BW EDUCATION OCT 2022

Rs 300

OCTOBER 2022 www.bweducation.com

Recognising the
impact that some

innovative &
empathetic leaders

have created in
education through
the creative use of

technology

TRAIELDBTLECAHZERS

INSIDE

John Dewar AO,
Vice Chancellor & Prez,

La Trobe University
& Chair, Universities
Australia on education
collaboration between

India & Australia

AND THE WINNERS ARE: Anil Nagar, Anshu Dhanuka, Anurag Vaish, Avinash Agarwal, Bilal Abidi,
Ashutosh Kumar Shandilya, Dharini Upadhyaya, Divya Lal, Nishant Agarwal, Pritesh Yogesh Chothani, Ravi Bhushan,

Siddharth Chaturvedi, Saurabh Arora, Sumeet Mehta, Sumesh Nair, Tarun Saini, Varun Chopra



OCTOBER 2022 Rs 300

www.bweducation.com

INLDAINAD’SSSCKAIPLELS

The advances made so far in policies,
infrastructure and the road that lies ahead

FPeearstupreicntgivEexspert

Arindam Lahiri

CEO, Automotive Skills
Development Council

BN Sridhar

Regional Director,
Skill Development and
Entrepreneurship, Karnataka

MAiur kCohmermjeoedore Ranjan

Delhi’s Commissioner for
Persons with Disabilities

Sandeep Singh Kaura

Chancellor, Lamrin Tech Skills
University, Punjab

DS AD
PAGE



EDITOR-IN-CHIEF’S NOTE

THE JOURNEY FROM IDEAS TO IMPLEMENTATION

ANNURAG BATRA In a classroom full of 40 students and one teacher, how best
to engage these eager, enthusiastic and playful kids? How can
 [email protected] schools, in tandem with home, raise kids to be resilient? How
can the spirit of empathy and inclusion be inculcated right
since childhood? How to integrate skills all through the school
and college learning process? Will we be doing justice to even
one degree course if dual degrees are introduced, and will it become a
fad and further marginalise a large section of students?

These and a whole host of other issues were discussed at the BW Ed-
ucation Edutech Summit titled ‘Transformation in Education through
Technology & Skilling’ organised by us and presented by ICFAI Group.
It was our good fortune to be able to listen to the range of fresh ideas
that came forth at the summit. What was particularly heartening was
that the education fraternity is on the same page regarding the Na-
tional Education Policy (NEP), unlike any other policy which invari-
ably draws criticism from one section or the other. What made these
conversations meaningful was that the school and higher education
fraternity present there are actually implementing in their campuses
the ideas that they shared.

So, by way of example, in answer to the first question that I men-
tioned here, the principal of Navy Children School described in detail
how they engage the ‘head, heart and hands’ of children by flipping the
classroom learning. Children become resources, with teachers as ena-
blers, help each other come up to the level of the class, and participate
regularly in ‘shram daan’ like regular cleaning activities.

Similar path-breaking ideas emerged as we profiled the winners
of Edutech Awards to be featured in this issue – these edu-preneurs
are offering a range of solutions, from helping kids grasp English and
maths to helping teachers and school administration assess a child’s
progress on a day-to-day basis, providing financial solutions for higher
studies, helping them find accommodation overseas, helping them
prepare for competitive exams and even offering a curriculum and
expertise to schools in music education.

Our ‘Skills Landscape’ package, besides describing the infrastructure
and curriculum upgradation that has taken place, also throws light on
big departure from the way we as a country have been compartmen-
talising education and skills. Thankfully, NEP has comprehensively
addressed this concern and provided for integration and embedding of
skills and vocational education right since school level, providing for
credits to be scored for skills learnt, and a lot of flexibility in terms of
entry and exit points.

Happy Reading.

BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 6 WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM



OCTOBER 2022 www.bweducation.com

GROUP CHAIRMAN & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Dr. ANNURAG BATRA

GROUP EDITORIAL DIRECTOR CEO, BW COMMUNITIES CEO & CHIEF INNOVATION OFFICER
Bhuvanesh Khanna Hoshie Ghaswalla (CEO-BW Engage)
Noor Fathima Warsia
BW EDUCATION: Vasudha Mukherjee, Upasana, Sr. Associate Editor: Meha Mathur DIRECTOR: Prasar Sharma

EDITORIAL TEAM GROUP SR. VICE PRESIDENT - STRATEGY, OPERATIONS & MARKETING
Sr. Associate Editors: Ashish Sinha, Jyotsna Sharma Tanvie Ahuja ([email protected])
Sr. Correspondents: Rohit Chintapali, Deep Majumdar,
Correspondents: Abhishek Sharma Arjun Yadav, Aparajitha Nair; CEO, BW HEALTHCARE WORLD & BW WELLBEING WORLD:
Harbinder Narula
Trainee Journalist: Sneha Patro
DIRECTOR, ADVERTISING & REVENUE: Aparna Sengupta
DESK TEAM
Deputy Editor: Mukul Rai DIRECTOR, PROJECTS & COMMUNITIES: Talees Rizvi
Associate Editors: Madhumita Chakraborty; Smita Kulshreshth
SR. VICE PRESIDENT : Deepika Gosain
ART TEAM
Art Directors: Shiv Kumar, Dinesh Banduni VICE PRESIDENT STRATEGIC PROJECTS: Uday Laroia

Assistant Art Director: Rajinder Kumar MARKETING & DESIGN TEAM: Prerna Singh Rathore, Kartikay Koomar,
Infographics & Data Visualiser: Arun Kumar Mohd. Salman Ali, Moksha Khimasiya, Shweta Boyal, Alka Rawat, Arti Chhipa
Assistant Images Editor: Sanjay Jakhmola Asst Manager - Design: Kuldeep Kumar

PHOTO TEAM EVENTS TEAM: Tarun Ahuja, Devika Kundu Sengupta, Ashish Kumar, Nandni
Sr. Photo Researcher: Kamal Kumar Sharma, Nivish Singh, Mahek Surti, Reeti Gupta, Khabirul Islam, Atul Joshi,
BW ONLINE: Assistant Editor: Poonam Singh Mir Salika, Preeti Tandon, Biren Singho, Abhishek Verma, Neeraj Verma,
Prashant Kumar, Mayank Kumar
VIDEO EDITORIAL TEAM
Video Team: Anurag Giri DIGITAL & WEB TEAM
Sumit Kumar
Pappu Kumar Singh, Sr. Cameraperson: Ratneshwar Kumar Singh
SALES TEAM
BW APPLAUSE & EVERYTHING EXPERIENTIAL: Ruhail Amin, Neelima Sharma NORTH: Ravi Khatri, Anjeet Trivedi, Rajeev Chauhan, Amit Bhasin,
Somyajit Sengupta, Shruti Arora, Cynthia Majhi, Priyanshi Khandelwal,
BW AUTO WORLD: Utkarsh Agarwal Sajjad Mohammad
WEST: Kiran Dedhia, Nilesh Argekar
BW CFO WORLD: Urvi Shrivastav SOUTH: C S Rajaraman

BW CIO WORLD: Ratnadeep Chaudhary BW COMMUNITIES BUSINESS LEADS
Priya Saraf (BW Education), Gareema Ahuja (BW LegalWorld),
BW DISRUPT: Resham Suhail Chetan Mehra (BW Disrupt)

BW HEALTHCARE WORLD: Smridhi Ratra, Shivam Tyagi CIRCULATION TEAM
BW HOTELIER: Editor: Saurabh Tankha General Manager - Circulation, Subscription & Sales: Vinod Kumar
Editorial Lead: Bulbul Dhawan NORTH: Shiv Singh, Mukhtadir Malik
Operations Controller: Ajith Kumar LR EAST: Debraj Sur
WEST: Arvind Patil, Gorakshanath Sanap
BW LEGAL WORLD: Managing Editor: Ashima Ohri SOUTH: Sarvothama Nayak K, Anup Kumar
Editorial Lead: Krishnendra Joshi, Kaustubh Mehta; Marketing Lead: Anurag Nagar FINANCE TEAM
Ankit Kumar, Ishwar Sharma, Shrikant Sharma, Vijay Jangra
BW MARKETING WORLD: Soumya Sehgal
IT SUPPORT: Brijender Wahal
BW PEOPLE: Sugandh Bahl ADMIN SUPPORT:
EA to Chairman & Editor-in-Chief:
BW WELLBEING: Kavi Bhandari Durga Krishnamurthy ([email protected]);
Sanya Kapoor ([email protected])
VC WORLD: Anisha Aditya

GROUP EDITORIAL HEAD: Vishal Thapar
(BW Defence, BW Securityworld & BW Policeworld)

BW POLICE WORLD: Ujjawala Nayudu

HUMAN RESOURCES: Namrata Tripathi ([email protected])

LEGAL ADVISOR: Sudhir Mishra (Trust Legal)

BW Businessworld Media Private Limited

EDITORIAL OFFICES
BW Businessworld Media Pvt. Ltd.
74-75, Scindia House, Connaught Place,

New Delhi-110001
Phone: 9818063325

ADVERTISEMENT/CIRCULATION / SUBSCRIPTION ENQUIRIES
BW Businessworld Media Pvt. Ltd.

74-75, Scindia House, Connaught Place,
New Delhi-110001
Phone: 9818063325

SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE
Vinod Kumar +91 9810961195, [email protected], [email protected]
Subscription rates: ONE YEAR - Rs 2,899 TWO YEARS - Rs 5,599 THREE YEARS - Rs 8,199

BW Businessworld does not accept responsibility for returning unsolicited manuscripts and photographs. All unsolicited material should be
accompanied by self-addressed envelopes and sufficient postage. Published and printed by Annurag Batra for and on behalf of the owners, BW Businessworld Media Private Limited.

