Staying aheadEdLive

May 2012

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Message from the Sector leader

Contents

Domestic News 06

Regulatory News 09

International News 10

Deals 11

Dear friends,

Welcome to the May edition of EdLive!

The month of May saw some crucial developments within the education space. Firstly the recently concluded parliament session saw some important Bills being passed namely, the Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, 2012; the Right of Children to free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2012 and the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Amendment Bill, 2012. In addition, the announcement of shifting to a common entrance examination for admission to undergraduate engineering programmes in India was another important, though controversial development aimed at reducing the pressure on students hitherto faced with multiple engineering entrance exams and reinforcing the importance of secondary education in the country.

The new system which took over 2 years of deliberation with Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs), Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) and other Central Educational Institutions (CFTI) proposes a Joint Entrance Examination for admission to the undergraduate programmes in engineering which would be conducted in two parts, JEE-MAIN and JEE-ADVANCED. The Class XII Board/equivalent marks normalized on percentile basis through an appropriate formula plus the marks obtained in the JEE-MAIN examination, with equal weightage, would be used by IITs for purposes of screening a fixed number of candidates who would be eligible to be considered for admission. The ranking for admission to undergraduate programmes in IITs would be based entirely on the performance in the JEE-ADVANCED examination from amongst the candidates screened through this process. For all other Centrally Funded Institutions, there would be 40% weightage for performance

in Class XII Board marks normalized on percentile basis through an appropriate formula, 30% weightage for performance in JEE-MAIN and 30% weightage in JEE-ADVANCED and a combined merit decided accordingly.

The move has been faced with severe criticism from all facets of the society. As per press reports, the alumni association of IIT Delhi has recently written to the Prime Minister, attacking Education Minister Kapil Sibal over his one-nation one-exam policy and warned that decisions like forcing a common entrance exam for all engineering colleges affect the autonomy of IITs. Being an alumni of one of the IITs myself, I feel that the rigor involved in cracking the earlier system to get admitted ensured that IITs could nurture the best brains in the country. However under the new system, which allocates increased weight age on Grade XII exams, there is a potential risk that the IIT reputation globally could get diluted as the quality of the student intake might suffer.

Another recent trend has been the increasing number of institutions requesting permission from AICTE to shut down due to lack of students. AICTE has permitted 40 institutes in AP to close down while the Pharmacy Council of India has blacklisted 37 colleges in the AP for violating norms. These developments are a consequence of lack of focus on imparting quality education which has led to poor enrollments in certain regions. The lack of quality institutions is a major concern which demands immediate attention from the government if we are to achieve our target GER of 30% by 2020. On the positive side however, foreign participation in the Indian education system continues with the Garware college tie up with foreign varsities and the Cordia group’s launch of its first vocational training Institute in collaboration with VTCT of UK .

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Medical Education in India

Even though medical education is considered the most coveted professional education in India, the chances of an Indian becoming a doctor is less than one in 1000. The primary reason is insufficient number of institutes, expenses involved and the duration it takes to become a qualified medical practitioner. Therefore, the country has an immense shortage of human resources in the health industry. Study reveals that India has 0.6 physicians per 1000 population. This is way behind many of the developing nations. When compared to the world average of 1.4 physicians per 1000 population, India has less than half the average number of physicians per 1000 population. As per records, India at present has about 750,000 registered doctors, out of which around 12% are non practicing doctors and around 10% are positioned out of country, which effectively means that the number of active practicing doctors is just about 550,000. i.e. 0.5 per 1000 population. To bridge the huge demand-supply gap, the government is looking to reform policies. Private players are pushing the envelope to obtain permission from the government to open medical institutions.

India needs about 400 new medical colleges per year for the next five years to cover the shortfall of physicians by 2022.

At present India has 334 medical colleges producing around 40,000 students every year which is far less than what is required to fulfill the required numbers of positions. At existing pace of opening medical colleges, India will be able to match the current world average of physicians only by 2045. Alternatively if around 400 medical colleges are commissioned per year for next five years, India will be able to reach the world average of 1.4 physician per 1000 population in next 10 years.

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Source: WHO Statistics 2011 Source: PwC internal analysis, WHO Statistics(*If additional 395 colleges (with 150 admission capacity each) is opened per year from 2013 to 2017)

Dr Rana Mehta leads PwC’s Healthcare practice in India. He advises a diverse range of clients including multilateral agencies, large corporate houses, industry bodies, healthcare providers, payers and government and public sector institutions. Dr. Mehta’s views are extensively sought after by both international and domestic media on a variety of matters effecting healthcare in the subcontinent. Dr. Mehta holds Master of Hospital Administration (MHA) from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India and Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), Medical College, Kolkata, India.

