India: Skill development critical for Indian youth to be employable: Education bill, Infosys Technologies, Chandrayaan, DoE, New IIMs

The Cabinet has cleared the Right to Education bill, whether it will be approved by the Parliament remains to be seen. Companies are spending on training new recruits to make them job ready. Skill development is critical to ensure Indians are employable by industry. The Times of India has launched the Teach for India program along the same lines as the Teach for America campaign of the 90s. The education sector is expected to attract FDI of Rs 1000 crore by 2009 end.

-Chillibreeze Business Research Team

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Trends

India Racing to Train Workers

Infosys Technologies, icon of the Indian IT industry, has one of the largest corporate training establishments in the world, with more than 320 computer science faculty. At its sprawling 335-acre campus in Mysore, Infosys can train more than 13,500 people at once.

"We have invested over $450 million in our training institute," says T.V. Mohandas Pai, director, and head of education and research and human resource development at Infosys. "This is probably the largest investment in education in India's history by any entity, be it government or nongovernment, in a single location."

Additionally, Pai notes, Infosys spends about $5,000 training every fresh graduate that it recruits. These new recruits undergo 14 to 16 weeks of training before they start their jobs. This year, Infosys will recruit around 18,000 grads.

Another Indian IT giant, Wipro Technologies, hires around 14,000 fresh graduates a year and takes them through a training program of 12 to 14 weeks. Wipro spends about 1 percent of its revenue on training these recruits.

"This is only the running cost," says Pratik Kumar, Wipro's executive vice president of human resources. "It does not include our capex cost."

Practically every major IT company in India spends weeks training recruits. But it isn't something they do by choice. Even those recruits from some of the best engineering colleges are simply not job-ready.

Wipro's Kumar points out that if these new hires were "completely deployable in terms of their technical proficiency," they would need in-house training of only a week or 10 days.

"The huge training infrastructures that companies have set up are a reflection of the inefficiencies of our educational sector," he says.

The National Association of Software and Services Companies points out that while more than three million students graduate from Indian colleges and the nation produces 500,000 engineers annually, only a very small percentage are directly employable by industry.

"Only around 25 percent of technical graduates and 10 percent to 15 percent of general graduates are estimated to be suitable for employment in the offshore IT and business-process-outsourcing industries," says Nasscom vice president Rajdeep Sahrawat.

An Industry-Academia Disconnect

The reasons are many. The nation's education sector is highly government-controlled and therefore subject to a multitude of regulations around such matters as curriculum development and pay scales. The quality of faculty and the teaching methodology are largely inadequate. A focus on soft skills -- those personal and interpersonal attributes of everyday interaction -- is lacking. There is a disconnect between industry and academia. The list goes on.

"As a nation we have underinvested in education and employability," says S. Sadagopan, director of the International Institute of Information Technology, in Bangalore.

N.R. Narayana Murthy, chairman and chief mentor at Infosys, agrees: "All the stakeholders -- the government, academia, industry and society -- are responsible for the current state of affairs."
He adds a somber note: "If we don't take steps to improve the quality of our engineering graduates, we will soon lose out on our ability to compete globally."

The employability issue is not restricted to the IT industry. Even as India celebrates its strong economic growth and touts its demographic strengths, concern is rising over the suitability of its large workforce for the many new jobs that will be available, especially across high-growth industries such as retail, financial services, telecom and aviation.

Sanjeev Duggal, chief executive officer and executive director of Bharti Resources, a subsidiary of Bharti Enterprises, one of India's leading conglomerates, explains: "The employability issue in India is getting impacted by two different [problems]. One, most of the growth is happening in new sectors which require new skills.

"So, not only do fresh recruits need to gain these skills, but even those already employed need to be reskilled; otherwise they will no longer be employable," he says. "Second, a lot of growth is happening in smaller towns and cities, and so there is a need to make the training of these skills available locally."

A social factor also comes into play. By and large, the Indian mind-set is oriented toward acquiring a formal university degree and not necessarily acquiring skills for greater employability.

Says Rajen Padukone, president of university programs at Manipal University: "The professional skills and vocational programs need to be linked to a university degree, corporate funding and job placements to make them more acceptable to Indian youth."

Entry-Level Skill Gaps

The employability problem persists beyond the graduate level. B. Santhanam, chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industries' national committee on skills and human resources, points out that a 2006 CII study covering 36 sectors estimated that 80 million new jobs could be created in the next 10 years across India, of which 75 percent will require vocational skills.

