Teachers from India qualified to participate in E2

Be it maths, music, psychology or literature, education tools are changing the lesson plans in class. “We are moving towards a paperless classroom,” says Pooja Sachdeva, a teacher in Pathways World School, Aravalli. These educators are teaching a tech generation who view life through their devices. Hence, it has become even more important for them to embed technology in their teaching to keep students `hooked’ to their lessons, adds Brian Aspinal, a teacher from Canada.

Many teachers across the globe are using tools to enhance learning and achieve better student outcomes. However, usually these innovations in the classroom occur in isolation and the achievements go unnoticed. Therefore, E2 - Educator Exchange provides a platform for teachers and experts to share good practices and find solutions to 21st century challenges.

This year, around 300 teachers from 75 countries participated in E2, which was held in Budapest earlier this month. Says Anthony Salcito, vice president, Worldwide Education, Microsoft, that has been hosting the event for several years: “We bring together the most innovative educators from around the world to share their experiences on how to transform education. It is very inspirational.”

Eleven teachers from India qualified to participate in E2 this year and four were in the winning teams. This year’s theme was `Hack the Classroom,’ meaning innovations in the classroom. The conference highlighted innovative approaches such as using skype to engage students in lessons on climate change by connecting with scientists working in the Arctic region. Also, OneNote, a modern replacement of the paper notebook that allows teachers to collaborate with students in real time, creating, editing and grading assignments. And game-based learning like Minecraft, especially to help children with special learning needs, among other innovations.

In the group challenge --- Class Hack Competition, each group was assigned a 'hacker’ persona and teachers had to work in teams to identify a common problem that they face in the classroom and find a solution with the help of technology. The different `hacker’ personas were strategise, personalise, gamify, minimise and delocalise.

The Grand Prize Winner was the team that focussed on `The Multicultural Classroom:’ Migration is a major global challenge. Students new to a country oftentimes face inequity because of the language barrier. Teachers can use OneNote’s built-in translation tool to overcome this barrier by allowing new students to tell their story in their native language.

The new features of OneNote were launched during the conference. According to Mike Tholfsen, principal programme manager of OneNote, they gathered feedback from teachers to make the tool even more useful, and the main consideration was to save time for teachers.

On the key takeaway from the conference, Chandhirakala Venugopal from the Titan School in Hosur, says, ”It’s very useful to be introduced to new tools and also to find out how other teachers are embedding technology in their teaching methods.” Teachers from Nigeria echoed similar views, saying that though smartphones and other devices are now common in the classroom, but with erratic power supply they have to improvise. “At E2 I realised teachers from other countries face similar challenges but nevertheless implement tech tools. This is the first time we have travelled outside our country, so it’s learning beyond borders,” says Oluwakemi Olurinola, educational technologist at the Olabisi Onabanjo University.

Several teachers admitted that it’s the students who guide them about tech tools or games that can be educational. So in this tech era, both teachers and students are learning together.

‘Make in India’ will boost the Indian jobs market

The ‘Make in India’ scheme is aimed to build India a global hub of manufacturing, aimed to raise the share of manufacturing in gross domestic product (GDP) to 25% by 2022. The government has identified 25 key sectors and plans to provide relevant support and incentives to boost investments in them. Some of these sectors include construction, textiles, food processing, and skill-intensive sectors such as aviation, defense equipment manufacturing, and electronics, among others.

Besides friendly policy interventions, people or workforce would form the key element to achieve the desired objectives. Hence, jobs across the levels would be strengthened with addition of multiple set of jobs under this umbrella. While the niche and high-technology oriented profiles would be a value addition to the job roles, management and soft skills roles would go hand in hand as demand from hiring managers. Mass hiring in front line jobs and vocational trades would open a floodgate of opportunity for job seekers.

Important things that need increased focus to keep the momentum rising in the jobs market would be improvement in skill levels of existing employees, properly train the workforce entering the jobs market and innovation in human resource activities like hiring, induction of new employees, retention of existing employees, and effective employee engagement initiatives.

‘Make in India’ is a promising initiative and is expecting the employment scenario to get a boost in the years to come. While this initiative intends to make India a top destination for foreign direct investment, it primarily focuses on job creation and skill enhancement in targeted 25 sectors, with an estimate of 100 million new jobs by 2022.
There is already a positive response to the initiative in the last year. Next year, we estimate another 7-8 lakh temporary jobs to be created. It would also add 8-13 % to the current job pool as investment into manufacturing and related sectors. Refocusing on India's traditional occupations would also add to this and should potentially create 10 million jobs a year.

Key drivers of job generation
Key drivers are foreign direct investment in identified 25 sectors of the economy, which should lead to additional workforce demand. This includes sectors like automobile and its components, chemicals, defense manufacturing, food processing, pharmaceuticals, ports and shipping, textile and garments, tourism, hospitality and wellness. These sectors being the key industry sectors of India, these are in itself the key drivers for job generation.