Staying ahead 5Source: PwC internal analysis, MCI Source: PwC internal analysis, MCI

What ails medical education in India?

• Medical colleges are land and capital intensive with a minimum requirement of 20 acres of contiguous land in prime locations for a mid level medical college with a total investment plan of around Rs. 450 Cr.

• Shortage of qualified and trained faculty is a huge challenge.

• Medical colleges do not have the latest equipment, diagnostics or properly equipped procedure rooms.

• The patient - to-student ratios are very low in most of the new medical colleges. One of the main problems is the ability to attract good doctors, as the salaries are low and the infrastructure is not equivalent to private hospitals.

• Government policies and regulations are such that very little existing healthcare infrastructure can be used or converted into medical colleges. Even though the guidelines have been relaxed to a large extent, it is still not possible for some existing hospital infrastructure (equipped with qualified

and experienced medical professionals and high occupancy) to be utilised as teaching hospitals.

• Presently, only government and trust hospitals are permitted to establish medical colleges or research centers.

One way to mitigate the problem is by allowing corporate hospitals to impart medical education. Also, the government and private bodies need to collaborate on bridging the manpower demand and supply gap and find ways that will radically alter the way healthcare manpower is produced. This can be achieved when both the government and private sector see a mutual gain in the provision of medical education and have a co-operative understanding of their respective mutual goals and aspirations. Thus looking at the huge demand and supply gap within the medical education and research sector, which is badly affecting the healthcare scenario, the healthcare environment in the country calls for major initiatives to be undertaken in the public as well as private sector.

But having said that, it is also important to know that opening up new medical colleges has its own disadvantage as India does not produce sufficient number of qualified and experienced teachers to meet this demand. This is resulting in to sub standard quality of teaching institutions. India needs to choose between quantity of medical colleges and quality of medical colleges, creating a dilemma for the policy makers.

No. of Medical Schools by Countries Number of Medical Colleges Commissioned (Year wise)

146 opened since 2001, which is 44% of total.

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Domestic news

Common Admission Examination for under graduate engineering courses

After over 2 years of deliberation the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs), Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) and other Central Educational Institutions (CFTI) have approved a Joint Entrance Examination for admission to the undergraduate programmes in engineering which would be conducted in two parts, JEE-MAIN and JEE-ADVANCED. The Class XII Board/equivalent marks normalized on percentile basis through an appropriate formula plus the marks obtained in the JEE-MAIN examination, with equal weightage, would be used by IITs for purposes of screening a fixed number of candidates (five times the number of the seats for admission in the IIT system or a pre-fixed cut-off) who would be eligible to be considered for admission. The ranking for admission to undergraduate programmes in IITs would be based entirely on the performance in the JEE-ADVANCED examination from amongst the candidates screened through this process. For all other Centrally Funded Institutions, there would be 40% weightage for performance in Class XII Board marks normalized on percentile basis through an appropriate formula, 30% weightage for performance in JEE-MAIN and 30% weightage in JEE-ADVANCED and a combined merit decided accordingly.(Source: MHRD press release)

AICTE permits 40 AP institutes to close down

The All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) has permitted the closing down of about 40 institutes in Andhra Pradesh (AP). A total of 143 institutes had applied to AICTE for permission to close down, out of which 56 institutes were from AP alone. Experts say that the decrease in number of students enrolling in engineering and management institutes have resulted in the closing down of institutes. The institutes in remote areas are the ones suffering heavily due to lack of students. According to experts, students are reluctant to enroll in lesser-known colleges due to lack of facilities and good faculty as well as lack of

good placements. There are more than 700 engineering colleges in Andhra Pradesh with nearly 3 lakh seats in various streams of engineering. However, in the academic year 2011-12, more than 1 lakh seats remained vacant.(Source: www.indiancolleges.com)

PCI blacklists 37 pharmacy colleges in state

The Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) is said to have blacklisted 37 colleges in the state for making excess admissions in violation of the PCI norms and with the pretext that the AICTE has permitted them so. The PCI central council meeting held in New Delhi recently is said to have taken the decision as some colleges have admitted 200 students though the original sanctioned strength is only 60. As per the PCI norms, the maximum strength can go up to 100 if the colleges are more than four years old while it has to be 60 for colleges established in the last four years. K Ramdass, general secretary of the AP Pharmacy Colleges Association, mentioned that PCI president B Suresh will be meeting Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy during the month along with the managements of pharmacy colleges to discuss the issue of excess admissions. (Source: The Hindu)

IITs ready to open Mauritius campus

Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are set to open their first overseas campus in Mauritius and a feasibility report has already been prepared. This campus will be set up in collaboration with Mauritius University with support from the Indian as well as the Mauritius government. To be named International Institute of Technology (IIT), the institution will engage in research and development for the first five years.

