The Indian Higher Education system is the largest in the world encompassing 17 million students and approximately 34,000 institutions. However, with the population of India expected to grow to over 1.3 billion by 2020, the capacity of higher education needs to nearly double, to meet the targeted Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of 30 percent for the higher education segment. This would require an investment of USD 180 billion

What’s Trending in Higher Education…

Growing Need for Alliances
International tie-ups broadly help in developing curriculum, providing affiliation to a reputed brand, assisting in transfer of knowledge, placements, and student and faculty exchange.

New Education Paradigm
A new breed of institutions is being spawned by large corporate entities and educationists that aim to set global benchmarks. The new progressive initiatives provide state-of-the-art infrastructure and well-rounded, culturally, and socially relevant programmes to meet the contemporary challenges.

Growing Value of Accreditation
Accreditation is now a definitive indicator of the quality of education. In the context of Indian Higher Education, accreditation is expected to gain a lot of traction as the landscape is marred by several poor quality institutions, and accreditation provides them with an opportunity to differentiate.

Growth of Online Courses
The accumulation of educational content from many universities on one website would enable learners worldwide to access either the course content of any participating university or a common set of online educational tools shared by all participating universities.

Growth of Private Universities
Establishment of private universities has been an important achievement in the history of the Indian Higher Education segment. Private universities have witnessed tremendous growth in the past five years, as illustrated in the following exhibit.

Global Rankings Elude Indian Universities

The coveted global rankings still elude Indian universities at large. Only one lndian institution features in the list of top 500 universities in the world. As per Webometrics’s 2012 ranking of global universities (20,300 Universities), only IIT Madras made it to the list of top 500 Universities in the World. Even in the Asian rankings, only IIT Madras (Rank in Asia – 66; World Ranking – 454) and IIT Bombay (Rank in Asia – 91; World Ranking – 576) made it to the list. This dismal statistic is repeated across the numerous reports issued by other ranking agencies, and is therefore a cause for concern.

Enayet Kabir,
Associate Director,
Technopak Advisors

We believe that the long-term performance of a university will be tied to its ability to offer quality education, create a USP for itself, and focus on employability & research. In the near term, we will see high growth trajectory. We also believe that few high quality initiatives that are being taken at this point of time will result in developing truly world-class universities over the next decade or so.”

Faculty
India has been facing an acute shortage of faculty in Higher Education. There is not only a 30 percent shortfall in the number of faculty members but also a huge challenge in terms of quality of faculty. As can be seen from the adjoining exhibit, the Indian Higher Education system currently needs 1.16 million faculty members as per the UGC norms. However, the current faculty strength is only 0.81 million. Considering that we need to attain a GER of 30 percent by 2020, we need to add 0.17 million faculty members every year. The problem of faculty shortage is consistently severe across premier institutions like the IITs as well as second or third rung colleges. The government recently allowed institutions to hire expatriate Indians to make up for faculty shortage.

With proposals of at least five more private universities in Kolkata,ten in Bangalore,three in Gujarat, three in Maharasthra and many more across the country and private university bills pending to be approved, private universities are tomorrow’s education hubs of the country

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Top 10 Universities with High-Quality Infrastructure
India’s Top 60 Private and Deemed Universities
Top 10 Academically Recognised Universities
Top 10 Universities of Academic Excellence
Top 10 Faculty-Rich Universities
Top 10 Universities with a Global Connect
India’s Top 60 Private and Overall Deemed Universities-Ranking

Chinmaya Vidyala,
Kerala

Smart classrooms@ School
DigiClass was installed in 23 classrooms initially, however due to a phenomenal response from students and teachers , the school has been keen on the deployment of this solution for all grades and classrooms.
Prior to 2010, the school had little enthusiasm for ICT and infrastructural inept for its implementation. The school management however, showed interest towards teacher effectiveness and learning of students in the class, which further led to improved academic performance of students. Post a thorough evaluation of digital content offered by Pearson Education Services, with considerations of the varied feedback received from the subject teachers, the school recognised the importance of ICT and adopted DigiClass. The school has seen phenomenal change in teaching and learning across grades and ICT is now embedded fully in this school and 11 group of schools across Kerala, Karnataka and Tamilnadu.

