Education Insider

INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES: FOOD TECHNOLOGY ‘Educational caste system rife in India’ Dr U R Ananthamurthy

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COUNTERPOINT

N R Narayana Murthy

CAMPUS FOCUS

Tokyo University

EXPERT TALK

Debashis Chatterjee

SURVEY Kerala’s Best 10 B Schools

Arms and the aspirants Defence education offers a career with passion and patriotism

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Volume 1 Issue 1 | April 2012 Editor Business Office - India Ravi Deecee DC MEDIA Associate Editor DC Books Pvt Ltd T N Shaji No 387, Ist Cross 4th Block, 80 Feet Road Chief Sub Editor Koramangala Dipin Damodharan Bengaluru – 560034 Sr. Reporter India Lakshmi Narayanan Business Office - International Sub Editor DC Books Prashob K P Near Karama Metro Station Reporter Trade Centre Road Shani K Dubai, UAE

“The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts” - C S Lewis

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EDITOR’S NOTE

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In pursuit of the true spirit of education ducation is not merely a tool to make one learn to grab a colourful career. It is a process of intellectual and emotional moulding which aims at refining an individual and making him a responsible human resource who is socially committed and well aware of the problems of his times. In the present day scenario, education has grown diverse tributaries from its basic and limited structure and thrown open numerous opportunities for those who really want to explore and grow. The onset of technological advancements and the development of the internet has revolutionised the availability of materials and increased the accessibility of information by leaps and bounds. For those who wish to learn and imbibe, materials based on all sorts of topics are available at the touch of a finger.

Even though the situation is ripe for advanced learning, it is observed that the existing education system in the country especially at the school level fails to light that fire for the search of wisdom in our children. The society as a whole always conditions them to look at education as an exercise inside the classroom which is meant to equip them to face exams with more confidence and in turn get the best jobs in future. The end result is that students take a shallow attitude towards learning and don’t often push themselves to go in search of intellectual upgradation beyond accumulation of factual information which they require to obtain good scores in exams.

It is in this backdrop that Education Insider is setting sail to feature quality literature on education and related topics as part of an attempt to provide direction to the students who are lost amidst the bombardment of new generation courses and materialistic quests. We hope to bring out the burning issues in the sector of education where more and more corporates are seeing it as a potential area for revenue growth and often losing its sanctity and purpose. We will focus on showcasing the pros and cons of the system of education as well as giving insight into the new arenas of career planning and options for higher studies. The cover story in our maiden issue is ‘defence education’. The story attempts to shed some lights on its employment prospects which are less known but a well-respected area of study and work.

We hope to provide food for thought and contemplation to our readers and give new perspectives to approach the process of education keeping intact its true spirit and philosophy.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

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CONTENTS

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Cover Story

ARMS AND THE ASPIRANTS A career in the armed forces could transform the aspirants to fierce nationalists and great humanists. It offers attractive incentives and a high-profile life with great social respect

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N R Narayana Murthy

COUNTERPOINT N R Narayana Murthy, the founder of India’s path-breaking IT firm Infosys Technologies, points out his vision on entrepreneurship and education

Rear Admiral K R Srinivasan Prove your mettle with armed forces Defence services are multi-disciplinary, versatile and lethal outfits, which involve high technology, great human resources development and trained to work as a team

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EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

CONTENTS

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Campus Focus

The University of Tokyo

The University of Tokyo, one of the top research universities in the world, is known for the excellence of its faculty and students and it has produced scores of leaders in various streams

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Indian campus

Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham

Anupam Kher BRAINWAVE Anupam Kher describes his views on education and life

Pramod Maheshwari

Career Point Log on to http://educationinsider.thewinkstore.com

Columns 36 I Karthikeyan Iyer 55 I Snehaj Srinivas

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

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NEWS PICS

University of Tokyo opens Indian office

BENGALURU: University of Tokyo, Japan, has opened its first Indian office in Bengaluru. The office named as ‘The University of Tokyo India Office in Bangalore’, was launched to enhance the international participation of students. India is one of the most important countries in terms of academic partnership and hope to increase the number of Indian students studying in Japan.

The University of Tokyo India office will also serve as one of the overseas Office for Shared Utilization

by Japanese Universities under the Global 30 project to increase the number of Indian students not only at the University of Tokyo, but other universities in Japan.

Cambridge is richest UK varsity LONDON: Cambridge University is selected as the richest university in Britain with an asset worth four billion pounds. It is more than double the combined value of any other universities in the region, excluding the wealth of University of Oxford; it stands in the second place with an asset value of 3.3 billion pounds. Cambridge’s enormous wealth is attributed to building assets and land ownership accumulated over the University’s 800 year history. Cambridge is worth double the 2 billion pound assets of Britain’s other universities.

New chairman for IIAS SHIMLA: Gopalkrishna Gandhi, former West Bengal Governor and the youngest grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, selected as the new chairman for the governing body of the Indian Institute of Advanced studies (IIAS) in Shimla. He has been appointed by the Government of India for a period of three years.

IIAS, a premier advanced research institution in the field of humanities and social science, is looking forward to have more administrative efficiency under the new command.

UAE opens Confucius Institute

Budget boosts Indian edu sector

ABU DHABI: The UAE has opened its first ever Confucius Institute for Chinese Language at the Zayed Campus in Khalifa City in Abu Dhabi, inaugurated by the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, President of the Zayed University Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan. The institute, named after the great Chinese philosopher, is the latest to come to the UAE. The institute promoted by Hanban, the Chinese National Office for teaching Chinese as a foreign language, runs over 100 similar institutions in 50 countries. It will hope to enhance the Chinese education in the UAE.

NEW DELHI: A good amount for the development of education was allocated in the Indian Union Budget 2012.

Rs 25,555 crore allocated for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, showing an increase of 21.7 per cent; while 29 per cent increase for Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan making it Rs 3,124 crore. In the 12th Plan, 6,000 schools have been proposed to be set-up at block level as model schools to benchmark excellence. Besides these, Rs 15, 850 crore for Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme, Rs 750 crore was proposed for Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls etc made the budget allotment for education quite impressive.

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EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

NEWS PICS

JGU ties up with USTM

Russia eases students’ visa norms

MAPUTO: The O P Jindal Global University (JGU) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of St Thomas of Mozambique (USTM), to enable students from Mozambique to study in Indian varsities. The MoU marks an important begining in institutional collaborations between Africa and India reflecting the impact of globalisation and the need for promoting global career opportunities for students in Mozambique.

MOSCOW: Foreigners should face fewer requirements for applying for studies at higher education institutes in Russia. A statement to this effect was issued by the head of the Russian Federal Migration Service Konstantin Romodanovsky. Foreigners should have fewer documents to submit to enrolment boards and fewer papers to collect for obtaining a visa to study in Russia. In the opinion of the Russian migration chief, a simpler visa application procedure will attract young educated people from neighbouring countries, first of all, from the CIS.

SLG wins All Star Award CHINA: Sino Language Gateway (SLG), an educational programme organiser specialising in Chinese language and cultural exchange between China and the US, has received the ‘2011 All Star Award’ from constant contact, Inc., the trusted marketing advisor to more than half a million small organisations worldwide.

Each year, a select group of Constant Contact customers are honoured with the All Star Award for their exemplary marketing results.

APJ donates award money PATNA: The former Indian President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam has donated Rs 2.5 million, part of his S R Jindal award money, for propagating scientific knowledge among children studying in the rural schools of Bihar. The money will be effectively used to establish mobile science laboratories in schools of rural areas. Kalam has been awarded with the S R Jindal Prize money of Rs one crore for the year 2011 for his “Exemplary service to the mankind in the area of science & technology”.

Digital textbooks at US varsity LOS ANGELS: California University has introduced digital textbooks for students. It has announced partnerships with publishers including Cengage Learning, Course Smart and Follett and will provide more than 5,000 of the most popular e-textbooks at discounted prices as part of a digital textbook rental programme that covers the whole school system. By renting the e-textbooks, students will have access to the digital material for the length of an academic term and also have the option to take print-outs. E-textbooks can be rented conveniently by the university students through their campus bookstore.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

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NEWS PLUS

GETEX Spring 2012 to begin on April 19 ABU DHABI: The UAE is all set to witness one of the biggest edu expos titled ‘GETEX Spring 2012’ from April 19 to 21, to be held at Dubai International

Convention and Exhibition Centre. A large number of the UAE students have been showing interest to pursue higher education at abroad that helped the UAE to emerge as one of the largest export

markets for students to over 46 destinations worldwide. The US and the UK are the most preferred education destinations for the UAE students. It is estimated that around 500 institutions and 2500 academicians would participate at the fair.

Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, the UAE Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research is the main patron of the fair. It is also supported by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), Dubai Knowledge Village and Dubai International Academic City.

The fair will focus on general, higher and vocational education. According to a

study by GETEX, there is an increasing demand for vocational and occupational education recently in the UAE. So, the fair will impart vocational and training programmes. It will include the Global Edu Tech Forum, a conference dedicated to teachers and school leaders. The regular participants of the fair includes the British Council, Agence Edu France, Canadian Consulate, OSEC Business network Switzerland, German Academic Service (DAAD) and so on. Universities from the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, India, Lebanon, Turkey, Malaysia and 30 other countries will be represented at the event. More than 30,000 visitors from across the Middle East are also expected to attend GETEX Spring 2012. Education Insider is one of the media partners of the fair.

Azerbaijan edu expo in September AZERBAIJAN: The sixth edition of the Azerbaijan International Education & Career Exhibition will be held at Baku, Azerbaijan from September 20 - 22 this year.

The unique education expo has been traditionally held with the active support of the Ministry of Education of Azerbaijan Republic. This annual event is the largest in the region in the field of educational services, vocational guidance and the employment generation. It has been organised by Iteca Caspian LLC and its partner ITE Group Plc, one of the world’s leading event organisers at Baku Expo Centre. Every year, Iteca Caspian has been organising over 25

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exhibitions and conference in Azerbaijan and Georgia, covering the sectors includ-

ing education and careers, travel and tourism, hospitality and so on.

Azerbaijan is the biggest oil-rich country in the Caucasus Region with a population of over nine million where every year around 15 thousand Azeri students study overseas. This edu expo is regarded as a great help for students, parents and educational institutions in and around Azerbaijan. It is expected that the delegates from more than 50 countries will attend the fair.

The fifth edition of the Azerbaijan International Educational & Career Exhibition has proved that there is tremendous increase in the number of the participants at the fair each year. The regular exhibitors of the fair include Microsoft, Nokia-Siemens, BP, and Renault.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

NEWS PLUS

Dubai to host Giftedness Conference DUBAI: The 12th edition of the Asia-Pacific Conference on Giftedness (Giftedness 2012) will be hosted at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre from July 14 to 18.The event is placed under the sign of human potential development and youth empowerment and would enhance the importance and significance of the gifted and talented education for the region. The Asia -Pacific Conference on Giftedness is an event held every two years in a member state of the UAE. Dubai will be the first Arab country to host the conference.

The conference is exploring the key factors contributing to

the empowerment of gifted children education. It is aimed to achieve four key objectives that are raising awareness on gifted education, building a knowledge centre and strengthen community engagement on gifted education, establishing principles and general policies for worldwide gifted education systems and drafting an action plan to accelerate gifted education system. It is said that with a set of thought provoking keynote presentations, comprehensive case studies, assessing progress made in gifted curriculums throughout Asia, the event will establish an educational benchmark for the region’s gifted children.

Gujarat budget neglects edu sector

AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat model of development is a hot point for debate across India. But the state’s education scenario is under severe criticism as Narendra Modi’s government allocated only 13.9 per cent of the total budget for education. This has already drawn criticisms from many as states like Maharashtra allocated 21 per cent of the state budget for education.

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The fund allocation for education in states like Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh is much higher than that of Gujarat.

Modi’s detractors blame that the state could not make any progress in the education sector over last 10 years. The existing education scenario is worsening day by day. Even though the government has announced programmes like Gunotsav, Shala Pravesh Utsav and so on to improve the quality of education, it has not yield success. The number of students studying in government schools had decreased from 81 lakh to 60 lakh. This indicates that the parents have been losing their faith in government–run schools. About 60 percent students fail in examinations, which indicate the poor quality of higher education in the state.

When states such as Kerala, Tripura, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Nagaland, Manipur, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh have improved their literacy ratio, Gujarat has not made any progress. The state has been ranked 12 among other states in literacy. The literacy rate of Gujarat is just 79.3 percent.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

YOUNG ACHIEVERS

An IITian who clicks

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ev is passionate, highly passionate on his hobby. It was not just a leisure pursuit for him. Flashes, clicks, films and lenses that have changed the rhythm of this young man’s heart beat. Devendra Purbiya, fondly called as Dev, a 29-year old from Bangalore had completed Computer Science and Engineering from IIT Kharagpur. Being employed at a well-known software firm, Dev went on with his passion of photography. He converted his passion into a viable business and turned himself a successful entrepreneur with his Devendra Purbiya Productions, which is now a high profile start-up in South India. The multi-talented IITian took photography as a part time profession, with extreme dedication. His professional touch on clicks made him the winner of 2009 Kingfisher calendar contest. Being a specialist in wedding photography, he also shares the credit of popularising the concept of candid wedding photography in India.

The real Yuvraj of UP

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ongress maniacs placed Rahul Gandhi as their Yuvraj of Uttar Pradesh, but when the election results were announced, they got their real Yuvraj, Akhilesh Yadav, son of Samajvadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav.The 39-year old Akhilesh kick-started a new phase of politics in UP, where hooliganism was ruling the roost. He is one of the youngest chief ministers in the country’s political history. After graduating in environmental engineering from Australia, junior Yadav switched on to UP’s political affairs. His approach towards politics is different from that of his detractors. He used his party logo ‘cycle’ for his election campaigns. When his talent and diverse approach on state affairs and politics combined together in UP’s election, it was the beginning of a new political don. He is active in politics from 2000 re-election when he became the Member of Parliament from Kannauj constituency. Now the entire state is looking forward to see the performance of UP’s youngest CM.

FB’s highest paid employee!

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he names Facebook (FB) and Mark Zuckerberg are familiar to netizens, as the largest social networking site and its founder. FB has achieved many milestones in its journey so far, including its recent filing of Initial Public Offering (IPO).

At this time, along with FB and Zuckerberg, a lady also draws worldwide attention.

Sheryl Sandberg, working with Facebook since 2008 has become the highest paid Chief Operating Officer. Her executive compensation for FY 2011 was $300,000 base salary plus $30,491,613 in FB shares. In addition, she has 38,122,000 restricted stock units (worth approx. $1.15 billion at $30/share) that will be completely vested

by October 2020, subject to her continued employment through the vesting date. This Harvard graduate could be one of the wealthiest self-made women in the world once Facebook goes public. FB’s sales, marketing, human resource, public policy and communications etc come under the administration of Sandberg. Sheryl Sandberg was 16 of 50 Most Powerful Women in Business by Fortune magazine.

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EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

PERSONALITIES Urvashi Gulia

Honesty counts in writing As a journalist-turned, corporate communication professionalturned novelist, based in Italy, Urvashi Gulia’s diverse intellectual network rummage scales new avenues. Her debut novel ‘My Way Is the Highway’ published by Penguin Books is on its way to be the best seller of the time. Urvashi Gulia shares the efforts behind her maiden novel with Education Insider

By Lakshmi Narayanan

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School years can make or break a child’s personality and future and those years must include a world beyond just prescribed textbooks 16

he has always been a storyteller and she loves to observe others. As a child, she used to write stories and narrated them to brood. She has been wandering in her own world of imagination and characterised her own thoughts. That girl has grown up and at the age of 29, she narrates a story by extracting the inspirations from her life and surroundings. In simple words, that’s My Way is the Highway, the maiden novel of Urvashi Gulia, an Indian origin young English writer based in Italy.

Fun, adventure and romance… just what a girl needs. Through this prism, Gulia visualised her debut literary work. Writing is a natural part of her life that takes her to the pinnacle of enjoyment every time.

She has never mixed-up her profession, as a communication expert, with her passion. Giving priority to profession, she entered the world of fiction. My Way Is the Highway is the result of her overnight workouts and research. Her writings are primarily about the people around her and their emotions, dreams, hopes and aspirations.

“I used to meet people who are doing what they really love to do and I feel very happy to have that kind of experiences. There is a lot of spirit in people who have the guts to do what they want to do and love to do. I believe if words don’t come from an honest space in the writer’s heart, readers will not connect with them. And I always remind myself to

be honest when I am writing, be it a poem, short story or this novel,” says Gulia to Education Insider.

Gulia’s formal education had a profound role in her career as a journalist and an author. “I was lucky that as a child, I not only had the privilege of learning from good teachers but also was exposed to various activities by them and my parents. That helped me explore and understand what I liked to do and what I didn’t. My parents always encouraged me to read more because they knew what I like,” Gulia reminiscences her school days.

