RNI No.
UTTENG/2010/37634
www.curriculum-magazine.com
IN BRIEF
St Stephen's College
special courses on Public
Policy and International
Relations
St Stephen's College, Delhi
has launched a special center
to conduct a series of
certificate and advanced level
courses across a range of
disciplines, starting with a
short-term certificate course on
Public Policy and International
Relations (PPIR). The St
Stephen's Centre for Advanced
Learning (SCAL), will start
with offering a certificate
course on Public Policy and
International Relations, to be
held over six weekends at the
college, an official statement
said. Other discipline-specific
courses have also been planned
and announcements regarding
this will be made soon on the
college website, it added.
The SCAL's PPIR course is
designed to help young
graduates gain a better
understanding of the field,
"how it is framed, theorised,
formulated and implemented",
it said. The first batches of
participants include entry-to-
mid-senior level professionals
from the fields of banking,
development, consultancy,
NGOs, politics, and healthcare.
The course will engage with
topics in policy formation,
development, and
implementation, policy
economics, international
relations, international security
and diplomacy among others.
Separate university for
Konkan
Maharashtra plans to set up a
university in the Konkan
region as it was a long-pending
demand of the people there.
Currently colleges in Konkan's
Raigad, Ratnagiri and
Sindhudurg districts are
affiliated to Mumbai
University.“There was a long
pending demand of people
from the Konkan that there
should be a separate university
in Konkan region. For students
studying in Sawantwadi in
Konkan, Mumbai University is
almost 650 kilometres away
and it is difficult for them to
travel that far for any work,”
said Higher and Technical
Education Minister Uday
Samant.
CBSE for short-term
courses from IIMs for
principals
The office of Senior PRO,
Central Board of Secondary
Education (CBSE) in a release
last week requested all Indian
Vol 10 No 3
magazine
THE INDIA EDUCATION LANDSCAPE UPDATE January 16 2020
Stalemate over Fee Hike continues in JNU even as
officially normalcy returned to varsity after violent attacks
on students, teachers, properties by yet to be identified masked
rioters on Jan 5
I n a botched up financial reform,
Jawaharlal Nehru University
(JNU) administration, has not
seater to Rs 300. Along with this
hike, a hostel draft manual was
also introduced for first time, and
only sullied its own competence so were service charges and mess
but virtually brought country's top security fee. The one-time mess
university to the brink of a security fee, which is refundable,
possible shutdown. The mid- was hiked from Rs 5,500 to Rs
session fee hike on October 28, 12,000. Service charges for
2019 approved without participa- maintenance, mess workers, cook
tion of students' representation and sanitation and utility charges
(JNUSU) at the Inter Hall for power and water consumption
Administration (HAL) meeting is were introduced for the first time
turning to be one of the biggest at Rs 1700. University adminis-
headaches for the government as tration's logic behind the hike has only rejected the hike but launched the fire and EC decided that all the
the vociferous and large-scale been to tide over a deficit of Rs 45 massive protests, which only students belonging to below poverty
student protests have crippled the Cr and run the hostels on no-profit became intense over weeks. In a line (BPL) category, excluding those
academic business at JNU since. no-loss basis. few cases, police had to resort to who have JRF, SRF and other
During the HAL October 28 As these decisions were taken lathi charge to disperse agitating equivalent fellowships/Scholarships
meeting, hostel rent of a single- without taking student body into students. either from outside organizations or
seater room was hiked from Rs 20 confidence and in its absence JNU The administration using JNU, are eligible to be given 50% of
to Rs 600 and that of a double- Students' Union (JNUSU) not Executive Council tried to douse Contd P3
NCRB data shows increase in Prof Rattan Lal Hangloo quits
number of Student suicides as Allahabad University VC
Twenty-eight students on an average committed suicide every 24 hours
during 2018, accroding to NCRB data. India saw 1.3 lakh suicides in
2018, of which students made up 8%, almost the same in the farming
over alleged vendetta
sector, while 10% were unemployed people. Yearly figure of suicide chairperson, Rekha Sharma. NCW in
rates by students turned out to be the highest in a decade-- over 10,000 in December 2019 had summoned the
2018. AU VC over allegations of improper
National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data shows that 2,543 students handling of sexual harassment
— 1,360 below the age of 18 years (school students) and 1,183 in the 18- complaints and lack of a grievance
30 age bracket (pursuing higher education) — committed suicide in 2015 cell for redressal of such charges.
due to mounting pressure to do well in examinations. However, Prof Hangloo, who has been
Exam failure, however, saw among the lowest figures for cause of on the position of vice-chancellor
suicide — 2 per cent, the same as unemployment. It was significantly since December 30, 2015 and has
lower than other factors such as family problems (27 per cent), or 'braved' three inquiries of similar
poverty, physical abuse and professional issues (26 per cent). nature all these last four years with
According to the NCRB's Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India 2015 each of those proving baseless, refutes
report, the total number of students who committed suicide for various Contd P3
reasons in 2015 was 8,934, up from 8,068 in 2014. In 2016, the number In a rerun of what was done to
rose again, with 9,474 students ending their lives, shows NCRB data. Prof A K Singh, a reputed IIT- First-ever International
Bombay scientist, who resigned
Heritage Symposium
ASSOCHAM wants Auyshman Bharat as vice-chancellor of Allahabad
University (a central univ. esb and Exhibition (IHSE)
like scheme for education 1887) in 2014, the present VC, on Digital
Prof Rattan Lal Hangloo was
Dr.Niranjan Hiranandani, president of ASSOCHAM while speaking made to resign on January 2 by Documentation using
about budget expectations demanded that education needs tax
the union ministry of Human advanced
rationalization and a scheme on lines on Ayushman Bharat for education Resources Development, over
to all. He said, “Partially exempt GST on outsourced services in Higher alleged irregularities charges technologies...
Education from 18% to 5% to create low-cost educational institutions made by the National
that offer services at all levels - primary, secondary and higher education. Commission of Women
Contd on Pg 15
Contd P3
The 107th edition of Indian Science Congress: A brief report
The 107th edition of Indian Security, Crop Improvement Energy, Environment and Health Sectional Sessions covering different
Science Congress: snap shot Towards Food & Nutrition Care, Novel Solutions for Oil and disciplines of science will be organised
India's largest annual gathering of Security, Materials Science And Gas Industry Problems. in the Science Congress.
scientific luminaries from Te c h n o l o g y F o r R u r a l Four Public lectures by eminent With focus on Rural Development
countries across the world, Indian Development, Challenges and personalities like Nobel laureate through Science and Technology, for
Science Congress, held from Opportunities In Cancer Drug Prof. Stefan Hell, Dr. Subra the first time in the history of Indian
January 3 to 7, 2020 at University Discovery, Artificial Intelligence Suresh among others, covering Science Congress, a Farmers Science
of Agricultural Sciences A n d M e d i c a l Te c h n o l o g y, topics like Ultrasharp Congresswas held. It covered themes
(UASB), GKVK Campus, Advances In Basic Medical And F l u o r e s c e n c e M i c r o s c o p y, ranging from farmers innovation on
Bangalore, Karnataka focussed Clinical Interactions, Non- science across disciplines ranging integrated agriculture and
Communicable Diseases In Rural from basic science to applications entrepreneurship for doubling farmers
on 'Science & Technology: Rural
Development'. Population as well as Cancer in the industry, acute problem of income, climate change, bio-diversity,
modern medicine, life style conservation, ecosystem services &
There were 28 Plenary Sessions Research – Therapeutic
on areas ranging from Climate Applications. The areas also diseases to recent advances in farmers empowerment to agrarian
cardiac sciences were organized distress, rural bio-entrepreneurship,
Smart Agriculture for Food included Nano Materials for
in the Science Congress. Fourteen policy issues. Contd on Pg 16
2 Curriculum January 16, 2020

