digital LEARNING Magazine January Issue 2017

VOLUME 11 ISSUE 04 APRIL 2015 VOLUME-13 ISSUE-01 JANUARY 2017

Cover Story

Corporate Interviews

Koushik Yachendra

CEO & Founder, Formac Software Services (India) Pvt Ltd

Kalorex Nurturing 21st Century Learners

Special Story

Ankur Gupta

CEO, CampusMall.in

Ranking Parameter

Finding the Right Fit

Placement: Stay the Course to Cherish Your Tomorrow

24 Infrastructure 25 Faculty 28 Global Collaboration 29 Placement 30 Industry Interface 32 Enterpreneurship Ranking

Private UniversitiesUnavoidale Alternative for Higher Education

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Challenges of Being a Private University in India

33 National Ranking 38 North Zone Ranking 40 Central Zone Ranking 42 South Zone Ranking 44 East Zone Ranking 46 West Zone Ranking

Building A World-Class Knowledge Society Universities and schools are the engines of any knowledge society which holds the responsibility to nurture a generation of brilliant individuals and thought leaders, equipping them with the much-needed know-how as per the requirements of that time. In this light, it becomes vital to understand and emphasise the crucial role these temples of learning play in building such a significant society. Considering the kind of innovations, technologies, and methodologies being adapted and introduced in various aspects of higher education by private players so far, it looks pertinent to understand these private universities’ worth in India where there’s a huge shortage of government colleges and universities to cater to a large young brigade of students. With our country fast emerging as a global hub of higher education under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Indian private universities are rapidly innovating on all fronts to attain global standards and create a niche for themselves. However, with so many universities claiming to be on top, it seems a Herculean task for students to choose that most suitable institution which could be detrimental for their career. In this wake, ‘The University Ranking: Top Universities of 2017’, the second edition of university ranking carried out by our magazine, aims to shortlist top universities from different zones of India on the basis of various parameters. We have ranked 60 of the over 350 private universities in the country based on -- Infrastructure, Faculty, Global Collaboration, Placement, Industry Interface and Entrepreneurship, and Placement. The universities have been ranked considering these parameters, with the mammoth exercise spread over two months involving online voting of visitors on our website-- www. digitallearning.eletsonline.com. Besides, our special stories on “Placements: Stay the Course to Cherish Your Tomorrow”, “Challenges of Being a Private University”, “Finding the Right Fit”, and “Private Universities -- Unavoidable Alternative for Higher Education” provide our readers an in-depth view about varying dimensions of the higher education sector evolving in the country. The issue also carries an interview of Anoop Khinchi, the former Commissioner of College Education, Government of Rajasthan. Our latest issue of the digitalLearning magazine carries a cover story ‘Kalorex Nurturing 21st Century Learners’ highlighting how a group of schools is developing global learners equipped with 21st century learning skills. Hoping the latest issue would provide useful information, we look forward to our readers’ valuable feedback.

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COVER STORY

K Nurturing ALOREX

21 Century st

Learners

Kalorex schools follow best education practices and teaching methodologies for the holistic development of children. The groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s motive is to develop global learners equipped with 21st century learning skills. Manjula Pooja Shroff, MD & CEO, Kalorex Group, explains their strategies and methodologies in conversation with Elets News Network (ENN).

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Manjula Pooja Shroff

MD & CEO Kalorex Group

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COVER STORY

hat is the USP of Kalorex group? What changes have been brought by the brand in the school education space?

There is a huge gap between the demand and supply in education sector of India, compelling schools to follow the best educational practices and provide all round exposure to children. Establishing world-class schools that follow holistic and integrated educational approach is the need of the hour. To meet this demand, Kalorex came into being in 1995. Kalorex, a professionally managed autonomous institution, is focussing its activities on K-21 education since its inception. The group believes in empowering children to succeed in all spheres of life. Currently with 40+ schools and growing, Kalorex follows a cradle to career approach- addressing need of all segments of educational domain. Kalorex is a preferred choice for high quality education across all segments of the society. The group is one of the most trusted names among parent irrespective of the education boards, be it national or international boards of education. May it be appearing in Reality shows with Amitabh Bachchan, or pursuing a career in the making of animated movies in Hollywood, or securing Gold medals at Asian Games and other International competitions, Kalorexians are known for bringing laurels to their country resulting out of a diverse exposure given by the Kalorex institutions and its relentless pursuit for excellence, each and every time. What is the philosophy followed by the group for imparting education to the students?

Kalorex believes in developing Glocal learners and nurturing them as better human being. The word ‘Glocal’ refers to global citizen with local adoption. At Kalorex, each and every child is equipped with 21st century learning skills along with financial literacy, linguistic competencies, digital literacy, media literacy, life skills and self learning skills along with values and traditions of the countries that it operates in. This enables every child to become an asset for the country.

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Kalorex believes in developing Glocal learners and nurturing them as better human beings. The word Glocal refers to global citizen with local adoption. At Kalorex, each and every child is equipped with 21st century learning skills. Kalorex follows a unique pattern of curriculum named as “Taxonomy”. The curriculum is developed in house by the best of teachers and academicians by incorporating and amalgamating globally acclaimed teaching learning practices and methodologies in education. The Kalorex curriculum emphasise on innovation in education with technology as a learning tool and with support from teachers as mentors. As a brand, how do you differentiate from the various other school brands operational in the country?

Kalorex is a well-established name in education sector. It is managed by a group of professional edupreneurs and chaired by a President of India awardee for her work in education and social sector. The group is also supported by leading edu-

cation industry stakeholders and funded by a private equity partner specialised in education sector. The group is high on culture, values and ethos, catering to the entire spectrum of learners from preschool to university across all segments of the society. Technology and researchbased pedagogy across all Kalorex institutions have resulted in the development of the best brains of the time. The alumni of Kalorex are placed at leading corporates, business houses, research, space and defence institutions across the world. The objective of shaping Glocal Learners is embedded into the DNA and ethos of more than 650+ employees who are dedicated to the cause of Kalorex. Dynamism, humanistic approach, living in the gap (Continuous Learning Mode), Ownership etc. are the beliefs which are practised by every Kalorexian every day. The school franchisee business is blooming rapidly and a lot of new players are joining the fray, how does Kalorex safeguard the interests of the partners?

Kalorex believes in replicating its success formula not only for itself but also for the associated partners. A win-win relationship is very important in education. Thereby Kalorex sees it collaborated as partners in progress. Kalorex is well-equipped to accommodate and accept the constantly changing dynamic environment in the field of technology, human resources, skill development and government policies. Kalorex also provides to its clientele a platform for online support, educational accessories, content and other tools towards knowledge enhancement, personality development and making a career for every child. How does your brand ensure the quality of all its partner schools?

In order to ensure the quality, we have a structured operational code for processes and procedures, an end-to-end support system, well-defined training programmes and schedules complimented by strong systems and methods of au-

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dits and feedback mechanisms. Along with it a specialised team mentors all the partners to ensure the same standards of quality across all the schools under the Kalorex umbrella. What is your vision for the brand and how do you see the expansion for the brand happening in near future?

In the next five years, Kalorex envisions to have its presence with over 100 institutions across the country. Multiple investment models will offer good returns on investment and better brand value to the partners of Kalorex group. The group will continue its endeavour in providing best quality education and thereby raising its own standards and benchmarks. What are the challenges of operating a school chain in the country?

Kalorex: Abode of School Learning Founded in 1995 Kalorex Group today has now in presence in two countries and is successfully operating more than 40 projects. The group believes in empowering children and helping them to succeed in all spheres of life by providing quality K-12 education. Elets News Network (ENN) examines the principles that work for the school education major.

Challenges make one think beyond comfort. Challenges help one to innovate, succeed and accomplish. Kalorex believes in being ready to face challenges in its endeavour to provide quality education to all segments of the society. What are your plans for expansion in India and abroad? In which regions are you planning to expand?

Kalorex wishes to expand to 100 cities across India. Internationally we have our presence in the Middle East and other countries of Asia through a strong network of business associates. The 40+ institutions of Kalorex is a mix of selfowned and investment led partnerships by Investors who wish to make a mark in education. How is the technology used to impart education in k-12 learning?

