New Delhi : QAI (www.qaiglobalinstitute.com), the leading global workforce development and consulting organization, recently announced the launch of iGenie- An Innovation Skill Development Program Students and Teachers. The program consists of 50+ hours of skill development workshops, aimed at developing the thinking skills in students. The program is based on internationally recognized techniques of imparting innovation skills to under-graduate and post-graduate students and teachers.

All of us have learned to think and think well but how many us actually learned to systematically think ‘out of the box’?

The situations we face as professionals and students are not pre-scripted. iGenie program prepares students and professionals to handle such situations for which there is no pre scripted ‘right answer’.

Around the globe economies are investing and supporting programs for building Innovative Thinking Skills in students and professionals. The European Commission is funding the Life Long Learning Programme (LLP) that supports learning opportunities from childhood to old age in every single life situation. It has a budget of € 7 billion for the period 2007-2013. The programme supports initiatives like, TETRIS – Teaching TRIZ at School – It has 11 partner organizations in Germany, Italy, Austria and Latvia to design programs for school children and teachers on learning the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving. Members of Jonathan Livingston and Education without Borders have conducted over 300 seminars and workshops, for developing skills of K-12 teachers in South Korea, Germany, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, and Nordic countries. U.S. Dept. of Education has launched a $650 million grant and given grants to 2700 school districts and nonprofit groups (source: Business Week, 2009).

The K12 segment in India accounts for a substantial share of the total student population. Preliminary estimates peg the potential around 2000 crores and it is expected to grow at 14% annually. The Government of India has also undertaken various initiatives towards developing the market. The K-12 segment has seen large scale public and private participation. India has one of the largest populations of prospective students, which is fueling growth in this sector. QAI’s iGenie program is in line with the objectives of CCE (Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation) initiative of CBSE for K12.

Commenting on the launch of iGenie program, Mr. Aditya Bhalla, Innovation Practice Head, said: “India is at the point of inflection and there is a critical and urgent need to develop the workforce capabilities in Innovative thinking to resolve the issues confronting the nation and to generate new knowledge capital. Subject matter expertise by itself does not prepare the mind to systematically resolve situations for which there is no precedence and there are no pre-scripted ‘right answers’. Students must achieve a balance of I.Q., E.Q. and Innovation Quotient.”

Mr. Aditya Bhalla is one of the first in South Asia to be certified at Level 3 by International Association of TRIZ (MATRIZ) and is also authorized to certify other students at MATRIZ Level 1.

Commenting on the launch of the program, Mr. Navyug Mohnot, CEO, QAI said, “Looking at the growth and various substantial initiatives taken across the globe, for embedding innovative thinking skills in the education segment, we are proud to launch the iGenie program as our contribution to this global endeavor.”