When Dr. Mohan Manghnani took over the Chairmanship of New Horizon Educational Institutions in the early 1990s, the Trust had only three institutions catering to the students who came for primary, secondary and teacher education. Since then, in his 24 years of journey with New Horizon, Dr. Manghnani has faced all sorts of challenges including threats from underworld, hostile crowd and red tapism of bureaucracy. A great humanitarian and philanthropist who believes in long-term play, Dr. Manghnani set audacious goals and took a measured path to achieve them. The result: A chain of nine highly successful institutions that provide quality education starting from kindergarten to postgraduate and Research, in the city of Bangalore. Higher Education Review looks to find the lesser-known secrets behind New Horizon\'s success.
Pentechan might be an unusual name for a team of girls in high school. However, Sanjana Vasanth, Anupama N, Mahima Mehendale, Swasthi P Rao and Navyasree B, all 9th standard students and 14 years old from New Horizon Public School, Bangalore decided to name their group Pentechan, because the name has a reference to technology, as it goes pen-tech-in. Like the name, these five girls are not ordinary school kids; they are technology enthusiasts, socially committed professionals and more than everything, they are India\'s new�age entrepreneurs.
Six months ago, team Pentechan won the prestigious Technovation Challenge, 2015, the world\'s largest and longest technology competition, held in San Francisco and run in co-operation with Adobe Foundation, CA Technologies, Google, Verizon, United Nations Women, UNESCO and MIT Media Lab. The team Pentechan was chosen as the topnotch technology innovation during the grand finale for the development of mobile App named Sellixo, that, to speak in simple words, connects sellers and buyers of dry waste and serves as platform for contact and business between them.
The five girls who ask,\'Why thrash it, when you can cash it,\' are now eligible for $10,000 towards seed funding in developing the App further. Their idea was originally inspired from Prime Minister Narendra Modi\'s series of initiatives such as Swachh Bharat Mission, Digital India and Save the Girl Child. Following this achievement, the New Horizon Public School girls got an invitation from PM Modi to meet him at the Parliament House. During the meet, PM Modi told them, \"I am proud of you. You have made the country proud. You are the true role models of the Nation. I wish you all the best for your future endeavours.\"
Dr. Mohan Manghnani, was present at the event and he extended his support to government initiatives and social up-brings by donating Rs. 5 crore as a contribution towards Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. \"When the Prime Minster announced Swachh Bharath programs, it was dream come true for me. Whenever I visit countries around the world, I see their clean cities with no garbagelying around on the streets. Here, we clean our houses and pollute our surroundings, which needs to change,\" says Dr. Manghnani. He is a recipient of awards such as \'Navaratna Sir M Visvesvaraya Award\' and \'Outstanding Edupreneur Award 2015\' for his social and philanthropic activities and his contributions to field of education and social activities. Today, Dr. Manghnani and his 1970 established New Horizon Educational and Cultural Trust are prominent names in the lists of individuals and institutions who are giving both time and money to the causes bigger than they are.
While, activities like providing scholarships, supporting orphanages and adopting government schools with basic facilities help the underprivileged to find their new horizons, Dr. Manghnani says, \"It is an individual\'s duty to give back whatever he/she has been earning with the help of society. Hence, I do not consider this as a charity; indeed, it is my duty to serve the people around me.\" To reach a position where he can afford to offer hands that are strong enough to solve the recurring issues of the society with money and influence, Dr. Manghnani has gone through many impenetrable barriers, which has transformed him into a great visionary and a powerful decision maker. \"The growth was never smooth and I feel, in India, survival is the greatest challenge. During my journey so far, I have faced all sorts of challenges; threats from underworld, hostile crowd, red tapism of bureaucracy and many more. They gave me the courage to go forward,\" says Dr. Manghnani.
Achieving success in life is not something one gets by fluke but is something for which a combination of skills, timing, hard work and resilience is needed. A man whose average work hours cross over 14 hours day, Dr. Manghnani is a truly remarkable person, which is evident from the nine highly performing educational institutions that he has established so far that includes New Horizon Public School, New Horizon PU College, New Horizon College, New Horizon College of Engineering and the list goes on. Sitting in his new office built in the administrative building named Chhatrapati Shivaji Block at the New Horizon Marathalli campus, Dr. Manghnani looks extremely calm and satisfied. The reason: \"I am proud to have a team of committed people who can handle any complex academic and non-academic situations to deliver our promises. They are the real strength of New Horizon,\" claims Dr. Manghnani.
Why Do People Look for New Horizon?
When Bangalore became cosmopolitan with the advent of IT, which attracted large number of professionals across the country to the city, New Horizon Educational Institutions was one of the early communities that undertook the mission of educating people around Bangalore as well as its visitors who came with bags full of dreams to support this growth. One among the New Horizon Institutions, New Horizon Public School (NHPS) is today one of the premier public schools in Bangalore. Established in 1982, the institute has an imposing history of 33 years in the field of education. The capabilities of producing innovative students like \'Team Pentechan\' and consistent achievement of 100 percent results since 1991 have made the institute one among the top ICSE Schools in India.
\"We do not compromise on quality here. Hence, the demand for seats in our schools has been mounting with every passing year and it was the satisfied parents who motivated us to expand our range of services,\" says Dr. Manghnani. Though, the Trust had been receiving numerous requests every year to widen the range of academic disciplines, the expansion of New Horizon Institutions within the city limits was not something that happened in a quick time. Overcoming the obstacles like the arduous process ofland acquisitions and hostility of men who ruled, New Horizon established three more campuses in different corners of the city and offered its students an opportunity continue their higher education under the same brand name.
