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While addressing a webinar on education sector-related announcements made in the Union Budget, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said ‘Empowering today’s ‘gen next’ means empowerment of India’s future.’ The Union Budget was presented by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1. Elaborating this statement, he said this is because youngsters are the future leaders of the country, as well ones who will build its future. PM Modi also listed five areas within the education sector on which emphasis was laid in the Union Budget. He said, “The first is universalisation of quality education. This means that major decision have been taken for the expansion of the education system, to improve its quality and capability,” The second and third, he said, are skill development, and urban planning & design. “In the Budget, we focused on creating a digital ecosystem. We will also ensure that skills are developed in accordance with needs of the industry,” PM Modi added. There’s a need to integrate India’s ancient experience and knowledge in our education system, he said, explaining urban planning & design. “Internationalisation is the fourth major area, and this means bringing world-class universities to our country. The fifth is ‘AVGC’ or animation visual effects gaming comic,” PM Modi remarked. He concluded by saying that all these areas have immense opportunities for employment as well as huge global market. Source: Hindustan Times

The new Director of the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Rourkela, Professor Karanam Umamheshwar Rao, assumed office on February 19, 2022. He succeeded Prof Simanchalo Panigrahi, who was appointed as the interim director in October 2021. Prof. K. Umamaheshwar Rao was previously serving as the Director of the National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK), also called NIT Surathkal. Before joining here, he was a faculty for nearly three decades at IIT Kharagpur. A number of his important portfolios include Chairman (Estate), and Vice Chairman of Joint entrance examination (JEE). He was also the head of the Mining Engineering Department during 2006-08 and 2010-14. Prof. K. Umamaheshwar Rao’s field of specialization is experimental rock mechanics and he has been working in this area since 1989. He has guided six Ph.D. candidates with another 12 research scholars in the advanced stage of research under his supervision for their doctoral degrees. He has published as many as 30 research papers in international journals and presented an equal number of papers in international seminars and conferences. The milestone in his research is the publication of the book on the Principles of Rock Drilling, published by A.A.Balkema, Rotterdam, Netherlands in 1999. Later this book was also published by India Book House, New Delhi. This book had given Prof. Rao international acclaim in the field of Mining Engineering. The newly appointed Director aims to enhance research and innovation infrastructure with the assistance of faculty and students to form NIT Rourkela a campus of first choice. He would also work towards increasing multidisciplinary quotients in curriculum with special emphasis given to environmental and value-based education.  

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