Education
WEBINAR: Early Lessons For Education & Schooling During COVID-19 Crisis
ScooNews conducted a webinar on Zoom & FB Live with Dr. Ger Graus (Panel Chair), Dr. Mary Ashun, Jose Papa, Dr. Swati Popat Vats & Dr. Arunabh Singh
On 9th April 2020, ScooNews conducted yet another informative webinar on “Early Lessons For Education And Schooling From A Global Crisis: COVID-19, addressing the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic puts on the education sector and how it can be tackled. The Live session was attended by more than 10,000 educationists.
The webinar was hosted by our guest panellist Dr. Ger Graus OBE, Global Director of Education, KidZania. Other panellists included Jose Papa, Global Director, Bett Show, Dr. Mary Ashun, Principal, Ghana International School, Accra, Dr. Swati Popat Vats, President, Podar Education Network and Dr. Anurabh Singh, Director, Nehru World School.
The webinar begins with an address by Dr. Graus who cherished being surrounded by other wonderful panellists to discuss the issue. “Friendship is better than normal ships and it is really true that we can’t do any of these things on our own,” he says.
He then proceeds to a presentation discussing the challenges that the Corona pandemic has brought and also the optimism that follows. Dr. Graus brilliantly narrates how the pandemic has led us into introspection about the online and offline living. He gives a personal account of himself and his family, who miss the offline social life during the lockdown.
Dr. Graus also explores the silver linings emerging out of the pandemic as teachers will be more appreciated by both parents and students.
He makes the audience understand the distinction between schooling and educating our children by giving the example of Barcelona Football Club’s motto ‘mes que una club’ that means ‘more than a club.’ In his opinion, the primary schools should also adopt a motto on similar lines ‘more than a school’.
Dr. Graus acknowledges the importance of school and calls it the heart of our community rather than just a building to produce grades. “In the future, the role and importance of schools at the heart of the community needs reexamination both on and offline and the outcomes needed to be acted on urgently,” he says.
The importance of ‘access’ is also discussed by Dr. Graus and he puts great emphasis on how the lack of access to educational resources both online and offline is widening the social gap.
He concludes the presentation by giving some valuable advice on education and how adults should make children comfortable and feel safe and secure. He guides, “Please remember who you are and not what you are. It will bring out the best in people.”
Dr. Grass then invites Dr. Mary Ashun, Principal, Ghana International School, Accra, to share her views about the ongoing situation.
“We are all unified for one purpose, we want what is best for our children,” remarks Dr. Ashun. She talks about how we need to connect in order to keep education great for children.
She gives an overview of the Ghana International School situated in Accra and shares a wonderful story about how one of his teachers gifted her a painting of a ship on turbulent water that resembles the current situation of her school and how the teachers are praying for her to steer the ship well.
Dr Ashun shares her struggle during the lockdown both on the professional and personal front. She talks about the stress she is facing in keeping things from falling apart. According to her, parent, teachers, and administrators are facing the same kind of stress and they need to understand each other to keep things afloat.
“I want a school standing when we are ready to go back to school. That is critical for me and the people who will keep the school going are the teachers. They are my assets and I have to make sure that they don’t fall apart,” she reaffirms.
She says that social distancing has affected her as the culture in Ghana has always been outgoing. She adds how she is striving hard to please all the stakeholders even if sometimes it seems impossible.
The next speaker was Dr. Anurabh Singh, Director, Nehru World School, who continues the session with an astounding thought – “For 42 years, students have been coming to the school to study and it all stopped three weeks back!”
He shares his experience that how all the professional development of teachers so far has been for the betterment of traditional classrooms and not for online teaching. In the current situation when teachers are expected to conduct online classes, it’d become stressful for them as the students are better at technology than the teachers. According to him, teachers will have to understand and tackle the fact in a way so they emerge as the ones who have the ultimate power to guide the session.
He admits that another challenge for teachers is to make their students connect with them and their classmates during the online classes. He acknowledges the importance of access to data in these times with a hope that the government will realize how important it is for us to stay connected.
He ends his session with the note that 'this event will ‘change our DNAs forever and we will be better prepared next time.’
The discussion then moves on to Jose Papa, Global Director, Bett Show. Mr. Papa begins with acknowledging the special opportunity and sending out a message of optimism on how this chaos has brought us together and given us a chance to transform the world for better.
Being an expert from the Ed Tech field, he shares that no matter how challenging this time is for the companies, it’s also a great opportunity to reset the old way of working and lay the foundation of future by endorsing digital platforms as the way of the future.
“Technology is going to be the fundamental way of how we are going to interact with each other and how we’re setting the cornerstone of the future through the use of technology now,” he assures.
He informs that this the right time to acknowledge the importance of technology in education and that’s exactly what BETT is doing by grabbing the opportunity to align technology with education as never before.
He then goes on to talk about the importance of active access to technology to all level of society and the importance of working with national governments to formulate policies for the same. “The current crisis has renovated our purpose,” he adds.
The next speaker was Dr. Swati Popat Vats, President, Podar Education Network, who begins by acknowledging the importance of BETT in making technology education-friendly and introducing us to the unique ideas from around the globe.
She expresses the concern about how difficult it is for the Early Childhood community to go online as children thrive for human touch and presence.
