digitalLEARNING February 2014

Asia’s premier Monthly Magazine on ICT in Education

volume 10

I issue 02 I february 2014 I ISSN 0973-4139 I ` 75

education.eletsonline.com

inside Problems in Higher Education and Challenges before RUSA Prof (Dr) S S Chahal, Chancellor, Desh Bhagat University, Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab

Poor Research Leads to Mediocrity Prof S Satyanarayana, Vice Chancellor, Osmania University, Andhra Pradesh

School educators of

tomorrow

Innovators thinking ahead of time

2nd

KnOwleDGe EXCHANGE, new Delhi higher education

7 - 9 March 2014 New Delhi

Contents

ISSN 0973-4139

volume 10 issue 02 february 2014

School Educators of

P 16

Tomorrow

60

first person 52

Problems in higher education and challenges before RUSA Prof (Dr) S S Chahal, Chancellor, Desh Bhagat University, Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab

State to have 80 new ITIs by 2017 Dr Chandrasekhar Kumar, Commissioner cum Secretary, Employment & Technical Education & Training Department, Government of Odisha

school educators 54

58 Enhancing GER and quality is the way forward Usha Padhee, Commissionercum-Secretary, School and Mass Education Department, Government of Odisha

News 56

4

Poor Research Leads to Mediocrity Prof S Satyanarayana, Vice Chancellor, Osmania University, Andhra Pradesh

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8 School Education 12 Higher Education 14 Campus

Privatisation in education has led to competition Grace Pinto, Managing Director, Ryan International Group of Schools

EDITORIAL

The Age of Smart Learning Education has taken a whole new turn with the advent of technology. We cannot ignore the enthusiastic spree of older schools to upgrade their infrastructure and match up the modern day techno schools. Education has moved far beyond a chalk and talk model. We have witnessed the mushrooming of technology solution providers for almost every aspect of teaching-learning process, from smart boards for teaching to conducting online exams and assessments.

However, technology could not have penetrated into the teaching system so well without the massive contribution and ready-to-adapt attitude of the educators. It would be imprudent to say that this transition from chalks to mouse clicks happened in a day and without the support from educators.

And, it is not only technology-oriented teaching learning, but upgrading the vital components in school education like the pedagogy, infrastructure, sports activities and teachers’ training have also been on priority of these ambitious educators. These educators have thought ahead of time to prepare students for a better future.

In this issue, we have featured top innovators who have done amazing work in advancing their school by ensuring a healthy learning environment.

India is witnessing a big leap in school education sector, which is fueling demand for strong leadership abilities among school leaders to take this growth forward. With the objective of taking school education to the next level by strengthening leadership skills among school leaders, I am pleased to share with you that we will be organising the School Leadership Summit on February 8, 2014 in New Delhi. The conference will become a platform for those with an interest in education and digital inclusion to meet, mingle and deliberate over recent policy developments, technological advances and ground level practices.

The February issue also as a special coverage on education in Odisha, been documented with the purpose of highlighting the achievements of the state in the sector. It is my pleasure to proclaim that Dr ChandraSekhar Kumar, Commissioner cum Secretary, Employment and Technical Education and Training Department, Government of Odisha is the Guest Editor of the February issue of the magazine.

Dr Ravi Gupta Editor-in-Chief Ravi.Gupta@elets.in

digitalLEARNING / February 2014

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Asia’s premier Monthly Magazine on ICT in Education Volume

10

Issue 02

February 2014

President: Dr M P Narayanan Editor-in-Chief: Dr Ravi Gupta Group Editor: Anoop Verma

Partner publications

Advisory Board

WEB DEVELOPMENT & IT INFRASTRUCTURE Team Lead – Web Development: Ishvinder Singh

Prof Asha Kanwar, President, Commonwealth of Learning

Dr Jyrki Pulkkinen, Senior Adviser, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

Executive – IT Infrastructure: Zuber Ahmed

Dr Subhash Chandra Khuntia, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Govt of India

Prof V N Rajasekharan Pillai, Executive Vice President, Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment

Executive – Information Management: Khabirul Islam

Prof S S Mantha, Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)

Prof Parvin Sinclair, Director, National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT)

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Finance & Operations Team Sr Manager – Finance: Ajit Sinha Legal Officer: Ramesh Prasad Verma Associate Manager – Accounts: Anubhav Rana Executive Officer – Accounts: Subhash Chandra Dimri

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7-9 March 2014 Organisers

Editorial & Marketing Correspondence digitalLearning - Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd, Stellar IT Park Office No: 7A/7B, 5th Floor, Annexe Building, C-25, Sector 62, Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201301, Phone: +91-120-4812600 Fax: +91-120-4812660 Email: info@digitalLearning.in

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Owner, Publisher, Printer - Ravi Gupta, Printed at Super Cassettes Inds. Limited, C-85, Sector - 4, Noida, UP and published from 710, Vasto Mahagun Manor, F-30, Sector - 50, Noida, UP Editor: Ravi Gupta © All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic and mechanical, including photocopy, or any information storage or retrieval system, without publisher’s permission.

education.eletsonline.com | egov.eletsonline.com | ehealth.eletsonline.com Write in your reactions to Education news, interviews, features and articles. You can either comment on the individual webpage of a story, or drop us a mail: editorial@elets.in

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School

Education

To read latest news, log on to education.eletsonline.com

Directorate of Education issue Nursery admission guidelines The Directorate of Education has issued a batch of guidelines related to nursery admissions on grievance redress. The promised helpline has been set up and schools are required to display at the entrance contact information of the education officer whom parents can complain to.

The order directs all education officers (EOs) to get a flex board fixed at the main entrance of each unaided private recognized school falling in their jurisdiction. The board which has to be up by January

Training sessions for principals of CBSE schools The board with the Centre for Assessment and Research will conduct a review of assessment practices and hold training sessions for principals with the aim to improve the school based examination model in CBSE schools. The sessions will include discussions on global trends in examination assessments and innovative practices in schools across the world. The programme, ‘Reflecting on School-Based Assessment’ will give tips to the principals on leadership qualities and how to improve assessment models. Renowned senior research fellow of Oxford University Jim Tognolini will deliver the talk on global trends in assessments. Discussion on innovative assessment practices will also be held by Sadhana Parashar, CBSE director of academics, research, training and innovation.

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February 2014 / digitalLEARNING

10 must bear the education officer’s name, zone number, his office address and telephone number and mobile number in both Hindi and English.

The guidelines are meant to streamline the admission process and to facilitate speedy redressal of grievances of parents. In case the complaint to the EO goes unheard, the parents may contact the office of the education minister Manish Sisodia directly through the newly established helpline number, 011- 27352525.

3,000 area education officers to be appointed in Madhya Pradesh To monitor schools and ensure regular attendance of teachers around 3,000 Area Education Officers (AEOs) will be appointed during the 100day action plan of the school education department, as announced by the school education minister, Paras Chandra.Jain during a review of departmental action plan. The minister said that one AEO will be appointed for every 30 to 40 schools. Assistant directors will be appointed as Block Education Officers (BEO) to monitor schools and attendance of teachers, for which 450 posts have been created. One deputy director and two assistant director rank officers will also be posted at district level under the action plan to improve coordination in the districts.

Robotic education in government schools The dream of studying robotics is soon to be fulfilled for students of government schools in Karnataka. The department of state education research and training (DSERT) and Japanese University Saitama, along with Bangalore based LS Creative Learnings Pvt Ltd (LSCL) have collaborated to provide free robotic education to two government higher primary schools in Hosakerehalli and Veerabhadra Nagar.

The unique project comes under the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education of Saitama University.

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A plea for the common admission forms for Nursery The All-India Parents’ Association wrote to the Delhi Education Department to issue a common nursery admission form for the general category. The criterion for seeking nursery admissions according to the latest guidelines issued by Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung will depend on five things- neighbourhood up to six kilometers from the school, sibling studying in the institution, parent alumni in the school, inter-transfer case and female gender. The new guidelines clearly state that there shall be no management quota for nursery admissions in any private unaided recognized schools of Delhi. Moreover, the Right to Education Act has also

been made applicable to these admissions. As per the guidelines admission to a class will now be divided into four parts, 25 per cent of the seats are reserved for the economically weaker sections and disadvantaged groups, 5 per cent for wards of the staff/employees of the school and 5 per cent for girls. Common admission form could be huge step towards checking commercialisation of education and saving the parents from exploitation at the hands of the management. With progressive steps being taken, all eyes will be set on nursery admissions in the capital this year which will begin from next month.

Apeejay school bags an award for outstanding academics Apeejay School, Noida has been awarded as the ‘Best School with Outstanding Academics in Delhi-NCR’ by Royal Brands Pvt. Ltd. The award was presented by Kapil Sibal, Union Minister of Communication and Information Technology & Law and Justice. Schools like Shalom Presidency, Banyan Tree World School and Indus Valley Public School also participated

in the award ceremony. The winner was announced using the Royal Brands Indicative Consumer Insights (RBICI) TM Methodology, a proprietary tool of Royal Brands, to arrive at the final brand score. Factors like trust, belongingness, loyalty, providing quality and valuable services were considered while selecting the best school by Royal Brands Pvt. Ltd.

RTE and states’ efforts boost attendance Right to Education Act (RTE) and the state government’s priority to school education has resulted in immense growth in the attendance of teachers and students in state government schools in the country. There has been a remarkable improvement in the past six years, between 2006-07 to 2012-13, in the teacher and student attendance in schools.

The latest figures from the Human Resource Ministry shows that Bihar has made remarkable progress when it comes to school attendance both at primary and upper primary level.

But on the contrary, states like Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh have seen a decline in attendance of teachers both in primary and upper primary level.

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Higher

Education

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Centre to amend AICTE Act After much chaos and confusion in the technical education sector in the country after the Supreme Court ruling which had stripped the Indian Council of Technical Education (AICTE) of its powers to approve institutes offering technical courses, the centre has decided to amend the AICTE Act to restore the earlier powers of the AICTE. Affiliation of BE/BTech and other technical courses was left in limbo for 2014-15 following a Supreme Court verdict divesting the AICTE from governing these courses. As amending an Act is a long process which would need the approval of the Parliament, the centre has decided to make interim arrangements where AICTE would set standards for technical institutes and universities would provide the affiliation. The institutions will have to get themselves assessed by the National Board of Accreditation.

UGC to set up interim regulator for distance education University Grants Commission (UGC) has been instructed by a committee formed by Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) to set up an interim regulator and monitor the country’s distance education sector. As the Parliament is not likely to pass a Bill on putting in a regulatory authority anytime soon, the committee has also proposed the establishment of a Distance Education Council of India (DECI) which will monitor and regulate the content, examination and the institutes offering distance education. But the bill is not expected to be cleared anytime soon as there are already a number key MHRD bills awaiting clearance.

DECI is to be set up on the lines of AICTE, UGC and NCTE.

Colleges provide data for All India Survey on Higher Education 202 colleges affiliated to the Shivaji University, Kolhapur (SUK) have filed academic and administrative details for the ongoing All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE).The programme initiated by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, aims to create a database of the large, diverse system of Higher education in the country.

The AISHE for the academic years 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 are both currently under way, with different deadlines across the country. The survey focuses on enrollment at various levels, human resources, infrastructure, income and expenditure of all types of institutions engaged in higher education, offering courses on arts, science, agriculture, teachers’ education, management engineering, medical and nursing. The ministry has already started collecting data for the academic year 2010-2011 from last year.

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47% of graduates are unemployable: Study by Aspiring Minds Putting the education in India under scanner, a study concluded that nearly half of the graduates of this year are not employable for any job.

Identifying the key employability trends of 2013, the study by Aspiring Minds, a leading employability solutions company, discovered that a significant 47 percent of graduates of 2013 are unemployable in any sector given their English language and cognitive skills.

Of all the respondents in the survey, only 2.59 per cent of them were found employable in functional roles such as accounting, while 15.88 per cent were suitable for employment in sales related roles and 21.37 per cent for roles in the business process outsourcing sector. The study also revealed that there are 100 females to every 109 males pursuing three year degree programmes and are at par with male counterparts when it comes to employability.

President asks private sector to contribute to higher education Even as India had grown in leaps and bounds in terms of infrastructure in the higher education sector, there was a still a gap that needed to be bridged, both in material and non-material terms, said the President Pranab Mukherjee as part of his inaugural address at the School of Commerce and Economics at the Loyola College in Nungambakkam.

The president made a fervent appeal to the academic community to strive towards creating a culture of excellence and promote innovation in the universities. He also called on the private sector and individuals to come forward and help in building institutions of excellence and innovation in all fields. Encouraging the academicians the president said, “We have the best of students and teachers. All that is needed is coordination and focused efforts. We must develop our colleges and universities into world class academic institutions.

Universities to provide data online through DCF Universities and the affiliated colleges will now have to update information as per the Data Capture Format (DCF) in order to avail grants and funds provided by the Central government. Union joint secretary higher education, RP Sisodia addressed the representatives of the Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth (MGKV) and Sampurnanand University through video conference and instructed the administration of the universities and affiliated colleges to make the data available online through the DCF. The DCF is a part of the Central government’s project, All India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE) and aims at making the information including infrastructure, student strength, resources, result, budget, status of NAAC accreditation of the institute available online. As directed by the HRD ministry, the universities and affiliated colleges are required to provide relevant information in DCF at the website aishe.gov.in. At present out of 272 colleges affiliated to MGKV, only 21 have provided information, whereas only 183 colleges affiliated to Sampurnanad Sanskrit University have provided information, out of a total of 523 colleges.

102 homeopathy colleges to be inspected before February 15 The Central Council of Homeopathy (CCH) will inspect 102 homeopathy medical colleges across the country before February 15. The aim is to determine the availability of teachers, equipments, accommodation, training and other facilities at various colleges as specified in Homeopathy regulations. On the basis of the all inspection reports received, CCH will submit its final report and recommendations to the Central Government. Ramjee Singh, the president of CCH, a body that comes under Union Health Ministry, spoke about inspecting the homeopathy medical colleges at a seminar on homeopathy orgainsed by Jawaharlal Nehru Homeopathy Medical College, Ahmedabad Homeopathy Medical College and Rajkot Homeopathy Medical College on January 6, 2014. digitalLEARNING / February 2014

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Campus Campus

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IIT K places more than 1,000 students in first phase IIT Kharagpur creates record with maximum number of students getting jobs in the first phase of campus placements. Among all IITs, IIT Kharagpur is the only institute to have more than a thousand of its students already placed in the first phase of placements.

Around 1,010 students of the Kharagpur campus accepted job offers in the first round of placements which ended in December 2013.

There were 900 offers at IIT Mumbai while IIT Delhi got about 750 offers and IIT Kanpur had around 700 offers. At IIT Kharagpur, companies like Google, Microsoft, Oracle, Shell, Deutsche Bank, ITC, Schlumberger, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, Abbott, EXL, Flipkart and Housing.com made multiple offers in dual figures. The highest package offered was from a US based company which offered an annual salary of USD 1.25 lakh (around Rs 77 lakh).

Malaysia invites IIT to open a centre Malayasia, a country which has nearly two million people of Indian origin, has invited the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) to set up a branch in the country. Addressing the 12th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in New Delhi, Malaysian Federal minister for Natural Resources and Environment, Daru Seri G Palanivel invited IIT to set up a branch in the south-east Asian country.

He further added that several students from Malaysia come to India to get degrees in dentistry, engineering and medicine and some of the Indian educational institutions have already set up centres there. The Minister also stated that Malaysia would like to work closely with India in areas of biodiversity. Setting up a premier institute like IIT in Malaysia could prove to be beneficial for both the countries as it can cater to the educational needs of the students of Malaysia and would also help the people of Indian origin to connect with the land of their ancestors.