Published at J-6/55, Upper Ground Floor, Rajouri Garden, New Delhi-110027, and printed at Infinity Advertising Services Private Limited. Editor : Annurag Batra.
© Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. All rights reserved. R.N.I.No. 39847/81

BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 8 WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM

MAILBOX

YOUR COMMENTS

TALKBACK BLIPP ALL-ENCOMPASSING CAREER COVERAGE
THIS PAGE
Submissions to BW Education TO GIVE US The September issue of BW Education was a great treat. It
should include the writer’s name and YOUR FEEDBACK had so much information in it. I especially liked reading
address and be sent by email to the INSTANTLY the interview of marine biologist Asiem Sanyal (“We Don’t
editor at [email protected] Know 90 Per Cent Of Ocean Life”). It truly inspires us to do
or by mail to 74-75, Scindia House, something different and leave a legacy. To have the courage
Connaught Place, New Delhi-110001 to pursue your dreams in a remote island game me goose
bumps.
BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 9
CHAITALI RATHORE, Hyderabad

VIGNETTES ON RESEARCH

I am a botany science student in IIIrd year of college and
keen to do research in this field. The articles contained in
the September issue of BW Education were of great help
to me. Not only did I get some new ideas about further
education possibilities (especially reading IIT-Guwahati’s
Biotechnology professor Rakhi Chaturvedi’s interview
“We Provide Alternative Solutions Through Technology”),
I also got an idea of what kind of life to expect as a
researcher. ICMR Senior Scientist Kamini Walia’s interview
(“Microbiology Touches Our Lives In Different Ways”) was
illuminative and tells students like us, what kind of long haul
to expect.

ABHINAV VAISH, Delhi

DESIGNS ON FUTURE

Kudos to Team BW Education for bringing to us the well-
researched package on design as a career. Reading the views
of NID Director Praveen Nahar (“Designers Need To Move
Into New Territories”) and other experts was very useful. It
will truly help us all in future. A big thank you.

MANJULA NATH, Bhopal

CORRIGENDUM

In the list of ‘Education Leaders To Watch Out For’ on pg 170,
September 2022 issue, the designation of Manmeet Kaur
is written Co-founder and Director Operation, Transform
Schools, People For Action. The correct designation (at the
time the Awards were organised) was Deputy Director of
Business Development and Partnerships, Transform School,
People For Action. We regret the error.

For feedback regarding the magazine, please write to :
[email protected]

WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM

CONTENTS
OCTOBER 2022

38

EDUTECH AWARDS Winner Profiles and Views
Rewarding Trailblazers For
Their Transformative Role In 44-78
Education
76
Edutech Summit
SIDDHARTH CHATURVEDI
40 Executive VP, AISECT, describes why skills component
in higher education is critical to meet industry need
At a day-long BW Education and to reduce unemployability
conclave on ‘Transformation in
Education through Technology &
Skilling’, educationists spoke about
the myriad dimensions of educa-
tion in digital era

Columns

26

VINESH MENON
CEO- Human Development & Social
Impact Services for the Ampersand
Group, calls for acceleration in skills
imparting in the country

BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 10 2nd Cover Page (Skills) Courtesy : Canva WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM

Interview

32 94 100

JOHN DEWAR AO BN SRIDHAR AIR COMMODORE RANJAN

Vice Chancellor and President, La Regional Director, Skill Develop- MUKHERJEE
Trobe University and Chair, Uni- ment and Entrepreneurship talks Delhi’s Commissioner for Persons
versities Australia speaks about about youngsters’ fascination for with Disabilities talks about the
his country’s keenness to contrib- IT jobs despite their skills qualifi- skill enhancement, employment
ute to India’s NEP 2020 vision cations opportunities, infrastructure and
rights of the Persons with Dis-
abilities

Insight 98 Regulars

80 SANDEEP SINGH KAURA 12

OVERVIEW OF SKILLS Chancellor, Lamrin Tech Skills JOTTINGS
LANDSCAPE University, Punjab, and Adviser
How vocational and soft skills to Govt of Punjab (Skill Develop- 16
have entered the mainstream ment & Technical Education)
education discourse delineates his university’s initia- CAMPUS NOTES
tives to empower the youth of the
86 state. 20

NEW FICCI SKILLS REPORTS DATA DRIVEN
throw light on the skilling infra-
structure that exists in the coun- 102
try, and the transformation that
is needed, including in mindset BOOK EXTRACT

90 108

ARINDAM LAHIRI LEADERSHIP WATCH
CEO, Automotive Skills Develop-
ment Council, on the changing Covers design by Shiv Kumar | Arun Kumar
approach to skilling with the com- Total No. of Pages Including Cover 108
ing up of sector skills councils

BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 11 WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM

NEWS / JOTTINGS

THE World University Rankings:
8 IITs In Overall List

The University of Oxford emerged as the best institute among 1,799 universities
from 104 countries

Oxford University gets the top rank in Photograph by IMAGEDB
the Times Higher Education (THE)
rankings - 2023, followed by Harvard University, a public institution in Tamil Nadu, ranked
University at second position, Uni- third in India (401-500).
versity of Cambridge and Stanford
tied at third rank and Massachusetts This year, IIT Ropar has slipped to the sixth posi-
Institute of Technology (MIT) at fifth position. tion, from the 351-400 band of last year's edition of
THE, to the 501-600 band globally.
In the latest round of THE rankings, the Indian In-
stitute of Science (IISc) retained the top spot among Among the other IITs which took part in the rank-
Indian institutes, which has been boycotted by most ings, IIT Indore has been placed in the 601-800 band,
Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) for the third followed by IIT Patna and IIT Gandhinagar which are
consecutive year over transparency concerns. in the 801-1000 band.

Overall, IISc is ranked 251-300, first among Indian Eight IITs in total feature in this year’s rankings by
institutions. Shoolini University of Biotechnology and THE.
Management Sciences (351-400 overall) took the sec-
ond place among Indian institutions. The Himachal The institutes are ranked on the following param-
Pradesh-based private university is ranked 96th in eters: Research (30 per cent), teaching (30 per cent),
the universities category of the National Institutional citations (30 per cent), international outlook (7.5 per
Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2022. cent) and industry outcome (2.5 per cent). Fifteen per
cent weightage in each teaching and research is based
A private university in Karnataka, JSS Academy of on a 'reputational survey'.
Higher Education and Research, shares Shoolini Uni-
versity's ranking among Indian universities. Alagappa The last time when leading IITs participated in
THE rankings was in year 2019. The report (released
BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 12 as THE 2020 list) had placed IIT Delhi and IIT Bom-
bay in the 401-500 overall band, behind the Indore
and Ropar campuses.

WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM

NEWS / JOTTINGS

YUVA 2.0 Launched For Mentoring Young Authors

Prime Minister’s Scheme for mentoring young authors, YUVA 2.0 will select 75 authors

P through an All-India Contest
rime Minister’s Scheme for Mentoring
Young Authors, YUVA 2.0, was launched
in early October by the Ministry of Ed-
ucation, Department of Higher Educa-
tion. YUVA 2.0 is an Author Mentorship
Photograph by TARASMALYAREVICHprogramme to train young authors below
Photograph by MATIMIX30 years of age to promote reading, writing and book
culture throughout the country. YUVA 2.0, standing
for Young, Upcoming and Versatile Authors, also aims
to promote Indian writing and author on a global
level.
The first edition of YUVA was launched in line with
India@75 Project, with the objective to gain the per-
spective of Indian youth on a given theme. This year’s
theme is democracy. 31, 2023. The winners will be announced on February

A total of 75 authors will be selected through an 28, 2023.

all-India contest to be conducted through the gov- Young authors will be trained by eminent authors/

ernement’s online portal, mygov.in from October mentors from March 1, 2023 – August 31, 2023. Un-

2, 2022 - November 30, 2022. Received proposals der their mentorship, the first set of published books
would be evaluated from December 1, 2022 – January will be launched on October 2, 2023.

‘Football For Schools’ Across India

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan meets FIFA Secretary General to make the
programme a mass movement

Union Education and Skill Develop- Kalyan Chaubey; Secretary General, AIFF, Shaji
ment and Entrepreneurship Minis- Prabhakaran; and officials of Ministry of Education,
ter Dharmendra Pradhan met the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs NVS, CBSE and
Secretary-General, FIFA, Fatma SAI also attended the discussions.
Samoura ahead of FIFA U-17 (under
the age of 17) World Cup. Discussions Discussions centred around how to reach out to
included collaboration with FIFA and Unesco’s ‘Foot- schools across the country; Navodaya Vidyalaya
ball for Schools’ Programme to reach schools across Samiti will be the nodal agency on behalf of the Min-
more than 700 districts in India. MoS, Sports, Nisith istry of Education.
Pramanik; President, All India Football Federation,
This also comes in line with the NEP 2020 agen-
BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 13 da which aims to boost the culture of sports, phys-
ical education and skill development in students.
Pradhan said that the Government of India is com-
mitted to promote sports and create a mass move-
ment for football, especially among school children,
in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision
of developing India as a sporting superpower as well
as ensuring a Fit India. Nishith Pramanik said that
this initiative will be a game changer for the future of
football game. He also said that Sports Authority of
India will extend all support for this initiative.

WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM

NEWS / JOTTINGS

Student-Centric Changes In CAT

These include digital campaigns, new test centres, non-IIM registration facility and two

I payment gateways for the exam to be held on Nov 27
nitiated by IIM Bangalore, the convenor insti-
tute and the Common Admission Test (CAT)
Committee, many enhancements in the regis-
tration and outreach process has led to a 11 per
cent increase in overall registrations and six
Photograph by TARASMALYAREVICHper cent increase among category candidates.
Photograph by PIBDigital campaigns to create awareness on key dates,
deadlines among targeted audiences were conducted
for the first time. New test centres were opened in
the North-eastern part of the country along with all
Union Territories. Moreover, the two-payment gateway
further made the registration process hassle-free for
students. This year, non-IIM registration facility has
also been provided on the CAT website.
CAT 2022 will be conducted across 150 cities in The computer-based test will be conducted on 27th

India. The candidates are given the option of select- November 2022, in three separate sessions. Verbal

ing any six test cities in order of preference. It is also Ability and Reading Comprehension, Data Interpreta-

mandatory for candidates to declare and maintain a tion and Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Ability

valid and unique e-mail account and a mobile phone will be assessed in CAT 2022 exam. Results to be
number throughout the selection process.
announced in January 2023.

Govt For Digital University Frameworks: Dharmendra Pradhan

Collective effort of policy makers, academia and industry imperative to promote skill
and education

Union Minister of Education and of are coming up with Digital University with multiple
Skill Development & Entrepreneur- entry and exit frameworks along with academic bank
ship Dharmendra Pradhan recently of credit to facilitate our workforce. The industry needs
stated that the government is in the to adopt these policy reforms and flexible frameworks,”
process of setting up Digital Universi- he added.
ty in India to promote education and
skill development. Addressing the ‘13th Global Skills Summit – Educa-
“NEP 2020 envisions skill and education as one. We tion to Employability: Making it Happen’, organised by
FICCI, Pradhan called for building a stronger connect
BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 14 amongst academia, industry and policy-makers along
with a collective approach to drive effective transfor-
mation in the education and skills sector. “India is
blessed with a demographic dividend. Education and
skills have to play an important role in converting our
demographic dividend into a transformative power-
house,” he added.

