Higher Education Digest – September 2021 – India Edition – Must Watch Universities in India Spe

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INDIA EDITION

MUST-WATCH UNIVERSITIES IN INDIA

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MUST - WATCH

UNIVERSITIES IN INDIA - 2021

AJEENKYA DY PATIL UNIVERSITY

ICFAI UNIVERSITY NAGALAND

JK LAKSHMIPAT UNIVERSITY

PA N D I T D E E N D AYA L

E N E R G Y

U N I V E R S I T Y

TRAINING ENERGY SOLDIERS

SEPTEMBER 2021

REVA UNIVERSITY

FOR THE NATION

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Higher Education Digest September 2021

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Higher Education Digest September 2021

September 2021

Vol - 3 Issue - 11

Universities in India 2021 (India Edition) Head of Advisory Board Dr. Varughese K.John, PhD

Managing Editor Sarath Shyam

Consultant Editors

Dr. Johny Andrews Anjana K Nikita Thakur

Navya Venkatesh Roshni Rajagopal Emma James

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Ajay K Das Manjunath R Rohith Poojary

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MANAGING EDITOR’S NOTE

Back to the Campus!

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he second half of 2021 brought in some good news for university students across the nation. Many states decided to reopen college campuses in a phased manner, ensuring the safety, health and well-being of all students and staff. Reacting to this announcement, a senior academician said that his university is planning to welcome students with a rose, mask and sanitiser to motivate them to attend classes on campus and create awareness and sensitise them about Covid-19 protocols. There has been a definite eagerness among students and teachers to get back to the physical mode of teaching and learning. It also means, we as members of an extensive and diverse higher education system, have not been a big fan of online learning conducted during the pandemic’s peak. Why wouldn’t we? Virtual learning has posed a challenge to students without personal computers or reliable internet connections, particularly students from rural areas.

On the brighter side, the pandemic has also proved that our colleges and universities can adapt rapidly. More importantly, we have finally agreed to

play our part in an education revolution that has been going on right in front of us. Along with the hybrid learning mode, many Indian universities now focus more on lifelong learning and reskilling rather than stamping a degree on young undergraduates. The past year’s understanding has helped our traditional brick-and-mortar institutions to work predominantly with online education platforms and foster collaborations with international providers, which is a good sign moving forward. In the post-pandemic world of education, our universities should strive to collaborate with the industry and other educational institutions around the globe to create a borderless higher education system for the benefit of our young population.

In this issue, we have identified ‘25 Much-Watch Universities in India – 2021’ that have successfully brought efficiency in the current education system to support our growing economy, to be recognised and commended by all. On the cover, we feature Pandit Deendayal Energy University (PDEU), which is not just the best but also the safest place to study. Located in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, the university has equipped and integrated all its classrooms for hybrid learning.

Enjoy Reading.

Sarath Shyam Higher Education Digest September 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.

66 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 Higher Education Digest September 2021 July 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 September 2021

Contents

COVER STORY

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PANDIT DEENDAYAL ENERGY UNIVERSITY TRAINING ENERGY SOLDIERS FOR THE NATION

BEST

MANAGEMENT

COLLEGE OF THE YEAR – 2021

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IMS GHAZIABAD Combining Academic Excellence with Global Exposure

Higher Education Digest September 2021

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AJEENKYA DY PATIL UNIVERSITY

ICFAI UNIVERSITY NAGALAND

Transcending the Boundaries of Higher Education Excellence

Disseminating Knowledge and Skills through Innovative Educational Programs

MUST - WATCH

UNIVERSITIES

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IN INDIA - 2021

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JK LAKSHMIPAT UNIVERSITY Reimaging Education to Upskill Future Industry Professionals

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REVA UNIVERSITY

Offering Global Education Rooted in Indian Ethos

Higher Education Digest September 2021

MENTOR’S MANTRA

Contents

ACADEMIC VIEW

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WHY SHOULD WE AGGRESSIVELY LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITIES AND WORK AS THE WORLD’S WORKFORCE

IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEING ‘JOB-READY’ AND BEING ‘FUTURE-READY’

Prof Janat Shah, Founding Director, Indian Institutes of Management Udaipur

Dr Dishan Kamdar, Vice-Chancellor, FLAME University

IMPORTANCE OF CONTINUOUS LEARNING OF MENTORS FOR THE GROWTH OF STUDENTS

Dr Niranjan Hiranandani, Provost, HSNC (Hyderabad Sind National Collegiate) University

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INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

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THE ROAD TO DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IS THROUGH EDUCATION

IMPORTANCE OF RESKILLING IT PROFESSIONAL IN THE POST-PANDEMIC WORLD

Chandrabhanu Pattajoshi, Founder, Goseeko

Geetha Murugesan, CISA, CRISC, CGEIT, CDPSE, Information Risk Management Consultant; Member, ISACA Emerging Trends Working Group

Higher Education Digest September 2021

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DIGITAL SCHOOLING: THE ONE STOP SOLUTION TO MITIGATE EDUCATIONAL DISRUPTION

Chitralekha Patil, Mentor Trustee, Centre for Transforming India (CFTI)

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RE-ENGINEERING OF COACHING INDUSTRY AFTER CORONA OUTBREAK

HAS THE EXAMINATION SYSTEM FAILED THE EDUCATION SYSTEM?

Nitin Vijay, MD, Motion Education Pvt Ltd

Sachin Gupta, Chancellor, Sanskriti University

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THE FUTURE STATUS OF LEARNING CANNOT BE STATUS QUO IN 2021

Shweta Sastri, Managing Director, Canadian International School, Bangalore

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BUILDING YOUR CAREER IN CYBERSECURITY: THERE IS A GROWING NEED FOR TECH-SAVVY EXPERTS

EDTECH MODELS AND CO- EXISTENCE OF ONLINE & OFFLINE EDUCATION

Savitha K R, Head of Talent Acquisition, Colortokens

Khizar Momin, Chief Technology officer, Indian School Finance Company

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QUESTIONS A POWERFUL LEARNING TOOL

Aneesh Bangia, Co-founder, Open Door Education

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IMPACT OF 5G IN TRANSFORMING EDUCATION AND BRIDGING SKILL GAP

Sudhakar Balakrishnan, Group CEO, FirstMeridian Higher Education Digest September 2021

MENTOR’S MANTRA

IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEING ‘JOB-READY’ AND BEING ‘FUTURE-READY’ Dr Dishan Kamdar, Vice-Chancellor, FLAME University

12 Dr Dishan Kamdar is the Vice Chancellor of the FLAME University – the pioneer of liberal education in India. He took charge of this position on August 8, 2018. Prior to this, he was the Deputy Dean, Academic Programmes and Professor of Organisational Behaviour at the Indian School of Business (ISB), the top ranked global business school in India. A leading researcher, senior faculty member, executive coach to CEOs of renowned corporates and family businesses in India, and a favourite professor to all his students, Dr Dishan handles these multifaceted roles with equal ease. In a conversation with Higher Education Digest, Dr Dishan talks about leadership skills required for students to enhance employability, steps universities should take to catapult its students to the next level, and many more.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

It is important to create more choices for students rather than a fully structured syllabus

Why awareness of skills is important for students today?

With this dynamically changing business landscape and the disruption caused by advancements in technology, it is important for students to be equipped with the right skills that prepare them to be future-ready. It is also important for students to be aware and learn skills that will help them in their professional and personal growth, and that’s why, liberal education focuses on teaching students’ skills that will allow them to be skilled for life, preparing them to overcome uncertainties. In line with this, several universities are encouraging students to learn ‘‘beyond the classroom.” If anything, the pandemic has become an accelerator of sorts encouraging students to expand their breadth

of learning and for educational institutions to enhance their quality of learning and focus on the all-round development of students.

What kind of leadership skills are required for students to enhance employability?

As businesses go global and workplaces become border-less, companies are looking for professionals who are able to fit into multicultural and rapidly evolving organizations. They are also looking for talented professionals who demonstrate leadership qualities and potential to go beyond the brief. Hence, it is imperative that students learn a variety of skills, which will not only enhance their employability but also help them to progress faster in their careers and enable their personal growth.

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The skills include problem-solving, critical thinking and decision-making which allow professionals to carry out their work effectively and deliver desired results. The ability to be open to learning is another very important skill that requires them to be a student throughout their career. Updating and learning new skills is important to be relevant and productive at the workplace. Soft skills such as collaboration, interpersonal skills, being a team player and written and verbal communication, accepting of diversity of every kind, will go a long way

Higher Education Digest September 2021

in becoming an appreciated employee at work. Being creative, innovative and tech-savvy are other skills that make one an asset to their organization.

Why it is significant for students to cut the clutter and continue to be resolute on whatever motivates them?

Students who go along with the crowd often create barriers for themselves in achieving their career goals. Having complete clarity on what motivates them and focusing on

building one’s skillsets, being decisive on what to achieve and pursuing them to the highest level of commitment and efforts is important to move up the chosen career path. This focus and self-understanding will also help them in managing selfexpectations in various situations, without the fear of failing. Moreover, those who have long-term vision are more likely to carve a successful career than those who look for short-term gains. All these factors would keep uniqueness on a high point and work wonders in their lives.

What initiatives are you taking to help students overcome learning issues the pandemic has caused?

Remote learning requires changes that will help in keeping students engaged.

The traditional way of teaching cannot be replicated in an online classroom.

At FLAME, we have ensured that their learning remains continuous without compromising on the quality of learning despite moving online due to the pandemic.

We brought in several changes to facilitate online teaching and learning. We have been working on several training sessions to help our faculty in cutting edge-technology tools and practices to design their courses to suit the online format, and deliver them to make remote learning effective and engaging for students. We also engage the students through various webinars, conferences and workshops, etc. to help widen their horizon outside of the classroom curriculum.

With the advancements in digital learning, what areas do you think students could focus on in the coming times?

As technological advancements continue to transform the world, students will need to prioritize learning new technological tools and keep themselves abreast of the latest best practices and techniques. Irrespective of the discipline or courses that one may be studying - keeping oneself digitally-literate and up-to-date is important. Depending on the kind of career path chosen, the relevant technological tools can be learnt both within

and outside the classroom. Several options are available to learn such courses online; some of them include artificial intelligence and machine learning, data mining, virtual reality, augmented reality, robotics, process automation, block chain, design thinking, among others. This digital learning will enable them to develop a holistic professional development and make their career and be future-ready.

What steps universities should take to catapult its students to the next level?

In the undergraduate program, ‘mentorship’ plays a very crucial role in the growth of a student. Faculty mentors, peers and alumni mentors have a ‘purposeful’ role to play in counselling and guiding students to choose their growth path. This aspect is a life-changing experience for students.

Universities must invest in creating a strong pool of mentors and a mentorship network at their institutions.

It is important to create more choices for students rather than a fully structured syllabus. Revamping curriculum, bringing in practitioners to teach, introducing cutting-edge courses and giving students experiential learning are some things that universities can look at to make a valueadd to the students. It is also important to engage students in more team-building and collaborative activities that will fasten their learning process as well as provide some breathing space which will stop them from burning out easily. Focus on newer forms of assessment which provide pre-indicators to students which direct them towards their areas of strengths and weaknesses that could be worked on before the final assessments.

The teaching and learning should be towards laying a strong foundation and imparting skills that will enable them to face and manage uncertainties. Universities must also bring in more beyond-the-classroom learning activities that will groom them to be real-world ready. Universities need to focus more on learning, and not just placements; there is a difference between being ‘job-ready’ and being ‘future-ready’.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

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ACADEMIC VIEW

WHY SHOULD WE AGGRESSIVELY LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITIES AND WORK AS THE WORLD’S WORKFORCE Prof Janat Shah, Founding Director, Indian Institutes of Management Udaipur

16 Prof. Janat Shah is the founding director and professor of Operations Management at IIM Udaipur.

After graduating as a mechanical engineer from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, Prof. Shah worked with industry for about five years. His book has been used in MBA and executive MBA courses at IIM Bangalore as well as at numerous other business schools throughout India. In a conversation with Higher Education Digest, Prof Janat Shah talks about the impact of the pandemic on higher education, employability status of young Indian students, his views on leadership and much more.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

You need to build a vision by keeping a long horizon towards developing the institution

COVID-19 has disrupted many higher education aspects, including how students are recruited, admitted, and enrolled. How will higher education institutions meet the realities of a postpandemic world?

For a premier education institute like ours, meeting the realities of a post-pandemic is twofold - one is how to handle the current situation, and secondly to change it post-pandemic.

Currently, we’re teaching, taking admissions, and have been engaging in serious discussion within the institution to enhance the quality of education using online technology. As a premier management institution, we will continue to remain campus-based face-to-face education, along with using technologies such as using faculty across the world using online platforms.

Today through online education, we can get the guest faculty from industry even for just for 15 minutes virtually.

Sometimes, the students are not present on the campus maybe before we start the program, or during the summer internship but by using the online course, we will be able to connect with the students even when we move to face-face model.

Generally, not all students study at same levels. By using the right technology, we can handle different groups at different levels.

Even people who are below average will easily understand the subject by creating certain specific modules for them. Technology and the pandemic have forced the institutions to enhance the quality of education.

What are the predictable changes in the higher education sector after COVID-19?

For a premier management education institution like ours, the campus-based face to face would be the mode of education. Of course, we would enhance the quality of learning using technology.

For tier two & tier three institutions, which

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are currently in large numbers in our country, I think pandemic has opened up some very interesting set of ideas. Currently, their biggest challenge has been getting a good quality faculty. Now using technology, institutions will get various online resources including the best faculties in India or from the world from the content perspective. They should use MOOC through which they can get the content. Getting a processfocused faculty, somebody who can generate discussion once the content is delivered by the faculty in virtual mode. This will create a level playing field for tier 2 and 3 institutions as they can enhance the quality because their biggest problem was getting a good faculty for the content. Using this technology and the right approach towards hiring a faculty, they can deliver reasonably high-quality education to their students. Of course, necessary changes will have to be made by regulators.

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In India, how badly are students going to be set back by not having formal instructions?

What are the efforts of IIM Udaipur to control the damage?

It’s a promise given to our students that the quality of education they are going to get even if classes were online will be comparable, if not better. We don’t want our students to be branded as COVID year students for this year. All our faculty have decided to spend more time with students to ensure that the quality of learning does not get affected. The first step for this was to make sure to give tutorials to our faculty on improving the quality of learning in an online environment. Secondly, we also worked with the students on how to work in a group even when you’re not physically present on the campus. With both faculty and students’ enormous efforts, we have ensured that the quality of education for the students does not suffer. To some extent, we have seen the recent results, in the last batch, the quality of placements that students have got have been comparable. For example, in the institutions like IIM which is resourceful, students had laptops, adequate bandwidth, etc. to ensure there experience of attending online classes to seamless. We have also ensured that alumni were actively connected with the students during this period. I think at an institution level, you need to make sure that you are committed towards providing overall learning experience and that it will not be affected come what may. Certainly, you cannot do things in the normal manner but by supplementing certain other things, you can ensure that the overall experience remains comparative.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

What are the precautionary measures universities must take when they reopen? What is the model of IIM that other colleges in the country can follow?