"These 80 million jobs are going to be created if the growth rate that various companies and industries are assuming actually happens," he said. "However, in sector after sector we find that there are tremendous knowledge and skill gaps at all levels of jobs. The employability issue does not concern only graduates; it is even more significant at the grassroots entry level, where we need a large amount of vocational skills."

According to the government's 2007-08 economic survey, 68.4 percent of the population will be of working age -- 15 to 64 -- in 2026, up from 62.9 percent in 2006. The survey notes that "for actual tapping of the demographic dividend, it is necessary not only to ensure proper healthcare, but also [to put] a major emphasis on skill development." The survey warns that "if skills are not adequately created, India could well be facing a demographic nightmare."

The primary responsibility clearly rests with the government and academia. However, the growing realization that industry can harness India's demographic dividend only through the availability of the right training and skill sets is driving corporate India to play a larger role in molding the workforce.

Across sectors, companies and industry bodies are not only beefing up their in-house training facilities, but also developing initiatives to make potential employees job-ready even before they enter the organization.

These include tie-ups with educational and training institutes, helping them design the curriculum, training faculty in both relevant content and teaching methodologies, offering internships, and setting up their own training schools and finishing institutes.

Wipro, for instance, has identified poor teaching quality as one of the core reasons for the low employability of engineering graduates. To address this, under an initiative called Mission 10x launched in September 2007, the company has developed a set of teaching techniques to enable faculty members to help students take in higher levels of understanding of classroom subjects while developing key behavioral skills as well.

Under Mission 10x, Wipro plans to train more than 10,000 faculty members in 1,500 engineering colleges over the next three years. The training, for which Wipro bears the entire cost, is spread over five days.

"The quality of education being imparted requires fundamental change. We need to bring about a systemic change in the current teaching-learning paradigm in engineering education," says Azim Premji, chairman and managing director of Wipro.

Training the Faculty

Nasscom's key focus, too, is on upgrading faculty. It estimates that 12,000 to 14,000 faculty members need to be trained in the next three years to increase the employability of students recruited by the IT industry. The group is putting together a plan to work with the government and industry to address the issue,
"It is a very manageable and doable proposition," says Nasscom's Sahrawat. "What it requires is willpower and program management."

Meanwhile, in a move to expand the pool of industry-ready resources for the banking and insurance sector, which is expected to create a million jobs a year for the next five years, leading players are offering industry-specific courses.

ICICI Bank, India's largest private-sector bank, for instance, has joined with Manipal University to create the ICICI Manipal Academy of Banking and Insurance to offer a one-year residential diploma program to graduates who are selected through an entrance test. The bank and university have jointly designed the course content.

On completion of this program, which is expected to result in "first-day, first-hour productivity," the candidates will be absorbed in a managerial position in ICICI Bank, which is picking up the entire training tab of Rs 2.5 lakh ($5,425) per student.

"To fulfill India's global aspirations and sustain the growth trajectory, it is imperative that industry invests in preparing industry-ready human talent," K.V. Kamath, managing director and chief executive officer of ICICI Bank, said in a news release.

R. Bhaskaran, chief executive officer of the Indian Institute of Banking and Finance, points out that the need for industry-ready professionals is becoming increasingly important, not only because of the sheer numbers required but also because of changes in the banking industry in recent years.

"There has been a paradigm shift within the banking industry," he said. "We used to wait for customers to come to us, but now we have to go out and sell. This has also resulted in many specializations within the bank. While in the past anyone could manage any function, we now need specialists."

In keeping with this requirement, over the past few years IIBF has introduced diploma courses in areas such as treasury, international banking and microfinance to both fresh graduates and banking professionals looking to enhance their employability.

Modern Retail's Skill Sets

Retail is yet another area undergoing rapid transformation. Organized retail accounts for only 3 percent of India's retail sector, but that is expected to increase to 20 percent by 2010. This is expected to result in demand for 2.2 million new jobs.

Retail majors including Reliance Retail, the Future Group, Bharti Retail and Shopper's Stop, as well as the Retailers Association of India, have tied up with various universities and training schools to provide course content and internships to students.