Teacher and Technology are two important aspects in a childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life. Teacher as a mentor and Technology as a tool help every child at Kalorex in becoming a Gocal Learner. Kalorexians are trained on a 360-degree environment. May it be for teaching learning process, communication and interacting channels, ERP systems , Robotics and Virtual Reality , self-learning, Flip classrooms, Research and Innovations, technology helps teachers and students to teach and learn through the best practices. n

40+

24+

650+

20+

12000+

Countries

Institutions

Nationalities

Years

Employees

Students

8 Cities digitalLEARNING

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COVER STORY

l Parents appraisal (bi-yearly) l Students satisfaction survey

Professional development of Teachers l Professor mentors l Video recording and feedback l Twenty hour training every year l Encouragement for publications & research projects

(bi-yearly) l Teachers Satisfaction survey (bi-yearly) Career Counselling l Career fair l Career conference l Career talk

Feedback Mechanism l Peer appraisal (bi-yearly)

Non-Scholastic Actions & Attitude l Science Park l Free Play l Dance and Music l Sports Activities l Art and Craft activities l Projects â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Individual and Group

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l Wide range of

co-curricular activities

l Heritage Walk l Educational Trips l Leadership l Entrepreneurship

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Scholastic

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GOVERNMENT INITIATIVE

Opening New

Frontiers of Opportunities

Anoop Khinchi, then Comissioner of college education, Government of Rajasthan participating in World Education Summit on August 5, 2016, in New Delhi

ajasthan has many firsts to its credit, making it one of the most dynamic states when it comes to implementing e-governance initiatives. Underpinning this approach is the state government’s will to use the information and communications technology as a handy tool to improve access to key public services and facilitate streamlining of processes to make service delivery an effortless task. In keeping with the tradition of innovating for masses, the Department of College Education, Rajasthan, has come up with a number of initiatives – both ICTbased as well as non-ICT programmes – to meet the needs of millions of students across the state and enhance the quality of education. ICT Initiatives (Implemented) In order to make the admission process in state-run colleges smooth and efficient, the department launched online admission forms for graduate level classes in 63 gov-

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ernment colleges in 2013-14, which was later extended to UG courses in all state government colleges in the academic session 201516. The online application can be accessed through the department’s web portal www. dce.rajasthan.gov.in. Online Admission Process (OAP) UG-PG The unique features of the Online Admission Process, or OAP, that include data integration with various government bodies and student-specific services, turned out to be highly beneficial in reducing manpower in colleges and facilitating hassle-free service delivery to students in an environmentally sustainable manner. Higher education web portal has been initiated in compliance of CM Budget announcement where information pertaining to all higher education related departments like college education, engineering, polytechnic and sanskrit education will be available at a single click. Website updation and uploading of information is under process.

Guided by its sharp vision of future, the Department of College Education in Rajasthan is gradually transforming the education landscape in the state through various e-Governance initiatives. Kartik Sharma of Elets News Network (ENN) explores how this futuristic approach is creating new opportunities for college students across the state.

Online Application for No Objection Certificate (NOC) to Private Colleges With an aim to bring private colleges within the ambit of the government’s ICT initiatives, an online No Objection Certificate (NOC) software application was developed to allow submission of applications for all types of TNOC/PNOC to be issued to private colleges for session 2017-18. The Department of Information Technology designed and implemented this project, which is also a part of applications to be developed under the state’s higher education portal.

Non-ICT Programmes/Initiatives

Sanitary Napkins Rajasthan is among the few pioneering states where impactful public health policies have catapulted the healthcare landscape, making quality healthcare services easily accessible to the common man. Carrying forward this legacy, the Department of College Education has started providing sanitary napkins to girl students in government colleges – a

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move that will go a long way in improving hygiene among women in the state. Rashtriya Uchchtar Siksha Abhiyan (RUSA) A well-developed college infrastructure is imperative for quality education. The formation of State Higher Education Council (SHEC) to smoothen the receiving, disbursement and monitoring of RUSA grants was a major achievement of the department, underscoring its commitment to enhance quality of education in the state. As the Department of College Education resolves to take education in Rajasthan to the next level, it has set its eyes on the future to reinforce the state’s leadership in creating a swathe of new opportunities for students by leveraging cutting-edge technology. Blood Donation Programme In September 2016, the Blood Donation camp was organized across the state in all Government Colleges. The department received third prize at state level blood collection from volunteer students.

In keeping with the tradition of innovating for masses, the Department of College Education, Rajasthan, has come up with a number of initiatives – both ICTbased as well as nonICT programmes. RUSA. The proposal is approximately of three Crores. Strident steps have been initiated to facilitate students across the state to get online academic support and contents to prepare

ICT Initiatives (Proposed & submitted to Finance Department & RUSA)

Dynamic e-Classroom This is an initiative to facilitate students across the state to get online academic support and contents for their curriculum based and to prepare for competitive exams. The programme is initiated under the assurance in the House by the Hon’ble Higher Education Minister in March, 2015. A total 34 colleges have been identified in the first phase, selecting one biggest college from each district headquarters in the state. The proposal is to expand this facility to other colleges as well. The programme in the first phase in final stage, as the installation of equipments in the colleges is under process by the DOIT. Next phase proposals have also been submitted to the Dept. of Finance, GoR and also RUSA, New Delhi. Virtual Lab facility Considering the teaching - learning based difficulties belonging to faculty of science, especially the Zoology subject, this Proposals have been submitted to the FD and the

for competitive exams. Initiatives like virtual lab facility, e-Repository and Quick Response System to connect all those needy students who are sincerely interested to enhance knowledge, learn and progress have been proposed and submitted to the Finance Department and RUSA for implementation. Wi Fi facility in government colleges under CM budget announcement 2016-17 is being initiated in six colleges located at Sikar, Jaipur, Baran, Jhalawar and Dhaulpur. Online IT based courses through spoken tutorial of IIT Bombay, which is under the scheme of Ministery of Human Resource Development, Government of India. It will

be implemented in all government colleges in different phases. This programme is available free of cost to students in online mode.

Other initiatives (Non- ICT)

Reviving Higher Education Academy for Research & Training (HEART) Higher Education Academy for Research & Training (HEART) is established in the compliance of the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT) guidelines. It was established almost a decade before, but for last couple of years it seems to be non-functional. It is revised and three sensitisation workshops were organized in February 2016 at Dungar College, Bikaner; Meera Girls’ College, Udaipur and RD Girls’ College, Bharatpur. The basic aim is to involve teachers to suggest and act to optimize academic output and make the institutions live. The recommendations of the workshop were taken on record and proposals have been prepared accordingly. Entrepreneurship & Skill Development Programmes for Students Efforts have been made to initiate Entrepreneurship & Skill Development Programmes for students to optimize their placement and career oriented opportunities. Establishing Entrepreneurship & Skill Development Cells in the colleges was proposed as preliminary initiative which is approved from Competent authorities. It’s on way to establish therein. Another effort through Wadhwani Foundation is also initiated which is again under process. With the department training sharp focus on developing next-gen leaders, entrepreneurship and skill development programmes for students are underway in colleges across the state. Alongside, a proposal has been made for establishing ‘Kalpana Swarnim Udaan Kendra’ in Girls Colleges to train students for self defense, skill development and also to act as help centers in their career making. n digitalLEARNING

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INSIGHT PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES

Campus placement is a crucial component of growth strategies of many leading organisations. Universities play the role of a facilitator by building expectations and bridging gaps between the job-seeking graduates and the employers, writes Vivek Ratnakar of Elets News Network (ENN).

Finding the

Right Fit

very year, placement records of Indian Institutes of Management Studies and Indian Institutes of Technology make headlines in various newspapers and TV channels across the country, highlighting not only the competencies of the students passing out of these premiere educational institutions but also the opportunity for various companies to brand themselves as go-to organisations for innovative solutions and ideas.

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Placement is an important component of growth strategies of many leading organisations, and universities play the role of a facilitator by building expectations and bridging gaps between the job-seeking graduate and the employer. But before business organisations approach placement cells of various universities, they need to go through a cumbersome process of shortlisting universities and candidates based on institutional values, person-job, person-organisation fit and alumni perception.

While knowledge, skills and abilities, values and personality traits are among the most important aspects an employer considers while shortlisting a candidate, employer attractiveness for job seekers and market perception are the two most important factors considered by students before taking a final call. According to Nikhil Garg, a former UG student at IIT Delhi, the campus placement process at IITs typically involves an internal organisation called Training and Placement Cell (TNP) which oversees and coordinates the entire process. “An internal web portal was set up by TNP which let us build multiple variants of our resumes. We had to submit verifying documents and certificates for everything mentioned in all the resumes.” All the companies that wanted to hire from the institute approached TNP and submitted their job posting. “Job posting typically includes details like work position, location, salary and other benefits, special requirements if any,” he recalls. After students apply for a job posting of their choice, using one of the variants of

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resumes stored in the system, companies take screen tests and shortlist candidates. Every student is to arrange his shortlists in order of priority. This order gets written to stone even before a single interview has taken place!

All this happens before December

“Based on past experience and popularity of a job listing amongst students, jobs would be assigned a priority. Interviews for top priority jobs would take place on the first day, interviews for jobs of lower priority take place on second day and so on. Pretty much everything is over in 5-7 days,” Garg adds. “Different companies set up their booths in different halls/rooms of the campus. Every interview is allotted a time slot. Often each interview consists of one or more rounds of interviews. A student might be screened off before taking all the rounds. Companies extend offers to candidates they like.” According to a pioneering study conducted by scientists at Bowling Green University, Ohio, United States, psychological aspects also play a key role in the university placement process. The study highlights that gauging employee interests is a better way to predict who will perform well on the job. “Although research on vocational interests has been around since the beginning of the 1900s, it usually isn’t considered in decision-making related to hiring employees,” says the study published in the July 2012 issue of Perspectives on Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. Psychological scientist Christopher Nye of Bowling Green University and his colleagues used a technique called metaanalysis, which allowed them to pool the findings from existing studies on vocational interests and analyze the body of research as a whole. The findings led them to hypothesise that while overall interests were moderately correlated with performance and persistence at work, measures that accounted for the person-environment fit were stronger predictors of performance than interest scores alone. Employees’ whose interest profiles matched their job profiles

were more likely to perform better, help others in the organisation, and stay with the company longer. The study seems to underscore what Steve Jobs said in 2005 in his address at Stanford. “The only way to do great work is to love what you do,” the then Apple CEO said.

