Debashish Sanyal, director of Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon shares his views on opportunities and challenges of the education system in India with FE Education Online.
What is the best thing about today’s education system?
Two good things about today’ education system is 1) The offering of contemporary course curriculum to the students. In higher education, all good institutes make necessary changes in the course outline so that what is taught to the students are in line with what is actually happening in the industry, and 2) the use of digital technology in education. This has helped disseminate knowledge to students very quickly and at a low cost.
What is the one thing you would like to change in the system?
The one thing that I would like to change is the encouragement of the regulators to foster international collaboration and exchanges. The new provision of 2023-24 needs a relook to allow good institutions to provide opportunities for students to participate in international exchange programmes and double degree programmes.
What is the role digital has played in the evolution of the education system?
Digital technology has played an important role in imparting education across the board. It has helped institutions to organize sessions by esteemed faculty from across the country as well as from abroad. It has also given an opportunity to the students to source knowledge at a very low cost. And it has also helped institutions to be contemporary.
What has been the disadvantage of digital in education?
The classroom teaching is an experience that cannot be substituted by online teaching. A judicious mix of online and offline teaching is necessary. Too much online teaching adversely impacts the learning of students. Not to mention the problem of plagiarism. Students often copy content from the digital space without making an effort to think and process by themselves.
What is the career advice you would like to give to students?
Students should use digital space to gather more knowledge. The knowledge that they gather may need clarification and context. They should fully attend offline classes as well and interact with the faculty to get that context and clear their doubts. Digital space helps in networking. Students should use it to develop constructive networks so that they can gain from the exchange of knowledge as well as take advantage of the opportunity that the network provides.