Q. What do you think India should adopt in the higher education sector?
Many Tier 1 institutions in India have been giving emphasis to industrial placements during the undergraduate study, a systematic approach to embed industrial placements in undergraduate curriculum is missing in most institutions, including those in the Tier 1 category. India should introduce degree programmes with a year in industry as an option to encourage graduates to come out as fully rounded personalities with a vision to change the world around them. The syllabus should be modified to introduce integration of theory and practice from year 1 so that whatever theory they learn in each of the four years of undergraduate programmes, they should be able to identify the practical application of the theory, particularly in integrating multiple topics to find solutions to practical problems. Upgradation 3.0 Upgradation 3.0 Upgradation 3.0
Q. What is wrong with the Indian research?
Academic system has two categories: first category contributes to advancing the knowledge and the other contributes to developing systems, tools and solutions for advancing the society forward. In many cases, the research that is done for contributing to the knowledge base remains disconnected from that which can be used to advance the society forward. Unfortunately, as a consequence of this, academic research does not get the required societal impact in some cases.
Q. Why Indian university doesn’t have such a high number of international students?
This was not a priority for the Indian government or Indian institutions. India focused on sending Indian students abroad, but not to promote reciprocal placements. Indian institutions for their Study Abroad programmes, there have to be compatibility of syllabus and quality of programmes. Major Issue is modernization and updating of syllabus are ongoing exercises in most developed countries. Indian courses lag behind in these aspects and hence restrict overseas institutions to identify suitable match for their Study Abroad programmes.
Tie Ups
Tie-ups with IIM-A, IIT-M, Geographical Information Science (GIS) Mumbai, Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute Kolkata
Q. Interdisciplinary program is being adopted by various universities, how much potential do you see in term of building students career?
A graduate with specific subject knowledge becomes an expert in that field and a graduate with an overview of the societal problems and ways of solving them becomes a consultant. Societal issues (both social, economic and technological) are not confined to one subject area, but multiple disciplines are required to address them. Therefore, I am a supporter of interdisciplinary education, provided there is a balance between knowledge and depth in interdisciplinary subject areas covered in different levels. We need to have a debate on where this interdisciplinary education should be offered and how broad and deep we should go for in undergraduate, postgraduate taught and postgraduate research programmes before delving too much into interdisciplinary education.
Indian institution for their Study Abroad programmes, there have to be compatibility of syllabus and quality of programmes
Q. What are the major concerns in education you would have eliminated?
When I did my undergraduate degree in civil engineering in late 70s and taught civil engineering in India in early 80s, I studied and taught respectively some topics as part of the civil engineering undergraduate programme. During my nearly 40 years of professional life, some of the topics I studied (or taught) could never be used or found to be relevant. My first objective will be to modernise the syllabus to make it suitable for now and for catering for the short to medium term future of civil engineering.3
Indian Alumni
University of Leeds Indian Alumni Association has 1900 ex-students
