Special Education: Does India really give it enough importance?

Special education in layman's terms is the education of students with special needs in a way that takes into consideration the child's particular needs and understands their limitations. Within this stream of education, the child is involved in individually planned teaching procedures and is monitored by a trained professional. There also maybe the use of adapted equipment and materials as well as comfortable settings to ensure the comfort of the child. Special needs institutions aim to raise the level of personal self sufficiency and success in the day to day lives of the children.

It has only been over the last few years that special needs education has been gaining momentum in India. But has it really been given the importance it deserves? Has India taken the necessary steps to ensure that children with special needs are given the best education and taught how to venture forth into the real world? I've decided to take it upon myself to find out.


I've spoken with a young teacher of 24-year-old, Talia D'Souza who has recently gotten into the field of special education over the last few years. Here's a little bit about her; she's completed her B. Ed. (Bachelor of Education) in special education from SNDT Centre of special Education and specialised in MR ( Mental Retardation). The term isn’t used anymore its Intellectually disabled now. She has also worked for a year at Arushi – the learning centre, at the SNDT campus and at SPJ Sadhana at the Sophia college campus. Talia is currently pursuing her Masters in Special Education. 

I met with her and discussed a few key points related to the field. Here's what she had to say.

Why did you get in to special education?

My youngest sister has Down Syndrome, a genetic developmental disability. So from a very young age I have been involved in the same; dropping her to school, taking up school work , etc etc. Since I've been doing this all my life, it all came very naturally to me. I didn’t always want to be a special educator, it was just what I felt the most passionately about after my graduation.

What are the differences when teaching special needs children as opposed to regular children? Are there added difficulties?

When we teach our students, for any task we teach be it academic or non-academic we task analyse, i.e. we first break down the task into smaller steps. (for example, brushing teeth would be - identifying a brush, identifying toothpaste, holding the brush in the dominant hand, applying paste over the brush, etc). This helps us know exactly how to go about the activity, where the child is stuck, what his/her strengths and weakness are, what we can work on etc. Also children have multiple intelligence (Howard Gardener) so we don’t stick to the traditional methods of teaching we use different mediums to teach one task. we give different audio, visual, tactile (touch) and kinaesthetic (by doing) inputs to the students. We give them constant reinforcements even for the smallest achievements in the lesson, this motivates them to learn more. Ideally I feel that even the “regular children” should be taught in this manner

Are the organisations/institutions you work supportive in terms of financial backing, being up to date with the latest equipment/teaching methods etc.

Ok now every institution will have a financial constraints that put up certain limits. But honestly, the teacher just has to put in more effort and make good use of the different materials, aids and methods at their disposal. I have been very lucky at both my work places, and in spite of being a beginner I was allowed to express my views and use my own ideas to teach the students. One has to take it upon themselves and continuously read and attend workshops to be attuned  with the constant developments in the education system. Of course a good organisation always holds workshops for its teachers to update their skills.

There have been quite a few developments in the field. Have these developments been implemented in India?

Now in the Scandinavian countries, Europe, and most notably America, the special needs children are taught in the same classroom as their peers. 'Inclusion'  is the school of thought here. The children are sent to the resource room for additional help. Also these individuals lead independent lives with minimum support (depending on the level of disability) they travel alone, live alone and even go out socially and on dates.

See we have got to understand that they don’t have the strength of the class that we have in our regular schools, they have at least 2 teachers plus assistant teachers to assist a class of maybe 30 students. That being said I strongly believe all individuals should be treated equally and be given equal opportunity. Our government has implemented the RTE(right to education act) and the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, which states that no school can deny the right to education to any child regardless of disability. Some of the private institutions in Mumbai are educating special needs children in regular schools. We are admittedly far behind most developed countries in our way of thinking and living but we are making small steps towards inclusion. And I think it's only a matter of time before we catch up.

Putting aside that you're a teacher, do you as an individual think that special education is given enough importance?

See, let me ask the readers how many differentially abled people do we see in restaurants, theatres malls etc, Do we see these adults at night clubs etc. would we assist this individuals, look strangely at them feel sorry for them, make considerations? I think that we as individuals tend to feel sorry for people with special needs. As children did we ever visit visually impaired, hearing impaired, intellectually disabled schools. Did we have friends who were different from us. I think from a very young age we need to start inculcating in children that people have differences, different needs, and we need to start accepting, and including all kinds of people, I'm not just talking about special needs here, the same can be said even about people from the lower strata of society. The education system is changing, but are we? The whole outlook needs to change. I do see schools nowadays have camps with special needs children or a visit to the school. I do see these as small steps towards not marginalising these children and feeling sorry for them.I see this as positive steps towards including these people into the rest of the population.

http://www.dnaindia.com/academy/report-special-education-does-india-really-give-it-enough-importance-1906149

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Universal education for girls, still a dream!

Gender disparities in education at all levels continue to hover around even after 66 years of independence. According to the District Information System for Education (DISE) (2011-12), report, girl’s enrolment at the primary level (Class I-V) stands at 48.35. Also, at the higher education level, the gross enrolment ratio for male population is 20.8 while that for female it is 17.9 respectively.

According to All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2010-11, at higher education level, 55 percent of male are enrolled in under graduate and post graduate courses while only 45 percent of female are enrolled in the same. Also, 62 percent of male are enrolled in PhD while only 38 percent of female are enrolled in the same.

Historical and cultural factors act as prime reasons behind gloomy situation of women education in the country. Poonam Muttreja, executive director at Population Foundation of India, a non –governmental organisation working on the population issues, concurred, “Child marriage affects right to education and vice –versa.     It also makes the young girls more vulnerable to sexual violence. Financial burden of dowry further aggravates the situation.”

“Female biasness and patriarchy was always the reason behind poor enrolment ratio. Also, many parents hesitate to send their girl child to schools as most of the schools are far off raising concern for their safety,” lamented Muttreja at Population Foundation of India.
According to Census, the overall literacy rate of All India stands at 73.0 percent.  The male literacy rate is 80.9 percent while female literacy rate is 64.6 percent respectively.

Only 72.16 percent of all schools in India have girl’s toilet and the figure for primary schools stands at 65.40 percent respectively according to DISE 2011-12.
Systemic gender discrepancies in teacher profile have further plagued school and university education in the country. According to DISE 2011-12, at the elementary level, only 46.27 percent of all schools have female teachers as on 2011-12. Also, at all India level, at the higher education level, there are merely 59 female teachers per 100 male teachers according to AISHE (2010-11).

Pointing the lack of proper infrastructure facilities as one of the reasons behind such dismal situation, HN Sahay, director operations at Smile Foundation India, an education focused non-governmental organisation said, “The share of female teachers is disproportionately low as there is a hesitation from the female side to teach in areas where provision for basic necessities like electricity and transport facilities are not available.”