“We have already given the feasibility report to the human resource development ministry as well as the Mauritius government,” said M Balakrishnan, who is spearheading the team in charge of the plan. “We are ready to start it this year but it depends on both the governments, as the proposal to set up the institute was taken by the Indian education minister and his Mauritius counterpart,” he said.

01To start with, it will be an IIT-Delhi research academy with a global outlook, Balakrishnan said. “IIT Delhi will mentor the institute and we believe we will engage some 40 faculty members for the Mauritius centre,” he said. He added that these professors need to give at least one month of their time for the campus (three weeks in Mauritius and one week in India dedicated for the offshore plan). According to the plan, the initial investment will be more than 20 million USD (around 100 crore INR).(Source: Mint)

XLRI’s exec MBA gets AICTE approval

The AICTE has approved the executive MBA programme run by the XLRI School of Business and Human Resources, Jamshedpur. Called the General Management Programme (GMP), the approval has come with a change in the duration of the course from the present 12 months, to a full 15-month schedule. Incidentally, the programme is one of the oldest one-year MBA programmes in the country and attracts aspirants with more than five years of work experience in managerial capacity. An application for the approval was made early last year.

In a way, the stamp is the first of sorts, since it is the first time that AICTE has approved of a one-year ‘diploma’ course of a reputed institute. Under AICTE guidelines, programmes which are of less than two-year duration are considered ‘certificate programmes.’ For a ‘diploma programme’, the duration of the course has to be two years or 15 months, with a stress on the applicant’s prior work experience. This is one of the reasons that the GMP course structure has been expanded to 15 months.

E Abraham, the director of XLRI, said that the AICTE stamp will be beneficial to the students. He said, “Government jobs will also be easier to come by and it will also help in getting loans.” Abraham added that the biggest benefit in getting programmes approved is that there is no service tax levied. He said, “This benefits students directly and they will not have to pay the service tax anymore for this course.”(Source: www.pagalguy.com)

Staying ahead 7

‘One time catch-up grant’ scheme extended to 12th Five Year Plan

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has extended the ‘One Time Catch-up Grant’ for colleges that have not been setup under a Central Act, to the 12th Five Year Plan as well. However, the financial support for infrastructural development of these colleges has been slashed from the earlier 2 crore INR to 1 crore INR for the beneficiary institution. The extension comes as a major relief to institutions otherwise unable to get financial support from the UGC to help them improve their facilities for the benefit of students. There are nearly 8,800 colleges, mainly undergraduate ones, affiliated to state universities which are technically under the purview of the UGC, but do not get development grants from the UGC as these colleges do not meet the minimum eligibility norms in terms of physical facilities and infrastructure. Therefore, these colleges are not included under Section 12B of the UGC Act. As a result, these colleges are caught in a vicious cycle: Low infrastructure causing preclusion from development grants leading to non-development of infrastructure and consequent low quality of education.(Source: The Times of India)

Garware College ties up with foreign varsity

The Garware College of Commerce is all set to introduce a five-year dual degree programme in collaboration with the Canada-based Douglas College (DC) from this year. The programme will allow students attain up to three-year work permit in Canada. Speaking about the programme, principal N S Umrani said, “The dual degree programme will be an international BBA course consisting of financial services and administration. In the third year, the student will get a BBA degree from UoP. After completing the course, students will get job opportunities in Canada and a three-year work permit.” For Economics, BSc and B Com graduates, a one-year post graduate diploma course in Canada has been designed in subjects like professional sales, marketing, accounting, international finance and international business.(Source: The Indian Express)

Now Crisil, Icra to rate engineering, B-schools

In a country where engineering and business-school rankings are big business for media firms (in terms of circulation and advertising revenue) it was only going to be a matter of time before professional rating agencies got into the act. Crisil Ltd and Icra Ltd have started rating the programmes offered by business and engineering schools. While Crisil rates only business schools, Icra rates both. Crisil has graded 39 B-school programmes across 28 institutes, while Icra has rated 13 B-schools programmes. India has at least 3,900 business schools and 4,000 engineering colleges. The ratings are certain to help students choose schools carefully, say analysts.

