Meta (Facebook) Partners with NIESBUD, CBSE and AICTE for 3 Yrs for Skilling Students, Entrepreneurs and Startups in Digital Marketing in 7 Regional Languages

Meta, the parent of social media giant Facebook, has today exchanged 3 Letters of Intent (LoI) with NIESBUD, AICTE and CBSE, to train students, Entrepreneurs, Startups and small-businesses in Digital Marketing. 

The LoIs were inked in a launch event of 3-year partnership between Meta and Ministry of Education, Ministry Skill Development & Entrepreneurship.

The partnership dubbed as “Education to Entrepreneurship: Empowering a generation of students, educators and entrepreneurs”, was launched by Union Minister for Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Mr Dharmendra Pradhan in New Delhi today.

Launched by Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister, the partnership with Meta is a game-changer which will take Digital Skilling to the grassroots and build capacities of India's talent pool, seamlessly connect students, youth, workforce & micro-entrepreneurs, with futuristic technologies and transform our Amrit Peedhi into new-age problem solvers and entrepreneurs.

Speaking at the event, Mr Dharmendra Pradhan said that the initiative launched today is in furtherance to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of making India a skill capital of the world and empowering our Amrit Peedhi.

In furtherance to PM @narendramodi ji’s vision of making India a skill capital of the world and empowering our #AmritPeedhi, launched the ‘Education To Entrepreneurship’ partnership— a joint initiative of @EduMinOfIndia, @MSDESkillIndia and @Meta.

Guided by the tenets of NEP,… pic.twitter.com/BctG1Oca49

— Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) September 4, 2023

Meta’s partnerships with NIESBUD (National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development), CBSE & AICTE will catalyse infinite possibilities for equipping our population with critical digital skills and empowering micro entrepreneurs and small businesses, he added.

NIESBUD is a premier organization of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, engaged in training, consultancy, research and publication in order to promote entrepreneurship and Skill Development in India.

Under the partnership of Meta with NIESBUD, 5 lakh entrepreneurs will get access to digital marketing skills by Meta over the next 3 years. Budding and existing entrepreneurs will be trained in digital marketing skills using Meta platforms in 7 regional languages to begin with. Three short films were also showcased highlighting the details about the partnerships.

The entrepreneurs,through NIESBUD, will be trained with the use of Meta platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, in 7 regional languages.

Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Mr Rajeev Chandrasekhar, said, "Government’s focus on preparing our youth and workforce in these rapidly transforming times, to be equipped with the skills to succeed and play important roles in the evolving landscape of technology and the global economy. Digital skills, while representing skilling and entrepreneurship in the innovation ecosystem, more importantly represents a bridge between lakhs of small rural, micro and self-employed entrepreneurs, enabling them to expand, grow and succeed."

In a video message Meta President, Global Affairs, Sir Nick Clegg, thanked Shri Dharmendra Pradhan for his support in bringing the partnership together between the two most important sectors of the workforce, education and skilling. India’s talent base and rapid digital adoption make it the perfect place for us to invest in emerging technologies, he added. He looked forward to Meta’s contribution in empowering India’s students, young people and entrepreneurs, with significant focus on skill development for Indian startups and businesses, having worked closely with India during its G20 Presidency in areas such as education, job creation, skill development and user safety.

1M1B in Partnership Meta Platform Inc Launches Digital Nagrik Campaign to Create Awareness About Women’s Digital Safety

1M1B creates various online dialogues and panels for empowered female influencers and teachers from across India on International Women’s Day

Over 60% of the pledges were taken by females during this social media campaign- Digital Nagrik

1M1B (One Million for One Billion), has launched the Digital Nagrik Campaign, supported by Meta Platform Inc, to create awareness about women’s safety online, aligning the Digital Nagrik campaign with this year’s International Women's Day. The theme of International Women's Day is "DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality". 1M1B is hosting various online dialogues and panel with women influencers and teachers on March 7 and 8 with an aim to advance equality in the digital sphere and empower women online.