Offering measures to uplift women education in the country, Muttreja at Population Foundation of India, said, “Age at marriage of girls should be increased to 21 as marriage limits the future of girls more than that of boys.”

“Schools and colleges should be built in areas easily accessible,” said Muttreja.

Awareness is the need of the hour.  Supporting the view, Sahay at Smile Foundation of India, said, “Sensitising the parents and the guardian is the first and foremost requirement. Also, lots of incentives in the form of scholarships should be given to the girls for motivating them.”

“Improving policies pertaining to girl’s education is also required,” added Muttreja.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-universal-education-for-girls-still-a-dream-1906184

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Education in India: we know the problems, what are the solutions?

Meeta Sengupta looks at some of the possible solutions to the problems plaguing Indian education.

“We all know the problems, what is the solution?!!!” The old gentleman was quite agitated. It was the second afternoon of a rather typical education conference. The glittering keynote speeches with the celebrity panelists. The tinkle of networking over cups of tea in the frequent breaks, the silent shuffle of visiting cards as solution providers offered to demonstrate their services, and the dutiful every reducing group that went back into the next session.

He was right, the old gentleman. India was running out of time, and those on the podium kept repeating the litany of woes that afflict education - the falling standards, absentee teachers, incompetent unemployables, unskilled workers, the low ranking on global scales, the mediocrity of the masses and of course the failing demographic dividend. We could go on and on, and they did.

How do we answer that old man? I hark back to what I said in a workshop - the answers are eternal. It is the questions that keep changing with context. Today’s questions are about employability, about quality and about scale. In the tradition of best sellers that dispense solutions, here are the top 7 things we need to do to make education meaningful and valuable.

A: Attitude - Instead of being an army style death march to marks, we need to feel the joy of learning with ideas and questions being thrown at each other like a ball in a playground.
Learning becomes a part of life, of the community. The teacher’s role becomes a trigger,
reinforcer and consolidator of that joyful attitude to learning. Does it make it unstructured?
No, we end up doing more - with challenges and games and resources freely shared and
used more intensely. The changed attitude is about deeper engagement with the content.

B: Basics - Focus on the basics, even in higher classes. Do not assume that students
know what they are should. Embed reinforcements of prior learning in every piece of work
that is set for students. If they get the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic right, they
are well placed to branch off on their own in later years. Instill confidence and competence
in skills of speaking, debating, creating a structured argument and applying their learning
to life.

C: Care - Walk into any classroom and you can feel the care making a difference. A
teacher’s and the students’ motivation levels impact how much learning is actually taking
place. A teacher, a principal, a parent, a District Education officer and a policy maker who
cares to do their job well has always been able to improve learning achievement levels.
They inspire others to care, and this starts off a virtuous cycle. We all remember that  one teacher who cared - and changed our lives. Put the heart back in education, it is not
merely an assembly line process. Care enough to do your job in whole measure.

D: Design - At the root of the problems today, and the key to solutions. Good design of
assessments, of teaching systems, of lesson plans, of school timetables, of governance
systems and even of school data monitoring systems will transform the face of education.
Half baked policy measures that do not plan for the last mile are hardly going to be
successful. There is clearly no scope for engaging with learning if examinations continue
to be designed to reward rote learning. Administration is unlikely to improve if incentive
design does not match goals. Every little thing needs better design for sustainable success - which means getting one’s hands dirty and learning how to make it work in the classroom and community. Then, iterate, and improve. Again, and again.

(D could also stand for Data. The path to good solutions lies via good data and analysis.
Of that we did not have enough. We have little evidence of what tools work better, where
the investments will yield better results, or on priorities based on evidence. We need better data based on better questions. We know that students in rural schools are moving away from government schools to private schools in a slow but quiet and steady stream. But we did not know why. We could guess that they thought private schools were better, but why did they think so? What information did the market have that the experts were blind to and could not fix? Or, in skills, how does a service provider know where do set up their resource development centres in the absence of good research?)

E: Execute - Grand designs and ideas fall at the altar of execution. It is time to start doing rather than wait for the perfect solution to emerge. Teach for India may not be a perfect program, but it does make an impact. STiR finds effective micro-innovations and embeds them in school systems to improve results. EI is doing impressive work in assessments, Eklavya in school leadership. Find expertise, partner with experience and execute. Move this jaggernaut forward.

F: Fund - This is a patchy story. Clearly funding has not been enough and we need to see smarter ways of funding good ideas in ways that impact student learning the most. We need more micro-finance models, more scholarships, more grants, and more engaged angels in education. Despite the Azim Premjis and Shiv Naders , large government
schemes and bank loans, bright students languish for lack of guidance and funds. This is
an institutional and personal shame.

G: Governance - What is watched gets done. Where the community watches over the
well, the water will remain good. The same applies to education. Schools need better
governance, as do our universities and research bodies. Unless the head teacher leads
by walking around, knowing that there is systemic and systematic accountability, we
will not have operational governance. Governance systems need to hold our institutions
of learning accountable for their core job - learning, for safety, for ethical conduct and
preparing students for life.

Over and above all, let us acknowledge that learning cannot be detached from life. It is
more than the eight hours at school and work. We learn from myths, from kitchens, books, people. It is up to us to keep connecting the dots, to keep actively keep building and sharing the circle of learning.

http://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/standpoint-education-in-india-we-know-the-problems-what-are-the-solutions-1906153

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New wave education methodology - Montessori gains popularity in India

The Montessori method and other forms of new wave education aren't that new abroad but these forms of teaching have been rapidly increasing in India.

About the Montessori Method

The Montessori Method is the brainchild of Dr. Maria Montessori. She believed that the child possesses the ability to direct his own development and it is the duty of the adult to provide him with a a beautifully prepared environment that can help him in this process of development.

The Montessori Method focuses on 4 main areas, namely;

1. Exercises of Practical Life - This area consists of material that is familiar to the child and is an extension of his own home environment. the children carry out activities that cater to their fine and gross motor movements, that help in the development of social skills, that help build physical and spiritual equilibrium and thus ultimately lead to the development of will, independence and the co-ordination of movement.

The activities are as follows; carrying and putting down tables, chairs, trays, jugs etc. ,folding clothes, pouring water and grains, cutting, sticking, colouring, peeling and chopping fruits and vegetables, sweeping, washing a table, setting up a table, dressing up, grooming, carrying a book, turning the pages of a book, working together with a friend, speaking with respect, gardening, taking care of pets,walking on a line etc.