“I believe the key to success in such campuses are how well you can describe what your organisation is doing and how these fresh graduates can contribute in major way and add value to the overall success,” he adds. A few things that worked out well for the company included Rovi’s core values, effective interaction, new domain, working at cutting edge technology, work culture presented, presence of alumni and interns and live product demos, according to Srivastava. As far as new trends in campus placement are concerned, a Deloitte study has found that the whole recruitment process is undergoing rapid disruption, challenging companies to leverage social networks and aggressively market their employment brand. “Companies looking to recruit and acquire talent must now compete on a new battlefield—a battlefield shaped by new global talent networks and social media and defined by employment brands and changing views of careers,” it says. According to a recent Economic Times

Explaining the employers’ side of the story, Anupam Srivastava, Director, Talent Acquisition at Rovi - TiVo, an American technology company, who visited NIT Surathkal, IIT Guwahati, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Chennai and BITS Pilani to recruit students in 2016, says: “It was first time in India for Rovi but of course a great experience visiting top colleges in India and recruit top brains. It was overwhelming response from the colleges and their students. Being new to the campus we were little nervous but when we started talking to the students then we could see what kind of curious brains they and intend to learn all the new domains.”

survey to identify India’s top campus recruiting companies, Deloitte with its focus on “building the campus brand to stay relevant to the ever-changing perceptions of the students” emerged as the top campus employer in the business school category. The other companies that made it to the list of top five recruiters across Bschools were Cognizant, ICICI Bank, Infosys and Wipro. While the pedigree of an institute was one of the most crucial considerations for these companies to source talent, the talent acquisition departments also laid emphasis on assessing the students’ key skill sets, says the report.n

Placement is an important component of growth strategies of many leading organisations and universities play the role of a facilitator by building expectations and bridging gaps between the job-seeking graduate and the employer.

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INSIGHT PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES

Placement: Stay the Course to Cherish Your Tomorrow

The percentage of graduates and their possibility to get jobs is a concern which deserves to? The need to retrain students as per career requirement should be some of vital concerns of the present day education system, writes Akash Tomer for Elets News Network (ENN).

lacement is one of the most important yardsticks for assessment of higher educational institutes. Better placement guarantees better ranking of the institute. As far as placement of government institutes of India are concerned, it has the best in the country. However, private universities and institutes have to toil hard for placement of their students. Placement of a student on an appropriate position requires a quality and mandatory student assessment and advising system. Academic and personal support services are needed for every student at the beginning of their careers to success. Appropriate level of developmental course structured as per the industry requirements and services ensure placement of the students in their respective fields. and tailored academic and

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affective support commensurate with student skills and abilities. According to a study conducted by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) Education Committee (AEC) for 2014-2016, only 7% of the pass-outs are actually employable in India excepting graduates from IIMs. The study further reveals that on an average each student spent nearly Rs 3 to Rs 5 lakh on a two-year MBA programme but their current monthly salary is a measly Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000. The report says that the quality of IIM/IIT students passing out now has dwindled as compared to last 15 years. It is happening due to deteriorating quality of school education in these institutions. Low education quality coupled with the economic slowdown, from 2014 to 2016, campus recruitments have gone

down by a whopping 45 per cent. Of the 15 lakh engineering graduates, India produces annually, 20-30% of them do not find jobs and many other get jobs well below their technical qualification. Growth rate of Indian economy and number of engineers are the same. IT sector absorbs approximately most number of engineers, between 50-75%. Graduating engineers have huge mismatch in their aspirations and job readiness. 97% engineers aspire for a job in IT and core engineering. However, only 18.43% employable in IT and 7.49% in core engineering, the study added.

Importance of Placement and Training Student Perspective

From a student perspective, high qual-

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ity placements can bring a range of benefits and positive impacts. For a student, placements and training are extremely valuable as it helps them to enhance or learn industry centric skills beneficial for their future career growth. Best training and placement practices at a private university help students to alleviate barriers to employment for graduates and encourage them to grab all possible opportunities. The Wilson Review of higher education argues that both sandwich placements and student/ graduate internships hold considerable value for the personal and professional development of students. “Sandwich Placement” is a validated work experience opportunity which forms part of a university degree programme (usually the third year, of a four year course).

Another beneficial output for students from undertaking a placement is the ability to effectively provide evidence to their experiences present on their CV. Body language of students is a contextual proof for their skills and abilities coupled with documented reference.

Ability to Compete in a Turbulent Marketplace

Completing a placement can sometimes lead directly to subsequent employment with the same employer following graduation. It can be “a foot in the door” that could lead to a temporary or permanent contract. Interaction with other professionals while on placement can also bring strong effective in

placement cell is highly recommended in every university. The placement cell of a private university or an institute usually consists of an entire panel to help students during their graduation. The cell helps the students in getting a job, enrollment for a training or internship. One can go to them and they will help you out with placements after college.

Raising the Institution’s Profile

Providing placement opportunities enhances an institution’s reputation among aspiring graduates. Alluring placements are felt to improve student employability which enhances students’ satisfaction that benefits the institutes with better reputation among students and towards providing better quality higher education experience. In theory, this also translates into better performance in league tables From based on student employment levels postImproved Skills and the student graduation. This could significantly imKnowledge perspective, high Placements and training is an opprove the attractiveness of the instituquality placements can portunity for students to gain tion to prospective students, who are subject-specific skills or indusincreasingly mindful of the value of bring a range of benefits and their studies to employers, and imtry-specific skills along with the positive impacts. Placements employability skills. These skills proving their job opportunities. and training are extremely help students to improve their Increased contact with employers valuable for a student as it knowledge of an industry or High-quality placements can imsector that further enable them prove a university’s broader enhelps them to enhance or to make better decisions during gagement and relationships with learn industry centric skills job or about future career choices. business. High quality placement beneficial for their future According to a research, carried out experience more likely compel the career growth. at University of Aston to explore the employers return year after year with adpossible link between placements and ditional placement vacancies. Moreover, academic achievement, it was revealed the employers try to look for other opporthat placements do improve degree perforterms tunities to link with the university or the institution. mance. The research also suggested that of networking. For examstudents with better grades are more likely ple, engaging with professionals in their to undertake placements in their first at- chosen career can provide a foundation of Business Engagement tempt and a successful placement automat- contacts on which to build and draw upon Placements can pave the way to form conically improves the academic performance in future. structive relationships with local, national of a candidate in the very next semester. and international organisations. Quality Better understanding of work and im- University Perspective placement at any institute draws the atproved personal maturity: In universities, students often belong to tention of large organisations along with After placements, students are pro- varying streams, stratas and exposure of small and medium-sized enterprises. This vided the opportunity to work in a life. Some of them are from cities, towns, is helpful for any institution to develop team. The team-based working is totally villages and urbanised villages and thus variety of income-generating mechanisms contrasting to academic study where there is always a probability of them not with the organisations. More and more enstudents follow individual-centric apbeing aware of expectations from them gagement of enterprises helps the univerproach. This kind of experience helps a sities to knowledge transfer partnerships person to work collaboratively and en- or exact nature of work. In order to make hances problem-solving skills gained at students aware about the real corporate (KTPs), industry-specific trainings and university with better self management. scenarios and handle their problems, a consultancy and work-based learning. n digitalLEARNING

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INSIGHT PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES

The privatisation of education brings more and more options in higher education for students in India. Admission to these universities is conducted through various state and national-level exams across the country. Akash Tomer of Elets News Network (ENN) writes about the admission processes and admission regulatory bodies.

Private Universities-

Unavoidale Alternative for Higher Education

rom 10 private universities in 2006, the number of private universities in India has risen more than 25 times that of in 2016. According to the University Grants Commission (UGC), the country had around 259 universities in 2016. Rajasthan had most number of private universities (42) in the country, followed by Uttar Pradesh (28), Gujarat (26) and Madhya Pradesh (22). States like Haryana (18), Himachal Pradesh (17) and Punjab (14) also have a good number of private universities. The data indicates that the number of private universities in India is growing at a rapid rate and students are feeling drawn to seek admissions to these universities. Why private universities are mushrooming in the country? India, largely being a young nation, there is a huge requirement for higher educational institutions in India due to its huge youth populace. to fulfill the educational institutions of countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s young population. As

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Regulatory authorities for Admission to Private Universities

From establishing a private university to developing a curriculum from the students, there are different regulatory bodies to set up norms for private universities. Admission norms for private educational institutes or for private universities are also regulated by the government bodies. List of such bodies are as follows: Indian Council for Social Science Research (ICSSR): Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) was established in 1969 by the Government of India to promote research in social sciences in the country. The council advises the Government of India on all matters pertaining to social science research. Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR): Indian Council of Historical Research is an autonomous organisation which was established under Societies Registration Act (Act XXI of 1860) in 1972 with an objective to provide fellowships and financial assistance to the young teachers in colleges, universities and registered research organisations. Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR): CSIR is an autonomous

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Types of Entrance Exams ENGINEERING JEE Main – Joint Entrance Exam Main UPSEE – Uttar Pradesh State Entrance Exam BITSAT – Birla Institute of Technology & Science Admission Test JEE Advanced – Joint Entrance Exam Advanced BCECE – Bihar Combined Entrance Competitive Examination Board MHT CET – Maharashtra Health Sciences and Technical Common Entrance Test GCET – Goa Common Entrance Test KEAM – Kerala Engineering Agricultural Medical Entrance Examination WBJEE – West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination GATE – Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering MANAGEMENT CAT – Common Admission Test XAT – Xavier’s Aptitude Test GMAT - Graduate Management Admission Test MAT – Management Aptitude Test CMAT - Common Management Admission Test MEDICAL NEET (UG) – National Eligibility Entrance Test (Under-graduate) NEET (PG) – National Eligibility Entrance Test (Post-graduate) SCIENCE IIT JAM - Indian Institute of Technology - Joint Admission Test JEST - Joint Entrance Screening Test NEST - National Entrance Screening Test RIE CEE - Regional Institute of

body and the largest research and development (R&D) organisation in India. The council conducts research in the fields of engineering, life sciences, metallurgy, chemicals, mining, food and environment. Indian Council of Philosophical Research (ICPR): ICPR was established in March 1977 under Department of Higher Education and Ministry of Human Resource Development with an objective to Establish, Administer and Manage in philosophy. University Grants Commission (UGC): The UGC is the only

