EDUCATION

DAV, Rohtak, to get ISO status
Jatinder Sharma

Rohtak, December 4
DAV Centenary Public School has attained international standards of quality by being recommended for ISO 9001:2000. This is perhaps the first school in the Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonepat, Bhiwani, Mohindergarh, Panipat, Karnal, Rewari, Hisar and Sirsa region which has been recommended for this certification.

The school Principal, Mr Rajesh Jain, said that the ISO certification would ensure quality education of international standards besides preparing the students to have mature, balanced personality and ensure actions necessary to achieve planned results and continued improvement. It would provide quality management systems and aims to enhance parents’ and students’ satisfaction through the effective application of the system.

Mr Jain claimed that there were only 23 schools, including the DAV Schools at Faridabad and Gurgaon, which had been certified with ISO in India. DAV School, Rohtak, is the 23rd school in the series. The certification would promote international exchange programmes of students to provide cultural awareness. He said that after ISO certification this school would get recognition worldwide and NRIs would get more benefits. The school has decided to set up a cricket academy, handball academy, dance and vocal music academy and centre for billiards/snooker. All these academies would become functional from the next academic session, Mr Jain said.

The junior wing of the school, he said, would be shifted to its own new building under construction in DLF Colony.

The new building, he said, would be totally air-conditioned. The school, now being run from different buildings, would function from the new building.

CAMPUS
Sena gets into action mode — all for fair sex
Sanjog Gupta

The recent spate of cases involving molestation, rape, extortion and harassment of women has spurred the Shiv Sainiks in Delhi into action. The Delhi state unit of the Shiv Sena is reaching out to the fairer sex to address the pressing concerns of women’s security in the city. The unit has gone on a major drive to direct the attention of the women towards the need for “self-enhancement”.

In a bid to take care of the “physical inabilities” in women, the unit is organising classes at the Ridge area near Delhi University to impart training in taekwando and kung-fu.

The training is primarily meant for female students of Delhi University who seek to “provide their parents security and safety through their courage and valour”. The unit has categorically specified that the training will only be on hand-to-hand combat and will not entail training with tridents, spears or swords, allaying scepticism that this was an attempt at recruiting “sainiks”.

Interested students can contact their respective college Shiv Sena unit representatives or contact the Ramjas College representative for more information.

Globalisation of tech education

The repercussions of the WTO on the education sector have been underplayed till now, with implications on the industry and services sector dominating discussions. But, as the date for effectiveness of GATS (General Agreement for Trade and Services) comes close – end of 2004 – the anticipated changes are being highlighted. The Union Minister for Labour, Mr Sahib Singh Verma, accentuated the need for the technical education system to be more flexible in order to meet the WTO norms.

At the inauguration of a two-day conference on ‘Vocational and Technical Education Training for Globalised Economy’ on November 29, Mr Singh said the strict WTO norms would not only restrict engineers and technical graduates’ mobility due to India’s education accreditation in the international arena. He also informed the attendees that the government in early anticipation of the impending repercussions had already started altering the monolithic system of degree programmes.

The minister also lauded the role played by engineers and technical graduates in the global economy and emphasised the need for educational institutions to imbibe aspects such as management practices and labour laws in the existing curriculum. He said such a step would go a long way in improving the existing system of technical education.

The conference was organised by the CII in association with the German Agency for Technical Co-operation (GTZ), whose Director, Dr Giesela Hayfa, urged the Indian educational institutions to adopt the German system of dual training. The system entails a one-day training period in a week for most employees in order to facilitate the upgradation of skills. Dr Hayfa also emphasised the growing need of the private sector to play a major role in the field.

IHM student wins essay competition

Gautam Dadlani receiving award from Hans Georg Rohrbein.

Gautam Dadlani, a student of Institute of Hotel Management (IHM), Mumbai, was accorded the top honour in an essay competition organised by the National Council of Hotel Management and Catering Technology. The competition conducted in March 2002 to commemorate Marriott International’s 75th corporate anniversary.

The topics for the essay were – “Spirit to Serve in the Hospitality Industry”, “Technology in the Hospitality Industry”, “Success Is Never Final” and “Tourism and Hospitality – How They Co-relate and Coexist. The Marriott International chain of hotels own several hotels in India, including JW Marriott, Marriott, Renaissance and Ramada International brands located in Delhi, Mumbai and Goa.

TASMAC gets quality nod

Training and Advanced studies in Management & Communications (TASMAC) – a Pune-based business school, is the first educational institution outside Europe to be recognised and accredited to the British Accreditation Council for Independent Further & Higher education (BAC).

