In one of the largest philanthropic gifts by a member of the Indian-American community, a couple has donated $100 million to New York University's engineering school, which will now be renamed after them in recognition of its gift.Chandrika and Ranjan Tandon's gift to the New York University's School of Engineering will principally support faculty hiring and academic programs and is intended to build on the engineering school's existing practice of cross-disciplinary innovation and entrepreneurship, NYU President John Sexton and the school's dean Katepalli R Sreenivasan said in a joint statement here.The school will be renamed the NYU Tandon School of Engineering in recognition of the Tandons "generosity and their belief in the school's mission and promise," the statement said.Chandrika is a member of the Board of Overseers of NYU's business school, a member of the NYU Board of Trustees and leads the NYU President's Global Council.Ranjan is an engineer by training and a graduate of the Harvard Business School. He is founder and chair of Libra Advisors, a hedge fund he founded in 1990 that is now a family office.The Tandons' donation is believed to be the largest philanthropic gift by a member of the Indian-American community, the university said."Getting to know the engineering school was truly electrifying. The imagination and inventiveness of the students and faculty as they worked together on real world problems, the cutting-edge work being done both within the school and collaboratively across schools in such diverse areas like the arts, medicine, education, incubators; the entrepreneurial spirit that pervades the place all this inspired us," she said.Sreenivasan said the Tandons' act of generosity is remarkable not only because of the size of the gift, but also because it recognises the importance of a school with which they had no prior affiliation.Funds from the gift will be used to further enhance programs, including wireless, cybersecurity, and digital education and gaming and enhance interdisciplinary programs such as financial engineering, technology management and innovation, and entrepreneurship in important areas such as clean energy.In 2010, Harvard Business School had received a gift of USD 50 million from Tata Companies, the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Tata Education and Development Trust, philanthropic entities of the Tata Group. The gift was the largest from an international donor in the School's 102-year history.(PTI)
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Institute of Management Technology (IMT), has announced that it been allocated total number of 199 seats for a term by its partner institutes across the globe under its Students Exchange Programme. Through this exchange programme, school provides opportunities for students to explore diverse cultures, interact with international faculty and students of the best business schools in the world.Dr Jayanthi Ranjan, Associate Dean International Relations IMT Group said, "In India, this is the first that such huge numbers of seats are allocated by global partners to any Indian business school under a student exchange program.The international partners have allocated around 199 seatsfor a semester term to IMT and this has put the IMT on the world map as an institution that provides quality business education.""IMT also conducts regular Short Term Exchange Programs (STEP)and India based Regional studies Immersion programs for partners and non-partners institutes in specific India immersion themes. These programsconsist of intense study modules involving industry visits, Industrial practicums ,lectures, projects and cultural tours. Throughout the year, around 80 students visit IMT to be a part of various STEP theme related programs. By adding the students of STEP and foreign exchange students, IMT stands at the top in terms of students' exchange pool in India", she added.IMT's list of partner countries includes Korea, Taiwan, Poland, Morocco, France, Germany, Austria, South Africa, USA, Bulgaria, Denmark, Norway, Thailand, Spain, Mexico, and UK to name a few.The outgoing student exchange program has been one of the biggest achievements for the institute and the IMT Group has created a history by acquiring such a huge number of seats from international partners.(BW Online Bureau)
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Have you ever come across someone who was stopped because of Money?Another question: Have you ever come across someone who thought he would be stopped because of Money, and used that as an excuse to never take action?Chances are that the second category is more widespread than the first one. It is true for everyone in any circumstance they are dealing with.In this article, I wanted to address the MBA applicants who never dare to apply to the best global MBA programs thinking that they would not be able to afford it. There are many professionals in the country who would open the websites of the top MBA programme, explore the costs, compare it with their bank balance and other savings of the family, and will relegate the dream to someday after 175 years. They are eager to work in strategic positions, become C-Level executives, or entrepreneurs, but are stopped not because of financial constraints, but the thought of financial constraints. Well, gone are the days when we had to rely on our personal savings to