Tarang tries to improve the life styles of those children living below the poverty line by offering them the educational knowledge that would later help them in becoming good citizens of India, so that they will be able to support their family themselves. The best part is that all the programs that are developed are executed with care and concern for those poor children. Tarang and its team are is doing everything completely out of their own interest and without expecting anything in return or as profit. They offer free education in India not only for children living in slums but also for poor children who come from week economically backgrounds.

Tarang is basically trying to empower the lives of all those children who wish but do not have enough resources to go to school. As an initial step to educate such children, Tarang has in fact adopted slums in and around Mumbai and is trying to educate all those children living in there. Tarang is a very good example for all Mumbai NGOs and other educational NGO in India. They are trying to educate as many children as possible. They also run motivational programs to attract children and to motivate them to study and reach heights in their lives.

Other than that, they are also motivating the public who are interested in social service in India to sponsor the educational expenses of one or more children depending on their capacity to spend. This is truly a good way of getting the help of those several thousands of people in India who are not able to reach these poor children. Even if they are not able to support the educational expenses fully, they can pay a part of the expense depending on how much they can spare for the welfare of the poor children. By doing all these things, this educational NGO in Mumbai is offering quality education for slum children.

G4S Shiksha School was inaugurated by Mr. David I. Hudson MBE, Regional President, North Africa, Middle East & Southern Asia, G4S plc in presence of Ms. Rehana Qureshi, Regional Marketing Director, North Africa, Middle East & Southern Asia, G4S plc, Ms. Debbie Mcgrath, Group Communications Director, G4S plc, Ms. Nadine Templer, Executive Officer, Education Programs, HOPE Worldwide.

Sharing G4S commitment to children and society, Mr. David Hudson, Regional President G4S North Africa, Middle East and South Asia (NAMESA) Region said, “G4S Shiksha will formalize our ongoing endeavors internationally to contribute to the society in every way possible. We are expecting more than100 children will be benefited from the G4S Shiksha school. It is also an exciting opportunity for G4S to invest time to help future generations and we wish to continue doing so.”

G4S Shiksha is a showcase of G4S commitment to society and each and every aspect of the school is financially supported by G4S. G4S will take care of the maintenance and repair work of the school as well. The school is being handed over to HOPE Worldwide to run it. HOPE Worldwide is a Non-Governmental Organisation that is working for the betterment of disadvantaged children.

Discussing the importance of G4S Shiksha, Ms. Rehana Qureshi, Regional Marketing Director, NAMESA Region said, “This is our way to contribute to the society for a better tomorrow. G4S Shiksha is a small beginning to our bigger vision for a more educated and healthier society. The project aims to provide free education which will further discourage child labour and other unethical activities like drug addiction. Due to lack of guidance and education, street children and rag pickers get into evil habits of drugs, crime, gambling and other unethical practices. Through this initiative, G4S wants to create an environment not just to provide education but a place to give right direction to the children for their life.”

To ensure smooth operations and the implementation of the plans Senior G4S Executives will pay regular visits to the school to spend time with the students. Simultaneously, G4S is working to make the make the school environment-friendly. Additionally, G4S School will provide medical facilities to all the children, as well as regular check-ups by visiting medical practitioners.

G4S Shiksha will provide several recreational activities like sports day, picnics, painting competitions, and clay molding and paper cutting activities to encourage children for coming to school. The school also includes a computer laboratory to imbibe computer knowledge in the students and make them tech-savvy. The will also celebrate festivals like Diwali, Holi, Eid, Gurpurab to imbibe secular values in children. Amidst the secular riots happening all over the India, it is important to provide education about all the religions.

10 to 12 will be recruited for the G4S Shiksha school including Programme Head, Headmaster, Administrator, Bookkeeper, Senior and Junior Teachers, Helper and Cook for the school. The school will organise regular seminars for parents on various topics related to family life and will also offer training on specific subjects linked to child behaviour. There will be extensive training programs for mothers on behaviour of children and tackling them in different situations.

