BlackBerry ties up with EdServ for mobile education

Eyeing leadership status in the mobile education space, Chennai-based education support services company EdServ has tied-up with BlackBerry to provide online education content on smartphones. EdServ’s wide range of educational content on its flagship education portal, http://www.Lampsglow.Com, will now be available in an application, ‘HumThum App’, in the BlackBerry Apps Store of BlackBerry smartphones worldwide, said EdServ Chairman and CEO S. Giridharan.

“Through this tie-up with BlackBerry, we will provide the entire online education content that includes tuition, academics, skill development and test prep services on the BlackBerry smartphone,” he told PTI here. EdServ is targeting a customer base of one crore and revenues of Rs. 200 crore (Rs. 2 billion) from mobile learning services within the next three years and is eyeing leadership status in the mobile education space, he said.

EdServ’s ‘HumThum app’ has a PDF converter that will change the BlackBerry smartphone into a mobile scanner or a photocopier. HumThum app also has a ‘Talking Dictionary’ that will provide pronunciation and the meaning of any English word.

On the overall growth proje ctions for EdServ, he said the company expects to register a 50 per cent growth in revenues this year and is targeting to end the year with revenues of Rs. 180 crore (Rs. 1.8 billion), compared to Rs. 122 crore (Rs. 1.22 billion) last year. It expects to maintain profitability at 30 per cent of the topline and is targeting a profit after tax of Rs. 55 crore (Rs. 550 million) this year. EdServ expects 100 per cent growth in customer traffic on its portal, http://www.Lampsglow.Com, this year, he said. The customer base was also expected to more than double this year from the existing customer base of 150,000, he said.

Answering a query about investment plans, Giridharan said the company was finalising plans to raise capital for ongoing expansion and infrastructure development and the funds could be raised through Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds and GDRs to be rolled out by the middle of August this year.

Source: http://www.smartinvestor.in

IIM-Shillong plans to introduce Law courses

In a unique experiment, Indian Institute of Management-Shillong (IIM-S) is looking to introduce courses in law. The course modules are being discussed and aspects like a one-year diploma or a two-year masters course are being explored. IIM Shillong is in talk with a prominent law university for rolling out this courses and memorandum of understanding with the university will be inked soon.

IIM Shillong Director Ashoke K. Dutta said, “Such courses are there in Germany. We are also discussing with some law universities and exploring the possibilities of having such courses. This course will come handy for judicial officers and managers.”

A senior official of IIM who did not want be quoted explained that this is a new concept. “We will have to recruit faculties for this course. There is scope and I feel there will be enough takers. Management institutes imparting one year diploma in law are doing well in foreign countries. We are yet to finalise the intake of the students for this course.”

He pointed that as managers there are people who want to have working knowledge regarding the law of the land especially commercial and business law. On the other hand, there are many judicial officers working for corporates and want to understand the management principles, so this course will cater to both these groups.

Even graduates in law and business can take this course. Hirendra Kashyap, a practicing lawyer in Guwahati High Court opined that it will open enormous opportunities. “Managers and lawyers engaged in corporate sector stand to gain from this.” Ananya Das, a final year student of graduation added it will be a great idea to study such a course under the IIM brand. “When we go to companies to work at least we must be aware of some laws affecting us as an employee.”

Every year, hundreds of students from the region move to South India, Pune and New Delhi to study law. Migration from the Northeast to these cities has increased by 12 times, with over 415,000 people from the region leaving over the past six years.

In 2005, this figure stood at 34,000 but in the past six years, it is on an average increasing annually at 13.62%. According to a study of 66.35% of North Easterners migrate for higher studies, out of them, 78.15% for graduate studies, 11.48% for engineering and managerial degrees, 6.80% for research and PhD and 3.57 per cent for medical studies.

Shantikam Hazarika, educationist and former Director of Guwahati-based Assam Institute of Management felt it will be really nice if mangers well versed in law get into the administration of judicial system. “However, I doubt if this course will attract enough students.”

Source: The Economic Times, July 22, 2011

B-schools revamp courses to make graduates industry-ready

Driven by the changes in the corporate needs, Indian business schools are considering change in its curriculum. Indian business schools will together attempt at changing the course curriculum, which was last tweaked by some of them in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial meltdown. This is the first time that B-schools will jointly brainstorm on curriculum.

A few institutes, including the IIMs (Indian Institutes of Management), introduced subjects like ethics and social-cultural environment two years ago when MBA education was under fire for causing the sub-prime crisis and later failing to contain the global recession. Now more and more companies are picking up grads with on-field experience, sending institutes into a huddle for a long-term revamp plan.

Some 65 representatives from various 30 B-schools (including six IIMs) and some companies will meet at a conference on Friday to kick-off what is termed as a process to decide the road ahead for management education in India. “Roadmap that emerges from the conference will be shared with Indian B-Schools to help them reformulate their curricula,” said IIM-A faculty Vijaya Sherry Chand who is a member of the conference’s organising committee.

In February, Harvard Business School said it would move away from its case-study approach and focus more on ethics and team work. The changes are aimed at creating leaders of competence and character, rather than those with connections and credentials.

An IIM-C faculty said that the study is being finalised and there is a need to address issues like what type of skill sets do recruiters need. “We are also thinking of recruiters’ perspective for fresh candidates and experienced candidates. We will discuss about the weightage given to on-field experience and classroom education. The discussions will initially lead to a re-look at the current curriculum and it will impact our future curriculum,” he added.

Source: The Economic Times, July 22, 2011