Vocación de Uso del Suelo

Vice-Principal S.I.E.S (Nerul) College of Arts, Science and Commerce [email protected]

Abstract

Higher Education is critical for India‘s aspirations to emerge as a major player in the global knowledge economy. Despite the tremendous growth witnessed in the higher education in India, there are several challenges faced for providing quality education in India. The biggest challenge facing the higher education is the problem of improving quality of teaching in higher education. The success of any education system depends on the quality of teachers. Teachers play crucial role in the development of the education system as a whole and also in imparting and maintaining the standards of higher education. This would call for continuous upgrading the skill development of the teachers. The purpose of skill development among teachers is to enhance knowledge creation, openness, collaboration and developing competencies and capabilities. In SIES( Nerul) , various initiatives have been taken to enhance the skill development of teacher to improve the overall quality of education.

Keywords: Higher Education, Quality, Skill Development

1. INTRODUCTION TO HIGHER EDUCATION

Higher Education is critical for India‘s aspirations to emerge as a major player in the global knowledge economy. The global competitiveness of Indian economy will depend on quality of human capital with their acquired skills and training.

A country‘s endowment of its traditional factors of production-land, labour and capital determine its economic strength and therefore its comparative advantage. Labour and particularly the quality of labour has become the key determinant for the competitiveness of a country. New theories of economic growth have emphasized a greater role for human capital in a country economic development. Economist regard expenditures on education, training, medical care as investment in human capital. They are called human capital because people cannot be separated from their knowledge and skills. Economic growth closely depends on the synergies between new knowledge and human capital which is why large improvements in education have helped advanced countries to achieve significant economic growth.

India today is the largest contributor to the global workforce. The median age of India‘s 1.5 billion strong population is a mere 32; a good ten years lower than most other nations in the country. Indian economy has emerged as the third largest economy - an achievement underpinned by its unique demographic advantage, its skilled labour force. Indian education system has been instrumental in achieving this. Over the last two decades, the higher education system in India has witnessed tremendous transformation. Large scale reforms have been introduced to improve the accessibility of education to all.

Higher education contributes to social and economic development through four major channels. The formation of human capital (primarily through teaching); the building of knowledge base (primarily research and knowledge development); the dissemination and use of knowledge (primarily through interactions with knowledge users); and the maintenance of knowledge (transmission of knowledge). The importance of higher education has been clearly expressed by our First Prime Minister, Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru in the following words: ―A University stands for humanism, for tolerance, for reason , for the adventure of the ideas and for the search of truth. It stands for the onward march of human race towards even higher objectives. If the universities discharge their duties adequately, then it is well within the nation and the people‖.

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The Kothari Commission (1966) has listed the following role of higher education institutions in modern societies:

a) To seek and cultivate new knowledge, to engage vigorously and fearlessly in the pursuit of truth, and to interpret old knowledge and beliefs in light of new needs and discoveries. b) To provide the right kind of leadership in all walks of life, to identify gifted youth and to help

them develop their potential to the full by cultivating physical fitness, developing the powers of the mind and cultivating right interests , attitudes and morals and intellectual values; c) To provide the society with competent men and women trained in agriculture, arts, medicine,

science and technology and various other professionals who will also be cultivated individuals imbibed with a sense of social purpose.

d) To strive to promote equality and social justice , and to reduce social and cultural differences through differences of education; and

e) To foster in the teachers and students and through them in the society generally , the attitudes and values needed for developing the ‗ good life‘ in individuals and society.

2. HIGHER EDUCATION IN INDIA

The education system in India is divided into a differentiated academic system with a three-tiered structure comprising highly selective elite research universities at the top, comprehensive universities and specialized institutions in the middle, and an array of highly-accessible and high-quality colleges at the bottom. While the first tier caters exclusively to furthering India‘s intellectual capital, the other two focus on delivering economic and social value respectively.

Top-tier research universities are centres of excellence for the creation of new knowledge, set up with the vision to emerge as national and international leaders in research and innovation. They enrol a selective set of talented, research-oriented students to be taught by stellar faculty.

These universities have helped to broaden the scope of India‘s research capabilities for creating new knowledge that is relevant for India in the new world. For example, Indian universities are at the forefront of research in bioscience, environment and climate change, inclusive development and leadership. The second tier of India‘s higher education consists of industry-aligned professional institutions has seen the greatest growth over the last two decades. Focused on quality teaching and producing highly employable graduates, these institutions are a passport to white-collar jobs in a knowledge economy. They not only impart knowledge and technical know-how but also produce well-rounded industry leaders in the field of technology, engineering and management. Student learning outcomes are centre stage to this model. The last tier of broad-based highly-accessible universities is designed to expand the reach of higher education to all eligible and deserving students in the country. They offer a wide range of courses aimed at providing a holistic education to India‘s masses, and play a major role in promoting equity and access. Their distinguishing characteristic is a varied student population with significant regional and linguistic diversity and a balanced gender profile.

3. NEED FOR QUALITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Despite these developments, the Indian education system faces several challenges. The biggest challenge facing the higher education is the problem of improving quality of teaching in higher education. The success of any education system depends on the quality of teachers. Teachers play a very significant role in the development of society. Thus the quality of higher education depends upon who impart it. Teachers are the most important component of any education system. Teachers play crucial role in the development of the education system as a whole and also in imparting and maintaining the standards of higher education. Teachers play an important role in making quality education and in shaping the future and destiny of a nation.

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1) To respond to the growing demand for meaningful and relevant teaching. Students as well as educational institutions want to ensure that their education will lead to gainful employment and will equip them with the skills needed to evolve professionally over a lifetime.