IIM C aims for dual accreditation of global reputation The Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIM C) will soon be the only B-school in India to be recognized by two of the world’s top B-school accreditation bodies, Association of MBAs (AMBA) and the Association to Advance Collegiate School of Business (AACSB). Inspection teams from both the accreditation bodies are likely to visit the campus before giving the final stamp of approval. The AMBA team will visit IIM C on January 14-15 and the AACSB is slated to visit the campus in June, 2014.

For greater acceptance of the institute globally, the board of governors of IIM C had decided to try for the two accreditations almost a year back. Consequently, the two bodies were approached for specifications. The required details like curriculum, teaching initiatives, quality of faculty and research, steps that have been taken to bring in foreign students, student feedback on teachers, placement records and employer feedback were furnished. Eventually the teams will be coming to cross-check the details provided and interact with faculty and students at the campus.

Punjab Technical University to set up Institute of Excellence Punjab Technical University (PTU) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) for setting up an Institute of Excellence (IOE) at Chandigarh. IOE intends to raise funds via grants and donation to finance scholarships for needy students. IOE expects to be self-financed for operating expenses. It will focus on high quality technical education and grant degrees in streams like Bio-Engineering, Bio-Informatics, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Network and Digital Technology, Robotic Engineering and Technology & Information Management. Till IOE attains the authority to grant degrees, PTU shall do the same. Students can choose to transfer to UCSC to complete their undergraduate or graduate education and get a degree from UCSC provided they meet UCSC’s admission and other criteria

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advertorial

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Doon Public School

An Odyssey Of Educational Excellence Inspiring Leaders To Scale New Heights

E

ducation at Doon Public School epitomizes exigent, engaging and inevitably satisfying curriculum incorporated with co-curricular activities so as bring the innate potential of the child to groom him to face the challenges with zeal and zest.

The aim of education is to make the school a rewarding journey which makes them the leaders of tomorrow who can shoulder the responsibility infused with immense confidence and commitment.

We believe education is an ongoing process and are committed to develop students’ knowledge, skills and passion for learning while expanding their horizons and exposing them to different cultures and ideas from around the world. Internationalism is at the core of the school’s education system : it’s what makes us unique. The British Council has introduced a unique Connecting Classrooms programme, which nurtures global citizenship through a range of online and offline activities undertaken by the teachers of our school. Our curriculum emphasizes global mindedness along with the academic excellence. As career opportunities increasingly hinge upon the ability to navigate a global economy, our school equips the students with the skills and experiences required for success at top universities and beyond. Year round international activities merged with the different subjects involving more and more students in the international work makes the teaching learning process truly immersive. The

school provides ample opportunities to the young minds with global standards of education and makes them part of a global community.

The school has set new benchmarks by taking initiatives to lay down novel ideas and ideals. We are the First school in India to have Computer Aided Teaching and Learning through Smart Class using Plasma Screens with Smart Assessment System (SAS ) in all the classes.

The ‘Biotechnology Lab’, with the facility of ‘tissue culture’ and the ‘Language Lab’ are one of their kinds. Our school in partnership with Scholastic India Pvt. Ltd has also initiated the Scholastic Reading Inventory for the students which is a reading comprehension test that assesses the child’s reading skills using the Lexile Framework for Reading. The SRI is an online computer –adaptive assessment that adapts to the child’s ability.

There has been a complete metamorphosis in the concept of teaching which is extraordinarily visible in our schoolbased teacher education programs, which have been created to rethink the relationship between theory and practice imparted by them. We bring about

significant and worthwhile changes in the teaching practices. The teachers of the school keep updating their skills by attending workshops so as to arm themselves to keep abreast with the changing times. They also attended a session

by British Council to discover various online courses available for teachers for Continuing Professional Development.

There has been a paradigm shift in teaching and learning where our primary concern is education for life that is imparting education embedded with life skills in order to combat the rigorous and cut throat competition in every field that requires not only the bookish knowledge but skill based education.

Aptly said by Alexander the Great, “ I am indebted to my father for living but to my teacher for living well”. Proving to the adage, stands testimony, the sound and conducive student friendly environs in the school which help to shape the future of the students, their institution and faculty. The student whose mind holds a curious medley of miracles feels proud to be a part of the school where he gets a pristine platform in mentoring by the teachers. digitalLEARNING / February 2014

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school educators

School Educators of

Tomorrow S

chool days are perhaps the best days of our lives. It is indeed that phase in which some of the best values like punctuality, self-discipline, friendship and team spirit are all imbibed by us during those days. In words of Albert Einstein, “Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school,” and perhaps these are the values that remains with us for the rest of our lives. And our teachers are the ones who take the centre position of education and the school principals play the role of a captain or master who drives this ship of knowledge.

Principals act as leaders to ensure that best education is imparted in their school. They are the ones who define pedagogy, ensure a sociable environment for teaching-learning and manage the overall functioning of a school thus often becoming the role models for children.

They are the ones who foresee future and impart quality training to students that will be useful for them for the rest of their lives; even in a future that lies at least a decade ahead of them.

However, till now insignificant efforts were made towards imparting leadership skills to the principals and teachers of schools. But, over the past few years, teachers’ training has attained one

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February 2014 / digitalLEARNING

of the top positions of priority list of government and regulators. According to a press release by Ministry of Human Resources Development early this year, a National Mission on Teachers and Training will be launched which will lay down a roadmap to improve the quality of teachers and teaching thereby improving the educational delivery and learning outcomes in higher education institutions and added that a sum of Rs 100 crore has been provided in Annual Plan 2013-14.

Addressing a meet on ‘ICT Leadership in Higher Education’ in Hyderabad in February 2013, the Union Minister for Human Resources Development M M Pallam Raju informed that there is no shortage of funds to upskill teachers. Not only the ministry, even bodies like the Central Board of Secondary Education, state education departments and private companies like the British Council have taken commendable initiatives to ensure quality training of teachers.

Apart from the commendable efforts being taken to improve school leadership, significant efforts are being made to perk up some of the essential elements to ensure a better learning environment in schools. Advancement of school infrastructure and pedagogy, introduction of sports in education,

teachers’ training and use of technology in teaching, learning and assessment have gained momentum in most government and private schools.

A school’s infrastructure is perhaps the most important element of a school.

It sets the stage for delivering knowledge.

The new teaching techniques adopted by teachers to train the young minds are gaining fast recognition among everyone associated with teaching and learning today. Nowadays, with the introduction of ICT tools in the field of education, almost every school is stressing upon creating a unique, innovative style of imparting knowledge, be it with the help of digital classrooms or by providing an all new perspective to the present curriculum. An altogether different way of teaching has made a great impact on the learning capacity of students. Looking at the ever increasing

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scope for pedagogical innovations, schools that were once reluctant to try the new-age teaching methods are no longer shying away from experimenting with it. The new-age teaching styles and methodologies adopted by the schools across India have increased their credibility and prestige manifold.

The introduction of ICT in Education has brought a breath of fresh air in the otherwise mundane way of teaching.

The digital learning experience enables students to get to the minutest of details, understand the various facets of the subject matter, and to find logical solutions to any problem at hand far more easily as the ICT tools leaves no stone unturned in making the curriculum interesting for them. An audio visual presentation has the capacity to engage a student thousand times more than a mere simple presentation.

ICT has become a vital component of the future of education in India with its ability to meet the world class education demands of the present.

It has further helped the students by introducing them to the school websites, alumni associations and forums which has served as a great platform for them to interact with their teachers and to also remain updated with the day to day happenings of their school. With incredible intervention of ICT, all the student related information like their attendance, marks, and performance is a click away now.

Along with quality academic education, modern day schools have also started giving vital importance to sports education for development of a child. It helps students to develop skills like cooperation, teamwork and sportsmanship. Sports nurture the

physical health, which allow students to function even better in classrooms.

It inculcates a sense of discipline and dedication in them which in a way helps students to give their best in all the activities in school. The schools Emphasis ensure physical and mental growth and development of a child through introduction of sports in education.

All these innovation at the school level would not have been possible without the open mindedness and ready-toadapt attitude of school principals. In this coverage, we would highlight the viewpoints of few principals on how they brought about a change in the knowledge ecosystem of their schools by boosting the infrastructure and pedagogy, encouraging use of technology, introducing sports in education and through teachers’ training.

Interviews by R Nandini, Elets News Network (ENN)

digitalLEARNING / February 2014

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school educators

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

Today’s parents are looking at other careers which may not have existed in their times Pedagogy - We have noticed a paradigm shift in our approach to pedagogy, from one from that of intervention, where there was a system of rewards and punishments, to one that is of prevention - where norms are established together with the class and the teacher needs to have leadership skills as a team player and a facilitator for learning.

Infrastructure - The recently aesthetically built school gate too creates an ambience for a perfect home away from home where there is moment to moment learning from a warm and a caring community.

Teachers’ Training - Teacher enrichment programmes are an

integral agenda of our school calendar where not only ours but teachers from other interested schools are invited to participate.

Keeping in tune with latest trends experts are invited from India and abroad to delve on various topics and disciplines. Some of these workshops recently conducted are Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences by Margaret Warner (UK), Discipline Through Love and Logic by Betsy Gedes (USA), Boarding School Management by Tim Holgate (UK), Value Education

by Stan Davies(USA), Exam Skills

by Dr Sunita Gandhi and sessions on Comprehensive and Continuous Evaluation by CBSE Trainers.

Technology - We are one of the foremost schools to introduce computer literacy programmes, classroom computer-based Audio Visual Learning, ERP, sophisticated Robotics Lab, dedicated touch and feel Math and Geography lab, interactive technology-enabled English lab, Wi-Fi enabled campus.

Sports - Games and sports form a major part of our daily routine.

Mala B Menon, Principal Cochin Refineries School, Ambalamugal Pedagogy - The introduction of digital classrooms and online report card generation have lead to a major advancement in teaching-learning.

Infrastructure – We follow the directions of CBSE in enlivening the campus.

Technology - With intervention of technology in education in our school, teachers are less burdened and parents are happy with the online viewing of their ward’s progress.

I strive to prepare students for a future in which educational institutions will cater to the demands of skill based education; rote learning will disappear and students will be equipped to face the challenges more bravely

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

I believe in appreciating in public and giving positive reinforcement to a misguided child in private Pedagogy - We are one of the rare school who have changed the system of learning and teaching by using (i)‘Design Think’approach (ii) Thematic teaching in primary classes, (iii) Tiered learning system that takes into account the multiplicity of students academic levels, (iv) Subject specific classroom with rich educational aids and tools, (v) Every teacher prepare topic specific lesson plans and they pool for further reference and improvement (vi) Diagnosis of students weakness through scientific question bank having topic specific tiered learning and remedial teaching.

Infrastructure - The school is rich enough, having state of art facilities like an auditorium swimming pool, skating rink, basketball court, short tennis courts, unique science park, splash pool and sand pit, smart

classrooms, electronic lab, specially designed weather station installed by IIT Delhi among several others.

Teachers’ Training - We have a separate cell to identify areas of orientation/ updation and the same is taken up quite frequently. Our teachers themselves prepare text books and upgrade these regularly according to need. We have our own publication cell to look into the areas of importance at formative years of teaching and learning.

Technology - The use of smart boards and web links made the teaching learning process more interesting.

Sports – Our School had been overall champion in the zone and received the trophy for games and sports.

Pedagogy - We have adopted a student-centric system right from the base. For us each child is important and each child is special in his or her own way. The stress is on learning by doing and handson activities help the students learn in their own way, inter disciplinary instruction combined with collaborative learning making students acquire the skills of questioning, analysing, exchange in ideas result in critical thinking.

Dr Shashi Banerjee, Principal Bhavan Vidyalaya, Panchkula

Doing good even when no one is watching’ is the principle on which I work with. My actions speak louder than my words

Infrastructure - The school today can boast of an elite infrastructure in terms of a 700 seater auditorium, state of the art gymnasium, an international level skating rink, a swimming pool, a paper recycling unit to name just a few of the extensive facilities.

Teachers’ Training - We keep a minimum of hundred hours each

every year dedicated to professional and academic growth of teachers and students. Towards this regular seminar, workshops awareness camps, fiestas are conducted to empower teachers and students.

Technology - As technology has become an inherent part of our education system, all functioning has become easy and quick. With the click of a button, we are able to access a world of knowledge.

The use of technology has helped in adopting innovative and activity based methods of teaching, the teaching learning process has become more fun filled, enjoyable and interactive experience.

Sports – We lay equal stress on honing the sporting, scholastic and co-scholastic skills of our students right from day one.

digitalLEARNING / February 2014

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school educators

Pedagogy - The focus and priority of the syllabus is to define and implement an integrated approach through various functional skills and integrated projects.

Infrastructure - There are ICT labs in the school, each equipped with latest high configuration terminals.

Any class room can be equipped with computers through trolley based system along with LCD projectors.

There are AV rooms facilitated with LCD projectors and we use smart board for conducting smart classes.

B Vinod, Principal Delhi Public School, Patna

Teachers’ Training - We provide various seminars and workshops to teachers through experts from different areas. We have a team

of master trainers who have been trained by experts to conduct the pedagogical training on various topics for teachers. We have study groups formed to keep the teachers abreast with the latest happenings in their subjects.

Technology - Technology enables finer differentiation and personalization as shown by the research and it can support improved learning outcomes for disadvantaged learners.

Sports - In our school we have been promoting sports through various programs like interschool football, basketball, table tennis and chess championships.

Effective use of ICT across the curriculum results in significantly increased levels of pupil engagement

Dr Satyendra Kumar, Principal Birla School, Pilani

Pedagogy - Effective teaching learning process through technology is a dire demand of every progressive school. It is very necessary to make a rhythm at the global learning environment.

to attend at least two week training in the different areas in campus/ off campus. These trainings aim to change the mindset of teachers towards desired field of the organisation.

Infrastructure - During my tenure a lot of infrastructure has developed in the hostel and school both. New departments started as Biotech, A V Room, Knowledge Resource Centre, Digital Library, Language Lab. A new branch for day scholars has also started with all necessary and advanced facilities.

Technology - We adopted all teaching learning techniques through technology as interactive boards, smart classes, smart home work mode, and smart communication system at all levels.

New technologies have also been adopted by the school for the safety and security in the hostel and school.

Teachers’ Training - A teacher has

Principal of the school is not only a role model for the kids but for all the stake holders. So he should be well versed with all administrative skills in related fields like finance, marketing, human resource and of course he must be very good teacher in his subject. He should be able to set a trend with strong systematic method, good reflections from all sides of the organisation

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education.eletsonline.com

Col Dr K S Saini, Principal

Vandna Joshi, Principal

St Kabir School, Hisar

DPS Bopal, Ahmedabad

Expectations of parents changed over time, now they want more exposure and activities for holistic development of child

Pedagogy – We are exploiting diverse audio visual material for teaching students.

Pedagogy – We have remedial classes for weaker students, strictly banned copying of work, conduct SDC (special doubt classes) by experts. We conduct special summer camp completely free of cost and covered different aspects of academics and co curricular activities like math puzzle game, science models, pottery, painting, teaching aids, cooking, stitching, farming and many others Infrastructure - We have social science and math lab, Disney activity room with books, play cards, puzzles, yoga kit, basket ball kit and block puzzles, solar light in school campus, play station for students, open library for teachers and students to use leisure time during holidays and small herbal park and nests for birds.

Teachers’ Training - We conduct workshop for teachers by career experts to connect with latest opportunities and also encourage our teachers to visit various workshops, lectures and educational exhibitions.

