Dl june 2013

Asia’s premier Monthly Magazine on ICT in Education

volume 9

I issue 06 I june 2013 I ISSN 0973-4139 I ` 75

education.eletsonline.com

engineering College RAnking 2013

Kapil Sibal Union Minister of Communications & IT, Government of India

Top 220 Government & Private Institutions Prof (Dr) S S Mantha Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education

HE Jaime Nualart Ambassador of Mexico to India

Perspective

on Technical

Education

Technology Solutions for

Engineering Institutions digital LEARNING

world education summit 2013

Report

Hyderabad - 098485 31838 | Ahmedabad - 098256 93363 | Bangalore - 093435 30309 | Bhopal - 093000 29191 Bhubaneswar - 093376 30307 | Chennai - 098405 44688 | Delhi and Jaipur -098712 96297 | Pune - 098485 40850

Contents

ISSN 0973-4139

volume 09 issue 06 June 2013

08 Top Engineering

Colleges of India

Engineering

Engineering survey 2013

Ranking 2013

49

50

51

Smt Naseem Akhtar Insaaf Minister of State for Education, Government of Rajasthan

Shri Shahid Ali Khan Minister, Minority Welfare and IT, Government of Bihar

Shri Mantriprasad Naithani Minister, Agriculture Marketing, School Education, Adult Education, Sanskrit Education and Drinking Water, Government of Uttarakhand

54 Amit Khare Joint Secretary, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India

perspective

Special Feature

25 Envisioning the Quality of Technical Education

37 Fostering New Thought Processes

tech possible

41 German-Indian Classroom Programme Leading

28 Station-e: A Model for Soft Skills Training for Engineers

29 Resource Planning at Engineering Institution 30 TekEdge for Engineering Institutions 31 New Gen, Performance Optimised Thin Client and Server Solution

in conversation 32 Prof (Dr) Dilip K Bandhyopadhyay, Vice

Chancellor of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi

Lakshmi Vishwanathan, Next Education India Pvt Ltd

the Way

44 Education is the Apprenticeship of life World Education Summit report 47 Strengthens Equity, Inclusion and Quality 48 Kapil Sibal, Union Minister of Communications & IT, Government of India

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

54 Plenary Session: Strategies for Steering the Education Sector

34 Jayant Hari Har Lal, Executive Director, Shri

55 Special Session: Opportunities for Overseas

36 Jaemes Shanley, Director of Sales – Asia

56 School Education Track

Ram New Horizon

Pacific & Latin America, Mimio

42 HE Jaime Nualart, Ambassador of Mexico to India

4

education.eletsonline.com

Collaboration for Indian Institutions

62 World Education Summit Awards 66 Higher Education Track

Asia’s premier Monthly Magazine on ICT in Education Volume

09

Issue 06

June 2013

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

Partner publications

Advisory Board

WEB DEVELOPMENT & IT INFRASTRUCTURE

Prof Asha Kanwar, President, Commonwealth of Learning

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

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

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

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

Team Lead – Web Development: Ishvinder Singh Executive – IT Infrastructure: Zuber Ahmed information management team

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

Editorial Team education Sr Correspondent: Pragya Gupta, Mohd Ujaley Correspondent: Rozelle Laha governance Assistant Editor: Rachita Jha Research Assistant: Sunil Kumar Correspondent: Nayana Singh Health Sr Correspondent: Sharmila Das SALES & MARKETING TEAM: digital LEARNING National Sales Manager: Fahimul Haque, Mobile: +91 - 8860651632 Associate Manager – Business Development: Amit Kumar Pundhir, Mobile: +91 - 8860635835 Subscription & Circulation Team Sr Executive – Subscription: Gunjan Singh, Mobile: +91-8860635832 Design Team Assistant Art Director: Shipra Rathoria Team Lead – Graphic Design: Bishwajeet Kumar Singh Sr Graphic Designer: Om Prakash Thakur Sr Web Designer: Shyam Kishore Editorial & Marketing Correspondence digitalLearning - Stellar IT Park Office No: 7A/7B, 5th Floor, Annexe Building, C-25, Sector 62, Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201301, Phone: +91-120-4812600 Fax: +91-120-4812660 Email: info@digitalLearning.in

digitalLEARNING is published by Elets Technomedia Pvt. Ltd. in technical collaboration with the Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies (CSDMS).

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

Executive – Information Management: Khabirul Islam Finance & Operations Team General Manager – Finance: Ajit Kumar Legal Officer: Ramesh Prasad Verma Sr Manager – Events: Vicky Kalra Associate Manager – HR: Sushma Juyal Associate Manager – Accounts: Anubhav Rana Executive Officer – Accounts: Subhash Chandra Dimri

OUR UPCOMING EVENTS PSE Summit

Persuing Development of the Modern Indian Economy with a Human touch July 5, 2013 | Le Méridien, New Delhi

9th

india’s premier ict event 23-24 July 2013 Hyderabad International, Convention Center, Hyderabad

Knowledge Exchange

KOVALAM 30 Aug-1 Sept 2013, The Leela, Kovalam, Kerala

August 2013, Patna, Bihar

PIN*****

Financial Inclusion & Payment Systems 10-11 October 2013, Eros Hilton, New Delhi

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

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EDITORIAL

Misson Education Education by itself is a great equaliser of life, but it is through the use of ICT that we can enable a larger cross-section of society to gain access to quality education. Now the HRD Ministry, in association with the Ministry of External Affairs, is planning to use online systems for helping Indian students and researchers in universities abroad. Unfortunately, there has been a significant rise in instances of racial attacks and fake universities duping Indian students studying abroad. So the HRD Ministry wants to ensure that there is help at hand for those falling prey to such scandals.

An online helpline is now under development that shall be jointly run by the HRD Ministry and the MEA. It will allow students and teachers to register and track complaints, which will be immediately forwarded to a designated officer at India’s Mission in that country. This is yet another instance of our country using ICT for providing effective facilities to our students and teachers.

This issue of digitalLEARNING has an in-depth coverage of the World Education Summit, which placed thought leaders and various other stakeholders in the education sector from across the world on a single platform, on 23-24 April 2013 in Le Méridien, New Delhi. The summit led to the evolution of several new ideas for using ICT to improve outcomes in education. Some of the ideas will get implemented, while others will need further deliberations for making them more effective.

Implementation of new technologies in the area of education is never an easy task. Lot of elements need to come together —technology, connectivity, localised digital content and improved teaching methods. Along with this we also need to take care of other considerations like policy, funding strategies, and commercial ecosystem.

This issue of digitalLEARNING also takes a view of the dynamic changes happening in the technical education sector of the country. We have attempted to rank the top engineering institutions in the country. A total of 220 engineering institutions have been ranked. To facilitate a better and fairer evaluation of the institutions we have categorised the institutes into five zones. The best thing about our survey is that along with listing the institutions that are already at the top, we have also tried to discover other ‘Promising Institutions’ that are improving their educational facilities.

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

digitalLEARNING / June 2013

7

Engineering

Engineering survey 2013

Ranking 2013

Top Engineering

Colleges of India With the growing number of technical institutes in India, the biggest challenge in front of a student is to choose the best! For an engineering aspirant, time too is a major constraint in doing extensive research on a particular institute. Most aspirants undergo their board examinations, appear for several entrance tests and set out in pursuit of the institute that shall suit them best, based on their score, budget for fees and choice of region. To help aspirants streamline their research, we have shortlisted the institutes in different regions and zones of India and come up with a listing of engineering institutes across the country

8

June 2013 / digitalLEARNING

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How We Ranked Them!

We have ranked 220 engineering institutes in the country based on: Faculty Details, Fee Structure, Research Activities and Placements on a scale of AAA+ to A, with AAA+ being the highest rank on the scale. The government institutes have been ranked based on perception voting and the private institutes have been ranked based on analysis of available data. We have also listed promising institutes in some zones, which have the potential to be in the top league in the coming years.

Ranking methodology Public Institutes: We chose the best public institutes and Institutes of National Importance in a transparent and democratic manner through public voting.

We followed a two-step process: Step 1: A list of Top 70 government-aided institutes (including IITs, NITs, IIITs and others) was prepared.

Step 2: We eliminated 20 institutes that received lowest number of votes, from the list of 70 shortlisted institutes.

Based on the number of votes received by these institutes, we have declared the Top 50 Public Engineering Institutes.

The voting conducted on a popular social networking sites got an amazing response of 10, 097 unique votes. Among the voters, there were 4,829 students and alumni; 792 teachers and academics; 296 people representing coaching centres and 191 undergraduates.

Private Institutes: To gather maximum available information about any institute and ensure its credibility, we followed a three-step approach: Step 1: We analysed the past three years’ rankings conducted by various organisations in the country. We filtered the list to eliminate colleges not ranked by any organisation in their previous rankings. Further, those institutes which featured only once in any of these rankings were also eliminated.

Step 2: We visited the official websites of 2,500+ institutes and private universities to get information such as Infrastructure, Placement, Teaching Pedagogy, Faculty, Foreign Collaborations and Research Activities. For AICTE affiliated institutes, we got most of the information from the mandatory disclosures in their official website. However, the challenge was that most institutes did not have the updated disclosure on their website.

We also studied the student reviews in some of the education portals to get a better understanding about the institutions we have ranked.

Step 3: We also asked engineering institutions across the country to send us filled questionnaire in a given format.

Only 72 institutes reverted with filled questionnaire in the given deadline.

Simultaneously, we were able to gather complete information of 1,500 odd colleges, out of the list of 2,500+ colleges that we had targeted.

Zone State Categories

Zone State Cluster 1 Categories

State Cluster 2 Categories

State Cluster 3 Categories

Zone State Cluster 1 Categories

State Cluster 2 Categories

State Cluster 3 Categories

State Cluster 3 Categories

Zone State Cluster 1 Categories

State Cluster 2 Categories

State Cluster 3 Categories

Zone State Cluster 1 Categories

State Cluster 2 Categories

State Cluster 3 Categories

Central Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh Government Institutes Private Institutes Promising Institutes East Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura Government Institutes Promising Institutes Bihar and Jharkhand Government Institutes Private Institutes Odisha & West Bengal Government Institutes Private Institutes Promising Institutes North Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand Government Institutes Private Institutes Punjab and Haryana Government Institutes Private Institutes Promising Institutes New Delhi Government Institutes Promising Institutes Uttar Pradesh Government Institutes Private Institutes South Kerala and Tamil Nadu Government Institutes Private Institutes Promising Institutes Karnataka Government Institutes Private Institutes Andhra Pradesh Government Institutes Private Institutes Promising Institutes West Gujarat Government Institutes Private Institutes Promising Institutes Maharashtra & Goa Government Institutes Private Institutes Rajasthan Government Institutes Private Institutes Promising Institutes

21 22 5 6 11 30 7 4 3 8 4 4 14 6 4 4 52 8 4 4 30 3 8 19 7 4 3 7 2 5 73 29 4 20 5 23 2 21 21 3 12 6 44 8 2 3 3 22 4 18 14 2 5 7

Total Number of Ranked Institutes- 220

The ranking team was led by Rozelle Laha and data support was provided by digitalLEARNING Information Managment Team. digitalLEARNING / June 2013

9

Engineering

Top

Engineering survey 2013

50

Ranking 2013

Government Engineering Colleges A Perception-based Survey

Engineering Colleges

Name of Institute

City NationalRanking

Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur

Kharagpur

1

Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

Bombay

2

Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee

Roorkee

3

Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur

Kanpur

4

Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi

Delhi

5

Indian Institute of Technology, Madras

Chennai

6

Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi

Varanasi

7

International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad

Hyderabad

8

National Institute of Technology, Surathkal

Surathkal

9

Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati

Guwahati

10

ISMU Dhanbad

Dhanbad

11

Jamia Milia Islamia, Faculty of Engineering and Technology

New Delhi

12

DCE Delhi (Delhi Technological University)

Delhi

13

National Institute of Technology, Trichy

Tiruchirapalli

14

National Institute of Technology, Warangal

Warangal

15

Netaji Subash Institute of Technology, Delhi

Delhi

16

National Institute of Technology, Rourkela

Rourkela

17

Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad

Allahabad

18

Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology

Surat

19

National Institute of Technology, Calicut

Calicut

20

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Indian Institute of Technology and Management

Gwalior

21

Jadavpur University, Faculty of Engineering

Calcutta

22

National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra

Kurukshetra

23

Indian Institute of Technology, Indore

Indore

24

Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad

Hyderabad

25

Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology

Nagpur

26

National Institute of Technology, Durgapur

Durgapur

27

Mumbai Institute of Chemical Technology (UDCT)

Mumbai

28

Indian Institute of Technology, Rajasthan

Jodhpur

29

Indian Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar

30

Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar

Ropar

31

International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore

Bangalore

32

Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar

Gandhinagar

33

College of Engineering, Anna University

Chennai

34

National Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur

Jamshedpur

35

Assam University

Silchar

36

Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology

Bhopal

37

National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur

Hamirpur

38

National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar

Jalandhar

39

Indian Institute of Technology, Patna

Patna

40

National Institute of Technology, Srinagar

Srinagar

41

National Institute of Technology, Patna

Patna

42

National Institute of Technology, Agartala

Tripura

43

Bengal Engineering and Science University Shibpur

Howrah

44

National Institute of Technology, Raipur

Raipur

45

Malaviya National Institute of Technology

Jaipur

46

International Institute of Information Technology

Pune

47

IIIT Jabalpur (PDPM Indian Institute of Information Technology Design & Manufacture)

Jabalpur

48

Indian Institute of Technology, Mandi

Mandi

49

North Eastern Regional Institute of Science & Technology

Itanagar

50

10

June 2013 / digitalLEARNING

SAL Education Campus Promoted By Adarch Foundation Affiliated by Gujarat Technological Uniersity, Ahmedabad Opp to Science City, Sola Bhadaj Road, Ahmedabad-38006060 Tele/Fax: 079/ 29700310

Website: www.sal.edu.in

Approved By: AICTE & PCI

VISION : This institute aims to be a leading institute with significant international impact and strong local commitment. As a leading Technical institute in India it contributes to economic and social development of nation. It provides facilities for R& D, Consultancy to encourage IndustryInstitute interaction.

Final goal of the management is to see this institute autonomous as leading deemed university creating

Various Programs Conducted in SAL Campus (For the year 2013-2014)

B. Pharm | B.Tech. | M.Tech. | M.B.A. | International School 

SAL INSTITUTE OF PHARMACY (B.Pharm)



SAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING RESEARCH - B.Tech. (Electronics & Communications, Mechanical, Civil, Computer, Electrical, Automobile) M.Tech. (Electronics & Communications, Civil, Mechanical)



SAL COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, B.Tech. (Electronics & Communications, Mechanical, Civil, Computer, Information Technology, Chemical) M. Tech. (Mechanical)



SAL INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT (M.B.A)



SAL INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

Engineering

Engineering survey 2013

Ranking 2013

Engineering Colleges in Central India Madhya Pradesh, often referred as the ‘Heart of India’, is a fast growing education hub of the country. The state boasts of having some of the most popular institutes of national importance including an IIT, IIM and IIIT.

Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh Government Institutes Name of Institute City

Rank Based on Public Choice

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Indian Institute of Technology & Management

Gwalior

21

IIT Indore

Indore

24

MANIT Bhopal

Bhopal

37

NIT Raipur

Raipur

45

IIIT Jabalpur (PDPM Indian Institute of Information Technology Design & Manufacture)

Jabalpur 48

Private Institutes Name of Institute City digitalLEARNING Ranking

*Map not to scale

Promising Institutes Name of Institute

City

Institute of Engineering and Science, IPS Academy

Bhopal

Jabalpur Engineering College

Jabalpur

Madhav Institute of Technology and Science

Gwalior

Mahakal Institute of Technology

Ujjain

Medi-Caps Institute of Technology and Management

Bhopal

Oriental Institute of Science & Technology

Gwalior

Rewa Engineering College

Rewa

Rustamji Institute of Technology

Tekanpur

Samrat Ashok Technological Institute

Vidisha

Institute of Engineering and Technology (DAVV)

Indore

AA

Shri Vaishnav Institute of Technology and Science

Indore

Institute of Technology and Management

Gwalior

A+

Ujjain Engineering College

Ujjain

Laxmi Narayan College of Technology

Bhopal

AA

Sanghvi Institute of Management and Science

Indore

A+

Shri G S Institute of Technology and Science

Indore

AA+

Bhopal

AA+

Barkatullah UniversityUniversity Institute of Technology

12

June 2013 / digitalLEARNING

Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management, Gwalior was recognised as a Deemed University in 2001and is one of the most preferred institutions in the central zone

education.eletsonline.com

Engineering Colleges in East and the Northeast India The region has some of the best educational institutions in the country, including IIT Kharagpur and IIM Calcutta. The region also has IIT Patna and NITs in Rourkela, Durgapur, Jamshedpur and Patna. We have also included the institutes from the northeastern states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura in the zone.

Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura Government Institutes Name of Institute City

IIT Guwahati

*Map not to scale

Name of Institute City digitalLEARNING Ranking Birla Institute of Technology

Deogarh

A+

Birla Institute of Technology

Patna

AA

10

Birla Institute of Technology

Mesra

AA+

36

Birla Institute of Technology

Ranchi

AA+

Rank Based on Public Choice

Guwahati

Private Institutes

Assam University

Silchar

North Eastern Regional Institute of Science & Technology

Itanagar 42

National Institute of Technology, Agartala

Agartala

43

Promising Institutes

Odisha & West Bengal Government Institutes Name of Institute City

Rank Based on Public Choice

IIT Kharagpur

Kharagpur

1

NIT Rourkela

Rourkela

17

NIT Durgapur

Durgapur

27

Name of Institute

City

National Institute of Technology

Shillong

National Institute of Technology

Aizawl

Jadavpur University, Faculty of Engineering

Calcutta

22

Tezpur University

Tezpur

IIT Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar

30

Bengal Engineering & Sceince University

Howrah

44

Bihar, Chattisgarh & Jharkhand Government Institutes Name of Institute City

Private Institutes

Rank Based on Public Choice

Name of Institute City digitalLEARNING Ranking

ISMU

Dhanbad 11

AA

Jamshedpur

35

Asansol Engineering College

Asansol

NIT Jamshedpur IIT Patna

Patna

40

KIIT

Bhubaneswar

AA+

NIT Patna

Patna

50

Shiksha ‘O’ Anusandhan University

Bhubaneswar

A+

West Bengal University of Technology

Kolkata

A+

IIT Kharagpur became the most sought after institution by securing maximum number of votes in our perception survey

Promising Institutes Name of Institute

City

College of Engineering & Technology

Bhubaneswar

Haldia Institute of Technology

Haldia

Kalyani Govt Engineering College

Kalyani

University College of Engineering (VSSUT)

Burla

digitalLEARNING / June 2013

13

Engineering

Engineering survey 2013

Ranking 2013

Engineering Colleges in North India North India has emerged as one of the most populated hubs of upcoming engineering and technical institutions in the country. This region is also a prominent cluster for higher education in the country.

Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand Government Institutes Name of Institute City

Punjab and Haryana Government Institutes

Rank Based on Public Choice

Name of Institute City

*Map not to scale

Rank Based on Public Choice

NIT Kurukshetra

Kurukshetra

23

IIT Roorkee

Roorkee

493

IIT Ropar

Ropar

31

NIT Hamirpur

Hamirpur

3 38

NIT Jalandhar

Jalandhar

39

NIT Srinagar

Srinagar

3841

IIT Mandi

Mandi

4149

Private Institutes Name of Institute City digitalLEARNING Ranking

Private Institutes Name of Institute City digitalLEARNING Ranking

CT Institute of Engineering, Management & Technology

Jalandhar

A A+

Roorkee

49 AA

Guru Nanak Dev University -Main Campus

Amritsar

College of Engineering Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidyalaya

Haridwar

3AA

ITM University

Gurgaon

38

Lovely Professional University

Phagwara

Jaypee University of Information Technology

Solan

Faridabad

Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University

Jammu Tawi

Manav Rachna International University Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology

Longowal

Swami Parmanand College of Engineering & Technology

Chandigarh

Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology

Patiala

41 A+

IIT Roorkee is among the world’s best institutions and has contributed immensly to the technical education sector in India over the past 150 years

14

June 2013 / digitalLEARNING

AA

A AA+ AA AA A+ AAA+

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Promising Institutes

Promising Institutes Name of Institute

City

Beant College of Engineering and Technology

Gurdaspur

Guru Tegh Bahadur Institute of Technology

New Delhi

Chandigarh Engineering College

Mohali

New Delhi

Chitkara Institute of Engineering and Technology

Rajpura

Jamia Milia Islamia, Faculty of Engineering and Technology

College of Agricultural Engg. & Technology, Punjab Agricultural University

Ludhiana

Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology

New Delhi

Maharaja Surajmal Institute of Technology

New Delhi

DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology

Jalandhar

Deen Bandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology

Murthal

Dr. BR Ambedkar National Institute of Technology

Jalandar

Giani Zail Singh College of Engineering and Technology

Bathinda

Guru Nanak Dev University Regional Campus

Jalandhar

Guru Nanak Dev University Regional Campus

Gurdaspur

PEC University of Technology (Formerly Punjab Engineering College)

Chandigarh

Rayat and Bahra Institute of Engineering and Bio-Technology

Mohali

Shaheed Bhagat Singh College of Engineering

Firozpur

University College of Engineering (UCoE), Punjabi University

Patiala

Accurate Institute of Management & Technology

Greater Noida

A

University Institute of Chemical Engineering & Technology, Panjab University

Chandigarh

Amity School of Engineering & Technology

Noida

A+

University Institute of Engineering & Technology

Kurukshetra

Galgotias College of Engineering & Technology

Greater Noida

A+

University Institute of Engineering & Technology, Panjab University

Chandigarh

Mangalayatan University

Aligarh

A+

YMCA University of Science and Technology

Faridabad

Shiv Nadar University

Chithera

AA+

Name of Institute

City

Uttar Pradesh Government Institutes Name of Institute City

Rank Based on Public Choice

IIT-BHU

Varanasi 7

IIT Kanpur

Kanpur

4

Private Institutes Name of Institute City digitalLEARNING Ranking

New Delhi Government Institutes Name of Institute City

Rank Based on Public Choice

IIT Delhi

Delhi

5

DCE Delhi (Delhi Technological University)

Delhi

13

Netaji Subash Institute of Technology, Delhi

Delhi

16

Located in the heart of the country’s capital, IIT Delhi is known for its excellent infrastructure, research activities and quality faculty members

digitalLEARNING / June 2013

15

Engineering

Engineering survey 2013

Ranking 2013

Engineering Colleges in South India

An abode of dance, clothing, and sculptures, the South Zone in India also has the largest market size in the education sector to its credit. The region offers a range of good institutions for aspiring students to choose from.

Kerala and Tamil Nadu Private Institutes

*Map not to scale

Name of Institute City digitalLEARNING Ranking Amrita Institute of Technology & Science

Coimbatore

AAA+

B.S. Abdur Rahman University

Chennai

A

Bannari Amman Insitute of Technology

Erode

Bharath University

Government Institutes Name of Institute City

Rank Based on Public Choice

IIT Madras

Chennai

NIT Trichy

Tiruchirapalli

143

A

NIT Calicut

Calicut

2038

Chennai

A

College of Engineering, Anna University

Chennai

41 34

Hindustan Institute of Technology & Science

Chennai

AAA

Karunya University

Coimbatore

A

MEPCO Schlenk Engineering College

Sivakasi

A+ AAA+

PSNA College of Dindigul Engineering and Technology

AA+

SASTRA Thanjavur

Thanjavur

A

Satyabhama Engineering College

Chennai

A+

Sona College of Technology Salem

AA

Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi Vishwa Mahavidyalaya

Kancheepuram

A

Sri Sai Ram Engineering College

Chennai

A

Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar College of Engineering

Kalavakkam

AAA

SRM Engineering College, SRM University

Kattankulathur

AAA

SSN College of Engineering Chennai

AA

Thiagarajar College of Engineering

AAA+

Madurai

Vel Tech Rangrajan Dr Chennai Sagunthala R&D Institute of Science & Technology Vellore Institute of Technology

16

Promising Institutes Name of Institute

PSG College of Technology Coimbatore Coimbatore

Vellore

June 2013 / digitalLEARNING

649

City

Coimbatore Institute of Technology

Coimbatore

College of Engineering

Thiruvananthapuram

Govt College of Engineering

Coimbatore

Mepco Schlenk Engineering College

Virudhunagar

T K M College of Engineering

Karicode

A

AAA+

IIT Madras is popular for excellent infrastructure and good faculty

Engineering

Engineering survey 2013

Ranking 2013

Karnataka Government Institutes Name of Institute City

Andhra Pradesh Government Institutes Rank Based on Public Choice

NIT Surathkal

Surathkal

9

IIIT Bangalore

Bangalore

32

Private Institutes Name of Institute City digitalLEARNING Ranking

Name of Institute City

Rank Based on Public Choice

IIIT Hyderabad

Hyderabad

8

NIT Warangal

Warangal

15

IIT Hyderabad

Hyderabad

25

Private Institutes

Acharya Institute of Technology

Bangalore

AA+

Name of Institute City digitalLEARNING Ranking

Bangalore Institute of Technology

Bangalore

AAA

Andhra University College of Visakapatanam Engineering

AA

Dayanand Sagar College of Engineering

Bangalore

AA+

Dr Ambedkar Institue of Technology

Bangalore

AA

BMS College of Engineering Bangalore Christ University

Bangalore

AAA+

AAA

CMR Institute of Technology Bangalore

A+

Dayananda Sagar Group of Institution

Bangalore

AA

G Pulla Reddy Engineering College (Autonomous)

Karnool

A+

JSS Academy of Technical Education

Bangalore

AA

GITAM Institute of Technology

Visakapatanam

AA+

KLE Society’s BV Bhoomaraddi College of Engineering & Technology

Hubli

AA

JNTU College of Engineering

Anantapur

AA+

M S Ramaiah Institute of Technology

Bangalore

AAA+

JNTU College of Engineering

Kakinada

AA+

Manipal Institute of Technology

Manipal

AAA+

JNTU Hyderabad

Hyderabad

AAA+

KL University

Guntur

AAA+

National Institute of Engineering

Mysore

A+

Malla Reddy Engineering College

Secunderabad

AAA

Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology

Yelahanka

AA

NMAM Institue of Technology, NITTE

Karkala

AA+

Vallurupalli Nageswara Rao Hyderabad Vignana Joythi Institute of Engineering and Technology

P E. S College of Engineering

Mandya

A

Vasavi College of Engineering

PES Institute of Technology

Bangalore

AAA+

RV College of Engineering

Bangalore

AAA+

Name of Institute

AA

Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology

Hyderabad

College of Engineering, Osmania University

Hyderabad

Gayatri Vidya Parishad College of Engineering (Autonomous)

Visakhapatnam

ICFAI University

Hyderabad

Sapthagiri College of Engineering

Bangalore

AAA

Hyderabad AAA

Promising Institutes City

SDM College of Engineering Dharwad

AA+

Shri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering

Mysore

AAA

Siddaganga Institue of Technology

Tumkur

AA+

Sir M Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology

Bangalore

A+

Sree Vidyanikethan Engineering College

Tirupati

University Visversvaraya College of Engineering

Bangalore

AAA

Sreenidhi Institute of Science & Technology

Hyderabad

18

June 2013 / digitalLEARNING

Engineering

Engineering survey 2013

Ranking 2013

Engineering Colleges in West India Western India is perhaps the most popular education cluster in India with cities like Pune and Maharshtra in the region. The zone offers excellent infrastructure, advanced industrialisation and a preferred destination among Indian and foreign students.

Gujarat Government Institutes Name of Institute City

*Map not to scale

Promising Institutes Rank Based on Public Choice

Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology

Surat

IIT-Gandhinagar

Gandhinagar 46

19

Name of Institute

City

Birla Vishvakarma Mahavidyalaya (Engineering College)

Anand

Dharamsin Desai University

Nadiad

Faculty of Technology & Engineering, MS University

Baroda

Maharashtra & Goa Government Institutes

Private Institutes Name of Institute City digitalLEARNING Ranking

Name of Institute City

Dhirubhai Ambani-IICT Gandhinagar

IIT Bombay

Mumbai

2

Gandhinagar AAA

VNIT Nagpur

Nagpur

26

Nirma University of Science & Technology

Ahmedabad

Mumbai Institute of Chemical Technology (UDCT)

Mumbai 28

International Institute of Information Technology

Pune

SAL Institute of Technology & Engineering Research

AAA

Ahmedabad AA

Rank Based on Public Choice

47

IIT Bombay has carved a niche for itself in the heart of engineering aspirants not only for its excellence in academia but also for its cultural activities

20

June 2013 / digitalLEARNING

Engineering

Engineering survey 2013

Ranking 2013

Private Institutes Name of Institute City digitalLEARNING Ranking

Rajasthan Government Institutes

Army Institute of Technology

Pune

A

Name of Institute City

Rank Based on Public Choice

DJ Sangvi College of Engineering

Mumbai

AA+

IIT Rajasthan

Jodhpur

29

MNIT Jaipur

Jaipur

46

Don Bosco Institute of Technology, Mumbai

Mumbai

A+

Dwarkadas J Sanghvi College of Engineering

Mumbai

AAA+

Goa College of Engineering

Ponda

A

KJ Somaiya College of Engineering

Mumbai

AA

Arya Institute of Engineering & Technology

Jaipur

AA

Maharashtra Academy of Engineering

Alandi

A

Banasthali University

Banasthali

AAA

Maharshtra Instt of Tech

Pune

A+

Birla Institute of Technology and Science

Pilani

AAA+

National Power Training Institute

Nagpur A+

Jaipur Engineering College and Research Centre

Jaipur

AAA+

NMIMS College of Engineering (MPST&M)

Mumbai AAA

NIIT University

Neemrana

AAA+

Pradnya Niketan Education Society Nagesh Karajagi Orchid College of Engineering & Technology

Solapur

Sardar Patel Coll of Engg

Mumbai

AAA

Sinhgad College of Engineering

Pune

A+

Symbiosis International University

Pune

Veermata Jiabai Technological Institute (VJTI)

Private Institutes Name of Institute City digitalLEARNING Ranking

A

Promising Institutes Name of Institute

City

Gyan Vihar College of Engineering & Technology

Jaipur

I I S University

Jaipur

AAA

Jai Narayan Vyas University

Jodhpur

Mumbai

AAA+

LNM Institute of Information Technology

Jaipur

Vishwakarma Institute of Information Technology

Pune

A+

Mody Institute of Technology & Science

Lakshmangarh

Vivekanand Education Society’s Institute of Technology

Chembur

A+

Swami Keshvanand Inst of Tech Management & Gramothan

Jaipur

National Institute of Technology

Goa

AAA+

University College of Engineering, Rajasthan Technical University

Kota

Situated in a well-equipped 100-acre campus, NIIT University draws many engineering aspirants to the state

22

June 2013 / digitalLEARNING

Engineering

Engineering survey 2013

Ranking 2013

Top

30

Engineering Colleges

Private Engineering Colleges India has undergone unmatched growth in the field of engineering education sector over the past six years. Keeping in view the rapid developments in the sector, we have analysed the data based on relevant parameters, like faculty, and we have also studied online student reviews on different education portals to take an informed decision.

