The Haryana state government™s department of school education has launched a massive learning enhancement programme in 3,200 government primary schools under its statewide quality improvement programme (QIP), partly funded by the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation (MSDF). MSDF has committed $2.7 million (Rs.17.5 crore) over three years to the Boston Consulting Group to provide QIP management support to the Haryana government. QIP™s main goal is to bring 80 percent of classes I-V and V-VIII students to prescribed levels of competency in five-seven years, which will place Haryana among the top five states countrywide in the ASER, NAS and other learning outcomes assessment surveys. œThe goal of QIP is to ensure that all students attain prescribed competencies of previous classes, and rise to the level of their current class, said T.C. Gupta, principal secretary, school education department of the state government, addressing a media conference in Delhi on September 16. œThe government of Haryana should be commended for its leadership and we are honoured to be a partner in a programme which has the potential to become a model for the rest of India, added Prachi Windlass, education director (India) of MSDF. King™s Chevening Gurukul Programme King™s College London has announced the start of its 2015 Chevening Gurukul Programme for Leadership and Excellence. The fellowship is aimed at high-flying early to mid-career professionals from diverse backgrounds with strong and demonstrable leadership potential. Fourteen Gurukul Fellows from India have commenced an intensive 12-week residential course at King™s College London, one of the world™s top 20 colleges/universities. The programme, hosted at the King™s India Institute from last year, addresses issues confronting leaders in all fields by analysing changing ideas and leadership practices and exploring implications of globalisation. The Chevening Gurukul Leadership programme is the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office™s flagship fellowship scheme for India and has been running for nearly 30 years. œOur aim is to provide the fellows a unique purchase on pressing contemporary concerns ” ranging from financial markets to human rights ” by bringing the latest research into dialogue with best practices in these fields, says Dr. Kriti Kapila, lecturer in social anthropology and law at the King™s India Institute of King™s College, London, and director of the Chevening Gurukul Programme. The course faculty comprises academics from King™s College, London and highly-reputed professionals and practitioners from industry and public policy formulators. Woodstock™s Writers Mountain Festival The annual Writers™ Mountain Festival of the top-ranked Woodstock School, Mussoorie (estb.1854), which attracts more than 200 distinguished authors, mountaineers, artists, musicians, photographers, filmmakers and naturalists to celebrate œmountain culture, exploration and conservation, will be celebrated on the school™s campus on October 22-25. This year™s list of speakers features Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, Austrian mountaineer and first woman to have climbed all the world™s 14 peaks above 8,000 metres without supplemental oxygen. Writers attending the festival include Amrita Tripathi, Paro Anand and Patrick French. One of the primary themes of this year™s festival is ˜Women and Mountains,™ featuring speakers Bernadette McDonald, Mukti Datta, Manjari Mehta and Mirella…
