Disaster response education in India    NEW DELHI, July 12, 2008: Disaster management and Disaster response education has now been incorporated in the CBSE and ICSE high school syllabi with a special emphasis on school projects as this has been seen to involve even the parents, thus expanding the circle of education. Also included in this drive is the B.Ed. curriculum for teachers and the MBBS hospital administration course.   Disaster education has been the role of traditional knowledge vis-a-vis disaster mitigation. When the  December 26th tsunami hit the Nicobar coast, while the nearby Indian air force base lost many lives, the Nicobaris, a small primitive tribe with no contact with modern civilization, withstood the worst with zero casualties. What helped them apart from their small numbers was also a cache of traditional know-how.   NIIT Brings ICT In Education    July 10, 2008: NIIT has been recognised for its 'Smart Science Station-Computer Aided eXperience Kit'- at UNESCO's annual convention on Innovative Practices in ICT in Education, at Bangkok recently. The 'Smart Science Station-Computer Aided eXperience (CAX)' kit enhances learning capabilities of children by making Science fun and interesting, thus improving academic performance. It offers a range of computer-aided Science experiments covering topics such as heat, electricity and sound. The learning solution has already been installed in 50 schools across the country.   NIIT said it was the only Indian company to win the 'Certificate of Commendation' in the Education Planner and Administrator Category. Source: EFY News   India’s social sector spending lowest among BRIC nations   New Delhi, June 22 (IANS) Despite strong growth, India lags far behind other BRIC countries in social sector achievements, spending lowest on education and health, according to a study by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham). Brazil, Russia, India and China are collectively known as the BRIC economies.   The Assocham Eco Pulse (AEP) study showed that India’s public expenditure on health and education stood at five percent and 9.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) respectively in 2005-06 fiscal. While Brazil and Russia spent 7.9 percent and 5.2 percent respectively on health in fiscal 2006, India is a notch above China with public expenditure on education reaching five percent of GDP.   While Russia, Brazil and China spend 12.9 percent, 12.8 percent and 10.2 percent respectively on education, India contributes just 9.2 percent of GDP, the study said. India’s literacy rate of 67 percent is the least among the BRIC countries. In fiscal 2005, Russia with highest public expenditure on education among the BRIC nations has almost achieved complete literacy, as its literacy rate was 99.4 percent. China, whose education spending stood at 10.2 percent of its GDP, has 90.92 percent literacy rate.     UK  is interested in sending British students to study in India.   New Dehli, June 2, 2008: UK government is interested in sending British students to study in India. "We want to set up a UK-India school to facilitate British students to come and study in India," informed Bill Rammell, UK minister of state, lifelong learning, further and higher education. This is part of a slew of initiatives by the British government to strengthen education ties with India.    "We have a similar model in China, which is very popular. In fact, it is over-subscribed. And we are confident that with India's rising economic importance, many British students would be keen to visit India to get a first-hand experience of the country's politics, education and culture," added Rammell, who was in the Capital to address a skill seminar organised under the UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI) in collaboration with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).   Educomp forms JVs with Raffles   New Delhi May 28, 2008: Delhi-based Educomp Solutions has formed two 50:50 joint ventures (JVs) with Raffles Education, the largest private education group in the Asia-Pacific region. While the India joint venture is for professional education, the China JV is for K-12 business initiatives. Raffles Education Corp  (Group) had a market capitalisation of $2.78 billion (around Rs 11,000 crore) as on May 26, 2008.    The JV in India is expected to bring in the entire suite of the group's professional development programmes and courses to the country, providing Educomp's large student population with meaningful alternatives when they graduate from high school. Educomp currently works with six million school students and aims to widen its reach to 10 million students by 2010. Under the terms of the JV, the existing Raffles Design Institute in Mumbai will be merged with the JV operations.  Source: Business Standard   India's elementary education program to get $600 million credit - World Bank   MUMBAI, May 16, 2008: (Thomson Financial) - The World Bank said its concessionary lending arm, the International Development Association, will provide $600 million credit to support the Indian government's ongoing Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), an education program designed to provide all children aged 6 to 14 with education of satisfactory quality.    The Second Elementary Education Project (SSA II) is the second phase of support by the development partners to the SSA program. It focuses on moving towards the achievement of quality goals and improved learning outcomes, the lending agency said. The total cost of SSA II is estimated at $10.7 billion, of which the states of India will contribute close to 36.9 percent, the Indian government will contribute around 53.7 percent and the development partners will provide 9.4 percent. The credit has 35 years to maturity and a 10-year grace period, the World Bank said. Source: Thomson Financial News    India’s First Online Clinical Research Education, Training & Management Academy  New Delhi, India, March 13, 2008 --(PR.com)-- Cliniminds today announced the launch of wide range of Online clinical research training programs in the field of clinical research, through its portal www.cliniminds.com. Dr. Amit Bhatt, President & CEO of Nexus Clinical Research (NexusCRO) who inaugurated these programs said  “Online and distance learning programs offered by Cliniminds are of high quality and cost effective. It can address the needs of students from all over the country, as it is not possible for every student to come and attend such programs in bigger cities and pay high fees and very high living costs.” According to Dr. Bhatt, “These programs are also very useful for the continuous clinical research training for the clinical research and pharma professionals at CROs, pharmaceutical companies and hospitals where trials are conducted.”  