According to her, formal education is a good framework but that structure has to be filled in with a diverse range of possibilities for children by both teachers and families.

School years could make or break a child’s personality and future and those years must include a world beyond just prescribed textbooks.

“Children are naturally curious and creative and confining them to a system of simply memorizing text for examination results is detrimental for their learning capacity,” says Gulia.

Gulia is a strong admirer of Indian English literature. “The Indian writing industry has changed a lot in the last decade. It is a good thing.

While it has made the publishing industry more aware of a massive market in smaller cities and towns that had received little attention till a few years ago, it has given writers more opportunities to see their work published,” she opines.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

Pramod Maheshwari EDUPRENEUR

The man who pioneered India’s coaching system Pramod Maheshwari, the founder of India’s leading coaching institute Career Point is regarded as one of the most successful and passionate edupreneurs in India. With his Kota-based coaching institute, he has given birth to scores of IITians, engineers and doctors so far. Having listed on NSE and BSE, Career Point is moving on with its unique development programmes in education

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By Our Special Correspondent

hen we take a list of the top edupreneurs of India, one name appears in the front row without any scope for a debate, Pramod Maheshwari, the Chairman, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Career Point. Pramod Maheshwari holds a unique place in the history of coaching institutes in India. He pioneered the Kota coaching system and the concept of group coaching in India.

Now, Kota of Rajasthan is famous for providing coaching for IIT-JEE, AIEEE, Pre-Medical and NTSE, KVPY Science Olympiad examinations.

The successful saga of Pramod Maheshwari began in 1993. He completed his BTech degree in that year from IIT Delhi. In tandem with the trend of those days, he also nurtured dream to go to the US for pursuing higher studies. But the stand taken by the socially committed parents of Pramod Maheshwari led to the birth of Career Point. When he expressed his wish to the parents about the higher studies in the US, unlike others, they wanted him to show the power of education in his native city Kota. They also advised him to contribute something to the nation and the society with the education that he acquired. So he started Career Point in 1993, the same year which he got his BTech degree.

Pramod set off the journey with just

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

50 students in a garage portion of his house. But his undying passion towards entrepreneurship and education has transformed Career Point into one of the biggest edu corporates in Asia. With his uncompromising student-centric approach, he also gained the title of IIT-JEE Guru in Kota. With his mentoring, dedication and vision, Career Point has created more than 6000 IITians, 900000+ engineers and 2000+ doctors so far.

The high profile coaching institute even went for an IPO last year and became the first tutorial service provider in India listed on NSE & BSE. The primary aim of the institute is to impart quality education to students preparing for various competitive examinations. Our approach is extremely student centric and for us each individual is important. “Our philosophy is ‘Pursue Excellence and all else shall follow’. With a very strong set of values, we have developed our system which help individual to learn, explore and perform.

While teaching students, we not only ensure best faculty team, best academic system and quality education but also we have developed a system to provide ultimate personal care to each individual,” says Pramod Maheshwari to Education Insider.

With his extraordinary com-

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EDUPRENEUR Pramod Maheshwari

mitment, Pramod Maheshwari has grown as a successful edupreneur and one of the best motivators and counselors in the country for students across all domains aspiring success in competitive examinations. He is the pioneer among all Kota-based coaching institutes for diversification into all sectors of education. As a result of which, Career Point is the first coaching institute of Kota to start a school, engineering & management colleges, and universities in Rajasthan and Punjab.

When Education Insider asked what makes Career Point unique among the scores of coaching institutes in India, he has provided the following set of credentials to underline:Relevant courses: Highly rigorous and relevant courses that place the students ahead of their peers in the competitive world.

Experienced faculty: Highly qualified and experienced faculty team who are dedicated, hard working and passionate towards the success of students.

Personalised attention by Student Welfare Cell: Personalised attention by student friendly management, staff and faculty

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members so that students may not remain just a face in the crowd.

We have a separate Student Welfare Cell which takes care of students’ need round the clock and handle all emergency issues as well.

Indiscriminate teaching: Indiscriminate teaching irrespective of students’ performance and efficiency exploring their full potential. Same set of experienced faculty members for all batches.

Interactive classes: Interactive classes with scientific and result oriented teaching methodology.

Relevant study material: Well researched, complete and relevant study material.

Regular tests and feedback: Daily progress monitoring, regular tests, performance analysis and feedback for students’ improvement.

Academic support after the class: Full academic support even outside the classes through regular Problem Solving counters, Knowledge Lab, Individual Counseling & Seminars etc.

Along with this, a strong Research and Development cell equips the institute a strong centre of educational research and content development. Career Point has a special system of tracking examination pattern so that a student gets trained as per the latest examination trends.

Advanced Technologies Career Point has the most advanced technological solutions in its teaching style. Pramod Maheshwari describes some of the advanced facilities at Career Point Knowledge Lab: Recorded video lectures of star faculty members

Pramod set off the journey with just 50 students in a garage portion of his house.

But his undying passion towards entrepreneurship and education has transformed Career Point into one of the biggest edu corporates in Asia EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

EDUPRENEUR Pramod Maheshwari

A2Z Feedback Technology: Detailed analysis ting efforts to provide quality education ensurof students’ performance with personalised and ing learning with positive outcome,” he adds. relative feedback by technological solution.

“Going forward, prospect for coaching is very bright in India. In my scrutiny, students’ CPLIve: Video conferencing based live lecnumbers opting for coaching is growing almost tures could be broadcast at any remote location 20% year on year. More students are choosvia internet. ing coaching institutions as primary source of Examtayari.com: This website provides learning centres instead of schools as majority educational content, quality question sets along of schools and colleges across the country are with solutions, career counseling services and failed to provide quality education,” he says to discussion forums for these competitive exams.

Education Insider.

Ecareerpoint.com: India’s First Online AdapAccording to him, the regular classes in the tive Testing Platform for IIT-JEE, AIEEE & schools or colleges have collapsed and failed Pre-Medical aspirants. This is a unique assessto deliver quality education and this has forced ment system which not only provides a detailed parents and students to take some external help performance analysis of students in a test but in the form of coaching institutes. He identifies also help them to improve their weak areas the following points lead to the boom in Indian through adaptive testing. This testing system coaching industry. prepares the unique question paper by its own depending upon students’ previous strength and weakness. (Advance solution: Unique to Career Point) Career Point is the first Looking ahead coaching institute of Kota to Pramod Maheshwari foresees start a school, engineering vast scope ahead for coaching indus& management colleges, try in India. “Though the coaching and tuition market is highly fragand universities in Rajastmented and regional or localised in han and Punjab nature, it presents big opportunity to individuals or organisations who can impart quality education with focus on students’ mentoring,” says Pramod.

• Failure of school education system “In my view, the sector is gradually taking • Quality education by coaching institutions shape of an organised industry as many coach• Relevant and to the point study material ing centres with extra-ordinary talent pool with • Competitive learning environment gives effective systems and pedagogy have been putstress on conceptual clarity

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EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

COUNTERPOINT N R Narayana Murthy

‘Encourage

independent thinking’ The name of N R Narayana Murthy is always reverberated with India’s great IT saga. The man who has redefined the entrepreneurship culture among Indians has a firm idea on to where India should take its development. Murthy, the founder of India’s pathbreaking IT firm Infosys Technologies, points out his vision on entrepreneurship and education

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n India, where the unemployment rate is higher than many other countries, entrepreneurship has to play the pivotal role. It is only through entrepreneurship that India can solve the problem of poverty. The germane question is that what makes an enterprise successful?

There are five essential qualities an enterprise must have to embrace for success: 1.You need an idea whose value to the consumer of the market can be expressed in a simple sentence 2.The market must be ready for your idea. Unless the market is ready, you cannot succeed. You must be able to communicate the power of your idea to the market in an effective way 3.You must put together a team which brings complementary strengths 4.You need a good value system, because entrepreneurship is all about deferred gratification. It is all about sacrifice today and benefit tomorrow. Therefore you need a group of people who believes in sacrificing today and benefitting tomorrow 5.Finally you need finance, but that will come naturally

On independent thinking

Culture is also playing a very crucial role in nurturing independent thinking among youngsters. In the US, the high school system is not as good as many other countries. But the day you enter the junior year in high school, i.e. 11th grade — they accelerate very fast. During the college education, every student is encouraged to think independently; every student is encouraged to look around and encouraged to find solutions for the problems around them.

Therefore, a society which encourages independent thinking and problem solving thinking would automatically have people who would find innovative solutions to the problems. That’s why apart from the US, we haven’t

We have to accelerate independent and critical thinking among our students

On liberal arts

In a society like India, skills are extremely important. Courses in engineering, medicine, chartered accountancy … will help develop some skills which make to get jobs. It happens in the developed society also. When a society becomes more and more developed, poverty level would come down and people would realise the importance of liberal arts, philosophy, history etc.

When India would become more and more developed, you would realise the significance of liberal arts. In India, learning has become just passing out examinations. It not only hampers creative thinking but prevent from exploring new employment opportunities. On the other side, in countries like the US, they are giving more focus on free thinking.

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seen a Google; we haven’t seen a Facebook. So we have to enhance independent and critical thinking among our students. Encouraging students to have critical thinking is vital to improve the quality of education.

For this, we need better teachers. To attract best talents to the teaching profession, we have to provide better salaries and other rewards. We have to train teachers in such a way that they should be able to stimulate the curiosity of students.

(Based on N R Narayana Murthy’s talk at a book releasing function organised by DC Books in Kochi)

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

CARITAS VERA NOBILITAS

COVER STORY Defence education

ARMS AND THE ASPIRANTS

Amazing career options for the daring A career in the armed forces could transform the aspirants to fierce nationalists and great humanists. It offers attractive incentives and a high-profile life with great social respect. No fees, no donation, no recommendation; the only thing one needs to get in the armed forces is pure merit

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By Dipin Damodharan & Lakshmi Narayanan

o you have a passion to serve the nation? Are you ready to take up challenges? Do you think your motherland is more sacred than anything? If the answer is ‘yes’, then a career in defence is the best option for you. A career in the armed forces will transform you as a fierce nationalist, a great humanist and a gentleman officer with an attractive lifestyle. It also provides attractive pay and perks and a high-profile life with great social respect.

No fees, no donation, no recommendation; the only thing one needs to get in the armed forces is merit. This is the unique feature of defence education.

Various career opportunities are available in the defence forces; the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force. Engineering, management, medicine, administration, human resource development, teaching… options are in plenty in the three forces. As mentioned earlier, the only requirement is merit. “It is a matter of great pride for every Indian to be aware of the salient details regarding our defence organisations viz. the Indian Army, Navy and the Air Force. At present, even well-educat-

Serve your nation Indian Army: Multiple job opportunities here, the land-based and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. Armoured corps, artillery, signals, engineering, medicine, infantry logistics… several options are on offer.

For more details: www.joinindianarmy. nic.in

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ed Indians are not aware of the various corps, regiments and the different ranks and their hierarchy in the defence forces.

Every citizen should be educated during their school days about the pertinent details of our armed forces, their roles, the rank structure, and recruitment process,” opines Lt Colonel Raju Onattu Thomas.

“The armed forces are identified with valour, honour, respect and tradition.

A career in the forces can be rewarding for those who seek a best career from a different angle. Adventure and courage make hand in hand in defence. I suggest the youth must consider defence as one of their top career options,” says Captain Sajita Nair, former Army officer to Education Insider.

Meanwhile, Shobana Balakrishnan, NCC Girl Cadet Instructor at Military of Defence, Warangal in Andhra Pradesh says that respect for the uniform, passion to serve the nation and a secure central government job are the main reasons that fascinate youth for a career in armed forces.

“A career in the defence forces is a very attractive one with the plethora of opportunities it gives for a person to Indian Navy: The Indian Navy provides innumerable opportunities ranging from being in charge of part of a ship to flying an aircraft or looking after one department on the ship/ establishment independently. Despite being seafarers, the Indian Navy has sent expeditions to Mount Everest and Antarctica. For more details: www. nausena-bharti.nic.in/career.php

showcase their talents and to achieve great success in a very noble and honourable profession.

There are great challenges and many adventures in a soldier’s life which would add zest to life and make it a very memorable experience,” Lt Colonel Raju Onattu Thomas adds.

He also points out that a soldier is looked upon by the society as role models with very high integrity, loyalty and devotion to duty. “The armed forces are the last bastion of the defence of the country and hence command a special respect in the eyes of its citizens. The salaries and perks in the armed forces have also become very attractive and hence it is now a career worth choosing as the first few options,” says Lt Colonel Raju Thomas.

Let us look at how one can get into the armed forces. To become an officer in the armed forces, there are two Indian Air Force: One can join the Air Force in the flying, technical or the ground branches. Whether you are a graduate or you have finished your schooling or you have passed your class tenth, Air Force has an exciting career opportunity for you.

For more details about careers in Indian Air Force: http://careerairforce. nic.in/home.html EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

To the war front

ways one can choose. The first one is Permanent Commission and the other is Short Service Commission. In the Permanent Commission, one would have the opportunity to serve the forces until retirement. While in Short Service Commission, the service is limited to a minimum period of 10-15 years.

There are two options to get into the Army as a permanent commissioned officer. One can join the National Defence Academy, Pune or Indian Military Academy, Dehradun.

National Defence Academy (NDA)

The entry to the NDA is a dream of many plus two students who have the passion to join the armed forces. The students can attend the NDA entrance exam straight after class XII. For this, they have to clear the written exam conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and a 5-day Service Selection Board interview.

There will be some kind of medical verification also. After the successful completion of these tests, they can get into the NDA. After the vigorous training of three years in the Academy, they will become cadets with graduEDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

ation degrees. NDA, one of the first among the top institutions in the world to provide combined training to officer cadets of Army, Navy and Air Force, is located in Pune of Maharashtra state.

In the words of Lt Gen Jatinder Singh, AVSM, SM Commandant, NDA is not just about men who have achieved greatness in peace or war. It is also about the indomitable spirit of all those who have been enriched by its ethos and who, in turn, have left behind a part of their souls to make it the wonderful, vibrant and much admired entity that it is today.”

NDA conducts admissions twice in a year for the three forces. Three hundred vacancies are available, Army – 195, Air Force – 66 and Navy – 39.

Along with the official training, there are 31 extra-curricular activities to choose such as aero-modeling, golf, gliding, sailing, wind surfing, astronomy, photography and many more.

Indian Military Academy (IMA)

Indian Military Academy, popularly known as IMA, is another option in Permanent Commission. The IMA trains students to lead from the front.

It is well-equipped to provide training

On defence education As India is one of the largest defence forces in the world, the organisation should be more youthful and dynamic; Captain Sajita Nair, therefore the conformer Army officer tribution of Indian youth in defence is an imperative thing.

Right guidance and exposure would help them to make well-versed decisions to pursue a career in the defence forces.

As a challenging career The armed forces are synonymous with valour, honour, respect and tradition.

A career in the defence can be rewarding for those who seek a best career from a different angle. Adventure and courage make hand in hand in defence. I think that the youth must consider defence as one of their top career options.

Why students are less attracted?

The opening up of many lucrative career opportunities may be one of the reasons why youth are hesitant to pursue a career in defence. But it does offer an unmatched quality of life. While others run in a rat race, often leading stressful, unhealthy lives, the defence forces pay you to be healthy and fit.

The risk factor Unless you are an infantry soldier at war, the risks are like anywhere else.

Come to think of it, even crossing a road is risky! So, the risk perspective depends entirely upon the individual. The armed forces training establishments and units follow extreme safety standards during training and routine exercises to minimize casualties. in all aspects of combats and tactics using modern technologies. Students will come out from the IMA as ‘Lieutenants’ in the Indian Army. The highly patriotic and disciplined atmosphere in the IMA will fill them with valour and wisdom.

How to enter?

There are four main entries for getting into IMA. In the final year of graduation, students need to pass the Combined Defence

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COVER STORY Defence education career with defence,” says Shobana Balakrishnan to Education Insider.

Here, there is an option to serve the forces as a Commissioned Officer for 10 years. At the end of this period, there are two options. Either elect for a Permanent Commission or opt out.

Those who were not selected for the Permanent Commission will have the option of a 4-year extension. They can resign at any time during this period.

Officers Training Academy, Chennai

NDA, Pune Vacancies per course: 300 (Twice a year) Eligibility criteria: Age: 16 ½ to 19 yrs Qualification: 12th Class of 10+2 System of Edn of Equivalent for Army and with Physics and Maths for AF/ Navy Duration: 3 yrs at NDA and 1 yr at IMA

Services Exams, clear the SSB, be medically fit and join IMA as a Direct Entry on merit, according to the website of Indian Army.

The other entries are 10+2 Tech Entry where one can apply after the 12th Exam.

University Entry Scheme is for those who wish to apply for Army in Pre-Final/Final Year of Engineering. Those who have completed BE/B Tech in notified streams can also join IMA in the Technical Graduate Course.