Since Podar Education Network has many preschools in remote areas where the access to proper internet connection is a challenge, she says the administration is trying all possible media to keep the connection active. “We are trying to ensure that the children see their teachers every day Live because that is the most important thing,” she remarks. She adds that for now Google Hangout, WhatsApp video calling and teacher’s personal cameras are being used to deal with the situation.
She talks about their two schools in Dubai that are now closed until June, unlike those in India because here the parents are comparatively open when it comes to online home-based learning, that’s putting more emphasis on skill development at the moment.
“We are advising the parents to talk in a positive way to their kids and show them resilience as this is the stage where they imitate adults,” she advises.
Dr. Vats shares that her team has received a large number of photographs and videos from parents establishing the fact that the initiative was an instant success.
She concludes with the message that ‘we should begin promoting digital literacy among children already.’
Moving on to the next section, Dr. Graus puts three important questions for the panellists.
- How will we be better ready for the next time?
- What will be our message to the policy-makers?
- Should we change our attitude towards dealing with technology in schools?
Dr. Singh takes these questions with the advice to government that they should intervene and promote learning through television and radio channel for the children who lack access to stable and fast internet connections. He makes the distinction between group studies and individual projects to keep the kids engaged when they lack access.
“Teachers need to build communities and small learning groups for children rather than providing only content. Kids need human collaboration more than any robotic learning content,” he confesses.
He also admits that the school leaders are scared of technology as they fear losing control due to unmonitored access. However, he then makes a very valid point that teachers will start looking at technology in a different light when they return to schools after the lockdown, as they will be more familiar with it by then.
Talking further about how the parents can become a better member of the school community and an active participant in their child’s education, Dr. Ashun says, “We need to do more to get the parents to be better collaborators. We should ask ourselves whether it will be a synchronous approach or an asynchronous one.”
She then takes on the question of how we can be better prepared next time by putting up the idea that she would like to give one week every term to online learning or learning that is away from the campus. She also adds that we should train children to be self-sufficient in learning, just in case we don’t have the privilege of using the internet so freely the next time.
Mr Papa gives his final take on the issue by saying that the sooner we adjust and acknowledge that there is a new normal and that life has changed forever, at least for the next generation to come, it will be better. Acknowledging the current situation and changes that it will bring is highly important.
“We are witnessing how interactions have changed, how the role of technology is now much more important and how societies will run, how businesses will run, how it will affect the normal day to day activities, how we study and provide education, the government policies and that we need to control a serious sanitary issue – everything around us is changing,” he informs.
Dr. Mary concludes the webinar by sharing about the two silver linings that she discovered during these troubled times.
“The first one is the Unit of Purpose. I met so many people through the on-going webinars who are together moving towards the same purpose to talk about education and the issues that affect the educators and students. The second silver lining for me is a certain Open-mindedness that we are suddenly allowing to have because this kind of event has never happened before. Our minds are now more open and we are thinking about possibilities to explore new technology and even uncomfortable things,” she goes on.
“We’ve no choice but to accept and work towards those uncomfortable situations. The level of discomfort that we are forced into is forcing us to be openminded and get more inventive in the process,” she adds.
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Education
Nehru World School – A PASCH School
Nehru World School (NWS) celebrates being honoured as a school within the PASCH network, a cooperative organization of schools around the globe that promote the teaching of German as a foreign language and who are supported by the German Federal Foreign Office.
Nehru World School (NWS) celebrates being honoured as a school within the PASCH network, a cooperative organization of schools around the globe that promote the teaching of German as a foreign language and who are supported by the German Federal Foreign Office.
The ceremony took place on 29th November 2021 on the school premises. The official plaque was handed over by Mr. Johannes Höber, cultural counsellor of the German Embassy. The event was also graced by the presence of Mr. Matthias Stähle, head coordinator of the Central Agency of Schools Abroad (ZfA), Dr. Arunabh Singh, Director, and Ms. Susan Holmes, Head Teacher.
PASCH is an initiative of the German Federal Foreign Office in cooperation with the Central Agency for Schools Abroad, the Goethe-Institut, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), and the Educational Exchange Service (PAD) of the Secretariat of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs in the Federal Republic of Germany.
Awakening interest and enthusiasm for Germany, motivating young people to learn German and creating an international network of schools – those are the aims of the PASCH initiative. PASCH stands for “Schools: Partners for the Future”.
NWS is the fifth school across India and the only school from Uttar Pradesh to gain this recognition. “It has created enhanced opportunities for our students to learn German and engage with German learners around the world,” commented Ms. Holmes.
Ms. Jennifer Schridde has also joined NWS as a German teacher through this initiative in September 2021. She is a native German.
“This partnership is a milestone for students and teachers of NWS. I am sure it will lead to several opportunities for students in the future,” stated Dr. Arunabh Singh.
Education
Sarala Birla Gyan Jyoti honoured with prestigious ‘Climate Action Project School of Excellence’ Award
Only 250 schools globally were recognized because of their intense work on climate education in a whole-school approach. The recognition was awarded by Cartoon Network Climate Champions and Climate Action Project.
Sarala Birla Gyan Jyoti in Guwahati, India, was awarded the Climate Action Project School of Excellence. Only 250 schools globally were recognized because of their intense work on climate education in a whole-school approach. The recognition was awarded by Cartoon Network Climate Champions and Climate Action Project.
