Higher Education Digest – June 2021 – India Edition – Influential Leaders in Indian Education

INDIA EDITION

10

MOST INFLUENTIAL LEADERS IN INDIAN EDUCATION

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FEATURING INSIDE

DR CV GOPINATH

Registrar, Centurion University of Technology and Management

DR DNS KUMAR

Vice Chancellor, Sushant University

DR SHALINI GUPTA

Vice-Chancellor, Desh Bhagat University

Prof Asheesh Gupta Pro-Vice-Chancellor, JK Lakshmipat University Piyush Kumar Regional Director (South Asia), IDP Education Dr Raj Singh Vice - Chancellor, JAIN Online

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S.D Shibulal Co-Founder - Infosys, Founder & Director – Shikshalokam

Dr. Rupa Vasudevan CHANCELLOR, BHARATIYA ENGINEERING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION UNIVERSITY (BESTIU)

GROOMING INNOVATORS FOR THE DYNAMIC INDUSTRY

JUNE 2021

Higher Education Digest June 2021

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Higher Education Digest June 2021

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Higher Education Digest June 2021

June 2021

Vol - 3 Issue - 6

Influential Leaders in Indian Education Special Head of Advisory Board Dr. Varughese K.John, PhD

Managing Editor Sarath Shyam

Consultant Editors

Dr. Johny Andrews Anjana K Hanna George

Navya Venkatesh Roshni Rajagopal Emma James

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Ajay K Das Manjunath R Rohith Poojary

Sales & Marketing

Arati Waghmare Jyoti Kumari Anna Elza Reshma Ashokan Rupali Mohankar Sales Enquiry: admin@highereducationdigest.com

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MANAGING EDITOR’S NOTE

The Crisis Managers of Indian Higher Education System

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nprecedented events bring profound changes and significant consequences on many levels - the pandemic has been a reminder. When the world went into a lockdown to control the spread of a virus, academicians were forced to adopt a new model of education that many were not really comfortable with. As online education became the new norm, teaching, mentoring, research, and support activities needed to be done sitting at their home. The most affected were academic leaders in higher education who had to make decisions and act quickly on managing large educational communities, addressing students’, teachers’, and staff’s needs, as well as society’s needs.

Even after a turbulent academic year, the second wave and delta variants of the virus do not give the top-level education administrators any breathing space. Now, educational leaders are under the burden of making critical day-today decisions that will shape the future of their institutions. On a positive note, the time we call a crisis could be the restart button our higher

education system has been looking for. Many leaders have already taken it as an opportunity to recalibrate their organizations and build a more efficient, accessible, and adapted set of offerings to the knowledge-based society in the post-pandemic world of work. Though there are many more to follow suit, higher education leaders should think of increasing their community impact in a competitive environment.

In this issue, we have handpicked ‘10 Most Influential Leaders in Indian Education – 2021’ who are playing an essential role in making future institutions. They have acted under high psychological pressure, with great expectations from members of various organizations for constant reassurance and support. On the cover, we feature Dr Rupa Vasudevan, Chancellor, Bharatiya Engineering Science and Technology Innovation University (BESTIU), who has been holding the leadership position and setting up of schools and other institutes for around 20 years.

Enjoy Reading.

Sarath Shyam

Higher Education Digest June 2021

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ADVISORY BOARD Dr. Kuldeep Nagi, Ph.D, MBA, BSc.

Program Director of Ph.D, Recipient of Fulbright Fellowship Award & Dan Evans Award for Excellence and Writer columnist.

Dr. Varughese K.John, PhD, MBA, MPhil, MCom, LLB. Former Program Director, MS in Management Program, GSATM - AU

Dr. Venus M. Alboruto, PhD, Master Teacher, Researcher, Innovator, Trainer.

6 Major General (Rtd.) Dr. Sunil Chandra, VSM (Vishishta Seva Medal), Ph.D, M. Phil, MA, M.Ed, PGBDA Ex-M D Army Welfare Education Society, ExCOO GEMS Education - India, Ex- Addl Dir Gen - Army Education, Mentor - Adventure-Pulse

Dr. Ajay Shukla, Ph.D, MBA, BE. Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Higher Education UAE

Mr. Amulya Sah, PGD PM & IR, PG Diploma in PM&IR (XISS Ranchi)

Shanthi Rajan (MSHRM, FHEA, AMCILT) Director, Institution Development, University of Stirling, RAK Campus, UAE.

Higher Education Digest June 2021

Chief Human Resources Officer, Former Head HR group Samsung R&D Institute India,Transformative HR Leader, Change agent, Digitization facilitator, Engagement architect, Trainer and Diversity champion.

Mr. Sreedhar Bevara, MBA, B.Com Former Senior General Manager: Panasonic Middle East & Africa, Thought Leader, Speaker & Author of ‘Moment of Signal’ (Amazon’s International Bestseller)

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Higher Education Digest June 2021

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COVER

STORY

DR. RUPA VASUDEVAN CHANCELLOR, BHARATIYA ENGINEERING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION UNIVERSITY (BESTIU)

GROOMING I N N OVATO R S F O R T H E DYN A M I C I N D UST R Y

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DR CV GOPINATH Registrar, Centurion University of Technology and Management (CUTM)

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DR DNS KUMAR Vice Chancellor, Sushant University

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DR SHALINI GUPTA Vice-Chancellor, Desh Bhagat University

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STUDY ABROAD

MENTOR’S MANTRA

12 DEMYSTIFYING THE NEP 2020 AND THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT COME WITH IT

S.D Shibulal, Co-Founder of Infosys, and Founder & Director of Shikshalokam

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INTERNATIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION TRENDS IN 2021: WHAT LIES AHEAD FOR STUDY ABROAD ASPIRANTS?

STUDY ABROAD TRENDS 2021

Piyush Kumar, Regional Director (South Asia), IDP Education

Abhinav Mital, Co-founder & Managing Director, The WorldGrad

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MUDIT DANI: A YOUNG PADDLER JUGGLING BRILLIANTLY BETWEEN ACADEMICS AND SPORTS

AVANTIKA KAMPANI: A 14-YEAR-OLD ENTREPRENEUR WITH A TOOL THAT ENHANCES NEWBORNS’ CAPACITY TO LEARN

HOW IS E-LEARNING SHAPING THE INDIAN EDUCATION INDUSTRY AMID THE PANDEMIC?

Mudit Dani, Indian Table Tennis player

Avantika Kampani, Founder, Seekh from DayOne

STUDENT’S STORY

Nishant Agarwal, Founder, Proctur

ACADEMIC VIEW

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LEARNING AND GROWING: HOW ONLINE DEGREES FROM BIG UNIVERSITIES CAN BRIDGE THE EDUCATIONAL GAP

INDIAN UNIVERSITIES NOT THREATENED BY EMERGING ED-TECH STARTUP TREND!

Professor (Dr.) Raj Singh, Vice Chancellor, JAIN Online

Prof Asheesh Gupta, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, JK Lakshmipat University

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TIPS TO KEEP CHILDREN WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES ENGAGED DURING THIS COVID PANDEMIC

Manju Navani, Teaching faculty – Senior Section, The Aditya Birla Integrated School, Mumbai

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DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION HIRING IS NOT THE START TO BUILDING A DIVERSE WORKFORCE

LIFE SKILLS – A TRAINING THAT GOES BEYOND THE REALM OF EDUCATION

KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT MASTERS OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Manish Chowdhary, Founder, Skilling India

Kanishk Duggal, CEO, Institute of Clinical Research India (ICRI)

Asif Upadhye, Director & Dark Knight, Never Grow Up

INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

MENTOR’S MANTRA

DEMYSTIFYING THE

NEP 2020 AND THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT COME WITH IT S.D Shibulal, Co-Founder of Infosys, and Founder & Director of Shikshalokam

12 S.D. Shibulal, co-founded Infosys in 1981 and led the company in different capacities since its inception.

He was a member of the Board of Infosys and was its CEO & MD between 2011 and 2014. Amongst his innumerable achievements during his time at Infosys, he is especially proud of being instrumental in creating the Global Delivery Model. The model established a new standard for delivery of outsourced IT services. He serves on several global leadership forums and advisory boards.

Driven by his passion for Education and for developing the leaders managing the K-12 Government schools across India, Shibulal incorporated ShikshaLokam, an Education Leadership Development platform in 2016. Now active in multiple States, ShikshaLokam offers open-source technology capabilities and learning and management resources to more than 300,000 leaders, in partnership with State Governments and leading Civil Society Organizations.

In a conversation with Higher Education Digest, Shibulal talks about the best practices in ECCE (Early Childhood Care and Education), importance of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, his vision for the future of ShikshaLokam, and much more.

Higher Education Digest June 2021

The National Education Policy is expected to bring a positive and long-lasting impact on India’s higher education

What would be the potential impact of NEP on the Indian education system?

With the New Education policy 2020, many changes have been introduced in the academic structure of India starting from the school to college level. One of the sweeping reforms is the transition from the decades-old 10+2 format to the 5+3+3+4 structure. The divisions of this structure correspond to the age groups 3-8, 8-11, 11-14 and 14-18, and brings already existing playschools within the ambit of ‘formal education’. This new design not only proposes to divide the school structures into the cognitive developmental stages of children -– early childhood, school years, and secondary stage -- but also gives rise to a National Curricular and Pedagogical Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education to be designed and developed by NCERT. Also, the policy has revised the ages at which schooling is mandatory from 6-14 years, to 3-18 years.

An equal emphasis has been given to mother tongue education.

The policy emphasises that a child’s mother tongue should be the medium of instruction as studies suggest that children learn and grasp concepts more quickly in their mother tongue. The National Education Policy is expected to bring a positive and long-lasting impact on India’s higher education. The fact that foreign universities will be allowed to open campuses in India is a commendable initiative by the government. This will help Indian students experience global standards of education without traveling abroad. The policy of introducing multi-disciplinary institutes will lead to a renewed focus on neglected fields such as arts, humanities and history. These forms of education will help students to learn and grow holistically, and equip them with a wider and more adaptable knowledge base.

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The introduction of a single common entrance test is another positive step which will reduce the stress and pressure of competitive exams by reducing their number. It will also ensure a level playing ground for all student applicants going forward. Establishing an Academic Bank of Credit (ABC) is definitely a robust idea to store the academic credits that students earn from taking courses from various recognized higher education institutions. A student can earn scores by completing a course and these will be credited to their ABC account. They can then transfer these credits if they decide to switch colleges. If they drop out for some reason, these credits will remain intact, allowing them to come back years later and pick up from where they had left off.

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About

S.D. Shibulal In 2014, Shibu co-founded Axilor Ventures – a new generation platform to improve odds of success of entrepreneurs. With three distinct programmes: accelerator, scale-up and early stage funding, Axilor provides infrastructure, mentoring and capital for high-impact, India –focussed start-ups (in the areas of e-commerce, Healthcare and Cleantech).

Shibu serves on the board of several organisations promoting education. He is Trustee of the Infosys Science Foundation, a not-for-profit trust; a Member of the Board of Trustees, Boston University and a Member of the Board of Managers of Haverford College, Philadelphia. He is also the Chairman of the High Power Digital Advisory Committee (HPDAC) of Kerala.

Higher Education Digest June 2021

How is ShikshaLokam leveraging its platform to demystify the NEP 2020 and the opportunities that come with it?

The NEP 2020 is a key directional document. It highlights many important aspects and recommends important shifts, like including Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) in the structure of school education and focusing on the flexibility of subjects. These shifts will require structural and process changes as well as redesign. Successful implementation of such reforms requires strong leadership capacity and clarity of objectives on the ground. ShikshaLokam has been conceptualised and created as an Education Leadership Platform to facilitate this. Its open-source capabilities can be used as an infrastructure to roll out any large scale programs, including capacity building of education leaders. We believe in creating an innovation ecosystem and we have been nurturing an ever-increasing community of NGOs and CSOs. Since September 2020, we have been collaborating with them to unpack the NEP and its nuances. We hosted ‘The unbundle Series’ with an objective to create a space for constant dialogues and discussions. Our team has also published handbooks / field books to enable implementation of aspects of the NEP. What are the best practices in ECCE (Early Childhood Care and Education) and what are the challenges we foresee for the implementation of NEP? There are several universally accepted benchmarks for high quality ECCE. There are world-class

curriculum and delivery methods that clearly establish how during early formative years, it is important to focus on activity-based learning, instead of a structured formal focus on literacy and numeracy. Having said that, all best practices need to be localised and contextualised before implementation in schools. In our country, a large proportion of children still access Aanganwadi centres for ECCE. Delivery of meaningful ECCE is also impossible without well-trained teachers. We will need to strongly focus on pre-service and in-service capacity development of early childhood educators. Sustained and focused efforts will be needed to deal with other issues like the design and supply of teaching-learning materials (TLM) kits, the provision of capacity building and technical assistance, the conversion of all Anganwadi Centers into learning centers and infrastructural development.

