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“I would say that skilling has now come into the forefront, and no educational body can survive or do justice without that,” says Abhay Gupta, Founder & CEO of Luxury Connect Business School, Gurugram in an Interview with Pratik Ghosh, Content Writer, ArdorComm Media Group at the ‘New Normal – Education Leadership Summit & Awards 2023’ #ELSANewDelhi #ELSAGurugram How are you feeling to witness the New Normal Education Leadership Summit and Awards in Delhi? In a very short span of time, you guys have grown and it’s getting organized better and better. You have probably the entire education industry being represented, and you have a lot of good sponsors on board as well. So, I think it’s shaping up very well. The theme of our event is “India Vision 2030.” So, what according to you should be the vision of the education sector? I think the vision of the education sector has already been defined by the NEP, and now it’s a phase of when somebody on the panel said that before COVID, during COVID, and post-COVID. So, when we are in the post-COVID era, it’s a question of implementing the policy. And while initially, there was a lot of confusion or inhibition about the policy, but now as time has passed, more and more education institutions have realized the importance and the fulcrum of the NEP. So, I would say going forward, traditional universities are moving towards skilling, and the government has also created new skill universities. So, I would say that skilling has now come into the forefront, and no educational body can survive or do justice without that. So, I think that is where the focus needs to be. What is the vision of Luxury Connect Business School? The vision behind Luxury Connect Business School was that most people focus only on very generic education, in the sense that you do a normal MBA, which is marketing or HR or B Tech, etc. But I have been a part of the luxury industry’s evolution in India, and I firmly believe that the shortage for servicing the luxury industry is a huge opportunity area which is being overlooked by the normal academicians because they have not witnessed the growth of that particular space. I also firmly believe that the luxury industry services the rich and the famous or the HNI (High Net Worth Individual) population of India. Unless the rich are made to spend within India, the money will not flow down to the economy. So, till now, more and more rich have been going overseas and spending the money. The endeavour is to make them spend within India by giving them services and products at par with the global platform. So, that is where we are creating a unique talent pool which is working across brands. Like our Rolls-Royce downwards into fashion or watches or hospitality or travel, but servicing the HNI community. That’s where our core focus is. As you can see in this kind of forums where we bring in the education leaders, the industry experts, as well as the government, how does this kind of forum benefit the education sector at large? I think it really benefits with respect to networking and understanding what is really going on in the education space at large. And then you get the opportunity to network and also collaborate. Academic-industry collaboration is also equally important because every university has its own core strength area. By collaborating with other strength areas, I think we are creating a more diversified talent pool. And when programs can be co-branded, can be co-delivered, and specialty can be passed on from one sector to another, because once you are back into your university, you are too busy with your own operations. You don’t really have the time to understand what’s going outside. So, these kinds of events, I think, are very encourageable. Any message for ArdorComm Media on its 2nd anniversary? I would say, continue the good work, you’ve done a good job in a short span of time. You started post-COVID, and this is the second physical event that I’ve attended here. It was in the same hotel last time also. I was a speaker. So, I think it’s a very good and very encouraging journey for a young group like yours. So, all the best and God bless.

