King’s Faculty London, a 200-year-old college, has a long-standing relationship with India. It was one of many first universities to show Sanskrit and Bengali, and has lengthy been educating Indian politics.
“The nice Indian freedom fighter and feminist Sarojini Naidu was one of many first feminine college students of King’s,” shares Kapur.
Because the college experiences a “fast surge” of Indian college students, the aim of Kapur’s go to to Delhi in January 2025 is partly to additional perceive what college students of contemporary day India are looking for from a British schooling.
Over the past decade, the college has skilled “secure” cohorts of Indian college students, first within the tens, then within the a whole bunch. “Now, we’ve nearly 2000,” says Kapur.
As India’s larger schooling panorama evolves, Kapur is contemplating what younger Indians are on the lookout for – whether or not that’s from the Indian or British larger schooling system.
“There are actually terrific Indian universities newly within the personal sector. There has at all times been nice Indian know-how institutes and nice Indian medical institutes, however now there are Indian universities within the liberal arts sector,” he says.
“What’s the differential expertise that King’s provide them? That’s what we’re right here to be taught.”
“Schooling nonetheless stays the only finest funding for social mobility and financial mobility within the UK,” claims Kapur.
Schooling nonetheless stays the only finest funding for social mobility and financial mobility within the UK
Shitij Kapur, King’s Faculty London
“Is there an return on funding? Sure. What the subsequent stage query is – ‘is the return on funding the identical for all topics and all universities?’
“Or is it, as in most issues in life, a conditional ticket? That’s the fascinating new proof that’s starting to emerge – that the returns on college schooling are differential. It’s partly the place you go and what you examine. The essential factor is for college students to have that info after they make choices.”
Amongst King’s providing to worldwide college students is its Britishness, says Kapur, coupled with a various worldwide pool of scholars.
“What we are attempting to attempt for is a stability. People who find themselves selecting King’s are implicitly and explicitly selecting it as a result of it’s in London, it’s a British college. They select to return to London for a British schooling.”
King’s at the moment has college students hailing from 120 nations – with China and India its greatest worldwide cohorts. “For us, a perfect mixture is guaranteeing that our lessons have a mixture of British college students and worldwide college students,” says Kapur.
Moreover, Kapur believes the college’s location within the capital is itself a serious benefit for college students. “There’s simply one thing about being in a big, cosmopolitan, worldwide metropolis that pushes you, challenges you, opens your perspective.”
“Then, there may be, after all, How King’s connects to London,” he provides, utilizing the college’s Civic Management Academy hyperlinks college students to neighborhood packages and improvement alternatives in native boroughs – an initiative that units out to allow college students to develop the abilities and expertise that may assist them in changing into extremely employable, civically minded and engaged residents.
As the desires of employers change, so ought to the approaches and pedagogies of a college, explains Kapur.
Immediately’s CEOs are on the lookout for graduates who excel in teamwork, talk successfully, and are well-versed in rising applied sciences, with AI steadily topping employer want lists.
“Now, the fascinating factor is after I ask them, ‘so what facet of AI?’ They don’t actually know,” he says.
“They simply really feel that this revolution is coming and so they really feel it’ll change their self-discipline. They due to this fact really feel the younger folks that they’re hiring must be very conversant on this, although in the meanwhile it’s shifting means too quick for both them to know and even for us to know precisely.
“What King’s has already performed – not like different universities who have been very strict saying you shouldn’t be utilizing AI – our common place is, sure, you must. And right here is how. And right here is how it’s essential to acknowledge the truth that you may have used it.”
Going ahead, Kapur desires to see UK employers changing into extra knowledgeable concerning the effectiveness of the Graduate Route – a sentiment typically shared by others within the UK sector.
“Sure, the paperwork’s a bit of completely different. Nevertheless it doesn’t placed on [the employers] any particular onerous duties,” he says.
“Our system is secure in the meanwhile. [UK education] minister Bridget Phillipson has assured us – as finest as a minister’s assurance works – that the system will keep for the subsequent a few years. I feel college students can rely on it.”
