The Covid lockdown gave a great opportunity to educational institutions at all levels, from primary schools to universities and institutions of higher learning to make a rapid shift to digital learning says Prof PB Sharma, Vice-chancellor, Amity University, Gurugram in a conversation with Elets News Network (ENN).
The age of Digital India has arrived and a revolution is already in the making for digital transformation, be it trade, commerce, service, governance or even education everywhere digital transformation is clearly visible. But what is not visible is the emphasis on Integrity, Compassion and Empathy that is Aatmiyata as the “Trinity of Divinity” for organisational effectiveness that govern human behaviour.
India for long was looking for effective interventions to impact people’s behaviour to build responsible citizenship and a community that lives up to its age-old basics of human excellence based on Satyamev Jayate, Service above Self and to its deep rooted conviction in Oneness of Diversity and Diversity of Oneness so beautifully ordained in its Upnishadic thoughts. The time to integrate Integrity, Compassion and Aatmiyata into Digital Transformation is now and we must act fast in India says eminent academician Prof PB Sharma who is the Founder Vice-Chancellor DTU and RGTU and currently the Vice-Chancellor of Amity University, Gurugram.
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Importance of integrity and Aatmiyata is now better understood in e-commerce and e-business as customer satisfaction and the trust of stakeholders have emerged as prime considerations for the business to grow and flourish worldwide. In governance too the digital transformation should increasingly focus on taking people on board and on Governance with Aatmiyata should become the buzz of Good Governance.
Integration of Integrity and Aatmiyata as non-negotiable in governance shall build islands of good governance that besides catering for governance efficacy shall build trust and pride in the government in a democracy like ours whose constitution guarantees liberty, equality and justice. We should make no mistake that the government in a democratic set up is the reflection of the mood and mindset of people at large and their behaviour largely impact both the formation and also the functioning of the government. As such it is important that we pay a much greater attention to people’s behaviour and their attitude to assure good governance that ensures governmental efficacy and governance with Aatmiyata. This will help us succeed in solving very many pressing problems including long impending issues such as compliance to environmental laws, protection of environmental health, improving poor quality of civic services, loss of trust in governance and above all increasing arrogance and apathy in the society.
In the education sector, the digital transformation has arrived. The Covid lockdown gave a great opportunity to educational institutions at all levels, from primary schools to universities and institutions of higher learning to make a rapid shift to digital learning and the interest with which the online classes, online workshops, online conferences, online panel discussions and millions of webinars that have been conducted during the last 3 months give a clear signal of rapid change in educational space and the role of digital learning shall play to improve the quality and relevance of education from here after.
But let this euphoria and love for digital connect and digital learning does not disappear as we begin to open our campuses in July or soon thereafter depending upon our success to effectively concur Covid pandemic.
We need to increasingly echo and that too loudly the importance of Integrity, Compassion and Aatmiyata as the core human values to build an education system that effectively shall transform a man into a human with humanity, humility and personal and professional integrity at the core of human instinct.
The digital transformation in education should not let go of this great opportunity of integrating integrity and Aatmiyata in digital learning. The time to act in this direction is now and we must act fast to grab this great opportunity that we all educators have with us today, says Prof Sharma who is also the past President of Association of Indian Universities, AIU.