Technology - ICT has strengthened bond of education between teachers and students. It allows students to have access to more comprehensive sources of information. It has allowed students to progress at their own pace as they can evaluate their skills at home with the available web assignments.

Sports - Sports and games are very important as they keep us healthy and fit. They offer us a change from the monotony of daily life. It is useful means of entertainment and physical activity. Sports and games help us in character building and give us energy and strength.

It helps a child to learn how to maintain mental balance in the midst of hopes and despair and to tackle situation in difficult times.

Infrastructure - We have added several interconnected server rooms that enables teachers to access central database of material. All classrooms are part of LAN having access to internet after appropriate authentication. Servers are firewalled to ensure that undesired content/websites are restricted and even viruses are kept out of the network.

Teachers’ Training - Rigorous training for teachers is a continuous activity.

Newly joined teachers are updated and trained during their orientation period regularly.

Technology - We have an online portal which is an interface between school, parents and teachers, smart classrooms, 24x7 internet facility in our school.

Remedial teaching will be more important as technology will make learning easier for endowed students in the coming future

digitalLEARNING / February 2014

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Special Feature Feature Special

Complete Skills Solution for Schools Lead In: For a country that aspires to become the growth engine of the world, and an economic superpower, it is imperative that largest part of the population –the youth- are trained to meet the challenges of the international business and market. When one considers this, it seems to be a worrying scenario for India because the youth we are turning out as graduates are barely employable and children studying in school fail to catch up in basic reading skills and arithmetic.

Education in India is never a simple affair because India is a vastly diverse country with its people speaking different languages and hailing from different backgrounds-economic and cultural.

However, they all require to be united for the vision of economic superpowerdom because unless the country moves in the same direction with the same goals, it would not be possible to translate it into reality. Education has the responsibility to do it and equip the young minds with the requisite skills and competencies that the world demands today. In India, education policy leaves a lot to be desired because we do not take the global best practices into consideration while planning country’s education. For instance, if internationalization of education is the order of the day, schools in the country should work toward competing in terms of PISA and for this, teachers have to be trained and students have to be equipped to perform in terms of these global parameters. When that happens at a large scale, in fact at a national level, India will figure somewhere in top 10 in the list of countries with respect to PISA rankings.

It is remarkable to note that the countries which are doing well today in PISA rankings are unlikely but deserving countries

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such as Finland, Singapore and South Korea. The Times of India remarked about Indian scenario in 2012: India’s poor performance in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests (India ranked 71 out of 73 nations) sparked a raging controversy about the adequacy of our education system. The fact is that in India we are still, by and large, trapped in the paradigm of teaching “content”. All over the world (including China), the shift has been towards teaching “skills”, that are necessary for making a truly global 21st century citizen. (The Times of India, Oct 09, 2012) For such ‘truly global 21st century citizens’ to emerge from our classrooms, it requires different pedagogy, curriculum, technology and infrastructure. But it would be ideal to assess where we actually stand in the school education scenario.

The National Scenario The ground reality is that more than

56.2% (2011) to 58.3% (2012). (ASER 2012) There is some more pain for those concerned regarding education when one considers that the percentage of all children enrolled in Std. III who cannot read a Std. I level text has increased steadily from 53.4% (2009) to 54.4% (2010) to 59.7% (2011) to 61.3% in 2012.

The percentage of all children enrolled in Std. III who cannot read a Std. I level text has increased steadily from 53.4% (2009) to 54.4% (2010) to 59.7% (2011) to 61.3% in 2012.

For children enrolled in government schools, this figure has increased from 57.6% in 2010 to 64.8% in 2011 to 67.7% in 2012.

In 2010, of all children enrolled in Std. V, 29.1% could not solve simple twodigit subtraction problems with borrowing. This proportion increased to 39% in 2011 and further to 46.5% in 2012.

Barring Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala, every major state shows

In India, education policy leaves a lot to be desired because we do not take the global best practices into consideration while planning country’s education half of all children in Std. V are at least three grade levels behind where they should be. In 2010 nationally, 46.3% of all children in Std. V could not read a Std. II level text. This proportion increased to 51.8% in 2011 and further to 53.2% in 2012. For Std. V children enrolled in government schools, the percentage of children unable to read Std. II level text has increased from 49.3% (2010) to

signs of a substantial drop in arithmetic learning levels. The proportion of all children enrolled in Std. V who could not do division problems has increased from 63.8% in 2010 to 72.4% in 2011 to 75.2% in 2012. In rural India as a whole, two years ago about two thirds of all children in Std. V could not do simple division. In 2012 this number is close to three fourths.

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As far as English is concerned the picture is as grim or even worse. In ASER 2012, children were given a set of simple English reading and comprehension tasks. Across rural India, 48.9% children enrolled in Std. V could read English words or more, and 22.5% could read simple English sentences. Among all children enrolled in Std. VIII, 47% could read sentences.

students in the Indian way. The module on Vedic Mathematics can make a vital value addition to the school experience of a student and equip him/her with the ability to deal with the challenges of a subject like Mathematics. It is stating the obvious that the students find it difficult to catch up with the communication proficiency in English at undergraduate and post graduate lev-

Station-e has evolved the Complete Skills Solution for School which caters to the needs of training students for Vedic Mathematics, Communication Skills and Computer Skills It is these children who graduate from schools to colleges and universities for higher learning and one can imagine the woes of the teacher and taught with this kind of grooming in schools. No wonder why our graduates do not come across as skilled and readily employable.

It is beyond doubt that the poor performance of our graduates is inextricably linked to their skilling in school. Hence, it is fair to conclude that the root cause of our plight in higher education and resultant lack of skilled manpower and entrepreneurial talent lies in the substandard schooling. It is also fair to conclude that if India works hard at school education, it could all be turned upside down.

Station-e: Complete Skills Solution for Schools Considering the dire state of key subjects and skills like Mathematics and English, Station-e has evolved the Complete Skills Solution for School which caters to the needs of training students for Vedic Mathematics and Communication Skills. It also trains the students for computer skills because it is fundamental to the access, and enables them for the digital ways of the 21st century education and workspace. It is significant that we bring Vedic Mathematics back because it will enable students to generate interest in Mathematics and sharpen the mathematical ability of

els and school students are much more receptive to language skills. Moreover, language skills incorporated into the education experience of school students would enable them to pursue more ambitious career options more confidently.

During school years, if students are initiated into communication skills in English, they will be equipped with the language of access, opportunity and upward mobility and it will render them far more effective in pursuit of higher studies in India or abroad which is conducted entirely in English medium.

There is another aspect to education that is inextricably linked with access and 21st century ways of knowledgecomputer skills. Students who are good at computer skills are enabled to operate in the digitally defined world of today, and those do not take it seriously find it difficult to spare time and energy later on from their demanding years of higher studies. Secondly, like language skills, students need to work on computer skills in the early stage of their education because it is not easier but it is also Author

more advantageous in their studies and growth as 21st century students.

A comprehensive skills repertoire for schools is one-stop solution for all that is required to be integrated into school education- Vedic Mathematics, Communication Skills and Computer Skills to prepare them better for challenges of school education and enable them to develop skills essential for increasingly competitive world of higher studies. Station-e Complete Skills Solution has been conceptualized to address the issue of school education with respect to equipping our school students to compete at national and international levels so that we find our rightful place in not only in PISA ratings but also subsequently in higher education ratings, and any other rating that may pose a challenge to the young Indian minds.

Dr Haresh Tank

Dr. Haresh Tank is Director, Station-e Language Lab. In the capacity of Director, he is in charge of conceptualizing and operationalizing initiatives with a special focus on Skills Development. He holds a doctorate in Statistics and is a noted Statistical Analyst. He was also nominated for Young Scientist Award. With a passion for teaching and contributing to the society, he continues to serve as Associate Professor in Statistics. As a Director, Station-e Language Lab, he has initiated several projects in the realm of Skills Development with Government and private companies. digitalLEARNING / February 2014

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school educators

We don’t know the kind of jobs which will be available 20 years hence and yet we are trying to prepare students for the same. Hence all we can do as educators is, give them the roots and wings to fly

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

Shalini Nambiar, Director Excelsior American School, Gurgaon Pedagogy - Teaching is becoming a difficult because of increasingly numerous contradictory expectations.

Our goal is to create entrepreneurs, innovators, artists, scientists, thinkers and writers who can establish the foundation of knowledge based economy.

Teachers’ Training - We are trying our level best to train educators as they must prepare for a technology rich future and keep up with change by adopting effective strategies that infuse lessons with appropriate technologies.

Technology - Our classrooms equipped with smart boards enabling teachers to teach in a more interactive manner. We allow iPads from class 8, making it easier for students to take down information. We have also asked educators to create whatsapp groups of their students so that informationcan be passed on easily.

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India will be churning young, effective human resource for the entire world, which means we need to equip our students with 21st century global skills in terms of communication, creative and critical thinking, collaboration, life and career, information, technology and media Pedagogy - We encourage inter-disciplinary approach to learning.

With the aim of making learning experiential, we encourage activity based learning in all subjects.

Infrastructure - Our classrooms are SMART enabled. We also use Detailed Assessments and Mindspark for formative assessments and individualised learning. Teachers are free to use their personal iPads, Android devices in the classroom. We plan to have tablet enabled special education lab for children with learning disability.

Teachers’ Training - Our teachers attend a wide range of workshops conducted by DPS society, CBSE, Sahodaya Clusters, Teacher Training Foundation and other independent bodies. A strong partnership with British Council through workshops, ISA project, action research, connecting classrooms, drama and theatre workshops, teaching of English workshops, sports, photography and filmmaking competitions has enabled us to develop a global dimension and bring internationalism into our teaching learning process.

Technology - All our teachers are familiar with basic use of computers and the use of SMART technology. The school website management is completely handled by teachers and students. We also encourage teachers to enroll in online course like COURSERA for professional development.

Sports - We believe that a healthy body houses a healthy mind. A structured PE curriculum during and after school, provides students with exposure to a wide variety of sport activities.

Special Feature

education.eletsonline.com

AIE helps Indian Schools teach through technology Technology is increasingly finding its way in mainstream education. Classrooms across India in urban and rural, private and public are beginning to employ technology in efforts to improve teaching and motivate learning.

W

ith the help of the American Institute of Enrichment, schools are embracing research driven and technology-based programmes. AIE programmes are practically priced to empower teachers to teach and students to learn more efficiently and effectively. AIE’s programmes are aligned to national and international board standards and include onsite comprehensive teachers’ training and support to ensure proper implementation. AIE’s programmes target to strengthen each student’s fundamentals in early years by supporting differentiated and leveled support.

Mathematics - AIE’s MathScore programme, for grades 1 - 8, has separate board aligned modules. MathScore empowers teachers to give individual attention to each student in a practical and effective manner through a game inspired platform. Through technology students get targeted math practice with step by step solutions while teachers get detailed reporting of student progress and mapping.

Writing - AIE’s WriteSteps programme, for grades 1 - 8, provides teachers with a step by step approach to teaching writing. WriteSteps makes teaching writing easier through daily lesson plans, teacher videos, and topic specific grading rubrics.

The programme is a six trait writing programme and uses the Writer’s Workshop Format.

Arts - AIE’s Meet the Masters Art programme, for grades 1 - 8, helps teachers provide a deep understanding of art

through the study of 35 techniques used by 35 world renowned artists across 3 levels of difficulty. It helps provide an enriching exposure that not just focuses on developing skill level but also a rooted appreciation for art. With detailed lesson plans, videos, and efficiently designed units, the programme empowers art teachers to run a world-class art programme in their classrooms.

English - AIE’s Learning to Read and Comprehension Programmes are very effective in establishing a strong foundation in a student reading skills in the ear-

ly years. Through the use of technology, both programmes are able to develop a high level of reading skill enveloped in a game like playful and fun environment.

AIE’s Vocabulary Programme uses technology to deliver a new platform where words are learned through their etymology and other critical thinking exercises.

Students are engaged and challenged as they learn new vocabulary instead of simply memorizing words and their definitions.

Visit us at www.theaie.org or email info@theaie.org for additional information. digitalLEARNING / February 2014

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school educators

Rajeshwari Sawant, Principal Gwalior Glory, Gwalior

We ensure that every lesson the teacher teaches has a value generated out of it so that students are indirectly learning the values they need to possess in life. We wish to develop the never say die attitude in all our staff and students

Dr Rajesh Kumar Chandel, Principal Gyan Ganga International School, Jabalpur Pedagogy - We have installed internet networks, workable configuration of multimedia, educational software and technically competent teachers.

Pedagogy - We believe that every child has some inherent potential which should be recognised and then that skill be honed. Our class strength is restricted to 20 students per teacher so that students get personalised attention.

Teachers’ Training - We have developed a resource pool to train teachers on various aspects of pedagogy, students behaviour, student psychology and technology enhanced teaching. We ensure that every teacher lives up to the mark by constantly guiding them on working smartly and involving them in different aspects of school’s working.

Technology - We have 32 classes equipped with Smart boards. We use Quick school software to manage things. Teachers are trained to use these modules to communicate with students, parents and also upload assignments and receive them online. Parents can also log in with their unique ID and peruse their child’s progress, attendance, fees, circulars and others.

Sports - Every day the students of each class are out in the playgrounds for some physical activity which we have brought under the school health and wellness club.

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Teachers’ Training - We specifically focus on professional growth of teachers. We have organised many national workshops and seminars for teachers within and outside the school premises.

Technology – Digital classrooms have been installed for rapid and clear instructive learning. We have also implemented use of multimedia and open education resources.

Sports - Numerous sports development have taken place in our school and we have won many trophies in various sports. Co-curricular activities contribute a lot to the student’s development.

As a Principal, I believe in creating conditions which ensures that professional growth is a part of Our school culture

Special Feature

education.eletsonline.com

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

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ecent research and studies indicate that exploiting a child’s innate creativity by giving a young mind the licence to ideate, ask questions, make connections and see patterns, makes for a clearer-thinking adult.

One does not have to approach the term creativity only in terms of adeptness in the arts. That is an old, uncreative idea in itself. An emergent thought is that creativity can manifest itself in anything. And it is a skill or device as important as logic (or maybe more) when it comes to problem-solving. The online version of Cambridge Dictionary explains creativity as “that which generates original or unusual ideas”.

Our formal education system needs now to open to creativity and the use of lateral thinking as means to produce quality students and thereby quality personnels in the long run.

Since every parent wants that their children have an education that will equip them to face worldly challenges and as we already know challenges can be surmounted with creativity, it may be interesting to consider how creativity may be integrated with in-classroom activities using information technology in a practical setting rather than empty reams of theory in a textbook.

Why information technology?

Because whether we like it or not, kids today soak in more in terms of technology compared to any generation prior.

One often hears mothers boasting of how their little one “took a selfie using my cell phone without my showing her how to”, or a father speaking of how deftly “my child knows exactly how to get to the cartoon channel on TV by simply watching someone else operate the remote”.

The truth is that children naturally take to technology simply because it is all around them. It is a part of their ‘eco system’; it is in their web of ‘being’. And since school is a natural progression in the developmental chart of a child’s life it only makes sense to use information technology to boost this progression.

Additionally, scientific and design leaps in information technology now allow for educationists to use specific tools within and beyond the boundaries of a classroom to release a child’s natural ability to create and develop new ideas. Some of these include using multi-media in the form of books or movies available online or activity laboratories that help children have what is termed ‘experiential learning’.

