Indian institutes to invest in Nigeria

NEW DELHI: Many private educational institutes from India are planning to invest in Nigeria, said the West African country's education minister Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa'I, adding that the move will also help the nation boost its education system.

"We are looking towards getting more Indian investors to invest in education in Nigeria," Rufa'I told IANS on the sidelines of the E9 (Education 9) Summit held in the national capital earlier this month.

"We have already held discussions with some (investors)," she said.

The minister said among those who had agreed to invest in Nigeria were Amity University, Mahatma Gandhi University in Meghalaya, Educomp and Edusoft (education software solution providers), the West African wing of NIIT (computer education giant), and IL&FS Cluster Development Initiative (the group runs skill development programmes).

"We are looking towards getting more Indian investors to invest in education in Nigeria," she said.

The minister said investment from India might also help them in achieving the Millennium Development Goal of education for all, which they feared they might not meet.

"We wish to work closely with India in the area of education, to learn from the experience you have gathered, especially since the launch of the right to education," she said.

According to Unicef figures, 40 per cent of Nigerian children aged between six and 11 do not attend any primary school.

Despite a significant increase in enrolment rates in recent years, it is estimated that about 4.7 million children of primary school age are still not in school in Nigeria.

Rufa'I said efforts were on to universalise education in her country and significant achievements had been made.

However, the country's huge population was the biggest hindrance towards achieving education for all by 2015, she said.

According to Nigeria's National Population Commission, the population of the country is 167 million.

"The biggest problem is perhaps the number (for us). Because of the huge number, despite all our efforts, we have not been able to achieve the target. We may miss the 2015 target," she said.

"We have made some progress, but more is needed," she said.

The E9 represents nine of the world's most populous countries -- Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan. The forum is aimed at meeting challenges of education in these countries.

Nigeria held the chair of E9 from 2010-12 and then handed it over to India.

"E9 has the world's most populous countries. And if we miss the goal, it will be a setback for all of us. Population poses a problem for all of us and we have to be ready to meet the challenges," Rufa'I said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/Indian-institutes-to-invest-in-Nigeria/articleshow/17279102.cms

Read More

Australia launches scholarship for Indian school teachers

NEW DELHI: To strengthen education ties between India and Australia, a scholarship that offers school teachers in India to pursue higher education and further their level of pedagogy was launched here today.

Christened as 'Ashok Khurana University of Adelaide Scholarship' to recognize Dr Ashok Khurana's philanthropic efforts to aid teachers in getting their masters, the effort is collaboration where a corpus fund has been set up and 38,500 Australian dollars per year and will be given to one teacher who will pursue the course at University of Adelaide.

"The one-year course will be specifically designed according to the needs and field of expertise as desired by the teacher," said Khurana.

Hailing Khurana's contribution in setting up of the scholarship, , South Australia Premier Jay Weatherill emphasised the "existing ties between the two countries in the field of education."

"To build on our existing ties, we need to deliver high quality education and this scholarship offers an opportunity to outstanding teachers," said Weatherill.

Pointing towards the widening gap between the skills shortage in the Indian market arising out of the large amount of vacancies of teachers in India, Prof Pascale Quester, Vice President, University of Adelaide, said "the two countries are working together to reduce this gap" and such an initiative "is a step towards that."

The scholarship will be effective from next year and is open to all school teachers in India who have a minimum of five years of teaching experience.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/Australia-launches-scholarship-for-Indian-school-teachers/articleshow/17285341.cms

Read More

U.S. Mission in India Expands Interview Waiver Program

Report by India Education bureau, Hyderabad: In March of 2012, the United States Mission to India unveiled the Interview Waiver Program (IWP) which allows qualified individuals to apply for additional classes of visas without being interviewed in person by a U.S. consular officer.  Following the success of the IWP, as part of continuing efforts to streamline the visa process, and to meet increased visa demand in India,  the U.S. Mission is pleased to announce an expansion of the IWP.  We expect this expansion to benefit thousands of visa applicants in India.

Under the current Interview Waiver Program, Indian visa applicants who are renewing visas that are still valid or expired within the past 48 months may submit their applications for consideration for streamlined processing, including waiver of a personal interview, within the following visa categories:

·        Business/Tourism (B1 and/or B2);

·        Dependent (J2, H4, L2)

·        Transit (C) and/or Crew Member (D) - including C1/D.