Higher academic standards
Technology can play a vital role in helping students understand difficult and key concepts better, faster and also retention of the same for a longer period of time.
DigiClass is based on the “Cognitive Learning Process” the most widely accepted theory of learning process, which recognises the close relationship between that which is known and that which is to be learned. Learning is a process which is based on relationships: teacher with student, student with subject, and learning with memory.
The school has noticed a significantimprovement in student retention and concept understanding due to use of the technology. This has helped the school move towards a more student-centered learning approach which brings in cognitive learning to replace the chalk and blackboard model. The students found it fascinating, thanks to the repository of animations, diagrams, videos and worksheets. They were thrilled with the concept of 3D interaction and not only enjoyed the process of learning but grasped concepts better. As DigiClass has been customised to suit the syllabi of all classes and children of all ages were able to take advantage of the solution.

Student’s Feedback “Classroom learning is a lot more interesting as we now have visual aids and 3D animated content which explains the topic. I look forward to my classes and we have a lot of fun learning”, Abdulla Shabil, Student of XII

Teacher’s Feedback “DigiClass greatly increases the interest of a students towards the concept being taught, thanks to the animated content. This helps them fare better in revision tests and exams, as the multimedia content aids better understand and longer retention of the concept,” says Priya K S, Senior Biology Teacher

Evaluation of effect
One of the unique offerings of DigiClass is its effectiveness tracker, which allows the head of the institution to track the usage of the solution by teachers as well as monitor students progress.

Enhanced teaching- learning process
DigiClass allowed teachers to customise learning plans based on the pace of the learner. They could add, delete or modify information. Even with little or no internet access, the teachers could import new information, which was available online. Teachers were provided comprehensive training on the usage of DigiClass. Teacher Training programmes were conducted and to test their understanding, teachers would undergo an assessment, after which they received a certificate. With a shift from blackboards to whiteboards, teachers could save the diagrams, illustrations and writing and reuse them when required. The Effectiveness Trackerhelped track the usage of DigiClass by teachers so that we could help them identify problem areas. Teachers could also monitor the students’ progress.

Teacher’s training and experience
Pearson Education Services has worked closely teachers and management to order to curb their biggest fear; that of using technology. The teachers were trained thoroughly on the use of ICT in classrooms and they have ensured that ICT has now become embedded across all grades in the whole school. As a helping hand, a resource person has been deployed at the school to provide all assistance to teachers in using this technology.
Teachers are assessed at two stages after the initial training process, through:
First Assessment – Teachers are eligible to take this assessment immediately after the completion of the Teacher Training Programme. This would be a basic assessment to check teachers’ knowledge on computer and the Digi- Class solution.
Second Assessment – Teachers would be eligible to take this assessment only after using the DigiClass solution for one year. This assessment is aimed at checking the teachers on their advanced knowledge of the solution. This would give us a fair idea on how much the teachers have explored the solution and also if they have upgraded their skills within the one year of using the solution. This would be considered the Final Assessment for a teacher.
Teachers can take these assessments on the Internet from anywhere through the link provided by us. The teachers who pass the assessments would be awarded with a Pearson Education Services Certificate.

Expectations from Future
Introduction of tablets in classroom learning presents itself as an incredible platform to further unlock the benefits of adopting ICT in the education space. Tablets, with their intuitive interface and apps can aid learning to a great extent.

Shifting towards a Learner-Centric Module
Srikanth Iyer,
CEO,
Pearson Education Services
Talks about how Pearson classrooms are facilitating blended learning in schools with their digital classroom solutions

What does Pearson offers under its smart classroom solutions?
DigiClass is our comprehensive solution for all the ICT needs of a school. It applies the finest synergy of technology and education by seamlessly integrating traditional chalk-and-talk method of teaching and enabling the teachers to use the digital resources such as Educational Animations, Videos, Diagrams and 3D Graphics with audio. It makes the classroom session interactive by providing the students a multi-sensory learning experience, which in turn enhances their academic performance. This solution is designed to adapt to any classroom setting. It also empowers teachers to customise their teaching sessions, keeping the learners’ pace in mind.
DigiClass comes with: CPU, interactive device projector, DigitALly, which is a patented award winning teaching tool, syllabi specific course content, UPS, server, speakers and white board.
We offer it either in BOOT model or Outright Purchased Model. A resource coordinator sets up and maintains the solution in school and also trains the teacher in its usage.

Please shed light on new innovations on which institutions can bet on.
ICT in education has seen a major development in the recent past, the most pivotal being the introduction of a tablets which lead to enhanced dissemination of information, classroom engagement and also increased the accessibility of technology. Tablets hold some major advantages and have the potential to simplify ICT provisions within the school by lending itself better to use of technology in learning. This means that the current ICT scenario will witness a shift from teacher-centric module to a learner-centric module. All these translate to measurable learning outcomes through a portable and truly versatile learning tool.

