With digital literacy, rural students have gained access to global opportunities. These facilities have opened diverse career pathways for these students, motivating them to thrive in the interconnected landscape of the 21st century. To connect students with these opportunities, the role of educational leaders and rural institutes is fundamental.
Dr Sanjay Dabhole, the Principal of Shri Prince Shivaji Maratha Boarding House’s New Polytechnic, Kolhapur, is a renowned name among these leaders at the forefront. He has created an inspiring educational model for rural leaders to follow and find motivation from.
Dr Sanjay applies different strategies to train faculty members to adopt advanced techniques and pedagogies to accelerate the professional competencies among students, which is reflected in higher education, start-up approaches, and global placement.
Catering Rural Needs
Dr Sanjay aims to provide technical learning and bring all the educational stakeholders under one roof to achieve the common goal of driving significant changes in rural education.
Sant Gajanana Maharaj has been an everlasting inspiration for him in the endeavor to create 20 sustainable professional institutions catering to the educational needs of rural Bahujan students.
The vision of the institute is to excel as a center of academic excellence to fulfill global industrial and societal needs.
The institute is on a mission to achieve the following objectives:
- Offer value-added quality technical education and excellent academic training to the students.
- Prepare them for successful employment in industry/entrepreneurship and higher education by providing quality system-based teaching and learning processes.
- Employ innovative and technology-enhanced pedagogies, interdisciplinary approaches, fieldwork, and project-based learning toward building a strong foundation of technical sensibilities and language competence.
- Build students as good technocrats, professionals, and responsible citizens through continuous improvements.
Prioritizing Common Welfare
Dr Sanjay works with the motto of “Bahujan Hitaya, Bahujan Sukhaya,” which is a Sanskrit slogan that translates to “For the Welfare of the Many, For the Happiness of the Many” in English. This slogan reflects a philosophy of working for the well-being and happiness of the larger community or society.
The term “Bahujan” broadly refers to the majority of the masses, and the slogan underscores the idea of working for the common good and collective welfare. It has been used in various contexts to promote social harmony, inclusivity, and the idea of working for the benefit of all.
Dr Sanjay believes that it is common to face hurdles while bringing reforms like access to internet lease lines (ILL), lack of competent faculties with skillful supporting staff, and skepticism for digital transformation.
Working in a rural area is an asset for him since he was born in a rural and low-income family, and he finds himself connected to his roots. He aims to transform these challenges into possibilities and stress into strategies with gentle support from government and private personates throughout his journey.
He has promoted the Grey Quest-Financial Scheme for needy students to pay their fees in installments through a finance agency, the interest of which is borne by the institute.
The “Earn while Learn” scheme for needy students is planned through an in-campus startup.
Voyage to Globally Interconnected Landscape
The institute provides platforms to enhance the learning experience of rural aspirants, like IBM Skills Build, Infosys Springboards, IIT Spoken Tutorials, Swayam, Atal, and MOOC. This is how Dr Sanjay has given exposure to students’ skills and raised them to move into a lifelong career trajectory. He also initiated the Institute Innovation Council (IIC) and MCED-authorized training centers to foster innovation and entrepreneurship among students on the campus.
Dr Sanjay has started the Skill Development courses of the National Skill Development Corporation and Short Term courses of Maharashtra State Board of Technical Education.
Dr Sanjay has also promoted a Private Incubator, Siddham Innovation, and Business Incubation Center (SIBIC) Institute, providing services to develop start-ups and businesses that will eventually create an impact on society as a Founder Director.
Innovative Teaching-learning Methodologies
Dr Sanjay believes that students’ merits and competencies can be explored apart from academics. The institute splits up a classroom of 60 students into six technical clubs, Innovation, Technical, Social, Nature, Arts and Cultural, and Sports Clubs according to their skills and interests.
The faculty mentors play a very dynamic role in accelerating students’ interest through the teaching-learning process, and that will automatically lead them towards higher education, MNC placements, or startups.
Dr Sanjay has strengthened industry-institute interaction through MOUs with industries to bridge the curricular gap and promote project-based learning and entrepreneurship skills.
He has accelerated the involvement of the alumni in academics, the development of facilities, and placements.
For support staff, the Institute bears the cost of Skill Development Courses to upgrade their skills, and the Institute also appreciates the extra-ordinary, dedicated work of employees through awards and recognition.
Awards and Achievements
For his immense contribution to the field of education, Dr Sanjay Dabhole is honoured with numerous awards and recognitions:
- National level Best Principal in College (Kolhapur) Star Education award 2023 by ESF in collaboration with the Education Department of Maharashtra, dated 06/12/2023.
- Award of 50 Aspiring Authors and Researchers by FOX STORY INDIA in 2023 to honour his achievement in the field of Research.
- National level Nation Builder Award-2023 by Rotary Club of Kolhapur Royals, dated 25/07/2023.
- National level Bharat Vidhya Shiromani Award and Certificate of Education Excellence by Indian Solidarity Council, New Delhi, dated 03/06/2017.
- National level Guru-Dakshina Award by Vidhya mandir standing committee, Primary School Education department Kolhapur- Maharashtra, dated 16/02/2015.
- National level Best Teacher award by Avishkar Social and Educational Foundation Kolhapur (M.S.), India, dated 05/10/2014.
Strive to Fulfill Future Needs
Dr Sanjay has set higher goals for himself and the institute. He believes that students, along with parents, should understand the New Education Policies (NEP) and strategies for higher and technical education for choice-based academic credit transfer schemes for student mobility. However, they should also select multidisciplinary emerging courses based on the latest sectors like AI, IoT, Blockchains, FinTech, etc., to fulfill future industry 4.0 technical workforce.