Name of Institute

City

Zone

State

Birla Institute of Technology & Science

Pilani

West

Rajasthan

1

Birla Institute of Technology

Mesra

East

Jharkhand

2

Birla Institute of Technology

Ranchi

East

Jharkhand

3

VJTI Mumbai

Mumbai

West

Maharashtra

4

Manipal Institute of Technology Manipal

Manipal

South

Karnataka

5

DJ Sanghvi College of Engineering

Mumbai

West

Maharashtra

6

PES Institute of Technology

Bangalore

South

Karnataka

7

RV College of Engineering

Bangalore

South

Karnataka

8

PSG College of Technology

Coimbatore

South

Tamil Nadu

9

Thapar University (Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology)

Patiala

North

Punjab

10

Christ University

Bangalore

South

Karnataka

11

JNTU College of Engineering

Hyderabad

South

Andhra Pradesh

12

Institute of Technology, Nirma University

Ahmedabad

West

Gujarat

13

Thiagarajar College of Engineering

Madurai

South

Tamil Nadu

14

Symbiosis International University

Pune

West

Maharashtra

15

VIT University (Vellore Institute of Technology)

Vellore

South

Tamil Nadu

16

KL University (Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation)

Vijaywada

South

Andhra Pradesh

17

Shiv Nadar University (SNU)

Dadri

North

Uttar Pradesh

18

Shri GS Institute of Technology and Science

Indore

Central

Madhya Pradesh

19

Jaipur Engineering College and Research Centre (JECRC)

Jaipur

West

Rajasthan

20

SRM University (SRM Institute of Sciences and Technology)

Chennai

South

Tamil Nadu

21

Hindustan University (HITS)

Kancheepuram

South

Tamil Nadu

22

Lovely Professional University

Jalandhar

North

Punjab

23

Vallurupalli Nageswara Rao Vignana Joythi Institute of Engineering and Technology

Hyderabad

South

Andhra Pradesh

24

Amity University ( School of Engineering)

Noida

North

Uttar Pradesh

25

M S Ramaiah Institute of Technology

Bangalore

South

Karnataka

26

Kalinga Insitute of Industrial Technology (KIIT University)

Bhubaneswar

East

Odisha

27

University Institute of Technology, Barkatullah University

Bhopal

Central

Madhya Pradesh

28

NIIT University

Neemrana

West

Rajasthan

29

Malla Reddy Institute of Technology and Sciences

Secunderabad

South

Andhra Pradesh

30

24

June 2013 / digitalLEARNING

National Rank

perspective

education.eletsonline.com

Envisioning the Quality of Technical Education Prof U B Desai, Director, IIT Hyderabad

Technology is changing very rapidly. Knowledge gets doubled in a period of eight years. But it may be even four years. If you take engineering education of four years duration, by the time a student completes his programme, the knowledge may have got doubled and hence, the industry-academia gap.

Prof K Lal Kishore, Vice Chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehru Technical University, Anantapur, Hyderabad

One of the things that we need to bring into our education system is a lot more emphasis on innovation, research and development, entrepreneurship, and creative design because no engineering development is ever going to hit the market unless creative design goes into it.

There has to be a focus in engineering education where we do not simply talk about the pedagogy of education, but instill in our students that they have to be job creators and not job seekers.

Accreditation is the health checkup of an institution. If it is done by the correct diagnostic centre, it gets to know its strengths and weaknesses and other challenges that the body is facing and accordingly initiate remedial measures are taken.

Accreditation has dual functions: assessment and reformation.

Assessment takes place both by internal quality assurance by the institution as well as the peer team. Reformation happens when institutions are responsive to the suggestions made by the peer team.

Prof H A Ranganath, Director, National Assessment Accreditation Council and Former VC, Bangalore University

digitalLEARNING / June 2012

25

perspective

The three problems faced

by India are: pedagogy or the design of the curriculum, delivery of the pedagogy and the readiness of a teacher to adapt to the dynamic needs of the pedagogy processes.

Prof V Panduranga Rao, Director, IMT, Hyderabad Campus University

We are keen on digitising the libraries in the state so that there can be proper accounting of the journals, which are purchased and the students will be able to access them.

We are coming up with a very comprehensive scheme for the same purpose.

Gagan Kumar Dhal, Principal Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Government of Odisha

Prof V S Rao, Director, BITS Hyderabad Campus

I want to request the AICTE and other organisations concerned with engineering education to seriously think about the engineering practices, overhauling the curriculum, changing the pedagogy and addressing the problems of the faculty. You cannot transform engineering education without transforming your faculty.

Meritorious students should be identified and sent to excellent universities abroad to do research and they should come back and teach in India. Priority should also be given to giving rewards and recognition for educational innovations.

Dr Sanjiv Tokekar, Director, Institute of Engineering and Technology, Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya

Prof Dr G Tulasi Ram Das, Vice Chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Kakinada

A beautiful educational landscape with technologydriven solutions is ahead of us. It will make the learning process in the four walls of the classrooms interesting.

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June 2013 / digitalLEARNING

Our enrolment ratio has scaled three times from about 49 lakh in 1991 to about 1.5 crores at present. This is a problem created because of massification, a term given by UNESCO. Massification has also given way to unethical practices in the system. Education, these days runs as a business.

We have to bring in discipline and some kind of shifts and changes, which everybody will have to do it, something small or big, whether it is teachers, students, the attitude of students, the social system, the infrastructure or the library. Everybody will have to bring a change which has to happen over a period of time so that we will be able to bring in a quality education system in the near future.

Dr Kuncheria P Isaac, Member Secretary, AICTE

education.eletsonline.com

India’s GER (Gross Enrolment Ratio) is 16 percent whereas the world average is 27 percent. Thus, expansion of higher education particularly technical education is the most important reform that the country requires as opposed to centralisation of power, as is suggested by most pending government bills. Instead, the government should be liberal, should encourage competition and through competition we will achieve quality, be able to cut down the prices and bridge the gap between different states in the higher education sector. I also believe more private institutes should be provided with greater autonomy.

Dr G Viswanathan, Founder & Chancellor, VIT University, Coimbatore

I have visited now about 200 colleges in GTU, and I believe if we cannot have discipline, we should not ask for a world class university in India. There have also been issues about lack of industry-institute interaction, but my suggestion is don’t go to the large industries. They are good for seeing or tour, but not for learning for students.

On the issue of autonomy of institutions, one should copy the west intelligently. We will doom all the autonomous institutions to remain third-rate for all time to come, if they do not have two to three world class teachers. According to a study, Indian institutions did not even make to the list of top ten technical institutes in Asia. The way out is to be ruthless in quality, supporting the institutions financially and giving them sufficient autonomy.

By the year 2025, there will be 47 million youths and there should be 52 million job opportunities to employ everyone. There is a common complain that the industries do not come forward. However, the truth is that industries operate in silos. Some people prefer to go and deliver a guest lecture, some of them allow students to visit them, and some of them will come Lokesh Mehra, forward and donate equipment. Director, Education Also, as far as the curriculum Advocacy, Microsoft is concerned, the board of study sits twice or thrice a year. So the curriculum is not updated often.

Prof S Ramesh Babu, Associate Vice President, Education & Research, Infosys

Dr Akshai Aggarwal, Vice-Chancellor, Gujarat Technological University, Ahmedabad

We need to connect to the stakeholders and get a lot of insights from them to make our programmes relevant, flexible and useful to our people.

digitalLEARNING / June 2012

27

tech possible

Skills Development and Training for Engineers By

Dr Haresh Tank,

Director, Station-e Language Lab

I

n the world of internationalised operations, the industry wants knowledge workers rather than mere subject experts for the 21st century workspace. Today, it does not suffice for an engineer to merely possess the technical knowledge, but requires a host of soft skills to make him/her more employment ready. Engineering education is screaming for a transformation. Mere transmission of subject knowledge of engineering is not going to help addressthe issue of employability of engineers. They require to be trained not only in their subjects, but also in terms of soft skills and life skills such as critical think-

institutes, engineering colleges, universities and several other educational institutions. We have evolved futuristic training programmes designed to cater to the demand of soft skills training for engineering students. We have embedded technology deep into our training to ensure that learners have a customised and personalised learning experience.

We use activity based learning, which gives personalised experience to the learner and addresses the requirement and need of a particular learner. The soft skills modules developed by Statione can be implemented by incorporating them into the curriculum of engineering so that it becomes a systemic change

changes can be brought about by incorporating soft skills into the core of engineering education. Station-e serves as the model for such a transformation of the scores of engineers whom we have trained and it is fast becoming a nationwide phenomenon.

Mere transmission of subject knowledge of engineering is not going to help address the issue of employability of engineers ing, problem solving and communication proficiency. The reason for that is the industry is finding lesser number of employable engineers and a large number of engineers find themselves unemployed despite engineering credentials. This gap requires to be addressed in a way that benefits both the industry and engineers.

Station-e stands synonymous with skills development and training. As a training company, we have established language labs, skills development centres and digital classrooms across the wide spectrum of management

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June 2013 / digitalLEARNING

and is rendered mandatory for the system and the students. The prospects of employment for engineering students can be transformed if they could be trained for soft skills and systemic

Dr Haresh Tank

Dr Haresh Tank is the Director of Station-e Language Lab. He is in charge of conceptualising and operationalising initiatives with a special focus on Skills Development.

He holds a doctorate in Statistics and is a noted Statistical Analyst. He was also nominated for Young Scientist Award. With a passion for teaching and contributing to the society, he continues to serve as Associate Professor in Statistics. As the Director, Station-e Language Lab, he has initiated several projects in the realm of Skills Development with government and private companies

tech possible

education.eletsonline.com

Resource Planning at Engineering Institutions

E

RP (Enterprise resource planning) is management software that enables any organisation to use a nexus of integrated applications to manage the business efficiently. A typical ERP may consist of various individual modules that address different functional areas for any business entity including education sector, and leads towards its seamless functioning.

Need for ERP Due to its ever growing and competitive nature, higher education sector has always been in need of a quality ERP solution that could prove to be a core

built to fit the specific requirements of the education industry.

Utilities of higher education ERP Registration and Admission, Student Management, Course Management, Examination. Evaluation and Transcript Generation, Library Management System, Fee Management System, HR Management & Payroll, Financial, Transport management, Attendance and Leave Management (for faculty with biometric integration), Attendance Management (for students) Hostel Management, Inventory Management, Student Placement, Alumni Management, Communication Tools, Student / Parent/

There is a need for a solution that is purpose-built to fit the specific requirements of the education industry resource planning tool, and can serve to efficiently automate institution’s day to day business processes.

The role of any higher educational institution in today’s world is not limited to imparting education alone, but to systematically and efficiently manage to handle varied activities including admissions, library and hostel management, placements, finance management, etc. This has necessitated an urge for simplifying and automating these processes via reliable campus management ERP solution.

The ability of an educational institution to implement world-class processes is often hindered by the absence of a single efficient system. Besides, the problem is compounded by the dependence on several legacy softwares that do not communicate with each other. Thus, the need is for a solution that is purpose-

Faculty and Management log in (for viewing relevant data in real time) Customisation: Limited and essential customisation has to be carried out to incorporate the socio-economic requirements of the locality along with certain process flow in certain modules like admission, examination, etc.

Benefits of educational ERP

Some of the prominent benefits of educational ERP are: • Offers ease of working as well as convenience by simplifying different working departments into functional links • Simplifies the arduous task of handling student records and student lifecycle management commencing from enquiry to admission and followed till student gets suitably placed and

becomes an alumnus • Facilitates reports being readily available for different purposes and weeds out data redundancy • Proper accountability of 3M’s (Manpower, Money and Material) • Communication tools for staff, students and parents. Students feel at ease to login to their login screen for all information such as attendance, timetables/schedules, reports cards, project assessments, event schedules, internal assessments and course materials • Reduced manpower and less dependability on staff, centralised control, MIS reports at finger tips from any location • Institutes gain from ERP for their campuses, from quick decision-making The entire functioning of the institute can be simplified, streamlined and integrated, thereby improving the overall performance and productivity

Emergence of a leading ERP solution Realising the dearth of quality ERP solution, a Delhi-based company Entab Infotech pvt Ltd undertook the responsibility to provide educational fraternity with a dependable ERP solution in the year 2000.

With persistent research and careful monitoring of ever changing dynamics of educational sector, Entab, with its flagship product CampusCare has accomplished the cause to a larger extent and continues its pursuit of betterment.

Already into the 13th year of excellence with over 1,000 satisfied clientele within India and overseas, they have carved a niche for themselves in educational ERP sector. Today, their flagship product CampusCare is identified to be a benchmark for “ready to be deployed” comprehensive quality ERP solution.

digitalLEARNING / June 2013

29

tech Quick possible Chat

Q& TekEdge for Engineering Institutions A

Globarena Technologies has 13 years of experience in providing education services.

VSN Raju, Chief Executive Officer, Globarena Technologies, shares details on how they are empowering learning in engineering institutions with TekEdge solution

How do you see engineering education in India?

With India having over 3,400 engineering institutions offering engineering education in different faculties, students looking to acquire technical education today have a wide spectrum of institutions to choose from unlike in the past where only the IITs, NITs and a few prominent engineering institutions were preferred. And now with education gaining an industry status, it has become important especially for the engineering institutions to compete and to become the most preferred or highly ranked, as it will help them solicit admissions to sustain and progress.

Today, like any corporate enterprise in the foray to succeed; the engineering institutions too need to solicit admissions by projecting their ranking and USPs, which is something unheard of in the past. Many aspirants are choosing engineering institutions depending on their personal preferences and needs.

Some of the primary factors that influence an engineering aspirant’s choice while selecting an institution are:

• Curricular aspects • Quality of faculty • Pedagogy and past student performance • Infrastructure • Student support and development • Placements and higher education possibility • Financial parameters Given the above factors it’s crucial for engineering institutions to constantly evolve by reinventing themselves by adopting new systems and practices to be graded as the most sought-after institution in order to meet the changing

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June 2013 / digitalLEARNING

VSN Raju

preferences and needs of engineering aspirants.

How do you equip engineering institutions with your innovative solutions?

As an organization operating in the learning and assessment space Globarena Technologies endeavours has always been to empower engineering institutions in standardising course deliveries, adopting the best teaching pedagogy and work on all-round student development that can bring them recognition.

To equip engineering institutions in addressing the changing preferences of engineering aspirants and to empower them with standardised course delivery, Globarena Technologies have launched TekEdge, which is a faculty driven teaching tool consisting engineering e-content, which is integrated with ICT tools like digital boards, tablet PC’s, mobile phones, etc. The e-content offered through TekEdge is mapped to the syllabus of all major Indian Universities that offer engineering programs.

The content proposed through TekEdge has been thoroughly reviewed and endorsed by expert academicians with real-time teaching experience, who have ascertained the best teaching pedagogy to explain critical engineering concepts for best outcome regarding faculty and student modules. All the modules are

rich with animation, image, voice over, etc to explain critical concepts wherever required.

What are the benefits of Globarena’s TekEdge solution for engineering institutions?

TekEdge offers scalability, as it can be deployed on the institutions intranet as well as online to facilitate 24/7 access to faculties and student. All relevant engineering e-Content can be used by them in their teaching and learning endeavours. TekEdge is a solution that engineering institutions can use to overcome challenges faced in classroom deliveries due to the unavailability of quality faculty, as it can be used by inexperienced faculties effectively to produce better outcome/result. In this phase of unprecedented growth of engineering institution, TekEdge is a pertinent solution for many engineering institutions situated in the rural and semi-rural regions through which we can compete to become the most preferred institution in their regions as TekEdge empowers their faculties and students with the best teaching-learning experience at an affordable cost. Moreover, by integrating TekEdge with ICT tools, colleges can practice collaborative teaching-learning.

TekEdge comes with a clear and scientifically designed and secure hierarchical model/Learning Management System (LMS) that ensure flawless scheduling that can be used by institution administrators, faculties and students. The LMS through with TekEdge is delivered to engineering institution and can also be used to provide e-content on generic skill training especially pre-placement training. It will come handy to support students in their holistic training and development to make them well-rounded professionals of tomorrow.

tech possible

education.eletsonline.com

New Gen, Performance Optimised Thin Client and Server Solution

By Joe Chang, Director-Sales, Atrust Computer Corporation

F

ounded in 2007, Atrust noticed that most enterprises do not utilise their computing resources efficiently. The observation led Atrust to focus their work on providing customers with high quality, high efficiency and environmentally friendly products, and comprehensive solutions.

Atrust provides a wide selection of efficiency ARM based and high performance x86 Thin Clients, PCoIP Zero Clients, cost effective WMS Zero Clients, and powerful Servers (Mini, Tower and Rack Mount) meant to meet the budget and high performance requirements for various IT solutions. Atrust products support server-based computing environment and industryleading virtualisation solutions from VMware, Citrix, and Microsoft.

