Higher Education Digest - Campus Placements Special by Connecta Innovation

Higher Education Digest April 2019

May 2019

Vol - 1 Issue - 2

Campus Placement Special (India Edition) Chief Editor

Dr. Kuldeep Nagi

Managing Editor Sarath Shyam

Consultant Editors

Dr. Manoj Varghese Anjana K Rose M

Jessica Jo Stanly Lui Emma James

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Art and Design Ajay K Das

Sales & Marketing Rahul Visakh Prathyoosh K Shaji

Abinas Patnaik Bhavani Gowda

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Higher Education Digest March 2019

CHIEF EDITOR’S NOTE

Employability: India’s Big Challenge?

n a developing country like India, where an estimated 1.2 crore to 1.6 crore people come into the workforce each year, the need of the hour is a massive spurt in job creation. However, the country’s unemployment rate stood at a 45-yearhigh of 6.1 per cent in 2017-18, according to the National Sample Survey Office’s (NSSO’s) Periodic Labor Force Survey (PLFS). Unemployment is particularly high among people between 15 and 29 years - in urban India, 18.7% of men and 27.2% of women in this age group are looking for jobs, while in rural India, its 17.4% and 13.6% respectively. This growing unemployment rate is only a one side of the coin. The country also faces a huge challenge, when it comes to preparing graduates who are employable. Although, India has been performing well in terms of creating capacity by establishing more educational institutions, but the quality of education does not look satisfactory, especially in professional

programs, such as, engineering and management. If the industry reports are anything to go by, about 53% of those coming out of India’s higher educational institutions are not employable. The reports also indicate that only 5.4% of India’s workforce has undergone skill training compared to 75% in Germany and 96% in South Korea. Now, it is high time for the country to find a solution for mitigating its employment and employability issues. Well, the answer to unemployment largely lies in the hands for policy makers. Employability can only be enhanced by collaborating with other public and private sector entities. In this edition of the Higher Education Digest, we have identified ‘25 Must Watch Colleges in India for Campus Placements,’ which are producing brilliant graduates who can contribute greatly to the growth of Indian economy. We believe that our efforts will help the young Indians who are in search of employment opportunities. Happy Reading.

Dr. Kuldeep Nagi

Higher Education Digest May 2019

ADVISORY BOARD Assoc. Prof. Dr.Varughese K.John, PhD, MBA, MPhil, MCom, LLB. Researcher and Data Analyst in Social Science

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

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

Mr. Amulya Sah, PGD PM & IR, PG Diploma in PM&IR (XISS Ranchi) Senior Director HR. Head HR group Samsung R&D Institute India,Transformative HR Leader, Change agent, Digitization facilitator, Engagement architect, Trainer and Diversity champion.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

Asst. Prof. Dr.Suramya Mathai, Ph.D,M.Ed,MA,BA. Dr. Manoj Varghese, Ph.D, MS, MBA, BE. Senior Technology, Education Technology & Innovation leader, EdTech & STEM Researcher and Traveler

Teachers Training Expert, Writer, Author, Speaker & Social Worker

Higher Education Digest May 2019

MANAGING EDITOR’S NOTE

Everyone Deserves Freedom of Choice

B 8

y the time I finish writing this editorial, at least two students would have committed suicide somewhere in the corner of the country and I really hope it does not happen. But the truth is, every 55 minutes, a student commits suicide in India. According to last year’s data, which was sent to the Ministry of Home affairs by all Indian states and union territories, over 26, 000 students committed suicide from 2014 to 2018. The recent death of almost 20 students in Telangana, after the Board of Intermediate Education announced their exam scores, is one of the many tragic examples in front of us. Exam failure is not the only reason behind students taking this extreme step. Pressure to secure a seat in top institutions, poor career choices and not expressing their real concern with elders are other causes that trigger student suicides. Now, if these facts and numbers do make us ponder whether we really allow our children to do what they really want to do in the life, then nothing will make it happen.

In fact, many parents across all income groups are still petrified about letting their child do anything less than engineering or other conventional courses. A ray of the hope in this situation is the gaining acceptability for education intuitions that have adopted slightly unconventional methodologies of teaching. Ashoka University located in Haryana, for instance, does not expect the students to declare their Major until the middle of the second year. This gives students plenty of time to try out various possibilities, to pursue extra-curricular and co-curricular interests, to discover new passions, and perhaps to change the trajectory of their lives. In this issue, we have identified many such campuses across the country and listed them as ‘25 Must Watch Colleges in India for Campus Placements.’ These colleges have not only challenged the conservative philosophies of education, but also have created extra-ordinary results. India needs many more establishments like them. Enjoy Reading.

Sarath Shyam

Higher Education Digest May 2019

C O N T E N T S Cover Story

Ashoka University

Stimulating a

Liberal Impulse

Higher Education Digest May 2019

MENTOR’S MANTRA

COUNSELLOR’S TAKE

ACADEMIC VIEW

14 - 18

20 - 23

62 - 64

Explore the Possibilities of Industry 4.0

How to Make a Career in Career Counselling?

Yet Another Milestone

Dr. Abhijit Gangopadhyay, Dean, Aegis School of Business, Data Science, Cyber Security and Telecommunication

Prateek Bhargava, CEO, Mindler

Parveen Shaikh, Principal, The Somaiya School

INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

34 50

34 - 36 Youth Needs More Guidance in the Current Education Scenario Ritu Grover, Founder and CEO, TGF Lifestyle Service

50 - 54 Everything You Need to Know Before Stepping into the Art of Game Development Manvendra Shukul, CEO, Lakshya Digital

78 - 80 What’s Next in Education? Abhilash Joseph,

Higher Education Digest May 2019

BOOK REVIEW

MUST WATCH CAMPUSES IN INDIA FOR

CAMPUS PLACEMENTS

44 - 48

86 Man’s Search for Meaning: A Life-Changing Read by Viktor E. Frankl

DEVIPRASAD GOENKA MANAGEMENT COLLEGE OF MEDIA STUDIES

Facilitating the Rise of New Age Media

56 - 59 INDRAPRASTHA COLLEGE FOR WOMEN

Carrying the Legacy of Making Influential Women Leaders

56 12

66 - 71 MANIPAL COLLEGE OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES

The Global Face of India’s Pharmaceutical Studies

72 - 76 PEARL ACADEMY

Where Creativity Thrives

82 - 85 RV COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE

Higher Education Digest May 2019

Constructing Architectural Curiosity at All Scales

Higher Education Digest May 2019

MENTORâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S MANTRA

Explore the

Possibilities of Industry 4.0 Dr. Abhijit Gangopadhyay, Dean, Aegis School of Business, Data Science, Cyber Security and Telecommunication

Dr. Gangopadhyay has over four decades experience and has been maturing Indian education system. The most reputed Professor in India for Human Resource and Organizational Behaviour, he was the Founding Dean of Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) Indore. Former Dean & Professor at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai (TISS) and Former Professor at XLRI, he has served as a Director, Central Labour Institute, Ministry of Labour, Govt. of India. Prof. Gangopadhyay is expert in behavioral Science and served National Police Academy and Defence Research and Development (DRDO), Ministry of Defence. Dr. Gangopadhyay has worked as the National expert with International Labour Organization (ILO) and Asian Productivity Organization (APO), Tokyo.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

lso known as the fourth industrial revolution, Industry 4.0 defines the emerging trend of leveraging automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies. The term was introduced by a group of business, academic and political representatives from Germany who created an initiative aimed at improving the manufacturing industryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s competitiveness, as per the German high-tech 2020 strategy. According to their recommendations, industrial manufacturing processes require fundamental improvements to accommodate cyber-physical systems, made up of smart machines, production facilities, and storage systems, that can autonomously trigger actions, exchange information, and control each other independently. Today, Industry 4.0 largely encapsulates four primary components: Cyber-Physical Systems, The Internet of Things, The Internet of Services, and Smart Factory. Not only do these components offer incredible potential for the future, but they are also expected to play a significant role in completely transforming every aspect of modern society, as we know it. Thus, it is imperative that industry leaders and academicians invest in enhancing their capabilities, understanding, and practical knowledge of this futuristic segment, in order to leverage its potential and achieve success.

Possibilities and Challenges Industrial Revolution 4.0 is all set to revolutionize the world, and the education sector is expected to experience its influence in a major way. With modern-day technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and others playing a major role in this transformation, it is critical for the education industry to be well-equipped to welcome and adapt to this dawn of a new era. With the arrival of Industrial Revolution 4.0, it is possible for the technologies powered by AI to supersede everything else, as they are capable of completely transforming the present world, or the third industrial revolution, where the key driver was information technology. In the context of the future, the skills required will include critical thinking, people management, emotional intelligence, critical judgement, negotiation, and cognitive flexibility, as well as knowledge production and management. Currently, however, institutes engaged in imparting skills for industry 4.0 suffer from the lack of competencies of the required appreciation of cognitive thinking, along with

Industrial Revolution 4.0 is all set to revolutionize the world, and the education sector is expected to experience its influence in a major way.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

poor analytical reasoning and quantitative ability. Thus, these institutes need to address issues concerning the development of skill-gap update for adoption of IT enabled technology for smart industrial set up. A combination of cyber-physical systems, the Internet of Things, and the Internet of Systems, makes Industry 4.0 possible, and the smart factory a reality. With the support of smart machines that keep getting smarter as they get access to more data, our factories will become more efficient and productive, as well as less wasteful. Ultimately, it is the network of these machines which are digitally connected with one another and create and share information, which signifies in the true power of Industry 4.0. Having a 100% digital education is not an all-inclusive solution, nor should it be the only method of teaching in use. However, benefitting from ‘hybrid education’ can only happen if the digital skills of teachers are encouraged and implemented through experimental collaborations and partnerships with tech industries. With a spike in educational technology solutions, professionals can help transform school environments into hybrid learning communities, where teachers can truly embrace innovations, become digitally literate, and assume their role as facilitators.

