India
Ontario Set to be Top Student Destination
Canada to Launch New CARE for Indians
Charu Sudan Kasturi, Hindustan Times New Delhi, February 16, 2011
Thousands of Indian students applying to Canadian universities may no longer run the risk of a Tri-Valley University (TVU) repeat under a unique plan aimed at students concerned after recent instances of fraud abroad. The Canada India Education Council (CIEC), which coordinates educational ties between the two countries, plans to launch CARE, an agent certification process, this July ahead of the Fall 2011 academic session. Around 12,000 Indian students are currently studying in Canada.
Senior Canadian government officials have told HT that the Federal government is backing the initiative that it hopes will help Canada emerge an alternate destination for Indian students seeking to study abroad.
“Students in India are worried about studying abroad after the TVU scam and the recent instances of fraud and race attacks in Australia. We believe that if we pitch Canada appropriately, we can show Indian students that our country is a very attractive alternative,” a senior Canadian official said.
The CARE process will allow Indian students keen on studying in Canada to ensure that education agents are certified, CIEC Executive Director Husain F Neemuchwala said.
The CIEC-modeled on the lines of the United States India Education Foundation (USIEF)- is particularly critical for Indo-Canadian ties because Canada does not have a federal education department. Education is managed by each Province. The CIEC is an NGO, but is supported by the Canadian Government.
But Canada is keenly pushing its education as a major source of revenue- to be earned from foreign students. India at present falls behind China, the US, Mexico and a handful of other countries in the number of students it sends to Canada.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney Apologizes to India for Visa Refusals
Centre not to bear cost of RTE fee reimbursement
Source: The New Indian Express via PwC – EdLive
The state governments will now have to bear the entire cost of fee reimbursement to schools under the Right to Education Act as the centre will not provide financial aid to any state this year. According to sources, the proposal of the Ministry of HRD to support states in a 65:35 cost sharing ratio is still pending before the union cabinet. “Not just Karnataka, no other state will receive finance from the centre. That is why the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) has no provision for fee reimbursement in its budget this year,” said an SSA official. Karnataka’s Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, who has been stressing on the need for the centre to financially support the state to reimburse schools, maintained that the centre has to ‘prove its commitment’ by supporting the government. Meanwhile, the Department of Public Instruction has issued circular asking block education officers to make a final list of admissions made under the RTE quota and calculate the total amount of reimbursements to be made (separate calculations for class I and pre-primary). This information has to be submitted to the Director (primary education) before 15 September 2012.
Agent certification launched in India: CIEC
Source: thepienews.com
The Canada India Education Council (CIEC) has launched a certification programme that recognises quality and ethical practice among education agents involved in Canada-India exchange.
Indian Canadian Advisors Representing Excellence (CARE) is the only bespoke certification system of its kind and aims to establish rules on agent practice; increase accountability; and make it easier for Indian agents to find Canadian universities and colleges appropriate for their students through its membership database.
CEO of CIEC, Husain F. Neemuchwala, said: ”The time couldn’t be better with the tremendous activity back and forth in the Canada-India corridor over the past two or three years. While we have done a lot of good work promoting the corridor, much work still needs to be done to make sure we reach full potential.”
The certification process, aimed to certify agencies working with Canadian institutions, places high emphasis on transparency, requires agents to be upfront about hidden fees and consistent in how they represent themselves to students.
Agents are reported to have reacted positively to the system since launch, with 60 already hoping for certification once pilot tests are finished. However, Neemuchwala emphasises that CIEC is not aiming for rapid growth.
“Quality over quantity is the premise on which CARE was created. If not colleges and universities can Google [search] and look up agents themselves. The whole idea is to create a smaller number of validated and certified agents that we can stand behind,” he said.
CARE also promises institutions a streamlined recruitment process, greater exposure to the best of the Indian agency market, and information on student trends. Neemuchwala said, “As CARE gets more momentum, things will improve not just for specific colleges and university members but the industry in general. There are people who don’t like to use agents but this might change their minds.
