A new survey of 2,700 international students names Canada as the best country for studying abroad for the second consecutive year. While other countries like Australia, the United Kingdom, and the USA are typically thought of as leading places to earn an international education, overseas learners chose Canada once again.
students
More Indian Students Expected to Study Abroad
Source: Study International
Reports suggest more students from India will likely drive future international student growth.
How the Indian International Student Body is Changing
Source: Study International
Indian students usually make up the second-largest group of international students in major English-speaking host countries. However digging deeper into the data shows how this demographic is changing.
Application Deadline – University of British Columbia Vancouver Summer Program
A four-week academic program offered by various Faculties at the University of British Columbia, in Canada, for students from cooperating universities.
Application Deadline – McGill Summer Institute In Infectious Diseases & Global Health
The McGill Summer Institute features internationally known faculty, a focus on highly applicable new knowledge, and an opportunity to network with fellow global health professionals from around the world.
Sick Society That Manufactures Failures
Young minds in India are being destroyed by a faulty pattern of education, parental ambitions and a flawed idea of ‘success’.
IIT Students Demand Bigger Say In Campus Affairs
Source: Scroll
“‘Instead of presenting our concerns to IIT administration, it communicates their concerns to us.”
How Indian B-Schools are Training Students to Be Socially Conscious
Source: Mint
Students are made aware of the innate potential of businesses to positively impact on society.
Schools Up the ‘Anti’ on Bullying
Source: Indian Express
It’s important to make students understand bullying.
India’s Universities Are Falling Terribly Short on Addressing Caste Discrimination
Source: TheWire.IN
Physical exclusion and indifference of the faculty towards the plight of marginisalised students is pushing many to suicide, and despite measures being in place, administrations are doing little address the issues.
Harassment, Silences & Indian Academica
Source: TheWire.In
A single-handed focus on due process creates a false binary, failing to notice the limits of processes and the urgency of transformations being voiced in the claims made by victims of sexual harassment.
Row Over List Shaming Academics for Sexual Harassment
Source: University World News
Raya Sarkar has accused 60 academics from top institutions all over India of sexually harassing students, naming and shaming them in her controversial Facebook post. But some feminists say the naming is unfair and due process should be followed.
Pay Not Top Priority for Engineering Students
Source: Times of India
Pay and employee benefits were only third and fourth most alluring factors.
Indians Fake-Marry Students to Enter Canada
Source: Study International
Young Indian men are offering their female peers an all-expenses paid education in Canadian universities or colleges, in exchange for marriage.
Only 10% of Students Have Access to Higher Education in Country
Source: Times of India via Newswatch India | January 5, 2014
NEW DELHI: Access to education beyond higher secondary schooling is a mere 10% among the university-age population in India. This is the finding of a report “Intergenerational and Regional Differentials in Higher Education in India” authored by development economist, Abusaleh Shariff of the Delhi-based Centre for Research and Debates in Development Policy and Amit Sharma, research analyst of the National Council of Applied Economic Research.
The report says that a huge disparity exists — as far as access to higher education is concerned — across gender, socio-economic religious groups and geographical regions. The skew is most marked across regions. Thus, a dalit or Muslim in south India, though from the most disadvantaged among communities, would have better access to higher education than even upper caste Hindus in many other regions. Interestingly, people living in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal — designated as the north central region — and those in northeast India have the worst access to higher education. Those in southern India and in the northern region — consisting of Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh, Haryana and Delhi — are relatively better placed in this regard.
In the age group 22-35 years, over 15% in the northern region and 13% in the southern region have access to higher education. In the north-central region, the number is just 10% for men and 6% for women whereas in the northeast, only 8% men and 4% women have access to higher education.
The report, brought out by the US-India Policy Institute in Washington, is based on data from the 64th round of NSSO survey 2007-08. It throws up quite a few other interesting facts. For instance, among communities, tribals and dalits fare worst with just 1.8% of them having any higher education. Muslims are almost as badly off, with just 2.1% able to go for further learning. Similarly, just 2% of the rural population is educated beyond higher secondary level, compared to 12% of the urban population and just 3% of women got a college education compared to 6% of men.
South India offers the best opportunities for socially inclusive access to higher education including technical education and education in English medium. For instance, the share of Hindu SC/ST in technical education in south India is about 22%, and the share of Muslims 25%. These were the lowest shares among all communities in south India. But this was higher than the share of most communities including Hindu OBCs and upper caste Hindus in most other regions. South India also has the highest proportion of higher education in the private sector at about 42%, followed by western India where it is 22%. The northeast has the least privatized higher education sector and is almost entirely dependent on government-run or aided institutions.
