It’s been two decade in education after fifteen years of industry experience, establishing new intuitions. I feel that the education system has been chained heavily with regulations and regulators, with quality taking a nose dive with time.
As an academic administrator, I have tried to experiment with the flexibility available within the regulations and have been successful, especially the skill programs with On the Job training with Industry for school drop outs and credits for additional programs with industry collaboration which finds a place in the NEP.
Two major points which I have been advocating - freedom for innovation and doing away with the chains of regulations are seen as a part of the NEP 2020.
Government should fix standards and guidelines for setting up an Institute or a University, monitor for transparency, accreditation and ranking. Let the promoter take a call and establish an educational institution and compete in the market based on a uniform yard stick.
2. What is your opinion of the Indian education system and how would you like to change that?
The present education system has been kept in tight compartments, with no flexibility to the students. You complete your schooling with Mathematics/ Biology or Commerce. When we were in school it was all right as there were limited options for a career. With fast changes technology is bringing in the way the world performs it is essential to be interdisciplinary.
At school level there is less idea of your own strength and hence the choice that one makes is mostly based on the parent’s suggestion, peer advice or the school policy as some schools do not allow you to take mathematics if you have marks less than a certain percentage and similarly for other streams.
I have been advocating that the student has to be allowed to take subjects of their choice and after class 12 should be given a year to evaluate his/her strength. Also option should be given to take an examination for change of stream in the gap year or use a bridge course in college.
For example, a student could have studied computer science in class XII but may not have mathematics. If the syllabus of college needs some mathematics to be studied the student should have an option for completing the basic which may be pre-requisite either in the college or the school education system or from a MOOC platform.
At the ground level degree has lost its relevance and what is being looked into is the skills one has, hence the focus should be allowing flexibility to join programs from various Universities and the MOOC platform and complete a require credit mapping and obtain a completion certificate of a graduate or post graduate level. Which streams you can perform can be based on an exit examination and your required competence for the eligibility to appear with defined pre-requisites and a valid exit examination score?
The new policy is moving in this direction and I hope it really takes off at the ground level and it will be a game changer.
3. What changes in the teaching methodologies have you seen in the recent times?
Class room teaching is changing from chalk and talk to teaching using power point or online classes. There is no issues on using technology but the same should be supplementing the teachers chalk and talk, but I personally feel that the basic connect of teaching by a teacher should continue to be strong and technology should aid and support the teacher.
Today all the subject information is available to the student at the press of a click sitting inside the class room. Hence, it is important that the teacher is acting as a mentor and is making the class attractive to give beyond what is available to the student on the net. Hence the teacher has to be more of a mentor and a guide to the student.
I have tried this in my University but with little success as I find it is difficult to get the teacher change their mind set and experiment.
4. How does education help one do well in their career?
Education is meant to give you the basic knowledge and competence enabling join a career. The present education with the fast expansion in the private sector which created opportunities for the aspiring youth lost track to focus on the selection of the right student for a stream, ensure quality in education delivered, hands on and practical training.
Thus the youth coming out from colleges with a degree are un-employable and do not find the right path in their career. This needs a big correction. I do hope the new education policy which is laying emphasis on conceptual learning rather than rote learning, assignment based assessments and skills from school will bring a change and improve career prospects of the youth.
5. Do you think teaching as a profession is viewed at par with corporate jobs?
Unfortunately, no. Teaching was once considered a pious job, ‘Vidya Daan’ and the teacher would give his best to ensure his students all success. S/he was the source of the knowledge, information and had the answers to all the questions of the students. The teacher as a Guru also ensured that the best of information was provided to the students and hence was looked up with great respect more than that given to the parents.
Unfortunately with time, teaching became a business and teachers started tuitions which resulted in the loss of the relationship between the Guru and Shishya.
Also the abundance of private intuitions and the availability of un-employed youths made teaching an option for those who could not find a place in the corporate sector and hence could come for any salary. Thus except of a few the profession has lost its shine, which needs to be brought back to take India to the next level.
We need more focus on training the teachers particularly on teaching pedagogy, IT skills and continuous training for high level of motivation. Investment on the teacher is very important which the most neglected part is in our system. We have attempted it, though at a small level, but with success. Faculty needs to be trained as long term asset of an intuition, if we have to build globally recognised Institutions.
6. How can we adopt technology to make teaching more effective?
Technology should not be taken as a substitute to a teacher, rather is should be a facilitator, and aid in increasing the creativity in the class and also reduce repetitive works of a teacher.
Today all information is a click away in the internet, but the correct and precise information needs to be brought to the students. There is an art to imparting knowledge to students, which cannot be done with technology.
A teacher guides, facilitates, leads and mentors students, and the knowledge and experience of a teacher cannot be replaced by technology.
Today parents are looking for tech smart schools and colleges which are resulting in high tech class rooms, but smart technology classes cannot produce smart students, which can only be done by smart teachers.
Technology infused class room is becoming the need of the hours but teacher will remain the facilitator and mentor to provide the trustworthy information and knowledge to the students and hence the focal point.
7. Why does India need more educators like you?
We need teachers and administrators with an open mind. I am happy the NEP 2020 shows the path. With credit banking I feel it will open the way for youth from weaker sections of the society who were deprived of higher education for various reasons.
My advantage has been a multidisciplinary exposure in industry, entrepreneurship and then academics thus giving a unique 360 degree outlook, advantage of forward thinking and analysing the needs of the industry and tweaking the syllabus accordingly.
This exposure has helped develop an outlook based information system between faculty for administrative and collaborative work to respond quickly to changing needs and establish accountability in the system.
In my research I have suggested that the Vice Chancellors should be functioning like CEOs in an industry and hence to implement the NEP 2020 at the ground level we need the autonomy and the will to ensure across the board implementation on mission mode to be able to translate the plans on the ground.
- Prof. K.K.Pande
Dean Academics, Teerthanker Mahaveer University, Moradabad
- Interview by - Sanjana Jain
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