Education Insider

RNI No: 114514 KERENG/2012/41957

Parents, gardeners in a child’s education : Pavan Soni

You can’t buy an IIM seat Prof Debashis Chatterjee, IIMK Director

April 2013 l `50 $5

www.educationinsider.net

CRACK IAS Dr B Ashok

BRAINWAVE

Ashish Khetan

ENTREPRENEURIAL COLLEGE Stanford University, USA

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$29 million per year is needed between now and 2015 to achieve basic education for all. Will it work?

IIMK: The nursery of ideas

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Education for all, a reality soon

Volume 2 Issue 4 | April 2013 Editor Ravi Deecee Head-Operations M Kumar Assistant Editor Dipin Damodharan Chief Copy Editor K S Rajagopal Senior Reporters Lakshmi Narayanan Prashob K P RESPONSE TEAM Coordinating Editor Sumithra Sathyan Reporters Tony William Biyanka Merlyn John Shalet James Neethu Mohan Design & Layout Kailasnath Anil P John Shyam P S Web Manager S Sreenath

ADVT SALES Senior Managers Kainakari Shibu Rajasree Varma Anu P M Biju P Alex K S Syam Kumar M K Haridas Vinod Joseph ( Delhi) Rohil Kumar A B (Bengaluru) Managers Febin K Francis Bipin Kumar V S MARKETING Sr Manager Sabu Varghese Mathew Assistant Managers Priya P A Mobin E Mathew Circulation Athul P M Sone Varghese Vishnu

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“

The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living from the dead.” When I was about to write this piece, these words of legendary Greek philosopher and polymath Aristotle came to my mind. Education is the only parameter that differentiates a civilised society from an uncivilised one. Being a publication devoted to education, we are very much concerned about the disparities in education. That’s why, inspired by the UNESCO Education for All (EFA) initiative, we take up the subject ‘Making Education for All Affordable’ for the cover story of this edition. As genuine development happens through education, it is the commitment of developed world to provide quality basic education for all, especially in the lower income countries and poor countries. Obviously, funding or insufficient finance is the biggest impediment in achieving the goal Education for All. As per UNESCO’s EFA Global Monitoring Report, there is a $38-billion annual financing gap to achieve basic and lower secondary education for all children. UNESCO aims to achieve Education for All by 2015, but $29 billion per year is needed between now and 2015 to reach this goal. Filling the finance gap is possible only if governments and corporate donors show the courage to prioritise allocating sufficient resources for education. The recently released EFA paper, ‘Making education for all affordable by 2015 and beyond’ put forward solutions for making basic education affordable by 2015.

Read the cover story ‘All for Education, Education for All’ to see how we can make the change.

As UNESCO says,“The global community must renew its promise that no country will be left behind in education due to the lack of resources. Further delays will have grave human consequences, especially for the world’s most vulnerable children.”

As the Indian Institute of Managements (IIMs) have a pivotal role in shaping up the future leaders, we are starting a special series featuring the IIMs in the country. We bring you an exclusive story on the path-breaking initiatives of IIM Kozhikode. “IIMK’s vision is to globalise Indian thought. We believe that management is an inclusive social activity that brings a diversity of human competencies in the pursuit of higher purpose,” Prof Debashis Chatterjee, Director, IIM-K, tells Education Insider.

We start the 2013 national survey on B Schools, B10B, with the most literate state Kerala as the focal point in this edition. Plus, a special report on India’s first startup festival, NIT Calicut students’ Retro House (a mobile house with many specialities) innovation and much more.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

CONTENTS 22 COVER STORY THE REGULARS

52 Innovation Four students of NIT Calicut have developed innovative houses to rehabilitate the victims of natural calamities

10 Edu Capsule 12 Event Getex Spring 2013, the largest educational expo in the UAE, is back in action

14 Personalities Dr Sugata Mitra, an NRI education pioneer recognised for his innovative ‘hole- in-the-wall’ experiment opens a new world for slum kids

86 Close Range

EDUCATION FOR ALL

40 Motivation Celluloid marked the playback debut of Vijayalakshmi, a visually challenged young girl who triumphed against many odds

According to the latest calculations by Education for All Global Monitoring Report team, $26 billion is needed annually solely to achieve basic education in poor countries by 2015. Sounds impossible! But it seems to be practical, if governments, private contributors, development agencies, civil society can ensure their active participation in funding education in lower income and poor countries. The UNESCO Education for All initative is upbeat about providing basic and lower secondary education of good quality for all children in poor countries

42 Special Story

EXCLUSIVES 61 EI B10B SURVEY 2013

BRAINWAVE

Getting into the right management institution is a big task for students.

Education Insider is on the hunt to pick the gem of management institutes.

We bring you the exclusive survey on Kerala’s best 10 management schools

82 Ashish Khetan

18 George Burgess

Ashish Khetan, an investigative journalist, says about five things that an investigative journalist should keep in mind

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Prakash Bare, famous producer and actor says, ‘Education should encourage entrepreneurship’

Here is George Burgess, one of the youngest tech entrepreneurs in the UK and the founder of EducationApps, a company that develops apps for mobile platforms to help students with revision and learning. George, a student at Stanford University, shares his thoughts on entrepreneurship

This is the story of 31-year-old Dr Shyam Prasad, affectionately called Appu, who defied his disabilities

COLUMNS 38 Dr B Ashok, IAS Clear, precise and direct written expression in English is almost synonymous with success in the IAS examination

30 Pavan Soni Parents as gardeners in a child’s education

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

CONTENTS 56 CHANGE MAKERS

ENTREPRENEURIAL COLLEGE IIMK As a nursery of ideas and innovation, IIM Kozhikode strives to achieve excellence by creating socially committed global leaders. “Our idea is to create a pipeline of leaders in the country,” says Prof Debashis Chatterjee, Director, IIMK

16 Stanford University Stanford university’s incredible entrepreneurial ecosystem has paved the way for many of the world’s best innovative ventures–Google, Yahoo, and Cisco, to name a few

CAMPUS FOCUS

45 The University of Twente Located in Enschede, the Netherlands, The University of Twente, is an entrepreneurial research university.

Twente promotes entrepreneurship, which has resulted in the highest spin-off ratio in the Netherlands – 130 student companies, 5000 jobs and 70% of the companies are still in existence after five years

34 Million Dollar Baby “EduTech startups in the learning disability space seems to also be an area seeing lots of innovation,” says Silicon Valley entrepreneur Sramana Mitra

80 Campus Voice Are arts subjects losing sheen? Welcome to the third edition of Campus Voice, Team Education Insider has conducted a debate on the issue among a cross-section of the campus community

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

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EDU CAPSULE UAE world’s fourth most favourite education destination New VC for National Law University, Odisha

UAE: A survey conducted across 17 countries had disclosed that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the leading education hub among emerging market economies and the fourth most attractive education destination in the world for students seeking to pursue their studies abroad, beating China, Singapore and Australia. The research, released by Dubai International Academic City (DIAC) in conjunction with Deloitte, a leading consultancy firm, was carried out to provide DIAC with the region’s most comprehensive, independent study regarding workforce skills gaps that currently exist within emerging markets.

A P J Abdul Kalam to teach at IIM Shillong

SHILLONG: A P J Abdul Kalam, former President of India, and world-renowned scientist, is set to join IIM Shillong, the youngest IIM in the country as a visiting faculty member. He would facilitate the students of IIM Shillong with the focus on the subject of societal transformation with technology and its application. Inaugurating the third annual international sustainability conference of IIM Shillong, Kalam spoke on Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA), a sustainable development system to empower three billion people. He emphasised on India aiming to bring sustainable development through rural and urban infrastructure, quality education, healthcare, conserving the environment, bringing vibrancy in public institutions for enhanced delivery of essential public services on time and reforming the financial system for better global integration and a proactive regulatory system.

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CUTTACK: Prof V Nagaraj has been appointed the Vice-Chancellor of National Law University, Odisha, Cuttack.

Currently serving as Registrar of National Law School of India, Bangalore, Prof Nagaraj will replace Dr Chandra Krishnamurthy, who has been appointed ViceChancellor of Pondicherry University.

On his plans for National Law University Odisha, Prof Nagaraj said he would first interact with the faculty and the students, and then come towards a shared vision for the university.

GIA scholarships CALIFORNIA: The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) plans to offer a number of scholarships for its educational programmes in order to build up a career in the jewellery industry or to advance skills. Being the world’s foremost authority on diamonds, coloured stones and pearls, GIA provides education, laboratory services for gem grading and identification, research, and laboratory instruments for the industry. About 20 scholarships – ranging from $450 to $5,000 – will be given to prospective students all over the world. Comprising of various campuses in London, Hong Kong, the Middle East and Taiwan, GIA offers the Gemological Graduate diploma (GG).

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

IISc, Bangalore, tops among higher education institutions

BANGALORE: Times Higher Education (THE) has ranked the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, top in World Reputation Rankings among the top 10 Indian higher education institutions, on the basis of their global academic prestige. Being based on the survey among ‘best’ institutions, which excel in the field of teaching and research, IISc, Bangalore, has taken the top position among other Indian Institutions. Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B), All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT-K), Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT-D), IIT Madras, IIT Kharagpur, and Aligarh Muslim University are the other institutions among the list of top 10 institutions in India.

West Bengal plans online admissions for UG courses

KOLKATA: Aimed at stopping influencing admission to undergraduate courses in colleges and bringing about transparency in admissions, the higher education department in West Bengal plans to implement online admissions from the next academic session. It has been alleged that college unions and student organisations take money for providing backdoor admission to desired seats. According to sources, 150 colleges, which had their websites available, have been asked to follow online admissions. The college authorities will have to publish the merit list on the college website.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

Japanese firms prefer foreign students TOKYO: More companies in Japan are seeding to recruit foreign students, according to a report in Japan Times. A survey, conducted in 2012, indicated that more than a quarter of polled Japanese companies had a plan to hire foreign students in the 2013 fiscal year.

Foreign students in Japan have the advantage of bringing international diversity to companies. Besides, the foreign students are already familiar with the local culture and language.

UGC is set to constitute NET review committee NEW DELHI: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has formed a review committee with the aim of checking effectiveness of the National Eligibility Test (NET) to select good candidates and checking the usefulness of recently revised NET test to select good teaching professionals.

Being headed by Prof Yogendra Yadav, a UGC member, the committee would examine NET procedure with the thought of profiles of the student and the quality of candidates being churned out of the NET mechanism. NET is being conducted twice in a year to determine the eligibility for the recruitment of teachers in higher learning institutions and for the Junior Research Fellowships (JRFs).

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EVENT

Getex gets going in Dubai on April 17

Getex Spring 2013, the largest educational expo in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) initiated

by International Conferences and Exhibitions (ICE), is back in action with its latest version of Gulf Education and Training Exhibition (Getex) 2013. It will take place in Dubai on April 17-19, 2013.

The focus is and always will be education and training, which encompasses general education, higher education, vocational and occupational training and professional development while also focusing on the supply chain of education. In a recent interaction with Education Insider, Anselm Godinho, managing director of ICE, speaks on the upcoming event.

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Could you tell us about Getex and its background?

First launched in 1983, the Gulf Education and Training Exhibition (Getex) has made its mark as the leading education and training event in the Middle East and as an integral part of the sector itself. The show concept started with modest beginnings when the education sector in the Middle East was still in an early phase of development and standards in education were just about gaining momentum. International Conferences and Exhibitions (ICE) launched this event in conjunction with government initiatives, aimed at making education a right of every child and raising standards of education. The event’s main objective was to provide students with a singular, focused platform where they could compare various study options available in the sector.

Today, held under the patronage of H H Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, the United Arab Emirates, Getex has a large following both from educators and industry professionals as well as learners, and it includes participation from international

schools and colleges from all over the world, alongside the regionally located institutes.

What is the main focus area of Getex?

The main focus is and always will be education and training, which encompasses general education, higher education, vocational and occupational training and professional development while also focusing on the supply chain of education. Getex is the only dedicated exhibition exclusively for connecting students with learners, and has built a reputation for being the most trusted source for information on further education and professional development.

What is the target market for Getex?

Getex holds an attraction for everyone who is looking to pursue education (students, adults and working professionals), those serving within the sector (teachers, faculty members, and education investors) and even other supplementary associations and groups linked to the education sector (student associations, and academic agencies).

The demography of visitors cuts across all age groups, nationalities and cultures.

What are some of the features of the Spring edition this year?

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

The Middle East has one of the fastest-growing student populations heading towards undergraduate and post-graduate programmes. In keeping with this demand, Getex Spring this year is assigning key focus on these higher education programmes, with over 300 exhibitors showcasing diverse study programmes to prospective students. Students visiting the show will be exposed to multiple options of studying abroad, scholarship opportunities, financing education, sports education, etc., and will be openly talking to student counsellors for specific course guidance.

A comprehensive range of professional development and training courses are also on offer, catering to working professionals who are looking to enhance their skills and remain employable in the long run. The show will also incorporate free-to-attend, education-specific seminars presented by participating exhibitors who will be on standby to answer students’ questions on various topics relating to further education.

How successful has Getex been in promoting educational institutions?

Getex is the largest, most effective event for showcasing education institutes worldwide, and it is the leading student recruitment platform in the Middle East. Getex has a year-onyear exhibitor retention rate of over 90%, which, in itself, is a proof of the show’s success. Moreover, Getex 2013 will mark the show’s silver jubilee edition, which underlines its sustainability and popularity within the region’s education landscape.

How do students benefit from educational events and exhibitions such as Getex?

Getex aims at maintaining its position as the most trusted gateway connecting educators with learners, and vice versa. It offer students the opportunity to meet schools, colleges from around the world and universities and scale out academic options while gaining a greater understanding of ongoing education trends and the latest courses on offer. At Getex, students and parents enjoy the benefit of a one-stop solution for assessing which schools and colleges out there best suit their criteria and budget, areas of study, enrollment timelines, etc. At the same time, the personalised, face-to-face interaction with the education providers is very important.

How does the UAE educational sector benefit from this event?

Education in the UAE is being taken very seriously and is inviting increasing attention from both the government and the private sector. It is a whopping US $7.31-billion sector, comprising 22% of the government’s budgetary allocations.

Based on the recent federal budget announcement, government spending on education has reached AED 9.9 billion between 2011 and 2013, which is a 115% increase.

With student population consistently increasing year on year, coupled with immense public and private sector investments being made to overhaul the education landscape in the Middle East, Getex aims at catering to this growing education

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

sector by providing a comprehensive arena where educators and learners can meet and connect to each other. In doing so, students are given access to a fair amount of variety while choosing their academic destinations, and, on the flipside, schools, universities and training organisations are given a chance to explain their offerings, accreditations and features directly to the student population.

As of now, Getex has served the UAE’s education sector quite efficiently, with students from all over the GCC migrating to the UAE in pursuit of education. We have seen the development of successful education-dedicated clusters such as the Knowledge Village and the Dubai International Academic City, and it has strengthened the UAE as an education hub. It is only appropriate for the leading education fair to be hosted in Dubai.

As a highly anticipated event, students from the entire region plan their calendars around the event and look to Getex as a reliable, authentic platform.

What will institutions from India gain from participating in Getex?

The number of exhibitors participating from India is one of the highest at Getex, as Indian institutes gain tremendous value in terms of promoting themselves to the affluent Gulf-based audience and recruiting students from the region. Indians make up one of the largest chunks of expat population in the Middle East, and, as the quality of Indian curriculum gains worldwide acclaim, Indian colleges and universities are in great demand even among expats from other nationalities in GCC, SouthEast Asia, North Africa and so on. At Getex, exhibitors get the ideal platform to channel this demand, and all these factors contribute to Indian institutes doing so well at Getex.

As organisers, what are your expectations from this 2013 edition?

As with any year, we expect to see a lot of eager students soon entering a pivotal phase of their life, a phase which will pave the way for their future, define their careers, and, consequently, their quality of life in general. It is refreshing to see students demonstrating such a keen interest in their education endeavours in the Middle East, with many students now understanding and carefully assessing university programmes, syllabus, study schedules, campus features and facilities into their evaluation criteria.

As with any other sector, students as customers are more aware of their choices and are demanding better services from academic institutions. We are proud to say that Getex, over the years, has played a key role in refining students’ standards for better services by showcasing a large variety of options under one roof and fostering a healthy, competitive environment, while also enabling regional recipients’ access to programme options from all over the world through global exhibitor participation at Getex.

Anselm Godinho

Anselm Godinho has been associated with Getex and with the exhibition industry for over two decades, and has played a pivotal role in the show’s success over the years. Serving the region’s ICE industry, Godinho has successfully been involved with several exhibitions catering to sectors falling within education/ training, oil, gas and petrochemicals, hospitality, and the coffee fraternity.

Godinho believes in the potential this region has to offer 28 years on, from having moved to the region in 1985. He continues to be proactive in developing event profiles that add value to fledgling businesses in the region, and recently launched three new shows in Abu Dhabi, catering to laboratory and instrumentation, technical and further education as well as education resources and technology.

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PERSONALITIES Dr Sugata Mitra

‘Hole- in-the-wall’ experiment

A new world for slum kids

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r Sugata Mitra, an NRI education pioneer recognised for his innovative ‘hole- in-the-wall’ experiment aiming at giving computer education to slumchildren, has been awarded US $1-million prize.

Dr Mitra, a professor of Educational Technology at the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences at Newcastle University, the UK, said he would use the money to conceive and launch a high-impact project. He would help design the future of learning by supporting children by launching a global initiative for self-directed learning releases for schools and families to create selforganised learning environments.

Dr Sugata Mitra says: “What I’m doing is I’m putting my foot in the door by saying here’s a new way. Try it. If you’re happy with it, then I’ll say let’s look at the curriculum top to bottom. If we can convert the curriculum into big questions, if we can turn

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assessment into peer assessment, then neurophysiology tells us that learning gets enhanced. Finally, you add admiration – what I call the grandmother’s method, where you stand behind and encourage them. Put all of this together, and you get a new way to do schooling.”

He developed the concept of the ‘School in the Cloud’ (a learning lab in India) where children can be engaged with information and mentoring online through intellectual adventures from his 1999 ‘hole-in-the-wall’ experiment, in which he carved a hole from his research centre into an adjoining Delhi slum. By placing freely accessible computer in this hole, Mitra found out that street-children could learn to use computer on their own.

