is most suited for skills development. In today’s world the technology being used by the industry is constantly evolving, so it is necessary that the students be imparted training that takes into account the exact requirements of the industry.

“A healthy level of interface between the academic community and the industry Is of great importance”

Tell us about the steps that you are taking to ensure that the educational institutions follow better curriculum.
Government of Odisha has created State Employment Mission that seeks to create synergy in various development sectors in terms of skill development of youths and linkages of employment opportunities. The Mission’s principal task is to formulate sector and trade specific strategies for specialized skill trainings in order to maximize employment opportunities on a sustainable basis in the Dr Chandrasekhar Kumar state supported and private sectors. To fulfil these objectives the Mission seeks to work in close coordination with National Skill Development Mission. Access to education has to be improved, more and more students must be able to take advantage of higher education and technical education. We need to ensure that students from weaker sections of society are also in a position to pursue the education that they desire.

Tell us about the ways by which you are using Information Technology to bring efficiency into the quality of education that is being imparted.
The Information & Communication Technology (ICT) as a tool in education is available to us at this juncture and we wish to fully utilize it to enhance the current enrolment rate in Higher and Technical Education. We are having a number of programs for delivering education through ICT. We are part of Government of India’s National Mission on Education through ICT. Under this Mission, a proper balance between content generation, research in critical areas relating to imparting of education and connectivity for integrating our knowledge with the advancements in other countries is to be attempted. We are also part of a programme under which we will be able to broadcast lectures online in polytechnic colleges. Capacity building through knowledge empowerment of our youth is necessary to sustain a high growth rate of our economy.

What kind of impact are the initiatives of your department having on improving the employability of the youth in the state?
There is lot of improvement in employability of the youth in the state and that is also having a positive impact in the overall economy of the state. Availability of skilled manpower is most important for achieving the targets of higher productivity, accuracy, consistency and thus competitiveness for domestic and other sectors micro, small and medium manufacturing enterprises as well as process sector industries. Orissa is playing host to the biggest new names in the business world in the field of steel, power, aluminium, and power cement among others. The presence of such strong industrial players distinctly provides required synergy for human capital investment through establishment of technological universities, IIT, IIIT, IIM level institution to boost Research & Development (R&D) activities and providing managerial/supervisory /skill workforce to the emerging labour market.

Please shed light on the main objectives of the State Employment Mission?
Government of Odisha has created State Employment Mission that seeks to create synergy in various development sectors in terms of skill development of youths and linkages of employment opportunities The Mission’s principal task is to formulate sector and trade specific strategies for specialized skill trainings in order to maximize employment opportunities on a sustainable basis in the state supported and private sectors. To fulfil these objectives the Mission seeks to work in close coordination with National Skill Development Mission.
Tell us about the initiatives that you are taking for skill development of female students. The State Government have reserved 30 percent of seats in all the Government ITI for women candidates. Nine new girls hostel have been sanctioned ST & SC Development Department in the ITIs to accommodation of women trainees. Short term training programme have been taken up under State Employment Mission, W&CD Department, H&UD Department in ITIs and Polytechnics.

Looking back at 2013, WizIQ has had a glorious year, thanks to the wonderful association of teachers, educators and academic institutions worldwide. Here is a flashback in case you missed out on the best of WizIQ moments.

A new wave of funding
The beginning of the year 2013 was full of new opportunities and fortifying of the foundations, as WizIQ raised $4 million from Kaizen and Bertelsmann Group to invest into the future of online education.
Mashable Calls WizIQ a Trusted Online Education Platform
Mashable recently listed WizIQ as one of the most dependable online tutoring destinations in a feature story published on August 20, 2013. With a user base of more than 3 million learners and 255,000 teachers, they called WizIQ a ‘leader in the online education space.’ Then followed a series of successful academic tie-ups and launching of online courses by some of the most prestigious institutes of India.
MOOCs & Online Courses on WizIQ
1. WizIQ, as the only MOOC Platform with Live Class Component, hosts Sunstone Business School’s MOOC
The Sunstone Business School launches their most popular Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on B2B Negotiations via online education platform WizIQ. The course commences on October 14, 2013.
2. ISM Dhanbad Offers Management Program Online via WizIQ
The Indian School of Mines (ISM) Dhanbad announces the launch of its first online course, a Certificate Program in International Business Management starting from December 8, 2013. The course is being conducted by the Department of Management Studies, ISM, Dhanbad, on WizIQ.
3. Alliance Française (AF) teaches French online via WizIQ Learning
the French language is made easier with the online course offered by Click on French, a course designed by the teachers of the Alliance Française and delivered via WizIQ.
4. IIT Kharagpur professor from ECE Dept offers a certified online course via WizIQ
Professor Somnath Sengupta of the Department of Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, proudly launches his first-ever live online Certificate Course in Image and Video Communication. The course is offered via, WizIQ.