The idea is to provide high-quality education without compromising on safety. Ideally, we would prefer a faceto-face quality education. We see the potential of both students and faculty staff to get vaccinated. So, we should make sure that everybody is vaccinated before they get into the campus, secondly to follow all the standard norms we have COVID committee in campus. Thirdly, everyone should be sensitive to the issue as there will be instances where students or their family members may be sick, so we have made sure that we provide recorded sessions.

Similarly, the quizzes, exams, etc. can be rescheduled for the affected students. From administration to faculty everyone should ensure that we are supportive towards students and by keeping empathy without compromising quality and safety standards.

I think with vaccination, we will be able to attain some level of normalcy, though following safety standards is imperative. We are hoping authorities will give priority to students for vaccinations and we are looking forward to work with the hospitals for the same. It might take a few months before at least the post-grad programs will come back to normalcy.

What is the employability status of young Indian students currently? Despite being a developing nation with many young talents, do we have appropriate skilling infrastructure in our country?

Though India is a young country, the education in the institutions is not up to the mark. There’s a weak link between what is happening in the industry and the kind of skills needed to impart to graduates. Today, if somebody asks me a question to predict what kind of jobs which would be there in five to ten years from now and the skills needed for them? I think nobody can answer that question because the industry is ever-changing and one of the major drivers is digital. So, we can do certain things to start with – focus on developing core skill which will be required across jobs in every industry. For example, skills related to critical thinking, skills of learning on their own, skills of adaptability, working in teams, etc. Students must know how to work with evolving technologies as the future of every job is based on the technology. We must ensure and provide those skills to all our students so that the demographic dividend should not become a demographic disaster.

Considering that many present jobs and skillsets will soon become redundant, what are the significant changes that we can expect in future employment?

Due to the pandemic, the world has learned to work remotely. With a country like ours which is young, we can serve nations who have aging population. You don’t need to be in Japan to serve Japanese citizens. With pandemic, one doesn’t have to be in a specific country to work for them. We already have great leadership in the IT and BPO industries, now the world has opened a lot of other opportunities. The only challenge is to ensure the students have the right set of skills. So, if technology kills a certain number of jobs, it also opens up a wide variety of new jobs. Due to some political challenges, countries don’t prefer migration, but with the pandemic, organizations are now comfortable with people working from different locations. So, being a young country, we should aggressively look for opportunities and work as the world’s workforce.

What should universities focus on to equip students with the skill to survive in the postmodern world?

The way premier institutions would be focusing will be different from what other universities will plan. The traditional universities should use MOOC and other technologies, get access to the faculty which are best in the world. They should teach how to apply the content in practice along with theory. Similarly, using these technologies and skills one can work even in remote regions and can work with the companies which are not operating there. If we figure it out what are the right skills which we would want to impart and how you can leverage technology to impart those skills in best possible way, using MOOCs for example, I think there are a lot of opportunities and universities should focus on how to enhance their education and make their students ready for future jobs. It would be good for each institute and university to come up with their own model as to how they are going to design their pedagogy, how they are going to take advantage of technology so that the students are ready for the jobs which are going to be there in future.

What are your views on leadership? How should education administrators ensure that their faculty members and students transform into world-class leaders?

Education as a sector is very different from other sectors.

One of the key requirements of education is that you have

19 to focus from a long-term perspective. If you look at the top 10 institutes in the world, the youngest is 125-year-old institution. So the first requirement is that you must think from a long-term perspective. Second, you need to build a vision by keeping a long horizon towards developing the institution to make sure it involves all the stakeholders, including government, board, students, faculties, etc. to build a high-quality institution. Secondly, its values and culture are one of the most important elements. At IIM Udaipur, we focused on creating a vision and then creating the right environment in which both students and faculty can flourish. From the beginning, we have been focused on high-quality research, as well as the transformational journey of our students. At IIM Udaipur, we focus on high quality research and thus we offer a 10-year horizon to publish 3 papers so that quality does not suffer due to lack of time. Similarly, for students’s transformational journeys, we create the environment to support their discoveries. So for every student, whether it is a one-year program or two years, it should be a transformational journey. So for the role of the leadership in a management institution is to ensure you have a longterm oriented vision and ensure that stakeholders are involved in creating the vision.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

Y R O T S R E V O C

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Higher Education Digest September 2021 2021

NIRF RANKING

68th in Engineering Category 73rd in University Category

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PANDIT DEENDAYAL

ENERGY UNIVERSITY

TRAINING ENERGY SOLDIERS

FOR THE NATION Higher Education Digest September 2021 September

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The university’s Library and Information Centre extensively utilizes Information Technology so that best source and information can reach to the user.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

fter a challenging academic year, the higher education sector in India is inching towards adapting to the new normal. Universities are opening doors to the freshmen and returning students in a staggered manner, adopting blended learning approaches and following strict protocols to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all. A prominent institute among them is Pandit Deendayal Energy University (formerly Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University). Located in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Pandit Deendayal Energy University (PDEU) is not just the best but also the safest place to study. The university has equipped and integrated all its classrooms for hybrid learning. It has provided Coursera access to all its students during the difficult time of the pandemic and NPTEL/SWAYAM platform courses for Credit Transfer.

At PDEU, the faculty members conducted the class from campus while students attended the same from their homes through Microsoft Teams/Google Classrooms. Over the last year, over 11200 lectures have been administered over hybrid mode from the classroom at the campus. “We allowed the credit transfer from SWAYAM courses, and as of now, 400+ students have completed the courses and availed credit transfer. 3000+ students have completed more than 22000 certificate courses through Coursera in Business, Computer Science and Data Science,” states Dr S. Sundar Manoharan, Director General, PDEU. Focusing most of its efforts on student development, PDEU has encouraged faculty members to care about the students and make them excited about learning. The university has assigned a faculty mentor to each student and encourage them to pursue their goals. They allow every student to participate in various college fests, inter-college competitions, and national and international exposure. Helping students maintain a study-life balance, PDEU aims to include their goals in the thought process by organising extra-curricular activities, encouraging discipline and punctuality, and provide an avenue for physical fitness. Understanding the need of the hour, PDEU emphasises developing the ‘observational power’ and ‘sharpening the problem-solving approach’ as this creates a foundation for achieving excellence. It is focused on developing an intentional, aligned, and integrated culture that radiates the beliefs, values, and life skills for the youth to be successful. “Through Atmanirbhar Bharat and Made in India Initiatives, we are ensuring energy for all, creating societal impact

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About

Dr. S. Sundar Manoharan Dr. S. Sundar Manoharan, a renowned Educationist, Scientist, and Administrator, obtained his doctoral degree from the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore in the year 1991 and after his post-doctoral fellowship, he served at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur as a Professor between 1996 to 2014 and as the Vice-Chancellor of Karunya University, Coimbatore, Periyar Maniammai University and at Sathyabama University between Feb 2014 till Feb 2020. He has over 30 years of extensive experience in teaching and research in the area of Material science and Nanotechnology. He was deputed from IIT-Kanpur to be the Founder Director of UGC funded 100 Crore project to establish the National Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at the University of Mumbai premises in the year 2012-2014. He served as a visiting professor in internationally reputed institutions including NUS Singapore, University of California-Berkeley, Max Planck Institute-Germany, Imperial College-London, and the University of Maryland-USA. In the recent past, he has held several administrative positions including, being a member of the Project Advisory Committee at DST & DRDO Funding Agencies.

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and preparing the youth for tomorrow, which are our main thrust areas,” adds Dr. Sundar.

Pandit Deendayal Energy University’s 100 acre campus is located in Gandhinagar and it offers programs to address the need for trained human resources in the domains of Science, Technology, Management and Humanities

Higher Education Digest September 2021

Imparting Excellent Education PDEU was established in 2007 through the act of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly with the provision to have diversity and scholarship for building a prominent talent base in the energy sector. The institute believes in transforming with evolving times. Hence initially, it focused on the energy academic and research domain and gradually broadened its spectrum for trained human resources in the domains of Science, Technology, Management, and Humanities.

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Today, the university has marked its presence as a renowned institution with noteworthy national and international visibility.

PDEU provides its learners with a perfect blend of pristine environment and modern technology, enabling a dynamic learning experience and turning students into potential professionals. The university has an excellent infrastructure with proper maintenance facilities offering students an ideal platform for excelling their performance.

Be it festivals, sports, or various programs/events, the students actively participate and win awards for the university, with more than 40 student clubs. “Our students

take an active role in the club functioning as a Core Executive Member and also participate in the activities organised by other clubs. There are 3 major festivals: Flare, Tesseract, and Petro Cup, which are organised annually where students from different colleges across the country participate,” says Dr Sundar.

PDEU has 4 schools under them offering undergraduate, postgraduate, and capsule courses, namely, School of Technology (SOT), School of Petroleum Technology (SPT), School of Petroleum Management (SPM), and School of Liberal Studies (SLS), which focuses on technological education, catering to the academics and industries by

Higher Education Digest September 2021

26 creating budding petroleum engineers, providing the managerial manpower requirements of the energy and infrastructure sector, and equip students with an array of intellectual skills, a variety of methodologies and understand the changing world. “We want to establish an invaluable foundation for more specialised study in one’s major or in one of the professions, and a lifelong affinity for learning and continuing intellectual development,” explains Dr Sundar.

With 500+ faculty and staff from reputed national and international universities, PDEU has 250+ research scholars and 50+ professional body associations. With their experience and immense subject knowledge in specialised fields, the faculty plays a vital role in upbringing student’s development. At PDEU, researchers and students collaborate with industry and government to create innovative solutions merging engineering and creativity, theory and practice, university and society. “Experts from industry and academia, Members from the Board of Studies, provide scientific advice to craft the curriculum to meet industrial requirements,” adds Dr Sundar.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

The University has created a number of sectors relevant engineering laboratories which are well equipped to facilitate the pedagogic and research process.

The institute has achieved many milestones under its name with its principled work ethical approach and commitment towards educational enforcement like NAAC ‘A’ Grade Accredited with CGPA 3.39/4.0 in 2016, 5 Star Rating by (GSIRF) as on 22nd June 2021, SIRO Recognition, IIE Member, Association of Indian Universities Member. “We are the only private University in Gujarat to get the graded autonomy status by University Grants Commission (UGC) in 2018. And is Ranked as the no. 1 Private University in Gujarat. We have also been awarded ‘Centre of Excellence (in Principle) Status by Government of Gujarat’,” points out Dr Sundar.

Promoting Research and Leadership in Students PDEU has undertaken extensive research in the area of new energy sources, with 7 International Level Centre

of Excellence, Innovation and Incubation Center (IIC), International Exposure Programs (IEP), State of the art Infrastructure, Laboratories, On-Campus Residential Facilities, Lively Campus, Diversity of students and Global Collaborations with Universities abroad, has been the Steps towards success for them. “We encourage student engagement and Participation by providing Financial Assistance for research and Paper Publications, Travel grant policy that benefitted 1000+ Students to date, 100+ Startups (Incubated), 68 Sponsored Projects (Govt. & private) and 220+ University Funded student research projects,” adds Dr Sundar.

PDEU believes in active and continuous interaction with industry to build stronger long-term relationships.

Industries are involved with PDEU through various activities like guest lectures, Seminars, Workshops, Industry visits, short-term training programs. This

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PDEU offers multiple courses ranging from engineering, arts and management along with maximum exposure and opportunities to its students through various national and International exchange programs with the best universities worldwide.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

29 Industry connection helps the university to facilitate Industry exposure to the students. This exposure allows a student to apply technical knowledge to real-life situations and problems. Industrial training is an experience where a student closely works with other professionals and follows instructions to get insights about the operations.

Establishing its Innovation & Incubation Centre (PDEU-IIC) in 2014, PDEU aims to transform the brimming energy and potential of young students, budding innovators, entrepreneurs, and technocrats into innovation-driven business ventures leading to a technical renaissance. Through PDEU-IIC, the institute has helped many startups succeed like Imagine Powertree Pvt. Ltd., Saltech Design Labs Pvt. Ltd., Seaveda Biotech Pvt. Ltd., Inspyromer Edtech Pvt. Ltd., and Rhyno Wheels, to name a few. Dr Sundar adds, “Some of our Atmanirbhar Bharat Research Initiatives are our Translational Research Centre, Industry 4.0 Verticals, Metal Additive Manufacturing Technology Centre, Smart Grid REDOX Energy Storage for Electric Vehicle Charging, 45MW Manufacturing Assembly Line for Solar PV, URJA (Student) Satellite Program, and Student Capstone Program with Industry Connect”.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

As part of its wellness initiative, the university provides an open ground for outdoor games, such as football and cricket and practice courts for basketball, volleyball and badminton.

PDEU has Institutional support from the Government, Public Sector, and Private Industries for the development of the university, especially for setting up Chair Professors, developing Infrastructure including laboratories, research projects, faculty and student development programs, scholarship programs, internationalisation, resource development campus development, technology up-gradation, etc. “We have tie-ups with well-known industries like Reliance Industries Limited, Cairn India Limited, Gujarat Power Corporation Limit, Gujarat Alkalies and Chemical Ltd., Torrent Power Limited, Sulzon Energy Ltd., Hazira LNG Pvt. Ltd., Jubiliant Oil and Gas, Shell – Total, Maruti Suzuki, British Petroleum/Castrol, Amul Fed Dairy, Siemens, Hitachi, and Adani Ports,” enumerates Dr Sundar.

PDEU has developed a vibrant campus with advanced facilities and technologies on its campus. They have set up state-of-the-art laboratories in each discipline with support industries, knowledge partners, and internationally renowned University partners. The university has also developed a cutting-edge digital infrastructure with up-to-date research and an educational curriculum to promote and facilitate research and learning. Having completely transformed the teachinglearning process to online mode, PDEU has been taking many steps to blend into the hybrid mode. The university has holistically designed its syllabus by incorporating the basic core subjects and elective subjects. They integrate the students with practical learning and deliver classes conducted by experts from the industry and academia. “Our main objective is our student-centric learning and groom them during their time with us. Our process is institutionalised and evolved, which will gradually shape the students for the future they have visualised for themselves,” concludes Dr Sundar.

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Higher Higher Education Education Digest Digest September October 2021 2020

ACADEMIC VIEW

IMPORTANCE OF CONTINUOUS LEARNING OF MENTORS FOR THE GROWTH OF STUDENTS Dr Niranjan Hiranandani, Provost, HSNC (Hyderabad Sind National Collegiate) University

32 The importance of academic excellence in the making of a highly successful first-generation business entrepreneur is perhaps best personified by Dr Niranjan Hiranandani. Over the years, he has set up the Hiranandani Foundation School, successfully run the academic institutions of the HSNC Board - it is only in the fitness of things that his wish to go further and become an educationist comes true as Provost of the newly set up HSNC University in Mumbai.

The saying “Teach What You Preach” rightly guides us to enlighten the ones we influence by our practices than just words. This fits the most in a parent-child and teacher-student relationship as that’s where a novice learns the most.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

An educator should indulge in quick thinking and intuitive applications

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he next–gen human capital is a rich breed brimming with curiosity, open mindness, technologically avid, and risk oriented. Today’s millennials are always on a lookout for new learnings, skilling and up-skilling their knowledge. They indulge into the multi–lateral learnings to hone their skill for staying industry relevant. The open access to global developments on their fingertips have made it imperative for their tutors be it a teacher or a parent or a mentor to stay updated with current know-hows in all fields of exposure.

