Education Briefs

Inventure Academy, Bangalore, an internationally benchmarked pre-primary to senior secondary school, established by the India Learning Foundation is conducting a series of Nurture workshops for parents of children in the age group four-13 years.

"The workshops have been conceptualised to help parents realise that each child is unique and to discover how to be a friend, as much as parent. They aim to enable parents help their children to make independent choices and realise their full potential to excel anywhere in the world," says Nooraine Fazal director of the school (estb. 2005).

The workshops spread over February and March include ‘Expectation and Choices’ (February 4); ‘Celebrating the Uniqueness of your Child’ (February 11); ‘Effective Communication’ (March 4); ‘What’s your Parenting Style?’ (March 11) and ‘The Discipline Maze’ (March 18).

Admission to these workshops is free of charge with free bus transport available from Bangalore to the Inventure Academy premises on Whitefield-Sarjapur Road (see www.inventureacademy.com or call 91 80 2780 2600/ 2780 2605 Mobile: 94489 36678).

The Bangalore-based Xavier Institute of Management & Entrepreneurship (XIME), one of the premier B-schools in the country awarded a five-year accreditation by AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education), introduced a unique programme for engineers and architects to develop their techno-managerial skills in 2002.

XIME’s postgraduate diploma in construction management (PGDCM) is the sole such programme offered by a leading business school in India. According to institute sources, it has received excellent notices from Indian industry. The programme is divided into four terms of three months each, of which two terms are devoted for classroom learning and one to internship during which students undergo practical training with leading management consultancy firms or project promoters/ developers.

"We are proud that we have recorded 100 percent placement of graduates every year since introduction of the PGDCM programme. The recruiters’ list includes the most prominent names in the field of construction and management. Among them: Larsen & Toubro, FABS India Ltd., DTZ Debenham Tie Leung, Tata Robins Fraser, Jones Lang LaSalle, CB Richard Ellis, Punj Lloyd, Frost & Sullivan," says Prof. T.C. Alexander dean (advance placements) of XIME.

For further details, contact the programme coordinator at pgdcm@xime.org or call 080-2852 8597/ 8598/8477.

Harvard’s Center for Public Leadership and US News and World Report have designated Ashoka Innovators for the Public Foundation’s chief executive, Bill Drayton, one of ‘America’s Best Leaders’. (Along with Colin Powell, Bill and Melinda Gates, Oprah Winfrey, and co-founders of Google.).

Launched in 1980 with $50,000 (Rs.22.5 lakh) the foundation now has an annual budget of $30.5 million (Rs.137.25 crore) and has funded 1,600 Fellows in 60 countries. "Within five years more than 50 percent of Ashoka Fellows change national policy in their respective countries," comments a US News and World Report eulogy. Drayton, an alumnus of Harvard and Oxford universities and Yale Law School, lives in Arlington, USA.

The School Educational Fair 2006 held at Mumbai’s World Trade Centre on January 21-22 attracted the participation of 20 international, national and local schools from across India and was visited by parents and guardians in Mumbai. Among the participating schools were: Chinmaya International Residential School, Coimbatore; Orchid International Residential School, Nasik; The Sagar School, Alwar; Jain International Residential School, Bangalore.

"As in our earlier exhibitions the objective of the fair was to bring together representatives of local, international and residential schools from far and near to Mumbai to interact with parents on a one-to-one basis, offering information, registrations and even on-the-spot admissions," says Dina Vallicha promoter-proprietor of Virtual Expositions, a firm engaged in the business of staging school and college expositions.

According to Virtual Expositions spokespersons the two-day fair attracted over 2,000 footfalls and generated great enthusiasm. "Over 3,000 inquiries regarding school residential facilities, examination boards etc were generated. Most enquiries were for residential schools and the games facilities and extra-curricular activities they offer. This reflects a growing concern within Mumbai of lack of play facilities for children in this crowded city," says S. Vinod Vallicha also a promoter-proprietor of Virtual Expositions.

The Calgary (Canada)-based Smart Technologies Inc announced on January 20 that installations of its interactive whiteboards marketed under the brand SMART Board (TM) in classrooms worldwide have crossed the 250,000 milestone, consolidating the company’s # 1 position worldwide.

"Extensive research and case study observations from the UK, USA and Australia prove that interactive whiteboards increase student engagement and motivation, support a variety of learning styles — including those of special needs children — enhance student retention and improve teacher productivity. SMART plays a leadership role by supporting research initiatives on interactive whiteboards, and also supports international research and pilot projects in Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Hong Kong and China among other countries. In India SMART plans to replicate this initiative and is in the process of identifying similar opportunities," says Nancy Knowlton, SMART’s president.

In India some of the institutions which utilise SMART Board interactive white boards are Carmel High School, Dayanand Sagar College, Indian Institute of Science, Indus International School, Presidency College, American Embassy School, Jawaharlal Nehru University among others. Corporate customers include Infosys Technologies, Goldman Sachs, ING Vysya, INS Dronacharya among others.