What is the relevance and importance of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy?

Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) is critical.

It is disheartening for us that even after spending 8 years of schooling, many children don’t gain even foundational literacy and numeracy skills. There is a reason that they are called foundational. Like they say, “till age 6, you learn to read, but after that you read to learn”. The learning gap keeps increasing for a child who does not gain FLN by the right age. As they go up to higher grades, these children find the learning process increasingly irrelevant and incomprehensible, and are consequently likely to drop out. It is good that the NEP 2020 has given clear focus on FLN as a mission. We must work towards this. However, as a caution, I’d like to mention that non-cognitive skills are also important and there should be a simultaneous focus on that along with FLN. Tell us about ShikshaLokam’s commitment to continue bridging the gaps in capacity building and leadership development in the education sector. What has been the impact seen so far?

ShikshaLokam is a societal platform aimed at bringing systemic change in India’s K-12 education system mainly through leadership development. It is completely free of cost and is accessible to all. It has a three-layered structure, with digital infrastructure at its core.

ShikshaLokam provides open-source technological capabilities and learning resources to those on the platform, and offers an opportunity to collaborate,

co-create and find solutions for transforming India’s K-12 education through systemic change. Keeping the societal platform construct, ShikshaLokam works towards distributing the ability to solve the gaps that exist in the education leadership development space and improving the agency of actors in the ecosystem to drive large scale educational change programmes.

One of the major benefits of collaboration and cocreation is that it saves a lot of time, because once an idea is invented, it can be applied to other places. Though there may be a need to localise and contextualise the idea, there is no need to reinvent it. Another benefit is that the openness of the platform enables what happens in one location to be seen in all other parts of the country.

Education leadership plays a crucial role in the transformation of the system itself. There are a number of leaders within the education sector who climb up the management structure using the experience they have garnered over many years. However, we must address their need for learning opportunities to keep themselves updated on current processes and trends within the education space. It is imperative to provide structured and reliable avenues to develop education leadership to sustain improvements in the Indian education system.

ShikshaLokam has come a long way since its inception in 2017. Initially, the growth was slow but in the last 2 years, we have found our ground.

Today we have over 3.2 lakh users and clock about 400-700 transactions per second. Every day, about 1,000 observations are made on the platform and we indirectly touch about 15 million school-going children, which is about 5% of the school-going population of the country. We are currently present in 19 states across the country. There has been very good progress in our reach and impact across the states we’re currently working in, including those of Delhi, Punjab, Andhra, Goa, to name a few.

What is your vision for the future of ShikshaLokam?

I started ShikshaLokam with the singular mission of enabling access to leadership development opportunities to 100% of education leaders in the country. I have always believed that leaders are the cornerstone of any transformation process. As such, we will continue to engage with Samaaj (NGOs, CSOS) and the Sarkaar (government and institutions) to co-create these wonderful change programs aimed at systemic transformation and capacity development of leaders.

Higher Education Digest June 2021

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COVER STORY

Higher Education Digest June 2021

DR. RUPA VASUDEVAN CHANCELLOR, BHARATIYA ENGINEERING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION UNIVERSITY (BESTIU)

GROOMING I N N OVATO R S F O R T H E DYN A M I C I N D UST R Y

Higher Education Digest June 2021

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he world has changed significantly after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and the education industry has seen the most drastic changes at all levels. Technological solutions have paved the way towards remote functioning and gaining prominence in the time of crisis in the transformation of every aspect of life. These times have turned out to be the metamorphosis of the education system. COVID-19 has created a paradigm shift in Global Education

Higher Education Digest June 2021

Sector, and this is more so in India, which has one of the largest higher education systems in the world.

Most of the traditional colleges and universities are now moving for quick adoption of remote and online education strategies. The world needs a new generation of people with the intellectual and educational capacities to take on the challenges of tomorrow. “Surprisingly, Digital Technology is becoming the game-changer for education and is resulting in a shift from teacher-centric education to student-centric education. Educational organizations have now been tapping into the digital revolution and adopting new technologies to help students reach

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their full potential”, opines Dr. Rupa Vasudevan, Chancellor, Bharatiya Engineering Science and Technology Innovation University (BESTIU).

It is imperative that one has to be aware of the latest trends in education and technology in the education sector, and academic instituitions should always strive to pursue the goal of cultivating the next generation of creative thinkers and leaders.

Instituitions should reflect positive and sustainable change in people’s lives, communities, and the world. This has been aided through the National Education Policy (NEP), which has the potential to change the paradigm of traditional education system.

“I have been speaking and advocating about the NEP 2020 in many International and National forums.

One of the key targets of NEP 2020 is to raise the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) from 27.4% to 50% by 2035. This much needed education reform has better provisions of inclusivity, equity and quality”, states Dr. Rupa.

At BESTIU, teaching begins with inquiry and that’s why digital pedagogy is so important. A formative assessment approach was carried out for the learners to modify teaching and learning activities to help the students identify their strengths and weaknesses and target the areas that need to be

Higher Education Digest June 2021

worked on. Innovative Online methodologies in Evaluation with the intervention of AI and citizen inquiry/public engagement describes ways that the public can learn by initiating or joining shared inquiry-led scientific investigations with students.

BESTIU developed an in-house LMS (Learning Management System) in 2018 itself, which has everything synchronized at once place, and thus it was easier for them to transition into online learning. After few weeks, most of the faculty got accustomed to it and the process of delivering lectures became smooth. Making use of the best technology available to ensure smooth and effective transition, Dr. Rupa inculcated High-end Servers & Networking equipment’s from Dell across the campus for seamless intranet & internet connectivity. High-end Surveillance devices were installed with

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Higher Education Digest June 2021

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cloud integration for real-time monitoring of activities at the campus. Multiday Interactive Learning Delivery for Video Conferencing was integrated with real-time learning analytics from a large number of students using the cloud integration. For evaluation, they have introduced an AIbased proctoring solution for examination that includes face recognition, voice recognition, gesture recognition, multi-face detection, etc.

Encouraging Overall Personality Development Built by individuals who have gone beyond the limits of personal aspirations, BESTIU believes in giving complete authority to all to

learn, grow and create a niche for themselves.

Dr. Rupa has always been a person who loves to lead from the front and she feels that her inclusive-style leadership has enabled her colleagues and students to bring their authentic selves to work. As the Chancellor of BESTIU and being a teacher herself, she feels it is crucial to pursue the goal of cultivating the next generation of creative thinkers and leaders. Dr. Rupa believes she is responsible for building this community, making connections, sharing experiences, and providing tools to equip young people. She adds, “I have always believed that inculcating inclusiveness, good governance, applied innovation, sense of pride, mutual respect and excellence in any educational institution

Higher Education Digest June 2021

22 would bring drastic changes like adding value to the formal curriculum through innovation, leading by example and opening up opportunities for students”.

BESTIU was started to venture into a journey of researching to set up an Indic knowledge academy focusing on Indology and Indic studies about Culture, Heritage, dance forms, Archaeology, music, culinary arts, and many others. The university was set up as an enabling space and foster multidisciplinary academic studies and researches, drawing upon theoretical, empirical, and methodological resources cutting across disciplinary boundaries where learning is accessible and affordable, innovators are groomed and their ideas are incubated. A model university that is a hub for the highest-quality academics and research work, BESTIU endeavors to keep pace with the fast-changing scientific and technical improvements and cultivate the

Higher Education Digest June 2021

most modern skills and attitudes in our students leading them to become Leaders, Entrepreneurs, and Innovators.

As an educationist, Dr. Rupa has been holding the leadership position and setting up of schools and other institutes for around 20 years. Starting the BEST IU was a major milestone in her career with the purpose to bring back social values, generate innovations and create entrepreneurs in different sectors. Starting World Forum for Education has also been a major milestone in Dr. Rupa’s career and a step towards her goal. “World Forum for Education aims to empower and recognize all facets of knowledge which include the comprehensiveness of theoretical-practical, scientific, technical, socio-humanistic, and cultural training that has impacted the community or society at large”, says Dr. Rupa.

Coming from a family that is deep-rooted with tradition and values, Dr. Rupa learned epics

of Mahabharta and Ramayana as narrated by her grandparents, and very importantly ślokas taught by them. Passionate about what she does, her work, she feels handling pressure is a part of her work. With so many distressful things happening due to the pandemic, coping is tough for all, so Dr. Rupa takes one day at a time. Her advice to all who are stressed would be to lighten up, prioritize, do things they love, talk and engage with people who mean the most, have a hobby, exercise regularly, and always remember to laugh a lot. “The two most beautiful roles I cherish is motherhood and the joy of being a teacher, I have learnt a lot from both my child and my students, it has always motivated me to do better things every day.”, says Dr. Rupa.

Considering her colleague and co-founder of BEST Group, Sh. Bharat Lal Meena is a

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As an educationist, Dr. Rupa has been holding the leadership position and setting up schools and other institutes for around 20 years

Higher Education Digest June 2021

significant influence, Dr. Rupa is deeply humbled and honored to be associated and working with such a persona. “My family has been a great influence in my life as well.

Their constant support and encouragement means a lot to me. God has been kind that I could fulfill a lifetime dream of contributing to Knowledge and education for service of humanity”, adds Dr. Rupa.

Currently focused on developing BESTIU with world-class infrastructure, Dr. Rupa is all set to diversify in the food chain market very soon through their brand, Evergreen Naturals, which will provide 100% natural foods like staples, fruits and vegetables directly from the fileds to the customer. “Our university is situated very near the Bangalore International Airport but in the State of Andhra Pradesh, our lands cover more than 200 acres of greenery and plantations.

Currently we are working on building a Mother plant nursery in the campus that will have pure indigenous variants of saplings of our local fruits and vegetables”, adds Dr. Rupa, as she talks about the future plans she has chalked out.

Addressing Societal Issues through Academics The main motto of education in ancient India was not just acquiring knowledge, but a complete awareness and liberation of the self. As a responsible academician/teacher, Dr. Rupa has always wanted to bring innovation and reforms to the education system of India. Students need to be taught about Indian heritage and social values. Institutions need to stay consistent with the application of knowledge. The whole idea of BESTIU is based on the idea of inclusivity and bringing it into education was their mission from the very beginning.

“Off late, I feel the sense of community is fading away and students are indifferent to social issues. It is important to measure the impact of what students are learning and create the right platform and a parallel system

to document indigenous ideas and innovation”, says Dr. Rupa.

It is imperative to be aware of the latest trends and follow them closely when it comes to the education sector. The leadership in the Education sector needs to pursue the goal of cultivating the next generation of creative thinkers and leaders, educational institutions are responsible for building this community, making connections, sharing experiences, and providing tools to equip young people.

Their dialogues should affect positive and sustainable change in people’s lives, communities, and the world. The gig economy is expected to take over services jobs shortly, does not require a master’s degree, but rather skills, and the willingness, to work for anyone, at any time, from anywhere.

In India, the women in leadership roles are not in minority. Although, in the education space, the gender gap is still high with a maximum of men leading the institutions than the women. Interventions need to be made earlier in the lifecycle of girls through school outreach campaigns to promote girls in leadership roles, raise the economic aspirations of girls and their family members, and boost educational choices by girls that could lead to professional and technical job opportunities.

Many things can be done to motivate the morale of women by giving them equal access to education, women in the official setup need to be trained for senior leadership positions, given better access to finance, safety in the work environment, family support, targeted campaigns in TV, radio to reshape the attitudes that prevent women from working in the higher roles. “Any person be it men or women needs to be driven by a purpose and passion for the industry. If the purpose is strong, then there is no stopping for anyone to achieve the top space. I strongly feel that the women are already empowered and I hope to see many more women in top management positions in business and the education sector”, concludes Dr. Rupa.