“As part of NEP, we are focusing on skill-based education, we are focusing on the core components of education, we are focusing on minor subjects,” says Dr. Indranil Bose, Vice President-Academics & Head of the Department, Adamas University in an Interview with Pratik Ghosh, Content Writer, ArdorComm Media Group at the ‘New Normal – Education Leadership Summit & Awards 2023’ #ELSANewDelhi #ELSAGurugram How did you experience witnessing the New Normal Education Leadership Summit and Award in Delhi? It’s fine, so many people from different backgrounds, they came and they spoke about their different experiences. I shared my experience here; it had my current workplace and my previous workplaces also. So, it was nice, I mean, I met a lot of old friends also here, so they are working in different universities and institutions. So overall, it’s fine. As the theme of our event is “India Vision 2030”. So, according to you, what should be the vision for the education sector going down the line? It’s something which is a little bit of a point of debate and discussion always. Yes, the new education policy has been declared, and many of the states have planned to implement this, including my state where I’m currently staying in West Bengal. So definitely, we are focusing on a few things like skill enhancement to improve the employability of the students, not only from my discipline, Management, but from all other disciplines as well, like liberal arts and other places, also basic applied sciences and other things. So definitely, there is an important component. Somebody was speaking from Amity here; I heard that human values and all things are there. Yes, even values, ethics, Indian culture, Indian value systems, all these things are very important. Many of those components are now made compulsory as per the new education policy. So many universities are doing it. India has many traditional universities and education institutions. Like, I’m telling the name of a few, like Ramakrishna Mission and other places. They’ve always made it mandatory for students to study all these things as part of the curriculum. Now, many new universities have come up, like Sri Sri University and other universities, who are offering these kinds of programs along with the regular programs. So, we are doing it. Definitely, combining skill-based education plus value-based education, most of these things are very important. So, definitely, more and more things will be going in the right direction. What’s your take on skill development, and how is Adamas University emphasizing on this? In Adamas University, we are redesigning our curriculum as per the NEP, because I am part of that particular team, I know it very well. So, as part of NEP, we are focusing on skill-based education, we are focusing on the core components of education, we are focusing on minor subjects. Based on that, they’re definitely focusing on that. And apart from that, we have a Career Development Center. They actually work for placement and other supports, and our students are working in different companies. And definitely, future places of employment will require new kinds of skills because technology is changing, workplace environment is changing, workplace requirements are changing. So, definitely, new things will be added to our curriculum. Already, in the Management department where I am working, we are changing our curriculum to a great extent. So, definitely, something positive will be happening. Any message for ArdorComm Media Group on its 2nd anniversary? This kind of program will be brought into the horizon. I have attended this kind of workshops, or this kind of forums, or panel discussions earlier in India and outside India as well. Technology in education is the future. We may like it or not, whatever, I like it very much because it enhances individual, student-specific education is possible. We can expand the reach of education. I worked with foreign universities earlier. So, we had students from different countries, and it was possible only because of technology. So, I taught students from almost 40 countries. They were from different continents. So, without technology, we could not do it but this is actually possible now. So, definitely, in this particular domain, many companies are coming. Your company is also coming. When you are doing this kind of events and activities, surely something good will be waiting for us.

“Ultimately media is a practical thing and one has to learn. They are taught all the other aspects like graphic design, like programming software, like being anchors, reporters on the field,” says Pooja Priyamvada, Academic Director of International Institute of Mass Media, in an Interview with Pratik Ghosh, Content Writer, ArdorComm Media Group at the ‘New Normal – Education Leadership Summit & Awards 2023’ #ELSANewDelhi #ELSAGurugram How are you feeling to witness The New Normal Education Leadership Summit and Awards in Delhi? I must congratulate ArdorComm Media; this is a very well-organized summit. It’s only in summits like these that a lot of brainstorming happens, and all the education leaders get together, and we can actually discuss policies, what are the challenges in implementing them, which parts are effective for us, for our streams. And also, a lot of diversity is here, so people from all streams all over the country are here. So, it’s a lot of learning for all of us. As you know, the theme of our event is “India Vision 2030”. According to you, what should be the vision for the education sector? I think for higher education, we should think global and go local. We should try; for instance, we teach media. So, I think the smaller channels, regional channels, regional media, that is where the training should be aimed at. However, the modules that we teach, the text that we teach, has to be of international standards, and also the ethics have to be of global standards. Indian press index keeps falling, so for media, those are the kind of things that we need to take care of. Technology is rapidly increasing; how can we adapt with this in the media system to go into a smoother delivery process? You all must have seen recently AI anchors. The first fear that a lot of students had was that there is no scope for human anchors now, but that’s not true. AI anchors can do only that much, and ultimately to get a program going using an AI anchor, you need an entire team of humans to do it. Right from the