Education Common Entrance Exam COMPUTER APPLICATIONS OJEE - Odisha Joint Entrance Examination IPU CET - Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University Common Entrance Test Symbiosis Entrance Test - Symbiosis Entrance Test PHARMACY OJEE - Odisha Joint Entrance Examination GPAT - Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test BCECE - Bihar Combined Entrance Competitive Examination MHT CET - Maharashtra Common Entrance Test ARCHITECTURE NATA - National Aptitude test in Architecture OJEE - Odisha Joint Entrance Examination JEE Main - Joint Entrance Exam (Main) GATE - Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering GCET - Goa Common Entrance Test KEAM - Kerala Engineering Agricultural Medical Entrance Examination DESIGN NIFT - National Institute of Fashion Technology Entrance Test NID - National Institute of Design Entrance Exam GATE - Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering Symbiosis Entrance Test - Symbiosis Entrance Test CEED - Common Entrance Examination for Design

grant-giving agency in the country. It has two responsibilities first one is of providing funds and other one is of coordination, determination and maintenance of standards in institutions of higher education and universities. National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC): NAAC is an autonomous body established by the UGC of India to assess and accredit institutions of higher education in the country. All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE): In order to

the data reflects, Central and State universities aren’t adequate enough to accommodate all students in the country. That’s why the private investments are considered as the only answer to this requirement and thus turned vital. private universities are autonomous institutions. These educational institutes follow the regulations laid down by the UGC to maintain minimum standards for academic and physical infrastructure.

Admission to the Private Universities

As per the Government of India’s stated aims for higher education enrolment, 14 million seats in higher education sector will be required to be added during 2014-2020. It is quite clear; this demand can only be met primarily by the private sector. The government is planning for overall revamp of higher education sector with its new policies. Single common medical entrance test – National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) has been introduced by the government in 2016. Medical colleges of the country are allowed to fill their seats only through the NEET. It is expected that on the lines of NEET, a single common entrance test may also be introduced for engineering aspirants. Other than engineering and medical, there are various other streams for which exams are conducted at state and national level. Private universities across the country are accepting the scores of these exams for admission of candidates to the respective streams. n promote quality in technical education along with planning and coordinated development of technical education system and to regulate and maintain norms and standards, AICTE was established by Government of India. National Board for Accreditation (NBA): NBA at present exists as an autonomous body with the objective of assurance of quality and relevance of education, especially of the programmes in professional and technical disciplines, i.e., Engineering and Technology, Management, Architecture, Pharmacy and Hospitality. digitalLEARNING

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INSIGHT PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES

Challenges of Being a

In a country where receiving higher education remains a dream for a large section of youth due to their financial constraints or geographical location, it is vital to explore what sort of opportunities and challenges private universities are faced with to provide succour in the Higher Education Sector, writes Sandeep Datta of Elets News Network (ENN).

Private University in India

he Higher Education Sector

This sector has been classified into various categories based on how they have been established. There are four types: Central Universities, State Universities, Deemed Universities, and the Private Universities. Also, there are institutes which are designated as institutes of national importance.

The Rise

With a mere 20 universities in 1950 to

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According to Madhu Chitkara, Vice Chancellor, Chitkara University, Punjab, survival of the fittest and fierce competition also drive the will at private universities for being innovative and sustainable. ........................................................................................................................

Madhu Chitkara, Vice Chancellor, Chitkara University, Punjab

677 in 2014, the Indian Higher Education sector can certainly be viewed as a field

which has witnessed a tremendous rise in the number of Universities/Univer-

digitallearning.eletsonline.com

{

Some of the innovative practices of the private universities include amongst others: industry-ready curricula at both under graduate and post-graduate levels.

..............................................................................................................................

Prof (Dr) A K Bakhshi, Vice-Chancellor, PDM University, Haryana

sity level Institutions and Colleges since 1947, the year India acquired its freedom from the British. Today, the Indian higher education sector boasts of 45 Central Universities of which 40 are under the purview of Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), 318 State Universities, 185 State Private universities, 129 Deemed to be Universities, 51 Institutions of National Importance (established under Acts of Parliament) under MHRD (IITs - 16, NITs – 30 and IISERs – 5) and four institutions (established under various State legislations). Also, the number of colleges has also witnessed a surge of 74 times from just 500 in 1950 to 37,204, as on March 31, 2013. Such a quantum growth in the Higher Education sector is spearheaded by the Universities, which are the highest seats of learning. According to the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Higher Education is a shared responsibility of the Centre and the States. The University Grants Commission (UGC) and other statutory regulatory bodies are responsible for coordination and determination of standards in Universities and Colleges.

What is a Private University?

Scope for Private Universities

India holds huge potential in terms of possibilities opening up before a private university. It is so since the higher education largely remains inaccessible or beyond financial means to a big section of the youth in this billion-plus country. There are 262 Universities that can award degrees as specified by the UGC

How to open a Private University?

A private university can be set up via a State/Central Act by a sponsoring body such as a society registered under the Societies Registration Act 1860, or any other corresponding law for the time being in force in a State or a Public Trust or a Company registered under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956. In the wake of so much potential of setting up private universities, there is a strong need to explore challenges and opportunities of such private universities to impart higher education in terms of establishment, admission, formulating courses and curriculum. Also, innovations in teaching and learning processes, research and development, collaboration, and about usage of ICT include that list. There is a need to investigate various aspects including advantages, disadvantages, constraints of private universities for its stakeholders like students, faculty members, parents, industries and society.

Challenges before Private Universities

On one hand, there is need to enhance Access to Quality Education and at the same, without sacrificing the Quality of Admitted Students ................... .....................................

Dr ORS Rao, Vice Chancellor, ICFAI University,Ranchi

The changing times and a maddening race to emulate fellow competitors within the country has posed many challenges for private universities. They include issues like paucity of quality-faculty, resources and funds to research, introducing new course to enable students turn employable, providing them requisite professional skills and meeting the requirements of knowledge economy; drawing meritorious students, and building state of the art infrastructure.

Push for Research

There is a need to understand resources for pursuing research, knowledge creation which leads to publication and innovation shouldn’t be based on if a university is public or private rather on the research capacities of the university and the faculty research initiatives undertaken.

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The UGC defines a private university as “an institution of higher learning established through a State or Central Act by a sponsoring body”, such as a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, or any other corresponding law for the time being in force in a state or a public trust or a company registered under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956. As per law, for an institution to be given the status of a private university,

the State legislature conferring the status has to pass an Act by which the institution will acquire the status of a university. Private universities have to be recognised by the UGC so that the degrees awarded by them hold value.

under Section 22 of the UGC Act with the approval of the statutory councils, wherever required through their main campus.

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INSIGHT PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES Need For Independence

A section of universities feels the universities cannot emerge as world class if they are developed through government departments forcing their authority over institutions. Top class universities are nurtured possibly when faculty members, students¸ or other stakeholders are able to take decisions about the university independently and transparently. It is required to stay relevant in the era of high-tech competitions and in the absence of quality no organisation can afford to last in the long run.

Demand for Quality Faculty

A section of universities complain about a paucity of senior faculty inclined towards meaningful research and industrial projects.

Innovations

........................................................

Zora Singh

Vice Chancellor Desh Bhagat University, Mandi Gobindgarh

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In a lot of private universities, major innovation are reflected in their latest curriculum, globally practiced pedagogy and industry tie-ups. According to Madhu Chitkara, Vice Chancellor, Chitkara University, Punjab, survival of the fittest and fierce competition also drive the will at private universities to be being innovative and sustainable. “So, for them, innovation is always on agenda unlike state and central universities, which are heavily funded and marginally accountable to the need of education system.” One can also count introducing new courses “to help students become employable, imparting professional skills for knowledge economy… creating state of the art infrastructure… recruiting efficient and bright faculty members and

For new universities, raising consultancies especially from the corporate sector, is also a challenge. Raising finances and grants for project and research from government bodies is a challenge.

imparting high quality education” among other prominent challenges. In the words of Prof. (Dr.) A K Bakhshi, Vice-Chancellor, PDM University, Bahadurgarh, Haryana, some of the innovative practices of the private universities include amongst others: industry-ready curricula at both under graduate and post-graduate levels.

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There is a concern that in the absence of external checks, universities will exercise powers in an arbitrary manner and offer courses and programmes which are destitute of academic content. .....................................................................................................................