Making Students Ready for the Industry 4.0 In recent years, careers in artificial intelligence (AI)has seen an increased growth, to meet the demands of the industries which have transformed digitally. However, while there exist plenty of jobs in artificial intelligence, there’s also a significant shortage of top tech talent with the necessary skills. According to the job website Indeed, the demand for AI skills has more than doubled over the past three years, and the number of job postings is up by 119 %. However, job-seeker interest in artificial intelligence careers seems to have levelled off. This states that employers are going to

Higher Education Digest May 2019

continue their struggle to fill these positions for many years. Currently, you have a huge number of students pursuing their educational courses. Eventually, these students will become the employers, employees, professionals, educators, and caretakers of our planet in the 21st century. Thus, we need to consider how we can help prepare them for such roles, beyond just the mastery of standards. It falls upon us to ensure that these individuals are equipped with a dynamic range of skill sets that will help them take on such challenges and opportunities that we can’t yet even imagine, yet. Therefore, the following are six pertinent tips to guide you in preparing your students for what they’re likely to face, in the years and decades to come. 1. Students of today need new skills for the coming century, which will help make them ready to collaborate with others on a global level. 2. New information is constantly being discovered and disseminated at a phenomenal rate. It is predicted that currently, 50 percent of students are memorising information that will no longer be accurate or complete in near future. These students need to know how to discover new and accurate information and use critical analysis for assessing its veracity or bias, along with the current or potential uses of such information. 3. There is an urgent need for collaboration within a global community, as job applicants of the future will be evaluated on their ability for communication with, openness to, and tolerance for unfamiliar cultures and ideas. 4. All children are born with a mind that wants to learn and grow. But each of them is born with different strengths – and they all grow best by leveraging exactly those strengths. Therefore, it’s important to remember that one size does not fit all, in assessment and instruction. 5. New “learning” does not become permanent memory unless there is repeated

Dr. Abhijit Gangopadhyay

A combination of cyber-physical systems, the Internet of Things, and the Internet of Systems, makes Industry 4.0 possible, and the smart factory a reality

Higher Education Digest May 2019

Five years from now, 35% of the skills (One third) that are considered important in today’s workforce will have changed.

stimulation of the new memory circuits in the brain pathways. For more efficient information transmission, the aspect of neuroplasticity where neural networks are the most stimulated, tend to develop more dendrites, synapses, and thicker myelin. 6. Students can adjust their own brains and intelligence through neuroplasticity which helps build their resilience and willingness to endure through the challenges that they will face.

In the future, the education sector will encompass five distinct categories: physical and manual, basic cognitive, higher cognitive, social and emotional, and technological. Workers use these capabilities across a wide field of jobs. Be it manual or physical skills, tasks that could be performed by relatively unskilled labour, for example assembly line workers, drivers also skilled workers, including craftspeople, nurses and electricians.

Jobs in Future

There is currently a huge skills gap in manufacturing, which means that there aren’t enough qualified workers to fill all the open positions. Essentially speaking, there are several high-paying jobs for the taking, but employers are struggling to find qualified candidates to fill them. So, by exposing students to Industry 4.0 at a young age, educators are setting them up for professional opportunity and success. Additionally, even if students don’t believe that they’re interested in the manufacturing domain, it’s also possible that they have a slighted view of what manufacturing of the future truly entails. This makes it essential for them to receive guidance, insights, and practical, on-ground exposure to emerging technologies, to leverage their analytical skills to identify the potential that they offer. (As told the Editor)

Five years from now, 35% of the skills (One third) that are considered important in today’s workforce will have changed. The Fourth Industrial Revolution by 2020 will have introduced autonomous transport, advanced robotics, advanced materials, genomics and biotechnology. These developments will transform the very way we live and work. Some jobs will disappear, while others will grow, and jobs that don’t even exist today will become commonplace. However, it is certain that the future workforce will need to align its skillset to keep up. These skills include complex problem solving and critical thinking abilities, creativity, people management, emotional intelligence, cognitive flexibility coordinating with other, judgement and decision making, service orientation and negotiation.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

Advice to the Learners

Higher Education Digest May 2019

COUNSELLORâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S TAKE

How to Make a Career in

Career Counselling?

Prateek Bhargava, CEO, Mindler

Higher Education Digest May 2019

Prateek makes everything tick at MINDLER. Double MBA from ISB Hyderabad & MDI Gurgaon, his brilliant track record includes strategy consulting, corporate strategy and education advisory with organizations like Accenture Strategy & Maruti Suzuki. Having cracked the CAT, GMAT, CLAT and many more competitive exams, he is an amazing mentor to get the secret recipe to reach your dream college. He dreams to replicate the mentoring experience he received throughout his academic & professional journey for millions of students across the country. In an exclusive interaction with the Higher Education Digest, Prateek talks about the Indian career counselling sector and gives a few tips to the job aspirants.

What is the current scenario in the career counselling space in India?

India is currently a counsellingdeficit education sector with very few professional and certified counsellors for the huge student population

At present there is a huge gap in the way career decisions are made in India; there is a lot of confusion and lack of awareness. Even if there are counsellors, they are limited, so it is impossible to reach millions of students we believe that the answer is technology, which can improve the status of career counseling in India. For instance, here at Mindler, we cater to students from class 8 to 12 and provide each student with an individual assessment and oneon-one counseling. The experts on the platform track the studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s journey through monthly and quarterly interventions to undertake necessary course corrections. And all this is done seamlessly through our proprietary Internet platform.

What is the most challenging aspect of being a career counsellor in India? A key challenge is that India is currently a counsellingdeficit education sector with very few professional and certified counsellors for the huge student population. This puts a lot of pressure on the few qualified career counsellors. Secondly, students are influenced by family and peers and often make choices under their influence, thus for a career counsellor to make them understand what works for them individually is sometimes difficult. Getting parents aligned with those choices can also be challenging many a time. Other than that, more than a challenge, career counselling is a huge responsibility as it has the potential to impact a studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s earning potential and happiness quotient.

What are the key skills required to be a career counsellor? How can someone become career counsellor? In the first instance every career counselor is a job evangelist and his or her role is to direct students to their best destinies. It is a role of an educator, a friend, a mentor and an umpire. The important key skills required to be a career counsellor includes a full knowledge of career options, current opportunities in the job markets, academic and pedagogic systems and a general understanding of human and child psychology.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

Prateek Bhargava

Career counselling is a huge responsibility as it has the potential to impact a studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s earning potential and happiness quotient

Higher Education Digest May 2019

To become a career counselor, you need a Bachelor’s in any field and then for your Masters, you need to get a degree in Counselling with an emphasis in Career Counseling. If a student already has a master’s degree, he or she may be able to enroll in a graduate certificate program in career counseling. And then all you need is some practical experience and field knowledge.

How can career counsellors become the bridge between job and job seekers? If you see it in the correct, long-term perspective, career counsellors are the de facto bridge between job and job seekers already. They monitor and mentor students to pick a career that fits their personality, their interests, aptitude and expectations of work life. They promote best-fit options for higher post-job satisfaction levels among the work force leading to fewer mid-way quitting and a better more fulfilled work force.

What are the career opportunities available for students who completed UG? What would you suggest after UG, a job or higher studies? After completion of UG, there are plenty of options that a student has, depending upon the interest and choice of the student. Choosing between higher studies and job after your UG is purely a personal choice with lots of factors playing a role. If a student wants to maintain the flow of studying and has a strong financial background then they should go for higher studies. Masters degree in any field will be beneficial for their future career, and job advancements etc. Getting a masters degree immediately or

very soon after graduation will be easier than leaving the job and again pursuing higher education. Once you are in a job, you tend to lose the motivation to study and it really becomes difficult, especially if you have to appear for an entrance exam for higher education. On the other hand, working a few jobs will give students hands-on experience in the field of their interest. This will give him or her a chance to edit their expectations and hone their interests. It’ll also give them a chance to see whether they even like the career trajectory they have chosen so far. Most grad programs (particularly masters programs) see work experience as more a positive, particularly if it’s related to the degree program. So, there is a lot going for it too.

How to choose the right course and right college? What is your advice to the students?

Be it for Bachelor’s or Masters, the main question is always that which course to opt for and from which college. Selecting a course and college has always been a difficult task to perform as you have to pick the best one from the choices available and it is important to get it right, as it can impact a student’s future success. At Mindler, we use a machine learning platform to help students choose the career path best suited to them. We evaluate each student at different levels which includes assessments for personality, emotional intelligence, orientation style, aptitude, passion and creativity among others and this results in a 40-page report that includes top five career choices. The five can be further reduced to two or one depending upon the one-on-one counseling sessions.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

COVER STORY 24

ASHOKA UNIVERSITY By Sarath Shyam

Located in Sonipat, Haryana, Ashoka University is a private, non-profit university focusing on multidisciplinary liberal education, which is usually defined as one that transcends the boundaries between the arts and sciences. Ashoka University has more than 1400 students on campus, drawn from over 28 states and 98 cities in India as well as 17 other countries, enjoying a world-class interdisciplinary education through undergraduate and post-graduate programmes led by internationally renowned faculty members.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

MUST WATCH CAMPUSES IN INDIA FOR

CAMPUS PLACEMENTS

STIMULATING A

LIBERAL

IMPULSE 25

Higher Education Digest May 2019

“N 26

ever again,” said Sandeep Sen after completing his Bachelor’s in Humanities from a prestigious private university in Bangalore. Sandeep had decided that he will not sit in a classroom again to acquire the socalled skills that require to survive in this dynamic world. He says, “College life was fun, but the experience of education was not. I never thought that I would ever become a part of education system again.” An alumnus of Ashoka University’s Young India Fellowship 2017 – 18, Sandeep now works as a Writing Mentor for MBA students at The Vedica Scholars Programme for Women, New Delhi. On weekends, he travels to Noida for teaching school kids the nuance of storytelling and English grammar. “I did not know that I will become a teacher and I really enjoy this profession now. This is what makes Ashoka University’s Young India Fellowship (YIF) a unique programme. It will teach you a few things that you do not know about yourself,” shares Sandeep. Interestingly, the education system has somehow followed Sandeep throughout his life, despite his dislikes to it. Immediately after his undergraduate studies, Sandeep started working for a media organization in Bangalore, where he became the Managing Editor of a magazine that focused on the higher education sector. Sandeep recounts,

Higher Education Digest May 2019

“I wanted to be a writer. But I did not know what to write. In a broader sense, after working in the media industry for a couple of years, I became clueless about what to do with my life. Deciding to join YIF was literally an experiment.” Started in a rented building in Delhi and later moved to Ashoka University’s own campus in Sonipat district of Haryana, YIF has been a life changing experience for many. A one-year multidisciplinary postgraduate diploma programme in Liberal Studies, the Fellowship brings together a group of 300 bright young individuals who show exceptional intellectual ability and leadership potential from across the country, and trains them to become socially committed agents of change. “YIF will make you more empathetic over time. One of my take away from the YIF is the ability to employ different lenses to view a problem. Before joining YIF, I had a very myopic view of the society,” says Sandeep. Diversity has perhaps been one of the biggest selling points of the Ashoka University’s YIF programme. From engineering to fashion design, film to agriculture, medicine to art, and law to journalism, this cross flow of ideas and learning from others is as invaluable as the more formal education they have received thus far. As a result, the number of applicants for the Fellowship has been increasing consistently every year and the

Priyank Narayan, Director - Centre for Entrepreneurship Priyank is a seasoned entrepreneur and an educationist who brings with him rich experience in organization building. He is the Founder of IndiaPreneurship, an organization focused on showcasing entrepreneurial opportunities in India to the world. He also mentors several startups based in India and abroad. Priyank is a visiting faculty at IIT Delhi, Department of Management Studies. An alumnus of AIM, Manila and IIM Ahmedabad, Priyank is an avid golfer and a licensed scuba diver. He is also trained in Indian classical music.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

Ashoka University campus not only provides worldclass facilities for the students and faculty members, but also encourages adequate out-of-class discussions and meetings, thereby increasing the vibrancy of campus life.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

candidates must undergo a rigorous and nationwide selection process. “YIF will not change an individual’s aspirations. If you have come from a corporate environment and you want to go back there after finishing YIF, you can still do that. But, at the end of the course, you may also think about making your skills useful to the society,” explains Sandeep.