Launched on Safer Internet Day, the Digital Nagrik Campaign has witnessed huge support from women and girls from across India. Women and girls have taken more than 60% of the 15,000 pledges taken digitally so far. Digital Nagrik is a social media campaign and a pledge that aims to foster a culture of digital safety and create a safer and more inclusive internet space. This campaign aligns with the central government’s objective to ensure an open, safe, trusted and accountable internet for its citizens.

On International Women's Day, a panel will be hosted on Twitter space that will be focus on discussions around fostering a culture of digital safety and promoting a secure and inclusive online environment. Influencers will highlight the digital gap between genders, the importance of digital education, and the urgency to combat online harassment of women and girls.

The Digital Nagrik Campaign is led by CBSE teachers and academic advisors and managed by 1M1B, India’s largest organization that is developing and mobilizing India’s future-ready technology workforce. Digital Nagrik will develop a community of responsible digital citizens who are aware of their digital rights and obligations. 1M1B has already engaged over 4 lakh teachers and 11 lakh students on digital citizenship, well-being, and cyber safety, and plans to engage over 1 million people through the Digital Nagrik pledge this year.

Digital Nagrik – Time to create a safer cyberspace for Women and girls

According to data released by the National Crime Records Bureau, the number of cybercrime incidents in 2021 has increased by 18.4% since 2019, but the number of cases involving women has increased at a much steeper 28.4% rate. Data showed that 10,730 incidents, or 20.2% of the 52,974 incidents reported in 2021, were reported as crimes against women. Cyberbullying, cyberstalking, defamation, morphing, and the creation of false profiles are the most common cyber-crimes committed against women. Among the top 3 cities to receive complaints around these crimes were New Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai, with school and college students forming 60% of these complaints.

The Digital Nagrik campaign will raise awareness about the prevalence of online harassment against women and provide tips and resources to empower women and girls to combat it.

Manav Subodh- Founder of 1M1B said that “In a world that depends more and more on technology, criminal activity related to electronic and internet platforms tends to rise, with women becoming the easiest victims. To punish such criminals with severe measures, the law must go above and beyond. There are advantages and disadvantages to technology, which can be used for good or bad. Increased cybercrime awareness and knowledge, privacy protection, and legal support are necessary to combat cybercrime against women. At an astounding 85%, women and girls are more likely than men to experience online abuse. The Digital Nagrik campaign aims to increase awareness of the prevalence of harassment of women online and equip women and girls with the tools they need to stop it. The Digital Nagrik campaign is part of the Digital Citizenship curriculum created by teachers and introduced by 1M1B in CBSE schools supported by Meta. It’s important to teach about online safety at an early age, right in the high schools so that today’s youth are made aware. We can see that 60% of pledges are signed by females, which shows the need for awareness and education dialogues on this issue.”

The Digital Nagrik pledge has been available for signing at www.iamdigitalnagrik.com since February 7, 2023.

About 1M1B Foundation: 

Established in 2014, 1M1B (One Million For One Billion) is a United Nations accredited organization focussed on social innovations and creating a future ready tech workforce.

1M1B engages and enables youth to become future-ready problem solvers creating real-world impact. By undergoing 1M1B programs that are based on a unique 4.3.2.1 activation framework, youth acquire critical skill sets, and mind-sets toolsets to access the jobs of tomorrow. Areas of focus include digital technologies (AI, AR, VR), digital creativity, digital citizenship and 4th industrial revolution skills like problem-solving, flexibility, empathy, dealing with failures and collaboration.

1M1B programmes are available in over 3,000 schools across India, with over 334,000 youth and 125,000 teachers trained to date. Over 250 villages are served by 1M1B. 150 Indian youth presented their work at the United Nations in New York, and 1M1B helped to create over 150 young entrepreneurs.