Not surprisingly, government institutions are the cheapest places to study at, with annual expenditures ranging from less than Rs 1,000 to around Rs 1,500, except in north and south India, where the average is above Rs 2,000. Both private and private-aided institutions are quite costly, making them difficult to access for the poor. With little regulation of the quality of education and cost differentials, the poor and deprived are often trapped in low quality education, the report points out. It adds that although free education is provided at school level, it is almost non-existent at higher levels.
The report also compares India’s low 10% access to higher education with China’s 22% enrolment and the 28% enrolment in the US. Since the early 1990s, China’s post-secondary enrolments grew from 5 million to 27 million, while India’s expanded from 5 million to just 13 million, says the report, while emphasizing that higher education has the potential to enhance productivity and economic value both at the individual and national levels.
“The government has to urgently address the geographical skew in the availability of higher education facilities in the two regions of north-east and north-central,” says Shariff. “The central region, comprising Chhattisgarh, MP, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Odisha, too needs attention. There is so much talk about a Harvard in India. I say, give two hoots to Harvard. What we need are thousands of community colleges that can offer professional courses so that youngsters can improve their skills and become employable.”
TCS Insights: In regards to the ability to access a higher education, disparities are apparent across a various groups in India. Due to a lack of regulation, in terms of the quality of education provided, not being able to afford a private institution can lead to individuals earning a poorer education because of where they are from, in addition to factors such as religious beliefs and gender. It is thought that increased enrolment in higher education has been linked to both individual and national improvements.
2013 Developments in Ontario Online Learning
Source: Contact North News Release, Courtesy of Academica | January 8, 2014
A research associate for online education network Contact North has released a review of the developments in online learning in Ontario in 2013. In the review, Tony Bates focuses on: what happened to the MOOC this year, the increasing number of online learning strategies at Ontario’s universities and colleges, the transition of online learning being the responsibility of a few to being included in most departments and faculties, the increased use of hybrid learning, a greater push from government to use online learning to enhance teaching and learning, and the rise of open educational resources. “Let’s hope 2014 will see a more focused approach on using online learning and learning technologies in general to improve productivity while maintaining or increasing the quality of postsecondary education,” concludes Bates.
TCS Insights: This article outlines the rise in online learning in Ontario colleges and universities and the goals of the government continue this trend. Indian institutions can look to this example to continue their effort to make educational resources more accessible to students.
String of Free Apps Facilitating Online Learning in Mumbai Colleges
Source: Hindustan Times via India NewsWatch, October 14, 2013
Mumbai: An influx of free apps to make online learning more accessible is slowly transforming education in city colleges.
Academicians too are making efforts to bridge the gap between their technologically advanced students and traditional, blackboard learning.
Mangesh Karandikar, professor, Mumbai University’s Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, has developed a free series of an Android apps called ‘EduSanchar’, which explains communication theories in easy to read formats.
“Communication theories are often difficult to understand. But such tools make them easier. Plus, it is a great way to revise before exams,” said Samantha D’souza, a BMM student from St Andrews College, Bandra. Priyanka Ketkar, a resident of Thane, gives French lessons to students in London via video chatting. “Though class room interactions are essential, online learning is convenient,” she said.
Recently, the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT- B) tied up with EdX, a non-profit, to provide online versions of lectures held at IIT to non-IIT students. Before Edx, IIT-B had a centre for distance engineering education programme, called CDEEP.
“The lectures are very informative for students who couldn’t make it to IIT. The IITians who have missed a lecture can also listen to it online,” said Aman Chowdhery, a second year student at IIT-B. School education is not far behind. MT Educare, the parent company of Mahesh Tutorials, a coaching institute, has developed a unique e-learning tool called ‘Robomate’. “It’s a study friend for students who are shy and don’t ask doubts in class,” said Chhaya Shastri, director, MT Educare.
According to Basanti Roy, educationist and former secretary of the state board’s Mumbai division, technology and e-learning are needed to supplement education.
“The national policy is encouraging technological advancements in education. However, virtual mediums cannot replace class room interaction since it is very important for students to have peer groups and socialise,” said Roy.
TCS Insights: India is one of the largest consumers of distance education in the world. Canadian academic institutions can look to partner with Indian companies to deliver online courses across a broad range of sectors. Such courses and their assessment and training tools can be customised for corporations to enable employee recruitment and training, as well as generic courses for graduate/post graduate studies.