According to Dr Mitra, “we need teachers to do different things. The teacher has to ask the question, and tell the children what they have learned. He comes in at the two ends: a cap at the end and a starter at the beginning. Teachers

are not supposed to be repositories of information which they dish out. That is from an age when there were no other repositories of information other than books or teachers, neither of which were portable. A lot of my big task is retraining these teachers. Now they have to watch as children learn.”

With an adult supervisor always on-site, the school will be self-sustaining and managed

by Cloud technology. It is an online resource designed to help educators and parents support kids (8-12 years old) as they tap into their innate sense of wonder and engage in child-driven learning.

As a leading proponent of self-directed learning, Dr Mitra also developed the concept of SOLEs (Self-Organised Learning Environments), which encourages a lengthy discussion among the educators and the children that will lead them to intellectual paths rather than to memorise facts. Dr Mitra wants such schools to be set up in India as there will be less of a learning curve.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

ENTREPRENEURIAL COLLEGES Stanford University

f o g n i s r r p u s e l l n e e W trepr en

by Dipin Damodharan

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tudying in a high-profile international college is becoming a heavy deal as college costs are rocketing. Many perceive student loans the next subprime crisis in the US. However, for students accepted by Stanford University, located between San Francisco and San Jose in the heart of Silicon Valley, attending is a nobrainer. Why? The answer is Stanford’s powerful entrepreneurship connection. The university’s incredible entrepreneurial ecosystem has paved the way for many of the world’s best innovative ventures – Google, Yahoo!, and Cisco, to name a few.

o you think studying in a college is not worthwhile for an aspiring entrepreneur? Then it is high time you changed that notion.

The story of Stanford University, located at the Palo Alto campus in California, is really something that pulls out the entrepreneurial mettle in you.

Stanford has acted exceptionally well in sending the students into the world of start-ups, harmonising them with entrepreneurs, venture capital mentors, start-up advisers and new ideas.

What is common between Google, Yahoo!, Cisco, and Sun Microsystems, the world’s most innovative companies?

They all have a powerful Stanford connection. Stanford graduates founded all these global innovative ventures thanks to Stanford’s entrepreneurial character, which lies at the core of the

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Stanford University Founders: Leland and Jane Stanford, 1891 Undergraduates: 6,999 Graduates: 8,871

Stanford DNA. A 2012 study estimated that companies formed by Stanford entrepreneurs generate world revenues of $2.7 trillion annually, and have created 5.4 million jobs since the 1930s.

According to the 2012 factsheet released

by Stanford University, “Stanford alumni and faculty have created 39,900 companies since the 1930s, which, if gathered collectively into an independent nation, would constitute the world’s 10th largest economy.”

There is a story about one of the latest Silicon Valley cult heroes from Stanford, Kevin Systrom, who cofounded the photo-sharing service Instagram. Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg approached Systrom in 2006 to develop a photo service platform for Facebook. Zuckerberg asked Systrom

to drop his senior year at Stanford, but Systrom declined the offer and continued his studies.

Many raised eyebrows at Systrom, but he did it in the Stanford way. Six years later, in 2012, the same Zuckerberg bought the photo-sharing network Instagram developed by Systrom for a whopping $1 billion. Systrom believes that only the training and ecosystem at Stanford helped him scale the heights.

Stanford is home to seven schools – Business, Earth Sciences, Education, Engineering, Humanities and Sciences, Law, and Medicine. You can access the details of undergraduate programmes and admission procedures at http://facts. stanford.edu/academics/undergraduate For details of graduate courses, you can visit http://facts.stanford.edu/academics or http://admission.stanford.edu EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

Elite alumni Some of the globally renowned entrepreneurs from Stanford are: Sergey Brin, Larry Page, co-founders, Google Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, co-founders, Instagram Reed Hastings, co-founder, Netflix Vinod Khosla, co-founder, Sun Microsystems; founder, Khosla Ventures Jerry Yang, co-founder, Yahoo!

Scott Mcnealy, co-founder, Sun Microsystems Some of the high-profile executives graduated from Stanford are: Marissa Mayer, president and CEO, Yahoo!

Omid Kordestani, Iranian-American businessman who works as senior advisor to Office of the CEO and founders at Google, non-executive director at Vodafone Charles Simonyi, HungarianAmerican computer software executive and head of Microsoft’s application software group

STVP Located within the School of Engineering at Stanford, The Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP) is the entrepreneurship education and research centre promoted by the department of Management Science and Engineering. What is the mission?

The website (http://stvp.stanford. edu) says that the mission is “to build a world-class centre dedicated to accelerating high-technology entrepreneurship research and education for engineers and scientists worldwide.”

The centre focuses on academic research on high-technology entrepreneurship. It offers plenty of courses to science and engineering students on campus. Technology Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Creativity and Change, Accounting for Managers and Entrepreneurs, and The Spirit of Entrepreneurship are some of the most attractive programmes at STVP. Access the complete list of STVP courses and other details at http://stvp.stanford.edu/teaching/ courses.html STVP also conducts annual conferences and entrepreneurship mentoring classes through its Ecorner website. It offers around 2,000 free videos and podcasts, featuring leaders in the fields of entrepreneurship and innovation. You can explore it at http:// ecorner.stanford.edu The centre also has The DFJ Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Seminar, a weekly lecture series where entrepreneurial leaders share the lessons of their experience with students, the Stanford community and the public. Founders of tech giants like Google, Facebook, AOL, Instagram, Yahoo!, LinkedIn, and Twitter were some of the past speakers.

MFP For any entrepreneur, a blend of

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

theoretical and practical knowledge holds the key to success. Mayfield Fellows Program (MFP) is such a nine-month work/study programme at Stanford, aimed at developing a theoretical and practical understanding of the techniques for growing technology companies. The seats at MFP are limited to the most brilliant 12 undergraduate or co-terminal students from any discipline. This programme had a profound impact on Instagram founder Systrom.

One can have an in-depth understanding of the ideals of leadership, innovation and creativity at MFP, which deals with the management of technology ventures, a paid summer internship at a start-up company, mentoring, and networking activities. To know more about MFP, visit www.stvp.stanford.edu/teaching/ mfp The MFP course duration: April to December each year, and includes spring, summer, and autumn quarters.

Application deadline is early February.

SEN The most important element in the entrepreneurial character of Stanford is the Stanford Entrepreneurship Network (SEN). The website of SEN (www.sen. stanford.edu) describes it as a single point of contact for entrepreneurship at Stanford.

SEN is a federation of over two dozen entrepreneurship-related campus organisations that conduct research, teach courses and/or provide outreach services. The thrust areas of SEN are entrepreneurship, and unique entrepreneurship-related programmes exist in nearly every school, including Engineering, Business, Medicine, and Law, as well as in university-wide organisations such as the Office of Technology Licensing and the Office of Corporate Relations.

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Thinking Big George Burgess

The new age of

‘EducationApps’ 18

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

As Bill Gates said, it is time for expanding technology in education. No doubt, technology defines the future of education.

So, being an entrepreneur in technology sector with special focus on education is both an opportunity and a challenge. Here is George Burgess, one of the youngest tech entrepreneurs in the UK and the founder of EducationApps, a company that develops apps for mobile platforms to help students with revision and learning. At the age of 17, in September 2009, George Burgess started his entrepreneurial voyage by developing the first Geography GCSE revision app available for the iPhone, and it was a great success. Now, George is 20, a full-time student at the ultimate entrepreneurial hub, Stanford University, the USA. Within a short span of three years, George Burgess has taken EducationApps to new heights, like collaboration with the high-profile BBC Bitesize (apps developed by BBC Active, a joint venture of Pearson and BBC Worldwide) and other education publishers, creating diverse applications for many subjects. He is also planning to move into the Indian market.

In an interaction with Education Insider, George talks about his young venture, entrepreneurship, education, and more.

For him, entrepreneurship is a way of life, a way of thinking.

Excerpts from the interview:

by Dipin Damodharan How did you fall in love with entrepreneurship?

Growing up, I loved reading books about business, particularly biographies about famous entrepreneurs. These encouraged me to try little ventures as a kid – I’d sell shells to tourists when on holiday and drinks outside our house in London. In high school, a friend and I set up a filming company, which produced DVDs of drama productions for parents. All of this research and experience made me realise how much I love entrepreneurship primarily because of the variety of work it involves and the range of skills it requires.

What is the idea behind EducationApps?

EducationApps is the creator of a mobile learning platform for students. Many students these days own smart phones and yet there is very little educational content out there available for these devices. The content that exists tends to be of an extremely poor quality, and EducationApps is trying to solve that.

What are the services available at EducationApps?

Our core mobile learning platform will shortly be available on iOS and BlackBerry and will be available on Android by September. Students can download the relevant app for their qualification and can then browse the available subjects and content within the app. They can sample any of this for free and then choose to buy it as an in-app purchase if they like what they see. The content includes study guides, textbooks, flashcards and quizzes, and is normally licensed from top academic publishers.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

Alongside this content, we include tools for schools, allowing a teacher to set up a class and invite his students. The students can then receive announcements and assignments pushed to their devices by their teacher. We also have a ‘Friends’ module in which students can see what their friends are doing on the platform, challenge one another and view their position in the leader boards.

Why did you want to start a venture in the education sector?

Being a student myself, education is an area which I understand. I’m able to look at it from both perspectives: that of a student and that of an entrepreneur. This makes it easier for me to identify problems in education and then help solve them.

Having been an entrepreneur in the teens, what do you think of the need for entrepreneurship education today?

Entrepreneurship education is something I am rather skeptical about. I don’t think entrepreneurship is something that can be taught; rather, it is a way of ’t think life and a way of thinking. That being said, one can be a change in taught skills, which would aid one in an entrepreneurial endeavour. Basic accounting, negotiationleadership skills, and in an a small legal understanding can be useful when running institution business. Furthermore, I think those individuals who like can learn are interested in starting their own companies Manipal a lot from successful entrepreneurs. Reading books, listening to interviews and watching documentaries about companies and entrepreneurs is an education in itself.

19

Thinking Big George Burgess

Right now, we’re the leader in mobile learning in the UK, and we’ve just entered the US market. We want to move quickly into other markets, particularly Australia, South Africa, China, Brazil and India. We now have a platform, which is extremely flexible and easy to use. The only thing that holds back our growth is finding the right academic publishers to partner with

What were the challenges you faced at the beginning of your entrepreneurship ride?

One of the main issues with being an entrepreneur and a student is trying to get people to take you seriously. I started EducationApps when I was 17. It’s not difficult to get meetings with people – most people are intrigued anyway–but having people commit to deals is harder, especially when in full-time education!

The trick is to show them that you can manage both school and the company by working extremely hard and gaining their trust.

How do you define entrepreneurship?

Good question, but one I’m still not sure I can answer. As I said, I think entrepreneurship is a way of life, a way of thinking. Entrepreneurs need to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.

They need to be quick and dynamic, willing to learn things on the go and make adjustments quickly based on their

20

mistakes.

What do you think of the impact of internet on education?

Right now, we’re seeing massive changes in education. The Web has been around for 20 years now, and I think we’re only just starting to see it being used for interesting ways in education with the rise of MOOCs and more advanced LMSs and the emergence of sites such as Khan Academy, which are trying to flip the classroom. Mobile will be faster, though. Sure, the Web has been great for research purposes and basic e-learning games and website, but this is the first time we’re seeing real innovation in learning and education as a result of the internet.

However, I think mobile is even more exciting. One only has to look at the emergence of mobile in Africa to see that the Web is being skipped by a new generation of internet users. I think

this means that mobile education will be adopted much faster than the Web was. There will be significant investment in this area in the next 10 years. At EducationApps, we’re hoping to be one of the leaders in this space.

What are your future plans?

Grow EducationApps. Right now, we’re the leader in mobile learning in the UK, and we’ve just entered the US market. We want to move quickly into other markets, particularly Australia, South Africa, China, Brazil and India.

We now have a platform, which is extremely flexible and easy to use.

The only thing that holds back our growth is finding the right academic publishers to partner with. However, we’re doing extremely well there.

We’ve already worked with a variety of publishers, including Pearson, McGrawHill, Oxford University Press, and Taylor & Francis.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

Proof of the pudding is in the eating Quality and value of a product or service is assessed and evaluated on the basis of its net effect on the consumer. In the matter of academic performance, extolling non academic virtues and claims will only mislead the gullible.

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SCMS' PGDM is recognized as MBA equivalent by AIU, Govt.of India.

SCMS-COCHIN School of Business is ISO certified for quality management teaching system.

Asian Development Bank has enlisted SCMS as a consultant since 2011.

54 companies visited SCMS campus for placement in 2011-12. This year 32 companies visited SCMS campus for placement upto January 2013.

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SCMS-COCHIN

COVER STORY Back to basic

All FOR EDUCATION, EDUCATION FOR ALL

According to the latest calculations by Education for All Global Monitoring Report team, $26 billion is needed annually to achieve basic education for all in poor countries by 2015. Sounds impossible!

But it seems to be practical if governments, private contributors, development agencies and civil societies ensure their active participation in funding education in lower income groups. The UNESCO Education for All initiative is upbeat about providing basic and lower secondary education of good quality for all children in poor countries. Education Insider takes a look at various aspects of the UNESCO Education for All initiative

by Dipin Damodharan

“

W

ithout education, man is a splendid slave, reasoning savage”

If a country fails to provide quality basic education to all, then the country will be in a state of anarchy and it can’t survive. Not money, only education matters in a civilised world. That’s why, Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa, once said: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” But how can we achieve the goal of providing basic education to all in the world? That’s a big question before the civilised community. Funding is the major obstacle before this great objective. To address the issue, a global commitment unfurled in Dakar, Senegal, in 2000 under the aegis of UNESCO’s Education for All (EFA) initiative. The UNESCO EFA movement is a global commitment to provide quality basic education to all children, youth and adults. At the World Education Forum in Dakar, in 2000, 164 governments pledged to achieve EFA and identified six goals to be met by 2015.

Governments, development agencies, civil societies and the private sector are working together to reach the EFA

22

goals.

As mentioned, insufficient finance is the major setback in achieving the goal. But, now, the dream of providing quality basic education to all is going to be a reality. A new analysis by the EFA Global Monitoring Report team points out that if governments and donors make concerted efforts to meet the promises they made in Dakar, basic education for all could be achieved by 2015. According to reports, around 200 million young people aged between 15 and 24 in the developing countries never finish primary school. One in eight of them are unemployed. According to the United Nations, every dollar spends on a child’s education results in $10-$15 increase in economic growth. So spending on education is not a waste. It’s a reserve or a great investment for the future. So how we can bridge this financial gap for achieving basic education by 2015 as the gap is widening year by year. That’s what the EFA’s new report is all about. The governments, policy makers and private contributors have to play a very active role to make this great vision a reality.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

$38 $26

EDUCATION FOR ALL fit

ne firest to be e h t is r o c te sect rkfor Thoempraivnaeducated wo fr EDUCATION INSIDER I February April 20132013

$16 billion

is needed annually to achieve basic education in poor countries by 2015

is needed annually to achieve basic and lower secondary education

billion

is needed annually for universal primary education in low income countries

billion

profits of f o % 1 .

0 n re less tha a n io t a ear c u nsnietos ed million a y io t 3 u 8 6 ib r $ t n : a co ies atlde ’ssecbtigorgest oil comp developing countr he financing gap to iv r p e h t t n in st Buo of the wor to educatio post-2015 widen tw s n ary school io t d u n o ib c r ls e t s a n o r o g e c w Private bitious education people to lo g n u o m y a ll e a nd Th3e 8mboilrlion eded to se to basic education e n S is $ e r o C S m C r I a ll R o I d B n f o R $8 billi rly contribution o B a e Y $163: 23 63

COVER STORY Back to basic

The gap widens According to a 2010 analysis by EFA Global Monitoring Report, it would take another $16 billion a year of external financing to achieve good quality basic education for all in low income countries by 2015. Basic education means pre-primary and primary schooling and basic life skills for youth and adults. At the World Education Forum in Dakar, 164 countries committed themselves that no country will be prevented from achieving education for all due to the lack of resources. But EFA pointed out, in 2010, that donors have failed to meet the commitment.

“In reality, aid has stagnated in recent years, with an average of just $3 billion being allocated to basic education annually over the past four years.This has left a massive shortfall which, coupled with inflation, has resulted in doubling of the funding gap,” the latest EFA report says. But due to the economic growth in low income countries, an additional $3 billion has been raised for basic education annually.

According to the EFA Global Monitoring Report team, $29 billion per year is required between now and 2015 to achieve basic education for all. When we take the $3 billion currently provided by donors, there still exists a huge financial gap of $26 billion. So the question here is how to fill this gap? The EFA report points out that prioritising government and donor resources to those most in need will help fill the gap.With a short time left before the 2015 deadline, closing the remaining financing gap of $26 billion might sound impossible.But according to the new calculations of the EFA GMR team, it can be possible with the active participation of donors from different corners.

How to fill financing gap?

“By prioritising existing government and donor resources for education, and basic education in particular, the gap can be filled. Such targeting is in line with the recommendation that governments should spend up to 20 per cent of their budget on education,” the report says. It adds that governments in low income countries could raise an additional $7.5 billion just

24

by spending 20 per cent of the national budget on education and allocating 50 per centof these resources towards basic education. But the case of poorest countries is different.

Poorest countries cannot fill the gap on their own. Even at its low levels, aid in poor countries accounts for as much as one-fifth of education budgets. “In nine sub-Saharan African countries, donors fund more than a quarter of public spending on education. This has already helped to get millions of children into school in countries such as Ethiopia, Mozambique and the United Republic of Tanzania,” the 2012 EFA Global Monitoring Report finds.

“Of the average of $5.8 billion in aid contributed to basic education between 2008 and 2011, for instance, less than half was allocated to poor countries. If donors were to increase the share of their aid that goes to education from 9 per cent to 20 per cent by 2015, and half of this funding were allocated to basic education (the same proportions expected of governments), this alone would raise $4 billion to help fill the funding gap,” the new EFA GMR 2013 paper says.