1M1B exists to activate 1 million youth who will impact 1 billion people, creating a world with balanced prosperity.

CBSE Employs BlockChain Tech To Go Paperless

Image ~ https://cbse.certchain.nic.in

Educational board CBSE is using the blockchain technology to keep exam board results as well as documents secure & temper proof. 

CBSE has established "Academic {BlockChain} Documents" (ABCD) using the Blockchain Technology to record its academic documents, by linking them like a chain. This Chain records the Academic Documents in a distributed manner in multiple locations. Academic Documents in this chain are secured, tamper proof and immutable. Attempt to tamper the data is not possible as all the distributed locations need to be updated as per the agreement to synchronize the data between them.

For creating ABCD, CBSE collaborated with the Centre of Excellence for Blockchain Technology of National Informatics Centre (NIC) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

At present, CBSE’s academic documents of the academic years 2019, 2020 & 2021 for class X and XII (both Main & Compt. Exam) are in the Blockchain and gradually CBSE would append academic documents for the previous years.

Further, as Academic {BlockChain} Documents(ABCD)’ provides the mechanism for the educational institutes and companies to verify online the details of the claims of the applicants, who apply for the higher education or job, its stakeholders, besides students, i.e. it can be used by Educational Institutes, Employers and Financial Institutes, by integrating the systems with plug-in interfaces.

How to Use ABCD

1. All users viz. students, educational institutions, employers can verify academic documents by visiting https://cbse.certchain.nic.in or CBSE Main website https://cbse.gov.in.
2. Click on “Verify” menu option on top menu bar available on home page.
3. Select the class from the pop up. Input basic details like Roll No, Date of Birth (in case of Class X only), Exam Year, Exam Type and Student Name (partial) and press ‘Go’ to confirm.
4. Once the details are validated, the marks statement (available presently) of the student is displayed.          

CBSE Partner IBM To Train Class 12 Teachers in Artificial Intelligence and Information Technology

Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has recently announced its decision to conduct IBM AI teacher training. This teacher training will be done for CBSE class 12th in the current academic session of 2021-2022. The innovative programme is a capacity building programme in Information Technology and Artificial intelligence (AI) for the teachers of CBSE Affiliated schools. 

This is a joint initiative of the CBSE, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, YuWaah-UNICEF, and a few other stakeholders.

The IBM AI Teacher Training will be for three days for each session. It is free of cost training programme and the teachers will not have to pay any fee while doing the CBSE registration for this programme. There will be a total of five batches, and the training module will be based on the Class 12 curriculum.

The online awareness and capacity building programme for classes 9 to 10 teachers is scheduled today, on May 31, 2021, at 10 am.

Interested teachers can get themselves registered. Selected teachers will get training agenda and invitation links through their email. Teachers may visit the official site to obtain more information on IBM AI Teacher Training for Class XII for session 2021-2022.

CBSE Launches AI Platform For Students

India's national education board, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), in collaboration with Intel, has launched the AI platform -- AI Student Community (AISC).

Open for students from across the country -- from CBSE and non-CBSE Schools, AI Student Community (AISC) has been envisaged to help build a digital-first mindset and support an AI-Ready generation.

Students can learn skill through webinars with Intel AI certified coaches and experts.

The main aim of this AI platform is to provide a space where students can come together for learning and sharing experiences. As per updates from CBSE, the AISC will help in students in creating and spreading awareness about Artificial Intelligence in an inclusive manner.

Besides, there will also be a 'AI Projects' repository of the AI-enabled social impact solutions built by students as part of CBSE and Intel’s AI outreach programs. Students can share their videos and post moderation, those can be uploaded in repository.

In 2019, CBSE had introduced AI as a skill subject for students from grade 8 upwards with the objective to develop an ‘AI-Ready Generation’ – youth who can understand and apply AI to solve local and global problems. Since then, more than 4926 schools have affiliated to include AI as a skill subject enabling India’s future workforce to become AI-ready.

