Bangalore, September 4. The Indus School of Leadership (ISL, estb.2010), which offers outbound experiential learning programmes to inculcate leadership qualities in students, teachers and corporate executives, has shifted base from Yellagiri in Tamil Nadu to a campus in Kanakapura (Ramanagara district), 70 km from Bangalore.

Equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure for over 400 outbound adventure activities such as high, mid and low rope courses, pistol shooting, paintball, archery, mountain biking and rappelling activities supervised by 12 full-time facilitators certified by the Association for Challenge Course Technology, USA and Project Adventure, USA, the new campus provides accommodation for 80 students and 35 teachers and executives. Thus far, ISL has trained over 20,000 individuals including students and 4,300 teachers/executives in its three-days-two-nights residential programmes.

“Our customised leadership development programmes comprise various experiential learning activities to develop competencies such as innovation, critical thinking and communication. Our approach is based on the principle of transformation through guided reflection,” says Col. (Retd.) Sathya Rao, director of ISL.

 

ACT-MeritTrac agreement

Mumbai, September 10. The USA-based ACT, a trusted name in college readiness examinations and assessment, signed an agreement with the Bangalore-based MeritTrac Pvt. Ltd, a subsidiary of the transnational Manipal Global Education Services. MeritTrac has been designing, developing and delivering tests for over 400 corporate customers in more than 350 cities through 2,000 certified test centres for almost two decades.

“Our partnership with MeritTrac, a subsidiary of Manipal Global, cements our commitment to India. It expands our test centre network and greatly increases the availability of high quality ACT test preparation materials and opportunities in India,” said Simmy Ziv-el, vice president of ACT, speaking on the occasion.

Added Gopal Devanahalli, CEO, MeritTrac: “ACT brings the premier college screening test from the US to students in India. MeritTrac offers test centres closer to test takers, especially in tier-2 and tier-3 cities of India.”

 

Neev Childlit Fest 2018

Bangalore, September 29. The Bangalore-based Neev Trust (regstd. 2011) which has promoted and manages five top-ranked eponymous pre-primaries and the IB (Geneva)-affiliated K-12 Neev Academy, Yemalur in Bangalore, hosted its second Children’s Literature Festival on the campus of the academy. On the occasion, three authors of children’s fiction were presented the Neev Book Award 2018. The awardees were Rinchin (Tulika Books, Chennai) in the picture books category, Mitali Perkins (Duckbill, Chennai) in the young readers category and Devika Rangachari (Duckbill, Chennai) in the young adults category.

“As teachers, we need to develop the reading habit in children which is central to their growth and development into successful professionals and good citizens. The objective of the annual Neev Literature festival is to encourage and celebrate writers of children’s books,” says Kavita Gupta Sabharwal, founder and managing trustee, Neev Academy.

 

NSE-Wharton tie-up

Mumbai, September 10. NSE Academy Ltd (NSEA), a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India and Knowledge@Wharton, the online journal of research and business analysis of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to provide financial knowledge and skills to high school (classes IX-X) students in India.

“We have imparted basic financial knowledge to more than 3 million high school students over the years and provided certified advanced financial skills to more than 2 million people. This tie-up with Knowledge@Wharton is another step in this direction bringing together strengths of two great institutions to create financially aware investors,” said Vikram Limaye, managing director of the parent NSE Ltd, speaking on the occasion.

 

Teaching Professionals Olympiad 2018

Bangalore, September 27. The Bangalore-based Centre for Teacher Accreditation (CENTA), a not-for-profit, launched its Teaching Professionals’ Olympiad (TPO) 2018 — a computer-based national test to be voluntarily taken by teachers, educationists and aspiring teachers — in Karnataka with 16 subjects in English and primary subjects in Kannada. Since its inception in 2015, the annual TPO has attracted over 35,000 teaching professionals from 2,000 cities in India and the UAE.

“Teaching is an insufficiently respected profession. Therefore, the CENTA TPO is designed to test and award cash prizes to 100 teachers who top the annual Olympiad. The department of public instruction of the state government has circulated TPO details to all its schools asking teachers to volunteer,” said Ramya Venkatraman, co-founder of CENTA (estb. 2014).

CENTA TPO 2018 will be held on December 8 (Saturday) in proctored centres in Bangalore, Mysore and Belgaum in Karnataka, and 46 cities across India and also in CENTA’s international centres in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Prizes this year include 100 cash awards (Rs.5,000 to Rs.1 lakh) for subject, regional and city toppers with special rewards for B.Ed students. Teachers can register on www.centa.org (with a non-refundable fee of Rs.500) before October 31.