The city of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which host more than 150 schools of higher education, inaugurated a ‘connect centre’ at the Narsee Monjee Educational Trust, Mumbai on September 22. Christened the American Education Center (AEC), it is housed in the Jamnabai Narsee School, Mumbai and will operate under the aegis of the Narsee Monjee Center for Excellence. Philadelphia and the city’s mayor Michael A. Nutter will be represented in AEC by Philadelphia-based Kanika Choudhary, a graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, a frequent flier to India and Philadelphia city’s honorary ambassador to India.

In a message to AEC Nutter said: “I send my sincere thanks and tremendous respect to the Narsee family and its Narsee Monjee Educational Trust for their foresight and generosity in hosting the center. The center will offer Indian students a unique service to match each student’s individual talents, interests and learning styles to schools in Pennsylvania best suited for her. Students’ families are demonstrating great trust in sending their children to be educated in Philadelphia’s schools. Their trust will be rewarded through the individualised attention their children will receive to help them succeed in their studies and flourish in their careers.”

Comments Sujay Jairaj, an NMET trustee and initiator of the Narsee Monjee Center for Excellence: “We are committed to running AEC in service of the community and to maintain a database of all leading colleges of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Prominent schools in Penn include Carnegie Mellon, Drexel, Penn State University, University of Pennsylvania and Swarthmore among others.”

Edukart.com-MGU concordat

Edukart.com (estb. 2011) in association with Mahatma Gandhi University (MGU), Meghalaya (estb.2010) launched its EduKart Online MBA and other postgraduate and undergrad degree and diploma programmes on August 21. The Online MBA programme offers specialisation in general, human resource, marketing, operations and financial management. The three-year undergraduate and two-year postgrad programmes include BBA, BCA, B.Sc (IT), MCA and M.Sc (IT). Degrees/diplomas will be conferred by MGU — accredited by the Delhi-based University Grants Commission and Distance Education Council — with a certificate from EduKart.com. These programmes are designed to provide global quality and industry-specific education at affordable prices.

“Due to strenuous lifestyles and competing priorities, professional managers find it difficult to upgrade their skills at their own pace. EduKart online programmes pave the way for professionals with an urge to upgrade their qualifications to keep pace with the demands of changing academic and business environments. Our programmes are designed to equip students and working professionals with managerial and technical tools which will prepare them for new challenges in their workplaces,’’ said Ishan Gupta, chief executive of EduKart.com, speaking on the occasion.

Rajan Chopra, chancellor of MGU is equally bullish about this partnership. “We are elated to have joined hands with EduKart.com for delivering our degree and diploma programmes. We hope these programmes will raise the academic and professional profiles of our students and transform them into better skilled managers.”

National School Principals Conference

Teachersity — a web portal promoted by the Gurukul Trust in 2007 — will host a two-day National Conference of School Principals 2012 at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi on November 8-9. Union HRD minister Kapil Sibal will deliver the keynote address.

According to B.S. Braria, the Delhi-based director of TeacherSITY, the conference is a platform to “systematically share formulated thoughts”, emerging from the best practices of school leaders and principals. “It will also be a platform for principals to reflect and realise their intellectual ability and self-esteem. In the format of the conference, they will rigorously engage with the issues in the fashion of scholars. By providing this forum, we engage with our mission to provide opportunities for exploring issues that schools and school principals confront at the field level, and finding ways to address and deal with them. We hope the deliberations at this conference will help policy makers and principals to get a clearer view of what lies ahead,’’ says Braria.

For further details visit www.teachersity.org or www.principals.in.

Entries invited for Henkel Innovation Challenge

The sixth annual Henkel Innovation Challenge was flagged off on September 1. Students from 25 countries are expected to participate. They will be expected to develop innovative and sustainable product/technology ideas for the market of 2050. College and university graduates can register for participation at www.henkelchallenge.com until December 12.

Under the rules of the challenge, students are invited to develop innovative ideas in teams of two for any one of Henkel’s business areas i.e adhesive technologies, beauty care, and laundry and home care. The ideas/concepts submitted should align with Henkel’s sustainability strategy of “achieving more with less”. Students should present ideas about how their new product/technology will drive progress along the entire value chain — from selection of raw materials, through sustainable production and distribution processes, to end use and disposal.

For the first time, the international final will be organised in China, the home country of last year’s winners, as a sign of the growing importance of emerging markets.

The Henkel Innovation Challenge is open to students of all subjects, including economics, engineering and natural sciences. Student teams from all over the world including 12 European countries, nine Asian-Pacific countries, four Latin American and North American countries will compete in the finals of the Henkel Innovation Challenge to be held in Shanghai, China on March 12-13, 2013.

The top three teams will be awarded a world tour air ticket valued at Euros 10,000 (Rs.6.5 lakh), the second-placed team Euros 4,000 and the third Euros 2,000. For further information visit www.facebook.com/henkelchallenge.