The additional role played by the preachers and teachers is of an ‘influencer’ that rightly guides and enlightens the young minds not just with their wisdom and experience but also aids with the right practices. In common parlance, we have become familiar with the term “up-skilling”. Imbibing

the habit of up-skilling and re-skilling to enhance pre-existing knowledge base and nurture the right skill set, have become crucial for the individual’s growth in contemporary businesses. Because gone are the days when just a degree was enough to secure a job, and dedication was enough to keep it going. With cut-throat competition culture across the industries, up-skilling is now expected of every human talent in the corporate business world. In fact, up-skilling now plays a vital role in redefining the core competencies and epitomize the right attitude to learn and grow.

The new revolutionary era of competitive environment is brewing up across the industries and economies. The young Indian demographics will be very soon part of the ever challenging work force, where they need to comprehend right skill set through efficient training system. The mentors

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34 will have to re-incline their focal point on modes of learning and training to stay updated and ahead of the curve in such ever-evolving work ecosystem. To help students read the benefits of progressive pedagogies, they should be informed and alert about how to stay relevant and stay away from the obsolete methods.

An educator should indulge in quick thinking and intuitive applications, for this approach will ensure impromptu tackling of unprecedented scenarios.

This shall be inculcated through consistently keeping updates of the news the industry that one envisages to amplify the scope in preferred forte. Additionally, a multi-field approach must be pursued to identify the difference in results for various methodologies and practices that stand a chance of overlapping when the components evolve with advanced research. While internet has become the most used channel to explore new ways of up-skilling, the mentors should also refer trial and error methods basis the concepts they have learnt as students. This helps in fine-tuning one’s own fundamentals and advocate the learner to trust key principles and fundaments rather than just merely

Higher Education Digest September 2021

repeating or using the rote learning technique. These are a few ways how a guru can persistently be updated and encourage the students to continue engaging with such novel learning-modules and keep their minds open to the paradigm shifts in modern education that embraces change and discards the outdated.

As the current world of ‘learning’ and ‘unlearning’ is synchronous with the changing times and the young generation knows what to embrace and what to discard for their own benefit and growth, one tries to be as synchronous as possible. With potential demand of relevant and multi-faceted versatile personalities, especially that is imbibed from the experience than bookish learning keeps the desire to stay ahead of the times. As mentors or guides, it is essential to be aware of the process and encourage the learner’s growth while constantly looking out for new opportunities that assist in inculcating advanced methodologies and ideations to upgrade from obsolete to progressive pedagogies. Such a strategy will continuously keep both mentor and mentee’s mind young and accessible to a spectrum of ideas.

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BEST

MANAGEMENT

COLLEGE OF THE YEAR – 2021

IMS GHAZIABAD COMBINING ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE WITH GLOBAL EXPOSURE 36

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MS Ghaziabad is one of the trusted Business Schools in India with 31 years of academic legacy offers PGDM programme, which is approved by AICTE and accredited by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) and equivalent to MBA by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU).

The institute is also accredited globally by ASIC, U.K, and is a proud member of AACSB Business Education Alliance, USA. The institute is conferred with numerous awards such as “Institutional Award for Excellence in Placements & Skill Development” in September 2021, “Best Management Institute Innovation in Skill Development” in July 2021 ‘Contribution to Innovation in Management Education’ award in June 2021, ‘Best Management Institute with Innovative Curriculum’ award & ‘Most Trusted Management Institute of the Year’ awards in March 2021, “Excellence in Industry-Academia Interface” award in February 2021 and many more in the list. It has been ranked as 14th Top B-School in All India, 6th Top Private Institutes in All India and 6th in North India by Times B-School Survey 2020 published in The Times of India, February 2020.

With its internationally acclaimed faculty and teaching pedagogy, the institute follows a tripartite philosophy comprising academic excellence, global collaborations and corporate readiness and employability skills. The curriculum is constantly updated to meet the dynamic needs of industry and academia, with a strong focus on outcome-oriented teaching pedagogy based

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With its internationally acclaimed faculty and teaching pedagogy, IMS Ghaziabad follows a tripartite philosophy comprising of Academic Excellence, Global Collaborations and Corporate Readiness & Employability Skills.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

on the top ladders of Bloom’s Taxonomy. This provides an opportunity to continuously engage in innovating curricula by envisaging current and emerging challenges and opportunities in the business environment.

The institute’s curriculum is a unique blend of strategic thinking and pragmatism with a threedimensional focus that is not only to achieve the highest standards of academic excellence but also to achieve a highly effective corporate interface backed with multi-dimensional development opportunities. The students are nurtured to be emotionally intelligent through inculcating human

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Higher Education Digest September 2021

values and professional ethics so that they surpass the competition and excel better than the best.

A plethora of novel and innovative endeavours such as Personal and Professional Skills Program (PPSP); Corporate Interface Series (CIS); Centre of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE); SMART (Social Media and Related Techies) Committee; Placement Readiness & Enhancement Program (PREP), Pre Placement Preparedness Committee (PPPC); Student Outreach Committee; Competency Mapping Committee, Mentoring Programme, besides many others are recently initiated to gear up the pace of student advancement.

ABOUT

SHRI NARESH AGGARWAL CHAIRMAN, IMS SOCIETY

A visionary, philanthropist and a senior politician, Shri Naresh Aggarwal, Chairman IMS Society is an elected member of Parliament – Rajya Shaba, Member – Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Member – Committee on Home Affairs, SubCommittee to examine various provisions of the Enemy Property (Amendment & Validation) of the Committee, Member on Home Affairs, Member – Parliamentary Forum on Disaster Management, MemberCommittee on Finance.

He has been the Cabinet Minister several times in the U.P. Government with different portfolio as Minister of Energy, Minister of Tourism, and Minister of Transport during the last decade. His dream to nurture young minds to face tough challenges in the competitive world and perpetual guidance has positioned IMS Society at a niche place in providing composite and quality education.

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ABOUT

SH. NITIN AGARWAL MANAGING TRUSTEE, IMS GHAZIABAD GROUP OF INSTITUTIONS Shri. Nitin Agarwal, Managing Trustee, IMS Ghaziabad Group of Institutions, is a renowned politician, industrialist and administrator. At present, he is a Member of the Legislative Assembly, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh. He has been Minister of Medical

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and Health department and MSME, Govt. of UP (2012-17). His rich experience as a Management Graduate from Symbiosis Institute, Pune, passion for academic excellence, exceptional leadership and personal involvement in all phases of planning and implementation, has earned IMS Ghaziabad the coveted position of being one of the much sought-after institutes by the students in the domain of Management Education and by top corporates for placements.

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Global exposure sensitizes students to different cultures and prepares them to readily accept cultural diversity.

Moreover, it helps students to learn geographically transferable skills. At IMS Ghaziabad, many initiatives have been taken in this direction. A novel initiative- “Special Talk Series” comprising of deliberations at five different platforms, namely, Global Talk Series, Expert Talk Series, Corporate Talk Series, Alumni Talk Series, Entrepreneurial Talk Series, has been started in IMS Ghaziabad for our budding managers. To further broaden the global horizons of our students, the college has collaborated with reputed global experts as Adjunct Faculty delivering a 30 hours module in three subjects.

The students are nurtured to be emotionally intelligent through inculcating human values and professional ethics so that they surpass competition and excel better than the best.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

ABOUT

DR. URVASHI MAKKAR DIRECTOR, IMS GHAZIABAD Dr. Urvashi Makkar, Director, IMS Ghaziabad, is an academician par excellence and an institutional leader having over 23 years of an illustrious track record in Management Education. She did her PhD in Marketing and an Executive Program in Human Resource Management from IIM Calcutta.

She is a widely travelled academician having Leadership Certifications from Harvard University, UK-India Education & Research Initiative, besides

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many others on the list. She is a vivid researcher with 13 books published by renowned publishing houses, including TATA McGraw Hill and more than 76 publications in National & International conferences and seminars to her credit. In recognition of her passion for providing composite and quality education to the young minds, she has recently been elected to the prestigious Council of Management of All India Management Association (AIMA) - the national apex body of the management profession in India as Representative of Corporate/ Institutional Members for the year 2021-2023. In addition to being the Director, IMS Ghaziabad, she is also holding numerous other academic responsibilities in institutes of repute.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

Apart from curricular activities, the institute offers corporate-oriented Value Added Certification Programmes such as MS-Office by Microsoft Academy, Digital & Social Media Marketing, Yellow Belt Six Sigma, Financial Markets & Google Analytics by MSME, PREP, CMIE Prowess, SPSS, GHRDC etc. Short Term Training programmes for SPSS, CMIE’s Prowess, Aptitude Training, Placement Readiness Enhancement Programme, English Training are also part of the overall course curriculum. These programmes enhance the PGDM Student’s knowledge and employability, which aids in supplementing the highly competitive and corporate relevant

curriculum to make students better prepared to meet industry demands and develop their interests and aptitudes Further, to aid students in achieving education and career goals, the institute provides meritorious scholarships in various categories amounting to 2.70 Crores to remove financial barriers and fuel intellectual capital.

The institute also cherishes the strong associations with our renowned galaxy of recruiters and are proudly accomplishing a continuous record of 100% Placements since its inception. The institute has been able to place our future managers in elite organizations like Deloitte

To aid students in achieving education and career goals, the Institute provides meritorious scholarships in various categories amounting 2.70 Crores so as to remove financial barriers and fuel intellectual capital.

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The Sports Club organizes various sports events for IMS students including one annual mega sports event to develop sporting spirit, rejuvenate and display physical & mental expertise.

Consulting India, Berger Paints, ITC Ltd, Dabur, EY, S&P Global, DTDC, Square Yards, Prism Johnson Ltd., Uniqlo India, Reliance Digital, Aditya Birla Group, Wipro, Mahindra Logistics, Godrej and Boyce, XL Dynamics, WNS, Zomato, Reliance Jio, Uflex Ltd, DHL Supply Chain India Pvt Ltd, Bisleri, Flipkart, Naukri.com and many more. The institute has consistently offered 100% Summer Internship Projects (SIPs) with stipend in top organizations such as Curate Data Analytics, WhiteHat Jr, Praedico Global Research, Tata AIG, The Capital Box, Insplore Consultants, Career Domain,

Higher Education Digest September 2021

Sharekhan, 10times, FinSkool, Fooracles, Jaquar, Pathkind Labs, Times of India, Chaayos, Sodexo.

IMS Ghaziabad feels honoured to be associated with 6000+ Alumni members who are well established at the reputed positions in the industry.

To boost research & quality in the education system, the institute has signed MoU with MCX, BRICS CCI School of Analysis, CSC Academy, IBM, Northern Illinois University, Fort Hays State University, University of Fredericton, Canada and Jamia Hamdard University, New Delhi. IMS Ghaziabad has been consistently reinventing management education by continuously engaging in innovating curricula to create global leaders who can navigate the ever-changing business landscape.

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INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

THE ROAD TO DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IS THROUGH EDUCATION Chandrabhanu Pattajoshi, Founder, Goseeko

46 Chandrabhanu Pattajoshi, Founder of Goseeko, is a business strategist-turned entrepreneur With over 17 years of experience across various high profile roles. He founded Glossaread Technologies Pvt Ltd. in 2018 which now owns the brand Goseeko. Bhanu, as he is fondly known as, started the EdTech platform with the purpose of making Higher Education accessible, convenient and affordable for students, especially across students of Tier 2/3 colleges and beyond.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

A combination of basic education, skill training and digital empowerment will prepare rural and small-town India for unexpected challenges

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igital technology is impacting the Indian education sector in positive ways and is playing a key role in improving educational processes and outcomes. This has never been more apparent than in the past one year when the global pandemic forced schools and colleges to close indefinitely, resulting in remote teaching and learning through digital and online platforms.

The digital disruption in the education system has brought into sharp focus the need for skill-based education and training, so that the young workers of tomorrow are ready for the new generation workplaces that are more the norm than the exception.

I agree that skill development is critical to transforming the nation into a digitallyempowered society and knowledge-based

economy, and consequently creating a highlyadvanced future workforce, but it cannot be at the cost of basic education of a majority of the people who live in rural areas and non-metro cities and towns. The inhabitants in these parts of the country often have little or no access to fundamental facilities of education from a young age, which robs them of skill training and job opportunities in later years.

Given this scenario, I am happy that the New Education Policy 2020 rightly mentions basic literacy and numeracy for all children as “an urgent national mission”. Foundational learning – the ability to think, read, write, speak and count – at the preparatory and middle-school level is, indeed, an indispensable element of school education and lifelong learning. I am equally pleased that a key goal of NEP 2020 is to bring

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two crore out-of-school children back into the education mainstream through open schooling.

The NEP also insists on experiential learning for students from very early on in school as well.

Education institutions and EdTech companies should do well to first address the issue of foundational and quality education in small towns and rural areas, and then focus on skill development and digital transformations.

This course will ensure all-round education of the youngsters at school, college and university levels, and help them navigate jobs in the 21st century.

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I believe that a combination of basic education, skill training and digital empowerment will prepare rural and small-town India for unexpected challenges such as job losses, as we have seen during the pandemic.

While those living in urban India, mainly Tier 1 and 2 cities, were fortunate enough to hold on to their jobs or find new ones, even have the luxury of working from home, a vast majority of people living in other parts of the country were seemingly not so lucky. Monthly data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE)

Higher Education Digest September 2021

reveals that around 5.59 million salaried employees in non-metro cities lost their jobs during April-March 2021, when the second wave hit India. The ongoing Covid-19 surge is expected to impact rural India and the livelihoods of its people even harder.

If we are to revive the job market, especially in nonmetro cities and towns, we have to vastly enhance access to all levels of education, accelerate skill development, and create employment opportunities across sectors and industries. I will give you an analogy: Just as the people of Mumbai are dependent on local trains – the lifeline of the city – for a convenient and affordable commute, in the same way children and adolescents in small towns and rural areas are dependent on education institutions for quality and accessible education that will eventually secure their future.

Statistically speaking, one million men and women join the workforce every month, but less than half are suitably employed – the reason being the wide gaps between a sound education, skill training and employability. The education institutions and EdTechs must necessarily work towards bridging these gaps and ensure that all three crucial aspects of personality development work in tandem. Alongside, both public and private education institutions ought to impart soft skills, such as communication, critical thinking and decisionmaking skills, which are now more a necessity than a choice, as well as training in advanced technologies including artificial intelligence, big data, machine learning and blockchain, among others.

I recall the words of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman who, in her budget speech in 2019, noted, “Equipping Indian youth with relevant new-age skills in areas such as Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Big Data, 3D Printing, Virtual Reality and Robotics can help them prepare to be a part of the global workforce and fill labour shortage gaps.” This is exactly what we should focus on.

I am glad to see that several colleges, universities, technical institutes and online training platforms have expanded their curriculums and added technology-related courses to meet the growing demand for digital knowhow.

Schools are also introducing these new-age concepts to their students. However, many of these courses do not impart the necessary training in those areas, which are needed for the present-day skilled workforce.

If India must stand out as a highly-skilled and digitally-literate nation on earth, it is imperative for the government, academia and industry to work together towards that goal.