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ACADEMIC VIEW

LEARNING AND GROWING:

HOW ONLINE DEGREES FROM BIG UNIVERSITIES CAN BRIDGE THE EDUCATIONAL GAP Professor (Dr.) Raj Singh, Vice Chancellor, JAIN Online

26 Dr Raj Singh is an academic administrator, teacher, consultant, trainer, speaker and academic entrepreneur.

For 10 years, Dr Raj Singh has been the Vice-Chancellor of Ansal University Gurugram, Rayat-Bahra University (RBU) Mohali, G. D. Goenka University, Gurugram, Amity University Madhya Pradesh, Gwalior and Amity University, Jaipur (Dual-Charge). Before that he was Pro-Vice Chancellor at Amity University NOIDA for 5 years, Director General of the prestigious Amity Business School and founding HEAD of ICFAI Business School (IBS) New Delhi from inception in 1995. He served the Indian Air Force from 1981 to 1994 (Joined at the age of 16½ years). Since January 2020, he has been an advisor and consultant to 5 Universities across India including JAIN University.

Higher Education Digest June 2021

Digital-first learning experiences are here to stay, and online communication platforms are fast becoming the new classroom that brings together teachers and students from all geographies and backgrounds

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he Covid-19 lockdown disrupted the course of education for students all over India, as schools and colleges shifted to an online-only model and examinations were indefinitely postponed. The interruption hampered the learning experience for many students, particularly those in the middle of a degree or seeking higher education. In response, many universities stepped to the fore with online college degrees that would give students the same world-class qualifications from the comfort of their homes.

Online learning had been gaining popularity for several years before the lockdown began. However, it was mostly restricted to courses and stand-alone instructional videos offered on platforms. Online degrees were few and far between and often viewed

as less prestigious, as the most reputed institutes stuck to an offline-only model. Post-Covid, however, there was a complete shift in pedagogy towards video lessons, Zoom meetings, online homework assignments, and the like. Online learning through a variety of communication platforms is likely to be the chief mode of education for the time being and may supplant offline interactions as the sole model of education.

For higher education, in particular, online learning is an ideal teaching method. High school and college students are already comfortable with using technology, which makes the transition easier than for young school children who may not be as used to communication software. Course materials and video lectures shared online are available to any student who logs in - this is especially invaluable

Higher Education Digest June 2021

28 for those located in rural areas with limited access to high-quality institutes or coaching centers. Through online degrees, universities can benefit from a far more diverse pool of students including aspirants from traditionally underserved locations, many of whom may be bright and ambitious students with unique perspectives to share.

From a career perspective, too, online education makes sense. With teaching materials available online, students can access anything they wish as many times as they wish, unlike offline systems where missed classes can affect their studies significantly. While many have traditionally regarded online learning as more of a novelty option, degrees like those awarded by This gives students everywhere, regardless of their postal address, an equal chance at applying for jobs and higher studies. Moreover, digital learning allows students to practice and hone their digital skills, which are requisite for success in today’s world.

Digital-first learning experiences are here to stay, and online communication platforms are fast becoming the new classroom that brings together teachers and students from all geographies and backgrounds. Over time, as virtual learning platforms become more advanced, they can capture valuable data about overall student progress to help with redesigning course material to be more effective, thus allowing each successive batch to be even better served. We can expect exciting and dynamic changes in India’s education sector over the next few months and initiatives that will help spearhead the new generation of digitalfirst college graduates.

Higher Education Digest June 2021

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Higher Education Digest June 2021

STUDENT STORIES

MUDIT DANI: A YOUNG PADDLER JUGGLING BRILLIANTLY BETWEEN ACADEMICS AND SPORTS Mudit Dani, Indian Table Tennis player

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Hailing from the family of businessmen and entrepreneurs, Mudit Dani chose a different path for himself and is already making rapid strides while marking his presence in the table tennis world for India. Mudit won his first table tennis medal at a Mumbai ranking event when he was just 10, and then took up the sport professionally. In 2019, he clinched first senior ITTF medal for the country at the 2019 US Open championships.

The Mumbai based TT star is among the sixth-highest ranked paddlers in the world rankings of senior men’s singles. Mudit has the distinction of also being the only third Indian player after Soumyajit Ghosh and Harmeet Desai to break into the Top-10 of the ITTF World Junior Boys’ rankings.

Mudit, who is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree from the United States, shifted his base to Germany in 2018 in order to find more time to train and practice.

He also plays for a French Club and stays a sizable time to play and practice, before the world was hit by COVID-19. Since the lockdown last year, he has been training at home in Mumbai. In a conversation with Higher Education Digest, Mudit, talks about his journey as table tennis player, how did he get admission at New York University, and much more.

Higher Education Digest June 2021

What motivated you to become a table tennis player?

I remember, I started playing Table Tennis at the young age of seven. While growing up, I used to enjoy playing it with my cousins and friends and even started seeking coaching. At the time I was into swimming too, but I felt table tennis has to offer a lot more. In terms of the speed of the game, the different tactics that one can use and the different types of spins done made me more interested towards this sport.

With time and by following routine training sessions, I kept getting better. At the age of 12, I got the opportunity to play for the state of Maharashtra and I eventually got through at the Nationals. It was during this time I was able to comprehend that Table Tennis brings the best version of me and motivated me to pursue further.

It surely wasn’t an easy path, as I was determined not to compromise on my schooling and higher education, which I feel is important to build a wholesome personality. During my 11th and 12th, I was preparing for my IB Diploma Programme (IBDP) which is a rigorous pre-university programme, and it seemed like a challenge to balance both. But it was also during this time when I gave some of my best performances in the juniors and successfully broke in top 10 of the World Table Tennis ranking which gave me the confidence that I could function well with both.

These achievements keep giving me the motivation to continue my journey in the sports of Table Tennis and outperform while continuing my studies.

American Universities value talents and do not necessarily have to be only in the academics front

How did break into the Top-200 at the age of 21? Where did you start, and how has been preparations?

It was a steady growth I would say. In July 2018, I first made my debut in the professional circuit at the Nigeria Open where I played alongside Canada’s

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About

Mudit Dani COVID-19 pandemic hit the world in 2020 and struck everything including the sporting world and sports came to a standstill. While players and youngsters were struggling with mental health issues, Mudit explored unique ways to engage with fellow aspiring paddlers and his followers and kept them motivated. In the process he introduced an Instagram live interview series called “In The Sportlight” which featured eminent personalities from Indian sporting world including batting legend Sachin Tendulkar, Tennis great Leander Paes, actor Rahul Bose and India’s only individual Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra, along with many others and the show would talk about how these Champions have faced challenges in their lives and ways to overcome it.

Higher Education Digest June 2021

I am planning on getting a Master’s Degree in Quantitative Management, for which I have already applied at STERN Business School, which comes under New York University

Marko Medjugorac and won bronze. That year I was ranked among the 750 in the world. I secured my first International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) senior medal after rolling into the men’s doubles semi-finals of the US Open Championships at the Fort Worth Convention Centre in Texas. By March 2019, I was among the top 400 and within a year, that is in 2020, I was ranked among the top 200 players becoming the sixth-highest ranked Indian which was a great honour for me.

It was a completely new path I would say, when a player moves from juniors’ level to the senior circuit as it is not an easy leap. Now more focus was required on minor details, more smart planning was done on the strategies as all the players are tactically more aware and smarter and not to forget more experienced. I also focused more on my physical fitness to bring a great competition on table for my opponent who is much senior to me. It is a complete gamechanger as compared to the juniors as earlier at some levels it is semi-professional whereas, and lot of preparations are required at seniors.

How can sports help in getting through the universities abroad? How did you manage to get yourself enrolled in New York University?

American Universities value talents and do not necessarily have to be only in the academic’s front.

It is surely an important criterion to be fulfilled but they look for something more, something that adds value, it could be literature, art and Sports,

which is actually a big deal in American Universities.

They strongly believe that a talented student adds value to the culture of the University and sports is one among them. Excellency in sports is one among many which they look for in their potential student’s credentials as they then get to be part of their internal/ inhouse sports team building a stronger foundation.

Most universities in US offer sports scholarship to students. I had applied for three universities selecting based on their sports programme and I decided to join New York University as it gives the advantage to be part of their rich legacy and they have their own table Tennis team which includes well trained players with whom I can practice. During my course, I had represented New York University and won the 2018 iSET College National Table Tennis Championships which was held in Texas and it widely celebrated.

Educational institutions like NYU even extend their support as they have given me the option to do majority of my courses online to get the degree.

How do you juggle between academics and sports? Tell us about your campus life.

There are challenges, but if we are determined to achieve our end goal then these hurdles can be diminished. As a kid it was surely easier, but with time and age, it becomes important to give undivided attention to both academics and sports as they both are equally important and I aim to excel in both. I try and squeeze in my classes by lunch time and then my rest of the day is spent on workouts

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or practicing. Planning ahead and time management works the best for me. I have set my priorities and plan systematically. It could be overwhelming at times but some extra efforts are needed if one wants to attain their goal. Luckily, I am still able to take out some time to have fun which is also important in our growth. During the pre-covid times, the campus was highly energetic, I remember visiting campus and enjoying the training sessions of other sports like basketball or football which are quite popular over there.

What are the ways to self-motivate in the pandemic situation? How did you manage to train and keep the fitness level?

It has been really hard on everyone and harder for athletes I feel. Time is important for athletes and with no tournaments, no events, no championships being conducted, all the efforts were put on hold. But it is something we can’t control, so my focus shifted on what I can control and do the best for myself. I ensured to maintain a proper sleeping routine, continue eat healthy and work-out is an absolute must. In the evening I give time to mental games and keep trying new workouts to keep it interesting and fun practicing.

Due to the situation, I was unable to continue my training sessions but I was keeping a check on my fitness. I have been working on three cores aspects which includes my strengths, agility and injury prevention and rehab. I would work on my strengths and agility aspect in the morning as they are heavier sessions and, in the evening, I would work on injury prevention and rehab.

Higher Education Digest June 2021

What is your vision for future post-graduation?

I am planning on getting a Master’s Degree in Quantitative Management, for which I have already applied at STERN Business School, which comes under New York University. The classes will begin from September this year and I am really looking forward to it.

These sessions will be conducted online, which is great, as it will allow me the benefit to travel and continue my training sessions anywhere in the world as per my preference and attend International tournaments also. I have plans to continue my training in Europe and currently I also have couple of Leagues offer and training offers on which I am still deciding where to join. Though these would be possible once we can contain the global outbreak.

What is your advice to the young generation who wish to take up sports as a career option?

I feel one should never be afraid to dream big but at the same time one needs to be honest with themselves.

We need to critically assess ourselves and analyse our shortcomings and judge if we are taking the right steps to achieve those dreams. Big dreams take their sweet time to turn into reality, demands a lot of hard work and patience. Do not be in a rush and keep working on yourself without giving up. Break down your dreams into smaller milestones which is a great way to feel motivated. For any athlete time is very precious so make sure you are training your body and mind and keep pushing yourself.

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Higher Education Digest June 2021

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n many professions, it’s easy to overstate the importance of the job. But in the case of educators, it’s more likely that people will underestimate the importance of teachers in our society. For those who have dedicated their lives to teaching others, it’s good to reflect on the vital importance well-educated, quality teachers play in shaping the world around us. Taking on the task of shaping young minds is a big responsibility. To say that teachers can change lives is not an exaggeration. One of the most complicated jobs today, teaching demands broad knowledge of the subject matter, curriculum, and standards; enthusiasm, a caring attitude, and a love of learning; knowledge of discipline and classroom management techniques; and a desire to make a difference in the lives of young people.

With all these qualities required, it’s no wonder that it’s hard to find great teachers.

They are arguably the most important members of our society.

Educators give students purpose, set them up for success as citizens of the world, and inspire in them a drive to do well and succeed in life. The youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow, and educators are that critical point that makes a student ready for their future.

They are role models to children, offer guidance and dedication and give young people the power of education. Because of teachers, countries can further develop socially and economically. Educators are the backbone of society in its true sense.

Celebrating these change agents who are paving the way for better leaders for a brighter future, Higher Education Digest’s latest issue, ‘10 Most Influential Leaders in Indian Education’, showcasing some of the top educators of the country who have influenced the lives of many students, and in the process the Indian education system, through their teachings, actions and acumen.

