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!

Gujarat Board Class 12th Results out today

Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) will declare the results of the first semester exams of class XI (science) today.

Officials said that nearly 1.70 lakh students have appeared in the first semester exam which comprised objective-type questions. This is the highest number of students appearing in the science board exam this year.

These papers were corrected by Optical Mark Reader (OMR). The results will be sent to school principals and will be declared to students on the same day. The result is expected to be around 90 per cent since the students tend to score better in OMR papers.

Recently, the third semester results of HSC (science) students was declared, and they were in the 90 per cent region. The final fourth semester exam for the students will be held in March.

Accreditation of all higher education institutes to be made mandatory from 2013

Accreditation for all higher educational institutions will be made mandatory from next year. With the National Accreditation Regulatory Authority (NARA) bill hanging fire for the last two years, the human resource development (HRD) ministry is planning to make accreditation mandatory for public and private institutions through executive order to continue with the reform process.

Accreditation of educational institutions will help students assess the quality of programmes and courses, physical infrastructure and faculty. At present, only a fraction -- about 15% institutions -- are accredited.

HRD minister M M Pallam Raju said both Universities Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) have been tasked with preparing benchmarks for the accreditation process. In fact, the ministry will be writing to state governments to establish accreditation agencies that will inspect institutions on these regulatory benchmarks.

AICTE has also been asked to set up another accreditation agency — Indian Board of Accreditation — that will assist the existing National Board of Accreditation in inspections of institutions. "There was need felt for a new accreditation body and AICTE will set up the IBA by February," Raju said.

AICTE has under it 3,800 technical institutions, 3,700 management institutions, 3,500 polytechnics, 240 hotel management institutions and 60 applied art institutions. These institutions approach AICTE every year for either renewal of their accreditation or for introduction of new disciplines or other expansion plans. There are 60,000 programmes that are accredited under AICTE at present.

"There is a long pendency already and once the process is made mandatory, the waiting period will only increase. We have to build our capacity before that," AICTE chairman Prof S S Mantha said.

Under the NARA bill, existing universities will be given six years to complete the accreditation process while new universities will be allowed to complete teaching two batches of students. However, it remains unclear how the government will succeed in enforcing the accreditation process through rules.

HRD ministry officials said that under the UGC Act, the commission was empowered to shut down a department if there was non-compliance. However, that has not been done so far.

Private varsities bill gets nod despite opposition

Punjab assembly passed two controversial bills on Friday, paving the way for two private universities to come up in the state even as the treasury benches ridiculed private varsities terming them as teaching shops set up to mint money.

Even as the opposition boycotted the session and did not debate the bills, the treasury benches seemed to have taken over the opposition's role as several legislators of the ruling SAD-BJP alliance slammed the private universities and raised apprehension that these would not be in the interest of the students. Despite this, the Desh Bhagat University Bill and the DAV University Bill were okayed.

SAD MLA Som Prakash said, "Lovely Professional University was set up in 2005 and has more than 25,000 students from 26 nations. But... the standard of education needs to be monitored. In a survey done by metro man E Sreedharan, it was found that only 21% of MBA students are capable of jobs, only 12% of engineers can be recruited directly and the rest need training and 36% of students passing out of private universities are not qualified for jobs despite training."

Nirmal Singh, another SAD MLA, said, "Private institutions have no seats for the poor. Even at places where they have taken panchayat land from villages on discounted prices they have not bothered to give concession to village children. Government must ensure that they follow norms."

Indian Red Cross Society organized 3 days training program for Youth Red Cross Counselors

Youth Red Cross wing of Indian Red Cross Society, Odisha State Branch (IRCS-OSB) has organized a 03 (three) days State level training program for untrained Youth Red Cross Counselors’ from 12.12.12 to 14.12.12 at Red Cross Bhavan, Bhubaneswar.
The objective of this three days program was to acquaint the counselors with various activities and objectives of Youth Red Cross with the view to strengthen YRC movement in our State.

The program was inaugurated on 12.12.12 by the Srijukta Amar Prasad Satpathy, M.L.A & Former Minister, Govt of Odisha along with Director Higher Education Prof.(Dr.) Satyakam Mishra and Honorary Secretary, Indian Red Cross Society, Odisha State Branch (IRCS-OSB) Dr.Mangala Prasad Mohanty.