2. Sensorial Activities- This area consists of scientifically made material that cater to the various senses of the child, namely; the senses related to eyes (visual), nose (Olfactory), ears (auditory), taste(Gustatory), touch (Tactile, Kinesthetic, Stereognostic ). The children, therefore, refine each one of their senses and are more aware and appreciative of the various objects in their surroundings.

3. Language- This area focuses on the language of the child. Right from the time that the child enters the Children's House (classroom), the teacher focuses on building up the language of the child by constantly conversing with the child and providing him with precise names for objects in the environment. Rhymes, stories, conversations, oral games, sound games etc. help develop the child's linguistic skills. Gradually, writing and reading are focused on in a very natural progression.

4. Arithmetic - Here, the focus is on developing the ability of the child to calculate and judge. Again, the material is scientifically made and the children gradually understand values and quantities in a logical pattern.

Another area that this method focuses on is Culture(History, Geography, Science etc.). Culture is incorporated in all four areas.

All areas in the method are interlinked and each area helps prepare the child, both directly and indirectly for the other areas.

The children studying at a Montessori School are given freedom within certain limits and this helps them work at their own pace. Children are free to choose any activity, they are free to work anywhere in the classroom and with whoever they want as long as they don't disturb the rest of the children and don't misuse the material. the teachers do not provide unnecessary help and usually observe the children to ensure that the right kind of help is provided.The children work towards their own development while at the same time helping each other thus developing a community that works with a great amount of love and respect for oneself and each other.

Information provided by Amal Irfan

Amal M Irfan, a 25-years-old teacher gives us an insight into the Montessori Method of education. Amal is a Montessori Directress and is completing her second year at Aseema Charitable Trust, an NGO that works towards the education of underprivileged children at MCGM schools. The NGO follows the Montessori Method of education.

At the age of 16, she obtained an ECCE (Early Childhood Care Education) Diploma which kick-started her journey into the world of education. Amal goes on to tell us about her introduction into the field, "In the past, I have tutored four children, one of whom was dyslexic. I have interned in the pre primary section at St. Andrews High School, volunteered at UCDC (Urban Community Development Centre) for a month while at St. Andrew's College, volunteered at an NGO called Salaam Balak as part of the Rotaract Club of Government Law College, volunteered at the Children's Observation Home in Dongri ( Juvenile Home) and spearheaded a Gandhi Jayanti Program as part of the Legal Aid Committee of Government Law College."

"I, then, went on to obtain an AMI Diploma in Montessori Education from the Ratan Tata Institute, Mumbai and am currently pursuing a Master of Education(Early Childhood Education with Montessori Concentration) at the University of Hartford, Connecticut, USA."

The Montessori method and other forms of new wave education aren't that new abroad but these forms of teaching have been rapidly increasing in India. Most people aren't aware of these new wave methods, and so I went on to ask Amal a few questions about the field.

What advantages are there in the new forms of education?

The new forms of education are actually very old but have been recently catching on in India. Dr. Maria Montessori opened up her first Montessori school in Italy in 1907 and Rudolph Steiner's Waldorf Schools have been around since 1919.

These are just two of the many alternate forms of education that are mushrooming in India due to a desire by parents to provide their children with a more constructive and developmental form of education that doesn't bind them to books but provides them with an environment(classroom) that caters to their needs and interests. These approaches to education look at the child as an active participant.

Are there any problems you face when implementing these methods?

Fortunately, there aren't any major obstacles that deter the implementation of the Montessori Method. Sometimes, minor obstacles like language barriers or parents being unable to understand the method and how it functions can pose a problem However, these are issues that can be tackled. Meetings with parents wherein the method is explained can help them notice remarkable differences in their children over time.

Do you think these new methods should replace the old ones or be used in addition to them?

 It would be great to see the Montessori Method replacing the traditional methods followed in many schools. But, as it is not easy to replace the old methods with the new, we can try to apply principles and materials into the already existing curriculum.

Each method/approach has its significant features. However, it is important to choose a method that is more child-centred. The child needs to be the active participant and the emphasis should be on his development through means that are suited to his needs The environment should tap into his inner potential, feed his imagination and curiosity,thus, providing him with a key to the whole world.

As a teacher do you think this new wave education is given enough importance?

Fortunately, many schools are now opening up to the idea of a more constructive form of education. Teacher Training Centres are incorporating these methods into their existing curriculum. An increasing number of parents have been enrolling their children in schools that follow the Montessori Method and this has led to an increase in the number of such schools. It will take a while but, soon, we will see a revolution in the education system.

http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1362577008503467073#editor/target=post;postID=1453321492863948756

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Only education can root out extremism: Malala

London: Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani girl attacked by the Taliban for spreading the message of girls' education and who is among the forerunners for the Nobel Peace Prize this year, believes extremism can only be rooted out by educating the next generation.

In an interview to BBC World News, Malala said she intended to return to her home country, despite the danger.

"Dialogue is the only way to achieve peace and that extremism can only be rooted out by educating the next generation," Yousafzai said.

"I want to go back to Pakistan but first of all I need to be fully empowered... and to make myself powerful, I only need one thing, that is education, so I will get education, then I'll go back to Pakistan," she said.

Reflecting upon her life in Pakistan's Swat valley, the teenager said she was born in a society that didn't value daughters.

"When I was born, some of our relatives came to our house and told my mother, don't worry, next time you will have a son... For my brothers it was easy to think about the future, they can be anything they want. But for me it was hard... I wanted to become educated and I wanted to empower myself with knowledge," she said

Malala said her father Ziauddin was her mentor and biggest supporter.

"I accepted her as an individual. I did not treat her as a property. I honoured her as a free individual and I usually tell all parents all over the world - educate your daughters, they are amazing," Ziauddin said.

However, as the Taliban came to control the Swat valley in 2008, an edict was issued that girls would no longer be allowed to attend school.

"The Taliban's punishments were like slaughtering people on the Green Chowk, throwing acid on women's faces or abusing them or killing them.

"I was afraid of my future. And at that time there was fear all around us, in every street and in every square of Mingora. At that time I said if we want to fight against the fear, let us have courage and let us have power to speak up," Malala said.

Malala's father, Ziauddin, was an anti-Taliban activist and had been approached by the BBC to find a schoolgirl to write an online diary. No one else would come forward, so he volunteered Malala, which shot her to fame and brought the ire of Taliban upon her.

"Becoming public meant everyone would listen to you then. That's the simple reason that I spoke," she said.

Malala was shot in her head Oct 9, 2012, after which she underwent multiple surgeries in Pakistan and Britain. She was miraculously saved.

The girl added that she missed her home and friends in Swat.

"Here they consider me as a good girl, the girl who stood up for children's rights and the girl who was shot by the Taliban. They never look at me as Malala, as their friend, and as a normal girl. In Pakistan, I was just Malala, simply Malala."