“And for people who generally use agents but aren’t happy with their services, this might open doors to other options for them.”
The certification process takes between four to six months to complete and certification lasts two years. In that time agents can use the CARE promotional materials, will be listed on the CIEC website, and will gain greater access to CIEC member universities and colleges among other benefits.
Founded in 2010, CIEC is an event-driven, membership organisation. CARE is open to CIEC agent members at no cost and for a fee to non-members. The extent of non-member access to the comprehensive agent listings is yet to be determined.
Education to Build Bridges Between Canada, India
Central varsities looking at PPP model to raise funds
Source: The Indian Express via PwC – EdLive
The 40-odd central universities are mulling novel fund-raising mechanisms such as bringing in public-private partnerships (PPP) for infrastructure creation and permitting more supernumerary seats for foreign students. At a meeting of vice-chancellors of central varsities held in August, it was decided that they should tap external sources for financial support besides the UGC grants. The vice-chancellor of Central University of Himachal Pradesh has been deputed to draft possible options for PPP. Vice- Chancellors raised the issue of existing restrictions on offering of supernumerary seats for foreign students — an issue that the HRD ministry and the UGC have agreed to re-examine.
Meanwhile, the UGC has been asked to finalise norm-based grants for operating (non-plan) expenditure of universities with the right incentives for central universities to mobilise resources. Norm-based funding process for central universities is likely to be adopted from the next academic session, 2013-14. In order to enhance the overall brand value of central universities, the UGC will assist them in establishing niche areas of excellence. To ensure the centrality of research at universities, 40-50 research parks will be set-up across the country and the vice-chancellor of Hyderabad University will coordinate these efforts. Following the Yale model of connecting research to public utilities is on the cards with vice-chancellors of the Central University of Jharkhand and University of Delhi working on it.
HC asks AICTE to probe if colleges running unapproved courses
Source: The Economic Times via PwC – EdLive
The AICTE has been asked by the Delhi High Court to probe into an allegation that various engineering colleges are conducting unapproved courses. Disposing of a plea for direction to colleges to stop unapproved courses, a bench of Acting Chief Justice A K Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw asked the AICTE, the regulatory body for technical education, to carry out a thorough probe and apprise it of its findings within four months. The court order came after the AICTE counsel told the bench that the statutory body would examine the allegations by conducting an in-depth enquiry into the matter.
Bring government universities under new regulations
Source: The Indian Express via PwC – EdLive
Academics have expressed reservations over the special exemptions granted to government-run institutions in the new regulations released by the University Grants Commission (UGC) with regard to collaborations with foreign universities. The UGC recently approved regulations through which foreign universities could venture into India and collaborate with Indian institutions. While this was widely seen as a backdoor measure, given the fact that opposition pressure in Parliament had kept the Foreign Universities Bill out of light, the governing body provided wide-ranging prescriptions for such partnerships. According to the regulations, only institutions with an ‘A’ rating from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) would be eligible for such an agreement. The institutions must also have at least five years of experience in providing post- graduate courses. However, government- run institutions, both at the state and central levels, have been exempted from both these clauses.
Chairman of the Board of Governors at IIT-Kanpur, M Anandakrishnan, said that the regulations, which were yet to be notified, would ensure that only respectable institutions could get into such collaborations. However, he opined that the clause exempting the government-run institutions from such minimum qualification, such as NAAC accreditation, should be dropped. “There is still scope for change as the norms are yet to be notified. Government institutions should not be excluded from such quality norms,” he pointed out.
AICTE to give 1 crore INR seed capital for research parks
Source: DNA India via PwC – EdLive
The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) will fund institutes with 1 crore INR to set up research parks, in order to encourage research among students. An industry partner will also be tasked with setting up the research park, along with providing funds to the tune of 1 crore INR. The research activities to be carried out in the park will also include studies needed for the industry.
