Global Educational Influencers, 2020 by The Knowledge Review

INDIA 2020 | VOL-5 | ISSUE-1

GLOBAL EDUCATIONAL INFLUENCERS, 2020

EDITOR’S NOTE THE GLOBAL FACE OF EDUCATION

ducation and the essence of learning have shaped human beings and the society to where they stand today. Had it not been for education, chances are we would still be living under the rocks. What gives education the power to change the world is the inquisitive mind human beings are bestowed with. It is this power of questioning and finding answers that have led to the inventions and discoveries that have changed the world and continue to do so. It has also given rise to people or idols who are now respected as great scholars and influencers who wield this power. As the world shrinks and becomes accessible on the fingertips, the world of education is being rearranged with ideas from people across the globe. These Global Educational Influencers are redefining the way formal education works throughout the world. The best practices in various local education systems are being adopted by global systems. So much so that you now have an Indian yoga class in the schools of America to improve the overall physical and mental health of students and help them focus on studies.

These Global Inﬂuencers are well-versed with the demands that a global economy and society creates. Owing to this, it is up to them to create global citizens who can meet this demand. So they take the platforms that are readily available to their disposal ranging from local schools to digital and online classes. They help students get acquainted with the world that is beyond textbooks and curriculums, exposing them to what is expected of them when they go out of the schools. This creates a generation that is not just educated but profession-ready. In this new world of global education, borders don’t matter. What matters is credibility and easy reach to opportunities and exposures. Global Educational Inﬂuencers like those featured here are the ones who ensure that education isn’t limited to boundaries and is availed by every soul that wants to learn. Here are a few stories about those bridging the gap between quality, global education, and those who want a share of it. T R

Sneha Sinha

CXO

10 Dr. Dilip Shukla An Advocate of Progressive Education

14 60 Professional’s Viewpoint

Dr. Ranjana Tewari Displaying the True Essence of Passion and Teaching

The Yearn For Talent in the GCC:How to Retain Staff in the Era of Job-Hopping

ARTICLES

18 Piyush Keshav A Visionary Tackling the Real Challenges of Our Education System

Editor’s Desk The Signiﬁcance of Education Consultant

44 On-Air Podcasting Provides Numerouss Beniﬁts in Education

26 Prasad P. Mahale Bringing Excellence to Students by Online Courses and Certiﬁcations

C O N T E N T S Tamil Selvan. S

A Devoted and Passionate Personality Enhancing Life

Prashant Dhanokar Bridging the Gap between Learning and Teaching

Udhay Shankar A Light Paving the Path for Future Minds

36 Sanjay Khimesara

A Pioneer in the Animation Industry

Vinit Upadhyay

An Erudite Personality, Reshaping the Educational World

Sridevi Duraiswamy Changing the Paradigm of the Tech Education

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Learning Coachâ&#x20AC;?

Vinodh Kumar

48 Sunil Wanjare Guiding Students to Reach their Potential

Changing the way learning happens inside the classroom

MAY, 2020

People behind this issue

Editor-in-Chief Abhishaj Sajeev Managing Editor Anmol Preet Singh Publishing Control Team Shruti P.Jambhale

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An Educational Inﬂuencer of Progressive Education

hilosophically speaking, looking back from where one stands today, it would have been difficult to anticipate what they would achieve. Endless obstacles, other national, local, or global issues that lingered; all made it nearly impossible to achieve what we did today. Thanks to human perseverance, curiosity, and determination, we are the most thriving beings of the planet. However, amidst us there live few humans who follow the aforesaid values with utmost sincerity and have a never-giving up nature. While they strive to thrive in life, they also continuously work towards a purpose bigger than themselves. We call them ‘leaders’. Now imagine, having such strong leaders at every enclave, especially education. The prominence of such leaders depends on their outlook on education and how they transform everything around them. Adhering to the same and intending to find such profound educationalists, we landed at Sri Lal Bahadur Shastri Degree College, Gonda. Here, we had the privilege to meet with Dr. Dilip Shukla, Assistant Professor of the college. The below-conversation with him made us understand his outlook on education and how he brings reformation. Please introduce your field of study, place and current occupation to our readers. My field of study in Chemistry subject especially Physical Chemistry. My research topic is ‘To Study the changes in electronic structure and softness parameters of the isomers of some Pyridine derivatives with the help of MNDO calculations’. I have completed my research work under the supervision of Dr. P. P. Singh Ex-Principal, Bareilly College, Bareilly and M.L.K.P.G. College, Balarampur. Dr. P. P. Singh is an eminent international fame personality in the field of research and he had played an effective role as a Chairman in ‘International Coordination Chemistry Conference’ Germany in 1976.

How did you become an educational influencer? Was there any role model growing up? Educational influencer means to lead in the educational field and provide leadership to the education system. Everyone wants to become a leader in their field but it is not possible for anyone. An influencer is one who influences or leads others. In my opinion, a person must have some special qualities to be a leader such as L- lead by example, E- enthusiastic, A-ambitious, D- determined, E- encourage to others, R- ready to learn. Besides these six characters, I have more than two decades of experience in education field, having fundamental knowledge of the subject, effective voice, dynamic personality and innovative thinking, so I can lead properly in educational field and become an effective educational influencer. Role Model: There are some important dimensional factors that may be helpful in growing up an educational system. These factors are1. Teaching and learning should be innovative, effective and exciting. 2. Excitement and ambition can do everything in the World. 3. Changing the faulty education system. 4. Always ready to learn and teach what I know. 5. Create a good academic leader. 6. First, set a goal to achieve progress in the educational field and then determined about their goal. How would you describe your teaching style or teaching philosophy? A teacher is a role model for students. I present myself in a good and pleasant manner in classroom. With fundamental subjective knowledge, I provide them spiritual and life related knowledge which is helpful in their career making and life. I teach the class with deep fundamental knowledge through effective voice. Explain the subject topic with appropriate and valuable

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Global Educational Inﬂuencers, 2020

examples through which students understand matter easily and are memorable for a long time. My teaching philosophy is that “To be thought a leader, you need to lead.” If you want to be a successful educational inﬂuencer, then you need to provide a valuable education to your students. To do that, you need to discuss regularly the topics that interest them and provide some kind of value. Tell us about your roles and responsibilities at your Institution. How do you compliment the School's vision? My roles and responsibilities at my Institution are: • Attributes of an academic leader. • Sharing equal responsibilities with teachers, students and staff. • Able to create healthy academic environment. • Endow with academic as well as administrative acumen. • Sound decision makers, have good tact in behaviour and moral character. • Regulator and developmental. • Act as a motivator whose touch inspires people to do their best. • Involving the whole staff in deliberating on goals, belief and vision of the Institution. • Encourage teachers to visit one another’s classes and make an unbiased assessment of teaching. • Help teachers work smarter by actively seeking different interpretations. • Using an action research team or School improvement teams as a way of sharing power. • Encouraging teachers to experiment, new ideas and promote creativity and commitment. According to you How the Indian education system evolved over the years? We all are aware of how broken the system of education in our country. The Indian education system teaches us by heat learning, it teaches us to blindly memorize whatever is being taught. There is no need to raise questions. In exams, we copy whatever the teacher says or whatever is written in books. Exams are everything. One only focuses on scoring marks irrespective of whether they understand anything or not. It doesn’t matter whether knowledge increases or not. We have to score marks by any means because these marks MAY | 2020

define our lives. To score marks all they do is study the whole time. Their hobbies and play times all are forgotten. Their whole life spends in struggling. In this way, pressure is created which later gets converted into depression. As a result some of them commit suicide. But the one who endures it and comes out of it, they realize that the skills needed by them in real life, are never really taught. Creativity, confidence, critical thinking could be useful in real life, aren’t taught by anyone. It is not really their fault because this is what they were taught since childhood that whether they see or read should not be critically analysed. Instead of it some other things are also to stopped the Indian education system from evolving over the years. They are:• Old syllabus. • Old subject. • Old case studies. • Old management theory. • Lack of technological knowledge. • Lack of digital internet presentation. • Lack of industry knowledge vision. • Lack of self- motivation. • Unfulfilled requires desires in education. • Without understanding, only memorise. What aspects of your job are the most challenging and how do you overcome that? The most challenging aspects in my job(educational field) are as• Incompetent faculty in colleges I.e. cheap faculty. • Shortage of good faculties in India. • To do job like as Robot not with open mind. • Teaching with the conventional theoretical classroom. • No suitable place for experiment and research. To overcome these challenges, need to change in education system. For this following amendments are require• Provide better teachers. • Enhance teaching method by giving teacher training through latest technology. • Promote teaching, Respect Teachers. • Government must control the whole education system. • Education based on approach and applications, Students are research oriented. • Prepare well formed mind not well filled mind. • Focus on practical learning, intellectuality,

• • • •

opportunities and creative abilities. Enhanced digital learning awareness. Make local learning groups. Promote courses of open universities. Promote education like Swachh Bharat.

What advice can you give to graduates who seek to become Professors or Lecturers in the field of education? My advice to graduates who seek to become Professors or Lecturers in the field of education is to first fulfil the essential and desirable qualifications for such posts. For Lecturers, they must complete the postgraduate degree with above 55% marks and then complete the exam of Higher Secondary selection Board. After completing the exam, they will become lecturers of Intermediate colleges. For being a professor, they must have Postgraduate Degree with above 55% marks which are essential qualification for NET and Ph.D. This is compulsory for Professors. After completing NET/Ph.D. they qualify for the exam of Higher Education Service Commission and become Asst. Professor in Degree Colleges and Universities. Based on experiences and their API (Academic Performance Index) they may also become professors in Universities. To achieve this target, my advice to you is to work hard and with honesty. Be honest about yourself and also work honestly. My best wishes for your bright future. What lies ahead of you in the Upcoming years? Rightful education is the milestone of any nation. According to Einstein, “Education is not the learning of facts but learning up mind to think.” Need to change the faulty education system that has become a factory of photocopy machines. We need to teach the children, the skills and qualities needed to become superior human beings who are empathetic, confident, creative, problem solvers, and critical thinkers. The entire curriculum is designed by keeping these qualities and abilities in mind. Otherwise, the following scenarios lie ahead in the upcoming years• Purpose of education only for attaining degree. • Education provides serviceman who work like machines. • Education is purposeless. • India becomes educated but, unemployable nation. • Degree without confidence. T R

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Dr. Ranjana Tewari Displaying the True Essence of Passion and Teaching

ove towards your passion! These are the only four words that will come to your mind after reading the following journey of Dr. Ranjana Tewari, the Head of Department of Mangalayatan University. As a way of life, her family has passed down the love for teaching generation after generation. And at present, Dr. Tewari has coupled her love for teaching with the field of agriculture. Read this educational influencer’s journey in her own words. Please introduce yourself and your journey as an educator to our readers and also tell us what inspired you to pursue agriculture studies as a career? Hello readers, I am Dr. Ranjana, a Researcher, an Educator, Plant Breeder, and Floriculturist. I am presently holding the position of Head of Department in Agriculture at Mangalayatan University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. I graduated from GBPUAT, Pantnagar in agriculture, did my Masters and Ph. D in Genetics & Plant Breeding from AAIDU, Prayagraj, and NDUAT, Faizabad, respectively. I have also worked in CSIRNBRI, Lucknow. For the past ten years, I have been actively working in the field of research and education. Though I am a lifetime student and I always love to learn, but I enjoy teaching others, even more, it’s in the family. Getting to know all of the different kids and interacting with them. I have always loved kids, so I always enjoy that part of my job. I think every teacher wants to have a long-lasting effect on their students and live forever in the form of their teachings. I have learned that agriculture doesn’t require hundreds of books to mug up; rather, it needs passion and determination. To pursue a carrier in agriculture is not easy; one has to love the soil and nature, needs the courage to get the hands dirty for food and witness the miracle of crop life.

