New Delhi, October 19, 2011: Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), the owner and administrator of the GMAT exam, announced the launch of www.mba.com/india – the official GMAT website for India.

The website has been designed exclusively for the Indian aspirants and exhibits a detailed classification of the top business schools in India, Indian B-schools accepting GMAT score and placements offered by B schools accepting GMAT scores globally.

“We’ve seen dramatic growth in the number of Indian candidates interested in pursuing management education over the last several years,” said Ashish Bhardwaj, regional director for South Asia, GMAC.

The India specific portal hosts information around funding options, the cost implications and the prospective return on investment. Additionally, the portal also runs a thread of video testimonials by select Indian students, narrating their journey and experiences from preparing for GMAT and making it to the business school of their choice.

GMAC has 200 member schools in 24 countries of which six member schools are located in India:

1. Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad,
2. Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore,
3. Indian School of Business, Hyderabad,
4. SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai,
5. School of Business Management, NMIMS University, Mumbai and
6. Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai.

MBA BY CHOICE is nothing but a simple concept to promote that, MBA is a very special qualification and not just simple diploma or degree. Students who thrive to be MBA by their own CHOICE are the ones who can bring pride to this specialization. Being MBA is a very big responsibility which every MBA carries and it’s important for not only one but all to understand the same.

Our services includes; once in a year activity Mega B-Schools Event, an yearly Publication Best B-Schools Guide, a comprehensive B-Schools survey to publish the Indian B-Schools Rankings & last but not the least exclusive Indian B-School Awards to recognize the talent and leadership among-st Business Schools across India & distinguish them for their contribution towards Management Education.

The Indian B-Schools Rankings will be released in November 2011, and simultaneously the Best B-Schools Guide will be published with the released rankings of the Institutes and a lot of other relevant information about the various issues related to MBA education. The Mega B-Schools Event will be organized in 7 cities of India & Nepal and the Indian B-Schools Award function will be hosted in Thailand in January 2012. Everything has been very well timed for the Indian Market so that the students and institutions both can take maximum advantage from these activities.

Bringing to India the International experience, these products will be the best in their class and in a very short span the complete Management Education Fraternity will acknowledge the contribution of DEM to this Industry. The talent of the Indian students is not hidden and requires no acknowledgement. We are sure that the above products will be a gift to from us to one of the world’s most informed & know-ledged community of students.

In order to ensure 100% success of our endeavors and deliverable to our clients have taken support from various Indian well established organizations and we will ensure that our products will give them one of the experiences of its kind. We would appreciate the participation of all the B-Schools in the Indian B-Schools survey based on which not only the Indian B-Schools Rankings will be released but most of the Indian B-School Awards will be decided. For some award categories, a special participation form will be sent to the shortlisted institutes.

As far as the Mega B-Schools Event & our Best B-Schools Guide is concerned we will be happy to have the participation of maximum number of institutions as all our offerings come with tangible deliverables and not just a hay of dreams.

For further details: 

Discovery Education Media Private Limited
w.: www.MBAbyCHOICE.com | e.: Info@MBAbyCHOICE.com | m.: +91 88 260 11995

The CAT 2011 voucher sales ended on 1 October, and about 2.06 lakh vouchers were sold. The CAT 2011 registration window ended at midnight on 4 October with approximately 2.05 lakh registered CAT aspirants. Of these, 73% are male and 27% are female candidates. This marginally exceeds last year’s registrations of 2.04 lakh. The cities in which the highest numbers of candidates have been scheduled to test are New Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Pune. Over the next 2 weeks, Prometric will be reconciling the registration data to produce a final report which will include actual numbers and demographic breakdown of candidates.

“The registration process has ended smoothly,” said Professor Janakiraman Moorthy, CAT 2011 Convenor. “Prometric has managed the capacity well to ensure candidates get their preferred locations where possible. The marginal increase in the number of registrations this year is a sign that management is still a sought after career choice by young Indians.”