Arjun Singh inaugurates conference on Indian education New Delhi, March 04, 2008: With the theme of 'Emerging Directions in Global Education', a group of government and private education institutes and organizations have come together with hosting of three day conference, EDGE 2008. The conference, being held in New Delhi from March 3-5, 2008  was inaugurated by Union HRD Minister Mr Arjun Singh on March 3. Inaugurating the conference, Union Minster Mr Arjun Singh emphasized on making more investment on higher education and finding out the working solutions for entry and regulation of foreign institutes.  Mr Rod Pryde, Regional Director, British Council India and Srilanka, Dr Ramdas Pao, Chairman, MEMG International India, Dr Kasturirangan, MP Rajya Sabha & Director-NIAS and Prod V N Rajasekhran Pillai, Vice Chancellor, IGNOU were present on this occasion. On the occasion 'India Education Vision' document was released by Mr Arjun Singh.  Union Budget increased 20 percent in Education   New Delhi February 29, 2008: The Union budget has increased total allocation for the education sector by 20 per cent from Rs28,674 crore in 2007-08 to Rs34,400 crore in 2008-09. Of this, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) will get Rs13,100 crore; the mid-day meal scheme will be provided Rs8,000 crore; and secondary education will be allocated Rs4,554 crore.    In the area of school education, a model school programme with the aim of establishing 6,000 high quality model schools has been announced. The budget also proposed to extend the mid-day meal scheme to upper primary classes in government and government-aided schools in all blocks of the country.    Nehru Yuva Kendras will be opened in all the 123 districts which at present do not have an NYK. In higher education, three IITs are to be set up in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan; two IISERs at Bhopal and Thiruvananthapuram; two Schools of Planning and Architecture at Bhopal and Vijayawada; and one Central University in each of the hitherto uncovered states.    To encourage children to take up science and R&D, scholarships will be given to students under a new scheme, Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE). Highlighting the need for launching a world-class skill development programme in mission mode, the budget seeks to establish a non-profit corporation. The government will put Rs1,000 crore as initial equity in the corporation. Continuing the scheme of upgradation of ITIs, the budget provides Rs750 crore for upgrading 300 more ITIs in 2008-09.   IIM-C raises fees by Rs 1 lakh per year  Kolkata, February 28, 2008 : Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta (IIM-C) has decided to raise the annual fees by Rs 1 lakh per student to Rs 3 lakh per year. First-year students will have to pay Rs 1 lakh more from this session, with the annual fee being increased to Rs 3 lakh from Rs 2 lakh. The fee will be further raised to Rs 4 lakh in 2009. Second-year students, however, have been spared any fee increase.     The hikes were announced on Tuesday following a board of governors' meeting at the institute. IIM-C director Shekhar Chaudhuri said: "Costs have risen and are expected to increase even further once the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations are implemented, which will increase all salaries at the institute."  He added: "The decision was also taken keeping in view the fee increase at IIM- Ahmedabad, IIM - Bangalore and other institutes." IIM-Bangalore, in fact, has increased annual fees for first-year students to Rs 3.5 lakh.  American Education Expo 2008  Chennai, February 07, 2008: ‘American Education Expo 2008’, organised by the U.S. embassy in collaboration with the International Student Network (ISN), was held in three Indian cities - Chennai, Mumbai and Ahemadabad. Representatives from 20 colleges and universities across the U.S.participated in the expo.  “Chennai has the biggest market in India,” said ISN’s marketing manager Babish Soni. “According to U.S. embassy figures, last year 15,000 students from Chennai received a student visa, making up the largest number of students from any State in India,” he said. Mobile education by Tata Indicom January 29, 2008: Tata Teleservices plans to start a new initiative, Mobile Education (M-Education), an attempt to aid distance learning and support learning in rural communities and for the physically  challenged. Towards the promotion of education in the remotest corners of the nation, the company has partnered with SNDT Women's University, ATOM Tech (Any Transaction on Mobile), and Indian PCO Teleservices (IPTL).  SNDT University will develop and manage content, Tata Indicom on its service channels will be the carrier, ATOM will provide the intermediary interfaces and IPTL will look after service distribution and dissemination system. In this system, the mobile phone transforms itself from a mere device that allows users access to voice and text messaging the one that proffers accredited educational content and takes mock tests on the move, regardless of geographies or physical constraints.    The M-Education will offer contemporary content to students and do away with the need to visit physical schools and colleges, thus bridging the physical distances using CDMA technology. Initially, the M-Education service will be available in Hindi and English language. However, the alliance plans to make the service available in other regional languages later.

