How to shape the future of higher education in India

This summer with Coursera, I am teaching my first massive open online course (MOOC): Introduction to Financial Markets. In the last five weeks since the course has been launched, I have been glued to the discussion board where some 5,000-plus visitors to the course wrote their thoughts, first impressions and reasons for joining the course, and some shared concerns or complaints about the platform and course elements.

Currently, the 10-week course is under way, and I periodically check the ratings page to see feedback on the quality of the course. With a rating of 4.7/5, I am told it one of the highest ratings in the platform. I observe the analytics page to see how many students are learning and engaging with the videos. As a researcher and data enthusiast, I am beginning to see a valuable side to the MOOC experience—immediate and quantifiable feedback on my teaching. At the same time, this immediate feedback is almost overwhelming, considering that the only instant feedback I am used to is by gauging expressions and body language cues of students during lectures. All of this live feedback while the course is progressing has kept me suspended somewhere between anxiety and excitement.

It all began with a cognitive storm and a Coursera workshop in Hong Kong to reach the point of teaching a MOOC. I had been both intrigued and apprehensive about the rise of online education. Like many educators, I believe it is important to implement curricula, programmes and teaching technology based on research supporting their efficacy. Yet academic research to support online learning has not kept pace with the growth in this domain. Despite my reservations, I reasoned that online learning, much like Amazon and Uber in other online verticals, will at least occupy a small pie in the future of higher education. Further, the ISB was the first B-school in India to be chosen by Coursera for a partnership, guided by a mission to educate students for lifelong learning, which compels clinical faculty like me to be familiar with this new medium.

I was and still am fascinated by the growth in online avenues of MOOCs and beyond. New courses, new forms of degrees and hybrid programmes that blend traditional with online learning, where learners end up with the same credential as those who are campus-bound, continue to thrive. The heady headlines have not so much as faded, as become just a normal part of the news-cycle, both within the higher education media as well as in newspapers globally. Even institutions that had initially taken a cautious view about the evolving nature of higher education are starting to adapt. Harvard Business School dean declared recently that he had gone from being sceptical of online education to becoming a “super fan.” Given the rapid pace of converts among the educators, let me hazard some guess about how online learning may shape the future of higher education.

I see five trends that stand out to possibly exert a genuinely transformative impact on higher education in the times to come.

First, online learning platforms will democratise higher education. Until now, only a select few students had the opportunity to learn from world-class faculty limited by geographical reach of universities. Now students have access to courses from the best faculty globally.

A related transformation is that the benchmarks for classroom teaching are becoming higher because of this democratisation of higher education. Recently, I was at my alma mater, IIT Kanpur, for a talk and I choose to attend an electrical engineering lecture for fun and nostalgia. I was pleasantly surprised to find that some of the class demos from online platforms had reached the prehistoric lecture theatres of my alma mater.

Third, industry and academia could come closer with industry folks getting to learn as and when they choose to, on topics relevant for their workplace. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Coursera has begun to partner with major financial institutions, such as the UBS, to develop cutting-edge courses on banking and finance for their employees. So, online education can facilitate a more symbiotic relationship, where the academia can reach out to the learning needs of the industry through this medium.

Fourth, platforms like Coursera can disaggregate course content and make teaching assets available to any faculty to use. Rather than threatening to displace faculty, a resource repository of multimedia material could give faculty members valuable tools to make teaching more effective. A good parallel is to think of it as akin to what JSTOR did for journal content.

Finally, with vast amounts of rich data that online platforms are accumulating about student engagement and learning, collectively this can help enhance our understanding of student motivation, instructional design and the personalisation of learning pathways.

As e-tailers like Amazon have changed shopping experience vis-a-vis that of department stores or an online transportation network such as Uber is beginning to change our public transport experience, online learning can transform higher education. If online learning platforms fulfil their promise of being a catalyst for innovation and learning, they will become complementing partners to universities in shaping the future of higher education.

The author is a finance faculty at the Indian School of Business, Mohali, and visiting faculty at the School of Business, University of Connecticut

http://www.financialexpress.com/article/fe-columnist/shaping-the-future-of-higher-education/300213/

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What India’s New Education Policy May Look Like

The TSR Subramanian Committee does not hold back its punches when it says India’s education system is in disarray. This is the third education policy that a committee has come up with since independence. The previous two were failures. Not because the suggestions enshrined in them were faulty, but because they weren’t implemented.

