In the new age of instant digital connectivity and globalisation, it is possible — and necessary — for educationists in vastly different geographies to identify and adapt best practices in education. In India we can make a start by implementing 3 stepping stones for school improvement to repair the severely damaged foundations of the countrys […]
With the Indian economy growing at 7 percent plus since 1991, there is a substantial rise in demand for managers and workers. But the overwhelming majority of job seekers aren’t sufficiently qualified for industry and business job vacancies because of a huge and widening gap between the academy and India Inc – Dipta Joshi
Deep within […]
A constituent college of the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (estb. 1957), Manipal Institute of Technology has been consistently ranked among the countrys Top 10 engineering colleges and #1 in Karnataka,in the EW India Higher Education Rankings for the past three years – Odeal DSouza
Sited on a 162-acre campus atop a […]
In a departure from past practice, this months cover story is written by an academic with some help from our editorial team. Although in the past lead features have been written by individuals whose names dont figure on our tombstone, those writers have always been journalists, or individuals who describe themselves as such. However when […]
Since the dawn of independence, the issue of the status of Kashmir has been a toxic thorn in the side of free India which has poisoned the body politic and stymied the national development effort. And even today shoot-outs, stone-pelting youth and violent deaths and destruction in the Kashmir valley are recurring headlines of daily […]
Mixed reactions ranging from shock, amazement, incredulity and scorn greeted the verdict of a Thomson Reuters Foundation report released on June 28 that ranks India as the worlds most dangerous country for women, more dangerous than Afghanistan, Syria and Saudi Arabia. According to the report, Indias 600 million women are more at risk of sexual […]
Although invariably well-ranked on the parameter of leadership in the annual EducationWorld India School Rankings, principals of even most admired schools tend to be deficient in their knowledge of business mantras such as brand building, funds-raising and institution development. This awareness dawned on your correspondent (also editor of India’s first two pioneer business magazines) when […]
A first time holiday excursion to Bali, one of the islands of the Republic of Indonesia (pop. 266 million) last month, transformed into a week of some pain and anguish. Indonesia is a third world country even more notorious for government corruption than India, ranked #96 in Transparency International’s 2018 league table — 15 places […]
The abrupt resignation and flight to America of Arvind Subramaniam, chief economic advisor to the Central government, so soon after he authored the widely acclaimed Economic Survey 2018-19 on the flimsy ground that he has become a grandfather, highlights one of the great infirmities of post-independence India’s society. It is saddled with an effete elite […]
Alka Sharma, Managing director, Central Public Sr. Sec. School & Rockwoods High School, Udaipur
Where would you place education on your national list of priorities?
It is a basic requirement for the growth of any nation’s economy. It should be placed at the top on a par with defence and agriculture.
How best to upgrade government […]
Why I am a Hindu, Shashi Tharoor, Aleph Book Company; Rs.699, Pages 320
I must say I thoroughly enjoyed Shashi Tharoor’s timely book: Why I am a Hindu. Not scholarly work, but eminently readable.
Tharoor demolishes the facile right-wing hindutva assumption that the only criterion for ‘hinduness’, is subscribing to their Talibanised ideology. He delves into the many centuries […]
At Bush house in central London, formerly the home of the BBC’s World Service, finishing touches are being applied to King’s College London’s swanky new campus, which will be inaugurated come September. The building’s Portland stone exterior and marble interior, capped by a rooftop café with a fabulous view, make it a grand home for […]
The theme of this first London Letter is inspired by the editorial and cover story in the June issue of EducationWorld concerning the belated recognition by educationists of the importance of so-called “life skills”, alongside the teaching of academic and technical subjects. Valuable life skills cover a wide spectrum, but the most essential — and […]
Australia is poised to overtake the UK as the second most popular global destination for international students, according to a new analysis. The research, based on international student enrolment figures from round the world, says that it’s likely that Australia has already outstripped the UK in terms of the number of overseas students from outside […]
The schoolhouse in Vorsino stands next to the village chapel. Inside, a teacher is standing and reading to pupils who sit obediently in rows.
In another classroom, a different scene unfolds. Ogabek Masharipov, a 23-year-old with Teach for Russia, a programme that sends young college graduates to teach in rural schools, banters with pupils and begins […]
“Drawing on your political knowledge, explain why the Communist Party should exercise leadership over the country’s economy, armed forces, schools and all aspects of society.” So reads an essay question in this year’s gaokao, China’s university entrance exam which was held in early June. The exam is notoriously tough, but political flattery can help. Examinees […]
Eventually “all learning is going to happen digitally,” according to Jeff Maggioncalda, chief executive of online learning platform Coursera. But Maggioncalda isn’t rehearsing the tired trope that massive open online courses offered by the likes of Coursera will drive traditional universities out of business. Instead, he predicts that learning on university campuses will increasingly happen […]
Saiju Aravind
The #1 factor that distinguishes the 21st century from the past is the powerful impact that technology is making in almost every sphere of contemporary life. Like an unstoppable tsunami, it totally transforms any landscape it decides to visit. If the Industrial Revolution of the 1800s catalysed a mechanical engineering revolution that radically transformed […]
Bangalore-based education evangelist Rajesh Rao is founder-director of Connecting the Dots Pvt. Ltd (CTD, estb.2013), a company providing high-quality, affordable IT-enabled classes VIII-XII science and math education in English and local languages to government, government-aided and private schools. The company also offers teacher training programmes and partners with NGOs and corporates such as Bosch, […]
Raj Adhikary is the Gurgaon (Haryana)-based president and CEO of the Japan Education and Information Center (JEIC), which offers Japanese language learning programmes, hygiene and culture, and skills education to institutions in India. Promoted in 2014 by Adhikary, a former professional pilot, the prime objective of JEIC is to “promote interaction between the people […]
Sub-collector of Tamil Nadu’s Cuddalore district (pop.2.6 million), Johny Tom Varghese is hell-bent on improving the quality of education dispensed in 559 government schools under his jurisdiction in the socio-economically backward district of Cuddalore.
