INDIA EDITION MUST WATCH UNIVERSITIES OF THE YEAR - 2019
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Prof. Kamlesh Misra, Vice Chancellor
RISHIHOOD UNIVERSITY A Modern Gurukul in Making
JANUARY 2020
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Higher Education Digest January 2020
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Higher Education Digest January 2020
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January 2020
Vol - 2 Issue - 2
Universities of the Year - 2019 (India Edition) Editor in Chief
Dr. Manoj Varghese
Managing Editor Sarath Shyam
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Navya Venkatesh Stanly Lui Emma James
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Higher Education Digest January March 2019 2020
MANAGING EDITOR’S NOTE
A New Decade, A New Beginning
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egardless of our political affiliations, let us accept the fact that the Indian economy is in big trouble. As the common men, we have been experiencing its aftereffects in our daily life; barring that ‘one percent’ of the population, apparently, everyone’s wallet is broken. The Economic Survey, which was published a day before the Union Budget 2020, says that poor global growth and investment slowdown due to financial sector issues have led the growth dropping to a decade low in current fiscal. The survey also points out that it takes more documents to open a restaurant in Delhi as compared to documents needed for a license to procure new arms and major fireworks. However, it is a new decade. Let us think positively and see the government’s offering for the youth in Budget 2020. The Finance Minister has earmarked Rs. 99, 300 crores for the education sector in 2020 – 21 and Rs. 3, 000 crores for Skill Development. Some of the key announcements include apprenticeship embedded courses, online education programs for students deprived of higher education, financing education infrastructure, courses for nurse and paramedical staff, internships
for fresh engineers, enabling ECBs and FDI, and National Police University and a National Forensic Science University. Now, the promises are ready on the paper and the authorities need to find some time to execute everything properly to ensure that India is back on track. In this issue, we have identified ‘10 Must-Watch Universities of the Year 2019’ which have been highly successful in their execution part. They have not only produced graduates with high employability quotient, but also have been instrumental in taking research and innovation into next level. On the cover, we feature, Rishihood University that aims to integrate lifelong learning transcending age, subject choice, and society by closely working with school students, individuals pursuing higher education and working professionals. Enjoy Reading.
Sarath Shyam
Higher Education Digest January 2020
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ADVISORY BOARD
Dr. Kuldeep Nagi, Ph.D, MBA, BSc. Program Director of Ph.D, Recipient of Fulbright Fellowship Award & Dan Evans Award for Excellence and Writer columnist.
Dr. Ajay Shukla, Ph.D, MBA, BE. Dr.Varughese K.John, PhD, MBA, MPhil, MCom, LLB.
Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Higher Education UAE
Program Director, MS in Management Program, GSATM - AU
6 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.
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
Asst. Prof. Dr. Suramya Mathai, Ph.D,M.Ed,MA,BA. Teachers Training Expert, Writer, Author, Speaker & Social Worker
Higher Education Digest January 2020
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CONTENTS
MENTOR’S MANTRA
Higher Education Digest January 2020
10 - 13 Top Educational Trends in Higher Ed Space Worldwide Dr. Jawahar Surisetti, Education and Child Psychologist, TED Speaker, and Author
INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE
24 - 26
38 - 41
Education Goes Digital: How to Skill-up the Young Indian
What is Smart X.0?
Harjiv Singh
Randhir Mishra, Co-Founder, MetaCog Innovations
48 - 50
60 - 62
How to be a Successful Finance Professional?
Impact of Technology in Modern Education
Vivek Bajaj
Pooja Vasudev, VP - Business Development, Epaathsala
COVER
STORY
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52 32 - 36 ASHOKA UNIVERSITY
Where Freedom is not Just a Word
42 - 47 MANIPAL ACADEMY OF HIGHER EDUCATION
Creating Leaders and Innovators
52 - 58 REVA UNIVERSITY
A Research-Intensive University
RISHIHOOD UNIVERSITY A Modern Gurukul in Making Higher Education Digest January 2020
MENTOR’S MANTRA
Top Educational Trends in Higher Ed Space Worldwide Dr. Jawahar Surisetti, Education and Child Psychologist, TED Speaker, and Author
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t’s a good time to be in as there is a war between the millennials and the older generation happening in the higher ed space across the world. The top echelons in higher ed are held majorly by the older generation and the millennials beat them in sheer numbers. And there is a clash of ideologies when the millennials are crying foul to overhaul the outdated higher education system whereas the older generation wants to hold on to it. So, innovations are happening that challenge the very sanctity of what and how we have gone through our collegiate education. At the cusp of a revolution, we see a large shift in the trends that we will see in the future. Let’s see some of them and understand their basis. Shorter duration modular education: With the span of attention decreasing and the impatience levels increasing, the thrust of the millennial is to make a living as fast as possible. So the future that fits into this impatience is the rise of modular short courses that can be mixed and matched to form an undergrad or a graduate degree more to the convenience and liking of the student and not the whims and fancies of the university or institution. Instead of watertight compartmentalized higher ed degrees which look more like a buffet, the future would be more like the a la carte where the student could choose from the menu card, making the choices student led. Technology: The onset of technology in higher ed will see more innovations happening. There will more innovations that will help specially-abled students to use their dominant skills to equalize with the rest, there will more use of AR/VR to create use cases of future today more visible and the education more experiential, use of paper will almost be obsolete due to environmental and cost issues and the technology will become more affordable so that it reaches all sections of society.
Higher Education Digest January 2020
Tech life balance would be required for the whole society and so will higher ed
11 Dr. Jawahar Surisetti
He has been lately adjudged as one of the top 24 policy makers of India by leading daily Indian Express. He advises the Government of India on policy issues and innovations in education, start-ups, and youth affairs. Known worldwide as the Think Professor for his Art of Thinking, he engages with 2.4 lakh children and parents across the globe through the UN expedition called Explora - exploring the minds of the youths. He has two bestselling parenting guides “Mama & Me” and “Go to Hell or Come to Me” to his credit. His exemplary social enterprises have like MyBeti for the Girl Child, Religion of Youth for youth, and Happea for the happiness of the world have been applauded by the UN and included in the SDG Report in 2017-18. His innovation Think Curriculum, for which he has been awarded an honorary doctorate by Columbia University, fosters thinking in learning.
Higher Education Digest January 2020
Dr. Jawahar Surisetti
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Anytime Anywhere Education: With youth starting work early, it would mean that they would require means to complete their study in their free time. So anytime, anywhere education becomes the norm of future with the teacher becoming a mentor and enabling the students to comprehend the application of the concepts to real-life situations. Since the leisure of the student and proximity will not be predictable, the mentor and the technology become very important to the system. Also, the student studies at his pace and convenience within a framework of deadlines and assignments. But the convenience of the student will be the key in the future as higher ed institutions create more flexibility in their outlook to accommodate convenience. Digital wellbeing: With more and more technology permeating into education, the biggest health hazard would be digital addiction hence digital wellbeing would be the desired outcome that all parents and students would look for. Tech life balance would be required for the whole society and so will higher ed. Within the realm of institutions, the management will create opportunities for face to face learning, experiences that will take students closer to the environment away from technology occasionally will organize regular digital wellness and detox camps so that there are no health hazards due to digital addiction. There will be more innovations like Apprison - the digital wellbeing app and Forest.