The selection procedure is same as for IMA (Direct Entry) accepting that there are no written exams. The duration of training is 1½ years for IMA (DE), five years (one year at IMA and four years at Cadet Training Wings) for 10+2 TES (including one year after commissioning) and one year for all other entries.

Short Service Commission

Short Service Commission is another option. “Many students are opting short Service Commission as the best choice to start their

Those who selected through the Short Service Commission would have to undergo training at the Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai.

According to the details available, the selection process is a written exam followed by the SSB interview and medicals. For Technical (Engineering) graduates, it is direct SSB interview and medicals. If the students have done NCC Senior Division (Army) and obtained ‘C’ certificate with minimum ‘B’ grade, they can apply through the NCC Branch HQ/Zonal HQ to Recruiting Directorate for direct SSB interview. SSB qualified candidates must undergo a medical examination. The duration of training is 49 weeks. OTA training is providing opportunities to broaden the perspective of the aspirants.

Women can also take up the challenges in Army as a Short Service Commissioned Officer. Through intensive training at OTA, they would be capable of protecting the nation by all means. For this, one has to be a Graduate/ Post-Graduate. After the written exam, there is an SSB interview followed by a medical examination.

IMA, Dehradun Vacancies per course: 250 (Twice a year) Eligibility criteria: Age: 19 to 24 yrs Qualification: Graduation from recognised university.

Duration: 1 ½ Yrs

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EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

COVER STORY Defence Education Rear Admiral K R Srinivasan

Prove your mettle with armed forces The present defence services are multi-disciplinary, versatile and lethal outfits, which involve high technology, great human resources development and trained to work as a team. The job opportunities cover infantry, armoured corps, artillery, technical, communications, logistics, medical, legal, education, etc with many specialisations in armed forces

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aking up a career in the Indian armed forces is a matter of pride; self esteem and superb professionalism, apart from making one face any challenges in life with ease and aplomb.

Many courses are available in various disciplines of Army, Navy and the Air Force. But majority of students in India are not showing so much interest in joining the armed forces. Even with the university entry schemes in technical branches of the armed forces, majority of the students do not get attracted / opt for services career due to the following reasons.

• •

Lack of adequate information and clarity Perceived hardships of life as a soldier(both officers and personnel below officer rank) • Lack of adequate knowledge on the vast technological and operational improvements in present and future services • Inability to appreciate the emoluments and perks viz-a-viz other government services in India A career in the armed forces is a wonderful opportunity for our youngsters to prove their mettle. There are a lot of advantages and opportunities open before

COVER STORY Defence education

you when you decided to join the force. Some of them are:• Good emoluments with assured career progression till the rank of Colonel or equivalent, with better avenues for merited in upward mobility for officers and up to Subedar Major/Honorary Lieutenant in the case of personnel below officers’ rank (PBOR) • The excellent professional training imparted, with many coveted universities’ recognised degrees/diplomas and avenues for resettlement in life later • Matters of pride, adventure and camaraderie within the services and esteem and image in the eyes of the public at large • Very good peace stations, where families are cared for and looked after with excellent facilities, even whilst posted in the field areas • Best way to see exotic locations from the deserts to the mountains and islands during the service career, which vast majority of ordinary citizens are not privileged to in their lives • Good education for the children till university levels • Clean life with head held high at all times and respect from the national leaders The present defence services are multi-disciplinary, versatile and lethal outfits, involving high technology, great human resources development and trained to work as a team. The job opportunities cover in-

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fantry, armoured corps, artillery, technical, communications, logistics, medical, legal, education, etc with many specialisations (including management) in the Army and equivalent branches/ specialisations in the Navy and the Air Force.

The reorientation of the training in the services has brought excellent calibre training (even up to B Tech levels) with many post retirement opportunities for the ex-servicemen in government and private sectors.

For those, who would like to be groomed as a soldier at young age and later get into civil life in mid-thirties to meet family commitments, one can resort to short service commissions as officer (10 to 14 years service) and initial engagement for 15 years as a soldier. The age, the entry qualifications and procedure can be found in the websites of the Army, Navy and the Air Force.

Risks involved Dangers and risks involved in career in the defence forces are related to many complex issues like external relations, geo political developments, economy, insurgency/terrorism, etc and are not worse than many other uniformed services. In any case, the services prepare you to face these challenges with dexterity and aplomb, when called upon to do so, with supreme sacrifice for the defence of the country in extreme conditions

Dangers and risks involved in career in the forces are related to many complex issues like external relations, geo political developments, economy, insurgency/terrorism, etc and are not worse than many other uniformed services with great recognition. It is true that services personnel are subjected to some restraints on fundamental rights, but these become a way of life, which stands by you throughout your life with very good value system and is in fact an asset.

(The author is Rear Admiral, AVSM, Indian Navy (Retd), former Chief Hydrographer to the Government of India, and Vice-President of Indian Maritime Foundation, Chennai)

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

Defence education COVER STORY

‘Army made me the man I am today’ “The army life would not only make you fearless but arousing patriotic feelings. It would also stimulate your self confidence.

I am what I am today because of the choice I made to join the Army,” says Major A K Ravindran aka Major Ravi in an exclusive interview with Education Insider.

The nationally acclaimed army officer-turned film maker is a recipient of the President’s medal.

He joined the Indian Army as an ordinary soldier in 1975 and graduated from the Army Cadet College to become a commando in the year 1988. He led the mission codenamed ‘Operation One-eyed Jack’ to capture the suspects of Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

In this interview, Major Ravi talks about how the Army transformed him as a man of confidence, and the immense opportunities prevail in the Indian armed forces.

Excerpts:

By T N Shaji & Dipin Damodharan

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

Can you say something about your entry to the Army as a student?

I joined the Army as a compartment pass in Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC). Those days, students with compartment pass wouldn’t get admissions in colleges for higher studies. Therefore my wish for higher studies had blocked.

And then Army came to my rescue, and I joined the higher secondary programme of the Army. Within six months, I had finished complete subjects for the higher secondary programme. While others were going through their pre-degree classes, I completed it well in advance and acquired Army’s higher secondary certificate which was equivalent to pre-degree and good enough to apply various commission tests. What I am trying to convey is that there are opportunities in the Army; the only thing you need is determination and will. I was a failed student in the ordinary syllabus, but because of Army, I could be able to scale new heights in my career and retired as a Major.

There are special programmes in Army to identify our skills. Once they identify them, they will nurture it by providing all facilities.

What is the good thing about various courses in the armed forces?

Once you enrolled as a student in any of the courses provided by the

Indian Army, there is no question of discrimination. You will be identified only as an Indian otherwise they will mould you like that. Apart from salaries depend on your position, all facilities — food, shelter etc are free.

You won’t get this kind of an opportunity in any of the civil courses even if you score 100 cent percent marks.

Opportunities in various streams are also available according to the merit and choices. Multiple options like Medicine, Engineering, and Teaching etc are on offer.

Normally army aspirants opt for Combined Defence Services (CDS) after graduation. But they can have the opportunity to join the armed forces after higher secondary and continue their education of choice.

Many people try for the CDS after graduation, but they fail and enter the Army as an ordinary soldier.

The military and academic training would go simultaneously. If you have the determination, you can reach any heights, even to become the Army chief. If you want to make your signature before leaving this world, be passionate. There are abundant options and that is one of the best things about armed forces.

Another important aspect is discipline. Strict discipline is implemented in every one’s life, and it would help you achieve success. Discipline

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COVER STORY Defence education has been playing a profound role in my career as an Army man and now as a film director and above all as a human being. And I got this discipline from the Army, and it nurtured me as a committed person in any field I am engaging in. For achieving victory, you have to take a lot of distress and courage. Whatever you do, do at the best and that is what Army life taught me. Those principles, you may call it core values, were the driving force behind the making of my nationally acclaimed movie Keerthichakra.

What are the benefits of joining the armed forces?

A lot of benefits are available in the armed forces.

First of all, you have to understand that money is not everything. So never consider the job in armed forces for making money. It will give you social respect, recognition from the state, society and so on. I joined the Army as a soldier just for my livelihood. But the uncompromising attitude of the Army towards the values transformed me to a hardcore patriot. Therefore, the greatest advantage of being in Army is that the force would arouse the patriotic feelings within you. I am a patriot only because of Army.

There are people from different backgrounds and culture, but once they get into the armed forces, they are only Indians. It’s never bothering you whether your colleague is a Christian, Hindu or Muslim. We never talk about religion; we together go to mosque, temple and church.

What is your opinion on compulsory military service?

I want the government should strictly implement compulsory military service. People should not consider it as a punishment; it is for the prosperity of the nation. After the twelfth standard, one should serve in the armed forces for at least two years. Lack of discipline is the core reason for all problems in the society. The two-year compulsory military training would make them disciplined citizens.

We must develop a fellow feeling. We should have this kind of a thought process – ‘one should not be a problem for others’. It is only through army training such mentality would develop among the people.

People should make use of such an education platform available in the armed forces, rather than

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going after private engineering and medical colleges, people should send their wards to the armed forces for pursuing higher studies. If you want your children to become engineers, doctors or some other professionals, armed forces is the best choice.

There is a lack of ethics in most of the civil professions, but in the Army, ethics is the key strength.

Army taught me that ‘don’t live for yourself but live for others’.

Could you say something about the risk involved in the career of an army officer?

Risk is there in any profession. Death will catch you once wherever you are. It is inevitable and nobody can escape from it. Without taking risk, one can’t succeed in his life. So first of all, leave the fear factor from you. Generally people have a notion that if somebody joins the Army, death is very near to him. They have to change that perception.

Do you think there is a shortage of qualified personnel in the armed forces now? Is there any need to revamp the current education system in armed forces?

I think there is not so much of shortage of staff in the armed forces. A lot of people are now opting for a profession in military service including engineers, doctors and other technicians. They are also getting decent incentives. A career in the armed forces is now becoming a secured job option with a feeling of patriotism.

There is no need to change the current system of education in the armed forces. It is well-organised and systematic.

What is your message to the young army aspirants?

Make self discipline as a pivotal element of your character. Try to live for others and that ‘other’ will also help you back. Unfortunately, people usually don’t realize this maxim. A collective effort is vital for nation building. Instead of being a problem for others, extend a helping hand for the needy. Let the society always free from your disturbances and never feel bad about others. If somebody does a good job, don’t hesitate to appreciate. Be honest in your deeds and nurture a fellow-feeling.

EDUCATION INSIDER I March 2012

VOICES

“The last couple of decades had seen an unchecked and erratic growth in the private higher education sector in India.

And this trend is unlikely to change in the near future” Jandhyala B G Tilak, professor, National University of Educational Planning & Administration

“Science enables us to discover the way that nature works and gives us more power over nature than we have been able to use responsibly. It is urgent that we use our scientific knowledge in international collaborations to preserve the earth as an environment for life” Dr Leland Harrison Hartwell, Virginia G Piper Chair Professor at Center for Sustainable Health Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, US

“Education institutions have to rethink almost everything they do in today.s highly-connected, competitive digital age to ensure they maintain their pivotal role of advancing the opportunities of individuals by providing a productive, efficient learning environment” Rahul Bedi, Director Corporate Affairs, Intel South Asia

“The standard of science, in particular Math, has gone through tremendous change over the recent 40 years. The economy has changed, the outlook is positive and universities have greater ambitions” Prof Tony Chan, President of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

“Universities are places with enormously distributed authority and many different sorts of constituencies, all of whom have a stake in that institution” Drew Gilpin Faust, President Harvard University

“Students’ minds are like doors with locks, which when open, enable them to access the unlimited ocean of knowledge that exists in the world” Steven Rudolph is an American educator, TV personality, and public speaker

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EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

INNOVATOR Guest Column Karthikeyan Iyer

Quality and design: a new revolution S

itting on a bench at the sea promenade at Fort Kochi last week, I watched the sun about to set in the distance, waves striking the rocks and crabs emerging from their nooks and crannies to enjoy the last bit of warmth on offer. Also on view were plentiful plastic bottles, ice cream sticks, plastic bags and other odds and ends strewn in the rocks immediately adjacent the promenade. Surprising, given the abundance of dustbins placed every 50 metres or so.

At a busy traffic junction at Bangalore, with half the road blocked due to construction work going on in full swing, irritated drivers were fighting for every inch of progress. Scores of pedestrians were struggling to find a way to cross the road without taking some amount of calculated risk. With a mall right across the road, it was a miracle that a serious accident hadn’t been reported yet.

On a busy road in Mumbai, dozens of people were squeezing through a gap in the fencing to cross the road. A pedestrian subway, just about 100 metres away, was unused, dark , gloomy, littered with paan (betel nut) stains and abode to a couple of homeless families.

At a high rise apartment, an old lady was frightened out of her wits as the elevator doors closed in on her as she tried to walk in with a grocery bag in each hand. There was a prominent warning about possible injury, but the old lady was just not fast enough.

Every time you get into a bus that ferries you from the plane to the airport terminal, you will encounter a group of passengers who perch themselves right in the doorway (because they would like to be the first to get out of the bus as well) so everybody else has to really struggle to get in and squeeze through.

The same can be seen in elevators at some of the big malls.

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It would be easy to blame lack of discipline or inability to understand and follow rules to many of the problems that we face every day. Sometimes, this blame can be given a cultural hue as well. A standard solution is to make the rules prominent and police them (have a punishment for rule breakers as a deterrent). Rules are just artificial constraints; they provide an incentive to search for short cuts and this thought process often leads to ingenuity and innovation.

Elevator doors can be easily blocked by strategically placing a grocery bag, guaranteeing safe entry. A person sized gap in a fence can be easily created to avoid a long walk to the pedestrian

subway. It can be argued that, in a way, constraints and rules keep the society’s creative juices flowing, trying to find ways to work around them. However, it is difficult to direct or control the direction or energy of “jugaad”. Ingenuity can cut both ways.

Systems are built to achieve some function. A pedestrian subway is built with the primary objective of providing a pathway to get people safely across the road. Sure enough, our subway in Mumbai met that basic specification.

The problem was with getting people to use it.

There is a fine line dividing a func-

tional system from an excellent system —the line of quality. It is a line that is crossed by paying attention to design.

It is also a line that unites rather than divides -- a line that merges science and art into craft.

I remember seeing a video of an interesting experiment conducted in a pedestrian subway in one of the Norwegian countries. This subway had an elevator and a staircase, side by side. The problem was that very few people used the staircase. Someone came up with an ingenious idea to convert the staircase into a piano of sorts. Every step sounded a note and was painted accordingly. Soon enough, there were many more people choosing to use the staircase rather than the elevator. Electricity saved, health improved, an elegant solution with builtin quality!

A central character in Robert M Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance explains the impact of Aristotle on the way we look at the world today —a monumental moment in time when the pre-eminent position of subjective “arête” or “excellence” in society was subjugated to objective “reason”.

This pre-eminence is now being questioned, across the world. A quiet design revolution is already underway -- much more attention is being paid to make systems mistake-proof, engage users at an experiential level and take larger social, ecological and economic contexts into consideration.

A quality and design driven world has lesser number of rules, constraints and problems and seamlessly unites systems and users, functionality and experience. It is a world where ingenuity and creativity can be engaged in positive pursuits.

(Karthikeyan Iyer (Karthik) is a Founder Director of Crafitti Consulting, an innovation research and consulting firm)

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

The University of Tokyo CAMPUS FOCUS

The knowledge repository of Japan The University of Tokyo, one of the top research universities in the world, is known for the excellence of its faculty and students and it has produced scores of leaders in various streams such as government, business and academic field.

The rich and mottled academic ambience of the university ensures opportunities for intellectual development and the acquisition of professional knowledge

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By Our Special Correspondent

he University of Tokyo, universally known as Todai, is one of the world’s major research universities located in Japan. This institution began its academic career in 1877, making it the oldest university in Japan. As a research university, Todai offers courses in both under graduate and graduate levels and conducts research across the full spectrum of academic activity. The university provides its students with a rich and speckled academic atmosphere that ensures opportunities for intellectual development and the acquisition of professional knowledge and skills. The University of Tokyo consists of 10 departments in various streams, 15 graduate schools and 11 research institutes. The university is known for the excellence of its faculty and students and ever since its foundation, many of its graduates have gone on to become leaders in government, business, and the academic world.

The campus plan of university is in tripolar concept. Hongo, Komaba and Kashiwa campuses are the three main pillars in this tripolar concept. This tripolar structure reflects the future image of education and research at The University of Tokyo, it also gives due consideration to social demands to rectify the overconcentration of government institutions in Tokyo.

Hongo Campus

Hongo is the main university campus and serves as the centre of all the academic disciplines. It stretches up to 10 km, and is located in the centre of the tripolar structure. This campus encompasses the largest number of Colleges and Graduate Schools. Its mission is to carry out education and research. It holds classes for the second two undergraduate years, besides focusing on all the graduate studies. The Hongo Campus is visited not only for studies, but also by travelers as a tourist spot.