Symbiosis’ journey with education spans over four decades. With an ambition of spreading its name internationally, the Symbiosis International University is now working towards strengthening innovation and research. Dr Vidya Yeravdekar, the Principal Director of Symbiosis Society, in conversation with Chhavi Bakaria. Excerpts:

Please share with us the vision behind Symbiosis International University.
The organisation called Symbiosis,which is a not-for-profit organisation,was established by Dr Shantaram Balwant Majumdar in 1971 with the objective of helping foreign students who came to study in India. We have come a long way since then and now we are a group of about 43 institutions that were initially affiliated to Pune University.In 2002, we got the deemed university status and became the Symbiosis International University. It was like getting wings to fly. We cater to over 30,000 students from 81 different countries and also from all over India.We have a strategy towards internationalisation,capacity building and offering programmes that are innovative with a thrust to improve employability, which is a major issue in India.

On India-US Higher Education Dialogue 2013 The India-US Higher Education Dialogue was excellent. We have learnt a lot from it especially on community colleges.We do have a couple of community colleges, but the policy makers will instituionalise this whole community colleges concept in India. Use of ICT in education through the MOOCs (Massive Open Online Course) and similar platforms, this is something new to us Employability Challenges Our alumni are on the board of management because we think it is important to get their inputs about the way curriculum should beshaped

How important are private universities in the Indian context and how have they contributed to education?
The private players have played an important role in the expansion of higher education in India. I think quality and excellence have to be the focus rather than the debate about public or private institutions. The Indianvgovernment should look at making accreditation compulsory for almost all institutions. Also, there are foreign institutions and universities that are looking to collaborate with Indian Universities,and I think barring the IITs and IIMs, they find it very easy collaborating with private universities. Thus,private universities are in the forefront of joint programmes and foreign university collaborations, bringing foreign students to India and in the whole process of internationalisation, which has still not happened at the public university set up. In addition, the competition between public and private can actually bring about quality and excellence.

How do you address the challenge of increasing employability of your students?
We work very closely with industry partners and we have them on our board of studies and on our academic council as well. Our alumni are also on the board of management because we think it is important to get their inputs about the way curriculum should be shaped. Being a deemed university there is an advantage of flexibility. The University alumni that are now well placed in the companies do come back and recruit students in their companies. We also work very closely with industry bodies like CII, FICCI, and ASSOCHAM.

Why Indian Universities, both private and public, lag behind in international rankings?
I think the major lacuna here obviously is the huge population that you are trying to cater to. Indian policy makers really are looking at expansion and quality at the same time. It should be left to the institutions to actually look at quality and excellence. Also, finding quality faculty is a big hurdle.Earlier, the faculty scales were pretty low and teaching was the last career option. Now faculty salaries have risen up and we are seeing a lot of industry people wanting to come and teach, so faculty quality will definitely improve over time.
Another important thing is research.Even though we are known for our IT expanse and contribution to IT,but we have always been service providers,we have never been innovators. So I think innovation and research together is lacking. One of the main reasons behind that is the dearth of government’s funding for research. Also, private institutions are not treated as equal players when we come up with a research proposal.
Moreover, a lot of research organisations should be located on university campuses. Take the example of Pune, if the National Chemical Laboratory was part of the Pune University’s chemistry department, probably innovations would have occurred. Even ideally the R&D centres of companies should be on university campuses. This is where it differs from American Universities. At Standford University there is a technology park dedicated to research and innovation.

Please share with us various foreign collaborations and future plans of your University.
We are a part of the Erasmus Mundus Consortium of the European Universities and thus we have collaborations with a lot of French and German Universities.We have also partnered with some of the top universities in Asia like the Nanyang Technological University,
Singapore. We have a lot of tie ups with American Universities, but now we are also looking at developing new programmes
like Scholar Residence where foreign faculty can come and stay at our campus, be part of our faculty group and help develop joint research.
We have earmarked about 80 acres where we will have our engineering school. We are also planning to set-up a medical school, a hospital and some paramedical and nursing programmes in the area, which we are going to designate as the technology park. We have set up an IPR (Intellectual Property Right) cell along with an incubation centre. If our alumni have a good idea and they want to come out with a new product,we will give them the space and resources.For this we are developing small incubation centres, and hopefully we will develop a technology park in years to come.