Cartoon Network Climate Champions is a climate change awareness initiative that sets out to inspire kids to take on daily challenges that collectively can make a big difference to the health of our planet. It has been developed in collaboration with WWF, a world-renowned environmental organization.
Climate Action Project is a free, global education project that was launched by Take Action Global, an education non-profit based in the USA, involving 2,700,000 teachers and students across 146 countries. The project aims to help students learn about the climate crisis in authentic ways and disseminate solutions online. The recognized schools submitted their work for the past year and met extensive criteria, including a school-wide commitment to climate education and student solutions.
Sarala Birla Gyan Jyoti has participated in global projects RiseUp4SDGs (India), Let's Be Human, Be One (Serbia), LeapEd Global Learning – Climate Change (Malaysia), the 17 Sustainable Development Goals competitions, implementing the three R's schoolwide and planting gardens in the community, at home and school. Students committed to training to become active Global SDG Ambassadors to raise awareness during virtual Student Hubs with 21 other countries. Students also actively collaborated with students in Brazil, Croatia, South Africa, Sweden and the UK in task-based projects. Currently, all Climate Change projects are student-led.
The selected 250 Climate Action Project Schools of Excellence were announced on 4 November 2021, during Climate Action Day, an annual online live event attended by 250,000 people globally. The event speakers included HRM Prince William, President James Alix Michel, Seychelles, Rick Davis, NASA, Matt Larsen-Daw, WWF, HRM Princess Esmeralda, Belgium, Juan Pablo Celis Garcia, UN Environment Programme, and other world leaders and climate scientists.
The winners were announced by Dan Russell, the voice actor behind several characters in Cartoon Network global hit series The Amazing World of Gumball, and Nandi Bushell, an 11-year-old musician, an influencer, and passionate climate advocate.
Statement by HRM Prince William “We need youth’s creativity to repair our planet. We need students to invent and to innovate – to think beyond where we are now and to be optimistic about our future.”
Statement by Koen Timmers, Climate Action Project: “Young people have the capacity to do more than learning about climate change. They all can come up with solutions, take small actions, and inspire others to change their lifestyles.”
Statement by Dr. Jennifer Williams, Climate Action Project: “Our community of educators has come together in support of climate education for all. We are committed to ensuring students have access to information, ideas, and opportunities to take action for the planet, and, today, these Schools of Excellence are leading the way for the entire world.”
Statement by Dr. Diganta Halder, Principal Sarala Birla Gyan Jyoti: “Stopping Climate Change has become a critical issue that needs to be addressed by every human being, but even more importantly in our schools. Students should be aware of Climate Action and the importance of achieving the goals set by the United Nations for peace and prosperity for all by 2030 and to become leaders of impact in the future.”
Education
Ministry of Education notifies Four Year Integrated Teacher Education Programme
Ministry of Education notifies the Four Year ITEP, a dual-major holistic bachelor’s degree offering B.A. B.Ed./ B. Sc. B. Ed. and B.Com. B.Ed. which is one of the major mandates of the National Education Policy 2020 related to Teacher Education.
Education
New Age Instructional Techniques
Traditional pedagogical techniques, based on a teacher explaining a topic and students taking notes, may still be helpful occasionally. Still, education today revolves more around encouraging the students to awaken their curiosity and desire to learn.
Education and its purposes have evolved over time. The meaning of ‘knowing’ has changed from remembering and repeating information to finding and applying it. Education helps students identify their critical purpose in life. It is really a tool to enable young minds to become lifelong learners. It empowers them to be able to tackle any challenge that life throws at them.
The purpose of being an educator is to make the world a better place. Where people are empathizing, caring, and capable of understanding each other. The prime objective of education is to nurture the leaders of tomorrow. To impart quality knowledge and learning so that the young generation becomes responsible and future global leaders and citizens.
Advanced research in education philosophy and brain science has had a tremendous impact on instructional strategies for the classroom. As a result, the educational paradigm has seen a transitional shift in instructional strategies over the past few years. Educators now are required to step out of their comfort zone of the traditional mode of teaching confined to classrooms.
Teachers are now bound to integrate the new instructional strategies to make a mark in the educational arena. A number of different teaching techniques have emerged during this transition and due to this change in education. Some of the research-backed pedagogical practices that are appropriate for 21st-century classrooms are:
Reciprocal Teaching:
Reciprocal teaching is a method in which students in small groups predict, clarify, question, and summarize a scaffolded reading comprehension. It is similar to a small group of students sitting in circles and using a communal constructivism approach to making meaning. Here each student takes the role of both learner and teacher within the group. This technique allows the students to develop a shared understanding of the text and supports the students who find it difficult to comprehend complex texts.
Student-generated questions :
This technique allows students to work individually or collaborate with peers to generate their own set of questions based on Bloom’s Taxonomy template. This technique enables students to go through a rigorous thinking process of divergent and convergent thinking that ultimately ends with a reflection-based task to summarize their learning.
Higher-order thinking questions:
This technique of instructional learning is a must-have in every classroom. Critical thinking is essential as it allows students to apply the knowledge to a context different from the one that was initially learned. Using this strategy and adding cases and real-life situations to these questions allows children to develop relevance and motivation.
Reflection questions:
Metacognition – the science of thinking about learning is a potent tool that should be used in every classroom. This allows children to strengthen their understanding and retain the information for a longer period of time. Questions like the muddiest point today? What were my three takeaways from the last 30 minutes? How would I use this learning to make my day better? And many more allow students to reflect on their learning and evolve themselves as lifelong learners.
