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Saturday, 31 August 2013

Indonesia to boost healthcare, education with India's ICT help

Indonesia hopes to improve its healthcare and education sectors with India's ICT knowledge and resources.

According to Didie Soewondo, deputy chairman of the Indonesia Chamber of Commerce and Industry at a meeting in India on Monday, India not only has a comparative advantage in education and human resource, its ICT education was also sophisticated, the Jakarta Globe reported.

He also noted many companies from various sectors in Indonesia needed advanced technology to support their operations and that India could provide such help.

Naina Lal Kidwai, president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, who was also present at the meeting, noted India's ICT sector is so large so there is room for cooperation between both countries.

"Indonesia's Internet penetration level is higher than India's. Meanwhile, some 12 million people work in the ICT sector in India," she said, adding such conditions mean there is an opportunity for both countries to benefit.

Kidwai also observed India's advanced ICT could boost cooperation in the healthcare sector, improving public services. Such cooperation however, would not run smoothly unless Indonesia made work visas easier for Indian nationals to obtain, she said.

http://www.zdnet.com/in/indonesia-to-boost-healthcare-education-with-indias-ict-help-7000019887/

NIIT, Autodesk partner to offer design education in India

Education and IT training company NIIT and NIIT University today entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Autodesk Inc. a firm involved in 3D design, engineering and entertainment software and services to offer design education in India. As a part of the MoU, NIIT will offer design related programs in schools and NIIT University will offer design courses in the institute.

Under this significant partnership, NIIT and NIIT University will leverage design tools of Autodesk to offer a host of design programs. NIIT University will set up a design lab and launch masters programs in design to support research and innovation. In addition, various specialized design programs will be launched for college students in verticals such as interface design, application design and media & entertainment design with an aim to create a pool of skilled manpower for these specific industries.

Vijay Thadani, CEO, NIIT Ltd. said that school teachers will also be offered these methodology for outcome-based learning. "Every class from Grade 6 to Grade 9 will be provided with design labs for use by both students and teachers. The idea is not only to open career avenues in design but also to promote 'design thinking' amongst the youth, that our research indicates as a key trait that today's employers are looking for," he said.

For school students, NIIT will introduce design literacy programs to promote design thinking.  NIIT along with Autodesk and a specially constituted Design Advisory Council, set up under the aegis of NIIT University, will be designing the curriculum. They aim to reach out to about 1 million students in 10 years.

The MoU also aims to bridge the skill gaps in the talent pool. George Abraham, Director of Emerging Markets, Autodesk Education said, "With a full portfolio of professional and personal design products, Autodesk endeavors to introduce students at all levels to the power of design technology, thus fostering an early interest so that they may develop into true design professionals. Partnership with NIIT will further our vision to promote design education by meeting critical gaps in talent pool with our skills and pedagogy to help people imagine, design and create a better world."

Autodesk works with clients across sectors like education, manufacturing, architecture, automobiles and movie industry, and offers their technology-based solutions to them.

NIIT University will launch Masters Programme in Design from the next academic year. Rajendra Pandey, President, NIIT University said that they will create design labs for innovative ideas to develop research capabilities in India. Though in the first phase, the design education courses will be for NIIT University, the MoU has enabled them to offer these courses to students of other colleges at a later stage. 

While the overall objective of this partnership is to promote design thinking in every job role, the programmes will also develop skilled manpower for the rapidly growing Computer-aided Design (CAD) industry, which is estimated to grow at CAGR of 13.5 percent by 2015, per a recent report by Technavio.

http://www.business-standard.com/article/management/niit-autodesk-partner-to-offer-design-education-in-india-113082900694_1.html

S Chand: India's Fastest-Growing Educational Publisher

The beginnings of the S Chand Group were steeped in nationalism. Started by Shyam Lal Gupta in 1937, its mission was to publish Indian authors unable to find a voice in colonial times. S Chand has evolved into one of the biggest domestic publishers and exporters of textbooks. It publishes all types of educational books: Higher education, technical and management education, school books (they account for 60 percent of its revenues).