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Higher Education Digest June 2021

Name

Designation

Prof Bala V Balachandran

Founder, Chairman of the board and Dean Emeritus

Great Lakes Institute of Management

Dr C Raj Kumar

Founding Vice Chancellor

O.P. Jindal Global (Institution of Eminence Deemed To Be University)

Dr CV Gopinath

Registrar

Centurion University of Technology and Management (CUTM)

Dr DNS Kumar

Vice Chancellor

Sushant University

Dr KN Subramanya

Principal

R V College of Engineering

Lt. Gen. (Dr.) MD Venkatesh

Vice Chancellor

Manipal Academy of Higher Education

Dr Niranjan Hiranandani

Provost

HSNC University

Dr Rupa Vasudevan

Chancellor

Bharatiya Engineering Science and Technology Innovation University (BESTIU)

Dr Satheesh Kumar Bhandary

Vice Chancellor

Nitte (Deemed to be University)

Dr Shalini Gupta

Vice-Chancellor

Desh Bhagat University

Higher Education Digest June 2021

Organisation

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Higher Education Digest June 2021

Dr DNS Kumar Vice Chancellor, Sushant University

Leading with the

Crowd

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niversities and colleges are to impart and deliberate on relevant skills that prepare students for their future.

However, in the last two years, the gap between the skills taught by universities and colleges, and the skills required in the industry has been increasing at an alarming rate.

Fortunately, at Sushant University, Dr D.N.S. Kumar, Vice-Chancellor, engages his students felicitously in their practical classes, studios, interaction with juries, laboratories-based assignments, and a multitude of collaborations with the leading industries. As a result, the students are developing the skills that will help them for the rest of their lives.

“We won’t say that our students are fully skilled with the right attitude.

However, that kind of change in the education system is required. You cannot talk, teach or deliberate and discuss only in the classrooms. You also have to create a platform to learn on your own for the students. Such

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Today, it is not knowledge only that is important; common sense is also very important. When you have both, you start innovating and creating skills

Higher Education Digest June 2021

Joining Sushant University in January 2020, Dr Kumar immediately got to work and trained the faculty members on online classes through the college’s IT department, which worked out quite well for them during the pandemic outbreak

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learning courses are required. Project-based learning, experiential learning, team projects are required. We have to bring this disruption, and that is what the NEP has highlighted - how the education has to reform,” opines Dr Kumar.

Pursuing a Practical Approach in Education Top of his class, Dr Kumar started his career as a trainee in a private industry where he worked for eight months and introduced the costing system. He went on to work as a lecturer in Goa’s Government College, which he did not enjoy, as it was quite monotonous. Dr Kumar did not know what to do once he finished his work, at this job. After six and half years, Dr Kumar left the government job and joined a private college, which he ended up leaving after one year and came back to his hometown, Belgaum, and worked in a self-financed private institution. During his tenure of 10 years, he undertook many initiatives, consulting work, interaction with industry leaders all over India and so on. “This gave me a lot of confidence/experience to play a bigger role and join Alliance University in Bangalore for a short while and then continue my career in Christ University. At Christ University got an opportunity to develop a culture of Research and Development. I wanted to develop a culture of research and development at the university. We provided seed funds to 50+ departments and hundreds of professors to take up research projects, monographs, working papers, scholarly book writing and to develop instructional materials. To ensure quality of research work, which is applied and transformational, we engaged experts from various parts of our country to review their/the projects,” reminisces Dr Kumar.

Following his father’s footsteps, Dr Kumar decided to pursue the path of teaching by keeping aside the government finance corporation assignment. He also draws inspiration from his economics professor, who helped him understand his passion for education and teaching. “I felt my professors didn’t just teach the subject; they were instrumental to my understanding of various issues and what/ the effect/impact they have on us. I had a good group of friends around me who strengthened

my confidence. I was fortunate enough to have like-minded friends around me, who boosted my confidence. ” adds Dr Kumar.

Although there were setbacks, Dr Kumar has emerged strong and overcome the obstacles that came his way. “When I was doing my post-graduation, my friends and I used to think how this degree would help us. We did not have a proper direction at that time. With the information and awareness available today, the students have something we did not have.

However, I was hopeful that with a good knowledge base and wisdom, things would work out. However, we cannot always wait for something like that to happen. We have to create/invent and take it up,” says Dr Kumar.

To stay updated in regards to his knowledge and practice, Dr Kumar has secured four international certificates; Certified Management Accountant(CMA), Certified Valuator and Analysts(CVA) Master Analysts in Financial Forensic (MAFF) - from USA and is currently pursuing the Certified Public Accountant(CPA) certification from USA and also Fellow of Indian Institute of Valuers. “Today, common sense is just as important as knowledge. When you have both, you innovate and create newer skills. When you imbibe such skills, you start adapting them to address various issues and problems of the economy and society,” opines Dr Kumar.

Making Higher Education Digitally Competent Joining Sushant University in January 2020, Dr Kumar immediately set to work and facilitated in training the faculty members on implementing online classes through the University’s IT department, which worked out quite well for them during the pandemic outbreak. “We envisioned establishing various centres,” shares Dr Kumar.

Building academic rigour among the students and teachers, Dr Kumar engaged the industry professionals by organizing various webinars for the students, faculty members, and other stakeholders. With the cooperation of all the stakeholders, Sushant University today has twenty-seven international and national industry collaborations, whose representatives contributed in various webinars, conferences, and seminars. Dr Kumar’s journey at Sushant

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University has been highly successful with newer collaborations with IBM, Imagine XP, BUSSU foreign lab, Harvard Business School online, BOSCH innovation centre, SIMENS lab and many more. He sailed through hurdles and obstacles seamlessly and faced challenge that came his way, and tackled with ease. “As a leader, I was able to succeed because of the cooperation of my management, faculty members, students, and parents,” credits Dr Kumar.

Continuously engaging the faculty members, Dr Kumar always worked along with them and that is the pedagogy of governance at Sushant University. He urges/ensures his colleagues and faculty members to work with positive stress and is always approachable for any kind of support and guidance. “We can learn from every single member of the organization. My mantra is to work with the people. Then everyone will come up with new ideas upfront,” quips Dr Kumar.

Quite a challenge for both the students and faculty members, Sushant University took quite some time to stratify online, which went very well with their well-equipped platforms. Dr Kumar ensured that the faculty and the students adjusted well, especially when it came to the interactions and deliberations with the students and faculty

Higher Education Digest June 2021

members. He assured smooth streamlining of the process without any delays. As the head of the institute, Dr Kumar met the student council and program directors quite regularly along with the students. “We have organized parent-teacher meets, and I had an apprehension that parents might question our online teaching methods, but nothing as such came up, and everyone was highly appreciative and commended our academic efforts,” adds Dr Kumar.

While in the pandemic, the students faced network issues due to which approximately 5-7% of the students were not able to attend classes. Dr Kumar ensured they received the contents of the class through audio and video recordings by publishing them on the website, making them accessible to students at all times. Currently working on continuing education, establishing initiative centres, and creating ownership for those centres among the faculty members, Dr Kumar is also working on acquiring the NAAC Accreditation and then move on to the National Board of Accreditation. “Three years down the line, we want to improvise on patents and research and endeavour to bring higher academic rigour for our students,” concludes Dr Kumar.

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ACADEMIC VIEW

INDIAN UNIVERSITIES

NOT THREATENED

BY EMERGING ED-TECH STARTUP TREND! Prof Asheesh Gupta, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, JK Lakshmipat University

46 Prof Asheesh Gupta is a Pro-Vice-Chancellor and member of the Academic Council of JK Lakshmipat University, Jaipur. Asheesh earned a Bachelor degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT Kanpur in 1989 and an MBA from IIM Calcutta. Additionally, Asheesh received a B. Tech in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur in 1989 and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta in 1994. Additionally, in 2018, he was invited by Cornell University to join the Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures as an Industry Scholar. He has had a noteworthy stint with many achievements in his career spanning over three decades across operations, engineering, strategic consulting, general management and Institution building in media and education under his belt.

Higher Education Digest June 2021

The world of online learning, without any question, is still a virtual space, whereas universities promote peer bonding and societal interaction

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everal verticals across industries have been disrupted due to the pandemic as it caught the nation off-guard. Many industries tried to keep their boat afloat ever since the COVID-19 virus struck the nation. Thanks to the everburgeoning tech scenario in India, quite a few sectors have made it through but if there is one industry that has truly reached new heights, it is the world of education technology.

The education sector’s progress might have been hampered in the initial days of the pandemic, but it has caught up with the coronial era eventually and has been coming out stronger ever since. The education industry has catalysed its evolution by leaning onto technology and amplifying the Ed-tech start-up trend. However, the universities do not seem tense regarding the concern at all. Rather they have their own point of view brewingthe one which reflects how both entities have a different role to play.

The Ed-tech start-up trend Several start-ups in the form of educational portals, sites and applications have been introduced to students to provide them with education at the comfort of their homes. What started as a temporary solution for the situation has now mushroomed to form a robust Ed-

tech domain. New Ed-tech-supported applications are making their way to the market and offering courses to the students. Many people have even started believing that these Ed-tech start-ups and applications will soon take over universities and encourage students to make a complete shift to these platforms.

Ed-tech start-ups v/s educational universities?

Interestingly, there is no room for “v/s”. In fact, both of them cater to different segments of the same industry and thus have different purposes. Ed-tech start-ups focus on guiding the students with the help of modules and content, whereas universities and institutions make it personalised with technology joining hands with the faculty and providing students with a complete mentorship package.

Self-learning might be a thing for youth and work out for certain people but education is not confined to mere cerebral development. It goes far beyond it. Emotional growth and social interaction also contribute significantly to the personality of the individual, therefore proving to be a must-have for a student.

In addition to this, universities have embraced technology to reach out to their students, however, they also carry a ray of hope of getting on-ground after the pandemic as this storm will soon run out of rain too.

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peer bonding and societal interaction. Universities are coming forward and discussing how their institutions are beyond physical classrooms and encourage internal in-person communication between students that boosts their confidence and provides emotional support.

Learning from one another in various formats enables students’ perspectives to grow and provides them with a flexible eye towards a situation, skill or personal/ professional relationship.

It might be possible for Ed-tech to sustain as it allies with universities and practices well-strategized coexistence; however, the sector cannot independently offer life lessons and personal experiences the way universities do, thus making them unique in their own ways.

48 Parallel lines Universities and Ed-tech are working parallelly towards their respective purposes currently and it will only be wise for them to work cohesively in the near future as well. The structure of the Ed-tech domain is not entirely independent to negate the universities in a snap, and hence, the institutions are not worried to be erased out of the picture just yet. Rewiring any sector and helping it grow its roots digitally is not as easy as it looks. It needs internal reforms and a well-thought, strategically implemented system for any industry to flourish. However, the field of Ed-tech start-ups still has a long way to go from being represented as a solitary leader.

The Ed-tech start-up trend can continue to sustain itself in a hybrid system where universities undertake their role in nurturing students and Ed-tech start-ups offer them tools to hone their skills and become exemplary professionals.

Humans are social beings The world of online learning, without any question, is still a virtual space, whereas universities promote

Higher Education Digest June 2021

Application > Knowledge!

Ed-tech, undoubtedly, is aiding students in these challenging times and helping them gain knowledge via websites and portals. But the sector still lacks a personalised response tailored as per individual students’ requirements; whereas universities are taking the lead in implementing their learning with the help of qualified faculty as well as facilities. For instance, university fests and university fellowship programs provide immense exposure to the students, strengthening their base and preparing them for the real world. The real-life experience aids students in filling their canvas of life with the colours of co-existence, team spirit, passion and respect for fellow mentors and students.

Universities instil a sense of being a family, where the emotional wellbeing of a student is triggered towards growth, thus helping in the overall development of the student than restricting the “education” to rote learning or Ed-tech applications. Universities are evolving by the day and restructuring the conventional teaching methods to connect with students on a deeper level. There’s a reason universities are called alma-maters regardless of the Ed-tech sector progressing exponentially in the past few years and being pinned as the modern-day guru.

Universities encourage collective growth while enabling students to follow their hearts and helping them create their success stories their way. On-ground operations of the universities might have been on a sabbatical, but the universities are proactively guiding their students through virtual classrooms and further see a silver lining to hold onto until the COVID-19 is wiped off for good. This might be an unexpected halt for universities, but they are coping well with the circumstances. The institutions are flourishing every day to eventually get back up on the ground with the same enthusiasm after the pandemic becomes a thing of history.

