New Delhi Apr 23 PTI Oxford University Press OUP India has launched a campaign to foster love of reading among childrenThe REaD campaign is designed to support students teachers and parents to come together as a community to help children read engage and develop an OUP India statement saidOUP India Managing Director Sumanta Datta said the purpose of REaD campaign is to create an enabling ecosystem that supports and encourages young readersOur vision is to be a part of the national mission of National Education Policy 2020 and equip learners with reading skills so that they become motivated readers of quality content and thrive in the 21st century as lifelong learners he saidReading allows children to embark on a journey of imagination and creativity and transport themselves to locations and times that are sometimes beyond the realm of the physical world he addedOUP India had also conducted a panel discussion on the importance of reading in which educationalists publishers animators and writers participatedThese panellists from India and the UK shared their views on the importance of inculcating reading habits at a young age as well as suggestions on enabling students to grow into avid readersAmong those who participated included CBSE director skill education and training Biswajit Saha educationalist-quizmaster Barry OBrien Benita Sen director primary literacy at OUP UK Andrea Quincey and Mallika Ghosh associate director products at OUP IndiaQuincey said like any habit reading also has to be slowly and consistently introduced into a childs routine as an exciting hobby and not a chore adding the REaD campaign aims to help parents teachers and students develop these good reading habits to unlock every childs true potentialThrough this campaign OUP will try to empower the community of young readers with sharp comprehension abilities as well as sustainable reading and writing skills by encouraging the use of both printed materials and digital tools that can reinforce literacy skills and increase engagement PTI ZMN RB RB

New Delhi Oct 26 PTI Limited digital skills lack of digital competency and engaging students were some of the barriers teachers faced while conducting online classes during Covid times according to a study by Oxford University Press OUPThe report Addressing the Deepening Digital Divide is based on the views of 1557 school and English language teachers from India and 91 other countries on the digital divide including the barriers to effective teaching and learning and the impact of the divide on learners developmentSixty eight per cent of the teachers cited that limited digital skills are nearly as great a problem as access to technology poor digital access ie physical access to the internet or a device was the biggest barrier to digital learningA lack of digital competency ranked a close second with 56 per cent of the respondents saying that teachers and learners alike lacked the skills to make digital learning a successEngaging students in online lessons was a bigger challenge than costs education funding or digital infrastructure Teachers felt their greatest challenge during the pandemic was engaging students in online lessons - a difficulty reported by six in 10 teachers 61 per centDisadvantaged students have been significantly affected by the shift to digital learning with 70 per cent of teachers saying the most disadvantaged students lost learning due to limited or no access to digital devices Forty four per cent of the respondents felt that the wellbeing of disadvantaged students had been particularly negatively affected during the pandemicThe survey also found that teachers want parents to play a bigger role in their childs digital learning Half of the teachers surveyed 50 per cent said a lack of parental understanding of digital toolsplatforms limited the effectiveness of support available to their children and 58 per cent said disadvantaged students tended to receive less educational support from their parents and familiesIn view of this study OUP has made a few recommendations to address the deepening digital divide - greater focus on independent learning building digital competency skills among educators students and parents and targeting resources to address both ends of the digital divideTalking about the study Nigel Portwood OUP CEO said the world of education continues to undergo significant digital transformation and yet so many learners are being left behind because of the digital divideAnd as our research shows it isnt just about ensuring people have access to the relevant devices or improving connectivity unless we fill skills gaps and make sure teachers learners and parents know how to use digital tools effectively the digital divide will only continue to grow he saidAdding to this Fathima Dada managing director of OUPs Education Division said It is imperative that governments and policy experts come together on a global scale to address the issues identified in our report We know where the problems lie and we now need a forward-looking approach to fix them According to Sumanta Datta managing director of OUP India OUPI though there has been a rapid adoption of digital mediums in education across learners in the Indian subcontinent access to the best content has not been inclusiveDigital education platforms are expensive and out of reach for most middle-income families Digital content and teaching capabilities vary greatly between private and public schools In addition the lack of quality vernacular content widens the divide between students in urban and rural communities There is an urgent need for an inclusive education eco-system to address these gaps he saidThe report will be discussed in more depth at OUPs global event The Forum For Educators on November 4 that will bring together educators from around the world to connect and share ideas on how to improve learning for the future PTI ZMN RDS RDS

New Delhi Sep 21 PTI Sumanta Datta has been appointed as the new managing director of Oxford University Press India OUPI with regional responsibilities including Bangladesh Sri Lanka and Nepal the publisher Tuesday announcedHe succeeds V Sivaramakrishnan who led OUPI for the past six years and recently moved on to a new role outside of the PressDatta has led commercial and customer operations across both FMCG and technology-enabled industries for some multinational organisationsHe worked for Coca-Cola for more than 20 years and was associated with Logitech besides advising start-upsDatta joins OUP at an interesting time as the organisation accelerates its ongoing transformation to become a digital-first business and enhances its aim to make knowledge and learning more accessible through the power of technology a statement saidSpeaking on the appointment Fathima Dada Managing Director Education said Sumanta arrives at an exciting time for us weve supported teachers and parents across India while remote learning has become so necessary now we are working closely with them to discover the future of education meeting the ever-changing needs of our customers and communities She also thanked Sivaramakrishnan for his leadership over the last six years particularly for his strength and support during the pandemicDatta joined his new assignment on Monday and the senior management team for OUP India will report directly to him PTI ZMN RB RB