B-School Slump
Source: Financial Chronicle via India NewsWatch, October 19, 2013
The economic slowdown has hit smaller management schools in India big time as campus hiring drops sharply, forcing many of them to shut shop. “Business schools are closing down due to poor quality of education, lack of right kind of faculty and dearth of proper infrastructure to run them,” said N K Dhooper Professor emeritus, IMT Centre for Distance Learning, Ghaziabad.
It’s a piquant situation for those managing or running B-schools in India. And there are over 3,500 of them. A majority of these schools had come up over the past decade or so on the back of the economic reforms that ushered in large-scale foreign direct investment into manufacturing and other sectors. These schools came up to cash in on the increasing demand for management graduates. But the demand has been sluggish in the recent past, due to the economic slowdown.
On one hand, there is a severe shortage of trained faculty, which varied industry estimates place at a high 50 per cent of the actual requirement. As a result, several of these schools are opting to fly down experienced faculty from developed markets to conduct core classes as well as short-term courses. Even some of the top-notch B-schools in the country seem to be facing this problem, albeit of a lower degree.
On the other hand, a number of B-schools have either been closed down or are facing closure due to their inability to attract sufficient numbers of students to get enrolled year after year.
While many B-schools have been closed down due to lack of basic infrastructure, a few others had to beat a retreat due to their inability to place their students with leading companies.
With the economic slowdown hitting corporate balance sheets across the board, a large number of B-schools other than the top 15-20 institutions like the IIMs are going through hard times on account of a sharp 40-50 per cent drop in campus hiring and a similar decline in the number of students opting for fresh admissions, said a recent study conducted by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham).
Campus recruitments have fallen drastically. As a result, a large number of B-schools are unable to attract students. About 190 B-schools were closed down in 2012 in major cities like Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Lucknow and Dehradun, among others.
Another 165 are struggling for survival, said the study.
The number of B-school seats for MBA programs in India grew almost fourfold from 95,000 in 2006-07 to 3,60,000 in 2011-12, resulting in a five-year compounded annual growth rate of 30 per cent. A lot of B-schools have either been closed or are facing closure due to their inability to attract sufficient numbers of students to get enrolled year after year. Apart from the IIMs and a handful of other top B-schools, it will be difficult for other business schools to get 100 per cent placements in the future. This capacity was built based on the projection of a 9-10 per cent economic growth. Unfortunately, job opportunities for MBAs have not grown in the same proportion during this period, thanks to the global financial crisis and the economic slowdown that followed.
“Business schools are closing down due to poor quality of education, lack of right kind of faculty and dearth of proper infrastructure to run them. Over the years, B-schools mushroomed minus the credentials and without verifying the potential for the right kind of students,” says N K Dhooper, professor emeritus & adviser at IMT Centre for Distance Learning, Ghaziabad.
Sankaran P Raghunathan, professor of international business and dean of The National Management School, Chennai, puts it in perspective. “B-schools are no different from businesses. The supply needs to be bought by the consumers for it to survive,” he says.
According to him, B-schools think they are making MBAs and students are the consumers. Whereas in reality, education is the product here and the industry, which recruits these management graduates, is the consumer. As a result, there is a mismatch between the expectations of the industry and the actual product being offered to the market.
The Assocham study said the global uncertainty affected placement patterns at B-schools. The number of placements has been fewer and average pay packages have been flat. Apart from the IIMs and a handful of other top B-schools, it will be difficult for other business schools to get 100 per cent placements in future.
B-schools have to improve infrastructure, train their faculty, work on industry linkages, spend money on research and knowledge creation and pay their faculty well in order to attract good talent, the study pointed out.
From the student’s point of view, the way one looks at an institution has changed in the present scenario. He is looking for a 1:1 match between the fee he pays for a course and the salary he is likely to get after the degree.
As a result, B-schools that charge low fees do not attract students, who think they will end up getting a lower salary. On the other hand, institutions that charge higher fees do draw students, but there are not enough jobs that offer high salaries.
“There is a complete mismatch in expectations among the three segments – B-schools, students and the industry. The expectations of each segment simply do not match that of the other,” says Sankaran.
A part of the blame also lies with the pathetic undergraduate education system. About 67 per cent of general graduates are not employable. Having wasted four years of their prime and finding themselves unemployable, they turn to MBA programmes. “But the B-schools find it difficult to make them learn in two years, especially after wasting four years. Hence, the input itself is a problem,” Sankaran points out.
