Prof. Raghu Raman and Dr. Vinith Kumar Nair represent Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham in QS APPLE 2021 conference held from November 1-3, 2021
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham was showcased at the QS APPLE 2021 conference with Amrita presentations highlighting India’s National Educational Policy and Sustainability research and Rankings. This year’s QS Quacquarelli Symonds APPLE 2021 conference held from November 1-3, 2021 was themed on Future Rebalance: Emerging trends and workforce in the Asia Pacific and was attended by thousands of participants from academia and industry from across the world. Prof. Raghu Raman, Dean-School of Business & Director, Amrita Center for Accreditations, Rankings & Eminence & Dr. Vinith Kumar Nair, Associate Director, Amrita Center for Accreditations, Rankings & Eminence represented AMRITA at the QS APPLE 2021 Conference hosted by Hong Kong Baptist University & Co-hosted by Prince of Songkla University.
QS APPLE 2021 had a mix of Keynote addresses, QS Star Awards, Breakout Sessions, Roundtable Discussion, Mix & Mingle Networking Session, Panel Discussions, SDG Spotlight Breakout Session, Presidents Panel Discussion and Asia Rankings Launch
The QS APPLE 2021 conference had four tracks i.e., on research innovation, partnerships, planning & student insights:
Track 1: Crossing Disciplinary Divides (Research Innovation)
Track 2: Thriving Through Collaborations (Partnerships)
Track 4: Finding the next big thing (Strategic Planning)
Track 5: Student flows during a pandemic (Student Insights)
The conference tried to have discussions on What role does higher education have in fostering the blurring of disciplines and ensure that advances in artificial intelligence are used for the good of our communities? How can an institution identify the best possible partnership? Where can higher education look? What are the best practice examples? What is the value of higher education in the future? How can universities equip students with the skills needed to thrive in the fast-evolving future world of work? How can the sector continue to thrive over the coming decade? Where are the opportunities and challenges? What is the next big thing for higher ed in the Asia Pacific? How do students view the current challenges in mobility? What are their major points of consideration, and how do they compare to those of other stakeholders such as parents and governments? Is there a shift in student expectations? How can universities foster mobility in the new normal?
Prof. Raghu Raman presented on India’s National Education Policy 2020 in post pandemic- Can it increase gross enrolment ratio to 35% by 2035? and Dr. Vinith Kumar Nair presented on Sustainability Research and Rankings: Universities’ responsibility towards UN SDG 2030.
Prof. Raghu’s presentation focused on the vision of NEP 2020, expected outcomes of NEP 2020, the present Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in India and How to achieve GER of 35% by 2035? His presentation focused on the thrust of technological interventions in NEP 2020 and how online and digital education is going to be the way forward through NEP 2020.
The presentation stressed on the future opportunities because of implementation of NEP 2020 like opportunities of bigger investments in the education space, faster achievement of SDG Goals etc. The other panel members in the Breakout Session on Finding the Next Big Thing (Strategic Planning) along with Prof. Raghu Raman included Prof. Sheng- Tung, Distinguished Professor, National Taipei University & Ms. Mo Xu, Beijing Foreign Studies University, China. The session was moderated by Dr. Alison Lloyd, Associate Vice President, Hong Kong Baptist University.
Dr Vinith’s presentation focused on the framework of university engagement in SDGs and discussed on how SDGs are integrated with University Goals. He stressed how more and more universities are becoming SDG integrated universities. He also discussed how the number of universities participating in different SDG based rankings like THE Impact Rankings & UIGreenMetric has been going up for the last 2-3 years which highlights that more and more universities are integrating SDG in their curriculum. In the end, he highlighted how Amrita University has over the years become an SDG integrated university and showcased how Amrita Live in Labs is helping the University to focus on SDG Goals and achieve them. The other panel members in the SDG Spotlight Breakout Session along with Dr Vinith Kumar Nair included Ms Christine Amour-Levar, Founder & CEO, HER Planet Earth, Mrs Veena Haran, Director, Asia-Pacific, Common Purpose Student Experiences & Ms Shannon Langford, Griffith University. The session was moderated by Anton John Crace, Editor & Program Designer, QS Quacquarelli Symonds.
QS APPLE 2021 Virtual Conference which was designed for senior and emerging higher education leaders, as well as academics was attended by Presidents, Vice-Chancellors, Policy Advisers, International Collaboration Experts, Senior and rising higher education administrators, Academics from Professors to PhD Students, Public officials at ministries of education and related agencies, Quality assurance experts, Business, NGO and other stakeholders.