The education market in India is roughly pegged at $20 billion, growing at over 30 percent. The industry’s attractiveness is obvious and, among all its segments, the publishing space has the lowest entry barrier. Reason: It is the least infrastructure-intensive.

But the educational publishing market, worth about $2 billion, while promising, is very fragmented. There are over 8,000 publishers but not more than 20 have a turnover of over Rs 100 crore. It is a high margin, high growth, direct-to-consumer business. Also, it is dominated by MNCs like Oxford University Press India, Pearson Education and McGraw-Hill. But in the domestic category, S Chand is the second largest player by revenue after Navneet Publications. It has grown from Rs 100 crore in 2005-06 to Rs 310 crore in 2012-13. Its target is to become the largest player in the Asian publishing market over the next five years.

THE PEOPLE BEHIND IT
S Chand is the first in the Indian publishing industry to be funded by a private equity firm. What stood out for Everstone Capital, which took a 31 percent stake in S Chand in 2012-13, was its entrepreneurial leadership. MBA drop-out Himanshu Gupta, a third generation entrepreneur, as joint managing director showcases the ambitious and aggressive side, while  brother-in-law Dinesh Jhunjhunwala, vice chairman, is the more seasoned face. “They have the perfect combination of aggression and realism,” says Dhanpal Jhaveri, partner and CEO at Everstone Capital. “Both have shown commitment not just to growth, but to growth with profitability.” S Chand is the industry leader in operating margins.

The team has had experience in acquiring companies—in growth by aggregating. This is a crucial aspect of strategy for anyone who wants to grow in the Indian market. Thanks to Everstone’s funding, S Chand last year bought out Vikas Publishers along with its imprint Madhuban. It was the largest acquisition in the Indian publishing industry and cost between $25 and $30 million. “We understand that, organically, we can only grow at 20-25 percent. So we want to be in the business of acquisitions. And we are looking at both the publishing as well as the digital space,” says Gupta.

WHY IT IS A GEM 
Apart from S Chand’s high growth since 2005-06, it is respected for being professionally-managed despite being family-owned. “Apart from the MNCs, this was the one company where the CEO, CFO, the head of distribution, etc, are professionals,” says Deep Mishra, managing director at Everstone Capital.

It is the sector’s fastest-growing company and likely shortly be the largest player in the (domestic) category. It scores over the current market leader in that a large chunk of Navneet’s revenues comes from stationery. 

The other aspect that makes it a safe bet is that it already has a foot in the door of digital education: Its product Destination Success is being rolled out in schools. Lastly, it is among the best consolidators in the market—experts believe that is the way forward in this industry.

WHY IT WAS HIDDEN
It remains a 76-year-old company working out of Old Delhi bylanes. But the bigger reason why S Chand had operated quietly is because it did not need external funds to make the big acquisitions. Earlier, it was making money and staying debt-free because of the high margins. It did not have to go to the capital markets.

RISKS AND CHALLENGES
S Chand’s focus on acquiring industry leaders is a reasonable strategy because it takes a long time, between 10 and 15 years, to build content and establish a dependable brand. But there is a flip side: Not every company can be absorbed easily. Also, it is crucial to assess that it truly adds value to the existing portfolio.

The other potential challenge in the long-term is the advent of digital media in education. The publishing business accounts for 95 percent of S Chand’s revenues, digital 5 percent. But the good news is that even in advanced overseas markets, digital education is just 20 percent of the market. Moreover, S Chand has already started its journey in the digital space.

Gupta points out operational challenges that S Chand faces as it grows faster. “It is not about making a book, which is becoming easier. It is about selling it,” he says. A publisher makes money when a title sells in big numbers, so hitting a benchmark like 25,000 copies is crucial. A large and efficient sales network is critical.