meet the ends. We do not even need to spend our own hundreds of crores to run a billion dollar company anymore- There are resources everywhere- there is money everywhere- and there are no opportunities that can be lost because of dearth of the affordability.It is the ignorance or taking ownership of doing a comprehensive research that stops us from taking the next action to fund our education.Let us imagine that a hypothetical applicant works for Infosys at an annual salary of Rs 7 lakhs. He is from a middle class family and cforhim, it is a true story that he cannot afford an investment of more than 25 lacs from personal savings. The total cost of the MBA is roughly 90 lacs to 1 crore. How can someone from the middle class family explore a school that is "Beyond his Imagination" budget?Let us see how can we arrange Money for him.In the beginning, one should start with assessing the risk appetite one has. Banks in India will not fund more than 25% to 30%. However, if you had the option of getting an international loan that gets approved in 5 minutes, would you take a 95 lakh loan and go to a top 10 MBA programme? Or you would rather join a rank 35th programme with a 60% scholarship? Ironically, I have experienced that the second option is unaffordable for many applicants. Why? In the first option, the schools will take the ownership of arranging the non- collateralized loans for the applicants from the international banks without having the applicant to find an international guarantor. The schools cover loans for the tuition and living as they have vested interests. It allows the schools to look for diverse and bright applicants. Without this facility, schools will be limiting themselves to only the bright and rich dads category, and there will not be many. This diversity will add to the value of the experience the candidates get, the brilliance that the recruiters get, and the ranks that the schools accomplish- The entire machinery is self-sustaining and is a win-win.In the second category of the rank 35th program with 60% scholarships, while you do get a waiver of 50 to 60 lacs, you still have to manage the remaining 35lacsfrom loans in India and your personal savings. These schools value diversity though, they do not have the appetite to find non-collateralized loans for you, and have not been able to built successful partnerships with banks.I have been told by many that marriage kills the risk appetite in life, and I have been told that I will understand that someday. If you are married, and do not think you have the courage to take a 90 lakh loan, you can still explore some great MBA programs that will offer you significant scholarships and decent employability. Top schools doled out 1400Crores of scholarships( Source: Poets and quants recent data)in the 2014-2015 admissions cycle.You could be an Indian Male with 5+ years of work experience and a 720+ score or an Indian Female applicant with 3+ years of work experience with again a 720+ Score, there are very bright chances that there is a top school waiting for your application.If you are an Indian Female applicant with a GMAT =/> 730 or an Indian male applicant with a GMAT >/=740, you can expect even higher than 60% scholarships. Some schools ranked around 40 might give you a full tuition waiver along with a monthly stipend to sustain your living expenses.The money is available everywhere as long as you are willing to explore the opportunities. Do not pay too much attention to the THOUGHT of no money. Explore and take action.The author, Jatin Bhandari, is founder & CEO of PythaGurus Education
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The digital wave in the country has transformed the entire education ecosystem, making it more tech-oriented and student-friendly. As technology seeped into every aspect of life, it was only a matter of time for it to penetrate one of the most important facets of one’s existence i.e. education. Online learning presents various benefits such as easy accessibility, on-the-go learning, flexibility and convenience to name a few. These are the main reasons behind the increasing inclination of people towards this mode. In fact, it has quickly become a default way of studying and has evolved from being an option to being a need. Digitisation of the education landscape is also letting the students residing in tier-2 and tier-3 cities reap the benefits of quality education tools. On the other hand, however, offline learning also has its own merits, which definitely cannot be overlooked. Therefore, a seamless blend of both offline and online pedagogical approaches is now the need of the hour.Online LearningOnline learning enables students with the option to study in the comfort of their homes, without having to travel miles to go to an institution for attending an important lecture. This makes it a cost-efficient mode of learning. Besides this, online learning is suitable for working people as well who do not have the time at their disposal to attend regular classes. They can get a certificate or a degree without having to physically go to a brick-and-mortar institution. Online video lectures help these students stay connected with what is being taught in traditional classrooms. This way they don’t have to miss out on anything and can fulfil their ambition of working and attaining further academic qualifications simultaneously. There has been a