To promote international peace and harmony in an increasingly globalised world, the Ryan International Group of Institutions (RIGI), a countrywide network of K-12 schools, sent three student delegations abroad this summer. RIGI students spent a fortnight at the Seven Oaks School, Thames Valley, UK. The purpose of this visit was to prepare RIGI students for the Trinity English speaking exam organised by the Thames Valley Summer School, and strengthen cultural understanding and bonds with students from Spain, Russia, France and Italy who also attended the summer school.

Yet another delegation of students from Mumbai and Navi Mumbai visited Finland and attended theatre workshops and plays of the Youth Floppy Theatre, Joensuu. Moreover, another RIGI students’ delegation visited Germany under an exchange programme with the Leipzig Tanz theatre.

“We believe cross fertilization of ideas and teaching processes enrich our children’s education experiences and prepare them to face the challenges of a fast-globalising world,” says Mme. Grace Pinto, managing director of RIGI.

New Sesame preschools in Garden city

Sesame Street, which claims to be America’s largest preschool chain, inaugurated two new pre-primary schools in Bengaluru (at Sarjapur Road and Kaggadasapura) for children in the 1-6 age group, on June 27. These preschools follow two primaries (Bilekahalli and HSR Layout) established in 2012.

“We hope the education imparted in our preschools in Bengaluru will influence this generation of kids to become global leaders of tomorrow,” says Mona Singh, vice president of Sesame Schoolhouse, India.         

According to Singh, Sesame Street preschools are operational in ten cities: Delhi, Ghaziabad, Dehradun, Alwar, Patna, Meerut, Hyderabad, Secunderabad, Pune and Udaipur, offering early childhood education and care services including parent-toddler, playgroup, nursery and Prep I and Prep II programmes for 1-6 year-olds.

Nasscom-HP mission partnership

The NASSCOM Foundation, promoted by the National Association of Software Companies (NASSCOM) India, and the US-based Hewlett-Packard Company (HP), signed an agreement to promote the Central government’s National Digital Literacy Mission, in Mumbai on July 2.

Under the agreement, HP will donate five portable and easily deployable future classrooms to be sited in Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Bengaluru and Jaipur. These classrooms will benefit 6,000 children who will be given digital literacy and HP LIFE (Learning Initiative For Entrepreneurs) training in the first year of operations. 

“This partnership is our support to the government’s National Digital Literacy Mission. It will empower learners with digital literacy, entrepreneurial and vocational skills. HP is committed to leverage our technology leadership towards social transformation through such innovative programmes,” said Neelam Dhawan, managing director of HP (India), speaking on the occasion.

IET Innovation Awards 2015

The London-based Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) launched its 11th annual Innovation Awards programme in Bangalore on July 25. The IET Innovation Awards acknowledge and celebrate breakthrough innovations in engineering, science and technology across 15 categories, from energy and sustainability to transport and healthcare.

Entries are invited in the following categories: assets management, built environment, communications, emerging technology design, healthcare technologies, information technology, intelligent systems, manufacturing technology, measurement in action, model-based engineering, navigation and surveillance communications, power/energy, start-ups, sustainability, and transport. “These awards are our annual opportunity to shine the light on the incredible inventors that our world has to offer, and support them in their work, ability and achievements,” says William Webb, president of IET.

The winners will be announced in September and felicitated at a black tie dinner and ceremony at the Brewery, London on November 18.

XSEED Blue app launch

XSEED Blue, a new mobile app for personalised professional development of school teachers, was premiered to a packed audience of school promoters and principals at the annual XSEED School of Tomorrow conference held in Bengaluru on August 1.

XSEED Blue is described as a path-breaking solution for improving teaching performance in classrooms, which equips every teacher with a mobile application providing real-time analytics and feedback on teaching quality. According to a spokesperson of the Singapore-based XSEED Education Pvt. Ltd, the app is based on a researched model of teaching effectiveness, developed by the company’s R&D team and tested in schools across India.

“Our goal is to educate unafraid children with skills and the confidence to face life. For that, they need to solve real-world problems at their own pace, and not just memorise content. Technology can be a real enabler. However, we need to first fix the learning process and then choose the right technology to amplify its impact,” said Ashish Rajpal, founder of XSEED, speaking on the occasion.