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Higher Higher Education Education Digest Digest September November 2021 2020

MUST - WATCH

UNIVERSITIES

IN INDIA - 2021

I

n a country with immense potential for higher education, numerous educational institutions across India have proven to provide quality education to students. With 54 central universities and 416 state universities, India has attracted students from all over the country and abroad to study courses in medical, engineering, and hospitality fields, among others and continues to innovate its practices through digitization and improved government policies.

With the pandemic at the back of everyone’s mind, colleges all over the world have been forced to create alternatives to cater to student needs. Thanks to technology like video conferencing, google classrooms and educational apps, the education sector has experienced a paradigm shift in practices and methods. With the internet at our disposal and a seemingly endless amount of innovations and ideas, education from the school level to the postgraduate level has become more accessible than ever before. The pandemic has only sped up the process and many institutions are considering never looking back.

Housing some of the most reputed colleges, India is home to leading colleges in all academic fields and inspires students from all walks of life. India has also become a hub for industry, thus continuing to have numerous opportunities for graduating students.

In recent years, the field of engineering and technology has gained popularity as we look into the future, attracting professionals from around the world. With this in mind, students come to the Indian subcontinent for quality education.

In this issue, we want to list some of the best universities in India and showcase their innovative and future-forward approach to education. This month, we present ‘25 Must-Watch Universities in India’ as a way to laud these fine establishments that offer the best to learners from across the country.

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University Name

City

State

Ajeenkya DY Patil University

Pune

Maharashtra

Amity University

Noida

Uttar Pradesh

Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham

Coimbatore

Tamil Nadu

Birla Institute of Technology and Science

Pilani

Rajasthan

BLDE (Deemed to be University)

Vijayapura

Karnataka

CHRIST (Deemed to be University)

Bangalore

Karnataka

ICFAI University Nagaland

Dimapur

Nagaland

Jain (Deemed-to-be University)

Bangalore

Karnataka

JK Lakshmipat University

Jaipur

Rajasthan

JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research

Mysore

Karnataka

Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology

Bhubaneswar

Odisha

Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences

Coimbatore

Tamil Nadu

Higher Education Digest September 2021

MUST - WATCH

UNIVERSITIES

IN INDIA - 2021

University Name

City

State

Manipal Academy of Higher Education

Manipal

Karnataka

Nirma University

Ahmedabad

Gujrat

NMIMS Deemed-to-beUniversity

Mumbai

Maharashtra

O.P. Jindal Global University

Sonipat

Haryana

Pandit Deendayal Energy University

Gandhinagar

Gujarat

REVA University

Bangalore

Karnataka

SASTRA Deemed University

Thanjavur

Tamil Nadu

Shiv Nadar University

Greater Noida

Uttar Pradesh

SRM Institute of Science and Technology

Chennai

Tamil Nadu

Symbiosis International University

Pune

Maharashtra

Techno India University

Kolkata

West Bengal

University of Petroleum and Energy Studies

Dehradun

Uttarakhand

Vellore Institute of Technology

Vellore

Tamil Nadu

Higher Education Digest September 2021

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MUST - WATCH

UNIVERSITIES IN INDIA - 2021

AJEENKYA DY PATIL UNIVERSITY TRANSCENDING THE BOUNDARIES OF HIGHER EDUCATION EXCELLENCE 54

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any colleges and universities have a broad educational mission: to develop the “whole student.”

On college campuses, extra-curricular involvement is a key tool in this personal development. For the majority of college and university students, involvement in extra-curricular activities plays an integral role in the collegiate experience. Students become involved in extra-curricular activities not only for entertainment, social, and enjoyment purposes but, most importantly, to gain and improve skills. A wide and diversified range of extra-curricular activities exists on our campuses, meeting various student interests.

The campus life at Ajeenkya DY Patil University (ADYPU) combines serious academics with lots of fun. There is something for everyone, whether you are interested in sports or art. The aim is to enhance the learning environment by creating opportunities for students to engage in social and cultural pursuits. Apart from the high curricular standards, the university promotes extra-curricular activities with the same vigour and provides an appropriate platform for the students to display many other facets of their personality, which otherwise may not be explored. “Our sports department caters to all interests and tastes ranging from competitive sports to basic fitness programs. There are facilities for indoor sports as well as outdoor sports. Well-equipped facilities such as Lawn Tennis, Badminton, Swimming, Cycling, Football, Cricket, etc., are available on the campus for our students,” explains Prof. Hrridaysh Deshpande, Vice-Chancellor, ADYPU.

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Ajeenkya DY Patil University offers the best undergraduate and postgraduate programs in unique areas, linked to exemplary ‘ADYPU Student Experience’, which is supported by excellent facilities and highly motivated teaching staff.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

ABOUT

PROF. HRRIDAYSH DESHPANDE VICE-CHANCELLOR, AJEENKYA DY PATIL UNIVERSITY (ADYPU) A veteran personality Prof. Hrridaysh Deshpande is the Vice-Chancellor at ADYPU. He has extensive experience of 27 years in the education field. He is also the Director of Ajeenkya DY Patil Group and Grand Port Hospital, Mumbai, and a member of Governing Body & Board of Management of the University. He is a proficient, enthusiastic, and energetic educator and a global innovation facilitator, who is passionately

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committed to innovation, design, and education. His performance-driven self can expand the limits of traditional thinking through the development and realization of aggressive and ambitious projects.

Over the years, Prof. Hrridaysh has acquired proficiency in business innovation strategy and design-driven innovation. He focuses on structured innovation practices for organizational innovation via appropriate tools, methods, and processes. He has worked on several committees on innovation and has been a speaker at many prestigious forums. He has assisted leading companies across a range of industries through his work.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

57 An innovation university, ADYPU is a community of faculty, students, industry, and businesses who drive the culture of innovation. In a world that needs ideagenerators, strategic thinkers, people with a creative mindset, and a passion for problem-solving, the university is a powerhouse of talent and ideas. “We acknowledge that each one of you is special. Each one of you has unique talents. The university is a special place. Combined with the friendly and open nature of our university, we offer exciting opportunities to develop your academic, personal, and professional skills through a range of curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular experiences,” opines Prof. Hrridaysh.

ADYPU has a wide and expanding network of partner universities from different parts of the world, mainly from the US, UK, and Europe. Our international partner university network provides an opportunity for the students to travel abroad to study, while they host the students from partner universities. They empower their students to customize coursework and shape the curriculum to meet their individual goals. “We have developed a businessvalidated, competency-based curriculum that benchmarks

As future economic, financial & social paradigms evolve, the Ajeenkya DY Patil University is gearing up to new challenges & exploiting vibrant possibilities for growth through single-minded focus on innovation.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

58 against the internationally developed frameworks such as Accreditation Board of Engineering & Technology (ABET, USA), Computing Science Accreditation Board (CSAB, USA), National Association of Schools of Arts and Design (NASAD, USA), and the Subject Benchmark Statements as provided by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), UK,” states Prof. Hrridaysh.

ADYPU has state-of-the-art facilities that inspire ideas and breed creativity where students are always welcome to try new things.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

Breakthrough to Excellence Aiming to contribute to the creation of an innovationoriented society, ADYPU aims to develop new solutions that elevate the quality of life for every Indian by utilizing the new knowledge created. ADYPU helps students to construct meaningful careers. They facilitate their students to know useful things and cultivate the humanity of a concrete person. “As future economic, financial & social paradigms evolve, the Ajeenkya DY Patil University is gearing up to new challenges & exploiting vibrant possibilities for growth through single-minded focus on innovation,” says Prof. Hrridaysh.

Offering 9 programs that are relevant for the postmodern world, i.e., Engineering, Management, Hotel Management, Design, Film and Media, Information Technology, Architecture, Law and Liberal Arts, ADYPU focuses on experiential learning combined with an international curriculum, that makes the students updated with the current trends. “We make sure to introduce students to the real-world challenges and problems in their respective discipline. It invokes the solution-oriented thinking that makes the student ready for the industry ecosystem,” says Prof. Hrridaysh.

ADYPU aims to focus on supporting responsive and problem-solving interdisciplinary research. Being the forerunner in combating the grand challenge of creating prosperous communities in emergent creative and datadriven digital economies, the institute endeavours to collaborate with industry-academia stakeholders to generate new ideas, good jobs, better-earning capacities as well as lay the foundation for successful entrepreneurship.

Encouraging individual and multi-disciplinary research excellence, ADYPU collectively focuses on problems of global significance and provides innovative and sustainable solutions. They endeavour to recognize that academic disciplines and interdisciplinary studies provide the richest and most compelling environment to support and develop individual experience. “In this exciting era of Industry 4.0—business corporations, government and non-profit entities are deeply engaged in discovering new business models and digital technologies to boost productivity as well as to build a more sustainable and equitable society,” says Prof. Hrridaysh.

The university is built amidst the lush green area of the city Pune in 110-acre land. Every department of the campus has the best equipment that supports their concept of innovation learning. With an automobile design workshop lab, engineering research lab, moot court to practice law, media lab for the student of film and media to have hands-on experience. They conduct various types

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of co-curricular activities that give students ample opportunities to implement what they are earning in a real-time environment.

Prof. Hriidaysh adds, “Our facilities include 300 seat auditorium, aesthetically designed studios, and classrooms with ergonomically suited furniture. The classrooms are equipped with state-of-the-art video projection systems.”

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Creating a Niche of Competent Industry Leaders Playing an integral role in creating the illustrious placement record, ADPYU’s Training and Placement Cell ensures the smooth functioning of the placement activities on the campus. The cell organizes activities throughout the year to prepare the students for the campus selection programs.

Owing to ADYPU’s great placement history, many reputed industries across the country visit the university regularly during the campus recruitment programs. To enhance the employability quotient of the students as demanded by the industry, the Training & Placement cell provides muchneeded training to the students to hone their employability skills.

The training programs provide tips on how to crack aptitude, group discussion, interview skills, and resume preparation.

They educate the students with career opportunities in different areas like the Public Sector, Armed Forces, and Government Services by regularly conducting guest lectures. Prof Hrridaysh points out, “We have received many awards for our placement services some of them are “Outstanding Industry and Academic Contributor” award by ASSOCHAM on the occasion of International Women’s Day on 8th March 2020; TCS Icon award for “Best Placement in Maharashtra” 2018-19; Global Education Award for “Best Placement in Maharashtra” 2017-18, etc. We also have collaborations with some of the most renowned companies.

Some of them are L&T, CEAT, Wipro, Amazon, Cognizant, Infosys, IBM, Asian Paints, Lemon Tree, Sayaji, etc.”

Higher Education Digest September 2021

The university has well-appointed, shared accommodation grouped in clusters with common bathrooms and kitchens.

ADYPU is a proud holder of the India Book of Records for the highest number of recruitments through placements done in a single day. Capgemini, L&T infotech, Accenture, TCS, Wipro, and Infosys are a few names in the IT sector that have their placement bases in ADYPU. Apart from placements for students in their final year, the Placement Cell provides international internships with leading MNCs across the globe. In the session 2020-2021 they have around 600+ student placements with an average package of 5LPA and the highest offer of 27 LPA, including all the schools.

To add value to the educational system through curiosity, inquisitiveness, imagination, as well as critical thinking, ADYPU has visualized an Incubation Centre to nurture creativity and innovation to meet the current and future needs from labour arbitrage to intellectual economy. “We want to encourage the ideation to incubation among various stakeholders of the institute, ignite entrepreneurial mindset through workshops, events, mentoring, support for seed funds, filing patents, venture formation, ensure MVP to a sustainable launch, and training, consultancy, & advisory support to the R&D investment,” explains Prof. Hrridaysh.

With the industry’s best educators for their students, ADYPU’s group of talented and dedicated thought leaders in the country come from renowned institutions around the world. They are academically and professionally best educators and have the high standards of moral and ethical values to set the right example in front of budding leaders. The institute constantly focuses on upskilling their employee to keep up with the rapidly changing education ecosystem.

ADYPU envisions that with its robust curriculum and global outlook, the students will gain positions to advise, create, and lead ventures to form a better society that will drive the innovation economy. This fusion of customized and traditional learning will create graduates that will be most desired by entrepreneurial ventures, start-ups, firms, technology-centric companies, the IT sector, and leading business consultancies. “We are already started working on our post-pandemic pedagogy, by commencing various online platforms for students learning, teaching, engagement, etc. We will continue providing the world-class pedagogy, in conjecture with a global infrastructure that will make its students future creators and the institute one of the best law schools in the world,” concludes Prof. Hrridaysh.

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INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

IMPORTANCE OF RESKILLING IT PROFESSIONAL IN THE POST-PANDEMIC WORLD Geetha Murugesan, CISA, CRISC, CGEIT, CDPSE, Information Risk Management Consultant; Member, ISACA Emerging Trends Working Group

62 Geetha is an IT Governance, IT security, IT risk management and IT professional with over twenty-five years’ experience.

Most recently, she has offered consulting, implementation, and advisory services to various organisations in the banking, telecom, health care, manufacturing, government, and insurance sectors while working for a largest Indian IT software company.

She is a regular on-site trainer for conducting training through ISACA HQ for certification exam like CRISC and CISA for various multinationals for the last 5 years. In a conversation with Higher Education Digest, Geetha talks about how digital education like certifications in IT field has been completely revamped after pandemic, what are the major trend which is going on for the up skilling and reskilling of IT professionals and how these certificates can help young employees to crack the subject.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

There is no limit on who can pursue a career in IT

What is the reason behind engineering graduates shifting to IT? In India, as well as in other countries around the world, engineering is seen as a reputable and secure profession, and so a significant number of students pursue this degree in colleges every year. The main issue that these engineering graduates face is that there are just not enough open positions for these roles in India once they complete their degrees. Once these recent graduates realize that there are an abundance of jobs available in the IT sector, including those that may allow them to leverage their technical and analytical skills, they start to explore career options in this field.

How difficult or easy is it to learn IT skills like computing fundamentals, cybersecurity fundamentals for a nonIT person?

In the IT industry, it is not uncommon to hear of people who have come to the profession after

initially getting a very different university degree—even in something like language arts or political science. The key to succeeding in making the transition to IT is having a strong willingness to learn and an interest to understand how technology works, as well as some key skills like analytical thinking and problem solving.

From there, someone coming from a nonIT background can learn technical skills over time and with effort and training, credentials and hands-on experience, including around hardware, operating software, databases, networking, application systems, data privacy, and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and cloud computing. This hands-on experience can come not only from jobs, but also from interactive online training and even volunteering to work with professionals in these domain areas.

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Other than Engineering, are there graduates from other streams too taking up to IT? Graduates from a varied range of backgrounds and programs are pursuing careers in IT, including from areas of study like accounting, auditing, and science to management, business, communication, and psychology. There is no limit on who can pursue a career in IT—having a strong sense of curiosity, a drive to learn new things, an analytical mind and interest in technology that can go a long way in helping non-IT graduates make the transition successfully.

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How does one learn the basics / fundamentals of these IT skills, especially those who are not from the IT sector?

Online courses, including those for IT credentials, can provide those wanting to make the switch to an IT career with not only the knowledge they need to work in the IT field, but also hands-on skills too. Some of these courses also provide online virtual labs that allow learners to gain experience doing technical exercises in a live, but safe virtual environment, including certificates that make up the recently introduced ISACA ITCA certification. These kinds of online courses allow those pursuing a career in IT for the first time to not only understand the fundamentals of key IT domains but also provide confidence that they can do relevant tasks that they would need to do on the job.