Questions have also been raised as to whether the B-schools are doing a good job of imparting education and if they are delivering it in the right format?
People who run the undergraduate institutions also end up running MBA courses. As a result, the problem persists. “We as a country have failed to groom quality teachers over the past 25 years, because the system itself runs on approvals, and not on accreditations. As a result, anyone can teach anything in India. Thus, there is an input problem, process problem and hence an output problem,” Sankaran explains.
On its part, the industry needs to join hands with the B-schools to decide on what needs to be imparted to make these management graduates employable. The faculty problem has been there for several years, and it is only going to magnify over the next 10 years. In the US, people are trained to teach; India has failed to do this. Singapore focused on this area long before and it took 25 years for that country to establish itself as a leading player in the international education market. An estimated 44 million students study outside their home countries every year and industry estimates pegs the revenue potential of this industry at $44 trillion. “As a result of the country’s failure in establishing a proper system, we are now a leading importer of this service, instead of being an exporter,” Sankaran points out.
Education can be an economic engine, not only to meet our demand but also to take it to the overseas market, as it happened in the case of the IT industry, which today accounts for seven per cent of the country’s GDP and 30 per cent of exports. It should be noted that even the IT industry suffered for the initial two decades due to lethargy on the policy front. “Let us not do that mistake on the education front. The need of the hour is to invest on creating the right system,” says Sankaran.
According to Dhooper, when there is a shortage of really competent faculty, the recruitment of the right faculty becomes even more difficult for institutions. At the same time, it becomes very difficult to retain good talent. “In fact, recruiting faculty through references is a more reliable mode of recruitment; but finding such reference is not an easy task,” he feels. As for the newfound trend of flying down overseas faculty, Dhooper says this could at the most be an interim arrangement and not the end solution. Flying down professionals may be a temporary solution or maybe an add-on flavour to teaching.
“B-schools should look for industry experts having a taste for teaching on sabbatical or on a visiting basis, besides recruiting academicians from other B-schools or universities. They can also have arrangements for exchange of faculty to supplement or complement their pool of talent” says Dhooper.
NSB’s Sankaran is not so enthusiastic about using industry experts. “Institutions recruit people with industry experience in order to overcome shortage in faculty. But these people end up sharing only anecdotes, which do not really add much value,” he says.
Technology could be an option for B-schools to focus on in order to overcome faculty crunch, feels Dhooper. “Faculty shortage can be overcome by B-schools to a great extent by using technology and internet by having bipartite arrangements to help each other, wherever they can through exchange of faculty, without loss of time and without physical presence in the class through video conferencing,“ he says.
TCS Insights: This article highlights the growing gap between the top tier and the next level of academic institutes. It also highlights how Tier 2 institutes are not able to address student expectations such as quality education delivery and employment opportunities.
This presents an interesting opportunity for Canadian colleges to tap into those students who have not been successful in getting into the top Indian institutes due to limited intake. It also represents an opportunity for students as potential recruits for quality programs in Canada.
Canadian business students visit India
Source: Connect – Canada In India
Executive MBA students from Canada’s Richard Ivey School of Business (Western University) recently visited India to study business opportunities for Canadian companies. With a mission “to prepare leaders who think globally, act strategically and contribute to the communities in which they operate,” the International Business Trip to India enabled the students to gain an appreciation for what it takes to do business in India, to work with Indian managers and to compete with Indian companies. This experience enabled the participants to put into practice the themes of their third semester which include; “Crossing Borders”, “International Investments”, “Collaborative Strategies” and “Looking Ahead Globally.”
UK, U.S., Canada universities to invite Indian students
Source: India Blooms News Service via Indian Economic Business News
Over 35 leading universities from the UK, U.S. and Canada would come together to woo Indian students to their countries for higher education. IDP Education, the world’s leading student placement service provider and co-owner of IELTS examination, hosted the second edition of its multi-destination education fair in India from Feb 15. Spread over a period of two weeks, the fair will kick-start from Chandigarh and conclude in the southern city of Kochi on Feb 25. The fair will see over 40 universities, and colleges from the UK, U.S. and Canada hold dialogue with Indian students aspiring to pursue higher education in internationally acclaimed institutions. IDP’s Education Fair will offer students the opportunity to explore under one roof, various study options available across the three western nations. The fair will be held in the cities of Chandigarh, Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Kochi. Close to 80,000 Indian students go abroad for higher studies every year to the five English speaking countries, namely Australia, UK, U.S, Canada and New Zealand.