Higher Education Digest January 2020
The availability of data about the likes, skills, strengths, weaknesses helps personalize and customize the education opted for and the learning modes
Data led Personalisation of higher ed: As more and more of higher education becomes student-led with the higher education institutions ceasing to be the sanctum sanatorium where they could preach what to do and how to do, personalization becomes the keyword. The availability of data about the likes, skills, strengths, weaknesses helps personalize and customize the education opted for and the learning modes. This personalization will help the various learning styles which are currently not factored in our education system as well as creates a matrix where the student gets an array of choices to personalize his education. Even the devices on which they learn will be personalized due to BYOD. Physical boundaries expand with collaboration and coordination: Watertight institutions will be a thing of the past as globalization reaches to the next higher level. So if India and China become the next major markets for students, the best universities in the world will vie for these students not just by staying put and inviting the students to the place they are located but may look at opening campuses in the vicinity for the courses that would do well or collaborate with local institutions of equal stature as a reach out measure. So, there will be increased access to quality education across the world and no one geographical area will have stand-alone supremacy in higher ed due to this mobility of institutions nearer to the students and not vice versa. Lessened infrastructures in higher ed: More emphasis will go into the quality of education and the technology to reach than the physical infrastructure of higher educational institutions. The age-old expanses of huge universities will change to compact, tech-driven modern ones due to scarcity of land, learning modes not requiring too much infrastructure and higher student engagement outside the campus. Differential learning: This is something that we have now figured out that a classroom of students will not necessarily be the same. So, we give them opportunities to study, comprehend and advance at the pace of their comfort rather than having a fixed pace. While learning at the classroom may go on at a particular pace but
the opportunity to understand and be mentored for any lack of understanding will be provided more and more within the framework as well as without. Differential Assessment: Since flexibility, collaboration and differentiation are the keywords of future, the assessment also must follow this pattern. Anywhere anytime proctored assessment will give a chance for the students to keep assessing their skills and learning at regular intervals to understand where they stand vs. where remediation will be required instead of the periodic assessment. This will also help the differential learning because if we are studying at different paces then we will need to assess also at different times. Not only that, the level of assessment also could be varied for the different levels of learner’s instead of the same level for all. Industry-led education: This will be the norm because it benefits the industry too to get the right fit for people. The youth gets to work in the industry and his learning at his place of work will be assessed and he will be certified accordingly. The industry trains him based on current and future skills and needs thereby getting an updated student fully equipped with the skills of tomorrow. This trend will help lower the cost of education, do away with then accusations that educational institutions in the higher ed space do not produce the right fit for the industry and empowers the industry to be a part of the education system. Entrepreneurship will be holistically embedded into the higher ed: Currently, in the education scenario, the entrepreneurship caps are mostly donned by the STEM practitioners, but in future students of higher education of various fields be it humanities, science, languages, art or any other would become more entrepreneurial and collaborate with other streams to create ventures while in college. All in all, the higher education landscape seems to be moving in the right direction of autonomy of choices and modes, creating innovation on the way and more inclusion of industry. The student will stand to gain in this more dynamic approach in the future with a balance of technology and life skills.
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RISHIHOOD A
UNIVERSITY
MODERN
GURUKUL IN MAKING By Sarath Shyam
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he beginning of the year 2020 does not look promising for the job aspirants across the country. State Bank of India estimates that India will create at least 1.6 million fewer formal jobs across government and low-paying sectors, a segment that typically absorbs some of the millions of youth entering the world’s biggest workforce each year. However, Sahil Aggarwal, who is the Co-Founder and CEO of newly established Rishihood University in Sonipat, Haryana, is confident that the country will soon recover from this crisis. He says, “It is normal for any economy to go through structural shifts in 15 to 20 years duration. The current shift is due to disruptions being caused by the technological breakthroughs taking place in the world. This change is having an impact on the kind of skills that are necessary for the new jobs that are being created.” While the Government through Skill Council of India and other government-sponsored programs are doing their bit to overcome the job crisis, there is a need for universities, colleges and educational institutions to train students in the new type of skills that are required for the jobs created in the new economy of India. Unfortunately, this process has been slow and has not been able to move at the speed required due to excessive regulatory control. “If universities and educational institutions become free
Higher Education Digest January 2020
Prof. Kamlesh Misra, Vice Chancellor Prof. Misra graduated with a Postgraduate Degree in Economics from Allahabad University, India. After completing his Ph.D. from Northeastern University, Boston, he taught there as a lecturer until 1990. He did his advanced training in Financial Management of Local and Regional Governments from Harvard Institute for International Development, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA under USAID funding. He served as an Economist at the Center for Social & Urban Research, Pittsburgh University from 1990 to 1994 when he returned to India to Join as an HDFC Associate Professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi. As a member of the NIPFP team, he was the technical advisor to the First Punjab State Finance Commission. Prof. Misra is known for creating some of the most successful business models in the education sector without compromising the ethical dimensions of teaching as a profession. He is a team builder and has created institutions that are talked about due to their work culture and the free environment for academic pursuits.
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and managing educational and research organizations, as the Vice-Chancellor. He already has the distinction of being the founding Vice-Chancellor of Auro University, Surat as well as the Vice Chancellor of Ansal University, Gurgaon. “Academic topics do not develop in isolation. Knowledge is integrated and interdisciplinary. We prepare our learners to think holistically and provide a learning environment closer to real life,” opines Dr. Kamlesh Misra. Rishihood University believes in four kinds of interactions in academic disciplines to provide a holistic learning environment: Crossdisciplinary (viewing one curricular subject from the standpoint of another, like economics of music), Multidisciplinary (the combination of several content areas that are concerned with one problem, but without intentional integration, like intellectual property law and food technology), Plurdisciplinary (the combination of content areas that are somewhat related, like food and agriculture) and Transdisciplinary (beyond the scope of
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the disciplines; that is, to start with a problem and bring to bear knowledge from the disciplines). “Our schools are being established in a way that encourages all the four kinds of interaction and can collectively bring a larger impact,” shares Dr. Misra. The Modern Gurukul Rishihood University believes in the philosophy of the Gurukul System, where a learning system is created and centred around the students. Here, everyone in this system is a learner, some at the basic level of understanding and others at a very advanced level. They all work together to create a curious mind which is in search of a deeper meaning of the subject and life in general. “Every student is important and we ensure that no one is left out from the process of change taking place. Teachers are role models where students see them working hard with them to ensure good learning and by engaging them through a hands-on process,” states Dr. Misra.
