News and Views about the Education in India

Weekly news updates on trends and happenings in the Indian Education scene

The focus this week is clearly on career opportunities in sunrise industries, be it in ITES, e-publishing, retail, entertainment, aviation or hospitality. Each of these sectors are set to add significant jobs over the next few years. Our take on it – candidates interested should work on equipping themselves with the requisite skill sets now!

- Chillibreeze Business Research Team

Kalam calls for developing hypersonic space vehicle

President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on Friday called for taking up a global partnership development mission for the next two decades to design and develop a hypersonic, re-usable space vehicle with higher payload efficiency and lower cost.

He urged international experts to develop a system with a take-off weight of 275 tonnes for 25 to 35 tonnes payload optimised for launching multi-purpose mission including new orbiting space stations, space habitat and space solar power station. The president said the real value of space exploration for human advancement would occur only when a fully re-usable space transportation system was developed with very high payload efficiencies.

The eminent scientist and father of India's missile programme inaugurated a two-day international conference on 'high speed trans-atmospheric air and space transportation' in Hyderabad on Friday.

More than 60 experts from India, Japan, Australia, Russia, South Africa and Israel are attending the conference, which aims to share and consolidate knowledge and experience gained in conceptualisation, design, development and testing of advanced aerospace technologies.

June 30, 2007
Source: IANS via indiaedunews.net

Jobs aplenty in sunrise areas

It is boom time in India. The country’s economy is poised to touch double digit growth after achieving the 9.2 per cent mark in the current fiscal. The brisk pace of the country’s economic growth is set to throw open innumerable job opportunities for the youth.

A recent study conducted by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) has found that sectors such as retail, aviation, hospitality, entertainment and brokerages will get paramount thrust in the next few years. A vast array of opportunities will be generated in these so-called sunrise industries.

The study on ‘job opportunities in emerging sectors’, brand-named the ASSOCHAM Business Barometer (ABB), has revealed that a wide information gap exists for the students aspiring for rewarding careers. The ABB assures that Information Technology (IT) and IT-enabled Services (ITeS) will continue to hire manpower most aggressively in the years to come. Having hired a workforce of nearly 1.63 million by March this year, IT-ITeS has proved that it has been the biggest employment sector in recent times. The IT-ITeS industry is projected to require 50,00,000 technology professionals in three years.

The ASSOCHAM study underlines that high consumer spending has spawned a huge interest in the largely unorganised retail sector. It is estimated that the retail sector will add $14 billion in terms of market size by 2010 to cross $21.5 billion. The ABB study says that retail is expected to create the maximum number of job opportunities among the upcoming fields after IT-ITeS. The forecasts suggest that the sector may produce 20,00,000 jobs by 2010 directly through retail operations.

The aviation sector in India is growing at a whopping 25 per cent per annum, creating abounding job opportunities. Openings would be generated in the areas of flight dispatchers, cabin crew, airline managers, airport managers and ground handling personnel as well. The industry would create 2,00,000 jobs by 2017.

With the business travel increasing at a rapid pace and Commonwealth Games round the corner, hoteliers are in the expansion mode. The sector would need a fresh workforce of at least 94,000 by 2010-11. HR managers are looking to hire graduates from home science, commerce, physics and engineering for the sector.

Bollywood-driven music industry including expanding reach of FM is leading to expansion of the entertainment sector in a big way. Besides, the content creating firms for the television have grown manifold. The animation industry has grown by over 30 per cent on year-on-year basis in the last three years and looks promising in the time to come as well. The segment alone would need close to 3,00,000 professionals by 2009, says the ASSOCHAM study.

Growing at more than 10 per cent for the past three years, Financing, Insurance, Real Estate and Business Services have outpaced overall GDP growth. With investment and banking companies growing at a rapid pace there would be many vacancies in retail banking, asset management and financial management.

June 26, 2007
Source: The Hindu

Mission Nano set for a giant leap

The Government of India has approved the launch of a mission on Nano Science and Technology (Nano Mission) with an allocation of Rs.1,000 crore for five years.

The Department of Science and Technology will be the nodal agency for implementing the Nano Mission. The thrust of the mission is to convert Indian into a global knowledge-hub in the field of nanotechnology. The Nano Mission will promote the development of products and processes for national development, especially in areas of national relevance like safe drinking water, materials development, sensor development, drug delivery, etc.

It will also forge linkages between educational and research institutions and industry and promote Public Private Partnerships. This presents a lot of opportunities for those concerned with the nanotechnology field in the country.