Asked about her expectations for winning a Nobel prize, she said: "If I win Nobel Peace Prize, it would be a great opportunity for me, but if I don't get it, it's not important because my goal is not to get Nobel Peace Prize, my goal is to get peace and my goal is to see education of every child."

 http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/only-education-can-root-out-extremism-malala_882170.html

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In Swat, Battle for Girls’ Education Continues

In the year since Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head by the Taliban for her defiant stance against their ban on girls going to school, she has become an international figurehead for a global campaign for universal education. For many girls in the conservative northwestern corner of Pakistan where she is from, the struggle to go to school continues.

The Pakistani Taliban took over the Swat valley in 2007. During the nearly three years that they ruled the picturesque valley they maintained control over the local population through a mix of brutal justice and a carefully crafted propaganda campaign transmitted into local homes via an illegal FM radio station, earning the local Taliban commander, Maulana Fazlullah, the nickname Radio Mullah.

“Most women listened. They were influenced. They gave their jewels and stood in front of their husband and children and said ‘Join them, go in the way of Allah,’” said Gul Khandana, the principal of a girls’ elementary school in Matta, an area of Swat that was a center for Taliban support until the Pakistani army began an operation to clear it of militants in the summer of 2009.

“The main thing was the women’s [support for Taliban]. They instigated support for the group. They were blind followers. That is why I am fighting for the girls’ education,” Ms. Khandana said.

Ms. Khandana says that she kept her school, the Sijban Government Girls’ Primary School, open throughout the three years that the Taliban exerted an increasing control over Swat, only closing it during the military operation in 2009.

“When the Taliban started their patrol they would come to the school and threatened to burn it. I said ‘You will have to burn me first and then burn the school,’” she told The Wall Street Journal’s India Real Time as she sat on a string daybed under the eves of her home. “Then I told them, ‘If you don’t allow the girls to school then how can they go to the madrassa [Muslim religious school] and learn Quran?’ Then even the madrassa would not be open to them,” she said with a smile.

Ms. Khandana says this argument bought her some time, but her bigger battle was persuading the parents that they should send their daughters to school – and that it was safe to do so. Her pupils eventually dwindled from over a hundred to zero.

Ms. Khandana left Matta – and her school – in May 2009 just before the Pakistan military’s operation. She spent four months with her husband and five children in a refugee camp run by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies on the edge of Mardan, a city in Khyber Pakthunkhwa province, 90 miles from Matta.

She returned to Matta in July 2009 and reopened her school three days later, she says. For the first five days the principal sat in an empty classroom. “I went from door to door begging parents to send girls [to school],” she said. “The mothers were terrified that their child could be harmed.”

After four days, she says, eight girls turned up at school. It has grown since then and today she says that about 900 girls aged between 5 and 12 attend. Matta is also home to one of only 22 girls’ high schools in the Swat Valley. This means that many of Ms. Khandana’s pupils go on to complete their education in  the local high school.

But in other villages the lack of high schools means that many girls would have to travel miles to continue to go to school beyond class 8 age 12-13,  something that many parents are reluctant to allow. For girls in this area, permission to get an education is often reluctantly granted and then quickly taken away.

Neelam Jihan, 14, lives in Gul Bandai, a remote village 65 miles from Mingora, she stopped going to school aged 10 because there is no high school in the area and her mother wanted her to help look after her siblings at home while she went out to work in the fields.

Nusarat Khan, a teacher at the girls’ primary school in Neelam’s village, says that even if the government opened a local girls’ high school, none of the local female teachers are educated to a high enough level to teach senior classes.

Last year the local government started an initiative to post teachers to more remote areas of the Swat Valley to balance the concentration of schools around Mingora, the largest city in the valley. The initiative failed mainly because few female teachers were willing – or able – to relocate, says Ms. Khan.

“They did not provide proper housing in these places for the female teachers. If they had housing they could move with their family,” Ms. Khan said. She added that she turned down the offer of a promotion in a school in Namul Dagai village on the other side of Swat because she would have had to take three buses to get there. “I would arrive when the school closes,” she said. Ms. Khan doesn’t have a male relative able to escort her to the school, a requirement in the highly conservative area.

On Monday, the Taliban released a statement saying that they would attack Malala again, if given the chance. In public interviews the 16-year-old Pakistani, who now lives in the U.K., has dismissed such threats.

For girls in Swat, the danger for those who seek an education, is still very real.









http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2013/10/09/in-swat-battle-for-girls-education-continues/

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Introducing India’s Rae Bareli Education Hub

Here are two questions for non-Indians who are interested in India’s higher education.

First, who/what/where is Rae Bareli?

Second, what does Rae Bareli have to do with higher education?

It is rather unlikely that you will know anything about Rae Bareli even if your interest lies in India’s higher education. However, if you know two bits about Indian politics, you will most surely have heard of it.

Rae Bareli is a district (and town) in the eastern state of Uttar Pradesh, one of India’s poorest regions. In 1967, a young Indira Gandhi, the daughter of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who went on to become prime minister herself, selected Rae Bareli as her constituency to contest parliamentary elections. Since then, other members of the Nehru/Gandhi family – Indira’s son Rajiv Gandhi, his widow Sonia Gandhi and son Rahul Gandhi – have also contested successfully from Rae Bareli and/or neighboring Amethi.

Ms. Gandhi, currently the Congress party chief, is known to call the shots in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government. Though disliked for her disposition to perpetuate dynastic rule, she is indispensable to the immediate future of the Congress. Parliamentary elections are due in 2014 and most India observers would agree that without Ms Gandhi, the Congress is likely to be routed in the polls.


Rae Bareli as a higher education hub

While Rae Bareli is not known as a higher education hub today, thanks to Ms. Gandhi, it will soon be home to several new institutions funded by the national government. Quite predictably, many of them are named after members of the Nehru/Gandhi family.

For example, the Indian parliament recently gave its nod to the creation of the Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University. The country’s first all-women’s university, to be named after Indira Gandhi, is also due to come up in Rae Bareli.

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), the most prestigious brand name among India’s medical schools which initially had only one campus in New Delhi, is now opening branches in each state. The UP branch will be located in – you are right – where else but Rae Bareli!

Other upcoming and already functioning higher education institutions in or in close proximity to Rae Bareli include the Footwear Design and Development Institute, the National Institute of Fashion Technology Center, the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology and the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research.

One can debate whether Ms. Gandhi or the Congress party has done more good than harm or vice versa over the last ten years that it has been in power. However, there is no doubt that the ruling party’s decision to turn Rae Bareli into a higher education hub does not add up. The choice of locating several new institutions in the district has nothing to do with the merits of Rae Bareli’s location and everything to do with politics. In 2012, the Congress lost all the UP assembly seats here and did not do well in neighboring districts either.


