Innovating the Managers in Indian Higher Technical Education

Innovation in any place, including educational organisations, is directly proportional to the attitude of top and senior management of that organisation. Educational innovation in India needs to be regarded as one aspect of a multi-dimensional effort for the transformation of Indian education system and then Indian people. Almost 60 per cent of India’s people are under 25 and, as the world’s largest democracy; it will be forced to respond to their desire for higher education. However, Management, as it is practiced today, is more about the status than about improvisation or creativity. Large scale reforms are currently being tried in the education sector. And the decisions of the University, University Grants Commission and the government are very vital in this regard. Despite the current decade being a ‘decade of innovation’, nothing much seems to be happening. To inculcate innovation, first the policy makers must transform the policies and regulations to make the institutions and their management more innovation-friendly. Innovation in education is more about combined initiatives than only force compulsion by regulation. A right blend of continuity and change management is required for managing the innovation in higher education system in India.