Digital Learning March 2014

Asia’s premier Monthly Magazine on ICT in Education

volume 10

I issue 03 I march 2014 I ISSN 0973-4139 I ` 75

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Digital Lab

Geeta Bhukkal Minister for Education, Industrial Training, Social Justice & Empowerment, Women & Child Development, Welfare of SCs & BCs, Government of Haryana

Course Review of PGDM Page - 40

Why MBA lost its lustre?

Page - 46

Pratap Keshari Deb Minister of State (Independent), Food Supplies & Consumer Welfare, Employment & Technical Education & Training, Information Technology, Government of Odhisa

Special coverage on Sports Education Page - 52

Event report of School Leadership Summit page - 60

Contents

ISSN 0973-4139

volume 10 issue 03 march 2014

The New Age

P 28

Classrooms 26

Policy Matters 14

Education for All Geeta Bhukkal, Minister for Education, Industrial Training, Social Justice & Empowerment, Women & Child Development, Welfare of SCs & BCs, Government of Haryana

Ensuring Better Education in Rural Areas Surina Rajan, Principal Secretary, School Education Department Government of Haryana

Course Review 40 10 Emerging PGDM Courses

16

Including Modern IT Curriculum in Odisha Pratap Keshari Deb, Minister of State (Independent), Food Supplies & Consumer Welfare, Employment & Technical Education & Training, Information Technology, Government of Odhisa

22

Better Infrastructure for Improved Education S S Prasad, Principal Secretary, Higher Education, Government of Haryana

Feature Story 46 MBA Craze Tumbles Down:Where Lies the Canker?

52 Relevance of Sports Education in Schools 24

4

The Roadmap for Developing Technical Education Dr Chandra Shekhar Kumar Commissioner cum Secretary, Employment & Technical, Education & Training Department, Government of Odisha

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60 Event Report News 8 School Education 12 Higher Education 38 Campus

Asia’s premier Monthly Magazine on ICT in Education Volume

10

Issue 03

March 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

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

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

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

Executive – IT Infrastructure: Zuber Ahmed Executive – Information Management: Khabirul Islam Finance & Operations Team Sr Manager – Finance: Ajit Sinha Legal Officer: Ramesh Prasad Verma Executive Officer – Accounts: Subhash Chandra Dimri

Editorial Team education Sr Correspondent: Ankush Kumar Correspondent: Seema Gupta governance Assistant Editor: Rachita Jha Research Associate: Sunil Kumar Sr Correspondent: Kartik Sharma, Mohd Ujaley, Nayana Singh Health Sr Assistant Editor: Shahid Akhter Correspondent: Ekta Srivastava

5th Annual

Information Safety & Citizen Security

SALES & MARKETING TEAM: digital LEARNING National Sales Manager: Fahimul Haque, Mobile: +91 - 8860651632 Associate Manager – Business Development: Amit Kumar Pundhir, Mobile: +91 - 8860635835 Subscription & Circulation Team Sr Executive – Subscription: Gunjan Singh, Mobile: +91-8860635832

14 March 2014

Design Team Assistant Art Director: Shipra Rathoria Team Lead – Graphic Design: Bishwajeet Kumar Singh Sr Graphic Designer: Om Prakash Thakur Sr Web Designer: Shyam Kishore

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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EDITORIAL

Starting Digital Revolution in the Classroom The 2014-15 interim budget was a boon for people who had availed educational loans.

Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram announced a moratorium period for all education loans taken till March 31, 2009, and outstanding as of March 31, 2013. He added that the government will take over the liability for outstanding interest as on December 31, 2013, but the borrower would have to pay interest for the period after April 1, 2014. This would benefit around 900,000 student-borrowers. He added that the interest subsidy scheme was introduced in 2009-10 for education loans disbursed after April 1, 2009, while students who had borrowed prior to that date deserve some relief.

The relief by educational loans waiver was offset by the board exams just round the corner and students preparing for the mock-tests after completing the course, clearing doubts and doing last-minute revision. As the exam draws near, a large number of students complain of stress-related headache, queasiness, vomiting and insomnia. To ease this exam phobia, schools have started innovative activities like online counseling, surprise home visits, yoga, easy techniques to memorize and last-minute sessions to clear doubts.

Today, digital resources are available to schools for supporting their teaching, learning and preparing students for exams. Technology can enhance learning using tools like electronic grade books, digital portfolios, learning games, and real-time feedback on teacher and student performance. Technology links teachers to their students and to professional content, resources, and systems to help them improve their teaching and personalize learning.

Online learning opportunities and the use of open educational resources and other technologies can increase educational productivity by accelerating the rate of learning by reducing costs of instructional materials and program delivery and better utilizing teacher’s time. A variety of ICT solutions are available today to make the teaching-learning process more fun and dynamic. One of the most popular tools is digital labs.

This issue of digitalLearning Magazine gives an in-depth coverage of digital labs which are revolutionising education. It focuses on the core issues facing industry players involved in the creation of these cutting edge labs. Many schools, higher education institutes and vocational teaching centres in the country are trail-blazing, forward thinking, and are leaders in using Science, Math, English, Robotics, Language, and Virtual labs methodologies for teaching our young students. Trends in education are researched in-depth. This edition reviews PGDM courses, with a feature on how placements are affecting MBA admissions and looks at the relevance of Sports Education in India.

It features an event report on ‘School Leadership Summit-2014’, which saw participation of more than 150 schools and more than 15 corporate participants. The summit featured a workshop on life skills, value education and school wellness as well.

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

digitalLEARNING / March 2014

7

nEWS

School

Education

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

140 private schools under state education department’s scanner The state education department will take strict action against 140 private schools in the districts of Haryana and Punjab for not providing details of beneficiary students under 134A to the department. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had earlier ordered the state education department to instruct the private schools to share information about the allotment of 10 percent quota to economically weaker section students under 134A. As per the order, all the schools were instructed to provide information like the availability of seats, and admission notice of respective schools which were to be uploaded to the website of the education department.

While many schools have come forward with their details, nearly 140 private schools have underplayed the order.

Universal education won’t be achieved until next century: UNESCO study Unesco’s 11th Education For All Global Monitoring Report says that universal education won’t be achieved until the next century and the learning crisis is costing governments $129 billion a year. The report titled ‘Teaching and learning: Achieving quality for all’, says 10 percent of global spending on primary education is being wasted on poor quality education that is failing to ensure that children learn. This situation leaves one in four kids in poor countries unable

to read a single sentence.

According to the report, India has the highest population of illiterate adults, 287 million, which is 37 percent of the total population of such people across the world, who are going to school, a sizable portion are not learning the basics.

In India, education accounts for 10.5 percent of the total government expenditure, 3.3 percent of the GNP (Gross National Product) which is below the 6 percent target called for by the report.

HRD ministry finalises new learning indicators for school children Gone are the days when multiple surveys, based on self-created bench marks, were used to map the learning achievements of school children. HRD ministry has recently finalised new class-wise learning indicators that students from Class 1 to Class 8 are expected to achieve.

For the first time in India, the National Council of Educational Research and Training has finalised learning achievement indicators in eight subjects: English, Hindi, Urdu, Mathematics, EVS, Science, Social Sciences and Art Education. Indicators in case of English, Urdu and Hindi have been fine-tuned further to include the milestone a child should achieve in writing, reading, listening and speaking.

Pledge against child abuse in CBSE schools soon Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has directed all its affiliated schools across the country to introduce ‘Pledge for An Abuse-Free World for Children’. The initiative was first taken by the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, as an integral part of special and class assemblies. This is an effort by CBSE to make students aware of their duties, rights and responsibilities and make them responsible for their safety. A CBSE notification has asked schools to convene a special assembly to read out the pledge and then include it in class assemblies throughout the year to reinforce the message.

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Odisha CM launches e-Vidyalaya programme Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik recently launched an ambitious e-Vidyalaya programme which will cover 4,000 government schools in the first phase and 2,000 government schools in the second phase. Schools covered under this programme would provide ICT laboratory, internet and multimedia facilities for students.

A senior officer of the school and mass education department informed that the ambitious project is aimed at providing teaching and learning in an ICT environment and will also enable students with higher technical skills to deal with the 21st century world. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 746 crore. The Odisha Knowledge Corporation Limited (OKCL) has been preparing e-content in various subjects for the programme for classes VIII and IX. Students and teachers will regularly use it from the next academic year onwards.

Ask schools to refund excess fee: High Court to Delhi government The Delhi government has been directed by the High Court to ask nearly 250 unaided institutions to return the excess fee amount to parents with nine percent interest. The order comes in the backdrop of the recommendations made by a panel on the unaided private schools’ fee structure. The committee has submitted four reports based on examination of fee structures of unaided private schools. A division bench of Justice BD Ahmed and Justice Siddharth Mridul told the Delhi government that it is free to implement the recommendations of the committee.

The committee has so far examined the accounts of 605 unaided private schools out of a total 1,172 institutions. Till now, the committee has recommended that 242 schools should return excess fees they have collected from the parents with nine percent interest from 2008 to 2011. It also found that in around 100 schools, either no records were maintained or the accounts were fudged.

Proposal to set up education tribunal to tackle teachers’ woes In order to deal with service matters related to higher secondary school teachers, the government has proposed to establish education tribunals across the country.

To hear petitions of aggrieved teachers, legislation would soon be enacted to establish education tribunals at state and national level. Rajya Sabha MP, Shantaram Naik said that the issues should be brought to these tribunals only after all other remedies under respective services rules are exhausted.

The tribunals will provide legal remedy to higher secondary school teachers, who only had the option of filing writ petition in the respective high courts until now. A bill on the subject passed

by Lok Sabha is presently pending in the Rajya Sabha. The proposed legislation would also cover issues regarding affiliation to state universities.

Unesco says Indian syllabi too ambitious The curriculum of Indian schools has drawn sharp criticism from the Unesco.

The Education for All Global Monitoring Report (GMR) 2014 states that Indian curriculum is unrealistic and far too ambitious for the child. It says the curriculum outpaces a child’s learning capacity, thus widening the learning gap.

It further says completing primary school is no guarantee for literacy, saying 90

percent remain illiterate even after completing four years of school.

India is home to the largest number of adult illiterates in the world which is 287 million. One reason for the dismal learning levels is that allocation per child still doesn’t adequately reflect the cost of delivering quality education to the marginalised.

digitalLEARNING / March 2014

9

industry speak

Digital learning will propel the industry forward Jasvinder Singh, CEO, Words Worth ELT, part of the ACTUniv Group talks about the growth of digital labs in enhancing English language education in India What made you venture into digital labs in education sector over other sectors?

Digital labs just grew out of the need to meet the challenge of English language requirement in the country. We have been into IT education since 1989 and understand technology and teaching very well. Developing training programs, training content, courseware, trainer tools and reports and feedback are our forte.

I was also involved as a key partner in developing one of the finest 3D animated educational content in the world.

What has been the rate of growth of the industry? How do you see the market progress in next five years?

The industry is growing by leaps and bounds every year. With technology advancing at a breakneck speed and gadgets becoming commonplace, digital gadgets delivering content on every topic are expected to replace printed books. The power of interactive gadgets is huge as they cater to more than just books. This awareness of digital learning aspects will propel the industry forward. With English being the number one skill for employment today and a mere 15 percent to 20 percent of the population possessing this skill set, language learning needs to be addressed.

Digital labs have the potential to bridge this gap between the reality and the need in learning English.

What are the major challenges faced in this sector which is relatively new in India?

India has many languages and even more schools using them as their medium of instruction. To create digital content sup-

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to change and the educators’ comfort with technology needs to be worked on.

Jasvinder Singh

porting all languages is a herculean task.

Our biggest challenge is the penetration of technology in schools and homes.

Computers are associated more with entertainment than education.

Cost of Operating System and computer hardware is a challenge too. To overcome these, we have developed our language labs solutions to work on thick as well as thin clients and have developed content to work on open source OS such as Linux.

A negative attitude towards digital learning is a challenge, since traditional classrooms are still the preferred medium for education. This mind set needs

How do you compare the IT initiatives by Indian educational institutes vis-à-vis other countries?

India’s use of IT infrastructure is growing and will be at par with the developed nations. Lack of good internet connectivity across the country is also being overcome. Most cities in India are adapting technology in educational institutions too. In due time, IT initiatives in educational institutes will be at par with most developed nations. Given the fact that Indians are quick adapters of technology, we should soon be leading in the use of technology in education.

Please describe your products offered in brief.

Words Worth Language Lab Senior comprises of three study levels to match the years of graduate study and is ideal for colleges and higher learning institutes; Words Worth Language Lab Junior is aimed at schools and comprises eight progressive study levels; Words Worth Language Lab - Enterprise Model takes advantage of the large PC penetration to split the learning into two parts – at school and at home; Words Worth Papyrus addresses the needs of resource or infrastructure-constrained schools by requiring just one computer and a projector for instruction; Words Worth Groots is a grammarbased product that can be mapped to CBSE, ICSE or state boards; Words Worth Virtual is a self learning tool for basic English; Haiku: Loveable Learning is an afterschool English learning program.

nEWS

Higher

Education

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

Finance Minister attracts students for education loans Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram announced a moratorium period for all education loans taken up to March 31, 2009, and outstandings as of March 31, 2013 while presenting the interim budget for 2014-15 in Lok Sabha. He said that the government will take over the liability for outstanding interest as on December 31, 2013, but the borrower would have to pay interest for the period after April 1, 2014. Nearly 900,000 student-borrowers would benefit to the tune of around Rs 2,600 crore.

The minister said that Rs 2,600 crore will be transferred to Canara Bank, the nodal bank managing the interest subsidy scheme on educational loans. The education loan portfolio of nationalised banks as on December 31, 2013, stands around Rs 57,700 crore in 2,570,254 accounts.

Microsoft forms consortium to deliver educational content Software major Microsoft has formed a consortium with Acer, MBD and Tata Teleservices to launch tablets bundled with digital learning content for schools. The consortium will launch the Acer Iconia W4-820 Windows 8.1 tablet with curriculum for CBSE, ICSE and private state boards prepared by MBD. Commenting on the initiative, Pratik Mehta, Director, Sales and Education at Microsoft India said a seamless integration of content, ease of support across multiple devices and enterprise readiness for products and services was needed to transform education and create a unique learning experience for students.

Times Higher Education to draw up India-specific ranking indicator

In a bid to help global education stakeholders and international students to judge Indian educational institutions, the Times Higher Education Ranking Agency of the UK, which grades higher educational institutions globally, has decided to draw up an India-specific indicator.

A committee formed by the standing council of Indian Institute

of Technology (IITs) held meetings with the Times Higher Education (THE) Ranking Agency and the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Ranking Agency over the matter of ranking IIT. The Times Higher Education Ranking Agency also held a workshop last year where universities and technical institutions like IITs, National Institute of Technology (NIT) were invited. HRD ministry has been stressing that parameters to judge institutions in the US and the UK cannot be applied on India since the nature of higher educational institutions are different. The ministry also asked the IITs, NITs and central universities to appoint a nodal person to coordinate with the THE Ranking Agency to develop India specific parameters.

Rush at NAAC for accreditation National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) is being thronged by application of various universities and institutes across the country seeking accreditation from the agency. Institutions of higher learning like Delhi University, Jamia Millia Islamia, School of Planning and Architecture, Anna University, Indian Institute of Science and National Law School, Jadavpur University and Assam University among 2,978 others have sent their letter of intention (LoI) to the accreditation agency between January 19, 2013 and December 19, 2013. This is the highest number of LoIs received

by NAAC. Region wise the highest number of applications are from east and northeast, while in as a state, Bihar has the largest number of participations. Following Bihar, Madhya Pradesh (278), Tamil Nadu (238), Karnataka (217) and Rajasthan (193). The move comes in the backdrop of RUSA where it has become mandatory for government run higher education institutions to get accreditations to receive funds.

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HRD launches online courseware for seven UG subjects Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister MM Pallam Raju launched the e-content for seven undergraduate subjects and asked the state boards to improve quality of education and related infrastructure. Expressing concern over poor quality of education, he said that there was an urgent need to improve the education system and upgradation of infrastructure to enhance education system in India. The courseware on subjects like Anthropology, English, Hindi, Mathematics, Photography, Environmental Studies and History has been prepared by Consortium for Educational Communication (CEC) which is an Inter-University Center of UGC on electronic media. Earlier, e-content on Botany had been launched. The modules are available on CEC and MHRD web portals. CEC had initiated the production of e-content under the National Mission on Education through ICT (NME-ICT), a plan project of HRD Ministry. It develops e-content for various undergraduate subjects as per the UGC module curricula in collaboration with 22 media centres.

