Author name: admin

We have a very senior academician, Professor Jagadeeshwar Rao. He’s the Officiating Vice-Chancellor and Pro Chancellor of SGT University. We welcome you to today’s event. Thank you very much. I really enjoyed today’s proceedings. I not only met interesting academicians but also had the opportunity to exchange a lot of ideas. Some of the ideas that really occurred to me very dearly were that technology has really embraced the education system. Now, earlier, there used to be a barrier. People used to sort of feel, “Oh, technology is coming in the way of learning,” etc., etc. That barrier is more or less gone. So now technology has become education. Education has become technology, and AI has come in in a big way. So it’s very clear that all academicians and industry leaders unanimously feel that technology is a very efficient enabler for student learning, for student handholding, as well as for many processes and operations in the higher education system. So, in the process of adopting AI and other technologies, we have not only improved the efficiency but also have created a lot of free time for teachers and students, hopefully, that they can use it much more creatively. So, AI is an enabler for natural intelligence to flower more creatively. This is a very important statement. I hope all my stakeholders realise that AI is not a competitor to natural intelligence. It is an enabler of natural intelligence, and we have to use it intelligently, obviously. So, thank you very much for conducting such a wonderful conclave, and I hope we keep meeting often.  

Q: What is your takeaway from today’s event, sir? What has been the learning from today’s interaction with so many people? A: Okay, good. Very nice question because if I can say, this is a very fruitful session you had over here from the early morning. So, automatically, everything connected with how we can reshape our education in the time to come, including what students have to learn in their regular degrees and what they are supposed to learn beyond that, even including the role of institutions, how they groom the graduates, what they are supposed to give to the graduating students for their lifelong learning. So, really, I enjoyed and learned many things. Q: You talked on the topic “Reshaping Higher Education Beyond Degrees.” So, what are your viewpoints, your bullet points about it, and how is your university doing in this period? A: That is again a very wonderful session. Even for the preparation of a session, I have learned many things. But otherwise, it is really a practical concept that we have discussed for education. The normal degrees which we are already giving, but the discussions are held accordingly on what new, what type of additional skills are to be given to the students, so that when they go to the market, when they do their job after graduation, then how they sustain in the world up to their lifelong circle. Many things are discussed like that because the present scenario is we have to give them not only the knowledge, rather we have to apply that knowledge. Along with that, we have to teach them innovations. We have to teach them about working in multinational companies. So, ultimately, it matured like that: your institution, your university will be like that, that will provide a platform to the students not only to learn, but along with that to promote innovations as well as to promote the work culture over there, what they are supposed to do after. Q: So, any skilling initiative or any innovation in the field of regular courses which is happening in the university? A: Yeah, that is very relevant because it much relates to our education policy. We are also adopting it because we have recently prepared for all of that. When our policy says multi-entry, multi-exit system, number one, so if you actually implement that, then according to that, simply you can say after first year students will go, again come back. That is not perfect. So, automatically, what we are planning is that, whatever the requirements are, along with whatever regular studies they are doing every year, you have to provide some extra skill. Because if they want to leave after first year, then some of the skills they might have to acquire on which they may start some small business, they may opt for a small job. So, we are aligning our degrees with skilling by giving some credits in the first year, some in the second year, and ultimately these are beneficial to the other students who are retained over there for all the four years. So, that is so much aligned there. After their graduation, they will be given a minor degree along with them. So, these credits turn out to be a minor degree, maybe Artificial Intelligence, maybe data learning, maybe something else. Q: I’m also very pleased to share that this is the fifth year of ArdorComm Media as a media venture. We launched five years ago, and any message as an anniversary message would you like to give to ArdorComm Media? A: I’m really thankful for providing me this opportunity today to interact with many of the great experts, even providing the opportunity to be a panelist on this very wonderful topic. So, I think really you’re performing very wonderfully because I have joined this for the first time, but really, when you’re discussing all the things, even many things, as being a very experienced personality, still you don’t know what has to be provided. So, when all will share on a common platform, many new things will come. Someone will have a different type of innovation, another will have a different type of innovation. So, I think, first of all, I really congratulate and appreciate you for making a great galaxy of experts to share their expertise, to share their innovations that I can say prevail to all the institutions also.  