"Traditionally," says Biju Kurien, president and chief executive, lifestyle, for Reliance Retail, "retail in India has been in the unorganized sector comprised largely of small owner-driven stores. Modern retail requires very different skill sets, both because of the different nature and size of operations and increasing customer expectations."
Kurien says Reliance is likely to employ around a million people for its retail operations over the next five years and is looking to set up its own university for retail education.
Meanwhile, the Bharti Group has created its own training and development company called Bharti Resources, which has set up a Bharti academy of retail in conjunction with the group's retail arm and is creating an academy for insurance in alliance with the group's insurance business.

Bharti Resources has also set up 60 learning centers across the country to offer courses in insurance, telecom and retail. The target is to take this number to 100 by the end of this financial year and at least 1,000 in the next three years.

"With a lot of growth happening in smaller towns and cities, it is very important to have a huge distribution reach of the training of these skills," says Duggal of Bharti Resources.

Along with training where people are located, another challenge is the need for short-duration vocational courses for those who have not completed their formal education. To address the issue on a wide scale, CII is helping the government roll out a "modular employable skills" program," says CII's Santhanam. It is putting together the curriculum and identifying a set of assessors and the institutes that can carry out this training for different sectors.
"Our target at CII is to train at least 50,000 people through this program in the current year," he says.

Upgrading Training Institutes

CII is also working closely with the government and large companies in a public-private partnership model to upgrade the government-owned Industrial Training Institutes and align them more closely with the needs of industry. Companies that have adopted ITIs include Bosch, Hero Honda, Ashok Leyland, Larsen & Toubro, and Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd.

Another key initiative of CII has been to help universities understand the importance of soft skills and to integrate related courses into the university curriculum.

While Madras University has made a soft-skills course mandatory for all undergraduate and postgraduate students, other universities in the state of Tamil Nadu have included such coursework as part of their choice-based credit system.

CII, which developed the curriculum and is also training the trainers for this course, is now looking at extending soft-skills training to universities across other states. Companies working actively on this initiative include Tata Consultancy Services, Cognizant Technologies and Satyam Computer Services.

Says CII's Santhanam: "Never have I seen such a confluence of efforts of private companies, industry bodies, government and academia on the one common issue of skill development. If we can grasp this opportunity fully, we can set in motion something that can completely alter the employability landscape of the country."

Not everyone, however, is so optimistic.

Manish Sabharwal, chairman of TeamLease Services, India's largest human resource services provider, strikes a note of caution. Skill development, he says, is only one part of the solution.

"There are three problems in the current Indian system: matching supply and demand, repairing supply for demand and preparing supply for demand," he says. "What we are all focusing on right now in terms of employability with skill development is only the repair part. This is a low-hanging fruit. But this repair pipeline will run dry if the prepare pipeline, by way of education reforms, is not fixed. "And that is something that the government and academia need to work on," he says.

© Knowledge@Wharton (http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu), the online research and business analysis journal of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Nov 3, 2008
Source: Executive HR
URL: http://www.hreonline.com/HRE/story.jsp?storyId=141700021

Teach For India needs leaders and visionaries

Rarely has the world around us felt so broken — in body and in spirit — as we hurtle from one crisis to another. If it isn't the frighteningly frequent serial bomb blasts, it's the global financial collapse. Hundreds of innocent lives have been snuffed out on the streets of Indian cities, and thousands have been left jobless, penniless, or both.

It's at times such as these that we tend to return to the basics. Just as we put our hard-earned money in investments that we absolutely trust, we also rediscover the simple truths that stand us in good stead in the long run.

In the long run, there's very little that surpasses the benefits of a good education, for the individual as well as for society and the nation. Your job can be taken away, your education cannot be. All other things being equal, that's about the best insurance anyone can buy against an uncertain future. It's also the biggest leveler in society, allowing children from underprivileged backgrounds to rise above their fate at birth and become world-beaters.

There has been a fair amount of noise around the idea of a new and confident India, not all of it misplaced. But somewhere along the way, the line between hype and reality may have got somewhat blurred. Today, we face a crisis that is greater than the one faced by our markets. And because it doesn't flash on an electronic scoreboard on a moment-to-moment basis, like the sensex does, we don't really see it. Despite India's fast-expanding economy, millions of Indians continue to languish in a vicious cycle of poverty. A big reason is the lack of a decent education, which in turn has deprived large sections of Indian society of basic human rights.

There are currently 7.5 million children out of school in India. Of those who attend school, 50% will drop out before Class V. According to the 2001 Census, only 61% of the country's population is literate. For women, the literacy rate is even lower than the national average, at 48%.