Rishihood is a new concept in higher education and everything that is done on the campus is centered around the student community. “We are on a mission to bring about a major transformation in the thinking of our students by focusing on two major elements. The first being the training of the mind, and the second is the focus on character building. These two elements result in four different types of outcomes which are essential for the future of our youth and their careers,” explains Dr. Misra. Acquisition of knowledge and understanding are essential components of success and Rishihood University. Its faculty, and its corporate affiliates work with students to ensure that they ignite the curiosity of the students to go deeper and deeper in search of new knowledge. “It is important for our students to have the right attitude for success and we at Rishihood will work with students in groups and individually to help them approach life in a very systematic way, to understand our culture and society, to develop a sense of national pride, and have a balanced understanding of our rights and responsibilities as a citizen, says Aggarwal. Rishihood University believes that knowledge is not enough for success in the marketplace. Instead, it is their firm conviction in the ability of a student to convert his knowledge into marketable skills that will determine his future in the corporate world. The university has specific programs and training to ensure that all its students have the right set of marketable skills which can give them a good start in the corporate world. “Finally, all our students will have developed that ability to work hard and not look for the easy and shortcut processes to achieve anything in life. This is done through a process of mentorship, life lessons, corporate interventions, leadership speaking sessions, workshops and sharing real-life stories of successful entrepreneurs,” claims Dr. Misra. At Rishihood University, students and faculty members work together on a project-based learning system. Besides the academic inputs, the university offers inputs of various types of career options and how students can achieve success in life. “We have set up a Career Support Center which has regular programs to polish their marketable skills, writing CVs, interview skills, aptitude test, and many other companies related inputs. Encouragement is the key to changing the mindset of students and getting them inspired,” explains Aggarwal. Indeed, when students get inspired, they become motivated to achieve their goals in life. Aggarwal adds, “We will have regular sessions on many of these aspects that will help our students become hard-working and go-getters.” Seeking the Latest Knowledge The faculty members at various schools at Rishihood University come from diverse backgrounds and essentially
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Sahil Aggarwal, CEO and Co-Founder
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Sahil Aggarwal is a young dedicated educationist and social entrepreneur with a vision to transform India’s higher education ecosystem through ‘applied learning’ and ‘education for impact’. He is the cofounder of a number of institutions and initiatives such as the Rishihood University, Vision India Foundation and the Rashtram School of Public Leadership. After graduating from IIT Delhi with a B. Tech in Mechanical Engineering, he co-founded Vision India Foundation, a nation-building initiative to create public leaders where he currently serves as its honorary director. He also serves on the board of Gateway Education. He has a keen interest in public policy, governance and diplomacy for which he also did a Masters in Diplomacy, Law, Business from O.P. Jindal Global University.
Higher Education Digest January 2020
fall into three different categories. The first category is of those who come with hardcore research and teaching background and have an excellent academic record and credentials. They have several years of experience teaching nationally and internationally. Many of them are researchers and have an excellent publication record to their credit. Some of these faculty members are international faculty with years of experience. “We are expecting more overseas faculty members to join Rishihood University as we move forward with our plans,” shares Aggarwal. The second category of faculty members are those that come from pure industry background but have been academically very strong with years of experience to their credit. Many of them have contributed to developing a new direction for the corporate sector. “We have identified senior members of the corporate world who have established startup companies and have seen them grow to become recognized brands,” claims Aggarwal. The third and the final category of faculty are those that are classified as flying faculty, who spend time for a certain fixed time period at Rishihood University teaching and supporting the students. Dr. Misra says, “Many of these flying faculty are international faculty and are teaching in universities in USA, UK, Australia while some of them are based in India. They deliver the courses in a modular format and are supported by the in-house full-time faculty members who also benefit and upgrade their teaching and delivery as per the international standard.
Rishihood faculty member will forge research alliance with the industry, work with students on industry-based projects, and spend time with industry mentors who bring to the university the latest developments of the corporate world. This ensures that the faculty members are updated with the latest trends in the industry. In fact, Industryconnect is an important aspect of the new-age higher education degree programs at Rishihood University. “We are building a network of corporate connect with the objective of not only having students do their training and placement but also to ensure that there is a good deal of knowledge sharing,” pinpoints Dr. Misra. The industry faces a number of problems that need immediate solutions based on research. Such research work that benefits the industry will be conducted at the various schools of the university and will involve high-quality researchers and students who will provide researchbased solutions to the existing problems. For this purpose, Rishihood University is setting up the All India Researcher’s Home on the campus with all the facilities. The University is also putting in place a system to receive research-based projects from the industry such as feasibility study, analysis of markets, pricing strategy, and helping in building prototypes for new products for the industry. “There is also
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a process in place to bring high profile speakers from the industry to share their experience and knowledge with students and faculty members. This is an important development in the area of higher education,” opines Aggarwal. Rishihood University has planned Executive Development Programs in collaboration with industry under the banners of the Corporate Knowledge Center at the campus. Focusing on Innovation and Creativity Students who are seeking higher education qualifications today are going to be living in a world that is going to be defined by innovation and creativity. “We at Rishihood University have taken steps and have put processes in place where we will support innovation and creativity at all levels. To us, innovation means invention and commercialization. This implies that inventions or ideas already exist but what is missing
Higher Education Digest January 2020
is our ability to commercialize that idea,” Explains Dr. Misra. To support and encourage innovation and creativity, Rishihood University has set up the School of Creativity and the School of Entrepreneurship for the first time in the country where students will work hand-in-hand along with their mentors from academics and the industry to identify a new or existing idea for the purpose of commercialization, design and develop prototypes, and work on creating new markets for their products and services. Aggarwal pinpoints, “The most important aspect of this model is to help students understand that for any business to succeed it is important that there are paying customers for their ideas which get commercialized. Many times, this aspect takes a back seat in the planning process and the startup dies an early death.” The university has planned the delivery of the program in such a way that they can move students from a system
Rishihood University has developed its infrastructure keeping in mind the needs of its students and faculty, allowing the students to discover and create their own Rishihood with love, compassion, curiosity and enthusiasm
of dependent memory to a system of independent thinking and problem-solving. Dr. Misra adds, “This is possible when we allow our students to go into a learning mode rather than the teaching mode of delivery. We have set up labs and studios which are designed to get the best of the creative thinking of the student.” The School of Entrepreneurship at Rishihood University has been set up with a clear objective of creating a disruption in the field of entrepreneurship education. “Conventionally, entrepreneurship education in India has been just a simple MBA with a few courses in managing a family business and basic principles of entrepreneurship. We are introducing new age programs which differ both in content and delivery,” shares Dr. Misra. The objective of the MBA Entrepreneurship program at Rishihood is to prepare job creators for the new economy. This program is delivered in a format of an incubation process and Bootcamp delivery. Students will be required to register their startups by the end of the program. They will start from the process of generating a business idea where they spend considerable time in the idea lab with mentors and entrepreneurs and graduating to the stage of opportunity lab where they are able to test their idea before they move to the startup garage. “This is the stage when they actually begin to develop the design and the prototype of the product and finally move to the incubator where they have the office of the company and they begin to prepare for the start,” adds Dr. Misra. During this whole process of setting up their startup company, Rishihood will offer academic inputs to the students in a modular format and are structured in such a way that it coincides with the development process of their startups. “The degree programs are delivered by faculty who come with extensive experience both in academics and from the industry. We will have a number of well-known successful entrepreneurs who will be part of the delivery of these programs. The school of entrepreneurship will also have both undergraduate and postgraduate programs and will allow students a fair degree of choice to take courses of their interests but relevant to their area of study,” concludes Aggarwal. Undoubtedly, Rishihood University is an institute to look upon in the futures, as it provides a very conducive environment for students to think outside the box and not use 20thcentury solutions to solve the problems of the 21st century.