“Our global experience of providing self-service, online registration and scheduling capabilities, coupled with our capacity planning expertise, have allowed us to manage such a large number of registrations within a fixed window smoothly,” said Soumitra Roy, Managing Director, Prometric India. “The next step for Prometric is to prepare and check all testing locations to ensure candidates have a smooth testing experience. Candidates should also familiarize themselves with the test day procedures by viewing the video that is available from the CAT website, ensure they bring the right documents, and show up punctually on the right day, at the right location.”

The full report on CAT 2011 registration data is expected to be available from 18 October 2011.

Indian Institutes of Management

The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) were established by the Government of India, starting from the early 1960s as national school of excellence in Management Sciences.   IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta are celebrating their Golden Jubilee this year. Over the years, the IIMs have evolved into global institutions that impart high quality management programmes that stress on innovation, ethical leadership, and cutting edge management research. The Economist labelled IIMs as the “toughest” b-school in the world to get into. Currently there are 13 IIMs named as IIMs Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta, Indore, Kashipur, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Raipur, Ranchi, Rohtak, Shillong, Tiruchirappalli and Udaipur. The entry to these national building institutes is realized through the Common Admission Test, popularly called CAT. It was, and continues to be, a source of pride for the faculty involved with its conception and delivery year after year, and is possibly the exam that accounts for the highest number of eyeballs and scrutiny of general public and media alike.

Prometric

Prometric, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ETS, is a trusted provider of technology-enabled testing and assessment. Its market-leading test development and test delivery solutions allow clients to develop and launch global testing programmes as well as accurately measure programme results and data. Prometric reliably delivers and administers more than 10 million tests a year on behalf of approximately 400 clients in the academic, financial, government, healthcare, professional, corporate and information technology markets. It delivers tests flexibly and securely via the Web or by utilising a robust network of more than 10,000 test centres in more than 160 countries.

Prometric Testing Private Limited (Prometric India) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Prometric Inc. and has been present in India since 1997. Its operations span nine locations and employ over 200 people. In 2010, Prometric India delivered approximately 650,000 exams through a network of more than 450 testing centres. India represents a core part of Prometric’s growth strategy, both as a regional operations location and as a market for its globally distributed testing services.

As Indian school education gains fans in Japan and the Japanese academia reaches out to Indian varsities, promising tie-ups are on the anvil that will present major opportunities for Indian educationists and students.

Something is slipping in Japan, and it’s ringing alarm bells and causing dismay in the minds of parents of school-going children in the tiny nation, albeit the most advanced in Asia. A few months ago, Japanese academicians were equally appalled to learn that the country had fallen from first place in 2000 to tenth place in as many years, in an international survey of math skills. The performance slide puts Japan behind Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea. In science too, the country is not faring as it well as it used to. Whereas it used to boast the first runners up (second) place, it now stands sixth.

Interestingly, the turned tables are leading Japanese parents and academicians alike to look at India with new eyes. So, of all its Asian rivals, why is India emerging as Japan’s new interest in the education sector?

What goes in favour ofIndiais the country’s prowess in software development, Internet businesses and knowledge-intensive industries, areas where Japan has failed to make inroads. Also, pertinent aspects of the Indian education system are attracting Japanese attention. Indian children are taught more at an earlier age, the Indian education system is known for promoting learning by rote – Indian children recite tables like parrots, as they say – and maths and science scores count for a lot in the country. Strangely, these aspects used to apply to Japanese education, but no longer. Another reason that may be fanning Japanese parents’ interest in the more demanding Indian education is Japan’s intensely competitive college entrance exams. Putting two and two together, parents reckon that their wards would be better off studying harder, in Indian schools in Japan.

Queues outside the handful of Indian schools in Tokyo are growing longer, as parents stand in line hoping to find a place for their wards.Tokyo’s Little Angels Kindergarten boasts of all but one of its flock of 45 students being Japanese. Parents don’t mind that the textbooks are from India, classroom posters echo themes from Indian fables, and the teachers are South Asian, as long as the under fives are taught to count to 20 and introduced to computers, and the five-year-olds learn to multiply, solve math word problems and write one-page essays in English, skills most Japanese elementary schools only impart in second grade.