It’s part of our culture and tradition achieved through hard work via uniting people. The kind of positive impact that one can make to education, society, and agriculture sector simultaneously by pursuing agriculture as a carrier fascinated me to take agriculture as a carrier. As there is no more noble task than that of being able to feed the hunger, whether it’s for food or knowledge. Pertaining to your experience of 10 years in the education sector, how, according to you, has the curriculum for agriculture studies improved over time? During the past 10 years, agricultural education has expanded rapidly and explored the new areas of agriculture and allied sectors to meet the global demand for human resources and agricultural technology. Agriculture being a professional degree, the ICAR has made it more careers oriented by curricula changes for different undergraduate and post-graduate programmes in India. The new curricula recommendation by the fifth Dean’s Committee for the undergraduate courses with the aim to produce agricultural graduates with a strong background in modern science, value-added courses and skill development courses with important features of Rural Agricultural Work Experience (RAWE) to impart practical training in farmers’ fields, Plant clinic. Agroindustrial experiences, sustainable agriculture, natural resource management, watershed management, agriculture journalism, etc. Tell us more about Mangalayatan University with regard to your department specifically. Mangalayatan University is a “Gurukul of Global Education.” Here, we work towards a fine blend of values and global professional talents in the making of leaders for the future. The Department of Agriculture was established in 2018 under the Institute of Engineering & Technology and is strengthened with

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Global Educational Inﬂuencers, 2020

competent faculty, supporting infrastructure, and seventy-ﬁve Acre land. The primary focus of our curriculum is to impart technical knowledge to students, exposure to latest industry practices through several industrial visits, training during their course to have adequate exposure in tackling live problems encountered in working of the industrial entity. Vision: To be the leading centre providing student responsive education, farmer responsive training and services for agriculture development and agro-industry. Mission: • To train students to be skilled professional, with the hunger and ability to become leaders • To bring global best practices to our students through the widespread use of technology • To empower our faculty to constantly develop new skills and excel professionally • To provide the best campus environment to students and faculty with all facilities to nurture their interests MAY | 2020

Dr. Ranjana Tewari

Head of Department

What is your opinion on the inclusion of technology and smart devices in studying and /or researching within agriculture, and other mediums of education? Teaching-learning aids like instructional use of computers, television, mobiles, internet and other kinds of electronic hardware and software play a key role in the understanding of the subjects to students as well as to the teacher. The amalgamation of smart teachinglearning technologies also has an important role in agriculture extension as it enhances the effect with ease for the lab to land programmes. The Agriculture faculty and researchers who conduct research and teach courses prefer educational technology uses more over conventional methods of teaching because it integrates process involving people, procedures, ideas, devices, the organization for

analyzing problems, devising, implementing evaluating and managing solutions to field problems, in situations in which learning is purposive and controlled. As an educator, what challenges have you faced while building a career in the education domain? The biggest challenge always comes from the students and how their understanding can be enhanced, no matter how much knowledge you have, but how much and how better you can make them understand the topic is always a challenge as every mind is different and respond to every topic is different. I began my career in research but sooner, I realized an educator inside me with a vision and believed for future innovative agriculture and skillbased smart education the world requires. So, I switched my job to college and then finally to university as an educator. Following the zeal of learning by doing to achieve excellence as excellence brings success took me to the present position of HOD. For the first time, the Mangalayatan university started the department of agriculture under my headship. Thus, it’s the will that helps you overcome all the challenges. What would you advise to those aspiring to study agricultural science? Agriculture not only promises well-paying government or private jobs after degree completion but also provides the satisfaction of working in the field, Agriculture doesn’t require hundreds of books to mug up rather needs passion and determination. To pursue a career in agriculture is not easy; one has to love the soil and nature, needs the courage to get the hands dirty for food and witness the miracle of crop life being part of our culture

and tradition. So, “live your passion and culture together.” Where do you see yourself in the near future? I see myself and the Agriculture department of Mangalayatan University as a world leader in the ﬁeld of innovative smart agriculture especially in crop improvement and exploring new areas of innovative agriculture like postharvest agriculture management and smart agriculture technology etc. T R

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Global Educational Inﬂuencers, 2020

Piyush Keshav A Visionary Tackling the Real Challenges of Our Education System

hile many visionaries rise and take the mantle of revolutionizing the education system, seldom are any who have looked upon the traveled path, analyzed it, revamped it, and set out on a new course of redeﬁning education for future generations.

cultivate a culture of research-based education in India.

The following interview with Piyush Keshav, the Founder of Orison Education India Limited, reveals exactly the same story and his quest to eradicating the roots of rote learning from our education system.

The Idea of India First was implanted in us by our grandfather. Having a vision of developed India is the strongest motivation for young minds. The biggest inspiration came from my parents, who allowed me to paint my own canvas and discover my own destiny. In a middleclass family like us, the biggest challenge is to overcome a mindset of having a settled life and getting a monthly paycheque.

Let’s walk through the visionary's journey in his own words.

Tell us more about Orison Learning Studio and the need for such an institute.

Please introduce yourself and your journey in setting up Orison Learning Studio. Also, tell us what inspired you to pursue this career path at a young age?

OLS is designed to build a culture of research-based education from as early as class VI. At Orison, the focus of students is more on diving deep into subject matters and learning in-depth and less in ﬁnding tricks to crack objective questions. In the beginning, it looks quite a slow process, but once the clarity happens, learning catapults. We help students move from frailty of spoon-feeding to a habit of self-learning.

I am passionate about learning and exploring future possibilities of science and humanity. I envisage that we will be able to bring the highest quality of skill and education to every child of this country with an annual reduction in fees, bringing it down to nearly free by 2030. Orison was initially set up at a small garage of Darbhanga, Bihar, in 2009 with a humble vision to bring quality education within the town and nearby villages. Starting with a class on Vedic mathematics and English grammar to providing tuition for physics and mathematics to class 11th and 12th students and then to building a coaching institute for cracking entrance examinations was a full-on adventurous journey. Orison became the talk of the town by 2012. Yet, after understanding the fact how regular teaching and coaching kills the creativity of a child in the long run, in 2013, I discontinued the well-established coaching institute to further explore and understand the purpose of education and getting educated. For a year and so I traveled to diﬀerent parts of India, spent time in Himalayan Ranges, read ancient Indian Scriptures and developed an idea of having Orison Learning Studio, to

India, in the past three decades, has become a nation of preparation. As a nation, we have forgotten the purpose of education and getting educated. India ranks 110th in the overall education category in the Global Innovation Index ranking 2019. India being the 2nd most populous country, ranks 77th in the number of researcher's categories in GII 2019. These numbers are alarming, looking at the fact that this country has 60 crore plus young minds below age 25. We have a miraculous opportunity to transform these young minds and hearts into Nation Builders. This decade could become our boon or curse, depending on our choices. India is in dire need to rethink and reimagine its education system. Please share your views on incorporating technology with education. Also, how are you implementing the same? Technological forces will shape the future of our education. MAY | 2020

Piyush Keshav

Founder

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The previous generation was learning technology. This generation is using technology to learn. Next-generation will use technology to think, imagine, and innovate. Learning will become obsolete. The biggest beneficiary of the computing advancements will be teachers. They will not have to deliver monotonous lectures, and with freedom of time, they will be allowed to pursue research in their specific domain. Ed-tech companies are still a novice in using technology in the field of education. Technological forces have opened an entire horizon where we can reimagine and rethink education. Our expert coaches guide students to select between millions of online resources, which are already free and can be used to catapult learning. With all these available online resources, it has become easy for us to focus on imparting knowledge and making them perform. We are developing an AI-based model to create customized and cumulative learning programs for our teachers and students. Brief us about ‘SMILE’ and how it is reforming the educational model since its inception? Galileo Galilei father of modern science said, “You cannot teach a man anything, you can just create an environment to make him learn.” Yet, the majority focus of an educational institution has always been on how to teach effectively and efficiently. In 2016, I published a paper at IIT Delhi, where I mentioned about creating a conducive learning environment. I conceived of having Self-Motivated Intelligent Learning Environment' SMILE'. Every child's learning journey should begin with self-motivation and should be self-paced. We must move from the industrial model of imparting education to more like an agricultural model. The role of a teacher is more like an expert farmer and a gardener, who understands the right proportion of nutrients for different plants and nourishes with patience in mind. The model is receiving continuous appreciation from thousands of educators and institutions across the globe. It is helping many reformers and educationists think and talk about Self Learning in the age of innovation and creativity. Please share your obstacles in Orison’s evolution from a coaching institute for competitive examinations to becoming a mascot for building a research-based education system in India.

The biggest obstacle was fighting my own thoughts. Himalayan yogis guided me, and with practice, I learned to dive deep in the ocean within and win my own battles. Once I had a clarity of thought, it was always an easy task to bring parents and educators on the same page. Yet, as India has somehow become a nation of preparation, and everyone here from KG to PG is busy preparing for some competitive examination, it is a herculean task to create awareness about Research Based Education here in India. Through our customized workshops at schools and colleges, we are making students, teachers, and parents understand the benefits of mindful learning and how it nourishes creativity with time and practice. Thousands of students have started calling themselves Self Motivated Insightful Learners. What advice would you give to those who aspire to become entrepreneurs and influencers in the field of education? In your hands, you have a seed that must be nourished such that they could stand on their own feet in the world twenty years from now. Fear of failure should not be a driving force among children for learning and getting educated. As an aspiring entrepreneur and influencer in the field of education, your job is to design a product and services through which strength of mind is increased, intellect is expanded, and a child can carry his smile throughout his learning journey. You have got an opportunity to build Nation Builders, use all your resources and time wisely. What have you envisioned for yourself and your organization in the near future? As a team, we will play a pivotal role in transforming rural education in India. As an organization, we have plans to build 1,00,000 + learning studios in different villages across the nation. We will bring business opportunities to investors and educators for developing and running Orison Learning Studio in 100 different cities of India and the world by 2023. After building a robust infrastructure and platform for imparting modern skillsets and education to young minds, I personally will shift my focus in bringing Hyperloop and Space Tourism to India. T R

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THE SIGNIFICANCE OF

EDUCATION CONSULTANT 22

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Editorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Desk

inding the right school for children is the topmost priority for every parent. It is essential that their children are assured of a place at the school of their choice to enable the family to accept an international assignment or a domestic relocation.