Which are the most popular skills in IT today? And why?

Some of the main skills that are important for new IT professionals to attain are in the areas of computing, virtualization, networking architecture and operations, information security and cybersecurity, risk assessments, threat analysis and prevention, data collection and classification, data privacy, and practical programming and software development skills. As many of these areas overlap or influence each other, it is important for IT professionals to have a grasp of the fundamentals in all these areas, even if specializing in one domain area.

Has the COVID-19 pandemic had anything to do with this shift in careers?

During the pandemic, virtually all industries were impacted and needed to rapidly shift some or all their operations or offerings online, including transitioning their staff to working remotely. This also

Higher Education Digest September 2021

highlighted the need for IT professionals to support this remote workforce and protect organizations from cybersecurity threats.

Others may have had their jobs impacted by the global health crisis and found themselves needing to make a career change and realized that jobs in IT are increasingly more valuable in a landscape in which so much of our lives and work are online. Many people who were at home during pandemic lockdowns also found themselves with more time to focus on professional development and to reconsider what career path they wanted to take keeping their future aspirations. Having more options for online learning, training and obtaining credentials also allowed many people an increased opportunity to reskill and upskill in IT from the safety of their homes during the pandemic.

Of late there has been a spike in online certification courses. How relevant are these for those wanting to shift gears to IT? Certifications can be a powerful way not only to gain knowledge and hands-on skills, but also to demonstrate to recruiters and prospective employers that you have the necessary knowledge and skillset to bring value to an organization and succeed in an IT role.

Even for those who are already in IT jobs, it is imperative to continue to upskill to keep pace with the ever-changing technology landscape and ensure your skills are up-to-date, and online courses and certifications are a convenient way to help them achieve from anywhere, anytime.

Are online certification courses alone enough to make a career shift to IT? Online training and certification courses offer a flexible, convenient, and often cost-effective way to build skills and knowledge to prepare for a new career in IT. However, other resources and professional organizations, like ISACA, can also provide guidance, best practices and a community for networking, all of which are also valuable for making a career shift to IT. Which are top cities in India which is witnessing this trend?

Given that many IT jobs are now able to be done remotely, and more and more training and credentialing options are available virtually, this trend is not only being seen in large cities, but also mid-size cities throughout India.

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Higher Education Digest September 2021

ACADEMIC VIEW

RE-ENGINEERING OF COACHING INDUSTRY AFTER CORONA OUTBREAK Nitin Vijay, MD, Motion Education Pvt Ltd

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Self-made entrepreneur, Nitin Vijay is coming up with an e-programme to help the kids aged between 8-16 years develop entrepreneurial skills. A name to reckon with in coaching institutes, Vijay is successfully running his institute in Kota (Rajasthan) and branches in more than 18 cities in India, for the last 13 years.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

AI and ML will help teachers analyze students’ weakness from their online inputs and responses

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here is scarcely any other sector than Coaching, which recovered so fast with the Corona crisis using AI and ML. India’s coaching industry promptly protected itself with swift and agile digital transformation and mitigated the effects of the pandemic to a great extent. Despite the turbulent environment, in Kota alone, more than 100,000 students were enrolled in the last academic session.

Fast and Focused Recently, class 12 board exams are cancelled and this decision has put a permanent full stop to all speculations. Earlier, students were compelled to divide their study time to achieve two goals –board exams and competitive exams. Now, aspirants of JEE, NEET, and other undergraduate

professional courses can completely focus on competitive exams. And, as they are not going to appear in board exams, they have time to enrol themselves in online crash courses introduced by leading coaching institutes in Kota and other parts of the country. Indeed, an opportunity for the prep fraternity to nurture talent with their specialised teaching skills and customised content.

Change to Compete Today, people are well aware of the prep fraternity’s role and contribution in helping students qualify for competitive exams. Though schools cater to most of the needs of the education system, for preparation of entrance exams, coaching institutes offer specialised and exclusive programmes. In fact, school education and coaching are two different things;

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it is like the difference between a hospital and a specialized hospital for cancer. Being specialized in academics for competitive examinations, prep centres are the indispensable needs of students willing to take admission in professional courses like B.Tech and MBBS.

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Today, people are well aware of the prep fraternity’s role and contribution in helping students qualify for competitive exams

Technology is Key to Transformation Since the outbreak of the pandemic, many unprecedented events happened in the academic life of students. A sudden shift from classroom study to online classes emerges as the biggest disruption amidst the pandemic. In the light of this inevitable transformation, the coaching industry adapted to cutting-edge digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), augmented reality (AR), and pattern analysis (PA). Students’ behavioural analysis, hybrid content, and customised pedagogies are the desired outcomes of tech-centric learning modules developed by the leading coaching institutes in India.

Inching Towards Customization To understand what should be given to a particular student; education needs to be customized. Technology is helping the industry to identify the weaknesses of individual students and find out the topics where the student needs help. AI and ML will help teachers analyze students’ weakness from their online inputs and responses. A perfect combination of human interpretation and technology precision is equipping the coaching industry with effective and futuristic knowledge sharing tools. Consequently, interactive content and engaging teaching methodologies have made learning rather interesting and effective for students in present times.

Future Perfect Continuous More holistic teaching infrastructure and facilities were the demands of the education sector for a long time.

The coaching industry seems quite forward to embrace change and emphasized up-skilling and re-skilling of students instead of typical classroom learning. Besides, they have exposed the young students to many hidden realities of the existing world. These things certainly happen, but at a later stage in the learning process.

Hopefully, the current trends in India’s coaching industry will help shape the future of the youths and the country above all.

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Higher Education Digest September 2021

MUST - WATCH

UNIVERSITIES IN INDIA - 2021

ICFAI UNIVERSITY NAGALAND DISSEMINATING KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS THROUGH INNOVATIVE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS 70

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he Covid-19 Pandemic has been most brutal to the Education Sector across the world. In few months since its outbreak and global lockdown, institutions and educationists tried to scramble back to their feet. The educational scenario in Nagaland, in the face of the pandemic, was as damaging as any other states and countries across the world.

ICFAI University Nagaland (IUN) emerged as a front-runner in adapting to digital education to overcome the impact of the spectrum of Covid-19 by developing and placing the required educational-centric software for digitally interactive virtual classrooms interfacing faculty and students using existing Microsoft Teams and Google Apps etc. analyzing their different features and applications.

The adaptability of digital technology by the teaching faculty and students through initial professional training helped the university in maintaining and providing quality education to the students. This prevented the further vulnerable impact of Covid-19 and also allowed evolving the effectiveness of art digital education technology in the university. In addition, the university successfully developed a (digital) online examination and evaluation system for the conduct of examinations for the purpose to maintain the academic calendar during the pandemic period. “We took the challenges posed by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic as an opportunity to adopt and adapt to the emerging digital education technology and successfully implemented online pedagogy and

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IUN believes in creating and disseminating knowledge and skills in core and frontier areas through innovative educational programs, research, consulting and publishing.

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evaluating methods. Though we also seemed to lose our stronghold for some time, we could quickly enforce a strategic mechanism to combat the situation”, opines Kevizonuo Kuolie, Assistant Professor, IUN. Imparting Quality Education IUN was established in 2007 as an outcome of an agreement made between ICFAI Group, a non-profit educational society in India, and the Government of Nagaland to set up a world-class institution to primarily

Higher Education Digest September 2021

impart standardized entrepreneurial and technological knowledge and training through professional courses to the young generation. The University, with its motto ‘Meritum Ethicus’, strives to develop a new cadre of professionals with a high level of competence and a deep sense of moral principles and commitment to the code of professional conduct. The main objective behind setting up the university in Nagaland is to offer innovative, careeroriented professional Postgraduate and Undergraduate programs, through inclusive technology-aided pedagogies,

ABOUT

DR. IMTINUNGSANG JAMIR, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, ICFAI UNIVERSITY NAGALAND Dr. Imtinungsang has completed his doctorate in International Business, MBA in Strategic Marketing, M.Phil in Entrepreneurship, from Pondicherry University, and M.Com in Foreign Trade from Osmania University. Currently working at IUN as an Assistant Professor, Dr. Imtinungsang has multiple research publications. He is also the Member Secretary of Research Board, Member of Board of Studies in the Department of Commerce and Management Studies, Coordinator of the Entrepreneurship Cell and Programme Officer of NSS. Dr. Imtinungsang’s research interests cover International Trade and Logistics Management, Firm’s Export Performance Management, Strategic Management, Market Research, and Entrepreneurship.

to equip students with the requisite professional and life skills as well as social sensitivity and a higher sense of ethics. “We strive to create an intellectually stimulating environment for research, particularly into areas bearing on the socio-economic and cultural development of the state and nation,” says Imtinungsang Jamir, Assistant Professor, IUN. Aiming to provide a comfortable and secure learning experience to the students and hence gives attention to infrastructural facilities, the institution is geared with airconditioned classroom, NJY Memorial Library, IT Lab, fully equipped Soft Skills Lab, access to Health Centre, a recreational lounge for students, Counseling Cell, Grievance Handling Cell, Anti-ragging Committee, Green-House, Stationary Centre, 24/7 Wi-Fi, Canteen, Transportation service, hostels, outdoor and indoor games facilities. The university also facilitates both national and international trips for students to participate in educational and leadership programs. Some students received the privilege to visit Germany, Malaysia, UK, Bangalore, Vishakapatnam, Odisha, Meghalaya, etc in recent years.

IUN also runs active clubs for the interest and exposure of the students towards collective activities and to cultivate a sense of social responsibility. To mention a few are Green Club addressing environmental concerns, National Service Scheme (NSS), Der Verstand (The Psychoanalytic Club), Students’ Christian Movement of India (SCMI), Forum for Cultural Studies (FoCUS), Photography Club, Symposium for Holistic Health (Health Club), Girls’ Club, Researchers’ Meet, etc. Besides these, Seminar Presentations, Guest Lectures, Special Talks by renowned persons, awareness programs are some frequent activities that keep the faculty and students engaged.

IUN offers a plethora of both conventional and professional courses like BA, BBA, BCA, BCom, MBA, M Lib, MCA, MA, M.Phil. and Ph.D. It provides subject specializations in varied courses to prepare its students for the current professional world. Alongside, adhering to UGC’s direction of Choice Based Credit System, every Department exercises Skill Enhancing Courses both at UG and PG levels.

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IUN gives utmost importance to assist students in getting suitable placements after successful completion of the program.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

In the wake of the global pandemic, IUN efficiently switched to Blended Learning enabling the students to learn at their place and pace through delivery of content and instruction via digital and online media. With a standardized curriculum, the students have access to quality content that is in tune with the industry. Interactive workshops and case-based learning help the students in enhancing their problemsolving skills and substantiate classroom teaching.

The first in the State to offer M.Lib.& I.Sc. (Integrated program), prioritizing internship programs, training and placement, career opportunities, computing facilities, and summer projects to the students, IUN also facilitates online education to the students and faculty as the university is part of NPTEL (National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning) and IICs (Institution’s Innovation Council). ICFAI University Nagaland is the first Local Chapter of NPTEL for the state. This platform is open to all for enrolment into the online courses.

ABOUT

DR. KEVIZONUO KUOLIE, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, ICFAI UNIVERSITY NAGALAND

Dr. Kevizonuo has completed her doctorate and post-graduation in English Literature. With 10+ years of academic experience, she was the HOD of the Department of English at IUN. Currently, she is the Deputy Head of the Accreditation Research Understanding and Collaboration (ARUC) and Editorial Member of the ICFAI University Nagaland Journal of Social Sciences. At IUN, she has been the Convener of the Research Board, a Member of the Academic Council, Convener of the Board of Studies in the Department of English, and Editor-in-Chief of the University Annual Magazine 2014, ICFAI University Nagaland. Dr. Kevizonuo’s research interests cover Environmental Studies, Cultural studies, Folkloristics, Tribal Literature, Socio-linguistics, etc.

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Encouraging an Overall Development Being an institution that strives to keep pace with the digitalized world, growing industries, pragmatic and idealistic schools of thought, there has been a regular flow of boisterous students with bright brains as well as analytical minds. Over the years, the university has undertaken prominent technical projects like Touch Screen Digital Interactive KIOSK, ADPVM(A Digital Payment Vending Machine), The Golden Cultural Tree of Naga Tribes, and Augmented Reality using Images to name a few. With faculty-student mentoring, various social, cultural, and sports activities IUN ensures that the students have an exciting and worthy memorable experience during their stay in the University. IUN conducts various events like KAIROS – Social Sciences Fest, BIZHORN

The University has a wellstocked library and is being augmented regularly with books, periodicals, journals, magazines and other publications.

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- Management Fest, IUN YOUTH FEST – University Fest, Food Festival and Culture Display, etc.

These innovative and rigorous activities have attracted sponsorships and collaboration from distinguished state and regional organizations like Task Force for Music & Art (TaFMA), North East Zone Cultural Centre (NEZCC), Youth Net, Hayad Hospital, Food Safety Dimapur - Department of Health and Family Welfare. Besides these major festivals and collaborations, the university also organizes cultural tours, study and industrial trips, drama enactment, poetry slam, skit competitions and also maintains bi-annual departmental bulletins. In all these events, IUN students get an opportunity to exhibit their talents and chisel their competitive skills alongside participants from other colleges and universities in the state. Kevizonuo adds, “In upholding a

Higher Education Digest September 2021

At IUN, students are encouraged to involve in several co-curricular activities which help them to improve communication skills, develop the right kind of attitude, enhance leadership qualities and abilities, manage stress levels, emerge as team players, refine interpersonal skills and develop group skills

healthy long-term relationship, the Alumni Association maintains a genial bond with our University. This Association has always been involved in various events, contributing their positive inputs, active participation and constant encouragement for the development of the University”.

Helping Students Become Industry Leaders IUN organizes annual instituteindustry interface event, hosted by the Department of Management Studies.

This flagship program of the department features panel discussions and special lectures involving distinguished industry practitioners, entrepreneurs, experts from both public and private sectors, and academia from across the state. Social innovation program workshops, seminars, and webinars are some of the activities that constantly augment young minds through small real-time projects and field studies.

Apart from these events, the students get to collaborate with local entrepreneurs to focus on social and economic upliftment by empowering them through EEE – Education, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Development. They are encouraged to promote economic empowerment by participating in the National SC/ ST Conclave and International Trade Fair & Summit where they connect with organizations like National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), Nagaland Industrial Development Corporation (NIDC), Khadi, and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), North Eastern Development Finance Corporation (NEDFi), Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) Nagaland Handloom & Handicraft Development Corporation, Power Grid Corporation of India, Food Corporation of India, NE frontier Railway, BSNL NE Circle and Allahabad Bank (now merged

with Indian Bank). Through these firsthand contacts and experiences, the students receive valuable information about national schemes and financial aid/avenues.

The Entrepreneurship Cell (E-Cell) stands as another strength of the University with its constant efforts to foster and promote the spirit of entrepreneurship among students.

Through this cell, activities such as workshops/seminars, hands-on training programs, institute-industry interface internship programs, etc. are conducted occasionally. E-Cell also trains students from building business prototypes to preparing business models and provides internship opportunities to reputed companies within and outside the state.