Wanted: Task Managers
Spike in UK student numbers prompts fears of visa abuse
Source: www.guardian.co.uk via PwC – EdLive
A sharp increase in student visas popular with English language learners coming to the UK to study has raised concern that bogus applicants could be abusing the visa system to enter the country. The latest official statistics on migration to the UK show a sharp rise in the number of student visitor visas (SVV), which allow entry for up to 11 months but which are easier to obtain than the long-term student visa, known as Tier 4. The Office of National Statistics (ONS) report on migration figures published last month revealed that applications for SVVs rose by 12% to a record 67,000 in the 12-month period ending September 2012. In contrast Tier 4 visas issued in the same period dropped by 26% to 211,000. Education providers in the UK say that the fall is a result of tighter rules for Tier 4 applicants introduced by the UK Border Agency (UKBA) in recent years. But a separate report by John Vine, Independent Chief Inspector, Borders and Immigration, into the management of student visas by UKBA, published in the same week as the ONS statistics, calls on the government agency to monitor SVV numbers for possible abuse. The report highlights a significant change in student visa trends. Between February and May 2012 for the first time more SVVs were issued than Tier 4 visas. The report says that this change was a result of a sharp fall in Tier 4 applications possibly linked to the introduction of further visa rule changes. But the trend in SVV applications is also increasing year-on-year observed Vine.
The English language schools and colleges in the UK, which are the destination for most SVV holders, and which rely on SVVs for a significant part of their revenue, now fear that their business will suffer if the UKBA tightens SVV rules. Tony Millns, Chief Executive, English UK, the industry body which represents English language providers, says that the rise in SVVs should be seen as an endorsement of the UK’s English language teaching expertise and not as a threat.
Carnegie Mellon University professors launch online courses for Indian students
Source: The Times of India via PwC – EdLive
The Academic Financial Trading Platform (AFTP), the first massively open online course (MOOC) platform dedicated exclusively to business education, launched its courses in November 2012 to a growing community of Indian MBA students and executives. Funded by the PMC Group, AFTP was founded in 2011 by two Carnegie Mellon University professors, Raj Chakrabarti (systems engineering) and Anisha Ghosh (financial economics) with the aim of delivering an integrated curriculum of business courses to interested students anywhere in the world. The MOOCs have been taking the higher education industry by storm, offering university-level courses from the world’s top schools online for free to anyone, anywhere, through video lectures and weekly assessments that allow students to learn at their own pace. In the wake of the global economic crisis, increasing unemployment rates, and the rising cost of education, AFTP aims to teach a class of skills that are different from those taught on existing MOOC platforms such as Coursera, edX or Udacity.
Students who successfully complete the courses obtain formal certification of mastery in mainstream business subjects such as investments, macroeconomics and corporate finance. But while the conventional B-school curriculum ends there, the AFTP training continues, encompassing application of the acquired skills to real-world decisions. E.g., students gain access to the latest and most cutting-edge stock market prediction techniques, trading strategies, and valuation methods developed at the world’s top research centres. As a part of the AFTP coursework, students use the website to back test the performance of these techniques on decades of historical stock market data, and compare their performance to that of top investment houses in the US. Then, they learn how to apply these techniques either to manage their own personal finances, or in the context of their jobs.
GTU Initiative for Global Exposure for GTU MBA Students from different institutions across Gujarat
We are highly thankful to Gujarat Technological University(GTU) for organising a Summer Camp Program at University of Alberta (UoA), Canada and for providing us a golden opportunity to know about learning systems in Canada, at a world-class University. The classes of Summer Camp Program started on 27th June 2011. We, a total of 35 students, are attending the Summer Camp Program at UoA, Canada. Professsor Bhavin Pandya says that we are writing a new chapter in the history of higher education in India, since this is the first such effort by any state University in India.
We are indebted to Dr. A. K. Aggarwal, Honorable Vice-Chancellor, GTU for envisioning and organizing the Summer Camp Program for us. This trip is proving to be a great learning experience for us. The professors here are very responsive and are trying to make the maximum efforts to make our stay comfortable and to open our minds to a truly a new world. In a globalized and diversified economy, higher education would not be complete without such an intensive international exposure. During the 40 days program, we are looking forward to explore the exciting temple of knowledge in an optimal way .