Armed Forces Medical College proposes PG course in sports medicine After the proposal

by Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) to introduce an MD course in sports medicine, an expert panel from the Medical Council of India (MCI) will soon inspect the college.

The initiative was suggested by the Union Minister of State for Defence, Jitendra Prasad during his visit to AFMC in January. AFMC has got the state government’s sanction to the course and the Vice Chancellor of the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences has also cleared it. The course will be started soon after the inspection by MCI. AFMC will initially start the MD course with a student intake of two seats, considering that the intake is linked with the availability of qualified teachers. Eventually, the student intake will be increased. AFMC has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and this would contribute to the process of selection of the right kind of athletes for various sporting events.

President asks private sector to invest in higher education Stressing on the need to improve the quality of education in the country, President Pranab Mukherjee has urged the private sector to invest more in higher education.

Speaking on the occasion of Diamond Jubilee of K C College in Maharashtra, Mukherjee said that the best universities cannot be created through government funds alone, private investors should also come forward. He added that to become a first class nation, we need to have first class colleges and universities. The President also expressed his concern over Indian universities not being able to qualify for the list of top 200 institutions as per the international rating agencies.

IGNOU to offer scholarships for poor students Children from economically backward families will soon be awarded scholarships by the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). The effort is made to make education free for such students who opt for IGNOU courses. M Aslam, Vice Chancellor, IGNOU announced on the occasion of the Republic Day celebration that a Kendriya Vidyalaya school and a playground for children of IGNOU employees shall be set up so that children in the complex don’t have to go too far for education. This is an effort

by IGNOU to uplift the weaker sections of the society.

digitalLEARNING / March 2014

13

policy matters

Education for All Geeta Bhukkal Minister for Education, Industrial Training, Social Justice & Empowerment, Women & Child Development, Welfare of SCs & BCs, Government of Haryana

“During the last five years we have been working relentlessly to ensure that there is proper enrolment of out of school children and reduction in dropout rate. To ensure availability of good education for all, as mandated by RTE Act, a proper infrastructure is a must,� says Geeta Bhukkal. In conversation with Ankush Kumar of Elets News Network (ENN) How has your experience been as an Education Minister in Haryana?

Please shed light on the major initiatives that you have taken for improving the quality of education in the state.

It is a really wonderful experience to be the Education Minister of Haryana. I am proud to be the Minister of department whose work can make so much positive difference in the life of common citizens. During the last few years, lot of expansion has taken place in the field of higher education in terms

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of quality and quantity. Till 2004-05 there were only three universities in the state, whereas at present there are 22 universities under the administrative ambit of Higher Education Department. The present government has started 35 new Government Colleges.

The scope of the work that has been done also becomes apparent from the fact that Haryana Government has exponentially increased the budget allocation from `25,474.50 lakhs in 200405 to `1,07,263.37 lakhs in the year 2013-14.

Tell us about the initiatives that you have taken for improving the state of minority education.

Many initiatives have been taken by the state government to ensure that our minorities have access to best possible education. We have started the system of post-matric scholarship and prematric scholarships. Programmes such as Jajba-e-Taleem and Dastak-e-Taleem have recently been started in the district, under which members of school management committees, NGOs and eminent citizens conducted door-to-door

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survey to ensure 100 percent enrolment of students in schools. In some minority districts we have opened model schools for giving more attention to the students from minority communities.

Three decades back even a 12th grade student used to get jobs very easily, but nowadays someone with college education finds it difficult to get employed.

Do you think there is something wrong with our education system?

There is no doubt that there is a missmatch between the kind of education that is being provided and the exact needs of the country. For best results, the academic community should have a thorough understanding of the kind of skills that the industry needs. What is the demand of the industry? What is the demand from the MNC’s? In some parts of the country, there is high level of unemployment and at the same time the leading companies are facing shortage of well-trained manpower. We are now organising job-melas and placement cells in universities. We are also making efforts to ensure that the education that is being provided is in line with the needs of the industry.

Gurgaon is now regarded as a hub of some of the best schools and universities in the country.

How do you view the educational infrastructure that has come up in the city?

In fact, I would like to begin by saying that Gurgaon is the safest city for children and women and that is one of the reasons why many people prefer to live and work in this city. The city is home to many world class IT companies. An excellent educational infrastructure has also come up in the city. This is a good opportunity for youth of Haryana who want to get quality education and find suitable jobs.

In my opinion, the infrastructure for better education and employment opportunities must be expanded to other parts of the state and that is already happening.

Many educationists complain that value is missing from today’s

education system. What is your opinion on that?

Skill, attitude, overall personality traits like confidence and courage, application of knowledge, and ethics are missing in the ongoing education efforts. Perhaps it is true that value education has been lost in the race of commercialization and competition. There is such a pressure on the teachers to impart certain skill-sets in their students that they might not be able to give enough time in imparting value based education. But it is also true that value education cannot be the sole responsibility of the educational institutions only. The entire society has to pitch in. Parents, NGOs, the media, and other social figures have to come forward and work together for developing a better future for our students.

Today there is a major shift happening in our education system for incorporating better IT systems for improving the quality

ment and more than 5000 private schools that have to comply RTE Act, 2009. The State Government and Department of School Education are working in true spirit to implement RTE Act, 2009. Haryana is the first state in the country to withdraw the school fee under RTE Act and reimburse the same.

Haryana is one of the top states in the country to constitute School Management Committee, provide training to the members of School Management Committee, implement fund transfer system to strengthen the School Management Committees financially, provide free entitlements under RTE Act, enrolment drive and girls enrolment. We have reduced dropout rate with collective efforts. We also recruited the teachers to maintain teacher pupil ration. In my opinion, Haryana is among the top five states in implementing RTE Act 2009 in India. We are committed to comply with RTE Act in letter and spirit. We used to guide teachers, school management

“Many initiatives have been taken to ensure that our minorities have access to best possible education of our education. In your opinion what are the major challenges in the path of having IT in education?

Based on the experience, a need for strong mechanism for monitoring and management needs to be set in place at all levels for ensuring optimal delivery of set targets. There is a need to develop and use appropriate e-content to enhance the comprehension level of children in the various subjects. There is also a need for pre-service as well as in service training to all the teachers in effective use of ICT in teaching and learning process.

We also have to set-up smart schools at the district level to serve as demonstration models for neighbouring districts.

Large numbers of schools are yet to comply with various provisions of the RTE Act. What should be the best way forward for higher compliance?

In Haryana, there are 15,000 govern-

committees, private schools, villagers time to time. We are preparing a mechanism for the transparency of the compliance of RTE Act, 2009.

Today no one can deny the importance of English for getting better jobs. But at times the students from government run institutions are unable to develop proficiency in English speaking.

What can be done about this?

English Labs have been set up in 31 government run colleges. These colleges are being developed as centres of excellence.

The requirements of students in Haryana in regards to development of proper English speaking skills are quite unique, so we have to develop our own systems imparting this skill. We are hopeful that these English Labs will serve the propose of enabling our students to develop right kind of linguistic skills.

digitalLEARNING / March 2014

15

policy matters

Including Modern IT Curriculum in Odisha “My fundamental principle is that one should ‘First Deserve then Desire’. Firstly, my government is building up a base of technically educated youth, proper infrastructure and then we will welcome everybody to invest so that by the time those investments come in we are prepared to receive them,” says Pratap Keshari Deb. In conversation with Kartik Sharma of Elets News Network (ENN) Today Odisha is regarded as one of India’s fastest growing states.

What is your vision for bringing development to Odisha?

Odisha is one of the fastest growing IT destinations in the country. We have divided the IT development in some stages. We are giving first and foremost importance to build a technical knowledge base at the grassroots level immediately after schools, ITI, Diploma engineering, engineering, as well as the management education. Secondly, we are introducing Information Technology (IT) in a major way into governance so that people get accustomed to it. Today almost all the departments are using IT in some or the other way.

The whole process of this development started since 2006. We will be drawing curtains in 2014 and by 2015-16 we will take a giant leap in the course of IT development in the state.

Please tell us about the new ICT policy in the state. How will this policy help Government to develop a well planned, robust and futuristic IT architecture in the state?

We had an ICT policy since 2002-03. This policy has given us immense dividends in last 10 years. Through this policy we have created an economy of more than `2,200 crores. In hardware sector about `500 crores were generated in the last decade.

Now with the new ICT policy which we have created in 2013, we aim to take a big

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Pratap Keshari Deb Minister of State (Independent), Food Supplies & Consumer Welfare, Employment & Technical Education & Training, Information Technology, Government of Odhisa

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leap in coming 10 years. The new ICT policy is basically meant for the development of upcoming entrepreneurs. This will help these entrepreneurs to setup IT & electronic hub in Odisha. It will have threefold benefit to the state. Firstly we will get revenue coming in the state. Secondly, there will also be creation of a lot of jobs. Thirdly, it will change the entire working system and the mindset and outlook of the state. This is our basic threefold strategy behind the new ICT policy.

What is the Government’s strategy for the development of IT investment in the state? Please tell us about some steps being taken for facilitating growth in new areas of IT/ITES. For encouraging IT investment in the state we have tied up with STPI (Software Technology Parks of India). Initially we had one Infocity, which was the IT hub. Now we have expanded to two more such Infocity projects in the vicinity of Bhubaneswar town. These two are going to be the nodal hub. We have selected four regional centers.

Shortly, we are inaugurating the STPI and Government of Odisha joint venture in Baleswar district. So now these sub stations like Baleswar will be joined with the main hub in Bhubaneswar.

This is how the growth process will pick up the pace and lead us to take big leap in 2015 as all these things are targeted to be completed by 2014 and 2015 start.

A lot of new institutes are opening up in Odisha. How do you perceive these initiatives and what are measures the government is taking to usher in more universities in the state?

Initially we had Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) as one major institute. However, now we planning to diversify. From the government side we have taken initiatives to open educational institutes in all blocks, diploma education in every district. We are trying to cover the regional imbalance in the existence of engineering colleges as far

as possible. We have increased seats in government institutes and are planning to increase more seats in engineering as well as in diploma and ITI level. This year we are slated to spend about `500 crores for this cause.

Please share your vision with us regarding the development of education in the coming years.

Please share your thoughts on the future of ICT in education in the state of Odisha.

The idea of promoting more IT oriented education is also there on our cards. We are in talks with Microsoft and other key players to include modern IT curriculum in higher, technical and school education. If the whole system is integrated then definitely the end product will be excellent. However, this is still in the

we are tying up with various companies and service providers and diploma centers imparting training linked with placement opportunities. Around 35 thousand students have been placed directly by us. There are other placements done by private companies as well. By 201617, this mission will have a major role to play in the state.

Odisha is rich in natural resources, it also has a large pool of trained youth. Do you think the state has the potential to develop into a larger business centre?

I see Odisha as a very bright destination for investment in future, because we have surplus power, water and land.

The other states that have taken the initial leap in the IT sector. States like Haryana, Punjab, Bangalore, Chen-

We are in talks with Microsoft and other key players to include modern IT curriculum in higher, technical and school education discussion stage. Nothing concrete has been moved as yet.

What are the steps being taken by the government for ensuring that there is adequate skill development of the youth of the state?

Initially, we started the process of skill development on our own in 2006, through the State Skill Development Mission. The basic idea then was to have a base of technically educated people in the state because for development you have to have a skilled worked force mainly in the form of technically educated youth base.

So the mission was first aimed to create awareness about education, impart technical education and bring out people capable of self employment.

From 2010 onwards Government of India also started such mission in form of National Skill Development Mission.

After that budgetary provisions started coming from Government of India and Odisha both. From 2011, onwards we have gone on a mission mode and now

nai and others, are running short of power, water and land. So, I believe that the next hub is Odisha. My entire preparation is for that. My fundamental is to ‘First Deserve then Desire’.

Firstly, my government is building up a base of technically educated youth, proper infrastructure and then we will welcome everybody to invest so that by the time those investments come in we are prepared to receive them. Once we strengthen our own base then we will invite more and more companies from private sector to join in the bandwagon of development of Odisha and that is how we will take the leap and there will be no looking back. Our primary responsibility is to have our own work force because there is no point in creating IT hubs and let people coming from outside taking the jobs and youth of Odisha sitting jobless. Now we have reached at the stage where for instance if 500 jobs are created in the state then at least 200 of them will be taken up by Odisha youth.

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policy matters

Better Infrastructure for Improved Education “We are trying to improve our infrastructure to meet the education related needs of women students, differently-abled students and students from socially deprived backgrounds,� says S S Prasad. In conversation with Ankush Kumar of Elets News Network (ENN) Please provide us with an overview of the work that your department is doing in the area of education?

The mandate of the state Government is to provide access to quality higher education to all eligible students. Haryana possesses a well developed higher education system which offers facility of education and training in almost all spheres of learning and knowledge. We have taken a number of steps to bring about an improvement in the scope and

S S Prasad Principal Secretary, Higher Education, Government of Haryana

quality in higher education. Haryana has witnessed a phenomenal growth in higher education sector in the last nine years. Number of universities has increased from 7 in 2005 to 36 at present and the number of government colleges has increased from 60 in 2005 to 95 presently. The number of private colleges has gone up from 108 to 610.

Nine years ago there were about two lakh students and today we have around 12 lakh students pursuing higher education through regular and distance modes. Similarly, budget provision for higher education has been increased from about 288 crores to about 1,098 crores. Due to the measures taken by the state government, the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in Haryana is about 24.1 percent as compared to the national GER of

19.40 percent. And the number of girl students attending colleges is about 54 percent in comparison to boys. There are no tuition fees for girl students. Scholarships are given quite generously to the under privileged and socio-economic backward students. Main challenges are to provide relevant education, make it more employability centric, to make the institutions financially stable and to introduce accountability among teachers and students with a greater degree of responsibility.

You just mentioned that the gross enrolment ratio in Haryana is about 24.1 percent as compared to the national GER of 19.40 percent.

What is the reason behind this achievement?

Opening of government colleges, private colleges, state universities and private universities and systems for distance education along with equity measures, quality infrastructure etc., have resulted in the increase of GER. The higher education system in Haryana has registered a fairly decent growth during last decade. As on date, there are twelve state universities, one central university, seven deemed universities and fourteen state private universities in Haryana. There are 95 government degree and post-graduate colleges (including around 24 women’s colleges) 97 government-aided colleges, 40 self financing colleges and 456 self financing B.Ed colleges.

It has often been found that students coming out of universities are lacking in skills that are

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required by our industry. What initiatives you are taking to ensure that our education system makes our students job ready?

Our colleges and universities are imparting general education and the courses related to skill development are being run under the ambit of Technical Education Department. However, under the National Skills Development Corporation, Government of India, the department has initiated the process of skill development in retail sector in 32 Government Colleges of Excellence as a pilot project.

Besides it, the state government has initiated the prospects of job opportunities for the students. As many as 21 job oriented courses like BCA, MCA, Bio-technology, Microbiology, Mass Communications

STEPS REQUIRED TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION • Streamlining of examination system • Updation of school education • Multi subject orientation • Research orientation • Modern teaching pedagogy • Use of ICT in teaching learning • Setting up Inter-University Centre (IUCs) at state level for advanced with a mission to share costly and rare infrastructure, equipments etc.

etc., are presently being offered in 51 government colleges. The state government has initiated organising placement fairs for the students of government colleges at four divisional-level government colleges since 2011 after a training of 5-7 days for the students. Further, English language labs have been set up in most colleges to improve the language proficiency and soft skills of the students. Computer education has been made compulsory in all government colleges.

There is obviously the need of having more and more engineering and medical colleges, but creating

such institutions is not an easy task. What can be done to ensure that the new institutions adhere to certain quality benchmarks?