TATVA - A Premier CBSE School in Hyderabad with Remarkable Resources

TATVA GLOBAL SCHOOL, Hyderabad is a leading school that helps students to outshine in all of - academics, sports, and community services. Apart from imparting quality education and inspiring budding learners to participate in numerous co-curricular activities, this prestigious school of Hyderabad supports in constructing a faithful, honest, responsible character with high ethical values, simultaneously improving socialisation. It is an ideal stop, offering incredible learning affair for inquisitive minds. Unquestionably, TATVA is one of the best schools in Hyderabad. Established by one of the Hyderabad’s leading educators and its -Director, Usha Thanneru, this school has emerged as one of the finest schools in a very short span. She lays a great emphasis on fusing classical and contemporary methods of teaching by including latest technologies with a fundamental focus on bestowing values. She is a very enthusiastic, sincere and committed educationist.
 
T. Usha, an expert in the area of academics - is also the Principal of this esteemed establishment. She works passionately, round the clock as its chief academician (Director of academics). An ardent sports lover, she recognises sports should be learnt and practiced on par with studies. She wants students to pay heed to their physical health while working on the cognitive development. With her rich experience, she aims to build an equilibrium among the regulations and controls for a more robust school experience. Her goal is to create a learning environment with the help of resources, suitable for learning. With qualified, dedicated educators, and by eliminating any negative influences, she is confident of success on this magnificent 11-acre campus. She is hopeful that the students of Tatva Global School will value diversity and cultivate open-mindedness and respect for life.
 
Usha Thanneru is thankful to her team of skilled and experienced Teachers, administrative staff who have immense potential and dedication. She is also grateful to her committed and devoted director partners who work tirelessly for the development of students as well as the school as a whole. She wants parents to be a part of the TATVA family to mould the future of the young learners, the subsequent contemporaries of global citizens.
 
This prestigious academy which is one of the best schools in Kukatpally area, encourages the students to be exceptionally good in the areas of their choice. The wholeheartedly passionate educators are responsible for sowing the seeds of dignity and honesty in every kid. The student-teacher relationship is established as the Teachers spend quality time with students over lunch, carrying out activities and numerous other initiatives. This organisation strives to generate citizens with high moral values. To give rise to global citizens, the think tank of this school emphasises on the three Cs, which are Character, Confidence and Communication. 
 
An astute Business Strategist, insightful technologist and expert financial strategist - Viswanath Sivaswamy is the visionary in-charge of the concept, structure, strategies and philosophy of education at Tatva. He was instrumental in bring the Founders Team together. He designs / defines the path for the future of Tatva and envisions a community of 100,000 families to be associated with Tatva in the future. As the Director and CEO of this Global School, he is effectively builds the blocks and lays the foundation for the growth of the school. Around 2101, he drifted away from the booming technology industry and started thinking of working in the Education industry. He believes that quality education combined with world class infrastructure can be made affordable to the middle class citizens of this country. According to Mr. Sivaswamy, a child’s initial learning experiences have a great impression on their all-round character of the being. Catch them young to create people with a great character – is how he believes in. It is this faith that inspires him to pave a path of Remarkable Resources for students to learn and shine so they can have a definite influence on society and make effective judgments in life.

The Fantastic Features of TATVA
This school boasts of a humongous campus that envisions a design that eventually is age-appropriate spaces. The campus and the school buildings are well designed keeping in mind the suitability of the students of separate age groups. These features have brought the school admiration and accolades from parents, Teachers and the society at large. Since its inception TATVA GLOBAL SCHOOL has won many prizes for the best CBSE campus award, and is assuredly one of the best CBSE schools in Hyderabad.
 
TATVA houses small local libraries inside the classrooms so that students will reach out for books at all times. The unique in-class libraries along with ta large central library with a fabulous collection of books, dictionaries, atlases, encyclopedias, newspapers, magazines, educational DVDs, audio media and other study materials for references assist the budding minds to develop an interest to read and learn.
 