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INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE
Education Goes Digital: How to Skillup the Young Indian 24
• How has the concept of specialising in a field changed with the emergence of short-term courses? Today, there are growing concerns about human workers being replaced by machines. Advancements in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence are set to trigger a massive disruption in the job market across industries. In the future, machines will be able to perform menial tasks far more efficiently than their human counterparts. Humans need to acquire skills that transcend machine capabilities. I believe the only way to keep up with the disruption is to continually acquire new skillsets by specialising in fields that could be relevant soon. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) focuses on ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning for all. Lifelong learning has never been more critical than it is today. Our current education system must adapt to the evolving labour market and prepare the students accordingly. Recent advances in IT have enabled new and more accessible routes to education. It isn’t always feasible to enrol for full-fledged one to two-year courses. Short-term courses can meet the changing demands of the future of work. They make it easier to facilitate lifelong learning and acquire specialised skills for professional growth. • Can you elaborate on the importance of conceptual development for tackling real-life situations? Conceptual development is critical to ensure that students can tackle new situations effectively, not only at school but also in real life. A good foundation at the conceptual level is necessary to apply these concepts in new situations. Conceptual development includes strategies that teachers use to promote higher-order thinking skills and
Higher Education Digest January 2020
Recent advances in IT have enabled new and more accessible routes to education
25 Harjiv Singh
Harjiv Singh is the Founder & CEO of BrainGain Global, a SaaS-enabled higher education marketplace for content, program and tools. In an entrepreneurial career spanning over two decades, Harjiv, has built global companies and teams in digital media, technology and healthcare across the US, Europe and Asia. He is also the Founder of Gutenberg, a digital integrated marketing firm he founded in 2004. He began his career as a financial analyst in GE Capital’s Financial Management Program (FMP) and has worked at a New York City hedge fund and Priceline.com early in his career. In an exclusive interaction with the Higher Education Digest, Harjiv talks about the emergence of short-term courses, interest-based learning, digital education, and many more.
Higher Education Digest January 2020
Short-term courses are a great way to fill the gaps in one’s knowledge and continually acquire new skill sets that will help in the long run
cognition. It goes beyond rote learning and instead focuses on appropriate solutions by thinking about the how and why of learning.
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• Sometimes, the way the curriculum is presented to students turns them off education. How important is it to inculcate interest-based learning in early childhood and high school? Access to education has significantly risen across the globe. Education raises one’s self-esteem and expands opportunities for professional growth. But going to school is not always synonymous with learning. To inculcate interest-based learning right from early childhood and high school, I think it’s important that teachers are motivated to do their best. They must be equipped with appropriate teaching tools to impart soft skills and digital skills. Schools can also leverage technology to deliver quality education and teach fundamental skills. Educational institutions prepare students for more than just basic reading and writing. Students must also learn to interpret information, form opinions, be creative, and collaborate effectively. Unfortunately, conventional education models don’t value interest-based learning but favour rote learning and testing. But this approach fails to ensure knowledge retention. Interest-based learning not only motivates students to learn better but also helps them retain information in the long run. • How do short-term courses offer students longterm benefits? Short-term courses are a great way to fill the gaps in one’s knowledge and continually acquire new skill sets that will help in the long run. They provide a competitive edge when it comes to climbing the professional ladder. Moreover, these courses offer greater flexibility, which can particularly benefit full-time working professionals. Shortterm courses also ensure lower opportunity costs. Most of them are only a few weeks or a few months long and have classes on weekends. Convenient timings make it
Higher Education Digest January 2020
easier for working professionals to attend classes without hampering their daily routine. • With the emergence of technology and the fourth industrial revolution, what is the current status of digital learning in India? Over 50 per cent of India’s population is under 25 years of age, and more than 65 per cent is below 35 years. Given these demographics, India has launched digitisation and skilling initiatives as well as a comprehensive education programme to improve school education and ensure equal opportunity for everyone. Industry 4.0 and its accompanying technological advancements will have an impact on the education sector. With knowledge in a state of constant flux, educational institutions must adapt their curricula accordingly. That said, having a 100 per cent digital education is certainly not an all-inclusive solution, nor can it be the only method of teaching. This is where hybrid learning and blended learning help. The recent surge in EdTech solutions provides a great opportunity to transform school environments into hybrid learning communities. But the success of these approaches depends on how well teachers can hone their digital skills, accustom themselves to unconventional teaching methods and embrace innovation. • With the digital age giving all the information you need in just a few clicks; how do you motivate and engage learners to know more? Accessing information online takes you only so far. Students must educate themselves beyond this, and teaching strategies must be built accordingly. Young people would benefit from being taught through technologies that they are accustomed to. New forms of learning like experiential, blended and hybrid learning ensure that students are always engaged and learn not only from what professors teach but also through their peers and the environment. These are real-life experiences and skills that cannot be learnt digitally.
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he purpose of a university is more than just preparing students for employment. Indeed, a university is a place where the youth are equipped to meet the challenges of life, out of which a livelihood is one. Believed to have a functioning system of higher education as early as 1000 B.C., the Indian Higher Education system is the thirdlargest in the world, housing a total number of 907 universities, after the United States and China. However, in the QS World University Rankings of 2019, only seven Indian universities were ranked in the top 400 universities; Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru along with six Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). In order to empower the Higher Educational Institutions and to help them become world-class teaching and research institutions, Government of India launched Institute of Eminence scheme in 2016. Under this project, every institute which has been accorded the status of Institute of Eminence will enjoy benefits which include additional funding, autonomy in recruitment, assessment patterns and so on. However, considering India’s demographic edge and a young talent pool that is reckoned to be the largest in the world by 2030, supporting a handful of institutions may not be the best strategy available. In fact, India’s numerous private universities have produced the best talents in the world and will continue to play a critical role in driving the talent competitiveness of the nation, as it is expected to account for approximately 20 percent of the total talent pool. With that in mind, we at the Higher Education Digest present to you the “10 Must-Watch Universities of the Year 2019.” These hand-picked private/ deemed-to-be-universities have been successful in bringing efficiency in the current education system to support our growing economy, to be recognized and commended by all. We sincerely hope that our efforts to feature the premier universities imparting the best facilities for research, innovation, placements, and entrepreneurship will help students and faculty members from all over the country in their educational journey.
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University Name Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University
City
State
Coimbatore
Tamil Nadu
Sonipat
Haryana
Pilani
Rajasthan
Bangalore
Karnataka
Manipal
Karnataka
Nirma University
Ahmedabad
Gujrat
REVA University
Bangalore
Karnataka
Rishihood University
Sonipat
Haryana
Shiv Nadar University
Greater Noida
Uttar Pradesh
Chennai
Tamil Nadu
Ashoka University
Birla Institute of Technology and Science
Christ University
Manipal Academy of Higher Education
SRM Institute of Science and Technology
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Higher Education Digest December January 2019 2020
ASHOKA UNIVERSITY
WHERE
FREEDOM IS NOT
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JUST A
WORD
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he 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. 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
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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 Sen, an alumnus of Ashoka University. To graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Ashoka University, students must pass courses that are broadly divided
Higher Education Digest January 2020
34 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 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. King’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
Higher Education Digest January 2020
35 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. 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 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,� says Priyank Narayan, Director of Centre for Entrepreneurship, Ashoka University. 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
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 January 2020
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
36 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 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.
Higher Education Digest January 2020
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 well-structured liberal arts education. In fact, many reputed institutions in India, which were started with an objective of providing liberalarts-focused-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 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 in India 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.