Much like ratings of corporate financial instruments, the ratings of business and engineering schools are solicited but independent and neutral. The agencies rate the programmes on parameters such as curriculum, infrastructure and placements. The schools pay for the ratings.(Source: Mint)

Educational institutions set to follow ICAI norms

Higher education institutes in the country will soon have to report their financial information in a standard and uniform format set by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. As per the format, the institutes will now have to disclose their balance sheet and the income and expenditure account. The new system is a shift from the present cash basis of accounting to accrual-based system.

While the balance sheet will include sources and applications of funds along with liabilities and assets, the income and expenditure statement would reflect the academic receipts, grants and donations. With education being a not-for-profit activity, the ministry of human resource development (MHRD) wants to enforce these standards in order to check how much profit the educational institutes are making. The move assumes significance as in the recent years, government aid to educational institutions particularly in the form of

concessions and incentives has risen besides increased fees charged from the students and increased donations by certain donor agencies.(Source: The Indian Express)

Government to bid for AICTE’s regional centre at Patna

There is a move to have a regional centre of the AICTE here for Bihar and Jharkhand. The state science and technology department, in all likelihood, will take up the matter with union human resources development (HRD) in this regard. “There is definite understanding in the science and technology department that there should be a regional centre of AICTE, located at Patna, to address the needs of Bihar and Jharkhand. For, getting a letter of approval (LoA) from, or recognition of, AICTE for any new engineering college or a polytechnic centre in public sector gets delayed,” said state science and technology department director Shribhagwan Singh.

In the circumstances, normatively, the state government would pursue the matter with union HRD minister Kapil Sibal, through letter or a formal meeting on the issue. He said if the AICTE has its regional centre here, it would be ‘easier or slightly convenient’ to pursue the matter with it, as the state government has willy-nilly made up its mind to give a substantial push to establishment of institutions like engineering colleges and polytechnic institutes in the state, both of which will require final AICTE approval before starting their academic session. “We will always look forward to having early clearance from the AICTE for them,” said an official of the department. He added, “If the AICTE decides to start its regional centre at Patna, things will become relatively easier, as its location in the state capital would provide easy proximity and access. Jharkhand, too, will benefit.”(Source: The Times of India)

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Schools tie up with Microsoft for cloud-based service Microsoft Live@Edu

After tying up with the AICTE for a mammoth deployment of its cloud-based service Microsoft Live@Edu in around 10,000 colleges and institutes last month, Microsoft has now partnered with Indian schools like Delhi Public School, Mathura Road and KR Mangalam school in Delhi and the American School of Bombay for the service. “The cost of deploying a school-wide messaging solution, which would cover over 5,017 students, 220 teachers, and 52 administrators would not have been feasible because of the sheer cost of acquisition and maintenance. Microsoft Live@Edu brings the school at par with global institutions at no extra cost,” M I Hussain, Principal of Delhi Public School Mathura Road, said in a statement.(Source: The Economic Times)

IIFT, Singapore varsity ink pact

The Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Singapore Management University (SMU) for collaborating with on training and research activities. The MoU was signed by K T Chacko, Director of IIFT, and Raendra K Srivastava, SMU’s Provost and Deputy President (Academic Affairs) in Singapore. Under the terms of the MoU, the institutions will design and launch Management Development Programmes and other post-graduate certificate courses associated with international trade, business and management. Further, the institutes will collaborate for research activities and case writing in the field of international trade and business in the Asian context.(Source: The Hindu)

Foreign Universities Bill: government trying ‘backdoor’ entry

With the central government unsure of getting the Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations) Bill, 2010, through the Rajya Sabha, the Human Resource Development Ministry is now trying to allow ‘backdoor’ entry to foreign institutions. The Ministry has asked the UGC to identify possibilities within the existing laws of regulating and allowing the foreign educational institutions.

The two possible ways of going about it are allowing these institutions to enter as ‘deemed universities’ under Section 3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956, or as private universities under the state laws. At the same time, the UGC is also drafting regulations on twinning programmes and joint degree programmes between the foreign and Indian educational institutions. These proposed regulations and the possibility of allowing foreign institutions into the country are likely to be discussed at a special meeting of the Commission scheduled for June 2. This comes just ahead of HRD Minister Kapil Sibal’s tour to Washington for the Indo-US Strategic Dialogue this month, during which he would like to make some announcements on joint programmes to encourage foreign educational institutions into India.(Source: The Hindu)

Suguna Group forays into the education space

Coimbatore-based Suguna Group, one of the largest producers of poultry broilers in the country, forayed into the education sector by launching Suguna Institute for Poultry Management (SIPM). The institute is established under the Suguna Foundation. Suguna, with its 25 years of experience in poultry, will offer courses related to poultry and poultry-allied issues.

