Mumbai, november 27. Renowned as one of Britain’s best universities for teacher education, the University of Worcester (UK) has teamed up with former Bollywood star and educationist Dr. Swaroop Sampat-Rawal — an alumna of UoW — to offer its in-service teacher training programmes in India. A diploma programme in personal social education will be launched at a special event in Mumbai on December 3.

“Dr Sampat-Rawal’s work has had a massive impact worldwide and we are delighted working in partnership with her to deliver this new diploma programme. Dr Sampat-Rawal’s work based on inclusion and ensuring achievement for all in India aligns perfectly with our ethos at UoW,” said Ann Jordan, head of UoW’s school of education, speaking on the occasion.

OUP’s English-Kannada Dictionary

Bangalore, november 15. Oxford University Press (OUP) launched the Oxford English-English-Kannada Dictionary at an event hosted in the city. Prof. S.G. Siddaramaiah, chairman, Kannada Development Authority, Government of Karnataka, was chief guest at the launch event.

“We are delighted to bring out our second English-English-Kannada dictionary, following the landmark Oxford Compact English-English-Kannada Dictionary that has a large user base in Karnataka. Our second bilingual dictionary in Kannada is not only pedagogically more advanced but designed in sync with contemporary methods of learning and teaching languages, enabling speakers of Kannada to also learn English seamlessly,” said Sivaramakrishnan Venkateswaran, managing director, Oxford University Press India, speaking on the occasion.

Added Prof. S.G. Siddaramaiah, chairman of the Kannada Development Authority: “OUP India has been conducting its dictionary work in a scientific manner for multiple regional languages, and I positively believe that the Oxford English-English-Kannada Dictionary will prove to be extremely useful for readers of all ages.”

Tech 2018

Visakhapatnam, november 15. UNESCO-MGIEP launched its second edition of TECH (Transforming Education Conference for Humanity) 2018 in collaboration with the government of Andhra Pradesh in Visakhapatnam. TECH 2018 showcases the role of games and digital learning in enabling a shift from “transmissive pedagogies to transformative pedagogies” to create peaceful and sustainable societies. The three-day education conference was inaugurated by N. Chandrababu Naidu, chief minister of AP.

“TECH 2018 brings together global experts from 60 countries including education ministers, scientists, data, legal and business experts. The conference will be a place to train teachers in digital pedagogies through workshops and building partnerships,” said Ganta Srinivasa Rao, human resource development minister.

Research upgradation initiative

Mumbai, november 20. Editage, a division of Cactus Communications Inc, USA — a global scholarly and medical communications company — has released a comprehensive report showcasing perspectives of research scholars on a broad range of topics related to academic publishing. The report, titled Author Perspectives on Academic Publishing: Global Survey Report 2018, provides insights into various aspects of research publishing and challenges authors face in manuscript preparation, communicating with journals, and responding to peer review comments.

“India currently accounts for 5 percent of the global research output, ranking higher than Germany, the UK, and Japan. However, our survey indicates that our researchers have poor understanding of ethics-related issues like plagiarism and authorship, which could have serious implications on the quality and credibility of research papers published in India. To this end, Editage has started partnering with premium Indian institutes of fundamental and basic research to offer structured training programmes in publication ethics and other aspects of journal publication,” said Abhishek Goel, co-founder and CEO, Editage, Cactus Communications, speaking at the release of the survey.

Covestro-Arch Foundation concordat

Mumbai, november 5. Covestro Gmbh, the Leverkusen (Germany)-based manufacturer of high-performance polymer materials, inaugurated a Brighter World Lab in Airoli on October 31. This is the first of 20 labs planned to be promoted across India in addition to ten labs already established. These labs provide access to quality education and learning for students from underprivileged sections of society, and also train teachers to teach science and mathematics more effectively. This year, Covestro is collaborating with the Vadodara-based Arch Foundation to establish 20 learning labs in India.

“Science is the key to finding sustainable solutions in every industry. Our aim is to ignite scientific interest in children so they can learn through discovery and connect the scientific knowledge of textbooks to their world. In Covestro, we work towards developing modern age sustainable solutions and this initiative will not only help build careers of children but also help India to make its mark in research and innovation around the world,” said Ajay Durrani, managing director of Covestro (India).