Students: 4 in 5 undergrad students in India want industry experts in their faculty

With changing times, Indian students are increasingly demanding industry experts as their teachers. Eighty-three per cent of students would like to be taught by a faculty panel consisting of traditional academicians and industry experts, a report released on Thursday showed.

This highlights “the need to bridge the gap between ‘traditional’ teaching methodologies and the application of industry knowledge in the classroom, said the “Designing Higher Education for the 21st Century Learner” released by learning solutions provider TeamLease EdTech said.

Over 55 per cent of over 10,000 students surveyed by the company were even ready to pay a higher fee for online degrees if the courses are taught by qualified, skilled, and reputed faculty.

However, a majority of them said that the fee for online courses should be at least 30 per cent lower than the on-campus fee.

“The pandemic has inadvertently transformed learning and education models across the world. It is extremely important for India to recognize the shifting patterns of pedagogy and take meaningful measures to address the same. It has become clear that the traditional approaches to learning no longer make the cut today,” Shantanu Rooj, founder and CEO at TeamLease EdTech said.

With the University Grants Commission (UGC) announcing earlier this month that students will have to complete a four-year course to earn an “honours” degree in India, 70 per cent of students said that they must be given the option to exit and re-enter their degree programs at multiple stages. Only 24 per cent of the surveyed said that the credibility of their education will be reduced by it.

The findings also highlighted the change in demands related to course structure in India. Nearly 90 per cent of the students said that their courses must have an element of on-job learning and project work. It must move out of the classrooms.

“With the 21st-century business world dictating new rules and digital pathways, it has become immensely essential for students today to match the evolving global standards of education and new-age learning methodologies,” Neeti Sharma, co-founder and president of TeamLease EdTech, said.

The survey further showed that apart from the multidisciplinary degree, Management, Medicine and Engineering courses continue to receive the highest interest in India.