In this program around 50 Youth Red Cross Counselors from 17 districts across Odisha have participated.

During these three days training camp the counselors were imparted training on Disaster Preparedness and Disaster Risk Reduction, First Aid, Road safety, Blood Science, Motivation for organizing blood grouping and blood donation, HIV/AIDS, Youth leadership Volunteerism along with the history of Red Cross Movement, Development, Fundamental Principles of Youth Red Cross, etc.
The Valedictory function of the training program was organized on 14.12.12. at 3.30 P.M. at Red Cross Bhavan, Bhubaneswar, S.L.O.-cum-Deputy Secretary to Govt. Department , Department of Higher Education, Govt.of Odisha , Dr.U.N.Sahoo, noted Journalist Mr.Prasanta Pattnaik had joined as Guests of Honor along with an Honorary Secretary, Indian Red Cross Society, Odisha State Branch (IRCS-OSB) Dr.Mangala Prasad Mohanty.

Dr.M.P.Mohanty, Honorary Secretary, Indian Red Cross Society, Odisha State Branch (IRCS-OSB) extended a warm welcome to all the guest & participants. He highlighted on the vital role played by YRC Counselors’ on grooming the volunteers as good human beings. Dr.U.N.Sahoo, S.L.O-cum-Deputy Secretary to Govt., Department of Higher Education, and Govt.of Odisha stressed on the importance of volunteerism in the current society. Noted Journalist Mr.Prasanta Pattnaik, appreciated the activities of Youth Red Cross and advised the Counselors to motivate the volunteers to be dedicated & determined to serve the nation.

Dr.Sarita Supkar Youth Red Cross Officer coordinated the 03(three) days’ training program & offered a vote of thanks to the guests & participates.

Revolutionising trends in Indian system of education

The coming decade will see a 'phenomenal evolution in the school education landscape', say experts. While some opine that higher education needs to be defined by quality, others say that technology will further percolate into classrooms.

Syed Sultan Ahmed, Managing Director of Edumedia India Pvt Ltd, said, "One clear area of evolution I see for schools will be a shift of focus from 'marks based' academic curriculum to 'life based' overall development. Schools talk a lot about it these days but do very little. In the coming years, colleges and universities will start enrolling students on the basis of their overall development and not just grades. This will change the obsession of schools towards exams and marks".

Ahmed opined that, schools in general care very little about standards and quality. "In the coming years, with increasing competition and expectations from parents, they will be forced to deliver better quality education at competitive fees," he added.

Ahmed also observed that, at present there is a huge disconnect between what children study and what the industry and the world require from them. "In the future, there will be a larger say of the industry in the curriculum that schools teach. Several skill based learning modules will be introduced by schools, making education a lot more relevant to the world. Creativity and innovation will be one of the most priced qualities in the future, and schools will have to gear up to create thinking individuals with a capacity to make sense of the abundant information that they are exposed to," he said.

The biggest educational challenge in India, is the failure of the government to provide good quality primary and secondary education through government schools, he said. "Privatization of government schools through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model, seems like a possibility in the coming years. India’s dream of becoming a developed nation, depends a lot on its school education," he said.

He added that another trend that seems like a real possibility, is personalised distance learning, enabled by technology and home schooling.

According to K S Badarinarayan, principal of MVJ College of Engineering, the education sector is something that is constantly evolving. By 2020, education will be more or less virtual in nature. "What we have right now, is a classroom culture. But, the growing presence of internet means that students in Bangalore will be able to choose subjects and courses from across the world. Imagine being able to take one course from America and another from Europe," he said.

However, the decline of classroom culture can also have its set of disadvantages. Nevertheless, if employed the right way, expertise from across the world can be mobilised. "I also think that, the future will have students being more competitive and creative. The education sector should also ensure that students are industry ready. Right now, only 25% of all students graduating from engineering colleges are really employable. What happens to the rest? By 2020, hopefully colleges will be able to provide multi-skill development for its students, like technical skills and soft skills put together," he said.

Anitha Kurup, a professor at School of Social Sciences and anchor of the education programme at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), felt that the primary education in the country has grown tremendously in the past decade, which means the higher education has to grow to meet the needs of the primary education. "What the higher education needs to do in the next few years, is to define itself by quality. We need to look at the kind of skills that need to be developed, and the kind of courses you provide to the students. We also need to learn from other countries that have expanded their higher education and gain lessons from their experiences," she said.