Universal free education for all children  NEW DELHI, January 22, 2008: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was conferred the honorary degree of D.Litt. by Delhi University in recognition of his achievements in the field of academics and public service at a special convocation here on Monday. Vice-President Hamid Ansari, who is the Chancellor of the University, conferred the honour on the visiting dignitary. Reading out the citation, Vice- Chancellor Deepak Pental said Mr. Brown had been known for his commitment to eradication of poverty and his campaign to increase aid to provide every child with education and healthcare.  He spoke about Mr. Brown’s academic life as a student and later as a university and college lecturer during which he authored many books. Accepting the award, the British Prime Minister said it was a “real privilege to receive a degree in a great city in a great university which by its international reach has become a global university.” “I am honoured to be a graduate of a university that encourages the talent of so many young people.”   Displaying his witty streak, Mr. Brown remarked: “I was a university lecturer myself. We are taught objectivity, rationality and honest pursuit of truth in the university. One has to leave all this behind when you enter politics.” Mr. Brown also stressed the need to build a “new world order which is grounded in our shared needs, shared interests and responsibilities.” “What we now know is that what happens to the poorest citizen in the poorest country can affect the richest citizen in the richest country …    There should be a dialogue between nations based on consensus and partnership. We are for a global unity between developed and developing countries,” he said. Referring to a new role for India, the visiting Prime Minister said: “We want to work with India to offer universal free education for all children in all countries. By 2015, instead of 17 million children being deprived [of] the right to education, every child should have that basic right.”

The visiting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown   said: “We want to work with India to offer universal free education for all children in all countries.

Nasscom & ICICI Knowledge Park launch fund   Mumbai January 11, 2008: Nasscom, the premier trade body of the Indian IT industry, today formally announced the Nasscom–ICICI Knowledge Park Innovation Fund (NIIF) promoted in collaboration with ICICI  Knowledge Park. The anchor investors in NIIF are Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Bharti Airtel and ICICI Knowledge Park. NIIF, a first of its kind initiative by Nasscom and the ICICI Knowledge Park, has been created with the intent of providing seed stage investments in order to promote intellectual property driven innovations in emerging technologies. The fund will also endeavour to encourage entrepreneurship and enable innovative start-ups to reach a stage of self sustenance and growth. This fund is targeted at early stage companies with a core focus on creating intellectual property, and academicians, researchers and incubates looking to commercialize inventions.   NIIF will operate as a separate commercial entity with the fund corpus being created through voluntary institutional contributions from firms representing the targeted investment areas of the fund.   Bank of Maharashtra launches online sanction for education loans  MUMBAI, December 31, 2007: Public sector lender, Bank of Maharashtra , today announced the launch of online sanction facility of education loans in its selected branches. Under the facility, a student can avail upto Rs 10 lakh for studies in India and upto Rs 20 lakh in abroad.    The applicant will get an auto reply and sanction from the bank in principle online, a press release issued here stated, today. Following this, the student can avail the loan after completing the formalities at the concerned branch, the release said.  The 11th Five Year Plan is India’s “Education Plan”  The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh attended the convocation of the Goa University. Speaking at the occasion the Prime Minister asserted that 11th Five Year Plan is India’s “Education Plan”. The challenge before us is to ensure that every one of our citizens is empowered by access to education and skill building in their chosen fields of activity, the Dr. Singh added.      Last week the National Development Council approved the 11th Five Year Plan. I am proud to say that our Government has placed education at the centre of this Plan. The 11th Five Year Plan is India’s “Education Plan”. It places the highest priority on education as an instrument for achieving rapid and inclusive growth. It presents a comprehensive strategy for strengthening the education sector covering all segments of the education pyramid.      It is this perspective that informs the 11th Plan. We have increased the outlay on education from 7.7% of the total Central GBS in the 10th Plan to over 19% in the 11th Plan. The actual outlays have been raised five-fold. This is an unprecedented increase in allocations for education in the history of our country. As I said from the Red Fort on Independence Day this year, I wish to see a new revolution in modern education in India.      