“This will be a perfect give-and-take deal. While the industry will participate in financial assistance, the institutes will conduct research on the basis of industry needs. Researchers will also get hands-on experience with real-time industry research activities,” said SS Mantha, Chairman, AICTE. The research park will be set up on the institute premises itself, which should make available at least a 3,000-square-feet area for it.
“We aim to open such research parks in at least one state each. However, more such parks would be welcome to provide ample opportunities to research scholars in India,” added Mantha.
Besides this, the AICTE is also going to offer other schemes to encourage research work. The top 100 research students will be placed at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) laboratories. The scholars will be shortlisted through a competitive model of testing and the AICTE will give 15,000 INR per month to each student for three years.
Future Learning seeks international tie-up
Source: The Hindu Business Line via PwC – EdLive
Future Learning, the education and skill development arm of the Future Group, is scouting for an international tie-up to run specific courses in visual management, sourcing, supply chain and even luxury retailing. The company, which was carved out as a separate entity four years ago, said it has identified 21 key sectors to impart skills in retail and services sector. Future Learning is affiliated to the Indira Gandhi National Open University and offers courses at four centres — Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata and Ahmedabad.
On its accreditation, Future Learning is interested in international tie-up as more international retailers are entering India. In places such as the US, the UK and Australia, where retail is highly developed, institutes are accredited and we are in talks for similar accreditation. According to industry sources, Future Group is understood to have an investment of 25 crore INR in Future Learning.
Political Deadlock
NDTV News, Ahmedabad, March 2011
As of 2009, The Union Government had assigned 10 crore rupees for minority students in Gujarat. Students who have not previously completed Grade 10 and whose parents earn less than 1 lakh annually were eligible for scholarships worth Rs. 800 – 1500 a month. About 52,000 could qualify. However, due to politicking between BJP and Congress, thousands of students are robbed of life-changing opportunities. Let us hope that this issue gets solved in the favor of innocent minority people of Gujarat.
Deloitte hires
Source: CyberMediaNews, Mumbai, March 2011
Indian IT Industry is on a hiring spree. IT Consulting firm Deloitte would be hiring an 2.25 lakh candidates in 2011. With this addition, the total number of employees working in the IT/ITeS sector in India would grow to 22.3 lakh in 2011. As per the predictions for 2011, IT outsourcing industry and business processes will reach US $ 71.7 Billion for 2011, which would account to 5.8% of the country’s GDP.
“This would be the starting point of active participation between telecom service providers and various industries including IT, Media, Banking, Healthcare and Education in reaching and offering services for the empowerment of rural India”, predicts Mr Jolyon Barker, Global Leader Deloitte’s TMT,2011.
Quoting a spokesperson from Deloitte, “The advantage for customers from MNP would be better quality of service, lesser call drops, better infrastructures and an increase in loyalty programs and customer retention marketing techniques. Operators offering 3G services would have an edge with the introduction of MNP as not all operators have won the auctioned 3G spectrum.”
Public-private partnership catalyzes educational excellence
www.indiaeducationdiary.in, Chennai, March 2011
As per the 11th educational budgetary plan, Government of India is working on improving the education sector by increasing the allocation by 19 percent of the gross budgetary support. A conference was held on “Education for Sustainable Development” organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
Dr Purandeswari, Honorable Minister of State of the Human Resources Development, Government of India, addressed the audience at the conference. She stated that the education system should respond to the changing needs of the stakeholders and focus on quality of education and the faculty, in addition to infrastructure and curriculum. She urged the state governments to increase funding to the Universities and also enact the Right to Education Act to ensure a holistic development in the education sector.
The Minister mentioned that it is crucial for the private sector to join hands with the Government to provide on-the-job experience for students to develop their vocational skills and employability.