·        Children applying before their 7th birthday traveling on any visa class

·        Applicants applying on or after their 80th birthday traveling on any visa class


Under the expanded program, the following Indian applicants may also be considered for streamlined processing:

·        Children applying before their 14th birthday traveling on any visa class

·        Students returning to attend the same school and same program

·        Temporary workers on H1-B visas

·        Temporary workers on Individual L1-A or Individual L1-B visas

The renewal application must be within the same classification as the previous visa. If the previous visa is annotated with the words “clearance received,” that applicant is not eligible for a waiver of a personal interview.

Not all applications will be accepted for streamlined processing.  As always, consular officers may interview any visa applicant in any category.  Applicants who are renewing their visas may still need to make an appointment for biometrics (fingerprint and photograph) collection, and all applicants must submit all required fees and the DS-160 application form.

This initiative is one of many steps the Department of State is taking to meet increased visa demand in India.  In 2011, consular officers in India processed nearly 700,000 nonimmigrant visa applications, an increase of more than 11 percent over the previous year.  Presently, applicants wait fewer than ten days for visa interview appointments and spend less than one hour at U.S. consular facilities in India.  In September 2012, the U.S. Diplomatic Mission to India implemented a new visa processing system throughout India that further standardizes procedures and simplifies fee payment and appointment scheduling through a new website at www.ustraveldocs.com/in.

http://indiaeducationdiary.in/Shownews.asp?newsid=16970

Read More

Not many takers for AICTE’s e-journal idea

INDORE: The recent guidelines of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for linking next academic year approval with mandatory annual subscription of national and international e-journal has not gone down well with all the city-based engineering colleges. Some believe that it is a good step for students as well the faculty while few say it is a good step only for institutions having residential campuses.

M D Agarwal, director, Acropolis Institute of Technology and Research, said, "In residential institutes students stay round-the-clock and come to library often. So, it is a good idea to subscribe such journals for them. However, in most of the institutes students and faculty move back to their homes after finishing lectures. They are engaged and they hardly get time to read huge journals." Though it is important to have e-journals in colleges, spending Rs 12-15 lakh annually may not be a good idea for all the colleges, he added.According to the handbook of AICTE, which has pledged for quality education to all slogan for 2013-'14, the council will play as a regulator and will be further gear up to weed out the institutions not fulfilling the norms and standards.

According to the guidelines, an expert committee will verify the actual availability of equipment, computers, software, internet, printers, book titles, book volumes, subscription of national and international e-journals. "Mere presentation of purchase orders or payment records for subscription, without actual availability, shall not be considered," it says.

However, some institutes favoured the new guidelines of the council stating that this will increase research output from the colleges and improve quality of engineers passing out from institutes. P K Chande, director, Truba College of Engineering, said, "AICTE is a statutory body. They have group of experts who research things and then give directive to the colleges. Subscribing e-journals in colleges will certainly help students to enhance their knowledge and churn out better engineers." Dinesh Patel, executive director of Patel Group of Institutions, too supported the new norm. He said, "The move may not go well with the institutes having large number of vacant seats. It is their problem, but I believe all institutes should subscribe e-journals for providing quality education."

AICTE has warned action against those failing to meet requirements. "Any failure in meeting requirements will attract either suspension of approval for supernumerary seats, if any for an academic year, no admission status in one or more courses for an academic year, withdrawal of approval programme or course and withdrawal of approval of the institution," the handbook says.

The council will play as a regulator and will further gear up to weed out the institutions not fulfilling the norms

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/Not-many-takers-for-AICTEs-e-journal-idea/articleshow/17287708.cms

Read More

Exhibition on education organized in Pune

PUNE: Gram Mangal, Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Limited, and the Maharashtra Balashikshan Parishad have organized an exhibition on the topic, 'new education, new direction - a constructivist approach', in the city from November 19 to 22.

The exhibition will be held at the Ganesh Kala Krida Manch between 11 am and 8.30 pm. Educationist A G Bhalwankar will inaugurate the exhibition at 4 pm. Former vice-chancellor of Pune University, Ram Takavale will be the chief guest for the inaugural function.

The organisers said the objective of the exhibition is to propagate the importance of scientific and innovative methods in child education. The exhibition will display project methods, educational activities and its implementation, reference material, self-learning material, educational books, films, teaching aids among others.
Varsha Kulkarni will be reading out an essay on values in education on November 20, while Varsha Bhagat will deliver a talk on education for special students. On November 21, a general talk will be held where issues raised by parents will be addressed by experts.