Conferences and Awards
WizIQ has live-webcasted a total of 10 conferences last year. This enabled the conferences to reach across the world without any boundary beyond their venues. The Centre for Teaching, Learning, and Case Development at the Indian School of Business (ISB), in partnership with Richard Ivey School of Business, The University of Western Ontario, successfully completed the ISB-Ivey Global Case Competition 2013; the experts could connect from their location over internet via WizIQ. The concluding seminar took place in August, 2013. Other conferences include the 2nd International Online Conference on Psychology and Allied Science, 9th International Congress on English Grammar by VIT Vellore, a few conferences by IIT Delhi, NIOS etc. WizIQ was the Official Online Education Partner in “The Knowledge Exchange, Goa” Summit, a Vice Chancellors’ conclave where more than 35 Vice Chancellors from Indian Universities par-ticipated in Nov 2013. For the second year in a row, WizIQ was conferred with the Best Virtual Classroom Provider Award at World Education Congress by Global e-Learning Awards Committee in June 2013. In a similar, The Government of Punjab conferred WizIQ with The Shiksha Ratna Award for the Best Virtual Classroom for the year 2013 at the State Education Summit Punjab 2013 held in February 2013, in Chandigarh. Not only WizIQ, but also the users of WizIQ have been recognized, last year. Certificate Course on Business Management (CCBM), an IIT Delhi course, was conferred with ASSOCHAM award in 2013 for Best Use of Technology. Prof. Mandar Bhanushe, a professor at the University of Mumbai (UoM), was conferred with the Indian Education Award 2013 for his webinar series on WizIQ in the University’s distance learning course in B Sc (IT) Mathematics.

The Road Map for the Year 2014
We, at WizIQ, bade a satisfactory goodbye to 2013 and look forward to the New Year with renewed energy and passion towards education in all spectrums from Language to Engineering, from MOOC to Paid Online Course, from Individual Professors to Premium Institutes. As more students turn to the Internet for learning, WizIQ will continue to meet all the teaching needs of its 255,000 teachers worldwide with greater enthusiasm and passion to cater the needs of more than 3 million learners. Announced by Harman Singh, Founder & CEO of Wiz- IQ.com, during VCs’ Conclave at Goa, WizIQ is offering absolutely FREE Service and Support to all interested Indian Universities for Year 2014 to encourage ICT adoption in education.

Research leads to innovations. The purpose of research foundation is to enhance the scientific fervor among faculty and students to develop an aptitude, be in forefront of technology, elicit industry support for research assistantship, administer and execute contracts, agreements and award.

By Prof S Satyanarayana, Vice Chancellor, Osmania University, Andhra Pradesh

Research centre innovation is crucial for the progress of a society. Knowledge generated through research and innovation is the basis for sustainable social development. The research activities done by the industry is applied research whereas research done in universities is purely basic research. The integration of both industry and academia is extremely important for the overall development of society. This will ensure that research at the universities is relevant for the industry. Thomas Jefferson, the former US president rightly said if one wants to be a leader in the world, he must first have obtained higher education with a good research background. The Bush Commission in 1945 said that research should be the main product of universities and education is the by-product. The educational institutions must focus on both teaching and research for the development of the country. The former US president John F Kennedy, in 1960, had announced that America would send men to the moon and bring them back safely. He gave enough money to NASA and also to educational institutes for the research and hence, they did a good quality of research and today everybody knows that we can send a man to the moon and also bring him back safely.