Mr Arun Maira, Member of Planning Commission, Government of India emphasized on three key elements to make education relevant to current scenario which include “innovation in delivery, new methods of learning and job-oriented education.” He stated that it is critical for the education system to align with the emerging economic trends and employment potential.
Mr S Gopalakrishnan, Chairman of CII Southern Region and Managing Director of Infosys Technologies Ltd, stated that “education should be an enabler of sustainable development and aim at developing people with right attitudes, skills and knowledge.” He also mentioned that technology delivery systems should be used in education systems, which would pave a way to open learning platforms reaching a large section of people.
Mr C R Swaminathan, Conference Chairman & Chief Executive of PSG Industrial Institute stated that realigning education to promote awareness, attitudes and skills, changes in the work systems and the use of technology will lead to sustainable development.
In her welcome address, Ms Nandini Rangaswamy, Chairperson of CII Tamil Nadu & Managing Director of Chandra Group emphasized the need to strengthen skills training capabilities to meet the ever growing demand for skilled labor. Furthermore, she added that this could only be achieved through partnerships involving academia, industry and government.
The vote of thanks was proposed by Mr N K Ranganath, Vice Chairman of CII Tamil Nadu & Managing Director of Grundfos Pumps India Pvt Ltd.
IELTS tops the list
PRNewswire, Cairo, March 2011
The International English Language Testing System, commonly known as IELTS, made its way to the top in the list of World’s most popular high stakes English Language tests. A record breaking 1.5 million tests were taken around the world in 2010 with the increase in the number of tests taken year-after-year since 1995. North America experienced the largest growth over the year followed by Philippines and Hong Kong. China, Australia and India continue to retain their positions as the largest markets for IELTS.
IELTS provides a reliable measure of a candidate’s ability across the four skills of listening, reading, writing and speaking. Candidates mainly take IELTS in pursuit of entry into an academic institution or immigration processes, mainly to Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK. IELTS is jointly owned by British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia, and the University of Cambridge (Examinations ESOL).
Higher education drives economic growth
Source: www.dnaindia.com, Mumbai, March 2011
The second annual convention for Higher Education Forum (HEF) was held at ITM Business School, Kharghar. Two technical sessions were organized in partnership with DNA for educationists to share their thoughts and understanding on the topic “Towards Excellence in Higher Education”. A common consensus was reached that excellence mattered more to people who are in the process of learning rather than the learned ones.
The first session was based on panel discussions from a corporate perspective while the other was more inclined towards building excellence in institutions.
Dr. A K Sengupta, founder and convener of HEF, addressed the audience by stating that “Higher education is the catalyst for bringing about economic change and thereby its transition from efficiency to effectiveness and finally to excellence would bring about startling results”.
Among the speakers were Dr Anial Kakodkar, former chairman of Atomic Energy Commission & chairman of the High Power Committee for Reforms of Higher and Professional Education in the state of Maharashtra; Mr. Ashank Desai, founding director of Mastek; and Dr. PV Ramanna, chairman of ITM Group of Institutions.
Most of the speakers at the convention emphasized on bringing about excellence within faculty and institutions, based on the whooping financial figure of $7.5 billion released by USA earned purely from Indian students.
Mr Caputo mentioned that “A good faculty coupled with proper access to education that’s affordable eventually instilling a sense of accountability and enables students to measure their cognitive gains will be the driving force for acquiring excellence in higher education. In USA, average graduates reel under debts in the process of studies thereby prompting them to seek alternative options instead of opting for higher studies”.
According to Mr. Kakodkar, it is crucial for students to gain industrial experience as corporation and education go hand in hand. He mentioned that “higher education needs to be a proper amalgamation of the best of teacher, pleasure in research work, spirit of innovation and practical experience”.
The corporate speakers for the occasion included Mr Rajeev Dubey, President (HR) Mahindra & Mahindra; Dr Uma Ganesh, CEO, Global Talent Track; Mr P A Krishnan, EVP & Head, Emerging Markets; and Dr. Ganesh Natarajan, Global CEO, Zensar Technologies.