Aid should reach the poor Another most important thing is the world has to ensure that aid resources reach poor countries. According to EFA, currently around one-quarter of total direct aid to education never even leaves donor countries.This money is spent on scholarships and imputed costs for students in the developing countries to study in donor countries. Allocating three-quarters of these funds to basic education in the poorest countries would contribute $2.4 billion. Together with the $4 billion in financing that could be raised by targeting aid to basic education, this means that an additional $6.4 billion could be raised. The report analyses that the combined total of $14 billion raised by reallocating finance from governments and donors could go a long way to filling the financing gap, reducing it to $12 billion.

Hike domestic tax base Another solution the new report put forward is increasing EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

the domestic tax base. According to EFA GMR, it provides a sustainable solution to closing the financing gap. As the ultimate responsibility for providing basic education for all falls on national governments, they have to increase the funding for education.“While many governments in poor countries are already showing their commitment, they could raise more money by broadening their tax base–for example, by reducing the prevalence of tax avoidance. If governments in poor countries were to increase the share of gross domestic product that is available for government spending, and allocate 10 per cent to basic education, this would contribute an additional $7.3 billion, leaving a remaining financing gap of $5 billion,” the recently released ‘Making Education for All affordable by 2015 and beyond’ report suggests.

Donors’ commitments Plus there is an important suggestion; the donors must meet their commitment to allocate 0.7 per cent of gross national income to aid. The EFA GMR states, “Economic austerity is no excuse for donors to abandon their pledges to the world’s poorest children. European donors are committed to allocating 0.7 per cent of their gross national income (GNI) to aid, but most have not reached this target, and some are far off or even going backwards. If those making this commitment were to keep their promise, it would add $1.3 billion to the resources available for basic education.” “These reforms would collectively reduce the financing gap for basic education in the poorest countries from $26 billion to just $3 billion.

This gap could easily be filled if, for instance, the United States were to increase its aid commitment to 0.7 per cent of gross national income and target spending at basic education.

The gap could also be filled if philanthropic organisations gave as much to basic education as they have given annually to the health sector, on average, over 2005-2010. If these targets are too ambitious to achieve before the deadline of the existing goals, they should certainly be feasible after 2015,” the new report adds.

Increase private sector’s contributions According to a policy paper released by EFA GMR in January 2013, the private sector contributions to education are less than 0.1 per cent of profits of two of the world’s biggest oil companies. Current private contributions to education in the developing countries, totaling $683 million a year, are equivalent to only 5 per cent of all aid to education–and less than 0.1 per cent of the profits of the world’s two biggest oil companies, Exxon and Shell. The paper called for the active participation of private sector in achieving basic education for all. The private sector, which benefits from an educated, skilled workforce, should take a much bigger role in funding education worldwide.

The new policy paper shows how little education receives compared with other private sector contributions to development; 53 per cent of US foundations’ grants are allocated to health but only 8 per cent to education. Just five corporations – Banco Santander, Cisco, Intel, Coca Cola, and Exxon – make up the majority (60 per cent) of the private sector contributions to education. To give an idea of the small scale of those contributions, Coca Cola’s $24 million amounts to less than 0.3 per cent of its latest reported annual profits.

Exxon, the world’s biggest company, contributes 0.06 per cent.

Pauline Rose, director of the EFA Global Monitoring Report, says: “Education doesn’t have a high-profile supporter EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

The 2012 EFA Global Monitoring Report makes four recommendations to increase funds from the private sector: All private organisations should be transparent about the amount and purpose of their commitments. This would allow scrutiny to ensure that business interests do not override collective goals, while also giving information on the amount of resources available to fill the EFA financing gap.

To have a lasting impact on EFA, private organisations need to provide sufficient funding over several years to assure the sustainability of initiatives because education is a long-term endeavour.

Better evaluations need to be carried out on the impact of private sector interventions.

Private organisations should align their support with government priorities and countries’ needs. The Global Partnership for Education could play a larger role in pooling and disbursing funds to this end. like Bill Gates encouraging other private organisations to contribute. The private sector shouldn’t need to be told the importance of investing in education, but it does need someone to champion its cause and remind them that they are one of the first to benefit from an educated, skilled workforce.”

“For political and business leaders our message is simple: as populations grow, if funding continues to stagnate, the world will end up with more children out of school than today – exactly as we are already seeing in sub-Saharan Africa.

Companies must recognise what a good case for investment this is: If all students in low income countries left school with basic reading skills, poverty would fall by 12 per cent, and that’s good for business.” Two of the top five contributing foundations (Carnegie Corporation of New York and Ford Foundation) and the top corporation (Banco Santander) allocated 80 per cent of their grants towards scholarships and higher education even though most developing countries are struggling to achieve good quality primary education and 61 million children are still out of school.

Pledges by the private sector at the Global Partnership for Education replenishment meeting in 2011 and the launch of the Global Education First Initiative in 2012 show there is considerable untapped potential to finance post-2015 goals.The Global Business Coalition for Education already provides a platform for mobilising such resources.

“Ensuring all young people, regardless of their circumstances, have an equal chance to gain the skills needed to find stable, well-paid work by completing universal lower secondary education. Including equitable and good quality lower secondary education would add $13 billion per year until 2015 to the $29 billion annual additional resources needed–a total of $42 billion. Taking into account the amount donors are currently spending, the total financing gap would become $38 billion per year. This larger financing gap will be more difficult to fill by the 2015 deadline. There is, however, no reason why a lackof finance should hold back progress after 2015. Government and donor prioritisation of basic and lower secondary education alone would reduce the financing gap to $7.6 billion. But the more ambitious education goals post-2015 widens the financing gap to $38 billion,” the UNESCO EFA GMR paper states.

25

COVER STORY Back to basic

EFA GMR’s recommendations to Meet current promises to fill the financing gap by 2015 Finding $26 billion a year for equitable and good quality basic education by 2015 is clearly feasible: • Governments and donors must commit to ensuring 20 per cent of their resources are allocated to education, 50 per cent of which should be spent on primary schooling.

• Donors should reallocate the aid spent on scholarships and the imputed costs to ensure it reaches the developing countries.

• Governments must also identify ways of increasing their tax bases, and ensure a share of this is allocated to education.

• DAC donors committed to contributing 0.7 per cent of GNI to aid must fulfill this promise with a share allocated to education.

“The key lesson for goal-setting after 2015 is that we cannot take for granted that resources will be available to meet international commitments. Our key recommendation for those setting goals post-2015 is that they must include a new time-bound, measurable financing target to hold governments and donors and other funders to account for their promises of ensuring that no country is prevented from providing everyone with a good quality education due to a lack of resources,” Pauline Rose, Director of the Education for All Global Monitoring Report, says.

BRICS contributions Using the information available, the EFA Global Monitoring Report team estimates that the BRICS contribute just $163 million per year to basic education. If they

increased the share of their aid that goes to education to the recommended 20 per cent and devoted 50 per cent of that spending to basic education, the annual amount given by all BRICS would almost double.

26

Of the BRICS, China is by far the largest donor, giving around $2 billion in 2010 in aid or similar contributions. While this is a large amount, it was equivalent to just 0.03 per cent of its gross national income. Most of China’s spending in the developing countries is on infrastructure projects, which comprise around 60 per cent of its total development finance. The EFA Global Monitoring Report team estimates that approximately 12 per cent is spent on education based on the total number of projects reported by China in its 2011 Whitepaper. By increasing its aid as a percentage of gross national income to the recommended 0.7 per cent, and allocating 20 per cent of this to education (with 70 per cent to basic and lower secondary education), China could raise $8.6 billion to finance likely post-2015 education goals. “The global community must renew its promise that nocountry will be left behind in education due to lack of resources. Further delays will have grave human consequences, especially for the world’s most vulnerable children,” the EFA GMR report says.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

provide education for all in the world

2

Fill the financing gap for more ambitious goals after 2015

• If post-2015 education goals include equitable and good quality lower secondary education, the annual financing gap will increase to $38 billion. It is vital that new and innovative sources of financing are identified to fill this gap.

• Governments and donors should allocate 20 per cent of education resources to lower secondary education.

• The BRICS, the private sector and innovative financing approaches such as the International Financial Transaction Tax could fill the gap.

• Natural resource revenue should be better managed towards education.

A specific goal is needed to ensure lack of finance does not hold back progress towards education goals after 2015. Such a goal could be framed with these measures: By 2030, ensure that no country is prevented from achieving education goals due to the lack of resources.

• Maximise government revenue and ensure that government spending covers education needs, targeting the marginalised when necessary • Maximise aid and target it in countries and groups who need it most.

• Maximise resources from the private sector.

Funding provided by foundations in the developing countries More than $5 million: Ford Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, MasterCard Foundation, Open Society Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Between $1 and $5 million: Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, Kellogg Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Bernard van Leer Foundation.

Less than $1 million: Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation, Global Fund for Children, Global Fund for Women, International Community Foundation, Unbound Philanthropy, d.o.b. foundation, International Development Exchange, Voxtra, Roger Federer Foundation.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

3

Identifying a global goal on education financing to hold funders to account after 2015

“The global community must renew its promise that no country will be left behind in education due to the lack of resources.

Further delays will have grave consequences, especially for the world’s most vulnerable children,” the EFA GMR report says.

What is Education for All? The Education for All movement is a global commitment, launched at the World Conference on Education for All in 1990

by UNESCO, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, and the World Bank, to provide quality basic education for all children, youth and adults.

Participants endorsed an ‘expanded vision of learning’ and pledged to universalise primary education and massively reduce illiteracy by the end of the decade. The global community met again in Dakar, Senegal, in 2000, after many countries failed to achieve the goal they set in 1990. In 2000, the countries affirmed their commitment to achieving Education for All by the year 2015. They identified six key education goals to meet the learning needs of all children, youth and adults by 2015.As the lead agency, UNESCO has been mandated to coordinate the international efforts to reach Education for All. Governments, development agencies, civil societies, non-government organisations and the media are some of the partners working towards reaching these goals.

27

The EFA goals also contribute to the global pursuit of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), adopted by 189 countries and world’s leading development institutions in 2000. Two MDGs relate specifically to education but none of the eight MDGs can be achieved without sustained investment in education. Education gives the skills and knowledge to improve health, livelihood and promote sound environmental practices

Donors: Reallocate student imputed costs 3.1

COVER STORY Back to basic Donors: Meet 0.7% target 1.9

g ainin Remcing gap finan 7.6

(US $ Billion)

Gov e incr rnment tax bease a 9.9 se

ent tise Governmise ori it i r r io pr sic s: p and ary ba ion nor ic nd t Do bas secotion educa.8 r ca e 9 w u lo ed 6.1

Average annual resources needed to finance basic lower and secondary education (2012-15)

d ke for grante we cannot ta ts. Our key at th is 5 1 en 20 al commitm etting after n for goal-s ble to meet internation that they must include o ss le ey k e Th aila 5 is es will be av setting goals post-201 old governments and h that resourc se o to th et r rg fo ta n g ring that atio cin ises of ensu ality recommend und, measurable finan m ro p r ei th r o b fo good qu a new time- er funders to account yone with a er ev of the g th o in d id se, Director om prov o donors an fr R d e te n li en u v a re P is p f resources,” no country to the lack o nitoring Report, says e u d n o ti ca o M edu r All Global Education fo

Including more ambitious education goals post-2015 widens the financing gap to US$ 38 billion

US$ 77 billion

Financing gap US$ 38 bn

DAC Aid US$ 3 bn

Government expenditure US$ 36 bn

UNESCO’s Education for All

India gearing up to achieve the goal

by Dr T P Sethumadhavan

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T

he biggest challenge in the global education sector is to increase gross enrolment ratio (GER) at the school

level for providing education to all children.

Moreover, GER has to be increased at secondary school and college level since GER EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

Donors: Reallocate student imputed costs 2.4

Donors: Meet 0.7% target 1.3

g ainin Remancing fin gap 7.6

Gov e incr rnment tax bease a 7.3 se

ise riorit rs: p ment Dono basicion overnritise t a G c u ed 4.0 prio ic

bas ion t educa5 7.

DAC Aid US$ 3 bn

Government expenditure US$ 25 bn

US$ 53 billion

The US $26 billion financing gap for basic education could be filled by 2015

Financing gap US$ 26 bn

Average annual resources needed to finance basic education (2012-15)

Source: Calculations by the Global Monitoring Report team based on EPDC and UNESCO (2009) OECD-DAC (International Development Statistics: Creditor Reporting System); and World Economic Outlook

in the higher education sector is only 12 percent in Asian countries. UNESCO is implementing various projects to attain the envisaged objectives. Associated Schools Project Network (ASPnet), commonly referred to as UNESCO Associated Schools, is a global network of more than 9,000 educational institutions in EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

180 countries. The basic objective of UNESCO is to provide education for all children by 2015. In order to achieve this short term goal, $ 29 billion per year is needed in the coming years and UNESCO called for all countries and private players to increase their spending on education. Realising the fact, Government of India has given more allocation for the education sector in its budget. This will facilitate a quantum jump in the education sector in the country at the school and higher education levels.

Union Budget for the year 2013-14 has provided 29 percent additional allocation for plan spending compared to 2012-13. Budget allocation for the education sector has increased by 17 percent compared to the previous year to Rs 65,867 crore. The budget will focus more on sustainable development.

Allocation for primary and higher education has been increased. Medical education and research, agricultural research, science, technology, atomic energy and space science have been identified as the focus areas of education and research. Budget envisages education for all by the end of 12th five year plan.

Provision of scholarships for SC/ST students and girls has been included in the budget. Mid-day meal scheme, ICDS and clean drinking water scheme and medical facilities in schools have been given high priority in the budget.

In the areas of technology transfer, nutri farms and strengthening of agri markets are some of the new ventures announced in the new budget.

The budget has given more emphasis on innovation incubation and entrepreneurship. It will facilitate the educated youth to start selfemployment ventures or startup companies. Recognising the importance of incubators in mentoring new businesses, the budget proposed that funds provided to technology incubators located within academic institutions will qualify as CSR expenditure. Focus on SMEs and startups will help boost entrepreneurship in the country. They can enjoy the privilege of tax exemption. Taking into account the growing importance of skill development programmes, the government announced National Skill Development Corporation to train 10 lakh unemployed youths a year.

Since micro, small and medium enterprises have large share of jobs, production and exports, the benefits or preferences enjoyed by them will be retained with them for up to three years after they grew out of the category in which they obtained the benefit. Announcements related to industrial corridor, electronic policy and infrastructure facilities will create more employment in the engineering sector. Move to start women-based banks and expansion of insurance facilities, including provision for starting new LIC branches, will create more employment in the banking and finance sectors. The benefits allotted to the IT sector will create more employment in the IT sector in the country.

Removal of restriction of SEBI on venture capital funds as separate categorisation as class two, promotion of RIDF of NABARD and foreign institution investment will indirectly facilitate growth and career in the higher education sector in the country. Allocation of nearly Rs 90,000 crore for women will create more employment opportunities for the educated women in the country. Provision to start nearly 264 private FM radio channels will create more employment in the areas of broadcast communication. Energy is an emerging area which can generate more employment opportunities, importance given to waste to energy project, clean, green and economic energy and non-conventional energy will create more employment for students of environmental science, environmental engineering and ecological studies.

Tax exemption for entrepreneurs in establishing vocational learning centres on agriculture and cinematography will help boost education and career in the respective areas.

Dr T P Sethumadhavan is Academic Consultant and Officer on Special Duty Directorate of Entrepreneurship Kerala Veterinary & Animal Sciences University, Mannuthy, Thruissur, Kerala, India.

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THE INNOVATOR Guest Column Pavan Soni

The gardener is neither the one with an acute ‘scientific’ knowledge about the plants nor the one who consumes the output, but someone without whom nothing would grow

Parents as gardeners in

a child’s education

T

he role of parents can never be impressed upon sufficiently in shaping a child’s life and career alike. Most parents place enormous bets on their children. The successful parents want their kids to be super-successful, while those who couldn’t do much in their lives (as perceived by others) want their children to make up for their shortcomings. In any case, the child is under enormous pressure. To add to this, parents often gauge the lives of their children from a traditional vintage point, without much appreciating the ground realities.

The intent is not to blame parents, but to highlight an ongoing tussle between the two

generations. The last few decades have, for one, seen a wider realisation of the importance of education, and, secondly, given a greater access and options to children, but how has it affected the relationship between parents and children (students, to be more specific)? Let’s assess.

In olden days, children were supposed to carry forward their family business, as was the case with artisans, and education used to happen very much within the family.

The family value systems, routines and rituals, social construct in the community, and conversations were all attuned to pass on the knowledge through the generations.

This was appropriate when there were not many business or job opportunities outside of the family and the world was still largely unconnected.

Fast forward to today, when there are more and growing opportunities for business and employment alike, not just outside the family or city but also outside the country.

This shift significantly diminished the knowledge and guidance that parents could offer to their aspiring children. The role, hence, gets limited to financial aid and moral support.

How should parents react to such situations? I deem that the role of the parents in modern times is that of a gardener. The gardener is neither the one with an acute ‘scientific’ knowledge about the plants nor the one who consumes the output, but someone without whom nothing would grow.

Five roles Being the gardeners, the parents have five basic roles to play: Being patient and farsighted: When a gardener sows a seed for a new plant, does he dig it up every day to check the progress?

Of course, not. This would destroy the seed. Then, how does he know if the seed is actually growing? He has to have faith.

The same applies to parents. The harm that a knee-jerk reaction could have on a child’s upbringing could be more than any course correction that such a behaviour could achieve. When both the child and the parents are traversing an uncharted path where little internal or external guidance is available, being patient and taking a longer view of life helps. There is no reason to believe that only those who make it to best of the educational institutions are successful and that every single one who makes it to such EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

places is successful. Success is an outcome of certainly more factors than where you study. If parents don’t think of long term, and the child would be motivated to adopt shortcuts too early in life, that is good for no one. This brings in the importance of family environment.

Fostering a culture of learning in the family: Education might be a temporary phenomenon, but learning is a lifelong journey. Because the child spends so much more time with the family and learns so many things subconsciously, honing a culture of learning in the family is often more important than sending the child to a very good school. What I mean by a culture of learning is an environment where parents demonstrate the discipline and support for active learning for their own, and hence influence the child. Today, with 300+ TV channels beamed to our living rooms, creating a learning culture becomes utmost important. A father who smokes has no moral right to expect that his child shouldn’t; parents who engage in reckless television watching can’t offer any moral guidance to their children on how to plan their time.