Solutions for educational institutions Based on Microsoft Windows MultiPoint Server 2012 and Userful Multiplatform, Atrust offers an integrated system solution, incorporating host server (st110A) and zero clients (m300/m302/m320).

Connecting zero clients to the host server directly through a USB cable (for m300/m302) or an Ethernet cable (for m320), users have their own independent monitor, keyboard and mouse. According to a study done by Microsoft, using Windows MultiPoint Server and zero

Cloud-based solutions

Joe Chang client customer can lower their TCO cost by 66 percent.

Based on Microsoft Server 2012 and Server 2008R2, Atrust offers a server-based computing solution that supports 30~100 users running concurrently. Incorporating Atrust Servers (Mini, Tower and Rack Mount) and Atrust ARM based Linux thin clients (t60/t62/t63), mobile thin client (mt100) and all-in-one thin client (a100T), VDI and session-based desktop experiences are well created.

Atrust server-based computing solutions drive balance of economics and density for better performance, reliability, scalability and manageability in enhanced virtualization environment and cloud application.

Atrust offers a new generation of performance-optimised thin clients that enable education institutes and enterprise customers to deliver virtualised desktops and apps with the best performance at an appealing cost.

Atrust thin clients support major virtual desktop protocols, solutions, and high-definition technologies, such as Microsoft (RDP, RemoteFX), Citrix (ICA, HDX, XenApp, XenDesktop, and VDI-ina-Box), VMware (PCoIP, View, and Horizon View), etc. Atrust thin clients offer a rich computing experience where applications look, feel, and behave like local devices.

Atrust servers are designed for client/server computing, and are capable of providing remote desktop environment to meet the needs of various IT environments. They support a wide range of operation systems including Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008R2, Windows MultiPoint Server 2012, VMware ESXi, Citrix XenServer, Citrix VDI-in-a-Box, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and Userful Multiplatform.

Atrust servers are reliable and multipurpose servers for education institution and enterprises.

(For more information please log on to www.atrustcorp.com)

digitalLEARNING / June 2013

31

in conversation Quick Chat

Q& Enhancing Research Activities A Prof (Dr) Dilip K Bandhyopadhyay, Vice Chancellor of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi, is a visionary leader in India’s management education community in modern times. A gold medalist in his master’s degree, a PhD in Computer Applications, a fellow from ESSEC Business School, Paris, and an inspiring professional, Dr Bandyopadhyay has spent 36 years of his career in inspiring students, academia, corporate and non-corporate heads, and policy makers to raise their excellence to the next level. He emphasises that there is a serious crunch of quality faculty members who can inspire our young learners The Indian education sector has come a long way. What are the new trends you foresee?

This is an interesting phase of Indian education. Some of the new trends in Indian education are Public-Private Partnership (PPP), focus on quality education and impetus being given to research and development. According to me, the relevance of PPP model would grow in times to come. India is targeting to take its GER (Gross Enrollment Ratio) to 30 per cent of students in 18 to 25 years of age, who go for higher education. So, more new universities and institutes need to be constructed, nurtured and promoted.

A higher enrollment ratio resulting in enhancement of human capital corresponds to an increase in the national wealth. Education demands quality orientation. Good academic institutions are built up by good faculty. This throws up an additional challenge of attracting the best brains, to academics.

Our GER in higher education has improved slightly but we are still struggling with quality. What are the challenges being faced by our higher education?

There is a serious crunch of quality faculty members. We need teachers who are credible and capable of transform ing students from one level to the next level of excellence. That is the actual meaning of education. Teachers are agents of enabling that transformation. Raising quality faculty is a serious

32

June 2013 / digitalLEARNING

Prof (Dr) Dilip K Bandyopadhyay

education.eletsonline.com

challenge. Presently, there is no accountability on part of teachers. Only a handful of teachers and professors are dedicated and passionate about teaching. There is little focus on research activities. For a high-quality teaching, we need best of brains to join the profession. Unless and until we take care of this challenge, there will be no progress. Even if we give degrees to students; the value of these degrees will be questioned. This is because if students are not transformed and equipped, then their employability will be a major problem. Unfortunately, this is the current situation.

How can ICT help in enhancing the enrollment with quality?

Technology will no doubt play a major role in times to come. The government is also of the view that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can be used to mitigate the crunch of quality faculty members. Under the National Mission of Education through ICT, the government is go-

ing pump around over `20,000 crore in 12th Five Year Plan, and is going to develop the course wares in the form of video clips, animations, probable questions and then self-evaluation by students. ICT will deliver the course content, best curriculum, and quality inputs in an effective way. It is one of the best interventions for enhancing quality of teaching. ICT has also popularised the distance mode of education.

Through video-conferencing students can interact with professors, virtually making it as real as a traditional classroom. Distance education, enabled with ICT, can reach out to lot of people even in remote and inaccessible areas of the country. ICT-enabled learning will emerge as the largest mode of education in the future. If we make these programmes popular among students, then the roles of teachers will drastically change. Their role will not be of information providers, but that of facilitators and mentors. The way the classes will be conducted will see a thorough change.

What are your future plans for GGSIU? Our vision is to turn GGSIPU into a worldclass university, where there would be a conglomeration of students and faculty members from various places to generate new knowledge, and at the same time create an environment where confluence of ideas would take place. Our university has made a mark for itself. We want to take this institution to the next level by bringing in more quality, newer innovations, focus on industry-oriented professional education, and enhancing our research activities. I am happy to share new developments like establishing Centre of Excellence in Pharmaceutical Technology, initiating new research activities in basic and applied sciences, bio sciences and IT, and taking the number of PhD seats upto 75-80 from next academic session. Our East Campus at Surajmal Vihar is under construction where we plan to launch design courses in streams like architecture, manufacturing, instrumental science, textile, etc. My immediate focus is to bring quality faculty members of national and international repute to our university.

digitalLEARNING / June 2013

33

In Conversation Quick Chat

Q& “My Dream is to Make A

Good Education Available in Every Part of India�

Jayant Hari Har Lal, Executive Director, Shri Ram New Horizon shares his vision of education system in India and talks about his mid career shift from the corporate world to academics.

In conversation with Pragya Gupta Excerpts:

Please share your journey from the Doon School to the Shri Ram Group.

After my schooling at the Doon School and graduation from IIT Kanpur, I was selected at IIM Kolkatta; a University in

34

June 2013 / digitalLEARNING

the US and was offered employment in the private sector. Family issues compelled me to take up employment in India where I worked with various companies over the years. My entrepreneurial instincts got the better of me and cou-

pled with family concerns I moved to my home town in Dehradun, where I set up a manufacturing plant making precision components for photocopiers and other electronic machinery. A chance offer to teach Math and Physics at my alma

education.eletsonline.com

mater saw me teaching voluntarily for a period of 7 years at the Doon School.

This opportunity of voluntary teaching made me shift my career towards education. Thereafter there was a swift move up the ladder becoming a House Master in 1996 to the Deputy Head Master of the Doon School in 2001.

The lure of a headship took me to Bhopal where I was the founder Principal for Sanskaar Valley School- a Dainik Bhaskar group project. Two years ago, I finally hung my boots as Director Development at the Doon School and free lanced as Academic Advisor to Virendar Sehwag’s School in Jhajjar, Haryana. After completing that assignment I moved to the Shri Ram Group as the Executive Director, setting up high quality Shri Ram Global and Shri Ram Centennial schools all over the country.

path, either we can stagnate or move forward and all of that is dependent on providing good education to all.

What are your views on the education system in India?

My time in Doon has really given me a huge amount of exposure, both in India and abroad. I have visited schools around the globe, and I know with experience what is good education. It is my dream to make good education available in every part of India. Good education is not about securing marks alone, it is also not about rote learning, it is about living a life that you choose.

In our schools we provide varied experiences to a child, and let him/her determine what is good for them. During our youth, we had limited career options, but today there are nearly 2,200 listed careers. These careers do not require you to just perform well in the board exams, your self-confidence and the ability to learn is what will make the difference.

Sadly the rat race for marks has become important. This is due to chronic shortages – whether they are for college seats, train ticket, we are taught to always stay at the head of the queue. This is where development becomes crucial to our future. Indian minds are more inclined towards entrepreneurship, and we should be creating jobs rather than looking for jobs. India is sitting on a golden

Teacher training should concentrate on encouraging innovation and curiosity in a child’s mind with regard to the subject they are teaching

Evaluation is one of the important aspects to open up minds. How do you see new evaluation practice like CCE? Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) is an excellent move, however certain aspects like not detaining a student till class VIII may be detrimental to the growth of the child. This aspect should be revisited. Through CCE, students are being assessed on a daily rather than through a two hour annual examination.

Implementation of CCE can be a problem especially for those who do not understand how to implement it.

How to gear up principals and teachers for taking new roles?

At least 99 percent of the teachers do not know why they teach, what they teach. After all, anyone can learn Math, Physics and English at home without even going to the classrooms.

Schools are the place for socialisation, collaboration and interaction. Teacher training should concentrate on encouraging innovation and curiosity in a child’s mind with regard to the subject they are teaching. I also believe in empowerment of school Principals. I think promoters should leave management of school in their hands. Promoters can look after other things like government formalities, accounts, etc.

What are your views on schools going for International accreditation and collaborations?

In India, a small percentage of students go overseas for higher studies. For those who want to go abroad, international programmes offer an advantage, as these bring them on par with other students worldwide. Affiliations should be chosen carefully.

There are very few Indian universities which accept international programme grades in the same way they accept Indian programme grades. Although, things are changing, most Indian universities do not accept predicted grades of the International Baccalaureate (IB). A university should give provisional admission on the basis of predicted grades, however most Indian universities entertain final grades only. I see that CBSE is changing rapidly, through the introduction of CCE and now the CBSEi. Unfortunately CISCE has not kept pace.

Please share your expansion plans in India At the moment we have eight projects viz namely Gurgaon, Rohtak, Agra, Indore, Dehradun, Tarapur, Patna, Makhrola etc. We are looking to open 100 schools in the next few years. Finally, we want a school in each district. We also have economy schools called ‘Bharat Ram Schools’ for the non-premium sector.

Since land is very expensive, even 2-3 acres would suffice for a slightly truncated program. Here we offer the benefit of good education, but with slightly trimmed facilities.

How do you assure quality in the Franchise model of school?

Through regular visits and we have a really tight school audit system. Last year in our Rohtak school, a team of 12 people conducted a surprise check. For three days they checked every report card, notebook, administrative system etc and produced a detailed report. This audit is a regular feature in all our schools. If somebody dilutes our programme, we reserve the right to remove them.

digitalLEARNING / June 2013

35

Quick Chat

Q& A

Education Technology Changing Market Scenario

Mimio, interactive teaching technologies provider, began in 1997 with a singular philosophy: to make learning more engaging for students with the help of technology. Jaemes Shanley, Director of Sales – Asia Pacific & Latin America, Mimio, shares his insight on the changing market dynamics of education technology all across the world in conversation with Dr Ravi Gupta. Excerpts:

Please provide us an overview of latest development by Mimio?

Today projectors are the most significant for our business. We are entering into a projector business for the first time by launching Mimio Interactive Projector, which can convert any surface into an interactive board. We are also launching MimioMobile application that will be available in mobile app stores. Adding these components will expand our domain.

MimioMobile app on iPads helps students in interacting with a lesson that is displayed on the IWB (interactive whiteboard), if the teacher’s classroom computer has the MimioMobile licence on it. It also empowers shared learning, discussion, collaboration and assessments, and makes all of them easier.

What is your view on the global market for education technology?

There is an enormous potential in India, but it is harder when you have to go out and fight customer by customer rather than just having one big customer. Globally, this is a challenging time for education technology.

Why is it challenging globally?

World’s big markets like North America and Europe are affected by government budgetary crisis, as it has resulted in their spending cuts. In North America, particularly in the USA, the majority of education funding comes from the state governments instead of the federal

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June 2013 / digitalLEARNING

Jaemes Shanley

dissolved Becta that promoted the use of technology in schools in the country.

The government cut fundings and education became part of the cut. Almost every country, including Italy, Spain, Portugal, has been affected by the crisis.

It is a challenging market everywhere, but still there are a lot of markets that are growing like the Middle East, Latin America, Russia, China, etc. It is not as easy a ride, as it was four years ago.

Japan is much slower in terms of adopting technology However, Korea is much more aggressive in comparison to Japan.

What is your go-to-market strategy for India?

We have presence in India since 2000 thorugh master distributors In 2004, we

It is a challenging market everywhere, but still there are a lot of markets that are growing like some in the Middle East, Latin America, Russia, and China, etc. It is not as easy ride, as it was four years ago government. The state governments, by law in America, cannot run in deficits. Therefore, tax rate declined during the economic slowdown, and they were forced to cut budgets everywhere, including education. There were major layoffs of teachers, and schools that were not performing well economically were shut down.

Europe’s condition changed even more drastically. Two years ago UK

appointed Plus Business Machine as our master distributor. Now we have Green Sources Pvt Ltd since 2011 and we continue to work with them. We have engaged a lot of key players in the market called Mimio Authorised Resellers (MAR).

Due to our exclusive partnership with Educomp for K-12, we churned out a lot of business in those years. Then other companies stood out and things became more challenging.

Special feature

education.eletsonline.com

Fostering New Thought Processes By

Lakshmi Vishwanathan,

Next Education India Pvt Ltd

T

he purpose of education is not just grooming students to score high marks, but to create strong individuals and professionals who will be eligible to contribute to the corporate world. The effort to groom them for a successful rewarding career and to shape them into capable individuals starts at the time of their schooling.

Design thinking is all about having an inter-disciplinary approach to create able individuals who can make complex decisions in the future. This is to make students think on many planes and look at an issue from various angles.

When they grow up to be opinion-makers or leaders in the society, they will be confident individuals capable of making decisions.

Design process phases There are three phases in the design process: Discover, Design and Deliver.

A student first discovers the possibility to explore a new concept. Then designs a plan along with the team members and decides to use the most suitable tool to learn the concept. Later, the team delivers a model which shows the concept in action.

In a nutshell, schools are gradually beginning to realise that it is time to make education updated and relevant to the 21st century. So, pioneer schools in India today are fast implementing something called ‘investigative learning’ where students discover concepts by themselves across disciplines through problem-solving exercises, projects, and team-building activities. Some projects aim to take students through the entire design-thinking process.

demic and scientific arena with élan and to test hypothesis effectively. It also develops life skills and EQ because students learn through hands-on experience that requires him or her to work in a team. Educationists and child care experts find that these exercises help students develop empathy, curiosity and ability to think out of the box.

They also help develop openness and flexibility of ideas. After all, in a corporate environment one needs to adapt to the changing dynamics at the workplace and the external market spaces.

Lakshmi Vishwanathan

Design teaching specifically helps students in delving into unknown academic and scientific arena with élan and to test hypothesis effectively Hands-on activities are a good way to develop creative thinking and experience concepts learnt in a textbook first hand. Primary school children are being introduced to education in a holistic way where they learn basic concepts like phonetics, counting, colours and science in a story-telling format and through simple experiments.

Design teaching helps students specifically in delving into unknown aca-

Inter-changing roles What is most interesting about this new mode of education is that design teaching and experiential education interchange the role of a teacher and a student. In such a system and learning environment there is no way a teacher can design a predictable teaching plan. He/She has to be willing go with the flow and in effect, she becomes an active learner too.

Teachers experiment together with their students, reflecting upon the learning activities they have designed, and responding to their students’ reactions to the activities. In this way, teachers themselves become more active; they come to view themselves as more than just recipients of school district policy and curriculum decisions.

Do you think school teachers in the Indian context are ready for this change?

