Page 40 - EW August 2021

Cover Story

promoted by unwarrantedly maligned edented disruption of education
edupreneurs, who despite official dis- and low learning during the past 16
couragement have established glob- months lockdown of all education in-
ally-benchmarked schools, colleges stitutions, in this issue of Education-
and universities. In the lexicon of World, we have beamed a searchlight
inorganic neta-babu socialism which on a few of the minority of education
free India foolishly embraced after leaders who have responded creatively
independence from foreign rule sev- to the pandemic threat and ensured
en decades ago, education institutions learning continuity for their students.
even if established by philanthropists Although the majority of them head
and edupreneurs driven by the spirit top-ranked private institutions, lead-
of enlightened self-interest, are nec- ers of affordable budget private, gov-
essarily exploitative, and engaged in ernment free-of-charge schools, and
“commercialisation of education,” a colleges/universities have also been
deadly sin in the eyes of comfortably included in our unprecedented cover
tenured academics and arm-chair crit- story feature.
ics. We hope that their challenge-and-
However despite official discour- Anand: decentralisation demand response stories and institution man-
agement, private education institu- agement insights on ways and means
tions have multiplied steadily post-in- cent of the 37 million youth in higher to maintain — and perhaps enhance
dependence, because of strong public education. It is no exaggeration to — learning continuity will inspire and
demand. Currently, India’s 450,000 state that the overwhelming major- inform educationists across the coun-
private schools host 47.5 percent of ity within India’s middle class which try to keep the light of learning alive
the country’s 260 million in-school drives the economy, has been private- in these tempestuous pandemic times.
children, and privately promoted col- ly educated. With Reshma Ravishanker, Paromita
leges and universities mentor 70 per- Against this backdrop of unprec- Sengupta, Baishali Mukherjee & Dipta Joshi

C. Raj Kumar QS I-GAUGE ‘E-Learning Excellence
for Academic Digitisation (E-LEAD)’
Vice Chancellor, O.P. Jindal Global certification last year, and renewed
University in 2021.
A Are you ready for in-person classes at
polymath alumnus of Madras,
Delhi, Oxford and Harvard
JGU? What safety precautions have you
universities, Dr. C. Raj Ku-
mar is founding vice chancellor of instituted?
JGU has taken all steps necessary to
the O.P. Jindal Global University, ensure physical, emotional and psy-
Sonipat, Haryana (JGU, estb.2009) chological well-being of our students,
which has an enrolment of 6,650 faculty and administrative staff.
students mentored by 832 faculty.
To ensure the safety of our staff
How satisfied are you with JGU’s switch we provided free vaccination to
to the online mode of learning over the all our employees and their family
past year? members in the 45-plus age group
In 2020, universities worldwide and upgraded the infrastructure of
were confronted with one of the our already well-equipped round-
most challenging crises of our times. the-clock health centre to monitor
However, in JGU we have remained maintain excellence in higher educa- safety protocols on campus.
steadfast in our commitment to tion. The outcome was innovation in JGU is a wholly residential
provide world-class education to stu- terms of online classrooms, technol- university. Therefore, to reopen our
dents. We immediately constituted ogy services and digital infrastruc- campus safely we have instituted
our PIVOT (planned intervention in ture, which also resulted in reimagi- several protocols.
virtual learning and online teaching) nation of governance, digitalisation • Every room in our students’ hous-
programme task force which worked of student support systems and ing facility will accommodate only
tirelessly to create a process-driven library services. one student. Hence, only a maximum
approach to ensure that JGU made All these extraordinary efforts by of 2,883 students will be accommo-
the necessary digital transforma- the JGU community culminated in dated on campus at any given point
tion to continue its commitment to our being awarded the prestigious of time.

40 EDUCATIONWORLD AUGUST 2021