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STUDY ABROAD

INTERNATIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION

TRENDS IN 2021: WHAT LIES AHEAD FOR STUDY ABROAD ASPIRANTS? Piyush Kumar, Regional Director (South Asia), IDP Education

50 IDP Education is global leader in international education service. For over 50 years, IDP has played a significant role in international education by offering comprehensive counselling services to students and having placed more than 500,000 students into quality institutions in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and more recently, Ireland. Piyush Kumar joined IDP Education in 2015 as the Country Director for India and was further appointed as the Regional Director for South Asia in 2017. He heads IDP’s operations in the region and oversees the execution of business strategy and manages the operating and service performance across Student placement as well as IELTS. In a conversation with Higher Education Digest, Piyush Kumar talks about international higher education trends in 2021, how is IDP helping students in studying overseas, scholarships offered by various countries, and much more.

Higher Education Digest June 2021

Post-pandemic, it is only natural for an increased demand for international talent where host countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, the UK and the US would welcome new students with open arms

The Covid-19 pandemic has curtailed international student mobility to a substantial extent. What lies ahead for study abroad aspirants?

To fulfil the ambition of study abroad aspirants, institutions are supporting them at every step of their journey. Most international institutions have adopted student-friendly regulations, including moving their courses online and offering blended learning as an alternative mode of study. Blended learning allows students to complete part of their program online and the rest of their course on-campus as soon as the visa services and international flights resume.

Also, several institutions have made arrangements to welcome students on-campus (once the international flights resume) with all safety precautions like personal hygiene, social distancing, sanitisation etc. Most of the Canadian institutions have COVID-readiness plans in place.

Various institutions across the globe are even running vaccination drives on campus to ensure the inoculation of students. US institutions have been

way ahead in vaccinating their students. According to usafacts.org, 49% of the population in the US has already had their first dose, with 39% being fully vaccinated.

What are the international higher education trends in 2021?

Given that most students have not been able to study in their host country for more than a year now, institutions and visa authorities will be quite busy reviewing a huge pile of applications. With countries like Canada and the US facing increased competition, getting admission at a quality institution would only get more competitive if the students don’t apply now and make the best of the opportunities available.

Said that, in the wake of the pandemic, a whole new set of courses has picked up in the last year.

Streams like Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Cybersecurity have always been popular, but currently, courses such as Environmental Science (especially in renewable energies), Healthcare

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Over the past year, we have organised more than 500 virtual education fairs assisting 1.2 lakh students

52 Infrastructure, Biotechnology, Health Informatics, Pharmacy, Equipment Manufacturing, and Healthcare Administration have also gained enough attention.

Post-pandemic, it is only natural for an increased demand for international talent where host countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, the UK and the US would welcome new students with open arms (they still do their best to provide their students with the best virtual education experience possible). Friendlier policies are being put into place to make it more conducive for students to apply and enrol in international universities.

Institutions have eased their admission requirements; standardised tests have been waived, visas are being processed without biometric and governments are trying their best to help students in all ways possible.

How is IDP going to help students in studying overseas amid/post-COVID-19?

We are a 50 years old organisation with more than 1,300 expert education counsellors worldwide, highly trained to support genuine students submit quality and verified applications. We have 23 virtual offices alongside 40 physical offices across India to support students. Students can book a video counselling session with IDP’s experts

Higher Education Digest June 2021

from the comfort of their homes and discuss their queries 1-on-1. Moreover, we keep organising virtual education fairs where students can interact with institution representatives to clarify their study abroad plans.

To help students stay informed during the pandemic, we have also also added interesting features to our IDP Study Abroad App. With our app, students can get real-time updates on their application status and learn more about their dream course and institution from the comfort of their homes. Besides, our experts keep track of the latest developments to guide students on the changes in admission policies and regulations of several universities and governments to help them make an informed decision.

Recently, we have also tied up with Air Canada to help international students avail budgeted air travel.

The tie-up would help students to travel from any part of the world to Canada with a 15% discount on international Air Canada flights.

Tell us about the significance of the IDP Study Abroad Virtual Fair during the worldwide pandemic situation.

Virtual education fair acts as a critical medium where students can connect with institutions 1-on-1 to discuss their study abroad plans and learn more about their dream institutions.

We knew that students would be concerned about their plans and require direct assistance from institution representatives now more than ever. We moved our education fairs to an online medium so students can still get the same support from the comfort of their homes.

Over the past year, we have organised more than 500 virtual education fairs assisting 1.2 lakhs students. On average, over 200 world-class institutions participate in our virtual education fairs to guide students.

The process to book a session is very simple. Students visit idp.com and locate the virtual event (for their city) for their dream destination. After selecting their preferred virtual event, they can book their session by adding few details like name, email, phone number, etc. After that, students receive a link to join the video session few days before the event date. Attending virtual education fairs is entirely free of cost.

What is your advice to the students who want to pursue studies abroad during the pandemic?

Students should use the current opportunity and do their research well. While selecting an institution, students need to focus on Covid-readiness plans, government policies of that country, medical facilities besides global

ranking, courses offered and faculty members.

Above all, students should inquire about post-study work rights and opportunities before they zero down on a particular nation or an institution.

Given that more students are applying for international education, the visa process might get delayed due to administrational and operational issues. Besides, the volume of applications pending in visa offices is increasing with each passing week.

Hence, we would advise students to apply ahead of time. Early application will help them get their visa processed on priority, and they will be able to leave for their host country as soon as the situation normalises.

In the meantime, students can connect with their classmates and the faculty to build their relations. They can also use this time to upskill (pursue micro-credential programs online) themselves or even enrol in a virtual internship to strengthen their profile.

About

Piyush Kumar Piyush Kumar is a member of IDP’s Global Leadership Team and has played a key role in driving exceptional business growth and opportunities for the region. He led the market entry strategy for Nepal as well. Under his leadership, IDP has significantly expanded its footprints and opened 23 new offices across the region in the last 3 years.

Piyush has a rich and diverse operational expertise of over 20 years in sales, operations and marketing, both in India and international markets.

Before joining IDP, he was working in financial services and consumer goods sector. He also has extensive experience in building and leading strategic partnerships with large financial, retail and industrial institutions.

What are the study programs and scholarships offered by various countries?

Many institutions are offering exclusive scholarships, bursaries, and grants to help students finance their studies during trying times. Lately, The Open University in Scotland announced a fund for the current students, who have been directly impacted by Covid-19, to complete their studies.

Almost every institution is offering additional aid in the form of scholarship or grants. Institutions have segregated these scholarships to attract a talent pool that can bring diversified expertise to the institution. Besides, some of the oldest and prestigious scholarships, like the Tata Scholarship, Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship, Chevening Scholarships, Felix Scholarship, Fulbright Nehru Fellowships and UBC International Leader of Tomorrow Award, are always there for students.

As far as programs/courses are concerned, every country has its specialisation. For instance, US universities are considered best for STEM courses, short for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Canada is known for offering the best STEM courses as well as research programs. The UK excels in providing business and accountancy degrees, whereas Ireland houses the best social sciences and research programs. However, if students face any confusion along their path, IDP’s experts are always there to help them make an informed decision.

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Dr CV Gopinath Registrar, Centurion University of Technology and Management (CUTM)

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Pursuing Excellence through New Norms in Higher Education

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ndoubtedly, university leaders must have strong leadership skills to guide their institutions through crises related to shrinking enrollments, racial bias and discrimination, sexual harassment, financial solvency, admissions issues, and other serious challenges. Yet little has been written about the need for leadership skills among faculty and academic staff members. However, strong faculty and academic staff leadership are essential for institutions to thrive in the current higher education landscape truly. Faculty and staff members are, indeed, change agents in higher education.

For Dr CV Gopinath, Registrar, Centurion University of Technology and Management (CUTM), who brings 30 years of experience, out of which 16 years were as an academic administrator of various prestigious institutes across the country, the philosophy of leadership is to include

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Working in different states like Odisha, Telangana, and Karnataka with cosmopolitan, cross-cultural students and staff transformed me as a balanced leader with a cool attitude

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every stakeholder into the teamwork and winning everyone by conscience. He opines, “Delegate the right work to the right person and give freedom in executing the assigned work. Trust any person till they deceive”.

A B.Tech (Mechanical Engineering) graduate from GITAM University, Dr Gopinath completed his M.Tech and PhD from Andhra University. A timid boy before starting his engineering, he changed into a bold and extroverted person from his engineering education and team learning, which ultimately shaped him as a leader.

He reminisces, “I became principal of an engineering college at a very young age. Working in different states like Odisha, Telangana, and Karnataka with cosmopolitan, cross-cultural students and staff transformed me as a balanced leader with a cool attitude”.

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Coming from a family of teachers, Dr Gopinath always feels proud to be a teacher. He enjoys every moment of being an academic administrator and transforming thousands of budding engineers into responsible citizens of the country. “My father was my first role model naturally. Professionally Prof R.P Ranganatha Rao (Popularly called RPR sir) made an impact as a principal in my mind during my tenure in GITAM. He was so strict and at the same time so friendly with all faculty and students”, says Dr Gopinath.

Encouraging Individual Growth and Development Starting his journey in 2007 as the Principal at CUTM, Dr Gopinath rejoined as the Registrar of CUTM Vizag Campus after a gap of 10 years. During his tenure as

principal at the Paralakhemundi Campus, Dr Gopinath started many innovative concepts and ideas to improve the teaching-learning process, eventually bringing the NBA Accreditation for all engineering disciplines. He adds, “We focused more on students’ all-around development, creating more facilities for sports and cultural activities”.

Giving importance to every team member and developing hidden talents is something Dr Gopinath strongly believes in and follows through. Making every team member feel it is their priority to make the team’s common goal as their goal. Starting with interacting with all faculty members, staff, and students, Dr Gopinath conducted regular meetings with all stakeholders, including parents and people from nearby villages. CUTM is a new skill-based university, and its concept reaches every person involved with the university.

Taking a proactive role with the training and placement department, Dr Gopinath saw that each student got their choice of placement by discussing with them individually and achieved 100% placements this academic year despite the pandemic.

A tech-savvy professor, Dr Gopinath always gave importance to the use the technology in education, making it easy for him as soon as the lockdown was announced. He was ready with the technology for conducting classwork as well as examinations during this period. He adds, “I regularly attend and organize conferences,

A tech-savvy professor, Dr Gopinath always gave importance to the use the technology in education, making it easy for him as soon as the lockdown was announced.

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workshops, and leadership development programs conducted by reputed international organizations. I try my best to implement the same in the university”.

Technology-wise, CUTM never faced any problem with the lockdown during the first wave of the pandemic. They were well-equipped in such a way that they started the classes the very next day of the lockdown announced by the government. The university was way ahead in adopting the technology for practical purposes, and they have their classwork and assessment technology for conducting online classes and examinations of students. Dr Gopinath points out, “We never lost a single working day due to the lockdown. Even during the second wave also with

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proper forecasting and planning, we managed the situation without any inconvenience to the students, staff, and parents”.

A Pivotal Academic Administrator Dr Gopinath was instrumental in NBA Accreditation of School of Engineering and Technology, Centurion University, Odisha and Chaitanya Engineering College, Visakhapatnam, A.P. He has undergone training at internationally acclaimed institutes like Deloitte leadership Center in India, Academic Staff College of India, Engineering Staff College of India, and Dale Carnegie Certified Academic Leadership Program by Wipro. “I was instrumental in achieving

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MOUs with foreign universities like University of Perpetual Help System, DALTA, Calamba, Molino and Binyan Campuses, Philippines and BRAC University, Dhaka. I became visiting professor for the University of Perpetual Help System, DALTA, Calamba campus”, adds Dr Gopinath.

Although Dr Gopinath’s work is predominantly an administrative-kind of job, he regularly handles one or two courses per semester to hone his skills up to date and to know the pulse of students with direct interaction. He opines, “At the end of the day, you will not find any tangible output, but there will be satisfaction once you see the change of working environment and ease of doing things in the right direction”.