In asession held on 25th March, 2010 at MICA, Rajat Barjatya who started Rajshri Media in order to take film entertainment to the mobile and internet audience gave insights on how to start a venture in the film industry and took the students of MICA EDC through his entrepreneurial journey of creating Rajshri Media, Rajshri Astro, Rajshri Mobile Channel, Rajshri Talent and other group companies. He talked about creating IP for digital platforms, Revenue Models and integration with leading online platforms like iTunes, Amazon, Big Adda, You Tube to mention just a few.

Rajat’s session introduced the MICA students to ample opportunities in the field of Content aggregation, Production, Distribution & Monetization, CMS, Ad servicing, CRM, Digital Marketing rights, Device Interplay, Media process Outsourcing. The students were inspired to envision a future, establish credibility, embracing technology & analyzing their unique competitive advantage. Rajat reinforced the fact that “Customers are spending more time on the Mobile & Web rather than the traditional Media. They want to be in control of their entertainment destiny.” Siddharth Nakai, a student of PGPEMC said, “The cliched line ‘Hearing from the Horse’s mouth’ is so very apt. Getting insight from the industy big-wigs is thought provoking. Understanding current and futrure trends is always an asset for a person who is entering the industry. Being a future entrepreneur these lectures assume a much greater value”.

Priya Shah, Coordinator, Film & Entertainment Courses said, “Its quite strange that management professionals have ignored such a big industry for so long. There are several opportunities for students of management and entrepreneurship to explore in this industry as a lot of professionalism is seeping in. There is a huge demand for such graduates in the industry when it comes to the business side of filmmaking like film marketing, finance, distribution and business development. This course is the need of the day. So far we have got a great response from the industry as well as students.”

Anand Kurian, Ad Filmmaker (Teaches Film Marketing) who was also a special guest at the occasion said ” There are several avenues for marketing the Indian feature film – some are old, some new, some are drawn from the Hollywood model, some are home grown. The course proposes to amalgamate all of these into a cohesive pattern that is ready to use and implement.” The different courses in the specialization are Business of Filmmaking, Film Marketing, Film Finance & Distribution, Advanced Film Technologies and Management of Innovative Ventures in the Film & Entertainment industry.

Mr. Anand Kurian (ad filmmaker, Mumbai), Mr. Kandaswamy Bharthan (Executive Producer, Kavithalaya Films, Chennai), Mr Rajat Barjatya (Rajshri Media), Mr Mohit Mehra (Cinema Capital) and Mr Rajeev Chudasama (Marching Ants)are a few eminent faculty names for the said specialization.

The Director IIMC and Additional Secretary I & B Ms. Stuti Kacker presented the Director’s Report on the occasion of the 42nd convocation. The Director informed that most of the successful Diploma course graduates have already been absorbed by major media organizations despite the slowdown. The Minister Smt Ambika Soni presented the awards to the meritorious students.

One of the objectives of the Kuruvila Jacob Initiative is to act as a catalyst, aiding schools to adopt innovative methods and techniques in the learning process. To promote critical thinking and problem solving skills of students from Class VI to Class IX, especially in Physics and Chemistry, the Kuruvila Jacob Initiative commenced the pilot project on “Multi Media Enhanced Elementary Science – Web Based Learning” in partnership with and under the guidance of IIT Madras in February ’07.

Now a few set of modules in Physics and Chemistry is being launched today in the form of DVD in the participating schools and would be available in the public domain shortly. The site address for web access to these modules would be published in the dailies when it is ready. It is intended to make it accessible free of cost to all the schools. The twenty-two participating schools and the eighty resource persons have contributed to the development of the modules.It is expected thatthe complete version of the moduleswill be released in the public domain by the end of 2009.
Summary of the on going projects –Kuruvila Jacob Initiative as of August 09′

Education Excellence cluster Programme

Kuruvila Jacob Initiative iscontinuing theinvolvement with thirty corporation schools, by taking up a third cluster programme covering 10 more corporation schools, in response to a specific request by the authorities.