The furore over education has reached a point where even the Japanese education ministry is acknowledging Indian teaching methods. Asian economic upstart Japan looking for lessons from the continent’s emerging superpower,India, would have been unheard of a few years ago. It was commonplace for the land of the rising sun to look much further West, to the US, for successful education models. But ever since facilities that once turned out students who consistently ranked at the top of international tests began failing,India has become the newfound interest. And it’s not only restricted to Indian kindergarten education.

As Japan also wakes up to the positives of the rigorous standards of education imparted by English-language Indian schools, from nursery through to high school, establishments such as The Global Indian International School and India International School in Japan’s top few cities are preparing to take their offerings to the country’s second rung of urban conglomerates. If this new crop of schools follows the Indian trend of adopting innovative technology to enhance the delivery of education, by training teachers in ICT-based skills, the takers for Indian-styled education in Japan is poised to rise. The buzzword in the Indian education system is to encourage collaborative environments in which students learn with technology, as opposed to learning technology. In bundling technology with education, at least,India is miles ahead of Japan. In spite of the latter’s School New Deal Policy, an endeavour aiming at equipping classrooms and teachers with tech tools, the embrace of technology in the tech-rich nation still leaves much to be desired.

Still, Japan scores ahead of India at the level of higher studies. Whereas Japan faces a problem of plenty – there will soon be fewer takers for university seats than what is available no thanks to its declining birth rate –India faces a paucity of seats in almost every stream of education. Not surprisingly, Japanese universities are introducing more courses in English and scholarship programmes in a bid to attract overseas students.India, with its huge numbers of students looking for quality education and placements, is bound to be a target nation.

Indian students are likely to be attracted to study in Japan, if they can gain admission to courses in automotive engineering, life sciences, electronics, railways, solid waste management, and renewable energy – areas in which the country is a global leader. After all, it is acknowledged that the nation’s proven competitiveness in these fields stems from its educational excellence at the university-level. Students in Japan also gain from the close association between the country’s universities, research institutions and industry, linkages aimed at coming up with commercially-oriented and socially useful research, and the likes of which India has yet to fully develop. Greater engagement between Indian and Japanese educational establishments would enable the exchange of faculty and researchers and possibly help address this shortcoming. Such interest has already been evinced by Japanese institutions, with stalwarts like Professor Sawaguchi Manabu, professor atWasedaUniversity, Graduate School of Creative and Engineering, Department of Business Design and Management visiting Indiain March this year to discuss the possibility of collaborating in the academic area of Design & Manufacturing with IIT-H.

As research and development activities are increasingly globalised, especially in sectors like motor vehicles, textile and apparel, and electrical equipment, Indian universities could benefit tremendously from engaging with Japan. While theUSand some Commonwealth and European countries have been India’s accepted partners in tertiary education, new linkages with countries such as Japan,South Korea, and Brazil could help add a new dimension to Indian tertiary education, besides create more job opportunities for technology graduates and post-graduates. Japan is on the one hand, emerging asIndia’s largest bilateral provider of economic and technical assistance. On the other hand, the country has a fast ageing population for which reason it could emerge as an attractive employment destination for Indians, of whom individuals who have acquired a cultural understanding of the country from spending their student life there would have an edge.

For all this to happen, it would help if more language schools in India offer the opportunity to learn Japanese. Overcoming the language barrier would also present greater opportunities for India-Japan industrial collaboration and enhance the employ-ability of Indians in Japanese companies and research labs in India.

Deeper ties in tertiary education would add leverage to the India-Japan strategic partnership, and pave the way for a new round of engagement. But such ties are best forged during face to face interactions. That’s why educationists interested in making the most of the opportunities have done well to meet the line up of potential collaborators, Japanese educationists at the India Japan Global Partnership Summit, held from September 5 to 7 in Tokyo. This event, supported by the Governments of India and Japan and apex trade bodies in the two nations, was being organised by the India Centre Foundation to mark 10 years of the announcement of India-Japan Global Partnership Agreement and pave the way forward for greater cooperation between the two nations. The ball has already been set rolling in the education sector. Now, it’s time for it to gain momentum.