2) To demonstrate that they are reliable providers of good quality higher education, while operating in a complex setting with multiple stakeholders.

3) To balance performance on teaching and learning achievements along with research performance ,

4) To increase the efficiency of the teaching and learning process.

According to OECD, quality teaching includes initiatives that help teachers to achieve their mission, encouraging them to innovate and to support improvements to student learning and adopt a learner oriented focus. Support for improving teaching quality can be provided through various initiatives like creating a centre for teaching and learning development, professional development activities, support to innovative pedagogy and improving learning environment.

4. SKILL DEVELOPMENT AMONG TEACHERS

Teachers are the most important component of the higher education system. Academic development of teachers is crucial and necessary for the success of the higher education system because the teachers are the catalyst for all round development of students. Teachers play a significant role not only in improving the quality of higher education but also maintaining it. The professional competency of teachers has to be such a high level so as to impart quality knowledge to the students. This would call for continuous upgrading the professional development of the teachers. High quality professional development within the profession in order to keep in touch with new findings in their subjects and to obtain continuous support for the improvement of their teaching. Teachers need continuous self development to generate knowledge that goes to contribute towards inculcating higher professional competency among students. It is linked with

a) Quality of research

b) Participation in national and International seminars c) Faculty exchange programs

d) Up gradations of qualifications e) Exposure to recent developments

f) Collaborating with fellow researchers in other higher education institutions.

If a higher education institution have to develop then, its teachers individuals and collectively must increase their capacity to produce results they really care about. The levels of performance and improvement needed require lots of learning. An institution that encouragers learning among its teachers and promotes exchange of information between them, produces a very flexible institution, where all will accept and adapt to new ideas and changes accruing in the environment.

The purpose of skill development among teachers is the following:

1) Knowledge creation: The institution is a system for generating knowledge and teachers are an integral part of that process.

2) Openness: It helps to introduce new ideas and practices in teaching learning process. Teachers with the necessary skill enhancement would be more open to adopting new teaching tools.

3) Collaboration: It will help to create an environment where teachers will collaborate and learn from each other.

4) Development: Skill development provides opportunities for developing competencies and capabilities.

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5. SKILL DEVELOPMET INITIATIVES IN SIES (NERUL) COLLEGE OF ARTS, SCIENCE AND COMMERCE

SIES (Nerul) established in 1998 provides wide range of courses from commerce, management, mass media to information technology. Taking its motto ‗Rise with education‘ as its inspiration, the College strives to provide quality education to the students of Navi Mumbai. The teachers are appointed to provide good education to the students. However, one of the challenges that is faced by the institution is the skill upgration of teachers. There is a need for skill development of teachers that responds to the educational goals of the institution of providing quality education. For enhancing the skills of teachers, following initiatives have been undertaken by the management and the college.

1) SIES Central Training Department: The management of SIES has initiated this department for providing skill development training to the faculties across all SIES institutes. The department at the beginning of the academic year takes feedback from faculties and identifies certain topics for discussion. Experts from the industry, academia, research scholars, and professors from international intuitions are invited to deliver lectures on the chosen topics. For skill development of teaching and nonteaching staff, one day workshops are also conducted. There are also programs conducted for students. Wide range of topics including training on SPSS, Tally and Microsoft Excel has been conducted. The department also releases E-Newsletter known as ADHIGAM at the end of very semester where SIES faculties contribute articles on higher education and their experiences in classrooms adopting new teaching methodologies.

2) Faculty development program: In SIES (Nerul) , several faculty development programs have been organised for skill development of teachers. These programs are organised by inviting experts from my management institute and also from industry. The college has organised one day workshops on SPSS, Minor research projects, Advanced Excel, JAVA Technologies Cloud computing etc. For teachers in information technology, seminars on Cloud computing, Advanced excel in collaboration with Microsoft and NIIT has been organised.

3) Non-teaching staff: The College also arranges workshops for skill development of non teaching staff. There has been training sessions organised for them in topics like Tally, Advanced EXCEL. There are also other sessions that are planned in the future based on the feedback received from them.

6. CONCLUSION

Emerging Indian economy and the new social order demand a changing trend in traditional education. In order to meet the needs and aspirations of the people in emerging society, educations need to be remodelled and reorganized. Instead of focussing on quantity of education, there has to be greater emphasis on quality of education Aims, content and process of education should be tailored to meet the needs of the emerging economy.

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Hénard, F., & Roseveare, D. (2012). Fostering quality teaching in higher education: Policies and Practices. An IMHE Guide for Higher Education Institutions, 7-11.

Hiremath, D. S. S., & Albal, D. D. R. (2016). Current Scenario Of Higher Education In India: Reflections On Some Critical Issues. International research Journal of Social Science and Humanities, 1(1). Imam, A. (2011). Quality and excellence in Teacher education: Issues and challenges in India. ZENITH

International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 1(7). Kaul, S. (2006). Higher education in India; seizing the opportunity.

Mishra, S. (2007). Quality assurance in higher education: An introduction. National Assessment and Accreditation Council, India.

PILLAI COLLEGE OF ARTS, COMMERCE & SCIENCE,New Panvel, New Mumbai-06 Page 103 Nagoba, B. S., & Mantri, S. B. (2015). Role of Teachers in Quality Enhancement in Higher

Education. Journal of Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences University, 4(1), 177-182.

National Knowledge Commission India. (2007). National Knowledge Commission: Report to the Nation 2006. Government of India.

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USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING: WITH SPECIFIC REFERENCE TO