Q: In today’s education system, alumni and entrepreneurship go hand in hand. How is entrepreneurship and alumni meet helping an institute at large? A: Well, when we talk about alumni affairs and alumni meets, whenever alumni come and talk about their experiences in the corporates, it helps us to develop the curriculum accordingly. It helps the students to learn more about the outside world very early in the school and college days. And alumni meets, a lot of networking happens. See, in our institution, we have been organising alumni meets not only on the campus but also at various places like Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad, Delhi. And we have seen that when we have this networking, many alumni, even while they are working in the same city, they’re not able to interact. And when we interact in these alumni meets, they have more scope of hiring the fellow alumni, and they also help us hire the students from the campus to their industries. So, they have a multiple role. They help in curriculum development. They help as HR executives. They come to the city, come to the college, hire people, and definitely they help us in peer mentoring sessions. They also help in expert talks and everything. So, I think this goes hand in hand. And when I talk about entrepreneurship, again, when alumni talk about the corporate world, we understand the issues our students get to know, what best they can build. So, I think it goes hand in hand. Q: In a forum like this, when we see that school education is there, higher education is there, corporate is there, government is there, so how does it help the community or society at large? A: See, well, I am so happy to be here because I see that the stakeholders of this entire education system are present here. When I talk about myself as a higher education student, it’s very important to understand what are the challenges and opportunities in school education, which we can get here. Then, now that I’m again talking about me as a central bridge between the school and the outside world, so I understand what are the challenges in higher education. We can always convey that. And industry definitely, they understand both the things, what school needs, what colleges need, and they can build their programs or whatever devices or whatever AI-generated tools accordingly. So, I think this kind of event is very, very beneficial for us as stakeholders. For the people in the market, those who have to build the tools, those who have to talk about these. So, I think this is very, very essential. And most importantly, government, because here I saw, I heard in the morning, people were talking about school education. What are the challenges? What are the discrepancies? Government really needs to work on that. Similarly, higher education, government really needs to attend these kinds of events. They should understand what are the problems that higher education people are facing, so that they can again change their policies, reframe, redraft their policies accordingly. So, it’s a great platform. Q: At last, what would be your takeaways from today’s event? A: See, I have had a lot in the morning session when we were talking about school education. So, I got to know that teachers really need to train themselves because AI is happening everywhere, and it’s very important for us teachers. And, like, I am from a very student welfare activity kind of a thing, so I also want to know, I also want to understand what is important in terms of AI to help students build up their careers, not only in academics but in other fields also.  

Q: So much talk about the implementation of NEP is going around now. It has been a long time. How has the model been so far, and what is the implementation process at your level in your group of institutions? A: Of course, AI is really helping a lot, and all the schools, they have implemented and they’re implementing now as per NEP curriculum. We need to think where and how to utilise AI. That is very, very important. Of course, AI should not run the show. Teachers are very important. They are running the show. But it’s very important to understand where AI should be implemented and where teachers should implement their knowledge because both are equal. We cannot give importance only to AI. But it depends on place to place, and definitely teachers should be well trained on how to use it, just to think more creatively, more innovatively. Q: With so much technology coming in, including artificial intelligence, what are the steps you have taken for a teacher training programme to educate them, to guide them towards a new age of learning, including AI and similar kinds of technologies? A: I am having near about 350 teachers all together. This is their strength, and I’m proud to announce here that most of my school teachers are continuously attending the CBP programme in AI, which is digital training, and they are taking it regularly. Because teachers are a stakeholder, we are not going to teach them much, of course, but through the training, they need to know how to utilise and how to operate and how to train the parents and the students to utilise AI. Q: In this fast-moving world of education where everything is going very quickly, do teachers still have an empathy quotient towards the style of teaching which they are doing? A: We need to think sympathetic and empathetic both. Sympathy is very simple, but if they teach us, they will start thinking empathetically. Then, really, we are going to change our generation. So, of course, I am not sure about 100%, but after taking the regular training, I think near about 70% teachers, they have brought a lot of change in their thinking, and really, they are empathetic now. And yes, 30% is not far. Definitely, we are going to achieve that also. Q: Since morning you have been engaging with so many sessions, you have done so much of networking. What was the takeaway of today’s event? What was the learning from today’s event? A: So, it was a wonderful session. I must congratulate you and your team who have taken so much effort, and it was learning throughout. It was learning. All the speakers and the debate, the talks, everything was too good, sir. Sometimes, we also don’t know some of the things. So, this was the very right platform, which was really very meaningful and taught us a lot. And thank you so much for inviting us as a delegate. Q: I’m also very excited and equally emotional to share that this is the fifth year of ArdorComm Media. We are a five-year-old digital media baby and doing a lot of work into content, news generation, news publishing and organising events like this. So, any message would you like to give to ArdorComm Media on its anniversary year? A: My heartiest congratulations to you and your team. You people are really doing a great job, and not only in Delhi, all over India. So, I would only suggest, keep doing the way you people are working, motivate people and just encourage, and awareness is very important. Keep doing the same. Thank you so much.