Merits of Experiential Learning By its very name, the term dictates that children tilt their minds towards innovation by looking at ‘interesting experiences’. For instance, a child learning how to model a bridge might realize that using a pack of cards to build a bridge may not be as sturdy as using twigs.

Allowing a child to explore both material types, teaches them the more scientific properties of weight, mass, density and durability. If the same experiment is now taken to a design level in a virtually created laboratory, it opens up more avenues for the child to explore what may be the best way to construct the model for a bridge. It helps the child ideate. This, vis a vis a textbook merely telling the child of how the world’s best bridges were constructed. While the latter tells the child what to do, the former allows the child to test and verify. There is a chasm of difference between the two teaching methodologies, which eventually leads to stark differences in how that

mind would approach a problem in his or her adult life—within the workplace and outside of it.

Some other new-age learning methods would be to engage students in workshops replete with group learning exercises. Here, they would not only learn how to experiment, but learn to do so within a group. It initiates teambuilding—another key criterion to a stellar career in today’s marketplace.

Other interesting tools in education to expand a child’s creativity include using music, poetry, comic book, art and story-telling techniques to help children build their own unique approaches to problem-solving.

New-age learning provides children with books that goad them to ask questions rather than merely give them answers. A lesser-known fact about scientist Albert Einstein is that his mother, who was a key figure in young Einstein’s life, always asked him upon his return from school daily, “did you ask any interesting questions today, Al?”. It brings up a very important avenue for discussion in terms of what a child must receive in terms of quality education. For years, our formal systems of education have been providing our kids not only with questions but also the corresponding ‘appropriate’ answer. New-age learning allows children to ask their own questions and come up with their own correct answers after testing these out themselves.

It is time we allow our children the luxury of exploring the world of colour around them by letting them step outside the limited gray world of their textbooks.

Article contributed by : Anil Goyal CEO and Director Mexus Education Pvt Ltd digitalLEARNING / February 2014

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school educators

Pedagogy – We ensure that student’s individuality is protected, the child is the centre of our thought process. The child takes up the agenda in the class everyday so that he/she feels supreme. We believe in focusing on the base line performance of the children and then adding to their performances and personal grooming of the children.

Infrastructure – We have an academic research and development team and they keep themselves updated about technologically and socially prevalent educational scenario.

Technology – Student information system has improved substantially. Now parents and students can access all the information online. We use the tab system which has all the subjects and can be accessed through internet.

Indu Kaul, Principal Indus World School, Gurgaon

Teachers will have to keep themselves well versed to meet the educational requirements

Sanjay Suar, Principal KiiT International School, Bhubaneswar

The future of Education will be defined in terms of quality together with inclusiveness that it can bring

Pedagogy – In order to excel, it is important that there is a constant attempt to look beyond the textbook and make constant value additions to the curriculum. Our pre-primary curriculum has been designed to enable students to explore and discover the joys of learning. Theme based teaching with integration of concepts has made learning experiential and meaningful. An excellent faculty in our Kinder Orland system has ensured that children look forward to school and learn with fun.

Infrastructure – Excellent infrastructure with an eye on the

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future ensured that we have a fully enabled Wi-Fi campus, smart classrooms so that both students and teachers are technologically enabled from the start. A 24- hour CCTV surveillance system ensures safety and security of all concerned.

A fully automated library in the campus is another of our priorities.

Besides, a specially designed language lab for enabling reading, oral and aural skills in children has proved to be a great enabler.

Technology – Not just smart classes but we also provide online test systems that have proved to be very useful for students. This is backed by a Detailed Assessment System where customised feedback is provided to each examinee along with suitable reinforcement guidance. STEM Education has been our priority. High-tech digital art laboratory has also brought a new dimension to our art and craft department.

Teachers’ Training – We take up a lot of faculty development programs in order to keep them abreast with the best practices in the world.

Sports – A guided sports program with a tie-up with EduSports helps to make school a wonderful experience.

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Navita Puri, Principal Kundan Vidya Mandir, Ludhiana

Nirmal Mahna, Principal KC International School, Jammu

India’s future educational scenario will be skill based rather than factual knowledge cramming base Pedagogy – We believe that teaching aids should be so selected that their impact be cumulative rather than fashionable. Our belief enabled us to choose the best suited IT based learning packages which added cumulatively towards the learning experience of the students.

Infrastructure - Infrastructural development in our institution is aligned with the philosophy that each child deserves individual learning space. Thus, we attempt to maintain ideal student teacher ratio in our school which simply translates into creating a large number of spacious classrooms, well equipped laboratories and multiple usage extra-curricular activities spaces.

Teachers’ Training – Our institution believes in training the teachers through contemporary workshops oriented towards best teaching processes and procedures. These workshops are organised with the help of resource management organisations which specialise in the knowledge enhancement and development according to the latest trends.

Technology – Our endeavour is to provide multiple sensory stimuli through the selected learning packages whose potential is enhanced in the multi-media laboratories established in the school. This mode of learning experience communicated through well equipped learning pads has greatly been instrumental in exposing our students towards quality education.

Pedagogy – We believe in engaging the senses of children and not just their cognitive abilities, providing flexibility in the ways in which you judge students, ability to communicate a passion for the subject matter and an interest in how people learn it, support children’s learning in social groups, respect and affirm what children already know, while inviting them to expand and deepen their knowledge and learn new things.

Infrastructure – We have projector enabled classrooms and are also planning to collaborate with e-learning portals.

Teachers’ Training – We provide training to teachers to keep them abreast with latest technology and developments.

Technology – Technology has resulted in timely completion of intricate projects and deepened interest and creativity.

Education will teach us the lesson of Light and Love. It will help us give up limits of mine and thine

Sports – We have indoor and outdoor sports facilities to facilitate the overall development of a child.

digitalLEARNING / February 2014

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school educators

Dr Pascal Chazot, Principal Mahatma Gandhi International School, Ahmedabad

MGIS created the space for alternative education to co-exist with the existing education system and paved the way for the Right to Education Act through its practice of inclusion Pedagogy – The school is based on the tenets of equality and freedom, a school with no uniforms or school bells. MGIS strives to create a schooling experience that promotes inter-cultural understanding and mutual respect by encouraging all forms of diversity within and without the classroom in order to engender diverse learner interactions, which are a fundamental resource to its innovative pedagogy.

Infrastructure – We have a fully

Pedagogy – Our focus has been on developing a school culture, one that fosters respect and humanity in school which the students carry to home, to the society and to the country at large. We have been aiming at physical and emotional safety and individual success of teachers and students. We have tried to shift focus from content to process and enhance collaborative learning and interdisciplinary learning.

Infrastructure – For a student to excel in life we need to lead in a manner which trickles down to each student.

Our policy of inclusive education has worked wonders with children.

We have tried to empower children by giving them responsibilities where they learn decision making and problem solving. This has been

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functional computer lab, an audio visual lab, an editing studio, a stage and a cafeteria with professional equipment, Bose speakers, science labs etc. All spaces are dynamic and multifunctional. The school also houses a research center and a dynamic teacher training center within the school building.

Teachers’ Training – We have an in-house teacher training centre at MGIS where the senior teachers of the school train new recruits and

Mamta Wadhwa, Principal Manav Rachna International School, Faridabad The biggest challenge that one can face in bringing about developmental changes is when we try to shift the emphasis from accumulating knowledge to creating knowledge

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share their professional expertise in the field. We conduct trainings throughout the year to equip them to deliver the innovative pedagogy of our school as well as provide professional development across the continuum of their career.

Technology – MGIS was one of the first schools in the city and the state of Gujarat that used Apple Technology. We also have iPads and computers which are freely used by students. Teachers use a mix of print books and ebooks to facilitate the classes and children have access to a state of the art editing studio where they use applications like iMovie and iBooks Authors along with professional application like Final Cut Pro X. We have a Wi-Fi campus with internet connectivity to students and teachers.

achieved through student council members wherein they host and organise events, handle sensitive disciplinary issues and manage day to day routines.

Technology – Our school has partnered with iCarnegie, USA Pittsburg which is an educational subsidiary of Carnegie Mellon University, USA. Students are provided with Robotics as a platform to learn Computer Science, Technology, Engineering and Math at junior, middle and high school level.

The learning management system enhances the learning aspects both at school and home effectively.

Teachers and students have access to latest technology with interactive smart boards along with projectors and laptops.

Dr Sarvesh Naidu, School Executive Director Pathways World School, Gurgaon We need to train the students in proper use of Information Technology and also sensitise them about the ill effects of the same Pedagogy – Pathways has been pioneer in integrating IT into education. In the larger scheme of things, we approach IT as a tool rather than just as a subject. We believe in using IT for better learning experience.

Infrastructure – Pathways is the first school to have a campus wide Wi-Fi connectivity, way back in 2003. We constantly keep a watch about new advancements in IT and keep on introducing them in the school. We have a generous policy on technological advancements and regularly keep upgrading our IT infrastructure.

Teachers’ Training – We regularly conduct teacher training programs which are spread across the academic year. We conduct these programs not only with our in house resources but also invite trainers from outside.

Technology – We have an integrated school management solution covering all aspect of school administration, we introduced iPads in early childhood education and use digital databases and Encyclopaedias. We integrate effective use of IT in lesson delivery in the classrooms. So be it lesson planning, planning the daily schedule, communication amongst teachers and students, collaborations, research, experimental simulations, analysis and presentations, IT plays a very important role in everyday classroom routine.

digitalLEARNING / February 2014

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school educators

Harish Sanduja, Principal Sai International School, Bhubaneswar

Krit Serai, Principal Satluj Public School, Panchkula

Pedagogy - We changed our report card system and made it more comprehensive and customized to the students. We followed the Howard Gardner’s Multi Sensory approach at primary level and made our teaching learning process activity based.

We made an online question paper making web based software for our teachers and now we are developing comprehensive lesson plans that are IT enabled.

Technology - Technology has taken the standard and quality of teaching to the next level, it has brought more ownership and transparency in our working styles, it has given time to teachers for more planning and above all it has made teachers to reach out to the students when they actually need them. We have brought transparency between the parent and the school regarding teaching learning process and the syllabus coverage.

I believe in an open door policy and hence I brought more transparency and approachability for students, They could come and share with me all that they want

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Poise and dignity of a principal, with strong moral values play a major role in shaping the lives of children Pedagogy - We added our own technological innovations to this basket of new technological trends. Every student at Satluj undergoes a vigorous technical training period alongside academics as academics with technological aptitude leads to a child becoming a true leader these days.

Infrastructure - Infrastructure development is my passion. We have a 12-acre campus equipped with latest technological infrastructure, two multi-purpose halls and one auditorium. Our stadia has a seating capacity of more than 5000 people. Every year, new buildings and blocks are added, designed aesthetically, keeping in view greenery which coincidentally is our school colour as well.

Teachers’ Training - We conduct regular in-house CBSE teacher training seminars. Renowned educationists from CBSE mentor our teachers. We have an annual appraisal as well. Usuall, every third Saturday is kept for staff training on technology, academic developments, global trends, counseling techniques, CBSE, CCE and others.

Technology – Smart classes enabled by top education companies, such as Educomp and Extramarks have revolutionized education.

Satluj is one of the pioneers of the region in this way we are the pioneers in smart classes and 3-D labs, when no one had even heard of them. Satlujians treat technology as a normal part of the academic programme. We have our own educational ERP where data on each child is recorded and shared with parents and guardians, ranging from class behavior to grades.

Sports – Satluj has the best sporting facilities of the region with a cricket pitch and practice nets, two swimming pools, a gymnasium equipped with latest facilities, horse riding, roller skating, golf and aeromodelling. We are developing an international level tennis arena in the school ground.

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Pedagogy - The deliverance of the curriculum is always monitored to make the learning process effective and interesting.

Infrastructure - We have science labs, math lab, computer lab, toy room, library, ball pool room for little children to be kept entertained when they come for admission, discovery room to provide detailed information of our school and our curriculum.

Teachers’ Training - Teacher training is carried out across the year about 5 to 6 times to update them on the latest developments.

Rashmi Singh, Principal Vibgyor High International, Lucknow

Technology – As we are connected online through usage of various software, a level of transparency is maintained.

Sports – We have laid out sports room, skating ring, basketball court, swimming pool and a gymnastic floor.

Evolving and adapting is something that India has always been practicing and the day is really not far when our Education system will be the most refined one

Yajuvendra Jadeja, Principal Sodha Schools, Jamnagar

The biggest challenge of our school and most of the other schools is teachers training. It is very easy to train someone to perform a skill but it takes real efforts to inculcate your vision and belief in someone Pedagogy - The pedagogy enables students to search, understand and critically appraise a topic and boil it down to knowledge. This pedagogy found its roots in ‘Hole in the wall’ developed by TED prize winner Prof Sugata Mitra.

Infrastructure - It’s very important for us to give students an infrastructure which provides them with an environment which can foster learning. We have built digital classrooms for students to enable them with the power of technology; one of the unique features which our school has is iPad Lab for students of pre-primary and primary

which increases the level of interest of students and makes learning fun.

Sports and extra-curricular activities are given equal importance.

Teachers’ Training - We have designed a three week induction training module for those teachers who join us. This module starts with the basic use of technology, use of developed pedagogy and extends to advanced levels of students assessment. The aim of this training is to train our teachers on how to improve the learning abilities and outcomes of student. Apart from the induction training there are two discussion forums every month

where teachers would share their views on improving the teaching techniques using technology.

Technology – The most important thing that technology has blessed our students with is the power of verification. Students can always grasp what the teachers teach and verify, analyse and learn later at their own convenience. This helps student to have a deeper understanding of the subjects taught. Student have the freedom to learn what they want and when they want, they can play – pause – rewind – replay.

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Pedagogy - We have done away with the old pedagogical methods.

We have introduced ICT in our school to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Through language lab, communication skills of the students are improved. In order to make our teaching transparent and effective, the question papers are not set by the concerned subject teacher.

Ravneet Kaur, Principal Guru Teg Bahadur International School, Gurdaspur

Teacher is a dispeller of darkness

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

Sports and academics are the two sides of the same coin

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Infrastructure - Excellent green boards and interactive boards have been installed replacing the old ones. Latest technology has been incorporated in the education system. The school library has a vast collection of books and we subscribe to a number of magazines and newspapers.

organise lectures for teachers on different subjects by experts in various fields. Teaching workshops and seminars are also organised.

Teachers are also sent to attend the workshops organized by ICSE. Technology - Our school took the initiative to introduce ICT based education in schools in our area.

Smart classes, computer lab with internet facility, Wi-fi campus and English language lab have also been introduced in our school.

Sports - We lay special stress on sports development. We regularly conduct sports competition in our school. Our students have won many awards in different competitions at district, zonal and state levels conducted by ICSE.

Teachers’ Training – We often

Pedagogy - Keeping the teachers abreast with the latest knowledge sharing platforms and ensuring free flow of knowledge in the class gives us a cutting edge in being toppers in a competitive world.

teacher to soft skills development for improves personal interactions.

There are add-on programmes which are thoughtfully included throughout the year when initiated

by CBSE or well acclaimed forums.

Infrastructure - Infrastructure forms the core for any institute to implement all its growth plans. Increase in strength led to construction of 40 new classrooms and state of the art science laboratories. Four new computer labs and English lab have been built. We have a Wi-Fi campus with 8 Mbps leased line, we provide tablets to teachers. We have also installed two squash courts of international standards.

Technology - Teachers use Tablets to teach and this indeed keep them well informed connected and updated with the latest in education. Interactive website throws open the school to parents.

Online admissions, voice circulars for parents, online testing centres, online leave application for students, calendars custom made for each class and attendance intimation to parents is done with the help of internet.

