ED UCATION
THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY AUGUST 2, 2014
PUNE
“However heart-breaking it may be to ourselves, we must make way for the new generations even when we feel we are still in our prime.” — JRD Tata, speech on ‘Completion of 25 years as chairman’
Signposts Book release at Balgandharva
Open essay competition Garima Manch of Indian Medical Association, Pune Branch, is organising an open essay competition on ‘Shall self-defense study be included in curriculum for girls’. Participants can send their entries in English or Marathi in 1,500 to 2,000 words before August 10. The prize distribution will be held at IMA House, Tilak Road on August 31 at 5 pm. Mail essays to pranita76@gmail.com; aarti.nimkar@gmail.com; anand3662@yahoo.com. Contact: Nitu Mandke, IMA House, Tilak Road, Pune 411002 for details.
Exhibition of books from August 3 Gyanganga is holding a book exhibition ‘a knowledge festival’ from August three. IT expert and Padmashri Dr Vijay Bhatkar will inaugurate the exhibition. He will also take part in an open interview on spirituality, science and book culture. Senior journalist Sunil Mali will be the chief guest at the event to be held at Atre Hall, Bajirao Road at 6 pm.
“Education is education. We should learn everything and then choose which path to follow. Education is neither Eastern nor Western, it is human.” — Malala Yousafzai
‘Skills varsity’ to start in Bhopal, 2016
Young in mind and spirit and dedicated to the cause of education, Symbiosis Society’s founder SB Mujumdar’s latest initiative is to establish a vocational university, that will teach employability skills, in Bhopal in 2016. He spoke to Manasi Saraf Joshi recently on the occasion of his 80th birthday TGS NEWS SERVICE @GargiManasi Starting as a professor of botany, Prof SB Mujumdar has made a landmark contribution in the field of education in India through the Symbiosis Society of which he is the founder and president. Having turned 80 recently, Prof Mujumdar attributes his youthful spirit, zeal and enthusiasm to the youngsters of his university; his abiding faith in simplicity, integrity and spirituality. His latest initiative is to establish a vocational university in Bhopal on a 35-acre campus, focused on imparting education in technology-related skills and soft skills. Prof Mujumdar has a clear vision of the path that education in India needs to take, if the country is to meet its development goals and achieve progress in various fields. Excerpts from an interview with Manasi Saraf Joshi:
ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR
Yashwantrao Chavan Pratishthan and Amey Publication has organised a function where scientist Dr Raghunath Mashelkar will launch a book, ‘Dusari Haritkranti’ penned by Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, at Bal Gandharva Rangmandir at 4 pm. CD Mayee will deliver a keynote address on the occasion.
CARE ER
What according to you, is urgently needed to improve employability in the country? By 2020, India will be the youngest nation in the world with over 60 per cent of its population below 25. I think this is a great opportunity to reap the demographic dividend. By this I mean that we need to focus on skills development to improve employability in the country. I firmly believe that the conventional graduate courses are of absolutely no use. Instead, we should focus on skill development and soft skill development of this young generation. I have seen many doctors, engineers and other professional course graduates who lack soft skills. By soft skills I mean the ability to communicate clearly,
How can we make education affordable, especially higher education? I think the key words today are online and distance education. It not only saves money and makes it affordable even to a homemaker; it also helps in the skill development of a person. When a person makes progress, it is the nation that progresses. But unfortunately we have a mindset wherein online and distance education are considered inferior. We need to change this mindset. In Germany and other countries, even medical and engineering education is given online and through distance learning. Professionals, homemakers and many such people for whom it is impossible to go to college, but who have the craving for education can fulfill their dream. Again, the policy of the government wherein it is mandatory for a university to have 25 acres of land to start online and distance courses is discouraging. The very meaning of this type of education is it has to be accessible from any corner of the world.
“Govt must allow pvt players who are in the field of education for years to establish universities.”
Eighty-year-old Prof Mujumdar attributes his youthful spirit, zeal and enthusiasm to the youngsters of his university
establishing inter-personal relations, presentation skills and other such. Prime minister Narendra Modi’s three ‘S’ principle should be followed to achieve the desired target: Skill, Speed and Scope. Instead of opening new IITs, we should have skill universities. China has over 100 such universities while Germany’s count is 162 universities of applied sciences. If we fail to reap this demographic dividend, then this young force would be heading for a disaster. To establish such skill universities, what steps should the government take?
In numbers 18 is total number of campuses 13 in Pune and one each at Kolhapur, Bangalore, Harali, Noida and Hyderabad. 30,000 total number of students
I believe that the government must allow private players who are in the field of education for years to establish such universities in the country. There are a few private universities in Rajasthan,
Karnataka and other states; Maharashtra lags far behind. The state government’s policy regarding opening up of private universities is not encouraging. There are no decisions; only proposals are taken for consideration. This has affected the educational scenario in the state and Maharashtra is fast losing its tag as a progressive state. We have received permission to open a skill university in Madhya Pradesh as the MP CM took personal interest in establishing it. I always wanted to have such a university in Pune, but unfortunately my dream couldn’t be realised here.