The integration of both industry and academia is extremely important for the overall development of society. This will ensure that research at the universities is relevant for the industry

This was made possible with the help of the research. Similarly, the GPS was invented in Cambridge University, the birth of genetic engineering took place in Stanford University, discovery of DNA was done in Cambridge and Apple was born in MIT Boston – all these signify that research in the universities is very important and that most of the innovations come from the universities. There should be research foundations in all universities for the development of quality research. The number of patents that India produces each year is far less compared to US and Japan. The Government of India in 2009 had formally permitted to open technology incubation centres as new means of technology transfer. As a result, leading academic and research institutions in India such as IITs took the lead to establish incubation centre. Such initiatives should be extended to the university level too. The objective of research foundation should be to provide consultancy services, take up contract research for the industries, invite industrial scientists to work in laboratory to divide the partnership between the institute and industry, create in-house facility for small entrepreneurs to grow, promote creativity for technological growth and launch new companies in collaboration with entrepreneurs. If India does not create research-based colleges and universities, we will have only mediocre graduates, too low by international standards, running the national and international affairs.

Enhancing GER at elementary level, ensuring quality and addressing the issues related with the retention – especially of ST children is key to achieving the educational goal says Usha Padhee, Commissioner-cum- Secretary, School and Mass Education Department, Government of Odisha, in an interview with Mohd Ujaley of Elets News Network (ENN)

You are a young IAS officer and have been the District Magistrate of Dhenkanal. What are the major challenges you see in the administration which is becoming more and more complex?
As a civil servant we get exposure to various types of challenges. At the same time the diversity in the job makes our experience enriched. We have to agree that the administration is becoming more complex. One has to have effective strategies to deliver services to the needy. Visualising the challenges, planning and implementation – needs specific skills which have to be acquired by the civil servant to be relevant and useful in the system. At the same time to ensure ethical governance, the officer should adopt ethical behaviour and demonstrate it by being the role model. Changing scenario and short tenures are an impediment in bringing the tangible reforms in the archive system is also a challenge to explore. So having the high ethical behaviour, required skills and effective infiltration strategies can overcome the challenges.

You are looking after a very important segment which is School and Mass Education. There has been apprehension about quality of education more so in value education. What are you doing to focus on value education in your schools?
Many of us talk about deterioration in quality of education more so in value education. The national curriculum framework envisages the integral education where the need of the child is addressed through developing theholistic personality. The School and Mass Education Department has taken up many training programmes including leadership and motivational modules to encourage the teachers for desirable learning transaction in the classrooms.

So far both the central as well as state government policies have focused on raising the gross enrolmentration (GER) in schools and somehow quality has taken backbench. What Odisha is doing to bridge the gap between quality and quantity?
Bridging the gap between quality and quantity is very important. In Odisha, the Gross Enrolment Ratio is 100.56 as per District Information System for Education (DISE) 2012-13. It was 101.32 at Elementary level as per DISE 2011-12. To enhance the GER at elementary level government has taken various steps such as –
• Textbooks provided to all students from classes 1 to 8.
• Uniforms are provided to all girls and boys belonging to SC/ST/BPL categories studying in government elementary schools.
• Facilitating mother tongue-based education for children belonging to tribal community from class I to V. This is an innovative policy initiative, unique to Odisha.
• School student helpline established with a toll free number 1800-34567- 22 as a part of redressal of grievance mechanism.
• Learning materials in tribal languages for pre-primary (New Arunima) prepared and provided to anganwadi centers of the state in collaboration with Women and Child Development Department
• Child friendly school environment creating scope for encouraging child participation in classroom process.
• Library and library-books are provided to all schools.
• Summer camp for addressing problems of children belonging to disadvantaged group.
• Residential hostels for urban deprived children established.
• Seasonal hostels for the children of migrant families. Besides the steps taken for enhancing GER at elementary level, the state government is also taking steps for ensuring quality such as –
• State curriculum developed based on NCF-2005.
• Module for Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) developed by State Academic Authority.
• Monthly performance monitoring of the activities at school level on 60 parameters done through ‘SAMIKSHA’ in 60,000 schools across the state.
• Teachers’ handbook ‘SAMADHAN’ and ‘SADHAN’ (on TLH) developed and distributed to all teachers to facilitate classroom practices.
• Graded reading materials ‘SOPAN’ in Mathematics in classes 1 to 3 devel- oped and distributed which is based on concepts given in the text books and Self learning materials ‘SWAYAM’ in Science for classes 6 and 7 developed to supplement the text materials.
• ‘SANJOG’, set of 20 readers developed as supplementary reading materials for Classes 1 and 2.