Prof P P Mathur,
Vice Chancellor, KIIT
University

Upping Employability
Increasing employability of our students,especially the engineering graduates is top on our agenda. This year we have introduced skill-based learning courses so that the students become much more skilled. We provide a lot of flexibility to the companies to take up company-oriented training.These courses help our students as well as the faculty, for instance we have ‘Train the Trainers’ programme with Accenture in which they coach our teachers on how to train students in different programming languages that they would like to learn. Thus,we train our students to be day-one ready for employment.

Dr Upinder Dhar,
Founding Vice Chancellor, JK Lakshmipat University

Higher Education should be Genuinely Priced
Two years back we started with only two streams of technical education: management and engineering. We don’t want to become a mass or me-too kind of university. We want to concentrate on a niche area that will enable people to get employed and also focus on research so that new knowledge can be generated. Ours is a corporate backed university with a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) motive in mind and that helps us in increasing industry interactions. I think,genuine pricing should be allowed in higher education as quality comes at a cost. For example, even in IIMs students pay hefty fees for quality education. However, profiteering should not be permitted in education.Prof P P Mathur,Vice Chancellor, KIIT University Dr Upinder Dhar, Founding Vice Chancellor, JK Lakshmipat University private university special University academicians voice opinions and share their vision for private higher education in India, in conversation with Chhavi Bakaria

Nikhil Sinha,
Vice Chancellor, Shiv Nadar university

Focus on Knowledge Creation rather than Dissemination
The University’s mission is to develop students with the breadth of vision, knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to shoulder the globally responsible and ethical leadership burdens of the 21st Century and beyond. With our academic partnerships with Babson, USA, we aim to create India’s first entrepreneurship focused centre and business programme. There is also a tie-up with Duke TIP for establishing a Center for Gifted Children and promoting research in the field of education. Also, behind the strong emphasis on inter-disciplinary research at SNU, the idea is to seamlessly connect all the schools to enable interaction across disciplines and actively engage faculty and students to constantly create knowledge rather than just disseminate it.

Prashant Bhalla
Senior Vice President, Manav Rachna International University

Autonomy is the Need of the Hour
Though we have come a long way in terms of privatisation of the education sector, but we need to improve upon areas like giving autonomy to higher education, liberal support for research and development, progressive and forward looking laws based upon self-regulation for private universities to prosper. We need to ensure that brilliant minds stay in the country rather than looking for opportunities abroad. At Manav Rachna, we have a highly qualified teaching faculty, state-of-the-art infrastructure, industry-oriented courses, foreign collaboration, to boost academic tie-ups and research. We also want to promote extra-curricular activities like sports, as there is a pool of talent available, but remains underutilised due to lack of proper coaching and infrastructure.

Kishen Wahabi, Programme Director, Leapstart, on benefits of sports and physical training for students’ development.

Give us an overview of Leapstart programme undertaken by you.

We are a company providing which is providing a blanket of services predominantly in the co-curriculum space. Our pioneer brand was leap start, which provides physical education and training programmes. We have partnered with spark, which the US based company. We provide cocurriculum programme within the academic curricular. We have programme designed for all age group starting from kindergarten to class 12. Our programmes are developed to facilitate the growth of the child at that age. So leapstart was started with the goal of making these children empower themselves with the knowledge of sports and also facilitate movement for a healthier nation. The second programme that we have come up with is GAIT. It is basically a dance education programme.

How has been the response from parents?

We started with nine schools and now we have moved on to 150 schools. So the statistic clearly shows that there has been an attitudinal change among parents. Earlier parents used to think that engaging their children in physical education won’t shape their career, but now the mindset has changed and more and more parents are engaging their children in sports and encouraging them to take up sports as a subject.

In today’s world, where parents are only worried about academics, do you think sports as a subject is losing importance?

Sports not only enhance physical development but also enhance mental development. It stimulates the brain cells and acts as a catalyst in greater academic performance. Physical education has also proved to produce fruitful results in academic performance, job prospect, etc. physical education takes care of the overall development of a child. Through physical education one learns the art of leadership, communication, coordination and other skills.

In Leapstart we have also extended this programme to the physically challenged children whereby they also get an opportunity to engage in sports. As these children do not have much scope of movement therefore they fall prey to obesity, Leapstart gives them the best possible way for adopting different skills. The parents of these children are also very enthusiastic about engaging their children in such activities.