"We Can Build an India When Teaching Becomes the First Option and Not the Last Option- Arjun Puri"

In an exclusive interview with the Director of Admissions and Outreach, O. P. Jindal University, Mr. Arjun Puri, where he expressed his views regarding the pattern of Education in India and the importance of educating the children in the right direction.

What is your opinion regarding counseling going hand in hand with the recruitment of students. What is the importance of Counseling in Admissions and the Recruitment process?

I actually have a different mindset about Education and Recruitment. It is primarily because one should go to the university to study to find what you love and specifically, within the space of academics. Sadly in India, when you think about going to college, you first think about placement, your first paycheck, the company you will be working for. It is the mindset in almost every Indian household where parents and children engage in discussions about their first salary or placements. Nobody pays a heed to the happenings in the first day at college.

I think there is a dire need to alter the mindset of Education in India. Counseling plays a major role in changing the thought process of people. I think Counseling stands out to be the best thing to tell students that it’s completely normal not to study science or Chartered Accountancy, etc. With the world changing, there is no question of people worrying about jobs in the future because there is uncertainty of the type of jobs that will exist 10 years down the line. But one can definitely prepare students for education because if you are well educated whatever you venture into, you will come out successful.

Talking about Recruitment, how important is recruitment process for the Educators of the Industry?

We can build an India when teaching becomes the first option and not the last option. For me, what is extremely important is to understand that teaching as a career is very respectful. But we have to popularize it in a way that it is an important career path. It is not your last option that nothing has happened in my life so I will become a teacher.

I am a big believer that the country has some fantastic teachers. We probably have some of the best schools of the world. Being alumni of La Martiniere Boys, Kolkata, the entire credit goes to my teachers at my school because they allowed being the person I am today.

So, in terms of Recruiting Teachers in India, where there are many people who are giving up lucrative jobs and coming back to India. I hope , in the years to come, we will have more people who would want to become teachers, change makers and educators.