Komaba Campus

Komaba Campus is home to the College of Arts and Sciences, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Graduate EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

School of Mathematical Sciences, and a number of advanced research facilities and campus services. The Komaba Campus is the cornerstone of general education, and was designated as the “centre of excellence� for three new areas of research by the Ministry of Education and Science.

Kashiwa Campus

This campus aims to become the centre of development of the most important technological innovations, both in education and research. It contains Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, Institute for Solid State Physics, Centre for Spatial Information Science, Centre for Climate System Research, Research into Artifacts, Centre for Engineering, High Temperature Plasma Centre.

Around 2103 students from around the globe pursue their studies at this university in Japan. All campus libraries have a Junichi Hamada, President, wide variety of The University of Tokyo bibliographic and reference works. Regarding health issues, the university has its own University Hospital and Research Hospital, under the Institute of Medical Science.

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CAMPUS FOCUS The University of Tokyo

‘We mould leaders with strong ethics’ In an exclusive interview with Education Insider, Masako Egawa, Executive Vice President of the University of Tokyo, talks about the institution which engages in education and research at the cutting-edge of knowledge across the full range of human endeavour, and also describes the university’s contributions to the education field. Excerpts: What are the unique features of the University of Tokyo?

The University of Tokyo (Todai) is a large-scale comprehensive research university that works at the cutting-edge of many fields of scholarship, like many others around the world. What sets Todai apart is our long tradition of liberal arts, strong interdisciplinary approach, and that we have grown up with Japan as a modern state, placing us at the cenMasako Egawa, Executive Vice-President tre of Japan’s of the University of Tokyo intellectual heritage. Undergraduate education at Todai emphasizes liberal-arts education as an indispensable complement to practical and specialized knowledge, and for the acquisition of strong communication skills, an awareness of global diversity, and a sound ethical framework.

Our graduate schools provide an optimal environment for intensive study and, with our university-wide centres and institutes, for specialized research, ensuring the maximum development of students’ abilities and preparation for fulfilling key roles in society. The institutes take an interdisciplinary approach to the most pressing issues facing humanity today and the most

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fundamental questions in research. Highly diverse and increasingly internationalised campus is one of our pivotal strengths, and an area on which we are building tomorrow’s Todai.

What is the significant role of your university in the international educational scenario?

Todai is a hub for research and education on three levels: within Japan, within Asia and globally. We are strongly aware of our identity as a Japanese university.

As a member of most of the important Asian regional networks, Todai has for many years taken an active part in the development and distribution of scholarship and technology in Asia and beyond, and joint development of knowledge with our partners in the region. Additionally, Todai has for many years been a core member of global academic networks with the world’s leading universities.

We believe that Todai has an important role to play as a hub that connects the best in Asia and the rest of the world.

Could you please describe the contributions made by the university to the world and Japan in particular?

As Japan has grown, so has Todai as a repository for the knowledge of Japanese society. Todai has a long tradition of educating Japan’s leaders in government, industry, science and the cultural sphere, and was a key route for acquiring western learning by which Japan became the first non-western developed state. Our role today has grown with Japan’s international standing, and today Todai is a centre of knowledge for Japan, for Asia, and for the world. In the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake, Todai has an important responsibility as the leading Japanese university. The knowledge, understanding and technology required for overcoming the crisis we face today is greater than ever before. It is the university’s responsibility to the Japanese people to provide a reliable compass to the future and to communicate hope for today and tomorrow as we recover from this crisis.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

CAMPUS FOCUS The University of Tokyo

As the Executive Vice-President, how do you foresee the future of the university?

One of the key characteristics is that, like any other university, Todai has a responsibility to understand the needs of society after twenty, thirty, or more years and to prepare an education suitable for the students of that time. Another characteristic of the university is that it works in the currency of knowledge. The university is both a generator and a repository of knowledge for society. The joint creation of knowledge with society is the most effective way of ensuring that the university and society have access to each other’s creativity and knowledge, and of ensuring the future development of both. Our education and research must change to reflect

Students at Hongo Campus

the needs of whatever future comes. An education at Todai is designed to produce tough, resilient students with strong ethics today who can be the leaders of Japan in the future.

In creating ideas and innovations, how do you rate/ evaluate your institution?

Innovative global universities like Todai have a long tradition of excellence in both research and education.

Todai promotes both inter-university and intra-university interdisciplinary research, through the establishment of interdisciplinary institutes such as the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe, and networks of researchers from multiple disciplines across multiple universities, such as the Network for Education and Research on Asia and the Institute of Gerontol-

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ogy. Todai licenses intellectual property through our specialist organisations Todai TLO and CASTI, and publicises research outcomes through projects such as Todai Research. We also work with partners in industry from the research innovation stage, developing solutions to manufacturing and other problems that require the rigorous approach of university researchers and the production experience of industry.

Please elaborate your international collaborations and initiatives in research activities Our institutes, such as the Kavli IPMU, are worldleading centres of research excellence that bring together the world’s top researchers to tackle problems in an interdisciplinary manner. Todai is also an important part of several regional and global university networks to promote collaboration in research and exchange of researchers, including the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU), the Association of East Asian Research Universities (AEARU), and the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU).

Of Todai’s 355 exchange programmes, 323 include a research element and researchers at Todai make active use of these exchange programmes to engage in research throughout the world. In the 2010 academic year, 9,036 researchers from Todai traveled overseas for research purposes through these partnerships, and we welcomed 3,334 foreign researchers to Japan.

Do you have any special package to attract foreign students?

Todai has strong partnerships with many institutions around the world, through which we welcome some of the 3,000 international students who join us each year.

Our domestic and international students are supported through the university’s own scholarships and tuition fee waivers, and through scholarships from the Japanese government, companies and foundations. A large proportion of our international students are funded through such programmes. We also encourage applicants to apply for the Japanese Government scholarships available from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

EXPERT TALK Debashis Chatterjee

‘Brace up for global challenges’ The Indian education system fails to imbibe and modify itself in accordance with the changes happening in the world.

The lack of quality in education has now become a very critical flaw of our education sector. In an interaction with Education Insider, Debashis Chatterjee, Director of IIM Kozhikode (IIM-K), also agreed to this view. According to him, our education system gives too much importance to examinations and this in effect hampers national development by making students focus solely on individual prospects and neglect their social responsibility. From his vast teaching experience at home and abroad, he has the opinion that lack of good infrastructure is the main obstacle that prevents the country from being an education hub. In this interview, the IIM-K Director shares his genuine concerns on various affairs related to education.

Excerpts:

By Prashob K P What is your vision on education?

The primary goal of education is to improve civilization. The fundamental objective of education is to involve in the process of making better human beings. Everything else is secondary. If you say education’s primary job is getting a job, it is the utilitarian aspect of education. The primary motive for education is that how I do become a better human being. That is in fact the principal goal of education. If you’re an expert yet you’re not educated then it has no use. The point is that competence is more important than expertise.

Expertise and competence without wisdom lead to incompetence and inefficiency. Many people don’t pay any attention to the point how to become a perfect human being. In total, humanising a man is education.

Do you sense any fault in India’s current education system?

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The true motive that drives education in India today, particularly the middle class, is narrow competition. If somebody becomes an intellectual giant but a moral pygmy then we don’t want those people. People who get into major scams are intellectual, but their contributions rendered to the society are negligible. Our educational system is totally examination centred. Students’ ability to deal with real life issues or to deal with problems is compromised and this is why even bright students later on engage in scams and other corruptive practices to earn quick money and power.

Could you evaluate the government’s efforts in facilitating a comprehensive educational platform to all?

The government is thinking seriously about the improvement of the education system and without that India’s success story EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

will be seriously hampered. Education is not supporting the growth of the economy right now. If we don’t have manpower of quality, then growth will not happen. The government’s effort is to make quality education available to everyone. That’s why IIM-K is situated at a small town like Kozhikode. So inclusion is a very important issue in education.

What are the changes in the current education system you desire the government should bring in?

The fundamental change to be effected is regarding the perks for teachers. If a bank clerk is drawing more perks than a teacher, there arises the message that being a bank clerk is more rewarding than being a teacher. This is something the government has to seriously look into. Teachers should be paid an honourable amount of money, so that they can lead a decent

and excellence of access, which are also very important.

You are very much aware about the systems being adopted in foreign countries for education. How pragmatic those are in the Indian scenario?

There is nothing foreign or Indian about education. Learning is the same process every where. The word university means universal, it doesn’t mean local. What is true in America is also true in India up to some extent. But the context is different. Their education is largely based on supplying the economy with good manpower. But in India, the larger purpose should be how to manage the complexity of the country, how to manage poverty, and how to manage enormous amount of inequity in wealth. Our education has slanted to local needs. The values like truth, freedom, freedom

Our whole point is that we are going to pursue digital mode of learning, on site learning, and long distance learning.

We are going to take the IIM towards the people other than ask them to come to us. Education should go to the people rather than people coming to it

life. Enhancing their quality of life, improving their learning capabilities and giving them good quality training and education are very important.

As the Director of IIM-K, what are your priorities to improve the sector?

Our whole point is that we are going to pursue digital mode of learning, on site learning, and long distance learning. We are going to take IIM towards the people other than ask them to come to us. Education should go to people rather than people coming to it. We are going to spread our wings internationally.

All this will happen fundamentally with the view to make education accessible to all. So far IIM was about excellence, exclusiveness and now it is going to be about inclusiveness

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

of enquiry, and search for truth are all universal in nature and they should be the basis of education.

What are the obstacles according to you that prevent the country from becoming an education hub?

One of the pivotal obstacles is the infrastructure. When we want to invite people here, our infrastructure should be in good condition. Our social life is quite extra ordinary but our infrastructure is not up to the mark. So we have to improve our quality of infrastructure, improve the quality of teachers, and improve the receptivity to higher order thinking. We have to create a value chain for people to move. Both improving higher education and vocational education are equally

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EXPERT TALK Debashis Chatterjee standards are not enough. If you come to IIM-K, you can see that we are building a school in accordance with world class infrastructure. If we are not world class, then we are nothing in today’s scenario. We will not get noticed. Unless we become world class, we will not survive. If you are competing with the world, you should be in tandem with global standards. That is an inevitable need of the present times.

important.

In your view, what are the parameters for gaining excellence in education?

Excellence comes from giving-up and expertise comes from query. For example, the excellence about a diamond is the light not the brightness. Diamond is able to reflect the light it gives up. The fragrance of a rose is not from its structure, it is from what the rose gives up. Excellence is in details. We have to pay attention to details. One popular myth about excellence is that it happens only to people who are born excellent. That is not true. Constant search for the inner light and its polishing makes it brighter. Excellence is in all of us; it is an internal state of function and it is not a physical matter.

What are your suggestions to accommodate graduates who are jobless?

Don’t look for jobs instead look for customers for your talent. If you have certain talents, you look for customers who will pay attention to the talent. Suppose if you have talent in drawing, then don’t look for jobs in a bank; look for a job as a designer or the like. Do not try to excel in something that you are not good at. So the search for jobs must end and search for talent must begin. Once you identify your talent, look for customers who will pay attention and pay money for your talent. Self awareness is very critical; without it, there is no use in applying for any job.

What are the possible challenges you see as Director of IIM-K? Global competition and internal competition are the challenges we are facing today. We have to comply with global standards. National

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Your comment on tie-up with foreign universities Foreign universities want to come here because the world GDP is going at 3.5 percent and India is going at 6.5 percent.

The economic wind is going to blow towards India. So it is the economic interest of some foreign universities to come in our country and invest here. Tie-ups should turn out for our own benefits. Once we learn things from them, we should be able to run our institutions independently without tie-ups. So it is not about the dependence on them, it’s about learning from them.

Professor Debashis Chatterjee, Director of IIM-Kozhikode, has taught for more than a decade in IIM, Lucknow and IIM, Calcutta.

His professional career has been an affluent combination of international professional and academic experience in India, USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, South East Asia and South Africa. He was a Fellow at the Harvard University and MIT. He was recently a Visiting Fulbright Professor at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He also taught in the MBA programmes at the University of St Thomas, Minnesota and at the Harvard Graduate School of Business.

Debashis Chatterjee was the founder Dean of the Leadership Centre, S P Jain Centre of Management in Singapore.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham CAMPUS FOCUS

Striving for excellence, core values

Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham headquarters is situated at Ettimadai in Coimbatore. The university is inspired by the vision and mission of its Chancellor Mata Amritanandamayi, popularly known as ‘Amma’. The university stands for its academic excellence, development of skill, and character formation so as to produce morally upright, intellectually matured, socially committed and spiritually inspired students

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By Dipin Damodharan

ducation is not just a means to get a job; education is the one, an enduring process, to change the society and to take it to the pinnacle of humanity. Education should also be a process that benefits the whole society and not the individual alone. Education is supposed to be the richest asset of an individual, and this is what this ancient nation, India, with a hoary tradition in knowledge upheld once. When education has become just a business deal in today’s globalised world, upholding the human values is something commendable. And this makes, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, one of the most reputed and outstanding deemed universities in India, unique.

When a university functions in the name of Mata Amritanandamayi, a world- renowned spiritual leader and a living legend; it has a lot of commitment to the society. So, naturally social commitment becomes the primary objective of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham. At the same time, it continues as a leader in academic achievements and technological

innovations.

Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham or Amrita University is a multi-campus, multi-disciplinary university spread across eight acre campuses in the three states of South India -- in Kerala at Amritapuri and Kochi, in Tamil Nadu at Coimbatore and in Karnataka at Bangalore and Mysore. Even the university head quarters is located at Ettimadai in Coimbatore, extensive interaction between all campuses is made possible through the Amrita-ISRO satellite network for e-learning.

Source of inspiration Mata Amritanandamayi, fondly known as ‘Amma’ (mother), is the source of inspiration and the guiding light for Amrita University. She is also the Chancellor of the institution. “When we study in a college striving to become a doctor, a lawyer or an engineer -- this is education for a living.

Education for life requires understanding of the world; our minds, our emotions and ourselves. The real goal of education

When we study in a college, striving to become a doctor, a lawyer or an engineer -- this is education for a living. Education for life requires true understanding of the world; our minds, our emotions and ourselves Mata Amritanandamayi EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

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CAMPUS FOCUS Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham is not to create people who only understand the language of machines. The main purpose of education must be to import a culture of the hearts -- a culture based on spiritual values,” this is the message that Amma conveys through Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham.

“We have in fact two important objectives or goals as a long term mission. In particular, the role of the university is to serve and become a world class institution of higher learning and research that will directly benefit the society,” says P Venkat Rangan, Vice-Chancellor, Amrita University to Education Insider.

“At the entry level to the university, we not only aspire to take the best students like the IIT. But we also make an attempt to take students who normally be considered as ordinary. Over the period of four or five years that they spend in the university, our goal

is to try and transform them into be extraordinary,” Dr Rangan explains the theory of Amrita University.

This is the philosophy or vision the university has imbibed from their Chancellor Amma. “Because Amma, our chancellor, strongly believes that each and every individual, particularly the youngsters, is endorsed with unlimited capabilities, possibilities and skills. Its only that we have to identify in which domain or area they have the skills and try to inspire them and give them the right ambience and atmosphere so that they will become experts in that area. Then they will get confidence in that particular field and gradually become excellent performers.

So that’s why Amma strongly believes in taking students from all areas, different backgrounds and give them the right training, atmosphere, ambience, right kind of opportunity and help them to become

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contributors in that area,” Dr Rangan adds.

Schools of excellence Amrita School of Engineering: The various schools functioning under the university are now recognised as centres of excellence in their respective quarters. The Amrita School of Engineering at Ettimadai is the oldest of its kind. It was also ranked as 21st among the AICTE-approved private engineering colleges in India by the Outlook magazine. The Schools of Engineering offer B Tech programmes in Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, Information Technology, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Electronics and Communication Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Instrumentation Engineering, and Chemical Engineering. Various M Tech and PhD degree programmes are offered in the three campuses and one at the Kochi campus, where an MTech in Nanotechnology is also offered.

Amrita School of Business: It offers a fully residential two-year MBA degree programme and a dual degree programme leading to an MS in Information Technology and MBA in collaboration with State University of New York at Buffalo, for working professionals at the Bangalore campus.

Amrita Schools of Arts and Sciences: The schools offer bachelor degree in Commerce (B Com), Business Management (BBM), Computer Applications (BCA), and master degree in Computer Applications (MCA), Computer Science and Information Technology.

Amrita Healthcare Campus: This campus is attached to the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, a super-specialty hospital in Kochi. The Amrita Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Dentistry are all located on this campus.

MBBS, Bachelors of Science (Nursing), Bachelor of Pharmacy, and Bachelor of Dental Surgery degree programmes are available here.

Amrita School of Ayurveda and Biotechnology: This school offers the Bachelor of Ayurveda, Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) degree programme and the School of Biotechnology offers BSc and MSc in Biotechnology, BSc and MSc in Microbiology, and MSc in Bioinformatics, as well as the PhD degree programmes.

