Indian students OUT-COMPETE U.S. counterparts

Tuesday , 30  March  2010,

Washington: Indian and chinese have been going ahead in competition with their  American counterparts by their sheer hard work although though they are not smarter than the latter, a top Obama administration official had said, reported by  Business Standard.

"We are simply being out-competed by children in India and China. They are not smarter than our children. They are just working harder," Education Secretary Arne Duncan told the MSNBC television in an interview on 28^th Jan . "I have argued very clearly, and so has the President, that our school day is too short, our school week is too short, our school year is too short." 

Indian and Chinese students go at least 30 to 40 extra days to schools annually than their American counterparts. "It is very well documented that certain children get to a certain point in June, thanks to the hard work of their teachers, and because nothing is going on during the summer, they come back to us in September further behind than where they left. That is heartbreaking. We have to stop that," Duncan said, while thinking of granting more time and resources for students. 

The Education secretary told the press that all the students need to improve .The principals and teachers make a vast difference in student’s life and hence they need to apply extra effort or pull them along .

May be they are right.

Sense of Recognition for Overseas Students

26 March, 2010

It is appreciable of Martin Davidson , British council chief executive has raised this issue of taking care of international students rather than treating them only as for their money .

Martin Davidson, British Council chief executive, spoke as the organisation launched its international education conference “Going global”, which is being held in London on 25 and 26 March.

This conference  which will draw together some of the leading figures from international higher education to discuss issues like overseas student security, university rankings and the role of the private sector.

In the UK, it is evident that the international students have become an important source of income, a situation likely to be accentuated by government funding cuts. Here international students have to pay higher fees at undergraduate level. Fees are capped for domestic and other EU students, on the other hand there are also strict quotas limiting recruitment.

He also stressed on the fact that International students have more study options today than ever before, and in this  internet-connected world, It will be devastating if the word spreads that they are treated as ‘cash cows’. In today’s quickly  evolving marketplace, overseas governments will go against foreign universities that are clearly interested only in recruiting students from their country and giving nothing in return.

Well,  it appears that the world education scenario in UK is changing.

MASTERS NEVER FEAR

Hi Guys, This time I am with some ideas for my dear students.We all know human psychology plays a great deal in charting out success for a person.Now, why I  am pinpointing this is just because many of the students today have lots of ‘exam fever’ sort of syndrome. I k now many students who are damn brilliant ,got a lot of grey cells inside their brain,and still do not score.Well, the reason is simple ,they get nervous when they go for any exam whether it is GRE,GMAT,SAT,or any other.I asked one of my student s that why she fears the exam and she said that she not only fears exam but even the outcome of that.I pondered over the issue and said to her that  why is she having such fears.

Go through the mechanics of life logically whether it is exam or any other critical instance of life.I f you have done the preparation very well and have scored good in the tests then why worry for the final rendezvous.In Hindu mythology ,the great ARJUNA of MAHABHARATA hits the ey of the FISH by just seeing it’s image in the water easily because he knew he can do it.

But Alas still some students are scared of exams and crash before it just due to fear.

Well Guys, remember MASTERS NEVER FEAR because they have gone through the basics ,done their hard work, prepared throroughly and have faced this type of situation earlier also, then they should not be scared .Being scared will never lead to growth but will be detrimental for your progress.Remember only one thing only that if you know the things very well, have tackled the situations gracefully earlier also then you should not fear this time also whether those are exams or any other critical phase of your life.

What else can I say, after all it is human psychology but remember if you have a situation where there are two options i.e to go ahead or back out to face the past problems again, then you should march ahead gracefully.

90 % of the fears are always baseless in our brains which have got no existence.

So the bottom line is that if you know the things perfectly go ahead an strike the chord and that is the only way out or do you think there is another option, I don't think so.

Kampus Landing opens HEADQUARTERS in the financial hub of the UK at Canary Wharf, London

In close co-operation with its domestic and international client institutions Kampus Landing is committed to a continuous development of new learning resources leading to an effective, efficient, and enjoyable Learning Experience for all its students regardless of the type or location of their chosen study venue.