News Updates

Hillary Clinton appointed Chancellor of expenditure on health as Ayurveda is cost-effective because of its Dr Mihir Shah appointed
preventive and curative approaches.
Queen's University Belfast There is rising interest and demand for knowledge and services of Chairman of Water Policy
Queen's University has announced the appointment of Secretary Ayurveda all over the world. India is the country of origin of Ayurveda committee
Hillary Rodham Clinton as its new Chancellor. Secretary Clinton, and the world is looking up to India to showcase state of art institutions Dr. Mihir Shah, Distinguished
who received an honorary doctorate from Queen's last year, will providing international level education and training in Ayurveda. Professor at the University has
become the University's 11th and first female Chancellor. Elevation of the proposed Institute to the status of Institution of National been appointed the Chairman of
Stephen Prenter, Pro-Chancellor and Chair of Senate, the University's Importance will provide it the autonomy to upgrade standard of Ayurveda the Committee to draft the
governing body, said: “I am delighted that Queen's has chosen Hillary education, frame various courses in Ayurveda as per national and National Water Policy. The
Clinton to be its new Chancellor. Secretary Clinton has made a international demand, adopt advanced evaluation methodology, etc. It committee established by the
considerable contribution to Northern Ireland and as an internationally will have the mandate to frame its own certification courses for deeper Ministry of Water Resources,
recognised leader will be an incredible advocate for Queen's and an penetration of AYUSH across masses and will give the capacity to bring River Development and Ganga
inspirational role model for the Queen's community.” out the unrealized potential of Ayurveda for addressing the major public Rejuvenation, Government of
Accepting the position, Secretary Clinton, said: “It is a great privilege health challenges faced by the country. It will help the institute to develop India will outline the new
to become the Chancellor of Queen's University, a place I have great tertiary care in Ayurveda and to secure inter-disciplinary collaborations National Water Policy (NWP) for
fondness for and have grown a strong relationship with over the years. to give a contemporary thrust to Ayurveda. the country. The committee
The University is making waves internationally for its research and
c o m p r i s i n g 11 m e m b e r s
impact and I am proud to be an ambassador and help grow its reputa-
tion for excellence.” Farmers Science Congress conducted for the including Dr Shah will draft the
National Water Policy (NWP)
Secretary Clinton will serve as the University's new Chancellor, for a first time in Indian Science Congress and will submit this to the
period of five years, with effect from 1 January 2020.
The Farmer's Science Congress was inaugurated for the first time in the government within six months
Hillary Rodham Clinton is an internationally recognised public
107 years of history of the Indian Science Congress, highlighting the from the date of its constitution. It
servant with almost five decades in public service as an advocate,
importance of farmer's innovations and their scientific validity. may be recalled that Dr. Shah was
attorney, First Lady, Senator and Secretary of State. Secretary Clinton
While inaugurating Farmers Science Congress, Dr. Trilochan primarily responsible for drafting
has developed strong links with Queen's University and Northern
Mohapatra, Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and the paradigm shift in the
Ireland. As Secretary of State, she focused on economic development
Education & Director General Indian Council of Agricultural Research management of India's water
to underpin the emergence of a strong and competitive Northern
(ICAR), mentioned about the paradigm shift from production and resources as enunciated in the
Ireland and, during her time as First Lady, made a considerable
nutrition security to doubling of farmers' income by 2022. This shift in 12th Five Year Plan, during his
contribution to the Northern Ireland Peace Process. With her long-
thinking was the result of a call given by the Prime Minister. tenure as Member, Planning
standing commitment to peace, stability and economic regeneration,
Dr. Mohapatra informed that Farmers Innovation Fund and Innovation Commission, Government of
she is a strong advocate for Northern Ireland and an inspirational role
Centres will be set up to encourage innovations made by progressive India from 2009 to 2014.
model for the Queen's community.
farmers. To encourage organic farming, 45 types of organic farming
The Chancellor fulfils three main roles – a ceremonial one which
systems have also been developed in niche areas. "If we can give some
involves presiding at degree congregations; an ambassadorial role,
support to their innovations by way of financial support, innovation Aakash acquires
where the office holder helps to “open doors” for the University as it
seeks to fulfil its mission; and finally as an advisor, available to the
validation and market linkage, farmers will be encouraged to to take them Meritnation
forward," he added. Aakash Educational Services
Vice-Chancellor and senior management as a “sounding board” and to
Dr. Mohapatra called on school students to attend the Farmer's Science Limited (“AESL”), said that it
provide counsel and guidance.
Congress, so that interest in agriculture can be created right from the has entered into a definitive
Rs 10 cr grant for center for excellence in school level through interactions. agreement with Info Edge (India)
“ICAR has developed 56 models of integrated farming, which will be Limited and other selling
health outcomes research and economics promoted with NABARD by linking them to the Rural Development shareholders to acquire Applect
An interdisciplinary team of researchers from the LV Prasad Eye programmes,” he pointed out. Learning Systems Private
Institute (LVPEI), IIM Ahmedabad and the Indian Institute of Public He also said that to reduce the use of pesticides and fertilizers, ICAR are Limited (“ALSPL”, or
Health (IIPH), Hyderabad have won a unique Wellcome Trust/ DBT developing Nano fertilizers and nano pesticides to promote organic “Meritnation”), a ed-tech
India Alliance Clinical/Public Health Research Center (CRC) grant of farming. company. ALSPL markets its
about INR 10 crore, to set up a first of its kind center for excellence in “To improve rural bio-economy and attract youth to agriculture, a offerings to K12 students under
health outcomes research and economics. programme named Arya is being implemented. Till now over 5000 youth the brand name 'Meritnation'.
The process of selection included a rigorous application submission have been brought into this programme in which they have been trained
stage, an international peer review stage and a final interview that to be entrepreneurs and begin a start up, Around 104 such startups are
spanned over six months from earlier in the year. The team includes Dr marketing processed food items,” he said. UC Browser will launch
Raja Narayanan, Dr Anthony Vipin Das from LVPEI, Dr Chirantan The Chairman of Karnataka Agricultural Price Commission, Shri Cloud Storage Service UC
Chatterjee from IIM Ahmedabad and Dr Murthy from Hanumanagouda Belagurki emphasized on the challenges in the Drive in India
IIPH,Hyderabad. Dr. Narayanan is the PI for the project and other agriculture sector and said that there is a need to introduce economy and Reiterating its commitment to the
members are co-PIs. social sciences as part of agricultural science in the agriculture universi- mobile browser market, UC
The team will be advised by an international advisory board of health ties. Browser, has announced a
economists and medical outcomes researchers from Harvard and
Stanford University among others. Over the next 5 years, the center
Project OoSC (Out of School Children) in UP revamp of its strategy for India
An innovative new project has been launched in India to tackle the market. UC Browser will launch
proposes to create a first of its kind unit of excellence, that will use big its in-app cloud storage service
data in Indian healthcare along with machine learning and economic critical issue of ensuring quality education for street children within the
Commonwealth. Project Out of School Children (OoSC) is a break- offering for Indian individual
tool kits to advance the understanding of evidence-based policy users, UC Drive. As an in-app
making in Indian healthcare. The upcoming center also proposes to through initiative with a mission to enrol, educate and empower 127
million children out of school in the Commonwealth nations with a cloud storage, UC Drivewill be
recruit world class postdoctoral fellows, research assistants and able to seamlessly connect with
conduct training of doctors to engage in economic evidence based special focus on India's 17.7mn children. Established and conceptualised
by global educationalist Amreesh Chandra, Project OoSC converts browsing scenario within UC
clinical decision making, such as cost effectiveness studies with data Browser and sync stored various
from India through the Clinical Research Training Programme renewable shipping containers into vibrant classrooms targeting Out of
School children. videos, songs, photos, and more
(CRTP) Fellowships embedded within the CRC grant. In its ambition, across all the UC users' mobile
the center aims to be a role model for more such centers beyond India The project is based on the premise that “education is a basic right” and
that no child should be left behind of achieving Quality Education, a UN devices, allowing users to
in the developing world. directly save a wide variety of
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG). Project OoSC also supports six
further SDGs including SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 5 (Gender Equality) downloadable content while
Ayurveda institutions cluster at Gujarat and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities). browsing without taking
The curtain raiser for the project took place on 19th December at the upstorage or memory on their
Ayurved University to get status of institution High Commission of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, New Delhi. mobile devices.UC Drive will be
of national importance Project OoSC's vision is to establish 50 container schools across 4 states available for free to all UC users
in India as well as Nepal and Bangladesh by the first quarter of 2020. with large cloud storage space.
The Union Cabinet has given its approval to confer the status of
Thanks to swift assembly and the ability to transport easily, the Project's This will be UC Drive's first
Institution of National Importance to the Institute of Teaching and
use of shipping container classrooms helps to install infrastructure for launch in the global market. India
Research in Ayurveda Jamnagar by conglomerating the cluster of
education and enables more children to attend school. In addition, the is one of the largest markets for
Ayurveda Institutes at Gujarat Ayurveda University campus, Jamnagar
project will help to ensure high standards of training to educators to UC Browser and makes up for
, namely, (a) Institute for Post Graduate Teaching and Research in
enable the spread of quality education and to spark a literacy movement about 50% of its global down-
Ayurveda (b) Shri Gulabkunwerba Ayurveda Mahavidyalaya and (c)
in remote communities across the commonwealth. loads.
Institute of Ayurveda Pharmaceutical Sciences including Pharmacy Discussing the background and
Unit and to subsume the Maharshi Patanjali Institute for Yoga & Chandra said, “The Project will focus on putting infrastructure in place
that enables more children to access school, ensuring quality education rationale for the upcoming new
Naturopathy Education & Research into the Department of feature, Mr. Huaiyuan Yang, Vice
Swasthvritta of the Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda. through training teachers and providing resources, and encouraging
reading through a literacy movement. Our first live project finally taking President, UCWeb Global
The Bill to that effect is to be introduced in the ensuing Session of
shape in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. Business, said, “In a mobile-first
Parliament to declare Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda,
The second project is coming up shortly in Mirzapur District of Uttar market like India, almost all
Jamnagar as Institution of National Importance.
Pradesh and the third one is due in the outskirts of a village in Jaipur. We digital activities are shifting to
Considering the rapidly growing role of AYUSH Systems in address-
are also in the process of convincing governments to observe one day mobile devices – from watching
ing the Public Health challenges of India, conferring the status of
each year as Out of School Children Day and generate enough funds for movies and clicking pictures to
National Importance will boost the role and importance of Ayurveda in
setting up new schools. Project OoSC will enrol, educate and empower sharing files. In a scenario like
Public Health. The strengthening of Ayurveda will reduce government
the next generation, and ensure that no child is left behind” this, users are left scrambling for
Curriculum January 16, 2020
Contd from P1
Stalemate over Fee Hike continues in JNU
All BPL category students
receiving Non-NET fellowship
and MCM scholarships were to
be eligible for this 50% conces-
sion. It was also decided that the
one time (refundable) mess
security deposit for all categories
of students had also been rolled
back from ₹ 12,000 to ₹ 5,500.
Also, utility charges and service
charges would be charged as per
actuals and BPL students would
get a 50% concession.
However, this did little to pacify
agitating students and crisis
refused to be blown over.
Consequent to continuing
student agitation and disruption
in academics, the ministry of
HRD in order to resolve the
issue, constituted a 3-member
committee comprising former
UGC chairperson V S Chauhan,
AICTE chairperson Anil
Sahasrabudhe and UGC
secretary Rajnish Jain as
members to resolve the crisis.
The committee met the stake-
holders on Dec 10 & 11 and
based on its recommendations,
Contd from P1
Prof Rattan Lal Hangloo quits
the allegations and said the
commission never gave him its
report. “Let the NCW prove the
charges before the CBI, let them
prove them before the High
Court,” he said.
The teaching faculty and staff at
Allahabad University and several
colleges rallied behind VC
Hangloo and registered protests
demanding that his resignation
shouldn't be accepted.
Many experts also feel that the
latest action in which NCW report
is cited as a reason behind making
Prof Hangloo resign is a
hogwash, the actual reason is the
political pressure that was always
on him. As an upright
administrator instead of giving in
or compromising his integrity,
earlier he had sent three volumes
of replies with explanations and
evidence on his side to a series of
complaints made against him to
ministry of HRD. His taking the
bull by horns won him a lot of
support from the silent majority in
the university who earlier looked
helpless, but at the same time,
earned him more enemies as well.
Col Hitesh Love (retd) who
served as a registrar at the AU,
was investigated by a committee
appointed by VC Hangloo and
eventually in July 2018, his
services were ended for charges
of corruption and other
irregularities. He has since
contested his removal in the
court. It is said that NCW chair is
close to this person and she was
always on look out for an
opportunity to take on Hangloo.
Richa Singh, a former student
union leader and a scholar close to
Samajwadi Party, too has an old
grudge against Hangloo and the
AUSU used the recent sexual
harassment complaint to up its
ante against him and held a
campus protest against his so
3
News Feature
ASER 2019 'Early Years' report shows Play-based
activities more productive in early years learning
ASER 'Early Years' data shows that children's performance on tasks
requiring cognitive skills is strongly related to their ability to do early
JNU has issued a statement that being revoked. Our unequivocal language tasks and early numeracy tasks. This suggests that focusing on
the students are not being asked to demand has always been a play-based activities that build memory, reasoning, and problem-solving
bear the cost of service and utility complete rollback of the hostel abilities is more productive than an early focus on content knowledge
charges proposed for the winter manual which was passed in an Conducted in 26 districts across 24 states in India, the survey covered a total
session which was their basic illegal IHA meeting, where student of 1,514 villages, 30,425 households, and 36,930 children in the age group of
demand. “As agreed in the representatives were not called, in 4-8 years. Sampled children's enrollment status in pre-school or school was
meeting of 10th and 11th violation of JNU statutes.” The collected. Children did a variety of cognitive, early language, and early
December 2019, the revised hostel union is also demanding sacking of numeracy tasks; and activities to assess children's social and emotional
room charges, however, will VC, Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar. development were also undertaken. All tasks were done one-on-one with
remain applicable with 50% Meanwhile the registration for the children in their homes.
concession for BPL students.” semester which was delayed, ASER 2019 'Early Years' released on Jan 14 finds that more than 90% of
"The students are not being asked disrupted and extended has picked children in the 4-8 age group are enrolled in some type of educational
to bear the cost of service and up with 72% of the 8500 students institution. This proportion increases with age, from 91.3% of all 4-yearolds
utility charges proposed for the at JNU registering according to to 99.5% of all 8-year-olds in sampled districts
winter session, which was their official sources. At the same time, The entire age band from 4 to 8 needs to be seen as a continuum, and
basic demand. Therefore, the JNU teachers have expressed fears over curriculum progression across grades and schooling stages designed
fee hike issue stands resolved and safety after a yet to be identified accordingly. For an effective and implementable curriculum, the process of
continuation of agitation by the masked group attacked university designing, planning, piloting, and finalizing needs to keep ground realities in
students is no longer justified," the campus on January 5 evening and mind.
HRD ministry statement quoted injured several students including Four states account for 68% of children studying
Nishank as saying. However, JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh
JNUSU is not convinced, "The and Prof Suchita Sen besides under section 12 (1)(c)- RTE: Report
JNU admin has stated that utility damaging hostel property and In the tenth year of its existence, the Right of Children to Free and
& service charges are not being other things. The attack is under Compulsory Education Act (RTE), 2009, has seen an impressive growth of
charged during the current police investigation for a nation-
19% increase by year over year in admission since 2015-16 according to
registration for 2020 winter wide outrage over security breach
semester. Such wording makes it and police inaction. Indus Action's annual report The Bright Spots 2019. Also, four states of
seem that these charges will be Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka & Tamil Nadu together admitted 40
added later in the semester or in lakh children under section 12 (1)(c), which is 68% of all children admitted in
the next semester, rather than the cuntry under the clause of 25% reservation for EWS and challenged
children in private schools.
There is growing awareness and demand within Indian society, to have not
just access to education, but to also have access to high quality education.
The rationale behind the inclusion of this Section in the RTE Act was that
inequitable and disparate schooling reinforces existing economic and social
called authoritarian and earlier. hierarchies and promotes an indifference towards the plight of others in
unconstitutional conduct. They Notwithstanding the technicalities society. Despite the slow start, the RTE act finally witnessed an important
celebrated his resignation. behind the resignation, the fact is
that soon after AU became a landmark impact of yearly increase in children admitted under Section
In later developments as per a
statement issued by the ministry central university in 2005, in no 12(1)(c). The report also highlights that only 17 states and Union Territories
are admitting children as per Annual Work Plan and Budget of the States and
of HRD, “The President of India time it turned into a battle ground
where caste, prejudice and Union Territories (AWP&B 2019-20).
in his capacity as the Visitor of the
corruption had penetrated to such
University of Allahabad has been
pleased to accept the resignation an extent that a big bunch of
Adani-KISS Residential School at Bankishole
of Prof. R. L. Hangloo with brilliant teachers also were inaugurated
immediate effect.” The VC had rendered incapable in performing Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the Adani-KISS
their duty. Prof A.K.Singh was
tendered his resignation vide his Residential School at Bankishole, Baripada, Mayurbhanj, Odisha on 8th
forced to resign. Now, the same
letter dated 31.12.2019 from his January 2020. Dr. Priti Adani, Chairperson, Adani Foundation; Karan Adani,
mafia has taken on Prof R L
post on personal grounds. Chief Executive Officer & Director, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone
Hangloo, who showed some spine
An enquiry into the allegations of Ltd. and Dr. Achyutananda Samanta, Founder, Kalinga Institute of Social
and also brought some welcome
financial, academic and Sciences (KISS) and Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) were
reforms. Allahabad University is
administrative irregularities present.
an institution that holds an
including the recommendations Speaking on the occasion, Patnaik said, “Empowerment and change can
immense potential not only to
contained in their Interim Report
transform the regional landscape
No. 8/18115/2019/NCW/RD/DS
and people but become an
of the National Commission for
epicenter of reengineering
Wo m e n r e g a r d i n g a l l e g e d
education. Only if powers to be
misconduct against Prof. Rattan
realize this and understand the
Lal Hangloo, Vice-Chancellor,
immense value of higher
University of Allahabad has also
education towards such a change.
been ordered.
stage. Competition will be
The senior most Professor of the
conducted across 28 states and 9
University shall perform the
Union Territories and the winners
duties of the office of Vice
will get a chance to compete at
Chancellor of University of
Wo r l d S k i l l s I n t e r n a t i o n a l
Allahabad till the regular Vice
Competition Shanghai 2021
Chancellor is appointed or until
further orders, whichever is only be possible through education.” He thanked Adani Group and KISS
Management for setting up the Adani-KISS Residential School at Baripada.
In his welcome address Dr. Achyuta Samanta, Founder, KISS, said, “28 years
...ASSOCHAM Education Budget Expectation back KISS took initiatives to include the tribal community in the mainstream
Make education loans more affordable by reduction of interest rate from of the society through education, which has been proved successful today. It
12% to 5% and increase in repayment tenure from 5 to 10 years. A is not important for KISS that, 60,000 students are getting an education; it is
scheme of the same magnitude like Ayushman Bharat should be more important that, it has created awareness among more than 60 lakh tribal
designed for Education for All. Raise income tax deductions for the students of Odisha and other states of India,” he added.
industry under section 80G for donations made for education from the Dr. Samanta said, “Many tribal organizations and intellectuals had requested
current 50% to 100% to incentivize education oriented donations. to me many a time to open a branch in Mayurbhanj district for
Foundations established by the industry and running their own underprivileged and poor tribal children. Today, their request has been
educational institutions should also be extended this benefit to allow for fulfilled. In the first phase, 1500 students of Mayurbhanj district will be
greater fund availability that can be utilized for quality building. A enrolled from standard I to XII. The students that pass standard XII from
special tax regime for teachers, professors and researchers will help Adani-KISS can pursue their higher education in KISS Deemed to be
incentivize the profession and attract individuals who have a genuine University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha.” It has also been decided by KISS, that
aptitude towards teaching. Offering more technology-enabled higher only the candidates from Mayurbhanj will get employment in Adani-KISS.
education and more platforms for digital delivery of education.Re- Adani-KISS Residential School is fully equipped with all modern facilities.
structuring of the course curriculum in higher education institutions to It is established on 50 acres of land with the complete financial support of
facilitate multi-disciplinary and research-oriented learning.” Adani Foundation.
4 Curriculum January 16, 2020
Useful News
NEWS YOU CAN USE
Registrations ACET at
Institute of Actuaries of India
To become a student Member of
IAI, one needs to first clear the
ACET (Actuarial Common
Entrance Test) conducted by the
IAI, which is computer based
objective test available to
students after passing 10+2
examinations. Once the student
clears the ACET, he / she can
start taking actuarial
examinations at his / her own
pace. Examinations are held
twice a year by IAI. For more
details, one can logon to
www.actuariesindia.org
IELTS reappointed as a
language test by the UK
government for visas
UK Visas and Immigration
(UKVI) announced IELTS will
continue to be accepted for UK
visas that require applicants to
demonstrate their English.
Following a tender process,
IELTS was reappointed as an
official test provider for visas
required as part of UK
immigration applications.
Christine Nuttall, Managing
Director IELTS at Cambridge
Assessment English, welcomed
the announcement. “We have a
proven track record of
delivering IELTS for UKVI
with our world-leading security
processes,” Ms Nuttall said.
AI emerging as a major
student preference on
Coursera
Even as AI emerges a key skill
set for business, learners still
focused on core subjects.
According to a Deloitte India
report, leveraging AI to its full
potential will sustain
organizations in the long run
and will deliver better business
outcomes. As a result, a large
number of learners are gearing
up for the future and insuring
their jobs by focusing on new
age skills for business – the
foremost being AI. This is one
of the primary reasons why
there was a significant rise in
the number of learners enrolling
in AI related courses on the
Coursera platform in 2019.
Based on a detailed analysis of
the 45 million global learners on
the Coursera platform (5 million
in India), AI came out as the
most demanded subject with 'AI
for Everyone' making it to the
top of 2019's list of the 10 most
popular Business courses on the
Coursera platform in India.
That said, while technologies
like Blockchain, Big Data,
Machine Learning, Cloud
computing etc. are becoming
increasingly important for
businesses, learners in India are
still focused on honing what can
be considered the core Business
skills. Courses on Marketing
like Digital Marketing,
Customer and Marketing
Analytics and even Introduction
to Marketing rank among the
top 10 most popular Business
courses on the Coursera
platform in India. Another major
business skill that learners in
India seem to focus on, is
Finance, with a couple of
courses in the top 10 list.
Besides these subjects learners
also looked to enhance
operational expertise and upskill
with courses like 'Excel Skills
for Business', 'Successful
Negotiation' and 'Design
Thinking for Innovation'.
Pearl Academy adds
Coursera courseware
Fashion and design education
provider, Pearl Academy has
entered into an academic
collaboration with Coursera to
help its students get a broader
perspective of the design
industry, providing them access
to 3600 + top quality courses
created by 200 of the world's
most renowned universities and
other industry partners.
With Coursera's modular
learning approach, Pearl
Academy's students will be able
to hone and strengthen their
fundamentals and problem-
solving skills making, them
industry-ready and providing
better employment
opportunities. Beside Design-
centric courses, the students will
also get access to courses on
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and
Sustainability, helping them gain
knowledge on aspects that will
closely determine the future of
design and design applications.
Nandita Abraham, President,
Pearl Academy, said, “Our
collaboration with Coursera
opens up limitless opportunities
for our students and use it to
their maximum advantage. As
creative and non-creative fields
merge, education cannot be
compartmentalized, and hence,
platforms such as Coursera
become extremely significant in
helping us deliver a great
learning experience.”
NSE launches NSE
Knowledge Hub
NSE Academy Limited (NAL),
a wholly owned subsidiary of
the National Stock Exchange of
India Ltd (NSE) has launched
The NSE Knowledge Hub, a
unique Artificial Intelligence
(AI) powered learning eco-
system to assist the BFSI sector
in enhancing skills for their
employees and helping
academic institutions in
preparing future ready talent
skilled for the financial services
industry. Piyush Goyal, Minister
of Commerce and Industries;
Minister of Railways
inaugurated the hub.
The NSE Knowledge Hub shall
identify and designate Subject
Matter Experts (SMEs),
Curators and Trainers who will
do the last mile curation of
machine curated content thus
allowing knowledge to be easily
captured and shared among the
community using an industry
first video live streaming
capability & ability to create
individualised learning
pathways. The NSE Knowledge
Hub will provide a scientifically
structured learner journey to suit
every requirement across all
verticals. NAL targets to have
100 plus leading education
institutions and BFSI
organisations as part of the
community during the initial
period.
ACCA qualification at ISBF
in less time
Indian School of Business &
Finance, has received a large
number of exemptions for its
BSc (Hons) Accounting and
Finance students, from the
Association of Chartered
Certified Accountants (ACCA)
with respect to the examinations
required to be passed in order to
become ACCA qualified.
Of the 13 examinations required
to become ACCA qualified,
students of ISBF's BSc (Hons)
Accounting and Finance
programme – which is offered
under the aegis of University of
London and receives all
academic direction from the
London School of Economics –
have been granted 8 exemptions.
This enables ISBF students to
start appearing for the remaining
five ACCA exams after
completing just their first year of
undergraduate study.
This gives them an excellent
opportunity to become ACCA
qualified by the time they
graduate at age 21 years with the
University of London degree. In
contrast, the average qualifying
age for a professional accountant
is 25 years globally. Aside from
becoming ACCA qualified in less
than half the time required by
other students, ISBF students can
also utilise the exemptions to
qualify at less than half the cost
incurred by others.
IISM launches course for
working professionals
International Institute of Sports
Management (IISM) has
announced the IISM Edge
program to develop leadership
skills and teach the professionals
the 'Art of Losing' and dealing
with failure and also equip them
with the necessary skills.
The duration of the course is 9
months and the classes will be
conducted in 7-hour sessions on
weekends. The Edge will Delve
into topics such as Critical
Thinking, Science of Data-Driven
Decision Making/ Data to
Decision, Persuasion and
influence, Active and Passive
Listening, Conflict Management,
How to handle a difficult
s i t u a t i o n , Ti m e & S t r e s s
Management, Body Language,
P l a n n i n g a n d d e l i v e r y,
Negotiations and Leadership, etc.
IGNOU Launches Diploma in Modern
Office Practice (DMOP)
IGNOU's School of Vocational Education & Training (SOVET) has
launched Diploma in Modern Office Practice (DMOP). The DMOP
programme has combined conventional practices of Secretaries and
Office Assistant's job with computer aided management techniques.
Secretaries and Office Assistants play an important and versatile role
in the modern office environment.. The programme will generate
competent and skilled personnel at the entry level in any sector of
employment.
After completing the programme, the learner would be able to
develop competency in Communication Skills, develop proficiency in
Stenographic Skills, Develop competency in handling office
machines, Understand how to manage Office records, filing &
indexing, office management methods & practices and inventory
control etc
5th Edition of 'Start-O-Sphere' on Feb 1-2
The Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode (IIM Kozhikode) is
set to organize the 5th edition of its annual national entrepreneurship
summit 'Start-O-Sphere' from 1-2 February, 2020, at the institute's
campus. The event is one of the most biggest meet-ups of start-ups
and investors in South India aimed at supporting start-up founders by
providing networking, mentorship, and fundraising opportunity.
Start-O-Sphere is a National Entrepreneurship Summit of IIM
Kozhikode powered by Students' E-Cell and supported by IIMK
LIVE, a business incubator of the institute. The summit will see a host
of activities ranging from a Startup & Investors connect where
investors share what they see while investing to mega-events like
Start-Up Fair in which only selected 40 startups from across India are
invited to IIMK Campus to setup Stalls and present their idea to the
investors and IIMK community. Followed by Pitchers in which the
top startups shortlisted by Investors during startup fair get a chance to
pitch, negotiate, and get funded. Furthermore, events like Bouncer
extend an opportunity to the budding entrepreneurs to bounce their
idea/business model to 'industry gurus' and seasoned IIMK professors
and thus refine their approach.
EIL, the Minimalist Entrepreneurship
Programme admission opens
Ecole Intuit Lab, a renowned French educational institute of graphic
design, strategy, digital creation and visual communication has
partnered with The Minimalist, a creative solutions group based in
Mumbai for spearheading a one-of-its-kind entrepreneurship
programme for those with a creative bent of mind in the field of
fashion, architecture, lifestyle, hospitality, design, music, art and
culture, fine arts and much more, because world is their oyster.