Teachers’ Training - A well planned approach is adopted which kick starts with orientation programmes at the start of academic session followed by focused modules on each subject taught by specific

Sports - At primary level all students are allowed to play the game and based on their individual interest and strength take it further to the next level.

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Poly Pattanaik, Principal Dr Neera Sharma, Principal DAV Public School, Amritsar

Technology has revolutionized the field of education.

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

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

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

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

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

Mother’s Public School, Bhubaneswar Pedagogy - We were the first public school in Odisha to have a day boarding arrangement. We have always experimented with new ideas such as we pioneered the integrated tutorials for engineering and medical coaching in our educational system.

Infrastructure – The school has come a long way in terms of infrastructure.

We have a three-storey building with more than 2,000 students enrolled in our school.

Teachers’ Training - Teachers are equipped with modern tools and are encouraged to adapt and use new methods keeping in mind the holistic development of the child.

Technology - The students and faculty are not only familiar with smart classes, online interactions but are also exposed to DA Tests, MindSparks etc.

We try to keep pace with the changing times and adapt what is technologically beneficial to our students.

It is not wrong to build castles in the air but one must ensure that you build a strong foundation under them

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Shantanu Das, Principal Sarla Birla Academy, Bangalore Pedagogy - We have moved towards activity based learning and have tweaked the programmes of organisations like iDiscoveri and Excelsoft to suit our specific needs.

Infrastructure - Our infrastructure consists of the academic block, boarding houses and the residential quarters, open landscaped spaces, playing fields and courts and swimming pool among others.

Teachers’ Training - Apart from the subject specific and curriculum specific training, the teachers also undergo continuous training in various aspects of teaching.

Our teachers regularly go for the SAIBSA (South Asian IB Schools Association) job alike sessions.

Technology - We realized that technology can only aid the process of teaching learning in our school in the present day. However, the teachers still have to guide the children in gaining wisdom from the knowledge that these tools can help us impart Sports - We ensure that all children have full and adequate access to the facilities that abound in the school.

We have a special coach for each game that’s played in the school.

Sports are a celebration of the human physique

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

Parents want schools that can provide their children with activities and a learning environment that leads to all round development Pedagogy - We have facilitated active learning through collaborative teaching. Staff is made aware of varied cooperative learning strategies, learning styles and multiple intelligences of students.

Infrastructure – We have redesigned the classrooms, laboratory, library, art and craft room and others. We believe in the students’ safety. We have emergency exits and fire extinguishers in schools.

Regular drills are conducted with students for the same. We also believe that students should be provided with an experiential learning environment. We have designed mobile furniture to facilitate collaborative learning.

Teachers’ Training - Podar believes in professional development of its staff. We conduct training for multiple intelligence, collaborative learning, assessment, classroom observation, result analysis and others. Teachers are trained with latest developments in the field of education. Staff is trained by in-house trainers and experts from abroad on a regular basis. We also offer Cambridge International Diploma for Teachers and Trainers programme.

Technology - The entire school is Wi-Fi connected. We have a well equipped ICT lab where staff and students are encouraged to undertake research. We use iPads with 3D technology to facilitate active learning. All classrooms have a projector and interactive digital boards to foster active learning. Students are encouraged to use ICT skills during the technocrat competition where outstanding presentations are presented.

Sports – We have physical education and gym infused into the curriculum. We also have indoor and outdoor sporting activities at school. Podar boasts of a sporting academy where students are trained regularly to participate in various tournaments of cricket, football, throwball, basketball, lawn tennis and others.

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Shilpa Solanki, Principal The Orchid School, Pune

Expectations of parents have surely changed and increased. Parents are more aware and demanding in current times Pedagogy – We have incorporated project based learning in our school. We have an integrated curriculum where we use XSEED curriculum, by ‘idiscoveri’ from classes 1 to 5.

Infrastructure – We have spacious well designed classroom, auditorium, spacious well designed classroom, open air theatre, multipurpose hall, math and concept lab, Computer labs, Science lab, an art centre, library, conference room and child care support for staff children.

Teachers’ Training - At the beginning of each academic session, we plan a three week orientation and training program for our staff.

We also send our teachers for various external workshops and training programs. We arrange a leadership training session every year for the role holders of the school.

Technology – We have smart boards in classes from 6 to 10. We provide internet access to teachers which they can access at any time to obtain latest CBSE related information and educational material. ICT is integrated with all other subjects wherein students see educational videos from internet and make presentations for their projects.

Sports - Our school has introduced a unique sports program from junior KG to Class 5 in collaboration with SPARK through their India partner, LEAPSTART. The program includes delivery of intensive sports curriculum and activities, developing self discipline and sound attitude towards sports. Classes from 6 to 10 have their regular sports program comprising of athletics, basketball, football and cricket. We participate in local, regional, state and national level sport activities.

Kavita Sanghvi, Principal MET Rishikul Vidyalaya, Mumbai Pedagogy - Our curriculum combines critical thinking and application.

Infrastructure - We have secondary classes with interactive boards, a wellness room for children who are sick. Our pre-primary section has become more colorful with a beautiful play area for kids.

Teachers’ Training - Our teachers are sent regularly for all the workshops organised by Cambridge within and outside the country. The staff members do online training programs along with face to face workshops. All new programs are implemented in school after the teachers have been trained for them by the respective institutes.

Technology - Every primary classroom has a projector and a screen.

Every secondary classroom has an interactive digital board.

Sports - Students exercise, play a range of games like football, basketball, volleyball, throw ball and others. We have chess for our preprimary and primary students. We also offer after school sports activities like cricket, football, archery, chess, athletics, lawn tennis among others.

Sports helps in learning Life skills and values

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Seetha Murthy, Principal Silver Oaks School, Hyderabad Pedagogy - Student centric methodology and major part of the learning is done through thinking and analyzing. From grade 1 to 12 our learning programs are done as group learning, team teaching and involved learning.

Infrastructure - While physical infrastructure is considered a major part of a school’s development, we are more proud of the social and emotional infrastructure that we could built in the school. 2,000

students, 160 teachers and a parent community of 4000 adults thrive from the vibrant ecosystem we could develop within the school.

Teachers’ Training - We practically run a parallel teacher training college in the school. Considering the fact that we have radically different learning environment, training the teachers is highly pertinent. We conduct training programs in curriculum design, embedding thinking in all areas of

While physical infrastructure is considered a major part of a school’s development, we are more proud of the social and emotional infrastructure that we could built in the school

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

We believe in liberating the minds of students Pedagogy – We have taken initiatives to take learning beyond the confines of four walls of a classroom. Our Robotics Club allows students to explore the world of these engineering marvels. CAD and industrial art help students develop fundamental concepts of engineering and architecture. We also have computer based testing and on-demand test schemes for our students.

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Infrastructure - The campus has been thoughtfully designed to create a dynamic environment which triggers learning and facilitates the teaching process. The campus is Wi-Fi enabled.

Complete school premise is under e-surveillance.

Teachers’ Training - We periodically organise inservice training programmes for teachers. They participate in various workshops organised in school and outside by CBSE and others.

All our teachers have also done the professional development online courses offered by British Council.

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learning, classroom management, concept based teaching and learning and transdisciplinary teaching.

Technology - Information gateways helped us grow out of textbooks and find updated knowledge which we wanted to give to our learners.

We have become a textbook free school.

Sports - We have developed an activity rigor for students who are identified with skills in swimming, skating, tennis, basketball, gymnastics, art, music and others.

Children in our school get additional coaching in these areas after school hours. We have national champions in many of the sports that we offer.

M S Rehman, Principal The Millennium School, Nagpur ICT has been instrumental to take learning to an all new level of joy and has brought about a paradigm shift in the ways of teaching Pedagogy - We conduct visual, audio or kinesthetic test at the time of admissions to understand what kind of a learner the child is. This helps us in personalising the instruction as we believe that every child is unique. Shift from rote learning to conceptual understanding, interactive and experiential learning is promoted in a big way.

Technology - We have introduced the project e-Tube, an e-learning based program to incorporate technical knowledge in everyday life.

We also use Computer aided learning. We have provided our children with smart boards, Robotics lab, computer based testing, online web portal, video lecture communication, digital math lab and digital library.

Infrastructure – Our campus has Wi-Fi connectivity, laboratories, knowledge centre, library, toddler’s pool, indoor and outdoor games facilities, activity rooms, theatre room, storytelling cum library for pre-school children, art room, fire safety system, infirmary and well ventilated classrooms.

Sports - We train our students in sports like cricket, football, basketball, badminton, lawn tennis, table tennis, skating and adventure. Yoga and meditation are a part of regular school curriculum.

Technology – With use of ICT, learning has become multisensory and experiential, child friendly classrooms have completely transformed the style of teaching. Homework has been replaced by worksheets and this has made education stress free.

Teachers’ Training – We organise teacher’s training programme on millennium learning system, institutional culture, training on strategies and Empowering Facilitators with Effective Strategies, lesson planning, assessment and evaluation, classroom teaching system, communication skill and value system, Edusmart services and DTS handling and developing institutional ethos and culture.

Sports – We provide sports facilities like badminton, table tennis, football, cricket, athletics, skating, taekwondo, carom, chess and adventure sports. Yoga and aerobics are also practiced by students.

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Pedagogy – Technology driven state of the art teaching aids like linguaphones, smart board assistance, online home work and practice papers, computerized result generation are some ways to equip ourselves for future demands.

Extensive workshops and training programmes for students and faculty are conducted to upgrade and enhance the process of learning and teaching.

Renu Singh, Principal Amity International School, Noida

I am proud of the fact that I harnessed the power of decision making, learning and leadership skills to meet the challenges head on and turned them into opportunities

Infrastructure - I strongly feel that the goal of infrastructure development in education is important to increase school attendance motivation and to improve academic performance of students. It is assumed that favorable attitude towards school infrastructure quality facilitates the above two.

Teachers’ Training – Teachers’ Training Programs assist in fulfilling the goal to acquire in-

depth knowledge and skills for a particular role in the school to yield stupendous results. It is pertinent for continuous professional development and up gradation.

Technology – ICT used in educational institution has ensured improvement in the access, quality and delivery mechanisms of education, improve the quality of teaching and learning (e.g. by providing online content or even training teachers) and improve knowledge sharing and to encourage innovation (e.g. through National Research and Education Networks).

Sports – Amity leaves no stone unturned in providing sports opportunities to our students. In this endeavor, under the Player Development Program, we have partnered with Manchester United Soccer Schools to train our students in football.

Pedagogy: We believe in ‘phased holistic development’ therefore there are different development strategies for different levels. At primary level, we focus on personality development and developing the EQ of a student with activity based learning. At Middle School level, we harmonize the EQ with IQ and expose the child to his core competence. At Secondary level, we have ‘learning for life’ in which the student becomes a ‘self-learner’ as love for learning has been successfully instilled in him.

Infrastructure: A Wi-Fi enabled campus, e-learning, our school is the only school in Rajasthan to have organized a 3di School Animation Programme for students of classes 1 to 8, by 3di School, Hyderabad and 3di School, New Zealand.

Teachers’ Training: Teachers are regularly made to attend workshops and seminars organized by prestigious schools and other organizations.

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

Technology: ICT is further enhancing lateral thinking, encouraging mind mapping and above all is making the children socially compatible.

Sports: Discipline and ‘Being Human’ can be best taught at the playground.

We believe that teacher training is as important as oxygen is to life

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

ICT has opened up a whole new world of knowledge to the students.

Pedagogy: The inclusion of ICT, collaborative projectbased learning, international dimension in the day to day curriculum, industrial visits for hands on training, group learning to facilitate integration of knowledge has all become a part of our Pedagogy.

Infrastructure: We have developed rain water harvesting facilities, a kitchen garden, a ramp for the physically handicapped, cemented court for basketball, medical room, auditorium, swimming pool, several labs and CCTV cameras to monitor student activity and discipline.

Teachers’ Training: We have had special lecture and leadership training programme in association with

the South Nova University. Our teachers go through proper counseling session by Counselors to identify the dyslexic students and help them in whichever way they can.

Technology: ICT has helped in engaging students in the classroom. It has made the learning process interesting and fun filled for the students.

Sports: We envisage seeing our students participate in national and international tournaments. A battery test is conducted for every student to identify their potential as winners. International coaches are invited for training sessions, like a junior NBA coach to train the basketball team.

ICT fosters inventiveness, open mindedness and creativity

Learning Advancements like e-learning, online testing and Hands on learning.

Infrastructure: Our focus is on the continuous improvement of the facilities available for students & Parents comfort. We have eLearning supplies like projector, science lab etc as infrastructure.

Teachers’ Training: We make sure in conducting learning opportunity sessions by inviting industry experts to talk to the teachers.

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

Pedagogy: The traditional way of teaching through chalk & talk and the students being mere spectators or rather silent listeners, has been challenged and changed with some serious pedagogical changes in our school. We have brought in

Technology: Foster inventiveness, open mindedness, creativity and collaborative problem solving.

Sports: We provide regular physical training classes and also make sure that our students participate in their favorite sports at district or state level competitions and others.

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Rupa Chakravarty, Principal Suncity School, Gurgaon

There is an Einstein, Shakespeare, Gandhi, Mother Teresa in each one of us.

Pedagogy- We have Academic excellence promoted through work assignments that cater to differential learning is called CRAB assignments. CRAB is the acronym for C- Challenging, R – Recap, Aadvanced B- Basic.

Infrastructure - We have computer labs along with eight different laboratories - The Logical Lab, The Innovative/Art & Craft Labs, The Linguistic Lab, Lyrical/Gayan, Nritya Labs and The Spa Block which covers the mathematical and logical intelligences, spatial intelligence, verbal-linguistic intelligence, musical intelligence and bodilykinesthetic intelligence respectively.

Technology - We are using technology as a tool to keep a tab on the performance curve of the students for different topics/ subjects and use this to enhance the performance too.

Teachers’ Training - Upgradation of teachers’ skills across the board is done through various workshops and In house training.

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V Krishna, Principal Indus World School, Raipur Implementing ICT has completely changed the scenario in our school in terms of better assessment and recognizing areas of improvements timely.

Pedagogy - We have specifically made efforts to develop creative skills of students at the initial (Ananda) level. We have encouraged ‘Art and Craft’ like working on live sketches, pottery making, working with beads and paper, artworks on cloth and other materials. This has helped lot of students to develop problem solving and creative skills.

Also, learning of classical music and dance has taken a centre stage.

Infrastructure - Infrastructure in terms of composite labs with additional Learning aids has been developed.

Teachers’ Training - Teacher’s training forms an integral part of our academic schedule. Training is done via Video Conference and in person on weekly basis. Sharing of new initiatives with teachers of different Indus campuses happen frequently. Monthly tests of mentors on subjects and topics like “Child Psychology and Pedagogy” are conducted and assessments shared with them.

Technology - Implementation of tabs, in particular has helped students to take up “Diagnostic Tests” from Class 4 onwards and various other assessments through “Compassbox.com” online.

Sports - We have worked extensively on our sports infrastructure like readying and focusing on Tennis, cricket and athletics facilities.

Indoor sports like chess, carrom, table tennis and basketball have also been promoted.

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Anil Sharma, Principal Birla Vidyamandir, Nainital

Dhriti Malhotra, Principal Manav Rachna International School, Gurgaon

Education has now moved from a content driven system to a concept and skills driven one, thus there is need of consistent pedagogical changes Pedagogy - We ensure that imparting knowledge is interdisciplinary, practical and technology integrated enabling the child to correlate classroom teaching practices with everyday life. Focus is on catering to multiple intelligences that are there in the class and teach them through their way of learning.