Which were the most challenging and fulfilling moments of your life? I think my dream to have “a home away from home”, for foreign students was realised and that was fulfilling moment for me. The most challenging was when I was vehemently criticized, especially by media, for a piece of land I bought to construct the Bharat Ratna Babasaheb Ambedkar museum. If not the founder of Symbiosis, what would you have been? A professor of botany and life sciences. manasisaraf@gmail.com
This app is apt for those preparing for exams ANJALI SHETTY @shetty_anjali Those preparing for school, college and competitive exams will now have answers to their queries at their fingertips. Mobile based educational platform Gradestack has all the answers. Instead of undertaking a research before launching their application, Sanjeev Kumar, Shobhut Bhatnagar and Vibhu Bhushan built a couple of apps with free learning material and put it on Android Store. A positive response from students within a few weeks and feedback on
email prompted the trio to launch GradeStack. Bhatnagar said, “The idea is to give students a way to test and revise what they are studying in a matter of 10 minutes. With increasing smartphone adoption among the youth, the app fits perfectly in their tight schedule during exam preparation.” The application has 4,000-5,000 new users studying for 50 available courses every day. “More than 80,000 students from Pune use GradeStack every month,” he said. On the usefulness of the application
Pursuing My Career
for a student in Pune, Bhushan said, “Pune is a major education centre of India. The number of students and variety of courses in the city is immense. We provide courses for school, test preparation and learning technical skills, besides adding more courses every day. From a social angle, it also provides students a chance to connect with their peers from across the country and discuss doubts.” Kumar said, “We are adding 10-12 courses every month on our platform. The goal is to cover 5,000 different courses over the next few years. We believe that learning and upgrading
‘I really want to be a pastry chef’ Hospitality student Danesh Irani’s love of cookery has made him opt for higher education BY DANESH IRANI Cooking is my passion. To me, cooking or baking means making something different from the original. I try new recipes every weekend. I scour the local markets and grocery stores to find exotic ingredients to add to my recipes. I jot down recipes from international cookery shows, though some of the ingredients are not available in the local market. So, I replace them with my own spices and vegetables. As I have always been fascinated with food, I decided to join All India Shri Shivaji Memorial Society’s College of Hotel Management and Catering Technology (AISSMS) after standard XII. The first three terms gave me a general overview of the hospitality trade, how to dice vegetables and presentation skills among other things. From the fourth semester onwards we were taught food production, hotel accommodation, food and beverage service, marketing, law, accounts and computers. After completing my fourth term, I
applied for an internship programme at Singapore Marriott Hotel and worked there for three months. During the first week, I had to observe and assist. Then, I was assigned to the food and beverage service at the hotel. I got the opportunity to make oriental dishes using different sauces, spices and herbs, and beverages. One of the highlights of the internship was assisting the chef in baking cakes, pastries and cookies. The milk, flour and cream are different there. During the bakery sessions, I learned to use the entire vanilla pod instead of the seeds. The internship taught me different aspects of cooking and baking. It made me realise what I really want to become is a pastry chef. After completing my graduation this year, I am planning to go abroad for my masters’ degree and pursue a special course in baking. Those who want to make a career in this industry must love food. It is a liking for good taste and one must also acquire the skills to cook up dishes that can pamper the palates of other people, that will ensure your success.
skills is an ongoing activity, and GradeStack wants to be a companion in doing that.” Dheeraj Gupta, a city student, said, “Through this app, I can read and solve questions even while travelling. I can have discussions with different users. The bank course also sends me daily GK updates.” Shubham Shinde said that the courses on GradeStack are short and easy to learn. “I like to take tests on the app that compare my score with others.” anjali.shetty@goldensparrow.com
(From left) Sanjeev Kumar, Shobhut Bhatnagar and Vibhu Bhushan say that 80,000 students from Pune use their app GradeStack every month
Life’s Lessons
Focus on your strengths For the college student or the young professional the real world can be less than sympathetic, very demanding and full of challenges. It’s best to equip yourself with the right attitude to help you make the most of your talent, resources and station in life. Here are some attitudes that can help you cope better with the challenges of the professional world.
Goals help us make the best use of our time and achieve results. Thus, it’s important for us to first identify our goals and then work out a plan to achieve those goals. There can be short-term goals, mid-term and long-term goals. Goals can be categorised appropriately and then achieved systematically.
on your strengths: We work best when Money management is important: As one 1choseFocus 4 we are passionate about something. Often, we expert put it, “manage your money well a career depending on the perceptions of before it starts to manage you”. The importance society on what is a good career, expectations of our parents. What is most important, however, is to identify your likes and dislikes and chose a career that is in tune with what you would like to do most. It’s not easy to arrive at such a decision but the principle should always be kept in mind: Focus on your strengths.
Being busy is not the same as being productive: 2 It’s good to recognise early that being busy is different from being productive. How do you
use your time productively? How does one make the most of the given time? The way to being productive is by identifying priorities, breaking down large tasks into manageable portions and then going after them. What would give you the greatest satisfaction on completion?
your goals: Goals give us direction. 3Identify They help us eliminate what is unimportant.
of money management cannot be underestimated. As young people, there’s always the financial cushion provided by our parents. But as one begins to get independent, there’s the danger of living beyond one’s means and falling into a debt trap by overspending on the credit card. It’s best to learn to manage your money early, with an emphasis on saving and investment and saving money for purchases rather than using the credit card to pay
Anger management is important: It’s not 5 wrong to be angry over things but how you handle your anger and what you do with it is what is important. People tend to act hastily and react instantly when angry only to regret or repent later. It’s important to learn how to manage anger. Going out of control can make the environment toxic and spoil the work environment. It can also reflect poorly on the person who is unable to control anger. So keep your anger in check.