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INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE
What is Smart X.0? Randhir Mishra, Co-Founder, MetaCog Innovations
T 38
he journey of smart – mankind’s single most differentiating and enabling factor. Smart, as I refer to it here, relates to a general skill which is a combination of insights (a grasp of the context that makes it truly relevant), action (in terms of its practical applications) and inherent learning (self-evolving). The natural outcome of the above approach is the constant update (transitional) and upgrade (transformational) of the current version. I capture this in a framework of 5 stages. This framework looks at the earliest development of smart - SMART 0.0 to current SMART 4.0, which extends to non-living things too (the Mars Rover had built-in intelligence to counter all known and some unknown challenges to survive). I do venture a bit into what lies beyond and offer SMART X.0 which relates to the journey into the future, beyond what seems surmountable today. But that part is at best sketchy and most likely will need a rehash as the clarity of the current version emerges. SMART 0.0 Smart at the foundation of the complicated and evolved form was a simple logical state. In this “zero” state, the matter interacted with each other in a quest to find a form that could persevere. Insight: Physical form The stable physical form that allows the rocks, sea or the magma to endure ages of a turbulent and devastating period of the initial formation of our planet fulfills the primary character of smarts - insights. Action: Enduring Intelligence Adaptively (an intelligently) taking a form that would endure the changing physical conditions is the intrinsic nature of matter to achieve equilibrium. As we move along the phases of smart in this note, it will also seem like an insight for longer lifespan to look at inorganic existence which has a slower decay rate. Learning Implication: Continuity The scale of transformation that leads to the control of various forms of energy, even manipulating life itself and eventually taking the smart to challenge the so far accepted pinnacle of smart – humans, is surely unfathomable for anyone.
Higher Education Digest January 2020
The value of Smart 4.0 level awareness is that this awareness is automated and comes with prequalified associations and meanings making the basic interpretations obvious
39 Randhir Mishra
Co-founder of MetaCog Innovations, an EduTech AI start-up that is working in the area of evolved personal learning through the use of deep technology, Randhir Mishra is an acknowledged L&D professional with expertise in digital transformation, capability building, and advanced learning modelsl, bringing a diverse business domain specialization. He likes to think of himself as a digital evangelist with a focus on creative thinking, holistic transformation, and exponential growth that it should trigger.
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SMART 1.0 The life form clearly saw two avenues to survive in the new form. 1. Replicating itself continuously to ensure that the natural passage did not lose the last evolution progress and 2. Challenging itself with better insights to improve their ability to replicate itself not just in identical form but as evolved forms. Insight: Survival Life takes into stride all the challenges pertaining to physical dangers, availability of resources and the natural life cycle to maximize its survival. Action: Replication While the challenges of physical dangers and resources need the life forms to be smart in choosing the surroundings, it replicates the previous generation to a large extent. In parallel, they also see that the chances greatly improve if they collaborate and leverage each other. The learning implication for smart 1.0 is, therefore, the idea of co-existence. Learning Implication: Co-existence The need to acknowledge other dynamic life forms that impact individual life is a critical need for survival. But this is the basis for the humans to race ahead in this aspect to other life forms for being able to create extreme dependence and motivations to serve them. SMART 2.0 The next version of smarts relates to the ability to work together as units to make the primary challenges of life
Higher Education Digest January 2020
less of a primary threat. They can go beyond trying to survive onto looking at nourishing life and improve upon the process of replication to increase their numbers. Insight: Collaboration The external dependency and hence the need to articulate the expected outcomes in a way that could be understood by others. This seemingly simple act leads to two critical developments – alignment of thoughts across individuals and resulting alignment of actions leading to force multiplication and exponential development. Action: Specialization Humans take the idea of collaboration to the next level bringing sophisticated planning, specialization and adding various elements of nature (including other life forms) to extend their capability to achieve results. Learning Implication: Future orientation One of the truly marvelous capacities of the human brain is to imagine the future and share this imagination with others to get their buy-in. With this understanding, the smart could then evolve into more complex and multifaceted. SMART 3.0 This stage is the progress of smart from being subjective and inexact to being objective and definitive. A natural outcome of this replication is the ability to carefully isolate the value-adds and challenges and constantly evolve the solutions to deliver higher productivity and scale.
Insight: Productivity The industrial revolution has its roots in the smart 3.0 ability to deconstruct the socio-economic aspects into the factors of production - energy, labor, raw material, demand and supply, logistics, trade and commerce, and governance. Action: Optimization As the multiplicity of contributing factors emerged, it was soon understood that the problem was not of maximization but one of optimization. This led to deterministic models of optimization and identification factors that didn’t need human intervention or control. This was the basis of the next evolution in the smart journey – automation. Evolve: Automation Automation is truly the first fully developed form of smart as we typically understand it. As we begin to harness the power of automation in the non-physical realm, we open the Pandora’s box of unimaginable disruptions that leads to the next level of smart. SMART 4.0 Smart 4.0 is truly intelligent. It can communicate with other systems using digital interfaces sharing data, logic, possibilities, utility algorithms and dynamic contingencies to go way beyond the smart 3.0 automation. Insight: Awareness The value of Smart 4.0 level awareness is that this awareness is automated and comes with prequalified associations and meanings making the basic interpretations obvious. Action: Real-time insights As the information dissemination gets automated, classified, and instantaneous, it becomes artificially intelligent. The smart bots built into devices like Google Home are a prime example of this action. Evolve: Shared senses As synthesized awareness becomes possible and smart systematically breaches all boundaries, it makes a case for shared awareness/senses with humans. SMARTS X.0 The future of smart our imagination plus the “imagination” of billions of smart devices creatively shaping it. Presence - a well-known concept in spirituality, is the center of the future of smart.
Insight: Unbounded Presence We could be limited by our own cognitive bandwidth to truly immerse and act upon each of those insights productively. The challenge could be averted by singularity, the panacea, as popularised by Ray Kurzweil, where the human transcends the physical boundary by integrating with the digital world. Action: Singularity Traces of singularity is already visible in our day-to-day life. We already are a witness to astonishing results spanning synthesized organs, near-perpetual machines, computing and connectivity, and countless other wonders. One of the early manifestations of smart – the physical form, is already becoming a bottleneck for smart, and it is sure to breach it soon. Evolve: Formless eternity? Imagining an all-knowing and capable smart is still a work in progress for most of us. The accelerated speed of changes aided by the speed of the news of these developments reaching us assures me that we will be able to articulate the future of smart more tangibly soon. Smart Journey – Insights, Actions and Implications At a basic level, we could see our own maturity of self-development journey and draw parallels for ourselves to evolve the same. At a broader level, this journey could throw light to an organization’s capability building and guide it in an informed and objective way. Insights: Experimentation As we progress it is important to look for opportunities to collaborate and leverage the ecosystem around us. Eventually, we could reach a level of zen where every experience we have is automatically connected to our past and yields invaluable insights to make accelerated progress. Action: Outward orientation As the insights accumulate, it is natural to start looking inwards to enjoy those eureka and search deeper for more of them. As we learn to add more factors into our consideration, we would be rewarded by the higher value our insights can deliver. Evolve: Generalizations It is a critical part of our smart maturity process that we can generalize and draw deeper learning out of our insights and actions.
Higher Education Digest January 2020
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MANIPAL ACADEMY OF HIGHER EDUCATION
CREATING LEADERS AND INNOVATORS 42
M
anipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) is one of India’s leading academic and research institutions. It has been granted Institution of Eminence status by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT), a constituent college of MAHE, is undoubtedly a place to experience the education. In fact, the vision of MIT “Excellence in Technical Education through Innovation and Teamwork” clearly articulates its way forward. “We at MIT believe that a creative mind is the net outcome of conducive environment, which facilitates experiential learning. We have some of the best technical and cultural clubs run by students. This gives them an additional technical, cultural and managerial experience beyond the curriculum,” says Dr. D Srikanth Rao, Director, Manipal Institute of Technology.
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MIT has an excellent track record of nurturing global leaders. This may be mainly attributed to multidisciplinary, multinational, pan India, multicultural environment in the MIT campus enabling all-round development of the student. In addition, the institute gives ample freedom to the students to have self-discipline, openness to come up with new ideas, to take ownership of their decisions and actions. “Being innovative and creative, every student has some innovative ideas to solve some stressing issues of the society. Also, most of the students have the potential to be an entrepreneur,� pinpoints Dr.