Taking a constructivist approach, these techniques or strategies allow the learners to accommodate and assimilate knowledge. When a teacher uses group work he/she is leveraging the true nature of learning. This collective activity allows and enables the students to find relevance in the learning environment. Moreover, it will enable learners to have agency over their learning by modeling a real-world situation. Often when a teacher starts using collaborative approaches, various reasons like unequal participation deter it. The classroom space dons a chaotic look, and the teacher has no control. All these have to be minutely dealt with by developing as a facilitator rather than a sage on the stage. Working in groups allows children to develop essential life skills like empathy, compassion, and critical thinking.
Traditional pedagogical techniques, based on a teacher explaining a topic and students taking notes, may still be helpful occasionally. Still, education today revolves more around encouraging the students to awaken their curiosity and desire to learn.
About the author:
Siddharth Rajgarhia is Chief learner and Director at Delhi Public School Nashik, Varanasi, and Lava Nagpur. Having 10 years of experience in leading schools. He is an avid Mindfulness practitioner and believes in lifelong learning
Education
Shikshak Parv 2021 to commence from 5th September
President Ram Nath Kovind will confer the awards to 44 Awardees through virtual mode on 5th September 2021. A documentary film on each of the 44 Awardee Teachers will also be shown.
Santosh Kumar Sarangi, Additional Secretary, School Education, R.C.Meena, Joint Secretary, and Vipin Kumar, Joint Secretary held a press conference on the upcoming National Award to Teachers and Shikshak Parv yesterday.
Sarangi informed that in recognition of the valuable contributions of our teachers and to take New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 a step forward, like the previous year this year too, the Department of School Education & Literacy has decided to celebrate Shikshak Parv-2021. Shikshak Parv 2021 will commence from 5th September 2021 till 17th September through virtual mode, he said.
On vaccination drive to vaccinate more than 2 crore teachers, Sarangi said that the vaccination progress in the states is being monitored by the Department of School Education and Literacy. This will also contribute to decisions pertaining to school reopening.
Meena informed that President Ram Nath Kovind will confer the awards to 44 Awardees through virtual mode on 5th September 2021. A documentary film on each of the 44 Awardee Teachers will also be shown. He further informed that the National Awards to Teachers were first instituted in 1958 to recognize the excellence and commitment of teachers in shaping the minds as well as the future of the youth. The award was to accord public recognition to meritorious teachers working in elementary and secondary schools, he added.
Vipin Kumar informed that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will be addressing the teachers, students, parents, and stakeholders associated with education on 7th September 2021 at 11 AM. He also informed that Prime Minister will be launching five initiatives of the Department, that is, Indian Sign Language dictionary of 10,000 words, Talking Books (audiobooks for visually impaired), School Quality Assessment and Accreditation Framework (SQAAF) of CBSE, NISTHA teachers' training program for NIPUN Bharat, and Vidyanjali Portal (for facilitating education volunteers/donors/CSR contributors for school development). The conclave will be attended by Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister for Education; Smt. Annapurna Devi, Minister of State for Education; Dr.Subhas Sarkar, Minister of State for Education and Dr.Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, Minister of State for Education along with senior officials of the Ministry.
Vipin Kumar said that the inaugural conclave will be followed by webinars, discussions, presentations, etc. up to 17th September 2021 in which the educational practitioners from various schools of the country have been invited to share their experience, learnings, and the roadmap ahead. It is noteworthy that teachers and practitioners from even remote schools will be speaking on issues relating to quality and innovation in schools. The SCERT and DIETs in respective states will also be deliberating further on each of the webinars and suggesting the roadmap which will be consolidated by State SCERT. These will be shared with NCERT and provide inputs for curricular framework and teacher training modules, he said.
He highlighted that the theme of Webinars has been further segregated into nine sub-themes in the subsequent webinars such as Technology in Education: NDEAR, Foundational Literacy, and Numeracy: A Pre-requisite to Learning and ECCE, Nurturing Inclusive Classrooms, etc. to highlight the best practices and initiatives which can be adopted by schools of India.
Education
Innovation-driven virtual schools to achieve greater inclusion in school education – Dharmendra Pradhan
Education is not merely a competition to acquire degrees but is a transformative tool to leverage knowledge for character building and eventually nation-building – Education Minister
Union Education and Skill Development Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan and Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Virendra Kumar today jointly launched the booklet on One-year New Education Policy (NEP) – 2020 Achievement along with some major initiatives of the New Education Policy- 2020 such as NIPUN Bharat FLN tools and resources on DIKSHA; Virtual School of NIOS; Alternate Academic Calendar of NCERT; and Release of ‘Priya’- accessibility booklet developed by the NCERT and Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities. Minister of State for Education Annapurna Devi and Secretary, School Education Anita Karwal were also present on the occasion.
Addressing the participants, the Minister said that NEP is a guiding philosophy to transform the hopes and aspirations of millions of the youth to reality and making India self–reliant. He said that the formulation of NEP is also a live example of cooperative federalism to achieve a common goal of making India a global hub of knowledge. When we look back at the progress of NEP, we get more confident about the future of our students, he added.