Levels at which jobs would be created
There will be a huge requirement for entry level jobs for both semi-skilled and skilled workforce. We estimate a rise in the number of young workforce in the age group of 15 to 29 from the current 153 million to 158 million by 2025. There will also be an increase in niche high-technology opportunities demanding specialist skills.

As this initiative touches manufacturing and engineering and related sectors, key skill would be required in the space of design and engineering, project planning, execution, erection, commissioning, operations and maintenance, transmission and distribution, trading and regulatory, renewable energy, and manufacturing.

Most certainly, we see hiring trends and initiatives to change, as there is a huge skill requirement and an obvious skill gap. In the immediate term, investing corporates should upgrade the skilling infrastructure, plan appropriate hiring and quality trainings. Initiatives like structured workforce readiness programs and On the job trainings may help in catering to existing supply and demand gap. We also see a rise in campus and contractual hiring to support the mass hiring needs.

India outclasses US in GMAT scores

India has reasons to cheer when it comes to GMAT, one of the world's most popular exams for MBA. One, the ever-rising number of women taking the exam; and, two, one of the highest GMAT scores in the past five years.

The number of women seeking admission to MBA courses globally has seen a significant jump in the past few years, making them almost 43% of the total candidates. This is true in India too, with the number of women taking GMAT going up to 7,812 from 6,714 five years ago, says "The profile of GMAT Candidates: 2007-08 to 2011-12", released by the Graduate Management Admission Council, the testing agency.

In 2011-12, 1,22,843 women wrote the test as against 85,473 a decade ago, a 43.7% increase.

According to the study, the GMAT score of Indians has shot up over the past five years. The score was 568 in 2007-08, but fell to 565 in the next year. In the next three years, it was 578, 581 and 582 respectively.

China, with a population similar to that of India, had a score of 588 in 2011-12 and, therefore, is one of India's biggest competitors.

Belgium (597), Argentina (595), Australia (598), Hungary (585), South Korea (586) and Britain (587) have a better GMAT score than India's. However, the US is far behind with 533.

"We should not compare ourselves with these countries. The number of GMAT takers there is far less than that in India. For instance, it is as less as 200 for Hungary. We should, rather, focus on countries like China, which has a sizeable population like ours. It is best to look out for future competition between India and China," says Rashmi Gowda, director, CSquare Learnings Pvt Ltd, a GMAT training agency.

China is the top contributor in South Asia to the increasing number of students joining MBA, followed by India. While the candidates joining the course from Business-Commerce background went up at average annual growth rate of 5.1% and that of Social Sciences 2.5%, other streams like that of engineering, humanities and Science have dropped by 1% to 2%. Business-Commerce makes up 55% of the total profiles and engineering another 16.4%. Candidates from humanities and Science background form a mere 5%. There were even a 1000 candidates from fine arts. Social Sciences formed another 16%.

East and Southeast Asia, the region to which India belongs, showed the highest growth rate in sending applicants, almost doubling the number to 77,800 in five years.

Happy Independence Day!

177 Indians to participate in Fullbright programme

Altogether 177 Indians would participate in the Fulbright programme of the US-India Educational Foundation (USIEF) this year which is aimed at promoting mutual understanding between the people of the two countries, the Foundation said here.

The scholars, hailing from various cities across India, will pursue Fulbright projects in the US during the 2012-13 academic year in a variety of disciplines, including energy, agriculture, economics, education, environment, international relations, management and leadership development, media and communications, public administration, public health and science and technology, it said.

The USIEF is hosting a pre-departure orientation for the Fulbright scholars in Hyderabad from May 13-15.

"The Fulbright programme is one of the most prestigious educational and cultural exchange programmes around the world. Since its inception in 1950, USIEF has administered over 8,900 Fulbright fellowships to Indians and Americans. Thanks to the generous support of the Indian and the US governments, this year 177 Indians will participate in the Fulbright programme.

"We are happy to be hosting this year's pre-departure orientation for Fulbright scholars in Hyderabad", USIEF Executive Director Adam J Grotsky told reporters.

Two Indians part of 2012 Yale World Fellows

Two Indians are a part of the Yale University's World Fellows for 2012. There are 16 World Fellows chosen for 2012. India alongwith Britain, with 11 fellows each, have had more fellows than any other country since the inception of the programme in 2002.

Ayush Chauhan, co-founder and managing director, Quicksand and Ruchi Yadav, senior programme officer, The Hunger Project, are the chosen Indian fellows.

The 2012 World Fellows will take part in a specially designed seminar taught by leading Yale faculty; audit any of the 3,000 courses offered at the university; participate in weekly dinners with distinguished guest speakers; receive individualised skill-building training; and meet with US and foreign leaders.

Soon, Indian BTech degrees may be recognized abroad

Engineers with undergraduate degrees will find it easier to seek jobs and opportunities for higher studies abroad from 2013, if India's bid to join the elite Washington Accord for international accreditation is accepted.

