1. What are the top 5 challenges that you solve at your job everyday?
SP: I endeavor to do the following 5 things every day
1. Establish relation with one new corporate every day to expand the academic and corporate partnerships of IFIM Business School
2. Meet up at least one eminent academician to discuss new ideas for enhancing learning and to identify good faculty talent
3. Meet with members of our Student Council to monitor their Social Activities, Personality Enhancement Program, Fests and competition. This opportunity is also used by me to get a feel of the quality of our academic delivery
4. Meet with vendors of education technology to enhance the efficiency of the overall system
5. Meet with the quality management representative to monitor any non-conformance with our established quality management system
2. What according you are the significant changes you would like to make in the structure of Higher education (specially Management education) in India or globally?
SP: Management education is being re-engineered globally. The whole academic world is now wanting to realign the education around knowing, doing and being. I am in complete agreement with this change and I have already begun to implement this into my institute’s curriculum.
3. How do you look at evolving your work in the coming years?
SP: I have set out a personal goal for myself and that is to help our new generation enhance “employability”.
To achieve this goal I have set out on a journey to set up institutions that impart quality education and holistic learning. Employability is the ability of oneself to add value to society at any point of time, whilst employment is an opportunity to work. This ability can be achieved if one can discover one’s purpose of existence and the skills and knowledge that one would need to attain the identified purpose.
4. Is there a need for more entrepreneurs setting up Private run institutions in India for Higher Education?
SP: For me education is not a business and hence in my view we do not need entrepreneurs to get into education. However we definitely need more educationists to build good education institutions. Both Private and Public institutions are welcome as long as they are built to create wealth of knowledge and for imparting learning and not creating personal wealth.
5. Higher Ed is not considered as a lucrative career for many youngsters. How do you think this would change?
SP: This has to change. India has the largest pool of youngsters in the world. Educating, training and coaching these youngsters is one of the greatest responsibility of our nation and the task is so huge that we will need more resources to impart this service to the next generation. This opportunity will surely lure many to be part of education including higher education. Education has already started attracting a lot of talent from the corporate and in my view this is only going to grow.