Mr. Dubey addressed the group by stating that “Leadership quality governed by trust and openness to emphatically listen and create a win-win situation while striving to make profits is an integral part to achieve excellence”.
To put it in a nutshell, success of higher education depends upon the process of thinking, doing and being. Effective team work along with trust will pave way to educational excellence.
Bharti group exits education business
Source: The Economic Times via PwC – EdLive
The Bharti group has exited the education business, selling group company Centum Learning to Everonn Education. The Bharti Family Office, which manages investments made by the promoters of the group in their personal capacity, will receive a combination of cash and equity shares in Everonn. The Bharti group declined to reveal the deal size or their stake in the combined entity. The deal is part of the Bharti group’s plans to exit non-core businesses. “This transaction is in line with our stated objective of focusing our energies on our core businesses,” Centum Chairman Rakesh Bharti Mittal said. Everonn Education provides end-to-end training programmes and skill development solutions. “With this acquisition, Everonn will expand its reach in the Indian training space by adding corporate training, the flagship product of Centum, as a new vertical,” Everonn Education Director and CEO of GEMS Education India Rakesh Sharma said. “Other business segments of Centum (skill development, employment generation, professional education and training) will seamlessly integrate with the existing verticals of Everonn,”he added.
Canada and India build closer educational ties
UniversityWorldNews, Issue 128, 2010
India is focusing on giving their students a global experience, and a new bill being passed by the Indian Parliament would bring vast progress and easier access for international universities.
Mr. Pawan Agarwal, author of Indian Higher Education: Envisioning the future and a West Bengal Government member of staff addressed a conference in Ottawa held by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada to promote India-Canada ties in higher education. He stated that with the right foundation, appropriate student recruitment, joint research project ventures and Government support, closer ties can be achieved.
The main reason towards this collaboration is to lessen the unfamiliarity of Canadian Universities and their reputation in India. Raising awareness is critical in overseas development work. Mr Agarwal mentioned that there were about 28,000 Indian students studying in Australia in comparison to a meager 2800 in Canada. Development of offshore campuses, collaborating with Indian institutes and extensive marketing are the ways to go for establishing strong presence in India. In the lines of Virginia tech and Georgia University, US opening off shore campuses in
Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, Schulich School of business, York University, Canada has already taken a step forward to offer collaborative programs with SP Jain School of Management, Mumbai, India.
According to Mr Shashishekhar Gavai, Indian High Commissioner to Canada, research collaboration was another option of consideration. He mentioned that McGill and Carleton universities are interested in setting up Canada-India centres to address the Indian immigrants in Canada.
On India’s part, India has 26,200 educational institutions with over 15 million students which is expected to grow twice as much in the next few years due to the increased growth of middle and upper classes. Mr Agarwal would like to increase the number of mature students enrolling for post graduate programs, something that Canada has been successful at. He is expecting Canada to diversify growth in areas in addition to Management and Engineering.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper hosted a roundtable discussion with 15 presidents from Indian universities. With premiers of Canadian provinces Ontario and Quebec visiting India and expressing interest in pursuing closer ties with the Indian higher education system, 15 Canadian university presidents met in India in November to make progress. India has become a global giant that without considering Indian market there is no real global experience. These programs will also provide tremendous opportunities for Indian students looking to acquire world-class management training and prepare them for global careers in India and around the world.
This Indo-Canadian collaboration will provide students a diverse international perspective and an opportunity to synthesize Western efficiency and Eastern ethos.
It’s raining IT Jobs in Tamil Nadu
Source: The Hindu, Monday, December 20 2010
IT companies are on a hiring spree as the demand for young, fresh and bright minds keeps increasing. Although the past few years were sluggish, software giants including TCS, Wipro, CTS and HCL have been on a hiring spree this year. From Oct’09 to Sept’10, there has been large addition of about 27,500 employees at Cognizant Technologies alone and they are soon expected to reach 100,000 headcount mark. Pondicherry University in Tamil Nadu has reached 100% placement in IT field. Even science graduates recruitment in Wipro increases every year by 5‐ 8%, and is expected to spike to 15‐20% in coming years. These fresh graduates are given special training in BITS Pilani through a PG program administered by Wipro Academy of Software Excellence.