The need to slow down

Since India went into a higher education expansion mode, the national government has been setting up a variety of new institutions across the country. Its stated goal is to combine expansion with improvements in the quality of higher education. And more than once, government officials have expressed the intent of supporting at least a select few institutions in a manner that they break into world rankings. For example, an 18-member expert committee has been recently appointed to examine how Indian universities could improve their world rankings.

But with expansion in higher education also taking place in the private sector, there is a need to contain the urge for further expansion. By spreading its resources thin, the government is diluting its efforts at improving the quality of education.

Setting up new higher education institutions in places like Rae Bareli does help the cause of expansion. However, the government needs to strategize better if it has any real intent of improving the international profile of its institutions.

For one, the government has been setting up too many specialized and narrowly-focused institutions. These could, as with select new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) which have more than doubled in number in less than a decade, begin to count as world-class over a period of time. However, few such institutions will ever break into world rankings. The majority of top 200 institutions, whether it is older universities in the West or newer ones in Asia, are comprehensive institutions.

Instead of creating more specialized institutions, the government should seriously consider the expansion of the already-established and fairly well-run institutions, especially those that are located on say more than 200-300 acres of land. Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi has taken the right initiative in this regard. While primarily a graduate school for multiple disciplines, it has put forward a proposal to begin undergraduate programs. The IITs and the IIMs need to do the same. They must add undergraduate and graduate programs in a variety of disciplines rather than remain limited to engineering and management. Turning such institutions into comprehensive institutions could be a game changer in terms of raising the international profile of Indian institutions.

The government has also been building far too many institutions in places which are unlikely to attract the best students or well-qualified faculty. Many specialized as well as comprehensive institutions are coming up in distant locations, in or fairly close to second- or third-tier cities, and in states that are badly governed or are at the bottom of the heap in terms of economic development. These locations lack the infrastructure and the overall cultural milieu and environment necessary to sustain good quality higher educational institutions.

Institutions located in such places are struggling. Even the new IITs are experiencing enormous problems to the extent that there is talk of the dilution of the IIT brand. Unfortunately, building the necessary infrastructure and providing greater connectivity to these institutions in compressed time seems quite impossible in the Indian context. Therefore, the government needs to be wise rather than generous in its decisions to open new institutions.


What about Rae Bareli?

Rae Bareli is not far from Lucknow, one of the larger cities in UP. That does not sound so bad. Unlike all of UP which is plagued by massive power shortages, Rae Bareli reportedly enjoys 24-hour power supply thanks to its connections!

UP, however, is one of India’s worst governed states which ranks at the bottom in human development and there are few signs that it will experience a turnaround anytime in the near future. Rae Bareli is itself among the poorest and least developed districts in UP, and higher education institutions in Rae Bareli are likely to replicate the failures of other educational institutions in the region.

It is time for the government to put a stop to the manner in which it is setting up new institutions. The country is not doing too badly in terms of expansion of higher education but lags behind in quality institutions. Despite significantly higher levels of investment in new and old institutions, no Indian university is making significant gains. Indeed, in the recent QS World University rankings, many IITs slipped further behind in the list of top 500 institutions.

The time has come for the Indian government to take politics out of the higher education sector. Needless to say, that ain’t gonna happen.

http://www.asianscientist.com/features/rae-bareli-education-hub-2013/

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Most Indian urban youth believe in education, but undone by jobs

MUMBAI: Most youngsters in urban India place a high premium on education and believe that it opens windows of opportunity in life, but end up with low-paid jobs in the informal sector. This yawning skill gap is one of the biggest problems plaguing the country's youth, says a new report.

The State of the Urban Youth-India 2013 report released by UN-Habitat and IRIS Knowledge Foundation in Mumbai on Sunday includes a three-city survey of 15- to 32-year-olds. Nearly half the youngsters surveyed, the report says, thought quality education was the single most important factor in achieving a prosperous life, with 83% of them reposing faith in economic growth for job creation.

At the same time though, a majority felt that Indian cities did little to support them.

Despite legal frameworks such as the Right To Education Act, 82% of the youths surveyed believed that cities did not provide affordable opportunities for primary education. And the opportunities that were made available were not equitably distributed; many voiced discrimination based on religion.

An estimated 433 million of India's urban population belongs to the 15-34 age group. This figure is expected to rise to 464 million by 2026.

The report says that the youth's belief in education as a ticket to better life did not always reflect in ground reality. Government data showed a significant degree of underemployment among the youth. More than 85% of them were working in the informal sector with low pay and little security, according to the National Sample Survey Organisation's 66th round conducted in 2009-10.

"The availability of employment and access to services is not commensurate to the number of people demanding them. Young people are advised to pursue education towards white-collar jobs, but a large portion of real job creation is in the informal sector. The youth are neither prepared for it, nor consider it aspirational," says Poornima Dore in the UN report, adding that the "aspiration-reality mismatch" needs to be addressed.

"The UN report underscores that our education is largely theoretical and needs to be geared towards developing skills that help people get jobs. Also, the job market needs to be tweaked keeping in mind the skills available," says Leni Chaudhari, programme head of the Narotam Sekhsaria Foundation.

Chaudhari says the government needs to do a lot more than just setting up the National Skill Development Board; "often youngsters are not even aware of such government initiatives".

The report recommends that the country set up more vocational educational streams at school level. It says a crucial need exists for updating academic syllabi in keeping with the demands of industry and job realities.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-10-07/india/42793216_1_informal-sector-job-creation-primary-education

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Pranab hails India-Belgium pacts in higher education

 Having concluded his Belgium visit on Friday Mr. Mukherjee said he was satisfied that five agreements were inked between leading Universities of India and Belgium and “this will give an impetus to research and innovation in both the countries”.

Speaking to the media on board the special aircraft carrying the President’s delegation to Belgium and Turkey, Mr. Mukherjee said he had always placed special emphasis on improving the quality of higher education in the country by “promoting collaborations to strengthen research infrastructure in order to encourage innovation in our academic institutions.”

Mr. Mukherjee said Belgium has “world renowned academic infrastructure in higher education, especially innovation.”

“In view of the benefits to India from enhanced academic cooperation a high-level academic delegation of some of the top Universities accompanied me during my visit which concluded five agreements,” Mr. Mukherjee told the media.

The Vice Chancellors of Delhi and Hyderabad Universities and the JNU were among those who were part of the President's delegation.

Overall, the President said he was very satisfied with the warmth of reception and the meticulous attention given by the government of Belgium to “every aspect of my programme which reflected the strength of our bilateral relationship”.