In that context, Our Chairman, Mr. Ismo M Kuhanen is pleased to introduce you to Kampus Landing’s new ‘family’ member, Finntrack, which is based in the UK and specializes in the development, design and distribution of business, management and IT related programmes, courses, learner support and staff development units, teaching and learning guides and contents for universities, business schools, colleges, corporations , professional and vocational training and development centres throughout the world, by:

Designing of customised and customisable business, management, and IT related curriculum of programmes, courses and modules to meet the standards required by the British QAA and the recognised international accreditation bodies. See the QAA Subject Benchmark Statements onhttp://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/benchmark/default.asp

Identifying potential partner institutions, then brokering and facilitating transnational collaboration.

Assisting client institutions in obtaining accreditation with American, British, or other European universities or awarding bodies for dual awards.

Designing quality assurance processes and resources and train teaching staff to follow them.

Attracting and recruiting students for both, classroom and distance learning programmes offered by client institutions in almost anywhere in the world.

Providing online Learning Content Management Systems able to enrol and manage in-class or distance learning module contents for both tutors and learners.

Multi-billion dollar international fake diploma fraud

 A new Report published on 21^st  exposes a multi-billion dollar international fake diploma fraud.

The ‘Accredibase Report' by Eyal Ben Cohen and Rachel Winch of Verifile Limited,is a report based on an 18-month international research project into diploma and accreditation mills - fake Universities and Colleges which con students out of their money and supply fake degrees that deceive employers into offering jobs, sometimes  fatal consequences.

Up till  1,762 fake institutions have been identified , and a  further 1,545 are under investigation currently filed as ‘suspicious' co-author Eyal Ben Cohen

Alarmingly, the US was found to be the world's fake college capital, with 810 diploma mills already declared fake  and many more still under investigation as the Report went to press. More than 35 percent of the diploma mills operate in California, Hawaii, Washington and Florida.UK is the the world's second biggest hub  of fake colleges , the Report exposing 271 bogus institutions, making the UK the centre of Europe's bogus colleges scam.

The British government  has said that it  welcomes any innovative approach that further helps to disrupt the activities of bogus education providers, simultaneously  safeguarding legitimate education and the public."

Multiple ‘fake university businesses' are often run from one address - The ‘St. Regis University' network ran as many as 121 phony institutions all from a single office in Spokane, Washington. This allows the fraudsters to easily shut down one business if the authorities become suspicious, while suffering minimal disruption to the huge profits being generated. Official estimates that the fraudsters are earning  more than $100m every year in only one year of operation.

Fake degrees can help terrorists to infiltrate facilities by securing them jobs inside the country

The ‘con' becomes more sophisticated with fake universities setting up fake accreditation bodies in an attempt to make their qualifications look genuine. These accreditation bodies  may hide their location to make it more difficult to establish their legitimacy.

UK’s new tough 'Immigration' point system.

Plans outlining the criteria to  earn enough points to stay permanently in the United Kingdom were revealed by the Government today.

The new points based test for citizenship - an extension of the already successful Australian-style points based system - will give migrants points for building up different attributes and skills. Proposals launched in the new consultation would  reward  for economic contributions, skills and English language proficiency above the level already expected. Points would  be removed and citizenship delayed for those breaking the law or committing anti-social behaviour.
A points based test for citizenship will give the Government more control over the numbers of people permitted to settle here permanently, allowing the bar for settlement to be raised or lowered depending on the needs of the country and the economy.

One of the key principles of the earned citizenship system is building community cohesion, by encouraging community involvement through 'active citizenship'.

Government wants to support integration by encouraging more of  activities in which migrants contribute to the community. That is why a migrant's journey to citizenship will speed up if they conduct voluntary or civic work.

Under the current system those wanting citizenship have to pass a Life in the UK test to demonstrate both their knowledge of the country and their ability to speak English. The Government intends to present further  a new two-stage system. This will focus on practical information about life in the United Kingdom at probationary level, and then a further test at the final level stage with ask issues related to more challenging topics like history and politics.

I t is appreciable  that Government is  playing a role in managing negative impacts on developing countries.

American Education System

Generally children in USA start school at the age of five years which is also known as kindergarten.The second year at school is considered is known as first grade. In America, the word grade has two meanings: (1) the score achieved on an exam or in a course, and (2) a year of education in primary or secondary school.Primary school most commonly consists of fifth grades i.e five yearsof education.