Over the years, through this cell, the university has been actively inculcating entrepreneurial spirit among students by organizing multiple student-centric programs. “We have one of the Best Track Records in nurturing students through vigorous participation at Naga international trade summits and start-up India programs. Through these, the students had received incubation and financial aid to pursue their dreams from top facilities in India”, adds Imtinungsang.

Currently, IUN is in the process of developing digital technology for surveillance and monitoring of infections in the post-pandemic period.

Further, the university is evolving the process with the State Government for the provision of vaccination of Covid-19 for all students to eliminate the possibility and risk of infections on the campus. Digitally blended mode of education, which comprises both online as well as physical classes, may be adopted with the experience gained during the first and second surge of Covid-19 during the post-pandemic period for providing quality education on the campus.

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ACADEMIC VIEW

HAS THE EXAMINATION SYSTEM FAILED THE EDUCATION SYSTEM? Sachin Gupta, Chancellor, Sanskriti University

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Sachin Gupta is one of the youngest first-generation Chancellors in India. It sets him apart and clearly shows his passion for education. His motto is providing holistic education to so that learners will have excellence in life.

Sachin Gupta’s journey of two decades in the higher education sector has been unprecedented in terms of influencing the quality and system of higher education in the private sector. With the power of his vision, clarity of his mission and analytical ability, the university under his leadership is poised for achieving greater heights of excellence.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

The Examination’s validity, reliability, and standardization need a re-visit for determining the achievement of the goals of education

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o not mistake the subject statement as a mere exaggeration to just call for attention. Over the years, the purpose of Education is being lost to the process of Examination.

Let us discuss the two separately.

Education is the process of facilitating learning, or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, morals, beliefs, and habits.

If the above were to be true, then we all should be very well aware as to what are the skills, values, morals, beliefs, habits, and knowledge that a student is likely to possess after a specific number of years of education. What are the deliverables that the present education system is promising to our children? What are the shortterm and long-term education objectives that

have been determined? What can we expect from the educated after a specific number of years?

With loads of information and data, children today have been made to feel as if they are totally in the unknown and that they need to learn from the textbooks which are the Gospels of truth and knowledge. Without going into how the syllabus has been structured to meet the larger objective, children burn the midnight oil to master the information. Some score 100 percent and some 40 percent. Without going into how the 40 percent was accepted as the passing mark, both the students with 40 percent and 100 percent pass out the system and are declared successful.

The student who scores 100 percent develops the attitude that he/ she knows it all and that the one with 40 percent feels that if he/she were

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to master the books, it would give him /her the taste of eternal knowledge.

The point in question here is what should be the goal of education? Whether the present-day education system is achieving that goal? What is the set of specific and broad goals that our children should acquire after a long 14-15 years of school education? Are we even talking about them or is it just the passing certificate we are all interested in? Has the End become more important than the Process?

Without going into the ‘correlation’ of the education goals with the subjects and syllabus being covered in schools; even for a moment if we say all is well; why does the system need to send hundreds of changes / additional circulars to schools on newer practices/ commemoration of days/activities / etc. almost on regular basis? Even it being so, we may like to conclude that the system is ever-evolving, ever-expanding, ever developing. So isn’t the process standardized to not achieve the goal which is supposedly earmarked in the first place, that we need to keep adding newer activities every week /fortnight as additional curriculum/activity.

Also, why doesn’t the system also delete some activities/ material/workload which may become redundant and due to which there is a need felt to add more activities over the old. It is anybody’s guess that no School would be able to complete the set of stipulated exercises/activities/ work as enshrined in the system’s requirement. So is this a calculated way of putting the schools on the back foot to always feel left behind and always be wanting soft handling?

Where are the parents in the process? They are the most important stake-holders who need to be taken alongside. Do the parents even know about the teaching objectives or what they can expect their children to be after they pass out class 12? Or is it too mechanical that everything that goes in the system comes out and further goes in and then again comes out and on and on? What is the accountability of the system? The state of affairs in today’s society speaks volumes of where the system is heading. With School toppers languishing in jails, being unemployed, most disillusioned, with no morals, values, beliefs, habits, etc. It is high time we have a re-look at the education system of today.

Now coming to the Examination aspect of today’s education system; it can be anything except being perfect.

The focus of all school children, teachers, and parents is on examinations. Examinations are not adjusted on completion of education but education is adjusted seeing the examination timelines. The examination process

Higher Education Digest September 2021

is being taken care of by people who seldom teach in classrooms. The examination system has become a kind of test in itself. It has become a speed test, power test, along with appropriate language usage and the ability to understand the question in the intended direction in which the question paper setter is seeking the answer.

Who knows how the two to three hour of question paper on a particular date /place can test the knowledge, skills, abilities, etc of a child? The Examination’s validity, reliability, and standardization need a re-visit for determining the achievement of the goals of education.

But the larger question is that even if all these statistical properties were present; how can the system for its suitability and in times like the present pandemic alter the duration of the examination and still deem it to be standardized/valid/reliable?

Have Examinations become a toy in the hands of the system to use it the way it likes, just because no one questions it? Are we losing the crucial time of education to examinations? Is education being lost to examination?

Examination reforms have always been advocated in this country, but nothing seems to be happening on the ground. We were not able to implement the last NPE in 34 years. Now the country has another NPE 2021.

Hopefully, the new music beats are melodious to the ears, but the question is how and when?

The quest that mankind is behind, the pandemic that we are in today; is all a result of the faulty education system. We need to start again. Start without boundaries, without a syllabus, without rigidity, without textbooks, without top down approach, without - with.

Start this time with not ‘A’ for Apple but ‘A’ for Anything, Maybe.

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NORTONLIFELOCK.COM Higher Education Digest September 2021

INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

DIGITAL SCHOOLING: THE ONE STOP SOLUTION TO MITIGATE EDUCATIONAL DISRUPTION Chitralekha Patil, Mentor Trustee, Centre for Transforming India (CFTI)

82 An educationalist and an active social worker, Chitralekha is passionate towards giving back to the society and strives toward the empowerment of Rural India. She is driven by the motive of enabling individuals at the grassroots levels – Be it in terms of education, arts and culture, politics, sports, or media; she efficiently juggles multiple roles to create a positive and lasting impact. Managing Trustee at the non-governmental organization – Centre for Transforming India, Chitralekha is also a Director at the PNP Group of companies, the Secretary (Trustee) at the Prabhakar Patil Education Society, Alibag; and the Owner and Managing Director at Nagesh Publishers Pvt. Ltd. (Publishers of the leading Marathi Daily Newspaper ‘Krushival’; amongst the diverse set of responsibilities that she gracefully manages.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

Due to lack of resources and financial constraints, certain pockets of students are still unable to access the internet

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ur educational systems have had to undergo an unprecedented revamp in the last one year. When the pandemic struck, most schools were almost finishing up with the academic year. But with the panic spreading fast, schools had to physically shut down. Post that, the choice that remained was either to keep schools shut and deprive students of their education, or to adapt to the changing times and find a solution to keep things going.

A report by UNESCO states that last year, around 1.6 billion learners across 194 countries and about 100 million school personnel (including teachers) were affected due to school closures.

Having to drop out of school mid-way through the education trajectory not only creates a gap in learning, but also puts a strain on the mental and emotional wellbeing of children, while also

changing the course of their development in their formative years. It can increase the risk of being forced into child labour and resorting to vices that would prove hazardous not just for the children themselves, but also for their families and society.

Such an interruption in childhood education could potentially jeopardize our country’s future.

Digital Literacy for the Uninitiated Switching from traditional classrooms in a limited span of time was a challenge. The situation demanded that all policy makers, education authorities, school principals, as well as teachers and parents, unite to find an alternative solution.

One that was agile enough to accommodate remote learning, while also enabling widespread access and outreach. The decisions weren’t easy, not just for school authorities but also for

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government bodies across, both central and at the state level. However, they were necessary for the safety and security of entire populations. This also meant that teachers had to be trained in order to conduct classes via a new medium.

Technology indeed emerged as a hero. With digital schooling came flexible systems, a wider range of subjects and courses, and reduced time spent on commuting.

There was ease of access as well as the option of learning and accessing information in vernacular languages.

Moving classrooms online allowed for vast exposure and an enhanced medium of learning, beyond four walls.

From accessing multiple educational programs through videos and podcasts, to facilitating interactions and building a sustainable momentum for the long term, digital schooling initially entered as a trend, but soon emerged to be a necessity.

One nation, one education Our country’s demographics are diverse. Due to lack of resources and financial constraints, certain pockets of students are still unable to access the internet or cannot afford an electronic gadget to support their education.

‘Only 20% of students residing in rural Maharashtra have access to smartphones’ stated The Hindu in a 2020 report.

During these tough times, various NGOs pan India have taken the initiative to help out the needy, in their own capacity. Making efforts to bridge the digital need gap in education, Maharashtra based non-governmental organization – Centre for Transforming India (CFTI) aims at distributing more than a thousand tabs to children in the slums of Dharavi through its School on Tab initiative.

Currently, in its phase one, CFTI has already planned the distribution of 300 tabs and aims to mitigate the ongoing educational disruption with continuous efforts.

Similarly, various corporates and MNC’s are also stepping forward to support noble causes as a part of their CSR activities. Local authorities as well as the youth of our country are volunteering with their time to further amplify digital schooling alongside digital literacy amidst marginalized communities.

The need of the hour is to continue working towards bridge the digital divide and be future-ready. If we all combine our efforts and channelize our resources in the right direction, a lot more children will be able to access digital education and survive this disruption. Online schooling is the need of the hour to ensure that these kids do not forgo their Right to Education.

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Higher Education Digest September 2021

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Higher Education Digest September 2021

MUST - WATCH

UNIVERSITIES IN INDIA - 2021

JK LAKSHMIPAT UNIVERSITY REIMAGING EDUCATION TO UPSKILL FUTURE INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS 86

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020-21 was one of the most significant academic years in the history of education. The coronavirus pandemic rapidly forced our classroom learning process to completely adhere to digital mediums and, at times, blended education (partially online and classroom) to have uninterrupted learning. In fact, blended learning has been a part of premier higher education institutes such as IIMs and IITs for the past few years. However, not many have been eager to follow suit except a handful of private universities like JK Lakshmipat University (JKLU), which provides an impeccable learning atmosphere that assures an ideal learning environment for the understudies. JKLU is reimagining education to introduce new ways of learning and critical new skills to learn for their students, embedding them with entrepreneurialism and dynamism and seeding it with curiosity and technology.

“As a progressive 21st-century education institution, with worldclass facilities, we are focused on enabling its students to learn, think, communicate and introspect better. Our redefined curriculum model, ‘Learning @ JKLU’, is designed to provide a holistic learning environment to shape them into future-ready professionals and global leaders,” Dr Pankaj Sharma, Director of Admissions & Career Services, JK Lakshmipat University. Envisioning one of India’s most innovative higher education institutions, JKLU inculcates critical thinking and problem-solving in its students.

They help students pursue research that leads to innovation and

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Supported by the JK Organization- 125 years old legacy of contributions to nation- building, the JKLU is passionate about building the country’s most innovative higher education institution.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

ABOUT

DR PANKAJ SHARMA DIRECTOR OF ADMISSIONS & CAREER SERVICES, JK LAKSHMIPAT UNIVERSITY Dr Pankaj Sharma is the Director of Admissions & Career Services at JK Lakshmipat University. He has experience of 25+ years of Sales

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and Marketing in Media, Education, FMCG/ IT sectors. In past, he has led the admissions for several reputed institutions like SRM University Sonepat, Hero Group (BML Munjal University), NIIT University, etc. He has also led some organizations like The Tribune, Dainik Bhaskar, Indian Express & Hindustan Times.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

enhancement of real-life applications. The university offers an experience that leads to all-round development and develops a strongly rooted culture in interdisciplinary and learning by building.

Imparting Education through Innovation Established in 2011, JK Lakshmipat University (JKLU) is located in the historical city of Jaipur, Rajasthan. It is supported by the JK Organization’s 125 years old legacy of contributions to nation-building. The university is passionate about building the country’s most innovative higher education institution. JKLU’s 30-acre campus is a modern, environmentally conscious, and inviting space designed to help students live, work, and play in a safe, productive, and student-centric setting. It is a well-maintained and green landscape with thoughtful and innovative amenities, making the campus experience very vibrant and safe. The campus life at JKLU also adds well-equipped recreational areas for the students to relax and explore.

“As the world of business and jobs changes rapidly, we are evolving to make our students not just job-ready but also life-ready. We help them see learning as a continuous process and become future-ready professionals with 21 st century skills,” states Dr Pankaj Sharma.

JKLU is re-imagining education, embedding it with entrepreneurship and dynamism, and seeding it with curiosity and technology. The university’s rigorous pedagogy, committed faculty body and stellar Academic Advisory Board ensure that our curriculum, teaching methods, and learning outcomes prepare our students for the future.

The Learning Resource Centre (LRC) at JKLU aims to serve the needs of the Faculty, Research Scholars, Students, and External Members of the LRC. It is the heart of the university and acts as a center for the collection of literature predominantly related to management, engineering, and technology and its allied subjects and develops a comprehensive collection of information that

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JKLU is inspired by the vision of the JK Organisation’s key architect, Lala Lakshmipat Singhania – a visionary, a pioneer, an entrepreneur and a humanitarian.

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is useful for teaching and reference purposes. Dr Pankaj Sharma explains, “LRC is subscribing wide range of national and international periodicals and journals, in addition to an impressive collection of databases such as EBSCO (Business Source Elite & Academic Search Elite), corporate & technical annual reports and CDs, CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) publications, DELNET ProQuest Management and Engineering / Technology Collection and IEEE ASPP and POP Plan.”

Higher Education Digest September 2021

Aiding a Smooth Transition into the Industry JKLU’s application-based learning model focuses on providing opportunities to learn-by-doing- through our state-of-the-art labs, Practice Schools, Centre for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, immersive internships, and constant industry interface. They believe that exposure to multi-disciplinary perspectives such as learning from Liberal Art is as important as building expertise in core technical and management domains. “The holistic

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JKLU provides immense opportunities to each of its students to develop their interests and follow their passion.

development of a student is, however, incomplete without the focus on professional development. Through our Centre for Communication & Critical Thinking and a dedicated Career Services team, we are committed to the development of our students,” claims Dr Pankaj Sharma.

The university has signed MoU with reputed universities in the US, Europe, and the Asia Pacific regions for establishing alliances relating to cooperation in joint research, lectures, symposia, and country visit for students,

Higher Education Digest September 2021

The JKLU library is situated in a multi- story building with a growing collection of Books, Journals and other reading materials.

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Exchange of data, documentation, and research material in the fields of mutual interest, and evolve new courses with an integrated multi-disciplinary approach offering multiple skills in the field of Management, Engineering, and Technology besides other disciplines to follow.

University of Florida, Gainesville, USA, Olin College of Engineering, Boston, USA, Hanyang University, Seoul, South Korea, and the University of Birmingham are some of the universities JKLU has signed an MoU with.

JKLU achieved multiple milestones for Placements 2019-20 batch with a plethora of companies visiting campus for placement and students getting multiple opportunities to achieve their career aspirations. The university has received 100% placements, 120% increase

in average salary, 50% increase in companies, 100% increase in job offers.