Where Freedom is not Just a Word The purpose of a liberal education is to induct a student, however partially and briefly, into the world of the intellectual. Ashoka University, a dedicated liberal arts institution that aims to reach the standards of rigorous, original research and intellectual liberty of the American Ivy League universities, understands the value of freedom better than any other academic institutions in the country. For instance, unlike most colleges in India, Ashoka University, in sync with providing liberal arts education, does not impose any curfews regarding movement in and out of campus for both male and female students. “Ashoka treats students the way they should be, as adults,” says Sandeep. At Ashoka, students do not worry about judgmental stares and comments if they attend classes in their night dresses and half-sleepy

eyes. While most universities have a rigid attendance policy, apart from foundation courses that allow a few free absences in a semester, almost no other course of Ashoka has any attendance requirement. Also, not all courses have final examinations – some may just require students to write a paper, or the evaluation may be based on class participation. “Academic freedom is one of the best aspects of Ashoka University. If you aren’t satisfied with your major, you also have the provision to make a switch,” adds Sandeep. To graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Ashoka University, students must pass courses that are broadly divided into three categories – Foundation Courses, Major Courses (including Interdisciplinary Majors) and Co-Curricular Courses. Each course carries credit points, and in order to earn their degree at the end of three years, students need to have accumulated a minimum of 100 credit points. At present, the University offers Majors in 11 subjects and Interdisciplinary Majors in a further 9 subjects, thereby offering students a total of 20 options to major in. They can also pick Minors from among 18 programmes on offer. Interestingly, students are not expected to declare their Major until the middle of the second year. This is to ensure that they get plenty of time to try out

The Centre for Entrepreneurship is the creative hub at Ashoka University that nurtures the entrepreneurial endeavours of all students, fellows, faculty and founders alike.

various possibilities, to pursue extra-curricular and co-curricular interests, to discover new passions, and perhaps to change the trajectory of their lives. Established with an objective to become the global face of Indian liberal arts education, Ashoka University has partnered with several well-known universities from across the world. Kingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s College, University of California, Berkeley, Carleton College, Sciences Po, Trinity College, Yale University and the University of Michigan are few to name among them. Apart from the service of visiting faculty from these universities who come to teach at Ashoka University for one to two semesters, the tie-up also gives students at Ashoka the opportunity of spending a summer or a semester abroad at these institutions.

Thrust on Holistic Development Ashoka has various centers, which ensure holistic development and

concentrate on non-academic areas. For instance, the Centre for WellBeing aims to ensure the mental wellness of students by conducting workshops about mental health and offers counselling. The Centre for Sexuality and Gender Studies organizes regular events about gender and sexuality. The Genpact Centre for Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Leadership (GCWL) is a firstof-its-kind industry academia partnership between Genpact and Ashoka. GCWL combines the power of academic research with best practices from industry, to empower women through research and advocacy, training programmes and supportive infrastructure to become leaders who drive gender inclusive growth. Similarly, the Ashoka Trivedi Centre for Political Data aims at promoting datadriven research, policy work and journalism by providing open access to scientifically collected and treated political data and offers data services to non-profit organizations.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

The Student Commons is an expanse at Ashoka that has been carefully thought out in terms of placement, design and interiors, to allow for the various intellectually and creatively stimulating activities that students can pursue in their learning outside the classroom.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

The University also has a Centre for Entrepreneurship which hosts programs like Entrepreneurs in Residence and has given birth to many successful startups on campus. Entrepreneurship is also offered as a course at Ashoka, which can either be pursued as a minor or with an interdisciplinary major in computer science. Priyank Narayan, Director of Centre for Entrepreneurship, Ashoka University, says, “At the Centre for Entrepreneurship, we teach specialist courses that are designed to answer the needs and realities of the new career. We enable them with the skills to be able to assess situations and come up with creative solutions. That is a way established mindsets are also being changed.” Recently, the Centre for Entrepreneurship hosted the inaugural edition of the Ashoka Pillar Award, to select and award young talent for their innovative solutions to tackle the worsening air quality. The six finalists made presentations on ideas that included ways to reduce the concentration of a particular matter and other pollutants, provide affordable, eco-friendly alternative to expensive traditional harvesters, prevent stubble burning and more. Be it in Entrepreneurship, Higher Education, Employability or Sports, students of Ashoka University have enjoyed success in all areas of their interest. “Many alumni have gone on for further studies to premier global research universities like University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Harvard University, Princeton University, Stanford University and Yale University, and been awarded prestigious scholarships, such as the Chevening, Commonwealth,” claims Priyank. The University has also given equal thrust to sports activities inside the campus. Priyank proudly

adds, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our first year UG student, Trisha Mukherjee won the gold medal for the 10-meter Air Rifle at the World University Championship held in Malaysia.â&#x20AC;?

Making Critical Thinkers In both their second and third semester, every student of Ashoka University takes a Critical Thinking Seminar. These elective seminars, which are offered in a range of disciplines and fields of scholarly inquiry, build on the skills that students have acquired in Introduction to Critical Thinking. Students opt for seminars that best suit their academic interests and needs; the seminars offer students an opportunity either to trial a discipline that they may major or minor in, or simply to study a subject that

With an ever-increasing number of clubs and societies, one is sure to find opportunities to explore diverse interests and bond with each other, stimulate minds, hone or discover passions, find a creative outlet or simply have fun.

Ashoka University is dedicated to providing students with plenty of activity outside the classroom.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

fascinates them. “We need space for young people to have an opinion. We encourage students to think out of the box by giving them opportunities which are outside of the academic structure and allow them to express freely,” pinpoints Priyank. At Ashoka University, students are not just trained for a career, but are enabled to become better professionals. “At the university level, we encourage to ask questions. Asking the right question is an important element of being successful in the workplace,” opines Priyank. In fact, the industry is also shifting dramatically. The recruiters are looking for creative hires. Priyank adds, “We offer opportunities for students across the board from multinational consulting to development organizations, depending on the skills and interests of our students. As the jobs churn, new elements come into focus. Every semester, we have more than 100 guest speakers who share their own growth and experiences with our students.” Today, all the graduates of Ashoka University start their careers in a wide variety of organizations, ranging from non-profits to for-profits and from start-ups to

32 Students at Ashoka are encouraged to initiate and participate in a wide range of projects and extra-curricular activities that make the campus a vibrant one.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

Ashoka’s WiFi-enabled classrooms are equipped with a stateof-the-art audio-visual system including projectors, smartboards, recording facilities and so on.

established corporates. The Ashoka alumni can be found at leading multinationals such as BCG, The Gates Foundation, McKinsey, Microsoft, STAR TV, TIME Magazine, and the World Bank. In India, acclaimed organizations like Avenues Capital, Cipla, Genpact, Goonj and Teach for India count Ashoka alumni among their ranks. Talking about the immediate plans for the University, Priyank says, “We are expanding the current campus by another 25 acres. We have also started UG Programmes in Sciences, Masters and PhD Programmes. We are also focusing on enhancing research which is of global standard and peer reviewed at the highest level.” Undoubtedly, Ashoka University happened at a time when India was in dire need of a wellstructured liberal arts education. In fact, many reputed institutions in India, which were started with an objective of providing liberal-artsfocused-professional-degrees in engineering and management, had almost given up the liberal art subjects from its curriculum. Along with that, the country was witnessing a boom in the number of professional colleges offering run-of-the-mill engineering and management degrees to narrow the gap between the supply and demand. In this competition of making employable graduates, it is true that we as a nation forgot to build a generation of liberal thinkers and changemakers for the society we live in. “Ashoka is India’s largest collective philanthropy institution and our founders hail from some of the most successful enterprises. We gain from their knowledge and insight. They contribute intellectually to the idea of Ashoka University,” pinpoints Priyank. The founders of Ashoka University have managed to find a brilliant solution by introducing an effective liberal education in subjects that broaden one’s cultural and historical sensibilities and strengthen one’s critical faculties. However, the success of Ashoka University is not something that cannot be replicated. With a clear vision and a strong governance, the country’s educationalists can follow the suit and make more such universities, which will stimulate a liberal impulse in our society.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

Youth Needs More Guidance in the Current Education Scenario By Ritu Grover, Founder and CEO, TGF Lifestyle Service

Coming from a family of Army background, Grover finished her schooling from Army Public School before graduating from Delhi University and a course in Interior architecture from Delhi. In 1996, Grover started her dream of pioneering the concept of concierge services in India. Believing in her vision and a very fresh idea of Concierge services for the Indian market, Grover in 1988 opened her company, which is now the largest and well-known brand in the facility management Industry, TGH Lifestyle Services Pvt. Ltd. She has bagged many awards as an entrepreneur, Appreciation award by CNBC and AMEX in 2009, Valued Partner Award by Wipro in 2008 and 2009.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

s monotonous as it sounds, we’ll start off with some statistics. Youth in India constitutes one-fifth (19.1%) of India’s total population. This means 19.1% of Indians are between the age 15-24. Moreover, India is expected to have a 34.33% share of youth in the total population by 2020. This should put one fact into perspective - the foremost sector that shoulders the biggest responsibility of shaping the future of our nation is the education sector. It’s not unknown to us that India, though renowned since ancient times for institutions like Nalanda, is presently facing multiple challenges in education. Starting from the grassroot level, students in elementary classes are taught how to rote-learn, how to mug up what’s in the textbook and vomit it out while giving the exam. Having spent considerable time understanding the education scenario in various other countries, one can say that the level and method of education and teaching is evolving continuously abroad. At home, however, we are still stuck with the same bookish material our parents learnt. Presently, education standards of higher education are not on par with the international community in most of the universities of India. There is hardly any practical teaching taking place. This is also a reason why many students prefer going abroad for higher education. Speaking of practical training, there is an increasing gap between education and employability. Many of the industrial persons complained about the quality of students coming from colleges. Mostly, students are lacking in job skills. This can only happen when internships are encouraged in universities here. Sadly, we see several colleges having way too many festivals and events to actually take care of this issue. Internships not only help increase their chances of employability, they also help the student realise if he/she is actually interested in the subject or not. As per recent studies, around 50% of college faculty in our country is working based on contract. In the long term, teaching with contract faculty has serious implications on quality and research. Another issue that we hear a lot about when the admission season is going on is the ‘quota problem.’ In a country like ours, a large number of medical students have to go abroad to study to countries like Philippines or

