‘Our vision is to turn IP university into world-class institute’
17 May 2013 7:44 AM IST
A multifaceted scholar, academician and administrator, Prof. (Dr) Dilip K. Bandyopadhyay, vice-chancellor of Guru Govind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi is a visionary leader in India’s management education community in modern times. A gold medalist in his masters level, a Ph.D. in Computer Applications, a fellow from ESSEC Business School, Paris and an inspiring professional, Dr Bandyopadhyay has spent 36 years of his career doing what he does best: inspiring students, academia, corporate and non corporate heads, and policy makers to raise their excellence to the next level.
Millennium Post spoke to the veteran educationist on the future of higher education in India, his plans for the university and much more. Excerpts:
What are the new trends in the Indian education sector?
This is an interesting phase in Indian education. Some of the new trends in Indian education are public-private partnership (PPP), focus on quality education and impetus being given to research and development. According to me, the relevance of PPP model would grow in the times to come. India is targeting to take its GER (gross enrollment ratio) to 30 per cent of students in 18 to 25 years of age, who go for higher education. More universities and institutes need to be constructed, nurtured and promoted. A higher enrollment ratio resulting in enhancement of human capital corresponds to an increase in the national wealth.
Education demands quality orientation. Good academic institutions are built up by good faculty. This opens up an additional challenge of attracting the best brains in academics.
What are the challenges being faced by higher education in India?
There is a serious crunch of quality faculty members. We need teachers who are credible and capable to transform students to the highest level of excellence. That is the actual meaning of education. The teachers are agents of making that transformational change. Raising quality faculty is a serious challenge. Presently, there is no accountability on the part of teachers. Only a handful of teachers and professors are dedicated and passionate about teaching.
There is little focus on research activities. For a high quality teaching, we need best brains to join the profession. Unless and until we take care of this challenge, there will be no progress. Even if we give degrees to students, the value of these degrees will be questioned. This is because if students are not transformed and equipped, their employability will be a major problem. Unfortunately, this is the current scenario.
How can technology play an integral role?
Technology will no doubt play a major role in times to come. The government is also of the view that information and communication technology (ICT) can be used to mitigate the crunch of quality faculty members. Under the National Mission of Education through ICT, the government is going pump around Rs 20,000 crore in the 12th Five Year Plan and is going to develop the course wares in the form of video-clips, animations, probable questions and self-evaluation by students.
ICT will deliver the course content, best curriculum and quality inputs in an effective way. It is one of the best interventions for enhancing quality of teaching. ICT has also popularised the distance mode of education. Through video-conferencing students can interact with the professors, virtually making it as real an experience as a traditional classroom.
Distance education, enabled with ICT, can reach out to lot of people even in remote and inaccessible areas of the country. ICT enabled learning will emerge as the largest mode of education in the future.
If we make these programmes popular among students, then the roles of teachers will drastically change. Their role will not be of information providers, but that of facilitators and mentors. The way the classes will be conducted will see a thorough change.
What are your future plans for GGSIPU?
Our vision is to turn GGSIPU into a world-class university where there would be a conglomeration of students and faculty members from various places to generate new knowledge and at the same time creating an environment where confluence of ideas would take place.
Our university has made a mark for itself. We want to take this institution to the next level by bringing in more quality, newer innovations, focus on industry-oriented professional education and enhancing our research activities.
Millennium Post spoke to the veteran educationist on the future of higher education in India, his plans for the university and much more. Excerpts:
What are the new trends in the Indian education sector?
This is an interesting phase in Indian education. Some of the new trends in Indian education are public-private partnership (PPP), focus on quality education and impetus being given to research and development. According to me, the relevance of PPP model would grow in the times to come. India is targeting to take its GER (gross enrollment ratio) to 30 per cent of students in 18 to 25 years of age, who go for higher education. More universities and institutes need to be constructed, nurtured and promoted. A higher enrollment ratio resulting in enhancement of human capital corresponds to an increase in the national wealth.
Education demands quality orientation. Good academic institutions are built up by good faculty. This opens up an additional challenge of attracting the best brains in academics.
What are the challenges being faced by higher education in India?
There is a serious crunch of quality faculty members. We need teachers who are credible and capable to transform students to the highest level of excellence. That is the actual meaning of education. The teachers are agents of making that transformational change. Raising quality faculty is a serious challenge. Presently, there is no accountability on the part of teachers. Only a handful of teachers and professors are dedicated and passionate about teaching.
There is little focus on research activities. For a high quality teaching, we need best brains to join the profession. Unless and until we take care of this challenge, there will be no progress. Even if we give degrees to students, the value of these degrees will be questioned. This is because if students are not transformed and equipped, their employability will be a major problem. Unfortunately, this is the current scenario.
How can technology play an integral role?
Technology will no doubt play a major role in times to come. The government is also of the view that information and communication technology (ICT) can be used to mitigate the crunch of quality faculty members. Under the National Mission of Education through ICT, the government is going pump around Rs 20,000 crore in the 12th Five Year Plan and is going to develop the course wares in the form of video-clips, animations, probable questions and self-evaluation by students.
ICT will deliver the course content, best curriculum and quality inputs in an effective way. It is one of the best interventions for enhancing quality of teaching. ICT has also popularised the distance mode of education. Through video-conferencing students can interact with the professors, virtually making it as real an experience as a traditional classroom.
Distance education, enabled with ICT, can reach out to lot of people even in remote and inaccessible areas of the country. ICT enabled learning will emerge as the largest mode of education in the future.
If we make these programmes popular among students, then the roles of teachers will drastically change. Their role will not be of information providers, but that of facilitators and mentors. The way the classes will be conducted will see a thorough change.
What are your future plans for GGSIPU?
Our vision is to turn GGSIPU into a world-class university where there would be a conglomeration of students and faculty members from various places to generate new knowledge and at the same time creating an environment where confluence of ideas would take place.
Our university has made a mark for itself. We want to take this institution to the next level by bringing in more quality, newer innovations, focus on industry-oriented professional education and enhancing our research activities.
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