slow and steady pick in self-paced courses, and this trend is fairly visible for all.While these are the benefits of online learning, there are some limitations as well. Self-discipline and time management matters a lot in online learning. Limited interaction with fellow students and with the instructors can also result in lesser enthusiasm and confidence as compared with offline pedagogical approaches. Although lectures can be attended online, the interpersonal relationship between a student and instructor is harder to build virtually.Traditional LearningThe concept of traditional learning is slowly undergoing a transformation with the advent of the internet and technology-led education. However, the innumerable benefits of this mode of education cannot be denied. With its multi-sensory appeal, it enables students to grasp what’s being taught easily and quickly. Immediate interactions help them clear their doubts then and there. They can take part in live discussions and know the view-points of other students at the same time. Visual Learning classes have been appreciated by students and faculties alike. It helps students to understand the tough concepts easily and learning becomes fun for them.However, there is no denying that traditional learning eats up a lot of time. It’s expensive as compared to online learning and lacks flexibility. In many cases, the traditional format makes quality education and guidance inaccessible to those students in whose locality there aren’t any good institutions or coaching centres. Advantages of digital education for students of tier-3 and tier-4 cities:Digital education has metamorphosed the education landscape of the country in such a way that students of not just tier-1 and tier-2 cities but also of tier-3 and tier-4 cities are now able to access superlative learning opportunities. Digital courses have tremendously helped in bridging the wide geographical gap that hitherto existed between students and the leading institutions of the country. Such online courses have been instrumental in enhancing the learning experience of students residing in extreme corners of the country.E-learning has made inroads in the entire nation, the result of which is this that students are now rapidly embracing this new concept. A blend of the online mode of learning and traditional pedagogy is being adopted by institutions these days so as to provide a compelling learning experience to students. Live lectures combined with the facility to interact with faculty in real time and give students a feel of traditional classrooms is what many institutions are now focussing on. This combination of the physical classroom and the e-learning experience is enriching the way students understand and absorb information and apply this knowledge.New age education methods like app-based learning also give superlative convenience to students and bolster the result of other learning techniques. The spike in smartphone and mobile data usage has given to rise to new, innovative, creative and highly engaging ways of understanding concepts, memorising difficult topics, taking tests and assessing oneself. Quality content remains the main requirement of students and is pivotal in making the online learning experience rich and beneficial. Education providers have to ensure that they deliver meaningful content to students in the online space and amalgamate this content with the best of traditional learning methods so that more and more students embrace this new way of absorbing information. The offline versus online debate is now not as relevant as the debate about how the merits of both these formats need to be synchronised to create new benchmarks in the Indian education space. The author, Ritesh Raushan, is the director at The Gate Academy
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Technology-driven learning is bringing a qualitative difference to education in rural and semi-urban areas of India. Although rural India has woken up to the online learning trend quite late because of the lack of a stronger mindset in smaller towns and infrastructural challenges, this issue has been gradually resolved. From mobile classrooms to online tutors, today there are hundreds of such startups passionate about transforming the education system in our country.The introduction of digital education in rural India came with its own set of infrastructural issues. The erratic electricity supply and lack of access to educational facilities made the penetration of technology-based education tough. The incursion of cable television eventually changed the prevalent indolent way of thinking. The rural population is now welcoming the idea of using mobile devices and is equally comfortable in handling technology devices. Online learning or Live Virtual Classrooms (LVC) has paved the way for modern education in rural India. Moreover, the integration of technologies such as Cloud, Data Centers & Virtualization into the education industry is making information available to the students from far-flung areas in just one click.At present, the country has over 200 million people connected to the internet and the numbers are expected to reach 550 million by 2018. In such a scenario, the number of competitive exam aspirants is going to increase every year. These learners will not only increase the demand for good content but also easily accessible content, be it through