The challenge is not the supply of talent but that of talent that meets the needs of the industry, says Director

Director-Harlal Institute of Management and Technology Neeraj Sharma talks about the institute's pedagogy and curriculum in depth in an interview with Shiksha.com. He goes into great detail regarding the institute's new initiatives for assisting students in becoming industry-ready. HIMT may not have the freedom to establish its own curriculum as an affiliated institute, but it does have the power to decide how to deliver it to provide a high-quality learning experience for all of its students.

Professor Sharma has vast experience of over 23 years in academia and industry. He has authored over five books and nine international papers. He has also been presented with “Best Director” by Academic Brand Awards-2020; and, EET CRS, “MyNEP AMBASSADOR” for the valuable contribution towards promoting the National Education Policy 2020 among others.

Read the complete interview below:

Q: What are the things that your institute is doing that will enable it to differentiate itself from the competition?

A: I believe, the syllabus at most of the institutes remains the same but what differs is the pedagogy and the delivery of the curriculum as a whole. Besides this, we have –

• Supportive and Visionary Management.
• Well Qualified with industry exposure, research-oriented, dedicated and energetic teaching faculty members.
• Supportive non-teaching and laboratory staff.
• Excellent and well-maintained infrastructure.
• Good teaching and learning ambience supported by inexhaustible library.
• Smart Classrooms and well-equipped laboratories.
• Excellent outstanding results at University Examinations.
• Simple and Transparent Admission procedure.
• Beti Bachao Beti Padhao special scheme to promote female students.
• Mentor –Mentee system implemented for excellent Student-Teacher rapport.
• Outstanding extra-curricular activities, sports culture, community service programs and outreach activities by students and faculty.
• Dynamic interface with industries, research and educational institutes.
• Functional Alumni Association
• Annual Job Fair; platform for our students and of other colleges’ students without any charges.

Q: What are the top three initiatives undertaken by you that are helping your students become more industry-ready?

A: HIMT is an affiliated institution and doesn’t have the autonomy to design the curriculum, in spite of that institute determined to ensure best practices of Industry. As you are aware that there is an increase in the number of colleges yearly, the competition for acquiring fresh talent every year is so impassioned that it gives an impression that resources are really scant. The challenge is not the supply of talent but that of talent that meets the needs of the industry. It is not about having a good curriculum or good faculty. It has been established that if the students enhance their skills in a few specific areas desired by the industry, employability can be significantly enhanced. Thus there is a need for strong partnerships between academic institutions and the industry. These will help educate and prepare students to be future-ready and accelerate innovations in the field of science and technology propelling inventions and discovery of new materials, products and processes, resulting in breakthroughs that would help build new industries. To maintain best practices of the industry few add on activities has been added to the current curriculum as recommended by our industry representative member of Board of Studies. To maintain best practices we use following:

• Collaborate with Industries
• Train the Trainer Workshop (FDP sessions):
• Peer Enablement Programmes:
• Workshops, Seminars, Industrial Visits & Soft skills.
• Centre of Excellence

Q: What are the key attributes that a student should have in order to qualify for your institution and perform well?

A: After having 23 years of experience, I still find myself in a learning stage and reflecting more on what I have learned. For to be part of my Institution, my suggestions to youth and aspiring students if they want to successful and great future then they have to think different, they have to try and explore new ideas I mean to say they have to think out of the box. They have to learn how to learn and have to be curious about everything; this will be the key source of their learning. They have to explore their mind by becoming a never-ending reader and have to develop a strong imagination yes sometimes they have become daydreamer with enthusiasm and passion without any fear of failure in mind.

Q: Which programme/s would you say is/are your best? What is it that helps your institution differentiate itself for this programme?

A: We at HIMT is known for creating healthy relation and environment, the student must feel safe, engaged, connected, and supported in the campus and classrooms. These factors contribute to students’ academic achievement and success.

Safety: HIMT committed for students must feel safe in both physical and mental manner before get success in academic area. To have a safe learning environment, students must feel welcomed, supported, and respected.

Engagement: To increase student engagement HIMT emphasis on personalize learning. This approach helps students to develop skills including thinking critically, using knowledge and information to solve complex problems, working collaboratively, communicating effectively, learning how to learn, and developing academic mindsets.

Connectedness: HIMT focuses that Students must feel connected with teachers, staff, and other students.  By focusing on students’ social and emotional learning which helps students to understand and manage their emotions and interactions with others and build the skills necessary to communicate and resolve conflicts. Teachers are very important to create learning environment in the classroom to supports student success.

Supported: HIMT is committed, for every student must felt supported in their learning experience by mean of faculties, families, classmates etc., and on periodic basis HIMT always incorporate feedback for improvement of work and deliveries.

Q: What are you doing to improve/drive better campus placements for your current students and alumni? What kind of jobs routinely come to campus? What would you say are the key recruitment trends for your college (observed over the past five years)?

A: At HIMT, we offer 14 disciplines in UG & PG, almost for all discipline we are getting opportunities from various cooperates.

Annually we organise Job Fair, in which over 60 corporates participate to provide opportunities to students of different disciplines. On this platform, we invite other institutions also free of cost.

• Collaborate with Industries
• Our alumni network is a great source of placements for us and they are actively supporting the Institution to carry out training and placement drives.

Recruitment trends:

• As observed from Previous year’s recruitments drive, recruiters are looking for a readily deployable workforce so as to reduce the training time required.
• To bridge the gap between institutions and Industry Students are being trained with Industry experts to make them aware with the latest technologies and trends