This 9-month programme commencing in March 2020 is especially
aimed at creative professionals, start-ups, and current aspiring
entrepreneurs to aid them in gaining valuable insights into ideal
entrepreneurship business practices. They will explore an
entrepreneurial attitude, embracing risk in a way that allows them to
be flexible and learn from rapidly changing situations.
Clément Derock, Co- founder, Ecole Intuit.lab added, “It is a part of
our school's core DNA to help students convert their talents into
flourishing careers. Our UG and PG programmes nurture that
professional mindset and therefore starting the entrepreneurship
programme was an obvious choice to hand hold young entrepreneurs
to take the next step. This programme will help aspiring entrepreneurs
to have a new-age creative approach to overcome the challenges of
this dynamic world. The cross-disciplinary approach and robust
methodologies will not only support start-ups and aspiring
entrepreneurs to upgrade their skills but will also rewrite their creative
thought processes, assisting them in achieving their business goals.
Through this programme, we are certain of empowering them to
become true innovators and creative visionaries.”
Those interested in registering from the programme will be required
to draft and send a 350-500 words letter of purpose as well as undergo
a personal interview with the senior management from Ecole Intuit
Lab and The Minimalist. Admissions open on 13th January, 2020
Curriculum January 16, 2020
NWAC hosted COBSE Conference on De-Stressing
Examinations, several insights shared
W ith the aim of creating
strong strategies and
roadmaps to make
school examinations less
stressful Northwest
Accreditation Commission, USA
(NWAC) hosted a conference
'De-stressing Examination' in
partnership with the Council of
Boards of School Education in
India (COBSE), in New Delhi
recently. The conference was
inaugurated by Professor Ved
Prakash, Ex-Chairman, UGC.
The event gave special focus on
'De-Stressing Examination' on
the lines of Draft National
Education Policy 2019.
Vineet Joshi, Director General of
National Testing Agency (NTA)
also attended the conference as a
special guest of honor and spoke
about the importance of
coordination among all the
boards and NTA, to enable
proper verification of students at
the application stage of exams
c o n d u c t e d b y N TA . T h e
conference was attended by more
than 100 representatives from
across India, USA, Nepal, and
Bhutan. The delegates at the
conference represented national
and state boards. Dr. Kem
Hussain, Senior Vice President,
NWAC (Cognia), Dr. Annette
Bohling, Chief Certification
Officer, NWAC (Cognia), Mrs
Asano Sekhose, President
Fit India School Rating—a new recognition to
flaunt school's fitness & sports apparatus
The Ministry of Youth Affair and
Sports, having responded to
Prime Minister's call for a 'Fit
India Movement' has launched Fit
India School Rating for schools to
integrate Fitness as an essential
part of School Education. The
level of Fit India School Rating
will depend on how much
importance the school gives for
inculcating Fitness among its
students and teachers in addition
to the facilities available for
Fitness Activities. As such a few
simple parameters have been
designed for this purpose.
There are two ratings—3 Star and
5 Star, which the schools can take
for themselves depending on the
their fulfilling the criteria. For
FIT INDIA SCHOOL Rating, the
school would certify itself and
will register online at
ww.fitindia.gov.in.
On registration, an online
Certificate would be issued to the
School recognizing it with the
permission to use Fit India Logo
and Fit India Flag. For FIT
INDIA 3-Star or 5-Star Rating the
school would have to apply online
at www.fitindia.gov.in. The Fit
India Mission would verify the
claim and thereafter will issue an
online Certificate and
Commendation Letter. The hard
copy of the Certificate and Letter
would be sent by post.
COBSE & Chairman, Nagaland
Board of School Education and
Professor Siddharth Pandey,
Chairman Organising Committee
(IIT Mains 2020) were among the
prominent speakers who engaged
the eminent gathering.
In his inaugural address, Chief
Guest Dr. Ved Prakash said, “The
biggest challenge in front of
educators today is to come up with
a curriculum that has a futuristic
orientation. The education boards
do not only have the responsibility
of certifying students but they
also, have the responsibility to
prepare the children for tomor-
row's world.” Education that is
being provided today is going to
impact the future, a future that is
not known to anyone. “Students
must not be educated on age-old
patterns rather they should be
made future-ready,” added Dr Ved
Prakash
Dr. Annette Bohling explained the
organizational structure of Cognia
which owns NWAC. In her
presentation, she went on to
explain the need and process of
accreditation for higher education.
“Student test results are the
outcome but while accreditation
we look at teaching process,
economic value and how & what
the child is learning. About 50% of
the students are not engaged in
learning and around 90% of the
students don't use technology,”
As per a CBSE circular, FIT
INDIA is going to be included for
the Prime Minister's Award also
and it is likely that the Fit India 5-
Star Schools would be felicitated
during the Republic Day and
Independence Day functions at
respective State level.
Fit India School – Parameters
Having one Teacher trained in PE,
and such teacher is Physically Fit
and active
Having a playground where two
or more outdoor games can be
played
Having one PE period each day
for every class and physical
activities (sports, Dance, Games,
and Yoga, etc.) take place during
the class
Having all students spending
minimum 60 minutes or more on
physical activities daily
said, Dr Bohling.
The Northwest Accreditation
Commission (NWAC) is one of the
oldest and most prestigious
accrediting agencies formed in
1917, through a bill passed by the
Federal Government of The
United States of America. It is
now one of the 3 accrediting
divisions of AdvancED, which is
the largest accrediting agency in
the world with over 40,000
accredited schools in 75 plus
countries.
Northwest Accreditation
Commission has a Regional Office
in India. The Regional Office
supports schools in preparation for
securing AdvancED accreditation
and also affiliates schools to offer
the American school-level
program known as the NWAC
American High School Program.
“Examination stress is a global
phenomenon, the need is to shift
from the examination of learning
to examination for learning,”
added Dr. Bohling.
Dr. Sanyam Bhardwaj, Controller
of Examinations, CBSE gave a
detailed presentation on the way
CBSE is bringing about a change
in the evaluation and examination
process to reduce the stress.
Fit India Three – Star School –
Parameters – The following
additional parameters would
apply:
All teachers to be Physically Fit
and spending 60 minutes or more
everyday for physical activities
School has at least two trained
Teachers (including one PET), and
each well versed with at least two
sports.
Sports facilities for four sports
including the two outdoor sports
Every student learns and plays two
sports – one of which could be a
traditional/indigenous/local gam
Five – Star School – Parameters
:-
School conducts monthly Intra-
school sports competitions,
participates in Inter-school Sports
Competition and celebrates
Annual Sports Day
All teachers are trained in PE.
School has two or more sports
Coaches. These may be PE
teachers
School follows structured PE
Curriculum prescribed by
NCERT/ Board
School conducts Annual Fitness
Assessment of all children.
School opens its playground(s)
after school hours for neighboring
communities for its active use
(Reasonable fee can be levied for
maintenance and security)
7
School special/ India Skills
Public registry for all skilling information
launched
Towards ensuring greater accessibility of information to those who need it
the most, the Directorate General of Training (DGT), Ministry of Skill
Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has launched a public registry
with all relevant skilling information. These newly created digitally-
accessible registries, created by DGT, will act as a single source of
information of all skilling resources being provided by the government and
allied private enterprise. This includes information on training centres,
courses, teachers, and students in the ecosystem. The aim is to provide
accurate information to potential students, trainers and employers on the
courses being offered by Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and the like.
Through these new electronic registries, third party organizations can easily
access the skilling information through Application Programming Interfaces
(APIs). The new applications enable easier dissemination of detailed
information on the training centres, courses along with the contact details of
the concerned authorities. The information will be made available in
different languages for easy access and a link has been created for registry on
Bharat skills, a central repository for skills providing curriculum, course
information and other relevant material like question banks and mock tests.
On the launch of the initiative, Rajesh Aggarwal, Additional Secretary DGT
and Chair of DGT IT Sub-committee, said "We have created these registries
with machine readable data and open APIs to allow other organisations to
also play a part in disseminating this information. Moreover, these
organisations will be able to return feedback on the data, allowing us to
crowdsource verification of data."
Additionally, DGT has introduced digitally signed PDF certificates for all
ITI students. Electronic Skill Credential Standard (ESCS) with JSON-LD
digitally signed certificates will prevent tampering and fraud. Most
importantly, these certificates are digitally authenticated and verified by the
reviewer.
FEDCO Power Centre of Excellence to skill
power sector workforce
Taking its learning and development initiative to the national level, Feedback
Energy Distribution Company (FEDCO) announced the launch of FEDCO
Power Centre of Excellence, which will offer skill development programme
for the power industry.
FEDCO Power Centre of Excellence will offer a technical and soft skills
training programme to existing professionals and interested students so that
they can meet the power sector's expectations.
FEDCO also announced that it has tied-up with Power Sector Skill Council
(PSSC), which aims to create a credible and effective mechanism--with the
support of relevant and interested stakeholders--for managing the task of
skill development across the country for meeting the current and future skills
needs of the power industry.
“FEDCO's contribution to the Skill Development Program on an all India
basis has been further boosted by the signing of this Agreement. Through this
partnership, power sector professionals and interested students are expected
to be trained on a regular basis for skill enhancement and better employment
opportunities,” said Devtosh Chaturvedi, Managing Director, FEDCO.
FEDCO Power Centre of Excellence will align the curriculum and
courseware to the qualification packs and the national occupational
standards for each trade as set by the Power Sector Skill Council.
As a training provider, FEDCO Power Centre of Excellence--under the
provisions of National Skill Development Council and PSSC schemes of
Government of India--being implemented by NSDC through PSSC--shall
abide by all the provisions and compliances.
Masai School launches online coding
Masai School, Mumbai, India's first Military style coding school, announced
the launch of its first online coding program, primarily targeted towards
giving a head start for women beginning the second innings of their career.
This part time evening course focuses on building a strong foundation in
backend software development and computer science. The course is open to
all working professionals and registration for the same can be done on the
Masai School website.
The course consists of 600 hours of coding, 30 hours of Soft Skills and 60
hours of building mathematical abilities in the time period of 30 weeks.
Along with this, the course also brings 24 Guest Lectures, 2 Demo Days, 2
Hackathons, 10 Projects, 50 Challenges and 5 Mock interviews.
Masai School introduced this online coding program with the aim to help
working professionals upskill and strengthen their profile to enhance career
growth. Prateek Shukla, Co-founder and CEO, Masai School, said, "Coding
is soon going to be the world's second language. With the rapid evolution of
technology, this will also create a demand for professionals with specific
skills. These are clear indicators that professionals need to upskill to avoid
getting redundant. Through Masai School's backend developer program, our
aim is to help working professionals FastTrack their career graphs.”
 3 Curriculum January 16, 2020
Special Feature Story
TRUTH VS HYPE
School Education success story of AAP-led Delhi Govt
Ever since Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won a massive mandate to run the Delhi state government in February
2015, its education reforms program to turn around the 'failed' school education system in the national capital
state of Delhi has earned both praise and criticism not just nationally but globally. A step further in this buzz,
AAP, is making education as a developmental as well political issue at a time when most parties don't concede
that role for education writes Autar Nehru
A am Aadmi Party, which
came into existence in
the backdrop of
Gandhian social activist Anna
Hazare's abortive anti-
corruption crusade of 2012 and
stormed to power in Delhi state
in February 2015 with a
sweeping majority (67/70
seats), has to a large extent
delivered on its school
education promise with several
reform measures including
progressively increasing overall
budget allocation to 25% level
in the last four years. However,
as admitted by the deputy chief
minister, Manish Sisodia, the
man behind the inception and
administration of AAP
government's education reforms
as its education minister, it is
still a long way to go before
Delhi's school system is fixed
and declared a successful
model.
The national capital state of
Delhi in several ways is a
miniature India. A cosmopolitan
city of many centuries and
importantly the political nerve
centre of 1.3 billion Indians,
Delhi has had always a
cascading effect on national
scenario in every sense of word
from social, economical,
cultural and political. As such
seat of power in Delhi has
provided AAP an opportunity as
a lab to experiment its brand of
politics that is to politically
forward the agenda of 'unheard
and unseen' of common man.
Delhi's share of history, legacy
and years of progress is a
representative of both what is
good and bad that makes up
India. Therefore, no wonder, its
education landscape on one
hand has some of the best
surviving British era
educational institutions and on
the other pathetic municipal
primary schools lacking even
the basic amenities. In between
these extremes is a mosaic of all
shades from excellent to very
bad, which again is reflective of
the diversity in country's school
education system. There are
5800 schools running in Delhi of
which 1024 are Delhi
government schools. The rest
are shared among aided and
unaided private schools, schools
under four municipal
corporations (New Delhi, North
Delhi, East Delhi, and South
Delhi) and Delhi Cantonment
Board.
Delhi being the power centre is
naturally home to a sizeable
influential class and combine it
with the growing high and
middle income class, the
aspiration for a good quality
education has had an effect all
along. The result, a number of
good quality private schools
meeting these aspiration levels
coming up all these years and
contributing to a cut throat
competition to get admission
among parents. So did a wide
perception of corruption like
capitation fee and other unlawful
practices by private schools.
Nursery admission assumed a
sort of crony capitalism
reputation as every time the
norms were being tweaked and it
became an annual battle between
school lobbies and others until a
few years ago.
On the other hand, like rest of
India, government school system
continued to crumble and in
peoples' perception about these
overcrowded schools touched
bottom low with most of the vast
number of children in these
schools coming from low income
and poor families. As elsewhere
to fill in the vacuum and fulfill
growing parental aspirations,
hundreds of small and medium
private schools with English as
medium of instruction also are
currently dotting the school
space.
So, the task for AAP government
was cut out on two counts. One to
purge private schools of
malpractices and two to
revitalize government schools,
both hugely popular
constituencies. Expectedly, the
new government began on both
these fronts. In November 2015,
it introduced three bills to amend
The Delhi Education Act, 1973,
which governs schools in Delhi
along with Right to Education
Act. The bills were passed in the
assembly but the political rival
BJP-led central government
which exercises control over
legislative and governance
matters in special state of Delhi,
on a technical procedure after
keeping the bills in abeyance for
long finally rejected them.
As the confrontation over stalling
of bills and administrative turf
differences between the central
government reprehensive
lieutenant governor virtually
over every important decision
became a full blown fight from
CM Kejriwal staging a dharna at
LG residence upto the Supreme
Court of India deciding on it, the
legislative reforms lost steam and
sight. “Modi government has been
anti education and enemy of
children of Delhi. We amended
Delhi School Act for bringing in
transparency, accountability and
reform in private schools, central
government stalled that. We made
a policy for budget schools and
submitted it, again, nothing
happened. It didn't recruit
teachers. With land under DDA,
we are finding it difficult to get
land for more schools and that is
why we have made full statehood
a plank,” says Sisodia.
Anti-establishment lawyer-
activist Ashok Agarwal, who
started his crusade in 1997 against
BJP state government and then
Congress, however says AAP is
more dangerous as it has damaged
the fundamentals of education, the
repercussions of which will be felt
in coming years. “Even I had
supported it and joined thinking
some good work can be done, but
soon realized it is just a NGO
brand, these people don't know
nuances of government and like a
typical NGO want a mess to host
their hyped events,” he adds.
Notwithstanding its confrontation
with the centre, AAP government
continued to explore possibilities
under its ambit and apparently not
to lose its promised focus on
education. Budget largesse,
improving school infrastructure
and pedagogical interventions in
government schools and enforcing
existing rules over defiant private
schools began weaving an
optimistic narrative that fixation of
government schools is possible in
the country.
Today, government schools in
Delhi are markedly different from
what these were four years ago
when AAP government took over.
Vastly improved infrastructure
includes newly constructed 11000
classrooms, clean and functional
toilets, libraries, new sitting
benches for children, and smart
classes. More than this, a visible
change that has set people from
within the government school
system and outside talking about
this change both as a new hope for
government school system turn
around as well as genuine criticism
of how this is being done.
According to Shailendra Sharma,
Principal Advisor to Director
Education at Directorate of
Education, there are four main
areas where Delhi government has
intervened to change government
schools—physical infrastructure,
teacher training, community
linkages through empowered
school management committees
(SMCs) and learning improvement
interventions. Sharma, himself a
product of this change was
programme director and head of
operations Delhi at Pratham
Education Foundation before he
was picked up in 2015 by Atishi
Marlena Singh, the then advisor to
deputy chief minister, Manish
Sisodia who also holds the
education portfolio, to help in the
reforms process. Atishi, the chief
architect of reforms intervention in
education who is an alumnus of St
Stephens College Delhi and
Oxford University, as also a
Rhodes Scholar in educational
research, was however sacked in
April 2018 by the Union Ministry
of Home Affairs after office of
profit controversy involving 20
MLAs erupted and with this she along
with eight other advisors were sacked
as no prior permission for creating
these posts had been sought .
According to Sisodia, infrastructure is
the basic foundation on which the
education system is based. “A broken
down classroom often translates into
broken self-esteem. So, we have put a
lot of emphasis on building new
classrooms, improve maintenance of
existing infrastructure and upgrade of
available facilities including
classroom libraries and laboratories,”
he adds. Accordingly, till March 2019
21 new school buildings were
constructed with modern facilities and
11000 equivalent new classrooms
added in the last four years. However,
empowering school heads and
principals to hire an estate manager on
contractual basis to look after the
school campus and liaisoning work,
provision of security guards,
outsourcing and monitoring of
cleanliness of toilets and hygiene are
some of the innovations that have
attracted a lot of admiration and
attention. Now school principals have
more time to devote to school
development and leadership. “Gone
are those days when the image of bent
fan blades in classroom, broken tubes
lights and seepage stained walls, made
up your image of a typical government
school. Now not only children but
their parents and locality people also
feel proud of their school place.
Proper fittings, repair and sprucing
has given schools a completely new
look,” tells Shaildendra Sharma.
The next big initiative, teacher
enrichment started with a hunt for
mentor teacher within the existing
pool of teachers in 2016. After internal
consultations, government invited
applications from teachers and in all
about 1200 applied. After shorting
listing by a panel of DIET experts
through group discussions and other
techniques, about 200 teachers were
finally chosen. These selected
teachers were initially sent to Hapur
for a residential camp so as to interact
among themselves and also prepare
for the new role. Now part of
Academic Research Group of the
directorate of education, each of these
teachers was mentored and trained
further by SCERT and DIET experts in
workshops. These have been given
exposure at national and international
level (went to a 5 day course on
mentoring at National Institute of
Education (NIE) Singapore) to
augment their skills of observation,
facilitation, content understanding
and pedagogical skills. Each mentor
teacher has been assigned 5-6 schools
where he or she visits twice a month to
interact with teachers, principal and
coordinators. “It is not a kind of
inspection or assessment but a
conversation about challenges faced
teachers by that school. We discuss,
try to find solution and it is all a shared
discussion and perspectives,” says
Kamini Joshi, a mentor teacher. Each
school now has a teacher development
coordinator, a happiness curriculum
coordinator and a primary
coordinator.
The first work done by this cohort of
teachers along with local school
teachers was assessment of reading
and arithmetic ability among upper
primary students, which became later
the basis for controversial division of
classes into pratibha (able to read) and
nishta (non readers) sections
discussed ahead in this report.
For school leaders similarly a
principal development program was
Curriculum January 16, 2020
School Education success story of AAP-led Delhi Govt
undertaken primarily to increase
sense of ownership and
responsibility amongst them
and develop their schools as
centres of learning. For this a
cluster of 10 school principals
each was devised and such 100
clusters covering all schools
were told to hold regular
monthly interactions around
school development etc. 500
principals so far have been sent
to attend leadership sessions at
IIM Ahmedabad and IIM
Lucknow. About 102 schools
heads have also attended a 12-
day school educational program
at Cambridge University to
understand international
practices and another 22 went to
Finland for similar experience.
A ccording to Ajay
Choubey, principal of
RPVV, Hari Nagar,
who went to Cambridge under
this leadership augmentation
program, these kind of programs
do broaden outlook as the
insights by observing cultural
differences and their system do
validate our own intervention
and reforms principals take at
their own level, “Confidence,
exposure and meeting people is
learning and inspiring to
innovate back home. As a result,
lot of work is happening by way
of workshops, discussion at
clusters and people have started
thinking hard to better
learning/teaching space.”
The third major initiative in the
reform process has been
community linkage.
Constitution of SMCs as per
RTE Act was followed by
training of SMC members.
Organization of SMC sabhas
and a budget provision of Rs 5
lakh for each school. These
empowered SMCs played a key
role in organizing mega PTMs,
reading melas (fairs) and
streamlining of admission
process and ensuring attendance
of irregular students. “We
publicized a specific day for
PTM and there were
instructions to welcome parents
and discuss positives of
children. This gesture really
made children feel good and
parents also opened up,” adds
Sharma.
The fourth aspect of this process
was to look at ways to improve
learning outcomes. In the
preliminary assessment of class
6-8, it was found that a majority
of students couldn't read simple
text or solve a simple arithmetic
division. “The situation was a
complex one. These students had
to be taught prescribed structured
syllabus which teachers were
finding difficult and problematic.
No detention policy under RTE
Act made the situation tighter for
teachers. So, we decided to
reduce the syllabus for these
students, bring in some
supplementary reading material
(pragati series aligned with
topics of prescribed NCERT
textbooks) to make them pick
reading and kept them in separate
section,” says Sharma.
Accordingly initially the classes
were divided into Pratibha,
Nitshta and Neo-Nihsta (these
were those who couldn't even
recognize alphabets properly).
Now Neo-nishta has been
dropped.
Chunauti 2018 was launched in
June 2016 with the aim to bridge
the learning gaps of children and
were grouped into three sections
on basis of their foundational
learning skills (ability to read and
do basic maths). Pass percentage
in class 9 improved from 52% in
2015-16 to 57% in 2017-18.
In 2018, the government has also
introduced Happiness
Curriculum and a daily
mandatory period under it for
students from classes 1 to 8.
Students learn mindfulness,
values and life issues in these
classes through storytelling,
discussion, participation and
exercises. This year, it is rolling
out entrepreneurship curriculum
to install a mindset of job creators
than seekers among senior
secondary school students.
However, apart from political
opposition which can be
academically dismissed as
politics, AAP government's list
of critics on these education
reforms are among well known
educationists. According to Prof
Anita Rampal, a physicist turned
professor of education at Delhi
University and advisor cum
member of several high power
committees including on NCERT
text books besides a staunch
supporter of CCE and RTE,
people like her had very high
hopes from AAP government but
this turned to be more of a hype
and branding exercise for
electoral gains than good spirited
reform. “We are completely
disillusioned with the regressive
measures that this government has
taken in the name of transforming
the system,” she adds. Her
objections span from segregation
of children in classes to lack of
trust in teachers, technological
surveillance and as she says quasi-
privatization at the instance of
some big NGOs. According to her
as also advocated by Prof Krishna
Kumar, former director NCERT,
surveillance is a recipe for
destroying pedagogic ingenuity
and imagination which depend on
a sense of freedom and autonomy.
“A tightly structured, heavily
technologised environment
cannot promote the intellectual
and emotional qualities education
is supposed to nourish…A tightly
structured, heavily technologised
environment cannot promote the
intellectual and emotional
qualities education is supposed to
nourish, “ wrote Krishan Kumar
in Education World … An
authority on pedagogy
interventions and textbooks
herself, Prof Rampal feels 1000
schools is a small number in our
country and there is no reason to
celebrate. “It is a lot of hype
created for a target audience. The
policies and practices are
damaging and some violative of
children rights. First they
segregated middle classes now it
has been extended to secondary,
which is regressive and
unaceptable. SCERT is not
training but monitoring teachers
even as a serious subject as
teacher training has been
trivialized with online modules
etc. Today Delhi government
schools are more as laboratories
for privatization,” she adds.
As quoted earlier Ashok Agarwal,
illustrates it more clearly, “Five
lakh children failed in classes 9-12
all these four years and after court
intervention, the government
readmitted one lakh. Where did
the other four lakh children go?
Out of system and spoiled. Then,
they didn't recruit even a single
teacher and by its admissions 38%
Special Feature Story
of its teachers are guest teachers.
These are the ones of whom 77.5%
failed to secure the minimum score
in Delhi SSB examination. They
have deprived children of regular
teaches and as such quality of
education hasn't improved but gone
down,” he adds. Agarwal also
questions AAP government's
wisdom of adding NIOS centre at
the top and school of excellence at
the bottom thereby adding to
discriminatory public school
system instead of paying attention
to all schools.
Agarwal lambasts AAP
government for its efforts of
depriving children of education
from other states and children of
migrant laborers as against the
spirit of Supreme Court ruling
extending education facilities to
every citizen of the country in
Delhi. “I am convinced they have
damaged he fabric of Delhi by
voter and non-voter segregation
and hadn't been for court
intervention, they were on job of
using surveys to throw non-voters
out of schools. It should be a matter
of pride if people come to seek
education in your schools. Who in
the world has an upper age limit for
admission? They have done it.
They are fooling children, parents
and teachers—everybody and not
acting on correcting
fundamentals,” he adds.
Responding to such criticism,
Sisodia dismisses it as the
romanticism of people who have
understanding of schooling but not
education. “Let them face the
practicalities. Stand there for a
couple of hours and then say what
you want. We are trying to make
schools workable for children who
are in the system. Didn't everybody
accept government schools have
failed and it is near impossible to
rescue it? How come earlier
intervention and such prescriptions
that exist even then didn't work?”
he questions.
Shailendra Sharma, who is peeved
at the frequent use of segregation of
children in classrooms in schools
feels the concept of peer learning
often cited as the natural and
accepted way of pulling up not so
good students to learning ladder
and grossly violated by segregation
policy of the government doesn't
hold much scope here, “In peer
learning everybody does bring
something to table. But here the
situation is your peer has not to
offer anything but bullying,
disruptions or low self esteem.”
T h e g o v e r n m e n t , h o w e v e r,
addressed a big issue of EWS
nursery admissions by making it
online and through drawn of
lottery.
An important and to some extent
marginalized stakeholders in this
story are private schools, which
have been subjected a lot more
security and compliance all these
years. At the receiving end of
public bashing as unholy
commercial and black money
making villains, most of these
schools were not allowed to
increase their fee for the last three
years and made to comply with all
sorts of rules and regulations.
According to SK Bhattacharya,
president of the Action Committee
of unaided private schools
4
discouraging private schools and
dismissing their role in education
which hold 30-40% of state's children
on their rolls, is detrimental for overall
education quality in the state.
“Interferences in day today matters is
irritating. While I agree some schools
may be erring or bad but to paint all
schools with the same brush is bad for
our autonomy. We have no objections
with regulations but it must not be
same as having a bureaucratic control.
With no fee hike allowed, our teacher
dissatisfaction has increased as there
is a sense of deprivation and heart
burn. Once Delhi topped the national
educational index but with populism
and vote bank politics, we are losing
that status,” he adds.
Sisodia's bluntly dismisses these talks
as according to him private schools
will not be allowed to works as shops.
“Under the law, education is not
profitable or saleable product and as
long as it is like so, we as a
government will enforce it,” he says
while adding that private school
lobbies are taking court route to stall
compliances of rules on one pretext or
the other.
One of the major grudges of private
schools is that government is not
providing equivalent amount of
recurring expenditure that much is
spent by it in its own schools under
EWS seats. The second issue is of
nature of utilization of development
fund, which can be utilized for
furniture, fixtures and equipments
only under Duggal Committee norms.
Late fee, online filing of return are
other contentious issues.
While government schools are
experiencing a definite change with all
stakeholders, children, teachers and
parents feeling having been owned up
by the system, it is too early to predict
which way the verdict is. Government
school teachers are today happy at
opportunities that the system is
creating for their involvement as their
minds have opened to best practices,
holistic perspectives and importantly
organized peer support. A visible
change as confirmed by Sisodia
himself is through happiness
curriculum, “There is a lot of positive
feedback about children become
sensitive to things like asking mother
if she has eaten and other inquiries
about social issues.”
At the same time, fundamentals still
remain shaky with 21000 guest
teachers comprising 38% of teachers
in government schools, more than half
of tense schools functioning without
proper principals, and amendments to
Delhi School Education Act still
looking remote. Accusation by critics
of turning school apparatus as vote
fetching tools and manufactured hype
to facilitate this is another area where
AAP is yet to offer satisfactory
defense. But despite all this counter
narrative, politicization of education
as an electoral issue by AAP
appreciatiable for the same reason, it
will force political spectrum to join
force and recognize education as a real
development issue.
 8 Curriculum January 16, 2020

