Prof VPS Arora, Vice Chancellor, Supertech University talks about importance of foreign university collaborations

What is your vision of Supertech University?
Supertech University is being created to provide opportunity to the people of Uttarakhand and adjoining states to get quality education in domain of relevance at affordable cost. The University offers array of courses in different areas of knowledge including emerging innovative areas like public policy, infrastructure management, health care management, liberal arts and actuarial science. The University intends to give balanced focus on capacity building, consultancy, innovations, research, skill development, teaching-learning and Indian values and culture. The vision statement of the University is creation of an edifice of excellence aligned with global bests, imparting true education based on pillars of research, innovation, intellectual curiosity and freedom to pursue the same

What are the special changes brought about by your university in pedagogy for making sure that the students are industry employable?
Industry-Academia interaction is not going to be a mere bullet point or a box ticking exercise in Supertech University. These meetings will be taken religiously and seriously to glean out the expectations of the industry which will be factored while formulating the curriculum.

There is a dedicated Directorate of Placement and Counseling in Supertech University which will on one hand ensure fixing of accountability on human resource responsible, and on the other constitute a driving force galvanizing and coordinating participation of all stakeholders in the process of placement and counseling of Supertech graduates.

When there is involvement of all stakeholders there is bound to be positive impact. There are many organizations wherein responsibility of placement has been entrusted to faculties, who in turn take it as an additional burden thereby adopting a very lackadaisical approach to the entire exercise. To avoid this pitfall, in Supertech University, a dedicated Directorate has been conceived so that the issue of placement gets the priority and focus it merits.

A major drawback commonly noticed amongst students is lack of communication skill. It is intended to address this issue from day one. There would be dedicated classes to impart training on communication skills, which will have a credit associated with it. Similarly, study of behavioral science and ethics will be a compulsory credit to impart attributes of tehzeeb and sanskar.

Students have to be made conscious that the employer is going to test their worthiness before giving them the offer letter. Once the students realize this awareness, they would be prepared for the acid test. Usually when a student joins university after 10 + 2, for some time there is a feeling of having joined a Masti ki Paathshala. Surely, “Masti”, they must have, yet they should not lose the focus for which they have joined Supertech University.

 Do you think foreign university collaborations add value to the education provided in the private university and if yes, how?
We are living in a world which is ‘flat’, to borrow from Thomas Friedman. In an interactive and interoperable world, knowledge creation, preservation and dissemination cannot remain confined to geographic limits. To that extent collaboration with foreign universities has obvious advantages. However, to derive full dividend, it is important to consider what kind of MOU/ MOA exists with foreign universities, what is their standing in the respective domain and what is more significant and critical is that who is at the driver’s seat ensuring that the institutional arrangements are given a meaningful orientation and impetus, they fructify realizing their full potential.

It is a known fact that Indian Universities do not figure anywhere in university rankings. If Ivy League universities are ranked amongst the best year after year, there must be something substantial they may be engaged in so as to retain their pre-eminence in the field association with them is bound to reflect some glory on us.

Dr Mithilesh Dixit, Vice Chancellor, Career Point University talks about challenges in reforming landscape of higher education.

What has been your mission while promoting the cause of education?
We started with a very simple vision to impart knowledge. Our vision of imparting knowledge did not end up in books, syllabus and curriculum or just making students job worthy. We went ahead to develop life skills for a lifetime and enable children and youth to be able to face challenges of life in all aspects of a good and a great living. We have envisioned a new dimension in learning. We have created paradigms to connect the individual to the institutional, national and even global transformation process. We focus on knowledge creation. We believe to follow excellence, strive for perfection and all else  will naturally fall in place. We will play a major role in positive change and development of both individuals and the society. It will also be a sustaining force.

In terms of regulation of the higher education sector, what are the key challenges and prospects in reforming the landscape of higher education?
Higher education is extremely diverse and the challenges and issues faced by higher education are just as diverse. We are required to meet global demand for skills with appropriate supply of skilled employable youth. The process of education is not merely digesting books. It is also about doing several co-curricular and extracurricular activities that give a broader meaning to life in general and learning in particular. I believe that opportunities for such holistic development are not enough.