If the child does have the aptitude for a subject but is pushed into it, it impacts the future of our nation slowly but surely

Higher Education Digest May 2019

36 Ritu Grover

Presently, education standards of higher education are not on par with the international community in most of the universities of India

Higher Education Digest May 2019

Malaysia that offer cheaper medical education because they couldn’t get into AIIMS or any other government college, and a private college is too expensive. If we count the number of seats available for the general category, there are hardly any, and the example was only for medicine alone. Now consider thousands of other professional courses with limited seats. At this point, it is essential to discuss the admission procedure for several universities. Most reputed universities including central ones do not have exhaustive admission procedures - “you want to study Journalism? Got 97% in your board exams being a science student? Doesn’t matter! Welcome to our university!” How does the university know whether the student has the aptitude for the subject he/she wants to study for the foreseeable future? What happened to aptitude tests and interviews? How can one board exam decide the future of a child and the country? This is where the major problem lies - at the grassroot. Let us draw a simple comparison between universities like Harvard and Oxford and say, for instance, Delhi University. It’s easy to spot the difference. Maintaining quality in the education sector largely depends on the skill set of the student. If the child does have the aptitude for a subject but is pushed into it, it impacts the future of our nation slowly but surely. And sadly, thousands of kids are forced to take up streams they have no interest or aptitude in because of parental or peer pressure. Having said that, we need to find a solution. With our PMs vision to make India a superpower, this issue needs to be resolved considering we’re growing exponentially as a nation and our youth is our number one resource.

Way Forward Efforts should be made to help students decide which career is best suited for them, and this means doing more than just psychological analysis tests in schools. It means actually giving them practical exposure. We need to create an enabling environment for research, more stress should be given on practical training and internships, effort should be made to monitor the fee structure of private colleges and increase the seats in government colleges. Only then, will we truly be able to become a superpower holistically.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

MUST WATCH CAMPUSES IN INDIA FOR

CAMPUS PLACEMENTS

Higher Education Digest May 2019

quintessential Indian middle-class family believes that an engineering or a management degree is the end-all, be-all for the students. Unfortunately, the quality of these professional programs in India has not been the greatest in the recent past. For instance, the issue of the inferior engineering education is now widely known. Most of the engineering institutions in India, except IITs and a few premier colleges, are unable to offer the student an effective training that would help them to land on a job of their choice. According to the statistics available, the country has the capacity to offer around 80, 000 seats every year for the engineering programs, which means, around 3.1 lakhs students will be studying engineering at any given point of time if the seats are filled completely. However, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has been closing down a significant number of colleges every year, due to the poor

number of admissions. As per the rules of the council, institutes lacking proper infrastructure and report less than 30 per cent admissions for five consecutive years will have to shut down. The mandate has been following strictly and AICTE has approved the closure of around 450 colleges from 2014 to 2018. Now, it seems like todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s teenage students already know what to do if it is not engineering. In fact, there are so many career options for students beyond engineering and management, which can help them to land on a job of their choice. In this issue, we have come up with â&#x20AC;&#x2122;25 Must Watch Colleges in India for Campus Placement.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; We have deliberately omitted the obvious engineering and management colleges from the list to focus more on the other programs like, Mass Media, Pharmacy, Liberal Arts, Design and so on. We hope that listing such campuses will help the students to make informed decisions on their career choices.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

Institute Name Al-Ameen College of Pharmacy

Specialization

Bengaluru, Karnataka

Pharmacy

Cochin, Kerala

Pharmacy

Delhi

Mass Media

Apeejay Stya University

Gurgaon Haryana

Liberal Arts

Arch College of Design & Business

Jaipur, Rajasthan

Design

Ashoka University

Sonipat, Haryana

Liberal Arts

Asian College of Journalism

Chennai, Tamil Nadu

Mass Media

Birla Institute of Liberal Arts and Management Sciences

Kolkata, West Bengal

Design

CEPT University

Ahmedabad, Gujarat

Architecture

Christ University

Bengaluru, Karnataka

Commerce, Arts, Science

Deviprasad Goenka Management College of Media Studies

Mumbai, Maharashtra

Mass Media

Pune, Maharashtra

Liberal Arts

Mumbai, Maharashtra

Design

Amrita College of Pharmacy Apeejay Institute of Mass Communication

City, State

FLAME University Indian School of Design & Innovation

Higher Education Digest May 2019

MUST WATCH CAMPUSES IN INDIA FOR

CAMPUS PLACEMENTS Institute Name

City, State

Specialization

Delhi

Commerce, Arts, Science

Bengaluru, Karnataka

Design

Mysore, Karnataka

Pharmacy

Delhi

Commerce, Arts, Science

Chennai, Tamil Nadu

Commerce, Arts, Science

Manipal, Karnataka

Pharmacy

Kottayam, Kerala

Mass Media

Delhi-NCR

Design

R.V. College of Architecture

Bengaluru, Karnataka

Architecture

Sir J. J. College of Architecture

Mumbai, Maharashtra

Architecture

St. Xavierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s College

Mumbai, Maharashtra

Commerce, Arts, Science

Gurugram, Haryana

Architecture

Indraprastha College for Women JD Institute of Fashion Technology JSS College of Pharmacy Lady Shri Ram College for Women

Loyola College

Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences Manorama School of Communication Pearl Academy

Sushant School of Art and Architecture

Higher Education Digest May 2019

DEVIPRASAD GOENKA MANAGEMENT COLLEGE OF MEDIA STUDIES

Facilitating the Rise of

New Age Media 44

Higher Education Digest May 2019

MUST WATCH CAMPUSES IN INDIA FOR

CAMPUS PLACEMENTS

Rajasthani Sammelan Education Trust has been in the field of education for the past 68 years, supporting and facilitating learning activity for approximately 15000 students from primary to post-graduation. Deviprasad Goenka Management College of Media Studies (DGMC), one of the important institutions under the ambit of the Trust, works towards creating a level playing field, where students can have access to all the resources that can contribute in developing the ecosystem of the media and entertainment space.

report titled “Fueling India’s Skill Revolution” published by Accenture says that India may have to forgo as much as $1.97 trillion in gross domestic product (GDP) growth promised by investment in intelligent technologies over the next decade if the country fails to bridge the skill gap. Industry raising its concern about the prevailing skill gap in the country is not a prime-time news anymore. Dr. Mukesh Sharma, Dean of Deviprasad Goenka Management College of Media Studies (DGMC) opines, “Good education in India comes with a price tag. Majority of Indians are rural based. They cannot afford to spend on expensive education. So, when they get educated, they are hardly skilled in any sense. According to a survey conducted by the Nasscom, of all the graduates who pass through universities each year, only 26 percent are suitable to seek employment.” As per the government reports published in the public domains, around 119 million additional skilled work forces will be required by 24 sectors such as construction, retail, transportation logistics, automobile and handloom by 2022. Out of this, nearly one million skilled workers will be needed for the Media and Entertainment industry. “Academia and industry are two important columns of a robust economy. A healthy collaboration between the two will enable innovation, growth in the education system and generate an employment-ready workforce,” says Dr. Sharma. While, the corporate companies in the developed countries reach out to academic institutions to innovate their work, Indian industry relies mostly on its own R&D. In order to bridge this gap, DGMC is tying up with media houses to provide them a feeder which is abreast and in tune with the needs of Media & Entertainment sector. “Program design development based on the industry expectations, customer requirements, technology and

Higher Education Digest May 2019

DGMC has Colour Grading Studio to give students the practical realworld training on workflows, basic color theory, grading approaches and techniques.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

value-added essentials is an ongoing activity at DGMC. Our flagship program, PGDM, is designed and developed taking into consideration the changing global scenario, industry essentials as well as regular suggestions from the Board of Studies and Academic Council,” explains Dr. Sharma. DGMC’s Board of Studies is comprised of experts from industry and academia and meets on regular basis. Suggestions of the Board for Studies are taken to next level, the Academic Council. Dr. Sharma adds, “In the Academic Council the program architecture, evaluation and assessment pattern, addition / modification/deletion of courses are discussed. Since the curriculum is evolving, it is possible that the program architecture may undergo change from time to time.” As an institution that prepares young talents for the new age media, DGMC has been very careful and creative in the process of structuring its curricula. “All work and no play make jack a dull boy. The entire

academic calendar of all our courses at DGMC is intersperse with M & E related events, seminars, workshops & industry visits to TV stations, Production houses & Ad agencies. All these visits enrich them with new ideas & learning,” shares Dr. Sharma. Though the college is proud to be associated with several media and Entertainment related activities, the students of DGMC have excelled themselves in intercollegiate theatre activities. This year, the DGMC students won more than 25 awards in various categories of theatre art. “Unlike most of the media colleges, DGMC has a wonderful studio set with ultra-modern post production facilities. Regular Master classes by the film makers are organized,” says Dr. Sharma. DGMC organize an annual media festival called Mumbai Media Champs, which is purely a student driven initiative. Nearly 50 colleges participate in MMC, which gives them a platform to show case their creative talent. Another student driven initiative,

Cinevoyage Film festival, is an annual competitive feature, wherein the students make short films on socially relevant issues to display their strength vis-à-vis understanding of CSR, which can bring about a positive change in the society. Their work is judged by the who’s who of cinema, media stalwarts and people who have created an impact socially and brought about a constructive change in society

Today, most of the DGCM graduates are film makers with a large chunk aspires to be entrepreneurs. “To achieve this, they need to do freelancing work on different projects at a time. This year most of our PGDM students got paid internship as well some of them were full time recruited by the media industry,” states Dr. Sharma. The reputed corporate houses visiting DGMC with offer letters are BBC Studio, Epic Channel, Contiole pictures,

Dr. Mukesh Sharma, Dean of Academics Armed with a Ph.D. degree in Journalism & Mass Communication, and a master’s degree in Broadcast Journalism, Dr. Mukesh Sharma spearheaded the Cinema & Broadcast Industry as administrator, programmer and marketing expert as a Civil

The proximity of the DGMC campus to the hub of film and television production activity makes it a preferred choice among the student community.