Amrita School of Communication: The School offers (BA and MA) degree programmes in Communication. According to the authorities, the course helps prepare students for careers in journalism, new media/animation, short film making and advertising, and is modeled on UNESCO guidelines. Degree programmes in social work (MSW) are also offered by the university.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

CAMPUS FOCUS Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham

A true leader in research Mata Amritanandamayi (Amma) spends almost 22 hours every day to meet the common people. Amma understands what the real troubles of the people are. Amma strives for the society and always thinks to help people. Naturally, Amrita University’s research also aims at fulfilling the needs of society

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esearch is another pivotal goal of Amrita. “We are not only imparting education, but also creating new knowledge and that is very important goal for the university. In today’s world, knowledge is changing rapidly.

The contemporary knowledge will turn out to be outdated in a few years. It’s very important that the university is encouraging students and professors to continuously innovate, research, to unfurl solutions for the important challenges that our planet and the nation is facing,” P Venkat Rangan says to Education Insider. According to him, the challenges are in different areas…such as how will we pass on the benefits of information and communication technology to billions of people, developing low cost devices, how to create new sources of energy that effectively make use of solar and others.

“We have to develop solutions in all these areas. In the case of health care, it requires bio medical devices, but the poor have no access to the bio-medical devices. So Amma, in particular, says that we have to develop low cost bio-medical devices that are affordable to the poor and the needy. Our duty is to develop solutions to all these kinds of problems.

Therefore, technology has to be developed. But at the same time, all these have to be done with a human touch. Technology can be utilised with compassion and human consideration. So how do you linking technologies and human values for the benefit of the society is very important,” Dr Rangan elaborates passionately about the research mission of university.

The university also believes in the need for interdisciplinary efforts in research. “Our Chancellor Amma took a decision that our university should bring all disciplines together so that scientists, students, and faculty from all of

these disciplines will get an opportunity to work together to create larger solution. Most of the challenges are bigger than the earlier challenges, and it required interdisciplinary team efforts. Such an interdisciplinary effort has a potential to make bigger impact,” Dr Rangan adds.

In 2007, the Amrita Centre for Nanosciences turned out to be the nation’s first centre for tissue engineering and stem cell research. As a mission to empower rural India, the Centres for Digital Health and Digital Earth participate in telemedicine projects to bring specialised healthcare to the people of rural India. The Centre for E-learning develops the software and infrastructure needed, eventually aimed at helping bring distance learning to village clusters.

Research collaborations

Some of the initial research projects of the university were in association with Government organisations such as Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the Department of Science and Technology (DST), the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), and the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).

The social commitment of the university is inspired from the mission of Amma. “The love and vision of Amma drive all the programmes and the university itself. Amma spends almost 22 hours every day to meet the common people. Amma understands what the problems of the people are. Amma feels for the society to help the people. We have a programme called empowering women and also imparting vocational education using technology. With the help of computers, we used to teach carpentry, plumping etc and most of our research is to fulfill the needs of the society,” Dr Rangan says.

Amma took a decision that our university should bring all disciplines together so that scientists, students and faculty from all disciplines have an opportunity to work together to generate larger solutions Dr P Venkat Rangan, VC, Amrita University

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EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

and Wi-Fi enabled Campus.

BRAINWAVE Anupam Kher

India’s slogan should be ‘education is my birth right’

Be yourself to accomplish success…

Anupam Kher is not just an actor; the best thing about this Bollywood star is ‘positivism’. He is always a positive man, a motivational force for others, and a hard core optimist. He has shown that optimism even in his father’s death. Instead of mourning the death of his father, he celebrated it in a different way. His recently released motivational book The Best Thing About You Is You, has also created ripples among the readers. Here he describes his views on education and life

T

he best thing about you is you. That is the basic thing that one needs to be aware of. It is very important to understand who you are. You always give importance to others; but you don’t give importance to yourself. When you give importance to yourself, you discover how to deal with any situation in life. It’s also important to share things with the world; what you have learnt by living a certain kind of life. The kind of life you have lived and the way what you become now.

is also more important. Everyone should be educated.

India’s slogan should be ‘education is my birth right’. I am against the current education system which creates two types of citizens. It should not be allowed and we have to provide equal opportunities for all.

Failure makes you introspect. It forces you to go to your inner soul. It also equips you to correct yourself. So failures should be accepted in the right sense. If you have become second, you should always try to come first.

On education

Success

We need to change the entire concept of education.

What we need is to bring it out from the hangover of the British system. Education is to be for knowledge, not information. Information is important, but it should be converted to knowledge. System should be in such a manner. I really feel nonsense about the existing examination system. It’s high time to pay great attention to our education system. The government should revamp the whole structure. The system should be in such a way that it could create easiness for students. The attitude of students

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To be yourself i.e. to be original is the most successful thing you can do in your life. Successful as a person is more important than successful as a professional. If you are successful as a person, then the other will follow.

Success can’t be measured on the basis of money or position. Your position or money can’t replace that feeling at any cost. Therefore success means to be faithful to you and fight against all odds in life.

As told to Dipin Damodharan EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

Prof B P Sanjay VC SPEAKS

‘Edu system is ill-equipped to meet challenges’ Prof B P Sanjay is the first vice-chancellor of the Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur. He had his basic academic training in communication and journalism in Bangalore. He obtained PhD from Simon Fraser University, Canada. He was involved in studying the historic SITE experiment. He was also the Director of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Delhi

On education

Education is a learning process through formal and non-formal means. At various levels of an individual’s growth and development, it plays a key role. Formal education is imparted through the school, college and university system. We need a systemic approach to ensure that the goals of our educational policies are effectively realised. Liberating an individual from misconceptions, false beliefs and allowing him/her to fully realise his/her potential is what education should and could do.

Indian education system

The system is ill-equipped to meet the requirements of the industry and challenges in the globalised context.

Currently, the issue of faculty shortage is crucial and the supply of qualified faculty is not commensurate with the pace of expansion of the higher education system. Dual system of higher education--public and private--has some issues and they mainly relate to the so-called commercialisation of education. The slow erosion of social sciences and humanities in the higher education sector is another serious issue/defect.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

University’s role

A university should allow students to seek advance knowledge in their chosen fields and enrich their understanding of the society and the context they live, the challenges, and ability to address the problems. It should allow them to realising their goals and ensuring that they are good citizens.

Entry of foreign universities It is a loaded question. If they are coming in to address our challenges of higher education, they have a role. It is speculative to assess all the implications at this stage.

What’s to be done?

A realistic assessment of education is being in the concurrent list and the problems thereof. Reasonable allocation of resources across the higher education sector is needed.

There should be flexible options that validate and reaffirm importance of the social sciences and humanities.

Prepared by Shani K

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CURRENT AFFAIRS MBBS course duration

MCI’s proposal kicks up new row Medical Council of India (MCI) has proposed a one-year mandatory rural service for medical undergraduates by increasing the course duration of MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) from five and a half years to six and a half years

By Shani K

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ccording to a study conducted bythe Planning Commission, India is facing shortage of six lakh doctors, 10 lakh nurses and two lakh dental surgeons, leading to a poor doctor-patient ratio. As per the report, while only 6.3%of the doctors’ posts were vacant on paper, 67% of the doctors were reported to be absent from their duties. In this situation, it is worthwhile to analyse the proposal of the MCI to increase the duration of MBBS course to six and a half years by introducing one-year compulsory rural service.

According to MCI, if the proposal gets green light, around 40,000 MBBS students would be employed for a year in the National Rural Health Mission. It is said that the one-year compulsory rural service would help the MBBS students to enhance their practical knowledge. At the sametime, it would be a boon to the myriad rural population as they are not being provided proper medical services.The students will be paid as doctors and not as interns during the one-year compulsory rural service.

However, MCI’s proposal has brought rift among medicos. Some medicos fear that the new proposal would endanger their desire to pursue post-graduation by adding extra one year to their course.“The proposal for one-year compulsory service is really commendable. Rapid deterioration of health services in rural areas and the attitude of the medical graduates to stay on in urban areas may be the reasons behind this proposal. But it should not be a burden to MBBS students. The presence of MBBS students part of their compulsory The proposal for as service in rural areas should be one-year a great help for the poor rural population,” says Dr Joseph compulsory service is really T John, Head of Forensic Medicine, Amala Institute of commendable Medical Science, Kerala.

According to him, medical Dr Joseph T John

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students,while serving in rural areas, are not registered practitioners.

Permanent registration can be awarded to them only MBBS students’ after the completion of rural posting is rural service. good if it is under So the moot the supervision question is that whether of an experienced it is ethical doctor to expose the rural Dr WasimMohideen population to the mercy of non-registered practitioners instead of registered practitioners.He suggests that remodeling of the MBBS curriculum would help to complete MBBS course within 5 and a half years.“There are so many unnecessary portions and subjects in medical curriculum. Such portions can be avoided from the curriculum and reduce the burden of MBBS students,” he points out.

“However, the new proposal is never going to be accepted by the MBBS students or anyone related to this field directly or indirectly because the duration of the course is already longer than any other professional course. If they implement this proposal, students may keep the MBBS course at bay and it will affect all of us,” says Jahangir Ahmad Mir, an MBBS student from Jammu &Kashmir.

“Unfortunately, the general public is not totally satisfied with the performance of MBBS doctors.

So merely increasing the duration of the course will not change that notion,” says Dr Wasim Mohideen, Director of the Wellness and Preventive Medicine, Techmed Healthcare, Chennai.“MBBS students’ rural posting is good if it is under the supervision of an experienced doctor,” adds Dr Wasim Mohideen.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

SPECIAL STORY Study destinations

Singapore sitting pretty on education In education, proximity is not a matter when quality is concerned. Students, along with parents, are active in choosing the right centre for education. As the trend of pursuing higher education in foreign lands thrives, Singapore has turned out to be a unique edu destination

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By Our Special Correspondent

ssortment in culture and intercontinental reputation for quality education has turned Singapore as a darling education destination for many students worldwide. The number of international students seeking admissions in Singapore’s various educational institutions is shooting up year by year. In 2002, 50,000 international students sought admissions in Singapore; the number rose to over 85,000 in 2007, and 1, 20,000 in 2010 and the rise is still going on.

This number is expected to reach 150,000 by 2015. Students from nearly 120 countries seek quality education in Singapore.

85,000 50,000

1,20.000

1,50.000

What makes Singapore unique?

2002 2007 2010 2015 Foreign students’ inflow

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Three universities in Singapore rank among Asia’s best and among the top universities of the world. National university of Singapore (NUS), Singapore Management University, and Nanyang Technological University attract international students with much vigour. The Singapore Management University is modeled after the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Seven of the world’s most eminent universities including University of Chicago Graduate School of Business have their own campuses in the ‘fine country’. And 11 premier universities in the world have their presence in Singapore through collaborations with the republic’s local universities.

Tuition fees for different professional and non-professional courses are lower than other countries. American and European institutions with their campus in Singapore provide better consideration to Asian students by offering grants and scholarships. Students who study in Singapore would get a chance to

gain a good educational qualification at a cost of living substantially lower than in North America and Europe.

The Singapore government’s student visa proceedings for the international students are impressive. To make education more affordable, government provides tuition grants of between 75 per cent and 85 per cent to international students who get admission to the local universities and polytechnics respectively under the Tuition Grant Scheme.

Government spends about S$22,400 as grant for a lab-based programme and S$19,000 for a non lab-based programme at local universities, and S$13,300 for a diploma programme in the polytechnics per student.

As Singapore is gearing up to become an industrial hub, towering job opportunities along with other career options beckon students there. In return for the subsidized education, foreign students are required to serve a Tuition Grant bond by working with Singaporeregistered companies for three years after graduation.

Genuine education system

The education system in Singapore is also quite different from other parts of the world.

Universities adopt a student-centric education programme, which gives priority to practical training. Continuous student assessment programmes, frequent seminars and vibrant industry interactions etc make students industry ready and much informed in their relevant fields. Duration of various courses is also less. When a student completes engineering graduation in four years from other global universities, he can become an engineering graduate within three years from Singapore.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

Snehaj Srinivas EX QUIZ ME

From this issue onwards, Education Insider brings in a new column, Ex Quiz Me, to stimulate the curiosity and enhance the knowledge of our valued readers. Renowned quiz master Snehaj Srinivas is the contributor of this motivating section

1. Neil Obrein 2. Atal Bihari Vajpei 3. Tipu Sultan 4. Winston Churchil 5. Divorce, 6. Kangaroo 7. James Parkinson 8. Matahari 9. Louis Pasteur 10. Swami Vivekananda

1. Professional Quizzing in India is said to have begun when the first well organized, formal quiz was conducted in 1967 at Christ the King Church Parish Hall in Calcutta. Who conducted it?

2. Which former Indian Prime Minister studied law at Kanpur, along with his father (in the same class) and also shared the hostel room with him? His father joined to study law after retiring from Government service.

3. The marriage between Abdul Salih and the daughter of Arakkal Beevi of that time (18th century AD) may not be a much told story in Indian History. But the story of his father is of course one. Who was the father of Abdul Salih?

4. The young wealthy leader of the opposition party falls in love with Lucille, the wife of Antonio Molara the tyrannical dictator of Laurania in North Africa. Revolution breaks out.

Molara is assassinated by a communist. Lucille and the “hero” are forced to leave Laurania but return later to rule it. Who won the Nobel Prize for literature for his novel Savrola, telling the story above?

5. In ancient Rome, men simply had to recite the ancient formula tuas res tibi habeto (Have your own things for yourself) to legally obtain what?

6. In English, a word which contains another word, both having the same meaning, e.g., “appropriate”, which contains the word “apt“is named after which animal?

7. He published a general text on paleontology in England wherein he illustrates and describes teeth belonging to Megalosaurus. He was also the first to provide an account of appendicitis in the literature. “A Case of Diseased Appendix Vermiformis”. However he is well known in the medical world for some other reason. Who? 8. She was convicted and was executed by a firing squad on October 15, 1917. Playing the game of seduction up until the end, she refused a blindfold, smiled, and blew a kiss to the firing squad as the fatal shots were fired. Identify her.

9. His work on wine, vinegar, and beer led to a path breaking invention. He had an obsessive fear of dirt and infection. He refused to shake hands, and he carefully wiped plate and glass before dining. Who? 10. The road outside the Chicago Art Institute in Chicago was originally called Michigan Avenue. But it has been renamed after an Asian. Identify the person.

Answers

Questions

Win exciting prizes

Identify the above visuals and send your answers to educationinsideronline @gmail.com 1. If he was the first, who was the second?

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

2. Identify the Judoka

3. Identify this clinical condition

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WORDS OF WISDOM Dr U R Ananthamurthy

‘Educational caste system rife in India’ Kannada writer-critic Dr U R Ananthamurthy, is a visionary who has executed many diverse roles — English teacher, vice-chancellor, Sahitya Akademi chief, National Book Trust president, and environmental activist.

He shot to fame with Prashne (The Question), a collection of short stories in Kannada. He is the sixth person among eight recipients of the Jnanpith award for the Kannada language, the highest literary honour conferred in India. In 1998, he received the Padma Bhushan award from the Government of India.

His novel Samskara’s celluloid version heralded a new trend in the Kannada film industry.

In an exclusive interview with Education Insider, in spite of his present state of physical ill health, he was enthusiastic about the genuine concepts on education. Excerpts:

By T N Shaji What is your concept of education?

The most important thing is that students must be able to adjust with the given circumstances wherever they are. They have to be able to live in both villages and cities. They have to learn to love and live in villages because their roots are there. At the same time, they have to spend much time in cities.

Kerala is the first state to make use of education in agriculture. We are an agrarian economy and if you intend to commercialise the farm produce, you need education. A farmer should know numbers at least. He should know how to read and count otherwise he cannot survive. Kerala made it possible and it continues even now. But the situation in the other Indian states is pathetic. In other words, education should make children fit into any circumstance and make the best use of the available resources no matter how limited they are. Now the Indian people are in a situation where they are forced to go to foreign lands to find opportunities for survival since the avenues within India are limited.

Therefore, education should enable one to accept any

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circumstance as a challenge and make use of his acumen to establish himself in any kind of environment.

Where does India stand now in education with particular reference to the primary education sector?

The primary education system is very poor because of malnourishment. I can’t think of any productive system of primary education if the children are terribly malnourished. We have tried to tackle this problem with some popular schemes like mid-day meal. But it is not enough and much more has to be done. In the case of education, malnutrition hampers the absorption process and the development of the brain. It is both a physical and biological problem.

In Kerala, people have cheaper food combinations like tapioca and fish which are very good as well as nutritious. Even the poorest of the poor can afford to have a perfect meal. That is not found anywhere else in India. But now Keralites have changed their food habits.

Alcoholism has also gripped the people in an alarming manner.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

Do you feel that creativity is dying and that there books in the library. They should get acclimatised will soon be a vacuum in the society? to finding references and making notes from books.

