Why Indian Institutions Need Education Consulting Firms Now Indian institutions are fast catching up with foreign institutions and global best practices but there are a few challenges that still need to be addressed
By Kalpesh Banker •
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Higher education in India is set for an overhaul. Favourable economic drivers such as proposed reforms to India's higher education sector are churning out some of the best talent in Indian education sector. Alongside growing ambitions of academic veterans to make Indian institutions globally competitive, employing modern pedagogy to improve institutional effectiveness underpin why the Indian education industry is ripe for strategic academic search and consulting firms.
Role of Education Consultants
However, across academia, management and strategy consultants focused on higher education are often perceived as mere career counsellors for student admissions. Their role however, is much more extensive: they are management consultants focused on higher education. They are closely involved in driving institutional growth through establishing strategic planning and mobilizing resources for sustainable success. Therefore, with every inflection point comes a strategic pivot, which in this case means Indian institutions need to accelerate – right and fast – on the way to academic excellence.
Challenges Faced by Indian Institutions
While Indian institutions are fast catching up with foreign institutions and global best practices, there are a few challenges that still need to be addressed. From changing demographics to growing millennial population, who have their learning outcome based on their evolved outlook towards education, necessitate on-boarding excellent faculty and organizational leadership. In addition, the educational institutions still lack in establishing a proper structure to mobilize global networks to leverage recruitment within expected period.
Need For More Education Management Consulting Firms
That said, to meet the parameters of global education warrants a rise of Education Management Consulting firms that can assist in improving the overall academic excellence and global benchmarking, which is not just the mandate of the academic institution's stakeholders, like, chancellors and vice-chancellors, administration, finance, HR and IT professionals. In order to create institutional effectiveness, Indian colleges need to work in collaboration with education management consultants, who bring value across analysis, strategy and implementation. By employing smart, data-driven strategies, education management consultants can move the Indian institutions from a continuum of plain surviving to thriving – be it in operational efficiency, student enrolment, success, engagement and retention, technology transformation, and solidifying organizational leadership.
In addition, education management consultants bring fresh perspective to the Indian institutions in leveraging international partnerships with globally renowned academic bodies that share similar outlook and educational culture. That way, the academic experience becomes more refined holistically. By serving as education enablers, these education management firms arm Indian institutions with relevant information in the context of evolving education market, determining competitive positioning to make smart entry into new markets, examine new/ existing legislative frameworks and cultural intricacies in a nuanced form through extensive study of data, to turn insights into meaningful, measurable outcomes.
To conclude, Indian institutions need to harness the consulting capabilities with their internal leadership to improve institutional effectiveness and global benchmarking and create a new academic community that is market-ready and knowledge-driven.