Nanotechnology is an inter-disciplinary subject involving a combination of physics, chemistry, biology and engineering. ‘Nano’ is a Greek word meaning ‘dwarf.’ Nanotechnology is a technology based on the scale of nanometres. One nanometre is equal to one-billionth of a metre. It is 5000 to 50000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair. Nano-materials would be very light, strong, transparent, and totally different from bulk material because they are a thousand times smaller than the diameter of human hair, which is around 60 microns.

June 26, 2007
Source: The Hindu

Understanding the global shift in education

There is a global shift in emphasis towards building capacity than delivering content in school education, says Central Board of Secondary Education chairman Ashok Ganguly. Surrounded by so many ‘adult fielders,’ how can the child bat, score runs and enjoy the game, asks Ashok Ganguly, Chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), in his presentation on the shift in education from ‘instructionism’ to ‘constructivism.’ He was speaking at the inauguration of the induction course for the principals of newly-affiliated schools at the Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Vaduthala, in Kochi last week.

At the social level, “unrealistic and premature” ambitions of parents and other adults stifle creativity and curiosity of the child. There is also a lot of hype about examinations, top scores, entrance tests, careers and coaching that confound the child. And, at the school level, “curriculum transaction is predominantly information-oriented and memory-based.” The situation calls for “reinventing school education.”

The global shift in school education is from delivering content to building capacity where “learning to learn” is more important than content delivery. This leads to learner autonomy and creates anywhere, anytime and life-time learning.

On another front, there is a shift from standalone institutions to value-adding networks where schools work closely with parents, with the community and other schools. This networking leads to value-addition and enrichment of curriculum design and curriculum transaction. He warns that students would by-pass a school if it does not add value to learning.

There is also the shift from top-down, prescriptive model of curriculum to constructive, non-linear approach where teachers are encouraged to enrich the curriculum by going beyond the prescribed text books.

A shift is also taking place from standard operating procedures to creative adaptations, from MOTS – Most Of The Same, to HOTS – Higher Order Thinking Skills, and continuous improvement in all aspects of schooling.

June 26, 2007
Source: The Hindu

For a new interpretation of globalistion

Interrogating globalisation: issues in concepts and methods – was the title of a lecture delivered by Kamal K. Misra, Professor of Anthropology, University of Hyderabad, on Kannur University’s Thalassery Campus recently. The lecture was hosted by the Kannur University Department of Anthropology, the only department of its kind in the State, which currently comes under the University Grants Commission’s Special Assistance Programme.

Dr. Misra, a noted anthropologist, refused to take run-of-the-mill ideas about globalisation in his lecture and rejected the idea of globalisation as a new phenomenon in human history. The thrust of his lecture was what he called a general confusion between ‘globality’ as a structure and ‘globalisation’ as a process.

His argument was that structurally global and local were closely integrated and that their relationships were historically defined and redefined in the course of human development. His observation was that politicisation of globalisation would not serve any purpose.

June 26, 2007
Source: The Hindu

Nothing but the best

Ask most MBAs what they want to do after they graduate and the answer is likely to be: work for an investment bank (i-bank) or a leading management consultancy. The jobs involve heightened analytical skills and global postings, and although seen as glamorous, they comprise long working hours. Consultancy and i-banking are similar but offer two separate career paths. While both are fiercely competitive and involve travelling, dealing with clients and large salaries, i-banking pays more. On the flipside, i-banking hours are longer and often involve all-nighters, leaving little time for a social life or family. 

Campus Track T-Schools, a study by ACNielson ORG, which collects perceptions from recruiters, has found i-banks and management consultancies recruiting from the top 20 engineering campuses across the country. Of course these firms only recruit from the ‘crème de la crème’ of Indian institutes.

While most engineering students in India would not normally consider a career in investment banking, here is what the market research firm found - these firms are not from India and they want candidates with high IQs and from the best institutes. They are looking for candidates who can work under pressure and have a strong mathematical background. Most firms also run their own training programmes for graduates.

June 25, 2007
Source: The Times of India

Students enjoy visit to China

"India lags behind China by 12 years. Had India got its independence the year China was freed, we would have been on a par in terms of infrastructure with China today," opines Ankita Mehta, Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Delhi University (DU), who recently visited China as a part of the Indian delegation on a 10-day trip. She was accompanied by batchmate Viral Nagar.

