With an ever-escalating middle class of India, the demand for excellent education and superior infrastructure is on a rise in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. These cities are continually adapting the urbanisation processes of the Metro cities and are emerging as an option to the saturated markets of the metro cities. Also, as we are all conscious, Coronavirus (COVID-19) has disrupted the international economy and impacted universities, colleges and schools as nicely, the demand is swiftly expanding.
At the identical time, the COVID19 has provided the chance to Indian educational colleges and Universities to grow to be “Atmanirbhar” by introducing new approaches of teaching, uplifting the facilities and infrastructures for their students and other stakeholders. A study has revealed that numerous reputed Indian universities have entered the international rankings in different disciplines and have outstanding intellectual sources in the kind of faculty, publication, patent, investigation, international affiliations, infrastructural facilities, placements, and international partnerships. They are comparable to any foreign university and may possibly be termed to be even superior.
With the implementation of NEP, Indian Universities are all geared up to provide the necessary exposure identical as the international universities. With the assistance of the digital advancements and the assistance from the government, Indian Universities will be the preferred decision for these students who have been preparing to go abroad for their larger research.
Here Dr. Sandeep Shastri, Vice Chancellor, Jagran Lakecity University (Bhopal) answers to the distinctive queries like how COVID19 has impacted the education method, how institutions from tier 2 towns can compete with colleges in metros like Delhi NCR, and so on. Excerpts:
How colleges in tier II towns can assistance in uplifting the benchmarks in its curriculum?
The tier ll towns in India are most important for the reason that they are at the cusp of adjust. The sheer volume in terms of student intake and demographics that they represent will be important in defining the future of the nation and the path it requires. Much of the adjust and evolution in larger education is getting witnessed in the tier ll towns today. We are starting to see a lot of innovation stemming from tier II towns, which are an genuine representation, of the new age `aspirational India` which is on the cusp of becoming hugely capable and globally connected. It is for that reason, crucial for educators in tier ll towns to assure that a powerful foundation based on digital integration, infrastructure and experiential understanding is capable to catalyze their capabilities and aspirations.
How do international partnerships, assists the institutes in smaller sized towns?
Thanks to the technologies and infrastructure accessible in these smaller sized towns now, the students right here have higher aspirations and ambitions, no much less than what we locate in the massive metros. They are nicely connected and are conscious of international developments. The reality that these towns are geographically modest does not interfere with the believed course of action of these youngsters who have an massive vision and grit to accomplish groundbreaking feats. Indian youth today aspire for a international outlook, a national vision and a regional flavor.
This is what drives the in search of of international academic and industrial partnerships which provide these young learners with the proper and desirable exposure to international ideal practices, ideals, values, beliefs, and experiences. I should hasten to add one point- the towns are not the only ones which are gaining from these international partnerships. It is a two-way street exactly where the international partners also get to advantage from the texture of this regional flavor and imbibe the values and experiences which these regional partners have to provide. I will also quite cautiously state that international partnerships are not merely to bring the international to the regional so that young learners do not just stare in awe of the international, but grow to be equal contributors and benefactors of this international-regional partnership.
How and what are the post-COVID educational reforms that could bring normalcy in teaching and understanding?
Entering into the new post-COVID regular, I am particular that the future of teaching and understanding is “blended”, skillfully designing curriculum to involve physical classroom understanding supported by an on line understanding model. Indian regulatory authorities have permitted for 40% on line understanding and, as we at Jagran Lakecity University are going forward with sufficient adjustments which blends each the mediums. This blending has to be very carefully, cautiously, and creatively calibrated. Online understanding modules should be designed to properly supplement offline understanding and the proportions of each should really be laid out maintaining in thoughts the ideal attainable understanding outcomes regardless of limitations. Two primary qualities of blended understanding are:
? Members of the Faculty are facilitators and not just teachers: Today, teachers are not the only providers of information and facts as there are a plethora of avenues and platforms for that. As a outcome, they should assistance the students in producing sense of the information and facts that is acquired. Learning today requirements to concentrate on how learners use this information and facts to boost their capacities and capabilities, though preparing for the future.
? Practice-based understanding will bridge the gap among the `world of study` and the `world of work`: The flexibility of curriculum will be the figuring out issue of the NEP-2020’s aspirations of producing youth, work-prepared. Now, students can get a certificate, diploma, degree, on completion of 1,2,3 and 4 years of their education respectively. However, they will be provided the decision of opting out, gaining knowledge and returning to education at their personal pace and decision. The other vital issue will be the decision for inter disciplinary research, rather than in silos, wherein for instance, a math student will be permitted to discover to appreciate arts and vice versa.
