Inter-school science exhibition held at Mumbai suburban school

To commemorate the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Vissanji Academy, Andheri (E), in association with Nehru Science Centre held an Inter-school science exhibition 'EXPISCOR 2012' at their sprawling school campus on Friday, 30th November and Saturday, 1st December 2012.

On November 30, the exhibition was inaugurated by Mr.Umesh Kumar Rustogi , curator of Nehru Science centre along with the trustee of the school, Mrs. Arati Vissanji.

The teachers of the participating schools, who attended a one-day work shop at Nehru Science Centre had an enriching experience to guide the students.

Budding scientists from 25 ICSE schools from Nerul to Colaba participated and presented many creative ideas and exhibits.

The enthusiasm and skill clubbed with in-depth knowledge of Physics, Chemistry and Biology at school and junior college level was commendable.

The results obtained in the research projects spread the spell of seeing the future generation Faradays, Newtons, Edisons and Einsteins among them.

The exhibits included still models, working models and research base projects which were very innovative and relevant to today's times.

The exhibits, to name a few, included research projects on electromagnets, sensors in cars, mineralogy and many more.

The projects were judged by ten distinguished professionals from Research and Development Institutes headed by Mr. Arnav Bhattacharya from TIFR who captivated the audience with his oratory skills.

The exhibits were visited by various schools. "It was a pleasure to see the BMC and other school students interact and gain knowledge through the various projects.

Students had a rare opportunity to interact on Skype with Ms.Anupa Bajwa an ex-vissanjiaite, currently working with NASA, who sparked off the charisma of space and space technology through her personal experience. "The students were fascinated watching her and listening to her live via skype," said Shahnaz Chauhan, principal of the school.

On December 1, Prof. M N Vahia from the department of astronomy and astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research delivered an interesting lecture on "Power of 10" which mesmerized the audience.

Dr.Indrani Gupta, Principal & Scientist at National Environmental Engineering Research Institute appreciated the research done and projects exhibited on such a mega scale.

The first prize in Group A (Std.VIII to Std.X) was bagged by Podar International School, Nerul.

The research project was based on "Oil spill clean-up". In Group B (Std.XI and Std.XII) the first prize was bagged by St. Gregorious High School. Their project was based on research on "Effect of oil spill in ocean/seas". The winners were given cash prizes and a trophy. All the participants were presented with memento and the participating certificates.

Gujarat University to offer aviation course

If you are a commerce or arts student, and still aspire to fly an airplane, your dream may take wings soon. Gujarat University (GU) plans to collaborate with an aviation university to allow interested students - irrespective of the streams, to pursue their dream career.
GU is all set to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Electrotherm's Indus University - so far the only university in the state offering courses in commercial pilot license and aviation maintenance. The MoU will be signed during Vibrant Gujarat 2013.

The MoU will also mark GU's launch of the 'multivarsity' concept, where students will be able to pursue multidisciplinary courses from various colleges at the same time. The concept is based on the virtual university model, which will make higher education accessible in remote villages.

Arvind Bhandari, registrar, Gujarat University, said, "We are considering the proposal of students being offered aviation as a part of their curriculum. It will be a multidisciplinary course on the choice-based credit system. The MoU will be signed during Vibrant Gujarat.

" As part of the MoU, students from non-science streams will be offered a bridge course before pursuing the aviation program.

D P Giridhar, vice-chancellor, Indus University, said, "Students of Gujarat University will get a chance to expand their opportunities through our course. We have submitted an expression of interest and are in the initial stages of discussions." The universities are likely to issue joint degrees for the course.

Jagat Shah, advisor to Udisha project of commissioner of higher education, department of education, Government of Gujarat, is coordinating the MoU. "The MoU will be signed in front of an actual aircraft out on display at the education hall during Vibrant Gujarat," he said. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Government of India's requirement is a science background in order to pursue a career in aviation but with this course, students from other streams can pursue a career in flying. The initiative of launching the multivarsity is expected to boost employment and focus on skill-based courses from the next academic year. The multivarsity model will be an open higher education model that will have a virtual entity with a complete back office. It

will be linked to the National Knowledge Network associated with seven national programmes of education. Halls of Culture and Training (HCT) will also be set up across the state.

Knowledge-hungry Gujarat to join hands with 77 varsities

Close to 77 universities from 25 countries will visit Gujarat to forge strategic partnerships with universities in the state. The universities will meet at the International Conference for Academic Institutions 2013, as part of the Vibrant Gujarat Investors' Summit, to promote research activities, faculty and student exchange, knowledge exchange and capacity building of the universities.
Home to globally-renowned educational institutes like Indian Institute of Management, Indian Institute of Technology and National Institute of Design, Gujarat will draw global universities in January.

University of London, Harvard Kennedy School, University of South Australia, University of Toronto, University of British Columbia, Association of African Universities, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, University of Glasgow, University of Houston, University of South Carolina, George Washington University, University of Wollongong, University of Liverpool, Royal University of Bhutan, among others will visit the state for various initiatives.

Dr Vedant Pandya, director (research and innovation), Knowledge Consortium of Gujarat, said, "Besides exchange of knowledge, the conference will focus on making graduates in Gujarat job eligible and employable in the industry. The interaction with foreign universities will open up doors of skill development, internships, exchange of teaching and learning material and research among other possibilities."

The Gujarat government has put preparation for the upcoming business summit on a fast track. The conference will be held on January 9 and 10, 2013.

According to officials, the conference will focus more on sharing of ideas, promotion of innovation and research as compared to earlier summits, which focused on generating investments.

About 50 educational collaborations were announced during the Vibrant Gujarat summit held in 2011. The state government, along with Tata Motors, identified and trained around 1,000 youngsters for the company's Nano car plant in Sanand.

Universities like Stanford had signed collaborations with Ahmedabad University for faculty exchange.

Maharashtra bill seeks to bring new KGs, nurseries under government control

The legislative council on Tuesday passed a bill that will bring pre-primary education under its control. After the Maharashtra Self-Financed School Bill becomes a law any institution or person desirous of opening a nursery or KG will have to seek permission from school education department. More importantly, permission will be granted only if the applicant is ready to provide primary education too. This bill will not effect the existing nurseries and kindergartens.

The bill comes up for discussion in the legislative assembly on Wednesday and will be likely passed in this session. The provisions will come into effect from next academic session.

School education minister Rajendra Darda told the council that new pre-primary schools were being regulated to ensure that the 25% quota for poor under RTE was provided by private schools. "Many schools only admit their kindergarten II students to standard I. So if there is no control over pre-primary education then the schools will not implement the 25% quota in nursery and kindergarten and will finally say that they have no vacancies left in standard I."

The decision to regulate pre-primary education has not gone down well with the education fraternity. A KG principal, said, "It is unfair for the state government to start meddling in our affairs.

Basically we (pre-primary institutes) do not receive even a single dime in grants or favours, so on what basis is the government trying to dictate terms to us. Our industry survives solely due to quality and competitive fee."

Merry Christmas

EduTalkIndia Team Wishes everyone Merry Christmas!