OVER the years, IT training organisation NIIT reinvented itself many times to ride the lows and highs of economic tide with remarkable panache. A survivor to the core, the 28- year old organisation has scripted a success story like no other. The launch of NIIT University adds another feather in their cap. NIIT Chairman and Pro-Chancellor of NIIT University, Rajendra S Pawar gives Urmila Rao, his take on how students should train themselves early on to embark on a career of their choice, and talks about paucity of quality faculty in the realm of higher education and liberalisation of the sector.
Q: Over the last few years a plethora of institutions have entered the education sector. How does a student identify which ones are offering quality education?
A: Today students spend very little time in investigating the institute and introspecting on their career choices. In my opinion the school system should impart the necessary skills latest by class XI. Students are worried about what parents want them to do, what friends want them to do and what is nice to do. They miss out the most fundamental part, which is what they want to do. The big problem is that we are not triggering the process of making a discerning choice early on. It should start in class X or latest by the early part of class XI. One of the issues with kids today is that they know exactly what they want to be after 10 years. But if you look at people who have done engineering or pursued any professional education, they have changed their line of work!
Students should identify their passion first but the passion shouldn’t be on very narrow lines like – I want to do computer security systems. It should be broader. Am I more interested in creative work or am I interested in tinkering with equipment, am I interested in writing or in theatre. Passion has been inhibited for too long because everybody else has been deciding on the students’ behalf. In our counselling sessions, many kids quietly ask – ‘Can you tell this to my dad because this is what I want to do.’ If students introspect, then they would at least have a sense of and know what they are looking for. So the first step should be introspection followed by seeking information. This they can do by visiting institutions, libraries, websites and maintaining a good peer group contact.
Q: Why is it incumbent on the students to investigate any institute? Shouldn’t the institutions voluntarily adopt full disclosure norms and stop functioning opaquely?
A: In the areas of higher and vocational education, a young adult can make informed decisions and he is quite aware of the consequences of his engagement. They can make up a tentative economic equation too regarding the time spent, the cost incurred and the returns generated with respect to the choice of institution they have made. We should start liberating the education sector at this level allowing more institutions to open up. Institutions will then be forced to adopt transparency norms as there will be far more choices. The additional supply will eliminate the poor quality institutions and will also necessiate capacity building.
Q: What is your take regarding the talk of foreign universities being allowed entry in India?
A: Foreign varsities should surely be allowed entry. As a country we have decided to globalise. There is a systematic way to do this. The first step is liberalisation, followed by privatisation and then globalisation. Artificial constraints should be removed. Such hindrances only create imbalance and shortage and shortages always create inefficiency. Liberalisation will act as a catalyst in building internal ability and capacity. However, entry of foreign universities should be a moderated and well-planned process of opening up which will enable good domestic institutions to be ready to compete and flourish. We should also take into consideration that unlike an industry, foreign educational institutions will be unable to serve at price points we need for a while to come. They will also find it difficult to function because our market has to mature and be ready.
Q: Do you think operation of foreign universities will benefit students out here?
A: Foreign Universities on Indian shores will open up a lot more choice to our students. Today, Indian students spend anywhere between 4 and 10 billion dollars a year on pursuing studies abroad. That is a lot of money and if that money is to be spent on an institution, whether it is Indian or foreign in India, just imagine the extent of capacity building which will happen in our land. The benefit will be that the additional money will be spent on campus and expertise building, not to mention the other secondary and tertiary benefits this will attract.
Q: The economic slowdown has exposed flaws in our education system. There is definitely a gap between industry’s requirement and the education imparted in colleges.
A: What slowdowns do is give rise to conditions that necessitate a reviewing and realigning of demand and supply. This results in the supply exceeding the demand. The moment that happens we begin to see market forces at work. People now have the luxury to be choosey – to select. So, why then do we have to wait for a slowdown. We should have more capacity even during good times so that this cleaning up act can continue. But if, as we have seen so far, you keep having a situation of short supply of required services and facilities, then even shoddy goods and services gets sold and picked up by hapless customers.
Q: What is the idea behind formation of the NIIT University? How is it different from other institutes?
A: The founders of NIIT started thinking about it in the 90s. By 2008, we started building the university at Neemrana, a fully residential, 100-acre scalable campus. The idea is to set up an example of what a 21st century University should be. The first academic session will start in September 2009. This is our differentiating factor. We will provide education which is industry-linked, technology based, research-driven and is seamless. Undergrads in year one will start getting into research and will start working on their projects along with PhD students so that research skills are built from the very outset. It would be seamless in the sense that a maths student will know a bit of literature and history student will know a bit of maths. It is just the opposite of the prevailing compartmentalised education we are so familiar with. This seamless character is also evident in our campus design.
Q: How are you tackling the issue of absence of quality faculty?
A: That is actually one of the most challenging parts which goes into establishing the university. We have recruited faculty with years of experience behind them and we will recruit a large number of fresh faculties too who can be suitably moulded to be in sync with requirements of the new system. We see faculty building as our primary responsibility and task. Experienced ‘mentor-professors’ will reside on campus and spend time with students and younger colleagues. They will dedicate two or three years to help the young professors develop their acumen. We will also have a dozen eminent professors who will be regular visitors to the NIIT University – they will be on campus at least once every three months.
