What makes a great institute
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS MUST ADDRESS THE GRAND CHALLENGES FACED BY THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY
There is an increasing and almost obsessive tendency to talk about creating world-class institutes. No one truly knows what this means!
In several countries, including India, education is seen as an obligatory requirement. This makes for good business, since the demand for education would always remain high. Consequently, many education providers enter the market and several thrive, including those that provide a sub-standard or shoddy product. The spiralling demand allows for the limited supply to determine the price irrespective of the quality.
The government of India’s New Education Policy recognised that a transformational shift in mindsets was required to provide an education that would cater to the high aspirations of India’s young. It is a credit to the government that a bold initiative to dramatically transform the education landscape is on the table. One of the key drivers would be international rankings in determining how good an institute or university is. The rankings would reflect the approach towards delivering education and research. Attributes such as employability, consultation with industry on curriculum, a dynamic pedagogy, a culturally diverse environment, experiential learning, team work and soft skills, cutting-edge research, publications in peerreviewed international journals and other criteria form the basis of the rankings. A focus on each of these is what makes for a good institute or university.
But how does one make the transition from good to great? How, indeed, do universities leapfrog rivals and become role models? What makes a university stand out? The recent and dramatic jump in rankings by the University of New South Wales, Sydney is an excellent pointer on how the transformation of education is a constant and dynamic process. The focus never shifts and the striving to do better is a constant.
With over 60,000 students on campus, UNSW is a clear example that volume and quality can be compatible. Around one-third of these students come from over 120 countries and provide an extraordinary learning experience to its students. The pedagogy is not only industry-driven but incorporates the future work culture through dynamic team work problem-solving projects that are a critical part of the learning experience. A combination of the above creates the high employability quotient.
Great universities are built on the twin pillars of teaching and research. It is the responsibility of educational institutions to address the grand challenges that the global community faces, whether this relates to waste management or Artificial Intelligence or poverty or renewable energy or cancer research, to name a few. In other words, the big ‘why’ that determines perceptions about a university is the role it plays in transforming lives.great universities acknowledge that they are a means and not an end. Unless this shift in mindset takes place, Indian educational institutions would fail to capitalize on the demographic dividend that India is blessed with. All of the above need to be supported by a strong and credible business plan that allows the University to foray into new territory, to encourage curiousity, to innovate, to challenge, to anticipate, to discover. It is only then that educational institutions would transition from pure business to becoming the partners to change.