BANGALORE: Reva Group of Educational Institutions was established in the year 2002 and was managed by Bheemaneni Educational Service Trust. Later in the year 2004, it was taken over by Rukmini Educational Charitable Trust led by P Shyama Raju, who is now the chairman of Reva Group of Institutions. Reva is now a unit of Divyasree. He speaks to Vyas Sivanand about the institutions and his plans to consolidate them.
Your forte has been in the construction business. Why did you decide to venture into the education field?
The foray into education field was purely to give something back to the society. We have grown from scratch and now we are at a fairly comfortable position. I felt that the time was right to contribute towards the growth of the society and the educational sector is just the right field to do so. We took over Reva Institute of Technology and Management and the Institute of Science and Technology in the year 2004. Then, the student count was 360, now the strength is about 7,000.
What is the current number of institutions running under Reva? What are your expansion plans?
We currently have six institutions situated in two campuses. We have got a license for another institution, which will start functioning during this academic year. The focus will mainly be on science. We are now giving importance to basic science because most students are now opting for technical education. If this trend continues, then there will be a dearth of scientists over the course of time. I am not interested in opening more institutions. I want to concentrate on sustaining the present institutions. Of course, we are looking for another campus but it will happen only when we are definite — That we are comfortable and have consolidated the existing institutions.
According to you, what is the main concern plaguing Indian education system?
The Indian education system is definitely good. Every university’s guideline is well-defined, but what is required is more focus on implementation. The requirement of the industry should be included in the curriculum. Autonomous institutions should try to rectify this aspect. We are also gearing up for a deemed university status but it will take time.