Bratya Basu launches new education scheme

KOLKATA: Education minister Bratya Basu launched a new education scheme - Sab Boi Porboi - at an awards ceremony in Town Hall on Sunday. The programme was organized by the state school education department and UNICEF on the occasion of National Education Day.

Under the scheme, the government will distribute books on various topics pertaining to the new syllabus that it is framing.

Speaking at the awards ceremony to honour schools qualifying for the Sishumitra Vidyalaya Puraskar, the minister said the government was trying to bring out the best in education by combining the western and eastern models. "We have appointed teachers in primary, secondary and higher education sections and a workshop will be held at Netaji Indoor stadium next month which will be attended by 75,000 teachers," Basu said. The minister also gave away awards to students who had participated in a statewide sit-and-draw competition on water, sanitation and hygiene.

Besides launching the scheme, Basu also made a slew of announcements. From next year, the school education department will organize the Jamini Roy awards to felicitate schools that make themselves visually appealing.

This apart, the government was also working on a GIS mapping project which will provide complete data of all schools in the state and will be accessible to all.

SN Dave, a wash specialist of the UNICEF office in the state, said that the Nirmal Vidyalaya Puraskar, which has also been initiated along with the Sishumitra Vidyalaya Puraskar, was a great example to show how education, water, hygiene and sanitation could all be put together.

"We will take the competition to the high school and higher secondary level from next year," school education department secretary Arnab Roy said.

State school and higher education minister Bratya Basu launched a new educational scheme - 'Sab Boi Porboi' and awarded school children who participated in the state wide sit and draw competition on water, sanitation and hygiene.

Attending the award ceremony organised on the occasion of national education day on Sunday at Town Hall organised by the state school education department with UNICEF support to honour qualifying schools across the state with Sishumitra Vidyalaya Puraskar that was announced last year, Basu said that the government was working on to bring out the best education by combining the western and eastern model. "We have appointed teachers in primary, secondary and higher education sections and a workshop will be held at Netaji Indoor stadium next month which will be attended by 75,000 teachers," the minister said. The government of India has declared November 11, the birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad as national education day.

Minister Bratya Basu also said that from next year, the school education department will also hold a Jamini Roy awards that will be awarded on district wise to schools that will decorate themselves as visually appealing.

The minister launched the 'Sab Boi Porboi" scheme in which books on various topics will be distributed according to the new syllabus that the government was framing.

The government was also working on a GIS mapping project in which there will be a complete data of information of all schools of the state. The data will be available to everyone that will provide all information about the schools.

SN Dave, a wash specialist of the UNICEF office for West Bengal said that the Nirmal Vidyalaya Puraskar, which has also been initiated along with the Sishumitra Vidyalaya Puraskar was a great example as to how education, water, hygiene and sanitation all could be put in together.

State school education department secretary Arnab Roy said that the Nirmal Vidyalaya competition was the first of its kind in the country. "We will take over the competition to the high school and higher secondary level from next year," he said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Bratya-Basu-launches-new-education-scheme/articleshow/17188295.cms

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Unlettered fruit-seller's Indian education dream

Harekala Hajabba, an illiterate fruit vendor in southern India who struggled to build a primary and high school from his savings for the village children, is busy charting his next step - a pre-university college.

The dirt road leading to the school in Newpadpu village, about 350km (217 miles) from Bangalore city, is muddy from the rains, but there are no complaints from the 130 students of Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat Higher Primary and Composite High School.

The village had no school until 2000 when Mr Hajabba, who earns about 150 rupees ($2.8; £1.7) a day from selling oranges in the nearby city of Mangalore, set up a primary school from his meagre savings.

"The first time I felt handicapped because of my lack of education was when a foreigner asked me the price of the fruits in English. I didn't not know what he meant," says Mr Hajabba, 55.

"An idea struck me to start a primary school so that the young children of my village would not go through a similar situation," he says.

Inspirational figure

The locals revere him for setting up the school, but he is not distracted by the praise and comes across as a man on a mission.

Thufail Muhammad, a senior journalist at The Hindu newspaper who has covered Mr Hajabba during his struggles, says he has sacrificed much of his family life to make his dreams come true, and has inspired many in the process.