We are in a phase of higher education where we need to review our fundamental structure, re-examine our programmes, pedagogy, delivery and student support methods. Learning and the advancement of knowledge is yet to become the focus of our research efforts, underpinning a system-level capacity for sustained expansion and for consistent growth of our learning outcomes.

With foreign collaborations being the key focus of educational institutes, what are the current and future plans of your university in the same?
We do not look at foreign collaborations as brand enhancement venture but as an investment in knowledge base. That is why we look for both institutional tie-ups wells as specific course-related tie-ups or just for exchange of knowledge. We are not bringing foreign names, but global knowledge. It will empower our alumni to serve the national interests internationally and will project our culture and values.

We have already signed MOUs for exchange of knowledge and certification in some popular mainstream courses and would continue to do so in future. We will continue to develop mutually beneficial partnerships with globally-ranked and respected institutions overseas. This will entail staff development, intensive use of resources, increased use of innovative forms of delivery, changes to programme structures and increased delivery of programmes. It will also include global mobility of our staff and students.

What role do you think private universities play in the education sector in India?
Private universities have a role to play in social and economic regeneration. We need to distinguish by the quality and quantity of our alumni, the innovation across the spectrum of economic, social, civic and cultural arenas. We also need to deepen the quality and intensity of relationship with enterprise and adjust our strategy regularly in response to global change. Critical thinking, adaptability and creativity will be key characteristics required of graduates in the future job market.

Our higher education model must recognise that India’s demographic dividend impacts nearly 250 million youth that make up 21 percent of India. They all are looking for jobs. We need to design our educational pattern keeping the same in mind, says Dr Amir Ullah Khan, Vice Chancellor, Glocal University.

More than 60 years ago, India decided to follow the model of higher education that was followed in the UK. The University Grants Commission Act was passed in 1956 and this statutory body came in to being that would regulate standards in Indian universities and give grants to all central universities. For 40 years, we continued this system.

Nearly two decades ago, in 1995, the Sikkim Manipal University was established as Indian’s first private sector university. Since then a small number of such initiatives have taken shape and today, we have a little more than 170 private universities set up all over the country. The total number of universities is about 660, 45 of whom are central universities, 312 state universities and about 130 are deemed universities. And all over the country, the debate on this privatisation has been going on relentlessly, including on the question of allowing foreign universities to set up campuses in India.

Today, no Indian university is ranked even in the top 200 in the world. The best universities are predominantly from the United States, but there are Japanese and Chinese Universities that are among the top 50. Indian universities suffer from poor faculty to student ratio, a pitiable research output, very little industry interface, and crumbling infrastructure by way of poorly equipped laboratories and meagre library resources. Despite a long history, our universities have never been able to establish any international reputation and this includes institutes that we are very proud of, namely the Indian Institutes of Technology and the Indian Institutes of Management.

In India, most rankings name Delhi University, the Jawaharlal University and the Calcutta University among the top universities within the country. Osmania University and the Central University in Hyderabad, Aligarh Muslim and Benares Hindu University and the Bombay University are the other top ranked institutions. The Birla Institute in Pilani is one solitary private institute that figures among the top institutes in the country.

 None of our government-owned and run universities can compete with any well-known international university. The gross enrolment ratio (GER) in India, that shows how many people between 18 and 25 enter college, is lower than 18 percent and pales in comparison with most countries around the world.

It indeed is time we visited this rather rigid system and allowed it to become far more inclusive than it is. Distance education, which has been so tightly regulated and under developed, must be catalysed to provide inexpensive and high quality education to millions of youth in remote locations, in a number of languages and covering a larger number of subjects and skills.

Curriculum that has always been supply driven needs to increasingly transform into delivering demand-driven output, keeping the potential employer in mind and incorporating industry interest. Private universities, if allowed to grow and unshackled from mindless restrictions, could play a great role in this area.