The TSR panel has made some good suggestions targeting the many ills that plague our education system. But it fails to tackle the core injustices and sectarian minefields that surface every now and then. However, to be fair to the panel, that wasn’t its mandate. Its principal focus was on improving the quality of education by creating conditions that improve the standard of teaching, learning, assessment and promote transparency in the management of education. And the team has done a decent job at that.

Let’s see what some of the best suggestions are and how they could be potential game-changers.

How to improve governance in education
At every level, the administration and management of education is in tatters. Why are substandard teachers recruited? Why only a select few of them get their preferred postings and others are subjected to transfers? Why is it not done on merit? Why is there no system to measure a teacher’s performance? Why do undeserving institutions get accreditation rapidly? One factor that explains all this is “political interference”.

Arbitrary procedures and purchasable approvals define the governance at every level. How do we solve these problems? Here’s what the team’s suggestions are.

http://swarajyamag.com/ideas/what-indias-new-education-policy-may-look-like

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New education policy to include values, pride in India

Recommendations submitted to the Union HRD ministry last week on the country's new education policy include one that suggests a curriculum that makes students feel proud of being Indian.

According to a source in the HRD ministry, the recommendation suggested including values like truth, righteousness and responsibility in the curriculum.

"People from across the globe live in America and feel proud of being American, irrespective of their route (to the US). Similarly, students must feel proud of being Indian," said the source.

India's diversity will be presented in the social science syllabus, and humans and nature will be connected in the science syllabus so that students feel responsible for the environment, says The Telegraph.

"Values should be part of all curricula," said the source.

The current education policy was drawn up in 1986 and revised in 1992. A five-member panel has now submitted its recommendations for a new education policy.

Headed by former cabinet secretary TSR Subramanian, the panel has suggested that schools provide remedial coaching for students from socially and educationally backward communities so that they are brought on par with better off students.

A compulsory annual medical test has also been recommended to keep an eye on children who are not physically strong.

http://www.catchnews.com/social-sector/new-education-policy-to-include-values-pride-in-india-in-school-syllabi-1464572581.html

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International aid to education in India nearly doubled to $806 million

New Delhi: International aid to India for education is rising, bucking a global trend, data from the United Nations showed on Wednesday.

Data compiled by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) in a global education aid monitoring report showed that India received $806 million in 2014, nearly twice the $421 million it received in 2013.

“Aid to India is bucking the global trend; it rose dramatically between 2013 and 2014,” Kate Redman, a member of the team that prepared the aid monitoring report, said in an email. She added that the jump indicated the commitment of global donor countries and agencies to India.

The World Bank leads the pack of donors supporting India, followed by EU institutions, the UK and Germany. All the four top donors increased their education aid to India. Though the global report was released on 25 April, India-specific data was released only on Wednesday.

“This is a positive for India. These increases should allow the country to tackle the areas of unfinished business in its education story, including the substantial amounts of adolescents still out of school, and the pervasive levels of adult illiteracy still remaining,” Redman said.

As many as 124 million children and adolescents worldwide are out of school, 17.7 million—or 14%—of whom are Indians, according to a 2015 Unesco report. India, however, has been maintaining that the number is less than 10 million.

While the fund flow to India doubled, globally international aid to education dropped some $500 million from $13.6 billion in 2013 to $13.1 billion in 2014.

Aid for education started climbing globally in 2002, when donor countries and agencies gave $6.5 billion, until 2007, when the aid was $12.1 billion. The economic downturn in 2008 pulled it down for the first time to $11.9 billion. Since then, aid flow has not been constant as donors have been conservative in the face of economic turmoil.

Between 2013 and 2014, four donors—France, Japan, the Netherlands and Spain—reduced aid to basic education by 40% or more, the latest Unesco report said.

Aaron Benavot, director of the team that prepared the report, said: “It is disheartening to see that international aid to education is going in totally the wrong direction. This will make education progress extremely difficult, if not impossible, for many countries still reliant on financial support from donors.”

On the rising trend of education aid to India, a human resource development ministry official, on condition of anonymity, said that the government is “happy, but not gung-ho” about the situation. “International aid is not even a fraction of what India spends on education. The education aid amount is not even 10% of what Union budget 2016-17 has pegged for the sector, not to mention the state expenditure,” the official said.

http://www.livemint.com/Politics/pIYLl00fXgAbtD8oJvDCzO/International-aid-to-education-in-India-nearly-doubled-to-8.html

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18 lakh youth enroll in Centre's skill development scheme in India

Around 18 lakh youth have enrolled in the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana over the last eight months, revealed Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (Independent Charge) and Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Pratap Rudy last week. He also announced that more than 50% of his skill budget will focus on job roles in rural area. The announcement was made a few days after the Union Budget 2016 was presented.

