Elora Basumatary, Director – MBA Programme, Universal Business School, on the key priorities for education sector and her own educational philosophy
Elora Basumatary, who has been associated with Universal Business School for last seven years, calls it a very scintillating journey. She believes in the philosophy that teachers teach the learners, engage with the learners, but they are themselves learners. Excerpts from an interview:
What strategy are you focussing on to be able to nurture skills in your students?
First, whatever we are teaching, we are providing an environment for the learners to apply because when you can apply that learning, the skill stays with you.
Today, problem-solving skills is a top priority. For that, we have case study-based pedagogy, where we put students in a case-study environment for solving problems. We have also created an academic model where we have divided our learnings for the learners into classroom learning, experiential learning and individual learning.
Lifelong learning is very important. And that is why we have put a component of individual learning in each module. We also have skill development team, which is talking about the presentation skills or any other soft skills that is required for the interview processes.
In your opinion how has the philosophy around education evolved in the last couple of years?
Technology is one of the things which has really fuelled education in the last couple of years. The National Education Policy 2020 pays a lot of attention to lifelong learning. We want our learners to be lifelong learners and for that, you must self-learn or should have the access to learn.
The big platforms where you can do a lot of certifications have come up in the last few years, specifically during Covid. Another big thing that is coming up is Artificial Intelligence (AI). Technology is shaping education but at the same time, the understanding that you must be involved in order to progress is still there.
What are the new projects or certification programmes that are expected from Universal Business School?
We are looking at some multidisciplinary programmes like BBA with certain technology-infused subjects or Applied BA Psychology which we are looking at for the School of Liberal Arts. We want applied and technical subjects to be included.
