THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Not so far in the future, you may have an opportunity to get a feel of your career before you actually enter into it, thanks to a free access community web portal.
The portal, www.eduworld.net.in, exclusively for education, is to be launched soon by the city-based Eduworld Technologies.
The portal, similar to that of community portals like Orkut and Facebook, is the dreamchild of V.S. Jayakumar, retired professor and former head of the Physics Department of Mar Ivanios College, Thiruvananthapuram.
“Eduworld is a global initiative of experienced academicians and professionals to assure quality in all fields of education. Students can have authentic information from people committed to quality education across the world before they leap into a career or join a course,’’ Jayakumar told ‘Expresso’.
The website would function as an external agency which provides performance and credibility-based rating of educational institutions so that the students can choose the right one.
“We would fix certain parameters to rate institutions. For eg, the qualifications of teachers and their research activities, the present status of the former students of the institution and all. Through the portal, students can also interact with former students and have their expertise also to assess the institution,’’ said Jayakumar, who is also the Chief Consultant of Eduworld Technologies.
According to him, the presence of such a portal would call for healthy competitions among the various educational institutions. ``If we could provide a credible evaluation on institutions, students would always prefer the top-rated ones. Surely, a change will come there and, of course, in the quality of education also,’’ Jayakumar said.
Apart from this, the website will have detailed information regarding various avenues of higher education, specific software which would ease research works and so on.
Jayakumar, who has 30 years of experience in teaching, called for a collective movement in imparting quality education in the State. ``Intelligent youth are the resource of our State. Unfortunately, there is hardly any motivation for excellence. Compared to other countries, the level of education here is low. The education is marks-oriented and students are passing out not as experts. Eduworld would do whatever possible to inspire excellence in education,’’ he said.
As a first phase of this, Jayakumar is planning to launch the initiative at the school-level.
“Career choices made at 10th, 11th and 12th classes decide one’s future. It is irrevocable. So, in line with their intelligence, interests and personality traits, Eduworld would conduct career counselling for youth. For this, online Hope Psychometric Tests would be conducted at the school-level. After identifying the appropriate career, students will be given motivation using qualified professionals,’’ Jayakumar said. As part of this, Eduworld conducted an introductory class at the Nirmala Bhavan Girls Higher Secondary School here on Monday.
Eduworld is also planning to conduct IQ tests at various schools in order to identify gifted children. “Once identified, they would be given proper and quality education to attain their goals,’’ Jayakumar said.
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