Chalking out the future for the university, Dr Gopinath has set the goals for CUTM for the next ten years. He is making all skill programs fully functional and at par with the industry standards in the next two years. He aspires to achieve NAAC and NBA accreditations in the next five years and reach ‘Institute of Eminence’ status by Govt. of India in the next ten years. Currently ranked 3rd in skilled universities in India, Dr Gopinath aspires to bring CUTM to the 1st position. “We are pioneers in implementing skills as part of the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) Curriculum such that students have more choices in selecting interesting courses. However, it will take another one/two years to synchronize the skills with curriculum fully”, he concludes.

Higher Education Digest June 2021

INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

HOW IS E-LEARNING

SHAPING THE INDIAN EDUCATION INDUSTRY AMID THE PANDEMIC? Nishant Agarwal, Founder, Proctur

60 Based out of Pune, Maharashtra, Nishant Agarwal is the founder of Proctur, an organization dedicated to providing technologically backed educational solutions, focusing primarily on mass digitization in education. He is a product enthusiast and has more than 16 years of cross-functional experience leading various technology brands in Asia and Europe. He is a serial entrepreneur and has been involved with the founding of various startups. In a conversation with Higher Education Digest, Nishant talks about digital transformation in the India education sector, his inspiration to start Proctur, digital transformation trends to follow in 2021 and much more.

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We need to make education accessible through digital means for all school students, irrespective of their location, financial background, and internet and bandwidth connectivity

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ith the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, India has started a journey of digitization.

Internet penetration is growing rapidly and reaching even the remotest of regions in the country. So far, more than 670 million Indians have gained access to the internet, and it is being estimated that by 2025, 55% of the population will be using the internet.

Consequently, the education sector has also started transitioning to the digital platform.

This phenomenon has been further catalyzed by the Covid-19 pandemic that has strong-armed educational institutions into using online learning platforms for disseminating education.

The future is digital To keep up with the world that is becoming more digitally-driven every day, the Indian government is putting a huge emphasis on digitizing the education sector. The New Education Policy (NEP 2020) seeks to accomplish just that. The policy also focuses on taking quality education to rural areas with the help of technological aids.

This year’s budget has allocated ₹93,224.31 crores to the Ministry of Education, which is an

increase of over ₹8,100 crores from the revised estimates for the current fiscal year.

Bridging the digital gap The biggest challenge that e-learning is facing is the digital gap between the urban and rural areas. Even during the pandemic, several schools and other educational institutions that did not have the digital infrastructure in place were closed for good during the entire lockdown period and they remain closed as the second wave of the pandemic continues to wreak havoc.

Therefore, there is an urgent need to bridge this gap. We need to make education accessible through digital means for all school students, irrespective of their location, financial background, and internet and bandwidth connectivity. Creating the right infrastructure is the first step and the government is actively working towards realizing this goal. Once the infrastructure is there, all else will follow. Digital education is relatively cheaper and it will help students coming from underprivileged families to gain access to affordable, quality education.

Creating job-ready students The priorities of higher education institutions have shifted in the past few years. The emphasis is no

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COVID-19 has strong-armed institutions into using online learning platforms

62 more on rote learning. Instead, they are striving to create students who are ready to hit the ground running when they enter the industry.

Take certifications, for example. They’ve grown in popularity a lot over the past few years, and thanks to CBT (Computer-Based Testing), it has become easier for working professionals to pursue certifications from the comfort of their homes and offices. This has incentivized pursuing certification courses, which in turn prepare the candidates better for their job.

This is just one example. There are several ways in which e-learning is helping in the creation of industry-ready graduates.

Moving with the times It is quite surprising that despite the technological advancements that have taken place over centuries of development, the education system has remained relatively stagnant. However, e-learning is bringing about a much-needed revolution in the education sector. Issues like shortage of teachers, inadequate student-teacher ratio, and insufficient teaching

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resources can all be eradicated with the adoption of e-learning methodologies.

E-learning has broadened the horizons and eliminated geographical constraints. Thanks to e-learning, students, and teachers can connect regardless of geographical constraints.

Online assessment Computer-Based Testing (CBT) has made examinations fairer, flexible, and more efficient. While schools are yet to adopt this model, it has been embraced wholeheartedly by higher education institutions. Since its application, there has been a significant drop in the cases of paper leaks, cheating, unfair or negligent evaluation, etc. It has also leveled the playing field and students who are physically challenged can fairly compete with other students with the help of digital tools like text-to-speech, screen readers, etc.

It has become overwhelmingly obvious that the future is digital. Embracing the change will help us stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the most developed countries of the world.

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STUDENT STORIES

AVANTIKA KAMPANI: A 14-YEAR-OLD ENTREPRENEUR WITH A TOOL THAT ENHANCES NEWBORNS’ CAPACITY TO LEARN Avantika Kampani, Founder, Seekh from DayOne

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“Think of Seekh as an investment into your child’s future,” says Avantika Kampani, a bright and curious student in Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Mumbai, who launched a new holistic learning programme called Seekh from Day One with a mission to bring about a revolution in children’s self-growth and development from the time they are born. Launched in 2020, Seekh from Day One is a learning tool that will enhance your newborn child’s capacity to learn and simultaneously make them fall in love with learning. Seekh consists of a variety of learning, interactive flashcards, each one helping your child to learn better, as well as giving you some tips on how to strengthen your child’s character from Day One. Her plans for Seekh are to fuel its growth and make sure it embarks on a constant upward rising streak. Under her company Day One, Avantika would like to introduce several more products that help enhance child and infant development. In a conversation with Higher Education Digest, Avantika talks about her entrepreneurial aspirations, inspirations, and much more.

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What was the motive behind taking up entrepreneurship?

Living with my little cousin, I began to notice the way that babies really looked at things around them. Their constant questioning, curiosity and alertness caught my attention. That was the starting point of my journey. I also felt that learning for them was constant as there was so much stimulation they were exposed to.

This led to research on early brain development only to find that from birth to age 5, a child’s brain develops more than at any other time in life. The idea was to develop a single tool that would cover many areas of growth and yet be attractive, fun and easy to use and travel-friendly. This was where the concept of the 6 sections came about, and Seekh was well on its way to becoming a reality.

I developed the product under the guidance of my mentors at the Young Entrepreneurs Academy Namita Thapar, Ateet Sanghavi and Garima Jindal. I began speaking to early learning experts, doctors and child psychologists and launched Seekh in 2020. I also designed the cards myself as I have always had a knack for art and design.

What does entrepreneurship mean to you?

An entrepreneur is something that I have always dreamed of being. It presented itself as an opportunity for me to channel my passion for making a change through a profitable company. “Be the change that you wish to see in the world” is a quote that I live by, and being an entrepreneur allows me to put this thought into action.

Be the change that you wish to see in the world” is a quote that I live by, and being an entrepreneur allows me to put this thought into action

Please tell us more about Seekh from DayOne and its services?

Seekh from DayOne is a learning tool that will enhance your newborn child’s capacity to learn, and

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simultaneously make them fall in love with learning.

Seekh consists of 6 sections, containing a variety of learning, interactive flashcards each one helping your child’s brain grow, as well as giving you some tips on how to strengthen your child’s character from Day One. Seekh is divided into 6 sections, with 72 cards each one helping a different part of your child’s brain develop and grow. These sections capture and aim to enhance different touchpoints of a child’s cognitive capability.

The categories of cards are named: At First Sight, Count Up, Touch and Feel, Building Blocks, Let’s Read and Link Up. Seekh by DayOne, targets brain development of infants, with focus on the ages of 0 to 3, making

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competition for the product smaller. Seekh, unlike other brands, provides holistic growth to the child, through a larger number of cards at a cheaper price, putting it far ahead of any possible competition. Seekh cards are also very easily translatable allowing it to grow despite language barriers. The design of the Seekh box is also compact and portable making it travel friendly, capturing the idea of ‘learning on the go’ perfectly.

How do you manage studies and your company operations simultaneously?

It would be fair to say there is no one formula that works every time. However, what really helps is

planning ahead and being meticulous about details. I try to keep on top of my school studies and read ahead so I am not caught off guard. I have well organised systems in terms of excel sheets for order information and product enquiry. I also really feel that when you are very passionate about something you find a way to make it work. Time is elastic. The best use of it is to follow your passion and to have a clear plan.

As an entrepreneur, what is it that motivates and drives you?

How do you handle failures?

Seeing a product go from a plan in the mind to being articulated on paper and then finding it in its final physical form is very exciting. Each part of the journey from inception to production and sales has taught, challenged, and inspired me. I would like to see my failures as things that did not go as expected. Viewing it through that lens allows me to find new ways to meet those expectations. My curiosity drives me, and I feel it is also my way of working through the speed breakers in my journey. I love learning and it is my biggest motivation.

In one word, describe your life as an entrepreneur.

Focused (on converting plans to action and on new possibilities) What do you put your success down to?

My parents were very encouraging, and I think that was important because it allowed me to explore my idea and turn it into a reality, and eventually a successful business venture. They also encouraged me to do the Young Entrepreneurs Academy program seriously because without a clear plan, learning, perseverance, and strategy this would have remained purely an aspiration. YEA! helped me understand what being a true entrepreneur feels

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Seeing a product go from a plan in the mind to being articulated on paper and then finding it in its final physical form is very exciting

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like, the learnings I have gained from this program are countless and I will be eternally grateful to team YEA! and my amazing mentors for making my dream a reality! I have immense gratitude for my parents and my mentors.

What would you say are the key elements for starting and running a successful business?

My business is yet in a very nascent stage, so I would like to share the key elements I focus on.

Creativity: looking at simple things differently.

Agility: turning my thoughts into action and not being fixated on setbacks Focus: on the details of the products, the marketing and the distribution.

Who inspires you?

There are lots of great entrepreneurial journeys that are fascinating and encouraging, but for me it would be the one of my brother. As he launched his company “Scatterinnovations” at 15, he became a role model of sorts for me. I saw his journey very closely and it encouraged me to take my ideas seriously and not to be thrown off by setbacks. I learnt how to stay focussed on the work at hand and to cut out the noise. Moreover, I realized that age is just a number in the face of grit and goals. We are lucky to live in a time where there are lots of

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opportunities available to us and it is a shame if we let our fears limit us.

How do you generate new ideas?

My ideas come from what I am most interested in, whether it is art or music or my curiosity of human behaviour. I love observing my surroundings and decoding what impressions it leaves on me- that is a place I generate my ideas from.

What advice would you give to other student entrepreneurs who are startingout?

I believe we are lucky that we are at a time in the world that ideas are judged for their potential alone and opportunities are available for anyone who is willing to put in the effort. I plan to keep researching, developing, and creating. It is what I love best and I think that’s the best message at this point I can share.

What do you want to do in the future?

I think as a rising ninth-grader, I am not too sure about the profession I shall finally pursue.

However, I know that psychology, both social and developmental, interests me. I am an avid History student, and art is my passion. I hope that, in some way, I can stitch these together and explore them further.

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Higher Education Digest June 2021

Dr Shalini Gupta Vice-Chancellor, Desh Bhagat University

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An Intrapreneur Achieving Excellence in Higher Education

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he higher education sector is at an inflexion point. It needs to find more effective, efficient ways to educate students without sacrificing rigour or the human interactions and feedback that lie at the heart of quality education. And it needs to do this while somehow covering the escalating costs of financial aid, student services, technology, and compliance with government mandates. There is a serious need to shift on how students are being educated. “Students’ emotional quotient needs to be tapped, along with their behavioural skills. The New Education Policy lays emphasis on the development of creative skills, cognitive capacities like critical thinking, problem-solving, social, ethical and emotional capacities and disposition,” points out Dr Shalini Gupta, Vice-Chancellor, Desh Bhagat University.

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Believe in yourself as you are the writer of your destiny

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Creativity and critical thinking enrich and deepen the learning experiences

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An Educator by Blood Being brought up in a family of educationist parents, Dr Shalini draws her inspiration, vision and futuristic approach from them. Her multidimensional personality is an example of the environment she received during her formative years when she could learn about art, music, reading and other extracurricular activities. She could learn the traits of honesty, integrity, dedication subconsciously by taking her parents as role models. A doting mother and a house-maker, Dr Shalini is able to manage work-life issues.

With a Doctorate in Entrepreneurship and Masters in Business Administration, Dr Shalini did superbly in her academics as well as extracurricular activities. With a rich experience of around 27 years in academia, administration, industry entrepreneurial mentoring and research,

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she has contributed to the education field a lot.

