If all goes through as planned and said, the upcoming NIIT University or NU could very well be the symbol of the proposed (and much hyped) educational reforms in India. For the environment conscious, it could also be the symbol of one of the few energy efficient educational institutions in India.

NU, currently offering three courses in Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech), Masters in Technology (M.Tech) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) is spread over 100 acres in Neemrana Rajasthan and is registered as a Private University under The Rajasthan Administration. It will be operational by September 21, 2009 (this is when the first B.Tech class will commence on the campus). And yes, to get into the Engineering course here, you will have to give an interview; Interview because the University is preparing to produce Technology leaders and not just Engineers. MBA programs are also in the offing on similar lines.

How that will be done is by basing all education on the following four principles, which are that education should be a) aligned to Industry, b) Technology enabled, c) Research focused and d) Seamless or incorporating inter disciplinary studies. In other terms, the education as aspired to be imparted here will be as per industry standards and will be such that the students need not be retrained when they join work in an organization. It will use the new age tools in technology to the fullest (the site itself is linked to Twitter, Flickr and Facebook which tells you that NU is serious about its use of technology bit). Research or rather the absence of it is the buzz word of ‘education-India’ right now. NU, with its existing research lab for faculty in IIT Delhi and another one coming up in the campus will make sure that both its students and teachers get to do some hard core research during their course. Many of the research papers done by the faculty are already available on the website. The curriculum would be made more holistic by the ‘seamless’ studies concept. Through this, students will be able to study subjects not directly related to their course but important for their overall growth.

In the above we will see in practice, some of the suggestions of the Yashpal report which have been discussed at length on many platforms. With industry leaders on its board, the university aims to get a cross section of Industry-Academia-Research to develop a knowledge based and not an employment based education in the country. I am keeping my fingers crossed. Hoping they deliver what they have promised.