"He earned very little to even dream of starting a school. But, his determination to educate others drove him towards success. In a country like India where education is not the primary goal for many rural families, Mr Hajabba is a shining light," Mr Muhammad said.

When Mr Hajabba decided to start a school in 2000, he received little support, but his determination saw him open a primary school with 28 students in a madrassa - a Muslim educational institution generally connected to a mosque.

As the number of students grew, he needed new premises, so he took out loans and used his savings to buy land for the school.

With support from a few philanthropists and his own savings, Mr Hajabba managed to construct a small building for the primary school.

But, he did not rest on his laurels and worked hard to raise money for the school to grow.

His efforts paid off and in June, the high school - for students aged 10 to 14 years - was inaugurated.

The premises will serve the high school students who have since 2008 been using rooms in the primary school for want of a building.
Recognition and awards

Provisional data from the Indian government's 2011 census states that about 25% of the country's population cannot read or write. Many children do not go to school because there are none in their villages.

Perhaps ironically, it was the printed word that first got the fruit-seller's efforts noticed - an article in a local newspaper described his struggle to pay off the mortgage for the land on which the school stands today.

The government then sanctioned 100,000 rupees ($1,852; £1,157) for the school building and a local newspaper, Kannada Prabha, named him their Person Of The Year.

"The award consisted of a purse of 100,000 rupees. People started sending in donations, irrespective of their caste or religion, and congratulated me. Until then, I was an unknown person," Mr Hajabba said.

His work also earned him the Real Heroes award from television channel CNN-IBN.

Despite the fame, Mr Hajabba's humility and dedication remains untouched.

"In which school can you find the development and monitoring committee vice-chairman [Mr Hajabba's official title]sweeping the floor? He does not have a chair of his own in the school," school headmistress Veena GH said.

Mr Hajabba is now working to turn his next dream into reality - getting a college for his village.

The nearest government-run pre-university college is about 7km (4 miles) away in Deralakatte and once out of school, many of the students from his school have to pay for education at private institutes and colleges.

"If we have a government college in our village, the poor families would not have to pay for higher education," he said. "So I have started saving and also requested the government to sanction a college in the village."

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Indian government unveils Aakash 2 tablet PC

President Pranab Mukherjee today unveiled the much-awaited ultra low-cost Aakash 2 tablet PC at an event in New Delhi. Designed, developed and manufactured by DataWind, the Aakash tablet, also dubbed as the Aakash 2.0, will be available to students at a subsdised price of Rs. 1,130. DataWind is supplying the Aakash tablet to the Indian government at Rs. 2,263 per unit.

The launch, held on the occasion of the National Education Day, was part of a two-day workshop conducted by IIT Bombay for teaching faculties in engineering colleges using remote training applications developed at IIT Bombay’s Open Source development lab. The Aakash 2 platform has been developed by IIT Bombay that includes 3D-modelling, C++ programming, remote and collaborative training applications, robotic control and live assessment tools. IIT Bombay has partnered with the Center for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), to assist with the hardware testing and logistics.

In the first phase, DataWind is going to supply 100,000 units of Aakash 2 to IIT Bombay, which intends to distribute them to Engineering University and College students in the country.

Specifications of the Aakash 2 tablet are as follows: 7-inch multi-touch 4-point capacitive display with 800 x 480 pixel resolution, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS, 512 MB of RAM, Cortex A8 1 GHz processor, 4GB built-in storage, microSD card slot that supports storage up to 32 GB, micro USB, Wi-Fi b/g/n and a 3,000 mAh battery. The included accessories are wall charger, USB Adapter, USB cable and USB Hub (4port).

The commercial version of the Aakash 2 unit is branded as the UbiSlate 7Ci, and is available for purchase on DataWind’s website. “We wish to use technology to fight poverty with a passion. Access to computers and internet will help deliver a better quality education and level the playing field for all Indians,” says DataWind CEO Sunit Singh Tuli.

According to reports, the government has shortlisted 244 engineering colleges in the country that will work as remote centres for “Aakash in Education” programme, coordinated by IIT-Mumbai under the National Mission on Education through ICT (NME-ICT). The programme will cover all engineering colleges in due course.