At present, higher education creates many experts. We sent students to library and asked them to bring But these experts are good for nothing else. There is notes from books. The 20-day programme of library nothing like general education. We used to have some learning made them well-acquainted with the world of concepts of general education earlier. An educated books and their proper usage. person meant one who knows something from evDo you feel the bombardment of new generation erything. That ideal is gone. For example, Leonardo courses is confusing our students and they fail to Da Vinci was a man we can call a Sarvajna (one who identify their own talents and chose to go with the knows all). Da Vinci was a scientist, an artist and perflow? fect in many things. We had those ideals of versatility.

Yes. Students should be able to make their own We had a man like Jawaharlal Nehru, who had a great choices. My grandson is studying history in Scotland. vision. His diplomatic and political contributions may But he is free to choose different subjects every year. be disputed about but he was a man of wisdom and In the final year, he may be coming out with a degree awareness. That sort of rationality and general intelin some other subject. Here also such a system should ligence is something the young generation of today be implemented. A student should get admissions in lacks. This is exactly the reason why creativity is different colleges for different subjects. For example, dying in the modern times. There are no social stimuli this can be applied to a city like Kochi, where there to push people to think out of the box and want to con- are a number of colleges nearby. A student need not tribute to their society. take admission in a particular college. Instead, he Do you feel it has something to do with the current can take admissions in different colleges for different system of education? subjects and these colleges can be connected to the Our education system is very bad because we university. So these colleges could be made excellent don’t have common schools. Earlier, our children, centres for individual subjects. used to go to government schools were The bringing back of common schools is a they were made revolutionary concept which will change the to sit along with face of our education if implemented properly boys and girls from all the sections of the society. Now, with the mushrooming of private schools, What is your take on excluding regional languages the uniformity has vanished and we have created a from the scope of study at school level? caste system. Religious groups have started schools We must take some measures like making it comin which majority of students who study belong to pulsory for children to study the language of the rethat particular religion. Similarly, in some schools gion up to class VII along with English. This is a hard which offer better facilities, children from the affluent decision, but it must be implemented even in private sections only study. This has created a divide which schools. This will help children to study two languagis worse than the caste system that existed years ago. es before they are twelve and will prevent them from Students have no social commitment and tolerance. losing contact with their language and people.

In the olden days, they had to study up to the SSLC in Being a scholar in English language and literature, common schools. I feel, that system should be brought most of your creative works are in your regional back. Everybody should study in common schools language. Why? and have equal opportunities. The bringing back of I think of Tamil, Malayalam or Kannada or any common schools is a revolutionary concept which other regional language for that matter as a universe in will change the face of our education if implemented itself. If you go to a small town like Udupi, you will properly. find people speaking in Tulu, Kannada, Urdu and MaDo you think education is accessible to all irrespec- layalam. This situation is very difficult to find in Eutive of economic standards in India? If no, what rope. Here, a civil service officer speaks only English. should the government do to make education a The more literate you are, the lesser languages you comprehensive platform accessible to all? know. That’s because literate people pursue the EuroNo, I don’t think so. Kerala is well ahead in educa- pean notion of one language and culture. But the poor tion. But in most of the schools, there are no organised learn more languages for survival. It is they who unite libraries. A library and librarian should be there in our country, and not our upper class intellectuals. In every school. A library should consist of audio and India, you have a house tongue (I don’t call it mother video materials. A student should be able to watch a tongue, which exists only in Europe). We use another film or enjoy a song in the library. The library hours language when we walk on the street and use a third should be made compulsory. When I became the head language, Sanskrit( in the past) and English (now), for of the department of a college, I made it compulsory communication. So, there’s no harm in keeping one’s that first 20 days all my students must go through the identity first and then adopting a new language.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

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EXPERT INTERVIEW Jacob Ninan

‘Boom times ahead for banking jobs’ Axis Bank Limited, formerly UTI Bank, is an Indian financial services firm that had begun operations in 1994, after the Government of India allowed new private banks to be established.

The Bank was promoted jointly by the Administrator of the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India (UTI-I), Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), General Insurance Corporation Ltd, National Insurance Company Ltd, The New India Assurance Company, The Oriental Insurance Corporation and United India Insurance Company. The bank changed its name to Axis Bank in April 2007. The Bank’s Registered Office is at Ahmadabad and its Central Office is located at Mumbai.

Jacob Ninan, the Senior Vice-President of Axis Bank is having more than three decades of experience in banking.

Currently, he is heading the bank’s zonal business having 43 branches, 650 employees and a balance sheet size of over Rs 4600 crores. In an interview with Education Insider, he was upbeat about the job prospects in the banking industry. Excerpts:

By T N Shaji As you represent one of the top private banks in India, what is your opinion about the quality of our new-generation graduates?

They are smart and ambitious. Awareness levels are also at higher levels. With some hand holding, many of them transit to managerial roles with much difficulty. However, they can achieve better with a will to work across geographies. Currently, they mostly remain confined to the familiar comforts of the home territory.

Can we say fresh graduates coming out from the campuses are industry enabled?

Not entirely. Except a few institutions, all others restrict to the theoretical curriculum. Therefore it is a challenge to

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bring in this enablement within the first 3 months at job. Few business schools in Kerala build in these capabilities in good measure though. There exists a gap between the academic curriculum and the industry requirements.

Your suggestions for improving the curriculum and teaching modules to improve our graduates’ capability.

Modules should include certain industry specific areas.

They should have adequate exposure and interaction with industry experts. A few schools have additional certifications for areas like Banking, Insurance, and Retail etc. Further, a lot of business schools are mushrooming all around the country who do not possess the capabilities needed to mould a smart graduate. Here governmental agencies like the AICTE and the

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

Universities should play their role effectively.

Do you have any interactive programmes with prospective institutions for the purpose of recruitment?

At many places, all over the country, we have joint programmes with institutions. By partnering with them, we help in taking the successful students on board, besides helping in the course content. Our recent tie-up with Manipal Academy and Guwahati University are examples of such initiatives.

According to reports, banking sector is going to be a major recruiting sector after IT in the coming years.

Your comments.

Yes, over the next 5 – 7 years, the financial sector, mainly banking and insurance will need lot of human capital. In spite of the recent slowdown, India is still an exciting success story. Personal investments and wealth creation will be of the top order. Banking services are reaching the hitherto unbanked areas. Financial inclusion focus from Reserve Bank of India is high. The sector therefore will see a rapid expansion of network and a much larger head count to run it. Global banks too see India as an opportune market and are likely to scale up their presence. Overall, it is likely to be a boom time from the employment perspectives.

What kind of training do you expect from our educational institutions for banking aspirants?

Banking is more of a service industry today. While understanding finance is important, capabilities in customer relations, understanding customer needs etc are of equal importance. Refinements in the curriculum to cover all such areas are hugely important. More

They are not. Every year, banking recruiters, mainly multi-national companies (MNCs) and Indian private banks head to IIMs and other Tier-I institutes in search of the right candidates. These candidates however get absorbed in the high end of the job roles that include investment banking, treasury functions and credit. They may not be visible through the branch banking. At Axis Bank too, we recruit 40 – 50 such aspirants every year.

IIT graduates too are good candidates for a few specialised functions and are not rare either.

Could you please describe your staff requirements in the coming years?

We are a growing bank, growing higher than the industry average on a consistent basis. We are adding close to 300 branches each year. We require hands to man these branches at various levels in addition to various corporate functions. Hence the demand is likely to be high. Every year, we recruit around 4,000 employees.

Can you shed some light on your Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities in education?

Our CSR initiatives are anchored under Axis Bank Foundation. A portion of the Bank’s profits are channelised through Axis Bank Foundation for various causes. We support 74 NGOs through the foundation.

Since its inception in 2006 till March 2011, Axis Bank Foundation has extended grants aggregating Rs 85.7 crores. The grants have been under three broad areas of Education, Sustainable Livelihoods and Public Health, and Medical Relief. Going ahead, we plan to focus 80% of our funding in Sustainable Livelihoods and 20% will be for other philanthropic initiatives in the field of Education and Public Health & Medical Relief.

Can you specify your HR vision in motivating employees?

We ascribe adequate importance to human capital.

We are a 17-year old organisation, already among the country’s top banks. Our growth story in future is dependent on the quality of our workforce. Their satisfaction

Jacob Ninan joined Banking Industry in 1981 as a Probationary Officer with Catholic Syrian Bank. Worked in various places including Bangalore, Mysore, Mumbai and Ernakulam, he handled all areas of banking in various positions. Ninan joined Axis Bank (then UTI Bank) in 2000 as Assistant Vice-President in the retail banking space in Mumbai. In 2005, he became Vice-President and moved to Corporate Banking, heading the FIG (Financial Institutions Group) and thereafter a sector head within credit department for 3 years. In 2010, he was promoted as Senior Vice-President and currently heading the bank’s zonal business having 43 branches, 650 employees and a balance sheet size of over Rs 4600 crores. A total team man, he believes that each individual has enough capability to succeed.

institutions should come up with courses specialised in Banking.

Why graduates from the best institutions of the country like IITs and IIMs are keeping away from the banking industry?

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

levels need to be the best and this is not just about ‘payslip’ satisfaction. Staff engagement initiatives are many.

In spite of the large workforce we have, the churn is very much within limits. Employees are encouraging to opt for different job roles to meet their aspiration levels.

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CAREERS & COURSES ICWAI

Making your dream job come true Effective money management can make wonders in today’s commercialised world. As the global economy is on a growth trajectory, cost management experts are in high demand.

While making success in professional life, they can also contribute much to the growth of commercial sector. The Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India (ICWAI), Kolkata is one of the pioneer institutes in India which offers effective training in cost and management accountancy

M Gopalakrishnan

I

CWAI is a dynamic and vibrant professional institution actively associating in the industrial and economic development of the nation for the past 53 years. It is regarded as one of the primary institutes of cost and management accountancy in India. ICWAI is enacted by the Parliament to regulate the profession of Cost and Management Accountancy in India. The Institute is governed by a Council consisting of 15 elected members and five Government nominees.

ICWAI is a member of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), the Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA) and the South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) and provides quality oriented professional training in cost and management accounting courses with assurance of placement.

M Gopalakrishnan, President of the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India, is the brain behind its successful running in education sector. He is also a fellow member of the Institute of Cost & Works Accountants of India and has been a member of the Central Council of the Institute of Cost & Works Accountants of India. He has almost two decades of experience with ICWAI. Gopalakrishnan is a practicing Cost Accountant since 1983. He is a senior partner in S Mahadevan & Co Cost Accountants, which was established in 1979. He is also an adviser to several listed companies and is also

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associated with new technology tie-up ventures for R & D set-ups with various consumer durable manufacturers.

In an exclusive interview with Education Insider, Gopalakrishnan explains the importance of cost and management accounting studies and its implications in the fast growing Indian industrial sector.

Could you please give a brief description about ICWAI? The Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India (ICWAI) is a premier professional body of Management Accountants in India since 1959. The Institute professionalises students in Cost and Management Accountancy. ICWAI is a member of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), the Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA) and the South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA). The institute, as a leader in the field of accountancy in the South Asian Region, is also imparting training to accountants from overseas countries.

The institute has more than 4,00,000 students across the globe and more than 50,000 qualified members.

What are the significant roles of a cost accountant in the rapidly changing economy?

A cost accountant specialises in navigating managerial decisions, stabilising budgets and standards, assessing operational efficiency and the effectiveness of production and service EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

management, identifying accountability for profit variance. His responsibilities include: designing and implementing effective management information and control systems, planning costing systems and methods, inventory control incorporating mathematical models, investment analysis, project management, internal audit, cost audit, diagnosis in the case of sick industries, fund management, pricing planning, interpreting information and data related to business activities and translating them in such a way as to guide the core management into taking the right decisions.

Please describe the career prospects of ICWAI courses?

There has been an increasing awareness amongst the entrepreneurs about the vital contribution made by cost and management accountancy services in the business houses to attain their business objectives. This has accentuated the demand for cost and management accounting services in all the sectors of economy. Many members of the Institute are holding top management positions, viz., Managing Director, Finance Director, Financial Controller, Chief Accountant, Cost Controller, Marketing Manager, Chief Internal Auditor, CEO, and CFO. Besides, there are promising opportunities in government sector in taxation and customs, and education sector etc.

How your training in accounting differs from other accounting courses?

Special emphasis is given to students pursuing ICWAI courses in understanding the EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

techniques of performance analysis as well as reporting for managerial decisionmaking.

The method of imparting education and teaching the students of ICWAI course is a bottom-up approach, wherein, the cost-built up mechanism is also taught to the students. The other accounting courses lay emphasis on top-down approach. Hence, students of ICWAI are enriched with knowledge of performance analysis and reporting compliances too.

About the selection process and course structure?

Course structure is designed as per the International Educational

Apart from other services, many companies in the Central and State Governments and their various departments have empanelled cost accountants for variety of works Guidelines of IFAC. The present course of ICWAI is also recognised

by CIMA, UK and CMA, USA for providing reciprocal exemptions to the passed finalists/members of ICWAI.The method of selection of resource persons is done on the basis of experience and exposure read with the qualification of the applicant. The screening is done through a team of experts, comprising members from academia and industry.

What are the major courses at ICWAI? CWA and CAT are the main courses at ICWAI. Besides this, Post-graduation in Management Accountancy, Business Valuation Management, Foreign Exchange, Treasury and Risk Management and a Certificate course on IFRS convergence are the other courses. All these develop the management skills among the students with practical training and exposure.

How effective is the practical training at ICWAI? To develop, among the students, the necessary skills required for theoretical knowledge of cost and management accounting to practical situations in different professional fields, the institute has introduced a Scheme of Practical Training to the students effective from January, 2008. As per this scheme, all the students have to undergo three years Practical Training with either practicing Cost Accountants or Organisations.

Can you say something about your personal assistance?

The institute has been providing placement assistance to the final pass outs and able to place majority of the students who opt for placement. The institute has been organising Campus Placement for the fresh qualified CWAs from June and December examinations. The institute organises the placements in four locations Delhi/Mumbai/ Chennai and Kolkata and approaches employers to look for their future managers from ICWAI campus. The institute has a dedicated Placement Directorate to work out the placement programmes.

Placement Directorate maintains the data base of the job seeking students and the same is provided to the employers on their request.

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INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES Food Technology

Add more flavour to your ventures The new waves of food revolution have already started hitting the consumer-centric society in the forms of green revolution, blue revolution and white revolution. The food industry has been growing at a rapid pace for the last few years and is also becoming a hot education investment option

By Lakshmi Narayanan

F

Kristi Michele Crowe, Assistant Professor, University of Alabama

Food industry will always be seeking qualified individuals who are versed in the science of food and its production

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ood is perhaps the most essential building block in the life of every living being. It is more than a life supporting factor. With the entry of fast and packaged food as a necessary thing in society, cooking that was once restricted to kitchens in homes, has become a vocation, and good cooks as well as those connected with producing good food are much in demand in the food industry. With the rising demand for cooks and affiliated professionals, it became essential to set up institutions to train them. Thus training food technologists came into vogue.

In tandem with the increasing demand for food technologists as quality controllers, food safety and preservation experts, setting up of the institutes providing expertise training in these segments turned to be a profitable investment avenue for eduprenuers. Food Technology and Food Tech science have become a vital part of our mainstream professional education.

Today the education sector has embraced food technology as a premium science and students world-wide have adopted it as a new generation course that would fetch those lucrative jobs. And it’s not a mere perception: it’s a fact that there is a growing demand for food technologists in today’s global market of packaged and fast foods.

The data from the edu industry specifies the boom of many food technology institutes in a progressive way over the last few years. As part of commercialization and consumerism, the demand for food industry and packaged food is on the rise. “As quality is the vital thing for its existence, scientific way of its maintenance becomes a necessary thing. Thus it opened the way to food technology experts,” indicate food technology specialists.

In today’s global food market, with

rapidly growing middle class population and changing lifestyle, it is important to train each generation about the changing trends of food habits.

A feasible choice

India has a great potential in FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) food industry. The market size of the food industry in India is 1/3 of the international food industry. Each day it recruits thousands of high salaried employees.

The Indian fast food market is growing at an annual rate of 25-30 per cent. Almost all the world’s big fast food brands have succeeded in making their presence in the country and most of them are posting appreciable growth.

The Government of India has set an investment target of Rs 100,000 crore ($ 8.90 billion) by 2015 in the sector. The sector is expected to grow by 20 per cent and value addition to increase by 35 per cent by 2015.

As per the figures of Corporate Catalyst India (CCI) survey, India is the second largest producer of food and holds the potential to be the biggest on global food and agriculture canvas. Both the food production and food processing industries of India, which ranked the world’s largest fifth in size of production, is having a wide employment opening, where more than 5,0000 people working in the direct sector alone.

The FMCG market is estimated to grow to $100 billion by 2025 from $12 billion in 2011.

This is a positive synonym for the budding food technology experts. There are 25,367 registered food processing units in the country whose total invested capital is Rs 84,094 crore ($15.90 billion), as per a competitiveness report of the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council. With this data alone we could realize the scope of food technology as a viable profession.

