Source: www.dnaindia.com, Mumbai, March 2011
The second annual convention for Higher Education Forum (HEF) was held at ITM Business School, Kharghar. Two technical sessions were organized in partnership with DNA for educationists to share their thoughts and understanding on the topic “Towards Excellence in Higher Education”. A common consensus was reached that excellence mattered more to people who are in the process of learning rather than the learned ones.
The first session was based on panel discussions from a corporate perspective while the other was more inclined towards building excellence in institutions.
Dr. A K Sengupta, founder and convener of HEF, addressed the audience by stating that “Higher education is the catalyst for bringing about economic change and thereby its transition from efficiency to effectiveness and finally to excellence would bring about startling results”.
Among the speakers were Dr Anial Kakodkar, former chairman of Atomic Energy Commission & chairman of the High Power Committee for Reforms of Higher and Professional Education in the state of Maharashtra; Mr. Ashank Desai, founding director of Mastek; and Dr. PV Ramanna, chairman of ITM Group of Institutions.
Most of the speakers at the convention emphasized on bringing about excellence within faculty and institutions, based on the whooping financial figure of $7.5 billion released by USA earned purely from Indian students.
Mr Caputo mentioned that “A good faculty coupled with proper access to education that’s affordable eventually instilling a sense of accountability and enables students to measure their cognitive gains will be the driving force for acquiring excellence in higher education. In USA, average graduates reel under debts in the process of studies thereby prompting them to seek alternative options instead of opting for higher studies”.
According to Mr. Kakodkar, it is crucial for students to gain industrial experience as corporation and education go hand in hand. He mentioned that “higher education needs to be a proper amalgamation of the best of teacher, pleasure in research work, spirit of innovation and practical experience”.
The corporate speakers for the occasion included Mr Rajeev Dubey, President (HR) Mahindra & Mahindra; Dr Uma Ganesh, CEO, Global Talent Track; Mr P A Krishnan, EVP & Head, Emerging Markets; and Dr. Ganesh Natarajan, Global CEO, Zensar Technologies.
Mr. Dubey addressed the group by stating that “Leadership quality governed by trust and openness to emphatically listen and create a win-win situation while striving to make profits is an integral part to achieve excellence”.
To put it in a nutshell, success of higher education depends upon the process of thinking, doing and being. Effective team work along with trust will pave way to educational excellence.