Education Briefs

The International Society for Technology Education (ISTE) India Foundation announced India’s first Presidential Academic Awards for Excellence in education on April 5. Inspired by His Excellency A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, President of India, the award brings urban and rural schools onto a single platform for assessment of excellence. ISTE India Foundation also announced that chapters will shortly be established in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkand.

"The awards have been instituted with the objective of ensuring that every child in India has an equal chance to excel in school, and thereafter in life. In the new globalised era, it is only natural that we use a global vision as the foundation for evaluation. This initiative is the first of its kind in the country to benchmark excellence in schools using global criteria," said Annamalai Muthiah chairman of the ISTE India Foundation, speaking on the occasion.

Adds Asha Nair, governor, ISTE India-Karnataka Chapter: "To make the process transparent, categories for the award will be identified by educators at a series of symposiums across the six states where ISTE India has chapters. By June, initial nominations for the various award categories will be made at the district and state levels. ISTE India will then constitute a panel of eminent educators and leaders in the country for assessment of nominations in a year long study conducted in the nominated schools to evaluate and compare them by global standards."

ISTE India, a joint venture between Future Schools Foundation and ISTE (USA) has announced the awards as part of a larger initiative to bridge the gap and build peer-to-peer relationships between private and government schools. A stepping stone, this initiative will culminate in an annual International Summit for School Education. The first summit will be held at Pragati Maidan, Delhi in 2006, where the first National Awards will be announced. ISTE India is already the largest organisation of educational leaders in India and is expanding at the rate of one state chapter per month.

The Birla Institute of Technology & Sciences (BITS), Pilani (Rajasthan) and Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) New York have announced a collaboration to set up India’s first centre for applied research and professional excellence. Christened the BITS-RIT APEX centre, it is likely to become operational within the next three months in Bangalore and will provide infrastructure for the semiconductor industry.

Comments Prof. Maheshwari, director of BITS-Pilani: "Semiconductor technology is a practical science with very high peaks and requires high-end expertise that is found only in small pockets within industry and academia across the globe. As India expects to increase its share of intellectual property content and move up the value chain in the semiconductor arena, it will increasingly pose a challenge and this initiative is among the many steps to help the industry effectively meet and address this challenge."

According to Rajendra Khare, chairman, ISA, with the inauguration of this centre, ISA’s initiative to foster innovation within the university system has received further impetus. "ISA has been a mentor and a catalyst to this effort, and we will facilitate incremental industry participation in the centre. This is a path-breaking initiative as this centre will research and develop intellectual property (IP) whereas the Indian industry’s occupation till now has been on product development and engineering. It is entirely appropriate that this trend is set by the semiconductor industry which is at the cutting edge of technology."

A team comprising a teacher and three students of the National Public School, Indiranagar, Bangalore will represent India in the global finals of the Volvo Young Environmentalists Award 2005 scheduled to be held in Sweden from May 6-11. The team will compete in the finals with teams from 12 countries from around the world for cash prizes ranging from $4,000-20,000. The award money is to be utilised for their eco-conservation project. The global winners will also participate in the UN Environment Programme in US, later this year.

Volvo Young Environmentalists Awards is part of the Volvo Adventure Project — a web based competition motivating young people between the age of 10-16 to take action in the area of environment care. The project is in association with the United Nations Environment Programme.

The NPS team comprising Shankarjyoti Dhar (teacher/ guide), and class X students, Yogesh Nayak, Saurav Banerjee and Rohit Mohan focused upon ‘recycling waste plastic for road construction’ as a highly viable option. The project proposal could create awareness among people and encourage them to give away multiplying waste plastic for road reconstruction purposes.

Speaking on the occasion of the India finals adjudication Eric Le Blanc, managing director, Volvo (India) observed: "Our world needs creative ideas and positive action so that we can do better to preserve our fragile ecosystem — and young people such as these lead our hope and belief in a better future. We are delighted with students’ depth of involvement in the competition this year. This award further reinforces Volvo’s core values and our belief that participation by all is the best way forward."

The decks have been cleared for staging the first ever Lipton Bangalore International Marathon on May 15. Participation by several top-rung international, national and local marathon runners is expected. The 42.19 km marathon; the 21.1 km half marathon and the 7 km celebration run, will be flagged off from Bangalore’s Kanteerava Stadium at 7 a.m.

Comments P. Krishnamurthi, general manager of Lipton India, the main sponsor of the event: "Lipton stands for natural vitality. A marathon also symbolises vitality, as demonstrated in the spirit, grit and resilience of the runners; it is therefore befitting that Lipton is associated with Bangalore’s first marathon."

With a large number of participants running for a social cause, the philanthropy partner of Lipton Bangalore International Marathon is I-CONGO (Indian Confederation of NGOs), a first of its kind national collective of over 155 member NGOs. Suzy Matthew, chief volunteer of I-CONGO, says the marathon offers people the opportunity to express solidarity for their favorite causes be it children, animals, wildlife, environment or community welfare. "The association of I-CONGO with the marathon enables credible NGOs to have their trustees, patrons, supporters, volunteers and staff running and doing their bit by raising support for causes dear to their hearts. It is a win-win for the voluntary sector as the pioneer event promotes the spirit of banding together to sensitise civil society and the great Indian middle class," says Matthew.

Ready, steady, go!