SIPM offers 100% placement to students upon completion of any of the diploma or certificate courses. Suguna Group’s chairman B Soundararajan said that the Indian poultry industry employed more than 1,00,000 people. Most of the people enter the industry without formal education

in poultry. More than 10,000 people from diverse educational backgrounds enter the poultry industry every year, and get informal training on the job, he said.(Source: The Economic Times)

Kerala’s education department to set up future schools

Kerala’s education department of will start ‘future schools’ project under which select government schools will be elevated to international standards this academic year. Education Minister P K Abdu Rabb told reporters that under the project, 15 crore INR would be set apart for one school each in 19 constituencies in the state. He added that at least one room in a school would be turned into smart classrooms. The restructuring of schools as part of Right to Education would be implemented from this year. All teachers in the state would be given expert training spending 1.6 lakh INR. As many as 124 multi-grade learning centres (MGLCs) will be upgraded to schools, he said. Infrastructure development projects worth 51 crore INR will be undertaken in the higher secondary schools. Spending 3.5 crore INR, training in arts, ‘souhruda clubs’ and student empowerment programmes will be undertaken in 200 schools. An IT-based project to develop the administrative capabilities in the department would be undertaken. Scholarships for students and reforms in curriculum would be mooted. The sector will be reformed in accordance with the changing times and would be restructured in such a way as to enable students to study vocational subjects along with Plus-II. Infrastructure development projects worth 10 crore INR will be undertaken in the sector.(Source: The Indian Express)

Staying ahead 9

Schools can’t increase fees without board nod, says HC

In a significant development and respite for parents, the Punjab and Haryana High Court restrained the schools in Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana from hiking fees without obtaining prior permission from the education boards and councils they are affiliated to. “No fee and other charges will be enhanced by any school situated within the territorial jurisdiction of this court and affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education, Punjab School Education Board and the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education, without prior approval of the respective board or council”, ruled a division bench comprising Justice S K Mittal and Justice TPS Mann held recently. The Bench has also issued directions to ensure that no books other than NCERT were prescribed in Punjab schools. The schools have been directed to take their respective education boards into confidence before any fee hike. The Bench has also directed that schools will submit their profit and loss statement for the past five years to the CBSE, ICSE or Punjab School Education Board where they were affiliated.

(Source: The Indian Express)

Regulatory news

02

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Quebec education law to impose fines in tuition crisis

Recently, Quebec’s legislature has gathered for a late-night debate on emergency education legislation, as student protests were held in five of the province’s biggest cities. The special law, known as Bill 78, was crafted by the Liberal government to defuse the turbulent student tuition crisis. The proposed law lays out strict regulations governing student protests and contains provisions for stiff fines. Fines range from 7,000 USD to 35,000 USD for a student leader and between 25,000 USD and 125,000 USD for unions or student federations if someone is prevented from entering an educational institution. Bill 78 also lays out strict regulations governing student protests. Any group of 10 people or more to give at least eight hours notice to police for any demonstration. They must include the time, place and itinerary. Police may change any of the above. The overnight debate at Quebec’s legislature is expected to lead to a vote on the legislation. Student groups held a news conference ahead the debate to slam the special law. They called for new negotiations, while urging return to ‘social peace’.

The new law by the Liberal government will suspend the winter

semester while enforcing ‘access’ to campuses. Premier Jean Charest described the emergency legislation as a way to provide a cooling-off period for both sides in the tuition hike battle in Quebec.

However, the province’s most prominent student leaders blasted the legal solution, accusing Charest of playing partisan politics.

(Source: www.cbc.ca )

Education budget gets pass mark

The Australian Greens have labelled the federal budget ‘good for teeth but bad for brains’ but the education industry has given it a pass mark.