Picking up new hobbies, having a small library at home, having some intelligent conversation on the dining table, and watching channels like National Geographic and Discovery are signs of building a learning culture.

Never drawing comparisons: A sensible gardener knows well that every plant has a rate of growth, a different requirement in terms of water and nutrients, and the expectations one should have from it.

Similarly, the parents should resist, at all costs, comparing their children with other children. Even a comparison among siblings is dangerous. Often, such comparisons are drawn on single dimensions, assuming that everything else is the same. However, let us understand that humans aren’t singledimensional in character or infinitely mouldable. If a child were not as good on certain aspect as compared to the neighbour’s child, he/she would certainly be better on some other dimension. By comparison, parents may cause a double harm. Firstly, they would weaken the child’s morale, and, secondly, they would not allow child to hone what he/she is good at. Instead of shaping a child into what is ‘socially desirable’ or the ‘dominant logic’ at that

A sensible gardener knows well that every plant has a rate of growth, a different requirement in terms of water and nutrients, and the expectations one should have from it. Similarly, the parents should resist, at all costs, comparing their children with other children

31

THE INNOVATOR Pavan Soni

point in time, it is the role of the parents to allow the child to discover what he/she is good at, and like a gardener provide all necessary support. Remember, if parents can’t support a child, who else should be expected to? Anyway, the world is there to draw comparisons, but at least parents should not.

Striking meaningful conversation: Often parents find it difficult to talk to their children, with the result that the divide between the two looms larger.

As the child grows, the role of parents has to shift from being caretakers to silent guardians. Imposing one’s value judgement won’t be appropriate at all times; for, what was suitable then may be entirely out of place today.

The meaning of socialising, hanging out, shopping, career, importance of

money, relationships, entertainment, are all changing so fast that often children become parents and parents become students. To avoid alienation with their kids, parents must strive to engage with them in meaningful conversation.

Such conversation must be built on the fabric of mutual respect and learning from one another. Parents should let go their ‘expertise’ and ‘experience’ when talking to their children, and should take keen interest in understanding their style of life. This might also mean change in certain lifestyles and value systems on the part of the parents. After all, if parents can’t change, how can they expect their children to, when the latter has all the more reasons not to!

Empower the child: When the difference between what’s right and what’s wrong starts to blur, it is often better that the child be allowed to lead the path. The parents may be equally mistaken while choosing a course of action, as would the child be, but finally it’s the child who has to bear the consequences.

So, why not let the child make choices about life and career?

The reason why

the USA has led the world for most of the last century in science, technology and economic development is the independent thinking that children there develop at an early age. However, it is the same country with so many social problems, ranging from incidences of shootouts, sexual abuses, and drugs!

India has to strike the balance. While parents have to empower their children to allow independent thinking and taking responsibility of their lives, they must, at the same time, be careful of strengthening the moral fabric, and that’s only possible through setting examples.

Such a shift in the attitude of the parents requires a delicate balance of control and letting go, and realisation of the fact that parenting isn’t about protection only, but is also about being a role model.

These views and suggestions were based on several interactions I had with the parents and children on various occasions. As I reflect on my childhood, there were elements of these practices present in my family, and I know how crucial the role of my gardeners has been for all these years.

To conclude, here are the famous lines from Bob Dylan: Come mothers and fathers throughout the land And don’t criticise what you can’t understand Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command Your old road is rapidly agin’ Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand For, the times they are a-changin’.

About the author

Pavan Soni is an Innovation Evangelist by profession and a teacher by passion. He is currently pursuing his doctoral studies at IIM Bangalore and specialises in the areas of strategic management, innovation, and creativity. He works closely with the Karnataka Knowledge Commission and the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce, and offers consultation to leading organisations, helping them promote a culture of innovation. Catch him at www.pavansoni.net, or contact him at innovation.evangelist@gmail.com

32

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

MILLION DOLLAR BABY GUEST COLUMN Sramana Mitra

Another trend in online education is e-textbooks.

E-textbooks like the iBooks offered in Apple’s Online Education centre make it easier and more affordable for educators to provide students with relevant, up-to-date resources. Students can carry tablets instead of mountains of heavy textbooks

Trends Within

EduTech O nline education is now available for everyone. Parents can home school their children from the moment they start kindergarten until they graduate from high school. Online colleges and universities continue to gain legitimacy as more and more people pursue bachelor’s and master’s degrees via the Internet. Schools such as the University of Phoenix no longer stand alone as the only credible online institutions of higher learning.

Another trend in online education is e-textbooks. E-textbooks like the

34

iBooks offered in Apple’s Online Education centre make it easier and more affordable for educators to provide students with relevant, up-to-date resources. Students can carry tablets instead of mountains of heavy textbooks.

Teachers no longer have to wait for new editions to come out. E-textbooks can be updated in minutes whereas their printed counterparts can take months. But those aren’t the only trends and developments going on in the EduTech world.

Consider companies like Khan Academy. Founded by Salman Khan, EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

Hifikids.com is a company that seeks to educate children of all ages through Web interaction across the globe. Tushar Sayankar founded HiFiKids in 2010 as a way to create a common platform for teachers, students and parents to create quality educational material in terms of quizzes and video tutorials a fellow MIT alumni and a former Hedge Fund guy, Khan Academy is a non-profit organisation that uses free YouTube videos to help people learn new subjects, languages and more. The site has an impressive video library that students can use for learning, refreshing their memories or studying for exams. In fact, today, teachers all over the world are using Khan’s videos to teach students, and entire school districts are experimenting with changing the method of education from ‘sage on stage’ to ‘guide on the side’ whereby teachers guide students to learn from Khan’s content, rather than from their own lectures.

Hifikids.com is a company that seeks to educate children of all ages through Web interaction across the globe. Tushar Sayankar founded HiFiKids in 2010 as a way to create a common platform for teachers, students and parents to create quality educational material in terms of quizzes and video tutorials. Although it follows a similar model to the one that Khan Academy uses, where HiFiKids differs

most is that the students can create their own tutorials to not only teach others but also reinforce their own knowledge of particular subjects.

Sayankar’s basic philosophy is that kids learn better when they have to also teach and explain what they have learnt. As such, he shares Kusmik’s vision of ‘kids as creators’ and not just ‘kids as consumers’.

Another example of advancements in education technology comes from Insane Logic. Zoe Peden and her co-founder Andrew Jackman founded Insane Logic in 2010 after Peden had spent three years working for a UK-based communications charity that owned a proven language program consisting of sign language and symbols that aided language acquisition and development to build effective communication skills in children with learning disabilities.

Peden wanted to create something that would satisfy the public’s growing demand for a mobile version of these solutions. She started building a prototype of the language program

on the iPad and Insane Logic was the result. Currently, the company has 1,100 paying customers spending and 5,000 customers on the free version of the app.

Today, Peden and Jackman have extended the brand to include a more mainstream audience with the release of a series of three game apps. These are all around building effective language development by using sign language, symbols and pictures. They are aimed at the parental market, specifically for parents with children under five years old, in addition to the special needs market that Insane Logic has with MyChoicePad. The first game, MyChoicePad Memory, should be out in the UK Appstore in September 2012.

Of course, iPad apps and educational games have taken the EduTech market by storm. The application of social learning a la HiFiKids is also a significant trend.

Finally, EduTech startups in the learning disability space seems to also be an area seeing lots of innovation.

Sramana Mitra is the founder of One Million by One Million (1M/1M), a global virtual incubator that aims to help one million entrepreneurs globally to reach $1 million in revenue and beyond. She is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and strategy consultant. She writes the blog Sramana Mitra On Strategy, and is author of the Entrepreneur Journeys book series and Vision India 2020. From 2008 to 2010, Mitra was a columnist for Forbes. As an entrepreneur CEO, she ran three companies: DAIS, Intarka, and Uuma. Sramana has a master’s degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

35

STARTUP FESTIVAL

Startup boom in

IT capital A

four-day entrepreneurship conclave, Startup Festival, first of its kind in India, sponsored by The Indus Entrepreneurs (TIE), was held in the IT capital Bengaluru from March 7 to 10. With different venues and speakers as well as interactive sessions, the conclave made Startup Festival a real festival of entrepreneurship.

It was the idea of Vlad Debovsky, the founder of Startup Festival and a Russian entrepreneur, to provide the budding entrepreneurs of India full support to come in the mainstream. “Bengaluru will soon rise as the startup capital of India because the city has all facilities to groom the budding entrepreneurs. Majority of the startups will be relating to IT which should be warmly welcomed. Through this startup festival, I am also trying to provide a boost to some cool startups of India. Compared to other countries,

36

Startup Festival held in Bengaluru provides a boost to the budding entrepreneurs of the country

by Lakshmi Narayanan, Shalet James

India has a perfect entrepreneurial culture,�

Vlad Debovsky said to Education Insider.

His idea of encouraging the newcomers through motivational speeches of successful Indian entrepreneurs could find success from the very first day. Indiranagar was the venue of the first day startup.

Startup Festival that has established Bengaluru as the startup capital drew huge crowds. Around 400 aspirants visited the venue to find out the latest happening destinations in their neighbourhood.

The sessions like Reload, Crawl, Launchpad etc provided venues for new startups and interaction with the established entrepreneurs.

Shashank N D, founder and CEO, Practo, Rajnish K Menon, Director- Business Development App Ecosystem , DPE, Microsoft, Joydeep Sen Sharma, co-founder, Qubole, and Pravin Agarwala, Vice President and Head of EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

“Through this startup festival, I am also trying to provide a boost to some cool startups of India. Compared to other countries, India has a perfect entrepreneurial culture,�

Vlad Debovsky

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

Business, By Design Development, SAP Labs India private limited were the main speakers of the first day.

Rohith Bhat, Managing Director & CEO, Robosoft, Karam Lakshman, co-founder, Sibling App, Max Raphael, Woome, and Anshoo Sharma, Principal, Lightspeed Ventures, were also active with startup tips for the newcomers.

Jain College of Jayanagar was the venue of Startup Festival on the second day. Vlad Debovsky, Sudeendra Kaushik, Practice Director, HCL & IEEE CE Bangalore Chapter Chair, Dr Anand Anandakumar, Chairman & MD, Cellworks Research India Ltd. Manjiri Barke, founder & CEO, OncoStem, Sridhar Ramanathan, Executive Director-Operations, Reametrix, Shashikiran, co-founder, Startup Festival and Associate Director, TIE, Meena Ganesh, CEO and MD, Pearson Education Services, Madan Padaki, co-founder & Director, MeritTrac and Aromi Revi, Director, Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS), shared their entrepreneurship experience in India. Entrepreneurial interactions and workshops were also held.

Koramagla was the venue of the festival on the third day.

Thousands of budding entrepreneurs participated in the event to air their views of a successful venture.

Entrepreneurs like Varun Agarwal, co-founder, Alma Matter, Akash Raman, co-founder, Oodio, Shreyas Shrinivasan, Managing Partner, Only Much Louder and co-founder - NH7, Prof Nandini Vaidyanathan, Founder, Carma Connect, Dr Murali Nagasundaram, Swapnil Chaturwedi, CTC, Samagra, Amit Pande, Director User Experience, HP, Sridhar Ranganathan and Adithya Dev Sood, founder & CEO, Centre from Knowledge Societies, delivered speeches on their successful startups.

The event also witnessed the launch of many startups in India.

The festival also promoted the ecosystem by taking a pledge that provide every resource to support the entrepreneurs in Bengaluru and bring the ecosystem under a unified brandBangalore Rises. The mega event has brought together 5,000 people and 100 partners under one brand to celebrate Bangalore Rises. Startup Festival aims to make Bengaluru one of the first 10 entrepreneurial destinations in the world.

The new startups launched at the festival are: Orbit Note, Rock Your Paper, Blunkit, Plackal, Scrapehere, Amidray, AnyTimeConnect, Zoojoo BE, Kukucrate, Mobitatva, TyDy, mYwindow, 10 Wickets, RidingO, Trip Thristy, DeliverWithMe, Kahani First and Tommy Jams.

37

INSIDER VIEW Guest Column Dr B Ashok, IAS

Writing Well:

Getting It

Right Clear, precise and direct written expression in English is almost synonymous with success in the IAS Examination. Many Civil servants have made a name for themselves as prolific writers. Some names that come to mind are B K Nehru (of ICS), J N Dixit and Mani Shankar Aiyar (both of IFS) and Upananyu Chatterjee (of IAS). Some like Chatterjee and Vikas Swarup of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ fame have made it big in the world of letters. Many IAS aspirants are not aware that Sita Kant Mahapatra, the Gyanpeeth winning litterateur was an IAS Officer

38

M

any aspirants may be interested to know that Lord Macaulay who was instrumental in shaping the Indian administrative and modern education systems was a child prodigy who mastered even Milton’s classics at the age of eight. He could recite ‘Paradise Lost’ backwards when he was just ten. His draft of the ‘Indian Evidence Act’ is a classic example of great legal drafting. In today’s criminal jurisprudence of complex technological crimes, so different from the days it was written, Judges find no ambiguity in the general scheme of appreciating evidence it lays down. It is said that Macaulay drafted the entire Act in one sitting in one night.

So how does one learn to ‘write’ and is it learnable at all?

First of all, no writer is born.

Almost all are made. We must understand that good writing is the expression of a clear mind.

Without clarity in thought as to what has to be said, no writer can express him/herself best. So the best way to write better is to think better and longer. Remember, good writing is as simple as it can be. A very wide vocabulary helps but one must use words with economy. In today’s world of micro-blogging where earth shattering ideas are put forth economically by micro-bloggers, not an extra word should be used.

Cut expression to bare minimum.

Always develop a habit of sticking to the word limit. For example when I draft this column, my Editor insists that I am allowed 1200 plus 50 words only, within which I have to say what I want.

Thinking your writing through is the right way to control the world limit. Some principles of commercial advertising EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

Please do not take good writing as something writers are born with.

Writing is talent, yes, but it can be learnt to a good extent. Of course deep and wide reading habit is key, but a practiced hand is also vital are applicable in structuring good presentation. The key question the writer/presenter must ask self is that “What is the key message in my written piece?” This can be called the central idea the writer/creator wants to convey.

For instance the central idea I am attempting to convey in this piece is “to develop a perspective on practical writing skills” After I am clear about the central thrust or objective, I need a plan to introduce the story. This is generally an “appetizer” or introduction bit describing how my central message is important to the reader. This, I have attempted by introducing the potential advantage of being a good writer. Here, one has to use somewhat lucid language and familiarizing sequences. Description of a popular icon, figure, actor or recent event can excite reader’s interest. An eye catching and thought provoking quote can come in handy.

The introduction is like the flight announcement in an airplane. It is meant to prepare the reader for a potentially boring and possibly turbulent flux of ideas and effort required to capture them. The Central idea may also be accompanied by secondary points which may have a rank order of importance.

For example, in this piece I am going to deal with practicing skills, brain storming tools, editing skills and publishing skills.

The ideal way to move towards clear, pointed and deliberate writing EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

is to chart out the Central theme and the contributing areas in the form of a schematic in a chart size paper. Use sketch pens and write down the central theme precisely. Remember the central theme is also the objective of your writing and also gives the title of your essay/article. The sub themes either contribute or explain the minor ideas that flow from the central analysis. The sub areas can also appear under sub headings in the essay if you are using a 2000-2500 word format. It is ideal if you split central theme to 60% of the length, meaning about 1400 words and present the sub areas in 200-250 word formats. Remember, continuity and logical sequencing must be intact if you are describing sequential events.

Concluding is also an art of its own where a reference to the ‘impact’ and use of the central idea, future projections, matters that need further exploration which could not be considered at depth in this piece etc. could be referred to.

Quotations are better avoided at the end of essays since here the writer must talk directly to the reader.

Once the blue print is ready, sit down to write. While you are preparing to train yourself do not write for 3 days.

Look at the chart and keep changing.

The chart might completely change over the 3 days you look at it. If you think for 15 minutes daily, on your brain storming chart your final product will be much more structured and imaginative than a directly written piece. To write

effectively is to train oneself to think effectively. As time goes by, this will become a mind game which is done without the physical paper or chart.

Editing is not just curing mistakes; it is bettering overall appeal and expressions every time. It is completely necessary to re-read your answer and correct potential mistakes. You have a ‘no so good’ hand writing, it is important to read and ensure that writing is readable for the examiner. If in doubt, score off and re-write, poor handwriting can reduce score on same matter by 20-25% determining failure and success in the exam. It is good to publish what you write. These days you can blog your written stuff and get your friends/ teachers to comment online. Magazines like CSR also offer opportunities like Essay contest etc. Take advantage of them. If you practice regularly, important papers like Times of India, Hindu, and Economic Times etc. many like to publish you in their open-edit pages or letters. Do send your creative public interest pieces to them. Your name in print will add confidence.

So, to conclude, please do not take good writing as something writers are born with. Writing is talent, yes, but it can be learnt to a good extent. Of course, deep and wide reading habit is key, but a practiced hand is also vital.

Amateurishness in expression comes through easily. Examiners will detect it and decide to test you again, next year. I am sure you want to avoid it.

39

MOTIVATION Vijayalakshmi

Song of brightness from

world of darkness Celluloid, the recently released Malayalam blockbuster movie, assumes great significance in the history of Malayalam cinema. The movie was ace filmmaker Kamal’s tribute to J C Daniel, the father of Malayalam Cinema and Vigathakumaran, the first Malayalam film.

The much acclaimed and discussed film has thrown light to many buried truths about Malayalam cinema history and also bagged seven 2013 state film awards.

What Celluloid has to do with an education magazine?

Yes, behind the movie, there is an inspirational, motivational story for differently abled students and their parents. Celluloid marked the playback debut of Vijayalakshmi, a visually challenged young girl who triumphed against many odds. Vijayalakshmi, now pursuing postgraduation in Music, is an outstanding playback singer and an expert in a rare musical instrument Gayathri veena. She also won special jury mention for her much appreciated work in Celluloid.

Giving more colours to her dreams, she inspires many to fight against the shortcomings in their life…

by Lakshmi Narayanan

40

T

he story of this visually challenged nightingale began on a Vijayadashmi day 32 years ago in Vaikkom of Kottayam district, Kerala. Born to V Muraleedaran and Vimala, the child had blessed with beautiful voice but without vision. All the treatment went vain, but the parents were not ready to give up. They did not curse destiny, and decided to bring her up as best as they could. The parents noticed that Vijayalakshmi had a deep passion for music, and they encouraged it without any second thought.