Dr S K Salwan

Vice Chancellor, Apeejay Stya University, Gurgaon

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“Focus on research with social relevance; seed money to develop research proposals; incentives for faculty members presenting papers/posters/invited talks at State/National /International conferences as well as for publications in indexed journals; arranging various training programmes for professional development of educators; integration of ICT with education; creation of Entrepreneurship Development Cell to motivate students to become self-employed; representation of students on various committees of Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC);hiring of a professional HR Director to take care of staff recruitment, induction, inservice training and performance appraisal,” Bakshi added. On one hand, there is need to enhance access to quality education and at the same, without sacrificing the quality of admitted students, opines Dr ORS Rao, Vice Chancellor, ICFAI University,Ranchi. “We need to groom the students as per the changing Industry Requirements so that they are employable. Besides knowledge and skills, it is also becoming imperative to focus efforts on cultivating character of the students.” “For new universities, raising consultancies especially from the corporate sector, is also a challenge,” said Zora Singh, Vice Chancellor, Desh Bhagat University, Mandi Gobindgarh, while mentioning about the university located in rural region. “Raising finances and grants for project and research from government bodies is a challenge.” Dr. S.K. Salwan, Vice Chancellor, Apeejay Stya University, Gurgaon, says an alarming concern for the higher education policy makers and educationists is the requirement to inculcate and maintain high academic standards. “There is a concern that in the absence of external checks, universities will exercise powers in an arbitrary manner and offer courses and programmes which are destitute of academic content.” In the words of Amit Agrawal, Vice Chairman, of the JECRC University (JU), a private university situated in Jaipur: “JECRC University is driven by the spirit of innovation led research and manifests itself in infrastructure as well as practices. The multifaceted research encompasses subject specific exploration as well as the contexts of the business environment in which its students operate and perform.” n

Top Universities of India 2017

With an unprecedented level of competition in every sphere of life, zeroing-in the right university or educational institute for higher education has always been a Hercules task. Higher education is not only about grabing some lucrative job but to learn the skills that may help individuals sail through their career with aplomb. Understanding the current requirement of current education scenario, the Government of India is emphasising on imparting world class higher education to the youth of the country. This field of education has been expanding rapidly throwing up the need for qualified and skilled graduates, post graduates and research scholars in the country. All this inspired us to conduct a comprehensive ranking of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Top Universities of India 2017â&#x20AC;? to ensure better exposure for youths of India. In the second edition of university ranking issue, we have shortlisted the universities from different zones of India on the basis of various parameters. We have ranked 60 private universities in the country based on: Infrastructure, Faculty, Global Collaboration, Placement, Industry Interface and Entrepreneurship, and Placement. The universities have been ranked considering aforementioned parameters on the basis of their score out of 600. The mammoth exercise was spread over two months that involved online voting of users.

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Parameter

Ranking Parameter: Infrastructure

university is much more than research, teaching and learning. A university campus is the centre of lives of all enrolled students. Hence, the university’s infrastructure that includes everything, from lecture rooms to cafeteria and from laboratories to hostel is very important for every student. In the “University Ranking – 2017” by Digital Learning magazine, infrastructure of universities is one of the criteria for allocating the ranks to educational institutes. While talking of the university infrastructure, we have kept in mind the following parameters: Sports facilities

A good university is equipped with world class sports facilities so that students can exercise their bodies for stressfree minds. Indian Universities have a separate quota for sports whereby students excelling in sports are directly given

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admission, with nominal consideration to their academic records. It helps high-level sportspersons as they not only get admitted to universities of their choice, but also can participate in various state and national level sporting events on behalf of the university. Student accommodation

Student accommodation or hostel is an integral part of every university campus infrastructure. The number of rooms available should be proportionate to the number of students, specially freshers in the campus. All amenities like electricity and water with good quality nutritious food should be provided to students as well. Also security aspect of the hostel should be taken care so that students and their parents feel safe. IT infrastructure

It is must for every student to have the access of internet for their studies. Most of the universities are providing

computer access to each and every student. Nowadays, many universities in India are also providing Wi-Fi access to its students. Library facilities

A well equipped library, in terms of number and quality of books is must for a university campus. No matter how great a role the internet has come to play, we are still a long way off the point at which having a well stocked library will not be absolutely essential. Books related to the curriculum offered in the university, general knowledge journals, newspapers and books of various other topics should be provided to the students. Medical facilities

Medical facilities should be adequate so that any emergency situation in a university campus can be handled well. Full-time medical doctor must always be available for the students at the campus along with first aid kits. n

Parameter

Ranking Parameter:

Faculty

ignificance

A good faculty can make or mar the reputation of any educational edifice. Their capabilities educational as well as aptitudinal can prove detrimental for any college or university. Every educational institution is required to have a strong faculty for building a good rapport with the students. The contact between the students and teachers plays a vital role towards ensuring student’s success. Any educational institution’s success, public or private, depends on the knowledge, skills, expertise and motivation of its human resources. Development of teachers in these areas should therefore be amongst an institution’s major and longterm goals. These developmental goals can be achieved by: l Providing faculty with training opportunities to achieve maximum effectiveness; l Ensuring that faculties develop their skills and capabilities to be able to work more efficiently and be able to respond rapidly to changes within their organisations; l Improving performance in their present job profiles;

l Ensuring that natural abilities and

individual skills of all the faculties be used the optimum way for the benefit of the students and their career.

Importance of Faculty Development and training

Development and training is an inevitable and systematic process. The process of training should necessarily be directed to give every faculty a sense of professionalism, excellence, motivation and students satisfaction. In the context of actually ensuring faculty development it is necessary to pay attention to four major areas of faculty development. l Staff development l Instructional development l Organisational development l Change management Why Digital Learning Magazine chose Faculty as a ranking parameter for “Top Universities of India-2017”?

Growing concern over shortage of faculty in Indian universities l According to a recent report by Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, central universities

in India are suffering from severe shortage of faculty. l The committee also flagged off that the minimum qualification for a faculty member is PhD and there is a shortage of such candidates. l The report stated that institutes were engaging faculty on contract basis to tide over the shortage. l From well established central universities to those set up recently, state universities as well as private universities, premier institutions like IITs, NITs and IIMs, shortage of faculty has emerged as the biggest handicap for the development and expansion of Higher Education vis-a-vis maintaining the quality of education. India is losing its talent due to brain drain

Migration of Indian scientists and engineers to the United States has reported an increase of 85% in 10 years. l According to a report by the National Science Foundation — Immigrants’ Growing Presence in the United States Science and Engineering Workforce: Education and Employment Characteristics in 2013 — of all the immigrant scientists and engineers in the United States in 2013, 57% were born in Asia. l Among the Asian countries, India continued its trend of being the country with the highest migrant scientists and engineers, with 9, 50,000 being out of Asia’s total 2.96 million. l India’s 2013 figure represented an 85% rise in the rate of migration of Indian scientists and engineers to the United States from 2003. l From 2003 to 2013, the number of scientists and engineers residing in the US grew from 21.6 million to 29 million. An important factor in this growth has been immigration. l In 2013, 18% (5.2 million) of the scientists and engineers residing in the United States were immigrants whereas in 2003, 16% (3.4 million) were immigrants. The Digital Learning magazine considered “Faculty” as one of the parameters for its Top Universities in India-2017 Ranking because for developing a premier educational institution, it is vital to have a strong faculty, which not only assists in the cognitive development of the fellow students but also curbs rising rate of brain drain from the country to the west. n

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Parameter

nternational partnerships between universities are extremely beneficial for students as well as for the university. In this era of globalisation, with the help of unhindered communication channels and inexpensive travel, universities across the world are trying to collaborate with other universities and fostering relationships with other institutions of the world. Digital Learning magazine has therefore, used â&#x20AC;&#x153;Global Collaborationâ&#x20AC;? as one of the key ranking parameters for the ranking of universities. Partnership with international universities help student recruitment in two main ways: Firstly for domestic students, global partnership offers the opportunity to travel internationally and to learn from the best education stakeholders of the world. Secondly, students get chance to explore the educational practices and culture of other nations, thereby facilitating their marketing success in the nation. University education often leads to a life in the working world. The globalised society we live in, international collaboration programmes help students by providing the facility to study and research through an international platform. That is why, in their quest to excel, universities are looking to invest in cross-cultural university partnerships. Last year, the University Grants Commission (UGC) had come up with changes in its guidelines pertaining to tie-ups with foreign institutions or universities. Some of the key points were: l Indian educational institutions that are going into collaborations with foreign universities should ensure that students who opt for these courses have to study at least one semester for post-graduate degrees and two semesters for undergraduate degrees abroad. l Indian institutes with top accreditations, will now be able to approach the UGC to seek its approval for entering into academic tie-ups with esteemed education institutions abroad. l The degree certificate for

Ranking Parameter: Global Collaboration

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international collaborations will also mention the name of the foreign institute. l In view of the instances where institutes fraudulently advertise collaborations with foreign institutions, thereby creating problems for students, it has been decided that the UGC will approach the state government concerned for action in such cases. As per the new guidelines, students from foreign institutions and universities will also be allowed to enroll in Indian campuses for study and research. International internships

Global collaboration can help students in acquiring international internships as well. Globally, a number of internships are available for students to continue their studies and research. At universities, administrative offices of respective academic departments and career services centres can serve as an avenue to explore information about

internships. The same information can also be fetched out from offices of international relations or foreign affairs. Websites, social media, and old-fashioned networking are also valuable tools. Application processes for internship vary depending upon country, visa requirements, field of employment etc. Some Indian universities offer credit scheme for already completed internships while others do not allow credit accumulation to begin until after the internships are registered. The amount of credit to be earned also varies, depending upon the learning potential of the work experience and how many hours are worked. From a recruitment perspective, being knowledgeable about internships at institutions, within host communities, and among international organisations can have a profound impact upon the fortune of students. With so many options available, informed recruiters who know the details of internship process in their markets can offer valuable data to students. n