Highlighting the advantages of India in the next 25
years, Pradhan said that there is no other nation in the
world that has such huge captive, aspirational and high
purchasing capacity. India’s domestic fundamentals are
very strong and despite Covid, Indian economy main-
tained 7-8 per cent growth rate and is moving towards
double digit growth,” he asserted.

WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM

NEWS / JOTTINGS

Training For B’Desh Civil Servants

After successful completion of phase–I, capacity building of another 1,800 civil servants

Tof Bangladesh has been taken up, which is planned to be completed by 2025
he two-week 53rd Capacity Building
programme in the Field Administration
for the Civil Servants of Bangladesh was
inaugurated at the National Centre for
Good Governance (NCGG).
Photograph by ILYAKALININMore than 1,700 civil servants of Bang-
Photograph by INDIAPICTUREBUDGETladesh have already been imparted training at NCGG
prior to 2019. After successful completion of phase–I,
capacity building of another 1,800 civil servants of
Bangladesh has been taken up, which is planned to be
completed by 2025.
This is the only institute in the country to have trained
1,727 field–level officers of Bangladesh Civil Service such
as assistant commissioners, Upa-Zila Nirbhai officers/ Government, resulting in synergy in governance be-
SDMs and additional deputy commissioners. It also tween the two countries.
imparted training to all the-then active deputy com-
missioners of Bangladesh. It has been a decade since NCGG was set up in 2014 by the Government of India
and it focusses on good governance, policy reforms,

the capacity building programmes were initiated and training and capacity building and works as a think

thus many of the trainee officers have reached levels of tank. It has taken up capacity building of civil servants

additional secretary and secretary in the Bangladesh of several foreign countries in partnership with MEA.

Digital Agriculture Mission To Digitalise Farmer

Convergence, capacity building and collectives vital policy areas concerning agriculture

Contextual and correct information to ture Mission, which essentially tries to digitalise the
anybody associated with agriculture has farmer in terms of identity, linking up the farmers'
the potential to unlock a lot of value, said land and geo-referencing it and crops grown. "These
Manoj Ahuja, Secretary, Union Ministry are some of the basic things we are trying to put in
of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, at the the agristack," he said. "We have made some head-
Release Ceremony of the FICCI compen- way; hopefully, next year, we should show substantial
dium on 'Enhancing Farmers' Income'. results," he added.

In this regard, Ahuja alluded to the Digital Agricul- Ahuja said, "I'm seeing the benefits information con-
textualised to the various partners in the agricultural
BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 15 ecosystem can bring".

On the occasion, Samuel Praveen Kumar, Joint
Secretary, Union Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers
Welfare, spoke on backstopping agriculture startups
that are coming up with innovative technologies and
solutions to enhance farm incomes. In this regard, Ku-
mar alluded to the three C's — convergence, capacity
building and collectives like FPOs and cooperatives as
the vital elements.

"If the government can package the schemes in such
a manner that you give more benefits, in a unified
manner to the businesses or startups, I think they will
be able to sustain their business,” Kumar elaborated.

WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM

CAMPUS NOTES

Sentiments Analysis laLÑr Original Sanskrit Sentence
Method For Sanskrit Text ^nf;r Hkzkrk y{e.k*

The technique developed by IIT Roorkee LÑ Positive
has achieved 92.83 per cent accuracy for A Machine Translation Module

Isentiment classification in Sanskrit text English Translated English Sentence Sentiment Analysis Module Neutral Sentiment Class
IT-Roorkee researchers have developed an Dear Brother Lakshman
efficient method for Sanskrit text sentiment
analysis. Translation Evaluation Negative
Sanskrit is one of the world’s most ancient Module
languages. However, natural language pro-
cessing tasks such as machine translation and this research are Balasubramanian Raman, Depart-
sentiment analysis have not been explored. The pro- ment of Computer Science and Engineering and his
posed technique has achieved 87.50 per cent accuracy PhD student Puneet Kumar, and MSc student Kshitij
for machine translation and 92.83 per cent accuracy Pathania from the Department of Mathematics.
for sentiment classification.
The model has been published as a research paper
The research proposed a method that comprises in a reputed peer-reviewed journal 'Applied Intelli-
models for machine translation, translation evalua- gence'.
tion, and sentiment analysis. The team involved in
Elaborating on the sentiment analysis model,
Balasubramanian Raman, said, "We have trained
our model to predict sentiment scores in the range
of positive, neutral, or negative. And the model uses
statistics, natural language processing, and machine
learning to determine the sentiment with over 90 per
cent accuracy."

The dataset to perform this research was taken
from the Valmiki Ramayana website (https://www.
valmiki.iitk.ac.in ) developed and maintained by
the IIT Kanpur researchers. The future plans of the
researchers are to exploit the morphological proper-
ties of Sanskrit for better classification using only root
words with their respective suffixes and prefix. It is
also planned to evaluate whether the morphological
richness of Sanskrit is retained while translating to
English.

Capacity Building For Photograph by WIKI1957BOY
Academic Writing

Jamia to organise two-week course for institutes of national importance or ICSSR research
institutes are eligible to participate.
Tresearchers in association with ICSSR
he Department of Economics, Jamia Mil- This programme is of great importance, in the wake
lia Islamia (JMI) will host a two-week of UGC regulations that all PhD students have to do
capacity building programme from De- compulsory courses on Research Methodology and Re-
cember 1 to 14 on ‘Academic Writing and search and Publication Ethics. The programme organ-
Publication Processes’. The sponsoring ised by Jamia will strive to inculcate academic writing
organisation is Indian Council of Social skills in participants and provide exposure regarding
Science Research (ICSSR) and knowledge partners are various stages of the publication processes.
Biodiversity Collaborative (BC) and Indian Society for
Ecological Economics (INSEE). As per the university WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM
website, teachers (preferably lecturers and assistant
professors) and researchers in a UGC recognised
Indian university/ deemed to be university/ college/

BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 16

IIT Madras Launches
Subra Suresh Distinguished
Lecture Series

Nobel Laureates, starting with 2019 Alumnus Awardee (1997) and currently president and
a distinguished university professor at the prestigious
Nobel winner Didier Queloz to address the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Iseries open to all members of the public Subra Suresh is a former Director of the US Nation-
ndian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT al Science Foundation, a former Dean of Engineer-
Madras) is launching the Subra Suresh ing and Vannevar Bush Professor at Massachusetts
Distinguished Lecture series that will feature Institute of Technology (MIT) and a former President
lectures by Nobel laureates and globally-re- of Carnegie Mellon University. He is the first IIT
nowned speakers from various walks of life. alumnus and India-born academic to be appointed to
They will also deliver a science talk which will these leadership positions
be open to all members of the public. Didier Queloz,
awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics for ‘spectac- This new lecture series has been made possible by a
ular discovery that kick-started the rise of exoplanet generous gift from another illustrious alumnus of IIT
research,’ was to deliver the inaugural address of the Madras - Senapathy ‘Kris’ Gopalakrishnan, Chairman
Subra Suresh Distinguished Lecture series in Chennai of Axilor Ventures, Bengaluru, and co-founder of
on 20th October 2022, on the topic ‘Exoplanets and Infosys.
the Search for Life in the Universe.’
The Subra Suresh Distinguished Lecture Series
The Subra Suresh Distinguished Lecture series will be a three-day annual event. Day one will include
was launched in honour of one of its most illustrious the technical lecture followed by a public lecture on
alumni of IIT Madras - Subra Suresh, a Distinguished Day two. The final day would focus on interactions
between the distinguished speaker and IIT Madras
faculty, students and laboratory visits.

IIM-A Launches was a brilliant teacher and the author of the pioneering
Kamla Chowdhry ‘3TP Senior Management Development Program’ that
gave the IIM-A an edge in executive education.

The communication hub will function as a unified
unit serving the institute and all of its internal and ex-
ternal stakeholders' needs. One of its top priorities will
Communications Hub be to significantly enhance the IIM-A brand globally.
Its mandate includes bringing in practices and ideas
to assist the institute in communicating, engaging and
In Honour of the first faculty member of influencing in the ever-changing digital world.

OIIM-An the occasion of Teacher’s Day, the The Hub is taking shape thanks to the donation by
Indian Institute of Management IIM-A alumni Roopa and Vivek Kudva.
Ahmedabad (IIM-A announced the
creation of the Kamla Chowdhry Com- Meanwhile, IIM-A has signed a partnership agree-
munications Hub, named after its first ment with Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC), Japan, to
faculty member, Kamla collaborate on research, advisory and student projects.
The partnership agreement was signed by Errol D’Sou-
Chowdhry and her outstanding contribu-
za, Director, IIM-A and Kinji Saito,
tion to IIM-A's growth and success. Director and Senior Managing Officer,
Suzuki Motor Corporation in an event
on the IIM-A Campus.
Kamla Chowdhry, an acknowledged The IIM-A-SMC partnership will

academician was the first faculty member start with a research project led by
IIM-A faculty to advise SMC on their
of IIM-A. She was a member of the IIM-A future business diversification strategy

Society and the first faculty nominee to be in India and globally.

appointed on the IIM-A Board in 1962. She Photograph by MAYUR BHATT

BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 17 WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM

CAMPUS NOTES

IIIT-Bangalore Director
Conferred SVC Aiya
Memorial Award

Recognition given to Debabrata Das has done in the field of Medium Access Control
(MAC) protocols of broadband wireless network to
Das for his body of contribution in boost performance and usher in green communica-
tion. The award also recognises his enormous work
Dtelecommunications and steadfast dedication in spreading knowledge in
ebabrata Das, Director, IIIT Banga- field of telecommunications by inspiring students
lore was conferred the prestigious and research faculty to work on innovative ideas that
SVC Aiya Memorial Award 2022 at would culminate in landmark breakthroughs.
the 65th Annual General Body func-
tion of the Institute of Electronics Das has guided 9 PhD students to successfully
and Telecommunication Engineers complete their doctorates, besides mentoring 14
(IETE) held in Hyderabad. He was conferred the Master of Science by Research students and 58
award for his research guidance and momentous MTech students' theses. He has to his credit over
contributions in the area of telecommunications. The 190 peer reviewed accepted papers in journals and
award, carrying a medal, certificate and a citation international conferences.
covering the expansive work of Das, along with a cash
prize, serves as a fitting tribute to his extensive work
in the field of telecommunications.