The number of international schools is increasing at an astonishing rate. Thus whether you are admitting your child to a private or international school or college, it makes sense to bring in an education expert to help you navigate the system and make informed decisions. It is particularly important where school places are scarce or you are working in a tight time frame. One can MAY | 2020

take the help of an educational consultant who is easily available in most regions. But it is essential for them to know which companies support particular schools and the locations expatriate families prefer to live in, to help them make their choice. The consultant can take into account the education system one’s child is moving from and any particular requirements, by making eﬃcient search for places, and recommend shortlisted schools to visit.

institutions, which may demand huge payment fees. In many countries and regions, particularly where language is not an issue, the local state system may provide education that is equal in quality to that provided by fee-paying schools. However, if the family seeks the advice of the consultant having knowledge of the local state system and the quality of schools in the chosen area, it might be easier for the family to choose the school.

Does One Really Needs a Consultant?

Some consultants deal solely with ﬁnding private feepaying schools and would not be familiar with the process of sourcing schools in the state education system. Hence, it is crucial to make sure that one selects a consultant who is familiar with the state education system. If one is not sure whether to opt for state or fee-paying education, a consultant who is familiar with both state and fee-paying schools is ideal. If one fails to obtain a place in the chosen state school, engaging an education consultant to help with an appeal can be worthwhile, as it can be a complicated and stressful process.

Finding a home in the preferred location is vital, but the need to be within comfortable travelling distance of both school and work can be challenging. Therefore, discussing the specific needs of the relocation with an education consultant can really help the parents with property search. Their knowledge of local property and the best schools may save a lot of time and worry. In some countries, it is important to have a permanent address in the school’s catchment area before an application for a state school can be considered. If an education consultant is familiar with the relocation process, he will be able to coordinate with relocation or destination services provider (DSP), sourcing suitable accommodation for the family. Some relocation management companies (RMCs) have their own in-house education consultants, while other firms use the services of particular education consultants. Usually, an employer plans to move families to coincide with the start of the academic year. But, this would not be always feasible in the fast-paced and competitive global markets. Sometimes companies need to relocate the employees to take up an assignment to meet business needs. Considering the scenario, an education consultant can be particularly helpful in sourcing schools in a minimal time. A professional consultant may know the market situation and understand the fluctuations in school-place availability. The consultant can therefore help with the timing of the move and the application. Notably, the advice of an educational consultant is more helpful when a group relocates, whether that is a domestic group move or transfer to another country. The Mode of Education Not all relocating families admit their child to private

Planning School Visits It is always good to visit a school when it is working, and when the children are in the school premises. Due to this, one can gain a better appreciation of the culture of the school and the quality of the education it provides. Moreover, when one is planning school visits, it is important to check whether the school is in session or not. Additionally, one should always remember that the state schools, private schools and international schools may have diﬀerent term dates. It would not be always possible to visit state schools out of term time or in busy periods near the end or beginning of term. But if an education consultant has a good relationship with local schools, he can possibly arrange a tour when the school is closed. In the case of private, international or selective state schools, children are many a times required to give exams or tests or undergo an interview. All of this can be arranged by an education consultant, which can be incorporated into the orientation visit. Finding the Right Education Consultant It is important to know that the consultant understands the need of the child and if any particular education requirements. For instance, if the child has Special Educational Needs (SEN), the consultant should be able to MAY | 2020

settle the child in appropriate schools, and understand the schooling options and support available. Regarding fees, it varies considerably from country to country and between local areas. Consultants specializing in obtaining school places in top fee-paying schools may be very expensive. One should be able to obtain an idea of basic fees from the websites of most reputable consultants, or make an initial enquiry.

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Getting the Best from your Education Consultant When appointing an education consultant, one should check their knowledge of school systems, curricula, and state, private and international schools, to make choices accordingly. Most importantly establishing a rapport with the consultant, and discussing about the childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s particular requirements would surely help. Preparedness towards negotiating with the consultant and exploring new options are the better ways to get ones child admitted to the best institution thereby getting best from the consultant. T R

Prasad P. Mahale Bringing Excellence to Students by Online Courses and Certiﬁcations

nline education has evolved over the last few years and has been embraced by the mainstream students. Inside such a setup, a leaner can monitor his/her learning environment, which ultimately helps to gain a deeper understanding of the relevant degree course. Not to mention, new models of learning are always evolving on the market, presenting students with a range of opportunities to turn their curriculum into something that suits them, not the other way around. Our next inﬂuencer has focused on the same and has developed an online blog for students to learn as per their own time and pace. Let’s hear from Prasad P. Mahale, Assistant Professor of the Computer Engineering Department at R. C. Patel Institute of Technology. Please introduce yourself and your journey as an educator, to our readers, and also tell us what inspired you to pursue this career? Hello readers, my name is Prof. Prasad P. Mahale working as an Assistant Professor as a part of the Computer Engineering Department at R. C. Patel Institute of Technology since Jan 2011. I have completed my post-graduation in Information Technology with 79% as well as completed my graduation in Computer Engineering with distinction. I have attended several technical workshops/webinars, published books, number of papers published in reputed journals as well as completed many technical courses. I created a blog which helps students to learn more about various subjects, including topics, presentations, slides, assignments, university question papers along with solutions, books, lab manuals, project exhibition, etc. All the materials are available free of cost on the blog so that anybody can access the required material at any time. That motivates students to take active participation in technical and nontechnical events and college rewarding them by publishing their achievements on the college website and through that blog. With several subjects being

taught, I am a part of co-curricular & extra-curricular events arranged for students. Teaching is the most honest profession within the world. This profession comes with an enormous amount of responsibility. It requires rediscovering creativity, while you are following a curriculum with a positive learning outcome to empower students to ﬁgure education on their terms. It is also making a difference, getting back your spark, and securing a student’s future. Tell us more about how you help aspiring engineers achieve their dreams and ambitions. Desire and dreams are the most signiﬁcant jewel of our life. In the event that we don’t have aspirations in our life, we wouldn’t have the option to accomplish anything. Not having dreams resembles following imperceptible shadow. So, a few aspects we need to focus: 1. Be Optimistic: To be optimistic that having an awful day does not mean that your complete existence is going to be wrong. You must know that the things did not go as planned. In such situations, the pessimist would give up, but the optimist will simply identify the problem and implement the necessary action to regulate the plan and get back on course to obtain their objective. 2. Be realistic: This is an excellent approach because it will help us to decide on facts, not on ‘rights’ or ‘wrong’ but on idealistic notions as to how things ‘should’ and ‘ought’ to be. 3. Choose a meaningful problem: Endeavour to solve the challenge that you are enthusiastic about and for which achievement will improve the world into a better place. Recognize the issue, organize the given topic, and lead your analysis. 4. Goal setting: One of the most practical ways to

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Global Educational Inﬂuencers, 2020

Prasad P. Mahale Assistant Professor achieve multiple goals simultaneously, without being too overwhelmed, is by prioritizing. Start by making an inventory of all of your objectives and getting inputs from your peers and mentors, then sort those goals into categories by urgency. It’s important to line clear and speciﬁc goals, determine a timeline for an equivalent, and layout an in-depth plan of action. Pertaining to your experience of more than 9 years as an assistant professor, how according to you has engineering education developed and improved over time? At the existing times, we are witnessing a lot of technological changes. These changes, however, have MAY | 2020

no longer been properly used by engineers to revamp the entire field in the existing scenario. The previous engineering syllabus only contains a traditional part of technology. But in the 21st century, new platforms created to learn e.g., MOOCS, online courses, IIT workshops, NPTEL, etc. It is important that with the shifting of emphasis in industrial production and engineering education from the good old traditional and conventional fields to the more sophisticated areas of new emerging technologies, the application of High Technology has extended to such diversified and specialized branches of modern engineering. Now requirements are changing as per expectations so as the new emerging trends of technology encouraging society to develop more. We need to face new

challenges, cater to problem statement design, and adopt new technology to meet goals. What is your opinion on the necessity for skill development within the upcoming generation of engineers, to be in line with the industry requirements? As we know that the job market has changed a lot in the past decade, technology is likewise increasing at its highest peak. The recent emergence of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Cloud-Based and Quantum Computing, Data Science, Robotics etc. require a need to improvise by adding certain courses in the curriculum by taking the initiative to add extra courses. Alongside, this communication skill and soft skill also makes a profound influence. Also, the engineering aspects need to focus e.g. understand problems, social problems, clarify logic, able to prepare good problem statements, make analysis, prepare communication, good documentation, the scope of the problem defined, ways of implementation etc. By making the individual complete certain online courses/certification on the industry level. These are certain steps that one can take to accomplish the upcoming generation of engineers to be in line with the industry requirements. As an educator, what challenges have you faced while building your career in the education domain? A teacher can be a good role model for the student who can inspire them to live a better life in various means. But, we have to face some challenges as an educator: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Lack of time for planning. Balancing diverse learning needs. Changing educational trends. Lack of resources (urban Area). Teachers are working too many roles at the same time. 6. Educators need to learn to value both tradition and innovation. What would be your advice to aspiring to become educators in the engineering studies domain? “A good teacher, like a good entertainer, ﬁrst must hold his audience's attention, then he can teach his lesson.” - John Clarke I always follow this quote in my journey of being a

teacher. Be an educator needs to make harmonious learning conditions and to keep up the positive relationship among students, educators, and administrators. Energize co-activity and shared help by getting the student to concentrate cooperatively. We need to consolidate specialized skill, expertise, and expectation alongside insight. Focus on the process of development, understand industry requirement and prepare students for the new challenges. What have you envisioned for career growth in the near future? Computer Engineers have been continuing growth over the past few years and there is no sign of stopping. Software Developers are more creative in their design as they often work closely with graphic designers who are responsible for creating the entire customer story and designing an experience around the company’s product and how it will be used. Few career paths will help to get ready for future needs. 1. Artiﬁcial Intelligence & Data Science. 2. Machine Learning, Deep Learning. 3. Automation & Robotics 4. Big Data & Internet of Things. 5. Energy-Efﬁcient Computing & Nano-Technology. 6. Virtual & Augmented Reality Engineering. 7. Blockchain 8. 3D Printer 9. Cryptocurrency 10. Space tech ground crews 11. Biomedical engineers T R

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Global Educational Inï¬&#x201A;uencers, 2020

MAY | 2020

BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN LEARNING AND TEACHING

PRASHANT DHANOKAR MAY | 2020

nthony J.1 D’Angelo once said, “Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.” Prashant Dhanokar, Assistant Teacher of Rajmata Jijau Shikshan Prasarak Mandal's Arts, Commerce & Science College, utterly understands the importance of quote and teaches us the responsibility of a teacher to deliver the best to his/her students. Let’s read how the educational inﬂuencer steps into the shoes of students to help them realize their full potential. Below are the excerpts of the interview.