Parameter

Ranking Parameter: Placements

hile searching for a good university, students prefer those educational institutions that have a higher placement rate for its students. University education should lead to direct employability and we, at Digital Learning magazine, have used ‘Placements’ as one of the key parameters while ranking them. It is important for universities to develop close relationships with corporates and companies. Just after completing their university education, students must get placed by the companies called at the university campus to hire students. Nowadays employers are seeking graduates with “Employability” skills and attributes in addition to traditional expertise within their discipline. To support students in developing these skills, universities are now having a responsibility of creating curriculum that embeds teaching and learning of these skills. In order to achieve better placement for the students, a

university should ensure the following things: Industry inclined curriculum

A university curriculum should include subjects that cater opportunities for students to learn academic skills, workrelated skills and employability skills that contribute to the holistic development of students. Such learning helps students to be more creative, critical and reflective while showcasing their capacities. These skills will be needed to achieve academic excellence and better career growth. In order to adjust curriculum and learning experiences accordingly, it is must for universities to stay in touch with industries. Internships

The hope of gaining an advantage for future employment has increased both the number and quality of internship applications. Internships provide practical experience, a sample of life in a chosen field, networking opportunities, workplace confidence, and practice

using specialist skills and vocabulary amongst real world customers and colleagues. All these benefits go double for university students. Internships provide a chance to get into internal hiring queues of the companies, a crucial advantage, since instead of the default approach of recruiting from the outside, companies are refocusing on hiring from within their own ranks. One of the key aspects to improve the placement records of the university is the training. Training should be focused on areas which will directly lead to securing jobs. More and more companies are looking at how well the students of a university are prepared to work in an industry. Placing Right Candidates for the interviews

At the time of placements, it is the university responsibility to place the right candidates for the right job. They should be placed according to their interests and skills. This way, job placement percentage goes higher. n

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Parameter

Ranking Parameter:

Industry Interface

niversities and industries in India, for long have been functioning separately but with changing times these separate entities are creating synergies. For catering to the demand of extremely dynamic business world, educational institutions are rapidly developing inclination towards the industry interface. Professionals are now getting trained to manage the business effectively. This is specifically the reason why within various other fields of knowledge, desire for acquiring management qualifications is growing, both amongst the fresh graduates and working executives.

Origin of management education in India

In the 1960’s, business education formally started gaining importance in India with the establishment of two Indian Institute of Management; IIM Calcutta in association with Sloan School of Management and IIM Ahmedabad with Harvard Business School.

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Why Digital Learning Magazine choose Industry Interface as a ranking parameter for “Top Universities of India-2017”?

Need for Academia-Industry Interface Academia- Industry Interface can be defined as an interactive and collaborative setup between educational institutions and business corporations for attainment of certain mutually inclusive goals and objectives. The onset of globalisation has made the job market even more competitive. Now every college/university pass out has to compete for a job. In addition to this, the rising demands of skilled and specialised manpower from the industrial sector are not being met, as a large section of graduates lack the necessary critical thinking and analytical skills required by the industry. Skill gap in India l 30 lakh graduates join the Indian job

market every year but only about 5 lakh are considered employable. The sectors facing acute manpower shortage include IT, BFSI, pharma, healthcare, infrastructure, retail, auto and consumer durables, amongst others.

l By 2025, India’s demographic

dividend is expected to contribute 25% of global workforce. Therefore, the magnitude of the challenge is enormous. l According to National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), the growing skills gap in India is estimated to be more than 25 crore workers by 2022. l Findings from Dale Carnegie Employee Engagement in India 2014 report indicate a high level of engagement amongst Indian workforce compared to the global average. But an alarming 52% of Indian employees remain somewhat dissatisfied in their jobs, signalling that companies have to take proactive steps to sustain engagement. The Digital Learning magazine considered “Industry interface” as one of the parameters for its Top Universities in India-2017 ranking because Academia-Industry Interface plays a crucial role in knowledge driven economy, where the students pursuing different professional programmes are expected to be well versed in the industry working. n

Parameter

Ranking Parameter:

Entrepreneurship

mployment scenario in India

Indian education system has been promoted traditional employment essentially. As a result of this, students after passing out from universities are left with the sole option of looking for jobs rather than trying their hand in entrepreneurship. Employment scenario in India because of this tremendous need to recruit students has been confronting a major challenge of accommodating one and all graduates.

Rising unemployment amongst literates l As per the data analysed by The

Hindu (based on Census 2011), one crore Indians with graduate, postgraduate and technical degrees were looking for work, meaning that 15% of all Indians with the highest level of education were seeking job till 2011. l Kerala had India’s highest graduate unemployment rate at over 30 per cent. l Of the 11.6 crore Indians who were either seeking or available for work, 3.2 crore were illiterate and 8.4 crore were literate.

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Why Digital Learning Magazine chose Entrepreneurship as a ranking parameter for “Top Universities of India-2017”?

Nurturing the Entrepreneurial Spirit As per official statistics, India has 677 universities and 5.6 crore graduates and post-graduates. Every year several graduates pass out from colleges. While some get into jobs others initiate startups and become entrepreneurs. India produces 50 lakh graduates every year of which merely 50 % are employable. (Aspiring Minds Study-2013)

Entrepreneurship and start-up activities in India have registered a significant growth not only in numbers and geographic spread, but also in terms of creating enhanced levels of innovation and employment generation. The most important trend is that educational institutions in India are beginning to play a pivotal role in developing entrepreneurial competencies and including entrepreneurship as a core course in business education. Lately, startups are gaining a lot of popularity amongst the students and making their way to various university placement cells.

Narrating the story of recognition for startups across universities, growing networks of alumni from some of the bestknown colleges in India and overseas are helping entrepreneurs find money and grow businesses. From IITs, BITS Pilani to IIMs...start-ups by alumni of renowned institutes have taken India by a storm in the past few years. Some of the best examples of successful startups are Snapdeal, Ola, TaxiforSure, Flipkart, Exotel and many more. In order to promote entrepreneurship, many educational institutions are also coming up the idea of incubation centres. In India, majority of incubation centers are hosted by academic institutions, and funded by DST(Department of Science and Technology), which gives them access to government agencies, as well as easy reach to professors and students in the college. Some of the well-known ones are IIM Ahmedabad and IIT Bombay. There are other incubators too, like Technopark (Kerala) and IKP Knowledge Park (Hyderabad), with focus on certain specific sectors like technology and biotech. For instance, Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad’s Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) helps entrepreneurs turn ideas into viable businesses. In partnership with our mentors, corporates, development agencies, IIMA community and investors, CIIE cultivates a rare breed of entrepreneurs by incubating, accelerating, mentoring and funding innovative start-ups. CIIE believes that entrepreneurship has an unmatched ability to bring about disruptive change in India and engages with ventures across technology and impact areas like energy, environment, agriculture, healthcare and affordable technology. CIIE believes it should operate in sectors and geographies where there are market failures and private support is not easy to find. (Source: Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship). The Digital Learning magazine considered “Entrepreneurship” as one of the parameters for its Top Universities in India-2017 ranking because merely training students for getting jobs cannot be the purpose of education. Education is about developing leadership qualities amongst the students. Since entrepreneurial competencies assist in cognitive development, it plays pivotal role in analysing the level of curriculum in educational institutions. n

Private and Deemed Universities Overall Ranking University Entrepreneurship Faculty Industry

Placement Infrastructure Interface

Global Collaboration

Total dL - 600

Rank

Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) University

85.8 75.83 78 80 67.5 50.83 437.62 1

Amity University, Noida

77.17

42.08

55.33

432.58

Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani

68.2

66.57

430.77

Bharati Vidyapeeth University, Pune

81.59

48.83

67.5

89.33

430.25

SRM University, Chennai

84.88

91.11

61.5

40.85

429.34

Apeejay Stya University, Sohna

88.18

59.08

427.26

Banasthali University, Jaipur

55.9

55.75

92.5

89.83

421.98

Lovely Professional University, Phagwara

70.46

64.58

74.17

420.21 8

Birla Institute of Technology (BIT), Mesra

54.64

61.75

419.39 9

Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University, Bhubaneswar

71.16

79.25

56.4

58.33

418.14 10

Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore

55.75 53.33 79 84 84.14 61.17 417.39 11

Manipal University

89.25

41.08

Symbiosis International University, Pune

56.54

48.67

Sharda University, Greater Noida

63.29 83.92 63 65 53.15 61.67 390.03 14

KL University, Guntur

62.95

55.33

72.5 65

52.5

416.83

397.21 13

376.78

Private and Deemed Universities Overall Ranking University Entrepreneurship Faculty Industry

Placement Infrastructure Interface

Global Collaboration

Total dL - 600

Rank

Thapar University, Patiala

50.16

45.75

62.5

46.67

374.08

Karunya University, Coimbatore

55.44

44.17

373.61

Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology & Research Academy (SASTRA) University, Thanjavur

56.65

53.5

58.4

49.17

372.72

Sam Higginbottom Institute of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Allahabad

59.99

41.25

81.5

363.74 19

Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Mumbai

49.38

46.75

52.5

48.33

361.96 20

Sikkim Manipal University, Gangtok

45.01

46.02

83.04

361.07

University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun

49.75

49.67

51.5

358.92

Nirma University, Ahmedabad

51.25

45.58

55.5

49.17

352.5

Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology, Gandhinagar

42.48

44.25

44.17

351.9

GITAM (Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management) University, Visakhapatnam