smartphones or tablets. The advent of low-cost smartphones coupled with low mobile tariffs is empowering students from the small cities to go beyond making just phone calls and instead reap the benefits of data connectivity. The further expansion of the data service network in the country, alongside push on 3G & introduction of 4G technologies, is adding to the data usage in rural areas that demand speedier connections.International startups like Khan Academy, Udacity, Coursera, and StraighterLine have already tasted success in this category owing to their role in reforming the educational process with the use of video and advanced web platforms to make learning more affordable and effective. Taking a cue from their international counterparts, Indian online education platforms are following a similar path. They are providing unique advantages of digital learning like Video Content delivery, student-to-student interactions via video conferencing and virtual updating of textbooks to provide personalized attention to the new-age learner residing in the rural and semi-urban areas. Of late, there is a lot of focus on gamification. Interactive online and offline tools are being developed to modernize the segment. Offline tools allow the students to access content without any internet connection or connectivity as low as 100 kbps. Not every student from the smaller cities or remote areas has the luxury of using the internet to take coaching with a tailor-made solution for his/her needs. For such students, the offline study material is available at a certain price wherein students can avail individual modules in respective subjects.Students from rural India value good education and are eagerly waiting to excel in the field. Technology intervention allows them access to the best possible learning resources from across the world, at a very affordable price. The developing wave of adaptive learning facilitates the students with various levels of intellectual capabilities to garner vital skills at their own pace. Numerous coaching centers have also started developing quality study material that can be disseminated on an online platform. This is increasing the success ratio of people learning on online platforms exponentially. Moreover, for a country that depends on the development of its educational sector for its economic and social growth, a surge in switching to technology-driven education will amply propel rural India towards empowerment.The author, Aakash Chaudhry, is the director, Aakash Educational Services
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For the last couple of years, the education sector of India is successful to be one of the most potential employment drivers of the nation. The sector is poised to grow exponentially in the coming decades owing to several factors, the prime of which is the population demographic comprising of more than 550 million people below the age of 25. The strengthening purchasing power of its populace in combination with the want of high career profilehas increased the fervor of Indians towards higher education. On the other hand, the industry is being reinvigorated with raised interests from business conglomerates foraying into the sector. The government policies, with an intention to decrease the gap between the standard of education in India, and its global counterparts, have liberalized the sector opening avenues for Foreign Direct Investments and more international collaborations. Education sector in India is a booming industry with burgeoning career opportunities, the reason for some of the educationists Diaspora to relocating to their motherland.In India, the education sector is on the verge of a massive transformation. The face of education has progressed such that conventional schooling and learning have turned contemporarywith a pro-business approach. In fact, the process has already started with private entities aggressively investing in the sector. The foray of these entities brought a competitive trend to standardized education through modern technology and innovative pedagogy, ultimately benefitting the students. The sector, in contrast to what it was decades back, is on the way to grow as an industry or commercial segment. Presently, 25% of educational setups in the country comprises of private players. This transformation has substantiated an array of career opportunities in the segment apart from teaching or related to teaching.These new range of career includes marketing and management such as financial management, teacher life cycle management as well as fields like curriculum development. The industry is through a massive requirement of human resources in these domains besides core educators.An IBEF, Indian Brand Equity Foundation, report suggests that there are more than 1.4 million schools and more than 35,000 higher educational institutes in the country. Furthermore, the online educational market has carved out a separate niche within the sector. In fact, India attracting educationists from abroad is quite conventional against the backdrop of the country being the proprietorof one of the largest higher educational system in the world. Distance education lately, is through a huge impetus with the online market, which is poised to grow into a market of 40 billion by 2017. Additionally, vocational education and training is emerging as a lucrative sector for educators.The