Education Briefs

Admissions are open to the Vadodara (Gujarat)-based Navrachana International School (NIS), a K-XII day-cum-residential school affiliated with the Delhi-based Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), IGCSE (Cambridge, UK) and International Baccalaureate (Geneva) examination boards. Inaugurated in 2003, this co-ed school has an aggregate enrollment of 600 students instructed by a highly qualified faculty of 50.

"The pride of our school is academic performance. Our results in the ISC and ICSE exams of the CISCE board were 100 percent last year with a large number of students being awarded merit certificates. Every year numerous NIS students qualify for admission in international universities, Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), BITS and medical and professional colleges across India," says U.V. Desai managing trustee of the Navrachana Education Society.

Over the past 40 years, Navrachana Education Society has been steadily and consistently building institutions of excellence to provide holistic learning environments for teachers and students. Thus far, the society has promoted five schools viz, Navrachana School (affiliated with CBSE); Vidyani Vidyalaya (Gujarat state board); Navrachana College of Education (SNDT University); Navprerna (NIOS) and Navrachana International School (CISCE, IGCSE & IB) .

The strong educational linkages between India and UK were further cemented when the University of Wolverhampton, UK (estb. 1902) inaugurated its South Asia regional office in New Delhi on February 22. Lord Swaraj Paul, the overseas ambassador for British business and chancellor of the university, officially declared the Delhi office of this highly reputed varsity — the first to be awarded the Charter Mark for excellence in customer service — open.

The South Asia regional office of the university will assist students from India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh by providing information about study programmes, admission formalities, accommodation, help in visa applications and also give financial advice.

"Wolverhampton offers several advantages over London University. Among them: 20-25 percent lower tuition fees and 40-50 percent savings in terms of residential accommodation," says Pragyat Singh, South Asia representative of the university.

Wolverhampton with its large south Asian population offers a multicultural ambience for students from the subcontinent. Barely 20 minutes from Birmingham, it’s the second largest city in Britain and a 75 minute drive from Manchester airport.

Sahir Maitreya Doshi, class VII student of the Cathedral and John Connon Middle School, Mumbai; Suraj Shankar, class VIII student of St. Gregorios High School, Mumbai and Harshavardhini B.S, class IX student of Jnanodaya School, Bangalore have been adjudged winners of the fourth junior DuPont India Challenge 2005 — a nationwide science paper contest for school students in India. The three winners received certificates of achievement-cum-trophies and cash prizes of Rs.15,000, Rs.10,000 and Rs.6,000 respectively.

The DuPont India Challenge 2005 Science Paper Contest which closed on September 15 last year, received more than 3,000 entries.

"The DuPont India Challenge was launched in 2002 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of DuPont. It is an annual programme in which students from Indian schools are invited to submit papers on emerging sciences in the areas of biotechnology, genetics, cloning, bioengineering and nutraceuticals. Students in classes VII-IX are eligible for the junior category and from classes X-XII for the senior category," says a DuPont India spokesperson.

The Indian Institute of Jewellery (IIJ), Mumbai — a first-of-its-type institute in India which offers jewellery design, engineering, manufacturing and production study programmes with curriculum assistance from the California Institute of Jewellery Training (CIJT), USA — invites admission applications for the year commencing June.

Promoted in 2004 by the Modern Group of companies and housed in a state-of-the-art education facility on the premises of the Modern Mills, Mahalaxmi, Mumbai, IIJ offers courses in fabrication, jewellery re-design, repair and restoration, stone-setting, retail jewellery management, diamond grading, identification and valuation and enamelling. The courses accommodate part-time students from the diamond trading community as well as regular full-time students.

"Industry insiders predict that more than 5,000 jewellery technologists will be needed every year to keep pace with the growing demand. Clearly, India’s gems and jewellery industry is poised to graduate from diamond processing to jewellery manufacturing and designing," says Renu Kapoor, director of IIJ.

According to Kapoor, last year jewellery technologists averaged pay packages of Rs.75,000 per annum. This year, average earnings have risen to Rs.2.4 lakh per annum — a rise of 133 percent. "The future is bright for trained technologists who enter this high-potential, fast-track industry," says Kapoor.

The Woodstock School, Mussoorie (estb. 1854) convened a special assembly on March 17 to confer the school’s Distinguished Alumni Awards upon three former students. The recipients of the 2006 awards were Gerry Williams, a master potter resident in the United States; Richard Brown a former senior USAID officer with extensive experience in development work in South Asia; and Ms. Marty Alter Chen a Harvard professor and author, who has worked in poverty alleviation in Bangladesh and India.

"During their visit to Woodstock the distinguished alumni conducted a symposium with senior students. The interaction encouraged students to consider how best they can lead and serve after they graduate," says Pete Wildman, student counsellor of Woodstock.

The Woodstock Distinguished Alumni Awards were introduced in 2003 to honour former students who achieve high levels of distinction.