Higher Education and Employability
A new paradigm, a new challenge
Day 1: Thursday 9 January
08.30 –
Pre function Area-Ballroom
09.30
Registration and Tea/Coffee
09.30 –
Presidential Ballroom 1 & 2
09.45
Welcome Address: Rob Lynes, Director India, British Council
Keynote: Manish Sabharwal, CEO TeamLease, Member of the Prime Minister’s Council on Skill
Development
09.45 –
Presidential Ballroom 1 & 2
11.00
The South Asia Paradox: High University Enrolment, Low Graduate Employment; British Council/EIU
research paper
Presenter: Peter Upton, Director Pakistan, British Council
Panel discussion on the key findings of the British Council research
Panellists:
•
Varun Aggarwal, Co-Founder, AspiringMinds India
•
Abhinay Muthoo, Head (Chair) Department of Economics, The University of Warwick, UK
•
Wasif Rizvi, President, Habib University and CEO, Habib University Foundation
Chair: Michelle Potts, Regional Director Education, South Asia, British Council
11.00 –
Pre function Area
11.30
Tea/Coffee and networking
2
11.30 –
Are our universities adequately preparing people for jobs in an increasingly competitive global
12.30
market?
To achieve global success every nation has to find ways to make strategic use of its higher education
sector to build and develop workforce capability. Advanced skills and enhanced employability will be
essential to mobility and growth. Employability is now a key benchmark of success for Higher
Education Institutions and a component of international league tables. How can our governments and
universities rise to this challenge in South Asia?
Speakers will present case studies of how universities can add value to the employability of its
graduates and enhance interaction with industry, followed by work group discussion to develop action
plans on specific challenges.
3
Presidential Ballroom 1 & 2
Ballroom 3
Case Study:
Case Study:
LJMU World of Work Programme
Joined-up business engagement – delivering
innovation and skills across traditional boundaries in
How Liverpool John Moores University has
an international context
developed closer ties with industry in order to
enhance the employability of their graduates,
How University of Nottingham has embedded
as well as provide commercial and research
employability in the student experience, their business
benefits to the university
engagement and seeding innovation across cultures and
national jurisdictions
Nigel Weatherill, Vice Chancellor and Chief
Executive, Liverpool John Moores University
Chris Rudd, Pro-Vice Chancellor, University of
Nottingham
Building upon the case study, the delegates
12.30 13.00
will
group -work
on specific
upon the case study, the delegates will
Case undertake
Study Outcomes
Presidential
Ballroom 1 Building
&2
discussion points
undertake group work on specific discussion points
(45
minutes)
(45 minutes)
Work
Groups reports back to plenary on action plans
to address the challenges facing institutions in
developing skilled graduates for the global economy.
Facilitator: Richard Everitt, Director
Facilitator: Ismail Badat, Regional Manager HE, South
Education
British
Council
Asia, British
Facilitator: India,
Michelle
Potts,
Regional Director Education
SouthCouncil
Asia, British Council
13.00 –
Lunch and networking
14.00
4
14.00 –
Minding The Gap: Who is responsible for bridging the skills gap and who picks up the tab – industry
15.30
or institutions? Presidential Ballroom 1 & 2
Panel Debate
The challenge is obvious – employers need academic institutions to provide graduates who can step
into the work environment with business ready knowledge and skills. Industry argues that graduates
do not have the right preparation for the world of work and too few are of the right calibre. Is it so
simple? Should institutions be more focused on employer demands to provide graduates with skills
specifically ready made for industry? Or is it the role of academic institutions to create well rounded
individuals with academic knowledge and transferable skills, which industry can then train into
being specialists in their chosen field? With the challenges on financing education, who should pay
the bill – industry, institutions, students or the state?
Panellists:
Industry:
•
Khubaib Ahmed, Head HR, Descon International Pakistan
•
Santanu Paul, CEO & MD, TalentSprint
•
Hemanta Kumar Dabadi, Director General, Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and
Industries
Institutions:
•
Karuna Jain, Director, NITIE, Mumbai
•
Aminullah Amin, Associate Professor, Kabul University
•
Pradipta Banerji, Director, IIT Roorkee
5
Chair: Rob Lynes, Director India British Council
15.30 –
Pre function Area-Ballroom
16.00
Tea/ Coffee and networking
16.00 –
Rethinking approaches….
17.30
The time is ripe for a new way of building Higher Education to meet the needs of the 21st century. Do
issues of scale, sustainability, capacity and relevance bring the opportunity to engage a new way of
thinking about Higher Education provision? Or will the mismatch between degree programmes and
industry needs lead to a pool of unemployed and unemployable graduates?
The parallel sessions will look in depth at areas of opportunity to challenge current thinking in
search of innovative and relevant solutions.
6
Presidential Ballroom 1 & 2
Ballroom 3
Assembly
Creating opportunities through
Can Entrepreneurship be taught
Work-based learning:
widening access - strategies for
and what is the value?
rethinking internships and
inclusivity and diversity
Chair:
Chair:
Paul D Hannon, Director of
apprenticeships
Chair:
Dr Ahmed Al-Kabir, Chairman,
Institute for Entrepreneurial
John Clarke, Director of Student
Rupali Bank, Bangladesh
Leadership, University of
Services, University of the West
Swansea
of England Bristol
Groups will report back to plenary on outcomes and actions of each of the parallel sessions.
Closing Summary of Day 1 - Presidential Ballroom 1 & 2
Michelle Potts, Regional Director Education, South Asia, British Council
19.30 21.00
Networking event – Reception and dinner at the Rendevouz, Taj Mahal
7
Day 2: Friday 10 January
08.30 –
09.00
Tea/Coffee
09.00 –
Presidential Ballroom 1 & 2
09.15
Welcome to Day 2 and reflections on Day 1
Richard Everitt, Director Education India, British Council
8
09.15 –
Presidential Ballroom 1 & 2
11.30
Embedding employability across HE - What needs to be done?
Creating Higher Education and Employability Frameworks
09.15 –
10.00

Chris Taylor, Engagement Manager, The Quality Assurance Agency, for Higher Education, UK

N V Varghese, Director, Centre for Policy Research in Higher Education, NUEPA
Embedding employability engagement into the curriculum
10.00 –

Jan McArthur, Lecturer Education, Community and Society, Moray House School of Education,
University of Edinburgh
10.45

Asoke Ramanayake, Senior Lecturer, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka

Ram Hari Lamichhame, Member Secretary, Council for Technical Education and Vocational
Training Nepal
Group Discussion and Q&A
10.45 –
Chair: Ismail Badat, Regional Manager HE, South Asia, British Council
11.30
9
11.30 –
12.00
Tea/Coffee and networking
12.00 – 13.00
Critical Thinking: Mapping the Way Forward for South Asia
Summarising the key action points
Chair: Michelle Potts, Regional Director Education, South Asia, British Council
12:50 –
Presidential Ballroom 1 & 2
13.00
Closing remarks
Peter Upton, Country Director, British Council Pakistan
13.00
Lunch
onwards
10