higher education segment is booming in the nation. Reports have suggested that educators with experience more than 7 to 12 years are gaining better traction. Most of the educationists relocating to India are in to higher education segment. Private sectors, again, in this field has been instrumental in substantiating this "Brain Gain". Indian educators residing abroad are attracted by similar opportunities and earning options in the country. Most of the private universities and institutes offer much better salary as per Indian standards that become comparable to their pay grads at foreign institutes. Hence, returning to their homeland has been much rewarding, reinforced by higher earnings. On the other hand, the prospects of venturing their own enterprises have been another lucrative aspect. As new educational setups in the nation is now the need of the hour. Experienced individuals earning good amounts can venture their own institutes, turning educationist cum entrepreneurs.One's own country is always soughed after by mostIndian immigrants. Indians travel abroad in search of good opportunities and life style, which they could not afford living in India. However, the changed economic dynamics have enabled the country to attract these people who settled abroad in search of better career options. Now, when those opportunities are being gradually actualized in their own country, they have no reason to be tagged as immigrants in foreign lands despite of similar opportunities offered here. Moreover, professionals returning to the country aresynonymous to giving back to the nation.The author, Kalpesh Banker, is founder and managing partner of EduShine Advisory Group
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Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research (WeSchool) has announced their collaboration with three Hi-Tec International Universities in Israel - Tel-Aviv University, Ben-Gurion University of Negev, and IDC Herzliya.WeSchool with campuses in Mumbai and Bengaluru has signed a five year MoU with the Israeli Universities for seeking possibilities to enhance mutual academic exchanges that include a wide range of activities such as - exchange of students, research scholars and faculty, exchange of academic information, materials and programs, joint research activities and publications, co-organizing joint conferences and workshops as well as international training, participation in seminars and academic programs, special short-term academic programmes, research visits for students and scholarship plans of mutual interest.David Akov Consul General, Consulate General of Israel, Mumbai said, "It shows that education & research has become an important area in strengthening the flourishing Indo-Israel relations and the universities on both sides are equally eager to collaborate with each other. It was your first visit to Israel."The collaboration with Israel Universities will broaden the horizon for Indian education and gather added global opportunities in the space of design, innovation and entrepreneurship. This academic collaboration will provide a blend of cultural exchange and artistic activities for students of both the nations. With bilateral trade between India and Israel standing at about $5 billion, a free trade agreement on the anvil and agreements in place for joint research program, these agreements are seen as bridges to further strengthen the education-sector collaboration between the two countries.(BW Online Bureau)
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WNS, business process management (BPM) services provider firm, on Wednesday launched a training programme for college students, based on the NASSCOM Qualification Packs (QP) to improve employability and enable them to be industry-ready.With a focus on Tier 2 and 3 cities, this programme aims to train 1,000 students in next six months across 35 colleges in Nasik, Ahmednagar, Aurangabad, Pune, Kaziranga, Chandigarh and Vizag.Keshav R. Murugesh, Group CEO, WNS and Chairman, NASSCOM BPM Council said, "From our experience, we realised students from tier 2 and tier 3 cities are not able to get through the employment selection process due to lack of English language communication skills and soft-skills. In this programme, we are making sure that students undergo English and soft-skills training so that they don't miss out on global career opportunities due to such shortcomings".The training programme has 80-hour long curriculum spread over two months that will enable students to join specialist roles in the BPM industry. Also, WNS will impart training in English, Excel and Soft-Skills to students. The curriculum will cover knowledge of Accounts Payable and Receivables (guided by NASSCOM's QP standards) - duration of 52 hours; Business Skills (Communication, Business Communication, Business Context, Planning, Organizing and Analytical Thinking Skills) - 18 hours and training in Excel - 10 hours."The Indian BPM industry is today completely different from the traditional BPO set-up. It includes careers for specialists such as CAs, MBAs, Doctors, Medical practitioners and so on. The industry also runs processes using high-end technology and analytics. With a goal of delivering $50 Billion by 2020 to the Indian economy, the industry needs more employable talent," added Murugesh.(BW Online Bureau)
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