Kishor Jagirdar
Executive Member

India Japan Global Partnership Summit
(Strategic Change Management Specialist)

Based on the theme ‘Cooperate, Innovate, Participate’, the conference will highlight the growing importance of creating national and international synergies, fostering communication across borders and linking communities with the academic world. Participants will discuss the role that higher education institutions are playing in shaping the future – encouraging students to think independently and creatively, to effect positive change in the world.

Innovation plays a key role in the conference, with brand new elements added to the programme, including new ‘dialogue’ sessions. “Improving the conference experience for participants year on year is essential,” explains EAIE Director, Leonard Engel. “The new dialogues are designed to encourage extensive discussions of current key topics, allowing for greater audience participation on a senior level and adding a more challenging dynamic to the conference experience.” The four dialogues will focus on how to create a global environment for higher education; trends and issues in international higher education; how to manage ethical conduct and international recruitment in the global market, and what the unrest in the Arab world will mean for education.

This year’s conference welcomes highly prestigious figures, including HRH Princes Marie of Denmark who will give an official welcome speech. Reinforcing the conference theme, innovative keynote speakers Christian Stadil, owner of sports/fashion brand Hummel, and Stine Bosse, former CEO of TrygVesta – the second largest insurer in the Nordic region – will share their experience and insights during the Opening and Closing Plenaries.

Spanish universities at the conference will have a prominent space and careful design that will hold meetings with its partners, renew or sign new agreements and to publicizeits academic and research with other European partners and visitors in general.

EAIE 2011 at Copenhagen.

The EAIE is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to highlight the encouragement and promotion of internationalization in higher education. Its headquarters are in Amsterdam and seminars throughout the year in different European cities. TheSeptember conference is the most important event of the organization and is one of the largest showcases of ”networking” in Europe.

The inaugural session of the Conference, which will include the presence and participation of Her Royal Highness Princess Marie of Denmark and the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Charlotte Sahl-Madsen, borne by the Danish entrepreneur and founder of the company Hummel, Christian Stadil.

Universidad.es a state public sector foundation dedicated to promoting the Spanish university system in the world. An initiative of the Government of Spain with the supportof the Spanish universities, state government and other institutions. Universidad.es was formally constituted on December 23, 2008

For more details:  www.universidad.es

As part of TiE initiative to encourage Delhi schools to appreciate and showcase the world of entrepreneurship, it has invited school students to devote their weekends for nearly four months to learn about entrepreneurship, business models, finance, marketing, law, leadership, and presentation skills.

TiE Chairman Emeritus Saurabh Srivastav exhorted the youth to take on the mantle of entrepreneurship early on in life so as to start thinking of a variety of ideas alongside their education.

The program offered by TiE Chapters worldwide culminates in an international business competition. The event also saw the winners of 2010-11 program, Delhi TYE team of Nishul Juneja, Nakul Juneja, Srijan Sood and Kunal Mehan of St. Columba’s School, who bagged the No 3 position in the world wide contest.

Other winners from Delhi schools who were feted included Angad S. Bhullar, Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, Khyati Sharma, Delhi Public School, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, Arnav Jain of St. John’s High School and Amit Agarwal of Modern School.

Globally over 140 teams from India, UK and the USA participated in this program. Winning regional teams from Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Delhi, London, Rajasthan, Seattle and San Diego presented their business plans.

More than the intense competitive spirit, the interaction with team members from diverse locations, cheered all participants and of course, the eminent panel of judges. Team coaches, chapter managers and volunteers, all contributed to its success.

Mr.Satya Narayanan R., Chairman, TYE Delhi & Director, IWSB acknowledging teachers, mentors & partners for the event

“Entrepreneurship is the way of the future. Implementing entrepreneurship education by integrating it into the school curriculum with contributions from organizations such as CBSE, TiE, Entrepreneurship specializing institutions like IWSB is the way forward,” said Satya Narayanan R, a senior Charter Member and Founder Director, IWSB.