In the case of elementary education, we would like to see universal enrolment in the 6 to 14 age group. I would like to see regional disparities in educational attainment bridged. We must also ensure a sharp reduction in the drop-out rate with a zero drop-out rate at the primary level. The facilities for secondary education need to be expanded so as to ensure all children of secondary school going age are in school. We must increase the proportion going to college and higher education to 20% of the relevant age group. Along with this quantitative growth, we must also focus on quality improvements. Our educationists are concerned about uneven quality and with low average quality. We must set our standards higher and seek to improve on them.  Amended Right to Education Bill: Nobel laureate Amartya Sen  New Delhi, December 20, 2007: Nobel laureate Amartya Sen favours the immediate implementation of the amended Right to Education Bill, saying public education is indispensable while private schools can only play a supplementary role. The Bill, among other measures, allows children between 6 and 14 the fundamental right to free education and says states will ensure that within three years, every child will have a school in his or her neighbourhood.  Unequal distribution of the benefits of economic progress is related to gaps in public services and — in the sphere of education — this gap cannot be met by the expansion of public schools, Sen told a seminar, titled Right to Education-Actions Now.    He said families who could afford private education were those that were relatively favoured by economic prosperity and not the large mass of families whose educational needs were more difficult to fulfil. Nowhere in the world have private schools been able to cover the entire spectrum of society, he said. Praising the tireless activities of civil society groups campaigning for right to education, Sen said, while there has been government over-activity in some areas, there has persisted a situation of under-activity in constructive public functions such as improving educational infrastructure. He stressed that his argument was not against the growth-oriented economic policy. “Economic growth does generate government resources that can be used to expand neglected public services,” he said.   Pointing to the fact that government revenue has grown significantly fast, he said the catch was in using resources intelligently instead of allowing them to get absorbed only in private consumption. “School inspection system has broken down in many parts of India and this problem cannot be tackled by administrative reforms alone. What is required is a genuine positive collaboration with social groups,” he said.  Source: Hindustan Times Call for revamping educational system in India TIRUCHIRAPPALLI, 18 Dec 2007: The education system in the country should undergo a major revamp and the gap between the industry and academics should be reduced, a senior educationist said on Monday. It was high time that the syllabus and course contents were revamped, Prof V R Mehta, Member-Secretary, Foundation for Academic Excellence and Access (FAEA), a Delhi headquartered non-governmental organisation, said here.    Addressing the inaugural session of the four-day workshop on "The Making of A Professional" at the Seethalakshmi Ramaswamy College for Women, he said even the school-level education in the country had lost its credibility. Different entrance examinations had to be conducted for higher education and  de- centralisation of the system and decline in diversification and creativity had all resulted in reduction in employability level of young students. The academics had not been preparing the youths on the actual requirement of industries, he added. On the activities of FAEA, he said it was involved in awarding national scholarships to the marginalised students for pursuing college education.   Source: The Times of India India at bottom in UNESCO's ranking on literacy   There are grim statistics for India in the UNESCO's Global Monitoring Report released on last week, with the country close to the bottom in the list of nations in terms of eradicating illiteracy and its ranking dipping from 100 last year to 105 now. The 2008 Education for All Global Monitoring Report, which provides projections for 127 countries in terms of the goal to achieve universal literacy by 2015, puts India among the 15 countries with low `Education for All' (EFA) Development Index. Giving company to India in the bottom of the list are Pakistan and Bangladesh from the South Asian region.    At the top is the Scandinavian country Norway, followed by the UK and Slovenia in second and third places. "Three highly populated countries - Bangladesh, Pakistan and India - continue to face major challenges, both in terms of the high numbers of illiterates, and the deep disparities that exist between urban and rural areas," said UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura. He said this poses a serious obstacle to the efforts made by the countries to achieve EFA and eradicate poverty. However, some praise has come for India in the report, which notes that it is among the countries that have made remarkable strides since 2000 towards EFA, with a wide range of targeted initiatives that reach disadvantaged children, youth and adults across the country. The report mentions that noteworthy progress has been made in India with regard to girls' access to primary school.  