An unassuming person was waiting for me in the room, and when I entered he warmly introduced himself. Once we started the interview, he was cooperative every bit of the way and asked me to fire away the questions.
It was, however, when he started talking about higher education in India, that he seemed to be in his element. No other questions were required. He knew what he was talking about, as if it was just natural to possess all that knowledge. Not surprising for someone who has spent many years in education, at all possible designations.
Chairman of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Dr S S Mantha, has implemented the first e-governance project, automating the workflows, for the department of Higher and Technical Education, Government of Maharashtra in 1995. He has provided the IT expertise for IT initiatives of several departments of Government of Maharashtra. The Citizen Facilitation Centre, Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation, an e-governance initiative that won many National and International awards was also completed with his expertise amongst others. He currently is also the IT Expert for the Department of IT, Government of Maharashtra. Among his many roles, he has also been a professor and a dean. He took over as the Chairman of the AICTE in January this year, and had joined the Council as Vice Chairman in 2009.
The e-governance project implemented in AICTE has also won the Silver Edge Award instituted by United Business Media and Information Week and the Good Governance National Technology Award, 2010 instituted by the Good Governance Magazine. Dr Mantha has also received the 5th National telecom Award in 2011 for ‘Excellence in Education through e-governance’ instituted by CMAI and Star News.
To Dr Mantha’s credit are several other awards and accolades that he has deservedly won over the years, and yet what struck me the most was the person behind the educationist. Warm and hospitable, he was quick to point out that although he sits in Delhi now, since his office is located there, he is, at heart, a Mumbai boy, having studied at the Veer Jeejamata Technical Institute (VJTI) in Matunga. When I was busy jotting down all that he had to say, he mentioned that my tea was getting cold, and that I should take a moment to have it. In addition, he patiently took me through the AICTE website taking me through the new initiatives and schemes that the Council has in place even though he was getting late in keeping his subsequent engagements. And all this on his personal time, on a holiday.
For a person who has over 190 publications to his credit, Dr Mantha was the patience personified when he simplified the process of evolving a National Vocational Education Qualification Framework (read about it on page 4). He explained the entire framework step-by-step, providing instances where ever necessary, and fortifying his words with suitable examples to get his point across. One can see that even after the successful heights he has scaled, the teacher in him remains intact. No wonder, 12 students have completed their PhDs under his able guidance.
One could gauge the depth of Dr Mantha’s observation and understanding when he spoke of the dilemmas that the higher education sector in India faces today. He spoke of all sorts of problems and solutions from several perspectives, but in the end, it was clear that for him, the student’s perspective is paramount. It was a true pleasure to spend some time with Dr Mantha, from whom there is so much to learn!
– Editor