Will school management embrace and support this change? Although India has hopped onto the contemporary learning bandwagon, it remains to be seen if it is sustainable in a country where education system still demands high marks, and where ‘A’ grades are on the priority list.

digitalLEARNING / June 2013

37

9th india’s premier ICT Event

The 9th eINDIA (www.eINDIA.net.in), to be convened with the theme of ‘Building a Knowledge Society’ will be held on July 23 — 24, 2013 at Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC), Hyderabad, India and hosted by Government of Andhra Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh Technology Services Limited (APTS). The summit is being organised by Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd. The two-day summit will serve as a platform for knowledge exchange between the key stakeholders who are active in the fields of Governance, Education and Health.

programme chair of eINDIA 2013

Leaders at eINDIA 2012

N Kiran Kumar Reddy Chief Minister Government of Andhra Pradesh

Sam Pitroda Advisor to the Prime Minister of India on Public Information Infrastructure & Innovations

Killi Kruparani Minister of State for Communication & IT, Government of India

Ponnala Lakshmaiah IT Minister, Andhra Pradesh

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

Prof H A Ranganath Director, NAAC

and more ...

SMS

Sanjay Jaju Secretary, IT & Communications Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh It gives me immense pleasure to announce and welcome the 9th eINDIA Conference, Exhibition & awards. I am happy about the consistent and synergised endeavors of the organiser in engaging the government as well as the private sector in the development activities of the information and communication technology in conjunction with sectors like Education, Healthcare and Governance.

We have taken good learning experiences from all the past eight chapters of eINDIA conference, orgainsed at dfifferent locations of the country. I am happy that Andhra Pradesh is hosting the 9th edition of eINDIA Conference, Exhibition and Awards

Hyderabad, India

Building a Knowledge Society eINDIA 2013 Education Award Categories School Award Categories • Use of ICT in School Management • Use of Technology in Teaching-Learning • Green Campus of the Year • School of the Year • Innovation in Global Collaborative Learning With the increased focus being apportioned by the Government of India on ensuring quality Education for All, it is important to discuss about the challenges and the opportunities in the sector and utilise the earmarked resources in a comprehensive manner.

Highlights · · · · · · · ·

More than 1,000 high level representatives from India and all across the globe Largest & most exclusive platform for knowledge sharing Global Education Ministers’ Conclave & Secretaries’ Conclave Industry Leaders’ Conclave & Education Leaders’ Conclave Convergence of who is who of the educational sector Expo & Exhibition for showcasing best practices in teaching, learning and training eINDIA 2013 Award for innovation and excellence in education Power Sessions on School Education, Higher Education, Skills Development and Vocational Training

Components

Conference

Awards

Expo

Higher Education Award Categories • Skill Development Initiative by Higher Education Institution(HEI)/University • Industry-Academia Collaboration Initiative by HEI/University • Use of Technology in Teaching-Learning by HEI/ University • Technology in Testing and Assessments • Green Campus of the Year • Initiative Towards Modernization of curriculum by Vocational Education Institution Private Sector Award Categories • • • • • • • • • • • •

Interactive Digital/Smart Classroom Solution Technology Solution for Teaching-Learning Solution for Testing & Assessments Tablet Provider of the Year Solution for Skills Development Campus Management Solution Sports and Physical Education Solution Cloud Solution for Education Institution Test Preparation Application/Solution Online Education Solution Provider Mobile/Tablet Application for Education Cognitive Skills Development

For award nomination, paper submission or participation as a delegate Log on to eINDIA website http://eIndia.eletsonline.com



Who Should Attend?

Principals, Vice Principals, Chairmen, Directors, CEO E-learning Coordinators, IT Coordinators & Integrators in Schools and Higher Education Institutions Vice Chancellors, Directors, Deans, Registrars and International Higher Education Institutions Education Regulatory Bodies and Professional Association Representatives Edupreneuers, Entrepreneurs, Private Equity Investors, Venture Capitalists, Education Solution Providers

HostPartners Partners Host

Organisers Organisers

knowledge for change

Partner Publications For programme related queries, contact: Rozelle Laha rozelle@elets.in +91-8860651634 For Expo and Sponsorship related queries, contact: Fahim Ul Haq fahim@elets.in +91-8860651632

eIndia.eletsonline.com

Register Free*

th 9th

GOVERNANCE FOR

INDIA’S PREMIER ICT EVENT EDUCATION FOR MERGING INDIA

MERGING INDIA

23-24 July, 2013 Hyderabad International Convention Centre, Hyderabad, India

Delegate Registration Form Peronal Details

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I would like to receive digitalLEARNING Newsletter Last date for receipt of hardcopy of filled registration form is July 15, 2013 Online Registration: Online form is available at eINDIA.eletsonline.com till July 22, 2013 Spot registration: You can register at eINDIA 2013 venue and the payment can be made through Cash/Cheque/DD/Credit Card/Debit Card on July 23-24, 2013 Registration details organisers

*Free registration is applicable only to: All Representatives from Government Organisations/NGOs/ CEOs/ Owners of Schools/ Managing Directors/ School Principals/ Vice Principals/ Heads of IT Departments/ Chancellors/ ViceChancellors/ Directors-Generals/ Directors of Institutions/ Owners of Group of Institutions/ Heads of IT Departments. (*Applicable For First 200 Registration)

knowledge for change

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Special feature

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German-Indian Classroom Programme Leading the Way

The students of Bal Bharati Public School in collaboration with Genoveva Gymnasium, Germany, have done exemplary work on the global issue - Migration. This made them win the World Education Award 2013 under ‘Global Collaborative Learning Initiative’ category

G

erman-Indian Classroom a programme by the Robert Bosch Stiftung and Max Mueller Bhavan (MMB), New Delhi, consisted of a joint project supporting collaboration between Indian and German schools. The programme required project work to be carried out over a period of one year with two integrated exchange phases. Under its aegis, Bal Bharati Public School, GRH, Marg and Genoveva Gymnasium, Germany, worked collaboratively for a year on a joint curriculum plan titled ‘Who we are and where we are going - Self-Images and Migration in Delhi and Cologne’.

The project consisted of working on mutually agreed sub-themes, namely -

Getting to Know Each Other; Students’ Reflections on Their Personal Migration Background; Interviewing Immigrants about Their Experiences and Views; Exploring Xenophobia (Fear of the Unknown); Studying Motives of Migration; Studying Immigration Policies of Partner Country; and finally Exchange Programmes with Exchange Schedules focusing on the subject of the project, and sharing experiences of the country being visited.

The collaboration was executed through bi-weekly discussions, and evaluation of work results via Skype, email and social networks, etc, and by uploading related material on a common portal called Pasch Net.

The virtual collaboration was strengthened with the visit of a 17-member German delegation in December 2012. The delegation consisting of 15 students escorted by 2 teachers – productively spent their time by working collaboratively on the project as well as appreciating the education system, religion and sociocultural milieu of India. They visited the school regularly, attended Yoga, dance and art classes, played indigenous games like khokho, kabbadi, and participated in Indian cultural programmes. A trip to the world renowned monument, the Taj Mahal in Agra, left them spellbound. Also, visits to numerous places of religious and cultural interests – Akshardham temple, Dilli Haat, etc, were thoroughly enjoyed.

A visit to the NGO GOONJ and Don Bosco Ashalayam enabled them to enhance their knowledge of the subject of the Project. The delegation from Germany was full of appreciation for the school for expressing “love and respect” towards them in so many different ways, and making them “feel at home”, throughout.

Presently, a delegation from Bal Bharti School, consisting of 14 students led by two teachers, is on a visit to Germany, as a part of the project.

This collaborative Project thus enabled students to explore migration in personal, social and political contexts in their own as well as the partner country. In addition, regular communication helped them to increase their knowledge about the other country and form lasting relationships. The Project brought about a positive change for a lifetime, in all involved.

The views of the teacher coordinator from Genoveva Gymnasium, Germany, while in India beautifully summarises the essence of this Collaborative Project – “Being focused on differences, we found them at every corner — on streets, homes, in school and in the families - everything seemed to be Oh so strange! Yet, two weeks were also long enough to realise something else, namely, that all these differences were only superficial. I strongly believe that no matter how different cultural customs may appear, they all revolve around the same core which is a desire for love and respect and a place to call home.”

digitalLEARNING / June 2013

41

in conversation Quick Chat

Q& “We are Committed to Providing A

Laptops to 16 Million Children”

Educational reforms in Mexico are on the fast track and students today are in the midst of a major transformation. HE Jaime Nualart, Ambassador of Mexico to India, in conversation with Shahid Akhter, ENN, shares his insight on the educational changes in Mexico. Excerpts: Mexico’s education is in news due to President Enrique Peña Nieto being very particular and adamant about the reforms that he wants to introduce in education. But this has brought him into conflict with Teachers’ Union, leading to strikes and deadlocks. Why are such hurdles coming in the way of better education?

Mexican education system demands a national agreement aiming to bypass old political and administrative inertias, and to once again place students at the centre of scope of major transformations. President Peña Nieto has put considerable energy in promoting the creation of the Professional Teaching Service.

The reform contains clear rules to ensure that professional merit is the only way to be recruited, remain and be promoted as a teacher, principal or supervisor. In addition, reforms are aimed at transforming evaluation into a more efficient mechanism to improve teaching standards. Promoting new rules entails overcoming inertias and to adopt new institutional approaches.

Certainly, it is not an easy endeavour, but political parties reached a wide consensus in the sense of urgency to implement educational reforms, which simplifies negotiations.

Does the Teacher’s Union have a powerful political clout?

There are two main Teacher’s Unions.

One is SNTE and the other one is CNTE, both with nationwide influence ranking among the biggest unions in Latin America. Over the years, they have

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June 2013 / digitalLEARNING

education.eletsonline.com

achieved considerable influence in politics and education policies, as in every country. The government of Mexico is keen on working closely with them to promote its reformist agenda.

How is the Mexican education system organised?

Today’s Mexican education system is federalist. The Ministry of Education, following the guidelines provided by the executive power, is responsible for providing syllabus to be followed in every school at the kinder, primary and secondary levels. Centrally edited text books free of cost are delivered annually to every child to ensure homogenous teaching and to promote national identity. Previous reforms during the 80’s and 90’s gave State governments considerable autonomy for managing education budget, and addressing local challenges such as hiring and promoting teachers and issuing diplomas.

Is the government officially responsible for providing compulsory basic education? Is there gender parity in school enrollments?

The right to basic education is granted in the Mexican Constitution since 1917. Providing free of cost kinder, primary and secondary education is compulsory. According to the 2010 Census, 96.1 percent of boys and 96.4 percent of girls between 6 and 12 years old are enrolled in school. According to OECD, 6.2 percent of Mexico’s GDP is spent on education.

The United States and Mexico have a long history of educational collaborations. Does it translate into innovation and research?

Mexico and the United States have historically cooperated in the field of education, and this includes the fields of innovation and research as well. During his recent visit to Mexico City on 2-3 May, 2013, President Obama addressed students in National Anthropology Museum, where he highlighted the importance of education to achieve a better understanding of

The Quantum Leap The recent constitutional reform in education aims to: Ensure that all students are educated by the best teachers. To this end, the professional teaching service will be created. The reform contains clear rules to ensure that professional merit is the only way to be accepted, remain and be promoted as a teacher, principal and supervisor.

Make the evaluation mechanism more efficient for improving the teaching standards. The National Institute for Educational Evaluation has therefore been granted constitutional status with full autonomy. It also envisages the creation of a National System of Educational Assessment, which will take into account the conditions and the challenges that teachers face everyday.

Improve conditions for students’ integral training. The reform strengthens the autonomy of school management and plans to substantially increase the number of fulltime schools; to provide more educational and cultural opportunities and encourage students’ overall balanced development and skills.

Budget for ICT initiatives in public primary school is expected to reach USD four billion during the following six years the bilateral relation and announced a plan to increase scholarships for young Mexican students. President Peña Nieto announced the creation of a Bilateral Forum on Higher Education, Innovation and Technology, in which the Mexican National Council on Science and Technology and the US National Science Foundation are to take a major role in its functioning.

How much of technology has been harvested to digitise education?

Where do you see ICT in Mexican education today?

The Information and Communication Technology (ICTs) is nowadays an integral part of the Mexican education system. In 2000 “Enciclomedia” programme was introduced to provide a digital blackboard and a computer equipped with sound system and Internet to every

school room. Teachers and students could benefit from specially designed multimedia content, approved by the Ministry of Education, that was able to enrich content of classic text books. Eventually, Enciclomedia evolved in 2013 into a scheme with the goal to provide laptops to 16 million children of V and VI grades during the following six years.

Is there any budget allocated by the Mexican government for ICT initiatives and innovations?

Budget for ICT initiatives in public primary school is expected to reach USD four billion during the following six years.

Please share your MoUs with India?

In 2005 Mexico and India signed an Educational Exchange Programme, aiming to promote regular exchange of information and scholarships for young post-graduate students of both the countries.

Besides collaboration in the field of Traditional Medicine between the Department of Ayush (Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of India) and Secretariat of Health of the United Mexican States, 15 projects have been approved under Indo-Mexican Joint Call of 2011, and four projects are under review.

digitalLEARNING / June 2013

43

special Quickfeature Chat

Education is the Apprenticeship of Life

Doon Public School is a hi-tech futuristic, numero-uno school that grooms each child academically, socially and spiritually, thus, turning him out into an ethical, confident, well-balanced citizen of the world

D

oon Public School is a coeducational, CBSE affiliated Senior Secondary School, celebrating its 35 years of service to the nation. The school aims at imparting premium quality education through a holistic, scholastic and spiritual approach in its pursuit of excellence in all fields.

The school provides a cutting-edge technology platform to the students and enjoys a unique distinction of being the first school in India to have computer-aided teaching and learning through Smart Assessment System, and the digital Maths Lab, the first in India which facilitates students with new modern technologies in learning, verifying and visualising mathematical concepts. The school also offers the latest educational technologies in the form of Wi-Fi enabled computer labs; a digital language lab which aims at enhancing the student’s communication skills; a digital library with more than 18,000

I am proud and privileged to lead and be a part of a spirited and dedicated team which has redefined school education. Our methodology and pedagogy of imparting holistic, high value education by combining judicious use of technology and moral values makes our students globally capable, competitive and efficient.

We groom leaders in every field to meet every challenge N V Sarat Chandran, Manager

The programme of social concern like the Mothers Empowerment for Educational Development (MEED), Rural Education Mission and Hope for Future have brought a change in the lives of many people. Global partnerships and exchange programmes have emphasised on building a world without boundaries, a world where people exist in symbiotic relation amidst amity, love and peace.

The dedicated work of our competent teachers, innovative teaching methodologies and use of cutting-edge technology platforms along with the support of the parents ensure that we are able to live up to our motto ‘Excelsior’.

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June 2013 / digitalLEARNING

Being pioneers in digital learning, we provide a cuttingedge technology platform for our students and believe that education can bring about a radical change in society MG Vasan, Chairman

books online in addition to the existing library; a state of the art Biotechnology Lab with the facility of tissue culture; a lecture theatre provided with interactive board and facility for video conferencing; Digital Teaching System which creates a culture of inquiry in the learners’ minds and the Fashion Studies Workshop, which trains the students in the theory and practice of garment manufacturing, special animation classes and the Lexile Framework for reading.

The concept of Abacus and VedicMaths has made Maths easy and enables students to achieve high standards of mental arithmetic. To broaden the outlook of the students, the reading habit and the book culture is also inculcated in them.

3Power

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event report

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World Education Summit 2013

Strengthening Equity, Inclusion and Quality

C

arrying forward the grand success of its earlier editions, the 3rd annual edition of World Education Summit was held on April 23-24, 2013, in New Delhi. World Education Summit 2013 was jointly organised by the AICTE, and Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd; and was co-organised by the UNESCO, NCERT, and National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS).

Presented by digitalLEARNING, the Summit has grown into a premier platform on education thought leadership, enabling one of the largest gatherings of education leaders since its inception in 2011. Based on the theme of “Strengthening Equity, Inclusion and Quality”, this year’s edition was graced by the presence of Kapil Sibal, Minister of Communications & Information Technology, Government of India, as Chief Guest and Shahid Ali Khan, Minister, Minority Welfare and IT, Government of Bihar; Mantriprasad Naithani, Minister, Agriculture Marketing, School Education, Adult Education, Sanskrit Education and Drinking Water, Government of Uttarakhand; and Naseem Akhtar Insaaf, State Education Minister, Government of Rajasthan, as Guests of Honour.