There is a need for giving importance to basic sciences, socials science and humanities. In her opinion, the reason these fields are suffering right now as opposed to engineering and professional courses, is because these courses are not linked to the kind of job options people are looking for. "Ultimately, private players will be have a big role in the growth of higher education.

We need to work out models that are feasible. The government should find a way to engage with the private players, without completely withdrawing, to realise the kind of growth we are looking for," she added.

Ragpickers on the road to education

Collaboration, key to change

Strong collaborations are often the source of best ideas, but can they actually inspire effective and long-term innovations in education ? With this in mind, the fourth edition of the World Innovation Summit for Education 2012 (WISE) brought together more than 1,000 academic , corporate, political and social leaders from over 100 countries at the Qatar National Convention Centre in Doha to explore the theme, 'Collaborating for Change.'

How can the world, through newage education, address the complexities and interrelated challenges facing the world today? What are the creative solutions to access, financing and teaching? How do we improve strategies to share success and enhance institutional processes? These and several other questions were discussed and deliberated upon by participants during the three-day summit (November 13-15).

His Excellency Abdulla bin Ali Al-Thani , chairman of WISE, in his welcome address said, "WISE is an ideal platform for multi-sectoral collaboration in building the future of education . We have to consider how education can be re-shaped to meet the major challenges of modern life, against the backdrop of globalisation, and despite stark inequalities among and within societies."

According to Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, chairperson, Qatar Foundation, organisers of the summit , WISE, it is through education that a collective mind of communities is formed that helps in building a future , which is innovative.

The summit offered interactive discussions with speakers, experts and members from the WISE community. Attendees got an opportunity to collaborate , interact and share best practices during the several plenary sessions and debates. Also, some of the other sessions focused on innovations and projects, along with workshops to facilitate collaboration on specific issues.

Institutes can deny admission on disciplinary grounds: HC

An educational institute is "well within" its right to deny admission to a successful candidate if his presence adversely affects discipline, the Delhi high court has ruled.

"The right of an educational institution to either admit or deny admission is beyond dispute and no student has got a right to compel an institution that he should be admitted," a bench of Chief Justice D Murugesan and Justice R S Endlaw noted while dismissing a plea by a former Jamia Millia Islamia student against denial of admission.

The bench also said a selected student is entitled to admission, but "equally, it is the solemn responsibility on the part of the university to consider the past conduct of the student even if such student was ranked for the admission.

"If admission of the appellant is not conducive for good administration of the university and if it affects the discipline among other students, it would be well within its right to refuse admission," it said, pointing out that "responsibility" of an institute is to not only impart education but also to "inculcate" discipline.

Hamidur Rehman had filed a plea in HC that he was "arbitrarily" denied admission in M A (Persian) by JMI for academic session 2012-14, because he wanted to restore democracy in the form of student elections. Rehman said he ranked 21 in the test, held for admission for total 30 seats, but the university admitted only 20 students to deny him admission.

But the HC dismissed the appeal giving credence to reports from "heads of each of the departments, which stated that the appellant was offensive and aggressive against the university".

While an educational institution can't deny admission to such of those students who would be entitled to be admitted on the basis of ranking, the court said, but added that "equally, we are also not oblivious of the importance of discipline among students. Universities today have striven to ensure principled conduct for admission of students and the transition to higher education. The code of conduct is amongst the necessary elements which are known today for admission of any student in schools or universities".

IP University to setup a design institute

The Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (popularly known IP University), Delhi is setting up an Institute of design at its East campus which will be Asia's biggest centre of its kind said Dr A K Walia, minister for higher education, government of NCT of Delhi.

Walia was addressing the ninth convocation of the University at its Dwarka campus on Monday, he also said that at a time public private partnership(PPP) model is not working so well is other countries, IP University has set an example of success of this model of governance.

In his address Lt Governor of Delhi and chancellor of the University, Tejendra Khanna said that academic ambiance plays vital role in the growth of any academic institution besides good teachers, receptive students and state-of-the-art infrastructure. "Domain knowledge combined with human values is need of hours. Learning is a life long process," he said.

