“CHOOSE A DEGREE YOU ARE MORE DRIVEN AT RATHER THAN STUDYING FOR THE SAKE OF HAVING A DEGREE - Mrs. Nikita Pandey suggests to the aspiring students

Interview by Yash Panchal

Mrs. Nikita Pandey is the Management Head at IMI Indore. She is a passionate motivator and committed education administrator with leadership experience in various esteemed institutions with diverse work culture and aspirations. Her vision for IMI ’being a world leader in business education’’ focuses mainly on academic excellence and personal values in shaping one’s career. She is working hard to produce world-class, creative and socially responsible leaders who think on a global scale.

She spares no effort to make the curriculum world-class and deliver it in the most effective manner. She constantly scans the developments in business and in society. She tries her best to recruit the best faculty, induct them properly and help them to imbibe Excel culture and value and serve the students and industry with great dedication. She is also deeply involved in research and consultancy. Recently, she has enhanced student-faculty connect, launched Design Thinking across all programs, accelerated faculty development and stepped up engagement with alumni, corporates.

An influencing education industry experience

My educational experience has had a drastic influence on not only who I am as a person but also has done much to shape my goals and aspirations for the future. Although, the knowledge that I have gained throughout the course of my education has proved to be crucial in forming my passion for learning and my interests in developing my abilities and using them to make a difference in any community and in the lives of others.

According to me, education means a lot in everyone's life, as it facilitates our learning, knowledge, and skills. We all want to see ourselves going towards success which is only possible through the imparting of right education. I believe confidence and building personality are the original cultivators in becoming successful personnel. The dynamics between a mentor and the students define the essence of a bright career. Being the management head, I personally feel the education sector is considered to be the best and strongly believe that a nation's prosperity begins with the strong education system.

Flexible and adaptable leadership style

I truly believe leadership style should acknowledge the flexibility and adaptability required by all the leaders

As a leader of IMI, I believe in bringing a community together to share leadership in many different avenues. By focusing on an individual’s strengths, you show that you value your expertise first before you look to help them develop in other areas. This strength-based focus helps to build a relationship with each individual, pushing them to be better every day. When the leader of an organization has the belief and proves it through actions, it trickles down to students in the classroom. The more experience I have in leadership, the more I see that effective teachers are effective leaders and have this same strength-based approach with their students. If we have a community that focuses on building leadership in all areas, we are more likely to be successful in our visions.

Gearing up for new challenges as the Management Head of IMI

Challenges are a part and parcel of any profession or industry. Mentors or educators have the opportunity to create a huge impact on students, but with that comes the challenges. Being a management head, I believe the biggest challenge is making the student realize the correct value of education in the context to teaching must be seen as a respectable career, designing of a 21^st-century curriculum with the advancement in the education field, digitalization in the Indian education system. For the bright future, we need to prepare for today by providing a new generation with better education.

IMI follows a structured curriculum

IMI runs on the philosophy of developing its students by facilitating its excellence in smart learning and other professional activities. IMI follows the most structured and streamlined curriculum, where students are engaged to follow their individual interest. It firmly believes in imparting the right practical knowledge to its students by providing them arena of opportunities including motivational lectures by renowned personalities,

Reputed internship programs in esteemed MNCs, numerous management workshops to become a successful manager.

Qualitative transformation in the education sector and the skills required by the corporate sector

The expansion in the availability of education was not always accompanied by qualitative improvements. Therefore, quality becomes the major concern. Talking of the modern education world, one feels proud; of saying that yes I am educated. Formally or informally, all of us are educated. Education is equipped with the knowledge.

The overall development of mind, body and soul is the real education.

Modern education is aided by a variety of technology, computers, projectors, internet and many more. There is much to learn and more to assimilate. Presently, our education is based on making us the best in our area of interest to help us reach our goals more easily.

I personally feel that the skills which are required for every student to be successful are adaptive thinking, communication and collaboration skills, problem-solving skills, personnel management, creativity and innovation and technology skills. All this contributes to being prosperous personnel.

Aspects of an ideal school culture

A school is a place where children have their initial education and academic learning. It is indeed, a place where a child receives his/her formal education.

The main aim is to provide education and train students’ academic achievement and build their intellectual ability.

Aspects of an ideal school, which IMI follows:

• Focus on the student’s future value beyond the stereotypical boundaries of education.
• We give less importance on testing, more importance on comprehension. We stress greater value on understanding the materials than doing well the standardized tests.
• Greater emphasis on working as a team. There’s a need, not only to foster this type of environment in the classroom but also to build value and understanding for teamwork throughout the school and student body.

Plans for the coming years

IMI is incessantly performing well since its inception by giving its best to students and is continuously exploring the new horizons. As we are currently imparting education in management, law,and commerce and are planning to expand more in keeping pace with today’s contemporary education. There are various things which we are planning for the upcoming years:

• To introduce more specialized courses in college.
• To provide a global platform for the students.
• Introducing more cost-effective programs.
• Making education available to weaker sections of the society.
• Making students self-employed and skilled entrepreneurs.
• To contribute more actively and effectively in social responsibilities.
• To successfully launch ourselves in other cities.

Advice to the youth

Today's current youth is dynamic, smart and well aware. The success mantra which I feel and want that every aspirant should follow is: Choose a degree you are more driven at rather than studying for the sake of having a degree. I suggest every student should first do their self-assessment very precisely and then decide your area of interest. Explore the best and utilize it wisely.