“Our economic partnership with Belgium is of particular importance as it has emerged as India's second largest trading partner within the E.U. We discussed a number of important areas of economic cooperation including some in the pipeline. We noted our important joint efforts in the development and modernisation of India's railways sector, cooperation in nuclear waste management and in science and technology,” Mr. Mukherjee told the media.

The President said Belgium reiterated its support for the reform of the U.N. institutions and for India's permanent membership of the U.N. Security Council. “Belgium has fully supported our efforts for developing civil nuclear cooperation”, Mr. Mukherjee added.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/pranab-hails-indiabelgium-pacts-in-higher-education/article5204710.ece

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To educate a girl

Education has unrivalled power to reduce extreme poverty and boost wider development goals, according to highlights pre-released from Unesco's next Education for All Global Monitoring Report. The highlights provide fresh proof that investing in education, especially for girls, alleviates extreme poverty through securing substantial benefits for health and productivity, as well as democratic participation and women's empowerment.

Pauline Rose, director of the EFA Global Monitoring Report, Unesco, said: "It is a crime that there are over a million girls still out of school in India. On October 11, more than any other day, I hope the government recognises the importance of investing in education for these children. Not only is investing in girls' education a moral obligation, but it is also essential if the country wants to break free of its high child and maternal mortality rates and find true prosperity in the future."

A few key points from the report:

In South and West Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, nearly 3 million girls are married by age 15 - below the legal age of marriage in most countries. If all young women completed primary education, the number of child brides would be reduced by almost half a million. Completing secondary education would reduce that by 2 million

In these regions, 3.4 million young women give birth by the age of 17. If all young women completed primary schooling, this would result in 340,000 fewer early births, and if they all completed secondary education the total would fall by two million

If all children, regardless of their background and circumstances, had equal access to education, productivity gains would boost economic growth. By Renu Singh

Being born female in India continues to impose social costs on the girl child today. Even though discrimination towards girls is rampant across caste and class, girls belonging to socially and economically lower categories such as SC, ST, minority groups as well as girls with disabilities face multiple discrimination on terms of identity (caste, religion, ethnicity) in addition to gender, disability, poverty, etc (XII Plan Working Group on Girl Child). The Right to Education Act, 2009 notified in 2010 has furthered the task of enrolling children aged 6-14 in elementary schools across the country and currently the gender gap stands at 0.94 at primary level in 2011-12, similar to 2009, though it shows improvement for upper primary increasing from 0.94 in 2009 to 0.95 in 2010-11 (DISE, 2013). The retention rate of girls at primary level has shown a slight improvement 75.94% in 2011-12 and the transition rate of girls at upper primary level has improved from 74.15% in 2003-04 to 87.32% in 2010-11, but there are 35 districts that continue to show a high gender gap.

Thus, despite overall encouraging trends, there continues to exist inequities in educational provision of girls in the country.

There is an emerging inequitable trend of greater share of boys' enrolment in private schools (majority being low-fee charging schools in rural and well as urban slums), with 'free' government schools catering largely to girls as well as boys from the poorest families.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-10-07/news/42793585_1_gender-gap-young-women-girls

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States to get Rs.70,000 cr to boost higher education

New Delhi: The central government on Friday said it will give about Rs.70,000 crore to state governments over a period of time to boost state-funded universities and colleges.
“Traditionally, the focus has always been on a modest number of central institutions but the reality is 96% of the students are from states,” Shashi Tharoor, minister of state for human resource development, told reporters in New Delhi. “(We have been) devoting more resources to a small number of elite institutes while state institutions are languishing in mediocrity.”

The government, he said, is putting in place a new mechanism under which more money can flow to states and this will not be through the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Tharoor said the ministry is putting in place a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to implement the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA).

The cabinet committee on economic affairs Thursday approved the scheme that entails spending some Rs.98,138 crore over the 12th Plan (2012-17) and 13th plan (2017-22) periods, the minister said. It will be a “new flagship scheme of the government that will pave the way for far-reaching reforms at the state level”. Of the total funding, the central government will spend Rs.69,675 crore and the rest will be contributed by the states.
For the remaining three years of the 12th plan, the HRD ministry has pegged an expenditure of Rs.22,855 crore of which the Union government will spend Rs.16,227 crore and the rest will be taken care of by the state governments. Besides, the HRD ministry will subsume another scheme into RUSA, taking the total funds it will give to states to Rs.18,027 crore under the new dispensation.

As part of the scheme, centre-state funding would be in the ratio of 90:10 for northeastern states and special states like Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, Tharoor said.

The rest will have a sharing pattern of 65:35, like the one in place for the Right to Education (RTE).
Initially, a total of 316 state public universities and 13,024 existing colleges will be covered by the new scheme. During the next nine years, the scheme will help states build some 278 new universities, 388 new colleges, and convert 266 colleges into model colleges. This will also benefit some 20,000 professors, a ministry paper said.
Some experts were apprehensive about how efficiently the programme will be implemented by the government.
“The intent of these scheme, whether its RTE, food security or this new scheme are good, but the question is about implementation and utilization,” said Pramath Raj Sinha, the founding dean of Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.
“The states are already investing in higher education but have states thrown up enough good quality universities? Perhaps no. So the question is: are we throwing good money after the bad or will it really yield good results,” said Sinha, who is setting up a liberal arts university in Haryana.

The HRD ministry said it will adopt a completely new approach towards funding higher education in state universities. The key principles for RUSA funding will be performance-based, incentivizing well performing institutions and decision making through clearly defined norms. Overall, some 22,000 colleges will benefit from the central funding, R.P. Sisodia, a joint secretary in the ministry, explained. “We are rolling out the scheme today,” he said.

To avail the funds, each state need to set up a state higher education council, remove a ban on appointment of faculty members and improve the teacher-students ratio to a level like 1:15.
Tharoor said the objective is to boost higher education in states as the government aims to bring in more students into the higher education space. While the gross enrolment ratio in India is around 19%, the aims is to reach 30% in next 7-8 years. The global average is 28%, Tharoor said. “Through this scheme we can increase capacity. Now we are availing money to sates and its up to them to give us plan and utilize it.”
But the minister said that the funding will not be routed through UGC indicating that his ministry is in favour of clipping the fund granting powers of the university regulator. The minister said that during the 11th Plan period, UGC got about Rs.22,000 crore but managed to spend less than Rs.8,000 crore.
“We have to be practical about certain issues. While UGC will continue to stay in the standard setting and regulating space, some of its fund giving schemes will be subsumed in the new plan,” Tharoor said.

http://www.livemint.com/Politics/nsnnEdtQs7n55qGoGN5G5J/States-to-get-70000-cr-to-boost-higher-education.html

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Major push to change face of higher education

 NEW DELHI: The Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) — cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Thursday — is not only the first major intervention by the Centre to reform the state higher education system but also a substantial step to partially clip the wings of the University Grants Commission (UGC).