Universities referred in this article: SASTRA University, Thanjavur; SRM University, Chennai; VIT University, Vellore; Anna University of Technology‐ Trichy (AUT‐T); Bharathidasan University. Trichy.
Envisioning Equity in Global Development Agenda
Ms. Sheena Joseph in conversation with Prof. P R Ramanujam
The Pan Commonwealth Forum (PCF) brings together more than 70 countries and about 1000 participants to address the key issues relating to access and equity in education through application of open and distance learning.
This article addresses the key facts of the 6th PCF event (PCF6) and its significance for IGNOU.
Vision:
“PFC6 envisioned an immediate possibility of combining the experiences of the developed and the developing worlds in providing equal opportunities with the global agenda of development implying equitable distribution of benefits through innovative open distance learning methods and programs.”
Mission:
“To give an opportunity for practitioners, researchers, planners and policy makers in the field of open education and development to share their experiences in shaping the future policies of open learning with a view to achieving Millennium Development Goals by 2015 as committed by the UN.”
Significance of the four themes in current global scenario:
According to Prof. Ramanujam, Social justice should only answer the highly complex and contradictory picture of tremendous prosperity vs. extreme poverty. Democratizing education and skill set development would empower people leading to community development.
Empowerment, Equality, Liberty and Fraternity are the four themes which go hand in hand with mutual respect, dignity and social justice for every person.
Key Functions of PCF Committees:
Prof. Ramanujam believes that expertise and guidance provided by several international committee members on strategic planning and implementation of the events are keys to success of PCF ever year. The diversified local committees play a significant role in integrating, evaluating, selecting abstracts & papers and reviewing the conference progress. Moreover, they provided expert advice to the PCF6 secretariat on performing complex tasks on a daily basis. Their combined effort helped carry forward the simultaneous pre conference events and the grand finale in Cochin.
Significance of PCF6 for IGNOU:
IGNOU (Indira Gandhi National Open University) and COL (Common Wealth of Learning, Canada) jointly organized PCF6. This event coincided with the Silver Jubilee Celebrations of IGNOU that concludes on November 19, 2010. Several pre‐conference workshops were conducted by Commonwealth of Learning, IGNOU and many other institutions which commenced on November 18, 2010.
According to Prof. P R Ramanujam:
India as an emerging power should significantly focus of education. PCF6 will gain more importance in the wake of three major bills to be passed by the Indian Parliament on The National Council for Education and Research, Educational Tribunal Bill, and the Foreign Universities Bill.
In today’s world, PCF6 can offer considerable insights on reforming the educational agenda at all levels after passing the Right to Education Act.
West Bengal is the place for IT investment
Source: egov weekly, Delhi, Monday, 15 November 2010
West Bengal’s IT Minister Mr. Debesh Shah stated that the government expects huge investments and creation of 25,000 more jobs in the IT sector by 2010‐11. IT is the fastest growing sector with over 150,000 jobs created in 2009, only second to food processing in WB. Although issues related to land acquisitions had a minor impact, it did not stall the growth of IT in the state. Furthermore, Mr. Das added that recent considerable investments by Tata has burst the myth that Tata group of companies wouldn’t make any long term investments after their pullout from Singur.
Ode to ODL System
Dr. K R Prasad, November 2010
An award has been instituted by IGNOU to celebrate the success of 100 achievers who instituted the Open and Distance Learning (ODL) System. PCF 6 conference, which was jointly organized by IGNOU and Commonwealth of Learning (COL), focused on the theme of “Access and Success in Leaning: Global Development Perspective”.