Infrastructure – We extensively use technology in our classrooms. We boast of a futuristic Robotics lab, fine arts studio, special education needs room, resource room and open air theatre among others.

Teachers’ Training – Apart from regular CBSE workshops, we conduct professional development courses on innovative and effective teaching strategies, using multiple intelligences, interactive board, dealing with special problems and special children.

Technology - We have smart classrooms with interactive boards and plasma. The Robotics curriculum too is STEM based. We are working toward becoming a paperless school by creating a public portal.

Sports - Our sports academy offers indoor sports like shooting, chess, carom, gymnastics, table tennis and outdoor sports like swimming, horse riding, taekwondo, skating, football, tennis and basketball. We also provide specialised coaching in cricket, table tennis and shooting.

Sports are of cardinal importance in students’ life as it ensures that the energy of the growing adolescents is released in a creative manner Pedagogy - Our emphasis has been not in confining the teaching to the classroom but to take it beyond the four walls. Working models, projects and practical learning are an integral part of the teaching-learning process.

Infrastructure – We have added new classrooms for senior students, built new labs and a dining hall among others.

Teachers’ Training – Besides collective sessions conducted by the resource persons both from India and abroad, we have been sending teachers for workshops and seminars on various issues.

Technology - ICT has given an opportunity to the teachers to be more innovative and not to remain at what may better be termed as pedagogical template. It has been instrumental in making learning an ever refreshing experience.

Sports - We are equipped with a wide range of outdoor diversions.

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Adilakshmi Chintalapati, Principal Oakridge International School, Bachupally

Parents want to see their children better prepared for the times ahead Pedagogy - Concept based inquiry learning is the heart of pedagogy at the school. Students are encouraged to learn through experience and discovery.

Infrastructure - Our school has a welldesigned campus with state of the art facilities. Children enjoy a clean, safe and stimulating environment that facilitates holistic development and growth.

Teachers’ Training – RWe have mandated the number of training hours in a week. There are face to face, online or video conferences. Teachers are trained in curriculum delivery, soft skills and domain knowledge.

Technology - ICT is used for planning, teaching and assessing. All the classrooms are equipped with smart boards that teachers use effectively for making learning interesting and engaging for the students.

Sports - Physical education and sports are an integral part of the curriculum.

The well designed sports programme is delivered by trained faculty thorough excellent infrastructure.

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Seema Jerath, Principal DLF Public School, Ghaziabad

Parents increasingly expect us to integrate smart and accurate methods to identify their children’s strengths, intelligences Pedagogy – We have been working towards personalizing learning, peer learning and collaborative learning. We have been working upon humanizing classrooms through various unique initiatives and have introduced innovative teaching methods to make it a school with a soul.

Infrastructure – The school has swanky building with state of the art facilities and 2500 students. We have an auditorium with a capacity to seat 1000 people. We also have an online mathematics lab and a new THOTS lab among others.

Teachers’ Training – We have started with teacher empowerment Saturdays. All the teachers undergo professional trainings and workshops on peer learning, exchange of best practices and others.

Teachers are also encouraged to undertake online CPD courses by Microsoft and British Council.

Technology - ICT has given a new meaning to educational exchange.

We have taken initiatives as online home works, e-circulars and SMS facilities. Also, online means of fee submission and even complaints and concerns sharing saves a lot of time.

Sports – We have sports academy and a cricket academy. The school has vast playgrounds and sports facilities like swimming, lawn tennis, basketball, volleyball, cricket, hockey, football, billiards and others.

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Anit Arora, Principal Cambridge International School, Dasuya

Today’s parents are better educated, more aware of current trends in education and more familiar with technology

Pedagogy - Teachers are expected to frame their lessons incorporating key learning and personality development areas, that is, personal, emotional and social development; linguistic development and early literacy; health, nutrition and safety; mathematical and scientific thinking; physical, creative and aesthetic development; and knowledge and understanding of the society.

Infrastructure - We have air conditioned classrooms, sprawling playgrounds, temperature controlled swimming pool and splash pools, creative and performing arts centres, library, multi-purpose hall, as well as science, maths, computer and language laboratories. We have also introduced interactive boards for the primary classes.

Teachers’ Training - Teachers undergo continuous training for improving class management and learning techniques like life skills and etiquettes, subject related learning pedagogy and sharing best practices.

Technology – Educators have been trained to develop the respective content themselves, in keeping with the syllabus mapping. Enterprise Resource Planning is being used to manage the whole school, including the learning and assessment processes.

Sports – Specialized coaches train students for competitions in field events, athletics, swimming pool events, indoor games, and so on.

Jorawar Singh, Principal Cambridge International School, Phagwara

Integrated learning is the key to make learning interesting for the learners Pedagogy - Children are encouraged to participate in discussions at the end of the chapter and frame their own questions and the logical answers attained out of these discussions.

More emphasis is given on reasoning and logical thinking.

Infrastructure - We have a good sport infrastructure and an eco friendly all weather indoor swimming pool and ultra modern

Science and Computer labs for our students.

Teachers’ Training - Teacher training workshops at the school level is being done regularly by me.

Difficulties faced by the teachers are discussed along with the latest changes brought about at the national / international level in the field of education. The areas needing immediate attention are dealt with immediately.

Technology – We have audio visual rooms for teachers to teach students using various kinds of 2D and 3D visuals. Students are also making good use of Computer Aided Learning software for various subjects, where a teacher is just the facilitator.

Sports – We have permanent as well as part time coaches for each sport to train students for inter-school, inter-CBSE tournaments.

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Pedagogy - We have Inter- DPS Bangalore workshops held regularly for teachers to discuss their teaching methodologies and implement the most effective teaching practices. We also have regular in house workshops wherein teachers share what they learnt and experienced in the workshops organized by various educational agencies

Manju Sharma, Principal DPS Bangalore, South

Infrastructure - The Smart class, Math labs for the primary and senior school, three swimming pools, CCTV network for the entire school.

Teachers’ Training – The DPS

society organizes workshops on a periodically for which teachers are sent to Delhi on a rotational basis.

Technology - The Smart class is an integral part of our curriculum. We were in fact one of the first schools in Bangalore to have introduced the Smart class in our system of education.

Sports - We have won many accolades in the fields of cricket, badminton, basket ball, table tennis, athletics, swimming and skating. Our children are among the top ranks in the above mentioned sporting arenas.

ICT provides a renewed vigour and satisfies the curiosity of a child’s mind

Pedagogy - Our school is techsavvy in terms of infrastructure, faculty as well as students.

Regular screening of educational documentaries and use of theatre in teaching learning of languages and social sciences is also there.

Infrastructure - The school has invested heavily in communication technological aids in recent years, like having e-smart classrooms, internet Wi-Fi connections.

Teachers’ Training - We have organized workshops under the aegis of CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) and DAV Management Committee on various

Jaya Bhardwaj, Principal Hansraj Public School, Punchkula

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subjects. We also organise in-house training sessions at least twice a year for existing teachers and new recruits.

Technology - Integrating technology into curriculum is a priority in our school. ICT has helped in offering a wide array of effective ways to reach different types of learners and multiple means to assess students.

Sports - We provide coaching to young budding cricketers. Along with providing a well maintained sports infrastructure, the school also facilitates coaching, training and participation in various sports.

Currently Sport is a passion for the budding sportspersons of every school due to the lucrative career options and ample opportunities it offer

education.eletsonline.com

Nidhi Serohi, Principal Kothari International School, Noida

Ramanjit Ghuman, Principal Indus World School, Ludhiana Today a teacher has to be a learner herself, be more approachable and emotionally connected with the children Pedagogy - Ours’ is a project-based learning in which children work on a topic and finally the projects culminate in presentations.

Infrastructure - The school boasts of well developed sports facilities as well as facilities for art, music as well as reading.

Teachers’ Training - We have created self-learning modules and have effectively used Video conferencing to connect our 14 odd campuses across India. Each member at school is a life-long learner – even our parents take part in workshops, adventure activities and out bounds.

Technology - From Grade 4 onwards each child carries a personal educational tablet along with the textbooks and notebooks that has subject content, special notes, worksheets and tests. We have implemented a completely safe internet environment. We also use high- speed Video conferencing facility to connect with our sister schools and teacher training that happens at a pan- India level.

Sports - Sports programme at Indus firmly revolves around skill development. Once the children pick up a sport of their choice then the sport specific training would help them move ahead.

Pedagogy - We use plays to stimulate the learning of languages and social-emotional skills in the pre-school level. Across all levels, we continue to help our children become engaged learners through different pedagogical approaches.

Infrastructure – We have built a new academic block, a large multipurpose hall and lawn tennis courts. Our school is a modern day boarding school fully air-conditioned and furnished with state of the art facilities.

Teachers’ Training - Apart from personally taking workshops, teachers regularly attend seminars and workshops organized by CBSE and other reputed organizations.

Technology - We have state of the art computer labs, smart boards in all classrooms and welltrained professionals. The school has been active in promoting cyber wellness.

Sports - Our school has well structured sports clubs of Football, Basket Ball, Badminton, Swimming, Lawn Tennis, Skating and Cricket.

Students are taught the essential skills necessary to play the sport of their choice. Apart from training to develop physical fitness students are also trained to maintain such components as speed, flexibility, muscular strength, muscular endurance, aerobic capacity and anaerobic capacity.

Education is a lifelong journey, not a short sprint

digitalLEARNING / February 2014

47

school educators

Fr Joseph Karukayil, Principal Lourdes Public School and Junior College, Kottayam Pedagogy - Our school is affiliated to CBSE and the board has introduced CCE (Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation) as a part of the curriculum.

Infrastructure - We have an extension block and an info zone (a dedicated floor comprising of a modern library, writers’ gallery, digital library, language lab, seminar hall, and a high end computer lab) which is the hall mark of this extension block.

Technology - We have a digital library and a language lab. Teachers and students use PPTs to present seminars and projects.

Teachers’ Training - A 3-days training programme is conducted for the entire school staff at the beginning of every academic year. In-service programmes are frequently conducted for teachers while the school is in session.

Sports - Coaching is imparted in games like Basketball and Badminton. We are a client school of NBA (USA) for their school based training programmes.

The basic duty of a principal is to strengthen the quality of his students from the core

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Rashmi Mehta, Principal Salwan Public School, Gurgaon We should promote the lifelong universal values of discipline, compassion, co-existence, love and respect that humanize and soften the pressures of life Pedagogy - We have introduced the CBSE-I curriculum. We have Smart classes for the enhancement of learning. We are also in the process of developing in-house software for result processing and e-polling for the student council elections.

Infrastructure - The school has a rich legacy of well established and progressive systems and we, as a team, are committed to taking them forward.

Teachers’ Training - We encourage teachers to use the audio-Visual aids and be ICT savvy.

Technology - The biometric system of marking attendance, SMS as a medium of communication with parents and staff, online results, e-newsletters and news boards. The entire school campus is WiFi enabled for quick and easy approach to the internet. In order to create a close link between all our twelve schools a common website has been made functional. E-democracy as a concept is taught through e-voting system. We have the in-house designing of publications, journals and periodicals. The special needs children too have benefitted from the use of tools and techniques facilitated with technology.

education.eletsonline.com

Rita Kaul, Principal The Millennium School, Noida

Parents want their children to be more dynamic, skill oriented, and strong in communication Pedagogy - Our school has a strong pedagogical philosophy based on Piaget’s developmental milestones, which has made it possible for our facilitators and students to learn in collaboration, think and solve problem critically, adapt to various environmental challenges, take initiative and have spontaneous access to the information available globally.

Infrastructure - There are activity rooms for the students at a younger level- cognitive room, fine motor room, gross motor room, personal awareness room, language room, socio-emotional room.

Teachers’ Training - We keep the teachers updated by conducting workshops on multiple intelligence (MI),

quality circle time (QCT), blooms taxonomy, total quality management, making learning visible, various learning disabilities, inclusive education, project based learning and team building.

Technology - We have smart classes, (CMPC) class mate personal computers enable the students to connect to the world and to their peer group globally. Differentlyabled children, including spastic and autistic children gained immensely from ICT initiatives in our school.

Sports - We offer swimming, taekwondo, skating, basket ball, table Tennis, Badminton etc., besides that PEC programme has right from the initial stages helped our students tremendously.

Pedagogy: Our school embraces many innovative practices like personalisation, small learning communities, use of blogs, social networking sites, student advisories, interdisciplinary curricula, cooperative learning, peer instruction and tutoring along with community service learning, global connections and portfolio based assessment.

Rayat International School, SBS Nagar

Infrastructure: We have about 77 rooms with state of art labs, a centre of performing arts, a conference room, library and high quality sports infrastructure.

Every child is an individual and has a set of potential capabilities to execute in one or the other field. They should be nurtured to make students global citizens

Teachers’ Training: We put in a lot of effort for planning FDPs and CPDs each year for the faculty. Orientation programmes are organised in areas related to classroom management, use of ICT, latest pedagogy, blooms taxonomy,

Bindu Sharma, Principal

rubrics and others. The educators are also sent for training sessions held by CBSE, Jodo Gyan, British Council, CMS Lucknow and others.

Technology: ICT is used as an assisting tool for making assignments, collecting data and documentation, communication and conducting research. It is used as a medium for teaching and learning and for organising and management of the school.

Sports: Students are exposed to varied sports clubs. They are encouraged to participate in state and district level sports competition.

The PEC cards issued by CBSE are extensively being used for primary classes. A sports complex is also being setup to promote sports.

We have produced national level players in taekwondo, chess and badminton.

digitalLEARNING / February 2014

49

Special Feature cyber security

Cyber security jobs in India are making a comeback!

E

xpect rise in the cyber security jobs in India in coming days. Big IT companies in India - viz. TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Cognizant and others may soon begin looking for cyber security experts & ethical hackers. TCS’s ex-CEO, Mr. S Ramadorai, who currently heads NSDA aka National Skills Development Agency has said that the demand for security experts is expected to growing coming days.

He believes hiring and training young professionals to work in the domain is the need of the time.

The number of cyber attacks has gone up significantly in the recent times - hackers from China & the United States have become more sophisticated in the quality of their attacks. It’s been found that an average cyber hacker remains undetected for about 400+ days. Big Internet companies like Google, Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo and others have already began offering huge prizes for reporting security bugs in their systems.

The bigger question is - preparedness of the people who want to make a career in cyber security. Be aware that you’ll need a special training - going much beyond the so called ‘ethical hacking’ courses which have mushroomed in every corner. The salaries in the domain will always be higher than the regular IT jobs - provided the candidates know the job.

If you are an aspiring ethical hacker or want to make a career in the cyber security domain; I’d strongly advise you to keep updating your knowledge and start reading as much as you can about computer security.

As we all know, a cyber security job comes under the Information technology (IT) and IT industry is mainly driven by private sector. I know better because my home town Bangalore is the hub of IT industry.

But why would you prefer a cyber security job in Sarkari Naukri, when there are

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so many vacancies in private companies.

Well! I leave up to you, why you want a Sarkari Naukri but not private sector jobs.

What is Cyber Security?

First thing a job aspirant should know, what is cyber security? I do not think, you are not familiar with cyber security. Every graduate from any discipline should have a fair idea about Internet and other information related to it.

Always a company or an institution wants to protect its data. Hence, cyber security is nothing but protection of data or other critical information from outside attacks by hackers or people with malafide intensions.

Cyber security is of utmost importance for private companies and governmental organization alike. In fact, today national security and business interests of a country totally depends upon cyber security.

Job Profile: What is the Job of a Cyber Security Professional?

Well! Job of a cyber security professional can be categorized into 5 various levels according to the work experience of a job seeker.

