A report on university finances in the UK, authored by a panel headed by Lord John Browne and released in mid-October, deserves serious study by directors and vice chancellors of Indian colleges and universities. The report suggests a way out of the perilous financial straits which many British universities are in today. The panel has […]
Since the People’s Republic of Bangladesh was famously written off as a “basket case nation-state” by the former American secretary of state Dr Henry Kissinger in 1971, despite suffering military coups and political instability, and often ravaged by floods and cyclones, this low-lying nation has surprised India and the world by pioneering several innovative socio-economic […]
Once every eagerly anticipated fortnight, children in classes VI-VII from several schools in Pune gather together to watch socially relevant documentaries dealing with issues such as child labour, women’s empowerment, water harvesting, racial bias, communal disharmony and so on. The screening is followed by an intense discussion led by Dr Satish Rajmachikar, the man behind […]
The Right to Free & Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (aka RTE Act) has become operational with effect from April 1. My reading of this historic legislation enabled by a constitutional amendment, is that its objective is to ensure equal education opportunities for all children. Its laudable goal is to balance an unequal society where so […]
Ever wonder why communist parties and Marxist ideology which have long since been consigned to dustbins worldover — Russia and China included — are thriving in India and morphing into the more virulent strain of Naxalism? Because Indias capitalists are making it easier for them by giving the alternative ideology of capitalism a bad name […]
Even as the elation of the 19th Commonwealth Games 2010 staged in Delhi subsides, this is an opportune time for educationists, principals and teachers to give a massive boost to sports education in India’s schools and colleges. Summiya Yasmeen reports
The litany of disasters — reminiscent of failed basket-case pre-Green Revolution India rather than contemporary post-liberalisation India, […]
Media frenzy, the irate belligerence of urban Indias upper middle classes newly acquired sensibility and the righteous indignation of the National Centre for the Protection of Child Rights following the caning of class VIII La Martiniere student Rouvanjit Rawla in February this year is bewildering. All these constituencies seem to have accepted that theres a […]
A new ranking of full-time MBA programmes by the Economist finds that these are difficult times for business schools, especially European institutions. MBAs who graduated in 2009 earned less than those who graduated the previous year. This has not happened for ages. Starting salaries of new MBAs from IMD, a business school in Switzerland, fell […]
When Ngo Nao Chau won a fields medal, the (American) mathematics version of a Nobel prize, it made headline news in his native Vietnam. The president sent a telegram of congratulations. Chau is the first Vietnamese winner. But he does not ply his trade in Vietnam. Chau is a professor at the University of Chicago […]
Universities have been advised to look to the Middle East to boost their coffers as wealthy Arabs are increasingly keen to support higher education worldwide. A growing population and a cultural commitment to philanthropy mean that the Middle East is now one of the most fertile lands for fundraising, delegates at the Council for the […]
The UK faced a reality check in mid-September with the publication of the new and more rigorous Times Higher Education World University rankings. Britains performance has deteriorated under the revamped system, developed in partnership with research-data specialist Thomson Reuters. The UK has 29 universities in the top 200 league table compared with 72 US institutions. […]
For Americas children the education system is often literally a lottery. That is the prime message of a new documentary about Americas schools, Waiting for Superman. Made by the team that gave us An Inconvenient Truth, and supported with the sort of marketing budget that other documentary filmmakers can only dream of, it is intended […]
Predictably, confirmation of a decision taken in April by the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIM-C, estb. 1961) to increase tuition fees of its two-year PGDBM (postgraduate diploma in business management) programme from Rs.9 lakh to Rs.13.7 lakh in the current academic year which began on June 21, has been greeted with dismay, not so […]
Theres a buzz of excitement in the modest office of YOCee (Youth of Chennai, energetic, enthusiastic) — a Chennai-based proprietary firm which manages YOCee.in, a childrens website in the port city. On Childrens Day (November 14) YOCee plans to launch a video news bulletin on its You Tube channel featuring student-centric news and events reported […]
The globe-girdling Dubai-based Varkey Group-promoted Global Education Management Systems (GEMS), which made a soft launch entry into India in 2004, is aiming to emerge as one of the top five K-12 education providers countrywide in the next three-four years, with at least 100 schools under its management. The Varkey Group, which owns 100 schools worldwide, […]
Indias best ever international track and field games performance (102 medals including 38 gold) in the recently concluded Commonwealth Games 2010, has generated unpreced-ented euphoria and public interest in sports education. The overwhelming consensus within athletes and sports pundits is that this is a good time to begin root and branch reform of sports education, […]
Experience in sport enlarge(s) the human adventure — James A. MichenerA major motivation for writing this monthly column is that as school and youth sports grow in India, you will not squander the potential to create a sports culture that will offer the greatest good to the greatest number of young people. In poll after […]
Im keen on pursuing a career as probationary officer (PO) in a bank. Please advise the way forward.Vidya Rajan, Bangalore
Examinations are conducted by public/private sector banks to recruit probationary officers in the junior management cadre. Those who clear the exam and interview are recruited as POs and receive extensive on-the-job training. ICICI Bank offers […]
The financial planning profession has been rated the No.1 job in USA by Jobs America Almanac. The CFP (certified financial planner) certificate is one of most prestigious and preferred qualifications in financial planning globally, described by the Wall Street Journal as the ‘gold standard, says Ranjeet Mudholkar, principal advisor and director of the Financial Planning […]
Against the background of the recently enacted Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act), which directs all private unaided schools to provide free education upto 25 percent of class strength to underprivileged children from classes I-VIII, it is important for the future of private schools that they accept this provision of the […]
Highly prized for its teaching excellence and research, University of Cambridge, UK is routinely ranked among the top five of the worlds best varsities. In the the-QS world university rankings 2009 it was ranked second, behind Harvard
The second oldest (after Oxford) university of the English speaking world, over the past 800 years, the University of […]
When our older daughter began to attend elementary school in the United States, I was struck by the fact that the school day for all students began, hand over heart, with the Pledge of Allegiance, which was effectively a solemn declaration of loyalty to the republic. Secondly, on the very first day, the teacher taught […]
Neha Kalekar, a final year information technology engineering student of Maharashtras showpiece College of Engineering, Pune (COEP, estb.1854), was among eight winners chosen from more than 200 contenders for the Google India Women in Engineering Awards 2010, held in Hyderabad in March this year. The awards acknowledge outstanding women computer science students with the objective […]
“The old adage of opposites attract doesnt hold true any more. Its about being the other half of a power couple in which synergy and resonance are important.”
Rama Bijapurkar, well-known marketing strategy consultant, on the changing character of marriages (Business Standard, October 16)
“Making good the tear in our republics fabric that Ayodhya caused […]
Food 4 Thought Foundation collaborated with Cyient Foundation, the CSR arm of Cyient Ltd. (a global Intelligent Engineering services company), Monocept Consulting and Emesco Books .....Read More
In a significant move aimed at improving the educational system, the Odisha government has announced that the minimum age for enrolling in Class-1 will be .....Read More