"We had conducted 410 kaushal melas across 29 states reaching out to many who needed a direction with respect to employability and employment," said the minister.

To further ensure increase in capacity and scope of skill development, Rudy's ministry will also ensure creation of 1,500 Multi-Skill Training Institutes (MSTIs) which will be the new generation ITIs set up in private public partnership mode. These will be set up in the 2,500 blocks and districts of the country which are yet to focus on skill development and do not have ITIs.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/18-lakh-youth-enroll-in-Centres-skill-development-scheme/articleshow/51376863.cms

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India produces the largest number of doctors and engineers in the world

The country's education system, which taught the world 'how to teach' and created the first and best universities in the world is now in a very poor state. None of India's universities has a global ranking under the Top 200, in spite we have the most number of universities as compared to any other country in the whole world.

India produces the largest number of doctors and engineers in the world, most of which are unemployed or opens small clinic like a local grocery shop. The problem is not that there aren't enough vacancies; the problem is that the applicants aren't talented enough to get recruited.

In Focus
Holding a degree in India doesn't necessarily means you know everything about your field or are skilled/talented. Samsung's Indian branch has more patents registered than any IIT. Following are the root causes of poor education in India:

1.     Teacher's, Student's, School's and government's theoretical approach rather than practical.

2.     Lack of good teachers in government aided schools/colleges, many teachers are recruited through reservation quotas, just think about it "How could a person who is not educated enough to score good marks in the recruitment exam teach the students? ". Most of the teachers focus on the completion of syllabus as a formality and don't pay attention to the students who didn't got the concepts. Also it is the notion of almost every teacher, that they go to school to get their 'free salary' provided by the government rather than understanding his/her duty towards their students.

3.     Lack of good colleges, higher competition and allotment of seats on the basis of reservation quota, the talented students thus go to poor colleges and the poor students go to better colleges. A wise man once said about India that "India, reservation inside and talent outside." And this is a totally true fact, India's top talent serves Silicon Valley and the under qualified, unskilled, non-talented and undeserving people get jobs and make bridges/roads that collapse earlier and so is our country's future.

4.     Reservation quota in India is beneficial only to riches of so called backward classes, the really deserving backward people of backward classes get nothing.

5.     None of good private schools/colleges is affordable to a lower middle class student in India which dominates the student population.

What could government do to put India's education system back on track?
1.     Apply practical approach to the school curriculum and syllabus.

2.     Recruitment of teachers should be done strictly on the basis of merit in the recruitment examination instead of reservation quota, followed by Group Discussion and Psychological Tests to ensure a teacher is being hired not just an employee. The recruitment exams should be compulsory for all government aided /private institution's teachers to ensure uniform skilled teachers everywhere. Feedback from the students about their teachers should be taken timely and not lightly.

3.     Reservation quota for admission in UG courses should be scrapped and the really backward people of backward classes should be provided with government aid for their studies based on their income, so that they can perform well in competitive exams. Allotment of seats should be strictly on the basis of merit in exams.

http://www.merinews.com/article/education-system-in-india-lacks-quality/15914422.shtml

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Database soon on meritorious slum girls to facilitate education in india

With an aim to educate underprivileged female kids, the health department is preparing a database of 'meritorious girls' living in slum areas. After the database is ready, the department will get people 'adopt and sponsor' the education of such girls at least till their graduation.

Adoption would primarily mean bearing the cost of the girl child's education at least till graduation.

"We are taking help of mahila arogya samitis (MAS) constituted in all slum areas of the city and other parts of the state to find out girls who have done well in academics," Neeraj K Pawan, member secretary, health department's Save Girl Child cell.

He said that recently, some doctors had showed their interest in adopting female kids. Health minister Rajendra Rathore would adopt a girl child too. "We are preparing a database of such girls who can be adopted and are willing to study. The database will help people like doctors, chartered accountants, businessmen, politicians, bureaucrats and other people willing to adopt girl child," Pawan said.

He said that after adoption, the Save Girl Child cell will start documentation of every adoption for its monitoring.

