Posts Tagged ‘institutions’
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.
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.
Universities Outsourcing The Examination and Evaluation Process
Admission is not possible without completion of all the formalities and formalities include submission of mark sheets and relevant certificates. For several renowned universities and institutions which see students coming from all over India, the formalities lead to major problems. As students come from various colleges and universities and each of them have their respective dates for the declaration of results, the students often fail to provide all the necessary documents resulting in denial of admission or grant of a provisional admission. Without a doubt, things will be much simpler if all institutions declare their results together.
An initiative along those lines is being taken in the state of Karnataka where the Examination Reforms Committee has suggested that a Karnataka State Universities Examination Authority (KSUEA), an autonomous institution to conduct examinations on behalf of all the universities, be set up so that results of all the universities of Karnataka can be declared at one time. This will reduce the burden of the universities as they won’t have to spend time on evaluations and preparation of mark sheets and can use the time to focus on academics. A panel of experienced professors will be roped in for evaluation and the authority may be run in a corporate style with a CEO at the helm. The sole function of this body will be to conduct and evaluate examinations while the degrees will be awarded by the respective universities.
If the proposal is accepted then Karnataka may become the initiator of a major makeover that will change the face of our education system. Hopefully this process will make the evaluation process faster and more efficient. However what I will be looking forward to is a system that will not just serve a state but the entire country so that delays in declaring results, malpractice, complaints about evaluation and re-examinations will be drastically reduced.
Faculty Training-A Step in the Right Direction
In an earlier post I had discussed that the general unfamiliarity of teachers with technical vocabulary is a major problem ailing our technical institutions. A lot of the course material is lost on the English teachers who largely hail from a non-technical backgrounds and they struggle to explain things to their students. Now it is heartening to see that something is being done about this issue.
The Indo-US collaboration for Engineering Education (IUCEE) conducted a training/orientation programme for teachers in the field of technical education. Around 600 teachers participated in a session with acclaimed US professors to familiarize themselves with existing and emerging technology as well as to improve their teaching skills. These teachers will in turn speak to the staff of IUCEE regional centres all over the country enabling a large number to grasp various technicalities and become better equipped to handle technical courses.
Needless to say this will go a long way to improve the employability of teachers aspiring for a position in technical training and students who will be taught by them. I think these workshops should not only be conducted for teachers but for the students also. It will give them a chance to acquaint themselves better with technology and prepare some who want to get into academics.
Check out the report in The Hindu here.
Exciting Publishing Jobs
All of us grow up reading books and in the process, pick up a lot of words, expressions and proverbs from them. Books become our gateways to knowing more about different countries, cultures and practices. From comic strips to novels, books delight and educate us all the way. We all love books that are well written, blemish free and impeccably designed. Now that you have become an English enthusiast (and I am sure books had a major role to play in building your enthusiasm) how would you like to ensure that you and other people get to read books that are well designed and fun to read? If that sounds exciting, then a publishing house could be your destination while making a career choice.
A career in publishing is an exciting as well as rewarding prospect. You get to work with manuscripts, edit them, design them, so that they can be successful in the market. You can also look forward to interacting with authors, working closely with them and when a book is published and goes on to become a bestseller, you can feel satisfied to know that you had a big role to play as an editor or illustrator. In view of the rising number of opportunities in the publishing sector, several institutions are offering courses to equip you with all the skills you will need to turn a raw manuscript into a potential bestseller. Check out this link for some institutions offering such courses.
Time to Wake Up
It never fails to surprise me that though the BPO industry has been around for a while now, our educational institutions do not really train the students for it. Students generally have to depend upon the many BPO training institutes that have mushroomed in recent times.
Why this neglect? In our educational institutions we are still holding on to certain traditional career paths coupled with a tendency to look upon new openings with suspicion. Even after being convinced of their benefits, it takes a long time to implement new courses. Our students end up losing out since they are not aware of these opportunities in the first place and are not given the necessary training. This results in a mad rush for the “established” careers when there are plenty of openings elsewhere.