“Fresh food items must be maintained its viable nutrients during long distance shipments EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

to consumers. Processed food, on the other hand, must be processed in such a way as to maintain critical nutrient, ensure safety, and lengthen shelf-life. For this reason, the food industry will always be seeking qualified individuals who are versed in the science of food and its production. Key food science classes include food composition and analysis, food chemistry, food product development, food microbiology, biotechnology, and food safety,” says Kristi Michele Crowe, Assistant professor, Department of Nutrition, University of Alabama to Education Insider.

Demand for food tech institutions rises

Institutes providing specialised training are inadequate in both public and private sectors in the country. But boom of students are visible mainly to food tech institutions at private sectors, as they provide most innovative way of training with most new-fangled equipments; which provides most updated training.

“The past two decades have seen many positive and revolutionary changes in the field of professional food technology courses after the establishment of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries in the year 1988. And it offers an assortment of courses ranging from a bachelor or master’s degree to a job-assured professional course. The variety of specializations and subsidiaries of food technology provides a job-oriented outlook to students,” says KG Nayar, Director, Asian Institute of Food Technology.

Most of the food technology institutes in the world handle specialisation in food technology; which

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

includes the physical, microbiological and chemical makeup of food. Food technologists or scientists have been developing ways to process, preserve and package food in a healthier way. It is not a simple task as a large level of scientific experiments and technological aspects are involved in it.

India figures among the top food manufacturers in the world. Qualityconsciousness, productivity and technological advantage have provided the country an established label in this field. The food production industry in India provides more than 100,000 skillful administrativelevel employment opportunities every year.

“The scope of food technology institutes has widened. It can provide students a good career as Quality Assurance Manager, Production Manager, Laboratory Supervisor, Food Packaging Manager or a Food Processing Technician in food processing and packaging industries. It is also possible for a food technologist to become a research associate in premier institutes, universities or food research institutes. As there is no problem of recruitment shortage, it is a good investment avenue for eduprenuers,” adds Nayar.

Both private and public sectors provide immense job opportunities to food technologists.

Companies like Hindustan Lever, Heinz, Kellogg’s, • Food Safety Nestle etc are the leading job • Food Microbiology recruiters in • Food Preservation this field. Even companies abroad • Food Engineering recruit food technologists • Product Development to ensure and monitor the quality of food products in contamination-andadulteration-prevention units.

And with food being the most vital source of health and human existence, the scope of food technology as a new generation course will catch much more attention in the coming days.

Hot courses

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MAKE YOUR CHOICE

Bet your career Clinical research in Nuclear Engg beckons Grumblings on the losing gloss of engineering as a profession seems to be over with the recent option of nuclear engineering, which opens a new vista of amazing career What is nuclear engineering?

Being rooted with the mainstream engineering, it concerned with the application of fission as well as the fusion of atomic nuclei and the application of other sub-atomic physics, based on the principles of nuclear physics. The main areas of its functioning include the interaction and maintenance of systems and components like nuclear reactors, nuclear power plants, and/or nuclear weapons. An expert nuclear engineer can contribute their best to the country’s scientific development.

How to join?

Like any other engineering stream, one can opt for nuclear engineering after 12th standard. Cracking the IIT-JEE, AIEEE is the best way to join at India’s premier engineering institutes for nuclear engineering.

Areas can be specialised

Nuclear Fission Nuclear Medicine and Medical Physics Nuclear Materials and Nuclear Fuels Radiation Measurements and Dosimetry

Scope

A nuclear engineering expert can be easily employed at the top level positions at National Thermal Power Corporation, Power Plants, Defense, ISRO, and Baba Atomic Research Centre etc.

Where to study?

• • • • • • •

IIT, Delhi IIT, Mumbai IIT, Kanpur IIT, Madras IIT, Karaghpur Delhi University, Delhi Amity University, Noida

Study abroad • • •

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City University, School of Engineering, UK Manchester University, England University of Liverpool, UK

As India is becoming a hub of clinical research, with $1 billion investment this year, there is a massive demand for clinical research professionals.The research wing offers a dazzling job option What is clinical research?

Clinical research analyses the medical products primarily. It is the scientific study of the effects, risks, efficacy and benefits of a medicinal product. Clinical research conducts prior to the release of medicines in the market. Trails and studies are conducted successively on the product by the pharmaceutical companies. A fine medicinal product is a result of effective clinical research.

How to join?

Clinical research is a scientific level study, a BSc degree with fine knowledge in science is essential for clinical research. Ideally the industry is looking for science graduates from pharmacy, medicine, life science and bioscience.

Within bioscience too there are various other fields such as botany, zoology, biochemistry and genetics. Anybody who fulfils these criteria can join the industry.

What clinical researchers need to do?

They are the key participants in the design, implementation and monitoring of clinical trials. They plans and monitors all the activities related to the clinical trails and medicinal release. Assists in preparation of presentations and manuscripts of scientific meetings and technical journals

Where to study?

• • •

Academy for Clinical Excellence (ACE), Mumbai Bombay College of Pharmacy Cliniminds - Academy for Clinical Research Training & Management, Delhi

Study abroad • • •

MGH Institute of Health Professions Boston, USA University of California, USA Coriell Institute for medical research, New Jersey EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

PGDM SCMS

TM

A sure-fire launchpad to enter corporate echelons

The PGDM at SCMS is the right choice if you wish for an exciting career in the corporate world. The contemporary curriculum, novel teaching methodologies, dedicated faculty, world-class infrastructure, cutting edge personality development programmes and regular interaction with industry leaders help you to evolve as a future-ready manager all set to take on the corporate world.

Recruiters of 2011 The updated curriculum and the crème-de-lacrème students passing out of SCMS, attract many corporate companies to SCMS for recruitment. Here we present the companies which came to SCMS this year for recruitment.

Retail revolution is at our doorsteps.

SCMS is ready with an AICTE approved PGDM in Retail & Merchandising in addition to PGDM in General Management and Banking & Insurance.

Advantage SCMS

If you have a high score in CAT/ MAT/ ATMA/XAT apply online or download the application from www.scmsgroup.org or apply formally by getting application and prospectus by paying Rs. 950/- by DD to Director – Admissions.

SCMS COCHIN TM

(SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION AND MANAGEMENT STUDIES)

Prathap Nagar, Muttom, Alwaye, Cochin-683 106, Kerala, India. Tel: 0484-2623803 (30 lines) Fax: 0484-2623855, E-mail: scms@scmsgroup.org www.scmsgroup.org

creative: fullmoon.co.in

• AICTE approved & NBA accredited.

• In candidacy for ACBSP - the international accreditation.

• Only B-School of Kerala whose PG Programme is recognized as equivalent to MBA by AIU, Govt. of India.

• Consistently ranked as one among the top 25 B-Schools in India.

• Conferred the status of ‘Top B-School of India’

by Business India in 2008, 2009 & 2010.

• The B-School to get two national and one international award for excellence in performance.

• Winner of Dewang Mehta Award for exceptional leadership training system.

• A B-School with unmatched placement record.

• 9 faculty members from the Universities of USA, Australia, UK, Germany, South Korea and Switzerland teach full courses at SCMS.

EDU SURVEY World university rankings

US shines, UK loses glitter US universities are leading with major representations in the top ten in a survey of Times Higher Education magazine on the world’s 100 reputed universities. Harvard, MIT, Cambridge, Stanford, California etc remain in the opening five positions as in the 2011 world reputation ranking

T Effective educational policies and administrative efficiency are the reasons behind the glossy performance of US universities

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By Our Special Correspondent

he best, reputed universities of the findings based on the opinions of academics world are in the US and that is one of around the world. the major reasons why the US stands Besides the representation of the US first in the table of international education with universities in the top order, Asian countries are the title, world’s finest education hub. As per represented in the ranking table by Singapore, the survey conducted by the UK-based Times Chinese, Japanese and Korean Universities.

Higher Education magazine on world’s 100 Switzerland’s participation in the table is also reputed universities, the US has proved its evident when comparing with its population. uniqueness once again in the education industry There are three Switz universities in the table by pocketing the best ranks. of 100.

Like in 2011, this time also, Harvard USA’s effective educational policies University titles the first position, following and administrative efficiency are the core the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. reasons behind the better performance of the Universities of Cambridge, Stanford, and universities. Whereas, the cause for the decline California are placed up to the fifth ranks of the UK universities in the table is scarcity respectively. Quality oriented education in funding and the cause for the renaissance programme, status of alumni, internationally of Asian universities is huge investment in the accepted faculty, world class infrastructure etc development of universities, the survey reveals. are the key factors which keep the US universities at the top position.

World’s top ten universities In a list of 100 reputed universities, majority are from • University of Harvard the United States. Comparing • Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with the ranking of 2011, • University of Cambridge the UK universities lost their • University of Stanford place where as some Asian Universities made their entry to • University of California, University of Berkeley the ranking list. The rankings • University of Oxford are based on the perceptions of • University of Princeton 17,000 academics representing various universities world over • University of Tokyo as the survey made an attempt • University of California, University of Los Angeles to quantify the elusive but • University of Yale important quality of reputation in higher education with its EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

Keeping pace with the changing trends A degree in business management studies has become a much sought after one for Keralites who earlier preferred medical and engineering courses to make an ambitious career. Splendid opportunities and glamour attract students to prefer MBA or PGDM. But getting into the right institution is a big task for these aspirants. Education Insider, Asia’s number one magazine on education, is on the hunt to pick the ‘gem’ of management institutes through transparent, objective and unbiased manner

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Key evaluations Face to face interaction Authorisation credentials Checking the campus infrastructure Students’ opinion Social activities Placement percentage Innovative methodologies

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By Prashob K P

he higher literacy rate of Kerala, more than 90 per cent, outshines other states in India. Day by day, educational institutes, which offer myriad courses in different subjects, are springing up everywhere. Stretching from primary to higher education level, the standards and teaching methodologies are undergoing revision to meet the future needs. As parents are always conscious about their children’s future, they think and choose wisely.

As businesses are going global, a degree in management studies has become an essential tool. So majority of students prefer this stream.

Splendid opportunities and glamour posts attract students to prefer MBA or PGDM. At the initial stage, there were only a few institutes that offering this courses. As the demand has witnessed a huge rise, the scenario also has changed. Now management institutes are blooming everywhere with impressive offers.

Many questions are hanging on students head –Which is the right grooming place to become a boss? How can I become a global leader?

For these questions, one could have plenty of answers while searching on the internet or any other sources. Sinking in the exciting offers and amenities advertised by the institutes, many of the students are confused in selecting a right institute.

To solve this issue at a certain extent, Education Insider, Asia’s number one magazine on education, is on the hunt to pick the ‘gem’ of management institutes. For that, a survey, Best 10 B schools of Kerala-2012 (B 10 B), was conducted. We have initiated this survey

as a commitment towards the society and also navigating the young brains to the correct slot for moulding themselves to the leaders of tomorrow.

Why this survey?

Survey results are normally considered as the final statement. Through the ‘B 10 B survey’, our intention was to clear the existing confusions about the B schools that boil both students and parents. Most of the students choose their institution on the basis of information provided in the advertisements. But this often leads them into off beam decisions.

While taking resolutions on the basis of a survey, they can select the right institute. That is because surveys are conducted on the basis of certain procedures which cover the entire information about the institute. The results are credible and transparent. There is nothing to hide.

The survey offers assistance to both students and institutes. Because by knowing their positions in the education field, the institutes can revamp themselves for a better growth. They can recognise their positive and negative aspects. As the survey documents are scrutinised by an expert panel of educationalists, the result itself is very authentic. Now a days, parents and students are searching the right institute on the basis of published survey rankings like this. So they can have a clear picture about the institutes and their potential. During the time of placement, most of the MNCs prefer students from EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

EDUCATION INSIDER I March 2012

1

SCMS

88.75

2

RCBS

80.25

3

DCSMAT

75.75

4

SSTM

55.25

5

HOLY GRACE ACADEMY

54.5

6

ADI SHANKARA

51.75

7

SNGCE

51.5

8

SAINTGITS

51.25

9

MACFAST

50

10

FISAT

45.5

11

BERCHMANS

40.25

12

SJCET

38.5

13

DE PAUL

37.75

14

SNGIST

31.25

15

TOC H

27.5

61

The survey results are also a valued document for parents and students seeking admissions to business schools.

The survey aims to recognise business schools that are striving for excellence and working towards creating management professionals reputed institutes. This point is also stressing the need for survey based results. So the results of surveys are also become a valued document for parents and student while seeking admissions in business schools. The survey aims to identify those business schools that are striving for excellence and working towards creating management professionals. It attempts to make awareness about the best business schools that they can pursue management courses. Recruiters are also on the lookout for institutions that produce talents to meet their requirements. This survey would also help them while choosing the institutes for recruitment.

The ranking process

Ranking criteria Intellectual capital Infrastructure & facilities Industry interface Success of placement Recruiter satisfaction International collaborations

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For the hunt of Best B Schools in Kerala, primarily 40 business schools were selected for the survey. From the 40, our expert panel shortlisted 15 schools and the final lap selected top ten from the list. IIM-K is not included because of its genuine admission process and parameters. The assessment process was transparent, objective and unbiased. The survey was conducted in an objective manner and rankings have done on the basis of the scores obtained from the survey. For this a set of ten-page questionnaire was prepared by an expert panel, comprising academicians and professionals from business and industry. Some queries of the questionnaire were prepared on the basis of interaction with MBA aspirants and those who are preparing for CAT, MAT examinations. This is because they have certain kind of confusions in mind regarding the institutions and to be cleared before admissions.

The assessment process taps all areas of an institute. As part of the analysis, a face to face interaction with the B school personalities was done. The information collected from

them also considered as a value addition to the survey. The questionnaire put stress on placement percentage, social activity participation of students, discipline, learning amenities, library status, campus infrastructure, national-international industry exposure of students, and faculty status that students take on consideration. Each question carries certain marks. A total score was prepared by combining the marks from the above parameters.

The survey demanded certain kinds of credentials like proof of accreditation by the concerned authorities and proof of the year of establishment. So the authentications of these credentials are also important. For that, a close assessment was done with the concerned educational authorities. The institutes who failed to provide objective data were not considered for ranking.

We are confident that our initiative will succeed in helping our readers and also motivate MBA institutes at large to augment the focus on enhancing their technology and infrastructure. The study is also capable of giving a fair idea to the MBA/PGDM aspirants to make a right choice for pursuing their degree.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

SCMS: Excellence personified

J

erome Nyra, a German student of the School of Communication and Management Studies (SCMS), Cochin, has made up his mind to start a consultancy firm. It was the pedagogy of SCMS that boosted his confidence to start a venture of his own. He joined SCMS as part of students’ exchange programme. Looking internationally, the students’ exchange programme of this institute offers a wide range of opportunities for foreign students.

After the completion of mid-term university examination in Germany, Jerome decided to go abroad for a semester and chose SCMS as his centre for rest of the studies. He was impressed by the G P C Nayar, group discussion Chairman, SCMS methodology of imparting knowledge and his dream of becoming a consultant was fulfilled through SCMS. Students with heterogeneous culture from different parts of the country choose this institute only because of the quality of education imparting here. There is nothing to boast off because of the well-known reputation that this institution is acquiring year after year.

Here’s a specific opinion from a recruiter: “In some institutions, students are excellent, the faculty is excellent, but they don’t have a soul. But, SCMS Cochin is different. It has a soul, which is carefully

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

1

nurtured,” says S V Nathan, Talent SCMS Cochin Score Director, Deloitte India. It’s not just a Intellectual capital 17.25 common statement, Infrastructure & facilities 19.5 but from his personal experience during the Industry interface 19 talent hunt in SCMS. Success of placement 18 This observation is the symbol of laurels Recruiter satisfaction 9 about SCMS from the International collaborations 6 MNC world. They all 88.75 Total Score are quite impressed by the way in which students at SCMS are being groomed. This is what makes SCMS a pioneer management institute in Kerala.

Moulding students as leaders, SCMS believes in activities which are out of the walls of classrooms.

“There is much more in these types of activities than from a classroom lecture,” says G P C Nayar, Chairman, SCMS. The Integrated Managerial Learning Programme (IMLP) helps students to realise their potential. Breathtaking location; situated near the Cochin backwaters that offers a refreshing atmosphere, is another feature of this institute. One can never feel exhausted or stressed out at such a place. SCMS shows a different dimension and carves a new path in management studies. The institute has a significant place in the map of the country’s management study destinations. SCMS is proud of its alumni association as it’s such a kind of network which stretched all over the world and represents the global acceptance of this reputed institution.

71

RCBS: Imparting value-based learning

W

hile serving as the faculty of the most prestigious management power house, IIM-Ahmedabad, Prof Biju Varkkey is very happy to recall his campus life at Rajagiri Centre for Business Studies (RCBS). “The academic and social traditions followed at Rajagiri were definitely different from the traditional university atmosphere. The blend of management studies and social work streams was a unique Rajagiri, Cochin experience,” says Biju Score Varkkey with proud. He Intellectual capital represents the successful 16.25 alumni of the Rajagiri Infrastructure & facilities 19 who spread their wings Industry interface at coveted positions 13 all over the world.

