THE PINEGROVE SCHOOL, DHARAMPUR (district Solan, Himachal Pradesh), hosted the 75th IPSC Principals’ Conclave to mark the platinum jubilee celebrations of the Indian Public Schools’ Conference (IPSC) in early December. The three-day conclave was inaugurated by Shomie Das, former principal of Mayo College, Ajmer, Lawrence School, Sanawar and Doon School, Dehradun, and Sachin Pilot, president of the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee and former Union minister of corporate affairs. Sixty principals, seven former chairpersons, 25 other special guests and six observer principals from across the country attended the conclave.
The conclave also featured a workshop (‘Nurtured Heart Approach’) conducted by educationist Howard Glasser and Dr. JoAnne Woodard, executive director of Sallie B. Howard School, North Carolina, USA, on modern methodologies for the management of education institutions. Moreover, at the conference’s annual general meeting, six selected schools were invited to become members of IPSC which now has an aggregate membership of 81 residential schools.
Kidzee’s new curriculum
KIDZEE, THE LARGEST PRESCHOOL chain in Asia with over 1,350 early childhood education centres in India, launched its interactive iLLUME curriculum in Mumbai on January 27. In the first phase, 20 percent of Kidzee centres countrywide will introduce the new curriculum which will be gradually introduced in all Kidzee centres nationwide.
Developed by Kidzee after two years of intensive research and content development, the new curriculum is age-appropriate and contextual for preparing infants for formal learning.
Speaking on the occasion, K.V.S. Seshasai, CEO, Zee Learn, said: “Global trends and the needs of parents and children in various social, economic, and demographic groups have influenced early childhood care and education in India. Having touched the lives of more than 400,000 children countrywide during the past decade, we are focused on nurturing the unique potential of every child. Interactive iLLUME is a specially designed curriculum and pedagogy which includes English Readiness and School Readiness programmes to enable children to acquire language, mathematical, cognitive, social and emotional skills.”
FICCI schools conference
THE TAMIL NADU STATE COUNCIL of the Delhi-based Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) organised a school education conference to deliberate on the theme ‘Enriching & Empowering School Education — Tamil Nadu Vision 2023’ at Hotel Le Royal Meridien, Guindy, Chennai, on January 31. More than 500 delegates including teachers, correspondents, school administrators, and principals from schools statewide attended the day-long conference.
“FICCI has a mandate to create employable professionals for industry. This awareness prompted us to organise this first-of-its-kind school education conference to bridge the widening gap between school education and industry expectations,” said M. Rafeeque Ahmed, chairman of the FICCI Tamil Nadu State Council, speaking on the occasion.
Inaugural HUII conference
THE HARVARD US INDIA INITIATIVE (HUII), an organisation of students of Harvard University, Boston, hosted its inaugural Harvard India Initiative Conference 2015 in New Delhi on January 11-12. The conference attracted more than 50 thought leaders from around the world to discuss and critique India’s future. Among the speakers were Jairam Ramesh, MP; Piyush Goyal, Union minister of state for power, coal and new and renewable energy; Supriya Sule, MP; and Dr. Pramath Raj Sinha, founder, Ashoka University.
Delighted by the response to the inaugural conference, Upasna Sharma, conference co-chair of HUII 2015, said: “The concentration of intellectual and social diversity, the innovation and creativity displayed in the ideas thrown around in the past few days was most inspiring, and we look forward to coming back next year.”
The two-day conference will now become an annual event and will be hosted by the student representatives of HUII each year. This student body mobilises its own funds and invites speakers and participants in its own capacity with no direct financial support from Harvard University.
Teenovators 2014-15 winners
THE SRI GAYATRI JUNIOR COLLEGE (Girls), Bachupally, Hyderabad was adjudged winner of Teenovators 2014-15, an inter-school science and technology competition in which 200,000 students from over 600 schools participated. The Teenovators competition is organised annually by Manipal University to provide young minds a platform to showcase their creative and innovative skills.
Sri Gayatri Junior College presented the high-powered judges of Teenovators their eco-friendly mechanical pump to win the first prize — a cash award of Rs.5 lakh.
A Saraswathi Vidyalaya High School and Junior College of Science, Thane (Maharashtra) team was first runner-up for its design of an Ultimate Power Car (Rs.3 lakh), and Poorna Prajna Education Centre, Sadashivnagar (Bangalore) clinched the second place for its team’s project on alternative energy (Rs.1 lakh). Moreover, teams from V.K.R. Acharya English Medium High School, Kundapur, Udupi (Karnataka) and DAV Public School, Rajpura (Punjab) were awarded consolation prizes (Rs. 50,000).