In an imaginative dialogue between the Presidents of the US and Russia, the power of brand was established over a mutual freebie offer. With an option to choose any two strategic assets of Russia, the US President asked for General Atomsky and Generals Tankov, and the Russian President quickly retorted with his request for General Electric and General Motors. The difference between the two asks: military power vs brand power. Welcome to the contemporary world of branding that puts the power of brand over any other power.
In the emerging geo-political architecture, the brand power of India has gained significant valuation in the last decade, thanks to diplomacy and geo-positioning at various levels by the Central dispensation. Does that include the brand power of Indian universities and Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs)?
A NASSCOM-McKinsey study of 2005 that reported only 25 percent of Indian engineering graduates are employable is still being used mercilessly to portray India’s engineering education output inadequacy. This study captured the responses of a diminutive HR fraternity from 83 companies worldwide in different countries, including 28 low-wage and eight mid- to high-wage ones. The characterisation and generalisation of Indian engineering education based on a questionable sample study cannot be repeatedly used to downgrade India’s engineering education intelligentsia at a time when India is marching ahead because of its science and technology prowess in the ‘Atmanirbhar’ mode.
According to World Bank, “India’s remarkable growth experience lends credence to its long-term growth story. Further reform effort and removing bottlenecks to specific drivers of growth can help accelerate growth rates to 8 percent or higher.” If Indian engineering education is as wrongly portrayed by the NASSCOM-McKinsey and their types of reports, does it mean that the recent success of Indian industrial growth was magically imported? It was purely indigenous, carrying the nation’s pride along and higher education has been a significant driver of this growth. It needs a new lease of life in India’s emerging brand story.
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The stability in India’s growth story is keenly watched by the world. It’s time for India to prove that such stable growth is not driven by punctuated shots of liberalisation, but pronounced policies of stability. The National Education Policy (NEP 2020) is one of the most pronounced stability plans chartering the Indian education growth story. With a similar socio-economic growth trajectory of India in the last decade, the NEP offers a vast scope for experimentation, implementation, universalisation and justification for the need for big-bang reforms in education. As NEP story begins to unfold, it requires a good-mix combination of actors (institutions) and screen play (policies) to build a brand for the next wave of reforms in India’s higher education. The time is appropriate for rebranding India’s higher education growth story, the second coming of its first pre-existent numero uno position without being a victim of de-branding.
The recent success stories—conducting massive CUET, JEE, etc., Academic Bank of Credits, SWAYAM Regulations, skill hubs, research fellowships, NQR-NSQF framework, Professor of Practice guidelines and regulations for foreign universities collaborations—need to be showcased to announce the arrival of India in the global edu-scape. These reforms are nascent and have already begun to see some positive outcomes with the potential to register significant progress in the years to come.
The success of such progress at a global level also lies in the involvement of multiples stakeholders and their roles of uninterrupted action. Such success stories need not be delayed or stunted for their multiplicative growth potential awaiting the Higher Education Commission of India and its four verticals. There are many low-hanging fruits that can be harvested to reap the tasteful outcomes. Such harvest lies in the policy fertilisers whose fertility is linked to the autonomy and independence given to progressive universities and HEIs.
To begin with, all universities and HEIs, which are both NIRF Top 100 ranked and NAAC A+, must be given full autonomy and treated as central universities or institutions of importance. Such new identities will provide oxygenation to breathe a fresh lease of life. In this fresh life lies the re-branding of India’s majority best, which cannot be de-branded by the marginal rest. In short: Re-brand and don’t allow de-brand.
S Vaidhyasubramaniam is Vice-Chancellor, SASTRA Deemed University. He can be reached at vaidhya@sastra.edu