Success of placement 17 Located in a composed Recruiter satisfaction valley on the outskirts 8 of Cochin, RCBS is International collaborations 7 an integral part of the Total Score 80.25 Rajagiri Vidhyapeedam, a vision of CMI fathers.

The institute imparts value-based learning and social responsibility. With a curriculum of international standards and highly experienced faculty, this institute is on the way to join the ranks of high profile management colleges in India. “Needless to mention, some very good faculty members and the institutional leadership did make a difference. One could now see students of this institution shine in various spheres like NGOs, corporates, government, advisory and academics.

More heartening is, to keep with the demands of the changing and exciting times, the institution attempts to evolve continually and I continue to be proud

2

of being a student at Rajagiri,” adds Biju.

The research centre under this institute has undertaken many important projects for industries as well as for the Government.

Industrial interaction is also very frequent in the institute.

Corporate heads regularly interact with students and Dr Joseph I Injodey, enlighten them on Principal, RCBS the tried and tested avenues of modern business. ‘Rajagiri-Kalypso’ Out Bound Training programme (OBT) is meant to combine training in team building, leadership, communication and adaptability with physical fitness. For constant updating of the corporate world, Business Awareness Test (BAT) is practicing in the institute. For moulding students to wellrounded professionals, the institute ensures a unique learning experience blended with updated coursework and sophisticated infrastructural facilities. Special emphasis on communication, leadership skills and computers enables them to adapt easily to the demanding, high-tech work environment of today. The institute also conducts programmes which evoke a sense of social awareness among students. A good track record of placement is another highlight of this institute.

The placement companies are from IT, banking, consultancy etc.

DCSMAT: A corporate gurukulam

I

t’s really an apprehension for businessmen to handover their batons to young successors. Here’s a father, K Udayakumar, who is now happy with his son Ullas’ choice to do post graduate management programme at DC School of Management and Technology (DCSMAT). For the last twenty five years, Udayakumar is in the business field and he is very much impressed by the DCian way of imparting management programme.

“One year into the programme, he is now self driven and learned from the environment. His interactions with CEOs, top management professionals and international academicians have given him great confidence,” says Udayakumar.

This opinion echoes the minds of all parents whose wards are at DCSMAT. Everyone has to say about the transformation magic of this institute. “Over the last two years, I have realized the corporate person in me, got an

3

is moulded to be true DCSMAT Vagamon Score professionals.

One of the Intellectual capital 15.75 hallmarks of this Infrastructure & facilities 18 institute is the student centered Industry interface 16 learning. An Success of placement 17 active and live participation Recruiter satisfaction 9 of students are International collaborations 0 followed in the 75.75 Total Score sessions. From the technological aspects, ‘Moodle’, the course management software, is the most innovative e-learning facility. Moodle caters all academic needs; assists instructors in giving assignments, uploads cases, articles and other reading materials to be followed up by students. The other e-learning facilities are e-journals and e-book library.

At DCSMAT, the weekly internship programmes, students ownership programmes (SOP), Gallop-a holistic personality development programmes are the main pillars that make students to top level leaders in the future. Case writing is an innovative programme introduced by DCSMAT. It’s a research strategy that investigates a phenomenon with its real-life context.

DCSMAT, Vagamon is the first management institute in India to be nominated as an IBM Centre of Excellence (COE). The SAP certification courses conducted in the Prof A Sreekumar, Brig (Retd) M C Ashok Kumar, campuses also result in greater employability potential.

Dean, DCSMAT Director, DCSMAT “DCSMAT makes students to become persons who take exposure to the greater world, came into contact with the initiatives without waiting for their boss to tell what the wide vistas and gained self-confidence to take on the to do,” says Prof A Sreekumar, Dean of DCSMAT and future challenges of corporate life,” says Jacob Zachariah, fellow of IIM-Ahmedabad.The finest thing which adds a former student who is now with an MNC. For students, the flavour for this institute is its campus, which is located DCSMAT is a corporate gurukulam where everyone in the laps of beautiful Vagamon hills.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

71

4

SSTM: Equipped with modern facilities

E

quipped with ultra modern facilities and excellent infrastructure, SCMS School of Technology and Management (SSTM), moulds global leaders to meet the future needs of management industry. The MBA programme of SSTM is committed in building students to manage people, information and financial resources. The teaching methodology of this institute is in par with best programmes in the country. As part of the teaching, the institute invites practicing managers to interact with the students. These lively sessions help students to familiarise with problems that a manager faces and solutions he arrives in real life situations.

“Our methodology is considerably different while comparing other business schools. Apart from theoretical inputs, we give stress on the overall development of the personality of individuals,” says G P C Nayar, Chairman of SCMS. The pedagogy includes lectures, case analysis, simulation games and exercises, syndicates, group discussions, video sessions, team projects, and quiz programmes. These activities help to develop

conceptual, analytical and decision making skills. SSTM is equipped with modern computer lab having latest technologies. The library is stocked with variety of journals and textbooks. The library consists of more than fifty Radha P Thevannoor, journals which Director, MBA, SSTM include national and International publications. The lecture sessions are conducted with modern teaching aids. Around 40 MNCs are regularly hiring candidates from this institute. The Research and Development division of SSTM has been recognised as research c entre of the Mahatma Gandhi University.

Holy Grace: Graceful mentoring 5

74

T

he PG programme in Business Administration at Holy Grace Academy of Management Studies, Mala, Thrissur is intended to prepare students to understand key interactions among the functional areas of business system and apply Adv Raju Davis Perepadan, key concepts to Chairman, Holy Grace arrive at meaningful solutions. The management programme is charted on a global outlook. “The faculty status of this institute is filled with experienced personalities both from industry and reputed academic houses.

The students at Holy Grace are equipped with a holistic outlook towards life based on ethical values

and social responsibilities,” says Adv Raju Davis Perepadan, Chairman, Holy Grace.

At least one foreign course (optional) is taught during the programme. The course curriculum of Holy Grace includes industrial training and work project. In addition to these, students have to undergo at regular intervals of training, development programmes, seminars, workshops, and skill enhancement programmes of various magnitudes. The institute has one of the best management libraries. This virtual library, different from all others in Kerala, also connects the students to the world beyond India. Another highlight of this institute is the two-week study tour to other countries. Holy Grace firmly believes that education is not restricted to books alone and in tune with this concept; it is aiming at making knowledgeable individuals who at the same time are well aware of the world affairs. Holy Grace is also providing proper accent training in British English

by British faculties to make students fit for working in the UK as the employee demand is on the rise.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

ASIET: Upholding ethical values

T

he vision of Adi Shankara Institute of Engineering and Technology (ASIET) is to provide good environment for individuals to transform into technologically superior, socially committed, spiritually elevated and nationally responsible citizens. Dr B S Krishnan, Managing Trustee, ASIET opines that the institute aims at moulding totally competent professionals with ingenuity, adaptability, social commitment, ethical values and spiritual elevation who can provide innovative leadership in industry, government and academic world.

ASIET’s department of management studies has a congenial environment which stimulates learning and encourages the overall development of individuals. The Institute imparts quality education and students are given active involvement in the teaching- learning process through live cases. Students also have the opportunity to visit industries frequently.

Personality development, communication and presentation skills and group dynamics are regular practices at this campus. “The institute encourages extracurricular activities apart from the studies.

There are different clubs under different titles to

encourage these activities,” says Krishnan.

Social welfare programmes are conducted to evoke a sense of social responsibility among the students, which is lacking in the modern society.

The college has Dr B S Krishnan, a fully-fledged Managing Trustee, ASIET air-conditioned library with a fabulous collection of over 16,000 books in 3,000 titles and all the prominent journals and newspapers to keep the students well informed about the current trends in technical and non-technical scenario.

ASIET also encourages students to learn music. A variety of cultural, management and technical fests under different titles are conducting in the college.

SNGCE: Setting new trends

W

ith the right blend of academic rigour and industry focus, the Sree Narayana Gurukulam College of Engineering, Kolenchery (SNGCE) is a trendsetter in professional education. The aim of this institute is to Adv T A Vijayan, develop managers Executive Director, SNGCE with ethics, who are Indian to the core, global in their thinking and accepted universally. “The institute’s intention is to empower the masses to achieve economic and social freedom through technical and management education,” says Adv T A Vijayan, Executive EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

Director of SNGCE. The college is equipped with the latest hardware and software infrastructure to cater to the computing needs of all students. The library is a treasure house of valuable and up-to-date knowledge base that provides the fullest achievable range of information, so that students and faculty alike may pursue knowledge, beyond the boundaries of the classroom.

With an aim to reach out to a worldwide audience and to enable easy and open access to all types of information from multiple sources and libraries, the college has installed D-Space Repository System, a patented most advanced e-learning facility developed by Hewlett Packard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The collective intellectual works, both within SNGCE and globally through internet is accessible to students with the incorporation of the cutting edge D-Space digital repository system. The library of this institute is enriched with variety of books.

6

7

75

SIM: Shaping role models 8

S

aintgits Institute of Management (SIM), Kottayam, is on the way to create young and vibrant future managers. The vision of the institute is to excel in shaping young men and women into achievers and role models. SIM’s learning process includes theatre, role plays, reading courses, business games and Dean’s interactive sessions. The institute is equipped with all modern amenities and infrastructure that match the best educational environment. The facilities include lush green campus, spacious classrooms, modern teaching aids, state-of-the-art computer facilities with internet connectivity, well stocked library, and seminar hall with multi-media facilities. There are locker rooms and lockers for each student at par with the best Western Universities.

SIM undertook a nine-day academic exchange programme with Donache School of Business, Duquesne University, Pittsburg, US. SIM’s MBA programme is oriented completely towards effective corporate placement. In addition to the core curriculum defined by the university, students

undertake a number of value-added courses.

Students are given five levels of corporate exposures. They are Industry visits, corporate captains’ talks, exposure through management association, corporate projects Punnoose George, and seminars.

Secretary, Saingits SIM is also rich in its activities like personality development, communication development, personal brand building, and social responsibility. The institute is on a mission to nurture students to become creative, confident and effective managers and business leaders of high integrity.

MACFAST: Innovations galore 9

76

T

he ultimate thing of MBA is that it paves the way for many opportunities.

Apart from the bookish knowledge, corporate giants also look how students can cope with the challenging situations in the society. Mar Athanasios College Rev Fr Pradeep for Advanced Vazhatharamalayil, Studies, Thiruvalla Principal, MACFAST (MACFAST) has designed special programmes to meet these needs.

“MACFAST’s industry interface programme is a path-breaking one. This programme helps to bridge the gap between management education and the specific challenges from modern business practices.

The course is designed to bring out their leadership

and analytical skills to the forefront and thereby transforming them to be the future managers,” says Rev. Fr. Pradeep Vazhatharamalayil, Principal, MACFAST. Various seminars, workshops, regular field visits and other activities are organised to polish the decision-making skills of these graduates to cope with the organisational and societal requirements of the future. The infrastructure too has been modified with the setting up of world class auditorium, library, state-of-the-art labs and research facilities, wireless connectivity and separate hostel for women and men. Apart from studies, MACFAST’s community radio station, Radio MACFAST 90.4, bridge the knowledge divide. Through this community radio, the institute tries to achieving social change and development objective. Another speciality of this campus is that it is fully solar powered. Its clean and green campus programme is aimed at creating a model campus that is waste-free, energy efficient, green and healthy, at the same time empowering students to improve the life support environment through direct action.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

FISAT: No compromise on quality

F

ederal Institute of Science and Technology (FISAT), Angamaly, is on the mission for transforming the institution into an advanced centre in technical and management education, which in turn will bring out professionals with superior skill and social commitment. The major highlight of this institute is its quality in imparting education. On the basis of merit, ten percent of students in this institute are getting waiver of tuition fee. The MBA programme conducted at FISAT Business School (FBS) is beyond the four walls of classroom.

The pedagogy focuses on learn-share-practice principle. FBS gives thrust on learning and implementing through case studies. “The power packed group discussions make students to share the knowledge individually,” says P V Mathew, Chairman, governing body of FISAT. FISAT is offering summer internship programmes, industrial visits, live projects and field studies as part of the management studies.

The value-added programmes like business skill development programme, certificate course in banking are provided to students to excel their

abilities. The campus ambiance kindles creativity and encourages innovation.

Spacious class rooms with hi-tech learning facilities are provided. The computer centre is fully equipped with systems and licensed P V Mathew, softwares. The Chairman, FISAT college has a central library and separate reference centre for MBA students. “A book bank scheme where the members will be issued one standard book in each subject for use in an entire semester is also operating excellently in the library,” claims Mathew. Sports and fitness centre, language lab, canteen, counseling centre are the other amenities provided within the campus.

10

Ranking score of B Schools from 4-10 in various segments SSTM Holygrace ASIET SNGCE Saingits MACFAST FISAT Cochin Mala Kalady Kolenchery Kottayam Thiruvalla Angamaly 13.25

13

9.75

10.5

13.25

9

10.5

14.5

16.5

18

14.5

12

18

14

Industry interface

9.5

9

7

6.5

13

6

9

Success of placement

13

12

13

16

7

10

8

Recruiter satisfaction

5

4

4

4

4

7

4

International collaborations

0

0

0

0

2

0

0

54.5

51.75

51.5

51.25

50

45.5

Intellectual capital Infrastructure & facilities

Total Score EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012

55.25

77

MOTIVATION Pursuit of passion

In romance with Sanskrit

Boundaries never have been a stumbling block for enthusiastic students who follow their passions.

The deep love for Sanskrit language has brought Ellona Kedzia, a student from Poland, to Kerala for pursuing MA Sanskrit at Calicut University Campus. Now, the chirpy Ellona is busy in capturing the unexplored dimensions of India’s ancient language

By Shani K

T

he tiny Indian state Kerala has become a much sought after place for foreign students who seek higher education in genuine art forms and languages. But, the example of Ellona Kedzia, a 23-yearold student from Poland ignites our thoughts to go back to our great treasure of knowledge. She stepped in the land of Kerala not only for attaining a Master Degree in Sanskrit but also to strengthen her knowledge in the most neglected language. The ancient language of India has opened up a new world for her. In fact she has immersed in the glory and richness of this wonderful language.

Ellona Kedzia is now a first year post-graduate student of Sanskrit at Calicut University campus. Ellona’s

cynosure. The monuments and historical sites in India are representing the symbol of pristine culture. All these factors forced me to come to India again as a post-graduation student of Sanskrit,” says Ellona.

“After my graduation, I applied for Indian Council for Cultural Relation’s (ICCR) scholarship for foreign students. Fortunately, I was selected for the scholarship and came here with my friend Maya,” says Ellona.

According to her, Calicut University campus is one of the appropriate places for pursuing higher education in Sanskrit. All her teachers and friends are very co-operative and helpful. They never deemed her as a student from a foreign country and are boosting her to climb the heights of Sanskrit.

Now she is an ardent fan of the great poetic legend Kalidasa. The artistic beauty of his works steals her hearts. But till now, she has not

I am trying to learn the works of Kalidasa again and again. I really surprised on the artistic value of his works love for Sanskrit has begun from her passion towards India. It was Indology that Ellona completed in her graduation. “As a part of my graduation, I got opportunity to learn Sanskrit language and literature.

Sanskrit was a novel subject to me.

The beauty of that language enticed me a lot. I never felt Sanskrit as a language from outside. I have been considering Sanskrit as my own language since my acquaintance with it,” Ellona expresses her love of Sanskrit to Education Insider.

“While doing graduation, I got an opportunity to visit India and that further tightened my love towards Sanskrit. During that visit, I was really surprised to know that India was a wonderful country where people from different religions live with peace and tolerance. No other country can claim this tradition. Unity in diversity is viable here,” says Ellona.

“The beauty of the land is another

78

obtained an opportunity to watch any Sanskrit drama on the stage. “I am trying to learn the works of Kalidasa again and again. I really surprised on the artistic value of his works.

How a writer can express his thoughts like this?

No doubt Kalidasa is a god-gifted writer. Above all, I am eagerly waiting to see the presentation of Sanskrit dramas on stage. I hope that my dream would become a reality soon,” says Ellona.

According to her, in Poland, students have very less opportunities for pursuing higher studies in Sanskrit. But India has been providing umpteen opportunities for pursuing higher studies in Sanskrit and students from here are not interested in it. It is really shameful and pathetic.

The friendly nature and helping mentality of Keralaites also attracted her. But it was really a struggle for her to acclimatise with the weather.

“In Poland, normally we have cold climate. But here is very hot,” says Ellona. The landscape of the Kerala is too beautiful and attractive. Kerala style dishes like chicken curry, and fish curry are my favourites,” adds Ellona.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2012