“TYE is an exceptional opportunity for young learners to explore a whole new world of opportunity, of freedom and achievement. With a vision of creating a global community of youth, empowered to be entrepreneurial, TYE is leading change and we are glad to be a part of the change shaping the future of this country.” said Geetika Dayal, Executive Director, TiE Delhi/NCR.

The TYE Curriculum focused on learning by doing. The program nurtures creativity, self-confidence, leadership and overall development of the students. Each session begins with a prominent entrepreneur bringing his insights to the students. The academic anchors from IWSB bring the framework to ensure that the students get the right synthesis of entrepreneurial capabilities.

“We are facilitating the process of learning at TYE which defies the normal stereo-type of classroom teaching. With workshop oriented sessions, role play, business case led module, the students apply themselves to real life business problems” said Rajeev Ranjan, Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship, IWSB and Academic Anchor, TYE for TiE Delhi/NCR.

Indra Sood, a proud mother of one of the TYE student thanked the team for offering this opportunity to the students said, “Each one of the parents and the learners believe that the TYE experience was truly rewarding.”

“The TYE learning experience, especially from mentors, was invaluable. I personally learnt a lot and it changed my perspectives on careers and entrepreneurship. It was simply fantastic,” exclaimed Nilya Dutta, a student of TYE 2010-11.

The jury comprised of Mr. Satya Narayanan R, Founder-CL Educate & Founder Director, IWSB; Mr. Pradeep Gupta, Immediate Past President, TiE Delhi NCR and Mr. Pranjal Sharma, Executive Editor, Bloomberg UTV.

The pilot TYE program in India was championed by TiE Delhi and was supported by IWSB with regard to design and delivery. The faculty from IWSB and TiE charter members worked with 11 teams in Delhi and coached them on weekends. Team from St Columba’s School –Team Lavarco, that showcased its business plan for revolutionizing the laundry experience of customers through use innovative services and technologies, won the regional competition and marking their entry into the top 9 entries at the global competition.

Thirty-one of the schools are from Abu Dhabi, 24 from Al Ain and five from the Western Region. Of these, 18 are following the Ministry of Education curriculum; 19 UK and US curricula; nine are the International Baccalaureate, French, Canadian and Japanese schools; and 14 are Asian schools.

The ADEC has approved an average increase of 6.6 per cent in tuition fees, while the permitted hike in fees for books, transportation and uniform averages 5.3 per cent, 12.3 per cent and 0.7 per cent, respectively. It is not clear what is the maximum increase granted by the ADEC to some of the schools. Last year, the council allowed up to 20 per cent increase.

Brian Fox Division, division manager for the private school licensing and accreditation at the ADEC, said, “School applications are considered on their individual merit.”

According to the ADEC, the average requests for increase in tuition fees ranged between 5 per cent and 208 per cent; while 5 per cent to 339 per cent hike was requested in book fees, 10 per cent to 129 per cent in transportation fees and 5 per cent to 371 per cent hike in uniform fees.

Early this year, the ADEC implemented a formalised process in accepting and granting requests for fee increases. This includes filling in a request form and submitting it within a certain period — March for Asian schools and April for schools following the standard September-June calendar. Schools also need to present a compelling case justifying their request.

The new procedure takes into account several factors, including the planned improvements and investments the schools need to fund, the schools educational performance, the financial position of the school and the history of its fee increases and 
the ability of parents to afford the increases.

With the new application process, the ADEC can now check if schools were charging fees that were above those approved by the council or previously by the MoE.

“Several schools that were overcharging were required to reimburse parents or sometimes provide fee credit for next year,” said Fox.

Asked how long before a school can ask for another increase, Fox said, “School fee increases are sometimes approved to last for a two-year or a three-year period.”