Higher Education Digest January 2020
Rao. Always a forward-looking Institution, MIT felt the need to nurture creative and entrepreneurial qualities of the students and started the Innovation Center in 2007. Further, to take innovative projects to society, Manipal University Technology Business Incubator (MUTBI) came into existence in 2009. Till now, more than 19 companies have been graduated with more than 50 percent of survival success from MUTBI. Fracktal Works Pvt. Ltd., Manipal Printronics Pvt. Ltd., Isa Technologies Pvt. Ltd., are the few successful companies to name among them. “The very nature of atmosphere at MIT encourages students to become
entrepreneurs. By encouraging various club activities, major student projects, participation in institute/university/ corporate/national level business plan competition/hackathons, MIT has always encouraged entrepreneurs,” pinpoints Dr. Rao. As an annual event, Innovation Center conducts an Innovation Day where faculty and students exhibit their prototype solutions. Selected solutions are awarded with the prize money and are also introduced to selected industries for probable partnership or to acquire the idea. These teams are also encouraged to come up with business plans and participate in ‘Provenance’ – a business
RoboManipal, the official robotics team of MIT, has represented and won laurels for the college at various technical fests, innovation challenges and robotics competitions at the national level
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Higher Education Digest January 2020
plan competition, organized by MUTBI. Winners in this competition are awarded with office space and a sum of Rs. 3 Lakh to start and Incubate their start-up. These start-ups are also introduced to the alumni and angel investors for further support.
Dr. D Srikanth Rao, Director Dr. Rao, a Professor, Department of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering, is an Alumnus of Manipal Institute of Technology, obtained his B.E. degree in Mechanical Engineering from University of Mysore, in 1984; M.Tech. and PhD degrees from Manipal University in 1991 and 2009 respectively. After graduating from MIT, Manipal, worked with M/s Hindustan Dorr-Oliver Ltd, a Stanford Oil Subsidiary then, for 5 years of useful industrial exposure, in the area of Operations, Installation and Trouble-shooting of Filtration,
Industry’s Favorite “Top ranking universities and institutes have some tieups and collaborations with the industry, and hence their position is much better compared to the other institutes. The industry is even willing to collaborate with such institutions as the venture is a win-win situation for both,” opines Dr. Rao. At MIT, industry plays a crucial role in fine-tuning the students as well as faculty members. The institute has initiated faculty sabbatical for a short period in industries, so that they can transfer the knowledge back to the institute. Elective courses are also offered by industries or jointly by industry experts and faculty at the institute. Infosys, CISCO, EMC2, TCS, Bosch and Schneider are some examples of such initiatives at MIT. “We are also offering PG courses for the industry employees based on MoUs. Because of this assured quality and quantity, our internships and placements are quite good,” claims Dr. Rao. Every student pursuing graduation in engineering at MIT, should undergo a minimum of fourweek internship in a related industry and present his/her learning by way of a report and oral presentation. Dr. Rao adds, “At MIT, we allow them to undertake an internship during the vacation starting from the fifth semester. This gives them multiple chances, and moreover, the crowd gets distributed over a longer period.” Generating Knowledge “In the past, the research culture in Indian Institutions was behind reputed international institutes. However, in the
sedimentation and other pollution control equipment’s for major mining industries, sugar and other refining industries.
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recent years, the trend has shifted with enhanced emphasis on research. At MIT, we have seen tremendous growth in the numbers of publications and grants in the last three years,” states Dr. Rao. MIT regularly conducts research orientation seminar/workshop highlighting the research facilities and incentives available to all students and faculties. Besides, the institute has world-class research facilities and labs supported by various government agencies and corporate companies. “The number of PhD research scholar’s intake is increasing year on year. To motivate faculty and students, the university provides administrative, HR and financial support for research projects,” says Dr. Rao. To foster research culture among early career researchers, Manipal Academy of Higher Education has signed an agreement with Wiley Research Academy, in addition to the working relationship the university has with several foreign universities in research collaborations. MIT gives the students a unique opportunity to join the
Higher Education Digest January 2020
research scholars in the faculty research through a program called Hobby Research Project. The students will get to learn research methods and can carry out experiments under the guidance of the faculty mentor. Consequently, students can successfully publish their findings in the Scopus indexed journals and present their work in reputed conferences. The institute also provides students IPR related guidance for patenting their works. In 2018, MIT students actively participated in research activities, publishing around 200 papers. On the other side, MIT encourages international collaboration and consultancy with reputed institutes/ organizations. The institute has active research collaborations with international universities such as University of Milwaukee, University of Strathclyde, Wright State University and University of Dayton in USA; Deakin University, University of New Castle & UNSW in Australia, Cranfield University & City University in United Kingdom; University of New Brunswick, Canada,
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The MIT Innovation Centre facilitates inter-disciplinary research and provides incubation facilities to start ups and budding entrepreneurs
University of Groningen, Netherland and University of Antwerp, Belgium; Tel Aviv University, Israel to name a few. In addition to that, MIT has MoU’s for faculty/student exchange with about 90 prominent universities worldwide. “Our students can opt for semester abroad program in any international University and get their credits transferred. This provides a new learning opportunity with best of facilities available at these institutes,” shares Dr. Rao. Besides, students from these international universities also visit MIT and the shared learning provides them exposure to technical and cultural learning. Some Universities also provide short internship, which is also a great opportunity for technical education. “From research point of view, students will be actively involved in various interdisciplinary/ research projects. Gaining managerial and research skills. The overall development will make them good employee, researcher or entrepreneur in the future,” pinpoints Dr. Rao. Going ahead, MIT has bigger and better things to do. Paperless examination through E-pads, Techshop to host major student projects, a futuristic library and classrooms with lecture capture facility with the aim of producing online learning materials are the few immediate ones.
Higher Education Digest January 2020
INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE
How to be a Successful Finance Professional? 48
• What according to you is at the core of industry 4.0? What should industry leaders need to know before embarking on this journey? The core of industry 4.0 is going to be automation and using machines to multiply efficiency in every process of the product lifecycle. The per unit cost of manufacturing a product or producing a service should be as low as possible due to adaptation of technology. From IT enabled to IT company, every business would evolve to this realty. • Considering that a major chunk of future jobs in India will be in areas of Analytics, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, what needs to be done to fill the industry – academia gap? The major gap as you have already highlighted is industry academia mismatch. The whole education system should incorporate compulsory engagement with industry. Also, best practices followed globally should be introduced at every level of education. For example. Germany is known for its industry skill orientation. • Since the demand of skill – based learning is growing in finance sector, what Education 4.0 offers to fulfil the same? What is the idea to launch Kredent Academy and Elearnmarkets.com? KA and ELM were formed to fulfill the promise of providing industry-oriented education to everyone. Financial market is a
Higher Education Digest January 2020
For India to become a 5 trillion economy the most impetus will come from th finance sector
49 Vivek Bajaj
Vivek Bajaj is the founder of Kredent Infoedge, an enterprise involved in simplifying finance for everyone. He has over 15 years of experience in the financial market. He is a chartered accountant, company secretary and an MBA from IIM Indore. He begins his career as an analyst and moved on to become a trader and create one of the largest derivatives trading desk in eastern India with over 150 traders and also one of the top algo trading desks in Mumbai. He is passionate about data, technology and education. For the last 3 years, he has been involved in empowering people with right learning and analytics in finance through his online ventures elearnmarkets.com and stockedge app. In an exclusive interaction with the Higher Education Digest, Vivek Bajaj talks about the growing finance sector, future jobs and many more.
