Indian universities have taken up the challenge of finding innovative solutions to the problems raised by Covid-19.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government started the Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative with a motive to address the basic issue of abysmally low market demand and economic slowdown induced by the Covid-19 pandemic. The main thrust of the programme is towards making India self-reliant and resilient in both normal and crisis times. During the pandemic, the universities had a single option of changing the study module to the digital one. The educational institutes started focusing on thinking out of the box to meet the challenges of the digital revolution while embracing entrepreneurship, critical and problem-solving skills as part of the academic experience, as well as creating cultures where innovative thinking is inspired and nurtured.
The challenge didn’t end here. The universities are also planning adequate steps to prepare all students for a rapidly changing job market and to make them industry ready and self-reliant. They must ensure that talent from the diverse, global community has access to opportunities in the new era of digitisation. Since Aatmanirbhar Bharat has become a mantra for everyone, universities are urging students to showcase their talent by developing more Indian apps in different categories under the “Aatmanirbhar Bharat Innovate Challenge”. Apart from this, the following factors are also playing a crucial role in making Indian universities selfreliant:
New dimension to entrepreneurship model
In the pre-Covid era, academic institutions put attention on training their students in skills that were required in larger companies. But with Aatmanirbhar Bharat, the initiative has brought the country’s focus back on MSME — one of the key driving forces towards self-sufficiency. MSME constitutes 80 percent of the workforce in the Indian industry. Ignoring this sector would be a lost opportunity. In developing nations across the world, MSMEs have engaged with academia by investing in research and innovation — a relationship that can benefit both institutions and industry. Students need to be trained accordingly for the jobs that will be in demand in future. Innovation as the major objective
Indian universities have taken up the challenge of finding innovative solutions to the problems raised by Covid-19. Though it has brought insurmountable suffering to humankind, it has also propelled many to push their creative boundaries for the betterment of the society. With the help of advanced artificial intelligence and Internet of Things (IOT), many universities are working hard to transform a village into a smart city so that the residents of the village can also avail all the facilities that will enable them to grow.
Making employment sustainable
When the world is going through such a phase, it is inevitable for the industry to rely on academia to access and train the kind of talent that is required to thrive in the future workplace and to ensure life-long learning. It has been estimated that more than 12 million Indians get job-ready every year but the sad part is that not everyone is well acquainted with the needs of the company. Our educational institutes should follow the “Experiential University” model, which might be one of the answers to the challenge of a highly developed education system. Providing quality education and training
Through the provision of quality education and training to its students, we can make the students self-reliant. It is important that universities pay much premium on this because the more educated and highly skilled people are, the higher are the chances of a nation’s development. It is for this reason that many developed countries that are self-reliant don’t take education for granted. Such countries have a huge chunk of their population having various degrees of quality education and training.
Encouraging students to take responsibilities
Responsible students are aware of their roles, duties, tasks and schedules. This enables them to plan and prepare for their days. They are committed to tasks from start to finish. They will be taking corrective actions on their own. They will also persist in doing tasks even if they are tedious or boring and will always be ready to face the consequences of their actions. Being responsible empowers students to feel confident and in control of their lives.
National Education Policy’s crucial role
The policy lays special emphasis on the National Research Foundation because innovation is important for the country’s progress. Only when we strengthen innovation and research, then our country will remain competitive and move ahead. The more innovation is strengthened in the country, the more progress it will make in a competitive world. This will also enable citizens to become global citizens and at the same time making them know and understand their roots. The New Education Policy also focuses on research and development to make India a key research and development destination for the world.
The author is the Vice Chancellor, JK Lakshmipat University, Jaipur. The views expressed are personal