At the age of 2, Vijayalakshmi could sing songs without any mistake in lyrics and ragas.

The parents believed that music would be the turning point in her life.

Vijayalakshmi started learning classical music at the age of 3 and made her concert debut at 7. As she wished, the parents sent VIjayalakshmi to school and she passed 10th standard with good marks.

Along with learning music, she did her graduation in History from St Teresa’s College, Ernakulam. She has been passionately practicing music for the last 29 years. Vijayalakshmi has performed over 8,000 concerts so far.

Experimenting with veena Vijayalakshmi showed

interest in learning veena, too. Since it was difficult for a blind person to play a big musical instrument with seven strings, her father designed a single-string, electric veena for his daughter. This instrument could create the same music as the seven-string tra-

Vijayalakshmi has been passionately practicing music for the last 29 years. She has performed over 8,000 concerts so far ditional veena.Vijayalakshmi has no teachers in veena; she learned it on her own.

Into cinema “I didn’t think that I will get a chance to sing in a film.

When M Jayachandran, music director of Celluloid, called me with such an offer, I was surprised. I did my best for the song Kaatte kaatte pookkamarathil. I was fortunate that my singing was widely appreciated. Now I am confident that I can do better,” she tells Education Insider. Vijayalakshmi also runs a music class for children, Saraswathy Vidhyalaya, at Vaikom.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY, KALADY

(An ISO 9001:2008 Certified Institution, Approved by AICTE, Affiliated to M.G. University)

KALADY,KERALA-683574 Ph:0484-2463825 E-mail:adishankara.net@gmail.com Website:www.adishankara.net

B.Tech

ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS

ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION COMPUTER SCIENCE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY APPLIED ELECTRONICS AND INSTRUMENTATION MECHANICAL ENGINEERING CIVIL ENGINEERING(Approval Awaiting)

VLSI & EMBEDDED SYSTEM COMPUTER SCIENCE M.Tech POWER ELECTRONICS & POWER SYSTEMS COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING(Approval Awaiting) With specialisation in HR,Finance and Marketing MBA

(Add on certificate course-Logistic &Supply chain management)

B.Tech, M.Tech, MBA .

Results

Best results in the university % pass never falls below 88% 8 batches passed out Produced 16 university ranks.

1714 placements in top IT and non IT Companies PLACEMENT TRACK RECORD ASIET HAS CROSSED 1560 PLACEMENT OFFERS 2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Software 170 Industry 20

175

180

190

160

198

235

137

13

20

30

20

41

47

12

10

10

30

17

30

200

210

230

210

256

312

BPO Total

190

PLACEMENT DRIVE FOR 2013 BATCH CONTINUES Dr.B S Krishnan Managing Trustee

Dr.S G Iyer Principal

Social Service Initiatives by Students 1.Electrification of 50 houses in vengoor Panchayath by the students.

2.Setting up of Computer Lab & Computer Course to the inmates of Janaseva SisuBhavan,Aluva.

3.Mega Medical checkup for about 1000 poor people in association with Amritha Institute of Medical Sciences,Edappally.About 20 doctors and 4 departments participated.

4.Our students visited about 1000 houses in and around Kalady & Angamaly to spread the awareness of saving Electricity.

INDUSTRY INTERACTION & ACADEMICS Training programs by experts from relevant industries-Incubation Centre- Campus Connect with Infosys-concurrent industrial visit by students and Faculty- collaboration with Department of Science and Technology-Webinar interactions with prominent experts from International Universities-Mission-10X with Wipro .

Campus Commune with TCS Companies who visited ASIET 2011-2012 TCS,CTS,HCL Technologies,Accenture, UST Global,Reliance Communications, PCIL,L&T Infotech,Sutherland Global Services,Godrej Infotech,IGate Patni,Sri Ram Group of Companies,Videocon,Blue Star IBS,Orion India,Federal BankMPhasis, South Indian Bank,ICICI Bank,HDFC Life etc

AGAINST ALL ODDS

Beating bad luck, Shyam Prasad

makes

it big

by Biyanka Merlyn John

O

n March 23, 1981, the birth of Shyam Prasad brought happiness to the whole family of K Usha and A P Prabakaran, who were serving as teachers. When they realised that their child was affected by cerebral palsy, they did not let themselves be disappointed, but sought the help of medical science instead of cursing their misfortune. Later, Shyam Prasad did achieve many laurels in his career. This is the story of 31-year-old Dr Shyam Prasad, affectionately called Appu, who defied his disabilities.

Hailing from Edakkanam near Iritty in the Kannur district, Shyam Prasad was born as a differently abled child who was unable to speak or even stand.

His parents never tried to abandon him as he was affected by spastic autism.

Instead, they provided their eldest son physiotherapy, which led him to walk and talk.

Shyam has had his schooling in various schools like Edakkanam L P School, Navodaya School, Mahe, and Navodaya School, Kottayam. His parents knew that Shyam was highly intelligent despite his disabilities, and they wanted others to consider him as a normal student. Shyam did his graduation and Masters degree in Economics at Nirmalagiri College in

42

Kannur district.

When questions were raised about the academic performance of Shyam, his parents assured that their son could excel in his studies. Providing adequate guidance to Shyam, Accamma Vincent, former HoD of Economics Department, Nirmalagiri College, and T A John, current HoD of the department, and other teachers inspired and supported him greatly in his academic endeavours.

They insisted on having a scribe for Shyam to write his examinations.

Shyam was also enthusiastic in extra-curricular activities. When the MA results were out, he had secured a rank with record marks in the history of Nirmalagiri College.

Shyam Prasad then moved on to pursue his M Phil and Ph D from Centre for Development Studies (CDS), Thiruvananthapuram. He has published papers abroad. He did well in Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, and served as Research Officer in IRMA, Gujarat, and as post-doctoral fellow in Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), Mumbai.

He currently serves as Assistant Professor at Central University, Kasargod, which comes under School of Global Studies.

Dr Shyam Prasad believes that a teacher-student relation should be sacred, which would lead to a positive impact on individuals and society as a whole. There should be a give-andtake relation between a teacher and a student.

Shyam Prasad says: “When I was studying in CDS, all the students, including me, were free to approach the teachers whenever we wanted to. This fostered the bond between the teachers and students�

He does not believe in conducting examinations. Instead of examinations, he would recommend seminars, projects and such activities that would lead to nurturing the talents of the students.

According to him, the rise in the number of colleges in India might lead to the deterioration of quality education and of education system itself. He thinks that the state should take the responsibility of ensuring quality in education.

Though Shyam is differently abled, his contributions are similar to that of a normal person. He loves reading and watching sports during his leisure time. His younger brother Sandeep and younger sister Sandhya, both engineers, support and encourage him.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

CARITAS VERA NOBILITAS

Foreign Campus The University of Twente

Accent on multi-disciplinary approach,

entrepreneurship The University of Twente, located in Enschede, the Netherlands, is an entrepreneurial research university.

Twente promotes entrepreneurship, which has resulted in the highest spin-off ratio in the Netherlands– 130 student companies, 5000 jobs and 70% of the companies are still in existence after five years

by Biyanka Merlyn John

T

he University of Twente, located in Enschede, the Netherlands, is an entrepreneurial research university with special focus on the development of technology and its impact on people and society. It helps the students develop and nurture their entrepreneurial spirit, think internationally and look beyond the boundaries of their field and establish links with other disciplines.

As the multi-disciplinary approach of the university encourages scientific and social innovation and reflects the entrepreneurial spirit among students, the

university is committed to stimulating economic and social developments to the Netherlands.

Education at the University of Twente focuses on three characteristics such as design, research and organisation.

Marlies Overbeek, Advisor, International Marketing and International Relations, University of Twente, says: “the University of Twente is known as a truly entrepreneurial university for over 30 years. In essence, entrepreneurship is all about value creation for society.

The university delivers engaged scholarship: all disciplines provide excellent research and education on relevant societal

45

Foreign Campus The University of Twente

issues such as sustainability, health, safety, and mobility. Since 1999, students have had the opportunity to develop their skills in innovation and entrepreneurship.”

Wide range of programmes The University of Twente offers 23 Bachelor’s degree (BSc) and 31 Master’s degree programmes(MSc) in the field of technology and behavioural and social sciences. It provides educational qualifications, including Bachelor’s degrees, Master’s degrees, PhD, and post-academic programmes.

ATLAS University College, Advanced Technology, Creative Technology, Electrical Engineering, European Public Administration, and International Business Administration are included in the English-taught Bachelor’s programmes at the University of

Twente.

Concluding with an MSc degree in the Master’s programmes, within the Behavioural and Management Studies programmes fully taught in English are Business Administration and Communication Studies. In the technical field, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering and Management, Biomedical Engineering, and Industrial Design Engineering are some of the larger programmes.

According to Marlies Overbeek, “the university also offers some Master’s programmes which are truly on the interface of technology and society, high-tech with a human touch, for instance, Nanotechnology, Philosophy of Science, Technology and Society, Business Information Technology, and Educational Science and Technology.”

The University of Twente is known as a truly entrepreneurial university for over 30 years. In essence, entrepreneurship is all about value creation for society Marlies Overbeek, Advisor, International Marketing and International Relations, University of Twente

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Research-oriented Being one of the research universities of the Netherlands, at every level of study – including Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD – students actively participate in research in the University of Twente. As the Master’s specialisation is being closely linked to a research chair of the university, it focuses on certain key research areas, which include Nanotechnology, Health, ICT, Sustainable Energy, Safety, Learning and Governance.

School-leaving certificate in Dutch, German or English; IELTS, TOEFL or Cambridge certificate; and NT2-II or CNaVT certificate or grade list should be submitted by those who aspire for a general admission to the Bachelor’s degree. Foreign students outside the European Union will need a visa to live and study in the Netherlands.

Those students who wish to pursue their Master’s degree programmes will have to obtain a relevant Bachelor’s degree from a university or other accredited academic institution, along with sufficient command of English and GPA. With the score of 6.5 in academic IELTS and 90 in internet-based TOEFL, the students will be admitted based on their transcripts and detailed curriculum information, relevant research and expected graduation date.

Tie-ups with other varsities Marlies Overbeek says: “The connections between the University of Twente and the academic world are wide-ranging and multi-faceted.

In Asia, we have strong ties with universities in China (Southeast University and Chang’an University), Indonesia (InstitutTeknologi Bandung and GadjahMada University) and India (Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, and Indian Institute of Remote Sensing). These co-operations typically include student and staff exchanges, joint PhD projects and education, curriculum development, and strategic partnerships.”

With the establishment of

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

Foreign Campus The University of Twente

There are 5,500 Bachelor’s degree students and 2,500 Master’s degree students at the University of Twente Venture Lab Twente, the University of Twenteen courages and supports the entrepreneurial development of start-up companies and functions as a growth accelerator for established companies. The one-year business development programme gives young start-ups a push in the right direction and enables them to grow.

“VentureLab,” according to Marlies Overbeek, “helps established companies grow further and faster. At the start of 2012, over 200 ambitious entrepreneurs and business developers were taking part in the programme.

VentureLab offers intensive coaching, practical and high-quality training, specialist expertise and access to finances, the world of research, potential customers and cooperation partners. Start-ups also gain access to flexible office space equipped with the facilities they need.”

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The university promotes entrepreneurship, which has resulted in the highest spin-off ratio in the Netherlands – 130 student companies, 5000 jobs and 70% of the companies are still in existence after 5 years.It is also a partner in the European Consortium of Innovative Universities (ECIU). The relatively small size of the University of Twente enables direct contact between students and members of the staff, and also implies that the annual intake per programme rarely exceeds 100 students (of national and foreign origin together).

The University of Twente collaborates with Delft University of Technology and Eindhoven University of Technologyunder the 3TUFederation.With the aim of operating effectively at both national and international levels, the university focuses on promoting outstanding educational standards and worldclass research in specific areas under the 3TU framework.

There are 5,500 Bachelor’s degree students and 2,500 Master’s degree students at the University of Twente. In the 2011 QS World University Rankings, the University of Twente ranked 226th in the world. The university secured 116th rank in Engineering and IT, 229th rank in Natural Sciences, and 303rd rank in Social Sciences in its subject rankings.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

Campus Focus

Teri University TERI University

TERI University takes pride in

research,

innovation, sustainability

TERI University–with its tagline of ‘Knowledge for Sustainable Development’–is increasingly being recognised as a sustainability university

I

t is an institution of higher learning with a strong foundation of research and innovation. The multi-disciplinary nature of the university’s programmes draws talented and bright young students who contribute to the vibrant atmosphere existing in the university.

Dr Leena Srivastava, Vice-Chancellor, TERI University, says: “We take care to ensure that the programmes we offer are responsive to societal needs in the foreseeable future and put in continuous efforts in fine-tuning our programmes for the purpose.” In addition, the university runs short-term executive development programmes and regular Master’s degree programmes for mid-career government officials.

These programmes are carried out mainly for the civil servants of the Government of India.

Programmes TERI University offers MSc degree programmes in Environmental Studies and Resource Management; Environmental and Resource

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EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

Economics; Geoinformatics; Climate Science and Policy; and Plant Biotechnology. It has MBA programmes in Infrastructure and Business Sustainability; and an M Tech programme in Renewable Energy Engineering and Management. MA degree is offered in Public Policy and Sustainable Development.

The university recently launched an MA in Sustainable Development Practice. TERI University is one of the 22 institutions chosen worldwide by the MacArthur Foundation, to run this programme. The latest MTech on Urban Development and Management will create capacities for sustainable urbanisation in an integrated manner.

The university emphasises research across all its programmes.

Apart from the presence of about 100 PhD students doing research in the university, faculty members too are actively involved in research projects. For example, the faculty members are involved in studying the water resource situation in the neighbouring state of Haryana, and are coming up with strategies to promote sustainable groundwater development. Others are involved in improving the quality of plant biomaterials and in optimising the production of hydrogen and methane from waste biomass.

The university has research projects that aim at developing EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

business models for the promotion of off-grid electricity supply. All these endeavours indicate the widespread, unique and practical focus of the research being done at the university.

Tie-ups About international tie-ups, Dr Leena says: “We have been steadily getting students from Africa as well as from the Asian countries of Nepal, Bhutan and Afghanistan. At present, we have 25 foreign students – they are from Afghanistan, Nepal, Zimbabwe, Mexico, Ethiopia, Bhutan, Russia, Nigeria and Rwanda.”

The university has also established excellent partnerships and collaborative arrangements with a number of institutions overseas, such as Yale University in the US, Frei University in Germany, and Deakin University in Australia.

A unique strength of TERI University is its status as a research institute of distinction, which offers chances for the faculty of the university to work on a diverse range of meaningful research projects.

According to Dr Leena, the university has collaborative research projects with a number of universities and is involved in international networks such as ProSPER.Net and GUPES (Global Universities Partnership on Environment for Sustainability).

The network for the Promotion of Sustainability in Post-graduate Education and Research (ProSPER.Net) is a network of several leading higher-education institutions in Asia and the Pacific that are committed to working together to integrate sustainable development (SD) into post-graduate courses and curricula.

GUPES is a network that aims at promoting integration of environment and sustainability concerns into teaching, research, community engagement, the management of universities including greening of university infrastructure/ facilities/operations, as well as enhancing student engagement and participation in sustainability activities both within and beyond universities.

Plans “The university, says Dr Leena, would like to expand on the number of sustainability themes that it is able to address and would definitely like to focus, in the near future, on issues of environment and health, on green habitats and on enhancing India’s food security. The university would also like to see a wider geographical reach of its educational activities across India and increase the opportunities for international students to join the Indian students in trying to understand and address the sustainability challenges that India and the world are facing.

We wish to attract the best international faculty dealing with the issues of sustainability in order to contribute to building relevant capacities in India on subjects of their interest.”

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Campus innovation Focus

Retro house expanded and retracted models

‘home’ @ 80 k

Retro house for

the homeless

Not only National Institute of Technology Calicut but also the whole country is proud of the these guys, Ajin Baby, Hariram Shanker, Thomas Joseph and Murali Gopal, who have developed innovative houses to rehabilitate the victims of natural calamities. Retro House, a mobile house with many specialities, is an example of their commitment to society

A

by Lakshmi Narayanan

roof over the head whether big or small, luxurious or reasonable gives one a feeling of security and safety. But for the victims of natural calamities like tsunami, earthquake and floods, a home still remains a dream. In the last decade, the tsunami and Neelam hurricane in the southern coast of India, earthquakes in Gujarat and northeastern parts etc. have devastated many lives across the country. The situation is not much different in the rest of the world also. Crores of people became homeless due to various natural calamities. Many of them could not find a shelter till now.

Life in rehabilitation camps is miserable. This pathetic situation prompted the quadruplets to innovate

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something unique to provide accommodation to the hapless people. Thus, the intention resulted in the invention of Retro House, a portable house, first of its kind in the history of house construction.

The four friends were from three different streams of engineering. Murali Gopal and Hariram Shankar were BTech Mechanical Engineering students. Ajin Baby was a bachelor in Civil Engineering whereas Thomas Joseph was from the architectural stream.

When these guys shared their idea of such a project, Prof A P Sudheer of the Mechanical Engineering Department came with all support for them. Thus, the four brilliant brains of NIT Calicut started to work on the ambitious social initiative.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

The concept of Retro House Retractable mobile low cost homes, which can be double as refugee homes in disaster prone regions, are the basic idea of Retro House. This is a ready to live house with an area of 280 sqft. It can be retracted to 70 sqft and easily shifted from one place to the other by attaching it to a truck or a train. Wheels are fitted beneath the house for this purpose. It weighs 800 kg and is suitable to provide living space for a family of four members.

The entire house is made up of steel, asbestos and plywood. Welding and screwing are the two basic construction methods used to set up the house.

The facilities of the fully furnished Retro House consist of a living room, a bedroom inbuilt with a folding bed, an attached bathroom with facilities like water connection, shower and toilet, and a kitchen with a sink, kitchen cabinets and slabs for keeping utensils.

Every room has a medium size fan and light. Kitchen facilities include power points to use electric stoves. The house is designed in a way to attach with electrical lines from outside and also to use solar panels for generating electricity. The portable septic tank attached to the bottom of the bathroom area collects human waste.

