With an IIM, an IIT, a high-ranking university (Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya), several reputed colleges and coaching institutes, Indore has almost everything to be developed into an educational hub. But policy makers and education institutes will still need to take some solid steps to make it a reality.
Not only the DAVV, but top institutes, including the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), are also facing several challenges, affecting their journey towards excellence.
For the IIT Indore, which was established in 2009, the main issue is shifting to its new campus next year. The IIT was allowed to operate from the campus of Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET), DAVV till its permanent building is constructed at Simrol. The IIT campus is currently split into three parts – at IET, PACL and Silver Springs – making the lives of faculty and students difficult.
The IIM Indore’s main challenge would be to catch up with its peers and also improve its quality of placement. With eight to nine of its students allegedly caught taking drugs on the campus, the institute will have to work hard to wipe the taint.
“Our major challenge for 2016 will be to improve and upscale the quality of our courses while we continue to cater to students from a wide educational background… We often felt while comparing our progress with the other leading IIMs in the field of placements, that our interaction with industry giants had been low. So an industry interaction cell will be set up at the campus,” said Rishikesha T Krishnan, director IIM Indore.
{{/usCountry}}“Our major challenge for 2016 will be to improve and upscale the quality of our courses while we continue to cater to students from a wide educational background… We often felt while comparing our progress with the other leading IIMs in the field of placements, that our interaction with industry giants had been low. So an industry interaction cell will be set up at the campus,” said Rishikesha T Krishnan, director IIM Indore.
{{/usCountry}}“Apart from this, considering the increasing interest of students towards startups, an incubation centre for startups will also be started,” he added.
The DAVV, on the other hand, has been headless for the last four months and its main challenge is to hunt for a non-controversial vice chancellor, whose selection process has already started. The university will also have to complete all its examinations before the start of Simhastha in April 2016 in Ujjain, otherwise the entire schedule would be delayed by another two months.
At present the DAVV has seven special assistance programmes and it aims to add four more to its kitty in 2016. Also, after failing to secure University with Potential for Excellence (UPE) status from the UGC, it is now eyeing Centre with Potential for Excellence (CPE) in social sciences, education and economics discipline.
In 2016, the university is looking to open a few more nodal centres so that students from tribal areas can get their problems solved instead of having to come to its administrative campus.