Odisha has one of the largest populations of tribal. There are credible reports available which suggests that their Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) is comparatively low across India.How your department is addressing this challenge?
The largest tribal population district of the State is Malkangiri andMayurbhanj. Malkangiri district has 57.4 percent of tribal population to the total population. GER for both the place is above 100. The GER at elementary education of Malkangiri district is 102. 23 andMayurbhanj district is 107.59. Similarly, the GER of ST at elementary level is 104.26 in comparison to the overall GER of 100.56. I think, retention is a big challenge. The state government has taken many initiatives for addressing the issues related with the retention of ST children and enhancing the GER.We have developed State Policy for Multilingual Education (MLE).Mother tongue based education is operational in 544 schools covering 61 blocks of Odisha in 10 tribal languages like Saura, Kui, Kuvi, Munda, Koya, Bonda, Santhali, Juang, Kisan, Oram in 8 districts namely Raygada, Gajapati, Kandhamal, Mayurbhanj, Malkangiri, Keonjhar, Sambalpur and Sundergarh. And, we are also up scaling of nine more languages (Gadaba, Bhumij, Ho, Gondi, Desia, Kharia, Didayi, Binjhal, Mahali) covering 4 more districts proposed and will be implemented during 2013-14.

Isn’t it stereotype to keep the lady officers in identified Departments like Women and Child Development, Education, Health or some social sectors, we hardly find them leading Cabinet, Home, Finance or Defence?
Honestly speaking gender bias is seen at many levels in India. Though the degree varies. It also depends on the attitude of the decision makers at the higher levels. Due to patriarchal system the numbers of women in public services are limited. This is also reflected in the number of lady officers available in the civil services. True, sometimes it becomes stereo type to keep the lady officers in identified Departments like Women and Child Development, Education, Health or some social sectors. However, times are changing and minds are opening up. I hope in near future you will see women officer in the top echelons. By the way, thinking that social sectors as less important and Departments like Defence, Commerce and Home as more important itself is discriminatory.

Accountability and auton statues of many institutions which is a challenging task to accomplish.

By Prof (Dr) S S Chahal, Chancellor, Desh Bhagat University, Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab

The National Knowledge Commission in 2007 had recommended massive expansion of higher education, setting the target to achieve 15 percent enrollment by 2015. Since then the system has witnessed tremendous expansion. The number of universities has increased from 348 to 700, colleges from 17,625 to 35,539 and enrollment from 10.5 million to 20.3 million during the period from 2005-06 to 2011-12, surpassing the target much ahead of time achieving 19 percent enrollment in 2012-13 as per University Grants Commission (UGC) estimates. Massive expansion however, has generated certain problems as well.