P P Mathur, Vice Chancellor, KIIT University talks about the ways to reform the landscape of higher education in India

What has been your mission while promoting the cause of education?
KIIT University was established to provide quality technical education in the country. It is a very young University and has been able to become one of the leading universities in the country. The University also provides social consciousness to the students.

In terms of regulation of the higher education sector, what are the key challenges and prospects in reforming the landscape of higher education?
The key challenges to the education sector are providing quality education and to get a place in the list of best education institutions of the world. For this, research and innovations have to be encouraged in the universities.

What are your views on RUSA: Will it be the game-changer in higher education and how?
RUSA has been contemplated as gamechanger in the higher education. It would increase bureaucratic set up in the higher education system but if implemented seriously and passionately by the state governments it might yield some of the desired results. Efforts should be made to include the best private higher education institutions also in the fold of RUSA. Time has come to give due recognition to best private and deemed universities.

With foreign collaborations being the key focus of educational institutes, what are the current and future plans of your university in the same?
KIIT University already has foreign collaborations with more than 80 educational institutions. Many of them fall in the list of top 200 institutions in the world. The University has ongoing exchange programmes for faculty and students. The University receives more than 1000 students from abroad every year for short-term and long-term programmes. We are expanding the programmes and want to see KIIT University as a global University in the truest sense of the term.

Do you think industry-academia partnership is important to provide employable skills to students and how?
The University has strong links with the industry. In the School advisory Boards and Boards of Studies of the University, experts from industry are inducted. In addition, much industry-related courses and industry partnership programmes are available for the students. This has helped the University to achieve nearly 100 percent placement in all the branches in the past years.

What are your views on the use of ICTs in Education?
How does the university keep up with the rapid technological changes? The University has a strong ICT component in education. The University has provided 100 percent computer penetration with high speed internet connectivity. The University is keeping pace with changing technology by removing obsolescence. The University has subscribed to a large number of electronic resources.

What is the significance of mandatory accreditation of higher education institutions?
Mandatory accreditation of higher education institutions is a good step in which good performing institutions would get advantage and bad performing institutions would be identified and corrective measures will be taken. However, there is a great challenge in covering the large number of institutions in credible accreditation process.

How has your university been able to provide the necessary knowledge for effective employability of students?
The university tries to provide best learning experience in core subjects. In addition, development of soft and communication skills is also taken up through credit and non-credit courses. Such an effort has increased the employability of the students. The university also provides overall personality development through various co-curricular and extracurricular activities.

Prof Vijay Kant Verma, Vice Chancellor, AISECT University talks about the advantages of private universities

What kind of pedagogical innovation you have added in your courses?
A minimum two skill courses have been made compulsory at UG level to generate sense of honour for labour and provide soft and hard skill. We have also come up with value addition courses in the campus with help of industries/corporate. The recent addition is Cloud Competency Centre with the assistance of Microsoft. We also organise a project competition every year for UG students to motivate them to connect to society for using knowledge gained in the classes.

How are you planning to stay afloat in such a cut throat competition among other universities / institutes?
We are going to do it by focusing on our organizational mission to deliver quality education in such a way that employability gap is reduced with assurance that pass outs will be truly professionals. We will also act as an effective industryinstitute interface to ensure revision in curriculum for preparing industry-ready pass outs from the university. We also do projects with industries to provide real life experiences to students.

What is so unique about your university?
Which is the most preferred course among students here? The university offers world class infrastructure, dedicated and expert faculty, industry grade labs and effective teaching– learning system that makes us unique. Engineering UG courses, commerce and management UG and PG courses are quite popular.

How important are corporate tie-ups for private universities in improving the students’ placements?
Corporate tie-ups for private universities are very important. We have gone for a tie up with HCL and Microsoft.

What kind of global collaboration that you have at your university? Why do you think it is necessary?
We have collaboration with RPI, USA and Siegen University, Germany. With world shrinking globally, exposure with developed countries will provide growth avenues.

What is your modernization and expansion plans?
We will start departments of law and physical education from the next session. Meanwhile, an Energy Research Centre and e-Learning Centre are to commence shortly.

What are some of the advantages that you have over government universities?
We have fast curriculum updation, better institute-industry tie-ups, better infrastructure and facilities with reduced employability gap.

