The Higher Educators’ Foundation (HEF), which has been established and being run by the Indian Diaspora in the US and is supported by some of the reputed private universities in India, is set to organize a ‘Workshop’ on strategizing and transforming higher education in India in collaboration with MIT World Peace University (MIT-WPU). The workshop will be held in Pune from January 21-23, 2023.
The Indian Higher Education System has come a long way over the past half a century. However, grey areas such as application, R & D, and examination system, to name a few, remain to be improved. The aim of the Workshop is to create a unique platform to bring together Higher Educators and Researchers of Indian origin from the USA and leading academicians from India to focus on best practices in higher education. This activity is being actively supported by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) and the Embassy of India in the US.
The vision of the workshop is to catalyze the transformation of Higher Education in India through open dialogue between academicians and educationists from India and across the Globe. The mission aims to harness the collective wisdom of the academicians to bring back the lost glory of the Indian Higher Education System.
Executive President of MIT-WPU, Shri. Rahul Karad and convener expressed his wish to make use of the association between the Indian Diaspora in the US, policymakers, and Indian academicians to derive the best possible solutions for the transformation of the Indian higher education system.
The workshop will be attended by eminent personalities, thought leaders, and policymakers from India and abroad. Dr. Suresh Garimella, President, Vermont University, United States will be chairing the activities of the workshop in the US, while eminent scientist and Padma Vibhushan awardee Dr. Raghunath A. Mashelkar will chair it in India.
Stalwarts like Padma Bhushan Dr. Vijay Bhatkar and Padma Dr. Sanjay Dhande, along with leaders from the education sector like Rahul Karad among others, will also participate in furthering the mission.
Approximately 80 to 100 Vice Chancellors of high repute from some of the private universities in India will also form part of this Workshop. Vice Chancellors are among the most important stakeholders and influencers of higher education in India, and some of the selected VCs have been invited to share and record their valuable views and opinions in the realm of higher education in India, so that the same are incorporated in the blueprint for future.
Envisioned over three and a half years ago by Rahul Karad, Executive President, MIT-WPU, the Higher Education Foundation is an association of Indian universities with eminent education leaders and academicians from India and the Indian Diaspora in the USA. The foundation aims to promote the research ecosystem in India's higher education landscape to foster a culture of self-reliance through the technological transformation of the production paradigm with the support of state governments, academia, industry, and other stakeholders.
The very first Visioning Workshop was organized on 16th and 17th June 2022 in Washington DC, USA, to ideate and define the path and methodology of the future engagements and huge convention that is planned. About 20 Indian leaders of Higher Education (Directors of IITs & IIMs, leaders of premier private institutions and some acclaimed scientists) and about 20 US based academic leaders of Indian origin (Presidents & Provosts of universities in the USA) were part of this high-level meeting. The Indian Ambassador to the USA, His Excellency Taranjit Singh Sandhu, had also graced the Visioning Workshop.
An overriding concern, and objective of the Workshop has been to bring in ‘Collaborative Competitiveness’ among all Indian private universities with objectives (i) to design strategic framework for creating co-learning harmony among Indian private universities, and (ii) to infuse and strengthen the overall ecosystem of Indian private universities with healthy and selfless psyche of competition.