Delivering the convocation address, chairman of Tata Communication Limited, Subodh Bhargava said "As far as learning process is concerned, we will always be a student through out our life. We can learn many things from our life and experiences. Values are those boundaries within which we think and ponder. Some values do not change even with time like honesty, empathy for others, compassion etc. We should be realistic as well optimistic for our growth."

Vice chancellor of IP University, D K Bandyopadhyay, informed on the occasion that the University is planning to start three new centres of studies in the University- Centre of Study of Indigenous Literature, Centre for Film and Culture Studies and Centre for Development and Planning. "There are three types of skills that are needed in this century- cognitive skills such as analytical and critical thinking, non-cognitive skills such as attitude like honesty, team work, leadership etc, technical skills such as accountancy, tourism, IT, management, construction among others."

In all 15,945 students of the university were awarded degree on the occasion and 67 students were conferred with Gold Medals(including Essar Power Gold Medal). 15 students were awarded with plaque/citation for their exemplary performance(for obtaining 90% and more marks) in studies. Moreover, 21 students of the University were conferred with PhD degree on the occasion.

Do you have an entrepreneur in you?

What does it take to start a company of your own? Is it money, vision, belief, courage? Any entrepreneur would tell you it is all this and more! The way there is a method to madness, similarly there is a method to becoming an entrepreneur.

Many college goers don’t harp on corporate dreams anymore, thanks to the entrepreneurial vibes in the air. Most college students are attracted by the prospects of making an idea the central point of their life and experiencing the obsession of starting a venture.

Meet Hullas Arora, a final-year student of Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies (CBS), University of Delhi who is burning the midnight oil preparing for his semester exams. Though he has a placement offer from a leading MNC, Arora is contemplating if he wants to take up the job or pursue his dreams.

Says he, “I happened to visit the corridors of a leading MNC and was shocked to see the fate of the employees. Everyone was glued to their computer screens and didn’t budge even for a second. The atmosphere was eerie and reminded me of a mortuary. I can’t imagine myself to be sitting like this someday.”

Chances are that Arora would not even need to cross the corporate corridors if things materialise as per plan. “I have so many ideas, and plan to start various ventures,” he says. However, at present, Fabrica (a venture started by him and his friends) is his motivation. “Fabrica India is a business organisation that deals in corporate merchandising and has developed a reputation for providing quality apparel, corporate gifts and promotional products at competitive prices. We have made a strong footing in the industry and want to take it further,” he adds.

The inception of Fabrica India goes back to close to a year. Recalls Pulkit Bakshi, co-founder Fabrica, “I had a marketing company and was finding various associates for it including apparel partner and associate too. Meanwhile Varsha Chaudhary, (Business Development Head, Fabrica India) who was then the vice president of Gargi College, wanted to get some T-Shirts made for her college. So we set out together looking for quality suppliers who would give us good stuff at reasonable prices. Luckily, we were unable to find anyone and Varsha sensed some scope here. She had an interest in fashion, and this industry offered abundant scope for her. So one of those days we spent a lot of time talking about this. One thing led to another and finally we decided to open our own company. We ransacked all our contacts and exploited our entire network for finding and organising the best suppliers, distributor’s, designers, delivery guys, etc.”

After a year, Fabrica is a brand many reckon with. But was the start as smooth? “From starting with only two people referred to as T-Shirt vendors by the people, Fabrica India today has eight core employees, numerous sub-employees and interns. From just being a startup to a registered legal entity, and from a facebook page to having a full-fledged website, we have come a long way. We worked towards market capitalisation for eight straight months after which we decided to get our company registered, get it a website, hire employees and expand it to other corporate and institutional sectors. We used all our earnings from Fabrica to get all these things done and organised a team of efficient committed and talented people to help Fabrica achieve its potential. Today, we are as a registered organisation called The Fab Enterprises, carrying the Brand Fabrica India,” prides Pulkit.

Ask him what next about Fabrica and him and he says, “We today are one of the largest and fastest growing merchandising brands of the country and plan to come up with our stores soon which shall mark every prominent street of the country in no time. We have become synonymous to quality, client delight and punctuality and we wish to now become a synonym to merchandise.”

With like-minded friends, Hullas plans to strengthen his entrepreneurial roots. “The future plan is to float a few ventures and work on taking them to a certain level. I have come to realise that closed door jobs are not my cup of tea.”