Higher Education Digest January 2020
In terms of corporate hiring in finance sector, the major problem lies in the fact that the entry level candidates are extremely bookish
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knowledge sea and anyone and everyone can deep drive into the same. But most critical in this domain is right and effective education. Both KA and ELM offers the right mix of theory and practical understanding to fulfil the application need of any participant.
of the entire course. For entry level jobs one could resort to other entry level courses like CRTA in our Academy CRTA (Certificate in Research, Trading & Advisory) is the best course which will help a participant to build a practical base of understanding financial markets.
• What impact will upskilling create on graduates and working professionals in Finance Sector? Knowledge of finance is most critical in society. A right learning framework will not just empower a candidate for employment but also to help the society in large become more sensitive to money management. Each person, particularly a graduate is expected to know the art of managing money since one would have earning eventually. Also, a cross dimensional understanding of various subjects in finance will give any finance professional an edge over other in terms of servicing the client.
• Where is India lacking when it comes to corporate hiring in the finance sector? In terms of corporate hiring in finance sector, the major problem lies in the fact that the entry level candidates are extremely bookish. This demotivates a recruiter to take many entry level resources as the effort on making them worthy goes up significantly. The solution is to introduce practical projects/tenure in every education module for smooth transition in real world.
• Do we have demand – supply gap of quality workforce India Finance sector? What are the loopholes in the Indian Financial Education system? There is always a demand supply gap in a sector which is the most growing sector in our economy. Finance is a broad domain which comprise of banking, wealth management, investments, loan etc. For India to become a 5 trillion economy the most impetus will come from this sector. To be on the right path, this sector would always need the best talents. The loopholes in the education system is the fact the students are focused towards exams and not careers. Take for example, CFA qualification. Ideally one should do CFA after few years of experience in finance because the concepts taught there is more application oriented. However, in realty the qualification is taken up mostly by freshers, which dilutes the essence
Higher Education Digest January 2020
• Why short – term courses (1.5 – 3 months) are helpful for professionals at any level? Short term courses are extremely important and user friendly for both participant and recruiter. They act as a bridge between the theory and the practical world and also a great source of upskilling the existing talent. • Is content important for skill creation? More than content I believe application of content is most important. I think content has become a commodity available in multiple platforms. What one need is not just consuming these contents but also understand the right practical framework around that content, which institute likes ours provide the best in financial learnings. • What is your advice to the aspirants? My advice to aspirants is to look at learning finance not only from perspective of career in finance but also for a holistic understanding of right money management. This will help them to create wealth in long term.
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Higher Education Digest January 2020
REVA UNIVERSITY
A RESEARCH-
INTENSIVE
UNIVERSITY 52
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esearch plays an inherent part in the teachinglearning process at REVA University. Teachers are either research scholars or pursuing research studies in their respective subjects with special emphasis on multidisciplinary work. They belong to the crème de crème of the academic world. “Our faculty members balance their role as knowledge facilitators and receptors. Inculcating curiosity in the minds of the learners is important to make them a part of the knowledge exchange process. Each faculty of REVA duly inculcate curiosity in learners by encouraging knowledge exchange and active participation of students,” opines Dr. Shyama Raju, Founder and Chancellor of REVA University. REVA hosts weekly Faculty Development Programmes (FDP) through which the educators will engage in interactive sessions on their subject matter
Higher Education Digest January 2020
and way beyond that as well to polish their knowledge. These FDPs enhance their planning and execution that keep them abreast with the advancements in the industry. FDPs are also multidisciplinary, which provide them with a bigger scope for research and knowledge sharing in their subjects. At the outset of bursting technological progressions worldwide, REVA faculty members update their knowledge and skills regularly to stay abreast of technological advancements. Dr. Shyama Raju explains, “The majority of the faculty members have been engaged in sharing research-related experiences and
Higher Education Digest January 2020
interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary collaborative work by appreciating the research contributions of colleagues. Thus, making the campus vibrant and conducive for research and research-oriented activities.� REVA University also encourages faculty members, research scholars and students by providing financial help to travel and take part in various academic and research-oriented events. As a result, the students and faculty members have come up with innovative ideas and products that are beneficial for society.
Dr. P. Shyama Raju, Founder and Chancellor Dr. P. Shyama Raju, Founder and Chancellor of REVA University is the key
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person of the University. As a philanthropic gesture of giving back to society, Dr. P. Shyama Raju founded the REVA Group of Educational Institutions under Rukmini Educational Charitable Trust. The main goal of the University is to provide world-class education and holistic learning experience to the students while creating opportunities for the young generation to excel.
Higher Education Digest January 2020
Offering Global Standard of Education Global education is a must in the seamless world of education that we are in today. To provide global standards of education, REVA University has collaborated with various educational institutions and universities of repute around the globe, which help the students to excel in their academics. The University also conducts international educational trips and student exchange programmes for the students to understand different educational systems prevalent in the world. Dr. Shyama
Raju says, “We have an International Centre at REVA to provide the best programmes in collaboration with topleague International Universities. This way, we create knowledgeable students of international standards under the expertise of international faculty and industry personnel while pursuing their Undergraduate or Postgraduate Degrees at REVA. Faculty members from foreign universities visit our campus and engage in knowledge exchange sessions with the students. “ The collaboration of REVA with foreign universities provides the students with the opportunity to take up summer and winter school programmes that help them to obtain the experience of student life at these
universities. The University also offers internship programmes abroad to the students that provide them with global exposure to jump-start a successful career. REVA has collaborated with universities such as RWTH Aachen University, IQS School of Management – Universitat Ramon LLull, University of California, Riverside, Florida International University, Management Development Institute of Singapore, Universal College of Learning, New Zealand, ETSAB, Barcelona, The University of Alabama, Oklahoma State University, Michigan Technological University, to name a few. On the other side, REVA strongly believes that a strong industry-
REVA University provides world class infrastructural facilities to conduct all required preplacement and placement activities
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academia tie up is a must for any student to benefit from a University programme. In this direction, REVA makes it a point to involve the industry in as many layers as possible in the teaching-learning process. “The industry collaborations of are helpful for students in obtaining necessary credentials that meet the requirements of current industry trends. The internship programmes and technical certifications related to industrial research and projects act as the stimulus for learning amongst the students,” claims Dr. Shyama Raju. The engaging partnerships of REVA accelerate competent instructional practices, professional development, strategic planning, academic learning, and skill-based learning in the students. Indeed, REVA University offers unparalleled facilities to the students that enrich their theoretical and practical knowledge to make them job ready. Dr. Shyama Raju adds, “As an integral part of the learning culture at REVA, students engage in a proactive approach in education. As we equip students with the necessary
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theoretical knowledge related to their programmes, it becomes increasingly important to impart the practical aspects, which is the core of their learning experience.” The industry tie-ups of REVA NEST include Seventh Sense People Development Solutions Pvt. Ltd., BiozeenBangalore Biotech Labs Pvt. Ltd., CII, National Entrepreneur Network (NEN), Electronics Sector Skill Council India (ESSCI), Finnish Russian University Corporation Telecommunication (FRUST), Arthavidya, EMC, Oracle Academy, SAP, Intel, VMware IT Academy, Infiction Labs, All India Technical and Management Council, and Janpat. To keep up with the pace of changing technology, REVA University introduced REVA NEST, a technology business incubator within the campus to help students to build their entrepreneurial skills. REVA NEST offers internship programmes to students in various domains. Institution’s Innovation council - IIC recognized by MHRD Govt. of India works with REVA NEST to
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REVA University campus is a diverse, sociable community, where imagination thrives and ambitions are realized
