Posts Tagged ‘education’
More on Education in Germany
Sometime back I posted a blog on education in Germany and the DAAD scholarships which can get you there. Today I came across an article in The Hindu that discusses the prospects of education in Germany and what it has to offer to Indian students. I got some new information and decided to share it here. The article gives details about the different categories of Universities to be found in Germany. The range of courses offered is extensive. Germany currently offers 90 Bachelor’s programmes, 450 Master’s programmes, and 190 doctoral programmes. Check out the article here if you are considering courses abroad.
Foreign Universities Coming Over
Our Government willing, we can soon see a number of Universities from various countries setting up their Indian campuses. About 50 universities have expressed their willingness to have campuses here and talks are in progress. This is promising news indeed as it will give education in India a completely new dimension and for all those Indian students who fail to go overseas owing to funding issues, this will enable them to pursue a course of their choice in a reputed foreign university in India itself. Middlesex University is one among the 50 institutions looking to open their India chapter. Head over to The Hindu for an interview of the Vice Chancellor of Middlesex University, Professor Michael Driscoll.
Study As You Like in Community Colleges
Education is trying to seamlessly fit into every lifestyle and is taking varied responsibilities into consideration. Not everybody can follow the rules laid down by conventional means of imparting education and more and more people are realizing and respecting this fact. This is why we are seeing the upsurge of online learning and distance learning which are great alternatives for people who are unable to make it to schools and colleges. Future education, training and communication will be largely online and it looks all set to pervade all corners. It’s little surprise then that states are considering community colleges for the purpose of education of all levels.
A community college lets you pursue your degree the way you want it. You have the option of attending regular face-to-face classes, you can choose to take your programme online and you can opt for a part-time or a full-time course. Thus community colleges are a one-stop-shop for all kinds of courses. You can enroll for an associate degree in various fields which will enable you to get admitted to a college or university for completion of degree. Karnataka’s first initiative, the Geeta Ramanujam Educational Institution (GREI), is off the mark with 29 students who have signed up for associate degree courses. The certificates will be given by IGNOU and the job-oriented courses will ensure that students get employed soon after course completion.
Looking forward to more such initiatives in other states of India. With this, the vision of bringing education to everybody is getting brighter by the day.
New Universities to Build a Strong Talent Pool
The need for increased enrollment in higher education has never been felt more as India grapples with the lack of quality talent in the professional sphere. In order to introduce more students to advanced learning and to hone their skills, the government plans to set up 735 additional universities all over the country. Deviating from the norm of a University being a space for all kinds of courses, the new universities will feature several exclusive ones that will cater to select programmes only. We can safely assume that most of these select courses will be job-oriented and in line with the current and upcoming industry demands.
While it is good to know that more people are being exposed to higher education and important skills, such a large number of new institutions can also be a cause for concern. It is not enough to set up a centre of learning; we need able people to guide the students effectively. Finding quality faculty for all these institutions will be a tough ask and we know that sub-standard faculty can turn the whole noble scheme upside down. Care should be taken to design the curriculum in a way that will cater to not only current openings but new developments in future as well. Here’s hoping that the government will use discretion and not rush to get the new institutions up and running.
Scholarships for Studying in Germany
Among other European nations like UK and France, Germany has emerged as a promising destination for higher education. The German expertise in engineering and automobiles is well known and what can be better than picking up the skills from Deutschland itself? More and more students are heading to Germany every year for engineering, management, law, science and education courses. To make matters easy for Indian students, The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) offers a variety of scholarships for students who want to pursue various graduate or research programmes in Germany.
If you are planning on going to Germany, it might be a good idea to learn German so that it’s easier for you to find your way around. There are plenty of English speakers though, and some courses are also offered in English. Universities are also known to conduct crash courses in German for students coming from foreign shores. The advantage of knowing German is that it will be easier for you to get part-time jobs there and fund your study.
For information on study and courses in Germany, visit this link. For the DAAD scholarships, check this out.
Look Before You Leap
Undoubtedly, new courses that are being introduced in various colleges all over India are bringing in a whole new attitude to job hunting and a variety of new skills for students to equip themselves with. Several times in this blog I have talked about the necessity of these courses and how important it is to look beyond the obvious and explore new avenues. However, we need to take a look at the dark side of this as well where education and business get intertwined.