Q: You are attending the Digital Bharat Education Conclave. When you heard this word, what made you witness this event and accept our invitation to attend this event? A: Well, I think the organisers have done a wonderful work and they have reached out to leaders from all over the industry and invited eminent educationists. So, I think that I felt very honoured to be a part of the same as a panelist, and that’s why I accepted the invitation because it’s always good to be on a platform where there are other educational leaders because you always get to learn a lot from other leaders of the same field. Q: Can you tell us more about your institution? A: So, I am Dr. Shalya, the Chief Executive Officer. I am from the Subharti Group of Institutions. It’s a university in Dehradun also and in Meerut, and we have 180-plus courses. We have 18 faculties in the university at Meerut and a similar structure in Dehradun also. We are—why I am calling myself a group is because we are in the industry of hospitality, in the industry of defence, in the industry of media and also in the industry of education. We also have a group of hospitals in rural as well as in urban areas. And we are running a charitable hospital also. We are also training personnel for the defence industry, and eventually, the students get selected for defence. So, we are in the field of education basically, but we are also in the field of other things. That’s why it’s a whole Subharti Group now. Our motto is Shiksha, Seva, Sanskar and Rashtrata. Why I am saying this is because we are not just training students into academia but with a lot of sanskar and nationalism. Q: In today’s era, where a lot of things are going on with new-age learning and artificial intelligence, every panel is talking about it. Where does empathy stay, ma’am? And how should students also be taught to balance their fast-moving pace of life towards the traditional and the roots of Indian culture? A: So, like I started my speech here, and how I am talking to you with “Jai Hind”, that is how our institution is. So, all of us say “Jai Hind” to each other. So, that is how nationalism and sanskar are built in our education system in my university. So, once we are inculcating the value system, I think that is how we have to balance. What today, also in a lot of panels, was discussed is that the students are forgetting their value system. So, we have to work at home and at the grassroots level to get the value system back. So, yes, all the education systems have to work about the NEP, they have to work about AI, they have to work about the latest curriculum and also with that, they will have to work about the IKS. We have introduced Rashtra Bodh as an IKS system, which the UGC is talking about also. Since 2008, when my university was started, since then we are talking about the values. So, we talk about sanskar in our university, and we have a Subharti Day which is celebrated in the memory of one national hero who lost his life in the memory of nation-building. Like Netaji, we mostly talk about him. We know Netaji, but there are many heroes also whom we don’t know. So, at our institute, if you come, Rani Gaidinliu will be celebrated, Avantibai Lodhi will be celebrated, Ashfaqulla Khan will be celebrated. So, we are celebrating Netaji also, and we are celebrating a lot of unsung heroes of India about whom nobody has heard. So, that is how we are contributing to nation-building. Because if our youth don’t know our actual history and the actual heroes’ sacrifices, then how will they respect India? Q: You have witnessed this event. What was the takeaway? What was the learning from today’s event? A: See, I think more such events should happen because we talked a lot about AI in this event. And what we have to understand is about AI ethics. What we talk about AI usually is how AI is integrated into the curriculum, what we should teach students about AI. But what we are forgetting is AI is a double-sided sword, and how AI ethics is also important. We have to teach our younger generation about that AI is a tool, but you have to learn to use it for your benefit. Wherever you will let go of the grasp, then it can harm you also. So, this is what we have to teach our children, the younger generation and Gen Z, as they call themselves today. It’s very trending, so I should say it. So, that’s what I feel is important. Q: I am very happy to share with you and maybe even emotional that ArdorComm Media is in its fifth year. Proudly, we have sailed through many difficult times and good times as well. Today, what we are doing is organising so many events pan-India, bringing a lot of educators, academicians and corporates from school education to higher education and skilling. So, any message would you like to give to ArdorComm Media on its anniversary year? A: Well, first of all, I will congratulate you, and I will also tell you one message which my father gave me: that a journey always has to be full of ups and downs. So, because your journey was of ups and downs, now you will have only ups. So, all the best to you, and keep doing such good work. Not an easy task. So, you did a wonderful job, and keep doing it. All the best. Jai Hind.  

