Serving a population of nearly 1.4 billion, the Indian education sector is huge. Addressing the needs of such a large, dispersed and diverse population has its own challenges.&nbsp;

While primary education has witnessed increasing penetration in India, it is higher education that needs our immediate attention. Higher education consists of vocational education, university education, &nbsp;technical and management education.&nbsp;

Vocational training refers to hands-on and practical training in specific career tracks, while university education entails students enrolling in general degree programmes at the undergraduate level. The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and National Institutes of Technology (NITs) are the best-known institutions in India offering undergraduate, post-graduate, and doctoral studies in various technical fields, while the Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) and institutes like MDI, ISB, FORE, FMS and S P Jain are the best known for imparting management skills.

The greatest challenge the higher education sector is facing is quality and relevance. The 2019 edition of the India Skill Report, an annual survey and a joint initiative of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Association of Indian Universities (AIU), shows that only 36.4 per cent MBAs are considered employable!&nbsp;

The employability rate of engineering graduates is relatively better, but still at a low 57.1 per cent! The survey parameters include employability and a skill test.&nbsp;

Over 3,10,000 graduates across disciplines appeared for the test and were evaluated on various subjects, including English, critical thinking, numerical aptitude, domain knowledge, and behavioural competence.

Rampant over-expansion in some areas (such as engineering) and under-expansion in others has resulted in substandard institutions with low standards of curriculum and pedagogy.

Shrinking government budgetary allocation to education has led to a funding crunch in higher education in India. This has, in turn, resulted in the rapid and some would say, unplanned growth of private higher education.

These institutions finance themselves through donations, capitation fees, and high tuition fees. It means that quality private education is accessible only to a small percentage of the population that can afford it.

Some estimates put higher education enrollment rates (percentage of 18-23-year-olds in formal higher education) in high single digits! Enrollment rates are obviously higher in urban areas, implying therefore that rural enlisting is poor, as is gender disparity in enrollment.

The mushrooming of private institutions has led to a situation where degrees are awarded by unregulated or poorly-regulated entities. While regulatory authorities like the UGC and the AICTE have tried to crack down on institutions that are not accredited, students with limited awareness or recourse often fall prey to fly-by-night operators.

The management education sector has grown exponentially in the last few years on the back of demand for management graduates. Since ‘management’ is a relatively subjective topic, it’s small wonder that this field suffers considerably from poor quality institutions, instruction, and curriculum. The net result; low employability of MBA graduates.

Regulation is clearly one of the most important and urgent areas of reform. The present government has declared its intention of putting into place a single higher education regulator, a key recommendation by a number of committees that have examined the poor state of higher education in India.&nbsp;

Strengthening of the vocational education sector will help to open up opportunities for students who want to focus on their careers by building specific and relevant skill sets. The courses need to be affordable, targeted and up-to-date with industry needs.

As disruption takes root and makes present skill sets redundant, higher education needs to reinvent itself with current industry needs.&nbsp;

The rise of the IT sector has limited applicability to higher education. At the same time, course offerings also need to be broadened beyond just IT and engineering to cover areas such as liberal arts.

If India is to achieve its potential and place in the global economy, higher education will need to do a fair degree of heavy lifting. This will involve a renewed focus on curriculum and pedagogy, faculty abilities, research capabilities, industry partnerships, and infrastructure. The road is a long and hard one, but the destination holds a lot of promise. 
 
(This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-higher-education-reforms-imperative-to-push-india-story-2792386">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL) &nbsp; 
&nbsp;

Serving a population of nearly 1.4 billion, the Indian education sector is huge. Addressing the needs of such a large, dispersed and diverse population has its own challenges.