71 countries participated to explore the ODL applications in widening educational access, bridging the digital divide and advancing social and economical development of communities and nation. ODL experience was showcased by IGNOU and other acclaimed institutions to demonstrate its stake in expanding the human resource base which would have a positive influence on the nation’s growth.
IGNOU in its Silver Jubilee year has set new standards in democratizing higher education and reaching those who have no access to conventional education. The university has achieved significant milestones by reaching out to people in marginalized sections of the society and remote areas.
Uniqueness, user‐friendliness and ease of knowledge development of ODL system have played pivotal roles in the tremendous growth in facilitating today’s emerging knowledge society.
Distance learning has been growing vastly with almost half of the students opting for it. Emphasis on education for sustainable development, quality knowledge and skills learning and diversification, have been the ultimate objectives of “Wake of the Millennium Development”.
The Program Chair of PCF6, on the recommendations of Honorable Vice Chancellor of IGNOU, had constituted a sub‐committee for identifying 100 ODL Achievers. The terms of reference for the sub‐committee lies in the mandate of identifying ODL Achievers across the open and distance learning institutes and universities in India and abroad.
ODL Achievers have been identified as belonging to the following categories:
People with little or no formal qualification who took ODL and achieved success in terms of better job opportunities/social status/higher self esteem/sense of fulfillment;
Women who achieved success through ODL;
Geographically disadvantaged people who did not have access to higher education nearby but took advantage of ODL and achieved success in terms of better job opportunities/social status/higher self‐ esteem/sense of fulfillment;
Differently‐able persons who achieved success through ODL;
Old/ aged people who fulfilled their desire of intellectual enrichment by acquiring higher qualification through ODL.
100 names with diverse academic interests were selected among the 250 shortlisted by the sub‐committee. Some of the prominent ones are listed below:
- T.N. Ramanathan, IAS, Secretary of Backward Classes, Govt. of Tamil Nadu, pursued Bachelors and Masters of Commerce through Distance Learning.
- Charles J Kithu, Director of Finance, Spice Board, Cochin, pursued Management Degree from IGNOU.
- Hari Singh and Vikas Ahuja, HIV victims, associated with Delhi Network of Positive People and successful in spreading positive influences to other victims, completed Diploma in AIDS and Family Education (DAFE) from IGNOU.
- Gandkota Laya, Telugu Heroine, pursued Masters in Computer Applications through ODL.
- Ravula Chandra Sekhar Reddy, former MP, Andhra Pradesh, pursued Masters of Arts and Rural Development (MARD) through ODL.
- Rohini Sharma, hailing from a remote village in Punjab, pursued MCA through ODL.
- Rupa Rai Chowdhuri, specially assisted (severely disabled), completed Mathematics with Applications in Computer Sciences (MACS).
ODL candidates from India and other parts of the world are not only inspiring others to pursue their success path but are also being preferred for superior employment opportunities across the globe which would in turn assist in enhancing the economic development of their countries of origin.
TCS to sponsor 200 Research Fellowships
Tuesday, 16 November 2010
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a leading global IT services firm, has set goal to enlarge academic faculty talent pool in India by sponsoring research scholars working on the development of Computing Sciences through the TCS research fellowship program. TCS is committed in helping bridge the academic gap by offering real‐world‐solution‐creation environment to research fellows. 22 candidates have been shortlisted and an additional 18 candidates will be announced in February 2011. TCS plans to financially assist 200 doctoral candidates over a 5 year period to take up PHD programs in reputable institutions of India. Research scholars would receive stipends, conference sponsorships, access to TCS Innovation Labs, interaction with TCS researchers and co‐ innovation network depending on their project requirements in addition to the research support offered to the candidates by TCS.
A successful year of NIIT’s Innovation in Education
Not‐for‐profit organization NIIT was established with a vision of bringing about innovation in higher education and learning in emerging areas of the knowledge society.