Secondary school

Upon completion of fifth grade (the last year of primary school), American children studying in the American education system enters into secondary school. Secondary school most commonly consists of a total of seven years, referred to as sixth through twelfth grades. The ninth through twelfth grades are most commonly referred to as high school. After completing the twelfth grade, American students are awarded a certificate called the high school diploma. In the American education system, students must have obtained a high school diploma before they are admitted into college or university. Foreign students who would like to attend an American college or university must have completed coursework that is equivalent toeducation programme in an  American high school.

Undergraduate school

Students who would like to attend college or university must attend what is referred to as an undergraduate school. These are schools that offer either a two-year degree (called an associate degree) or a four-year degree (called a bachelors degree) in a particular course of study. That course of study is called the major.Alll students are required to select (or declare) a major by their second year at school. Students who complete an associate degree can continue their education at a four-year school and eventually complete a bachelor degree.

Graduate school

Students who have obtained a bachelor’s degree can continue their education by going through one of two types of degrees. The first is a master’s degree. This is generally a two-year degree in a highly specialized  specific field. Students are sometimes admitted to a master’s degree program only if they have a bachelor’s degree in a closely related field. However, there are few  exceptions like the students want to study a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) degree. Certain courses of study are only available at the graduate school level in America. The most important are of  law, dentistry, and medicine. Students who want to go through degree in one of these fields must first obtain a bachelor’s degree.

SAT-Like Admissions Test will soon be used to get admissions in universities.

The country's minister in charge of higher education has asked 15 universities which will be established in future   to formulate a common admission test akin to the SAT in the United States, according to a government statement.

The common examination would later be put in to the system by 25 other federally supported universities as well, reported the Business Standard, a newspaper.The  higher-education budget is increased by an unprecedented 40 percent, to $3.1-billion, for 2009-10.

Every Indian university currently admits students based on their marks on a high-school-graduation exam and, occasionally, a personal interview. As a result, a student from, say, the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh who applies to the Universities of Delhi and of Bombay must visit both distant cities and be judged by different standards at both institutions and he has to suffer a lot .

In addition, too much tests taken for  high-school-graduation  in India makes it extremely difficult to gauge a student's relative abilities. For that reason, the higher-education minister, Kapil Sibal, has also announced plans to devise a common high-school-graduation test.

I say ‘A Good Bill’, What’s your view?

  The Cabinet on Monday cleared a bill that will enable Foreign Universities to  setup campuses in India. While reporting for the Foreign Universities Bill, issues of shortage of faculty and poaching of academicians are raised by media etc

Already one lakh Indian students go out every year for higher education from India. Most of these students go out of the country to pursue their higher studies because of lack of facilities for quality education in the country. This also costs a huge foreign exchange outgo to the exchequer.

Till the BSNL-MTNL era, the Indian telecom sector had similar apprehensions and it was unimaginable that the level of  telecom services will increase so much when it was transferred to  private sector . The aviation sector also saw similar changes after it was opened to the private sector ending the Indian Airlines, Air India monopoly.

The Indian educational sector is bound to be more prosperous  in the coming  days to come by the step of allowing the foreign universities to setup campuses in the country. It will  attract more aspirants towards this opportunity and will bring in qualitative changes in the educational system of India.

While, many other civil services offer better perks than academics, the real mentors of the country i.e. the academicians rank poorly on this count as well. 

Mr. Kapil Sibal deserves all kudos for pushing through this bill which will bring out all qualitative changes in the educational system of the country.

This policy will attract  students from other countries for pursuing education at lower costs as India has the advantage of lower infrastructure cost.

The educational sector is also a very similar sector which is based on the same two components i.e. quality manpower and infrastructure and India certainly has an edge over many other countries in availability of both these components.

Second talks Of India-NZ Joint Working Group

The second India-New Zealand education talks were held recently in New Delhi, in which the New Zealand and Indian Secretaries for Education with officials from government and the education sector from both countries discussed about  broadening and focusing  on existing collaboration between the two countries. Science research cooperation, teacher training and development, vocational education, open and distance learning and quality assurance were the five points which were discussed as core issues . Projects are being developed which will be carried out under these issues. India's education reforms have been in full swing from mid-2009 and foreign education interests are now being encouraged, to engage particularly in tertiary education. This 'global view' of education was resumed during the call on the Indian Minister for Human Resource Development, Sri Kapil Sibal.