Gurgaon schoolboys shootout classmate on campus GURGAON, December 11, 2007: Two students of a Gurgaon public school of Class-VIII (aged 14 years) shoot their classmate within the school premises, because he was a bully. The two accused have alleged that the school management and their principal did not take any action against the victim who not only bullied them but had also threatened to kill them. Perhaps this is the first case of a US -style campus shooting in the country. The shocking incident happened at Euro International School in Sector 46 of Gurgon. Soon after classes got over at 2 pm, the main accused, a 14 years -old boy, shot four rounds from his father's licensed .32 revolver at the accused  Abhisek Tyagi ( also 14 years old).    However, trying to explain why the CCTVs installed in the school failed to capture the fact that a revolver was smuggled into the school by one of the key accused from his home, chairman of the school Satyavir Yadav admitted that they had been lying defunct for the past six months. Meanwhile, police commissioner Mahendra Lal said the police had also spoken to the school authorities. "We feel had they taken any necessary steps to resolve the crisis, the murder could have been prevented. We will summon them tomorrow."  Supreme Court asks Govt. to  spell out guidelines on foreign varsities  New Delhi, November 29, 2007: The Supreme Court asked the Centre to spell out whether it had framed guidelines or regulations to govern foreign universities placing advertisements in India on the courses and degrees offered by them. A Bench comprising Justices Tarun Chatterjee and Dalveer Bhandari, hearing a petition filed by advocate Viplav Sharma seeking regulation of deemed universities, asked Additional Solicitor-General Gopal Subramaniam to indicate whether there were any guidelines and to come out with  suggestions for regulating foreign universities. It also asked petitioner’s counsel Sanjay Hegde to give his suggestions and posted the case to January 2008.     The petitioner said the ‘Deemed to be University status’ was being sought by institutions that did not have infrastructure and adequately qualified staff. The trend of establishing deemed universities had gained ground. Latest developments in the field of education were being exploited commercially, bypassing safeguards, including approvals by respective State governments and authorities such as the All-India Council for Technical Education, the Medical Council of India and the Dental Council of India. Education ministers of 14 Asian countries to visit Delhi  New Delhi, November 22, 2007 : Education ministers of 14 Asian countries will be in the Indian capital to participate in the Global Literacy Conference next week and promote literacy, especially among women. The two-day global meet beginning on November 29 is being organised by India's Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) and UNESCO.    According to UNESCO, the ministers of education and finance of 14 countries, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan will be part of the conference.   ''The Delhi conference is important for the Indian subcontinent because three highly populated nations, namely, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, continue to face major literacy challenges, including the sheer number of illiterates,'' a UNESCO official said.  ''In addition to a serious gender gap, there is high urban-rural disparity. As a key instrument for lifelong learning, indispensable for effective participation in social and economic life and essential for peace, literacy is a crucial issue in the region.''    The UN body said the countries of South and Southwest Asia have the highest number of illiterates in the world, and ''out of the 388 million adults in this region who cannot read and write 63.5 per cent are women''. The conference in Delhi is part of a series of regional conferences being organised as a follow-up of the White House Conference on Global Literacy held in September 2006. The Delhi conference is the fourth in the series of six regional conferences covering Arab states, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean. The conference is part of a major drive to promote literacy at national  and international levels, the education and cultural body of the UN said. The last three conferences held this year were in Qatar, China and Mali.    The conference aims to foster partnerships among the key stakeholders like decision-makers, civil society organisations, community-based organisations, bilateral and multilateral organisations and private  providers in the field of literacy.   Source: Indo-Asian News Service China is moving rapidly through the field in the higher education race.   London, November 17, 2007 : In an international audience gathered this week in London for the Worldwide Universities Network conference, was informed  how rapidly China is moving through the field in the higher education race. China is now the largest higher education system in the world: it awards more university degrees than the USA and India combined     China is now the largest higher education system in the world: it awards more university degrees than the US and India combined. The rate of university expansion has been beyond anything anyone in the West can easily imagine. University enrolments in China have reportedly risen from under 10% of young people in 1999 to over 21% in 2006, a phenomenally fast expansion.  And this is not just a matter of packing in numbers on undergraduate courses. As recently as 1996, China produced just 5,000 PhD students a year. That was only about half the number in the UK, Japan or India. Since then, China has overtaken every other country in the world except the US in terms of the numbers of doctoral degrees awarded. The numbers have risen to 34,000 in 2006 and, based on current enrolments, this will surge past 50,000 a year in just three or four years, at which point it will overtake the current world leader, the US.  