VIEWS (Edit/Guest Column...)

OPINION:
Rising Violence and Unrest in the Country:
Vilifying universities is Collective Responsibility Needed To Ensure Harmony
a self-destructive mindset

I n what appears to be like reincarnation of the

mindset behind bombing and demolition of
Bamiyan Buddha statues in Afghanistan, a group of
vigilantes, is out to destroy country's top university,
JNU in public imagination and seek to undo a great T he rising incidences of violence
in premier educational institu-
By Dr. Nitesh Dhawan, Public Servant and Author

country. Huge responsibility lies on

their shoulders to take the nation
non-cooperation and non-violence
have proved that peaceful protests are
national service it has been doing. JNU is the only tions and nationwide protests of forward in all the spheres. It is powerful ways to morally defy the
central university, in fact the only varsity, among top students for various reasons have important for them to understand at other side, if one has the courage to
eight Indian institutes in the 2019 National Institutional raised serious questions regarding this juncture that such acts of standby with the truth. Similarly, the
Ranking Framework (NIRF). JNU is at the seventh spot repercussions on social structure of intolerance and hatred would only youth of the nation could take
and as a university at top. the country. India is known for its divide the country on sectarian lines. inspiration from the ideals of Swami
Notwithstanding the notoriety it has recently attained in values of peace and harmony implied In democratic traditions, it is not Vivekananda who called for youth
the public imagination, it is a place largely known for its in Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam which in uncommon to express one's views awakening in nation building.
rigorous scholarship, eminent faculty, versatile alumni, the recent times seem to have been and protest but the manner in which it The responsibility on the part of
and most importantly, for its vibrant democratic hurt by extremism in both speech and is done holds lot of significance. government is to listen to the student
environment. action. The social media has given a Once the demonstration becomes voices, even if they have differences
And when some people feel there is too much attention with the views of government laws
vent to such expressions of extreme violent, it loses its purpose the very
on JNU and student unrest is not representative of
opinions harming the social ambience moment. However, some institutions and policies. The dissenting opinions
campuses in general, they are surrendering to their fears
of the country. It's good to have strong have set an example of peaceful and beliefs should be accommodated
and ignorance. In fact, in most central universities,
views and beliefs but at the same time protests unlike many. in a mature democracy. This becomes
which are among the best India has, the student distress
public order and morality must be Political rivalries have become bitter much more significant in a heteroge-
and governance along with politicization and
maintained as inherently imbibed in with every election stimulated by neous country like ours which has
corruption—all is contributing to vitiated campus
the right to freedom of expression greed of power. The opponents are diversity in every aspect of life. The
environment and unease. The quality of education is
provided in the Constitution of India. behaving like enemies now. dialogue and debate should be the
taking a hit as well.
In its eagerness and hurry to foist itself over campuses, We use the word democracy very According to one estimate about 172 right way to find amicable solutions.
certain ideological forces are seeing active universities often but fail to accommodate views political killings took place between The government should be flexible
as bastions to be conquered. In the process youth power of dissent. The differences on range of 2001 and 2016. The recent example enough to hear from opposing
and value system of our universities are being abused. issues have gone on far ahead crossing has been the political violence in sections of the society and try to
From Allahabad University to Aligarh Muslim threshold limits of human tolerance. West Bengal in the 2019 general mitigate their doubts and apprehen-
University to Jadavpur University, the ideological The polarization on national issues is elections. The communal violence is sions on certain issues. The insecuri-
battles are playing over governance and real issues giving way to hate and violence also on the rise with 622 communal ties and fear of people must be
affecting higher education and aspirations of a youthful damaging social harmony. Then who incidences in 2017 in which 111 attended to in an effective manner.
nation. would take the responsibility for such people lost their lives and 2,384 were The violence in the country also sends
Institutions are not built overnight, it takes decades and chaos? We can't expect this from injured. a message of internal disharmony to
centuries and therefore organic growth and progressive others, as being citizens of the country On the occasion, when we are the international community which
mindset are enablers. In the digital age of individualism, we should take responsibility first to remembering Gandhiji on his 150th creates repulsion to invest and trade
if civilizational continuity and advancement as look at the larger picture and not birth anniversary, it is time to take a with. Also prospects of tourism get
communities is to be sustained than universities must instigate others for the sake of nation's leaf from the Gandhian ways of beating due to incongenial environ-
not be made battlefields but hubs of inclusive diversity peace and unity. protesting during the Indian national ment. The distrust starts to creep into
and egalitarian order. The ongoing anti-CAA and NRC movement for freedom. It is diplomatic relations. This hampers
JNU is in 50th year of its establishment. On this noteworthy to recall and mention that economic and foreign relations with
protests by youth of the country have
momentous milestone, this premier university has much Gandhiji revoked the non- other countries in the long run. In such
polarized sections of the society. The
to celebrate and obviously every Indian must take pride cooperation movement, once it a scenario, it is high time that
brutal attack on students of JNU by
in its academic, institutional and alumni achievements. became violent during Chauri conscious efforts should be made to
masked goons has created an
It has bolstered the image of country manifold through bring all the stakeholders to the table
atmosphere of fear in the educational Chaura incidence. Though many
these achievements as also done us proud in projecting and initiate a process of healthy
institutions. The institutions of disagreed with it, it only goes to show
our ethos, unity in diversity, democratic values,
academics are becoming battlefield of that the means decide the purity of discussions in order to restore peace
inclusive and multidisciplinary academic culture, high
political ideologies and nurturing end results. His ways of Satyagrah, and harmony.
end research, vibrant campus life. Above all as a show
piece and affordable public university its very presence hatred, violence and animosity. The
motivates even poor of the poorest young minds to student unions are playing in the
dream of an opportunity in higher education. And, the hands of their political masters. The CSIR partners to launch the Nature India Essay
Indian state therefore must not only nourish this premier university administration and law and Competition 2020
national institution of higher learning but protect it with order governance have let down the The Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) and Nature
all might if a need arises. people. The anarchy has become the Indiahave announced the Nature India essay competition 2020 to
However, what happened on the evening of January 5, order and peace is the causality. The provide young and experienced scientists, researchers and authors in India,
was an antithesis of all this proud nationalist backdrop. youth has become restless and a platform to share ideas on how societally-impactful science can advance
Goons armed with sticks, rocks, iron rods and other indulging into conflicts, disruption and strengthen the country.
objects entering the campus and then indulging in a and acts of vengeance. The real issues The Nature India essay competition is open for readers aged 25 to 50. The
mayhem that continued unchallenged for a couple of like unemployment, education , essayists will have an opportunity to draft a compelling narrative with
hours in the thick of dark is shameful. All this while, economic slowdown, rising crimes personal anecdotes, emotion and a science-backed story that may become
potentially historic in helping shape the roadmap for India's scientific future.
despite 100s of SoS calls made to city police went against women, inflation and
The essays should convey thoughts on the societal impact of science in India
unheeded and a lame university administration provided environmental challenges have taken in not more than 1000 words. The tone of the essays must be aspirational,
no timely support. Like a terrorist attack, the country a backseat. with emotions and story-telling. The essays should be reasoned, well-
was glued to a continuous coverage on TV news India proudly having a demographic researched, forward-looking and supported by existing science.
channels and watching helplessly and citizens were left dividend in the form of youth can't The submitted essays will be judged by a panel of editors, scientists and
wondering if a government existed. at all afford to dissipate energies of young science communicators. The deadline for completed essays is midnight,
While there is some hope that an investigation ordered population like this. Their potential India time, on March 9, 2020. The winners will have their essays published in
since will provide some answers to police inaction, yet needs to be channelised into nation the Nature India annual volume as well as the Nature India blog Indigenus.
the horrifying bleeding images of students and building activities and not in The top three essays will win a cash prize (Rs 40,000, Rs 30,000 and Rs
teachers and the pubic outrage calls for a thorough 20,000 or equivalent), a three-year subscription to Nature, trophies and
destroying the social fabric of the
overall and fixing responsibility. certificates.