Expansion generated issues and the need for reforms Rural Urban Divide:
Mostly universities and colleges have come up in and around different cities making their distribution as well as the gross enrollment ratio skewed across rural and urban areas. More than 65 percent universities and 55 percent colleges are in urban areas. This rural urban divide is more visible from large difference in Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) which is about 13 percent in rural areas and 24 percent in urban areas against the national average of 19 percent. It needs serious attention because despite increasing trend towards urbanization still more than 68 percent population live in rural areas which cannot be overlooked.
Gender disparity: The National Sample Survey Organisation’s most recent estimates show a GER of 15.8 percent for women against 22.8 percent for men. Except for education and medicine, enrollment of boys is higher than girls in all other faculties.
Inadequate infrastructure: With rapid expansion, most of the institutions are not coping up with the required infrastructure. This deficiency has ultimately resulted in paper degree education with very low level of employability of graduates which are being produced.
Low industrial training: There is dire need to support necessary infrastructure within institutions as well as to promote institution industry interface by involving industry in curriculum development, developing database of available facilities across institutions, conjoint research and development and mandatory attachment of students with industry at least for one semester.
Faculty crunch: The growth in teaching faculty has not been kept in pace with the growth of teaching institutions and enrollment, thus causing great imbalance between teacher student ratio. There is about 38 fold increase in faculty against 51 fold increase in enrollment during the period from 1950-51 to 2011-12.
Decline in research: Out of total enrollment, there is less than one percent enrollment in research, against 86 percent in graduate, 12 percent postgraduate and one percent in diploma and certificate courses. India’s global share of scientific publications of 3.5 percent is very low as compared to China’s share of more than 21 percent as estimated by Thomas and Reuters.
Large affiliations: Affiliated colleges with 89 percent enrollment of total students are mainstay in the system of higher education as they contain bulk of enrollment. Almost all the newly established colleges are affiliated to state universities, increasing their burden of affiliation system. Many are having more than 500 each and it is quite common to have 400 such colleges per university. Over-affiliation dilutes the focus on academic quality and research. All these factors have caused fall in academic levels requiring major initiatives to address the issues.

Over-Affiliation – A Cause Of  Concern
Number of Affiliated Colleges
Osmania University: 900
Pune University: 811
Nagpur University: 800
University of Mumbai: 711
Bangalore University: 687

RUSA – the new scheme
The new initiative of MHRD centers around strategic shift in central funding for higher education through synergistic approach in spending by central and state governments, addressing issues related to access, equity and excellenceand demand and supply linked expansion. Aiming at 30 percent enrollment by 2020, it includes bringing improvement in teaching learning process to enhance employability, research and innovation. There will be strategic interventions to bring institutional autonomy, regular monitoring and implementing accountability. Student-centric and result oriented approach will be other contours of the scheme besides creating research universities, developing alliances, clusters, consortia, networks and internationalization of higher education to be competitive in global market. It has also been planned to bring affiliation reforms, ensuring qualified faculty, reaching unreached and strengthening academic, administrative as well financial autonomy in colleges and universities.

The Challenges
Ahead The scheme has covered major aspects but its implementation and effectiveness will certainly be a challenging task. There will be major shift in the funding pattern. Hitherto directly by the UGC, funds will be channelized through state governments. States have to contribute their share to receive the center’s share. It will largely depend upon the priority of the state governments to add their own share which is not free of apprehensions from many fund starved states running under huge debt. Even the diversion of central funds is common, which if happens will be a great setback to the higher education system which is already under stress. Mandatory setting up of State Higher Education Councils has to be implemented with due caution to avoid overlapping of responsibilities with other such bodies already functioning in the states to avoid confusion and chaotic situation detrimental to achieving objectives of the scheme. Still important are many other complex issues like: non-availability of qualified faculty, overcoming the rigid mindset, up-gradation of infrastructure, training and capacity building of existing faculty to which it is difficult to find answers in the document as to how RUSA will grapple with them. It is widely acclaimed that teachers have been well treated by implementation of revised grades in 2006. Still it has so far failed to inspire or attract the bright students.It is great challenge as to how RUSA will be able to fill the gap of inspiring, motivated and committed teachers around which revolves the system of higher education. Rampant inbreeding and extremely low magnitude of mobility of teachers is a serious issue adversely affecting quality of teaching and research. It is an important area needing due consideration although RUSA has not spelled out a viable policy in this respect Recent expansion has left teachers only coping with teaching and examination assignments and the research component is nearly absent. Measures to improve research under RUSA are welcome but in addition to resources and adequate facilities, it is important to nurture and promote culture for research. Setting up of Centers of Excellence is fine as envisaged under the scheme. It will be worthwhile to strengthen linkages between the existing research and academic institutions to harness synergy for speedy march towards excellence. Our libraries must be modernized, digitized and fully loaded with ultramodern software to meet the emerging demands of education through Open Education Resources (OER) and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), which should be taken up seriously. Interlinking of libraries atleast at regional level will greatly improve standard of learning and research. Establishment of new institutions should be need based only. Besides opening new institutions, it will be prudent to attend to the crying need of strengthening the existing ones and expanding avenues of extension and distance education which will play a great role in meeting the demand of enrollment acceleration.