The institute offers various courses such as MBA, MSc in Information Systems and BA (Hons) in Business Administration validated by the University of Wales, UK.

BAC has certified TASMAC to be a college with a clear vision, commitment to quality, excellent administrative systems and a capable staff.

The BAC system of accreditation is widely recognised as the only public guarantee of standards in independent institutions of higher education in the UK.

The college had previously been accorded the prestigious ISO9001: 2000 certification from the DNV (Det Norske Veritas, Netherlands)

Bridging digital divide

NIIT in co-operation with the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Communication and IT, Mr Pramod Mahajan, organised a Swift Jyoti session at the Parliament Annexe on the occasion of World Literacy Day on December 2.

The session was attended by a large number of parliamentarians, including the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, who used the event as a platform to extended his “full-fledged support” for bridging the digital divide in the country.

He signed a pledge undertaking the responsibility of facilitating computer literacy in India and also unveiled a customised postal envelope that symbolised the spread of computer literacy in the country.

Mr Mahajan remarked that the spread of IT literacy would open up a world of opportunities for India, which had already built up a huge equity for itself in the area of IT.

The session at the Parliament Annexe was a glowing example of the support that World Computer Literacy Day has received and the excitement it has built up across the country. Various political leaders around the country – such as the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Chandrababu Naidu, the AP Governor, Dr C. Rangarajan, , the TN Minister of IT, Mr D. Jaykumar, the West Bengal Governor, Mr Viren J. Shah, the Minister for IT from UP, Dr Sheema Rizvi, and the Chairman of Corporation Bank, Mr K. Cherian Varghese – celebrated World Computer Literacy Day.

Organised for the first time last year, World Computer Literacy Day is an NIIT initiative undertaken to help bridge the digital divide. This year, a host of Indian corporate houses, including Airtel, Webdunia and the CyberMedia Group joined hands with NIIT to make this initiative a grand success.

The intention is for World Computer Literacy Day to become an annual event - a portal through which hundreds of thousands step into the digital world. Last year, when the first World Computer Literacy Day was celebrated, NIIT helped over 100,000 people become computer-friendly. This year this target has been doubled and the aim is to help 200,000 people cross the digital divi

Course in Bioinformatics

The Software Technology Group is launching an advanced diploma in Bioinformatics, catering to the need of several industries such as Genomics, Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology. The effort is a pioneering endeavour in the industry, which is witnessing the inception of such a course for the first time.

The course has been specially designed to empower a student with strong fundamentals in applied biology, knowledge of bioinformatics software and tools with IT skills like RDBMS, programming, data mining, retrieving, analysis sequence and structure. The course entails six modules spread over a duration of one year and has drawn experienced faculty to conduct it. The modules are structured in the form of project-based training with exhaustive content materials and practicals forming an integral part of it.

The course promises to provide opportunities in the fields of therapeutic environment, health care and even IT companies involved in the development of software for life sciences. STG Chief Executive Officer Yogesh Vaidya claims that a student undergoing the programme will emerge a complete bioinformatics professional.

Study@abroad at Daulat Ram

The study@abroad 2002 education exhibition at Daulat Ram College.

Daultan Ram College will act as a window to the wide range of potential foreign educational opportunities from December 3-5. The college is bringing together universities from all over the world, including prominent countries such as the UK, the USA and Australia as well as lesser known ones, which also offer excellent opportunities, such as Malaysia and Germany.

organised by the Oriental Bank of Commerce and Arclights is seeking to bring together student counsellors, loan providing institutions, international placement consultants and coaching institutes under one roof. The educational exhibition will act as a complete educational guide for studying abroad.

The exhibition will feature courses in Business, Communications, Management, Architecture and Hotel Management. Students can visit the exhibition from 9. 30 am to 5. 30 pm.

Boney addresses AAFT students

Boney kapoor with Sandeep Marwah at AAFT.

Bollywood personality Boney Kapoor addressed students of Asian Academy of Film & Television recently and urged them to be determined and act patient when seeking a career in the film world. He also highlighted the growing need for the television and film world to consistently re-invent itself in the wake of changing trends in consumer tastes and available technology.

Boney Kapoor is on the advisory council of the academy and was on a visit to discuss the its curriculum with the Director, Dr Sandeep Marwah. He also brought forth to the students the growing pressures on professionals in the industry due to the changing environment in the “biz world”.