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REVA’s laboratories are equipped with most modern equipment that helps students to acquire practical skills and indepth knowledge in the subject
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transform innovative ideas of students into prototypes. NEST TBI encourages early-stage start-ups and growth stage start-ups by providing expert mentors who help the start-ups to accomplish their goals. “With the present age employers keen on employing youth who are not only innovate in their thinking and action but also are enterprising and consider entrepreneurship as an alternative. At REVA, we give priority to nurture the spirit of entrepreneurship through University-industry collaboration,” explains Dr. Shyama Raju. REVA has a tie-up with Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII), Ahmedabad for an intrinsic entrepreneurship programme that exposes students to the innate practices of business. Some of the ventures of REVA students/alumni of the University are Dhanaina Technologies Pvt. Ltd., SANDCUBE Analytics, Tacnik Technology Pvt. Ltd., WLEND, and Hind Electric Works. These innovation and entrepreneurship cells of REVA identify and encourage the ground breaking ideas of young talent by organizing periodic workshops, discussions, seminars, hackathons, idea competitions, community outreach programmes, training sessions, industry visits, innovation campaigns and entrepreneurship awareness camps to fit the students for the rapidly changing industry. “Our students acquire various skills and qualities during their study. They acquire various qualities such as organizing skills, communication skills, entrepreneurial
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skills, compassion, time management, research skills and relevant industry skills,” shares Dr. Shyama Raju. REVA University plays an integral role in developing the personality of the students. The faculty members of the University allow the students to take up leadership roles to organize various events such as seminars, workshops, festivities, championships, fresher’s day, and so on. Because of the presence of multicultural students on the campus, all students will enhance their communication skills, especially face-to-face communication. Today, REVA University has created extensive plans for its future as it looks forward to expanding its horizon in various academic disciplines. Keeping innovation in mind, REVA University focuses on applied education and research to reimagine future education. Strategic plans are devised to develop a multidimensional research ecosystem to nurture more academia and industry collaboration. “We are planning to enhance global and indigenous engagement through various strategic partnerships with academia and industries. Since the future shines bright in interdisciplinary areas, we will devise strategies to enhance interdisciplinary research to address the societal challenges. Last but not the least, we would also take necessary steps to maintain organizational excellence by developing a culture of relentless improvement,” concludes Dr. Shyama Raju. With an immersive learning experience to offer, REVA University has an exciting future ahead.
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INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE
Impact of Technology in Modern Education Pooja Vasudev, VP - Business Development, Epaathsala
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T
he top trends in education sector for academic year 201920 is blended learning. It is important for the educational institutions and faculties to understand that learning happens outside the boundary of the classroom. So many institutions India and abroad are resorting to ICT based tools such as LMS, virtual classroom where faculties are taking classes at their convenient time and the students are joining classes from various locations. At the same time, there are various innovative teaching learning methodologies such as Problem Based Learning, Case Studies, Group Discussion, Internship, Field Visit and many more, which are part of the evaluation system for holistic development of the students. Technologies such as AI and ML help to provide targeted support to the students of the institution. For example, using ML based tools, it is easy to analyze the past performance data of the students linking to their demographics, extracurricular and cocurricular activities and it is possible to create a model. Using the model, an AI based tool can easily predict the likely performance of a student or the areas that would require additional support for a student well in advance and address the learning needs through various methodologies such as bridge course, remedial coaching, personal counseling and many more. ICT is a trend that is also mandated by various accreditation agencies. Lack of adoption of ICT by the institution for its infrastructure or by the faculties for teaching learning methodologies may potentially penalize an institution for getting a
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The major challenge for academicians is adoption of technology and the required infrastructure
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Pooja Vasudev has an experience of over 5 years in compliance and quality assurance for colleges and universities in India and Australia and handled over 150 projects. She has completed her B.E from KIT before joining Campus.technology as a business development and operations executive. Currently she works as Vice President Business Development and Operations. She believes that her strength comes solely from her tenacity, this is what drives her to stay awake for 2 days straight if need be when there is a project deadline. She also believes that there should be a right balance between work and having fun in life which led to her going on a skiing trip in the snowy mountains of Australia, zip lining in the mountains and coming back to work the next day to handle her clients.
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good grade in NAAC accreditation for example. At the same time, ICT makes it easier for the faculties to deliver topics and it makes it easier for the students to learn it. The major challenge for academicians is adoption of technology and the required infrastructure. Till today there are many institutions in major cities that do not have proper internet bandwidth. Or there are locations where internet is not available. At the same time there are many faculties who are not very familiar with technology. Training the faculties to adopt technology is also a major effort that is to be addressed for many institutions.
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Importance of Could-based Accreditation Management for an Institution Accreditation usually is a complex process that requires creating reports, collecting documents, creating supporting documents and implementing quality improvement processes. The process of data collection and creating reports involves all stakeholders. Also implementing many quality processes manually takes lot of time. For example, there are various type of feedback that the institution needs to implement along with analysis report or creating attainment report for all courses and programs. A cloud-based tool like Epaathsala makes the accreditation process extremely easy. For example, every stakeholder gets username and password and they can enter data and supporting documents from their portal. The software automatically creates the required reports and supporting documents. Secondly, often the data is linked in multiple criteria. If there is any change in one data that requires recompilation of many metrices. In manual process, it is easy to overlook some metrices for any change in any data point, especially when there are many changes, or it is close to submission deadline. In a software, the mapping is automatic. So, once one data point is updated, all related metrices are automatically updated. Thirdly, all related ICT based quality improvement processes are in built in the software. Traditional ERP software do not support accreditation modules completely. A software like Epaathsala supports all ICT modules for accreditation making it easy for the college to comply with all requirements. A
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traditional manual process of accreditation that takes years may be easily completed by using the tool in months. Also, the built-in campus management tool makes it easy to collect data at source as per various accreditation requirements. For example, unless the out of state students do not submit the required documents. What Do We Do? Epaathsala has started in 2014 with an aim to improve the quality of education through accreditation and standardization of processes through accreditation. The first of its toll in India, the software was initially used by few premiere institutions in India for accreditation management. Epaathsala was funded by Times Internet and Hyderabad Angels and later it launched the modules for complete campus automation and multiple accreditation management. Today every institution needs to submit report for multiple compliances and accreditations. A manual process may take more time and may lead to discrepancies of data submitted for various accreditation. Epaathsala makes it easy by catering to multiple accreditations with a task-based workflow. Faculties upload data only once, and all reports for various accreditations are automatically created. Epaathsala has now launched TQA, or Total Quality Assurance Program, under which, apart from assisting with accreditation, Academic and Administrative Audit, Green Audit, we are also assisting institutions to implement quality processes, value added courses, internships for students, career counseling and so on. Technology is the need of the hour. We completely understand the reluctance, more to do with resistance to change and fear of unknown. However, technology is a tool and a great enabler, using technology you could improve your efficiency many folds. So, my advice to institutions would be rather than treating technology as unknown black hole, adapt it gradually and use it to your benefit. Faculties already are involved in complex tasks, learning or using technology is much easier compared to what they do every day. (As told to the Editor)
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Higher Education Digest January 2020