Concurrent with the national focus towards expansion in higher education, it is also necessary to ensure that quality and excellence are sustained and upgraded in all the institutions of higher education to match up to international levels. In this context, the possibility of mandatory accreditation along with supplementary measures would generate pressure on the higher education system to evolve adequate norms and standards and approaches to assessment. Quality enhancing measures and support along with accreditation need to be intensified during the 12th FYP. What is your view of the role that private sector can play in higher education? Do you think that PPP projects should be encouraged for driving better education outcomes?

The proposed government intervention would not be adequate to meet the growing demands of higher education.

We may need to enlist the participation of private sector in a big way. Haryana Private Universities Act, 2006 has come into existence and private universities established under it are expected to take some of the pressure. In addition, private colleges are promoted by giving them partial aid by the state government. The state has a very conducive atmosphere for the private players.

What kind of initiatives can be taken by the state government to bring improvement to the quality of education being offered in our higher education institutions?

To bring in sustainable and continuous learning, semester system has been implemented, syllabi are updated regularly, computer education has been made compulsory, project based learning and assignment system has been introduced. To provide employment opportunity to all, placement fairs are organized regularly.

What kind of modern day technology you are using to ensure that the students in every part of the state are able to access quality education?

With the changing scenario in higher education worldwide where basic computer education has become a prerequisite for obtaining employment in most sectors, it has been felt that basic computer education programme needs to be initiated in all the government colleges, where all students can have the opportunities to learn the basics of IT education and be enabled with sufficient IT skills to obtain basic level employment in the booming IT sector on completion of their college education. The state government has started compulsory computer education for all non-IT students. Each government college has been equipped with computer labs, 25-50 computer systems, networking, internet facility, printers etc. so as to make the students computer savvy and competent for the job market.

Under the NMEICT project of Government of India, 10 broadband connections are being provided to all colleges of the state. Then EDUSAT project is running for imparting education through satellite. The project has been implemented in 63 government colleges and 39 private aided colleges in the State. Around 63 government colleges and 39 private aided colleges have been provided with satellite interactive terminals and receive-only terminals (Dual mode) and in three government colleges and 39 private aided colleges, only ROT have been installed.

The soft skill improvement programme was started in year 2005-06 in six government colleges and now has been extended to all government colleges where EDUSAT system is working.

The scheme is meant for upgrading the knowledge of students and giving them an intensive training in communication skills and interpersonal skills particularly for BPO industry and ITES sector. It has become imperative that proper emphasis be laid on learning English Language and its usage.

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policy matters

The Roadmap for Developing Technical Education “Odisha 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 Chandra Shekhar Kumar. In conversation with Nayana Singh and Kartik Sharma of Elets News Network (ENN) 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, the government of Odisha has created the new department named Employment and Technical Education & Training Department (ETET). The basic purpose of this department is to look after the skill upgradation of the youth and provide quality technical education at various

Dr Chandra Shekhar Kumar Commissioner cum Secretary, Employment & Technical, Education & Training Department, Government of Odisha

levels. Odisha 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 Odisha 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, etc.

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

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academic community and the industry is of great importance. The academic community in the ITIs and Polytechnics of Odisha 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

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 curriculam • 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

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 have a number

“A healthy level of interface between the academic community and the industry is of great importance state-supported and private sectors. To fulfil these objectives the mission seeks to work in close coordination with National Skill Development Mission. Access to education has to be improved, more and more students must be able to take advantage of higher education and technical education. We need to ensure that students from weaker sections of society are also in a position to pursue the education that they desire.

Tell us about the ways by which you are using Information

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 initiatives does your department have 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. Odisha is host to the biggest new names in the business world in the field of steel, power, aluminium, and cement etc. The presence of such strong industrial players distinctly provides required synergy for human capital investment through establishment of Technological Universities, IIT, IIIT, IIM level institutions to boost Research & Development (R&D) activities and providing managerial, supervisory, skill workforce to the emerging labour market.

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policy matters

Ensuring Better Education in Rural Areas “In order to ensure teacher availability in backward district of Mewat, a separate teacher cadre has been created . Teachers recruited for Mewat will not be transferable to other parts of Haryana,� says Surina Rajan. In conversation with Ankush Kumar of Elets News Network (ENN) Pleas tell us about the initiatives taken by the Department of School Education to enhance the quality in education.

A major initiative taken in this respect is improving the quality of teachers by improving pre-service teacher training, in-service professional development and raising the eligibility bar for recruitment. Haryana had introduced Teacher Eligibility Test as an eligibility requirement for all categories of teachers long before other states did it or RTE made it mandatory. Other eligibility requirements have also been reviewed and enhanced. A condition of having consistent good academic record in the case of PGTs has been put in all the subjects for direct recruitment. Holding of qualifications of TET has been prescribed in the case of PGT as well, whereas there is no such condition in the rest of the country including Central Schools & Navodaya Vidyalya Schools. Service Rules have been modified and notified. Performance appraisal system of entire teaching and supervisory staff has been revamped linking it to their Job Description and outcomes generated during the academic session. Organizational restructuring is being done to bring required focus on learning outcomes of children. Teachers have been largely relieved of non-teaching duties. A robust MIS is being developed to ensure efficient data collection and management system.

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Surina Rajan Principal Secretary, School Education Department Government of Haryana

Value based education seems to be buzz of the day. You are taking care of school education in Haryana. How do you make sure that every child gets the value based education at elementary level?

Teaching about positive human values i.e. respect, honest, compassion, care, humility and responsibility, improves the quality and education in schools and as such thrust on these creates value based education. In this regard beginning is made with a properly conducted school

assembly in each school, celebration of national days in schools and activity modules specially geared toward value education through experiential learning. The text book design, presentation and content also enhance scope for value based education. It is specific to mention here that in the Morning Prayer regarding positive human values as detailed above, lectures are delivered by head of the institution as well as by teachers and students on regular basis.

For improving the standard of education in the State, a School Teachers

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Eligibility Test (STET) has been introduced for recruitment of all categories of school teachers and principals in government schools of Haryana.

How effective has been the role of STET in imparting quality standard education?

It is specific to mention here that STET has been introduced in Haryana State in the year 2008 for all categories of teachers. After the enforcement of RTE the same has been brought in conformity with the guidelines dated 11.02.2011 prescribed by NCTE in the matter in respect of PRTs, TGTs and PGTs. This has ensured a minimum level of standard especially in respect of all categories of teachers.

It has been said that IT can be leveraged to bring and provide quality education to large number of students in any part of the country. So what is the level of ICT implementation in school education in Haryana?

Presently, we are having ICT labs in nearly all (3,100) secondary and senior secondary schools which have been established with support of several partners like M/s Core Technologies, M/s Everonn, HCL and SANMEDIA. Majority of Lan have been established in ClientServer model with shared computing devices and use Open Source software.

We have been able to increase the number of screens for benefit of students and reduce power consumption of labs.

Ministry of IT has also awarded the state recognizing this as a Good Practice.

I must also mention about few other initiatives here. We have started a programme named G-10 in ten schools of Gurgaon for upper primary classes for teaching of Science and Mathematics through a customized Learning Management Software. It is third year of implementation and it has made sustainable contribution to skill levels and competencies in the subjects of both the teacher and the student .The results will be documented and the programme would be adapted as required before be-

ing taken to scale . Another programme is being implemented in two blocks of Kaithal and Kurukshetra districts where we have created three smart classrooms in primary schools and using multimedia content for teaching. While an end line survey of learning outcomes will give us a firm evidence of its impact, currently the element of joy in teaching – learning and enriched classroom transaction is very much obvious. We have plans to take this to selected schools of Mewat in the coming academic session.

In partnership with IBM and Shri Ram Foundation, a programme called KidSmart is already going on in Mewat for introducing very small kids (classes I-V) to interactive multimedia content with help of a guide. The Kidsmart classrooms are vibrant and filled with activity. Learning Links Foundation is another partner which has helped us

Education Act, 1995 (Haryana Act No. 12 of 1999). Further, it has been provided in the said rule that the school shall charge fee from these students at the same rate as charged in Government schools. It is specific to mention here that all recognized schools of Haryana from Classes I to XII are bound to grant admission to the categories enumerated above. A detailed mechanism having participation of parents as well as private schools has been created to ensure accessibility to all willing children and transparency in allocation of children to schools with usage of an IT application.

Government has enacted and implemented the Right to Education Act in the right spirit towards providing quality elementary education to all.

In your view what are the

“We have consolidated our school system and moved towards better infrastructure, better pupil teacher ratio and better classroom practices introduce solar power based computer lab with Cloud Computing exposure to children. In NVEQF, Haryana is the state which has successfully implemented the scheme. One of the skills covered in this project is IT& ITES where children are being prepared during classes IX-XII for the entry level role in IT industry as they turn 18. We had some early success in the programme indicated through placement offers to children graduating in Level IV of NVEQF course.

What is the work that you are doing for the admission of children belonging to weaker section and disadvantaged group for the society?

In Rule 134A of the Haryana School Education Rules, 2003, reservation for meritorious students belonging to Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and Below Poverty Line (BPL) categories to the extent of 10 percent have been provided. The said rules have been framed under Section 24 of the Haryana School

opportunities and challenges of RTE for both private and Public/ Government schools?

Haryana has a large and robust private school sector. We would not have been able to achieve the target of universal enrolment and retention without this active participation of private schools.

Private schools have been extremely proactive in bringing children to classrooms as it also makes good business sense Government on its side has established schools in all neighborhoods to facilitate all parents with or without any financial means to enroll their children in schools. RTE has further helped us to allocate more budgetary resources as needed for the sector. Haryana was the first state to abolish fee and funds as required under RTE and has also compensated all the school for such loss of fee and funds through state government budget grants. We have consolidated our school system and moved towards better infrastructure, better pupil teacher ration and better classroom practices.

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Gone are the days of rote learning and chalk and talk.

Today there are a variety of ICT solutions available to make the teaching-learning process fun and dynamic. One of the most popular tools is digital labs. Anushi Agrawal of Elets News Network (ENN) finds out the dynamics of this emerging industry and its growing popularity in our education system

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ndia boasts of the largest higher education system in the world. There are over 610 universities (including about 130 deemed universities) set up under central and state legislation, 36,000 colleges affiliated to these universities, and a very large number of institutes of technical education; medical, legal, dental, nursing teaching and polytechnics. The school education sector is even bigger with more than 1.4 million private and government schools in various states of India. As per IDFC’s India Infrastructure Report 2012, the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) at elementary level is 119 percent, at secondary level 63 percent, higher secondary level 36 percent, and in higher education 15 percent which is much lower than the world average of 26 percent. According to Planning Commission paper, Approach to Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-2017), the effort to expand educational access is severely constrained by the lack of suitably-qualified, appropriately-trained human resources in adequate numbers. There are

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ICT has allowed learning to become interactive and engaging for the ‘digital native’ students Soma Debnath, Principal, Heritage School, Pune

half a million vacancies of teachers in the country and another half a million teachers are required to meet the RTE norms on pupil-teacher ratio. There is acute shortage of high quality teachers. There are many problems plaguing our education system, one of the biggest is the skewed teacher-student ratio in the country.

Contrary to this scenario is, IIT professors taking virtual classes in 100 engineering colleges across India, more than 20,000 colleges connected to each other through video-conferencing system designed for online classes that enables whiteboard collaboration and content sharing, more than 15,000 teachers being virtually trained at the same time in

far flung areas of the country.

This is the virtual age where distance hardly matters. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has transformed the education sector in every sense. E-learning is the latest buzzword.

The use of ICT in schools and colleges has not only become a parameter of quality education but has also helped in bridging the gap between students and access to quality education. This is the age of smart kids or e-kids, where computers, internet and use of technology in every sphere of life is a given for them. This generation has always been exposed to gadgets and latest technology hence it only makes sense to teach them the way they want to

ICT has enabled higher order thinking skills and strengthening instruction information sources, data collection, and data analysis strategies Pratima Sinha, Principal, Hillside School, Hyderabad

Gamut of Digital Solutions Available • Technology labs in Math, Language, Science, Robotic and Design • 2D and 3D animation, videos, notes, practice tests • Formative assessments, summative assessments, question bank, test generator • Activity scheduler, pen-picture profile, 24/7 teacher content system • Digital document making setup, wireless writing pads, interactive student response setup • Digital library framework, virtual campus with ERP and eLearning resources • Auto generation and evaluation of assessments • Performance and progress monitoring of students at individual and class level • School/Class monitoring, faculty/student monitoring • Role based access, classroom management system learn. Consequently, schools and colleges have incorporated latest technological tools to enhance the teaching-learning process. Today, most of the schools have

smart classes, a complete multimedia based classroom that has revolutionised teaching and learning of subjects like Mathematics, Science, Social Sciences

and languages by introducing interactive elements. As observed by Soma Debnath, Principal, Heritage School, Pune, “Incorporating ICT boards into our classrooms have made learning fun as the students are able to use their kinesthetic skills to drag and drop items where they belong.

ICT allowed learning to become interactive and engaging for the ‘digital native’ students.” Pratima Sinha, Principal, Hillside School, Hyderabad also thinks that “introduction of ICT into education as an instructional tool has taken a new meaning by facilitating a new paradigm into education for higher order thinking skills and strengthening instruction information sources, data collection, and data analysis strategies.” Digital labs in various subjects are very popular in schools.

It fosters individualised and peer learning. Teachers can easily explain and demonstrate many abstract concepts making it more comprehensive for students.

Digital labs in educationA sunshine sector in India?

In past few years, India has seen a rise in number of companies providing technological solutions to schools and colleges. These companies were nowhere on the block till 1990s, but as soon as the market opened for foreign players and internet started spreading

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FACT FILE • Over 610 universities (including about 130 deemed universities) set up under central and state legislation • 36,000 colleges affiliated to universities • More than 1.4 million private and government schools • GER: elementary level- 119%, secondary level- 63%, higher secondary- 36%, higher education- 15% • Indian education market estimated to be worth `5.9 trillion in 2014-15 • About 250 million students in schools; around 27 million in higher education • Government spending on ICT increased by 53.2% to `340 crore in 2013-14 Union Budget; expected to grow five times by 2020

We are not even 10% of the kind of technologies used in other countries. In India there is lack of willingness to use IT solutions in schools Vaibhav Nagori, Director, AVM Infotech (I) Pvt Ltd in India, a lot of players plunged into the sector eyeing the first-mover advantage.

The growth in the sector was propelled by the IT revolution in the country and boom in the Indian economy. A lot of companies established themselves as technology solution providers in education sector in India post 2000 when new schools, especially IB schools, were being set up in the country and internet penetration started increasing.

There were only a few players then and schools were apprehensive of adopting new methods of teaching-learning.

“We started pitching for the products by 2003 but the actual acceptance started only in 2005. Industry is maturing in a slow and gradual manner. People are now more receptive of digital tools in schools,” says Vaibhav Nagori, Director, AVM Infotech (I) Pvt Ltd. It was in mid2000s that the demand for digital lab started rising in the market as awareness increased among schools and parents. But the boom in the industry has not yet come. Bharathy Bharadwaj, MD,

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Math Buddy Learning Systems says that there is still a long way to go. “In many schools, digital labs are still good-tohave but are not absolutely essential.

But in the next five years, we see digital

We see a lot more technology awareness and enthusiasm from teachers in US, UK, Australia and Japan compared to teachers in India at this point of time Bharathy Bharadwaj, MD, Math Buddy Learning Systems

labs getting transformed into a musthave in every school.”

The use of technology in education was an uncharted territory for many until early 2000 but today it is well established industry with significant number of players eyeing for the pie in the market. In fact, at a time when other sectors are struggling to thrive, this sector is witnessing an exponential growth. Dr Haresh Tank, Director, Station-e Language Lab says, “Ambient Insight Premium Report (2012) says that the global market for digital English language learning products and services reached $1.31 billion in 2011.

The worldwide five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is 14.5percent and revenues will reach $2.58 billion by 2016.” The situation is equally bright in India. Gagan Goyal, Founder and CEO, ThinkLabs says, “It is a growing market. `100 crore revenue can be expected from each product in next couple of years.

Smart classes is now an old story, labs are the latest phenomenon. The products which are closer to the curriculum are very much in demand as compared to the products which are just value addition.”

Moreover, “the report by a recent technology market research suggests that about 5 percent of the $40 billion IT market in India, including hardware, software and IT services, was in the education sector.