Most of us are the first generation University students from our families. GTU’s policy of sending those, who were academically the best from all over Gujarat has brought us to Alberta. Those opportunities will permit us to learn about other cultures and international businesses, which will open paths towards shaping a good career in a powerful way – and the we will tremendously benefit by studying at UoA. We are fortunate today to be in Alberta “There have been active discussions around the campus among students and faculty to further institutionalize and internationalize the campus.”
We are grateful to Dr. A. K. Aggarwal, Honorable Vice-Chancellor, GTU to address us from India through a telephonic conference at the first lecture of the Summer Camp on 27th June 2011 at UoA, Canada. He discussed about the objectives of the program and emphasized his vision to make GTU MBA Program of the highest academic standard. He said that today’s MBA programs have to prepare young person for global placements. Dr. Aggarwal asked the GTU students to work hard along with the University to build excellent careers for themselves. By doing that, he said that, they would be able to build Gujarat, India and the world of tomorrow.
First Report of the Arrival of Students and Faculty Members at Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
By Prof. Dr. Anita Mehta and Prof. Nirbhay Chaubay
As part of its Global Initiative Program, Gujarat Technological University (GTU) has organized a 6 week International Global Experience Program (from 15th June to 29th July 2012) at Laurentian University (LU) in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.
A total of 106 students of Pharmacy, Computer Science, and Engineering/IT from various institutions across the state of Gujarat, led by Professor Dr. Anita Mehta, Principal, L.M. College of Pharmacy, Ahmedabad and Prof. Nirbhay Chaubey, OSD, Gujarat Technological University arrived in the campus of Laurentian University in three different groups on the 13th, 14th, and 15th June 2012. A small group of 18 students reached Toronto’s Pearson Airport late in the night of 14th June 2012. Dr. Kalpdrum Passi, along with the three other professors and students, took them to the university residence. The remaining three groups of students were brought to the university residence by bus. Dr. Passi welcomed all the students and faculty members and saw to it that they were comfortably settled in the campus. The students have been given a 6 week program schedule.
On arrival, they were allocated rooms in M and B Wing of the university residence. They were offered facilities like access to the library, Game Zone, and gym. Their lunch and dinner were arranged in the Pub, in the Great Hall, R. D. Parker Building on the University Campus.
On June 16th 2012, the University arranged a tour of Sudbury for the students in three different groups by bus. They visited Sudbury’s most famous landmarks; i.e. the Sudbury Big Nickel, New Sudbury Centre (located at the corner of Barrydowne Road, Lasalle Boulevard) and lakes and beaches. The Sudbury Big Nickel is a giant replica of the Canadian five-cent piece.
Prof. Mehta and Prof. Chaubey visited the university campus and met Dr. Abdel Omri—Professor of Pharmacology—and Dr. Kalpdrum Passi—Chair of Mathematics and Computer Science—regarding the courses, the examination scheme, and collaboration in research work with the GTU. Prof. Mehta and Prof. Chaubey also discussed with Ms. Rachel, Business Officer, Faculty of Science and Engineering for successful implementation of the 6 week summer camp including excursion to Ottawa, Niagara Falls, etc.
Saab’s education initiative to increase employment opportunities
Source: The Hindu Business Line via PwC – EdLive
Saab India announced an employability enhancement and skill development programme for the Indian College Engineering students. Termed the ‘Diploma Employment Enhancement Program (DEEP)’, it is designed to bridge the gap between industry’s requirements and technical education. The first pilot classes in collaboration with the Indian Technical Institutes will start in December. Saab India, the Indian subsidiary of the Swedish-headquartered defence and security company, has initiated a skills training programme at institutes in Gudivada and Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh. The six-month programme is designed to help engineering students learn and hone the right mix of technical and soft skills while they are still in college.
Canadian Students on Green Mission in India
Source: Connect – Canada in India
What were three young Canadian students doing in crowded bustees on the outskirts of Chandigarh? Team Connect posed this question to Stacy Thoreson, Adam Rieu and Kathryn Shiratti from the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV). The answer was not only inspiring but loaded with a promise of a greener and better future. The three Canadian students were in Chandigarh to work on an urban agriculture project, with financial support from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC). Working in partnership with a local non-governmental organization, Developing Indigenous Resources (DIR), and Panjab University, the students helped residents of the congested Janata Colony and Adarsh Nagar grow vegetables on their rooftops. Check out Team Connect’s interview with the Canadian students.