Page 52 - EW-June-2024

People

doctors easy access to the best medi- box was acquired by ETS based in
cal education and practices world- Princeton, New Jersey (USA). ETS
wide. India’s 1.4 billion citizens are bills itself as the world’s largest
served by a mere 2.2 million quali- not-for-profit assessments company
fied doctors obliged to work long operational in 180 countries. Among
hours. OCA’s upskilling programmes its proprietorial tests: TOEFL, GRE,
delivered in collaboration with the TOEIC and Praxis.
world’s best medical universities History. A science alum of Mumbai
and medical institutions will enable University, Singh started his career
doctors to learn at their own pace in sales and marketing at NIIT Ltd in
and convenience and enhance their 1998. After 13 years of work experi-
skills for the benefit of their patients. ence in several companies, he quit
I envisage a huge opportunity for corporate life in 2011 and together
OCA to work not only in India, but with his UK-based school mate
also enable doctors globally,” says Pawan Kumar, raised several rounds
Ramachandran. of funding from Lumis Partners,
When physicians upskill, none PeopleStrong and Multiples Alter-
Ramachandran: enthusiastic response will complain. nate Asset Management Fund to
Paromita Sengupta (Bengaluru) promote Wheebox (Web and Hybrid
two decades of business manage- Electronic Examinations Box).
ment experience in several blue-chip Employment testing Direct talk. “Over the past two de-
companies including Tech Mahindra, cades, skills evaluation has under-
Nokia Siemens, Cleartrip, and Simpl, gone a sea change from assessing
a fintech company, before he decided leader only hard to soft skills as well. Glob-
to go solo and promote OCA last ally, employers have awoken to the
year. Within 12 months, the compa- urugram-based entrepreneur huge importance of life skills such as
ny has clocked topline sales of Rs.13 NIRMAL SINGH is co-founder- communication, social adaptability
crore and employs over 100 people GCEO of Wheebox (estb.2011), and learning agility. We have been
including 60 consulting faculty. a subsidiary of the US-based in the vanguard of this shift towards
Direct talk. “In the new age of the Educational Testing Service (ETS) evaluating soft as well as hard skills
Internet and ICT (information com- — a global provider of AI-integrated in India. Our popular National Em-
munication technology), engineer- proctored online assessment services ployability Test, recently renamed
ing, business management, law and to measure the competencies and the Global Employability Test,
arts professionals have access to a skills of shortlisted job applicants for conducted for 1.2 million Indian
wide range of online learning and industry and business enterprises. graduates prior to entering the jobs
upskilling programmes. I discerned Over the past 13 years, Wheebox with market, assesses communication,
a lack of similar opportunities for the its unique subscriptions-based busi- Singh: soft skills evaluation focus
crucially important medical profes- ness model, has signed up 500-plus
sion. Modern medicine and practice private and public corporations in
is a fast-evolving profession which India and the Middle East as clients.
requires doctors to keep abreast of Wheebox also offers remote
latest developments in this critically proctoring services to K-12 schools
important life-and-death vocation,” and higher education institutions
says Ramachandran. to conduct fair examinations. The
Future plans. Encouraged by enthusi- firm’s Global Employability Test
astic response of the medical practi- (GET) is designed to assess college
tioners’ fraternity to OCA’s upskilling graduates’ readiness for employ-
courses, Ramachandran is drawing ment while a clutch of standardised
up ambitious plans to augment and recruitment tests including the Baro
diversify the courses offered by the Career Interest Test, Leadership
company. “With online teaching- Competency Index, SALT 4 and MAP
learning becoming increasingly 9PF among others assess and certify
accessible and reliable, we intend job applicants for large and mid-size
to introduce a number of long-term companies.
(12-24 month) courses to enable Newspeg. Last September, Whee-

52 EDUCATIONWORLD JUNE 2024