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Curriculum January 16, 2020
UNICEF marks 70 years of partnership in India
UNICEF in India on Dec 11 celebrated 70 years of service for children in the country (1949-2019), marking its partnership with
the Government of India working to realise rights for every child everywhere in India. Towards Strengthening Accountability
for Children - 5th National Juvenile Justice Consultation held at the Supreme Court last month focused on child care reform
UNICEF began work in India on 10 May 1949 with just three staff The 5th National Roundtable on
members, providing equipment and technical assistance to set up of Effective Implementation of The
India's first penicillin plant, at Pimpri. Juvenile Justice (Care and
Today, UNICEF staff work with partners providing technical Protection) Act, 2015, jointly
assistance and advocating for child rights and services from New organized by the Supreme Court
Delhi and in 16 States. UNICEF's work for children in India spans of India and UNICEF on Dec 18,
policy and programmes related to nutrition, maternal and infant focussed on the need to respond to
health, water, sanitation and hygiene, education, and child protection, requirements of children without
including support to children and families during natural disasters. parental care through Child Care
UNICEF's approach is based on human rights with a focus on equality, Reform. The roundtable stressed
inclusion and support to those who are farthest behind. on the need to strengthen
In an open day on Dec 11, 2019 at the UNICEF India headquarters in alternative care such as foster
New Delhi, more than 500 school children and university students led care, standards and monitoring of
the celebrations participating in games and an interactive marketplace care in institutions, and prevention
showcasing child rights and the work of UNICEF with partners across
of family separation.
the country. Children from the Nine is Mine child rights campaign India has a large number of
performed an original rap song based on the Convention on the Rights children in institutional care. In
of the Child. the most recent study conducted
Grammy Award winning Indian composer and music producer Ricky by the government more than
Kej, who is also a UNICEF celebrity advocate, launched a special 370,000 children were identified
music video to mark the anniversary. Mr. Kej composed the lyrics of in 9,589 in child care institutions.
the 'Wake up! For Every Child' song through a crowd-sourcing activity The numbers are likely to be
involving more than 40 child advocates from across India. higher, as not all institutions are
registered. In recent years, India
“It is wonderful to open our doors to friends old and new today,
has passed legislation and policies
especially to school children as well as our former staff who dedicated
recognizing the principle of
so much of their lives to the cause of children in India, to our partners
family responsibility and
in Government, civil society and our generous donors and develop-
institutionalization as a measure
ment partners,” said Dr. Yasmin Ali Haque, UNICEF Representative
of last resort.
in India as she welcomed the guests. “The children here today remind
Approximately 300 people
us all of our shared mission to ensure that every girl and every boy in
participated in the conference,
India can survive, thrive and grow into responsible citizens.”
including chairpersons and senior
India continues to make important gains for children such as improv-
members of the Juvenile Justice
ing child survival rates, lifting millions out of poverty, reducing child
Committee of the Supreme Court
marriage and ensuring more girls and boys are now in school than ever
of India; High Court Juvenile
before. Yet much remains to be done.
Justice Committees; Child Rights
Today UNICEF is partnering with Government at national and state Commissions; Ministry of
level in major national programmes to support child rights for Women and Child Development
hundreds of millions of girls and boys across the country. (MWCD) other representatives of
UNICEF support includes to the Swachh Bharat Mission for water, the Government and NGOs from
sanitation and hygiene; and the critical nutrition work following the across the country, as well as
ground-breaking first ever Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey UNICEF.
At the roundtable consultation,
(CNNS) released this year; Intensified Mission Indradhanush, seeking
Ravinder Panwar, Secretary,
to lift immunization rates for children to 90 per cent.
MWCD outlined key policy and
programme initiatives including
recent revisions affecting child
protection services, and current
efforts to develop standards for
foster care and sponsorship
schemes. He also mentioned
strengthening legal provisions for
new forms of violence including
child pornography and online
child sexual abuse.
However, there was a recognition
that while India has made
significant progress in law and
policy, challenges remain in
FIVE KEY CONCLUSIONS OF THE CONSULTATION implementation.
First, the importance of increasing the focus on prevention of family
Justice Madan B. Lokur, Retired
separation, including by strengthening sponsorship and social
Judge, Supreme Court of India,
protection schemes, and also addressing violence against children.
highlighted the need for “focus on
Second, the need to standardize and bring to scale family-based
implementation of laws, on
models for children without parental care, including kinship models,
monitoring and necessary follow-
which are rooted in Indian generous culture and tradition.
up actions”.
Third, ensuring that all child care institutions are registered, and that
Hon'ble. Mr. Justice Deepak
there is a 'raise in the bar' in standards of care and services in institu-
Gupta, Judge Supreme Court of
tional care.
India and Chair, Juvenile Justice
Fourth, there was an agreement on the need to support adolescents
Committee, stressed the need to
under State care as they transition in adulthood.
focus on standards of care in
And finally, developing a child-centered national information
institutions and the challenges for
management system to follow up on children under alternative care.
youth leaving care. He urged duty
The conclusions are expected to inform the way forward and
holders to now focus on the
priorities for the Government, civil society and other stakeholders.
quality of services for children,
especially for children who are
under the care of institutions.
“Even the best institutions have a
shortfall on emotional quotient –
love,” he said.
Panelists also reiterated the
importance of monitoring tribal
hostels and residential schools
which do not fall under the
purview of the Juvenile Justice
Act. Some representatives
highlighted the case of
Muzaffarpur or Panvel shelter
homes, where girls were allegedly
sexually abused, as examples of
the consequences of not raising
those standards.
Swetha, a 20-year old adolescent
girl who grew up in child care
institutions and is now pursuing
her BSc in Mathematics, gave
testimony of some of the
challenges that she had faced
while transitioning into adult-
hood. She gave examples of the
consequences of the isolation
faced by children and adolescents
who grow up in institutions,
which impact their financial and
other foundational skills. “Even
when the old bank notes were
banned, some did not know that
this had happened, and they did
not know what the new currency
notes looked like.”
Panelists also emphasized the
need to increase the number of
children without parental care
who can access alternative
family-based care, such as foster
or kindship care arrangements.
Odisha and Himachal Pradesh
States presented successful
models in this regard.
Hon'ble Dr. D Y Chandrachud,
Judge, Supreme Court of India
shared a personal experience
which highlighted how personal
commitment of foster carers can
make remarkable changes to the
circumstances of neglected
children, especially girls. “In my
many years on the bench I have
seen instances of grave depriva-
tion where the system has failed
children who needed care and
protection, I have also seen some
amazing examples of people who
have come to their rescue and
given them the love and affection
they yearned!”
There is global evidence that
while the number of children in
large scale institutions is
decreasing, the number of
children separated from their
families is increasing. Evidence
also indicates that it can be ten
times more cost-effective to
support parents with social
services than to fund orphanages.
UNICEF Representative Dr.
Yasmin Ali Haque highlighted the
need for family-based care
9
Spotlight
saying, “We can't emphasize
enough the need to keep children
in families and avoid unnecessary
separation. Families are the
fundamental unit of society and
the natural environment where
children can best acquire their full
potential.”
Children's vulnerability to
violence increases when they are
without parental care. Many
panelists reiterated the impor-
tance of addressing violence
against children.
Dr. Haque, emphasized, “We need
to look at ways to socially and
systemically prioritize prevention
in all our work. This goes beyond
care reforms and should look at
ensuring children live and thrive
in protective environments free
from violence. Unfortunately,
media reports continue to remind
us how much work needs to be
done. This requires us to work
with communities, faith leaders,
opinion leaders, influencers, to
adopt community behaviors that
nurture children, recognize the
value of girls, and are violence
free.”
A study in 2018 identified as
many as 1,575 victims of sexual
abuse of children in institutions
(1,286 girls and 286 boys).
The Judiciary has been collabo-
rating with UNICEF in its efforts
to build adequate structures and
systems for the effective
implementation of the Juvenile
Justice Act at the National and
State levels. This year the focus
has been on alternative care,
standards of care in institutions
and monitoring mechanisms with
a special focus on a standard
record-based management of
information systems.
There were five key conclusions
of the Consultation.
First, the importance of increas-
ing the focus on prevention of
family separation, including by
strengthening sponsorship and
social protection schemes, and
also addressing violence against
children.
Second, the need to standardize
and bring to scale family-based
models for children without
parental care, including kinship
models, which are rooted in
Indian generous culture and
tradition.
Third, ensuring that all child care
institutions are registered, and
that there is a 'raise in the bar' in
standards of care and services in
institutional care.
Fourth, there was an agreement on
the need to support adolescents
under State care as they transition
in adulthood.
And finally, developing a child-
 10 Curriculum January 16, 2020

Interview/Special

Ravi Santlani, tCo-under & CEO of ScooNews

‘We want to bring a big and positive change in school education

through our heightened focus on educators'
From a happy-go-lucky founder at Ascot International with a 3-year work life in Africa's Tanzania to getting
into education media business, Ravi Santlani, the founder-CEO of ScooNews based in Jaipur, is a tale of how
education sector is attracting a lot of new business leaders wanting to change the face of education in India. A
childhood friendship with UK-based IT business honcho and Managing Director of Dotsquares Ltd, Bahul
Chandra, changed his destiny as the two founded EduPulse Media Pvt Ltd in 2016. The company now brings
out monthly ScooNews magazine and also organizes conferences for educators from time to time. Autar Nehru
had a conversation with him on his new journey and edtech trends

Ravi, your coming into
education sector and that too in
school education space must
have a background and history.
Can you briefly go back a little
and tells us about the events
that shaped your present
engagement, which I am sure is
a very passionate for you?
I was living a great life in
Tanzania where I had moved in
2012 as part of my work. I have
wonderful memories of all those
three years I spent there and I
must say I have learned a lot
about human values and
compassion there and things like
traffic sense despite people
calling it a 3rd world country.
Then, my mother back in Jaipur
was diagnosed with cancer and I
had to come back to look after her
and treatment. Unfortunately,
despite our all out effort, she
passed away after two years and I
was left devastated and practi-
cally back to square one on my
career path. So, one day at a
coffee with my childhood friend,
Bahul Chandra, he tossed up the
question, what next? At that time,
I thought of healthcare and
education as recession proof
industries and we discussed
possibilities.
And you preferred education?
Actually Bahul being a techie and
success IT entrepreneur
encouraged me and we first
founded AddADot Technologies
and came up with an app (Scoo
Talks) to replace school dairies
with the intent of chaining the
communication between parents
and schools through technology.
It was when we wanted to place
an advertisement for our product
that we looked at education
magazines. What was available
was not what we wanted,
engaging content and formats.
Therefore, we then decided to
create own education media
platform and that's how
ScooNews came into being.
And what happened to your
earlier business of Scoo Talks?
This is a known fact that in India
out of 100 startups, 50-60 don't
survive the first year itself and
we did for two years without
losing any money but despite our
best efforts, we couldn't go very
far and shut operations in India.
Now it continues in UK only.
Ok. Now coming to ScooNews,
what is mission or vision
statement about your
plarform?
This idea to start ScooNews was
basically the thought and which
we follow with religious vision
is that if you need a positive
change in school education in
India, we need to focus on
teachers and educators. Because
if we can change the way they
think, they teach and upgrade
their skills to next level, we'll be
able to see the change that we
wish in next one or two decades.
This thought also gives a sense of
satisfaction and giving back if
you could inspire some from
among your thousands of
readers, encourage replication of
successes and also inspires
young generation towards
teaching careers, and that's what
our focus is.
Technology is also your forte
and with Bahul in the founding
team, you may have developed
good insights into education
technology. First let's talk
about early bird companies like
Educomp and others that soon
followed similar footsteps,
couldn't maintain leadership in
school education sector. Have
you ever thought on that?
To begin with, I have highest
regard for founder of Educomp,
Shantanu Prakash as he is the one
who brought ed tech revolution in
India and at one point some 23000
schools used his products &
services, which remain by far
largest in the whole Asia. He hired
skilled people, who spent time in
schools and thus created space for
other players to come. So, he is
also the leader, who made it
possible for others to enter into
schools.
Having said this, looking back,
even from our experience, I can
tell you selling to schools in India
is not only toughest but difficult
as well. The sales cycle deal
maturing ranges from six months
to three years. Jokingly, it is easy
to meet Prime Minister than a
principal of a school here.
That's a valid observation and
many people will agree.
Coming back to topic, I would say
teachers in the initial period were
not ready to adapt to technology.
The issue was skilling of teachers,
which didn't happen the way it
should have. It was like putting
cart before the horse. Something
before time and pushing across
entire thing across the table
without developing understand-
ing and utility of technology, so it
is a story of a change with usual
hiccups.
Well taken, now let's talk about
how much technology and what
technologies can schools and
children absorb given the
rapidity and fluidity of technol-
ogy development besides so
many companies in competition
with similar offers?
As I said, many school manage-
ments in the past burnt their
fingers on technology or product
acquisition as by the time school
settled on it, either the product
became obsolete or the company
ceased to be there. But I can say in
the last decade and especially in
last a few years schools have
figured it out. Much of it moves
now with referrals of successes.
As a well-knit community,
especially principals do share
good experiences and that way
the flow is from top of the pyramid
downwards—after some schools
have adopted and integrated and
proved good, it then moves to
more schools replicating it. But I
must say there are thousands of
schools in the country, which
haven't yet got the basic ERP of
this technology revolution. Still
lots of gaps.
Yo u a g re e t e c h n o l o g y i s
indispensible and there is no
way without it?
Absolutely. I was taught almost
the same way my father was. But
my children are different, they are
digital natives. Tech is the new
language in which they communi-
cate and you have to provide for it
and change your ways as well.
When I was in school, we used to
dissect frog in biology practical
class and after a while dissection
of frogs was banned. Now with use of
VR, students can travel through frog
and get a 6-dimesional sense of what
is inside the frog or for that matter for
a car enthusiast kid, who can take any
car layer by layer to see how its engine
and combustion works. The days of
memorization are over, now is the age
of understanding concepts and then
moving on from there. Handwriting
will not be important for children but
working on laptops, MS office, Apple
and other interfaces, chrome books
and a host of other stuff. So, if you
have to go into future, you have to
walk with time as was said by
Mahatma Gandhi.
So, in a way you are endorsing VR
like technologies?
Yes, setting up of these labs is now
easy. There are various players who
have really wonderful stuff prepared
in accordance with curriculum of our
boards. I see, the scene rapidly
transforming in next coming years.
Gamification of learning has started
and things like Google expedition
will give students a new high in
experiential learning.
Coming back to your own story,
you are also talking about creating
Edbank. What is it?
It is a dream I have been living with.
Essentially, we want to create a
platform for teachers where they can
come and build themselves as a
community, share their learning and
create resources for fellow teachers.
We are hoping to roll it out in next six
months.