Good practices may yield good results
Emphasis on semester system and determining the quantum of work to be completed by the students in different programmes, Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) to enhance learning opportunity and making inter-institutional transferability of students possible, flexibility for working students to complete programme over an extended period of time and thrust on issues related to employability, streamlining admission process, continuous internal evaluation in addition to end of semester evaluation and mandatory accreditation of higher education institutions under the scheme can make higher education relevant provided these are implemented with sincerity and committed approach.

Expect rise in the cyber security jobs in India in coming days. Big IT companies in India – viz. TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Cognizant and others may soon begin looking for cyber security experts & ethical hackers. TCS’s ex-CEO, Mr. S Ramadorai, who currently heads NSDA aka National Skills Development Agency has said that the demand for security experts is expected to growing coming days. He believes hiring and training young professionals to work in the domain is the need of the time. The number of cyber attacks has gone up significantly in the recent times – hackers from China & the United States have become more sophisticated in the quality of their attacks. It’s been found that an average cyber hacker remains undetected for about 400+ days. Big Internet companies like Google, Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo and others have already began offering huge prizes for reporting security bugs in their systems. The bigger question is – preparedness of the people who want to make a career in cyber security. Be aware that you’ll need a special training – going much beyond the so called ‘ethical hacking’ courses which have mushroomed in every corner. The salaries in the domain will always be higher than the regular IT jobs – provided the candidates know the job. If you are an aspiring ethical hacker or want to make a career in the cyber security domain; I’d strongly advise you to keep updating your knowledge and start reading as much as you can about computer security. As we all know, a cyber security job comes under the Information technology (IT) and IT industry is mainly driven by private sector. I know better because my home town Bangalore is the hub of IT industry. But why would you prefer a cyber security job in Sarkari Naukri, when there are so many vacancies in private companies. Well! I leave up to you, why you want a Sarkari Naukri but not private sector jobs.

What is Cyber Security?
First thing a job aspirant should know, what is cyber security? I do not think, you are not familiar with cyber security. Every graduate from any discipline should have a fair idea about Internet and other information related to it. Always a company or an institution wants to protect its data. Hence, cyber security is nothing but protection of data or other critical information from outside attacks by hackers or people with malafide intensions. Cyber security is of utmost importance for private companies and governmental organization alike. In fact, today national security and business interests of a country totally depends upon cyber security.

Job Profile:
What is the Job of a Cyber Security Professional? Well! Job of a cyber security professional can be categorized into 5 various levels according to the work experience of a job seeker.

1. Entry Level Entry
level position of a cyber security professional is Executive Manager. Your duty would be correlating the broad security guidelines of the organization with daily security operations. This position is for aspirants with least work experience.
2. Middle Level
Middle level job position is Manager. Manager’s responsibility would be management of security programs, data security, policy creation & management, business continuity and disaster recovery. This position would require more experience.
3. Senior & Top Level
Senior and top level position is Chief Manager. His role would be design and development of information policy, regulatory compliance and the most important information security governance. This job profile is for experienced candidates.
4. Senior & Top Level
Here senior & top level position is of Security advisors and Auditors. Responsibilities are advisory services for information security, designing policy, risk assessment and compliance to both global & industry standards. This job post is also for experienced candidates.
5. Senior & Top Level
This position is Chief information officer. Your role would be rationalizing cost of current and future investments to minimize information risks. This position is for highly experienced candidates with years of experience. You have to see where you fit in among 5 job categories. Although there is a little chance for a fresher but you can get the job after having few years of experience.

