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Ed-tech giant Byju’s has entered the offline tuition space through the launch of ‘Byju’s Tuition Centre’ a comprehensive programme for students that blends offline and online learning experiences. It’ll invest $200 million to line up 500 tuition centres across 200 cities within the country. It aims to enrol 1 million students for the programme within the next two years. Byju’s, the most-valued ed-tech unicorn in the country, currently has over 115 million registered learners online. The corporate had earlier launched 80 offline centres as a part of a pilot programme with plans to open a minimum of 500 new centres across 200 cities this year alone. Available for students in Classes 4-10, Byju’s Tuition Centres will offer tech-enabled physical tuition centres with a focus on engagement and better outcomes through a two-teacher model. “This new offering will redefine the next phase of learning. Byju’s Tuition Centres address the needs of a large segment of parents and students who want a physical element in addition to online teaching support. These tech-enabled physical centres are designed to offer world class learning and personalised education to unlock a student’s full potential with attention on engagement and better outcomes,” said Byju’s Chief Operating Officer, Mrinal Mohit. Byju’s will leverage the technology infrastructure of the various companies that it has acquired so far, according to Mohit. It acquired 10 companies since 2020, including Aakash Educational Services in April last year for nearly $1 billion. This is its biggest acquisition till date. Byju’s was last valued at $21 billion. It’s looking to onboard near to 3,000-4,000 new teachers for its tuition centres over the course of this year. Including teaching staff, Byju’s is additionally aiming to add 10,000 individuals to run these 500 centres. Source: Financial Express and with inputs from Agencies  

The Indian Govt. planned to initiate adult education and Lifelong Learning under the National Education Policy 2020. The announcement has been made to enable increased access to resources in the Union Budget 2021-22. Online modules covering the whole gamut of adult education are going to be introduced. The scheme’s objectives are not only to impart foundational literacy and numeracy but also to cover other components which are necessary for a citizen of the 21st century like critical life skills such as financial literacy, digital literacy, commercial skills, health care, and awareness, child care and education, and family welfare; vocational skills development with a view towards obtaining local employment; basic education including preparatory, middle, and secondary stage equivalency; and continuing education including engaging holistic adult education courses in arts, sciences, technology, culture, sports, and recreation, as well as other topics of interest or use to local learners, like more advanced material on critical life skills. The implementation of the scheme will be made through volunteerism through online mode. However, the training, orientation, workshops of volunteers, could also be organized in face-to-face mode. All equipment and resources shall be provided digitally for simple access to registered volunteers through easily accessible digital modes, viz, TV, radio, cell phone-based free/open-source Apps/portals, etc. The scheme will cover non-literates of the age of 15 years and above in all states/UTs in the country. The salient features of adult education and Lifelong Learning are that the school will be the unit for the implementation of the scheme. Schools to be used for conducting surveys of beneficiaries and voluntary Teachers (VTs). Various strategies are to be adopted for different age groups. Foundational Literacy and Numeracy are going to be imparted through Critical Life Skills to all or any non-literates in the age bracket of 15 years and above. Use of technologies to impart adult education for wider coverage of the scheme. According to Census 2011, the absolute number of non-literates in the country at 15 years and above is 25.76 crore (Male 9.08 crore, Female 16.68 crore). In consideration of the progress of persons certified as literates being to the tune of 7.64 crores under the Saakshar Bharat programme implemented during 2009-10 to 2017-18, it’s estimated that currently around 18.12 crore adults are still non-literate in India. Source: India Today

IAS Vineet Joshi, Additional Secretary, Department of Higher Education has been appointed as the new chairman of the Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE) on Monday, February 14. He has replaced IAS Manoj Ahuja. The change was announced in an order released by the Ministry of Education’s Department of School Education and Literacy. Mr. Joshi, completed his early education from Annie Besant School and GIC, Allahabad. He pursued his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from IIT Kanpur. After that, he did his Masters in Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade. Vineet Joshi is an IAS officer, 1992 batch, Manipur and he is also the governing body member of National Testing Agency. He became the private secretary in 1999 under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and became the private secretary in the Ministry of Food Processing Industries from 2000 to 2001. He has a background of working in top education bodies, hence the board is expected to develop even more under his tenure. “Consequent upon relieving of Shri Manoj Ahuja, IAS(OR:1990) from the post of Chairman, CBSE w.e.f 14.02.2022 (A/N) vide office order dated 14.02.2022, the charge of Chairman, CBSE is assigned to Shri Vineet Joshi, Additional Secretary, Department of Higher Education in addition to his existing assignments. This issues with the approval of the competent authority,” the official order read. IAS Manoj Ahuja, who is replaced by Joshi, was appointed as CBSE’s chairman on May 12, 2020. He has served as Special Director, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Department of Personnel and Training. He is a 1990 batch IAS officer of Odisha cadre civil servant. Source: ANI    

With the reopening of schools, the Department of Education in Haryana has said it’ll hold activities to spot learning gaps and take corrective measures to enhance the quality of education for students in the state-run schools. A teacher’s training programme are going to be held in the district where over 1,700 primary teachers are going to be trained to not only bridge the learning gaps among the students because of prolonged closure of the physical classes but also to enhance the knowledge levels of children on foundational literacy and numeracy. The training, which will be commenced from February 17, is envisaged under the (National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy) Bharat Scheme launched last year as a part of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The state has launched its own mission, which can strive for successful implementation of an identical scheme launched at the national level. “The state government has rolled out its own NIPUN Haryana mission which aims at accomplishing the targets set by the Centre under the NIPUN Bharat Scheme. The outline has been prepared and with the support of the SCERT, we will undertake this training program across the state,” a senior Education Department official said. The officials noted that the department has already concluded a state wide training to make a bunch of master trainers. These master trainers will now train primary teachers in each block of their respective districts. The responsibility of monitoring it smoothly rests with the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) and the District Education and Training Centre. “A training camp will be organized for teachers in district. it’ll be started from the Sohna section on 17th February,” said, District Coordinator of NIPUN Haryana Mission. Source: TOI