54.63

58.08

54.85

40.83

350.39 25

Sathyabama University, Chennai

51.25

48.33

67.5

43.33

347.41

Jaypee University, Noida

48.21

48.83

50.78

343.82

Kalasalingam University, Krishnankoil (Tamil Nadu)

54.18

45.42

49.17

343.77

Private and Deemed Universities Overall Ranking University Entrepreneurship Faculty Industry

Placement Infrastructure Interface

Global Collaboration

Total dL - 600

Rank

International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Hyderabad

45.01

41.07

41.1

343.18

Centurion University, Bhubaneswar

43.07

42.01

343.08

Galgotias University, Greater Noida

50.69

52.83

54.75

46.67

342.94

Hindustan University, Chennai

52.55

44.42

57.5

47.67

342.14

Shiv Nadar University, Gautam Buddha Nagar

42.33

41.17

64.3

43.33

342.13

50.02

52.07

339.09

Azim Premji University, Bengaluru Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidyalaya, Haridwar

50.33

42.83

56.65

338.81 35

Siksha â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Anusandhan University, Bhubaneswar

40.04

43.07

79.32

338.43 36

O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat

50.13

41.92

47.07

52.17

338.29

Assam Don Bosco University, Guwahati

ICFAI University, Ranchi

41.04

65.89

66.06

75.28

40.04

329.31

47.05

42.67

72.55

326.27

44.46

77.77

39.01

324.24

NIIT University, Neemrana

43.26

41.25

320.51

Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Puttaparthi

45.48

47.33

319.81

Chitkara University, Solan

41.39

41.67

50.84

57.5

318.4

Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology, Sangrur Amity University, Ranchi

336 38

Private and Deemed Universities Overall Ranking University Entrepreneurship Faculty Industry

Placement Infrastructure Interface

Global Collaboration

Total dL - 600

Rank

Maharishi Markandeshwar University (MMU), Ambala

46.68

42.67

40.83

317.18

GLA University, Mathura

49.49

47.25

52.6

316.34

Jaypee University of Information Technology, Solan

45.25

46.92

51.25

44.17

315.59

Mangalayatan University, Aligarh

47.39

44.67

53.6

40.83

314.49

The Northcap University (formerly ITM), Gurgaon

42.78

41.94

50.01

44.17

313.9 49

Saveetha University, Chennai

42.93

42.67

56.5

43.33

312.43

Periyar Maniammai University, Thanjavur

51.48

41.92

60.8

41.67

309.87 51

Manav Rachna International University, Faridabad

40.28

43.96

Gandhigram Rural Institute, Gandhigram ICFAI University, Hyderabad

46.49 44.48

52.08 42.33

55 66

50 63

43.91

Yenepoya University, Mangalore

54.66

41.75

NITTE University, Mangaluru

44.01

41.33

Shobhit University, Meerut

41.26

AISECT University, Bhopal Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi Vishwa Mahavidyalaya, Kancheepuram

Jagran Lakecity University, Bhopal

47 60 44.48

309.24

40 42.33

303.57 53 302.62 54

41.07

301.98

51.57

297.98

39.48

41.01

297.83

42.95

46.15

44.1

297.46

37.02

42.19

41.89

40.98

294.08

48.06

44.17

52.5

43.33

293.06 60

RANKING Private Universities

Jammu & Kashmir

Jammu

Himachal Pradesh

Amritsar Shimla

Jalandhar

Punjab

Ferozepur

Haryana

Ludhiana

Chandigarh SBS Nagar Mohali Mussoorie Patiala Dehradun Panchkula Ambala Haridwar

Karnal

Sonipat Hisar Panipat Rohtak Gurugram

Meerut Noida Ghaziabad

Delhi Faridabad

Uttarakhand

Nainital

Uttar Pradesh

Agra Lucknow

Gorakhpur

Kanpur Allahabad

Varanasi

NORTH

Northern Zone of India has made significant progress on access to higher education and enrollment of students at the university level. The zone has several prominent educational institutes that have been training students and imparting holistic development. However, in terms of access to higher education, the zone has multiple issues like urban-rural disparity and lower female literacy.

JANUARY 2017

digitalLEARNING

50.16

59.99

49.75

Sam Higginbottom Institute of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Allahabad

University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun

41.17

64.3

43.33

342.13

42.33

343.82

358.92

363.74

374.08

Shiv Nadar University, Gautam Buddha Nagar

46.67

50.69 52.83 72 66 54.75 46.67 342.94

50.78

51.5

81.5

62.5

Galgotias University, Greater Noida

Rank

420.21 3

48.21

74.17

Jaypee University, Noida

48.83

49.67

41.25

45.75

427.26

Thapar University, Patiala

63.29 83.92 63 65 53.15 61.67 390.03

432.58

Sharda University, Greater Noida

64.58

55.33

70.46

Lovely Professional University, Phagwara

59.08

88.18

Apeejay Stya University, Sohna

52.08

Total dL - 600

77.17

Global Collaboration

Amity University, Noida

Placement Infrastructure Interface

Private and Deemed Universities Overall Ranking

University Entrepreneurship Faculty Industry

digitalLEARNING

JANUARY 2017

RANKING Private Universities

Gwalior

Bhopal

Madhya Pradesh

Indore Bilaspur

Raipur

Chhattisgarh

CENTRAL Keeping pace with the present needs of higher education among students, the Central zone, comprising states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, have been laying greater emphasis on taking education system to a new zenith. While Madhya Pradesh signed a financing agreement with the World Bank for increasing the effectiveness of higher education system, Chhattisgarh initiated the digitisation of libraries with the use LibSys software.

JANUARY 2017

digitalLEARNING

Total dL - 600

33.1

31.14 31.87 48 53 33.12 39.44 236.57

32.12

30.16 30.15 45 53 32.26 38.26 228.83

29.18

ICFAI University, Raipur

OP Jindal University, Raigarh

ITM University, Gwalior

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam University, Indore

Dr. C.V. Raman University, Bilaspur

JANUARY 2017

28.43

33.59

35.31

31.4

33.98

33.45

37.67

37.08

40.62

40.8

Rank

211.09 10

234.31

242.48

260.28 4

285.18

34.08 37.03 47 61 35.56 40.71 255.38

40.89

Maharishi University of Management and Technology, Bilaspur

38.75

39.78

35.06

Amity University, Gwalior

36.04

Amity University, Raipur

40.47

37.02 42.19 64 68 41.89 40.98 294.08

38 43.91 69 66 44 41.07 301.98

Global Collaboration

AISECT University, Bhopal

Jagran Lakecity University, Bhopal

Placement Infrastructure Interface

Private and Deemed Universities Overall Ranking

University Entrepreneurship Faculty Industry

digitalLEARNING

RANKING Private Universities Telangana Visakhapatnam Hyderabad

Karnataka

Vijayawada

Andhra Pradesh Bengaluru Mangaluru

Mysuru Vellore Kochi Coimbatore

Chennai Puducherry

Kozhikode

Kerala Kochi Kottayam

Madurai

Tamil Nadu

Trivandrum

SOUTH

Southern Indian states like Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry, have always fared better in comparison to other states, in its overall higher education system. According to ‘Annual Status of Higher Education in Southern Region 2013’, Tami Nadu has the highest number of universities in the country while Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka rank third and fifth, respectively in terms of number of universities in India. Furthermore, the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of all states in southern region is better than the national average.

JANUARY 2017

digitalLEARNING

62.95

55.44

Karunya University, Coimbatore 70

52.5

72.5

digitalLEARNING

GITAM (Gandhi Institute of T echnology and Management) University, Visakhapatnam

54.18

Kalasalingam University, Krishnankoil (Tamil Nadu)

45.42

48.33

67.5

49.17

43.33

343.77

347.41

54.63 58.08 73 69 54.85 40.83 350.39

51.25

JANUARY 2017

Sathyabama University, Chennai

373.61 6

376.78

416.83

Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology & Research Academy (SASTRA) University, Thanjavur 56.65 53.5 77 78 58.4 49.17 372.72

44.17

55.33

Rank

421.62 2

KL University, Guntur

41.08

50.83

89.25

67.5

429.34

Manipal University

40.85

55.75 53.33 79 84 84.14 61.17 417.39

61.5

Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore

79.83

65.46

Total dL - 600

Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) University

91.11

Global Collaboration

84.88

Placement Infrastructure Interface

SRM University, Chennai

University Entrepreneurship Faculty Industry

Private and Deemed Universities Overall Ranking

digitallearning.eletsonline.com

RANKING Private Universities

Assam

Bihar Darjeeling

Guwahati

Muzaffarpur

Patna

Bhagalpur

Jharkhand

Dhanbad Bokaro

Asansol Ranchi

Jamshedpur

West Bengal Kolkata

Odisha Cuttack Bhubaneswar

The Premium Advanced School of Eastern India ODM Public School, Bhubaneswar

EAST

The Eastern zone of India is very progressive in terms of reforming its higher educational institutions. States likeÂ Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal haveÂ made significant progress in rolling out a reform road map for restructuring and developing its higher education system and aligning it to its economic potential, this zone, especially Bihar and Jharkhand, has huge scope for infrastructural development and areas of training in the University space.