By Olivia Olarte

© Khaleej Times 2011

Nowadays kidnappers actively use social networks to scan for personal information about possible victims and understand their daily routine. Criminals are able to track down their victims` movement, monitor their updates and estimate personal security level through social networks such as the Russian website Vkontakte or international network Facebook.

Kaspersky said, “According to Insidefacebook.com, 46.4% of Facebook users are under the age of 25 and 20.6% are under the age of 17. In addition, The OnGuard Online states that 22% of 16-24 year olds don’t know the people they share information with on social networks. Teenagers and young adults are very passionate about networking and rarely take into consideration the consequences of over-sharing”.

“Poor privacy settings and low awareness of the circumstances of sharing personal information contribute to increasing the danger of being hacked or tracked. This can result to personal information floating directly into the hands of people with less than friendly intentions”, he continued.

Two suggestions were introduced by Eugene to try to minimize the risk on children from the dangers of social networks. Firstly, he suggested that social networks should introduce age-related features to decrease the risk associated with uncontrolled personal data exposure. For Example, kids should be allowed to set up their profiles as their parents’ sub-account, in the meanwhile, parents can use parental control features in security software to allow access to approved and monitored profiles only.

Secondly, the safety and security of social networks should be part of the educational system at schools. Children should receive regular classes on how to prevent themselves from the danger of becoming victims of hackers and cybercriminals.

“Security and usability is always a matter of well-balanced compromise. Families should find their own solutions to this issue, as I don’t see a one-fits-all recipe”, said Eugene.

As part of Kaspersky Lab‘s corporate mission, a fully dedicated non-profit educational program was founded years ago under the name of “Kaspersky Academy” and it was made available for any university or school who requests trainings for teenagers and young adults on data security.

“On a given day, Dee can be found driving her adult students to appointments, delivering tutor training to a remote community or working on research,” said Premier Clark. “Dee’s contributions have helped improve the quality of life for many families in the Northwest, and her work reminds us all that literacy skills give people the confidence and access to information they need to help them pursue their dreams.”

Overall, McRae’s commitment to literacy has contributed to a healthier and more literate society. As a dedicated instructor for adult basic education, McRae has been employed with Northwest Community College since 1994. She has also authored and presented a number of publications internationally and has published several research reports and manuals for practitioners working in northern, remote-rural Aboriginal communities.

The Council of the Federation comprises all 13 provincial and territorial Premiers. Each province and territory chooses a group, individual or project that has made a significant contribution to literacy. The Council of the Federation Literacy Award selection committee considers nominees’ history of commitment to excellence; community and peer recognition; leadership in the promotion of partnerships and public awareness; and the introduction of new ideas in promoting literacy. Award recipients receive a medallion and a certificate signed by the Premier of their province or territory.

“On behalf of the Ministry of Education, I would like to congratulate Dee for receiving this award, which gives her the recognition she deserves for her efforts to improve literacy levels in B.C.,” said Education Minister George Abbott. “About one million adults in this province have low literacy levels, and people like Dee who are committed to making a difference in these people’s lives are tremendously valuable.”

“Literacy is a vital skill that opens doors for all of us. I’d like to congratulate Dee for her tremendous work and thank her for her dedication to the people in northwest B.C. Her efforts have made a great difference in many lives,” said Nechako Lakes MLA John Rustad.

This year, B.C. received several outstanding nominations. The Province would also like to acknowledge Allison Taylor McBryde, who is retiring after a 30-year career as the Coordinator of Children’s and Young Adult Services at the North Vancouver District Public Library. During her tenure, Taylor McBryde organized and contributed to various literacy initiatives and developed and taught post-secondary courses. She also wrote articles, gave workshops and organized events to make a lasting impact on a whole generation of younger children’s librarians.

Since 2001, the Province has invested approximately $1.5 billion in literacy and literacy-related initiatives such as StrongStart BC early learning programs, almost $21 million to operate the kindergarten-readiness program Ready, Set, Learn, and $2.7 million for the LEAP BC resources that encourage literacy, physical activity and healthy eating in preschool-aged children.

For information on the Council of the Federation, visit: www.councilofthefederation.ca