Qualification for a Cyber Security Job
Qualification for a cyber security job in Sarkari Naukri or private company is following.
• You must be a graduate in any discipline. However it is preferred, if you have a degree in computer science. Basically, software engineering background.
• Complete knowledge of computer networks. You should know the psyche of a hacker who can hack.
• You must have done courses in cyber security. The certified courses like CEHv8 (Certified Ethical Hacker) by EC Council. CISA (Certified Information System Auditor), Jobs in Sarkari Naukri fall in the category of
1. Computer Specialist
2. Information Technology Officer
3. Information technology Specialist
4. Assistant chief Security Officer
5. Penetration Tester Jobs in private sectors are

• Cyber Security Analyst
• Research Scientist 
• Senior Information Security SpecialistSalary of a Cyber Security
  Professional Now comes the stuff that you would like to listen, the remuneration or the salary of a cyber security professional. If you have one year experience then you can get Rs 300,000 Per Annum. If you have 5 years of experience then you can get Rs 8 to 10 Lakhs.
  Future of Cyber Security
  Career Scope of a cyber security job is very bright. As world is coming together, we need more secure and reliable communication systems. To make connectivity more secure, we need cyber security professionals. To save our systems from hackers, these professionals are highly in demand. India needs secure systems to safeguard its vital interests. Hence in future, it would need more such professional in great numbers.So your future as a cyber security professional is fully bright. You can make this as your career choice.
  Conclusion
  Finally, in conclusion I would say, cyber security jobs are available in Sarkari Naukri as well as private companies. But you need some experience because job is very challenging. Moreover, the salary is very lucrative.

  I suggest you to go for this job.
  Recently, 100 websites, including a website that belongs to the government of Government of India were hacked by a team of hackers.This incident gained attention because the websites belonged to the government. Everyday, somewhere in the world, the security of some website, network or email account is at stake. It may belong to a government organisation, bank, IT company, telecom company or an individual. Such incidents lead to serious deliberation on the safety of our networks in the cyber world. A well accepted solution to this challenge is to apply ‘ethical hacking,’ to increase the safety of networks. Ethical hacking, in simple terms is hacking, but for good reasons. Ethical hackers or ‘white hats’ do the same job as hackers – spot a minute loophole to breach the security of the most secure networks. Other hackers take advantage of security loopholes and steal confidential information, intercept critical data, spread virus, add or delete data, masquerade identity or cause damage. However, ethical hackers report the loopholes in the security system to the owners and provide solutions to protect the network. In other words, ethical hackers try to penetrate networks, detect the vulnerabilities in the security systems and fix them before any miscreant can take advantage of it. India will require five lakh cyber security professionals by 2015 to support its fast growing internet economy as per an estimate by the Union ministry of information technology. These jobs will come up across industries. The financial sector alone is expected to hire over 2 lakh people while telcos, utility sectors, power, oil & gas, airlines, government (law & order and egovernance ) will hire the rest. A large number of these jobs will be around cyber policing and ethical hacking, to check for network vulnerabilities . The need for cyber experts has grown exponentially as the country is heading towards an internet explosion mostly fuelled by e-commerce, e-banking , egovernance and the social media. Kamlesh Bajaj, CEO of The Data Security Council of India (DSCI), a Nasscom body that frames guidelines related to data security and data privacy for corporates, said, “Security will fuel the growth of businesses. Trust is critical to build customer confidence and trust comes only through safety. Global clients are increasingly demanding high-level compliance to data security, privacy and cyber security regulations.” Awareness is catching up among stakeholders: government , the academia and the industry. For instance, a few months ago, the University Grants Commission directed all university vice chancellors in the country to introduce curriculum around cyber security in their respective colleges to meet this talent demand . Quoting a Gartner report in its letter, UGC said, “The country’s information security market is expected to grow by 18% to reach Rs 1,415 crore in 2013 on the back of increased spending by companies to secure their information assets. Despite a continuing economic slowdown that has been putting pressure on IT budgets around the world, cyber security spending globally would continue on an upward trajectory, reaching $86 billion in 2016, up from $60 billion in 2012.” Amit Kumar, President, Cyberfort Technologies, a US-based firm that trains and certifies in the cyber security domain said, “Every organization across verticals will require cyber security professionals . Therefore, the estimate of 5 lakh looks very conservative for a strong internet economy like India. The actual requirement for cyber security professionals would be in multiples.”

  For establishment of cyberfort study
  center contact – Dr Rajesh Kumar
  Mobile- +91 9031489275, 9973195996
  email-rajesh@cyberfort.org