It recognises the ground breaking research that

Centre of
Excellence On
Arts And Digital
Immersion

The School of Liberal Arts at IIT Jodh- IIT Jodhpur’s School of Liberal Arts
pur has recently launched the Centre of launches this centre to promote
Excellence on Arts and Digital Immer- learning and activities in visual arts,
sion, a first-of-its-kind initiative, which performing arts, augmented reality,
was inaugurated by Padma Bhushan virtual reality, and digital gaming
awardee classical vocalist, Pandit Ajoy
Chakrabarty and eminent scientist Shanti Swarup technology. The centre would explore the intersection
Bhatnagar awardee Ashutosh Sharma. IIT Jodhpur of art and digital technology and bring academics,
Director Santanu Chaudhury and Deputy Director SR performers, and researchers belonging to diverse
Vadera also graced the event with their presence. fields together to pursue the common objective of
promoting art and artists, both local and global.
The Centre of Excellence derives its inspiration
from the National Education Policy (2020) which As part of its future plan, the centre aims to engage
encourages an expanded vision of liberal arts without IIT Jodhpur students in academic programmes and
any compartmentalisation between arts, sciences and offer courses at Masters level to explore the conver-
gence of art and technology.
BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 18
WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM

IIT Mandi’s Skilling Speaking about the new courses, Tushar Jain, Head,
Courses Centre for Continuing Education (CCE), said, “Seeing
the success of the first course on School Camp on Ro-
The free courses will help the participants botics and Artificial Intelligence (PRAYAS 1.0), we are
further launching five new courses to further develop
to enhance their abilities from industrial, the skills of Himachali Youth in collaboration with HP-
KVN, Shimla. These courses target specific branches of
Iacademic, and research perspectives engineering disciplines, which are helpful to train the
IT-Mandi, through its Centre for Continuing young minds of Himachal Pradesh under the mentor-
Education (CCE), with the help of Himachal ship of experts at IIT Mandi and make them ready for
Pradesh Kaushal Vikas Nigam (HPKVN), is the current job market.”
launching five short different courses to devel-
op the skills of Himachali Youth with hands-on The courses are:
on real-life engineering problems making them i. Hands-On Course on Embedded Systems
employable and ready for the job market. ii.Model Predictive Control for Industrial Systems
iii.Hands-On Training of Computational Fluid Dy-
The course duration will be one month. Free food,
accommodation, and teaching material will be provid- namics
ed by IIT Mandi. iv.Finite Element Modelling for Engineering
v. Hands-On Course on Product Design and Manufac-
The course is open to motivated IT, diploma engi-
neers, engineering students, practicing/working engi- turing
neers, postgraduates and PhD level students, teachers/ The above course will help in developing skills for
faculty members of technical institutions of Himachal automation and other jobs under PMKVY (Pradhan
Pradesh who are having a strong willingness to excel in Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana) with mentorship sup-
their scientific and engineering research pursuits. port from IIT Mandi faculty and HPKVN. A participa-
tion certificate from the Centre for Continuing Educa-
tion, IIT Mandi will also be given to all the participants
on successfully completing the course.

Proud Moment For Two IISc Faculty

V Selected as Associates of Indian Academy of Sciences
idya Mangala Prasad (Assistant Pro- cryo-electron tomography, sub-tomogram averaging,
fessor, Molecular Biophysics Unit) and single-particle cryo-electron microscopy and other
Sai Gautam Gopalakrishnan (Assis- biophysical methods.
tant Professor, Department of Mate-
rials Engineering) have been selected Sai Gautam Gopalakrishnan’s research interests
include applying principles of computational materi-

as Associates of the als science, ther-
Indian Academy of modynamics, and
Sciences (IAS). kinetics to under-
stand and predict
Vidya Mangala material behaviour.
Prasad’s research
focuses on high res- His lab specifically
olution structural
analysis of human looks at materials
disease-causing
viruses, their in- that have applica-
fection machinery tions in energy stor-
and mechanisms of age (batteries), and
cellular entry across energy harvesting
membranes using (photovoltaics and
thermochemical
water splitting).

BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 19 WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM

CAMPUS NOTES

President Inaugurates Super
Computer Called Param-
Kamrupa At IIT-Guwahati

At her maiden visit to the campus, Droupadi Murmu also inaugurates

R&D facility called ‘SAMEER’

President, testing.”
Drou- She was accompa-
padi
Murmu nied by Assam Chief
inau- Minister Himanta
gurated Biswa Sarma; Union
super computer Minister of State for
called Param-Kam- Health and Family
rupa at IIT-Guwahati Welfare Bhara-
on October 13. ti Pravin Pawar;
Minister for Health
Speaking during and Family Welfare,
the event, she said, Science and Technol-
“I am glad that IIT ogy and Information
Guwahati has made Technology, Govt. of
the region and the Assam Keshab Ma-
nation proud as seen hanta; Director Gen-
from its achieve- eral, Indian Council
ments in the national of Medical Research,
and international sphere, in a short duration of its and Secretary, Department of Health Research, GoI,
existence. Since it is the only IIT in the region, it has Rajiv Bahl, along with other dignitaries.
the responsibility of nurturing other institutions in Param-Kamrupa is a joint initiative of the Ministry
the region, work with state government and defence of Electronics and Information Technology (Mei-
forces, provide technological solutions to the region tY) and the Department of Science and Technology
to prevent natural calamities from recurring.” (DST). With this facility, IIT Guwahati will be able
to carry out research activities in various scientific
On the two new facilities at IIT-Guwahati, she said, domains such as weather and climate, bioinformatics,
“I am confident that the super computer Param-Kam- computational chemistry, molecular dynamics, AI
rupa facility inaugurated at IIT-Guwahati will be put and machine learning, data science, to name a few.
to use in the best possible manner to broaden our The SAMEER laboratory is dedicated for design and
understanding and knowledge on various technologi- development of high-power microwave passive and
cal topics. The SAMEER laboratory will enable R&D active components.
assisted critical applications in defence sector and The event at IIT Guwahati also included virtual
other industries. The massive effort by the State gov- inauguration of Medical College and Hospital in Dhu-
ernment to establish multiple medical colleges across bri, Assam, and a foundation stone laying ceremony
Assam will ensure that the gap in the doctor-popu- for Zonal Institutes of National Institute of Virology
lation ratio will be bridged significantly and it will at Dibrugarh, Assam and Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh,
open doors for medical research, especially for the by the President.
treatment of cancer as well as other non-destructive

BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 20 WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM



DATA POINT

About 78.2 M Children Dropped
Out Of School: UN

Experts indicate that chances of these children getting back to schools are low
As per a recent study
conducted by the
United Nations,
multiple crises,
including Corona-
virus and poverty,

have resulted in the disruption of

education of 222 million children

and adolescents globally. As a result,

approximately 78.2 million children

have dropped out of school entirely.

The study has been done by

Education Cannot Wait (ECW) - the

UN’s Education Fund that caters

to emergency cases and long-term

predicaments. Established in 2016,

Education Cannot Wait has been Photograph by INDIAPICTUREBUDGET

catering to numerous children who

faced education disruption. refugees and internally displaced Sudan, Chad and the Central African
Yasmine Sherif, Director, ECW, (persons) as a result of conflicts and Republic (CAR) face permanent
climate-induced disasters, have also school drop-outs. The number of
affirmed that the number has since contributed to this number, as has, children that have dropped out of
risen to 222 million children in more
than 40 countries. of course, the Covid-19 pandemic,” school currently stands at about 78.2

“Conflicts are raging around the said Sherif. million, with education experts indi-

world…we know that, but they are Most of the children living in cating that chances of these children

also more and more protracted. But crisis-prone areas like Mali, South getting back to schools are low.

the growing record-high number of

Technology For Learning Outcomes

A survey reveals 39 per cent teachers adopted technology to teach for the first

Project Granth, a re- time during Covid outcomes.
search project con- The survey was aimed at under-
ducted by Navneet mental shift in the teaching and
TopTech, a digital edu- learning methods post the pandem- standing the changing dynamics
cation company which ic. As per the survey, 39 per cent of in the education sector pre- and
provides e-learning the teachers interviewed adopted post the pandemic. As many as 321
solutions to schools and students, technology to teach for the first time (teachers and principals) of CBSE
found that 43 per cent of teachers during the pandemic; 64 per cent schools across North, West and
believe that there will be a funda- said technology could be used to South India were interviewed as part
diversify learning; and 24 and said of this research.
it helped achieve better learning

BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 22 WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM

Epitome of
Difficulty

62 Per cent of IELTS aspirants consider pronunciation their biggest

problem, as per LeapScholar Survey

If you didn’t get the sample of 60,000 Indians aspiring
pronunciation of pronun- to take the IELTS was chosen by
ciation right, or for that the edtech startup.
matter of ‘epitome’, you
are not alone. Sixty-two Students have a hard time
per cent of IELTS aspir- seeing the relevance of academic
ants consider pronunciation their English as compared to every-
biggest problem. This shows that day conversational English. The
Indian students still have difficulty survey also revealed that vocabu-
holding fluent conversations in lary and fluency are challenges in
English. speaking and writing tests. The
most difficult aspect of reading
Overseas education platform was concentration for 37 per
LeapScholar recently released a cent of candidates, followed by
report on Indians’ English lan- understanding for 36 per cent.
guage abilities. According to the In the speaking test, 27 per cent
survey, there are several challeng- perceived they could improve their
es Indians face in their English vocabulary and confidence the
spoken and listening skills. A most.

Hollywood Movies & OTT For Online Coaching Preferred

Accent Approximately 68 per cent of
A whopping 56 per cent want Indians prefer to learn IELTS
to work on improving their online rather than through physical
listening skills, one of the main coaching. In terms of digitising
elements of IELTS. More than their entire test preparation and
42 per cent of respondents said coaching, students cited Covid
they practise sample tests to 19 as a major factor. Since online
learn global accents, while 33 per coaching is convenient, accessible,
cent said they watch Hollywood and flexible, it is expected to
movies and TV shows to improve continue to be a trend. In addition
their understanding. The Office, to offering 24x7 support and
Suits, and other shows provide engagement, edtech platforms
aspirational platforms for students are beneficial to students and
to improve their English. Even professionals as they give them the
though 71 per cent percent of freedom to access the content at
IELTS aspirants studied English their own pace and convenience.
at school, they still had difficulty
having impromptu conversations
in the language.

BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 23 WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM





COLUMN

Time To Bring
Disruption To Skill
Imparting In India

Several industries in India and across the world have witnessed it; why
leave education and skilling to natural process when there is a dire need for
acceleration?

By Vinesh Menon

BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 26 WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM

Iam taking the risk of Let us now delve into the cor- belt of India that covers more than
making the beginning of relation between all these data 1.2 million schools and caters to
this article a bit boring points to stitch a connection that more than 70 per cent of India’s
by throwing out some will eventually set the context population and which accounts
numbers and data as to the subject line that almost for more than 60 per cent of the
food for thought. So, the emphatically states that it is time workforce in the country.
results of the Consumer Pyra- to bring a disruption to the whole
mids Household Survey of Centre process of livelihood creation in The above data-filled para-
for Monitoring Indian Economy India. Livelihood is one of the 3 graphs, if read in tandem and
(CMIE) for 2021-22 is out. The indices that sum up the Human in context with each other, will
employment rate for Indian youth Development Index or HDI in clearly bring out the need to drive
as per the report stands at 10.4 per India, the other two being edu- much more seriousness in the
cent which as per critics is signifi- cation and healthcare. Education
cantly lower than the World Bank Index is directly correlated to the
report which incidentally stood Income Index, and research has
at 20 per cent+ in the year 2020. shown that an increase of a year in
Trends have also shown falling the mean years of education is as-
employment rate amongst Indian sociated with a rise in per capital
youth which stood at 20.9 per cent income by 3-6 per cent, which in
in the year 2016-17 to 14.7 per cent turn accounts for a growth rate of
in 2019-20 before nose diving to one percentage point in the HDI.
just being able to maintain double Income Index is linked to employ-
digit figures of 10 per cent plus ment of skilled resources. India’s
when the Covid-19 pandemic dealt 2019 HDI ranking is 131 amongst
to India and to the world a cruel 189 countries, and has actually
blow. slipped 2 spots from the
previous year as per
Also out are the results of the the United Nations
Indian Skills Report 2021 that Development Pro-
shows a decline in employability gram’s Human De-
in the percentage of graduates velopment Report
from year 2019 to now. While 2020. Rural areas
the youth have got their graduate are those areas
degrees, they just don’t seem to with a popula-
be professionally qualified to get tion of less than
employed in the jobs of today. 49,000, which
are otherwise
A third data point is from the also referred
Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where the to as Tier-III
progress that Indian sportsper- & Tier IV cities.
sons have made in their perfor- Rural India, in-
mance was being widely discussed terestingly, accounts
across news and social media for 70 per cent of India’s
platforms. Data analysis have population and contrib-
revealed that a large portion of the utes to a large chunk of
Indian Olympic participants have India’s GDP by way of
been nurtured from the interiors agriculture, self-em-
of India’s rural belt. Some of the ployment, services,
medal winners, in disciplines such construction, etc.
as wrestling, athletics and hockey,
are all residents of small hamlets So where does all
and villages in India who took this lead to? The an-
the opportunity given to them swer is DISRUPTION
and laboured diligently to make a in education & skilling
name for themselves and for their especially in the rural
country.

BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 27 WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM

COLUMN

areas of education and skilling NEP’s potential ultra-micro entrepre-
in rural India, and emergency recommendation to neurs and hand-holding them
measures need to be adopted to include credits that through the journey of ‘business
beef up the execution process. Can ideas to funding to business
this happen as a natural process? I are accumulated set-up to income generation to
doubt it and hence just as one has through skill learning repayment' should be handled at
witnessed disruption in many in- an institutional level in associa-
dustries in India and the world, so in classroom to tion with certified professionals
also it is now time to bring in the replace the academic and not independent stand-
much-needed disruption in Indian alone agents or brokers.
education services and skilling marks needs to be 5. As of now, the Minister of Edu-
services. implemented on a cation also heads the Ministry
of Skill Development & Entre-
The limited space in this article war footing preneurship at the Centre. This
may not do justice to the detailed is a welcome move and allows
solution that we may have to ing, AI, Robotics, Data Science for much better synergies and
embark on as a nation and hence etc. Schemes like DDU GKY & collaborative strategies to drive
I shall veer towards the finale of PMKVY should be relooked for a singular chain of objectives,
this article with a few frameworks fostering innovative product right from education of the
that could be used to trigger the and policy changes for encour- child to skills development,
change – aging more efficiency. finally culminating in livelihood
1. The National Education Policy 3. Physical infrastructure through for adults. To me, this is an
upgrade of ITIs and polytech- important game-changer and I
(NEP) 2020 has already laid nics in rural areas needs to be sincerely hope that in the days
down some pathbreaking guide- enabled in tandem with Point to come, these ministries con-
lines around the enhanced use 2. If the ITIs fall short, hubs of tinue to be headed by one Union
of technology, use of vernacular excellence must be built prefer- Cabinet Minister who can then
language for early childhood ably beyond a radius of 20 km set a unified vision for the future
years, and commencing voca- from schools to meet the need generation of India.
tional education from Grade VI. for skill learning in specialised
The recommendation to include sectors suited to the state. India is at an inflection point
credits that are accumulated 4. PPP or Public Private Partner- and is at the tip of an emergence
through skill learning in class- ships should be on the rise. The to be seen as a global influencer.
room to replace the academic procedures for creating a joint The least we can afford at this
marks needs to be implemented policy document that meet the time is a slide in the economic
on a war footing. current requirement in and progress of its citizens and that
2. It is crucial to channelise and around infrastructure, digi- can only be achieved through a
harness the untapped potential tal interventions and content singular objective to improve the
in rural parts of India, and to should be eased up and invi- livelihood of every Indian which
ensure that we bridge the grow- tations to attract more private in turn will be a function of a twin
ing digital divide through easier players to work alongside the collaborative effort in bringing
and affordable access to digital government must be in place. about a positive disruptive change
devices and infrastructure. The The process of identifying in the way education and skilling
content from NSQF should be services is delivered.
widely publicised and easily
downloadable for anyone who - The author is the CEO- Human
wishes to pick up these skills
and the content itself should Development & Social Impact Services
have more industry-relevant
courses. Vocational education in for the Ampersand Group. Views
schools must cover future-ready
skills such as Digital Market- expressed are personal

BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 28 WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM



COLUMN

Why India Will See
A Rise In Hybrid
Institutions

Developing a hybrid education system here instead of relying
completely on offline or online learning is the best way forward, as it
ensures a holistic and inclusive approach to educating the students.

By Harshil Gala

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought a and engage in an improved manner.
massive change in the Indian education However, online education too has its own chal-
system. One of them is the increasing
penetration of a hybrid education system, lenges, especially in a country like India. Connectivi-
combining the best of both online and ty and related infrastructure is still a major challenge
offline learning systems. With every sphere of life faced by the students residing in lower-tier cities and
witnessing increasing penetration of digitalisation, rural areas.
the education sector is not exempted from that trend.
Even India’s National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 Apart from that, a technology-empowered teacher
emphasizes on hybrid education system. As the NEP too is a major requirement of this method, where
2020 states, it would avoid overexposure of tech- challenges are faced many often. Apart from that,
nology the school-going children, while at the same relying solely on online education comes with the
time, it will empower the education system with risk of alienating the students from their teachers, as
innovative and interactive technologies. it lacks human interactiveness. Also, relying solely on
an online learning system can increase a sense of al-
In India, developing a hybrid education system in- ienation among students as they are deprived to meet
stead of relying completely on offline or online learn- their co-learners and engage in social interactive-
ing is the best way forward, as it ensures a holistic ness. Hence, the hybrid learning method is the best
and inclusive approach to educating the students. way forward to implement in the Indian education
Relying on the traditional offline education system system. The current trend of increasing penetration
solely comes with some disadvantages when it comes of hybrid education methods was bound to happen
to coping with the rapidly advancing learning system over the course of time. Pandemic related disruptions
and peripheries. The chance of interactiveness, and have just accelerated the pace of adoption.
ability to engage the students in this system are com-
paratively lesser than in the online learning system, India’s formal education system is currently one
where the availability of information is swift and of the largest in the world with more than 35 crore
easier. Also, using technology for teaching empowers students under its ambit. Teaching such a massive
a teacher with different engaging modules, and char- number of students comes with several challenges,
ticles in an easier manner than offline systems. These which can be tackled using hybrid learning meth-
help the students to understand the subject better ods. It not only enables students to learn better but
teachers to teach better and propels India’s holistic
BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 30 growth as well.

WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM

With the economy
reopening and the
importance of
education
understood, the
hybrid model of
learning is surely
about to gain
further momentum
and witness
increased
penetration

During the peak of the pandemic, more than 35 crore students and EdTech firms like Byju’s, eSense,
1.08 crore teachers across over 15 lakh schools, 1,028 universities, UpGrad, Vedantu etc, which are
41,901 colleges and 10,726 standalone educational institutes around bringing a plethora of innova-
the country were unable to attend classes due to lockdown. Apart tions through their products and
from that, several other learning days afterwards were wasted due to services. At eSense Learning, our
pandemic related disruptions. This was due to the complete reliance focus is on coming up with solu-
on offline education. Had there been a system of online education, the tions that enhance teaching and
impact would have been significantly lesser. learning experience. We have seen
an increased focus from schools to
Better late than never, the country’s education system is now adopt- integrate Learning Management
ing a hybrid learning method fast. With the economy reopening and System in their curriculum, which
the importance of education understood, the hybrid model of learn- is a step towards making educa-
ing is surely about to gain further momentum and witness increased tion hybrid.
penetration in the coming days. The Edtech sector will remain at the
forefront of this, which is estimated to grow at 39 per cent CAGR and The author is Chief Executive Officer,
by 2025, is estimated to enrol more than 37 million students, claims a Navneet TopTech
report by Autofintechs.com.
WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM
This massive transformation in the education sector is being led by

BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 31

IN CONVERSATION

Photographs by RITESH SHARMA

BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 34 WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM

“We Want To Help
Indian Govt Achieve The
Aspirations Of NEP 2020”

John Dewar AO, Vice Chancellor and President, La Trobe University and
Chair, Universities Australia speaks about the latest collaborations between
the two countries, building academic relationships and how these would
benefit students of both the countries

