Why innovation is must in education?

Kotler, the Management Guru, once said that in order to succeed there are only two aspects which are important, Marketing and Innovation. Innovation is the very essence of success. It is important in all aspects. In the field of education, innovation is the need of the hour.

In one of the research papers published recently it was mentioned that only 21% of the MBA students are today employable. What could be the reason for such a high level of unemployment in the MBA graduate? How can one reduce this unemployment? Can innovations in education field help in reducing this unemployment?

In order to understand the need for innovations in Education, let us understand the role of the key players in any education scenario:

Innovations in the education sector could probably lead to an improvement in attendance levels in the classes and hence an increase in absorption levels of the subject matter in the minds of the students. It can also lead the students to be more industry inclined so that barring a few students who go in for higher learning, the other students would be industry fit.

The detailed discussions with the knowledgeable persons in the education field indicated that perhaps:

1. Development of industry programmes or industry specific programmes could be of great help. The idea is to have a couple of lectures in specific areas such as outsourcing management, health and hospital management and pharmaceutical industry management. This will help the students get an idea about the specific sectors.
2. Specific innovations in the areas of teaching pedagogy. Thus, some of these areas could be conduct of one week of appreciation programme at the beginning of session, involving the students in creating posters specific to social needs, reverse teaching, guest lectures, case study, live projects, industrial visits (national and international), use of select films to stimulate the mind through discussions and conducting socially involving issues such as blood donation camps, celebrating Diwali and other festivals with members of an old age home, children’s home, etc., strengthening the hands of Mahila Groups and Self Help Groups.

Each of these innovative pedagogy teachings has several advantages. Guest lectures, for instance, give students an overview of industry practices and help them relate the theory to real-life applications. The training and internship method is a self-feeding method. Industry gets a first-hand feel of students in a business school, thus increasing their placement opportunities and strengthening long-term relationship between the two entities. A one-week appreciation course at the beginning of the year helps the students get a birds view about the programme and its implications. Creating posters on social issues helps the students mentally prepared to solve social issues which could occur in the organisations.

Live projects help students get a taste of the industry world. This would, in the normal course, involve discussions with the industry personnel, a sort of memorandum of understanding (MOU) with them. Group presentations, team working help the students in having better negotiating skills and understanding group dynamics.

Another important area is the involvement of industry and senior leaders in the decision making body itself i.e. inclusion of such personnel in the governing council of the institution. These inclusions help in understanding the industry perspective. Additionally these personnel also help in enhancing the brand value of the institution.  By involving industry in the curriculum designing, the student benefits and makes them industry-ready. The syllabus is then revised or revisited once in three years.

Joint seminars are considered to be an effective mode of not only cross-branding but also strengthening the academic relationship between business school and the industry. These are an opportunity for students to gain an understanding of the latest industry trends and industry a chance to gauge the institute and its students for prospective placements. In all theses seminars it is necessary to somehow trigger the students to ask questions. Creativity of the speaker and the organisers lie in ensuring that there is a constant interaction between the speaker and the audience. 

Live Projects in conjunction with the industry personnel is another innovative pedagogy tool. It is necessary here that the faculty takes the initiative in consulting with the industry so that these live projects can be given to the students. The key issue in all these live studies is to ensure that the student does not miss out on the attendance of the other subjects.

Through such innovations, institutions can aim to raise the educational bar and make the students employable.

About Author:

Prof Dr R Gopal is Director at School of Management, D.Y. Patil University, Navi Mumbai. He is a Mechanical Engineer from IIT, Kharagpur. He has also completed his MBA, ICWA, PhD and Post-Doctoral Research degree -- D. Litt. He has also published more than 200 research papers both in Indian and foreign journals. He has been awarded the Best Outstanding Research Paper at the Asia Pacific Marketing Conference held in Malaysia. He has over three decades of teaching experience at various B-schools in and around Mumbai. His motto is to transform every student into an achiever so that every student will create a success story.

Note: The views expressed in this article are solely author’s own and do not reflect/represent those of Shiksha