The Subrao Nilekani Chair Professor at IIT Bombay, Dr. Deepak B. Phatak, heads the project at IIT Bombay with the support of C-DAC. Professor Phatak says “I'm not only confident, but sure that Aakash 2.0 is here to stay.”

NME-ICT Director, N.K.Sinha adds, “We envision all 220 million students across India to be enabled by low cost Aakash devices in the coming years.”

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Top entrepreneur & investor conclave for Indian education sector in Delhi on Nov 22

The Indian education sector offers entrepreneurship opportunities across the spectrum, starting from kindergartens and nurseries to schools, colleges, universities and vocational training centres. In addition, there are allied opportunities like education technology, digital learning and other enabling themes.

To debate and discuss these areas in detail, VCCircle is organising the 3rd edition of its Education Investment Summit in New Delhi on November 22. During the event, the expert panels will not only share their experience of setting up successful education enterprises in India, but also the failures and the unique challenges of the Indian market and the regulatory landscape.

The conference will also feature a fireside chat on Building Education Businesses in India while discussing the key elements for scale and success. A panel dedicated to the Formal Education Sector will assess the macro opportunities and challenges for Indian schools, colleges, universities and technical/professional education. Discussions on the Vocational Training Business and the Non-Formal Education Sector will deliberate on the inherent local challenges in this space in India. Plus, a special panel on Technology-Enabled Innovation in Indian Education Sector will discuss the value proposition in the new technology-driven products & services, and their acceptability in the Indian market.

Here is a list of some of the confirmed speakers and more people are joining:

· Amit Gupta: CEO & Executive Director, S Chand Group
· Amol Arora: Vice-chairman & Managing Director, Shemrock & Shemford Group of Schools
· Amitabh Nagpal: Chairman and Group Managing Director, Macmillan Group, India
· Ashish Rajpal: MD, iDiscoveri Education
· Beas Dev Ralhan: CEO, Next Education India
· Dilip Chenoy: CEO & MD, NSDC
· Dr Raj Dravid: COO, IL&FS Education & Technology Services Ltd
· Kamlesh Sajnani: MD, IMS Learning Resources Pvt Ltd
· Krishnan Ganesh: Founder and CEO, Tutorvista
· Prabhat Jain: Founder & CEO, The Sarla Group
· Pramod Maheshwari: CEO & MD, Career Point Ltd
· Praveen Chakravarty: CEO, AnandRathi Financial Services
· Rajesh Bhatia: MD, Tree House Education & Accessories Ltd
· Raj Grover: CEO, Kangaroo Kids Education Ltd
· Ram Kishan Verma: Founder & CEO, Resonance Eduventures
· Ryan Pinto: CEO, Ryan International Group of Institutions
· Sanjay Purohit: CMD, iProf Learning Solutions India
· Satya Narayan R: Chairman, Career Launcher Education Infrastructure
· Samudra Sen: CEO, LearningMate Solutions
· Sanjeev Duggal: CEO & Director, Centum Learning Ltd
· Sharad Talwar: CEO, IndiaCan Education
· Tridibesh Satpathy: CEO, Edusys
· Vinay Pasricha: Chairman, WLC College India Ltd

http://techcircle.vccircle.com/500/top-entrepreneur-investor-conclave-for-indian-education-sector-in-delhi-on-nov-22/

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Germany to use education to enhance ties with India

PANAJI: Germany is looking forward to enhance cooperation with India in the field of education, Michael Siebert, German consul general in Mumbai, told mediapersons in Panaji on Friday.

Siebert said Germany is keen to encourage Indian students to study in Germany. He said efforts were ongoing to further the academic relationship between the two countries through faculty and student exchange programmes.

Siebert said that education in Germany was free and this was an added incentive for those wishing to pursue an education abroad. He said 6,000 Indians go to Germany annually to pursue higher studies.

Anja Hallackar, director of the German academic exchange service, said Indian students were primarily opting for science and engineering courses. She said students had the option of working in Germany after completing their studies.

Siebert said Germany was India's largest European trading partner with trade worth over 20 billion euros and the economic exchange between the two countries was growing. He also said German companies such as Siemens, Bosch, Netzsch and other pharmaceutical firms which have set up manufacturing units in some of the industrial estates were the biggest foreign investors in Goa.