"We will keep a record of the person who has adopted a girl child and also of the girl like her age, in which class she is studying etc. It will be done to monitor the progress of girl child's studies. We will issue certificates to honour people who would adopt girls," Pawan said.

A format for documentation of adoptions has also been prepared by the health department. The officials have started sending it to doctors and other persons who have already adopted a girl child.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Database-soon-on-meritorious-slum-girls-to-facilitate-education/articleshow/50802208.cms

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Devyani Khobragade aimed at promoting women education and empowerment

NEW DELHI: Diplomat Devyani Khobragade, who was charged in 2013 with visa fraud by US authorities, will later this month undertake a cross-country run in her home state of Maharashtra aimed at promoting women education and empowerment.

Khobragade will try to keep pace with legendary ultra-marathon, endurance runner and former Australian MP Pat Farmer, who has undertaken a 4,600 km 'Spirit of India Run' from Kanyakumari to Srinagar to raise funds for girls' education in India, as also to improve bilateral ties between India and Australia.

In an exercise promoted by both the Indian and the Australian governments, Farmer started his run from Kanyakumari on January 26, India's Republic Day and which is also celebrated as Australia Day by the island nation, and is expected to enter Maharashtra on February 9. That's when Khobragade will join the Australian MP.

Khobragade, who has done two half-marathons and several other runs, will also help organise meetings for Farmer with schoolchildren.

Sources said Khobragade was keen to become a part of Farmer's campaign because she saw it as an opportunity to bring forth the significance of women's education, issues related to their health and also self-defence exercises meant to ward off sexual violence.

Farmer and Khobragade are expected to speak and give demonstrations on some of these issues along the route. Schoolgirls will also be encouraged to run short distances with Farmer and, in case the world champion of endurance running scampers away too soon, with the diplomat.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Devyani-now-in-race-to-promote-girls-education/articleshow/50799739.cms

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be unveiling the Action Plan of the 'Start-up India'

To boost entrepreneurship in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be unveiling the Action Plan of the 'Start-up India, Stand-up India' initiative on Saturday.

When we spoke to the entrepreneurs in the education sector about their expectations from the plans, here's what they said.

UpGrad

UpGrad is an online higher education platform providing rigorous industry relevant programmes designed and delivered in collaboration with world-class faculty and industry.

India needs many more entrepreneurs in order to achieve its growth targets, Mayank Kumar, co-founder & MD of UpGrad told dna.

"The first thing that the government should look at is encouraging entrepreneurship— it in the form of simplifying regulations around setting up a company, registering a company, raising funds, offering ESOPs etc," he added.

According to Kumar, the taxation structure needs to be simplified, especially for payment to any foreign service providers in the form of withholding tax. Though the government does not need to be in the business of funding startups, they should facilitate it by creating a seamless ecosystem for funding, he said.

"Lastly, there needs to be a concerted effort towards training and equipping entrepreneurs with the right skill sets that provides them with the clarity of thought for their entrepreneurial journey", Kumar said.

Edureka

Edureka offers technology and business courses to professionals and students across the globe on a differentiated real-time instructor-led tutorial platform.

"We would like to recommend to the Government, support to the startup ecosystem in the form of more lenient regulations around setting up start-up companies, and increased visibility into requisite processes and guidelines. Additionally, assistance in the form of tax rebates and simplified processes would be a great boon," Lovleen Bhatia, Co-founder & CEO told dna.

"Support around infrastructure for startups from the government would go a long way in minimising capital risks around sustenance and human capital growth. Special incubator programmes to cater to the specific needs of the startup community will ensure quality business outcomes that will eventually help startups graduate to larger companies with global visions," Bhatia said.

Funtoot

Funtoot is a digital tutor for Mathematics and Science subjects for students of class 2-9.

"It is imperative that this initiative introduce an ecosystem which encourages growth. Thanks to the policies and clearances required, it takes an average of nine days to start a business as compared with six days in the US and 3 days in Singapore", said Rajeev Pathak, Founder & CEO of Funtoot.

"If international investment needs to be attracted (which should be the way; government need not act as an angel investor but just as a guardian facilitating the proceedings), new rules have to be brought it. We also hope for a favourable tax regime. We are the only country where if a start-up raises money more than its fair value (which is in most cases negative because start-ups don’t have robust balance sheets and are mostly in losses for the first few years), it has to pay taxes against the money raised", Pathak said.