Servant for over 30 years. He has produced & directed feature films and numerous TV programmes, live and recorded, and received multiple National Awards. Dr. Mukesh Sharma also conceptualized, produced & directed successful socially empowering Television events for Doordarshan over a period of 17 years. Currently, Dr. Mukesh Sharma is engaged as the Dean of Deviprasad Goenka Management College of Media Studies, Mumbai and Expert Member at the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

The shooting studio in DGMC is a hub of activity where students explore their creative potential, learn and experiment with newer methods of film making.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

Dream Valt Media, Essel Vision production, UBS forums, Victor Tango Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. and Alt Balaji to name a few. Since the Media & Entertainment industry is all about story telling by using different aids of Film, TV and digital mediums, the students of DGCM have the opportunity to become well verse in Cinematography, Editing, Direction, script writing, Sound design, color correction, shooting ads & programs and other facets of media production. The PGDM students of DGCM get well verse in the art of media buying, media selling, media branding, media measuring, and media planning and so on. “We are a young and growing media academy. To ensure that we do not lose out, our paramount endeavour is to provide excellent all-round support to our students and to consolidate our position. It is easier to climb on the top it’s difficult to stay there. Finally, as the Dean (academics) of DGMC, my motto is to work with the students, work for the students and work on the students,” concludes Dr. Sharma.

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Higher Education Digest May 2019

INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

Everything You Need to Know Before Stepping into the

Art of Game Development 50 Manvendra Shukul, CEO, Lakshya Digital Manvendra Shukul is Co-Founder of Lakshya Digital and serves as its CEO. An undisputed gaming guru in India with over 20 years of experience, he has been a pioneer in the Indian video games space. Shukul has developed the first 3D game engine in India and has been responsible for setting up and running one of the largest animation studios of India. He is also a regular speaker at the GDC and NASSCOM events. His process-driven mindset has given Lakshya the huge advantage of SWATÂŽ, a comprehensive workflow application that and its clients together seamlessly. Despite his stern looks, he is a peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s person at heart - a fact amply demonstrated by the fierce loyalty of his team and staff members.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

nitially catering only to a niche population, Gaming is now a main stream phenomenon. The rise in the popularity of gaming is partly due to the increased accessibility that the public has to them. You can download a game onto a smart device at the tap of the screen. The advent of smartphones and high-speed internet has brought gaming into households across the globe and the rise in gaming runs parallel to the rise in smartphone adoption in India. The Global gaming industry which comprises game developers, service providers (outsourcing companies that help with art creation, testing, localization, audio, visual effects and so on), and hardware manufacturers is currently pegged at over $100 billion globally. The industry is growing globally, and India is no exception. The Indian gaming industry is currently valued at over $ 890 million (approximately Rs 6000 cr) and accounts for roughly 1% of the global gaming industry and is poised to become one of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading markets in the gaming sector. India got off to a very slow start in the business of outsourcing of game development and got a foothold barely a decade and a half back, around the same time when Lakshya was formed. However, India has done extremely well since then and inched very close

Higher Education Digest May 2019

52 Manvendra Shukul

The Indian gaming industry is currently valued at over $ 890 million (approximately Rs 6000 cr) and accounts for roughly 1% of the global gaming industry and is poised to become one of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading markets in the gaming sector

Higher Education Digest May 2019

to China, which has been the dominant player in this space. The growth potential of GPO industry is much like the BPO industry in India andowes much to the availability of a large trained talent pool in the country at competitive rates. There are additional reasons like familiarity with the English language, inherent cultural flexibility of Indians and their ability to quickly absorb and engage with people of other cultures and many more. The Indian digital gaming industry is now growing rapidly and has a huge potential can be gauged from the fact that top international studios such as Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Rockstar and Zynga have already set up development centres in India and behemoths like Alibaba backed-Paytm, Tencent, Youzu and Nazara are investing in it.

The Role of Virtual Reality (VR) & Artificial Intelligence (AI In the last few years, gaming industry across the globe has witnessed the rise of AR & VR that has been instrumental in propelling the growth of the industry. Augmented Reality (AR) creates an immersive experience within the gameâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s existing environment. With the runaway success of PokĂŠmon Go in 2016, AR stepped out of the shadows of its betterknown sibling Virtual Reality (VR). A host of companies have now jumped on to the AR gaming bandwagon. While there are already lots of development in the VR area, experts predict newer developments - including the introduction of new VR gaming headsets different from popular breeds such as Oculus Rift and Google daydream - around haptic feedback and cloudbased VR gaming. Augmented and virtual reality are indeed the future of gaming. The Nintendo Wii u and the Xbox Kinect are some examples, primarily focusing on games involving motion control and requiring VR headsets. The ultimate dream for any game developer is to give a unique and realistic experience to every player - to create a game that adapts to the skill level of the player and keeps them engaged without confusing, boring or frustrating them. VR and AR hold the key to a future where gaming reaches that

high a level of experience, responsiveness and depth.

Career Opportunities A wide range of career options have opened by the gaming industry, in disciplines as diverse as Design, Art, Programming, Testing, Project Management and many more. Each discipline requires a distinct skill set and one can opt for a career in any discipline depending upon the skills and interests of the aspirant. Game Art, for example, which involves the creation of 2D and 3D graphics and animations (this includes all the interesting characters, exotic environments, exciting animations and so on that one sees in a game) is well suited for those with an interest and aptitude for visual arts. There are varied job titles in the Game Art discipline, typical ones amongst which are: Artist: This is a starting position and entails hands-on art creation under the supervision of a Lead Artist. Senior Artist: These are experienced artists who have been in field for at least 4 to 5 years and typically are entrusted with the more complex art creation tasks on a project. They are expected to work independently (with minimal supervision or direction) and may sometimes be required to take one or two junior artists under their wings. Lead Artist: They lead teams of artists in specific areas such as Character creation or Environment creation. These are experienced and talented artists with team management capabilities. Art Director: The one who leads the artistic team and is responsible their management. They lay out the artistic vision for a game. This is a senior position that requires not only visualization and artistic ability, but also strong leadership skills. One needs a good understanding of the specialized techniques and processes involved in creation of game art. While artistic ability is a key pre-requisite for a career in Game Art creation, one also needs to be skilled in the use of digital tools like Maya, Max, Photoshop, ZBrush, Substance Designer and so on, and have a basic understanding of how game engines such as Unreal and Unity work, which

Higher Education Digest May 2019

are complex software on which a game is usually made. The most important skills though are a passion for gaming and being a team player!

The Future One of the biggest changes that is likely to take the video games industry by storm like never before is Google Stadia which was announced recently at the GDC, San Francisco. We are looking forward to this Cloud gaming service or video game platform that hopes to deliver instant access to your favourite games on any type of screen — whether it’s a TV, laptop, desktop, tablet or mobile phone. If it is successful, games will be available in resolutions up to 4K and 60 frames per second with HDR and surround sound, you won’t have to purchase an expensive gaming box, and there will be no fear of hacking or pirating. The other development that we have observed and look forward to, is the increasing budgets allocated to

Higher Education Digest May 2019

developing games. The gaming industry is seeing continued growth with potential for much more and thus more and more developers are investing heavily in games. Consequently, the game process outsourcing industry is also witnessing higher investment be it Game Art, Audio, Testing or Localisation.

Advice to the Aspirants Adapt yourself according to the rapid changes in the tools, technology and processes associated with the industry since Change is the biggest challenge faced by job aspirants in any industry today. Invest time and energy (and if required, money) in constantly developing your technical skills. At the same time, ensure your work is relevant to international clients. You can do that by updating yourself with international trends and pop culture. The best artists never stop learning through their lifetime and let’s not forget practise makes a man perfect. (As told to the editor)

Higher Education Digest May 2019

INDRAPRASTHA COLLEGE FOR WOMEN

Carrying the Legacy of Making

Influential Women Leaders Founded as a part of a nationwide campaign for womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s education and empowerment in 1924, Indraprastha College for Women is a constituent college of the University of Delhi and its oldest womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s college. As the College marches towards its centenary, it has added to its academics and infrastructural resources, always mindful of its core vision to empower and mainstream the marginalized.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

MUST WATCH CAMPUSES IN INDIA FOR

CAMPUS PLACEMENTS

n the early 1940s, Gandhiji had launched the ‘Quit India Movement’ demanding an end to British Rule of India. One of the old students of Indraprastha College for Women (IP College), Sucheta Kriplani, who went on to become the first woman chief minister of Independent India, was also at the forefront. The ongoing students of IP Colleges at that point of time were also not less than anybody in India’s fight for freedom. The girls would jump the walls, go to Gandhi Maidan to listen to Gandhiji and Nehru or they would just go on a march to protest the British government. They knew that there would be repercussions and they can also be rusticated from the college, still they continued to participate, calling themselves mini-politicians who would organize meetings in the lawns of the college. The oldest women’s college of the University of Delhi, the 95-year-old IP College has many such stories of the Indian independence movement to tell. The College has intersected the National Movement, the Education Reforms Movement, and the Women’s Movement, and is itself a movement today. “In the last 95 years, our students have been freedom fighters, ministers, the first glider pilot, poets, writers, bureaucrats, prominent academics, social activists, media persons, actors, mountain climbers and so on,” opines Dr. Babli Moitra Saraf, Principal, Indraprastha College for Women. IP College has a glorious tradition of academics and service which has only grown over the years. The institute has produced graduates of rare distinction including, Qurratulain Haider (Urdu Writer), Sharan Rani Backliwal (Acclaimed Sarod player, recipient of Padma Shri & Padma Bhushan), Aruna Roy (Social activist, campaigner for the Right to Information, Magsaysay Award winner), Ambika Soni (Former Union Minister, Government of India), Madhu Bhaduri (Former IFS Officer, Ambassador to Portugal), Utsa Patnaik (Professor of Economics, Jawahar Lal Nehru University) and may more. Dr. Moitra Saraf opines, “We encourage the development of a life of the mind, in tandem with employability of the student.” The vision of the college is to educate, enable and empower young women, emphasizing the need to mainstream the marginalized and weaker sections among them to ensure justice and equity in society. Its mission is to steer the education it offers not only to lead to the pragmatic goal of employability, but also to build a life of the mind and sensitize and orient its students to the service of the community, in the quest for a better life for society and the world that we inhabit. “Woven into the fabric of the multi-faceted life of the College are the activities that are aligned to its vision. The Mission is dynamic, and its tasks are reviewed from time to time to meet the challenges and opportunities of changing times,” pinpoints Dr. Moitra Saraf.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

Dr. Babli Moitra Saraf, Principal

At present, IP College in its beautiful campus that has been recognized as a heritage site and a landmark of Delhi, enrolls approximately 3500 students in its UG and PG programs. The College offers a wide range of courses, which promotes interdisciplinary studies in the 3 streams of Humanities, Mathematical Sciences and Commerce. Two new courses, B.A. (Hons.) Sociology and B.A. (Hons.) Geography have commenced from the academic session July 2017. Uniquely, the College offers the Self-Financed BA (Hons) in Multimedia and Mass Communication (BMMMC). The College also has a Research Methodology Program for advanced learners. “We have instituted an UG Research Grant for innovative and original projects,” adds Dr. Moitra Saraf. The six Research and Learning Centres of the College namely, Centre for Earth Studies, Translation and Translation Studies Centre, Museum and Archives Learning Resource Centre, Sanskrit and Sanskrit Studies Centre,

Babli Moitra Saraf is an Associate Professor in the Department of English and Head of the Department of Multi - Media and Mass Communication. She has received her M.Phil degree in English and Ph.D in Sociology. Dr. Moitra Saraf taught in the Department of English in Delhi University’s Ramjas College for 29 years before joining I.P. College as Principal on 1 July 2009. She has made significant interventions in academic and cocurricular activities, created centres of research and training, augmented learning resources and introduced new courses of study. She has introduced and promoted innovative measures to preserve the historical legacy of the College and its natural green cover and environment.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

The KG Hostel on the College campus was established in 1956 as part of the College’s vision to impart quality education to young women.