Braille Maths Books developed by team of international researchers

University of Birmingham and institutions in the US, this could soon
change.
A team that includes experts from Towson University, in Maryland, the
University of Puget Sound, in Washington, and the National Federation of
the Blind, as well as from the University of Birmingham, has developed an
online system that will overcome some of the main challenges to
producing a Braille version of a textbook. These include representing the
structure and the layout of the book – since in Braille all letters are the
produce accessible maths content on the web, so the conversion to Braille
was a natural extension of that work.”
The project as a whole was initially set up by Martha Siegel, a Professor
Emerita from Towson University, and Al Maneki, a retired NSA
mathematician serving as a senior STEM advisor to the National
Federation of the Blind in the US. This led to a larger collaboration, formed
in January 2019, with the help of the American Institute of Mathematics,
through its connections in the maths research and maths education

A n international team of
researchers has
developed a method for
easily creating textbooks in
Braille, with an initial focus on
maths textbooks.
Mathematics and science Braille
textbooks are expensive and time-
consuming to produce, but thanks
to innovations developed at the
same size and shape – and representing maths formulas, graphs and
diagrams.
Mathematical formulas are typically represented using the Nemeth
Braille Code, initially developed in the 1950s. The Nemeth Braille in this
project is produced by an open source system called Speech Rule Engine,
which operates within MathJax, a software package designed to display
maths formulas on webpages.
Dr Volker Sorge, of the School of Computer Science at the University of
Birmingham, is a member of the MathJax consortium working on the
project. He says: “We have made great progress in having MathJax
communities. “This project is about equity and equal access to
knowledge,” comments Professor Siegel.
Braille text in the project is produced using a system called PreTeXt,
developed by Professor Rob Beezer, at the University of Puget Sound in
Washington. PreTeXt is used to automatically produce text in print, online
and other versions – innovations by the team mean that Braille can be
produced as one more output format.
The production of tactile images is the most difficult problem faced in
producing braille textbooks. Akexei Kolesnikov, a maths professor at
Towson University in Maryland, is the lead developer for it.
Curriculum January 16, 2020 11

Careerwsie

Handling the final stage Civil Services Interview

For those have cracked two crucial most stages of the exam already, and are looking forward to the third
and most decisive phase i.e the Interview, A K Mishra, Director, Chanakya IAS Academy offers some

U PSC conducted Civil

Services, being such
coveted and highly aimed for
SOME EFFECTIVE
TIPS:
1. Be regular with Newspaper
career options, not only promises
Reading – As a Civil Services
job security and a decent salary
aspirants, you must by now be
package, but also offers you back
well versed about the importance
a sense of satisfaction when you
of Newspaper reading for the
serve the diverse society towards
coverage of current affairs and
their collective benefit.
factual part of the examination.
The final stage being equally
Religiously following
challenging and important to get
Newspapers helps you get much
through to make place in the final
aware of the happenings around
list, it is important to handle
you and frame your own
interview and face the board of
opinions on various situations of
competent observers who will
National & International
judge you based on your
personality, communication
importance. Interview questions
could be around anything and
skills including both verbal and
being prepared is the best you
non-verbal, your body language,
can do.
your decision-making skills and
2. Upskill your hobbies - Since
many other factors.
the very childhood, we have
Crucially decisive phase of Civil
been motivated by our parents to
Services Examination, Interview
develop a constructive hobby
or personality Test, unlike the
and nurture it. But with time we
previous 2 stages, (Prelims and
often tend to get over it. Hobbies
Main) does not have any defined
are not always a pastime activity,
syllabus. The board members
but if nurtured well, it can help
seek your explanations and
you explore another dimension
logical views on current
of your personality and fine tune
happenings, Government
your inbuilt skill or talent. And
initiatives and the current issues
this is why UPSC gives
being faced by the people in our
importance to hobbies at the
country. Majorly, the test will
interview round to understand
revolve around your Detailed
the true personality and inbuilt
Application Form (DAF) that
talent of a candidate. We all have
will speak much about you, so
a hobby; we just need to nurture
ensure filling it up very carefully,
it. So, now take that hobby
as it represents your academic
s e r i o u s l y, g a i n s o u n d
and personal background, your
background knowledge about it
likes & dislikes, your hobbies and
and get ready to be questioned on
your overall personality. As
the same lines at UPSC
major part of your interview will
Interview round.
be based on your DAF, you will
3 UPSC Mock Interview are a
also be assessed on your way of
must – Mock Interviews are
presenting your views, your
crucial in preparation for Civil
communication, (both verbal and
Services personality test as they
non-verbal) along with your
give you a sense of real Interview
knowledge on the topics of your
scenario and get you prepared
interest.
for the real quest. Facing an
Practicing before going for the
eminent panel from the Civil
final quest is equally important,
Services Industry itself will help
and therefore, enrolling for mock
you boost your confidence to
interviews is strongly
speak yourself in a more
recommended.
professional manner, keeping
your point efficiently. While Mock
interviews help you understand the
psychology of the Panel members;
efficient administrator and, hence you
are expected to present the best of
who you are and effectively handle
the post Interview discussion with
the questions. This is your chance to
the panel further helps you analyse
show the panel and the world the best
the weaker areas of your
version of you and outshine your
personality and improvise on them.
capabilities by cracking UPSC Civil
Hence taking up at least 2 to 3
Services Examination. Be who you
Mock Interviews with a reputed
are, present your views maintaining a
IAS Academy is a must to excel in
humble tone, respect the panel and
Civil Services Interview phase.
show the required traits of your
4. Prepare yourself mentally –
personality like empathy, decision
Candidates preparing for the most
making skills, leadership, etc.
coveted Civil Services
wherever required.
examination, often tend to clog
their mind with the overloaded
burden of information required to
DO'S DON'TS
excel in the initial 2 stages, Prelims a) Confidence is the key: Civil
Services Interview is more than a) Don't panic: You are sitting at a
and Mains; but then Interview
just an Interview. As mentioned place where thousands dream to
demands more stable, calm and
already it is a complete personality reach. Respect yourself enough for
composed mind. If you are sure
test assessing a candidate's this very fact and do not panic in any
that you know things and the
suitability for the very responsible situation. Be very confident and keep
related concepts are clear, you can
position of Civil Administrator. your views before the panel. Even in
easily crack the interview with
You are sitting at this very reputed case of a difference in opinion, be
your confidence. So, don't just mug
office to give a life changing very calm and take the arguments of
up the information but prepare
interview, so be confident and the opposite side in an accepting way.
yourself. Practice speaking on
believe in your capabilities. Do not get nervous or panic if proved
important topics with your
Maintain a decently upright wrong. You at-least tried responding
seniors/elders and try to be parts of
posture while sitting and eye to the best of your knowledge and the
discussions and debates. Read
contact with the panel members at panel will acknowledge the fact.
news stories and try to identify the
all the time. When you are
important associated aspects and
interactive with the panel and they b) Over-confidence ruins it up: The
the connection with the other
can feel your involvement in the exam panel is highly experienced and
events that are happening around
discussion, you are sure to leave an reputed in their own fields and
us. The more you practice speaking
impact. therefore don't try to be over
your point with logical reasoning,
confident in front of them. Keep your
the better are the chances to crack
b) Be Concise: Panel at the UPSC opinion efficiently, but don't argue to
Civil Services Interview, as the
Interview is keenly looking for prove your point. Along with a good
interviewers only want to know
confident leaders who can be team speaker, be an efficient listener.
how smartly you can handle a
players at the same time. Ensure, Balance the discussion with a light
simple or tricky question or a
through your answers, that you let and healthy conversation.
situation.
them know that you are that
deserving person. Express your c) Avoid fidgeting all the time: This
views and points to whatever is is one habit the examiners will never
being asked, but make sure you are appreciate and hence you must avoid
to the point with a concised fidgeting with your hands, clothes,
approach. Try not being repetitive handkerchief or anything.
In case you fail to attend the
with your logics or words, stay
Interview on the scheduled date
around the topic and frame
and time, you will be considered
interesting answers, as your
absent at the Interview and will not
audience will have all their ears to
get another chance to appear
you.
before the Interview Panel for this
2. Present the best version of
attempt.
you: UPSC Panel is seeking a very

New Delhi World Book Fair 2020 commemorated Mahatma Gandhi as a writer

T he 28th edition of the annual

New Delhi World Book Fair
2020 (NDWBF) from Jan 4-12 at
PragatiMaidan in New Delhi this
year was themed as 'Gandhi: The
Writers' Writer' to commemorate
the 150th Birth Anniversary
celebrations of his. Mahatma
Gandhi was a prolific writer,
editor, publisher, Printer and
Institution Builder. He wrote
extensively in Gujarati, Hindi
and English languages. His
writings not only reflected his
philosophy of non-violence and
peace but also gave an insight
into the socio-economic and
political scenario of the country.
The theme is an attempt to give
booklovers a glimpse of how
Mahatma Gandhi, a great
strategic communicator, inspired
and influenced generations of
writers and how the writers
understood and emulated
Gandhiji in words.
In the specially designed
pavilion (inspired by Sabarmati
Ashram), with hand-spun
materials as wall cladding; there
will be an exclusive exhibition of
500 books of 100 publishers on
and by Gandhi in different Indian
languages, as well as 30 panel
discussions, book launches and
performances related to the
theme. The archival materials on
display at the Theme pavilion are
from Navjivan Trust, Ahmedabad
and National Gandhi Museum,
New Delhi.
Earlier while inaugurating the fair
on Jan 4, Union Human Resource
Development Minister Ramesh
Pokhriyal said that we are in the
midst of ocean of books and this
Mahakumbh of books is filled with
thoughts, the thoughts which give
power to humanity. “The world
today is facing several challenges
including terrorism. He added that
the world, the nation, the society
and all individuals, need Gandhi
because of his vision and his
philosophy of peace and non-
violence,” he said. The Minister
also urged publishers to promote
books and the habit of reading as
people are moving away from
books, and a book fair like the
NDWBF ensures that books and
reading is preserved and increases.
For attention
Prof. Girishwar Misra, eminent
Gandhian scholar, spoke in detail
of institutions
about the life and teachings of Notices Beyond 200
Mahatma Gandhi. He said that words will be
Mahatma Gandhi was the Man of considered classified
Century. He showed the path of
truth, peace and non-violence
advertisements and
because of his wide reading of therefore published only
books including Gita, Quran and against payments.
Bible. A discounted rate of Rs
20 per centimetre
column will apply. Min
100 cm col
Thank you
 12
University News
NSE Centre for Behavioral Science in Finance, CANR, MSU AgBioResearch to partner with
Economics and Marketing inaugurated at IIMA Michigan State University's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
The NSE Centre for
Behavioural Science in
Finance, Economics and
Marketing was inaugurated at
Indian Institute of Management
Ahmedabad last month by
inaugurated by Dr Arvind
Subramanian, Economist and
former Chief Economic
Adviser, GOI with Prof. Errol
D'Souza, Director, IIMA; Mr
Ravi Varanasi, Chief Business
Development Officer, NSE and
Prof. Arvind Sahay, Professor
of Marketing and International
Business, IIMA.
This Centre is going to be the
first of its kind in a management
institution in the region with
sophisticated infrastructure and
technology to conduct
experiments in how different
aspects of behavioural science
impacts processes and
outcomes in markets. The
objective of the Centre is to
undertake knowledge creation
in a range of topics related to
business issues in financial
markets and financial services
that would be insightful to help
decision making for
policymakers, individual retail
investors, fund managers,
“It is academicians' responsibility to suggest to
industry what problems they can solve for them rather
than expect industry to invite them”: NRN at IIMB's
Future of Learning Conference 2020
The third edition of the Annual
Future of Learning Conference
2020 (FoL 2020) was hosted by
IIM Bangalore from January 3 to
4, 2020, with this year's theme
being 'Learning to Learn,
Unlearn and Relearn:
Flourishing in the Age of
Disruptions and Innovation'.
The event brought together
academic leaders, policymakers,
industry experts and
technologists for brainstorming
sessions, showcasing innovation
and sharing knowledge along
three paradigms of the future of
learning: to learn, unlearn and
relearn.
Massive technology-led
disruptions in the educational
sector have compelled both
individuals and institutions to
respond, adaptively. These, in
turn, have facilitated the
emergence of new pedagogies
using adaptive learning,
personalized learning as well as a
host of new pedagogical
approaches.
The conference saw speakers
from tech companies and premier
education institutions like
Infosys, Capgemini, TCS,
NASSCOM, edX, Fidelity
Investments, Mercer Mettl, IIT
Bombay, IIT Madras, and more,
addressing questions around
learnability in the context of
Industry 4.0.
“Education is learning to learn,”
remarked N R Narayana Murthy,
Somaiya Vidyavihar
traders, analysts, wealth
advisors, other managers and
leaders. In the process it would
build high-quality research,
analytics, and insightful
knowledge on a range of topics
related to business issues in the
Indian financial markets and
financial services across different
stakeholders. The agreement was
signed between NSE, NSE IPFT
and IIM A to set up centre for
Behavioural Science in Finance,
Economics and Marketing at
IIMA.
Mr. Vikram Limaye, MD & CEO,
NSE said, “Capital markets
penetration continues to be low in
Chairman Emeritus and Co-
founder of Infosys, at the FoL
2020 conference. “Learning
broadens one's horizon, improves
judgements, instils critical
learning, enhances curiosity, and
helps them walk the path, reach
the unattained goals, and solve
the future problems of the
society,” he said.
One of the complexities at the
time of information overload is to
identify ways to channelize
information and take up the right
approach to learn. “Experts in
education should realize that
youngsters must be equipped
with fundamental learnings and
be able to apply them to
understand and solve problems
around them.”
“The future of education is
digital,” declared Anant Agarwal,
Founder and CEO of edX and
faculty at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT), in
a plenary session. Based on
various research studies
conducted by edX, he said that
amongst the various challenges
business leaders must overcome
today, reskilling, retaining, and
recruiting are vital ones. He
added, “About 75% of the
workforce would comprise
millennials by the next decade.
Tomorrow's learning will be
digital, which will be connected,
on-demand and modular, mobile,
flexible, and personalized.”
Varun Garg, VP Learning,
India compared to advanced
markets. Societal and behavioural
aspects tend to play a pivotal role in
shaping savings and investment
habits of the population.
Behavioural science tools have
been advancing over the years and
cou ld unearth deep r oo ted
behavioural patterns and biases.
Insights gleamed from such
research could throw new light on
our understanding and help shape
policies that could spread the
benefits of capital markets to a
wider section of the population. It is
in this context that we are working
with a premier academic institution
like IIMA to advance the frontiers
of behavioural science research in
India.”
UpGrad, Amit Goyal, CEO, edX
India, Bibin Shivas, Head
Customer Success - Asia Pacific,
Coursera, and Nishit Jain, Special
Advisor, EFMD Global Network
Asia, participated in a panel
discussion on 'The Future of
Professional Education',
moderated by Ramya Srinivasan,
Program Director,
VentureBasecamp. Personalized
learning, pathway skilling, learner
engagement, agility, and creating
the right degree of motivation for
learners that will help drive future
education towards digitalization,
were some of the key points that
came up during the panel-audience
interaction.
Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty, Chair,
Board of Governors, IIM
Bangalore, observed, in his
keynote address at the event, “We
tend to overestimate the effect of
technology in the short run and
underestimate it in the long run.
Everything is going to be
disrupted. We should be ready to
embrace the change.”
Curriculum January 16, 2020
(CANR) and MSU AgBioResearch will collaborate with Somaiya
Vidyavihar, Mumbai for Global Alliance on Sustainable Development.
Research and Projects will be executed with faculty and students from Under
Graduate & Post Graduate programmes of both partner institutions. Potential
collaboration opportunities include soil health, probiotics and microbial
solutions, eco-friendly packaging from agricultural waste, big data and
precision agriculture, healthy food choices, bioenergy and renewable energy.
A team of Somaiya Vidyavihar visited MSU where they signed a letter of
intent for a long term commitment to this Global Alliance. Samir Somaiya,
Vice-Chancellor, Somaiya Vidyavihar University said 'As our world grows
increasingly smaller, our problems and solutions to them need to be
addressed together. It is my hope and belief that this partnership between
Michigan State University and Somaiya Vidyavihar will bring a fresh
perspective and approach to attempt to solve many problems that the world
faces today.'
The inter & multidisciplinary projects will encourage and enablecapacity
building &development of skill sets of our faculty and students,opportunity
to be part of mega-projects funded by global funding agencies & foundations
and enable research projects with on-ground applications. Additionally our
students and faculty will benefit from global exposure through the exchange
programs, and inculcate research vigour.
Business incubators at IIM Kozhikode and
NID Ahmedabad collaborate for start-ups
Laboratory for Innovation, Venturing and Entrepreneurship (LIVE) at the
premier Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kozhikode signed an MoU
with National Design Business Incubator (NDBI) of National Institute of
Design, Ahmedabad, recently. The MoU brings two institutes of national
importance in two diverse domains - design and management – together to
collaborate and create offerings that may boost innovation and venture
support ecosystem in the country.
This is the first time in India that a business incubator hosted at a business
school has struck an alliance with another one at a design school. This may
further encourage diverse stakeholders to connect with each other to create a
more vibrant startup ecosystem needed for superior innovations and
successful new ventures.
Elaborating further Professor Keyoor Purani, Executive Director, IIMK
LIVE, said “In our experience, we find that the startups, generally,
undermine the role of visual and functional aesthetics, as science and
technology have been traditionally overwhelming in new product
development process. Indian startups particularly need to realize how both
design thinking and design experience play significant role in developing and
launching successful solutions. Under the MoU, a series of interventions are
being chalked out to leverage strengths of the respective host institutes”.
Joint workshops, publications, resource sharing, co-incubation, task-based
mentoring are some of the areas that the tie-up is likely to facilitate. Not only
start-ups incubated at the respective incubators at IIMK and NID would
benefit from this, but other start-ups in greater ecosystems too would be
impacted.
SAS and VESIM Collaborate for Mental
Health Challenges
SAS and B-school VESIM, hosted the second edition of “Data Quezt”, a
specially curated hackathon that leveraged data analytics to solve a very
pertinent problem prevalent amongst many students across India today. The
second edition of Data Quezt focused on potential of depression and suicide
especially amongst the university students in India and how analytics could
help to detect patterns of depression and suicide amongst students, and
prevention measures for stakeholders using SAS tools.
Data Quezt witnessed a record participation, an increase of 180% over last
year. After two rounds of eliminations 80 students were selected to be a part
of 24-hour hackathon held at the VESIM campus. The championship kicked
off with a keynote address by Dr. Satish Modh, Director, VESIM who spoke
on the importance of data-based decision making. “As data turns into a
commodity it is crucial for students to learn how data can be an important tool
for decision making and how data should be interpreted. The way to approach
this would be through developing skills like analytics, judgmental diversity
management and understanding & responding to diversity. These skills
should be incorporated in management school curriculum, and hackathons
offer that additional avenue for students to implement their theoretical
knowledge and solve real-world challenges.”
At the end of the 24 hours challenge, the participants submitted their analysis
reports to the jury and 10 groups were shortlisted to present their findings.
The participants were given an interesting problem statement on a
humanitarian issue pertaining to depression levels and suicides. They were
allocated two datasets: one on the number of suicides for various age,
profession groups for men and women across the states over 14 years. The
second data set was on depression levels in students and their demographical
and behavioral patterns collected through a survey of around 14,000
students. All teams managed to do a very in-depth analysis, however; there
were top three teams that stood out with well thought analytical models and
approach to problem solving. The winners of Data Quezt were: Group 1 :
Palak Davda, Mohit Badve and Vinal Bagaria; Group 2: Parth Jardosh and
Shloka Shah and Group 3: Ronak Jain, Shubham Dalvi and Shubham
Curriculum January 16, 2020 13