By Vasudha Mukherjee

What makes now the right time the two countries. Moreover, develop research collaborations to
internationalisation has always run joint PhD programmes with
W been important to Australia. It's Indian institutions. The range of
important for our students that opportunities now open to us to
to strengthen academic relation- they are exposed to different collaborate on are unprecedented.
ship between India and Austral- cultures and different ways of We want to contribute to
ia, what would this entail? thinking and problem solving, the Indian higher education
I have been travelling to India especially since increasingly stu- system and to help the Indian
dents will find themselves working government achieve those very
I in multicultural workplaces. There ambitious aspirations outlined
are also many areas of research in the NEP 2020. We are pursuing
now for well over 20 years, visiting where collaboration is the only this in a number of different
universities and building partner- way in which some of the larger ways. We have many existing
ships. I don't think there has ever global challenges can be properly partnerships ranging from IIT
been a point in those two decades tackled, the Covid-19 pandemic Kanpur, where we run a lot of
when I felt as excited as I do now being an example of this. joint research projects, all the
about the potential for the growth way through to Amity University,
in relationships between India What are some of your long- Noida.
and Australia through education. term aims moving forward with
With the National Education Poli- international academic collabo- What steps have been taken
cy (NEP) and the recent signing of rations? within La Trobe to further this
the free trade agreement between commitment?
India and Australia I think we're Historically, the relationship While we’ve had a presence in
on the brink of a really historic between India and Australia Delhi for many years, our local
period of deepening and growth in has been largely defined by office has grown significantly,
the relationship between the two the number of Indian students creating a bridge between our
countries through education. It travelling to Australia to study home in Melbourne into India.
is a significant part of the bilater- but now there is a complete Our team here do a lot of work to
al relationship between our two transformation of that pattern. support the collaborations we have
countries because the things that Many Australian institutions, with universities and engagement
powerfully binds us together is including La Trobe, are keen to with industry partners.
a profound belief in the impor-
tance and the transformational WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM
effects of education on our young
people. NEP 2020 and the Free
Trade Agreement are really going
to turbo charge relations between

BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 35

IN CONVERSATION

We have also made a number remains that it is difficult for It's important for our
of different investments through students to obtain credits towards students that they are
careful planning within the last their Indian degrees. Follow- exposed to different
three decades to build these ing the Free Trade Agreement, cultures and different
partnership. Lady Shri Ram (LSR) signed earlier this year between ways of thinking and
College for Women, University of the Australian and Indian gov-
Delhi is one of our longest stand- ernments, I believe it will become problem solving,
ing academic partners of over 20 much easier for Indian students especially since
years. to spend a semester at an Austral- increasingly students
ian University. We've developed a will find themselves
La Trobe has also built relation- number of joint PhD programmes
ships with cultural icons, notably, where students can study in India working in
Shah Rukh Khan, who is a gener- but benefit from supervision from multicultural
ous sponsor of a PhD scholarship Australian academics and if rele- workplaces
for young Indian women. vant, they can spend part of their
PhD period in Australia, working
How do the joint degree pro- in a facility or laboratory.
grammes benefit Indian students
and staff ? There are also opportunities
The new programmes offer more for staff exchange as a part of our
student mobility and flexibility. Capacity Building Endeavour,
Students can come to Latrobe for which is important under the
a short period of time and learn NEP goals. Indian staff exchange
alongside Australian and other opportunities will allow faculty to
international students instead of come and learn practices of our
committing to whole degree. It’s organisations.
a chance to experience another
culture and country. What about Australian students
and staff, how can these agree-
At the moment, the challenge

Photographs by RITESH SHARMA

BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 36 WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM

Photographs by RITESH SHARMA

ments benefit them? How is the education depart- can achieve together.

We want more Australian students ment at the Australian High How has your personal experi-
to spend time here in India and ence helped in your current role?
there's growing interest in doing Commission working with the
that amongst our students. The I have been very lucky, having
whole world recognises India as association of Indian universities been able to visit many universi-
a growing economy with global ties all around the world. I have
influence. It is becoming an to ensure these international col- also taught at many institutes in
exciting place for new businesses different parts of the world and
to take hold, growing innovation laborations can move forward? it has been incredibly education-
and new industries to flourish. al because you get to see both
Young Australians are realising At the moment there's a task force similarities and the differences be-
that there are many benefits that has been established between tween education sectors of several
from learning about the Indian the two governments to develop countries. Pandemic taught me
cultures, society and languages. a policy of mutual recognition of that in the end we are all strug-
For example, we teach Hindi qualifications (degrees). I think gling with the same challenges
language at La Trobe and we want that will be transformative and and we have the same aspirations.
to encourage more Australian will open up enormous possi-
students to take up that bilities for both Australian and What has always impressed me
opportunity. Indian students to study in each is just how committed presidents,
other's systems and to take back vice-chancellors and education
The government programme a deeper knowledge of the other leaders are to their institutions. It
called New Colombo Plan sup- country. makes a real difference. The same
ports students either individually would be true of education minis-
or in groups to come and experi- In a meeting of the Austral- ters. In different parts of the world
ence Asian countries, including ia-India Education Council, each institution is facing a differ-
India, as there are some important both education ministers further ent challenge, but they all have
employers in the nation. agreed to establish an additional that singular mission to make a
task force on transnational positive difference and that's been
BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 37 education, that will look at other a real highlight for me.
forms of cross-border delivery
whether it's online or through in- WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM
creased student mobility to really
test the possibilities of what we





EDUTECH AWARDS/ OPENING ESSAY

Rewarding Trailblazers
For Their Transformative
Role In Education

This year the Edtech Awards received more than 100 nominations out of
which a panel of distinguished jurors selected the most promising leaders

BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 38 WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM

BW Edutech Summit the education sector and really was demonstrated by Prof Sanjay
& Awards is India's catalysed this change that we are Fuloria, Professor, ICFAI Business
biggest gathering of seeing through. Number one is School (IBS), Hyderabad. Later,
Edtech stakeholders technology. In the past, we were the day saw various insightful
under one roof. The always grappling with the slow interactive panel discussions on
initiative calls out all change 21st-century skills, making India
the edtech founders, institution- of educational processes. But now, a global destination for education,
al leaders, education publishers, over last few years, we have seen the benefits and challenges of dual
educators to participate and make a huge transformation which is degrees and diversity and inclusion
a mark in the future of education being driven by the use of technol- in the education sector, followed
technology. ogy." by the award ceremony for leading
edutech players in the nation.
Rewarding the excellence of "Covid-19 pandemic has greatly
edtech in India, BW Education on accelerated the whole process. We The winners were felicitated by
August 20, 2022 presented the were forced to go online in terms of Dr Annurag Batra, Vinesh Menon
award to 19 winners at The Impe- education and we have really learnt and Harsh Wardhan. The award
rial, New Delhi, in a day long pro- the nuances of what the integration ceremony streamed live across all
gramme named 'Transformation In of technology with education is," BW Businessworld platforms in-
Education Through Technology & he further added. cluding the social media channels.
Skilling'.
A powerpoint presentation BW Edutech 2022 Winners
This year the summit received on 'Use of Business Simulations
more than 100 nominations out and Games as Teaching Tools'
of which a panel of distinguished
jurors selected the most promising Category Name Designation Organisation
leaders. Padma Shri TV Mohandas Pritesh Chothani Co-Founder & CEO
Pai, Chairman, Manipal Global Best - AI-in-Education-Company-of- Nishant Agarwal Founder & CEO HiVoco Education and
Education, was the Jury Chair. the-Year Anshu Dhanuka Co-Founder & CPO Learning
Jury members constituted of Jas- Best - Education-ERP-of-the-Year Proctur - Your Pocket
preet Bindra, Founder, The Tech Classroom
Whisperer; Virendra K Tiwari, Best-EduTech-Solution-for-Early- Paper Boat App, Kiddopia
Director, IIT Kharagpur; Abhishek Childhood
Maheshwari, CEO, AESL; Punam Best-EduTech-Solution-for-Higher-Ed Saurabh Arora Founder & CEO University Living
Sahgal, Management Consultant &
Behavioural Science Trainer & For- Best-EduTech-Solution-for-K12 Dharini Co Founder and Co Furtados School of Music
mer Dean, IIM Lucknow; Seema Upadhyaya CEO
Jhingan, Co-Founder, LexCounsel; Best-EduTech-Solution-for-K12 Co-Founder & CEO Leadership Boulevard
Sudhanshu Pant, Head-HR, The Best-E-Learning-Company-of-the-Year Sumeet Mehta Founder & CEO TechBairn
British School, New Delhi; Vipul
Singh, Divisional VP & Head- Best-Exam-Prep-Company-of-the-Year Ashutosh Kr Founder & CEO Adda247
HR, ADP and Dr Annurag Batra, Best-FinTech-Company-in-Education Shandilya CEO & Co-Founder Eduvanz Financing
Chairman & Editor-in-Chief, BW Best-Online-Tutoring-Company-of-the- Co-Founder Board Infinity
Businessworld & exchange4media Year Anil Nagar
Group. Digital-Learning-Company-of-the-Year Mentza
Digital-Learning-Company-of-the-Year Varun Chopra Fliplearn Education
Navin Mittal, IAS (Commission-
er of Collegiate Education & Tech- EduTech CEO of the Year Sumesh Nair BrightCHAMPS
nical Education, Govt of Telanga- Emerging-EduTech-Startups-of-the-Year BrightCHAMPS
na), chief guest of the occasion, Emerging-EduTech-Startups-of-the-Year Anurag Vaish Founder CEO Vidyakul Learning Space
gave his special address. Game-Based-Learning-Company-of- Divya Lal Founder and Paper Boat App, Kiddopia
the-Year Managing Director
Mittal Appreciated BW Business- Learning App of the Year Ravi Bhushan Founder & CEO Wise App
world for organising this confer- Skill-Development-Company-of-the-Year Ravi Bhushan Founder & CEO AISECT
ence on the theme 'Transformation Tarun Saini Founder & CEO
In Education Through Technology Woman-EduTech-Leader-of-the-Year Anshu Dhanuka Co-Founder & CPO Paper Boat App, Kiddopia
& Skilling'. Best Exam Prep Company of the Year Disha
Bilal Abidi CEO
He said, "This is a very fortune
time for us in this country as well Siddharth EVP AISECT GROUP
as globally with the transformation Chaturvedi
which is going through the educa-
tion system. There are things that Anshu Dhanuka Co Founder & CPO
have been actually transforming
Avinash Agarwal Founder Director
BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 39
WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM

BEST FINTECH COMPANY IN EDUCATION

SUMMIT

The Myriad
Dimensions of

Education in

Digital Era

At a day-long BW Education conclave on ‘Transformation in Education

through Technology & Skilling’, educationists spoke about the ground

covered, and what more needs to be done

It was an occasion to discuss the successes is today in its growth journey, with growth in various
that the country has achieved in tech-enabled sectors, requires skilling and a new mindset. “Inte-
education, and to mull over the distance that grating work and learning together is the way for-
needs to be covered, as educationists gathered ward,” he summed up.
at the BW Education conclave.
Addressing the gathering via video Education is an ever-evolving field, with new inno-
conference, Navin Mittal, Commissioner of Collegiate vations and techniques bombarding the market every
Education and Technical Education, Govt of passing week. One such innovative tool is gaming and
Telangana, the chief guest of the occasion, described simulation to make academics easier.
how education has finally got the benefit of IT in
the last few years. A teacher goes by the speed of an Sanjay Fuloria, Professor, ICFAI Business School
average learner, which frustrated both fast and slow (IBS), Hyderabad, gave a presentation on the 'Use of
learners. Technology has provided the speed that is Business Simulations and Games as Teaching Tools'.
appropriate to both fast and slow learners. Also, in a
physical class, if you miss a lecture, there is no going Fuloria said, “We start with an example, get the
back, but technology enables you to go back. students involved and then explain the concept. That
is where all the simulation games come in use.” He
He described the transformation that can come spoke at length about the changing environment the
through the NEP, which allows multiple entrance students have to operate under and the training a
and exit points, allows students to accumulate credit good business school provides for the same.
points and facilitates multidisciplinary approach,
with a lot of innovation happening at the junction of 21st Century skills
disciplines. In the session on in the session titled, '21st Century
Skills: How to Integrate Skills Components Closely at
And he emphasised that the point at which India School and College levels', Sumit Dargan, Principal,
JBCN International School, Mumbai, described the

BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 40 WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM

education system driven by Industrial Revolution that discoveries happen in teams. Focussing on the heart
led to repeated drills – doing which would yield same in class allows others to get a chance, and creates
outcome each time. But that kind of education doesn’t empathy. Poor kids too get a chance and if someone
necessarily prepare one for what lies ahead. What is not able to cope, others step in to help him or her.
are needed are skills of resilience, critical thinking, The focus on hands entails physical work and giving
collaboration, focus on health and wellbeing and care dignity to labour through regular cleaning drives.
for the planet.
Abdul Nasir Shaikh, Group CEO, the Lexicon
Oshima Mathur, Principal, Navy Children School, Group of Institutes, Multifit and EduCrack; and Dr
New Delhi, talked about the engagement of head, Karandeep Singh, Head of School & Academic Direc-
heart and hand in the learning process. To engage tor, the Vels Academy joined in the insightful conver-
all the children with their different inclinations and sation. Vinesh Menon, CEO, Human Development &
pace of learning, in her school, the teaching method Social Impact Solutions, Ampersand Group was the
has been flipped and learners take the lead. All 40 Session Chair.
students become resources. Kids are usually hesitant
of being ridiculed but now new thoughts emerge, new In the session titled ‘India’s Prospects as Global Ed-
ucation Hub’, the panel raised the point that Indian
BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 41
WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM

SUMMIT tackling fear of failure and peer pressure. The session
was titled ‘Role of Schools in Raising Students to be
academics going abroad and taking up faculty posi- Resilient’.
tions become renowned thought leaders, but interna-
tional students don’t come to India in droves. Speakers talked about the ability to accept that
you are wrong, to accept changes and to take shocks.
They pointed out that for Indian campuses to be Abhishek Yadav reminded how parents are giving
as attractive to international students, the policies, everything very easily to kids, whereas anything of
facilities and pedagogy need to be of global level. value doesn’t come easy. “Let the child fail. We are
We need to look at the safety issues, the cleanliness doing a great disservice if don’t let them fail.” He also
level, cultural sensitisation and mannerism, and more emphasised the need for each child to play sports, as
importantly, we need to improve the standing of our it teaches you to fight back after losing a game.
universities and institutes in global rankings. Our
pedagogy has to be of international level for that. We Avinash Agarwal of Disha Publication also pointed
also need to invest in research, that helps to tackle out that the reason that the startup boom didn’t hap-
global issues, not just issues pertaining to India. pen in India was fear of failure. He also emphasised
the need for right habits and focus.
The panel comprised Monica Khanna, Director, KJ
Somaiya Institute of Management; Madhu Chitkara, Debating pros & cons of dual degrees
Pro Chancellor, Chitkara University; Shobhit Mathur,
Co-founder & VC, Rishihood University; and SC A dual degree is a great initiative in principle, but
Sharma, Director, ICFAI Business School, Gurugram. it should not become an aspirational value or a fad,
that students take it up even if they are not up to
Raising resilient students it. A degree in itself entails academic rigour, and it
will be difficult to do justice to two degrees, worried
Kanak Gupta, Director, Seth MR Jaipuria School; the panellists during a discussion on 'Dual Degrees:
Abhishek Yadav, Founder Chairman & Academic Benefits and Challenges'.
Director, Griffins International School; Amol Arora,
Vice-Chairman & Managing Director, Shemrock & Much of the knowledge required can be addressed
Shemford Group of Schools and Avinash Agarwal, through the mechanism of major and minor subjects
Founder Director, Disha Publication spoke about that the universities now provide, they felt. With dual
the strategies that can be deployed in classrooms to degrees, students will become a jack of two and mas-
develop resilience in students and the importance of

BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 42 WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM

ter of none, they felt. with different conditions that makes them special
The experience that a student gets at a primary should be in schools like any other student and all
students should be nurtured with empathy that
campus should be maintained; that should not be di- makes the environment in schools tolerable and in
luted. This is because an undergraduate education is turn will make the society tolerable.
not just about an degree at the end of the course, it’s
about experience that shapes the experience, empha- The lack of awareness regarding our educational
sised Rajesh Khanna, President, NIIT University. rights and the administration of educational institu-
tions sometimes poses different challenges in relation
"A dual degree could lead to further marginalisa- to exclusivity in institutions. Hence awareness needs
tion of already disadvantaged students. The aspi- to be increased among the masses. From the lead-
ration value that becomes attached to it will force ership to the teachers in institutions - an accepting
make students to vie for it," said Rupamanjari Ghosh, inclusive mindset is lacking. So, as a first step, the
Member of Governing Council, Raman Research school and college teachers need to imbibe an accept-
Institute. ing and inclusive environment.

Charanpreet Singh, Director and Co-founder, Also, the teachers and faculties need to be taught
Praxis Business School concurred and added that it’s and trained to accommodate the needs of children
not even clear at the moment if those pursuing dual with special needs and the basics of these children's
degree are more qualified for a given job than those conditions should be taught in various learning
doing a single degree thoroughly. courses for teachers. This will enable our schools and
colleges to become inclusive and diversified and will
When asked about his university’s stance in this truly transform the society and eliminate the social
regard, Siddharth Chaturvedi, Pro Chancellor, evils of exclusion once and for all.
Rabindranath Tagore University, responded that they
would like to wait and observe and that the university Jasjit Sood, Principal, OPS Vidya Mandir; Ganesh
has the approach of offering skills component, which Sharma, Principal, GIIS Noida; Abdul Nasir Shaikh,
is what is needed in industry today. Group CEO, The Lexicon Group Of Institute, Multifit
and EduCrack and Karandeep Singh, Head of School,
The panellists felt that dual degree might actually Academic Director, the Vels Academy discussed the
go against the cause of holistic education, with em- subject deeply in the session titled ‘To What Extent
phasis on health and wellbeing, and skills component Are Education Institutes Enabling Diversity &
that the NEP is espousing. Inclusion’.

D&I initiatives The invigorating session provided deep insight into
the corrections needed in education.
The purpose of inclusive education is to build a
tolerant and inclusive society. The children who suffer WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM

BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 43

BEST AI-IN-EDUCATION COMPANY OF THE YEAR

Enlisting Pokemon’s
Help For Child’s
Wellbeing

Pritesh Yogesh
Chothani, Co-
founder & CEO,
HiVoco Education
and Learning,
sensed the need
for story-telling
activity based on
the ADHD of a
loved one

BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 44 WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM

Pritesh Yogesh Cho- service is available in 18 Indian It’s not so much
thani comes with a languages and the child can speak the screen time
rich corporate ex- in his or her own mother tongue. but the emotions
perience of about 15 that are shown
years, having worked With a team of story tellers, during that time
with companies like animators, an AML specialist,
Whirlpool, Coca-Cola India and a child psychologist (who is a that impact
Radio Mirchi. He has also been founding member), experts in children. They
visiting faculty at IMT Ghaziabad expressive arts, including a theatre start getting the
and Bennett University. But he set and movie actor, and freelancers emotions of anger
out on a different path, that of an who narrate the stories, besides a and jealousy very
educational startup, a few years neuro psychologist in the advisory
ago. Increased screen time for his board, Chothani has gathered a early on
eight-year-old daughter led to her team that understands different
being diagnosed with ADHD. dimensions of child needs and demically competent. “So, it is our
“I realised children are so exposed delivers effectively. responsibility to help the teachers
to screen time, the problems are out through technology. Technolo-
now extended to anxiety and While available on app, the gy before pandemic was all about
depression. It’s not so much the service is now also being extended making academics easier but we
screen time but the emotions through workshops and in schools. went to the roots,” adds Chothani.
that are shown during that time Chothani says the approach they
that impact children. They start adopted was to partner the people To assess the impact, HiVoco
getting the emotions of anger and the parent trust the most which has devised a pre- and post-
jealousy very early on.” are the schools. “Right now, we activity test, which tests six
are working with four schools common emotions. The test
“I decided to take my first steps where we are part of their cur- results reveal that overall
in the mental and emotional riculum and we now charge per confidence level of the childhood
wellness space using technology child per month a small amount. increases. “Through our activities,
and so I launched this my com- All these four schools are in Delhi through our workshops, we’ve
pany called HiVoco (high voice and we are planning to expand seen about 60 per cent increase in
companion) in which we will use to other cities like Mumbai and the confidence levels, their anxiety
interactive storytelling to teach Bangalore. Our ambition is to and fear go down and overall,
children about emotional well- have about 1,000 schools in three their connection with their friends
ness, because the first thing to years,” Chothani informs. has improved…. Our ambition
recognise is that we will not be is to make children internally
able to change the fact that chil- Response strong and confident. These are
dren have access to screens. It’s a the outcomes teachers and parents
given,” he adds. Chothani says parents and also aspired to vis-à-vis their
schools are very appreciative of wards,” says Chothani.
Tools of engagement the service. “They simply love it
because anger and anxiety issues WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM
The tool is interactive wherein a among children have increased
child feels that he or she is talking significantly since the Pandemic.
to the favourite cartoon characters We have nuclear families and
– the conversation gently guiding children do not have any extended
the child onto the path of wellness. family’s support. The parents are
The cartoon character narrates struggling because children now
a story, and then asks questions, have access to all the information
the child replies and the character that parent do not even know
then responds whether the answer about. And while parents say no
is right or wrong. to children’s demands, the screen
on your mobile phone says yes
The second service that HiVoco to everything; that is why child
has developed is longer sentences is more attracted to it and starts
of 8 to 10 words that the child thinking that world as the real
speaks, and the system under- world.”
stands what the child has spoken
and the grammar around it. The And in schools, the teachers are
burdened to make every child aca-
BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 45