writing to research to everything, right? Same is with ChatGPT; it can give you a basic draft of things, but it cannot go like a breaking story on a national channel. A human has to bring their experience and context to it. So, yes, we can use technology as tools, but the human skill, especially communication skill, has to come from media because media sets the narrative for all sectors, including education. I think in NEP also media had a huge role to play because we kept pushing for so long that we need a new education policy, we need to change the standards, we need to make boundaries between streams and all of that. So, I think media has a huge role to play and Tech can only be a tool to enhance those goals. What’s your take on skill development in the 21st-century workspace? Skill development is essentially important. I think now all companies look for individuals where one person can do 10 jobs. And then that is raising a generation of people who are Jack of all trades and masters of none, which is not again good. But yes, there are new kinds of skills that are coming up. We had never heard of social media managers. We had never heard of people doing influencer management, but now those are skills and those are counted as skills. Similarly, as I said, when new things come up, for instance, AI anchors, so you’ll need a new team with skills to manage that AI anchor, manage that Robot anchor. So, skilling is constantly needed, but I think it needs to be now cantered away from the metros, in smaller cities, smaller towns. Like in our institution IIMM we get a lot of students from tier two, tier three cities and they train here and then they go back they become entrepreneurs, media entrepreneurs or they launch a channel they launch a small paper and they take the skill back and then they employ other people so that is the way I think to take it forward. What is the role of Practical Exposure in Media Education, how does IIMM emphasize on it? Of course, we are bound by the syllabus, which is defined by the university and UGC, so that is one part. But yes, because ultimately media is a practical thing and one has to learn. They are taught all the other aspects like graphic design, like programming software, like being anchors, reporters on the field. Then for digital media, for TV media, for print, filmmaking is taught. Various aspects of filmmaking are taught which are both technical and creative. In advertising, PR, marketing, they are taught the theoretical basics and also how to implement in the industry. And then we have been 24 years in this media education. We are one of the oldest. So, we have a lot of good connects in the industry, and we send our students out for internships, for workshops, and they gain that hands-on experience from there. How does this kind of forum benefit the education sector? It’s a huge benefit because, as I said, I’ve been into media and, mental health education. Now, it’s only when I come here or I interact with people teaching management, I interact with people teaching other areas, pharmaceuticals, other things, so I learn a lot. Sometimes a lot of methodologies can be used. Similarly, from media, especially now that everybody has to make videos, has to launch a YouTube channel, every institution needs to have an ad and PR policy. So that is where we become useful, and we teach them that. It’s a lot of exchange of ideas, exchange of skills, as you say. And of course, experience that we all bring from various industries comes together on one platform, and that’s hugely useful. Any

“To bridge the digital divide, we need collaboration among academia, industry, businesses, government, social organizations, and NGOs,” says Prof. Dr. Chattar Singh, Vice Chancellor, Rai Technology University, Bengaluru, in an Interview with Pratik Ghosh, Content Writer, ArdorComm Media Group at the ‘New Normal – Education Leadership Summit & Awards 2023’ #ELSANewDelhi #ELSAGurugram How are you feeling to witness the New Normal Education Leadership Summit and Awards in Delhi? I’m coming here for the second time, first time it was held here itself and that was new normal because we’re coming out of covid at that time and this was the first summit where more than 50 Vice chancellors and head of the institutions participated in deliberations so it has been a big leap from that period to this period and more people are coming and joining in these summits and I must congratulate Chandan Anand and his team for this and this is time to celebrate because this has been a very successful conference today. The theme of this event is ‘India Vision 2030’. What do you think should be the vision for the education sector in India? The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 was envisaged to not only create a knowledge bank in India but also generate job opportunities for youth by developing new skills and fostering entrepreneurship. The policy aimed at various initiatives like Skill India to achieve self-reliance. While NEP 2020 outlines these goals, the implementation needs to be done in phases, focusing on education, research, innovation, entrepreneurship, jobs, and finance. We need to discuss and analyze these aspects to meet the goal of making India a “Vishwaguru” by 2030. With the rise of technology, there’s also a concern about the digital divide. How can we bridge this gap? To bridge the digital divide, we need collaboration among academia, industry, businesses, government, social organizations, and NGOs. It’s not just about urban and rural areas but also about affordability and access to advanced electronic devices. We need to innovate and research devices that are accessible to everyone, including students and those seeking knowledge and employment. The digital divide can hinder the goals of NEP 2020, so it’s crucial to ensure equal access. Any message for ArdorComm Media Group on its 2nd anniversary? ArdorComm Media has been doing a wonderful job from taking all the messages from government to people and from people to government. So, it is helping a lot in a positive manner not only to achieve the targets of NEP 2020 but also to aware the people particularly the youth, the teachers and the institutions about what is going on in the environment, in the society, in the country, in the government and vice versa. So, I congratulate ArdorComm Media for doing this job selflessly for promotion of education, research and workforce in India by its own means.

