High point: Students can savour the beauty of the Swiss Alps while studying at the Glion Institute of Higher Education (below)

Students in Calcutta can now be a part of the famed Swiss hospitality industry. The Les Roches International School of Hotel Management and the Glion Institute of Higher Education in Switzerland are offering students from the city a chance to join the rapidly growing global travel and hospitality sector. Representatives of the two hospitality schools have been visiting every year and, over the last four years, more than 150 Indian students have joined Les Roches or Glion to pursue an international hospitality management degree. The two schools recently held a seminar in Calcutta.

“The traditional Indian view of the hospitality sector has undergone a huge change. Indian students educated at Les Roches and Glion find excellent career opportunities in India as well as in Europe, Asia, West Asia and North America,” says Pimo Mazurczak, regional admission director, Glion and Les Roches.

The two institutes offer hospitality education through a combination of carefully planned hands-on exercises designed to instil management competencies and the study of a wide range of academic subjects like general education, management theory and professional internships.

Les Roches and Glion have an international faculty and student body with over 80 nationalities represented on each campus. Both schools provide a structured and safe educational environment to develop the full potential of each student on both personal and professional levels.

Glion offers a range of hospitality management programmes in the fields of hotel management, event, sport and entertainment management. It also offers specialisation in marketing, finance and human resources. Les Roches is affiliated to the Swiss Hotel Association and offers study opportunities in Marbella in Spain and Chicago, the US.

CALCUTTA

Study green

The world is chanting the go green mantra. But do we ever consider the amount of carbon produced in the sphere of education? Be it travelling to campuses, the paper used in textbooks or energy consumption, every day we are increasing our carbon footprint. Online education is one of the most effective ways by which an institution can reduce this.

Studies by the Environmental Institute and UK’s Design Innovation Group (DIG) validate the environmental impact of the higher education sector and laud the “potential of the Internet and other e-learning methods to radically reduce energy consumption and emissions”. The DIG study states that distance learning courses consume nearly 90 per cent less energy and produce 85 per cent less carbon dioxide emissions than conventional campus courses.

The scenario is no different in India. By logging on instead of commuting to a classroom, you can do your part to conserve resources and make the world a better, greener place. Virtual education helps in making education more accessible to students and is also a lot easier on Mother Nature. Moreover, students are not limited to campuses within a 50-mile radius.

The online format offers access to speciality programmes by building a global community. One such platform, http://www.wiziq.com, provides access to the best of online courses and contributes towards the go green movement.

MUMBAI

Aim high

Today, India is not just a global hub for outsourcing but a lucrative business destination. This provides ample opportunity to Indian B-schools to generate thought leadership, new ideas, theories and practices for every class and segment. This year, the Association of Indian Management Schools (AIMS) selected “nurturing thought leadership through management education” as the theme for its 20th annual convention.

Discussions were also held on themes such as India — The Knowledge Capital, Leadership Development at the Grassroots Level, The Innovation Imperative, Expectations from Business Schools.

The annual convention saw the coming together of speakers from diverse spheres — corporate honchos, management gurus, deans of educational institutes and directors of companies. K.V. Kamath, managing director and CEO, ICICI Bank Ltd, inaugurated the convention and Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, was the valedictory chief guest.

On this occasion AIMS announced several awards such as the Ravi J. Mathai Award for exemplary contribution to the academic and corporate world, the Ramaswamy P. Aiyer Best Young Teacher Award, Best Case Study Presentation Award, ICFAI Best Teacher Award, J.L. Batra Best Teacher Award and Best Student Paper Award.

SINGAPORE

Golden triangle

The Global Indian International School (GIIS) recently inaugurated its third campus in Singapore in the presence of A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the former president of India. Witnessed by over 1,500 students, parents, faculty members and distinguished guests, Kalam garlanded a statue of Mahatma Gandhi and unveiled the school’s foundation stone.

GIIS follows the Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE) curriculum and combines it with the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE), University of Cambridge. The Balestier campus offers specialised infrastructure and state-of-the-art classrooms for students of kindergarten to grade 5. GIIS Balestier currently has a student population of 1,100.

CALCUTTA

In memoriam

The Rajiv Gandhi Akshay Urja Diwas was held at the Bharatiyam Cultural Multiplex, Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre (EZCC), Calcutta. The event saw the participation of students and teachers alike, from schools and technical colleges across West Bengal. The event was organised by the West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency (WBREDA) and EZCC in association with the Vivekananda Institute of Environment Management (VIEM).

While the day’s programme kicked off with melodious notes played by Arindam Acharya, the speakers concentrated on issues like energy conservation, exploration of alternative renewable energy sources like nuclear, solar and biomass energy. Sit-and-draw competitions, model making sessions, extempore and quiz contests were also held.

Tasneem Sayeed

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