Please introduce yourself and your journey as a successful Assistant Teacher. Also, tell us what inspired you to pursue this career path? Hello, I am Prashant Pralhad Dhanokar (M. A.M ed). Since 2005, I have been working as an Assistant Teacher of English in the Junior College Department of Rajmata Jijau Shikshan Prasarak Mandal's Arts, Commerce & Science College, Bhosari Pune. The journey of imparting education has been so colorful and joyful. Being a teacher, I try to transform all my ideas into the tender minds of pupils. I always focus on giving my student joy of learning; hence I try to create a fun learning experiences in my class. Activity-based learning is also well focused on the class. My awesome teachers, such as Kumar Iyer, Doctor Madhuri Gokhale Professor Mandavgane, have motivated me to become a teacher. Brief us about different walks of life you have witnessed in your teaching experience of 16 years. To be a better teacher, you have to be a better student ﬁrst, and then only a teacher can know a student’s way of thinking, their understanding level, etc. Many students are more brilliant than teachers; some of them are dull; some are average teaching them has always been challenging for me. Students are

Teaching is the greatest tool in the hand of the teacher to cultivate students. We can avoid ineffective ways of teaching and adopting some more effective ways so that we will have high-quality, responsible citizens in the future . What obstacles have you faced in your career as an entrepreneur and trainer? There were several obstacles like the speed of speech clear voice body language, explaining the topic, and taking the right feedback from the students, solving students’ problems, and the last one was really challenging that going down at the level of student and transforming my thoughts to them. What advice would you give to those who aspire to become teachers in the field of education? Always keep yourself fit and fine, never forget to go down to the level of students. Try to become a friend of students than a teacher. Try to guide them properly to solve all sorts of problems with pupils .

the same everywhere; it’s a teacher’s job to teach them, mold them to create tomorrow’s world-class leaders, responsible citizens. I always keep it mind while teaching them. Kindly share with us your opinion on our current education system.

What have you envisioned for yourself and your organization in the near future? I see myself improving as much as I can and giving my best potential. I will always look for innovative ways of teaching and guiding students to form their bright career. T R

The current education system is very innovative and based on activities. But at the same time, it is more theoretical than real. It has failed to create a certain level of maturity among students. According to you, what is the vital quality that a teacher must possess?

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Sanjay

Khimesara A Pioneer in the Animation Industry

ur Media and Animation Industry has progressed so much that an average human cannot tell the difference between what’s real and what’s not. However, it took a considerable amount of time to reach where it stands today. There was a time when it was only considered for kids, and a career in the prominent design industry was just a bleak thought in one’s mind. Nonetheless, these pages have turned drastically today. Such a development wouldn’t have been possible without the contribution of eminent leaders who molded the industry to become what it is today. Among them, we present Sanjay Khimesara, the Founder and Chief Executive of the Horizon Institute of Design (HID) & Business Partner Arena Animation at Geeta Bhawan Square, Indore(Arena GBS). We’re privileged to bring forth his journey and contributions that shaped the Media and Animation Industry.

Please introduce yourself and your journey as an educator, to our readers, and also tell us what inspired you to choose design studies as a career? I am Sanjay Khimesara, founder & Chief Executive of Horizon Institute of Design & Business Partner of Arena GBS, Indore. While doing my engineering, I explored my inclination towards creativity. After studying Engineering and later while doing Management, I was advised to pick up good jobs overseas. Contrary to most of my batch mates, I chose to stay back, look after parents and do something innovative in Indore. I was evaluating various options, including plans to set-up Manufacturing but ﬁnally, choose to venture into Skilling the youth and picked Design, Media & Entertainment Vertical for Training & Placements. After doing a lot of research and market analysis of Sectors in different cities, I came to the conclusion that this sector has the potential to grow as Sunrise Sector in the future and considered the option. Despite due support

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Global Educational Influencers, 2020 and encouragement of parents & wife, I consider this a very bold decision. As a first-generation entrepreneur, it was never easy to plan an investment in the nonconventional and technology-intensive academic venture, particularly when there is no past track record available. Opening up of the Indian economy, growing competition, increasing unemployment were some major factors considered towards the foundation of this D-School. I had a firm belief in the technological revolution, so I finally decided to navigate the rare way of opening a Design Venture with a focus on new-age creative segments like Computer Graphics, Animation, VFX, Digital media, Gaming, etc. Pertaining to your experience—of more than 26 years—in the education sector, according to you, how wide is the scope of studying design or a career in this sphere? Scope and Potential in this sunrise sector of Design are as vast as one’s imagination power. Our specific focus is Media & Entertainment Sector. My experience and ongoing growth suggest that going forward; this sector will grow exponentially and play a big role in content produced using animation and CG effects. The Average Indian Media consumption today is 4.5 hours a day, which is 9 times of US. While the growing demand for local content continues to be a key driver for the growth of the industry, the demand-supply issue for trained talent still exists. Recognizing this industry as a significant user of technology, and to play a seminal role in developing domestic design, we formed local creative groups to catalyze the growth of the industry, do community building and also established an interface with the state government. The Indian Media and Entertainment (M&E) industry is making high growth strides. Proving its resilience to the world, the Indian M&E industry is on the cusp of a strong phase of growth, backed by rising consumer demand and improving advertising revenues. The industry has been largely driven by increasing digitization and higher internet usage over the last decade. The Indian advertising industry is projected to be the second-fastest-growing advertising market in Asia after China.

We established Horizon Institute of Design, Indore in June 1997 & became business partner of Aptech’s Creative school Arena Multimedia at Geeta Bhawan, Indore location in Sep’97. Today we are known as pioneer, leader & trendsetter in Central India and most trusted destination. We offer job-oriented skill-based certification programs through Arena Animation in various sectors of Media & Entertainment. In 2016, we became a Training Hub of Tata Institute of Social Sciences, School of Vocational Education (TISS-SVE), to offer a Bachelor's Degree in Communication Design. We were selected as Premier Partner of Media & Entertainment Skill Council (MESC) for World Skills India Training to groom creative talent as per global levels. Autodesk also gave their ATC status to us, and NSDC’s Sector Skill Council MESC also partnered with us. During over two decades, we have trained & placed thousands of students. All the skilled students trained by us are well placed in leading Animation Studios, Production Houses, Gaming Companies, Ad Agencies, Web & Digital Companies, Design Companies, Educational Content developers of India & abroad, as per their interests. We aim to bridge between Industry & academia by providing skills as per Industry Standard. To provide quality training, we have some of the finest, expert-level faculty. Our strength lies in strong Industry connect; Outstanding Placements track record & alumni connect. We have a glorious track record of 50+ Awards & recognition to Centre, including Golden Pixel Award, Trailblazer, Captains, Icons in M.P. amongst other Performance Awards. Students have bagged 100+ Awards for their amazing work via films & contests & Alumni have extraordinary credentials, including Credits for 6 Oscar Awards (including a hat-trick of Oscar Credits for Best Achievement in Visual Effects during 2018-19-20) & 4 National Awards. Along with State-of-the-art infrastructure at our Campus, we have Social Incubation Studio to provide exposure on live projects & 150+

The Media and Entertainment Industry is set to expand at a CAGR of 13.5 percent over 2019-24. We are expected to touch around the 3.07 Lakh Crore mark by 2024. Hence this sector is expected to blaze a trail, outpacing most other segments. Tell us more about your ventures, their vision, and offerings.

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Internship tie-ups with local companies as On-the-job Skill Knowledge Providers. What is your opinion on the role of technology and modern tools in design schools as well as other mediums of education? Currently, Technology & Modern tools are playing a crucial role in shaping the ideas of creative people. Going forward, design technologies will play a big role in the content produced. This alone will be a game-changing paradigm for future productions. As an entrepreneur, what challenges have you faced while building your ventures in the education domain? The initial phase was quite tough. The biggest challenge was to find creative aspirants and convincing them as well as their parents about the advantages and benefits of such skill-oriented training. As we were amongst pioneers in such training, finding appropriate local experts as faculty was also difficult. Another major challenge was to create awareness as an alternative job-oriented Career Option. Even finding local opportunities in Industry and placing trained students was a big task. Convincing various educational Schools/Colleges for conducting Seminars, Contests, Workshops for their students was a big task. Traditionally, every Indian parent perceived their wards as becoming Doctors or Engineers or Charted Accountant when they grew up. So, it was very difficult to convince them about new-age careers in Design, Media, and Entertainment. People even had a myth that this is a nonserious career and usually connect it with kids only. It was only after we trained and placed our students in a few topnotch companies globally, people started having trust and awareness towards this alternative Creative Careers option. Today, the dominance of Art combined with technology is evident from the fact that FICCI & NASSCOM created forums and even top Design and Technology schools like NID and IIT have adopted it in their mainstream programs. Even there are now 100+ Design Schools in India. Another big challenge was developing and sourcing more and more local opportunities.

Since Sector is skill-oriented, quality training helped several students to not only fetch good jobs but even get freelance projects. Some of them even started their own set-ups. We take pride in finding credits of our students in hundreds of super successful outputs related to the Films, Television, Games, OTT, Ads, etc. What would be your advice to the aspiring entrepreneurs of the education sector? Before venturing into design education, one must ensure to possess conviction towards the career. One must avoid entry if the purpose is just an investment. This industry is very demanding and needs a lot of sensitivity towards students and requires the utmost level of service orientation. All successful visionaries have been Passionate and have love towards the medium. While imparting education, one must stick to the basics and focus on core areas, including Training and Placements. Deploying experienced Mentors, Strong exposure via Industry experts & having patience is the key attributes to success. How have you envisioned your future in terms of exploring new ventures, expansion, or the introduction of new offerings? We believe that to date, we have just touched the tip of the iceberg. We have a long way to go and have many other accomplishments to fulfill. The future plans include setting up a Residential Campus as Design College, and we are working hard to make Indore as the hub for Design. Our future plans include a significant contribution to the eco-system and ensure the success of creative talent up to World Skill Competitions. Indore is sure to see a lot more in Design, Media & Entertainment in the coming years with Arena GBS(HID) around. We dream of not only taking the creative sector at the forefront for solutions to crucial problems but want to bridge new opportunities for the youth trained in this lucrative sector. We also plan to contribute to Skill development initiatives of Government and remain as a leading training provider of Central India. T R

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Sridevi

Duraiswamy

Changing the Paradigm of the Tech Education performance in school, as well as college, earned merit scholarship during his engineering studies. Understanding the importance of education and mastering engineering skills with passion, he provided an excellent education to his wards, which lifted the disadvantaged status of the family in society. It was also his life, his arduous work, and passion, which inspired me to become an educational inﬂuencer.

o s t a t e t h e o bv i o u s , h u m a n s h ave m a d e tremendous progress when contrasted to the past million years. We’ve come a long way from being cavemen to becoming advanced futuristics. However, it is education, the sole factor which separates us from our ancestors. It encourages us to build better communities, to develop virtues, and give us a sense of freedom. Such development in the educator sector could not have been possible without the contribution of education inﬂuencers such as Sridevi Duraiswamy, Founder & CEO of MindSightz Education Pvt Ltd. She undertook extensive research about the present state of the education, mastered the means to enhance it and made it easy for the upcoming generations by being the pedagogy initiator of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Curriculum and STEM education service provider for schools through robotics platform.

