Entry of foreign institutes into India good for country’s education system

Like many others, she also had to break the glass ceiling to become what she is today-being at the helm of three universities, 18 schools, more than 20 colleges across many states, a 200-bedded Super Multispecialty Surgical Hospital in Kolkata, Monoshij, a mental wellness centre, ‘Jhore Jole Jongole, an eco-tourism resort at Jharkali in Sunderbans, TopCat CCU and Café Offbeat. An alumnus of Loreto Convent Asansol, a post graduate in Zoology and Journalism and Mass Communication, she has all along been a staunch believer in the principal of equality and she has made it her life’s mission to ensure that quality education permeates through every state of the society, regardless of a child’s socio-economic background, as each one of them deserves an enriching education.

Speaking to Bizz Buzz exclusively, Prof Manoshi Roychowdhury, Co-Chairperson, Techno India Group, traces Techno India’s journey and growth path and delves at length on wide ranging issues facing the country’s education sector including issues, close to her heart- women’s education

How has been the Techno India journey so far?

It all started with the establishment of The Institute of Computer Engineers India (ICEI) nearly four decades ago (in 1984). The key objectives with which our founder Gautam Roy Chowdhury founded this were: To impart high-quality, career-oriented and examination-oriented education to students using the latest technology for optimization of teaching resources and saving the valuable time of the students; To help students in understanding, developing, integrating and applying both core and specialized concepts and practices; To provide students with a stimulating and learning-friendly atmosphere so that they can specialize in various areas of study and practice; To produce energetic, effective, efficient and ethically-driven qualified professionals of international standard to serve the society.

As we grew, few years down the road, our founder met the then Chief Minister Jyoti Basu and told him with a degree of confidence that if he was allowed and facilitated by the state government, he would reverse the direction of the trains carrying aspiring engineering students from Bengal to southern and other parts of the country. Thus came our engineering college and our founder did what he had claimed. Students and parents in our state and in other states started talking and thinking about engineering education facilities in Bengal.

Then we moved to non-engineering management space. Our journey has been top-down. After engineering and management, we got into school education (pre-college schools) space. We set up several KG-PG schools across the state. Subsequently our schools got affiliated to CBSE board. Over the years, we have learnt a lot from government schools and colleges and I’m sure they have also learnt something or the other from us.

Which segment in the private education space (K-12/ higher education/professional courses) has grown faster?

All the segments have grown. Different segments grew in their own pace and momentum.

What would you attribute Techno India's success story to?

First and foremost the vision of our founder….a truly futuristic vision of building a garage when there is no motorcycle and his strong belief in himself, then people who stood beside us, supported us- our family members, friends and others. The consecutive governments have been very supportive as well. And of course, the luck factor, which helped us bag the contract for printing of voters’ ID card for several states, which in turn helped us mobilise the funds to set up colleges in the initial days.

How many schools/colleges/institutes/university campuses do you have at this point in time?

We now have three university campuses, as many as 18 schools and more than 20 colleges, including medical college, hospitality management, nursing college and skill development centres across Bengal, Tripura, MP, Jharkhand and few other states. We are continuously adding on to these numbers.

You have branched out to some other places outside the state also. Any plans to emerge as national/international education chain/brand?

Yes, very much. We are already carrying out various exchange programmes with various leading international academic institutes, colleges, universities. After our son and daughter-in-law came back, completing their education abroad, we are firming up international collaborations and through these collaborations we are in the process of emerging as an international player in the global education space.

You have recently forayed into two new streams- sustainability and hospitality management. What were the thoughts that had gone behind this?

Both hospitality management and sustainability are emerging areas. Both the sectors will have huge and increasing demand for trained manpower. The whole world is moving (and has to move) towards clean energy, sustainability, circular economy. The United Nations has also set its sustainability goal and all the countries under its fold will have to comply with its and meet these goals. We therefore thought this is the right time to start imparting thorough and extensive training on this. Besides, our daughter-in-law did her higher studies on sustainability from reputed international institutes abroad and also worked in this filed. She is a subject expert. It is under her guidance and supervision we are starting this off.

Are you looking at getting into or introducing any other new streams?

Yes, of course. Very soon we are introducing specialised and dedicated courses and training for civil service aspirants, especially for successful and qualified professionals from other fields like medical practitioners, engineers and so on.

Our new thrust, going forward, will be on introducing women’s education in a big way. Be it hospitality, IT, tourism, or environmental studies, we would like to drive home that women are equally important and they need to be supported by all means. In many cases, the gap between their skill, acumen and success lies in marketing skills and capabilities. We would like to bridge that gap through our specialised courses.

What is your take on the NEP?

Everything has its positives and negatives. But I think the new education policy (NEP) has more positives than negatives. It has the potential to be a game changer in education space. It has a very holistic approach. It provides a student the flexibility to choose subjects and subject combination. It allows and encourages even so-called back-benchers to nurture their natural faculties and abilities and skills. It focuses on skills and skill development. Last but not the least, it has a digital approach, which is truly futuristic.

How do you see the entry of foreign institutes into India?

This is a welcome move. In any case, an increasing number of students have been going abroad for higher and advanced studies. It is an expensive affair, particularly those who do not any scholarship. Once international universities set up their campuses here, students will get the opportunity to avail of the same standards at a much lower expense. For students, it will be like availing best of the both worlds. Once these international universities start off their full fledged operations here, the standards of Indian universities and institutes is also bound to improve and go up significantly. I am sure they will also have so many things to learn and take up from good Indian institutes.

Besides education, you are also into the healthcare space. What are the plans on this front?

We have several hospitals and all of them are state-of-the-art and with qualified doctors and healthcare staff. We have also forayed into the hospitality space by setting up our maiden resort- ‘Jhore, Jole, Jogole’ at an exotic location amidst lush green nature at Sunderbans, where we not only promote tourism but also Bengal’s art, culture, folklore, crafts and what not? We are on the lookout for more such eco-friendly properties to offer unique experiences to people with wanderlust and love for local art and culture.