Prof (Dr) S S Mantha, Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education, participated as the Programme Chair. The two-day Summit turned out into a platform for knowledge exchange among different stakeholders of the education sector including academicians;

WORLD EDUCATION SUMMIT 2013

HIGHLIGHTS

15 sessions with more than 100 speakers; 37 Sponsors and Exhibitors; 130 Schools; 140 Higher Education Institutes; 195 participants from the Corporate Sector; 60 participants from the Government Sector; More than 300 delegates; 172 Award Nominations, More than 82,489 online votes; 48 Award Winners

Chief Guest Kapil Sibal inaugurating World Education Summit 2013 by lighting the lamp

policy makers; leaders; educationists; ambassadors from different countries; representatives from the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India; directors of IIMs, IITs and NITs; vice chancellors of various private and government universities; founders and directors of school chains across the country and abroad; representatives from governing bodies; service providers; entrepreneurs and representatives from the corporate sector active in bringing innovations in the education sector.

The two-day Summit was also marked by World Education Expo – which offered a platform to education stakeholders to showcase their unique products and work – and World Education Awards – which were given to various stakeholders in recognition of bringing in innovation in the education sector.

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Digital and Collaborative Learning

is the Future in Education We cannot look at the future through the eyes of past, not even through the eyes of present, but we have to look at the future by having a dream of what the future will be, and those who realise that dream will be the winners

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ndia needs to think in terms of what the world will be 10 years from now, and then decide what our educational programmes must offer, what teaching methodologies should be.

We require a change in mindset in education. For instance, in school education, the old definition of literacy still continues, and we still have a textbook system of teaching and we follow an examination system. We have the older methodologies where the teacher stands in front of the class and teaches. But learning is a far more collaborative process than ever before, thanks to technology and the future lies in digital literacy.

Kapil Sibal Union Minister of Communications & IT, Government of India

Affordable technology We have to make sure that 10 years from now, all kids will have tablets. The government has to ensure that a digital highway is created, and the last mile connectivity is achieved. We are trying to connect 1,50,000 Gram Panchayats with fibre optics. We aim to connect 2,50,000 villages by 2014.

We also require access devices that are accessible and affordable like ‘Akash’, and for that we need to build manufacturing capacities at home. The next question is what kind of content will flow on the information highway?

Institutes like AICTE and IGNOU are already working on it. Courses and content will be provided by private entrepreneurs to school kids anywhere in the world for a price. If there is more competition then there will be lower price of the content. We will also have

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to regulate the content and that’s a challenging task.

to move into the university system. This is not going to work in the future.

Choices galore

Collaboration and R&D

The future lies in collaborative learning where a teacher must understand individual inclination and genius of each child because each child might want to learn different things.This choice must also be reflected in higher education.

Now, if you have the present university system where you have academic councils and other councils controlling the university system, there is no choice available. There are only three streams

If you look at history, the western countries have developed because of technology. There is a need for an increased collaboration between all the stakeholders.

The industry transforms ideas into goods and services, so it must be directly linked to academic institutions. Also, the industry as well as the government will take up R & D, and we must collaborate with each other because without collaboration there will not be solutions.

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Education Must Encompass Moral Values and IT

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n this year’s budget, there will be no exaggeration if I say that this time there was a huge amount allocated for educational development in Rajasthan. There are various schemes, such as giving scooters to students of Other Backward Castes (OBC) as reward for those getting more than 55 percent marks or taking admission in college. Government is also giving laptops to girls belonging to minority communities who are scoring good marks in schools and are opting for higher studies. Children, especially girls, who earlier used to walk kilometers to reach schools, are now being given bicycles for easy conveyance to schools. This boosts the moral of children to get education.

Government has opened thousands of new primary schools, and thousands of primary schools have graduated to secondary schools. Educational developments are on going from the past many years.

Government is putting so much of efforts because we want to create awareness about education in every sector of the society. Our aim is to educate every single person in every village of Rajasthan. In urban areas education is still at par, but rural areas need real attention.

We are targeting to control the dropout rates in schools. We are running bridge courses to associate them to schools. Government will give laptops to the top 10 meritorious students of Xth and XIIth boards. Government is also distributing special learning laptops to the VIIIth class students. This is a huge investment, but government wants competitiveness among students and we want to connect our education system with information technology.

Indira Priyadarshani Puruskar, Gargi Puruskar, free K-12 education for girls are some phenomenal initiatives taken by the government.

Government’s initiatives It is the 21st century, and it is an advanced era of information technology. We need an education system of global level. Indian students are very much popular all around the world in terms of quality education. Even the US President, Barack Obama, watches out for Indian talent.

The central government has helped us in providing broadband services at

Importance of girl education The Government has provided a lot for education. Now it is our responsibility to take it to the common man. Our government is determined to educate each and every female in the state. That is why we are highly focused towards girls’ education. When a girl gets educated, she educates two families - one is the family she

Smt Naseem Akhtar Insaaf, Minister of State for Education, Government of Rajasthan all the levels. Now Rajiv Gandhi Bharat Nirman Seva Kendra is also connected through IT. These initiatives eased the life of rural population in Rajasthan as they are now able to do most of their work like bill payment and getting many other documents from village itself through IT. Rajasthan has set such a model in terms of IT advancement that when the US President, Barack Obama came to India he spoke to the people of Kanpura - a small panchayat of Ajmer, direct from New Delhi through video conferencing.

Numbers of schools have got computer labs, and even many classrooms are connected with IT.

is born in, and the other is the family she gets married in. She inculcates morals and ethics in the family. The first teacher of any human being is his/her mother.

We need to add morals and traditions values to our education system. We will be able to build a constructive and cultural society only when we tech morals in our education system.

Various malpractices happening in society like female foetus killing, and rapes can be curbed up to greater extent if we educate a child systematically since he is in his mother’s lap and then in primary education. We should inculcate values in our child so that in future he becomes a man with a healthy mentality.

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Education in Bihar Focussing on Employability and Affordability We did not have a private university in the state, but now we have passed a bill through the cabinet to have a private university in Bihar to 20,225 and day-by-day an environment for education has been built. We have taken steps to extended technology education in Madarsas. We also formed the Bihar Knowledge Society through which we impart computer training in all districts across Bihar.

It is not only open to students, but for teachers and general public as well.

Shri Shahid Ali Khan, Minister, Minority Welfare and IT, Government of Bihar

Educating the girl child We have started scholarship schemes for meritorious girl students. This has increased the rate of education among girls. Other states have now started distributing bicycles to girls, which we have already done in the past. We have been the front runners in promoting education among girls through various incentives.

Towards a bright future

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believe technology is going to lead the way in education and India is going to be a global technology hub. Today, Bihar is at the same level as the rest of India as far as IT and education sectors are concerned. We really need to put emphasis on primary education because it is the first step for any child. Yes, there is a dearth of quality faculty in the state, but we have to manage within our means. I believe education has to be connected to employability and affordability yet high-quality education is the order of the day.

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Tech education for minorities The Sachar Committee report revealed that minority communities in Bihar fared even below the Schedule Caste group in terms of education.

So our government initiated several schemes to promote education among the minorities. For the first time we announced to give financial aid for 10,000 matriculation students. At that time only 2,627 students in the entire state were first year qualified.

Over the years that tally has gone up

If today a person becomes a teacher after completing matriculation, then we think that his son will be at least a lecturer. However, any sort of change does not come instantly; it can only be seen in the next generation.

We did not have private university in the state. Now we have passed a bill through the cabinet to have a private University in Bihar. We started IIT as we had only two engineering colleges.

Earlier we had only 13 polytechnic institutes and now we are starting one polytechnic institute in every district.

So we are continuously doing this work, and as I said the next generation of Bihar will reap benefit out of this.

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Quality Education through Motivating Teachers and Students To promote education among the girls, we have decided to provide bicycles to them in the non-hilly areas of Uttarakhand

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ur Government has built a complete computer-aided setup in almost every educational institute. We also have a project to improve the basic infrastructure.

This project is associated with the Sarva Siksha Abhiyaan wherein children from class I to VIII are provided free of cost education, books, uniforms and also one time meal. Recently the government of Uttarakhand realised that the percentage of educated girls was sharply going down in the state, as they were facing problems in going to schools. Therefore, to boost girls’ education in our state, we have decided to provide bicycles to them, in the non-hilly areas. For the girls living on the hilly areas, we have planned to open bank accounts and transfer a sum of `3,000, which can be utilised by them to cover the expenses incurred during travel to school.

The amount will be transferred to their account on a regular basis.

Maintaining quality To motivate teachers, we have conferred 23 government school teachers with the Shailesh Matiyani State Teachers’ award for extraordinary work. We are also mindful about other facilities for our teachers such as maternity leave.

For students, the top ten rankers of Uttarakhand Class X and Class XII board examination in 2012 were awarded with the Pt Deendayal Upadhayay Educational Meritorious Scholarships. We also encourage and fund children at the state level under the leadership of the Chief Minister Vijay Bahugna Joshi. Our

Shri Mantriprasad Naithani Minister, Agriculture Marketing, School Education, Adult Education, Sanskrit Education and Drinking Water, Government of Uttarakhand

state government is focusing hard to improve the quality of education through motivated teachers so that a child’s IQ gets increased.

Even for the minorities, the state government has plans to provide quality education in Madarsas from basic schooling to higher education. Earlier, the government was not able to attract youngsters but now we have laid these plans considering the new technology, new curriculum from SCERT books, etc.

Moreover, the landscape of Uttarakhand is totally different. Here we have three kinds of areas like the high altitude, middle altitude and the ground level. Therefore, we have the acute shortage of teachers and to address the same our government has started ap-

pointment of new teachers, professors, lecturers and even basic tutors.

Accessiblility matters Higher education is not limited to any particular state. In Uttrakhand, cities like Dehradun and Nainital are the hubs of international level education institutes. Moreover, we also have several kinds of universities like Himgiri Nabh Vishwavidyalaya (University in the Sky), Uttarakhand Technical University, etc and we are proud of the fact that overseas students are coming to study in these universities. Now the main focus of the state government is to provide education to the most interior parts of the state by bringing the best institutes’ branches to those places.

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Higher Education will Shape

Life, Economy and the Society

Higher education will shape an individual’s life and the economy and society.

Also, a scheme for vocational education where a student can learn competency based skills along with general education at various certificate levels initiated early in the school going up to the diploma or a graduate level is probably the way to go.

With the bachelors in vocational education now duly constituted, it is expected to play as catalyst to an otherwise saturated system. The most important feature of the framework created by AICTE is that a student could also avail of multi-point entry and exit between formal and vocational education and the job markets.

Setting up community colleges either new or in the existing polytechnics needs to be pushed aggressively, so that competency based skills along with basic life skills are imparted to enhance the employment potential

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

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s opposed to the past, we need to take a hard look at the proposition of making education available to everyone who needs it — a truly inclusive system that is in everyone’s interest. It should teach us humility, benevolence, and clarity of mind and purpose.

Private, public and governmental partnerships have been on the rise in the education sector. Forecast suggests if the current pattern of participation continues, more than 30 percent of today’s school drop outs will experience higher education 10 years from now.

I wish we reach GER (Gross Enrolment Ratio) of 50 percent in probably the next 20 years.

However, statistics show that over 50 percent of the youth fail between

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“Setting up community colleges either new or in the existing polytechnics needs to be pushed aggressively, so that competency based skills along with basic life skills is imparted to enhance the employment potential of our youth Xth- XIIth grades, and are out of education scene forever. An out of the box approach and possible best practices could allow them to pass the grade with minimal intervention. Apart from the collateral advantage of a higher GER and overall growth in economics brought about by an exalted youth.

of our youth. We also need to realise that our youth coming from the limited financial means would need to be sustained on some minimal financial incentive to pursue skills for employment. Hence we also need credible financial models to sustain education for youth.

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Inclusion with quality is what we all look for. Inclusion means reaching the last child. I doubt if only technology is the answer to that. First of all, is it available to everybody?

We can reach that point slowly, but that does not mean we should not use all modes.

We talk about values in our curriculum, but for that we all have to share those value systems. It doesn’t come by telling, it comes by imbibing. You have to decide whether technology can impart values, you have to decide that.

Of course we need technology for certain things like teacher training. Also open learning, in my view, is the answer to many issues. Technology can help us develop multi-language usage that can help teachers in making learning easier. Even holistic learning that you need to do for a vocation is important, but it should not be limited to a particular skill-set.

Prof Parvin Sinclair, Director, National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT)

At UNESCO we are looking at two issues of what do we think, and what we are doing to assist countries to achieve EFA goals by the year 2015. We are asking our partners to look at the issue of schooling, not only in terms of access, but also to get the completion rate high.

For instance, in India we have more than 90 percent access to the primary school, but the completion rate is below 70 percent, and it is going down drastically in secondary education and upper secondary education. Many of them are related to the gender exclusion, disability exclusion, etc. Post 2015 we are putting new focus, not saying education for all, but we are saying learning for all.

Alisher Umarov, Chief of Education and Programme Specialist, UNESCO

Education should focus less on examination system and more on learning.

The examination system and rote learning from the text book is not what we need. The examination system is only a tool to select. Is there anything in the examination system that selects in terms of values like honesty, and are we getting proper people at proper posts, in any profession?

So the first thing is that the focus should be learning instead of teaching.

Focus should be on education instead of examination. Yes, we do need to select, but we can look at a more holistic way of assessment, where we look at the development of skill. We have to look at the development of understanding, but even the role of the teacher is very important that helps in value system and skill development.

Dr Pascal Chazot, Elected Member of Parliament in France for the French Overseas; Founder and Head of School, Mahatma Gandhi International School (MGIS), Ahmedabad

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Strategies for Steering the Education Sector The wealth of nations is judged by the intellectual property they have and not by their physical or mineral wealth. There is a need for integration of societies and countries. We may have manufacturing in one place, the user maybe at another place, and the workforce maybe coming from a separate country. This means, whatever education and skill development we wish to have must be of comparable standards and be such that it can be trans-located from one region to another.

Amit Khare, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India

Digital literacy is very important in today’s world. Also, mobile penetration is growing. So, we have to plan for e-content for the mobiles because that’s the best component through which we can reach the last miles. With increased internet connectivity, I also believe that we have to go for a virtual classroom system, as we have shortage of quality teachers. Lastly, to enhance employability we have to focus on skill development.

Dr Ashwini Kumar Sharma, Managing Director, National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT)

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Education is a great enabler as well as leveller. We have worked with former President APJ Abdul Kalam’s Pan-African e-Network project. It is one of the most successful projects where 10,000 students from 48 countries across Africa are enrolled in live, face-to-face classroom sessions. As we have seen from Pan-African model, there is a lot of potential for cooperation at the global level in terms of sharing of knowledge, content development, increasing accessibility, and improvisation of technology for e-networks.

Vimal Wakhlu, Chairman & Managing Director, Telecommunications Consultants India Limited The Government of India’s investment in research is roughly 0.95 percent of the GDP, and it aims to increase this to two percent by the end of this plan period. We are working on the Singh-Obama Knowledge Initiative, and working for collaborations between foreign and Indian universities for the purpose of research and innovation.

Dr Akhilesh Gupta, Secretary, University Grants Commission Globally, the open learning education resources have gained a great momentum and we must pace ourselves with this particular approach for improving quality in education. We have to create a safety net for the disadvantaged groups or school dropouts so that they complete their education up to secondary level. We should collaborate and develop good quality resources that will be available at a particular platform.

Dr S S Jena, Chairman, National Institute of Open Schooling

WES 2013 Report special session

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Opportunities of Overseas Collaboration for Indian Institutions We are grateful to India for leading the international education aid programmes in our country. Nearly 7,000 Afghan students are studying at universities and technical schools across India. We look forward to increased collaboration between India and Afghanistan through faculty and student exchange programmes. Educational co-operation through sustainable mechanisms will go a long way in enabling an economically and socially integrated region.

HE Shaida Mohammad Abdali, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to India I see enormous opportunities, benefits, and synergies from international collaboration in the field of education. The inspiration for me is in seeing a future that is increasingly reflective of people who see themselves first as the citizens of the world, and later as citizens of nations. We are striving towards a world where international collaboration brings with it international understanding, which in turn, brings opportunities for world harmony.

