NRI institute of technology and management

Mr. Amit Srivastava is the Dean (Academics) at NRI institute of technology and management. He is an arduous person who believes in hard work oriented results. He articulates that there should be a student-centered approach to help students and understand them at a ground level. He is a visionary who believes in pragmatic learning and passes on the same message down the line. Read here what he has to say in his interview. 

What are the key factors that keep you connected with the education sector?

“It gave me an opportunity to fill my own curiosity and create a difference in the lives of others”

As a dean academic, I have a chance to help colleagues and my students. I believe that my purpose is to help others realize and reach their full potential, and teaching is how I can live that out. There is nothing better than helping a student build confidence in their abilities. 

The role of education and the role of teachers are to empower students not just to do what they want, but to make mistakes. The more often you make mistakes, the more likely you will be to do something meaningful. Messing up is something that we have to foster. Because that’s how expressing yourself works—it’s when you get the chance to be wrong and to, you know, have a go at random things.

It’s about finding passion, and I think this school does an outstanding job of that—allowing you to search out what you want to do and find your love. 

How do you tend to establish a healthy relationship with the students?

“Teachers and their students have a special relationship; what they do affects each other”

Teachers and students can't survive without each other. The relation has established a bond which prospers over time and benefits in the classroom environment. I always try to connect my students with one to one communication. I think if we try to understand student's problems and encourage and motivate them to do something new, they will flourish in any environment.

The qualities of a good teacher are endless. Nevertheless, among these, we can mention a few essential traits that an educator has to have, to be called a capable teacher. Qualities such as, kindness, self-control, duty, reliability, sportsmanship and truthfulness are among the many characteristics of a good educator who wants to have a nurturing and nourishing relationship with students. For example, the kind and reliable teachers are always available for their students mentally and physically; they spend many of their precious time after college to help students learn a subject matter.

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What is your philosophy of leadership? How would you describe your leadership style?

“A good teacher must be a good leader”

 A good leader must set the right example to their students and colleagues to act and perform in a certain way. Lead by example in everything you do at work. In order to become a great leader, we have to understand your own attributes and strengths. Seeking continuous self-improvement and always being a good learner is important means that you will be strengthening your own skill and updating your knowledge.

A positive environment is more likely to create a more engaged and productive workplace. We must have a positive attitude towards our students, especially those who are not doing good in their career. There are certain aspects that I believe in

  • Adaptability: Education techniques constantly change, so a professional in the education sector must express a willingness to alter techniques and implement new approaches to education.
  • Dedication: Although the education sector’s work schedule is typically straight forward, employees should demonstrate dedication to their field by preparing and researching outside of the regular work week.
  • Communication: Employees in education must be able to clearly articulate knowledge and be able to gauge understanding of knowledge.
  • Creativity: While many can educate, creative approaches to teaching and pedagogical implementation distinguish the strongest employees in the education sector.
  • Enthusiasm: Employees in the education sector should experience the passion for their occupation and motivate others to achieve success.
  • Management: In order to excel in education, an employee should be able to manage a variety of tasks and convey ideas in a coherent manner.
  • Knowledge: Those working in the education sector must demonstrate expansive knowledge within their field and be able to convey this knowledge to others.
  • Organisation: Employees working in the education sector must be highly organised in order to manage a variety of tasks and facilitate learning.

What are some of the biggest challenges you see, both for higher education / technical Education?

“The engineering education requires technical transformation for students to prosper” 

India is the largest producer of engineers around the globe in undergraduates, graduates, applied engineering and science. Every second student is an engineering student. There are more than 10000 engineering colleges in India, But the ratio of total intake capacity and total enrolment is around 50%. There are two broad areas of challenges engineering colleges are facing:

  • On the level of quality of education (on the academic level)
  • On the level of infrastructure and management of colleges

Everything related to education and the education industry is supposed to be student-centric but it has changed in the last 10-20 years. Colleges are more focused on getting a higher admissions rate rather than giving the students quality education (which is the main objective of colleges).

Admission rate is important but the retention rate is more important. According to a recent study, the quality of engineering fellows from Russia and China is better than India. Students have substantial gain in Maths and Critical Thinking at the beginning of their course as compared to Russia and China. But the overall higher-order thinking level of these students decrease by the end of course. Moreover, these colleges don’t have high-tech types of equipment for proper research, practicals and in-depth understanding of complex engineering concepts.

“India holds an important position in the global education industry. India has one of the largest networks of higher education institutions in the world. However, there is still a lot of potential for further development in the education system.”

How do you try to bring in a practical approach towards subjects and make it industry oriented?

Practical or informal knowledge manifests itself as skills or ‘‘knowing-how’’

Practical knowledge is very important to understand how things actually work. Practical knowledge leads to a much deeper understanding of a concept through the act of doing and personal experience. It is found to be of much use in our actual day-to-day work. There are a lot of things you can only learn through doing and experiencing; no matter how hard you try to learn that through theoretical means.Few thing which we follow in our department to make it as an industry oriented 

  • Internship Program: summer and Winter Internship in industries
  • Interview for their placements process: Mock Interviews to help them sail and bag placements 
  • Group Discussions
  • Presentation: To help boost their confidence and soft skills 

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