PEAESON INDIA has launched GlobalEnglish, a cloud-based, on-demand English language learning programme of ETEN, the test preparation education venture of the company. Hitherto GlobalEnglish was available only to subscriber education institutions. With this development, any student keen on signing up for the study programme can visit the nearest Pearson ETEN centre and purchase an individual subscription. GlobalEnglish gives students the flexibility to learn English anytime, anywhere. The learning material is accessible 24/7, on any internet-connected device including mobile phones, tablets and computers.

“In today’s multicultural work environment, command of English brings a competitive edge in every profession. GlobalEnglish helps students gain proficiency in the language by giving them a personalised and customised learning experience. Now the learning programme is available to all our retail customers,” said Deepak Mehrotra, managing director of Pearson India, addressing a press conference in Delhi on March 3.

Education summer school

THE PHILOSOPHY OF education (POE) unit of Azim Premji University (APU) and the Manipal Centre for philosophy and humanities (MCPH) of Manipal University will conduct a Summer School of Indian Philosophy and Education in Bangalore from May 5-9. The objective of the joint venture is to “strengthen the philosophical discourse and thinking on education in India”.

“The school will examine perception, cognition and education, reason and education, language and education, and comparative philosophy and education from the perspective of Indian philosophical traditions,” says an APU spokesperson. 
This full-time residential programme has been designed for doctoral and postgraduate students, practitioners of education, teacher educators, and young faculty members in the areas of education, philosophy, social sciences, humanities and natural sciences. Venue: Azim Premji University, Bangalore.

KIIT University upgraded

A UNION MINISTRY OF human resource development-constituted high-level committee under the chairmanship of Dr. P.N. Tandon and comprising eminent academicians Dr. Goverdhan Mehta, Prof. M. Anandakrishnan and Prof. Mrinal Miri, has upgraded KIIT University (estb. 1997) to a category ‘A’ deemed university. The committee evaluated all study programmes offered by the university including engineering, biotechnology, medicine, management, rural management, and law on nine quality parameters. In 2009, KIIT U was placed in the ‘B’ category.

Category ‘A’ deemed universities enjoy special status in all respects before the HRD ministry and all other statutory bodies including the University Grants Commission.

READ innovation challenge

THE UNITED STATES and Indian governments have launched a reading initiative to improve the reading skills of millions of primary school children in India. The READ (read-engage-achieve-dream) Alliance is a $3.2 million (Rs.19 crore) partnership between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Indian Center for Knowledge Societies (CKS).

Announcing the first call for proposals under READ’s innovation challenge to discover and test reading solutions on March 13 in New Delhi, US charge d’affaires Michael Pelletier said: “The moment a child learns to read is the moment she or he has obtained the single most important skill that one needs to have the best possible chances in life. I am confident the READ Alliance will help put millions of Indian children on a path of lifelong learning.”

A synopsis of CKS’ 7 Steps to Reading report, which provides a plan for improving the reading abilities of India’s children, was also released at the event in the presence of more than 100 representatives from corporations, non-profit organisations, academia, and government committed to promoting early literacy.

TEC14 a big success

THE FOURTH ANNUAL Teacher Educator Conference 2014 (TEC14) co-hosted by the British Council and the English and Foreign Languages University (EFL-U), Hyderabad was held from February 21-23 in Hyderabad. The conference attracted more than 1,200 English language teachers/ educators from 27 countries, and was webcast to over 3,012 viewers from 104 countries worldwide. The central theme for TEC14 was ‘Innovations in Teacher Education’.

Among the projects presented were the ‘English in Action programme,’ in Bangladesh, and the TESS-India initiative, both initiated by The Open University UK; teacher learning through mobile phones in Africa; and use of video conferencing to teach English to learners in Uruguay.  The British Council’s Teaching English Radio India series was also launched during TEC14.

According to Poonam Karnik, project manager (programmes) of British Council, the emergent message from the conference was that there’s great potential in supporting continuous professional development of teachers through small-scale teacher research, which was highlighted by keynote speakers Simon Borg, Rama Mathew and Julian Edge. “They stressed there is need for teachers to recognise small-scale research as an achievable goal, encourage experimentation, and systematise teaching, sharing and learning with wider communities,” says Karnik.