The New Zealand delegation also undertook a programme of meetings in Delhi and Mumbai, in addition to formal talks.In Delhi, research cooperation was an area of focus, with visits to one of India's premier technical/engineering institutes, a central government university, the universities' association, the national open university, and discussions with Indian agencies with science research responsibilities.

In Mumbai, there was a focus on technical and vocational education. The delegation also met the leading  Maharashtrian agencies as it is solely state’s responsibility. Discussions were also held with private Indian education providers looking for international expertise.

Beware of False Distance Education advertisements

New Delhi is trying to  protect the interest of students choosing Distance Education courses, Universities and institutions across the country.They  have been cautioned for giving misleading advertisements in newspapers, stating that their programmes are recognized by the Distance Education Council (DEC). 

 Professor V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, Chairman of the Distance Education Council (DEC) and Vice Chancellor of theIndira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), has clearly stated that the DEC has prescribed guidelines for determination of the standards for Distance Education systems in the country. 

It has become mandatory for all Institutions, Centres and Directorates to offer programmes through the distance education mode to get their Degrees, Diplomas and Certificate programmes recognized and approved by the DEC. 

If an institution is already running distance education programmes, it must apply to DEC for recognition of the institution and its programmes. 

It is  the responsibility of the institution to strictly conform  to the norms prescribed by the concerned  authorities for offering professional and technical programmes. 

Further, those Universities which have been approved by DEC for the academic year 2009-10 onwards were also asked to clearly mention the names of the programmes for which approval has been granted to them, in their advertisements. 

The institutions which offer education through distance mode any degree/ diploma/ certificate

 offered to them through distance mode not recognized by DEC, shall not be accepted for employment in Government service. 

The institutions / Universities have been directed to submit their applications to the DEC within a month's time, in the prescribed proforma available on the DEC website, for obtaining recognition for themselves and their programmes. 

Increasing Importance of GMAT

GMAT is ‘Graduate Management Admission Test ‘ is presently  framed   by GMAC Council for the international students who intend to take admission in B- Schools Of USA.Though the primary purpose of the GMAT is to ensure your admission in your favorite school, there is another vital reason for putting your best to get a good GMAT score. Besides B-Schools Admissions Officers, the score you get on the GMAT  is observed by persons that might be even more important—job recruiters.

Of course, the GMAT scores are primarily and almost certainly will always be for B-School admissions. But what happens when your score is good enough to get you into the MBA program of your dreams, but you may fail to get  job of your dreams? For some ambitious students, and some career-focused programs, this will pose a problem which can be rectified by taking the exam again .

For students with strong applications but low scores, some career services directors will advise admitted students to retake the exam.Well, what is the conclusion is that when you give GMAT  try to score the maximum.you may not know when it will be useful to get the desired job since it represents the logical ability of your brain not that academic cramming which was always done during school days.It is meant to test your capabilities of analyzing the situations in markets which you will do after going through the management course.

ENGLISH FORUM

  Love for ‘English’ language, in its myriad  splendour and glory exists in many hearts, besides natural affinity to one’s own mother tongue. The wide Spectrum of writing in English language by writers rather than their mother tongue is tremendous. From frothy to erudite, the range of English writing encompassing fiction, drama, scholarly treatise, poetry etc, is mind boggling.

            ENGLISH FORUM is an effort to bring lovers of English language without discrimination of any kind on a common platform for  promotion of activities built around the language.        

             Any one interested is invited to TEA at 3:00PM on

                                                                                SUNDAY            

14 March 2010 ‘ENGLISH FORUM’ KAMPUS LANDING 207, SACHET-2, 2^nd FLOOR, NEAR TOMATO RESTAURANT, OPPOSITE GLS COLLEGE, NATIONAL HANDLOOM LANE, OFF C.GROAD,AHMEDABAD-380009 
CONVENOR ‘GOPALKRISHNA-09825026557(CELL PHONE NO.)’