This establishment provides highly equipped, advanced and safe laboratories for practical based learning so that each student inquires and investigates things that are explained within classrooms. A specialist instructor supervises the laboratories and mentors the students so that each one contributes and takes part in active learning. The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) laboratories are designed in such a way that it is bound to attract young learners.
 
The sporting infrastructure includes a huge indoor swimming pool 25 meters long and with 6-lanes is capable of conducting swimming competitions. It accommodates 400 people spectator seating as well. A large Indoor badminton stadium with four world class synthetic courts and 600 viewer seating is a cynosure to the eye for everyone. In addition to these, there are separate courts and fields for outdoor games like football, handball, volleyball, Lawn-tennis, Basketball and Kho-Kho. Physical activities rejuvenate a tired mind and influence a child’s development. TATVA believes that physical activities are as important as studies. The school curriculum incorporates a mandatory 2-periods of physical activities (Ninety minutes) each day for each student. The professional PE Teachers and Coaches are capable of spotting kids with talent and guide them to take up sports as a career.
 
Shahid Ali Khan is a whole-time director and member of the board at TATVA. He is deeply involved in the design of the school campus. He has contributed to conceiving the outlook around sports and activities. Being associated with the education industry for several years, he loves children frolicking and relishing games and takes responsibility to provide supervised environments for their well-being in a secured setting. He also works for underprivileged pupil and contributes to their education.
 
Katamreddy Rangadham, another full-time director of TATVA oversees Administration and Operations of the school. He executes a vital role in keeping the organisation at the top most position. Security, Safety, Hygiene, delicious dining and Transport are his core responsibilities. This renowned institute which is definitely one of the best international schools in Hyderabad not only provides education and experiences but also makes it easier as well as possible for its pupils to achieve accomplishment in their occupation. Here, a student’s opinion is appreciated and value is given to his decision. Thus education becomes worthwhile at TATVA GLOBAL SCHOOL. For more information regarding this school visit www.tatvaglobalschool.com
 
Social Media Handles:
 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tatvaglobalschool
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TatvaSchoolHYD
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/school/tatva-global-school/ 

Microsoft to Encrypt and Digitally Distribute CBSE Exam Papers; May Use Aadhaar Authentication

In March this year, national level board of education in India, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), came under severe attack from students across the country when the economics paper of the Class XII and math paper of Class X were leaked in March and a re-examination was ordered.

Back then, a seven-member committee was formed who then recommended a number of measures to prevent paper leaks and the human resource development (HRD) ministry of India studied the suggestions. CBSE also announced that it is contemplating to stop printing question papers at their end and instead send paper CDs to the exam centres, just an hour before the exam.

Now, in an outcome above series of events, CBSE has partnered with Microsoft India to digitally encrypt question papers for Class X and XII examinations to enhance security and seamless distribution of the papers. The entire process can be digitally monitored using a software solution that’s built on Windows 10 and Office 365.

CBSE will use Office 365 to add two-layered security to question papers and digitally distribute them across examination centers. Office 365 is a line of subscription services offered by Microsoft, as part of the Microsoft Office product line in its Windows operating system.

Interestingly, Aadhaar identification system, which itself is in continuous doubts and scrutiny from security experts across the globe, can be used for authentification of students, told Anil Bhansali, Managing Director, Microsoft India (R&D) and Corporate Vice President, Cloud and Enterprise, to news agency IANS in a telephonic interaction.

However, Bhansali also added, "The system allows various authentification process. For example, it can be OTP (one-time password) based or biometric based. It is up to the clients what two authentification process they want to choose,"

Also Read - Digital Transformation To Add $154 Billion To India's GDP By 2021 - Microsoft

Notably, the exam encryption and distribution solution to be implemented was successfully tested as a pilot project in the recently held Class X compartmental examinations, across 487 examination centers with approximately 4,000 students.