According to Pathak, start-ups cannot give stock options to attract better talent as they are taxable upon vesting for the employees even before the company turns profitable and they really earn something on that. "If we need India to become a start-up nation, we need resources that are employable and productive for start-ups right after college," he added.

Hugefly Technologies

Hugefly provides search and recommendation technology solutions that help e-commerce buying experience user-relevant.

"Start Up India, Stand Up India will undoubtedly boost entrepreneurship, job creation and promote technological innovation at a large scale," Dhruv Chaudhari, founder & CTO of Hugefly Technologies told dna.

"Youth will get exposure to work on and develop new technologies. This will not only create jobs, but quality skill sets. Hence, jobs created by start-ups will have a long-lasting socio-economic impact as well", Chaudhari added.

icustommadeit.com

Icustommadeit is a marketplace to buy and sell exceptional products across a myriad of product categories.

"We feel grateful that the Government of India is taking such brilliant initiatives to build foundational support for the springing start-ups in the country," said Raj Iyer, founder & CMD of icustommadeit.com told dna.

"‘Start Up India, Stand Up India’ seems to be of immense magnitude for the Indian start-up ecosystem. With this initiative, we envisage a train of opportunities in the offering; some of them being job creation, mobilising technological talent and nurturing future entrepreneurs", Iyer said.

Talentedge

Talentedge is a digital innovative learning solutions provider.

We are anticipating clarity and assurance on the subjects of taxation policies, regulatory approvals, technological and infrastructural support along with knowledge enhancement, said Aditya Malik, CEO & MD of Talentedge to dna.

"We are hoping the stance and policies that will come to the fore from this campaign will propel India into the big league of celebrated startup nations, globally. We expect the policies to propel economic growth, empower entrepreneurs across domains while opening avenues of job creation for our large talent pool, leveraging our democratic dividend,” Malik said.

http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report-start-up-india-action-plan-here-s-what-education-sector-demands-2166233

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First-Generation Immigrant Youth and Parents About Education

The opportunity to convene an intimate meeting at the Department of Education (ED) with a group of first-generation immigrant students and parents for a conversation with former Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Acting Secretary John King to discuss their experiences as they try to assimilate to their new country and education system. As a first-generation American whose own family emigrated from Brazil sixteen years ago, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to shine a light on stories of other immigrant families. While their personal experiences and perspectives differed, they all shared a common thread: the desire to achieve the American Dream through obtaining a good education.

Immigrant students and their families face numerous hurdles in our nation’s schools including integration, English language acquisition and access, and cultivating quality parent/teacher relationships. Although ED has worked to ensure that all students have equal access to school resources and that all parents, regardless of the language they speak, are equipped with the information necessary for their children to fully participate in and benefit from their educational programs, some families still face hurdles in their quest to thrive within the education system.

Zoila Fajardo shared a story that was not much different than what my mother experienced when trying to matriculate my siblings and me into school. When she first arrived in the United States, Zoila attempted to enroll her kids in school. Her limited fluency in English, however, caused communication issues with school administrators. They told her that they could not understand her and therefore could not enroll her kids. Zoila was able to turn to her community for support and they directed her to a new school, where her kids were welcomed with opened arms. They not only provided Zoila and her family with all the information she needed to ensure her kids were successful in school, but they also continued to keep her engaged in her children’s learning.

During the meeting, former Secretary Duncan and Acting Secretary King also heard from local high school students, who, in addition to navigating the system with limited to no English proficiency, had to adapt to different social norms. Despite the challenges they faced while trying to assimilate to a whole new culture, the students said they understood that their education was the foundation of their bright future.

Supporting immigrant families is crucial to ensuring our country’s long-term prosperity and is a key part of ED’s mission to ensure equity and opportunity for all of our nation’s children. We will continue to encourage students and their families to share their ideas on how to increase dialogue and the visibility of their experiences through future meetings, like Student Voices sessions, webinars and conversations with advocacy groups. These ongoing conversations have been the foundation of many resources, including the EL Toolkit, which we released with the Department of Justice in September, 2015.

This session was a part of the ongoing “Student Voices” series at the Department through which students engage with senior staff members to help develop recommendations on current and future education programs and policies.

Melina Kiper is a confidential assistant in the Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development at the U.S. Department of Education.

http://blog.ed.gov/2016/01/hearing-from-first-generation-immigrant-youth-and-parents-about-education/

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