Launch of key initiatives of NEP 2020. https://t.co/bvMC5xxQSs
— Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) August 24, 2021
Pradhan stated that Education is not merely a competition to acquire degrees, but is a transformative tool to leverage knowledge for character building and eventually nation-building. The Minister stressed that the Government is working to facilitate up-gradation of infrastructure in schools, such as ensuring that the Internet reaches the village schools across the country.
Pradhan said that the book “Priya -The Accessibility Warrior”, released today will sensitize the students on accessibility-related issues for Divyangs. Special emphasis has been laid to make the booklet simple, interesting, and interactive to create awareness on accessibility in children right from their formative years, he added.
The Minister while launching the Virtual School of NIOS said that this school is a new model of learning and is an example of how leveraging technology and innovation can facilitate greater inclusion in education. The school is the first-of-its-kind initiative in the country that will provide advanced digital learning platforms through Virtual Live Classrooms and Virtual Labs., he added. Pradhan also said that the Alternate Academic Calendar of NCERT has been developed to facilitate teachers and parents to assess the progress in the learning of children. The Alternate Academic Calendar contains a week-wise plan of interesting and challenging activities, with reference to learning outcomes, themes, and chapters taken from the syllabus or textbook.
Speaking on the occasion Virendra Kumar said that accessibility opens doorways to opportunity and growth, thus, reinstating the importance of creating an accessible environment for everyone. He further said that awareness and a sensitized community are the essential fuels driving any revolutionary change. The government’s commitment to promoting accessibility led to the development of the E-Comic cum Activity Book, titled – ‘Priya- The Accessibility Warrior’.
Kumar urged both the Departments of School Education & Literacy and the Department of Higher Education to take up the task of creating accessible educational infrastructure and content on a mission mode, consistently progressing towards Inclusive Education which is a vital component of the new National Education Policy. On the occasion of the 75th year of Independence of India, let us all work with our children to become ‘Accessibility Warriors’ and make inclusive education a reality to build a brighter future for all our citizens, he added.
Another important initiative launched was “Priya -The Accessibility Warrior”, which is the outcome of collaborative efforts of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, and the Department of School Education and Literacy. It provides glimpses into the world of a girl named Priya who met an accident and could not walk, due to plastered leg. The story depicts how Priya managed to participate in all activities at school, and in the process learned the importance of accessibility. She, therefore, takes the pledge of being an accessibility warrior. The comic book is also available with Indian Sign Language (ISL) explanatory videos.
NEP 2020 envisages education as a continuum without any segmentation and focuses on making education more experiential, holistic, integrated, character-building, inquiry-driven, discovery-oriented, learner-centered, discussion-based, flexible, and above all, more joyful. With this perspective, the Department of School Education and Literacy has taken up a multitude of initiatives at all levels of school education and has achieved 62 major milestones which will eventually transform the school education sector.
Other major achievements include: the launch of NIPUN Bharat Mission with a vision to ensure every child achieves the desired learning competencies in reading, writing, and numeracy by the end of Grade 3, by 2026-27; aligning of the existing scheme of Samagra Shiksha with Sustainable Development Goal for Education (SDG-4) and the NEP 2020 to ensure inclusive and equitable, quality, and holistic school education; Vidya Pravesh- a three months School Preparation Module for Grade I children; Blueprint of National Digital Education Architecture (NDEAR) conceived to energise and catalyse the education ecosystem, capacity building of Secondary teachers under NISHTHA with a focus on improvement in quality of teachers and learning outcomes of students, Assessment reforms to make learning more joyful and experiential, DIKSHA as a teaching-learning repository of engaging e-content, etc.
NIPUN Bharat FLN tools and resources have been made available under a separate vertical for FLN resources developed under DIKSHA to assist and mentor States/UTs and teachers for implementing NIPUN Bharat guidelines. This vertical has infographics and videos on learning outcomes and assessment tools for teachers to facilitate them.
The programme was attended by senior officials and heads of autonomous institutions of the department, senior officers from the School Education department of all States, and UTs, and experts.
Click the link below to see the booklet on One-year New Education Policy (NEP): https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/upload_document/nep_achievement.pdf
Click the link to see the booklet “Priya -The Accessibility Warrior”: https://ncert.nic.in/ComicFlipBookEnglish/mobile/
Click here to see the details of Virtual Open School: http://virtual.nios.ac.in/
Education
NEP provides a roadmap to establish India as a knowledge economy – Dharmendra Pradhan
Chief Minister of Karnataka Basavaraj S Bommai, Minister for Higher Education, IT & BT, Science and Technology, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Dr. C. N. Ashwath Narayan; Chairman, Drafting Committee of NEP Dr. K. Kasturirangan and other dignitaries graced the event.
Image (File picture) used for representational purpose only.
National Education Policy- 2020 provides a roadmap to establish India as a knowledge economy as well as help in the creation of global citizens said Union Education & Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Dharmendra Pradhan at the launch of NEP Karnataka and several education-related initiatives of the Government of Karnataka on 23rd August 2021.
Addressing the participants Pradhan said that Karnataka has taken a giant stride in transforming its education landscape by implementing the National Education Policy 2020. From translating the NEP 2020 into Kannada to forming NEP Task Force and preparing the roadmap for its implementation, Karnataka has taken lead to establish itself as the 1st state in India to implement the visionary NEP 2020, he added. The Minister further said that with the implementation of NEP in the state, Karnataka has set an example for other states to emulate.