Theseprogrammes are designed, developed and delivered on the basis of Total Quality Management (TQM) principles and practices- Twenty-four privateschools have also undergone Total Quality Management training under Kuruvila Jacob Initiative since 2004.

Model School Programme in Corporation Schools for Accreditation

The KJI is also assisting the Corporation of Chennai for the establishment of three model schools by 2010 on the QCI framework of Quality School Governance standards from the first two clusters. There are plans to establish quality assurance cell at Chennai City Corporation for sustenance of the improvement processes implemented.

As before, all the above programmes have been conducted free of cost to the schools involved, the entire cost being borne by the Trust. The above two initiatives have been conducted with the training assistance of CII Institute of Quality, Bangalore.

Education Leadership Programme (ELP) for heads of Institutions

Our initiative continued its partnership with Centre for Education Management and Development (CEMD) New Delhi. This is one year open learning Post-Graduate Diploma cum training programmefor Correspondents, Principals and senior teachers. This programme in Education Leadership (ELP) aims to provide the skills, knowledge and attitudes necessary for school Principals and Administrators to shape the future of the schools and the students therein. This programme is being offered by our initiative at a heavily subsidized cost.

The fourth batch of Education leadership would start from September 8th of 2009 and the registrations are on for the same. We are extremely happy to say that as of date 27 candidates have confirmed participation, out of the thirty-five seats available.

LIFE Trust has created specially designed audio-visual DVDs on key subjects of the class 10 syllabus. These DVDs are used across eight BMC schools, with the objective of bettering academic results. LIFE Trust is confident of meeting this goal and introducing this exceptional teaching methodology across all BMC schools in the coming years.

Mrs. Poonam Lalvani, Managing Trustee, LIFE Trust says, “Class 10 is the most important academic year for students in India as it plays a pivotal role in distinguishing a school drop out from a student embarking on a successful career path. LIFE Trust has already developed Digital Classrooms in BMC schools, which have been very successful. We found that the students’ response and enthusiasm to education through audio-visual aids was far greater when compared with the traditional methods of education, positively impacting results. The idea of creating these specialised DVDs for 10th standard students stemmed from this observation, and we are confident that next year’s results will endorse our belief and substantiate our efforts.”

“Initially we started with DVDs in Marathi and the encouraging response we got from the students prompted us to create a version in Hindi as well, which we have successfully introduced” added Mrs Lalvani.

The basic requirements of Digital Classrooms are LCD players, DVDs and speakers, amongst other equipment. LIFE Trust has provided for this in the schools where this initiative has been introduced. The students in these classrooms will be tutored with the assistance of 2D animation DVD content produced by LIFE Trust’s in-house team.

LIFE Trust conducted an extensive survey on the material available in the market to enable visual and fun ways of educating Standard 10 students. The survey revealed that while there is a wealth of English content on the Internet and other vehicles of communication, there is not enough information available for Marathi medium students. So another important aspect that this initiative aims to achieve is to create a level playing field for students from private and government schools.

The initiative is also aimed at increasing the levels of efficiency in teaching in BMC schools by inspiring its faculty to teach with more enthusiasm. This form of studying has hitherto been available only to students from high-end private schools like Ambani, Ecole Mondial and Maneckji Cooper.

The DVDs presently have audio-visual content for three subjects – namely English, Geometry and Social Studies, and cover every chapter in the syllabus of these subjects. These subjects have been selected because they prove most difficult for a significant proportion of class 10 students.

“As per our research an estimated 1,150 students have gained from this initiative. We will also be talking to the S.S.C board to allow the use of these DVDs across all Marathi medium S.S.C schools in Maharashtra. In the near future, LIFE Trust also plans to develop animation-based content for Science practicals and pictorial aids to conduct experiments. LIFE Trust has already spent a sizeable amount rolling out this initiative, and we look forward to the support of other corporates and like-minded groups to deliver this form of education to a larger target audience,” comments Mrs Lalvani.