JLKU’s students have been placed in well-reputed companies like Asahi India Glass Ltd., Infibeam, JCB, ICICI Securities, JK Tyres, Flipkart, Essar, HFFC, Yes Bank, Vivo, Moglix, Byju’s, Mahindra, Airtel, and Infosys, to name a few.

“The world of work is changing rapidly. So is the world of business, technology, and jobs. Education must take bold strides to walk towards a new landscape. Our optimism for the future is guided by and built on the strong foundations of the past. We offer our students an education that is contemporary, relevant and combines the best of academic pedagogy along with application-led practical experience,” states Dr Pankaj Sharma.

JKLU is well prepared to create a new cadre of professionals from, and for, India, who will go on to create, manage and transform businesses and organizations, and is all set to shape this horizon and are committed to creating professionals of the future.

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INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

BUILDING YOUR CAREER IN CYBERSECURITY: THERE IS A GROWING NEED FOR TECH-SAVVY EXPERTS Savitha K R, Head of Talent Acquisition, Colortokens

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Savitha K R heads the Talent Acquisition function at Colortokens. She holds 20+ years of experience with focus on talent strategy for start-ups & well-established multinational organizations. She has extensively worked on Volume & Niche IT & Non- IT hiring. Savitha has handled Pan India & APAC extensively & managed end to end recruitment and team across locations in India and other geographies. She has worked on multiple tools and platforms for leadership hiring.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

Cybersecurity Professionals are the ‘unsung heroes of the Internet

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couple of years ago, little did we know that we could build a career in Cybersecurity. But today we live in a digital world, with smart gadgets connected to the internet for even the most basic needs of ours, making us more susceptible to malicious attacks, invasion of privacy and fraud.

And with the whole shift to the remote working model, there is a surge in cyber threats making cybersecurity a real business challenge for companies, big or small. It has now become a quintessential part of the overall company strategy, making it a lucrative career path.

As attacks become sophisticated across the globe, companies are forced to adopt new approaches to secure their network and defend their infrastructures from both external and internal

threats. This brought forward the concept of the Zero Trust Model. An evolved holistic security approach that will define the security strategies in the future. This advanced model shifts focus from various types of authentication and access controls, including the misconception of single security perimeters, to tailored controls around sensitive data stores, applications, systems and networks.

The big differentiator of the Zero Trust model is its high security framework that allows only trusted identities within an organization access networks, systems, and data based on their role to perform their jobs.

This brings us to an important question. Is there a demand for cybersecurity jobs and if yes, what are the skills required? But first let’s understand what does a Cybersecurity Professional actually do.

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cybersecurity is the right choice for you. There are many different levels of experience and qualification that one can choose from such as: Entry-level: It is always better to get your foot in first and learn on the job. Opportunities here include roles like web developers, network engineers, security specialists etc.

Mid-level: For those who have gained a bit of experience, more job opportunities open up that may include security analysts, cybersecurity consultants, incident responders, etc.

Advanced level: This is for those who come with a good amount of experience and are equipped to explore opportunities that may include cybersecurity managers, cybersecurity engineers, Chief operating security officers and cybersecurity architects.

Whatever role you choose, there’s no better time than now to join the ranks of cybersecurity experts.

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Cybersecurity professionals are skilled to identify weaknesses in networks, hardware, databases, and firewalls. The most important priority of a cybersecurity professional is none other than preventing attacks by fixing potential issues even before they are exploited by malicious users or attackers. In simple terms, we can refer them as ‘unsung heroes of the Internet’. Hence, cybersecurity is one of the most important and sort after skills any professional can acquire.

So, is a career in cybersecurity a good fit for you?

Well, a job in cybersecurity can be highly lucrative and rewarding, it can also be a very challenging path to tread on. So, understanding the nuances of the job is very important and it will also help you decide if a career in

Higher Education Digest September 2021

Need of the Hour While there are a lot of certifications now available and some institutions have also introduced courses around programming and ethical hacking, having a structured curriculum and industry specialized courses is of utmost importance as the whole cybersecurity space is evolving and maturing. We see a growing professionalization in this market as it moves from hackers to professionals who can shape the fundamental building blocks of respective industries. But having said that, there is a huge gap in technical talent that companies are looking out for. According to industry reports, against an estimated demand for a million cybersecurity experts, India has less than 10,000 professionals. And this gap only seems to be widening. As companies struggle with an array of internal and external threats, skills like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Automation are playing large roles in bridging that gap by correlating threat intelligence and coordinating responses at machine speed. Knowledge about the latest technologies and techniques have become even more crucial to stay in the game. They play an important role in powering the skills required by businesses to protect the sophistication of the threats of tomorrow.

During this time, when our economy is struggling and many careers are taking a hit, cybersecurity jobs are most likely to stay in demand as data safety is a common and important concern. Our advice would only be to never stop learning, regardless of the challenges. Cybersecurity career will only continue to grow and it’s important to stay motivated, stay educated and stay secure.

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INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

EDTECH MODELS AND CO- EXISTENCE OF ONLINE & OFFLINE EDUCATION Khizar Momin, Chief Technology officer, Indian School Finance Company

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Khizar is known for taking on the weak applications, systems, and IT operations and turning them into high-performing and sustainable models through standardization. He believes in innovations, consistent improvements, and variable cost models for IT, and creating IT teams that are equally skilled in business as well as technology. Previously, he held leadership positions across American Express, Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Finserv, and Cox & Kings Financial Service alongside others, wherein Khizar created and implemented digital strategies and technology roadmaps with finesse.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

The Digital Disruption in India is led by proliferation of mobile devices

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OVID-19 pandemic has brought new set of challenges to the entire businesses, industries, institutions and individuals. One of the most affected segments include the “Schools” and in turn the affected parties are the students and teachers.

Due to pandemic in 2019, the entire education industry woke up to an unprecedented scale, size and complexity of a challengecalled “No Physical Classes”. This was a non-negotiable affair without any warnings or any time to prepare.

This new COVID-19 challenge pushed the institutions towards the adoption of online education model and also pushed the industry towards the revival of EdTech Models. Some resourceful institutions with financial might wobbled initially but were able to adapt and cope up with the challenge. The success of such

institutions has major contribution from the tech savvy students and ability of their parents to afford the laptops and digital devices.

The ecosystem of education has the primary responsibility of “delivering the education”. This is the mainstream school syllabus and study materials that traditionally was delivered thru physical classroom sessions. The other aspects like institution management (Teachers/Students/ Parents) and supplementary services like exams, extracurricular and counselling etc. were structured around the model of physical delivery of the education.

EdTech models brings unique opportunity to tightly integrate the delivery of education thru online medium, interconnect the ecosystem of teachers, parents, students and also automate the traditional modes of exams and assessments.

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Some of the critical success factors for Online education to prosper will include affordable handsets/laptops, use of vernacular-language apps, digital skills, training material and low-cost payments and IT infrastructure.

The offline education has its advantages like interpersonal development, structured approach etc. The Online education offers many more advantages like location independency, flexible hours, travel free, time saving and convenient.

When structured appropriately, the online education may work out to be cheaper than the offline education. If EdTech are able to deliver classroom like experience and break the language barriers then the locus of online education will shift to rural arena that has huge potential and has been relatively unexposed to online means of education.

The Digital disruption in India is led by proliferation of mobile devices, lower cost of data and rural reach of the Internet. EdTech comes with native advantage of its Digital reach without boundaries however creating classroom like experience and engagement will be the key aspects to solve for. In the bargain, the EdTech also has an opportunity to ensuring that education remains relevant with changing times. This is mainly due to the ability of Digital to implement the change rapidly.

The other opportunity for the EdTech is to interconnect the financialinstitutions which have been operating in silos until the recent past. This integration will facilitate the financing of fees to parents and students, provide meaningful insights which can be used for funding the institutions and thereby strengthen the overall ecosystem in the long term.

In education parlance, often the most talked about community is domestic help, workers, daily wagers, security guards, small shop owners, retail vegetable vendors etc. These segments are largely under-schooled and not very well connected with banking, convenient transport and access to credits however they aspire for educational and financial security. They are not savvy to the terms of underwriting, risk and credit score etc however they are equipped with basics like bank accounts, payment tools like UPI, Cheque etc.

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UNIVERSITIES IN INDIA - 2021

REVA UNIVERSITY OFFERING GLOBAL EDUCATION ROOTED IN INDIAN ETHOS 102

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stablished in 2004, REVA Group of Institutions was the dream and brainchild of Late. Rukmini Shyama Raju, wife of Hon’ble Chancellor, REVA University, Dr.P. Shyama Raju. With a humble beginning of just 150 students, today, REVA University educates and empowers over 15,000 students. It has large network of over 30,000 alumni and 250 international students from 27 countries. In 2013, the Government of Karnataka granted the institution University status and encouraged them to take forward their mission to empower the youth and give back to society.

When Dr. Shyama Raju founded the university, he intended to create green pastures for academics to bloom, and blossom into a new way to approach education. To this goal, he planned to have the best team in place. REVA University has faculty from all walks of life with vast industry experience who have pursued research in eminent institutions like IITs and IIMs from across the country.

They are trained to conduct multi-disciplinary programmes, align workshops and training sessions in line with the demands of the industries, and offer hands-on leanring experience.

“We aim to be the top educational destination in India with futuristic specialisations. We offer advanced certification programmes and company-specific, industry-oriented training programmes that mould students to work in the post-pandemic era,” says Dr. Shyama Raju.

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REVA University is established based on the concept of ‘Knowledge is Power’ because a person with concrete knowledge knows how to control various situations in life with confidence.

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Spread over a 45-acre lush green campus, students and alumni at REVA University vouch for the extremely unique academic and physical infrastructure present on the campus. This includes 200 smart classrooms that support blended learning, real industry-like labs that foster on-the-job learning in students, a techenabled library with more than 1 lakh books, and most importantly, modern pedagogy. In addition to this, the physical infrastructure includes outdoor classrooms, sports grounds, a professional gym, open study parks for peer learning, and a food court that has counters of popular food chains.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

REVA offers 55 Undergraduate Programmes, 28 Full-time and 2 Part-time Postgraduate Programmes, 19 Ph. D Programmes, and other Certificate/ Diploma/ Postgraduate Diploma Programmes in various disciplines.

“Our campus is the most student-friendly campus with an open-air theatre spread over 2 acres, an amphitheatre for cultural activities, hostel amenities, and a brand store that’s on a par with international standards,” shares Dr. Shyama Raju.

The 200-odd smart classrooms at REVA are designed to support blended learning and support moodle, and Lecture Capturing systems, and other tech-infrastrcutue.

Students find this very beneficial as notes and assignments are populated easily through moodle and ensure timely submissions. The Lecture Capturing system is used by faculty members to beam offline course material to students online, and can be used to learn and relearn the concepts taught in class. “Classroom learning is engaging and interesting as we use ICT-based pedagogy apart from Moodle. Additonally, we have introduced tab-based assessments for students that make assessments a hasslefree process and the evaluation error-free and quick,” Dr. Shyama Raju says.

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To get students future-ready, the university has seven centres of excellence that are industry-driven and led by tech giants like Toyota. These centres house the most advanced labs that match industry standards and are set up based on the recommendations of experts from the field. For the benefit of students and to support their learning endeavours, the university also has an extensive library with over 1.5 lakh books and a research centre for quality research, knowledge and theoretical information. With research being recognised as the primary activity to enhance the teaching and learning process, students are inspired to conduct superior quality research that addresses societal issues and applies science and technology to find innovative solutions.

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Fostering Innovation REVA University has established a separate division that aims to continuously liaise with various funding agencies, R&D institutions, industries, and faculty members to facilitate the undertaking of innovative research in cutting-edge areas of application and social relevance.

This helps faculty members at REVA to interact with scientists and experts from different fields and be updated on the developments in their respective fields, and exchange ideas for innovation. This research culture helps students formulate research policies and identify thrust areas of research. It also provides training to young faculty members to prepare research proposals or for writing technical articles and encourages interdisciplinary research.

At the School of Management Studies and School of Commerce at REVA University, Business Labs have been set up to allow students to gain insights about business activities under replicated real-life business scenarios. The state-ofthe-art facilities and technology incorporated in the business labs enable the students to study the working methodology of various businesses. “The business lab helps to inculcate knowledge and practical skills in students that help them to prepare for future employment and entrepreneurship. It provides industry-based training in the form of presentations, case studies, industrial visits, internships, and expert interaction,” says Dr. Shyama Raju.

REVA University provides excellent education and is a shortlisted university among major recruiters due to its exclusive internship model and unique skill development courses. The university has done extensive collaborations with leading companies, giving students an opportunity to explore their skills and sharpen them.

One of their most recent collaborations has been with Tech Mahindra Foundation to provide employability training to university students and the community. Another such

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DR. P. SHYAMA RAJU, THE FOUNDER AND HONOURABLE CHANCELLOR, REVA UNIVERSITY

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REVA consistently ranked as one of the top universities in various categories because of the diverse community of international students and its teaching excellence in both theoretical and technical education in the fields of Engineering, Management, Law, Science, Commerce, Arts, Performing Arts, and Research Studies.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

collaboration is with Vodafone to spread awareness about trending domains such as Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, and more. The university has also collaborated with startups that have benefitted the institution. One such startup is Workbench, which helped create Fablabs within the university to help entrepreneurs access equipment required to create market-ready products.

“As many as 31 startups are being incubated within the campus of REVA University with our Technology Business Incubator – REVA NEST. The startups are involved in research discussions with faculty members as well as providing learning opportunities via internships for students,” shares Dr. Shyama Raju.

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REVA NEST, a technology business incubator on the campus, is committed to helping explore students’ entrepreneurial ideas, nurturing and assisting them in developing a startup spirit within them.

The dedicated workspace is used to obtain practical knowledge and exposure and promote entrepreneurial awareness through various practical lessons and sessions. Collaboration with the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India has helped reach 500+ students alone in the last couple of years, and REVA NEST has incubated 31 startups thus far. “REVA University has a determined stand to provide the best incubation facilities to our students who wish

Higher Education Digest September 2021

to begin their entrepreneurial journey and become successful entrepreneurs in their choses fields,” Dr. Shyama Raju shares.

Apart from this, REVA University has also done successful international collaborations with organisations like Japan Information Centre and Toyota Centre of Excellence. “REVA University is proud to have collaborated with leading industries in the fields of engineering and sciences. The industry collaboration has helped our students obtain the best possible exposure, learning experiences that have made them capable of solving real-world problems,” says Dr. Shyama Raju.

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Finding Positive Challenges Amid the Pandemic The Chancellor believes the pandemic posed ‘positives challenges’ and led them to work harder for the welfare of their students. “We shifted to online classes from offline classes within 3 days. REVA was digitally forward to take online attendance, assessments, evaluation, and online examination and maintains strict COVID appropriate behaviour on campus, even when the university has 100% fully vaccinated staff,” he shares.

By assessing the demands of the future job market, this year, REVA has introduced 24 new programmes for the academic year 2021-22 including advanced

specialisations like AI, ML, Robotics and Automation, and Data Security. Specialisations in non-engineering courses like Cyber Security, Healthcare Management, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and Criminal Law have been introduced considering the job opportunities of the future market. Students are also being trained in offline and online internships to prepare them for remote work and new work dynamics in the post pandemic era.