Application areas 1.Portable houses for military purpose 2.Refugee camps and low cost houses under UN schemes 3.Temporary accommodation for labourers and engineers of big construction companies which change sites as the construction proceeds.

4. Underdeveloped countries like Ethiopia, Nigeria, Sudan, etc. which have a large slum population.

5.Housing for rural and low income families which come around 10 per cent of the Indian population Implementation Successful implementation of the

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project will lead to the mass construction of retractable mobile low cost houses for average Indian families. It will result in the eradication of slums raising the living standards of every homeless, the prevention of a minimum of 40 per cent of the epidemics, the provision of total solution to refugee situations and the places of temporary stay at work sites.

“

“

We have a dream of providing low cost homes for the homeless, this dream has motivated us to work on this project. We tried our best to reduce the production cost of Retro House and could make it to Rs 80000. If the government provides support for this project, we are sure to make it cheaper

on the campus busy with his studies and other expansion plans of Retro House.

He has started his own architectural designing firm and also planned to apply for patent of Retro House on behalf of his friends.

“We have a dream of providing low cost homes for the homeless. This dream motivated us to work on this project. We

Ajin Baby,Hariram Shankar,Thomas Joseph,Murali Gopal A dream comes true The research on the Retro House project was carried out during the final year exams of Ajin Baby, Hariram Shanker and Murali Gopal. After passing the exams, Ajin Baby joined IIT Roorkee for MTech in Earthquake Engineering. A civil service passionate, Hariram Shanker joined a Delhi-based civil service training institute for IAS coaching. Murali Gopal got entry for PHD in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia University, the US. As Architectural Engineering is a five-year course, Thomas Joseph is still

tried our best to reduce the production cost of Retro House and could make it to Rs 80,000. If the government provides support for this project, we are sure to make it cheaper. We have already approached the government with a detailed project report and plans of two different models of Retro House besides a community housing plan. We hope to get green signal from the government in the near future. With solar energy panels, Retro Houses will be affordable, attractive and acceptable in the areas without electricity,” say Murali Gopal and Thomas Joseph.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

CHANGE MAKERS IIM Kozhikode

Blending

business acumen and social obligation

A

pearl needs the right environment to crystallise; a diamond needs proper polishing to reflect radiance.

So the circumstances and environment decide, to a great extent, what we want to be or what we have to be.

Talent, an innate quality, needs proper grooming to attain the goal.

Hence there is a need of polishing rooms or nurturing grounds. In India, a majority buff up their talent through education and the rest gain through experience. So the role of education in mentoring minds is vital.

What kind of institutions can offer this type of education? Only researchdriven institutions can – like the IIMs. These institutions are recognised as premier management institutions, compared to the best in the world for teaching, research and interaction with industries.

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As a nursery of ideas and innovation, IIM Kozhikode (IIMK) strives to achieve excellence by creating socially committed global leaders. By globalising Indian thoughts, the institute makes efforts to represent itself as a global destination for research, training and teaching. IIMK emphasises social responsibility while grooming business managers who can control business entities along with keeping social values

by Prashob K P

The role of IIM is to restructure education and research to meet the needs of both the private and public sectors and to bridge the gap between the national economic planning and the development of private enterprises in the country. As the fifth IIM in the country, IIM Kozhikode gains special attention through generating ideas, and through innovation and entrepreneurship.

‘We are what our thoughts have made us’ – Swami Vivekananda. This is one of the motivational quotes we see while taking a stroll through IIMK campus. The word gets life when we come to know about the campus. IIMK actively pursues its core purpose of ‘Globalising Indian Thought.’ This vision is laudable because thoughts are immortal; they travel globally.

The institute makes efforts to represent itself as a global destination for research, training and teaching.

The innovative executive programmes and distance programmes are framed on the basis of this vision. It has diversified its academic initiatives on the campus by focusing on the twin goals of excellence and inclusiveness.

As an institution of national excellence, IIMK is a unique academic space of global reckoning, nurturing excellent management thinking. The institute moulds innovative, futuristic, socially responsible and environmentally sensitive practitioners, leaders and educators.

Social commitment

While most B Schools are inclined to produce managers who can make a lot of money, IIMK places stress on social responsibilities, too. Prof Debashis Chatterjee, Director of IIM Kozhikode, says: “We want to produce business managers who can control the business entities along with keeping certain social EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

values. They should think of business and society at the same time.”

The socially oriented thoughts of the Director also reflect on the students. IIMK conducts various programmes. ‘Gurukul for Gurus’ is such a workshop intended for leading schools. The workshop has been conceptualised and directed by Prof.

Debashis Chatterjee and has benefited over 10,000 teachers and school principals in the last decade.

During the inflation in 2010, IIMK reduced the tuition fees by Rs 30,000 for its flagship Post-Graduate Programme (PGP) for the benefit of the students. As a socially conscientious institute, IIMK believes that the students be protected from steep increase in fees as most of the students depend on bank loans for their studies. Such decisions make IIMK a socially alert institute.

IIMK has a unique course called Social Transformation, which aims at enhancing the social consciousness of the students. For nearly five decades, IIMs all over the country have been male-centred. In 2010, it was IIMK which raised the women intake by 35 per cent. This is the worldwide trend among Ivy League and other top universities.

The Centre of Excellence, initiated by IIMK at KIRTADS (Kerala Institute for Research, Training and Development Studies of Scheduled Castes and Tribes) premises in Kozhikode, was a unique attempt in association with the Government of Kerala.

It aims at enhancing the skills and abilities of SC/ST communities in order to cater to the educational and socio-economic betterment of the Scheduled communities and for building and strengthening competitiveness.

Satellite campus

IIMK’s aim is to go to the student rather than they approach the institute. That is the reason to introduce an executive programme through satellite technology. Through satellite campus, IIMK imparts technology-enabled education with face-to-face interaction with the students. The campus, set up at Infopark, EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

Kochi, is a temporary facility, and it will remain there for a few years till the full campus start functioning, probably in 2015.

The ‘Executive Post-Graduate Programme – Part-time’ has been announced, and admission is going on. There is a need for leading business education institutes to cater to the needs of the corporate sector, and IIMK will take part in providing such higher education to this niche market.

Business museum

There is a business museum that showcases the history of the Indian business scenario. The museum houses businessrelated historical artefacts, objects, sculptures, models, photographs, documents, illustrations, etc. The museum is intended to inspire aspiring entrepreneurs and show them the path to success through innovative ideas, diligence and perseverance. This endeavour is to consolidate and conserve the rare treasure of India’s invaluable wealth, of India’s business history for posterity. IIMK is thus able to establish and maintain a bonding with a larger population than just those who live on the campus.

IIMK focuses on leading-edge and contextually sensitive Management Education, state-of-the-art Management Research, Executive Education, Teacher Training (Leading Schools MDP), Curriculum / Materials Development, Educational Tools, Principal / Leadership Training (Leadership DNA, Leading Schools MDP).

It aims at contributing to the development of communities of dependable, capable, caring and fair-minded people.

The Alumni Association of IIMK is very effective and active. IIMK Alumni has gone a step ahead in their path of success not only by venturing into entrepreneurial roles but also by achieving laudable success. By generating new ideas and through innovation, IIMK has transformed into a brand that evokes respect in society by creating global leaders who are socially sensitive and environmentally conscious citizens.

IIMK’s aim is to go to the student rather than they approach the institute. That is the reason to introduce an executive programme through satellite technology.

Through satellite campus, IIMK imparts technologyenabled education with face-to-face interaction with the students

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CHANGE MAKERS IIM Kozhikode What former students say We were the first batch to complete the entire twoyear programme on the new sprawling campus of IIMK. Working the entire night solving case studies, snacks at the night canteen and fun with friends on campus are the memories I will cherish for the rest of my life. The open culture of learning of IIMK is an experience of a lifetime and has helped me a lot in my career. – Amit Damor (PGP ’07) IIMK has grown by leaps and bounds in the last three years. It is good to see a full complement of permanent faculty in key departments like Marketing and Finance from a handful of teachers who were around in our time. I also feel that IIMK offers the best environment for management education in the country – the calm surroundings, refreshing greenery, and the quality of faculty all make for a heady cocktail. May the institute grow to greater heights. – Rohit Koshy (PGP ’10) The IIM brand is a passport that opens the all-tooimportant doors to a great career. Thereafter, of course, it is your own performance and luck that matter. My career is still only three years old, but the benefits of having the IIM ‘tag’ are evident- it establishes a base level of expectation from potential employers and is of tremendous value when you apply for a job. – Naren Gorthy (PGP ’09)

Firsts of IIMK First IIM to be accredited by AMBA (Association of MBAs, London).

First IIM to sign an MoU with an Ivy League School, Yale University, to start a Centre for Excellence in Academic Leadership (CEAL).

First IIM to raise female student intake to 35% for Post-Graduate Programme.

First B-School to start inclusive education programme for the underprivileged (Dalits and Adivasis) – Centre for Research and Education for Social Transformation (CREST).

First B-School to offer a two-year Executive Post-Graduate Programme.

First B-School to be accredited for Executive Post-Graduate Programme by AMBA. First B-School to set up museum for Indian business history.

First B-School with focus on Social Entrepreneurship and Environmental Management.

First B-School to create an endowment in memory and honour of Prof. C K Prahalad.

First B-School to roll back the annual fees of PGP in 2011 – thus becoming a role model for others to emulate.

First B-School to run ‘Leading Schools’ Programme with generous support from the local industry, Malabar Group Pvt. Ltd., offering 200 scholarships and 4 gold medals to outstanding principals, teachers and heads of schools in India.

You can’t

buy an IIM seat IIMs, the powerhouses of Indian management education, are on a new path. They maintain high quality and start new courses to meet the changing needs. In an interview with Prashob K P, Prof Debashis Chatterjee, Director of IIM Kozhikode, talks about the various aspects of the Indian education system and the role of management institutes in creating the leaders of tomorrow As the Director of IIMK, what is your vision on excellence?

What constitutes excellence in an academic institution? There are two dimensions. One dimension is the human world of an institution and the other is the systems world. These two are two different dynamics. Why are they different? Because the human world creates the culture and the system world stabilises it. So the human world is very important, and now what are the ingredients of the human world?

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EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

The ingredients of the human world are in terms of intellectual capital like the quality of interaction of students, quality interaction between students and staff, between faculty and students and between students, faculty and the outside world. So there are many levels of dynamics in the human world. However, fundamentally, it’s the human world that creates excellence. Excellence is not an individual’s ego trip; it’s a culture, it’s a process.

What constitute that excellence are the values we support. What kind of values we support at IIM Kozhikode?

We support the values of social sensitivity, meritocracy, environmental consciousness, and gender diversity. These values are getting assimilated into the institutional structure.

First, you have to decide whether you want to have a banana tree or a mango tree. Once you decide you want to have a mango tree, then you have to give the mango tree the food it wants. A mango tree’s growth path will be different from that of a banana tree. So it is the specific values that drive us towards our growth trajectory and it is the values we possess that make us unique and different from others.

How does IIMK maintain quality in management education?

By simply making sure that nothing but the best comes in. We choose the best of students; we get the best faculty in the world and give our best to the students. That doesn’t mean we are exclusive; just that we are deeply focused on what we want to do. We don’t want to compare ourselves with others and we maintain quality by taking up the vision ‘what would constitute excellence first.’ Primarily, for maintaining excellence, we do not accept anything below standard.

What is your comment on the quality of B Schools in Kerala?

I don’t want to talk about it, because saying something negative doesn’t help anyone. IIMK doesn’t believe in comparisons. So I don’t want to comment on it. However, there are some good management schools in Kerala, apart from the IIM. You have introduced an executive management programme accessible to working professionals through satellite technology. How can we continuously use technology in education?

Technology can be used only in tandem with the requirement of the current world. So we use what it is called blended learning technology. Blended learning means synthesising technology-enabled education with face-toface interaction with the students. If you are counselling a EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

“

“

Technology can be used only in tandem with the requirement of the current world. So we use what it is called blended learning technology. Blended learning means synthesising technology-enabled education with face-to-face interaction with the students

student, you can’t do it through technology. But, if you are teaching something that is systematised, technology comes in.

Where technology will be helpful and where it will not be helpful – that discrimination is very important. So you have to decide where we should use technology and where we should not use technology. IIMK’s aim is to go to the student rather than the student should go to the institute.

That is the reason why we have introduced an executive programme through satellite technology. The executive programmes are intended for those people who are busy with their job. The Kochi campus, located at Infopark, an extension of its Kozhikode campus, caters to the needs of executives working in the emerging metros in Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Coimbatore, etc. The two-year, parttime EPGP will be the first course to be offered from the Kochi campus with 900 contact hours and is comparable in content to the regular PGP. Does India have a leadership crisis? What do you think about the role of elite institutions like IIMs and IITs in producing leaders of tomorrow?

Of course, the role of higher education institutes like IIMs and IITs is to produce leaders of tomorrow. The point is when we say ‘higher’, it doesn’t mean we are only for highprofile students. We also get students from underprivileged families. IIT, IIM positions can’t be sold. You can’t buy an IIM seat. It has to be earned through merit. This is the one thing that can’t be bought.

Leadership starts with defining what would be the exceptional value that we create for the country, for the world. Exceptional value is created if we are strictly go by merit. It is the leaders who have to create leaders instead of creating followers. We look at IIMK as a leading institution and we want to support other leading institutes. We don’t want others to follow us. We want to create other institutions like us, even better than us. The idea is to create a pipeline of leaders in our country. We hope to fill the much-needed leadership vacuum.

I won’t say that there is a crisis; there are leaders among us. We have to find them, nurture them and have to provide them with opportunities to learn and develop.

There is a strong argument that IIMs have to reinvent themselves by creating context-specific knowledge applications. Your comment?

Yes, knowledge is context-specific, but it is not always just context-specific. Of course, context-specific knowledge is important. For example, the price of a car may be different in many countries. But, there is also context-neutral

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CHANGE MAKERS IIM Kozhikode

knowledge. You may say Newton discovered gravity in England, but that doesn’t mean that I have to go to England to experience gravity.

See, there are some principles in management that are true in all contexts. So gravity is context-neutral in the context of those of us who live on Earth.

Quality is context-neutral. What is transferable is context-neutral; what is not transferable is context-specific. We need to go more and more into contextspecific issues.

Recently you said that teachers should stop using force and pay more individual attention to every student. Could you explain it?

Teaching is about discovering the learner; empowering the learner. So, in order to achieve this, first we have to understand the learner. Learning is about receptivity. When we look at

60

receptivity from the point of view of a learner-student, each one follows different ways of learning. Some learners will be inclined towards the visual elements of their learning environment. To decode the receptivity and to spend dedicated time to learn about the student’s mind are important.

Teachers, right from the lowest level, need to reinvent teaching and schools need to move away from the old-fashioned approach of teaching from textbooks towards teaching from context. In India, the school intake is huge, so teachers have to investigate and research their learners.

How do you globalise Indian thought?

We are talking about the global dimension of our thought system that incidentally arose from the geographical space in India and have percolated throughout the world

because of the Indian diaspora. IIMK’s vision is to globalise Indian thought.

We believe that management is an inclusive social activity that brings a diversity of human competencies in the pursuit of higher purpose.

This, indeed, is the keynote of Indian thought that has been passed on over decades, and generations of Indians have lived their lives and attained new heights by believing and practising this philosophy.

As an institute, our goal is to bring these cardinal tenets to the global arena. Our quest for diversity is reflected not only in the highest ever percentage increase in woman candidates entering the institute but also in the variety of areas of expertise that the candidates possess. We have created a world-class Indian Business Museum that is the first of its kind in India.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

SURVEY 2013

t h rig

e l h o t o g h n i s sc o

o s h s C ine A us

b

s students try to enter the business world and become good managers, there are many queries before them, such as which is the ideal grooming school? How can be a global business leader? Students seem confused with advertisements with exciting promises by various institutes. The amenities they offer and assured placements are attractive to any aspiring student. Students are in a dilemma and can’t make up their mind before choosing one of the best institutions offering courses in business management.

As part of an attempt to find out the best B Schools in the country, a team of Education Insider has conducted a survey ‘Best 10 B Schools of Kerala’. We have initiated the survey in order to help the young brains find the right place and grow to become leaders of tomorrow.

Primarily, 40 business schools were selected. Of 40, a panel of experts shortlisted 15 B Schools and the final lap selected top 10 from the list. IIM–K is not included in the process because of its unique status. A few reputed B Schools also declined to participate in the survey. The assessment process was transparent, objective and unbiased. The survey was conducted in an objective manner and rankings have been done on the basis of the scores obtained from the survey.

A 10- page questionnaire was prepared by a panel of academicians and business and industry professionals. The assessment process taps all areas of an institute. As part of the survey, interactions with the B School personalities and students were held. The questionnaire put stress on placement percentage, social activity, participation of students, discipline, learning amenities, library status, campus infrastructure, national and international industry exposure of students and faculty status. Each question carries specific marks. The total score was prepared by combining the marks from all parameters.

The survey also sought the credentials of the institutions like accreditation by the authorities concerned and the year of establishment. The institutes which failed to provide objective data were not considered for the ranking.

We are confident that our initiative will succeed in helping our readers and also motivate business schools to focus on enhancing their academic capabilities and infrastructure facilities. The survey will aid MBA/PGDM aspirants to make the right choice in pursuing their study.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

Best

10 Private B Schools of Kerala

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

Total Score

1 SCMS

89.25

2 DCSMAT

78.25

3 HOLY GRACE ACADEMY

55.25

4 SNGCE

54

5 SAINTGITS

53.25

6 ADI SHANKARA

52.5

7 FISAT

49

8 SJCET

41.5

9 MACFAST

40.75

10 VISWAJYOTHI

39

11 BERCHMANS

38.75

12 DEPAUL

37.75

13 VIMAL JYOTHI

36.25 63

SURVEY 2013

1 SCMS: Synonymous with management education SCMS (The School of Communication and Management Studies) has grown from a single institution to a group of 10 distinct institutions in various disciplines

PGDM is the flagship programme of SCMS-Cochin, which is held on its main campus. The programme is based on innovative curriculum, effective pedagogy and quality teaching. The institution has been awarded international accreditation by ACBSP, the USA

Infrastructure

The SCMS library has a collection of 22,625 books. The institution subscribes to 220 leading national and international journals.