Her innovative approach and close association with industry has resulted in the development of students and institution. Dr Shalini says, “We should always strive towards achieving our goal with grit and determination. It is always a series of decisions, challenges, opportunities, failures and finally learning from them that a person reaches where the world sees them as a result.”

Scaling heights with her team As a young and dynamic leader, Dr Shalini develops strong relationships built on trust and integrity. Believing in participative decision making, she believes in her people and is empathetic towards them. Dr Shalini takes her team along with her as she grows. She motivates and powers and takes them in her fold which has helped her build a great team. Her style

Lifetime Achievement Award conferred by then Punjab Chief Minister S. Prakash Singh Badal during the Progressive Punjab Technical Education and Skill Development Summit -2014 organised by Government of Punjab in collaboration with Punjab Technical University and PUTIA (Punjab Unaided Technical Institutions Association).

I feel eternally grateful and content that I could make a positive impact in about 100 women’s lives by mentoring and encouraging them to take baby steps towards entrepreneurship

of motivating her team members is through mentoring and counselling. She focuses on one’s strengths and finally empowers them.

As a leader, Dr Shalini feels qualities like integrity, honesty, professional ethics, and empathy are inherent, which makes her a role model for everyone around her. Constantly working and upgrading the university in all aspects, she strives to enhance the research quality and academics and creates an environment of innovation and entrepreneurship.

Dr Shalini believes in empowering women and creating opportunities for those in difficulty due to gender bias, domestic violence, or the underprivileged. She has tried to create a movement of creating entrepreneurs from dropouts, underprivileged, students and women.

Her passion for mentoring them has made them capable of earning their livelihood and standing on their feet. Dr Shalini shares, “I feel grateful

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Practicing mindfulness and resilience is key to maintaining harmony between mind, body and spirit in these times

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and content that I could make a positive impact in about 100 womens’ lives by guiding, encouraging and mentoring them.

Today, many of them are successfully running their small businesses.”

Though Dr Shalini is a recipient of various awards at state and national level including Lifetime Achievement Award conferred by then Punjab Chief Minister S. Prakash Singh Badal Ji for her exceptional contribution in the field of education in 2014, she considers that the faith that people put in her as a friend, colleague and mentor is one of her biggest achievements.

She says, “All this has been possible with the team effort and unconditional support of my management throughout my journey of 21 years at Desh Bhagat University.”

In India, women have often been limited in their roles due to socio-cultural constraints, including politicisation, rigid social norms, and expectations prioritising family over career.

Complexity in the social structure and a heterogeneous population of more than a billion varying in culture and religion have made it difficult for governments and institutions to implement policies that are inclusive and not gendered. “If you are looking to grow, then you have to be emotionally intelligent. Believe in yourself as you are born leaders. You can cross any obstacle with your CanDo Attitude,” opines Dr Shalini.

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Higher Education Digest November June 2020 2021

INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

DIVERSITY, EQUITY

& INCLUSION HIRING IS NOT THE START TO BUILDING A DIVERSE WORKFORCE Asif Upadhye, Director & Dark Knight, Never Grow Up

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Asif Upadhye is a Director and Dark Knight at Never Grow Up, a Work Culture Consultancy with turnkey capabilities in areas of Employer Branding, Employee Insights & Well-being. With over a decade of experience in the HR domain & backed by a practical understanding of organisational culture building, leadership training and employee experience at large, he hopes to revolutionise the work culture domain, one happy employee at a time.

Higher Education Digest June 2021

Shaping a diverse and inclusive environment needs to be done prior to bringing in new talent from sundry backgrounds

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common misconception doing the rounds in the corporate space is that by hiring diverse talent, you naturally build a workforce that ticks the box of “Diversity, Equity & Inclusion”. But as strange as it sounds, DE&I hiring is really not the start to creating a diverse workforce. It is, in fact, the second step!

Just as charity begins at home, so does diversity, equity and inclusivity! And that’s where the first step begins – sensitizing your current workforce!

But Isn’t Sensitization A Cliché?

Of course it is, but it gets the job done! The main aim of this activity is to create awareness and skill employees on best behavioural outcomes for certain situations. Varied communication techniques can be employed to increase the impact of these sensitization sessions, but the ‘idea’ of driving workplace sensitization stays! Shaping a diverse and inclusive environment needs to be done prior to bringing in new talent from sundry backgrounds.

Your existing employees need to be sensitized on how to welcome and be open-minded towards

those who are diverse in thought, gender, ethnicity, and social background. They need to be made aware of how to address a person who identifies themselves as gender fluid, or how to respect their lifestyle, or something as simple as not mansplaining. But more importantly, the organization needs to address prevailing stereotypes and unconscious bias at the workplace by having managers and senior leaders talk it out with their respective teams. It should be viewed as an unconditional commitment; one that will inspire organizations to go the extra mile to ensure protection and job fulfilment.

Moreover, providing necessary infrastructure needed by specific employees with special needs, from setting up PWD bathroom-friendly stalls to ensuring creche facilities for new moms, are aspects that need to be taken into account before onboarding someone who is differently abled or has just returned from maternity leave.

Incorporating Tech In DE&I Hiring Many recruiters and HR teams use AI in the hiring process to prevent any human bias in the

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initial screening of profiles. To support this, there are numerous platforms and tools in the market that are data-driven and offer a “special DE&I hiring feature”.

But if DE&I is a filter feature, how is your screening impartial? Ironic, isn’t it!

With remote and hybrid working being the new normal we settle into, this year will keep witnessing a rise in DE&I focused solutions. Without a doubt, incorporating such technological advances into daily working operations will make life a lot more convenient for the workforce and management. Such tools help employers and managers identify DE&I gaps within and across various teams, guiding them to fulfil any disparity.

However, we keep forgetting that at the end of the day, these AI tools will mirror human behaviour to an extent because of the specific data it is fed. For some recruiters, it gets confusing to trust the data when decision-making is in play. And there’s only one way to keep AI hiring tools truly neutral - by feeding it clean, diverse and large data.

Not only will this practice reduce any form of favouritism but will also contribute organically towards designing a diverse workforce. The purpose of using such tools isn’t only to save time but to mitigate any form of prejudice.

Remember, automating this process is an advantage, not the main purpose!

Boosting DE&I Impact Through Community Support Talks on diversity and inclusion have been around long enough that people are beginning to face “diversity fatigue”. After a certain point when there’s no visible impact, the cause faces stagnation. Staying committed is a challenge most organizations encounter. And that is

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why relying on the concerned community for guidance can boost employee understanding, engagement and contribution towards the cause. The DE&I battle has many faces to it - sexism, racism, ageism, ableism. Tapping into these communities for help is like hitting a jackpot; it’s a pool of resources waiting to be consumed. By consulting and interacting with them, decision-makers have a better outlook on how to execute more impactful initiatives that drive effective diversity, equity and inclusion. Bringing about a sense of oneness among the workforce becomes achievable with the right kind of tools and methodologies.

If you’re a senior leader, manager, HR member or a decision-maker for a set of minority people who are underrepresented in an organization, seeking advice from these sections of society solves half the problem.

The ROI is extraordinary - meaningful business and societal impact! Employees are able to get first-hand experience of others’ lifestyles and learn how to be more empathetic. Engagement between different teams rises and “being inclusive” is naturally ingrained in the culture.

On the other hand, communities are uplifted. Certain taboos and misconceived notions are broken. People from minority groups feel more liberated and empowered to be themselves because they are being listened to.

As mentioned earlier, taking up the DE&I cause is an unconditional organization commitment to sincerely raise the diversity bar in the industry. It goes beyond a company’s responsibility to create a secure working space for people belonging to different walks of life. If you’re not at it wholeheartedly, you’re passively complying to mediocrity. The game is constantly changing but the rules are the same. Start at home with bringing change, and then go change the world!

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INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

LIFE SKILLS –

A TRAINING THAT GOES BEYOND THE REALM OF EDUCATION Manish Chowdhary, Founder, Skilling India

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Manish Chowdhary, an alumnus of IIT Delhi & IIM Bangalore has multiple experiences across high growth enterprises in corporate development and management. In the last 3+ years as CEO, Manish has created a new scalable business and taken it to 1200+ partners across 550+ locations. He takes care oversees & day-to-day administrative, financial, and operational functions of a business.

Higher Education Digest June 2021

The life skill training needs to go hand-in-hand with the education system for the students to imbibe the training, flourish and face the challenges of life

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ducation and Development, one of the most important phases of growing up in a child’s life is the process of facilitating learning, or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, morals, beliefs, and habits in a systematic manner, mostly in an institution. The process over the years has evolved from the gurukul system to universities, thus adjusting to the demand of the current evolution of economy, pace of life and requirement of the society. However, with the progress to the 21st century, we have left behind a lot of age-old practices and societal support systems that used to teach life-skills naturally to children.

Life skills, recognized as those essential skills that bring together the social, emotional, and cognitive capacities of a person to solve problems and achieve goals, today need to be taught in a structured manner.

The life skill training needs to go hand-in-hand with the education system for the students to imbibe the training, flourish and face the challenges of life.

The list of beneficial lifelong learning skills one can have is broad and diverse, and it pays to develop them continuously. The New Education Policy also recognized the essence of this broad learning, and

created the groundwork for students to get skilled in areas beyond the program they are enrolled for.

However, it will take years for a complete rollout.

The need for skills like managing stress, developing positivity, hope and optimism, is felt much more in current scenario as people are trying to face the COVID situations, and rise beyond the trauma.

The essential life skills play a critical role in a student’s success in school, college and life beyond. The procurement of these skills is a much more likely indicator of future success than the conventional measure like taking a test and assigning homework. Teachers sometimes describe these skills as “learning to learn” skills, which can be developed through intentional, regular activities. Given a sharp rise of start-up ecosystem in recent years in India and VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) environment, the importance of “survival & growth skills” like flexibility & adaptability, positive mindset, problem solving & decision making, effective communication, ownership & accountability, continuous learning & up skilling, have become far more Critical than before.

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82 There is a dire need to skill, upskill and multi-skill a huge workforce to enhance employability

Higher Education Digest June 2021

A start-up or for that matter any organization is looking not only for a skill for a specific job in a welltrained resource, but for overall quality of ownership, understanding and delivery commitments. To attain this level of maturity, students not only need to be trained in multiple domain skills for basic employability, but more importantly, they require to develop a strong sense of purpose, awareness of the market and its trends, and a sound training in organizational, career and personal success skills to grow in their career to realize their true potential.

With the second wave of pandemic raging across the country, India’s dream of becoming a five-trilliondollar economy may have been postponed but the dream of millions of people to get ahead of the lockdown and unemployment landscape will certainly rejuvenate the country, the moment the current fight against the virus is over. And like everything the global lockdown has impacted the skills ecosystem, resulting in an imbalance in the skills landscape. There is a dire need to skill, up skill and multi-skill a huge workforce to enhance employability. Thus, the need of the hour is to tap into technology to leap-frog the youth of today into employability and career success. Life skills enhance the capacity and capability of the youth to grasp the opportunity.

The five-pronged life-skills that tops the list that need to be imparted on immediate basis, given the current skill, economic and social situation can loosely be categorized under the following heads: - Decision Making Skills—for personal and professional life - Communication—Clear & Loud - Focus & Self Control—Too many demand and Prioritisation of Work - Resilience & Positive Thinking—Keep ahead of the pandemic doldrums - Problem Solving—Thinking of the Best Solutions - Critical Thinking—Don’t lose mind over critical situations - Self Defense-- from both physical and mental trauma Analysis of Post Covid work and employment scenario by McKinsey study “The Future of Work after COVID19”, shows that work from home and adoption of remote solutions is going to continue even when the pandemic tames down and people will need to increasingly get adapted with AI, automation, online jobs. The switch over is easier said than done, especially with India’s population and challenge on e-education.

Life Skills will help to bridge the Digital Gap and speed up the process of making the gap narrower.

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Higher Education Digest June 2021

ACADEMIC VIEW

TIPS TO

KEEP CHILDREN WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES ENGAGED DURING THIS COVID PANDEMIC Manju Navani, Teaching faculty – Senior Section, The Aditya Birla Integrated School, Mumbai

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Manju is a Commerce lecturer at The Aditya Birla Integrated School, Fort, Mumbai. She is a certified Youth Mental Health First Aider as well.

Manju helps prepare students with learning disabilities for mainstream education.