REVA strives to be the top education destination in India, offering the country’s most advanced and futuristic education. With the current trends in mind, REVA moulds students to work in a post-pandemic world and adjust to the new ways of work culture.

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INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

QUESTIONS -

A POWERFUL LEARNING TOOL Aneesh Bangia, Co-founder, Open Door Education

112 Aneesh Bangia graduated from IIT Madras in 2010. Soon after graduating, he joined Ashok Leyland. Aneesh started teaching Physics to his fellow colleagues at the company. It is here, where he realized that his passion was teaching.

Aneesh with an aim to explore teaching further, took the decision of quitting his well-paying job and continued with his passion of teaching. Aneesh along with Abhishek Kariwal co-founded Open Door in 2013.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

Most teachers are so engrossed in ‘teaching’ that they forget to make sure that children are learning

Let me share a story A teacher enters a classroom with 30 children.

She is excited about a new lesson that she is going to teach today. She explains the topic very well, gives many examples and even repeats herself whenever she thinks children are not following.

When the teacher looks at the children, she finds that the children are attentive and nodding their heads. At the end of the class, the children rise up and say: ‘Thank you, ma’am.’ She smiles and leaves the class.

What could possibly be wrong with this, you ask? This: Each child in the class has a brain capable of thinking. Children have the ability to think of a few examples on their own. Children could have derived a few equations on their own. But, the teacher was too busy teaching.

This happened many years ago. These children have grown up to become me and you.

Why are we allowing the same mistake to happen even today?

What should the teachers do?

‘I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think.’ - Socrates.

Teachers should give a long hard thought about this quote.

Instead of finding the best tool to ‘explain’ the concept to children, teachers should ask: how can I make children think on their own?

And, what better tool to make children think than asking them questions? Questions compel children to think. If the question is a good question, then questions can also make children more interested in the subject.

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Design a learning experience with questioning as a focus Imagine a classroom in which teaching begins with such questions: ‘How would the world be if water was colourful?’ or ‘Will an alarm clock work on the Moon?’

As children begin to think, the teacher does not interrupt the thought process of the children. When some children raise their hands, she asks them to ‘Think again!’.

She sits back and watches the amazing sight of her children enjoying thinking. There is pin-drop silence in the classroom because children are engrossed in thinking.

When all the children are done thinking, she reveals the answer. She goes on to teach and she asks many interesting questions while she teaches. She has replaced 50% of her lecturing with questioning.

Sounds like an amazing classroom. No? In such a classroom, children are the hero of learning.

Teacher is merely a guide. Teachers should strive to provide such a learning experience to the students.

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Think long term. Prepare children for the exams of the real world The future is uncertain. No one knows what children will choose to do or learn in the future.

And, teachers cannot keep teaching the kids all their life. Children will grow up and enter the real world. The exam of life has to be cleared on their own. By teaching excessively, we are only becoming crutches for children.

Let us teach children to walk on their own. The journey of learning has to be taken by oneself.

Teach less if you want children to learn more Teachers need to understand this: Just like you can’t watch a movie and become a good actor, children can’t watch the teacher teach and become good at the subject.

Most teachers are so engrossed in ‘teaching’ that they forget to make sure that children are learning. Dear teachers - please take a pause and ask questions. You will be surprised to see the amazing answers that children can give. You will be surprised to see that much of what you teach can be figured out by children themselves.

The best teachers may know everything. But, they act like a student.

Teachers may know their subject very well. They may know all the answers. But, they need to recognise that children are capable of thinking.

The best teachers demonstrate the slow process of arriving at the answer to the students. They are so

Higher Education Digest September 2021

confident that they even make deliberate mistakes and let children correct them. They show themselves as a learner. The best teachers teach by not teaching. They ask questions and hold the answer until most children are done thinking.

Advantages of using questions as a learning tool Teaching by asking questions can do a lot of A. When children put the effort into thinking, they remember for a much longer time. Questions lead to long-term understanding.

B. Repeated questioning leads to repeated thinking.

This develops a curiosity and creativity among children.

It leads to children becoming lifelong learners.

C. Questions make children humble. When they grow up, they are more likely to say ‘I don’t know’ and then want to learn. Good questions induce mistakes and show children’s ignorance to themselves. It leads to a humbling experience for young learners and thirst to learn more at the same time! And the start of the journey of learning!

That’s why, asking questions is a powerful teaching tool.

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INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

IMPACT OF 5G IN TRANSFORMING EDUCATION AND BRIDGING SKILL GAP Sudhakar Balakrishnan, Group CEO, FirstMeridian

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Sudhakar is an experienced innovator/entrepreneur with 36 years of work experience in a combination of Sales, Marketing, HR, Strategy Formulation, and P&L Management with 24 years of experience within the Human Capital business, leading the operations of Adecco India, Sify, and ABC Consultants to note among others. During his 14 years of leadership at Adecco India as the Managing Director and CEO, he drove the business to become the first HR services provider in India to cross the 100,000 marks in temporary staffing.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

Industrial automation is expected to increase multifold with the deployment of the 5G spectrum in India

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he 5th Generation technology in cellular networks, commonly referred to as the 5G network, is the next big thing in telecom and IoT. The technology is on the verge of becoming a reality in India, with leading telecom players commencing tests on the spectrum. With the official rollout, India will become a part of an exclusive club of countries where 5G has been launched, including the UK, USA, and Canada.

The 5G rollout will forever change how we regard the internet and directly impact job creation in the telecom sector. It will also have a massive impact on how we work, interact with each other, travel, and more.

Healthcare, agriculture, logistics, manufacturing, and automotive will change rapidly, as the 5G allows quicker adoption of several other technologies. This will have a direct impact on job creation across all these sectors. However, the skills

required from the future workforce will be vastly different from what is in demand today.

5G as a change-catalyst across sectors India currently ranks 130 on mobile internet speeds, as per Ookla Speed Tests, on the 4G spectrum, with an average download speed of 12.81 Mbps and upload speeds of 4.79 Mbps.

The recent 5G spectrum trials by a leading telecom player clocked speeds of 1 Gbps. The implications of the availability of such speed are massive across all sectors. The pace of adoption of new technologies will ramp up rapidly, creating new jobs.

However, we need to ask ourselves if the future workforce is equipped with the right skills to participate in this growth opportunity.

Currently, skills in cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Big Data, etc., are in high demand. These will continue to grow in the

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118 future; however, further segregations will happen in each sector, leading to more specialised skill sets.

For instance, the Indian agriculture sector is expected to deploy more technologies in the field. Drone operators and remote pilots will be in demand as network-controlled technology replaces manually performed tasks like sowing, watering, and reaping crops.

There will also be a high demand for Precision Agriculture Software Developers and advanced blue-collar occupations such as Field Sensor Technicians.

Blockchain technologies could also be deployed in agriculture, ensuring more robust and secure supply chains.

Industrial automation is expected to increase multifold with the deployment of the 5G spectrum in India. These are expected to create new jobs in Digital Manufacturing Platform Development, Robotics Maintenance, Mobile Logistics, and Autonomous Vehicle Maintenance.

These jobs require a workforce that is skilled to use these technologies and also adapt to further changes. This requires a realignment in the way we approach skill development and training.

5G in the Education sector India, with over 250 million students, represents one of the largest education sectors in the world. Over 25% of the population is between the age group of 05 and 14 years, requiring a robust education system to prepare the future workforce.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

The Government of India has implemented various schemes to ensure students are equipped with the right skills for the future. However, the pandemic was a disruptor in education. Several millions of students across age groups moved to online learning. The pandemic also exposed unequal access to technology and the necessary infrastructure to impart knowledge.

‘Virtual’ classes have become the norm today.

Thus far, this format was primarily restricted by ‘learning-by-choice’ and not in primary and secondary education. However, the pandemic requires a shift in thinking and approach, and people across the country have realised the advantages of virtual schools.

India has become the second-largest market for e-learning, after the US. According to a RedSeer and Omidyar Network India survey, the online education industry for students in grades 1 through 12 is expected to grow 6.3 times in the next year, to $1.7 billion.

However, to ensure equal access to all, robust connectivity is essential - across every corner of the country. 5G in the education sector has the potential to open up new avenues of learning and engagement.

The education industry is one of the fastestgrowing domains of IoT (Internet of Things) applications, with a great potential to improve today’s teaching, learning and campus operations.

With the deployment of 5G services, e-learning, advanced technology, and computer facilities will be more widely adopted by institutions globally.

Smart classrooms will provide better learning tools and have better results, making the education system more effective and valuable. This will be possible with the availability of faster internet connectivity that 5G is expected to offer.

Good connectivity is required for an educational institution to make the most out of Augmented Reality (AR) & Virtual Reality (VR). When using AR and VR, 4G internet is known to lag, which might negatively impact students’ learning experiences. Educators can use virtual reality (VR) to allow students to have a more engaging and immersive experience.

Students will enjoy a more seamless learning experience if 5G technology is used instead of 4G technology. Students benefit from AR learning because it reduces the time required to learn complex concepts. Teachers’ and students’ interactions with each other and their resources may be altered due to

next-generation network power. AR, similar to VR, can boost creativity, involvement, and engagement in learning methods.

Primary and secondary schooling in rural areas will see a massive improvement with better connectivity. With its incredible speed – 5G will considerably improve the quality of education by allowing for rapid interactivity and connectivity with multiple devices. Students in rural areas would be able to participate during classes in real-time.

The connectivity will also open up opportunities for connecting the students with top facilitators in the education system. The connectivity will also enable students to opt for higher education through online courses and help them land decent jobs and build a better life for themselves. This will eventually lead to faster socio-economic growth.

Application of 5G in higher education will allow students to learn how to use advanced technologies and innovate and create with them, helping students as they step into the working world. It will help students develop critical thinking skills and collaborate more effectively. Regardless of distance or location, 5G empowers students to access the same information and exercises as their fellow students and learn at their own pace without losing out on anything.

The shift to virtual schooling will also create more job opportunities, with high talent demand for Online/Tele Student Help Desks, Cloud Architecture, and Advanced Learning Analytics. The broad implementation of AR and VR technologies in educational institutions will require appropriate skills for implementation. Teachers will also need to upskill to use these technologies effectively.

Conclusion The 5G rollout services will result in large-scale infrastructure investments from government and private sectors to connect rural areas with high-speed internet networks. This will open a new door full of opportunities and faster adoption of ‘Digital India’.

The preparation to participate in this movement has already begun and needs to amplify further to take full advantage of the benefits. 5G will also have a significant role in bridging the skill gap among students, teachers, and working professionals. Higher education courses need to be designed so that students will acquire the required knowledge and skills to take on the job opportunities that will be available in the near future in a digitally dominated world.

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ACADEMIC VIEW

THE FUTURE STATUS OF LEARNING CANNOT BE STATUS QUO IN 2021 Shweta Sastri, Managing Director, Canadian International School, Bangalore

120 Shweta Sastri is the Managing Director of Canadian International School, Bangalore (CIS) – a Sterling Developers group venture. Shweta joined CIS in 2006 to further accelerate academic and fiscal performance, leading to significant infrastructural expansion and multiple awards including CIS being ranked amongst the top 3 international schools in the country. Shweta primarily focuses on visioning and performance across all aspects of the school. Her expertise lies in education management, finance, strategy, leadership, and governance. Shweta plays a significant role in driving CIS’ strategic plan, which guarantees that the educational programmes and the quality of teaching and learning, meet the needs and standards of the school community.

Higher Education Digest September 2021

Wouldn’t a set of guidelines, a framework for opening, that schools could apply to their specific and unique physical space and student population be more effective?

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hile the second wave of Covid-19 is quickly receding, and a new school year for students around India has begun, we need to take stock of the status of learning in our country. The majority of students in India have now been out of school for nearly 16 months and the future is still quite uncertain. India needs to ensure that the education of our next generation of students, in a format that is based on science, is a state and national priority. Our students and their schools, all 330 million of them across India, from aided to unaided schools, national to international curriculum, have just had to blindly follow guidelines, decrees, and demands over this past one and half year, without any voice in how these health restrictions are implemented or understood at a local level.

Being online has caused anxiety for all students. Parents share in these anxieties as they

have been pressured like never before to support their children’s education. Teachers and school leaders work longer hours online, sometimes for a lesser salary and with no foreseeable end in sight.

The social and emotional impact of this past year on our students has been profound and policy makers and educators need to prioritize person to person learning in 2021 and beyond.

This year, board exams were again cancelled for Grades 10 to 12. While exams are an important feature to the Indian education system, they are not more important than learning itself! The vast majority of students were not able to access campus and face to face learning because of blanket decisions that allowed only the board exam grade levels to return to school, or only older children, grade 6 or 8 and up.

Current research on infection rates continues to show younger children are at a lower risk in terms of contracting Covid-19, with those who do test

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positive having asymptomatic or mild cases and they are less likely to spread it to others. We need to follow the scientific research which continues to show that younger children are at a lower risk for infection and transmission and allow them to return to campus as well. Teachers and school staff should be prioritized as front line workers for vaccination, in order to ensure the safety of students, who are not yet eligible for vaccination. Grade level opening decisions should not be based solely on exams and definitely not on fear.

As a nation, we need to prioritize student needs and follow other nations worldwide who have realized the importance of reopening schools for their entire student population. Tens of thousands of students in Karnataka alone, have gone without their midday meals due to closure of schools. It is estimated that 56 lakh students in Karnataka rely on this vital daily meal. There are many differences between India’s situation and other countries that have reopened schools, however, if we continue to reopen industry and business, restaurants and bars, why can’t schools also reopen? If parents and caregivers are moving about to shop, watch a movie, or attend a function, aren’t they putting their children at a higher risk than attending school?

India is famous for Jugaad, and we need to look at alternatives to the blanket policies which include or exclude vast swaths of students from on campus learning. Allowing more localized decision making within a set of overarching guidelines will allow those schools that can reopen safely, to do so. Schools can slowly and methodically bring students back for half days, then full days as students learn how to socially

Higher Education Digest September 2021

distance (yes they need to be taught these things as it is not natural); wear masks properly at all times, and adopt regular hand washing habits while at school. Increasing access to digital devices for all students is not a viable long term solution. Students of all ages need to be back in school for their growth in all developmental areas.

Earlier this year, when greenlighted, schools took different approaches to reopening. Starting with two grade levels at a time for half days may be a safer option as it reduces the number of students on campuses at a given time. Half days avoid the most highly contagious times, eating with others, to start; with students leaving for home just before lunch time.

Using a staggered approach with 2-3 grades at a time alternating half day classes on Thursdays and Fridays with Mondays to Wednesdays online for full days would give students the learning time needed on campus, while also ensuring their health and safety needs are assured.

Those students who opt to learn at home for all five days can remain online and use the two half days to work asynchronously in the afternoons- socialize in schoolcreated online events and other safe community building activities. These measures can be adapted as needed to meet the needs of schools both in urban and rural areas of Karnataka.

In short, we must use known health and safety guidelines to create a safe space for students and adults to interact within. Rather than succumb to one-size-fitsall directives for what all schools should do. Wouldn’t a set of guidelines, a framework for opening, that schools could apply to their specific and unique physical space and student population be more effective?

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