The market is expected to grow at nearly 12 percent through 2017,” shares Anil Goyal, Director, Mexus Education Pvt Ltd. But this growth in the sector has to be supported by good infrastructure in terms of good labs in the schools and high-quality internet connectivity. “The fundamental infrastructure required is just computers, internet and awareness about IT tools.

Boom of internet in the country has led to a boom in this sector. The official rate of growth is around 8-10 percent but this is a very conservative scenario. The industry has immense scope and on ground, the rate of growth is much higher. But the growth depends on overall development of infrastructure and content,” says Prof essor Kamal Bijlani, Director, Amrita ELearning Research Lab. The IT solutions required in schools and colleges are very different. Although

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Innovation in education EZ Vidya cracks measuring quality education sans marks

C

hitra Ravi, Founder & CEO, EZ Vidya was conducting a training programme for CBSE School Principals. Unique to her style, she asked the participants to list the safety measures the leaders have taken in their respective schools. Fire extinguishers, SMS to parents, disaster team were few of the responses. Chitra then posed a question, “Have you ever considered the emotional safety of the child in the classroom?” and the principals drew a blank.

At the fundamental level, EZ Vidya believes that quality education is much more than just the academic performance of students. “Through our engagements with schools over a decade, it was evident that several critical aspects of true quality education were not in the mind space of many school leaders”, mentions Chitra. ‘Emotional Safety’ was just one example.

To get a deeper understanding of this aspect, in 2012, EZ Vidya conducted a study among school leaders in 2,512 schools. While you might already be aware of some of the key findings of the study through the media, there was one other important takeaway for the organization. The need for ‘measuring’ quality education became evident.

Key to measuring quality in education – The 5 Transformation Areas Putting together the insights from over a decade of field research and pedagogic research, EZ Vidya’s research and innovation (R&I) team finally cracked an innovative approach to measure the quality education in schools, the 5 Transformation Areas. The quality in the 5 Transformation Areas would indicate how engaging and effective the learning

transforming classrooms to ‘thinkrooms’.

LEARNING AMBIENCE The ambience in a classroom can simultaneously trigger thinking as well as reinforce learning. Apart from the learning aspect, a vibrant ambience also adds to the verve and enthusiasm among learners.

environment in the school is. Tracking the changes in these 5 Transformation Areas is the key to measuring the quality of education in a school.

What are the 5 Transformation Areas through which quality education is measured?

STUDENT THINKING The aspect of a classroom where student thinking is valued, nurtured and challenged. This leads to enhanced thinking displayed by students, leading to better conceptual understanding.

CLASSROOM DYNAMICS Focusing on dynamics, this aspect works around establishing cordial and learningoriented relationships between teachers and students, as well as among students themselves. Better relationships ensure emotional safety, leading to better cognitive performance.

TEACHER EMPOWERMENT The yawning gap between the ‘digital native’ learner and the ‘digital immigrant’ teacher, makes it imperative to empower teachers. Empowered teachers facilitate better learning thereby taking charge of

TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION This area focuses on the judicious and meaningful use of technology to make learning more effective, while also catering to the learner’s needs and engaging him/her more actively. For a teacher, technology provides the much needed tools to enhance his/her productivity.

The transformation in these 5 areas in a school is measured through 28 parameters. For instance, ‘Student Participation’ is one of the parameters associated with the ‘Classroom Dynamics’ Transformation Area. An increase in the participation levels in classrooms shows more student involvement in the learning process and the increased confidence levels of students.

The Transformation Areas are integrated into EZ Vidya’s award-winning curriculum program, Chrysalis. Chitra remarks, “The real achievement for us is when the organization’s innovations are able to help bring a positive change in schools. Our clients are now able to track the school’s progress every quarter through the Chrysalis Transformation Report. Many Principals have found this to be additionally valuable as they are able to easily show this progress to their school’s stakeholders!”

If you are a school leader, we encourage you to write in to vision@ezvidya. com with any questions on the Transformation Areas. digitalLEARNING / March 2014

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school is a bigger market but colleges usually have better infrastructure in place to support IT solutions. Most of the colleges already have the requisite infrastructure in place to implement the IT solutions, while schools usually have to work from scratch to build the same.

Sameer Bora, EVP, Research and Development, Next Education says, “Schools have matured, they are no longer interested in plain audio-visual movies.

They ask what are the tools you can offer, what is the student learning, where is the personalisation. It is no longer a game of selling videos. There is tremendous scope for growth in the industry.”

He further adds there will never be a monopoly in this market as the products offered are so diverse and the technology is constantly changing. Some new player can always have something better to offer in terms of technology. “The core to success is anticipating the customer and making sure that we have a sustainable business model. A company providing only content cannot survive in the long run, it has to be a combination of content, right hardware and more importantly, getting everything in house.”

This is one sector that had minimal effect of the economic slowdown. In fact, most of the existing players were originally IT companies but shifted tracks to education sector after slowdown in IT market. LS Venkatesh, Co-Founder and Director, Ecole Solutions says, “Our focus initially was on corporate market but then we had to change gear to educational sector because education sector is kind of recession proof in the sense that people always invest in education.

Moreover, in the years of recession, the government was flushed with funds in education sector.”

Government initiatives Government has always shown a lot of interest in use of ICT in education. It sees ICT as a great enabler in education that can bridge the gap between urban and rural education sectors and help in tackling the issue of access and quality in India. Consequently, the government has taken many initiatives to improve IT

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Government’s Support

The products which are closer to the curriculum are very much in demand as compared to the products which are just value addition Gagan Goyal, Founder and CEO, ThinkLabs infrastructure and promote use of ICT in education. The National Curriculum Framework 2005 (NCF 2005) highlights the importance of ICT in school education. It states that “judicious use of technology (multimedia and ICT) can increase the reach of educational programmes, facilitate management of the system, as well as help address specific learning needs and requirements of young learners, teachers and teacher educators. Possibilities of teaching and learning at varied paces, self-learning, dual modes of study, etc. could all benefit from the use of technology, particularly ICT.” The scheme, Information and Communication Technology in Schools was also launched in 2004 to provide opportunities to secondary stage students to develop ICT skills and to promote ICT aided learning process. The scheme is a major catalyst to bridge the digital divide amongst students of various socio-eco-

• National Curriculum Framework 2005 (NCF 2005)- judicious use of technology can increase the reach of educational programmes, help address specific learning needs and requirements of young learners, teachers and teacher educators.

• Information and Communication Technology in Schoolsprovide opportunities to secondary stage students to develop ICT skills and to promote ICT aided learning process • CBSE- recommended online labs and Mathematic lab to its affiliated schools for helping students understand experiments better.

• AICTE- language lab is a part of essential and desired requirements for technical campus.

• National Mission on Education on ICT- has a vision of catering to the learning needs of more than 50 crore Indians; providing one stop solution to all needs of the learning community.

The official rate of growth is around 8-10% but the industry has immense scope and on ground, the rate of growth is much higher Professor Kamal Bijlani, Director, Amrita e-Learning Research Lab

nomic and other geographical barriers.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has adopted Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE), an education system that aims to move away from the traditional chalk and talk method of teaching. Taking onto digitisation in a big way, CBSE has also recommended online labs to its affiliated schools for helping students understand experiments better. It has also advised schools to experiment with Mathematic lab. This has actually shot up the demand for labs in schools, making the industry more sustainable. “CBSE and KVS have allocated a lot of budget to schools for setting up language labs. CBSE schools focus on assessment on spoken and listening skills and that has increased the demand. It has gone up in last in last three to four years,” says Vivek Gupta, Country Manager, Sanako Corporation. Even All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has made language lab as part of essential and desired requirements for technical campus. It is an essential need to be made available at the time of the expert committee visit. Government has also come out with a National Mission on Edu-

cation on ICT. The content portion of this mission has an ambitious vision of catering to the learning needs of more than 50 crore Indians and of providing a one stop solution to all the requirements of the

Glitches in the system

Education sector is kind of recession proof in the sense that people always invest in education. Moreover, in the years of recession, the government was flushed with funds in education sector L S Venkatesh, Co-Founder and Director, Ecole Solutions

Trend is going upwards, lot of consolidation will happen where independent provider will merge and start offering consolidated services and that is the way to grow Sameer Bora, EVP Research and Development, Next Education

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learning community. A budget allocation of `502 crores has been made in 200809 for the National Mission on Education through ICT. Professor Kamal Bijlani, appreciating the constructive and encouraging role played by the government in this sector says, “There has been a huge push by the government in this sector.

National Mission on Education on ICT has several programmes funded by government. Government plays a huge role in bringing inclusiveness through use of ICT in education.” Anil Goyal sums up the crucial role played by the government in providing the much required financial aid in the sector, saying, “With the National Policy on Education emphasising the increasing use of computer-related technology for the betterment of education, government spending on ICT has correspondingly increased, by 53.2 percent to `340 crore in the 2013-14 Union Budget.

It is expected to grow five times by 2020 due to the current low level of penetration in government schools.”

We seem to have narrowed down the definition of ICT. It not only refers to the latest computer and internet based technologies, but also to simple audio visual aids such as the transparency and slides, tape and cassette recorders, radio, video cassettes and television and film. But currently, there is more focus on using computer and internet aided-learning in schools and colleges. One of the biggest challenges faced during implementation of IT solutions in schools and colleges is resistance from teachers. Talking about the misconception that technology is substituting teachers in a classroom, Chaitanya Dev Singh Sisodiya, Marketing Manager, Scientech Technologies Pvt Ltd, says, “technology solutions are designed to provide the teacher with adequate tools to make the class more interesting and interactive. The usage of these resources depends upon the teacher and thus their role remains paramount.” Another problem faced is that teachers do not use the ICT platforms very effectively in classrooms. “In other countries, the teachers are really moti-

vated and are eager to use the platform but this lacks in India. The full capability of the platform is not explored. Teachers usually stick to what we offer, they don’t experiment with the platform. It would be ideal if teachers can develop their own content rather than depending on companies to provide the content,” says Vivek Gupta. Bharathy Bharadwaj also feels the same, “we see a lot more technology awareness and enthusiasm from teachers in US, UK, Australia and Japan compared to teachers in India at this point of time.” But Steve McKee, President, Labtech International Ltd feels that resistance from teachers in adapting to new technology is a universal problem.

“It is a global problem that teachers are not very encouraging initially but a lot can be improved with proper training and awareness.” Labtech is almost 30 year old company but has recently opened its India office. Talking about his experience of operating in India, Steve says, “India is a unique market.

One-model-fits-all theory does not work here. We have to really personalise our products in India. The major problem in India is low internet connectivity, poor infrastructure, low literacy levels and its diverse market.” Steve further adds that on a global level, the scope of ICT is immense, nearly 40 percent of global population has access to internet and there is nearly 90 percent mobile penetration in the world. Even in India, the internet penetration and mobile network is growing at a fast rate and this will open up huge possibilities for use of ICT in education sector in India.

India ratings and Research Pvt Ltd, a rating agency, estimated the Indian education market to be worth `5.9 trillion in 2014-15 as against `3.33 trillion in

India is a unique market.

One model fits all theory does not work here. We have to really personalise our products in India. The major problem in India is low internet connectivity, poor infrastructure, low literacy levels and its diverse market Steve McKee, President, Labtech International

IT initiatives in educational institutes are more of an exception rather than the rule, unlike the west where IT seamlessly transforms systems. India is far behind the curve in terms of use of ICT in education Dr Haresh Tank, Director, Station-e Language Lab

the 2011-12 financial year. India has at least 250 million students in schools and some 27 million in higher education.

The agency further said that the education expenditure in both urban and rural India has grown steadily. In rural areas, it increased annually by 14.8 percent between FY05-FY12 and in urban areas by 14.62 percent in the same period. This clearly describes the scope of the digital labs industry in India. Given the current rate of growth of the industry and millions of schools and hundreds of colleges waiting to be digitally connected to the world, digital labs is certainly a sunshine sector in India.

Another problem faced by MNCs in this sector in India is the price war. The price offered globally is vastly different from what is offered in Indian market.

“India is a highly competitive market.

We had to be really smart about our pricing here. Globally our prices are at least three to four times what we usually charge in India. We had to do this to survive in the market here,” shares

Vivek Gupta. Most of the technology solution providers find that bureaucracy, time taken in decision-making and hierarchy in the oganisations hinder the progress in the industry. Private schools and colleges are more receptive to IT initiatives, while government schools and institutes delay decision-making. “Most of the people who are running the in-

35

stitutes are of traditional mindset. They are not from academia. They are not aware of new teaching pedagogy, how it help in teaching-learning process, how it help in retention level. The challenge is to educate people about why these initiatives are important,” says Gagan Goyal. Unfortunately, internet connection and access to digital labs is very limited in the country. “Only 5 to 10 percent of Indian schools have access to internet. Even in those schools which have access to technology, the IT tools

Stumbling Blocks • Misconception that technology is substituting teachers in a classroom • Teachers do not use ICT platforms very effectively in classrooms • Problems in India - low internet connectivity, poor infrastructure, low literacy levels and diverse market • Price war- Price offered globally is 3-4 times of what is offered in Indian market • Bureaucracy, time taken in decision-making and hierarchy in the oganisations • Lack of emphasis on research and development in the sector • Quality of content compromised with in the face of fierce competition

Government spending on ICT has increased by 53.2 per cent to `340 crore in the 2013-14 Union Budget. It is expected to grow five times by 2020 due to the current low level of penetration in government schools Anil Goyal, Director, Mexus Education Pvt Ltd

GER at elementary level is 119%, at secondary level 63%, higher secondary level 36%, and in higher education 15 % are lying untouched because of issues like no proper infrastructure support (no electricity), teachers don’t have inclination to use it among many others,” says LS Venkatesh. Voicing similar concern, Vaibhav Nagori says, “We are not even 10 percent of the kind of technologies used in other countries. In India even if schools are buying the solutions then they are not able to use or there is lack of willingness to use it.” Moreover, “IT

Content is primarily bought from other countries and adapted to India. There is not enough push in the sector to spend on local R&D Tulika Sinha, Chief Business Officer- School Learning Solutions

36

initiatives in educational institutes are more of an exception rather than the rule, unlike the West where IT seamlessly transforms systems and takes the processes, products and transactions to the next level of sophistication.

From curriculum to examination, from transaction of the content and evaluation, India is behind the curve in terms of use of ICT in education,” observes Dr Haresh Tank.

Another shortcoming of the industry is lack of emphasis on research and development in the sector. “We have fewer home grown research and development.

Content is primarily bought from other countries and adapted to India. There is not enough push in the sector to spend on local R&D,” Tulika Sinha, Chief Business Officer- School Learning Solutions, raises the concern. The market has grown in an unstructured manner over the years and the quality of content has been compromised in the face of fierce competition.

“With multiple players, largely working in the sector with limited offering and a valuation mindset, the quality of content has been compromised. The sector has a huge potential in the country, but involvement of too many players, unstructured offering and with little emphasis on outcomes has hampered the growth,” says Amit Gupta, CEO, S Chand Harcourt.

But the increase in internet penetration, rising number of schools and colleges and willingness among institutes to adapt to new technology draws a very optimistic picture of the future of technology service providers and ICT sector in education. Sameer Bora says, “The baseline is constantly changing. In 20032004 digital learning was the new thing, today, it is a given. There is no option to not have it. This is an opportunity for providers to strengthen up and tie their ser-

With multiple players, largely working in the sector with limited offering and a valuation mindset, the quality of content has been compromised Amit Gupta, CEO, S. Chand Harcourt

vice together and offer one consolidated learning to the school. Make learning more hands-on. Even though economy is growing at 4-5 percent, education is growing at 20-30 percent.”

Bracing up for the new age of learning The complete model of teaching-learning is up for change. The traditional chalk and board method will give away to various models of “blended learning” as pointed out by Professor Kamal Bijlani. The new model will involve equal effort from both teachers and students in a making teacher-learning a dynamic process. These days language labs are the most popular amongst schools and colleges. Mathematics, Science and Robotic labs are also gradually finding takers in the market. Use of ICT can prove to be a big boon to distance learning education. It can change the entire set up by bringing in much required quality, transparency and repute in distance learning education. Digital labs can prove to be an enriching instructing tool in Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the web.