JANUARY 2017

digitalLEARNING

45.01 41

Sikkim Manipal University, Gangtok

Centurion University, Bhubaneswar

39.01

40.04

324.24

329.31

39.02

266.02

77.77

75.28

Nava Nalanda Mahavihara

66.06

38 39 62 55 57 38 289

65.89

338.43 5

343.08

361.07

418.14 2

Educational and Research Institute, Howrah

Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda

44.46

41.04

Rank

419.39 1

42.01

58.33

Amity University, Ranchi

79.32

83.04

56.4

Total dL - 600

ICFAI University, Ranchi

Global Collaboration

41 42 68 66 78 41 336

43.07

46.02

79.25

61.75

Placement Infrastructure Interface

Assam Don Bosco University, Guwahati

40.04

71.16

Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University, Bhubaneswar

Siksha â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Anusandhan University, Bhubaneswar

54.64

Birla Institute of Technology (BIT), Mesra

University Entrepreneurship Faculty Industry

Private and Deemed Universities Overall Ranking

RANKING Private Universities

Rajasthan Alwar Jaipur

Jodhpur

Ajmer Bhilwara

Udaipur

Kota

Gujarat Ahmedabad Vadodara Surat Nagpur Nashik

Mumbai

Pune

Maharashtra

Kolhapur

WEST

The Western zone, comprising states of Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Gujarat, has been talking a lot of initiatives in promoting private participation in education and facilitating the establishment of a large number of higher educational institutions. Being a hub of economic activities, this zone has been adopting modern teaching techniques and taking positive steps towards an international, industry oriented global education system.

JANUARY 2017

digitalLEARNING

68.2

81.59 55.9

56.54

49.38 51.25

42.48 43.26

Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani

Bharati Vidyapeeth University, Pune

Banasthali University, Jaipur

Symbiosis International University, Pune

Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Mumbai

Nirma University, Ahmedabad

Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology, Gandhinagar

NIIT University, Neemrana

38 32.1

Pratap University, Jaipur

JANUARY 2017

JK Lakshmipat University, Jaipur 37.46

35.31

41.25

44.25

45.58

46.75 80

48.67

55.75

48.83

33.45

55.5

52.5

92.5

67.5

66.57

Industry Placement Infrastructure Interface

40.62

277.46

44.17

49.17

48.33

89.83

89.33

Global Collaboration

Rank

241.48

320.51

351.9

352.5

361.96 5

397.21

421.98

430.25

430.77

Total dL - 600

Private and Deemed Universities Overall Ranking

University Entrepreneurship Faculty

digitalLEARNING

Industry View Corporate Interview

Formac -

solutions do you offer to the segments?

Helping Build An Industry-Ready Generation The need of the hour is focused education with a purpose. There should be industry readiness and entrepreneurial spirit among students. Faculty should facilitate it via technology and college management must support this culture for betterment of one and all, says Koushik Yachendra, CEO & Founder of Company, Formac Software Services (India) Pvt. Ltd., in an interview with Elets News Network (ENN). Excerpts:

We returned from the US to India to make a difference in the Edutech space. After interacting with many stakeholders to understand gaps in teaching-learning process and the abysmal rate of retention and application of knowledge, we came up with our EPracto product. It enables students to retain what they learnt through “practice by doing” while significantly enhancing their skills and succeeding in getting placed or enrolled in reputed institutions for higher studies.

Teaching is still done in the traditional way; mostly in stand-and-deliver mode. It’s the same with learning as most of the learning happens in the rote-way of studying. The goal of imparting education is expected to produce innovators. Learning process of listening to lectures or reading from books doesn’t contribute to 100% retention. Technology brings more effective ways of learning by using audiovisual means, virtual demonstrations, etc which are still under utilised. Formac’s EPracto is one of such niche ways of making learning more

JANUARY 2017

digitalLEARNING

How technology can change the education pattern and widen its reach to students in rural India?

With technology available to all sets of students, the identification of talent and skill becomes easier for industry and access to demand will be easier for students in remote areas. However with the state of things, it would take a few years for this dream to become a reality.

hat drove you to establish Formac Software Services (India) Pvt. Ltd.?

To synchronise technology with learning and teaching what are you focusing on?

Formac’s primary areas of focus with EPracto is for all technical education colleges (Engineering, Management) and secondary focus is on all Bachelor degree colleges. We plan to expand our scope of offerings to all secondary education schools also. We offer various solutions from CSAT (Comprehensive Skill Analysis Test) that give a complete overview of the entire college with respect to skill and various indicators are given, SES (Skill Enhancement Solution) which emphasises on a series of tests to identify, track and improve the overall performance, TEMS (Training effectiveness measurement Solution) which is a set of 3-5 tests that depicts the efficiency of the training carried and Cloudlearn a platform for technology students to innovate.

What measures are you undertaking for skill enhancement of higher education students? What problems are you facing now in current ecosystem?

effective by helping them “practice by doing” and providing a platform to innovate. The main area of focus of EPracto can be explained as measure where you stand, analyse, and target your learning. The lag with the current system is students are not able to self-analyse where they stand and how far are they from industry’s expectation and measures to improve it. EPracto exactly does what is needed. What education segments do you majorly focus on and what

EPracto itself is a Skill Enhancement product that caters to solving the gap between academics and the industry. But the rate of adaption of technology for education is very less in comparison to other countries. Still most of the colleges don’t even have their own domains and mail Ids, it’s still a long way to go before technology is seamlessly integrated in the education system. The challenges we are facing include infrastructure - availability of broadband internet speeds to support videos, etc or the systems/laptops at an affordable price for the common people; cost - Hi-Tech is available at a cost, the affordability of these by academic institutions is definitely at question and the biggest challenge is the “need” - The skill provider’s primary need in use of technology to enhance the skill of the students is shadowed by emphasis on other things like placements, branding, marketing, etc. n

digitalLEARNING

JANUARY 2017

Corporate Interview

CampusMall: Merchandising Your College Memories Education sector is one of the fastest growing sectors in India. From preschools to higher education institutes, all are trying to keep pace with this trend, says Ankur Gupta, CEO of CampusMall.in, in an interview with Elets New Network (ENN) and tells how consistently school meets its students-parents’ expectations add to the brand value of that institute. Excerpts:

hat is the inspiration behind CampusMall’s coming into existence?

CampusMall was created to cater to a basic need among students and alumni across the country – the need to express love, pride and affection for our beloved schools where we have had the time of our lives. We are a multi-channel brand licensing company that assists elite institutes across India to set up their merchandise engagement and uniform programme. Licensed merchandise includes T-shirts, Polo’s, Hoodies, Sweatshirts, Mugs, Caps, Accessories, etc. We engage with institutes at any / all of three levels. At level-1: We launch pride-wear memorabilia store online e.g. www.isb.campusmall.in. At Level-2: Turnkey Uniform Solutions for annual student kit requirements are provided and at the last level, customised merchandise for events like reunions, founders’ day, etc. are being built. What inspired you to get into the concept of licensing education memorabilia?

Our personal experiences (Co-founders – Ankur Gupta, Arpit Badjatya, and Siddharth Badjatiya) during college days in the US led us to start this journey five years ago. We were intrigued by the easy access to merchandise with college insignia on it. Students everywhere were flaunting their college pride as part of everyday life. We wanted to enable that access among schools and college communities in India.

JANUARY 2017

digitalLEARNING

What education segments do you majorly focus on?

Our services capture the complete education spectrum from pre-primary to higher education. The online merchandise programme is available for any institute looking to build a strong emotional connect among its community via a trendy merchandise programme, whereas the uniform programme is more popular among k-12 schools across India. How has your business evolved in the last five years?

Pride-wear eStores is a nascent business in India where alumni are not accustomed to finding a store selling memorabilia for their alma mater. We continue to build the culture around flaunting school - college pride as part of your everyday life. Over time we expanded our offering to cater to the highly fragmented school uniform segment. Our spectrum of services ranges from a time someone enters a school or college as a student to the time they graduate and thereafter as a lifelong alumni. CampusMall brings a well-rounded offering

of uniforms and pride wear to represent the love people have for their alma mater. How do you compare your services to the local vendor access schools enjoy across India?

CampusMall is uniquely positioned to be the one-stop shop for all uniform and merchandise requirements. We found pain points in the procurement eco-system widespread across schools in India, whereby the vendors lack in consistency in quality of apparels year after year, in reliability of service and timely delivery and in professional approach in understanding the needs of the school. The above discovery is central to our offerings. Our objective is to organise the school uniform / merchandise procurement experience to ensure that you have a reliable vendor supplying quality products consistently. The scale, exposure, and expertise that we bring to bear is unmatched by local vendor network. From designing to delivery of final product, our team of experts helps to delivering the final product on campus. We can suggest alternative products / designs to consider, or enhance their current offering in style, quality and economy of procurement. What is your vision for merchandise in India?

We envision CampusMall to be of exceptional standard for merchandise and uniforms among schools and colleges in India. We want to be licensed merchandiser for 1500+ premiere institutes in the next three years while serving them as their one-stop shop for all uniforms requirements. How does a school sign up for your services?

We have created a zero-hassle process whereby a school can authorise CampusMall as their official merchandisers via a licensing agreement for a nominal onboarding fee. We take care of everything from designing to production, inventory management to marketing and logistics along with post sale services. There is real time tracking of all orders through an admin credentials for the institute. To top it off, there is royalties for every sale on the eStore designed as a way for alumni to give back to their alma mater. All in all it is a win-win arrangement for institutes, students and alumni.n