Quality is a serious problem-no Indian university, with the exception of IITs and few others, ever features in any global ranking of the top 100 or top 200 global universities. What are your views on it?
Research is the major area of evaluation in which Indian institutions lack. There is a need for government to think for better funding for research especially to private universities.

Education is the one sector untouched by the winds of reform. There are several Higher Education Bills that are pending in the parliament. What are your views?
Reforms can be effective only if universities are active participants in reform process.

What is your expectation from the government?
Government should take up the role of facilitator rather than controller. It should also offer better support in funding and subsidy.

Prof G L Datta, Chancellor, K L University, Vaddeswaram, Guntur, AP talks about challenges in reforming landscape of higher education

What has been the mission of your group in promoting the cause of education?
Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation deemed to be K L University is the metamorphosis of K L College of Engineering set up in 1980 by the Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation, which is presently headed by President Er Koneru Satyanarayana. The Engineering College was declared to be a deemed university in February 2009. Its vision is to become a ‘globally renowned University’ and mission is ‘to impart quality higher education and to undertake research and extension with emphasis on application and innovation that cater to the emerging societal needs through all-round development of students of all sections enabling them to be globally competitive and socially responsible citizens with intrinsic values’.

In terms of regulation of the higher education sector, what are the key challenges and prospects in reforming the landscape of higher education?
Some of the key challenges before the deemed universities are need for diversification of programmes, contributing to quality research output in terms of publications and sponsored projects and engaging quality faculty. It is also challenging to create state-of-art infrastructure and enable environment for effective teachinglearning and conduct extension activities to serve the society. Some of these regulatory requirements, though may appear to be challenges, but may act as boon to raise the standard of the university. Our university has converted these challenges into opportunities where students and faculty work together in pursuit of knowledge in various disciplines of science, humanities, commerce, management and engineering. Apart from bachelors and master’s degree programmes, we have research program leading to Ph D. 35 percent of our faculty have Ph D degrees and majority of the rest are pursuing Ph D. We have created state-of-the-art research labs, hostels, playgrounds and gym of international standard.

What are your views on RUSA: Will it be the game changer in higher education and how?
RUSA has the ability to do wonder if implemented effectively. It is, however, confined to public/government-funded/controlled institutions/colleges. Selected institutions in the private sector with research potential  and proven capability to impart quality education should be brought under the ambit of RUSA for meeting the target of 30 percent GER in higher education by 2020 in our country.

With foreign collaborations being the key focus of educational institutes, what are the plans of your university in furthering these collaborations?
K L University has collaborations through MoUs with foreign universities of repute belonging to almost all developed countries in the world for various programmes like faculty exchange, ‘twinning programmes’, joint Ph D supervisions, joint research projects, etc. We invite reputed experts from these universities to offer courses at UG and PG levels on a regular basis. We also take their input in revising our curriculum. Our university is a partner member of IUCE and we get a good number of faculty members from the US universities for conducting subject workshops every semester.

Do you think industry-academia partnership is important to provide employable skills to students and how?
Industry-Academia partnership is a must for providing employable skills to the students. A partnership can create scopes for experts from industry visiting the institutions and giving guest lectures, students visiting the industries and doing internships. It is also beneficial for faculty members visiting the industries to gain practical knowledge, which would be useful for delivering effective lectures.

 talks about the role of private universities in the education sector in India

What has been the vision of your group in promoting the cause of education?
Don Bosco University is sponsored by the international educational society, the Salesians of Don Bosco, currently working in 132 countries and catering to roughly 15 million young people in a variety of settings – schools, colleges, universities, agricultural centres, technical institutes, rural development centres, children from the streets, immigrant population, refugee camps, etc. Quality education especially for the marginalized, formation of the young for their insertion into the world of work, an integral formation of the young that makes them dependable human beings with a sense of commitment to society while fashioning a better future for themselves – these are some of our guiding principles.