The second annual lecture was hosted by Dr. Karan Singh, Chairperson, NIIT University (NU) and Honorable MP at the NIIT University campus. Dr. Gurcharan Das, Acclaimed Author, Playwright and Former CEO, Procter & Gamble India, addressed the audience on “The Importance of Being Humane”.
Mr. Rajendra S Pawar, Founder, NIIT University and Chairman, NIIT Limited, and Dr. Rajeev Shorey, President, NIIT University, were among the eminent guests present on the occasion.
Since its inception, NIIT has developed as an institute of excellence, which provides exceptional education based on ‘Four Core Principles’ that make learning industry‐linked,
Dr. Das referred to his latest book “The Difficulty of Being Good” and addressed the importance of encompassing India’s age‐old moral and ethical values within the modern education system. He stated that education plays a significant role in nurturing individuals who would make Modern India’s future bright with their responsible leadership qualities.
Mr. Pawar stated that India will gain pre‐ eminence owing to the undertaking of holistic and seamless educational approaches relevant to the current levels of innovation and research. He added that NU takes pride in nurturing thoughtful leaders of the future. Dr. Shorey appreciated the effort taken by NU in remodeling higher education. All the guests appreciated Mr. Pawar and Dr Singh for their vision and guidance in making NU a success story. They also appreciated the support of other stakeholders involved in establishing NIIT as an institute of excellence.
Located in the foothills of Aravali in Neemrana, Rajasthan, the 100‐acre fully residential green campus is equipped with state‐of‐the‐art technology facilitating a continuous process of learning.
Some of the programs offered by NIIT are: B. Tech in Computer Science and Engineering, Information and Communication Technology, Biotechnology and Electronic and Communication Engineering; M. Tech in Bioinformatics, Educational Technology, Embedded Systems and Pervasive Systems; and PhD in all the above disciplines.
Web Savvy Futuristic Indians – TCS Survey 2010
Confident, Optimistic, Career Oriented and Socially Connected – Yes, this article relates to Indian Youth.
TCS polled over 10,000 school students between the ages of 12 and 18 across 11 cities in India during 2009‐10 to understand the emerging trends for their second annual “The Web Generation 2.0 Survey”. Key results suggest that India’s youth are more likely to possess a mobile phone, seamlessly progress towards mobile internet, prefer spending time online and embrace social networking sites in a uniquely Indian way.
In terms of education preferences, though they have a pre‐conceived notion that the grass is greener abroad, many students have been considerable to the values of Indian education as well. Although young, they are focused on building key innovative skills and expect substantial salaries while considering future career opportunities.
Statistics illustrate that nearly half of India’s total population are under the age of 20, i.e. about 459 million, and are classified as youth (source: NCEAR).
According to Mr. Ajoy Mukherjee, VP Head, Global Human Resources, this sizeable generation would play an incredibly significant role in taking the nation in a positive direction.
He stated that the survey would not only help TCS choose the cream of the lot, but also provide guidance on communicating with this part of socially connected India.
Survey highlights elucidate that Google (85%) and Wiki (77%) are the ways of life for the students to source information. Home internet access is significant at 86% in the Metro and 79% in Mini Metro areas. 85% of them are ‘hooked’ on to one or more social networking sites. It should be noted that there are more Orkut users (71%) than Facebook (65%) users. It is not surprising that IT (81 %) & Engineering (80%) are conside
A Letter from Deepak Obhrai & Hon. Vim Kochhar
After meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper on April 15th, Foreign Affairs Parliamentary Secretary Deepak Obhrai and the Honourable Senator Vim Kochhar issued a call for “inputs, thoughts and any suggestions you may have” to further the role of the South Asian community in Canada.
The Ruby Way
Memorandum of Understanding Between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Replublic of India Concerning Cooperation in Higher Education
Read the Memorandum of Understanding here, signed a the G20, recognizing education as ‘an area of new momentum.’