It was to address this looming crisis in our own modest way that The Times of India launched its 'Teach India' initiative in July this year. The response to the initiative has given us the kind of joy that's matched by very little else in recent memory. Over one lakh readers applied to be volunteer teachers; 77,000 of them followed through on their offer.

There have been any number of heartwarming stories since -- from the college student who took coffee time off to teach slum children English, to the businessman who distributed dictionaries to a classroom, to a senior citizen who brought in a hot tiffin for the entire class. It was fabulous not just for the children being taught, but also the volunteers themselves whose lives changed in small but significant ways. For the software professional who showed up with an uncharged laptop, for instance, it was a lesson of a different kind — entering an India without plugpoints and power. Even as you read this, there are thousands of volunteers who are in classrooms across the country giving valuable weekend time to teach socially and economically deprived children.

While our Teach India campaign was a mass outreach program, where we asked for two hours a week of your time (many have, of their own accord, given more), we are now honoured to support the next level, Teach For India, which asks for considerably more time -- two years of your life.

Teach For India is inspired by Teach For America, a phenomenal initiative pioneered in the US in 1990, which has since become a global movement. Teach For America recruits and trains top college graduates of all academic disciplines and career interests to commit two years to teach in US schools in high-poverty communities. It provides professional development to ensure their success and make them effective leaders — giving them skills that then enhance whatever career they choose.

Not surprisingly, Teach For America has turned into a highly coveted option for young college graduates. When recruiting on campus, top-notch companies now have to compete with the programme to get the brightest youth on board. In the past year, 25,000 graduating seniors competed to enter Teach For America, including 5 to 10% of the senior classes at universities like Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. Teach For America alumni have gone on to do other things, which may or may not be related to education, but the experience has definitely made them change-makers.

In India, the programme seeks to provide quality education to the underprivileged across a number of Indian cities, starting with Mumbai and Pune. Rather than find fault with the existing government network of schools, this will be a collaborative effort. Teach For India will work closely with municipal and government authorities, inserting their candidates into key positions in select low-income private and public schools.

The Teach For India Fellows will be motivated by a single goal throughout their two-year commitment: To bring students from low-income backgrounds, who are falling behind, up to the academic level of their peers in wealthier communities. They will have to think creatively and on their feet every minute and present material in a way that will motivate each child. The learning will, naturally, be a two-way street. Fellows will emerge from the programme with a highly developed sense of responsibility and leadership skills —especially in communication, negotiation, project planning, motivating and critical thinking — that will help them to succeed at any task in the future.

While Teach For America is open only to college graduates, Teach For India will also recruit young professionals, under 35 years, from top corporates. Some corporates, like ICICI, Citibank, Monitor and Thermax have committed to continue paying their salaries as well as to re-employ them, as they believe these young men and women will have developed a unique skill set which will be an asset to them. Others too will be paid competitive salaries, which will include a standard teaching salary plus stipends for housing and transportation.

Moreoever, Teach For India's Alumni Services will help its Fellows apply to jobs in different sectors, such as education, banking, journalism, consulting or social work. Many top organizations have already expressed interest in the programme and will actively recruit TFI Fellows during the second year of the programme. The recruitment process begins this month and will continue until early next year.

As a newspaper we are required to stay on top of the news, sad and depressing as it often is. But in the midst of all this, we constantly look for light beyond the gloom. The Times of India believes in the causes of education and equity for social justice. Teach India/Teach For India seeks to bring both into the lives of India's children. It provides hope in a very real and tangible form. This is not a fringe activity of do-gooders but a leadership drive involving the best and the brightest in the country. It is about teaching and learning — and leading.

Nov 2, 2008
Source: Times of India
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Teach_For_India_needs_leaders_and_visionaries/articleshow/3664365.cms

Education sector poised to attract FDI

Even as the Indian markets go through a bad phase, foreign private equity investors are eying educational institutions to invest in.

“By the end of fiscal 2009, education sector will have received total FDI of Rs 1,000 crore. Investors from US, Middle East and EU still believe in India’s long term growth potential and they are on the lookout for right entities to invest in,” said Sunil Shirole, managing director, YEN Management Consultants, who is instrumental in striking such deals and was recently on a world tour to meet investors to gauge their sentiment.

Recently, Qatar-based Altanmiya group struck a multi-million dollar deal with Thane based Prolific Systems & Technologies, which is into vocational training in industrial automation and has ambitious expansion plans both onshore and offshore.

