24-25 November 2022: QS I-GAUGE hosted The India Academic Forum; a transformational leaders’ conclave as a platform to showcase their capabilities and discuss and deliberate on topics that help the Indian education system achieve global standards. The event witnessed over 100 academic leaders from higher education institutions and schools from across the country.

Dr Kiran Bedi, Former DGP and Former Lt Gov Puducherry was invited as the keynote speaker at The QS I-GAUGE India Academic Forum and had the audience mesmerised with her talk. Her speech included words from the scriptures as well as her own anecdotes. She called herself a “student for life” and said what an important part education plays in moulding the nation and its future. She also mentioned that it was a “great and rare honour” to “address a very prestigious and learned gathering”. Dr Bedi went on to say that “the purpose of education is to drive a humanity which is humane, humanity which prevents war, humanity which prevents poverty”. She concluded with a quote from Sri Aurobindo, “an ideal theme of education is to bring forth the inner, hidden latent, dormant, potential secret with every human being. Its aim is not to promote competition but harmonious learning”.

This thought leadership initiative was curated to give the industry an exclusive opportunity to voice their opinions and concerns, but more importantly, celebrate and felicitate 30 QS I-GAUGE-rated universities, colleges and schools across India.

QS I-GAUGE is a brand incorporated in India as an independent private-sector initiative specialised in rating colleges, universities and schools. It brings together the global expertise, experience, and reputation of UK-based QS Quacquarelli Symonds, along with deep local knowledge of luminaries from Indian education. The Hallmark of the QS I-GAUGE rating methodology is that it is evidence-driven, transparent, and holistic.

QS I-GAUGE college & university rating is based on seven primary criteria and six secondary criteria ranging from Teaching and Learning, Employability, and Social Responsibility to Research, Internationalisation and Governance & Structure. QS I-GAUGE School rating consists of six core criteria and five specialised criteria ranging from Internationalisation, Skill Development and E-Learning to Arts & Culture and Sports Activities.

Dr Chetan Singai, Chief Consultant, Technical Secretariat, National Curriculum Framework 2022, Ministry of Education, GOI was among the chief speakers; in his address to academic leaders on transformative pedagogy, he gave insights from the National Education Policy (NEP) and the National Curriculum Framework.

Dr Singai also chaired the roundtable discussion on the “Key takeaways of transformative pedagogy discussed in NEP” with the participants from reputed institutions like Presidency University, NEIT Greater Noida, SRM University-AP, and World University of Design, to name a few.  The other roundtable topics were “Internationalisation-Opportunities and Challenges” for higher education academics on 24 November 2022.

On 25 November 2022, the school principals and management from popular schools like Harvest International School, SSVM Institutions, NPS Jayanagar, Rainbow International School, Silver Oaks International School and many more participated in discussions on “HEI and School Collaboration” and “Future of education-learning beyond textbooks, content and curriculum”.

Reputed institutions like UPES, Alliance University, Shoolini University, and O P Jindal Global University made presentations on “Unconventional Courses and Career Choices”, deliberating on how students today have a greater pool to choose from to build a career. Also, the Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) presented a case study on “Achieving Research Impact”, which was very well received by the audience.

The India Academic Forum became a platform for the launch of the Digital Maturity Framework (DMF), developed by QS in collaboration with AWS and Intel. The main purpose of designing this framework is to enable the institutions to understand their level of digital maturity which will be evaluated based on varied parameters related to digitisation. An institution will be provided with a road map towards digital improvement at the end of this audit. This increases the potential for innovative universities to deliver personalised and adaptive learning based on past data on student performance. In a consumer-led fee-paying industry, institutions that are ‘digitally mature’ will quickly establish leadership in reputation for teaching and teaching commitment enabling rapid growth in student numbers. Digitally mature universities will be highly attractive to international partners. This can be relevant for transnational education, joint degrees and other forms of collaboration. This framework acts as a roadmap for the institutions to transform themselves into digitally optimised institutions.

On the same occasion, Dr Ashwin Fernandes, CEO of QS I-GAUGE said, “Quality and excellence are of great significance in imparting education, as it enhances the capacities and capabilities of the learners, who will bridge the gap between the underdeveloped and the developed nations. This is not possible without the involvement of every stakeholder. QS I-GAUGE is actively involved in providing global expertise to Indian institutions in this journey”.

At the event, QS I-GAUGE also announced the “Institution of Happiness 2023” (IOH) a QS I-GAUGE initiative to help institutions understand the level of happiness in the students and faculty and how to better their quality of life. Among various parameters in measuring wellbeing, happiness is considered as a prime factor, and educational institutions play a significant role in developing the right attitude, perspective, and emotional stability among the individuals on campus. Last year QS I-GAUGE took the initiative to understand the well-being of students across the country where more than 100 institutions participated out of which 33 institutions qualified for maintaining a healthy pulse of happiness among their students.

List of QS I-GAUGE Rated Institutions

Higher Education:

Basaveshwar Engineering College, Karnataka
BML Munjal University, Haryana
Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Science, Maharashtra
Hindustan Institute of Technology & Science, Tamil Nadu
KPR Institute of Engineering and Technology (KPRIET), Tamil Nadu
Chitkara University, Himachal Pradesh
Noida Institute of Engineering Technology (NIET), Uttar Pradesh
RV Institute of Management, Karnataka
SAGE University, Madhya Pradesh
Saveetha Institute of Science & Technology, Tamil Nadu
The NorthCap University, Haryana
Ajay Kumar Garg Engineering College, Uttar Pradesh
Dr Ambedkar Institute of Technology, Karnataka
FLAME University, Maharashtra
GL Bajaj Institute of Technology and Management, Uttar Pradesh
GSSS Institute of Engineering and Technology for Women, Karnataka
Nims University Rajasthan, Jaipur
Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology (NMIT), Karnataka
Ramaiah Institute of Management, Karnataka
Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Karnataka
Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences, Karnataka
Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University), Pondicherry

Schools:

CS Academy International, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
Mukundapuram Public School, Kerala
Manav Rachna International School, Haryana
Griffins International School, West Bengal
Shree Sarasswathi Vidhyaah Mandheer (SSVM) Tamil Nadu
SSVM World School, Tamil Nadu