Radio frequency identification (RFID) system has been implemented in the library.

SCMS has modern IT infrastructure supporting one of the largest single networks in Kerala, including over 600 PCs with a peak load of more than 1,000 nodes and three labs with 400 systems, a Wi-Fi campus, six Wi-Fi hostels, and a language lab.

International collaboration

G P C Nayar, Chairman, SCMS

Apart from theoretical inputs, we give stress on the overall development of the individuals.

We believe education is for nurturing values

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SCMS-Cochin is the only B-School in India to have established academic tie-up with top foreign universities for teaching curriculum development and faculty and student exchange as early as 1998. The institution has academic collaboration with North Carolina Central University, the USA; University of North Western Switzerland; University of Central “ The placement cell is very active here and therefore we don’t have to be worried about getting a good job.

Last year our seniors were well placed in reputed companies” Aouf, MBA student

Lancashire, the UK; RavensburgWeigarten University of Applied Sciences, Germany; and Chonnam National University, South Korea.

Recruitment

Over three decades of uncompromising pursuit of excellence has made SCMS-Cochin a preferred destination for corporate houses looking for their future managers. Companies like Vodafone, Flip, Deloitte, Castrol, Synthite Industries, Odessa Technologies, HDFC Bank , ICICI Securities, IKYA, IDBI Bank, Airtel, Coca-Cola etc recruit students from SCMS.

SCMS

Score

Intellectual Capital

17

Infrastructure & facilities

19.25

Industry interface

19

Success of placement

18

Recruiter satisfaction

9

International collaboration

7

Total Score

89.25

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

SURVEY 2013

2 DCSMAT: Centre of excellence & innovation Established in September 2002 at Vagamon in Idukki district, DC School of Management and Technology (DCSMAT) ranked among the best B-Schools in India

DCSMAT imparts management education through the latest in Information Technology, making the institution a dynamic centre that produces skilled and innovative minds with personal integrity, professional ingenuity and social commitment. Aims at the holistic development of the student, envisaging academic and other dimensions Distinctly DCian

The institution strives to create a world-class centre of excellence in research-oriented and industry-driven management education with all-round development and self- reliance. With the motto of ‘Through Excellence to Transformation’, DCSMAT aims at creating a physical infrastructure and academic ambience that would propel the students and faculty to excellence in every area of academics and research as well as personal growth. Having a formulated design for the teaching methodologies, DCSMAT nurtures industry-savvy managers who have a global vision with exposure to the latest technologies and systems.

Programmes

Prof A Sreekumar, Dean, DCSMAT

DCSMAT, promoted by DC Kizhakkemuri Foundation and DC Books, offers two management programmes, which include Master of Business Administration and Post-Graduate Diploma in Management. DCSMAT provides a two-year, full-time, fully residential MBA programme with various specialisations and add-on courses.

Recruiters

Top companies such as Infosys, TCS, US Technologies, SRK Group, TAJ Group, Birla, Sunlife, V-Guard Ernst & Young, Federal Bank, HDFC Bank, Hero Honda, ICICI Bank, Mathrubhoomi, Reuters India, Samsung have come to recruite students.

Brig (Rtd), M C Ashok Kumar, Director, DCSMAT

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

Infrastructure

The 30- acre campus includes lecture halls, an auditorium, computer lab,library, multimedia-centre, research-centre,hostels, activity centre, mini market, cafeteria, communication and recreation facilities

etc.

Industry Interaction

DCSMAT conducts several programmes, including Breakfast with young successful Entrepreneurs/CEO where the students can interact with corporate leaders in an informal setting, Retail Experimentation Facility (REF), Retailing Skills Training, Corporate Resource Centre etc. REF helps in building up a professional attitude and the skills for proper management. DCSMAT, being a recognised professional retailing skills training partner of Retailers Association of India, trains and educates retailers and students to adopt modern retail practices in India. The Corporate Resource Centre would make the students aware of real time issues of business interacting with the corporate leaders and taking part in discussions and debates.

DCSMAT

Score

Intellectual Capital

15.75

Infrastructure & facilities

19

Industry interface

18

Success of placement

17

Recruiter satisfaction

8.5

International collaboration

0

Total Score

78.25 65

SURVEY 2013

3 Holy Grace: Envious infrastructure standards Established by Holy Grace Group, Holy Grace Academy of Management Studies is ranked among the best 100 business schools in India. The institute is the first to introduce 120 hours of a free hands-on SAP ERP training programme.

It is also the first B school in India to introduce an industrial study tour to Shanghai, a major global manufacturing hub

Success of placement

With a fine blend of educationists and entrepreneurs having superior relations with corporate houses and other prestigious institutions, Holy Grace Academy of Management Studies has a placement team which works round the year to ensure successful and respectable placements with esteemed organisations. With excellent placement records, the students here are offered very good salary packages from leading companies.

Infrastructure Facilities

At Holy Grace, we are trying to impart holistic education to our students

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Industry Interface programmes are regularly held in Holy Grace Academy of Management Studies.

With an aim to prune highly skilled young professionals by inculcating great values, work-ethics and leadership skills, The college conducts variety of programmes like Industry Participation in Curriculum Planning, Industrial Training for Students, Projects Consultancy and Collaborative Programmes with Industry.

Recruiter Satisfaction

Top recruiters like IBS, ICICI Prudential, Tata, Saint Gobain, Birla Sun Life, Duolite etc come to recruit students and offer good salaries.

One of the students of the college was also offered job in the giant establishment Google.

Adv Raju Davis Perepadan, Chairman, Holy Grace

Industry Interface

With envious infrastructure standards, Holy Grace Academy of Management Studies stands par with any top business school in Kerala.

Having one of the best management libraries, the college library a treasure house of over 4000 books related to management and allied topics with complete electronic reference facility. Luxuriously equipped computer labs, 24-hour internet connectivity and other modern facilities are also available in the college.

Holy Grace

Score

Intellectual Capital

13

Infrastructure & facilities

16.5

Industry interface

9.75

Success of placement

12

Recruiter satisfaction

4

International collaboration

0

Total Score

55.25

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

SURVEY 2013

4 SNGCE: Ideal blend of academic accuracy, business focus Sree Narayana Gurukulam College of Engineering (SNGCE) is a new-age, multi-disciplinary institute offering a portfolio of courses in Engineering, Computer Applications, and Management streams.

Ensuring the right blend of academic rigour and business focus of the industry, the institution has transformed into a trendsetter in professional education since 2002

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ffiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, SNGCE is approved by the AllIndia Council for Technical Education, New Delhi. Creating a congenial academic environment with the most modern infrastructural facilities and a highly motivated and competent team of faculty, the college constantly endeavours to mould world-class professionals for the future.

Successful placement

Placement comes to about 80%, with high salaries ranging from Rs 30,000 to Rs 1,00000. Under Mahatma Gandhi University, SNGCE stands second in terms of good pass percent.

Adv T A Vijayan, Executive Director, SNGCE

Our intention is to empower the masses to achieve economic and social freedom through technical and management education

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Recruiter satisfaction

Reputed companies like Infosys, Robosoft Technologies, HCL, Oracle, and Hyundai offer students good salary packages.

Infrastructure

SNGCE is equipped with the latest hardware and software infrastructure to cater to the computing needs of all students and faculty. It has a wellequipped library, with 31,617 books, 2,891 e-journals, and 300 national and international journals.

International collaboration

SNGCE invites faculty from abroad working with successful organisations to take classes for the students. Both national and international paper presentations are held here. This year, the paper presentations were from Dubai and Sri Lanka.

Industry interface

A variety of programmes like ‘Meet the CEO’ and industrial visits are conducted for students in order to make them feel the real work environment in the industry.

“ Innovative teaching methods are used by the teachers here which make us enthusiastic all through the management classes” Preethy Antony, MBA student

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

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5 Saintgits: Grooming students to face new challenges Saintgits Institute of Management (SIM), founded in 2002 and affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, is a researchfocused business school.

It is recognised by the AllIndia Council for Technical Education, under Saintgits College of Engineering

Punnoose George, Secretary, Saintgits

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ocated at Paathamuttom, in Kottayam district, Kerala, the institution focuses on exposing the young minds to the corporate world and instilling confidence and fortitude in them to face new challenges in their chosen fields.

With the motto of ‘Dare to Innovate and Learn to Execute’, Saintgits Institute of Management believes that the continuous perusal of knowledge is the sole path to success in the field of education. Enabling transition of a student into the corporate world, the institute provides an opportunity to the students to study short-duration courses with students of Duquesne, and California Institute of Technology, the USA, by offering MBA programme and Ph D. in Management.

Innovation, research

The teaching and research process in the institute encourages the creation and exchange of knowledge in terms of innovative and practical research. The

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faculty-driven research is done through professional and academic conferences and symposia, which focus on areas such as industrial and academic interests.

With the aim of creating practical solutions in industrial research and consultancy, the two centres of research – Centre for Financial Services and Centre for Sustainable Business and Tourism – help link with the expertise and imagination of leading academics and decision-makers.

Placement

Saintgits School of Management stresses on developing in the students balanced personality and keeping high levels in academic and extra-curricular activities. Being acclaimed as most campus-friendly by all known recruiters for its warmth and commendable placement facilities, the institute helps the students get placed in reputed firms and research organisations.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

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6 ASIET: Emphasis on education rooted in values Adi Sankara Institute of Engineering and Technology (ASIET), the first self-financing technical education centre to be awarded the ISO 9001: 2008 certification, is located at Kalady, the birthplace of the great philosopher Jagadguru Adi Sankara

Dr B S Krishnan, Managing Trustee, ASIET

We mould students as leaders and we look into the total reformation of students

Department of MBA

Aimed at creating good businessmen, MBA was introduced in ASIET in 2004. The programme equips a student with relevant and innovative business knowledge and skills by qualified faculty with relevant industry experience. In addition, at ASIET, all faculty members have undergone faculty development programmes at IIMs in their respective areas.

MBA at ASIET offers specialisation in Marketing Management, Human Resource Management, and Financial Management. The institute plans to offer non-credit papers in contemporary areas of management like Logistics, Entrepreneurship Management, etc., in the near future. ‘Activity Hours’ – a novel initiative to enhance a student’s goalbuilding skills in self and relationship management – is one of the unique features of ASIET. Two add-on courses are available for its MBA programme in Logistics and Supply Chain and in Business Intelligence.

Placements

The major recruiters in 2012 were HDFC Sales, Federal Bank, Videocon, Spectrum, and Sutherland. The number of students placed in these organisations

and consistent recruitment of students by these organisations proves high recruiter satisfaction. ASIET alumni are working in 24 organisations, including Oracle, Reliance, SBI Life Insurance, PCIL, and Kitex.

Industry interface

Some of the industries visited in 2012 included Transformers and Electricals Kerala Limited (TELK), Angamaly, Kerala Agro-Machinery Corporation (KAMCO), Athani, Hightech Steel, Salem, and Bharat Earth Movers Limited, Bangalore.

Other activities

In 2012, students had a twoweek orientation class, conducted by Bruce Miller, Zakir Hussain, certified international linguistic and corporate trainer, and Biji Margret, communication trainer. Motivational classes by professors and experts are a regular feature at ASIET. ASIET encourages students to take up projects in various areas of management, including Environmental Management, Industrial Relations, Consumer Behaviour, Counseling Skills, and Economics. Seven members of the faculty presented papers in 2012 at international seminars as well as at national-level conferences.

“We get great industrial exposure here as eminent personalities in the business world come here to give lectures. The institute takes us to industrial visits regularly.”

Vijay Gangan, Final year MBA

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EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

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7 FBS: edge in excellence Federal Business School (FBS), established and managed by the Federal Bank Officers Association Educational Society (FBOAES), is a management institution affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University

P V Mathew, Chairman, FISAT

Our visoin is to create a world-class management institute which helps in shaping committed global managers to meet the demands of the industry

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ituated at Mookkannoor, near Angamaly in Ernakulam district, Kerala, the college has been recognised by AICTE and carries the motto ‘Focus on Excellence.’ With a vision to create a world-class management institute which helps in shaping committed global managers to meet the demands of business and industry, FBS aims to be a centre of excellence in management education that will transform talents into competent, confident, socially committed and highly resourceful managers.

FBS has teachers rich in both industrial and academic experience, which enables them to enrich their lectures with real-world industry scenarios.

Emphasising holistic development, the course work is designed to inculcate a positive and ethical outlook in the students.

Infrastructure

FBS has excellent infrastructure. It has lecture halls equipped with multimedia audio-visual equipment to facilitate effective learning, Wi-Fi connectivity, a well-stocked reference library fully automated with 4,500 textbooks and over 60 journals, computer labs, accommodation facilities for both boys

and girls, fitness centre, and recreational facilities.

Placement

Placement at FBS is a regular feature.

Equipping them to face the corporate world, FBS gives the students intensive knowledge and skills enhancement training. Imparting the right kind of competencies and strong values to the students through unique learning pedagogy, FBS has a strong placement cell. In 2012, 75 %-80% of students were placed in top companies with good salary.

Recruiters

Top companies like Tata, Vodafone, Ernst and Young, Synthite, Berger and banks like Federal Bank, South Indian Bank, HDFC Bank, and ICICI Bank recruit students from FBS.

Industry interface

To update the students on the latest business trends and issues, regular seminars and workshops are conducted at FBS. Brainstorming sessions, business quiz, national conference on publicprivate partnership and monthly special lectures by eminent professionals from industry, business and academics also help the students face the challenges in the corporate world.

“At FBS we are getting intensive training to work under pressure. It will help us to perform better when we face the industrial world later” Uma Shankari, Fourth sem MBA

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

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SURVEY 2013

8 SJCET: Making students realise their full potential SJCET School of Management, started in 2006 and affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University, offers Master’s degree programme in Business Administration.

According to Prof G M Tharakan , Head of the Department, “the aim of the institution is to provide an education that helps student realise their full potential and be businessready and industry-ready when finishing the course.”

Placement

The placement in the institution is 98%. The students are placed in companies like McKinsey, Ernst & Young, Hindustan Uniliver Ltd, Procter &Gamble, Amazon.com, Times of India, Federal Bank, SBI, SBT, South Indian Bank, Dhanalaxmi Bank, ICICI, British American Tobacco, Geojit, Ashok Leyland, IBS, Infosys, UST Global, Mahindra Motors, Verizon, NeST, Mphasis, Dell, Eastern Condiments Pvt Ltd, Kitex Garments Ltd, CTS, TataElxi, Ramco Industries Ltd, and Leela Kempinsky.

Infrastructure

SJCET School of Management has fully air-conditioned classrooms with all modern amenities like Wi-Fi and microphone. The library is fully automated, with Smart ID cards and

barcode. In this computerised network library, the students can access over 10,000 titles, hundreds of journals and other reference books.

A language laboratory has been set up to develop world-class communication skills in English. There is an international language centre in the same laboratory where French, German, Japanese and Arabic languages can be learned.

All facilities for sports and games are available, including gymnasium.

Industry interface

The institution conducts seminars and lectures every month with successful industrialists, professionals and academicians. The students are sent to about a dozen of industries, including those in the foreign countries. The present batch was taken to Dubai for one week for the purpose.

Fr Philip Njaralakkat, Chairman, SJCET

“We have very experienced teachers who are not ringmasters but caring friends and leading guides“ George Jacob, fourth Sem MBA

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EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

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9 MACFAST in forefront of MBA programmes With the specific objective of offering cutting edge courses in Business Management & Information Technology, MACFAST (Mar Athanasios College for Advanced Studies Tiruvalla) kick-started its MBA programme in 2002.

Approved by AICTE, New Delhi, MACFAST is affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam

Rev Fr Pradeep Vazhatharamalayil, Principal, MACFAST

As a promising B school we don’t compromise on quality of teaching, industry interface programmes and social values

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

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ACFAST is owned and managed by the Corporate Educational Agency of the Catholic Archdiocese of Tiruvalla, with Dr Thomas Mar Koorilos as the President and Patron.

Located in the commercially active town of Tiruvalla, Kerala, MACFAST campus is sprawling in an area of 3,00,000 sqft. With an outstanding faculty, MACFAST is the first campus in Kerala to obtain a licence to operate a Community Radio Service (Radio MACFAST 90.4). Known as the first solar campus in India, MACFAST has been able to provide education in the primary areas of scientific and technological development.

Infrastructure

MACFAST has modern facilities, including a world class auditorium, a library covering an entire floor, a digital library, wireless connectivity, a food court and separate hostel facilities for both men and women.

Industry Interface

MACFAST strives to give rise to a robust, high quality, interdependent, longterm relationship between industry and academy leading to a win-win situation.

Synergising the capabilities in the diverse fields like Computer Science & Management, MACFAST has established MACFAST Industry Interface (MII) at Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram in 2010.

Placement

MACFAST has an effective placement cell which looks for the best placement opportunities for students. Offering attractive salaries to students, top recruiters come to MACFAST. It has an excellent placement record with 80 per cent of students placed in 2012.

Recruiter Satisfaction

Companies like Tata Consultancy Services, Ernst and Young, R R Downelly, Malayala Manorama, Wipro, Met Life, Muthoot, HDFC, SBT and Reliance come with attractive salary packages.

“A value-based approach of teaching at MACFAST makes every student a good human being” A student at MACFAST

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SURVEY 2013

10 VJMS: Committed to quality education Viswajyothi School of Management studies (VSMS) offers postgraduate degree course in Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Marketing; Finance; Human Resource Management; and International Business and Operations Management.

Placement

Students are placed inside and outside Kerala, and 95% placements are highly paid – from Rs 25,000 to Rs 1, 00000.

Recruiter satisfaction

Students are placed in companies such as Synthite, HDFC Sale, South Indian Bank, Snap Deal.com, ACS Xerox, ICICI Bank, Federal Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Life, Ernst and Young, Sharewoods Strategic, Aptara, Sutherland Global Services, Bajaj Capital, Terex, and HCL.

Infrastructure

The college is situated on a sprawling

Rev Msgr Francis Alappattu, Manager, VJCET

campus of 26 acres with an area of over 2 lakh square feet. The institution has two gallery classrooms, which can accommodate 124 students .The college has a library of 4,327 books. The institution provides storage room facilities for students. It has a gymnasium, sports stadiums, auditoriums, separate hostels, and well-equipped laboratories.

