Set right what you believe is wrong seems to be the motto of the Higher Education Forum started by Dr. A K Sengupta, Dean SIES College of Management Studies for regularization of higher education and ridding it off its corrupt practices.
The Higher Education Forum or HEF was started as a Google Group in September 2008 by Dr. Sengupta and three additional members viz. Dr. Ganesh Natrajan, CEO, Zensar Technologies, Prof. (Dr) Suresh Ghai, Director K J Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research and Dr. G. S. Singh, Hon. Professor Guru Nanak Dev University with an idea to promote ethical practices in higher education. It is now a 1300 member group and will soon be registered as a trust. A website for the forum is also in the offing. This website is being planned as a one stop shop for any queries related to the ethical practices of higher educational institutions.
Through HEF Dr. Sengupta plans to primarily create knowledge, disseminate knowledge and encourage academic debate. Other long term plans are sharing the best practices in education, empowerment of the lesser known institutes and collaboration with International institutions. For this he wants to motivate the 1300 members on the forum to work in their capacity for the cause of education. With most of the members being directors and professors at engineering and management colleges, this should not be a difficult task. If the plans of Prof. B Vyasa Rao, Director, Mumbai Institute of Management and also a member of the forum go through, the forum will try to become a legal entity so that it will be able to influence the decision of the Government and the HRD ministry. Other objective of the forum is to bring fore people in small areas who are doing well for the cause for education but have not been noticed by the popular media. The forum is also trying to find a way to create an inclusive society without the use of reservations. They havent found an answer yet, but the debate continues.
The key to success for such a goal for the forum will be the timing and support from Students, Professors, The Government and Media. The timing will be crucial too; the present government will be a good time to start. To focus on one objective at a time will play a crucial role too. Too many cooks might just spoil the broth. Above all the enthusiasm of members will reign supreme; of course all dreams need executioners to become a reality.