The Higher Education Review

Guided by some of the adept leaders, the education industry is considered to be one of the most versatile sectors in our country. Through the able guidanceof today’s new-age educators, the Indian education system is rapidly ascending the curves of progression. A fair share of these dignified educationalists is women who defeated the norms of the patriarchal society in their own terms. These intellectual flag-bearers not only encourage the new generation to thrive towards perfection but also motivate many new talents through their prolific journey towards success. One such persona is Dr. Bhavani M R, a woman whose biggest motivation to join higher education domain is her passion towards the young talents to blossom into significant contributions to the society. An adherent professional honored with numerous awards and recognition, Dr. Bhavani M R has helped many educational institutions in achieving academic excellence. Currently working as the Principal of Surana College, Dr. Bhavani M R has come a long way since the commencement of her career as an educator.

Refurbishing Indian Education Industry
According to Dr. Bhavani M R, Indian education system is headed towards being liberal, flexible and student-centric in the true sense and the future of Indian education will involve inter-disciplinary, industry-funded and globally collaborative research and teaching. She ascertains that research, knowledge-creation and industry-collaboration will be the hallmarks of a good institute along with accreditation and ranking frameworks becoming mandatory, institutes are seriously looking at the way to strengthen themselves at the foundation levels. Another game-changer would be the National Education Policy that would bring about a paradigm shift in the way education is perceived both

internally and externally.

Talking about her professional career, Dr. Bhavani highlights, “Every batch that I have taught so far has instances of students coming from varied backgrounds and experiences. As a teacher, we influence students through our knowledge sharing. Apart from that, a teacher is closely watched for being who they are even outside the campus. I live by some principles – transparency, honesty, hard work, the quest for knowledge and taking the road less traveled. These ‘moments of truth’ have influenced many of them over 22 years. My idea to map every student has yielded great success for our institution. We map them through our rigorous mentoring process, identify areas where students are strong, build on their strength; rather than focus on their weaknesses. Teachers play a prominent role in mentoring and mapping. Creating an environment of Trust builds confidence among students. We celebrate small success stories of students and this furthers their confidence to try new things.”

A Passionate Leader and Motivator
Dr. Bhavani M R possess experience of varied exposure through her immaculate career graph starting from teaching, research, consulting (both industry and academia), institution building, accreditation process, curriculum design and many more. This vivid exposure helped her to understand that design of the curriculum is up to every institute and being an affiliated college is not a limiting factor. “The most enjoyable aspect of being a leader in the educational industry is being ‘The Change Agent’. Most of them undermine the outcomes created in the Educational Industry. There is an innate talent in every child and academic intelligence is just a small portion of the total learning experience. As a teacher and a catalyst, I find great joy in making sure that the students have tapped their potential; be it in academic excellence, sports, theatre, music, dance and other arenas,” says Dr. Bhavani M R.

Talking about her journey so far, Dr. Bhavani M R quotes, “The biggest challenge that I faced in imparting the best pedagogy is the empowerment of teachers to understand the students’

mentality and initiate a few tacit changes in the way we think, teach and empathize. It is the pedagogy that designs seamless curriculum delivery through varied interventions. Fortunately, I had no hurdles en-route my journey as a leader. However, attitudinal changes are required in every industry towards women leaders. I was indeed lucky to have worked with some of the best minds; who believed in my meritocracy. I attribute my success to my family to start with for their rock-solid support. Beyond my family, I have had great mentors both inside and outside the education industries that have helped me look beyond the horizon and experiment on the way we deliver work.”

Dr. Bhavani M R, Principal, Surana College
Currently working as the principal of Surana College, Dr. Bhavani is an experienced Director with a demonstrated history of working in the education management industry. Skilled in Coaching, Lecturing, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Instructional Design, and Curriculum Development, she is a strong professional with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) focused in Finance and Financial Management Services from Mount Carmel College. In her previous tenure as the Director of a Business Management Institute, she successfully led the institute towards achieving academic ranks as well as getting acknowledged as the Best Institute for Academic Excellence by a leading educational magazine. She is the recipient of the 100 Most Dedicated Professors award 2019 given by the World Education Congress. Having completed the IRON LADY PROGRAM, certified by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences she is also a Coach for many other women from varied fields achieve their potential. Dr. Bhavani has also been felicitated with South India Women Achievers Award 2019 in the education category.

Her Favourites
Book: Long Walk to Freedom
Authors: Nelson Mandela
Hobby: Reading, gardening and spending time with family
Quote: "The most enjoyable aspect of being a leader in the educational industry is being "The Change Agent".