Industry interface

As part of the curriculum, VJCET conducts industry interface programmes like ‘Meet the CEO’ and industrial visits for students.

“Viswajyothi provides quality education to the students. The placement facility of this institution is better when compared to other colleges. The support rendered by teachers is another point to be mentioned about Viswajyothi” Shaan Peter, student

“The best thing I like about Viswajyothi is the ambience. The teachers are very helpful” Reshma, student

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EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

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11 Berchmans’: Superior education founded on values Berchmans’ Institute of Management Studies (BIMS) is located at Changanassery in Kottayam district of Kerala. Managed

by St Berchmans’ College and affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University, BIMS is a multi-disciplinary and semi-autonomous institute for management studies

Rev Fr Reji Plathottam, Bursar, SB College

BIMS is dedicated to nurturing and moulding skilled managers, researchers and entrepreneurs with great vision and ethical values EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

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IMS, established in 1995, is one of the first few colleges offering a two-year, full-time MBA programme, recognised by the AllIndia Council for Technical Education (AICTE), New Delhi, with various specialisations, including Marketing, Finance, Human Resources, and Information Systems.

With the vision of meeting the challenges of a fast-changing, globalised business and social environment for the welfare of the nation, BIMS is dedicated to nurturing and moulding skilled managers, researchers and entrepreneurs with ethically conscious, socially committed, professionally competent and fully equipped approach.

BIMS aims at imparting value-based quality education, research, training and consultancy in management and related disciplines to aspiring men and women to transform them into professionals with the skills, which would meet the

contemporary needs and future challenges of industry and society.

Imparting innovative teaching techniques to boost the confidence and competence of the students, the institution encourages strong links with the business community through industrial visits and study projects. Having a committed team to advise and facilitate the goals of each student, BIMS focuses on making the students aware of the company in terms of opportunities for growth, job profile and the remuneration offered.

Berchmans’ Institute of Management Studies provides the students opportunities for their organisation study in reputed business houses for a period of four weeks at the end of the second semester.

BIMS is the only educational institution in the country which gives away Entrepreneur Award of the State each year to outstanding entrepreneurs.

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SURVEY 2013

12 De Paul: Accent on all-round development De Paul School of Management, located at Angamaly, run by De Paul Education Trust and owned by Marymatha Province of the Vincentian Congregation, is a regular college of management studies, which has long tradition and high academic excellence

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he college, affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, gives prime importance to education as one of the most important areas of its activities. It aims at creating a new generation, which keeps ethical values, justice, peace and love.

The institution, an ISO 9001:2008 certified professional college, focuses on to build up a centre of excellence to mould outstanding young professionals in relevant fields by integrating the physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual dimensions of their lives through rigorous training and personoriented career counseling.

Courses offered

Rev Fr Alex Chalangady VC, Principal, DIST

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Supported by outstanding faculty, cutting-edge coursework, and extensive networking opportunities, De Paul School of Management offers two-year, full-time course in Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Master of Human Resource Management (MHRM). The college is committed to promoting student enrichment

programmes.

Nurturing ideal leaders

The institution offers intense, multidimensional professional development that prepares the graduates to contribute value to all types of organisations, in all sectors, and wherever there are opportunities to make a positive difference to business and society. It nurtures leaders who can understand markets and competition in different contexts, the diversity of economies throughout the world and the relationship between businesses and society.

De Paul School of Management provides dynamic participation in placement activities, which would assist the students mentally, logically, expressively and physically and stimulate their soft skills and logical skills. It also provides classes on personality development, memory management, and interview tips, which would help the students stimulate themselves and set their goals.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

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13 VJIMR: Stress on practical, real-time teaching Vimal Jyothi Institute of Management and Research, started in 2010 by the Meshar Diocesan Educational Trust of the Archdiocese of Tellichery, is the first exclusive management research institute in the Malabar region

Rev Fr Mathew M Chalil, Founder Chairman, VJEC

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

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he institute offers two-year, fulltime residential MBA courses with dual specialisation in HR, Marketing, Finance, and International Business Management .The institute is approved by AICTE and is affiliated to Kannur University.

At Vimal Jyothi Institute, the teaching methodology is practical, hands-on and real-time, rather than merely theoretical, speaker series – the list of events on the campus is numerous, and that can provide a far more comprehensive view of ground realities than any textbook can. The institute operates as an educational and research centre that networks with national and international practitioners from diverse industrial sectors.

Placement

The institution has an active placement cell. The students have gained placement in various reputed companies through campus selection.

Infrastructure

The central library of the institute has a large number of books with different titles, multimedia CDs, national and international journals, periodicals, and local and national newspapers. It also has online databases such as EBSCO, J GATE, Questia, SAGE, DELNET, and international periodicals.

The institute’s computer centre has an elaborate network of 60 workstations coupled with a 3 Mbps VSNL internet connection, HCL Infiniti DL 380 with Core Duo Processor, Core 2 Duo Processor and IBM backup server.

Industry interface

At every stage of the learning process, interface with the industry, interaction with practicing professionals and internship with corporates are given precedence. Students are required to attend periodic seminars, symposia, workshops, trade fairs, conferences, forums, lectures, and summits.

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CAMPUS VOICE

Are arts subjects regaining its sheen?

Policy makers in the education sector and most educational institutions are giving importance to science and engineering subjects, sidelining arts subjects. It makes us think whether arts subjects are losing its sheen. This is a serious concern of educationists and a topic of discussion in the social as well as political circles. Welcome to the third edition of Campus Voice. Team Education Insider has conducted a debate on the issue among students of St Joseph’s college, Calicut

by Shalet James

Arts subjects are getting back importance.

Now, there are enough opportunities for arts graduates. They are getting highly paid jobs like that of technical writers, administrative officers etc.

Anjana Treesa Joseph

It was my family which encouraged me to take up arts subjects and I feel that pursuing a degree in arts subjects can bring a total reformation in an individual.

Arts mean imagination and we can explore our creativity through this.

Jesto Joseph

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First of all, arts subjects should be given importance at the primary school level.

Actually, students opt for medical or engineering streams under the influence of teachers or parents.

Renny

Some time back, students were hesitant to take arts subjects for graduation, but now things are changing. The lost sheen is coming back and the number of intelligent students who opt for arts subjects is increasing. Especially, English literature is the choice of most students.

Veena Devi

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

Now, Engineering and Medicine have lost its sheen and arts subjects have regained its importance. Today, we can see engineering graduates hunting for jobs.

It’s just for the name’s sake that students go for professional courses. I feel taking up arts subject and then clearing out Net exams can make an arts graduate’s life secured.

Anu Krishna

There is a notion that the less studious students are pursuing arts subjects.

This mindset should be changed and people should realise that every subject has its own importance.

Sumesh

Language subjects are totally neglected and there are hardly any teachers who have a PhD in Malayalam or Hindi. There should be a serious introspection by the government to preserve these subjects.

Aparna Balachandran

Utilitarian motive is the major factor that makes people grin when they hear about arts subjects. I feel arts subjects should be given maximum prominence like in foreign countries.

Anusree

People feel that arts cannot make a good career for them. Arts subjects are very much related to our life and today people lack ethics in life and so I feel arts subjects should be encouraged from school level. Children should have freedom to select subjects for graduation.

Tom Jose

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

Arts graduates have fewer job opportunities with attractive salaries.

The scope is really limited. I feel government should take special interest to boost this sector.

Athira

The syllabus of arts subjects has been revamped and new optional subjects like computer science are there and so I feel arts subjects have not lost its sheen.

Sreelakshmi M

Today, more students opt for arts subjects and so I feel the lost sheen and glamour have come back.

Everyone needs to have an emotional side and arts help in these aspects.

Sherin

I feel it’s the society which hinders the importance of arts subjects. This attitude has to be changed and those who are interested in arts subjects should pursue this stream. India is known for its culture and variety of languages and so it’s our duty to promote arts subjects.

Reshma

A lucrative job is very important in this competitive world and arts subjects lack good job opportunities but as an arts student I feel if a person has a true passion for arts subjects, he should definitely opt for it as he can surely excel in this field and succeed in life.

Bernard Jose

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BRAINWAVE Ashish Khetan

Ashish Khetan is an investigative journalist who exposed the men behind the Gujarat massacre of 2002. He carried this brave sting operation over a six-month period, risking his life to bring the grisly facts to light

by Neethu Mohan

New-age Indian media ignoring

investigative

journalism

“

You have to take this as a mission.If you just want name, fame and money, then I think you are on the wrong domain of journalism. If you see any wrong thing done against the marginalised, then you have to raise your voice for them. You should have fire in your belly to be the voice of the voiceless

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“

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ne year ago, Noam Chomsky opined that the Indian media was in great crisis. He even said the media in Pakistan was more vibrant than the Indian media. When it comes to ethics, where do the Indian media stand?

I would agree with the first part of Chomsky’s statement that the Indian media is in great crisis; it is in crisis in terms of its principles, ethics, values, what they do, priorities they have, their philosophy.

Whichever way you look at the Indian media, you can see that there is a rapid decline, and it is going further down.

Only 1% of the population of this country is the super-elite, but they are controlling media

ownership, news agenda and the Indian media caters to their interest and not to the interest of the 99% of the people of India. We have seen the recent episode involving Zee News and Naveen Jindal, where Zee News was caught extorting money to drop certain stories or to go soft on some stories against Jindal. Not carrying stories against their advertisers and equity holders is one thing; the media carrying untruthful stories in favour of their advertisers and their equity holders is another thing.

The electronic media, in particular, lack ethics – they jump into conclusions and carry stories without giving the other party the right to be heard. They are too judgemental, and there is a clear prejudice against the minorities, EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

tribals and rural population . I think it goes on and on about the lack of ethics in Indian media, but these are some broad areas which are disturbing.

What are the challenges an investigative journalist has to face when compared to other streams of journalism?

Investigative journalism is really challenging. When it comes to political reporting, a reporter is supposed to give a good analysis or a good perspective of a political situation or a political personality or has to identify political trends . What makes investigative journalism different from other aspects of journalism are the following: 1. You are trying to uncover something which others are trying to hide; this is the most difficult part. You have to alert some on some information and there are other set of people who have some vested interest on some particular issue. The administration and the establishment are working against you and they will create hurdles in your path by blocking the information.

2. There is a kind of disinterest among the new-age editors and new-age proprietors. They are no longer interested in time-consuming and resource-consuming news stories .They are more interested in two-minute-noodles journalism.

3. The threat of physical violence: The element of physical threat and the element of risk are high in this stream of journalism. We have often seen how investigative journalists in some states are treated – they have been targeted by the mining lobbies, and, at times, by the state as well.

What are the things that an investigative journalist should keep in mind?

1. Perseverance: You have to persevere and not give up because investigative stories are not easy to come by. It really requires hard work and perseverance.

2. Commitment: Once you have identified that there is a story, then you have to follow it to its logical conclusion 3. Hard work and time: You should be ready to go through volumes and volumes of documents and the willingness to meet as many people as you can, ready to put hard work and long hours.

4. Be transparent.

5. Feel for the poor.

What do you think of the quality of young EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

journalists passing out of different media institutions in our country?

Journalism is one thing that cannot be taught in any institutions.

You can never be taught to become a good investigative journalist – either you have it or not have it. However, media institutions help in laying the foundation for their future work. I don’t want to comment on the quality.

What is your advice to an aspiring investigative journalist?

You have to take this as a mission.

If you just want name, fame and money, then I think you are on the wrong domain of journalism. If you see any wrong thing done against the marginalised, then you have to raise your voice for them. You should have fire in your belly to be the voice of the voiceless.

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EDU CITY

Malappuram

education scenario getting

facelift In a first of its kind in the state, INKEL Limited, a company promoted by Government of Kerala, proposes to develop a worldclass education city in Malappuram district. The project is expected to alter the education scenario of the district

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P

resently, INKEL-KSIDC Projects (a joint venture by INKEL and Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation) owns 168 acres of land (INKEL Greens) at Karathode, Panakkad in Malappuram district.

The place is well connected by air, rail and road. With its scenic beauty, lush green hills in the vicinity and a river close by, the site is ideal for an educational hub.

The state government has already allotted 75 acres of land to set up an off campus centre of English and Foreign Language University (EFLU) at INKEL Greens. INKEL has invited Expression of Interest (EoI) from prospective investors for implementing various projects proposed in Edu City.

With the Edu City project in Panakkad, INKEL is trying to change the image of Malappuram.

There is a general perception that the people in Malappuram are backward academically but the district has the highest number of females who pursue higher studies.

Only 30 per cent of students who pass out of the higher secondary education have the facilities to pursue higher education in the district. Out of 30,000 students who pass out every year, only 12,000 can pursue higher education.

Malappuram is one of the districts in the state with fewer higher educational institutes.

Edu City designed by International Master Planners consists of Education Zone, Cancer Care Center, Hospitality Zone, Commercial Zone and SME Park.

The various components under the Education Zone are: Institute of Technical Education: It offers selected courses with an objective to eliminate the gap between the theory taught in colleges and the practice in the global job market and also to cater to the growing need in India for skilled manpower across sectors and narrow the existing gap between the demand and supply of talents.

The courses include basic Arc Welding, Mechatronics, Electronics, EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013

Institutions at the proposed Edu City 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Institute of Technical Education Institute of Engineering and Technology International Business School Finishing School School of Science School of Commerce School of Law Media School Residential & Housing Facilities Cancer Care Hospital Hospitality Zone Commercial Zone SME Park

Inkel Greens located at Karathode, Pankakkad in Malappuram, 20 Kms from the Calicut International Airport is well connected by road and rails.

Hospitality, Oil & Petrochemicals etc. Residential facilities for staff and students will also be available.

The institute is proposed to be a master skill development centre of international standards in all technical sectors.

Institute of Engineering & Technology: The institute will offer innovative courses in various branches of Engineering with residential facilities for staff and students. It will be developed into an institute like NIT. International Business School: The management institute with a proposed yearly student intake of 330 offers courses that cover all frontier areas of Management Sciences and Practices with specialisations in Systems, Finance, Operations, Marketing, Projects, Infrastructure etc. Residential facilities for staff and students will also be available.

Finishing School: The school aims to equip students with necessary requirements to meet the demands of employment providers. It intends to create a pool of talents who can be directly absorbed into the industry.

Courses include Communications, Interpersonal Skills and Team

Building, English Language Skills, Soft Skills, Business Communications etc. Residential facilities for staff and students will also be provided.

International Residential School: It promotes international education by adopting a curriculum of global standards.

School of Science/Commerce/ Law/Media: The school offers courses BSc, BCom, BA, BBA, MSc, MCom, MSW, LLB, LLM etc in various streams like Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Bioinformatics, Biotechnology, Biochemistry, Microbiology, IT, Computer Science, Commerce, Visual Communication, Mass Communication, Journalism, Nano Science etc.

INKEL Greens is envisaged as an integrated destination for all education services with support facilities, including residential and commercial services. This concept is based on the analysis of location, micro and macro socio-economics, social desirability, demand for various components of education and allied services.

INKEL ties up with NTTF to set up a training centre at Edu City in INKEL Greens NTTF, a pioneer technical

training institute, is synonymous with quality technical training. It has been providing quality professionals to the government and the industry for decades. NTTF with campuses all over the country offers technical training programmes such as Certificate, Diploma, Post Diploma and Post Graduate. In Kerala, the centres are at Thalassery, Kochi and Kuttippuram. The specialised domains of NTTF are Mechanical, Electronics, Mechatronics, Information Technology and Computer Engineering.

INKEL Ltd which has already entered into an agreement with NTTF will provide the state-of-the-art infrastructure, including land, building, furniture, fixtures, training equipment, teaching aids, computers, software and library facilities. In return, NTTF will provide administration staff, course materials and quality standards, and enrol students for the training programmes through entrance examination.

NTTF will evaluate the trainees and award certificates/diplomas to the successful trainees and also provide necessary placement support to successful candidates or identify them for further training if needed.

CLOSE RANGE Prakash Bare

S

ilicon valley entrepreneurturned-actor and producer, Prakash Bare, has a candid vision on education and entrepreneurship. Bhare thinks that our education system continues to be just a means for grabbing plum jobs.

“The current system is ill-equipped to address the problems in research, teaching and entrepreneurship,” he laments. Bare, who dared to start a company in Silicon Valley, California, in 1996 says, “Things were not easy as now during the initial phase of the so-called IT revolution.

by Sumithra Sathyan

Prakash Bare

‘Education should

encourage

Producer and actor (Sufi Paranja Katha fame)

entrepreneurship’ How did you come to the IT field as an entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, California, from a small town in Kerala?

I studied in a Malayalam-medium school in Kannur and graduated from Palakkad Engineering College in Electrical Engineering. However, I had no idea what to do after graduation. Then, globalisation started to affect our education system, too.

Technology institutes started to flourish, opportunities increased. Meritocracy was recognized.

However, the quality was affected and infrastructure was not up to the mark. At least 50 engineering colleges in Kerala are on the verge of closure.

I think this is a transient phase and the

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Spent 15 years in Silicon Valley as an entrepreneur.

Was the general manager of Bengaluru-based software company Agrata Technologies

best will survive. We six friends thought of doing M Tech in IIT, Kanpur, in Microelectronics. After the M Tech, we started a company in Silicon Valley, California. It was a joint venture and I took its main responsibilities.

What do you think of the education scene in India?

Connecting our education with research is essential for the survival of pure research. Along with that, we should equip our children to compete with people across the world. We are in a globalised economy – whether it is good or bad, it is a fact, and you cannot go back. You are in direct competition with people around the globe, and we should improve our abilities accordingly. Challenges and

opportunities exist in the same system.

I cannot say that my education encouraged the entrepreneur spirit in me. I must say that education should fuel entrepreneurship in students.

Society’s attitude to this aspect also must change. Even while we respect people like Steve Jobs, we won’t select a start-up young man as groom for our daughter.

How do you manage to carry on with both IT profession and cinema?

Cinema is like a fuel inside me – it is something connected with my soul and solitude; it is always within me. I started my acting in my college days. When I was studying in Palakkad Engineering College, I had won the best actor prize at university-level competitions.

EDUCATION INSIDER I April 2013