India leading exporter of students to the US  Washington, November 12, 2007: For the sixth successive year, India remained the leading country of origin for students coming to the United States. About 83,333 students enrolled in 2006/2007 year, according to Open Doors: Report on International Educational Exchange published annually by the Institute of International Education with support from the US Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.   Even in the academic year 2005/2006, when there was a brief decline, India has been in the lead since 2001/2002, when the captured the top position from China, which once again was in second place for 2006/2007. The total of Indian students coming to the US this year was up by 9.6 per cent from the previous year, when the number was 76,503, and India dominated with 14.4 per cent of the total of 582,984 international students enrolled in American colleges and universities in the US in 2006/2007, which also increased by 3 per cent over the previous academic year.   Education is  the top priority among middle class families in India  MUMBAI, November 10, 2007:  Education is  the top priority of  India’s middle class families than that of other Asian countries. Among Indian families, with 43% wanting their children to get a master’s degree.  These highlights emerged from a new survey by the brokerage house CLSA titled “Mr. and Mrs. India.” India’s middle class numbers around 300 million, representing 30% of the population, spread across 5,000 towns and cities. The survey finds that middle-class India is slowly shedding its conservative image--more than 70% of nuclear family units have moved out of the traditional joint family households into their own homes. But children continue to be the main focus of families.    “While still conservative, households are increasingly aspiring to a modern lifestyle, and optimism is high,” said CLSA senior research analyst Aniruddha Datta. A similar study was done in Hong Kong and China. The average middle-class family has 4.3 children. An estimated 100% of households have televisions, 91% have mobile phones and 19% own four-wheel vehicles. Half the households experienced growing incomes in the past 12 months, of which one-third enjoyed a rise in excess of 20%. The statistics are a reflection of India’s strong growth--the economy expanded 9.4% for the fiscal year ending in March.  India's education system should go global: Lord Paul    Beijing (PTI) November 7, 2007: India must improve its education system to catch up with China in a globalised world, NRI industrialist and educationist Lord Swraj Paul has said. Lord Paul said the Chinese outlook on education was "far more global than I see in India and their feeling the necessity of more education and better education is far more urgent than in India".    He said India must do more in educating people and in improving education and "not just setting up of 30 more IITs". "It is no use saying we have great IITs. You need to educate the whole people if you want a country which must race towards being a developed one," Lord Paul, founder of the USD 1.5 billion UK-based Caparo Group, told PTI. India has not given education as much attention as it deserved and "I don't think India has realised that education is very globalised now," said Lord Paul, who is also the Chancellor of the universities of Westminister and Wolverhampton.    "Economic development on its own would not produce the results of a better nation. You can have some people getting rich. But to be richness of the country is when all people get better education, more education and health," he said. Stressing that education had become global now, he said: "It was no use training only for India alone. We need to prepare students for a global world, not just for a particular country."  Lord Paul, who was here to attend a seminar organised to discuss how education can underpin economic development in emerging markets and growth economies, said he was very impressed by the Chinese thought process and the importance they were giving to education and educating the masses. "They (Chinese) brought in primary education and higher school education. It is compulsory. They know the quality of teachers has to be improved because it is no use providing facilities and quality of teachers not improving," Lord Paul said.    Pointing out that China had reduced the size of the classes which was one third of that in India, he said they had almost 20 to 25 million people in schools and universities at a time, which was four fold more than the figures five years ago. "I was delighted that they have realised that without education, this kind of progress is not possible. It also made me realise why more money is coming in India into the stock market as compared to industrial investment. Industrial investment creates jobs. Financial industry and stock markets also do but not to the same level (as industrial investment)". Asked if it was a matter of concern that brighter among the younger generation were gravitating towards IT rather than moving to a field where they can contribute more and be more creative, he said "it really does not matter. At the moment, there was a far bigger requirement in the IT sector and people will go where the requirement is, the need is. That is the trend all over the world." "People will go where the jobs are," he added.    Source: PTI

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