Coming from an entrepreneurial family in Coimbatore, the Manchester of South India, I ﬁgured out the pacts of business at ease. But with the technological surge in the late 1990s, I perceived that the advancement was reachable and adaptable only to the highly trained and technically advanced ‘engineers.’ At that time, technology and technological thinking were not accessible to the common man. The situation was such that the rudimentary system of education in institutes could not groom even the pass outs of colleges. Being a Gold Medalist in the post-graduation of Finance & Control with an undergraduate degree in Business Management, I understood the need to be more technically aligned right from a child’s upbringing. Hence, I sought a course in Software Technology and Systems Management at a prestigious institution but had some disparities with my associates from the engineering background. After my stint for approximately two years at a Business

Please introduce yourself and your journey as an educator to our readers and also tell us what inspired you to pursue this career? My father came from an agricultural family who lived in a small backward village. Hence, most of the communities were unfortunate to collect the gifts of education, including my grandfather. However, the difference came over when my father-who was fortunate enough to gain education- with his arduous work, interest, and excellent

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Global Educational Inﬂuencers, 2020 Management School and being the placement director, I discovered a gap between the industry, where technically advanced graduates were turned to diverse opportunities, and the rest were left behind. After that, serving as an Operations Manager at an MNC, I recognized the role of technology, and being the forerunner in implementing technology at various aspects of management decision making, aided me to raise my performance bar. The awareness of being tech-savvy left a ridge in my mind to identify an opportunity in the education sector at the early stages and address the problem. Being an early beginner in this sector from 2010, has given the edge to evolve as per the evolution of the generation of the students as per their requirements . Tell us more about Hitech Kids, Robo Hub, and how you have helped young intellectuals to learn and acquire modern tech skills. “ Tell me and I forget, Teach me and I remember, Involve me and I learn” - by Benjamin Franklin is our motto. Hitech kids is a renowned name among the ICT Curriculum providers. It imparts knowledge to children using cutting-edge technology, and inculcate essential computational thinking skills, design, animation, programming skills and serve them through hands-on experience. We blend educational tools and implement project-based learning to develop digital creativity to meet the desired learning objectives. We design our curriculum to cooperate in promoting authentic, projectbased, multi-dimensional learning experiences for life, simplifying the teaching of technology and take computer learning imparted in schools to the pinnacle.

technology skills, critical thinking, problem-solving, and adaptive learning with avid indoctrinated techniques. At Mindsightz, we provide a podium to our students to confront real-life challenges and versatility in rapidly adapting to new demands and challenges. We advance a powerful connection and deep learning within adolescent minds for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Pertaining to your signiﬁcant experience in the education sector, how, according to you, has the Indian Education Sector developed over time? When India attained independence, the literacy rate was merely 12%. Thereafter, from the 1950s to the 80s, the number of educational institutions in India tripled. The growth was enormous, especially for the primary schools, because of the decision of states to grant the highest priority to the universalization of elementary education. The aim was to fulﬁll the constitutional directive of providing universal, free, and compulsory education for all children up to the age of 14. Most, but not all, children had a primary school within 1 km (0.6 miles) from their homes. Through the consistent efforts of the government and the private sector to run schools and colleges, the present literacy rate has expanded to a phenomenon of 74%.

On the other hand, Robo Hub is an established service provider which supports schools to incorporate STEM program in the platform of ROBOTICS. We present all students with access to quality education in the STEM disciplines. We work with 100,000+ students daily developed on reverse engineering basis to cultivate brainstorming and stimulate creativity for grades 1 to 9. Emerging harmony and ameliorate qualities to form an individual’s distinct character is the principal element focused on divulging cohesive learning. This step is accomplished via LEGO kits, student-driven curriculum, innovative pedagogy, highest quality content, and methodologies implemented through a team of professional engineers spread across India. Our mission at Mindsightz Education is to implant communication, creativity, collaboration, initiative, and inculcate innovative skillsets such as engineering design, MAY | 2020

Today, Coimbatore city, in Tamil Nadu State, occupies a pride of place in education even in the year 1960 when it had three Engineering colleges out of seven such colleges in the whole state, three Polytechnics, two Arts and Science colleges, and three colleges exclusively for women. Further, it had specialty colleges Agricultural, Forest, and Airforce Administrative colleges.

point to the decision-makers as we were just another startup. The reliability of the product and the results after the usage of the product was consistently a questionable factor before the lives to be touched, were handed over to us.

Now, in 2020, Coimbatore has six MBBS medical colleges, Tamil Nadu has 50 and 76 engineering colleges out of 552 available in the entire country.

Once we disrupted the industry with the output and ease of our operations, we were visible to the top management, and there was no looking back for us. We repeatedly had to keep our clients happy with our service and results.

Such has been the spur in the growth of institutions in India proportionally to cater the emerging needs of advanced India.

We have enriched our ICT curriculum to offer even the Microsoft Professional Certiﬁcation for children from grades 5-12.

What is your opinion on the necessity of gaining relevant skills and knowledge for the upcoming generation? In my opinion, skill development is a necessary aspect that everyone must master. Novel ways of thinking, including creativity and critical thinking, along with collaboration and communication using new tools for working, incorporating digital technologies, will be the necessity for the future. Inexperienced people will demand to be innovative, responsible, and aware.

In robotics, we represented India in the World ﬁnals of World Robot Olympiad from 2013 to date and had earned accolades and positioned ourselves as 2, 3, 4,6 out of the top 8 countries from 153 participating countries.

I realize how valuable it is to build up a set of skills that you can deliver immediately to unusual situations. I believe it’s so crucial for students to graduate from the school with skills that help them rise between jobs and between countries – so they are ready to take up whatever opportunities’ life offers them. When students apply for jobs, they will need to be evident of these distinct types of skills to be successful. And on the other side, employers are ready to enlist who are excellent communicators, collaborators, and problem solvers. As an educator, what challenges have you faced while building your venture in the education domain? As an educator, the ﬁrst concern, invariably, is to develop the product that would match the expectations of the varied sector of educators and students. In my case, the authentication and validation from the experts, psychologists, and NLP practitioners were sought and practiced to the IT, in the product’s development. After the development, the sale of the product, along with the USP, was another hurdle. The need to enlighten the decision-makers and compete with the established 100-200-year-old publishing houses was in store for us at every doorstep, which we knocked.

What would be your advice to those aspiring to become entrepreneurs in the education sector? The determination should always be to keep upgrading, dedicate, and stretch beyond all the impossible to provide excellent service. What have you envisioned for yourself and your organization in the near future? I was selected among the Top 30 women Entrepreneurs of India by TIE AIRSWEE and US Embassy’s Scale-up Series in 2019 and likewise among Top 100 women entrepreneurs of India in 2017. I was imbibed about paying it forward for the upliftment of women community by the Indus Valley Entrepreneurs and the US embassy as a part of the social campaign. I was also facilitated and forged to draw into an understanding with IIT Mumbai by another mentee of the TIE Airswee Scale-up series. Additionally, I recently got onboarded into the Wadhawani Advantage Program to expand and mount the business for PAN India presence. As far as the organization is positioned, we want it to scale greater heights with a widespread presence in the closer regions of Tamil Nadu with individual woman’s business partners and for PAN India partners to impact more than 5 lakh students on daily basis in the next 5 years. Since the present-day scenario has sent urgency signals to redeﬁne the learning experience forever, We strive to see tomorrow…today. T R

The brand value associated with the product and the mileage of the brand was invariably a stern reference

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On-Air

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Global Educational Inﬂuencers, 2020

Sunil Wanjare Guiding Students to Reach their Potential

he inﬂuencer that we are going to present understands the core fundamentals of teaching. He is well versed in the world of management and started out locally before venturing out in the big league. Let’s see how Sunil Wanjare, Chief Mentor of Crystal Classes, changed the traditional norms of education, and assisted students to convert their dreams into reality. Please introduce yourself and your journey as a qualiﬁed professor of Accounting, Costing & Taxation. Quick Insights: • MCom, MBA + 20 years of work experience in various industries like IT, Manufacturing, NBFC, Logistics, Health Research Projects, Infrastructure, Construction, and Dairy • Worked with all departments – Accounts, Marketing, Secretarial, HR & Admin and Purchase • Highlights of work experience – Conducted Board Meetings, (Directors Rahul Bajaj, Atul Kirloskar), AGM, EOGM, IPO, FDI approvals from RBI, Approvals for Clinical Trials from the health ministry, preparing and execution of various legal documents, preparing budgets, monitoring budgets My Journey: I started as a freelancer, teaching my family & friends. I acquainted myself with two

different spoken English learning centers, which were near my locality. During that time, many students started surrounding me. Many students were seeking career guidance and the mantra for developing life skills. I started providing guidance and informing them about different options for students after their SSC & HSC exams. These students requested me to teach commerce subjects. I assured the students about my continual support until the completion of their graduation. I used to spare my weekly holiday evenings with these students. Many times, I did it telephonically. Tell us more about Crystal Classes and how you have helped students in attaining excellence in the subjects. Also, brief us about the inception story behind Crystal Classes. I started Crystal paralleling while working. I was interviewing candidates for accounts and ofﬁce staff positions. These students lacked basic employability skills. They were totally blank about the working culture, knowledge for any position. I noticed that they had lacked guidance about the working culture, nurturing the basic skills for taking up their ﬁrst job. This raised the need to counsel the students during their last year’s graduation. I approached the biggest educational institution with more than 3000 students to conduct sessions on CV writings, career guidance, opting add-on courses. I found the Rotary Club as another platform to deliver this social responsibility. As Director youth with a Rotary MAY | 2020

Sunil Wanjare Chief Mentor

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portfolio, I conducted sessions on Entrepreneurship development, communication, etc. There itself, I decided to start my classes Kindly share some proud moments associated with Crystal Classes. Crystal Classes is the ﬁrst institute in full Pune District to initiate start spoken English and scholarship coaching to 1700+ students of different mediums Hindi, English, Marathi, Urdu, Tamil, and Telegu in 13 different locations in Dehu Road Cantonment area for four years. We were glad that one of the students cracked the scholarship exam at the state level. Soon many working students started working as freelancers with Crystal. Few graduate students had crossed the barriers of working in small enterprises and now are working with MNC’s. Many crystal students are working at good positions and are able to deliver without any hindrances. According to you, what are the qualities an Accounting teacher must possess in order to instill quality education in students? The basic requirement for any accounting teacher

must be that he/she has working experience. Teachers must read Annual reports of listed companies. A teacher must try to establish the relations of different variables in the final accounts. Coaching is a goal-focused (or solution-focused) approach, so the ability to elicit clear, well-defined, and emotionally engaging goals from a teacher is one of the most important skills for a teacher to possess. Like many aspects of coaching, there are both formal and informal versions of this skill. Coaching, coupled with self-study, is better than only self-study or studying only in coaching classes. Deciding on what’s better, coaching or self-study depends a lot on the teacher’s preparation level. As an entrepreneur and trainer, what challenges have you faced while building up your organization is the education domain? Sustainability without advertisement cost was the biggest challenge. It was difficult to convince students to learn with goal alignments. Students want to grasp the syllabus and not the knowledge for employability. T R

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Global Educational Inﬂuencers, 2020

Tamil Selvan. S A Devoted and Passionate Personality Enhancing Life

ur brain is a mysterious thing. As time has progressed, individuals have formed a keen interest in scientiﬁc knowledge on how the brain functions and how thought processes evolve. The interest is especially strong in the neurodevelopment of infants, children, students, and the effects on learning. It goes without saying that this contact, if understood correctly, can be of much signiﬁcance in building lifelong learners and leaders of tomorrow. Likewise, we present you with an exceptional personality who understands such things around the brain and its training. We would like you to meet Mr. Tamil Selvan. S, a Master Memory Trainer and the Managing Director of Kite Braining Institute. Throughout the interview, you will see how he set his course for brain memory understanding, and set up the memory training institute. He also describes the importance of brain training in school’s curriculum and how he is helping tens of thousands of students to reach the zenith of success by training their memory.

am Tamil Selvan, a lifelong learner, basically, a mechanical engineer turned in to a memory coach. My native place is Arasangudy, a small village in Trichy district. Since childhood days, I love reading books, especially about our human mind-brain power, power of thoughts, and human intelligence. I have learned many techniques from various memory/mind experts and their books. Those techniques helped me a lot with my professional and personal growth. I am always passionate about helping others. I believe that personal coaching is the best way to help others. In the past one and halfdecade, I have helped more than 10,000 students, teachers, professionals, and entrepreneurs to train their brain memory.