Higher Education Digest June 2021

Activities such as listening to audiobooks and podcasts, read aloud, teach what you have learnt, associating music with concepts and ideas can keep the children engaged

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ust when we were hopeful of life going back to pre-Covid normalcy, the second wave of Covid pummeled us and yet again put us all in a lockdown. It is undoubtedly a difficult time for everyone, and more so for children with learning disabilities; who have been away from set routine and social settings for far too long.

Parents can make a multitude of difference in the experiences of children with learning disabilities.

Learning disabilities can be of many types such as ADHD, Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, Dyscalculia and it can also manifest as a result of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Though the pandemic has kept all children at home, we can use this time to engage them constructively through the following tips – 1. It is utmost important to set a fixed routine to follow The major drawback of this pandemic has been that children have lost their routine. It shall help children with learning disabilities to have a visual schedule of the day in front of them that they can follow, setting alarms for when a task shall begin and using a countdown timer to when a task should end can help bring in muchneeded structure.

2. Plan out activities based on the type of learner your child is –VAK (visual, auditory and/or kinesthetic) If your child is a visual learner you can engage them with informational videos, picture books, charts and visually appealing toys/objects. If your child is an auditory learner, they would follow verbal instructions efficiently. Activities such as listening to audiobooks and podcasts, read aloud, teach what you have learnt, associating music with concepts and ideas can keep them engaged. For kinesthetic learners, using salt tray for drawing alphabets, numbers and objects, sensory bin, hopscotch to teach concepts, art and craft activities and letting them help through the house chores can help.

3. Weaving experiential learning activities through the day is important to develop social and cognitive skills amongst learners at the same time keeping them engaged – Autism spectrum disorder – Making use of sensory games can help to a great extent, coupled with fixed visual schedules of the day. Routine helps children with ASD to become receptive and remain settled through the day.

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ADHD – Allowing them to fidget, playing indoor games, and relaxation and meditation activities can help keep them engaged. It is important to give them planned breaks in between activities to sustain the attention longer.

Dyslexia – Making use of audio books, podcasts and music can keep them busy through the day.

Dysgraphia – Using modeling clay, paper mazes, memory games and other such activities can help develop their fine motor skills.

Dyscalculia – Involving them in online shopping, playing with a clock, number treasure hunt and using visual and tactile objects to learn basic math concepts can keep them occupied for long.

4. Set aside time for children to socialize with friends and family It can help to keep them connected and develop their social skills.

5. Do not forget to use rewards and reinforcements for building long-lasting habits Reinforcement is the key to keep them on track.

Always try to use positive reinforcement and positive punishment as opposed to negative reinforcement and negative punishment.

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Using modeling clay, paper mazes, memory games and other such activities can help develop child’s fine motor skills

6. Take the support of siblings during activity time This will help the children stay engaged for longer, it will enable you to focus on other tasks and commitments, make siblings more hands on with helping children with learning disabilities and it will give a conducive setting for group or pair activities which can lead to improvement in social skills.

7. Include exercising in the daily routine, follow a healthy diet and sleep schedule Exercising, diet and sleep plays a major role in reducing stress, improving attention, and maintaining a healthy hormonal balance in all children 8. Never shy away from seeking help when needed Remember parents, it is imperative to take care of yourself first to be able to work effectively with your child.

Higher Education Digest June 2021

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Higher Education Digest July 2020

Higher Education Digest June May 2021

INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

KNOW EVERYTHING

ABOUT MASTERS OF PUBLIC HEALTH Kanishk Duggal, COO, Institute of Clinical Research India (ICRI)

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Kanishk Dugal is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of ICRI. With more than 16 years of experience, Mr Kanishk is a lead educator in the new age. He has several awards and honours to his name such as India Today Award and President Award. He operates to make Indian youth job-ready and equipped with the right skillsets across industries.

Higher Education Digest June 2021

Master in public Health is a degree that is skillbased learning program teaches application of best practices and policies contributing in better and healthier life-style of public or individual

What is Public Health profession?

Public Health is a stream that deals with the health policies for the improvement or betterment of health of an individual, public or community through education, research or awareness. The structure & administration of public health organizations and the policies made under health programs & their reimbursement counted as Public Health Policy. As a professional, Public Health workers try to prevent the diseases at first place through educating public.

If one wants to be in the profession of dealing with health policies and practices involved in preventing disease spread, then opting for a Master’s program in Public Health is the answer to your career quest.

MPH or Master of Public Health or Master in Public Health is a professional that is a post graduate degree curated to train professionals to protect and improve community health world-wide.

Degree in Public Health (MPH): Master in public Health is a degree that is skill-based learning program teaches application of best practices

and policies contributing in better and healthier lifestyle of public or individual.

Public health profession is a noble profession that works towards the betterment of lives of public. Due to change in adaptabilities and life-style, Public health is also going through the major transformation that goes beyond the conventional practices.

MPH teaches you the applicable practices or policies made for health improvement, social improvement of a community, challenges, educational programs, services and research. Under this course, students learn Public Health Administration of various health policies, their role & implementations in a hospital or an organization. It also includes the study of financial management, program planning, human resources, operations research, economics, and monitoring.

Why Public Health Policy?

As the Indian Healthcare industry is booming & is expected to touch over USD 280 million by 2022, hence, there is an evident scope for improvements in health services in the country. India

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is the leading destination for high-end diagnostic services that need immediate attention of health policies, hence, generating lacs of career opportunities in public health for skilled professionals.

For next 10 years, healthcare would generate continuous employment for trained professionals since for coming 10 years, the huge work will be done across the globe concerning better healthcare facilities and prevention of diseases.

Career opportunities are majorly available currently and will also be available with health agencies at all the levels in near future. The course designed for aspirants helps them to be the masters in public health, medical services and medical technologies along with their implications. Government is also playing a crucial role in improving health services at hospitals promoting indigenous manufacturing of medicines.

What would you study?

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The 2 year of degree program will include the study around: Emerging Trends Of Management; Economics For Management; International Business Environment; Financial Accounting And Reporting; Statistics For Management; Introduction To public Health; Marketing & E-commerce; Business Communication ; Business Law; Financial Management; Human Resource Management And Organizational Behavior; Health Policy, Planning & Economics; NGO Management; Communicable & Noncommunicable Disease; Women And Child Health And Gender Issues; International Business And Cross Cultural Awareness; Epidemiology And Public Health Administration; Human Biology & Public Health Chemistry; Occupational, Industrial And Urban Health; Ethics In Public Health; Public Health Nutrition; Environment Health, Management And Safety Planning; Legal Legislations And Professional Ethics; Healthcare, Social Policy And Health Insurance; Health Systems Development & Management; Health Psychology, Communication & Counseling; Soft Skill And Personality; Development Training; Project/Dissertation Report; Internship Report

Leading Recruiters All leading hospitals; International agencies; Public Health Organization; Consulting Firms; Global Health Companies; Insurance Sector; Regulatory Agencies; Research Organizations; NGOs and the Government Sector

Areas to be served Health Administration & Community Health; Health Policies; Biostatistics; Health insurance companies; Epidemiology

Who can join the program?

All doctors, pharma graduates, science graduates and other graduates can join the degree program since MPH presents career opportunities to all level of professionals depending upon the educational background.

Career Opportunities the field offers?

Policy Specialist; Public Health Analyst; Health Information Specialist; Health Education Specialist; Research Analyst; Health Promotion Manager; Wellness Officer

Way Forward: Institutions are ensuring the complete development of professionals through mixed learning approach that include teaching through practical oriented programs and field learnings.

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Higher Education Digest October June 2020 2021

STUDY ABROAD

STUDY

ABROAD TRENDS 2021 Abhinav Mital, Co-founder & Managing Director, The WorldGrad

92 Abhinav is passionate about the confluence of technology and services in education and firmly believes that both are critical to delivering results. He is furthering that passion at The WorldGrad and LINC Education by pushing the online learning agenda. Abhinav comes with nearly 15 years of experience in the education sector and was a founding member and former Partner of Parthenon-EY’s international education practice. He has worked with a number of global higher education institutions on growth strategy, international expansion and improving student experience as well as advised PE investors, publishers, education companies and edu-tech ventures. He currently serves on the operations advisory board of The Education Fund, Australia. Prior to this, Abhinav setup a textile business through a combination of a greenfield production facility and downstream acquisitions.

Higher Education Digest June 2021

According to a survey by HSBC on overseas education trends in India, around 44 percent of Indian parents prefer a ‘foreign’ education for their children

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ducation as an institute of learning has been deeply impacted by the COVID-19.

Amidst this, higher education and particularly study abroad plans of the students has received a huge setback. Although there have been massive changes to the way education is now imparted, one major factor that remains the same is the will for the educationalists and the students to go on. However, students willing to study abroad must keep in mind that the international study experience has changed due to Covid-19 and there are new trends in the market that they need to familiarize themselves with and prepare accordingly. Let’s learn about them.

No Change in study abroad aspirations: Undeniable as it was, as of 2019, the IBEF reported more than 8 lakh Indian students had enrolled in universities across the world, but the number saw a significant contraction in 2020. The Times of India, in their article, stated that there was a 55% dip in the number of people who decided to study abroad with just 2,61,406 students flying as compared to the 8 lakhs in 2019. However, they say that 2021 observes a higher number of applications all over.

As per Ministry of External Affairs, India, 71,000 students have already departed for their education in foreign countries. Applications by Indian students are also encouraged by the introduction of various schemes for international students, for example, the two-year post-study visa by the UK government, allowing overseas graduates a longer period to look for employment after their studies. According to Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), 13,435 Indian students are enrolled at London universities, an increase of 87 per cent on the previous year’s 7,185 students.

Reliance on EdTech platforms that tie up with universities: It is well established that despite COVID-19, students still wish to pursue their studies abroad.

With all the chaos around, students have grown to develop that they are to spend one semester or year abroad and then go over on campus. While opting for this, students have myriads of EdTech facilitators to choose from. In a survey by University Hub, it was made clear that students wanted blended learning - a mix of online and offline approach, so various Universities across UK, Australia, Canada, US,

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As per user behaviour and traffic analysis on The WorldGrad(a Study Abroad enabler), 55.1% of students are interested in Australia as their study destination followed by the UK at 33.8%

Dubai and similar preferred destinations abroad have tied up with EdTech platforms to implement this approach.

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Healthcare Infrastructure- An important factor to consider: As reported in India Today students earlier shortlisted their universities based on factors such as the school’s reputation, ranking, faculty, student body, job prospects, and clubs & activities. According to a survey by HSBC on overseas education trends in India, around 44 percent of the Indian parents would prefer a ‘foreign’ education for their children. Healthcare infrastructure was not considered back then. With the pandemic expected to last for some more time, the presence of a certified health care practitioner in/near the university is expected to be a matter of concern for the students.

Choice of country is still an important decision maker: As per user behaviors and traffic analysis on The WorldGrad- (a Study Abroad enabler), 55.1% of students are interested in Australia as their study destination and followed by the UK at 33.8%. It should be noted that the UK and Australia are among the top 10 countries that have managed to minimize infection and death rates better than others. Australian visa application process for many Asian students is relaxed in terms of financial requirements. International students in Australia can work up to 20 hours a week and after graduation, benefit from a post-study work visa. The Australian government

Higher Education Digest June 2021

has also initiated a Professional Year Program dedicated to all graduates of accounting, information technology and engineering programs, allowing them to work in a local company. HSBC survey reported that countries like the US, Australia, the UK, New Zealand, Canada, etc. are some of the most preferred destinations for the students as per the Indian parents.

Rising interest from Tier 2 Tier 3 Cities We observed the breakup of traffic from various cities across India and found that while Delhi continues to show a significant interest of students for study abroad, it is outranked by Hyderabad, Telangana and Ludhiana, Punjab, followed by Gujarat, Ahmedabad, and the southern states.

Courses that appeal students the most: Science based courses, which are traditionally thought to be professionally viable and income-earning potential, are on the top preferences of parents for their child as observed in the HSBC study abroad survey. Nearly 18%, that is one in five see computer science as a preferred choice for their child. Globally, medicine is the most favored occupation, with around 19% of parents preferring it, followed by Engineering at 11% computer science at 8%.

A similar trend was observed on our platform too, while there are more than 100 qualifications to choose from, it is noticed that people who decide to study abroad for their undergraduate choose Business Management, Computer Science & Information Technology the most.

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Higher Education Digest June 2021