Professor Kamal Bijlani opines that as soon as the regulations by the government are released about the formats through which education can be imparted in India, “soon it will become an online supermarket. The stigma associated with distance education will change; it will become huge and available to anyone, anywhere at affordable cost in diverse subjects, in various formats. Universities will not only do traditional teaching but will be forced to do online teaching as well. As soon as the policies are opened up, everybody will rush into it.”

Even schools are very optimistic about IT initiative in the campus. Asha

Prabhakar, Principal, Bal Bharati Public School, Noida, says, “We want to create a digital Math lab for students to have new modern technologies in learning, verifying and visualizing mathematical concepts, create a digital language lab to enhance communication system, have a digital library and facilitate a teacher-oriented software which expedites all their teaching, documentation and result process being accessible from their personal accounts.” ICT has been revolutionary in education system. “Introduction of ICT in the school education system has encouraged and developed research aptitude among students and helped them to generate more independent projects and studies. It has also led to a change in the methodology of teaching by in-

Introduction of ICT has led to a change in the methodology of teaching by including edutainment and educational games, increasing students’ interest and making education more activity based Sudha Singh, Principal, Ryan International School, Greater Noida

Education sector had minimal effect of economic slowdown. Most of the existing players were originally IT companies but shifted their track to education sector after the slowdown in IT market cluding edutainment and educational games, increasing students interest and making education more activity based.

ICT has made distance education, collaborating learning and online evaluation system, possible which has led to preparation of evaluative assessments, activities etc. on the computer,” shares Sudha Singh, Principal, Ryan International School, Greater Noida.

With new stakeholders venturing into the market, online space in education and IT tools like digital labs have made this a very exciting phase for education.

“With new age schools coming up, innovative educational institutes opening up, top Indian companies foraying in this segment and a lot of foreign investment coming in, signify the changing landscape of the industry as an impact of various initiatives taken so far,” says Akash Dahiya. The industry is gradually maturing with more stakeholders coming in and having increasing stakes in the market. ICT in education can make students ready for the virtual world and prepare them to be a true native of the global village. As for technology solution providers in the education sector, “the trend is going upwards, lot of stakeholders will come in, lot of consolidation will happen where independent provider will probably merge and start offering consolidated services and that is the way to grow,” Sameer Bora sums up on a positive note.

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nEWS nEWS

Campus Campus

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

IIM Bangalore ranked top in Business Management Research: Study The Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIM-B) has been ranked at the top in Business and Management Research category in a study by Stanford. The study was done by Professor Sharique Hasan of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.

The rankings of Indian institutes are based on productivity in social science research. The universities were ranked in sociology, demography and family studies, economics, psychology and business and management. The grading is based on the number of peer-reviewed articles produced by an institute and the number of citations these articles received. IIT Delhi, IIM Calcutta and Indian School of Business follow IIM-B in the top league. While the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), ranked 10th, the Indian Statistical Institute (27), the Institute of Social and Economic Change (16) and National Institute of Advanced Studies ranked at 31st position.

Boom time for IIT-G: Job offers continue to grow This placement season is a cheering time for IIT Guwahati (IIT-G) as job offers continue to pour in.

It is learnt that over 400 students have been offered jobs since December last year, with highest package pegged at $ 125,000.

The placement scenario seems to be more buoyant this time despite recession. Many firms including PSUs have shown an interest in conducting on-campus recruitments. More IT companies are offering foreign postings this year and hence students can expect better salary packages. Reliance Industries recruited the maximum number of students, along with Flipkart, Oracle, Samsung, Tata Motors, Microsoft, Cognizant and Wipro. Around 100 companies have visited IIT-G so far this placement season. For BTech and BDes students, the average salary offered in 2013-14 is `13 lakh per annum. The same stood at `10.7 lakh per annum during 2012-13.

On the other hand, the average salary for MTech and MDes students increased to `10.1 lakh per annum this year.

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March 2014 / digitalLEARNING

Solar innovations at IIT Bombay Students of IIT Bombay (IIT-B) and Rachana Sansad Academy of Architecture have started building a solar-powered 70 sqm house using various materials like steel and fibre, but not brick and cement. The structure is expected to be ready by February.

The structure will eventually be disassembled and taken to Versailles in France for the international sustainable building design competition hosted by the US Department of Energy. IIT-B has also set up a 1MWp (1 MW peak PV power) on the rooftops of its 16 buildings. The plant will occupy a 12,000 sqm area on the rooftops of 16 academic buildings. The energy generated by the plant will be up to 25% of the power used by 16 buildings.

Japan provides a loan of `1,336 crore to IIT Hyderabad The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has extended a loan of Rs 1,336 crore to Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad to build a part of the newly established campus.

As per the agreement signed between JICA and the Government of India, the loan is at a concessional rate of 1.40 percent and carries a repayment period of 30 years with grace period of 10 years. The project is to be executed by IIT Hyderabad and expected date of completion is 2018. The loan will be utilised for constructing permanent campus building and procuring latest research equipments for the institute. As part of the agreement, Japan and India have not only agreed to fund the institute of technical eminence but also share technical knowledge. Eminent professors of the University of Tokyo would be involved with the preparation of concept designs and architectural plans for the important campus buildings.

Imagine a teaching,

which lasts beyond classrooms T-Learning is an innovative teacher guided tablet based Classroom Management Platform “Learning is fun with no more boring classes” Student, Chandigarh “I have complete class control” Teacher, New Delhi

“Improves concentration and fosters creativity” Principal, Chennai

“Even without internet I can show any relevant material” Teacher, Chandigarh

“Assessment is accurate and quick” Teacher, Chennai “Students are able to think beyond the obvious” Principal, Chennai

Course Review

10 Emerging

PGDM Courses A Post-Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) is a passport to some of the most glamorous job profiles of the industry. A boom in the diverse job profiles has increased the demand for trained professionals who can work in different roles, which in turn has given way to the emergence of customised courses to train and upskill a person. Roselin Kiro of Elets News Network (ENN) finds out about ten such emerging PGDM courses MBA is a business postgraduation which moulds students in the field of business. If one wants to be an entrepreneur or set up an independent enterprise or get into the corporate world in professionally managed company, MBA or PGDM course is the right choice. The core MBA programme includes various areas of business such as accounting, finance, marketing, human resources and operation management.

Gone are the days when an MBA or a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) was only restricted

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to Marketing, Human Resources and Finance. Most B-schools these days offer PGDM courses in several streams that are customised to the present-day needs of the industry. These courses, though not affiliated to any

March 2014 / digitalLEARNING

university like regular MBA degrees, are well accepted by most companies and therefore attract a large number of students. Fresh graduates as well as working professionals can take up these courses.

Here is a list of emerging

courses that can equip students and professionals to take up the challenges in the modern industry.

With the rise in demand of MBA and PGDM courses in the country, there has been an addition of programmes like Information Technology, International Business, International Marketing, Global Operations, Entrepreneurship, Business Strategy, Apparel Management, Banking and Finance, Rural Management, Public Policy and management and many other unique MBA and PGDM programmes.

education.eletsonline.com

Public Policy and Management This is a course which is finding its way among the Indian youth. It has come up as a solution to the various problems in framing of policies. It helps in tackling new challenges in context of liberalisation, poverty, social exclusion and crisis. It sharpens the conceptual and analytical skills of public policy makers. Nitin Wahi, Executive Officer, Jindal School of Government and Public Policy of O P Jindal Global University, Haryana says, “ For any student who wants to build a firm ground in the entire policy-making process and get trained in ethics, economics, politics, public leadership and management, this programme best suits them.”

Professor S K Tapasvi, Chairperson of Public Policy and Management (PPM), MDI Gurgaon, anticipates, “Post Graduate Diploma Programme in Public Policy and Management is an evolving professional programme in India. The Public Policy and Management specialisation is rare, as

International Business

This course prepares students with specialised skills and knowledge for both large and small businesses in the global business world. This course aims to provide managers with knowledge, skills and acumen to understand the complexities of international business and cope up with cross-culture and cross-market challenges.

Job profiles - It offers job titles like International

Account Executive, Banking Services for Exports and Imports, International Business Analyst, Trade Commissioner and others.

Few institutes offering the course- Balaji Institute of Management Studies, Pune; FORE School of Management, New Delhi; Indian Institute of Commerce and Trade, Lucknow; Amity International Business School, Noida.

Job profiles- Students can join the development and policy sector and work in international organisations, bilateral and multilateral organisations, work as an independent consultant for government and non-governmental organisations, even start their own organisation and can work as academicians, researchers and journalists as well.

Few institutes offering the course- Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore; TERI University, New Delhi; O P Jindal Global University, Haryana; Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon, Indian Institute of Managment, Bangalore.

Indian institutions have not yet realised the relevance of this specialisation. The lead has been taken by B-schools to start programmes on Public Policy and Management, emphasising an integration of management practices with the priorities of bringing efficiency and effectiveness in public organisations.”

International Marketing Globalisation has enabled business firms to internationalise and establish a competitive platform for their products and services. A student with a PG Diploma in International Marketing is acquainted with knowledge and skills to understand the complexities of international business. Dr Kawal Gill, Course Coordinator (PGDIM), Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce, New Delhi says, “We offer PGDIM to give students an exposure in the areas which have rapidly acquired importance and become relevant in the wake of liberalisation of Indian economy”.

Job profiles - International Marketing Manager, International Marketing Consultant, International Business Development Manager, International Business Development Analyst and others.

Few institutes offering the course- Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce, New Delhi; Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship, Bangalore.

digitalLEARNING / March 2014

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Course Review

Entrepreneurship Management

Information Technology

IT Management focuses mainly on utilisation of management techniques to improve the usage of IT for the growth of business. With the widespread usage of computers in all the fields, there has been growing demand in skilled professionals. On the other hand, working professionals are of the view that “PGDM/MBA in IT is useful or adds value to a team lead or some senior engineers in a company, but for a fresh B-tech or BE graduate the scope is not that high,” says Anish Joseph, Technical Staff Engineer, Dsipher Design Solutions, Bangalore.

Job profiles- Information Technology Manager, Business Analyst, Network Manager, Computer Information Specialist and others.

Few institutes offering this course- MET Institute of Computer Science, Mumbai; Institute of Management Studies, Devi Ahilya University, Indore; Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Kolkata; Symbiosis Institute of Computer Studies and Research, Pune.

This is a unique and interesting career option for those who wish to undertake a business venture—being one’s own boss. This course grooms students to identify needs, develop vision, take action and work accordingly. To add into it Professor Satya Ranjan Acharya, faculty, PGDM-Business Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship Development Institute, Ahmedabad says, “This programme is structured to help students who look forward to managing their family business and create a new enterprise or want

to work as an entrepreneurial manager.”

The objective of the course is to develop skills in successfully initiating, expanding and diversifying a business enterprise in new areas. It also aims to create entrepreneurial managers for corporate and develop family business succes-

sors as enterprising and knowledgeable owners of the business of their predecessors.

Job profiles - Product Manager, Brand manager, Corporate, Social Entrepreneur among others are some of the careers that a taker of the course can pursue.

Few institutes offering this course- Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai; Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship, Bangalore; Entrepreneurship Development Institute, (EDI) Ahmedabad; and Xavier Labour Research Institute, Jamshedpur.

Business Strategy This course helps students to get into management positions. It moulds the students to build basic strategy concept which they can implement in both business and corporate levels. It enhances the skill of the students to take important business decisions.

Job profiles- This course provides job profiles like Strategic Manager, Strategic IT Consultant, Business Analyst and others.

Few institutes offering this course- Xavier Labour Research Institute, Jamshedpur; Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship Development, Pune.

Operation Management Operation management is a field of specialisation which deals with converting the raw materials into final products. This specialisation field demands persons with techno-managerial skills who can implement the strategies, design and control the process of the conversion.

Arun Paul, Associate Professor, Xavier Institute of Management (XIM),

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Bhubaneswar says, “Operations and its scientific management is central to any business organization (whether a bank delivering services or factory manufacturing mobile phones). A specialisation in the subject of Operations Management would help the students to prepare for the entire scope of operation and the scope ranges from strategic to operational levels.”

March 2014 / digitalLEARNING

Job profiles- Operation Manager, Warehouse Manager, Forecasting Manager, Chief Operating Officer and others.

Few institutes offering this course- National

Institute of Industrial Engineering, Mumbai; Symbiosis Institute of Operations Management, Pune; Xavier Institute of Management Bhubaneswar.

education.eletsonline.com

Apparel Management

This management course is concerned with the making and management of clothes and apparels. With the rise in the area of Fashion Design and Management, this course aims to create professionals willing to create and interpret knowledge of materials to better serve the industry. This course grooms students for the

apparel manufacturing industry by technically training them to manage large manufacturing facilities.

This is a profession which demands creative, sensitive and scientific innovations and social awareness.

Job profiles- A person qualified in this domain can get jobs like Textile Designer, Fabric Development Manager, Design Manager, Material Analyst and others.

Few institutes offering this course- Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International School of Textiles and Management, Tamil Nadu; Institute of Apparel Management, Gurgaon.

Banking and Finance This programme is designed in a way to equip students to work efficiently in different aspects of banking and finance with appropriate managerial skills. Specialisation in Banking and Finance gives knowledge around the money and strategic management of banks.

Students may gain sensible insight in international money services that incorporate a direct impact on the banking track. Amit Srivastav, Vice President, Indian Institute of Financial Planning, New Delhi says, “Specialised professionals in Banking and Finance are considered as most effective and recession proof and often the best package earners amongst all specialisations”.

Job profiles- This course offers jobs of an Investment Banker, Market Risk Manager, Investment and CRM Manager, Credit Analyst and others Few institutes offering this course- School of Management, NIIT University, Neemrana; Indian Institute of Financial Planning, New Delhi; Asia Pacific Institute of Management, New Delhi; Apeejay Institute of Technology, School of Management, Uttar Pradesh.

Rural Management This programme moulds students to expertise as rural managers with the heart of a social worker and mind of a business manager. It cultivates among students a sense of respect for the poor and underprivileged. In this programme, attention is given to develop the students to work for and with the poor and the marginalised.

Dr Rajshree Verma, Assistant Professor (Department of Rural Management), Xavier Institute of Social Service (XISS), Ranchi says, “The basic philosophy behind this programme is that a student will acquire knowledge on different rural development and knowledge through testing the theoretical learning in a field situation during rural camps, institutional visits and institutional tour in various parts of the country and in participating in regular field work in local slum areas. The whole process is learning, reflecting, applying, testing and theorizing.”

“The whole program is quite intensive and requires the full involvement of the students. Case study along with lectures, problem solv-

ing are involved. Students are expected to be fully involved in class rooms and active in the field segments where they can practice or contribute from what they learn in the classrooms” says HS Ganesha, Associate Professor and Programme Co-coordinator (MBARural management), KIIT School of Rural Management, Bhubaneswar.

Job profiles- The niche job markets for the programme is the rural and developmental sectors.

Agribusiness, NGOs, CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) wings of corporate, rural banks like NABARD, Grameen Bank and FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods), Microfinance organisations and cooperatives and others. Some also get in corporate companies in various functional areas, especially marketing.

Few institutions offering this course- Xavier Institute of Social Service, Ranchi; Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar; Institute of Rural Management Anand, Gujarat; Institute of Rural Management, Jaipur; KIIT School of Rural Management, Bhubaneswar.

digitalLEARNING / March 2014

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Feature

MBA Craze

Tumbles Down:

Where Lies the Canker?

A tête-à-tête with aspirants on ‘Why MBA’ often draws out some of the most diverse answers. In recent times, not only has the B-schools witnessed a dip in placement figures; reports also suggest a nearly 10 percent dip in takers of CAT 2013. Why has MBA, the much celebrated passport to lucrative careers, lost its lustre suddenly? Anushi Agrawal, with inputs from Veena Kurup of Elets News Network (ENN) finds out if placement is the only factor that attracts students to do an MBA. 46

March 2014 / digitalLEARNING

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“S

tudents are not concerned about the quality of education in an institute, they only want to know the placement and salary statistics and discounts offered on the fee structure and this has spoiled the entire education system,” reads a paper, ‘B-schools and Engineering colleges shut down- Big Business Struggles’ by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).The finding pretty much sums up the MBA education scenario in our country at present.

