Interview: Mr. Vishal Jain, Executive Director at Vidya Knowledge Park, Meerut|Collegedunia

Interview by Bhawna Rawat

Mr. Vishal Jain is currently working as the Executive Director at Vidya Knowledge Park.

A thoroughly enjoying experience in the education industry

I am relatively novice in the industry, just 5 years but I thoroughly enjoy being a part of the industry. What intrigues me most about this industry is the fact that it’s a new learning every day. I have to keep myself updated being the forerunner of the organization as I handle day to day tasks. I get to meet and converse with people who are intellectually brilliant. Each conversation opens new doors of learning and stimulates the process which I certainly believe is the most important trigger for the creativity to flow which I believe is something very unanimous for the Industry.

With the power to empower people, interacting with brilliant individuals, changing a million lives, staying on the top of your game because information is becoming obsolete at the blink of the second, the dynamism, the interaction and the continuous learning is what makes education industry best to work in. And after, all Forbes rated Education as the second happiest industry to work in with a happiness index of 4.06, just after the government sector at 4.07.

Leadership philosophy of the Executive Director of Vidya Knowledge Park

Being a leader is not easy. You have eyes set on you. Knowingly & unknowingly people are looking forward to you, imitating you and you even don’t know how many minds you are inspiring and how many lives you are impacting. So, I make sure I put my best foot forward. When it comes to my philosophy of leadership,

I am a firm believer of the fact “Practice what you preach and learn before you teach”

because people will doubt what you say but they would definitely believe what you do. So, I am very much on my R&D mode, researching, learning, and practicing before I bring anything on the ground.

Challenges to deal with

Finding the right people who can outperform and a functional team was definitely one big challenge. An academic institution is defined by the quality of its academic fraternity and the diversity of their exposure. They are the people who convert visions into reality by imparting an education that speaks for itself. Benchmarking Global Vision and building a setup in a place like Uttar Pradesh was difficult.

From very humble beginnings today we stand tall with 9 exceptional institutions offering education in engineering, management, fashion, design, fine arts, journalism, computer application, physiotherapy, commerce, home sciences, education, corporate training, MDP, sports and more.

The next major challenge was breaking the Locational Mindset. People don’t generally visualize, benchmark and co-relate Meerut with the kind of infrastructure, pedagogies and human capital we are having so it was tough breaking the mindsets at the initial stages but when we were able to break that initial hitch all our stakeholders went awe-inspired by us and of course we don’t grow until we face challenges.

The curriculum of Vidya Knowledge Park

As we are a college affiliated to a state university, not much can be done about the syllabus structure but we constantly innovate with the content and the pedagogies with which we deliver. With some of the best academicians on board at senior and guiding positions, our professors deliver the most recent information amalgamated with their rich experience and tricks. Our classroom teaching follows a pedagogy which not only provides information but also inspires a spark in our students to apply that information and go beyond.

We have fully AV Projector Based Smart Classes to take the learning experience to the next level.
We are proud to host a multitude of companies and their senior executives for interactive sessions under our signature program Vidya Leadership Series where our students get exposed to the current corporate practices.
We have fully functional 25+ Clubs that diversify student’s interest in core technical and non-technical fields and help them explore the joy of learning.
We have a CCP program to plan, organize and monitor the course coverage and a digital ERP to help ease out the process.
We ensure regular guest lectures, field and industrial visits along with the corporate training to bridge the gap between industry and academia.
We also have a special Job Skill Module wherein we polish our students and fill up the skill deficiency gap which is a major challenge in the industry. Our JSM module function on three core deficiency areas including English, Soft Skills and aptitude making our students, not just Job Ready but Life Ready.

Views on the growth of students through placement opportunities available at Vidya Knowledge Park

Making our students job ready is the prime area of focus for us. Not just acquiring the job,

we train our students well enough to sustain the job and climb up the success ladder.

Seeing the tough market conditions getting that Initial Break as a fresher to display your skills is really difficult, that’s why we make sure there are ample amount of Job Opportunities in the campus as per the capabilities and expectations of the student.

As an institution, we make sure we have best of the companies, not just the big names but also the small names with good work profile on the campus and our students are aptly and confidently trained to qualify the selection protocols to land up a good position. We have Tier 1, Tier 2 & Tier 3 Companies coming to the campus and offering job offers to our students. From top companies like Infosys, Collabra, Wipro, Tommy Hilfiger, we are also proud to give placements to our graduate students of BBA & BCA.

We are adding new companies each year with almost 40% of the students getting more than 4 offers in hand and the choice to choose the best. We plan to bring new companies on board to widen the location horizon and the variety of industries as well.

Connect with the students and availability for them

I love playing Sports, so my first connect happens with the students during morning & evening sessions at our one of a kind Vidya International Sports Academy. I love interacting with students and I make sure the hierarchy barrier falls off after 9 to 5. I love listening to the Goods and the Bad, more specifically the bad because those are the areas where our scope of Growth and improvement lies.

Apart from these, informal jamming sessions also happen. We have a digital feedback and grievance system where we maintain strict anonymity so that students can voice their opinion and when they are genuine, we take corrective actions addressing the same. Also, we have a provision of Student Council Meet and regular meeting with the heads of various institutions where the problems of the students are addressed.

Ideal school environment for growth and prosperity

With my international education and global exposure, I really appreciate the culture in the west. The freedom to choose, the transparency to voice the opinion and thoughts, the understanding of the responsibility and ownership.On the contrary, what I feel missing in the western education which I believe is what makes the Indian Education System very rich is are our core set of values.

My Ideal School environment is an amalgamation of the East & West, where the modernity of the Western Practices meets the values of the East

Every day, we are encouraging that kind of culture. With regular spiritual sessions and value imbibed courses along with the modern pedagogies that we are implementing, we make sure our students are a perfect blend of Modernity & traditions.

Goals in mind for the institute

Our goal is to be better than yesterday. Breaking our own benchmarks setting new parameters and achieving them. We want to be one of a kind Campus in India which is known for its high quality of Education, Exciting College life and Excellent Placement Opportunities.

We visualize Vidya Knowledge Park as the first choice for students, parents, teachers not just from Uttar Pradesh but from the entire country and beyond. Currently, we have students from 18 states of India and we aim to have people from other geographies as to have a population the campus because it creates a very rich learning environment.

The next focus is to develop our campus as a full-fledged university so that we have more autonomy on the syllabus. We also plan to associate with some reputed international universities and big corporate houses for information exchange. We want to be the indisputable hub for excellence in learning where futures are made!

Have Goals, have long-term Goals and then break them down into tiny achievable short-term Goals. Goal Setting is important and the sooner you start the more chances you have to succeed. Set your goals high, stay focused, go after your dreams and keep moving towards your goals and don’t stop till you get there.

The place you choose for education will be the turning point of your career choose wisely, go visit the place, experience what it will be like and then choose a place that can let you be you! Be strong from inside and always, always respect and value your blessings and foundations. These are the real treasures and the things that will take you really far!