School News

34 Schools participate in 'Infinity 2020 - Suncity School hosts 12th Annual Fiesta
'Saturnalia' 2019
The Ultimate Math Championship' Suncity School, Gurugram recently organised the 12th edition of its Annual
Extravaganza 'Saturnalia' amidst dazzling lights, rocking music and
One 100 students from 34 problems and solutions to a in bridging the gap between the
breathtaking performances. The event was attended by eminent dignitaries
schools in India and abroad poster making round where Mathematics experienced by
like Dr. Sarvesh Naidu, Director, Pathways School, Laxmi Narain Goel,
participated in the 6th edition of students had to create solutions school students and Dr. Ranendra
Managing Trustee, Suncity Schools, Ankit Goel, Chairman, Suncity
'Infinity 2020 – The Ultimate and present them through a N. Saha, Director of BITS Pilani
Schools, Rupa Chakravarty, Director, Suncity Schools.
Math Championship' - the creative hand-made poster. The Dubai Campus as the Guests of The program highlighted the school's theme for the year, 'Nurture Nature',
annual Inter-School event also had an individual Honor. which in today's times is of utmost significance. Emanated with a welcome
Mathematics Competition - evaluation round called 'Clash of Infinity is the brainchild of Prodipta
speech by the Chairman, Mr. Ankit Goel who enhanced the glory of the
hosted by Aditya Birla World Mathematicians' where students Hore, Coordinator of International
function and need for progressive education.
Academy in association with were given a set of 30 questions Initiatives at Aditya Birla World The event commenced on a melodious note with Bahar, the rendition of Raag
BITS Pilani to bring out their to solve, followed by a round of Academy. The principle objective Ahir Bhairav by the school orchestra. The play in English portrayed the
mathematical best. The event 'Math Challengers' where of organizing this contest is to importance of being “Simple and Good” in today's day and time, especially
was held on 10th-11th January students were given 10 questions inculcate a feeling of love for with the deteriorating social and moral values.
2020 in Mumbai. arranged in increasing order of Mathematics through fun rounds of The Hindi play - Antogathwa drew attention to the growing mechanization of
The winners of 'Mathematician difficulty which they had to solve learning and bring together a the world where the human emotions and values are devoid of its sensitivity
of the Year' Gold Certificate & within 30 minutes. community of Mathematics to nature, thus losing its touch with peace and humanity. The mesmerizing
Trophy were Anupsa Swain An interesting round was 'Pass teachers and students on a platform finale, Magnum Opus- 'Conglomerate' had students performing aerial acts
from Navrachana School, the Baton' which is like a sports where they could learn from each and stunts to the pulsating beats of techno music.
Vadodara and Ivan Toth- relay where each question's other and share their ideas. On this special occasion Director Rupa Chakravarty presented her annual
Rohonyi from Mahindra United solution is passed on to the next Radhika Sinha, Principal, Aditya report in a prologue that had the audio visual showcased the various
World College of India, Pune. team member to solve another Birla World Academy said, international and national achievements of the school in academics, co-
Navrachana School, Vadodara problem. The competition ended “Through this competition, we aim curricular and sports.
won Gold Certificate & Trophy with a round of 'Quizzitch' with to develop the skills of students, Mihika Deshpande (AIR 3 in Grade X CBSE 2019) and Ayush Verma
in Clash of Mathematicians the five best teams and the two whose value far transcends (Science Topper of the State Grade XII CBSE 2019) were also felicitated
Round, Quizzitch and as overall teams that could answer most Mathematics. Rounds are designed among the other prize winners.
Champions. The Scindia questions won. to constitute the most effective way Boy from Thane wins Champion of Champions
School, Gwalior and Mahindra Infinity 2020 saw presence of of discovering and nurturing
United World College of India, luminaries such as Dr. James mathematical talent and to help trophy and cash prize worth ₹30,000 at Mental
Pune won Gold Certificate & Tanton, a research students dispel the myth about Arithmetic Competition 2020
Trophy for Bulb Your Ideas and mathematician deeply interested Mathematics as either a difficult, Proving mind-bending math capabilities, 9-year-old Siddharth Saboo
Pass the Baton respectively. dull or a tedious subject.” (Thane) and three other Mumbai-based students have won the 16th State-
The competition had a very Level Abacus & Mental Arithmetic competition held on Sunday, January 12
interesting take on Mathematics in Mumbai. Saboo's win helped him lift the 'Champion of Champions' title
and was curated to ensure that trophy and bag a cash prize worth ₹ 30,000.
4,000 UCMAS students across Maharashtra had participated in the UCMAS
students solve problems at
Abacus & Mental Arithmetic Competition 2020 between the age groups of 4-
every stage. Starting from an 14 years. The complex text involved solving 200 mathematical problems in 8
Ice-breaker session, where minutes, using only the abacus or mental maths. The final four winners are all
students introduced themselves Mumbaikars from different Mumbai-based UCMAS centres.
to each other using math The other winners for this prestigious contest included Aditya Satyanarayan
Gowds from Prerna Academy on Mira Road (Foundation Module
Champion), Ronil Ravi Aswani from Bhavya Ucmas Academy in
Ulhasnagar (Construction Module Champion) and Sharvari Dinesh Velkar
from Aspire Academy in Bandra East (Advance Model Champion). The trio
Mini Med School demo Students from 450 BMC received a cash award of ₹ 6,000 each and an additional 'Champions' reward
Mini Med School is organised by St. George's University, Grenada, in schools will now be of ₹ 3,000.
association with Ramaiah University to expose students of 10th and Dr. Snehal Karia, President & CEO of UCMAS India, Dr. Chris Chew,
trained in filmmaking by Executive Director of UC International (Malaysia), Wong Zi- UC
12thgrade to the exciting world of opportunities in medicine in India
and around the world. This 3-day workshop at Ramaiah Medical
WWI International (Malaysia) and Anjana Roy, Principal of PDMP IES Primary
Mumbai's Whistling Woods School were invited as chief guests for the competition and felicitated the
College was designed in the last week of December last as a precursor to International (WWI) will spread winners.
medical school to encourage school students to consider medicine as a its expertise to students of Primary CBS Education Pvt Ltd, the Master Franchisee for UCMAS (Mumbai
career. & Secondary sections of 480 region), had organised the competition. CD Mishra, Director of CBS
Approximately 22 rising high school juniors and seniors participated in Brihanmumbai Municipal Education, gushed over the win and said, "It is a very proud moment for us.
the workshop where they were introduced to the medical terminologies, Corporation (BMC) schools Our main objective behind organising this competition is to find abacus
instruments and devices. This session featured introductory sessions on across Mumbai in order to foster genius and to develop a healthy competitive spirit among the children while
Heart & Cardiovascular System, Lungs & Pulmonary system, Nervous the love for the art of filmmaking. giving them an opportunity and platform to showcase their talent."
WWI has partnered with the BMC UCMAS stands for Universal Concept Mental Arithmetic System
System, etc with suitable props and extensive demo classes. (UCMAS), an international educational organisation that is the global leader
to conduct an education drive
The workshop aims to help students understand and gather information in whole brain development and mental arithmetic training. It runs training
amongst its schools. This initiative
on a medicine career while providing a valuable perspective into the life will see WWI showcase several centres in mental arithmetic all over India and abroad. It trains children of 4-
of a medical student. The students received certificates on completion short films to the students, in order 14 years in arithmetic and enhances skills like concentration, creativity,
of the course and had the opportunity to network with their instructors. to develop and inspire the nation's listening and photographic memory.
next generation of creative minds. Low cost gravitation energy lamp by Pune
Pre-Primary Books Featuring Disney Themes Targeted at children between the
age of eight and sixteen, WWI has students
Launched by MBD Group prepared a list of hour-long films Two students of Class X in Pune have designed a lamp that runs on
MBD group launched new pre-primary books at the New Delhi World in English, Hindi, and Marathi. gravitation energy. Generating light by using gravitational energy is not new,
Book Fair January 2020. Created for children aged between 3 to 5 years, Each of these films has been but products available in the market that use this technique are quite
the books will feature popular Disney and Pixar stories from – Mickey carefully curated to impart a expensive. But the lamp designed by Aniket Ghisad and Nachiket Mendki of
& Friends, Princess, The Lion King, Frozen, Cars, Toy Story franchises motivational and uplifting Dr Kalmadi Shamarao High School in Ganeshnagar is available at a much
message to their viewers. lower cost.
and more.The program has been divided into three years of pre-school
Additionally, WWI has also The gravitational lamps operate with the use of stones and soil and the light
for 3 to 5-year-old children. The curriculum areas including Languages, ensured the presence of its alumni energy is generated by conducting their movement through gravitational
Maths, Environmental Studies and Art have been designed keeping in on a regular basis, as part of the energy.
mind the five domains of development as enlisted in the NCERT pre- screening, giving the audience an Their efforts got a special recognition when they got an opportunity to
school curriculum. The five domains include physical well-being, opportunity to discuss the themes present the project in front of President Ram Nath Kovind on Children's Day.
health and motor development; personal, social and emotional and ideas behind the film and Later, Aniket and Nachiket were invited to attend a special boot camp
development; creative and aesthetic development; language and allowing them to appreciate better organised in Mumbai for Atal Tinkering Labs, which concluded last week. In
the messages being imparted. The this camp, the students were mentored by experts in industry and innovation
cognitive development. To make the journey fun and engaging, Disney students will also have the on how to transform this type of research into a comprehensive and
themes have been integrated keeping in mind the character attributes opportunity to learn about the successful business.
and the original story. For example, Disney Princess Rapunzel loves filmmaking techniques used The students have named their invention 'Project Guru', which was
painting, she is an artist by nature and hence she has been integrated in during the creation of these films. developed out as a part of the Atal Tinkering Lab established in the school
art and craft series. under the 'Atal Innovation Mission' of Niti Aayog.
14
Campus Buzz
JDIFT students' experiential visit
to Rashtrapati Bhawan
D Institute of Fashion Technology recently organized a visit for
students, pursuing a career in interior design to the largest official
residence of India, addressed as Rashtrapati Bhawan. The day long
tour was organized to understand the architecture and to experience the
onset journey to this magnificent palatial structure.
Rashtrapati Bhawan was the creation of architects of exceptional
imagination and masterfulness, Sir Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker
that sets an example for interior design students to comprehend the in-
depth knowledge of their field. Students experienced the various
aspects of construction, design, planning and art styles of the magnifi-
cent and royal piece of India. The contemporary design by Lutyens
gave lens to the budding designers to spread their wing and ideas
towards designing and accessory placements to give a complex
structure, an elementary look.
. Rupal Dalal, Executive Director, JDIFT, said, “With the continuous
effort and vision to make traditional learning an experiential one for
students, seems to be achieved now. I am glad that, they got a chance to
visit such an iconic and extraordinary creation of Indian architecture. ”
RD and SH National College announce
initiatives commemorating its 70 years
RD and SH National College, one of the oldest colleges in the country
affiliated to the University of Mumbai and the first of the 24 educa-
tional institutions established by the Hyderabad Sind National
Collegiate Board is commemorating 70 years of glorious learning
traditions. The College announced the launch of three key nation-
building initiatives.
R. Ramanan, Mission Director, Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog,
Arushi Nishank, Chairperson of the Sparsh Ganga Campaign,
members of the HSNC Board, past principals of the institution,
principals of esteemed educational institutions of the city and the
illustrious alumni along with the staff and students of the institution
were present at the launch.
The first initiative in collaboration with AquaKraft Projects Pvt Ltd,is
Center for Innovation, Sustainability and Social Entrepreneurship
(CISSE) aims to bolster nation building capacities by facilitating
research and innovation across vocational and management education.
Second is, India's first Digital Social Exchange Platform,
SWACHHAGRAHA.com is a new-age social development move-
ment aiming at creating ground-level path-breaking solutions in the
areas of sanitation, clean drinking water, health and hygiene. An
acronym for Sanitation & Water for Community Health and Hygiene
(SWACHH), the community-centric initiative aims to involve stake-
holders to attain actionable outcomes towards transforming the social
and environmental ecosystem.
Third is Jal Pe Charcha, an open discussion forum and advocacy
platform for the concerned masses to come together and collectively
address the problem of water management and finding sustainable
solutions to water challenges. The initial phase of Jal Pe Charcha will
be rolled out across colleges to leverage the student and youth power
for initiating dialogues on creating a transformative impact. The
initiatives are brainchild of Dr. Subramanya Kusnur, Chairman
&CEO, AquaKraft Projects Pvt Ltd and alumnus of the college.
Panel discussion on legal education
dominated by AI XAVION 2020 – ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Karjat, Raigad based VijayBhoomi University, on Jan 13 held a panel
discussion on “A Career in Law in the New Decade” in Delhi where
SUMMIT at XIMB
Samar Bansal, a noted advocate in the field of Competition and
Corporate Law, Sarvjeet Moond, Executive Director of Centre for
Communication and Governance at the National Law University,
Delhi, Shohini Sengupta, Former Lead(Law) at Esya Centre, and
Toshit Shandilya, Senior Associate (Competition Law) at AZB &
Partners spoke on the theme.
Dr Navneet Sharma, Dean, VijayBhoomi School of Business,
introduced VijayBhoomi University, saying, “It is imperative schools
place special emphasis on social responsibility. A gap has been
Curriculum January 16, 2020
observed between Law as taught in schools and the actual practice. Our 'Spot, Futures, ETF or Gold
objective should be to bridge this gap. The industry-relevant legal
Curriculum 4.0 ensures that students learn the core concepts, theories, Stocks – Who Leads in Gold
and skills at the intersection of business, technology and law.” Price Discovery?' judged best
The panel discussion shed more light on law and forensics and a paper at Doctoral Conference
lawyer's role in changing policy. The experts juxtaposed litigation as a
career in the '90s with litigation as a career in the present, further At the 11th IMR Doctoral Conference,
illuminating the role of law firms in shaping the economy. held on 27th & 28th December 2019, at
the Indian Institute of Management
BML hosts Workshop to promote man- Bangalore, The paper, 'Spot, Futures,
ETF or Gold Stocks – Who Leads in
agement research Gold Price Discovery?', presented by
A first of its kind research workshop in Delhi- NCR from internation- Neharika Sobti of Delhi University,
ally-renowned faculty on how to develop world-class research and was selected for the Best Paper Award
publish in top journals was hosted by BML Munjal University (BMU), for IMRDC 2019-20.
in partnership with Indian Academy of Management (INDAM) on Jan IMRDC 2019-20 received 90 competi-
8. Renowned professors from both international and Indian universi- tive submissions from doctoral students
ties including Tel Aviv University, London School of Economics, New in India and abroad, from leading
Jersey Institute of Technology, Loughborough University (UK), and institutes and universities including the
XLRI shared their perspectives. The academics spoke across a variety IIMs, the IITs, ISI, among others. The
of subjects that included guidelines to writing an impactful research submissions were taken through a
paper, research methodologies, and understanding management rigorous three-step selection process,
research in the Asian context in terms of both challenges and opportuni- reviewed by the Conference Chairs and
ties. a Review Committee comprising well-
India has far fewer researchers than China and the US, says a recent published domain experts from across
report by Think-tank Brookings India. India has 216.2 researchers per the world. Of the 90 papers, 10 papers
one million inhabitants, against 1,200 in China, 4,300 in the US, and were selected for presentation at the
7,100 in South Korea, according to the report. Research productivity of conference, where dedicated discus-
sants gave the presenters comments for
Indian scholars is low and the workshop by BMU and INDAM aims to
provide next generation researchers and scholars with the tools to enhancing their work.
Every year IMRDC brings together
develop world-class research and publish in top journals, in order to
maximise their exposure on a global scale. doctoral students from across the
country for two days of intense
The workshop was attended by over 100 PhD scholars and other
academics. Parallely, a poster competition initiated by BMU, that academic discussions with senior
academics and researchers, and aims at
invited students to share their research proposals in this succinct
manner, came to a close with the winner being announced. publication-oriented development of
doctoral research work. IMRDC 2019-
All terrain vehicle created by IIT Roorkee 20 was organised by IIMB's flagship
journal IIMB Management Review
students (IMR) and the Office of the Doctoral
An All-Terrain Vehicle is designed and built every year by the under- Programme.
Eight teams qualified for the finale after
grads of IIT Roorkee for safe subjugation of extreme pathways. This
the regional rounds. The team from
year the vehicle was unveiled on January 9 and a live demonstration on a
track prepared outside the MAC Auditorium was also performed. The XLRI Jamshedpur 'Muppets' grabbed
event was graced by Prof. Ajit K. Chaturvedi, Director, IITR in presence the second prize by proposing a
solution to overcome linguistic and
of Prof. B.K. Gandhi, Head MIED and faculty advisors Prof. Akshay
Dvivedi and Prof. Arup Kumar Das of MIED. cultural disparity in imparting
education to tribal children using
Team Knox informed that NIITRO is
the latest addition as a top-class ATV. It Samsung technologies. They were
followed by 'Team SMS' from MDI
is powered by 10 horsepower engine.
This car has an inboard braking system Gurgaon who suggested a 'Smart Saathi
App' to address the menace of drug
for the first time. It goes from 0 to 60 in
5 seconds and has a ground clearance of addiction in Delhi-NCR, Haryana and
Punjab. XLRI Jamshedpur and MDI
14 inch. It can climb a steep slope of
upto 50°. It has turning radius of 2.5m Gurgaon received INR 2 lakh and INR
1 lakh,respectively as prize money.
and a braking distance of 4m. The
weight of NIITRO is only 160 Kg.
Vehicle was designed and built by the
official off-road racing team of the Institute called KNOx. Furthermore, IIT Roorkee Organizes National
Conference on Solid State Ionics
KNOx is going to represent the Institute in BAJA SAE India this year on
22-26 January, 2020. IIT Roorkee organized the 13th
National Conference on Solid State
Prof Chaturvedi said, “We are proud of our students who have built an
all terrain vehicle. We hope our students will come out with flying colors Ionics from 16th December to 18th
December 2019 at O.P Jain
in BAJA SAE, a national level competition”
Auditorium, Civil Engineering
MEC launches its first AUV 'Black Pearl' Department, IIT Roorkee campus.
Hyderabad-based engineering college, Mahindra Ecole Centrale One of the massive challenges of the
21st century is the development of
(MEC) launched its first Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV)
named Black Pearl recently and is a self-propelled, unmanned, efficient and sustainable means of
energy conversion, distribution, and
untethered underwater vehicle capable of carrying out simple activities
with little or no human supervision. Created by MEC students and storage. Solid State Ionics (the study of
ionic-electronic mixed conductor and
mentored by their professors, it is a computer-controlled system (or a
Robot) operating underwater. Weighing 19.6 Kgs, MEC's Black Pearl is fully ionic conductors) based devices
are playing a key role in such challeng-
a fully autonomous operation and carries power onboard through a
Lithium Polymer Battery. Powered by NVidia Jetson Nano Single board ing scenarios, especially for transporta-
tion and bulk electricity generation
computer and Arduino micro controller, MEC's Black Pearl is a free-
swimming, untethered robot boasting of a Logical 270 vertical camera which provides an alternative solution
to pollutions, greenhouse effect, and
and Raspberry Pi V2 horizontal camera to take good quality images.
Nearly Rs. 3,70,000 were spent in developing the vehicle in-house. dependency on oil-producing coun-
tries.
IIT Roorkee provided a platform for all
stakeholders to address the above-
mentioned issues by organizing a
“XAVION 2020”, the Annual Entrepreneurship Summit, conducted by conference during 16-18 December
X-SEED, the Entrepreneurship Cell of Xavier Institute of Management, 2019. Being a convener of this event,
Bhubaneswar, was held on January 11-12. Prof. Yogesh Sharma was glad to
Akash Gupta, Co-Founder & CEO of Mobycy shed light on solving the inform that ~150 participants including
problem of mobility keeping sustainability in mind. He stressed on the 40 experts from IITs, IISc, NITs,
fact that new innovation is always a learning curve in which a start-up IISERs, Universities, and Industries
has the room to accommodate. Madhusmita Panda, Head of Marketing, shared their knowledge's, expertise,
KredX India. Having struggled immensely to keep her company alive, experiences with participants as an
she gave a few pointers on how to never assign one particular reason to informative and collaborative event
Curriculum January 16, 2020
Paying it Forward with Education
By Kumari Shibulal, Founder & Chairperson, The Shibulal Family Philanthropic Initiatives
According to the 2011 Census,
India's literacy rate stands at 74
percent, significantly below the
global average of 86 percent.
The overall school enrolment in
the country has gone up to
97.2percent, thanks to the Right
to Education Act, 2009. But the
quality of education remains low
with just 51 percent of students
being able to read a Grade II
level text after five years of
schooling. There is no doubt that
education is one of the key
indicators of a developed nation
and it is inextricably tied in with
socio economic progress. But
the question is – is it only the
Government's responsibility to
ensure that the nation hits its
education objectives? Is there
anything that we can do to
address the challenge? I believe
there is. Paying it forward is just
what the country needs to
achieve 100 percent literacy and
universal access to quality
education that is the need of the
hour.
Why has India found it so hard to
educate all its citizens over the
last 73 years since
Independence? There are a
number of factors to consider
here. Even today there are
remote parts of the country
where it is difficult to set up a
school or even find qualified
teachers. Add to it, complex
social factors such as prejudice,
societal norms and poverty and
we have a situation where
education is either not a priority
or out of reach for a vast number
of Indians. Over the last few
years, we have seen a marked
improvement in school
enrolments, but the sad truth is
that very often, lack of funds
leads to families pulling their
children out. And in such
situations, the age-old approach
of Each One Teach One can go a
long way in helping ensure that
the child's education is not
stopped forever.
What exactly is Each One Teach
One and what does it involve?
The phrase originated in the
United States of America when
slavery was prevalent, and
IIT Roorkee researchers find novel antibiotic against
multi-drug resistant bacteria
Researchers at the Indian
Institute of Technology, Roorkee
have discovered a novel
compound that can effectively
kill a multitude of notorious
antibiotic resistant bacteria. The
research team led by Dr. Ranjana
Pathania, Associate Professor at
the Department of
Biotechnology, IIT Roorkee
identified a small molecule
“IITR06144” that can kill highly
multidrug resistant strains of
Escherichia coli, Acinetobacter
baumannii, Klebsiella
pneumonia as well as
Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
The molecule also showed
promising activity against the
enslaved persons were denied the
right to a formal education. A lack
of education implied no access to
information and a state of
ignorance about matters beyond
their immediate environment
which was tightly controlled by
their owners. When an enslaved
person did educate themselves, it
was considered their duty to
educate another. In India, the
phrase was first used by Mahatma
Gandhi during the freedom
struggle and became a rallying
cry for active individual
participation in educating the
masses to drive awareness of
rights and socio-
economicdevelopment.
Across the pages of history,
education has been perceived as a
significant factor behind social
and individual progress and 21st
century India is no exception to
this rule. We are living in an era of
inequalities and lack of balance,
where on one hand Indians are
splurging on luxury items like
never before and on the other
children are dying of starvation.
Even today, not every Indian has
access to quality education, and
this is a problem that can be easily
solved by each one of us paying it
forward with education.
Education has the undeniable
power to transform lives. Not just
the life of the individual but that
of their family, their community,
and the society they live in.
According to industry estimates,
82.4% students feel that the
knowledge and skills they
acquired during higher education
generated 'high' or very high
increase in their career potential
while 87.2% of them felt that
receiving the scholarship and
diarrhoea causing bacteria,
Clostridium difficile and the
w o u n d p a t h o g e n ,
Staphylococcus aureus.
The aim of this study was to
evaluate the biological
properties of a small molecule,
IITR06144, identified in a
phenotypic screen against the
Gram negative model organism
Escherichia coli.
The team compared the
properties of IITR06144 with
structurally analogous
antibiotics Nitrofurantoin and
Furazolidone, which are
commonly administered in
clinics for the treatment of
urinary tract infections (UTIs)
higher education generated 'high'
or 'very high' increase in respect
for them from the family and the
community. If each one of these
students were to take the responsi-
bility of educating one more
student like themselves, India
would be on the fast track to
development and socio-economic
equity.
Unfortunately, many people think
that taking on the responsibility of
teaching others is a time consum-
ing and expensive endeavor. This
couldn't be further from the truth.
There are individuals across India
who are actively engaged in
teaching underprivileged
children. They do it before work,
after work on the weekends as is
convenient. There is little need for
a physical classroom – classes can
be taken in any place where the
children can sit safely and focus.
And given the wide adoption of
mobile phones and easy accessi-
bility of mobile Internet, it is not
far-fetched to say that classes can
even be online. For those who are
not sure about spending time
teaching, there is always the
option of sponsoring the educa-
tion of a deserving child. On an
average it costs onlyfew
thousandsto sponsor the education
of one child for a year under the
aegis of an education focused
foundation. This modest sum of
money can transform a child's life
and set them up for a successful
future.
Access to quality education is one
of United Nations Sustainable
Development Goals and a key
factor for India to achieve its
growth and development targets.
The good news is that today,
increasing number of people are
looking to contribute to society
and paying it forward with
education is a great way for them
to make a difference It will not be
long before child in India is
educated and assured of a secure
future. Only then can we call
ourselves a developed nation and
a superpower.
and intestinal ailments
respectively. UTIs are one of the
world's most common infections
known to be associated with
frequent cases of recurrence in
female patients. Considering the
global antibiotic resistance
catastrophe, only a few “front-
line” drugs prove to be effective
against them. IITR06144 inhibited
the growth of several
nitrofurantoin resistant UTI
pathogens isolated from clinics
and proved to be a powerful
weapon against antibiotic tolerant
E. coli strains, which are
responsible for infection relapse
and recurrence.
15
Special Focus
'IHSE 2020': The beginning of a new
paradigm in digital documentation and
interpretation of India's rich cultural
heritage
The collaborative projects between researchers in the areas
of technology and humanities under the Indian Digital
Heritage (IDH) project has brought alive county's first ever
public showcase of digital preservation work that has been
undertaken in India using cutting edge AR, VR, MR and AI
technologies. At National Museum, Delhi, a month-long (Jan
15-Feb 15) exhibition, “INDIAN HERITAGE IN DIGITAL
SPACE” is showcasing 3D fabricated models of 5 Indian
monuments (including Kashi Vishwanath, Taj Mahal, Sun
Temple Konark) with interactive Virtual walk-throughs and
Projection Mapping, and a room-scale 3D model of a Hampi
Temple, with AR, VR and Holographic interactions.
The first-ever International Heritage Symposium and Exhibition (IHSE)
incorporating a month-long exhibition at the National Museum, Janpath,
New Delhi, has brought communities engaged in conservation, preservation
and management of world heritage in physical and digital space from diverse
disciplines such as science, technology, culture and social sciences on one
platform and is a visual treat. The 'IHSE 2020' has been developed around the
frequently articulated need for preserving India's rich cultural heritage
digitally, for the future generations.
IDH initiative of Department of Science & Technology gave birth to some of
the most advanced techniques and technologies in digital heritage preserva-
tion, and DST motivated setting up of technology start-ups to translate this
research into commercial products, one of them being Vizara Technologies
Pvt Ltd, which is one of the main forces behind the IHSE 2020. Vizara
Technologies, a start- up is using AR, VR, MR and AI technologies etc.
Jointly sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and
Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology (KSCST), and
organized by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, he two-day
symposium on Jan 15-16 witnessed an interdisciplinary dialogue between
scientists, academia, historians, social scientists, practitioners, musicolo-
gists, policymakers, allowing for adoption of best practices and technology
to preserve world and India's heritage.
According to Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, DST, IHSE 2020 is the culmina-
tion of efforts in the field of digital preservation from last 5 years. “We all
know that the future is all about convergence of technology in all aspects of
our life and this event is a step towards discussing some of the key issues that
challenge us in preserving our heritage.”
The 'INDIAN HERITAGE IN DIGITAL SPACE' exhibition was inaugurated
by union tourism minister, Prahlad Singh Patel on Jan 15, who also addressed
the two-day international symposium. The minister also released two edited
books on Digital Heritage, namely: “Digital Hampi: preserving Indian
Cultural Heritage and “Heritage Preservation: A Computational Approach”
Prahlad Singh Patel said,“ The vast cultural diversity of India is the main
attraction for tourists and we all are working together very hard to preserve
and strengthen the country's rich cultural heritage and to promote tourism.
This initiative of integrating technology into heritage will make it accessible
to literally everyone in the society and is a great initiative indeed.”
Four panel sessions on Performing Arts: Preserving the tradition (Intangi-
ble), Conservation Technologies in Art, Design and Archaeology,
Understanding Traditional Engineering Systems for Future (Tangible) and
Harnessing the Digital for the Museum Experience were part of the sympo-
sium.
Dr. Anupama Malik, Organising Chair for IHSE & Managing Director,
Vizara Technologies Pvt Ltd said, “IHSE is a recognition of the need for a
meeting of the best minds globally to discuss ways of preserving India's rich
heritage digitally. This event has created an eco-system where all stake-
holders working in the Digital and Cultural heritage domain, have come
together to identify open issues in Indian heritage management”
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16 Curriculum January 16, 2020