Ask for the most nerve-wrecking days in college from an MBA student and the answer is almost unanimoustheir placement day. For years now, handsome salary, bright future and social respect have allured students to pursue a career in management. The crazy run towards these rosy aspects is so much for some that you often might think that MBA is a savior to the confused soul. “I did BSc in Microbiology and by third year of my degree I realised that the field that I had chosen require long years of dedication and academic perusal before I get a comfortable job. At that juncture, I decided to apply for MBA exams as I wanted a well paying job soon and become independent,” says Tanishtha Roy, first year MBA student. For Rajeev Garg too, MBA was the “obvious choice” after completing his BCom. Not to quote, many said they opted for MBA for the sake of having a degree, landing up a well-paid job, peer pressure, family expectations or even as basic as having better prospects in the matrimonial market! In crux, all the rationale point towards one component – the placement.

But, what happens when there is a dip in placements itself ? To the surprise of most management fraternity, inspite of the increase in number of B-schools across the country, the number of applicants for Common Admission Test (CAT), the common test for admission to elite B-schools of the country, saw a drastic decline of

“The basic motto of students is to gain a promotion at their present organisation or to seek better salary packages.”

“The institute is only a service provider. Many people think that placement is the only work of B-schools which is absolutely wrong”.

Rajul Garg, Director, Sunstone Business School

Dr Sanjeev Bansal, Director, Amity Business School

9.3 percent in 2013. The total number of applicants stood at 1.94 lakh in 2013, compared with 2.14 lakh in 2012. The decline is being attributed to not so impressive placements at Bschools by many. MBA seats in India grew almost four-fold from 95,000 in 2006-07 to 3,60,000 in 2011-12, resulting in a five-year compounded

annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30 percent. Unfortunately, job opportunities for MBAs have not grown in the same proportion.

B-schools in the placement soup Campus recruitments saw a 40 percent dip during 2012 as compared to

Don’t take MBA as mandatory prestige tag for sure success in industry. If you really like to take an MBA course, evaluate your current position, your long term goals and your finance.

Many private schools are just a business model by some management

gurus to earn some money out of investment

digitalLEARNING / March 2014

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2009, as per ASSOCHAM report. The report goes on to highlight that as a consequence of the same, B-schools are not able to attract students. To add to that, more than 180 B-schools have already closed down in 2012 and many more are struggling for their survival. In the last five years, the number of B-schools in India has tripled to about 4,500, amounting to as many as 3,60,000 MBA seats, collectively. The demand has begun to deflate now, as economy growth rate hit its slowest in the last nine years and the quality of education provided by Bschools has come under scanner. The report establishes a clear positive relation between placements and admissions.

On being asked about how Dr Sanjeev Bansal, Director, Amity Business School, Noida - one of the popular B-schools among aspirants – reverts to students and parents who ask him about placements before taking admissions, he remarks, “Many people think that placement is the only work of Bschools, which is absolutely wrong.

The only objective of joining a course should be learning. Placements depend largely on the individual capabilities” Voicing the same concern, Professor Prem Vrat, Vice Chancellor, ITM University adds, “It is unfortunate that admission process is so significantly influenced by placements. At the time of admission, students should consider the quality of institution in terms of faculty, infrastructure, alumni and placements.

Don’t let placements be the sole purpose of admission but look in totality.”

It is indeed true that students these

“B-schools should not be considered as placement agencies, the main purpose of B-school is to provide quality education.

Placement is a byproduct” Dr Raj Agrawal,Director, CME, AIMA

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Since 2009, the recruitments at the

campus have gone down by 40% in

the year of 2012, more than 180

B-schools have already closed down in 2012 and many more are struggling for their survival Source: ASSOCHAM Report- B-schools and Engineering colleges shut down- Big Business Struggles

days readily take a lump sum loan for doing an MBA with the ultimate goal of getting placed with a good package.

But lack of key skills and capabilities gained during the MBA course and consequently, a lack of good placement at the end of the course, leaves students in a soup. Rudraksh Mahajan, final year MBA student at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) justifies his decision of doing an MBA by saying that “MBA is like a ladder to a job with a respectable salary. MBA basically provides better chance for getting better jobs and more pay packages.

For me, one of the major deciding factors while selecting an MBA institute was the salary package offered through placements.” Placements and salary packages are undoubtedly the prime factors while opting for MBA course.

“The basic motto of students is to gain a promotion at their present organisation or to seek better salary packages,” said Rajul Garg, Director, Sunstone Business School, Gurgaon.

Raising the concern about the mindset of students before joining a B-school, Dr Pankaj Gupta, Director

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on merit or through donation, a job at the end of the course is assured. Graduates suppose that they have a ready demand in the industry. But the situation is quiet opposite in the market. It is no longer an easy task to find a job at the completion of MBA from a not-sofamous B-school. Consequently, most graduates end up taking up jobs at the lowest level of hierarchy in the orgainsation which does not justify their MBA degree, neither in terms of work nor salary. The irony is graduates are left with no choice but to continue working at whatever profile and salary they manage to get initially as they also have to repay the hefty loan taken to pay the fee for the MBA degree. They find themselves trapped in a vicious circle.

The way forward

General, Jaipuria Institute of Management, Noida, said, “The root cause of the problem is that institutes only focus on filling up seats and do not consider the quality of students at the time of intake. Consequently, students think that the entire responsibility lies with the institute. They come with the mental set up that I have paid the fees and now the institute is entitled to provide me a job whether I upskill myself or not.

To some extent we have allowed for this kind of mentality to flourish.” Most of the B-schools have largely focused on filling up the seats and taking hefty fees on the fake claims of 100 percent placement. Dr Raj Agrawal, Director, Centre for Management Education, All India Management Association, New Delhi, sums up the dichotomy of the situation, “Quality of education should not be completely linked with placements, B-schools should not be considered as placement agencies, the main purpose of B-school is to provide quality education. Placement is a by-product.”

There is a perception associated with MBA degree. It is believed that if you are able to grab a seat at a B-school, either

“Students come with the mental set up that I have paid the fees and now the institute is entitled to provide me a job whether I upskill myself or not.

To some extent we have allowed for this kind of mentality to flourish .”

Dr Pankaj Gupta, Director General, Jaipuria Institute of Management

B-schools have fallen prey to their own game. They teach students to get maximum returns for their investments and students end up applying same to their education and weigh the MBA degree only in terms of financial returns and not in terms of skills and training gained.

“MBA courses help the students in diversifying their knowledge and skills across functional areas. This ultimately enables the student in diversifying their knowledge and skills across distinct functional areas and assists them in better decision making. All these aspects enable the students in delivering better efficiency in job and future career prospects. The distinct spectrum of opportunities offered under MBA produces a better output of qualitative students

MBA seats in India grew almost four-fold from 95,000 in 2006-07 to 3,60,000 in 2011-12, resulting in

a 5 year CAGR of 30%. Unfortunately, job opportunities for MBAs have not grown

in the same proportion

Source: ASSOCHAM Report- B-schools and Engineering colleges shut down- Big Business Struggles

digitalLEARNING / March 2014

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Feature

and creates better placement avenues,” Dr Debashis Sanyal, Dean, School of Business Management, NMIMS, Mumbai, points out. But the attractive packages publicised by B-schools overshadow the emphasis on diversifying knowledge and skills and focus more on the glamour quotient of MBA. “Students are induced by the environment; they do not apply sense to it.

Many MBA graduates are not getting jobs. People who do MBA for the sake of doing it are facing the problem. MBA schools have become placement-oriented. There is need for awareness about the true state of MBA graduates,” says Dr M Ponnavaikko, Vice Chancellor, Sri Ramaswamy Memorial (SRM) University, Kanchipuram. In an education system that offers degrees but no jobs, the aim should be 100 percent employability and not 100 percent placement.

Professor Prem Vrat says, “It’s time that universities relook at their role.

They are not employment exchanges but they should train those who would easily find and retain the job. Employability is the capacity of a person to get and retain a job. Employability is what the university can do, employment is dependent on external factors like economy, market forces etc. Responsibility of the universities is to produce employable graduates and not to provide employment.” Large number of B-schools have closed down due to unfavourable market forces. “There is a need to have proper regulatory authorities which should formulate norms and build a mechanism to enforce these norms. The regulator should also be able to create an environment for quality education.” emphasises Dr Raj Agrawal. But there are others who are not perturbed by the shutting down of a number of Bschools. In fact they believe that it will cleanse the system which otherwise has become murky and corrupt. “This is actually a correction year. Many colleges have closed down, in few more years only good schools will survive and other will automatically get closed down,” says Dr Bhimaraya Metri, Dean (Academics), International Management Institute (IMI), New Delhi.

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“Responsibility of the universities is to produce employable graduates and not to provide employment” Professor Prem Vrat, Vice Chancellor, ITM University

“The distinct spectrum of opportunities offered under MBA produces a better output of qualitative students and creates better placement avenues” Dr Debashis Sanyal, Dean, School of Business Management, NMIMS

To give a direction to the lost minds in MBA courses, some B-schools have started having in-built mechanisms like organising awareness cum counseling sessions for undergraduate students.

Such programmes are organsied at regular intervals to spread awareness about what to expect from an MBA course and how it can upskill and help students in the long run. Some give special emphasis on getting to know the real interest of students during orientation and then create a support structure for them and guide them accordingly.

The probable solution is to look beyond the MBA hype in the country and be aware about the actual scenario at B-schools. At the time of taking admission, students must check the credentials of B-school very carefully. They should check the approval, faculty, tieups, placement record and accreditation of the institute. Moreover there is a need to change the outlook-- to see MBA as a passport to a luxurious lifestyle with hefty salary packages in reputed companies. As ASSOCHAM report also cautions students “don’t take MBA as mandatory prestige tag for sure success in industry. If you really like to take an MBA course, evaluate your current position, your long-term goals and may be your finance. Many private schools are just a business model by some management gurus to earn some money out of investment.” It’s time that we do away with the notion that securing a degree can fetch a good job without actually learning and developing capabilities.

One should not take MBA as just another degree but rather work to mine the best out of it. Key skills and training picked up during the course could provide the much requisite boost to the career and put the student right at the top of the heap without the need for the institute to lobby for a job for the student.

On the other hand, even the institutes will have to improve the infrastructure, train the faculty, work on industry linkages and spend money on research and knowledge creation to ensure a holistic development of students and focus more on making students employable rather than employed.

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Technology with a heart

Just for Teachers & Students

A

t the Symbiosis Centre for Distance Learning (SCDL), Pune, the desideratum is crystal clear–offering students the best education. But in a fast-changing world, this means keeping pace with constant technological changes. The aim of the institute is to produce cutting edge professionals using teaching methodologies that could transform a college student into a valuable industry asset, and WizIQ was a natural choice for them.

The Challenge In their quest to provide the students with best possible education, SCDL found itself on the horns of a dilemma.

They wanted their distance learners to be as accomplished as regular students.

It was a tall order, till WizIQ entered into the picture.

and students. Even class discussions and clarification of doubts happened in a split second, with ease.

The modus operandi SCDL’s distance learning students were able to see faculty members and hear the lectures using WizIQ virtual classroom. What’s more, they could get the teacher’s attention whenever they were in doubt by simply ‘raising their hand’ – just as in a regular classroom. For the distance education students, this meant a revolutionary change in their approach to education.

It gave them competitive advantage without forcing them to relocate.

“Initiative to use WizIQ is an attempt towards bridging the distance between the teachers and the taught.” Swati Mujumdar, Director, SCDL WizIQ answered their pressing issues with rich features such as a user friendly interface, easy integration with SCDL’s learning management system, high performance content library and real-time virtual classroom technology.

WizIQ’s smart technology bridged the geographical gap between professors and students from remote areas as well as foreign countries. To top it all, the students did not settle for second best. They got the ambience, facilities, access and feel of a real time classroom.

With WizIQ integrating its resources with SCDL’s learning management system, classes proceeded like they would in the physical presence of teachers

The achievement SCDL started using the WizIQ platform on July 24, 2010, much to the delight of students, who took to the classes instantly. They had 250 classes of 75 minutes duration each in the first seven months, with a whooping 4,500 students attending them.-

The USP

sessions easily and even create a databank for future use. Features like chat, virtual hand raising and recordings for revision or for those who missed the class ensured that WizIQ created instant rapport with teachers and students alike. Another important factor for the popularity of the educational platform is the minimal investment or set up needed. The students only need an internet-connected computer for the sessions.

The Future The way the world is evolving, constraints are irrelevant. Learning should be universal and those disseminating education need to be sensitive to the needs of students who will have to deal with cutthroat competition as soon as they foray into professional life. Things are not easy but WizIQ makes them less difficult. No matter where students are, what their background and aspirations may be, WizIQ gives them an opportunity to realize their dreams. Integrating classroom and online teaching is not only advisable but inevitable. It is how students in the future will be taught.

At WizIQ, the needs of tomorrow are gauged today to make the tomorrow better. It is all about reaching out and WizIQ knows how to do just that.

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 +91-9216405405 or +919897072888.

WizIQ’s success at SCDL is not a simple case of good sales pitch or advertising.

It is the result of WizIQ’s innate understanding of students’ needs. Students used this platform to stay in touch with teachers, get their queries answered like a regular student, attend and follow digitalLEARNING / March 2014

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feature

Relevance of Sports Education in Schools Whether it be high performance sports at the Olympics or the development of sports locally, sports education is becoming increasingly important in the modern world. Even though there is a growing awareness of including sports education as a compulsory subject in Indian schools, there lie some endemic obstacles which are preventing its growth trajectory. Roselin Kiro of Elets News Network (ENN) finds out the scenario of sports education in schools in India

T

he basis of sports education or physical education starts in school. Sports education is a curriculum and instruction model designed to impart physical education programmes at the upper elementary, middle and high school level. It

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March 2014 / digitalLEARNING

aims to provide children and youth with authentic and enjoyable sports experience. Sports education always complements academic learning as it develops the overall personality of the students greatly. A good sportsman is the one who learns to obey the rules of the game.

Sports inculcate qualities like leadership, discipline, sharing, team work, honesty, team spirit, tolerance and many more among the students. With the passage of time, we see most of the schools are aware that education is not just academics, but extends to a holistic development

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“Children who come from smaller places and belong to background which is slightly backward, if given opportunities they will shine out. But nothing is being done on it”

of a child, and sports plays a vital role in it. Steps are taken to employ professional coaches in schools. Specific time is allotted to sports education and parents have also started getting involved by encouraging their children take up sports apart from studies.

Encouraging sports in schools Schools in India are gradually beginning to realise the importance of sports in the overall development of children, and how vital it is to encourage them to take up sports. The growing awareness

of how sports contribute to the growth of children in terms of life skills, has led parents and school authorities to encourage children to take up sports, whereas previously the focus was entirely on academics. The realisation that sports help in the development of team work, trust, sharing responsibilities and working together towards a common goal has led to a spurt in the sports activities in schools.

According to Kavita C. Das, Principal, St John’s High School, Chandigarh, “Earlier, sports were only encouraged in the private schools.

However, sports are now being encouraged in a big way, especially since the advent of “big bucks” into the sports arena.

The government too is now providing opportunities to children to develop their potential. They are taking up the initiative in providing sports infrastructure, coaches and financial help needed for the same.

Schools have come up with initiatives to provide the best sports infrastructure to encourage sports education.”

Good infrastructure is the basic component to encourage sports education among the students.

According to A P Sharma, Principal, Apeejay School, Sheikh Sarai, “We have taken the initiative to provide good infrastructure in our school which includes football ground, cricket field, basketball courts, skating rink, volleyball, short tennis courts, swimming pool, badminton court, athletic track, splash pool, sandpit and table tennis. Other than that we have introduced few innovative sports for preprimary kids like: mini basketball, funnel game, spiral table, splash pool, sandpit,

balanced beam, trampoline and many more. It is always seen that children who participate in sports and co-curricular activities are the ones who top in academics.”

India’s new-genre sports educators/promoters Many companies have come up to provide the best infrastructure for children to develop their sporting talents. Considering different kind of requirements of the schools like geographical areas, basic infrastructure and the budget of the schools, these industries have come forward to provide and recommend the best sports facilities and infrastructure the schools are in need of.

Sports Education Development India Limited (SEDIL) is committed to provide sports education programs in schools across India. According to Arun Khaitan, CEO, SEDIL, “Sports has a broader mandate with a focus on educational outcomes, as well as talent development.

