“We must create a platform for students with creative thinking and innovative ideas,” said Prof. Rajendra Srivastava, Dean Indian School of Business, Hyderabad at one of the sessions of the 4th Edition of Higher Education Conference organized by BW Businessworld at Telangana. This session chaired by Prof. Rajendra Srivastava, Dean, ISB, Hyderabad had the theme of “Building Successful Connections between Industry and Academia for a future-ready workforce.” The eminent panelists for the session consisted of Prof.P. J.Narayanan, Director, IIIT, Hyderabad; Pravin Agarwala , CEO, BetterPlace; Vivek Jain, Chief Business Officer , Shiksha.com and Naukri.com and Sudhakar Rao, Director, Branding, ICFAI, Hyderabad.
Prof. Rajendra Srivastava commenced the discussion by stating that disciplined thinking should be imbibed in the institutions. He also talked about the encouraging institute-institute collaboration.
On the other hand, Sudhakar Rao said, “Higher involvement of industry leads to the progressive development of the institutions.” Prof.P. J.Narayanan however, stressed that leaders can be created by providing them the required platform. He also stated that there is a need to emphasize 3C’s- Competent, Creative and Caring. Furthermore, Prof. Narayanan talked about the need of installing Centre for Excellence in educational institutions.
Talking about the institutes and their faculty Prof. S Ramachandran said, “The institutes in our country must adapt to the changing conditions.” He added that there is a need to improve faculty competence. While mentioning that internships play a major role in helping students gain the practical knowledge he said, “Students with the zeal to learn new things should be encouraged by providing the Industry exposure.
Pravin Agarwala concluded the session by emphasizing that the focus must be more on imparting the skills.