LIFE Trust has a MoU with the eight BMC Secondary Schools in the GN/GS/FN/FS Ward of Mumbai for a period of three years, starting June 2008. The MoU is aimed at developing these schools with various academic and technological changes to reduce the drop-out rates, improve examination results, to boost the aspiration of students, and finally, to empower change through advocacy.

The 8 BMC schools where this initiative is set to be rolled out are -

1. Dr. Ambedkar School, Worli
2. Prabhadevi School, Prabhadevi
3. Abhyudaya Nagar School, M. H. B. Colony, Abhyudaya Nagar
4. G.K Marg School, Elphinston
5. Globe Mill School, Elphinston
6. Dadar Woolen Mill School, Dadar
7. Shindewadi School, Dadar
8. New Sion School, Sion

Benefits of the Digital Classroom:

· Visual digital content and audio repetition helps students remember faster

· Chapters have been made more interesting in the DVD format

· Teachers can rewind, pause, play the chapters as per requirement

· Raises enthusiasm levels among students as this is a first-of-its-kind exposure to digital learning

· DVDs can be viewed on television as well as a computer, thus making them versatile and easy to use

Established in the year 2000 in Chennai, Landmark International Foundation for Empowerment (LIFE) is a registered Public Charitable Trust. With a vision to make ‘school chalo’ the mantra of each child in India, LIFE undertakes several activities for the betterment of the public school education system in India. LIFE has also introduced path breaking initiatives for students with learning disabilities and mentally challenged students. LIFE currently has its presence in Mumbai, Chennai, and Bangalore and plans to have a pan India presence in the coming years.

LIFE’s mission is collaborating and supporting the Public School System along with other agencies and like-minded individuals in improving the quality of education through creative and effective programmes, involving all its stakeholders and the society.

i. Not to over prescribe textbooks for primary classes and to keep the number of textbooks limited so as not to exceed the number prescribed by National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

ii. No school bag for children of Classes I & II and to allow students to leave their school bags in school itself.

iii. No homework to the children of Classes I & II and to evolve a concept of alternative to homework for the students of Classes III to V.

iv. To plan a judicious time table to avoid unnecessary loading of school bags.

The problem of heavy school bag was brought out in the report ‘Learning without Burden’ in 1993. National Curriculum Framework (NCF), 2005 has several recommendations on reduction of physical, psychological and transactional load on school children. Based on NCF, 2005, new syllabi and textbooks have been prepared by NCERT and have been adopted in schools affiliated to CBSE. Several States have also revised their syllabi and textbooks based on NCF, 2005.

It shows an eight per cent increase over last year. Over 12 lakh students had appeared in the exams last year. About 2,500 physically-challenged students will appear in the exams including 373 visually-challenged students in Class X and 214 such candidates in Class XII.

In a first in CBSE exams, 20 per cent of the questions would be based on ‘high-order thinking skills’ which is prescribed by the the guiding document for preparation of NCERT textbooks of National Curriculum Framework (NCF). A 15-minute cool off time, given to help students read and understand the questions, will continue as it used to be.

Said Ashok Ganguly, CBSE chairman: “From this year, a part – 20% – of the paper will have analytical questions which will be different from past years’ papers.”

“If a student scores 100% in this paper, then he’s really the best.” In the new scheme, 10% of the questions will be very short answer questions, and 20% will be concept-based. The rest though remains the same.

In accordance with NCF-2005, NCERT has developed new syllabi for all the stages of school education and initiated the process of textbook development in a phase-wise manner. Presently, the textbooks for classes I, II, III, IV, VI, VII, IX, X, XI and XII are available and textbooks for classes V and VIII will be made available from the academic session 2008-09.

Further, considering the prevailing diversity and federal character of our nation, serious engagement of all States and UTs in translating the NCF ideas into reality is a major concern. In this context, with the financial and academic support of NCERT, States/UTs are engaged in the task of revising their syllabi and textbooks.