Mark Parkinson, Executive Director, Head of School, Kunskapsskolan Eduventures, Gurgoan

Our gross enrolment ratio (GER) in higher education is 28 percent and our government is setting up a new target of 30 percent, for 2014. Thus, there is a need for more higher education institutions in Indonsesia, and we look forward to more collaboration with friendly countries like India. Also, India has now become an attractive education destination for students from overseas students. We are already working closely in several areas like organising training and exchange programmes and joint-research programmes.

HE Rizali Wilmar Indrakesuma, Ambassador of Indonesia to India

There are many avenues of collaboration between India and the Philippines including the education sector. We welcome Indian investment in education in the Philippines. There is already an increased people-to-people contact between the two nations. Implementing less restrictive visa policies is a building block that can go a long way in boosting ties in the field of education. I also believe organisations like ASEAN and SAARC should look into co-operation in education with India.

Robert O Ferrer, First Secretary, Embassy of the Philippines

Under the ‘Erasmus Mundus’ programme we are collaborating with more and more international students, especially in the short -term programmes of six months or nine months. Slovenia and India have been the main supporters of the International Centre for Promotion of Enterprises (ICPE) for the last two decades and we have had a lots of students from India. The programme will begin from this year in October and we expect that at least 25 or more students will enrol.

Lt Boris Jelovšek, Minister Plenipotentiary, Republic of Slovenia digitalLEARNING / June 2012

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school education

Blended Learning, Multimedia Content and Supportive Teaching Tools to Promote Student Engagement In teaching through technology, we have to stop looking at engagement through content. Context is more important than content. We conducted an experiment, where we converted a sixth-grade science textbook into a comic. Students read through their entire science textbooks in exactly two days. So by changing context you can get students’ interest.

Kunal Sharma, Founder & Director, Mexus Education Education should not be limited to reading or writing, it must be understood, applied and reasoned. Also, with digital learning and internet, a lot of resources are available for the students. We are introducing the tablet PCs with pre-loaded content to reduce paperwork.

Prabhakar Rao Polasani, Chairman, Rao’s Group of Educational Institutions, Hyderabad Our core function is to digitise data that is written by hand to business processable data. We designed a digital pen with the prime purpose of not wasting human time for completely nonproductive things. I believe any new technology faces problems of adaptation and adaptability. No technology is bad. It only fails when it is wrongly implemented.

Sundaram Ramaswamy, Chief Executive Officer, Xcallibre Digital Pen Solutions Pvt Ltd

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There is only one percent penetration of interactive displays in India, while other countries like Moscow, Russia, and China have far greater adoption. So as a technology provider, we are working with our ecosystem to ensure that some of these problems are captured in our future products. Also, the future lies in 3-D stereoscopic, which is more engaging for students.

Ganesh S, Business Development Manager, DLP Products, Texas Instruments (India) Ltd Our project e-Pronounce is an ongoing research project. It aims at learning correct pronounciation using phonetic symbols. We wanted to have something to bridge the language divide for people in the non-native English environment. The objective is pedagogy first and technology second.

Prof (Dr) Fong Soon Fook, Professor, School of Educational Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia I believe it’s not just about hardware and software. It is not even about how we apply technology. It’s about completely re-thinking the way we personalise learning spaces and learning experiences. It means we place the students at the core, and let them set their goals. Instead of teachers, we should have coaches. This personal coaching leads to personal accountability for the students. Even the assessments have to be on the basis of knowledge instead of running after grades or marks.

Mark Parkinson, Executive Director, Head of School, Kunskapsskolan Eduventures, Gurgaon

education.eletsonline.com

Early Childhood Education I believe no matter howsoever marvellous the school curriculum is, the problem lies in its implementation. I have been involved in setting up early learning centres with the Shri Ram Group. We believe in not only imparting skills but an attitude. We work in a children-centric curriculum. We look into different aspects like emotional security, experiential learning to encourage inquiry among students, and differentiating between a slow and a fast learner. We also hold workshops for parents to bridge any sort of disconnect.

Kaadambari Muttoo, Director Academics, Schools Division, Shri Ram New Horizons, New Delhi Emotional stability is important, as a child needs to be understood and heard. There shouldn’t be any ranking, neither in academics nor in sports. Our effort is to de-digitise, as too early stimulation will affect in the long run. Thus, computers should be limited as an aid.

Treating parents as partners is extremely important.

Also, teachers need to feel valued.

Shilpa Solanki, Founder Principal, The Orchid School, Pune

The role of educators is to keep the curiosity alive in the children to develop them fully. The key imperatives of early childhood educators to help children reach their goals are: Care, Curriculum, Curiosity, Confidence and Creativity. The art of asking questions rather than knowing the right answers is a major aspect of a child’s development.

Pooja Goyal, Director, Intellitots, Guargoan

We have realised that we cannot live in that idealist framework where you teach a moral science chapter on don’t lie and the kid goes back home and observes his/her parents lying.

So we believe that parents should go many steps beyond PTMs, and not only in pre-primary classes but beyond that as well.

Amol Arora, Vice Chairman & MD, Shemrock & Shemford Group of Schools, New Delhi

The issue here is not only about early childhood education (ECE). It is about early childhood care where emotional needs should be met. A school is a child’s first point of separation from his/her family. I think there is a lot of homework that needs to be done by most schools in that regard. ECE also needs to have measurable outcomes in terms of the ambience and the pedagogy.

Dr Jitendra Nagpal Program Director “Expressions India” The National Life Skills Education & School Wellness Program; Sr Consultant Psychiatrist & Incharge, Institute of Child Development & Adolescent Health, Moolchand Medicity, New Delhi

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Capacity Building of Educators

Teachers, Training, Technology One of the most important thing that I tried to identify is availability of teachers. Across India there is a dearth of teachers and according to reports we require 1.2 million teachers. The main reason for this, as per reports, is that teaching is the least preferred career choice. Another reason is the insufficient teacher training institutions and lack of qualified teacher educators.

Dr Dinesh Kumar, Additional Commissioner (Academics), Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, New Delhi The passion for teaching is lacking in the country.

There is a huge gap beetween how the classes are held in India and abroad. The problem is either we have 18th century classrooms or we have 22nd century classrooms in most of the international schools, and we have 20th century teachers and 21st century students. To solve the problem we need to focus on quality teachers. The whole concept of education is a waste if teachers, the most important factor for student development, are not paid attention to.

Shalini Nambiar, Director, Excelsior American School, Gurgaon You have to inspire children and create in them a desire to learn, not just rote learn. They should be able to discuss and have belief in values and should have confidence in themselves. We should give them a stable tomorrow with informed decisions. But are we training our teachers to do that? There are large percentage of teachers who are unaware of what they need to do for a better future of young children. It is teacher training component that is going to make a critical difference. Teachers today have to act as facilitators and turn into mentor. For achieving that teachers should become a life-long learners.

Gowri Ishwaran, CEO, The Global Education & Leadership Foundation Teacher training is about getting complete mastery of ICT as pedagogical tools. Focus should be on ICTs in schools to transform teaching and learning. Implementation is an issue, professional development has happened haphazardly.

It should be a continuous process. If teachers are not trained, then hardware and software are of no use.

Dr Termit Kaur Ranjit Singh, Senior Lecturer, School of Educational Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia

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Today our system demands so much from us. We have to add so much, like cognitive element, social element, and psychological elements, intelligent quotient, new curriculum along with new acts like RTE, etc. Therefore, capacity building of teachers has become a full-time demand for school systems. Schools may have dramatic infrastructure and you may get good admissions, but you will not sustain those children in your campus unless you do something extraordinary.

Lakshmi Kumar, Director, Pradnya Niketan Education Society & Coordinator, Sweden-India Project Inter-Cultural Training Specialist ICT can make a mark in education and various teaching challenges can be addressed by using ICT in classroom.

So we have to change according to the digital world.

Monika Mehan, Principal, DAV Public School, Khera Khurd, New Delhi

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International Schools in India

Challenges and Opportunities In this age of ‘ice-cream dilemma’ of careers, as an international educationist, I wanted to guide children to be able to pick the right kind of careers for themselves, based on their natures. International education is about having choices, and also the need to get the RPRP approach i.e. right people at the right place/profession.

Steven Rudolph, Director, Jiva Education Everything has changed – the role of the teachers as facilitators, advancements in IT, etc. Still there are challenges like dearth of quality teachers and resources. International collaboration is a fantastic opportunity and we need to harness it. Updating technology is important, but let us not forget which technology is relevant to our community.

Ryan Pinto, CEO, Ryan Group of Schools, Mumbai

All our schools can become international schools, no matter whichever board affiliation, through the universal best practices like good student-teacher ratios, assessment for depth and application of learning, and being accountable to parents by demonstrating real performances of understanding by their kids. It is a package of Intelligence Quotient (IQ), Passion Quotient (PQ), Spiritual Quotient (SQ) and Emotional Quotient (EQ).

Lina Ashar, Founder, Kangaroo Kids Education Ltd, Mumbai

Why do we live with the excuse that international education is limited to the rich? The theory of connectivism is the way forward, especially for learning in the digital age. Every teacher has to be a part of international teachinglearning platforms because we do not live in India, we live in a global world and compete at an international level.

We need to improve at the level of municipal schools.

Manjula Pooja Shroff, CEO, Calorx, Mumbai Globalisation has led to the demand for international schools in metros and even in tier-I cities. International exchange programmes, international teaching practices where learning is not by rote, and the use of technology all form part of an international school. Challenges range from quality infrastructure, catering to a growing but niche segment, teacher availability, etc.

Rajeev Katyal, Country Director (India), Global Indian International School, New Delhi

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International education breaks down the barriers of race and culture. Such schools are expected to double in next five to seven years. But there are challenges like the mentality that it’s a ticket for a child’s study abroad, so sometimes the vision behind the programme is lost. Also, acceptance of international education is a problem with the higher education universities in India.

Priyamvada Taneja, Development Manager, India, International Baccalaureate Organization, Haryana International affiliation, resources, teacher and training costs lead to an expensive fee structure.

So the cost factor itself is a big challenge, and it is not meant for all. Prices may only come down if we have many international schools. Another challenge is there are not as many international universities in India for a child to be able to pursue international certification.

Dr Vandana Lulla, Directorh & Principal, Podar International School (IB & CIE), Mumbai

The model of education that we have is from the days of industrialisation were, schools are still organised on factory lines; there is compartmentalised subject delivery; and there is no intermingling. We have to start thinking differently about education, and we have to realise what our human capacity is.

Rita Wilson, Former Chief Executive and Secretary, Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination; and Academic Lead, Develop Schools

digitalLearning

Upcoming Ranking Issues Ranking Top Private Universities in India in July 2013 Ranking Top Government Universities in India in August 2013 Ranking Top Pre-schools in India in November 2013 Ranking Top Schools in India in December 2013 Ranking Top B-Schools in India in January 2014 For Participation in University & B School Ranking contact: rozelle@elets.in For Participation in School and Pre School Ranking contact: pragya@elets.in; seema@elets.in

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Creating Excellence in School Education

“E

xcellence in education has become a buzzword today, and is very often used in clichéd terms.

But I think excellence is an overall package of character building with focus on values, and the final summit is that of creating a good human being,” said Gowri Ishwaran, CEO, The Global Education & Leadership Foundation, during a roundtable discussion at the third edition of World Education Summit 2013.

Speaking about current schooling systems, Col V K Gaur, Advisor, Manav Rachna Educational Institutions said, “Nowadays, schools have become factories that are more concerned about how many of their students have been selected for the IITs or IIMs. Excellence for them only means what converts into money.

This is the state of affairs at the highest level in the country. Sadly, India only has two percent of skilled workforce.”

“Excellence will be there if we focus on Adhyayan (study), Adhyaapan (teaching), Abhayaas (practice), and Vyavahaar (behaviour),” Col Gaur added.

Elaborating upon the distinctive ap-

proach towards educating young minds, Steven Rudolph, Director, Jiva Education said, “Every morning in our school we give 15 minutes to what we call SOESelf Others Environment, and we do swadhyaya (self-study). Every student talks to the other student about what good deeds he has done, and what problems he is facing.”

Pointing towards the need for increased partnership between educators and parents to promote excellence in schools Rudolph added, “My belief on how we get excellence is through finding out what is the nature of the child, analysing it over the years, making him reflect with his parents, and setting him on the right path.”

Kavita Das, Principal, St John’s High School, Chandigarh, spoke about the importance of bridging the rich-poor divide in education, “We should not forget that there are millions out there who are very poor and who need to be educated. We have to start bringing them in our schools, and start integrating them rather than treating them as separate members of the society. The schools need to start widening their perspectives and not only cater to the

haves of the society, but should also start looking at the have-nots.”

Muhammad Husain Zulqarnain from The Knowledge Bridges International Schools, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia added, “Einstein once said that it is not intellect but character that makes great scientists. If you are not imbibing character among students in schools, they will not get to learn it elsewhere.”

Discussion also highlighted the need of having gurus. “Are we having teachers or gurus, because there is a difference between the two. If we have good gurus then we are actually going to do good to the society. Nowadays, moral values have gone down, and schools need to include moral lessons and personality development classes. It is not only about teaching,” said one of the participants.

Summing up the session, Anirudh Gupta, CEO, DCM Group of Schools said, “Generally K-12 is referred to as 15 years of school education. If we substract whatever syllabi or curriculum taught in all those 15 years from the child’s personality, then whatever is left with the child is what the holistic education means.”

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wes 2013

Awards

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172 Award Nominations, More than 82,489 online votes, 48 Award Winners 1- LtoR: Lt Boris Jolevsek, Minister Plenipotentiary, Republic of Slovenia; Shahid Ali Khan, Minister, Minority Welfare and Information Technology, Government of Bihar; Mantriprasad Naithani, Minister, School Education, Adult Education, Sanskrit Education, Government of Uttarakhand; Ryan Pinto, CEO, Ryan Group of Schools; Dr Ravi Gupta, CEO, Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd 2- LtoR: Asim Chauhan, Chancellor, Amity

University; Lt Boris Jolevsek; Shahid Ali Khan 3- Release of cyberfort Technologies 4- Entrepreneurship in School Education (Special Mention): Dr Amrit Lal Ishrat Memorial Sunbeam Group of Schools Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh 5- Vocational Education & Training Initiative (Special Mention): AISECT – Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh 6- Government Sector Initiative in Education (Jury

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Choice): Computer Aided Learning in Primary Schools of Gujarat 7- Government Sector Initiative in Education (Public Choice): My School e-School – District Panchayat Kutch, Gujarat 8- Start-up Initiative (Special Mention): Touchon-Cloud – Harness Handitouch Pvt Ltd 9- Innovation By Engineering Institute (Public Choice): SAL Institute of Technology & Engineering Research, Ahmedabad, Gujarat

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10- Global Collaborative Learning Initiative (Jury Choice): Who We Are & Where Are We Going – Bal Bharati Public School, Delhi

13- Innovation in Teaching Pedagogy (Public Choice): Seamless Learning – Dr K N Modi University, Newai, Rajasthan

11- Innovation By Engineering Institute (Jury Choice): Foundation Programme – Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, Gujarat

14- Innovation in Teaching Pedagogy (Jury Choice): Customizable Business Simulation Software – Amity University, Gurgaon, Haryana

12- Government Sector Initiative in Education (Special Mention): eScholarship Management System – Directorate of Information Technology, Government of Maharashtra

15- Global Collaborative Learning Initiative (Public Choice): Exploring the World – Ryan International School, Greater Noida, 16- Innovation in Language(s) Education

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(Jury Choice): ePronounce – School of Educational Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia 17- Innovation in Language(s) Education (Public Choice): Innovations in Hindi Curriculum – The Cathedral and John Connon School, Mumbai

They Also Won Innovation in Teaching Pedagogy (Jury Choice): Ask Your Kids – Oakridge International School, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh

Innovation By Management Institute (Public Choice): MIT School of Management, Pune, Maharashtra Use of Assistive Technologies In Education (Public Choice): ICR @ Home – NIIT Ltd Government Sector Initiative in Education (Special Mention): Vignana Yathre – Department of State Education Research and Training, Government of Karnataka