Read more: http://forbesindia.com/article/hidden-gems/s-chand-indias-fastestgrowing-educational-publisher/35989/1#ixzz2dYfBJUh6

Thursday, 22 August 2013

Stanford scholars find varying quality of science and tech education in Brazil, Russia, India and China

America may have legitimate competitive reasons to worry about the number of computer science and engineering graduates from elite Chinese and Indian universities – the figure dwarfs that of U.S. students with similar degrees.

But a new book by Stanford researchers and others says that the concern that these countries will develop their own centers of high-tech production and innovation and draw research, development and scholarship away from American shores is still premature.

The research, a multidisciplinary look at the growth of higher education in the world's four largest developing economies – Brazil, Russia, India and China (known collectively as the BRICs) – analyzes the quality of institutions, the quantity of people getting degrees and equal access to education.

The book, University Expansion in a Changing Global Economy: Triumph of the BRICS?, is published by Stanford University Press.

"In the past 20 years, university systems in these big countries have just exploded," said Martin Carnoy, a Stanford professor of education and one of the authors. "So the questions are why did it happen and what are the implications? And specifically, what are the implications for the U.S. if the market is flooded with new scientists and engineers? Are we going to be overwhelmed? What happens to their societies if all the energy is focused on elite institutions?"

The researchers approached their questions with the belief that societies, and governments, can be judged by the way they invest in and organize their public higher education systems.

For example, how well these countries create a labor force that is competitive in the information age depends on the quality of higher education. Whether people have equal chances to succeed relies on having colleges that are accessible to even the poorest students. And how effectively a country expands its university system may determine how successful it is at growing a robust economy and competing with the United States and Europe, the scholars argue.

"If you have economic growth and provide educational opportunities, you're perceived as a legitimate, successful government," Carnoy said. "So our theory was, if you can pull this off, if you can successfully expand your university systems, you are likely a pretty efficient government."

BRIC undergraduate education increased from about 19 million students in 2000 to more than 40 million students in 2010. The largest increase was in China, which went from less than 3 million to almost 12 million bachelor's degree students during that period, the study says.

Financing elite schools

The study found that BRIC countries are pouring money into their elite colleges in an effort to create world-class institutions and have their graduates compete with the United States and Europe.

Researchers say the elite colleges are much better for the focused investment, and the engineers and computer scientists are graduating with similar competency and training as those from developed countries.

But the mass institutions are receiving fewer resources, the study says, and that's where most of the students go. In 2009, 2.1 million of the 2.5 million total bachelor's graduates in China matriculated from mass institutions, not elite ones. In India, it was 2.2 million of 2.3 million.
AP/Manish SwarupChemistry students in India

Students read college application forms for admission to undergraduate courses at Delhi University in New Delhi, India. Delhi University has over 300,000 students and is one of the largest universities in the world.

This widening funding gap between top schools and mass institutions has broad implications, the scholars argue. The gap has the potential to slow economic growth domestically, deepen income inequality and create less social mobility.

Students who go to the mass institutions aren't getting high quality, competitive educational experiences, the study says, and many of the students also get stuck with big bills as funding assistance is directed toward the elite universities.

"What happens, then, is they are doing a good job of educating students at the elite levels, but they are not doing a good job of educating students at the non-elite levels who are also fundamental for the economy," said Prashant Loyalka, a research fellow at Stanford's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and one of the study's authors.

In absolute terms, the sheer numbers of students graduating from elite institutions in computer science and engineering majors in these countries is also high. In China, for example, the total number of computer science and engineering graduates from elite universities is more than the total number of such graduates from the United States.

But sustaining and building innovation hubs requires more than the elite, the researchers said. The engine of these new economies is the rest of the population – those that attend mass institutions.

"In the United States, we have relied on competent second-tier engineers. They are the guts of our system. We need good students in all fields in these second-tier universities because the top-tier universities just don't produce that many graduates. They simply don't," Carnoy said.