“We have implemented NEP in totality whether it’s the Academic Bank of Credits, multi-entry and multi-exit, four-year undergraduate programs, or the Indian knowledge system, every aspect of the NEP has been implemented in our university,” says Prof. (Dr.) Raghuvir Singh, Vice Chancellor, Teerthanker Mahaveer University, Moradabad, in an Interview with Pratik Ghosh, Content Writer, ArdorComm Media Group at the ‘New Normal – Education Leadership Summit & Awards 2023’ #ELSANewDelhi #ELSAGurugram How are you feeling to witness the New Normal Education Leadership Summit and Awards in Delhi? I find this event to be wonderfully organized, with excellent speakers and relevant topics. The chosen topics are quite wide and pertinent to the current context. Everyone can learn from these discussions and take these insights back to their universities for the improvement of education. How are you implementing NEP in your university? We have implemented NEP in totality whether it’s the Academic Bank of Credits, multi-entry and multi-exit, four-year undergraduate programs, or the Indian knowledge system, every aspect of the NEP has been implemented in our university. We’ve been following these guidelines since the NEP was introduced by the Indian government. Our state government is also actively monitoring our progress, and we provide updates to them on our implementation. The theme of our event is “India Vision 2030.” What, according to you, should be the vision for the education sector going forward? In my opinion, universities should emphasize thinking skills over psychomotor skills. Teaching tools and techniques change rapidly, and universities can’t always keep up with these changes. Therefore, it’s crucial to focus on transferable skills, which are the fundamentals. Transferable skills enable students to learn job-specific skills on their own. Competency-building should be the primary focus to enable students to excel in their careers and social lives. How does this kind of forum benefit the education sector, where education leaders, industry experts, and government officials come together? This type of forum is an excellent way to bring together different stakeholders in the education ecosystem – regulators, education leaders, and industry experts. For years, these three entities have operated in isolation, and there have been limited platforms for them to interact and share their perspectives. Forums like this create a space for meaningful dialogue, allowing each group to understand the expectations and needs of the others, ultimately benefiting the education sector as a whole. Any message for the ArdorComm Media Group on its 2nd anniversary? Congratulations on completing two years! ArdorComm Media has done a wonderful job during this time. I hope you continue to flourish and contribute to the nation’s educational growth. Your efforts will undoubtedly help the nation progress towards becoming a developed nation.

“We had been Vishwa Guru, we have to be Vishwa Guru, and we will be Vishwa Guru,” says Kunwar Shekhar Vijendra, Chancellor, Shobhit University in an Interview with Pratik Ghosh, Content Writer, ArdorComm Media Group at the ‘New Normal – Education Leadership Summit & Awards 2023’ #ELSANewDelhi #ELSAGurugram How are you feeling to witness the New Normal Education Leadership Summit and Awards in Delhi? It’s wonderful. I must congratulate the organization for the second anniversary as well. Very successful indeed. And this New Normal, actually, this term started during COVID. But today’s New Normal is that people should come together and collaboratively we should start doing a lot of things. And I am happy that Chandan and his team are doing a wonderful job. I was really impressed to see a very diversified audience of speakers, and especially meeting the Honourable Education Minister from Nagaland who is a celebrity on social media. Otherwise also, he’s trying to put Nagaland on the main map of education in the country. So, I congratulate everybody who is associated, and I wish this organization a lot of success. It’s good to see them in Delhi, looking forward to many more such opportunities. Kindly highlight some important initiatives which you are taking in Shobhit University. The main thing today, if we look at, is what is happening in the educational ecosystem in the country. As I was mentioning during my address also, the new education policy has come, and in the last three years, we are trying to reach to the last man. ‘Antyodaya’ the word I used and I’m using it again that up to the last man, education has to be there, holistic development of the youth has to be there, integration with the industry has to be there, and the skill sets have to be changed so that the industry and academy alliance is there. And this is all that in our university is happening, entrepreneurship, skill development, a lot of startups, research, innovation, what not. And I’m really happy that throughout the country, the same thing is happening again and again, and these platforms they gave us a reason to disseminate what is happening and to learn from our peers. According to you, what should be the vision of India for the education sector? The vision has already been set. We had been Vishwa Guru, we have to be Vishwa Guru, and we will be Vishwa Guru. Any message for ArdorComm Media? Keep up the same spirit. Do what you are doing. You are doing really good.