Parimal Mandke
Pro tem president, NIIT University
Prof. Parimal Mandke is pro tem president of NIIT, Neemrana (Rajasthan), ranked among the country’s Top 25 private universities in the EW India Private University Rankings 2021-22.
How satisfied are you with NIIT University’s switch to online learning over the past year?
Fortunately because of our parentage, NIIT University (NU) has been offering technology-focused and technology-enabled education since inception in 2009. This enabled us to make a quick switch to digital platforms when education institutions were asked to shut down.
The NU teaching-learning model incorporates innovative pedagogies, technology-based teacher-student engagement and end-to-end administration. All of this is delivered through NUgget, a platform that enables online teaching to be as effective as classroom teaching. NUgget includes lecture delivery, assessments, virtual labs, projects and other group activities and work-from-home internships during the pandemic.
What are the major factors behind NU’s relatively smooth switch to online learning/lectures?
Our pedagogy is based on the belief that digital and conventional education are not two watertight compartments but complementary. We offer a blended learning model, which includes a vast range of digital activities collectively delivering effective learning.
Online classes can never replace in-person campus education. What are the downsides of online education? What is your estimate of learning loss?
While online teaching has ensured continuity during the pandemic, it has its limitations. Collaborative learning is adversely affected by remote learning. Low levels of engagement hinder students’ learning. Moreover, teachers are challenged by technology and need to continuously ideate innovative pedagogies to engage students.
Another factor is that conventional in-person classes promote socialisation, which is absent or minimal in digital learning. There are also other downsides: subjects that require introspection, deep discussion and debate are more effectively taught in conventional classrooms.
Are you ready for in-person classes at NIIT University? What safety precautions have you instituted?
NU has taken every possible measure to ensure the safety of every person on campus, student and staff. When the pandemic swept the country, NU was the first residential higher ed institution to move students back to their homes. And while students were at home, we set up a large quarantine centre in the Neemrana neighbourhood.
What is your advice to digitally under-served education institutions?
In these difficult times, I would urge higher education institutions to innovate to make the most of the resources available to them. We should avail this opportunity to re-evaluate our student assessment systems and introduce methodologies to evaluate their overall development.
What is your advice to government to make up for academically lost ground in the pandemic era?
The National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, released last year, offers hope in these difficult times. The policy not only assures a more generous financial provision for public education. It also proposes a slew of reforms across the education spectrum. We believe technology can play a revolutionary role in making learning more effective and efficient, and improve learning outcomes in schools and higher education. With technology as the backbone, learning, assessment, planning and administration, and professional advancement of teachers will be enhanced.
With new technologies continuously evolving, education institutions need to be granted full freedom to engage with industry and change their curricula to align with industry needs. This implies stepping up internships, greater industry-academia research engagement, and co-creation of curricula with active involvement of students.
Interestingly, NU’s four core principles are in alignment with NEP, 2020. The policy recommends that India’s education system should be flexible, multidisciplinary, seamless, build strong industry linkages, become technology-driven and research-oriented. All these objectives are woven into the NIIT University fabric.
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