The Sarala Birla Academy, the Aditya Birla Group’s internationally benchmarked public school was formally inaugurated by Narayana Murthy, chairman, Infosys Technologies and Prof. Prema Pandurang in Bangalore on June 11. “Our vision for the Sarala Birla Academy is to ignite minds and create a love for learning and continuous development of children by making the learning process an enjoyable experience. The academy’s mission is to help each student reach his full potential and by doing so, help develop a higher sense of self-esteem in students,” said Kumarmangalam Birla, chairman of the governing council of the academy speaking on the occasion. Commented Narayana Murthy in his keynote address: “Education is about assuming responsibility in society, assuming responsibility to show fairness to the less fortunate; to create a future that the posterity can be proud of; to fulfil the promise that freedom brought us. Every one of you has the potential to redeem this promise,” he told the first batch of class V-VIII students of the academy. Prof. Prema Pandurang stressed the importance of values and spiritualism in life. She blessed the children and “this temple of learning and knowledge”. Earlier Dr. Bruce Robinson, the school’s principal, outlined the academy’s aim as that of providing exemplary standards of quality education. “An education philosophy based on experiential learning, backed by technology, is at the core of our teaching processes,” he commented. “The academy aspires to become a leading residential school within India and South-east Asia, in the near future, apart from being a home away from home,” said Robinson. The Aditya Birla Group runs 30 day schools in ten states across India with an aggregate enrolment of 35,000 children. The Sarala Birla Academy spread over 67 acres, is the first wholly residential (boys’) public school promoted by the group. Global Communications Symposium in Spain Two postgraduate media students from Convergence Institute of Media, Management and Information Technology Studies (Commits), Bangalore (est. 2001), are currently in Barcelona, Spain, to participate in the First Annual Global Communications Symposium (June 28-July 2). The students — Bhuvana Gurumurthy and Archana Rao — will participate in the four-day symposium attended by representatives of top international PR (public relations) firms worldwide and organised by Blanquerna School of Communication Studies, Ramon Llull University, Barcelona. Commits is the only media training institute from India to participate in this prestigious global communications programme. The other institutions are: University of Erfurt (Germany); Pretoria University (South Africa); Stirling University (Scotland); Emerson College (USA), Universita’ degli Studi di Udien (Italy) and Assumption University (Thailand). Edusys software package launch Dr. K. Balaveera Reddy, vice-chancellor of Vishveshwaraya Technical University, Bangalore launched the latest version of Edusys — an educational institution management software package which reduces paperwork in administration — in Bangalore on June 25. Conceptualised, designed and operationalised by the Mysore-based Raman Computer Pvt Ltd (RCPL), Edusys is described as a “management software that aims at promoting paperless educational institutions”. “There are many school managements that work very hard to deliver quality education to children who cannot afford to go…