He warned that this redistribution of funds away from second-tier institutions is a concern in the United States as well. "To an extent the BRICs have to do it, because they don't have enough resources to go around. But do we have to do it? The answer is probably no. It certainly should be no," Carnoy said.

The research is one of the first empirical and comparative looks at the higher education systems across these countries, and relied on in-country interviews, surveys, data analysis and classroom observation.
Report card

Overall, the researchers found that significant challenges remain as these countries march toward creating universities that can rank alongside those in the United States and Europe.

China, the scholars said, is doing pretty well, but Russia and Brazil are question marks.

"Russia has provided the vast majority of its people with a high level of education, but it has lagged in terms of putting money into research," Loyalka said. "Brazil has a high-level of graduate education and research at its top-tier public institutions, and these institutions are receiving a lot of support. However, the vast majority of students attend private institutions, which are, on average, of dubious quality."

India, Loyalka noted, was surprising. Despite its very good technical universities, he said, "you have a small proportion of Indians going to those, and the mass institutions are of really poor quality."

"The higher education system in India does not appear to be well organized," Loyalka said.

Among other recommendations, the researchers said India should increase its graduate education and, along with Russia, increase spending on research.

The project began in 2007 as an interdisciplinary venture supported by the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford, and incorporated scholars in economics and international comparative education at Stanford Graduate School of Education, the Freeman Spogli Institute and universities in Moscow and Beijing.

Several articles focusing on different aspects of the review also have been published over the past year. The most recent, which appears in the July/August issue of the journal Change, highlights the research on quality and quantity of graduates in engineering and computer science from the four countries.

Besides Carnoy and Loyalka, the scholars involved in the project include Maria Dobryakova, a research associate and the director for portals at the Center for Monitoring Quality Education at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow; Rafiq Dossani, a senior economist at RAND Corp. and former senior research scholar at Stanford's Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at the Freeman Spogli Institute; Isak Froumin, a mathematician and director of the Institute for Educational Studies at the National Research University Higher School of Economics in Moscow; Katherine Kuhns, who received her PhD in the International and Comparative Education Program at Stanford Graduate School of Education; Jandhyala B. G. Tilak, a professor at the National University of Educational Planning and Administration in New Delhi, India; and Rong Wang, director and professor of the China Institute for Educational Finance Research at Peking University.

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2013/august/bric-higher-ed-081913.html

Tuesday, 20 August 2013

To woo more kids from India, top Canadian Universities visit Indian schools

Despite slowdown students going to Canada doubled in the past three years when US, UK saw a decline, the ecstatic Canadian institutions have leverage due to cheaper education and job opportunities.

Eyeing more students from India, top Canadian Universities are currently visiting the best schools across India providing “personal guidance” to hundreds of potential candidates. The senior officials of nine Universities of Canada including British Columbia University, Carleton and Toronto University landed in Mumbai Sunday.

Their two day joint-campaign started on Mumbai for which seven international schools had short listed already. This includes Jamnabai Narsee, Dhirubhai Ambani International, American School of Bombay, Singapore International School, Ryan Global and Ecole Modiale and Oberai International School. “The interaction is mainly aimed at academically strong 11 and 12 graders from India,” says Preeti Prabhu, Trade Commissioner of Canadian consulate in Mumbai.

The students were told about the quality and diversity of Canadian higher education, the benefits of studying in Canada like availability of study-and-work options, job opportunities after the study and admission procedure The students were also given opportunity to interact with each university representative for the programmes being offered, fee structure and other details.

Leader of the delegation of nine varsities, Robert Finlayson from Carleton University says, “Indian undergraduate students are very important to us as they are academically very strong. They also bring a multicultural environment to our educational institutions making them stronger.”

