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Leading Learners #3 | Championing Change

By Prof. Satish Jayaram, PhD – Ideator | Innovator | Incubator

y last two columns Leading Learners #1 and #2, urged creation structures. All accredited institutions/
of accountability within learning structures by renewing faculty need to create their own degree of
Mroles to prioritize change. This concluding column focuses on signature credibility, through advanced
championing change by analysing criticality and commitment in required exposure/re-certification, meeting
quarters. Case note – declining career choice for culinary/hospitality/ phygital learning and skilling standards.
service domains. Are rewards visible in the context of changing economic 3. Skilling Systems: Module design,
implications, of a fast growing USD 500 bn food and beverage market size delivery, assessment and evaluation have
by 2027? Current mentors across all levels and functions need to attract gone through sea changes globally, yet
future talent by repositioning growing opportunities! Areas affecting methods deployed today remain hoary.
quality, consistency and sustainability of talent pipelines for future needs The priority to develop new bodies of contemporary underpinning
include content, credibility and cultural baggage. An interconnection of knowledge, by content renewal and restructuring is a crying need.
these factors is framed, by highlighting the urgency to act progressively, Affordability of progressive approaches can be highlighted from models
eliminating the sluggish status quo in several systems. like Swayam Plus, a powerful initiative by Ministry of Education, yet not
NEP (2020) provides a progressive structure to achieve quality fully leveraged nationally.
through access, equity, affordability and accountability. The extent to 4. Supervisory Systems: Module supervision to achieve learning
which these benefits are prioritized and leveraged in learning or skilling outcomes is a curriculum design and delivery mission. Supervisory
systems, depends on acceleration - by assigning stringent timelines. systems have to change from a culture of mediocrity to one of incubating
Visionary results can be achieved through system synergy, by assigning excellence. Industry, employment and/or entrepreneurial outcome-based
relevant roles with responsibility and governing result-oriented performance management systems, must be instituted to bring in an ethos
accountability. The question to really answer is whether existing talent of transparency. Holistic implementation across academia and industry
leaders, with limited resources and perspectives are fully empowered will yield better results if fully owned.
to bring in this change. Do existing constraints affect execution - by Synergies between student, support, skilling and supervisory systems
obscuring growing criticality and slowing commitment for change, need a think-tank, comprising academia, industry, entrepreneurs and the
across several stakeholder groups? Some inherent insights can be gauged start-up ecosystem to work with urgency, address talent gaps and create
through the modelling of both variables, criticality and commitment. certifications/micro-credentials, aligning open credit accrual/transfer.
While criticality remains masked, fluctuating between being concealed Accountability to ensure system performance at optimal levels requires
or revealed, commitment levels are either passive lip-service or occur in answerable ownership. Cross functional teams across systems need to
rarefied islands of excellence. practice in concert to win this relay race. Frequent outcome reviews
and realignment through an overarching board,
will ensure that there is coherence in efforts. The
primary responsibility to lead learners, rests with
policy makers and academic bodies via skilling
delivery ecosystem partners alongside industry.
Incorporation of advanced hybrid neo-skilling to
offer open credit-based learning solutions, needs
uniform incubation and acceptance first, then
compliant conveyance as a universal minimum
viable solution!
Leading effective learning experiences is
a collective responsibility, yet structures for
accountability, to deliver operative outcomes remain
ambiguous. Stakeholder mapping, expectation
alignment and engaged participation are some ways
1. Student Systems: Progressive open-credit accrual systems can in which real empowerment of talent pipelines can be accomplished. In
be deployed to stack-up skills for interim outcomes. Multi-disciplinary conclusion, obscuring criticality is ostrich-like behaviour, stakeholders
learning can be adopted between periods of work, internship or summer must definitively achieve consensus on deliverables without the
school credits, to cement neo-skilling from practitioners. Changing proverbial buck-passing. Once achieved, despite limitations of democratic
contexts of student requirements remain largely concealed now. Access encumbrances, active commitment to ascertain stakeholder-level support
to learning opportunities can be re-structured, by mapping credits credibly, must result in demonstration of a visibly renewed learning
innovatively to suit emerging contexts. culture! An engaged macro-skilling ecosystem, driven by accountability, is
2. Support Systems: Subject matter expertise exists rarely in the only real answer to protect future talents. But are all stakeholders truly
progressive pockets within limited institutions, both globally and championing this change vigorously? n
domestically. Students must gain equitable access countrywide, using The views expressed within this column are the opinion of the author,
digital learning, via synergistic institutional MoUs in collaborative and may not necessarily be endorsed by the publication.

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