Many of these upcoming courses are job oriented and require extensive exposure to the industry, good infrastructure and knowledgeable faculty. Riding on the wave of students waking up to these new opportunities, institutions are springing up every other day in an effort to cash in on the awareness and make money. These institutions offer diplomas and degrees in unconventional courses and promise much to the students. However, most of these colleges are set up in a hurry with very little consideration towards what is required to handle the courses in the right way. So after spending a year or two in a college you might still find yourself ill-equipped to carry out the responsibilities you will be entrusted with.
It is advisable therefore to know more about an institution before joining it. It might be offering the courses you want to take but does it have all that it takes to make a success story out of you? Talk to former students of the college, look through its placement record and try to gather as much information as possible. Go for it once you are reasonably satisfied.
Onward to Online Training
For the industry, training is an important aspect alongwith hiring. As educational institutions usually offer nothing more than theoretical knowhow, companies have to take up the responsibility of grooming new recruits and getting them ready for all they have to face in the corporate world. Therefore, on top of the expenses associated with hiring, there comes the additional burden of training expenses. While profile-related specific training can be best learned from seniors and qualified corporate trainers, more and more companies are looking at alternate means of training when it comes to general training such as communication, ways of dealing with clients and using certain popular software.
A solution in this regard is online training which is emerging as a productive as well as cost-effective solution. With the internet becoming an indispensable part of our lives and the multitude of tools available online, it is no wonder that online training is gaining some serious ground. With the advent of online training, the debate that is doing the rounds is whether it will completely replace face-to-face teaching in the long run. Before attempting to answer that question, a thorough examination of the potential of online training is pertinent. More posts to come on this exciting field.
Go The Diploma Way
If you do not have the time or means to pursue a full-fledged degree course or if you are already working and would like to pick up some additional skills in your domain, a diploma might be the perfect choice. Over the years, diploma courses have become quite popular and with the introduction of new domains, new diploma courses are being offered to cater to the demands. A diploma course aims to provide the required skills within a limited time and sometimes work better since it is more focused.
In India, diploma courses are often not placed at the same level as regular degree courses which results in most students shying away from them. However, in terms of job-opportunities, there is a healthy demand for diploma holders. Plenty of diploma holders get job offers immediately after completing their education. Where it takes a considerable amount of time to start a new degree course with adequate faculty and infrastructure, short-term diploma courses are easier to implement. Owing to this, diplomas can boast of offering a wide variety of skills and sometimes outperforming degrees in making students job-ready.
Open universities like IGNOU have several diplomas to offer in distance mode. So if you are looking at honing specific skills or eyeing an emerging domain, check out what diplomas are bringing to the table.
Keep Territories in Mind While Writing English
The young, tech savvy generation might be doing well when it comes to being acquainted with cutting edge technology but when it comes to communication, especially writing, an adverse effect of technology is slowly but surely making its presence felt. Some social networking sites impose a word limit on the users and we all know that mobile messaging (one of the most popular ways of communication nowadays) comes with a character limit. This is leading to the development of a whole new lingo in cyberspace where correct spellings are given very little importance owing to the necessity to provide as much information as possible within the character limits.
While messages like “Tk cr” and “Nice to c u 2″ have come to be accepted in messages and scraps, the trouble starts when people start mixing business communication with personal exchanges. Alarmingly, we are observing more and more people using short forms and incorrect spellings while writing business proposals, letters and so on. They might not be doing it on purpose, but heavy messaging and frequent chatting is modifying their writing style in such a way that they are failing to spot the incongruities of messaging lingo in their official assignments.
Care should be taken to avoid this at all costs as such writing will not be tolerated outside personal exchanges. Messages should be written in proper and correct English to avoid this habit from creeping into the writing style or if that is not possible, a conscious effort to keep personal messages personal and official communication official has to be made. Since messaging and social networking are here to stay and influence almost everybody, educational institutions have a role to play in making young minds aware of this problem.
Infosys Training Attempts to Address Employability Issues
How does an introduction to the booming IT industry at an early age by a premier company sound to you? That’s exactly what Infosys is doing in their “Catch Them Young” programme. The programme is aimed at identifying talented school students and training them for a successful IT career. The students are chosen through a written test and trained in computer languages and other IT functions.For outstanding performers,there are opportunities for working on a real time project with Infosys paying a stipend.
In addition to this, Infosys also runs the “Rural Reach Program” where school students in rural areas are exposed to the basics of computer education so that they can aspire to a career along those lines later. The “Train the Trainer” programme is also worth mentioning as it’s objective is to train the lecturers of technical institutions so that they can handle their courses better and equip their students with the right skills.