Manipal 16^th November 2022: Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE)—one of India’s prominent educational establishments and research centres and an Institution of Eminence—hosted a conference addressing various aspects of its intentions towards academic approaches in line with the National Education Policy 2020. The discussion was helmed by Dr H.S. Ballal, Pro Chancellor, MAHE, Lt Gen (Dr) M.D. Venkatesh, VSM (Retd.), Vice Chancellor, MAHE, and Dr Narayana Sabhahit, Registrar, MAHE. MAHE Leadership shared the framework for the institution’s operations, & academic planning going ahead. Mr. S.P. Kar, Director of PR & Media, MAHE, who was the convener of the meeting, moderated the conference.

MAHE Leadership announced the plans for MAHE’s 30^th convocation, which will be held over three days, on the 18^th, 19^th, and 20^th of November. The event will facilitate around 5000 students in the presence of several distinguished guests. Shri Rajnath Singh Honourable Raksha Mantri, GoI, will be the Chief Guest and  Lt Gen (Dr) Madhuri Kanitkar, PVSM, AVSM, VSM (Retd.), Vice Chancellor, MUHS, Nashik, will be the Guest of Honour on the 18^th; for the first day of convocation.  Dr G Satheesh Reddy, Scientific Adviser, Raksha Mantri, GoI, will be the Chief Guest on the 19^th; for the second day, and Mr Amitabh Chaudhry, MD & Chief Executive Officer, Axis Bank, will be the Chief Guest on the 20^th; for the third day.

MAHE leadership announced the plans during the press conference held on the institution’s premises shed light on MAHE’s plans to revolutionize research and the institution’s internationalization efforts to focus on changing the paradigm of higher education globally.  MAHE has plans of innovation and entrepreneurship on a wider canvas. Additionally, MAHE’s implementation of the National Education Policy 2020—and its expected outcomes—was deliberated in the well-attended event. MAHE has been accredited by NAAC with an A++ Grade and its technical programs are also accredited by NBA. MAHE’s quest for excellence is best exemplified in national and international recognitions. As per the National Institutional Rankings Framework (NIRF)-2022 of the Ministry of Education, Government of India, MAHE has ranked 7th in the ‘Universities’ Category. MAHE has been making significant progress in the international rankings.

Speaking at the Press Conference Dr H.S. Ballal, Pro Chancellor, MAHE, said, “Our founder Dr TMA Pai – was a visionary.  He was 3 in 1.  Medical Doctor, Banker, and Educationist.  He established the Academy of General Education in 1942 as a Society registered under the Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860 to make available technical and commercial education to anyone interested. He started with the intention of providing skills to students who have failed in SSLC – like Carpentry, plumbing, Electricians, Masonary. The Academy established professional colleges for imparting training in medicine and started the first self-financing private Medical Colleges in the country in 1953 against having opposition including his own friends.  Simultaneously started engineering dentistry, pharmacy, Architecture, Law, Education, and Management Colleges.

Kasturba Medical College is the flagship Institution of MAHE. It is the first self-financing Medical College to be started by our Founder the late Dr TMA Pai in 1953.  Our medical college was the 29th medical college to be started in this county.  Today, we have more than 600 medical colleges in this country, and I am very happy and proud to say that we are consistently ranked within the top 10 medical colleges in the country for more than 2 decades.

The dream of Dr TMA Pai to establish a University could not come through during his lifetime, his beloved son, Dr Ramdas M Pai, present Chancellor of MAHE, took over the reins in the year 1979 and established the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) in 1993 with the conferment of deemed university status by the Government of India under Section 3 of the UGC Act 1956. Dr Ramdas M Pai made Manipal an international University township and also took Indian Higher Education overseas for the first time. His unwavering practice of “Integrity at any cost” has been the bedrock on which today’s Manipal has been built.

During the Press Conference Lt Gen (Dr) M.D. Venkatesh, VSM (Retd), Vice Chancellor, MAHE, said “Our institution’s legacy is built on pioneering efforts of visionary academicians, professors, thinkers, and perhaps, most importantly people who have dared to demand change. MAHE always benchmarks itself against global standards and sets time-bound action plans to achieve its stated goals and objectives. We are counted among the best academic institutions and our strong focus on internalization follows years of building relations with some of the best universities in the world to exchange ideas, cultures, and best practices. We are looking into redefining our expertise for further connecting people and thoughts across an international network for the benefit of all our stakeholders”.

The honourable VC also elaborated on the institutional plans and stated “Our internalisation goals are

in consonance with National Education Policy -2020 and MAHE is on course to implement the recommendations of NEP by reimagining higher education with a dynamic vision to be competitive at the global level. We have strong fundamentals in place and have set out to expand our holistic educational offerings that revolve around inclusivity, equity, and openness with a strong focus on research. This in effect trains our students to face practical challenges and find viable solutions for the benefit of humanity. Our academic endeavours will centre around imparting quality multidisciplinary education in an engaging environment, combining dynamic curriculum, novel pedagogy, and technology-enabled scientific assessments. MAHE remains committed to students’ welfare and to providing world-class student experiences on our campuses.  We are identifying methods to provide them with the best possible all-around support, enabling them to add newer dimensions to their knowledge, skills, and attitude. This will make our students truly global citizens capable of excelling in their chosen field anywhere in the world”

While the institution’s top-notch research infrastructure caters to our imminent needs, we will continue to fund and prioritise research in our latest phase of transformation. The Research defines our mindset and has been a hallmark of our excellence over the years. Moving ahead we will seek to continue our research journey with renewed vigour using our formidable national and international collaborations to take our scholarly output to the next level. With MAHE celebrating 2022 as the “Year of Innovation and Entrepreneurship”, there is a greater emphasis on entrepreneurship that is enabled in our new policy.

Dr Narayana Sabhahit, Registrar of MAHE, spoke of the forthcoming academic shift, saying, “We envision MAHE to progress and adapt innovative ideas that accommodate a wide-spanning range of academic hurdles and provide solutions to overcoming them. Education is at a transformative crossroads: Methodologies are changing, and teaching systems are moving from classroom concepts to more practical, hands-on experiences. The job market demands more of its habitants today—and with our commitment solely towards our students, we have spruced up our efforts and freshened our academic evaluations to lean increasingly on innovation and entrepreneurship. It’s the age where innovators are prized—MAHE aims to provide an environment where students don’t just learn syllabuses but develop an enterprising mindset. We trust this will define our legacy in the years to come and leave a mark on the country’s educational landscape. We are also seeing a good placement and admission season and are hopeful that things will further pick up. The implementation of NEP policy is a welcome change and will definitely help in building a stronger and value-based higher education system.”

Mr S.P. Kar, Director of PR, media, and social media at MAHE, moderated the conference and share the MAHE ranking details and said “MAHE is accelerating its plans to provide students with a university experience that integrates modern teaching philosophies with tools to keep up with the fast-paced, innovation-heavy nature of the real world. With access to the most up-to-date curriculum and a holistic and refreshing outlook on student management, we hope to revitalise the academic perspective and put a new spin on how higher learning is delivered to thousands of students.