Below are the excerpts of the interview:

About my educational qualiﬁcation and experience, I have completed my master's in industrial safety engineering, MBA in project management, authorized career consultant, and NLP trainer. Having seven years of industrial experience and ﬁve years of academic experience, I have worked as a teaching faculty in Anna university Trichy.

Please introduce yourself and your journey as a Master Memory Trainer and the Managing Director of Kite Braining Institute, to our readers, and also tell us what inspired you to pursue this career path? Hello readers, Thanks in advance. I

Tell us more about Braining Institute and how you have helped people through memory training. Kite Braining Institute belongs to a group of like-minded people from various disciplines like social workers, doctors, psychologists, career consultants, entrepreneurs,

and special trainers. We know our education system is based on Memory. Memory is the key to students’ success. From my point of view, there is no good memory or bad memory, only trained memory and untrained memory. Trained memory can learn anything quickly, improves imagination and creativity. I observed most of the students struggling to learn and retain their subjects’ content. It leads to heavy depression, stress and confusions.it affects their mental health. Through our systematic memory training program, we improve children's' memory power and concentration power. It results in their ability to recall and retain the subjects improved multiple times. It eliminates their stresses, exam fear, and confusion. Memory training helps professionals to improve their working efficiency. It helps entrepreneurs to enhance their productivity and profitability. Memory training is intended to improve a person's working memory. Working memory is a central intellectual faculty, linked to IQ, aging, and mental health. It has been claimed that working memory training programs are effective means, not only for treating attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other cognitive disorders, but to improve intelligence and to enhance cognitive functioning in typically developing children and healthy adults.

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Do you believe Memory training should be a part of the learning curriculum? Why? Yes absolutely. Memory training must be a part of the learning curriculum. Every educational institution works hard to give better results. The major reasons behind the failures of students are poor memory, lack of concentration, and lack of interest. Even though students spend long hours and huge money in schools and coaching classes, they fail miserably in the exams. Any competitive exam like NEET, JEE, UPSC | RRB, they have to remember lengthy contents. Our memory training program helps students retain the whole contents of their curriculum and saves their study time and parents' hard-earned money up to 70%. It ensures their chance of cracking the exam in the first attempt. Moreover, they never forget the subjects’ content for the rest of their life. Memory training is a onetime course that gives lifelong benefits. What is your opinion on the necessity for skill development within the upcoming generation to be in line with the industry requirements? In my view, skill is more important than knowledge. Upcoming generations must focus on their skill development. Modern industries demand specialists from various domains. So, you have to identify your niche based on your interest and work hard to be a master in your chosen field. We strongly believe everyone is

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Tamil Selvan. S Managing Director

unique. So, identify your inborn talent and develop your necessary skills to achieve your dream career. We always recommend intelligencebased career selection gives the best results. As an entrepreneur and trainer, what challenges have you faced while building up your organization is the education domain? In the first couple of years, we faced many challenges to reach the right audience, meet out the expenses, and to choose the right location for the organisation. We have studied and experimented a lot about market analysis and customer behavior to find the right mixture. From the third year slowly, we started to get continuous leads and reached our break-even. Presently Around 80% of my clients we get through reference only. We are proud to share that we have conducted our training program in all leading universities and educational institutions in Tamil Nadu. What would be your advice to those aspiring to become entrepreneurs and influencers in the education sphere? • My suggestion to young eduprenuers is to follow the five rules: • Rule 1- Be specific in your niche • Rule 2- Work 10000 hours in your specific area • Rule 3- Expertise in advanced technology • Rule 4- Build a strong network • Rule 5- Be a lifelong learner At this time, I would like to thank BNI. It’s a network organization that helps me to get my dream clients. I suggest entrepreneurs be a part of any networking organization. It will be helpful to achieve your dream goals. Through our memory training, we improve networking skills.

What have you envisioned for yourself and your organization in the near future? Our vision is to enlighten two Lakh individuals to become trained memory from all walks of life before 31.12.2021 through our online and ofﬂine training programs. We aim to create 20 memory athletes every year to participate in the world/national memory championship. Presently, we have branches in Chennai and Pondicherry. We would like to extend our services all over India before 2021. We welcome franchisees and trainers who are passionate in the education and training sector to join hands together for mutual growth. Our mission is to give stress-free

learning techniques to future generations. So far, we have achieved: • We have invented memory techniques in the Tamil language • One of our student Ms.kundhavi (9yrs old) participated and achieved 113th rank in a national memory championship • From our institute, 150+ students cracked GATE, TNPSC, TRB Exams • To learn our techniques no age limit, no educational qualiﬁcation, no prior knowledge required I wholeheartedly thank my clients, family friends and my mentor Mr.Sureshkumar for their continuous motivation and support. T R

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Global Educational Inﬂuencers, 2020

Udhay Shankar A Light Paving the Path for Future Minds

he following interview is with a personality who believes that learning brings best results when children are left open to explore and innovate. He understands the fundamental skills of the 21st century and wants to instill the same into the current generation of students. Let’s see how Udhay Shankar, Founder and President of Do It Yourself Academy (DIYA) is disrupting the realm of tech education. Please introduce yourself and your journey in setting up DIYA. Also, tell us what inspired you to pursue this career path? Since childhood, it was everything beyond the book that has been of interest to me. However, building a robot remained a fascination until the second year of my college at PSG Tech, Coimbatore. It’s been a dream run since then, 100+ awards amounting to 14+ lakhs only in prize money. One such life-changing experience was the all-expense covered scholarship to pursue a semester at the University of South Australia, where I also had the opportunity to be an intern at the STEMSEL Foundation. A 25-year-old foundation focussed on integrating the community through teaching 7-year olds robotics who there-on to win national and international contests. I expressed my intent to expose underprivileged children to a wonderful platform. As a parting gift, I received 5 kits from them, to make the Christmas of the kids Merry. Thus, was born TRY – The Reformer in You on 01-01-2014, a Non-Proﬁt focussed to provide technology education to children who could not afford it. I used to travel to Chennai every weekend to teach the team of volunteers and there on the children. This went on for a while, but in the course of time, we wanted to measure the impact. Presented to us was a national level Robotics contest, eliciting a response from Top private schools charging premium fees. Participation involved costs, but we were just a bunch of college students. Bollywood is sometimes inspired by reallife too, this was one such incident when the universe was with us. A Facebook friend of my school friend from the UK, whom I have never met or spoken with, ran a charity marathon to raise funds. We conveyed our gratitude with our children, who had

never seen a laptop, can’t speak English, who were literally shivering to hold the mike on stage, winning the national level first place. We understood 2 things – One; Limitation is not from the child, but the teacher. Two; we were something really good, which most were missing out on. We then had a major realization – you need a for-profit organization to run a non-profit organization. Also, I was at the crossroads of life – Business/ Job/ Masters with a 100% scholarship. Do It Yourself Academy (DIYA) was officially launched on August 15, 2014, to cater to the school and after school segment offering internationally certified industryoriented, hands-on Robotics, AI, ML, 3D Printing, Automation, and IoT education. TechXplorAtion is a unique learning pedagogy we have formulated, focussed on holistic learning experience, involving multiple aspects of technology and exploration, leading to innovation. What if learning is instructor led and student driven? What is your opinion on the necessity of implementing Robotics and IoT in education? Many of us would have asked 1 simple question. What is the use of everything I learned in school? Robotics and IoT enable children to implement concepts of STEAM, enabling them to bring out creativity and innovation. A simple example is if a robot has to move from Point A to Point B, students learn concepts of math and science like finding the circumference of a wheel, algorithms for the shortest path, speed, distance and time, probability, force, friction, motor’s working, gear mechanisms, current amplification, voltage regulators, mechanical construction, electronic circuits, and programming. We are moving towards a world of robotics and automation. Robots are present in space, air, land, and water. Right from the food we eat, the dress we wear, the houses we live in, the cars we drive, and the medical services, robots are everywhere. We are moving towards a world where man and robots have to co-exist. Robotics will become the foundation of any futuristic profession. Robotics will be a necessity – it’s the next computer revolution (Imagine if you didn’t know

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to operate a computer today!). Robotics education in schools, not only helps children visualize their subjects, but also lays a strong foundation for a successful futuristic career. It’s like getting the learner’s license, which is the foundation for driving a sports car in the future. We understand that that the school management already has too much on their plate, so we support by enabling them to outsource the robotics education to us. They just have to provide us a room and forget; the set-up, training, equipment, contest, PR and international certification is taken care of by us. We are the recipients of Excellence in Robotics Education award 2019 – 2020 and Excellence in Futuristic Education award 2020. Tell us more about DIYA and the need for such an academy. Do It Yourself Academy (DIYA), as the name suggests, is the light source, which conveys our mission to be the guiding source for a child’s successful future! DIYA is a place where students can “Just be” and do things by themselves, experiment, and innovate. No assignments, no exams, only the hands-on experience. Then how do we asses a child? The child is given a problem statement and has to use the tools and learning to come up with a solution. The child is free to explore and innovate! We have children who have started their own YouTube channel and posting innovative projects built by them. The best part is, they have learned more than we taught them from the internet and selfexploration to create the projects. Our mission is to help children identify their passion, stand by them to build confidence in themselves, and finally create the drive to do more. When learning is selfdirected, it is wholesome and lifelong. Kindly share the meaning behind your tagline, “Making Children Future Ready.” The focus of DIYA is 21st-century skills through Internationally Certified, Industry Oriented Robotics Education. The first and foremost thing we offer career-oriented courses, which expose children to 10 futuristic domains in a hands-on way, with real-time problem solving, helping children identify their passion. In most cases, we first become engineers and then decide what we want to do in life. But, at DIYA, we enable children to decide what career domain they want to pursue. Second, we have international partnerships with

