Bringing higher education to the fore

Higher education forum (HEF), a non profit group of academicians, top corporate executives was started online a year ago. Representing higher education in India, the forum has today grown to over 1700 members.

More than 200 delegates from the academic and corporate world participated at a convention held recently at Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research.

The theme of the day-long convention 'Towards Excellence in Indian Higher Education' charted issues and solutions to transform teaching and learning in India.

Dr AK Sengupta, director of SIES Institute of Management Studies who was the convener who initiated the idea of forming the HEF delivered the welcome address. "The objective of holding this seminar is to bring out a policy document for higher education. Our challenge is also to bring corporates and higher education institutes together to improve the employability of students," he said.

Underlining the need for reforms Dr. Uday Salunkhe, group director, Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research said, "It is imperative to address challenges on a sustainable basis if India is to find a place in the League of Nations. Seminars such as these help address shortcomings and the ways to overcome challenges in higher education."

Sam Pitroda, the architect of the National Knowledge Commission spoke about the key areas that need to be addressed in the higher education bill. "The bill should provide autonomous status to universities, allow international, public- private partnerships, equity and quality education to all students and most of all it should meet the demands for the next 20 years to come."  He also said that to meet the demands of 550 million citizens who are under the age of 23 years, that education needs to have a scalable model that can reach all corners of the country via technology.

Educationists like Chandra Krishnamurthy, the vice chancellor of SNDT University; Vijay Khole, ex vice chancellor of Mumbai University and industry heads like Harsh Manglik, chairman, Accenture and Ganesh Natrajan, Global CEO, Zensar Technologies spoke of the need for borderless education and the intersection of education with skill sets.

Panel discussions were held throughout the day on topics like innovation in higher education; policy, framework and regulation; achieving global quality standards; managing student expectations; bringing corporate and academia closer
Senior dignitaries were felicitated for their contributions to the sector.

These included Dr PV Narasimham, director general, KJ Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research; Dr Y.K. Bhushan, chief advisor, IBS; Dr PV Ramana, chairman, ITM Group, BR Bhandari, former principal advisor, International Trade Centre, UNCTAD/WTO, Geneva; Charan Wadhva, former president and chief executive, Centre for Policy Research; PN Singh, chairman, grid consultant. The convention also witnessed the release of the first Indian Journal of Higher Education which outlines the recommendations of the members of the HEF.