It helps in the overall development of the child. With this aim and objective we are trying to come in partnership with the schools and impart and encourage sports education among the young generation of the country”. Currently based in Mumbai, it aims to expand its operations throughout the country. Talking about bringing change in the sports education system in schools Arun Khaitan said “There are millions of schools in India and definitely a single organisation cannot handle it all alone. Definitely a lot more people need to come into this area of change. Schools need to take a call on this, which is not happening. It is not only the principals but the school owners, parents, students themselves and

digitalLEARNING / March 2014

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feature

the government as well who are responsible to bring change in sports education”.

Edusports, one of India’s sport education company, is working with 350 private schools and making almost 2,50,000 children healthier and fitter through their curriculum-led interventions in the schools. Parminder Gill, co-founder and Chief Sales & Marketing Officer of EduSports said, “We basically have programs for children of different age group and accordingly the programs are planned. For the pre-school, nursery and KG kids, we focus more on the fundamental movement skills, which small children need to have before they move on to learn the sporting skills. And for the first two primary years we focus on fundamental sporting skills like jumping, fetching, running, galloping etc. so that students adopt all kinds of movement and coordination skills to play well in any of the sports they like”.

Bangalore-based Silver Strings Sports is another sports organisation which started by offering tennis courses as a part of the curriculum in some of the city’s schools. “We are concentrating on providing programs on Olympic sports so that we lay a solid foundation for the children who want to get into serious sports. The fact is, there is a requirement for such type of programs in India because there is nobody else who is offering it currently” said Mukesh Chetan, founder, Silver Strings Sports .

They also trying to offer sports programs

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“Schools should invest in some basic level of infrastructure, not necessary a big ground but at least healthy play pockets. On a single field, many sports can be played by dividing the time, along with intelligent planning” to colleges where children can specialise in sports. There are also diploma courses available in sports. Talks are on with the colleges to adopt such programs.

Expressing concern over the lack of qualified coaches, Mukesh further added, “We are bringing coach training programmes in India which means all the coaches that we supply to the schools will be trained by coaches who will come from Britain and will be certified by the International Coaches Institute. This is an initiative taken by us to solve the problem right from the grass root level”.

Schools in India should be equipped with latest infrastructures so that students are encouraged to take up sports and make the best out of it. There is a huge requirement for sports infrastructure service providers in India.

Freewill Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd is another sports company which is serving schools by providing sports infrastructure. According to Rajesh Kharabanda, Chairman of Freewill Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, “Some of the schools believe that sport infrastructure is the medium to sell their schools to the prospective parents but there are many schools which genuinely believe that development of the students lies in providing the best sports infrastructure and well planned programmes to the students.”

Mentioning about the acceptance

from the school authorities to install the latest sports infrastructure Rajesh said “There is a general acceptance from the school authorities to install the latest infrastructure in schools. But the investment has always been a concern for them. We believe that big investment is always good in terms of quality and long term return,” Great Sports Infra is a sports Infrastructure Company which install sports facilities in schools. Anil Kumar, MD, Great Sports Infra says, “A significant part of our program is to offer appropriate solutions to schools. Our most popular range for schools have been our maintenancefree artificial turf (FieldTurf) and interlocking, modular sports flooring - SnapSports - which are ideal for schools as they provide a multi-sport surface and which can also serve non-sports use” With greater recognition for the need of sports for all round development of the children, there is a tremendous upsurge in schools adopting new-generation sports facilities and providing the best infrastructure which are long lasting, safe and suited for use in limited space and in a limited budget Adding into it Hemanshu Chaturvedi, founder and Managing Director, HTC sports said “I started this sports company to see growth of grassroots players, es-

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world education summit 2014

feature

`1,219 crore was allocated to the Ministry

of Youth Affairs and Sports in the 2013-14 general budget. The budget can be helpful only if the funds are properly utilised at the grass root level. pecially in schools.

We started with Tennis Clinics and later moved to coaching students and now we are into providing curriculum for 14 sports in various schools.”

Where lies the problem?

Generally in India, sports are not considered as profession, and hence investment by schools as well as by parents for excellence in sports is limited. Though today’s education system has made sports education a compulsory subject, in practice it is yet to get the seriousness and importance.

Most schools lack sports facilities and inclination to provide them, while a few schools believe that even academics can be strengthened through sports. Physical education not only contributes to create healthy individual but also a healthy society. Sports culture can best contribute in the nation building process.

Compared to other countries, India

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still has a long way to go in sports, even though it is producing world-class players in cricket, badminton, tennis etc.

However, until provisions are made to give budding athletes and sportspersons the requisite infrastructure as well as the financial aid, nutritional, physical, and emotional support they require, right from the grass root level, we will continue to lag. Countries like China and Japan excel in sports because they have exclusive training institutes for games and sports, and sports is a compulsory part of their academic curriculum right from primary level to higher education level.

The hurdle in the progress of sports education in most schools in India includes: l Lack of modern facilities in schools– Many schools are still not equipped with facilities like playground, equipments, techniques, strategies, qualified coaches etc. Scientific approach towards the development of physical education and sports education also needs to be taken care of. In-

dia, despite being the youngest country in the world, with the largest population below the age of 25, has not made significant presence in the world of sports. Though hockey is the national game, India has not done well in it at the global level. In other sports as well, our condition is rather pathetic. l Lack of Investment by schools as well as by parents for excellence in sports- Generally in India, sports are not considered as profession and so school authorities and parents step back when it comes to investment in sports for the children. l Talents need to be nurtured and encouraged- India is a land of talent where one sees many budding sport stars in the narrow lanes of small towns. These talents need to be enhanced and guided by showing the way out to excel in their sporting skills. l Lack of qualified coaches- Coach training programmes are not encouraged in India, as a result schools lack trained coaches. l Academics is given importanceStudent’s daily routine is embedded with maximum number of hours being spent in studies, in coaching / tuition centres in higher classes which does not permit students at the high school level to participate in sports. l Functioning of the sports bodiesGovernment official who heads the various sports committees and associations needs to function effectively to overcome the challenges faced in imparting sports education in the country. l Inappropriate allocation and use of budget- The budgetary allocation for sports, which comes under the Union Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, is not as much as compared to the countries that excel in the Olympics and other international sports events.

India is a land of talent where one sees many budding sport stars in the narrow lanes of small towns. These talents need to be nurtured and encouraged.

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According to Carl Laurie, Principal, Christ School, Mumbai, “One of the main reasons is we don’t have private partnership and depend on the government entirely. We also lack proper sports infrastructure, so we see the children and youth playing on the roads, in the alleys, in car parks. The facility to provide sports infrastructure in India, which is the responsibility and prerogative of the government, is not happening. At the same time the private parties are not coming forward” “Sports to a great extent are often neglected in India. Many schools and colleges do not seem to realise the value of physical education in the curriculum. One main challenge is changing the mindset of the curriculum developers, changing the mindset of the education department that equal importance should be given to sports”, said Dr Vandana Lulla, Principal, Podar International School.

What next Some suggestions to improve sports education in India l Sports education should be made an important subject as part of the curriculum in schools as well as colleges. l There is a need for uniform curricu-

“There is a general acceptance from the school authorities to install the latest infrastructure in schools.

But the investment has always been a concern for them. infact big investment is always good in terms of quality and long term return” lum in schools. One reason might also be that educational institutions in India do not have a uniform curriculum and it varies from institution to institution. It would be beneficial only if a uniform curriculum is ensured for the schools in India with equal importance to sports, for the all-around development of children. l Apart from schools, universities should also encourage sports education and they should also provide exclusive courses on sports. l Qualified coaches should be appoint-

ed in the education institutes and more programs on coach training should be promoted. l Latest infrastructure and clear cut plans should be introduced in schools to popularise sports among children. l A scientific approach should also be given to sports education in India. l The government needs to play an important role by allocating appropriate budget for sports education in India and proper implementation of it. l A monitoring council is required consisting of sports education professionals to monitor the physical education of every school. l Children belonging to the backward areas and rural schools should also be encouraged and provided facilities to enhance their talents on sports. l The mindsets of the people also needs to change, so that sports is not considered as a burden on children but rather a way out to perform well in the academics and an important component for the overall development of children.

Sports culture can best contribute in the nation building process. That is how we can create better sportspeople and a happier and more productive generation.

digitalLEARNING / March 2014

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event report

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SCHOOL LEADERSHIP SUMMIT 2014

School

Leadership

Summit 2014

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March 2014 / digitalLEARNING

event report

W

e are living in a new economy—powered by technology, fueled by information, and driven by knowledge. Education is the only key to avail ourselves of a plethora of opportunities which our 21st century, better known as the “century of knowledge”, can offer us. To be industry ready today, student learning must surpass mastery of core subjects and embrace 21st century knowledge and skills like critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and technology literacy. It goes without saying that teachers, principals, academicians have a significant role to play in achieving the visions for our 21st century children.

With a view to taking school education to the next level by strengthening leadership skills among school leaders, digitalLEARNING, a premier education magazine of Elets Technomedia Pvt. Ltd. organized the School Leadership Summit 2014 on February 8th at the Kempinski Ambience Hotel. The SLS 2014 also recognised teachers and principals who are the key catalysts for change in a student’s life at an early stage.

A compelling one-day agenda was built around the core theme of issues affecting the current school education system in India. The summit witnessed a galaxy of top principals, academicians and visionaries in the field of education.

The summit commenced with several thought leaders raising important issues affecting the current school education system in India. The speakers set the tone of the summit with thought-evoking discussion on pedagogy, enhancing the teaching-learning process, use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in schools, infrastructure and need for teachers’ training among other important issues.

The school leaders also got a chance to interact with professor Dr Aruna Broota, clinical psychologist and Dr Jitendra Nagpal, Director, Expressions India - the National Life Skills, Value Education and School Wellness Program.

The summit was divided into six sessions on some very pertinent themes such as Thought Leaders’ Panel, School

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Inaugural Session: Thought Leaders’ Panel

“Innovation is not about fancy technologies, innovation is thinking about a new paradigm of thoughts Well Being: Changing Times and Challenges (workshop by Dr. Jitendra Nagpal, Program Director “Expressions India”Instt. of Child Development & Adolescent Wellbeing, Moolchand Medcity), Nurturing School Leaders of Tomorrow, Role of Technology in Creating Excellence in School Education, Life Skill Education Emerging Landscape (exclusive Life Skills workshop on Mentoring e-kids by professor Dr Aruna Broota, Clinical Psychologist), and Building Visionary Schools in Globalised World.

Inaugural session: thought leaders’ panel The panel session on “School Education: Is not innovating an option?” had speakers like Snehal Pinto, Director, Ryan Group of Institutions; Vandana Lulla, Director, Podar International School; Anshul Arora, CEO, Edvance Group; Poonam Singh Jamwal, CMO, Extramarks Education Pvt Ltd; and was moderated by Amol Arora, Managing Director, Shemford and Shemrock Schools.

The discussion started on the note“Is innovation in education important?”

Vandana Lulla, Director, Podar International School, started off the discussion by asking whether schools could survive without innovation. In her address she reiterated in Bill Gates’ words, “The economy of a country drives with innovation.” With her innovative thoughts she kickstarted the discussion. While talking about innovation in education, she said, “Innovation in education is not one person’s responsibility; it’s the responsibility of everyone.”

She asserted that a teacher should be the mentor and the felicitator for a child. The mindset of the teachers should be changed to bring in innovation. She pleaded, “Be the change you want to see.”

Furthering the discussion, Anshul Arora said that innovation is not about fancy technologies, innovation is thinking about a new paradigm of thoughts.

“Innovation in pedagogy is thinking about how you create thinkers who can think critically, collaborate effectively, communicate well, have character and values, and work across cultures. These are the fundamental elements that we need to think about in pedagogy”, he added.

industry speak

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IT brings a huge enrichment to the learning process Monica Malhotra Kandhari, Senior Director, MBD Group talks about joining a consortium with technology companies to deliver content What is MBD Group’s stake in the consortium with Microsoft, Acer and Tata Teleservices in providing educational tablets?

MBD Group has an equal stake in the consortium. In fact as the content provider, we form the backbone of this consortium.

Considering MBD has its own online learning programmes and published books, why did you join this consortium? Will the consortium’s content be any different from the content already available with MBD? Delivery of quality education has significantly evolved from a couple of years ago. With the adoption of tablets and other smart devices, there is a big opportunity for us to reach the student directly. This consortium extends the competitive edge by providing quality content on a stable hardware platform and significant ease of access everywhere.

How will students benefit from this arrangement?

This consortium brings a huge enrichment to the learning process to the table such as easy access to quality content, immersive and collaborative learning, and most importantly, a personalized pace of learning and assessment for the student.

What is the current market share of e-learning programmes in Indian schools? How much is the consortium targeting?

E-learning is a growing market. However, there is a significant lack of adoption outside the urban centers. The consortium can reach more than 100 towns and cities in India any day.

and effective teaching tools thus ensuring a higher success rate as well as enables students with easily accessible quality content.

How are you planning to offer the content in the tablet?

The content will be available in both, offline and online forms. In fact, one of the key USP of the offering is our ability to keep the content updated and current.

How will the programme roll out and what will be the number of schools and students targeted initially?

This is an innovative product that we are offering to institutions that are willing to invest in their students. In the first year of launch we will limit ourselves to 100 schools where there is a high potential for transformative learning.

Which subjects will be covered in the content?

The content will cover all the subjects from class VI to XII.

Please define the consortium’s USP. The consortium has content for comprehensive learning and holistic assessment.

It also has connected learning in and outside the classroom, educational tablet with Windows 8.1 and speedy connectivity for anytime, anywhere leaning.

What will be the size of content per tablet?

Each class and course that is covered has a collection of more than 500 concept notes, interactive multiple content and over 1,000 assessment questionnaires.

Please define the USP of the content available from MBD. MBD is known for providing quality educational content ever since its inception in 1956, we serve more than 40000+ school pan India with our 37 branch offices and are the only publisher to develop content in more than 12 regional languages spoken in India. Our content experts come from various top notch educational institutes.

The digital content developed by MBD follows two pronged approach, it empowers the teachers with modern

What content is available with MBD Alchemie?

We have the ability to provide content for K-12, CBSE, ICSE as well as State Boards.

How will a student use content?

MBD in collaboration with Microsoft is creating a Windows 8 app which will be able to provide a learning platform to the students. This platform will provide a personalized learning path to each student.

Will there be content available online?

To leverage the best of the offering, it would be ideal for the students to be connected on the Web. However the platform will also be sufficiently equipped to work in a stand-alone environment as well.

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Snehal Pinto, Director, Ryan Group of Institutions, brought more liveliness into the discussion by asking whether our current system supported innovation.

While talking about the constraints of prescribed curricula, prescribed deadlines and schedules for test taking, she asked, “Do we have tolerance for uncertainties and experimentation?”

“If we can allow that space for experimentation, for creativity, which will happen if we have tolerance for uncertainty, then we are making space and nurturing incubators for innovation. In the current system what we can actually do is experience innovation from the margin,” she added.

Snehal Pinto also talked about teaching of life skills which are important for the 21st century kids. According to her, life skills are what will enable children to forge ahead. As regards technology for 21st century kids she said, “21st century kids are far ahead of us in terms of technology. We don’t really need to teach them how to use technology. What we need to help them to is collaborate on how to access, construct and communicate that knowledge.”

Poonam Singh Jamwal, CMO, Extramarks Education Pvt Ltd said that innovation is not just an idea but implementa-

tion of that idea across the universe. The need is to accept the technology as it has the potential to reach the grass roots.

The session concluded on an agreeing note that innovation in education is not only confined to technology, it includes everything that empowers 21st century kids with all the required set of skills.

School well being: changing times and challenges Workshops by Dr Jitendra Nagpal, Director, Expressions India - the National Life Skills, Value Education and School Wellness Program and Lakshmi Kumar, Director, The Orchid School & Inter Cultural Training Specialist.

Dr Jitendra Nagpal started off the session by talking about child developing indicators as an important part of teachers’ training programme. He mentioned that, “The entire HRD now looks at the complete child developing indicators as part of pedagogy, and it’s so heartening to see that most teacher education institutes and universities are now taking in

“India would be a hub for all the lifestyle disorders in the next 10 years

Dr Jitendra Nagpal, Director, Expressions India

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child psychology, child wellbeing, child development as an important part of their curriculum besides the syllabi.”