The Controller of Examination can track the entire process using a software solution built on Windows 10 and Office 365. The overall process was automated to be highly secure with encryption, two-factor authentication and access to download the exam papers at the examination center only 30 minutes prior to start time.

The solution leverages features in Office 365 to encrypt and watermark the papers. The watermark has the individual center’s code imprinted on it which allows for localization and traceability in the eventuality of a paper leak. A CBSE administrator initiates the distribution of exam papers, which results in the generation of emails to the respective centers with a link to OneDrive, a file-hosting service operated by Microsoft, where an exam paper specific to the exam center can be downloaded. This digitization process saves significant time and cost for exam administrators due to online paper generation, automated delivery process and reduction in approval cycles.

Commenting on the partnership Anil Bhansali, Corporate Vice President, Cloud & Enterprise, Managing Director, Microsoft India (R&D) Private Limited said, “A strong education ecosystem is key to our nation’s development and Microsoft and CBSE are deeply committed to digitally transform the sector. Innovative implementation of technology has the potential to solve some of the most pressing issues faced by the sector. The success of this partnership with CBSE is proof of that potential. I am confident we are well on the way towards a digitally empowered education ecosystem.”

For the pilot test, multiple mock trials were conducted before the Class X compartmental examination date, with the entire CBSE team including various exam centers along with Microsoft experts to ensure seamless adoption and familiarity with the process. The solution was deployed by CBSE without a security breach.

Widespread adoption of this solution can transform the education sector and essentially change the way students in India take their exams.

Microsoft is working closely with public and private institutions to help modernize education, impart ICT skills training and provide low or no cost technology that helps students with immersive learning, educators with engaging teaching methods, and administrators with efficient management tools.

Source - Microsoft News Center India | References - Gadgets360

[Top Image - 7cNews.in]

CBSE To Introduce New Entrepreneurship Course and Case Studies on Flipkart, Ola

In order to sow the seeds of entrepreneurship in the minds of Indian children while they're young, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is considering including Indian Startup ecosystem's success stories like Flipkart, Ola, BigBasket andOYO Rooms etc. into their curriculum.

Recently, CBSE joined hands with Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII), a Gandhinagar-based national premier entrepreneurial training institute, to bring together a working group that will be brainstorming to create an educational module and a teacher training programme centred on entrepreneurship for Indian students as a vocational course. The working group has been instructed to wrap up their observations and submit a report on the same before the end of the year.

In a statement given by Dr Sunil Shukla, director, EDII to Economic Times on their latest collaboration with CBSE, he said that EDII has taken the responsibility of providing hand-holding support to schools on curriculum, content, pedagogy of teaching and evaluation besides having substantial focus on live business projects. He further added that, the whole aim behind the initiative is to garner the education system's emphasis on institutionalisation of entrepreneurship education in CBSE schools.

For the unversed, in India, CBSE currently has a system of having five-plus-one subjects, where one subject is an elective. The system is applicable for both, the secondary (class 10) and higher secondary (class 11th and 12).

As of today, CBSE is providing students with 28 vocational courses options to choose from. Out of these 28, one of them is entrepreneur vocational course. Unfortunately, currently, out of the 19,000 CBSE schools that India has overall today, only 512 schools are providing the choice of the entrepreneurial vocational course to their students. This figure cries the sorry state of the country's undisciplined educational system.

According to RK Chaturvedi, chairman, CBSE,in spite of having great demand from both students and parents, CBSE schools aren't able to provide the course mainly due to a lack of readily available educational modules and trained teaching staff. By collaborating with EDII, CBSE is hoping to improve the course's state in Indian education system.

Through the entrepreneurial vocational course, CBSE aims to inculcate entrepreneurial values, innovational temperament and inspire young minds in the country to think beyond the box and encourage them to explore opportunities in the entrepreneurship and technology domain to give birth to their own unique startups.