How challenging is this new opportunity for you?
It is quite challenging. Skill training involves finding out what the industry needs, attracting the students with the right aptitude, and finding the appropriate instructors. In addition, we also have to shift the mindset of all of us in India which consumes skill but does not make it visible and dignifies those who provide the skilled services for us. All these pieces need to be thought through and made to fit in a puzzle.
The challenge is also in the change I need to make from my role as a pure academic to a designer of a structure and system where several thousands of academics can thrive and flourish and reach their potential to reach lakhs of students to fulfill the dream and vision of the Delhi University of Skill and Entrepreneurship. The goal of the University as widely shared by the CM of Delhi is to create a university where students from all walks of life can walk in and learn a skill and develop a mindset which provides them with a livelihood and the mindset for growth and success.
How will you channelize your exceptional academic expertise in the development of the University?
I hope to leverage my accumulated experience and some of my understanding to build a culture of excellence. I have learnt a lot from the places I have worked previously, the Universities I studied in and Institutes I have worked in XIMB and IIMA. Each place has inculcated in me the love of learning and the hunger to take challenges. As I move forward I would like to help create such a learning culture in the University.
What strategy you would own to make the university, a globally reputed University?
It is too early to think of a strategy. I think I need to first get the lay of the land and the various parts of the puzzle. This is a greenfield project. The purpose that I think will guide us is, "Skills for all". This is also something that will undergo changes as the team gets formed and we think collectively. The University, needless to say, will focus on both quality and reaching out to a very very large number of students.
When can the first session be expected to start?
The certificate programs will start by January but the degree programs will start by July 2021.
What message would you like to convey to the students’ community?
I would invite students to examine what they love to do and then put their might behind making themselves good at it. There are no substitutes for hard work. While you may never control the outcome you do control the process. Invest in knowing yourself and the world around you and in the skills that will make you employable.