“Now, if we are ranked 112th in the world in Child Development Index 2013, where Thailand, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Burma seem to be a little better than us in terms of sanitation and hygiene of children, then it’s time to wake up”, he added.

Addressing a gathering of top school leaders, he further mentioned that cases of suicides are increasing in India. It might soon be named as the hub of suicides.

He further informed that IITs have witnessed 43-48 deaths in half a decade. The last HRD minister sanctioned 50-60 lakhs for setting up of a mandatory psychological centre in all IITs. He revealed that India would be a hub for all the lifestyle disorders in the next 10 years. “Today, EQ is important than IQ. It has been observed in the post-recession era in America that out of the CEOs, Bankers, etc. who were the victims of the recession, people with higher EQ survived the economic crisis,” he added.

Dr Nagpal also talked about the im-

portance of having de-addiction centres for children suffering from electronic addiction. He informed that one de-addiction centre has already been set up in Delhi and another is coming up in Mumbai. He also informed that America has a large number of de-addition centres for children addicted to social networking sites and Internet.

After Nagpal’s informative and thought-evoking workshop, Lakshmi Kumar opened her remark by mentioning that the school well-being agenda requires the ability to envision the unimaginable.

“It’s almost like we need to take a new avatar, to enter the skin of a three year old, to imagine a life after he or she reaches the age of twenty, to make relevant choices, to let go what we have been very familiar

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with and to embrace what’s going to be relevant for them, even if it doesn’t fit with my framework,” she added.

She further said that we must sensitize the teachers about what a good touch and a bad touch is as it itself a subject of huge debate. She added that students must be educated to report on such incidents because on the one hand it empowered all of us, and on the other hand it could be easily misinterpreted, misused by the management, teachers, parents and by the students as well. She termed it a sensitive tightrope walk. She also said that a sensitivity awareness campaign needed to be created on a bigger platform.

“We as leaders, under any circumstances should stand up as the child’s voice,” she added.

Nurturing school leaders of tomorrow School leaders act as a catalyst of change.

Their understanding and vision can ensure better future for children. They not only foresee the future, but also ensure it.

Nurturing of school leaders of tomorrow is thus a vital task. Training of teachers for tackling different issues should be carried out at regular intervals.

Session highlights: l

How important is teachers’ training in today’s world? l What all should be included in the training? l How can proper training make a difference in the human resource of a school?

This session of round-table discussion was moderated by Lt. Col. (Retd.)

A Sekhar, Principal, Atul Vidyalaya, Valsad.

Lt. Col. (Retd.) A Sekhar started off the session citing some examples of best leaderships in the Indian Army. His keynote address highlighted the importance of teachers’ training in producing best leaders. On the sideline, he puts forward a point, “If a teacher performs well, takes initiatives, or is presenting something, then does this disturb the principals with thoughts like— Are they taking my space?”

M S Rehman, Principal, The Millennium School, Nagpur

“We believe that without values we will be producing educated barbarians, so value systems should be instilled right from the very beginning Carl Laurie, Principal, Christ Church School, Mumbai in his response to Lt. Col.’s remark said, “We are at times afraid that someone else is taking our place. In that case, I think we are doing a disservice as educationists.” He mentioned that qualification and education are two different things. “We get qualifications, we get certifications but education is totally a holistic development and that incorporates everything right from developing the humanitarian, culture, literary, sports etc. in a child”, he added.

Coming on to the importance of teachers’ training, he replied on an assertive note, “I believe that change really starts with the leaders themselves in schools, then it percolates down into the teachers and then to the children.”

Furthering the discussion, M S Rehman, Principal, Millennium School, Nagpur put forth some important points which are in essence an integral part of school education. “There are three areas that we take care of in school education, one is cognitive development (thinking skills), next is emotional development that we nurture, and the third is life skills

and values development. We believe that without values we will be producing educated barbarians, so value systems should be instilled right from the very beginning”, he said.

Answering on “Are they taking my space?” he said that principals who are competent with great leadership qualities should not feel insecure.

Lt. Col. Sekhar, furthered the session with his great power of speech and eloquence. To get more out of the discussion which rose to its height, he asked, “How can we as teachers be less barbaric and get our students to not to be cheaters but good human being?”

“The sole purpose of education is to create happy students, to look at their overall well-being. Now, if we look at the overall well-being as a goal, then we as teachers have to demonstrate it in our lives and we need to undergo our own revolution, in terms of our mindset, our insecurities, our own barbarism”, said Abhimanyu Das Gupta, Primary School and PYP Coordinator, Pathways World School, Aravali While listening all along, Rita Jha,

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principal, Dr K N Modi Global School, Newai entered the discussion and talked about children watching a pornographic film. She said, “When you walk down the streets and see dogs or cows mating then do you take out your cameras and start shooting the scenes? The answer is a big NO. Therefore, stop taking entertainment from a beautiful process called love.”

Talking on producing leaders, Prasath Jain, Bhavan’s Rajaji Vidyashram, Chennai said that the two things essential for a future leader were to be technologically sound and to bring the stakeholders i.e. parents, teachers and students at par with one another.

Jay Parekh, Executive Director, American Institute of Enrichment, introduced the argument of how vs why in an interesting manner. He noted, “In schools today we continuously focus on ‘how’.

This world definitely needs people who know how to do things but the person that knows ‘how’, must always be working for the person who knows ‘why’ and until we make our educational culture stronger by focusing on ‘why’, I don’t believe we will fundamentally create leaders through the system.”

Col. (Retd.) (Dr) K S Saini, Director, St Kabir School, Hisar opened his remark on leadership and teachers’ training by asking, “We are talking about giving voice to the students but have we given voice to the principals? There are multiple do’s and don’ts for the principals.”

“The management wants something, the parents want something else, government says close the school because it’s too hot or it’s too cold, answer the RTI why have you done this or that, the poor fellow - principal - is busy in doing these kinds of things. Where is the time for him to nurture leaders?” he added.

Sunita Nambiar, Program Director, Kunskapskollan, Gurgaon, said that teachers play an important role in kids’ life. “If our children need to become leaders then our teachers should be there to guide them”, she added. She observed that we press for having creative skills in children and push them for thinking out-of-the-box without laying much emphasis on the medium through which

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Lt. Col. (Retd.) A Sekhar, Principal, Atul Vidyalaya, Valsad

“The key to good leadership and nurturing is trust and if we understand this, we will be better leaders, better followers and better nurturers teachers can deliver their best in making children what they want them to be.

Lt. Col. Sekhar summed it up with, “The key to good leadership and nurturing is trust and if we understand this, we will be better leaders, better followers and better nurturers.”

Role of technology in creating excellence in school education The session “Role of technology in creating excellence in school education” had speakers like Jay Parekh, Executive Direc-

Jay Parekh, Executive Director, American Institute of Enrichment

tor, American Institute of Enrichment; Adil Usman, Business Head, iProf Learning Solutions Pvt Ltd; and Sumit Mago, Development Head, Technology Health School Learning Solutions, NIIT. Jay Parekh, Executive Director, American Institute of Enrichment “True learning requires cognition and participation. For all that the people who said teaching is an art, it’s an art of balancing cognition and participation in the classroom. There is an inverse proportion in which, when the teacher is trying to elevate the cognitive level of content, the participation level goes down. When the teacher tries to engage the child, the cognition will decrease.

This is the challenge for the teachers in a traditional learning environment.

How can technology enhance the learning process in schools? It is about the right technology, which enables high cognition and high participation, it is not an either or inversely proportional situation.”

Talking about the importance of teachers when technology is used to bypass the teacher, it is not an effective

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solution. He said, “You have the island of knowledge on one end, island of students on the other end. All we can do, many technology solutions keep putting more “goodies” on the island of knowledge. There are students sitting on other islands who cannot swim to other islands. Unless technology can transform parallel boats into cruise ships, technology cannot be effective.”

Adil Usman, Business Head, iProf Learning Solutions Pvt Ltd “Technology helps students to learn whenever they want, wherever they want; they need not be in the classroom all the time. They can learn according to their needs.

Different kind of learning includes adaptive learning, individualized learning, remote learning out of class and in class learning. About selective studies, customized learning, students can do away with what they don’t want to study. Technology makes learners more receptive, retention is better with technology.

No matter how much technology we have, teachers will always be the centerpiece of everything. Their role will be slightly altered and changed as they go along. From mere providing knowledge, they’ll be facilitators of education.

That is the most important and beautiful point. Empowering them with tools takes workload off them. That is what technology should be doing. Making our life easier, making us more efficient, take the workload off us. Transportation,

Adil Usman, Business Head, iProf Learning Solutions Pvt Ltd

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While delivering a key address on “Role of acoustics in Education” Naresh Duble, Head - FMD & Training, Armstrong said, “Kids are not effective listeners, they are not like adults. If you and I sit in the same class, we will probably get 100 percent of the word spoken by the teacher, but they will not.”

“From chalk and talk methods, we are slowly and steadily moving into the next generation of teaching which is ICT-enabled communication, healthcare, technology has taken over the whole lifestyle. But in education, that has not happened quite yet. The time for education for digital learning has come of age. A lot of factors required in any revolution are in there at the same time. Hardware costs have come down.”

Sumit Mago, Development Head, Technology Health School Learning Solutions, NIIT “School leaders are looking at how technology can help in school education. World around us is changing very fast, it’s now digital. More and more schools are networked. From chalk and talk methods, we are slowly and steadily moving into the next generation of teaching which is ICT-enabled. The future includes collaboration with peers, content can be on Wikipedia, it can be on Khan Academy, animations, simulations, assessment labs, online learning systems, technology is helping us there.

There used to be a Guru in few of the ashrams, they had some literatures in those ashrams. Now the entire learning process is changing.

A teacher may be there in ILT mode,

Sumit Mago, Development Head, Technology Health School Learning Solutions, NIIT

multiple schools are connecting with each other, multiple learners are also connecting with each other, and teachers are connecting with each other. Students sitting at home may want to connect with his peers. Cloud based education includes Google Docs, Flickr, Khan Academy. A teacher may be there in ILT mode, multiple schools are connecting with each other, multiple learners are also connecting with each other, and teachers are connecting with each other.”

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Life skill education emerging landscape Exclusive Life Skills Workshop on Mentoring E-Kids by professor Dr Aruna Broota, Clinical Psychologist.

Dr Aruna Broota, Clinical Psychologist in her session said that today’s children are much smarter. They are well aware of the gender differences. They understand the differences between a good touch and a bad touch and they are tech savvy as well. However, this doesn’t warrant for the assumption that they wouldn’t go astray if we engage them with some kind of modern gadgets. The child is coming from the home environment where he is interacting with his machines, his gadgets, but is also influenced by what he is constantly hearing from his parents. So how are we going to develop a positive attitude towards technology so that the child will realize the importance of the gadgets in hand?

Dr Aruna considered a gadget to be a monster as she believed that it could influence them in anyway. It’s really important to understand what the child is really focused on. She gave an example of the summer vacation home work where children are asked to make projects and reports. She mentioned that the children are not so serious about it. They are more comfortable with technologies which give them ready-made materials from the web, easy printouts, etc. Children are of the opinion that the teachers would not take much pain to through their projects word by word. And their thinking is not baseless. In fact, teachers do that. Can the teacher read 64 projects each from different sections? So who are we motivating, how are we motivating? It doesn’t matter whether we have technology. We ourselves are telling our children how to disregard technology and to misuse it.

Throwing light on intelligence, she said that intelligence is equally distributed geographically all over the world.

It’s not that a child from an urban area will be brighter than that of a rural area or visa-versa. Only those who value the education can excel irrespective of their location.

If the teachers and parents don’t upgrade themselves, then how are they going to be at par with these e-kids of today?

Everything has its pros and cons.

In fact, today’s scenario has forced the American Psychological Association to include e-addiction in their list of addictions. She pointed out that children who perpetually don’t sleep at night,

Professor Dr Aruna Broota, Clinical Psychologist

skills etc.

It is the duty of the principals to identify teachers who are capable of mentoring ‘S’ factor in children despite their concerned subjects which might be Hindi, English or Mathematics.

If teachers have that ‘S’ factor in themselves—leadership qualities within them and can motivate children to develop that factor, then they must be given the responsibility to train those children. Teachers should also attend workshops to be able to mentor the kids right.

Dr Aruna Broota also suggested that teachers must also attend workshops by students on the use of technology, values and what they think about elders. There should be a dialogue between the two.

Teachers must go through self-analysis for biases against someone without any strong reason. For example, they might have had childhood experiences which made them biased against Punjabis, South Indians and Bengalis etc.

Therefore, teachers with prejudices

“If the teachers and parents don’t upgrade themselves, then how are they going to be at par with these e-kids of today? are glued on to their tablets and study at night are simply playing havoc with their biological clocks.

Education must be such that if we put a computer in the classroom and teach how to use it, we must also use some techniques by which it becomes useful, meaningful, a treasure for the child.”

As regards ‘S’ factor (special ability factor), she said that generally all of us are born with average intelligence with exceptions of some who have high intelligence or with very poor intelligence.

The question is whether we are mentoring our students for ‘S’ factor or for personality development which includes leadership qualities, business acumen, international welfare, communication

can’t mentor students. Another reason for which they must attend self-analysis workshops is for managing their anger so that they don’t cross their limits and cause unwanted harms. Teachers also need to attend workshops on behavioral issues in adolescents. Teachers and parents don’t understand adolescence.

She summed it up with an incident where a parent comes to her complaining about her daughter having a boyfriend and wanted to understand where she had failed in giving her daughter love and care that her daughter sought for love outside.

Dr Broota explained that today parents and teachers need to understand that a mother’s love cannot be equated with that of a lover. They are two dif-

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ferent sides of the same coin. It’s all related to the age in which the daughter is. Therefore, parents must understand the changes taking place in their growing children.

Building visionary schools in globalised world In globalised world, competition has reached its peak. Building visionary schools, which ensure better future for children, is of utmost importance. Keeping itself in tune with latest trends and imparting different kinds of knowledge in an effective way are crucial for every visionary school in globalised world.

This session was moderated by Steven Rudolph, Director, Jiva Education.

Steven Rudolph started his session with a prayer. He said, ‘I am here (in India) for two reasons. One is that we (America) need some things that India has. At the same time I understood my ability to reflect back what they could do to get the best of both worlds.’

He said the new generation of children is from digital generation. He admired the American lifestyle which is smooth, with no power cuts, but at the same time there was discontent.

“We need something that India has.

People want to be able to take the best, but don’t want the responsibility”, he added. Talking about the problems in the society, he said that there is so much

Steven Rudolph, Director, Jiva Education

to be complained about from corruption to different scams. According to him, education is the only solution to all such problems. He also talked about the recent trends of westernization in India.

“We need something that India has. People want to be able to take the best, but don’t want the responsibility “Today, our growth is away from the traditional concept of Gurukul and we have reached a point where we have industrialized our education, people are

“Learning how to get good numbers and being a cheater doesn’t help you in the business world.”

Professor Alesa Lightbourne, Director, S P Jain, International Affairs, Washington

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out of touch with their own culture, people are wearing western dresses, language of the elite is English, people are studying in western buildings.

With more and more western technology coming in, what is that we can do to prevent things from the fabric of our society from becoming so frail that it becomes almost irreparable? What is that we can do as educators to prevent things from becoming too chronic?”

In response to Steven’s remark, Dr Neeta Bali, principal, G D Goenka World School, Gurgaon, said that as educators we need to instill in our children love and respect for their own culture. An international curriculum should have some elements of Indian culture. “We need to show that if we cannot respect our own culture, we can’t respect others”, she added.

Steven Rudolph stressed how America was built from people coming from all over the world, they had nothing there

when they arrived, and they brought only values with which they built the country.

“I am from the future in the sense that I come from a country that is ‘developed’ in certain ways, and being in India, going back to America after nearly ten years, I found out what it was like to go to America for the first time.”

He also talked about how the society could be made more human, how children could be made simple human beings. He stressed on the need to make an impact on the students.

The summit concluded with the gala award ceremony recognizing the digitalLEARNING TOP SCHOOLS OF INDIA for their key contributions in providing a healthy and dynamic environment for teaching-learning process and ensuring a holistic development of the student.

The guests of honour handed over the awards for the best schools from various states of India.