News Extra

contd from P 1 107th Indian Science Congress

Books should pave the way to create society –
Chairman, NBT, India
In view of Prof Govind Prasad
Sharma, Chairman, National
Book Trust, India, books are
not just reflection of the
society, but also the guiding
force to give direction that will
pave the way forward to a new
society.
Speaking at 'PubliCon 2020 –
Economics of Publishing',
organized by FICCI on Jna 9,
Prof Sharma said that books are
often termed as soft power and
highlight the current challenges
of the society in order to create
future society. “Whenever we
try to create a new society
through the help of books, not
only the society gets reflected
but also efforts are made to
guide the society as well.” He
added that publishers should
also keep society in mind while
publishing books.
Highlighting the challenges of
the publishing industry, Prof
Sharma said that one of the
important issues is with regard
to the pricing of book and
profits. “While deciding on the
price points of the books, we
should consider the target
market for which we are
publishing,” Prof Sharma
added.
He said that on one hand, some
publishers print limited copies
of a book at higher price while
some print more number of
copies at lower rate.
“Publishers can either opt for
publishing less copies of a book
at higher price or more copies
at lesser price in order to make
profits. In India, we should
focus on printing a greater
number of copies of a book at
lesser cost and still make
profits,” Prof Sharma
emphasized.
Maj Gen G D Bakshi (Retd),
Author and Renowned TV
Commentator, said, “Even today
the printed page makes a huge
difference, changes the narratives
and changes the discourse.” He
added that books have the power
to generate images and create
imaginations which digital world
don't have.
Birad Rajaram Yajnik, Founder
Director and Curator, Mahatma
Gandhi Digital Museums, said
that innovation and seeing the
invisible are two key aspects of
the publication industry to survive
and do better.
FICCI Publishing
Awards given away
The annual publishing awards by
FICCI, one of the apex business
chambers in the country, were
given away on January 9 at a
special event coinciding with
Delhi World Book Fair. In English
language, the children's book of
the year award (below 10 years)
went to author Ranjit Lal's
Rumble in the Jungle published
by Scholastic India and in the
above 10 year category to Best
Friends Forever by Arti Sonthalia.
In the children's category in
Hindi, Mujhe Samajh Nahi Aya !
by Mini Shrinivasan/ Shubham
lakhera and published by Tulika
Publishers won the award.
Sera Learns To Fly by Vinitha and
published by Katha (under 10
year category) and How I got my
Belly Button by Anju Kish and
published by Om Book
International (Above 10 years)
bagged jury award in children's
category. In the same category in
Hindi Siyar Aur Mor by Prabhat
and published Eklavya won the
honor.
The Future ready Organization:
How Dynamic Capability
management is Reshaping the
Modern Workplace by Gyan
Nagpal and published by
HarperCollins publishers India
Pvt. Ltd won the business book of
the year award. The Job Crisis in
India penned by Raghavan
jagganathan and published by Pan
Macmillan India was chosen
under Business Economics.
Where Will Man Take us? By Atul
Jalan and published by Penguin
Random House India was the
Business Self Help book of the
year .
Pride of India (PIO) ISC Expo from government, private and public sector
to showcase their achievements in the field of science and technology
displayed hundreds of new ideas, innovations and products covering the
entire canvas of scientific world.
In his inaugural address, Prime Minister Modi said, “The growth story of
India depends on its achievements in the Science & Technology sector.
There is a need to revolutionise the landscape of Indian Science Technology
and Innovation.”
“My motto for the young scientists bourgeoning in this country has been –
“Innovate, Patent, Produce and Prosper”. He said these four steps will lead
India towards a faster development. “Innovation for the people and by the
people is direction of our 'New India”, he added.
He highlighted that India now stands at 3rd position globally, in the number
of Peer-reviewed Science and Engineering Publications. “I have been told
that India has climbed to third position globally in the number of peer
reviewed science and engineering publications. It is also growing at a rate
of about 10% as compared to global average of 4%”, he said.
He also mentioned about Improvement in India's ranking at Innovation
Index to 52. He highlighted that Government programmes have created
more incubators in the last 5 years than in previous 50 years.
The Prime Minister launched the Indian Scientific, Technology and
Engineering facilities Map (I-STEM) Portal on this occasion.
The Union Minister for Science and Technology, Earth Sciences and Health
and Family Welfare, Dr. Harsh Vardhan highlighted that as per a recent
National Science Foundation (USA) Report, India has already climbed to
the third spot in the number of science and engineering publications and
that Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advance Scientific Research (JNCASR)
in Bangalore has scored the 7th position in the quality of research by Nature
Index.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan elaborated that missions have been initiated in the
disruptive technologies such as Cyber-Physical Systems, deep-ocean
exploration; quantum systems, energy storage and gene editing which are
creating unprecedented opportunities for our young and dynamic scientists
to work on securing the future. At the same time traditional knowledge
systems in areas such as health and well-being, water conservation,
environmental management and sources of local livelihood have been
strengthened.
The theme of the next science and technology for sustainable development
with women empowerment and Scientist Dr Vijay Laxmi Saxena has been
named the general president of the Indian Science Congress Association
(ISC) 2021.

CAT 2019 results: Some interesting factoids

CAY 2019 results declared on Jan 4, 2020 shows that out of 2,09,926
who appeared for the test, 10 candidates have scored an overall 100
percentile and are all males. Also, they are from the WE INVITE YOU TO BECOME PART OF
engineering/technology background. Of these candidates, 6
candidates are from the IITs, 2 candidates are from the NITs, and 1
candidate is from Jadavpur University. 21 candidates have scored an
INDIA'S EDUCATION STORY!
overall 99.99 percentile in CAT 2019. Out of these candidates, 19
candidates are from the engineering/technology background. CAT
2019 saw the highest number of CAT test takers of the last 10 years.
Prof. Debashis Chatterjee, Director, IIM Kozhikode said “This year's
CAT examination was one of the smoothest exams held in recent You can advertise in curriculum magazine or and also put an
years.” advertorial highlighting your company/services/campus/ products etc.
Importance of liberal arts in light of the This will greatly support your marketing effort and enhance your
new education policy highlighted visibility and recall value with your current and potential clients
Vassar College, Mumbai organised panel discussions in New Delhi
and Mumbai on the future and importance of liberal arts education in
shaping students' careers. Prof G Raghuram, Dr Sunder Ramaswamy,
Professor PV Madhusudhan Rao, Professor Sudhir Shah, Dr Pramath
Raj Sinha and Ashok Trivedi spoke in New Delhi on January 7, 2020.
In Mumbai the next day, in attendance were Professor Anush Kapadia, OUR FOCUS
Nina Hirji Kheraj, Professor Santosh Kumar Kudtarkar, Ramesh
Mangaleswaran and Dr Ravindra Kulkarni.
In a changing world, the most important skill is to be able to adapt, take
— We cover latest news, product launches, current events and trends
in new information and make sense of the situation. Learning how to — News features, Guest Articles, Expert columns
learn is consistent with the liberal arts approach, through which — Career counselling, Skill India, Entrepreneurships
students learn across different styles, topics and paradigms. A liberal
arts education is needed to impart key communication skills (writing, — School/College /university events
speaking, negotiating), expose students to multiple disciplines (arts, — Achievements by students, faculty, institutions
humanities, social sciences, and natural and information sciences),
and empower students to innovate, be creative and entrepreneurial,
— Education Technology — Study Abroad
and to chart their own paths in becoming engaged citizens and — Institution/people profiles
community role models. India's recent education policy also