Like NHPS, New Horizon Pre-University College (NHPUC) started its existence way back in the year 1982 and since then has been diligently providing core values of teaching, learning and disseminating knowledge in the field of Higher Education. Today, located in the Kasturinagar campus of New Horizon, which is also running undergraduate courses like BBA, BBM and BBM, New Horizon PU College attracts large number of students, despite the cut-throat competition posed by 650 PU colleges located in South-Bangalore. \"The density of PU Colleges in the city is very high. However, people of Bangalore believe in New Horizon and we have consistently delivered on our promises. In the last eight years, we have not had a result that came down to less than 98 percentage,\" claims, Dr. S. Edwin Christopher, Principal, New Horizon College, Kasturinagar.
Providing studies in Commerce and Science, New Horizon PU College is nothing like a conventional pre-university study centre, where teachers merely recite topics from textbooks during the academic hours. A management that considers extra-curricular activities as an imperative part of the curriculum and committed faculty members who are ready to devote their time beyond working hours to help students to perform well in their academics, make the institute one of most sought after PU Colleges in Bangalore. It is also important to note that, while the older and reputed names of PU Colleges in Bangalore restricts the admission of students with low merits, New Horizon PU College is one of the few institutes where students with different learning capacities get equal amount of attention from the teachers. This shows the level confidence that the New Horizon\'s management has in its team of faculty members, who have been transforming the ordinaries into someone who can achieve great heights in the future. \"We do not believe in taking the best to produce the best. Here, we understand the strength and weakness of every student and provide the best possible education to them. We always aim at 100 percent result and we are on the verge of achieving it,\" says Dr. Edwin.
Selections of a career and a higher education institute after PUC or Class 12 might be a million dollar question for the aspiring candidates across the country, but not for New Horizon students as they have the opportunities for lateral movement among the higher educational institutions of New Horizon that provides courses ranging from engineering to management. While, students who study science in their PUC or Class 12 migrate to New Horizon Engineering College, which was established in the year 2001, New Horizon has been witnessing huge demand for its undergraduate courses in management. Hence, today with two colleges located in Marathalli and Kasturinagar to provide courses like BBM, BBA and BCA, New Horizon College dominates in capacity of students among the undergraduate colleges in Bangalore.
\"The differentiating factor between our college and other colleges is our way of approach towards teaching and our high level of commitment to providing the best quality of education to our students. We do have healthy competition in terms of different activities conducted in our campuses, primarily on the results aspect. We believe that, these kinds of competitions are very much required for our self-growth,\" says Dr. R. Bodhisatvan, Principal, New Horizon College �Marathalli. Though the institutes are affiliated to Bangalore University, the management has taken many initiatives that cater to the market requirements. Hence, they stand unique among the undergraduate colleges and attract students, not only from the Karnataka but also from neighboring states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh as well as northern states of the country. \"The courses that we offer here are not standalone ones. We always try to pack standard programs of university curriculum with good number of add-on programs to produce professionals who can take up the challenges of today\'s business world,\" claims Dr. Bodhisatvan.
In today\'s scenarios, where most of the students consider undergraduate programs like BBA, BBM and BCA as the easiest way to secure a degree certificate, the system that New Horizon has implemented for maximizing the outcomes of these programs needs appreciation. \"We have definite compartmentalization of students in accordance with their aspirations; students who want to go for the higher education, students who want to become entrepreneurs and finally students who want to go for job immediately after the studies,\" explains Dr. Bodhisatvan. While, tie-ups with external agencies like TIME, VISTA Mind and Yeshas Academy support the students who look for higher education and association of National Entrepreneurs Network creates a sense of entrepreneurship among them, the Placement Cell of New Horizon conducts necessary trainings for the students who aspire for a job. Hence, there remains no element of surprise when big names in the industry like Wipro, Amazon, JP Morgan and TCS recruit undergraduate students from New Horizon by offering attractive packages.
The enduring success of New Horizon does not end here. If everything goes according to the plans of Dr. Manghnani and his team, New Horizon Educational Institutes will add many more institutes to its chain. With immediate plans like setting up a separate campus for all the management programs, every passing academic year takes Dr. Manghnani a step closer to his dream of establishing a University of global standards. As a man who does not forget the paths he travelled and people who supported him to achieve all the glories, Dr. Manghnani concludes, \"The success credit cannot be given to an individual, there are many people here, who have been working here since last 30 years and they have given their life to make this venture a successful one. That includes our faculty members, non-academic staffs and most importantly the students who have brought laurels to the institution and their parents who have supported us till now, even in our difficult times. Ultimately, New Horizon is teamwork and all the pillars are very important.\"
Dr. Mohan Manghnani
Dr. Manghnani is the Chairman of New Horizon Educational Institutes.He took over the administration 24 years ago after completing his studies in India and the U.S. Other than running a group of educational institutes, he indulges in many social activities for which he became the recipient many awards from Government of Karnataka and other organizations across the country. \'Bharath Ratna Sir M. Visvesvaraya Memorial National Parisara Rathna\' and Navaratna Sir M Visvesvaraya Award are few achievements to name for Dr. Mohan.
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