IET India launches Faraday India Programme

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), a UK based professional body and one of the world's largest multi-disciplinary professional societies of engineers today unveiled the India edition of Faraday Programme and elected Mr Yogesh Kochhar (Ex Director, Strategic Engagements – Microsoft India, Founder, myautobiography.in) as the Chairman of the Committee.Mr Suresh Reddy (Director, SRF - Foundation) and Mr Deepak Jolly (VP – Public affairs & Communication, Coca Cola) will be the Vice Chairmen.

IET Faraday is a longstanding programme, run in the UK by the IET aimed at providing free of cost teaching resources along with teacher enrichment programmes to school teachers.

Mr Yogesh Kochhar, Ex Director, Strategic Engagements – Microsoft India and Chairman – IET Faraday India Committee said, "Indian system of education is sadly only consumptive at best. Students are not encouraged to be creative, curriculums rule and out of the box thinking becomes a casualty. The act of discovery does not lie in looking for new lands, it lies in looking with new eye. India is a 2Trn USD economy growing at 5% annually. That means that of the 100 Bn that will get inducted in the economy no more than 2-3% of which will go towards salaries and the rest accounting for fresh introductions of cement, steel, FMCG etc. The problem is in our face with 3 Million STEM graduates, even if 25% of them got hired they would at best get a job that will earn 2000 USD p.a."

The IET Faraday India Programme aims to create an ecosystem which encourages curiosity, questioning of the status quo among both students and teachers to fuel passion for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).  A pilot has been announced in 10 schools across India. The pilot is focused towards exploring the pedagogy, resources and channels to find the best delivery mechanism for the IET Faraday India Programme.

Mr. Rajaram Sharma Joint Director,  NCERT - CIET commented, “CREATING is a fundamental right of every learner. Creating is the interaction with knowledge and the people who create it, providing the canvas for experimental learning. This enhances the capabilities of individuals to make meaning of, critically address problems and innovate on. STEM education is the means to realise this goal.”

National Repository of Open Education Resources (NREOER) has principally come on board to support this initiative.

The IET has also associated with NIIT University to design and deliver the teacher’s training and also to provide an in-depth study on the project. This teacher enrichment programme will aim at empowering the teachers and  deliver the pilot.

Coca Cola Foundation and SRF Foundation have joined hands with the IET for this initiative and have helped identify some schools where the pilot would begin.  The pilot will help gain critical insights on how this program needs to be delivered/ customized so as to make it effective for Indian schools. The 8 schools selected so far for pilot are

• Govt. Girls Middle School, Salamba, Mewat, Haryana.
• Govt. Middle School, Kherla, Mewat, Haryana.
• Govt. Sr. Secondary School, Kawarsika, Mewat, Haryana.
• GMS & GHS, Amrol, Gwaliar, MP.
• Shri PJ Chadda Janta Vidyalaya Higher Secondary School, Dahej, Gujarat
• Mahabodhi Academy, Leh
• Vasant Valley, School, Gurgaon
• Millennium International School, Mohali, Punjab

While sharing his views on this development Mr Deepak Jolly, VP – Public affairs & Communication, Coca Cola said,"The Support My School campaign led by Coca Cola India & other partners recently achieved a key milestone of reforming and enabling 600 schools across India. The response has been encouraging and we look forward to reaching the 1,000 schools target soon. The IET Faraday India Programme will add a new dimension to our efforts to wherein the teaching and learning resources will be used in some of the schools we work with. I feel our mission to touch the lives of nearly 3.5 lakhs students in India will get more exciting with this initiative." 

The IET Faraday Committee:

• Mr. Yogesh Kochhar (Ex Director, Strategic Engagements – Microsoft India,  Founder, myautobiography.in)-Chairman – IET Faraday India Committee
• Mr. Suresh Reddy (Director,  SRF - Foundation) – Vice Chairman- IET Faraday India Committee
• Mr. Deepak Jolly (VP – Public affairs & Communication, Coca Cola)  - Vice Chairman- IET Faraday India Committee
• Dr. Swaroop Rawal (Member Central Advisory Board of Education)
• Mr. S.C.Tripathi (Former Secretary - Department of Education)
• Mr. Rajaram Sharma (Joint Director,  NCERT - CIET)
• Mr. Deepak Jolly (VP – Public affairs & Communication, Coca Cola)
• Mrs. Deepti Sawhaney (Head, ICT Initiatives – Universal Learn Today)
• Mr. Lokesh Mehra (Director – Education Services, Symantec Corporation)
• Mr. Anurag Pratap Singh (Director – Community Outreach, Capgemini)
• Prof. Vijay Mandke (Founding Professor, NIIT University)
• Mr. Ajay Kapoor (Sr. Vice President, MGRM)
• Mr. Shekhar Sanyal (Director & Country Head, IET India)