New Delhi: Committed to empowering millions of students through expanding access to inter-disciplinary, inclusive, and tertiary education, SRM University, Andhra Pradesh, now joins College Board’s Indian Global Higher Education Alliance, to plug skills gaps and nurture global leaders. Driven by global collaboration and best practices, it accepts SAT score as part of admission processes.
The international higher education consortium will be supporting students through attractive scholarships and fostering the development of Indian universities into world-class institutions. Aiming at bridging the gaps in the education system, this unique initiative will help advance higher education in India, simplify entrance and admission processes, while building the creative and critical thinking skills needed for the future. This will also facilitate low-income students’ access to high quality undergraduate experiences and helping Indian Universities to better recruit, admit and enrol students.
This is significant as the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in tertiary education in India is only 26.9 per cent, which is lower than that of China (48.4 per cent), Indonesia (27.9 per cent) and the Philippines (35.3 per cent), among others. As the world steps into the Fourth Industrial Revolution, driven by disruptive technologies such as Big Data Analytics, Machine Learning (ML), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), Cloud computing and industrial automation – the higher education system in India needs to urgently bolster the quality of the system and boost student enrolment in higher learning.
Empowering people with future-ready skills is a key priority for governments across the world who recognize that preparing the next-generation workforce is key to enabling greater opportunities and a better quality of life for individuals and communities. This is also aligned with United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #8 to promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, and full and productive employment.
Commenting on the occasion, Dr. Jamshed Bharucha, Vice Chancellor, SRM University, AP-Amaravati said, “To succeed in today’s hyper-connected digital era and to thrive in the knowledge society, our students must think and act global to be future-ready. SRM AP stays strongly committed to advancing the cause of inclusive higher education in India, expanding access, diversity and improving equity to fulfil student’s aspirations, achieving national goals and global priorities. This will strengthen our collaboration with leading institutions to nurture future generations. Our interdisciplinary learning and all-PhD faculty enable our students to think critically, innovate constantly, communicate clearly, and develop into thoughtful global citizens and leaders.”
It is imperative for India to address the technology induced skills gap given the low gross enrolments in its universities. For making the workforce future ready, the institutes of higher learning should reimagine the course curriculum and pedagogical approaches by understanding key market transitions.
This alliance was announced by US-based College Board, the makers of the SAT at the recently held symposium in Bangalore on the future of Indian higher education. Attended by top national and international educationists, leaders from the alliance’s member universities along with prominent experts from the World Bank, Brookings India, and the Consortium for Higher Education Research in Asia (CHERA), to discuss and develop the future roadmap for improving higher education in India.
Source: https://indiaeducationdiary.in/srm-university-ap-taps-global-alliance-empowers-millions-students/