History. A mathematics and business management alumnus of Madras and Anna universities, Varghese began his career as a research associate in the […]
Col. (Retd) Rajendra P. Nadella (“unfortunately unrelated to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella”) is founder and CEO of the Bangalore-based iScholar Education Services (estb. 2013), an online education company that provides on-demand live tutoring to K-12 students. iScholar’s 50 teachers and subject experts deliver tutorials from state-of-the-art studios in Bangalore to 12,000 students in 35 […]
This 81-year-old Hong Kong Polytechnic University is ranked among the worlds Top 100 in the QS World University Rankings 2018 and among the Top 20 in THE Asia University Rankings 2018
Set on an expansive 23-acre campus in the heart of the eponymous island city, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (aka PolyU, […]
The demand for stand-up comics in India is booming with market size likely to challenge the US and UK in the next few years – Sruthy Susan Ullas
Stand-up comedy is a live stage performance by a solo artiste committed to keeping her audience in good humour by relating wisecracks, memes and jokes drawn from her […]
The cover story on alternative education (EW July) was a great read and inspired me to search for an alternative school for my toddler.
However, I wish you had given names of prominent alumni from established alternative schools such as Rishi Valley, or their board examination results to show how well their students perform in […]
I am a class XII science (physics, chemistry and maths) student. After completing my Plus Two, what are my study options other than engineering?— Sidhant Agarwal, Kolkata
You have numerous higher education study options. If you are a creative individual passionate about technology/products, design — especially product/industrial design — is a discipline you could shortlist. […]
According to all indications, its finally curtains for the University Grants Commission (UGC, estb.1956), a Soviet-style over-arching control-and-command body (fashioned after the British University Committee, UK, shut down in 1989). For 62 of Indias 70 years as an independent nation, UGC has presided over its higher education system monitoring and accrediting the countrys higher education […]
Strident protests and threats of prolonged litigation by Maharashtras powerful coaching classes and test prep schools lobby have torpedoed the state governments Private Coaching Classes Regulatory Bill which had been readied for enactment in the monsoon session (July 14-August 30) of the state legislative assembly. The states BJP-Shiv Sena coalition government was determined to enact […]
By ending 34 years ofuninterrupted misrule of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM)-led Left Front government in West Bengal (pop. 91 million) in 2011, and winning a second term for the Trinamool Congress (TMC) with a landslide mandate in the 2016 assembly election, chief minister Mamata Banerjee has not only established herself in West Bengal […]
Reckless negligence andflouting of safety norms by schools and colleges continue to take a grim toll of childrens lives in Tamil Nadu. Although a plethora of safety guidelines have been issued by the Central and state governments following a horrifying fire at the private aided Sri Krishna Saraswathi English Medium School, Kumbakonam in 2004 in […]
The politics of language in education is back on the agenda in the southern state of Karnataka (pop.67 million). On July 5, in his maiden budget speech, Karnataka chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, also finance minister, announced the two-month-old Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress coalition governments decision of introducing English medium education in 1,000 government schools, starting from […]
Since children lack both the political resource of ‘voice and the consumer resource of ‘choice, they are ignored by the state, ill-used by the market, and made invisible by society.Manabi Majumdar, professor, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Kolkata (www.thewire.in, July 2)
The IT industry has created bonded labour for years together, making money through labour […]
New Delhi, July 3. The Delhi-based National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has directed the Arunachal Pradesh government to pay Rs.5,000 relief to 88 girl school students forced to undress by their teachers as punishment on November 23 last year. The girl students allegedly wrote about their head teacher in vulgar terms.
The class VI-VII students […]
Noida, July 7. The Ramagya School, Noida (estb.2005) organised its inaugural Ramagya Noida Sports League (RNSL) marathon in India. The RNSL marathon started on July 7 at 5 p.m and ended the next day i.e, July 8 at 7 p.m.
The uniqueness of the RNSL marathon is that it is the first sports programme open […]
Kullu (Himachal Pradesh)-based Aanchal Thakur (21) has made history by winning India its first international medal in skiing, a competitive winter sport.
On January 9, this young skier who trained for 15 years on the snowy slopes of Manalis Solang Valley, zipped down a skiing track with a vertical drop of 180 m with 62 turns […]
Prathyush P. Poduval (18), a Mangalore (Karnataka)-based STEM enthusiast, is member of a five-strong national team which cleared three rigorous elimination rounds this April to be selected to represent India at the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) 2018, scheduled to be staged in Beijing (China) in November. Forty teams from 45 countries worldwide […]
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Home visits, positive reinforcement helped Udupi push up its rank in Karnataka SSLC Exams - Reshma Ravishanker Positive reinforcements to students and a leadership who kept their cool helped Udupi district in Karnataka catapult ... 
26 NGOs Enabling Indian Education If India's K-12 education system hasn't collapsed completely, its due to the efforts of the country's private schools and estimated ... 
School boards in India: types and differences -Riya Ganguly CBSE, ICSE, NIOS, CAIE, IB- what are the differences between these boards and how do you make the ... 
Impractical comprehensive plastics ban
– Rahul Singh is a former editor of the Readers Digest and Indian Express
In the classic 1967 Mike Nichols movie, The Graduate, a fresh-out-of-college Dustin Hoffman asks his fathers business partner what advice he can give the young Hoffman on which career to pursue. I just want to say one word to you, is […]