Jitin Chadha, founder, CEO, Indian Institute of Art and Design, shares his views on opportunities and obstacles of Indian education system with FE Education Online.
What is the best thing about today’s education system?
The modern education system has seen a tremendous change over the last few years to meet the rising demand for industry professionals and academicians adept at conducting cutting-edge research. The modern education system emphasises on industry-orientation and academic rigour in a manner that offers students a blended learning experience. Additionally, the learning outcomes have come to be more defined with strong evaluation systems in place and tech-based learning processes. The interdisciplinary approach to teaching has further expanded the scope of learning and opened up a plethora of career avenues for aspirants.
What is the one thing you would like to change in the system?
In addition to incorporating tech-based learning, there is scope for flexible timings. This ensures that more aspirants and mid-career professionals seeking to boost their profiles can come under the ambit of higher education. Also, the prime focus at the higher education level should be on reflective learning where scholars emphasise the synthesis of knowledge and contribute to the discourse.
What is the role digital has played in the evolution of the education system?
Digital platforms and tech-based learning has enabled deeper learning and accurate evaluation of learning outcomes. The complex concepts get broken down into smaller and easily understandable topics. Student engagement has seen a drastic increase. Also, individual attention and self-paced learning are two of the best features of a digital-based education system.
What has been the disadvantage of digital in education?
In a country like India where a considerable section of the population does not have access to digital tools and the internet, ensuring everyone receives quality education is a daunting task. Apart from being a costly alternative to traditional education, it requires prior training of both students and instructors. Feedback is limited in the digital medium and lesser facetime and higher chances of distraction during the education process are some other disadvantages of the digital medium in education.
What is the career advice you would like to give to students?
Students seeking various opportunities should stay abreast ensuring relevance to their respective career paths. Voracious reading and journaling to expand knowledge help students articulate what they want to say. Procrastination is a self-regulatory failure that has been a major issue in today’s generation. Strategize your daily productive hours, and plan your to-do list to avoid procrastination. It can get overwhelming sometimes but maintaining a healthy work-life balance can help you establish a sustainable way of working while maintaining general well-being and a healthy state of mind.
Also Read: The road ahead for Indian education system; how will the edtech firms fit in