‘Should encourage girl students at school level to take up engineering courses’: MAHE VC

A: This is a very ambitious project for MAHE. We started building it in 2020 and started our academic programmes in 2021-22. Institutions that are housed here are Manipal Institute of Technology and Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Bengaluru campus. As for MIT, already two batches have got admitted and the third batch will be admitted now. We are offering niche engineering courses like computer science, cyber security, AI and information technology, data science and electronics and communication. Srishti has become a part of the MAHE from 2020 and three batches of students are a part of the institution. We also started the Manipal Law School in this campus and the first batch has already joined. In the campus, we also have a department of liberal arts, social science, humanities and public policies which we will be expanding in a way.

Q: Despite India housing several institutions of imminence, many students still prefer to pursue higher education in foreign universities. Why?

A: I don’t think this is because of the lack of quality education. It is because of the number of opportunities available for the students to excel. In India, all admissions are based on entrance exams and merit based-admissions. Many people do get left out because capacity is just not there to absorb all undergraduate students who qualify for post graduate programmes. But the new National Education Policy will make the situation better as it is expected to bring higher capacity building in the system. Inviting foreign universities to India and allowing Indian universities to collaborate with foreign universities — all these things will empower our students to hold on to our country and also help in providing quality education at par with foreign universities. India is a net exporter of students for higher education outside. At some stage we would like to reverse this trend. With the NEP, higher education is opening up big time now and it’s going to get better and better.

Q: With the Congress government in Karnataka planning to withdraw the NEP, how do you think it will impact higher education institutions?

A: We (MAHE) are absolutely out of this regulation. We are an institution of imminence and deemed to be a university. We don’t come under the state government plan. We had our own NEP implementation plan which started two months after the NEP was announced. We have our own five-year NEP plan that we are implementing in sync with the changes proposed by the policy. We have already changed our three-year programmes, four-year programmes, introducing the multiple entry, multiple exit and other modifications. We also have a roadmap with parameters as to how much we are implementing, what have we achieved, what are the gaps and how the gaps will be covered up. As an institution of imminence, we have a fair amount of flexibility in general education to do things differently and take decisions independently without unduly being under the control of regulators. There is regulatory control in medicine and law, which is an impediment. However, with the status of IoE and other provisions of the government, it is definitely empowering us to make thighs better.

Q: After The Indian Express published the three-part series on the delay in implementing the Institute of Eminence (IoE) scheme by the UGC, has there been any development?

A: We haven’t heard anything from them (UGC). We had a review meeting with the Institutions of Eminence discussing the progress of IoE but nothing specific on any other issues that was raised in the article. Even the empowered expert committee is yet to be constituted. There has been no follow up.

Q: Very few girls take up engineering courses, what according to you is the reason?

A: First, we should encourage girls to take up science and mathematics at the school level. It is important to provide additional scholarships, perhaps provide a necessary support system at the school level to take up science and technology as a subject and bring in academic and career counselling sessions at the school level. We should make them realise that it’s not about just seeking a career as an employee, you can yourself become an employer if you take STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and Mathematics) as your subjects.

You can take up entrepreneurship, industrial research or academic research. It’s about building the aptitude and supporting the aptitude. Perhaps we could also create a quota system for high calibre girls to get into higher education. The social construct also plays a major role in the empowerment of women. Women are thought to be homemakers. There needs to be efforts to eradicate social and cultural barriers. The minute more and more women get into the productivity stage, the GDP will automatically increase. They are already doing a lot of unpaid jobs like household chores and as domestic help for which they are not being remunerated or for which the amount is not counted against.

Q: Your thoughts on the ratio of women vice chancellors compared to men in Indian institutions?

The presence of women vice chancellors is comparatively less but things are improving. It’s a global phenomenon and India is slightly lagging in that front. The day is not far when MAHE will have a woman vice chancellor.

Q: What action did MAHE take against the professor who called a student ‘Kasab’?

A: The professor has not been sacked but has been punished. We have taken a very stringent disciplinary action against him. He is currently under good mentoring and monitoring. In fact, the student has also reconciled and did not want any action to be taken against the professor. There was a disciplinary committee and there was a recommendation and action was taken as per the regulations of the university. We have given him some major punishments which I better not disclose. He is under careful mentorship. The matter stands closed with the disciplinary action taken against the professor.