Ministry sources said the 2004-05 proposal to amend the UGC Act — complete with renaming the organisation as Higher Education Commission and taking away a major chunk of its grant-giving power — has been revived. After RUSA, UGC would continue to fund around 52 educational institutions, which includes 40 central universities and another 12 deemed universities under the government. UGC would also continue to look after funding research initiatives and conducting of National Eligibility Tests. Its primary function would be to ensure academic standards and accountability. UGC has already been given the Distance Education Council (DEC) and after the Supreme Court order even the work of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is likely to be given to them in the near future. "Several committees over the years have recommended that UGC should focus on maintaining academic standards," a ministry official said.

RUSA, which would entail an expenditure of Rs 98,134 crore over 12th and 13th Plan, will be implemented in a mission mode by a Special Purpose Vehicle and a Technical Support Group. Like the successful Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), funding for RUSA would be shared between the Centre and the states in the ratio of 65:35. For north-east states, J&K and Himachal Pradesh, the Centre and state funding would be in the ratio of 90:10. Over the two plans the Centre's share would be Rs 69,675 crore and that of states Rs 28,459 crore. During the remaining period of 12th Plan, RUSA would have an outlay of Rs 22,855 crore, of which Rs 16,227 crore will be the Central share.

In the 12th Plan under RUSA, 80 new state universities would be created by converting autonomous college/colleges in a cluster. Hundred new colleges, including professional/technical would be set up and 54 existing colleges would be converted into model degree colleges. By the end of 13th Plan it is expected that 278 new universities and 388 colleges would be created, and 266 colleges would be converted to model degree colleges. It would cover 20,000 faculty positions.

However, state governments would have to fulfill a set of conditions before seeking funds from RUSA. One, they would have to create State Higher Education Council (SHEC). Right now only five states have SHEC. Two, states would also to lift the ban on filling faculty positions. Three, have mandatory accreditation and usher in affiliation reforms. Apart from administrative reform like keeping the number of affiliated colleges to a university to 100, state universities would have to introduce semester system, choice-based credit system, bring curriculum development and overall admission procedure in a transparent manner.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/Major-push-to-change-face-of-higher-education/articleshow/23535057.cms

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Five Indian universities in top 400 of Times Higher Education rankings

New Delhi: Five Indian institutions found a place in the top 400 of the world’s best universities in 2013, improving their tally from the previous year, according to the UK-based Times Higher Education World University Rankings report published on Wednesday.

India added three institutions to the top 400 list, according to the report. Panjab University emerged as the top-ranked Indian institution and was placed between 226 and 250 in the global rankings. The report didn’t give a specific ranking.

The other four Indian institutions in the list are the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi; IIT-Kanpur, IIT-Kharagpur and IIT-Roorkee, ranked in the 351-400 bracket.

“These results should be encouraging for India: while no Indian institution makes the top 200, one player new to the rankings, Panjab University, is close in the 226-250 group. Moreover, India now has five representatives in the top 400—a sign of growing commitment to the global rankings (sic),” said Phil Baty, editor of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

Last year two Indian institutions—IIT-Kharagpur and IIT-Roorkee—were in the top 400 ranks.
IIT-Kanpur director Indranil Manna disputed the findings, claiming that the technology institute had not participated in the rankings. “Where are these agencies getting data from. They did not come to our campus, we have not participated. So the ranking is based on unofficial and unverified data,” said Manna.

Traditionally, the IITs have never been part of any rankings, Manna said. “There are some dozen agencies doing rankings. They have their own business interest and I have no problem with that but you need official data. Who is giving them data to rank us?”

The IITs have a national mandate and do not have varied disciplines like many foreign universities, Manna said.
Besides, funding to the IITs can’t be compared with institutions such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the IITs don't have enough foreign students and teachers, he said. “So these are not apple-to-apple comparisons.”

The human resource development ministry has, however, set up a panel to suggest ways to improve the rankings of top Indian institutes. Manna is a member of the committee.

Overall, California Institute of Technology retained its number one position in the rankings for the third consecutive year, Harvard University rose to second place from fourth, sharing the position with the UK’s University of Oxford. Stanford University slipped from joint second to fourth.

MIT was ranked fifth in the survey, Princeton University sixth, University of Cambridge seventh, University of California, Berkeley eighth, University of Chicago ninth and Imperial College, London tenth
The US led the comparison among 26 countries, with 77 of its institutes in the top 200 rankings.

Europe fared badly this year, the ranking agency said in a statement. Germany’s University of Munich dropped out of the top 50. Institutions from Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Ireland and Austria also performed poorly, it said.
The UK remains Europe’s strongest representative, with 31 universities in the top 200. The Netherlands has 12 in the top 200 rankings, followed by Germany with 10, France with eight, Switzerland with seven and Belgium with five.
Europe’s difficulties contrast with progress for most leading East Asian universities, the study said.
Japan’s University of Tokyo maintained its status as Asia’s number one institution, moving up four places to 23rd in the list.

The National University of Singapore held on to the second position in the region with an overall 26th ranking, overtaking Australia’s University of Melbourne.

http://www.livemint.com/Politics/dFoONiASFXSUAfBBnEmtIP/Five-Indian-universities-find-place-in-top-400-worlds-best.html

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Panjab University beats IITs in global rankings

NEW DELHI: Although no Indian institution of higher learning is yet to make it to the top 200 in the Times Higher Education's (THE) World University Rankings list 2013-14, one new entrant — Panjab University— is closer to that elite group. Panjab University is the highest ranked Indian institution clubbed in the group of universities ranked between 226-250 ranks.

According to THE, this is India's best performance so far with five institutions making it to the top 400. The other Indian institutions featuring in the list are four Indian Institutes of Technology from Delhi, Kanpur, Kharagpur and Roorkee, all clubbed in the group of institutions between 351-400.

Meanwhile, the California Institute of Technology retains its place at the top of the rankings for the third consecutive year, while Harvard University regaining the second place (up from fourth in 2012-13), a position shared with the UK's University of Oxford. Stanford University slips from joint second to fourth.

According to THE, the improved engagement by India in the word-renowned rankings has seen it add three new entrants to the world top 400 list. The increased representation for India in the rankings follows a two-day National Policy Dialogue in May on international rankings, when THE representatives were invited to meet with senior university leaders by the ministry of human resources development and Planning Commission.

At the meeting in New Delhi, Ashok Thakur, secretary of the department of higher Education, said that Indian institutions must no longer hide behind the "excuse" that the global rankings metrics and indicators are not well suited for India's institutions. "We must play the same game as the rest of the world is playing," he said.