Gram Mangal has worked on innovative ideas and methods in order to provide meaningful education to the deprived tribal children. Gram Mangal has modified some available aids to suit local needs and developed hundreds of new educational aids, creating appropriate literature and constructive methods for providing and promoting quality education.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Exhibition-on-education-organized-in-Pune/articleshow/17269990.cms

Read More

Not US or UK, future of Indian education lies in digital world

India cannot build enough brick and mortar universities to meet the exploding demand for higher education from millions of its youth, and must rely on digital technology instead, telecom minister Kapil Sibal said on Saturday. Sibal, who till recently was also human resource development
(HRD) minister in charge of the nation’s education, cautioned against trying to emulate the US or the UK university system as a model for India, speaking at the HT Leadership Summit.

“We have to look at an entirely different model,” Sibal said. “There’s no way in which we can build physical infrastructure to cater to the fast-growing push for higher education coming from students and their parents."

India has 540 million citizens under 25 -- a demographic dividend that international agencies like the International Monetary Fund have said could help the country gain an additional 2% GDP growth. But the country has only 604 universities, and about 4000 colleges, less than 50% of what it needs to achieve its target of a 30% gross enrolment rate in higher education by 2020. Over the past decade, as this gap between demand and supply has increasingly become evident, India has encouraged the private sector to invest in the sector, expanded government institutions of excellence, supported states in setting up more colleges and tried to enact a legislation that would allow foreign universities to set up campuses in India and to collaborate with Indian varsities in offering joint degrees.

But Sibal’s argument suggests a growing realisation in the government that trying to build India’s equivalent of the Ivy League – the subject of a HT Leadership Summit session discussion – may not be the most effective strategy.

“One can really conceive of a situation where ICT [Information and Communications Technology] based infrastructure could be used to reach thousands of colleges,” Sunil Kumar, dean of the University Of Chicago Booth School Of Business said.

India is already building a National Knowledge Network that aims to connect all universities on a dedicated high-speed digital highway, to allow faculty members to teach students across varsities.

“In 3-4 years, everything will go digital. Fiber optics will reach every village by 2013, and then we’ll ensure last mile connectivity. That’s got to be the way forward,” Sibal said.  

British education philanthropist Peter Lampl, who heads the Sutton Trust, also argued against using the US or the UK as models for higher education in India. Unlike the US or the UK – which focus on a few research institutions like the Ivy League universities, Oxford or Cambridge – Europe may represent a better model for India, Lampl, who joined Sibal and Kumar in the discussion, said. “Staying away from rankings of top universities, like they do in Europe, is probably good for India,” he said.

But key to meeting India’s higher education challenges remains money, Sibal said. “This nation will never be a wealthy nation if we don’t invest enough in higher education."

http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/Chunk-HT-UI-HTLeadershipSummit2012-TopStories/Not-US-or-UK-future-of-Indian-education-lies-in-digital-world/Article1-960450.aspx

Read More

Higher education in limbo in Purnia, Kosi divisions

 PURNIA: Purnia and Kosi divisions might have been seat of prolific literary giants and scholars in Hindi, Maithili and Bengali literature in the past, but the region is now a pathetic tale of utter neglect and apathy. Even 65 years after the country's freedom, there is no government medical or engineering college in the two divisions comprising of as many as seven districts.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar, during his 'seva yatra' in January this year, promised upgradation of Purnia sadar hospital into a full-fledged medical college hospital under the PPP (private-public partnership) mode. Ten months on, there is no positive sign of it coming up.

Also, the proposal for establishment of a centre of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) at Kishanganj is also hanging fire for months now even though the Bihar government allocated land for it more than ten months back.

This north-east part of Bihar, lying close to Nepal, has only one university. Madhepura-headquartered B N Mandal University has 27 constituent colleges. Former secondary education minister Ram Prakash Mahto, who is head of department of Commerce in D S College, Katihar, said the university was merely concerned with "admission, registration, examination and result publication".

"No one was interested in imparting education as such. So much so that classes are mostly empty, and hardly five to six students can be found on the campus of any college," he said and demanded that attendance in classes should be made mandatory and defaulters should be penalized and asked to seek readmission.

He also emphasized the need for combating the "coaching centre culture" which was spreading even to villages. The coaching centres should not be allowed to hold classes between 10am and 3pm at least, Mahto told TOI.

"The blame must be equally put on all the successive governments for their skewed vision," said former Marwari College-Kishanganj principal Aditya Nath Saha.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/Higher-education-in-limbo-in-Purnia-Kosi-divisions/articleshow/17272293.cms

Read More

Science education poor in Myanmar: Aung San Suu Kyi

Bangalore: Myanmar's iconic pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said in Bangalore on Saturday science education in her country had deteriorated in the last few decades.