Serving a population of nearly 1.4 billion, the Indian education sector is huge. Addressing the needs of such a large, dispersed and diverse population has its own challenges. While primary education has witnessed increasing penetration in India, it is higher education that needs our immediate attention. Higher education consists of vocational education, university education, technical and management education. Vocational training refers to hands-on and practical training in specific career tracks, while university education entails students enrolling in general degree programmes at the undergraduate level. The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and National Institutes of Technology (NITs) are the best-known institutions in India offering undergraduate, post-graduate, and doctoral studies in various technical fields, while the Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) and institutes like MDI, ISB, FORE, FMS and S P Jain are the best known for imparting management skills. The greatest challenge the higher education sector is facing is quality and relevance. The 2019 edition of the India Skill Report, an annual survey and a joint initiative of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Association of Indian Universities (AIU), shows that only 36.4 per cent MBAs are considered employable! The employability rate of engineering graduates is relatively better, but still at a low 57.1 per cent! The survey parameters include employability and a skill test. Over 3,10,000 graduates across disciplines appeared for the test and were evaluated on various subjects, including English, critical thinking, numerical aptitude, domain knowledge, and behavioural competence. Rampant over-expansion in some areas (such as engineering) and under-expansion in others has resulted in substandard institutions with low standards of curriculum and pedagogy. Shrinking government budgetary allocation to education has led to a funding crunch in higher education in India. This has, in turn, resulted in the rapid and some would say, unplanned growth of private higher education. These institutions finance themselves through donations, capitation fees, and high tuition fees. It means that quality private education is accessible only to a small percentage of the population that can afford it. Some estimates put higher education enrollment rates (percentage of 18-23-year-olds in formal higher education) in high single digits! Enrollment rates are obviously higher in urban areas, implying therefore that rural enlisting is poor, as is gender disparity in enrollment. The mushrooming of private institutions has led to a situation where degrees are awarded by unregulated or poorly-regulated entities. While regulatory authorities like the UGC and the AICTE have tried to crack down on institutions that are not accredited, students with limited awareness or recourse often fall prey to fly-by-night operators. The management education sector has grown exponentially in the last few years on the back of demand for management graduates. Since ‘management’ is a relatively subjective topic, it’s small wonder that this field suffers considerably from poor quality institutions, instruction, and curriculum. The net result; low employability of MBA graduates. Regulation is clearly one of the most important and urgent areas of reform. The present government has declared its intention of putting into place a single higher education regulator, a key recommendation by a number of committees that have examined the poor state of higher education in India. Strengthening of the vocational education sector will help to open up opportunities for students who want to focus on their careers by building specific and relevant skill sets. The courses need to be affordable, targeted and up-to-date with industry needs. As disruption takes root and makes present skill sets redundant, higher education needs to reinvent itself with current industry needs. The rise of the IT sector has limited applicability to higher education. At the same time, course offerings also need to be broadened beyond just IT and engineering to cover areas such as liberal arts. If India is to achieve its potential and place in the global economy, higher education will need to do a fair degree of heavy lifting. This will involve a renewed focus on curriculum and pedagogy, faculty abilities, research capabilities, industry partnerships, and infrastructure. The road is a long and hard one, but the destination holds a lot of promise. (This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Higher education reforms imperative to push India story

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is all around us. From digital assistants to algorithms that suggest what music to listen to, are all now a part of our everyday lives.

While soon we may travel in self-driven cars, the area where AI is poised to most profoundly affect our lives is education. It is no surprise, therefore, that the education sector is witnessing remarkable uses of AI-based technologies.&nbsp;

For instance, AI-powered teaching assistants can take over time-consuming tasks like grading and record-keeping. This technology would also allow a student to enjoy continuous and individually customised inputs that would be required at her/his stage of learning.&nbsp;

It could also help flag issues at an early stage as well as assist in the feedback process between the teacher and students - thereby enabling healthy and relevant communication.&nbsp;

Students would get access to relevant additional tools and teachers would be able to know the efficacy of different pedagogies quickly.

AI would not just hold teachers accountable, but also strengthen best teaching practices. Current systems have the ability to analyse when a large group of students makes a mistake in a question. This can be expected to improve to the point where AI could provide live hints or suggest corrective action in a customised manner.&nbsp;

With such technology, students would be able to learn from anywhere and anytime, receive individual input and maybe have access to elements of a traditional classroom.

Another upcoming innovation is the use of blockchain technology. Its use in universities could remarkably alter how evaluations and credits are maintained and transferred - both within and across institutions.&nbsp;

Academic research within universities would also see increased protection and their due share of recognition. This would incentivise academicians to pursue research work without worrying about administrative hassles. We can expect a true revolution in academic research.

 
AI helps to inspire continuous, self-directed learning. One impact of AI-assisted learning is that the gap between traditional schoolroom education and online/self-directed learning can become blurred. AI tutors can enable students to choose the most effective tools and resources from among the multitude of options available out there.&nbsp;

The best effect of the personal AI tutor is that he could usher in a completely new mentality of continuous, self-directed learning in which all will remain students throughout their lives, whether they are in a classroom or not.