Over 12,049 Indian students were studying in Canada in 2011, a figure which was double as compared to 2009. During the same period, enrolment of Indian students in US and UK saw a decline which was credited to economic slowdown. Indian students form second biggest group in Canada after China. “Engineering courses are most popular among Indian students,” says Michelle Beaton of Ryerson University, one of the team member visiting India.

The rising interest of Indian students in Canadian schools is attributed to relaxed immigration policy and cheaper education ($15,000-25,000) as compared US and UK. The Canadian institutions are now eyeing for more Indian students to leverage the situation.

Delegation of Canadian Universities would also visit Delhi, Dehradun, Hyderabad and Bangalore in next few days. Though it is the ninth season of India tour of Canadian Higher Education institutions, for the first time they will have such an extensive “school to school” campaign. “The aim is not only to woo more Indian students but also to reach out to them at younger age,” said a Principal.

The tour is organised by Canadian Higher Education Council and International Council of schools

http://www.dnaindia.com/academy/1876843/report-to-woo-more-kids-from-india-top-canadian-universities-visit-indian-schools

Academic Ranking of World Universities 2013 released: A dismal show by India

This week China's Shanghai Jiao Tong University released its influential ranking of tertiary institutions across the globe, naming the top 500 higher educational institutions. US universities, as is their wont, dominated the show, sweeping as many as 182 slots in the best five hundred. 8 of the top 10 universities are in the US, with Harvard named as world's best higher institution with a score of 100. Second spot is claimed by Stanford University, followed by University of California and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The only non-US institutions in best 10 are UK's Cambridge and Oxford.

Britain now has 37 universities in the top 500. Canada's tally stands at 23, and Germany has notched up 38 slots. However, there is no Asian University in the top 20. Last year, Japan's University of Tokyo was among the best 20 but Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich ousted its Japanese counterpart to enter the top 20 club this year. Overall, there are 20 Japanese higher institutions which found a place in ARWU's ranking of 2013. China, on the other hand, has 28 tertiary academies in top 500, Taiwan has 9. Hong Kong has 5 universities, followed by Singapore with 2 universities in best 500. Malaysia and India have one university each in the table.

However, Nineteen Australian Universities have made it to top 500, with five of them entering the best 100 as well. Melbourne has retained its place as Australia's best University. Glyn Davis, vice-chancellor of University of Melbourne, told the press that "Melbourne's performance in individual subjects and overall reflects the hard work and high quality of the research team."

Now talking of the performance of our own Indian universities one is bound to feel disappointed, and there are plenty of reasons to be worried. The most glaring and troublesome fact is that not even a single Indian higher institution could get a place in top 100 list; the only institution to book a slot in the rankings is Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Science(IISc) that was ranked in the 301-400 category. That only one Indian higher educational institution made it to ARWU's ranking speaks volume about the dilapidated state in which our education system is in.

Poor research, minimal publication of articles, absence of quality teaching and educational infrastructure are some of the prominent factors which are responsible for deteriorating education levels in Indian universities. No wonder given such hurdles Indian higher education institutions find themselves hobbling on global academic platform. Not only are we constantly faltering - while our neighbors are making rapid and giant strides of improvement in education and learning - our government has done little to boost the quality of education in Indian universities.

"It is true that the number of tertiary institutions have grown exponentially in India, but there is little doubt that quality of education has been horribly compromised in most of these academic houses," pointed out Lalit Kumar, a PhD scholar at Delhi University. He further added, "Such a huge country like ours has just one institution in top 500. We seriously need to think where we are going with our educational level, especially when a tiny country like South Korea has as many as 11 institutions in the 2013 rankings."

