Apeejay Stya University
The Apeejay family comprises about 40,000 students, 60,000 alumni and over 2,500 faculty members. Most of the Apeejay Schools have been accredited with ISA Awards conferred by the British Council for collaboration with various countries to exchange social, cultural and academic programmes, says Dr S K Salwan, Vice Chancellor, Apeejay Stya University, in an interview with Elets News Network (ENN).
Give us an overview of your organisation and the milestones achieved by it lately?
The Apeejay Education Society, established by the leading industrial house of Apeejay Stya in 1967, has built a rich heritage of over five decades in the field of quality education through a family of 24 not-for-profit institutions (16 schools and 8 institutions of higher learning), in various States of the country. Today, all Apeejay Schools are also members of the National Progressive Schools Conference (NPSC) and affiliated to the CBSE, New Delhi. The Apeejay Education Society is celebrating its 50 years in 2017.
The “Make in India” initiative is expected to inflate the demand for skilled workforce, especially in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields, what measures are you taking to meet this requirement?
The clarion call given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ‘Make in India’ is a boon for every Indian, as it augurs well not only for the economy but also for self-esteem and morale. It is very true that this initiative is going to inflate the demand for skilled workforce, especially in the realms of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). At the levels of all our schools and higher education institutions, we are very well aware of it. At the school level, we inculcate a scientific temperament and innovative approach by a plethora of activities. Several of our schools are recipients of the Atal Tinkering Lab grants from NITI Aayog to propel the innate scientific curiosity of the young minds. At the higher education level, we rely on industrial interfaces, trainings, internships and workshops to prepare our students to be industry ready at the completion of their courses.
How is Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) assisting the educational institutions in generating better results?
Apeejay Schools have launched many innovations in education with the focus on enabling teachers and students to become reflective practitioners through experiential and enquiry based learning, decision-making and interpersonal trust. Teachers at Apeejay are always encouraged to upgrade their professional competencies via various platforms including MOOCs – Massive Open Online Courses. There is emphasis on continuous evolvement of the Computer Education programme to keep pace with the latest technological advances such as Cloud Computing, Open-Source Technologies, Internet Technologies, ICT tools, etc.
There is extensive use of MOODLE Learning Management System in teaching-learning to promote collaborative lesson-planning, enhanced transparency, student engagement and active parent participation in the wards’ academic development.