Q: I want to know more about CampX and the products and services associated with your work. A: So, CampX basically is an EdTech company. CampX stands for Campus Automation and Management Platforms. We work with higher education institutions and schools. It’s an A2A platform, admissions to alumni. So, the problem CampX is trying to solve is, if you take any typical campus today, there are eight to nine different software applications which don’t talk to each other. So, this creates a redundancy. That’s why, if you look at any institution, they’re struggling to analyse their student data or take quick decisions. So, CampX helps them in that direction. It’s an A to A platform, admissions to alumni. So, everything sits in one single database so that analysis becomes easier. And these days, all of us talk about AI, but AI is as good as the data you have in the first place. So, if you put garbage in, it gives you garbage out. CampX tries to solve that problem also in terms of maintaining a single database. And we have our own agent which sits on top of our ERP and is readily available for all stakeholders to quickly analyse and help them. Q: When we are surrounded with so much technology and so many startups and established organisations as well, what should be the top three questions in mind before enrolling any EdTech in their organisation? A: So, fundamentally, these institutions are slightly different than corporates. The corporate linear structure is not applicable in institutions. So, first thing, they should understand the education ecosystem. They should be design-friendly so that all the stakeholders can be— they may not have a lot of training sessions to use certain products in the institutions. Second, customisability and serviceability is a key factor in educational institutions. So, these products or whatever tools that you’re using should be tailor-made for this institution because even though they follow similar norms, each institution has their own DNA. Now, every institution operates on their own goals. So, you need a customisable tool that can help them cater to their needs. Q: In this segment, most of the ERPs are trying to portray themselves as a multidimensional or multitasking tool at one go. How do you keep yourself different from your USPs? A: There are a lot of tools in the market. In fact, there are tons of ERPs that are actually thriving in the market, but none of them are built for this generation. There is at least a generation old. That’s one of the primary aspects. Generally, what happens in the market is people try to adopt a general-purpose ERP to education. But CampX is built inside out. So, it is built within a university, and we studied the universities. There’s nothing new that we invented in building CampX. We meticulously studied how universities and colleges function and gave a digital ecosystem around it. So, that’s one of the main USPs. It’s not just the product, the approach towards solutioning. In fact, our go-to-live strategy is eight weeks. I don’t think any other company can implement an ERP in eight weeks, but that’s our minimum timeline. We can onboard an institution in eight weeks. Q: After onboarding an institution within eight weeks, do you also have a training session, or is it a rigorous training session, or is it a user-friendly platform? A: See, nobody taught us how to use WhatsApp or Instagram, for that matter. Technology products should be intuitive enough for people to understand. You don’t have to go through multiple training sessions just to use a simple tool. So, that’s a fundamental design principle CampX follows. Most of the products, I don’t say 100% of the product, but 95% of the product can be—it’s easy to understand. Just use, just look at the application and find out what the screen is all about. So, that’s why design plays a vital role in this, and CampX follows certain good design principles to make sure people understand these things easily. Q: Since you are visiting geographies, how do you think or which geography is better adaptive to technology in terms of ease of spending the money and in terms of the habit of adopting technology? A: Again, we take it in a different way. That’s a given problem for us right now. Every market has its own pros and cons. I cannot tell you specifically which market is spending, because when you work with education, you should also be okay to serve them in different areas because everybody’s needs are also different. Right now, the good part is AI is welcomed in all the institutions. Even though I think people slightly thought that this is going to replace jobs, now people are welcoming it. That’s a very good positive sign for us, and people are looking at transformation. Now, people are looking at digital transformation. That is welcoming in all the areas, from Bangalore, Hyderabad, even Odisha, Bihar, North India. We have a good client base in Uttarakhand also. So, that’s welcoming across the country. That’s good to be in this space. Q: Digital Bharat Education Conclave is positioning itself as a national event where we have people from around the country. This event includes people from KG to PG, including skills, corporate and government. How do such forums help the community at large? A: Definitely, this brings common minds together. People can get to exchange thought processes and ideas together. In fact, for our roundtable today, there’s a lot that we learned that can be incorporated into our product. So, people have some solutions where other people can learn from their experiences. So, experience is the best feature sometimes. And also, exposure. People get exposed to a lot of things when they come to events like this. Certain things which cost them a lot to try out can be just heard from another person who can share their experiences. So, I think