BEST EDUCATION ERP OF THE YEAR

Lending Teachers
A Helping Hand

Founded by Nishant Agarwal and with Charchit Agarwal as co-founder,
Proctur disrupts the informal education sector. Nishant Agarwal, CEO of

Proctur, describes the startup journey

In year 2016, we realised tech companies have become more They require some hand holding,
that usage of technology of a sales organisation. So, they so we have an onboarding team
was minimal for teachers have extensive salesforce who are which helps them over a month,
and they had to spend just pushing their solution to the sometimes even two to get used to
a lot of time updating market, while we have remained the product.
parents by calling regard- a more customer-centric organ-
ing attendance, marks, homework isation. We have more people Succeeding in informal sector
etc. That was the time we decided, working in customer support. The Proctur is a bootstrapped/self-
why not develop something for primary reason is that teachers funded company. We have not
teachers, so as to make their life and educators are not used to raised any external funding yet;
easier. The way I see it is, most these tech tools and solutions. we shall look for the same when

BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 46 WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM

we feel the right time for same. have seen growth in products as We have more people
Since Informal segment i.e. well as onboarding new custom- working in customer
ers. We are growing steadily, wit- support. The primary
coaching classes segment is very nessing almost 50 to 60 per cent
unorganised, giving a generic growth year-on-year and during reason is that
solution to them doesn’t solve the the pandemic time, it was excep- teachers and
problem. Proctur is developed in tional, almost 10 times more. educators are not
such a way that lot of customisa- used to these tech
tion is possible at customers end, The third dimension of growth tools and solutions
hence we are able to cater to a that we are seeing, which is very
much wider segment. Moreover, important as a subscription- in the market. Recently we have
our focus has been more on imple- based service, is renewals, going successfully implemented the
mentation of the product, not just up from about 25 per cent to 60 to Proctur School product in more
one time sale. This also gives us 70 per cent. than 300 schools, including some
edge over competition. large schools, even though we
Overcoming challenges launched our school product just
We started from smaller tui- last year.
tions to providing a full-fledged There were and still are many
Enterprise Resource Planning challenges in edutech industry, as We are focussing more on
(ERP) and Learning Management it’s changing very fast and there is strengthening our current product
System (LMS) solution to not lot of competition in the market. line, including School Product. We
only educational institutions but We overcome such challenges by are also launching a new product
the other non-education institu- sticking to the basis i.e. providing by end of this year which will fur-
tions like dance classes, railways, an easy-to-use solution with ther help our clients to have more
sports classes etc. And last year good customer service. Customer admission. This should bring
we launched another product for happiness and end-value creation exponential growth for Proctur
schools and are planning a new should not be compromised clients and for Proctur as well.
launch soon. That is to say we irrespective of what is going on
Whatever we have achieved
BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 47 till date has been an example of
great teamwork. Proctur team
comprises young leaders, many
of them associated with Proctur
from the beginning. Awards like
Edutech 2022 really inspire and
motivate the team. These awards
are a testimony to team work and
give confidence that we are on the
right path.

Advice for entrepreneurs

My advice would be to develop
solutions which will enhance the
learning outcomes of the learners
and also to support the educators.
There is still lot of potential and
the market is still at a nascent
stage. We need more innovative
solutions.

WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM

BEST EDUTECH SOLUTION FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD; GAME-BASED LEARNING
COMPANY OF THE YEAR; WOMAN EDUTECH LEADER OF THE YEAR

A Rare Blend
Of Education &
Entertainment

Anshu Dhanuka, co-founder and CPO, Kiddopia, describes how the platform
is built on the principles of curiosity, learning, self-expression and safety

By Vasudha Mukherjee

What inspired you to start this platform that encouraged learning comprises players who offer either
platform? through curiosity. one of the following: education
or entertainment. Kiddopia offers
As new parents in 2010, we were Can you tell us about your fund- a rare blend of both. Our goal is
overwhelmed with the dos and ing and business model? to feed and reward curiosity, to
don’ts of raising a child. While promote learning by doing, and to
wanting to provide our child with Our company was bootstrapped keep children doing what comes
the best environment for learning, until 2019. In 2020, Nazara naturally to them: exploring. This
growth and self-expression, we Technologies came on board as a mission has shaped our content
found it difficult to navigate the majority stakeholder in Kiddopia strategy and helped us carve a
many facets of the digital world. (51 per cent stake). We received niche for ourselves in the global
We wanted to give our child the funding of approximately US$ 12 early education space.
technology tools that were child- million, which helped us scale up
friendly in both use and content. our efforts. Kiddopia now boasts a total of
This is how Kiddopia was born, 15 million downloads, 400,000+
a kid-friendly platform that Kiddopia is a free-to-download active subscribers, and a 4.4 rating
encouraged learning and curiosity app that requires users to sub- on the Apple App Store. It ranks
without unsafe content getting scribe to it for access to all con- number two on the App Store
through. tent. We offer users two subscrip- across 7 countries and commands
tion options, both of which come industry-leading customer reten-
When the iPad was launched, with a 7-day free trial: US$ 8.99 tion rates.
we saw it as a great learning me- a month and US$ 69.99 a year in
dium. At the same time, we were the US. In India, we offer special Can you tell us about some of the
aware of the fact that other plat- pricing, with the annual plan re- challenges and how you over-
forms in the space either did not tailing at just Rs 499 a year. came them?
offer ad-free experiences, were not
very engaging, or simply offered How are you standing out among When we started out, there was
casual games. We set out to fill competitors in the industry? no infrastructure to speak of. We
this gap: the lack of a kid-friendly didn’t have many experts in the
The early learning app space
BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 48 WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM

game development and design background, and my maternal We didn’t have many
field. We had to don many hats, instincts. experts in the game
play multiple roles, and learn development and
various technicalities and best What have been some big design field. We had
practices on the job. We had to achievements for you? to don many hats,
keep ourselves abreast with new play multiple roles,
technologies, privacy concerns, FY21-22 has been a great year and learn various
and various evolving regulations. for us. We successfully launched technicalities and
These are some of the ecosystem- an animated web show featuring best practices on the
related changes that we faced. Kiddopia’s mascot, Captain Kidd,
and we started a merchandise line job
Another product-related as well. We also made a foray into
challenge we faced was that kids new geographies across the globe,
prefer to play casual, fun games or making our app available in more
watch videos when given screen languages like Simplified Chinese,
time. We had the Herculean task German, Spanish, and Japanese,
of keeping them engaged on an with many more to come.
app that is neither of the two. This
required a lot of real-life insights What are your future plans for
from my daughter’s experienc- growth?
es, my academic and gaming
As a company, our goal will always

BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 49 be to make quality play-based
learning more accessible. To that
end, we aim to become a kind
of universe for kids’ delight: an
ecosystem in which parents of
preschoolers will one day find
all the tools they need to keep
their children engaged, learning,
and growing. We aim to stay at
the forefront of technological
developments in the learning
space. The world of virtual reality,
augmented reality, metaverse
and phygital experiences is fast-
growing, and we want to be there
when it booms.

Your advice for budding entre-
preneurs in the edutech sector.
I would tell them to deeply study
their line of work and get into the
technical aspects of each process
to find better answers and solu-
tions. There will be times when
things will not go according to
your plan and the world will throw
challenges at you, but if you focus
on solutions rather than the prob-
lems themselves, you will come
out victorious. Every challenge is
an opportunity for us to emerge
stronger and shine brighter. Keep
the noise out and focus on what’s
important to you.

WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM

BEST EDUTECH SOLUTION FOR HIGHER EDUCATION

“Concentrate On
Creating Value”

Saurabh Arora, Founder & CEO, University Living on how he
conceptualised this niche idea and how he is facilitating overseas

education for students

What inspired you to start this Can you tell us about your fund- on student accommodation at
venture? ing and business model? unmatched prices. We even
Inspiration comes from need. Like help them with post-admission
the age-old adage goes, necessity University Living has raised a seed services like guarantors, room
is the mother of invention. In this round back in 2018, and since essentials, forex, bank accounts
case, it was much more personal. then we’ve been self-sustaining. & much more. With customised,
I was on my way to Nottingham Our business model is simple. curated searches, they can
as a young man, carefree and Help students across the globe compare properties and even book
full of confidence of securing find suitable accommodation at instantly.
an accommodation. Once I got unmatched pricing. Our service
there, I realised that there were is free to use and we do not How did you overcome the Cov-
so many like me who couldn’t charge the student anything. id-time challenges, when educa-
find student accommodation as We work closely with global tion was disrupted globally?
there were none left to book. I accommodation providers and It wasn’t easy. The pressure was
ended up staying in a hotel and other partners to ensure this on, student numbers dipped
paying an exorbitant amount. The journey is seamless and enriching and this has had a ripple effect
realisation dawned that the supply for a student. on the overseas education and
does not meet the demand in this accommodation space. But it
ecosystem. That’s where the idea How are you standing out among was no time to sulk around
was conceived to make student competitors in the industry? as we had the weight of 150+
accommodation accessible and as employees on our shoulders.
seamless an experience as possible While there are a few who are We took some hard decisions;
for international students globally. in the same space as us, what however, we managed to retain all
makes us stand out is that we our colleagues, without pay cuts
The problem was staring me in want to actually strive to create and even managed to keep our
the face - there was not enough end-to-end overseas enhanced team motivated by giving them
education around available op- student experiences. We go all out appraisals.
tions and there was little or no to ensure the student gets what
connect between the providers they want and as close to their Remaining grounded has helped
and students. So, we decided to campuses as possible. We bring through some of our toughest
solve both. them the best deals and discounts times. Till date, Mayank (Mayank

BW EDUCATION OCTOBER 2022 50 WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM