In pursuit of empowering students by providing an inter-disciplinary and inclusive tertiary education, SRM University Amaravati, AP, has joined College Board’s India Global Higher Education Alliance, to plug skill gaps, create a future-ready workforce and nurture global leaders. Driven by global collaboration and best practices, it accepts the SAT score as part of the admission process. The consortium will support students through attractive scholarships and foster the development of Indian universities into world-class institutions.
The alliance was announced by the US-based College Board, creators of the SAT, at a recent symposium in Bangalore on the future of Indian higher education. At the meet, top educationists, leaders from the alliance’s member universities, and experts from the World Bank, Brookings India, and the Consortium for Higher Education Research in Asia (CHERA), discussed ways to improve higher education in India.
Addressing skill gap
Aiming to bridge the gaps in the education system, this initiative taken by SRM will simplify entrance and admission processes, while building the creative and critical thinking skills needed for the future. This will also facilitate low-income students’ access to high quality undergraduate experiences and help Indian universities to better recruit, admit and enrol students.
Empowering people with future-ready skills is a key priority for governments across the world which recognise that preparing the next-generation workforce is key to enabling greater opportunities and a better quality of life for individuals and communities. This is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, and full and productive employment.
Dr Jamshed Bharucha, Vice-Chancellor, SRM University, AP-Amaravati, said: “To succeed in today’s hyper-connected digital era and to thrive in the knowledge society, our students must think and act global. Our interdisciplinary learning and all-PhD faculty enable our students to think critically, innovate constantly, communicate clearly, and become thoughtful global citizens and leaders.”
Bolstering quality education
This development is significant as the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in tertiary education in India is only 26.9 per cent, which is lower than that of China (48.4 per cent), Indonesia (27.9 per cent) and the Philippines (35.3 per cent), among others. As the world steps into the fourth industrial revolution, driven by disruptive technologies such as big data analytics, machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT), cloud computing and industrial automation — the higher education system in India needs to urgently bolster the quality of the system and boost student enrolment in higher learning.
It is imperative for India to address the technology-induced skill gaps, given the low gross enrolments in its universities. To make the workforce future-ready, institutes of higher learning should reimagine the course curriculum and pedagogical approaches by understanding key market transitions.