Inauguration of NEP Implementation in Karnataka with Shri @BSBommai and Shri. @drashwathcn. #NEPKarnataka https://t.co/vhnfs49i9q
— Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) August 23, 2021
The Minister stated that deeply rooted with Indian ethos yet modern in outlook India’s NEP—its policy framework, implementation strategy, outcomes, and role in the betterment of human society will serve as a case study for global policymakers. The generation that is in the age group of 3-23 today will reap the benefits of NEP and will shape India’s destiny in the future but the challenge before us is to include India’s growing population under the ambit of New Education Policy as early as possible, he added.
Pradhan stressed that NEP will catapult India into a new global world order. He urged all stakeholders to work collectively to fulfill our national ambition of making India a vibrant knowledge economy.
Chief Minister of Karnataka Basavaraj S Bommai, Minister for Higher Education, IT & BT, Science and Technology, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Dr. C. N. Ashwath Narayan; Chairman, Drafting Committee of NEP Dr. K. Kasturirangan and other dignitaries graced the event.
Education
Atal Innovation Mission & Dassault Systemes launch Student Entrepreneurship Program 3.0
Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) NITI Aayog in collaboration with La Fondation Dassault Systemes in India Monday launched the third series of the ‘Student Entrepreneurship Program’ (SEP 3.0) for the young innovators of Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL).
Image used for representational purpose only
Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) NITI Aayog in collaboration with La Fondation Dassault Systemes in India Monday launched the third series of the ‘Student Entrepreneurship Program’ (SEP 3.0) for the young innovators of Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL).
The theme of SEP 3.0 is based on the ‘Made in 3D – Seed the Future Entrepreneurs Program’, conceptualized and rolled out in France by La Main à la Pate Foundation and La Fondation Dassault Systèmes Europe in 2017.
As part of this program, a team from each school (6 students and a teacher) will be allocated seed funding towards creating their own start-up, design and prototype their innovation using 3D printing, prepare marketing campaigns, define product pricing and create expansion strategies. With this, they will receive a real feel of ‘How a startup works!’. At the end of the program, each school’s startup will participate in a playful competition and present its marketing campaign in front of experts from industry and academia.
Keeping the essence of the program in mind, SEP3.0 will allow student innovators to work closely with Dassault volunteers and gain – Mentor support, Prototyping and testing support, End-User feedback, Intellectual Property registration, and Patenting of ideas/processes/products, Manufacturing support, and launch of the product in the market.
A total of 50 teams from 26 states are selected for the SEP 3.0. Top 20 teams of ATL Marathon 2019, 10 teams selected by Dassault, 10 teams from Aspirational Districts, and 10 teams from Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh, and Northeast regions are selected.
One of the interesting parts of the program will be interaction opportunities for students and teachers, between French and Indian schools. In addition to the development of an Innovation mindset and exposure to start-up culture, school students and teachers will have a unique opportunity to interact and collaborate with French schools and French students for cultural and technical interactions.
Mission Director, AIM, NITI Aayog Dr. Chintan Vaishnav while congratulating and complimenting top students of ATL Marathon 2019 said that SEP is a life-changing opportunity for the young innovators to reach new heights.
“All the students who participated in this program must know that they have climbed the third range of mountains in terms of growth in the field of entrepreneurship having already worked on problems and innovation. I have no doubt in saying that these students are going to excel. SEP is not only about bringing solutions to the table but knowing how crucial the solution is for all of us,” he said.
Chairman, Dassault Systemes Foundation India Sudarshan Mogasale, while sharing his views said, “With the second edition, we worked with Atal Innovation Mission to assist our future generation of students become Future Innovators.”
He further added that the programme seeks to provide schoolchildren opportunities to develop an entrepreneurial and inventive mindset and suitable exposure through activities-based learning, exploration, and challenges. School students and teachers will have a unique opportunity to connect and interact with French schools and students for cultural and technical knowledge sharing.
Speaking during the virtual launch of SEP, Mission Director, Aspirational District Program NITI Aayog, Dr. Rakesh Ranjan said that SEP falls in line with the vision and mission of aspirational district program and that it has given new hope to students who were looking forward to such opportunities.
“There is no dearth of talent in the aspirational districts of India so I am sure SEP is going to be a huge success going forward,” he added.
In his address, Attaché for Scientific and Academic Cooperation for Western Region at French Embassy in Mumbai, Dr. Olivier FUDYM, said “Students learning for this pedagogy of hands-on learning is going to be a change from conventional learning.”
Moreover, AIM and La Fondation Dassault Systemes in India announced the launch of the SEP 3.0 in the presence of AIM’s Mission DirectorDr. Chintan Vaishnav, Chairman, Dassault Systemes Foundation Sudarshan Mogasale, Mission Director, Aspirational District Program, NITI Aayog Dr. Rakesh Ranjan and Attaché for Scientific and Academic Cooperation for Western Region at French Embassy in MumbaiDr Olivier FUDYM.
The Top teams of SEP 3.0 are selected through the ATL Marathon, a nationwide contest where students identify community challenges and create grassroots innovations and solutions within their ATL lab.
Industry partnerships like these are critical to nurture young students' inventiveness and will enable them to create our planet a better place.