Of the five Indian institutions in top 400, three are new entrants which include Punjab University, IIT-Delhi and IIT-Kanpur. They join IIT-Kharagpur, which slips from the 226-250 group into the 351-400 group and IIT-Roorkee, which remains in the 351-400 group.


Phil Baty, editor of the THE World University Rankings, said: "These results should be encouraging for India. While no Indian institution makes the top 200, one player new to the rankings, Panjab University, is close in the 226-250 group. Moreover, India now has five representatives in the top 400 - a sign of growing commitment to the global rankings."

While the US remained the dominant force in the rankings with 77 institutions in the top 200, UK is second with 31 institutions, followed by the Netherlands with 12 institutions. The highlight of the new rankings is that Europe has fared badly this year. While the UK's number one, Oxford, holds on to second place in the table, almost across the board the continent's top institutions lose ground: ETH Zurich -- Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, the world number one outside the US and the UK, slips two places to 14; Germany's University of Munich falls out of the top 50; and it is a similar tale of woe for Belgium, France, the Netherlands, the Republic of Ireland and Austria.

Among the Asian countries Japan has the highest number of universities in the list — five. South Korea, Singapore and China have also made gains. Peking University in China moved up one place to 45th, and Tsinghua University, rose two places to joint 50th.Japan's University of Tokyo maintains its status as Asia's number one and moves up four places to 23rd. The National University of Singapore holds on to second in the region, moving from 29 to 26 and overtaking Australia's University of Melbourne in the process.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/Panjab-University-beats-IITs-in-global-rankings/articleshow/23426635.cms

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Vivek Sawant selected for award in computer education

The managing director of an educational organization, Vivek Sawant, will on October 5 be conferred the Dr Vasant Pawar Smruti Puraskar this year for his contribution to learning.

Vivek Sawant is the managing director of the Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Ltd (MKCL) that has emerged as a high-tech initiative of the state government and ten universities.

The award is conferred each year on people for outstanding work in the fields of education, medicine and social work. The former vice-chancellor of the Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University (YCMOU), Ram Takawale will be giving away the award on Dr Pawar's third death anniversary.

The award was announced at a press conference by the Neel Vasant Foundation Medical and Research Centre, a social organization started by late Dr Vasant Pawar. A committee was set up to select the awaredee. "We short-listed Vivek Sawant for his outstanding contribution in the field of computer education. We are proud of Sawant, who hails from Nashik. He has contributed in this field at the national and international level," said Balasaheb Wagh, a member of the committee.

"Sawant provided basic knowledge about computers through his Maharashtra State Certification in Information Technology (MS-CIT) and 85 lakh people have taken the training from 5000 MS-CIT centres in the country. He also took Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) to great heights. Vijay Bhatkar's super computer was made through C-DAC with Sawant's help," said Vasant Khairnar, another member of the committee.

The committee members were Shankarrao Kolhe, Balasaheb Wagh, Vinayakdada Patil, Dr Vasant Bele, Dr Prachi Pawar, Vasant Khairnar, Ranjana Patil, V B Gaikwad, Dr Shantaram Rayte, P D Kulkarni, P K Thombre, Narayan Thete, Ravindra Maniyar, Shashikant Jadhav and Dr Avinash Andhale.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nashik/Vivek-Sawant-selected-for-award-in-computer-education/articleshow/23426342.cms

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Transforming education in India is very complex: Azim Premji

BANGALORE: Industry captain and philanthropist Azim Premji has called upon the government and other stakeholders to invest more resources to improve the state of education in the country.

"These 12 years (of Azim Premji Foundation) have taught us that transforming education is very complex.

"And given the diversity of our country, compounded by issues of socio-economic deprivation and on-the-ground realities, it is inevitably going to be a slow and arduous process," Premji said while addressing the Azim Premji University's first convocation last evening.

Established in 2010, the Azim Premji University is founded and sponsored by the Azim Premji Foundation.

Stating that governments across the country need to do a lot more, Premji said: "They need to invest more in school education, in teacher education and other school related issues, including higher education. They also need to reform governance of all related systems."

Premji, who is the chairman of IT major Wipro, said: "Equally, I have no doubt that other stakeholders need to do more. This means that more people, more civil society organisations, must engage in improving the government schooling system.

"...the task is indeed huge, and it is extremely urgent." Pointing out that there is an acute shortage of quality higher education institutions that can prepare people to work in the field of education, he said: "There is a greater need for relevant research in real issues on the ground. There are just too few institutions in the country engaged in these critical tasks."

The Azim Premji University currently offers two programmes: a Masters in Education and a Masters in Development, with multiple specialisations in the programmes offered.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/services/education/transforming-education-in-india-is-very-complex-azim-premji/articleshow/23417865.cms

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SAP Techniversity: A technical education conference for Indian students

The second edition of SAP Techniversity, the technology event hosted by SAP India Labs, saw an enthusiastic participation by about 5,500 students from approximately 300 colleges and unversities of India here on Saturday.

The day-long event saw speakers from SAP Labs India and the company's Germany headquarters speaking on opportunities for students not only in the company but also the support they can expect for their entreprenurial forays.

The managing director of SAP Labs India, Anirban Dey said that the idea behind the event was to reach out to students even before they leave college. "It's simple, we want to make students get a feel of the real world. It's also to enable them get insights on new technology solutions happening globally," he said.

He added that such events also give young minds a chance to showcase winning ideas to existing or prospective clients.

On SAP's HANA platform that helps accelerate analytics, business processes, sentiment data processing, and predictive capabilities, Dey said that about 800 start-ups across 55 countries have built solutions using HANA. SAP has a dedicted HANA Realtime Fund for $500 million, which is in the nature of venture capital funding.

There are three applications currently in pilot mode in India using HANA, Dey said. The former chairman of Microsoft India, Ravi Venkatesan in his brief speech perked up the audience with his pep talk, often delving into his stints in various Indian and foreign companies.

"My story is one of optimism, I did what my heart asked me to do," he said, explaining why he returned from the US to join Tata Cummins in India in 1996, when it was not doing well. "I was young and foolish to join a business that was about to close."

He said that his decision to join Microsoft in 2004 and quit in 2012 was also an instance of not being influenced by advice that came from friends.

Venkatesan's advice for budding entrepreneurs was simple. "You should have the courage to take risks and never give up."

He also touched upon the scourge of Indian politics, of many politicians facing criminal charges and dominance of dynasty politics. "Politics is degenerating into family-run criminal enterprise."

On the recent controversy triggerred by the Central government's attempt to overturn a Supreme Court judgment that mandates disqualification of lawmakers convicted for a criminal offence, by moving a ordinance, Venkatesan said, "Does it get any more brazen than this?"

http://www.coolage.in/2013/09/30/sap-techniversity-a-technical-education-conference-for-indian-s/

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