There is little doubt that there are new opportunities to set up education startups. AI is creating new opportunities for first-generation entrepreneurs in all segments like affordable health care, robot-assisted surgery, preliminary diagnosis, analysis of the history of a patient to cure, etc.&nbsp; 
 
In the same manner, AI is helping the education domain as well. In future, we will be able to educate our children through 360-degree learning, explanation in dimensions more than 3D - industrial training in a manufacturing company in Germany can be imparted by sitting in India. &nbsp;

Real-time action through robots with the help of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) would be commonplace. The learning tools available today for English, Maths, Geography through Knowji, Splash Math, Oddizzi and others are applications of AI only.&nbsp;

Engagement of students is the key challenge for every educator and they always trying to find new ways of engagement for students.&nbsp;

AI, AR, VR, ML would be able to help us to face this challenge. We have seen students, who are more inclined towards videos rather than textbooks and so every second organisation is creating video content or acquiring startups working on the new trends of education.&nbsp;

Even traditional organisations RIL, Tata, &nbsp;Microsoft, Google and others have entered into AI-based education platforms.&nbsp;

To illustrate, RIL has acquired Embibe, Microsoft has taken Flipgrid and Google acquired Workbench to utilise the power of artificial intelligence. Thus, it is more than evident that AI will dominate the future in all walks of life. 
 
(This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-ai-holds-tremendous-potential-to-transform-education-2741846">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is all around us. From digital assistants to algorithms that suggest what music to listen to, are all now a part of our everyday lives.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is all around us. From digital assistants to algorithms that suggest what music to listen to, are all now a part of our everyday lives. While soon we may travel in self-driven cars, the area where AI is poised to most profoundly affect our lives is education. It is no surprise, therefore, that the education sector is witnessing remarkable uses of AI-based technologies. For instance, AI-powered teaching assistants can take over time-consuming tasks like grading and record-keeping. This technology would also allow a student to enjoy continuous and individually customised inputs that would be required at her/his stage of learning. It could also help flag issues at an early stage as well as assist in the feedback process between the teacher and students - thereby enabling healthy and relevant communication. Students would get access to relevant additional tools and teachers would be able to know the efficacy of different pedagogies quickly. AI would not just hold teachers accountable, but also strengthen best teaching practices. Current systems have the ability to analyse when a large group of students makes a mistake in a question. This can be expected to improve to the point where AI could provide live hints or suggest corrective action in a customised manner. With such technology, students would be able to learn from anywhere and anytime, receive individual input and maybe have access to elements of a traditional classroom. Another upcoming innovation is the use of blockchain technology. Its use in universities could remarkably alter how evaluations and credits are maintained and transferred - both within and across institutions. Academic research within universities would also see increased protection and their due share of recognition. This would incentivise academicians to pursue research work without worrying about administrative hassles. We can expect a true revolution in academic research. AI helps to inspire continuous, self-directed learning. One impact of AI-assisted learning is that the gap between traditional schoolroom education and online/self-directed learning can become blurred. AI tutors can enable students to choose the most effective tools and resources from among the multitude of options available out there. The best effect of the personal AI tutor is that he could usher in a completely new mentality of continuous, self-directed learning in which all will remain students throughout their lives, whether they are in a classroom or not. There is little doubt that there are new opportunities to set up education startups. AI is creating new opportunities for first-generation entrepreneurs in all segments like affordable health care, robot-assisted surgery, preliminary diagnosis, analysis of the history of a patient to cure, etc. In the same manner, AI is helping the education domain as well. In future, we will be able to educate our children through 360-degree learning, explanation in dimensions more than 3D - industrial training in a manufacturing company in Germany can be imparted by sitting in India. Real-time action through robots with the help of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) would be commonplace. The learning tools available today for English, Maths, Geography through Knowji, Splash Math, Oddizzi and others are applications of AI only. Engagement of students is the key challenge for every educator and they always trying to find new ways of engagement for students. AI, AR, VR, ML would be able to help us to face this challenge. We have seen students, who are more inclined towards videos rather than textbooks and so every second organisation is creating video content or acquiring startups working on the new trends of education. Even traditional organisations RIL, Tata, Microsoft, Google and others have entered into AI-based education platforms. To illustrate, RIL has acquired Embibe, Microsoft has taken Flipgrid and Google acquired Workbench to utilise the power of artificial intelligence. Thus, it is more than evident that AI will dominate the future in all walks of life. (This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

Artificial Intelligence holds tremendous potential to transform education

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Zee News Rajasthan

Editor

Jitendra K Das

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