Education
CBSE PARTNERS WITH UNICEF: LAUNCHES ONLINE CAREER GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING PORTAL FOR STUDENTS
All CBSE School students will be able to sign up on the portal with their details and access a personalised career dashboard. The Portal can be accessed at www.cbsecareerguidance.com
The primary aim of NEP 2020 is to develop a vibrant and transformative school education sector that ensures the development of the unique potential of each learner and provides a safe and stimulating learning environment to all students and teachers.
The NEP 2020 proposes for an overhaul of the existing teaching learning patterns, by optimising learners’ academic and vocational capabilities. CBSE, has taken the task for effective implementation of online portal for Career Guidance and Counselling of class IX-XII students in all affiliated schools in the same context.
It is imperative for the students to understand their learning strengths and weaknesses; have realistic goals commensurate with their capabilities. Guidance and Counselling serves the basic needs of each individual as a unique entity as there are perceptible differences between the individuals in native capacities, abilities and interests. Equally significant are the changes within the individual during the course of time with maturity and exposure.
Besides, Guidance also enhances positive attributes of an individual which help to build a positive self- image.
“To bring scale, speed and standard to the career guidance process, CBSE has dovetailed these objective to develop a holistic integrated vision for career guidance and counselling for building knowledge and skills of students and to make them ‘Future Ready’.
CBSE has brought on board a consultative group of experts belonging to industry, academia, and government to prepare the future road map.
Likewise, CBSE has collaborated with UNICEF and its trusted technical partner iDreamCareer private limited for setting up a dynamic online system on career guidance and counselling.” Sh. Manoj Ahuja Chairman CBSE.
This initiative will help young people, especially girls, to gain knowledge and skills for self-development and to transition smoothly from school to higher education or work. To support adolescents (grades 9 to 12 students) to manage their career pathways and lifelong learning,
UNICEF, along with 13 state governments and the private sector has customized career portals in regional languages, reaching 21 million adolescents helping them access education and work-related resources and opportunities. The career portals also available on mobile apps offer information on careers, college directories, courses from several countries, scholarships and competitive entrance exams.
Speaking at the launch of the portal, Terry Durnnian, Chief of Education, UNICEF India, said, “The pandemic has heightened concerns among millions of young people about their future livelihoods and skills needed to thrive in the 21st century. UNICEF has supported career guidance portals across several states to empower adolescents and young people to make informed educational and occupational choices that support their social, financial, and emotional well-being. UNICEF is pleased to partner with the Central Board of Secondary Education with the technical partnership of iDreamCareer to develop the CBSE Career Guidance portal to facilitate students in India to have access to information on career pathways, irrespective of their school affiliation.”
The CBSE dedicated online portal on career guidance and counseling coincides with the declaration of class X and XII results for this year and includes information on various careers, courses, scholarships, and examinations for students from grades 9 to 12.
The CBSE Career Guidance and Counselling portal:
- Is gender-inclusive
- Informs on career options for special ability students
- Uses a gamified approach to engage students
- Provides personalised and unique career journey through Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning
- Is mobile, tablet and laptop-compatible
The portal is linked to the CBSE main portal. All CBSE School students will be able to sign up on the portal with their details and access a personalised career dashboard that will also be accessible to teachers and administrators.
- The portal with the entire career curriculum will be offered to students at no cost.
- Currently, each student through an individual career dashboard will be able to access:
- 560+ careers (English, Hindi & 8 other languages)
- 25,000 colleges and vocational institutes spanning over 3 lakh courses
- 1200 scholarships
- 1150 Entrance Exams
Career Counsellor/Teacher Dashboard: 2 teachers/counselors per school will be trained on the portal through a digital training session and given a personal counselor dashboard to access the entire career curriculum and use it to guide the students for their career queries. This will build their knowledge base on career guidance.
Additional 90 hours self-paced online training course will be offered to teachers/counselors in their dashboard itself where they can do the entire course and get certified as a career counselor (post clearing the online assessments for various modules). This course at present is being developed with UNICEF support in the next few months.
As the learners in schools come from diverse cultural, linguistic, social, economic backgrounds, equal access to all is essential. CBSE will help create an enabling school environment to ensure all-inclusive, strong institutional support system for concurrent motivation and capacity building of all students and teachers.
The recently set up Career guidance & Counselling Information Centre (CGCIC) in CBSE will lend a hand to ensure a Career Counselling cell in every school, create awareness of the career portal to promote the usage among students and also chalk out different offline strategies of providing uninterrupted guidance facilities to students. The Portal can be accessed at www.cbsecareerguidance.com
Education
PM launches key initiative on 1st anniversary of NEP2020
New Education Policy, assures our youth that the country is fully with them and their aspirations: PM Narendra Modi
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressed policymakers in the domain of education and skill development, students and teachers, across the country via video conferencing, to mark the completion of one year of reforms under the National Education Policy 2020. He also launched multiple initiatives in the education sector.
नई राष्ट्रीय शिक्षा नीति को एक साल पूरा होने पर सभी देशवासियों और सभी विद्यार्थियों को बहुत-बहुत शुभकामनाएं।
बीते एक वर्ष में देश के आप सभी महानुभावों, शिक्षको, प्रधानाचार्यों, नीतिकारों ने राष्ट्रीय शिक्षा नीति को धरातल पर उतारने में बहुत मेहनत की है: PM #TransformingEducation
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 29, 2021
Congratulating the countrymen and students for New Education Policy completing one year, the Prime Minister lauded the hard work of teachers, professors, policymakers in realizing the New education policy on the ground, even during the difficult time of Covid-19. Noting the significance of the year ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’, the Prime Minister said that the new Education Policy will play a major role in this important period. The Prime Minister said our future progress and growth are dependent on the level of education and direction given to our youth today. “I believe that is one of the bigger factors in ‘mahayagya’ of national development”, said the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister noted the changes brought by the pandemic and how normal online education became for the students. More than 23 hundred crore hits on DIKSHA portal bear testimony to the utility of portals like Diksha and Swayam.
