In association with the government of Assam, Pearson Group — the world’s largest and most diversified education and publishing conglomerate — has launched a unique programme to deliver vocational education and training (VET) to schools in the state. Pearson has established vocational skills centres in ten selected government-run schools in Guwahati, initially offering training in two streams — retail and computer hardware and IT. By early December, over 600 students had signed up for these programmes. The VET curriculum is designed and administered by two Pearson companies: IndiaCan, one of India’s most reputed vocational skills providers, and Edexcel, the UK’s largest qualifications awarding board, recognised the world over for its rigorous accreditation of courses and students. As a precursor to this initiative, an orientation programme was organised for teachers and students of the selected schools. Classes are conducted after school hours for students of class IX onwards. “The curriculum is hands-on, encourages the use of audio-visual aids, and includes lectures by industry experts and factory visits to familiarise students with shopfloor conditions. Encouraged by the enthusiastic response of the government and students, Pearson intends to roll out this initiative statewide in the near future,” says a company spokesperson. GE Edison Challenge Winners Team Aarogya of the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati (IIT-G), was adjudged winner and awarded an incubation prize of Rs.10 lakh at the fifth edition of GE Edison Challenge held at the GE India Technology Center, Bangalore on December 7. The winning team’s entry was selected by a panel of judges comprising senior technologists and members of the Edison Engineering Development Program of the GE India Technology Center. Under the rules of the contest, students were required to create ‘An idea for India’ in one field — healthcare, energy or transportation. The IIT-G team’s project proposes wireless EEG (electroencephalogram) for monitoring autistic patients with signals transferred through wireless media while the patient is at home. Team BioMedical Blazers of the Vellore Institute of Technology was adjudged runner-up and awarded a prize of Rs.5 lakh for its Veinloc, which proposes a low-cost vein detection solution. “The 2012 edition of the GE Edison Challenge is a one-of-a-kind contest which encourages students to create an idea that will make India a better place to live in. Our country is on its way to becoming a global superpower and it’s up to us to encourage our innovators of tomorrow to match to the speed. I was impressed with the balance of innovative ideas and practicality demonstrated by the winning and runner-up teams,” said Dr. Gopichand Katragadda, managing director of the GE India Technology Center, speaking on the occasion. KISS Human Chain for Humanity The Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), Bhubaneswar, reputedly the world’s largest residential school, celebrated Human Rights Day on December 10 with 20,000 tribal/indigenous K-12 students forming a 25 km Human Chain for Humanity — said to be world’s longest human chain. The children’s chain demonstrating the theme ‘My Voice Counts’ started from the KIIT University campus and covered almost the entire city…