Another factor that has been the undoing of our academic institutions is the blatant and rampant practice of rote-learning not just at primary or secondary levels but very much at higher levels, too. What is extremely upsetting here is that such an environment of learning renders our student incompetent to compete on the global scale, especially because they lack adequate skills and are ill-equipped to survive in the cut-throat competition. It goes without saying that unless government makes it its priority to revamp the educational infrastructure in the country, we are likely to come across dismal performance by Indian universities.

http://www.coolage.in/2013/08/17/academic-ranking-of-world-universities-2013-released-a-dismal-s/

Home finance companies bet big on education loans

CHENNAI: Housing finance companies are not just targeting young professionals or double income couples with home loan offers. They have now expanded their reach to the growing universe of students aspiring for higher education.

What's driving the foray is the boom in professional courses. As per industry estimates, around Rs 80,000 crore was spent on higher education by Indians last year, most of it in pursuit of professional degrees. Currently, there are more than 15-16 million students in colleges and technical institutes across the country and an additional quarter of a million on campuses overseas. The sector is growing at 20%-22% annually.

In recent years, the loan business has also 'democratized' with takers from both upper as well as lower income groups.

"A lot of talented students find it difficult to pursue their dreams of higher education because of the increasing cost of education. This is not only a sustainable business but also helps positively touch lives of students, their families and thereby improve the socio economic fabric of the country," said Renu Sud Karnad, managing director, HDFC.

HDFC and Dewan Housing Finance were among the earliest to spot the potential and are now beginning to attract investors to their venture. HDFC bought into Credila in 2009 when the latter's cumulative disbursements were less than Rs 25 crore. Today, HDFC Credila's educational loan portfolio has grown to over Rs 1,000 crore.

"For FY13, the loan book grew by close to 80% over the previous fiscal," Karnad said. The company has provided loans for around 694 courses for students in over 2,000 institutes across 36 countries.

Recently, International Finance Corporation picked up a 20% stake in Dewan Housing Finance's education loan subsidiary Avanse for Rs 12.75 crore. Avanse has disbursed Rs 50 crore in loans so far and is targeting Rs 100 crore by the end of this fiscal. "We hope to break even by the second year," said Neeraj Saxena, business head, Avanse Education Loans.

Curiously, the sector attracts interest despite a legacy of bad loans. In nationalized banks, the education loan segment is marked by rising defaults or non-performing assets (NPA). Some have recorded a gross NPA as high as 15% in their portfolios in some states, prompting them to lay down stiff conditions for loans after years of liberal disbursals. Some have even been pulled up by the courts for denying loans to students or for laying down such conditions. But the apex body of the institutions, Indian Banks' Association (IBA), has now amended the repayment rules for this segment, given its socio-economic significance.

An IBA committee has recommended the repayment schedule on education loans be extended to 10 years from 5-7 years currently and an education loan guarantee by the government for loans up to Rs 7.5 lakh. "Education loans are a lucrative market and will continue to be an attractive proposition in the future. The education credit guarantee fund is in its final stages and will be launched soon," said chairman and managing director of Indian Bank TM Bhasin who chaired the panel on the education loan scheme.

Home finance companies are not guided by the IBA model when it comes to disbursal of education loans. But company officials are quick to point out that they have their own mechanism on judging criteria and the final loan outcome is on a case by case basis, often influenced as much by the profile of the institute as of the student. "We have our database of institutes and have developed our own rating model for colleges," said Saxena. Nearly 50% of the company's disbursals so far are towards management courses with the average loan size ranging from Rs five to six lakh.

With the proliferation of B-schools and engineering colleges, it's early days for these companies. With a 35% CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) in the sector over the last eight years, education loans are clearly still a learning experience for them.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Home-finance-companies-bet-big-on-education-loans/articleshow/21907081.cms

Sunday, 18 August 2013

Globalization impacts legal education in India

ALIGARH: Faizan Mustafa, vice-chancellor of the NALSAR (National Academy of Legal Sciences and Research) University of Law, Hyderabad, said globalization was having an impact on legal education, changing the earlier state-centric approach.

Today, we have to look at the market too, to understand the relationship between law and the state, Mustafa said, while delivering the Extra Mural Lecture on Globalization and Third Generation Reforms in Legal Education at Aligarh Muslim University Saturday.