Music Archives and Listening Room and Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies encourages independent pursuit of interest under mentors and helps the student to explore herself and the world around her, to facilitate choice. The Science Society also provides for the development of students’ innovative ideas. Additionally, the College has in place the annual Undergraduate Research Grant for original and innovative projects that students may want to develop. Besides, the various academic, cocurricular and extra-curricular societies of the College motivate the student to give their best. “We expose our students to areas beyond the prescribed syllabi, through field visits, internships and through our Research and Learning Centres. We also organize special sessions for development of soft skills through our Career Guidance and Placement Cell (CGPC), which collaborates with industry experts,” states Dr. Moitra Saraf. The IP College

students themselves reach out to the companies to invite them through the CGPC to hold training sessions and recruitment processes. The College facilitates all these efforts through the interaction of the administration with national and international educational agencies, NGOs and other bodies, organizing interactions and discussions to stimulate student interest as well as expand the horizon of opportunities for them. Today, IP College makes all effort to inculcate the qualities which have been envisaged in its vision and mission statement in every student and is confident on assessing the full rounded personalities of its graduates that it is successful in its venture. The 95-year-old institution is strongly and steadily marching towards its centennial. In this journey it has marked many significant milestones. Its immediate plans are to augment its national and international presence and continue to grant access to and empower women,” concludes Dr. Moitra Saraf.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

ACADEMIC VIEW

Yet Another Milestone 62 By Parveen Shaikh, Principal, The Somaiya School

Parveen Shaikh is a Developmental Psychologist. She received her Master’s in ‘Human Development’ from Nirmala Niketan and her post graduate Diploma in ‘Education Management’ from SNDT. In a career spanning over nearly seventeen years, she has donned a variety of caps in the field of Early Childhood Care & Education, as a teacher, university lecturer, preschool head and Teacher trainer. Her areas of expertise include coaching, mentoring and professional development of pre-service and in-service

Higher Education Digest May 2019

teachers, guiding reflective researchbased practices, guiding and designing developmentally appropriate curriculum, designing classroom layouts, school supports and audit. She has worked with reputed institutes across Mumbai. Prior to joining us she was working with Birlaedutech, as a manager for training and teacher support. She strongly professes the importance of early years in the life of a child. She believes in setting high standards and works towards achieving them.

xams are as stressful for students as they are for parents these days. I have seen parents keep their life on hold because their child is appearing for a board exam. Mothers take long leaves and sometimes take a drop from their careers to ensure they are around for their child who is appearing for the board exam. For many students, study leave is the most torturous time of their life because every minute of their day is closely scrutinized by their parent. Some felt they were under house arrest, as their parents did not allow them to meet their friends, go out to play and lead a normal day. These attempts from parents to â&#x20AC;&#x153;maximize the timeâ&#x20AC;? before exams and push for success is often counterproductive. Students see the period before the declaration of results as their only time to breathe and relax as the result will bring with it yet another period of stress and anxiety.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

While there is nothing wrong with feeling proud of your child’s success but tying your identity to their accomplishments is detrimental

Higher Education Digest May 2019

Psychoanalyst Eric Fromm rightly said, “Few parents have the courage and independence to care more for their children’s happiness than for their success”. It is often seen that parents see their child’s success or failure as their own. Over a period of time, parents, are seen to have closely tied their self- esteems and their worth as a parent to their child’s performance. Any failure is seen as their failure as a parent. Alfie Kohn in his book ‘Unconditional Parenting’ talks about a phenomenon known as BIRG (Basking in Reflected Glory), parents who derive a vicarious sense of vindication from the success of their kids. While there is nothing wrong with feeling proud of your child’s success but tying your identity to their accomplishments is detrimental. Students often experience tremendous amount of stress while waiting for the results. Some of the common signs of stress are complaints of headache or stomach ache, insomnia, irritability, loss of appetite, not enjoying activities they previously enjoyed, and displaying signs of hopelessness. The period before the results are declared is very crucial and it is a good time for both the parent and child to prepare for what is to come. Keep Calm and help your child remain calm: As parents, it’s important that you keep calm, children pick up parental anxieties and it adds to their stress. Be available to talk when they are ready to. Reflect back how they are probably feeling e.g. “I can see you are stressed, it is understandable”. Acknowledge their feelings.

Have Realistic Expectations: You know your child better than anyone else. Keep your expectations aligned to your child’s past performances. Many students, regardless of their intelligence and preparations are not good exam takers. Remind yourself and your child, that this is an important milestone in their life, which they are successfully crossing. The marks or grades do not define their worth. Assure your child of your support, no matter what their marks. Your child’s performance is nobody’s business: The stress of facing the friends and relatives and the nameless “they” and what will they say about your child’s performance and you as a parent can be very debilitating. Your child’s exam results do not define your social status. Be positive and firm and support your child. Do not compare your child to anyone else’s. Your child is unique with his/ her own special gifts and capabilities, which cannot be measured by an exam. Plan to celebrate your child’s efforts and not marks: Plan along with your child beforehand, how you are going to celebrate this important transition and milestone in your child’s life with the family. Reassure your child that the celebration will be to acknowledge and appreciate the effort and hard work put in by the child, regardless of their marks. Let this experience act as a springboard to catapult your child into a beautiful world of possibilities, where every child is capable of fulfilling his/ her dreams. Be your child’s anchor and enjoy the journey.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

MANIPAL COLLEGE OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES

The Global Face of Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

Pharmaceutical Studies

Higher Education Digest May 2019

MUST WATCH CAMPUSES IN INDIA FOR

CAMPUS PLACEMENTS One of the most popular Pharmacy Colleges in India, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Science is the first college to offer post-graduate course (MPharm) in Karnataka in 1970 and the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program in 2008 in India. Attracting students from far and wide, the institution adheres to all quality measures in terms of imparting education to its students.

he Indian pharma industry has been growing at a CAGR of more than 15 percent over the last five years and has significant growth opportunities. However, for the industry to sustain this robust growth rate till 2020, companies will have to adopt new business models and think of innovative ideas to service their evolving customers faster and better. “Pharma Industry is very dynamic. The changes in the Industry, especially in adopting the new technology, are very quick and rapid. The academia always finds it difficult to adjust and to meet the pace of changes in the Industry,” opines Dr. C. Mallikarjuna Rao, Principal, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences. To face the challenges and keep abreast with the latest industry requirements, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MCOPS) has put in place a multipronged strategy. “We approach at least two experts During the revision/ development of curriculum. The industry experts are requested to suggest topics of current relevance that provide the students to understanding industry needs. Eventually such topics will become part of the syllabi,” explains Dr. Rao. MCOPS has an Industry Institute Partnership Cell, which has been actively working in the campus for more than a decade with a view to getting the latest information about trends in the pharmaceutical industry.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

Dr. C. Mallikarjuna Rao, Principal

As the Principal of Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dr. Rao is responsible for all academic and research activities at the department of Pharmacology. He Involves staff and students in the development, implementation and review of college policies, programs and operations, apart from contributing to system wide activities, including policy and strategic planning and development. He has research experience of 29 years and has published 83 papers in reputed journals. His areas of research interest are Pharmacology of inflammation, tissue repair, cancer and metabolic disorders. He guided seven PhDs and over 60 postgraduate students. He has peerreviewed papers for international journals like Pharmaceutical Biology, Indian Journal of Pharmacology, Indian Drugs

Higher Education Digest May 2019

Dr. Rao adds, â&#x20AC;&#x153;A slew of industry representatives from different functional domains participate in different programs viz., commemoration lectures, quality improvement programs, workshops, seminars, guest lectures and so on arranged in the Institute. This gives an opportunity for students to directly interact with the industry personnel and get an idea about the different skill sets required in various functional domains that help them make informed decisions about their career choice.â&#x20AC;? Moreover, MCOPS has a pool of guests and adjunct faculty from industry, who visit the institution, on invitation, to conduct a few lectures in theory courses, to train our students and to interact with the students to provide them with required perspectives on the industry. The perspective is not only related to the pharmaceutical industry trends, but also includes the skills required in different domains. A strong industry connect has always been a major strength of MCOPS. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The industry

collaborations provide many tangible benefits including, recent updates on R&D for staff and students, financial support in the form grants, placement and training opportunities for students. However, the industry collaborations should be expansive and allencompassing to make it more meaningful,â&#x20AC;? says Dr. Rao. Indeed, the industry collaborations should be for research, education, service, consultancy and training in addition to placements for a win-win situation for both Industry and academic institutions. MCOPS has tie-ups with several industries for these activities. The Major collaborators are Dr Reddyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Labs Hyderabad, Novartis Healthcare Ltd Hyderabad, GSK Bangalore, Steer Life Bangalore, Alembic Pharmaceuticals Vadodara, LRP, Pune, Himalaya Drugs Limited, Bangalore, Suvan Pharma, Hyderabad. The students trained to unearth their potential from the day they enter the portals of MCOPS. They are oriented towards the future prospects, challenges that lie ahead of them and are various sessions are conducted to unearth their potential. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Apart from their regular curricula, a lot many students work on projects offered by faculty members which goes beyond their regular working hours. Sessions on soft skills which includes time management, communication skills, team work are conducted to impart these

MCOPS has cuttingedge labs where premier instruments for several drug evaluation procedures are available for students to have a practical learning.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