1. Entry Level Entry level position of a cyber security professional is Executive Manager. Your duty would be correlating the broad security guidelines of the organization with daily security operations. This position is for aspirants with least work experience.

2. Middle Level Middle level job position is Manager.

Manager’s responsibility would be management of security programs, data security, policy creation & management, business continuity and disaster recovery. This position would require more experience.

3. Senior & Top Level Senior and top level position is Chief Manager. His role would be design and development of information policy, regulatory compliance and the most important information security governance. This job profile is for experienced candidates.

4. Senior & Top Level Here senior & top level position is of Security advisors and Auditors. Responsibilities are advisory services for information security, designing policy, risk assessment and compliance to both global & industry standards. This job post is also for experienced candidates.

5. Senior & Top Level This position is Chief information officer.

Your role would be rationalizing cost of current and future investments to minimize information risks. This position is for highly experienced candidates with years of experience.

You have to see where you fit in among 5 job categories. Although there is a little chance for a fresher but you can get the job after having few years of experience.

Amit Kumar,

President, Cyberfort Technologies

education.eletsonline.com

Qualification for a Cyber Security Job Qualification for a cyber security job in Sarkari Naukri or private company is following.

• You must be a graduate in any discipline. However it is preferred, if you have a degree in computer science.

Basically, software engineering background.

• Complete knowledge of computer networks. You should know the psyche of a hacker who can hack.

• You must have done courses in cyber security. The certified courses like CEHv8 (Certified Ethical Hacker) by EC Council. CISA (Certified Information System Auditor), Jobs in Sarkari Naukri fall in the category of 1. Computer Specialist 2. Information Technology Officer 3. Information technology Specialist 4. Assistant chief Security Officer 5. Penetration Tester Jobs in private sectors are 1. Cyber Security Analyst 2. Research Scientist 3. Senior Information Security Specialist

Salary of a Cyber Security Professional Now comes the stuff that you would like to listen, the remuneration or the salary of a cyber security professional.

If you have one year experience then you can get Rs 300,000 Per Annum.

If you have 5 years of experience then you can get Rs 8 to 10 Lakhs.

Future of Cyber Security Career Scope of a cyber security job is very bright. As world is coming together, we need more secure and reliable communication systems.

To make connectivity more secure, we need cyber security professionals. To save our systems from hackers, these professionals are highly in demand.

India needs secure systems to safeguard its vital interests. Hence in future, it would need more such professional in great numbers.

So your future as a cyber security professional is fully bright. You can make this as your career choice.

Conclusion Finally, in conclusion I would say, cyber security jobs are available in Sarkari Naukri as well as private companies.

But you need some experience because job is very challenging. Moreover, the salary is very lucrative.

I suggest you to go for this job.

Recently, 100 websites, including a website that belongs to the government of Government of India were hacked by a team of hackers.This incident gained attention because the websites belonged to the government. Everyday, somewhere in the world, the security of some website, network or email account is at stake. It may belong to a government organisation, bank, IT company, telecom company or an individual. Such incidents lead to serious deliberation on the safety of our networks in the cyber world. A well accepted solution to this challenge is to apply ‘ethical hacking,’ to increase the safety of networks.

Ethical hacking, in simple terms is hacking, but for good reasons. Ethical hackers or ‘white hats’ do the same job as hackers - spot a minute loophole to breach the security of the most secure networks. Other hackers take advantage of security loopholes and steal confidential information, intercept critical data, spread virus, add or delete data, masquerade identity or cause damage. However, ethical hackers report the loopholes in the security system to the owners and provide solutions to protect the network.

In other words, ethical hackers try to penetrate networks, detect the vulnerabilities in the security systems and fix them before any miscreant can take advantage of it.

India will require five lakh cyber security professionals by 2015 to support its fast growing internet economy as per an estimate by the Union ministry of information technology. These jobs will come up across industries. The financial sector alone is expected to hire over 2 lakh people while telcos, utility sectors, power, oil

& gas, airlines, government (law & order and egovernance ) will hire the rest.

A large number of these jobs will be around cyber policing and ethical hacking, to check for network vulnerabilities . The need for cyber experts has grown exponentially as the country is heading towards an internet explosion mostly fuelled by e-commerce, e-banking , egovernance and the social media.

Kamlesh Bajaj, CEO of The Data Security Council of India (DSCI), a Nasscom body that frames guidelines related to data security and data privacy for corporates, said, “Security will fuel the growth of businesses. Trust is critical to build customer confidence and trust comes only through safety. Global clients are increasingly demanding high-level compliance to data security, privacy and cyber security regulations.”

Awareness is catching up among stakeholders: government , the academia and the industry. For instance, a few months ago, the University Grants Commission directed all university vice chancellors in the country to introduce curriculum around cyber security in their respective colleges to meet this talent demand .

Quoting a Gartner report in its letter, UGC said, “The country’s information security market is expected to grow by 18% to reach Rs 1,415 crore in 2013 on the back of increased spending by companies to secure their information assets. Despite a continuing economic slowdown that has been putting pressure on IT budgets around the world, cyber security spending globally would continue on an upward trajectory, reaching $86 billion in 2016, up from $60 billion in 2012.”

Amit Kumar, President, Cyberfort Technologies, a US-based firm that trains and certifies in the cyber security domain said, “Every organization across verticals will require cyber security professionals . Therefore, the estimate of 5 lakh looks very conservative for a strong internet economy like India. The actual requirement for cyber security professionals would be in multiples.”

For establishment of cyberfort study center contact - Dr Rajesh Kumar Mobile- +91 9031489275, 9973195996 email-rajesh@cyberfort.org digitalLEARNING / February 2014

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First Person

Problems in higher education and challenges before RUSA Accountability and autonomy as envisioned under Rashtriya Ucchatar Shiksha Abhiyaan (RUSA) may require some changes in the act and statues of many institutions which is a challenging task to accomplish.

By

Prof (Dr) S S Chahal,

Chancellor, Desh Bhagat University, Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab

T

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

Expansion generated issues and the need for reforms Rural Urban Divide: Mostly universities and colleges have come up in and around different cities making their distribution as well as the gross enrollment ratio skewed across rural and urban areas. More than 65 percent universities and 55 percent colleges are in urban areas. This rural urban divide is more visible from large difference in Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) which is about 13 percent in rural areas and 24 percent in urban areas against the national average of 19 percent. It needs serious attention because despite increasing trend towards urbanization still more

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Prof (Dr) S S Chahal than 68 percent population live in rural areas which cannot be overlooked.

Gender disparity: The National Sample Survey Organisation’s most recent estimates show a GER of 15.8 percent for women against 22.8 percent for men. Except for education and medicine, enrollment of boys is higher than girls in all other faculties.

Inadequate infrastructure: With rapid expansion, most of the institutions are not coping up with the re-

quired infrastructure. This deficiency has ultimately resulted in paper degree education with very low level of employability of graduates which are being produced.

Low industrial training: There is dire need to support necessary infrastructure within institutions as well as to promote institution industry interface by involving industry in curriculum development, developing database of available facilities across institutions, conjoint research and development and mandatory attachment of students with industry at least for one semester.

Faculty crunch: The growth in teaching faculty has not been kept in pace with the growth of teaching institutions and enrollment, thus causing great imbalance between teacher student ratio. There is about 38 fold increase in faculty against 51 fold increase in enrollment during the period from 1950-51 to 2011-12.

Decline in research: Out of total enrollment, there is less than one percent enrollment in research, against 86 percent in graduate, 12 percent postgraduate and one percent in diploma and certificate courses. India’s global share of scientific publications of 3.5 percent is very low as compared to China’s share of more than 21 percent as estimated by Thomas and Reuters.

Large affiliations: Affiliated colleg-

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Over-affiliation – A cause of concern Number of Affiliated Colleges

Osmania University: 900 Pune University: 811 Nagpur University: 800 University of Mumbai: 711 Bangalore University: 687

es with 89 percent enrollment of total students are mainstay in the system of higher education as they contain bulk of enrollment. Almost all the newly established colleges are affiliated to state universities, increasing their burden of affiliation system. Many are having more than 500 each and it is quite common to have 400 such colleges per university. Over-affiliation dilutes the focus on academic quality and research.

All these factors have caused fall in academic levels requiring major initiatives to address the issues

RUSA - the new scheme The new initiative of MHRD centers around strategic shift in central funding for higher education through synergistic approach in spending by central and state governments, addressing issues related to access, equity and excellenceand demand and supply linked expansion.

Aiming at 30 percent enrollment by 2020, it includes bringing improvement in teaching learning process to enhance employability, research and innovation.

There will be strategic interventions to bring institutional autonomy, regular monitoring and implementing accountability. Student-centric and result oriented approach will be other contours of the scheme besides creating research universities, developing alliances, clusters, consortia, networks and internationalization of higher education to be competitive in global market. It has also been planned to bring affiliation reforms, ensuring qualified faculty, reaching unreached and strengthening academic, administrative as well financial autonomy in colleges and universities.

The Challenges Ahead The scheme has covered major aspects but its implementation and effectiveness will certainly be a challenging task.

There will be major shift in the funding pattern. Hitherto directly by the UGC, funds will be channelized through state governments. States have to contribute their share to receive the center’s share.

It will largely depend upon the priority of the state governments to add their own share which is not free of apprehensions from many fund starved states running under huge debt. Even the diversion of central funds is common, which if happens will be a great setback to the higher education system which is already under stress.

Mandatory setting up of State Higher Education Councils has to be implemented with due caution to avoid overlapping of responsibilities with other such bodies already functioning in the states to avoid confusion and chaotic situation detrimental to achieving objectives of the scheme.

Still important are many other complex issues like: non-availability of qualified faculty, overcoming the rigid mindset, up-gradation of infrastructure, training and capacity building of existing faculty to which it is difficult to find answers in the document as to how RUSA will grapple with them.

It is widely acclaimed that teachers have been well treated by implementation of revised grades in 2006. Still it has so far failed to inspire or attract the bright students.It is great challenge as to how RUSA will be able to fill the gap of inspiring, motivated and committed teachers around which revolves the system of higher education.

Rampant inbreeding and extremely low magnitude of mobility of teachers is a serious issue adversely affecting quality of teaching and research. It is an important area needing due consideration although RUSA has not spelled out a viable policy in this respect Recent expansion has left teachers only coping with teaching and examination assignments and the research

component is nearly absent. Measures to improve research under RUSA are welcome but in addition to resources and adequate facilities, it is important to nurture and promote culture for research.

Setting up of Centers of Excellence is fine as envisaged under the scheme.

It will be worthwhile to strengthen linkages between the existing research and academic institutions to harness synergy for speedy march towards excellence.

Our libraries must be modernized, digitized and fully loaded with ultramodern software to meet the emerging demands of education through Open Education Resources (OER) and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), which should be taken up seriously. Interlinking of libraries atleast at regional level will greatly improve standard of learning and research.

Establishment of new institutions should be need based only. Besides opening new institutions, it will be prudent to attend to the crying need of strengthening the existing ones and expanding avenues of extension and distance education which will play a great role in meeting the demand of enrollment acceleration.

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

digitalLEARNING / February 2014

53

First Person

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

Enhancing GER and quality is the way forward You are a young IAS officer and have been the District Magistrate of Dhenkanal. What are the major challenges you see in the administration which is becoming more and more complex?

As a civil servant we get exposure to various types of challenges. At the same time the diversity in the job makes our experience enriched. We have to agree that the administration is becoming more complex. One has to have effective strategies to deliver services to the needy. Visualising the challenges, planning and implementation - needs specific skills which have to be acquired by the civil servant to be relevant and useful in the system. At the same time to ensure ethical governance, the officer should adopt ethical behaviour and demonstrate it by being the role model.

Changing scenario and short tenures

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are an impediment in bringing the tangible reforms in the archive system is also a challenge to explore. So having the high ethical behaviour, required skills and effective infiltration strategies can overcome the challenges.

You are looking after a very important segment which is School and Mass Education. There has been apprehension about quality of education more so in value education. What are you doing to focus on value education in your schools?

Many of us talk about deterioration in quality of education more so in value education. The national curriculum framework envisages the integral education where the need of the child is addressed through developing theholistic personality. The School and Mass Edu-

cation Department has taken up many training programmes including leadership and motivational modules to encourage the teachers for desirable learning transaction in the classrooms.

So far both the central as well as state government policies have focused on raising the gross enrolmentration (GER) in schools and somehow quality has taken backbench. What Odisha is doing to bridge the gap between quality and quantity?

Bridging the gap between quality and quantity is very important. In Odisha, the Gross Enrolment Ratio is 100.56 as per District Information System for Education (DISE) 2012-13. It was 101.32 at Elementary level as per DISE 2011-12. To enhance the GER at elementary level government has taken various steps such as -

education.eletsonline.com

• Textbooks provided to all students from classes 1 to 8.

• Uniforms are provided to all girls and boys belonging to SC/ST/BPL categories studying in government elementary schools.

• Facilitating mother tongue-based education for children belonging to tribal community from class I to V. This is an innovative policy initiative, unique to Odisha.

• School student helpline established with a toll free number 1800-3456722 as a part of redressal of grievance mechanism.

• Learning materials in tribal languages for pre-primary (New Arunima) prepared and provided to anganwadi centers of the state in collaboration with Women and Child Development Department • Child friendly school environment creating scope for encouraging child participation in classroom process.

• Library and library-books are provided to all schools.

• Summer camp for addressing problems of children belonging to disadvantaged group.

• Residential hostels for urban deprived children established.

• Seasonal hostels for the children of migrant families.

Besides the steps taken for enhancing GER at elementary level, the state government is also taking steps for ensuring quality such as • State curriculum developed based on NCF-2005.

• Module for Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) developed

by State Academic Authority.

• Monthly performance monitoring of the activities at school level on 60 parameters done through ‘SAMIKSHA’ in 60,000 schools across the state.

• Teachers’ handbook ‘SAMADHAN’ and ‘SADHAN’ (on TLH) developed and distributed to all teachers to facilitate classroom practices.

• Graded reading materials ‘SOPAN’ in Mathematics in classes 1 to 3 devel-

SAHAJA - A remedial teaching programme for improvement in the learning achievement level of the students on basic skills in reading, writing and numeracy for Class-II and VI is being implemented for two months in July and August, 2013 which is based on a state wide assessment of 900 schools in 30 districts. oped and distributed which is based on concepts given in the text books and Self learning materials ‘SWAYAM’ in Science for classes 6 and 7 developed to supplement the text materials.

• ‘SANJOG’, set of 20 readers developed as supplementary reading materials for Classes 1 and 2.

Odisha has one of the largest populations of tribal. There are credible reports available which suggests that their Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) is comparatively low across India.How your department is addressing this challenge?

The largest tribal population district of the State is Malkangiri andMayurbhanj.

Malkangiri district has 57.4 percent of tribal population to the total population.

GER for both the place is above 100.

The GER at elementary education of Malkangiri district is 102. 23 andMayurbhanj district is 107.59. Similarly, the GER of ST at elementary level is 104.26 in comparison to the overall GER of 100.56.

I think, retention is a big challenge.

Teachers’ training • 20 days teachers training is provided to all in-service teachers of elementary schools of the State • 30 days teacher training is provided as induction training to all the newly recruited teachers • 60 days training on distance mode through SCERT is provided to all untrained teachers of the State

The state government has taken many initiatives for addressing the issues related with the retention of ST children and enhancing the GER.We have developed State Policy for Multilingual Education (MLE).Mother tongue based education is operational in 544 schools covering 61 blocks of Odisha in 10 tribal languages like Saura, Kui, Kuvi, Munda, Koya, Bonda, Santhali, Juang, Kisan, Oram in 8 districts namely Raygada, Gajapati, Kandhamal, Mayurbhanj, Malkangiri, Keonjhar, Sambalpur and Sundergarh. And, we are also up scaling of nine more languages (Gadaba, Bhumij, Ho, Gondi, Desia, Kharia, Didayi, Binjhal, Mahali) covering 4 more districts proposed and will be implemented during 2013-14.