Transnational laws such as International Monetary Fund rules, laws of the World Trade Organisation and International Financial Regulations have become more important these days than the laws enacted by sovereign parliaments, Mustafa said.

Paying rich tributes to his own teachers in the Law Faculty of Aligarh Muslim University, Mustafa said several leaders of legal education emerged from there.

As many as eight vice chancellors of the National Law Universities were products of Aligarh Muslim University, Mustafa said, claiming that no other university held this distinction.

Mustafa urged the Aligarh Muslim University to introduce changes in the curriculum followed for legal studies, to be in step with the realities of free trade and globalisation.

He also urged that new courses be introduced, integrating disciplines, so that the close relationship between business, the natural sciences and law is reflected in syllabi.

Mustafa also questioned why the master's course in law in India is two years long, when outside the Indian subcontinent, it is usually a one-year programme.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/Globalization-impacts-legal-education-in-India/articleshow/21896256.cms

Russian universities increase 375 seats for Indian students

Russian universities increase 375 seats for Indian students

The Russian Universities have informed EDURUSSIA - the official admission processing office for students from India, that it can enroll an additional 375 students this year. "This will benefit students aspiring to study medicine, dentistry and engineering who have been unsuccessful in securing admission to the course of their choice in India," said Manoj Patki of EDURUSSIA. He said that 375 seats have been added in premium universities such as the Moscow Medical Academy, Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, Nizhny State Medical University, Tambov State University, Astrakan State University and Saratov State Medical Academy. The international students admissions department of EDURUSSIA also said that students enrolling for these premium universities have a special advantage as they will receive a European Appendix with their degree which enables them to avail scholarships in most European nations for post graduation. For more information visit www.edurussia.in

P A Inamdar to help with Sachar Committe

P A Inamdar, president of the Maharashtra Cosmopolitan Education Society, has been appointed as a member on the committee to evaluate the implementation of the Sachar Committee report and the Prime Minister's New 15 point programme. The committee has been constituted by the Ministry of Minority Affairs. The committee is also expected to recommend corrective measures for effective implementation of government programmes and schemes for the welfare of minorities. The committee will submit its report within six months.

MIT to represent India in Abu Robocon

A team from Maharashtra Institute of Technology will be representing India this year at the Abu Robocon annual robot competition. The competition started in 2002 for engineering colleges and polytechnic students in the Asia- Pacific region. The competition will be held from August 17 to 19 at Danang in Vietnam. The theme of this year is based on the concept of 'Green Planet'. Sarvesh Chakradeo, Charudatta Parkhe, Aishwarya Hendre and Ashwin Jain are leading the team of 15 students. The MIT team is guided by Prof. Prakash Joshi, Prof. Savita Kulkarni and Prof. Saket Yeolekar. Robocon India is a national level competition and the winner represents India in the International event. 81 teams participated this year. The MIT team was the winner of the competition held in March 2013 at Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune. This is the second consecutive year that MIT is representing India. Last year the team won the Mabuchi Motor Award for an outstanding performance.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/education-dairy-russian-universities-increase-375-seats-for-indian-students/1155696/

India to focus on quality of its maritime education and training

India’s maritime education and training sector is set for a churn as its maritime administration, led by the Directorate General of Shipping, takes steps to introduce a new monitoring mechanism for institutes to ensure quality and uniformity.

The directorate will soon introduce a so-called Comprehensive Inspection Programme (CIP) that seeks to do away with the inspection processes a maritime training institute is required to undergo on a regular basis—scheduled inspections by academic councils, quality certifications by certifying bodies and grading of the institutes by rating agencies. These mechanisms have not yielded the desired results because these agencies lack expertise in the maritime field.

A comprehensive grading process by established agencies in the maritime field will form the core of the new monitoring mechanism for training institutes.