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Awards

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18- Innovation in Science Education (Public Choice): Kaleidoscope – Sir Padampat Singhania Education Centre, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh 19- e-School Initiative (Public Choice): Online Interactive Virtual School Portal – Dr Kedar Nath Modi Foundation, New Delhi 20- Green Campus Initiative (Public Choice): RMK Engineering College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu

21- Multimedia Content For K-12 Education (Public Choice): DigitALly – Pearson Education Services Pvt Ltd

24- Green Campus Initiative (Jury Choice): University of Petroleum & Energy Studies, Dehradun, Uttrakhand

22- Green School Initiative (Public Choice): Save Earth, Save Mankind – Gyan Ganga International School, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh

25- Vocational Education & Training Initiative (Public Choice): Apprenticeship Programme – Volkswagen India Pvt Ltd

23- Global Collaborative Learning Initiative (Public Choice): International Exposure Programme – Dewan V S Group of Institutions, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh

26- eCampus Initiative (Jury Choice): Campus Initiative University – Jayoti Vidyapeeth Women’s University, Jaipur, Rajasthan

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27- Non-Government Sector Initiative in Education (Public Choice): Empowering Deaf Kids through Donated Mobile Phones – Sounds of Silence, Mumbai, Maharashtra 28- Start-up Initiative (Jury Choice): Synergize – Esquvi Technologies Pvt Ltd 29- Innovation in Math Education (Public Choice): Math Fair Application of Math in Life – The Orchid School, Pune, Maharashtra

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33- e-School Initiative (Jury Choice): e-School Programme – Doon Public School, New Delhi 34- Use of Technology For Engineering Institutes (Jury Choice): Virtual 3-D Simulations A Sustainable Approach – Jaipur Engineering College and Research Centre, Jaipur, Rajasthan

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35- Innovation in Pre-School (Public Choice): Multiple Intelligence Learning Strategies – Delhi Public School, Bopal, Gujarat 36- Interface between Academia-Industry (Public Choice): Shadow Engineering – VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering & Technology, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh

42- Innovation By Management Institute (Jury Choice): Abhyudaya – S P Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai, Maharashtra 43- Global Collaborative Learning Initiative (Jury Choice): Competence Development in Product Lifecycle Management – JSS Academy of Technical Education, Noida, Uttar Pradesh

34 30- Multimedia Content For K-12 Education (Jury Choice): Raptivity – Harbinger Knowledge Products 31- Non-Government Sector Initiative in Education (Jury Choice): Legacy of Creating Educational Institutions of Excellence – Shri Ram Education Trust, New Delhi 32- Innovation in Teaching Pedagogy (Public Choice): MathsLab – Next Education India Pvt Ltd

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39- Innovation in Open and Distance Learning (Jury Choice): Virtual Labs Universalizing Education NMEICT Project – Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Kollam, Kerela

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40- Use of Technology For Engineering Institutes (Public Choice): Microsoft India Student AppFest – Microsoft Corporation (India) Pvt Ltd 41- Start-up Initiative (Public Choice): Recruitment Assisstance – Substance

45- Innovation in PreSchool (Jury Choice): Towards Making of Holistic Global Citizens – Kangaroo Kids Education Ltd

44- Innovation in Teaching Pedagogy (Jury Choice): iKen Design & Technology

37- eCampus Initiative (Public Choice): Activ(e)-Learning – Gujarat Technological University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 38- Innovation in Teaching Pedagogy (Public Choice): Making No Bones about It – Mahatma Gandhi International School, Ahmedabad, Gujarat

Lab Hands-on-Learning – Mexus Education Pvt Ltd

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WES 2013 Report Higher Education

Fostering Excellence

Transformative Practices towards Ensuring Quality The biggest factor that correlates good quality education is a good quality teacher. How do we improve the quality of teachers is a major concern. Secondly, we need to understand why our institutions don’t figure in global rankings, as much as we are proud of them and have invested billions of dollars into them. If we are to become a knowledge economy, we need the insight and experience to take the Indian higher education to a completely different level.

Dr Amir Ullah Khan, Deputy Director, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, India

To bring about excellence, commercialisation of education needs to be stopped first. Educationists and education aid providers need to work together on areas of improvement through deliberations and innovations. Enrolments need to be increased, while dropout rates have to be minimised.

Language barriers play a vital role too.

Dr G James Pitchai, Vice Chancellor, Bhararhiar University, Coimbatore

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A lot of transformational practices can come into examinations that will improve the overall quality of the education system. Maybe five years down the line, we shall be talking more about the best practices in computerbased mode of examination, instead of just talking about switching over to online system. Crucial aspects such as quality guidance, candidate convenience, and multiple service providers shall have to be considered.

Nagendran S, Executive Vice President, MeritTrac Services Pvt Ltd The issue of ensuring quality in education is inherently tied to the scalability and accessibility of education. We need larger number of classrooms, books, study materials, labs, equipments, and good teachers, etc. However, human resources cannot be guaranteed to scale, and that’s where blended learning can help through models such as flipped classrooms and distance education. It enables students to get a mix of face-to-face type interaction with teachers and computer-mediated learning technologies, hence offering them best of both the worlds.

Jaya Jha, Head, Product & Marketing, Aurus Network

We need to create a framework where a student’s selflearning process gets much better. Technology is not about taking the teacher out of the system, but enabling the teacher. We need to change the mindset and see technology as an enabler. For any transformation to happen, we need corporates to provide us technology that would take us to the next level, academicians for bringing in research and innovation, and parents to keep faith in us.

Ullas Sathyanarayana, Co-Founder & Director, Cogknit Semantics Pvt Ltd

June 2013 / digitalLEARNING

The classroom should focus on how we can learn together. This is the age of diminishing IP. The idea of patents is going to be over, because everything is going to be open. We are talking about ethical hacking. We really need to open up.

Supreet Kaur, Head, Marketing and Alliances, Harness Handitouch

education.eletsonline.com

Management Education

The Current Scenario and the Way Forward There was a time when MBA provoked a lot of craze among people. However, over the last few years, not only in India but even in the US, placements have been very bad in MBA institutes.

The cost of tuition has risen manifold. The two-year MBA has lost its relevance, and it should be converted into a combined four-year programme. In fact, specialisation programmes of 1418 months on business analytics, financial engineering, multimedia, e-commerce, and digital marketing will do well in future.

M J Xavier, Director, Indian Institute of Management Ranchi, Jharkhand

Over the years, foreign presence may increase in the management institutes and programme offerings will be changed. Less than two years or executive MBA programmes will gain popularity.

Prof P Rameshan, Director, Indian Institute of Management Rohtak, Haryana

Only three percent of India’s total R&D is conducted by educational institutions, and we have not done well in applied research in engineering and management as well. So, that is a matter of concern. Also, teaching is usually done through the case study method that focuses on companies who have performed in terms of profit and strategy. But this method has become obsolete abroad, as it talks about past practices. But today, the future lies in building socially responsible companies and innovative practices.

Dr M P Jaiswal, Chairman, Centre for Smart Innovation & Governance; Chairman, Process Rennovation Projects, MDI, Gurgaon

There has been a dearth of serious people in education. I feel the faculty and students are the heart of any institute. We should invest in delivering quality knowledge and more value for all stakeholders. For instance, we have a structured mentorship programme for students at our institute, where faculty and industry leaders come together to guide our students. We also have academy quality assurance system, and academic audit at both internal and external level.

Prof Pankaj Gupta, Director General, Jaipuria Institutes of Management

There is a common concern among universities of management education world-over on how to build socially sensitive business leaders for tomorrow. Our institute undertakes many pedagogic innovations in this regard.

For example, the programme called ‘Abyudaya’, where our students mentor underprivileged students from neighbouring slums.

Rukaiya Joshi, Professor, S P Jain Institute of Management & Research, Mumbai

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WES 2013 Report Higher Education

Private Universities in India

Innovation in Education Quality is the hallmark of education. It can be attained by aligning global partnerships to national interest, along with institutional autonomy, balanced with accountability to prevent misuse of freedom. The private institutions should come up with innovations to include a global perspective in a more global-oriented curriculum. The students should be given challenging assignments and be evaluated on an innovative grading system.

Dr Francis C Peter, Vice Chancellor & President, Dr K N Modi University, Rajasthan

For education we need only one thing, which is a great mind and enabling environment.

We know that India has great minds, but where is the enabling environment? There is a lack of freedom for private institutions.

The hope is that they can differentiate themselves by focusing on students, who should be treated as the centre of all the activities.

Another hope is in engaging the industry, as employability of students depends on the industry. But it has to be two-sided interaction wherein teachers and students also contribute to the industry. Also, private universities should have other models of revenue generation apart from students’ fees, to remain sustainable in the long-run.

Dr Anup K Singh, Director General & Chairman, Nirma University, Gujarat

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We believe in innovations through entrepreneurship whether it is technology or management or business schools. The motive should now be to produce employers rather than employees, because an employer can feed and assist four other people. We encourage our students to take up entrepreneurial projects.

Prof Satish C Sharma, CMD & Professor in Management, Maharaja Group of Colleges

Innovative curriculum, including contemporary subjects, is going to be the most important thing in the coming years. Experiential learning is also very important and students need to take up projects with the industry. Technology transfer and collaborations between government, research institutions, and industry are going to play a pivotal role.

Padmakali Banerjee, Pro Vice Chancellor, Amity University, Gurgaon Though the private sector has contributed a lot towards the success of technical education, priority structures have to be maintained across institutions. The most important thing on the list is the quality of the faculty that you acquire. It has to be followed by teaching-learning processes, quality of academic leadership, quality of admission, alumni relations, sports and cultural activities.

But most of these segments have been misplaced in the priority list. It is time to stop distinguishing between public and private colleges, rather making both of them deliverable.

Prof Prem Vrat, Vice Chancellor, ITM University, Gurgaon

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Vocational Training

Enhancing Employability Skills India has become one of the major hubs for knowledge outsourcing and skill development. The quality of skill enhancement programmes, their variety and delivery has become major advantage for the world. It is only in India that you can find skill development enhancement solution for any need.

One of the most sought after course is the algorithm training programme. Another emerging area of skill development is that of cyber security, given the rising cyber criminal activities.

In India only 10 percent of fresh grad-

Amit Kumar, Managing Director, Dr A Kumar Institute of Education; President, Cyberfort Technologies

uates are employable, as the majority lacks industry specific skills. We need to emphasise on vocational training for target groups like school dropouts, women and socially backward groups of our society. Also, we have to do away with the stigma attached with vocational education to attract the best talent.

Dr U C Pandey, Regional Director, IGNOU Regional Centre We have been working for the last 27 years in the unorganised sector in the backward districts of the country. We provide short-term and entry-level courses in regional languages. Our focus is on providing skills development in areas that are relevant to that particular region, like data entry operators, bank kiosk operators, hardware-repair, and maintenance of mobile, etc.

Abhishek Pandit, Director, Business Services, AISECT

Our education system is more theoretical leaning on getting good grades, but we do not create professionals. We have to build linkages between all sections of education to enable skill development along with knowledge generation.

Dr Aarti Srivastava, Associate Professor, National University of Educational Planning and Administration

Recently, the Government of Andhra Pradesh started Rajiv Yuva Kiranalu scheme. It aims to build job specific skills among the unemployed, and place them in appropriate private job sectors like construction. However, it is essential to make people aware about the different vocational skills and their learning centres.

Prof B Venkat Rathnam, Vice Chancellor, Kakatiya University

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WES 2013 Report Higher Education

Industry-Academia Bridge

Channelising Collaborative Models Graduates now require skills like critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity that are documented in the approach paper of the plan document in the 12th Plan. Special emphasis on verbal communication skills, especially English, will help in bringing employability. We need an interactive and collective arrangement between academic institutions and the business cooperation, for the achievement of certain mutually inclusive goals and objectives. There is a growing need of industry in making new recruits productive with right skill and knowledge, and thereby reducing the cost.

Shakila Shamsu, Officer on Special Duty, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India

The sectoral approach is that we need to scale quality capacity among the faculty, infrastructure, students, and the ecosystem, at large. Employability at the entry-level, and research and development at the higher level, both are required. While the industry has gone on its own journey, we have not made our efforts to bridge the misconception of supply and demand requirement. So the supply side has actually perceived the industry requirement and moved on its own journey.

Dr Sandhya Chintala, Executive Director, Sector Skills Council, NASSCOM

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The government is not solely responsible for doing everything.

There are many examples across the world where education, health, transport and many important sectors are into private domains. It is good to involve private sector, both at the school level and higher education level in education, as it increases the competitiveness. When we say that education is the backbone, it is about inculcating democratic and secular values among the citizens.

Capt H A Arfi, IAS, (Retd) Director AICC & AIESR, Amity University, Noida

education.eletsonline.com

Industry and academia are not working together.

We are facing this issue that after four years of engineering, the companies come to us and say that their mindset is different, and they want something else from the students.

We made industry-specific learning as a part of our curriculum. There are some industry relevant curriculums, which we have designed in consultation with major companies.

Dr Madhu Chitkara, Vice Chancellor, Chitkara University

We have kept the concept of corporate mentor at our institute, whereby we assign 15 students to a corporate and the mentors groom students. They take all the responsibility, starting from the academics to placements and teach business etiquette to students. We are also providing vocational courses to our students as corporates need students with basic knowledge of a particular industry. We must emphasise on practical knowledge and then the theory.

Prof (Dr) Sandip P Solanki, Director, MBA Dept, M H Gardi School of Management, Gardi Vidyapith, Rajkot

During the second year of MBA course, we talk to the industry people, and they give curriculum to us, which has to be added to the syllabus. Retail giant, Shoppers Stop, approached us and said that they need 900 employees every year. Attrition rate is high, but we have to give extensive training to graduates for one year to make them employable.

They suggested us to give sixmonth training in the last year of graduation for students who want to join the retail industry.

Dr Deepak Shah, Secretary, Kamala Education Society (KES)

Gujarat Knowledge Society (GKS) is a revolutionary measure of the Gujarat Government, undertaken in 2008, to bridge the gap between the industry and academia. GKS believes in empowering the youth. We incorporate training centres with the help of various industries, where quality education is imparted to the candidates. GKS has already registered with some of the finest public and private institutions in the country like NIIT, HCL, etc. The students get great employment opportunities along with enhancement of the skills and knowledge.

Ritesh Maheta, Accounts Officer, Gujrat Knowledge Society

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WES 2013 Report special session

New Financing and Business Models in Education India’s private education market is estimated to reach USD 103 billion from USD 71 billion currently. New models of PPP in the skill development sector are assisting the vocational education sector. We see expansion in education with participation of private and foreign players. For that, the sector should be turned into for profit. Government can allow long-term lease on land and infrastructure. It may cap profitability, but allow a rate of return to the investor.

Melwin Braggs, Business Lead, Develop Schools

There are lots of challenges in finding investors in education. In India, education is considered as a non-profit making sector. For profit entities like partners firm, cooperatives, private limited companies, investments is not a challenge. But with education, which is formed under entities like societies, trusts and Section 25 companies, finding investor is a real challenge. Investor or VC funds cannot invest in trust or society because they cannot reap benefits out of them.

Seema Jhingan, Partner, LexCounsel Law Offices, New Delhi

Most of the companies think that investment happens on top line. The new set of investment that is happening in the country, which is particularly in education is happening on PACT (Profit After Tax). Even if you have `1 pact there are investors who are ready to give you 20 times of that. But if you have a top line of 50 crores and you are not profitable means the execution is a big problem inside the company and we as Indians are far better in giving ideas, chalking out strategies, but lack in the execution side. If you are running a company, or a business and, if you have `1 of profit, it is more valuable than `100 of top line.

Naveen Jha, CEO, Deshpande Foundation; and Managing Trustee, Deshpande Education Trust; President-TiE-Hubli

I think private players like us are looking to invest in innovations so that we can play a meaningful role in the education sector. For instance, we support an organisation called ‘Agastya’ that designs low-cost science equipment. So there is a huge opportunity lying in the philanthropy and innovation format that can be used to supplement the education system. Various sectors require very specific skills. I think India’s demographic dividend has to be converted into human capital else it will become a liability.

Ujjawal Singh, Partner, Indus Balaji

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