Isn’t it stereotype to keep the lady officers in identified Departments like Women and Child Development, Education, Health or some social sectors, we hardly find them leading Cabinet, Home, Finance or Defence?

Honestly speaking gender bias is seen at many levels in India. Though the degree varies. It also depends on the attitude of the decision makers at the higher levels.

Due to patriarchal system the numbers of women in public services are limited. This is also reflected in the number of lady officers available in the civil services. True, sometimes it becomes stereo type to keep the lady officers in identified Departments like Women and Child Development, Education, Health or some social sectors. However, times are changing and minds are opening up. I hope in near future you will see women officer in the top echelons. By the way, thinking that social sectors as less important and Departments like Defence, Commerce and Home as more important itself is discriminatory.

digitalLEARNING / February 2014

55

first person

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

By

Prof S Satyanarayana,

Vice Chancellor, Osmania University, Andhra Pradesh

R

esearch centre innovation is crucial for the progress of a society. Knowledge generated through research and innovation is the basis for sustainable social development. The research activities done by the industry is applied research whereas research done in universities is purely basic research. The integration of both industry and academia is extremely important for the overall development of society. This will ensure that research at the universities is relevant for the industry.

Thomas Jefferson, the former US president rightly said if one wants to be a leader in the world, he must first have obtained higher education with a good research background. The Bush Commission in 1945 said that research should be the main product of universities and education is the by-product. The educational institutions must focus on both teaching and research for the development of the country. The former US president John F Kennedy, in 1960, had announced that America would send men to the moon and bring them back safely. He gave enough money to NASA and also to educational institutes for the research and hence, they did a good quality of research and today everybody knows that we can send a man to the moon and also bring him back safely. This was made possible with the help of the research. Similarly,

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Prof S Satyanarayana

the GPS was invented in Cambridge University, the birth of genetic engineering took place in Stanford University, discovery of DNA was done in Cambridge and Apple was born in MIT Boston - all these signify that research in the universities is very important and that most of the innovations come from the universities.

There should be research foundations in all universities for the development of quality research. The number of patents that India produces each year is far less compared to US and Japan. The Government of India in 2009 had formally permitted to open technology incubation centres as new means of technology transfer. As a result, leading academic and research institutions in India such

The integration of both industry and academia is extremely important for the overall development of society. This will ensure that research at the universities is relevant for the industry as IITs took the lead to establish incubation centre. Such initiatives should be extended to the university level too. The objective of research foundation should be to provide consultancy services, take up contract research for the industries, invite industrial scientists to work in laboratory to divide the partnership between the institute and industry, create in-house facility for small entrepreneurs to grow, promote creativity for technological growth and launch new companies in collaboration with entrepreneurs.

If India does not create research-based colleges and universities, we will have only mediocre graduates, too low by international standards, running the national and international affairs.

Special Feature

education.eletsonline.com

From IITs to Universities Abroad, WizIQ Is Indeed Going Places

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course is being conducted by the Department of Management Studies, ISM, Dhanbad, on WizIQ.

A new wave of funding

3. Alliance Française (AF) teaches French online via WizIQ Learning the French language is made easier with the online course offered by Click on French, a course designed by the teachers of the Alliance Française and delivered via WizIQ.

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

The beginning of the year 2013 was full of new opportunities and fortifying of the foundations, as WizIQ raised $4 million from Kaizen and Bertelsmann Group to invest into the future of online education.

Mashable Calls WizIQ a Trusted Online Education Platform Mashable recently listed WizIQ as one of the most dependable online tutoring destinations in a feature story published on August 20, 2013. With a user base of more than 3 million learners and 255,000 teachers, they called WizIQ a ‘leader in the online education space.’

Then followed a series of successful academic tie-ups and launching of online courses by some of the most prestigious institutes of India.

MOOCs & Online Courses on WizIQ 1. WizIQ, as the only MOOC Platform with Live Class Component, hosts Sunstone Business School’s MOOC The Sunstone Business School launches their most popular Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on B2B Negotiations via online education platform WizIQ. The course commences on October 14, 2013.

2. ISM Dhanbad Offers Management Program Online via WizIQ The Indian School of Mines (ISM) Dhanbad announces the launch of its first online course, a Certificate Program in International Business Management starting from December 8, 2013. The

4. IIT Kharagpur professor from ECE Dept offers a certified online course via WizIQ Professor Somnath Sengupta of the Department of Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, proudly launches his first-ever live online Certificate Course in Image and Video Communication. The course is offered via, WizIQ.

Conferences and Awards WizIQ has live-webcasted a total of 10 conferences last year. This enabled the conferences to reach across the world without any boundary beyond their venues. The Centre for Teaching, Learning, and Case Development at the Indian School of Business (ISB), in partnership with Richard Ivey School of Business, The University of Western Ontario, successfully completed the ISB-Ivey Global Case Competition 2013; the experts could connect from their location over internet via WizIQ. The concluding seminar took place in August, 2013. Other conferences include the 2nd International Online Conference on Psychology and Allied Science, 9th International Congress on English Grammar by VIT Vellore, a few conferences by IIT Delhi, NIOS etc.

WizIQ was the Official Online Education Partner in “The Knowledge Exchange, Goa” Summit, a Vice Chancellors’ conclave where more than 35 Vice Chancellors from Indian Universities par-

ticipated in Nov 2013.

For the second year in a row, WizIQ was conferred with the Best Virtual Classroom Provider Award at World Education Congress by Global e-Learning Awards Committee in June 2013. In a similar, The Government of Punjab conferred WizIQ with The Shiksha Ratna Award for the Best Virtual Classroom for the year 2013 at the State Education Summit Punjab 2013 held in February 2013, in Chandigarh.

Not only WizIQ, but also the users of WizIQ have been recognized, last year.

Certificate Course on Business Management (CCBM), an IIT Delhi course, was conferred with ASSOCHAM award in 2013 for Best Use of Technology. Prof.

Mandar Bhanushe, a professor at the University of Mumbai (UoM), was conferred with the Indian Education Award 2013 for his webinar series on WizIQ in the University’s distance learning course in B Sc (IT) Mathematics.

The Road Map for the Year 2014 We, at WizIQ, bade a satisfactory goodbye to 2013 and look forward to the New Year with renewed energy and passion towards education in all spectrums from Language to Engineering, from MOOC to Paid Online Course, from Individual Professors to Premium Institutes.

As more students turn to the Internet for learning, WizIQ will continue to meet all the teaching needs of its 255,000 teachers worldwide with greater enthusiasm and passion to cater the needs of more than 3 million learners. Announced by Harman Singh, Founder & CEO of WizIQ.com, during VCs’ Conclave at Goa, WizIQ is offering absolutely FREE Service and Support to all interested Indian Universities for Year 2014 to encourage ICT adoption in education.

For queries, suggestions, feedback or ideas to share, feel free to drop a mail to Kalyan Sarkar, Director, Academic Liaisons, WizIQ. com, at kalyan@wiziq.com or call +919216405405 or +91-9897072888. digitalLEARNING / February 2014

57

school Special educators Feature

Privatisation in education has led to competition By

Grace Pinto,

Managing Director, Ryan International Group of Schools

schools operate under various boards CBSE, ICSE, ISC, SSC and HSC. We also have schools offering education under the IB (International Baccalaureate) & IGCSE (Cambridge) curricula.

Our teaching methods ensure a strong conceptual understanding and academic rigor which enable our children to perform exceedingly well in various exams, including the board exams. Our assessment methodologies stress on individual attention and ensure high performance.

We pioneered the concepts of ‘no examination and usage of assessment’, ‘no home work’ and the “grading assessment pattern” which have now gained broad acceptance in India.

Grace Pinto

How has the education System in India changed over the years?

India can still boast of tremendous growth and incredible paradigms in the education space. The 21st Century technology-driven society has challenged the present education system in India. Integration of technology into teaching has challenged all educators to be in tune with the latest trends and to establish technology-based standards for students, teachers and administrators in K-12 classrooms.

How has Ryan group brought about some instrumental changes in education through their schools?

Our overarching goal has been to provide quality holistic education. We have been in tune with the changing times and work with leading academicians and specialists to design our curriculum and delivery to maximize its effectiveness. We

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February 2014 / digitalLEARNING

What are the future trends which will change the education system in India?

Digitisation has pervaded almost all industries and education is no exception.

While technology improves multi-tasking abilities and provides the latest global views and opinions on the subject matter, it is will be important to provide proper guidance to the students or else it can also hamper students’ growth as technology tools can be disruptive in nature.

What is your take on the role of policy makers in shaping up the education space?

Over the decades, the efforts of policy makers have urged various institutions across the country to embrace change and implement policies to make education more engaging and meaningful.

However, the policy makers at all levels might consider following a collaborative approach that includes academic rigour combined with strong experiential learning, which the key for future employability and successful careers.

Policy makers and heads of various educational institutions should: • Create an engaging, motivating, and intellectually stimulating learning experience.

• Provide learning experiences that develops not only employable but who can make a difference as socially and ethically responsible global citizens.

• Enhance student engagement and learning through effective integration of latest developments in education.

• Continuously improve teaching practice/methodology through professional development and training.

• Emphasise holistic and collaborative education with involvement of teachers, parents, administrators, and community members.

What are the challenges and prospects in the education sector?

Like all segments, education also has its positives and challenges. With privatisation of the education sector, there is much competition. It is becomingly increasingly important to develop in this segment of education and innovate and be progressive in approach, fine-tuned with the changing trends in global education and leadership.

The ground realities do indicate the need for more educational institutions to meet the demands of the growing population. Those who are willing to invest in this sector need to provide accessible quality education at K-12 schools, tertiary education, primary education, secondary education, higher education, international studies and so forth. While the Indian education sector offers plenty of opportunities, educators need to be focused on an integral vision and being anchored to the true essence of education in giving access to the right of education to every child is the core value of being in education.

KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE, Higher Education

First Person

State to have 80 new ITIs by 2017 “Odhisa has a number of ITIs and Polytechnic Colleges to help our youth attain the right skills for having gainful employment in the industry of their choice,” says Dr Chandrasekhar Kumar, Commissioner cum Secretary, Employment & Technical Education & Training Department, Government of Odisha Please tell us about the measures that are being undertaken in the State of Odisha to ensure that the citizens are adequately trained for being employed in the modern industry.

In order to streamline and pay more attention for improving employability of youths through systematic pattern of training, Government of Odisha has created the new department in the name of Employment and Technical Education & Training Department. The basic purpose

of this department is to look after the skill upgradation of the youth and provide quality technical education at various levels. Odhisa has a number of ITIs and Polytechnic Colleges to help our youth attain the right skills for having gainful employment in the industry of their choice.

In fact, I would like to point out that our educated youth are finding good jobs not only in Odhisa but outside the state also.

The work for skill development of our youth is being done through the formal sector, as well as the informal sector. In the formal sector we are strengthening, upgrading and expanding new ITIs and Polytechnic Institutions. In 12th Five year plan, we are targeting more than 80 new ITIs, which will add up to 40,000 seats and will also strengthen the existing ITIs. Also in coming five years we are planning to set up 20 new Polytechnics, which will add 10, 000 more seats. In the informal sector we basically try to cater to the needs of the students who have dropped out of the education system during their schooling period and have not been able to pursue higher education.

To these students we provide short duration courses that can enable them to gain skills for different sectors like manufacturing, construction, retail, banking, computers and others.

Dr Chandrasekhar Kumar

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February 2014 / digitalLEARNING

What steps are being taken to ensure that there is adequate level of interface between the academic community, who are involved in providing skills related training, and the industrial sector?

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

Tell us about the steps that you are taking to ensure that the educational institutions follow better curriculum.

Government of Odisha has created State Employment Mission that seeks to create synergy in various development sectors in terms of skill development of youths and linkages of employment opportunities. The Mission’s principal task is to formulate sector and trade specific strategies for specialized skill trainings in order to maximize employment opportunities on a sustainable basis in the state supported and private sectors. To

education.eletsonline.com

fulfil these objectives the Mission seeks to work in close coordination with National Skill Development Mission. Access to education has to be improved, more and more students must be able to take advantage of higher education and technical education. We need to ensure that students from weaker sections of society are also in a position to pursue the education that they desire.

Tell us about the ways by which you are using Information Technology to bring efficiency into the quality of education that is being imparted.

The Information & Communication Technology (ICT) as a tool in education is available to us at this juncture and we wish to fully utilize it to enhance the current enrolment rate in Higher and Technical Education. We are having a number of programs for delivering education through ICT. We are part of Government of India’s National Mission on Education through ICT. Under this Mission, a proper balance between content generation, research in critical areas relating to imparting of education and

connectivity for integrating our knowledge with the advancements in other countries is to be attempted. We are also part of a programme under which we will be able to broadcast lectures online in polytechnic colleges. Capacity building through knowledge empowerment of our youth is necessary to sustain a high growth rate of our economy.

What kind of impact are the initiatives of your department having on improving the employability of the youth in the state?

There is lot of improvement in employability of the youth in the state and that is also having a positive impact in the overall economy of the state. Availability of skilled manpower is most important for achieving the targets of higher productivity, accuracy, consistency and thus competitiveness for domestic and other sectors micro, small and medium

manufacturing enterprises as well as process sector industries. Orissa is playing host to the biggest new names in the business world in the field of steel, power, aluminium, and power cement among others. The presence of such strong industrial players distinctly provides required synergy for human capital investment through establishment of technological universities, IIT, IIIT, IIM level institution to boost Research & Development (R&D) activities and providing managerial/supervisory /skill workforce to the emerging labour market.

Please shed light on the main objectives of the State Employment Mission?

Government of Odisha has created State Employment Mission that seeks to create synergy in various development sectors in terms of skill development of youths and linkages of employment op-

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

MISSION OF EMPLOYMENT & TECHNICAL EDUCATION & TRAINING DEPARTMENT • Serve the public through the promotion and advancement of Technical Education and vocational Training, establish and operationalize policies, regulations and procedures for setting and maintaining standards and quality of technical education and Government on the strategic development of the sector • Upgrade technical institutes into Centres of Excellence of world standard through user friendly course curricula • Promote quality and innovation in technical education and training sector.

• Assist technical institutions to achieve and maintain high quality of education and training; • Consult and assist in the development and advancement of technical education and vocational training in the State in a financially selfsustaining manner.

• Anticipate and prepare for the changing environment and the future needs in the pursuits of technological advancements.

• Manage the operations and resources to be effective and fiscally responsible.

• Substantial growth of technical education and training sector with quality to match the national average

portunities. The Mission’s principal task is to formulate sector and trade specific strategies for specialized skill trainings in order to maximize employment opportunities on a sustainable basis in the state supported and private sectors. To fulfil these objectives the Mission seeks to work in close coordination with National Skill Development Mission.

Tell us about the initiatives that you are taking for skill development of female students.

The State Government have reserved 30 percent of seats in all the Government ITI for women candidates. Nine new girls hostel have been sanctioned ST & SC Development Department in the ITIs to accommodation of women trainees.

Short term training programme have been taken up under State Employment Mission, W&CD Department, H&UD Department in ITIs and Polytechnics.

digitalLEARNING / February 2014

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