Ship classification societies (entities that verify ships for sea worthiness) authorized by India can henceforth offer their services for the inspection, gradation and certification of the maritime institutes, according to the new rules.
India for long has been considered a major supplier of personnel to the global shipping industry, which sees Indian seafarers as competent, efficient and cost-effective.

India owns just about 1% of the global shipping fleet but supplies more than 6% of the total seafarers to the world fleet. Currently, there are about 82,000 India-born seafarers working on board ships globally.
While this has been the result of the decades-old maritime education, training and examination system in India, there is a growing recognition that in the increasingly competitive workforce supply scenario in global shipping, excellence in maritime education and training is a necessity.

Maritime training in India was opened up for private participation in 1996. There are some 130 maritime training institutes in the country offering pre-sea and post-sea training in various courses and streams. These institutes function under the centralized control and monitoring regime of the Directorate General of Shipping. Still, there exists a wide variance in the quality of training imparted in these institutes. As the maritime training sector passes through a difficult phase due to the prolonged recession in international shipping, India’s maritime administration feels the time has come to introduce reforms in the regulatory processes for maritime training to keep pace with the competitive requirements of international shipping.

India has already taken steps to calibrate its seafaring supply-side mechanism to check systemic deficiencies after a few earlier attempts to rein in errant institutes failed.

The Directorate General of Shipping has imposed a two-year ban on approving new maritime training institutes and on increasing the intake of students in existing ones for all pre-sea courses to address the issue of shortage of training berths for students. The ban took effect from June 2012.
On-board training has become a big obstacle for students looking for a career at sea with the backlog of those waiting to undergo the mandatory requirement running into a few thousands. Unlike other professional courses, students are stuck if they don’t get training berths on-board ships.
The large and rapidly growing backlog of trainee officers who have completed pre-sea courses but are unable to get training berths on board ships—a prerequisite for their certificates of competency in the entry grade—has been a matter of concern for the maritime administration.

India’s efforts to enforce training commitments by institutes and local fleet owners to raise shipboard training berths have not yielded the desired results.

The CIP now being introduced involves grading of the various institutes broadly conducting similar training programmes and is expected to benefit stake-holders—the prospective candidates, institutes and shipping companies—in addition to providing realistic inputs to enhance the monitoring and control mechanisms of the maritime administration.

The grading will be based on parameters such as the quality of faculty and infrastructure, training facilities, quality of teaching process, performance of graduating students, placement of these students and an assessment of the long-term prospects of the institute.

A credible grading of institutes by domain experts will significantly help prospective candidates in deciding on the right institute for a particular course, as the process will substantially assess the relative quality of similar courses offered across various institutes. Moreover, since the institutes and the courses they offer will be benchmarked against internationally accepted best practices, students will get a fair idea about the quality of course compared with global standards.

The grading of institutes and their courses will provide shipping companies, as well as potential employers, with a tool to assess the relative quality of education imparted and re-orient their expectations with regard to on-the-job performance of recruits.

So far, the monitoring mechanisms of the maritime administration largely depended on the physical inspection of the institutes by teams from the respective academic councils, predominantly comprising technical officers of the directorate.

However, the growing number of maritime institutes and the increase in responsibility of the administration for the implementation of new international maritime convention requirements, aggravated by a shortage of technical officers, have affected the efficacy of the extant inspection regime, forcing the directorate to evolve alternative monitoring mechanisms to ensure the quality and uniformity required.

The change in the monitoring mechanism of training institutes comes at a time when India is looking to increase its share of global seafarers beyond 6% by tapping some portion of the shortage of personnel facing the shipping industry over the next five years.

But unless issues relating to the sustainability of the quality of maritime education and training are sorted out, this goal will remain a distant dream. In this backdrop, the maritime administration is headed in the right direction.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/zalcUDiZWhPlqcQ32mbM7I/India-to-focus-on-quality-of-its-maritime-education-and-trai.html