“This investment shows our confidence in the Indian economy, the viability of human capital as a profitable business, and its necessity for progressive success both economically and socially,” commented Eugene Koshy, COO of Altanmiya, who refused to disclose the deal value.

Altanmiya expects 15 per cent internat rate of return on their investment in Prolific Systems.

According to Shirole, other foreign players are also looking at investing in education sector. These include US-based Leaw Sterling Partners (having total asset base of $1.5 billion), Qatar based Educational Holding group (corpus $2 billion), CDC group (assets of $4 billion), a semi UK government owned PE fund, and many others.

With the pace of growth, industries will keep requiring a large number of trained professionals who should be endowed with quality education in specialised streams. This has added immensely to the growth potentials of all educational institutions in India.

“Some big educational institutes are approaching me to arrange FDI for them to meet their mega expansion plans. All of them have plans to go for public fund raising in the later stage,” added Shirole.

Oct 31, 2008
Source: Economic Times
URL: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Education_sector_poised_to_attract_FDI/articleshow/3657927.cms

Chandrayaan inspires overseas Indian scientists to return home

The successful launch of India's first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 has inspired many Indian space scientists working abroad to return home for a promising career in the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Though the state-run ISRO's human resource department is yet to receive applications from abroad, enquiries for job prospects in the space agency started since the October 22 launch of Chandrayaan.

Scientists from NASA and ESA, including PIOs have sent feelers expressing interest to work for ISRO, even at lower salaries.

In accordance with the Sixth Pay Commission's recommendations, the government has revised pay scales of space scientists and engineers to Rs.31,000 from Rs.18,000 at entry-level posts; to Rs.60,000 from Rs.43,000 at middle-level posts and to Rs.70,000 from Rs.45,000 for the top posts - director and above.

To ensure a steady stream of supply to its various departments, ISRO has commenced a space university at Thiruvananthapuram this academic year where about 150 students with science background are offered a five-year course in space technology and applications.About 90 percent of ISRO scientists/engineers are home-grown, having graduated from Indian Institutes of Technology, National Institutes of Technology, Bits Pilani or other top engineering universities/colleges.

October 28, 2008
Source: Indiaedunews
URL: http://indiaedunews.net/Science/Chandrayaan_inspires_overseas_Indian_scientists_to_return_home_6450/

Government Policy

DoE issues guidelines for Nursery admissions

The Directorate of Education (DoE) has issued guidelines for nursery admissions this year highlighting no interview of children and parents except an informal interaction.
The guidelines issued by the DoE say, "The school shall not conduct any interview of, or interaction with the child for whom admission is being sought. Similarly, the school shall not conduct any interview of/with the parent/guardian. However, the school can have an informal interaction with the parent in advance."

The DoE has instructed all private recognized schools in Delhi to display the information related to admissions latest by 30th November on its notice board, website and prospectus giving details of the total number of seats available for admission in the pre-primary class, infrastructural facilities available, faculty details, fee structure and past performance of the school in fields such as academics, sports and cultural activities.

The schools have also been asked to use standardized registration forms, to be made available from December 15 - December 31, 2008 and the filled-up forms be accepted till January 7, 2009. An Admission Committee, comprising of the school's principal, headmaster of the primary section and two representatives from the Parent Teacher Association (PTA), will be formed to monitor the admission process. The committee will also address the complaints of parents and suggest remedial measures, the DoE added. A Monitoring Cell, under the chairmanship of the District Deputy Director, will be constituted in every district to look into the complaints regarding the admission process. It will also conduct regular inspections in schools to ensure that the admission process is hassle-free, objective and transparent.

November 1, 2008
Source: Indiaedunews
URL: http://www.indiaedunews.net/Delhi/DoE_issues_guidelines_for_Nursery_admissions_6482/

Cabinet clears Right to Education Bill

The Union Cabinet has finally given its nod to the long-pending Right to Education Bill, which ensures "every child, between the age of 6 and 14, the right to elementary education that is free, compulsory, of equitable quality and available in the neigbhourhood".

The Right to Education Bill ran into controversy twice after facing stiff resistance from the Law and Finance Ministries on issues involving the financial contribution of states. The HRD ministry had estimated that every year, Rs.55,000 crores would be required to implement the Right to Education law but the Planning Commission had expressed its inability to spare that much money for implementing the proposed law. It was then, the state governments were asked to implement the law. The state governments, however, expressed their unwillingness to fund the project in the present format. This forced the Centre to think over footing the entire financial burden on itself.