Maths and science took centre stage for schools education, with a 54 million USD package to get students and teachers interested in the subjects. The measures are the government’s response to Chief Scientist Ian Chubb’s report on how to encourage more

students to pursue further education in maths and science. Professor Chubb said it was a ‘truly positive move’ that set the nation up for a positive future. The Australian Education Union says the government must now focus on an urgent overhaul of school funding, following its 240 million USD budget commitment to extend a literacy and numeracy program for schools. Federal president Angelo Gavrielatos said public schools could not continue to rely on one-off programs with a limited life, such as the literacy and numeracy national partnership, which was due to end this year before

Tuesday’s budget injection. “Legislation that enacts the Gonski reforms must be passed this year to ensure a new funding system can be introduced in 2014,” he said in a statement. Businessman David Gonski was commissioned two years ago by the federal government to lead a review of funding for schools. His report recommended a standard funding rate for each student, with additional loadings for areas of disadvantage. The Greens have also criticised the government for not implementing any of the Gonski reforms - apart from 6 million USD to finish off work looking at the review’s report and consultation.

(Source: www. finance.ninemsn.com.au )

Education Scotland looks to expand use of tablets computers in schools

The use of mobile devices and tablet computers in Scottish classrooms could be expanded in a bid to modernise teaching and learning. Pupils in some schools are already using iPads and Android technology. Government agency, Education Scotland, is to consider how digital devices could be used on a wider scale. Education Secretary Michael Russell will visit Sciennes Primary in Edinburgh later where iPads are being piloted. According to the Scottish government, 10 local authorities, almost 20 schools and hundreds of pupils are already using a range of digital technology. Two years ago, the private Cedars School of Excellence in Greenock claimed it had become the first school in the world to give every pupil an iPad. Last year, some concerns were raised over a controversial proposal for parents at an Aberdeen primary to lease tablet computers for their children to use in class.

Education Scotland said it would be ‘taking stock’ of how pilots schemes were working. Russell said, “The range of mobile devices that are now available and the promise of what they can bring to teaching and learning is very exciting and something that must be embraced. He said, “There are a number of pilots already underway around the country. I have asked Education Scotland for recommendations on how we can realise the benefits of mobile technology for all learners in Scotland, including ensuring how we get the best possible value for our schools, and whether national guidance is needed for the sector.” He added, “I want to drive forward a culture change in Scottish education and ensure new technologies can be embedded into learning.”

(Source: www.bbc.co.uk)

International news

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Staying ahead 11

Accel invests in education start-up Limberlink Technologies

Global venture fund Accel Partners has invested in Bangalore-based engineering education start-up, Limberlink Technologies. While the company and the fund declined to reveal the investment details, a person with direct knowledge of the deal said the investment was around 2 million USD (around 10.8 crore INR). Launched in 2009 by two former IISC professors turned entrepreneurs, Swami Manohar and Vinay, Limberlink has created the JED-I programme, which provides engineering students an out-of-classroom, beyond-curriculum training in core engineering. Manohar and Vinay had earlier founded PicoPeta Simputers in 2000, when they were teaching at IISC. They sold PicoPeta to Geodesic Information Systems in 2006 and continued in Geodesic till 2009. The company, which aims to create product engineers, has designed two programmes, one starting in the first year of engineering, which runs for six semesters, and a 15-day boot camp for third-year engineering students. The classes are delivered through 10-minute videos delivered online. When the student accesses the video, he can see the text as it is being written and hear the audio along side. Students can learn the concepts at their own pace and then attend classroom sessions. There is an online support community of peers, industry experts and teachers as well.

The programme is currently running in two colleges in Bangalore, People’s Education Society Institute of Technology (PESIT) and Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology (NMIT). JED-I also has a15-day boot camp for third-year computer science. The company has tied up with Nvidia, Sasken and Myntra , who will recruit students who perform well at these boot camps.

(Source: The Economic Times)

Deals

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Contacts

Dhiraj MathurNational Education LeaderPhone: +91 124 3306005Email: dhiraj.mathur@in.pwc.com

North

Dinesh AroraTel: +91 124 3306015 Email: dinesh.arora@in.pwc.com

Rohin KapoorPhone: +91 124 3306044Email: rohin.kapoor@in.pwc.com

Rahul DhandhaniaPhone: +91 124 3306043Email: rahul.dhandhania@in.pwc.com

South

Sriram BPhone: + 91 44 228 5055Email: sriram.b@in.pwc.com

Nikhil BhatiaNational Tax Head- EducationPhone: +91 22 66891488Email: nikhil.bhatia@in.pwc.com

East

Ashok VarmaPhone: +91 33 44043099Email: ashok.varma@in.pwc.com

Arup DuttaPhone: +91 33 44043094Email: arup.dutta@in.pwc.com

West

Dushyant SinghPhone: +91 22 66681525Email: dushyant.singh@in.pwc.com

Poonam PrabhuPhone: +91 22 66891416Email: poonam.prabhu@in.pwc.com

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