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TechXplorAtion Guru companies in the UK, US, Singapore, and Australia. This ensures that we expose children to the international standards of technology education, offering them 10 domains of Robotics and provide international certification. To be successful in a career, one must learn how to collaborate and work as a team. Be able to think of solutions critically and creatively. There-on solves the problem as a team. Moreover, only by communicating the solution in an effective and confident manner, one’s potential can be understood. This is the foundation of 21stcentury skills, towards which children are groomed at DIYA. Children work as teams of 3 and solve the given problem with technology. Children keep trying to make the robot until they succeed, which helps them to develop grit and perseverance at a sub-conscious level. The effective outcome is the holistic development of a child towards a successful future. What obstacles have you faced while building your company in the field of education as an entrepreneur and trainer? My journey has been from an Engineer, becoming an Educator, pursuing his passion as an Entrepreneur. Yes, we did have some beginner’s luck, but then with no actual experience of running a company or getting orders, we were quite confused about how to take things ahead. Being young and straight of college, people did not trust us much. We could afford only limited staff, conversions were taking us too long, almost everybody we tried to partner with took us for a ride! Product was constantly evolving as lots of inputs were received from the users, we had many learnings from the courses we conducted, and we were constantly learning from industry to improve our product. We kept at it, didn’t give up, and finally, after two years of trying we were able to open our first center, there-on

people saw our potential and inquiries have been flowing in. It took us three years to achieve our first school contract, but just in the month of Feb, we handled over 50 school inquiries. We streamlined our raw material sourcing and production, as we design and manufacture our kits. We have come up with a process to generate inquiries. Our implementation process and offerings have become structured, which is being appreciated by the community. We are happy and proud to have worked with 3000+ students through personal engagement programs., which has led to The Hindu, making us their Knowledge Partner. From being denied in the initial days, today, we have built India’s First Mall based experiential learning centre. Considering the impact we have created, I am happy to share that I am the only Indian recipient of the Young Achiever Award 2020. What advice would you give to those who aspire to become entrepreneurs and influencers in the field of education? Pursue only if it’s your passion. Yes, it is a very promising field in which one can create an impact in the lives of many. One can rise to fame, and definitely, there is scope to earn, but it most certainly takes time and lots of reiterations. Passion, Patience, and Perseverance is the key. Always look at the product or service you’re offering from the customer’s point of view. Would you buy if for the features and cost you’re offering it at? Associate right! Whom you work with and brands you partner with are very important. Though education looks like a huge field, it is tightly knit. News – good or bad, spreads really fast. Being successful is going to take time, money, and constant updating. Be prepared for all three. Make sure your offering is positively adding value to the life of your customer in the long run. Otherwise, you will start losing customers in the long run. Stay in touch with your customers, understand if they are happy, and constantly ask what could make them happier. Change is constant, so based on feedback, please keep working on your offering better. Always look at the education business as a long-term

game. If you’re looking at a stop-gap or temporary gig, you’re definitely looking in the wrong place. It is a field that can offer you happiness and satisfaction when you do your job right. Only a few offerings in the education domain are prone to recession. So, let’s be in it to win it! What have you envisioned for yourself and your organization in the near future? Our vision and ambition is to offer direction, purpose, and foundation of a strong skill set to school and college students, enabling them to become future-ready, through a strong, structures and multi-level international EduPreneur network, who will be our partners in progress. We understand the difficulty in building an Education enterprise, so we have come-up with support-oriented franchise models, from being as affordable as Rs. 75,000, up to Rs. 5,00,000 to encourage ones with an ambition to make it big. In light of the same, we have received the Most Promising Business for Women award in 2019. We also offer business owners or influencers, with a good network, who share our passion, an opportunity to work with as a referral partner. We are coming with our AI enables online learning portal for robotics, which will also have our cloud code school. The platform is also being designed to support our partner institutions and franchisees. We are working on building more international partnerships. We are enabling international immersion programs through our technology summer school programs in the UK, Ireland, and Singapore. We will soon be launching our national and international contests with multiple themes. We are looking at offering a specialized 21-day residential program in technology, leadership, and life-skills by bringing in an expert panel to ensure the overall development of a child. We are working towards becoming a global brand in the technology education space, by building a supportive facilitator system, towards creating a positive impact on student’s successful futuristic careers. To understand better, please have a look at our brief video @ Making Children Future Ready! T R

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Professionalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Viewpoint

About the Author A seasoned B2B copywriter and digital marketer, Gent Mehmeti leads the marketing team at Dubai's LEORON Professional Development Institute, one of the leading professional training enterprises in the EMEA region.

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The Yearn For

Talent in the

Gcc

How to Retain Staff in the Era of Job-Hopping

ith global markets becoming more competitive each day, many are quick to assume that talent is abundant. The discourse among peers adheres to the belief that employment opportunities are getting scarce - leaving the public to lionize the importance of keeping a steady job. But, the discourse among those who handle talent is different, reporting a growing trend of job-hopping in the GCC region. Last-year’s findings by Hays latest market report highlighted a staggering number of struggling GCC HRs who cited staff retention as one of the main pain points in their corporate strategy – roughly 21% naming this as the biggest challenge facing their HR departments in the next 12 months. This year, around 61 per cent of employees are expecting a salary increase – leaving the possibilities for another talent exodus open – if requirements are not to be fulfilled. 3 Reasons For Talent To Stay While most agree that retention is now an imperative, there’s a clear distinction between suggested means to boost the process. In addition to classic elements, GCC recruiters identify the following noncompensation ones: • Flexible Work Policies – The Middle East plays a special role in fostering global talent. As such, some countries from this region have become go-to hubs for expatriates from all over the world, ranging from Europe to USA and beyond. It is

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imperative that employees adopt to their native work culture, offering workplace flexibility. Flexible hours, compressed work weeks, telecommuting options, on-site childcare, and more are quickly becoming common demands by employees in the region. Experts report on multifold payoffs from offering such liberal policies at work: engagement and loyalty among employees topping the list. • Employee Engagement – Employee appetites evolve with the market. This brings a plethora of operatives who are no longer satisfied with an approach suggesting top down management with a bossy CEO. Instead, these employees prefer to stay informed and consulted on company decisions. Organizations often refer to the Gallup Q-12 questionnaire as their preferred tool to measure employee engagement. • Learning and Development – Often referred as the leading motivational factor behind employee retention strategies, L&D plays a crucial role in shaping the future of your employees and consequently your organization. Led by the premise that your workforce is your most priced asset, many HRs believe that investing in the skills of your employees is imperative to professional wellbeing. Conversely, recognizing important capabilities for success among managers and employees is a criterion for new and updated learning and development curriculums for the several levels of workers at your workplace. From public instructor-led sessions to in-house training and self-paced online learning, offering your employees the right professional development opportunities is a contemporary method of making them fit for the industry and your organization’s upcoming needs. Whether you choose loading up your LMS with digital content or prefer to go one step further and provide a blended learning environment for your employees, experts advise that training is an absolute must.

Training benefits the individual, the organization as well as the collective team in terms of increased knowledge. More so an organization that develops its people attracts the best of talents as people value growth and more so boosts employee engagement and enhances retention. Learning experiences are like journeys. The journey starts where the learning is now and ends when the learner is successful. The end of the journey isn’t knowing more, it’s doing more “says independent HR advisor and member of LEORON Institute’s Faculty of Experts, Mr. Abdulhussain Tejani. The talent war is not exclusive to the West anymore. A culture of self-aware employees who’ve thrived in the booming western economies inspires current shifts in the GCC - providing the region with field-tested strategies to win the war on talent. And, while distinctive local insights and capabilities are often desirable to maximize the return of global assets, talent goes a step further – quickly adopting to global norms. “As professionals, we need to look at how we develop and engage the hearts and minds of our workforce through learning and development initiatives, changing the mindset of employees to engage, develop and retain the wealth of talent we have within the region with innovative solutions using technology to enhance the learner journey”, explains Kevin Haslam – Academic MCIPD. On the other hand, lack of transparency, nepotism and favoritism, misalignment of talent, and outdated attendance policies are often identified as a set of global HR practices that can drive your employees away to greener pastures. T R

“The cost of not training your employees is higher than the cost of training. It is ironic that we expect more from people and yet we hesitate to invest in them.

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Global Educational Inﬂuencers, 2020

VINIT UPADHYAY

An Erudite Personality, Reshaping the Educational World

t all begins with a dream! A dream of creating, defining, and achieving something. To withstand all the challenges, surpass all the hurdles, and deliver the best of what you have to the relevant industry. The same happened with Vinit Upadhyay, the Managing Director of P. U. Educational Services in the educational sphere. In the following interview between Insights Success and Mr. Vinit, you will learn how one gets motivated, receives support, gains knowledge about the educational world, visions to mold it, confronts the challenges, and ultimately becomes a global influencer, reshaping the whole industry. Please introduce yourself and your journey as an educator, to our readers, and also tell us what inspired you to pursue this a career? In my initial college days, I never thought of coming to this segment, but yes, I had a dream to do something special in the field of education. My teacher Prof. Jyoti Bhatia invited me to guide junior students, and things turned around from there. I realized that this is one thing that gives enormous satisfaction and hence started taking more lectures. Since then, I started taking an interest in teaching more seriously. Today, I have served various educational institutions in various capacities for nearly a decade. Still, I am thrilled to talk to students and feel what I can do better today that I couldn’t do it yesterday. How can I make things easy and precise for the learners that they can enjoy their lessons? It is really very important for educators to strive for new means and modes to make learners not only to learn for exams. Sometimes it is felt that we are responsible for the short goals of learners. We must give them a broad vision. It is necessary for us to understand the changing learners’ requirements. Still, a lot of educators put emphasis on old methods, which is quite not working. Too much innovation is also difficult for the learners to adapt and for parents to understand, so I always use a mix of both methods, which is key to

reach maximum learners to have a quality educational experience. The journey had a lot of ups and downs, like a rollercoaster ride. Being an educator is not a small thing. It is more than a profession; I consider that it is a huge responsibility that we have; where we design and construct the generations to come. It is not only a business but huge responsibility so we can’t be running after our profits all the time. My grandfather Mr. Pravinkant Upadhyay was my role model in this field who was a principal of G.T. High School in Mumbai. He is my source of inspiration to continuously strive to perform better in this field. In fact, after him, I am the only member of the family who joined in as an educator. That’s how our company has been named after him as P.U. Educational Service. In this journey, many educators have played a huge role like Mr. Zameer Nathani, Mr. Amit Oak, Mr. Sanjay Bhatia, Mr. Harshad Dixit, and especially Mr. Vijay Sugnani, who I thank for keeping faith in me and allowing me to author various books under his publication which was a turning moment in my life. Writing books gave a new dimension to my teaching skills. Mr. Vijay gave us a free hand to write the best content, which was the biggest motivation to work with him. Tell us more about P.U. Educational Services and how you have helped educational institutes deliver quality education. We started this journey of P.U. Educational Service with a phone call from my good friend Mr. Arhana Roy. I had left my job and was having free time to think and explore new avenues. His phone call changed things around. He introduced me to his friends who were interested in starting some skill-based programs at their institute. Mr. Roy told me to meet them with my idea. I met them, but things couldn’t work out. I was not having any professional set up and lost the deal despite having a good concept. On my way back home, I did figure out that this is the

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right time to explore this opportunity. Why not start with professional set up that suits to the educational institute. That is how I decided to set up the P.U. Educational Service family. On the way to this journey people like Mr. Jemini Patel, Mr. Sunil Kapadia, Dr. Jay Talati, Mr. Parth Kotecha, Dr. Jharna Kalra, Dr. Hasan, Prof. Tanvi Kothi & many more people kept on supporting us to nurture value-based, skill-driven and more importantly knowledge-based educational service to the educational institute. Mr. Mehul Buch, who is a renowned actor and a good friend, supported us in the initial stages of our establishment and also a brand ambassador of P.U. Educational Service. We were developing our brand slowly with different associates, and we are quite glad that all trusted us, and we got the opportunity to collaborate with some premier service providers. In meanwhile, we had lost some more opportunities just because of being new and having no experience with such services. We also had turned down offers that could have been tempting for the young and new entrepreneur but would not have been fruitful for the learners. It was a big decision to take. But today, I feel I did the right thing. We were very clear that we will not be giving false commitments and no false hopes. We would comfortable to earn less but not at the cost of compromising on the quality of our services to the learners and to the Educational Institutes.

