EDUCATION HUBS

In the last two to three years, there has been a growing trend of setting up an assortment of institutes on a single campus.

The education hubs may simultaneously house an institute for engineering and technology, pharmacy, law, education, hotel management, a polytechnic, and in some cases, even a school.

Prominent among these institutes are the Rayat and Bahra Group, Chitkara Educational Trust, Chandigarh Group of Colleges, Swami Vivekananda Group of Institutes and Shaheed Udham Singh College among others.

Most of the institutes cater to over 4,000 students each.

Says Sumit Bahl, Coordinator, Rayat-Bahra Bio-Technology Centre for Excellence at Sahauran, Kharar, “It is possible to provide better infrastructure when there are a large number of institutes at one place.

“On the campus in Kharar, which is spread over a large area, we have been able to provide facilities like a large mess, gymnasium, and hostels. Same is the case with our campus near Ropar. There is interaction among students of all streams. It is like having a mini university. So the growth of students is better”.

FACULTY

Finding faculty for such a large number of institutes is a herculean task.

Some of them however, have managed to rope in eminent educationists of the region like former Panjab University Dean University Instructions, Professor Veer Singh and University Business School’s Professor P P Arya.

Former PU vice-chancellor Professor K N Pathak was also associated with one of the groups. The packages that the directors get can go up to Rs 1.25 lakh a month.

PLACEMENTS

With the number of corporate houses setting up offices in and around the city, the chances of placement are on an all-time high. Colleges have placement cells which are active throughout the year.

Though they claim that all their students get placed with international players, only a small percentage actually gets jobs in companies like Wipro and Infosys.

On an average, most students get placed in second or third-rung companies.

Says Madhu Chitkara, Director, Chitkara Educational Trust, “The number of students who pass out is large and so is the demand in the industry. The quality of students matters. BPOs are certainly not encouraged”.