To foster stronger ties among the youth of the two countries and promote a better understanding of the two cultures and societies, a mutual decision was taken by the Chinese President and Indian Prime Minister to send 500 students as part of the exchange programme over the next five years. The first 100-member delegation from India who recently visited China comprised students in the age group of 13-35 and from fields as varied as sports, Chinese language students, social workers, panchayati raj workers, students of performing arts, PhD students, engineers from IITs and youth with special abilities. Ankita and Viral were also a part of the delegation.

Visiting Chinese universities like Tsinghua University, Yunnan University and Nanjing University of aeronautics and astronomies gave Ankita an opportunity to peep into the Chinese education system. According to Mehta, MBA is popular among the Chinese youth. Interestingly, most of the MBA students are married and are working professionals with good work experience.

The visit to Beijing, Shanghai, Kunming and Nanjing, the four cities of China, was compelling enough for Nagar to study their policies in order to make China, a tourism spot. China will host the Olympics in Beijing but a huge Olympic centre in Nanjing has already been established to attract foreigners. As Viral puts it, "Everywhere there is a conscious attempt to brand China. As the country seeks to establish itself globally and is attracting more foreign investors and tourists, the need is felt to shed off its Asian image and don a brand new cosmopolitan look. I have not seen or heard of a branding exercise of this magnitude."

A visit to a car-manufacturing unit impressed Ankita. What she found astonishing was that women employees were treated on a par with male employees. "The equal number of women workers at the manufacturing unit amazed me. I have never seen women participate in such units in such an impressive ratio in India," she said.

The delegation also met few Chinese Cabinet ministers. Viral and Ankita are now waiting their turn to extend a similar hospitality to their Chinese counterparts when they visit India later this year.

June 25, 2007
Source: The Times of India

Community Radio: Social FM

Community radio is today believed to be an important tool for social upliftment and empowerment of the marginalised. With that thought in mind, the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA), the Asian chapter of Commonwealth of Learning (COL) is now preparing to launch 13 community radio stations (CRS) in South and North India during 2007-08.

Community radio refers to a type of radio service catering to the interests of a specific area, broadcasting material that has relevance to a local audience. The term has somewhat varying meanings. In the UK, it originated in the illegal pirate radio stations whereas in America, as well as in India, community radio is more commonly non-profit and non-commercial, often using licensed class-D FM band transmitters.

With the successful implementation of its pilot projects, first of running the only licensed CRS at Anna University, Chennai, and the second one in Kongu Engineering College, Erode, CEMCA is all set to repeat its success at Bhagwan Mahavir Jain Institute, Bangalore, on June 25 and at Holy Cross College in Tiruchirapalli on June 26.

Speaking about the target audience and the focus of the project, Sreedher Ramamurthy, director, CEMCA, said: "Our target audience for the stations will be 1,000 women each. First we will document their knowledge, including their superstitions, and then our experts will guide them. Then we will set up the radio stations. At the end of the year we will take into account the change in their behaviour and attitudes."

While the universities/institutes would host and run the CRS, CEMCA would be the facilitator, helping with capacity building and baseline research. To be implemented in collaboration with the ministry of science and technology (MST), CEMCA is a nodal agency for MST and would use CRS to broadcast 'Science for Women' for a year at the community level.

According to Ramamurthy, who is the first person in India to initiate community radio, "Radio is not simply a tool for entertainment, but is also a great tool for employment and a medium for solution to local problems at the community level." He further added that the above-mentioned CRS would be a good source of hands-on experience for students of mass communication.

June 25, 2007
Source: The Times of India

E-publishing promises a lot

A boom in e-publishing industry of late has led to a spurt in job opportunities for youngsters on the lookout for a promising career.

The work pattern involves converting raw manuscripts or written materials into a readable and well-illustrated format. The finished product may range from digital archives, ebooks, digital journals and educational CDs.

Copy-editing, pagination, graphics, technical editing and conversion to electronic format are some of the basic steps involved in e-publishing. For those with a strong command over languages coupled with basic computer skills, e-publishing would be the right choice.

A graduate with basic computer skills would qualify for the job. The candidates also need to be skilled in the subjects that they deal with, be it literature or science. Besides about 20 multi-national organisations involved in e-publishing, several companies have started mushrooming in Chennai of late. But, there is still a dearth of job-takers in the industry. M. Anto Peter, chief executive of CSC - Softview said “There is a need for about 400 candidates every week.”

A short course in e-publishing would help the candidates to perform the work better. E-publishing training institutions are also slowly growing in number in the city. Several of them offer courses at affordable cost.

June 25, 2007
Source: The Hindu