Education
Birla Open Minds makes a smart move with hands-on STEM spark in schools
MUMBAI: Plug in and play on! Birla Open Minds is rebooting the way students learn, swapping rote memorisation for robotics and chalkboards for circuits. In a bid to prepare students for the tech-first world, the education group has joined hands with Centrado Tech Solutions to roll out a structured, future-focused STEM programme across its schools.
The initiative will bring hands-on learning in Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and Robotics into classrooms turning students into creators, not just consumers of technology. Aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP), the curriculum is designed for all grades and will use co-branded STEM kits and interactive digital platforms to make science and technology more accessible and far more fun.
Birla Open Minds managing director Nirvaan Birla said, “At Birla Open Minds, we are committed to shaping the leaders of tomorrow by providing an education that keeps pace with the evolving world. This collaboration with Centrado is a testament to our vision of fostering innovation and excellence in learning. By integrating hands-on STEM education into our curriculum, we are ensuring that our students don’t just keep up with technological advancements but become the pioneers of the future.”
Centrado, known for its immersive STEAM-based learning ecosystem, will supply more than just tech. The programme includes teacher training, onboarding support, video-led learning, and real-time assessments, ensuring seamless integration and sustained impact.
Centrado Tech Solutions Pvt. Ltd founder & managing director Anuradha added, “Centrado is proud to collaborate with Birla Open Minds in shaping the future of education through STEM. Our goal is to spark curiosity and enhance problem-solving abilities among students. By integrating AI, IoT, and Robotics, we are enabling the next generation to think critically and embrace technological advancements with confidence.”
What sets the programme apart is its dual model of learning. Students will dive into collaborative, project-based learning in school, while also exploring real-world concepts independently at home. The idea is to give them both structure and freedom, a potent mix for sparking innovation.
In a world where algorithms are shaping everything from playlists to policies, this collaboration aims to shape the next generation of problem-solvers who can code, construct, and creatively navigate complexity. For the students of Birla Open Minds, STEM is no longer just an acronym, it’s a way of thinking.
Education
Abhishek Singh appointed director general of National Testing Agency
Technocrat with deep roots in India’s digital infrastructure push takes charge of the exam body that has faced intense scrutiny
NEW DELHI: India’s beleaguered examination authority has a new boss. Abhishek Singh, currently director general of the National Informatics Centre (NIC), has been appointed director general of the National Testing Agency (NTA), which sits under the Ministry of Education. In a signal of just how seriously the government is treating the role, the post has been temporarily upgraded to the rank and pay of secretary to the government of India.
Singh is not your typical bureaucrat shuffled sideways into a troubled institution. At the NIC, he also held additional charge as additional secretary in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), overseeing artificial intelligence, emerging technologies and the Digital India Bhashini division, while simultaneously serving as chief executive of the India AI Mission. That is a formidable technology portfolio by any measure.
His CV reads like a guided tour of India’s digital public infrastructure. He served as president and chief executive of the National e-Governance Division, managing director and chief executive of Digital India Corporation, chief executive of Karmayogi Bharat, and chief executive of MyGov between 2019 and 2024. Before that, from 2014 to 2017, he was executive director at the Food Corporation of India, where he handled information technology, engineering, storage and, additionally, the North Zone operations and the role of chief vigilance officer.
His field credentials are equally robust. Singh has served in both Nagaland and Uttar Pradesh across multiple tenures, navigating law and order, floods, droughts and communal tensions with equal measure. As principal secretary to the chief minister of Nagaland between 2017 and 2019, he also held charge of urban development, personnel and administrative reforms, and, in 2018, home commissioner. At the grassroots, he built roads, irrigation systems, schools and hospitals, and drove welfare programmes focused on poverty alleviation, education and healthcare.
Singh has also worked alongside international agencies including DFID, UNICEF and WHO, contributing to the Child’s Environment Project in Budaun and the Pulse Polio Eradication Programme in Uttar Pradesh. He has conducted elections at the parliamentary, state assembly and local body levels.
Academically, he is no slouch either. Singh holds a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard Kennedy School, where he was a Mason Fellow, and completed his B.Tech and M.Tech from IIT Kanpur.
Meanwhile, the broader bureaucratic reshuffle sees Bihar cadre IAS officer Chanchal Kumar named the new secretary in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Rohit Kansal of the UT cadre moves to the Rural Development Ministry as special secretary, while IAS officer Vikram Yadav has been appointed director general of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. The outgoing I&B secretary has been reassigned as secretary in the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region.
The NTA needed someone who could rewire both its credibility and its systems. Singh has spent a career doing exactly that.
