Student film festival awards

The ninth Mumbai International Festival for Documentary and Short Films (MIFF ) organised by Films Division, a subsidiary of the Union ministry of information and broadcasting, featured a wide range of student films, spotlighting contemporary issues ranging from food and comedy to gender discrimination. The films screened comprised the best student productions submitted by Film & Television Institute, Tamil Nadu; Jamia Milia, Delhi; Film & Television Institute of India (FTII) Pune; Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute of India, Kolkata; the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad; Biju Patnaik Film & Television Institute, Orissa and the government Film & Television Institute, Bangalore. A large number of students of films and media from across the country attended the festival in early February. Hitesh Kewalya of the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad was awarded the best fiction film prize for Nothing Happens on this Turn (upto 75 mins/ national competition) which included a golden conch and a cash prize of Rs.1.5 lakh. Another NID student Amit Shah was awarded the National Jury Award for his documentary film Hoon with a cash prize of Rs. 50,000. Witty Kids international centre status Witty Kids High School, mumbai has been awarded international centre status by the UK-based University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE). Witty Kids High will now teach and examine a range of internationally accepted syllabuses including CIE’s IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education). “We are delighted to announce that Witty Kids High School has become a registered centre and look forward to a long and productive relationship which will be of great benefit to students throughout this region,” says Tom Eason, CIE’s director for international education. As a duly certified CIE Centre, Witty Kids High will offer students in India internationally renowned qualifications recognised by education institutions and employers round the world. A seminar-cum-multimedia presentation on the scope and benefits of the IGCSE curriculum was staged by the school recently. The keynote speaker was Mark Bartholomew chief executive of CIE (South Asia). Bartholomew commended the teaching pedagogies, infrastructure, and safe and hygienic environment of the school. Kidzee’s new teacher training programme Kidzee, a pre-school education initiative of Zee Interactive Learning Systems Ltd which offers its curriculum to 350 franchisee schools across India, has conceptualised a one-year International Early Childhood Teachers’ Education Course diploma programme for pre-school teachers. The content of the training programme is based on international standards for teachers of children in the age group 0-8 years. “The IECTEC programme has been designed to develop professionals in the field of early childhood care and education with a balanced blend of theoretical awareness and hands-on experience derived from kindergarten, day care centres, pre-schools and schools for special children. Trainees are also given exposure to children from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds, for broader understanding of children, sensitivity and empathy,” says a Kidzee spokesperson. Moreover with effect from February 26, all Kidzee centres in Delhi have been authorised to discharge the duties of pulse polio booths of the Union ministry of health and family affairs. ISB’s rolling placements gathers momentum Rolling placements, a programme…