The Right to Education Bill aims at setting minimum standards for both public and private schools so that the quality of education improves across the country. Using the Right to Education Bill, the Government also wants to address issues like child labour, adequate nutrition for children, gender bias and special care for children with disability.

The Bill's most controversial clause makes it compulsory for all private schools to reserve 25 percent of their seats for poor children. The Centre has however ensured that it will reimburse this cost to the schools.

October 31, 2008
Source: Indiaedunews
URL: http://www.indiaedunews.net/Today/Cabinet_clears_Right_to_Education_Bill_6475/

India moves to set up South Asian University

In what has been described as the 'largest visible sign of transformation of SAARC', the Indian government has approved the tabling of a bill in parliament to create a South Asian University (SAU). 'The establishment of the SAU in India would be the largest visible sign of transformation of SAARC from declaratory to implementation,' Finance Minister P. Chidambram said. 'It will also be the first international university to be set up in India and would have branches of learning in other SAARC member states.

The SAU, whose jurisdiction will extend to the whole of India and to campuses and centres established outside India in the SAARC region and 'would have full and functional autonomy'. The university is expected to commence functioning in the second half of 2010 with 5,000 students and a postgraduate academic programme.'The SAU shall grant the necessary diplomas, certificates and degrees, as it determines.

At the request of the external affairs ministry, the Delhi Development Authority will be allotting 100 acres of land for the SAU at Maidan Garhi near the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). The cost of the land, approximately Rs.750 million, would be borne by the external affairs ministry. 'Contribution on other expenditure would be decided by the SAARC member states at the necessary intergovernmental mechanisms based on the existing participatory approach,' an official statement said.
'The realization of this prestigious project on schedule would be a visible manifestation of India's asymmetric commitment to SAARC contributing to SAARC's transformation to the implementation phase.

October 31, 2008
Source: Indiaenews
URL: http://www.indiaenews.com/education/20081031/154816.htm

Committee for revised pay scales of special teachers

Highlighting the "growing dearth" of teachers engaged in schools for children with disabilities across the county, a high level committee has recommended revising their current pay scales.

The Estimates Committee on Programmes & Schemes for Welfare of Persons with Disability has said that teachers in these special schools are forced to leave their jobs and join other schools for a higher salary as their current pay scale is very low. In a report presented to the Parliament, the committee said that the pay scales of teachers in special schools are not at par with the general school teachers. Moreover, there is also a great disparity in the rate of honorarium of special school teachers and those working in the government-aided schools even though they both provide the same service.
Based on the qualification and experience, teachers in the special schools are paid a salary ranging from Rs.2800 to Rs.6000 per month, which is quiet low as compared to the salary drawn by teachers in the general schools. The Committee's report referred to a study conducted by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (Mumbai) which also suggested a revision of the honorarium offered to attract and retain well-qualified staff.

October 31, 2008
Source: Indiaedunews
URL: http://indiaedunews.net/Today/Committee_for_revised_pay_scales_of_special_teachers_6465/

New IIMs should run under existing IIMs

The six IIMs, planned to be started by next year, should be under the control of the existing IIMs initially which would help the new institutions to learn from their experience and would be more economical, a high-level government committee has suggested.

The government appointed IIM-Review committee in its report submitted to the HRD Ministry has said that this model would help the old IIMs to act as mentor institutes.

October 29, 2008
Source: Indiaedunews
URL: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Services/Education/New_IIMs_should_run_under_existing_IIMs/articleshow/3652247.cms

Surveys and Reports

Indian universities need quality boost for global ratings – experts

India has to invest more in quality staff and research for its higher education institutions to make a mark worldwide, according to British higher education experts. The observation comes in the wake of two Indian institutions figuring in the 2008 list of top higher education institutions compiled by the Times Higher Education-QS World University Ranking Survey 2008. The details of the survey were released earlier this month.

Whereas no institution from India figured in the top 200 of 2007, two institutions broke into the 2008 list. They are the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT-D), ranked 154 and IIT Bombay, ranked 174, according to the Times Higher Education website.

William Lawton, a policy adviser at the UK Higher Education International Unit, said India was aware of its poor showing at the global level and was investing heavily to reverse the trend, but "it is less clear whether they'll be able to fill these institutions with high-quality staff". Quality of research is another problem area for India, Tim Gore, director of the Centre for Indian Business at the University of Greenwich, pointed out. According to him, India's major hurdle is its traditional method of keeping teaching and research separate in higher institutions.