MCOPS was ranked 1st in the NIRF 2016 Ranking of Pharmacy Colleges in India.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

skills, in addition to technical knowledge they acquire,” claims Dr. Rao. MCOPS students are active participants in National and International conferences, seminars, workshops, lecture updates and win awards. Besides, the students also covert their research work into publications in the journals of National and International reputation. Dr. Rao states, “We routinely encourage our students to participate in inter institutional innovation and business competition. In fact, the college has the advantage of being in a campus town with access to in-house innovation center. The innovation center regularly conducts hackathons/ innovation competitions and innovation day is celebrated once a year.” The students of MCOPS are motivated to participate in these competitions under the supervision of a faculty member. In terms of business plan competition, two

students of MCOPS, after clearing two rounds of competition reached the final stage. This itself shows that students of MCOPS had creative ideas to participate in a B-Plan competition. MCOPS has always been in forefront to provide placements for students. The college has an effectual team with both faculty members and student coordinators with chief coordinator who oversees the placements and facilitate students to get their preferred jobs. “We see less than 10 percent of our undergraduate students opting for placements, while majority opt for Masters’ studies in India and abroad. All those who opt for placements are provided with opportunities,” assures Dr. Rao. In the last

batch (2014-18) BPharm students only 13 opted for placements and they were placed in Himalaya Drug Company, IQVIA (Formerly known as Quintiles), Medlife, KMC Hospital and Pushpagiri Hospital. Average package was Rs. 3 Lakhs per annum and maximum package was 4.5 Lakhs per annum. On the other hand, more than 95 percent of MPharm (PG) students seek the job opportunities in the Pharma Industry. During last year, all most all the Post-graduate students of the MCOPS were placed in 46 different major Pharmaceutical companies with an average starting package ranging Rs. 4-5 lakhs through campus and off campus placements. As per the institute’s records a total of 18 students opted for higher studies (PhDs), and the rest 87 students were provided placement. A few noted companies who visited campus were, Abbott, Biocon, Decision Resource Group, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Himalaya, Indegene, Strides, Syngene, Novo Nordisk and so on. Dr. Rao adds, “Now, students who have graduated from MCOPS are adoring the positions of being General Manager, Vice President, President and so in reputed pharmaceutical companies in their respective functional domains in a short span of time. This is due to their sheer hard work, dedication, commitment, work ethics, integrity and “never give up” attitude. Some of our students have become entrepreneurs and have launched their own business ventures after graduation.” Today, MCOPS inculcates the basic skills, knowledge and personality in its students to make them employable and that is the reason why MCOPS graduates are pharmacy professionals with a difference. “Hard Work, Sincerity, Dedication, Integrity, and “never give up” attitude leading to gain in Subject knowledge, Confidence, Team work, Socializing ability, Exposure to advanced technologies are major qualities a student gain from our education,” pinpoints Dr. Rao. The institute has a lot of ambitious plans too. Developing and commercializing a few small molecules which would target the cancer pathology and improving the present QS world ranking status from 201 to 150 by the subject Pharmacy and Pharmacology are few to mention among them.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

PEARL ACADEMY

Where Creativity

Thrives 72

Higher Education Digest May 2019

MUST WATCH CAMPUSES IN INDIA FOR

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C With a focus on Internationalism, entrepreneurship and employability, Pearly Academy has come a long way in design education since its inception in 1993. India’s leading institution in design, fashion, and media, Pearl Academy offers over 30 uniquely designed undergraduate, postgraduate and professional development pathways through its campuses in Delhi, Noida, Jaipur and Mumbai.

hief human resources and strategy officers from leading global organizations opines that the skill of creativity will be a necessary asset for anyone working in 2020, in all levels of a small to large business, from admin assistants to CEOs. Nandita Abraham, President, Pearl Academy, says, “While new domains will keep on emerging, creativity will hold the forte. The World Economic Forum has identified creativity as one of the top 3 skills required in the future along with complex problem solving and critical thinking and I completely agree with this finding. The Future of Work report says that 60 percent of the new age jobs will fall under analytics, design and artificial intelligence.” A catalyst for success of the students across the creative industries, Pearl Academy has completed more than two decades of empowering creative minds. The institute is a pioneer in the Indian market, combining hybrid blended learning and real time lectures in a structured manner, thus making learning more effective and engaging. “We were set up by the industry and the industry is involved in all the processes that we have. We have 30 uniquely designed undergraduate, post-graduate and professional development pathways which are all developed after consultation with the industry,” shares Nandita. Understanding the need gaps, Pearl Academy involves industry at every stage - right from the conceptualization of the product offering to curriculum design, its delivery in the classroom, and selection of faculty to intake of students and so on. Nandita adds, “We have an agile curriculum that is developed after taking input from the faculty and the industry. All faculty members are industry experts with rich experience and well trained in their respective domains.” Live projects, masterclasses, industry visits, internships are part of a student’s learning journey at Pearl Academy over the period of four years. This is owing

Higher Education Digest May 2019

Pearl Academy has 4 campuses in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur and Noida.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

to our alliances with various Industries and businesses that provide students with relevant exposure. “When a student is about to graduate, we call back the industry in the classroom to make students understand what their professional work in the initial months would look like to make them understand the nuances of the professional field and make them 100 percent industry ready,” pinpoints Nandita. In the previous academic year, a total of 739 out of 1327 students of Pearl Academy opted for placements. Out of 739, 733 students found placement in leading companies across India. Some of these companies include Accenture, Capgemini, Walt Disney, Future Group, H&M, ITC, IBM, Amazon, Times of India and many more. “We have been awarded by a leading industry body, ASSOCHAM as the best design institute in the country

Nandita Abraham, President Nandita Abraham is an energetic leader who works with a mission to keep students at the centre of all initiatives. With over 25 years of experience across corporates and academia in the US, Hong Kong and India, Nandita joined Pearl Academy in 2001 as a faculty. Over the years, she has worked successfully at various for the last four years in a row and we have had 99 percent placement record last year. I feel the right industry collaboration is a must to deliver the promise of creating industry ready professionals,” opines Nandita. Some examples of Pearl Academy’s collaboration with industry include FDCI, where 60 percent of the students are guided by leading designers of the country. It also gives the students a platform to showcase their collections annually at the fashion week in front of the industry. “Another important partnership we have is that with Asian Paints under which students are taught a new module on trends and techniques in colour. Our alliance with Adobe has helped in the launch of ‘Adobe Digital Technology Academy’ – a unique program designed to help learners of today leverage the power of digital technologies and tools for skill building,” explains Nandita.

positions within the academy. Nandita has a ‘Masters in science’ from Philadelphia University, PG Certificate in Higher Education from Nottingham Trent University, PG Diploma from NIFT, Delhi and Bachelors in Economics from St Joseph’s College in Bangalore.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

Pearl academy now has over 4,500 students and more than 340 academic staff.

The students of Pearl Academy also work with the Association of Designers (ADI) on various projects aimed towards Making Design Visible in our society today. Being a member of industry bodies like FICCI, ASSOCHAM and CII also help the institute to informed and updated on the latest developments across various sectors. “At Pearl Academy, we encourage young learners to dream, think big and work with them closely on how to fulfil those dreams. We provide an education that goes beyond the books and incorporates new-age learning methodologies for the holistic development of our students,” pinpoints Nandita. The faculty members of Pearl Academy always encourage the students to do multi-disciplinary projects, think out of the box and solve the real problems of the world today. This, in turn, leads to innovation and new ways of thinking. Nandita adds, “Open Labs are spaces built in the curriculum to encourage and support multidisciplinary learning experiences. These give students the opportunity to explore exciting interventions in the area of interest apart from their curricular inputs. These inputs can either be domain related or additional inputs in their area of interest. The aim of the Open Lab is to bring relevant knowledge to the students and further enrich their learning experience.” Today, 50 percent of the students at Pearl Academy become entrepreneurs within 3 years of graduating from the institute. All students undergo an entrepreneurship module and are encouraged in projects developing their own business ideas. Pearl Academy has also tied up with Amazon India to promote alumni who are entrepreneurs and they go through rigorous training to ensure they are successful. Some of the successful ventures started by students of Pearl Academy include – Kriti Tula’s Doodlage, Nikhil Mehra’s Shantanu &

Higher Education Digest May 2019

Nikhil, Teresa Laisom and Utsav Pradhan’s Munkee See Munkee Doo; Vaishali Studio by Vaishali Shadangule; Mandira Wirk; Sumiran Kabir Sharma’s Anaam; THREE by Pallavi Dhyani; Karleo by Leon Vaz and Karan Berry; Rimzim Dadu; House of Torani by Karan Torani; Aastha Narang; Jayati Goenka among many others. Talking about the old students, Nandita says, “One of our students I am particularly proud of is Rohan Chabbra, an alumnus of 2008 batch who is currently working as a Senior Designer at Ralph Lauren for Purple Label, Polo Performance and Special Projects in New York City. I am also proud of Pragya Prasun, our business alumnus, who despite being an acid attack survivor bounced back with great strength and grit and is working towards employability for acid attack survivors. She recently received the Naari Shakti award by the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind.” Recognized by Business of Fashion as the only Indian institute to be amongst the top 25 colleges in the world, undoubtedly, Pearly Academy is a leading institute in design, fashion, business and media. The institute recently announced the launch of Bengaluru campus, which will be the fifth campus of Pearly Academy in India. Last year, the institute had announced the launch of a new school – School of Media. It educates students on all aspects of digital and new age media so that all avenues of storytelling can be explored across platforms.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

INDUSTRY PERCPECTIVE

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Next in

Education? 78

Abhilash Joseph, Co-founder & CEO, Leo & Mike

Higher Education Digest May 2019

Abhilash is a learning enthusiast and a serial entrepreneur with more than ten years of experience in running startups. He holds an MBA specializing in Entrepreneurship and Marketing from Indian School of Business (ISB), India. He is passionate about education and believes that good design can change the education landscape in the world. Abhilash is now trying to reimagine and reinvent education in India through Leo & Mike, a new-age learning company that creates interdisciplinary, projectbased and problem-based learning programs for 4 to 14-year-old children. In an exclusive interaction with the Higher Education Digest, Abhilash talks about the latest trends in the education sector and many more.

• What are the top trends in the higher education sector to watch out in 2019? There are few very innovative trends which are going to evolve in 2019 and the coming few years. Universities will continue to struggle to equip students for job-readiness. Industry will continue to complain about the lack of quality among the graduating cohorts. Finishing schools will become more and more popular among young college students and recent graduates. Universities will start to embrace such programs to put together a quality cohort that is employable. Top-tier schools such as the IITs, IIMs and ISBs of the world will continue to attract top talent purely for the reasons of signaling and scarcity. However, the relevance of second tier and third tier institutions as signaling tools will come into question more and more. Students instead will take courses from the best of professors from the world through MOOCs and other online programs. Better systems of accreditation will make such programs recognized by employers and sought after by potential employees.