Dean Menezes, honorary consul for Goa, said the German companies in the state were employing over 2,000 persons. He estimated the German investment in the state to be over 1,500 crore.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/Germany-to-use-education-to-enhance-ties-with-India/articleshow/17162815.cms

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Indian-origin CEO of Datawind and MIT professor among Forbes' top 15 education innovators list

NEW YORK: Indian-origin CEO of Datawind, the maker of India's low-cost tablet Aakash, Suneet Singh Tuli and Massachusettes Institute of Technology professor Anant Agarwal have been named by Forbes magazine among the 15 "classroom revolutionaries" who are using innovative technologies to reinvent education for students and teachers globally.

The Forbes list names 15 education innovators who are "harnessing a slew of disruptive technologies to change everything from the way we teach grade school mathBSE -0.04 % to how we train the next generation of teachers."

The publication said Tuli(44)) is the " mastermind" behind the world's cheapest tablet computer Aakash, "which has the potential to revolutionise educational access in the developing world."

Datawind has a backlog of "millions" of orders for the 35 dollar Aakash tablet. The publication quoted Tuli as saying that "I don't care about creating the iPad killer. I care about the 3 billion people who can afford this device."

Agarwal, 53, a professor of computer science at MIT is also the President of edX, the new combined online offerings of Harvard, MIT, the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Texas.

Over 400,000 are currently enrolled in the education programme. "We've created dramatic access to learning for students worldwide. By reinventing online learning, we can dramatically improve what we do on campus," Agarwal, who took over as head of edX in May this year, said.

"EdX continues to up the ante by increasing partners, classes (seven to dozens for spring 2013) and innovations, such as virtual laboratories," Forbes added.

Datawind had won the tender in 2010 to supply one lakh Aakash tablets for a price of around 49 dollars per unit. A new version of the tablet PC, featuring one Ghz processor, four-hour battery time, capacitive screen and Android 4.0 operating system, is expected to be launched in India on November 11.

Among the other education innovators on the list is Salman Khan, the Bangladeshi-American founder of Khan Academy, the revolutionary online education platform.

The 36 year old M.I.T. and Harvard alumnus has so far created 3,400 videos, mostly science and math tutorials, that have been watched by more than 200 million people. Khan Academy's YouTube channel has more than 400,000 subscribers.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/nri/nris-in-news/indian-origin-ceo-of-datawind-and-mit-professor-among-forbes-top-15-education-innovators-list/articleshow/17165932.cms

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November 10 is now Malala Day, declares UN

United Nations has declared November 10 as Malala Day in honour of the Pakistani teenage rights activist Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by the Taliban last month for campaigning for girls’ education.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Envoy for Global Education, former British PM Gordon Brown, has said November 10 has been declared Malala Day. “This Saturday (November 10) will see Malala Day, a global event to show that people of all creeds, all sexes, all backgrounds and all countries stand behind Malala,” Brown said.

The UN chief said citizens from across the globe are speaking out for Yousafzai and on behalf of the 61 million children who do not go to school. He called the international community to join the UN campaign to put education first “for Malala and girls and boys throughout the world”.

Events have been planned in over 100 countries, from the UK and USA to Mexico, India, Australia and Sierra Leone to mark the day.

Thousands of people from across the world have signed a petition calling for her to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/november-10-is-now-malala-day-declares-un/1029878/

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Indian-origin CEO of Datawind and MIT professor among Forbes' top 15 education innovators list

NEW YORK: Indian-origin CEO of Datawind, the maker of India's low-cost tablet Aakash, Suneet Singh Tuli and Massachusettes Institute of Technology professor Anant Agarwal have been named by Forbes magazine among the 15 "classroom revolutionaries" who are using innovative technologies to reinvent education for students and teachers globally.

The Forbes list names 15 education innovators who are "harnessing a slew of disruptive technologies to change everything from the way we teach grade school math to how we train the next generation of teachers."

The publication said Tuli(44)) is the "mastermind" behind the world's cheapest tablet computer Aakash, "which has the potential to revolutionise educational access in the developing world."

Datawind has a backlog of "millions" of orders for the 35 dollar Aakash tablet. The publication quoted Tuli as saying that "I don't care about creating the iPad killer. I care about the 3 billion people who can afford this device."