During an interaction with faculty and students of the Indian Institute of Science here, the visiting leader said not only science teaching but education in general had also deteriorated.

Suu Kyi said she sometimes regretted not taking science education instead of humanities.

Answering questions on India's policies towards Myanmar during her pro-democracy struggle, she said New Delhi's policy was based on pragmatism of keeping its interests in mind.

She, however, said she accepted it and was confident that relations between the two countries would improve.

On India's stand towards her movement back home, she said she is practical, remarking "politics is politics" and it has to be pragmatic. India looked at its own greater good rather than the greater good of another country (Myanmar).

Talking about her movement, Suu Kyi said she was against violence and believed in peaceful struggle.

She later visited the campus of Infosys and held discussions with co-chairman of the IT major Kris Gopalakrishnan and senior executives on utilising IT for Myanmar's development.

Suu Kyi, who arrived here late Friday, visited neighbouring Andhra Pradesh early Saturday to see implementation of social welfare projects.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/science-education-poor-in-myanmar-aung-san-suu-kyi/306065-2.html

Read More

Chicago to expand footprint in India's education arena

The University of Chicago, one of the world's top universities, may soon open a centre in Delhi as a part of efforts to increase its student, faculty and research footprint in India - the world's largest higher education market after China.

The university is currently searching
for land in the capital for the centre, which will focus on research, faculty collaboration and exchange, but will - at least immediately - offer degrees, Sunil Kumar, dean of the prestigious UChicago Booth School of Business, told HT on Saturday.

"One of my focus areas as dean is to strengthen the perception of Booth School in India," Kumar, born and educated in India, said in an interview on the sidelines of the HT Leadership Summit - where he spoke on the challenges facing Indian higher education. 

UChicago, which has produced 32 Nobel laureates, figures among the world's top 10 universities in ranking put out by the QS World Universities and Times Higher Education Universities.

UChicago's economics department - which has trained economists such as Milton Friedman and Paul Samuelson, among others - is considered among the best in American academia. The Booth School is placed in the same league as Harvard Business School and Wharton, and has the second-largest endowment among all American B-schools. 

Despite this, Booth School does not enjoy a "perception" similar to its companions on the list, Kumar admitted.

At a time when most American universities are increasingly relying on international students - particularly ones from China and India who already comprise 5% of Booth's student population - it is an important factor to consider.

"I don't see any actual problem in terms of either the faculty we have, or the number, or the quality of international applications we get. But there's definitely a perception issue," Kumar, who studied at the Indian Institute of Science-Bangalore, said.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/HTNext/Education/Chicago-to-expand-footprint-in-India-s-education-arena/Article1-961125.aspx

Read More

10,000 foreign-educated doctors jobless after failing Medical Council of India test

CHENNAI: Close to 10,000 Indians across the country who have completed their undergraduate medical education abroad are unemployed or under-employed. This is because they have not been able to clear the screening test mandated by the Medical Council of India (MCI). Now, the graduates plan to approach Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Parliament demanding that the test be scrapped.

The foreign medical graduates and their parents held a meeting in Chennai on Sunday. Dr Ameer Jahan, chief patron of All India Foreign Medical Graduates' Association, said each student had spent Rs 15 to 20 lakh to study abroad. "They spend half of what it would cost at a private college here. Their course is nearly seven years long compared to the five-and-half-year medical course here. Every time they fail the screening test, they get delayed by six months and get depressed," he said.

Since 2002, students who have studied medicine abroad have had to appear for a screening test conducted by MCI, the regulatory authority for medical education. Only those who clear the test, administered by the National Board of Examinations, get certificates from the state medical council permitting them to do a year-long internship in a university or hospital in the state. So far, the highest pass percentage has been 50% in 2005. Pass percentages have varied from a dismal 9% in 2003 to 27% in 2011.

Senior MCI officials said they would not cancel or dilute the test. "Medicine, unlike other courses, cannot be taken lightly. Doctors deal with lives. We want to convince ourselves that every doctor is adequately trained," the official said.

Every time the screening test is held in March or September, about 75% of students fail. Prabhu Raj, 27, completed his undergraduate degree from Stavropol Medical Academy in 2009. He has not been able to clear the test for four years. "I had dreamt of being a doctor from the time I was young. When I could not get a merit seat, I decided to study in Russia since it was cheaper than paying capitation fee to a private college," he said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/10000-foreign-educated-doctors-jobless-after-failing-Medical-Council-of-India-test/articleshow/17272878.cms

Read More