Apprenticeship and Internships: “Apprenticeship and Internships should be a part of every university program in today’s age. Often students are confused on what professional organisation they would like to join. Multiple internships help students not only in discovering their strengths but also figuring out which job functions they like or don’t like. It also brings in the whole element of learning by doing.” adds Gupta.
Investing in modern infrastructure: Universities of today need to be well equipped to give students the platform to get the best out of their education experience. Investment in digitisation, research labs, makers labs and adoption of the latest learning technologies etc. go a long way in curating a modern university experience. “The idea of a campus as a living lab is being tried by many new institutions,” adds Gupta.
“The reason why Ashoka University has become a brand is because of its focus on governance, faculty and curriculum. Today, Ashoka University has gone from strength to strength and established itself as one of the top private universities in India. As per the most recent QS University rankings in 2021, Ashoka University was ranked among India’s top 5 private universities, among the top 250 universities in Asia and amongst the top 30 universities in India. In terms of international faculty, Ashoka University ranked no.1 among all 118 universities,” says Gupta.
For India to fulfil its mission of building a $5 trillion economy, we will need many high-quality educational institutions that not only provide trained people, but also focus on research and innovation. We need to break free of age-old practices that hamper our higher education ecosystem and strive towards building a new one which builds on our strengths. Universities which can find the right balance between modernisation, and our core values will emerge frontrunners in the post NEP era of Indian higher education.