For the sake of comparison, China has as many as five universities in the top 200, with Peking University placed at 50 and Tsinghua University at 56. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Seoul National University are the two new east Asian entrants into the list this year.

October 31, 2008
Source: Indiaedunews
URL: http://indiaedunews.net/Universities/Indian_universities_need_quality_boost_for_global_ratings_-_experts_6472/

IAF's flawed training resulting in pilot shortage: CAG

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is facing an acute shortage of efficient pilots after failing miserably to impart quality training, a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has revealed.

"The number of pilots trained in various streams during 2001-2006 was much lower than planned targets, indicating that either the training targets did not take into account constraints or IAF failed to ensure adequate intake of pilot trainees through an effective recruitment strategy," the report on the IAF reveals. The startling revelations have come after IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major admitted that the air force is short of 400 pilots and it will take another five years to plug the gap.

Contending that the IAF's requirement of trained pilots will substantially increase during 2008-2018 to meet the expansion needs of IAF squadrons, the report said: "The IAF has not implemented any effective training strategy for meeting the increased intake requirements by addressing problems related to limitations of air space or runway occupancy and other infrastructural constraints."

The report has also highlighted the absence of any long-term training plan for pilots of fighter and other aircrafts consistent with its long-term strategic objectives, desired force levels and technological changes. "The interim training plans for short periods of two years have led to short sighted decisions impacting the quality of pilot training. "The number of pilots failing to complete their training successfully was significantly higher than the assessed average wastage rates in 45 percent of courses. There was also lack of continuity in the transition of a pilot from initial training to intermediate and advanced stages of training," the report added. The audit report has attributed the discontinuity in training to the lack of adequate number of state-of-the-art training aircraft with the IAF.

According to the CAG's findings, 42 percent of the 276 aircraft accidents reported during 1995-2005 were attributed to human errors. "HPT-32 aircraft used for Stage-I training is technologically outdated and beset by flight safety hazards. In spite of loss of 11 pilots and 15 aircraft, it continues to be used today. Further HPT-32 does not aid in the smooth transition of trainees to the next stage of training," said the report.

October 30, 2008
Source: Indiaedunews
URL: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Services/Education/IAFs_flawed_training_resulting_in_pilot_shortage_CAG/articleshow/3653971.cms

Events

FICCI to hold Higher Education Summit 2008 on policy and practice imperatives

Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) is organizing its annual Higher Education Summit 2008 titled "Higher Education at the Crossroads: Imperatives for Policy & Practice" on November 25 & 26, 2008 in New Delhi.

Oct 31,2008
Source: MBA Universe
URL: http://www.mbauniverse.com/innerPage.php?id=ne&pageId=1530

Others

Panjab University to re-employ retired teachers

Panjab University (PU) has decided to re-employ retired academicians on contract after 58 faculty members retired at one go following a court ruling. The situation became acute with the retirement of 58 faculty members, including professors and readers of the varsity, after the Punjab and Haryana High Court Friday dismissed their petition to increase the retirement age from 60 to 62. There are over 60 teaching departments in PU and around 10,000 students from various states study in its Chandigarh campus.

November 2, 2008
Source: Indiaenews
URL: http://www.indiaenews.com/education/20081102/155182.htm

Jharkhand offers spin in the air to check school dropouts

With an aim to check school dropouts in the state, Jharkhand will now provide a chance of a free ride on a helicopter or a glider to those who attend classes regularly. This is part of its ongoing series of innovative programmes.

The students who have a minimum attendance of 70 percent and an outstanding performance will be given a chance to enjoy the ride. In Jharkhand, the literacy rate is 54 percent against the national average of 65 percent.

October 31, 2008
Source: Indiaenews
URL: http://www.indiaenews.com/education/20081031/154699.htm

Using mobiles to impart education

The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) will soon impart students capsule courses on dance, music, art, public health and other subjects through mobile phones.

These easily accessible modules would be implemented in collaboration with the Communication and Manufacturing Association of India (CMAI).

October 30, 2008
Source: Indiaenews
URL: http://www.indiaenews.com/education/20081030/154555.htm

Uttar Pradesh university to team up with Italian university

The Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University (RMLNLU) will tie up with the University of Naples, Italy, to promote academic research, especially in the field of international law.

October 30, 2008
Source: Indiaenews
URL: http://www.indiaenews.com/education/20081030/154429.htm