Vinit Upadhyay Managing Director

best that we can make their experience worth remembering by giving those best of the services to satisfy their needs. This is just the beginning of new down; I feel our best is yet to come.

It is always said that when one door closes, some other door will open. The same thing happened to us. We got an opportunity to work with renowned institutions within a few years of establishment. Today we have worked with a couple of big universities in India, we have also served some of the international clients from countries like the USA, Germany & UK plus we have worked with some of the reputed educational institutions from Gujarat, Rajasthan, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, etc.

Pertaining to your experience of more than 10 years in the education sector, how, according to you, has the Indian Education Sector developed over time? The growth can be seen but not the substantial one. Yes, we are moving ahead, but still, some stereotype attitude and approach is a matter of concern. The speed of the change is too slow. By the time we adopt the change, it is sometimes too late. Education is a segment where we gave the right to education, but we missed on making that right worth remembering and cherishing. I feel a lot needs to be done.

One of our keys to success is our tailor-made programs which are being designed keeping educational institution and learners at the center of our every activity. The whole P.U. Educational Service team continuously thrives on serving the

The government of India's initiative of starting the ‘SWAYAM’ platform is one of the landmark moves, allowing FDI in the education sector, and giving sufﬁcient funds for making structural changes with strategic vision

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in this budget were key developments. All the stakeholders of the sector will need to start forecasting a broader vision for the generations to come. Grass root development and removing outdated curriculum with dynamic leadership to bring about drastic change. In the last decade, I have seen changes coming in, but most of them have been either forced or situational in nature. Yes, the focus has been on the development of skills and making learners’ industry-ready are key developments that have taken place in the last 10 years. A lot of emphasis has been put on making educators more of research-oriented, but effort of making educators quality-based researchers has been a lost opportunity. What is your opinion on the necessity for skill development within the upcoming generation to be in line with the industry requirements? Skill plays a vital role in the coming generation. As Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi said, “The more we give importance to skill development, the more competent be our youth.” One of the major reasons is that the industrial environment is going through dynamic and rapid changes, so in order to keep pace with that educational environment should also grow with the same dynamics. In order to do that, a focus on quality should not be neglected. It is more of a relevance to the industry to have well-prepared youth to save cost and time to train them. India will be the youngest nation in the world, with those opportunities are coming, but with alarming challenges that speed with which job creation is done will need to gear up the speed of job creation. This opportunity comes once in the ages, and I guess no country will afford to allow it to go in vain. Skill development will play a vital role in the coming generation. As an educator, what challenges have you faced while building your venture in the education services domain? Education is a key domain in today’s state. Every client looks forward to getting the best of services, and of course, the competition is stiff too. A lot of efforts need to be taken, and in the initial phase creating faith in the mind of the client is the ﬁrst to serve them the best. It takes a lot of pain to win the trust and conﬁdence of the client. It is enormous responsibility being in the educational service domain, which has well-established giants in the industry.

Being relatively new in the field takes a lot of effort to convince the client that we can also perform. It was difficult to prove that you can also give the best of the services. Our team had gone through a lot of difficulties in the initial days. More or fewer people have a firm opinion that educational services are not beyond the coaching industry. It was difficult to communicate that we are not just a training institute, but beyond that, we are an educational supermarket to meet every client’s expectations. People can’t see the educational service domain besides the coaching industry, and that is the saddest part of this. We had difficulty in making our value-based educational services domain to function parallel to the customer expectations. Competition is stiff and yes, there are organizations that do promise everything in beginning and then back out at later stage. Our honesty and transparency helped us to overcome that difficulty. As then, we got a customer base that has been associated with us in the long run. Challenges made us come out with the best in us. What would be your advice to those aspiring to become entrepreneurs in the education sector? Be honest, transparent, and guide right to your learners. Avoid false selling or false commitments to the learners. You might be successful in a small period, but in the long run, it will hamper you badly. This domain is different, and to survive in this domain, you need to have a lot of patience and make sure to remain focus on your domain. Many of the giants have diversified in the areas of other domains and lost their goodwill in the market of their original domain. Keep working hard, and clear vision will lead to success. What have you envisioned for yourself and your organization in the near future? Every business has the vision to expand their presence in the market, we are also the same, but we would like to grow more verticals to our organization. In the next couple of years, we would like to register our presence in at least Western India. With an overall vision to have a presence at least one place in every state of the country. Our major focus will be to keep our values intact, no matter how big we grow. T R

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he protagonist of the following interview did not just learn for the sake of education. Instead, he delved deep into the actual aspects of learning. And when he came across opportunities, he traveled to many counties to understand the right value of education. Later, he came back to India to revolutionize the country’s education system.

Let’s see how Vinodh Kumar, Learning Coach of Smart Ninja Learning Solution, did that. Please introduce yourself and your journey as an educator, to our readers, and also tell us what inspired you to pursue this career? “Education is the manifestation of perfection already in man” - Swami Vivekananda. This quote has been my only pursuit of happiness since 2008, when I started my ﬁrst STEM Training Company in Chennai. I did my Bachelors in Science and opted for a costly MBA from a B-School in New Delhi. Ever since my school days, I have been very much focused on actual learnings and not just learning for the sake of education. Four months into the B-School program, I got an opportunity to do an internship in France and dropped out of the B-School program and went to France to learn in the real market.

“Learning Coach”

Vinodh Kumar

Changing the way learning happens inside the classroom

For two years, I was working in various challenging projects for large conglomerates and worked in nearly 17 different countries. My travel made me understand the value of the right kind of education and hence came back to India in 2008 and started my STEM Training Company to educate the real value of education to kids. Since then, for the past 12 years, I have started and run several landmark companies in the educational domain such as TechKnowledge Education, Space Trek Planetarium, Space Science Learning Club, Smart Ninja Global Pre School and have impacted more than 700000 students in South East Asia. Today, STEM Education is a craze among parents and schools, but 12 years back then, we were among the ﬁrsts to use and propagate the concept of STEM Education in India. Today, other than running my EdTech companies, I consult with schools and teachers to enhance the learning experience inside classrooms and introduce MAY | 2020

Global Educational Inﬂuencers, 2020

the novel, innovative concepts for the beneﬁt of children. More than 20+ schools have been running with SteadFast Learning Pedagogy, which I have founded and advocate more schools to follow to provide the best learning experience to students. Kindly describe to our audience, what is SteadFast Learning Pedagogy? SteadFast learning is a new model of delivery of education that is envisioned by me and implemented in classrooms all across the country. Children have been mere consumers of knowledge, and they are only tested on their prowess of remembering this knowledge, which is inadequate for today’s world. Under SteadFast learning, children are pushed from being mere consumers of knowledge to become creators of knowledge from what they consumed. They create blogs, videos, tutorials, presentations, posters, etc. and express the knowledge that they have gained attaining critical skills 21st-century skills such as communication, computational thinking, problemsolving, etc. The ultimate motive of SteadFast Learning Pedagogy is to make children own up their learning curve and become life-long learners. Tell us more about Smart Ninja Learning Solutions and how you have helped young intellectuals to learn and grow. Smart Ninja is an integrated learning studio to bring in the best of world-class education with access to realworld learning for kids from Kindergarten to Middle School. It is a First of a Kind concept in Tamil Nadu. The concept of school education is changing drastically around the world, and Smart Ninja Global School is an attempt in the direction of making a meaningful impact on children. Today Smart Ninja operates a Kindergarten School with 60 kids providing new-age learning to parents who want a refreshing change from our outdated school education system. Pertaining to your signiﬁcant experience in the education sector, how, according to you, has the Indian Education Sector developed over the time? With an astute overview with the World Education MAY | 2020

Sector, the Indian Education Sector has both grown and gone back at the same time. There has been tremendous growth in the personalized learning sector, while the school education sector has failed to capitalize on the growth of the personalized learning sector. Today, the education sector is transitioning a phase where parents have understood the importance of skill enhancement and are actively looking to supplement school education with other programs. I feel, once the schools look at the real value deliverable of the education they offer, the system is in for a major overhaul. In short, from an examination system, we need to move to a skill enhancement system. What is your opinion on the necessity for early learning/preschools for the upcoming generation? Science clearly points that 90% of a child’s brain development is complete before they are eight years, so it is important for kids to get a head start in the right direction and a good preschool will act to enhance and aid this brain development rather than engage them for a few hours with no(n)-sense activities. I always recommend parents to look out for a childcentric product while choosing any kind of learning tools for their parents. A child-centric product needs very little teacher, and when children assimilate things on their own, they tend to learn more. With the advent of smartphones in the hands of kids as young as six months, the passage of negative inﬂuences for them has grown manifold, and the right preschool will help kids to mitigate the negative effects of smartphone addiction. What are the specials about Smart Ninja Global School? Smart Ninja Global School has a very well researched child-centric curriculum that focuses on skill enhancement in young children. Other than the curriculum, the school has a state-of-the-art infrastructure for kids to enjoy the best of Play Way Learning. The school is the ﬁrst school in India to follow the principles of SteadFast Learning Pedagogy. Smart Ninja has never been about the growth of children but a place where the family grows. It is a proud fact that today more than 200 families are

associated with Smart Ninja through various programs in Tiruchirappalli. What would be your advice to those aspiring to become entrepreneurs in the education sector? The education sector is not for the faint heart, and my heart will always bleed when I see entrepreneurs start something in this sector with only making quick money as the motive. The school education sector in India is a relationship selling sector. Being in the sector for 12 long years, my only advice for new edupreneurs is to take the market into conﬁdence while building a product and talk to people who will buy and use their product before spending time on building the product, Minimum Viable Product and Agile are not just words for the IT sector! What have you envisioned for yourself and your organization in the near future? With Smart Ninja, we want to create micro-schools across the country. Why should schools have 1000 or 2000 kids? If you see schools - mostly will resemble a factory. The current system focuses on judging a book by only its cover and I simply, refuse to accept it. My dream is to create a utopian education system, which truly reﬂects what Swami Vivekananda said all those years ago. To create such a system, the front-line soldiers’ wouldbe teachers. That is why for the past year, we have been creating a lot of learning tools for teachers and made them available for FREE through our YouTube channel and podcasts. In the next few years, I envision creating a very futuristic facilitator training program that will be in aid of every teacher who wants to create the best learning experience for their students in the classroom. T R

MAY | 2020