नई ‘राष्ट्रीय शिक्षा नीति’ युवाओं को ये विश्वास दिलाती है कि देश अब पूरी तरह से उनके साथ है, उनके हौसलों के साथ है।
जिस आर्टिफिसियल इंटेलीजेंस के प्रोग्राम को अभी लॉंच किया गया है, वो भी हमारे युवाओं को future oriented बनाएगा, AI driven economy के रास्ते खोलेगा: PM @narendramodi
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 29, 2021
The Prime Minister noted the strides made by the youth from small towns. He cited great performance at the Tokyo Olympics by the youth from such towns. He lauded the efforts of the youth in the fields of robotics, AI, start-ups, and their leadership in industry 4.0. He said if the younger generation gets the environment suitable for their dreams, there is no limit to their growth. He stressed that today’s youth wants to decide their systems and their world on their own terms. They need exposure and freedom from the shackles and restrictions. New Education Policy, assures our youth that the country is fully with them and their aspirations. The artificial intelligence programme which was launched today will make the student future-oriented and will pave the way for an AI-driven economy. Similarly, National Digital Education Architecture, (NDEAR) and National Education Technology Forum (NETF) will go a long way in providing a digital and technological framework to the entire country, the Prime Minister said.
भारतीय साइन लैंग्वेज को पहली बार एक भाषा विषय यानि एक Subject का दर्जा प्रदान किया गया है।
अब छात्र इसे एक भाषा के तौर पर भी पढ़ पाएंगे।
इससे भारतीय साइन लैंग्वेज को बहुत बढ़ावा मिलेगा, हमारे दिव्यांग साथियों को बहुत मदद मिलेगी: PM @narendramodi #TransformingEducation
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 29, 2021
The Prime Minister highlighted the openness and absence of pressure in the New Education Policy. He said that there is openness at the policy level and openness is also visible in the options available to the students. Options like multiple entry and exit will free students from the restrictions of staying in one class and one course. Similarly, the modern technology-based Academic Bank of Credit system will bring revolutionary change. This will give confidence to the student in choosing stream and subjects. 'Structured Assessment for Analyzing Learning levels', SAFAL will take away the fear of examination. The Prime Minister reiterated that these new programmes have the capability to change India’s destiny.
21वीं सदी का आज का युवा अपनी व्यवस्थाएं, अपनी दुनिया खुद अपने हिसाब से बनाना चाहता है।
इसलिए, उसे exposure चाहिए, उसे पुराने बंधनों, पिंजरों से मुक्ति चाहिए: PM @narendramodi #TransformingEducation
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 29, 2021
Quoting Mahatma Gandhi, the Prime Minister emphasized the importance of local languages as a medium of instruction. The Prime Minister informed that14 engineering colleges of 8 states are starting to impart education in 5 Indian languages Hindi, Tamil, Telugu. Marathi and Bangla. A tool has been developed for translating engineering courses into 11 languages. This emphasis on mother tongue as the medium of instruction will instill confidence in the students from a poor, rural, and tribal background. Even in elementary education mother tongue is being promoted and Vidya Praveshprogamme, launched today, will play a big role in that. He also informed that Indian sign language, for the first time, has been accorded the status of language subject. Students will be able to study it as a language also. There are more than 3 lakh students who need sign language for their education. This will give a boost to Indian sign language and will help the divyang people, said the Prime Minister.
भविष्य में हम कितना आगे जाएंगे, कितनी ऊंचाई प्राप्त करेंगे, ये इस बात पर निर्भर करेगा कि हम अपने युवाओं को वर्तमान में यानि आज कैसी शिक्षा दे रहे है, कैसी दिशा दे रहे हैं।
मैं मानता हूं भारत की नई राष्ट्रीय शिक्षा नीति राष्ट्र निर्माण के महायज्ञ में बड़े factors में से एक है: PM
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 29, 2021
Underlining the critical role of teachers, the Prime Minister informed that from the formulation stage to implementation, teachers are an active part of the New Education Policy. NISHTHA 2.0, launched today will provide training to teachers as per their needs and they will be able to give their suggestions to the department.
Prime Minister launched the Academic Bank of Credit that will provide multiple entry and exit options for students in Higher education; 1st Year Engineering Programmes in Regional Languages and Guidelines for Internationalization of Higher Education. The initiatives to be launched also included Vidya Pravesh, a three-month play-based school preparation module for Grade 1 students; Indian Sign Language as a Subject at the secondary level; NISHTHA 2.0, an integrated programme of teacher training designed by NCERT; SAFAL (Structured Assessment For Analyzing Learning Levels), a competency-based assessment framework for Grades 3, 5 and 8 in CBSE schools; and a website dedicated to Artificial Intelligence. The event also witnessed the launch of the National Digital Education Architecture (NDEAR) and the National Education Technology Forum (NETF).
Click Here to read the text of the Prime Minister's address (in Hindi).
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