With foreign collaborations being the key focus of educational institutes, what are the current and future plans your university in furthering these collaborations?
Right from inception, Don Bosco University set for itself an ambitious target of entering into collaborative relationships with a variety of institutions from around the world. Being part of an international society helped in this process. Currently, we have active MoUs with universities in Europe (Spain, Switzerland, Germany, UK, Ireland, Italy), United States, Asia (Japan, Thailand) and South America (Brazil, Equador, Argentina). Our MoUs are singularly focused on the following: Staff and student exchange programmes, joint research projects, cultural exchange, semester abroad programmes and joint degree programmes.

What are your views on the use of ICTs in Education? How does the University keep up with the rapidly changing technological changes?
I, for one, firmly believe that investment in ICT is the way forward. I am convinced that more and more young people will enter the world of work at younger ages (just after or even during their high school), and that lifelong education will become the norm rather than the exception. It is here that ICT will play an irreplaceable role in providing education right at their work place or in their homes. Recognizing this decisive and irreversible trend in education, Don Bosco University has invested heavily in its online courses, which are finding a worldwide clientele in just three years. We intend to continue on this path till all our courses will be available online, especially to make them available to those struggling to juggle the demands of their workplace and families.

What role do you think private universities play in the education sector in India?
The private universities are here to stay and have a key role to play in some or all of the following areas: a) in creating the type of capacity that our nation needs to increase GER dramatically in the coming years, b) in enabling academic institutions to address the changing needs of education in the rapidly changing social and educational scenario, c) in ensuring prompt attention to quality concerns and market sentiments, d) in ensuring swift response societal and industrial needs, e) in boldly experimenting with cutting edge courses and technologies, and f) in creating a sense of unease in the complacent attitudes of many of our public institutions in the areas of performance, output, accountability, etc. However, it cannot also be denied that institutions of dubious motives and performance have also come up as a result of the opportunities given to invest in private universities.

What is the significance of mandatory accreditation of higher education institutions?
Mandatory accreditation is probably necessary to jolt us out of our complacency. Too many institutions have settled down to a maintenance mode of existence with no importance given to innovation, growth, research and academic output. Accountability, performance appraisal,
target setting, etc are the driving factors in good educational institutions in our country and abroad.

Dr Madhu Chitkara, Vice Chancellor, Chitkara University, Punjab talks about the role of private universities in reforming the landscape of higher education

What has been your mission while promoting the cause of education?
Chitkara University aims to be the most preferred choice of students, faculty and industry across the country and will be within the ‘Top Ten Private Universities’ by 2015. Its mission is to carry out the academic process for achieving excellence through active student–teacher participation, promoting research and development activities in collaboration with reputed industries and laboratories. It also aims to inculcate high moral, ethical and professional standards among students and contribute effectively towards societal and community development.

In terms of regulation of the higher education sector, what are the key challenges and prospects in reforming the landscape of higher education?
To reform the higher education, there is a need for an intention to raise standards of higher education by upgrading primary and secondary education system. It can also be done by meeting global standards of education, inculcating habit of research among faculty and more resources and fund opportunities to faculty and higher institutions.

What are your views on RUSA: Will it be the game-changer in higher education and how?
We are known for creating best regulators and systems. RUSA will be a gamechanger only if it acts as facilitator, resource provider and progressive monitoring agency flexible enough to shape Indian higher education as per global standards.

Do you think industry-academia partnership is important to provide employable skills to students and how?
Sure. Industry-Academia interface is of utmost importance to produce industryready individuals. Academia cannot train youngsters as per industry requirement without having appropriate partnerships and employer engagement.

What are your views on the use of ICTs in education? How does the university keep up with the rapid technological changes?
It is need of the hour. All the changes we are noticing around are driven by technological changes. We are upgrading our labs continuously, using social media sites to promote education and learning. MOOC is going to be the future of education and so, ICT is a must.

What role do you think private universities play in the education sector in India?
Private universities have a huge and responsible role to play. We are more progressive, industry-oriented, updated, studentcentric with outcome-based learning. Private universities should be encouraged.

How has your university been able to provide the necessary knowledge for effective employability of students?
We have done it by industry interaction, employer engagement at all levels, best of faculty and learning-centric methodology and international collaborations.