Agarwal, 53, a professor of computer science at MIT is also the President of edX, the new combined online offerings of Harvard, MIT, the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Texas.

Over 400,000 are currently enrolled in the education programme. "We've created dramatic access to learning for students worldwide. By reinventing online learning, we can dramatically improve what we do on campus," Agarwal, who took over as head of edX in May this year, said.

"EdX continues to up the ante by increasing partners, classes (seven to dozens for spring 2013) and innovations, such as virtual laboratories," Forbes added.

Datawind had won the tender in 2010 to supply one lakh Aakash tablets for a price of around 49 dollars per unit. A new version of the tablet PC, featuring one Ghz processor, four-hour battery time, capacitive screen and Android 4.0 operating system, is expected to be launched in India on November 11.

Among the other education innovators on the list is Salman Khan, the Bangladeshi-American founder of Khan Academy, the revolutionary online education platform.

The 36 year old M.I.T. and Harvard alumnus has so far created 3,400 videos, mostly science and math tutorials, that have been watched by more than 200 million people. Khan Academy's YouTube channel has more than 400,000 subscribers.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/nri/nris-in-news/indian-origin-ceo-of-datawind-and-mit-professor-among-forbes-top-15-education-innovators-list/articleshow/17165932.cms

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Pakistan launches education programme for 3-million children

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari along with UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown today launched a programme aimed at enrolling three million Pakistani children in school over the next four years.

The 'Waseela-e-Taleem' initiative was launched at a ceremony held at the presidency.

Zardari said the initiative is aimed at providing free education to the poorest children and will be part of the Benazir Income Support Programme, a flagship programme for poverty alleviation and women's empowerment.

The programme is not merely about cash grants as it aims to help the poorest of the poor stand on their feet, he said.

"It teaches them how to catch a fish...We are committed to achieve universal primary education," he added.

Following a recent constitutional amendment, education is now included in the fundamental rights of citizens as no country can make progress without investing in its human capital, Zardari said.

Poverty and ignorance also fuel militancy and extremism, he pointed out. "We must fight against ignorance to fight poverty and militancy," the President said.

He appreciated the support provided for the poverty alleviation initiative by international development partners like DFID, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, USAID and the governments of Britain, China and Turkey.

Earlier, Brown presented a petition with more than a million signatures in support of teenage rights campaigner Malala Yousufzai to the Pakistan government.

Malala is currently being treated in a Birmingham hospital after being shot in the head by the Taliban in the northwestern Swat Valley for advocating girls' education.

In a separate meeting with Brown, Zardari too signed the petition and said his government is according "high priority" to promoting education, especially in militancy-hit areas, as a tool to fight the "militant mindset" in the long term.

He said the need for education had never been greater as it holds the key to countering extremism and militancy and ensuring socio-economic uplift.

"Militant mindset is our biggest collective enemy," he said.

Zardari sought enhanced support and cooperation from the UN and world community in the education sector and for achieving the Accelerated Millennium Development Goals.

Former British premier Brown briefed Zardari about the objectives of the UN initiative "Education First" and said his mission in Pakistan is aimed at ensuring greater enrolment, provision of quality education, training of teachers and promotion of education technology.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/Pakistan-launches-education-programme-for-3-million-children/articleshow/17160965.cms

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Don't reject any educational loan application: RBI to banks

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank on Friday asked banks not to reject any educational loan application even if the residence of the borrower does not fall under their service area. "Banks are advised not to reject any educational loan application for reasons that the residence of the borrower does not fall under the bank's service area," RBI said in a notification on Friday.

RBI has further asked the banks to issue suitable instructions to their branches or controlling offices for meticulous and strict compliance in this regard. The apex bank issued the notification in view of number of complaints where students were refused educational loan as the residence of the student does not fall under the bank's service area.

It also said that the service area norms should be followed only in the cases of government sponsored schemes. In the financial year ended March 31, 2012, banks' gross credit towards education loan was at Rs 502 billion from Rs 437 billion in the previous fiscal, as per the RBI data.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/dont-reject-any-educational-loan-application-rbi-to-banks/304865-3.html

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