• What is the role of technologies like AI and Augmented Reality in the education system now? Technologies such as AI and ML will replace repetitive tasks such as setting question papers or lesson plans. It will go a few steps further and help with deeply personalizing learning by sifting thought and working through tons of data about the individual learners and the world in general. In addition, technologies such as AR and VR will make learning deeper and personal. Traditionally, cadaver dissection is an important tool in medical studies to study structural details of human body. However, this is limited to the number of cadaver’s that are available for study which is limited in supply. Now imagine, a medical student who will be able to perform the same dissection or surgery over and over on a virtual body while wearing a haptic suit that will simulate every sense of student’s body including the feeling of holding a scalpel and the slight pressure that she feels when the scalpel is cutting through the outer skin. Now imagine, she can do this over and over again and every time the results will be slightly different just like in a real dissection or surgery. Now imagine this level

Technologies such as AI and ML will replace repetitive tasks such as setting question papers or lesson plans

Higher Education Digest May 2019

of sophistication in learning in every field and not just limited to medicine. The possibilities are endless. That is the power of AR and VR.

• What according to you is at the core of industry 4.0? What should academicians need to know before preparing students to embark on this journey? There are some truisms that we need to consider. The rate and quantum at which technology will define the future is going to be exponential. It is going to be an effort in vain to teach learners predetermined skills such as accounting or engineering.

• What are the key skills that every student must have to get a job of their choice? Creativity: The ability to connect seemingly disparate dots. Critical communication skills: The ability to understand underlying assumptions and communicate effectively with groups and individuals to get work done. This includes listening, speaking and writing.

• How to keep learners motivated and engaged in this digital era? In order to make the learners motivated and engaged they have to be kept in a small cognitive space that lies between

Higher Education Digest May 2019

excitement of achievement and discovery and the happy frustration that ones on the pursuit of a challenge. Two aspects will help with this: Deep personalization: When the whole of worlds information and knowledge is available in one’s Rs.5000 smartphone, what will truly help a learner is what I call ‘intelligent curation’. This is where technologies such as AI will help immensely. Gamification: There is a reason why the online gaming industry is worth more than all of the world’s movie and music industry put together. It is simply that the content is addictive. Different aspects of learning can be gamified to sustain the learner’s motivation and optimize engagement.

• What is your advice to the learners? The digital natives, the millennials, of the today will not be digital natives in ten years from now. The digital platforms and technologies that they are born into now will be soon replaced by technologies and platforms that use AI, AR, VR and so forth. So, it is very important for learners to be lifelong learners and to condition themselves to be so malleable that they are able to unlearn and relearn as new things emerge. The most important thing for learners will not be to learn but paradoxically they will need to learn the most important meta skill of ‘Learn how to Learn.’

Higher Education Digest May 2019

RV COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE

Constructing Architectural Curiosity at All Scales

Higher Education Digest May 2019

MUST WATCH CAMPUSES IN INDIA FOR

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Established in 1992, as Department of Architecture in R. V. College of Engineering (RVCE), Bengaluru, RV College of Architecture has come long way in the higher education sector to become one of the most coveted architecture colleges in the state. In 2014, it shifted to a new campus with affiliation to Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), Belagavi, Karnataka. The new campus is an iconic example of contemporary architecture.

mart Cities Mission and the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation of 500 cities (AMRUT) are a couple of ambitious projects launched by the Government of India. Under these schemes, the government has outlined the development of 100 Smart Cities, 40 million dwelling units, 20 million affordable homes and better infrastructure facilities. To build the government’s Development Agenda, there will be a requirement of 75 million skilled people in real estate and infrastructure. As reports suggest, the heightened requirement of professionals including architects, engineers and planners will be about 4 million to complete this action plan. In fact, there has no better time than now for fresh architects in the country. The onus of responsible development, however, then to a large extent, rests on this next wave of architects and the country’s educational institutions have a crucial role to play here. Located in the garden city of Bangalore, RV College of Architecture (RVCA) is an institution par excellence when it comes preparing young architects with creative thinking and questioning attitude towards appropriate architecture. Since its establishment in 1992, the institute has been on a mission to become a centre of excellence for architectural and urban design studies by bringing the best teaching talent, infrastructure and technologies together. In fact, the compelling presence and significant work of the RVCA in the architectural education in India in the last two decades has achieved the college, the distinction of being one of India’s premier centers of excellence for architecture and urban studies. “A significant number of practicing professional involve in the teaching of our students. In all our design studios, we maintain a ration student to faculty ratio of 1: 10. So, every class will have four experts to guide the students, including one core faculty and three practicing professionals,” says Dr. Om Prakash Bawane, Principal, R.V. College of Architecture. Practicing architects provide valuable input in design and construction studios

Higher Education Digest May 2019

Dr. Om Prakash Bawane, Principal With three decades of experience in teaching, Dr. Bawane is among the most senior professors of architecture in Karnataka. He

is an alumnus of Maulana Azad College of Technology (now Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology), Bhopal. After graduating in architecture in 1981, he proceeded to obtain a Masters’ degree in Building Science & Technology at the University of Roorkee (now Indian Institute of Technology – Roorkee). Inclined to pursue a career in teaching, Dr. Bawane began his journey as Lecturer at Visvesvaraya Regional College of Engineering (now Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology), Nagpur. Subsequently, he served as faculty at Manipal Institute of Technology and headed Department of Architecture at PDA College of Engineering, Gulbarga. Dr. Bawane was conferred the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Vinayaka Missions University for his dissertation titled “Critical Study of Quality Management Practices in Indian Construction Industry”.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

and various other subjects by bringing practical dimension to architecture learning. Dr. Bawane adds, “The purpose of bringing practicing professional is to give the students insights about what is happening inside the industry. So, when the students go out, they would know what to do next. That means, the skill gap does not exist in the RVCA.” Industry connect is not a one-way channel at RVCA. The institute has a Consultancy Cell that undertakes design, research and advocacy projects in both public and private sectors. The cell engages in urban development projects and aspires to create a platform for an alternate perception of architectural design, landscape, urban design and development, conservation and governance within the Bengaluru Metropolitan area, India and beyond. The consultancy cell through its integrated approach relates architecture and urban design, addressing ecological, social and spatial dimensions. “Our faculty members are involved in the consultancy projects and most of the studio exercises are live projects. This gives the students exposure to the real scenario and helps them understand the practical aspects of the architecture profession,” opines Dr. Bawane. Consultancy projects handled by the Consultancy Cell are College of

The inspiring structure of the college has been designed to create an environment conducive for architectural studies.

Architecture, R&D Block, Biotech block, MCA block, Classroom Complex and Entrance gate at RVCE Campus, RV Composite College, Jayanagar and Volvo Showroom, Mysore road, Bangalore. The institute also has collaborated with international universities to give the students much-needed global exposure. At present the RVCA has three MoUs signed with universities from Switzerland and Germany. “Though these MoUs, our students can attend summer programs in other universities. It will help them to get an idea of what is happening in the western countries. Many students make use of this opportunity to understand the global scenarios,” pinpoints Dr. Bawane. RVCA had one of the master’s students from the Bern University who joined the M Arch Urban Design Semester II. “The kind of exposure and training the students get here is incomparable. So, the employment has not been a problem for us. Most of the students will get placed during their internship period itself,” claims Dr. Bawane. RVCA alumni have earned an international reputation for being leaders in their field and the alumni community is a wealth of expertise, knowledge and experience. Dr. Bawane adds, “RVCA is a unique place to learn architecture. The buildings are inspiriting examples for young architects. It is very important that the place or the environment where the students are learning architecture is conducive to stimulate the ideas and creativity.” The state-of-the-art campus of RVCA is built over a site measuring 2.4 acres. The inspiring structure of the college has been designed to create an environment conducive for architectural studies. The self-contained campus with a floor area of about 15000 square metres comprises of the academic block, administrative block and hostel block. “We are already running a Masters program in Urban Design, apart from the Doctoral programs in Architecture. We are working on adding few more Masters programs in fields like landscape design and interior design,” concludes Dr. Bawane.

Higher Education Digest May 2019

BOOK REVIEW

Man’s Search for Meaning: A LifeChanging Read by Viktor E. Frankl By Sarath Shyam

hen we think of people who have mastered human psychology, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and Alfred Adler are three names that come to our mind. Freud, Jung and Adler were influential theorists who have specific positions across human nature, problem formation, change and techniques as it relates to personality theories. Freud’s theory is referred to as psycho-analysis, Jung’s is analytical psychology and Adler’s is individual psychology. Now, here is the fourth man to this list - Viktor E. Frankl, who worked as a professor of neurology and psychiatry at the University of Vienna Medical School until his death in 1997. Among the numerous books written on World War II, Viktor E. Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning is one of the few books that has explored these existential questions – how to make sense of our lives and how can we keep our hopes alive, even at the worst period of our lives. Published in 1946, one year after WW II, Man’s Search for Meaning has been translated to many languages and it is considered as a life-changing read. In the preface to the 1992 edition, Frankl who has authored several books, reveals that he wanted to publish Man’s Search for Meaning anonymously, so that it could never build up reputation on the part of the author. He, therefore, gives a wonderful message to the students all over the world, “don’t aim at success – the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended sideeffect of one’s dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself.” In 1942, Frankl and his family were sent to the concentration camps, where his mother, father, and wife perished. Man’s Search of Meaning, which is said to be written in 9 days, is the personal experience of Frankl during his time in the concentration camps ran by the Nazi troops. To describe the story in Frankl’s own words, “This tale is not concentrated with great horrors, which has been already described often enough (though less often believed), but with the multitude of small torments. In

Higher Education Digest May 2019

Viktor E. Frankl other words, it will try to answer this question: How was everyday life in concentration camp reflected in the mind of the average prisoner?” Narrated in two parts, Man’s Search of Meaning explores his observation in the Nazi concentration camps, followed by an explanation of his own theory of psychology named Logotherapy. In the first part, he talks about the internal and external conditions that would pressure the prisoners and emphasizes how hope literally kept people alive and a lack of it resulted in death. Logotherapy, which is explained in the second part of the book, tells that the purpose of life should be a search for meaning and any other purpose is pointless. Frankl goes on to establish the fact that anyone who has something to live for will survive anything to achieve his goal. Between these two aspects, Frankl teaches lessons that would change us forever.

Higher Education Digest May 2019