How can India’s higher education system be made more robust?
It can be made robust by producing best faculty through research efforts, providing best of resources to those who are education providers, pioneers in trainings and problem-based learning, organizing international youth forums for university students and encouraging post doctoral research by faculties at foreign universities. We need facilitators and not regulators.

What special efforts have been undertaken by your university to gear up to the needs of the present generation?
We have industry-driven courses, international exposure, best of faculty on board and student-centric environment.

As private universities in India rise to MHRD’s challenge of meeting the raised GER, Ankush Kumar of digitalLEARNING looks at the roadblocks and opportunities these universities face.

With an aim to ramp up the higher education sector and stay competitive in the global economy, the Ministry of Human Resource & Development has set a target of achieving 30 percent GER (Gross Enrollment Ratio) for India by 2020. Currently pegged at 19.4 percent, India’s GER is far below the world’s average as Australia, Russia and US have GER of more than 75 percent.

The total population between the ages of 15 and 24 in India is 234 million. If India is to meet its 30 percent GER target by 2020, about 40 million students would be enrolled in the higher education system in 2020. Currently, around 18.5 million students are enrolled in the higher education sector. The problem is that as increasing numbers come out of the high school system, we just don’t have the capacity to absorb them into the college system. There is a massive mismatch in the supply-demand of proportions that have never been seen anywhere or anytime in the world before.

For instance, to reach the target of the 30 percent GER, we need to create an additional capacity of about 25 million seats over the next decade. This requires an additional 10,510 technical institutions, 15,530 colleges and 521 universities.

Achieving this target seems to be slightly difficult and will require creation of additional enrolment capacity at an unprecedented scale. Accordingly, the 12th Five Year Plan envisages creating an additional enrolment capacity of 10 million, which is expected to raise the GER from present level of 19 percent to 25.2 percent in 2017-18. The 12th Five Year Plan also acknowledges the need for a continued and growing role of the private sector in higher education.

India has one of the largest higher education systems in the world comprising of 650+ universities, 35,000+ colleges and numerous stand-alone technical/professional institutions with annual enrolment in excess of 25 million students. The institutional framework of higher education system consists of Universities established by an act of Parliament (Central Universities) or State Legislature (State Universities), Deemed Universities, Institutes of National Importance, Institutions established by State Legislative Act, colleges affiliated to a University, professional and technical institutions amongst others.

India needs to make sure that private universities are encouraged, and that the legislation to create them is enabling. It’s a maze right now with multiple governing bodies that have conflicting mandates. Several states do not yet have a State Private University (SPU)  Act. Because universities and institutes are so tightly controlled, there is little autonomy and flexibility in governance structures. Private universities, like government- owned universities, have little scope for innovation in designing their course curriculum.

Establishing a private university typically takes at least three to four years. “Private universities have the agility and freedom to operate within the state  boundary. They can decide their curriculum, affiliations, accreditations, fee, duration of courses, student admissions, faculty recruitment etc. Government universities on the other hand need to comply with a whole range of norms by UGC and other regulatory  bodies, but also enjoy funding and patronage of the state. They are also considered safer and have a wider recognition”, says Narayanan Ramaswamy, Partner & National Leader (Education Sector), KPMG India.

Seeing plethora of opportunities, many industrialists and corporate are eager to enter the higher education sector through private university model. They can easily notice the pool of young people that are considered country’s biggest strength. The demand for education in India is everlasting and will continue to increase; therefore it is hard to say that whether these universities will be sufficient to meet such demand. Many private universities have come up with innovative and attractive course curriculum. They have done a thorough research of all the streams and have concrete strategy to stay ahead of the competition. Many are concentrating on Liberal education with multidisciplinary fields. Others are providing intensive industry training programme in every semester and are focusing in practical education with more corporate exposure. The Government should come up with policies which can boost private investment in higher education. The private university owners should involve in not-for-profit activity where the excess revenue should be invested back for the development of the university. If India needs to mark its global presence in the education field, the private universities will have to play a significant role. The canvas of our country’s higher education will remain incomplete without these universities.