Education Congress | Education Awards | Education Exhibition

Ms. Maria Mathai
Advisor (India) to the President, University of Alberta

Recently awarded the Governor General of Canadas Gold Medallion by his Excellency David Johnston for her efforts in promoting Canadian international education, Maria, has over 20 years of experience in the Indian education sector and of that last 9 years has been in International education focused on India-Canada educational promotion. Prior to her current position as Director, M.M Advisory Services, Maria served as the Director of the Canadian Education Centre in India.

As Director of M.M Advisory Services, Maria is regularly invited as a speaker at several education Seminars/ roundtables in India and Canada. Most recently she conducted a session on Indian International Education at the BCCIE Summer Conference at Whistler, Canada and CBIE Annual Conference in Montreal, Canada. She actively contributes to India- Canada educational partnerships through building better awareness of India among Provinces in Canada. She is also an Advisor to the President, University of Alberta in Indian international education sector.

Maria has been counselling for Canada for the last 11 years and has provided numerous training and counselling sessions to schools, colleges and agencies in India. During her tenure as Director, Canadian Education Centre in India from 2005 to 2009, Maria produced the first detailed report on the Indian international education market with a focus on secondary schools titled "India Education Market Report - Current Status & Opportunities". The report was commissioned by the Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development, British Columbia.

Maria was instrumental in setting up education outsourcing model for Centennial College and is now an independent office of Centennial College in India. She was also the official Administrator for the Ontario - Maharashtra Goa scholarship program run by the Ministry of Training Colleges & Universities, Ontario till December 2009.

Maria started her career in the education sector as teacher at Naval Public School, New Delhi and obtained her Bachelor and Masters Degrees at University of Delhi.

Session 6

15:30 - 16:30
Going Global Where Opportunities Are Greatest
Prof. Rajen Harshe, Professor - International Studies, South Asean University

Testimonials

"The next big leap in education can happen only if education is also looked at as an enterprise. We need best practices, scalable models and investment by organised players to achieve this. Once the education market gets consolidated then pan-India outreach can be achieved."

Mr. Amit Gupta, CEO, S. Chand

"In India, the condition of primary education sector is quite good. There are plenty of options available. But the efficiency of the secondary education is very low. In the next 3-5 years we need double the number of secondary schools than we have now. There is an urgent need for increase in financing for senior secondary schools. Government alone cannot fulfill the needs. Hence there is a requirement for private funding."

Mr. Ashok Ganguly, Former Chairman, CBSE

"The rate at which teachers join the profession is much lower than at which they leave. This can be changed only if it is acknowledged that teachers are the creators of knowledge. Managing the performance of teachers is not a small task. There are different kinds of management performance techniques and they should be applied according to the need of the hour. A teacher should be seen as someone who builds capacity. Therefore, it is vital to take into account the needs of the teachers and they should feel responsible rather than taking it as something that has been put as a burden on their head."

Mr. Ashish Rajpal, Founder & CEO, iDiscoveri

"Presently, technology has penetrated only 5% of schools while 95% are still open. The day would not be far when school students would be carrying laptops and notebooks to classrooms. In the next couple of years, almost 15-20 million rupees would be spent on providing laptop and notebooks to school students. The introduction of 3G and Broadband will bring about a change in the landscape of education."

Mr. Shantanu Prakash, Founder, Educomp

"A very good initiative by Franchise India. The Conference provided exposure to very valid and relaistic areas of education, a great platform to hear the view-points of experts in the field. "

Gitanjali Dutta, Brainworks Learning Systems

"Overall well organised conference which covered all aspects of the education sector laying emphasis on the opportunities and challenges. It was 2 full days of good information."

Rangesh Nayar, Director, SWAFE Consultancy

"The Indian Education Congress was an outstanding platform for professionals from various disciplines. It provided an insight into new opportunities and challenges with multiple perspectives which was informative and useful. "

Nanette D'Sa, CEO, Brainworks

"The Indian Education Congress 2011 brought into culmination the best practices of the Education Industry and the most inspiring ideas of individuals with a global perspective. The event was replete with opportunities to interact with eminent speakers and networking with them. It was a process of unlearning many things that were conventional and learning afresh many progressive strategies for a better future in education. Thanks to Franchise India for organising this enriching event!"

Hitesh Hindocha, Strategic Growth Partner, Edify School, Edify Education Pvt Ltd.

"The event was well executed and each speaker presentation was really enriching. This event has definitely helped us in getting to know more about the education space in addition to the prospective clients looking for funding in either their new projects or expanding their current facilities."

Saurabh Goel, Zonal Cluster Head - North, SME, ICICI Bank

"The conference was statistically and presentation-wise perfect. The speakers had a very good energy & provided apt information. The quality of speakers was also very good. "

Rohit Bhardwaj, Chairman & MD , SSR College

Indian Education Show 2014

Indian Education Show 2014