If it comes through, undergraduate engineering degrees from India will be brought on a par with those of the US, UK, Australia, Canada, Singapore, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa and six other nations, easing mobility for Indian undergraduate engineers.

The National Board of Accreditation, under the aegis of All India Council for Technical Education, plans to bid to become a permanent member of the Washington Accord in June 2013.

Said G Prabhakar, an NBA member and president, Andhra Pradesh chapter of Institution of Engineers (India), "In 2013, NBA will be a full member of the Washington Accord. The accord recommends that the graduates of programs accredited by any of the signatory bodies be recognized by other members as having met academic requirements for entry to engineering." India was granted the status of a provisional member in 2007.

India is yet to invite the Washington Accord to audit its accreditation system, a crucial process for becoming a full member, despite the country being granted a provisional status in 2007.

Hu Hanrahan, the chair of the Washington Accord, who is in India for the first World Summit on Accreditation 2012, refused to commit to a timeline for India becoming a permanent member, saying the process was under way.

Even if India is granted membership of the accord, only about 20% of the 4,000-odd engineering institutes in the country are likely to make the cut.

India's mentor for the accreditation, past president of Singapore's Institution of Engineers Lock Kai Sang, said, "India's bid to receive permanent membership in 2013 will be very challenging. There is still a lot of implementation work that needs to be carried out based on outcome assessment and accreditation."

Around 140 institutes have applied for accreditation under the new framework.

National Board of Accreditation (NBA) officials said that India could be looking at a two-tier system of accreditation - creating international benchmarks for some institutes and settling for lower standards in other colleges.

The HRD ministry has already proposed a legislation to make every higher educational institution mandatorily accredited in the country. "I hope in this session of Parliament we will carry through (the bill)," HRD minister Kapil Sibal said.

The National Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher Educational Institutions Bill has provisions under which assessment of such accreditation has to be made before the institution starts the process of admission to the programs, while the existing educational institutions will have to get their accreditation within three years.

The bill also seeks establishment of National Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher Education, which shall register and monitor accreditation agencies.

African students seek education in India

Dulce Vania from Mozambique is studying for a management degree in India and is also a budding entrepreneur - she exports human hair to her homeland.

"I have stated a small-scale human hair export business. Back home, it is used for making various accessories," Vania told IANS.

Studying for a management course in finance from the Punjab College of Technical Education(PCTE) at Baddowal, close to the industrial hub of Ludhiana, Vania says that African students studying in India are trying to pick up entrepreneurial skills.

"Things back in our country have started to get better, but it still needs a lot of improvement. Some students here have started to work on small-scale," she said.

Ugandan Ilahi Marian is a pharmacy student at the PCTE. She hopes to open a well-equipped drug store back home to help enhance the health facilities there.

"There are only 10 multi-specialty hospitals in the whole of Uganda as far as I know. There is an urgent need to enhance the health sector as for every 1,000 people, there is just one doctor," Marian told IANS.

African students find it cheaper to study in India - and that too in a system that is better than in their own countries.

"In India, people make things simple for us to understand. In our country, we are taught in a very complicated manner. Also, Indian teachers are very affectionate and devote a lot of time to us," said Adam Semlambo of Tanzania, studying for a masters in computer applications course.

His countryman, Ummi Marealle, a student of management in international business at PCTE, concurs.

"The quality of education in India is much better than in other places. Staying in Ludhiana, thanks to industries like Vardhman, Oswal, Hero group and others, we get a lot of industrial exposure," Marealle added.

According to J.S. Juneja, a former president of the All India Management Association (AIMA), India is a role model for African students.

"Nearly 15,000 students from Africa are studying in India. India and African countries have a similar history. India has a well developed educational system. We also have a well-developed small-scale industries sector. Africa needs both and thus, Africans look at our country as their role model," Juneja said.

Victoria-India partnership boosts teacher training

Maharashtra's Minister for Higher and Technical Education, Rajesh Tope and Victoria's Minister for Innovation, Services and Small Business, Louise Asher discussed new opportunities in Vocational Educational and Training (VET) for teachers in Mumbai recently. 

Asher emphasised on education as a key sector for future mutual prosperity and increasing business and cultural ties between India and Victoria. She said, "Victoria already has a strong education partnership with Maharashtra, India's third largest state and home to Mumbai, one of the nation's most significant business hubs." 

The Victorian government provided $440,000 to Kangan Institute of TAFE to deliver vocational teacher training programmes in Maharashtra and Karnataka. In Maharashtra, 300 vocational teachers are taking part, working on modern methods of training and assessment to help prepare their students to be work ready. 

Following the meeting with Tope and other education leaders, Asher took part in a presentation of certificates to teachers who completed the current vocational teacher training programme. The event was held during Victoria's largest-ever trade mission to India, with more than 200 Victorian companies travelling on the mission to boost its two-way trade and investment relationship with India.