Q: Could you tell us more about your institution and the kind of education you offer? A: We are very focused on specialised education for luxury brand management. When I say luxury brand management, people get really confused, but a simpler way to understand is that we produce people who can serve brands ranging from a Rolls-Royce to a Rolex. We focus on the elite class of India because our firm belief, my belief, is that the rich in India should spend within India, and we must make the environment and the atmosphere conducive for them to buy within India. India is the fastest-growing economy. Today, we are the fifth-largest economy in the world. There is a rising GDP and rising premiumisation. Young people don’t drive a Maruti anymore; everyone drives an Audi or a BMW because of various reasons. But it’s also a reflection of the growing economic upliftment of the whole country. With the growing upliftment of the economic scenario, there is going to be a demand for things good in life, better things in life. But no one is servicing them. The rich, or the people who are buying apartments for ₹200 crores in Gurgaon, spend their money overseas. They are not spending in India only because the service is lacking. India is importing the brands, India is importing the products, India is importing the environment and the merchandise. But what do you do with people? In my long years in the formative years of India’s luxury retail industry, I realised that I could bring everything except the people. I had to get down on the floor to train people, and then I realised, why don’t I create a talent pool for the industry? That was the motivation and the concept behind my business school. Over 14 years, we have evolved and, as I said on the panel, in the last three years we tied up with a skill university to make it a degree under the UGC system because we started under the NSDC framework rather than the UGC framework. But now that things are getting merged, it was the opportune time for us to move into a degree formation from a PGP. Not that we don’t do PGP; we continue to do a PGP also. So, we are not a group of institutions but very unique, very focused and very specialised. But proud to say, in 14 years, we have got some 5,000 students in the trade. The students are not only full-time MBA students, but they are students from corporate training and online education. We have now progressed into tying up with other institutes to offer our online 20 hours of specialised education to other streams of MBA programmes. That’s what we plan. Q: Is it a traditional MBA, or are you complementing it with new-age technologies in alignment with the vision of Digital Bharat? A: It’s a combination. We keep the industry in core focus. As all industries are becoming more technologically savvy, I would say COVID was the turning point. During COVID, I would say that we were the first ones in the world to bring in a programme called “Digital Disruption of Luxury.” Being from the industry, I’m very well connected. I was able to talk to people in Milan, Paris, New York and Tokyo as to what’s happening to the luxury industry there. The challenge was that people were completely flabbergasted because technology was being dumped on them. They did not know how to handle the technology. While innovation was happening, like now AI is being the topic of discussion, the disruption started coming in during COVID. The talent, like teachers, were not ready to handle Zoom. Likewise, the service industry people were not ready to handle the technological disruptions. So, what is the disruption? How does it need to be tackled? We brought a 50-hour programme back then, and this year we introduced a 20-hour programme of AI in luxury. How is AI disrupting the luxury businesses? That’s already a part of the programme. So, we try to be innovative and be the first to come up with relevance to the employment space of the particular student. Q: Forums like this, where we have representation from preschools to schools, higher education, skills, corporate and government, how do they help the overall community? A: I think it’s very important that young people like you are bringing, as you said, the governance, the stakeholders and the students together. You are going to below K-12 as well. Basic education starts at the nursery school level. So, if education can be tied up or skilling can be tied up at that level, you will get a better student going upward. I think it’s very, very important that there is a transparent dialogue between all the stakeholders because they are operating in their own silos. So, I appreciate what you’re doing, and that’s one of the reasons I support your endeavour. Q: Lastly, as we complete five years, what message would you like to give ArdorComm Media on its fifth anniversary? A: As I said, I admire what you’re doing. It takes a lot of guts today. It is not easy to continue doing entrepreneurship. People launch a startup and they fold up before they can get into year two. So, if you’ve crossed five years, as a fellow entrepreneur in the academic space, I can say it is very, very tough. We have spent 14 years and we’re still struggling. So, I have no qualms in owning that. It’s very difficult to keep yourself afloat and keep the motivation high. So, if you’re doing both of it, well, welcome to the gang. Wish you all the best.