The Washington chapter of the US-India business Council (USIBC) felicitated Mme Grace Pinto, managing director of the Ryan International Group of Institutions (RIGI, estb. 1976), for her leadership role in K-12 education. On the occasion of RIGI’s 35th anniversary, USIBC with the support of RIGI will mobilise financial and intellectual resources to transform schools by replicating successful models across India.
“The United States and India need to become committed partners in building the workforce of tomorrow, a partnership that will unleash opportunity, spur growth and sustain prosperity not just in our countries but across the global community,” said Harold McGraw III, incoming USIBC chairman and president and chief executive of the McGraw-Hill Group of companies.
Expressing deep gratitude to outgoing chair of USIBC Indra K. Nooyi, chief executive of Pepsico Inc, for her leadership in education, Mme Pinto indicated her continued commitment to working with USIBC and its incumbent chairman, Harold McGraw to improve and develop K-12 education in India.
Camlin’s Alphakids venture
The Mumbai-based colour and stationery products market leader Camlin Ltd has ventured into pre-school education under the brand name Alphakids. Camlin’s first Alphakids pre-school in the Lokhandwala residential complex in Andheri, Mumbai completes its first year of operations this month (July).
Camlin has set itself the ambitious target of promoting 200 Alphakids pre-schools across India within the next five years. Year 2010 will witness the launch of Alphakids in Kharghar and Thane in suburban Mumbai.
For this venture, Camlin has tied up with the Mumbai-based Head Start to develop the pre-school curriculum. Headstart Learning Centre (HLC) is an extension of the Headstart Nursery and Primary School, Mumbai, an integrated pre-school curriculum development centre engaged in content research, development and teacher training.
“The Alphakids curriculum is designed to introduce early age children to learning and ensure their holistic development,” says a Camlin spokesperson.
Vraksh launches EMP
The Mumbai-based Vraksh Education has launched an enrichment programme for young minds christened Expanding Minds Program (EMP). Spread over a period of two weeks, this after-school programme which promotes learning through an array of subjects and activities for children between ages five-nine, will commence on July 6.
Designed by a team of experts from the Eliot Pearson Department of Tufts University, USA, EMP will introduce children to a range of activities and subjects such as engineering, dramatics, and creative writing. The programme will be conducted by faculty associated with the highly acclaimed Northwestern and Tufts universities in the US.
“Vraksh Education believes in bringing real life situations into classrooms to help children relate to factual information and enhance their concept formation skills. Through EMP, children will be taught to explore interdisciplinary themes, make out-of-the-box connections and express their understanding creatively. Our objective is to encourage students to develop independent problem solving skills, confront academic challenges and promote divergent thinking in their formative years,” says Vasundhara Patni, director of Vraksh Education.
Historic civic ties renewed
On June 14, in an initiative which will strengthen academic ties between Scotland and India, the University of Dundee and the University of Abertay Dundee signed several agreements with the Maharashtra Academy of Engineering Education and Research (MAEER), an education trust comprising 71 education institutions including the highly ranked MIT Engineering College, Pune (estb.1983).
Speaking on the occasion, Fiona Hyslop, minister for culture and external affairs of the British government said: “Scotland and India’s historical links represent great potential for collaboration and mutual benefit. So, I am delighted to see the city of Dundee’s universities taking the lead in building links that I hope will open up long-lasting educational and research opportunities.”
“This is an exciting new development for Dundee and we are delighted to be forming this partnership with MIT Pune,” said Prof. Pete Downes, principal and vice chancellor of the University of Dundee.
“MIT Pune’s students will gain from our expertise as one of the world’s leading centres of excellence for computer games and arts degree courses, and our own students will benefit from an enriched educational experience through studying alongside bright and talented students from India,” added Prof. Bernard King, principal and vice chancellor of the University of Abertay, Dundee.
Dr. Sunil Karad, executive director of MAEER is equally delighted. “With knowledge exchanges becoming the key in today’s world, such tie-ups will help both partners,” says Karad.
Revised GRE test incentive
The US-based Education Testing Service (ETS, estb.1947), which bills itself the world’s largest private non-profit educational testing and assessment organisation and has developed standardised tests for K-12 and higher education (TOEFL, GRE, Praxis etc), has announced a 50 percent discount to all graduates who write its GRE revised General Test between August 1, 2010 and September 30, 2011. GRE is written by more than 675,000 graduate students worldwide every year to qualify for postgrad programmes in American universities.
“We know students are going to find the overall testing experience better with the introduction of the GRE revised General Test,” says David G. Payne, vice president and chief operating officer (graduate and college programmes), ETS. “The questions closely reflect the kind of thinking they’ll need to do in graduate and business schools.”
Founded in 1947, ETS develops, administers and scores more than 50 million tests annually in more than 180 countries worldwide.