How colleges and institutions from tier 2 towns can compete with colleges in metros like Delhi NCR?
The under 3 information points completely summarizes the competitive prospective of institutions based in tier 2 towns:
In 2009, I was privileged to be the author with my close friends in academia, the very first ever survey-based study on ‘Aspirations of Youth in India’. It came out as a book known as ‘Indian Youth in a Transforming World (published by Sage ).
Secondly, in 2009, the Government of Karnataka asked me to head a committee, to draft the youth policy of Karnataka, and we did a comprehensive survey about youth in the state which then became the basis for the youth policy.
Third, is a series of surveys on youth since 2008, conducted by a group I am privileged to be a part of, called ‘LOKNITI’.
What do all these 3 research say in widespread?
The research proved beyond a doubt that, if you look at the aspirations of youth in modest towns and cities, it is phenomenally larger than the aspirations of youth in the metros. Now, this may possibly be a byproduct of the reality that youngsters in metros are currently exposed to so a lot understanding and expertise. On the other hand young learners in modest towns and cities, on account of their aspirational strategy, there is a a lot higher hunger for understanding and when that identical access is granted. There is a higher absorption of the abilities that you are imparting to them. So I would for that reason argue that I do not consider in any way students in tier 2 cities are much less competent than students elsewhere.
Firstly, I think that the power, drive, passion is a lot more for the reason that it is a reality that the worth of anything like international exposure and chance, access to globe-class Infrastructure is identified, when you are conscious that is not conveniently accessible about. Secondly, I consider educational institutions in tier 2 cities have a a lot higher duty to meet these aspirations of young students in their institutions for the reason that as pointed out just before, these are at the cusp of adjust which is capable of influencing India without having any deficiency in terms of capacity or passion or power. The deficit lies is in terms of the access to chance. So I’m convinced that if education institutions in tier 2 cities provide these possibilities and platforms for young persons to hone their abilities.
How do you consider COVID has impacted colleges and universities in positive and unfavorable sense?
I consider the Covid-19 crisis has shaken up all the stakeholders, out of their attainable complacency. Discussions pertaining to integration of on line understanding Pre-COVID was currently underway for really a handful of years, nonetheless the momentum to implement was slow. Covid-19 forced us to experiment and ultimately integrate on line understanding in a quite quick span of time to make sure minimal disruption. In some instances, the experiment began as a disaster with a lot of trial and error involved. I have identified teachers who did not know how to make use of streaming platforms, facing all forms of connectivity problems and understanding digital etiquettes on the fly.
In the initial days, there have been a lot of challenges but at the finish of the day, it was the creativity, the drive, the passion that was shown by each sides that produced an on line classroom a results.
Some parents also attended and appreciated the teachers. But, we also saw instances exactly where the expertise of some exceptional teachers was acquiring questioned for the reason that of a lack of communication abilities. Parents have been hesitant to spend charges, due to the disruption specifically at a time when we had to look at added investments in digital technologies though also bringing in superior teachers with exceptional communication abilities, at low salaries. Ultimately, COVID-19 has taught universities that there is no status quo and it has significantly demonstrated that adjust is the only eternal principle.
There are some queries also that want to be answered. Has a bigger section of economically weaker students benefited from on line understanding and if yes, then how skewed was the ‘learning curve’ across different degrees of comprehension?
What are your views about Union Budget 2021-22?
This is the 1st spending budget immediately after the government formally adopted the New National Education Policy 2020’, so I was seeking for a tiny more proof of actions towards the implementation of NEP-2020. Many would argue that the implementation depends on the states as nicely, as education is a concurrent topic. A tiny more generosity could be shown in terms of resource allocation, provided the reality that research show, 27% of the employable population of the globe would be from India by 2030.
In the previous 20 years, the private sector has emerged as a significant enabler of larger education and I am quite hopeful about the emergence of a productive public-private partnership in the future. The NEP-2020 also has categorized universities into 3 heads, 1st ‘Research-Intensive universities’ exactly where there will be teaching also, 2nd are the ‘Teaching Universities’ which will also do investigation and 3rd Autonomous Colleges’. The earlier division of private/ public universities, central/state universities will be a point of the previous which is a quite welcome step. The finer nuances have to be worked out specially in the case of private universities as they get no funding assistance from the government. Private universities cater to the intellectual and inventive requirements of the youth and will continue to play a significant part. Thus, we had anticipated that the spending budget and government pronouncements provide a bit more of clarity on the query concerning the autonomy of private institutions.